Little Citizens in Holywood, Northern Ireland is a treasure trove of European design and classic toys. I could easily spend hundreds of pounds in it. I really badly want the Scandinavian doll house.
Also available on the Little Citizens webstore
Alicia helped Michael pick a little toy from the retro collection
Don't despair if you don't like in Northern Ireland, everything is online too.
Not the ham. Why ham? *dry heaves*
Click to enlarge and take a closer look at any cake wreck.
I tried a mini gingerbread house two Christmases ago. I didn't even have to bake the thing, just stick it together with icing. It was HORRENDOUS. I ended up with a pile of collapsed biscuit covered in runny icing. I couldn't manage it at all, which means even the worst of these attempts at creating a Star Wars AT-AT from gingerbread is a thousand times better than what I could come up with.
The original which spawned an army of crunchy at-ats
Two months ago we were sent a supply of Multipower UK protein shakes from their HQ. My husband is a gym addict, and usually takes a powdered, make-up-yourself protein shake after a work out. It helps you to lose fat, not muscle and repair your tired body. He was the ideal person to try out Multipower Fit Protein Lite ready made up shakes. Over the past two months he's been using them instead of his regular protein, here is his review, take it away Michael.
Normally it's my wife doing the reviews on here but given that she isn't of the gym going variety and I am, she passed this along to me to review.
Free protein?! I'm in.
I had readymade shakes before from the vending machine at the gym and while I'm sure they offer the nutrition required after another beast like work out, they taste pretty horrible. I don’t know who thinks that’s what strawberries taste like but I think they’ve been eating them from a bin.
I'm happy to report that this is not the case with Fit Protein Lite. Taste and texture are great, so as well as offering the required nutrition to ensure you get your gains you also get something that doesn’t seem like it's made out of gravel. I also liked the handy size, rather than having to bring your shaker and then maybe another tub of protein powder, you just grab a few bottles and dispose of them when you're done. I was given the recovery shake which packs 40g of high quality milk protein per bottle. 14g of carbs and 228 calories. All this ensures you get everything you need to get the full benefit from you work out - Michael Smyth.
This is my husband. Haven't done too badly for myself, have I? ;-)
Anticipation in the Smyth house is at fever pitch, with four days left until Christmas. This morning we played with the Turtles' Pop-up Pizza play set, which needed reviewing at just the right time. My son played with the little sewer set for literally hours.
Now I've got to admit this, when I saw this set in the shops before, priced at £24.99, I thought that was a bit steep for what it was. However according to my son it's amazing, and the hours of non-stop play prove me totally wrong.
Another plus point is it's totally quick and easy to set up. No fiddly building or batteries needed. It folds flat so it can come along in the car to aunty's or granny's house over Christmas time.
My husband and son both love Turtles, so they dressed up in their new Christmas onesies for the occasion (available at Asda).
We also received a Mutagen Ooze Turtle to review. I've mentioned this ooze before, it looks like a carpet ruining nightmare, but actually has a strange consistency that doesn't stain or make a mess. So I wasn't horrified to see more arriving!
These retail around £9.99 and you can buy extra pots of ooze which come with one of four tiny turtles inside. Any of these products would make a great last minute pick-up present for a kid aged 4-10, girls too- I loved Michael Angelo when I was little and had his toy figure.
Arouse your holiday spirit with Pornaments. I picked the cleanest of the bunch to share with you, click through if you're over 18 and curious to see what I couldn't publish!
click to enlarge any image here
Remembe the days when Santa brought you a yearly, hardback version of your favourite magazine or comic? Relive the nostalgia by buying a Beano bundle for someone in your family.
There are soft, trendy, retro styled Dennis the Menace t-shirts on Truffle Shuffle.
Bundle it with a classic Beano Annual for some lazy, Christmas afternoon reading.
There is a wealth of cool, retro Beano theme stocking fillers on the Beano Store to choose from. Follow @BeanoComic to keep up to date with Mister Meanace.
Abbazappa in Derry have brand new record players. Prices start at £45, the suitcase version is £100 and there's a £130 player with USB and radio connections. Retro just for futuristic. Call into Abbazappa to buy.
As heard on BBC Radio 6's Lauren Laverne Show.
