Tuesday 26 December 2017

L's Christmas Photos 2017


Hi all!

It's been a little while since sharing a post with you, between the two of us we've been moving, attending weddings, working and prepping for the Christmas season so took an unintentional break from blogging. It has been lovely to spend time with family and friends and tuck into the expected stash of Christmas food, so I thought today was the perfect opportunity to share some of these photos with you.


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Wednesday 31 December 2014

Christmas 2014


Hello there!

I know a lot of people have already posted about their Christmas but I've loved seeing what other people get up to, their decorations and their traditions so I thought I'd share mine too.

One of my favourite things about Christmas is my dog; he absolutely LOVES wrapping paper! He waits patiently for you to unwrap your present and then runs away with the paper to shred it up. By the end of the opening session he's surrounded and normally has a load stuck to his tail! What a beauty!

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I've dyed my hair back dark now and have been loving curling it and having it all back to my usual colour again. Blonde highlights were fun for the summer but I do prefer it this colour.

Wasn't long before Christmas dinner was served, we have ours about 1ish so I hadn't had many snacks beforehand and piled my plate up high! We had a massive turkey joint from our local butchers that we are still eating now.....even after the turkey curry!

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My job was to make a cheesecake for the big day so I made a ferrero rocher hazelnut cheesecake in the tin above. It took a good few hours to set but when we removed it it looked really good and didn't last long at all!

My dog seemed pretty happy with his new blanket and teddies that he had, what a spoilt pooch!

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We spent the afternoon playing games including a beetle drive, boy girl fruit flower and a few others. They were so much fun with everyone joining in especially making mistakes and coming up with wrong answers!

I had some lovely things for Christmas. My main present was a Hudl2 which is a tablet, I've wanted a tablet for ages but haven't been able to afford them and had no idea my parents had got me one! It was a lovely surprise and I'm hoping it will make blogging a lot easier too as I can do it on the go.

I also had a jar of nutella with my name on which was a personal highlight:

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I also had some amazing Alice in Wonderland items, my mum went on a bit of a theme! There was a mug and loose leaf tea from Whittards, a vintage Alice in Wonderland book and a diary for the year. I also have an owl diary so will have to decide which is going to be my work diary and which is going to be for blogging and fitness related things!


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In my Secret Santa gift I had a lovely bauble from Molton Brown filled with hand wash; how beautiful is this! I've never seen them before so it was a lovely surprise (though i think was well over our £5 budget!)

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Since Christmas Day we've been making our way through the leftovers by making Bubble and Squeak which is a Boxing Day tradition for us and also our annual winter beach walk. I've been shopping in the sales and spent a ridiculous amount of money on a black wool coat from Linea and a black Ralph Lauren dress that I'd seen full price and loved; I never thought it would be in the sale so I had to get it!

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I have been shopping for a dress for New Year's Eve too, this little black dress cost me £20 in the sale so I'm really pleased with such a bargain! I'm going to a friend's house for the night so needed something nice but also comfortable; this doesn't come with a belt and has a nice elasticated waistband and can be worn with tights so its perfect. I will be keeping warm and comfortable as well as hopefully looking nice too!

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I love the gold details on the bottom of the dress; black and gold is definitely a favourite of mine. I also did my nails nude and sparkly; this is Essie's Sand Tropez with Barry M's Rose Quartz glitter on top. It's a simple but pretty combo and I've added as many layers as possible for the ultimate New Year's bling!

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What have you been up to? Did you all have a good Christmas?

What will you be wearing tonight, do you have big plans or a quiet night in?

I'm hoping mines a bit of both!


L xxx



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Saturday 9 August 2014

10 Tips to Live a Happier Life


Hi there pals!

I recently wrote about my choice of 'happiness' by quitting my job which was essentially taking over my life without any benefit to myself whatsoever. (see here for more info!)

I've been reading a lot about happiness recently and have seen lots of articles and debates about it. What is true happiness? How can you achieve it?

Happiness is different for everyone, but there are a few key things everyone should try to add a little but more happiness to your day and your life. There's no point living a miserable existence for the sake of it!

In fact even the Pope has recently released his own top 10 tips for happiness, although in my opinion a lot of his are very similar and a little too, shall we say boring?

