How To Deal With A Breakup Maturely

Hey guys!

Here's my first ever 'life post', i'll be doing more of these where I talk about general life topics. My first subject is one that we all go through at one point or another, a break up. You could be the most gorgeous woman in the world, in the most outwardly stable looking relationship, and even you may not know that things are falling apart. I want to show you how to maturely handle a breakup, and avoid the drama that can occur from one.

Now firstly we have to split this post into two areas as either you broke up with someone or they broke up with you. Whichever one it is, there are certain ways you should and shouldn't act after a breakup. When a breakup occurs there are so many emotions that it's difficult to stop a minute and really consider the way you might be acting outwardly. I want to focus on the ways a breakup can be done without the drama that can follow. I am talking from experience here, and have myself done things I wish I could go back and change.

Let's start with a breakup you initiated. Clearly you wanted out of the relationship, it wasn't working for you and so you decided to part ways. However, sometimes we can easily fall back on what we said and be unsure of our decision.

 

BREAKING UP WITH SOMEONE MATURELY

 

• If you break up with someone, don't rely on them to be a shoulder to cry on when you need one, nor can you rely on them to be a friend to talk to regularly


• Don't tell your ex you still love them, or give them any hope of a reconciliation if you are sure there isn't going to be one


• Reduce if not cease all contact at least until you both have had time to deal with emotions and move on


• Do not flaunt a new lover in front of your ex, don't hurt them any more than you need to


• Be wary of discussing details with mutual friends, they will tell your ex everything


• Do not try to get your ex jealous either through social media or any other way. This is probably one of the most important and most common things that people do to each other. Even if you broke up with your ex because they hurt you, is there any point stooping to their level to hurt them back? It may just cause retaliation and you'll see them flaunt new lovers in front of you.


• Social media in general: Do not make status' about your ex, upload 'i'm over it' photos of you happily out with other people or have your news feed/twitter consumed with conversations of you with the opposite sex to get your ex jealous.


• If you see your ex out, which is a difficult thing to experience, it's best to just say hello and smile and make an exit rather than ignore this person. Ignoring them shows you're still hurt by them, and not only that it shows an immaturity. If they ignore you then fair enough, at least you know you made the right decision in breaking up with them


• Do not make your breakup public on social media, there are settings so that you don't have to announce to the world that things are over. It's not pretty when you see a big broken heart symbol on your news feed, and everyone asking what happened

If someone breaks up with you, it is so easy to let emotions drive your actions and you may end up walking away from a situation not only hurt but embarrassed by the way you acted. Here is some advice on how to walk away from a breakup initiated by your ex, and keep your dignity. Some of the advice is the same as above but there are other things you need to consider when you are not the one that has made the decision to end things.

 

DEALING WITH A BREAKUP MATURELY

• It may not be your decision or what you want, but accepting that your relationship is over is the best thing you can do. The easier you accept the decision the more surprised your ex will be


• Cut all communication, show them that if they don't want to be with you, they aren't going to be able to talk to you when they want


• Go out with friends and just have a good time, don't go out with the need to meet someone else, or make them jealous. Just go out with the intention to enjoy spending time with your friends, something that normally happens less when you're in a relationship


• Keep busy, especially in the early days. You may feel like sulking around the house or crying into your pillow, but just get outside. Go for a walk to the park, or shopping (retail therapy!), the more you get out the better you'll feel, and it's less time spent looking at your phone


• Do not get drunk and tell them you still love them, or send an angry text, and don't write a letter to them. I'm sure there's a lot you want to say and ask about the situation, but it's not a good time to do so


• Don't listen to friends who want to tell you what your ex is up to or gossip about your breakup. They aren't true friends if they secretly delight in your breakup, do not give them the satisfaction of telling you your ex got with someone else at a club last night etc


• Do not consume alcohol and call or text your ex with either abuse or nostalgia for your relationship


• Don't jump into another relationship, or get with someone just because you're hurt. You'll regret it and if there was a way to mend your broken relationship, doing that would well and truly end things


• Never go on a night out with the intention of bumping into your ex. It's so tempting to do this but you may regret it when you see them with someone else. Plus alcohol and ex's never ends well, you'll probably end up getting jealous or upset and crying in the toilets

If you want your ex back the best thing you can ever do is move on with your life, show them that you don't care and that you're happy. Even if inside you're still hurting and you cry every night, do not let them see that side of you. People are attracted to others who are strong, independent and happy, not someone who calls 10 times a day to cry and ask why you can't get back together.

