Girl With The Golden Touch

#27 NYC Purchases

2012-01-27T23:30:00.000Z

I said I'd do a little post of what I picked up in New York and low and behold here it is. It's not really a lot, I took around £700 and spent all of it but now I'm looking at this stuff I don't actually know where half of that went.

I obviously stocked up on my bedtime 'I <3 NY' tee shirts, along with a couple of others, I replaced my NYPD and FDNY tees, also picked up one from the 9/11 Memorial shop too, not to mention buying supplies for various friends, and a couple of hoodies for myself and presents.

We also saw some CSI tee shirts - just blue t shirts with a yellow CSI banner on them, and as we are all obsessed with CSI in our family we thought it would be funny to buy them as a joke but when my mum saw they were $20 she didn't want to waste that much on a top she won't really wear. When me and Alix went shopping we picked up four of them and kept them hidden away until Christmas, when we wrapped up one each for my parents and put one on ourselves hidden under our dressing gowns ready to open them when they opened the presents!

Speaking of CSI, our favourite spin off is the New York ones, so it was highly ironic that we actually saw Sheldon Hawkes in NYC one night!!!

So I guess the two main things I spent my money on were (apart from t shirts!) were a pair of Uggs and a Michael Kors watch.

I really wasn't planning on buying these - I hardly ever get use out of the pair I already have - but I absolutely love this colour. There is an episode of Sex and the City where Carrie is in her apartment wearing the same colour Uggs and I have always tried to find them in the UK but never succeeded! They were always red or pink, never a what I call Plum (and what Ugg call Sangria) colour. So when I saw them I had to pick them up.

I already have an MK watch which I received for my birthday in August and after catching a glimpse of a navy blue one a few months later I became kind of obsessed with getting one. The site I saw it on had sold out and after a couple of weeks of searching I just stuck it on the 'would like to own one day' pile! I asked in the Michael Kors shop and the woman who served us (who was absolutely gorgeous, but mistake my name for Alan - Carla - Alan - not sure how they sound the same OR why she thought I had a mans name...) said they no longer sold that watch and it had been discontinued. So I picked up this one instead: the MK5191. I know it's black, not navy but it's close enough I guess :) I love it and have worn it almost every day since buying it.

In Juicy Couture I picked up this cute bracelet and earrings.

I ventured into one Sephora and it was so busy I couldn't stand it and had to get out. I found a bigger one a few days later and went into that and really, not a lot caught my eye. So all I picked up was a Christmas Philosophy tin - Sugar Plum Frost. As soon as the bubble bath is all finished I think I'm going to use the tin to store my Lush products in :)

... And some Anastasia Beverley Hills Brow Gel. I also ventured into MAC just the once, the store within the Flat Iron Building, and picked up the 208 Eyebrow Brush, something I have been meaning to pick up for ages.

I went into one of the many Duane Reade pharmacies and bought three nail varnishes:

I do already have NYC Starry Silver Glitter which i obviously bought over here, and for a while I was wearing it constantly and wanted to buy a backup but I don't know why, like if NYC have gone out of business or something but all the stands near me are constantly almost empty. So when I saw this in America I picked it up - It was like $1.29 as well, how cheap!!

In the HBO shop I picked up a couple of True Blood related things - A Fantasia glass, a double sided bookmark, a Bon Temps t shirt (new favourite bed time top!) and a couple of bottles of True Blood.

And the rest was just stupid touristy tatt I guess, I love that kind of stuff!!

You know I love Obama, how could I not get a bobble head, or some mints...

So that's it! As always you can read about my New York posts here...

xxx

#26 Let's Stay Together

2012-01-26T21:41:00.000Z

Hi guys

Just a very short post today as I'm not very well. I felt really ill this morning and gradually have got worse throughout the day so I left work early and have spent the rest of the day in bed really :(

I didn't want to not post as I have been posting every day so far, not sure if you have noticed, but I really wanted to keep up to it! I wasn't sure what to blog about tonight but then I remembered I wanted to show you this video yesterday and I forgot. It's just a cute video of Obama doing a speech at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem (click the link to see the picture I took of it when I was there!) and he starts singing Al Green's Lets Stay Together. I love Obama, I have loads of photos on my computer of him like a geek, love anything to do with him so this wasn't surprising that I love this video!

Have you seen this before? I think he can really sing! Even though he only actually sings a line lol.

Hopefully I'll be feeling better tomorrow to do a 'proper' post!

xxx

#25 shopping my stash - blushers

2012-01-25T22:30:00.001Z

I blogged last week about the foundations I want to use up before allowing myself to buy any more. So I thought I'd show you today the blushers I want to finish!

In 2010 when I blogged about my make up storage, I only had five blushers. It's now gone up to 19 and looking at the top photo, that top row at the start looks pretty identical to me. The only ones I usually wear all the time are the two Illamasqua cream blushers I own in Rude and Promise. I honestly feel like I could lose my entire blush collection - well, maybe keeping MAC Movie Star Red as well - and be fine with just those to use. I barely touch the rest of the collection now I own the cream blushes.

The products I really want to use up though are the 6 pictured on the second picture. Maybelline Dream Mousse and Pure Blush Mineral, The Body Shop Cool Dusk, Maxfactor Miracle Blush and the two Bene/Posie Tint samples that came free with a magazine not too long ago.

I can't say I'm as enthusiastic about using these up as I am with using the foundations up, I'm stuck in a little blush rut I guess using the same couple over and over and when I'm in that mindset nothing else comes close to looking nice!

Gosh I had such a late night last night that I'm practically typing this with my eyes closed, definitely hitting t he sack once this post has been published!

Can't believe a month ago today was Christmas Day!! I miss Christmas :(

#24 Aussie Hair - Washes 19 - 23

2012-01-24T16:01:00.000Z

Just a quick post with another update of my Aussie washes with my bigger bottles! As you can see I've now up to wash 23 and I still have a fair bit in my bottles!

I have realised lately that I barely straighten my hair any more. I just leave it to dry naturally thus creating the waves you see in three pictures above. On the two pictures on the right, which were taken this weekend, that was just blow drying, not straightening - I remember a time when I would go no where without my straighteners! The picture in the middle with my red blouse on is the one time all week I did pull the GHD's out. My hair looks so long on that picture!

How many washes are you up to in the bigger bottles?

xxx

#23 January Pay Day Wishlist

2012-01-23T22:42:00.002Z

For the first time in what seems like years - what probably is years - I'm actually not desperate for pay day!! It's this Friday for me and, whilst I'm not scrimping away just yet, I still thought I'd do a quick post of what I've been hoping to get once it rolls around.

As the bad weather is still upon us and we've been threatened with snow frequently since Christmas ended, I really want to buy some wellies. I've lusted after Hunters for years but I know three people who had them five minutes before they deemed them a waste of money, so I'm not quite ready to take the plunge on them quite yet...instead I've seen some in Topshop that I quite like the sailor like stripes of so I am hoping to find these in my local Topshop soon! Has anyone got any other wellington recommendations, do you love Hunters?

I'm always lusting after what I call 'weekend' clothes - boyfriend jumpers etc. to just slouch around in when I'm not at work, and I love this coral striped jumper from Dorothy Perkins. It's only £25 and coral is one of my favourite colours, I think this would look perfect with some leggings/jeans.

River Island is home to the final three items of clothing up there - the two skirts and swing crop shirt. Again another beautiful coral colour and only £20 which I think is quite good for River Island(!) I think this would be lovely for work as it gets a bit warmer (perhaps still a while off I guess!!). I don't think I have ever bought a skirt from River Island before so I'm not sure what the fit would be like - I know I have absolutely no chance getting into their jeans so maybe skirts fall into that category too, but I can try on and hope! You may remember I said I wanted to wear more 'feminine' things this year instead of just leggings all the time and I would love to wear either of these skirts. The dogtooth pencil skirt is again £20, as is the yellow knitted Chelsea Girl one.

Finally, according to ASOS it's all about the fluorescent colours this season, and whilst I can't say any of their clothes or accessories are doing it for me I quite like this trio of Models Own polishes for spring/summer.

What have you got your eye on this pay day?

xxx

#22 Life according to my iPhone - Week 3

2012-01-22T21:37:00.001Z

L - R

Milo sat on my knee this afternoon
My dads tea one night this tea, what a 'man' tea, pile of meat!
My lunch this week - ham roll and frappacino
Friday lunch a bit more exciting - chicken caeser & jalpeno Bagel Nash and a bigger frapp!
Banana, grapes, yogurt and crunchy oats, a snack I've been having lately
Milo
Starting a new book this afternoon
A quick tea last week - wedges, chicken, rice and kale
Watched Something Borrowed last night, been wanting to see this for ages
:-( So depressing
An afternoon snack today, strawberries, grapes and a spoonful of Nutella
Filing in my Moleskin
Moi

I've only just updated to the new blogger interface, still getting used to it all! It's been a strange weekend, I haven't really done anything to be honest, I was supposed to be seeing a friend on Friday night but 20 minutes before hand it got cancelled which was frustrating to say the least, hate when things get cancelled so close to them happening. To get me through my night I turned to the fish shop, pepsi and malteasers, and Spartacus - I am in love with this programme! Does anyone else watch it? This was my phone background last week:

Hope everyone has a good weekend, I've been having an epic blog catch up session today along with finishing my current book!

xxx

#21 Stir Fry, Kale, Chilli & Coriander King Prawns

2012-01-21T13:27:00.010Z

So you know how I mentioned on yesterday's post how I was the kind of person who has to be obsessed with something at any given time? At the moment, it's food. I'm obsessed with cooking, reading recipes, trawling websites for the photos. I'm saving links to things I've found on Pinterest left right and centre, I've set my home page as Foodgawker.

One of the things I miss most about not living in my own place is not really making my own food, not being able to just mess around in the kitchen. I'm so excited for doing it again when I finally move out!

Last Friday everyone was out so I had plenty of time to potter around when I got home from work and this is what I came up with for tea.

Stir Fry, Kale, Chilli & Coriander King Prawns

I admit that when I usually make a stir fry I fall under the trap of 'it's all veg, just make it all', usually with a view of halving it and having some the next day, usually finding it so tasty that I eat it all. I also can't see the point of a stir fry without noodles, noodles are one of my favourite foods. There's a place in Leeds called Wokon and I love it! Chicken Satay noodles - my mouth is watering thinking about them!! Anyway. This time I actually weighed out 30g of the bag of stir fry and put this into the wok on the hob. I usually just put them in without any oil or anything, so don't forget that if you usually use oil... leave it on its own for about two minutes and then add a packet of Amoy Straight To Wok Medium Noodles.

Whilst that is cooking away on a low heat, this is a good time to make the last part - the kale 'chips'. I only began eating kale last summer, and I'm not even lying when I say I'm mad it's taken me so long to try this! It's absolutely gorgeous - it reminds me of the 'seaweed' you get at the Chinese takeaway. You can pick it up in the supermarket, it's just in a bag like lettuce is, and you basically pour some of the kale into a bowl, along with a tablespoon of olive oil. Mix it around, adding salt occasionally [read: a lot] and just making sure it's all covered. Then transfer the contents of the bowl onto a baking tray, I usually add a bit more salt now, but remember I am a tad obsessive when it comes to salt. Spread the kale around so its spaced out over the tray and put it in the oven for four minutes - or until it's as crispy as you like it. It does shrink when it's cooking so I put loads on - although I guess if you don't know that then you've never had it before, and you don't know whether you like it enough to waste loads yet...

After adding a bit of soy sauce to my stir fry and leaving it to cook in that a bit longer, I started to make the thing I was most looking forward to - the prawns! I love chilli/garlic prawns. Although sometimes when I'm eating prawns - the tiny ones - I think I can see their eyes and then I start to think of them being in the sea and it freaks me out and I have to stop eating them for a few months. Although I love food sometimes I can be eating something and think where its come from and it makes me feel sick and have to by pass it for a while! I'm a bit weird on things like that. But back to the prawns...after you've given them a wash, heat a small amount of oil in a separate frying pan, on a medium heat, then add the prawns, a clove of garlic and a finely chopped, de-seeded chilli - or however many you want. I had a bad experience a few months ago when I got a bit cocky with the chillis and thought I could handle loads - never been in so much pain. Even my mums eyes were streaming with the smell let alone having to eat it, LOL, never again!!! One chilli was enough for me. Fry this for a minute or so.

And then it's just a matter of minutes before this is all ready! Make sure your kale isn't burning or anything. Remove your stir fry from the heat. Just before taking your prawns off the heat stir in some finely chopped coriander. You could add the prawns to the stir fry but I like them on their own so I didn't... Finally, remove the kale from the oven, I usually put it inbetween a couple of sheets on kitchen roll to pat off all the excess oil.

And you're done!

This seems like such a long post for such a simple meal. In reality it takes about 25 minutes once you know whats what, it's so easy, I probably don't need to tell you that!

Hope you enjoyed this post, I was hoping to do more of these types of posts if people are interested? I've been following so many more food blogs lately and have so many ideas tucked up my sleeves!

xxx

#20 'Shopping My Stash' - Foundation

2012-01-20T11:47:00.001Z

When I made my New Years resolutions this year, you may remember number 7 was 'Be Thrifty! No longer waste money on things I do not need/save more'.

So, in an attempt to do so I set some ground rules when it came to make up.

I'm the sort of person who has to always have something to be totally consumed with - so my 'obsession' with make up sometimes disappears to make way for other 'obsessions' I might have and this year I'm sort of determined to not let it come back. I have way more make up than I need and to be honest it just doesn't really interest me the way it did do, and it hasn't done for a good few months now. I know this blog hasn't ever been a full on - every post about make up - blog but before I came back to blogging this year I unfollowed so many beauty blogs because I just wasn't interested in reading about someone going out and buying every single eyeshadow in the new range...it all seems so pointless. I have so much make up - and in comparison to a lot of girls I know/read it would be barely a dent in their collections - that I don't like any more, don't use any more, have totally forgotten about. It seems kinda weird to me now that I would get so excited about the release of a collection and need to rush out that dinner time to buy something new.

I went through each of my drawers - my lip drawer, my eye drawer, my face drawer, my nail drawer, my box full of beauty products - and wrote down a list of everything I have of each thing. And I'm not allowing myself to buy any more until these are finished up!

There are three exceptions (that I can think of right now): I am allowed to treat myself to a lipstick if I want, as it is my lipsticks that seem to bring me the most joy in my collection! I am also allowed to buy a nail varnish if I really want it - although I will try to use as much restraint as I can :/ and finally, I'm going to allow myself to buy eyeliner, as even though I have a lot of it, a lot of them are a bit crap and its really only Illamasqua's Precision Ink and Urban Decay's 24/7 Liner that I can use.

So, the foundations/face powders I have to use before buying any more:

L - R: Estee Lauder Double Wear, Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation, MAC Studio Fix Fluid, Revlon Color Stay, NARS Sheer Glow, Samples of Illamasqua Skin Base.

The bottles of MAC, Estee Lauder and NARS are probably about 50% used so they shouldn't be hard to use. When I re bought Color Stay I was so disappointed as the colour was so different on me to how it had been a few months before. The hardest thing to use is going to definitely be Rich Liquid Foundation without a doubt. I find it so hard to work with it, it's so thick and I am sure now I have the wrong colour, it looks so orange. But, I managed to work with it for a few months and I'm hoping with the right brush, and mixing it with a moisturiser it might work out OK!

