A Shopping Haul...Not For Me!

Elijah and I all ready for a shopping trip!

So yesterday, Darren and I took our little man out for the first time...to go shopping! We've been given so many amazing presents for Elijah from friends and family, including a whole load of gift vouchers for places such as John Lewis, Mamas and Papas, Baby Gap and M&S, so we decided it was time to treat Titch to some gorgeous new clothes...and toys...and other fun (yes, yes and essential) things.

I never thought I would have so much fun buying things for someone else, but I am now definitely a baby shopaholic! Baby boy clothes are so amazing...they are like mini man clothes, and those are the kind of things we went for. I don't like clothes that are too babyish...just because he's not big enough to fill a newborn babygrow yet does not mean that my little man shouldn't look super stylish. 

We started at Jojo Maman Bebe in Temple Fortune, which is actually a sale shop...swoon!! We picked him up a couple of cute baby grows and swimming shorts for the summer, plus a breton feeding dress for mama!

Here's what I wore for our trip...this was also my first proper outing after giving birth, and it was quite overwhelming. The C section has really taken it out of me, and I've had a stinking cold all week, so I wasn't feeling my best...that and trying to adjust to a post preggo figure...bring on Zumba in 6 weeks time!

The perfect accessory!

Posing with my boy

The ultimate must-have - a Yummy Mummy bag

I went for a black maxi dress and layered over a grey marl top and checked shirt, plus my essential "Claire Belle" name necklace and peace sign necklace, topped up with the ultimate changing bag - the Yummy Mummy bag by Pink Lining. I'm obsessed with it!

After Jojo, we headed to Brent Cross and all the shops we had vouchers for. I wanted to get him outfits he could wear now, as all we have at the moment is babygrows. We got some absolutely amazing things for him, including a pair of gorgeous denim dungarees and yellow cords from Baby Gap, a fabulous hoodie and trackie bottoms outfit from Mamas and Papas, jeans and jumpers from John Lewis and my favourite - as chosen by Darren, a chambray jumpsuit from Baby Gap! Swoon!

We also picked up some toys and other bits and bobs, but, let's be honest, it's all about the clothes.

I've popped a couple of pics of the haul below, and if you look closely, you'll see Titch in the background lording it over all of his new goodies.

So there you go...a haul post, just not for me! As soon as I am back in the shopping mode for myself, I will do a haul post of my own, but for now, I am loving buying clothes for my gorgeous little man. Enjoy x

Not bad for Eli's first haul

My favourite purchase of the day - a chambray jumpsuit from Baby Gap

My Pick of the River Island Mid Season Sale

Sharpen those elbows ladies, it's mid season sale time! If you haven't taken advantage of the mid season sales already, I've done a few "picks of the sale" posts from some of my favourite high street shops.

Even though the weather is so bloody cold out there, it's still a good idea to grab yourself some spring goodies, because, let's hope, the warm weather will be here soon, and you want to be prepared for when it does get here.

So my choice for today is my go-to for reasonably priced fast fashion - River Island. I find their sales very hit or miss, a lot of rubbish seems to be pulled out for their sales, but you can find a handful of really decent bargains. I am especially impressed by their selection of shoes in the sale this year - perfect for spring and beyond!

Here are my picks of the River Island mid season sale. Have you done any sale shopping yet? Let me know if you get any fabulous bargains! Enjoy x

was £35 now £15

was £32 now £10

was £75 now £40

was £40 now £17

was £40 now £17

was £38 now £15

Was £25 now £10

was £22 now £8

Was £50 now £25

Was £35 now £17

Was £20 now £10

was £40 now £15

Beyonce for H&M Confirmed!

It's exciting news if you are a fan of Beyonce...or H&M...or celebrity fashion campaigns.

It has now been confirmed the Beyonce will be the face of H&M's summer campaign! Yay!

After being accidentally leaked on Twitter by one of Bey's dancers back in January, the brand have now revealed one of the gorgeous shots of the diva, which will be being featured this summer.

My favourite ever singer will be modelling pieces inspired by her individual style, in particular, beachwear and swimwear pieces. The shoot took place in the Bahamas, and features Beyonce chilling out on sun loungers and posing by the sea. According to sources at the shoot, Beyonce gave her own "personal input on the pieces used in the campaign." Expect some fierce shots if this is the case!

