WHAT I WORE, WHAT MUMMY WORE

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our mummy looooves a bargain!! more than that, she loves the buzz of beating someone else to it. so eBay was made for her. as she sits there waiting for the 20 second countdown to the end of the auction, her blood rushes as she imagines her rival on the other side already revelling in the item they think they've won. she then she swoops in like an eagle on it's prey and snatches that item, flying off into the sunset leaving them to lick their wounds.

the living room in our previous flat was pretty much ebay finds! the mirror, coffee table and leather chair were all bought in the manner described above....

mummy's prized posession is this demi-corbeille bed which she bought and re-upholstered. she is planning to re-upholster it again because, you know, a 4 year old and toddler aren't challenging her enough apparently!

She also bought that bookcase you can just see in the reflection in the image below.

The tiles for our recent bathroom renovations were another ebay steal! mummy became obsessed with the brand Fired Earth, and whilst searching for something else on ebay, decided to see whether anyone was selling some tiles. hey presto, some Londoner was getting rid of tiles worth in excess of £1000. starting bid was £150. mummy needed tiles in 2 days and with the auction being set at 6 days, she decided to just message the seller & ask how much they'd take if she could pick up that day & pay cash. £180 was the response. apparently the seller had decided to only do one of her bathrooms in this tile - not 3. mummy was ecstatic but worried they might be fake goods - but off we all went just incase. when we arrived at the house, mummy spotted the farrow & ball paint a mile off! the address alone was enough to guarantee all was in order. by the time the lady spoke with her royal-esque tone, mummy knew it was all good. those tiles were loaded with never before seen efficiency incase there was a change of heart. we drove away as the teenage daughter was handed the £180 as pocket money. judah & i took note.

On the clothing side, mummy has found many a "sold out" piece for rock bottom prices. Her favourite fashion finds are:

Brand new ALDO yellow pumps - RRP £50, bought for £5.

Brand new Philip Lim for Target jumper - bought from a US seller for $15.

Lanvin h&m dress - £40 (RRP £ 190)

Topshop Shoe Boots - £40 (RRP £90)

there have also been some epic eBay fails which have been swiftly sold on to others who have appreciated them better. like the wardrobe that actually smelt like we still lived in the 1800s. mummy didn't appreciate that and ran to ikea as quickly as her legs could carry her.

mummy's tips for shopping on ebay:

buy branded goods - it's the best way to guarantee that you will get something of decent quality
for furniture search for premium brands like John Lewis & Laura Ashley - people look after such products so you can find good quality at good prices
do not start bidding on a 6 day auction on the 1st day! for the love of God! click to watch the item & then reminders will pop up on the day. get in on the action when there is an hour left. mummy does not bid till the dying seconds - she keeps an eye on how many bidders there are & the price.
stick to your maximum bid and enter that when you are ready - basically, when there is no more time for the other person to increase their bid!
create a "followed search" for items you can't find. All of mummy's fashion finds took a while to come by. she kept coming back to check and soon enough, they were there!
use paypal to pay - this protects you should there be an issue with the product
a lot of brands have ebay stores now, selling out of season stock. so if you're heading out for some winter sun, it's a great place to pick up that French Connection maxi dress.
remember: it's only a bargain if you really wanted it - don't get carried away!

do you have any favourite bargain hunting sites? or tips for finding great items at rock bottom prices? please do share below - mummy will love you forever!

morayo hope & judah

xoxo

earlier this year, mummy was tasked with finding a cake maker for her friend's baby shower. she found someone she loves and agreed on a cake. unfortunately a week to the shower, mummy found out there had been a miscommunication which meant she now had to find a new cake maker. she couldn't find anyone at such short notice! she had to make the cake. enter Youtube! Mummy watched every video on how to make ruffle cakes and bought the necessary gadgets. By the day of the shower, a zombie-mode mummy clutched her handiwork and delivered it in one piece to the venue. she had never been so proud of herself!

having triumphed at ruffles, mummy now felt invincible. she decided to bake my birthday cake! as it was a fairy party, it was only fitting that she should bake a fairy princess cake! back to youtube university she went and with some keen guidance & on-the-day help from my aunty Tsungi, (herself a baker), this was the cake she made!

having begun to garner a neat little reputation for herself from sharing the above cakes enthusiastically on her facebook profile, mummy was asked to bake another baby shower cake. she couldn't say no to this request! she already had very clear ideas of the kind of cake she wanted to make. her inspiration was as below:

on the day, all the cakes were baked & ready to be iced & decorated. it was a blissfully hot day and mummy hummed away to herself as she rolled out the fondant icing. she placed the icing onto the cake the way a seasoned professional would & began to smooth it. the fondant was having none of it & began to....wrinkle up.... for lack of a better word. mummy removed it & started again. same thing happened. then she thought, ok - it has to be ruffles then. happily she rolled out the fondant and cut out her strips. she stuck them on and they flopped about - a bit like an orangutan's boobs. she knew what to do & held them up with cocktail sticks. but soon, the cake resembled a hedgehog & as she removed the sticks, visible holes remained. back to square one. mummy finally cottoned on to the fact that fondant & heat are lifelong enemies and a fan was brought in. she started again and finally the cake below was the result of that steep learning curve!