“If you really love something set it free. If it comes back it’s yours, if not it wasn’t meant to be.”

 

 

Breakups hurt, and we all go through them. Nothing anyone says will help your situation, all you can do is let time heal your wounds and in the mean time keep yourself busy. The best way to move on from any relationship is with your head held high knowing that you didn't embarrass yourself in any way. It is so difficult to not let emotions drive you to looking like an insane person who just wants their ex back, but trust me if you don't do the above things and instead keep yourself busy you'll come off looking like a strong individual, and other people will be attracted to you for that.

‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” Alfred Lord Tennyson

Lots of love,
Samantha Dawn
xoxo

Find Samantha on: Google+   Twitter   Facebook

Sophie The Giraffe Product Review

EDIT: Now my boys are older (8 months), they have shown a little more interest in Sophie. However, I still feel she is very overrated! I would note that only from 6 months+ would a baby really begin to have any interest in this type of toy! :)

If you're a mum and you haven't heard of Sophie the Giraffe, then where have you been hiding? Sophie the Giraffe seems to be in every babies household. She is described as the top teething toy for babies that has 'wowed over 50 million babies (and parents.)'

If you're reading this review I guess you want to know whether I was one of those 50 million parents wowed by this product. Well, yes and no. Yes I was one of those parents that bought Sophie, and no neither I, nor my babies were 'wowed'.

I remember the first time I heard about Sophie the Giraffe I looked her up online and saw this hideous giraffe toy. The manufacturer proudly explains how they have not changed the design since the original Sophie's were made in 1961, but am I the only person out there who thinks they really should? On the looks basis alone I questioned buying her, the permanent creepy surprised face and big black eyes does nothing for me.

A few months passed and my newborns turned into little dribbling, teething, monster babies, and I again went back to question whether or not I should purchase this ugly Giraffe to keep my twins from gnawing their hands off. I saw that for a limited time Sophie was reduced to £9.99 on Amazon, and I decided to buy one as a trial for my boys.

When Sophie arrived I was quite excited and intrigued to see how amazing she was going to be. If you speak to other mothers, they've all got one, and rave about her helping their dribbling babies with their teeth. As a mother it is customary to take a picture of your baby and Sophie telling everyone how much your baby loves it, even if the photo of them with her is completely staged by you. Like this one, (yes I said Sophie was a hit literally seconds after my baby had her in his hands for the first time...I lied.)

I'm sure 90% of mothers who take a photo of their baby with a Sophie Giraffe have given it them in a particular way so that it looks like their baby loves her. In reality as soon as the photo is taken, Sophie has dropped and your baby is gnawing on their hand again.To my boys, (and with twins I had two babies to trial this product), they weren't the least bit interested in this ugly giraffe. Amongst my mummy friends Sophie is known as 'the dog toy', partially because she squeaks like most dog toys do, but also because most of the mothers eventually just gave her to their dogs.I'm not sure why Sophie is such a hit with parents, as you can see even celebrity mums carry her around with them, (please note that as a parent you will most likely end up carrying Sophie everywhere you go):

Jessica Alba, Baby and Sophie

Pink, Daddy, Baby and Sophie

Sandra Bullock, Baby and Sophie

Nicole Richie, Baby and Sophie

Maybe we end up finding this ugly giraffe cute and enjoy taking pictures of our babies with her. I'll be honest even I thought it was cute when I saw my little boy with a giraffe. Maybe we're all just following the hype and not wanting to expose our own babies as Sophie haters, when every other baby out there apparently 'loves it.' Or maybe I'm alone in my opinion and you and your babies all think this 'gorgeous' giraffe is a god send.

