Baked Cherry Toes!

Please excuse my feet! I just wanted to share with you my favourite nail colour of all time which is Baked Cherry Fast Finish Nail Polish by 17. I love it so much that when I was tidying up my box of polishes the other day I realised I had 3 bottles of it! It is a gorgeous deep dark pink, verging on red colour and its one of those hues that make me happy and cheer up a cold wet day! It applies really well and doesn’t chip for ages!

Anyone else ridiculously happy its Friday??

I just came across this and I had to share it! It sums up exactly how I feel today after an absolutely crazy week at work. I am so happy its FRIDAY! Whoooop! Anyone else feeling this way too?

Purple Ombre Nails

Ombre has been in fashion for a while and is being used in all sorts of things from dresses to decorating walls to nails. I really like this style and thought I’d have a little go at it myself, after having a massive tidy up of my nail polishes the other day, I realised I have a ton of different purple shades so I thought I’d have ago at ombre purple nails.

From Left to right / thumb to little finger:

The dark purple was in a random Christmas gift set that came with tons of polishes but doesn’t seem branded.

Nail Paint by Barry M in Bright Purple

Rimmel London Lasting Finish in Electric!

Rimmel London Lycra Pro Professional Finish in Ultra Violet

Nail Paint by Barry M in Chameleon Lilac

I am really chuffed with the final results! It looks fab and I’ve had tons of complements! I will definitely be having a go at this with other colours. Also I have to admit I am a massive culprit when it comes to buying a new polish and only using it once! By playing with different colours it has allowed me use some of my polishes that have been sat on the shelf for a while.

My Week: Sunshine, Diets, My Thyroid and A Dodgy Finger!

I don’t tend to post more than once in a day and I also don’t to share to much about me on here, however  I am in a sharing mood today so here goes!

I’ve been diagnosed with an under active thyroid for a few months now and I have to say when the doctors told me it was a massive relief. You see for a long time id been a bit of a mess, I was tired all of the time and I put on at least 2 stone. Emotionally I was a wreck, the only way to describe it was I felt like I was suffering with depression, I had no reason to be depressed but I felt so low. I’m normally quite positive and upbeat.  I also couldn’t process my feelings and would get a bit neurotic about things. I found it really hard and I don’t know how my family and friends put up with me! I’m very lucky that I am well supported and was encouraged to keep going back to the doctors in order to get a diagnosis.

Those who have a Thyroid issue will know that a diagnosis is only the start of the battle. I am on medication but it can only be increased slowly, every 8 weeks after a blood test. The tablets I am on are amazing, it’s really helped me to get back to normality but I’m still a long way from being on the correct dosage. It’s frustrating and hard going but I know in the long run I will get back to normality.

So during one of my checkups recently my doctor, who I have to say is a pretty ace bloke, and I discussed my weight. His current advice is not to worry about it at the moment as till I get the medication right I am unlikely to lose anything no matter what I do.

Hmmmm, well I don’t know what you guys are like, but when I get told not to do something it kind of makes me adamant to do. So I decided to join Weight Watchers. I am Fat, I would disclose my weight but I’m a little bit mortified by it so let’s just say I am fat! I’m not completely blaming the fact I have an under active thyroid as the reason for this but it is a massive factor. So far I’ve stuck to the diet religiously and am hugely surprised by the amount you have to eat! You get given a certain amount of points you can have each day and I struggle to get near that most days!

I’m not daft I know that I may not lose anything  but I want my confidence back and to feel good about myself again so my theory is if I can increase my fitness and get my diet right now, when my thyroid is levelled the weight should fall off.

So I’ve been doing it for nearly a week, I get weighed on Tuesday so I’ll let you know how I get on! I’ve also massively increased my exercise, for the last couple of weeks I’ve been doing something every day. I go rowing once a week, I’ve been venturing to the gym most days, a few exercise classes thrown in and Jillian Michaels’ 30 day shred DVD.  I have to say I am feeling so much better and so much more motivated than I have done in a long time!

I would love to hear if you’ve had a Thyroid problem, have any diet tips or tried Weight Watchers?

Also this week I managed to fracture my finger! I was playing basketball and went to catch the ball but it instead hit the tip of my fingers and shunted it leaving me with a nice fracture across my knuckle! I was adamant it was just bruised and had to be forced to go to A&E for a scan. I’m right handed and it’s my left hand, the ring finger, that’s broken so I didn’t think it would be much of a problem. You don’t realise how much you use your left hand to do things!! You don’t even think about it you just use your hand automatically so I have to be honest and say I’ve been useless at resting it and am definitely paying for it now. It’s very sore this evening! I have to head back to the fracture clinic next week and they will decide if I need an operation to put a wire in my finger, I am massively hoping I don’t! I just hope it doesn’t stay wonky as it’s my ring finger!

