Friday, February 28, 2014

My First Hamper ♥

Yesterday I received my first ever hamper and one which I will remember for ever, not simply because it was the first I received but because of the special people which sent it to me. When I was three months pregnant I joined an Irish parenting forum called Eumom and found a group for my due date - February 2013. Myself and nineteen other mothers joined a Facebook group from this forum and we all became quite close during our pregnancies. The wonderful ladies in this group became my rock during my pregnancy, offering advice, sharing their stories and having general chit chat. I was delighted to have found such fantastic people and to have shared our pregnancy journeys with one another was such an amazing experience, I will never forget it. The ladies in my group didn't know about my second pregnancy, I didn't want to share it with them until I had had my first scan and was fourteen weeks along. I wanted to surprise them by putting up a scan picture and saying 'room for a little one?' but unfortunately I won't be able to do that now. I told them about all the events of last week and they were nothing but supportive to me, sending me messages, ringing me as I waited in the hospital alone and asking if I was okay on more than one occasion.

 You can imagine my surprise when my best friend Cher, one of the ladies who's in the group visited me yesterday and produced a huge basket hamper in front of me fulled to the brim with lots of lovely treats to relax and spoil myself with. Cher and the other ladies from the group had each donated money towards my hamper in the hopes of cheering me up and letting me know they were thinking of me. I was utterly surprised and amazed by their kindness. Inside the hamper was such a heartfelt card, I cried when I read it. These ladies are nothing short of amazing, such wonderful, thoughtful people who have made me feel thought of, loved and who have brought a smile to my face after a week of frowns and sadness.

Cher, Christina, Mo, Mags, Tracey, Anne-Marie, Karen M, Debs, Rachel, Karen McL, Steph, Melissa, Dom, Alexandra, Liz, Gemma, Monia, Susan and Kate thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. I'll never forget this ♥

Thank God for beautiful and kind friends.


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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Postcards - Cheap Art For My Home ♥

I began collecting postcards way back in 2010 when I had taken up snail mailing a year earlier and began receiving postcards from my pen pals around the world as little inserts in their letters to me. My passion for postcard collecting then started and I began to favour the amazing photography and artwork postcards you could get rather than the traditional view card. I set up a Postcrossing account where you get an address for a random person in the world and send them a postcard, in return you get a postcard from some other random person in the world. The great thing about Postcrossing is that everyone who takes part is genuinely interested in postcards and you can state your preferences on your profile too, mine being angels, photography, vintage, folklore and fairies, Paris and pink as you can probably tell from the pictures below! I now have over 2,000 postcards and I thought it was high time to put some of them to good use and have them on view as art in my home.

As my house is a rental property I can't paint it how I want, I can't put hooks in the walls for hanging pictures so I'm stuck for decoration really. Postcards are such a cheap yet effective way to decorate your home. Some of the cards I now have on my wall would have looked gorgeous in frames too but I wanted to create a collage in my bedroom so I could wake up every morning and see some pretty sights instead of a plain beige coloured wall - how very boring, right?! I choose some of my favourite cards, got some blue tack and stuck them to the wall. The best thing about my 'art' is that I know which country each card came from, who sent it and have the memories connected to the ones I picked up myself, namely the Paris cards and the blonde Dutch girl card which I picked up in Amsterdam. I have so many other cards which I want to add to this little collage but it will take some time trying to fit them around and position them correctly on the wall. My beautiful and sentimental cards are a much lovelier sight than boring beige! 

Considering that the average price of a postcard is 45 cent that would make my little collage of art €22.95, a bargain price for something so unique and beautiful to decorate my home with and most importantly a decoration which no one else will have, I love having something unique, it makes it far more special.

Do you like my little collage? Would you or have you ever used postcards to decorate your home?

Stay pretty people!


