Beatrix New York Tablet Case Review

I've written many times about my bag habit, so when I was offered these lush tablet cases from Beatrix NewYork, I obviously said yes!

I'm from the school of thought, that one can never have too many bags. There's always that next new outfit or previously unchartered ground that calls for one thing and one thing only. 

A new bag.

iPad Cases, Tablet Cases, Laptop Bags

They of course come into a category of their own and if you are anything at all like me - then they are actually the main category of bags in your life as I never leave home without at least two bits of tech and my essentials to stay connected.

The kids do a lot of travelling from A to B and an awful lot of hanging around at dance classes and swimming galas, so having their iPads in protective bags is essential to my sanity.

Enter the Beatrix NewYork tablet cases in four rather cute designs and two tween girls to put them through their paces. 

First Impressions

Cute designs that appeal to all ages. Very nicely padded with a lush soft lining that keeps screens clean and scratch free and a top loading zip for easy access.

Added Bonus

They are also water resistant, PVC, Phthalate, lead and BPA free, should you want to chomp on them, though I see no reason to want to. And the 10.1" size makes them perfect for a range of tablets and not just iPads.

A perfect xmas gift I think! 

Available in the UK from John Lewis, or visit www.beatrixny.com for more info.

DISCLOSURE: I was sent a Beatrix New York tablet case in order to write this review. However the views and opinions are all my own.

Bonusprint Photo Book Review

I used to be a prolific Photo Book creator. Birthdays, holidays, days out and general memory dumps. I love them but they've been a casualty of my lack of spare time. I've got so many pics that need cataloguing and preserving that the offer of a Bonusprint Photo Book Review was just the inspiration I needed.

I opted to make a book full of the images from my London Underground Blog. I've been meaning to do for ages but just never got around to it.

The Bonusprint Photo Book online creating tool is really simple to use. Choose the size and format of your book, upload your images, place them onto your layout and order. 

That's really is all there is to it. 

I made my Photo Book using the £15 complimentary voucher that you get when you register with Emma's Diary. You can register and claim your voucher at http://bit.ly/18xqgZ3.

Bonusprint Photo Book prices start at just £6.99.

And my book? I LOVE it!

Disclosure:

This is a review post. I was given a complimentary £15 voucher by Emma's Diary and Bonusprint in order to write this review. All opinions and images are my own.

Filofax Doodle Review Part 1

I LOVE Filofax, I'm a long term user. That sound's wrong but you know what I mean?!

I received a press release a couple of weeks about about the new Filofax Doodle and yesterday that release was followed up by a Doodle for me to try out and share my views on.

We love it. I love it... it's like being back at school but being allowed to write what the hell you like on your English book.

A real review will be coming soon but the excitement got the better of us last night and we made this little vid. Enjoy...

Disclosure : Filofax sent me this item to review. All views are my own.

Wreck It Ralph Review

Back in November the girls and I whizzed off to Disneyland Paris to attend the premier of Disney's newest animation, Wreck-It Ralph. The movie goes on full release this weekend and here's why we think it should be top of your half term 'To Do' list.

Set in the 'behind the scenes' world of arcade game characters, Wreck-It Ralph is a clever, colourful, classic tale of underdog coming good that appeals to the whole family.

Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) has been overshadowed by Fix-It Felix, Jr. (voiced by Jack McBrayer), the good-guy star of their game who always gets to save the day. Tired of playing the role of a bad guy, Ralph takes matters into his own massive hands and sets off on a journey across the arcade through multiple generations of video games to prove he’s got what it takes to be a hero.

Vanellope von Schweetz in Sugar Rush

On his quest, Ralph meets tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voiced by Jane Lynch) from the first-personaction game Hero’s Duty, and feisty misfit Vanellope von Schweetz (voiced by Sarah Silverman) from the candy-coated cart-racing game Sugar Rush, who may just tun out to be Ralph's first real friend. But everything changes when a deadly enemy is unleashed, threatening the entire arcade. Of course, Ralph finally gets his chance to save the day—but can he do it in time? 