 

On a plus note, what a beautiful weekend we have had! Summer has finally arrived! I am a huge believer that the sun feeds you soul, everyone is so much happier and friendly when its blue skies and sunshine. I made the most of it and took the dogs for a long walk. Here are some pics.....

 

Apologies for the massive post! What do you think of me putting post like this up everyone once and a while?

 

 

Tea Cup Candles

 

 

Using the tutorial I posted a couple of weeks ago about making candles(Find it Here), I decided to have a go at making Tea cup candles. They seem quite popular at the moment and I think they are quite cute. I found some blue and white tea cups in a charity shop for 20p each. I then bought some wax pellets off eBay, however they seemed to take a lot longer to melt than the candles I cut up before. It was so easy to make these and I am so pleased with the results! I attached the saucers to the cups with glue, so they stay put.

 

 

I Dream of Travel...

Delilah Dust Jewellery

I love finding quirky little jewellery boutiques on the internet and I was really pleased when I came across Delilah Dust. They make a range of beautiful, original and hand crafted jewellery and its sooo cheap!!! I had to restrain myself to only purchasing a few of the items.

 Rainbow Druzy Necklace, £7

Dinosaur Necklace, £3.50

Dipped Raw Amethyst Necklace, £12

 

I have to be honest and say I had an issue as my parcel didn’t arrive so I had to contact Delilah Dust. They were brilliant and sent me a replacement which arrived 2 days later! Excellent customer service! When my items arrived, I was really surprised at how lovely all 3 of the necklaces are! I think I was expecting something a bit cheap, for the price I paid, however they are gorgeous pieces. They are each really different and are well made! As I’ve mentioned in previous posts I love anything with dinosaurs and I wasn’t disappointed with this little cute silver dinosaur necklace. I will definitely be purchasing more goodies in the future!

Revlon Nail Art Expressionist Review

Nail Art has been a big thing for a while now and if you’re anything like me and not that great at doing it yourself, you’ll be looking for any product that helps you to achieve the look without having to have the patience of a saint!

Revlon Nail Art Expressionist comes in 7 different colour combinations and I decided to purchase ‘ulterior motif’ which is a fab steel grey with a baby pink glitter. The concept behind this product is that you use the Grey shade on all of your nails and then use the Pink Glitter shade to make a design. The glitter shade comes with a very thin nail art brush that can be used to do any sort of nail art or detail work.

This products really easy to use that even someone like me who can't do nail art to save her life can create lines and dots easily and with little to no effort. The size of the nail polish is perfect. It is small enough that you can bring it on the go with you but there is still a ton on product and you will get a lot of manicures before the bottles are empty. I also love the colour combination, girly yet grungy. Very me!

On the down side the grey colour needs about 3 coats to match how it looks in the bottle. With three coats it takes such a long time to dry so you have to wait a while before you can use the pink on top. I hate waiting for polish to dry and this stuff took aaaaaages! Wasn’t a happy bunny with this as managed to smudge a couple of nails, and kept having to touch up.

The price for one of these is £7.99 which seems a little steep however it is easy to use and I would love to try some of the other combinations.

Big Boobs and Beautiful Bras

I have big boobs and fit in the DD+ category, I also love beautiful underwear, but the two don’t seem to go together! I don’t know how other ladies with larger assets feel but when it comes to bras I want something modern, fun and sexy. However all I get is thick boulder holder straps, Granny styles or no support at all. It’s a nightmare!

As I mentioned in previous posts, I spent Easter weekend up north in Manchester and we spent a day at the Trafford Centre shopping. My friend dragged me in an underwear shop and as usual I entered with a bit of a heavy heart, not expecting them to do anything in my size. However I was pleasantly surprised / shocked that they had bras in my size, and get this... they were hot!

Said shop is Boux Avenue, sadly they don’t seem to have any shops down south but they do have a website which you can check out here. I was ridiculously excited as not only were they selling bras in my size but they were modern, fun, lightly padded and perfect straps. Due to this I went a little bit mad a purchased a few pretty sets!

Here are a few of my favourite purchases, I think I might even treat myself on payday to a few more sets as a girl can never have too much pretty underwear!

Chloe Lace Balconette Bra in Neon Orange - £20

Chloe Lace Thong in Neon Orange - £8

Georgia Spot Mesh Balconette Bra in Turquoise - £26

Georgia Spot Mesh Thong in Turquoise - £10

 

I would love to hear from other lovelies about where you purchase your bras? Have you tried Boux Avenue?

