Oh 2016, you beast...

Oh 2016, you fucker. Before you think I’m going to start on about all the celebrity losses we’ve had this year, fear not, that’s not where I’m going with this at all. I’m sat here in my pyjamas lamenting over the end of this year and what I want from life in general for the next one.

I feel like 2016 has been a bit of a blurgh kind of year, I wanted to say it won’t be one that stands out for anything in particular but after speaking to my sister who is pretty frank with me, it ain’t all been bad. The year started pretty awesomely with my 30^th birthday (I’m still horrified that I’m 30), I went with a big group of friends to Dublin for the weekend and it was such a blast! Full of Irish dancing, Guinness and laughs. I also met a man this summer and got my dream job in September which I am loving. However my mum has been seriously ill which has been stressful and had a big knock on to my own health. I’ve been poorly for about 3 months with my thyroid and have zero energy and motivation which has been horrendous as isn’t me at all.

Over all I feel that this year has been hard and a little stagnant and ive been pretty lost. So 2017, I’m coming for you, I want to make you a year that I remember for all the right reasons, that I laugh till I wet myself on a regular basis, that I spend time in the moment, that I appreciate all the small things. I feel that I have been ploughing through life lately with no real reason other than to get through the day. I want to stop and enjoy life and that’s the plan for 2017. Nothing big just being grateful for all the good things in lif

The Glasses Shop // New Specs

2016 has been the year I’ve had to bite the bullet and accept that I needed glasses (insert horrified face emoji here). I think a mix of using screens more and turning 30 has hit my poor blinkers and I’ve gone from having pretty ace eyesight to squinting whenever I try and read something!! If I didn’t cave and get glasses I would have needed a severe amount of Botox to get rid of the lines from trying to focus!

Anyway around the same time I decided to embrace being a speccy four eyes I received an email from the lovely folk at The Glasses Shop asking if I would like to chose a pair from their range and I just jumped at the chance!

The Glasses Shop has a huge range of glasses and sunglasses at pretty cheap prices! I was a little nervous about ordering prescription glasses online but the whole process was pretty easy. I decided to go for the Horace Wayfarer glasses in Tortoise shell which sells for $34.95. I just filled in my info and let them know my prescription for each eye.

I was really surprised they arrived really quickly from America and they are great! They are really good quality and very stylish. I think there fun and slightly quirky too. Very me! I am a little in love with them!

Have you ever ordered prescription glasses online before? I would definitely be doing this in the future! I felt a bit rushed when I was choosing at the opticians and there wasn’t much choice. This way meant I could take my time and find the perfect pair!

#BloggerSecretSanta

What feels like ages now, I signed for Char over at T Rexes and Tiaras #BloggersSecretSanta. I love a secret Santa, I find it so fun becoming a bit of a social media spy (I was going to say stalker but that makes me sound a little nuts!!) and figuring out what they may or may not like. I was given Hazel who blogs at World of Joy. Her blog is beautiful so would deffo recommend heading over there to take a peek! I decided to treat her to a little pamper package which you can check out on her blog here.

My own #BloggersSecretSanta parcel arrived this morning and it is so perfect!! I was this stunning Gin necklace – if you pop by here regularly you will know I am a huge Gin lover and my Santa got it so right! My awesome Santa was Alex at Eat Play Pixels and I would like to say a massive Thank You her! I love the necklace and am pretty sure its going to be one of my key accessories this holiday season!

Dorset Etsy Team Christmas Fair

I was going to write this post a few weeks ago but life got in the way! Decembers always super hectic for me and even with the best intentions I have been shocking at getting shit done! I am so behind its unreal! So I had a little debate with myself as to whether it was too late to write about this but to hell with it, I had a great day at this and wanted to share it with you all!

What am I waffling on about this time? Well let me tell you... As you may or may not be aware, I have my own Etsy Shop and a few weeks ago I attend the Dorset Etsy teams Christmas fair which was held in Wimborne and supported by Etsy Made Local. I had a stand for my shop Pearl Divine and had a blast. It was the first Dorset Team event I have attended and I was blown away by how friendly and lovely the other team members/stall holders were.

I was a bit nervous to begin with as wasn’t sure what to expect but I had such a great day and cant wait to sign up for next years event already! The event as a whole was a huge success with 70 stalls and with over 2000 people through the doors! The quality of produce available was immense and I feel really proud to be part of the team. There was so many talented stall holders and you can check out the full list of them here. I Would definitely recommend having a browse!

