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Just four little photos from the past week ...

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Happy Socks

Ahh how my feet long to be free, in the warm summer sun with the grass underneath them. When I came across these Flossy espadrilles it made me long for summer and all the fun that comes with my favourite season of the year. It reminded me of my student days in Falmouth, Cornwall, which seemed like a world away from the rest of the UK, as if it turn on it's own time. I pretty frugal with my money and only buy something when I need it but Box clothing currently have these on Sale for 50% so I think I'm going to get a pair now because I will want them when summer comes and I know I will probably moan about the price, so some forward thinking is needed here. Until then though I like to keep my feet nice and cosy and John is a huge sock fan and has been wearing Happy Socks for a while and I am equally a fan, I think it pretty much got me with the name and the cute and quirky designs make my feet dance. It's no surprise these sweet little feet warmers are designed in Sw......

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Madagascar Live Cardiff Competition

This is your chance to win tickets for a family of four to the first arena tour of DreamWorks Madagascar Live! presented by Stage Entertainment Touring Productions.  There are 5 sets  of family tickets up for grabs at Cardiff Motorpoint Arena . Everyone’s favourite Madagascar characters will star in a live theatrical show based on the blockbuster DreamWorks Animation franchise, reliving the fun and humour of the animals and their escapades, brilliantly recreated in an arena production of lively storytelling, dance and music, including the hit song ‘Move It, Move It’. Audiences of all ages will love the wild and action-packed adventure as Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, Gloria the Hippo and the plotting penguins escape from their home at New York's Central Park Zoo and find themselves on an unexpected journey to the madcap world of King Julien's Madagascar . This celebration of friendship is brought vividly to life by imagi......

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A lunch date with Bill

So we had a rare day date the other day and decided to finally try out the new New York inspired Bill's restaurant and deli shop in Cardiff for a spot of lunch. It has a great vibe to it and it doesn't feel like a chain at all, with cool looking staff, bare-brick walls and wrought iron spiral staircase you feel like your in a downtown loft. Drinks - as soon as I saw they did Elderflower presse I had to have some - this can come either hot or cold and opted for a cold sparking class of elderflower with cut strawberries - very yummy. John went for a retro serve coca cola in the original glass bottles, which was a nice touch. Food - John opted for the homemade fish finger sandwich - which may sound boring but this was fish fingers gourmet style - big chunky and tasty with equally well presented chips that came in a little tin cup. I only wanted something light and had a real craving for tomatoes so I had to give the Tomato and basil soup which was very tasty and not......

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Anyway Up Cup Review

So the lovely people at Anyway Up where kind enough to send me a 360 toddler cup to review and I was really excited to receive this after so many spillages in the past and also because not only do they look more stylish than most toddler cups but they also have a different design that is more like drinking from an actual cup rather than a beaker. Packaging and design - I was really happy to see that the packaging was from 100% recycled materials and was easy to open. The 360 toddler cup is suitable for 18 months plus and features and innovative circular valve system which means Mr A could sip from anywhere around the rim - just like a real cup. So instead of sucking like you would on a beaker it moves with the toddlers progression to sipping and we feel it has really helped his confidence with using normal cups and now drinks from mugs and cups with ease. Also all of the anywayup cups are BPA free. Non-drip - This is a claim a lot of cups make and we no from experience t......

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Snow Dayz

Winter hats became a must in our house Well what a weekend we all have had here in the UK, with every house dusted in white and children loving their days off from school. For some reason I find people have very little sense of humour when it comes to snow, yes I know it can make the roads icy (I have experienced this myself) and it can be hard to get too work, it throws the train and bus timetables into turmoil and people panic buy so the shops are bare of eggs, bread and milk but on the other hand it makes everywhere look like a winter wonderland and it only happens for a few days of the year, so have a little winter spirit. Just be prepared and sensible about it, wrap up nice and warm and adventure out with the sense of magic in your heart. John couldn't get to work on Saturday so instead him and Mr A scrapped off the ice on most of the cars in the streets, Mr A also learnt how fun it is too make and throw snowballs at me and it was also a change to test drive his Joules sn......

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Monday blues No More

Since apparently it's the most depressing day of the year thought I would brighten up with the cute how-to-guide of cwtching. I mean who doesn't feel better after a good old cwtch, a recent survey discovered that 9 in 10 Brits say a cuddle makes them feel better, the ideal length of a cuddle should be 5.98 seconds and 25% of people don't receive a hug day-to-day which is a little bit depression so go forth and wrap your arms around someone you love Brought to you by Confused.com - Protect your loved ones with life insurance...

