Birthday Time!

Hi all!

It was my birthday last weekend so posts the last week have been a little thin on the ground...it was lovely to have a long weekend for it and I had something planned every day which was really nice.

It was overall quite a quiet weekend but to be honest I'm getting to the age where using a long weekend to see friends and catch up on sleep and good food is the best kind of weekend!

First me and M had an afternoon tea session at Celtic Manor which was amazing as you would expect. It was the Chocolate Afternoon Tea which is available until the 19th of June - we will definitely be writing a full post on this as it is beautiful! Here's a few snaps to show you how amazing:

After that we just about made it through the front door, and had a girly evening in with face masks, tan and some prosecco to celebrate! It was a lovely evening, and M even made some Captain America cookies for me, how cute and clever are these??

After this we had a very civilised night out with yummy cocktails and a cheeky McDonalds which was really nice as we haven't been out for a while.

I also had a lovely meal with my family at Wahaca, me and my dad shared the Wahaca Selection which was lush to try so many different things and I washed it down with a Mexican hot chocolate which is dairy free. It was an interesting taste and I'd order it again but it's quite bitter so hard to finish the whole thing.

I had some amazing gifts from friends and family. My brother bought me a sushi making kit which I can't wait to try out and also a selection box from T2 tea who have some crazy loose leaf tea flavours such as Caramel Brownie and Choc Chip Chai.

M got me a lush Origins set with my favourite products in and a pre order of the Harry Potter and the Cursed child - who isn't excited for that!!
I also had another Barnes and Noble classic book to add to my book shelf. I'm getting quite a collection together now and can't wait to get as many as I can!

I also had some vouchers so I went shopping on the weekend and bought the Naked 2 palette which I have wanted for ages and also some stuff from Lush too!

It was a really nice weekend and it was a shock to go back to work last week!

I've been struggling ever since and now I'm away with work so am feeling all over the place, looking forward to getting back to normality and joining my new gym permanently when I get back.

What have you been up to lately? I have so many posts to catch up on and so much to share with you!

L xxx

New Boux Avenue

Hey all!

I've been on a bit of a spending spree thanks to the money I got for my birthday. Now that I've bought a house (post coming soon!) I wanted to spend my last lot of birthday money on myself and a few treats, so underwear was clearly top of my list!

I went straight to Boux Avenue, my favourite underwear store for basics and treats.

I wasn't disappointed when I got there. The first item I saw was this beautiful oriental print bra and knicker set in a balconette style.

I love prints from other countries especially oriental ones and this one with a black base and the pink and gold coloured flowers is beautiful!

This Amber Oriental set comes in at a pricey £28 for the bra and £16 for the matching knickers - which by the way are HUGE. I mean I've never owned knickers this big and this pretty, it kind of goes against everything I've ever been taught. The knickers are in the style of a 50s bikini bottom, they are high waisted and I didn't realise this at the time of purchase, it was only when I got them home that I realised they were as long as they are!
They are also a bit pricier than a usual pair at £16 but they are a treat after all!

There is a thong also available which I might have bought had I seen it on display and this costs £14.

Next I bought the Lauren Balconette bra which is brand new in and is currently on offer. You can purchase the bra and matching bottoms for £30. Unfortunately (again!) the only bottoms available at the time was the thong which wouldn't be my first choice but nevertheless I have a rule on buying underwear without matching knickers so it was the thong this time!

I do love the Cardiff store but it seems it wasn't as well stocked as it normally is.

The thong is still really pretty and a change for me, but the knickers would have been my first choice. Maybe it's a good excuse to go back....?

I also couldn't resist another deal they had on, 3 for £12 knickers!

These are normally £6 each so a really good deal and I always pick up a few when I can. They seem to last so much longer than other brands and they're so pretty!

I absolutely love Boux Avenue and I always find that their products are the prettiest, at reasonable prices (apart from maybe those big knickers....) and they're really good quality. The basic tshirt bras I bought a few years ago are STILL going strong even though normally I would have had to replace them by now.


Do you like Boux Avenue? What are your favourite products? Do you like the choices I made?

L xxx

Birthday!

Hello!

