Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine Review

Read more, that's what I always tell people. Take every opportunity to read, encourage your littles to bury their heads in books and get lost in worlds that are interesting, magical, exciting. Books feed my soul, they are a place to escape, a place to explore, stories to become a part of, I call myself a bookworm with pride and I adore seeing Willow show such love and excitement over her books, just like I did when I was a little girl.

Throughout 2018 I will be working alongside some wonderful bloggers with the Mumsnet team, as part of the 2018 Mumsnet Book Club. Now in its 11th year, the book club is a wonderful place for bookworms to unite online, reading a book together each month before joining in a discussion about the book, the characters, the story, your feelings on all those pages filled with words of another world. If you love reading like me, you can find out more here.

The first book on the reading list for 2018 is Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, a debut novel by Gail Honeyman winner of a Costa Book Awards for 2017 and a book which I simply could not put down!

Sharing Childhood Favourites With My Daughter

When I was pregnant with Willow there was a running theme in soft toys and nursery decor we were looking at getting her; a lot of it was themed around one of my own childhood favourite, Winnie-the-Pooh. It's something I find incredibly lovely as a parent when you are able to share things with your child that you grew up around and loved.

It's been 92 years since A. A. Milne first shared the world of Winnie-the-Pooh and all the characters of Hundred Acre Wood are still hugely popular today, I love that Willow has the chance to fall in love with characters and stories which give me such fond memories of my own childhood.

Does My Body Hair Offend You?

I remember bargaining with my mum in my early teens; she wanted me to do something and I said I'd only do it if she let me get my eyebrows waxed and let me start shaving my legs. You see, being Cypriot, I've grown up with very dark, very obvious body hair. Although I dodged the worse of the stereotypical Cypriot mono-brow, my arms and legs were a source of great insecurity for me, particularly when most of the girls in my school had fine blond hair, barely noticeable compared to mine. I dreaded PE lessons and just wanted to fit in with the other girls; they were allowed to shave their legs, so why couldn't I?

Safely Co-Sleeping Worked for Us

When pregnant, if you asked me what I thought of co-sleeping, I wouldn't have had much to say. We planned to use the SnüzPod2 3-in-1 Bedside Crib, but that was our entire plan - to have Willow next to our bed. Moving her to our bed, what I like to refer to as bedsharing, wasn't in the plan at all, but it turns out it was the best decision we ever made.

3 Things I Didn't Do

When I was pregnant with Willow I had all these ideas and expectations of what parenthood would be like and things I would do, now that I was a Mother. Turns out, with the best intentions at heart, there are some things I just never had the time to do, things I completely forgot about and occasionally feel a twinge of guilt about. Here are three things I didn't do when I became a Mother.

Sleeping Peacefully with Feather & Down

A good sleep is essential for me, otherwise, I start to slow down throughout the day, I only get half of the things I need to do done and by the time Willow is asleep, I'm ready for bed too. I have a few things I do as part of my 'bedtime routine' that all go towards helping me get a peaceful night's sleep and recently, I've added a few products into that routine from Feather & Down, a brand that promotes sleeping peacefully with their gorgeous range of Sweet Dreams products, but do they really help me sleep better?

High-end Foundations Worth Splurging On

Although I believe the high-street has a few great options when it comes to budget bases, it's high-end alternatives I rely on and have consistently turned to since my mid-twenties. High-end brands offer a greater variety when it comes to formulas, finish, their shade ranges often far more diverse with a bigger range of shades available and the quality, I find, is just better.

I find high-end bases easier to apply and blend, usually more weightless on the skin giving a more natural looking finish. Longevity wise, when it comes to my almost-thirty dehydrated skin that has it's combination moments, high-end bases are my go-to favourites for a base that will last from morning to night.

A Poem for Every Night of the Year

As a little girl poems didn't interest me and by the time my GCSE's came around, with poetry top of the syllabus for English, I found myself quite adamantly disliking anything to do with it. Yet here I am, 7 months away from turning 30 and somehow, I've found myself at peace with poetry. I enjoy poetry, I like poetry, so what better way to bring more poetry into my life than with a nightly read of A Poem for Every Night of the Year.

Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planner Review

I've been really into using planners and journals over the past couple of years and 2018 will be my third year using Erin Condren to organise life, work and blogging. I attempted so many diaries growing up, after a few months getting bored and forgetting them at the back of my desk drawer, but these planners work wonderfully for me, something I've kept up and really enjoyed doing.

For 2018 I have opted for the Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planner, a planner I used in 2017 and found really beneficial for keeping on top of all things blogging - it's now an essential for me and something I really recommend for anyone looking to get more organised, whether you use it for blogging like me or for family and work life, it's an incredibly diverse planner.