Baby Blaney Diaries: I'm Pregnant, What Happens Next?...

Doctor's Appointment

The day after I'd taken my last pregnancy test, I rang my doctor to get booked in. I knew that this was the way to get everything started. I saw my doctor on the 10th of April and I explained that me and my husband had been trying for a baby and that I hadn't started my period when I expected to do so. I also told him that I'd taken pregnancy tests and that they had all come back positive. I went into a lot more detail, but I started the conversation and then he asked me a lot more questions, including when the first day of my last period was, when my LH surge was (as I'd mentioned that I'd been taking ovulation tests), when I'd stopped taking the contraceptive pill, when I'd taken the pregnancy tests and my average cycles (as I'd mentioned that they were all over the place recently). He also checked my blood pressure and weighed me. It was all standard stuff that he asked, but it started everything off and he then referred me to the community midwife and said I'd get a letter/call soon.

I did offer a urine sample, but was surprised that my word of being pregnant was enough, rather than him actually checking for himself. He did say that he usually lets the community midwife test a urine sample, so I considered this to be a usual thing to happen.

Early Bird Appointment

The following week, I had a call from a lady called Jo, who is in charge of getting pregnant women booked in for an early bird antenatal appointment with herself. I got booked in to see her the week after the call (22nd of April), so two weeks since I'd been to see my doctor. At the appointment, I was given info and advice on healthy eating during pregnancy (including what is best to eat and most importantly what not to eat), pregnancy in general, the hospital where I want to give birth, antenatal classes, preparing for a new baby, breastfeeding and screening tests throughout pregnancy. I was also given a general pregnancy guide (an Emma's Diary one), which also had vouchers in for free samples.

Jo started to fill my pregnancy notes in and she asked me some general questions about myself, my husband, my health and other things, but it was all pretty straightforward and exciting knowing that everything was getting started. I was given my notes to keep and have been told, several times, to keep them on me at all times, as if anything were to happen, whoever deals with me would be aware that I am pregnant and would know everything about my pregnancy by looking at my notes.

At the end of this appt, Jo said to ring my doctor's surgery and get booked in for my first booking appt with my actual community midwife. Jo was lovely and she said Tracey, my community midwife was lovely too, which she is, so that put me at ease as I was worried about people dealing with me not being very friendly.

Booking Appointment

At my first booking appt with Tracey, on the 27th of April, a lot more of my pregnancy notes were filled in. I was asked a lot of questions about my health, Si's health and anything that runs in the family. I was also asked whether I was happy about being pregnant and if I have support. I was told that some of the questions might be quite personal, but this didn't bother me as I knew she was just making sure that me and the baby were going to be looked after in the best way. After I had answered all of her questions, she said 'well done, you've passed!'. We had a laugh about this as I was like 'oh...great!', ha ha! She went on to tell me that all of my answers combined determined whether I was considered low or high risk and whether I might need to have more checks, scans, tests or screenings throughout my pregnancy. I felt lucky that I was considered low risk, which also means that I'm able to give birth in a midwife-led unit (which has a more relaxed, homely feel) as long as everything remains low risk, rather than just the normal labour ward in my chosen hospital.

Tracey took some info from my recent doctor's appt, such as my weight and blood pressure for my notes and then she took my blood and urine samples to send off to test for a variety of things such as my blood group and any conditions such as sickle sell, antibodies etc. She also asked if I'd been pregnant before (which I hadn't) and notified me of the early screening tests that are available for Down's Syndrome, the routine ultrasound scans that occur throughout pregnancy, any vaccinations that I'd be offered and any important symptoms that I should seek medical attention for.

She estimated my due date to be the 27th of November 2015 (using the first day of my last period), but I knew this wasn't going to be correct as my periods had been all over the place and I knew when I'd ovulated and it just didn't add up. She did say this date was just an estimate for the initial part of my pregnancy notes and that I'd get my proper due date at my scan. At the end of the appt, Tracey told me that she would refer me to the hospital that I want to give birth in and that I'd receive a letter for my first scan soon. She booked me in for another appointment with her on the 8th of June, when she initially thought that I'd be just under 16 weeks.

First Ultrasound Scan

The following week (I was extremely happy that I wasn't having to wait ages in between appts), I received a letter to tell me the date of my first ultrasound scan. This was booked for the 14th of May, two weeks after I first saw Tracey. I was quite nervous for our first scan, we both were, but this was to be expected as we were going to be seeing our baby for the first time and making sure that everything was okay, as well as finding out how many babies I was carrying.

When we went into the ultrasound scan room, it felt quite small and there were two midwives in there. One carried out the scan and the other wrote down notes from the scan and printed our picture. They introduced themselves and asked me to lie down on the bed and pull my jeans halfway down my thighs. I thought you only had to pull them down a bit! I kept thinking thank god I've got nice knickers on, ha ha. Me and Si laughed about that afterwards! As soon as the jelly and the ultrasound transducer was placed on my stomach, an image came up right away on the screen. The lady doing the scan had her screen and then there was one to our left, which was pointed in our direction. I'd read that it could take a while for the baby to be found and not to be alarmed if the person doing the scan was quiet for a while. However, she spoke almost straight away and her first words to us were, 'there's baby, the heartbeat is tickety-boo'. It was very surreal, we couldn't believe that we were actually seeing our little baby. It's so hard to believe you have a little one growing inside of you in early pregnancy, because aside from a positive test and some early pregnancy symptoms, you can't feel any movement or notice any immediate changes to your body, so the first time we saw our baby on that screen was an amazing feeling!

I was actually only 9 weeks and 6 days at this first scan, so the Down's Syndrome screening that can be carried out at 12 weeks (that we wanted to have done, but you don't have to have it) couldn't be done, so I was booked in for another scan, which was fine by me! It was £5 for a scan picture, but it was worth it as we couldn't stop looking at it! Me and Si were told that at this stage everything was as it should be and that my due date was the 11th of December 2015, but I was told that this date could change at my actual 12 week scan.