Ralph in the World of Hero’s Duty 

I love the way Wreck-It Ralph taps into the nostalgia of classic 8 bit arcade games from the 1970's and 80's and combines it with modern candy coated animation (Sugar Rush) and awesome first-person shooter animation (Hero's Duty) as Ralph game hops to save the day.

I'm notorious for falling asleep in a darkened cinema, but Wreck-It Ralph had me chuckling and entertained from beginning to end. It's a feel good movie that's set to become a Disney classic. 

Word of warning though... when you get home, you may just be itching to dust down that old Commodore 64 and indulge in a spot of gaming, old skool stylie!

Ralph in his own 8Bit Game - Fix It Felix JR.

Wreck-It Ralph crashes onto the big screen on February 8, 2013. You can see it in Disney Digital 3D™ in select cinemas. No prizes for guessing what we'll be up to this weekend! The girls are desperate to see it again.

Check out the official Wreck-It Ralph website at www.disney.co.uk/wreck-it-ralph there are some cool games you can download (just incase you got rid of your C64 years ago!).

Crock Pot Rice Cooker Review

On the run up to Christmas I was approached by Crock Pot to see if I'd be interested in reviewing one of their Rice Cookers. I've always liked the idea as Yan's mum uses one and she makes very good rice!

The Crock Pot Rice Cooker is really easy to use. Add one cup of rice (cup measure included) and two cups of water, switch on and get on with whatever you doing. 

Your rice takes around 10 minutes to cook and when it's done it automatically switches over to the keep warm function. It really is that simple.

I have to say that that it makes perfect rice and the non-stick pan is really easy to clean. It's dishwasher safe but a wipe with a smooth cloth in the sink is all it really needs. 

I don't know about you but I'm prone to killing pans when I cook rice on the hob. This feature on its own is enough for me to never use anything else.

I cooked, Char Siu Pork with broccoli served on a bed of perfectly cooked rice from the Crock Pot Rice Cooker.

I love the rice cooker so much that I ended up buying one for No1 son for Christmas too!

For more info visit www.crockpot.co.uk or their Facebook page CrockPotUK

Disclosure : I was sent the Crock Pot Rice Cooker for review. No payment was received for this post. All review posts are 100% honest.

Old School Filofax Love

I might be a tech addict but no matter how many gadgets I have to ensure I get through each day in one piece the lure of the paper is just to much for me.

You see, I love notebooks and I love diaries. I start each year with such great intentions but never quite manage to keep up with my alter-ego organised self. I'm ultimately just a bit rubbish when it comes to things like that.

So my new squeeze is a Filofax Swift Personal Organiser. It's compact, it fits into my obligatory Cybher™ issue satchel and it's blank pages fill me with excitement and promise of everything I need to know being in one place.

Whilst I love a Filofax, I'm not overly keen on their diary inserts. The five languages on each page make it too busy for me. I either need it to be clean and zen or funky and cool but as neither of those boxes were ticked I opted for a Dodo Pad Personal Size, Filofax compatible diary refiill instead.

Much more me, with plenty of room for all of the things I need to remember, not just in my schedule but for the rest of the family too.

I added some extra note paper, a selection of Filofax Assorted Sticky Notes and took out the address pages and A-Z dividers. 

I'm not really sure why they still include them... It seems a bit needless when you have your contacts stored on your phone, but maybe that's just me?

If you have any creative ideas of how I could use them, I'm all ears.

So watch this space. Let's see if i make it to Christmas is a superly, organised way.

Disclosure : Filofax sent me the Swift Personal Organiser to review. The additional items were purchased by little old me.

Need a phone? Visit Dial A Phone

Despite being a family of gadget lovers, I've resisted letting my children have mobile phones of their own. They have iPads and the ability to message and email through various apps on them and as they don't go anywhere on their own they really haven't needed phones of their own. But with Sonny getting ready for high school I've relented!

