The Cheesemaker’s House Book Review

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

The Cheesemaker’s House arrived in our postbox with a lovely personal note from the author, Jane Cable. Touched by the effort and about to go on a five-and-a-half hour train journey I decided to take it with me. I read the book in under four hours. In part because the chapters leave no wastage or flowery writing; they are short and snappy. The book is easy to read, but it is also gripping, you desperately want to know what is going to happen and the characters draw you in.

For something with a paranormal bent it is also strangely believable if you let your imagination go. The character of Alice is a great one. She is a survivor and has been through a lot. Her husband left her for his secretary who he had impregnated, but she remains a good, giving person. Owen is more complicated. Mostly likeable but also infuriating. The actions of the countryside are perfectly encapsulated; how everyone knows everyone elses business, the random noises, the community spirit.

The Cheesemaker’s House is Jane’s first published novel and I wonder how many more she has written as she is a skilled writer with a strong voice. The author really has a talent for writing, this book won the suspense & crime category of the Alan Titchmarsh Show People’s Novelist competition in 2011, and I had seen it on a few ‘must read’ lists before I received it. I really enjoyed this book and I hope for more novels from this talented writer.

The Cheesemaker’s House by Jane Cable can be bought here.

This Book Will Make You Calm, Confident, Happy, Sleep Book Reviews

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

January is all about becoming a better person. Hope is high and a feeling of renewal is in the air. So this series of This Book Will Make You…books came at the right time to be reviewed. Let’s find out if they can make you Calm, Confident, Happy and Sleep.

This Book Will Make You Calm

We got sent a lot of books on becoming calm at Christmas time and I think we all know why! We are all becoming more stressed in life and becoming calm will improve your health and life in general. The book helps you tackle anxiety and stress, it has great relaxation techniques, helps you handle panic and maintain a work-life balance. I love the techniques, graphs and strategies. I learned a lot reading this book. It is easy to lose perspective in life and forget about looking after yourself: this book reminds you what to do, and gives you lots of great, new, information too.

This Book Will Make You Happy

Being happy. One of the greatest pursuits of human beings. We seem obsessed with happiness and trying to achieve it. Following on from the format of the other book- and all of the books- the book has strategies, tests and graphs. It focuses on CBT (Cognitive behavioral therapy) which has become trendy and mainstream, which is not to put it down in any way, I have heard amazing things about it and it works for a lot of people. The book helps you challenge negative thoughts, combat anxiety, manage your emotions and stop procrastinating.

There are positive mind maps and the three biggest crimes against happiness. A great book to bring you closer to happiness.

This Book Will Make You Confident

Everyone wants more confidence and everyone goes through wobbly periods This book promises the tools to build your self-belief and realise your full potential with practical exercises and the latest CBT research. Each book lets you know how it all works and what CBT is. They have great mind maps and techniques which I find very useful. This is a helpful book which helps you deal with insecurity, nature self-belief, challenge your inner critic and play to your strengths. Good book.

This Book Will Make You Sleep

I have been having trouble sleeping so was happy to review this book. Especially after finding myself cleaning the oven at 2am. That is when you know you have a problem. CBT, tips and exercises fill the book, sleep myths are dispersed, sleep facts are given and the book gives great advice. I find myself sleeping better after reading it. Recommended.

This Book Will Make You Calm, Confident, Happy, Sleep by Dr Jessamy Hibberd & Jo Usmar

Released 6 January 2014

This new series for busy, creative people will give you the tools to deal with common problems from anxiety and lack of confidence to sleeplessness and general wellbeing.

Psychologist Dr Jessamy Hibberd and lifestyle journalist Jo Usmar draw on the latest cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to show how to develop coping strategies and learn practical techniques to tackle a range of problems quickly and effectively. From reducing worry and boosting energy levels to breathing and mindfulness techniques, these accessible, handy-size books will make your life more serene, stress-free and fulfilled.

About the authors:

Dr Jessamy Hibberd is a clinical psychologist who worked for the NHS before setting up her own private practice. She is a chartered member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and accredited with the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP).

Jo Usmar is a freelance journalist and editor. She has contributed to a variety of national media, as well as writing a regular relationship column for Cosmopolitan. She has appeared on TV and radio commenting on lifestyle and relationship issues.

