This is going to be a bit of a ramble down memory lane so feel free to step away now but before you go, click on a few other pages to help the old bounce rate.
Its roughly 20 years since I first visited Gran Canaria whe I was 13 or 14 years old. We came for a week and it was an allocation on arrival break. We stayed in an complex called Babalu and a couple of nights ago we drive past it in a taxi and it looks exactly the same. I've been told they've changed the lift from a funicular to a regular up and down lift. (Pulls a funny face, Does that make any sense?)
That holiday was one of the best of my life, I made friends with a girl called Becki and we spend days doing handstands in the pool then lying on her balcony using carrot oil when we thought the parents wern't looking. By night we were given some money and we went dancing and drinking Caribbean Twist type alcho pop in a bar called Hippodome (now Yates) in the Europa Centre. Dancing to Spice Girls wanna be and other classic tunes.
We kept in touch and I went back to Babalu in the school holidays with Becki and her dad where we followed the same pattern, I read Train Spotting the book and we danced and drank our summer away. This might seem odd at 14 we were easily served in pubs and clubs but it felt real and grown up and our parent were cool with it and compared to our peers we were fairly tame. Sadly we fell out on that holiday and had no contact afterwards. We had some amazing times and spent most of those six weeks holidays together. I had a ten days in Sheffield with her and she visited where I live the we had the fortnight in Gran Canaria together.
I then visited the Island around another ten times. All bar one time at the top of the hill in Puerto Rico and I had some fun times. We then stopped coming to the Island, One of the reasons was cost. We went through a good 6 years of doing private rentals and the cost of flights to GC was huge compared to other places. We've bounced from Fueteventura to Lanarote for the past few years with a side trip to Tenerife with my friend Nat.
A few weeks ago we were looking for a weekend in Liverpool but for an extra few (hundred) pounds and a re-jig of my holiday allocation we managed to get a week in Gran Canaria. This time we decided to stay at the bottom of the hill and I'm glad we have as it's felt like a totally different resort. We've been very tame and been home before out short cut gate closes at 23.45 and the first night we were in bed before 7pm (we were tired)
This holiday for me has been restorative, catching up on sleep. getting a tan and even if I do say so myself I've got a decent colour. Even my feet look brown. I've got an epic amount of inset bites. I don't remember getting bites here before but it's been a good nine if not ten years since our last visit. The rose tinted specs may be on.
We are creatures of habit and may have only been in three bars and two restaurants but this week has bee just when I've needed. We've been to the beach three times and neither of us are beach lovers. Give me a pool any day of the week but it's been amazing and I know I use that word far too much.
Our hotel is behind the main commercial centre and there is a gate out to a path that runs along side it so it's only a five minute walk away. It's not noisy at night despite being so close and the hotel has free wifi that works in the room. It actually works better in the room than the public areas which is a novelty but a good one. It's meant I've kept up with Blogmas with out it impacting on the break as I've blogged if I've wanted to, I didn't even really need to write this as I should be home or almost home as this goes live but I've got the time and the wifi so why not!
My love of Gran Canaria has been rekindled and we've been talking about booking another break for next year.
A little bit of festive cheers after yesterday after yesterdays holiday post. I visited this markets a couple of weeks ago with a few of my friends. We had a wander round a number of the markets Starting in Exchange Square, working out way over to St Annes Sq via the bottom of Market Street then over to Albert Square before ending the night via King Street in the bar between Selfridges and Harvey Nicholls.
I need to try and find the name of the above soap stall, the sold soap sponges which is something I've heard of but never tried before and I know wish I'd bought. The sponge is infused with soap and thye can be use lots of times, They also sold bath bombs and soaps.
One of the many highlights of the markets is the range of food. I loved the look of this stall with all it's treats and I bought a giant chocolate roll (think supersized mini roll) coated in chocolate and marshmallow. They also seem a wide range of treats A lot of it is sold by weight which is something to look out for but the do have a range of things with prices which is what i'd aim for.
Another stall that caught my eye was this one full of lanterns. I adore these types of lights and my house would be filled with them if I could get away with it.
I love the festive markets and it does get really busy but for me that adds to the atmosphere. While I hate being pushed along in Albert square there are lot of markets within Manchester city centre and it;s often worth going midweek but if you can only make a weekend check out some of the smaller side makets rather than the main squares.