Sony Ericsson Experia Ray

For the last few weeks we've been trying out the Sony Ericsson Experia Ray. This super cute smartphone stands out from the crowd with its candy bar design that reminds me of the old Sony Ericsson W800 Walkman phone that I so loved back in 2005.

Old School Sony Ericsson W800

It uses the Android Gingerbread operating system which in all honesty is a bit of a mystery to me (being the Mac girl that I am) but the kids took over and were downloading apps and linking Twitter and Facebook accounts in no time.

The screen feels small to me but the speed that it switches between apps, the awesome battery life and the 8.1 megapixel are all pretty impressive. 

I can't get to grips with the ancient feeling Half QWERTY keypad, it feels so slow and clunky when you are used to racing around an iPhone or Blackberry but I am just being picky - the kids love it.

Its also surprisingly sturdy and doesn't seem to mind being dropped at all (which is pretty important as its been dropped too many times for my liking).

The good bits : Small, light, amazing battery life, crisp beautiful screen, camera

The bad bits : Fiddly keyboard, not great for large hands

Do your children have mobile phones? How old were they when you bought them and do you have any make / model suggestions? 

Thank you to Dial A Phone for sending this sim free Sony Ericsson Experia Ray that I've simply added to my own business contract with O2. The Dial A Phone ordering service was simple and delivery was swift. They work with all the major phone networks offering contract and Pay As You Go options across a wide range of mobile phone manufacturers, making it the perfect one stop mobile phone shop.

www.dialaphone.co.uk 

Disney African Cats Is Awesome

I grew up in the 70's on a TV diet of The Wonderful World of Disney. The already dated True-Life Adventures created my love of wildlife documentaries.

Originally released in the early 1950's the documentaries were unique, enlightening, magical and totally awe-inspiring.
Walt Disney famously said that "Nature writes the screenplays," and last night whilst sitting in a packed cinema with my own children watching African Cats, I totally felt the magic of Disney once again.

The new DisneyNature film is essentially a story of family life. A single mother raising five children on her own and an ageing mother desperately trying to keep up with her toddler. But these are big cats not humans.

Sita is a strong, formidable cheetah with five (very cute) bundles of fluff and Layla, the most experienced lioness of the River Pride is struggling to regain her strength following an injury whilst hunting.

The cinematography on this movie is breathtaking, the Masai Mara planes may look stunningly beautiful but they are full of danger for both Layla and Sita. Each mother struggling in different ways.

I'm not going to spoil the story but African Cats is quite simply the best movie experience I've had in a long, long time. 

As we were at the Royal Premiere along with the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge we also got to take part in a Q & A with some of the crew and listen to the Duke speak about his own conservation work with TUSK. 

It was a truly amazing night. I was with Sonny (11), Biba (10) and Betty (8) and they all loved it too. As Biba said to Betty;

"Not everyone can say they just watched a movie with the future king."

I guess she's right!

If there's one movie you go to see over the next few weeks - make it African Cats.

After a family poll we rate it a whopping 10 out of 10.

Visit the Disney African Cats Site here and take a look at Domestic Goddesque's review too.
African Cats opens on 27th April.
Thank you to Disney for inviting us to such a fab event.

Lego Storage Head Review

It's no secret that we are a Lego mad house. All of us, the girls too, so when John Lewis asked if we'd like to review the awesome Lego Storage Head we jumped at it.

Over to Betty...

This is a great product, perfect for Christmas and if it means that I stand on one less Lego brick in my life then it has to be worth it!

The Sort and Store Head is available in store and online, priced at £39.95 (not £16,95 as stated in the vid, sorry we got confused but you can pick up the regular Storage Head at that price).

Now I'd like a stack of the standard Lego Brick shaped boxes please Santa! The 8 Stud Storage Brick is £22.95 and this really cool Lego Brick Alarm Clock is a bargain at £19.95.

PS. It's my birthday next week!

The Help - My Movie of the Month

This time last week I was snuggled up with a group of girlie buddies for a private screening of the eagerly anticipated film adaptation of the best selling book The Help. 

