Tan Leather Cardholder by Trendhim #ad

I was invited to choose a gift from Trendhim Men's Accessories and Jewellery online. I've previously reviewed a pair of gloves for my husband. This time it was child 5's turn for a gift and as he had his 21st birthday in lockdown, I selected this Tam Leather Cardholder for him.

Child 5 does everything online and on apps. From food shopping to store cards. He never has cash on him, he just taps his watch on the screen and voila, all done.

But he has realised that sometimes doing everything online is not always that simple. For example it's difficult to track your spend with contactless tap and pay and with a limit set for transactions, he will often need his card. He also needs to carry his work ID with him and has a couple of store/discount cards that don't have an online app version.

The cardholder has 9 handy pockets and a centre compartment that would be great for notes.

Trendhim have a wide range of leather wallets with prices from £25. They make an ideal gift for Fathers Day.

Keeping warm in the UK - with Trendhim

As you may know already, I've recently repatriated to the UK in the middle of winter. Thankfully I had stored most of my winter gear in my parents attic when we left for sunnier climate of South Africa and later Dubai in 2011. We had no need for UK winter clothing where we were going and in general tend to visit the UK during the summer.

Most of my husbands winter accessories were 'stolen' by our 4 sons, so hubby no longer owns hat, scarf or gloves. I'd recently bought him a hat and scarf but couldn't find suitable gloves that he could use for driving and also ones that would look nice when he went out that wouldn't break the bank.

Trendhim contacted me and asked me to choose an item for review purposes and their range of products for men is quite extensive.

I selected a pair of Salt and Hide, fleeced lined, genuine sheep leather. Ordering was a simple process, delivery was quick with regular updates on tracking my parcel and the gloves were delivered when they said they would be. For my husband I ordered extra large. They also have an adjustable wrist clip to ensure a snug fit.

Trendhim sell a variety of mens products from bow ties to cuff links and more casual items such as magnetic earrings.

Boho Chic in Dubai with Top Tier Style

For the purpose of this post I was given the following items for review. I like to be honest with my readers and make the disclaimer at the beginning.

I don't do many review posts and it's not something I search for, so I was very surprised to be contacted directly to ask if I'd review a pair of sunglasses, an item from the Boho fashion range and a cat t-shirt.

I have quite a few cat t-shirts that often feature in my blog, usually worn when I attend events with my dog Bob and I'm always happy to add another to my collection.

I've also been meaning to get a spare pair of sunglasses for a while as the ones I wear on a daily basis are by Tiffany and rather expensive to spend so much time falling off my head on the floor as Bob pulls me in all directions when I take him out for a walk. When the weather isn't so hot I like to cycle, even more so since we've relocated to the other side of Dubai and the roads are less busy. As you can imagine, there's a lot of choice for sunglasses in Dubai and the sales staff are quite pushy over here. I'm fortunate that most shapes and styles suit my face so it was nice and easy to choose a pair from the comfort of my own home. I now have a spare pair for when I walk Bob or go for a ride. They are polarised and I could choose the colour of the lens to suit the frame.

I wear a lot of dresses in Dubai all year round, regardless of where I'm going and what I'm doing, other than cycling. I prefer the longer style, but find most maxi dresses have spaghetti style straps, whilst I'm not breaking any cultural rules in Dubai by wearing these dresses out, I find in the summer my shoulders burn quite badly and in the winter it gets chilly in the day and wearing a pashmina to keep my shoulders warm and protect them from the sun is a flaff and I spend most of the day picking it up off the floor along with my sunglasses.

Delivery time was fast for all the items and they were packaged well. The t-shirt and dress came in a really small bag and I was concerned the items would be badly creased, but they weren't which would make them excellent items for packing into hand luggage and be able to wear without ironing at your holiday destination. The quality of the materials and the manufacture is excellent.

The dress was slightly see through, which could be a problem in Dubai, but I wore it with a slip underneath. Ordering was easy but I did find the size chart difficult to find on the website, however it was very accurate, the t-shirt fitted perfectly and I opted to get the dress in a larger size as it had adjustable ties round the waist.

The vintage steampunk sunglasses, boho fashion and cat t-shirt in this review were provided by Top Tier Style. If you would like to purchase your own use the coupon code BLOG15 for 15% OFF everything on their store!

Cabin Zero Bag Review

I didn't get the opportunity to try the Cabin Zero Bag I was sent for review purely for hand luggage as my planned trip to Ireland with Easy Jet from Birmingham didn't go ahead but I did get to travel to Hong Kong and Dubai and back to the UK with it and I must say I was very impressed with the ease of comfort of carrying and transporting the bag.

Available in different sizes and a variety of colours, I opted to have the Classic 44L - Ultra light Cabin Bag in Galactic Green, a great colour for spring.