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural, Maybelline Pure Foundation Mineral, Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation

MAC MSF is the only powder I will ever re-buy. I've worked my way through countless others in the past and nothing comes close to how I feel about the MSF! So for this to work I'm going to have to try and save the MSF for 'best' and use the other two up at work :( The Maybelline and Lily Lolo are about 70% each I'd say.

So with all these foundation products to use up before buying anything else, I wonder how long it will be before I actually put my hand in my purse and make a purchase? Any guesses?

I'm actually quite looking forward to using some products up, there's always a sense of satisfaction when you hit pan on something!

I'll do a separate post with the other bits of make up I have to use up later this month!

Have you had any similar ideas this year about using your old stuff instead of buying new?

xxx

#19 Beam Me Up, Scotty

2012-01-19T10:15:00.000Z

I bought this jumper a little bit before Christmas as I have practically no jumpers for work and it's winter! I love the clothes that come out in Autumn, all the mustard colours, but I don't think I've ever actually owned anything this colour.

Yes, the jumper is pretty creased at the bottom because no matter how early I try to get up on a morning it doesn't work and I'm always left rushing, so I have no choce but to do photos after I've been sat in my outfit all day ...

I absolutely love it, it pairs well with this skirt or a plain skirt, looks perfect with my new pair of red earrings, a bun and a slick of red lipstick.

I picked these up in the Next sale after Christmas for only £2! I love them.

The only thing is, I feel a bit like a Star Trek extra or something in it. It doesn't make me love it any less but now I've drawn attention to it I have my dad and brother doing that weird hand finger thing to me when I wear it and I had someone at work emailing me photos of Captain Kirk!

Do you know what, I actually re-enacted this photo when I received it, I leant back against the blue wallpaper at work, tied my hair up and did the same pose and sent it back to him. I was going to put it on this blog but then I had a worry that someone might take it and it might find its way onto one of those 'This is why I'm single' emails that go zooming around the country - so I hastily removed it!!! Bad times, it was quite a funny pic!!! Can't be too careful when it comes to the internet I guess!!

The jumper was around £10. Does anyone else have this and feel like a Trekkie?!

xxx

#18 IMATS London

2012-01-18T10:34:00.001Z

Back in January 2011 I travelled to London with Sinead and Paula for a fabulous weekend in London, in order to go to the IMATS. If I'm honest the best part of the weekend wasn't IMATS by far, it was meeting new faces and generally having fun in London! Shopping? Cocktails in Covent Garden? Westfield? Sinead accidentally walking right into the middle of a massive protest??? Weekend made!!!

We made the decision ages ago that we would go again this year and that time is nearly upon us! This year it falls upon the 4 -5 February. Myself and Sinead are going to London on Friday 3rd and will be up early to hit IMATS on the Saturday morning.

I've seen some peoples posts planning what they are wanting to buy while there, last year I kinda just went without really knowing what brands were there, or having an list as such in my head of what I wanted, and due to spending restrictions I'm kinda going down that route again this year! I don't want to speak a lot, I don't really think I went crazy on make up in 2011 and I certainly don't want to start now - 2012 is when I want to use all my make up up, not replace it... That said, i am sure I will come home with a bit of a stash that I'll be showing you all!

Are you going this year? Have you made a list or are you just winging it like me?! Tickets are available here.

xxx

#17 - Aussie Hair - Washes 16 - 18

2012-01-17T12:56:00.000Z

Hello Angels!

Just a quick one today, having to do this at work today as my internet at home is broken! Keeps going off all the time, hoping it will get fixed on Wednesday but I really want to keep up posting every day this month, so I'm sure I'll find a way around it!

I have only used the Aussie shampoos three times this past week as I have slept out a couple of times so not been home to use the good stuff, so just three pics this week - or four actually, the bottom two are obviously on the same day, I just included the one on the left to show how long my hair is getting these days! I'm really struggling to decide what to do with it, I do like long hair but it can get a bit *too* long can't it, and it's hard to do things with it...I also am not a fan of the colour atm! I don't know what route to go down with it, I get my blonde put in and it seems that a week later my roots are showing through, when I tie it up you can just see the dark, I just don't know what to do with it. I can't tell you how badly I want a big block fringe putting in but every time I go down the fringe route it looks rubbish.

Any suggestions?!

That's all for today! Washes 19+ as always next Tuesday!

xxx

#16 New York City: Day Six - 22 November 2011

2012-01-16T11:43:00.001Z

So onto my sixth and final day in New York City! It was a slight rush job as we knew we needed more things from the shops so after a packing sesh where we all got a bit caught up because the majority of the things I'd come with no longer fitted in my case (always the way) me and Alix headed out to get a few things and mooch around Times Square. Sadly, despite saying for the entire holiday 'I think I'm going to end up taking most of my money home, I don't want anything' I actually ended up spending literally every penny the day before, so I had no money to buy anything :(

The massive ferris wheel inside Toys R Us. Amazing!!

All the Barbies were housed in a giant Barbie House and man, were there loads! I'm seriously gutted I didn't get to buy any of the above :( From L - R - Frank Sinatra Barbie (WANT!), The Barbie House, Grace Kelly Barbie, Statue of Liberty Barbie (WANT!), a wall full of Barbz, Pillow Talk Barbie & Ken, Elvis Barbie (WANT!), Tim McGraw & Faith Hill Barbie & Ken (WTF??!!! Who knew these were that popular?! Not me!) and Farrah Fawcett Barbie. Just literally pure immenseness in this shop. <3

Next up we popped by the Disney store and I thought this little Princess Castle was cute, as well as the wall of Statue of Liberty Minnie Mouses. I really wanted one of these too! I'm such a loser.

And that was pretty much it, we just nipped to McDonalds on the way back - I hate going to another country and eating crappy take out food like this but I don't mind in America since it all originates from there! I had a Big Mac and I have to say it was crap! V disappointed! Not sure what Alix got, but he liked it, then we got McFlurrys, I think one was Oreo and the other Reeses Pieces. Ooh and also a slice of pizza for breakfast (ever the health freak) which was OK.

Oh, one last set of pics, when we were packing we had the news on and they were live at the Rockefeller Plaza as crowds were gathering and camping out because the Biebs himself was going to be performing there the next day. They had this woman on who was like 40/50 years old and the founder of 'Moms 4 Bieber' I mean WTF! Anyway when we nipped out we passed them and I spotted the mom for Bieber! So Alix started taking pics of all the people, it was quite funny. I don't think I'd ever camp out for someone, would you? Not even Jason Donovan and you all know how deep my love for him goes!! I've waited in the rain for his autograph but camping on the streets! It's all a bit weird...I mean I like Bieber I won't lie...but adults camping out is plain wrong. I mean can you imagine if a 50 y o man set up a 'Daddies 4 Selena' group or something!!! WRONG!!

Anyway I hope you have enjoyed looking at my photos and reading about my little holiday, thank you for reading! If you've missed anything you can check them out here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5.

xxx

#15 Life according to my iPhone - Week 2

2012-01-15T10:09:00.000Z

Jacket potato, cheese, bacon and leek for tea, watching Westlife: For The Last Time on ITV Catch Up :'(, beating my high score on Temple Run! Breakfast for the most part of the week: Yoghurt and fruit.

Chicken, rice and salad for tea, Dinner for the majority of the week: Ham and coldslaw. The sky one night last week

Again, two more pics of the sky! How weird that the first on this line and last on the previous line were taken one after the other, neither edited, yet the sky looks wicked on the first one and nothing to rave home about on the second. Milo sitting in my room; makes me laugh how she sits the nearest to the edge she possibly could, funny cat :) saw these on intagram and love the idea for a wedding!

Nails this week, tea last night, kale, stir fry and king prawns, wanted to make a fruit layer like this yesterday morning (pic from Pinterest) and what mine actually turned out like :(

A poor mouse Milo brought in the house last week (it wasn't dead btw - for a change), bacon and leek pasta, getting some use out of my Amy Winehouse t shirt (finally) and Chinese food for tea last night

Hope everyone has had a brilliant week, again if anyone else has done any of these types of post be sure to leave your link in the comments so I can read! xxx

#14 Lush - Recent Buys

2012-01-14T09:30:00.000Z

It's no secret I am absolutely obsessed with Lush, I spent a good amount of money in there each month and last year spread out and tried other products aside from their bubble bars (my favourite) or bath ballistics! My last trip to Lush was a few weeks before Christmas where I stocked up on their Christmas products plus a few other bits and a few pieces for presents.

I think Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter has been on my list of things to buy for about 4 years now. And I finally picked it up! It smells AMAZING. I do love the lemony smelling things Lush stock, although I am a massive fan of Rockstar Soap and other various soaps, I can't deny the one that smells of lemons is my favourite - although looking on their website now to link you I can't find it. Have they stopped this?! I need to check this out ASAP!!

The Melting Snowman is the kind of thing I pick up just because it looks cute. It smells like marzipan, oranges, and doesn't create bubbles really, it's more one of the ones that leaves your skin feeling all silky and smooth once you've got out.

Bubble bars are my favourite products for one reason - they can (if you use them frugally!) last a number of baths. This actually split on the way home and the roof of the house came off. This is a gorgeous smelling product, and it has a little stick of cinnamon in the roof as a chimney! Lots and lots of bubbles - I think I got about 4/5 baths out of this Gingerbread House.

So White is just a simple bath bomb - it smells gorgeous and its perfect for a relaxing bath after a long day. It's only cheap too so makes an ideal present for people over the festive period!

I forgot to take a picture of this before using it, but Rocketeer was one of the more 'fun' bath bombs! Dropping it in the water it leaves so many different colours, it is just like a little rocket going off in the bath! I didn't think this was a Christmas product to be honest I thought it was a permanent piece but looking on the site it seems it's actually neither, one of the reviews says an employee told her it was now discontinued. So if there are any of these in your local store I would recommend buying some! I'll definitely be having a look as soon as I get chance.

Christmas Eve bubble bar is my favourite bar to use over December and I buy quite a few (including one to save and specifically use on Christmas Eve!) It smells amazing, nothing else Lush stock comes close for me and I wish it was a permanent product despite the name, but this year it actually had a pretty strong contender in the form of Golden Wonder...

This is amazing - in Lush's own words, it's like a pass the parcel gift with different layers. It rattles when you shake it, it's pretty big and it's the product that you don't want to just drop in the bath and walk away, you will be glued to the water until it's completely dissolved! It turns gold, then into yellow, then blue, leaving soluable stars along the way. I was lucky enough to not only buy a couple of these but also receive the Mr Frosty gift for Christmas from a friend and this has another one of these in. I'm excited to use it already!

I also picked up while I was there another Ocean Salt, and once that's used up I can take my five empty pots back to pick up a free face mask! Looking forward to this little treat!

Have you been enjoying Lush this Christmas?

xxx

#13 New York City: Day Five - 21 November 2011

2012-01-13T11:16:00.004Z

Four things happened on our last full day in New York.

1. We went to the World Trade Centre Memorial Site. I was really interested to go to this as it was something that I missed out on last time, and I am really interested in all WTC things to be honest, as sad as that sounds. There was a guy on the street outside the church selling these books, full of pictures of September 11th, and when I found out it was $15 I decided not to get it, in the end the guy gave me it for £4 which was pretty good!

I found the 9/11 museum really interesting and strangely surreal as it was quiet apart from the documentary playing in the background, and people were crying walking around, it was pretty eerie to say the least. Above and below are some of the things that were on display; a flag filled with the names of the dead, a tattoo a fireman had on his back.

A helmet a fireman was wearing on the day, a figure made from the scrap metal from the WTC building.

The two new buildings. It was a pretty sobering experience to say the least!

2. We took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty a bit better!

When we were walking through the park to get the ferry there were loads of squirrels and birds casually walking around!

3. We walked from Battery Park to the Brooklyn Bridge. My mum and dad walked halfway across it and back but me and Alix sat at the beginning waiting for them; we were feeling lazy I guess!

4. We went in separate shopping directions, me and Alix got a taxi to the Flat Iron building where I had a little look in MAC and then we went for food at the Shake Shack. I think Alix had heard of this place before we got there and so wanted to check it out and I didn't think I would be overally bothered but after seeing the length of the que (apparently this place gets busy) I decided to get a burger and shake.

You place your order and then get one of those vibrating thingymajigys that buzzes when your food is ready to pick up. Once again, there were tons of squirrels running around!! I think I find this so weird because a, I can't say I ever really see them where I live, and b because it is such a busy environment, all the traffic, people and noise, I can't believe they just seem to be everywhere! I watched this one below run up this tree and just stay in this position and every time I see the picture I laugh because it was just like this for ages like it was dead or something!

We got our food and had chosen to sit right next to set of trees - bad move!! This squirrel made a bee line for us and it was really embarrassing - all the other people where watching, some woman was shouting GUYS! SQUIRRELS ATTACK!! OMG I was mortified. It jumped right onto Alix's chair and we had to move - I mean it is hilarious and the pic of it on his chair makes me die when I see it but it was scary and embarrassing!

We got some shopping done after our food which I'm gonna post about separately, but we actually spent the best part of the afternoon looking for one place in particular. I had got quite a True Blood obsession going on before I went away, and had scoped out the HBO website and got it into my head there was a store but we couldn't find it anywhere. We asked people, no one knew..just as we had resigned ourselves (or should I say I had, I don't really think Alix cared at all) to the fact that we wouldn't find one, we stumbled across it! it was well disappointing though, hardly any TB merchandise in comparison to what's on the website. I picked up a couple of things though, including some True Blood! It was really nice actually as well.

Sooo that's the last full day done, one more post to go and I doubt there will be hardly any photos as we were only there for half a day. Apologies for all the piccies in this post again!

xxx

#12 Orange Pleat Top

2012-01-12T09:58:00.002Z

This was one of my sale buys over the festive period. I went to Dorothy Perkins in the White Rose Centre and tried a few tops on. Dorothy Perkins is one place I have to try everything on and can't buy online from because I find the sizes so hit and miss! One thing can fit perfectly and the same size in something else can be the worst fit ever.

I found a gorgeous shirt and took it into the changing rooms and when I put it on someone had completely ripped the back! Straight down the back, literally keeping together by about three stitches. It was as though the incredible hulk had tried it on lol, I mean how do you manage to rip a shirt so badly. I handed it to the assistant on the way out and then about an hour later walked back through the store to get to the car and I saw the exact same shirt - with the exact same rip! I can't believe they'd just put it straight back on the shelf. It was nearly £20 and unless you'd tried it on you wouldn't have even realised.

The shirt is just a simple blouse, with pleats down the middle. I absolutely love it, the colour is perfect and goes with almost everything.

