A Girls Best Friend - Lindsey Kelk - Recommended Recent Reads # 5 Book Review

I love Tess. She's essentially me. Does she go back to her successful advertising career or jump on the unknown journey to establishing herself as a photographer? Just swap the professions and this is my dilemma. She's even the same age. Is this fate telling me what to do? Maybe. But apart from this similarity, A Girls Best Friend is the third book in a brilliant series by Lindsey Kelk. Have a look here to read about how the series started.

My HD Brows experience

Eyebrows are a BIG thing in beauty right now. Some say if you do nothing else to your face at least do your brows. Earlier this year I decided it was time to try the process that all the celebs seem to have done, HD Brows.

The first time I did anything to the eyebrows was in 6th form and I had them waxed very thin, as was the trend 12 years ago!

Since then they've undergone some form of treatment every now and then. However, despite mine being dark and very thick I don't get them done enough or maintain them at home much. I'm just too lazy and forget about them. Most of the time I therefore sport pretty unrurly brows!

I've plucked, i've had them waxed and i've had them threaded. The problem is though that my eyebrows never look like the perfectly groomed ones I see on TV and magazines.

I wanted them defined with a clean shape and no gaps and the HD Brow process seemed to be that solution. It did used to be an exclusive treatment only done in select places but now everyone seems to be trained in the process. HD Brow's differ in that it combines all techniques together in one treatment. By using a mixture of plucking, waxing, threading and tinting it provides a shape that suits your face.

An explosion of typing without thought - Real Life Lately

I've been trying to promote my blog more recently and one of the tweets i've been sending out is 'for real life, travel and lifestyle'. So i figured lets do a real life post. Most of my posts are this really, we have my struggling with uni post, reading a brilliant social media chick-lit and struggles going to the blog awards. That's life but specific parts of my life. But what's going on with me?

The Aubrey Rules by Aven Ellis - Recent Recommended Read #4

Can you believe the last book review I published was in January? I haven't read many since then, partly because of time and partly because I don't like to rush books. I did set a book reading goal at the beginning of the year but I soon came to realise this was silly. When I finish a book I like to wait a little while before moving onto the next, I like savouring the story and remembering the characters. This review is about The Aubrey Rules by Aven Ellis, number 1 in the Chicago on Ice series.

Do you like:

• Social media?
• America?
• Hot sports players?

I reckon you'll devour this book as fast as I did then.

Aubrey is a newly graduated social media professional with a rule for everything in her life, from what she eats, her work and even to dating. When she unknowingly bumps into one of the hottest ice hockey players around, she starts to question these strict rules she's made herself as she finds her work and personal life increasingly interlinked.

I'm a sucker for a romantic novel and when social media was thrown into the mix I couldn't resist. It was a brilliant idea to tie that into the book. It's something that most of us and certainly almost all of the books target audience use on a daily *ahem* hourly basis and is a very hot topic at the moment.

STRUGGLING WITH EDUCATION

Just a quick post about something I came to realise today.

I was always of the thought that at university, the 'youngsters' didn't work much and were clueless.

But I was stereotyping and tarring everyone with the same brush.

Whilst I am sure there are a fair share of slackers in uni as a whole, on my course at least, the young uns' are hard workers. They do their reading and they know their stuff. I believe this is partly due to the type of course but I also think that having just left school and still being in the education frame of mind helps greatly. As mature students, there is a mix of those who are working in the way I thought we would and others, who like me, are not doing as much as we could. I'm not disrespecting them or anything and I know they will put the hours in soon when the work builds up.

But as for myself,  I thought that returning to uni as a 28 year old I would be motivated, efficient and just in general work hard. But I guess I didn't think of the effects that being out of education for so long would have. You would think I would be ok. For one, I recently completed a home learning course in sociology. Showing evidence of recent study was a requirement for entry onto this course but it obviously wasn't enough to get my mindset right for full-time education again. Secondly, earlier in the year I worked as an academic support worker at a local university. This meant supporting disabled students and taking notes for them in lectures. We were trained in taking useful, concise and detailed notes. What better prep than that you say? You'd think so wouldn't you, but apparently not.

