Health and Beauty – Mediocre Mum

Win a £40 Bouquet of Flowers from Debenhams

Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month

Sept 2015 was Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month and there was some excellent campaigns running. If you have an Instagram account you may have come across the hashtag #ladygardencampaign, which was a partnership between Top Shop and the Gynaecological Cancer Fund, a new charity with monies going to support research at the Royal Marsden.

The Campaign received a lot of celebrity backing with the likes of Ellie Goulding and Elisabeth Hurley donning jumpers with ‘Lady Garden’ boldly emblazoned on the front. And the Duchess of York, Fergie lending her support at a Lady Garden Luncheon.

The main aim of the campaign hopes to encourage woman to talk more about their bits and become aware of what the symptoms of Gynaecological Cancer are. Unlike Breast Cancer and Skin cancer, where physical changes can be detected; lumps, dimples, discharge, change in moles etc, many of us are not aware of what to watch out for when it comes to the Big 5 Gynaecological Cancers. Click on the image for more information.

Gynaecological Cancer Awareness — Picture Courtesy of CDC

I thought I would take the opportunity via this Flower Competition to remind my lady friends how important it is to attend regular Cervical Screenings. It’s not the most pleasant thing in the world, and I can think of a zillion other things I’d rather do, but early detection is the key to successful treatment. Most woman don’t get screened before it’s too late and are not diagnosed till stage 4. With cancer there is no stage 5. 50 Woman a day in the UK are diagnosed with some form of Gynaecological Cancer.

‘too busy to attend her screening and now admits that not going for her smear test is one of her biggest regrets.’ Jenny Croston a 38 year old mother of two

Hopefully this prompts at least one of you to book your screening today.

It’s Give-away Time!

Now it’s your turn enter for a chance to Win £40 to spend on any bouquet from Debenhams Flowers.

Whether you want to send flowers to a loved one, treat yourself or simply cover up the fact you’ve forgotten a special occasion at the last minute, Debenhams Flowers is definitely the destination of choice. I recently used their Flowers Delivery service and can highly recommend, I wasn’t sure what I wanted, left it up to them and they put together a gorgeous bouquet for me, and if you’re also short on time they do a Next Day Flowers delivery service as well.

Debenhams Flowers are kindly offering one lucky winner to win a £40 voucher to spend on a bouquet of your choice.

If you want to be in with a chance of winning, simply enter the competition via the Rafflecopter Form below. Full terms and conditions can be found at the bottom of the form. In short, open to UK residents 18 and over. Closes on the 1st Nov 2015.

Good luck.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Debenhams Flowers, www.debenhamsflowers.com

This competition is listed on Loquax, Prize Finder and Competition Hunter.

My Top Ten Mother’s Day Gifts for Fun Mum’s

Mother’s Day Gift Ideas for Mums with Personality

To avoid disappointment on Mother’s Day I take charge and organise it myself, which usually involves booking us into the pub for lunch. Every Mother’s Day I seem to get flowers and a card, without sounding ungrateful the only people who really benefit here are Interflora and Hallmark.

Of course I cherish the cards and gifts my daughter makes at school and keep them all, even if I’m not sure what some of them are.

If you want something done right, do it yourself – unknown

I’ve been trolling the internet to find inspiration for Mother’s Day Gifts, and I felt like I was transported to the 1950s. Are mum’s really that boring these days? I don’t do a lot of gardening, I don’t eat chocolate, I’m too busy to read many books, I wear minimal jewellery, baking is not my strong point, I don’t have the patience for jigsaw puzzles and I’m not a Yummy Mummy.

However, I like to think I have a great sense of humour, enjoy practical things and a lover of gadgets.

My Top 10 Gift Ideas for Mother’s Day

You Can’t Scare Me T-Shirt

I’m not sure what occasion or when I would wear this would be good to have in the wardrobe for those days I need a bit more attitude.

Wine Tasting Gift Set

Is it #wineoclock yet? I know I like wine but I don’t know a lot about it.

Canvases

I really want to put this photo of my daughter on a canvas and put it above my desk as it makes me laugh and would cheer me up when I’m having a stressful day. Picanova is currently offering 72% off canvases so I may treat myself (offer ends 23rd Mar 14).

