Home Improving

I don't know what it is about this time of the year that makes me all unsettled and itching to make lots of changes.

I reckon it has to be my sub-conscious knowing that Christmas is coming and knowing that the house needs to be all trussed up with fancy, glitzy decorations in the not too distant future.

A messy home accompanied with fanciness would never work now would it and I reckon this is the issue.

I blame you Christmas!

(I would like to apologise at this moment for mentioning the "festive word" at the end of August, but sometimes, these things need to be done!)

Anyhow, I always like to re-jig the house a little bit around this time - even if it's just changing the cushions or swapping the towel colours in the bathroom - anything that updates things and makes my home a little bit fresher really.

This year - just in time - I've been introduced to fellow Yorkshire people - Rodgers Of York - a family owned local business who specialise in value for money.

I can hear The Husband's sigh of relief now - "value for money"

And they're from Yorkshire - so I had to have a look didn't I...

And that I did - I had a good browse around their website and naturally, being me, I've found a fair few bits that my home could very much do with right now.

I can't go shopping and not find things can I.

And first up - well - I jumped straight in there - I need a new kitchen table.

There's not even any kind of want or would like involved here - I am actually desperate for a new one right now.

The one I have at the moment is quite old, and it was fairly cheap when we bought it too - it really needs upgrading.

And it needs upgrading to this little lovely right here

I don't have the biggest house in the world at all and - even at Christmas - I'm not the biggest entertainer (too much mess!!) so this wooden number, with it's fancy high backed chairs would be perfect for my little family of three.

It even gives me a few "emergency chairs" too, because, well - you never know...

Something else that I desperately need to update is my bedroom - and I really do mean my whole bedroom.

It's been the same for about five years now and it's not brilliant.

I'm loving this Paradise bed I found on the website - it screams sheer luxury - and my weary, tired out bones really rather like the look of it...

I wouldn't want to get out of it that's for sure.

I reckon this beautiful bedroom furniture would not only compliment the fab bed but it totally helps to create, my long craved for, girlie bedroom too.

(Sorry Hubby!!)

- AND -

...just look at all of that storage...

HELLLOOOO make up draws

And hello beautiful make-up application station.

It's very pretty and I need it.

I really do.

Whilst I'm on a roll, I kind of decided that my house may also require a sofa bed.

I may have no room for a sofa bed but one would be very much appreciated, especially with the amount of my son's friends that end up staying over, therefore, I require one.

And I think this would be a perfect addition to my son's room

It's not too big, it gives that all important extra sleeping space - as well as looking pritty cool in his room when his friends stop by, oh, and it's red.

My son's favourite colour.

Perfect.

I've loved having a good old delve into the offerings of Rodgers Of York and can't wait to actually get my home improvements started now.

Pretty home, here I come.

I WILL be all fancy-pants in time for Christmas

*a collaborative, sponsored post

Summer Fun - Camping

Well, I never thought I'd ever have a title of any post of mine with the words "Summer Fun" and "Camping" any where near each other...but here I am, with a post with a title doing just that.

Crazy times for sure.

I mean I don't own a tent...I don't own sleeping bags...I don't even own many spare blankets.

What on earth could I possibly be thinking?

How could this be fun?

I've never even spent any amount of real time out in the cold, or the rain through the day - especially if there is mud, mud, mud involved - and I've certainly never done it during the night.

And ALL night at that...

! Eeek !

I need to be warm and toasty.

I need to be comfortable.

I need to be safe and secure behind a locked door whilst I sleep.

So how on earth did camping ever appear on my radar...??

Well trust me, I actually asked myself that question - on more than a few occasions - but I had a very excited, camping ready son who just couldn't wait to get going.

And a Mum's gotta do what a Mum's gotta do.

So I packed up about a weeks worth of easy-to-prepare food, borrowed EVERYTHING we could possibly need and off we went.

Our destination - a small camp site in Selby.

