Brave Girl

After 6 months of uhming and awring I finally decided to get my tattoo! And I love it!

I have been looking at this lotus design for a while and I wanted to make sure that it wasn't something that I was going to get bored of very quickly which I feel is very important with getting something branded on you forever. 

So I went ahead and booked it, shaking like a leaf when I walked into Exclusive Tattoo which is located in Street, I was easily put at ease when Bex came over with my design and we got started. She had taken the design I gave her but made it a bit different so it was individual from the other tattoos which I had seen and she got it perfect. 

I have to admit, it stung for the first 10 seconds but after that I barely felt a thing! Bex was really good and it is so neatly done! She was talking to me throughout the whole process which had me relaxed and before I knew it, it was done!

Very happy with the service I received and if I were to have any more tattoos, I know where I am going.

Charity

This bank holiday weekend, a friend of ours arrived home from cycling 1100 miles for charity! He cycled from Austria back to home in 2 weeks to raise money and awareness for Leukaemia. It really was emotional seeing him come down the road to all of us welcoming him back. 

Please donate whatever you can to charities as they need our support.

Well done Chris! It is truly amazing what you done. 

Snug As A Pug!

Primark £12.00 (for a double sized duvet plus pillows - bargain!) 

Silver Wedding Anniversary Party

The other weekend we congratulated our parents for their 25th wedding anniversary with a family party at our house! I saw this as a chance to get crafty and make decorations and invitations so I hit Pinterest for inspiration and got stuck in! 

As 25 is silver, there is a recurring theme throughout! Sorry about the lack of decent photos (we started to drink early and not many photos were taken that night!) 

I did not want to ruin their original wedding photos, so I took copies and placed them around the house. I must have made about 9m of paper chains! With individual embossed press on stickers saying "happy anniversary" and little hearts as I felt they looked too plan. I also found these 25 cards which I put onto the paper chains also to decorate them. I bought all the card, stickers and ribbons from my local haberdashery store in our village called Yandles.

Me and my sister decided it would be nice to hang photos of us 4 around the living room dating from when mum and dad got married throughout to present day. It was lovely to revisit all these memories and learn new stories from photos that we have not seen before.

Welcome in! 

Cake made by my fabulous Nan. Mum and Dads original wedding cake had pink trimming so it was lovely that this cake was similar!

Dress £12.00 MissSelfridge sale!!!

And it's silver to go with the theme of the party. In the back garden we had two decorated gazebos for those who wanted to sit outside. I didn't get photos sadly! 

I am so proud and happy for my parents on their anniversary. They made me who I am today and I am thankful for all the support they have provided me. They really deserved this party! And the hangover the next day with all the alcohol they consumed! 

Here is to the next 25! 

Film Review - Guardians of the Galaxy

Well finally, after all the hype Guardians of the Galaxy has been released! And all I can say is "I am Groot".

I am such a Marvel fan and I always find that the casting for all of their films are just perfect. After seeing a lot of the Avengers in their individual films and all together for Avengers Assemble it was nice to see something different. Being such a big Avengers fan I wasn't too sure how much I would have liked this film, but boy was I wrong! It was just pure brilliance from the 70s soundtrack to the depth of the characters that you saw in the film. I wont go into much detail of the storyline as I do not want to spoil it for anyone who will go and watch it, but be prepared.. It is like 3 hours long! My only criticism of the film is that there are a few scenes that could have been cut out (but every film is like that!) 

Star Lord actor Chris Pratt (from Parks and Rec) was surprisingly brilliant in this film! And I mean that in the nicest way possible. After watching and loving him from Parks and Recreation which you can find on Netflix he didn't really have a main role, he was just sort of Anne's comical boyfriend who they did show more of towards the end of the show but I never thought he could lead a film, but he did it very well!
Even though this film is set in space there are a lot of everyday references that brings it back down to Earth. Being set in space a lot of the film relies ion CGI, which I thought was pretty darn good. We saw the film in 3D and usually I do not like 3D films! But this was just really good in 3D. (I said 3D too many times then!)

