A morning of memories and decadence at The Sweet Shop: review and online discount code

I love sweets. I’ve previously written about my pressing need for sugar at various points throughout the day. I need it in my life.

So imagine my childlike joy when I was invited to a bloggers event at The Sweet Shop at The Trafford Centre. Only a stones throw away from my home in Manchester, it was no trouble at all to get myself there early on a Saturday morning to sample, discuss and generally muse over one of my favourite things – sweets.

We were greeted at 8am (yikes!) by the lovely and accommodating Georgina of The Sweet Shops, alongside a breakfast of pastries and strawberry smoothies provided by Boost. The early start was already shaping up to be worth it.

Georgina explained that The Sweet Shops company has been running for two years now, starting with a stall in the Great Hall followed by the Trafford Centre Shop in March this year. This was quickly followed by a Kiosk in Cheshire Oaks in June.

After our introduction, we were left to our own devices to explore a treasure trove of sugary delight reminiscent of Charlie and the Chocolate factory…

I wouldn’t have thought it possible to fit so many delights into one small retail space. My face must have been a picture as I wandered, lost between memories of childhood Sherbet Dib Dabs, Wham! Bars, fizzy cola bottles and strawberry bonbons to contemplations of future sweet tasting possibilities – Vimto flavoured candy floss? A dark chocolate Milky Way with a caramel layer?! Erm, yes please!

My reverie was probably aided by the hand and arm massage I had just received in the shop from Lush , who were there for the morning, using their Soft Coer massage bar. It’s amazing how little attention we pay to our hands and how amazing you feel when they are given a little special treatment. I’ve since tried their limited edition Rose Jam Shower Gel which smells amazing. Anyway, I digress…

The shop was well ordered and easily accessible. At the Sweet Jar station for example you could fill jars with sweets of your choice, ranging from £5-£15 per jar.

The American Candy station took me right back to a trip I once did around the Deep South of the US with friends, where we ate Hershey’s chocolate galore.

The Retro Sweet station was my favourite…

Anyone remember these?

I was impressed with the labelling of the sweets too- vegetarian, halal, sugar-free, gluten-free, etc.

We were also greeted by a few other Trafford Centre stores at the event, who told us a little about their wares:

– Win Naturally – Offering natural and organic healthy food and supplements, we were given a bad of healthy snacks to sample. This will come in really handy for work and the associating constant battle to avoid the tempting coffee and cake shop nearby.

– Regis hair salons. We were informed of a new treatment on offer called colour gloss which is apparently amazing and lasts for up to six weeks. I’ll be trying this before Christmas, given that I usually have no time to do anything much with my hair myself.

– Shu Uemura, who are based in Selfridges in the Trafford Centre. They gave us a sample of their award winning cleansing oil which I’ve since tried – it smells gorgeous and left my skin feeling really fresh. They also handed me a voucher for their brow shaping experience – so a pampering day is in order for this together with my colour gloss!

– The Perfume Shop. Again based in the Trafford Centre, the shop gave me lots of perfume samples and some for Mr EC also (so he got a bit of something in return for his morning looking after two lively girls).

– Zara cakes, who provided us each with a gorgeous cupcake. The photo says everything about this heavenly creation.

I topped the morning off with a coffee at Carluccio in the Trafford Centre who kindly gave us a 10% discount for the day.

It was a really enjoyable morning, and I was surprised in particular by the memories awoken by The Sweet Shop. I’ll be returning before Christmas as there are some fab ideas here either for small stocking fillers (Hershey’s peanut bar for Mr EC – shhhh, don’t tell) or gifts.

If you would like to order from their online store, the Sweet Shops have kindly provided a discount
code for my readers – ‘bloggers10’ at the checkout.

You can find the the Sweet Shops online at www.thesweetshops.co.uk, or follow The Sweet Shop on Twitter. The Sweet Shops can also supply Pop up Sweet Shops for Corporate Events, Parties and Exhibitions and they deliver traditional and retro sweets and American Candy across the UK.

Disclaimer: I was invited to a bloggers event at The Sweet Shop and received some items free of charge alongside some exclusive offers. Lucky me – it was all fab. I wrote this review in return for attending the event.

I’ve never had one of the above, have you?