According to their website there are a few different colours available, although all are in the sale so only limited sizes left. I'm very tempted to order one in the green (only as it's the only colour they have left in my size! They have blue, navy, purple, green or the orange one like mine and they are all around £10 and were originally around the £30 mark.

xxx

#11 New York City: Day Four - 20 November 2011

2012-01-11T15:39:00.061Z

You know how I keep saying in all these posts 'there's a lot of pictures'? Yeah, well this time, there are a LOT. So I'm not going to do much talking, just a few captions, because all you really need to know is:

1. The one morning we had had planned out for the whole trip, having booked our tickets before even arriving in NYC, the one morning we were going to be having tons of photos taken, was the one morning that the whole of the hot water in the hotel shut down. Meaning no shower, unwashed hair - slight nightmare and mostly typical. Excuse the bad hair pictures is all I can say.

2. This was the day we went up the Rockefeller Centre, or Top of the Rock as it is known. Hence the boat load of pictures - I just couldn't pick a few.

3. If you don't know which to go up, the Rockefeller or the Empire State Building, having been up both I would suggest the Rockefeller. The views are better, the observation deck is better and getting to the top is WAY better! With ESB we qued for ages, then got lifts so far up, then had to either wait over 30 mins for the next lift or walk - which we did - and I really hated that part. With the Rockefeller, its two lifts that are kinda see through, as in you look up and can see the lift going up the shaft, and there is a video playing and it takes like 30 seconds. Defo recommend.

My dad and Alix on the higher deck! (right)

The Lego shop in the Rockefeller Plaza

Tiffanys window display; Diesel shop; the changing rooms in NikeTown - thought this was ace!

Trump Tower and the waterfall inside

Massive baubles/lights being put up around the city

The Lipstick Building, Chrysler Building and The Hemsley Building

Bottom left - breakfast, chilli dog, champagne Martini. For tea we went to a place my parents have been to when they went to Florida a few years ago, the Outback Steakhouse. They loved it and it took us a while to find the NYC one but when we did I adored it too! I very rarely eat steak to be honest so when I do it is a very nice treat! The staff here were incredibly friendly and we started with their Blooming Onion (main picture). It's basically a whole onion, cut and deep fried. And it tastes amaaa-zing. Immensely bad for you of course and I don't even want to think about the calories but it's gorgeous. For my main I chose just a sirloin steak with chips and you pick either a salad or soup as a side so I went for a caesar salad and couldn't believe the size of it for a side! It was the best caesar salad I've ever had though. And you know the best thing about the Outback? For the massive onion, and bread to start, then three salads, a soup, four steak and chips and eight drinks it was about $40 CHEAPER than the place we went the night before, the absolutely RUBBISH place. Unbelievable!

xxx

#10 Aussie Hair - Washes 11 - 16

2012-01-10T10:00:00.000Z

Hey girls

So as promised here is my second round up of how many washes I can get out of my new bigger bottles of Aussie shampoo!

This takes me up to 16 washes using both the shampoo and conditioner. My hair definitely feels softer after washing and I swear the smell is lasting longer?! I don't know why, it just seems stronger and I'll catch a whiff of it on a night as I'm going to sleep even though I washed my hair hours ago...maybe I'm just using more product or something than usual.

Part three will be next Tuesday!

xxx

#09 New York City: Day Three - 19 November 2011

2012-01-09T15:21:00.002Z

On to day three of my pictures and once again, I'll mention that theres quite a few pics in here although I have tried to collage bits together!

On Saturday we decided to hop back onto the bus as it was the second and last day to use them, and we were heading for a different tour this time. Now this tour only picked up every 40 minutes or something and the pick up point was outside Central Park so we made our way down there and had a look around the Apple Store until the bus arrived.

When we got on the bus the driver said that actually we had to get back off the bus at Times Square and get onto another one. When we got to that one we got onto the bus only to discover it was absolutely packed - no seats for us four to sit together, just four separate seats all dotted around over the bus, next to other people. We decided to get off and the tour guide was mocking up as we got off but I don't know about you, I don't pay $50 and get on a bus that I'm gonna be sat on for at least 30 minutes and sit apart from the four people I had come with?! I was really mad that after all our messing and queing at the other stop to ensure we sat together we were almost split up, and then just as the full bus pulled off a wholly empty one pulled up saying it was doing the tour as well, so all was well again! This tour guide was a lovely little old man and once again was full of the facts!

I was really gobsmacked when he told us that certain billboards in America on the sides of buildings are not actually posters like most other advertisements - but actual artwork! Look below for example - a H&M advert that was dotted around other places in the city - but in this particular place was being drawn on by men to look exactly the same. I think it's brilliant!

This particular bus went past lots of famous buildings and places where celebrities live, or have lived, and I took pictures of them all - only, there were so many, I can't actually remember who lived where, which is a bit of a shame! I suppose the main place was the place John Lennon lived, and was shot in 1980, The Dakota.

I was actually really excited to go into the American Museum of Natural History and took so many pictures that I can actually bore myself looking at them so I won't bore you as well! Here are a few of my favourites though!

Dum Dum!

After we'd caught our bus again we stayed on it until it dropped us back in Times Square, passing other places such as the Guggenheim Museum, and the Apollo which apparently Michael Jackson once played a concert at.

You all know how much I love my pepsi,..had to snap a pic of a 'New York' branded can! #saddo After dropping our bags off at the hotel we went window shopping around the Rockefeller Centre, marvelling at all the bright Christmas decorations! The picture below is the Cartier shop, which was by far my favourite.

When we got hungry my mum asked if we should just go back to the same gorgeous Italian we went to on the first night but I said it was silly to be in New York City for 6 days and go to the same restaurant twice, and so we ended up in a small restuarant not far from the Italian/hotel. We all picked from the set menu - three courses for around $30. The place itself was pokey, small, and basically rubbish, the table was sloping and the table mat was cheap and plastic. For starter I picked bruschetta, and it was so hard I ended up leaving it. For my main, after seeing my mums gorgeous lasagne the other night I picked that - I have had cheap weight watchers microwave meals that tasted better! It was obviously just stuck in a microwave and tasted absolutely crap (below left). My dads meat was swimming in a blueberry sauce that wouldn't have been out of place in a desert dish - it was just unbelievably rubbish. Alix picked chicken and when he got it (below right) it was chicken, covered in cheese and then a pile of pasta as well - just weird, like two dishes on one plate. When we picked our deserts there were only four two choose from and the two which were the ones I would have had were out. No one mentioned this to us before, which you would have thought they would (the place was dead apart from us and one other table) - so i ended up just getting cheesecake and giving it to my mum. I was so disappointed I cant begin to tell you! Words can't describe the crapness. I HATE going for food and it being rubbish - I love my food! :-(

After that disappointment and being worn out I'm not even lying when I say all I wanted to do was get back to the hotel, get into my PJ's, jump in bed and watch Spongebob Square Pants and iCarly on Nickelodeon!!

Once again I hope you have enjoyed reading/looking at some of my photos!

xxx

#08 Life according to my iPhone - Week 1

2012-01-08T10:17:00.006Z

I thought I'd try to do one of these posts at the end of every week of all photographs I'd taken on my iPhone, the majority published to Instagram, I always find these posts pretty cool.

I read Chris Evans second book, Memoirs of A Fruitcake, at the start of the year. My first completed book of 2012! I'm not a raging Chris fan or anything but I really do find his books interesting, he's done so much in his life, and I have to admit I actually welled up when he got to the point of splitting up with Billie! I read Billie's book years ago but just can't remember it, wish I still had it to re-read.

Wearing my Sponge Bob socks that Alix bought me for Christmas, using my gift from Lauren which I mentioned in an earlier post, some cute tissues I picked up in the Next sale for 50p, FOTD, messing around with one of the many photo apps I have, my cat Milo is not very well at the moment :( First Starbucks of the year, having a massive nightmare getting to work on Thursday meant lunchtime definitely needed rose wine, a cupcake my brothers girlfriend made for a treat on Friday night

ADDICTED TO TEMPLE RUN!! Sending to my stats to Charlotte and Sinead...I've played 1,328 games since the middle of November! If you aren't aware of this game you need to get on it, it's free, and its basically a same level game where you just follow a path round trying not to die by falling into the water or over a tree etc and collecting coins. And it's immense. Look, I'm even giving you a link so you can download it now!

I swear all I ate yesterday was pizza. We went to Costco and I feel obliged to buy a slice of pizza each time I go (which isn't very often) because it's just THAT GOOD. And then we bought a big square one to cook later, so I had some more for tea. Pizza and water have been practically the only things put into my mouth today! Good times!! I have been reading tonight about some of the changes Weight Watchers have made to their plan (again) and it's really left me feeling a little bit :-/ I don't know what to do now, I don't want to go to Weight Watchers and practically do the Slimming World plan, the Slimming World plan has been done to death for me which is why I liked WW...any WW members reading that can help?! :(

I'm also trying to get into Pinterest more, please let me know if you have an account and I can follow you, here are the few pictures I loved this week:

This idea is absolutely fantastic, a vintage postcard calender journal. God knows I have more than enough old postcards (kind of an obsession to collect them everytime I see any!) - this would be such a fab project.

Love this quote and think it would look fabulous as a print, in a big old fancy frame.

I cannot wait to have my own place and have a plethora of fairy lights around the bedroom again. I really love the idea of a quote on the wall, nothing too big, and this too shall pass is one of my favourite quotes as it goes. I love the positioning of the letters, above the window.

Feel free to link me to any Instagram/weekly round up posts you may have done!

#07 New York City: Day Two - 18 November 2011

2012-01-07T10:44:00.003Z

So onto day two of my trip - and I have to warn you this is a pretty picture heavy post!

Me and my brother Alix

We set off in search of breakfast and found most places we tried absolutely packed - we ended up in a place at the bottom of Times Square and all sort of misunderstood just how big the breakfast would be - when I picked eggs and bacon I expected like two rashers of bacon and a English sized portion of eggs...

What it actually was was a huge pile of bacon, a huge pile of eggs, two slices of bread and a huge portion of home fries (potatoes and peppers, onions...still don't really understand the whole eating fried potatoes for breakfast!). Mine is the picture on the right, Alix's on the left - he asked for a croissant with cheese. Massive! massive but gorgeous!

Times Square, Macys Christmas Tree outside and one of their decorations - Believe!

After breakfast we had a wander round Times Square and then picked up some tickets for the open top bus. If you are going to New York yourself I really can't recommend these tickets enough - they're around $50 and last for two full days. There are four different tours you can do, they mainly turn up every ten - fifteen minutes and you can literally hop on and hop off at any stop (apart from the night time tour - once you're on you can't get off that). You see so many sights and I also think one of the added bonuses is the tour guides - each one is different, each one has their own facts and way of telling you many stories about the different sights.

The Flat Iron Building

Obligatory M&M shop pictures! Alix and Spiderman

St Pauls Chapel, Charging Bull, Smithsonian

Battery Park, Staten Island Ferry and a bookstore I saw that I thought looked too cute!

Brooklyn Bridge

We hopped off the bus at South Street Seaport and had a little look around there, I was a bit disappointed I'd had such a massive brekkie because last time I went to SSS I had some food and I love the little foodcourt there! There's so many different things to eat and all the places are handing out free testers - it's all really nice food. Alas! This time I was just WAY too full to eat anything :(

Unfortunately the tree at the Rockefeller Centre wasn't unveiled until the day after we'd left. The ice skating rink was open and although we didn't go and actually skate we had a look around.

The massive advertising board in Times Square, Chrysler Building, Union Park

On Friday night we took the night tour around Brooklyn. Like I said earlier you get picked up at the stop and then dropped back at the same place after the tours over, you can't get off. It's really good, albeit it cold but the sights you see more than make up for it. I took quite a few pictures and my brother took loads but I just thought I'd show you these two I took...

The Empire State Building

It does tire you out though, think its all the wind blowing in your face while you're going over the bridges! and coupled with all the walking around in the day, as soon as we got off the bus we headed to TGI Fridays, enjoyed a burger and hit the sack!

Cocktails at TGI; The Ketchup in TGIs which I loved - I swear you would never see anything like this in our country, we are so not patriotic at all!; Brownie dessert which we got free as we were left waiting for our mains so long!

Well done if you made it to this point reading and not just skimming through the pictures! I hope this is all not too boring, it's the sort of thing I would love to read on other peoples blogs and I'm always looking for new travel blogs to read so if you know of any good ones leave me a comment below!

xxx

#06 Christmas 2011

2012-01-06T09:33:00.002Z

A little belated but I will never tire of seeing peoples Christmas posts. As the song goes, I wish it could be Christmas every day, give me winter months over summer any day. For me, once my birthday (18 August) is out of the way I let myself begin to get excited about the coming months, and I feel so sad when the tree comes down and normality is restored! Here's a few pictures I've taken over the last week or so.

The back room

Three books I bought to read in December. Mrs Miracle has my heart <3 If you've never read the book or watched the films I urge you to do so next Christmas!

The front room

In the middle of cooking breakfast on Christmas Eve

Christmas Day!

A surprise pressie my mum and dad picked up from the CCO for me <3

Double woven and leather wrap Pandora bracelet

The conservatory all decked out ready for Christmas Day meal

Fooooood...I like a lot of gravy! And I didn't eat any of the pudding (belugh...) I made up for it by eating millions of pigs in blankets though!

This is without a doubt the best and most favourite photograph I have EVER taken. I am so in love with it my mouth just automatically omits a 'eee' sound every time I look at it. Look at her tongue! Eeee I love her <3

Boxing Day...stollen and chocolate log

This was taken on 02/01/12 but I've put it here to show the fab chip and dip set my friend bought me for Christmas! I love it.

Hope you enjoyed looking at my pics as much as I enjoyed looking at everyone elses!

xxx

#05 New York City: Day One - 17 November 2011

2012-01-05T11:26:00.000Z

I thought it would be a good idea to do an (albeit belated) diary as such of New York so I could show you a few of my photos and also write down what we did each day so I can look back on here and remember it! The year I went before I was writing a proper diary that year and literally wrote every single thing I did but I can't really say I do that any more, the closest thing to that would be this so...

We flew at around 8.30 am from Manchester Airport on Thursday 17 November, and, despite us getting there an hour before check in desks opened and standing in the que from the minute we arrived, by the time we had reached the end and checked our bags in there was incredibly only 30 mins before boarding - it all seemed so rushed. When we got to the boarding areas however no one could board - until a few people had come forward to say they would take compensation to take a later flight as they had overbooked the flight. It was pretty unbelievable, that has never happened to me on a flight before nor did I know they even did that - HOW do they overbook a flight ... and then just make you sit around until a couple of kind people decide to completely mess up the beginning of their holiday and take a different flight. I mean it messes everything up - bags had already been loaded onto the plane, a lot of people arrange for transport to pick you up at your destination at a certain time etc...it was just a total farce. It also knocked out all the prebooked seats we'd asked for so I ended up sat on my own which was pretty annoying with it being an eight hour flight.

And when we finally landed, the company we had asked to collect us just kept passing us off to another person...then when we arrived at our hotel and checked in it appeared that they had, instead of putting my parents in one double room and me ad my brother in a twin, had actually put us in rooms with one double. The stroppy young receptionist said she couldn't do anything as there were no rooms left at all in the hotel and we had no choice. And the double beds were small. So we decided I would share with my mum and Alix with my dad, which made me a feel a little dirty that we were going away for my mums special birthday and then getting all split up like that! After unpacking my dad and Alix came to our room and on the way passed an empty twin room so popped back down to reception to speak to someone else who said he could have that - so que us packing all our things again and me and Alix heading up to the 15th floor this time and finally getting sorted!