It was friendly - it had a bar, showering facilities, a teeny kiddies park and the rugby on a huge TV...which was just as well for the rugby crew I was "at one with nature" with.

I know, I know - it was hardly sleeping in a muddy field, using a bush for a loo and cooking on a self-built fire now was it, but it was outside and I was in a tent.

It was camping.

We spent our days sat outside the tents, the majority of the adults we were with drinking alcohol, the rest of us on the coffees, all just relaxing, chatting and having a "right laugh".

It was great for the kids - no computers or technology at all (apart from the films on the iPad at bedtime - Mum needed to be r-e-a-l-l-y tired to get any sleep!!)

They were constantly outside in the fresh air, playing and having so much fun with each other.

It was brilliant.

~ We BBQ'd

~ We made coffee's with a little whistling kettle at 7am in a morning
(There's no sacrifice of the caffeine regardless of where I am I'm afraid!)

~ We talked and laughed, and talked some more

And even when the weather turned, we sat inside our little tent, ate junk food and simply watched the rain pour.

I loved it.

Granted, bedtime was cold and a little cramped but we managed and we know for next time - yep, there will be a next time - that we need a much bigger tent and lots more blankets.

But at least we know now.

And if I can make camping suit me and enjoy it enough to want to go again then everyone has got to give it a go.

Amazing quality family time is always fantasic

Whiter Than White Korean Nail Colour

I'm so exhausted today after having an AMAZING day in London yesterday - I TOTALLY geeked it up...but more on all of that fantasticness later...

I need a bit more time to sort through the 350 photographs that I took you see

Yep - well, I did say I geeked it up...

Anyway, because I knew that I was off for a visit to our capital, I figured I really needed to make a little bit of an effort and sort out my horrifically neglected nails.

I haven't painted them at all for weeks and weeks so it was definitely time to get them sorted out.

And at the back of my mind I had a nagging notion that I still hadn't tried out all of the cute Korean nail colours that I bought ages ago (see here).

So I had no excuses - my colour choice was easy enough - Pure White from the La.vida collection it was.

I thought whilst I was at it I might as well give my tootsies a little bit of a treat too, and I matched them to my finger nails.

White talons all round for moi.

Anyway - I very much regretted this decision - oh - almost immediately, because I made a right old mess of my toe nails.

Honestly, there was white polish all over - I think I covered more of my actual toe than I did the nail - but it ended up being nothing a nail varnish soaked cotton bud couldn't sort out.

Thank goodness - totally rescued toes.

I took a little more time with the pretty polish on my finger nails after the near-toe-disaster, but even then, I wasn't totally sold that I was doing a very good job if I'm honest.

It all just looked very messy and I was pritty certain that a three year old could have done a much better job.

But I persevered, and three coats of polish later, I actually started to like the look that I was getting.

The streakiness had all but gone and the colour was a lot more 'solid' and a lot less tip-pex looking.

Thank goodness for that!

I really liked the overall colour once it had dried properly - I know white nails have been quite popular at the moment and I do enjoy following the odd trend.

What I will say though is that it is harder than anticipated to get white nails looking "just right" and it really isn't a rush-job colour at all.

Take time, be steady and don't stress out with it.

And there we have it - the very last of my La.vida polishes is all trialled and reviewed.

Hmmm...

...I may now need another La.vida bulk buy to keep me busy...

Essentially Yours Skincare - A Mini Test

I must admit, the little sample pots within this post have been in my possession for a fair while now, but I've been a very bad blogger and am only just featuring them today.

Oops...

In my defence I have been using another skin cream and didn't really want to clash the two.

And anyway - this is the first post after a birthday celebration...surely that's a good post position to have...right..?

So, I was sent these little pots of lotions and potions by Essentially Yours and have given them a bit of a trial over the past couple of days.

Essentially Yours are a skincare brand who first began developing 100% natural skincare fifteen years ago.