I'm not being any of the things I thought I would be when returned to education. I turn up to everything but i'm not reading, i'm not making my notes into something useful, i'm not passionate, i'm not doing anything. Being away from education has had a huge effect. When I was working I liked going to my job, doing my hours and going home and switching off. I'm not saying being at uni means you have to work any extra hours than you would at a standard job, but outside of our contact hours i.e. lectures/seminars I struggle to make myself do anymore work. I only have part-time contact hours yet when a lecture has finished i've essentially switched off and don't do anything else ,as I would with a job, and this is not good.

So yeah, being a mature student hasn't meant what I thought it would. Although only 28 (yes only, shhhh) I thought life experience and knowing what actual full-time work was like would make me a better student. I was wrong about that and I was wrong to judge the 18 year olds. Some young uns' are hard workers, some are not and it's exactly the same for us mature students. There are other reasons why i'm not at all motivated but I shan't go into that right now. I'm not sure even I have sifted through it all myself yet.

But essentially what i'm saying is, returning to education is a struggle and I was wrong to judge.

The unseen account of going to the Bloggers Blog Awards

I posted recently about my awesome day at the awards but I’d like to share a few tit-bits about the day that made me a bit wobbly.

Outfit issues – I bought a LOT of black skinny jeans to try on. Obviously the ones I didn’t pick will go back but the ones I decided to wear I thought were the best fitting. WRONG. They were a little loose when I tried them on. As in, if I lost any weight (HA) they would be unsuitable.  But they were the best of the bunch so I ripped of the tags and off I trundled. Stupid things kept falling down though and a lot of awkward jean yanking occurred in public. I managed to tuck my vest top into them which helped but they are definitely going to be altered!

Hair – The realisation that my hair needs a BIG chop. I wore it down to begin with and it looked alright before I left the flat. But it was quite warm there and my hair got bigger and bigger and irritating (its very thick) so up in a bun it went. But I think I look like a bit of a twat in the photos so I need to get it sorted so I can wear it better. I think posing at a better angle might have helped though!

Confidence – It was really nerve-racking at first turning up and seeing everyone squealing at each other in recognition and me like oo this is awkward. I did get stuck in though and just introduced myself (whether people liked it or not). I met the lovely Ana and pairing up really boosts oneself with trying to work the room. But yeah, it was pretty scary for a newbie! BUT I bet even those that I thought looked in their element had the nerves too. You never know what’s being that confidence. Remember that folks.

Do you face any issues when going to events or meeting people? I hear the nerves is a common one!

The Bloggers Blog Awards 2015

This Saturday I did something that younger me would have cried off. I attended the Bloggers Blog Awards in Leeds. The awards were created to celebrate our favourite blogs, as voted by the people that actually read them. I managed to nab a last-minute place and having very recently moved to the surrounding area, it seemed too good an opportunity to miss to meet people IN REAL LIFE. It was also the first blogging event i'd been to, eek.

I was a bit scared but one of the good things about growing older is that you start to care a lot less. So what if I looked like a loser by myself or everyone hated me. Who cares?

Dressed like this I made my way to Lamberts Yard with a couple of bloggers, Rhianna, Joe Heather, whom I latched onto at the train station.  The venue has a clothes shop downstairs and space to hire upstairs. I noticed it even had a DJ booth -  I was all for turning it into a party!

The whole thing was a bit of a blur to be honest, it was busy whirlwind full of amazing bloggers and it was hard to take everything in. Some I recognised, many I didn’t and a few I even worked up the courage to introduce myself to.

There was time to mingle and enter the social media competitions then the awards began. I’ll be honest, when I first read the short-list weeks ago, I hadn’t heard of some of the nominees. But that’s fine, the blogging world is massive now and you’d have to have a heck of a lot of free time to be able to know every.single.person. But I did check them all out and many are now on my ‘save’ list.

I found myself hanging out and sat with three lovely girls, who I didn’t realise at the time, were three of the nominees, Ana, Charlotte and Sam. Ana even got highly commended in her category! It’s strange, I hope they don’t mind me saying, but they seemed just as wide-eyed as me and there’s me expecting all the shortlisted to be all brimming with confidence.