Don't get me wrong, my boys (who are 8 months old now) have started smiling if I squeak Sophie, but they also smile when I pull a silly face at them, so I'm not blown away with getting a smile for £10. As a teething toy Sophie has done absolutely nothing to help aid my boys in their teething issues. One of my boys had his two bottom teeth through at once, and I can honestly say Sophie did not help with his teething pain at any point. She is also made of rubber, and if you give her a sniff (go on, you know you want to), you get a foul strong rubber smell, even after cleaning her. The taste isn't better either, no wonder my babies aren't blown away by smelly Sophie.

My advice to any of you mothers who have read other great reviews on Amazon etc about this amazing baby teether, don't believe them. Sophie the Giraffe is just an ugly overrated dog toy, that'll sit in your house unused. I imagine the positive reviews will end up swaying your judgement and you'll purchase her just to see for yourself the little interest your baby will have with her, it's just one of those things us mothers do, we have to see for ourselves.
All I can say is your baby is going to struggle with teeth no matter what you do, and a giraffe isn't going to help. Sorry Sophie.

Let me know whether Sophie was a hit with your little one, or if you didn't bother believing the hype in the first place. I'd love to know.

Lots of love,
Samantha Dawn
xoxo

Find Samantha on: Google+   Twitter   Facebook

Clairol Nice n Easy Natural Permanent Hair Colour SB1 Summer Blonde

Hey guys,

I thought I'd tell you about my all time favourite boxed hair dye, which is Clairol's SB1 Summer Blonde Blonde Permanent Hair Dye, formerly called Natural Baby 101 (hence the photos from a while back when I used the dye.) I use this dye on a regular basis to keep my hair a gorgeous light blonde colour, and normally buy this from Boots, where they usually have it on special offer.

When I was younger my hair was white blonde, and growing up it remained that way. In the last few years I've noticed the brightness of my blonde locks diminishing, and I'm slowly getting a more dull sandy blonde colour :( As you can see in this photo below my roots are darker, they look ginger here but normally they just look a dull blonde colour.

and with Nice 'n Easy's boxed hair dye in 101 Natural Baby I get to keep it this colour, (excuse the glasses it was fancy dress):

It's a very simple hair dye kit to use, you basically have three separate containers and some gloves, the first two bottles (the dye) are labelled 1 and 2. You simply mix the liquids in 1 and 2 together and you have your hair dye ready to use. The bottle labelled 3 is the conditioner you use once the dye has been washed out, to keep it looking bright and healthy.

If you've never used this hair colour before, I would definitely recommend you do a skin allergy test 48 hours before applying this to your hair.

I currently leave this hair dye on for the full 45 minutes to make sure my darker roots are completely gone. However, if you just need a little boost of colour you can leave it on for just 25 minutes.

What I love most about this hair dye is that afterwards your hair feels light and well conditioned. It also highlights and tones my hair, it's as though I've just stepped out of a hair salon, but without the price tag!

Personally I think this hair colour works best with dark blondes and light brown shades of hair. I cannot say that it would work to the same effect if you have dark brown hair, but it would probably still brighten it and give it a healthy lighter look.

At the moment I'm experimenting with my hair colours and am going to attempt to get my hair a silver white blonde, so look out for that tutorial blog post coming soon!

Lots of love,

Samantha Dawn

xoxo

Find Samantha on: Google+   Twitter   Facebook

Congratulations Kate Middleton Gives Birth To Baby Boy

Just a post to celebrate the birth of a royal baby boy! So exciting. Congratulations Kate and William on your gorgeous baby boy!

Find Samantha on: Google+   Twitter   Facebook

Nina Nesbitt Style Get The Look

If you don't know who Nina Nesbitt is, then I'm sure you will soon enough. Nina is a rising star in the music world, she's a Scottish born model-turned-singer-songwriter.

I've known about Nina for a couple of years now, even before she hit the fame and the followers (aka Nesbians), after being taken on tour with Example and Ed Sheeran. No person can deny that Nina is absolutely stunning, but there's more than that, she's also extremely talented. If you listen to her music you'll see she has an amazing voice, and really does have the X Factor, without (thankfully) needing to be on The X Factor TV show to prove it. If you haven't seen her live, I suggest you do, she really is an amazing performer, you can subscribe to her YouTube channel to listen to her songs. Oh, and if she seems familiar to you it's probably because she appears in Ed Sheeran's music video for his hit song 'Drunk'.

