MATERNITY WEAR

I don't usually use the blog to advertise but here's some advice to anyone out there who is thinking of having any babies... Given I am experienced enough to know what I am talking about, I thought I'd mention that in all the years I have spent pregnant I have found there is actually only one comfortable model of maternity trousers on the market in the UK. In general you find you either get loose things that fall down and you miserably spend the whole day pulling back up for fear of exposing your whale-like midriff, or you get tight things that dig into you and make you want to spend the day in your dressing gown. Of course there are hideous jogging bottoms but you feel frumpy enough without donning a shellsuit for six months. So here is a link to your salvation! These are tight enough they don't fall down, soft enough they dig in nowhere, the waist doubles over so you get support for your aching belly and your nagging back. Unless you are due mid-summer, I suggest a couple of pairs of these are a must for anyone wanting to enjoy their pregnancy!

ARE YOUR WINDOWS TOO TALL?

Here is a photo of the corner of my living room in the beautiful flat I owned until the beginning of 2002 in Dowanhill. (Isn't the cornicing stunning?) You may notice I have no curtains. As you can see, I had blinds fitted to the four window panes but no curtains because to get six curtains with a 3 metre drop back then would have cost almost as much as the mortgage. Every curtain shop in Glasgow seemed to supply curtains that either reached down to the floor in a modern house, or reached down to the window ledge. There were just no options other than to make my own (and anyone who knows me knows I would rather attempt to fly a helicopter wearing a blindfold than to sew something from scratch).
Now here's the ad: I was in Ikea the other week looking for curtain poles for my modern house when I noticed all Ikea curtains now come in a 3 metre drop and start at about £20 a pair. If your wall is shorter, obviously you can cut them to length but if you live in the West End you can now access affordable curtains! How cool is that?
I might buy a few spare pairs in case I ever move back one day. (That is if the kids can afford to leave home in this economic climate before I'm too old to manage the close stairs!)

THE SNOWMAN

I decided to show Léon The Snowman to put him in a Christmassy mood. He'd never seen it but was familiar with the Irn Bru version. At the end, I asked if he'd liked it and he wandered off muttering Why didn't he steal the boy's beer?... The power of advertising!

GUINNESS DRIPPING DOWN

Guinness from the ceiling
Originally uploaded by viralbus

Isn't this cool? I noticed it on the ceiling of the Irish pub in Stansted airport and took a few minutes to actually work out what it was. Once it dawned on me, I was very impressed! I noticed many other puzzled customers going through the same process of realisation. I must say I really wish I liked guinness - their adverts are always innovative, their memorabilia outstanding and thought-provoking - but sadly it is just too bitter for me :-(

SKODA FABIA

It isn't often I comment on adverts - I usually find them mind numbing or annoying but I have to say if I needed a smaller car than the one I bought last week, I might just have considered the Skoda Fabia because its advert is so sweet. I hadn't noticed it till yesterday when the kids shouted me through to watch it - both announcing they'd like to try a piece! Well done Skoda for making a car ad, unlike any others.

IRN BRU - THE BEST ADVERT EVER!

I saw on dad's blog the other day that there's a new IRN BRU ad out for Christmas. I missed its showing on TV recommended by dad so checked it out online just now. This is absolutely superb! Not only does it show you lots of well known Scottish tourist attractions, but the new words to the old song are brilliant. The sweet snowman turns into some sort of evil Glasgow ned and mugs a kid for his Irn Bru while flying over the Falkirk Wheel, Loch Ness (complete with monster), Edinburgh Castle, the Forth rail and road bridges, Eilean Donan castle, Glasgow Royal Opera House, Glasgow's George Square and the rail viaduct at Glenfinnan. This has to be the best ad I've seen in years. I, for one, will be drinking nothing but Irn Bru for the whole festive season I'm so impressed :-)

NORDEA BANK

Latvia
Originally uploaded by phyl1.

I was watching TV in the hotel in Latvia last weekend to see how much Latvian I could understand. We'd just come in because it was snowing outside. An ad came on the TV for personal loans from the Nordea Bank - they seemed to be suggesting you could take out a loan for home improvements citing an outdoor swimming pool as a good investment...huh? An outdoor swimming pool in Riga, Latvia. Brrrr.

ANOTHER DREAM

This time not one I dreamt while asleep but more what I hope I will have enough money to buy one day! For the past year since I had my third kid I have been thinking how much more practical a 7 seater car is than a 5. Even going to the shops and taking my parents with me always meant borrowing André's VW Sharan instead of driving my own Citroën Picasso. So I have been looking at the Vauxhall/Opel Zafira or the Renault Grand Scénic while cursing Citroën for making the only small MPV with just 5 seats. Until yesterday when I stumbled upon this ad! Yes the new model of my car has just come out and it has 7 seats! And they even make it in a nice shade of metallic red - cool - now I just need a decent enough income to buy it :-\

GUINNESS ADVERTS

Just saw that backwards evolution Guinness advert... Wonder how Guinness manage to consistently make some of the best adverts on the screen and have done for years? Remember the guy dancing around the pint of Guinness years ago? Well done them! ...Pity I don't actually like the stuff, the adverts almost make me think I should try to make myself like it! ;-)