Food: Salt and Pepper Chicken Recipe

I will put my hands up now and admit that I am not the best cook! In the past I have been known to set the kitchen on fire, I blame my short attention span, I can be easily distracted. Saying that, I do enjoy cooking and I love it when I come across a simple tasty recipe.

Over Easter, whilst I was visiting friends up north we had a naughty Chinese takeaway and I tried salt and pepper chicken for the first time. It was delicious but they don’t seem to sell it down south so I decided to look up the recipe and have a go at making it. I always a bit wary of doing this as it usually doesn’t taste as nice. I was pleasantly surprised when it actually was really simple to make, tasted better and was a lot healthier being homemade! I thought I would share it with you all as it is so tasty!

 

Ingredients

·     vegetable or sunflower oil

·     1 to 2 onions, sliced

·     1 green pepper, sliced

·     4 to 5 cloves garlic, minced

·     3 to 4 green and / or red chillies, sliced

·     1/2 to 1 teaspoon sugar

·     coarse sea salt

·     freshly ground black pepper to taste

·     breaded boneless chicken

What to do....

 

Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 25 mins

1.    Usually the breaded chicken takes about 20 minutes to cook in the oven, so put your chicken in first as it takes about this much time to cook the rest of the ingredients.

2. Put 4 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan or wok and place on a moderate heat. Add the onions and green pepper, and stir fry for a few minutes. Add the garlic and chillies when the onion and pepper have gone soft.

3. Stir until the onions have turned slightly golden, then add the sugar (start with 1/2 teaspoon; you can add more later if needed) 2 pinches of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Continue stirring until chicken is ready and turn down heat if needed; the ingredients in the pan should be a soft golden colour.

4. When the chicken is ready, cut it up into thick slices, place in the pan and stir it all together. The aim here is to get the chicken smothered in the all the other ingredients. Add more oil if you need to. If you don't think its sweet enough, add more sugar and garlic.

5.    Once the chicken has been covered with the mixture, serve up.

 

I served my dish with Noodles but it can also go well with rice or whatever takes your fancy!

Every Girl Awaits Her Prince Charming....

Golden Nails

As I mentioned in my Easter post, I spent the weekend up North in Manchester. The weekend was fab and we went out the Sunday night in Liverpool. I wore a cabolt blue dress from Topshop with gold accessories. To co-ordinate with this look I decided to paint my nails gold. I found this fab polish from Barry M Nail Paint in Foil Effects. I really loved the final look, it was easy to apply and quick drying.

Monday Motivation! #11

This made me giggle! I love it and think all females should abide by it!

Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick

I am on a constant hunt to find the perfect lip gloss and when I heard about Soap and Glory’s ‘Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick’ I just had to give it a try. I have to say I am really pleased I did! I purchased mine from boots for £8, which I thought was a little steep. I normally go for cheap brands for glosses as I am constantly trying and buying different ones.

The packaging is quite simple and I love the fact that it's in a retractable stick with a cap as it keeps it nice and safe whilst in the jungle of danger which is my handbag. I went for Plum Jar, which looked like a deep purple however as you can see from the colour swatch when put on it’s a lovely pink/reddish sheen. I was originally worried that it would be too dark but luckily it has a very subtle finish, and has left my lips looking tinted and super-glossy. It leaves a gorgeous natural colour on your lips and I will definitely be trying out the other shades.

The reasons I am impressed with this product is that it’s a very natural looking lip gloss and stays on for a really long time which is a refreshing change! The texture is glossy but not sticky at all. It kept my lips hydrated for most of the day. With this never ending cold snap we seem to be enduring my lips have been so dry and I found this gloss really moisturising. If anything the gloss feels more like a lip balm and feels comfortable on the lips like that of a balm. It doesn't taste of anything but has a faint vanilla smell.

I just wish they did more colours and it’s a little bit pricey but worth it I think!

Book Club: The First Last Kiss by Ali Harris

The Blurb

How do you hold on to a love that is slowly slipping away from you? Can you let go of the past when you know what is in the future? And how do you cope when you know that every kiss is a countdown to goodbye? This is the story of a love affair, of Ryan and Molly and how they fell in love and were torn apart. The first time Molly kissed Ryan, she knew they'd be together forever. Six years and thousands of kisses later she's married to the man she loves. But today, when Ryan kisses her, Molly realises how many of them she wasted because the future holds something which neither of them could have ever predicted...

The Review

How many kisses do we waste, brush away, throw away, and then, when they are no longer there, how many times do we wish that we could relive them all a hundredfold?

I don’t know where to start with this review! There is so much i want to say but i don’t want to give too much away! Its such a beautiful book that i so well written.