Forget-me-not-Friday #24

Mr EC has been suffering badly this week from the dreaded cold. Three year old has been surprisingly concerned and empathetic about this.

She also thinks all hot drinks are coffee. Can’t think why?

Mr EC has got up at 4am to make a hot lemon drink, with three year old hot on his tails, having heard him going downstairs from her bedroom

Three year old, unbelievably alert for 4am: “What are you making, Daddy?”

Daddy: “A hot lemon, to help my cold, because I’m poorly.”

Three year old, after considering this: “When I’m a growed up, Daddy, I will make you that hot lemon coffee.”

Blog every day in August: What’s on your mind?

This month I am taking part in Yummy Mummy in Training’s ‘Blog every day in August’ challenge. Read all my posts to date here.

Day 29 is ‘what’s on your mind?’

What’s on my mind today? Well apart from the usual “why am I so tired?”, “when is it bedtime?” and “how on earth do I cure my daughter’s eczema?” it has surprisingly been…

Christmas.

Christmas always creeps up on me, and every year I say to myself “I won’t do this again next year.” I tell myself I’ll buy my presents throughout the year, get my food list sorted very early, keep on top of general house tidiness ready for visiting family.

It’s nearly the end of August and although I haven’t bought any presents throughout the year, at least I’ve started to think about it, namely:

Where will we buy our Christmas tree this year? We normally buy a locally sourced tree, and decorate it ourselves. This year, nearly-three year old will be able to help.

Argh!! How many presents do I need to buy this year? What would my children like? What would Mr EC like? Men are particularly hard to buy for, I always think.

What size turkey to buy? This always causes some debate each year. We usually have seven adults plus children. I think we went for 13.5 pounds last year, but as we’re a family that enjoys leftovers, we may have to go even bigger.

The sprinkling of fairy dust on Christmas Eve! I love this, and nearly-three-year-old will be captivated with it this year.

I think nearly-three-year-old will understand a lot more about the story of Father Christmas this year. I think she will be on pins about whether or not “he’s been” yet.

Finally, I’ve got to keep on top of the cleaning! I know it’s ages off yet, but knowing us, we’ll suddenly key realise come Christmas Eve that the place is an utter tip and run around like headless, well turkeys, trying to clean and tidy.

I’m excited for Christmas already- get me!

Read day 30 here.

Blog every day in August: Why do you blog?

This month I am taking part in Yummy Mummy in Training’s ‘Blog every day in August’ challenge. Read all my posts to date here.

Day 23 is ‘why do you blog?’

I wrote about my reasons for starting a blog in my very first post. My main reason was that, since becoming a mum of two, I felt an increasing urge to write down and share my life-changing experiences.

Now, nearly five months on, I ask myself “why do I enjoy this so much?”

Three reasons:

1. Sense of achievement. I feel a strong sense of achievement in not only writing about my experiences, but having something tangible – a kind of interactive diary – that myself and my children can access in the future.
2. A new community. Wow – I’ve ‘met’, i.e. interacted with, so many people since beginning this journey, mainly via the blog itself or twitter. I have ‘properly’ met a few, actually in person, too! I recently wrote about how important it is to my wellbeing to feel part of a community here. I have so far found the blogging community to be welcoming, helpful and supportive.
3. It helps me wind down. A friend recently asked me if I ever felt that I just couldn’t be bothered to write once it got to the evening. I can honestly say that I’ve never felt like this once. This might change of course, but it does really help me to wind down in the evening, to get my experiences down ‘on paper’ (for want of a better phrase!).

It’s Friday evening, so I’ll leave you and go and…do some blogging (with maybe a glass of wine in hand).

Read day 24 here.

Silent Sunday 11.8.13

Spend £20k challenge: my family’s health

If I was to win £20k on the lottery for my family, what would I spend it on?

I’ve spent days thinking about this. There are the obvious safe options – sticking it in ISAs for the children, for example – and some more decadent ideas, such as having our dream bathroom, getting our cold, dank basement all nicely tanked out and refurbished into a fab games room and ‘den’ for the children, have a big extension at the back of our house with massive glass doors looking onto the garden, have a dream safari holiday…

Any of these would be fantastic. Yet, on a rare walk with the girls in the double buggy (awful, cumbersome things that make everyone stare at me in pity) this afternoon – rare in that they were both asleep at the same time – I was thinking about what is most important to the future of our family.