You can read all the winners here and many congratulations to you all, so well deserved girls. The prizes were donated by lots of companies, I was particularly jealous of Jemma’s win of a voucher from Sykes Cotteges and a jewellery tree from Jewellery box. I can’t wait to see what is inside of that!

After a bit more mingling the a.m.a.z.i.n.g raffle was drawn. I didn’t get a picture but there were SO many prizes up for grabs from lovely companies. I won 2 colouring postcard books and a BeeGood skincare set. I’m really pleased with the skincare as some of my usual products are coming to an end so I can’t wait to get stuck into these.

After the event many of us headed to the Black Swan for food and drinks. I don’t think they were expecting *quite* as many of us there but they coped well. I had the pumpkin tortellini with sweet potato fries. The fries were SO GOOD with the dip.

Everyone branched off after that and I caught the train back and watched Bridesmaids on the telly. Great end to a great day.

I’m really glad I went and got to meet people I’d chatted to online and many new faces too including Katy, Dee, Jemma, Sarah, Corinne, Hayley, Kayleigh and the another Sam.

I would like to thank Hayley and Talented Talkers for putting this day together for us all to enjoy, you did great!

         

  

This Month of Mine #9 - British GP, having two birthdays and general life

Where to start? It's been two months since my last life update This Month of Mine #8, i'll try remember as best I can!

1. Charlotte and I had an amazing time at the British Grand Prix. The weather really does make or break a weekend. Last time we went there there was torrential rain all weekend but this time we had beautiful sunshine. I especially enjoyed sitting on the International Pit Straight (opposite the pits) during qualifying, I find it fascinating watching the garages!

I've had two birthdays:

2. Firstly my 1 year blogday was at the end of June. Very proud to have kept this going.

3. Then last Sunday was my birthday (pre-birthday thoughts)and we went out for the day to Llandudno. We arrived there but what was sunshine throughout the rest of the UK was pouring rain in Wales! So we went for a drive to see if it would clear up and ended up in beautiful Llanberis followed by Bangor. That was cool as i've not been there since I left uni 7 years ago. We then headed back to Llandudno and went up the Great Orme in the cable car and spent out 2ps in the arcade. On the way home we ate in our favourite fish and chip restaurant.

4. My cleaning job is keeping me very busy. Some days i'm in the office and others i'm all over the country cleaning show homes. Some early starts though,  for example tomorrow I have to be at work for 6.15am! I've given up the catering work at the weekend as it was too much for me doing that, working full-time and trying to complete my Sociology.

5. Talking of which . . . I'VE COMPLETED IT! I Sent in the last unit for marking on Friday and am now just waiting for the results. So glad to have done it.

6. We went to see Villa play Wolverhampton in a pre-season friendly.

7. We worked at a trade show in Devises and stayed at this cute B&B on the Wiltshire/Somerset border. My room looked onto the garden and farm behind with countryside all around! It was in the area we used to live when I was a child, so so pretty!

8. You know i've attempting #10000 steps every day? Posts here and here. I'd been doing well in that but i've been so busy in the past week that i've failed a little in both that and in eating. Not to worry though because that's life and this is a lifestyle change not a fad. I bought a Fitbit this week. I like seeing my sleep pattern but i'm not finding the step count all that accurate! If any of you have one, i'd love to hear what you think? If you do and want to be friends on it (or whatever it is called) let me know your email and i'll add you.

9. Going to the theatre on Wednesday night was the first time i've been out in the evening for months!. (I won't even tell you how long it's been since i've been out out, it's pretty embarrassing!) We saw the summer school production of The Wizard of Oz. I couldn't remember what happened in it though and had ask my friends if it was the interval or if that was the end!! I've also never seen so many kids on stage!

I reckon that about covers it, what about you been doing recently?

I AM

I am Amy. I am 27.  I have to write that because tomorrow I am different. But I have been thinking I am the next number all year long. Because my friends have all turned that number, it is all I keep thinking, along with everyone asking 'how old are you going to be this year Amy?'

Does anyone else feel that?

