The Fragrance Shop Discovery Club

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I wear perfume every day, but I'm a loyalist when it comes to fragrances and CK One has my heart and soul. Occasionally I'll layer it with a squirt of DKNY Be Delicious, or Davidoff Cool Waters, but by and large I like the simplicity of the maestro's signature fragrance.

The other  problem with trying new perfumes of course is that they are a very expensive item to get wrong. No-one wants to be stuck with a bottle of fragrance which, while smelling amazing on your sister, smells literally like toilet water on you. (True story; Eternity smells disgusting on me).

The Fragrance Shop Discovery Club [Read more…]

Frankie & Benny's (A Review)

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I've never been to Frankie & Benny's before, for various reasons one of which was that there wasn't a local branch near us in Cardiff Bay. Just a couple of years ago, one was opened about ten minutes from my house and yet I still hadn't been. I'm not sure why, I think it's because as a vegetarian I wasn't convinced that there would be anything on the menu for me.

However, when we were invited to review their new menus, I jumped at the chance to disspell my uneasiness about the American-Italian restaurant chain and decided to give it a go. Before we went, I checked the menu to ascertain if there are any vegetarian dishes (as I hate sitting at the table and discovering my choice is lasagne or salad) and was reassured to find a range of dishes, including penne, pizza, a burger and a wrap. Not a massive choice but enough for me to feel that I had a choice.

Before I go any further, I will declare now that this is a mixed-bag for a review: most of the actual food itself was ok, the service and hygiene was not.

We arrived at 12.30pm on Sunday for lunch and we'd already decided that we needed to have the three courses to be able to sample the menu properly. We were greeted by a happy and cheerful waitress who seated us at a corner table with a highchair for The Boy. And this was the first hygiene problem. I always carry Dettol wipes in my handbag, and thank God I do because this was the state of the highchair:

The entire seat was covered in ingrained food and dirt. I considered not even putting him in the highchair but decided to give it a wipe over myself and keep an eye on where he put his hands. The table also needed wiping down as it had sticky drink stains on it, and the menus had tomato ketchup and soft drink dried onto them. Two of the five forks were dirty. Mr. TheBoyandMe took The Boy to the toilet and told me that one of the door-locks was broken and the loo-seat wasn't attached. Great.

After 15 minutes, we were 'greeted' by our waiter and we gave our food order and then asked if we could have some drinks. I checked to see if they had a plastic beaker for toddlers (as they do in Pizza Express) or a paper cup with a lid (Pizza Hut) but was told it was just a glass so I asked him to leave it as I had a tippy-cup of water he could drink from. 9 minutes later he returned with the two soft drinks and the heavy glass of water which I hadn't wanted.

Starters

Left:Dough sticks, dough balls and hot cheese = £5.95

Right: 'Amazing skins' with melted goat's cheese & home-made bruschetta = £4.95

These arrived 23 minutes after we ordered them. As it goes, I was very happy with the doughballs and doughsticks and felt that they were good value for money, especially if used as a big sharing plate between people in the party. The 'Amazing skins' were pleasant enough but the potato was terribly fatty and they certainly weren't 'fully loaded' as in the description.

Main

As soon as the starters were initially brought out, I asked the waiter to bring The Boy's main meal as soon as it was ready. This is actually good practise for restaurants when families are dining with young children, but it did seem an alien concept to the waiter. Nonetheless, The Boy's meal was brought out ten minutes after we finished the starters which was a full twenty minutes after it was asked for (more about his later) and ours came twenty-five minutes after we'd finished the starters.

Goat's Cheese & Caramelised Red Onion Hot Baked Wrap = £8.45

This was one of the more adventurous vegetarian meals on the menu and I was happy with the size of the portion, the imagination behind the concept and the quality of the food. The wrap was fresh and tasty, the filling plentiful, and the chips very tasty. The only thing I will say is that I felt that the onion was too overwhelming a flavour but that is probably a personal choice. This had a thumbs up from me.

