Life Lately #137

Hello lovelies,

It isn't everyday you get to wear sparkly green glitter on your lips is it? Halloween feels like a life time ago now, but almost like it was yesterday at the same time. We all dressed up at work, Elisa & I dressed up as witches & Nicola was a dead bride. I was so in love with my makeup, I'm going to try to recreate the look (maybe slightly more subtle) for my birthday with pink glitter!

I went to visit my grandparent's last week & took Honey for a walk in their garden. You know those places that just bring back all the happy memories of your childhood? Their garden does exactly that. It's so special to me & Honey absolutely loves playing in the fallen leaves, just like I used to do.

Ricka & I met up for some Christmas shopping last weekend & we headed to Guildford. It was so busy in the shops, I never knew people were so organised with their Christmas shopping! We had such a lovely day & catch up.

On Wednesday, I met up with Gemma, Alice, Elisa & Lily at Costa. The plan was to test out the new Christmas drinks, so Gem had the Lindt hot chocolate & Elisa had the black forest hot chocolate. They both smelt incredible.

James has started his new job & he's loving it! One of the perks of the job, is he gets to bring home their dog food. Honey was extremely excited by this as you can see. Every bag / tin I got out the bag she would sniff & try to open & then decide to roll on top of the food! Was so funny to watch.

James has been away this weekend & he sent me flowers at work! I seriously can't believe how lucky I am. Thankyou babe, you made my day!

& finally Boop & Cathy came round for dinner last night & we ordered a Chinese & stuck on Horrible Bosses 2. It was so lovely to catch up with them & show them the Lanzarote vlog that I recently finished! We all seriously had the Summer blues after though.. why has it suddenly got so cold!? It's really starting to feel like Christmas! I picked up our Christmas tree today from Tesco, the decorations are also bought ready for the tree & I've started my shopping. I can't wait to make our little flat all festive.

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? : )

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Life Lately #134

It seems like an eternity ago now, but we went to watch banger racing on Bank Holiday Monday! It was so so so hot, I think the hottest Bank Holiday we've had on record. We were out in the sun the whole day, watching the cars race around the track. I was the only one that had been before, so it was great to watch everyone's reactions to the racing. (especially yours Jules!)

Oh, now how cute is little Maggie? My mum is looking after her a few times a week for a friend while they are working in London & I met her at the beginning of September. She is such a character, she's in to everything!

Look at these two. Aren't they just the cutest things? We had a girls night while all the boys hit the town & the evening was filled with baby cuddles, Say Yes To The Dress & pizza. 

Jigsaw puzzles. How under-rated are they? Seriously. Ever since I bought one for Elisa for her birthday, I've wanted to complete my own one. The Works had a 20% off sale a few weeks back, so I picked this one up for James & I to play. We're only half way through as it's so difficult, but so much fun!

Char finally came home for Nandos, yay! I'm kinda hoping she came home to see us, but really I know it was for the chicken.. haha! She's been away in Edinburgh for what's seemed like forever, so it was lovely to have a catch up over a bite to eat in town. 

Last weekend, James & I went to the New Forest for a couple of days. It was the perfect holiday for us, filled with animals, food & a cosy log cabin in the middle of nowhere. I'm going to write up a full post on our trip, so I won't go on about it to much now, but it really was the most lovely break away.

This week, the boys have been playing their annual golf tournament, so I decided to cook for them & Maria on Tuesday night. I was extremely proud as every plate was cleared! I made a lamb with orzo dish, with hot crusty bread & we had nuts & crisps for starter & a strawberry cheesecake for pudding. (Thanks Tesco!) Btw, would you guys be interested in me doing a 'what we eat in a week' series on my blog? I've seen quite a few YouTubers doing them recently & find them so interesting to watch. 

& finally, I'm currently staying at my parent's house, looking after Honey. They have gone away on holiday for their anniversary, so it's just the 2 of us (until James comes round for dinners in the evenings) & it's given me so much time to just sit & blog & edit all the footage I have from days out / holidays over the past few months! Expect a few more blog posts & videos over the next few weeks!