After a day of what seemed like just messing around the only thing we really wanted to do was get out, have a quick wander around to gather our bearings and get some proper food.

We stumbled upon Grand Central Station almost immediately, something I actually didn't see the last time I was there so that was nice. We had a look inside and found lots of stalls - I have no idea if these are usually there but there was some gorgeous stuff for sale.

I also watched Friends with Benefits again on the plane so snapped a picture of this restaurant which is where Justin and Mila go after he has done the whole flash mob thing in GCS for her!

The ceilings in GCS are absolutely gorgeous. Being inside reminded me of this picture I have picked up somewhere along my travels on the internet - its the inside of Grand Central station in 1941. See the sunlight streaming through the windows? It can't do that these days because of all the skyscrapers surrounding it. I think that's amazing! Just me?!

After a little mooch around we ended up in a small Italian place just down from our hotel - it's a shame I didn't get the name because I would most definitely recommend it! I was so torn on what to pick to eat- it was a toss up between the spaghetti and meatballs, penne pasta or lasagne. I went for the spaghetti and meatballs and my mum got the lasagne which I didn't get a picture of - oh. my. God. It looked and tasted absolutely immense.

Alix went for the penne pasta - I swear every time I see this picture my mouth waters at that cheeeessseee MMM.

After a very delicious meal there was only one thing we all wanted to do - get to sleep! So no more pics for Day One, Day Two will be up shortly! Hope you enjoyed reading if you made it this far!

xxx

#04 Back to normality

2012-01-04T09:00:00.001Z

Yesterday was my first day back at work after ten off! It's not a lot but I feel like I've had about a month off and wasn't even too bothered to go back to tell the truth, sort of excited (is that weird?). But then when I woke up the rain and wind were so bad. I think I really need to work on my fears of the wind, I lay in bed panicking the roof will blow off or other silly things.

And it ruins all my outfit plans! I've wrote plans of all the clothes I want to wear this week and it's pretty much skirts all the way. But thanks to the rain I had to wear jeggings and change when I get to work which I hate doing :(

I got a few tops in the sales this week, from Next and River Island, that I'm just gonna wear for work. I now have a lovely work wardrobe and no nice weekend/going out clothes but since I spend the majority of time at work I suppose that doesn't matter! This blouse was from Next and should have been £28, reduced to around £14 I think. It's like two sizes too big and feels massive but when pull the sleeves up I kinda like it.

I've been trying to get my mum to help me take photos of me but it just sort of turns into a massive laughing fest watching her try to work the camera (especially the iPhone, she doesn't realise it's taken the pics and just keeps pressing the button so I end up with 50 million photos). I look so awkward on these!! I want to start doing a lot more outfit posts so I need to get used to this!

As part of my NYR to take more photos I've joined Daily Booth so if you're on there feel free to follow as I only have two followers! Does anyone still use this site??! I follow a few people yet no one seems to post. My mum also wants in so I'm taking a photo of her every day although I'm not posting them on the internet. It's kinda fun :-)

I'm wearing a gorgeous nail varnish I picked up in New York, it's an OPI one, think it's I Eat Maine-ly Lobster or something. I'll do a post on it later this month when I do the rest of the stuff I got in New York. I asked my mum to take a photo of my hands tonight to show the polish and accessories I wore today - I gave up in the end and this was the best of a bad bunch!

A couple of people asked me about the polish I was wearing in my pictures post the other day.

It was a combination of three - I remembered when I first tried out Models Own polishes, and I wore Emerald City all the time! I never wear glitters like that anymore, it was about ten coats and a bitch to remove so I just did one coat over two coats of Barry M's Emerald Green. After a couple of days it ended up chipping and I had a spontaneous meeting with a friend after work so I just layered on OPI's Rainbow Connection to distract from the chipping!!

One last thing about something that happened recently: About two weeks ago I had a dream that I was sat in a booth and a huge rat came chasing round the top of it and I could see it getting closer to me but I was frozen and couldn't move, and just as it reached me I woke up. When I opened my eyes however, in the dark of my room, I saw a shadow on the wall next to me and thought it was the rat and screamed out loud...how embarrassing. That night after work my parents were laughing at me about it and then they went upstairs and I stayed down reading a book, cosying up to the Christmas tree, when my cat came in with a mouse in her mouth!! I screamed the whole house down it was HORRIBLE. Cut to yesterday, I was down in the basement talking to my colleague, and outside her office is a set of stairs that lead down from the main street, only a few stairs, and it is a busy place we work, and I saw a huge fucking RAT just casually walking down the stairs like it owned the whole of Leeds and hadn't a care in the world!!! I was so freaked out - I knew I was going to see a rat after that dream but thought the mouse might have made up for it! We screamed the building down and ran to higher ground but then I was really scared going for a wee for the rest of the afternoon in case it was in the toilet :( Do rats do that? I know it might be common to see them in cities like London but I swear I can't ever remember seeing any in Leeds! Ew I'm itching all over again now :(

xxx

#03 Aussie Hair - You Can't Have Too Much of a Good Thing!

2012-01-03T09:22:00.006Z

At the start of December I came home from work to find a massive box for my attention that had been delivered that day. It could only mean one thing - Aussie! I ripped it open to find a huge inflatable bottle of Aussie shampoo, along with two actual bottles containing shampoo and conditioner.

When Aussie asked for feedback from the fans of the fantastic shampoos, they listened and took on board what you said you wanted. Bigger bottles? Aussie have increased the size of their bottles to a mega 500ml for shampoo and 400ml for conditioner! More gorgeous hair for your money! I can't remember the last time I used anything but Aussie, they not only make my hair smell lush they make it feel great too!

As if making their bottles bigger wasn't enough, they have also added to the formula a little bit. In Australia, Aussies use the sap of Aloe Vera to rub on their skin and grow up to 200 varieties of the plant itself, so it's no surprise Aussie has joined the list of companies who use this in their products!

The Task

As you know, Aussie love to give their Angels challenges a couple of times a year, and the launch of the bigger bottles is no exception! What do they want us to do? Document just how many washes can be got from the 500ml bottles. What I've done is made a little note each time I have washed my hair, and snapped a quick pick. I'm going to be updating my progress every Tuesday until my bottle runs out with a small photo diary.

To date I have used this 10 times - my hair really does feel softer which must be the aloe vera extracts! All in all I think this is quite a good challenge and I'm looking forward to updating you each week!

Have you managed to pick up the bigger Aussie bottles yet? Personally I love that the shampoo is slightly bigger that the conditioner - I like to alternate my conditioner and 3MM every night anyway so this all falls together nicely - I hate having loads of different bottles on the go!!

xxx

#02 November - Now in pictures

2012-01-02T10:00:00.000Z

Red Hot Buffet - Leeds Blogger Meet Up 12/11/11

Me and Sinead - Leeds Blogger Meet Up 12/11/11 - pic courtesy of Liloo!

Billy Bremner at Elland Road following the death of Gary Speed

NEW YORK!!! Plenty of pictures/posts to come

Becoming a little obsessed with Disney films

The best bottle of shampoo I have ever received! Lots of Aussie posts planned as well!

Smashing my iPhone :'( Making a makeshift phone case until I got home out of a paracetamol box!

Mulled wine and a frankfurter at the Leeds German Market

Christmas background <3

Me and my mum <3

My dad and brother <3

More Disney obsession

Getting a tad obsessed with Scrabble wars with Alix over the festive period

Relaxing with my mum in front of the tree with Magic in the background and wine to hand!

Milton Keynes with my favourite girls Sinead and Paula <3

xxx

#01 New Years Resolutions

2012-01-01T00:09:00.000Z

Hello beauties!

Long time no blog...my heart has not really been in blogging since before my trip to New York! Blogging or twitter really. I thought perhaps having a week or so break before my holiday I would be feeling a bit refreshed upon my return but it's really taken me until now to feel like getting back into it.

I've got lots of plans for lots of posts in January and hopefully the rest of the year so where better to start than a New Years rezzies post! I know you will see millions of these right now but I love a good list!

1. It was one of my resolutions last year to drink less pop and I do think I made significant progress with this! I never said I would cut it out and it isn't what I want to do (just physically not possible) but I used to drink around 3 cans a day, a lot of the time more. I made a real effort to drink more water and can honestly say that if I lack on drinking two litres a day, I feel more lethargic and just generally rubbish, which is something I never thought I'd say. Since going to New York though, I have kinda laxed out on the water drinking and reverted back to pop. I've been drinking very little water and so I am going to aim to drinking at least two litres of water a day from 01/01/12 - I've even printed off a little year to view calender so I can cross of each day once I've drank it! What a sado. I also have stopped eating healthily the past few months and want to rejoin Weight Watchers and continue on with my weight loss journey I started last year! I'm pretty excited to get started on it to be honest - I've eaten way too much lately.

2. I live in leggings. I'm not even exaggerating - I don't wear jeans, I wear leggings day in day out. I might take trousers and change into them for a few hours a day at work occasionally, and I do wear skirts more than I used to. But I want to start wearing skirts more, and introduce dresses to my wardrobe!

3. Pretty self explanatory and something I have touched upon lots of times on here - to cut a long story short, I am very badly short sighted, I should wear glasses way more than I do, I hate wearing them and thus wear contacts constantly - I am going to force myself to wear glasses more often.

4. I have 36 books in my to be read pile and am not allowing myself to buy any other books until I have finished this pile. My only exceptions will be if something is too good an offer to pass up (for instance I managed to get James Corden's book a week before Christmas for £5 which is a fantastic offer!). I'm also going to add this as a page in at the top, a list of the books I have to read and will be updating my progress as I go along!

5. I've purchased a Moleskin diary for the first time and aim to write in it every day! And I want to blog a lot more than I have been doing. I've had a clear out of a lot of blogs I was following and found new ones to get excited about and am hoping this will all help!

6. I downloaded a Project 365 app last year and began to use it but got a bit bored/started to forget after a couple of months so I'm hoping to try and use this properly - my mum also wants to get in on the act so hopefully this will work!

7. Exactly what I've written! Stop wasting money on things like loads of make up and stuff I just don't need - I don't need ten million lipsticks all different shades of pink etc etc. So stopping buying this and instead saving the money helps me with number ...

8. To move out! Preferably before August when I turn 26 (sob).

What New Years resolutions have you made this year? Link me up to any posts you may have done!

I'll leave with this song, being the New Year and all. It's a classic and the whole reason I love the Sex and the city film - this part is just my favourite.

Happy New Year everyone! xxx

Friday: 11.11.11

2011-11-11T23:14:00.000Z

Hello lovers!

I know this is a very common saying for me right now but the sentence 'OMG I am so tired' could not be truer today. I went out last night for some drinks and a curry and we didn't make it to Akbars until 10.45. I won't lie, part of me hoped they said they were shut so I could just go home and hit the sack! But they didn't and by the time we had finished out food I didn't get home and to sleep until around 1am, and woke up wide awake at 5.30 so now its 11 I am well an truly ready for bed.

A very windswept mirror shot in the last pub along our trip! I'm actually rather upset to be honest because I think looking at this picture my face has definitely put weight on. Part of me just can't wait to get back from NYC and start Weight Watchers again - I had a quick look on their site for something the other day and as sad as this sounds, I miss it! I miss having that pressure every week, I really need to go back and continue on with the diet.

This picture makes me LOL - the way I'm sat with my arms crossed over my tummy so you couldn't see it looking fat has made my boobs look huge - I look like I'm auditioning for Jugs magazine or something stupid LOL. This is the peacocks top I got the other day and whaddya know - It is the most perfect colour match for Illamasqua's Stoic which I haven't had a chance to play with until now.

The ceiling in the restaurant! I thought it was so pretty :-)

First round: Poppadoms, pickle tray with champagne!

Looking forward to seeing some of the blogging/twitter girls tomorrow at the Leeds meet up, maybe do a little shopping, who knows! Can't quite believe it's less than a week to my holiday now.

Ooh also, I solved my hand luggage dilemma today! I realised that not only did I not know what hand luggage to take I also didn't have an everyday bag, so I picked up one I've been after from River Island for a while. It's a messenger bag in a gorgeous pale pink/peachy colour. It was £25 and when I first saw it online - I'd never seen it in store - I was a little unsure how big it would be. I rang today and managed to reserve one and someone at work nipped down to pick it up for me and its huge! I was planning on taking this and my studded bottom bag too but to be honest this will most definitely fit everything in for the plane.

xxx

Who Do You Think You Are?

2011-11-09T23:22:00.000Z

Only a short post today. I can't believe I only have tomorrow and Friday and Monday and Tuesday left at work before I finally go away! Got so much left to do at work as well, I want to make sure I have literally nothing left when I finish and it's just seeming to be harder and harder to reach that point as there is so much to do! I also have NO idea what bag to take as hand luggage on the plane! I've just bought a new bag from River Island but its not really suitable to haul on a plane :/ New bag? :-)

Feeling a little let down by a few different people today as well, you know when you think you know someone? And then something happens and you realise that actually, you don't know them that well at all. Yeah, that. It's been a strange day. Tomorrow will be better! I'm looking forward to tomorrow actually, going for a few drinks and food after work so that should be good.

Who watched the final episode of TOWIE tonight? I loved it!! I can't believe Mark has left, it won't be the same without him I don't think. I even liked the twins tonight, don't know whats happened to me, I usually hate them! Did you like it? I seriously felt upset when Arg and Mark were crying!

And as I don't like to do posts without pics, here's my last three instagrams:

Salmon fish cake, potato croquette type things, a few slices of pepperoni and kale. Love kale.

Jacket potato, pepperoni, cheese, and kale. Seriously. Obsessed with the kale.

Finished this book last night with a scone :-)

xxx

8 November 2011

2011-11-08T23:35:00.000Z

Is it too early to start listening to Christmas songs yet?

One of my favourite episodes of Bones is in season 1 when they gang are quarantined in the lab over Christmas Eve. It features David Boreanaz in a vest for the most part so thats a big thumbs up, but it also totally makes me cry when their families begin to visit, and they can only speak to each other through the glass.

Tori Amos version of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas plays in the background and it is such an amazing version of the song. The song itself is my top favourite Christmas song anyway, sung by whoever, but this version is really haunting and I actually read she sang it after she'd lost her baby which is quite sad. Anyway I downloaded it after watching that episode again the other week and I'm a little ashamed to say I cannot stop listening to it. I know Christmas is 47 sleeps away according to my Christmas Countdown App..

But for me it seriously can't come quick enough! Well not Christmas day itself, I mean the whole time surrounding, I've said it many times before but for me once my birthday has been celebrated, and this usually works well because the weather is rubbish, I just start focusing on Autumn/Winter. I don't get how people can hate it! Sure it might be raining but look at all the Christmas lights around! The tree went up in Leeds City Centre last week and I believe the lights get switched on this Thursday. When I left work today at 4.30 it was so dark, I can't wait to be going home in the dark but lit up with festivity! I have even been known to walk the long way to the bus stop just to see more lights #loser

What are your views on this time of year? And when is it time to start listening to Christmas music?!

xxx

7 November 2011

2011-11-07T22:33:00.000Z

Evening lovers!

