It’s two months since my last Happy post…. but don’t worry, it’s not because I’ve been wallowing in unhappiness during that time. Kind of the opposite actually! So, here’s what’s been making me feel happy, of late…
Bagging some bargain trainers. I spotted these lovely Marks & Spencer trainers on Kat Got The Cream – they were £29.95 and are reduced to £8 in the sale. £8! For real. I love them. Granted, it’s too hot to wear them at the moment but I will…
Midweek BBQs. Something it’s not too hot for! There’s something so BRILLIANT about a midweek barbie, isn’t there? It feels a bit naughty to sling some burgers and bangers on the grill and eat outside. On a Wednesday! Plus, the four-year-old loves any excuse to eat sausages, so she’s happy too.
Being a judge in the Junior Magazine Design Awards 2015. This is something I’m hugely thrilled about – Junior Magazine have asked me to be a judge in their prestigious Design Awards. During its 15 year history, Junior has celebrated the best designer and high street children’s fashion labels, the luxurious hotels and fine restaurants that can cater to a family’s every whim while retaining high standards, the coolest and most child-friendly interiors, and the top classic and modern toys and books. Every year, they call upon parenting and family brands, products and experiences to enter the awards, to be judged against each other in order to bring their readers the cream of the crop.
I’ll be judging the lifestyle categories including travel, books, toys, dining, buggies and cots. Other judges on the Junior Design Awards include my fellow blogger and journo Erica Davies from the Edited, TV presenter Kirsty McCabe, singer Rachel Stevens, designer Olivia Rubin and Cass Chapman from Kodomo. If you run or look after a brand, you can register to enter here.
Discovering I like drinking gin! I’ve never been a fan of gin…. until now. I think I must be a proper grown up or something, because when I was in Mallorca last month with Scott Dunn Travel (full post on that coming shortly) I drank gin. Twice. And I liked it. It’s like a whole new world of drinks have just opened up to me. First up, I’m trying out this amazing looking gin that Martin Miller’s sent me – it’s distilled in England using water from an Icelandic spring. Gin and tonic on ice, anyone?
Being invited to a boat party. I’ve decided that boat parties on the Thames are one of my favourite things in life. What’s more fun than sailing up and down, past famous landmarks while you drink prosecco and dance to cheesy music? Nothing, that’s what. I was lucky enough to be invited to the evening do of my friend and fellow blogger Becky’s wedding last week – and it was amazing.
Doing fun things with the family. We’ve been doing a ridiculous number of fun things recently. It’s partly because we’ve dropped the four-year-old down to 2.5 days at pre-school, so we have more time to get out and about during the week. We’re also trying to take advantage of the quieter weekdays before the school holidays start. A couple of weeks ago, we went to Legoland – which is so much fun. I’d never been before and was really impressed by the rides, the shows and the variety of activities there. But the best bit: the mini Lego town!
A few weeks before that we did something totally awesome – we went for afternoon tea at a posh London hotel with Elmo. The actual Elmo. Not some dude dressed up, but the actual puppet and Ryan Dillon, the actual puppeteer who ‘does’ Elmo. The event was to promote new episodes of The Furchester Hotel on CBeebies. The four-year-old loves watching the show was so excited to meet the Elmo puppet and the other characters like Funella.
Tomorrow, we’re heading to the brand new Shrek’s Adventure on London’s Southbank. A fully immersive walk-and-ride attraction, it looks fab! It combines ten fairytale themed live shows with storytelling, an amazing 4D ride, dramatic special effects and extraordinary DreamWorks animation. For a sneak peak of the attraction, watch this clip. PLUS! I’m offering one lucky winner the chance to win a family set of four tickets to Shrek’s Adventure in London. If you want to star next to Shrek, Donkey and his DreamWorks pals, simply comment on this blog post saying what your favourite Shrek character is and why. Extra entries can be obtained by following me on Twitter, tweeting a message and following me on Instagram. Don’t forget to fill in the Rafflecopter box at the end of this post, for your entry to count. I’ll let you know my verdict on Shrek’s Adventure over on Twitter tomorrow!
oooh! love the snazzy trainers… I’ve never been a fan of gin ether… maybe I should give it another go?!
