So a week ago today, a rather anxious, excited, nervous, ecstatic, happy, upset, extremely upset, confused and terrified mummy set off to London for BritMums Live 2014, all thanks to my amazing sponsor's! If it wasn't for those two amazing sponsors, Popagami and MAM, I would not have been in the capital and I surely would not have been feeling so many emotions at once! Also, a huge thanks to boohoo for sponsoring my outfits for the weekend!



Popping a few paracetamol's into my bag, apart from the scheduled sessions I knew I wanted to attend, I didn't really have anything planned! It was to date the longest time I had ever been away from Spud, and my gosh didn't I know it! Dropping him off to school on the Friday morning, and not seeing him again until the Sunday afternoon, I was grateful for FaceTime and simple telephone calls which we take for granted so much more!

Spud was in perfectly fine hands by the way, he stayed with his auntie Paula (my sister) on the Friday night, and spent the Saturday with his grandad (spell checks making me check the spelling of grandad a million times over, even though I know it's spelt right!) and nanny). Being picked up by my dad and Spud on the Sunday could have been a scene from a budget movie, but to me, it was the best, I was reunited with my beautiful baby!

Friday morning was just the usual chaotic rush, the day of the week I'm most looking forward to out of the five weekdays, because I know I'm more than likely to have a lay in on the Saturday but it had carnage thrown in with the chaos too!

Nothing could go simple, could it? After losing my hair straighteners (I don't have time to straighten my hair any more, they're like the special necklace that sits there for years waiting to be used!), and cursing the imaginary ghost for playing hide and seek at the worse time possible, I was pleased to see Claire from 20 Something Mum pulling into my car park with her hubs and their two adorable children!

Nabbing a lift to the train station was the best yes I've said in a while, I was in a pickle, and sweating with nerves, if I had to of faced a bus, I would have ended up at the nearest pub and not in the capital itself! Me and Claire then met Alice from My Life, My Son, My Way aka Alice from AmazingLand and we set off to BritMums Live 2014 (yep, yes, and yeah I just wrote 2015!!!).

Fast forward the pre-meetup organised by Claire, which was fab at All Bar One, and the checking in of the hotel (because no one wants to hear my complaints of how heavy I had packed!), it was happening, I was sat under a huge and beautifully decorated canopy at BritMums Live! 

There was a list I wanted to stick to (not literally), filled with sessions I wanted to attend, people I wanted to meet (because for just one weekend I wanted to know them by their names and not their blog's name), and so much more but thing's didn't go to plan! Interrupted, but not rudely by the amazing Ceri from Ginger Warrior my nerves dropped instantly!

Who the eck was I trying to impress with a scheduled timetable stuck inside my purse? Here strides in this woman with so much confidence, I was questioning myself stupidly as to why I was so nervous! Always one to let things go with the flow, I potted around with Alice and Claire for a while, and then went off to meet some fellow lovelies including Hayley from Sparkles and Stretchmarks, Angela from This Is Life, Hannah from A New Addition, Laura from the Life and Times of the Working Mum, Lilinha from Lilinha Angel's World and plenty of more but unfortunately very briefly!

I attended sessions such as a keynote session with Emma Freud (Comic Relief), Writing Block (because I've suffered from that more than once), The Do's and Don'ts of Blog Giveaways, SEO session, Collaboration, How to Instagram Better, and of course, the BIBs and the bloggers keynote. I learned a lot, not as much as I'd liked too, because sometimes sessions clashed, and as much as I'd love to have another one of me (I'm kidding, I can't handle one of me sometimes, let alone two!), unfortunately, my magic powers ran out!

I have got a suitcase full of notes from the sessions I attended (I kid you not - but it does have some other bit's in there too!) and even receipts that have been written all over that I need to have another read through. My favourite session was Instagram by far, I've already started putting my newly learned knowledge into practice, and I'm enjoying it so far!

I missed Spud horrendously, and contemplated at one point to just travel back home on the Saturday after the event had finished, but I decided otherwise because although he had not attended (only babes in arms are allowed to attend the event), I know that me attending was and is going to better both of our lives!