"I've always liked H&M's focus on fun affordable fashion. I really loved the concept we collaborated on to explore the different emotions of women represented by the four elements -fire, water, earth and wind," said Knowles. "It was a beautiful shoot on a tropical island. It felt more like making a video than a commercial."

The print advert will run alongside a television commercial, which will feature a brand new Beyonce song - Standing on the Sun.

I personally cannot wait to see all of the final images and the advert with her new song. Yes I know I am a complete push over when it comes to Mrs. Carter...but Beyonce + H&M = sheer genius!

Are you looking forward to seeing the finished campaign? Enjoy x

Introducing....

Elijah Louie Richard Freed

Well hello there.

Apologies for my long absence. I've been a wee bit busy the last week or so...having a baby!

If you're a reader of the blog, you'll know that I was being induced on the 12th March...as I was almost 2 weeks late. I won't go into details, as it's not very nice, but I ended up having to have an emergency C section followed by 6 days in hospital due to my recovery and a couple of minor health scares with the bubs. But all is well now and we finally got home on Sunday night.

So...what did we have? Titch turned out to be a gorgeous baby boy!

He is so adorable, with a sweet little worried face and he is already full of personality. He loves playing with and sucking his hands and adores being cuddled. He was born at 06:39 am and weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces. We have called our little man Elijah Louie Richard.

I won't go on too much and be a gushing mama...although I really want to! I just wanted to fill you all in on what's been going on and to let you know I won't be blogging as frequently for the next week or two, just while I get my head around things, but normal blogging will resume soon...promise!

In the mean time, here are some pics of our little man. Enjoy x

rocking his cow suit....yes it is a little too big!!

Rainbow Fairy Cakes

So I am now 8 days past my due date and after a visit to the hospital yesterday, we discovered that I have about a 30% chance of going into labour naturally in the next 7 - 10 days! Eek! So, I have been booked in for an induction on Tuesday morning...which means more waiting around, unless Titch decides to come on his/her own beforehand anyway :)

I wanted to do something a bit different to keep me from getting too bored today, and I actually really felt like baking something. I went online to get some inspiration and after catching up on Becky's fab blog, I decided to try her gorgeous looking rainbow fairy cakes.

I know this is a bit of a different kind of blog post for me, but I loved making these fairy cakes so much, and they turned out looking really cute (I haven't tried them yet - I thought I should wait for the hubby to get home!) so I wanted to share them and how I made them with you :) These are also great for a home made Mother's Day gift, and I'll be taking them along for dinner tonight at my parents house as an extra treat!

I first went out an bought the bits that I needed - Becky recommended a vanilla cupcake/fairy cake mix. The only vanilla mix they had left in Waitrose was a Postman Pat one! Retro! Still, for 85p, each pack made 10 fairy cakes, so I didn't complain...I just left off the Postman Pat cartoon sugar paper decorations. I also picked up 4 Dr. Oetker food colour gels in pink, blue, green and yellow, butterfly sprinkles in pretty pastel shades and some frosting for decorating.

With this fairy cake mix, you just need 1 egg per bag of mix (I used 2 lots of mixes to make extra cakes, as fairy cakes are only teeny).

I started by mixing the batter to make the cakes - it's best to use a whisk (even better an electric one) but I have yet to buy one of these, so I just used my muscles and a fork.

Once the batter is all nicely mixed, I divided it into four bowls - well, teacups actually - and I added a few drops of each food colour to each lot of batter.

I then got out my cupcake baking tray and filled them with fairy cake paper holders. I then spooned a little of each colour batter into them, creating a really pretty rainbow effect.

The batter was enough for 18 fairy cakes. Once I had spooned all the batter in, I popped the cakes in the oven at 180 degrees for about 13 minutes (I have a fan oven).

When the cakes had finished baking...they smelt delish and they looked like this:

You can see the colours pretty clearly here. Once they had cooled down completely, I then used a yummy Dr. Oetker frosting mix to decorate the tops...and to make them even more scrummy!

The final step was the decorating. I bought these very pretty pastel coloured butterfly sprinkles, as I thought they would go perfectly with the rainbow cakes, and would make them even more appropriate for Mother's Day.

