My Christmas List 2014!

With all of the excitement of my #VEXmasList competition, I thought it would be fun to share my own Christmas List.

If you had suggested to me, back in January, that my Christmas list would mostly comprise running clothing, I'd have given you a very funny look and dismissed you as a lunatic.  But something weird has happened to me and now all I can really think of for Christmas is a shiny new pair of running shoes to set me up for my half marathon and ten mile challenges in 2015.  Strange, but true. But even the most hardened runner has to balance the exercise with a bit of food and drink... right?

On my list you'll find:-

• A pair of new running shoes for my March half marathon
• A complete running outfit for the new, slimmer me
• A shiny Garmin Forerunner 310xt (currently on an awesome offer at amazon) to track my runs
• A meal for two at Benares Indian restaurant in Mayfair
• An overnight stay at a Champneys spa
• A Decleor gift set
• A Pandora bracelet
• A year's supply of Stoli vodka (got to put those running calories back somehow)

My friends at Festive Lights asked me to share my list and to remind you about their Christmas Countdown.

Portable North Pole - a 20% Discount off a video from Santa

If you've never experienced the magic of a PNP personalised video message from Santa then I'd really encourage you to take a look. From the very moment we first set eyes on a Portable North Pole video, we've been captured by the magic of PNP and each year the videos get bigger and better.

This year, the free personalised PNP videos feature a fixed single storyline but the premium PNP videos offer a choice of three different storylines so that you can choose a theme that best suits your child or, as in my case, so that you can choose different stories for different children to really weave the magic of the 'personal' message.

Both of my girls now look forward to the day when they can view their incoming message from the big man and his troupe of elves (and very talented elves they are too).  Children can watch their videos online through an email link, or you can watch them through the free PNP iOS app which is coming soon.  Alternatively, if you purchase a premium video, you can save the video to your computer so that you can play it again and again.

This year, I bought the girls each a personalised premium video from Santa.  I tweaked some bits here and there and I uploaded lots of the girls favourite photos of their birthday parties and summer holidays which I knew would bring back lots of great memories.  I configured the videos such that santa gave them each a bit of a warning - he told Holly to behave at the dinner table and Lara to control her temper.  Neither of them made it onto the nice list.  Woops.

Lara's personalised PNP video

But thankfully, I've paid for an unlimited set of videos this year so, in a couple of weeks time (when, hopefully they've acted on Santa's advice) I'll be able to set up a new video with new photos and themes that tells them they've made it onto the nice list.

Also on PNP you can purchase telephone calls from the big man himself and I'm thinking that this might be a great idea to congratulate Lara if she does manage to control that temper and squeeze herself onto the nice list.

If you would like to make a personalised premium PNP video for your children (or there are special videos for the adults in your life!) then you can get a 20% discount off all digital PNP products other than in-app purchases if you use the code BLG20BKP at www.portablenorthpole.com/voucher

The Shrunks Toddler Travel Bed Review

Holly is at a funny age for travelling. Too big for a travel cot, too small really to be trusted in a full sized single bed, especially a bed away from home where the likelihood of falling out is much greater. The Shrunks make an innovative inflatable travel bed for toddlers (and one for older kids) which inflates in minutes and is sturdy enough to spend the night on.

I will admit that we have tried toddler travel beds in the past and, while they've seemed fine for a fun sleepover event at home, when we've had to actually use them in anger when travelling abroad, or in the UK, we've slowly stopped using them because of the stress of having to spend 20 minutes manually pumping them up!  The Shrunks Tuckaire toddler bed comes with a really compact electric pump which you can use to inflate and deflate the bed.

It takes about 3 minutes to pump the toddler bed up.  The bed is in two parts, the central part on which your child sleeps, this area is coated with a soft, thick fabric which helps to keep them warm during the night.  The outer part creates the height and the protective sides which prevent your toddler from rolling out during the night.  You inflate both parts separately.  Both myself and my husband have struggled a bit with inflating The Shrunks Tuckaire bed due to the valve which should flip back the second you pull out the pump (to stop the air from rushing out)... there must be a knack to it which we haven't yet discovered.

Despite this, I really like the bed.  When deflated, it is as compact as a child's sleeping bag (including the pump) and when inflated, it offers a really good bed size suitable for even the most fidgety of toddlers.  The bed is suitable from about 2 years to 6 years old. It packs away in its own drawstring bag and can squeeze into small spaces in among your suitcases in the car boot.



The feature we like most about the bed (as opposed to the pump... which rocks) is the ability to tuck in the sheets or blanket around your child into the gap between the two parts of the bed.  This really helps when you have a child like Holly who just needs to be tucked in tightly to help her settle off to sleep, otherwise she is up and about within seconds!

For children over 6 The Shrunks make a similar children's inflatable travel bed.  They also make an inflatable bed rail which tucks in under the sheets but can be deflated and popped away under the bed at other times.