Alyson Said What?

Ooooh, you guys are in for a treat today! This is a review of the  Vampire Dress  from  ExoUmbra . ExoUmbra is a gothic clothing company run by the darling Moose. She has a real passion for making items that suit a broad range of body types, and it shows in her work. Something that I personally appreciate about ExoUmbra is how simple the pieces are. I love clean silhouettes.  Twirly preggo! Because the sizing is so generous (every piece is meant to be easy to move around in) the Vampire Dress was absolutely perfect for my growing baby bump. And with the brutal heat and humidity we have been experiencing in London this summer, I've pretty much been living in it since it arrived. The Vampire Dress is constructed from upcycled cotton unisex t-shirts, so it's breathable and effortless to wear. You can just throw it on and off you go. The standard version of this dress does not have a moon decal on the back, but I cheekily asked Moose to paint one on. So man...

This post is mostly a rant/winge and a pep talk for myself. It's honestly pretty boring, so don't feel obligated to slog through it. Trigger warning for food-talk and depression. Two points to make clear before we begin: 1. I don't think there's any such thing as 'bad' food. Food has no moral standing. It is food. 2. This isn't about weight. Full stop. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I feel like rubbish. Why? Well, aside from the ongoing SPD/PGP saga throughout this pregnancy, I feel like rubbish because my eating habits have been rubbish. Simple carbohydrates were my saving grace throughout the rough seas of the first trimester when the mere suggestion of anything else made me gag. Knowing how utterly addictive simple carbs and refined sugar are for me, the necessary survival tactic has carried on into my second trimester long after morning sickness subsided. ...

I want to have a chat about a serious, ongoing feminist issue: reproductive rights and respecting choices. Let me make it ardently clear from the get-go that I believe that self-determination and bodily autonomy are inherent human rights, and that this is a far-reaching umbrella that covers other issues such as consent and the right to die. All of these concepts are deeply nuanced and rely heavily on a multitude of factors, like a person's capacity to make decisions and other contextual circumstances. However, this post will hash out my thoughts about how people treat one another in regards to whether or not they want to have children. A wee disclaimer: These are my personal opinions. You may or may not agree, as this is a highly sensitive topic, and that's ok. Please give this post a miss if you find pregnancy, abortion, and infertility to be triggering. If you disagree with anything that I have to say, I welcome questions and open discussion. The Choice to Remain Childles...

Guys and ghouls. Ladies and ladles. Gentlemen and germs. Peoples and steeples. I'm more than halfway through this pregnancy with my second kiddo and it's time we had a frank chat about the reality of being a sacred vessel. Let me spill the beans to you about how this pregnancy has been different from the previous one, what's been easier, what's been harder, what's shocked me, and what's old news. Will I hold back delicious, lurid details? Absolutely not. You know me better than that. First of all, pregnancy is normal and pregnant folks should not be treated like untouchables leaking primordial ooze (whether or not we are...leaking primordial ooze...) Secondly, we still don't talk about this stuff as openly as we should because female bodies and sexuality are both still taboo, unfortunately. Lastly, I'll discuss why Phil and I are done having kids. Are our reasons what you think? You might be surprised. Truth (sort of): Every Pregnancy is Different  ...

Folks, I had such a rough winter. I'm pretty sure 2016 was a bastard-and-a-half for everyone, and it certainly was not going to go out without a fight for me. This included multiple A&E trips for multiple family members, an ambulance ride in the middle of the night for one, and finally me having to be signed off sick from work for two weeks over my birthday. The good news is that everything is fine now. More than fine, even. Why? Because everyone is alive and well, and I'm pregnant! Phil and I had our little guy pretty young by our generation's standards. We decided from the get-go that we wanted to have kid(s) young and be done young, to get the full benefit of having started relatively early. So, at the beginning of 2017 we decided that we would like to have one more kiddo, and went for it. The first trimester was rough (let me tell you: 12.5 hour shifts are Not Fun with morning sickness), just as it was with the little guy, but I'm feeling more like myself agai...

It's the most wonderful tiiiime of the yeeeeaaaarrrr! Seeing as today is National Pumpkin Day, I thought I'd made a little post about a super fun activity I went to last night. Madame Tussaud's held its first ever pumpkin carving workshop, so obviously I had to go. Halloween isn't as much of a 'thing' here as it is back in the States and I'd be lying if I said I don't feel deprived. So thirsty for the spook. So thirsty. That being said, I definitely feel like the Halloween spirit (hur hur hur) has been getting stronger in the U.K. over the past few years. Fake cobwebs and tinsel skeletons are popping up in more shop windows, and people seem to have realised that costume options go beyond Sexy Devil and Sexy Witch. This fun event at Madam Tussaud's is another example of how Halloween is catching on. Love it. When hubs and I arrived, we were ushered into a concealed side entrance of the building with the rest of the workshop group, taken up qui...

When I was last in my native Los Angeles this past August, I had the immense fortune of being able to attend the Guillermo del Toro exhibition at LACMA, sensibly named At Home With Monsters. It is a stunningly curated exhibition of items from his own personal collection of artwork, ephemera, costumes, and other macabre and enchanting treasures. Normally, these fascinating things are kept in del Toro's second home, which he has named Bleak House, after the Charles Dickens novel. At LACMA, the works are organised by themes such as death, the afterlife, and magic, rather than by chronology. I was moved by the amount of love that del Toro obviously puts into his acquisition, display, and maintenance of the pieces shown. If I took away anything from the experience, it was a newfound respect and tenderness for the man: A boy fascinated by the more strange and dark aspects of life, his love affair with cinema, and how he grew further into these things rather than out of them. Be still, ...