Fancy a Christmas quilt? Asda has 23 to choose from! Which is your favourite? Available in single, double and king size.
12 days of Christmas
Regal rocking horse
Reversible tartan
Bah hum-pug!
This is my pick. Reminds me of an old Christmas card
Lastly, not Christmas, but I couldn't leave these out. Care Bears and My Little Pony.
ALL ABOARD: Little Eva Burnside (4) from Belfast is calling on all budding Jack Sparrows and Princess Elsas to experience an unforgettable day at sea on its Pirates and Princesses Cruise.
On Sunday, October 16, Stena Superfast will be playing host to a day of dressing up and adventure, with a treasure trove of activities on board such as dancing, crafts and karaoke, guaranteed to put a smile on the kids’ faces. Not only does the day promise to be a fun-filled one, but it will also raise funds for Cool FM and Downtown Radio’s Cash for Kids, with all proceeds from ticket sales going towards the charitable appeal.
Tickets are available for just £12, and due to the one-off nature of the event, they are expected to sell out fast.
For more information go to www.stenaline.co.uk/cashforkids
We went on one of the day cruises a few years ago, 2013 and had a lot of fun.
2013
HealthWise is an NHS initiative to help those with chronic illness to help themselves. It's a three month free pass for your local leisure centre or gym. You can swim, use the gym facilities, both cardio and weight, or even take set classes like yoga and Pilates.
I did the scheme a long time ago when Smix was little and the leisure centre to go to was the old Bangor one beside the police station.
Back then it was to help my depression and social anxiety, which isn't anywhere near as bad now. I weighed 11st4 and used the Nirvana gym to run, row & cycle. However I hated every second of it, so when the three month free period ended, I stopped too.
Then a few years ago I discovered my love of outdoor running. Treadmills bored me, but trying to beat my own average speed and distance made for an exercise I looked forward to rather than dreaded.
Then, out of nowhere, came M.E. Joint pain and exhaustion from every day life shut me down. In the spring there, frustrated with my weight, I tried outdoor running again. It was a disaster. I was back in bed with pains and tiredness, and now I'm getting divorced and a single mum, you can't afford to take a day off. There's no back up spouse to help take Smix to and fro from school. I have to be available. So the running was scrapped.
But I had put on some weight since Christmas last year, jumping from 9st3 to almost the full 10st mark by June. My illness by its nature makes me quite sedentary, so I close to have to starve myself to lose any weight. I didn't have enough will power to lose the weight through diet alone.
So I spoke to my GP and along with a round of hip X-rays, we agreed on trying the Healthwise program again this summer.
I decided on swimming as my exercise. The water holds a lot of your weight making moving less painful. I also sweat even looking at a gym, so I love how even if you sweat when you swim, you can't tell!
Even more exciting was the prospect of getting in the brand new £38mil leisure centre pool.
I started slowly over the summer. Smix was off school and lives with me 7 days a week, so I was mostly just going and mucking around with him whilst fitting in what laps I could.
However when he went back to school, the proper training began. I started by doing 40 lengths (1km) a day, six days a week. Then I moved onto what my current training involves. 50 lengths (1.25km) six days a week. It's about 45 mins solid swimming.
I really enjoy it and love that I can exercise again. The hard part is the getting showered and dressed afterward- that takes more out of me than the swim.
So I would recommend anyone with chronic illness to think about, or ask your own GP about Healthwise. You don't need to be swimming kilometres like me, even two lengths a day gets you moving.
Happily my weight has dropped down to 9st7 so I'm 4lbs off my Christmas weight last year, and I'm sure to make that. UPDATE- as of 20th Oct I am down to 9st2!
Go for it!
3 for 2 on all the Halloween goodies, so you'll have bucket loads of sweetie swag for the inevitable trick or treat brigades heading to your doorstep soon
It's one of my favourite blog posts of the year to do, and one I know you guys are waiting for- because I've lots of daily hits on my M&S Halloween blog posts of years' before right now.
Marks & Spencer has pretty much their whole Halloween range in stores right now. There are costumes, baby clothing, sweets and snacks. There is sometimes a Halloween cake design, but if there is one this year it'll not be in store until closer to the October 31st date. Ditto with pumpkins, they will be available in a couple of weeks.
Should you have a Halloween party before then, there's a very cute, autumn, Harry hedgehog chocolate cake, which serves 14 people, for £10. Alternatively M&S's food editor Emma Sleight suggested buying one of their ready-to-serve desserts, like the chocolate orange tarte, printing a Halloween stencil and dusting with icing sugar. The spiderweb design looks very cool.
You could also make pumpkin seed granola with one of the easy-make mixes, for £1.50
Harry hedgehog £10 : granola mix £2.50 : witches' fingers £1.50
For your Halloween party snacks there are some unusual savoury offerings. Fizzy orange popcorn, pumpkin corn bites and salted bat & ghost shapes.
For nostalgia you cannot beat the jelly sweets with the peel off back. All these items are 3 for 2 mix and match.
