Jet lag is a bitch. I'm struggling and that is a fact. I've not had anywhere to be or anywhere to go so I've been lounging around the house in sweats pretty much this whole week. Luckily for me Blondie Boy has picked up the slack and is stylish as always. He is really into hats and picked this one out on his own to go with his outfit.
He is so his mother's son he had such a fun time with our little faux photo shoot. He was doing poses and dancing around and having an all together good time!
Are your children posers or are they camera shy?
Nominations for the BIB Awards close this Friday at midnight BST. If you like What I Wore Wednesday and fancy nominating me in any of the categories this is the information you need to know and fill in:
Blog Name: Transatlantic Blonde
Blog URL: http://transatlanticblonde.blogspot.co.uk
Blog Twitter ID: @Melaina25
Blogger Email: M e l a i n a 2 5 at Gmail dot com
I greatly appreciate anyone who nominates me but if you don't want to no biggie!
Transatlantic Blonde was provided a POP outfit for review but the cuteness and opinions are all our own.
Where has the year gone??!?! I made a folder for work called "Week 51" on Monday--how are there only two weeks left n the year? It's all flown by so fast and I know I'll blink and Christmas will be here. On Friday Blondie Boy had his first Nativity Play at school; I wasn't sure what it was going to be like but it was just kids dressed up singing Christmas songs so my "separation of church and state" issues didn't really matter. Blondie Boy was a shepherd.
For the past two weeks he's been singing songs to me in the car and it's been super cute. He knew all the words and sang in tune so I was looking forward to seeing him perform with all his friends. This is what he did for the entire show:
Yup. He was happy, well behaved and cute but he didn't sing. He just stuck his tongue out. Stuck it straight out, to the left, to the right--anyway you can stick your tongue out he did it. He's obviously the next superstar.To be fair to him there are many stories of myself at age 3 showing my Mom and Dad my ballet recital routine over and over and when the actual recital came I stood there with my fingers in my mouth. I got over my stage fright so I'm sure he will too. Here he is actually singing Rudolph though just so you know he can actually do it. I love that he says "very nice shiny nose" and "like toothpaste." I have no idea why we said that for the history part growing up but I promise you we did even though NotBlondeHusband hates it because toothpaste can't be of a historical nature--whatever it's funny. As soon as the play was over we had to high tail it home to grab our suitcases and head to the airport and visit NBH's sister for the weekend. Blondie Boy was super excited to visit London (he's only flown through before) and see his Auntie Katie. We went to the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park but most exciting we accidentally came across Santa at the South Bank Christmas Market!
Now tell me that's not Santa! Santa was very lovely and Blondie Boy was pretty star struck but managed to count out on his fingers for Santa which cars he wanted. Now if you don't believe explain this--after telling Santa what he wanted NBH and I found said cars that we've been searching for for months at Tesco in Clapham. I believe! We had a great weekend and we've come back and it's still go, go, go! My outfit this week is from Monday. I was chairing a fundraising meeting for Glasgow Women's Aid and then went to get my eyebrows done. My salon is in the centre of town so I got to walk through George Square and the Christmas lights to get from my car to the salon.
Purple and Grey Striped Zipper Dress-LOFT outlet
Purple Quilted Vest-GAP outlet
Skinny Jeans-Old Navy
Black Boots-Sketchers
Grey Knit Newsboy hat-Adidas outlet
The sun goes down around 3:30pm now and once it's down you need a hat on! I liked this zipper details on sides of the bottom of this dress but the dress itself is pretty shapeless so I have to wear the vest over the top. Also it is freaking freezing and you need a coat--to be honest I should have worn a full coat but I love my vest! I'm not sure if maybe a belt would help the dress? I'm a bit scared of belts if I'm honest. The dress is basically sort of sack of potato like around the middle if you know what I mean!
So we're 6 sleeps until Christmas and we don't even have a tree yet since things have been so hectic! If you celebrate Christmas are you ready?
Also I feel I need to say that I don't feel it is my place to say anything about the horrible events last Friday; I'm very clear in my own thoughts on gun control and the 2nd amendment even more so than ever after such a horrible tragedy. I urge you all to please sign this WhiteHouse.gov petition for legislation on gun control in the USA.
I LOVE Halloween. It is slowly getting more and more popular (or maybe just commercialized?) every year here in the UK which makes me happy. We are going to be in the USA for Halloween (yay!) but I still wanted to do some fun Halloween crafts with Blondie Boy before we left. It didn't make sense to carve a pumpkin since we'd be leaving and also since he's a toddler I don't exactly trust him with sharp knives. So we painted a Jack O Lantern.