the good thing is that no deaths were reported as a result of anyone eating these cakes. mummy feels she's well on her way to martha stewart status (minus jail term) - and is now attempting an even more challenging 4th bake! we are looking forward to seeing how this goes. it'll be fondant iced, lets hope this indian summer doesn't last till christmas!

morayo-hope

xoxo

**images of the 3 inspiration cakes are from pinterest & google searches. the work is not my mummy's own.**

so having now secured our house, mummy and daddy eagerly anticipated move in day. daddy had to go abroad with work the day we picked up the keys and mummy was left to survey the reality of what they had just purchased, blinkers removed. it was as she wandered room to room that she realised the house wasn't quite in move-in state.

the walls would definitely need painting for a start. then there was the bathroom. my mummy has a peculiar brand of ocd when it comes to bathrooms - i believe it is still being investigated by top neuro scientists. she took one look at the bathroom and decided it would have to disappear faster than Houdini.

she thought she might have an uphill battle convincing my daddy - so she left it. When he got back from his business trip and looked around his first comment was "that bathroom must go." Mummy danced, did a crazy clap and booked the plumber who had given her a good quote. It would be done in a week - hooplah!
she speedily ordered the necessary items from here. the budget was tight so this was no time for fantasising about the claw foot bath tub of her dreams. the bathtub had to double up as a shower due to space restrictions. they found an ideal suite within the price range & mummy was already picturing herself relaxing in the bathroom! fast forward 5 weeks, we moved our stuff into the house and there was no bathroom! so....um...yeah. basically, the plumbers got going with removing the old bathroom and found the walls to be in a bad state. there was tissue paper stuffed behind tiles, bits of plastic, a bit of this and a bit of that. they had to gut the whole room, re-plaster, and then tile etc etc. oh, and the bathroom company forgot to deliver the toilet!

so we had a fun time going between the house & our old flat for bathing. mummy got me a mobile potty - potette -which was so useful in the interim. she highly recommends it for potty training & travelling with toddlers. our bath was fitted 5 days after we moved in and mummy could've licked the floor, bathtub and blown a kiss at the loo! 2 weeks ago the final piece of the puzzle - a large mirror, was slotted in. then my awesome uncle and i painted the walls :-).

it's been a fun journey - ish ... mummy had a few meltdowns after rogue traders gave crazy quotes and is now feeling very prepared for any future building projects they may have.

mummy said lessons they learnt are:

1. Budget at least twice what you're quoted incase you also find tissue behind your tiles and have to gut the place.

2. Use which? To find trustworthy tradesmen. Also knock on neighbours doors - they found the plasterer through a neighbour after the one recommended by the plumber quoted an amount & timescale that suggested he was high on something.

3. When you order online, check everything on delivery. Even if it's raining cats, dogs, raccoons and the odd bird poo lands on your head. If something is missing in that consignment, it's on your head.

4. Make sure everything you agree with your tradesman is in writing. He said / she said means nothing when something goes wrong.

on second thoughts, i'm not so sure mummy should be here on the next project. i think she should go on a long holiday somewhere very hot, with a beach, and fully catered whilst any building work takes place - no matter how long. build it into the budget daddy. i can confirm this is 100% my idea, i have not been bribed to write this with marshmallows.

signed:
morayo-hope
xoxo

2 weeks ago we got to have a photo session with the talented aunty maja tsolo. (you're probably wondering how huge my family is with all these aunts and uncles i keep mentioning. well....i'm african. anybody older than me is an aunt or uncle. thats the beginning and ending of the story. thats what mummy said anyway.....i'm still trying work out how i have about 4 grandmas so far....but i digress..)

so, 3 weeks ago mummy woke up in a panic realising she was slowly subjecting my brother to the "2nd child" syndrome: no big naming ceremony, no birth announcement card, no extra special anything for his birth. she had sworn she wouldn't be "one of those mums"....but here she was...living the nightmare. so she contacted aunty maja to see whether they could do a newborn shoot whilst my baby brother still resembled a newborn! arrangements were made for 3rd august.

mummy was obsessed with a picture aunty maja took of a real newborn in a basket looking like she'd just been dropped off by a stork. she needed the same picture. the pictures i'm sharing today i am calling "basket case" - loosely referring to my mum. i mean really - if a stork delivered a newborn this huge that stork would be either a) dead, or b) suing God. anyway, thankfully for mummy aunty maja indulged her. here goes.....

baby judah iyanu is delivered to....well..my aunty obose's doorstep (that's where we stayed for 2 weeks as daddy was away in australia for "work" - aha. mummy said if he was going on holiday then so were we. so we went to tropical crowthorne for 2 weeks.)