Book Club: Jenny Lopez has a bad week by Lindsey Kelk

 

The Blurb

Jenny Lopez is miserable. Having spent the summer working in LA, she’s back home in New York, and missing the three key elements in a girl’s life — a roommate, a job and a boyfriend. Jenny formulates a plan; surely someone must need a roommate and surely someone must need a girlfriend? By the end of the day, she has arranged a viewing for a potential roommate, the gay blond aka Stefan the Swede, secured two dates, and work looking after a top supermodel. Things look like they are back on track; everything is going to work out great. If only life was so easy!

The Review

I am a massive, massive, fan of Lindsey Kelks I heart books and when I heard about this little number I just couldn’t wait to read it. If your familiar with the I heart series you will know that Jenny Lopez is a sub character in the books, and is the main character Angela’s best friend. She is a character that’s full of fun and most definitely entertaining.

I was intrigued to see how she would be as the lead in her own story. This is only a short story, a mere 82 pages and took me just under an hour to read. I found the book funny and was actually quite sad when it came to an end as I wanted to carry on with her life’s journey. Jenny could easily carry a full length novel if Lindsey was up for writing it, and I’d definitely be reading it. On the whole the story is nice and light hearted and funny, great characters I wanted to know more about and it wasn’t too predictable.

On the flip side my only criticism would be that as a huge Angela fan I found it hard that she wasn’t the focal point also ended a little abruptly for my liking as I still wanted more, but perhaps that’s because I’m not adapt to reading many short stories, who knows!

Fab little short story to entertain you for a few hours.

 



Nailed it!

I've seen quite a few people with dark glittery nails lately, and when asked they seem to just paint there nails a dark colour and then coat glitter over the top. If your like me and find it a bit of a nightmare waiting for your nails to dry without smudging them. The idea of waiting for two separate coats to dry is just too much effort!!

With this in mind I was browsing in the makeup isle at my local boots and came across this little gem Barry M's Nail Paint in Black Multi Glitter. It was just what I was looking for!!

Sadly wasn't quite what I was expecting as the glitter doesn't really stand out that well it just makes it look textured. However I still love the black and have had a few compliments. What do you guys think?

Benefits World Famous Neutrals - Sexiest Nudes Ever

 

Benefits World Famous Neutrals were released a few weeks ago. There are three variations of these sets and they are all gorgeous and I love the packaging, but being good for once I just purchased the one! I went for the Sexiest Nudes Ever as I loved the colours. Each set includes two cream shadows and four powders.

I’ve decided against boring you with colour swatches as I’ve seen so many on other blog posts for this item. My purpose for this post is just to give my two pennies on it!



 

 

The tips and tricks show you how to create looks for daytime and playtime and as usual with Benefits products, it’s easy to follow.

These colours are sooo gorgeous and creamy I love them especially the silver called blingo, it goes on exactly the same colour as in the palette unlike some other brands when it comes to silver colours! Benefit did a really good job with this palette! The 4 powder eye shadows are so pigmented and the colours are so complementary of each other. The looks that you can create are so dainty and girly. The powders are also long lasting and don't crease.

 

This is me, wearing the lighter cream shadow and raincheck. They suggest this duo for the day time look but i think you could easily use it for an evening out!

 

 

I’m not a huge fan of cream shadows, I find they usually crease and fade pretty quickly. So I’m surprised I’m saying this but I absolutely love the cream eye shadows. The cream shadows are smooth, long lasting and truly creaseless and using them as a base makes the look last all day.

Im really impressed with this set and feel its a really solid investment!

Book Club: You Before Me by Jojo Moyes

The Blurb

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

The Review

This book was sat on my bedside table for a while before I picked it up and started reading it. I had read a few reviews and on those I purchased it. My usual read tends to go towards cheesy chick lit and I think that’s why it took me a while to start it. As although from the Blurb you’d assume it was going to be a romance novel, this is not a love story or at least not a love story in the typical sense.

All that being said, I can’t rave about this book enough, it took me a little while to get into it but as soon as Lou meets Will I was hooked to see what was going to happen and let me tell you Jojo Moyes doesn’t disappoint. The last 50 pages had me sobbing at 4 in the morning, I couldn’t put it down. Jojo Moyes definitely made this stone heart melt and I’ve never felt such a strong emotional reaction to a book before.

