Sex Bomb, Sex Bomb...

you're a sex bomb, you can give it to me when I need to come along....okay okay enough of Mr Jones... on with the post!


Yesterday for me was a day of getting jobs done, and some shopping! mainly wedding shopping but a few little purchases for me too!

I have always loved reading peoples posts about Lush Bath bombs, they are always so colourful and look simply magical.

I used to love bath bombs as a kid but they were generally a dusky pink and fizzed for about 10 seconds then nothing. No colour change, nothing.

Now they come in all shapes and sizes..even flamingo's!! I literally felt like a kid in a sweet shop, surrounded by colour and glitter and sparkle!

In the end I settled for a Sex Bomb!

Given my newest purchase, a Sunday night bath was most definitely on the cards!!

I was so excited with what was to come and it certainly didn't let me down! My bath was turned entirely pink, full of glitter and it whizzed around for a good few minutes, leaving me with a gorgeous small flower floating around my bath!

My Lush virginity has now been taken, and I can't believe I waited this long! I cannot wait to start growing my collection with all the amazing options...watch this space for my next purchases!!

Are you Lush addicts? Which are your favourites??!!

A MAC Moment

So it's been a little quiet on here lately, work's been busy, I've been fighting a virus and blogging has been the last thing I felt like doing!

Anyway what post to come back with than a little MAC beauty!

I'm very lucky that whenever my other half travels away for competitions I always get a present on her return! This time it came in the shape of a little black tube - thank you duty free!

Now any girl who owns a MAC lippie, understands just how good they are. I'm the first to admit they aren't the cheapest and take a little tug on the purse strings, however they truly are the best lipsticks I've ever tried.

This time I got a cremesheen, I've never tried these before but I think I'm hooked. They are so much softer and more moisturising. I suffer with quite dry lips so anything too matte and my lips look like snake skin. It also makes It buildable which is never a bad thing, makes it easier to go from day to night!

Its a gorgeous magenta pink colour which looks scarily bright but actually to get a real bright colour, you are looking at probably 3 coats.
It's without a doubt my go to lipstick for spring/summer, It's soft enough for work but a couple of coats and I'm ready for a night out with the girls!

What's your MAC favourites? Any recommendations?

A mini Haul...

"Nipping" into Boots is always a tough ask and this trip was no exception! 

First in my basket was the Maybelline Baby Lips Balm & Blush in Innocent Peach. I've always loved the Baby Lips products but the idea of using something as not only a balm but also a blush I found a little weird! The peach colour I thought would be perfect as we enter spring!

I'll be honest, I don't love it as a blush...I've tried it 3 times but I don't like the feeling of it on my face, it's too kind of sticky! However...as a balm, its perfect. It's so moisturising, and it's pigmented enough to really see the colour without it being over powering. For £4.99 it's an absolute must buy!

My next cheeky purchase was the L'Oreal Paris Infallible Matte Foundation in shade 20- Sand. I've read so many blog posts about this foundation and thought I would give it a try for myself. I prefer quite a high coverage as my skin can break out really easily. This foundation applies so well, it's not too thick which I think helps! I do normally prefer a more yellow under toned base but I'm actually really liking the more rose undertone! Now the million dollar question, does it really last 24hours? Simply no, however it does last probably 15/16?? after that a little touch up is definitely required! 

My final purchase was the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. This was a repurchase as I just can't get enough of it. This product is AMAZING. I love taking my make up with it, its so soft and its perfect for sensitive skin. My skin can break out for no reason at all so I have to be really careful what products I use. It smells lovely and fresh and it really makes your face feel properly clean. 

I also use it as brush cleaner! It's probably the best thing I've ever used to clean my brushes! I just pop some in a glass and put my brushes in to soak, clean them through and then leave to dry. It makes them so soft I cannot even begin to tell you! Currently the 400ml bottle is only £3.33 at Boots...go buy!

Any recommendations for my next trip?!

Casper...be gone!

It's that time of year where your last holiday feels like a life time ago, the sun is pretty much point blank refusing to come out and the odd occasions it makes an appearance O.M.G it is cold out there!!

So to avoid all pastiness and resemblance of Casper the oh so friendly ghost, it was time to crack open the fake tan!!

I am a self proclaimed fake tan Junkie...I have tried ALOT. Some very good and some terrible!
Vita Liberata has to be my all tan favourite tan...ever. But sometimes the purse strings just say no! You are looking at roughly £20 per bottle, it is a tinted lotion so nice and easy to apply as you can see the pesky white bits that your mitt just hadn't reached.

Normally I only buy tan in dark...I don't see the point in going to all that effort to just be bronze. At the moment though I'm really struggling to get the right colour...so I combined!!