 Another thing that really impressed me was Karen Gillam's acting. We are used to seeing her being the feisty red head partner in Dr Who, but seeing her play a sort of bad guy was good to see. 

Go and watch it today! As the quote from Chris Pratt's character from Park and Rec says below

Yummy treats

As the weather has been so lovely, me and Joe decided to go for a afternoon walk in his village and ended up at a pub (shock). We went to The Helyar Arms for something to drink and eat. I couldn't decide on what sweet I wanted so I got both.. Don't judge! 

I got a delicious white chocolate and cherry tart which was so yummy. I am not a fan of white chocolate but I thought I would get something different than the usual cheesecake I get. The tart with the raspberries and blueberries on the side was just gorgeous. When the white chocolate got a bit sickly, they fruits brought a sharpness to it which balanced it out well. 

I also got banana and vanilla ice cream. I love bananas! They are my favourite fruits and when I saw they had ice cream I had to get it. The actual desert was presented to well. It came in this caramelised nest, you cannot see it too well in the picture but with the ice cream was lovely.

Finally, Joe had his favourite, the sticky toffee pudding. This desert was so warm and just swimming in toffee. If I had to find a fault with this sweet it was that it was a rather large piece and after a while it became sickly.

Helyar Arms website

Leanne and Jon's Wedding - What I wore

I am so happy that I was there to share such a special day with a wonderful friend of mine and she could not have had better weather! 

This is possibly my new favourite dress! It was such a lovely colour and I am dying to have another occasion to wear this to. The dress is from Missguided and I have seen so many with these mesh panels but I have never found the right dress style and colour that would suit me, but as soon as I saw this I had to have it! 

As the mesh was a feature point for my outfit I didn't want to distract that with lots of accessories so I kept the outfit minimalistic. 

The shoes are from Primark, I cannot actually remember the price. I am sure they were about £11.00 and I bought them about 2 weeks ago so they should still be in store. I am terrible for walking in high heels so these were a dream! And super comfortable, especially having to stand up all day.
The bag is also Primark, but I got this nearly a year ago now. 

Grab the dress I wore now for £11.49
Soledad Mesh Panel Shift Dress

For the evening party I wore this Primark dress (can you see the recurring theme?) with these New Look heels. Personally, I feel New Look are the best high street store to buy heels from! They are always long lasting, a great variety in widths, height and colours and they are such a good price. I bought this dress around a year ago to wear on a evening out in Florida and the heels were bought in the Christmas sale. 

At the wedding party there was lots of entertainment. There was a band, a photobooth with props, a chocolate fountain and much more! What I loved was these little candle holders which were the table decorations and around the table there were little plastic purple hearts which had the couples name and the date that they got married.

My favourite thing from the wedding party was the sweet bike! I have to admit I went back  3 or 4 times to grab a bag of sweeties.

I wish Leanne and Jon every happiness in the world for their future together. 

Film Review

Carrie - 2013 starring Chloe Frace Moretz who we know and love from Kick Ass

For our Friday night film we decided to have a fright night. I had heard so much about Carrie and I love Chloe Moretz from Kick Ass so we decided we would watch this film (yes we watched it with the lights off) The story line is of a girl named Carrie who has been brought up by her very strong, Christian mother and it shows the general struggles of the "quiet girl" vs the "popular girls" at her final year in High School and the struggle she faces with her mum as she wants to be "normal" where her mother thinks she is being rebellious. She discovers that she has telekinesis while her mother believes she has been over taken by the devil, which leads to Carrie having an outburst against the girls who bullied her at school during their Prom. 

The film did not have many jumpy scenes which I was hoping for, but there was plenty of gore and suspense for those who love that kind of thing.  

I don't think I would recommend this movie to my friends to watch as I felt it took forever to get into! Then suddenly everything happened at once and it was over. 3/5 stars for the acting and general story line. 

What I Am Reading

Bear with me as I am a very slow reader! My new years resolution was to read more! 

So far this year I have read "The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas" and just a few general short stories. But I want to read this before I watched the film! "12 Years a Slave" is a true account taken from Solomon Northup who was a free man until he was forced into slavery and it is the film that shot the gorgoues Lupita Nyong'o into the starlight! The film was also rewarded 3 Oscars in 2014. 

