IM BACK // Creating a balance between blogging and real life

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So you may have noticed I have been on a little hiatus! It was unintentional, one week just seemed to turn into four! My poor little blog has had dead air for a while and I hold my hands up to say I've been neglecting it. Sad times! 

Have you ever struggled between blogging and balancing you your real life? I really feel there isn’t enough hours in the day for all the things I love lately and it really stresses me out. I want to blog, I love to blog but when I blog I tend to put my everything into it, it becomes my sole hobby. However lately, or looking back most of this year I have had so much on, I have had many weekends away, I’ve been spending time trying new things, catching up with friends and upped my exercising from doing nothing to doing six sessions a week. Throw in a full time job and a part time one on top and it leaves me with very little free time and feeling exhausted!

Don’t get me wrong I love all the things I do and I feel so lucky and grateful for all that I do. My issue is blogging, when I blog I want to put everything into it and I like consistency, I like to post good quality posts a few times a week. If I can’t give it 100% then there is no point….

….so I’m an idiot! It’s such a load of rubbish! I feel like I’ve had an epiphany! I feel like along the way I’ve lost the real reasons I blog. I blog because I love to write, I love to type away in my tiny little space on giant World Wide Web! And most of all I blog for me and if I don’t blog every other day then so what! I want to blog and it doesn’t matter if I miss a few days or a few weeks, my blogs like an old friend, it’s always here to come back to! 

So welcome to the brand new ‘Lipsticks and Lashes’! I am taking the pressure out of it, I am going to blog when I want, and I am going to enjoy it! I’m going to shake it up post wise too! There will be less beauty reviews and more lifestyle posts and a little of whatever I fancy.

So this is a bit of a waffle pot but I guess what I want to say is I'm back and if you’re reading this thank you for sticking with me!

FOOD: Courgette and carrot spaghetti

 

Ingredients:

Coconut Oil

Courgettes

Carrots

Pine Nuts

Parmesan 

What to do…

I first melt a bit of coconut oil in a frying pan, I end to use coconut oil as it’s a bit healthier, and I also think it adds a nice flavor to this dish. Whilst this is heating up I then slice up the courgettes and carrots, I tend to use two large ones of each and this usually makes enough to serve two people. I use a mandolin for this, which is my favorite bit of kitchen equipment at the moment! When done I add all this to the pan. 

Once it has heated up for a bit, I then add pine nuts and let them brown. This all doesn’t take long to cook so it’s a quick and easy meal! You can then serve up, and I usually add a dash of parmesan on top, mainly because I have an unhealthy addiction to cheese!

This is one of my favorite meals to cook so would love to know if you guys try it out!

Prairie Pizzazz Subscription Box and an Exclusive Offer!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE…. There is a new subscription box on the block, I repeat there is a new subscription box on the block! As you know, I love a good subscription box and was beyond excited when I was offered the opportunity to get my hands on the launch box. What box I hear you say, well its from Prairie Charms, if you’ve not heard of them before they are an online jewelry  and gift shop. 

Its called ‘The Prairie Pizzazz’, its name this as it arrives in a pizza box which is pretty fun! There are different flavour 'toppings' each month to represent the 'theme' of surprises within the box. This months theme being ‘Festival’, which I was pretty pleased with!

So what was in my box? Well I was surprised by the amount, the box was filled to the brim with exciting bits and pieces! Here is a quick guide to what I received…

Dottie Rocks Custom Gold Foil Postacard Print

Pretty zigzag treat bags and some popping corn

Deep purple leather bow

Beaded bracelet

Nail vinyls

Gorgeous flower bobby pins

Pretty paper straws

Hair ties

Lilac flowered hair band

Flower print wire hair tie

Turquoise tassle necklace

Huge apologies for the lack of photos, I finally sort out the laptop issue when my camera then dies, no luck here at all! Anyways please take it from me all these items are gorgeous, and im seriously impressed by the quality.

The wonderful folk over at Prairie Charms are offering an introductory offer to Lipsticks and Lashes readers of £25 for the deluxe sized (full pizza) or £15 for their mini sized versions (a slice of pizza). The deluxe sized box will include all the items that they have included in my box and the mini sized version will include a sample of products, but these will of course will still be of full size. Both of these prices are including postage, which I thinks a good price for the amount of products you receive! 

So if you would like your very own box all you need to do is tweet the guys at Prairie Charms over on Twitter @Prairie_Charms and include in your tweet this hashtag: #LIPSTICKSANDLASHESPIZZAZZ they will then sort out your order! So what are you waiting for?!

Motivational Monday// June

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These posts always seem to have the most amazing timing, because in all honesty I feel like shit at the moment and really need a kick up the bum!

I seem to be ill and run down all the time at the moment, the end of last month I had some weird virus which wiped me out, then two weeks ago I had a stinking cold and all I could do was work and come home and just sleep. I hate it, I’m at my best when I’m busy and social, having things slow me down makes me mad! Then the past week I have just been feeling so over tired, you know that feeling when you’ve not slept and it makes you feel physically sick. It’s kind of a weird hangover feeling, minus the alcohol. My friends think I’ve been doing too much and I’ve burnt out a bit, while I don’t really know what to think.