After the event had finished, and I said goodbye to all those I had met, I took most probably my slowest walk ever back to the hotel thanks to the generously sized goody bag I was carrying, trying to carry back with me! My feet were aching, I was hungry, possibly a little bit too hot, very thirsty but very happy! Seeing the hotel bed there waiting for me deserved a star-fish, and so it happened - I star-fished the bed, for the first time (that I can remember of) in 24 years!

I waited for my friend Lauren (who's not a blogger, she's just another crazy Reading woman!) to awake from her nap, that was actually a sleep because naps are never that long and we went for something to eat and explored the local surroundings! I was a tourist in my own country, and nearly went as far as taking a picture of myself next to a London bin, I thought I'd save the selfie for another moment!

I stayed in the Travelodge, which wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be! After staying at The Hoxton last year, which was like a hotel palace, I was expecting the hotel to be as budget as it's London price, I judged a book by its cover, and got proven wrong! Never again (well until next week)!!! Oh and the all you can eat breakfast was fabulous for the price!

We walked from Islington to Shoreditch and even further than that at one point, in a fast pace walking kind of world, which is how most London folk live, it wouldn't of usually of took the 30 or so minutes that it took me and Lauren, but after both being on our feet for so long, we decided to take a slow walk and have a catch up.

We found a Nando's and knew that was where we would be eating, Lauren didn't know this at first but I purposely wanted to go there, just because I wanted to tick at least one thing off of my 'scheduled' list! Plus who can turn down their noses at some Nando's chicken? Who, who, WHO???

We stayed in Nando's until we were ready to move, well actually it was more like when the staff wanted us to stop taking advantage of the free drinks so they could get locked up, cleaned up and get home (or out to the pubs and clubs, because if I had not forgotten my ID, I so would have done a London pub crawl). On arrival back to our hotel, we some a beautiful little firework display, and embraced the happy moment like two little girls, and not the two single women we are supposed to be.

Cue, we now know why both of us are single, jumping around and squealing at the sight of loud bangs and pretty lights in the middle of London was sure not going to find us a guy any time soon!

Taking the train back home was one of the best parts of my weekend away, because I was to be reunited with Spud, however it was also the saddest. Blogging is not just something I do for fun, it's not just because it's actually my job too, but it's part of my life. I don't go a day without checking on my own blog and other blogger's blog's, I don't go a day without talking to fellow bloggers, some of the ones I talk to know more about me than myself, I've made friends for life here, and what a journey it has been!

I don't think I can wait until BritMums Live 2015, so I may just have to arrange, or co-arrange some sort of meet up soon! I missed Chelsea epically, and only wished she was there! I hope she can attend next year, and I was really sorry to not of met so many lovelies including Leta and her newest addition, and of course everyone else I missed too!

I've got to say thank you once again to my amazing sponsors, because without these two wonderful companies, this post will never be!

To my amazing clothing sponsor boohoo who allowed me to look fabulous in their plus size clothing range (review coming soon), and who helped put many blushes on my face from the compliments I received!

To my big brother Paul, for fixing my hair, eyebrows and lip before the big day, because without him, my hair would be showing a mixture of colours, split ends and dullness! My eyebrows would not have a separation, and I would have looked like a female with a moustache! 

Also a huge thank you to all the team from BritMums, Jen and Susanna especially (the founders), you do a great job every year and try your very hardest to make the event the best!

Until next time,
Jada x

Back in March, Spud received his first huge box of surprises from LEGO® as part of our  LEGO® Family Blogger role, I was suppose to of wrote a post about the important new badge sat proudly in the sidebar to the right, but I didn't get round to it as planned! Neither did I get round to the post as quickly as I planned, with everything going on, thing's got a little chaotic, so chaotic in fact, the LEGO® turned out to be a saviour in the struggle, and helped not only Spud but even me through the long journey!


I'm Going To BritMums Live!

by Jada, June 16, 2014
I thought I'd take part in this post doing it's rounds to introduce myself to fellow BritMums Live attendees! With thanks to my excellent sponsor's Popagami and MAM I'm able to attend the event being held this weekend (20th and 21st June) for my second time! You can read more about my sponsors in this post here, and you can read more about me below!