12 Week Scan

My 12 week scan was on the 2nd of June and we were so excited to see our little baby again. It was still nerve-racking because I was still so early on in pregnancy and we were just hoping and wishing that everything was still okay. The scan was a lot longer this time and in more detail, which was lovely. The lady carrying out the scan went through what we were seeing in depth, showing us parts of the body, the heartbeat and certain features. She asked me if she could wiggle the ultrasound transducer around a bit, to see the baby move a bit more. I said that she could and as soon as she did, our baby was wriggling around, touching body parts and probably thinking, 'excuse me, I was trying to sleep!', oops! I really appreciated the time taken to explain parts of the scan to me and Si, it wasn't rushed at all and I could have lay there looking and listening all day.

We paid £5 for another scan picture and we were told that baby scanned really well and that everything was as it should be. We were so relieved! We were also given our proper due date, which had changed by just a day, to the 10th of December 2015. For the Down's Syndrome screening test, the fluid at the back of our baby's neck was measured on the scan screen (this was done during our scan and there was no harm to baby at all) and I had more blood taken (this was done after the scan). The measurement and my blood were sent off to determine whether our baby had a low or increased risk of having Down's Syndrome.

2nd Midwife Appointment

When Tracey initially booked me in for this appt, she thought I'd be just under 16 weeks, but I was just under 13 weeks as my first scan had revealed how far along I actually was. When I arrived, I was told by the receptionist that I'd been booked in for the 22nd of June with Tracey, but as I had this appt written in my pregnancy notes and Tracey was still there at my GP surgery (she is only at the surgery on Mondays for community midwife appts), she said she would see me. The receptionist and Tracey weren't rude or anything, but I could still feel my blood start to boil slightly as I had this appt written clearly in my notes. It was a good job that she was still there to see me, otherwise it would have been a total waste of our time and money and I would have wondered and asked why I wasn't informed of this '22nd of June' appt! Tracey said that she'd thought it'd been a while since I'd last seen her and had actually tried calling me. I said that I hadn't had a missed call or anything. We worked out that she actually had a number missing from my mobile number, so that was why she couldn't get through, but that's sorted now.

There wasn't much to be done at this appointment, it was just a check up. She checked my blood pressure and tested another urine sample (I was told that I'd need to give a sample every time I saw her, which was routine, to check for protein). I had a few questions written down that had been playing on my mind, so I asked Tracey those and I left feeling much more at ease. My appointment for the 22nd of June was kept in place as I was going to be just under 16 weeks then and I was going on holiday to Spain at the end of that week, so she wanted to make sure that everything was okay before I went away.

3rd Midwife Appointment

This was another short and sweet check up of my blood pressure and urine on the 22nd of June. I didn't even have any more questions this time, so it was even shorter than my previous appt. It's nice though because my appts with Tracey never feel rushed, even if they are quick appts. She always makes conversation, checking whether I'm okay with everything generally and whether I have any questions.

20 Week Scan

My 20 week scan was on the 28th of July. We were extra excited for this scan as we were hoping to find out the gender of our baby. We were still a bit nervous though because this was going to be an in-depth scan to check that our baby was growing well and whether there were any potential issues with health, growth etc. We were also aware that this was going to be our last routine scan.

We were in a much bigger room this time and the midwife made sure that we were aware that this was a more in-depth scan and explained that if anything was found she would tell us. She also asked whether we wanted to know the sex of our baby if she could see and we said yes! This was a simple decision for us to make, we just wanted to know, simple as! The midwife started by showing us the heartbeat and then different parts of the baby's body. We saw the toes and fingers more closely and the lips, which were really well defined. She showed us our baby from all angles and again it was a lovely experience, not rushed at all. She told us when she was going to look at the baby in more depth, I suppose it was so we weren't alarmed that she was quiet, but me and Si kept looking at the screen, then smiling back at each other. It was definitely one of those 'moments', as we hardly felt the midwives there, let alone think about what was going on outside of the room. It was such a lovely, peaceful feeling. After a little while, the midwife told us that everything was great and as it should be. She told us that by the looks of what she can see, we were going to have a little girl! We were absolutely over the moon as I'd always said that I'd love a girl first, so Simon was really happy for me! We both felt so lucky that we were told we are going to have a healthy, baby girl. She did say (as she has to) that they can never be 100% when it comes to determining gender, but that it doesn't get much clearer than what she saw and she showed us the specific genital area on the screen. I was also told that my placenta was in the right position for a natural birth.

We paid £5 for another scan picture and comparing it to the others we had, we realised that the baby had turned around as the head was on the opposite side this time. After this scan, I had to have a routine MRSA screening test (I was told that all pregnant women have to have this at 20 weeks). It consisted of me swabbing both nostrils, both armpits and both sides of my groin area with cotton swabs. It was quick, easy and I was able to do it myself. I was told that MRSA is a type of bacteria that can be found on the skin and this screening test is done because if I end up having to have a caesarean section and I have this bacteria on my skin, it could cause problems. I was told that it's rare, but if it turns out that I have it, it can be easily treated with a body wash type of treatment.

This is the stage that I'm at now with my pregnancy appointments! My next appointment is next week with Tracey.

I have two pregnancy related videos on my YouTube channel that you may not have seen. One is a Pre-Holiday and Pregnancy Haul where I mention a few pregnancy bits that I've got recently, but the main one is a Mothercare Expectant Parent Event - Review and Haul. If you're expecting, I really recommend attending this event if you can, me and Si felt it was well worth it.

If you're pregnant, how have your appointments been so far?

I'm Back On YouTube & A Few Changes...

As you can probably tell from the title, I'm going to be filming YouTube videos again!

I'm really excited about filming again and even more so as me and Simon will be doing a lot more videos together. It's been two years since I last filmed for YouTube and I only stopped because the Movie Maker software I had available to me at the time to edit and upload my videos (on my little net-book), was so slow and it took so long to edit and upload videos, as well as failing every now and then, that I was getting frustrated and it wasn't as enjoyable any more. That is the main reason I started my blog, as it's a lot easier to write, double check everything and then publish a blog post than it is to go through all the steps of uploading a video. I take my hat off to those that film and publish videos every day. I'm sure they all have lives as well, which is why I find that I can't film a video to upload or write a blog post to publish every single day and sometimes not every single week, it just depends on what I'm doing and whether I have anything to write or film about. I don't like to blog or film just for the sake of it.

