Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

On Sunday afternoon Husband offered me the chance to go to the movies, read a book, do whatever I I wanted - just have some ME time.

I immediately went to bed. Curling up under my uber soft duvet, eye mitts on and ear plugs in, I drifted off into a peaceful, unbroken slumber. I awoke two hours later feeling like a new woman. This sadly, rarely happens. There was a time in my life where I regularly cat-napped. I'd come home from school, dump my schoolbag in the hallway and hit the sheets. I'd wake just in time for dinner. When I went to Uni, as often as I could, I'd squeeze in a little afternoon siesta.

Maybe I have European blood, and my natural body clock tries to force me out of the midday heat and into a nice cool daybed... Maybe I'm slightly more vampire than I realise... Maybe I'm just addicted to bed?

So, it's always been important to me to have somewhere uber comfy to rest my head. A piece of advice I was once given: get a good pair of shoes, and a good mattress - because you're either in one or t'other. Now, I haven't always adhered to this when it comes to beds (in student days and flat shares my mattresses were 'soft' to say the least) or indeed shoes. But the older I get (did I mention I turn 40 in 6 weeks - yikes) the more important I feel it is, to take this rule to heart.

Leaving shoes to one side (after all, some are designed merely to admire rather than for the purpose of walking - and as a woman, I am totally down with that - I call them 'taxi only' shoes), I thought I'd give you my bed lowdown, in case like me it is your favourite place on earth.

A good mattress may be down to personal taste - springs or memory foam, sponge foam, latex or waterbed? When we moved house 5 years ago, I plumped for memory foam, as I was tired of husband rolling into me - his weight greater and therefore him forcing the mattress to go lower and me constantly being rolled into him, like an unwanted guest constantly banging on the door at a party. (At first it was cute but after a while, not so much).

I'd heard that they take the shape of your body and so give greater support and ultimate comfort. Which they do - but Husband thinks they make him a bit well, hot. But for me, the support is second to none. The difficulty was trying to sort out what exactly I needed from a mattress - all the descriptions are so damn confusing... I went to this shop and lay down on every mattress in the there. Asked a million questions. Husband disowned me - he stood at the door pretending to take important calls. In the end, yes, I picked the most expensive one. But I could also have gone here : Oldrids and Downtown (a business started over a hundred years ago) or indeed here. 

Next up - a good duvet. All that tog business is a bit confusing - but ultimately here in the freezing UK you should be going about 4 for summer (what summer?) and 12 for winter.  I went for this one - which feels uber soft - but then, it is in cased in a duvet cover anyway - so why need the duvet itself to be soft? Duvet cover and sheets wise - if like me, you live in a hard water area - your linen is never as soft and delicious to touch as if you live in Ireland or somewhere that has soft water (no matter how much fabric conditioner you chuck in the wash) - but the key to a comfy sleep - is Egyptian cotton. Whilst I dream of owning these White Company ones, instead I got mine from Dunelm. It changed my life, honestly. I had never climbed into something silky smooth and relentlessly soft. Being enveloped in utter comfort.

Lastly - you need a good pillow. Personally I like something you can wash - all that drool seeps in the pillow itself, and no amount of pillow case washing will do. You can always count on good old John Lewis can't you? I have no idea why snow goose down is so ridiculously expensive - but me and feathers don't mix that well - so a cheaper, flatter pillow does me just fine. Some folk like to sleep like the princess on the pea, their pillows are so damn high - but I like 'em better when the life has been knocked out of them a bit. I've never really tried a memory foam pillow - or an orthopaedic one - but who knows, I may be missing out.

There is no point in me spending a fortune on fancy bedding - as my kids dive on my bed, my duaghter has pooed and weed on it at varipus stages of her young life - and last week she found a biro pen and proceeded to draw all across it. When they are older, I'll maybe invest in some quality stuff. I dream of bedrooms like the below pic - all serenity and soft lighting. In reality I have a mound of unread books and newpapers by my bed in a tidy if somewhat chaotic pile;  I rarely find matching pillow cases, and often ear plugs and eye mitts are discovered in the crevices; serenity it is not. Still,  Husband often complains the duvet is too hot - likewise the mattress - and he storms off to the basement. Hurrah! And then I have it all to myself.

My own little oasis of bliss. Quite honestly, there is nowhere I'd rather be. Goodnight!