Whats in my LUSH basket!?

It was my Birthday last week and amongst my presents I was lucky enough to get given some LUSH goodies. I was so pleased to have some I hadn’t tried before, along with some of my good old favourites.

LUSH Rose Jam

   The pink glittery one that resembles a Viennese Swirl; this is a ‘bubbleroon’ so I should get three uses from this. Its pink, glittery and smells like strawberry jam! It contains lemon, geranium and rose oil to make you feel as fresh as a bunch of roses. This is definitely my new favourite!

LUSH Milk Bottle

          This lush bubble bar is shaped, as its name states, as a milk bottle. However, this milk bottle has a special glittery lid and smells like vanilla. It contains skimmed milk and cocoa butter for a creamy, silky bath filled with bubbles!

LUSH Dragon Egg

       This is one of their classic bath bombs. It needs no sparkle or bright colours as the smell of sherbet is enough to keep you interested. When added to your bath it fizzes and crackles, to make for the most interesting of  transformations! Its citrus smells should leave you feeling super fresh!

LUSH Creamy Candy

Another classic lush product which smells irresistible. The candy floss smelling bubble bar is perfect for fighting off sweet cravings and the almond and cocoa butter leaves you and the bath velvety smooth. 

What are your favourite LUSH products at the moment?

Bath, Afternoon tea &The Pump Rooms

The pictures really do say it all. 

What a fantastic afternoon spent at The Pump Rooms in Bath. I felt like a Princess, We were seated to our table, served champagne and offered a tea of our choice from a varied menu. I chose a Rose tea (my favourite) and my Nana chose a Chai tea. As we gazed around at the stunning architecture the band played peacefully in the background, it was like something out of the Titanic. Our high tea was then served, with each layer explained in detail, Salmon mouse with Cavair, Pistachio Macaroons and of course your traditional Cream tea's . We sipped our tea and snapped photos like tourists, but hey who was to know we weren't!? 

If you have never done something like this, you should! Even if you weren't fond of cream tea's. you could appreciate the ambiance and beauty of The Pump Rooms. 

I always gazed in as a child, wondering what it would be like to go inside and it more than met my expectations. You don't have to be having a high tea to go in, they also serve lunch and dinner or just a simple cake and tea.

:) I can't wait to go back :) 

Turning 23...

I have just spent the weekend celebrating my 23^rd birthday. It’s quite surreal turning twenty three as for some reason I still feel eighteen inside. I think as you get older, the things you want are different, my Saturday nights at eighteen consisted of cheap alcohol, false eyelashes and loads of fake tan, now grab me some chocolate a good movie and some wine and I’m happy.  Your inner child however, stays with you forever! I still watch Disney movies over and over, I still have sleepovers with face masks and scary films and I still like to lick the spoon when I’m baking. What I’m trying to say is although I am getting older – which kind of scares me- I am still silly and young at heart, which I hope sticks with me forever!

I had a great birthday weekend; I had some yummy food and wine with friends, lunch with Liam and also a small tea party with my mother. I now also have the week off work, so my birthday kind of continues all week- yes I am dragging it out!

I’ve also had some lovely gifts and cards, I LOVE cards, I keep pretty much all my cards every year; I’m not quite sure why but I have a humongous collection that I like to look through every now and again. Liam says I am a hoarder; I like to think I am just sentimental!

Here are a few snaps of what I have been up to over the weekend! 

:)

:)

Top tips to avoid being a stressful bride-to-be

Your mum inviting your long lost relative, Mrs Smith requesting not to sit next to Mr Smith , your friend won't eat chicken... All things that can cause possible Bridezilla-Esqe attitude, simply something all brides should try to avoid! I am guilty for falling into this trap and getting stressed at the most silly things; So here's  a few tips on how to battle wedding stress and enjoy yourself Pre-wedding! 

Get organised

Don't take your stress out on your amazing friends and family around you, get organised. Whether you grab a Notepad/Diary or Ipad or Laptop, find somewhere to store all your important wedding information. Especially, details of all the companies your using, dates of payments and contact details.

Make a list of payments and dates

In your diary make a list in chronilogical order of all your payment dates. Also use a notebook to make a monthly 'to do list' of what you need to accomplish that month.

Gym/Yoga

I find the gym a great way to de-stress when everything's getting on top of me, take time to yourself to find something that helps you, whether its reading, writing or yoga.

Delegate

You have so many willing friends and family around you that are more than happy to help you organise, plan or book things. Delegate to bridesmaids, family and even your inlaws! Give your hubby to be some jobs too, he will enjoy it I promise!

Don't stress, enjoy every moment, your only going to do this once!