I've always been the baby out of my friends and at school, with the whole year group turning a year older before me, wanted to feel that age too. Because you do at that age don't you?

But now I don't. Today is the last chance to say, I am 27!

27

27

#10000STEPS update - feeling fit and healthy!

What do epsom salts, coconut oil and essential oils have to do with this post? It's all part of my feeling and looking better. You know how you always look slimmer when you've just woken? Well a couple of cups of the salts in the bath the night before helps with this! Putting coconut oil in as well is just my lazy way of moisturising and i'm hoping the eucalyptus in it with help my hay fever.

Anyway onto the actual post. I've been on this path for two weeks and everyday i've been attempting 10,000 steps in a bid to get healthier and lose weight. Have a look here to see my initial post on the challenge. It's really surprising how little I do on a normal working day without effort. About 4,000 steps and when you consider that anything under 5,000 is classed as sedentary, it's a little worrying.

I've been out for walks at lunch-time but my main way of reaching the target is by going on a 50 minute walk in the evening on the marshes where I live. I don't live on the marsh itself, it's across the road ;) I've also started walking to and/or from work. It's 2.5 miles each way so walking there and back reaches the magic number in itself.

I get to meet the cow on my walks

I'm really loving doing this and there has only been three days i've not managed to reach the target. I am eating better and have cut out a lot of the snacking I used to do, but i'm not restricting myself or classing anything as a no-go. I've lost 2lbs in these 2 weeks, which I am well happy with. All from walking. I can't be bothered with this running malarkey, too much like hard work, but walking is no effort at all!

I'll do another update in a few weeks where I hope I will be just as positive as now. In the meantime i'd love to hear if you're partaking in any similar challenges and how you're getting on?

Amy x

#10000STEPS

Since switching jobs at Christmas (i've actually changed twice since then!) i've gone from standing on my feet all day to sitting on my backside most of the day. Cue the weight gain. It's surprising how much of a difference your job makes. I've always eaten badly and still do but since the job change and in particular the more recent one, i've put on a stone.

I've tried, halfheartedly, various exercises. I've done a few YouTube workouts and i've bought a hula-hoop but my latest attempt is the most simple and the cheapest.

Just walking.

It's recommend we do 10,000 steps a day and although that is probably laughable as a form of exercise to most fitness enthusiasts, it's definitely better than doing nothing. It will help. Almost everyone can do it, it can be combined with days out and it requires very little equipment.

I've bought this Target Fitness 1 Pedometer from Argos for £3.99. You can also use various apps on your phone or the fitness bands that are all the rage at the moment.

I have heard of some of the apps being a little unreliable in that they count steps when you are driving. Even a standard pedometer like this one (remember when Kellogs used to give them away?) adds extra steps every now and then. On the whole though mine seems fairly accurate.

I've writing down my steps each day and thought that anyone that wants to join me can check in with each other on the #10000STEPS on Twitter. You can set yourself whatever target you like and that is appropriate for you, whether that be more or less.


Let me know below if you'd like to join this challenge and use the # to keep us all updated!


A few tips to get you started:

• Do a few steps whilst waiting for the kettle to boil
• Walk around the lounge during ad breaks (don't get too dizzy!)
• Take a walk in your lunch break instead of eating at your desk
• If walking upstairs at home, go up and down a few times

Serious questions I am asking myself about being a blogger

• Do I need to buy a colouring book?

• With every young blogger finishing school/exams/uni, am I going to feel really jealous that they are able to post 5 times a day?

• I don't have a functioning camera . . shall I just leave right now?

• I don't own an Android let along an iPhone. How much longer will I be able to operate without Periscope or Instagram? 

More importantly . . .

• How do you cope that I don't have Instagram? ;)

• I've never seen Pretty Little Liars, Game of Thrones or Orange is the New Black. Nor do I want to. What is wrong with me?

• ALL the sad, ALL the happy, ALL the hungry . . should I start using this 3 letter word in my tweets?

Travel & Work Abroad: An Au-Pair in Germany

It was the summer of 2007, my second year at university was over and I decided to jet off to Germany and au-pair for the summer. Like you do. I've not a clue what made me do this. I guess this was the start of the travel-bug!