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I'll Always Remember You ♥

 I'll always remember you.
Even though you were part of my life for a very short time I will always appreciate the fact that you were mine.
You deserved a name, so I gave you one, a neutral one as sadly I'll never know if your spirit was male or female.
I'll always remember you when October comes by, especially the sixteenth as I was due to meet you that day but I'll never know if you're an early show or a keep me waiting kind of person. I'll also remember you on your brothers birthday, the day I realised you were leaving me for good.
I light candles for you to try and keep you near me, the flame representing you, burning for a short time and then being blown out, I wish you could have burned forever and let your light shine bright into my life but sadly it was not mean to be.
I'm glad that it's not people's bodies that go to Heaven but their souls as I imagine you as a tiny baby soul, safely cuddled up on a pure, fluffy cloud with the sun shining on you to keep you warm.
You were only part of my life for six very short weeks but the anticipation I had of meeting you was great and I did love you. I am wrong though, you will always be part of my life, not just those weeks of your presence on Earth.
Just because I never met you does not mean that I don't mourn and grieve for you.
I'm sorry I'm not there to mind you, it just wasn't meant to be but hopefully one day my soul will meet yours and we can be together, as we should have been.
I'll always remember you when a birds feather floats by me, when I see a robin in my garden, a butterfly flutters around me or a rainbow appears before me, that's how I'll know you're near.
Sleep tight little one until I come to cuddle you forever.
I love you.


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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Beach Baby ♥

This morning I took my babe to the beach for the first time, or rather should I say strand as most Irish beaches are full of nothing but stones, just like the one we took him to. The sun was shining and I decided we needed some fresh air so I took my babe to a local scenic spot on our island where you can see the whole harbour, the views there are absolutely breathtaking. My father used to take me to this same spot as a child to skim stones so it's nice that I'm able to take my boy here too although there was no stone skimming, more stone throwing into the water, I must practice the skill again!

 At first the baby didn't know what to make of the place, he was bemused by all the stones and the water lapping over the shore, it was so unfamiliar to him but after awhile he got used to it and crawled his way around the beach and man can that baby crawl, he's too fast for me at times and I have to run after him! As you can see from the pictures below he made tracks in the sand from crawling and got quite a bit away from me. He had a fit when I had to stop him crawling into the water, he's far too keen on swimming, doesn't he know we live in Ireland and that's the Atlantic Ocean he wants to dive into! Whoever said that terrible twos were bad obviously forgot about the divas that one year old's can be, or should I say divo as I have a boy? 

It was great for us to get out while the sun was shining and for my boy to experience a new place and new surroundings. I think we'll definitely have to take more trips to the beach, it's a great place to sit, relax, look at the sea and feel calmed by it all. There is something so serene about being by the sea and I loved just sitting there with my boy, it was so peaceful and we were the only ones on the beach, just how I like it! Hopefully he'll love the beach just as much when we go on holiday and he can actually swim in the ocean.



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Sunday, February 23, 2014

Loving Lately... ♥

This beautiful felt rainbow decoration which my very kind bestie Cher sent to Tyler Lee. I love anything to do with rainbows and am actually contemplating getting him some rainbow themed bedding so good thinking Cher, she must know my mind! This is available from OmeeOmy Handmade.

These Parisian inspired cushions which I picked up from Penneys for just 6 euro each. If I see anything with a Parisian theme I have to have it. I convinced myself these would fit in nicely in my sitting room because the red writing on them matches the red feature wall... I'm right, right?!

These adorable handmade sibling hares which were made for Tyler Lee for his birthday. They're meant to be princes so their dungarees has fabric which is full of royal stuff, I just love their little faces! These are the fourth and fifth hares which Tyler Lee now has and they're from Melody and Me.

 Online clothes shopping. The shopping for my boys spring/summer clothes has begun. I popped into my local Next store to pick up some pieces for him but unfortunately they didn't have them in stock yet so I went and bought them online. Better still I got 15 euro of my order as I signed up as a new customer letting me get one item essentially free - amazing! Sign up now if you haven't and avail of this offer for yourself. Tyler Lee is now the proud owner of three items in the picture above.

 My Magic Flowerpot Tangle Teezer. This is really for little girls, hence the design and the 'flower pot' to store bobbles and hairclips but hey, I'm young at heart and my hair needed taming from unruly knots so how bad? Also this was sent to me as a gift so even better, yay for gifts!