St Moriz is a fabulous brand and affordable for everyone..it's available at most supermarkets and generally about £3- £5 per bottle! It comes in medium or dark and either a mousse or lotion.
Personally I can't get a long with mousse so always opt for the lotion.
They recently released a gradual tan which is lovely and very moisturising.
The only negative I would say is the smell, it's quite strong while it's developing so I tend to apply it before bed.

Garner released their summer body lotion a while ago now, maybe even 2 years ago?! It smells looooooooverly! Kind of like apricots, it also dries really quickly and develops really evenly. It is always on offer somewhere, I got mine for £3 at superdrug. B.A.R.G.A.I.N

For this early in spring I think the Garnier is a little yellow toned, but the St Moriz is just too dark - god I never thought I would ever say that a tan was too dark!

So because I'm super cool with a huge social life, I spent my Saturday mixing the perfect tan shade! you want a larger ratio of the two gradual tans and then a good old squirt of tan! Once mixed, colour wise you want it to look like melted milk chocolate!!

Obviously this is only my recommendation so mix it as your wish....or just be like everyone else and use one straight from the bottle!

Either way, lets all leave the Casper look behind....let face it, it was never going to catch on anyway!

A trip to Wayne Manor...

So for any non batman fans such as myself, Wollaton Hall in Nottingham is where the filming took place for the batman movie.

We are trying to visit new places in and around where we live and as soon as Kelly found out it is where Batman was filmed, it was a must see!

I remember going when was a child, but if i'm honest i just remember walking around the lake, feeding the ducks....and eating most of the bread!

Wether you are into old building's and the architecture they bring, you can't deny how impressive this building is...it's just so grand!

 Also, can we please just take a moment to appreciate how far you have to walk to actually reach the house...this picture does not do it justice!!!

Whilst having a little walk around the grounds, we stumbled across a Table Tennis table. Now you may or may not know but my better half is currently England's Number 1 table tennis player so she was more than happy to jump on the table and have a little knock with me!

Goes without saying that i won...her face says it all! Nah i joke, although i did get one cheeky little point which resulted in huge celebrations on my part! This picture just makes me smile as I could definitely claim victory!!

This is Kelly writing this little line (as i have stolen Laura's laptop) I can confirm that I definitely did win and that she lost :) anyway back to Laura......

So on our way back towards the car we came across these incredible animals...Just chilling in the grounds. Although not tame they are clearly used to the public being around all the time as they didn't even blink the closer i got.

If you ever get opportunity to visit Wollaton Hall, I highly recommend it, the link to their website can be found here 

Where's your favourite haunts? Anywhere to recommend a visit to??



There's always time for a selfie! xx

A day of love...

Valentines!

A day to show your love for the one you love or those close to you....But should we really need a dedicated day?!

Valentines is and will always be a social media frenzy. My newsfeed is full of bouquets of roses, girls dressed up to the nines pre their valentines meal with their significant other! Cards, candles, chocolates and the odd proposal too!!

This year is no different although I have seen a few recurring photos! Clearly a lot of people have popped to Sainsbury's and seen their fantastic valentines range this year!!
All supermarkets always bring out a range for valentines but if I'm honest i think Sainsbury's have blown everyone out of the park!

Excuse the photography but the lovely security man at the Sainsbury's by me doesn't really like me snapping on my iPhone never mind positioning them nicely and using my big blog camera!!

These are just a quick selection of the bits they have on offer this year (playing dodge the security man is always fun on a Friday evening!) They are really reasonably priced but if you're like me, just wait until tomorrow! We all know there's a good chance they will be reduced! everyone loves a bargain!

Do you celebrate valentines?? What have you got planned??

For me it was a card, pancakes and now the woman has positioned herself firmly on the sofa for, and i quote "a HUGE day of sport!"

Enjoy your day of love!

The Date Is Set

It's happening. The day I become someone's wife.

Not just anybody's wife, but Kelly's Wife.

You may of already read about our engagement, a little bit of how we met and our relationship progressed, but if you didn't then it's linked...here!

So now the diamonds have been exchanged, it was time to start planning.

I was more than happy to go abroad to get married, tell family and a select few friends where it will be and if they would like to join us that would be lovely but if they didn't or couldn't, thats fine! I'm a sun worshipper and we both love seeing the world, so being in the heat to marry my girl sounded like the perfect idea to me!
Kelly on the other hand was NOT keen! The concept of going abroad was an absolute no..She has a very large family and although some we we see every week and are very close there are some i've never even met, they all require an invite! So England it was...my only requirement was that it wasn't in the Nottinghamshire area...I've worked in this industry for over 7 years so i know A LOT of people and the idea of getting married somewhere that i know people was non negotiable.

Venue Searching...anybody who's gotten married (congratulations!) or currently planning their big day (welcome to the club!) knows that there are an insane amount of venues...you only have to log on to hitched to see a selection!!