So last night I ran myself a bath and I began this book! Stay tuned to see how I am doing and what I think of this book - Stay with me, it could be a while

Bath pillow is from B&M £2.99 - so cosy! 

My favourite buy

Killer Queen - Katy Perry £14.99 B&M (bargain for perfume!)

My three favourite things combined! B&M, Katy Perry and fruity perfumes. I found this in our local B&M store at ridiculously cheap price! After I bought this I had a look online and saw it was for sale for between £20 and £30! A link to buy it from Superdrug it below.. or go to B&M and snap it up for a bargain price!

I usually wear my "Oh Lola" Marc Jacobs perfume and I wanted something new. I love the shape of the bottle! It is a gorgeous ruby red with a gold top with designs on the cap. The perfume itself is fruity and floral and I feel is a really refreshing scent. I love all floral perfumes so this one it great to add to my collection. Well done Katy, an actual celebrity perfume that smells nice!
Nails are from Primark, see my last post for details

Superdrug

Coral loving

I saw these and thought they are perfect for a holiday! (Not that I am going on one, but one can imagine being sat on a beach with a cocktail wearing these nails) The coral colour looks great with a (fake) tan! I don't know how well you can see, but in the Aztec design there is pink bits in which match the other coral nails. I received so many compliments from these with people asking me where I get my nails done all the time.

Again these are two separate packs! £1 each. I am really happy with Primark nails at the moment (could you guess?) But I actually cleaned my entire car with these bad boys on and not one pinged off! They should put that on the packet! I wore these for 2 weeks! Go and try them! 

Another AMAZING Primark Buy

As you can see, Primark is a recurring theme throughout what I write. I LOVE PRIMARK.

I especially love their false nails! And these have been my favourite so far. I feel the colours and design are perfect for summer. And they would be great for Glasto or any other festival

These nails stayed on for over a week and a half without a single one pinging off. For £1 they are amazing! Go and check them out. 

All about ring chains

At the moment I am crazy for ring chains! Again I am late on the trend but I just haven't found any that I really liked.. Now I own 5

These are really nice for adding a bit of sparkle or colour to your outfit! I wore this cobalt blue one out the other day as I thought it matched my blue nails (see previous post for the nails!) the midi ring is from Primark (where else!?) and the ring chain is from Forever 21. I have spent ages on the website but I cannot find it (I bet know you will go on and see it straight away) 

All of these in the last photo are also from Forever 21 and I also have a gold one with a triangle shaped ring and small cuff to go around the wrist in the middle. I found this one from Accessorize.  

Aztec Hand Chain Bracelet  £6.00

Teardrop Faux Stone Handchain   £5.65

Brace yourself, this is going to be a long one - beware of spoilers!

So I have had the last few days off work due to being ill, which is never fun! 

But since I have been stuck in bed it has given me time to finally watch the end of series 2 of "Orange Is The  New Black" and I have to say I was not as impressed with this series compared to the first.

 Of course it had its hilarious and heart wrenching moments but there was something missing for me.
This series concentrated on new character "V" and how she managed to make her and her "family" head of the prison by using their cigarette scheme to win people over to do what they want. V is a character who has returned to prison formally knowing character "Red" and what I liked about their scenes together were the flashbacks to when they first came into prison together and what ultimately happened to their relationship to make them at war throughout this series.

What I really enjoyed about this series was seeing Pipers new dark side. It was great to see how far Taylor Schilling could take this character and as always, her acting was just impeccable. She really has lost it all, she has lost her fiancée Larry, Alex has managed to escape her prison sentence (or has she), her best friend Polly and this has made her a much tougher character that I think a lot of people were waiting to see.

I am really happy that finally Larry has got the chance to be happy! Piper was so manipulative and darn right mean to Larry in the first series and poor him was just being dragged along for the ride and someone for Piper to run back to when things between her and Alex were not working out. Whilst she was out on furlough she discovered that Larry had cheated and put two and two together when her best friend Polly came to visit. Larry and Polly seem perfect for each other and I was fist punching the air when they kissed and revealed to Piper that they are now a couple. 

