John Lewis | My Mills Baby

A week ago, I posted about a disastrous picnic. Needless to say Dexter and I weren’t dining alone and were joined by a couple of thousand flying ants. Given anything fingernail sized and four-legged sends me into hysterics, it was utterly horrendous. I still shudder about it now, and there isn’t enough money in the UK to tempt me back to that spot again.

But the show must go on.

A few weeks back I was sent the most beautiful picnicware from John Lewis, and it would be crime not to stuff it with treats and try again. The set consisted of a seriously pretty Little-Red-Riding-Hood-inspired picnic basket (complete with a set of lightweight plastic picnicware), and a designer picnic cool bag and rug from Anorak.

This isn’t the first time I’ve gone all gooey-eyed over Anorak’s pretty prints. I actually have a make-up bag in their adorable seagull print. Created by textiles designer Laurie Robertson, it’s inspired by her love of the outdoors and childhood memories of camping. The collection includes bedding, bath towels and soft furnishings, all of which is seriously on-trend.

My picnic cool bag and rug is in the Kissing Robin design, in navy and contrasting white. The bag is HUGE - lots of room for chilled wine and a family sized spread. It features a strap that allows you to attach the rug to the bag, so you can go hands-free when trekking to that secluded spot. Made from wipe proof nylon it will also withstand spills and inquisitive little people with mucky fingers too.

Not just limited to picnics, both pieces are multi-purpose. The picnic rug is waterproof backed, super lightweight and machine washable so perfect as a baby playmat or beach blanket. I’ve also used the cool bag as a baby change bag and laptop bag and it always gets lots of admiring glances. For £38 each, you’ll get tons of use out of them.

My new basket is just as versatile. When not being whisked outdoors for a picnic, it holds all my gardening essentials. Pictured here crammed with John Lewis Botanist picnicware it looks so charming. Wicker never fails to bring back memories of my nan’s old big farmhouse kitchen - she had a few of these scattered around overflowing with cooking apples, spices and ‘nana-clutter’.

You see, I told you it was all very pretty!

With memories of last weeks epic fail still fresh in my mind, Craig decided to break me in gently and prepare a garden picnic instead. I’ve been so tired with this pregnancy that it was nice to be outside in the fresh air, even if it was only a few metres from our back door!

We opted for a mix of savoury and sweet; pastries and fresh scones. With champagne flutes filled with sparkling elderflower and topped with fresh strawberries, it would have been quite romantic if Dexter hadn’t been on top form making us giggle.

And just like that, my faith in the good old traditional picnic is restored. All it took was a handsome older man, a beautiful (and very funny) baby boy, and a bit of picnic inspiration from John Lewis.

DISCLAIMER: I was sent these lovely picnic items from John Lewis. I’ve understandably raved about them in return - all thoughts and opinions (and amateur photography) are my own xx

For my sins I follow the Daily Mail on Twitter (purely for the latest political news you understand…) and spotted a feature a few days back on handbags. They claimed that women’s handbags contained more bacteria than the average toilet… delightful reading then!

Okay, this is exactly the sort of feature that gets my back up (scaremongering and utterly ridiculous) but it did prompt me to have a dig around in my own bag and give it a much-needed clear out. I seriously wish I hadn’t.

Like most women, my handbag is mess. It has the essentials - make-up, hairbrush, hand cream, purse, keys… But there were some altogether more disturbing things lurking at the bottom. It seems the spikes of my hairbrush have split the lining and a number of once important things had fallen through the fabric. Discovering a long-lost MAC lipstick I got excited and plunged my hand in to retrieve more goodies. A few receipts… a fiver (bonus!)… an old mobile phone… sand from years worth of holidays… half a McDonald’s cheeseburger… YEP a half-eaten, mouldy, stinking, cheeseburger! The mould was so prolific it penetrated the wrapping leaving the paper literally blue with penicillin.

Given this family are currently recovering from the novovirus, I dropped the cheeseburger in horror and ran to the toilet to show the bowl my displeasure. Returning to the lounge I discovered my poorly son scurrying across the rug to get to mummy’s treasure-trove, he’s a big fan of chewing my hairbrush, pulling my cards out of my purse, and drawing on his face with my pens. I can’t believe I’ve been letting my son near such a hazard! What kind of parent am I?

So yesterday I popped into town (with a carrier bag to hold my worldly possessions) to replace it. John Lewis have some stunning DKNY bags at the moment and I just so happen to have won £200 worth of vouchers recently with Mumsnet. I was going to spend them on a dishwasher but this was a matter of urgency (at least this is what I’ll be explaining to Craig when he spots it!).

231828405 Handbag hell... Why babies and handbags shouldnt mix!

Bag sorted, now it’s time to get some anti bacterial wipes to clean up my act! There’s no way on earth Dexter is getting within an inch of this one (mostly because it’ll be hidden from Craigy in my wardrobe!).

So can anyone beat that? What’s the hideous thing you’ve discovered in your bag?

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