Cook For Your Mum This Weekend With the M&S £20 Mother's Day Dine In Menu. Is It Cheating If You're Sort of Treating Yourself Too?

Everyone in their right mind loves the Marks & Spencer Two Dine for £10 Menu. You basically buy a bottle of wine and get a free three course meal with it. I even know people stock up when the deal is on and buy multiple variations of that weekend's choices. I might also be including myself in that statement. 

The past two or three years, M&S have put on a special Mother's Day version of the dine in menu. At £20 you choice a roast joint, two large sides, a large sharing dessert and included is a bottle of wine, or non alcoholic alternative, if Mum doesn't like a tipple. 

The full list of options are here http://www.marksandspencer.com/s/food-and-wine/dine-in And I snapped some of my choices in store at their Sprucefield store.

I chose the beef joint, potato cubes, beautiful summer roasting veg and a coconut pudding. Without the £20 deal the total would have been close to £30 so it's a great saving. 

As for gifts, M&S can supply you with all sorts of floral, sweet & scented presents for Mum. Beyond the food hall there is also a up to 50% clothing sale just starting this week. Even a gift card for Mum to have a hoke through that for a bargain herself would be a thoughtful present (hint, hint). Really though you can never go wrong with flowers. I buy myself a bunch of flowers every week now I'm in my new house. Perhaps this weekend little Michael will buy me some. I've dropped many hints, but for some reason he has his heart set on buying me this kitchen gadget that heat seals plastic bags to keep food fresh. Sigh.

Beautiful blooms at a range of prices. 

Daffodil cake £12

How blue are these?? 

Adoring this neon orange frame, and would love one of these patchwork stag heads so much! 

I do love these but £79 is out of my range

So, my picks. I love these pastel tins M&S are packaging their sweets in this spring. I already use the similar, yellow tin to store my sugar, so when I have finished the fudge I'll use this as my tea bag tin. £5

Violet creams are an old fashioned sweet, but one of my absolute favourites. At £4 this box of a violet and Rose mixed chocolates was a 'well done for being a mum' gift to myself. 

Cute little orange tin this time, for my coffee to complete the set. £5

The teeny little box of truffles is only £3 and great for tiny ones to buy for their mummy. 

Finally, this is going to my own Mum as part of her present this Sunday. A £13 gift of mini shortbread in a pretty tea cup. Wouldn't mind this one myself either. 

So a big Happy Mother's Day to all my mummy readers, and any single fathers who do both jobs. Enjoy your special day. 

Tasty, Balanced Meals from Marks & Spencer in Store Now

How's your new year's resolution going? Yeah... mine too. Anyway, if you're feeling like a little health kick you can always check out Marks & Spencer's Count on Us and Balanced for You ranges. Lower calorie ready meals that don't compromise on taste or inventiness.

There are also plenty of take away snacks and lunch options available from both ranges. 

Desserts aren't to be missed out on either! 

This is the Jaffa dessert and it's glorious! 

The Most Frustratingly Annoying T-shirts on the Entire Internet

My Twitter chum Michael is behind these really annoying Slightly Wrong Quotes t-shirts. Buy them and annoy your film buff friends. http://www.mysoti.com/designer/slightlywrong

Little Live Pets, Tweeting In a Toy Shop Near You

The second wave of Little Live Pets have hit toy shops for spring 2015. http://www.character-online.com/products/Little-Live-Pets/Birds/ 

We were sent the mother and baby owl in neutral white & purple. The birds are also available in pink or blue, but refreshingly this slightly more 'girl orientated' toy is being marketed for both boys AND girls age 5+ 

Michael loves this sort of toy, and thought it was very cute as the mother and baby tweeted to each other. The mummy owl also has a repeat back feature where you can record your voice. Of course kids being kids the owl was soon chirping about bums and poos, but that was always going to happen!  

The birds sing together and have dozens of different tunes. You may notice our baby owl looks a little bit worse for wear. It seems that my parents' wire fox terrier dog took a fancy to baby owl too, and he got a little chewed! 

The mother and baby owl Little Live Pets set retails around £17.99, so it's a little bit too pricey for a birthday gift for someone else's child. However if you have an animal lover at home, most boys & girls would love to receive this as a present. 

Belfast Artists, Meet Ink Monkey

Ink Monkey is an art supply store with character. Just three minutes walk from the Art College in Belfast, the North Street store is a quirky one stop shop for all your art materials. Owners Jenn & Tommy invited us to pop in on Saturday and meet the giant TRex that resides in their shop window.  