The hardest part was my portion which was taping on the Jack O Lantern's face. I just took some masking tape, overlapped strips and made giant squares to then cut out the shapes I wanted. The eyes and nose were easy but the mouth was a little bit more fiddly.
Then I just let Blondie Boy go to town with some poster paints and he painted all over the pumpkin. Once it was dry I peeled off the tape to reveal the "carved" Jack O Lantern face.
Blondie Boy is a boy after his Mom's heart and had me add some glitter to the eyes, nose and mouth. It actually kind of mimics the flicker of a candle so I think it turned out pretty cool.
He is so proud of it and always talks about "his pumpkin" when we pull in the driveway.
Since the pumpkin went so well we decided to make some hand Spiders that I saw on Kismet's Fate's Instagram. Again super easy but possibly messy--what craft involving paint isn't messy with a toddler?
Paint one of your toddler's hands and have them make handprints on a bit of card stock or poster board. Then paint their other hand and make another handprint next to it making sure the thumbs over lap.
Let the hand prints dry and then cut around the hand spiders. It is quite curvy so depending on how good your child is with scissors they could do this themselves or you can do it.
Then glue on googly eyes. I found it was a lot easier for Blondie Boy to glue on the larger eyes so we used them so he could do it himself.
We stuck them all over Blondie Boy's bedroom door to make it extra spooky and he took one to his Grandma's house for her bulletin board. Have you being doing any Halloween crafts?
So for the past three weeks I haven't worn pants/trousers. Don't worry I haven't been running around outside pantless flashing people but I've only been wearing tights or leggings on my bottom half while I'm trying to lose weight. Part of this is due to the fact that I bust a massive hole in the the jeans that fit before I started losing weight and partly that I don't want to try on the next size down and be discouraged. If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter you'll know I've been doing Weight Watchers (I am that annoying person that takes a photo of what they are eating) and so far I have lost 9lbs. I'm pretty happy about it especially since I didn't stress over what I was eating in London and just went and had Dim Sum because I wanted it. The iPhone app makes it all pretty easy since I can type in any nutritional info and get the points but most of all NotBlondeHusband cooks dinner at night which is amazing. There are so many great Weight Watchers blogs so we've found lots of recipes all of us can enjoy without busting my diet. If you are looking for recipes there are a ton on my "Stop the Muffin Overflowing" Pinterest board. Anyway I digress! Because I've been focused on what I'm eating I've not been focused on what I'm wearing, but luckily my stylish little dude is happy to step in for me. There was a massive HM sale online and I ordered ourselves a 50% duvet cover and decided to let Blondie Boy pick out a hat, too. He LOVES hats and he was more than happy to have a photoshoot for me. I think he may have inherited his mommy's love of being in front of the camera!
If you are keeping track of what cars are his co-stars that is Miguel Camino. I'm attending a VIP Fashion Show as part of Glasgow Business Week on Thursday so I will definitely be back next week, just probably in leggings of some shape or form!
I'm pretty picky about what Blondie Boy wears; I don't like clothes that are cluttered or have lots of characters or stupid sayings on them. Unfortunately a lot of children's clothes do (sometimes all at once-ew!) and are basically the opposite of what I'd consider stylish. Maybe it is silly but I like to think that Blondie Boy is stylish. I like to get him clothes that he can play in but look like a cool dude while doing so. Polarn O. Pyret is a Swedish children's company that makes good-looking clothes that make life easier. They are environmentally and socially responsible but what I love best is that they make clothing for children--not boys or girls, children. They say "We aim to make the world’s best jacket, knee sock, t-shirt and sun hat. Who wears what – and what colours – is up to you." How freaking awesome is that? It certainly makes this feminist mama happy. Blondie Boy got sent two shirts and a jacket to try from the new Autumn collection. It's not quite cold enough for his jacket yet but how cool does he look? The jacket will be perfect for Scottish weather since it is water proof and it will be no surprise to you it rains here a lot!
I love this blue courdory shirt and the funky print orange cotton top paired with it. I washed the shirts several times and the colours haven't faded or bled. They are a bit of the big size for him but that just means he'll get more wear out of them! They aren't fussy or fancy but stylish and sturdy--what more could you want in children's clothes? What are some of your favourite children's clothes?
Transatlantic Blonde were provided clothing for the purpose of this review but all opinions are our own. Y'all should know I don't say anything I don't want to by now!
