Life Update

Hi all! 

I've been absolutely shocking at writing posts the last few months, sometimes I managed to schedule a load of them and others I've just had to let the days roll by as there's just been no chance for me to get onto my laptop. It's very frustrating when I have so many things to write about and share with you!

I thought I'd ease in gently and get started with a life update post. Things have been so busy but I've got plenty of photos!

As I've previously mentioned I have finally quit my job after a fair few months of being extremely unhappy. The photo above shows one of the mountains surrounding Abergavenny and it's a very pretty place especially as it seems to have it's own weather system!
It was nice for it to be sunny during my last few days there. I've been attending lots of interviews so revising for them and the travelling has left me pretty exhausted. Here are 2 of my outfits, I do love a shift dress and my favourite black blouse always comes in handy!

I've mentioned that my mum has been ill recently and had had an operation. I'm so pleased that she's done so well and has barely taken any painkillers so I'm really proud of her. She came home early from hospital and is now resting in bed so fingers crossed she'll make a quick recovery at home too.

In light of her being in hospital I've been making food for the family which is no easy task as my mum is AMAZING at cooking and it's not really my area of expertise. Having said that, we've been stuffing down some lush meals lately including an amazing burger from a new local company called Got Beef, fully recommend them! I've also made Sticky Chicken with broccoli and sweet potato chips (recipe here) and my first ever taste of bacon and pancakes YUM.

My awesome colleagues got me some amazing presents, I'm still in shock they got me these as they are PERFECT! I do love my spirits as I'm allergic to wine so they got me skull full of vodka from Crystal Head which is so cool don't you think?? I don't think I can bring myself to open it yet!

They also got me some really posh handmade chocolate from Amelia Rope in Wholefoods, I'm going to do a separate post on these are they were so lush and I'd love to support brands like this more.

M went shopping last week and snapped up some SUPER bargains....all of the below she found in Debenhams on offer for £3 or so each which is unbelievable. We still can't work out why it was all being sold off but this lot was worth £95 and came to around £21....couldn't say no to that especially after the reviews I've seen on the serums! full posts will follow :)

Apart from eating and shopping me and M have also completed Tough Mudder. It was a really fun day but we were so exhausted afterwards we ended up driving straight home and skipping the after party! Next time (we've already agreed to do it all again!) we know to pick an earlier time so we have time to shower and dry off properly before everyone else starts queueing!

This weekend felt really boring in comparison to last weekend, so we decided to walk up Pen Y Fan which is one of the highest peaks in Wales for a bit of exercise and took my dog. He does love being a bit of a poser!

The last few weeks and months have been super stressful and time has sometimes flashed by really quickly. Now that I'm unemployed for a hopefully short time, I'm planning on enjoying myself and sorting my life out!

I've had a clear out recently but I may do it again to get rid of clutter and minimise everything. Mostly I'm looking forward to spending time with friends and hopefully having a fair few jugs of Pimms!

What have you all been up to recently? Do you have any interview tips and tricks?

I'd love to hear them!


L xxx

Life : Tips to help long distance relationships!

Hey All

A very late post from me. I had a fair few beauty post I have lined up to write at the moment but just haven't had the time and now it's 11.30pm I don't have the motivation either but still want to write. With C leaving me the early hours of this morning for a minimum of 6 weeks I found myself wanting to write about relationships! Beauty to resume next week!

Long distance relationships seem to be something I manage to get myself into. After the first one I said never again and here I am on my third one! They've been three very different relationships. 

Ex 1 (G) I was with for 3 years. We broke up just before we graduated!

Ex 2 (A) I was again with for 3 years and we broke up last July. He's been mentioned in early blog posts!

The Current Dude (C)

All 3 were different types of long distance. G was while we were both at uni. During term time we saw each other for 1 weekend a month, he was in Liverpool and I was in Cardiff we couldn't find time for more. It worked for us. A I met as I finished uni which meant we were about to go separate ways. Things got rushed and for 9 months we saw each other every weekend meaning every other weekend meant 5 hours were spent on a train! C is a grown up long distance. His job means he's away from me for extended periods of anything between 2-10 weeks depending on the job.

me and G (facebook means old photos still exist!)