Here's my top ten tips for being happier:


1) Take care of yourself, have some 'me' time. Sleep, pamper, curl up in bed. Stuff your face with chocolate and don't speak to anyone for a whole 24 hours if you don't want to. It's important to be alone with your own thoughts, it gives you chance to know what you really want. If not, go and get your nails done as a treat, spend an hour in the bath until you're wrinkly and if all else fails, life is always better with a tan! Just make sure you save some time for yourself.

2) Connect with others and do something to help them, particularly those who are already important in your life. Always make time for your family and friends, they are the people who are and will be there for you when you really need them. Even a text, phone call or a snapchat can be an easy way of communicating with them and brightening their day and it will make you happier too. It can be great to have a bitch fest too, just to get your bad day, nightmare colleague, irritating partner etc all off your chest! Catching up in any way possible will always make you feel better.

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3) Learn new things, be curious, read, ask and question everything. There's nothing worse (and I'm talking from experience) than having a bored mind with nothing intellectually stimulating to occupy yourself with.
I'm someone who loves to read, loves to learn and I'm generally quite a fast learner, having that taken away from me made me so unbelievably unhappy that I couldn't even see a way out. Since I've taken back control of things I've been reading so much more and finding everything interesting again. It's good to relax but it's also good to keep your mind busy too.


4)  Revisit old things. I've had a huge clear out recently which is something that I try to do regularly as I just have far too much stuff and seem to be a bit of a hoarder! It's great to declutter and make more space in your room/house. But aside from that, look at old photos, make a scrapbook of some of your favourite memories, reminisce with friends over coffee or cocktails about your school days or holidays you've been on. Memories are all you have that nobody can take away from you!


5) Get active, get outside. I'm a firm believer that exercise is a massive factor in happiness. I would never have said this years ago but it truly is the main thing that keeps my stress and food intolerances at bay. I now think that there really is no excuse for you not to get some exercise in a few times a week; whether it be walking, dancing, running, swimming or any kind of exercise class or gym that you can find. I find that mixing it up and doing different things is the best way to go about it, hiking up a hill getting tonnes of fresh air, seeing new scenes and following it up on the way back with fish and chips is one of my all time favourites things to do! Fresh air literally works wonders, get out in it.

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6) Move on, live and let live, there's so many sayings I could list but sometimes there's just nothing you can do but walk away from something. Whether it's your job like in my case, your relationship, a friendship or any number of things, sometimes it's best just to move on and leave it all behind. The negativity can drag you down and it's not worth it when you could be having such a better life. Surround yourself with happy people who support your choices.


7) Cut down on the social media. I'm a firm believer in taking pictures on a night out and sharing them with my friends; but constant photos, tweets and statuses can't truly mean you're having a good night? I almost always tweet a picture on the night, it's lovely to be able to share your new dress, hair etc with your friends but for day to day life sharing every meal and constantly comparing yourself to other people's feeds isn't healthy. Social media is a portrayal of someone's life as they wish you to see it not how their life really is. Take a break from it for a few days, and you'll see that really, you're not missing anything.


8) Set yourself goals, make plans for the future, be organised. It can be great to just live each day as it comes but if, like me, you want to get loads done in your life it' a good idea to make a loose plan. 

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9) Don't take life seriously. Throw those shapes on the dancefloor, have an eating competition, pull faces in photos. I haven't done any of these things in a long time, it's high time I had a little more fun with life and wore something crazy and danced like a loony!

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10) Choose your own path; never give a fuck what anyone says you should or shouldn't be doing. They don't know you, they don't know what you want and you should never do something to please somebody else who wouldn't do the same for you.



If in doubt; refer to Harry Potter:

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L xxx




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Tuesday 24 December 2013

Christmas Eve

Hey All

One more sleep till the big day! I'm one of those people that loves Christmas. Family,  friends, good food and drink are a perfect combination for me.

I'm spending Christmas in Somerset so have got a week off work to spend catching up with friends and family!

Christmas eve is one of my favourite days of the all. It's always a busy one for me but I love it! It all starts at 5.30am for me. Me and dad head off to the supermarkets for lots of Christmas treats. It usually means going to all three big ones in my local town. Of course I add a few extras to the trolley. Cocktails tomorrow for the evening!  Yum.

