A glitter hater's guide to Christmas

I love a sequin. Absolute LOVE! There are a few too many sequinned items in my wardrobe and even my wedding dress was bedecked in them. (If you'd like to see it I've popped a pic at the end of this post.)

So it's sequins for the win in my book. But glitter? Oh hell no. Sure, it shines and catches the light just like a sequin. But get too close and those tiny, shiny little buggers will stick like glue. The other day I picked up a glittery tree decoration and that night I found glitter in my bra. That stuff's got a mind of it's own.

I don't know why I've got a broken glitter gene but it makes the festive season, one of my favourite times of the year, a right old minefield. For those of you with a similar affliction, I've come up with some ways to navigate Christmas with minimal glitter in your underwear.

Festive Reading List

What do you mean it's way too soon to be dropping the C bomb? No, wait, I totally agree. It is way too soon to be dropping the C bomb. The general consensus in our house is that Christmas doesn't get a look in until after my birthday later this month. But feeling festive is still allowed, right? Guys? Stay with me!

The problem is, I cannot walk past a fairy light without feeling all warm and cosy right now. So this year I'm throwing caution to the wind and feeling incredibly festive before it's socially acceptable to feel incredibly festive. Which means that I've been reading lots of Christmassy treats and it would have been rudolf me not to blog about them. (Soz).

Here are the books I've been getting up to snow good with. (Someone call the pun police).

Another Place in The Lakes

Baby monitoring service. Those three golden words that had me sold before I'd even looked at the rooms / any other facilities at the hotel. 'BABY MONITORING SERVICE!' I shouted at my husband, unnecessarily because he was standing right next to me.

We were planning our wedding anniversary. Last year I was way too preggers to get excited about anything other than a bath and a scented candle. The year before that we tagged some days on to a friend's wedding in Northumberland. And the year before that we went to the very beautiful York for a weekend.

Three great books for new parents

Things I've Learned About Parenting So Far...

It mostly consists of negotiating bat shit bonkers situations with as much calm as you can muster. And when I say calm, I mean coffee. Though not all the time... I found one of my babies swimming in a pool of cold coffee after merrily tipping a cup over himself the other day. He looked incredibly pleased with himself while I panic-googled what-happens-if-my-baby-accidentally-drinks-caffeine. The good news is that there are some brilliant books out there to show that you aren't the only one wading through choppy seas. (Also, baby was fine after his cup of joe.)

SUMMER READING LIST

Last year's summer holiday reading list involved a lot of chat about spending 'hours and hours' lying on a lounger with a good book. 'No distractions', I wrote. To summarise, pre-baby Hannah was incredibly annoying. Skip forward to this summer and five mins without a distraction is more accurate now that I'm a twin mama. I do like to spend that time wisely though... either by lying face down in a vat of wine or reading books. (Okay fine, mostly I do both at the same time.)

A Year of Beautiful Eating by Madeleine Shaw: Review

TURNIPS ARE A SUMMER VEG YOU GUYS!!! MIND. BLOWN. 

I made this discovery while flicking through Madeleine Shaw's A Year of Beautiful Eating, a gorgeous cookbook all about seasonal food. I am useless at remembering what's in season. Maybe because I'm also useless at keeping plants alive and therefore there's no hope of me ever understanding what grows when? Who knows. But basically, I needed some help and this book is now my guru.

Sunsets in Sheringham

Every year when I was little, we'd spend a week in Norfolk munching midnight feasts, getting sticky ice cream hands and chasing the waves. Such happy memories for mini me! So recently, my husband and I thought a trip to the very same seaside would be ideal for our own little ones.

We picked heatwave week, which meant the twinnies went absolutely bonkers and refused to sleep. But it also meant that those bleary, early morning strolls along the beach at Sheringham were utterly glorious.

THE YEAR OF SAYING YES

I know what you're thinking. It cannot be time for yet more shameless self-promotion, can it Hannah? Well I'm afraid the answer to that question is yes. Yes it blooming can.

My book is now officially out as one whole novel! So long, serialisation, hello, big fat tome. And now that THE YEAR OF SAYING YES is out in full I'm celebrating with some flowers and a flatlay, natch.



If you're in the market for a sizzling summer read then it would make me absolutely giddy if you decided to grab a copy of THE YEAR OF SAYING YES. It's about a girl on a quest to find her zest for life and is out now on Amazon.

Right... I'm off for a prosecco or three!

Summer's best bits

I'm currently sat in my office listening to the rain tap-tap-tapping against the skylight windows and clutching a cup of hot water for warmth. And it's JUNE.

So it may not be the most sizzling start to the sixth month of the year, but there are some glimmers of hope. I mean, I went to a barbecue at the weekend and actually wore sunglasses for some of it! To help get in a summery mood, I thought I'd pull together some of my favourite things about the "sunshine" season.

COVER REVEAL!

Here she is! The absolute BABING new cover for my book, The Year of Saying Yes. It's a good job I'm so chic and nonchalant otherwise I'd have shouted "yaaaaasssssss" super loud when I first saw this.*

My book, deliciously described as "the must-read rom-com of the year" on Amazon, first came out in four parts but to celebrate this tasty summer we are stepping into it's now being released as one whole book. 