So I have just about bust a hole in the only pair of jeans I have that fit--not good--and I only buy jeans from Old Navy which doesn't exist in the UK. I'll be home in less than two months but hopefully in that amount of time I can lose enough weight (it isn't a ton) to fit into the next size down. In the meantime it means I'm doing everything I can not to turn that almost hole into a hole so I'm not wearing my jeans and I'm in a funk about most of what I have to wear. So instead of me this week you get Blondie Boy who always looks way cooler than I do anyway!
My Mom sent this top over for Blondie Boy and I love it! I pretty much have loved just about all of the Harajuku Mini collection I've seen and I can't wait to stock up when I'm home in October. The wee buttons at the front are actual buttons which I think is just super cute and y'all know I have a thing for skulls.
Blondie Boy also finally got to break out his Molo Jitterbugs; I freaking love these shoes. Not only are the tie-dye with sparkly silver laces but they are practical. There is a zipper on the side of the shoe so you can actually get the shoe on the toddler easily but he can't take them off easily-WINNER! Blondie Boy loved them so much he did a dance to celebrate.
Yes he is dancing with a car. You'll see the same car in the photo above. He is OBSESSED with cars; if you watched his vlog on my post about our holiday in Carnac his favourite thing was the "holiday car." I have no idea why he loves cars so much but there is always one nearby so dancing with one isn't so strange to me. Little Stomper are currently having a Flash Sale so get the trendy toddler in your life some dancing shoes of their own! Have you entered my Panasonic Giveaway? It ends September 2nd and you could win a Lumix Digital Camera or Amazon Gift Card (open worldwide)!
NotBlondeHusband has been working Sunday days so I've been trying to do something fun with Blondie Boy while he's at work. We've gone to to the park, made donut muffins and I decided to maybe try something artsy-craftsy and do some messy play painting. I can't remember where I saw it but I saw someone do painting by mixing shaving cream and food colouring. I was a bit worried that food colouring would stain Blondie Boy's hands and my bathroom so I use washable paint for our shaving cream paint instead. I used a muffin tin as a palette which worked really well; you won't need as much shaving cream as you think as it will expand and poof up as you mix the paint in with it.
I tend to do all painting and other messy play activities in the bathroom for easier clean-up but in this case Blondie Boy used the tub as his canvas, too. We started out with some paper but he had more fun painting the tiles which was fine with me.
I told him he could paint anything he wanted except his hair. Guess what he did 2.5 seconds after I said that. Not a big deal really, just meant I had to wash his hair.
He had a great time making hand-prints on the wall and writing his name (it wasn't legible but he said the correct letters so it counts) and kept telling me how much fun he was having and how the shaving cream paint felt like ketchup. The only downside was that the tub got VERY slippy the more covered in paint he got so eventually we had to end so he didn't get hurt. I think he could have spent the rest of the evening painting if he hand't been slipping and sliding all over. Clean up was as easy as spraying down the tub so can't complain there. We'll definitely be doing this one again since it was cheap, easy and fun. Do you have a favourite easy and cheap activity you like to do with toddlers?
For whatever reason Blondie Boy and I decided to be all domestic today and hang out in the kitchen. We started out by making home made raspberry lemonade (it's a bitch, just buy the mix) and then we made Egg Free Mini Donut Muffins with Cinnamon Sugar. Since Blondie Boy has an egg allergy most of my go to baking recipes don't work for him since they aren't egg free so I'm always excited when I find an egg free recipe that sound good.
It is actually hard to find recipes that are just egg-free since more recipes tend to be vegan or okay for other food allergies so most of what I make for Blondie Boy are recipes that just also happen to be egg free but aren't specifically designed with egg allergies in mind if that makes sense.
The recipe is really easy and it is a good one for getting your toddler involved since there is an assembly line at the end. Blondie Boy had a great time helping out but may have more than once held a donut in front of his mouth and smirked before dunking it in the butter mix. Cheeky toddlers!
Notice he couldn't even wait for me to snap a pic before he snagged one!
Ingredients:
1 cup caster sugar (1/2 for batter, 1/2 for coating)
8 TBSP Butter (4TBSP melted for batter & 4TBSP melted for coating)
Generous sprinkle ground nutmeg
1/2 cup Milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour/plain flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Method:
Preheat oven to 375/190 degrees (I did 180 in my fan assisted oven) and prep a 24 mini muffin pan.