How has September been for you lovelies? Are you all set for Autumn? 

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Life Lately #133

There are so many birthdays in August. This has been a month of celebrations & food! We went for an all-you-can-eat breakfast at The Beefeater to celebrate Cathy turning 26 at the beginning of August. She has now caught up with me. Not long till we're in our 30's girl..

Ah, our holiday to Lanzarote! There is a full post coming soon, now I've finally managed to sort through all the photos! I seriously can't thank the girls enough for our time away, it was exactly what I needed.

Oh look at my little one. I missed her so much when I was away, but I got to see her last Monday when my parents invited us round for a BBQ & a catchup. She looks so adorable with her teddy.

Tuesday morning, Elisa & Lily took me to Fun Splash. There were so many cute babies there!

On Thursday, it was Elisa's birthday. Now as you guys know, I'm big on birthdays, so when someone decides to work on their birthday & doesn't have any plans, what do I do? I make plans! I bought her a massive balloon, (no joke, it seriously was massive) & we had a 'present per hour' rule at work. I also got all the girlies together on Friday night for a meal at a lovely Italian restaurant in our local town, followed by a chocolate cake of dreams. It was so lovely spoiling her : )

& finally, bank holiday weekend is finally here! For once, I have Monday off! The plan is to go watch banger racing with my family & friends. I've just got to get through work today & then a day off is exactly what I need!

What are your plans for this weekend?

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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 Lately #122

Hello lovelies,

I met my friend Ricka for a late birthday treat at Bills last Sunday. I haven't had afternoon tea there for over 2 years & even though they've changed it up a bit, it was so lovely! We had two scones each, a pot of blackberries, a piece of Victoria sponge cake & a pot of earl grey tea each. Heaven.

It was Bo's birthday on Wednesday, so we went to the pub for dinner. James & I both had a burger with pave for pudding, just look how delicious it was!

On Sunday Cathy, Boop & I planned Gemma's baby shower. It was so much fun to organise (if a little stressful at times) but we managed to get all the decorations ordered at the beginning of January, invites sent out & cakes baked. Everyone was asked to bring along a sweet treat, so we had mountains of food! Also, Elisa made this fantastic cake for Gemma & Ollie, just look at that little elephant! Gemma knows she's having a little girl in March, so it was easy to buy presents for her. I managed to pick up a personalised penguin dressing gown & had 'Baby Rogers' printed on the front. It was so adorable, I wanted to keep it for myself to be honest..

Tuesday morning I met up with Shezza, Elisa & Lily to have a catch up with life. Those girls seriously know how to put a smile on my face, especially Lily, just look at her little bunches!

Oh, & I always try to include a picture of Honey in these posts, because she's always a massive part of my life & makes me smile so much everyday. After my birthday in January, all the excitement of the last 2 months fades away. I know for most people that happens at the beginning of the month as Christmas & New Year becomes a memory, but it can get you down. All I need to do is make a cup of tea & cuddle this little one & my day is instantly better.

& I have to be honest & admit, a bit of retail therapy does help too.. look at my beautiful boots I managed to pick up in the ASOS sale! They were £19 down from £34.99 & I can't wait to style them once storm Doris has passed through.. the weather really knows how to bring down your mood. I seriously can't wait for Spring now & for us to head into the warmer months. It's seriously scary to think we are in February already though? Madness.

How was January for you lovelies?

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Life Lately #120

Hello lovelies,

A week before Christmas day, James & I attended our friends Christmas meal at Gail's house. We all bring an element of the Christmas dinner to the evening. This year James & I brought the Yorkshires, along with some wine & a bottle of sherry (which I quickly discovered I'm the only person that's a fan of it! Yay me!) We also did secret Santa (thankyou jack for my lovely candle) & played a few games.

The next day we went to see our panto Aladdin at work & it was genuinely one of the best pantos we've put on. I adored the way the story played out on stage & all the characters were brilliant.