These beautiful rosequartz earrings which my fiance's mother sent to me all the way from South Africa as a gift for my upcoming birthday. I love pink, crystals and drop down earrings so these were a perfect choice for me. Dziękuję Zofia!

Getting my hair done. My hairdresser phobia seems to be well and truly gone thanks to my pleasant experience with Peter Mark's salon having been invited their last week for a wash, cut and blow dry. I loved how bouncy, healthy and volumised my hair was after my visit. You can read all about my experience here.

Stay pretty people!


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Thursday, February 20, 2014

I'm Having A Sylvia Plath Kind Of Week...♥

 This is a post which I shall most definitely be debating whether to post or not once I have it completed. It's something so personal to me but something which has happened to so many women around the world on a daily basis. I feel as though perhaps I shouldn't talk about it, forget about it, sweep it under the carpet and return to normal life but right now I feel so numb, as though I'm in a different world from other people, I guess that's the shock but now my emotions are beginning to take over and today I feel so irritable and angry, these must be the stages of grief that everyone talks about after someone suffers a loss.

Last week was so wonderful so why did this week have to go and be so shitty? Why can't things be nice, happy and airy fairy all the time? Whoever said life was a rollercoaster definitely wasn't lying. On Sunday we celebrated my baby boys first birthday, a day of happiness and celebrations galore but then on Sunday night I noticed I was bleeding, something which wouldn't be a concern to most women but you see, I was pregnant, six weeks and three days pregnant to be exact. I didn't panic at first, I had heard of spotting, it wasn't something I experienced in my first pregnancy but I thought all would be okay, that it would be gone by the morning, but it wasn't. It continued and got heavier and cramps started and then I knew something was most definitely wrong. I had to go to the hospital emergency and wait four and half hours to be seen, something which I am so angry about. I was told when I got there that there was no doctor available in the emergency room. Now what kind of backward country doesn't have a doctor available in a maternity hospital emergency room of all places? This isn't the first time this has happened either, I visited the E.R. on two occasions with my first pregnancy and no doctor was available then either, nothing but a sick joke of a place. Unfortunately for me I had grabbed the nearest book at my disposable whilst leaving the house, Sylvia Plath's 'The Bell Jar', you do not want to read any literature of Sylvia Plath while you are already feeling depressed. After four and half hours of waiting I was told what I already knew, I had lost my baby.

I have been to the hospital again since for blood testing of my hcg levels, I didn't dream all this, my baby was definitely gone. I sobbed my heart out in that hospital cubicle with midwives and doctors offering me their condolences, I kept telling them it was okay, but really it wasn't okay at all. I don't think anyone but a pregnant woman or someone who already has children realises the joy you feel knowing you are expecting a little one. The future goes through your head, names, things you need to buy and the day you will finally meet that new little person into your life. I will now not get to do this. Stage one of my grief was pretending everything was fine, I was kept busy with my son and kept thinking everything would be fine, that this would not effect me too much, I was wrong. Stage two was crying and feeling sorry for myself, I had a right ole pity parade and I'm not sorry about it either. Stage three is today, I feel irritable and angry. I keep thinking about when I was entering the hospital and seeing two heavily pregnant women standing at the doors to the hospital in their pyjamas and robes smoking, how selfish do you have to be to smoke whilst you're that pregnant. The minute I found out I was pregnant I gave everything up that people said was bad for babies. I didn't colour my hair, eat tuna or even drink my beloved energy drinks yet these wans and they are nothing short of wans have the absolute gaul to stand outside the maternity hospital smoking lights out, give me strength! I don't know what stage four will be but I hope it's a happier stage then what I'm feeling at the moment. I feel so lonely, let down by the people who should be closest to me and ironically I just want to be left alone. 

I'm trying to get on with things, concentrate on looking after my son, getting some blogging done, organising the house, anything to distract my mind. Thank God I have this wonderful little boy already who needs my full attention. I feel as though if I didn't have him things would be a lot worse. I wanted to write this incredibly personal post to let other women going through this know that I am with you, that I understand and do not think it's something that women should have to deal with privately. We are allowed to grieve for the little angels we sadly did not get a chance to meet. It's funny how love is the only emotional which can both build you up and break you down.