Name: Jada

Blog: Unique Young Mum

Twitter ID: @UniqueMummBlog

Height: I've told people for the last 8 year's I'm 5 ft 8, however, after a recent doctor's appointment, I'm actually 5 ft 9!


Hair: At this precise moment, it's brown and very long! I'm booked into the salon on Thursday, so the colour of my hair may be different! It will however still be very, very long and straight!

Eyes: Blue with a tiny bit of green too! This wasn't always the case, they use to be pure blue up until two years ago!



Is this your first blogging conference?
Nope, but you'd think it was with the nerves I'm working up! I attended BritMums Live last year, so this is not only my second time at BritMums, but also my second time at a blogging conference!

Are you attending both days?
Yes, and I'm also staying over night in the big capital on both days! It will be the longest time to date that me and Spud have been apart from each other, I may be an emotional mess! 

What are you most looking forward to at BritMums Live 2014?
A lot has changed since last year, there seem's to be new social media platforms every month or so, and new techniques flying around the place so I'm intrigued to learn as much as I can to better my writing skills and Unique Young Mum in general. I let the blog go massively after hearing Spud's health news at the beginning of the year, so I need a major boost to get myself back on track, I know BritMums will be the perfect boost I need! I'm also looking forward to meeting bloggers I've been speaking to for ages that I've not met before, bloggers I don't know and bloggers I've met previously! Of course I cant forget the awards and drinkies!


What are you wearing?
We need to wear clothes? No I'm joking! I've been very lucky this year because not only have I got two BritMums sponsors for my ticket and hotel, but also a clothing sponsor who is putting me in the fabulous get up below! I don't know what I'm more excited to wear!? I may have to wear it all at the same time, of course I wouldn't, but just look at these fabulous pieces from Boohoo!



What do you hope to gain from BritMums Live 2014?
As I said in the paragraph before previous, I need a big kick on my bottom to get my blog thriving again, and now Spud has had both his planned operations for this year, I am able to relax load's more and get back into the habit of blogging! I've a lot to learn!

Do you have any tips to pass on to others who may not have been before?
Get in touch with BritMums on Twitter to ask about the BritMums butterflies, or try to find them when you arrive at the venue, they're fabulous bloggers who are there to help beat any nerves you may have! There are two meets happening on the Friday, just before the event starts (pre-meets are at 12), happening at All Bar One and Starbucks, I'll be at All Bar One so try and pop down if you can! Make sure you have business cards and don't forget your phone charger!

My FIFA World Cup Family Night In!

in , , by Jada, June 13, 2014

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser.

Yesterday was the official start date of the FIFA World Cup 2014, kicking off in Brazil with the opening ceremony being broadcast on ITV yesterday evening, football fans, and even part time football fans are looking forward to the excitement and tension the matches are going to bring! This post is all about my #BigMatchPlanner with #CollectiveBias



I was brought up by my dad who is a massive football fan, my dad supports Chelsea FC, and of course his national team - England. I have fond memories of my dad making England matches enjoyable for all six of his children, even if they weren't that interested. As the year's have gone on, all six of my dad's children, including his three daughters have become big fans of any England games, it's safe to say we are loyal fans!

During the World Cup season within our family, up goes the flags and on goes the shirts, the football CD's are brought out of their cases after being kept away for the last four years and the children's England kits are replaced. Match day's are planned so finely, every one has a role to play and every thing from the music to the food is covered.


Look how little Spud was during the last FIFA World Cup!
Being part of such a large family is something I've been use to all my life, my dad has his partner Lizzy, his six children (aged between 21-31) and six grandchildren - all boys may I add (my Dad's very own football team aged between 2-9), then we've got partners of our dad's children! Me and Jamie (the two youngest) are the only single ones, so there's four brother in laws/sister in laws, plus six of us 'children', six granchildren, my dad himself and Lizzy (dad's partner of 20 years), when we all get together that's a whopping 18 of us!

