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Posts in the Home category

Feb 15, 2018

How To Make Toddler Toys Look Stylish

Posted in Home, Pregnancy and Baby.

I was one of those people. You know the ones. The pregnant women who declares she’ll never let ‘plastic crap’… Read more »

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Oct 27, 2016

How To Create a DIY Mountain Mural for a Nursery

Posted in Home, Pregnancy and Baby.

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Oct 20, 2016

A Gender Neutral Pastel Nursery with Mountain Mural

Posted in Home, Pregnancy and Baby.

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Sep 28, 2016

My Pregnancy Sleep Routine

Posted in Home, Pregnancy and Baby.

In the latter stages of pregnancy, sleeping has become a slight bone of contention. Generally being alive is a tiring… Read more »

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Aug 24, 2016

Our Copenhagen Airbnb

Posted in Home, Travel.

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Feb 9, 2016

Why I Don’t Live in London

Posted in Home.

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Jan 26, 2016

Five Things I’ve Learnt Since Turning 30

Posted in Home, Writing.

I may be slightly too eager with this post – I turned 30 less than a month ago, after all…. Read more »

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Aug 9, 2015

How I Learnt To Budget, Aged 29 And A Half

Posted in Home.

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Jun 16, 2015

So I’ve Got A Thing For Flowers…

Posted in Home.

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Feb 12, 2015

Being Well

Posted in Food, Home, Writing.

I’m not entirely comfortable with the word ‘wellbeing’. It sounds a bit faddy and unobtainable, like ‘paleo’ or ‘no carbs’. I… Read more »

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Jan 18, 2015

Bedroom Details

Posted in Home.

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Jan 11, 2015

Goals for a New Year

Posted in Beauty, Fashion, Food, Home, Writing.

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My name is Jen.

I'm a freelance online writer, dividing my time between Leeds and London (and sometimes New York City). J for Jen is the place I write about fashion, beauty, travel and life in general.

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  • Instagram vs Reality right here... after a really rough night involving a super clingy baby and a very wakeful toddler, I’ve felt less than sprightly today. But Leo has been much more settled, so we’re hoping for a better night 🤞Just a little dose of realness for your feed - the newborn days are hard as hell and if you’ve got to 11am without crying off your mascara, you’re doing a great job (same if you mascara lasts all day, or if mascara is an alien concept to you right now) 💕

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A Bit about Jen

I’ve been writing things online since the late 90s, when my mum finally gave in to my pleas and installed dial-up on my PC. I signed up for MSN Messenger, opened a Live Journal account, set my desktop background as a funny picture of a cat and never looked back.

Jen on Instagram

  • Instagram vs Reality right here... after a really rough night involving a super clingy baby and a very wakeful toddler, I’ve felt less than sprightly today. But Leo has been much more settled, so we’re hoping for a better night 🤞Just a little dose of realness for your feed - the newborn days are hard as hell and if you’ve got to 11am without crying off your mascara, you’re doing a great job (same if you mascara lasts all day, or if mascara is an alien concept to you right now) 💕
  • Having two kids is HARD. The toddler/newborn juggle is a lot - I find myself breastfeeding while wiping Hazel’s bum, or frantically swaying Leo in the sling while singing my seventh rendition of Old Macdonald. A real lot. Leo is a bit of a velcro baby, Hazel is full of energy and Rob and I aren’t really getting much sleep. The days are fun but the nights are hard, and I definitely feel pretty touched out come 5pm. But then I capture these gorgeous moments and know it’ll be so, so worth it when they can play and grow together. So we’re soldiering on and powering through with the hope that it’ll get easier sometime soon... ish 💕
  • I told myself I wouldn’t bother with pumping this time round - I had such a hard time with it when Hazel was tiny that I didn’t think I could bring myself to do it again. But then I got a blocked duct and a cracked nipple (honestly, the pain was worse than labour) and needed to drain my milk, fast. Luckily the Elvie pump now exists, and let me tell you - it’s a game-changer. Firstly it’s ACTUALLY hands free, like it fits into your regular bra and doesn’t require some elaborate contraption resembling Madonna’s cones (but way less chic). And it’s super slimline, so you could easily button up over it and carry on your day like it’s not there. And to assist with that, it’s also almost complete silent. No moo sound. Revelation. Most importantly for a breast pump, though - it really works. Scroll to see what 10 mins pumping yielded... so much liquid gold! 🍯 The downside is ofc the price - at £250 for a single it is very pricy and probably out of reach for many new parents on maternity pay. I hope that as this kinda tech gets more common, the price will go down. Top tip though - one of my friends found this pump at the Mamas & Papas discount shop in Huddersfield for £180, so keep an eye out if you’re local and in the market! It’s amazing to see women’s healthcare FINALLY getting the tech upgrade we’ve seen elsewhere - the Elvie pump also comes with an app so you can track length of feeds, which boob you last pumped from and how long you pumped for. And the app monitors the level of milk you’re pumping in real time so you don’t spill over the bottle. Clever! I don’t think I’ll do a huge amount of pumping for Leo, but it’s amazing to know I can do it quickly and easily without feeling like a dairy cow (poor cows). And I paid full whack for it, so this is not an ad - hopefully the honest review helps! 🤱🏼 🐄
  • Boss level dadding by the best one. Happy Father’s Day, @roballison 💕🌟
  • I really loved babywearing with Hazel but with Leo, it’s a total lifesaver. He’s a bit of a velcro baby and doesn’t like to be put down, so as much as I love just sitting on the sofa cuddling him, the sling is essential if I want to actually get stuff done. I’ve tried loads of different carriers, from structured styles like the ErgoBaby (like it for when they’re older) to simple stretchy wraps (good for teeny babies) and have settled on the Close Caboo for now - it’s soft like a stretchy but way easier to put on, with no complicated folding or tying. Leo loves being carried about and will snuggle in for a sleep when he’s in there. Which is perfect for cracking on with life - chasing after a toddler, doing the washing up or sitting down to avo toast and a latte at my fave cafe.
  • It’s been hard to find my style again after having a baby. I was the same when Hazel was tiny - nothing in my wardrobe seems to work, so I buy new things in an attempt to look like the ‘old me’ when really I need to embrace my new shape and the need to whip a boob out at any given time. I think I these H&M leopard print trousers fit the bill perfectly, though! I’m vowing not to spend more money on new things and instead just make what I’ve got work, and share the results here when it does. Today’s outfit: ✔️

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