Life Lately #142

Hi lovelies,

My birthday seems like so long ago, but also like it was yesterday. I managed to pack so much into my 5 days off, it felt like I was constantly on the go!

I started my celebrations off with an evening meal at my Grandparents' last Friday. We had a catchup over a roast dinner.

On Saturday, James & I went to brunch with Allan & Maria at our local pub. They have only recently started doing breakfasts & after James & I tested it out a few weeks ago, we brought Allan & Maria to try it out. I had a full English last time we went, but tried the pancakes this time & they were so delicious. Definitely will be going back again!

Our friend Tom came down to stay for the weekend on Saturday evening & we spent the evening playing games & eating pizza!

Sunday morning I'd organised a brunch with my girlies at Sunmers Pond. I won't go into too much detail as the service wasn't great, but the food was lovely. We had a walk around the pond before coming back to the cafe for cake & tea. I was thoroughly spoilt by the girlies & although we won't be going back there in a hurry, it was a lovely morning.

In the afternoon, we went to see The Greatest Showman. It was absolutely fantastic, I can't reccomend it enough. We've had the soundtrack on repeat since we saw it!

On Monday, James, Tom & I went to Brighton for the day. Tom had only visited Brighton once before, so it was nice to show him Churchill Square & The Lanes. It was pouring all day, so even though we didn't get to venture onto the pier, we briefly saw the sea from afar! I treated myself to the most beautiful coat from Pull & Bear, which I'm sure will be appearing on my Instagram in the next few weeks, as I've literally not taken it off since buying it!

& Tuesday was my actual birthday & I spent the day at my favourite place, West Wittering Beach. I wrote a full blog post about this place just over a year ago & why it's so special to me. It really was a no-brainer when Mum asked what I wanted to do on my birthday! It was extremely cold, but not too windy & it just started spitting with rain when we were driving home. We met so many adorable dogs & had birthday cake & tea when we got home.

& finally I wanted to mention one of my lovely birthday presents that I've become obsessed with, The Bullet Journal. I'm going to do a full post on this once I've properly finished organizing mine, but if your not sure what this journal is all about, just have a search on Pinterest & you'll find loads of examples!

& finally finally! I wanted to say a massive thankyou to everyone that wished me Happy Birthday. I had such an amazing week, filled with cake, presents & the best company! Roll on 28!

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Life Lately #130

Hey lovelies,

Cathy & I went to see Ruby Wax live on stage on her Frazzled tour in May & she was so funny. We didn't really know what to expect but it was a show made up of humour, mindfulness & her life stories, told by Ruby herself, in a comfy armchair, in the middle of the stage. We got to meet her during the interval & had my copy of her book signed. It's definitely one I'll be taking on holiday with me.

James & I booked to see The Sidemen play their second charity football match at the beginning of the year & it soon came round at the end of May. We travelled up to London for the day, had a bite to eat at Pizza Express, had a walk along the Thames & headed to Charlton to watch them play. As always, they were brilliant, despite the fans absolutely ruining the end of the match by invading the pitch again..

For James' birthday, I bought him a driving experience at a local race course. He got to drive two super cars & have a passenger lap in a Ariel Atom. He chose to drive the Audi R8 Spyder & a Lamborghini. It was such an awesome day, I took a few videos, so a vlog will be going up soon!

The girls & I went to Ikea at the beginning of the month to stock up on the final bits for the flat. We managed to get the most adorable coffee table, a plant (named Greg) & some candles amongst other essentials for the kitchen. Oh & of course, the kids section was our favourite part.. BRAIN HEAD : ' )

James & I went to visit our friend Tom in Wales 2 weeks ago. We stayed in a beautiful apartment, which made it a lovely trip. I'm going to write a full post about our adventures next week, so keep an eye out for that.

Ok, so how long have I been waiting for this day!? On 3rd June, James' dad Allan & partner Maria got married! They have been together for 17 years, so to be honest, it was about time guys! ; ) I'm so honoured to be apart of their special day. Again, a full post will be going up soon, so I'll go into more detail then.

Finally, the girls & I went to the South Of England show last Saturday. It was so hot, we all burnt (even those wearing factor 50!) but it was such a fun day, filled with stroking lots of animals & eating lots of cheese.

How has your month been so far lovelies?

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Life At The Moment #72

 

Hello lovelies,

 

Last week was so busy! Last Friday was my beautiful Nan's birthday. You can see her opening her pressies with the help of Harvey, who was convinced that bottle of wine was made of chocolate.. it was also my Dad's birthday the following day, but being a very reserved person & us working complete opposite shifts that day, I was unable to take a picture!