I'm going to be re-branding my main YouTube channel a little. My main YouTube channel is Gemsi2011 and I used to just upload beauty and fashion videos to this channel. I have a second channel called GemLivesLovesLaughs and that used to be where I uploaded cooking videos and vlogs. What I want to do is just have one main channel, that covers a range of subjects, like my blog. So I want to try and still film beauty and fashion videos, but there will also be travel, life, cooking and gaming videos on my one and only channel. These are all subjects that either I or both me and Simon have a passion for and so it will be nice to introduce a few new subjects to my channel. I am going to try and change my YouTube name and URL so that you recognise my channel as Gemsi - Gem. Simon is also going to be setting up his own channel, which will mainly consist of gaming videos and his will be called Gemsi - Si. This is something we've talked about and so it'll be nice to have our own little branded channels if we can. We are currently working together on the re-branding, so bare with us on this :).

You might be wondering what is going to happen to my second channel. My main channel has the most subscribers and so more of an audience to produce videos for. My second channel doesn't have that many subscribers or videos, as I only managed to upload a few before I stopped filming. However, they are still videos that I enjoyed making and that took time to make and upload, so I don't want to just delete them. The videos on my second channel are from two and three years ago, so they are some time ago but I am going to try and download them to my laptop and upload them to my main channel as a #throwbackthursday kind of thing. I will upload them one by one, either every Thursday or every other Thursday and they will probably be uploaded randomly with the title and description edited slightly so that people are aware, as well as us when we look back, that the videos are from two and three years ago.

I will probably also try to change my Google+ name and URL to match what I've said above, but I am not yet sure whether I will be doing the same for my email, blog, Twitter and Instagram. It would be lovely for everything to have the same name and URL but I'm not sure whether it might be a bit more of a disruption to my email, blog, Twitter and Instagram as they have all been active and current and I probably have links everywhere for them, whereas it's different with my YT channel, as I haven't filmed anything for over two years and my Google+ account is quite new, so I'd just update the links for those on my email signature, blog, Twitter and Instagram and I don't feel like it would have such a detrimental effect. We will see though, I'll keep you all updated along the way on anything I do change or update, keep an eye on my Twitter as I'll probably be mentioning things on there.

We uploaded a new travel vlog a few days ago, which you can check out below. We hope you like it! Please feel free to like, comment and subscribe if you do. It would mean the world to us :).

Thank you, as always, for your continued support! We are both looking forward to filming again and we hope you like what we or I produce :).

Thanks so much for reading!
Gem XxOo
Image courtesy of Day To Be You.

Healthy Living With Tesco...

Image courtesy of Tesco.

After Christmas and the beginning of the year is when the majority of people want to go on some sort of health kick, whether it be eating a bit better or starting to exercise and look after yourself a bit more. I felt the same at the start of the year and started exercising a bit more and in all honesty me and Si do eat quite healthily in general. I love cooking and cook from fresh a lot of the time at home and then we of course have our treat nights. When I saw Tesco were launching a 'healthy living' range, I thought it would be good to try out some products from the range and see exactly how 'healthy' they claim to be (as we all know some 'healthy' products actually aren't as healthy when you see the sugar content for example), how tasty they are and of course what the prices are like.

Now I will never convert to ready meals from cooking fresh at home because I love cooking and I love knowing what's going into my food and experimenting with different dishes, but I work from home so have the opportunity to do this as and when I want to. I know some people don't have this option and work away from home, some for a few hours a day and some for longer, then you may have some people who work and look after their children for example, so quick ready meals like this are good and convenient for those kind of people that don't have time or maybe even the energy after work or whatever their day involves, to be cooking from scratch at home and putting a lot of effort in. At the same time these people shouldn't have to compromise on taste and deserve the best when it comes to ready meals/quick meals, of course within their price range.

Tesco healthy living products have replaced Tesco Light Choices and the Tesco Eat Live Enjoy range. The range offers two choices to suit customers' needs. The first line of choices claim to be 'big on taste, lower in calories' and are for those looking to lose weight (but at the same time have a calorie controlled diet and an active lifestyle - so basically you won't lose weight eating these products and not doing exercise or if you eat anything else that you want for the rest of each day - but that's a given really). They contain 30% fewer calories than a comparison product (same meal from a normal/regular range). The second line of choices claim to be 'beautifully balanced' and are for those trying to maintain their weight or wanting to make healthier choices for themselves and their families. The products in the range have been created by Tesco expert nutritionists, especially for people who love great tasting food and want to control levels of sugar, salt, fat and saturates.

The nearest Tesco to me is an express Tesco and I was pleased to see they did have some products from the range but not all of them. Initially when I was sent the product list, a lot of the products that I liked the sound of, weren't sold in my nearest Tesco, which was disappointing but like I said it was an express, so the normal larger Tesco's should sell the whole range. The range has over 230 products and I chose a few products that we both generally tend to like, so I could get both of our views.

I chose the Sweet & Sour Chicken with Rice for me and the Sweet Chilli Chicken Noodles and the Sausage and Root Veg Mash for Si. The first thing I noticed was the packaging was of a good quality and it was bright and attractive, with the pictures of the food on the front looking quite appetising. On the front of the packaging the main ingredients that people want to look out for when going on a diet or wanting to generally eat healthier are stated. So the total calories, fat, saturates, sugars and salt content are stated in terms of grams and then as a percentage against your recommended daily allowance of each. I like these values being in your face and clear on the front of the packaging as it allows those that are working out what they are going to eat each day to properly work out their intake of such ingredients and balance them out accordingly with what else they are going to eat for the rest of the day. There is also a clear description of each dish on the front so you know exactly what you're getting and then of course the full list of ingredients is on the back. One thing that did stand out to me as being quite helpful is on the back of the packaging there is a little Weight Watchers Pro Points section where it tells you how many points the product is based on what you're allowed in your Weight Watchers diet :). I thought this was quite handy and those that are on that particular diet will agree I think.