A 'Deep-filled' New Yorker Calzone = £10.45

At this point I need to point out two things: I have never known my husband (in twelve years) to ever complain about a meal, and the product description for this is as follows; "Full to the brim with spicy pepperoni, ham, bacon, mushrooms and mozzarella. All topped with Mamma’s rich Neapolitan tomato and herb sauce."

I think that it's clear from the photo that it is not 'full to the brim' at all: this 'deep-filled' calzone is as flat as pancake. Mr. TheBoyandMe said that the ham was heavily processed, the bacon was fatty, there was barely any cheese and the whole thing was greasy and bland. He's since explained to me that he orders a calzone as a measure of comparison in new restaurants because he knows what an Italian and an American-Italian calzone is like having tasted them in both countries (I did wonder why he has them so often) and is rarely disappointed. He was incredibly disappointed with this one and said that the filling wouldn't have been enough to cover a pizza had it not been folded. Not good enough for £10.45!

We finished our main at 1.55 and ordered desserts five minutes afterwards at 2pm.

Dessert

'The Godfather' – a sharing sundae = £7.95

We decided to share a pudding and went for this 'mountain of brownies, crunchy chocolate malt balls, red berries and cream. Topped with ice cream, lashings of toffee and chocolate sauce and finished with toffee crunch.' Aside from the small amount of ice-cream and copious amounts of squirty cream, it didn't disappoint. It was very tasty, very filling and we would order it again with no problem.

However, it took 36 minutes for it to arrive.

Kids' Menu

Left: Pork sausage, mash & beans.

Right: Chocolate ice-cream sundae

I was impressed with the choice on the kids' children's menu: spaghetti bolognese, hamburger, chicken strips, margherita pizza, fish fingers, chicken pasta or sausage. This younger menu costs just £3.95 and includes a main course, a dessert and refillable soft drinks. There is also the the option of a free side of vegetables, side salad or Heinz baked beans.

The sausage meat was quite poor quality and The Boy actually wouldn't eat it, which is rare for him and sausages. The mashed potato was 'smash'-style packet potatoes. The whole thing had been sat on the side for a while as the mashed potato had a skin on it, the plate was hot (a no-no for children) and the baked beans were drying around the side. The quantity was perfect for younger children, but the quality was far from ideal.

He had a single scoop of chocolate ice-cream for pudding with sauce on top and a separate pack of chocolate buttons. A perfectly sized dessert for a young child.

The activity pack contained a double-sided activity booklet for different ages, a jigsaw and a multi-coloured colouring pencil. It is one of the better packs I've seen and was well received.

Finally, 2 hours and 15 minutes after we were first seated I managed to pay the bill. At this point I decided to tell the manager about the highchair, rather than leaving it until this review is (possibly) passed on and countless other children being placed in the same seat. I showed him the dirty straps and seat and he was genuinely shocked. He apologised and tried to give an excuse, stopped because there is none and apologised again. He then sent over a waitress to clean it. I did intervene and tell her it actually needed taking apart and scrubbing as spray wasn't going to clean off months of built up dirt.

What was good?

  • The hot bread sharing plate for starters
  • The hot baked goat's cheese & caramelised onion wrap
  • The portions and price of the younger children's menu
  • The children's activity pack
  • The sharing sundae

What was bad?

  • The 'amazing skins'
  • The 'deep-filled' calzone
  • The cleanliness throughout the entire restaurant: table, menu, cutlery, toilets, highchairs. If that is what the front of house is like, what state are the kitchens in?
  • The waiting period:
    • 12.30 seated
    • 12.45 order taken
    • 12.54 drinks arrived
    • 1.08 starters came and asked for The Boy's meal
    • 1.21 end of starters
    • 1.28 The Boy's main arrived
    • 1.45 mains came
    • 2.00 ordered ice-cream
    • 2.20 waiting for ice-cream for 20 mins
    • 2.36 ice-creams came
    • 2.41 waiting for the bill

Is it good enough that it took 2 hours and 15 minutes to have a family meal? I don't think so. Not when actual eating time was 25-30 minutes, leaving 1 hour and 45 minutes as waiting time.

Will I go again? Unless there are serious improvements in service and cleanliness? No!