 

Don't you just love it when surprise packages turn up in the post for you? I got this gorgeous pug cushion case sent to me from James & it arrived at work on Saturday morning! He knows me so well.

 

I mentioned in a previous update post that Gemma was getting married this year & I received my invite on Friday! How exciting!

 

I also received some belated birthday pressies! So excited to try my MAC lipstick & the unicorn horn from Lush's Valentines range.

 

I mentioned that myself & James went to Ikea a few weeks back & I've finally managed to put up my mirror! When I say 'I', I mean my dad. I'm hopeless at stuff like that!

 

I've been getting back into walking recently. I started the year by saying I'm going to do regular work outs, blah blah & I've mostly failed at that, but I have been getting back into going on long walks, much to my two doggies excitement. The first image of the corn fields is right outside my house & the following image is from today, when myself & mum took a trip to Walton-On-Thames with Harv & Honey. The sun was beautiful but so so so cold.

 

& finally, our first little chicks were born yesterday! I don't have any pictures yet as they're still in the incubator, but as soon as they're strong enough to come out, I'll have my camera ready! Oh & nearly a month till Easter! How quick is this year going?! Crazy.

 

How has your week been? : )

 

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Christmas 2014

Hello lovelies, how was your Christmas?

 

Mine was amazing, but went waaaaay too fast. Can we just start December all over again please? I wanted to do a general life catch up over the last few weeks as I haven't posted, but I'm going to do that later this week. For now.. let's enjoy the three most important days of last week.

 

Christmas Eve

 

It's tradition for myself & James to go to the panto every year on Christmas eve & this year, it was Cinderella, one of my absolute favourites. With the addition of two adorable little ponies, plus a big sparkly dress, you can't go wrong. After panto, we travelled down to James' mum's to spend Christmas eve with her side of the family, which included a lot of champagne & port, dancing to French songs in the kitchen & the tradition of opening a present at midnight.

 

Christmas Day

 

Christmas Day morning, we woke up (slightly worse for wear) at Valerie's with a cooked breakfast, before heading to my grandparents for Christmas Day lunch. We had the biggest feast, followed by a chocolate yule log, more champagne & tea.

 

 

We then travelled home to my parents' early evening, for more presents & stocking opening! Even Honey had presents, look at her eating her mince pie! (don't worry, it was a dog friendly one!)

 

Boxing Day

 

Christmas morning, we woke up at my parents' & headed to Kym & Gus' house for Boxing Day with James' Dad's family. We had another amazing feast of curry, with a massive trifle & cheese & biscuits. Safe to say, I've eaten my body weight in food this week..

 

How was your Christmas? Please send me links to all your festive posts! : )

 

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Christmas Gifts Feat. ASOS

Cath Kidston Balm Trio -
How adorable are these? Perfect for the colder months were everyone's lips seem to be suffering. Mine especially. I'd welcome these with open arms..

 

Nails Inc Christmas Crackers -
These would be fabulous at Christmas.. just a shame my family are mostly male & wouldn't appreciate getting a nail varnish in their cracker. ; )

 

Snowman Mittens -
 Again, adorable. These little snowmen will keep you smiling for the whole of Winter.

Rudolph Onesie -
This made me laugh, hence why it's included in this wishlist. How cute are the antlers?!

 

Gold Glitter Watch -
Again, if it's ever the time to have some sparkle in your life, it's at Christmas. Is your not into fancy dresses or heels, a subtle touch with your jewellery can make an outfit.

 

Glitter Boots -
When I'm not living at work, Christmas is all about the parties & celebrations. These boots are perfect with a little black dress & a red lip.

 

Miniture Bath & Shower Gels -
I love bubble baths in the colder months. There's something so comforting about coming home from a hard days work, having a bath with tons of bubbles & cuddling up in your pjs.. heaven. : )

 

What's on your Christmas wishlist?

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Update #5

Happy Boxing Day my darlings!

This is the first un-scheduled post I've written in over a week! So I thought I'd do a little update for you all. Did you see Honey's Christmas outfit? How adorable is my little girl. : )

On the work front, Panto has been going amazingly well. It seems like it's been at work forever, but doesn't feel like it's been there long, if that makes any sense! I've basically been at work every day & squeezed in pub trips when I finish to swap presents & enjoy Christmas meals. I went to a gorgeous meal at Cote Restaurant with my college girls last Wednesday. It's a beautiful French restaurant - I'd never been before but I'll definitely be going again. They offered to take our coats when we arrived. Posh or what? ; )



Chicken & chips

This was my meal (the poshest French restaurant I've ever been in & I ordered chicken & chips. LOL) It was soooo delicious though.



