Shoe of the Week

Sooooooooo, you know all that ebaying (verb- to ebay) that I've been doing lately?
Well, understandably, I decided to treat myself to a new pair of heels, and Peeps, sensible they are not! But trust me, what they lack in practicality, they more that make up for in utter fabulousness.

I first spotted these beauties by Carvela in the House of Fraser just before Christmas. Actually, it was my BFF Maria who clocked them first -one minute she was chatting away, the next she was just standing, open mouthed, pointing at them silently. To her credit,  I think she knew at a glance that they had my name written all over them AND they were 20% off at the time.
 
As I lifted them up with a trembling hand, I remember feeling quite faint and it took all the strength I had not to buy them right there, without even trying them on, but then my sensible head rushed in shouting that there were still presents to buy,  and even with the discount they were still £80, and didn't I have more party shoes than parties to go to, and unbelievably, showing remarkable restraint I walked away, crying inside.

Fast forward to last week, and as I perused my usual shoe porn sites, while simultaneously catching up on the goings on in Albert Square, what should pop up only the one that got away! With 50% discount! Well, I'm only human after all, and given the fact that they were now a steal at £50 AND I'd just flogged my entire wardrobe on ebay AND I have a Holy Communion fast approaching, I knew it would have been an absolute sin not to.

Cast your eye for a moment over these little pieces of heaven- the glinting, golden, almost shy sparkle of them, the elegant, yet quietly sexy peep toe, that subtle hidden platform. If Cinderella were a real person and living in 2014, she'd totally be rocking these babies to the ball.

And yet, they're not a one night wonder either, because these multitasking beauties will work equally well on a girls' night out, with skinny jeans and a dressy top, OR with a cocktail dress for a Christmas party OR, and let's just pause for effect here, all the way to the MAD Blog Awards in London in September!  (Did I possibly mention before that I'm a finalist in two categories and could really, really do with your votes?.... Seamless, eh!)

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realise what an absolute steal they were- I'd even go as far as to say that adding them to my shoe stable has actually saved me money.
(Did you see what I just did there? That, my friends, is Master Level Shoe Logic.....I know I made it look easy but it takes years of practice, so don't try it at home.)

And if you do fancy a pair yourself, and quite honestly, how could you not, check them out here.
Happy Weekend Lovelies , Emma xx

Taking A Step Back

I'm off to London today, (or 'Londing England' as a friend of mine insists on calling  it!) . Yes indeedy, as my prize in last September's MAD Blog Awards, Loverboy and I will be living it large all weekend - nibbling on afternoon tea, taking in a West End Show (Mamma Mia-here I go again!), quaffing cocktails and inhaling the 'all you can eat breakfast' - seriously, what's not to like?
Which is why there's a certain irony in what I'm going to say next... I've decided that it's time to take a step back from my blog. Not forever, mind you, but for a while. After almost two years and over 300 posts, I feel like I need a wee break.

'Adventures of an Unfit Mother' began as a much needed outlet, a place to find my voice, somewhere I could  be creative and completely honest.(Possibly toooo much at times!) It's been all that and more and amazingly it's grown steadily along the way. From just my sisters and a few friends, I now have 500 people visiting on a daily basis. Which, incidentally, is nothing compared to the big blogging fish out there, but quite an achievement for l'il old me. It's a massive compliment when people take the time to pop in, and even better when they come back and stay on to shoot the breeze as well.

The writing of it has always been the the fun part for me.....but I'm really useless at the rest of it.  For you non bloggers out there, I'm talking about the whole PR side of it all - the Twitter presence, the numerous blogging platforms, Instagram, Pinterest and the rest. Then there's the commenting on OTHER people's blogs (I know one blogger who rotates visits on 30 different blogs every freakin' night!), the blog hops and the forums. Because the truth is, if you want to grow your readership,  you've got to do all of that and more... but I can barely keep up with writing my own posts, never mind that side of it as well. So it all comes back to the initial purpose of the blog, which was as a head clearing space for me...so maybe none of the PR stuff  matters anyway at the end of the day. (Although honestly? I think it does a bit...maybe I'm more ambitious than I first thought!)

My main problem is time, or really the lack of it. Some posts take longer than others but I'm finding it hard to keep up with 3-4 posts a week while juggling everything else and holding onto my sanity. It's making me snappy and stressed and somewhere along the line it's become less of an outlet and more of a job... without the nice salary part! Other things have changed too - I used to read voraciously, always did, only now I seem to read other blogs (many of which I love, by the way), but I miss the newspapers, books and magazines too. As well as the time, I feel its all sucking up too much of my emotional energy, which leaves a whole lot less for the stuff that matters. A classic case of self induced burn out - hence the step back.

So I wanted to let you know my thoughts, even though I'm probably  flattering myself to think that you'd even notice my absence!  I'll still be here from time to time ...just on a less regular, more 'now and again' basis..like when genius strikes ...or I get a new pair of shoes and I'm hoping that you won't be a stranger and you'll still pop in to say hello.