On 19th December, it was our work Christmas meal that I'd been planning since the beginning of the year! We went to the same place as last year, a local pub with live music in the evening. We had a late sit down time of 8.45pm, just so the last people on shift could come too & the food was delicious as always. We had a 5 course meal; starter, pallet cleanser, main, pudding & tea & mince pies to finish.

For Christmas this year, James & I split ourselves across all our families. We started with Christmas Eve at James' mums, where we had a full Christmas dinner in the evening, followed by a few games & we watched Finding Dory while we waited for midnight. It's tradition in their household to open a small present at midnight & then wake up around 9am for the rest of the presents. On Christmas Day, we headed to my grandparents' for lunch. We don't have a massive family, so 8 of us on Christmas Day always feels like a lot of people in one place! It was so nice to celebrate with them all. Finally on Boxing Day, we headed to James' dad's for round 3! Auntie Jules was down as well, so we spent the day playing games & consuming a lot of alcohol!

Scary thought coming up.. Lily turned 1. Yup that's right, 1. How has a year of this little ones life gone by already!? We had a party for her on Saturday in the local barn, filled with lots of balloons, bubbles & cake.

& finally, New Years. James' birthday is in fact New Years Day, so we celebrated with a few fireworks & a games day, followed by curry in the evening.

Oh & yesterday was my final day of holiday before I headed back to work this morning. We decided as it was a beautiful sunny day to go to West Wittering Beach. Before James & I met, it was tradition for my parents, the dogs & I to go to the beach for a walk on New Years Day, but we haven't been able to do that for a few years, so it was lovely to go & visit the beach as it holds so many memories for me. Although it was freezing, it was so lovely to see all the doggies running around in the sea & lots of people wrapped up in their new winter clothes. It has to be one of my favourite places ever.

How has your New Year lovelies?

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Life Lately #112

Hello lovelies!

I never realised how much I say to the girls "Lets have brunch". A friend said to me the other day "I'd love to have your life & go out for brunch in the mornings!" Haha! I think because I love breakfast but I'm not a massive fan of eating first thing in the morning, plus most of my shifts are 12-8.30, it just makes sense that's what we all love to do! Anyway, I met up with the girls a few weeks back & saw this lovely little one again. Can you believe she is now 8 months old?! Crazy.

My mum & I went for afternoon tea at The Hickstead Hotel on Bank Holiday Monday. It was a birthday gift from James & we'd been saving up to do it for the longest time. It was lovely to spend the afternoon with mum. I'm going to write up a full post on our day so I won't say too much about it now, but make sure you check it out as it features lots of delicious food!

Oh & here we are again.. another brunch, haha! This time with my girl Ricka. We realised we hadn't seen each other since May, so we had a lovely catch up over pancakes!

Last Sunday, our friend Faye took part in Alice In Wonderland & she was Alice! It was such a lovely afternoon out. We got given balloons on arrival & were told to wait in the little café area (outside) & we would be taken into Wonderland. So much effort had been put into the show, it was such a good day.

I came home that evening to our first family BBQ of the year (bit late I know!) but it was so lovely. Even Honey was helping with the cooking!

& finally yesterday I had a day off in the sunshine & spent the morning with my girl Lorna. We went for tea in town, followed by a natter in the park. I'm sitting here writing this while the rain is pouring down outside, it's hard to believe it was boiling hot sunshine in the UK yesterday, but I guess that's just British weather for you!

How has your week been lovelies? I'm working a 3 hour shift today, followed by a 10 hour one tomorrow, but I'm actually off on Sunday which is exciting! Do you have any plans?

Oh & a massive thankyou to everyone who left a comment on my latest blog post. I mentioned on my Instagram I'm not massively comfortable with my appearance at the moment & you were all so kind. The blogging community really is a special one to be apart of.

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Life Lately #109

Hello lovelies!

