Friday 30 May 2014

Bump Watch 2014: 22 Weeks

When I was pregnant with Blondie Boy I did weekly updates and bump photos; since I posted a photo on Wednesday I won't share another one today but I will try to do a weekly update this time around, too! If you want to compare here is BB's 22 week update.


*How far along?: 22 weeks
*Total weight gain: I've not gotten on the scales because I've not been asked!
*How big is baby?: Papaya
*Maternity clothes?: Yes; I'm 99% sure I'm ridiculously bigger this time around
*Sleep?: I keep waking up between 4:30-6 in the morning and then either getting back to sleep around 7 if it's an earlier wake up or just be up for the day if later. Needless to say I'm tired.
*Best moment this week?: Last Friday we found out the baby's sex, but aren't telling anyone #TeamSmug
*Movement?: I mostly feel movement when I'm leaning forward at the laptop or in bed. Basically if I infringe upon the bebe's space they are not pleased.
*Food cravings?: Lemonade, lemon pasta, lemons in general
*Labor signs?: No
*Belly button in or out?: Innie but I've had a pregnancy belly bar in for awhile 
*What I miss: Energy
*What I'm looking forward to: My cousin is visiting from Ohio
*Milestone: Actually being able to tell everyone we are expecting!

Wednesday 28 May 2014

What I Wore Wednesday: I've got a secret...

So the past two months have been interesting. My previous contract ended March 31st so since then I've been applying for jobs and going on interviews. I was getting told I was over-qualified and would end up bored or I was the perfect candidate but outside their budget. Then of course there was the 15+ calls for positions in London which sounded amazing but umm yea I live in Glasgow!

So it all was getting a bit frustrating. I had bits of freelance work in the meantime but the longer it went on the more anxious I got. Then I had three interviews within three days and three offers not even a week later! So now I have a new contract and will start June 2nd and I feel like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders. But you see there is a bit more to the story as to why I could breathe a huge sigh of relief.


pregnant blonde

I'm pregnant. 21 1/2 weeks pregnant to be exact. Going on job interviews 19 weeks pregnant is interesting to say the least! I wasn't lying about my pregnancy but I was employing every tv trick (you know when actress is pregnant, but character isn't) in the book to disguise my growing bump: cropped blazer, long scarves and the giant bag you see above.

My new contact knows I am pregnant and are totally okay with it and accommodating so I couldn't be happier. The job is really exciting and challenging and will see me work between Edinburgh and Glasgow up until September when I will take a break to have Blondie Boy's new sibling and then come back a few months later to finish up! It's great to not only have a new contract but to know I will have work waiting for me when I come back, too!

Blondie Boy is pretty excited although he is very clear he doesn't want to have to deal with any poopy diapers. His super cute big brother tee is from Tee and Toast. You have no idea how hard it was to find a cool big brother tee!

Second time around I feel like my bump is much bigger so normal clothes aren't really an option. That being said this is a maxi dress I've worn before that I got at TK Maxx but since I'm a shorty it actually fits better with my bump taking more fabric and making it shorter!

It's so nice to be able to show off my bump rather than hide it and now I'm in full on maternity shopping mode! So tell me what are your favourite maternity brands? It's been 5 years since my last pregnancy and I'm hoping that the selection has improved :)

I will keep WIWW to fashion and do a bump update every Friday but I can't really help that maternity wear is going to creep in so apologizes if that annoys anyone! I do have a fabulous, non-maternity, giveaway coming soon so keep your eyes peeled!






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Tuesday 20 May 2014

What I Wore Wednesday: Hely Hair Studio, Glasgow

I've been told that shadow roots are the new "in" thing for hair but let's be honest I just let my highlights get WAY too grown out. This is the second time in a year I've let my hair venture into unintentional ombre area and I don't know what I keep doing this to myself! I love being blonde and my natural dingy shade of blonde just doesn't cut it--I want my hair to be blondie, blonde, blonde, BLONDE!

Luckily the fabulous Sindy from Hely Hair Studio came to my rescue. I was really impressed with Sindy and the team at Hely Hair from the Paul Mitchell event last month so I made an appointment to come in and get my hair sorted out! My highlights needed sorted and my cut was way grown out and was lacking shape and style.


shadow roots blonde

I met with Sindy earlier in the week to discuss what I was after; basically a brighter blonde with lowlights in my natural dirty blonde so any growth isn't super obvious. My number one hair length rule is it always has to be long enough to go in a ponytail but otherwise I wasn't fussed with how much needed to come off to make it look fuller and healthier.