P.S as a bit of a thank you and as I’m super feeling in the holiday spirit I’m offering 20% off EVERYTHING in my Pearl Divine shop until the 31^st January 2017. Just use the code ‘ THANKYOU20 ‘ at the checkout! Go on you know you want to treat yourself....

Getting into the Christmas Spirit!

The one week countdown to Christmas begins!! Wahoo!! Love this time of year and I’m especially looking forward to the next week as I have lots of Christmas catch ups coming up! So this past week just gone I’ve been really trying to get in the Christmas spirit, so I thought id share with you what I’ve been doing to get in the Christmas mood...

First up, one of my awesome friends is an amazing artist and crafter and put on a wreath making class. It was two hours full of moth, holly and mulled wine. A ridiculously fun evening! I’ve never made a home made wreath before and am so happy with what I ended up with.

Every year I get Xmas themed nails and I love them! I usually go for bright and tacky but this year I wanted something a big more classy so went for black nails with white nail art and its perfect. Its understated and has a vintage feel.

I have a bit of a tradition lf making home made Gin which I then hand out as a present to various people This year I went for strawberry flavoured Gin and I’m really pleased with the results, it  is yummy! After a few months of brewing and agitating it, this week I was time to decent not bottles ready to hand out for Christmas.

We also finally put up our Christmas tree!! I went for a gold theme and It looks great, even if I do say so myself. I just had to share this photo, how cute do my puppies look framing the tree!!

Fifteen Festive Favourites

I bloody love Christmas and am beyond excited about it this year! This time last year I was in Australia and completely missed the build up to Christmas and that is my favourite bit! So I am planning to make the most of it. I’ve really been reigning it in nut now its officially the 1^st December I feel like I am going to completely go all tinsel and fairy lights on everyone! I have seen this ‘Fifteen Festive Favourites’ on a few blogs lately and thought I would share mine with you all....

1.       Favourite Festive Food

Turkey dinner with all the trimmings! My dad makes the best roast dinners and his Christmas dinner never fails to disappoint!

2.       Favourite Reindeer

Rudolph – he has a shiny nose and he saved Christmas!

3.       Favourite Day of Christmas

Christmas eve – its full of excitement and dropping off presents to friends. Such a magical day!

4.       Favourite Christmas Song

This is the easiest question! It has to be ‘Fairy-tale of New York’. It is THE best Christmas tune!

5.       Favourite Present

My friends got me a The special edition set of Harry Potter books a few years ago anf it meant so much to me and showed how well they knew me.

6.       Favourite Festive Film

Its a wonderful life – its not Christmas till I’ve watched it.

7.       Favourite Festive Cracker Toy

Tje fish that can read your emotions! You know the one where the head and tail curls up? Always provides a few minutes of entertainment.

8.       Favourite Cracker Joke

What does Miley Cyrus have at Christmas? Twerk.....

9.       Favourite Christmas Decoration

This is a tie between fairy lights and the big star on top of the tree.

10.   Favourite Christmas Candle Scent

‘Snow in Love’ a Yankee candle scent.

11.   Favourite Christmas TV Advert

The Coca Cola advert!!! Its not Christmas till this has popped up!

12.   Favourite Festive Tradition

I’m not we have any particular traditions but getting everyone together on Christmas day is pretty special.

13.   Favourite Place to Spend Christmas

Anywhere all my family are! I think its more about the people rather than the place.

14.   Favourite Christmas Fact

The chances of us actually having a white Christmas here in the UK is 1 in 10. I think that’s not too bad, I would love a white xmas!!!

15.   Favourite Snowman Accessory

Aww it would have to be his coal buttons and coal eyes – cute huh!

Beating SAD

I was diagnosed with SAD (seasonal affective disorder) around 2 years ago also known as the winter blues. I really struggle once Autumn hits but this weekend it's worse than ever! I've had a to do list I really wanted to tackle this weekend but yesterday I pretty much slept all day. I have zero motivation at the moment, I feel low and exhausted and it's hard, real hard. If you know, this isn't me at all and I like to be busy and social but right now I just want to hide under my duvet. So this is why I'm sat in front of my computer screen, I want to tackle this head on.  No medical expert but I know what helps me and who knows it may help one of you too. I feel if I put pen to paper or in this are print to screen, I have a plan and it may help so here's how I'm gonna stand up to my SAD this week....

