Caitlin and Jack's twins, Poppy and Edward, have finally arrived. Well, they arrived a while ago now but I only managed to pop in to see the new arrivals (and Caitlin) last week. Poppy and Edward are very cute. Two babies at once sounds like a lot of work (I think one baby sounds like a lot of work) but from all accounts, Caitlin is coping well.

Caitlin went from this.... to this. Instant family! (just add... well you know how it works). Isn't it amazing how there are now two new individuals in the world complete with their own personalities.

Congratulations Caitlin and Jack!

More photos on Flickr (slideshow).

Yup, that's right a babies shower. On the weekend we celebrated the impending arrival of Caitlin and Jack's twins (two babies! at once! eek!) at Caitlin's baby shower. We had a lovely afternoon in the summer sunshine. We played a few baby shower games and ate sandwiches, cakes and scones for afternoon tea. Any afternoon that involves cake is a good one.

In one of the shower games we had to try to estimate the size of Caitlin's bump. We had to cut a length of string which represented the circumference of her bump. Most of us grossly over-estimated the size of her bump. Either she's not as big as she looks or we're really bad at estimating (I suspect the latter.) Here is a photo of Caitlin at 34 weeks. She definitely looks very pregnant.

For the shower afternoon tea I made my Ducky cupcakes. I used Martha Stewart's chocolate cupcake recipe which is the best one I've come across so far. I think the sour cream makes for a lovely moist cupcake.

And of course, the twins were gifted a lambykins each. That's five lambykins that I've sewed in the past few months. Caitlin is having a girl and a boy so I made a girl lambykin and a boy lambykin. I made them so that they can face each other and have a chat or give each other a little kiss (or, as Andrew pointed out, they can face away from each other if they are cranky.)



Good luck Caitlin and Jack! We can't wait to meet the new additions to your family.

Photo of Caitlin was borrowed with Caitlin's permission from her facebook account

Caitlin and Jack are having a very busy 2009. It's all stations go. Married last month ... congratulations Caitlin and Jack! Now, they are moving to the US. They are leaving London and moving to San Francisco. Farewell Caitlin and Jack!

I baked some cupcakes for their farewell picnic in Kensington Gardens. To celebrate the destination of the move I decided to give my decorating an American theme. I turned my 12 cupcakes into the American flag. It didn't have quite enough stars and the stripes aren't quite right, but I'm pretty chuffed with the end result.
Good luck with the move Caitlin and Jack! We hope to see you someday soon in San Francisco.

A couple of weeks ago, I went out on Caitlin's Hens Night. Caitlin's wedding is coming up soon, so of course we had to go out and celebrate her last days as a single woman. (Don't you love how the 9 years that she's been with her partner Jack apparently don't count?).

Hens Nights are usually very girly events and Caitlin's was no exception. In the afternoon we maxed out on sugar with afternoon tea at Yauatcha. It's a fancy Yum Cha restaurant so the afternoon tea had a bit of an Asian theme. I wasn't really a fan of the green tea scones. Give me plain fluffy white scones anyday.

Afterwards we headed to Bloomsbury Bowl for bowling and karaoke (bowlaoke). Of course we girled it up in the karaoke room: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend and Material Girl all made an appearance.

I get extra girly points as I managed to fit in a blow dry in the morning and a manicure in the afternoon before heading off to Yauatcha. Any excuse for a bit pampering.


Unfortunately, Andrew and I won't be able to go to Caitlin and Jack's wedding. It's in Australia, we'll be in Croatia. As a little gift to go with our negative RSVP, I put together a bridal emergency kit. It's a little pack designed to be carried by the chief bridesmaid on the big day. It contains wet wipes, bandaids, panadol, safety pins, deodorant, lip balm, moisturiser spray and some love hearts for a bit of a sugar boost. They are all little things that you might need and don't want to be worrying about on your big day.

All the best for your big day, Caitlin and Jack! Andrew and I will be thinking of you both.

More photos on Facebook

A couple of weekends ago, to celebrate Caitlin's birthday, we picnicked in the Japanese Gardens at Holland Park. We snacked on sushi and Japanese sweets and enjoyed the lovely summer weather. (It reached 26 degrees on the weekend. We had blue skies and sunshine on both days. I'm excited!)

Truthfully, we didn't really picnic in the Japanese Gardens, although we did try. We had laid out our blanket on a grassy patch in the corner of the Japanese gardens. Although, there were signs warning you to "Keep off the Grass" in some areas of the gardens, there was definitely no warning sign for our chosen lunch spot. Other groups were also sitting on the grass, eating picnic lunches and enjoying the gardens.

We were slightly surprised when the Police showed up and we were given the move along. The Police! We were told that gardens were purely ornamental. There was a strict look / no touch policy in place. Heaven forbid that anyone should actually use the gardens and enjoy them. We left the gardens muttering, "only in England" under our breaths.

Settled in a new authorised location, we thought it amusing to note the clear difference between those sitting in the shade and those sitting out in the direct sunlight. Shade >> families with small children and antipodeans. Full glare of the sun >> everyone else. While we slathered on the sunscreen, the Brits were removing all extraneous pieces of clothing so that every bodily surface was exposed to the sun. A number of girls were out in their bikinis. Forgot your bikini at home? Don't worry, just strip down to your bra and panties. (Not even a matching set. Flesh coloured bras and enormous pants [undies] were acceptable too.)

Happy Birthday Caitlin! We hope you had a pleasant birthday.