Tag: Lakeland

Lakeland

There come moments in life when you have to be realistic about who you are and what you are actually like, rather than nursing febrile projections of what you hope and dream that you are like.

The first time is always when you hear a recording of your own voice. It is always traumatising. Always more high pitched and posh, or common, or flat, or regional or just otherwise terrible than you can possibly have imagined. One of the reasons I left my job on a newspaper was that I had to listen back to my stupid stupid buggery awful voice on recorded interviews.

There are many other moments after that, but that first moment of being confronted with the reality of what you sound like is always terrible.

I had another one today. I was beside myself with excitement at having a piece in the Guardian’s Family section. I love the Family section of the Guardian nearly as much as I love Style, so being in it RIGHT THERE THERE I AMMMMM more than made up for Kitty’s massive and terrifying nosebleed + 103F fever at 4.30am.

But then I opened the Times Magazine to see a piece they had on the “world’s best food blogger”, called Katie something; What Katie Ate, is her blog. She is beautiful and thin and her food looks fucking amazing. There was a glowing intro written by my husband’s editor at the magazine, which contained a slightly disparaging comment about “mummy” food bloggers.

I looked back at my picture in Family. I looked a bit fat. My hair needs a cut. I turned to see that Kitty was still staggering around the kitchen in her blood spattered pyjamas because she screamed every time I tried to take them off to get them soaking in Napisan. I thought about my clumsy, unchic blog, my stupid shit photos, my total lack, generally, of style and I felt really quite ill.

I have recovered now, by telling myself that this is just one of those times where you have to confront the reality of who you are and what you are capable of. This blog is almost entirely a response to food blogs like What Katie Ate, which are so professional and beautiful and chic and purposeful. I can never, ever be like that or do that. So I do this.

That’s another reason why I decided to go against most of what I stand for and feature a click-through to Lakeland at the top right hand corner of this blog. I love Lakeland. It’s not the height of glamour, but it is useful and I happen to know an editor at Vogue who reads the Lakeland catalogue in bed at night.

So that explains what that Lakeland thingy is doing on my blog. I’m sure Katie doesn’t have anything like that on hers, (I am literally too scared to look in case it gives me a nervous breakdown), but I’ve decided that I am that person. I am a Lakeland advertiser. If you click on the little picture and buy something off the website then I get 7% of your basket. And Lord knows all that germicidal soak we’re getting through these days isn’t going to buy itself.

 

Win £100 Lakeland vouchers

We’ve teamed up with Lakeland to give you the chance to win £100 Lakeland vouchers to spend on whatever you like in store or online.

 

This month we’ve been going baking crazy trawling through all our best cake recipes ready for the bake sale season.

 

We’ve chosen some whopping showstoppers that are perfect for raffles, rounded up the best cakes to sell at a bake sale and even caught up with Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood to get all their top baking tips – but it’s not over yet!

 

We’re giving you the chance to win £100 (yes, £100!) worth of Lakeland vouchers, and we know how much you all love Lakeland! You’ll get to spend it on whatever baking goodies you fancy from piping bags to cake tins – if you’re as baking obsessed as we are then you’ll 

 

All you have to do to enter is comment on our brand new collection of quirky cakes and bakes telling us which bake you would make and how you would give it a twist of your own.

 

How to enter

  1. Click on this quirky cakes and bakes link.
  2. Flick through our selections of quirky cakes and bakes and choose your favourite.
  3. Comment below the picture in the gallery telling us how you would give that chosen cake a twist of your own. (unfortunately you can’t currently do this from a mobile phone)
  4. Sit back and wait for us to announce the winner.

 

Good luck to everyone!

 

To view Lakeland’s complete range visit lakeland.co.uk

 

The terms of this competition:

 

  • The prize is £100 worth of Lakeland vouchers.
  • There is 1 prize to win. Prize subject to availability. In the event of a prize being unavailable, we reserve the right to offer an alternative prize of equal or greater value.
  • You can only enter 1 comment per person
  • Members of the editorial team will decide on the winning comment and their decision is final.
  • Competition details form part of these terms and conditions.
  • Entry is open to residents of the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland except employees (and their families) of IPC Media, its printers and agents, the suppliers of the prizes and any other companies associated with the competitions.
  • The winner(s) must be aged 18 or over.
  • The sponsor is IPC Media
  • The closing date is Monday 1st July 2013 at 12pm.
  • Proof of identity and age may be required.
  • Use of a false name or address will result in disqualification.
  • All entries must be made directly by the person entering the competition.
  • Entries made online using methods generated by a script, macro or the use of automated devices will be void.
  • No responsibility can be accepted for entries lost, delayed or corrupted, or due to computer error in transit.
  • The prizes are as stated, are not transferable to another individual and no cash or other alternatives will be offered.
  • The winner(s) is(are) responsible for expenses and arrangements not specifically included in the prizes, including any necessary travel documents, passports and visas.
  • Prizes are subject to availability and the prize suppliers’ terms and conditions.
  • The promoters reserve the right to amend or alter the terms of competitions and reject entries from entrants not entering into the spirit of the competition.
  • In the event of a prize being unavailable, the promoter reserves the right to offer an alternative prize of equal or greater value.
  • The winner(s) agree(s) to the use of their name, photograph and disclosure of county of residence and will co-operate with any other reasonable requests by IPC relating to any post-winning publicity.
  • The winner(s) will be selected by the goodtoknow Recipes team from entries received by the closing date stated within the promotional material.
  • Reasonable efforts will be made to contact the winner(s). If the winner(s) cannot be contacted, or are unable to comply with these terms and conditions, the Promoter reserves the right to offer the prize to the next eligible entrant drawn at random.
  • Confirmation of the prize will also be made in writing to the winner(s).
  • Failure to respond and/or provide an address for delivery, or failure to meet the eligibility requirements may result in forfeiture of the prize.
  • Where applicable, the decision of the judges is final based on the criteria set out in the promotion and no correspondence will be entered into over this decision.
  • Competitions may be modified or withdrawn at any time.
  • The provider of the prize is specified within the promotional material.
  • The Promoter is IPC Media Limited, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU.
  • In the event of a discrepancy between these standard terms and conditions and the details in the promotional material, the details of the promotional material shall prevail.
  • A list of winners will be available by writing into the publisher of the magazine or website at the Promoter’s address no earlier than six weeks (unless otherwise stated) after the close of the competition. Only the surname and county of the winners will be disclosed.

 

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