As my day job is a wedding and events manger this wasn't something i found at all daunting or was concerned about. However what became apparent was that together we were going about the search in two different ways.

I was looking at it objectively...in work mode - how many staff will be working, where is food served from in relation to where our wedding breakfast will take place. What time do we have access from, minimum contracted number, evening food percentages and are you going to try and hit me with a VAT bill!

Kelly was looking at it as a bride. OH MY GOD IT'S SO PRETTYYYYYYY! She didn't look at things like accommodation on site or what the chairs looked like, so would we need chair covers?! No, that was my job, her role was to get completely consumed in the excitement of venue hunting. And she did!

We eventually found our perfect venue, 100 miles away from where we live and nestled in the middle of the country side and biased or not...its perfect! We are trying to keep our venue under wraps until the day, but here's a sneaky peek...

Since then our wedding plans have been filled with searching for bridesmaid dresses, placing ridiculously large amazon orders...trips to ikea and finding those personal touches that we can keep forever.

Because of my job, i've seen a HUGE amount of weddings, i'm talking well over 500! I've seen the good, the bad and the downright awful. Which has made our planning even harder because i don't want what i've already seen....but also want kelly to have the day she dreams of!


After being let down by the lady i was sure would make our wedding cake, it was back to the drawing board...We are very lucky that my mum is incredibly talented at baking (Move over Mary Berry, Mummy Snow is in the kitchen!) and offered to make our wedding cake for us!! It means the world to us both and is so personal, I definitely had a little tear when she said she would!
As a little thank you we got her this for christmas...(lets hope she doesn't read my blog because she will hate this picture!! Sorry mum!!)

Anyway i will probably do another update near the time but thought i would just share a little bit of info with you and where we are at...

However next on the list is my dress....Wish me luck!!!

Pancakes, Pancakes, Pancakes!!

Pancake day...probably up there in my top 5 days of the year! What more of a reason do you need to eat nothing but these sugary, fruity wonders for all 3 core meals...and maybe a few snacks too!!

It just so happened that this year i was working a late today, which means i'm not at work until 2.30 meaning pancakes for breakfast and lunch!!

Personally nothing beats some fresh orange and sugar...but this year we mixed it up a little, had some strawberries, kelly had Nutella and i added some meringue!!

What's your pancake go to??

Enjoy!!

Three Little Words...

Work. Life. Balance

Not the words you thought were coming huh!

It feels like at the moment the new trend for all the magazines and papers is to bleat about career women, being the female boss etc. That's great, I'm all for it but they miss the part about balance.

There are two types of people in this world, people that work...and people that don't. Personally I'm a worker, a self proclaimed career woman. I've worked predominantly in Hospitality since i was 13, from washing pots, waiting on tables and now as an events manager. I love my job, i truly do. I've been lucky enough to work at some amazing places with some incredible people, but it's very easy to become consumed by it.

I have access to all my files from my laptop at home and my emails are linked to my personal mobile - i am reachable 24/7. Is that my choice? yes - absolutely. Will i change it...nope! But now instead of checking all the time, i make the decision to switch off, to let myself sit with a glass, no i lie..a bottle of wine and a square (bar) of chocolate and spend time with the people i love.

I spent years working 14/15 hour days, 6 day weeks at a minimum...there's always something else that needs to be done. I've missed birthdays, dates, eaten far too many reheated dinners and crept into bed next to my sleeping partner more times than i care to think about!! But I've grafted, climbed the ladder and made a name for myself. I'm proud of what i've achieved.

 It's taken me nearly 10 years to figure out what suits me best and ridiculously... it's structure - I'm better if i work a set 8 hours and then just walk out the door...and so begins the balance!!

Balance..not the salad vs take away kind but you get the idea! i joined the gym see my previous post , Booked holidays, weekends away. Heck I've had marathon Netflix sessions any TV junkie would be proud of! I can proudly say I'm a fully fledged KUWTK fangirl...I've had proper time with friends and seen my family!

I'm not saying its easy..I'd say its on par with winged eye liner and we all know how tough that is!! But its do able and worth it!

Rambling aside, i applaud anyone who gets up everyday and goes to work. Who creates a path for themselves. Do what you enjoy and work hard, but don't forget that cheeky lunchtime asos orders are also a necessity and those shoes you've been lusting over...yes, yes you should buy them! why wouldn't you!

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10 Things every woman learns in her twenties...

So here it is...my very comprehensive and thought through list that way just make you go "argh thats SO true!"

1...Over plucking your eyebrows is not cool, nor clever! Neither is taking them all off just so you can draw them on every day! Who actually did that first to make it a thing?! (n.b i NEVER did that)

2...Best feeling in the world?? Fresh bedding and sleeping naked! No its not slutty its just lush and we all know we enjoy it!