I'm currently in Gran Canaria with my mum for a weeks pre-Christmas break and I'm loving being back on the Island after about ten years break.
I'd forgotten how much I love it here, we're staying in Peurto Rico and it's the resort i've been too about ten times if not more.
For this post I want to talk about a resort about 30 mins away by bus. Or a 1.55 euro bus ride. It's quite a hair raising bus ride around the rugged coast line but it's well worth the trip.
Peurto or Playa (as we only visited the beach side) Mogán is a small former harbour resort which is a little beauty. Not only is it pretty it has a really wonderful beach and as someone who usually avoids the beach I spent a full and happy day on the beach and even swam in the sea 3 times,
There are lots of shops including one of my favourite clothes shops Encurentro, a Funde Grube and Allkauf as well as the usual sea side shops selling buckets, spades and inflatable crocodiles.
We only had a quick wander round before settling ourselves on the beach. We paid for two sunbeds and a brollie and it cosr 9 euros which isn't bad as another beach costs 12.
The beach has blue flag status and it's easy to see why. the water is crystal clear and I'm hoping that i've gone some decent in the sea footage from my Sports Cam.
The water felt cool to get in but no colder than most pools but it was so relaxing bobbing about in the sea and it feels really safe. There are life guards and there is a barrier so you can only swim out so far and a cordoned off area for pedalos. I also noticed at the far end of the beach near where the water sport section was there were a few beach wheelchairs allow people to go in the sea. The board walk also had a designated wheelchair parking space at the end of it which isn't something i've seen before.
I've only even been to Mogán once before around eleven years ago on a Market day and it was a little too much for me, I also thought of it as quiet with not much going on but we've been sat here planning a trip to stay there for a week or ten days at some point next year.
I feel like our days of not visiting Gran Canaria are over and expect to be back at least once next year.
For this holiday in Gran Canaria (where I am blogging from my balcony - I'm amazes by the speed of the wifi) I've brought a selection of mini products which I've collected from beauty boxes over the past few months)
I am a user of wipes and when I go away I always buy Barbaria wipes from the local supermarket as they are the best I've ever used and make my face feel really clean. I use them when I get back from a night out and in the mornings for a quick clean.
To supplement the wipes I use a selection of other products while I have a shower. For this trip I've brought the Nuxe honey face wash and facial exfoliators. I'v also brought the Nuxe body exfoliator which I will use every other day to get rid of the build up of sun creams and get rid of dead skin.
Before I use the wipes at night I will use the Clinique Take The Day off eye make up remover. This is oil based and gets rid of the most stubborn eye makeup easily
In the last Love Me Beauty Box I got a Bare Minerals serum. I've used this for the first time today and it made my skin feel great.
For moisturisers I've brought Clinique Day and Night creams. Both of these work well for my skin and while I don't always feel like I need a night cream on holiday I felt this was small enough to justify brining.
For the last couple of years, I’ve been taking part
in a secret Santa with a group of North West Blogging friends. We use Elfster
to do the draw. This is a website where you sign up and then it emails you your
person so someone doesn’t have to co-ordinate allocating people and chasing up
addresses. For me it’s always worked out well and I’ve had some lovely gifts in
the past.
This year my gifts arrived fairly early in December and I’m a big kid and can’t wait to open gifts. Even if they had said wait till Christmas I would have disobeyed. I managed to wait two days and that was only because I decided to film opening them and I needed daylight. You can watch my reaction video on my youtube channel if fancy it.
I was really overwhelmed, not only by the sheer number of items in my package but the care and attention to me that my Santa has taken.
I hope my Santa stuck to budget and I’m hoping I send an Okay gift to my person. I know they have been received but not sure if they have opened them or not.
What did I get?
· 2 x Lipgloss – These are both really lovely shades. I haven’t tried these as yet but going to try them this coming week.
· 2 x Nail Polish, a very festive red glitter and a super sparkly purple.
· A bronzer and highlighter duo
· Watercolour Pencils
· An Art Therapy colouring book
· Flutter Lip Balm
· A Novel
· Cadbury’s Roses Chocolates
Thank you Santa, you have really taken time to think about what I like and I love everything I’ve been sent.
A winter holiday is exactly what I needed but when it came to what make up to pack I was really unsure.
It's not that long since I came back from Lanzarote and I too far too much make up on that holiday. This time I've really paired it back and possibility haven't brought enough. There are shops so i'm sure for a week I will cope but this is all I have brought on this holiday.