Paderborn by Athde at Wikimedia Commons

What is an au-pair?

An au-pair is traditionally from a different country who lives with a host family and in return for bed, board and pocket money helps with light household tasks and childcare. Working hours vary between countries but tend to be between 25-30 hours per week with time available to be able to attend language classes. The current recommended pocket money for the country I went to, Germany, is 260 Euros per month.

How did I do it?

I went through a website called Au-World.net which allows au-pairs and families to have a profile and the ability to seek each other out. I made myself a profile, listing where I wanted to go and what experience I had (babysitting, young leader at Brownies and younger siblings) and sat back waiting for the opportunities to roll in! ;)

This Month of Mine #8

It's only apt I change the title of the series for this edition seeing as I haven't updated in nearly a month.

1. I finished my university job in the first week of May. I was an academic support worker for students and seeing as it is now exam time followed by holidays there isn't any more work.

2. I spent a couple of weeks job-hunting and spending ages writing fancy cover letters only to hear nothing back from most.

3. I've landed myself two new jobs. My first is cleaning show homes and helping in the office. I'm not entirely sure on this. The cleaning part is fine but the office is very male-dominated and i'm not very good on 'banter' that seems to make it tick.

4. My second is working at the weekends for a catering recruitment agency. I've only done one weekend here so far. I worked at a wedding last Saturday. It went well but I felt AWFUL when I finished. Every single part of my body hurt and I then had to drive over an hour to get home in the small hours of the morning! On the Sunday I worked in the one of the hospitality restaurants at Stoke City at the Stoke V Liverpool game. I did catch a few minutes of the game but managed to miss all seven goals lol!

5. I did start drinking loads of water each day and I liked the effects. Unfortunately diet and exercise have gone out of the window recently, especially this weekend. We bought lots of goodies to watch the game and i've just eaten everything in sight. I'll start again tomorrow because my new work trousers are tight enough as it is!

6. I've started a bullet journal inspired by reading this from Miss Pond It's a method that brings and keeps all your lists and notes together in one place. So far I really love it and it helps keep me accountable for my tasks.

7. Speaking of the game, we decorated the house for the Aston Villa V Arsenal FA Cup Final yesterday. So proud of my team for getting there but we just didn't perform well yesterday. Oh well onward and upwards for the new season.

8. I'm watching normal Big Brother for the first time in a long time. The housemates obviously got on a little too well so BB shook it up on Friday. It was very dramatic, especially that carousel, the evictees were very shocked!

9. Almost forgot three very important events.  The General Election. I did have a lot to say about this at the time but it's left my mind now. It was great to see so many young people online getting involved. Whether this applied to all young people I don't know. I do think politics should be taught in school. At 27 I am only just starting to understand it myself. Don't get me started on other elections though.  We were having council elections too, baffling!

10. #VEDay70 I thought the concert in London was beautiful and a wonderful mix of performances, readings, visuals and memories. One lady who was reading a letter home from a soldier that died, was struggling and was very emotional reading it, as was I. Take a moment and think of those involved and effected by the war and how lucky we are today.

11. A new princess was born. I was glued to the screen with my Mum and Nana awaiting a glimpse. Great name choice. Charlotte is my sisters name, Elizabeth is my middle name and it was very fitting to have Diana there. Welcome to the world HRH Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. 

This week i'm looking forward to the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday. It's always a good race, in fact the best one i've ever seen was at Canada in 2010 when Jenson Button came from last place to win it! 

I also have to decided by Thursday which university to 'firm'. I know it's going to be a night before decision, I really can't make my mind up!

I've tried a different format this time, is it easier to read this way? I've not really been feeling blogs recently and most of my Bloglovin' feed just isn't appealing. If you've posted lifestyle recently link it below, it's the only type i'm into reading at the moment.

Hope you've all enjoyed your weekends (working or not working), have you been up to much?

I've linked my other weekly updates below if you fancy a peek.