Moving away from the amazing talent, beauty and perfection, I want to discuss Nina's style, something I absolutely love. I think the thing I love most about the way Nina chooses to dress is that she isn't too girly. Obviously, on the odd occasion she does get dolled up for an award ceremony, and she looks amazing, but I much prefer the rock girl, tom boy look she has which reminds me of a cross between Kurt Cobain and Brigitte Bardot. She normally dresses smart casual, and everything looks as though she just plucked it out of a wardrobe when in fact most if not all of her attire has been carefully pieced together. In Nina's own words she says, 'My personal style is pretty casual. I love big baggy jumpers, skinny jeans, denim shorts. I’m in to studs in a big way and have a big leather stud jacket but I like to team it with cute tops or floaty skirts. So I guess my style could be described as rock versus pretty.'

I'm not going to focus on getting Nina's beauty look, as that deserves it's own separate post where I'll focus on how you can get that voluminous blonde hair or recreate her cat eye and red lips look. Today I want to talk about her style, and I'll be dissecting a few of my favourite Nina looks and show you how to copy her style.

 

NINA NESBITT GET THE LOOK

I think one of the first things every rock chick needs in her wardrobe is a leather jacket. Leather jackets can be expensive, although there are cheaper faux leather imitations if you don't want to spend too much. However, real leather jackets are worth the money as they never go out of fashion, and even when worn over many years still look great. Nina's leather jacket below has had some customisation with studs, you can either do this yourself or buy jackets that have already had this done to them.

My favourite choice of leather jacket that is closest to the one Nina wears in the photo above is the ASOS RECLAIMED VINTAGE Original Leather Oversized Biker Jacket, priced £165. This one obviously doesn't come with the studs but has the same quilted effect to the shoulders:

You can buy studs to customise the jacket on Ebay, and there are several YouTube videos on how to customise a leather jacket.

Next, any rock star needs sunglasses, and Nina has a great collection of shades including these gorgeous round tortoiseshell sunglasses. Similar high street versions of Nina's sunglasses can be found at Nasty Gal 'Janis Shades' $20 (currently sold out) or ASOS Round Sunglasses with Metal Bridge Detail were £12 now just £8!

Probably my favourite accessory Nina wears is her felt pork pie hat. I think it goes really well with her whole smart casual look, you can buy a similar one at ASOS, normally £20 but currently on sale at £14:

She also wears this gorgeous Black Rolled Brim Bowler Hat from River Island priced at £20:

I've noticed one of Nina's main combinations to wear are denim shorts, and graphic t shirts. When it comes to graphic shirts the more random the better, you can see below Nina is wearing a cute cat with a bow tie tshirt:

Here are some examples of graphic tshirts you could wear with shorts, if the shirt has sleeves, rolling them up a little will make the tshirt have a more feminine and fitted look.  Also try abd make sure the logo isn't too far down the shirt as you will be tucking the lower half into shorts.

These shirts are from Urban Outfitters, the MTV Animal Tee and the Nirvana Tee are both £32.

 

There are a variety of different styles of denim shorts to wear too, Nina tends to wear acid wash style ripped denim shorts. Some of my favourite pairs currently on sale are below, you can customise them with studs again if you wish to. If you're not comfortable with bearing your legs in shorts, pair them with some black tights, Nina does this especially in winter time so she can create this look all year round.

These Black Acid Wash ripped shorts are £19.99 at New Look

and these lighter blue BDG Acid Wash Roll Hem Shorts are from Urban Outfitters priced at £40.00.

Another version I love are these Vintage Renewal Destroyed Denim Shorts by Levi sold at Urban Outfitters.