Benefit Porefessional - This is a teeny tiny sample size. I do like this product and I've had a couple of samples previously. it does have tint too it but I don't think it effects how the product works but I'm still not sure I want to commit to a full size products.
Number seven Intelligent Colour foundation - This is my go to holiday base. I have mine in medium and while it does have a slight silicone feeling to it. It blends well and does colour match me well. it is also light for warm evenings.
The only lip products I've brought is a blistex lip balm. This has SPF 15 in it and helps to protect my lips. This one has a slight medicinal quality to it and my appretice at work has got me hooked on it.
For eyeshaddow I've stuck to two products the Maybeline Creme de Rose Colour Tattoo and the NYX Jumbo Pencil in Iced Mocha.
The only eyeliner I've brought it one from Seventeen in black. This is a simple Khol pencil and is easy to use and sumgdes nicely.
I was trying to get my eyebrows shaped and tinted before I came away and didn't manage it so I've brought a Rimmel eyebrow pencil. This is a good colour match for me but I do go through phases where I love this then I won't use it for months.
The other eyeliner in the picture is an Essence in black midnight sky which my mum brought and i mistakenly picked up for the picture. Its worth mentioning as this is a beautiful soft eyeliner which has some navy and silver sparkle to it.
My Mascara is the bare minerals Lash Domination. I grabbed this as one of my Love Me Beauty Items last month. I've only used it once as I liked it, the packaging is tiny and the wand is almost the same size as the tube. I did find it tricky to apply but I think that is because there is only a very small cap to hold on it.
My final item is a Milani bronzer in Hermosa Rose. This is such a pretty product that gives a slight glow as well as bronzes
I think I might be one of the last people to read The Girl On
The Train by Paula Hawkins. It one of those books that has been hyped and as
the film has recently been realised I'd noticed a lot of chatter about it on
social media and decided it was time.
The book is set in London and centres round Rachel who is The
Girl On The Train. She's an alcoholic who has lost her job and is trying to
come to terms with the end of her marriage, he's ex's new relationship and new
baby.
The story begins with her riding the train pretending to go to
work everyday, the train goes past her old house, the house her ex still lives
in and she frequently watches not only them but another couple a few doors
down. She creates a fantasy life for them. She's an artist, he's a doctor. They
have the perfect marriage.
The woman goes missing and Rachel becomes embroiled in a web of
lies to the police but she also tries to help the husband by reporting
something she has seen from the train window.
However she's not considered to be a credible witness, not only is
she an alcoholic but she'd been on a blackout binge the night of the
disappearance, was seen in the area and the missing woman has a likeness to her
ex's new wife.
While reading the book I had no empathy for any of the characters.
I felt irritated and everything felt a bit too contrived and I kept thinking if
only they'd done, this or said that it would be better. I don't think it's ever
a good thing when you mentally rewrite a book while you read it.
I also feel my feeling towards the book may be swayed because I
read it on my kindle. As much as I love the kindle I do think it takes some of
the enjoyment out of the book.
Over all it's a good book, worth reading and now I've seen the
movie I've got a new found appreciation for it and I am going to read it
again.
I would say I liked the film better, which I feel is quite rare
for me. The two follow the same over all plot but the film is set in New York
and for me some of the scenes just didn't work. I needed to be London but the
cinematography was excellent and the cast was fantastic.
Both the book and the film are hard to watch with some difficult
and uncomfortable scenes, there are no sunshine or kittens anywhere.
I would recommend reading book or watching the film but I have to
compartmentalise them into two very different things.
Since getting into planning, I've developed an addiction to following Etsy planner stickers shops on Instergram. There are so many choices and different designs I'm sure there is some kind of sticker for every occasion.
One shop that I love following is The Ginger Cat Co at the end of November I placed and order as there was a 30% Black Friday offer and I paid £16.60 for all of these stickers.
Decorative Functional Stickers £2.20 per sheet
Fox Decorative, Autumnal Decorative and Floral Decorative are the sets I picked. I grabbed these as I thought they would work well in my Stigu Planner as some of the weeks have circle boxes. I haven't compared the sizes but by eye, I think they will be fine.
