MY HAIR TRANSFORMATION @ NO.48 BURY ST EDMUNDS

Valentines Day was always more of a one sided thing for me & K. I mean, he isn't exactly the most romantic of people at the best of times! But this year he absolutely blew me away by surprising me with a voucher to have my hair done and not only that, he had actually booked me an appointment the same day. I had been dropping hints for ages, as one of my mummy friends had re-opened the salon. K has very selective hearing so I doubted that he took any notice but the boy came through!!! Major brownie points.

I had never actually been in the salon before but I can't praise the interior enough. I genuinely think it would probably be very similar to the way I would decorate if I had a salon myself. There are lots of different textures and patterns, which all work amazingly together and my favourite part, lots of rustic wood around the place as you can see from below.  

They are a small team, made up of 4 lovely ladies who all in fact knew each other before opening the salon which gives it such a lovely vibe as you can tell they are all genuinely good friends. I knew my stylist Amy from school so we just spent the whole time catching up which of course was lovely! Also, as if this place wasn't ticking the boxes enough, for Valentines Day they were offering prosecco & orange juice along with heart chocolates! WINNING!

K had booked me in for ombre/balayage, which again I was surprised he remembered that was what I wanted. I'm not going to pretend I know anything about hair so won't be able to get very technical I'm afraid, but I know I had it curled and look how pretty it looks!! #HairGoals.

I am absolutely in love with my new hair, I'm going to be going back in a few months to get it even lighter but for now, this is as light as my hair will get without damaging it. You can find their website here, their Facebook page here, and the most amazing Instagram here where they are always posting the best before & after pictures which I am obsessed with!  

*Disclaimer - I haven't been paid  to post this, nor am I receiving anything in return  for posting! K paid for this in full

My 4D Scan Experience

From the minute I found out I was pregnant, I knew I always wanted to have a 4D scan. When I was researching in to it, my brain was mushed by 3D/4D scans, all the different packages, all the extras you could buy, all the places that do them I honestly didn't have a clue. I asked on Twitter and a few baby groups on Facebook and like everything else, everyone had their opinion and I was no further forward picking a location to have my scan. If I'm honest, I completely stopped looking for a good few weeks because I was so overwhelmed by it all.

I knew time was ticking as they won't do 4D scans after a certain amount of weeks so when I was around 24-25 weeks I started to look in to it again. I found a place in my own town, which I didn't know even existed, with Ultrasound-Direct (Baby Bond). There was a package called 'simply 4D scan', which was the cheapest I had seen a scan anywhere. It was £59, with the option to add on extras (photos, DVD etc). I booked it without even thinking twice. 

I was able to pay half and then the rest at the scan, which I think is really lovely as it can sometimes be a lot of money to pay out in one go. I also chose to add on a USB stick of pictures which was an extra £15 which I didn't mind as I would always have the pictures of my baby.

When we arrived we were shown to a lovely little room, it was very dark and quiet which was really relaxing. I decided to take K and my mum, as she hadn't been to any of my previous scans and it was something I really wanted her to see. The lady came out to let us know she was running a bit late but I didn't mind at all, I was so excited I had barely slept the night before! I can't remember exactly but I believe I was around 26+1 when I actually had my scan. The Simply 4D scan only offers from 25-28 weeks so I was perfect timing. 

The package included a 15 minute appointment, about 10 minutes of that is actual scan which doesn't sound like a lot compared to some packages where you get a lot of scan time but we all agreed when we came out that you couldn't have had much longer scan because we had seen all there was to see, I really don't think I could've sat there for much longer seeing it all over again! 

Luckily baby played nicely and let us see her really well, and also confirmed the sex as I still didn't believe she was a girl (and yes, she really is a girl, I saw her bits!!!!). We saw her beautiful face, hands and feet. She looks like her daddy already which is scary. I always thought people were mad when they compared a scan to a person but honestly, she has daddy's big nose and pouty lips like mummy! 

Baby Bond have studios all over the UK and offer so many different packages (although it can be scary picking them!). Everyone has their own opinions on 4D scans, some say its a waste of money however I would happily spend that money again to see our baby. I am actually desperate to have another scan before she arrives but I am running out of time!