Sausage and Root Veg Mash (£2.75) - This product is 320 calories and has 5.7g of fat (8% of the recommended daily allowance), 3.2g of saturates (16% RDA), 6.0g of sugars (7% RDA) and 1.8g of salt (30% RDA). I thought the salt content was quite high on this one, compared to the other two dishes but I suppose if you balance that out with what you eat for the rest of the day it isn't too bad. The Weight Watchers Pro Points on this one is 8. The dish itself Simon said was tasty. He really likes sausage and mash in general so he was quite impressed with the flavour in general of the sausages and especially the mash as it's made from root veg. He isn't really a vegetable person but he said it was really creamy and full of flavour. He said the same about the sausages and said the gravy was rich. It's like trying to get blood out of a stone getting Si to describe how something is for me ha ha but yeah put it this way he soon demolished it up and said he would eat that again. The one thing he did say was that it didn't take long to eat and he didn't really feel full afterwards. He did say that for those on a diet, where they are having a controlled diet of food, snacks etc it would probably be sufficient as they would probably be having breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks. Sometimes we eat breakfast then won't eat until dinner, which is usually home-made and a good size (not over the top but a good enough size so it fills Si up). Other times we miss breakfast, have a small lunch and then a proper dinner, so we don't really have a controlled diet where we eat all three meals at a certain time each day.

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice (£2.75) - This product is 425 calories and has 4.5g of fat (6% RDA), 0.9g of saturates (5% RDA), 10.4g of sugars (12% RDA) and 1.7g of salt (28% RDA). So you can see the salt content is a little less with this dish but the sugars are a little higher, but again as long as it is balanced out with what else you eat during the day, it should be fine. Don't forget these ingredients have been controlled, so they aren't sky high as with some other ready meals you can get. Also you can get some of their products with these values being much lower so if you really have a highly controlled diet you can just look for the products with the lowest amounts that you still like the look/sound of. The Weight Watchers Pro Points for this dish is 11. I tried this dish and although I ate it all and enjoyed it, the sauce wasn't as strong as I tend to like. It was a very light dish which is obviously great for a healthy dish, but the sauce was thin rather than thick and didn't have as much flavour as I normally tend to like. This is a preferred taste though so for those of you who don't like a strong flavoured sauce, especially with sweet and sour, then this would be ideal. The rice was lovely and fluffy with egg and peas, I could have eaten more of that, but I love rice! It was the same in terms of how quickly the meal was gone and not exactly feeling full up after it, but again I'd say the same as I did above.

Sweet Chilli Chicken Noodles (£1.20) - This product is 271 calories so the lowest of the three we tried. It has 1.9g of fat (3% RDA), 0.6g of saturates (3% RDA), 16.2g of sugars (18% RDA) and 0.5g of salt (8% RDA). The Weight Watchers Pro Points value is 7. This was a frozen product, where as the other two were from the chilled section. Si tried this dish and at first he was saying it wasn't as nice as the same dish from downstairs (we live above a pub where he works). I said you have to just review it as it is as obviously most people won't know about the same dish from the pub downstairs which is more costly but surprisingly is in the lower calorie section of the pub menu at 480 calories. The brand of pub is Stonegate but that doesn't really help as some Stonegate pubs have the same menu but others don't. Anyway, with this Tesco one you are really controlling your calories at just 271 for this one meal. He did enjoy it and ate it all, it's just preference isn't it with some things, like me with the sauce in the dish above. Si thought the chicken was lovely and tender and there was enough of it in the dish, although the sauce wasn't that strong, but it does say 'mild' on the front of the packaging. I said it's probably because it's a healthy, light dish. The stronger the sauce, maybe the more calories are in the dish. Si had the same issue with the size of the dish and feeling full, but I think it's the same as I've mentioned above, these products are designed for people who are on a diet or generally trying to eat a calorie controlled diet, it's not going to be a really big portion. This will suit some people though as I've said above.

I think that if you are being so controlled as to check the salt, sugar, fat and saturates in each thing that you eat then you will be able to work with products like this, even if you have to choose the product with the lowest amount of everything every time. The values are plain and clear for you to see, so you can work out what to eat around these meals or choose these meals compared to what else you have already ate. I imagine if you are on a diet or just making healthy choices then you will probably prepare what you are going to eat at the start of each new week or every evening for the next day. I'm not going to lie I don't think these are the most flavoursome dishes, but we have only tried three of the over 230 that are available. It's a shame my local Tesco didn't have more options but like I said above it was an express Tesco. I don't think the prices are that bad but I suppose it depends how you buy the products. If you are buying enough for a whole week and especially if buying for more than one person then it will add up but healthy food/ingredients don't tend to be that cheap to be honest. It's sods law with the majority of junk food that it's cheaper than healthier alternatives.

The range doesn't just consist of main meals, they sell quite a large range, for example you can buy cooking sauces, desserts, cheese, snacks, side dishes, tinned and packet foods, salad dressings, sandwich fillings and lunches. Often they are sold as two for a certain amount or three for two which was the case when I got the products we tried. They also cater for vegetarians. You can see their range here.

As I've explained above I love cooking at home from fresh and will always choose to do that over buying anything in as we prefer it. However, we all have the days when we don't feel like cooking or simply need something quickly to eat as we have somewhere to be. So don't get me wrong we do eat ready meals, but it's very rare. Si said he would have the Sausage and Root Veg Mash again but not the Sweet Chilli Chicken Noodles and to be honest I wouldn't have the Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice again because it wasn't strong enough in flavour for me. I wouldn't say no to trying some of the other products from the range though, especially if reduced.

Have you tried anything from this range? If so, what did you think?

What are your go to products for healthy living or do you prefer to cook from fresh too?

Thanks so much for reading! I look forward to your comments - I always reply :).

Gem XxOo

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Loved By Mollie (Mollie King's First Fashion Collection For Oasis)...

Those of you that regularly read my blog may remember my fashion icon/inspiration post. It featured Mollie King from The Saturdays. She is regularly snapped wearing clothes that I love the look of and could imagine myself wearing.

I had a general email today (from Look) as I signed up to receive updates from them and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Mollie King has her own collection, in Oasis stores now! The collection, called 'Loved By Mollie', hit stores and online...today! She is Oasis's first celebrity style ambassador.

