Okiedog Changing Bag review

I love this changing bag! I have been sent Okiedog’s Urban Mondo bag in red… and I also have a six week old baby alongside two other children – four and six.
When my older two were tiny my changing bag was heavy and thicker in material; so you not only had nappy weight and all the other things that go in but also the actual weight of the bag.
The Okiedog however is incredibly lightweight (but robust) and the strap is wide and comfortable on the shoulder. It’s incredibly well made, and has the necessary gazillion pockets that cater for what you need. I particularly like the hook for keys in one of the front pockets – in fact I have commandeered both front pocket for MY ‘stuff’ – diary, phone, purse, lipstick and keys etc, which still leaves ample room inside the bag for the baby stuff.
I also like the bottle pocket with its carrying case, and the accessories bag, the handy hooks to go on the pram, the fact the milk bottle case is designed to hang from one of the straps if so desired… the bag is just very well thought out and practical to use, which in the end is all you’re looking for in a baby changing bag. And I love the fact that mine’s red!
The 2012 Okiedog range is available from Mothercare – there’s different styles in different fabrics, but all in the same strong lightweight design.
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A Beautiful Yet Totally Practical Baby Change Bag – Mamami Shivali
There is something very right about the Mamami Shivali baby change bag. I love the shape of it and the combination of the matt and shiny grey leather. Whether it was a baby change bag or not, it’s a good looking bag.
The inside is very pretty too…
But the pure magic of this bag is in the practical organisation of it….
Genius, yes? Worth every penny of £189 too I think. :-)
Spotted! Fantastic Children’s Autumn/Winter Snow Boots
Aren’t they fantastic?! Absolutely perfect for the little people to trudge about in rain and snow.
Available in a lovely purple too…
Read MoreSpotted! Simply Fab Childs Gardening Set
The bag is perfectly sized for small helpers to carry, and the price includes the blue trowel and fork set, the matching blue bucket, the gardening gloves – and hedgehog (HURRAY!) and tortoise plant markers.
£16 from our rather awesome new find the Spotty Green Frog.
Read MorePetite Star Zia+ Red Moon inc. Footmuff – Exclusive colours and package!
You wont find this colourway or package anywhere else (guaranteed!), and it’s only on a limited run, so nab one while stock lasts!
The Red Moon colour-way is a unique colour pattern that can only be found on NurseryValue.
The Zia is an award winning stroller which has 3 wheels, and is very compact – it fits into the smallest of car boots!
- Simple fold
- Super rare limited colour way
- Compact
- Shopping Basket and RainCover
- Suitable from to birth to about 3 years
Nab one for £110 from Nursery Value, the official online retailer for Petite Star
Read MoreFREE Food. Yes – we said FREE.

At this time of year, you'll find us doing THIS quite a lot (no children were crushed in the making of this picture)

And we always have a bag or two in our pockets for these little juicies (it's a BUMPER crop this year, have you SEEN them all?). Weird how much small people LOVE berrying, isn't it?

But while we're out we ALWAYS look for this on the roadside. These apples were delicious eaters. And totally free. Yes - you just have to Pick Them Up. There is a glut this year, owners of apple trees are at a loss to store them all. How much would THAT little lot cost you in Sainsbury's?

There is a tree like THIS in the car park (cookers this time). Just hanging around, for the want of a good picking.

Three hours, one fab walk in the fields, one play in the park, one bag of blackberries (leaking juice all over the car), five bags of apples, and one bag of pears.
What are we going to DO with all those apples?
Ah.
Well…
Obviously some will be for pies/crumble/ Worlds Best Apple Cakes EVER… But most of them will be meeting a far messier end…
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Keris does the i’coo pluto review
I resisted this buggy for quite a while. I was using a backward facing buggy and loved being able to chat to Joe and keep an eye on him whenever he was eating (he does a lot of buggy-based snacking), but then Joe started kneeling up and looking forward over the back of the buggy and so I realised it was time.
The first time we used the Pluto, I didn’t like it. It felt flimsy to me, I wasn’t sure if I’d managed to put it up correctly and the wheels were making a clicking sound. After another break of ignoring it and using the backward facing, I bit the bullet and set off on the walk to school with the Pluto and it was a revelation.