Finally shoes, and Nina isn't much of a heels girl, which is another thing I like about her. She's mostly found wearing White Converse, priced £50 or Black Nike Blazer Mid Trainers, priced £70. If she does go for a smarter style of shoe it's normally a pair of brogues, these Leather Brogues from ASOS were £45 now only £31.50

My final bit of advice for those wanting to dress like Nina is to experiment. For example, instead of going into TOPSHOP and picking out a jumper, why not go into TOPMAN? Nina does this herself, and ended up picking up this gorgeous Beatles jumper, £45, which makes for a nice oversized jumper on her. Sadly the jumper is now sold out, but you can see that Nina doesn't stick to just women's clothing to create her style!

I hope you enjoyed this blog post, let me know if you'd be interested in seeing any more Nina Nesbitt related posts, and leave me a comment to tell me what you'd like to see :)

Lots of love,
Samantha Dawn
xoxo

Find Samantha on: Samantha Dawn Google+   Samantha Dawn Twitter   Samantha Dawn Facebook

What is the Best Pushchair for Twins?

I remember being pregnant and stressing over which pushchair was ideal to buy for my soon-to-be-born twins. Every buggy I looked at was either suitable for one newborn and one 6 month old, was ugly, lacked good reviews, or was just too bulky.

I have to say that in my opinion I now own the best pushchair out there for twins. However this was only a very recent purchase, and I also own another much more expensive pushchair that I wish I'd never spent the money on. I want to share my reviews with you so that if you are about to purchase one of these pushchairs you know a bit more about them first.

The first pushchair I want to tell you about is a recent one I purchased from Kiddicare, pictured here:

It was only recently that I came across the perfect pram for my boys that I wish I had found earlier. It's the Baby Weavers You & Me Twin The Owl and the Pussycat Pushchair, which at the moment is a bargain price of £115, normally £260. This pushchair is perfect for trips to the park, use on public transport, days out, school runs and general day to day use. It's really easy to maneuver and is light enough to lift up onto curbs easily or to carry downstairs (with the help of someone else ofcourse.)

It includes a shopping trolley, which isn't really that big, but can at least carry a few items, as well as the handles where you can hang bags from also.

There is a raincover included, which is great as I found with a lot of other pushchairs that you had to buy one separately, costing you even more money. This pushchair is supposedly suitable for newborns, as it has a lying back mechanism, although I have to say that the chairs don't lie flat they just tilt back slightly, as you can see in the pictures below. Still it's about the same amount of recline as was in the newborn car seats we had, and they don't have a problem sleeping in this pushchair:

The only regret I have about buying this pushchair is that I didn't get it sooner! As you will see with the second pushchair I am about to talk about, it just didn't live up to my expectations. The Baby Weavers You & Me Twin is just the ideal weight, size and is a bargain compared to most tandem pushchairs. Not only that but it folds away very easily and has removable covers, a large hood to sheild your little one from the sun, and a foot rest.

 

It's also has a gorgeous polka dot design all over, with the cute Owl and the Pussycat design on the removable covers. It's suitable for babies from birth to 15kg, and really is the perfect everyday pushchair for twins.

 

Secondly, the Britax B-dual Tandem Pushchair is the other pushchair I own, I have the 2012 version in black thunder which at the moment is selling on Kiddicare for £454.99 (not including additional seat needed). It is also available in Purple, Red, and Blue.

As you can see from the picture above, it has one seat in the front and an optional seat in the back. One of the best things about this pushchair is the fact that you can remove the original seats and attach car seats to the frame so that you don't have to carry them around with you. This was perfect for me as I don't drive, so whenever a relative would pick us up from a day trip or we would unexpectedly end up in a car, we had our car seats with us. The car seats are available in a variety of colours to match the colour of your B-Dual pram, so purple, blue, red and other colours and patterns, even zebra! The other great thing about this pushchair is that it has a large shopping trolley, which always comes in handy with twins. Also it's great at steering and has large wheels that smoothly wheel along pavements, get up curbs easily and if say you decide to take a walk in the woods or park, this pushchair is perfect. The Britax B-dual is also able to be used as a singular pushchair, so if ever you take just one baby out you can remove the back seat and it turns into a single buggy.