Love, obviously – that we are kind and loving to each other and respect each others’ individuality. Very important, but I can’t spend money on that. It’s something we work on.

Health. My family’s ongoing health and wellbeing is vital to our happiness as a family unit. And actually, we could invest some money in this.

A quick calculation tells me that £20,000 could buy us as a family unit private medical insurance from for example Bupa or AXA for around 12-15 years.

Now, I can hear many of you getting ready to flame me – what about the NHS, you say?

I used to work for the NHS and still work in a health related field. I would be so privileged and lucky to win £20,000, surely I could use it on a system that would work alongside our national health service in promoting my precious family’s wellbeing?

If I had the chance of private medical insurance for 12+ years, I’d do it and I would feel uplifted that I had something else in the bag, alongside the daily efforts around diet, exercise and a healthy frame of mind, to help ensure our family’s continued good health.

Just an extra bit of piece of mind, for something so important (and a den in the basement would also be nice…).

This post is an entry for BritMums #Spend20k challenge sponsored by The National Lottery, with more ways to win more money on the new Lotto game. Find out more about new Lotto, which starts in October, here – www.national-lottery.co.uk.

Blog every day in August: How are you, today?

This month I am taking part in Yummy Mummy in Training’s ‘Blog every day in August’ challenge. Read all my posts to date here.

Day 10’s theme is “how are you, today?”.

Well, actually I’m sat here feeling that no matter how much tidying, washing, filling and emptying the dishwasher, vacuuming, etc. that I do, the place is still a shit tip.

Exhibit 1:

I could have sworn I just tidied that up *sigh*…though I can’t expect my children no to play, so that’s fair enough.

It just sometimes feels like an uphill struggle, and that my brain is forever shooting forwards to the next task. For example: “I’ll finish making their lunch, then as they’re eating it I’ll shoot downstairs and put the washing on. Then it will be finished in time for me to get it out before we go out later. Oh and I mustn’t forget to chop the onions for the curry later. And if I could get the bed sheets changed that would be a bonus.” This is an example of my internal dialogue.

This sounds like I’m being a complete whingebag. I’m not- I know how incredibly lucky I am. I’m just having one of those moments where I’m sodding it all and sitting down to have a cup of coffee.

The Lookout at the Lowry: review

This month I am taking part in Yummy Mummy in Training’s ‘Blog every day in August’ challenge. Read all my posts to date here.

Day 8’s theme is ‘Get crafty’.

I’m not a crafty person, but as it happens, my daughters and I went to an event at The Lowry today to launch their new family activity gallery, The Lookout.

There was a Warhorse puppet making activity, which two-going-on-three-year-old was delighted with (not as delighted as meeting Alex Winters off cbeebies, of course, but excited nevertheless).

Together, we managed to fashion this:

Good, eh?

The craftiest I get on a personal level is when I make birthday or christening cakes. See my rose-themed christening cake, for example.

Happy crafty August to everyone!

Photos by Andrew Robinson

Read day 9 here.

Blog every day in August: My Guilty Pleasure

This month I am taking part in Yummy Mummy in Training’s ‘Blog every day in August’ challenge. Read all my posts to date here.

Day 7 is ‘My guilty pleasure’…

Everyone has a guilty pleasure, and mine is, as my images may suggest, sweets and chocolate.

I never used to be a sweet person. I’ve always been more for savoury foods – particularly cheese.

I fell pregnant with my first daughter and had a difficult time at first – I suffered from a condition called hyperemesis gravidarum. For the first 20 weeks I was very sick and couldn’t eat much at all. I lost half a stone. Then, after the sickness passed, boy did I make up for it.

This intense eating phase included a craving for sugary treats. I remember going into a newsagents for example, and seeing a Sherbet Dib Dab and really wanting it. I mean, this is just pure sugar! I may as well have tipped a bag of sugar into my mouth.

The cravings subsided a little after my first daughter was born. Then I got pregnant with my second, now nine month old, and exactly the same pattern commenced – sickness then sweet cravings.

This time, it has not subsided! I know that this is probably because it’s now become habit to have my sugary, delicious, chocolatey, mouth-watering treat every day. I aim to stop it, but maybe not today…

Read day 8 here.