As I said before in my previous post, I was happy to see a lot more of the character "Poussey". Everyone knew that Poussey had a lot of feelings for her best friend "Taystee" which were not returned and this series really went into that relationship and saw what lengths they could be pushed to. With V coming between them, we saw Poussey turn to home brewed alcohol to build up the courage to fight for her friend which lead to both of them being expelled from "the family". When they realised that V was planning to place the blame for Red's assault on Crazy Eyes more of the family came to their senses and left V to fend for her self in prison. 

What I love about Poussey and Taystee is that even though they were not in a relationship ,they really showed how the love between two friends could be enough to get you through anything.

 Finally we know what Morello is in prison for!!! And the truth about Christopher was revealed. I thoroughly enjoyed this story line as I was not expecting it at all! Leading you to believe that she was in prison for fraud then BOOM we find out she was a crazy ass stalker. I love Morello, there is this real innocence about her when she is talking about plans for her wedding to Christopher as any new bride would be like. But we realise how dangerous she can be after we saw her break into Christopher's home whilst she was taking Miss Rosa to hospital.

George "Pornstache" Mendez's return to the show was just absolute brilliance. After being on suspended leave for the "sexual assault" of Dayanara his entrance back into the prison was just hilarious, giving out shots like they were going out of fashion. What I love about this character is you can loathe and love him at the same time. The way he abuses the inmates makes your stomach turn but when he is lead to believe that he has got Dayanara pregnant, it is moments like that when you see a real person in there. 

And finally, my heart broke when Miss Rosa received the news that she was to die within a few weeks after her battle with cancer. Seeing more of her this series has really created a bond between the character and the viewers. A woman whose kiss killed the men she loved and being in prison for a series of bank robberies meets a young boy whilst she is having chemotherapy who makes her feel alive again when they plan to steal a drunk nurses purse. Her great escape after Morello left her the van keys and told her to go had everyone on the edge of their seats to see if she actually would get away as the prison was on lock down after V's escape.

My favourite quote from the series has to be "Always so rude that one" after she knocked V over and drove off without a care. It will be sad to not see Miss Rosa in series 3 but I am glad she got away. 

Fake it

I am always really surprised with what you find in Primark and these are no exception! I know it's bad for your nails to use false ones but when I am in between having them done these are just perfect to stick on or if you are going on a night out they are quick and easy to use. I also find that these do not even look like Primarni nails! Or most of the other ones they stock.

Nails - Primark £1
 Ring - Pandora £40 which is my birthstone (link below)
December Pandora ring


For £1 they are an absolute bargain! These will last me just over a week and of course with all stick on nails the occasional one will ping off, but I find that these work just as well as the ones that you would buy from Boots or Superdrug. Just make sure that you take them off properly using acetone and file down the remaining glue that is left on the nails.
I have actually used two different packs of false nails, one pack was all cobalt blue and the other had these Hawaiian floral t-shit pattern on them to go on my ring finger.

What I am watching

I apologize if I have not contacted you back this weekend, but as you probably know "Orange Is The New Black" series 2 came out on Friday and I have been glued to that! 

Already there are new dramas, hilarious quotes and heartbreaking moments that keep you wanting more at the end of each episode. And I am only on episode 6!

 I am really happy that they have made the character Piper more tough and not so naive as she was in the first series. It is exciting to see what new levels the character has. 

What I really love about this show is the background stories of all the characters. They leave no stone unturned regarding their life before prison and it makes the character feel more real knowing what they have been through and what they did to get into jail. I have a real soft spot for the character "Poussey" played by the ever gorgeous Samira Wiley and I am glad that we are seeing more of her this series.

photo from google.

Catch up! Because you are missing out. 

Storage

So I am pretty crazy about storage at the moment!

 Everything has to be in a box or basket of some sort and since doing so, everything is 100x easier to find!

 I hate admitting when my mother is right, but when things are packed away nicely, they are easier to find and look much better. 