1. Fix my lumi light! - if you haven't heard of this these then your missing out! It's a light that wakes you up with a fabricated natural light instead of an alarm. It's fantastic and does really help! I know what your thinking though.... If it really helps why isn't it working now? Well my friend, because I've been feeling so shit I haven't even had the energy to change the time settings on it since the clocks went back a few weeks ago now so it's been out of action. That's how unmotivated I've been. So tonight I'm gonna push myself to sort it out and fix it!

2. Running - since autumns kicked in my runs have gradually come to a halt. I've got my first half marathon in March and really need to have a giant kick up the arse!! The wonderful thing about SAD is you feel exhausted so I've barely done any of my usual exercise so I've gone from 6 gym sessions and 3 runs a week to just 2 gym sessions. This is bonkers as I find exercise really clears my head, is my number one stress reliever and I get such a buzz after it. So this week I'm gonna really push myself and run every other day. 

3. Diet - so when you feel lower than low you either don't want to eat at all or want to eat EVERYTHING and I mean everything wrong! These last few weeks I've either not eaten or just been eating toast, crisps and sausage rolls and for someone who tries to eat mainly clean and unprocessed foods it's definitely playing havoc with my body! I feel massively bloated - I am literally one Dorito away feel someone asking when my food baby is due! I know it won't be helping my energy levels either so this week I'm cutting out the junk and furlong myself properly...

4. Relax! - I get super stressed and pissed off as I like to get things done, to be busy, to achieve things but when you have SAD getting out of bed is a huge achievement let alone doing anything else. I need to let that go, listen to my body a bit more and chill!

5. Embrace Autumn! - ok so I actually really like this time of year. I like the autumn evenings, the chill in the air, the pretty colours of the leaves. I just hate the way having SAD makes me feel. But do you know what it is the time of year for hibernating and cosying up at home and I think I need to be cool with that! I run around like a blue ass fly most of the time so actually maybe my mind is telling me to switch off.

Wish me luck with this!

Life Lately...

I haven’t done a life lately post in so long! I really enjoy doing them so thought I would throw one T you guys today! So here’s what’s been happening in my word lately!

1.      Game of Thrones – okay so I am like 10 years behind everyone but I’ve finally got round to watching this awesome show and I can’t believe I waited so long! I have real issues sitting and watching box sets when the weathers nice and I can be out. I get such bad FOMO. This leads to a massive ‘to watch list’ ready for the autumnal months when all I want to do I hibernate! I don’t feel as guilty hiding away at this time of year. Anyways, I’ve just finished season 3, my gorgeous Rob Stark has just met his death and I’m traumatized and unsure if I can carry on. However I’m assured it keeps getting better and better, I just need to learn not to get attached to ANY characters!

2.      Leopard Print- I bloody love leopard print and always have, however I feel this may have escalated lately! I picked up this gorgeous faux leather jacket from New Look the other day on a whim. Its a beauty, I love the leopard print collar. I’m definitely going to be adding to my leopard print collection over the next few months..

3.      Arrow –  another box set I’m indulging in...  I am half way season through season 3 and have the worlds biggest crush on Oliver Queen -he is FIT. If you love a good old vigilante story then I definitely recommend this for you! He’s topless ALOT which also helps!

4.      Fireworks – or autumn in general! I suffer from SAD so really struggle brain wise but still love all the aspects of autumn especially fireworks night! I love a good fireworks show and last Saturday was no different! I went down to our local beach with some friends to watch a display. It was a great evening. There’s something very magical about fireworks and k love the cold crisp air of this time of year.

5.      CHRISTMAS -OMG I am beyond excited for Christmas already!!! I have started Xmas shopping and have been writing my Christmas cards already! This time last year I was on a beach in Oz which was awesome but I really missed the build up to Christmas which I love way more than the actual day itself! So I am planning to make the most of it this year!

6.      Diet Coke – if you follow this blog on a regular basis you will know I have a slight addiction to diet coke... I drink waaay too much of the stuff but you can currently buy Diet Coke and do a bit of a good deed in doing so as Diet Coke has paired up with Asda to support Tickled Pink, to raise money for Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Now. I cause that means a lot to me. They have 58,000 limited edition 30 can Diet Coke multipacks available exclusively in Asda and 40p from each purchase will go towards Tickled Pink... so if you fancy a doing our bit, pick up a pack!

Top Tips for Organising a Hen Do!

