Four Things: Songs for my Baby Sister's Birthday

This week is my youngest sister, Rosie's birthday, so I wanted to write a blog post dedicated to her. I like to think of these music posts like little mini compilation tapes (there's a modern reference for the kids...) that I can create for special people and to remind me of special times. I think with youngest children in particular it is always hard to get past seeing them as being a little kid all their life, but my little sis is now an amazing woman, with a home and a husband of her own. In some ways she's probably more grown up than I am! I always call her a Tiny Tiger because she is so determined and feisty, she's someone who always achieves what she sets her mind to and never lets anything beat her. Here are four songs that always remind me of her:

1. The Cat Empire, "Hello": In her gap year before going to university, Rosie went to Australia for the best part of a year, and I think this is where she heard of The Cat Empire, who are an Australian band. Years later we managed to get tickets to go and see them for her birthday and it was such a great night. This is real party music, super sunny and upbeat, ideal for parties, barbecues and festivals. I always think of Rosie whenever I hear them, and particularly the "Hello, hello, hello" refrain of this song.

2. Ben Folds Five, "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces": Ben Folds Five are a family favourite in our family, and Rosie really loves them. I could have picked almost any BF5 song for her, but picked this one since we often tease her about her "anger issues" - which is probably what makes her so angry...

3. Barenaked Ladies, "If I Had $1,000,000": Barenaked Ladies are another favourite of my little sister, and a band who aren't as popular in the UK as I think they were in the USA. I'm not sure how Rosie got into them but they are a band I always associate with her, and this is one of their catchiest songs.

4. Jeeves and Wooster Soundtrack, "The Blue Room": When we were young, our Dad had the Jeeves and Wooster Soundtrack on a tape and we used to listen to it all the time in the car. It is hilarious, and now hard to get on CD (but available to download). We knew all the songs and bits of dialogue in between them, and invented elaborate stories to go along with the instrumentals from the series. But the reason I particularly wanted to add this song isn't just because of its childhood associations. It is also because this is one of the two songs that Rosie sang at our wedding ceremony. She is a trained choral singer who has sung professionally and her voice is a remarkable instrument. Dan and I are not religious (though Rosie and her husband Paul are very involved in their church) so we chose to have a registry office wedding. Because of this the music we used couldn't be religious. I really wanted Rosie to sing at our wedding, but the civil ceremony meant that her usual church music repertoire was out. I asked her to come up with something secular but appropriate and this was one of the songs she sang. It was a magical part of our wedding day that she performed, and a brilliant gift that only she could give us.

Happy birthday little Raad, I love you!

Four Things: Luxurious Beauty Gifts for New Mothers

In my experience, when you have a baby, you get showered in cards and gifts, but they are usually for the baby (pah!). Just after giving birth, I felt amazed and proud, but also exhausted and not looking my best, to say the least. I received some really lovely beauty products as new mum gifts and I appreciated them so much. It is nice to have treats that are just for you, and things that either help you feel or look better when you are in just about the least glamorous state it is possible to be in (that's how it was for me anyway...). If you have a friend who is just about to have a baby, I would recommend any of these as luxurious beauty treats for her:

1. Garnier Caffeine Eye Roll-On: It's no surprise that new mums are often in need of regular caffeine injections - I have never known tiredness like it - but did you know you can put it on your eyes too? To be honest, I think the thing I really love about this product is the applicator, the cooling and massaging properties of the roller ball are brilliant. The online reviews of this product seem to be a bit mixed, and I don't know if it makes a long term difference to eye bags, but it does give you an instant refreshing lift which can perk you up when you feel like your eyeballs need washing out.

2. YSL Touche Eclat: Almost everyone has heard of this cult beauty product, but the classics are classics for a reason. This is another instant lift product for times when you don't have a lot of time or energy but want to perk yourself up, or just make yourself look a little more presentable. The packaging and satisfying click button operation make this feel like a super-luxurious product and a real treat.