Caramel Chocolate Chip cookie bars courtesy of The Hummingbird Bakery

I have totally fallen in love with this baking book.  It is full of a variety of cakes, tray bakes and sweet goodies to satisfy any baker’s needs.  Not only are the recipes delicious and easy to make but you are more than likely to have everything you need right in your cupboard!

We are off to a family BBQ tomorrow so I decided to make a tray-bake, the Caramel Chocolate Chip cookie bars. They are perfect for a BBQ as they are easy to grab and not to messy for your paper plate.

Here’s the recipe and how mine turned out!

You will need
350g Plain flour
1tsp Baking powder
295g Unsalted butter

500g Soft light brown sugar
4 Large eggs
2 1/2 Tsp Vanilla extract
150g Milk chocolate chips
150g Caramel pieces or fudge
55ml Double cream

Baking
 Preheat oven to 175C (350F), gas mark 4
Line your tin with non-stick baking parchment
Sift the flour and baking powder together into a bowl and leave to one side
Using an electric mixer, whisk your butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
Add your eggs one by one, making sure you scrape the sides of the bowl as you do so, add the vanilla extract. Turn down the speed and slowly add your flour in.
Stir in the chocolate chips
Pour your mixture into your tin
Place the fudge or caramel into a bowl with the cream and heat over a pan of simmering water
Once melted, poor the caramel over the mixture in your tin
Bake for 30 minutes, or as long as needed. Insert a skewer into the cake, when it comes out clean it is ready.
Leave to cool for an hour before slicing into appropriate pieces

ENJOY :)

The 99 Day Countdown...

With just 100 days to go until my big day, I wanted to document and share this special time, what I will get up to in the final 100 days and my busy schedule up to the big day.

Considering we have just 100 days to go, I feel surprisingly relaxed! I've been at the gym a lot which I find really De-stresses me, I have a planner which is keeping me super organised and up together and financially we are on target.

We have just booked our mini-moon which is pretty exciting, the day after the wedding we are off to Centre Parcs at Longleat Forest for five relaxing days in a Woodland Lodge. We plan to relax, have a few spa treatments and sit around the fire at night. We may even indulge in some of the amazing pancakes at their Pancake House! As our honeymoon isn't until May 2016 this is the perfect way for us to spend our first few days as a married couple, I can't wait!

To do list for the August

. Get final numbers/ R.S.V.P's

.Planning meeting at Venue

.Confirm hair & Makeup 

.Send off our final details to the registrar, music/vows etc 

This is my list of things that need to be done by September, the fact I have to choose my vows and wedding music in two weeks is pretty dam crazy, it is all beginning to feel very real and I know I'm not the only one starting to get 'cold feet'. The majority of the people we have invited have already confirmed they will attend but I need to compile a list of all the names and numbers to hand to the venue at our planning meeting! After, I will need to start looking at the seating plan... That will be fun.  We also get to choose our food for the day at our planning meeting, probably the best bit. I can't wait to sit and try all the different food available - even if we do kind of already know what we want! Hair and makeup, probably the thing I am worried about most, I need to confirm my hair and makeup artist for the day by September and also inform them how crazily fussy I am going to be! I'm sure they are used to Bridezilla's but I am so so picky I think its polite I give them a bit of warning. 

98 Days to go...

  

The perfect summer picnic & the things you might forget...

There’s nothing better than grabbing some yummy food and drink, a blanket and relaxing in a field or park somewhere scenic. If you get a picnic right, they can not only be a great affordable way to eat but can also be a really fun activity for the afternoon or evening. Whether you picnic with friends or family, or maybe something more quiet and romantic, here’s my top tips for the perfect summer picnic.

Take cutlery

Whether you take plastic cutlery or paper you won’t regret it, it makes things so much easier. I took some Brie and crackers recently so I took a cheese board and knife! Who said you can’t finely dine in a field?

Plastic cups or bottled beers

If your drinking bottled beers you don’t need to worry, but wine from a bottle? No thanks, I take some plastic cups from home or my Kilner jar!

A rubbish bag

It’s the most forgotten picnic necessity, but you don’t want to put all your rubbish and dirty plates back into your lovely clean picnic basket! Take a rubbish bag to separate all your clean from the dirty, plus no-one likes a litter bug!

Yummy food

Why take sandwiches and crisps when you can take cheese, olives and chopped fruit! Prepare everything into Tupperware containers and with cutlery it should be easy and way more enjoyable.

Drinks

When it comes to drinks the choice is yours, bottled beers, wine I love to take pink lemonade as I feel it makes the picnic feel a bit special.

A picnic blanket and something warm

Don’t forget something nice to sit on, a picnic blanket or throw and maybe an extra blanket for when the night draws in!