 This summer I organised a hen do for one of my gal pals. I have been to many a hen do but this was the first time I organised one! We ended up having a weekend away at a beautiful lodge with a hot tub and we spent the day at a spa. It was perfect and everyone had a fabulous time! However being the organiser was an eye opener! It made me realise some people are pure bonkers, I am waaay to polite and people love sharing their opinion.... so I thought it would be fun to share a few tips, words of wisdom if you will, for anyone who may have the pleasure of organising a hen do themselves sometime soon....

• find out what the brides dream hen do entails, if there was something she hates or something she has always wanted mow is the time to find out! I was told no willies from the start!

• Its not about you! Put your perfect weekend/night out into your back pocket and leave it there. Its all about the beautiful bride!

• Its the little things – I surprised the bride with a personalised ‘bride to be’ dressing gown and slippers at the spa and a got her a customised ‘mrs..... to be’ pj set! She loved it and those touches made it seem a lot more special.

• find out if there are any ‘tricky’ invitees. If they are all your mates and you know them well then you are very jammy! I had to deal with friends and family I had never met and who deemed it appropriate to ring me at 6am to tell me they refused to share a room with certain people! Real story.

• know your hen party! I had to cater for mums and god mums and was warned blow up willies were a no no! My bride was also tee-total so going to a cocktail making class (as one of the other bridesmaid actually suggested!!!) was a no go!

• Sort out the money early on! For two reasons – you don’t want to be left out of pocket and you don’t want the cost for everyone else doubling! Work out a total cost early on and add a few pounds on to cover any extras. So everything was paid for a couple of months in advance and included everything! Trust me this will save you so much agro later on!

• Have a plan before contacting everyone. Giving options is a terrible mistake! People have an opinion on everything, no one will want to do the same thing and everyone will want a different price range. Give a plan and limited options! All for an easy life!

• Have a back up plan – make sure you have a few spare games to play if you need to fill any time up as well as make sure you have a back up plan for any activities just in case anything goes wrong!

• And finally the most important tip I can give you is to learn to smile and bite your tongue! You cant please everyone, just focus on making the bride happy!

Pretty in Pink // Bedside table upcycle

I love checking out upcycling projects on Pinterest and various blogs and I love a good crafting session, however I’ve never been brave enough to take on a piece of furniture and upcycle it myself. This is, until now!

My poor bedside table was purchased from B&Q about 8 years ago and has followed me round many numerous accommodations’ and as you can imagine was looking a little battered! The white paint on the top surface was peeling off and compared to my other pieces of furniture (its a giant mish mash of various pieces) it didn’t really fit anymore. So I decided to challenge myself and see what I could create, I figured it couldn’t look any worse than it already!

I’ve got a thing about the colour pink at the moment, after many years of being a tom boy I am finally embarrassing the colour and I love it! I’ve unconsciously been gaining more and more pink things for my bedroom and it now got a pink and grey theme happening. So I decided to fully embrace that and incorporate it into my cabinet. I therefore chose to go for a baby pink base with a marbled top.

To get the look, I decided spray paint would be a lot easier than actual paint, which I think is true but you may get a nicer Finnish with paint? Unsure on that one! I was patient, very unlike me I know and used a spray paint primer as a base. I did a couple of coats of this to make sure it was even. Once the primer was dry I then used the pink spray paint, and did three coats over all. I think finished it with a clear gloss top coat.

For the top I found some marble print laminate sticky paper in B&Q. I absolutely love this stuff and think it looks fab! It was quite easy to apply, you just need to make sure you squish all the air bubbles out!

I love the final look so much! On pay day my plan is to treat myself to a industrial style pink table lamp to Finnish off the look! What do you all think? Are you an upcycler?

20 Reasons Why I LOVE Autumn!

Source

1.       Halloween!! I love any excuse to dress up and party! I am currently prepping my little red riding hood outfit – think the grimms brothers rather than Hans Christian Anderson....

2.       Fireworks – one of my most favourite things ever! I love a good fireworks show, there’s something very magical about them!

3.       Log fires – cosy and romantic

4.       Candles – I love snuggle evenings with lots of candles lit around the room. There set such a relaxing mood.

5.       Lazy days

6.       Netflix- am I the only person who can’t do Netflix binges in the summer as I feel too guilty being inside on a nice day?! Although that all changes at this time of year!