3. Luxurious bath oils: I love a hot bath at the best of times, but it is a super-duper treat in those early weeks when you have a newborn and seem to get very little time to yourself. Ideally, you need to accompany this gift with the promise to take the baby out of earshot for the duration of the bath. I love Aromatherapy Associates bath oils, though they are pretty expensive, but their Deep Relax Bath and Shower Oil always wins awards and gets rave reviews for its almost narcotic relaxing properties.

4. Clarins Beauty Flash Balm: A totally beauty classic, one of those products that is recommended time and again by beauty experts and magazine articles and has one about a million awards. I have no idea how it works, but it makes your skin instantly look and feel tighter and fresher, and it smells delicious - I'm sure the scent is as much part of the treatment as any of the ingredients. I found this a perfect gift for when you have a new baby since it is easy to apply, almost instant and is a great product for those times when you don't have the energy to put on makeup (or wash...) but want to freshen up and smarten up, perhaps when you have guests coming.

Accompany any of these products with a large bar of chocolate and you have a gift that will make a new mum feel special and a little bit more feminine and glamourous. Incidentally, I would be thrilled to get given any of these at any time, new baby or not... : )

Four Things: Fresh Scents for Spring Days

I love perfumes and find it such an interesting area of beauty, the process of creating classic fragrances is so complex and skilled. There is something so subtle and magical about the way a scent can instantly transport you to a certain moment in time, or evoke a certain feeling (I can't be the only one who is instantly transported back to their teenage years every time I smell an Impulse body spray, or a strong whiff of Lynx!!). When the weather turns brighter around this time of year, I always want to wear a fragrance that is as fresh and clean as a spring breeze. These are four of my favourites:

1. Hermes Eau Des Merveilles
This is my absolute number one fragrance and I will love it forever and ever. I spent ages (I mean YEARS) searching for a signature fragrance and I finally found this one about 5 years ago. It is often described as smelling salty, which seems a bit weird at first because you don't think of slat having a smell, but it is like a fresh sea breeze. I can't think of a better way to describe this fragrance, it isn't fruity or floral, it is just clean and fresh and bracing, and unlike any other perfume I have ever come across.

2. Jo Malone Lime Basil and Mandarin Cologne
This is a fragrance I have been stealing from my Mum for ages, and today she gave me the rest of her bottle (my Mum is someone who buys a lot of new perfumes and beauty products and them moves on from lots of them quite quickly, so there are often bits and pieces going spare, hooray!). I love colognes for every day, they are lighter and fresher than perfumes as a rule, and also, happily, cheaper. An eau de cologne usually has a fresh, clean fragrance, and the are nice to splash on after your shower. This one isn't as straighforwardly citrussy as the name might suggest, the basil aspect of the scent gives is a peppery-ness as well which makes it smell more complex. I think eau de colognes are not meant to last as well as the stronger eau de toilettes and eau de parfums but I find this one lasts really well. I believe this is one of Jo Malone's most popular fragrances and deservedly so, I can't imagine anyone not liking this fresh, clean, modern classic.

3. Acqua Di Parma Colonia
Another cologne, and this time a real classic, created in 1916. This is a unisex fragrance, as most colognes are, and has lots of citrus and herbal green notes. I think part of the appeal of this fragrance, aside from it smelling wonderful, is the idea of classic Italian sophistication and old-fashioned, proper grooming - it is amazing the powerful world of imagination that a great perfume can create.

4. Clarins Eau Dynamisante
A few years ago - probably before I discovered Eau Des Merveilles - I used to wear Eau Dynamisante all the time, it was definitely my daily perfume. Clarins classify this as one of their Treatment Fragrances, and describe it as a "mood-lifting essence... an instant antidote to exhaustion or stress". I think that sense, any good perfume is a treatment, in the sense that it can affect your mood and set a tone. It is another fresh cologne-type scent to splash on in the morning before you dress, and I always found it energising and invigorating, a definite morning fragrance.