Blog every day in August: A day in our life

This month I am taking part in Yummy Mummy in Training’s ‘Blog every day in August’ challenge. Day 6 is ‘a day in our life’…

A day in our life (based on today, in fact – I work three days a week, so the other two days would be VERY different!):

6:30am: Wake up, realise neither daughter is awake yet, decide to get in shower while I can.

6:45am: Exit shower – 9 month old now awake but playing in her cot so I get dressed and dry hair in approximately 5 minutes. I can hear my mother-in-law downstairs, who has arrived to look after the children for the day.

6:50am: Partner, still in bed, begins to make “I’m awake but I don’t want to me” noises. I get 9 month old up and bring her to him for a cuddle.

7am: Go downstairs to greet MIL and finalise everyone’s ‘stuff’ for the day. I hear two-going-on-three-year-old waking up and partner getting her out of bed.

7:10am: Say my goodbyes for the day, including partner who is off to London and not back until late tonight. Get in car and drive to Rochdale, where I work.

8am: Arrive at work. First thing I do is make a coffee, or often I’ll treat myself to a latte from the cafe. Caffeine is very important to me. Usually, I have breakfast, too, as I didn’t have time at home (bowl of shreddies, usually!). Work at one of our hot desks until around 12 ish (well, perhaps a break for more coffee around 10ish).

12pm: Lunch – usually a quick sandwich if I’ve managed to make one in time, or I’ll grab something from the cafe. I usually use this half and hour to do more blogging! It’s bliss just to have half an hour of silence!

12:30pm: Return to desk – work until 4pm with maybe a break (yes, more coffee).

4pm: Leave Rochdale and drive home.

4:45pm: Arrive home to relieve MIL of childcare duties! Greeted by big smiles from nine month old and a barrage of “I’ve been doing this, Mummy!”, “I’ve been doing that!”, “I’ve got a new trampoline move!” from two-going-on-three-year old. They’re in the middle of their tea, so I start to help with their pudding, and get nine month old’s bottles sterilised and ready for the evening.

They tell me about their day – they’ve been to a local park called Dunham Massey and had a picnic. I do miss them when I’m at work, and I feel a slight emotional tug when I hear what a lovely day they’ve had. But then I remember why I work, and that I’m lucky to be able to work just three days per week and have four days with them. I’m also lucky that they have such good childcare – both from my MIL and an excellent childminder. They are always happy and well looked after.

4:30pm: Play in the garden for a bit. Two-going-on-three-year-old shows me her new trampoline moves. Nine month old plays on her big garden mat and shuffles herself all around it, as she’s just learning to get around (a bottom shuffler).

5pm: MIL and I have our tea, which she has kindly prepared. Two-going-on-three-year-old squashes my cherry tomatoes. More garden play.

6pm: All exit upstairs for bath/bedtime. Nine month old is the first to have her bath – at the moment she loves making large splashes which drench me in water and bottom shuffling her way back towards the taps and plug.

Bathimte is a challenge concerning two-going-on-three-year-old, as she suffers fairly badly from eczema, something I haven’t written about. She understandably does not like the bath as the water sadly stings her sore skin. We try to do it only a couple of times a week and as quickly as we can. She then has her emmollients and medical creams applied, before she puts on her pyjamas. She sees a dermatologist, and we’re confident she’ll grow out of it. But it’s a difficult waiting game.

6:30pm: Nine month old, who doesn’t sleep much during the day, has her milk and her eyes start to droop. Two-going-on-three-year-old kisses her and says “night night” and I put her in her cot. She carries on drinking her bottle in her cot and nods of to the sound of Ewan the Dream Sheep which has been a brilliant sleeping aid.

Two-going-on-three-year-old bounces on her bed for a bit (yes, we let her – one of those concessions you wish you’d never made) and then has three stories.

7pm: I say “night night” to two-going-on-three-year-old. Have a cup of coffee and cake and say goodbye to MIL, who is travelling back home.

7:30pm: Get things ready for tomorrow, when daughters will be at the childminder.

8pm: Retire upstairs, put PJs on, fire up laptop, and sit in bed blogging and awaiting partner’s return from London!

That was our day today.

Read day 7 here.