MUCH lighter than the buggy we had been using. Easier to steer and easier to get up and down kerbs. Joe seemed to love facing forward – happily spotting “Postman Pat” and attempting to direct us (“This way! Dot dat way!”) – and I only had to run round the front to check he wasn’t choking ten or twenty times…
Rainy days have been a bit of a problem – the Pluto doesn’t come with a raincover so first I used the universal cover I already had, but it was too flappy. Then I bought a Pluto cover, but Joe pushed and pushed it with his feet until the plastic separated from the edging and we had to throw it away. At the moment, we’re alternating between Joe holding an umbrella or just getting wet (he really doesn’t seem to mind!).
The buggy folds up easily (when I remember to unclip it, which oddly I hardly ever do) and opens even more easily (you can open it one-handed no problem, but you need two hands to fold it). It’s pretty compact when folded. The basket underneath is roomy and it has separate handles you can hang bags on. There’s a large pocket at the back of the seat below a mesh bit for peering through at the back of your child’s head (???). Oh and it reclines really easily – you can do it one-handed no problem, but then when the child sits up the back comes up with them and stays up. So if, for example, I was trying to convince Joe to stay lying down and go to sleep I wouldn’t have much luck, because each time he sat up I’d have to recline the seat again.
All in all, it’s a really great compact, lightweight buggy. And in a lovely shade of blue too.
(The I’coo Pluto is available from most high street retailers – we saw it on Mothercare in three colours for £190 )
Keris Stainton
OUT NOW! Jessie Hearts NYC <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jessie-Hearts-NYC-Keris-Stainton/dp/1408304287/containsmil04-21>
“A breezy summer rom-com, with oodles of New York glamour.” The Bookseller
Twitter @keris
My website http://www.keris-stainton.com
Girls ? Books http://girlsheartbooks.com
The Big Zeroes http://thebigzeroes.wordpress.com
Ready for Ten http://www.readyforten.com/users/Keris/posts
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Spotted! Lunch bag – it has an Owl on!
Plus that beautiful little Lunch Owl is PVC-free. Non toxic! Oh yes!
The soft bag has a roomy main compartment, an insulated, wipe-clean interior, plus an inside mesh pocket for an ice pack or a spoon.
Read MoreGoggles. Oh yes.
When we went to France, I took with me two children who, whilst enjoying being in the pool, were rather hesitant about the whole actual swimming deal. Boy is nearly 10, and can swim, but really rather hates getting his face wet. Jolly, 8, can’t quite swim, and will not, no way, no how, go under water for any reason, areyouinsane thank you.
So, what happens if you throw a couple of pairs of goggles ta them?
I’ll show you. This happens…
In case you didn’t catch that – look. LOOK!
It was amazing to watch their confidence just blossom and grow.
Boy is wearing the really uber cool Speedo Mariner Mirror Junior Goggles in Blue. They fit his rather narrow head perfectly, and never once shifted. he took a day or two to become accustomed – they are a snug fit, and narrow around the eyes, fitting tightly to the eye socket. But once he was used to them he never took them off.
Jolly is sporting the Cressi Fox Junior Goggles in ‘Dark’. Honestly? I though these looked a bit.. odd. Dame Edna Everage-ish after the sleek cool-ness of Boy’s. But actually – they’re really well thought out for children. The whole goggle is moulded out of a really soft rubber – they not only sit snugly, but they’re so soft there’s no ‘ouch’ factor when you put them on. The eye piece is wide enough to sit comfortably around the whole eye socket, and again is nicely soft – whilst being grippy enough to never slip. In purely practical terms, these were my favourites, and were perfect for an 8yr olds first pair.
By the end of our week, BOTH my non-swimmers were swimming like..um.. fish. Well, perhaps, one fish and one slightly startled turtle. But they were underwater and laughing, purely down to these goggles. Ace.
Read MoreSpotted! Utterly Fabulous Swing Seats. For Everyone. Oh Yes.

Yes - four children on one swing. No more afternoons spent listening to the charming sound of "Mumm-m-my-y-Y-Y, tell him it's MYYYYYY TURN"
We want, yes?
Yes.
We do.
Want know what makes it even better?

Thats Mummy AND baby on there. Oh Yes, you get to swing, not just stand and push. This Is A Better Plan..