I was provided with a £50 voucher towards the cost of this meal. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

Top That Apps (Review)

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I am a book reviewer for Top That! Publishers and this means that every so often we receive a few paperback storybooks to review. However, a month or two ago we were sent some download codes for a few apps that they had recently launched.

Mixed-Up Animals

This is a lovely little app which is very fun and engaging for pre-schoolers, with the opportunity for a whole load of discussions about animals and their habitats and how they are suited to where they live. The basic concept is that there are three sliders, one each for animal heads, bodies and legs. Children can slide it across to select their own, or shuffle to come up with a random generator. They can then select the backgrounds from a variety, save and share their work if they want to.

Mixed-Up Monsters

Exactly the same format, but with monsters!

We really like these apps and have had a good giggle about the monsters and animals that we've made up. Both are available on iTunes for iPod Touches, iPads and iPhones and require iOS 3.1 or later.

Top That! have a variety of apps and e-books available for download from iTunes and on GooglePlay for Android and to celebrate World Book Night, all Top That! ebooks and Apps (UK, USA, AUS & Canada only) will be free to download on Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th April 2012.

View the Apps on:
  • iTunes: http://topth.at/iosapps
  • Google Play: http://topth.at/play

I was given free download codes for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased. I am choosing to share the information about the downloads because I think they are quality apps and e-books that children will enjoy.

(Disclaimer: Free eBook and app downloads only available for UK, USA, Aus and Canada. Not all Top That! eBooks and apps are available in all countries listed. Free download offer is for two days only. Normal pricing will resume following the two day period. The Publisher reserves the right to withdraw this offer without prior notice and at its discretion.)

TRU Review: These Aren't Just Any Crayons…

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Last week, we took delivery of our first parcel from Toys R Us as part of the Toyologist programme. The Boy and I ripped it open excitedly and found a whole host of lovely products inside to review. The item that he kept going back to time and time again, and was most insistent that I open was a pack of crayons. I know! Crayons, I ask you.

However, these aren't just crayons, these are Melissa & Doug crayons.

Aren't they pretty? And look at the lovely hard-wearing case that they come in!

(I will say though that luckily, the pack we received had the colours arranged like a spectrum which pleased my OCD tendencies. The picture above disturbs me slightly).

Now I don't want you thinking that I am a crayon snob (because I'm not), but there are an awful lot of rubbish colouring implements out there: luckily these are not them. The Melissa & Doug crayons are really good quality, partly because of the fact that they are made of plastic, not wax, which makes them very durable. The colours are bold and the lines that come from them are fine and even (trust me, I rant in school about children's inability to colour properly, poor materials do not help them).

Using my teacher-head here, not only am I impressed with the materials that the crayons are made from, but also the shape of them as they are triangular. In the marketing blurb it talk about how this is good because they don't roll-away and this is true; however for me I can see that they promote the correct grip.

Accompanying the crayons was the Melissa & Doug Jumbo Colouring Pad. I really like this pad because each of the fifty sheets has a large picture drawn on it. Not cartoon-style drawings, which annoy me because they don't resemble the real-life images, but proper representations in decent outlines. They also are only printed on only one side so that if your child, unlike The Boy, did a super job of colouring in and you wanted to display it, you can! The paper is really good quality, doesn't crumple or rip while they are colouring, and it tears from the pad really easily.

The Boy got straight in there!

We had The Boy's cousins over on the weekend and this is what happened:


 

Girl Cousin said she liked them because "they are like pens so it makes you try harder". Boy Cousin said, "they are funny shaped, I like them". Fiery Girl Cousin said, "they feel nice to use and I like the colours." The Boy said, "colour this, YES!"

There you go: out of the mouths of babes!

The crayons come in a pack of 24 and are priced at £4.99, the same price as the jumbo colouring pad.

I was provided with these items free of charge as part of the Toys R Us Toyologist programme and for review purposes. My opinions are my own and honest, as always.

Muddy Puddles? Yes Please!