We are loving that gin too – so easy to drink! I love those trainers, off to see if they have any more! x
I love Donkey because he is hilarious and makes the whole family laugh
Great list, those trainers are a bargain!! My favourite character is the cat! x
I like the gingerbread man as it was my favourite story as a child.
Ilove Shrek – such a great character
it’s got to be Donkey, I can’t resist a funny guy
Donkey, he cracks me up!!
I love the Donkey..he is funny and cute!
We like Shrek as he makes us laugh and like a friendly giant
Just discovered your blog Alison – love these articles!
shrek because he makes us laugh
Has to be Princess Fiona – a princess we can all relate to!!xx
Ah so glad you snapped up those trainers – they will look ace on you. We’ve also been daredevils and had a couple of mid-week bbqs, which the kids think is brilliant!
And a big well done on being a judge for the Junior awards – such a great magazine! xx
Donkey, of course. He’s hilarious!!
Donkey as he is cheeky, lively and so much fun
Donkey is my favourite too as he is so funny x
donkey, he never fails to make me laugh
Princess Fiona 🙂
A great idea to list all the things you’ve been doing with your lovely family!
Lauren
http://en.emoi-emoi.com/blog/
Donkey. He’s so funny
For me it has to be Donkey as he is so funny, he really adds a touch of humor to the films!
It has to be the cheeky & loveable ….. Donkey!
The Donkey… he is just hilarious
Puss in Boots…makes me laugh til I cry…and Donkey!
Princess Fiona because she kicks ass
Donkey – he makes me laugh
Shrek the green loveable ogre
I love Donkey because he is hilarious
I’m another Donkey fan – irritating and very funny
Donkey because he is so funny!
it’s got to be Donkey,
Puss in boots for those eyes
Pinocchio is our favourite as my 4 year old calls him pino-chi-nose!
I love Shrek x i think hes adorable x
Donkey he is just my cup of tea!!
The dragon -fierce but loveable
Donkey – he is so funny!
Donkey because he is so funny and dramatic.
DOnkey – because he is so funny
donkey – he’s just so funny!
I love donkey, he is so annoying but so funny at the same time
Donkey because he lightens the mood and makes everyone laugh.
Donkey, because he is so hilarious!
I love Fiona – she knows that looks are not everything and that you should love someone for who they are on the inside!
Aaaw we loved having you guys celebrate with us, glad you had a lovely time! xxx
shrek x he just funny i love him so does my daughter x
This whole post makes me grin Alison. I love parties on boats too – that sounds like a brilliant wedding. And hurray to making the most of these last days before G starts school. Oh, and gin – HOW HAVE YOU ONLY JUST DISCOVERED IT?! xxx
donkey – everyone laughs at donkey from toddlers to granddads !
I love Donkey because he is so funny
It has to be Puss in Boots when he does his big eyes bit!!
Donkey, he’s very funny
i love donkey
I like Donkey, I think he is hilarious!
Donkey. He is so funny. Love the Shrek movies
donkey as he is soo funny
I love donkey he’s so funny !
Donkey – because he reminds me of my two munchkins “Are we there yet?”
donkey, hes hilarious!
Donkey because of his hilarious antics and utterly infectious laughter
got to be donkey as he makes me and the kids laugh
puss in boots as his accent is hilarious.
Love donkey, he makes me laugh!
Love Donkey, the voice of Eddie Murphy is just perfect, witty & so fitting to donkey
Princess Fiona-she is so funny but also charming!
Donkey his so commical and loyal bless him
Donkey! He’s funny!
Donkey because he makes me laugh with his antics
I’m going with Puss in Boots as my boy watches the spin off all the time!
Donkey as he stands up to Shrek and his grumpiness!
Donkey he’s so funny and loveable
Donkey, just for the amusement value
the gingerbread man….. do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, he comes from down your way!!!!!!
Shrek – he is huge, but has great heart as well 🙂
Donkey he is just so funny
It has to be Donkey……..Such a funny character and love his witty one liners!
Our favourite is donkey because he makes us all laugh!
Donkey is our favourite character as he’s just so funny.