Have you had a 4D scan? What did you think?

Daisy xxx

Top Picks of the Bury St Edmunds Food & Drink Festival 2016

After I wrote this post about the Bury St Edmunds food & drink festival (which was highly viewed, so thank you if you read it!) I promised that I would also tell you my top picks from the weekend. With so much going on, it can be confusing and overwhelming to know what you want to see, so I’ll help you out! 

Starting with Sunday 28th August, obviously the main act to see is Galton Blackiston. He will be doing 3 demonstrations, all completely FREE to watch! They are at 11am, 1pm and lastly 3pm. And, if you like anything you see Galton cooking, you can even get the recipes here to make at home! Couldn’t be easier.  If you aren’t able to make Galton’s demonstrations, there are several other local shops with cooking demonstrations including; Palmers Coffee Shop kicking the day off at 10am, the one I’m most looking forward to - Casa Del Mar at 12pm and Maison Bleue in the afternoon at 2pm. 

On Monday 29th August we have the lovely James Tanner joining us, again doing 3 demonstrations at the same times as Galton; 11am, 1pm and 3pm. You can find his recipes for the day here. We also have some great demonstrations from the brilliant Malcom Harradine at 10am, The Northgate Cookery at 12pm, new kids in town Giggling Squid at 2pm and finally Bens at 4pm. It puts me in a food coma just thinking about it!

If the cooking part isn’t for you and you much prefer the eating and drinking, over the whole weekend there will be over 100 food & drink stalls across town throughout the whole day with a local farmers market on Angel Hill too. All produce on the farmers market is from within 30 miles of BSE - right from your own doorstep! Like I mentioned in my previous post, it is a real day out for all the family as there is so much going on for the kids. The towns favourite pop up beach will be ready for some sandcastle building in the Arc, alongside fairground rides and a punch & judy show at 11am, 1pm and 3pm on both days. You will find a mini-farm on Abbeygate Street, and in Cornhill Walk you will be able to get your face painted too! 

The Cathedral grounds will play host to BSE’s very own Mad Hatters Tea Party with lots of Alice in Wonderland themed activities and although we may not have the heat of Brazil, the atmosphere will be alive in Langton Place where you will be able to get a feel of Rio. Speaking of Rio, how well did we do in the Olympics?! Amaze!!! Pop down there to get henna tattoo or two.

Hope to see you there!!

*Collaboration with Our Bury St Edmunds

Bury St Edmunds Food & Drink Festival

You may (or may not) already know that I live in the lovely little town of Bury St Edmunds, a small floral town in Suffolk situated between Ipswich & Cambridge and not too far from London*, and its an absolute delight living here!! It’s beautiful. 

We’re very lucky to have tons of events going on throughout the year, but one of the very best of the bunch has to be our annual food & drink festival which truly gets bigger and better every year. This year, not only do we have celebrity and local chefs, food & drink stalls and a farmers market, we also have a taste of Rio coming to Langton Place. With lots to look forward to, this years bank holiday is looking set to be a tasty one! 

Here’s what you need to know:

DATE- 28th & 29th August

LOCATION- Across Bury St Edmunds town centre 

COST- Absolutely FREE!

TIME- 10am-5pm

With a Rio carnival atmosphere, themed food, drink and dancing there will also be mask workshops throughout the day over at Langton Place.  Not only is there a huge selection of things to see and do for the adults, there is also a mini-farm, fairground rides, punch & Judy, henna tattoos, street entertainment, the beach in the Arc and a picnic area by Halifax. Phew, thats a lot to fit in! 

Celebrity chef Galton Blackiston joins us for the second year running on the Sunday. Galton is a regular on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen and has appeared on many other TV shows. Can you believe he has held a Michelin star for over 14 years?!

If you are a regular Lorraine viewer, you will know resident chef James Tanner… He will be joining us for the first time on the bank holiday Monday. You may also remember him from Ready, Steady, Cook.

Next week, as it draws closer I’ll be sharing my top picks of the weekend and what you cannot miss!   

*a complete lie by the way, its just the easiest way to explain where it is!

Collaboration with Our Bury St Edmunds