Decorative Stickers £2.20 per sheet
One of the things that attracted me to this shop was the huge numbers of decorative sticker sheets, without buying kits and while there is a number of kawaii stickers which I think are cute but I don't think I love enough to order there are plent of other cute designs.
I decided to grab the weather stickers as I do want to try and track the weather next year and I couldn'r resist the pastel baking stickers. I don't do much baking but I'm sure I could start or use them when it's back off o'clock.
The next two sheets are the Autumnal and Christmas sheets stickers. I drink a lot of coffee. I frequent coffee shops on a regular basis so these will be used and how cute are the other stickers on the sheets.
Half Box Stickers £2.20 per sheet
My planner is a horizontal planner that isn't the same size as the erin condron planners so I find I get a lot of use from half boxes. I got the Chevron Water Colour Half Boxes, Christmas Half Boxes and Movie Marquee boxes. The first two I got because they are cute and the movie stickers because we have become regular cinema goers in the past month so I'd like to keep track of my cinema trips.
Sampler Sheets - Free Gifts
Often but not all the Etsy shops I've ordered from provide a small sampler sheet with 6-8 stickers but in this order I got a full sheet with a mix of stickers, a sheet of 2 Christmas Full Boxes and a small sampler which I think might be the standard sampler.
I'm so happy with the stickers I've received and feel like I will love how these look in my planner.
Welcome to part two of my favourite winter lipsticks posts. If you
missed the first one don’t forget to check that out. The first post is very
budget friendly lipsticks that are well worth checking out.
MAC - Russian Red
This is my only MAC lipstick and I only wear it on special
occasions. I’m a little afraid of it but it’s the perfect winter red. I always
get compliments when I wear it and I’m hoping to wear it lots over the festive
season.
Illamasqua - Minx
I feel that I was very lucky to get this colour in a You Beauty box last year. It’s a colour I was thinking about buying and I think it might be one of my all time favourite lipsticks. Last year I rationed myself wearing it towards the end of the year but this is the new mean and I want to get use and enjoyment out of my products. I do wear this during the day and on nights out. It works well as you can add layers to deepen the colour or use a thin light layer to give a hint of colour. This lipstick also lasts a decent amount of time on me considering very few lipsticks like to stay on my lips.
Clinique - Plum Pop
Another very me lipstick and one that does last a good couple of hours. The colour of this lipstick makes me happy and I think that is the sign of good purchase. I wore this to work today and had a really decent day. I’m not saying it’s the lipstick but it helped my mood.
Kiko – 02
Is it just me who doesn’t like lipsticks without names? I feel like they’ve done someone out of a job. (just me then)
This is a matte lipstick. It’s not too drying and lasted a good 5 hours even through eating and drinking. I got this in the sale and was under £3
NXY Butter Lipstick – Hunk
I don’t think I’ve ever fallen in love with a product without testing it before. As soon as I saw this lipstick I fell. I kept googling and looking for stockists so I could swatch it as I know purples that are not plums don’t work well for me but I ended up buying it online and while it doesn’t get much wear for 9 months of the year I’m always drawn to it in the colder months.
What are your favourite lipsticks for this time of year? Have we got any the same?
After a long day in Manchester and once the Christmas Markets had closed we found ourselves in search of food. We wanted somewhere close to Victoria or Exchange Square to catch the tram home and decided to try Cabana Brazilian Barbecue.
Luckily on Saturdays (Thursday - Saturdays) The Kitchen is open until 11pm. We shared cheese dough balls and sweet potato hummus between three of us and both were delicious. I spotted a couple of other things on the sharing menu that I'd like to try.
There are plenty of cocktails to choose from but I struggled a little as I'm not a fan of rum but if you are this is the place for you.
I settled on Carlos the Godfather which is a mix of Gin, elderflower, lemon & lime. It was refreshing and not too sweet. I would have one again. For my second I tried a Rum based cocktail and didn't enjoy it but I know that is due to my aversion to Rum.
My choice was decided almost before I looked at the menu when it came to the main course as I knew I went for the Bossa Burger and upgraded it to add bacon and cheese. This came with skinny house fries and they were pretty good as well.
It was a struggle but we managed a pudding, our first too choices weren't available and we were a little disappointed but as it was the end of service it was only to be expected. The one we went for was a warm chocolate fondant and it was perfect, just the right amount of melt and a rich chocolate cake with ice cream.
Over all I was really impressed with out impromptu visit, despite it being late the staff were friendly and polite and the atmosphere was good. I'd go back and want to try a fair few other menu items.