Sindy mixed up three different shades and I got all foiled up. After my colour was processed I got a deep conditioning treatment that made me feel like I'd temporarily joined Daft Punk.


daft punk helmets

I didn't have to worry about getting lucky though because my cut and colour came about amazing! I ended up having a few inches off to bring back my long layers and give some shape to my hair and the blonde is back!


best blonde in glasgow

I love going brighter blonde for summer--who am I kidding I love being a brighter blonde all year round! I'm super happy with how my hair has turned out and I'm so glad to have found somewhere that can give me the style and colour I love so much! If you are looking for a salon in Glasgow to give you that perfect blonde hair I can't recommend Hely Hair Studio enough!






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Wednesday 14 May 2014

What I Wore Wednesday: Hard Rock Cafe Glasgow

When we were little our Dad would bring us back Hard Rock Cafe pins from his business trips. I remember getting this amazing HRC tee in Washington DC where the eagle had a guitar in his claws and walking in the rain to a Hard Rock in Paris. In fact I probably have a lot of Hard Rock stories and have visited a few in the US and abroad. Needless to say I was pretty stoked when one arrived in Glasgow a few months ago.

A few weeks ago I was invited to try out Hard Rock Cafe Glasgow's new menu of American classics with a twist. Unsurprisingly as an American expat I was crazy, ridiculous excited---this may me an understatement! I love American food and well most places in Glasgow that do "American" food don't actually have any American roots or any sort of validity.

We were greeted with their AeroMexico flight--three margaritas and a side of chips and salsa. How freaking cute is that! I was driving so our flight had virgin strawberry daiquiris which were so good. I normally can't eat salsa in Glasgow because it has so much cilantro in it but this was perfect!

Aeromexico flight margarita chips salsa

I should have gotten photos of our massive nachos and sampler plate of potato skins, onion rings, wings, bruschetta and chicken tenders but I was more focused on scarfing then on snapping! My absolute favourite though was the spinach and artichoke dip. NOWHERE in Glasgow has spinach and artichoke dip and I miss it so much. This did not disappoint and I mar or may have not nabbed another tables when they didn't finish it!

Blonde Cocktails

Next I moved on to possibly my new favourite mocktail the Groupie Grinder. The name is clearly awesome and it is mango Purée, housemade piña colada mix and pineapple juice blended with a fresh strawberry swirl. YUM! It went really well with my main course of cajun battered shrimp, fries and citrus slaw. I swapped out my cocktail sauce for ranch dressing because I'm American and I can! When you see ranch abroad you order it!


RHCP Foo Fighters Poster

Like every Hard Rock Cafe there is lots of rock and roll memorabilia and a great selection from Scottish artists. My favourite though had to be this Red Hot Chili Pepper and Foo Fighters poster for a concert in Ohio! It was funny to see something from my home state.

It was such a great night and I ate FAR too much! I'm excited to go back again and most likely eat my body weight in spinach and artichoke dip and drink it in Groupie Grinders!

So obviously this is What I Wore Wednesday so what did I wear you ask? Well for me there wasn't any question what to wear to the Hard Rock:

Hard Rock Cafe Glasgow

It had to be my Guns n Roses tee! I paired it with jeans, a studded bracelet and gym shoes. I would have liked cuter shoes but it was absolutely freezing and I took public transportation so practical won out!  As you can see the fabulous Miss West End Girl clearly outdressed me in her leopard wedge trainers, ballerina skirt and bowler hat!

Have you ever been to the Hard Rock Cafe? What would you have worn?

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Saturday 10 May 2014

Grilled Steak and Cheese Sandwiches

Our local grocery store is Morrisons so since it is only a 10 minute walk away we were really excited to hear about our new cheaper Morrisons. From this past bank holiday weekend they have cut the prices on over a thousand of your favourite products. Not temporary reductions or supermarket smoke and mirrors but new every day low prices on the things you buy every week. How fab is that? So we headed to the store to see how much it would be to make one of our favourite recipes: Grilled Steak and Cheese Sandwiches.

If you haven't been to a Morrisons in a while now is the time to go. The new remodelled stores are amazing and remind me of grocery stores back home in America!

grocery store herb mister

There are misters on the fruits, vegetables and herbs! These are common place in stores in America but I've only ever seen them at Morrisons in the UK!

morrisons butcher counter

We love that Morrisons have proper butchers in store. We've found that the meat at Morrisons is always a higher standard and better quality than other stores.

morrisons bakery counter

How drool worthy is the bakery counter? There are tons of freshly made creations like donuts, cupcakes, cookies and more! I was so tempted!