This Week of Mine #7
This Week of Mine #6
This Week of Mine #5

This Week of Mine #4

This Week of Mine #3

This Week of Mine #2

This Week of Mine #1

My work and travel abroad: An introduction

This is an introduction to a series of posts about the working and traveling abroad I have done over the past eight years. Perhaps it was my families constant moving houses that has inspired me or perhaps I just have it in my genes but I know I love exploring and seeing the world especially from a local's point of view. Working abroad ticks both boxes. It funds being abroad and you live more like a local rather than a tourist.

I'm just going to briefly outline where i've been and in further posts will talk about each experience further.

Sharing some big news

You might have seen mention in the past This Week of Mine posts such as here, here and here of several uni interviews I have attended. Bournemouth was my last one and I have now received all offers and rejections.

In September I shall be attending either Huddersfield or Bournemouth University. Both have offered me a place subject to the passing of the sociology course I am currently undertaking. 

It's a difficult decision, one is in the north and one the south. Huddersfield is much closer to me than Bournemouth and will be a LOT cheaper to live in. But I did quite like the course and cohort size at Bournemouth. Decisions will have to be made next month but if any of you guys have opinions on this, I would love to hear from you.

Now you may have read my post discussing University - The right thing? I still stand by that entirely. I already hold a history degree and I love studying it, however it has not led to anything. The jobs I have held in the 7 years since graduation have had nothing to do with the subject. The degree I shall be studying for in September is one that leads to a professional qualification that will allow me to get a job straight away in that field. I'm not posting the course here as i'm rather paranoid about someone searching for the specific uni and the course and ending up here. I would hate to have to sensor things because someone on the course or uni finds this! If you want to know though send me a tweet or email.

I'll leave you with a photo taken at Bangor University, from the pier looking onto the Menai Straits. I didn't have a huge selection of Bangor photos to choose from as I lost a lot of them when I changed computers.

As I said before if you have any comments regarding Bournemouth or Huddersfield I would love to hear them, if not then you know I love comments anyway!

This Week of Mine #7 TVD/Hula-Hooping/Bournemouth

I lie slightly. This covers the past three weeks not one. Please forgive me. ;)

Dogs
We've had the company of these two for the past 2 1/2 weeks whilst my brother was on honeymoon.

Once they had calmed down they were adorable with totally different personalities. The house is empty now without them!

Show
We had the biggest show of the year last week at the ExCel Centre in London. We stayed over the night before but it was still a very long Saturday, rising at 5.30am and arriving back home at 10pm.

Exercise
My choice of exercise this few weeks has been with a hula-hoop i've bought from Argos. I've always found hula-hooping really easy and I love doing it. I'd love to be able to learn tricks and even go to a class but it's not something that you see around a lot. I read an article on the Daily Mail about a lady who did it for 5 mins every morning and evening and lost inches off her waist. I'm doing it in bigger bursts between 15 and 45 minutes as I don't get to do it everyday due to circumstance and the bruises!

I'll let you know the results!

Bridgemere

We took a trip to this huge garden centre with shops today. I'm been coming since I was a child, the park there was amazing, it was like a massive wooden fortress. Unfortunately they've ditched that now (probably some health and safety boring rule!) but the centre has expanded in other ways. I haven't been for a few years but they've now several shops including Lakeland and a really good farm shop (which wasn't too pretentious!)

Vampire Diaries
We've had a couple of cracking episodes recently. The first trying to save Bonnie from giving up. Evil turned sort of nice Kai I actually like and the drama trying to send them to the other side to stop Bonnie was proper edge of the seat stuff!

The next episode was incredibly sad. Sheriff Forbes was one of the only humans Damon respected, i'm glad both her and Caroline got a peaceful ending there. This overshadowed Jeremy's departure to what we thought was art school but to what was actually a life of vampire hunting. Tut tut naughty Alaric and Jeremy. We did have a new beginning in this episode though, that of the Steroline relationship. Their first kiss was visually and audibly stunning, set to the lovely Ella Henderson's - Yours.

Uni news
I had my final interview in Bournemouth just a few days after the wedding. It's a long way from the Midlands but I wished to visit and be interviewed nonetheless. After checking into the B&B we took a stroll into town and to the beach.