Can you believe little Pushka is 4 months old!? Last weekend we took him for a walk in the fields around Gem's house & he's doing so well with his training. She's been taking him to puppy classes & he's been amazing off the lead. He gets so excited when he sees other dogs, all he wants to do is play! After our walk, we went to see Absolutely Fabulous at the cinema. Have you seen it? It's such a silly film. It did have funny moments, but the storyline was so rubbish! I won't be rushing to see it again if I'm honest. We went for dinner at Ask Italian (working for the local council, I get 30% off which is a bonus!) after the film & I'm currently obsessed with risotto. They do the nicest chicken & mushroom one, it just melts in your mouth!

Ah look what arrived this week! I ordered this little camera from Groupon a few weeks ago as a cheaper alternative to a GoPro. Obviously I wasn't expecting too much from it as it was literally a quarter of the price, but I'm looking forward to taking it on holiday with me next week. I'll write a review on it when I'm back.

My parents went to Yorkshire for a couple of days last week, so I was dog sitting while they were away. Harvey & Honey were so well behaved & it gave us an excuse to go out & enjoy the mostly cloudy but warm days. We walked for miles (I was trying to wear Harvey out as he hates mum being away & gets very anxious when she's not around) & it worked! I love this little pond that's near my house. We stopped here & watched the ducks swimming around while having a rest in the shade.

Look who was born this week! I feel like in every update post I announce someone has hatched, haha! This week it was our first peachick. We won't be able to tell for a while if this little one is male or female, but it's already become such a character. On it's first day in this world, it sat with me for an hour or so, just cuddled up. It ate some crumb & had it's first drink before going back under it's heat lamp. Hopefully it'll be joined by a few more chicks soon!

Now unless you've been living under a rock, you'll have heard that Pokémon Go hit the UK middle of last week. Of course, we all downloaded it (by we I mean our friendship group) Char & I worked 11 hours on Saturday & just across from us is a park which has lots of Pokestops & gyms in it, so we went for a stroll after our shift! We caught a few Pokémon, but it was mostly just nice walking around with the park on a warm evening getting some fresh air. I think we're going to try & do that now a lot more as we have late shifts together. I managed to head over to the park on Tuesday & took over my first gym! I've never been so excited. It lasted a whole 5 minutes mind.. but I was so proud!

On Sunday, the girls & I had a picnic in the park before work. It was so nice to have a catch up with them all (& eat all the remains from my BBQ a few weeks ago!) We also went shopping on Monday to Guildford. We sat & had lunch by the River Wey. It was so hot! Little Lily was looking so adorable in her hat & sunnies!

On Thursday I met up with Lorna for a bite to eat & a catch up. We don't get to meet up that often so it's lovely to see her when I can. The weather is so beautiful in the UK at the moment, it's been lovely to spend some time in the sun.

I'm actually off to Lanzarote with Cathy on Sunday! I have scheduled a post while we're away, but I'm going to be taking another break from social media as I found it so refreshing last month. Hope you're all well lovelies : )

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Life Lately #108

Hello lovelies,

Long time no speak! I've been away in Corfu then as soon as I returned & went to download all my photos onto my laptop, the bloody thing wouldn't turn on. I've spent the last week or so on the phone to the help line, resetting everything & getting it back to a healthy state, so I apologise for the lack of updates.

Just before I went on holiday, we had 4 ducklings hatch! They are just the cutest little things & have been regularly coming in & enjoying a bath in the house. Ducklings are so messy compared to chicks, so they need to come in to clean themselves every few days & have a splash around. Love this time of year for animals being born!

Ok, so my main update this month is our holiday to Corfu. I want to do a full post & vlog on our adventures, so I won't write much about it here except how amazing it was! We did so much in a week & had non-stop sunshine. (Bit different to our holiday to Lefkas 2 years ago when it rained for half the holiday!) Keep an eye out for that post coming soon & if you'd like to see what I took with me to Corfu, I wrote a full post about packing just before I left.

Last Sunday I held my annual Summer BBQ. I'd bought a marquee for this year as I wasn't sure how the weather would behave, but despite a few short showers in the morning, we had brilliant sunshine all afternoon & evening! Lily arrived in the cutest little dress, can you believe she is now 6 months old?! Crazy. She has just started sitting up on her own so won't be long before she's crawling around. Try & spot her in our pyramid!