It very nearly didn't reach me as my Father took a liking to it and declared it 'perfect for his fishing trips.'

Not only did the bag have adjustable straps but I was able to able to alter them easily without having to take the bag on and off my back to do so. I also used the straps to secure the bag to my suitcase  keeping it safe to and from the airport and save carrying it without worrying about safety.

I felt comfortable and safe carrying it on my back whilst travelling as the zips were easy to conceal from view and adjustable side straps meant the bag would only open slightly. I asked my husband to attempt to get in the bag without me noticing and he wasn't able to do so. The zips also opened and closed with ease and with internal pockets it meant items didn't get caught in the zip on opening and closing.

The bag fitted comfortably under the seat in front of me on the plane and as I prefer a window seat, it saved me from getting up and down to get various items from it during my flight.

The Cabin Zero Bag and I flew over 23,000 miles in 31 days. I used it as a day bag at the Rugby 7's in Hong Kong, carrying waterproofs, spare clothing and my camera. It also meant in a crowd of 40,000 my husband was able to find me.

It was used on the beach in Dubai.

The bag is tough and easily cleaned, making life easier at the airport on a long lay over in Istanbul not having to worry about damage when freshening up in the toilets. Surprisingly not everything drops to the bottom of the bag when carrying it, due to the design of the internal pockets.

At £60 it's a bag designed to last a while and it is worth the investment, due to the durability of the straps and zips. I've had cheaper bags in the past and they've only managed 1 long haul flight and 2 weeks worth of day trips before seams, straps or zips have failed. I think my recent travels and it's daily use have probably tested the bag to it's limits as a day bag and when I finally get to Northern Ireland in July, I'll let you know how it worked as a hand luggage only bag in regards to the using overhead lockers, ease of carrying the bag when it's full, as there is no weight limit with Easy Jet and how comfortable it is carrying for longer periods of time.

Cabin Zero Bags are offering readers of this post a 10% discount by redeeming the code CZCHICKENRUBY over at this link.
This is an affiliate link.

Getting ready for Christmas with All Colour Envelopes

Well that's Christmas sorted, presents bought and wrapped, cards written, addressed and stamped. I just need to wait till December 1st and hope my Mother remembers where she's kept everything for safe keeping and hands it out/posts it all on time.

Living in Dubai means I have to be very organised and plan well in advance. My next trip to the UK won't be until June 2016. I travel to the UK twice a year and tend to take birthday cards and presents with me for the next few months as posting is quite expensive, in-between our children come to visit and bring over gifts from family and friends and take stuff back for me for the next set of birthdays. Having lived in South Africa for 4 years prior to this move, 90% of all post went missing, especially anything that looked like it may contain a gift, including cards.

The lovely people at All Colour Envelopes sent a large box to my parents address for me to use for review purposes. Now when I think of envelopes, apart from the ones that come with birthday cards, I picture them to be white or brown and in a variety of sizes, sometimes padded and ones with a hard piece of card to send photos or documents in.

I didn't expect to see so many different sizes, colours and materials. I'd bought my dad an old Roy of the Rovers football annual from 1960. I put it in one of the padded envelopes, used a silver pen and wrote 'To Dad, Happy Birthday, Love Suzanne and Peter' I had no wrapping paper on me, the book was in a recycled plastic bag. I'd only been in the UK a couple of days touring around and hadn't had chance to buy paper to wrap it.

I used the padded envelopes for birthday, new birth, christmas and even an easter gift, which included clothing, jewellery, craft activities and toys. I was able to use a normal biro to write on all of the envelopes and for the darker ones I used a silver pen. For the envelopes that went through the postal system I used a plain sticky label to write the address on.

These envelope were fab to put cash in for 3 of our 5 children, I struggle with internet banking when my UK bank wants to confirm random payments while I'm in Dubai.

I write letters, every week to friends and family across the world. The gold envelope is on it's way to Canada to my friend Catherine who I spent 3 weeks with this summer after 3 years of being pen pals, having met on twitter.

I also wrote and addressed all the UK christmas cards, which I've left in the UK with my mum who will post them on for me in December. The envelopes were white and each one needed licking to seal. All Colour Envelopes were brightly coloured and fitted the selection of cards I had and have a peel off strip to ensure secure sealing of the envelope.

I've been making some scarfs and bags that I'm selling for the charity work I'm doing in South Africa and these small envelopes were great to put a business card in.

Shopping for gifts back home - Review

As an expat living so far from my family in the UK, it is difficult to know what to buy my 4 year old niece for birthdays and Christmas, she grows so fast and as a Mother to 4 adult boys I have absolutely no idea what she has a preference for, other than she would like to be a Princess when she grows up.