The last time I set foot in a cinema with a group of girls was to see Back to the Future. It was so long ago that everyone still thought that Michael J Fox was hot. He wasn't and we were really only there to check out boys but that's another story.

I'm a reader by nature and I'm never satisfied by a big screen portrayal of a book that I've read but as I hadn't started reading The Help I was a blank canvas and ready for the journey.

Set in Mississippi in the 1960's, The Help is essentially a tale of female friendship and the ability to come together to create change. Only things were pretty messed up in 1960's Mississippi. White children raised by black maids only to turn into their parents and continue and expand on their racist ways.

Skeeter (Emma Stone), saw things differently and on returning home from college, determined to be a writer, set about interviewing the black maids so that their stories could be told.

After a bit of cajoling the maids have a lot to say and despite the dark undertones of the main civil rights story, The Help manages to be a feel good movie.

If you liked Fried Green Tomatoes and Driving Miss Daisy you'll love this movie. If you like tales of hope, of good over evil you'll love this movie.

What I took away from it is that friendships really can conquer all and a reminder that revenge is always a dish best served cold.

The Help opens in the UK on October 26th. Go see it.

Disclosure : 

Back to the Future was released in 1985. If you have 13 year old children DO NOT consider it OK to let them go to the movies with a group of their friends. Don't ask why - take my word...

How to make the Best Roast Potatoes Ever...

Every now and then a product comes along that slips so seamlessly into your lifestyle that you can't imagine being without it. That's how we feel about the fab new Tefal AciFry that we were sent to review.

We were of course sceptical, (we alway's are). 

A fryer that can produce chips with a crispy 'deep fried' taste using only half a teaspoon of oil? Ummm, whatever. 

Yan got stuck in straight away with a packet of oven chips, that being slightly pre cooked go in oil free. We all stood around and stared at the frozen chips tumbling around inside, willing them to cook. 

Fast forward half an hour and this is what we'd made.

'Oohhhh' we chorused, just like Toy Story's Aliens waiting for The Claw. We were impressed. Even Yan was impressed - and he doesn't do impressed on a regular basis.

The taste test confirmed that these were quite simply the best chips we had ever experienced and there was no mess inside the pan. A quick wipe with kitchen roll and it was as good as new.

Day 2 - The kids burst in from school chanting 'chips, chips, chips' only to be met by my mean face and a firm refusal to eat the same thing two days running.
A row of sad faces stood before me.
"But Mum.... we love those chips...." cried FunnyGirl.
They weren't getting around me. No today was roast potato day.

Potatoes peeled, cut and ready to go. Into the ActiFry with half a spoon of oil. We stood and watched them tumbling around, willing them to cook.
Fast forward half an hour and look at what we made....

Hello..... is that roast potato porn or what?!

I don't usually get excited about kitchen gadgets but the Tefal ActiFry really is fab.

It can be used to cook chips, potato wedges, sausages, scampi, stir fries and I did spot that Maria from MummysBusyWorld had really pushed the boat out with her seafood empanadas! 

Cooking time is longer than conventional frying but there's not a spot of oil or mess in sight.

There really is no better endorsement than one coming from my husband, who hand on heart states that the ActiFry is the best thing that we have ever been sent to test. Ever.

RRP: £199.99

For stockist details call 0845 602 1454 or visit www.tefal.co.uk.

I was sent this product to review.

The Saturday Review - The Gro-Clock

Now this Gro-Clock review is a tricky for me. I have to say that when I saw it in a mag recently that I truly wanted it to be the answer to our five and a half year old early rising problem that is FunnyGirl.

I have a very strong affinity with the guys at Grobag as I (yes little old me) was the PR who successfully launched their sleeping bag to the global masses.

When they came to me they had already had two unsuccessful PR's and they said to me...

"I don't think that you can get press on a baby sleeping bag."

That night I went home armed with the said Grobag. ModelGirl was our mini bambino of the time, she slept OK, woke early, went to bed late. Liked too much boobie action in the middle of the night (a bit like her dad).