I was good though and stuck to the plan to get our ingredients for the steak sandwiches, lots of fresh fruit for smoothies and some few World Cup stickers for a certain little helper!

2014 FIFA Word Cup Stickers

Steak sandwiches are one of our go-to meals and shopping for ingredients at the new cheaper Morrisons works out to only £3.12 per person! Plus lots of leftover peppers for Blondie Boy to snack on the rest of the week and some fly baguette for NotBlondeHusband to make a midnight snack! We cooked the sandwich two ways, regular for me and spicy for NBH.

Grilled Steak and Cheese Sandwiches




Ingredients
2 Scotch Beef Prime Popeye Rump Steaks
Medium Cheddar Cheese
Salad Peppers
Sliced Mushrooms
2 White Onions
Bird Eye Chillies
1 Baguette
Mayonnaise
Sriracha 






1) Roughly chop one pepper into large pieces, chop onion. De-seed and finely chop four small bird's eye chillis.

2) Season steak. Regular sandwich seasoned with salt and pepper, spicy sandwich add dry chillis.

3a) For regular sandwich, pre-heat pan to a high heat. Add peppers and cook for five minutes until charred. Turn down heat, add onions and cook for a further five minutes, add mushrooms and cook for five minutes until onions are translucent and mushrooms are cooked.
3b) For spicy sandwich, pre-heat pan to a medium heat, add chopped bird's eye chillis and onions, cook for five minutes, add mushrooms and cook for five minutes more.

4) In same pan cook steak to desired temperature (we like medium, medium-rare).

5) Slice steak and put in baguette. Top with desired veg and cheese. Melt cheese under pre-heated medium grill.


6) Add desired sauce: mayonnaise on regular sandwich, sriracha on spicy. 

7) Serve and enjoy!

This is one of our go to dinners and I'd say we have it at least every two weeks since it is so easy and quick to make. It's a great way to enjoy steak without having to spend a lot of money. We find these are great on their own but you could serve with fries or a side salad, too!
Child shopping at grocery


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Transatlantic Blonde were provided vouchers for the purpose of this shop but all opinions are our own.

Wednesday 7 May 2014

What I Wore Wednesday: Paul Mitchell Intelligent Styling

I love my hair. I fully own up to the fact that my state of mind/mood is impacted by whether or not I'm happy with my hair. And I'll be honest I've never been the best at styling my hair. I tend to wear it down and straight or down and wavy--that's all I got. I blame my Mom who used my sister and I like Barbie dolls and braided and bowed our hair but never really taught us how to do it ourselves. So I was really excited to head to the Paul Mitchell Intelligent Styling event at Hely Hair Studio in Hyndland.

The event was the launch and learn about Paul Mitchell's new Neuro Intelligent Styling toolsThe Neuro®, precision instruments include the Neuro® Dry, Neuro® Smooth, Neuro® Unclipped Rod, Neuro® Unclipped 1.25, Neuro® Unclipped 0.75 and Neuro® Curl. I personally fell in love with the Neuro Curl which creates waves and curls. It has a premium titanium barrel to ensure fast, precisely regulated heat in seconds and the clip grips hair for better style control and a smooth finish. I like my curling wand but this makes curls and waves so much quicker and easier!



The talented staff at Hely Hair Studio were on hand to create a variety of looks using the new Neuro tools as well as new Paul Mitchell express dry products. I opted to try a braided or plaited look because it is something I've never been able to execute myself.


Flirty Fishtail Braid Plaited Crown

First up I tried a flirty fishtail braid with a plaited crown. It's hard to tell but there is a teeny, tiny braid wrapped around the braid bun! This looked so amazing from the back and is definitely something I could never do myself but I was a bit self-conscious about how it looked from the front. Basically I was all face and I have A LOT of face!

Plaited Fringe Braid with Curls

So next we tried braiding just the front from my part to behind my ear and then I played with the Neuro Curl to create some waterfall curls at the end. We also kept that teeny, tiny braid I mentioned before (see it on the left?). I loved this look and it would be perfect for a day at the beach as your hair would be out of your face but not scraped back into a ponytail.

I got some great tips from the team at Hely Hair Studio on how to recreate this look myself but I've not given it a try yet. When you braid or plait your hair like this yourself you need to work upwards rather than downwards--otherwise you end up with what I have had in the past which is just a random braid hanging in your face!

What is your favourite way to style your hair? 
What styling tool or product could you not live without?

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THANK YOU to everyone who nominated me I've been shortlisted in the BiBs! Voting is now open and I'd really appreciate if you took a minute and voted for me!

If you can take a second to click I'd really appreciate it! 

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