...Badger and bump

At 34 weeks pregnant, Badger doesn't seem in the slightest bit concerned about the baby kicks as he sleeps with bump.

Happy new year everyone x

...wishing a very merry Christmas

Last weekend we celebrated out Idiots Club Christmas and cooked dinner for 10 friends, including vegans and vegetarians. 

Luckily Laura is a fab vegan cook so gave us a hand with the dairy-free dishes of fake turkey, cauliflower cheese and pigs in blankets. I got a little carried away cooking too much food, must be the Italian in me! My worst nightmare is that guests feel there isn't enough to go around. And you can't get enough roasties...

Looking forward to spending Christmas Day with my twin and her husband. Wishing you all a very merry Christmas! X 

...decorating the Christmas tree

Ok, I know it's so early that even the Haskins guy was giving us tips on how to keep its pine needles until Christmas, but we couldn't resist getting our tree.

We are spending the weekend with friends in London, so wouldn't have time to get a tree until next Sunday, which is far too late...

After a brief upset due to artistic differences regarding how to drape or spiral the tinsel (!?) we took the tinsel off and the tree was done. 

The best part was adding the Christmas bauble decorations that I had received as wedding favours from my twin's wedding last year. Lovely idea to evoke happy memories each Christmas. 

...growing a baby

So 25 weeks ago we had just exchanged on our first home and were picking up the keys the next day when we found out i was growing a little baby.

I'd been burping constantly for weeks, feeling weird cramps (which I now know was the implanting of the egg), gone off of drinking alcohol (!?) and generally feeling weird so took a test to rule it out really.
I'm rubbish at keeping secrets but another strange thing is that this has felt so personal that I have not wanted to share it on social media at all until now.

After experiencing nearly every pregnancy symptom under the sun (evening sickness, food cravings, tiredness, shin splints, cramp, you name it I've probably felt it), i have been feeling great from about 16 weeks. I have finally reached 29 weeks, which for me looks like this...

After choosing to keep the sex of our baby a secret from ourselves, we just have to try not to see anything in our 31 week scan (should be 32 weeks but all the consultants are off for Christmas). But this hasn't stopped us from trying to guess.

Let me know what you think, boy or girl? x

...missing Iceland Airwaves

We went to Iceland for the Airwaves music festival last October. It was my first visit and I fell in love with the frosty city. Sam has been there countless times and I've been desperate to go but it hadn't worked out until last year.

It was a short flight just an hour away and when we disembarked the plane I braced myself to be hit by a wave of steely cold air, the complete opposite to a warm holiday. But it never came, at 5 degrees the weather was quite refreshing. This soon changed when we were hit by the tail end of Hurricane Sandy lashing out whisps of 75mph winds which blew a car and me across the hotel car park.

Here is my take on Reykjavik...

The main high street is Laugavegur and there are a lot of cool boutiques to check out there. It’s the strangest capital city – quite small and not very busy, hardly any cars but this only makes it more magical to me.

12 Tonar is the best music shop in the world. Icelandic artists just drop off their home produced records for 12 tonar to sell.

Sightseeing

You can see the best views of Reykjavik from the top of Hallgrímskirkja - the cathedral.

It almost goes without saying that everyone who goes to Iceland must go to the Blue Lagoon 

We hired a really cheap car from sad cars for a day and went on a mission around the golden circle. 

I’m sure the tourist information will let you know all about the golden circle - the geysirs, Gullfoss etc but check out the black beaches of Vik and the beautiful little church on the coast of Gullbringusysla.

Bars

A great daytime hangout for food (amazing pulled pork sandwiches), drinks, free wifi and people watching is Kex 

Ólafur Arnalds played a beautiful afternoon gig there while we sheltered from the wind

Kaffibarinn is a bar that is part-owned by Damon Albarn and hosts lots of live music from locals. Sam Amidon surprised me by playing my favourite song Louis Collins in these really intimate surroundings. I haven't heard him play it live before, pretty overwhelming, made me cry.
 
Boston is a new bar which according to locals is the favourite haunt of Jonsi from Sigur Ros and Bjork at the moment

Check out the architecture of Harpa - it's a beautiful venue for gigs 

Food  

Sam has been going on about Saegreifinn's lobster bisque and he wasn't wrong it is mighty fine and not too rich or creamy so a real hit with me.

Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur serves the tastiest hot dogs, which are great to eat when you are out drinking. It basically a hot dog van in a car park - the beginnings of street food right here. I had quite a few while I was there – they are quite addictive and my vegan friends had the crunchy onions and sauce in the buns without the sausages.

The Noodle station serves cheap and spicy noodle soup, great for refueling when you are rushing around.

Remember to keep looking up at the sky at night, because you are sure to see the northern lights. Sam was complaining to a guy we'd just met that he'd never seen them and the guy told us to look up and we saw them.

Music 

The best gig was Daughter who played in a church in the centre of Reykajvik. Everyone was so quiet and the music was so powerful it felt like this is the best use for a church. It made me very thankful that I was there to experience it.

It really is my favourite city.

...Cracking open Easter 2013

 Here's a taster of bank holiday celebrations with my family.

                                                    My nephew Luca with my twin Carly

My nephew Brandon Beans

The boys just chilling

A photo with both my sisters, Daniela and Carly

We spent a lazy bank holiday Monday watching Les Miserables and snuggling up with Badger on the sofa. My new Primark dungarees are ideal to keep the cold out, but a little tricksy when negotiating toilet breaks.