THE EDIT: Something For The Weekend | 03/06.

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I’m going to be curating a weekly ‘Top 8’, ahead of the weekend, looking mostly at online shops. This week I’ve looked at the New Arrivals of some of my favourite online shops. All products are available currently on the UK sites and are priced in GBP. It’s been a real mixed bag weather-wise, so this week’s Edit reflects that!

This week’s online shopping Edit:

1: HELMUT LANG: Oversized Cashmere Coat – £955.

2: MARKUS LUPFER: Embellished Sweatshirt – £250.

3: ASOS: Pintuck Blouse with tie detail – £36.

4: SAINT LAURENT: Leopard Lunchbox Bag – £1095.

5: ANNINA VOGEL: Horsehoe Necklace, 9ct Gold – £250.

6: TOPSHOP: Ruffled Peplum Top – £40.

7: TOPSHOP: Topshop Boutique Boyfriend Jean – £55.

8: TOPSHOP: FANG Flatform Sandal – £49.

#MoMSFTW 

MM.

What Eli Wore: Bollywood Party!

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What Eli Wore>>> Traditional Indian children’s outfit.

Where from?>>> India; gift from friends.

Last weekend Eli went to a ‘Bollywood’ themed soft play party! His lovely friend Layla was the last of our group to turn the big the ONE! Layla went on a trip to India to visit her family earlier in the year and brought back traditional outfits back for all the girls and boys! This outfit is just so lovely. The cotton is thin, so lovely and cool. I just wanted to highlight that every outfit was completely handmade – including the all-over bleach print. It was a really lovely day – so unique!

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MM.

BRAND IN FOCUS | Belle & Boo.

For those who know me, will indeed know that I have a penchant for all things old. I love things with character, a story. I’m a particular fan of 70’s interior, as can be spied throughout our family home. I wanted Eli’s bedroom to be no different (it is however still a work in progress, so I will follow up with a blog post when it’s all lovely and finished!). I came across the wonderful world of Belle & Boo completely by accident – but fell in love straight away. The illustrations are just beautiful, harping back to a by-gone time. All their products feature the whimsical drawings, everything they craft is of the highest quality (as is their lovely packaging!) and it’s just such a lovely, original and nostalgic brand.

Before Eli had even arrived I purchased the Pirate Party money tin for his nursery… but knew I’d be back for more!

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As soon as we moved house I wanted a few more  Belle & Boo pieces, so came up with the idea of using their greetings cards as pictures and promptly bought the simple white frames.

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But then of course, a fortnight after we moved into our new home, it was Eli’s birthday! I knew I’d seen some party decorations on the Belle & Boo website – and I just could not resist! I purchased some plates, napkins, a beautiful party garland, table cloth (which sadly does bear the stains of the incredible pulled pork buns and burnt beans that we had as our party food) and party bags.

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Everyone commented on how unusual and lovely the decorations were – oh, and how they matched our home perfectly too! We didn’t really have a a ‘theme’ for Eli’s party – we just wanted all of our close friends and family together to celebrate (plus we’d just moved house!), but the Belle & Boo decorations MADE the theme. I was so so pleased with how everything looked and I will certainly treasure all of the  Belle & Boo pieces from his party. In fact, I’m thinking about putting the party garland up in his bedroom, we only have bunting along the one wall, the addition of the garland would work really quite nicely.

MM.

 

Belle & Boo have not asked for this review or paid commission. I am solely passionate about this lovely brand and wanted to share my pieces with you.

Mr Eli’s 1st Birthday!

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This weekend we celebrated Mr Eli’s first birthday with party at our (newly moved into!) home. All his friends came and the sun even made an appearance too! Here are some snaps from the day 🙂

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Dj Boy!

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Eli’s AMAZING cake! Made by Lady H Bakes, Essex.

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Eli wearing his amazing cake!

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I ADORE Belle & Boo, I used their party pieces as a kind of theme for the party.

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Ball pool fun!

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Eli and some of his buddies.

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A worn out birthday boy, ready for bed!

