Milano Sofa Beds
In this expensive city I call home– where houses (er flats) are small and space is a great commodity– only the very privileged have the luxury of a guest bedroom. But many of us are ex-pats here in London who have friends and family making regular visits from abroad. Guest bedrooms (or at the very least, an extra bed) are in high demand!
After making our guests sleep on an air mattress for over a year, I decided there must be a better solution… And after a very long search (scouring at least 20 different furniture and sofa stores), I found it: a sofa-bed that is comfortable (and good-looking as well)! The Milano Sofa Bed is an extremely well-designed and sleek sofa that converts effortlessly into a sturdy and comfortable bed. (Even my mom, who has been known to buy and return more than 10 mattresses before finding one she agrees with, thinks it’s comfortable)!
That clean baby smell
All babies smell nice (except maybe for those sweaty skinfolds…), but when they are clean, it’s just heaven for me!
Everybody has their own favourite smell–the one that will remind you of a freshly bathed baby at any point in your life. I know that for Esther, it’s the smell of Zwitsal. For many years it was Fissan’s for me (now produced by SaraLee, which is the same as Zwitsal).
But recently I have grown fond of Mustela products. Mustela, a French company, has been making specially formulated, hypo-allergenic products for babies and children that are great for sensitive skin. The “Mustela baby scent” has remained the same for more than 50 years, and I LOVE it!
A romantic evening?
Yesterday (Valentine’s Day) my husband spoiled me rotten. I got pancakes for breakfast, and a huge gift box that contained lingerie, champagne and chocolates.
When he came home from work early, he brought me a perfect red rose.
So, after dinner, when the children were in bed, we decided to make the most of our evening and make use of our huge bathtub (and afterwards I would, of course, show off my new lingerie)!
The candles were on, the light was dimmed, my husband was just scrubbing my second foot when…
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Still a horse…
My good friend Kim has an ‘allergy’ to rocking horses, as she says herself. She didn’t want to deprive her son of a rocking horse though, so she found the SIBI Rosa rocker – (more rocking, less horse).
I couldn’t resist. Last year for Christmas we gave our daughter one too!
And we all love it! It’s a beautiful addition to our living room. It’s a good and solid rocker, and surprisingly enough, according to my daughter it’s a horse after all! (Sorry, Kim)!
It’s available from Helemill, a fine shop with very friendly and helpful staff, who will ship internationally (except for North America, unfortunately…).
xxx Esther
In honour of Valentine’s day and the French
It’s no wonder it is called French kissing! The young do it, the old do it, and I can swear I have even seen a couple of dogs do it! People kiss openly on the streets in Paris all the time. Maybe there is something in the air that makes Paris the most romantic city in the world. If you walk past a school courtyard you will see at least 4 or 5 teenage couples in a more or less comfortable-looking romantic embrace, and I have often seen couples in their sixties kissing each other in cafés. Parents even kiss uninhibitedly in front of their offspring and the kids couldn’t care less.
Having been brought up in a country where public display of affection is a big no no, it is really refreshing to see people having no problem displaying their affections in public, and to be honest, it inspires me to kiss my husband more often, which is not a bad thing, is it? I guess that is why Valentine’s day is not so important over here: in Paris, every day is a day to love and be loved…
-Emilie
Happy Valentine’s Day!
I know I’ve already written about my favorite sugar cookies, but in honour of this day of love, hearts and sweets, I thought I would remind you of the recipe! They’re a Valentine’s tradition in our family, and I LOVE them! The pink and red hearts are cute, the cookies are yummy, and they’re fun to make with your kids!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Lots of ♥ !
-Courtney
Coping with toddlers
Although I’ve always said I wanted a big family, there have been moments lately where I have had second thoughts… Having babies is one thing, but dealing with toddlers is a whole other challenge. A friend recently told me, “I would have 10 kids if I didn’t think that toddler-hood would nearly kill me 10 times over!!” And I have to agree… My 2.5-year-old is really driving me crazy!
My friend, Shawn, in New York sent me this NY Times article, “Coping With the Caveman in the Crib”. It’s about Dr. Harvey Karp, the author of “The Happiest Baby on the Block”, who has now focused his attention on older children.
