I don’t know of a single uni student without some great space saving or super trendy IKEA furniture or textiles in their student digs. I literally furnished my entire first flat with IKEA goods. They were reasonably priced, easy to assemble and really pleasing to the eye. 10 years later and I am still an avid IKEA fan, going back to them time and time again to solve the issue of finding non-cumbersome, nicely designed furniture to fit into the less than generously proportioned London homes we’ve been fortunate enough to live in, even if it would have been nice for them to be oh..double the size!

Anyone who knows me well can attest to me being anything but naturally tidy. I’d always assumed that when I was an ‘adult’ I’d have a cleaner, nanny and perhaps a driver so naturally, I’d have more time to be organised and they would also help keep things looking spotless. As fate would have it, I don’t have any of those people to help me yet, maybe this means I’m not quite an adult and I have this still to come? Anyway, for now, I rely on the joys of IKEA storage solutions and their practical furniture ranges to keep my house looking less like a pig sty and more like a well maintained home!

The post Why IKEA are Kings of Storage! appeared first on Circus Mums.

I wonder if it’s out there, lurking under the water. Can it see us now? Can it feel us watching, waiting, wishing for it to peek up from the green gloom of the lake? The hairs on our neck stand up from the mixture of excitement and fear, wondering if the stories told over the brilliant orange flames of the camp fire are true. Is it really there? Did Grandpa really do that all those years ago?

*I’ve joined up with the 100 word challenge. You can click here to read this week’s other entrants!

The post How to catch a monster #100WCGU appeared first on Circus Mums.

Working from my bed is lush but there’s only so often you can do that before your butt gets sore and you are in need of a hard surface to rest the myriad of books, notepads and pens. I cannot begin to tell you how many nights I’ve woken up to the feeling of being poked and prodded by a wayward biro, lost under the duvet.

I am on the hunt for a new desk and to make a proper home office for those days when I’m too lazy to make it down to the co-working hubs in Central London. I saw this amazing perspex desk on Luminti.co.uk and I know it will be just perfect! The website says you can customise it to a colour and size to suit your needs, but at 1200mm (w) x 750mm (d) x 750mm (h) I think it is perfect just the way it is! The fact that is is clear will make me stick to a clear desk policy as I’d want to show off as much of the desk as possible, especially since it is priced as just over £650 (including VAT).

Check out the desk and their other cool Acrylic products here. I’ve bookmarked their website as this had definitely caught my attention and made my shortlist!

The post Desk Lust – Acryllic appeared first on Circus Mums.

With speculation over Beyonce’s pregnancy growing ever since the MET ball and of course, hightened by her cancellation of one of the dates on her Mrs Carter tour, it seems the media outlets are now reporting that various sources have confirmed Beyonce and Jay-Z are expecting their second baby!

I really hope that this pregnancy will be allowed to go without constant scrutiny, jibes and speculation, for example, about whether or not Beyonce actually carried her own child, like really WHO SAYS THAT!? I can only imagine as a mother, how awful those kinds of comments would make me feel, and this is me without the added complication of pregnancy hormones and it already riles me up to no end! Going by the constant media slaps doled out to Kim Kardashian, who of course is currently carrying Kanye West’s child, I doubt Beyonce will be left alone.

Some may argue that part of being a celebrity is expecting and accepting to have every waking step documented, photographed and dissected for all to see, but I think that’s a load of rubbish, a petty excuse thrown out there by the big bosses who want to see their profits sky rocket and greedy readers, always eager to learn more and have a good nosey around other people’s lives! To me, there are certain times in a person’s life, such as getting ready to bring life into the world or mourn a death, that should be treated as sacred and marked with a respectable amount of privacy, but maybe this opinion is only shared by the minority, who knows?

What are your views?

The post Beyonce and Jay-Z expecting their second child!? appeared first on Circus Mums.

Princess has been full of sassy yet innocent one liners the last few weeks, normally they make me feel about an inch tall, all without her even having to put much thought into it. Here are some of my favourites

On getting to ride on an old-school London Bus:

Me: My mum used to take us on one of these buses when I was about your age Princess!

Princess: Wow, they had buses when you were young like me?!

Random comment during the school run:

Princess: Mummy, did pirates rule the oceans when you were a girl?

On seeing a picture of me at a wedding the morning after:

Me: Look Princess, this is mummy at the wedding!

Princess: Did everyone think you had a baby in your tummy mummy?

Pause.

Me:Erm no Princess, they didn’t

Princess: Oh because it looks really big, I’d have thought people would think you had a baby. Why IS it so big mummy?

Me: Because I need to eat healthier and exercise more Princess.

Long pause.

Princess: Oh, like go to the gym? Well you would have to go aaaaaaAAALLL day and aaaaaAAALLL night for a long long time to make your tummy look like mine.

Me: Hmm yeah, you’re probably right…. I’m just going to get something from the other side of the house…

Have your kids said anything recently to make you groan inside (or outwardly if you can’t hold it in!?) Do share, please… maybe it will make me feel a tiny bit better, who knows!

The post Ways only our kids can make us feel old and fat! appeared first on Circus Mums.

I remember seeing the trailer for this film when we went to watch The Croods and already making a mental bookmark that Epic would be worth watching. Thankfully my spidey senses didn’t disappoint! From the makers of RIO and Ice Age, this animated family film will be a hit with the entire family. I took two four year olds and a friend and whilst some of the more mature concepts (such as the parents being separated)went over the kid’s heads, we were surprised by just how much of the film they understood and the amount of dialogue it created afterwards.
Epic is based on a children’s book (The Leaf Men) written by William Joyce. It follows the story of a teenage girl who is sent to live with her eccentric father in the woods after the death of her mother. The father has spent his whole life searching for an enchanted, secret society of tiny forest people, who ironically on her first day in the forest his daughter, played by Amanda Seyfried, meets! The film features an all-star cast of voices, including Beyonce Knowles, Pitbull and Colin Farrell. The story line is a basic battle between good and evil, with a dash of environmentalism thrown in for good measure. Both serious and full of comedy at the same time, this kept the entire movie theatre glued to their seats regardless of age.

Circusmums give Epic a massive thumbs up! This is one to watch again and add to the DVD collection too once it’s released!

Watch the trailer for EPIC here!

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