We had a wonderful day, with wonderful company and wonderful food. Thank you to everyone who came and celebrated Eli’s very first birthday with us!

MM.

xx

WHATELIWORE: Ralph Lauren Oxford Shirt, Ralph Lauren Shorts, Red Converse Hi-Top Trainers. Blog post coming soon. 

 

THANK YOU to John Lewis + iCandy.

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Mr Eli was so happy to be back in his iCandy Strawberry!

As I have previously documented, I’m a huge fan of iCandy. No-less because they’re a British brand with eye-catching, yet hardwaring products. It’s also very well documented that as a family, we’re HUGE fans of John Lewis. Again, another British brand with an amazing ethos for quality products and a company that prides itself in looking after its customers; and it’s partners (general staff!).

So, you can imagine my horror when one day I couldn’t remove the safety bar on my iCandy Strawberry pram. Eli was wearing his Ponseti Boots so it made it awkward to get him out. Eli had only been riding in the stroller/seat unit for about 5 weeks. So it was still pretty much brand new. I can’t say that this travel system was on the cheap side either; all in all it did cost nearly £900. BUT as I walk everywhere, the iCandy Strawberry was a definite investment – and I absolutely LOVE it.

As a Social Media wizard, my first point of call was to message the iCandy Facebook page. I left a comment on their wall and got a lovely response soon after. The iCandy Facebook assistant advised I contact John Lewis. So I did just that.

Unfortunately, you can’t call a store directly. You go through to the John Lewis central customer service centre, even if you have a direct number for the store you wish to contact. This however, is not a bother. The customer service advisors are so astute and just want to help you out. So jolly (but not annoyingly jolly!) and helpful they all are. This also means that all discussions are kept under a reference number so everything is kept organised and each advisor you speak to already know everything there is to know about the nature of your call.

I was advised that someone from the Stratford store would contact me with regards to having the seat unit fixed.

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Our iCandy Peach loan, soon after it arrived!

Someone called me from the Nursery department at Stratford about an hour later. After a few discussions it was decided that someone from the Stratford store would personally come to my home, on the train, with an iCandy Peach loan. Then they would take my iCandy Strawberry seat unit back to the store, where it would be sent away to be fixed. I cannot drive and now I’m working from home it makes it difficult to take a whole day off – plus it would mean paying for the cost of trains to and from Stratford, twice. I thought this was just incredible.

After the weekend sure enough, a lovely chap called Calvin from the Nursery department turned up, bang on time, with my iCandy Peach loan.

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Our replacement iCandy Strawberry seat unit came back in just over a week!

A week later, Calvin came back with my new iCandy Strawberry seat unit and collected the iCandy Peach loan.

Absolutely above and beyond. Just simply wonderful service from start to finish. I can’t think iCandy and especially, John Lewis enough. I’ve never ever heard of a retailer doing that for anyone. Retailers just aren’t like that these days. John Lewis have completely set the standard in retail customer service and they should be extremely proud of all who work for them! That kind of service is just off the scale. Unheard of. Exceptional.

THANK YOU JOHN LEWIS AND iCANDY! Just superb.

MM.

What Eli Wore: Happy 9 month birthday!

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What Eli Wore today >>>

Top: Dinosaur Tee, Next, £6. Click here to purchase online.

Bottoms: Navy Shorts (pack of 2), Next, £11. Click here to purchase online.

Head: Hat (pack of 2 hats), Next, £GIFT.

