Mum on the Run

I’ve been neglecting my blog and any other social media almost completely for the last week, as I took a very much deserved holiday with my family. We spent an amazing week in San Sebastian, Spain.

When I checked the weather forecast, it was meant to be 10 degrees with heavy rain, but we managed to get a couple of lovely days on the beach before the bad weather kicked in.

We ate ridiculously well. The food is not only delicious but pretty cheap, with the wine being even cheaper! Happy days…

In addition to managing to spend some much needed quality time with my lovely family, I went for a couple of jogs. I love running in new places and it’s a fantastic way to get to know a city. I’ll post about them in more detail, but I think I did about 45KM in 6 days.

But for now, I must get on with catching up on emails, as I didn’t check them once last week…

I think it’s safe to say my daughter has a little crush on someone… It’s her classmates, Samuel’s birthday party this Saturday and she made him a card today. How sweet! (I’m not sure how Samuel will react to the cuteness overload.)

But before  you get fooled by all this sweetness, I will share a tongue in cheek message I got from my friend today:

“I have a bone to pick with your 1st born! She told Matthew at school today that she went in the toilets and in the toilet was a pair of spooky eyes and vampire teeth!!! If he wakes up in the night I’m sending him round!”

Made me smile…

Today’s gorgeous mummy is Jess Clark, 28. She is a full time mum, a freelance blogger and stylist. Before having her first daughter Annabella (19months), she worked as a model and had various London based fashion design roles. Apart from fashion, which is a huge passion for her, she loves spending time with her family, going on walks in the countryside, listening to music, travelling and cooking. Have a look at her yummy mummy bible, Mumzy Not.

What was the last thing that made you cry?
Watching Forrest Gump last weekend. I love that film, It get’s me every time.

You are in an incredible shape. How do you keep fit?
I try to walk wherever possible – to the shops, to meet friends or walking the dog. I also do a spin class every Saturday and have just started one mid-week.I think running around after a toddler really helps though, as I don’t think I sit down all day for more than ten minutes! I am always happiest when busy, so that suits me pretty well. I don’t like doing nothing.

What are your wardrobe staples and favourite brands?
A good pair of jeans (I love Current/Elliot) and Jersey tops (plain and striped), a chunky knit,  leather skirt, my Alexander Wang jersey pants and an over-sized wool coat. I live in my navy one from Whistles that I brought last winter. I love Alexander Wang, Acne, Zimmermann and Marc Jacobs. Zara and Whistles are my favourites from the high street.

What 3 items of clothing would you advice pregnant women to buy?
A pair of hareem or jogger style pants (think Sports Luxe). Isabella Oliver do a fabulous pair and also get a Poncho style knit and a black jersey ruched dress.

What have you found the biggest challenge about being a mum?
Time management. I have so many things I want to do but never enough time. It’s hard trying to prioritise and to say no sometimes. Working for yourself means you have to work during every spare minute  usually the evenings. I wouldn’t have it any other way though. I can’t imagine having to leave Annabella behind to go and work full time in an office.

Since I’ve made my point of trying to be super mum this week and spend as much quality time with the kids as possible, it was another action packed day.

Me and my mum took the three pixies to an inside soft play and I realised that the high climbing frames and tunnels do make you get our of breath if you have a daughter who wants to constantly race you. (I wonder where she gets that urge from?!) There may also be a video of me hammering it on this mini hoop. Not my proudest moments, but I couldn’t help myself…

After lunch, it was time for some more sledging. My gorgeous nephew joined us and you can see how happy Alvar is about it! He really is quite jealous when it comes to babies, which Venla and Veikko never were. As for the picture, YES, I am wearing UGGs, my mother’s gloves and tracky bottoms and my husband’s hat. It’s all about fashion when one is sledging…

We ended the day at a basketball game. (My brother is a coach.) I swear the kids only agree to come along to the games as they know they get pulla (cinammon buns) at half time! I loved watching the game, my brother’s team won, and I got all nostalgic thinking about all those years I used to play.

So after all that, we finally get to my fitness challenge part. Phew! I wonder how many people have given up reading this post already…

Day 4: 5K run, 500m of walking lunges and 50 jumping squats.
It was a late one as the boys refused to go to bed, and I didn’t leave the house until almost 10.30pm,  but I loved running on snow. I did leave my recently purchased running head band at home so I thought I needed to wear my hat since it was -5C.

I feel I’ve been neglecting my poor little blog a bit recently, so I’ve decided to start posting a bit more regularly again. I’ve also come up with a new regular Monday post, Mama Matters, where I introduce you to some of the amazing mothers I’m lucky to know. It’s only fitting that for my first mummy interview, I’m talking to the founder of a new online magazine called MAMA…

Alice Harold is a 27 year old mum of Elfie, 2 years and Huxley 9 months. Before moving to Olney in Bucks, she used to work as a magazine marketer for Vice in London.(Bizarrely, we used to live next to each other in Shoreditch, but our paths never crossed. Or if they did, we were too drunk to remember it!) I met Alice about a year ago and she has become a great friend. She is beautiful, witty and kind. She writes openly about the ups and downs of motherhood on her blog More Than Toast.