Hindsight truely is a wonderful thing!

The number one and most important thing in a long distance relationship (and any!) is trust! I can honestly say I've not had it before C! Both G and A's phone's I checked. Both of them I then found conversations with girls I wish I'd never seen! Trusting is never easy but if you are honest about the little things it helps! I think if you are with the write person you open up about things you never thought you would! A is a perfect example of this! C has been open about everything from the beginning from small to big things so I've never had a reason to doubt him.

For me once the trust is gone it's gone. I'm a fine one to talk as many times I've taken a cheater back! But you never truly get over it! (maybe that's just me!) From experience I've found distance makes it harder. You almost expect them to cheat again as they can get away with it. It's also harder to forgive and forget when you don't always see someone! I personally find it gets bought up in every argument!

Give yourself time to get over the ex. This is one I've only realised in the past year! My relationships tend to finally come to blows when in all honesty they should have ended months ago so I usually move straight onto a guy thinking I'm over the one before! The rebound for me never works. This time I took 6 months of dating. Being single for a significant period allows you to fully heal and be ready for the nest relationship!

Me and A he had an issue with photos hence why I could only find one with L in two! Who's lipstick I love in this. Need to find out the colour!

Onto more specifics for long distance! I always seem to here from people the following :

• absence makes the heart grow fonder
• you appreciate the time you have together more
• I'd love 6 weeks away from my other half
• you're a busy person anyways

None of these are in any way reassuring when all you want is a cwtch (I'm definitely almost Welsh now, plus cwtch is the best word!) after a crap day!

When you know your time together is limited and on a time scale be a little selfish and spend more time with your other half! Good friends will understand this but obviously don't take the piss and permanently ditch your friends just as your other half is back. They will be the one's who make the weeks pass quicker when they are away!

Find a way to communicate when they are away. C and I had satellite phone conversations when he was away last time (hopefully it'll be skype this time!). Satellite phones meant if I was lucky 2 calls a week. But on the other hand it meant we always had lots to talk about and you really look forward to those days. 

Know how often you'll speak to them. Don't set unrealistic expectations. Whether it's uni or work your other half is away for not all their time can be for you! Agree how often you'll talk so you can learn to adjust! It's surprising how quickly you'll adjust. I tend to struggle for the first and last week he's away but the 4-8 in the middle are usually ok!

Only silly pictures of me and C seem to exist at the moment! Need to get him in on the selfie trend haha! I have a few more drunk photos of us but I look shit in them so they aren't going on haha!

Start a new hobbie. Evenings after work are the worst to spend on your own. I'm very much a gym bunny. This means I don't usually get home till 8.30 some nights. By the time you eat and stuff then it's time for bed! Don't leave loads of free time to miss them. See friends, if your skint go for walks with them or try your hand at a new hobbie! I've recently gotten into crafting!

If you miss them tell them! Sometimes when C is away even if he can't receive them till he gets back I email him. I find after a long day if I want to talk to him sending and email and writing it out makes me feel better even if I know he won't even read it for two weeks and probably won't reply as it'll be stuff we've already spoke about. I find emails and writing it down a lot easier!

Very random post from me! Hope there were some helpful tips in there somewhere. Mainly just a ramble for me!

Had to include this as I love it! L and I are both tall ladies! C is only 5 ft 10 and a half! I'm giving him the half as he is a smidge taller than me! He was teasing me all last night for posting this on fb! My response was to call him Tyrion! He'll learn I always win! Ha!

Love M

xxx

If I had £100...

Hello there!

I've mentioned many times that I'm a huge fan of lists, I've got so many notebooks full of them, mostly to do lists. Wishlists are always fun to imagine what you would buy or have if you could and so I've come up with a new series 'If I had £100'. It's pretty simple, every time I'll list whatever I'm lusting over at the time but ONLY to a total of £100, I mean it's a reasonable amount and a possible pay day splurge if I was very lucky!

