Summer in Suffolk

 The changeable weather....coats required on this trip to the beach!

With no big plans for a family getaway due to Andy and I struggling to get the same annual leave this summer we decided to make the most of fabulous county.  Suffolk has so much to offer, mostly budget friendly and within a fairly short car ride away from our home.  Days have been spent on our favourite beaches, including Aldeburgh, Southwold and Felixstowe. Milkshakes at the diner down at Felixstowe Ferry, numerous 2p's fed into the slots of brightly lit machines in the arcade on the newly renovated Felixstowe Pier.  A stroll along the prom at Aldeburgh with a trip to the RNLI and of course the ice cream parlour.  Paddling in the sea at Southwold after picnicking on the beach then giggling at our reflections in the funny mirrors on the pier.  Walks through Rendlesham Forest, around our village and trips to great parks tucked away in nearby villages and Christchurch Park in Ipswich.  A visit to Jimmy's Farm on Andy's birthday.  Not forgetting cold coca cola drunk through straws (or trying the gin menu for the grown ups!) in our village pub, where we also celebrated Jacks 18th birthday.  

This summer has reminded us how much fun we can have without going on holiday and this September we will be celebrating living here, in this beautiful county, for seventeen years.  Have you been pretending to be tourists in your town or county this summer?  It's so much fun isn't it!

Until next time, take care.

Zoe

Xo

Outfit Welcome a New Addition to Their Family

Today sees the launch of Outfit Kids, a brand new label from Arcadia, offering on trend clothing, footwear and accessories for children in their Outfit stores in retail parks around the country.  A couple of weeks ago we headed to London for the press launch of this new collection and were excited to see what they had to offer.  Teaming up with some designers from one our family favourites, Boden, I was expecting style, quality and colour.  Of course I was not disappointed and neither were Amber and Kitty.  The girls collections seemed to be tailored to both of their styles, boho aesthetic for Amber and a strong monochrome led style for Kitty.  However the fun of sequins, silver puffer or feathery jackets in the partywear drew most of their attention!

For a full list of stockists visit the Outfit Kids website here.  As part of the launch you can enter their competition to win tickets to see School of Rock.  This is currently a favourite in our house, after Amber performed in her school production of School of Rock last term and we were thrilled to be treated to a performance from the West End cast at the Outfit Kids press launch.  

My only disappointment is that unfortunately this fabulous new collection is not available in a town near to me, but any excuse for a trip to London! 

Until next time, take care.

Zoe

xo

Back to School - Styling Up The Grey

Coats, bags and shoes available from Debenhams

Happy Jackson Lunchboxes available from John Lewis

Grey has featured alot in my life over the past few years, especially in the month of August when my days should be full of colour as the summer sun shines.  Most school uniforms seem to be led by grey or navy these days, no groovy brown and yellow mixes that my primary school days dictated.  But as my youngest daughter has said at least once a week for the past few months, grey is sooooo boring.  So what can our children do to mix things up a bit, stamp some style onto the necessary melancholy of wearing school uniform?  When my children were younger the latest favourite cartoon character or Disney princess adorned their backpack, lunchbox and water bottle.  But with my youngest child heading into the last year of primary school Disney princesses and cartoon characters are no longer the prerequisite of our back to school shopping trip.  Infact these days they tend to just email me links or send me screenshots of the items they need/want/absolutely must have.  Colourful bags, black patent t-bar shoes, warm but stylish coats and Happy Jackson lunchboxes seem the order of the day.  Lets just hope the trends don't change again until next Summer, as stamping their own style on the grey is a bit more expensive than those younger years of everything being Disney merchandise!

Until next time, take care.

Zoe
xo

Disclaimer - Debenhams kindly sponsored our back to school shopping trip.

An End to the Blogging Hiatus

At the end of last summer I made the decision to stop blogging for a little while.  Well life took over, things got busy and that little while became several months.  To begin with I didn't miss popping in here to share my thoughts, as quite frankly I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about anymore.  Time was limited and the plan was to make time for other creative outlets.  Then in recent weeks I started reading other peoples blogs again and I knew I needed to return to writing.  Whether I return once a week, or more or less often, I am going to make time for this little corner of my life.  In the past I would create a plan to create a certain type of blog, make big plans, but this time I am just going to with the flow....well a little bit!  Of course I will continue to write about being a parent, any parent of teens will know it's good to vent somewhere, but I promise not too many moany mum posts.  Also I hope to share some recipes, my adventures into growing a cutting garden filled with vibrant floral sights and scents and of course health and wellbeing will feature.  So there we have it, a new outlook for an old seasoned blogger.  

Now I am off to facetime my eldest as it his nineteenth birthday, but sadly he is not here to eat endless cake as end of year exams are keeping him at uni for a couple more weeks.  But don't worry we will still be eating cake, just in different parts of the country!

Until next time take care, 

Zoe

xo