My dad and his six children!
We're a very close family, and all meet up on a regular basis, I'm with Paula (eldest girl), every day and I also see Jamie (youngest boy) on a daily basis, I don't see Chelsea (middle girl) as much due to her working times, and the same goes with Paul (middle boy), Dean (the eldest) is always working very hard and we sadly don't get as much time with him. Did I mention I also have a little sister through my mum and step dad? Baby G's 12 and lives in Cornwall with my mum - four hours away!


My dad's six grandchildren.
As there is so many of us in the family, as you can imagine our frequent get together's mean we go through quite a lot of food and drink. We usually have BBQ's or tea-party style food for dinner, and as the first England (verse Italy) game of the match is starting at 11pm on Saturday (14th June) a BBQ is not quite an option this week! I'm going to share my idea's with you below, for that perfect family night in!


Promotional packs of Coca Cola from Tesco for just £4! 1.5L x 4 bottles.
Stock up on multi-packs of promotional World Cup Coca Cola/Diet Coke/Coke Zero for just £4 from Tesco! If your celebrating the football as a family, soft drinks are a must, and with the number one soft drink company releasing these special packs of four drinks is going to quench more than the thirst!

Family Night In Tip One: Use Coca-Cola to make home made ice cubes, and no more watering down of drinks when using ice to keep the drink cool!


After finding the shelf empty where the promotional packs should be, we was glad when a Tesco employee brought this! The promotional packs can be found down the soft drink aisle, and on stands near these aisle! 
The kid's are understandably not that keen on football, they'd rather the television be playing Cartoon Network or watching a Disney DVD, however, we can't leave them with nothing whilst us adults watch the television nervously! Luckily Panini have been giving out free FIFA World Cup football albums in supermarkets nationwide, so each child will receive one of these each on Saturday, along with a England cup full of treats and surprises!


England cups to keep the little ones entertained.
As for food, because there is so many of us, it's easier to do just nibble food, as the game is on very late this Saturday, we will be eating before the match, and any leftovers can be picked on during half time! Many of us have got to drive home, so refreshments will be in forms of Coca Cola and Diet Coke, which we have load's of thanks to the fantastic savings we made by purchasing the multi-packs from Tesco for £4.

Family Night In Tip Two: You don't have to have a large family to do this, even a single child or a few children will enjoy a little surprise to entertain them during the match!


One of our football get together's, picturing my brother in law's nephews drinking Coca Cola!
Also to keep the kids entertained, we've picked up a few little foam footballs, some mini football games, and some flags to play games with. We've also downloaded and printed off free football themed colouring in sheets for the children who would prefer to be less active during the match (such as Spud after just having his fifth operation).



Passing the time of a match can be quite boring for children, and even adults, so we put on the football song's and all played musical statues, it was great fun and everyone came away with a chocolate football to enjoy during the match! We also played eye spy whilst watching the opening ceremony, it was great fun hearing all the different answers flying about the room!

Family Night In Tip Three: When the football's over, keep an eye out for flags and tops reduced for the next FIFA World Cup!



For some quick and easy snacks, we put some sausage rolls, chicken nuggers, vol-au-vents, cocktail sausages and pizza's in the oven, and made up some sandwiches to go along with some sweet and savoury snacks. We picked up some England themed cups and plates and they went down well with out football theme, along with our flag St George showing in the background of course!

Family Night In Tip Four: Not got a lot of time but wanting to put on a little spread? Buy already made cocktail sausages and sausage rolls to save time, and space in the oven!



Once the match is over, it will either be happy or sad faces, so to brighten everyone's day up, no matter the outcome, pour them a glass of coke in a England cup with a funny joke written on the bottom! They've got to try and read the joke with the cup full, with out spilling the drink!

Family Night In Tip One Five: Remember no matter the outcome, you have your beautiful family around you!



For more information and idea's for your own #FamilyNightIn, check out the #BigMatchPlanner website. Do you have any idea's for a family night in? I'd love to hear your suggestions below by leaving a comment!

Jada x
Well, I didn't expect to be writing this post to be honest with you! After hearing at the beginning of the year Spud would require two operations from two different specialist departments at our local hospital, on two different part's of his body, I just didn't think BritMums Live was going to be possible this year!