Photos on Canvas - Picanova — Say Cheese!

Scratch Map

Prior to children I was a rather intrepid traveler and have lost count of the number of countries I have been to. I’d like to be able to glance up and remind myself of those good old days.

Muffin Top Moulds

As I mentioned earlier I don’t often bake, but I would definitely use these as they crack me up.

Vineyard Tour, Tasting and Lunch

This sounds heavenly albeit slightly dangerous.

Mums Wine Glass

Enough Said!

Mums Measure Wine Glasses — Not On the High Street

Foot Spa

I won’t bore you with the details but I’m struggling with my feet at the moment and this looks blissful.

Smart Crock Pot

This has my name all over it, I love a bit of tech and have an unhealthy obsession with my slow cooker. It would be fab to be able to control it remotely.

Diagnostic Code Reader for Cars

There is nothing worse, as a woman, walking into a garage not knowing a lot about cars and having that sinking feeling you are going to be ripped off. I’d love to be able to diagnose the problem before going in, plus it would save me the £80 for them to run the diagnostics each time

.

Can someone please give my husband a nudge? TIA

Mummy Friendly Salons Near Radlett and St Albans, Herts

Where to get your haircut in Radlett, near St Albans

‘You know you’re a mum when a trip to the hairdressers feels like a week away at a health spa.’

Like most mums, I’ve let myself go a bit and instead of having my hair done monthly I now have it done yearly. A few weeks ago with my birthday looming and a trip away, I took the opportunity to have my hair done. My roots were now longer than the highlighted ends. Eeeek!

Bliss!

There is nothing like sitting on your own for a couple of hours, child-free, drinking coffee, listening to the friendly banter of the staff, reading magazines and playing on your phone in a gorgeous environment whilst being pampered. I could have stayed all day.

I went to Espiritu Salon and Spa at Battlers Green Farm, near Radlett. If you’ve never been to Battlers Green it’s worth a visit. There’s an eclectic collection of about a dozen shops including a Butchers, Tearooms and Vintage Shops plus there FREE parking.

Lost Cause!

I’m really easy going when it comes to getting my hair done, I usually plonk down in the chair and say do whatever you like as anything would be an improvement. However, Tony Collinson the Salon director with over 30 years experience cutting hair, knew damn well that if he did something fancy that would require maintenance, it really wasn’t going to happen with my busy schedule; the bedraggled ponytail post school run may have been a dead giveaway.

However, he did spoil me with the finishing touches, which I could at least enjoy for a day or two until it needed a wash and I revert to my old ways. Oh they must despair!

My choices were stunning or gorgeous. What do you reckon?

The Colour Specialist, Danielle Mullins, also cracked this as well, it may have been the extraordinarily long roots that I had, so she opted for a combination of highlights that would allow me to get away with letting it go a little longer between visits. The lift in colour not only got rid of the mousy colour but weirdly made the rest of me look less tired. Unfortunately, these ‘selfies’ don’t do it justice.

A HUGE thank you to TEAM at Espiritu for not only giving me a much needed break but also making me feel special, if only for a few hours and look a lot better, something us mums don’t do enough of.

With mums in mind Espiritu has started Mummy Mondays where you can pop in to have your own hair done, there are soft mats for babies and toddlers and you can get a Free Quick Cut for one of your kids. For more details check out Mummy Mondays.

2012 Wasn’t That Bad Really

I was speaking with someone recently, who didn’t have the best start to the year. She then said to me you haven’t had the best year either and if I stop and think about it, it wasn’t the best year but I’m not the kind of person to dwell on it. We’ve had a few challenges this year but for the most part it’s been fairly positive.

The year started out as normal, enjoyed getting back into routine in January after all the Christmas festivities. We were invited to a secret event in London hosted by Richard Branson. I managed to persuade Helen from Actually Mummy to come with me. As usual, Branson didn’t disappoint, we were privy to a rather impressive 3D projection on the Senate Building in London.

