A tourist in London...

This weekend, my beautiful sister and her lovely bf are visiting from Sydney Australia. As they have both been to London before, the obvious tourist destinations of London Eye, Buckingham Palace and Big Ben are quickly discounted. So I have been tasked with the job of finding fun, interesting and unique places to take my lovely companions, all with Baby M in tow. So today we packed our baby sling and braved the bus strike and ventured to the gorgeous La Duree in Covent Garden for afternoon tea. So beautiful! We sauntered past the incredible M&M's World (heaven!) to the super lush Sketch Restaurant and Bar for some lazy cocktails. Cant wait to take them to the Taste London festival tomorrow afternoon, finishing off with a wild kick up at XOYO in Shoreditch (excluding Baby M of course). Will I manage to have time to saunter down Brick Lane for some Euro 2012 quarter final madness at vibe bar on their big screens on Sunday? Or maybe stop off for some Japanese High Tea at Miyako? Damn, I hope so!! Spoilt for choice, I HEART YOU LONDON...

Bride to be

Wow! So many of my friends are getting engaged! Cannot be happier for you! Makes me think of my own happy story and the perfect touches which made the 5th January the most important day of my life. As someone who never really bought into the whole institution of marriage and conventional aspects of domestic life, I found myself in unchartered territory when I happened to meet the love of my life (almost) 6 years ago and he decided that I (and all of my clothes, shoes and general crap) were worth putting up with. I might not be able to tell the future, but I wish my newly affianced friends a lifetime of happiness!

Teething nightmares

Wow, teeth. I never really thought about mine, except when I bite in too quickly to an ice-cream and feel the sting of a sharp brain freeze. But Baby M has decided teeth will play the focal point in our lives for the next 250 years. And boy does he feel strongly about teeth. Tantrums, epic cries and a constant need to be held, soothed and cuddled means mama is growing strong muscles and white noise block to the tears (not really). We just so happened to find out the hard way after our mama and baby workout in Shoreditch Park this morning, that teeth is not our friend, and so did half of London. Mama is exhausted. Massage, chocolate and red wine please!!!

Like Father, Like Son...

I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree; or so I discovered the other day when my little man developed a delightful scream and giggle for 2 things:

1) Nikki Minaj

2) The Victoria's Secret fashion parade

**Sigh**

A perfect day

You know those days that start in a rather unassuming fashion, rain, wind and cold- but turn into perfect days of baby love, long coffee afternoons and gorgeous girlie chat lasting hours and hours at a time? Well, today was one of those days. After a massive play session with baby at Wiggly Jigglers at the Richmix in Shoreditch, I headed over to the gorgeous Albion Cafe on Redchurch Street with my French BFF who squeezed a few days in London between her fabulous travels to chat life, love and happiness. Chatting with her made me realise how much life has changed since I have had Baby M, but also made me realise that life doesn't stop simply because I have a little one. In fact I feel that life has a new added dimension which challenges the way I perceive myself as a woman, friend and lover. I can honestly say that I have never been happier exploring the world through my baby's eyes, with the beauty of being a lush mama and with the love that I have with my amazingly chic friends. C'est magnifique!

One lush mama...Serena Francis

Serena Francis, the brainchild lush mama behind the sexy jewellery website Melita Rose www.melitarose.com can only be called an inspiration. Taking the leap from employee to employer, Serena is showing the world that you can be both a Lush Mama and a business success. Nothing short of hard work, Serena tells us a little about her life with her beautiful baby Connor

You are a mama and and entrepreneur, tell me more:

I definitely wouldn't consider myself to be an entrepreneur, but for so many years I would have these ideas about having my own business and before I knew, I always managed to talk myself out of it.
I would think of so many reasons why I couldn't do it, such as "not enough money" , "my idea isn't strong enough", lack of confidence within myself ( my family and friends have always believed in me) but it was ME who was stopping myself because I was afraid of failure. Then Connor Creed was born on the 17th Decemember 2012 and everything changed. In the past I was afraid of failure now I was afraid of not trying to give Connor the best start in life, this is what pushed me create the website.I have always loved clothes, jewellery so it seemed like the most natural thing to do. www.melitarose.com has only been launched so my main aim is to grow the site , explore who my main core customers are & increase the offering.
I am really keen to to showcase independent jewellery designers, giving those designers a platform to be creative. I want Melita Rose to be different from the high st.


What's the best part about being a mama?