I feel frustrated and upset, I feel down and lonely. It’s the worst. It’s also terrible timing, I have recently started a new job and feel like I must be making a terrible impression as I’m so exhausted its making the simplest of tasks seem hard work. It’s also impacting my exercise, if you follow my monthly Health and fitness posts you’ll know that this year I’m working hard to improve my fitness and have signed up to do a 10k in September. I started this with zero fitness and could run a few inches without struggling, I’m still a long way off from my goal but I have definitely improved. However the past couple of weeks, I have lost all confidence with running and I really struggle with it. It’s like I run for a bit then have a weird mini panic attack, can’t breathe so have to walk a bit. I massively want to overcome this but have no idea where to start!!

I don’t know where to start to try and feel better mentally and physically but I’ve decided June is all about looking after myself. I am going to sort out my diet and really focus on eating healthy. I am crap when it comes to food, I tend to go for convenience and end up going all day without food and eating rubbish late at night. So for this month I am going to work hard on eating healthy, I am also going to go to bed early whenever I can. I am also pretty bad at this at the moment, I tend to feel shattered all day and then find it hard to sleep so stay awake to the early hours. I am also going to try and relax more, read books, have baths etc. I am going to make sure I’m okay. Fingers crossed this will clear my head and have a knock on effect o everything else.

Have you ever felt like this? What do you do to take care of yourself?

DIY: Wooden Initial Letter

I haven’t done a DIY post in so long! Which is silly as I have been making lots of bits of pieces lately that would be fun to share with you all! My issue has been lack of a lap top, but I have been lent a lap top so I can finally share this pretty wooden letter DIY! Yey! It’s such an easy one and so fun to make! This specific letter was sent as part of my ‘Spring’ themed #DICraftSwap. If you’ve not heard of this swap then you need to check it out, it’s run by Hannah over at Dainty and Ivory and is such a fun idea, each month she pairs you up with someone to make and send some goodies too and each month has a different theme. So as you may have gathered I had Hannah to send to for the spring themed swap, hence the letter H!

  

What you need:

Wooden letter

White gloss paint

Paint brush

Hot glue gun

Fabric Flower

What to do:

You can find wooden letters in most craft shops now, I actually found mine in a garden centre! So first step is to paint your wooden letter, I used a white gloss paint which I had lying around at home. I wanted a glossy bright finish so this worked perfectly for me. To get good coverage I ended up doing quite a few coats of paint. 

Once the paint was dry I then chose the type of flower I wanted to decorate my letter with. I have quite a few fake flowers at home as I use them to make the floral crowns I sell, but you can pick these up pretty cheap in shops like wilkos or somewhere similar. I then cut the flower head off of the stem and using a hit glue gun, I put a blob of glue on the area I wanted to stick the flower on. I then held the flower in place until it felt like it was sturdy. I then left it to dry! 

I’ve made these letters for a few friends now, they are really easy to do yet so effective! What do you think?

What I'm Loving Lately #2

1.       I’m in a post bank holiday lull! I love having two bank holidays in May and I’m not sure I can cope lasting till August for the next one! I think 3 day weekends should be mandatory! Anyways I couldn’t post a ‘what I’m loving lately’ post without mention last weekend’s bank holiday. Mine included a 15 mile bike ride in the sunshine and a few pints of cider by the beach! T’was perfect!

2.       My latest #DICraftSwap parcel arrived from the lovely Hannah, the theme was Love and she sent me an amazing handmade unicorn and a handmade candle. Was such an awesome parcel to receive! Hannah is also the wonderful lady who organised this monthly craft swap, check out her blog here.

3.       So last week I had an awful cold which meant I literally did nothing except for work and come home and snuggle under my duvet, with long sessions of guilt free Netflix viewing! There’s got to be some perk to being so poorly. I was umming and aaahing over what to watch next after finishing Pretty Little Liars, so I decided to go for what had been recommended and have been binge watching Sons of Anarchy. I LOVE IT!!! How have I left it so long before I started to watch it?! Its sooo good! I’m on series 3 already and think I’m bordering on an unhealthy viewing addiction with it!

4.       TREK Protein Flapjacks – I was lucky enough to be sent a box of these from Natural Balance Foods in various flavours and boy are they yummy! I’ve been eating one an hour before I go for a run or do an exercise class for a bit of an energy boost. I am slightly obsessed with the Cocoa Coconut flavour, it’s a bit like rice Krispies on the base with a layer of chocolate on top, and they are very moreish!

5.       I AM GOING TO SEE THE FOO FIGHTERS TODAY!!! Yes I am that excited I have to shout/capitalise it! I am literally going to click ‘post’ on this piece and then head out to my car to embark on an epic drive up to Manchester, which is 5 hours from my door! Eeek! They are my most favourite band ever and I have always wanted to see them live, my friend’s friend was unable to go and offered us the tickets! It’s going to be a long drive but so worth it! I am literally bouncing on my chair as I type this!

6.       Two weeks ago I tried wakeboarding for the first time and had the best time! I am a complete water baby and any sport or activity involving having fun on the water, count me in! So myself and a friend headed to the New Forest for the day to try it out, we were on a wire and not a boat and had a lesson.  I managed to stand up really well on the board and I am definitely going to be going again this summer! They do ladies mornings so I think I'm going to give them ago!