I had no hopes - no dreams. Simply zipped her up and off she went.

That night there was no last feed at 11pm and I had the first full nights sleep that I had had since she was born.

I woke, startled and ran into her room fearing tragedy. I stopped listened. Not too hard mind you she was snoring her head off. I looked at the clock - it was 10am. She has been asleep for 13 and a half hours......

So to cut a long story short... How many people do you think that I told about that? From that night on ModelGirl went down to sleep at the same time as DinoBoy (or TotallySonny as he is now know) at around 6.30pm and didn't stir till at least 8 - or 9am the following day.

Whizz forward. ModelGirl is now seven, not far off eight. Funny girl will be turning six before the year is out. She is a morning person. No one else in this house is.....

This causes lots of grumpiness and unhappiness (mostly mine I have to say). It wouldn't be so bad if FunnyGirl didn't have a habit of falling asleep at inopportune moments like...school assembly...in her pizza... at her schools church service....

You get the picture. It drives us all crazy that she makes us get up before 6am and then she sleeps for England at her leisure.

There will be some of you out there saying, well don't let her have a sleep.

Yes... OK, you try and stop her. She has been known to fall asleep mid conversation or even once in a restaurant when I simply turned to the other side of me to pick up a napkin from the floor. I turned back to cut her food...... Gone.

So. You get the picture....... We neeeeeeeeed FunnyGirl to stay in bed. Just for one day, just till it's normal O'Clock. Six would be good. Seven would be nirvana.

I saw the Gro-Clock in a mag and so I called the Gro MD (name dropping if you like) and asked him to send me one. He kindly obliged.

It arrived the next day. "Look" I said to FunnyGirl, "How exciting a special clock for you - that is going to tell you when it's time for you to get up in the morning."

"But I know when to get up mum." she said

"When's that?" I tentatively asked

"Cuddle time!".....

Ahh yes, I knew that well. It was cuddle past darkness in the not time to get up past scale.

But now I had a plan....

Set the time wrong I pleaded to hubby, but he being the more honest (not in PR one of our partnership) said NO. "She's not stupid."

And he was right. So we set the clock. At night time it shows the moon and you set it to whatever time you want it to show the sun. Plenty of opportunities to make them sleep in till lunch time if you so choose but not on hubby's watch!

Off we went to bed.

Day 1 - Funny girl stormed in at 5 something... we had had a later than usual night wrongly thinking that we may actually get to stay in bed till 6... Wishful thinking.

She was so excited that she woke early to wait for the moon picture to change to the sun and after at least an hour of waiting she had to rush in to tell us that her stupid new clock didn't work.

You can't pull the wool over her eyes!

Day 2. By this point I was starting to feel like the wolf in the three little pigs, continually out smarted by those pesky little blighters.

Again, she pounced on us earlier than usual. Fine I thought. This calls for a plan.

So I said to her.... "Tomorrow morning I will meet you at 5am at farmer Giles field where we will pick apples..."....eeeekkkkk Ok so I read too many Ladybird books. She wasn't going to be that easy to out smart and as it happened we kind of settled on a mid ground.

We agreed to a wake up time of 6.30am. That if she wakes before then - that she has to play in her room.

A couple of weeks have passed and the one thing that having the Gro-Clock has taught me is that FunnyGirl had no idea of what time it really was when she woke up.

So to come in to our room to be met by two grumpy parents, really wasn't her fault.

Wake up time - is just like bed time and play time. It's set by boundaries and whilst most five year olds could probably tell you what time they go to bed - how many of them could tell you what time they're supposed to get up?

Gro-Clock taught me a lesson. It taught me that I shouldn't expect my wonderful daughter to live by rules that I don't tell her even exist?

All that aside - it is a pretty cool nursery clock - and I like it.

Gro-Clock RRP £39.99 is MummyTips Must Buy for any young child. I just wish that I had tried it sooner - I may have had a few extra hours sleep in my life! Well done Rob and Ouv, another fab product.