After food shopping we head to Clarks village to have a huge fry up and then get my mum's Christmas present. It's always been mine and his tradition and I love. It's the one day of the year that I spend with my dad just me and him. I'm lucky he usually gets me a treat too. This year I got a cardigan from Crewe. They had an amazing sale. I could have spent a fortune.

Since I've been up for over 7 hours a nap is definitely needed! Then my evening will be spent wrapping presents and going to the pub to catch up with friends.

I can't wait to see everyone's faces tomorrow when they open presents and see the whole family. The late evening is usually just me, one of brother's and my parents and usually involves playing games on the Wii.

Do you have any traditions you always do? Are you a Christmas fan?

Love M

Xxx

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Tuesday 20 August 2013

Life Lately!!

The past two weekends have been really busy but in the best way. I thought I'd share what I've been getting up to lately as I've had a good past few weeks.

The week before last I took a weeks holiday from work to go and spend some time with my family. One of my closest friends was getting married and I wanted to be around if she needed any help with anything.

It was lush to spend a week at home with the family and spend lots of time with them and friends. My mum made sure my week was busy. It started off with a family meal at a local pub. How amazing is this feast me and my dad shared. Gotta love pub grub! It was amazing to see my nieces. They always make me laugh.

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My dad makes amazing food. Especially food you can pick and share. He made this feast for us.

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When I'm home I do a lot of cooking. I love to cook for people. This is an amazing chicken satay with chilli, lime noodles.

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When at home it's now become tradition to go for cocktails with my parents one night. Me and my dad both love a drink so he loves the excuse. I'm so lucky to have such a great family.

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mmmm this was a mudslide!! It was amazing!!

My week at home was finished with the privilege of becoming a bridesmaid. I was so grateful my friend chose me, and she picked us the most stunning dresses and went all out on jewellery and shoes for us. It was amazing to be part of her day and see her and her husband so happy. It was an amazing day!!

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The tables looked amazing and I loved the purple roses!!

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My bridesmaid dress!! I have ice cream in hand as they had an ice cream cart for after the ceremony which was a lovely touch.

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Here is a sneak peak of the first dance. My friend looked so beautiful and her dress was perfect for her. I did almost cry a few times but held it together. There first dance was Ho Hey and her brother performed it.

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And a little drunk photo!! It was such a great wedding and I can't wait to see more of my friends get married!!

Love M

xxx




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Thursday 27 December 2012

My Christmas 2012

Hi all!

Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas!!

I feel like I've got my own permanent Christmas pudding stuck on my front and have taken to wearing my onesie full time.
As I am back in work today I have scheduled this post as unfortunately for me I only have the 2 days off for Christmas this year and will be fighting off customers as I stock up the shelves with sale items....manic!

Here's a quick run down of my Christmas meal, decorations and the like.

I had such a good day and managed to eat loads but not as much as I normally do on Christmas.
My diet for the year has clearly limited my stomachs ability to stretch itself to accommodate my Christmas indulgences.....

My lovingly decorated tree!

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Gingerbread house that took me a fair few hours to create, all mistakes covered with an excessive amount of dolly mixture ;)

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My dog going mad for the wrapping

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Massive abundance of festive pyjamas including cat onesie! Thanks mum!

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My new jacket and bag (below) I chose both so have been waiting ages to wear them!

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My other Christmas goodies, absolutely love Olly Murs, my favourite perfume MaDame and the obvious S&G box amongst other lush stuff!

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My first ever Ralph Lauren jumper and a super cool present from my brother!

Mmmm if only I could drink wine! On the right is my table decoration, took me hours to arrange them all...


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Hi me in a cat onesie!

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Yes I did eat all that!
Below is the not so obvious choice of white chocolate cheesecake - we have Christmas pudding but it's not a favourite so we have this too


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Finished off by a game of Monopoly, some Bucks Fizz and Avengers Assemble.

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Oh and my dog with his new toy, Shaun the Sheep obviously!

This one is not from Christmas day but tradition in my family is a walk on the beach on Boxing Day:

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The weather looked like this for all of 2 minutes before it rained and blew so much my hair could easily have been mistaken for a real birds nest.

How were your Christmas days?? Hope you had a great day, would love to see any posts from you as Christmas is my favourite time of year and I can never get enough!

What did you get?? What are your traditions?

L xxx
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