Last week it was my birthday, and it's been a bit of a different one this year. I turned 27 and although that doesn't sound particularly old this year I definitely feel it. Suddenly it was the week of my birthday and I hadn't even thought about what I wanted for it from my parents, and I spent some of the week away with work so it flew by even faster!

I started the day with a favourite breakfast of mine - chia seeds, almond milk, greek yogurt, fruit and a good dollop of peanut butter. It was lush!

I went into work and was met with this monstrous cake - who on earth can turn down what is essentially a giant triple chocolate cupcake. It got me through my 11am slump and my 3pm slump - normally I'm a fan of the 'sugar is the devil' saying but birthdays mean anything goes!



As I mentioned before there has been so much going on this week, one major thing that has happened is that I have finally bought my own house! I am massively scared but also excited, I can't wait to own my own home, decorate it and essentially grow up!

As far as presents go, I had a gorgeous Champneys set from my aunty which was a lovely surprise, I've been working my way through my stash for quite a while and haven't bought any bath products so this will be a lovely treat now that all of my budget will be going on house bills and items!

My mum has also been buying me a few things for the house, we are both fans of the citrus scent so she has got me a citrus candle to put in my kitchen, they're great for getting rid of cooking smells and i can't wait to get more of these to put everywhere all over the house!

She also picked these up from Home Sense, 3 beautiful silver bottles that will be going in my new bathroom! It's a very plain white bathroom with a black tiled floor so it needs a bit of sparkle!

I went out to watch the rugby with a few friends (M included in the middle!)

There were a lot of shots to celebrate me buying a house, in fact the next day I did begin to question if it was even real!

As a birthday celebration I took a day off work and went for afternoon tea with my mum, it was absolutely amazing and I can't rave about it enough. There will be a full post on this soon!

So there was my 27th birthday!

It was short and sweet and I definitely feel like this year is much more grown up. I'm super excited about having a house and although it is pretty small it will be all my own, so any blogs or website you read with interior design ideas please send them my way - I will be writing a wishlist post in future for the design ideas I would love to incorporate into my house.

L xxx

Birthday Fun!

Hi lovelies!

This is a bit of a photo diary post for you. I had my birthday on Wednesday (26 on the 26th ooh er!) so I thought I'd share my day with you.

Here are two of my favourite cards from some family members...they know me well!

I borrowed M's Lauren's Way rollers for the night so that I could give them a go. It was an interesting experience putting rollers in my own hair. I've never done it before as M is definitely a lot faster and its easier to do someone else's hair but wooooo, it took me over an hour to get them in mine! It was a big struggle as I'm blessed with a considerable mop on my head and needed so many rollers, plus it's so long at the back I couldn't actually reach the ends of my own hair! But I got there in the end and managed to put up with sleeping in them too which surprised me.

It wasn't exactly comfortable but the rollers squashed enough that I could sleep if only a bit restlessly.
It didn't curl my hair which was disappointing but I had lovely bounce and volume for the whole day and it was nice to have that 'just blow dried' look all day.

I treated myself to protein pancakes for breakfast, there were two of them so I smothered them together with Nutella and put a banana on the side for good measure and an extra energy boost for a busy day of shopping.

I met a friend who I'm planning to go to Thailand with later on in the year so we could make a few more travel plans, catch up over lunch and a cheeky birthday cocktail and go shopping.

This is a Jamboree Daquiri....lots of rum and berries and it was TASTY. We teamed it with a gorgeous home made fish finger sandwich and super crunchy fries and it was yummmm.

It was a lush day and although I didn't buy much I did have my brows done and wander around Debenhams browsing all the make up (specifically Benefit, Mac and Urban Decay). It wasn't long before we needed a pit stop and a frappuccino was the best idea ever, cold and sugary for a boost of energy!

I was an extremely lucky girl and was spoilt by my family.

I knew I was having the nude Dune handbag and Levi jeans as I'd already chosen them myself but the others I didn't. My mum had sneakily chosen me a Michael Kors black satchel handbag which was an amazing surprise and I can see it becoming a firm fave!

I also got a full size bottle of my perfume, a Ted Baker pencil case, Naked 3 palette (eek!) and some gold Havaianas which I cannot wait to wear.