As every girl does, I have a real problem with keeping hold of my curby grips and hair bands! Well problem solved with my cute little jam jars that I got from Tesco for £1 each. I have got into the habit of as soon as I take it out of my hair, I put in in the jar! And as they are small, they do not take up a lot of space and if they do, I can stack them on top of each other. These are kept on the large shelving unit next to my wardrobe where I do my hair in the mornings.

Another problem I had was hoarding. I had 2 huge baskets full of make up and bath/body products. So I condensed it down to one small basket with only the items that I actually use (which is very little)
 I got this blue basket from B&M for £1.49 so for that price I picked up a few!

I saw this little drawer set again in B&M for £14.99 and I now keep it next to my bed with make up wipes in, my iPod cables which cluttered up my floor and other bits and bobs I need. It is really handy! And so cute. The drawers are a tad small, but you get what you pay for. Each drawer is patterned with hearts or flowers on and as soon as I saw it I had to grab it! It doesn't take up much space at all, as as my bedroom is 90% bed it was perfect to just slot in between my bed and this shelving unit I have.

And finally, I LOVE painting my nails and when I had a few pots of polish I had them sat on my shelf, but when I grew quite a collection I had to store them somewhere.. I found this bag in Primark for £5 like a year ago, but it is perfect for keeping my nail polish, files and remover in.

Thank you for reading!

What I wore to Liz's meal

Top - Primark £14.00 Jeans - Primark £11.00 and shoes New Look - £15.00

So I am really shocked with this Primarni find! It has got all these gorgeous beads and sewing decoration on the front with a button fastening at the back of the neck, and I feel it looks like something that MissSelfridge would stock as I have seen embellished tops like this in there before. Anyway, for £14 it is an absolute steal! I got this last week in London so it is still in stores so run out and get it! I would go for a size up as I found it quite tight on the top. 

I adore my high waisted jeans from Primark which I am sure cost £11, they are super soft, they do not lose their shape and the sizing is really great. I really struggle to find jeans so as soon as I found these I bought a few to keep if these are in the wash or if they ever break. 

The shoes I grabbed in the New Look sale. They are real leather and they are super cosy. I am sure I paid £15 for them and I feel for leather heels that is a bargain! I never really wear these shoes so I will definitely be trying to bring them out more!. If you have any styling tips please let me know! 

Ear cuff - Forever 21 £3.15

I am really into ear cuffs at the moment. I know I am a bit late on the trend and when I saw this in Forever 21 for £3.15 I thought even if I didn't like it I wasn't wasting a lot of money. But I love it! I wear it every opportunity I have and my shopping baskets are full of ear cuffs. 

I will put the link below to the website.

Forever 21 ear cuff

Liz's retirement meal

This evening we said fair well to one of our longest members of staff! 

For Liz's retirement meal we went to the Carpenters Arms in Chilthorne Domer and I decided that I would go all out and be a real fatty this evening (you have to treat yourself every now and then). For a starter I had fried brie with cranberry sauce, which was really nice.. I am not a big fan of cheese and I probably would not have this again but it was nice to try something new! There were two pieces of brie and towards the end it was getting a bit sickly. For my main course I just had a burger and for dessert I had an amazing vanilla cheese cake with vanilla ice cream. I absolutely love cheesecake and this piece was so yummy.

Even the picture is enough to make you drool! If I was being really picky and had to find a fault the biscuit base was not big but that didn't matter as it was just delicious! All together with a soft drink it came to £23.00 which I think is great value for a 3 course meal. Link to restaurant below.

The Carpenters Arms

Charity

Please give what you can to these two beautiful people who are willing to jump out of  a plane for an amazing cause! Click on the link below to go to their justgiving page to find out more details.

Josie and Kay's skydive 

What I am listening to

I have to admit this is my favourite buy for a while!
I first heard of Icona Pop when their uber catchy song "I love it" hit the charts, but since I've been to Katy Perry's Prism tour in May I have been hooked on their electo-pop since!

The gorgeous Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo will have you dancing until your feet are sore and singing your heart out. All you need are your girlfriends, a road trip and this cd on as loud as you can.  

photo from google
Grab it in HMV for £5.99

Hashtag no filter

WARNING! THE PHOTO BELOW MAY FRIGHTEN YOU! 

