shopping Archives - Live Oxfordshire

Shop local, buy local, live local

May 30, 2016 by Milla Leave a Comment

In case you haven’t picked up on this in previous posts, or even from the none-too-subtle choice of blog name, I’m a bit of a localvist and try, where possible, to shop local and buy locally. Occasionally the internet does have its benefits, I fully admit it, but more often than not it can be overrated.

For instance, if I want to buy a book I could order it off Amazon and receive it in the next 3-5 working days, or pay an annual premium for it to arrive the next day. Or I could pop to my lovely local bookshop, engage in a conversation with real people and, if the book in question isn’t in stock, they can order it in for the next day at no additional charge to me. They also have the added bonus of being very knowledgeable and passionate about books and can help me find a winning present for a difficult relative. No online store can do that!

Quidco High Street – put to the test!

May 4, 2016 by Milla Leave a Comment

It’s all too easy as a mum of small children to get stuck in a sartorial rut, especially when it comes to buying new clothes – let’s face it, anything you buy for your kids will not only be guaranteed to fit them better than anything you buy for yourself, but they will also look cuter and it will probably cost less, too. Having been a mum for over four years now, I’ve well and truly settled into my ‘uniform’ of scruffy jeans, t-shirts and baggy jumpers. They’re practical, hard-wearing and I’m not too gutted when I get noses or (as happened this morning) baked bean juice wiped on them.

High street happy – 3 things I love about my local high street

May 3, 2016 by Milla Leave a Comment

There are certain places that evoke some deep-seated memories, aren’t there? If I drive down a certain road I’ll remember an old friend who lived there, if I go anywhere near the Midlands I remember bits of my university experience, and if I go to the shops near my parents’ I remember being a teenager, having a half-day at the end of the school term and hopping on the bus with my friends to go and saturate ourselves in White Musk body spray at the Body Shop and try on different outrageous shades of nail polish.

Friday family round-up, 2nd April – 8th April 2016

April 9, 2016 by Milla Leave a Comment

Yet again I find I am writing my Friday family round-up late, though only one day late this week, so that’s an improvement. Not only are we all out of routine with the Easter holidays, but The Boy has been staying with Granny so I took the opportunity to do dull, but essential re-organising tasks that I could never attempt whilst he was here (more clothes going round and round, for example).

Unfortunately this left me with little time or headspace for the blog, especially since The Girl is teething again. The poor mite is spending every evening in pain which means she doesn’t sleep or leave me alone. Unlike when she was little it is almost impossible to blog around her as the phone or laptop are both too tempting for her to leave alone if she’s anywhere near them!

Review – Made by Raspberry Tart and friends

August 25, 2015 by Milla 2 Comments

South Oxfordshire is something of a crafters’ heaven. More than anywhere else I’ve lived it is teeming with gorgeous little fabric and yarn shops, quilting groups, stitch and bitch sessions, yarn bombing and all sorts. I’m not sure which came first – the crafters or the craft shops, but the two now exist in a blissful symbiosis of supply and demand.

For the disparate crafter, like myself, there’s the holy triumverate of Masons in Abingdon, a set of three shops spread throughout the town selling variously: fabric and yarn, fabric and notions and ribbons, cake decorating and papercraft items. Lady Sew and Sew is a lush fabric warehouse in Henley – a quilter’s paradise of fabrics – and for the quilter in search of support, Village Fabrics in Wallingford has the most knowledgeable and helpful staff, and they don’t do a hard sell on you. It also runs lots of great classes and groups.

Top Tips Tuesday – 5 ways to avoid tech shopping disasters

July 1, 2014 by Milla Leave a Comment

I don’t know about you, but I find nothing more stressful than trying to find the perfect piece of electronic technology to suit my purposes. Sod the “eleventh hour dress for your best friend’s wedding” – getting the right smart phone/smart TV/smart box is the most anxiety inducing activity I can think of: where everything is smart except – seemingly – you!