I hate Monday Mornings
and after 10 years of telling myself and the children that they should get their uniform and school gear organised the night before…..we have a groundhog day experience every Monday morning.
The morning started well enough but deteriorated into ” mum I’ve run out of underwear….muuuuum I’ve run out of socks….muuuuum my crop top doesn’t fit, it’s too big…..muuuuuum the hamster is in the bath and I need a shower…..muuuum where is my PE kit….muuum where is my skirt…..muuuumm I’ve fallen over in the soggy grass get me a towel….yes that really did happen this morning.
Anyone who thinks stay at home mums returning to work aren’t fit for purpose need a reality check. Mums that can organise Monday mornings so that everyone gets to work and school on time could easily take over the CEO job of a public listed company and hold conference calls whilst standing on their head contemplating carbon emissions per capita.
Hope your Monday morning started rather more gently…..
The best pizza in Marbella and Puerto Banus
Oh my, oh my, oh my, after 10 years of living in Spain we have just discovered what must surely be the best pizza restaurant in the whole of Marbella and Puerto Banus. Yes, even better than Piccasos by some measure and then some more……
Prices start from 5.50 euros and it is a true Italian restaurant located close to the beautiful church in the middle of the Orange Square in Marbella. For precise directions you will need to call the restaurant who speak fantastic English as the owners once lived in London. The restaurant is called Stuzzikini, telephone 952775994, www.stuzzikini.com and info:@stuzzikini.com
From the moment you walk in you can see that they care. They talked to us, spent time with us and we had two lots of delicious free starters as well as the most delicious soft fresh bread served with Italian olive oil. The pizzas were so crispy, not laden with gloopy cheese and with fresh quality ingredients. 90% of their clients are repeat local customers and so their policy is never to cut back on the quality.
They gave us superb service and we will absolutely come back. They do take aways too. The restaurant is small, it has seating for probably 25 customers so it feels so homely inside and is decorated in a way that makes you instantly relax.
Stuzzikini in Marbella, the best pizza in Marbella and Puerto Banus and I hope they are here for a very long time…..WELL DONE!
Dog kennels in Marbella
I struggled for a short time on where we should put Charlie when we went away to the UK. He’s a labrador so shutting him away in a traditional kennel didn’t seem a good option. So we opted for a kennel that was set in a large garden, where the dogs are split into three groups and play with each other all day. It is located in Nueva Andalucia so fairly local, the local vet sends his dog’s there and I have to say Charlie was in doggy heaven there. Lovely gardens to run in, paddling pools filled with water to splash in, shade to protect them from the sunshine and an abundance of friends. At night a few dogs are allowed to stay and they can sleep in heated accomodation indoors or outside, they choose and on sofas!
However I am now discovering the downside. Whilst Charlie is happy there he has come back each time with medical problems. Since Christmas we are now running up a medical bill of around 150 euros and this is going to get bigger.
The dogs are not checked properly to see if they have had certain vaccinations and so you have dogs that will go there without the kennel cough vaccination. That’s not good. They advise you to have it but really this should be mandatory.
Charlie has come back with a few scars, that’s ok. He’s come back with an eye infection, not really ok as I spotted it immediately and I feel the dog kennel should have too. He’s come back with a large infected wound that he may have caused himself but either way it wasn’t picked up by the kennel. He now has possible parasites from mixing with other dogs ( can’t have been avoided but by mixing with so many made more likely…) and he is now in a terrible state vomitting, losing weight, all not good.
If we go away now I will choose a home from home option. Someone that has one or two dogs only and would take no more than three in total. That way diseases are less likely to be spread and hopefully a couple of weeks away in the UK won’t cost us more than the holiday and poor Charlie in terms of his health……
Hollister Sale
I’m still bewildered by the Hollister shops. I don’t understand why needing a guide dog to enter a shop and then a magnifying glass when you do enter the shop is a good idea?
I’m going to go next time armed with a lightsaber which will have two uses. One to be able to find the exit and two to hit the over attentive and over gorgeous sales girls and boys out of my way.
I went to the Hollister sale in La Canada/Marbella on Saturday. I’d seen tshirts online in the UK down to £12. How foolish am I not to have bought them as the tiny sign on the shelving said 20% off, well that’s what my daughter said, I thought it said “you are over 25 years old, p\xx off ”
Either way 20% off just doesn’t count as a sale in my book. Has to be over 40%. So we came away empty handed. At least I could see we were empty handed when we got out of the shop. You can’t see your hands or your feet anywhere from inside the shop. I suspect the dressing rooms are pitch black too with voice overs from gorgeous men saying ” you look lovely, buy me, you look lovely, buy me….”
Go online straight after Christmas or in July onto the UK website and you will find the prices much better than here in Spain. You will also be able to see what you are buying via the internet, unlike the shop.
http://www.hollistersizechart.com/
Love recycling in Spain
and I don’ t mean the plastics, bottles and cardboard, I mean personal belongings.
I’m on a January mission to de-clutter so when everyone is out of the house I go hunting for clutter. Anything is fair game so long as it isn’t mine and it doesn’t have legs.
I took to the skip today some wooden masks from my ” I love Thailand ” phase, a Christmas tree that changes lights that has got stuck on blue ( didn’t know xmas trees also got the January blues did you?) and some books on art from my ” I want to know all about Spanish art” phase.
I passed some men on the way who took away the masks and by lunchtime everything but the tree had gone.
Love the fact that it has gone to someone who wants it and that it hasn’t ended up in a landfill. The Spanish skips are a great way to recycle……
Can’t do it….
Tried to do insurance but oh my word, I have become addicted to coffee in an attempt to stay awake writing about car insurance and I’ve had to hide the pills when writing about life insurance.
Blogging about things and people are so much more fun….
UK stores have a bumper January
The UK stores has a bumper start to the New Year with people flocking to the sales and a larger majority than last year buying online.
That will me.
I found myself on boxing day in Merry Hill in the Midlands. The next day I had spent a fortune online at Debenhams buying next year’s Christmas presents and birthday presents for people that I haven’t even met yet. I wasted two hours on the M&S site before reminding myself at checkout that the Festive Cheer hamper I ordered in October for delivery on December 2nd still hadn’t arrived and if the same thing happened to my bumper basket of sale goods then I was in danger of going bipolar.
The best thing is the Spanish sales start tomorrow so I can do it all over again.
See you at Hollister!
Natasha and Ryan Giggs
I can’t believe that Natasha the woman that had an affair with her husband’s brother, the deplorable Ryan Giggs ( and the dad of her niece/nephew aged 5 years and 8 years) has decided it is a good idea of go into the Celebrity Big Brother House. She has done it to show us mortals that she is “just like a normal person.”
Darling, the only thing about you that is normal is the word sub…….
Axa predicts 2012 to be a year of risk
Axa has predicted that 2012 will be a year where insurance claims for damage soars.
More destructive weather, UK playing host to a number of large events, and continued economic pressures will make 2012 another very expensive year for British insurers, according to AXA Insurance.
The company is predicting that in 2012 a mix of continuing economic pressures, ongoing unusual weather conditions and an unprecedented number of events this summer such as the Olympics, Diamond Jubilee and Euro 2012 could add up to soaring numbers of home claims.
Scottish Friendly over 50 Life Insurance
Scottish friendly over 50 life insurance is ideal if you are looking for life insurance but don’t want any medical questions. Scottish Friendly will guarantee acceptance providing you are over 50 years of age and live in the UK.
If you are looking for life insurance take a look too at the supermarkets. They are offering between £30-£50 shopping vouchers for new clients.
http://www.insurancesupermarket.tv/scottish_friendly_over_50_life_assurance.html