They very kindly sent me a few cute little bags with samples of three different products in them for me to have a little play about with and test on my problem, spotty skin.

Obviously I can't comment too much on how these products would work on a long-term basis at ridding me of my chin-spots as I only had a little sample amount of each one to work with, but that won't stop me giving my first impressions of everything.

Whether you want to hear them or not.

So first up, there were two pots containing a clear facial wash.

After having a little peek at the product manual I also received with my samples, this wash is said to remove dirt, make-up and oil as well as helping to tighten skin.

The face wash is fragrance free and suitable for all skin types too.

Rubbing a little into my hands, I coated my face in the wash and then rubbed it all over.

It didn't really foam up as such but it cleaned my skin just fine and left it feeling all fresh and free of grubbiness - which is never a bad thing.

Next up, I applied a little of the Balancing Oil to my face, and this, this I could definitely smell.

It was very fruity, lemony and all refreshing thanks to the grapefruit, lavender and tree tree within.

It applied to the skin really nicely and it didn't feel greasy at all.

This oil is said to be perfect for hormonal skin...can I get a bucket full please...

Looking in the mirror after I used this, I felt that my skin looked quite good immediately after I had applied it - which is probably crazy...but I'm just saying what I saw.

If anything, I looked a little shiny perhaps but still really nice and healthy nonetheless.

After referring to the trusty manual again, I followed the instructions and applied some of the Blending Cream sample to my face straight after the Balancing Oil.

This again didn't seem to have much of a scent, but it settled onto my skin really nice.

As I carried out this little ritual on an evening, I had time to sit and take note afterwards of how the products reacted to my skin.

I really noticed that whilst my face was touchably smooth, silky and soft, I thought that it felt a little tighter than normal - I would have normally put this kind of thing down as a negitive (I like my skin to feel fully soft and moisturised) if I hadn't known about the tightening properties of the face cream.

I'm now guessing that this feeling was just the wash working it's magic at stopping me getting wrinkles.

So I love it.

I really had no complaints using these products at all - only that maybe I needed more of them - they all did as they described and I was left with a clean, moisturised, healthy-looking face.

Always a winner in my book

*samples sent for a trial - opinions all my own

Happy 1st Birthday Lovely Little Blog

Wednesday 27th August 2014.

It's a day.

It is today.

It is also a day that is mid-way through a week...which just so happens to be the last week of my summer holidays, but we won't discuss that depressing notion.

So what is so special about today then?

Well....

! ! TODAY IS MY BLOG'S FIRST BIRTHDAY ! !

Woohooo

Happy Birthday to The Blog

Happy Birthday to The Blog

Happy Birthday Married-To-A-Geek

Happy Birthday to youuuuu

I really can not actually believe I've been doing this for a whole year now.

It's gone crazily fast - and I've loved every single day that I've been doing it.

And how could I not:

~ I've had the absolute pleasure of meeting some amazing people, people that I am very lucky to now be able to call friends

~ I've attended some amazing events and had some crazy-fab opportunities present themselves to me and I can honestly say I've had an absolute ball attending everything I've been to

~ I've been able to interact and work with various brilliant brands - and come on, when would I ever have been able to say that before...

~ I've played a part in the massacre of Derek-The-Donkey on a beach in Arnside at midnight

~ I've eaten amazing food and drank copious amounts of alcohol

~ I've purchased my first ever MAC products, my first ever primer and my first ever Real Techniques brushes

~ I've actually been coloured matched - professionally and properly - for a foundation that cost more than a tenner

~ I've laughed until I've cried

...and most importantly of all...

~ I've had a bloody good time

My blog's certainly progressed over the year and I'd like to think I've more or less settled into a writing style that I feel is very much "me" now.

I'd also like to think that my photography has improved...a lot...over the last twelve months too, and this is something that I really intend, and really want, to keep getting better and better...

Well...

Happy Birthday treats are always a must aren't they...