I also stole a few ideas off Pinterest (anyone else obsessed with it as much as me!?) for some buffet food ideas. I made these pepper dips, which just involved cutting the bottom of the pepper & taking out the middle, before pouring the dips inside. I also made a watermelon jelly which I didn't manage to photograph unfortunately, but that turned out ok until we had to cut it into slices & it fell apart!

On Monday James & I went to see The Secret Life Of Pets & although it was good, I was a bit disappointed with the storyline, it just wasn't what I was expecting. The characters were good & it was funny, but I wouldn't rush to see it again. Have you seen it?

This week, I also got to meet this gorgeous puppy called Phantom. He belongs to a lady I work with & he came in to visit us on Monday. Isn't he cute?

Yesterday, Alex celebrated his birthday & we had a family meal at a local pub. Too much food was consumed! We also managed to get a group of 'older men' (they must have all been at least 70!) to sing to him! Was so adorable.

& finally I just wanted to include this image I took of our garden last week. Every time I look at it, it reminds me that even during the darkest times, there is light at the end of the rainbow. I've drafted a few more lifestyle posts recently that I can't wait to share with you over the next few weeks, as I'm hoping to change up my content on here to make it more 'me'. I think that's why I had gone off blogging at the beginning of June, it was just so impersonal for me to keep writing reviews of products etc, I want to make this blog about me again.

Hope you're having a lovely week so far guys : )

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Life Lately #107

Hello lovelies!

Feels like ages since I've done an update post. My head hasn't really been into blogging the last week or so, thank goodness for sensible me who decided to draft some posts a month ago! I don't know what it is, but I've been struggling to even want to sit down at my laptop & start typing. I think because I sit & look at a computer screen every day for work, I'm reluctant to want to do it in my spare time.. anyway, hopefully I'll soon get back into the swing of things.

The month has felt so busy, but when I actually look back over the past week or so, I don't seem to have taken many pictures..

My group of friends & I had a games day round Cathy's house  at the end of May & her cat Millie decided to hunt me down & rub herself all over me. I think cats have an inkling when someone has an allergy & will pounce as soon as they see you. As well as Millie infecting me for a few days, my hay fever has been driving me insane ever since. It's fine some days, but then others I'll feel completely run down by it. Please tell me its not just me?

On Friday 3rd June I went to my first football match in Southampton. I bought James tickets to the Sidemen VS YouTube Allstars charity match for Easter (who am I kidding, they were a gift to myself as well!) & we travelled up in the afternoon to grab some lunch before the game. We ate in a lovely place called Pitcher & Piano. The starters were delicious but we were unsure of the main courses. I had a burrito & James had a burger. They were a bit plain to be honest but it was a nice place to eat as it was right on the harbour. Anyway, the match was so good! It finished 7-2 & up until their young male fans decided to run onto the pitch at the final whistle destroying everything, it was amazing. I just wish they had been able to do the trophy presentation properly at the end. I vlogged the day, so that will be coming soon on my YouTube channel if you're interested.

Last Sunday, myself & the ladies from work took part in the Race For Life. It was our third year raising money & awareness for Cancer Research & thankfully, we had a dry, hot day! I'm so proud of them all!

I met up with Gem & Cathy last week for dinner at ASK. I always seem to forget about this restaurant in our local town as it's at the far end of a row of restaurants & because I cook pasta dishes regularly at home, it doesn't feel like a treat when I go there. However, I had the mushroom & chicken risotto & oh my god, it was amazing. To finish our meal, we had one of their new desserts, the chocolate lava mountain. It was heaven!

On Saturday, the girls & I went to the Ardingly Show, which is filled with animals; pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, horses, cows, rabbits etc & lots of food tents, stalls & floral displays. We had such a nice day, despite the rain & overcast skies. This is Gareth, you might remember me mentioning him in previous posts. He was on display in the chicken tent. Little Lily also came on our day out & had a lots of fun looking at all the animals!

& finally yesterday I had a day off. I can't tell you how excited I was to do nothing but cook, blog & relax. How did you spend your weekend?