Lorna, myself & Lizzie

Do excuse my fringe, I'd had a long day!



All my gorgeous ladies. L-R: Lorna, myself, Lizzie, Emily, Jo, Lauren, Sarah, Kym

We had such a fab time & I do have to say, our waiter was fitttttt. ; )

Then, my other group of friends had our meal & present swap last Friday. I have to say, I never expected such amazing presents as the ones I got, want to say a HUGE thankyou to all my beautiful friends for all their cards & presents! Love you all. : )



Just a few.. I'm a very lucky girl! : )

I was so ill on Friday - I had to call in sick Christmas Eve - good thing I did as I spent the whole day in bed, being sick. Lovely. I did manage to eat a baby portion of Christmas dinner yesterday & I feel so much better today, just exhausted, but I'm looking forward to eating a full plate of food tonight. : ) Being ill at Christmas is the worst thing in the world. 



L-R: Myself & Nim showing off our nails / Bo & myself.

ANYWAY!

Let's finish on a happier note! A gorgeous photo edit my friend Bo did. : )

Hope you're all having a fab Christmas girlies! xx



Ring Ring.. Hello?

Evening girls. : )

Thought I'd show you my gorgeous new rings I got from H and M.

They were £3.99 for the two. : )

Also, my gorgeous new finds from a charity shop I got today:

Ring - 99p

I thought this ring would look gorgeous mixed with other strong colours. (Keeping with the idea of colour blocking)



Teapot - £4

Clock - £5

My Auntie collects teapots, so I bought this for her birthday. The clock was just so cute and unique I couldn't resist buying her that as well.

Oh and I'm thinking of doing a video - not sure what of yet, does anyone have any suggestions of what they'd like me to talk about? I'm thinking of doing a questions and answers kind of thing if I don't get any ideas in the next few days. But yes, any suggestions are welcome. : D

ENTER MY GIVEAWAY!



Floral Heaven

  Hope you all had a good Valentines day! Mine was spent travelling on trains for 4 hours & then straight to work for a 6 hour shift, so not the most perfect day, but my weekend was pretty damn special.  

  On Saturday, my boyfriend took me out for a meal at this beautiful Indian restaurant & then to the cinema where we were going to see How Do You Know, the new film with Reece Witherspoon in, but it was sold out so we ended up going to see The Fighter. Not your typical Valentines day film, but it was actually really good. Here's my beautiful card & Toblerone, (YUM - one of my favourite chocolates).

  Then on Sunday, I went to visit my best friend in Birmingham. Neither of us had ever been to Birmingham before, but it was a central meeting place, in between my boyfriend's uni & hers. We managed to find a huge shopping centre (wasn't that hard to be honest, it was right next to the train station!) & spent the day looking around the shops & eating Subways. I immediately fell in love with the huge Forever 21 shop. It had 3 levels! I had to buy something from there, so I settled for this gorgeous necklace:



Necklace: £2.80

 I would have bought tons more, but I have limited funds until pay day on the 19th. I also got these from Primark:



 Earrings: £1



Makeup brush: £1.50

Earrings: £1.50 (3 pairs)

  I'm in love with floral accessories & clothes at the moment. When I get paid, I'm so filling my wardrobe up with pretty floral items for the Summer.

  How was everyone's weekend? Did anyone get any surprise cards? : D

To Buy Or Not To Buy...?

  So yesterday, I went shopping with one of my best friends. It wasn't just a normal shopping trip, oh no, it was the Valentines shopping trip. Like any shopping trip for him, it turns out to be all about certain questions, like; How much do I spend? Do I get mushy stuff because it's Valentines day or something general that I know he likes? & do I spend lots to find he only wanted a joke present from Hawkins Bazaar?

  Now usually, I love buying presents for my other half. I get the best, most perfect thing I can find, not usually something expensive, but something personal for him. This year however, he is at uni for Valentines day. Not that I mind travelling up to see him & everything, I just had to contemplate how to get masses of presents, on the trains, for a two & a half hour journey. Not the easiest of tasks I can assure you. I managed to get two items (can't write what they are in case he comes snooping) that are good, but I need a few more ideas. I swear men are harder to buy for, I mean, I'd be happy with flowers & chocolate any day.

  Sorry to the people who hate Valentines, I'll post pictures later of my shopping trip part 2, where I did buy a ton of stuff for myself as well! So much for making that trip all about my boyfriend...