So this is just a quick one whilst I am at work with  my MAC make-up for today.

 I like to keep my make-up simple for work and I was in a rush this morning as I forgot to set my alarm! (as always) so there is no real technique used when applying my make-up, I just sort of slap it on and run out the door! 

Before and after! 

As you can see it is super light! It doesn't even feel as if I am wearing anything, but it still provides a great coverage. The foundation and concealer have both lasted all day and I have had people comment on how light my face is and the glow on it so it must be doing something good!

 I am really impressed with the colour, as I said before it doesn't even look like I am wearing anything and I definitely do not get that orange line every girl had on their neck back in the day because they were wearing the wrong colour! 

So far, I am really impressed with this. I will keep you updated.

MAC review

So I finally jumped on the bandwagon with everyone and I purchased my first MAC items.

 I went into Selfridges and had a bit of a makeover which was lovely! And finally found a foundation that was a better shade than the one I was previously wearing. 

I do love my Maxfactor Facefinity all day flawless foundation, it provides great coverage and does last all day but it is nice to treat yourself every now and then!

I got the face and body foundation shade N3 as I have a yellowish tint to my skin tone. This foundation is so light and gives my face a real fresh and dewy look. Whilst I was there I got the studio finish concealer NW25 which I am really happy with, this is a much heavier concealer than I have used before but it is great for covering those dark circles under my eyes. I have only been using this for a week but I am already impressed with the coverage and how it looks. I will definitely keep you updated in the future! 

Links to the items I bought down below.

MAC studio finish concealer NW25

MAC face and body foundation N3 

What I have been watching

All that everyone (including myself) has been talking about recently is "Orange is the new black". It is a show that follows newly engaged Piper Chapman as she is sentenced to go to prison for a crime that she was involved with years ago with ex-lover Alex Vause.. Are you still with me? Good.

This brilliant programme shows how all these other characters that surround her ended up in jail and shows both really witty writing and heart breaking stories that keep you totally glued to the screen for the 50minutes that it is on. 

Series 2 is coming back on to Netflix on June 6th, so hurry up and catch up with series 1! 

Brilliant acting from Taylor Schilling and surprsingly Jason Biggs who we all know from the American Pie films. I was really surprised to see a serious side to him in this series but of course there are moments that remind you of his comical American Pie character.. All I can say is "edging". Watch and find out. 

I really recommend anyone to watch this!

photo from google

Crazy cat lady

When I was in London last week, I ticked something off my wish list that has been on there for a pretty long time! 

I went to Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium for lunch with Joe. Now if you are a crazy cat lady like me you will love this place! Great food, great service and for a cat cafe I was really surprised with how clean it was. All of the cats seemed happy and were not phased by having all these different people walking around and playing with them. Now you need to book in advance and there is a £5 fee per head before you buy any food and drink, but the money goes towards the welfare of the cats so that's fine! 

I would totally recommend this place! Check it out. 

Link to website below. 

Logo is taken from their website

Say what? A cat on a giant hamster wheel?

Link to Lady Dinah's website

Dress and shoes are from Primark - cats not inculuded!

The second best day of my life

Date: 28/05/2014

Where: London O2

If you have not yet got tickets to Katy Perry's Prism Tour.. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?

I received these as a 21st birthday present and it is the best gift I have ever been given. Anyone who knows me knows how much of a fan I am of hers and she sure knows how to put on a show and I cannot believe how close I was to her!

Icona Pop were her supporting band and I had never really heard their music before except for that one song that got them pretty famous "I love it" but now I am obsessed with them! They really got everyone up and pumped ready for the queen of music to just amaze everyone for the next 2 hours. I will put a link to their Youtube account below.  

Kudos to not just  her, but the dancers and the band. They gave it 110% throughout the whole show.

It was great that she sang her old songs from her Teenage Dream album (which is the best to have in your car for a road trip!) and the costumes that she wore were just to die for!

I totally recommend you to listen to her new album Prism and if you ever get the chance to see her live go to it! It was just amazing.

Youtube - Icona Pop

All photos are my own.