I'm not one for big goodbyes so I'll  not go all tote emosh on you and that's not a tear in my eye. Let's just say, thanks babes and I'll see you when I see you - I suspect it'll be sooner rather than later - and in the meantime, look after yourself, wont you?
Love Emmaxxx

Ps I simply COULDN'T leave without showing you my gorgeous new summer shoes...soooo practical and quite deliciously  happen to match the scarf that I bought a few months ago...I suppose sometimes the accessories stars just align!

Just call me Martha!

After our decadent weekend in the fancy schmancy hotel, THIS weekend was it's polar opposite. The yin to last week's yang, if you like. Actually, now I think about it, polar just about nails the weather - I mean snow, FFS? It's almost Easter!! It's just so wrong AND we're supposed to be caravilla bound in a few days. Although looking outside now I feel quite faint just thinking about it...and not in a good 'Can't wait for the holidays' kinda way, a 'What the hell was I thinking? Is there any way out of it?' sorta way. Yikes!

 Anyway where was I? Ah yes, the weekend. Well, I channeled a smidgen of Martha Stewart with a pinch of Mary Berry, and I before I knew it I was rustling up chicken broccoli bakes (one for dinner, one for the freezer), vegetable soup AND the piece de resistance -my very first lemon drizzle cake. Who's the mammy!? If I'd had The Archers on, the transformation would have been complete.

To be fair though, this time it WASN'T Lady Mary who inspired me to dust off my Kenwood, it was in fact my fellow blogger Sarah Miles, who writes the fabulous blog Hello Wall, and if that wasn't enough, she pens the award winning foodie blog 'What would Nigella do?' as well. (Honestly, some people! If I didn't love her, I'd hate her.)

Despite the fact that it wasn't Lady Mary's recipe for Lemon Drizzle Cake, (it's her Bake Off chum Paul Hollywood's), she made it look so easy and the pictures were so yummy that I was dying to give it a whirl. Also, it just so happens that the Mothership is very partial to a slice of lemon cake, so I made two - one for us, and one for Herself-and they were both hoovered up in no time at all- okay, mostly by my greedy offspring, but even so.

Tah-dah!

Now, before you examine MY less than stellar pictures, and then compare them unfavourably to Sarah's (I KNOW you're going to-don't deny it), I've a couple of disclaimers. First of all, I'd no actual real life lemon, waxed or otherwise, on the premises, and it was so Baltic outside there was NO WAY I was going out specially, so I just used lemon juice instead. And hey, there's lemon curd in there too, so I reasoned, what's a bit of lemon zest between friends?
Secondly, I baked them in too big a tin- which means they look as if they'd been sat on but they hadn't....not on my watch anyway. (Note to self- you clearly CAN'T gauge the tin size just by looking, so just bloody measure it.)

Later on that evening, carried away with all this domestication, and heady with my baking success (yes I AM deeming it that), I cracked open the Villa Maria and my new Cath Kidston knitting set.....but tragically that all ended in  tears.... but there's another story for another day.
Happy Monday peeps and chin up, Lents nearly over, Emma  xxx

PS Final Call!!! Tomorrow is the very last day that you can vote in the MAD Blog Awards 2013- I'm a finalist in the Family Life category and I'm shamelessly hoping you'll consider taking a wee minute and voting for me- I'd be so grateful. (If you have already-thank you so much!)


PPS-I've joined up with Sarah Miles at Hello Wall today-go on over and take a peek at the rest! 

Mystery Solved.

It was a freezing morning  and he couldn't find his coat. This is not unusual. Nevertheless, he confidently assured me that he was certain he'd hung it up. 100%.
No he definitely hadn't left it anywhere. Absolutely not.
Okay, okay, he'd look again but someone else must have moved it...or taken it ....or hidden it.
I went back to buttering  the toast and glanced looked out the kitchen window. Was I imagining it or was that a flash of orange right at the very top of that tree? What a coincidence - the missing coat was orange too.
'Rory!! Is there any way at all that your coat could be at the top of the tree in the garden?'
The denial was on his lips just as I saw realization dawn in his bright blue eyes.
  'Oh yeah!' says he, clapping his hand to his forehead. 'I totally forgot I left it up there!'
 And off he went to retrieve it, chuckling at his own forgetfulness, simply happy that he would now get to enjoy his toast in peace. Honestly, sometimes I think it'd be lovely to be seven again...

Mad Blog Awards

It seemed so long ago back in May-months away, with a whole summer in between. There was the caravilla, then one sister's wedding, then another sister's new baby, and now all of a sudden it's this weekend. Tomorrow night, little old me will be a finalist at the MAD Blog Awards in London!

We're making a long weekend of it, Loverboy and I- the Awards, a West End show, dinner and drinks with friends and then plenty of time for the two of us to just wander through old London town.With possibly a bit of shoe shopping thrown in. Maybe.