So finally, I just popped on the butterflies wherever they seemed best to go! I tried not to go too over the top and keep to about 5 - 6 butterflies per fair cake.

So there you go! Thanks to Becky for providing me with a really fun idea to keep me busy and I hope they taste as good as they look. Will you be trying out this fun and yummy recipe? Enjoy x

Barry M's Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paints

Splurge Alert!

Wow, just realised that this is my third nail polish post in three weeks! Sorry about that, obviously becoming a bit obsessed.

I am now 6 days past my due date and I need things to keep me occupied so I don't get bored out of my mind with the waiting game.

That being said, I'm using the time to read, watch movies, see friends and catch up on all of my favourite blogs. I wanted to buy myself a little something, as I haven't bought anything for myself in ages, and with spring in the air, and the fact that I can't really buy clothes at the moment, I felt that some new nail colours were in order.

After reading my usual blogs, I quickly picked up that the nail varnish du jour are the Barry M Hi Shine Gelly Nail Paint. Lily, Lily and Becky have all been raving about them, so I thought a trip up to the high street to my local Superdrug was in order. Lucky for me, there is currently a special deal on these polishes - 2 for £6 (they are usually £3.99 each)...so naturally I bought a few...5 to be precise...I missed out on number 6 because their stock was low, but I was told I can come back in with the receipt and pick up another colour as part of the deal, when they get more stock in.

These nail paints are supposedly so good because they provide a hi shine, gel like finish, which looks super shiny and lasts, chip free, for a few days more so than a regular polish.

The colours I opted for were: Satsuma, Dragon Fruit, Greenberry, Blueberry and Prickly Pear.

From left to right: Blueberry, Satsuma, Prickly Pear, Greenberry, Dragon Fruit. 

Satsuma is a really gorgeous almost neon orange. In this picture, it looks more pastel then neon, but the effect is definitely bright and loud in real life. 

Prickly Pear is a super pretty soft lilac. It reminds me of the colour I wore on my nails on my wedding day, but this is slightly more concentrated, and I can't wait to try it out.

Greenberry reminds me a bit of Pool Party, my favourite colour from Topshop's nail varnish range. It's a vibrant mint green with a hint of blue - perfect for spring time. 

Blueberry is a gorgeous sky blue. I've painted my left hand with this shade (apart from my ring finger, which is Dragon Fruit) in anticipation of the possibility of Titch being a boy. 

Finally, Dragon Fruit (as shown on my right hand in case Titch is a girl) is a pretty candy pink - a little bit brighter than the baby pink I used in my last post.

So I've used two of the Gelly paints and I was really impressed with them. They glided on easily, dried quickly and I applied two coats of each. The end result was so shiny that I didn't even have to use a topcoat.

Now the test, let's see how long they last without chipping. I'll let you know either here or on twitter so make sure you follow me - @cbelleoftheball 

Have you tried the Gelly varnishes? What are your thoughts? Enjoy x

Blue vs. Pink

After my amazing Gelish manicure experience, which I was treated to 2 weeks ago, I decided that after 2 weeks, I was ready for a change.

Even though the manicure lasts up to 3 weeks, and I had yet to have a single chip, and I adored the colour of my nails, I usually change my nail colour every week...as I am a bit nail polish obsessed and tend to buy a new shade every week!

Anyway, I took the polish off yesterday and started contemplating what colour to go for...considering Titch can arrive any day, I wanted to realistically paint my nails the colour they would be for the birth...obviously a very important decision! But what colour to go for? If I knew Titch was a boy, I would go for a gorgeous blue, navy or green. However, if I knew Titch was a girl, it would be a pretty shade of pink or lilac. But, as we have gone 40 weeks without knowing the sex, it made my decision a bit tricky.

The simple answer? Half and half! I went through my polish collection and settled on a beautiful baby blue by Nails Inc. called Sheraton Street, which I received as a Secret Santa present at Christmas and a sweet baby pink by Collection 2000 called Marshmallow, which I haven't actually used before. The end result - a pretty pastel effect, which will be perfect for welcoming in either Titch girl or Titch boy! 

Nails Inc. Sheraton Street 

Collection 2000 Marshmallow

Now, hopefully it won't chip before the big day! What do you reckon? Was this a good choice of colours? Enjoy x

What's it going to be?