The collection has been hand-picked by Mollie and it houses some of AW13's most coveted trends like oversized coats, leather midi skirts and tapestry prints. I must admit, I was a little disappointed that there were no shorts or play-suits in the collection, as they are the items I see her in the most that I love! I suppose it is for AW though and maybe she'll bring out a summer collection next year...here's hoping!

Here are my faves from the collection...

Lace And Velvet Stripe Dress £65. Phoebe Pointed Shoe-Boot £70.

Ombre Animal Jumper £45. Shearling And Leather Aviator £350.

The Heart Knit £42. High Waisted Jade Super Skinny Jeans £40.

 You can explore and buy her collection online or in Oasis stores.

What do you think of the collection?

Do you like Mollie's style in general?

Thanks so much for reading!
Gem XxOo
All images are courtesy of Look

PLAY With Your Style and DRESS It Up...

Dresses and play-suits are my favourite pieces of clothing to wear and I have been relishing the fact that I have been able to wear plenty of them this summer. My sun-deprived legs have been able to see the light of day for longer it seems this year than recent previous years!

Just because it is beginning to get a little cooler and we are hitting the autumn and winter stages of the year, this doesn't mean that day dresses and play-suits can no longer be purchased or have to be put to the back of the wardrobe until next year. Fair enough, you may not be able to just sling them on with bare arms and legs but you can still enjoy wearing them, with maybe tights and a little cardi. Your budget doesn't just have to go towards jumpers, cosy slipper socks and the biggest, snuggly scarf you can find.

I wanted to share with you a few of my favourite dresses and play-suits from this year, that I have had the pleasure to come across and are still available to buy...yay! I haven't been able to purchase as many as I would have liked to this year but I have had the pleasure of owning a few. Enjoy...

Superdry Owna Spot Dress £44.99.

 

Superdry City Racer Dress (very similar dress still available: Superdry Dance Dress, the main difference is the back is a round dip rather than a racer back) £49.99.

   Internacionale Blue Cut Work Sun Dress £12. Fashion Union Lemon T-Shirt Skater Dress £9.

 

   Fashion Union Navy Chevron Play-Suit £15. Topshop Alaina Aztec Play-Suit £44.

 

 In Love With Fashion White Polka Dot Play-Suit £36. Lovarni Swallow Play-Suit £9.99.

What are your favourite pieces of clothing?

Are you like me and still like to wear dresses and play-suits into the autumn and winter months?

I'd love to hear about/see your favourite dresses or play-suits!

Thanks so much for reading!

Gem XxOo

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Apart from the top four pictures, other images are provided by Internacionale, Fashion Union, Topshop, In Love With Fashion and Lovarni.

Nominated For A Liebster Award...

Hello lovely people! A little while back I was nominated twice for a Liebster award by the blogging lovelies that are: Nyss from Miss Nyss Beauty Magpie & Bec from Right-Up-My-Street.

I hadn't heard of this award until people had nominated me but the word 'liebster' is an endearing German word that means dearest or favourite. The award itself is an award for bloggers with under 200 followers who deserve some recognition, who can then go on to nominate other bloggers for this award.

It's lovely to be nominated and I can't wait to nominate others for this award (below)!

There are a few rules for those nominated to follow:

*  Post 11 random facts about yourself (this is stated on some rules and not on others, but you might want to do it just for fun :)). I did a recent (ish) post on random facts about me, so I thought I would link it here.

* Answer the questions that have been set for you by whoever nominated you for this award.

* Choose 11 bloggers with under 200 followers to nominate for this award, link them in this post and let them know they have been nominated by commenting on their blog/tweeting them.

* Create 11 new questions for your chosen bloggers.

* No tag backs.

Here are my answers to the questions Nyssa set for me:

1- How long have you been blogging for and why did you start?

I started blogging in June 2011, shortly after I started making videos on YouTube. Through YouTube I got to know other vloggers, aswell as people on Twitter who blogged aswell as vlogged or who just blogged. I generally like writing, so I thought this would be something I'd like to do and I did like the idea of not only getting to express my opinion on certain things but getting to know people through blogging and the opportunity of working with companies. I like everything that comes with blogging; getting to know some lovely people, working with companies, expressing my opinion and there are some amazing opportunities that come with blogging. I take pride in my blog and in the fact that I am honest within my posts and only work with companies if I am generally interested in such item/product that they have to offer, whether it be good or bad within my review/feature.

2- What is on the top of your beauty product wish list?

Hmm, at the moment it isn't anything too expensive to be honest. I like using cleansing waters and there has been a lot of hype about the Bioderma cleansing water. So I am waiting for it to come to my local Boots so I can get some with my points :).

3- What would you do if you won the lottery?

If it was a big time, life changing win then I'd pay off any debts, including any my mom, sister and dad have, along with Si's fam aswell. I'd give them some to spend too. Then the first thing me and Si would do is pay off all our wedding stuff, including a honeymoon (if we won before the marriage) and then travel the world :). Ooh good times...it's gotta happen one day, right?

4- Do you wear make-up every day?

Not every day, no. If I'm just around the house, sometimes I just wear moisturiser, but other times if I'm feeling a bit 'bleurgh', I will use a BB cream. When going outside the house I usually wear make-up, but again there can be days when I'm feeling good and just wear a BB cream. It depends on how I'm feeling.

5- Is there one product that you wouldn't want to live without and think everyone should try?

Ermmmm, since using it I've been absolutely loving Maybelline's Dream Fresh BB Cream. I've re-purchased it a couple of times (basically every time I've run out) and I think it's fab. I love how lightweight it is, it is oil free (which I tend to love in any beauty product) and its coverage is pretty decent, maybe with a little concealer in certain areas over the top. Sometimes I just wear this on its own if I want a bit of make-up on but not too much. I would definitely recommend people try it. You can buy it from Boots here for £7.99.

6- What is your favourite type of blog post to read?

I do like personal posts, not because I'm nosey or anything, ha :-o, but because I think they invite you to get to know a person better. Sometimes, personal posts can strike up a convo and a great friendship. I like hauls aswell, I like to see what's out there and especially kitsch, quirky hauls with unique items. I love things that are a little different!

7- What is the most you have ever spent on a beauty product and what was it?

I think the most I have ever spent on an individual beauty product is £33 and that was for Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua foundation. I have only bought it once, but loved it and will definitely re-purchase it, probably so I have it for my wedding.