Nair Brazilian Spa Clay Shower Power Cream Review

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

I hate waxing. I just don’t understand it. Why go through the pain? You have to grow out the hair before you can wax it, and your skin ends up looking like a plucked chicken.

Which is why I love cream hair remover. It is so easy to use and leaves your skin super smooth. so I was excited to review Nair Brazilian Spa Clay Shower Power Cream. I had never tried it before and had high expectations. It says on the packaging that it gives you smooth legs for up to seven days and only take five minutes to remove all visible hair. Big promises.

You apply the cream with the spatula provided in a thick, even, layer and then get into the shower and leave it on for three minutes, avoiding excessive exposure to water and then rinse off. After you have rinsed, your skin is incredibly soft and moisturised with no hairs. I am very impressed.

The cream is gentle and kind to skin. It has a natural blend of key ingredients: mineral rich clay, mango butter and acai palm. I use it on my legs and bikini line. My skin looks amazing afterwards and it lasts for the promised week.

This cream is one of my favourite products of 2013. It is easy-to-use and it works. Which is what every women wants in a beauty product: convenience, reasonable price and a great product. This is the best way to remove unwanted hair. A must buy.

Nair Brazilian Spa Clay Shower Power Cream is available from Boots.com

Managing MIL: You And Your Mother-in-Law – For Better, Or For Worse? Book Review

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

This book starts off with a joke: “My mother-in-law fell down a wishing well. I was amazed; I never knew they worked.” Les Dawson, this joke highlights that, traditionally, it is men that have problems with their mother-in-law. However there has been a rise in women clashing with theirs, and a number of my friends like to have a moan about their husbands mother. Marriage is hard, but even harder when there are three people in it.

Some of the real-life stories in this book are horrendous and shocking, and a few are nice. In fact the real-life stories are what I like most about the book. Learning about other peoples experience always make you feel less alone and helps to get through a rough spot. The best way to learn is from other people.

The book has rules and even suggests you start your own DIL (daughter-in-law) Club to unlock the secrets of a good mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship. Where you get a group of like-minded women together and all vent anger, or share experiences: good and bad.

This is a good book. A lot of the advice is common sense: be polite, decorum goes a long way, see things her way. The book is also intelligent enough to see things from the mother-in-laws view; sometimes she cannot do anything right. All in all I thought the book was great. There is also top advice from leading relationship experts.

The top tips for managing your mother-in-law are good and this is a helpful book. It takes the view of both the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law to make it fair. Full of good advice and highly recommended.

Managing MIL: You and your Mother-in-Law – for better, or for worse? will be released by Peridot Press. You can buy it in e-book form or as a proper book.

Does your mother-in-law drive you to distraction? Are you a desperate daughter-in-law? Who is to blame? It’s hard to know when you’re stuck on the inside.

Journalist Katy Rink looks at the best and worst of this frequently tricky relationship and provides smart advice for keeping your cool, your sanity and your family intact.

How do you survive a weekend with the in-laws? Should you ever go on holiday together? How do you manage a new baby and MIL? What are the dangers of accepting that friend request on Facebook? These are just some of the tricky topics tackled.

The author calls upon the experiences of fellow daughters-in-law in her home town – at secretive get-togethers that came to be known as DIL Club – to illustrate the highs and lows of dealing with his mother.

There are plenty of anecdotes to amuse and entertain, including the DILs who received engine oil, chin hair removal cream and paper knickers as Christmas presents from their MILs; the MIL who provided itemised receipts for ice creams and charged for petrol; and the MIL who greeted news of a pregnancy with “I can’t believe you haven’t had her sterilised yet”.

You can also try and recognise your MIL from a cast of hilarious caricatures including The Apologist, The Snob, The Manipulator and The Social Climber.

But amid the horror stories there are heart-warming tales of when (and how) it all goes right, and when peace breaks out.

Martin Scorsese To Retire?

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

Martin Scorsese has said he wants to retire from film-making after a ‘few more films’. The legendary Oscar-winning director was speaking last weekend at the Marrakech film festival, where he was acting as jury president. He went on:

“I have the desire to make many films, but as of now, I’m 71 and there’s only a couple more left if I get to make them, I miss the time when I had the desire to experiment and try different kinds of films, I miss that time, but that’s done, it’s over. There is obligation as you get older, you have family. I’ve been very lucky in the last 10 years or so to have found projects that combine the desire, the obligation to my family and the financiers.”