Just a short post today to show you the gorgeous earrings I recently bought on eBay which arrived today.

Whilst scrolling through my Google Reader I came across this post of Louise's and instantly wanted the owl earrings she featured! Upon closer inspection I realised these were only £1.99 and so I purchased a pair. I wanted the blue ones more than anything so imagine my surprise when I received both the blue and brown eyed pairs! When I had another look at the listing it does say buy one get one free, shows how much I pay attention when spending my cash doesn't it!

I'm so pleased with the pair of these, they are cute and delicate and will look so cute, and for the price you just can't go wrong! There's a few other things I want from the sellers shop which is here. Anything catch your eye?

xxx

6 November 2011

2011-11-06T23:55:00.001Z

Good evening girls

Hope everyone has had wonderful weekends! My whole Saturday basically consisted of blitzing my bedroom! I threw away SO much stuff, cleared out around 1/3 of my wardrobe and at least 1/2 of my shoe collection! My wardrobe is looking a hell of a lot tidier and cleaner. I needed to go pick up a few essentials today so I went to Crown Point with my brothers. There's quite a few shops down there and I always manage to pick something up. I got a plain boring top from the Marks and Spencers Clearance Shop that is perfect for work with a skirt or trousers and it was only £4.50!

I also spent quite a bit in Peacocks. Peacocks is one of those shops I literally never go in, the last time I went was over a year ago. I spent around £95, or £70+ with Alix's student discount. I got a new coat which pleased me, I wasn't looking for something major just something warm. I've just bought a Barbour jacket and although I'd had my eye on a gorgeous parka River Island are selling I didn't want to shell out a further £90 on top of the £80 I paid for the Barbour. The coat I got from Peacocks was just a long, warm duffel coat with a fur hood which will be good when it gets really cold.

Lolling at my face! It looks well stupid! I am in love with this top and already know that on the day we break up at work for Christmas (12 pm 23rd December, not like I'm counting or anything) I will be wearing this as the colour reminds me of Christmas!

I've been panicking for my trip to New York as I've heard it is now colder than originally expected and I don't own hardly any jumpers. I picked this up as it will be great to wear with something under and then my Barbour if I need to, plus it has a hood, although I don't think I would put it up, it's one of those crap hoods that makes me look like some kind of weird elf thing.

Again keeping on the jumper/NYC subject, although I own a ton of cardis they are all really long and I think it just looks wrong and stupid to pair a long cardi with a shorter coat, so when I saw this in the G21 section in George I picked it up! It fits perfectly lengthwise under the coat and I am really pleased I found this.

SO I think now, I have my coat, the above cardi and jumper and another very heavy jumper I think I'm kinda ready for my hols! I'm having a small shoe prob, I was going to wear Uggs but after a major blister problem last time I wore mine for a long period of time I don't think they are the right thing to take. Last time I went I actually ended up buying two pairs of trainers as my feet hurt so much but nowadays I literally live in leggings or skirts and trainers .. just look wrong with that combo. So I still need to address that... this week is my last full week at work! Cannot wait to just get away from everyday life for a bit, will be fantastic!

On a final note, if you've not checked out Kirsty Louise's blog before there's never been a better time as the lovely lady is having a giveaway! Me mentioning this isn't an entry to the giveaway or anything, Kirsty is a lovely girl with a lovely blog and I just wanted to give her a little mention. :-)

xxx

Reading, Watching, Listening, Loving!

2011-11-06T00:53:00.000Z

Haven't done one of these for a while and am leading a pretty boring life today so thought it would be nice to do this!

These are all the books I've been reading lately, out of the above seven there are only three I would want to pick up again: Love Always, Harriet Evans. I am a mega fan of all of Harriet's books and while this didn't match up to some of her others (namely Going Home and The Love of her Life) it was still a good read and looks good on my shelf with the rest of her books :-) The Time of our Lives by Imogen Parker was nothing like I had expected; I bought this book literally years ago and have never picked it up until now. It begins in 1953, at the Coronation, and is a bit 'One Day' ish in that it revisits the majority of the characters every year onwards. Each chapter represents the following year, and I didn't know until I reached the end and looked at some reviews on Amazon that this is actually the first in a trilogy, so I'm looking forward to picking the next one up. Finally I've just finished The Beach Hut by Veronica Henry tonight and it was pretty much the perfect easy read. Chick lit, but not as predictable as some chick reads are, each chapter again representing a different set of characters along the same beach in different huts - it's left me longing to go away now!

Have you read any of the above?

I've just finished watching the first series of Lipstick Jungle as well. I've been wanting to see this for a while so I popped it on my Love Film list. It was *OK*. I have to admit that it was the sort of thing I had on in the background - and paid much more attention when Kirby was on screen ...

He also plays Clay in One Tree Hill, and I've just noticed that series 8 is now available on Love Film - I've pushed that up onto high priority!

Will leave you with the song I've been listening to today, the new JLS one, what do you think?

Ooh one last thing, I have joined Good Reads recently and am friendless so if anyone is on there and wants to follow or whatever it is you do on there, here is my profile. :-)

xxx

4 November 2011

2011-11-05T00:20:00.000Z

Hello lovers

Hope everyone has had a good Friday! As I have been saying all week I am glad it is finally the weekend! Tonight for me has consisted of doing a little shopping on the way home, nothing major, just needed to nip to the White Rose Centre to pick up my money for New York, replace the battery in my watch and nip to buy my first Yankee Candle and a new camera! I've been undecided what to do for a while re the camera, as you will know if you have been reading my blog for a while that I bought one back in March I think it was now and lost it on a night out the first time I used it :( I've not replaced that one but have since bought my iPhone which is a far better camera then I could have imagined, and I really just use that now. But with New York looming in 16 days I don't feel myself without having a proper camera in my hand and a memory card to fill! So I picked up the Canon Powershot A3350 IS from Currys for £99 on sale from £159. 16 mgpx and lovely and sleek, can't wait to put it on charge tomorrow and take some snaps!

Have you been splashing any cash lately?

xxx

3 November 2011

2011-11-03T23:39:00.000Z

Hey girls

SOOO I've just finished watching Top Boy.. what did everyone think? Was a bit surprised by the ending and gutted about Leon! :'( It was quite good though although how I managed to stay awake I do not know because once again I am knackered! I am so looking forward to tomorrow night, get home, chill out and sleep in at the weekend! No plans this weekend thank god as well, I swear all this tiredness this week is because of London last week! I've been drinking like 2 1/2 -4 pints of water a day for the past two months or so and since last Friday I just haven't been drinking even 1/2 a pint...could that have something to do with my tiredness as well do you think? I really need to get back on it.

Today was quite fun as one of my very close friends who I work with brought her daughter in. She's two in February and is so beautiful, we pinched her and kept her on reception most of the day with us and I just can't take the cuteness.

She just walks around saying 'No Way!' or 'Why?' or 'Baby' allllll the time. and she can sing Justin Bieber's Baby which is toooo cute. I love her! So having her at work made the day go a bit better!

Right going to hit the sack in the hope that I might get up early enough tomorrow to put some make up on...doubt it though :/

xxx

2 November 2011

2011-11-02T23:38:00.000Z

Evening everyone

Hope everyone has had lovely days! I quite like Wednesday evenings as Thursday's are my favourite working day of the week, I try and treat Friday like a weekend day and thus make Thursday my Friday...even though I'm still working on Friday's lol, just seems to make the week go by a little easier!

I'm so tired tonight, just going to update my iPod and get some rest! My knee is still so so painful, I honestly fall all the time, any one will tell you that, but I have never fallen this bad before :( It's all weeping and gross and bleughIneverwannawearheelsagain :(

Has anyone been watching Top Boy? What do you think? It's all about Kano for me...even though his character is just so stupid and hot headed! It's OK..no Kidulthood/Adulthood though.

Ahh that last one used to be my desktop picture like 5 years ago or something! Used to love his music, but I haven't really heard anything from him since London Town... maybe time to check him out again :-)

Last thing, I am utterly obsessed with Little Mix (Formally Rhythmix) on X Factor. I only watched this weekends show last night but I just loved their performance to the point where I've had to download it. I don't know why but I am just so happy for them for getting so far instead of falling at the first hurdle like the other girl groups (which to be fair are always shit). I really hope they get further. I've really switched positions with Misha and Kitty, I actually don't mind Kitty now but I don't really like Misha. I don't think Sophie should have gone, I don't like the new guy in The Risk so not a massive fan of theirs this week... Not really liking Gary or his acts (Marcus is good though) and I really dislike Kelly! But Alexandra Burke gave me mega lolz with all her 'ok dot com' and all that talk. Everyone hates Alexandra and I don't really get why, I don't know one person who likes her! She was annoying but I don't mind her. I read that they are making a remake of The Bodyguard (this should NOT be happening - it's one of my fave films!) and Rihanna was lined up to play the Whitney role but pulled out and Alexandra is rumoured for it now. ANYWAY here is Little Mix's performance if you haven't seen it yet.

ETA: This video is not the best at all but the others were all disabled on embedding. Better version here!

Who's your favourite act this year?

xxx

1 November 2011

2011-11-02T09:33:00.000Z

A webbed/spider candle in the pub last Thursday :-)

Moi :-)

Picking up my train tickets for my journey to London on Friday :-)

Loving this song at the moment :-)

An absolutely gorgeous pizza in London with Abby, Sinead and Steph :-)

Bumping into Matt Lucas in a taxi rank at the end of the night with Abby and Catherine!

Letting him have our taxi in return for a photograph with all three of us :-)

Falling over outside the hotel on the way back :-(

Mega bruised, swollen , bloody and painful the next day :-(

Enjoying lunch in the park, all warm in my new coat, reading a book = perfect :-)

What have you lovelies been up to lately?

xxx

26 October 2011

2011-10-26T23:34:00.000+01:00

Today has been a massive fail on the nail front!!! I have been so busy at work once again and by the time I'd got bathed and taken my polish of from yesterday then settled in front of last weeks TOWIE, followed by Frozen Planet, followed by tonights TOWIE, I'd tried about five different polishes and designs - all looking crapper than the last! So the final one I decided upon was taken from this tutorial and thought it looked relatively easy for 10.30 at night. And it was - it just hasn't come out looking as nice as I expected. And the pictures I have been trying to take truly make it look horrific - like a childs done it! so just the thumb nail I'm going to show you, which is by no means a good picture, but still.

Supposed to be cartoon vampires! I hate them but I am too tired to begin once again! But a shining beacon is brought by excitement of the arrival of these...

Mega excited to use these, I ordered them on eBay yesterday and they arrived today! Gonna be using them tomorrow I think.

In contrast to yesterday when it was quite warm today it was absolutely freezing! Glove weather for sure now, I need to pick up a new pair! I think I've managed to stay on track with my food again today, for breakfast I had a bar, I cannot remember the name of them now - Natural bars perhaps? Full of nuts and fruit. I know they were 6 Weight Watchers points. For lunch I made a chicken and tomato sandwich and I drank two litres of water and a can of Red Bull, and for tea, a nice warm jacket potato with some beans and a bit of cheese and a quarter of a cornish pasty!

Has everyones day been OK?

Is anyone going to the Aussie event on Saturday? Let me know if I will be seeing you in the comments!

xxx

25 October 2011

2011-10-26T00:09:00.001+01:00

Hey dolls!

Hoping everyone had a good Tuesday! I love having the Monday off work and playing catch up all week. Work was pretty busy today but it felt like Monday and realising it was Tuesday at the end of the day and getting to leave a little earlier was brilliant! Trying to take the little things for granted...new season resolution!

I've managed to stay on track food wise today and have also only drunk a bottle of orange lucozade (It's either this or Red Bull...can't start my day without!) and three litres of water...very proud of myself! I've been cutting back on pop lately and this is my fourth week now drinking at least two litres of water a day. It's definitely getting easier!

So off came the pumpkin themed nails when I get home and, strapped for time, I just wanged this one on... I did this last year originally on the Halloween itself and loved it! Polishes are NYC Little Italy and Nails Inc Aspen...so much love for this polish!

What do you think?

I bought a new top for work in New Look in Manchester yesterday so put that on for work today. I am in love with this top and paired with my favourite red/corally lipstick (MAC Toxic Tale!) I felt great today! Time for some crap pics I attempted taking today, I'm rubbish at this!!!

Oh and had major LOL's over my brothers Halloween outfit tonight...OK I lie, it actually scares the hell out of me!!! I think its the face!!!

So...good day peoples?

xxx

24 October 2010

2011-10-24T22:03:00.000+01:00

Hey dolls!

Every Autumn I seriously get so excited for Winter and Halloween and Christmas, all the exciting things that happen at the end of the year. I've been looking at loads of nail art lately and thought I'd kind of start doing the daily posts that I did in August again now, and also do a different Halloween nail art themed post each day, just to get me more excited!

So I have started off my week with pumpkin nails. It is kind of a bit messy but at the end of the day...pumpkins aren't every neat and tidy!

What do you think? I found it quite hard doing the black as the one I used was a polish with a very long thin brush and my hand was wobbling all over the place! The products I used were:

Top coat: Revlon Extra Life. Orange: Nails Inc Atomic by Fabulous. Stalks: NYC Little Italy followed by a lime green, no name product I picked up in another country pharmacy! And pumpkins NYX, just a black nail art one.

Any ideas what I can do the rest of the week?

I had today off work to go shopping with Sinead and it was fantastic! Although very stressful as my bus didn't arrive so our hopes of breakfast being relaxed didn't happen, and we didn't find the coat we officially went for anywhere, and Sinead could not find any clothes... it was still brilliant. Pics from today, basically what my day consisted of:

Trying this coat on in River Island for my mum! Seriously, this is heavy. Straight pulled my back out bending over to get my bag in this beauty!!

Almost buying these beauties in New Look. £25!!! They are beautiful. Slightly tacky, but who doesn't love a bit of tack during the holiday season! Or all year round... the only reason I passed these by was the height. These are hight. And the platform is mega. If I decide to go back and buy these to wear at the Aussie party on Saturday, someone needs to be willing to spend the night in A+E with me because I know what I'm like.

Way to end the day! Retired to the public house at 4pm for much needed refreshments.

We also managed a quick stop in Lush as we wanted to check out the Halloween stock. I picked up two things:

Lady Catrina is the seasonal soap and smells amazing. It's very citrusy and is described as 'fruit pastilles and freshly cut limes' - and I loved this little 'history lesson' from the website!

Lady Catrina (or La Calavera Catrina) was an etching by José Guadalupe Posada that he made in the early twentieth century to parody that the rich and fashionable, despite their pretensions to importance, are just as susceptible to death as anyone else. Since then, Lady Catrina has become an iconic image for the Day of the Dead celebrations.

Skullduggery is the bath bomb released with the Halloween produce and although not very noticable on my photographs the eyes are red love hearts. Very Alexander McQueen!! Again another citrussy/lime smelling product this is very refreshing smelling and I cannot wait to use it!

The other two Halloween products can be found here.

Have you picked up any of the Halloween specials from Lush, or got into the spooky spirit lately?

xxx

York CCO

2011-10-20T21:08:00.000+01:00

Last weekend I took a very rare trip to York Designer Outlet, and I have to admit pretty much the only reason I wanted to go was for the CCO! Last time I went (I have actually only been once!) there was nothing really interesting, I did come away with a MAC Mega Metal X Shadow but that was it, and I was very disappointed!