I feel very lucky to have stumbled into a hobby that I really do love and regardless of how time consuming it can be, because I enjoy it so much, it is never a chore and always a pleasure.

I just love it.

So cheers to birthday number one - lets raise a glass to welcome in that second...

NOTE: No REAL animals were hurt on the Arnside beach!!

Hen Party Ready

Everyone loves a good old wedding don't they.

Emotions, happiness, loved ones, good food, plenty of alcohol.

A real happy combination.

I loved my own wedding lots, even though it wasn't traditional in the slightest and had most of the typical factors associated with getting wed missing from it.

But flitting away to Gretna Green on your own, not telling a soul will usually create this - but it was fantastic regardless, and it suited us perfectly.

Like I said though, a lot of the traditional wedding-y stuff, we missed out on - one thing was namely the hen do.

At one point I was planning to have one though - before all of the secretive plans took over - and I initially wanted a huge alcohol-fulled blow out...which was gradually scaled down a little to a more modest, more chilled out spa day with my nearest and dearest.

In the end I had neither and although I'm not bothered at all, I do wish I could have planned something.

I do love a good colour-coordinated, highlighted to-do list.

Anyway, one of lovely oldest ever friends - we literally went to nursery, first school, middle school (yes I am old enough to have been to one of those there middle schools!), upper school and sixth form together - phew - that is quite a lot of years - asked me to be one of four bridesmaids at her up-coming wedding.

Excited squeals from me as I obviously accepted.

I can't wait.

I was very kindly offered a little party goody box to get us all hen-party ready too, and although the wedding and hen-party won't be until 2015, I just couldn't resist...

And then the lovely pink box arrived...and I just had to take a little sneaky peek...

...where I found a fantastic little collaborative stash of party ready accessories - there's no way I was waiting until 2015 to get my mitts on them all...

Banana Moon are known for their ability to provide a whole host of clothing items - in different styles and colours and then personalise them as required.

Obviously being part of a Hen Do you want to make sure everyone knows who you are and why you are there - it's all about highlighting the bride as much as possible and making her feel as special as can be.

What better way to do this than to have everyone all labelled up in the bride's name in as much a matchy-matchy way as possible.

I love it.

And Banana Moon obviously understood our needs and very kindly sent us a set of t-shirts in our chosen colour, style and sizes, each personalised individually as desired.

We now have three bridesmaid tee's, a maid of honour one and a lovely bride t-shirt too, so we can certainly be all grouped together, and definitely let everyone know the VIPs have arrived.

The personalisation is really nicely finished, and although the writing is less mint-green as desired and is more fluorescent green, it really helps to make them stand out.

Just what we wanted.

As well as our uniform tee's, included in the box were also a few novelty goodies - luckily for us there were no little plastic willy shapes to be contending with here...

We're a classy bunch don't ya know.

These paper moustaches, from www.henbox.co.uk will come in very handy for our crazy posing antics, because posing is certainly something we are all very, very good at.

Which is just as well because this very lovley Hen Night Photo Album from The Purple Gift Company will need to be filled with lots of moments captured from our crazy time, creating lovely memories for the bride to remember her last night of freedom with.

It is so sweet and such a lovely touch.

It has a nice deep-purple, handmade cover to it with a bling-bling embellished plaque on the front.

The perfect place to store lots of important memories.

Henbox.co.uk also included a brilliant, quite huge, Bride To Be rosette in the package too - it is sure to make our Bride To Be stand out from the crowd.

Which is brilliant because centre of attention is exactly where she needs to be.

And then I also found lots of lovely perfume samples from Fragrance Direct to keep us smelling b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l as well as lots of love-heart sweeties to keep us going throughout the day...and night...

Such a lovely little kit - and I know my bride will love it equally as much...I only wish her Hen Do were sooner so we could put everything to good use asap.

Thank you lots to everyone involved - it is such a lovely gift.

And it's actually making me pine for my own missed Hen Do a little now actually...