7.       Autumn leaves, the colours of the trees are pretty spectacular

8.       Blankets and lots of them!

9.       Chai Lattés – forget hot chocolates this is what autumn is all about...

10.   Crisp air – its so fresh and energising

11.   Wrapping up warm

12.   Berry lips and Smokey eyes

13.   Pumpkins

14.   Fuzzy socks

15.   Wellies and long walks

16.   Thick winter pyjamas

17.   Cosying up with a good book

18.   Oversized jumpers

19.   Darker evenings

20.   CHRISTMAS IS ONLY WEEKS AWAY!!!!

Firstly, hello! Is anyone still out there? If so how are you? And boy have I missed you! I don't think I've properly blogged in over a year. I've tried dipping in and out in that time but nothing's really inspired me to keep at it. I love blogging so much but life has just massively got in the way and blogging always felt like a big commitment and as I couldn't commit to it as much as I liked I stopped. Which is silly really as blogging was always a good outlet for me and I shouldn't put so much pressure on myself about it.

Anyways, where have I been? Well let me start with where I am now. I  currently lying on a bed in Portugal on day 3 of a 10 day holiday feeling pretty sorry for myself. For the past 24 hours I've felt pretty rough. I've got a really horrible headache and keep getting dizzy spells and I feel exhausted. I think I'm just ill but I keep wondering if I've just burnt myself out lately and it's led to this. My anxiety is back with a vengeance too which I haven't experienced in a long while and I feel ridiculously low.

So what's led to this? Well I think a huge number of things. I genuinely can't remember the last time I had a weekend off, one where I could be lazy and do nothing. Life has beyond hectic, I have 3 jobs, there's been friends wedding, hen parties to organize, I care for my mum and I also work out on average 8 times a week. I've also started seeing someone I really like but it's long distance so I've been questioning that tons. My brain feels like it's going to implode. I am exhausted.

And all of this makes me laugh, as non of its things I don't want to do. However I feel like I'm working my backside off and still getting nowhere. I'm 30 and live in my parents loft. I'm skint, like ridiculously skint and I feel like I'm stuck. I'm at that age where all my friends are getting married, having babies and buying houses. Which is awesome but I'm nowhere near any of that. Which is not necessarily a bad thing but I'm also hugely aware that my life isn't moving forward.

So therefore I've arrived on holiday with my lovely friend and her son and I think it's hit me with an almighty whack. They've gone to the beach and I'm laying in bed feeling sorry for myself. I feel like I can't switch my brain off and that trying to stop and chill out is so unknown to my body that I'm
In this mess. I'm hoping a day of rest, naps and lots of water will do some magic and tomorrow I'll be as right as rain.

What a messy first blog post back in a while! I forgot how therapeutic getting my thoughts out into this little space on the Internet can be.

BOOK CLUB: The Book Swap!

So if you’re a regular here at Lipsticks and Lashes you will know I adore sending lovely things in the post and I am also a complete book worm! I can’t think of anything better than getting lost in a book, I adore it. This has also lead to piles of books filling my house!

Around this time last year here on ‘Lipsticks and Lashes’ I ran a book swap and had so much fun doing doing so that I thought I would do it again this year! This concept stemmed from the fact that I am always keen to find new books and authors that I will fall in love with and putting all of this together I had a bit of an idea! A rather glorious light bulb moment!

LET’S DO A BOOK SWAP!!

So here’s the plan... I will collect everyone’s info and I will then email you a person who you need to send two books too. I will try and match you to someone who has similar tastes, this may not work completely but I will try!

So TWO books – the first has to be one of YOUR favourite ever books, one you want to rave about and share! The second is to be one you think that person may enjoy and suits their tastes.

With me so far?

The two books should be ones you have at home and are just passing forward. If you spot a cool book in a charity shop you think your person may enjoy then that’s great too. I don’t want this swap to cost much money – ideally the only pennies spent should be on postage!

So want to join in?

Send an email to whatsinyourmakeupbag@gmail.com with the following info...

Name:

Address:

Favourite Book:

What genres do you like to read?

What authors do you love?

Are you happy to post internationally?

You have till the 29^th May to sign up, ill then email you who you’re going to be sending to... you won’t be receiving from the same person you’re saving to! 

The Bloggers Snail Mail Project - Sign Ups For The Spring Round NowOpen!

Welcome to the Spring round of The Bloggers Snail Mail!! Wahoo! I love this project so much and I’ve met so many awesome bloggers through this project and want it to continue in 2016 so spread the word, tell all your friends, let’s make this a round to remember! 

