Shopaholic? Me?

Do you have any idea how much there is to know about balloons?

If you walk into a shop and ask for balloons for a party, you would think that the first question they would ask you would be how many? Not so. You need to know if you want air or helium, latex or mylar, printed or plain, if you wanted them treated or not!! So to make your ordering balloons easy for your New Year’s Party or for any Party, here are some facts:-

• Latex Balloons are the stardard type. They can be air or helium filled.
• If you want them air filled, the image on the balloon needs to have the nozzle at the top. Helium needs to have the nozzle below the picture.
• Latex balloons float for up to 12 hours with helium. They stay inflated with air for months. To have them float for longer, they can be treated with hifloat. Then they would float for days.
• Mylar balloons last up to 2 weeks fully inflated but can float for over a month (depending on size).
• Mylar balloons can be reinflated and / or topped up several times.
• A latex balloon will decompose in the same time that a leaf will.
• Balloons will explode and shatter when they reach a certain altitude.
• Balloons are NOT detrimental to the environment.
• Helium is a natural gas. There is a finite amount.
• Balloons bring a smile to almost everyone’s face!
• A party is not a party without balloons!
• Balloons make a nice change to flowers!

I am a bit sick of my garder or rather front yard looking so miserable. My plants are half dead and my front garden looks sad and weedful. I need to go shopping for some gardening tools, weed killer, pretty plant pots and some seeds and bulbs.

However I must be honest and admit that I am quite the opposite to being green fingered… perhaps black fingered is more like it! Still, I can try and worst case keep replacing the plants with ready flowering plants bought at the right time of year!

I wish I could just order fresh flowers for delivery for Father’s Day but flowers don’t really work for men do they ? Which complicates matters. Grr. In my case it is 3 gifts at once. One for my hubby from the kids, one for my dad and one for hubby’s dad! I still haven’t come up with the flower equivilent. Perhaps boxes of chocolate. A bit boring but who does not like chocolate?

Any way.. don’t forget Father’s Day is this Sunday!

Can you believe that I am already thinking about Easter? I think it might have to do with how early it was last year despite how late it is this year. However it is a good thing, because as always, I have to send gifts overseas. Mostly it works quite easily as I buy a batch of eggs and post. But as always getting a gift for my brothers (besides the egg is always a nightmare). And to complicate things they are both so different, so I cannot get away with 2 of the same present. I also have to get something for my sister ( a whole lot easier) but then there is her partner. Do I have to send gifts for him? I wonder if I can get away with just Easter Eggs. I think I need to find the best priced Eggs!

It’s February, which means that Valentine’s day is just round the corner. It is funny how we always tend to associate chocolate for valentine’s day but this year I have decided to do something completely different. Unfortunately I cannot say what it is because my hubby reads my blog and so I would give it away. Mind you having said that… it starts with a family dinner with candles and fingers crossed to not having fires and then putting the kids to bed…..

Need I say more?

I’ve just noticed that my husband has posted that’s he’s trying to find something unique for Christmas. Now, those who know me won’t be surprised to find out that Christmas is my favourite time of year. We usually get a real tree in, cook some really yummy food and get to spend time with our loved ones. Well, this Christmas will be no exception, it will be a magical time for my son and I’m sure the twins will enjoy it more now that they are one. But I still haven’t got my Christmas gifts in order, so my hubby’s post came just at the right time.

I clicked through to Not On The High Street, the website he was blogging about to have a look at some ideas (yes, I do read his blog to find out what he’s thinking). They have a really great selection of things, I ended up looking through their online catalogue for some time to see if there was anything I liked. I found some great stuff, and not only ideas for Christmas gifts, but also some nice ideas for other gifts I could use during the year. That’s the thing about Christmas isn’t it? People call it the Season for Giving, but really I like giving gifts (well, shopping for other people hahaha) all the year round. I’m always looking for that special reason to spend my time shopping, whether it’s for myself or for others.

So, if you haven’t made your mind up what you’re buying this Christmas, or simply want to have a look around what what sort of Christmas gifts you can be planning for, pop on to Not On the High Street and have a look at the stuff they have in their shop. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed; I know I wasn’t

We had a wedding recently and I paid a lot of attention to what my kids were wearing. My daughter had a nice new dress, my sons were in suits. And I had not got round to buying myself anything. Despite being a shopaholic, with twin babies, most of my shopping is online and er food comes first. However I was able to add a flower corsage to my dress and to my daughter’s and suddenly I felt special. I felt important. At just £15 for a corsage it is far cheaper than a new dress and you do feel really special.

(I must confess the photos were taken the day after the event and they still look beautiful).

This range of corsages is available from Interflora. Check them out, they have a great range, and I’m sure you’ll find something that can accent what you’re wearing.

I have been meaning to get our bell changed since we moved in er 4 years ago. Our bell actually works and I don’t want to change  our doorbell button as it works well with our house both interior and exterior, but I can never actually hear it unless in the hall. Needless to say I keep missing the postman and it means I have to drive out to the post office to get my internet orders. Now if I need to get out of the house, then doesn’t half lose the point of internet shopping?

And today I missed Clare Florist! Argh! Happy Valentine’s Day!

I do like engravable gifts as they can be personalised. Unless your name falls in the current top 20 or so names, then you never find anything with your name on it. It is the only way that I ever manage to get something with my name on it (unless I head off to France where my name is more common). I even have difficiulties finding my son’s name who is called Arthur!! A relatively well known name in the UK!!

Did you hear, Tesco has released a new and updated catalogue. And currently, you can get triple points on every order. Yippee!!