 & I think that will be the last update from me before we head to Corfu next Monday. I'm actually so excited to spend some time in the sunshine away from work & every day life. I haven't decided if I'm going to set up a few posts while I'm away, I'll have to see if I can get my head back into it. Thankyou as always for your love & support on this page & all my other social medias. You guys are amazing < 3

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Life Lately #106

Hello lovelies!

Last week, I met up with my girl Ricka & we went for a walk & had a catch up at our local garden centre. It's the perfect location, a short walk from her house, takes us through the fields, across to the café. They do the most delicious cookies as well as proper lunch time meals. It's always so relaxed in there & despite them always being busy, there's plenty of seating, indoor & outdoor.

Ok, so the main update & highlight of this month was last Saturday when two of my best friend's tied the knot! It was the most perfect day, despite the occasional shower of rain. (May weather, so unpredictable..) They got married in the local church & held the reception just down the road. I can't stress how proud I am of both of them, it was such an emotional day. Vlog will be coming soon!

Sunday I was also lucky enough to not have to work, so James & I made the most of the sunshine & went for a long walk with the dogs. Honey gets extremely hot in this weather with her long coat, but she did amazingly well with her little short legs! We also visited James' dad & Maria for Sunday dinner. Was so lovely as we hadn't seen them for over a month & a half.

On Wednesday, my friend Sarah drove to mine for a walk with her year old dog Vinny who is such a crazy character! We took Harvey with us & they both seemed to get on really well.

Thursday I met up with Lorna & we went for tea in our local town. I always love meeting up with her, she has such amazing stories to tell!

& finally, last night the girls & I; Mils, Cathy, Kym & Catherine went to see Busted in London. Oh my god. My teenage self was extremely happy. I have loved James Bourne since I first saw him in the What I Go To School For video! I'd highly recommend going to see them live if you get the chance, they all have so much energy!

How has your week been lovelies? : )

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Life Lately #102

Hello lovelies!

Hope you had the most wonderful Easter! James travelled back from Gloucester on Easter Friday so we got to spend a few days off together over the long weekend. My grandparents celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary (still can't get over how amazing that is!) on 24th March, so we had a family meal on the Sunday. It's so nice to actually have the day off work to spend with them all & eat ALL of the chocolate!

Lily turned 3 months at the end of March! Can you believe that!? She's growing up so fast & getting cuter by the day!

I met up with the girls after a meeting at work on the Tuesday for a cup of tea & breakfast at our local pancake house. Just look at that meal! Pancakes complete with bacon & eggs, it's the most amazing thing ever!

On Wednesday, myself & the girls went to Ikea. It was Lily's first trip & she loved it! & she even managed to get a few cute toys from her aunties. We also stopped for lunch at the café & sampled the meatballs, which are soooo good. I've never had them before, but everyone raves about them, so thought I'd give them a go. I went to work that evening & my stomach swelled up! It was so painful, I've never had a pain like it. It actually felt like a balloon was inside me.. now I honestly don't know if it was the meatballs or not, but has anyone else ever had this?

Last Thursday I met up with Lorna before work & we had a catch up at one of our favourite cafes. We even got to sit outside for the first time this year! Myself & the girls are travelling down to see Lorna in her home town in a couple of weeks & I'm going to try to vlog our day out, so keep an eye out for that!

& finally myself & James made these amazing crème egg brownies last week. Neither of us are master chefs in the kitchen, but we found a simple recipe on Pinterest that both of us thought we could accomplish & they actually turned out amazingly well! I took them to work for people to sample & we got such a good response so we're definitely going to try more brownies in the future, maybe Maltesers & Mini Egg ones!

Hope you've having a good week lovelies : )

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Life Lately #100

 

Happy Saturday lovelies!

 

At the beginning of March, Jack's girlfriend flew over from Texas, so we had a meet up at the local pub & look who fell asleep on me! She was the cutest little thing, she snuggled right up to me (think my new jumper from ASOS helped as it's extremely soft!) but she stayed curled up for a good 20 minutes while we all chatted away. She is just the sweetest little thing.

