This week we had my oldest child's 26th birthday, and the very first place I went to buy him anything was Mothercare. His paternal Grandparents gave us the money to get his pram, and I chose a beautiful blue and grey patterned system, which was the poshest thing I owned at the time by far. It would look ridiculously dated now, so I'm almost glad I don't have a photo.

I was a superstitious pregnant lady and I never bought any of my children anything until I was past 28 weeks, but when my pregnancy was making me tired, sore, sick or just down in the dumps, I'd go and browse Mothercare to get my happy hormones back on track and become excited about my new arrival.


When we bought our car seats, Mothercare employees showed us how to fit them correctly, and when my boobs inflated to twice their non-pregnant size, I had my first ever fitting at a Mothercare store.

That might have been over 26 years ago, but my earliest memories of Mothercare are a long way before then. I was the eldest of 3 children, and my parents were foster carers for babies when I was growing up. A trip to Mothercare meant we were about to get a new arrival, and my mother would carefully choose everything she would need ready for when she brought them home from the hospital.

Last night I was invited along to be among the very first people to check out the brand new Søstrene Grene store in Manchester city centre. I was also allowed to bring home a bag of goodies to show you the kind of products they offer...


Søstrene Grene sell all kinds of homewares, including gifts, cookware and specialist ingredients, craft materials, children's toys, Christmas decorations, prints and frames, cushions and a whole load more to make your home comfortable and attractive.


The layout is very European, spacious and enticing. Immediately you are met with teas, coffees and preserves, and other foods. They even have loose tea by the bag - my OH was ecstatic with his Ginger and Rhubarb. There are lots of quirky, artisan or unusual foods which are very tempting to try.

Maqio are based incredibly locally to me and have just launched a new low-cost toy e-commerce store specialising in Maqio Boxes. These are specially decorated storage boxes that will never peel because they use In-Mould Labelling (IML). During curing the labels are fused with the box, so your box can be washed and used for years, but the pictures and patterns won't ever wear away or look tatty.


We've been sent a big selection from the Maqio Box range to review - and the prices are good. This whole lot is well under £50, and if you buy before 20th December, there's an extra 10% off throughout the whole site.

We were sorting our Christmas decorations anyway, so they couldn't be handier - although they will mainly end up storing toys upstairs in the bedrooms.

A couple of weekends ago we were guests of intu Trafford Centre to take at a look at the Stylist Live event. This was a free weekend long event with talks, catwalk shows and pop up stalls all throughout the main mall of the centre.


We were invited along and so was Sim from Manchester Mummy, so we all jumped in her car bright and early on the Sunday morning. It's really weird being inside The Trafford Centre when nothing is open and it's almost empty...

Treads shoes are designed especially with longevity in mind. Sensible, water-resistant shoes which have special reinforcement and a moulded sole which is firmly fixed into the shoe.

My youngest is a livewire. He never stops moving and even when he's sitting down he's kicking his feet and rubbing them across the floor. After he destroyed 3 pairs of shoes between Christmas and April, I was delighted when I was asked to review Treads.


You can see my Treads school shoes review here, I was impressed from the start, but the important thing was always going to be "will they survive?". Just how realistic is that 1 year guarantee? I promised I'd return to them and now seems as good a point as any... and I'll be more than happy to come back again if they still fit in another 4 months time...

i-SPY books have been around for a long time. I remember diligently filling in my copy of i-SPY Butterflies as a child, although I mainly used it for reference as these fact-filled pocket-sized books have big, clear illustrations and concise descriptions. They also have a completist, competitive aspect as you try to tick off as many of the objects or animals as you can, score 1000 points and become a Super-Spotter, earning a badge and certificate.


We've been sent a bundle of 4 of the new i-SPY books  to review - At The Shops, Garden Birds, In The City and with plenty of nostalgia for me, Butterflies And Moths. They're very much the same as they were 40 years ago, with a wealth of information packed into a tiny book.

When I spotted Treads school shoes have a '1 year Guarantee Against Destruction', I had to question if it was real. It is, and they're confident that their specially designed moulded soles and reinforced shoes can withstand all the punishment your little angels can put them through.


Treads asked if I wanted to review, and as my youngest is on his 3rd pair of shoes already this school year, I was utterly delighted to put them to the challenge. Obviously this post is our initial reaction, but I will revisit our shoes once my children grow out of them to see how well they did!

The first Christmas I was with my.partner, I bought him a PSP. He bought me a coffee machine. That's the only time he's ever bought me kitchen equipment for Christmas. I tried to be very polite, but it was probably quite obvious I was a teensy bit disappointed. I simply didn't enjoy playing with my coffee maker as much as he enjoyed playing with his PSP.


Truth is my partner hadn't even considered to buy me toys for Christmas and to me that was very strange. It didn't occur to me that you bought people sensible presents at Christmas. Rightly or wrongly, he was happy to agree my way was best and we've never looked back. I've had a LEGO Creator House for Christmas each year since, and the Christmas Village LEGO set for my birthday in November.

A Halloween party at the beginning of October might seem a bit strange, but heck it was fun! We were given a budget by Poundworld to buy all the necessary equipment and some food and drink to keep our guests happy....well, happy in a Halloween way....


The fun started way before the party - which child wouldn't want to be able to choose a whole £30 worth of goodies from the Halloween aisle in Poundworld! You simply can't carry it all!


The boys had a brilliant time choosing, and we could really go a bit wild. Best half hour I've spent in ages. Holographic glasses were first in the basket, followed by a rubber hand...naturally...

If you haven't heard of Smiggle then somewhat unusually I'm well ahead of you. The Australian-based stationery company have recently opened a branch in the Manchester Arndale, and now they're spreading out further with branches in Bury, Bolton and Bradford opening in early June.


Smiggle is dedicated to creating original, fun and affordable stationery. The products are focused on bold colour, quirky graphics, good value, innovation and most of all – giving fans the tools they need to have fun. A pencil at Smiggle is not 'just a pencil'. It might be smelly or furry or liquid chalk or disguised as a wild animal, but it isn't 'just' anything.