The car seats are easily detachable, so if you want to take them off and have a sit down for a bit, or prepare a babies feed they can happily sit in their seats. My boys did love these car seats and found them very comfortable. They say they're suitable up to a year, but my boys have almost outgrown them at 7 months:

I have to just add this photo in for the comedy value, not sure what my partner Brad is doing here, but all I can say if this doesn't sell it to you I don't know what will, lol...

Now onto the negatives. I'm not going to lie to you, this pushchair isn't ideal in so many other ways. Firstly, yes it is a twin pushchair, however the front seat is only suitable for babies 6 months+, which means you need to buy a car seat suitable from birth for the front seat, which will set you back £99. That's not really a problem as you most likely need a car seat anyway, or in the case of twins, two car seats are needed. So that's an additional £99 x 2 for your twins to have car seats that clip onto this frame, but it doesn't stop there. If you want to add a second seat onto the frame in the first place, which you will if you have twins, then you need to buy a metal bar to attach another seat which costs you £49.99. Almost £50 for a metal bar! Oh, and you'll also need to buy the second seat, which costs £99.99. In the end this pushchair has so many add-ons that you end up spending just under £1000.

Also, another thing with the Britax B-dual is the fact that, if you're a little bit weak like me, or if you've just had a c-section like I did, then this pushchair is rather heavy to be taking around with you. It's also almost impossible to lift, and I've tried carrying it down stairs with my partner once and all I can say to that is NEVER AGAIN. It is SO HEAVY and just not doable for regular outings or especially if you are using public transport. The only way you can get it downstairs is if you take both car seats off, carry them down and then someone else brings down the frame. Once we actually had about 10 policemen at a train station help us as they saw how much we struggled! Here's a photo of me and the boys waiting whilst daddy takes the pram frame down to the station platform, and then comes back to help carry this lot!

You would think that having one in front of the other would mean you'd have a smaller pushchair, but it's still so bulky that in shops you're knocking everything over. Not to mention the horrific rear wheel guards which stick out like a sore thumb and catch on EVERYTHING and can't be removed!

I'm including the Kiddicare video which shows you exactly how it works, and you can visually see what it looks like. I think this video mainly shows you how the other seat fits on, but there are more videos on YouTube:
The final pushchair I bought was also from Kiddicare and made by them too, it's called the Kiddicare.com Essentials Basic Twin Buggy Stripes, currently £34.99 usually £99.99. I don't have much to say about this one, it looks really lovely and I have a gorgeous picture of my son Sebastian happily sat in it. It really is a beautiful pram and for the looks alone it is currently selling at a bargain price.

However, as I went to put my other son, Dylan, in the chair, I realised the plastic clip to hold him in place had already snapped. The fact this had happened when I got the pushchair was lucky really as I had plans to go out in central London for the entire following day, and if the clasp had broken then I don't know what I would have done. What worries me most is if I had been getting off a train or bus and the clip had broken, my son may have fallen out of his seat! The other negatives of this pram are that it doesn't have a shopping trolley, your children cannot lie back in it at all, it's rather flimsy, and you need to buy a separate raincover, priced at £17.99 normally £19.99.

I think the thing that annoys me most about this pram is the fact I left a review on Kiddicare sharing my experiences, and they've not put it up instead only putting up 4 or 5 star reviews. I find this rather interesting, having worked in the online shopping sector professionally for many years, that they filter their own reviews in order to make bad products look better. Although, I'm not surprised as many other companies also do this, but still you would expect to trust Kiddicare reviews.

I don't want to bad mouth Kiddicare as a company though, the deliveries and customer service have always been second to none, and they even text you with an hour slot of when they are coming. Returns are also easy enough too, and you can pick a day for them to come and collect your item(s).

This was a much longer blog post than I expected but I really wanted to be thorough in my review of each of the pushchairs so you know what you're getting with them. I hope this review helps you in some way, please let me know if you have any other twin pushchair suggestions, I'd love to hear what has worked for you. Also maybe you disagree and love the Britax or hate the Babyweaver. Don't forget to leave me a comment and subscribe to my blog for more baby related posts.

Lots of love,
Samantha Dawn
xoxo

Find Samantha on: Google+   Twitter   Facebook