8- If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

Ooh this is a hard one as me and Si love travelling and we have been to some lush places. America would be a major choice in this decision, maybe Los Angeles or California. It would be hard being so far away from family though, espesh my mom. I'm still getting used to being just 20 mins down the road from her ha ha!

9- Do you prefer Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter?

On the whole, I prefer Summer, without a doubt.

10- What are you most looking forward to this year?

Well a big thing has already happened this year, two things actually: we have moved into our own place and booked our wedding abroad, so earlier on this year those were two things which were exciting and I was looking forward to. Now I am looking forward to organising everything to do with our wedding really, we have also got a few special occasions to go to this year, weddings mainly (one where I am a bridesmaid :)), so we are looking forward to those too. It will be good to see Si starting uni aswell to get into teaching.

11- Do you have a guilty pleasure, if so, what is it?

What some people call trash TV is a guilty pleasure of mine, I love all the reality shows! Baby food aswell, I like eating it, but it feels wrong. I also love Yorkie bars and a cuppa t of an evening as a treat...dip it in, chocolate melts, eat it, melts in mouth, mmmmm!

Here are my answers to the questions Bec set for me:

1- What is your favourite fashion mag to read?

My favourite fashion mags are Now, Company and Grazia.

2- What is your favourite social networking site and why?

Twitter! I love the easiness and straightforwardness of Twitter and just feel it's a great place to connect with other bloggers or vloggers, aswell as companies. I suppose Facebook does the same but I don't like Facebook in general to be honest and hardly go on there for my personal profile. My Twitter is separate though and was set up for what I do in terms of blogging and writing and of course general chat with lovely peeps :).

3- What was your latest high street purchase?

A few weeks ago I bought a few plain and bright pocket t-shirts from Primark, just because I don't have many casual, loose t-shirts and wanted some with the hot weather to tuck into shorts/skirts.

4- How did you first start and get into blogging?

This question is similar to Nyssa's first question. See answer above :).

5- What are your plans for the summer?

My plans for the summer at the moment are to continue doing things to our new flat, organising wedding stuff for our wedding next year, continue to blog (more!) and go to loads of parties and weddings that are coming up :).

6- What is your job status and position?

My trained vocation is as an administrator, particularly in the care and unemployment sector. At the moment though I am working freelance, as a writer. Now I am living within the centre of our town, I do want to try and find something else part-time, whether in admin or something different, maybe just retail. It's just finding a job for starters and then finding a job that I can enjoy and be happy in. I know sometimes you can't be picky, but it's important that you enjoy where you work and are happy there the majority of the time, there's no point wasting your life being miserable in a job. Been there, done that and never again. I am not naive in any way, I know most people go to work not wanting to, but there are some people that enjoy where they work and that's what I mean and hope to find.

7- What is one make-up piece you couldn't live without?

Probably Maybelline's Dream Fresh BB Cream or Collection 2000's Lasting Perfection Concealer. Love these products! Has anyone else used them?

8- Topshop or Zara?

I think I'd choose Topshop, mainly because we have one in our town centre, so I do actually go in there. I haven't been in a Zara for yonks and don't tend to shop online that much, especially not at the mo...trying not to splurge cause of our wedding!

9- What is your favourite thing about blogging?

I enjoy getting to know lovely people, mainly via Twitter but other platforms too. It's a fab feeling knowing people follow your blog or follow you on Twitter because they are interested in your blog and what you write about. I also love getting comments, they make my day and I love replying. So, my favourite thing overall is the lovely people you get to know/meet through blogging/getting your blog out there.

10- What is the first song on your I-pod/music playlist?

I'm looking on my I-phone, as it's right next to me. The song is...'About A Girl' by The Sugababes.

11- Do you prefer outfit posts inside or out and why?

Erm, I don't particularly mind to be honest. I suppose outside there can be some beautiful surroundings and I have seen some gorgeous backgrounds. Overall, I don't mind though. I wouldn't not look at an outfit post because it was inside, put it that way :).

My nominees

Lauren from Lauren Emma Fashion And Beauty Blog

Grace from Preppy On The West Coast

Ashley from Private School Prepster

Laura from Elle Dees Beauty

Dee from Dees Beautiful Life

Dani from Fashion's Fondest Fancy

Nicola from Nicola Stewart Galton

Paige from Paige's Preferences

Alana from Alana Gets Healthy

Bea from Beatrice Not Yet Lost

Charlotte from Blot And Reapply

My 11 questions for my nominees

1- What one piece of advice would you give to someone who wants to start blogging?

2- If you could only do your make-up or hair every day for the rest of your life, which would you pick?

3- What's your favourite scent?

4- What's your favourite drink (soft or alcoholic)?

5- Bikini or swimsuit?

6- What's one thing you are proud of doing in your life?

7- What's your favourite savoury or sweet dish?

8- What's your favourite type of post to write?

9- Large group of friends or one or two really close friends?

10- What's the best thing that's happened for you since blogging?

11- What's your favourite film?

Don't forget to comment below with the link to your 'Liebster Award' post, I'd love to read your answers! You can tweet me aswell @GemsGemz86.

Thanks lovelies!

Gem XxOo

Where Do You Think You've Been??!!...

Hello lovely people! I know, I know, nice of me to make an appearance! If you follow me on Twitter, you will know that over the past few months I have been trying to keep you updated about what I've been up to and why I haven't had the time to blog recently. Before I jump back in on here, I thought I would just give you all a little update and let you know what's been gwarnin.

As some of you may be aware, me and Si lived with my mom and around Feb/March time, Si was made aware that the flat above the pub where he works was going to be vacant as the guy that lived there was moving to London. So we were talking about it in general and working things out and realising that we would be saving over £150 a month with work travel, obviously because Si only has to go downstairs to work! It is also cheaper in terms of living here than what we were paying to mom to live at 'home' and with our wedding and stuff it was going to be better for us financially. Also, Si is going to uni in Sept to do a teaching degree and the uni in our town centre is literally just over the round from the pub where he works, so yeah we knew we were gonna be saving quite a bit in travel fare and also it's nice to have your own place/space, I mean my bedroom back at 'home' (I still call mom's house home lol), was like my haven, but now we have a whole flat to make haven like!