So here is how it works: A quarterly gift exchange where you can meet other bloggers from around the world and spread a bit of positivity! People get paired up in February, May, August and November. During the sign up period, every participant will be paired with one other new participant and you’ll spend a few weeks becoming BFFs (i.e. reading each other’s blogs, sending happy e-mails, you name it!). After that, you’ll send your partner a gift from your country that you think they may like from the info you now know about them. There’s a £5 limit on the gifts to make this project as affordable as possible. Be as creative as you can and make it meaningful! Motivate them, tell them all the beautiful things you learned about them, and make them feel special! We could all use a little encouragement, especially from our new friends. Also, each package should include a postcard (or a letter if you can’t find one!) with some motivating love or positive words of wisdom written all over it.

So to sign up for the ‘The Bloggers Snail Mail’ you just need to send an email to whatsinyourmakeupbag@gmail.com, title it ‘The Bloggers Snail Mail’ and include in it your name, where you are from, and your blog! Sign ups will be open until the Friday 29^th April. I will then randomly match you all up aiming to make sure you are with someone from another country or at least in another area from you! I will then let you know by Monday 2^nd May who your partner is and you then have 4 weeks to get to know them! So the week of the 30^th May, you can then send your new buddy their Snail Mail

Once you receive your gifts, write a blog post about your experience, sharing what you gave, received, and learnt through this being part of this and meeting your new pal.

If you want to tweet about this project, use the hashtag #TheBloggersSnailMail, You can also tag me @GemmaMarieJames and ill retweet your post, so everyone can share your experience!

Please only sign up if you definitely are willing to take part and if you want to be matched with someone from the same country as you to save on postage then please let me know!!

Also please share this post and let all your friends know about this project, it would be great to get as many people involved as possible!

Health & Fitness Roundup - March

You may remember my ‘Health & Fitness Roundup’ posts from the beginning of last year, well they are back! I found it super helpful to put out there how I’m getting on and it helped me to keep focused.

I have been over weight for a long time, I have an under active thyroid which doesn’t help matters but at the end of the day I have eaten way too much of the wrong things! It definitely affects my confidence and self esteem and I don’t want to live like that anymore. Over the past year I have massively got into my fitness but my nutrition lets me down and has meant the weight doesn’t budge much. I want to feel fitter and healthier, I want to feel confident in my own skin. So each month I am going to share with you all how I am getting on, so here goes...

Food...

I feel like I have finally seen the light with this one! I have started eating clean, meaning my diet mainly consists of single ingredient foods and no caffeine, sugar, wheat or alcohol. I stuck to his religiously before I went to Australia and lost a stone. I also found that I felt a thousand times better, I had more energy, my eczema disappeared and my thyroid levelled out. It was amazing! But then Australia, Christmas, my30^th and a mass of social occasions happened and I fell off the wagon big time. Nightmare! However I’m finally back on it and have been pretty good this month up until the last week as I’ve been on leave and do you know what, I don’t want to not be able to have a life, so I’ve been pretty naughty but I’m ready to go back to being good next week. I’ve also been doing a massive food prep session on a Sunday evening so I’m all ready for the week ahead. As I juggle 2 jobs I find that I’m sometimes in a rush or too tired to go so I eat crap on the go, so prepping for the week ahead I have no excuses any more! I think I’m also going to post some of my clean recipes on here to share with you all!

Exercise...

Boot camp x 8 sessions

Physiques x12 sessions

Runs x 12

I’m still doing my boot camp which is a circuits class, I do 2 sessions a week and I’ve been doing it for over a year! I think its the longest I’ve ever stuck at any form of exercise! The guys who run it also run a physiques class which is a ladies weight lifting class which I’ve joined and been doing 3 times a week. Before this I had never lifted weights in my life and I LOVE IT!!

I’m also still going at the running, I’m horrendously bad at it!  I really wish I could improve but I am so slow and regularly have to stop and walk 1whilst other runners lap me! Mortifying! Saying that though, I’ve signed to do another 10k this summer and I’ve signed up to do a half marathon in October, bonkers I know!!! I can barely run 5 k at the mo but I need to have aims to keep me motivated!

I’ve also signed up to do another tough mudder at the end of April, I loved it last year it was such an amazing experience! However everyone I’m doing it with are amazing runners and I’m terrified I’m going to be left behind!

Progress...

Chest:   -0”

Hips:  -2”

Thighs:   left -0.5” Right -0”

Bottom: -0”

Arms:  Left -0” Right -0”

Waist: -0.5”

Weight loss this month: 6lb

Total Weight loss: 6lb

I am pretty chuffed with this month’s progress! On average I’ve not lost many inches and I’m 6lbs down! Over all I need to lose 4 stone, I am hoping I can achieve this by the end of the year, fingers crossed!