Orange popcorn £1.50 : Pumpkin snacks £2 : Ghosts & Bats £2
The Haunted House party box for six is just £5 and comes with gummies, popcorn, chocolate balls & fruit tubes.
Inside the haunted house box, which makes a cool stand alone decoration too by the way, are masks you can pop out. The elastic for fastening them comes in the box too.
There weren't any specific Halloween drinks, but from parties past I know fizzy red lemonade can be 'blood', and fizzy green lemonade is 'slime'. For the adults, how about the Bloody Mary mix? This concoction looks extra spicy and costs £4.50, just add spirits. The glass & other Halloween props are from some of the poundshops.
The chocolate skeletons come with a free keyring. Look out for the Creepy Coated Chocolate Beans, £2. They come in a long line and are the perfect size for handing out to trick or treaters.
Bloody Mary mix £4.50 : Chocolate skeletons with keyring £2 : 6 packs of chocolate beans £2
There are more trick or treat sized sweets in the form of chocolate eyeballs & pumpkins, and popping candy spider coins, both £1 a pack and all included in the 3 for 2 offer.
Lastly, help yourself to a bumper pack of 50 Zombie Jelly Brains for £3 or a chocolate lolly for £1.50
Happy Halloween everyone!
Tiny turnips, what we carved rather than pumpkins in the 80s! £2
JS Kelly Belfast print
I love vintage travel posters. I have two in my home at the moment, purchased from Travel Posters Online, a Bangor one in my living room and a Portrush golfing print in my bedroom.
The traditional travel poster style
Artist JS Kelly is keeping the tradition alive with simple yet beautiful designs of local landmarks and towns. There are designs of places all over Ireland, but it's the Northern Irish prints that I'm sharing with you today.
Pickie Swans
There are illustrations of well loved destinations, home towns & tourist attractions.
You can search for a design of your home town, but if you aren't from NI you still might like these prints. There are several artworks of Game of Thrones filming locations, including the Dark Hedges and Ballintoy harbour.
If you've taken the Game of Thrones location tour, you may recognise some of the other Antrim coast and north coast locations.
I'm definitely planning on buying one or more of JS Kelly's prints, it's just a matter of trying to decide which ones!
They would also make great Christmas gifts, and if you buy now there is an offer to get 20% off when you buy two or more, so you can get two 50x40 prints for £40.
If you follow me on Snapchat you might recognise the station house at Helen's Bay from my walks.
This summer YouTube blew up with drama of the fall out of Kat Von D and Jeffree Star. I had heard of both of them, and knew both had makeup lines, but after watching Jeffree's response video to Kat, I started watching his other vids and got hooked. If the pair of them engineered the drama to boost follower size & sales, it sure worked.
Two weeks ago Jeffree's store had a weekend flash sale, so I took the opportunity to purchase one of his liquid lipsticks and a lip scrub.
I'll be reviewing the liquid lip soon, as I bought some fakes on AliExpress also, and I will show you the difference between them & the real thing and how to spot whether you've been sold the real deal.
But for now, the lip scrub. It comes in several flavours and some are sold out, but I chose the strawberry.
The only other flavour left is Mojito
There are half a dozen steps you can do for your skin care routine on your face at night, but up until now I didn't have a lip treatment except for an Estée Lauder lip balm. This scrub removes dead skin and any leftover lipstick after cleansing.
Here is how it looks on my big, makeupless bake!
Firstly, the product itself smells SO GOOD. I know from Jeffree's videos his liquid lips have scents like root beer, and this scrub smells like strawberry candy.
It feels like very coarse sand, and falls apart more than I expected, so it can be tricky to scoop and get it straight onto your lips.
Then you simply use your finger to rub the scrub on your lips. It's edible, so you can either lick it off, or wipe off to remove.
The packaging suggests you can also use the scrub as a lip primer, before lipstick, for a smooth finish.
Each lip scrub is $12, which is a lot, and more than I would usually spend on a makeup or skincare item, but I really wanted to try it.
The scrub tub was actually a lot bigger than I expected. From the images I thought it would be the size of a lip balm pot, but it's about twice that size.
UK shipping was $10.95, HOWEVER you will be hit with a customs charge and have to visit your local post office to pay the balance before you can get your hands on the package. That was an extra £10 which was a nasty surprise!
So to sum up, the product smells good, you get a good amount, and it works. The downside is the postage price coupled with the hit from the customs charge, so unfortunately this will have to be my one and only Jeffree Star purchase.
I don't know about you, but I find in summer time I am more reluctant to fire up the oven to cook, and instead go with quick and easy food. Now the season is changing I'm craving more homely dishes, Sunday roast style.
So I went along to M&S, Sprucefield this time, to pick up some new, easy to cook products, and something for our family Sunday lunch yesterday.