What’s that you say? Nowhere to hang one from? Well, of course you can construct your own wooden swing support, but those clever people from The Swing have thought of that too…
There’s lifestyle ones for grown ups, there’s indoor versions, therapeutic versions…
We say never mind the children – get one for the grown ups. You never get too old for a play on a swing, huh?
Read MoreWave Boards – The New Playground Craze…
You know how from time to time there is that must-have thing with the kids? Well, at our school it is the wave board/rip board/skateboard thing and it’s Big. It all started when the German exchange students brought some for the school as a gift and now that’s all they want to do at break time and home time and all time.
My eldest actually decided to spend some of his hard-earned pocket-birthday-Christmas money on a classic waveboard. He spent about an hour researching it all on the internet and found a great website with good prices; www.waveboardsale.com. A happy wave-boarding boy he is now….
But, of course, whatever the eldest has the youngest has to have (slaps forehead) so a mini wave board with four wheels has been purchased (bless, he only had a third of the price in his piggy bank, he’ll have to work the rest off, no dishwasher emptying for me for a few weeks!).
Now, I don’t normally do blog posts about companies just because I’ve ordered something from them but I felt WaveBoard Sales deserved a mention because the lovely Paul has been such a great and patient help with me and my gazillion questions. Things like; if I get a 4 wheel model can I convert it to 2 wheels when his waveboard confidence has grown – the answer is yes, a little fiddly but yes. Also, are the helmets pretty much the same as decent cycle helmets – again, yes and further research has taught me that it’s all about protecting the back of their precious head.
Thanks Paul, great customer service should be applauded and here’s to many more wave board sales!
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Maxi Cosi Opal Car Seat Review
In general you have 2 choices of car seat styles for new born babies, a rearward facing one (which will last 9-12mths), or a forward facing seat that will last until the baby is 18kg or thereabouts. The advice from the government and most motoring organisations is to use a rearward facing seat while the baby is small as this protects their necks – clearly the downside of this is that the seat won’t last for as long and you’ll need at least 2 seats for your child. This is precisely the issue that Maxi Cosi are trying to address with the Opal which is able to switch between rearward and forward facing as your child grows. Nifty eh? But what’s it like in reality?
Well we actually have 2 car seats, this one and a traditional rearward facing. This made for quite an interesting test process because it enabled us to do a comparison between the 2 different styles of seats. We’d chosen the other simply because we were buying, and it was the cheapest seat that came with a base that is left in the car. The Opal is left in the car at all times so we never looked at it until LittleStuff asked us to review…
The Opal has lots of adjustment which enable you to get the chair to be the perfect fit; you can move the headrest up and down, there is a knob on the front which when twisted widens or narrows the seat itself and the seat belt straps are all fully adjustable. It also has very good padding and a removable insert used just while the baby is a newborn. All in all very impressive. The lady of the manor also noted that she liked the hooks on the side of the seat to hold the straps as you move your baby in and out.
We also liked the variety of colours that the seat comes in, particularly as it enabled us to pick one that matched our car (as does our Phil and Teds pushchair, but that’s a different story). Strapping it into the car was relatively simple, and there’s a nice illustrated guide stuck to the side of the seat for the men who will obviously not read the instruction manual.
On the downside the way that the car seat belt attaches to the seat means that you have to reach over or under the strap to get your baby in. Not always the easiest thing, especially if you are wrestling a very angry baby. Also, unlike most traditional rear facing seats, it doesn’t have any sort of sun blind built in – something we hadn’t really thought about until the recent balmy weather (you know, that one day of sun). So we ended up shutting a muslin into the window as a makeshift blind.
The final point is that the car seat stays in the car… this is both Good and Bad. It means you only have to fit it in the car once, which can never be a bad thing. But unlike the other seat you can’t lift your baby out of the car in the seat. So you run the risk of waking a sleeping baby and most likely spending the next 30 minutes soothing them while they scream (or is that just me?).
I asked Matilda what she thought of the Opal and she had a little dribble and fell asleep. Now I’m no expert in talking baby but I think that’s good. She certainly slept well while in it, and looked quite cosy.