A poem about miscarriage by Sylvia Plath

Parliament Hill Fields
On this bald hill the new year hones its edge.
Faceless and pale as china
The round sky goes on minding its business.
Your absence is inconspicuous;
Nobody can tell what I lack.
Gulls have threaded the river’s mud bed back
To this crest of grass. Inland, they argue,
Settling and stirring like blown paper
Or the hands of an invalid. The wan
Sun manages to strike such tin glints
From the linked ponds that my eyes wince
And brim; the city melts like sugar.
A crocodile of small girls
Knotting and stopping, ill-assorted, in blue uniforms,
Opens to swallow me. I’m a stone, a stick,
One child drops a carrette of pink plastic;
None of them seem to notice.
Their shrill, gravelly gossip’s funneled off.
Now silence after silence offers itself.
The wind stops my breath like a bandage.
Southward, over Kentish Town, an ashen smudge
Swaddles roof and tree.
It could be a snowfield or a cloudbank.
I suppose it’s pointless to think of you at all.
Already your doll grip lets go.
The tumulus, even at noon, guargs its black shadow:
You know me less constant,
Ghost of a leaf, ghost of a bird.
I circle the writhen trees. I am too happy.
These faithful dark-boughed cypresses
Brood, rooted in their heaped losses.
Your cry fades like the cry of a gnat.
I lose sight of you on your blind journey,
While the heath grass glitters and the spindling rivulets
Unpool and spend themselves. My mind runs with them,
Pooling in heel-prints, fumbling pebble and stem.
The day empties its images
Like a cup of a room. The moon’s crook whitens,
Thin as the skin seaming a scar.
Now, on the nursery wall,
The blue night plants, the little pale blue hill
In your sister’s birthday picture start to glow.
The orange pompons, the Egyptian papyrus
Light up. Each rabbit-eared
Blue shrub behind the glass
Exhales an indigo nimbus,
A sort of cellophane balloon.
The old dregs, the old difficulties take me to wife.
Gulls stiffen to their chill vigil in the drafty half-light;
I enter the lit house.


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LUSH Neon Love Gift Box ♥

This Valentines Day my lovely fiance surprised me with a gorgeous looking and smelling gift box from LUSH called Neon Love. This gift box caming wrapped in heart and stripy print paper all tied together with a neon green ribbon, very fitting considering the name of this gift box! Neon Love comes with four gorgeous bath and shower treats the first being Neon Love soap in an extra special heart shaped mould for Valentines Day. This soap has a delightfully fruity fragrance and I've been using it in the shower, it feels the whole bathroom with it's gorgeous scent. The second being From Dusk 'Til Dawn, a pointed massage bar with cocoa and shea infused with a citrus scent. This massage bar melts into the skin giving it a gorgeous shimmer. Thirdly is Turkish Delight Shower Smoothie in a mini pot. This shower smoothie is so creamy and smells of roses, it's divine. It's also infused with cocoa butter and almond oil and leaves skin so smooth and supple, I love it. Lastly is Fun - Red, I had seen this product in blue in my local LUSH store and was curious about it so I was delighted to see a red version of this in my Neon Love gift box. This is the strongest smelling product out of the whole box and the scent of orange and mandarin really does fill the whole room, even when the product is inside it's plasticine. This is a four in one mouldable product which can be used in the shower, bath, as a shampoo and even as a toy so it's perfect for children of all ages. I shall be putting this in Tyler Lee's bath and letting him play with the product. As you can see from the picture below I keep my bath products in a glass jar, I love when it's full of gorgeous smelling treats that I have to use up.

 Overall, I think that Neon Love contains a great mix of products to add a special treat to bath or shower time although I do find it quite strange that Fun - Red was included in the box, with it being Valentines Day aimed box I would have expected something a bit more luxurious such as the other three products which are included but I do like the product and think that it's fun (no pun intended!). This was such a great gift to get on Valentines Day as I love LUSH products and am in need of some pampering so thank you to my wonderful fiance for my great gift!

Stay pretty people!


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