Scorsese said that when he started working with Leonardo DiCaprio it was “tricky” because the actor was so well known for Titanic. “When I did Gangs of New York and The Aviator, people kept asking me, ‘Is he an actor?'”

“I said yes. I saw What’s Eating Gilbert’s Grape, he film he did with [Robert] de Niro, This Boy’s Life before Titanic. So there’s a stigma there which people still refer to.

“But we found that he regenerated my enthusiasm for making films. Mainly because, as you get older, it gets physically difficult and also the business especially – the financial issues. You’re responsible for a lot of money, if you get it. It’s all pressure, but can you do it? His enthusiasm and excitement really kept me going, for another five pictures now.”

I had the pleasure of working on Scorsese’s Hugo and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I still feel honored. I am glad that Scorsese will at least make a few more films, his contribution to cinema is outstanding. The day he retires will be a sad one but we will still have his legacy.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire Film Review

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

I was very excited to see Hunger Games: Catching Fire because I loved the first one so much. However, I was also worried that it would not be as good because it had so much to live up to.

One of the highlights of The Hunger Games was, of course, Jennifer Lawrence. An epic heroine, the new Ripley. A survivor with a heart, sacrificing herself for her sister. Straight-talking and brave; Katniss might be one of the best female characters in a film ever. She is certainly one of the most inspirational. A role model even for real women.

Whilst watching Hunger Games: Catching Fire one thing struck me: that there may be people watching it thinking our society is not like this at all, but the Hunger Games does reflect our society, and more countries more than others. The gaps between the haves and the have nots, social injustice, oppression; the Hunger Games is more than thrilling entertainment, it is also a statement on the world we live in. An intelligent action film, well written with brilliant acting and something to say.

It is hard to not get caught up in the story, in the characters and their plight. It is hard to not keep going on about Lawrence as Katniss. The audience love her, the people love her: she is the girl whos purity and bravery sparks a revolution. I have to confess that I have not read the books, but I really want to. Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) and Liam Hemsworth (Gale) are both excellent as the men Katniss is caught between: her real love and her media love. Who will she end up with in the end?

Peeta and Katniss are celebrities but also icons. They empower the people and pay the price. Peeta, Katniss and Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) make an excellent team, bonded together through what can only be described post-traumatic-stress-disorder. Katniss wakes Peeta up by screaming as she wakes up from a nightmare, he comes into her room: ‘It’s okay’, he says, ‘I get them too.’ Even Effie (Elizabeth Banks), that vacuous idiot, can barely take the injustice, finds her conscious and her feelings.

Donald Sutherland is excellent as President Snow and Machiavellian media chief Philip Seymour Hoffman is brilliant and full of depth. I was also pleased with myself as I saw the twist before it happened. The film is relevant, gripping and worthy. In fact the only bad thing I have to say is that it ended far too quickly and I have no idea how I am going to wait an entire year for the next installment.

Five stars.

Star-studded Audience Show Their Support For The (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

In late November at Sotheby’s in New York, a standing-room only crowd helped raise more than $26 million for The Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. The star-studded audience gathered for The (RED) Auction celebrating design and innovation, which had been curated by Sir Jonathan Ive and Marc Newson in collaboration with musician and activist Bono. The sale exceeded all expectations totaling more than $13 million, which was matched by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The high-energy salesroom saw a remarkable three lots bring more than $1.5 million, including the two items designed in their entirety by Jony and Marc – a unique Leica Digital Rangefinder Camera, which sold for $1.8 million and a unique aluminum desk produced by Neal Feay Studio, which brought $1.7 million.

NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 23: (L-R) Marc Newson, Bono and Jony Ive attend Jony And Marc’s (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s on November 23, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for (RED))

Throughout the evening, the crowd of more than 1,000 guests, including The Edge, Chelsea Clinton, Helena Christensen, Meg Ryan, Jenna and Barbara Bush, Hayden Panettiere, Larry Gagosian, Dieter Rams, Gayle King, and Mario Batali, was treated to a number of spectacular surprises: before auctioneer Oliver Barker opened bidding on lot 12, the Steinway & Sons unique

NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 23: Chelsea Clinton attends Jony And Marc’s (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s on November 23, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for (RED))

“Red Pops for (RED)” Parlor Grand Piano, Coldplay’s Chris Martin took to the stage to sing ‘Perfect Day’ and ‘Beautiful Day’ with Bono. The performance inspired more than a dozen bidders to compete for the piano, which was finally won by philanthropist Stewart Rahr for $1.9 million.

NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 23: The Edge attends Jony And Marc’s (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s on November 23, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for (RED))

Later in the evening, lot 23, the Azzedine Alaïa pink couture long ruffle dress, was revealed in the salesroom worn by supermode Christy Turlington before it sold to applause for $149,000. The final surprise of the evening came at the end of the auction when the Gretsch Electromatic “(RED) Zero Generation” Bono “Signature” Guitar was added to the auction and sold for $250,000.

NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 23: Actress Hayden Panettiere attends Jony And Marc’s (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s on November 23, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for (RED))

NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 23: Jenna Bush Hager (L) and Barbara Bush attend Jony And Marc’s (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s on November 23, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for (RED))

After the final fall of the hammer, guests made their way to Sotheby’s spectacular 10th floor galleries to be entertained at the after party by Nile Rodgers and Chic, as well as Angelique Kidjo.

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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 23: Courtney Love attends Jony And Marc’s (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s on November 23, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for (RED))

NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 23: Model Helena Christensen attends Jony And Marc’s (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s on November 23, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for (RED))

Here’s the gossip:

During the auction, Chris Martin joined Bono onstage for two surprise performances including “Beautiful Day” utilizing a Steinway Parlor Grand “Model A” piano from auction lot #12. The performance raised the final price of the piano to a winning bid of $1,925,000.

NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 23: Gina Gershon attends the VIP Reception at Jony And Marc’s (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s on November 23, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for (RED))

NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 23: Missy Brody (L) and Salman Rushdie attend the VIP Reception at Jony And Marc’s (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s on November 23, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for (RED))

Actress Hayden Panettiere mentioned that she was particularly interested in auction lot #14 which consisted of a Leica Digital Rangefinder Camera. The camera ended up selling with a winning bid of $1,805,000.

NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 23: Bono (L) and Chris Martin perform onstage during Jony And Marc’s (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s on November 23, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for (RED))

Jenna Bush Hager was overheard congratulating Bono on the (RED) Auction’s success in the VIP room of the after-party. Bush Hager was in great spirits and was inseparable from her sister for most of the evening.

NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 23: Christy Turlington (R) onstage during Jony And Marc’s (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s on November 23, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for (RED))

Leonardo DiCaprio made a surprise visit to the (RED) Auction after-party, keeping a low profile in an overcoat and news-boy cap. He was joined by Victoria Secret model and girlfriend Toni Garrn.

NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 23: Christy Turlington attends Jony And Marc’s (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s on November 23, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for (RED))

Courtney Love was glowing in a skin tight Herve Leger dress. She was in good spirits seen mingling with auction guests.

NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 23: (L-R) Niles Rodgers, Bono, Angelique Kidjo and The Edge perform onstage at the After Party for Jony And Marc’s (RED) Auction at Sotheby’s on November 23, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for (RED))

Meg Ryan kept a low profile, dressed casually in black, seen previewing some of the key auction items.

Mini Eco: A Craft Book By Kate Lilley Review

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

Crafting has become huge in recent years, accumulating in a billion pound industry. The recession has only added to the craft industry, people want to be creative and want nice things without paying over the odds. Which is one of the reasons, other than her tremendous talent, that Kate Lilley’s craft blog www.minieco.co.uk has over 250,000 followers and is now a cult phenomenon in the craft industry.

MiniEco: A Craft Book has a selection of 31 craft projects. Kate’s crafting style is Japanese-influenced – lots of paper crafts and a clean, minimal aesthetic. The book has amazing photography and production effects. I love the cleanness of her designs; minimalism at it’s most beautiful.

The 31 how-to projects are very clearly laid-out. This book makes crafting easy, even when the project looks hard. Craft projects include Hama bead candle holder, furoshiki cloths, and macrame samplers, as well as Kate’s infamous paper crafts – paper gems, crackers, banners and an incredible origami lampshade.

I love this craft book for a number of reasons; the craft projects are beautiful and original, the step-by-step guide makes it all very easy, and there is hours of fun to be had. Mini Eco would make a great Christmas present for the crafter in your life.

MiniEco: A Craft Book can be bought here

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