Right now though, I'm stressing in a big way about the kids- clothes to pack, toys to bring, raincoats, school uniforms, dinner money, books, special blankets..... They're off to stay in their Granny and Granda's, so I know they'll be fine.... but I still worry. A worrier by nature AND a mummy too..that's so not a good combo- one feeds off the other, you see!  It peaks the closer I get to going anywhere, and the night before I'm usually very close to calling it off altogether, and asking myself what was I thinking , and then Loverboy says, 'You always do this, every time, and you ring home and they're fine, and then you're fine. So stop stressing, it's gonna be fun!'

Strangely enough, the only thing I'm not actually worried about are the Awards themselves. Truly I'm not! I've got my dress and my shoes sorted- the same ones I wore to THE wedding a few weeks ago, and with zero expectation of winning, I feel like I can just relax and enjoy the evening. There's no faux modesty here - I really AM the long shot and just very glad to be going at all. I'm looking forward to meeting all of  the faces behind the blogs... and then obviously there's the free food and drink so really, what's not to like?
There's actually a live feed from the Awards on Friday night, so if you've nowhere to go, and a thunderstorm takes out your Sky+, and you're clean outta box sets, you can take a peak at what's going on. (I don't have a URL right now but it'll be up on the MAD BLOGS website by then). 

So all there's left to say is Thank You. Thank you for taking the time to vote for me all those months ago- many of you did it more than once- and without all those votes, I certainly wouldn't be living it large in London this weekend! But far more importantly, thank you for reading and following this little blog over the last year. When I started it, I never thought that anyone, except possibly my family, would  be interested in anything I had to say. Sometimes being proved wrong tastes very sweet indeed. Emmaxxx

Little Miss Busy

You would think that now that the summer holidays have begun, and the kids have finished school, life might slow down a little. I know that I was secretly hoping to have a wee bit of time to read, and to blog, and to sip lattes, and who knows maybe I will....but it won't be this week!
 Now, don't get me wrong, there's a lot to love about this week, with plans afoot with friends and family, but right here, right now, it just seems as though I've an awful lot of hoops to jump through first. You know when you feel really overwhelmed, and there's so much to do, that you don't actually know where to start? Yeah, that...which is why I'm stalling and writing a blog post instead!
 But I thought that maybe if I wrote it all down, I'd get a better handle on things, so here it is in no particular order.

•  Prepare and host a meal for friends-About 24 adults and kids in all, but I'm keeping it real and doing a chilli. (thanks Roisin!) 
• Go to Argos to return stuff and buy more stuff for the caravilla. 
• Go to Ikea to return stuff and buy more stuff for the caravilla. 
•  Make short videos of the kids and upload them for Mad Blog Awards website. 
• Write a blog post or maybe even two.
•  Meet a good friend with our collective 9 offspring for a day in the park.
•  Organise haircuts for the 4 boys. 
•  Have a night out with a few really good friends that I haven't seen in a while ...(and don't drink too much wine because I don't have time for a hangover.)
• Get my eyebrows waxed and eyelashes tinted. (otherwise I look odd). 
• Go shopping with my mum for a 'mother of the bride' outfit- (However, as this is only Wedding Shopping Phase One, it goes without saying that no decisions or purchases will be made at the time.)
•  Prepare and host our girl's 13th birthday party - it will be afternoon tea at ours with my talented beautician cousin Olivia Mc Loughlin coming to do her nails and those of her pals. (And obviously, yours truly's as well- in fact, leopard print is being sourced AS WE SPEAK!.) Unsurprisingly, on getting wind of the cake eating and beautifying going on that day, my mum, sister in law and sister have now cleared their diaries to be here too. (Note to self- buy more scones- yes I KNOW I should make them but I DONT HAVE THE TIME!)
• Buy groceries (and wine!) for a week at the caravilla.
•  Pack vittles and clothes for seven for a week at the caravilla. 
•  Arrive at the caravilla and collapse....then drink wine, read, sip lattes and blog. 
• So there you go- my week ahead in a nutshell . How about yours? Are you hitting the ground running this week or taking a chill pill? Make me jealous- go on!

Show and Tell

Just HAD to show you this little Orla Kiely beauty-the latest acquisition to my stable of handbags. Are you loving it? Doesn't it cheer you up just LOOKING at those flowers? Are you well jell?
It's also happens to be the perfect size for my Ipad, has lots of pockets for all my crap AND it wipes clean. Sure, what more could you want? Oh, and the best bit of all? It was a cheeky little bargain so it would've been a sin not to.
Don't mind if I do!
By the way, as far as Loverboy's concerned, I've had it for ages (This old thing!?), so keep it schtum.




I MAY have mentioned this before ;-) but I'm a finalist in two categories in the MAD Blog Awards. If you're feeling any love at all for this wee blog, I'd really appreciate it if you could vote for me in the Family Life category (the other one is decided by judges). Here's the link- http://www.the-mads.com/vote.htm and thank you very much xxxx
PS While you're there, check out the other finalists-who'd have believed there were so many amazing blogs out there?