*Hen-Party Pack sent to review - pictures, thoughts & images are all my own

My Current MAC Favourites

Looking back to how my beauty regime used to be a little under a year ago, I can't quite believe that I'm the same person sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a total beauty-phobe, but never would I ever (isn't this the beginning of a game?  I'm having drunken flash-backs!?) ever ever have even contemplated buying any kind of expensive make-up products.

The cheaper the better, and I still do like a good old bargain, but I'm partial to the odd label being thrown in here and there now too.

These days, MAC products actually grace my make-up bag.

And yep - I say "products" as in the multiple.

I'm such a changed woman!

I have to be honest though, as much as I do love the few MAC products I own I have actually only paid for two of them myself...and one of those was discounted quite a lot too...

...not such a changed woman after all then...

Anyway, my MAC "collection" - I say that in the loosest possible term - consists of four things.

OK - it's a baby collection, but in my eyes, it's a collection nonetheless.

My first ever purchase was the only item that I have paid full price for.

I went all out and bought it from Harvey Nics too, and the item in question was the fab, deep burgundy lipstick Rebel.

Now, I was very very new to the blogging world when this became mine, and I think I just wanted to be able to say that "I own MAC"...which is slightly sad I admit, but at least I bought something that I still love and use a lot.

I really love the colour and like how it creates a vampy-look for nights out.

Next up is this very well used concealer - I apologise for it's messy look - in shade NW25.
This was given to me by my sister - for free - because she bought it on a bit of a whim and it really didn't match her skin tone.

Obviously I'm not sure if MAC would colour-match this shade to me exactly, but it does what I need it to, and I think it's brilliant regardless.

I love it - it covers everything from spots to freckles, redness to dark circles - and it contains an SPF 35 too.

I will certainly be repurchasing this when it eventually runs out that's for sure.

My ultimate MAC product at the moment just has to be Haute & Naughty Lash black mascara which I was very luckily given in a goody bag from those fantastic people at Cohorted.

Amazing and free - it doesn't get much better than that.

The mascara has two wands - the pink handle has a really thing wand which is more for everyday lashes, but then this fits back inside, into the brush attached to the purple glittery section to make a super-duper thick brush.

I haven't even used the purple section brush yet because being a usual mascara novice the lashes I get from using the thinner pink brush are just amazing.

This brush is just so easy to use on both top and bottom lashes and it accentuates my eyes brilliantly.

Love, love, love it!

Then, the last but by no means least MAC product that I own is my most recent addition and it was again through Cohorted that it became mine - I think they are driving me to a bit of a MAC addiction if I'm honest - and I bought it during one of their amazing Monday evening deals.

It's another lippie - this time in a vibrant bright pink - Show Orchid.

It's blooming amazing.

With the deals and the points I had in my account I only ended up paying £10 for this....which is great for MAC and it totally justified me spending my cash on it...don't you think...?

I can't wait to wear it.

I know by most people's standards mine isn't really a collection at all, but to say I didn't even own anything expensive a short while ago, it's a very good start for me.

And I'm sure I'll enjoy adding to it...

Probably a lot sooner than I first thought actually as I've just seen that Cohorted have the fantastic Morange lipstick on their offers today...

I wonder what I'll be doing at 6pm this evening...

Blogging Tips... From Moi...??

Blogging.

What does blogging mean to me?

What advice could I possibly give to others thinking of starting up their own blog?

Hmmm....

I was recently emailed and asked to answer a couple of questions about my blogging experiences on behalf of Manchester based on-line fashion retailer, Fashion Union.

I was asked to answer just two questions, which related to me very well, so why not I thought.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think for one moment that I'm "qualified" enough to be offering up hints, tips, do's and do not's to people - about anything really - including blogging.

You just do what you feel is right, write about what you enjoy and pick up tips as you go along...or at least that's what I've found myself doing anyway.