She starts school in September and on being shown her new uniform she burst into tears stating 'but it isn't pink' bless, she was thinking she could wear one of her many Princess dresses to school as she does currently to nursery.

It was lovely this evening, despite the distance to be able to look at toys online together to choose a little gift from her Aunty to cheer her up. The Disney Princess range is extensive with toys starting at as little as AED 10.

Registering with the Toy Store was quick and easy and as a new customer I received 20% off my first order (see T&Cs)

With orders being dispatched within 24 hours with an estimated 3-4 day delivery, it is great to know that the gift will arrive quicker than the normal postal service of 2-3 weeks for the same cost as the delivery charge.

I’ve asked my niece to put together a little list for me to choose from for Christmas as I usually purchase and deliver gifts when I visit the UK around mid September. By buying them online I can purchase the latest Disney Princess range for my niece with just a click. 

And with an additional wrapping and message service, at no extra charge, I will definitely be using the Toy Store again.

This post was written for The Toy Store

Jus Rol puff pastry review

Although I was impressed with the puff pastry ready roll, the cost, the ease of use and the way it cooked, what disappointed me was the total cost and time involved to actually make a dessert.

No wonder people eat so much processed food in the UK. The Jus Rol was £2 for 2 sheets and the apples were £1.51 for 3 or 80p for tinned ones and I would have needed 2 tins. The preparation time was 30 minutes, which included the peeling, chopping, cooking and cleaning up of the apples and a further 25 minutes in the oven.

Although it tasted nice and was a shared experience between my Mother and I in the kitchen, we both agreed that next time we fancied an apple pie we'd be buying a ready made one from the shops for at least half the price.

Quorn food review

I was given the opportunity to review 3 Quorn products. Living in South Africa I don't have a base in the UK so stay with family and friends. I repay their hospitality with a bottle of wine, some baby sitting and cook a meal or two, so when I get an opportunity to review a food product I'm more than happy to oblige. I'm friends with a family with 4 young children who all have different food preferences and their parents are more than happy for me to 'experiment' on their kids in the hope they'll try new and different foods. They love testing and reviewing the food products and do so more than willingly.

I purchased 3 Quorn products, chicken nuggets, cumberland sausages and mince. I assumed the same cooking methods would apply as with real meat and in the case of the chicken nuggets (14 minutes in the oven) and the sausages (in a frying pan or under the grill) it did, however when it came to the mince the instructions were to cook it in a pan with your favourite sauce, so I cooked it in a saucepan with 500mls of onion gravy.

The mince I made into a cottage pie and served to my parents and the sausages and chicken were fed to my 'test family' and I made a salsa dip to accompany it.

The children loved the sausages, but said the chicken nuggets were a bit soggy, but I think that comes down to my cooking and not the product. My parents ate all of the cottage pie after reheating it in the evening and along with the children they were very surprised when I told them that they had been eating Quorn products.

I would buy the Quorn again, particularly for my parents as my dad had a heart attack a couple of years ago and needs to watch his food intake. Compared to normal meat sausages the saturated fat of Quorn is 0.6g per sausage compared to meat sausages with 3.6g per sausage.

Sworn Secrets by Amanda Jennings – Book Review

I’m an avid reader of all genres; I tend to read chick lit, a biography, a crime story then back to the chick lit. I have no preference to author or style and my only criteria as to whether I think I will enjoy a book is the ease of the opening paragraph and the font size.

I realise now that I’ve probably put a ‘good’ book down without getting past the first page as if I find I’m not in love with the book by then I don’t tend to read any further.

Sworn Secrets, I’m afraid was a difficult book to read for the first 3 chapters and I am glad I persisted as it is probably one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

The story tells of a family dealing with the sudden and accidental death of their 15-year-old daughter, how they cope individually to come to terms with their loss, as a Mother, a Father and a surviving sibling. The Mother’s anguish of feeling disloyal if she laughs with her surviving daughter, the Father who feels that not only did he lose his daughter but that his wife is slipping away from him also. As a son he is also dealing with his parent’s ill health and his Fathers dementia, a fall out between his wife and Mother and the reappearance of his wayward brother.

As the year leading to the anniversary of their daughters death closes in, they discover things about her, who she was and the life she led, that as parents they don’t want to have to knowledge of, but it is all brought out in the public eye and accumulates in yet another death. The younger sibling is on a road of discovery herself, losing her virginity and seeking to establish her own identity and not that of the ‘dead girls’ sister.

A wonderful and honest story of how a family pull together to deal with the difficult subject of the death of a child, heart breaking and teary, this book is one not to be put down and Amanda makes you feel as if you know each and every character, identifying with the difficulties they face in coming together as a family.

Macaroon and Tracy Paul

I attend the Tracy Paul Macaroon Launch in Greenside this morning and I was very impressed with the range of stationery they had on offer. The Tracy Paul merchandise caught my immediate attention with a giraffe wearing a snorkel.