I really like this shot I got, I posted it on Facebook and someone thought it was LA! It certainly looks more exotic than the UK!

I live for the 2p slot machines in arcades!

The interview the next day went well and I was impressed by the course there. When it finished in the afternoon Charlotte and I went for a last walk along the beach before heading home. To get to the beach from the town you walk through the most beautiful landscaped gardens. They also have a rather unusual feature that you cannot fail to spot. 

What is this??

There is a hot air balloon situated in the park that you can take a ride in to take in the views. It doesn't fly off completely but does reach pretty high!

You can't tell from these pictures but the beach was packed as it was very warm!

Charlotte getting in my shot ;)

Time for home! I noticed on the way down that we drove past the New Forest, so found the easiest village to detour to from the main road and we ended up in Burley. The New Forest is famed for it's wild horses and ponies, we saw evidence of this ourself when this one meandered it's way through the centre!

Seeing as you have reached this far why not leave a comment below. What did you think about the Vampire Diaries? Have you ever been to Bournemouth?

I've linked my other weekly updates below if you fancy a peek.

This Week of Mine #6
This Week of Mine #5

This Week of Mine #4

This Week of Mine #3

This Week of Mine #2

This Week of Mine #1

The Wedding!

If you've read any of my This Week of Mine posts you will know it was my brother's wedding recently. I spent ages getting my outfit together, I don't know how it took so long to be honest.

A few things: 

- You will end up buying shoes from the first shop you went into, so if you like something then buy it, don't go and then spend 6 hours looking round further shops!

- Don't sweat it on the small stuff, no-one really looks that closely at you or cares that much what earrings or shoes you are wearing. 

- If you know certain sleeve styles don't suit you, then for goodness sake don't go and buy a dress for a wedding that will forever be on show on photos for years to come! I was going to edit my outfit photo to cut off my fat arms but that isn't actual real-life blogging now is it?

Anyway onto the day. My sister and I's desk in the hotel ended up crazy, look properly and it seems to read as if from a beauty bloggers essential buys handbook, oops!

The service was really lovely and they had VW campervans taking them to the reception, which was beach themed. You can see in the top photo and just look at the cake!

So different, really unique and totally scrumptious! 

I won't share any pics of other people (apart from my sister) because I wouldn't want to do that without asking but the bride's dress was lace, similar to Kate Middletons but short sleeved. It was totally amazing!

My dress was sleeveless, fitted on the top and flared out to just below the knee and even had a small net under meaning I could do the whole twirling and swishing thing! :D I wore a pair of cream open-toe slingbacks and the awesome fascinator you can see. My hair was curled and pinned to one side.

Something a bit different was the barn dance they had for the first half of the evening, it was very energetic! They also had a machine there that lets you take congratulatory photos and videos and a dressing up box by the side to go with it. That provided much entertainment. I'll wrap up by saying it was a lovely weekend and that I didn't get too many 'What about you?' questions (i'm the eldest you see). I'll leave you with a couple of silly photo's by of sister and I.

This Week of Mine #6

Goodness, i've not posted this for three weeks! Been a little busy, but things have calmed down now. As I mentioned last time, I was off work for the Easter holidays. I'm going to do this post covering two weeks. The first week that I was off before Easter I couldn't tell you what I did, i've not a clue! Time just seemed to fly by and before you know it is is 1pm and i'd just managed to get dressed for the day and then suddenly a whole week had gone!

I did have a lovely day Saturday on the Easter weekend, firstly at a family members 2nd birthday party. After that, we picked Charlotte up from uni and went to a meal for my sister-in-law to-be's hen night.

Easter Sunday and Monday were chilled out days in the sunshine.

On the Tuesday Charlotte and I managed to to spend 6 hours in Telford looking for shoes for the wedding. 6 hours!! I bought two more Harry Potter T-Shirts. The sleeves on one of them aren't really shaped well, but it's HARRY POTTER! I'll just wear it in bed.

Wednesday I was visiting Leicester with Dad and we saw Richard III's final resting place. The church is much smaller than it looked on the TV, i'm not sure where they sat everyone that we saw on TV!