Blogging and me...The Breakup?

View from this mornings run - beautiful morning here in Weymouth!

Blogging and Me... The Breakup?

I was about to sit down and start this post with what’s become a bit of a familiar starting point around here....sorry I’ve not blogged in like forever... waaaa what a shit way to start a post and it got me thinking, whys it become such a regular point round here?

Have I fallen out of love with blogging? Can I still be classed as a blogger when my posts have gone from 3 times a week to once a month or sometimes even longer? Even worse, have me and blogging split up? Is this a break up?

Lets start from the beginning, I started blogging 3 and a half years ago and up until a year ago I was hooked, if I wasn’t writing a blog post I was either taking photographs for said post, joining in all the twitter blog chats or sending and receiving blog emails. It was BLOG LOVE central over here! When I started blogging I wasn’t in a great place, I was bored, lonely and if I’m honest, completely lost. It sounds cringey and dramatic but blogging kind of saved me. Honest to god, it really rescued me rom a dark place. Blogging gave me a massive confidence boost, it gave me that creative outlet I was desperately in need of and gave me a sense of purpose.

Over the past year I have been spending more and more time focusing on my fitness and this has left less time for my magical little space on the internet. My life has been work, gym, sleep, repeat with a good spoonful of socialising thrown in for fun. Life has been pretty grand.

I know this post is starting to ramble but I think its a personal post for me to clarify my thoughts and feelings and I guess I’m trying to figure out if bloggings done its job in my life and we are over? I truly believe we are blessed to have things come into our lives a the right moment and that sometimes its for a certain purpose and when the jobs done off it pops again. Has blogging given me the boost I needed and now I no longer need it?

I don’t think I’ve fallen out of love with blogging as I still read blogs every day and I have a long list of post ideas that I’m constantly adding too. Its just time and that horrendous guilt feeling of not spending enough time as I would like writing. I do finally have a new laptop so I can spend a bit more time online now which is a bit of a blessing.

I think perhaps me and blogging have been on a break and I’m going to start dipping my toes in, having a few dates with it and see how I get on! I don’t want to give up on blogging  just yet, I just need to take the pressure off and remember what u love about it!

I would love to hear If you've had a bit of a waiver with blogging?

30 before 30 Bucketlist -Did I Complete It?

HOLY SHIT! I’ve been 30 for 2 and a half weeks!! Waaaaaaah!! This absolutely terrifies me as for numerous reasons. I think this is partly due to the fact I think in my head I’m still 17, I certainly don’t feel mature enough to 30. 10 years ago if you asked me what I thought I would be doing ten years from now my reply would have been along the lines of ‘be in a job I love, own a house, married with babies’, damn you Disney for making me want the fairy tale! Instead of any of this I’m now 30 and live in my parents loft and am in a bit of a rut. I guess I also thought I would have achieved a lot more by now. Don’t me wrong I have no regrets, I don’t believe in them and have had the most awesome experiences, travelled to some incredible places so I really can’t complain. My life is pretty great I just need some changes and new challenges and that’s where this 30 before 30 list stemmed from.

I also better state for the record that turning 30 is definitely not the end of the world, it has been ridiculously fun so far and I think I am going to like my flirty thirties. I am feeling confident and happy and can’t wait to see what the future holds!

So if you’ve been a visitor to Lipsticks and Lashes for a while, you will know that for all the reasons above, a year and a half ago I created a bucket list of 30 things I would love to achieve before I turn 30. It was a wide variety of things that I have wanted to do for a while but for whatever reason have been a lame ass and haven’t done yet. They were all things that I felt would help me make the most of life and make me a better person. Now I am 30 I thought id better give you all the low down of how I got on with completing my bucket list, so here’s where I got to…

1. Start dating...  yeah, so, umm, I went on numerous dates and they were all a bit disastrous and I am pretty adamant now there are no nice men on dating websites, they are either bonkers, needy or just wanting to send you willy pictures. So anyone know where I can meet a nice, funny, handsome man without going on tinder or pof then please shout! All tips greatly received!

2. Go indoor skydiving. I so nearly did this a while back when I was in Manchester! Sadly there just wasn’t enough time to do it! I’m going to definitely ass this to my 40 before 40 list!

3. Cook one dish a week from scratch... I smashed this one! Wahoo! Over the past 6 months I’ve really embraced clean eating and am feeling so much better for it! My eczema has cleared up my under active thyroid seems to have levelled out and I have so much more energy. This means I am cooking from scratch, I usually do a massive batch cook on a Sunday now so I can’t slack in the week when I am juggling two jobs and don’t have time to cook.

