Laura Crichton

Activities: Santa Parade

It seems far too early to be even thinking the word ‘Santa’ but time does pass so quickly at the moment. I cannot believe that Thomas is 15 weeks already – the realisation that I should’ve found him a nursery place by now is kicking in, bringing a healthy dose of panic, which is only heightened by the depressing thought of having to return to work!  It seems a long time until next summer but with Christmas looming already, I know it will be here in the blink of an eye.

My initial plans for the weekend had been to attend an event at the Portrait Gallery, but after a disrupted night sleep and waking up to yet more rain, the idea of getting all the kids across town for 10 really did not appeal. After hearing of Friday’s events in Paris, we were certainly in a sombre mood and then the inclination to stay in, safe from the world ‘out there’ was tempting.
Read More »Activities: Santa Parade

Style: The opinion of a three-year old

My daughter Katie has very set ideas about what constitutes ‘style’ in that on any given day she is absolutely determined that she will wear what she wants to wear. On a very odd occasion, this will match what I want. On a good day, I would describe her as independent of thought, or strong-minded. On a bad? Downright stubborn.

On Wednesday, we were having one of ‘those’ days. Rather than having her usual fruit and toast for breakfast, Katie wanted sandwiches. Then at lunch, she insisted that she needed her cereal bar before her bread and butter – after I caved in and said she could eat them in whatever order she wanted to – she ate the bread first.

I knew that to leave the house on schedule, I would need to start the process in plenty of time. Forty minutes before the starting time of her Art class, I said it was time to get dressed. She had noticed that Thomas and her Grandma were both wearing blue and white stripes (by coincidence – we’re not that weird) so she wanted to as well. Thinking this was an easy request, I set out her Polarn O’Pyret striped top, navy bubble skirt, some M&S grey tights and then her new boots from the Treehouse in Stockbridge. In my opinion, this, with a coat, was suitable for the weather, easy to wash (so fine for art) and she’d look presentable.Read More »Style: The opinion of a three-year old

Design: Happy Retro Furniture

Ocean Terminal is an asset on a rainy day as somewhere for the kids to run around. There’s so many of those ride on machines that usually I don’t even have to venture into soft play to entertain Katie! I generally just enjoy grabbing a coffee and then wondering round looking at the shops, so I was happy to see the Scottish Design Exchange appear and have since really enjoyed snooping round from time to time.

The Scottish Design Exchange is a concept store, bringing artists and designers together in one retail space. No commission is added so you pay a fair price and whatever you pay goes directly to the artist or designer. My husband Mike, is a sculptor and in an ideal world would spend all his time producing new work. The thought, time and soul that goes into producing art can be vast and I think it’s rare that artists really get back the true value of their art. Commission particularly can be astronomical so I am hugely impressed with this venture.
Read More »Design: Happy Retro Furniture

Light in the Darkness – find the positive

Next week is the first anniversary of my Dad’s death. It still feels very surreal to be writing that as in some small part of my brain, I still think he’s going to walk through the door tomorrow. That doesn’t make any sense but I think my survival mechanism is to just think that he’s on holiday or it’s just been too long between visits. Despite the fact that the family home has been sold and things have moved on, I can still picture stepping in the door and spying him asleep on the couch.

At the time of his death, I remember thinking that the sympathy cards had it wrong when they said ‘sorry for your loss’. I was so lucky to have him as my Dad that I couldn’t really feel like I had ‘lost’ anything. Even though he left far too early, I could only think I had gained by having him in my life.Read More »Light in the Darkness – find the positive

signature bake

Food: Signature Bakes

What does the acronymn GBBO mean to you? If it doesn’t conjure pictures of cake, bread, pastry and Mary Berry goodness, then Iet me try to educate you! Bake Off signals a happy time of year for me, it’s TV where people are genuinely nice to each other (even with last year’s bin gate) and it’s really hard to watch without feeling a little happy by the end. Also, it’s a time of year that I get baking again.

I find it very hard to watch the GBBO without wanting to get in the kitchen and try recipes out for myself. A few years ago my Mum and I decided that we would  challenge each other to make one thing from each episode. It could be our own take on whatever it was but would have to generally follow the rules of the episode. We had to be honest about how everything went, take photos and occasionally have family members chip in but then we would come to a mutual decision about who won that week. Our friend Craig soon joined in and this year, despite the arrival of baby Thomas five days before the first episode – we baked along with Bake Off.
Read More »Food: Signature Bakes

Edinburgh Castle sits high above the city. This is the Edinburgh skyline.