Vietato non toccare.
I took my older son to this exhibition whose title could be (freely) translated as “Please do not touch”. It’s in the Triennale, and it’s only for kids between the age of 2 and 6. It’s an interactive exhibition dedicated to the little ones and inspired by Bruno Munari ’s work. Munari, a famous Italian artist, had a great consideration for children and used to think their games were “very serious pastimes”. The exhibition is an interactive circuit where children discover things by touching them.
Make your own Valentine cards!
They won’t be as sharp as the cards you buy in the shop, but I’m sure they are made with way more love!
Take a thick piece of paper, about 15×21 cm or 6″x8″ (if you’re going to send it, it’s handy to check if it fits an envelope beforehand, but they are also cute for decoration)!
Cut a heart by cutting a drop-shape out of a piece of brightly coloured paper folded in half. Glue heart on paper. Let your child decorate with glitter glue. Let dry, and stamp cute text!
xxx Esther
Banana Muffin
The other Sunday morning I woke up to the sweet smell of something baking in our kitchen. My husband and our 2-year-old daughter had for once decided that I deserved a lie-in and were baking muffins for me!!
They were truly delicious and apparently my daughter had the best time making her first muffins as she got to get her hands dirty and squish bananas and mix up the batter. They also don’t involve an electric equipment so they are danger-free!
So I recommend that you “innocently” leave this recipe lying around the kitchen and hopefully you will have some kind husband and child serve you freshly baked muffins in bed. After all, you deserve it! (more…)
A week in London
Monday:
Head to Lazy Daisy Café on Portobello Road for a quick lunch. They’re all set up for kids, with a basket of toys and even changing tables (nappies and wipes) in the bathroom! If it’s a sunny day, you can even sit outside. After lunch, walk a few blocks south on Portobello Road to the Electric Cinema. They have a 3:00 screening slot set up for mums and their babies under 1-year-old. You “valet park” your buggy, take your seat at one of the cozy armchairs, and your baby sits on your lap (or the ample floor space in front of you). No worries if they scream– it’s actually called “Electric Scream” because it is to be expected! This is the perfect way to stay up-to-date on recent films, and is a fun way to meet other mums with babies. (Buy your ticket early on Monday because they always sell out)!
Some much needed glow!
Now that we are admitting to each other that we do secretly use beauty products to make us look a little better than we actually feel (see Michela’s post ‘With a little help from my friend’), I wanted to tell you about this product I’ve been using for years (I don’t understand why they promote it as ‘new’ on the web)!
It’s the Shiseido Tinted Moisturizer I’m talking about. Just smooth a little on your face (you can use your normal daycream first if you want), and I tell you, it does wonders for your skin. It evens-out pores, lines and other imperfections (yes, I admit) without becoming ‘cakey’ like some foundations do. It gives you just a hint of colour; not Bahamas-style, but just enough glow to look ‘naturally good’ – no questions asked. It moisturizes the skin, prevents aging AND, last but not least, protects the skin from awful things such as UV rays and the like.
Talk about multi-tasking!
xxx Esther
Not a fish!
But a Science Centre!
NEMO is a fantastic building in the heart of Amsterdam designed by the world famous Italian architect Renzo Piano. It resembles a big ship heading for the ocean and it houses a great place to entertain your children. Their cute motto is: forbidden NOT to touch! I read on the NEMO website that the primary target group is children aged between 6 and 16, but we brought our 2 1/2-year-old daughter together with her 64-year-old grandfather and both of them enjoyed themselves immensely! There are soap bubbles so big you can stand in them, life size kaleidoscopes, a DNA exhibit, and they show you how to provide a house from energy, etc. etc. Everything is set-up in a playful, interactive matter. We were there on a Saturday, so not the quietest of days you can imagine, but still there were no lines and we were able to do every experiment we were interested in.
Sleeping bags and the duvet generation.