 

Last Saturday, my girls, Boop's family & I managed to pull off a surprise birthday party for my best friend. We organised a games afternoon at Cathy's, followed by "dinner at a new pub Cathy's parents recommended". We managed to get Boop there without suspecting a thing & it was such a lovely night. We hired a barn next to a country pub, filled with food, friends & music & chatted the night away. I filmed the whole day which you can watch here if you like or at the end of this post!

 

Sunday was Mother's Day & I got the cutest card & bunch of primroses from Honey! My mum & I had a chilled day & I'm treating her to afternoon tea next month. What did you do to celebrate with your mum?

 

I've had some annual leave to use up before the end of March, so I've been making the most of it & booked this week off work. I had this beautiful bath bomb to use from Christmas, plus been spending hours walking the dogs in the countryside & getting excited about all the pretty sunsets! The weather has been a complete nightmare, as one moment it's pouring & the next it's glorious sunshine but I managed to capture this sky shortly after a down pour!

 

Ah don't you just love belated birthday pressies? I managed to catch up with Emily at Sarah's birthday meal & she bought me this gorgeous Little Miss Princess mug. I'm actually obsessed with mugs.. I have so many! Thankyou again Emz!

 

Finally on Tuesday I headed up to Gloucester to visit James at uni & on Thursday, we went to Crufts. I've never been & always wanted to go so it was an amazingly special day. I got to hug a Pug (life long dream!) & a Chihuahua, plus I got to meet hundreds of other dogs. We went on the Toy & Utility day, so I also got to see the French Bulldogs, Boston Terriers & Poodles. Was so much fun! I'm looking forward to the final tomorrow night, have you been watching this year?

 

How has your week been lovelies? : )

 

 

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Life Lately #99

 

Hello lovelies,

 

A few weeks back I was very brave.. & had my hair cut.. but not just cut.. I had layers put back in! I haven't had layers in my hair since I was about 18, which was 7 years ago but decided to take the plunge. My hair is so thick & can get really frizzy & it just felt so heavy around my face. My hair dresser understood exactly what I wanted & I'm so pleased how it turned out. I'm really enjoying wearing it like this, when I can be bothered to style it!

 

I met up with my girl Lorna for tea & a catch up at Costa & it felt like we hadn't properly seen each other for ages! She always knows how to put a smile on my face.

 

I also got to have lunch with my favourites at Bill's. Just look how much Lily has grown since I last featured her on my blog! She's the most adorable little thing & has just turned 2 months which has gone by so quickly! It was also lovely to see Naomi who was back from uni & Cathy's friend Ash was also down, so we had a lovely catch up before I headed to work. I didn't realise, but Bill's do a bargain lunch menu, which included steak, salad or a fish dish + a pudding or starter for £10. Amazing!

 

On 21st Feb, I met up with my tea ladies to celebrate Sarah's birthday. I was working late but managed to make it in time for the most delicious pudding & to see her open her pressies.

 

I mentioned this is my January & February Favourites post, but James' dad & partner Maria got engaged! We were all so pleased for them, myself & James decided to set up a few balloons & banners for them on their return to England! I can't actually wait to hear about the wedding plans!

 

& finally last Friday & Saturday, it was my nan & dad's birthdays & we celebrated with a family meal on the Friday night. I always love seeing my grandparents & so nice to get us all together around one table! 

 

How was your February lovelies? : )

 

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Life Lately #96

 

Ok, so who else is dying of cuteness right now?! I'd like you all to meet Lily! I mentioned that she was born in my last update post & this was the day we went to visit her in hospital. Isn't she just the sweetest little thing you've ever seen? I don't have any babies in my family, so I'm massively excited by Lily's arrival! I didn't take a picture unfortunately, but we also said goodbye to Mils & Craig the same day as they headed off around the world on their travels. I already miss them both terribly, but can't help but be super jealous of all the snapchats I'm getting of Mils sitting on a beach.. how unfair as we currently suffering -5 degrees here in the UK!