The manager of the pub was glad that we were interested in the flat and that a member of staff would be on-site. He told us that he would get the cleaners in to do a thorough cleanse and that if we made a list of stuff that needed to be repaired/sorted out in the flat he would see what he could do. We did that and then a new area manager was employed for the same brand pubs around here and everything that was going to cost something, so the cleaners and any repairs etc had to go past him first. Let's just say I cleaned the flat from top to bottom myself and let me tell you it needed a thorough cleanse! We had a whole list of things that needed to be done around the flat, but the bathroom was the worst of all and eventually the area manager agreed to pay up to £100 for any work to be done within the bathroom. The only thing we managed to get out of that was a new shower head (because the old one had mould on it, mankyness!) and a few white tiles (fair enough in a nice neat design/pattern so it didn't look stupid) to replace ones that were broken, so it didn't get us much because we had to pay for labour aswell. So yeah, pretty much for a good two months I was coming here every day from morning or midday to evening and cleaning, decorating etc and obviously Si was helping when he wasn't working. Luckily we have fab families, so they were helping out when they could. In terms of the cleaning, I wanted to do that myself so I knew it was being done properly lol cause people living here in the past must have just let things build up and up and not bothered making it into a home :/ shame really, I like to feel comfortable, but maybe they felt comfortable with it as it was, I dunno. So now you can see why I wasn't able to ever get on my laptop lol, I tended to have a couple of days off every week (between Mon-Sun), just to rest/chill because I was just shattered, especially from the cleaning cause it wasn't just a little wipe over, I had to put some proper elbow grease in and I got through a lot of cleaning products! The flat is quite large aswell, basically the whole ceiling area of the pub downstairs (it is quite a big pub) is the floor plan of our flat. I will do another post and take some pics but just to give you an idea we have a porch area that you are in after coming in from the flat door in the hall, then from the porch there are two doors; one that leads to the dining area, living area and kitchen and one that leads to the hallway where you can find the outer door/another entrance door to the living area, our bedroom, the second bedroom, the bathroom and then there are a few extra rooms that we aren't really using, which are a storage room (can be made up into a bedroom, but we have been using it for storage of boxes and bits and bobs) and the boiler room for the pub which is right at the other end of our flat. There are also some fire doors which lead to a little what I like to call 'veranda' area which we could clean up and make into a nice outdoor, garden type area...without the grass! Then down some stairs, through a locked gate is the garden area for the pub.

We moved into the flat on Sunday 2nd June, so the week of the 2nd Si had off work and he put the finishing touches to everything in the flat. I carried on helping until the Thursday and then I spent the Friday and Sat packing 26 years worth of stuff into boxes, suitcases etc. I actually didn't realise how much stuff I had until I saw everything that had to be moved, I was like :-0, this is all my stuff?! Si's mom and uncle had helped to move Si's stuff that was still at his moms to the flat the weekend before. I had to be ready and packed by the Friday night because my dad didn't know till the last minute whether he had the Sat or Sun off work. Like I said, it ended up being the Sunday that we moved, but that gave me the Sat to make sure everything was packed and ready and then just enjoy my last full day at 'home'.

The move took a few hours, dad came to moms and borrowed my grandads trailer so he could move more stuff in shorter trips. The door that we usually use to go to and from the flat is a side door to the pub, but there is a door just through those doors which staff use to go from the pub to the office and they have to go up the same set of stairs that we use to get to the flat. So considering we had wardrobes and big things to move aswell as boxes, we decided not to do it that way and we moved stuff into the flat from the back of the pub where the garage is. For the first trip, me, Si and dad went and then set everything down in the garage whilst dad went back to moms and got the rest of the stuff and bought mom to the flat aswell. Whilst he was doing that we had to carry things through the pub's beer garden and up the fire escape stairs and then into whichever room in the flat...it was a killer! The boxes and stuff weren't light, so we definitely did our fair share of exercise that day ha! It was easier when dad came back and we all unloaded the rest of my stuff from the car and trailer and then there was me, Si, dad and mom helping to move everything up to the flat. Si and dad carried the heavy stuff and me and mom had a little production line going, she was carrying stuff to the bottom of the fire escape stairs and I was taking the things from there up to the flat, it was much easier for us girlies that way! When we finally finished we had a well deserved drink and then my dad had to drill a hole from the living area into our bedroom and sort out an aerial from the tv in the living area to the tv in our bedroom...home comforts and all that :).

So, here we are now all settled in. It took us about a week to unpack everything, which isn't that bad considering what we had, but I enjoyed finding a place for everything. There are still some areas we want to sort out like the area outside the fire exit doors, in case we want to sit out there if the weather is nice etc and the hall and spare bedroom are still as they were when we first saw the flat, apart from I've cleaned them, but there is potential if we want to do something with those areas in the future. My dad should be coming sometime next week to do a few odd jobs for us as we haven't got our own drill or tools yet, so he said he would come and put some shelves up for us, put our kitchen blind up, fix our shower rail and shower curtain and fix our bedroom curtain rail and curtains...yep we've been living without curtains in our bedroom since we've moved in! To be honest it hasn't been too bad, I mean there are lights outside that kind of shine in so it isn't pitch black, which is always nice when you're trying to sleep, but we have managed fine. Si has worn an eye mask and I find them uncomfortable so I've managed without. It's going to be great when we have them up though. More so for the privacy when we're getting dressed! I have been trying to find secret areas within the bedroom to get dressed in or just going to the bathroom, so it's gonna be nice when they're up. The bedroom and living area windows are bay windows you see, so they are long and more open to people seeing in. You can't see all the way in from outside (I've tried and tested this ha ha), but if you're sitting on the bay window or right by it, if people were looking they could see you. I've waved a few times at people waiting to cross the road below our window in the bedroom lol...people I know, don't worry, I'm not just frantically waving at people outside ha ha.

