30.1.13

Snow days and Spa days

I'm a bit behind with this post because we've been away in Greece for a few days, it wasn't a whole lot warmer there but it was nice to have some respite from the biting cold here in the UK.

Last week little E experienced snow for the very first time, which was a great opportunity for me to practise taking photos with my new Canon DSLR. She was a little unsure at first but within about a minute she was marching around the garden pointing and shouting 'Sno, Sno" accompanied of course by Doudou the bunny:










Whilst E was busy playing in the 'Sno' I left her in the capable hands of her Daddy and snuck off to Peter Jones ( John Lewis)  for my Clarins Mother to be Pampering face and body treatment which I received as a recent birthday present from my clever hubby. The Clarins spa is hidden behind the busy make up counters on the first floor of the busy store, it is wonderfully peaceful inside and you totally forget that you're in the middle of a busy department store.




The whole treatment lasted just over an hour and included a back and neck massage, a tummy and leg massage and a facial. I'm really strange in that usually I hate massages, I find them unbearably painful but I warned the therapist beforehand and she made sure that the pressure was really light and relaxing. After 16 weeks of constant morning sickness, a little bit of me time was just what I needed. All the products were very lightly scented with lavender which didn't make me feel at all queasy as so many lotions and potions do at the moment. 





I just had to take a photo of the Avent baby bottle warmer, used to warm the massage oils!
My Clarins mother to be treatment was absolutely the perfect gift and I would recommend it to any preggy ladies in need of some relaxation, as my therapist told me 'If you can't pamper yourself when you're pregnant, then when can you?' I couldn't have put it better myself!









15.1.13

Sushi and Celebrations

Not only was it my blog birthday recently but also my actual birthday. I've always hated having my birthday so close to Christmas and New Year, no one every feels like going out after the excess partying of the previous month but it turns out, there are some benefits! I'd wanted to eat at the new Sushi Samba restaurant since it opened in the summer but it was always fully booked, luckily we managed to book a table this time. The restaurant serves a mixture of Japanese and South American food which suited my fluctuating food cravings & aversions perfectly, I figured that I should be able to find something I liked from that combination. 


                            

Sushi Samba is at Heron Tower over in the City, upon arrival you enter a glass lift which whooshes you up to the to the 38th floor where the views of London are absolutely incredible! 
I know that some people are shocked when I say that I'm still eating sushi even though I'm pregnant but   did check with my obstetrician when I was expecting little E and he advised me that the guidelines have actually changed. Sushi sold in shops and restaurants in the UK is required to be frozen for 24 hours before consumption, which should kill anything that could be potentially harmful. This is what the NHS has to say about it here.




The food was so delicious, even little E and cousin M thoroughly enjoyed their first tastes of Japanese food, munching away on Edamame and Tempura. The staff were so helpful with the little ones, making sure they were entertained with pictures to colour in and crayons, my only complaint is that there were zero changing facilities.  



We all had such a fun afternoon and I was totally spoiled, with vouchers for mama to be spa treatments and a manicure with nail art at Sophie Robson on Kings Road, which I have wanted to try out for aaaaagggeessss. I also have a new Macbook pro from my parents and along side the Canon DSLR I had for Christmas, I actually feel like a fully fledged blogger now :)




So all in all, turning one year older wasn't really that bad! In fact I quite enjoyed it!

13.1.13

Nails of the week- Rose Gold

I'm a complete magpie for anything rose gold toned, I love it so much that I even had my wedding ring made from this metal but I tend to shy away from metallic nail polishes because they often look a touch grannyish on me. I've had naked nails for the past few months as morning sickness has totally put me off the smell of polish or gel but now I'm feeling a bit better I thought it was about time my nails got a bit of the rose gold action especially as I had Orly Gel FX in Rage sitting in my nail polish stash, screaming out to be tried on!

                             


I bought Rage in the gel version from eBay but you can also buy this in regular nail polish if gel isn't your thing, These mini Orly bottles from Boots are great way to try out different shades.

Just to make sure that this manicure didn't at all 'old lady' I then added some Andrea Fulerton Crystal Gemstones as an accent nail. I actually really like this effect and I think next time I may add a few more crystals.


The crystals were super easy to put on. First of all I applied a coat of base coat and 2 coats of gel polish. Before curing the second layer in the UV lamp, I applied the crystals to the wet gel using the rubber end of the stick that comes with the crystals. Finally I applied a thin layer of top coat, lightly covering the gems. 



I've been wearing the crystals for about four days now and have only lost a few on my right hand. I've been busy packing up for our house move finally and I haven't been looking after my nails as I normally would so I can't really complain that I've lost a few.

What's on your nails right now? Hope everyone's having a great weekend!!



8.1.13

Happy First Blogiversary to Me!

Today my blog is celebrating it's first birthday and I can't quite believe that we have got this far. I absolutely love blogging, and I love all the fabulous people who I have met through the blogging community and through twitter. Initially I was nervous at how my blog would be accepted by other mamas because it is quite fluffy and lighthearted but everyone has been so lovely and supportive so far!

Initially Keeping up with the Joneses started as a little hobby during my maternity leave. I have since returned back to work part-time and have even managed to incorporate my blogging experience in to my job and created a new position for myself. The industry I work in is notoriously backwards when it comes to technology and social media so this is something of a feat, so I'm really proud of everything I have achieved over the course of the year and with so many exciting things happening for us in 2013 with Baby Jones 2.0 on the way, I have plenty of fun posts planned!!!

Here are some of my favourite posts and products from the past year:



































2.1.13

New Year's News!

William and Kate are doing it, Kim n Kanye are doing it so we thought we'd join the club again too!! The Jones family is expanding......



Whoever said it was easier the second one is an absolute liar!! I've been so sick this time around so I've had to take a bot of a break from my little blog, even scrolling through pics on Instagram has made me ill. That said, we're both ecstatic to be able to go through this again, I was terrified when pregnant with little E and have felt much calmer this time around.

Hopefully I'll start feeling a bit more normal soon and will be able to get back in to regular blogging, I have plenty things to write about about and have missed chatting to all my blogging friends.


Happy New Year everyone, hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

xxxx
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