I definitely belong to the duvet-generation; I believe that nothing beats the feeling of being snugly wrapped in a light down-filled duvet! But more importantly, I hate making the bed in the traditional way (or more precisely I am not able to properly make such beds). Layers of sheets and blankets are a burden in many ways!
So there was not a chance I was going to make a traditional bed for my kids!
No rhinestones, no cargo pockets, no fade-marks… amen!
Is it just me or is it really difficult to find jeans for your kids that are simple, traditional blue-jeans?! (You know, ones that aren’t overly styled in an attempt to be trendy). I don’t like baggy, I don’t like big pockets, I don’t want some ugly design on them… and I don’t really want to spend gobs of money either! (And for the record, I have spent gobs of money on a pair of jeans for my oldest son, and I wasn’t too impressed)!
A couple of years ago a friend told me a secret: Old Navy’s distressed jeans for boys are simply the best! (And while most stores don’t carry this style, they are always available from the on-line shop)!
Two years later, and I now own two pairs of these jeans in every size up to 3T! They really are the best!
The sun, the moon, and a little bit of magic…
A while ago we received this email from one of our readers with some old-fashioned, valuable advice:
I am not much able to contribute to the aspect of your site which touches upon being a mum and living a stylish lifestyle as I am afraid I must admit that I really am not tremendously stylish and am living the glorious life of being a mum on a shoe-string.
However I am not so poor or slovenly that I wish my baby son to go out into the big wide world covered in the demon orange blotches that spatter across his lovely white tops and hale from some carrot concoction I have fashioned whilst trying to improve my “good life” culinary skills.
NO!
Left, right, man, woman, black, white…
Do you know what I’m talking about? That’s right, the US elections. Today, the day after Super Tuesday, there was little else people were talking about in the Netherlands!
Obama, Hillary, McCain, McCain, Hillary, Obama. Blablabla.
I must say I’m pretty intrigued myself: who will win?
Anyway, whoever wins (Hillary should, in my opinion), we will surely be better off than we are at the moment, as the president of the United States is also a little bit the president of the Netherlands!
Is this the same in your countries? Or are you too busy gossiping about your president marrying a supermodel, or something like that?
xxx Esther
A little organization (and a lot of cool)!
Does anyone else feel like they’re losing their mind? I mean, I could have sworn I was much more ’sharp’ back in the days BC (before children)…
Yesterday I put my 2-year-old’s underpants on the baby and without a second thought, walked away into the kitchen to cook dinner. The other day I left the house without a bra (and also forgot to brush my teeth!) and didn’t even realize it until I went to take it off at night! And the worst one (which was actually quite funny) was this weekend when I strapped a bib onto my husband at breakfast! He literally looked up at me with “are you insane?” in his eyes.
Well, possibly yes. But I just have too many things going on in my brain so the simple (and sane) things are slipping…
I wonder how my mom raised FIVE kids?!! (And without a fancy new mobile phone with a built-in calendar that sends reminders)…
aMAISing!
Yes…that’s right this toy is pretty amasing! Happy Mais is made from natural GM-free corn starch material that is totally biodegradable, compostable and coloured with non-toxic food colouring.
These little pieces (which remind me of cheese puffs) are really versatile. One can build flowers, animals, trains… just about anything. All you have to do is moisten two pieces of Happy Mais and stick them together. You can also cut them to get more defined shapes or smaller elements. The Happy Mais pieces also stick to other surfaces like glass, wood, cardboard or paper. And if you melt them in water you get a sort of watercolour paint. (more…)
The NEW Phil&Teds “Vibe”
When I found out I was pregnant with #2, I was adamant that I was NOT going to buy a double buggy. My 2-year-old could walk (or at the very least, ride on the buggy board)! I sooo did not need to spend £400 on another buggy when my Bugaboo was working just fine, thank you very much.
Well, thankfully Esther had her second baby 7 weeks before mine arrived. She convinced me that, yes, I was going to need a double buggy (that wasn’t double-wide), and I should really buy the Phil&Teds! (She did all the research, so that made it easy… and you all know how good she is at convincing…)
So, I bought one in the end. And nine months later, I have to say that I’m pretty darn happy I did. (more…)