4. Say yes more! To any opportunities that come my way. – This is an ongoing one and I think I’ve been embracing it pretty well! It’s a great way to put myself out there more and I have had so much fun doing this! I do love this one and it’s definitely going to be continued, it’s pushed me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to experience new things.

5. Learn to long board – I have a long board and am working on it! I am a giant wimp and keep jumping off before I think I’m going to fall off! I have zero sense of balance so it’s been fun! I even had a little skate crew going in the summer which was so much fun, especially when we followed it with hot chocolates in the pub garden!

6. Try a roller derby – Failed this! Boo!

7. Visit Disney World in Florida. Hmm I think this one will be scooting over to my 40 before 40 list as I had no funds to pull this one off! Or any annual leave left to take it with for that matter!

8. Start a ‘grateful’ diary and record 3 things I am happy for every day. – So I started this one but then kind of failed miserable! I just keep forgetting to do it! It has made me realize how important it is to take a moment every so often to appreciate things a bit more, especially when I’m having a bad day!

9. Buy a house – Nope definitely not done this, still in the parents freezing loft….

10. Try Paddle boarding. – Tried it and loved it! Can’t wait for summer to try it again!

11. Start a successful Etsy Shop – a work in progress! Its up and running now (Check out Pearl Divine here) and I am constantly adding new bits, so I hope with hard work it may become successful!  

12. Write a book – I’ve started writing and I love it, just wish there was hours in a day so I could get more done!

13. Live abroad for a month – COMPLETED!! This was awesome! I spent last November in Australia (Blog posts coming soon, I promise!) and it was magical! I spent two weeks on the Gold Coast for a friends wedding, a week in Sydney a week in Ayres Rock and a week in Melbourne. To say I am still suffering with post holiday blues would be an understatement!

14. Get down to a clothing size 12 – I have dropped a stone and a dress size but still not near a size 12, however I am feeling a thousand times more body confident than when I first wrote this, which I thinks an achievement in itself!

15. Run a 10k – COMPLETED! In a respectable 1hour and 20 mins! My next challenge is a half marathon…. From someone who couldn’t run 2 minutes without collapsing when I started in May last year, I am pretty pleased with this one!

16. Do a painting on a canvas – I am behind with this one! I have bought a canvas and some neon acrylic paints!! I can’t wait to have a play with them. If it looks half decent I might even share the final painting here!

17. Go to a music festival – COMPLETED!! I went to a small festival called Blissfield’s last weekend for a friends hen do! I had the best time and determined to head to a few more next year!

18. Visit Machu Piccu – Lack of funds mean this hasn’t happened… YET! Its definitely one I have to do!

19. Fall in love and be loved – see no1

20. See the northern lights – not yet 

21. Visit Ireland – DONE! I was super lucky and for my 30^th birthday we ticked this one off by heading to Dublin! I went with a group of girl friends and had a blast! The best way to turn the big 30!

22. Try Wakeboarding – I’ve tried it and LOVED it!! I found out a local lake is all set up for wakeboarding and I went along for a lesson and it was so much fun! I’m planning to go again this year!

23. Start an art class – didn’t manage this one but I am dropping a few evening sessions at work this year so hoping this may be something I can pick up then!

24. Learn to Surf – Nope, still not managed this one!

25. Learn another language – or this one…

26. Learn the ukulele – there is a local Ukulele group that meets in the local pub, I’ve been to a few sessions now! I am really bad at learning to play but its good fun! I’ve learnt I am just not musical!

27. Figure out some sort of career path and be happy with whatever it may be. – Still working on this!

28. Make a drift wood coffee table – I really really want to do this one, so its going straight onto my 40 before 40 list!

29. Read one book every month – COMPLETED!! I hope to continue this as it’s such a fun way to relax and switch off.

30. Go to New Zealand – I was hoping to do this in March this year but due to a severe lack of funds it’s had to be scrapped! Gutted but I still hope to visit one of these days!

I would say that’s about half completed, and half not managed or still working on. I am pretty pleased with this! I’ve loved having a few goals and working to achieve my 30 before 30, being able to tick them off as done is such an achievement! I am now working on my 40 before 40 list! I will post it here when I have decided on everything I want to be on there!

Do you do lists like this? Do you have any suggestions on what should be on my next bucket list?