Every year we get a Colin the Caterpillar cake for our birthdays and this year was no exception so I have been tucking into pieces of that over the last few days.

We went out to a Pan-Asian restaurant for my birthday meal and it had such tasty food, the table set up was lovely too. Are you good at using chopsticks? I'm normally fine but was far too hungry!

Last weekend me and M went out with another friend for my birthday. There was lots of dressing up and getting ready before we went to a bar for cocktails.

M definitely enjoyed herself on the dancefloor! We were pulling some 'shapes' as I'm sure you can imagine!

It's been a great week and I've got so much more planned. I went to Cabot circus with my mum on Monday, had a training session with my personal trainer, and to finish the week off, today me and M checking out a new eaterie in Cardiff and watching the new Captain America film. Cannot wait to see more of these films; I'm such a sucker for a superhero film!

What have you been up to? Do you have similar activities and rituals for your birthdays too?
Do you like my presents?


L xxx

Life Lately

It's been just over two weeks since I last posted properly on here. My last post was this. Titled a weekend of change! It was definitely a big weekend of change, that weekend I was doing stuff to make me feel better as that weekend me and my now ex broke up. We'd been together for over 3 years and lived together for 2 of those so it was a big decision and has led to big changes. After a chat with L I decided apart from Sunday posts I was going to have some time off to get used to everything. Thanks to all the lovely ladies who sent me messages and texts on twitter! It was so nice to have everyone.

So today marks 3 weeks. All in all it's a bit awkward but I don't want to go into too many details. Basically we still live together (luckily it's a big flat) as we have a contract till December. I'm very much struggling with ups and downs but mostly I'm feeling better knowing it was the right thing and things can only get better. I'm enjoying distracting myself with spending lots of time with friends and family. I'm the girl that can never be single. I've told myself I have to change that this time and stay single for at least 6 months as I've not been single for longer than a month in over 9 years. I need some me time.

During my time away from the blog it was my birthday. I celebrated with L in the day with afternoon tea, spa and cocktails, in the evening my family came to visit and we had the most amazing meal at Jamie's Italian Cardiff. I was totally spoilt in the restaurant and then by my family. On the Friday I went back to my parents, had drinks with friends then a whole weekend with the family. It was just what I needed.

I was very lucky and got some amazing gifts. L got my Effaclar Duo and the Stila Primer we both love, my parents got me a couple of pairs of skinny jeans from Gap, my beautiful graduation shoes back (story explained here) and Sanctury goodies. My now ex went through a previous wishlist of mine and got me amazing presents including a Lydia Rose Bright dress, macadamia hair mask, bioderma and more. Other presents were a slushies mug (I love slush puppies), debenhams vouchers, a suitcase and coffee! I was so lucky and had a really great birthday.

Whilst at home I also visited Clark's Village. I love going there to pick up some bargains. I couldn't resist a few purchases. I always go to gap as they have great dresses for work. I didn't find one this time but did get two cardigans reduced from £24.99 to £9.99. I don't know about you but I'm useless at buying myself staples I need like cardigans and leggings. I love outlet stores and there bargains. My favourite pick of the day were these gorgeous blue Henry Lloyd skinny jeans. I've been after some this colour for ages. They were a bargain £25!!! I couldn't believe it. I snapped those up quickly. They fit amazing and they are pretty long.

One of my best friends gets married on the 10th August. I can't wait. I'm a bridesmaid so we had our first fitting for our dresses which was so exciting. I don't want to put a picture of them on here just yet.

I've really enjoyed having extra free time to meet up with old friends. It's been great having more time to go for meals. L and I also had a really girly weekend which was just what I needed. We got totally glammed up on the Friday. I wore a bright yellow dress from Warehouse and L wore a lush red dress from Debenhams. We definitely enjoyed one too many cocktails.

On the Saturday we headed to her parents caravan for some time on the beach, relaxing with good books, Magners and food. It was definitely nice to escape from the outside world and have some time in the sun. We both got rather sunburnt ooops. Luckily I had factor 50 on my face so that was ok.

Bit of a random post but felt like doing a little life update! It's onwards and upwards now and hopefully onto better things!!

Love M

xxx