There are plenty of summery shenanigans to wet your whistle... a very glittery Glastonbury, a mini break on the Cornish coast, champagne-slugging at a food festival and more. I hope the book brings a little sunshine to your summer, even if our British weather doesn't quite deliver. 

*I definitely did do that. 

Madeleine Shaw interview

She's the green-eating goddess, Insta star and purveyor of the prettiest cookbooks, and now Madeleine Shaw has released her third book. A Year of Beautiful Eating is jam-packed with seasonal recipes - my review's coming soon - but first lovely Ms S has stopped by for a little question and answer sesh.

As a new mum, I'm super keen to hear how pregnant Madeleine is working her healthy lifestyle around that little bun on board! Read on for her thoughts on pregnancy fitness and starting the day in the best possible way...

@madeleine_shaw_

How it feels to have my book published

Last year will forever be known as one of my absolute favourites in terms of personal achievements. (Politics / current affairs... not so much). But for me, Super 'Sixteen was absolutely packed to the rafters with wonderful things. My husband and I made a couple of tiny people, I travelled to some incredible places and a complete dream came true when I had my very first novel published. Absolute WOWZERS!

I've wanted to write since I was little. I read English Literature at uni, mostly just an excuse to read a shiz tonne of books and call it "studying". And then I trained as a journalist so that I could write all the hot damn time. As much as I loved, and still love, writing articles for magazines, I always knew that I wanted to write a novel. 

So a couple of years back, I set to it. After squirrelling myself away for hours plotting, penning and eventually proof reading, I took a leap of faith and sent my book out. My fabulous agent Amanda must have seen some potential in me because she signed me up when we first met in London one sunny January day. On that same day, I had coffee with Christina at Headline, who had read my blog and wondered if I fancied writing something for them. Obviously I remained super chill and replied with a nonchalant 'I guess so'.*

New mama TLC guide

During a particularly spesh NCT class, we parents-to-be were asked to compile a timetable showing what we expected life to be like when our babes arrived. Blissfully ignorant Pre-Baby Me pondered a glorious schedule of cuddles and feeds interspersed with naps for the tots and plenty of time for me to relax.

Then my twinnies arrived and I realised that any spare second not dedicated to keeping my tiny humans alive is, in fact, spent laundering their food-splattered clothes / mainlining coffee. It's so easy to forget to look after yourself but ruddy heck, ladies, it's also really important to do exactly that.

So yesterday, when the actual sun came out, I spent an entire 45 minutes SUN BATHING while the babies slept. Forty-five big ones! That kind of shiz hasn't happened since Summer 2016. But let's face it, 45 minutes doesn't come around very often so I've whipped up some speedy TLC ideas to give us new mamas a boost.

A very British babymoon: Mawgan Porth, Cornwall

When my best girl recently asked if a pre-baby holiday was a good idea, I think my reply was a smidge hysterical. "YESSSSS DO IT" Because the chance to hang out with your other half before your little bundle arrives / endless nappy duty begins is so worth it!

In fact, don't judge, a babymoon (gross name but let's go with it) was one of the first things I looked into when I found out I was pregnant. After maternity clothes how to look after babies, of course. I was thinking long haul, because my 'moon would need a beach, some sunshine and a tonne of booze free cocktails. But then we found out that there were two babies on board so I'd become a no fly zone much earlier than planned. Probs for the best...  I'm not convinced that even the biggest of jumbos would have got airborne with me and my 7-and-a-half-month bump on board.

So we started to look closer to home and I tried very hard to put thoughts of beach and sunshine aside.

Baby shopping: moses baskets

Kitting out the nursery was one of my favourite things to do while pregnant. Suddenly a whole new world of shopping opportunities had opened up! Although there was one teeny tiny pitfall. 'Why is everything pink, blue or white and lacy?' I'd shout in the middle of a baby shop before brushing my outburst aside as pregnancy hormones and waddling sauntering off. Probably to find more cake.

Not that pink, blue or lacy white are bad things. We just didn't know whether we were having boy twins, girl twins or one-of-each-twins at the time, and we weren't keen on those stereotypical colour schemes anyway. I'm a girl and I don't love pink, unless it's in Muji pen form.

So what to buy? Well, HELLO timely advertising from moKee on my Instagram feed. I clicked onto their website and was thrilled to find oodles of nursery options in fun, neutral colour schemes. Just look at these!

The Year of Saying Yes: Part Two

January can be such a b, right? "Stop drinking all the red wine!" "Stop sitting on the sofa eating chocolate!" "Um, excuse me, it looks like you might be having fun there. Stop that immediately, it's January!"

So many of us fill this month with a huge list of stuff to say no to, just like main girl Izzy in my new book The Year of Saying Yes. But, as the title suggests, Izzy ends up ditching her to-don't list and embarking on 365 days filled with saying yes instead. You know, just the usual stuff, like performing live at Glastonbury. Eek! 

Anyway, part two of the book is out now. Here's a little taster.