If we’d seen the Maxi Cosi Opal when we were looking to buy a seat we would have seriously considered buying it. We don’t have a travel system pushchair so weren’t constrained by the type of car seat, and the fact that this seat can be used for much longer is in my mind a BIG selling point. But what I think it really boils down to is a trade off between having a seat you can use for more than a year vs. being able to remove the seat from the car with the baby in it (and using as part of a travel system if you desire). At the moment we use both seats, but once Matilda is a bit larger we’ll stick with the Opal only, and save the Cheap Seat for the next baby!
Visit the Maxi Cosi web site and read more about the Opal (and Maxi-Cosi’s range of car seats).
Read MoreLin & Leo Changing Bag. Simply Fabulous.
This Lin & Leo Changing Bag is a beautiful thing. A fabulous red with cherry print fabric lining, it looks and feels luxurious and has style oozing from every stitch. It was love at first sight for me, but to be sure I took it for a second opinion from the Mummy mafia. They all loved it too and I’ve noticed covetous glances aplenty and even the odd stroke of the soft leather.
There’s no denying of its loveliness, but with 3 kids and a dog I need more than just looks. A changing bag has got to be practical. This one has plenty of pockets, both outside for quick access to keys, mobiles and other essentials as well as inside for all the baby paraphernalia. I regularly pack nappies, wipes, nappy cream, breast pads, camera, various lotions and potions, a full change of baby clothes and some water into the bag and it all fits into the various pockets with some ease and space. An easy wipe changing mat is included which is also trimmed with the same cherry fabric as the rest of the bag, a lovely touch. The bag has shoulder straps for carrying over one arm, and an adjustable strap which means I can hang it over the buggy handle.
The negatives? Even without any of the essential baby kit inside it is a heavy bag. Once fully loaded (and because it is big, fully loaded does mean a LOT of stuff) it really is comparable to an upper body workout at the gym. If I will need to be carrying anything apart from the bag, I tend to leave it behind and cross my fingers it won’t be needed whilst we are out. The pockets are all made of fabric which means if there is any spillage of anything it will be difficult to clean. The fabric nature of the pockets also means that those looking for an insulated pocket to keep food in will be disappointed.
Overall though, this is a lovely bag, which doesn’t look like a changing bag. I’ll be using it for a long time after my boys are past the nappy stage. It is real quality, looks wonderful and I love it.
Did I say that I love it? Did I say that all my friends love it too and are secretly very jealous indeed? Good. *nods*
The Lin & Leo Changing Bag comes in three colours (there’s chocolate and tan too, just in case red isn’t your thing), and can be yours from Lush Baby for £139.
Reviewed by Goddess Emily, who usually resides at PantsWithNames
(We are finalists in the ‘Small Business Blog’ category of the 2011 MAD awards. This is hugely exciting for us, and means veryeversomuch a LOT. If you would like to help us win, you can see how here.)
Read MoreMamami Change Bag – Shortlisted for Junior Parenting Award

Have seen the fantastic baby changing bags from Mamami yet?! Rather ingenious we thought, just take a look at what this handsome bag (above) can do…..
How ingenious is that?!?! Oh, the frustration I have had trying to find the elusive packet of wet wipes whilst holding down a wriggly baby from rolling off a changing table. Just look at how accessible it all is! I’ll say it again.. ingenious!
In fact, it’s so smart that the Mamami has been shortlisted as a finalist for the Junior Parenting awards.
Read MoreHave Kids, Have TrayKit – Can Travel.
It’s always a problem, isn’t it? Keeping children occupied on long journeys. Sometimes you can’t avoid them (the journeys, that is – as far as I can tell, it actually IS impossible to avoid your children), and you just need them to be peaceful. We’ve done a fair number with ours over the years, and we’ve come to some basic conclusions – they need a bag packed with their own stuff. This needs to include a variety of (quiet) activities, but MUST involve pens and paper, and preferably some kind of MP3 player too.
But for small children, keeping said bag organised, within reach and holding it’s own contents (as opposed to randomly up-ending them) is a task in itself.
So I was a bit excited when I saw the TrayKit on Dragons Den – and even more when they wrote and asked if I’d like to see one for real. Have you seen them yet? They’re ace. no, really, they are.
