In just a couple of weeks I will be leaving Toby and Gabe in the capable hands of my lovely husband and heading down to Manchester for the Blog On blogging conference. I went to Britmums Live back in 2014 but I haven’t had chance to go to another blogging conference since so I’m very excited. And I am very grateful to Barry for taking on the unenviable task of looking after both boys on his own for two days!

Before I go I thought I would join in with The Great Big Blog On Ice Breaker Linky and share a bit about myself, and hopefully find out a bit about some of the other bloggers who will be attending. I’m really looking forward to meeting up with some of my blogging pals but it would be great to meet some new people too – so if you see me then please do come and say hi!

So, to the questions…

1. Share a recent picture of you
   I’m usually the one behind the camera these days but this is one my husband took when we went for a walk in the woods near our house at the weekend. I think I look knackered but I reckon that’s just my face these days!
   
2. If you had to describe yourself in three words…….
   Tired mother and teacher
3. How long have you been blogging and what made you start?
   I have been blogging since 2009 but I started Toby Goes Bananas in 2013 when Toby was about three months old. I’d started reading lots of other parenting blogs during the many and long night feeds and thought I’d like to keep a record of Toby’s childhood. Since then I’ve had another baby; Gabriel who was born in August 2015.
4. What was your favourite TV program as a child?
   Ooh, now that depends at what age. As a pre-schooler I loved King Rollo and Button Moon, when I was a bit older it was probably Byker Grove or maybe Neighbours – I’m definitely from the Jason and Kylie era!
5. Something interesting you might not know about me is . . .
   I can tap dance, knit, play the ukulele, speak French and Spanish and say ‘there is a naked man following me everywhere with a butcher’s knife’ in Dutch!
6. What is the weirdest food you have ever eaten?
   I don’t think I’ve eaten anything weird – I’m quite fussy about food, I don’t even like baked beans.
7. What was your biggest fashion faux pas?
   Oh there are too many to mention – I grew up in the 80s and 90s! Not clothes, but I did have a straight bob with a permed fringe when I was about 10!
8. What are you pet peeves?
   Bad driving, inconsiderate neighbours and vegetables that go off before their use by date.
9. Who would be your 3 perfect dinner party guests (dead or alive) and why?
   Michael Mosely because I always really enjoy his documentaries and we’ve recently started following The Fast Diet that he advocates. Jojo Moyes because I love all her books and I think she would be interesting to talk to. And lastly Johnny Depp because, well, Johnny Depp.
10. If they made a movie of your life, what would it be about and which actor would play the part of you?
    Hmm, my 20s and early 30s were pretty busy – I lived and worked in France for six years on and off, and I travelled to America on my own twice. I did spend quite a lot of it drunk though so I don’t know how good a narrator I would make! And I think Carey Mulligan would play me, but mostly because I covet her hair.
11. If you could live in any sitcom, which one would it be?
    I’d have to say Friends. I was in sixth form when it started and I remember the buzz about it. And I probably know all the scripts off by heart the amount of times I’ve seen every episode since!
12. Name a famous person you have met
    I’ve met Tim Minchin quite a few times, I even hung out with him backstage at one of his gigs once. And I met Fatima Whitbread in MacDonalds during the Barcelona Olympics too.
13. Which social media platform best describes your personality and why?
    Probably Twitter – always busy and I’ve forgotten what everyone has said five minutes after they say it.
14. What picture do you have on lock screen on your phone / computer?
    This one…
    
15. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
    About 20? Not including various dancing shoes. And how many do I wear regularly? Three!
16. What period of time from the past would you most like to have lived?
    1950s – mostly because I love the clothes and those 1950s dresses really suit my body shape.
17. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
    Oh this is hard. There are so many places I’d like to go… Australia and New Zealand are near the top of the list. I love America though – I’ve been three times (once to New York, once on a West Coast road trip on my own and most recently on an East Coast road trip for my honeymoon) but there is still so much of it I’d like to see. I’d love to go to South America too, especially now I can speak Spanish.
18. What is your guilty pleasure?
    Chocolate and far too much of it.
19. What is your favourite tipple?
    Rose wine or Southern Comfort and Coke although I don’t drink very much these days.
20. If you had a magic lamp and a Genie, what would be your three wishes?
    I would wish that my boys grow up happy and healthy, for a cure for the common cold (then maybe I could help Gabe get rid of the one he’s had for nearly two months now) and lastly on a purely selfish note I would ask to be able to eat whatever I like without getting fat!

I’m really looking forward to meeting up with some of my blogging pals at Blog On but it would be great to meet some new people too – so if you see me then please do come and say hi!