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This weekend we headed down to Hampshire. Our trip had two purposes; the first was to celebrate my father-in-law's 70th birthday on Saturday, the second was to visit her Royal Oinkness in Paultons Park. Oh yes, I am talking about the one and only Peppa Pig!

Now, why couldn't we have had the weather on Sunday that we had on Saturday when we were stuck indoors? I am Welsh; the rain shall not deter me! "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing" is a very good saying if you haven't left your waterproof in south Wales, 140+ miles away. Never mind!

Peppa Pig World opened in April of this year as a section of the rather brilliant Paultons Park, nestled in the New Forest. My husband is from the area but had never been to Paultons so this was a new trip for all of us. What struck me about Paultons is how unlike most theme parks it is; lots of family orientated rides, gardens, wildlife and birds, etc. There isn't screeching and flashing lights like in others; it's just fun.

The Peppa Pig World in Paultons is the only one in the world, and oh my, it is good. Bearing in mind it is aimed at toddlers and infants who don't want to walk far, the attraction is in a small-ish area which is really cunningly filled with seven rides, attractions and play areas.

Of the seven rides, we went on six of them (weather and The Boy's tiredness prevented us from enjoying the other one). On the right you can see:

  • Windy Castle (all three of us)
  • Daddy Pig's Car Ride (daddy and The Boy)
  • George's Dinosaur Adventure (The Boy and me)
  • Miss Rabbit's Helicopter Flight (all three of us).

The Boy and hubby also went on Grandpa Pig's Boat Ride, which both of them loved, especially The Boy. I haven't got a picture of that because they kept moving too fast to get one. I also went on Grandpa Pig's Little Train with him, which was a more sedate ride. He absolutely adored all of the rides, and would quite happily have stayed all day on them! In particular, favourites were George's Dinosaur Adventure and Miss Rabbit's Helicopter Ride. He hasn't stopped talking about them ever since.

In between all the little paths connecting the rides there are all sorts of delighful things to get the children excited. There's a play area with a row of Peppa Pig style houses, which lots of children were thoroughly enjoying. There's also a section called Muddy Puddles which initially I wanted to go and play in. When the rain started pelting down though, there didn't seem much point! There was also Madam Gazelle's School House and Peppa Pig's House. In that attraction there was a moving display telling the story of the Pig family having pancakes for breakfast which get stuck to the ceiling. The Boy was captivated by it.

Another thing that I really liked was that on the edge of Peppa Pig World were a few animal enclosures; Meerkat Manor (hubby's favourite animals, and now I think The Boy's too), tropical birds, rheas and emus, and penguins! They have two times during the day when they feed the penguins, unfortunately, we missed it by about 10 minutes.

On a practical note there are really good facilities in Peppa Pig World: plenty of clean toilets which have the two-in-one trainer seats for toddlers/adults, a cafe and a couple of snack bars, a big soft-play indoor area, and plenty of benches or tables and chairs for eating lunches, either bought or brought. There are plenty of bins and the whole area is tidy and very attractive to look at. They even have a smoking area tucked away in a corner out of the way.

We were lucky enough to even catch the special lady and her younger brother in pig-son, and The Boy brought home a memento of his trip! We really enjoyed our time at Peppa Pig World and didn't want to leave, but we were drenched and had a long car journey ahead of us. I am desperate to go again on a drier day, preferably mid-week. We went on a Sunday and before the rain started we waited about thirty minutes for a ride. As the ride lasted ten minutes, that wasn't too much I felt. If it had been busy I can see that the waiting time would be greater. When it rained we either walked straight on or waited five-ten minutes.

I now completely understand the appeal of Peppa Pig to The Boy, who says it's just for children?

—

I was provided with free entrance tickets for the purpose of this review. However the fact that I loved it and want to go again is completely my own opinion. Oh and that of The Boy. And daddy.

Dear Grandpa SIGG

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How are you and Grandma SIGG?

Splash and I had a good journey over from Switzerland, the journey wasn't too long and we remembered to have plenty of water to drink to help with our ears popping on the flight. We were driven to our new house and it was quite hot when we arrived. So we got to have a wash straight away to wash the dust off, and then we were topped up with lovely fresh water which we helped to keep cool for a long time.