This time however I was on my own so spent quite a while in there browsing everything, and picked up four things:

The first thing I picked up was Painterly Paint Pot. I have never had a Paint Pot before and the only reason I picked it up is because it has been preached to me by Sinead who loves them! There was this and another, darker colour which I wanted too but thought I had better see how I liked this one first!

The majority of MAC stuff was eyeshadows and there were quite a few I wanted but I had to restrain myself and just pick up two, the two I thought I would use most. The first was Tissueweight, which I think came from the Pret-a-Papier collection. I haven't used this one yet this week but it is such a soft, velvety shadow and is going to be great as a highlighter!

The next shadow I picked up was Sand & Sun which was from the To The Beach collection. I have used this everyday this week paired with a dark green/black shade and am in love with this! It is a barely there matte colour and you do have to put a few coats on to show up a decent amount but when you do it is perfect. Definitely my new favourite eye, with a bit of eyeliner and lots of mascara. They had most of the To The Beach eye shadows and I really wanted to pick up Firecracker as well.

The final thing I picked up was on a bit of a whim. I recently finished my bottle of Studio Fix Fluid and wanted to try a new foundation, so whilst in London for the Illamasqua event I picked up NARS Sheer Glow. And I loved it! For the first day, until the bottle lid cracked off and over half the bottle spilled all over my bag, the office carpet, and NARS wouldn't do anything about it. Feeling so bitter about that had an effect on how I liked the foundation as stupid as that sounds, but the first time I had worn it I actually received three different compliments on how my face looked. But when it got near the end of me finishing what I had managed to rescue I had kinda turned to really hating it. It has made me skin so dry and flaky. And ironically, when I was colour matched for this the SA who took off my make up and then reapplied it told me I was using the wrong products for my face completely as I had 'very dry skin' - I don't. I occasionally get dry skin at the end of the year, but the rest of the time, my skin is normal. But now for some reason after using the Sheer Glow my face needs an absolute ton of moisturiser and is flaky as hell! So I really don't think I'll be going back to this. 0

Since I had spent £30 on a foundation and lost about £20 worth of it I didn't want to spend so much and picked up Revlons Colorstay. I have used this before and loved it but this time around, it was so thick! I could hardly blend it, the colour I had before was so dark, I really don't know how I got through a bottle of it. When I saw Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation at the CCO, with four shades to choose from, for £18, I ummed and aahhed for ages before deciding to bite the bullet and pick up shade 2. I honestly thought I was going to have to sell this on a blog sale or something but when I got it home I have to say - I am utterly in love with this! It is the most perfect shade for my face and looks amazing when paired with MAC MSF in Medium Plus. I'm so glad I decided to pick it up.

Has anyone else picked up any bargains from CCO's lately? Which foundations are you loving right now?

xxx

BLOG SALE

2011-10-15T17:40:00.005+01:00

** FREE POSTAGE AND PACKAGING ON EVERY ITEM**

~~NYX The Runway Collection, barely used, £3.50~~. NYX Green Trio, barely used, £2.00

~~Sleek i-divine palette in Circus. I've included pictures of the palette itself as it is a bit dirty but the majority of the shadows inside have not been touched. £3.50~~

MAC Eyeshadows - L - R: Eccentricity, £9 (slight dips in product). Dandizette, Papparz-she and Sexpectations, all £10 each - all only used on the surface, over 95% of product left.

~~Ruby and Millie quad, £2.50. Barry M Limited Edition lilac dazzle dust, used once, £2.00~~

~~Topshop Eye Liner in Ravine, never used, £2.50.~~
Sleek Glitter Eyeliner in Diablo, only swatched a few times, £1.

Accessorize Jumbo Eye Crayon, swatched only, £1.50.

GOSH Velvet Touch Eyeliner in Blue Lagoon, only used around three times, £2.00

Urban Decay 24-7 liner in Electric, bought from blog sale so not sure on how much was used previously but I have only worn once, pencil looks around the size of a brand new one, £4.50

Barry M Kohl Pencil in 17 (emerald green colour), used once, £1.

17 Metallic Eye Pencil in Purple, used around three times, £2.00

17 Metallic Eye Pencil in Green, swatched only, £2.00

Illamasqua lipsticks, all used only around twice. L - R Test, ~~Filth~~ and ~~Welt~~. £10 each

~~Revlon Nude Additude Matte Lipstick, usage as shown, £2. MAC Saint Germain usage as shown £7.~~

MAC Kissable Lipcolour in 'So Vain', used around 6 times, £9.50

Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation, around 75% left, Shade RF200, £15.
~~MAC Studio Tech Foundation, usage shown below, shade NW23 £10.~~
Revlon Color Stay Foundation, bought last week and used for the past 5 days, so at least 80% left, shade 180 Sand Beige, £9

Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation, bought from a blog sale and never used myself so hard to say how much is in; there does look to be quite an amount of powder, £2.50

Cresty Cosmetics 30g Terracotta Bronzing Powder, swatched only, £1.50

~~Illamasqua Powder Bluser in Sin, swatched only, £9.50~~

Sleek Blushers, both brand new swatched only, L - R, Flamingo and ~~Flushed~~. £3.50 each

Maybelline Pure Blush Mineral in Topaz Rose, barely used, £2

L - R

~~NYX Super Funk, swatched only, £1.50~~

Nina Ultra Pro, Black, used once, £1.50

Color Club, Red Velvet (click here for a closer look), worn twice, £1.50

~~Barry M, Blue Moon, worn twice, £1.50~~

OPI, It's Sheer Luck, worn once, £5.00

RULES

Please leave a comment if you would like anything with your email address

Payment within 24 hours via paypal

I would be grateful if you would send me payment as a gift so that I don't incur any charges!

UK only

Thanks for looking! :)

xxx

totty for Tuesday: True Blood edition!

2011-10-11T23:18:00.000+01:00

If you've been reading this blog for a couple of years you may remember back in 2009 when I used to post a looot more than I do now I went through a phase of posting pictures of some pretty hot men every Tuesday. As I've been catching up on True Blood recently, and just finished disc 3 of season 3 I really felt the need to spend the rest of my evening trawling for pictures of the gorgeous men who star in the show!!

I read the first three books first of all, and then bought series 1, back in 2009 and loved it. But when series 2 aired on tv I just wasn't feeling it and stopped watching it. I put it on my love film list and really think series 2 was just not as good - I just wasn't liking all that Mary Ann stuff! And I have a hard time with the books not matching the shows either! But even though I have only watched around 8 episodes of series 3 I honestly think its the best by far!

Eric's definitely my favourite vampire but I have to admit to a mega crush on the mad ass Franklin in this season! I had to include this clip as it made me laugh so much.

What is your favourite season? I'm looking forward to going to the HBO shop in New York next month...I need some TB merchandise in my life!!!

River Island Student Shop In - October!

2011-10-10T00:32:00.000+01:00

Hi lovers

So as I mentioned in my last post I was planning on heading to the River Island Student Shop in with my brother last week. It was jam packed and quite a few bits we both picked up ended up being returned the next day but heres a quick look at the bits I've kept - none of them clothes actually, I did buy a blouse and a jumper but decided against them later, so I've only ended up keeping the accessories and footwear.

Blogger is being annoying and I can't turn the picture around :(

It's been ages since I bought a proper going out/clutch bag, I tend to stick to big bags these days and a black clutch is kinda essential right? I love the style of this bag and it managed to fit an awful lot it. £25

I'm in love with all the feather jewellery around at the moment and knew RI would't disappoint, there are a lot more pieces I want to pick up but just stuck to the earrings for now! They were around £8-10 and I love them!

(Kelly Rowland voice) Y'all know I love my rings, I'm kinda addicted to buying more everywhere I go but I don't have anything quite like this! It was again around £8-10 (I can't remember out of the ring and the earrings which was £8 and which was £10!) and I'm happy to take bets on how long I actually have this before breaking it.

Lastly a bit of a boring purchase, I'm not a fan of boots but my feet were getting tired of being wet and cold in this current climate and I don't want to bust out the military boots I bought last year just yet (mostly because I cannot stand them/the way I look in them) so I bought these as a alternative, and also being brown they match my brown leather jacket. They were £60.

There's a lot of fur trimmed stuff in RI at the moment and I spotted a bag that would match these boots perfectly, I went to have a look and it was huge inside! I checked the price out and I remember thinking it was a bit steep so I put it back but now I can't stop thinking about how badly I want it, and I can't find it on the site! I'm literally checking daily so I can decide if I want it!

Did anyone else go to the Student Shop In, what did you pick up? Any bets on the longevity of my ring? :-)

xxxx

Payday Wishlist!

2011-09-27T11:38:00.000+01:00

This post is completely inspired by Sinead in more than one way! Firstly, she has twice now posted her payday wishlist on her blog (and most likely bought it all if I know my homegirl well enough!!), but secondly she has made me completely obsessed with Topshop.

Topshop is one of those places that I can go months without going in, and the majority of the time I think it is very overpriced for what it is, but I have the odd little blip where I want pretty much everything on the site. Sinead has recently bought not one, not two but now three of the blazers currently sold at Topshop, one in black, one in nutmeg and I do believe a pale pink but I may be wrong. She let me try her black one on when I saw her last week and I was sold, ready to buy one, but when I've checked tonight they are no longer available! I have seen one a little similar in Dorothy Perkins though so I may have to scope that one out.

I get paid tomorrow and here are some bits I am hoping to purchase, along with some basic jumpers for work now the weather is getting a little colder!

There are some pieces I wouldn't mind picking up from River Island but as there is a Student Shop In coming up I think I'm gonna hang fire for that and see if any of these pieces are still in store! Blouse, Bag, Shoes.

Last year I picked up a cardi from Topshop that is so warm and cosy and I actually wore today, so has lasted well! I think this year this is my Topshop cardi of choice! I seriously cannot wait until Wednesday to get my ass in that shop and find this beauty! I also love this blouse for work but I just don't know if it is worth £34.00 ...

I have had these shoes set as my homepage so that every night when I come on my laptop I will see these and buy them. I have wanted some shoes like Amy Winehouses' ballet pumps for ages and nothing seems suitable but I think these may actually be the thaaang! Gonna pop a couple of pairs in my basket - I've read reviews saying people have them in other colours but they only have these ones on the site? Again I love this top for work and at £22 it's a bit more affordable than the pink one.

I am job hunting at the moment and I'm already planning in my head the kind of work wardrobe I want when I get new pastures! I've got lazy with where I am now and my clothes I find boring...I don't even have a proper going out wardrobe any more, my going out tops have been incorporated into my work wear, it's ridiculous! Now it's a new season I really want to throw out all the rubbish and bring the new stuff in, with a strict line between work and going out wear! Does anyone else have this problem?!

xxx

Emoji Micro Pedi

2011-09-25T16:13:00.002+01:00

Hello dolls! A little break from the norm today as instead of constant ramblings and pretty pictures I have a small review for you on a nifty little product I was recently sent.

I've mentioned plenty of times before my obsession with foot products, I've tried literally so many different branded lotions and potions over the years and always have a good few on the go in the quest to have lovely smooth feet! However bad eczema and very dry skin always manages to put a dampener on this so called quest! I have been to a chiropodist once before and although my feet were lovely and smooth afterwards this did not last very long, and having to go again and again would be pretty costly!

I was contacted by Lauren from Pegasus PR who offered to send me the Micro Pedi for review. Described as the safe, portable pedicure device I was definitely intrigued by if it worked or not...as we all know there are a lot of products out there that claim to be something they are not!!

With two interchangeable rollers (red for coarse skin, blue for extra coarse), you slot in two AA batteries at the bottom and flick the on switch, holding the pedi against your foot. In effect it works in the same way a sander would, the roller you have chosen just 'sands' away at the dry skin on your feet leaving them polished and smooth. Just like pumicing your feet, or using a ped egg, only with it being battery powered it goes a lot faster than you would be able to, therefore getting rid of a lot of skin within a matter of seconds!

I have used this around twice a week since I received it and my feet are definitely looking better than before. It doesn't hurt at all, it kind of tickles, and you literally just hold it to the skin for a few seconds and you will see not only the grossness of all the skin coming off (yeah...I'd suggest sitting in the garden for this one!) but results on your feet instantly due to the buffer effect. To clean it just rinse it under water.

I'm seriously impressed with this product and think for people who don't have the money or perhaps the time to go to a chiropodist or for a pedicure this is the perfect kind of gadget to own. Or even for people who don't like people touching their feet! (I fall into all three categories here!)

The Micro Pedi is available from pharmacies and health stores or online at Lifes2good. It retails at £39.95 which may seem a little pricey but to go for this kind of thing done professional only around twice would usually outweight the price of Micro Pedi, and with this you will be able to use it as many times as you need to!

What do you think of this product, would it be something you would be interested in?

xxx

September so far in pictures

2011-09-24T18:25:00.003+01:00

Prawn and pepperoni bean sprout stirfry

Very gorgeous but badly decorated home made buns! The decorating thing wasn't happening for me!

12 gorgeous Glamour Glaze Krispy Kreme's that I won in Lauren's giveaway! Thank you so much!

Jacket potato with cheese and pepperoni and lots of kale!

Me and my homegirl

My gorgeous kitty Milo

Bellini O'Clock!

A gorgeous rainbow! So much brighter in real life, couldn't capture it!

Lunch time quorn chicken wraps!

Friday night drinking sessions after work <3

Pretty much what I've lived off lately - Red Bull and pain au chocolate for breakfast, bagel and soup for lunch!

And finally an immense garlic, chilli and prawn pasta dish I made! Think I will have to leave the chillis out next time because it was oh so hot! But the garlic prawns were amazing!!

All my photos are of food!! I want to try and do a monthly picture collection I think, picture posts like these are my favourite kind of ones on other peoples blogs? It's because I'm a very nosy person!

xxx

Haworth Vintage Fair 2011

2011-09-24T15:05:00.000+01:00

Last year me and Lauren stumbled across the Haworth Vintage Fair, which is held on the August Bank Holiday weekend - I think they may be held more than once a year but this is the one we decided to go back to this year! I seriously love Haworth and would love to live there, I think it's amazingly cute and quaint and I love the shops! I took a few snaps on the day and bought a couple of things so I thought I'd give you a little peek.

There were three singers outside Rose & Co Apothecary and they sounded brilliant, luckily they just missed a pretty big downpour literally seconds after they'd finished packing up! Rose & Co is definitely one of my favourite shops, I love the one in Leeds but this has to be my favourite because of the actual shop itself.

Lauren in the Hall the fair itself was held in. I have to say I thought last years event was better, there seemed to be less stalls and less things to buy, and they were missing the amazing solo singer on stage this time around who really made the whole thing feel special!

At the bottom of the street there was bunting up and it was really busy, there were a lot more vintagey/antiquey shops open this time around and I loved rooting through them! I didn't pick up too much stuff although I was totally on the look out for housey things I could save until I move out next year, but the only thing I got in that aspect was a large poster, with Audrey Hepburn that I am thinking of framing.