I hope maybe this post will inspire you to try out some of these fragrances, and maybe get a fresh new scent for the spring. What are your favourite fresh clean fragrances?

Four Things: Songs That Remind Me Of My Sweetheart

This week's Four Things is another musical one - I didn't particularly conceive it as a music feature but hey, when the mood takes you you might as well go with it! These are four songs that remind me of my darling husband Dan. We are just coming up for our second wedding anniversary, and will have been together five years altogether this August. When I put it like that it doesn't sound long enough to have done everything that has happened - move house, get married, have a baby - but time is a funny old thing...  I am trying out a new experiment here to add playlists to my blog, hopefully this will allow you to actually hear the songs I'm talking about, and maybe even discover a new favourite of your own! Please leave a comment if this doesn't work for you, its all new to me!

1. P.P. Arnold, "The First Cut Is The Deepest": One of our first dates was when Dan took me to see P.P. Arnold at the Jazz Cafe in London. He is a big mod fan and P.P.'s association with the Small Faces makes her a mod legend. This was a great night, and PP Arnold always reminds me of the early, exciting days of our relationship.

2. Fleetwood Mac, "Need our Love So Bad": Our first dance at our wedding. I think Dan had had this picked out in his head for ages, he was always very sure that he wanted this song for our first dance. My Dad is also a huge fan of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac so this song reminds me of lots of people I love and lots of happy times. I posted a while ago about the frames we got so that we could display the 7" single of this song on the wall.

3. McAlmont and Butler, "Yes": A real nineties classic here. This song isn't related to a particular occasion, it is just one of Dan's favourite songs, which makes him happy every time it comes on the radio. I can't hear the introduction to "Yes" without also hearing Dan saying "I LOVE this song!" and picturing his smiling face.

4. Flight of the Conchords "If You're Into It": Flight of the Conchords also played an integral part in our early relationship. It was one of the series' that we both loved and I can remember watching this video on YouTube while talking on the phone to Dan (he lived in Somerset, I lived in Hertfordshire at the time so we spent a lot of time on the phone). You can get the full experience by watching the video here. Dan had been in a mission to get tickets whenever FOTC played in London, and he always seemed to be hearing rumours on the internet about it. We did finally get to see them two weeks before our wedding and they were fantastic and so so funny, it was an amazing night (AND we saw Jonathan Ross and his family sitting not far from us, eeek!)

There are lots of others I could add that remind me of Dan - I have told him I might let him do a guest post and pick his own favourites some time. What songs remind you of your sweetheart?

Four Things: Albums for Summer Afternoons

The weather has been so beautiful here in the UK recently, it has felt like summer. It is wonderful spending so much time outdoors, one of my favourite things is to hang out with baby Joe in our garden, watching him play and explore. When the weather is hot, there are a few albums I always like to listen to, ideally while lying in the long grass, looking up through tree branches at a clear blue sky. These are four of my favourites:

1. Crosby Still and Nash "Crosby, Stills and Nash": One of my Dad's favourites that he has passed on to me. On a hot sunny afternoon I like to imagine that I am living in Laurel Canyon in the early 70s...

2. Jose Gonzalez "Veneer": I listened to this album a lot when it cane out, then forgot about it and have recently been rediscovering it. So chilled out and beautiful, perfect for quiet contemplation.

3. Scott Matthews "Passing Stranger": I first heard this on a hot afternoon in the garden following a big house party the night before. It soothed my hung over head that sunny day and it still does now. Shades of Jeff Buckley about this, but that's ever a bad thing...

4. Rodrigo y Gabriela "Rodrigo y Gabriela": On the family holidays of my childhood my Dad would always play the Gypsy Kings tape, and I think of flamenco guitar as as an instant sound of sunshine and holidays. Rodrigo y Gabriela are amazing guitarists who I would love to see live. In the meantime, this album is perfect garden afternoon and BBQ soundtrack material.

I hope you like my sunny afternoon picks. What are your favourite albums to listen to on a hot day?