Our new family have got a funny little person in the house that is called The Boy. He has become my new best friend and takes me everywhere with him. The Boy seems to really like me; he keeps flipping me open and shut because he thinks my green hat is funny, his mummy taught him how to turn my neck so that my hat sits properly and he is very careful not to spill any of my water now. His mummy is very fond of my big sister Splash, and takes her to a big building called school a couple of times a week. She is getting very clever, she helped me to write this letter Grandpa.

I'm having a marvellous time here in Wales. The Boy, his mummy and his daddy have taken us to lots of different places. One of the the places that they take us to quite regularly is called the beach. You and Grandma would love it there, it has lots of something called 'sand' which can be used to build a castle. The Boy is getting quite good at building them and he even let me help him the other day. I found the spade a bit tricky to use.

Grandpa, it was a beautiful beach but spoilt by some rubbish! Most of the rubbish that had missed the bins was plastic bottles. I think many of the 250,000 plastic bottles that are dumped every hour in the UK ended up on this beach! It's so silly to leave them on the beach, I saw one get swept away with the swishy water and I remembered what you taught me about the million sea animals that get killed each year! I hope someone picked it up. I'm shocked that this country is still using so many plastic bottles; haven't they heard of the SIGG family over here? I felt really sorry for the others, they only get used once and then thrown away. I don't like to think what happens to them once they've done their job once, they must feel so underused and dejected.

You wouldn't believe how dull they look as well, they obviously haven't had anyone pick out their clothes and dress them lovingly, like you and Grandma did with us. Splash and I felt so sorry for them that they don't have anyone to love them like The Boy and his mummy do with us. We could make their world a much better place by showing off the lovely colours and patterns on our coats!

The Boy was really kind and he even shared his potato rectangles with me. I quite like them, I hope he lets me have some again another time.

I must go to bed now Grandpa, it is getting passed my bedtime.

Lots of love

Your little Desert Fun!

Review: MyCarryPotty

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I'm putting it off, I really am.

It might not be fair, some might call me cruel but I consider it more unfair to him to start and stop and for it to go wrong. And you know what they say; once you start there is no going back!

I am talking about potty-training. I blogged about it last weekend, discussing how I know he's ready. A further development to that is the utter struggle that my mum is having when it comes to getting a nappy back on him. He's also mucking around for hubby. I give him the iPod to distract him because I'm cleverer than those two. However, I know that the refusal to have a nappy on is the classic symptom of being ready for potty-training.

We have been using a potty with him in between changes for the past few months, and so far he has always performed on it, but only when he wants to pass water. He's never tried for the other one.

That was until I was recently sent a MyCarryPotty to review. He is obsessed with it, he absolutely adores it and will always 'perform' on it. He's even chosen to do a number two on it, something which is yet to happen with his static potty.

I've seen people using travel potty before and have been distinctly unimpressed. They seem to need a lot of assembly for what is often drastically urgent use. This is not something that is needed with MyCarryPotty because when you remove the outer packaging that's it; it's ready for use straight away.

And if you are in a position where you're not able to dispose of the contents straightaway then you need not worry because MyCarryPotty is fitted with a clever rubber seal and a clip shut lid. So flip the lid back over and you've got a completely leak and odour-proof container, so wherever your little one is caught short you can be in total control. It's a marvellous idea for unisex use, however you do have to be more careful with little boys that they don't end up spraying everywhere!

The Boy really does love his MyCarryPotty, and I think one of those reasons is because it's bright and attractive with a little handle that means that he can carry it himself. He's quite possessive of it in fact and will strip all his clothes and nappy off when he sees it so that he can use it. I know that when I actually take the plunge in the summer holidays then it is going to be made a lot easier by having a potty that he has ownership of and enjoys using.

For more information on MyCarryPotty visit their Facebook page or twitter stream. You can buy a MyCarryPotty here where they retail for £24.99.

I was sent a MyCarryPotty for review purposes. My opinion is, as always, honest and without prejudice.

 

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