Disney Princess Palace Pets Review

February 7, 2014February 11, 2014 Jayne3 Comments

If you follow me on any social media, you’ll probably know that poor Sausage has been off school all week with tonsillitis. Every time we think she’s on the mend and ready to go back to school, she seems to get all run-down again, like today when she woke up with a stinking cold on top of it all. She’s feeling pretty droopy, so when a parcel arrived just for her yesterday, the timing couldn’t have been better. She’s had the Disney Princess Palace Pets app on Daddy’s iPad for a while now and she adores the game, which is basically a virtual grooming shop for all of the pets belonging to the various Disney Princesses, and the toys we were sent to review accompany the app.

The main Disney Princess Palace Pets Pamper and Beauty Salon Play Set retails for around £33 and contains one Palace Pet (in this case it was Summer, a cat belonging to Rapunzel), and gives you a place to sit your animals while they’re being preened and pampered, as well as coming with various hair clips and brushes which can be used on tails and manes. We were also sent Blossom, Mulan’s Panda, Bloom, Aurora’s pony, and Treasure, a singing pussy cat who belongs to Ariel.

Sausage was absolutely over the moon with all of the toys, which seemed really true to the animations within the app (she immediately recognised Blossom as we pulled her out of the box!) and she’s been playing with it all pretty much ever since. All of the toys feel high quality and well made, although some of the parts are absolutely tiny, so I wouldn’t give them to smaller kids or those prone to putting things in mouths or up noses!

I like the fact that there are lots of different pets available, so if your child has a favourite princess you can buy the corresponding animal. The talking and singing cat is slightly larger than the other pets and as such retails for a slightly higher price (around £12.99, compared with around £5.99 for the smaller, non-talking pets) but I think all of the prices seem quite fair, given that it all feels sturdy and like it would last a while. This is definitely the sort of playset that I can see us putting away when Sausage has outgrown it, and passing it onto the baby shen she’s old enough for such toys.

This would make a great gift for any child who loves their Disney Princesses and it’s genuinely cheered my little lady up in a week which has been pretty miserable for her.

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Get Running · Weightloss.

Get Running – Day Four

September 10, 2012December 6, 2013 Jayne9 Comments

I’ve discovered the first flaw with the Get Running app.

Last week, my iPhone went a bit doolally so I factory reset it and started from scratch. It seems to have done the trick and my phone is working fine again, but I had to back up my apps onto iTunes and then re-load them onto my phone again. This means that Get Running has reset and there’s no way of changing the date or your progress on the App, so I had to start all over again. Run Three was actually Run One, Mark Two and I’ve effectively had to do week one 1 and a half times. Get it?

So yesterday was Run Four and should have been the first day of a new week but I’m still doing week one, which is 1 minute of running, followed by 1 and a half minutes of walking. Maybe it’s a good job that I’m extending week one as yesterday’s outing was a bit of a disaster. The actual running was okay, I feel like I’m finding my stride, I’m moving faster and my stride is lengthening. When I started, I’m sure I looked like I was just doing and elaborate sped-up shufflewalk, so I’m glad that actual running is starting to feel a bit more natural. However…yesterday, I learned:

1. When it’s been 27 degrees all day, wait until a bit later than 5pm to go for your run as it will still be bloody hot, which may not be a big deal to fit people but made me feel like I couldn’t breathe.

2. If you’re due to run, either go before you eat a massive pub lunch of scampi and chips or wait until MUCH later as the taste of tartare sauce creeping back up your oesophagus is most definitely not conducive to a feeling of wellness.

3. The smell of other people’s barbecues, whilst running, can be really nauseating.

Once Sausage starts school next week, I’m planning (if I haven’t found a job) to go at about 9.30am. That way, my routine won’t have to change when the nights draw in, I’ll probably still have an empty stomach, only the mentally deranged will be barbecuing at that time and hopefully it won’t be too hot (assuming we’re due any more sunshine between now and next April…)

Oh and I STILL need some new headphones, iPhone headphones SUCK for running. And I need a strap for holding my glasses on; ‘pink face, sweaty head, glasses falling off, headphones trailing behind’ is just not working for me.

Get Running · Happiness · Weightloss.

Get Running – Day One

August 29, 2012December 6, 2013 Jayne5 Comments

Yesterday was the first time I used my Get Running app and this is what I learned:

1. A minute of running can seem like an hour

2. A minute and a half of walking can go by in the blink of an eye

3. A male, un-neutered dog on a lead can be a perilous running companion, especially if it’s midday and there are a load of other dogs around.

4. Feeling your stomach jiggle with every footfall can be mighty off-putting

5. Ministry of Sound Funky House Classics is a great running album for tempo and taking your mind off of jiggling stomachs.

6. Run number 7 of eight runs is definitely the hardest.

7. I should probably take my inhaler with me next time.

8. You never feel like you deserve a nice shower more than when you’ve worked up a sweat by exercising.

9. Husband pointed out before I left that the lady talking you through the Get Running app sounds like Hattie Hayridge, and imagining that I’m being coached by Holly from Red Dwarf is a great distraction.

10. iPhone headphones are absolutely SHIT for running and fall out of your ears at least 5 times a minute.

11. I need some sort of strap to hold my glasses on because having to push them up my nose every two seconds is a massive embuggerance.

12. I actually quite like running!