Spud had his first operation on April 29th on his eye, his fouth operation to date and the first operation in 2014, move forward just five weeks and Spud was back at our local hospital for the second time this year, meaning it was his fifth and hopefully last operation. Fortunately both operations went well (we had some unexpected news after this recent one), and Spud is now recovering from his most recent operation at home with Mummy.

Knowing his operation was so close to BritMums, I wasn't sure on attending the event this year, but thankfully I have amazing parents and siblings who I know Spud would be completely safe with. My little man is such a brave boy and just goes through these thing's, his little mind does worry, but afterwards, he just get's through it so bravely. Spud should be back to school sometime next week, and will be well enough to spend the night away from mummy with his grandad and nanny.



Not knowing I was going to the event until just last week, I was extremely fortunate enough to be sponsored for my second year in a row attending the UK's biggest blogging event. This year, I'm pleased and proud to introduce Popagami and MAM as my two sponsors. I've worked with both these companies before, and they're still companies used within our family. Popagami sponsored me last year to attend BritMums Live and I'm pleased to be able to welcome another 12 months onto our journey together.

I've worked with MAM on various reviews and campaigns before and was very lucky to be able to pop by the MAM stand at BritMums Live last year, I met the PR team their and was able to have a peak at just some of their fabulous and wonderful product range. My baby niece was born on December 13th and received a huge MAM hamper as soon as she entered the world, I used MAM with Spud as a baby and also my two nephews too!

Popagami was the first company I ever reviewed on the blogging scene, and in turn, I was also the first blogger to review for Popagami. I will always hold a special place for Popagami for them to giving me that first opportunity when I was very new on the blogging scene. Popagami has brought many joys to our arts and crafts box, and has some exciting new products to be released shortly!


MAM are known world wide for their fabulous range of baby products, ranging from soothers (dummies), soother clips and holders, bottles and bottle accessories, bibs, steralisers, changing bags, oral care, cutlery and much more. MAM caught my eye over 8 years ago when Spud was still inside my tummy, I remember seeing packaging on one of their soother packs informing me how soothers were proven to reduce the risk of cot death (SIDS). MAM products are sold in stores nationwide and online.


Popagami are best known for their 3D origami pop-ettes, Philip Craik, the man behind the plan wanted to create something unique to origami and came up with the fantastic idea of Popagami. The World of Popagami was the first book produced by Philip, with a new and exciting book to be released soon! The World of Popagami, along with individual sheet's can be found on the official Popagami website, along with some free downloadable prints.

I will be giving each sponsor a thorough review after the weekend of BritMums Live, I will be showing off some of the best products around from both companies, and informing you about any new releases and competitions during the next 12 months!


To find out more about Popagami, visit the official website here.


To find out more about MAM, visit the official website here.

Until next time,
Jada x

Once again, me and Spud would like to thank all those at Vivid Imaginations for giving us the chance to countdown another fabulous series of Moshi Monsters with you all! We'd also like to thank all our readers and visitors who came back everyday to view each new reveal!

Series 10 Moshi Monsters are out now in toy stores nationwide!



Available to purchase in blister packs of two for a suggested RRP of £2, each pack contains two brand new Series 10 Moshi Monsters, a collectible token and a voucher for a childs free entry to SeaLife*.



Also available in collectible packs of five for a suggested RRP of £5, each pack contains five brand new series 10 Moshi Monsters and a voucher for a childs free entry to SeaLife* Four of the Moshling's in these packs will be visible, but one however will be a complete surprise!

Click on the images below for characteristics for each Series 10 Moshi Monster!



For your chance to win all 16 of the Moshi Monsters from Series 10 featured above, enter the competition via the Rafflecopter widget below!

Thank you once again for being apart of the countdown series with us!

Good luck,
Jada x 

*Sea Life offer: Purchase a series 10 pack and receive a child free entry to Sea Life Centres across the UK (valid til Dec 2014) with the purchase of one full price adult ticket. You can also head onto www.moshisealife.com enter in your unique code found in your Series 10 pack and see if you've won one of the heaps of roar some prizes up for grabs including a family holiday to Sea Life in Berlin.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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