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Hat Envy

I am in love with this hat...it needs to happen. I have always been a fan of studs and embellishments and this just takes it too the next level, it's very brash and bold but it has that sort of "it's so wrong but yet so right quality about it". Best of all it's in my price range - only £19.99, saw in company magazine and loving it. Jackee mix stud gold flap cap from missguided ...

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Green and thrifting tips for the home

So following on from my thrifty fashion tips I thought I would do a post on some green and eco friendly ways to save and make money around the home. Now more than ever people are watching their pennies,with the way the world is going now it's impossible not to feel the pinch, with job losses and food, utilities and travel costs rising while wages are staying the same it can be a pretty testing time for most of us. Thrifting really is the new chic thing to do and here are a few helpful tips that we have been sticking too lately We love thrift stalls In the home 1. Be energy conscious - switch off lights and appliances in rooms your not using and don't leave anything on stand-by over night or when your out and about. 2. Conserve water - it really is our most precious resource. Don't leave taps running while brushing your teeth or washing the dishes and why not decanter boiling water from a kettle into a flask - that way it will keep hot for far longer for when you......

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Book Giveaway

I am really excited about this giveaway - I have four copies of "How Eskimos Keep their Babies Warm" for four lucky readers of the blog from Pan Macmillan . Written by the award winning journalist and mum to two Mei-Ling Hopgood this book shares parenting wisdom from around the world for a modern, well travelled and adventurous mum. Author Mei-Ling Hopgood I am half way through my copy and I am loving all the worldly insights this book gives to bringing up babies in ways we wouldn't imagine in the West. It is funny and light-hearted and is a wonderful break away from some of the more condescending instuction manuals on what your doing right and wrong with your children - this really does show parenting in a new light and has really reassured me that if things don't always go to plan that it really is ok - it always sorts it self out in the end. From toddlers dancing the night away in Argentina to the naturally healthy eating habits of the french childre......

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Thrifty Fashion Tips

Wearing a vintage handed down Gerard Darel Jacket and thift store satchel bag I don't know about you but there feels like there is a bit of a change in the air with regards to our already fragile economic climate, just as things were starting to look up and then in the past week both Jessops, HMV and Blockbuster have gone into administration, putting a lot of young peoples jobs in jepody. This reminds me even more to be thrifty and economical when it comes to clothes shopping. I have always been a cautious and I always try buy fewer but quality items rather than cheap one season trend purchases. I am also lucky that my mother happens to be a very stylish and chic lady and we are pretty much the same top size so I am always thrilled when I get something passed down to me from her. I have a few key tips I use when shopping 1. Do I really need it, am I going to wear it - this is a question we all need to ask ourselves, everyone likes to keep up to date and fresh with each se......

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Illustrator Interview with Megan Eckman

Megan Eckman is a very creative person - fact! She is an amazing Illustrator and runs her own business called Studio MME  which is based in California, our paths crossed a few months through this blog and I have been a fan of her amazing ink and pen drawings since. She captures that real sense of childhood imagination and the wonderful places your mind can take you. Megan was kind enough to take a pause from drawing for a few minutes to answer some questions for Side Street Style 1.So Megan, have you always had a passion for the Arts and when did you know you wanted to be an illustrator? My father is a painter so art has always been a major part of my life. I've been drawing since before kindergarten and when I entered college, I knew I wanted to get as much training in art as I could. So I ended up double-majoring in art and English to make sure I got the training I wanted. It wasn't until my last year in college that I realized I wanted to make my art my living. I......

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Silent Sunday times three

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Little Sale wishlist

So January is not only good for looking back and review the past year, making new resolutions and striving to make it a great year, January is also amazing to sales. I haven't had much time to actually go into shops as we are still unpacking from the move and Mr A is more active than ever....so it's all about the online shopping. Came across a cool site called Javelin , it has a ton of brands I love such as Barbour, Vivienne Westwood and Vero Moda to name a few as well as some great men's lines such as Carhartt and Fred Perry, the also one a Drapers Fashion award in 2012 so you know they know their stuff. Anyway they have an amazing sale on at the moment and here is my little wish list Darling Anastasia dress £45 Coolway Chelva £45 Fiorelli bag £21 Tommy Hilfiger beanie £31.50 I also came across this super cute hiking shoes for little Mr A because as you can see we do a lot of walking and they would come in handy. I only recently discovered that Branta......

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