These are not practical take-it-to-school bags, or suitable for Nursery trips either. No, these are simply fab at precisely what they were designed for – holding everything in the most practical way possible for journeys. A gazillion pockets are the first essential, which makes not only packing them exciting, but keeping them tidy when in use actually possible too. The fold-out flap is a genius idea, allowing a suitable desk for colouring working on no matter how short your reach, or how far away the seat in front is. The raised sides mean that those infuriating bloody oh-it’s-rolled-on-the-floor shouts are rarely heard, and the clever strapping mechanism means it can attach to any seat in front, whether it is car or plane.
The build quality is good (although I would have liked the velcro to be stronger and the ‘desk’ board to be more rigid, we had no issues with it doing its job so maybe that’s just me being picky), the fabric is wipe-able (THANK YOU!) and the colours are bright and appealing.
Best of all – the children LOVE it. Pink is nearly 4 and she nearly expired with joy at the sight of it, couldn’t wait to fill it, and has proved its worth on every car journey since!
The TrayKit can be bought here from Contented & Calm, currently priced at £24.99
Read MoreThe Grown Up ‘baby bag’ – The Storksak Jamie
The thing with Baby Changing Bags isn’t so much the design, these days – there are lots of them around, one to suit most people, and fewer and fewer are decorated with teddy bears. No, it’s more the fact that you only have a baby for a short period of time. But you have children for much MUCH longer.
My children are now 11, 9, 7 and 3 – and I still find that a normal handbag doesn’t quite cut it. Of course I can just get a roomy one. But that involves a heap of rummaging when there’s a toilet emergency (yes, at 7 and 9 they *still* have toilet emergencies), a snack is required or you need to find your sunglasses.
After years of having a bag with enough pockets for a filing system, an ordinary bag just doesn’t cut it for a busy Mum.
But baby changing bags will insist on looking like… baby changing bags.
And with no baby, not even a pushchair, is a tricky look to carry off with my usual chic stylishness *cough*.
But then those gorgeous babes at Babes with Babies suggested the answer may lie in a Storksak of the Jamie persuasion.
Not so! Said I. For tis a Man Bag. Not a me-bag.
Hush, they cried.
You Know Nothing, they sighed.
And sent it anyway.
Apparently, they were right.
I.
Know.
Nothing.
The Jamie Storksak is bee-yoo-ti-ful. The leather is the quality I would expect from any decent handbag (it even comes with the ultimate proof – it’s own dust bag. A sure tell that this comes in the ‘posh bag’ category, yes?).
It’s not ‘pretty’ – but it’s effortlessly stylish in a go-anywhere-with-your-bag-held-high fashion. The leather is so good it’s strokeable. The quality is unquestionable… but what about the practicality?
Well – it’s capacious enough to hold everything I needed for a day trip out with all four children. And I still had room for a handful of stones which HAD to come home with us. And a gorgeous red leaf.
It will hold a book for me while waiting in the after-school-clubs dead time.
But it will also file away neatly wipes, keys, sunglasses, phone, pens, notepad, hairbrush and clips (after 3 boys this is a new requisite for me with a pink 3yr old), 2 small dinosaurs and a bottle of water. All neatly filed and ready to hand.
I LOVE this bag. I do. It is grown up, stylish, of gorgeous quality and thoughtfully, perfectly, designed.
There’s just one problem.
The Husband’s eyes lit up with a proprietorial gleam when he saw it. And when I need it, it’s rarely where I left it – the contents will be there, but the bag itself is often to be found languishing near his desk, filled with HIS laptop and Boy Stuff (this is the first bag EVER to come into this house which he has seen fit to appropriate for his own uses).
So it’s a Man Bag too (I DO know something, after all). And he does love it very much, too.
I keep telling him to keep his hands to himself. This bag is mine, mine mine, and will be much loved by me for many MANY years to come.
Let the Bag Wars commence.
Read MoreSpotted! Playhouses. Oh, my, what Playhouses.
All children love a good playhouse, don’t they? Me, I had a blanket over my Mums clothes horse in the middle of the grass in the summer – or a blanket over the dining room table in the winter. And it made me very happy.
I do remember a friend who had a real live Wendy House though. Oh, the envy.
My boys are all keen for a tree house – how good they would be, how little trouble they would be, how many chores they would do, how clean would be their teeth… if only they had a tree house.
We have no trees.