There was an interesting selection of meats, with duck, rabbit and wood pigeon to choose from. I went for the rabbit, which is perfect for slow cooker recipes. M&S also has a wide selection of potato and other vegetable sides. I love the ease of these, no chopping or peeling.
Some of the new sides available
For Sunday lunch for four I picked this hearty rack of pork. These are priced by weight, so you can choose a piece that is the right size for your family. The tangy apple sauce accompaniment really made the meal delicious. My parents said it was the nicest pork they've had in a long time.
Potato tots were fab
Now here's what I'm talking about. The Cook Menu is a range of meals you simply put in the oven without preparation that 'elevate the everyday' dinner time offering. There are salmon, pork and chicken varieties, pre-seasoned and with their own sauces and vegetables included.
Look at how colourful they are even before going in the oven. They are meant for one person per pack and are on offer right now, I think it was 25% off.
The piri piri chicken cooked
Finally I had a look at what's new in the lunch department. Lots of avocado choices which made me happy. If you want to check out what else is new, visit the Marks & Spencer website.
My next M&S blog post will be the Halloween 2016 run down, which I know you are all looking forward to as I'm getting lots of hits this week on last year's post. Hang in there, soon!
TK Maxx open their first new NI store in 11 years tomorrow morning, 9am, bright and early, in Ards Shopping Centre.
The store is in the previous Tesco location, with a huge major refit having taken place in the past few months as part of a wave of new retailers arriving at the centre.
Smix & I went along for a nosy this evening, and here are my 13 top kitsch picks spotted in store, counted down.
13. The Entire Halloween Department.
Halloween only started to get big here about ten years ago. We always had parties, but now the UK is swaying towards the full on, decorate the whole house, celebrate all of October, type Halloween season. I remember 8 years ago when I was just married and had a house to decorate, travelling to the big Boucher Road TK Maxx to buy their imported Halloween Homeware. Candles, ornaments, prints, cushions- of course many of the pieces were used all year round as back then I was a little more rock and roll than I am now. So skull print everything wasn't just for Halloween!
Top choices from this year's selection of home wares? The light up signs and skulls for sure. Those Halloween print tea towels I wouldn't be afraid of using all year round either.
12. The Stationary.
Lots of notebooks, crafting items, and down in the second pic, very cute storage pouches.
11. Retro Bins.
We are living in a time where even a bin can be retro! I love the blue especially.
10. A Rainbow of Blankets.
You would have a hard time choosing. They have autumnal oranges & russet tones. Beautiful teal throws and peacock blue blankets.
9. Tiny Little Cat Shoesies.
These little felt slippers make me jealous I'm not a five year old girl. Cosy for winter or even as part of a show stopping Halloween outfit.
8. Macarons.
So many flavours. I think these were £2.49 because I remember thinking they were prices really reasonably when I picked them up. They even had my favourite- pistachio.
7. Kitschy Cute Bags.
I think the accessories have to be my favourite part of TK Maxx. It's where you'll most readily find something designer that you can buy without it being the same price as that month's mortgage payment.
I thought this was a school bag, but I imagine I might get a phone call from the office if I sent in a bag with 'nice junk' on it. Doesn't stop us big kids having it for the gym or university though.
6. Moroccan Tea Glasses.
I literally haven't seen these for sale anywhere else. They had several different designs too. I think I would feel like royalty having a cuppa in these, although I might ruin it with my tea preference for lots of sugar and milk. How uncouth!
5. Kooky Phone Cases.
They've a good selection of Skinny Dip London cases. I discovered Skinny Dip on our last trip wandering round Soho trying to find Yo Sushi. Everything is neon, glittery, furry, sparkly, in other words- every single darn thing I love.
4. Designer Scarves.
A designer scarf is a great accessory if, like me, you can't afford designer clothes. You could be wearing a Primark outfit but adding a fancy scarf can make you look a lil' bit more expensive.
The new TK Maxx has your full on designer name print scarves where there's no doubt about who made it, but also more subtle but well known lines like Love Moschino's Olive Oyl prints. Both these scarves were under £50.
3. Unicorn Armour Purses.
If unicorns needed armour I bet it would look like these purses. So shiny. I want.
2. Mega Kitsch Fake Fur Scarves.
These scarves would make any old coat look crazily cool, and they were only £9.99 each.
1. A Three Foot Flamingo.
My top pick from the new store. A lifesize flamingo. I think I know what to ask Santa for this year now.
But what did I buy? Well from the beauty department I picked up a Sanctuary Spa candle for £2.99
All TK Maxx store are having huge beauty events right now, so there are lots of bargains to be had.
I couldn't resist these socks either. £3.99 for three pairs. Cats and pugs and sailors.
My major purchase I was talked into by my little shopping buddy.
This Little Moose satchel style handbag. RRP £50 but I got it for £29.99
Look how cute!
So get yourselves down in the morning to be some of the first to grab the best bargains. If you find anything particularly cool- tweet me so I can see! My username is @rudedoodle
As heard on BBC Radio 6's Lauren Laverne Show.