I picked this cute love heart/key necklace up from the fair on sale, it should have been £15 and she said I could have it for £3.50 so I was impressed with my bargain! It's simple and gorgeous.

One of the things I love about Rose & Co is that not only do they sell all the old styled beauty products, and old fashioned remedies etc, they also have a food section and a bath section. The store in Haworth has now been revamped, and all the food is now in the doorway, and I couldn't resist picking up something just for the nice packaging! The bath products are now in there own little section a little like a separate shop and it smells amazing. The products are just gorgeous if you're into that kind of thing - I got then ten balls for £2.50 I think, and then the other two products were around £3 each. The one that looks like a macaroon - *dies*!

Passion is a store that sells all kinds of jewellery, hair pieces, fancy little clutches/purses etc, on the main street. I have picked some things up from there before but they never seem to last long, and by long I mean they literally broke after a day, which is a real shame. This time, I'm not sure if the shop was closing down, because every single thing was being sold off, so it would appear so. I forgot about the past problems and picked up the above ring and two bangles for less than £10. True to form, the first bangle broke after about 5 hours wear, and I've only worn the green one once but can feel that it's not going to last much longer! The ring is lovely but very big, it's the kind of thing I put on in a morning and have to take it off by 10 am because it's irritating!

All in all it was a lovely day and I can't wait to return once again! Is anyone else a major fan of Haworth like me?

xxx

Right About Now

2011-09-13T23:24:00.000+01:00

I haven't done one of these posts for a while, and as I was changing bags over earlier I thought I'd photograph all the make up currently residing in my handbag!

I was actually pretty surprised to see almost half of my MAC collection in my bag! I couldn't make a decision on lipsticks last week it seems!

I have been getting a lot of use out of this combo recently - MAC Studio Fix Fluid (NW20), MSF (Medium Plus) and the MSF I picked up here, along with Illamasquas Rude Cream Blusher.

Urban Decays 24/7 liner in Zero is my go to, always in my make up bag eyeliner. I even have two in there for some reason! Maxfactors False Lash Effect Mascara is a huge favourite, second only to Benefits Bad Gal. I am carrying all of my Precision Ink Liners around with me at the moment because it changes on a daily basis which one I use!

I was sent this pencil around a year ago. It is the Illamasqua Medium Pencil in the shade 'Cane'. When I received it I really didn't think I would use it, and basically left it untouched for a long time. But when I rediscovered it recently I decided to try it out and I am so pleased I did. This for me is everything that Benefits Eye Bright isn't. Everyone raves on about Eye Bright and it does not suit me and was a huge waste of my money (especially knowing they gave it away free with a magazine last year!) but this is perfect, absolutely perfect. It makes my eyes look wide awake and is just my perfect eyeliner.

I managed to pick up this palette when I was in London and have been using it every day since then. I don't own the Naked palette but have been considering it lately, and have felt myself wanting to use more neutral shades, but rather than splash out money I don't have on the UD one I thought I'd go for this first. For the price of this palette (around £5) the colours and quality of the shadows are brilliant! I tend to use the 4th on the top row followed by the second on the top row together with my Havoc Illamasqua liner, a touch of UD Zero on the top and Cane on the waterline the most!

Nails are currently Nails Inc In Style Coral which is one of my favourite shades. I'm really feeling darker more Autumnal shades at the moment though, really need to search through my stash to find some!

xxx

2011-09-11T20:57:00.001+01:00

Photos taken from various tumblr accounts.

Can't quite believe its 10 years ago. I can guarantee you that every single year I know I will be sat watching the programmes, crying, still feeling so...unbelieving that it happened at all, let alone so long ago now.

RIP.

Illamasqua: Theatre of the Nameless

2011-09-11T00:50:00.001+01:00

Last week I was invited to the launch of Illamasqua's latest collection, Theatre of the Nameless. It was a fantastic event held in LVPO Bar in London.

I'm always a big fan of the collections and this one is definitely my favourite. The collection takes its inspiration from Anita Berber, a German dancer, actress, writer and prostitute in the 1920s. The room the event was held in a was very dark, deep red velvet tablecloths, flickering lights and the new collection out for us to have a play with.

The collection has a few different changes too this time; shimmer blushers and nail varnishes with a different, rubber like finish. There is literally so much I want to pick up from this come payday! Heres some of the collection more in depth.

Lipglosses in the colours (from left to right in the first photograph) Facade, Violate and Bella Donna. Whilst Violate isn't a colour I would wear (the green one), I was really interested in Facade and would definitely wear Bella Donna! I am a sucker for bright pink lip products. These retail at £13.

We spoke about these nail varnishes before the event and after I'd seen the pictures I thought I might like the pink/red one, and really can't say I thought much about the brown one. However, after seeing these in front of me I seriously want them all! The colours are all gorgeous and I can't help but think the green would be perfect for Autumn/Winter. From left to right, Taint, Kink, Vice and Faux Pas. These are £13.50 each and swatches can be found here.

After venturing into the pigments recently I kinda fell in love with the one up there in the middle when I saw it - Berber. I would also never usually look twice at the one on the end, the black Zeitgeist, but after getting the two mixed up on the same brush I loved the look it gave! These cost £15.50. You can see a really rubbish swatch of Berber here that I took.

We were also given a personalised bag with three products from the collection and I was definitely pleased with what I received!

There are two new cream pigments released, Androgen, a peach, coral colour, and Depravity, a violet, purple. I was lucky enough to be given Androgen. I've put the promo picture up of Androgen as well as the pics I took as I think my photo has come out looking a lot more redder than it actually is!

I also received one of the shimmer blushes in Morale, a gorgeous deep plum/pink colour. I haven't tried this out yet but if they're anything as pigmented as the other Illamasqua blushers I'll definitely need a light hand applying this!

Finally, I've raved about the Precision Ink liners currently available so was super excited to receive the latest one, Havoc. It's an aubergine colour, a deep purple that looks almost black. I have been using this every day since I got it!

Apologies for the ratio of PR photos to my own, the lighting was very dark in the event. I did paint my nails each colour and perfectly kept my hand straight until I got outside into the light, where I promptly scuffed my nails getting my camera out!!

Theatre of the Nameless is available now. Have you picked anything up from the collection yet?

NOTD

2011-09-04T23:58:00.000+01:00

Hey dolls

Just a quick post to show you the current nail polish I'm rocking and loving!

The polish I'm talking about is Models Own Pink Fizz. These pictures really don't do the polish justice. This is two coats and as with the rest of the Models Own glitter polishes I own its a thick, pure glitter polish. It's hard wearing and doesn't chip and of course is an absolute bitch to remove! It's perfect for day and night and I'm glad I picked this up, a pink glitter was a big missing hole in my polish collection!

Do you own this one?

xxx

MAC Lipstick Collection!

2011-09-03T16:15:00.000+01:00

Hi girls!

I have been very busy lately but thought I'd throw myself back into blogging this week with a lipstick post! I recently got a new set of the drawers from Ikea I mentioned here, I believe these are called 'Helmer' but please correct me if I am wrong!! I used to have them in grey and now own them in cream/white instead. So when I was moving my make up over I used the opportunity to snap photos of my collection of lip products and thought I would show you, starting with all the MAC lipsticks I currently own!

Viva Glam Cyndi, Gaga, and Gaga II. Last year I was pretty much obsessed with Gaga and wore it constantly, and this is actually my third stick of it. This year I've barely touched it and it just doesn't seem to go with my face any more? I bought Cyndi on a whim before it stopped being sold and whilst I do like it, sometimes it seems a bit too dark for me. And then on completely the opposite hand, Gaga II is far too light for me. There is no way on this earth I could wear it alone - well without being laughed at. It looks ridiculous but I do actually wear it on pretty much a daily basis, as a kind of base coat for colours that are slightly too bright.

Innocence Beware! and Toxic Tale were picked up from the Venomous Villains collection last year and Innocence Beware! is my go to nude. Toxic Tale is quite a bright orangey/red shade and not something I would actually go for usually but with a toned down face and eye this is one of my favourite bright shades in my collection.

Something New is an amplified bright blue-pink lipstick. One of the reasons I pick this up so many times for nights out is the amplified finish - I do love matte lipsticks but with amplified you don't have to mess around making sure your lips are in perfect condition before application, and it just glides on perfectly! The finish is gorgeous and I'm glad I own this one. Ever Hip came out with the one of the latest collections and has been in my make up bag since the day I bought it. Although the swatch doesn't look that bright I do find sometimes it can be a bit too much and I pair this with Gaga II for a lighter peachier colour. Lastly is Pink Friday. This lipstick doesn't really suit me, but I keep it because I'm a bit obsessed with Nicki Minaj. It's OK if applied with a lighter hand but even then - I was desperate to get my hands on this shade, and with the amount of stuff I lose? This baby isn't even leaving the house.

The last three lipsticks I have are Pink Plaid, Saint Germain and Pink Nouveau. Pink Plaid is a matte lipstick I probably would never have picked up if I hadn't of noticed Sinead selling it, and boy am I glad I did! If I'm ever struggling to pick a lipstick, or in a rush, this is the one I just grab because it goes with anything and suits me perfectly. I also picked up Saint Germain in a blogsale from Daisy but am thinking of selling this myself as it really doesn't suit me, lightly applied or heavily applied! It's just too light for my skin colouring and looks stupid. Once again with Pink Nouveau, when I bought this I wore it all the time, but this year I must have wore it once if that? It is a nice colour though and seeing these pictures have reminded me of when I wore it a lot more and I think I might bust this bad boy out tonight!

So there you have it, all of the MAC lipsticks I currently own! Have you spotted any of your own faves in this pile?

xxx

Sophie Lancaster

2011-08-25T12:52:00.000+01:00

Hi guys

Just a quick post I wanted to do about a very worthwhile charity.

I’ve posted about the SOPHIE Foundation before, back in 2009. If you don’t know much about it, its a foundation set up by Sophie Lancaster’s mother after Sophie’s death in 2007. The reason for her murder? Being a goth, looking different.

Illamasqua is a brand that, in their own words, promotes the right to experiment and self express through the way you look and have been supporting the Foundation since the beginning.

Yesterday marked the fourth anniversary of Sophie’s death and Illamasqua have released a video in memory. The film explains how Illamasqua raise awareness and where the funding for the charity goes and is definitely something to take an interest in.

You can also see the first video Illamasqua made back in 2009 on my previous post here. It has now reached 275,000 hits but Illamasqua hope to reach over 500,000 so the Foundation’s message can keep on spreading.

The official channels for the SOPHIE Foundation visit www.sophielancasterfoundation.com and follow www.twitter.com/SOPHIE_charity for updates.

What does SOPHIE stand for? Stamp Out Prejudice Hated and Intolerance Everywhere.

Aussie Competition!!

2011-08-22T14:12:00.000+01:00

Hi guys

Just a quick post that I’m sure you’ve already seen a million times by now! I thought I had missed the boat on this but the deadline has kindly been extended.

Basically, this year is 110 years since beautiful Australia became a country! To celebrate you may have seen the newly packaged Aussie products in shops recently to celebrate the so called ‘Aussie-versery’!

Last week Aussie kindly sent me a Summer Party Pack, filled with sunglasses, flip flops, party poppers (which were put to use on Friday night!), sparklers, popping candy and of course two bottles of their Limited Edition Aussie products – I chose the 3 MM and Shampoo (and both smell amazing!!). Not only that, but Aussie launched a completion for each Aussie Angel to run on their blog.

7 of you ladies have the opportunity to win one of these Party Packs along with the chance to win 10 VIP tickets to a party Aussie will be holding for ALL the Aussie Angels. The party takes place in London on the 29^th October and I have to say I am extremely excited for it!!

So what do you have to do to enter? Well as you can tell, Aussie will use any excuse to celebrate, and all they want you to do is tell them (or me should I say!) what YOU have to celebrate! And it can be absolutely anything you can think of. You just need to pop it in the comment section below!

You will have to be fast and enter today or tomorrow, and the competition will end tomorrow evening at 9 pm. I will pick the best seven so please leave your email address so I can get in touch with you.

I should also add this is only open to UK Mainland residents and you must be 18 or over. I would also be grateful if you were a follower of my blog!

So what are you waiting for? Get entering!!

xxx

Illamasqua

2011-08-21T16:02:00.000+01:00

Good afternoon ladies!

Remember quite a while ago now I bought some Illamasqua bits and meant to show you, I think it was on the 1 June actually so a long time ago! And then last time I went to London I picked some more up from their store and again, meant to mention them on here! Sometimes I have all intentions of doing a post, I take pics etc but then I just never get round to doing it! Well finally almost three months later here are the bits I have picked up!!

The first thing I bought was one of the cream blushers. I have a couple of the powder blushers which are so pigmented, you seriously need the slightest of hand to pick up colour, but I had not had a play around with the cream ones until I bought this one. I am always hankering after peachy, orangey shades of blusher but I never buy that colour, I'm always drawn to the pinks, so I decided to change it up a little and buy Rude. Described by Illamasqua as a 'warm peach pink, with a dewy finish' this blusher is without a doubt my most used product. I would estimate that since the date of purchase (1 June) this has been out of my make up bag about three or four times. I literally use it every day and no other blusher I own matches up to this - even when I think I'll use a different one you can guarantee I will slip back into using this.

I apply this either with my fingers or my Illamasqua Highlighter Brush, as mentioned at the end of this post. It's actually the perfect brush to use, picks up just the right amount of product. Seriously, if you have been considering buying this blush or wanting to pick one up, this is amazing!

I also bought a pure pigment, in the share Furore. I do love this product however the one thing I don't like is if you carry it about (like I do...my bag weighs a ton, I carry everything around with me!) its not very secure, so all the powder in mine has come out which you can see in the pics...

It's a perfect highlight and I love the way it sits on my cheekbones, and it can also be used on the eyelids. Do you have any of the pure pigments? How do you use them?

When I went to London me and Phoebe decided to kill a bit of time before our train home and checked out the store. I decided to pick up another cream blusher and also another Precision Ink eyeliner. I went for Promise in the end as I thought a pink cream blusher can only be a good thing!

Promise is the perfect girly pink and I love just a subtle amount of this on the apples of my cheeks. The cream blushers cost £16.50 each.

I was sent a Precision Ink in black a while back when it was first released and love it, I use it all the time and will no doubt need to buy yet another one soon! They are currently available in three colours, or were at the time I visited the shop, and I picked up Glister. Described as an 'opalescent nude' its the perfect everyday eyeliner without being too heavy.

Top: Pure Pigment in Furore. Bottom: Glister Precision Ink

I'm yet to meet anyone who doesn't like the Precision Ink!

Whilst we are on the subject of Illamasqua, I booked my train tickets for the event on 1 September yesterday! I'm really excited, I will be travelling down to London with Sinead, we arrive at 12 and plan to do some shopping etc until the event at 630 ish I think it is? Can't wait! Who else will be there?

xxx

Tuesday 16 August - Saturday 20 August 2011

2011-08-21T00:26:00.000+01:00

First attempt at an updo I copied from You Tube - pretty impressed to say I can't ever do anything with my hair!

Birthday cocktails in my pub - Passionfruit Martini - gorgeous

Birthday present from Mum and Dad!