We start the book with Molly packing her things, preparing herself to move out of her house. The story jumps about in time, each chapter telling you about a different Kiss.  The First Last Kiss jumps about in time from Molly's teenage years through college, first jobs and her on/off relationship with Ryan. Those who prefer a linear narrative might struggle and I did find it was a book easy to put down in the first half. You have to keep picking up threads of different stories but it sucks you in as the book progresses. To begin with i was a bit worried i was going to find it too hard and confusing to follow, but any concerns soon disappeared.

The book portrays a very real life cycle of a relationship. The close-calls and arguments, the compromises and the realisation that growing up doesn't mean getting to live your dreams. Ryan isn't perfect but then neither is Molly. They have differences and Molly wants more from life than Ryan, something which drives a wedge between them. I really related to Molly as i often feel i want to achieve more or im not where i should be.

I kind of had an idea about what would eventually happen right at the start. Whilst it's not necessarily predictable, the tone of the current day chapters gave me an inkling. I did find that knowing Molly is alone at the start made me feel a little like I was waiting for the story to catch up. The last quarter was definitely the best for me but do be prepared to have hankies at the ready.

Ryan is the hot boy in town who takes a shine to her and she spends a lot of the book feeling unworthy of him. I love Ryan. Even though he is described as the guy that most girls want, he is written in such a way that he is the complete opposite of how these types of 'heroes' presented. He is in love with Molly, he is romantic without being sappy or 'wet'. In some ways he is a typical Essex lad who loves his hometown, his football and his family (not necessarily in that order) but he is ultimately committed to Molly and will do anything to make her happy.
I love Ryan.

The emotions in this book are very real and very vivid and extremely thought provoking and I absolutely loved the characters, I felt connected to them from the get go. I just loved Molly and Ryan and those kisses, each and everyone one of them!!

"I'll savour every single kiss from now until...not the end...until forever.
Ali Harris deals with the situations with so much realism that you can't help but be affected by them. This truly is a love story that will live with you for a long time after you've turned that final page. This book should come with a warning * tissues required *, oh and make sure you have cookies or ice cream, you will need comfort!

Benefit Cosmetics 'Fake Up' Event

 

Yesterday I attended my first ever bloggers event which was hosted by Benefit Cosmetics at Debenhams in Bournemouth. To say I was a bit nervous was an understatement! I have been a bit poorly lately and wasn’t feeling my best, it was the first time I met other local bloggers and I had no idea what to expect. Also I wasn’t having the best day, my naughty red setter puppy ate my kindle (seriously!) and the bumper fell off my car, and my intuition was telling me to just go back to bed!

On arrival my worries were soon all squashed and everyone was so lovely and friendly. We were greeted with wine, cakes and sweets (always a winner) and Alyson gave us a demonstration of ‘Fake Up’, whilst dressed in an awesome inspectors outfit! She gave us a full explanation of the product and we also got to see it in action.

 

I’m sure you’ve all heard about Benefits latest offering, ‘Fake Up’ by now! It’s been around for a while in the states and has been Benefits fastest selling product in the UK. It is a concealer aimed at being hydrating for the under eye area as well as providing crease-control. The centre of the stick is the concealer while the outer ring is nourishing Vitamin E and apple seed extract which moisturises. ‘Fake Up’ works at hiding dark circles and diffusing fine lines for a silky smooth, ultra-natural look. It leaves the skin looking gloriously glowing. It can also be used to conceal any other imperfections and with the darkest shade can also be used as a clever contour on the cheeks and nose areas.

After the demo, we each got matched to our perfect shade and yes I was naughty and purchased it! I have to say I’m pretty impressed, I’m always keen to try anything that will banish the dark circles from under my eyes but am usually disappointed as it either is just doesn’t work full stop or it creases. ‘Fake Up’ seems to work! No creases and is so soft on the skin. This product is definitely going to be added to my daily routine.

 

To finish up the event we all then had a look at the great products, and I got to chat to a few of the other bloggers there. Sorry if I didn’t get to chat to some of you, was feeling a bit shy! We were also each given a cute little retro gift bag which was filled with an eye mask, a sample of their Hello Flawless foundation and Bad Gal Mascara and cute little necklace.

 

I would like to say a massive thank you to Benefit’s Sophie and Alyson for being fab hosts and I can’t wait for the next event now!

Motivational Monday! #10

I want to go travelling and have wanted to this for a long time. I am pretty sure my friends are sick of me saying that but not actually seeming to go anmywhere! My problem is im rubbish at saving, always have been. But this year I am determined to get there, I need to for no other reason than for myself. I love this quote, it reminds me that I am the only person who is going to get me there, i cant rely on anyone else.