In Leicester I found some awesome blue Ravenclaw joggers. I've now come to the realisation that there is a lot of HP clothing around, so I shall calm down in my purchases of it from now on! Hint though: Remember to look in the mens section too, I spied a couple T Shirts there, one of them being of the Marauders Map.

I love this shot of Richard III and the Cathedral behind

All that week was really just getting ready for the wedding. It's crazy, when it came down to it, I don't know how I spent so long trying to get everything. I guess one thing I learnt is that you can save so much time by keeping up-to-date with day-to-day stuff. I just seemed to have ran out of every product that week or not owned some essential item of clothing, that added to the shopping.

Vampire Diaries
I heard the news about Nina Dobrev leaving The Vampire Diaries.  I've not read why yet but please don't leave Damon with more heartache! It's also moving to a later slot on ITV2. I understand why many of you stream it online but this is not helping ratings. Please try and watch it on TV if you can as ITV2 might not pick up the next season if the falling ratings continue. :(

Exercise
Funnily enough the first week of the Easter Holidays when I was not at work I didn't do any workouts! The next week though I did Adriennes complete beginners yoga every day and one kettlebell workout. After the workout though, I could not walk or sit down properly for three days, anyone that has done kettlecise before knows this feeling!

The end of this second week was the wedding weekend. I shall cover that next time though.  :)

I hope you all had a lovely Easter (I know it was a while ago now!), thanks for reading! x

I've linked my other weekly updates below if you fancy a peek.

This Week of Mine #5

This Week of Mine #4

This Week of Mine #3

This Week of Mine #2

This Week of Mine #1

This Week of Mine #5

How are you all this week? I'm busy stressing about my outfit and hair for my brothers wedding next week. Why is it so complicated?! Here is my little round-up of last week:

Tuesday I traveled to Northampton for my interview taking place the next day and stayed with my sister who lives in halls. This has confirmed my decision to get my own place when I go back to uni in September. Even though it will mean getting a job, i've lived in 6 shared houses/flats up to now (not even including uni halls or with my family) and i've had enough of it!

Managed to find these bad boys cheap in Northampton

I only did two workouts this week which were the PopSugar Fitness Dance Party Workout and The CafeMom Studios Workout both about 30 minutes long. Do not be fooled by the word 'Mom' in the title, it was a really tough workout, stamina wise. I really liked this one and will definitely do it again as I could do all the moves and I want to be able to do it without nearly collapsing!

I can't actually remember too much about last weeks Vampire Diaries, however I do remember it being awesome and happy that they can go into Mystic Falls again now. Even if it was at the expense of evil Kai absorbing all the magic!

The F1 was a bit of a shocker this week what with Vettel and Ferrari ending the Mercedes dominance. You could see the relief in everyone's faces and words. Though I do wonder how they all coped with the four year RedBull dominance?! I do wish my condolences this week to the spectator that lost their life at the VLN Endurance Championship in Nurburgring, Germany and wish those injured a speedy recovery.

I wore this for the first time this week, it's really comfortable, awesome for obvious reasons and I just love it!

Maybe I will turn this into a regular spot on this post but I have another example like last week as to how you change with age. We had to get a new fridge/freezer on Saturday night so off we popped to Currys (Saturday night at Currys isn't even the sad part!). Walking through the huge store I saw a particular section and exclaimed 'OOO Hoovers!' in a genuinely excited voice. Dear oh dear!

Lastly from this week I have to mention how much I have appreciated King Richard III's reburial and the events of the week. I found it hugely fascinating and very surreal at many times. I will definitely be paying a visit this year to Leicester Cathedral. Did you watch this?

I am off these two weeks as it is the Easter holidays at work and I will be mostly trying to sort everything out for the wedding. I've got the dress and fascinator, but I need to get a jacket, shoes and bag. I don't know what to match to what though or how to have my hair or make-up! I'm sure it will all come together soon.

 But i'd love to know what you got up to last week and your plans this week? Let me know in the comments. 

I've linked my other weekly updates below if i've not bored you by now and you fancy a peek.

This Week of Mine #4

This Week of Mine #3

This Week of Mine #2

This Week of Mine #1