Hang on a sec, I just want to mention something. I've decided that with a baby brother (Peanut) coming along at the end of the year it's about time that DD had a proper name. So henceforth the toddler formally known as DD will be known as Curly Girl. Hope it doesn't cause too much confusion. Right, where was I...

With only a few weeks until Curly Girl has her third birthday I've started thinking about her party. Well, that's not entirely true. I've been thinking about this birthday party for a while. The invites are out. The cake has been ordered (Thomas the Tank Engine, via Tall Sis). The entertainer has been bribed booked for face painting and general keep-the-kids-amused-for-pregnant-Mum activities.

Last year we didn't really do too much. We'd just returned from China and a family BBQ, perfect in it's low maintenance, was the best solution. Of course it helped that we had a gorgeous sunny day, something I'm not banking on this year (although it hasn't stopped me from ritually sacrificing the odd umbrella in the hope it will tickle the Sun God's funny bone and get her to pop her head out).

As Curly Girl is still only three years old a low-key affair is do-able so this year will be a variation on last year's theme - family and friends, BBQ and kid's food with the addition of a bouncy castle (on sale at Tesco Direct) and some face painting and puppetry. Done.

But with at least 10 adults and numerous kidlets we need a good sturdy solution for holding the mountains of food and various crates of booze bottles of pop that will be needed to fuel this party. So I was very interested to review the Leisure Blow Moulded Folding Table from the Achica Living website. I'd seen the ads on tv for this online members-only luxury lifestyle store, but I hadn't browsed the site before. It's actually rather clever. Limited time promotions with exclusive prices and limited stock. The time left to buy ticks away next to each item. (It's a little bit addictive.)

Back to the table. To be honest I'd been wanting a table like this for a while after borrowing one from my next door neighbour. You just never know when you're going to need the extra space. (Usually I find it's when I don't have the extra space.) The table folds right down the middle and the legs fold underneath so that while it's an impressive 6 ft long (185 x 77.5 x 5.5 cm) opened up, it's compact enough when folded not to cause us problems in an already stuffed-to-bursting garage. There's also a locking mechanism for the legs for safety. Thank you Achica, it's perfect.

So, now the table's sorted, I just need to order the food and drink, buy a new longer table cloth, organise the party bags, decide what both Curly Girl and I will wear, work out where to put everyone and everything if it rains and generally get my shutzpah together. I feel another to-do list coming on...

Disclosure: Achica sent us a Luxury Leisure Blow Moulded Folding Table to review. We received no other compensation. Table images courtesy of Achica and Amazon.co.uk, cake image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net