Wow! Ok, since having Connor I feel more confident within myself. I love our snuggle time, he is always smiling & laughing. I love watching him sleep, dressing him up (haha), watching his progress etc. So when I don't get enough sleep and I am feeling low, he reminds me straight away its totally worth it, he is my world!

Are there any downsides?

Ok lets all say it together now..."lack of sleep" !
If I am brutally honest I struggled with the transition from working full time to being at home with Connor where my main concern was feeding him, changing him etc. I missed the fact I wasn't being hounded at work (strange i know ) or I couldn't pop out for dinner, drinks when I wanted. It took a while for my head to sort out my new priorities.

Have you got any tips for other lush mamas out there?

I am still learning every day about how to be a better mum a better person in general or how to make a" million!"  My mum said to me "Don't completely change your life because you have a baby, let your baby fit into your life," motherhood is meant to be the most natural thing in the world. Family & friends will try to advise you on what you should do and how you should do it. Take the bits of advice which work for you & your life and don't get stressed about what everyone says you should be doing with your baby.
It is ok to have down days sometimes; we are all human & full of emotions, so from time to time, do things which make you happy and most importantly treat yourself!

Genius!

LOL Boy can I relate to this!!

The things I would do if I had a full time nanny...

1. Go to Ushuaia in Ibiza and stay out till dawn
2. Put in 2 hour workouts at the gym daily
3. Take the tube on my own and wander Portobello Road markets
4. Drink red wine every night
5. SLEEP for longer than 3 hours at a time

But as I don't, I am loving all the fun things I do get to do with baby:

1. Cuddle and kiss his soft chubby cheeks
2. Wear funky clothes when I go to meet other lush mummies
3. Re-learn how to sing nursery rhymes
4. Seek my own inner strength and test myself in new circumstances every day which don't involve material things

What mama and baby are reading this week...

BABY... Buggy Buddies Colours (Perfect wipe clean for those awful teething days where everything is game to go in the mouth!)

MAMA... "We Need To Talk About Kevin" (A seriously uncomfortable book, particularly if you are a new mother (!), posing the difficult question of what happens when you don't immediately connect with your child, and end up raising a sociopath who defies all expectations of society by becoming a columbine style mass murderer with little remorse for their actions- The ultimate question of nature vs nurture in the context of a mother's love. This is now a highly acclaimed film starring Tilda Swinton who just so happens to be absolutely brilliant! Read this one with an open mind and not a paranoid one!)

Melita Rose

My new favourite jewellery website- love the affordability and the designs. Totally digging the bracelets- especially the rose bracelet- LUSH LOVE!

http://melitarose.com/

Baby swag for the week...

Red baby converse- seriously wish I was 4 months old!

ARSENAL Rubber ducky! Gotta love the football from a young age baby!

This sounds like Baby M for sure



Mama loves you Baby... :)

Conquering my fears

This week, I am going to conquer my fear of running. There is something about the pavement pounding, chest heaving, sweat pouring element of running which has always inherently put me off. Whilst I am fine to pound the treadmill for about 30 minutes at the time in the gym when necessary, my preferred method of working out has always  been classes based, vibrogym, boxing, swimming at the beach and pilates. I watch the clock less and don't feel the boredom. I am afraid that running will make me feel less capable at exercise. So this week, I am going to join some of my lush mamas at Victoria Park at 10am to try some buggy running. Led by the inspirational Lucy (who has run marathons after 2 kids, and still manages to look super gorgeous), I am scared, but I am brave. If I can have a baby, I am sure I can run around the park for an hour, RIGHT?!

Lush hubby

Congratulations to my gorgeous husband who has managed to stay married to me during the most challenging 6 months of our life! It is our 6 month wedding anniversary this week, and after 5 and 1/2 years together, I didn't think I could learn more about him or me, but boy was I wrong. I have learnt that my husband is even smarter, more sensitive, and even sexier than when I first met him as a crazy 22 year old. Having a baby has made our life complete, and I cant help but feel a rush of pride when I watch him with Baby M. I seriously cannot wait for our honey moon next year... Bora Bora Four Seasons here we come!

Jubilee long weekend

If my little bub is anything like me and his daddy, he will love to party! And there is no better way to start, than to start when you are young, so little one and mama headed down into Folgate Street to the Water Poet on the weekend to a funky street party. Although I ruled out drinking all day and staying out all night, we definitely managed to soak up the atmosphere in our quiet little corner. My little baby doll definitely lapped up the attention of being quite possibly the youngest party goer there- gotta love a good party!