As an expat I'm expected to bring back African related gifts for birthday and christmas and after 4 years I think I've exhausted the market and TBH on my last trip to the UK in April I found more 'Safari' animal related goods there than I do over here. So it was really nice to see something new.

I had a chance to talk with Tracy (centre of photograph) and she told me she's been interested in art since the age of 4 and her favourite thing to draw are giraffes and anything wearing a tutu, this appeals to me greatly.

With cakes, coffee and champagne on offer and familiar faces I would have like to have stayed longer, but hubbies plane landed half an hour early so I had to leave.

I'm not often in the Johannesburg area, but next time I am, I will call back in.

Some of my favourite items of stationery were the menu and shopping plan, the travel journal and the coasters.

I received an original personalised Tracy Paul notebook and gift labels in exchange for this blog post.

Cooking with Old El Paso

Living as an expat in South Africa, involves regular trips to the home land to visit family and friends. With all of our 5 children now living back in the UK, these trips home will become more frequent. The family are spread from Leeds, down to Gloucester, through South Wales and in Bath. 

I don't view my trips home as a chore, but it certainly isn't a holiday. Whether staying with family or friends for a night or a bit longer, I do cause a disruption to their lives and it does cost them money to have me to stay, involving not only feeding me, shifting kids out of their room and a lift here and there, but it costs me money also, a gift, bunch of flowers or a meal out.

When the people at Old El Paso asked me if I would like to review their products, I jumped at the chance. I could cook for the people I was staying with as a thank you.

I've cooked and shared, fajitas, tacos, rice dishes and casseroles. I've supervised my friend's children cooking and been cooked for by another friend.

My parents don't like spicy food and stick with what they know, but as the interfering daughter concerned about their health I often cook when I visit, on this trip I arrived and my Mother informed me she had bought chicken and vegetables and added it would be a shame to break with tradition so I could cook dinner. Digging into my hand bag I pulled out the 'One Pan Rice Meal, extra mild, super tasty' and set to work.

I didn't add the onions or the pepper as suggested on the box as neither of my parents are keen on them and I only added half the spice mix.

I gave my mother the task of stirring and keeping an eye on things and she kept asking me when she should put the rice on. I kept explaining it was already in the pan and was cooking altogether.

We served it with steamed vegetables, it easily served 3 adults and would've pushed to 4 if needed.

It was eaten and enjoyed by all, with my mother adding....'it's not something I would have chosen to eat, but I did enjoy it and would have it again.' Unfortunately I'm not back in the UK until December, so she'll have to wait.

To see the full range and get some recipe ideas visit here.

Cooking with Old El Paso

The lovely people at Old El Paso asked me if I'd be interested in doing a food review for their products.....oh course I would and I get many requests but have to turn most of them down as I live in South Africa, however this offer coincided with a trip to the UK so I accepted and this arrived at my mums house this week. Check out their website for fab recipes and Party Planning.

My teenage son is in boarding school in the UK and is travelling the UK with me during the Easter holidays, as I visit family and friends around the country. Last week we were in Herefordshire staying with friends, a family of 5. Mum had been in hospital so I spent my time cooking, washing and cleaning as a way of saying thank you for having us to stay and helping. I could've done with my box of goodies last week, but I'm going to save something to cook with them before I return home.

This week I'm in Monmouth, South Wales, staying with a family of 6, they are renovating and extending their house and we are currently only have access to one toilet between the 8 of us. Any offer of help with their 4 children aged 11, 10, 9 and 6 is greatly received. Tonight the 4 children and I delved into the box and chose to cook the fajitas. 

Having sliced the chicken, the children then chopped the vegetables, got out all the equipment we needed which was a frying pan and a spatula. 

The fajitas were enjoyed by all including the 10 year old who declared he didn't like chicken, peppers or onions. We had to purchase additional wraps as there were only 8 included in the pack. We also left the wraps in the oven too long and some of them were a bit hard, but they made excellent chips to use with the dips.

I don't know how much the Old El Paso fajita box cost, the chicken, onions and peppers and an extra 8 wraps cost an additional £8.50 we also added some grated cheese.

The children had great fun preparing and cooking the mix and experimented and competed with the best way to roll the wraps. We all enjoyed the relish, although it was a bit difficult to squeeze out the sweetcorn from the bottle. tomorrow we have opted to try the Warming paprika and Herbs Casserole Recipe Mix served with rice.

I'm off to Bath over the Easter weekend to stay with another family of 6 and will be taking what's left to cook there and saving the Original Beef Tacos for my return visit to friends in Herefordshire.

I'll be using Instagram, Twitter and Facebook as chickenruby the rest of the meals over the next week.