Then it all went horribly wrong in February. My hubby was hit by a gritting lorry whilst cycling home from work and sustained substantial head injuries and ended up in a resuscitation unit in London. We are incredibly lucky as he has pretty much made a full recovery. This is not a phone call anyone loved one wants on a Friday night.

You’ll probably agree but it was about time we had a bit of luck. In March, I won a trip to Copenhagen.

In April, we had the opportunity to take Madame to her First Ballet, My Sleeping Beauty, put on by the National Ballet! It was truly magical. Unfortunately amidst all the magic, my hubby was made redundant and our daughter didn’t get her first choice of school so we would be losing our childminder she had since she was 4 months old.

I have never been so cold. In May, we went Glamping in Shropshire. It was great to get away and spend some family time together.

In June, the lovely Sheba invited us around her house for a Feast Through India. The only way I can describe it is Come Dine with me but with Class. The food was amazing and we met some lovely people.

This is the stuff dreams are made of….. Our daughter is 5 and was the perfect age for a trip to Eurodisney in July.

In August, we made our yearly trek to Canada to see my family. We always have an amazing time; one of the highlights was Ziplining in Chase Canyon.

Madame, started school in September, luckily we caught it all on Camera as any good blogger would do. Even, though she didn’t get her first choice of school we are incredibly happy where she is and she has settled in well with her new childminder.

In October, to celebrate our Anniversary we went to Copenhagen. It was our first trip without our daughter, it was a bit of a logistical nightmare and we felt weird leaving her behind but we all had a great time.

As a Canadian, I grew up spending most of my time outdoors, predominantly in the woods. So when I saw a Forest School advertised for school holidays in November we jumped at the chance.

Where did the time go, before we knew it was December? I finally managed to have a proper catch up with a mate, whilst enjoying a spa day.

I was originally inspired by Laura from Yummy Mummy Flabby Tummy to write a year in review post after seeing hers. However, I found it to be an incredibly useful activity to remind myself how fortunate we are and to be grateful for what we have.

As a family, we are looking forward to seeing what 2013 holds for us. One big positive is that hubby starts work next week! Yay!

Between good friends……

If I’m honest, I’d prefer to get experiences as presents rather than gifts. I know it’s nice to have a little something nice to open under the tree but, we’re not flush by any means, if there is something I want I tend to just go out and buy it myself even if I can’t afford it.

Plus, not being ungrateful, my hubby has a dreadful problem listening or taking subtle hints. Last year, we went to the shops, I said I’d like a new pair of PJs, and then pointed at a stack of them saying ‘any of these would be fabulous, except those ones’. Guess which ones he bought? This is my point exactly.

So, I’m all up for buying experience days as the recipient can choose something of their liking. Can someone give my hubby a nudge?? Last weekend we had the opportunity to try out a Spa Day for two that included 3 treatments. No, I didn’t take my husband, but a friend that I’ve been meaning to catch up for ages.

We had an entire day child free, with no interruptions, gassing, being spoiled and laughing a lot. I saw a few things in the women’s change room that no person should ever have to witness.

We were then led down to the Spa in our fluffy robes and complimentary slippers for our Facials, Massages and Manicures. The facility was gorgeous; low lightening, relaxing music and the therapists were lovely.

Seriously?

They walked us down a long candlelit corridor to a treatment room at the end. You should have seen the look of surprise on our faces when we were led into the same room with not one but two treatment beds side by side. We were going to have our massages half naked right next to each other! OMG!

You have no idea how relieved I was that I took a friend that I’ve known for years and not one of the new mums from school that I’ve recently met, my boss or worse my mother in-law (if she was still with us)! That would have been incredibly awkward.

Once we got over the initial giggles while side stepping around each half naked and crawling onto the treatment beds, very ungracefully I may add, it was all good. We quickly forgot that the other person was in the room. The massage was amazing and my mate said it was the best facial she ever had. Note: That is not us in the photo.

The rest of the day was spent sitting by the pool, nattering with the odd venture into the Jacuzzi, Pool, Steam room and Sauna. I took a book but we were so busy catching up I never opened it.

This is an experience the two of us will never forget and I’m sure we will look back on it and giggle for many years to come.

Disclosure: The Spa Day was courtesy of the Activitysuperstore.com