 

Last Wednesday, I met up with Gemma for an early birthday lunch at Sugar & Snow. I was trying to be healthier with my diet since the new year, but that's gone out the window this past week! It's impossible to diet when it's your birthday! We had a lovely catch up, along side a tea & chocolate filled pancake. Was so delicious.

 

Our Race For Life photo was in our local newspaper this month! You might remember me posting about our day last year when we ran as a group from work. My lovely friend Shez who has organised it for the last 2 years left work middle of last year, so it's been left to me to organise this year's event. After meeting up with her last week, I'm actually so excited about organising it & we've already got some people signed up. If you want to take part this year, you can join in January for £10 as opposed to £14.99. It's such an amazing experience to take part in, I'd highly recommend it.

 

It's been so warm up until this week in the UK, we've had all the Spring flowers popping up in the garden! These were shop bought daffodils, but my mum gets them every year on my birthday. If you didn't see my post earlier this week, it was all about turning 25 & how challenging this year is going to be for me. If you fancy a read, you can view the post here. Thankyou for all your lovely comments, I never thought it would get the response it has. Really does mean a lot to me to know you guys relate to it as well.

 

Which leads me nicely on to my birthday celebrations! James travelled back from uni in Gloucester last Thursday & took me out for dinner at The Giggling Squid in the evening. I've raved about this restaurant before, but if you haven't heard of it, they serve the most delicious Thai cuisine. We had such a lovely evening & headed back to mine for some wine & pudding!

 

On Saturday I celebrated in style at my Disney party! I've literally been planning this night for months so you can imagine my excitement when Saturday came round! I hired a local venue for my event & decorated it with balloons, fairy lights & party poppers, complete with games such as pin the tail on the Eeyore & kiss the frog. We also did a quiz & connected a laptop to a projector so we could watch Disney films! It was such a good night & I was surrounded by all my amazing friends. I got to wear the most beautiful dress & was able to become a princess for the night! (A life long dream of mine!)

 

On Monday night I met up with my girls & we went for dinner at Cote. I've never sampled the early bird menu but it was such good value for money, definitely recommend it if you get the chance to go. I had a three course meal; pate to start, steak for main & chocolate mousse for pudding.

 

How has your 2016 been so far lovelies?

 

Thankyou so much again to everyone that left me a tweet, message or text for my birthday. I'm still in my little bubble of happiness from Saturday. : )

 

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Life Lately #95

 

These last few weeks have been completely manic but also some of the loveliest of the entire year.

 

Let's start with Elisa, one of my best friends going on maternity leave on Christmas Eve. She was due to give birth on 6th January, but actually went into labour on 29th & baby Lily was born at 11.09am! We have a facebook chat with all our close friends in & it was going crazy as soon as Elisa sent through a picture of the birthing pool! It was such a tense day as I was at work 12-8.30 & we heard the news at 2pm! Another of the ladies I work with ran out to box office & we both celebrated. Both mum & baby are doing fine & myself & James are going to visit Lily later on today. I'm so excited!

 

As tradition stands, myself & James go to watch panto every year on Christmas Eve. This year was Beauty & The Beast & we thoroughly enjoyed it. It had some beautiful music & we fell in love with the beast & the dame. They were both amazing.

 

After the panto, we headed over to James' mums for Christmas Eve dinner & then to my family for lunch on Christmas Day, followed by James' dads on Boxing Day! I love spending time with our families & of course that includes our lovely doggies. Just look how adorable Honey is! Of course, way too much alcohol & food was consumed, but that's what January is for right?

 

New Years Eve soon came round as I had to work between Christmas & New Year (luckily not Boxing Day!) & we celebrated with some fireworks, a curry & games in the evening. It's always a special night as James' birthday is on 1st January, so a lot of alcohol was consumed Thursday & yesterday! We decided to go bowling & out for dinner in the evening with the family at TGI Fridays. I'd never been before, but the food was delicious.

 

How was your Christmas & New Year lovelies?

Would love to hear what you got up too : )

 

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