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Today Mr Eli is 9 months old! He has officially now been out as long as he was in! Incredible. What a 9 months it has been. Completely full of up’s and down’s – and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Mr Eli is just an amazing human being – such a character. Our beautiful darling boy xxx

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To celebrate it being sunny, a bank holiday AND Eli’s 9 month birthday, we headed to Southend for the day. Got to make the most of that sunshine! Eli (with a little encouragement from us….) is a huge dinosaur fan. I’d been looking for some ‘cool’ dinosaur items of clothing for a while. But not really seen anything aside from realistic dinosaur graphics (which just look plain scary!) or overly-cartoonish style dinosaur graphics. But when I saw this tee from Next I practically POUNCED on it! It’s a great looking tee – cool dino print on front and back with a little chest pocket. Lovely stuff. Also have to mention these shorts! Because Eli will probably be wearing them a lot over the summer! They’re a 2-pack from Next, £11. Come in Navy and a Cargo-Brown colourway. They’re extremely hardwaring, wash great, wicked quality and made using a heavy cotton so they can be dressed up (with a shirt) or dressed down, like today.

Next have some really good clothing this season for your little man. I tend to go for mini-Daddy style clothing, rather than cute kids clothing. So if you’re after the same kind of thing, give Next a whirl. So so good. Great prices too!

MM.

 

What Eli Wore: ‘E’ is for Eli.

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What Eli Wore today>>>

‘Ee’ Alphabet t-shirt, American Apparel, £10.

Brown Harem Pants,  Zara Kids – Part of set with cardigan, £GIFT.

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Eli wore his brand new American Apparel Alphabet tee to the park last week; teamed with wicked knitted Harem Pants from Zara.

It was the first time it had been warm enough for short sleeves! And it was also the first time Eli played on swings and slides! He absolutely loved it – as you can tell.

I’d always been meaning to buy myself a ‘Cc’ tee from American Apparel… think I’m probably a little bit too old for it now. I’ll stick to my Carrie Claire necklace I think. But Eli looks wicked in his ‘Ee’ tee; of course all of the alphabet tee’s are unisex too. LOVE it.

 

MM.

 

Surprises from my best friends!

Table at Babylon restaurant, Kensington Roof Gardens.

On Saturday of last week (9th June), I was whisked off to Kensington for lunch with my best friends at Babylon, Kensington Roof Gardens. The restaurant and garden’s were absolutely amazing… there were real-life flamingo’s in the gardens! On the ROOF, in Kensington! Crazy!

When I arrived at the restaurant I called my friends and they came and met me at the reception and lead me to our table. They’d decked the table out with ‘Baby Shower’ banners and presents! What a lovely surprise!

I thought I’d share the lovely gifts that they got us 😀

Scrummy cupcakes from Whole Foods.
Scrummy cupcakes from Whole Foods.

 

We're massive fans of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", so this amazing box has taken pride of place in the nursery!

 

Lots of presents! Lots of essentials 🙂

 

Beautiful gifts from The Little White Company.

 

Absolutely adore this super-soft bunny rabbit and elephant rattle from The Little White Company!

MM.

Newborn Nappies: There’s so much choice out there, which did you go for?

We’ve pondered many-a-time over which Newborn Nappies to use. Which brand are best in quality, absorbency, fit and of course, which are lightest on the old purse strings?

As we live in a very rainy Britain and we currently do no have a tumble dryer (plus only electric heaters/radiators) going cloth isn’t really an option for us. We struggle to get our own clothes dry at the minute (definitely going to invest in a tumble dryer for Winter!!). So, we’re going disposable…. but what does that mean?! With so much choice out there, which are best for Newborns, based on my criteria above?

I asked my Twitter followers for their tried and tested recommendations… here is what the lovely people out there said.

 

From @CharlieMooswww.charliemoos.co.uk

 

From @NatGourleyreadysteadymummy.blogspot.co.uk

 

From @MummyAdventurewww.themummyadventure.com

 

From @Petitmewwww.petitmom.co.uk

 

From @BexandMicbusybeemummybex.blogspot.co.uk

 

From @TheMakeUpMentor – themakeupmentor.co.uk

 

From @CupcakeMumma11cupcakemumma2011.blogspot.co.uk

 

From @KiddyChartswww.kiddycharts.com

 

So there we have it… the consensus is Pampers Vs Own-brand.  Do you have a different opinion from experience? Or even just agree? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below or via Twitter @MaternalMusings and I’ll be sure to add your comment to the post above!

Thanks for all the responses so far!

MM.