Having picked up a few Nip and Fab bargains recently when all of their products went on sale I've found myself wanting more!

The Glycolic Fix Cleanser priced at £7.95 sounds like a winner to me.I'd like to start double cleansing but never seem to have the right products. I do love using a foaming cleanser with a muslin cloth so that my face feels like the day's grime has been removed and this gel cleanser sounds like a lovely affordable foaming cleanser with glycolic acid present at 2% to help resurface your skin. I NEED it and might even use my Boots points to nab it quick.

The Deep Cleansing Fix claims to be a 6 in 1 product and is priced at £7.95 for 300ml. This is a large pot of product with multiple uses; cleansing, exfoliating, hydrating, deep cleansing when used as a mask and specific application to spots. This sounds like a wonderful product especially for the price and I'll be hunting this one down too no doubt.

The Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation comes in at £27 which is pretty average nowadays. I have to admit i really liked this product as soon as I tried it though you do generally need to have good skin for it to look good! It's more of a blurring foundation as opposed to one that covers your skin with an opaque finish. Over the summer though I've found it has been essential as it doesn't clog my pores at all and doesn't appear to melt off my face too badly. I'd definitely like to purchase it again!

I first tried the Origins Ginzing moisturiser (£23)  from a Christmas gift set that I bought myself, as you do. I loved it and loved the smell so much. It's a really light moisturiser that sinks in so easily and is perfect for my ever changing skin, not overloading it in the oily areas and but hydrating it in the dry. Perfect! I hear its on offer too where you can get a sample of the eye cream and a mini mascara to try too!

Image from Liparazzi

UD Naked Flushed palette in Streak is something I've had my eye on for months now. Streak is the perfect colour for me as coral really suits my skin tone. The image above is from the lovely Laura who's blog is Liparazzi which you should definitely check out, her beauty posts are a particular favourite!
I'd love to get my hands on this and for £22 for three key products it really is value for money too.

Una Brennan Superfacialist Vitamin C Cleansing Oil (normally £10.99) currently on offer at Boots for £7.33.

As I mentioned previously I want to add double cleansing to my routine, and not just by using a micellar water to remove my eye make up. This cleansing oil has really been raved about and I desperately want to try it! For £7.33 I think I might have to run to Boots and pick it up as soon as possible!

So that bring me to my total this time of £95.23.

I'd love a splurge but having quit my job I need to keep all my pennies for the meantime....but maybe spending some of my Boots points wouldn't be such a bad thing right?!

What do you think of my wishlist? 

This one is beauty related but I'm sure there will be more clothes involved in the future too!

L xxx

Primark Shoes

Morning!

I mentioned in a previous post that I'd had a rather small (large!) splurge in the lovely new Primark in Cardiff's city centre. It's absolutely huge, has 5 floors of goodies to browse through and I just couldn't help myself but pick up a lot!

The shoes that were there were amazing so I just ended up buying loads.

Here's the first pair, look how chic these are:

They're a mock suede finish with an ankle strap and pointed toes. They're the kind of shoes that would go perfect with trousers and jeans for a work or pub outing for the summer and winter (as long as its not raining!)

The details are really cute, zips up the back and gorgeous gold ankle straps too

I am yet to wear these due to an appauling social life currently but hey, they can look pretty in my wardrobe for the price of £8 which is what I believe they were! 

These pumps have been amazing for work:

So comfortable, these lace effect pumps are perfect as i have to keep my feet covered in work in case any chemicals spill in the lab. I'm not sure where they draw the line seeing as most pumps don't cover your feet but they are allowed and I jumped on these seeing as they're a lace effect too and will hopefully keep my feet a little cooler than my usual brogues!

I've been wearing the black mostly but the cream have been great for wearing with summer dresses, when the weather is a bit sunny of course!

Pumps like these never last very long due to the fact I literally wear them until they fall apart so i always buy them from Primark every summer. For £3-£8 a pair you can't really refuse can you?!

Which are your favourite? Do you buy many shoes from Primark?

L xxx