Presents from friends - they know me so well, anything Amy and Blake and I'm all over it like you wouldn't believe

Present from my brother - can't wait to begin watching this

The start of Big Brother and Jedwards panda trainers - insert a WTF face here

Tuna melt in a cafe in Ilkley - Cafe J. It was literally the best thing I've tasted this week

Secret diaries in a shop in Ilkley. I used to have so many of these when I was younger! The Holy Bible one is ace.

Cupcake bath fancies I picked up, look and smell delicious

Picked up all these books in charity shops. The RRP of them is £70+ and I paid £18!

Pics from Friday night out.

Back to everyday posts tomorrow!

xxx

Monday 15 August 2011

2011-08-15T20:54:00.000+01:00

Today was a pretty cool day! It started with cupcakes and ended with wine, what can go wrong with that!!

It's my birthday on Thursday (yep, pretty much gonna keep mentioning this all week!) and I bought some lush looking (and tasting) cupcakes in for treats at work this morning to liven up Monday morning. My boss returned from his holiday and pretty much forced me to go for a drink after work with him in the pub I wanted to avoid after Friday's escapades but it went well and was a nice end to the day.

Had a gorgeous tuna/potato/ham salad for tea and am thinking of hitting the sack already even though its only 9pm!

Will leave you with this song, its on the credits of a True Blood episode I watched last week and I'm in love with it, it's amazing!!

xxx

Friday 12 August. Saturday 13 August and Sunday 15 August 2011

2011-08-14T23:25:00.000+01:00

pic courtesy of @daintydollymix

Oooppsss,. so I didn't post on Friday or yesterday. Believe me, it's a blessing that I didnt post on Friday, it would have been messy and swiftly deleted. I was soooo drunk. I went to Leeds Grand Theatre to see Dreamboats & Petticoats, which I have now seen three times and which usually I LOVE but this time, not so. The actors just weren't as good as previous years and the audience was boring. Usually they're up dancing and whatever but they just weren't interested this time. It annoyed me! We went for a drink after but ended up staying out until 1 am (I think) and I got so drunk, told every person that would listen that I fancied someone in the pub, refused to pay the taxi driver the right amount and laughed in his face when he got angry and totally passed out when I got in bed :/

I had to be up early the next day to meet lots of blogging girls for the Girls Day Out organised in Leeds. Had a good day shopping and enjoying some drinks with the girls, including Kat, Kim, Hannah, and the beautiful Charlotte, as well as meeting May and Sinead again. I had an amazing day and was presented with a generous goodie bag when I arrived at Red Hot Buffet!

Seriously, that Blistex Raspberry Lemonade Blast is amazing!!! I've been applying it all day I love it.

After saying goodbye to most of the girls, myself Sinead and Charlotte polished off a couple of bottles of wine and walked Charlotte through what seemed like a million police men back to the station before going for another drink until Sinead's lift arrived. It really was the perfect end to a great day! Although we were left wishing we had thought before hand to turn our day into a night out.

It was nice to get a good nights sleep and wake up refreshed this morning before heading to Costco to pick up some cupcakes for me to take to work for birthday reasons this week. Also got some yummy stuff to take for dinner this week. Also sorted out lots of storage and swatches etc tonight, will be doing a couple of posts this week!

Have your weekends been good or filled with drunken embarrassment like mine?

xxx

Thursday 11 August 2011

2011-08-11T23:26:00.002+01:00

I think today can be pretty much summed up in bullet points:

Rain
Justin Timberlake shirt
Bacon sandwich
Rose wine
Crushes
Laughs
Friends
Plans
Pasta
The Karate Kid

and that is about it!! I am very boring today. I am in more of a planning mood than a blogging mood! Also, no pics taken today! I know, sad times. Have a sexy picture of Zac Efron instead.

xxx

Wednesday 10 August 2011

2011-08-10T23:42:00.001+01:00

Went to Weight Watchers tonight and only lost 1/2 lb but I suppose I have drank an awful lot of wine this week, although I did count everything I ate and drank... anyway the 1/2 took me to getting my 10% keyring as seen up there! And I know I did it properly with counting and stuff so I'm not beating myself up about not losing more. The second pic was my gorgeous tea last night!

I'm super tired tonight! After Weight Watchers I have been watching True Blood, really getting back into it!! First night this week I haven't spent with Sky News on all night, glad to see things calming down although I don't wanna speak too soon...

Ooh also just as a side note, I have now got a tumblr! I've been following them through google reader for months and months but didn't really understand having my own, but have sorted it now. Only have two followers! And I don't even know how to see how many followers I have, how do I do that? Anyway feel free to follow and let me know if you have one! The link is: http://carlito86.tumblr.com/

Good Wednesdays everyone??

xxx

Tuesday 9 August 2011

2011-08-09T22:49:00.000+01:00

It seems trivial to be posting whilst all this is going on. The pictures above were last nights rioting in London and I just cannot believe that tonight it has spread even more, now to Manchester. It is so so saddening. These people are CHILDREN how has this generation been raised with such little respect for ANYTHING?

This video is of a teenager setting fire to Miss Selfridge in Manchester. I hope to God he is caught. It literally brought tears to my eyes because I just cannot believe that this is happening anywhere it feels like we are watching a film. I have to say I was A, very disappointed by David Cameron's statement this morning and B, furious with Theresa May's comments. When asked if bringing the Army in was a good idea or even water canons she said "The way we police in Britain is not through use of water cannon. The way we police in Britain is through consent of communities". Well! That's working out really well so far isn't it. Why won't someone just use their common sense and realise that the way our country polices is NOT WORKING!! Our jails are overrun crime levels are high because no one cares! No one is scared of the police any more and they know that if they do get caught the punishment will be barely anything they will get a tap on the wrist and be back out to do more. It's gone on for too long and it frustrates me so much. I have nothing but respect for the police force and I will not hear any bad about them but cannot understand why other countries walk around armed with guns and if they need to use them they do and then get congratulated for being a hero but over here? No protection, and if anything does happen and someone gets shot it wouldn't matter if that particular person had a gun to the PC's head, the PC would still be questioned over it.

At times our country both saddens and disgusts me.

x

Pics taken from Bicky's tumblr

Monday 8 August 2011

2011-08-08T23:28:00.000+01:00

Aren't these riot reports absolutely horrifying? I am truly gobsmacked at the entire thing. I have literally spent my entire night watching Sky News with my phone in my hand tweeting. It is fucking disgusting the way England is these days. The police have no power - they need to be given more power! Instead of being scared to act for fear of the repercussions. I am really interested in what David Cameron is going to do when he gets back in the country tomorrow and I am actually scared about things kicking off in other places, like Birmingham tonight, I am one of these people that gets scared at literally everything and I don't want anything happening in Leeds :/

Anyway...the above pics are my new glasses :) First pair are Karen Millen and the bottom two pics are my Jasper Conran ones. You likey?

I am SO HUNGRY right now!! No food pics today I scoffed my food too fast! Two bowls of Krave a delicious sandwich and gorgeous jacket potato! So ravo right now!

Time for bed I think..don't know what I'm gonna wake up to...everyone I know in these areas please stay safe!!

xxxx

Sunday 7 August 2011

2011-08-07T23:49:00.000+01:00

Today pretty much consisted of the above; watching Burlesque and True Blood, eating naan bread pizzas and I took a trip out and wore my new River Island vest top.

I absolutely loved Burlesque and can't wait to buy it myself to watch again! I'mm catching up on True Blood, I stopped watching at episode three when it aired on channel 4 because I can't stand watching shows on tv, can;'t be doing with the adverts! Am back in love with Eric and a little bit Bill and also Hoyt - is this just weird?!

I wish it wasn't work tomorrow *sulk* . Has Sunday been good to you people?

xxx

Saturday 6 August 2011

2011-08-06T23:29:00.000+01:00

Owww my head hurt this morning. One of those serious cases of omigodwhatdiditalkaboutlastnight left me cringing all morning. I was sooo drunk yesterday. I went to the pub at lunch and had a long lunch and had like 2 bottles of wine between me and my friend so thats basically a bottle each ... I only had a sandwich before I went out as well so that did NOT help matters. I finished work and went back to the pub and I think I had three large glasses of wine then and then kinda had to be put in a taxi when I hap handedly tried to make an omelette before going to bed at like 9 pm. Rock and roll Carla, rock and roll.

I wore my River Island shirt...dress whatever it is, I wear it with a vest underneath and leggings. This is a picture of it from last November, I wore it to an Aussie do:

Sinead, Lauren, Phoebe, Me and Liloo

But since I've lost weight it just feels so big and looks baggy. I don't 'do' belts, I own one that I have owned for about 5 years but I just tried it yesterday with the top and loved it, not a full length pic and also not a good one, but it's one that was snapped in the pub yesterday:

So today I felt a bit sick this morning, and had a bacon sandwich to bring me round, which was delicious. I tidied out so much in my room today, got rid of a bin liners worth of stuff,

and also finished watching Greys Anatomy season 4! <3 Need to get my hands on series 5 now, I wanted to be done with both 4 and 5 by the time I meet Kim next Saturday but doesn't look like that will be possible! :'(

Aside from a bacon sandwich today we had tacos and I've just had some strawberries and a yogurt :)

I watched a programme tonight that was a guy who goes to food places that have good reputations in America? I don't know what it was or what channel it was on, but he was going to these places and they were making so much gorgeous looking food! If I could eat anything right now I would need to eat some sort of sandwich filled with meat, I don't even really like meat but I really want some now!

I think I need to get myself back to bed, I have typed half this post out more than once because I'm yawning so much I can't see what I'm writing!! And I'm rambling about meat, which is just weird in itself.

Night :) xxx

Friday 5 August 2011

2011-08-05T21:56:00.000+01:00

It's only about 9 something and already I'm totally ready for bed. No pics today, am writing from my phone and not too sure how to upload pics!

My next week resolution HAS to be to stop drinking on a lunch hour. Three days in a row is not good. And it doesnt even feel good so I don't know why I do it.

Had some lovely twitter comments this morning when I woke up and also reached over 600 followers yesterday on here so am mega happy about that! Thank you to each and every one of you. I've been lacking this week on the reason slash commenting aide of blogging but am on that tomorrow!

Happy Friday people. Love you all!

Thursday 4 August 2011

2011-08-04T23:22:00.000+01:00

I've just been watching yet another Amy Winehouse documentary, this is one of my favourite songs from Black to Back. I've been obsessed with watching videos on You Tube this week, videos of people singing cover songs. Honestly if I had three wishes one of them would be that I could sing. LOL I remember reading an interview once with Jonathan Wilkes and he said he couldn't sing and then he had his tonsils out and he could! OMG I clung to that for years and then when I had my tonsils out I was so excited to try it out haha what a loser.

You know I really don't know where today has gone. I went to the pub at lunch time again and the afternoon seems to have passed in an entire blur. The only piccie I remembered to snap today was one of my tea, had ryvitas again for lunch and tea was half a bag of Uncle Bens Vegetable Risotto and half a bag of Quorn mince with some peppers thrown in...it was OK. Only 10 points though and it was filling.

Friday tomorrow people! Looking forward to the weekend, have lots of meal plans and outfit plans to crack on with!

Is anyone going to the Leeds meet up next Saturday (13th)? I can;t remember if I mentioned this before! Let me know if you are planning on going!

xxx

Wednesday 3 August 2011

2011-08-03T23:15:00.001+01:00

I very nearly couldn't be bothered coming on the laptop tonight to write todays happenings, I am soo tired! But I did and now I'm kind stuck on Pinterest looking at pretty pics and have a feeling I won't be hitting the sack any time soon...

So you all know what Wednesday is right? Weight Watchers! Food wise today I had a bowl of Krave for breakfast, I am seriously addicted to this. It used to be my weekend breakfast, I never usually eat it through the week (worst meal of the day, I really don't understand people who say its the best) until we ran out a few weeks ago and I've been craving Krave (lol) for a few weeks now so picked up a box this morning. For my dinner I kept it light with some new Ryvita Thins and salsa and sour cream dips. I'm not the sort of person who loads dips up on my dipping item of choice, I literally dab it in once and sometimes thats too much, and worked out over a few days the points in this is hardly anything. I think the Thins are a point each, I get the Sweet Chilli flavour. Anyone tried these? I'm gonna make this my weigh in day lunch each week as its light but still filling.

And I have to admit that not only did I not drink my two litres of water today (Only did 1 1/2) I also had half a bottle of wine at lunch time too. Anyway I went along to weigh in and have lost two and a half pounds this week! So am pleased with that. I always weigh myself at home before I go to class and there is always a two pound difference, the WW scales being higher, but this week I've finally after weeks gone into 9 pounds of the stone I'm in which is great. It also means:

1. I have now lost 21 pounds altogether
2. I have my 10% award
3. Along with another 7lb award
4. I have another 7lb to go until I reward myself with a tattoo I have been wanting for ages!!

So all in all a good night :) Work went quite well today too, got lots out of the way, wore a new outfit and felt good, today has just generally been a good day!

How are other peoples diets coming along? :)

xxx

Girl With The Golden Touch

#27 NYC Purchases

#26 Let's Stay Together

#25 shopping my stash - blushers

#24 Aussie Hair - Washes 19 - 23

#23 January Pay Day Wishlist

#22 Life according to my iPhone - Week 3

#21 Stir Fry, Kale, Chilli & Coriander King Prawns

#20 'Shopping My Stash' - Foundation

#19 Beam Me Up, Scotty

#18 IMATS London

#17 - Aussie Hair - Washes 16 - 18

#16 New York City: Day Six - 22 November 2011

#15 Life according to my iPhone - Week 2

#14 Lush - Recent Buys

#13 New York City: Day Five - 21 November 2011

#12 Orange Pleat Top

#11 New York City: Day Four - 20 November 2011

#10 Aussie Hair - Washes 11 - 16

#09 New York City: Day Three - 19 November 2011

#08 Life according to my iPhone - Week 1

#07 New York City: Day Two - 18 November 2011

#06 Christmas 2011

#05 New York City: Day One - 17 November 2011

#04 Back to normality

#03 Aussie Hair - You Can't Have Too Much of a Good Thing!

#02 November - Now in pictures

#01 New Years Resolutions

Friday: 11.11.11

Who Do You Think You Are?

8 November 2011

7 November 2011

6 November 2011

Reading, Watching, Listening, Loving!

4 November 2011

3 November 2011

2 November 2011

1 November 2011

26 October 2011

25 October 2011

24 October 2010

York CCO

**BLOG SALE**

totty for Tuesday: True Blood edition!

River Island Student Shop In - October!

Payday Wishlist!

Emoji Micro Pedi

September so far in pictures

Haworth Vintage Fair 2011

Right About Now

Illamasqua: Theatre of the Nameless

NOTD

MAC Lipstick Collection!

Sophie Lancaster

Aussie Competition!!

Illamasqua

Tuesday 16 August - Saturday 20 August 2011

Monday 15 August 2011

Friday 12 August. Saturday 13 August and Sunday 15 August 2011

Thursday 11 August 2011

Wednesday 10 August 2011

Tuesday 9 August 2011

Monday 8 August 2011

Sunday 7 August 2011

Saturday 6 August 2011

Friday 5 August 2011

Thursday 4 August 2011

Wednesday 3 August 2011

BLOG SALE