Lights, Camera, Action Action Action!

Well, what a month it’s been! I’ve been going into work every so often to catch up with the latest goings on while I’m on maternity leave and, I swear, every time I pick up some nasty germs courtesy of that blooming air conditioning in an open plan office… this time, I ended up with the dreaded flu which I subsequently shared with hubby and Laila when I came home. We all therefore spent the entire December ill with the flu (hence the lack of blogging too)! I managed to submit my December QuinnyCasters assignment from my sick bed, albeit a little late, as I was determined to complete it – better late than never!

So here it is – Episode 3: a review of the buggy so far…

Falling ill last month was an apt end to 2010, as it was generally a tough year. Ironically, the pregnancy side of it was pretty easy; the hard part has been living through our ludicrously large scale house renovation. A friend of mine introduced me to Chinese astrology and it struck a chord, as so many of my apparent traits rang true with me. 2010 was the year of the Tiger – exciting yet turbulent… however, 2011 – the year of the Rabbit – is forecasted to be a particularly inspirational year for me, when my creative work will be highly regarded. Good news as it’s almost time for the interior design!

This year kicked off with a fantastic start – a photoshoot with Tesco for their magazine and website. A lovely journalist, Liz, interviewed me and two other models, Claire (founder of ‘Out of Love’) and Lisa (founder of ‘Snug Baby’), about how we run the finances in our respective households. We went to a beautiful £4m house in London for the shoot and filming and spent the day having hair, makeup, and wardrobe done, followed by recording, photographs and interviews. The experience was nothing short of a-maz-ing. I *loved* it.

Filming location in London

The only bit I didn’t love really surprised me as it was the part I was most looking forward to – being done up! I can only suspect that the makeup girl hadn’t worked with Indian colouring before as, by the time she finished with me, I looked like I was ready for bed! She straightened my already straight hair, then hairsprayed it until it looked flat and greasy, and somehow did my makeup to make me look like I had no eyelashes?! Why?! Even my nail varnish was removed and replaced with a nude colour... The stylist was the icing on the cake when he dressed me in something I’d see on a, let’s say, more “mature” lady. Whilst I appreciate it the brief was “Spring/Summer”, I would’ve thought they’d still want to match the wardrobe to the model and her personality… or not as the case may be!

I was in two minds about sharing my concerns as didn’t want to appear diva-esque, but I just didn’t feel remotely myself. Luckily, Tesco’s art director Iona was WONDERFUL. I told her how my “look” was so not me and she was more than happy for me to change whatever I wanted to. Being on location made my capacity to do this myself quite limited but we asked the makeup girl to put some curls in my hair to add my original volume back in. Put it this way, she spent about 10 minutes putting some waves in then bizarrely brushed them out again! I’m therefore expecting my hair to look like I was dragged through a hedge backwards. Wardrobe-wise, they had an alternative top for me to wear, which was a better colour, but would have made a great tent.

Beyonce Knowles knows how to do it!

Despite all of the above, the real nitty gritty of the day – recording the content, was SO MUCH FUN!!! Ian, the photographer, was a great guy, as was his crew. Jo, who looks after the online content was an absolute delight, and she gave us some great questions to spark the debate. We got some great feedback from Tesco too; we were apparently as good as actresses!  What a compliment! What did I learn from the experience? Come prepared with your own backup makeup and clothes, then the rest is easy!

Back home, Project Laila is coming along nicely! She’s developing in front of my very eyes and has just been moved up to intermediate level in her Water Babies classes half way through the term, so she’s definitely a true ‘water baby’! She can almost ‘talk’ now, sounding like she’s actually making read words and sentences (I still love it every time she says Mamma!). By far my favourite thing she does though is laughing. This girl spends most of her life smiling and laughing! It’s THE most satisfying and rewarding part of being a Mummy so far. I have to add that, when she climbed the whole flight of stairs at my Aunty’s last week, it was one of my proudest moments!

Eating out is also so much easier now that Laila's on solids. I've discovered that Wagamamas is a great place to eat with a bubba - Laila absolutely loved both the food AND the funky little seat they have hanging off the end of the table - so cute! Staff are always lovely and friendly and, most importantly, I can eat without balancing baby on knee - bonus! Who said having a baby was difficult! Famous last words...?