I've been at this blogging lark for almost a year now and I must admit, I've learnt a whole lot just by paying attention to others and listening to what they have to say.

So, whilst I would never shove my ideas onto anyone else, I will gladly answer two little questions, 'just in-case' my views on a particular subject happen to interest or even help anyone at all.

What surprised me though was the cute little infogram which appeared in my inbox a few days later...

Oh - yep - you spotted it.

Me.

Dishing out advice.

On blogging.

Publically.

...Eeek...

Whilst I may think "Oh. My. Goodness." at seeing my face on there, if I'm honest, I really love the concept of getting the odd little hint or tip from another blogger myself, and when it is delivered in such a cute way, I know that I would certainly give it a read and use it to pinch ideas from.

It's just a tad strange seeing myself on it...

Very flattering and nice to be asked to be apart of, don't get me wrong...but still...a little strange.

But as I said, if I can help anyone out in any way shape or form then that's just fab - and it is quite cool to see my name included...

Can this be my little Claim To Fame...?

Summer Fun - Rainy Day Creativity

I've absolutely loved day-tripping with my beautiful boy this holiday, but sometimes, all you want to really do is slob about, totally make up-less, PJs on and not leave the house all day.

I'll admit, we've certainly had a fair few of those days thrown into the mix too, especially during the recent horrible downpours we've had.

Who wants to venture out in rubbish weather - ugh - certainly not me!

So on days like these, it's fab to have some sort of an indoor, getting-dressed-not-required kind of activity to keep us entertained, and luckily for me I had just the thing.

Kel gave me a Crafty Creatives box just after our last Bloggers Holiday - which feels like a very L-O-N-G time ago and if I'm honest, I totally forgot that I had it.

Oopsie.

Until now that is.

Crafty Creatives offer a subscription box sign up for £15 per month + p&p of £2.95  and they send out different themed arty goodies each month.

The box I recieved contained all the tools I would need for a little bit of silk painting

Now silk painting is something I have never attempted before, but it sounded like lots of fun, and my son was eager to get started...so, rainy weather a-go - creativity, here we come.

Following the instructions carefully, I first ironed backing paper onto all of the pieces of silk we were to be using - the first having gold-outlined practice pencil shapes all over it. 

The gold lines act as a barrier to help stop the paint spreading all over, to demonstrate just how the paint reacts once it is applied to the silk.

I'm so pleased about having the practice sheets because once we began, it was clear to see that this wasn't at all like your run-of-the-mill painting on paper at all - we certainly needed to perfect our technique.

My son was a natural and loved watching the paint spread around on the material each time he dabbed some into the centre of the pencil shape.

We attempted some of the different techniques that were highlighted in the instruction booklet too:

~ we added sprinkles of salt to the still wet paint

~ we mixed colours together

And all this just from the practice run.

It was a whole lot of fun - and became slightly addictive too.

Then came the next step.

Away went the thick gold practice lines and instead, there was an almost invisible clear outline to the picture

This outline again helped to stop the paint bleeding all over the silk, whilst giving a little more of an indication to how the paint behaves on the material, whilst still offering that all important (for me!) guide.

What we found brilliant was that apart from being careful not to overload the brush with too much paint you don't particularly have to be neat.

Just touching the paint to the silk in the centre of the lines meant that it spread out itself until it hit all of the other lines - which is fab news for an arty eight year old who's always in a rush.

Once we were finished with all of the practicing - my son was impatient - it was straight onto the real deal.

The plain piece of silk.

Total creative freedom.

And there's no way we were getting a really neat piece of work from this, so I let my son have free reign to design as he pleased.

This is the beginning of his New Universe masterpiece, complete with ever expanding black-hole 

I love how his imagination triggers with the slightest of things.

We've certainly had a whole lot of creative fun - thank you lots Crafty Creatives.

A rainy day made all the more interesting

*Box passed to me free of charge to trial, test and review - words, pictures & thoughts all my own