In a large mixing bowl, add in 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, and nutmeg and mix. Add in 1/2 cup milk and mix until combined. Slowly add in the dry ingredients (1 tsp. baking powder and 1 cup flour) until combined.
Pour batter until half full in muffin pan holes. Place in preheated oven and bake for 15-18 minutes.
While the muffins are baking, get out 2 more bowls. In the first one, melt the remaining 1/4 cup of butter and set aside. In the second bowl, mix together remaining sugar (1/2 cup) and ground cinnamon and set next to the melted butter to create an assembly line.
Remove muffins from oven when an inserted toothpick comes clean (It only took 15 minutes in my oven). Remove muffins from tin and start assembly line by dipping muffins into melted butter and then coating with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. (This is the best place to get your toddler involved. Have them drop the muffins in the butter and then shake them in the sugar mixture).
Serve immediately or store in an air-tight container
Blondie Boy is a big fan of Mickey Mouse and his Clubhouse friends so when we were offered tickets to see Mickey's Magic Show at Glasgow's Braehead Arena we jumped at the chance. We'd never taken him to any sort of live show before so we didn't know how he'd react but he was super excited about the show before we went. He told everyone he was going to see Mickey even the waitress at lunch!
We got to Braehead Arena in plenty of time to look around at what goodies were on offer and find our seats in plenty of time. There were lots of toys, treats and everything with Mickey on it under the sun as well as a chance to get a photo memento of the day. Normally that is not something I would do but Grandma, who's a big of a Disney fan as BB, was with us and really wanted to get BB a treat. As you'd expect snow cones are £7, but you get to take home a Mickey mug with it--thing aren't cheap but they aren't too extortionate.
Our seats were right up front on the floor so we had a great view of the stage but as most of the tricks were on a large-ish scale there weren't any bad seats. Blondie Boy had his own seat but chose instead to swap between his Grandma, Dad and my laps throughout the show.
You aren't allowed to take any photographs or videos during the show but I snapped this one of Blondie Boy just as it started and I think it sums up what he thought. He was totally in awe as the show began and clapped and shouted the magic word and danced along throughout the show.
The show includes Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald as well as a host of Disney Princesses including Cinderella and Belle and two of Mickey's Illusionist friends. One of the cooler tricks in my opinion was the homage to Fantasia where brooms dance and Minnie levitates.
The show was just a little bit long for Blondie Boy, he is only 2 1/2, and he needed to run around and let off some steam during the intermission. Even though he did get ants in his pants when we went to leave he kept saying he needed to see Mickey again. It was a lovely afternoon out but I'll let you hear from the one who matter most about what he thought:
Probably not the world's most elaborate or verbose review but he's two what do you expect :) If you couldn't make it out he said "I love you Mickey and Minnie" at the end and it is totally true. Thank you so much to Disney Mums UK for our tickets; Grandma is already talking about taking Blondie Boy to Disney on Ice: Passport to Adventure when it comes this autumn.
Mickey's Magic Show is on tour throughout the UK with dates remaining in:
Capital FM Arena, Nottingham
Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd July 2012
The NIA, Birmingham
Wednesday 25th – Sunday 29th July 2012
The Lowry Theatre, Salford
Wednesday 1st August – Sunday 5th August 2012
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
Wednesday 8th – Saturday 11th August 2012
Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield
Tuesday 14th & Wednesday 15th August 2012
Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
Friday 17th – Sunday 19th August 2012
The Brighton Centre
Thursday 23rd – Sunday 26th August 2012
Echo Arena, Liverpool
Wednesday 29th August – Sunday 2nd September 2012
Transatlantic Blonde were provided tickets to the show for review but all opinions are our own. Do you seriously think I could make a toddler tell anything but the truth?
Blondie Boy loves to play outside, something not exactly compatible with Scottish weather, but given the choice he'd be outside all day, every day if possible. In general all outside toys are a win with him but I wasn't sure what Blondie Boy would think about a scooter and wasn't even sure he'd be able to scoot but OMG does he love his Micro Scooter. You'll notice that he is indoors in this photo--he's standing on his scooter watching tv. Blondie Boy drags his scooter all around the house and if I'd let him it would sit up on the couch with him.
I was actually quite surprised how quickly he figured out how to actually scoot on his micro scooter. Blondie Boy has a Mini Micro Scooter which had two wheels at the front for greater stability for little legs so he's less likely to lose balance. He can easily scoot along but still isn't the best at steering! This video is literally the first time he took his scooter outside, Glasgow isn't ideal for outside pursuits before May, and you can see how he took to it. If you listen carefully you can hear him say "I'm doing it!"