We recently had a picnic on the Bristol Downs, it overlooks the Clifton suspension bridge and the Avon Gorge. It’s a really popular place in the summer for BBQs and sports but also a really beautiful place for a picnic. It happened to be balloon fiesta weekend so we had the balloons to watch too! It was really lovely! Here are a few snaps! 

:)

Country Cream Chairs

I recently embarked on my latest upcycle project, my Country Cream dining room chairs. After falling in love with my Annie Sloan Chalk paint, I keep magically finding furniture to upcycle. I pinned ideas of tables and chairs that I really liked, some had multi coloured chairs, some had half painted half wood and some had covered the chairs completely with the chalk paint. As I already have cushion covers for my chairs which I really like, I decided to just paint the back and legs of my chairs. I like to leave a bit of wood showing on my furniture as I feel it gives a more country effect and I personally prefer the overall finish!

I chose a sunny day to paint as I find the chalk paint dries so well in the warm that by the time I have finished my first coat I can already start my next coat. Annie Sloan paint is so great you need to do very little or no prep at all to your wood, I wipe my wood over with a cloth to get rid of any dirt or dust but that is all I do as the wood really doesn’t need anything with this paint!

Once I had painted the legs and backs of the chairs I sanded down the seat area, I did mine by hand but a sander would be just as effective, however, some of the smaller hard to reach areas may need to be done by hand.

No need to hurt your back or legs, prop your chair onto a table outside whilst painting!:)

( a before and after pic )

Here are my finished chairs! I’m really pleased with how they look and love how the colour compliments my cushion covers!

Next up my new table :)

How to make a cute Nook space

I love to re- use furniture that I have lost use for, my ethos is why buy something new when you can use something old to recreate It yourself? I am always on Pinterest looking for new ideas to spruce up my house and recently came across a cute Nook space made using the Ikea Kallax. Traditionally you buy compartments or drawers to fill them and they are used as a draw or cabinet, after looking through Pinterest I decided to use mine to create a bedside table/ bookcase Nook. It fits perfectly into the corner of our bedroom , yet looks so much more effective than a standard bedside table.

Here was my Pinspiration..

And here is mine, I added candles, pretty books and a wicker basket I even still have my lamp on top like I would have my bedside table.  I am still to finish, but I would like to add some pictures scattered on the wall behind or maybe even a mirror. I still have space in the boxes too, I’m thinking about adding a small plant or succulent to one of these areas.

( sorry for my terrible photo quality, bad lighting)

Do you have any Nook spaces around your house?

How have you made ideas from Pinterest or magazines your own?

Longleat Safari day with my crazy family

 I have been in a Safari mood recently and have been lucky enough to go to both West Midland Safari Park and now Longleat Safari park. Both equally great, Longleat slightly trumps West Midlands due to its great landscaping and the massive Longleat house owned by Lord Bath - Your even able to go inside and have a sneaky peek, it was something else!

Best things to do at longleat
.Feed the monkey's wotsits
You are not actually meant to feed the monkeys, but I've heard they love wotsits...
.Go to the meerkat & penguin walk throughs
There can be a little bit of a queue but to see the animals walking around you is pretty amazing!!
.Go into Longleat house
It doesn't take long to walk around but it is so worth it! It's such a beautiful place!
.Feed the giraffe's
They have a special area with balconys where you can feed the giraffes, there's a great view and they have babies at the moment!!

Here's a few pictures from our day! 

Going back to school & buying stationary!

After being out of education for what seems like a very long time, 6 years to be precise and yes I feel old now, I am sooooo excited to share that I am going back into education! Who knew the thought of essays and deadlines would get me excited, or am I just excited about all the new stationary I can buy?

Going back to school has been a really hard decision. Its also been really hard to find something that would fit into my life as I am now. I'm not 18 anymore I didn't want to go to university for three years away from home and my family and friends and get drunk and eat pizza, I have commitments now, bills a house a life here. It was also hard to find something that would fit around my current job, lets face it once you get used to having money the last thing you want to do is give it all up! Thankfully, I have found a course that is one day a week, I can continue to work full-time at my job, which I love, study and stay home with my cat and of course Liam! 

I am slightly dissapointed at the education system that there isn't enough out there for adult learners, or that they don't advertise what is out there well enough, my point being if I had found this course earlier I probably would have done it two years ago! Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it...

I really wanted to share this post, because having not gone to university at 18, I thought I may not ever get there, there always seems to be something that crops up or stands in your way and until recently I wasn't 100% sure what I wanted to even have a career in. My point is, when you do know what you want to do and find something you are passionate about and really enjoy look into all the options, there is so much about and so many ways to get help with funding your education don't ever think its too late! 

Are you a 'adult learner'?

Did you find it hard getting back into education?