She writes about a very sensitive and controversial subject without being judgmental or turning it into a political piece. You get a real sense of everyone’s views and feeling which really pulls at the heart strings. The six months they spend together really gets you fighting in everyone’s corner. The sub characters, all Will and Lou’s family members, added to the humor and were realistic at some points I felt like I was reading about my own family.

Overall this book is so beautifully written, it is warm, funny, touching, poignant and thought provoking. Be warned though, this book is distracting, when you're not reading it you either can't wait to get back to it or you're thinking about the characters and their story.

This is the best book I’ve read in a long time and strongly recommend it (Make sure you have plenty of tissues on hand!). I will definitely be taking a look at Jojo Moyes other literary goods and will let you know what I think!

Mug Graffiti

Being on a mission to save my pennies (I’m determined to get my act together this year and go travelling!) I thought I would have ago at up cycling and getting creative. Turning old things into new! I will say up front that I like to think I’m creative but don’t always manage to pull it off! However on the odd occasion I do manage to make something look half decent, I am going to post a how to guide on here.....

So for my first attempt at being a bit arty I decided to Graffiti some Mugs. I’ve seen this a lot on Pinterest and thought I would give it a go!

Items Needed....

1.       Plain white mug

2.       Sharpie Pen

What to do.....

1.    Using your sharpie, draw whatever design that takes your fancy onto the mug.

2.    Place the mug into the oven for 30 mins at 150c

TaaDaa!!! A fancy new mug! Check my first attempt out......

I drew a tea bag for this one, but think for the rest of the set I am going to write different quotes about Tea and Coffee onto them. I will make sure I add a photo on here when I’ve done it.

I’ve also popped this mug into the dishwasher since drawing on it and it stayed on! Very impressed and pleased with this as it’s such a simple way to update a plain boring white mug!

Motivational Monday Inspiration.... #8

I don't know whether I am getting older, wiser or just less patient but over the last year I have come to the realisation that I don't want people in my life that are like the death eaters from Harry Potter and just suck the life out of you! I think for a long time, people would think I was a bit of a mug as id go out my way to help people, and I think that may have been to satisfy my need for people to like me. But now I don't want or need to be a walk over, people who would abuse my good nature aren't a real friend of mine. I am slowly cutting off people who don't see friendship as a two way street. I deserve better than that. Therefore this quote is perfect, I want to surround myself by people I respect and love, people who inspire me to be the best I can be. Since I have had this realisation I am feeling more confident and positive and do you know what? that feels great!

Top 5 Beauty Cupboard Basics...

What are your beauty cupboard basics? You know, those items you religiously use, take for granted, don’t really spend a fortune on, the basic...

I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I have a few staples that aren’t anything fancy but if I were told they were no longer available, there would be real issues and tissues! So here are my 5 basic needed/can't live without items. I would love you to leave a message in the comment box with what your top 5 are!

 

1. Sure Deodorant. I’ve been using this stuff for years, and before I came across it I tried many different sprays, roll on's and creams. All of which left the fabulous white stained look across my tops, smelt gross or didn’t actually do the job. I’m not like a horrendously sweaty Betty but I do like to know my deodorant will protect me from the B.O monster! This stuff leaves me feeling fresh, smelling good and most importantly doesn’t stain! Who would have thought the quest for perfect deodorant would be so hard to find but I can assure you it was!

2. E45 Cream. This stuff is essential for my uber sensitive skin. I use it as a makeup remover by massaging it in to my skin and then removing the excess with damp cotton wool. It works a treat at removing all the crap off my face at the end of the day and also leaves it feeling lovely and soft, bonus! Also since using this, my skin has improved so much, with not so many spots and my eczema is less noticeable.

3. Bic Twin Lady Razors. I’m too much of a wimp to wax so I have to come clean and say I shave my legs. Some razors are cheap and nasty and seem to like to shred your legs, whilst I’ve found some of the more expensive ranges don’t seem to do such a close shave and leave you feeling like a bloke with a 5 o’clock shadow. So these are fab as they are cheap, removes hair nicely leaving you with lovely smooth pins and for bonus points they come in pretty girly colours.

4. Sudocrem. I swear by this stuff if you’re having a break out! It really helps to soothe and reduce redness of spots. I layer it on before going to bed, just be careful as it can stain your pillow!

5. Original Source Lime Shower Gel. I love this product! I use it every morning when I have a shower. It smells so good and really wakes me up! It’s yummy!