Since he isn't quite two and a half when we take the scooter out more often than not he alternates between scooting, pulling the scooter, having Mommy or Daddy drag him on the scooter and just walking while one of us carries it. Today though I busted out the Micro Sprite Scooter, suitable for older children and adults and we had so much fun scooting together.
Blondie Boy loved racing Mommy and scooting beside me and since we were in our own backyard I didn't have to worry if he wandered away or dropped his scooter. I have a feeling we will have lots of fun scooting together when he is just a wee bit bigger, too! In the meantime do you think I can get away with scooting around my block on my own? I think it would be a great workout!
This Jubilee weeked there is free shipping on all Limited Edition Union Jack Scooters! Super cute if you are wanting to get behind Team GB this summer!
Transatlantic Blonde were provided these scooters for review but all opinions are our own. Have you ever been around a two year old? They are about as honest as it gets :)
Okay so I'm going to be honest. This week I've looked a hot mess. I was sick the first half of the week, then Blondie Boy was sick and finally NotBlondeHusband got the crud. The three of us have been in some form of PJ's pretty much not stop. It has also been super cold and foggy so you wouldn't really want to leave the house anyway.
Today however was bright and sunny (but still really cold) so I took Blondie Boy up to Drumpellier Country Park to play on the playgrounds and see the water fowl. He loves slides and the playground had three different ones (plus two that were too big for him) for him to try out. So this week it not what I wore but what he wore; he's cuter to look at than me anyway :)
I have no idea why one leg is tucked in and one is not; apparently my son thinks he's gangsta. I know I'm kinda copping out this week so here's a super cute video of him sliding down one of the slides! He started the whole "ready, steady, go" thing on his own but of course I had to prompt him once the camera came out :)
On a final note I'd like to ask if you link up that you please comment on at least two other linked posts; it can be this and another post or two other posts---basically I don't want this to just be a place to link I want it to be interactive. Plus it is just polite to say "hey" right?
So technically this wasn't this week but my sister just got her photos back and how freaking adorable do Blondie Boy and his buddy Leo look in their tuxedos? Blondie Boy was the flower dude in my sister's wedding last October and he and Leo wore these adorable tuxedos from My Tuxedo. The tuxedos are surprisingly affordable (packages start at £20!) and I love that the waist of the pants were adjustable and they came un-hemmed so BB will be able to wear them again in the future.
The only photo I have of myself from the past week (even though I had several proper outfits this week) is from Blondie Boy's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Birthday party so it will have to do!
It was Blondie Boy's Birthday on the 5th and I think he had a pretty awesome time. As always all his treats were egg-free for his birthday and if I'm honest I thought the pancakes, cupcakes and cake were all super tasty if I do say so myself!
We had his party yesterday at The Life Craft in Glasgow and all the kids had a great time with messy play (painting, playdough and more) and got to decorate their own tote bag to take away! Can't recommend it enough if you are looking for a children's birthday party in Glasgow. Instead of blabbing on about BB's big T-W-O I will let some photos do the talking!
Yay Birthday! Woke up to presents and Egg-Free Mickey Pancakes.
Auntie Katie got him his first car! He calls it "Elmo car"--it is read with googly eyes!
Birthday Boy requested Purple Frosting for his Egg-Free Chocolate Cupcakes
Come Inside, It's Fun Inside! Fantastic Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Birthday Party at the Life Craft
.JPG)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
The hardest part was my portion which was taping on the Jack O Lantern's face. I just took some masking tape, overlapped strips and made giant squares to then cut out the shapes I wanted. The eyes and nose were easy but the mouth was a little bit more fiddly.
I was actually quite surprised how quickly he figured out how to actually scoot on his micro scooter. Blondie Boy has a Mini Micro Scooter which had two wheels at the front for greater stability for little legs so he's less likely to lose balance. He can easily scoot along but still isn't the best at steering! This video is literally the first time he took his scooter outside, Glasgow isn't ideal for outside pursuits before May, and you can see how he took to it. If you listen carefully you can hear him say "I'm doing it!"
Blondie Boy loved racing Mommy and scooting beside me and since we were in our own backyard I didn't have to worry if he wandered away or dropped his scooter. I have a feeling we will have lots of fun scooting together when he is just a wee bit bigger, too! In the meantime do you think I can get away with scooting around my block on my own? I think it would be a great workout!