3...Hot Ribena solves EVERYTHING, seriously..headaches, heartaches, those days where staying in bed just feel like the only sensible option, everything!!...apparently tea does exactly the same thing but i've never quite understood how anyone can drink the stuff, tastes like dishwater!

4...Lunchtime carbs...yes that jacket potato with beans and cheese was LUSH but the afternoon productivity? yeah it's pointless!

5...Babies...everyone is having them, talking about them and the broodiness is quite overwhelming! Do i want my own right now? No ta...i'll leave you and your bundles of joy to the sleepless nights!

6...Winged eyeliner. There's not much needed to be said, you can either do it, or you can't! i can't.

7...Having 69868746352242 friends on Facebook does not make your life better...in fact Facebook doesn't make your life better!

8...Taking your bra off as soon as you get in the house actually IS the best thing in the world. like EVER.

9...Buying tampons is not embarrassing...apparently neither is buying condoms but i can't vouch for that!

10...Dry shampoo is truly your best friend. No back chat, no bullshit, but there for you on all occasions, never lets you down. All hail dry shampoo!!

The Gym

The gym.

Personally it's one of the most intimidating places i ever step foot in! Picture the scene...young (yes, okay, 25 but still this side of 30!) blonde, gym newbie (sparkly trainers are the give away) walks into gym to come face to face with 2 floors of machines, weights and massive men. I mean HUGE.

I'm one of these people that has an on off relationship with the gym...sometimes we love each other, sometimes we hate. I'd like to think i have a relatively okay lever of fitness, I managed to complete a half marathon last year, all be it i think Kelly dragged me along to last few miles but still, it was completed.

But going back to the gym...its freaking scary. Probably not helped by my lack of personal confidence in public places...yes i'm that friend that will ring you to come outside so we can walk in together! But there is something really unnerving about standing there holding my little weights while some beefcake is opposite me grunting away with his 50000000kg...don't pretend you don't know who i mean!

Serious bit now...Fears and beefcake's aside.. it's all about lifestyle,Whatever your age, there's actually true strong scientific evidence that being physically active can help you lead a healthier and even potentially a happier life.

People who do regular exercise have a lower risk of developing things such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers, so surely its worth it?!

It helps you sleep better, which gives you more energy, which makes you achieve more, which makes you happier....you get the gist!! 

Lecture over...my main 2016 goal is to better myself, a better balance between work and home, looking after my body...food and fitness!

Will you still be gymming by february?

xxx

The round up...

2015...where did it go?!

I know everyone always says it.."oh isn't time flying" but it is...where did the last 12 months go! 2015 was my year of changes, I was hitting 25, a quarter of a century, I had goals and ambitions for where I wanted to be, some of them I hit...some i've moved to the 2016 list!!

2016 means i am OFFICIALLY going to be closer to 30 that 20..this is something I still need to come to terms with!!

So 2015, a quick round up....

January...I went to Paris...The city of lurrrvveeeee...it was FREEZING but magical..we went to DisneyLand which was beyond anything i expected..we also got caught up in the tragic shootings.

February...Kelly was away competing quite a lot so it was all about work and family time..rare lunches out with my parents!

March..much needed Our time...date nights, date days, quiet time...oh and not forgetting some IKEA trips! Everything every relationship needs!

April...was busy!! We went to see Olly Murs in concert, he is my absolute man crush..i just love him! Ice Hockey plays off's...a trip to Blackpool, Drayton Manor with the little one...oh and a trip to A&E!!

May...was BUSY! Time with the kids, Sclub 7, Kelly's Birthday, Theatre trips, Nights out, Birmingham Pride oh and MORE new kit!!

 

 June...Babies, Children, Summertime, Kelly went to Baku with Team GB, Our lovely landlord sent us a letter to say he was selling our house so we had 2 months to find a new home, que searching for a new house...oh and my birthday!!!

 July = HOLLIIIDDDAAAYYYYYYYYYY, we are both sun worshippers so this was much needed!!  We also moved house!!

 


August...Saw the 30th birthday of one of our bestest friends, time with the kids, the mother in laws birthday, a little trip to London and my new car!!

September...was quiet...finally! Our girl started school which is a pretty big achievement for any 4/5 year old but even bigger when you're also putting up a strong fight against cancer too! 

October..Saw the launch of Bounce - can read about that in a previous post! Flo's Birthday, Our Tv debut oh and we ran a half marathon..AGAIN! Not forgetting....ONE DIRECTION, it was AMAZING!! *fan girling*

November...We got engaged!! My mums birthday, a christening and more kids!!

December..christmas christmas, christmas, nights out, dinners, markets... Then Sugar Hut and The Darts VIP style!

What a year..more happened than i even remembered, 2016 is set to be pretty amazing, although saving for a wedding is going to be hard, i'm sure it will still be filled with the things we love!

Any 2015 highlights?

Roll on 2016....lets see what you've got!!

xxx