So imagine their delight when they caught me gazing at the Playhouse Company website.
Small tremors of excitment ran through them, yelps of joy escaped as they jabbed their fingers at the screen, dmeanding closer looks of this one, and this one, no this one, no THIS one.
Sadly for them, I have no £5000 to spare on such a thing.
But if I had, I’d buy this one.
The boys? Oh they would rather have this one please.
And they would like to let the people at The Playhouse Company know that they are experineced and willing volunteers if any research or reviewing needs to be done. They’re your spies/knights/hero’s/army/club.
Read MoreSpotted! Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous bicycle *wants*
So the sun is out, we’re headed towards the summer holidays, and we all want to be outside as much as possible. But of course, a little dash of style here and there never goes astray – and I am a total sucker for a little vintage styling.
I really don’t get my bike out to pop to the shop (car if I’m in a raging hurry, walk if not), but I should.
And I so totally would if I had one of these to glide into town on.
Just take a few seconds, and look. Go on. Sta-a-a-re at it. Now tell me you don’t see yourself in a swingy skirt, riding around with some cloudy lemonade in your basket?
How deliciously perfect is that bicycle? (Oooh! Did you see? I have a mountain Bike. A ‘bike’. Great – but that there in that picture is a ‘bicycle’. Calling that a bike would be like calling my old spinster Maths teacher ‘Maud’. *shudders*)
Oh, and do you know what rounds off its sheer perfectness to another degree?
It’s called ‘Summer Picnic’.
*beam*
(Oh, and in case you’re wondering it was ‘Miss Dennis’…)
Read MoreHoppop Bag review – have you SEEN these?

I hadn't even seen these before, but I did have a little 'oooh!' moment when I did - and wished I had a child that was still small enough to warrant me getting one, actually.
Keris has been reviewing again (we think she only loves us for the review stuff, actually…), and this time she has been putting the Hoppop bag through its paces.
So. Hoppop bag. I’m afraid I don’t have a lot to say about this bag. It just does exactly as it says. It’s a bag and it’s a booster seat. You put the baby’s essentials in the bag and then at mealtimes, you sit the baby on the bag and, you know, feed it (the baby, not the bag). The bag zips open at the front, i.e. behind the baby’s legs, so even if you forget something, you can still reach inside and get it. The bag is rigid so nothing gets squashed and it’s also light so it’s perfectly comfortable to use as a bag too. At the back of the bag there’s a pocket with a folded changing mat inside and there are also side pockets for bottles or other extras PLUS pockets inside for organisation purposes.
The seat portion unclips easily (just two elastics around two buttons) and then you attach the seat to a chair (with an easily clipped strap) and the baby into the seat harness in the usual way. Once you’ve finished, all the straps tuck away. We’ve used it loads of times and Joe loves it. Well, Joe loves being fed, he barely seems to notice the seat at all, but that’s a good thing. It’s one of those items that I can’t believe wasn’t invented sooner and I don’t know how we managed without. (We even use it in cafes/restaurants where they have their own highchairs, since they’re often not all that clean. I mean, ours isn’t either, but at least it’s our own muck, eh?)
Bambino Direct have a variety of styles in stock, £40
Read MoreMamas & Papas Tour buggy review
When Piran reached six months old I was pleased to be able to use a lighter, umbrella folding style buggy for popping to the shops. The Mamas and Papas Tour is designed as lightweight solution for holidays and days out. It is easy to open and close and has a clip to keep it together. It has a carry handle and a shoulder strap which makes it easy to carry. Folded it is quite small and fitted easily into my boot with lots of room (and I have a small car!).
My particular favourite feature is the window in the hood that helps you see your child. The backrest lowers quite a bit compared to most buggies of this type I have seen which was great if we were out at nap times and the handles were at a good height. The rain cover was very easy to fit and when it was folded up it fits in a pocket on the back of the hood which is very handy. The shopping basket is quite big, but it is hard to get items in and out of it, and almost impossible when the backrest is reclined. My only other issue is that sometimes the steering is a little jerky, I think it is something to do with the front wheels but it is not a huge problem.
Overall I am really pleased with the Tour, and we have used it almost every day since we got it.
Currently £89 from Mamas & Papas
Review by Kelly (who usually lives at A Place of My Own)
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