Students get 10% discount all year round, and as well as every art supply you'd need, they also stock handmade gifts such as vintage tea cup candles and vinyl record clocks. So why not pay them a visit, or catch up with them on social media 

Facebook.com/inkmonkeybelfast  Twitter.com/inkmonkeyholla Instagram @inkmonkeybelfast

Jenn & Tommy

Pirate Golf & Blue Cheese Burgers. A Little Life Update Behind the Scenes of The World of Kitsch.

I haven't blogged much since the new year. There has been a lot going on in the background that my Twitter followers might know a little of, but that I haven't really gone into a great deal of detail about anywhere. In November past my son & myself had a big shock of our family being split apart. It wasn't something I wanted, expected, or had a choice or say in. Now I am a single parent, the main carer of my son, and we have even moved house to our own little kitsch home that we love. 

Things have been hard, but we are in a better place than we were, and we are strong together, but mostly thanks to my mum, dad, brother and his wife supporting us every step of the way. 

So thank you to all four of them, and an extra thanks to my brother Michael for taking Smix and I out this evening for some pirate golf and burgers & ice cream. I love you. 

We ate at Wolfe's in Dundonald. I really need to hit them up for a proper review blog post, because the food was outstanding. 

Laser Teeth Whitening: What Does It Involve, Does It Hurt, and Is It Worth It?

One of my insecurities has always been my teeth. My bottom teeth are crooked, and I've never had what you might call a sparkling, white smile. As you know from previous blogs, I am having a tattoo removed at a private salon in Lisburn, Indulgence by Susan.  Susan offers a wide range of treatments and invited me to try the laser teeth whitening while I was with her for my second laser tattoo removal appointment.

As with the tattoo removal, Susan talks you through every step of the process before you commit to the treatment. She pulled no punches, and explained the whitening process can cause some sensitivity during, and for 24 hours after. I really appreciate the honesty which Susan brings to her business. She would rather you were fully informed of the realities of the treatments, than for her to just go ahead and you not to be happy. 

As it was, I had very little sensation from the treatment at all, but Susan checked in on me every ten minutes to make sure I was okay. 

The treatment involves piping a substance along the gum line to protect your mouth, then the lightening mixture is applied. The mouth guard keeps your lips back out of the way and isn't painful, just a little uncomfortable. Susan's home salon has a little relaxation room where you can sit back and watch tv while your treatment develops. The laser light doesn't produce any heat, but you do wear goggles for eye protection. 

After the procedure, I was absolutely delighted with the results. You can see from my before and after there is a lightening of a good few shades. 

Susan also provides a lightening gel to take home for a very reasonable price (you wouldn't find it cheaper even on eBay) plus she helps you mould the trays for your teeth before you leave the salon, which is a godsend if you are terrible at fiddly things like me! 

I'd definitely recommend the treatment, and if you live locally in Northern Ireland you can't go wrong if you go to Susan for the laser teeth whitening. Her website is  http://www.indulgencebysusan.com/ and there are special offers on the site if you come as a pair for the treatment.

Are there any other beauty or spa treatments you are curious about that you'd like me to try out and let you know about before you take the plunge yourself? Let me know on Twitter @rudedoodle

Lidl Are Launching a Fashion Range. Would You Wear It?

This morning Lidl NI launched their very first fashion range, in a stylish event held in Made In Belfast. You know my Lidl love runs deep, but even I was surprised how affordable, wearable and how many of the pieces I loved. 

All those stripes and spots! My favourite! The Venice Collection is tailored for me! 

The accessories and shoes are great, and sure to be snapped up quickly in your local store.  

There wasn't a traditional catwalk show, instead a stylist talked us through some of the pieces as we had a chance to feel the quality and textures of the pieces. We all agreed that we were happily surprised. The fabric quality isn't budget at all. The pieces would look right at home in Mango or Zara, rather than in a supermarket aisle. They haven't snipped corners, some of the vests and singlets are lined! You wouldn't see that in some high street stores. And the price points are cheaper even than other supermarket clothing ranges. 

I think this is the year for a floppy straw hat, and it might as well be an affordable one.

The ranges also extend to men's wear and children's pieces for the summer. 

Ranges will preview on  

http://www.lidl-ni.co.uk/

I have my eye on these purple pumps. Sure they are for kids, but they might go up to a size 4, right?? 

And would you believe, even Lidl lingerie. 

It was also lovely to see some of my blogger pals, as I haven't been working much recently. Now I'm throwing myself back into The World of Kitsch, so hopefully we will see each other again soon!