Puss in Boots, just like his accent!!
Donkey because he is the funniest.
We love donkey as he is so funny
I love Donkey and would love to take the children during the holidays
I love Puss when he goes all cute as big eyed. I’m still trying to prefect this.
Donkeyis the funniest character by far!
I love Donkey as my 3 year old was a donkey in last Christmas nativity and it reminds of those memories
Donkey is our favourite because he always makes us laugh the most
We love Donkey he is just funny 🙂
Princesss fiona
Love Donkey – he’s hilarious.
we love donkey 🙂 he’s hilarious and deffo our fave character
We love donkey, as he makes us laugh.
ooh do enjoy a drop of gin , it was my mother in laws tipple i first drank it with her many years ago , and always have one for her on special occasions
i would love to take the grandsons to shrek 🙂
sorry got carried away with the gin lol
i love the gingerbread man
altho i love them all really
Love Donkey – he’s fab xx
I Love the Gingerbread Man … sooooo cute ♥♥♥ Great Prize my kids would love , and me…♥♥♥
I love donkey because he is so sassy
Donkey is my favourite – a combination of him making me laugh so much and also hearing the voice of Eddie Murphy, who I think is a fantastic actor.
donkey because he is funny 🙂
Fiona because the ogre Fiona is my doppelganger
Shrek, he’s a great chaarcter
It has to be donkey, because he’s such a funny character
I like Donkey, he is so funny
I love Shrek and his grumpiness!
Donkey, just think he’s hilarious and love his singing
Donkey – he doesn’t take life too seriously and he is a loyal friend
Love these happy posts – and LOVE those trainers. Going to hot foot it down my local M&S and see if there’s any left! Although it’s still a no to the gin from me – always makes me cry!
Shrek – reminds me of a lot of people i know.
Shrek! Love how he learns as a character
Donkey because he never gets it right – like alot of us!!
Puss, because he’s brilliant, and the voiceover just makes the character
We love the donkey as he makes us laughs. x
I love Donkey because he’s so funny 🙂
My son loves the gingerbread man especially when he turns big in one of the films, so I would say him too!
i love all the characters but donkey is my fav hes so funny with his one liners
DONKEY BECAUSE HIS SO FUNNY
I love Puss in Boots because he is cheeky and that voice!
Has to be the main man himself. Because he’s funny and Scottish
Like so many others – Donkey… he has sass, sometimes mis-placed charm, but his heart is in the right place, even if his brain is sometimes like a parfait
Donkey! His sooooo funny Dxx
Puss in Boots is my favourite – I think its the bid sad looking eyes 🙂 x
big* even
puss in boots because he is so cute xx
i like puss in boots. he’s got a fab hat and a fab attitude!
Can’t help but love Shrek! He’s still my favourite, though the Gingerbread man is a close second!
has to be donkey with his girlfriend and babys, so funny
Donkey he is funny
I like Puss in Boots as Antonio Banderas’ voice is like velvet (love the chase the torch scene too)
It has to be Donkey – he always has a smart comment!
Donkey!!! So funny!!!
Donkey is soooo funny!
i love them all, but I love Fiona as she’s good for Shrek and keeps him grounded. Love conquers all.
I love donkey because he always make me smile
fiona what girl doesn’t want to be a princess 🙂
It has to be Shrek himself as he reminds me of my partner!
Sheen – I love his insecurities
Sorry, Shrek – I hate autocorrect
Mine has got to be Lord Farquaad, just the name gives me a giggle, he’s so humpy and uppy himself, I just think he’s so funny. x
My favourite character is the Gingerbread Man, as I love running about saying “not my gumdrop buttons”
The gingerbread man. He’s cute.
Donkey for me, he’s so rude but he does ‘rude’ with great style and comedy 🙂
Princess Fiona because I believe throughout the stories she has gone through the biggest journey.
Fiona
Doris, the barmaid, don’t really have a reason why =D
Donkey hes so funny
Donkey – he cracks me up 🙂
I love shrek himself – he’s so foolish yet so sweet aswell
Wow some great reasons t be happy and I love those bargain trainers – £8 thats amazing! Also summer is all about the G&T’s
Laura x