Activities: Edinburgh Castle

Sometime we forget about how lucky we are to have such a beautiful city all around us. Over the half term break, I spent a couple of days in Sussex and was sorry it wasn’t longer. I had been keen to spend a bit of time in Brighton wandering through the Laines – particularly exploring all the little independent shops and watching the myriad of people that pass by. However, it occurred to me that although I do this each time I visit, I rarely venture in to Edinburgh Old Town anymore – or take the time to explore Edinburgh castle.

Many moons ago, I used to live on Castle Terrace – very much in the shadow of the Castle. I had to walk down the Royal Mile to get to my University classes and found the swarms of tourists irritating. I would complete the journey as quickly as possible only stopping to pick up a coffee on route. It had been a long while since I had actually slowed down enough to look round and appreciate what had appeared.
Read More »Activities: Edinburgh Castle

Working Out with a Toddler

Finding time to workout with small children around can be a nightmare. When an old friend of mine got in touch asking for tips to get fitter, a familiar tale transpired: finding time to go to the gym or to the pool is near impossible. Whilst she could in theory try for 10 minutes of yoga at home, the boys made this difficult – anyone with experience of kids could picture the scene: ‘What are you doing Mummy?’ ‘Get off the floor!’ ‘I NEED you now!’

Obvious solutions came to mind such as getting out walking but as I’ve already mentioned, walking with toddlers who are past the pram stage can be difficult.  Again, in theory you could get the toddlers to use a scooter or balance bike if they’re at that stage to try and increase the speed, but as I know from my own daughter that is easier said than done. Katie can go at a fantastic speed on her micro scooter but can also, with no prior indication, just choose to stop and announce she wants to walk instead etc. Hardly ideal for an aerobic work out is it?

I decided to raise the problem with Susan (from Streamline Personal Training) who I knew had experience of running fitness sessions where Mums had brought toddlers along. She reminded me of something key: toddlers love to copy. Our solution has been to develop a 15 minute workout that two lively toddlers can also do:
Read More »Working Out with a Toddler

Food: Sunshine on Leith food market

Food markets are a highlight of Edinburgh weekends for me. So with the arrival of a sunny weekend, I took the opportunity to meander round the Shore at Leith whilst checking out the new(ish) food market there.

Katie had been up at half-five that morning so I guessed she wouldn’t be up for a long walk. Rather than being deterred I stuck her in the buggy and set off at a decent pace for once! She asked to get out (when spying the canons) but on the whole was happy to sit and take in everything that was going on. I did think she looked a little ridiculous as her legs are so long now that they almost drag on the floor. However, I caved into demands and gave her a dummy so thought maybe she would just look like a rather large baby.
Read More »Food: Sunshine on Leith food market

Wee science

Activities: Child Experimentation

To an extent we experiment on our children daily: Will they eat the same thing they did yesterday? Can they be trusted to pick up their bath towels? Can they last five minutes without arguing about something?! But wee science takes it all one step further…

Last Friday however, we went one step further and volunteered Katie to take part in a study at the University of Edinburgh. A few weeks ago, I wrote about attending the ‘Superhero Science Show’ at the National Museum and how Katie was particularly keen to be a Scientist. Every time they had asked for a volunteer she had stuck her hand right up and was so disappointed not to get picked that I was a little sad for her. I think it was for this reason that a ‘Wee Science’ advert on Facebook really caught my eye. A psychology student was looking for three year-olds to take part in her study. I figured this was a great opportunity for Katie to finally be a ‘Superhero Scientist’ and also looked interesting for me (double win)!Read More »Activities: Child Experimentation

Style: It’s more than just clothes!

I’ve been talking to Hannah, owner of the fabulous 56 Newington. Back in the spring I saw a post on Edinburgh Gossip Girls about HD Brows and after a quick Google decided to check it out. I was so glad I followed up on the link but not only because I was delighted with my new brows. The stylist that had been recommended turned out to be beyond lovely and my day was greatly improved by meeting her:

Hannah was warm and friendly, making me feel instantly at ease and she obviously knew what she was doing working quickly and confidently. She took the time not only to show me how I could fill the gaps in my brows for a more polished look, but to talk about other make up and treatments in general.

Since having a baby, I really didn’t want to neglect my brows and was delighted that Hannah was happy for me to bring him along – he simply sat on my lap watch everything that was happening. Hannah even went above and beyond holding him whilst I grabbed the change bag from the car for an emergency nappy change!

When I heard that Hannah was opening her salon I was more than willing to follow her there and was keen to share her magic with you:

Read More »Style: It’s more than just clothes!