We are buying things for the flat every month when we get paid and doing things bit by bit. I mean, we have all the main stuff, but it's like extra kitchen stuff cause I love cooking and baking and then we are eventually going to get a dining table and chairs. There's also stuff like blinds for other windows, a bookcase, dvd and cd racks, a new coffee table, rugs and then just bits and bobs to put our own stamp on the place and make it our own :). I can't wait till my dad puts our shelves up and I can put my pictures out. I'll prob show you some things we buy along the way and any cute little finds that I get :). I am also going to do a post on the rooms, so you can see how we've decorated and what we have done so far. A few of you have requested this already so I'm looking forward to showing you all our first home together :). For now, here is a pic of me jam-packed into my dads car when we were moving:

I do miss 'home' and it'll probably take me a while to get used to not seeing my mum come in from work, cooking for two people instead of four and you know, stuff that you get used to. Si said it's to be expected and that he'll look after me (bless). I've only ever lived in one family home since I was born, so it's a little different for me because Si has lived in a few family homes and then he's been living with me at moms for nearly 5 years, so yeah. I see my mom often though, but it's weird cause when she leaves or when I leave her I get a sudden feeling of upset for a little while. Like I said I've got to get used to it, me and my mom are close so it's going to be strange. I speak to her every day though. My sister comes over too, so yeah we're settling in nicely :).

Another bit of exciting news is that we have booked our wedding! We booked it during those months when we were busy with the flat aswell, but we'd been saving for ages so wanted to get it booked cause we wanted to get married next year. We've been engaged since 2010 and initially we thought we were going to be married within a couple of years but we've been saving and deciding exactly what we wanted. We are getting married abroad in Cyprus, next September with our nearest and dearest coming with us :). It's so exciting because we have actually had our date confirmed now and all information has started coming through on what reception options there are and all the rest of it, so it's very exciting and lots of organising is to be done in the coming months! I will prob do some sort of wedding series on my blog, I haven't decided what to do yet or how to go about it but let me know if you have any specific requests of things you'd like to know or things that you'd like to see.

That's it for now I think! Like I said I just wanted to fill you all in :).

Are you living with family or have you got your own place now?
If you have your own place, how did you feel moving out of the family home for the first time?

Speak to you all soon!
Gem x

Pointless (The Travel Game)...

Me and my Fiance love watching the TV show Pointless. We always have a laugh playing along, so when I was offered the chance to review the Pointless travel game, I was like 'Yeahhh!'.

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

For those of you that aren't familiar with the BBC1 game show, it is hosted by Alexander Armstrong and the concept of the game is that you have to try and think of the most obscure answer rather than the best answer (scoring the most points) to each question you are asked (at some point before the show each question is asked to 100 people and they are given 100 seconds to come up with as many answers as they can - only correct answers are considered) and try to score the lowest number of points. Even better is to get a pointless answer which scores zero.

The full sized board game is also available to purchase, but I got to review the travel version. It is recommended for people of ages 10+ and for 2-4 players or teams. It contains 120 questions, 1 question card holder, 1 'Pointless' pencil, 1 answer and score sheet pad (30 sheets which are double sided) and 1 set of rules.

The game is similar to the TV show in terms of the whole concept of the show, so you have to try and find the lowest scoring answer for each question. The game has many differences to the TV show though in terms of the following:

- You can play with as little as two people if you want to. You don't have to play with solely four teams to start with like the TV show.

- In the TV show there are elimination rounds, before the final two teams with the best scores (the lowest scores) compete in the head to head and the winner of that gets to play in the final. In the travel game, there are no elimination rounds, everyone gets to play all the way through to the end, so no one gets knocked out during play. I suppose if you wanted to play like the TV show you could just adapt the rules.

- Each round is the same and the player or team with the lowest score of each round, gets to go first in the next round. When it comes to the end of the fifth round, the player or team with the most Pointless answers (scoring zero) gets to go first. At the end of the sixth round, the player or team with the overall lowest score wins the game.

- Answers are written down on an answer sheet rather than spoken out loud in turn. The scores (that your answers get) are also written down and recorded on your answer sheet.

- One player is to be chosen to be the question master, but can also play the game.

- The game isn't electronic, the questions and answers are on cards (they are also double sided) within a special card holder (which hides the scores from prying eyes ;)), so the questions and answers to choose from are on view and the scores are only revealed when each card is taken out of the card holder.

- All answers are on the cards to choose from, where as in some rounds on the TV show you have to think of some answers yourself.

Players are advised from the rules card that at least one of the answers could be false on both sets of answers on each card and at least one of the answers could be Pointless on each set. Players can't select an answer given by another player, hence the reasoning behind who goes first in each round. There are two sets of answers for each question, so each player or team gets the chance to answer the same question twice (similar to the TV show, where the two people on each team both get a chance to answer the same question).

The above points are the main ones about the travel game, but the rules card explains all :). You can read more about the TV show Pointless here.

There are a few errors within the travel game, on the game cards. I haven't gone through all the cards but whilst me and Si were playing, we noticed a few things. See if you can see what's wrong with the answer sections of both of these cards before finding out below...

Have you seen what's wrong?

On the first card, Nepal is named twice within the two answer sets. If someone answers Nepal from the first answer set and later the score of 10 is revealed, when the second answer set becomes available to choose from, no one is going to choose Nepal again knowing it isn't a Pointless answer and they will already know the score is 10. There is no point in it being there, so it's got to be an error.

On the second card, Estonia is there twice in the second answer set, the top one has a score of 2 and the one further down has a cross by it meaning that it is apparently an incorrect answer...this made us laugh when we saw it...go figure?! It didn't affect our game because there was only me and Si playing, so we just chose answers around the errors, but if there are a lot of you or a lot of teams then it might be different, especially if the error is on the second set of answers, when you have already answered from the first set. If the number of players or teams matches the amount of answers there is to choose from, then you will probably have to just re-start the round.

I kind of wish it was an electronic version as even the full sized board game isn't electronic. It's still great fun though!

You can buy the game from stockists such as: Argos, Amazon, Smyth's, The Entertainer and Tesco. I have also seen the game being sold on Ebay if you like shopping on there. Not all places sell both the travel game and the full sized game, so you will have to check what they have available. The travel game usually retails for under £10 and the full sized game for under £20. Prices vary for each stockist.

Do you watch Pointless? Is this game something you'd be interested in playing?

Let me know if you have any board games that are television shows!

Thanks for reading!

Gem XxOo

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