Life Style
#Blogmas2016 | Manchester Christmas Markets - Food Highlights
Wednesday, December 07, 2016
Last Saturday I went to the Manchester Christmas Markets and one of the highlights is always getting some food from the stalls, be it hog roast, bratwurst or my all time favourites are Lancashire Cheese Potatoes and Navy Mushrooms. which are from Clowbecks Farmhouse Kitchen, which is located in the far side of Albert Square, £5 each item but ask for half and half as you don't need a portion of each and there is no quibble (It seems to be a standard order) They also do amazing Cumberland Sausages and they have a Gluten Free option if you ask for it.
The Lancashire Cheese Potatoes are big chunks of potatoes with cheese and onions and are always so hot you burn your mouth but that's part of the fun. The Navy Mushrooms are whole mushrooms cooked in butter and garlic and have to be one of the best things I've ever eaten. This stall is an annual favourite and it was worth battling out way through from the St Annes Square side of Albert Square far side in the top corner where this stall is located.
This year I didn't have a mulled wine for me it was all about the Italian Coffee from a stall on Kings street. This had a good kick of Amareto in it and a generous helping of cream on the top.
Have you been to any Christmas Markets yet?
After the 18 books, I read in October I couldn’t even contemplate
trying to match it. I decided to stick to a theme. I guess you could say there
are two themes here. 1. They are all Zoella Book Club books and 2. They are all
YA books.
I am very much enjoying reading YA books now. I do have some
issues with them but I think back to the books my thirteen-year-old-self read
and these are much deeper and darker. Books I read as a teen were very tame and
fluffy, I read a lot of Point Romance. I tried some Point Horror but I’m a scardy
cat, I read a lot of Sweet Valley High and another series I can’t recall the
name of. It was a brother and a sister. I think the brother was blind (maybe
called Ben) and she wrote a diary and those pages were in a handwriting font.
Which was something new and innovative in the books world back in the 90s.
November I read three book which I think is good going as usually
after a heavy reading month I don’t read anything at all.
I’m not good at spoiler free reviews so please feel free to leave
here if you’re planning on reading any of these books.
The
sky is everywhere – Jandy Nelson
The sky is everywhere is about the journey through grief, broken
families, first love, family secrets and over all I did enjoy it. There were
some elements that didn’t sit right and I find this with some of the American
YA Books that maybe teen years are very different to UK teen years.
There were some elements that would make a good Wes Anderson
movie. There is a quirky uncle until I learned of his moustache and then he
became more interesting. He likes to marry and has a temple where he places
bugs with the hope they will be resurrected. There are some elements of slight
magical family but not in a Harry Potter / The Craft kind of magic. More like
spells and hope but this isn’t really explained or explored too much but I did notice
this in a few points.
The premises is, a family crippled by grief after 18-year-old Baily
is killed. The story centres Lennie the sister and it starts with her dealing
with grief and going back to school. There is also a new boy in town who she
starts dating and it deal with teen love and relationships.
How the uncle and Gran must
cope. The book is unusual as there is handwriting font throughout the book where
Lennie has written poems scraps of paper and scatters them around.
The book is a good read and I would recommend reading it but it’s
not one I’m shouting about to anyone who will listen.
A
Monster Calls – Patrick Ness
I adore this book, go and read it… shall I leave it at that? I’ve
written a standalone review of this which you might like to read.
In brief this is another book that deals with tough times within a
broken family. Conor is 13 years old a carer to his mum who has cancer and a
monster visits him and want to tell him 3 stories with Conor having to tell
his own true story at the end. The book was beautifully written and I would
highly recommend reading.
All
the bright places – Jennifer Niven
Violet and Finch are two very different teenagers who have a
common bond. They were both considering jumping from the school bell tower.
Violet is one of the cool kids and Finch is “weird”. He talks her
down and she gets credited with saving his life. Violet gets a free pass in
most of her classes for special circumstances as she’s lost her elder sister in
a car crash. In the only class, Finch and Violet have together they are set to
work together on a project to explore the state they live in. The teacher has
decided she isn’t getting a free pass on this one.
The book follows their journeys to get to know each other and goes
into Finches past to explain some of the reasons he is why he is. As the book
goes on Finch tries to help Violet overcome some of the things she is too
traumatised to do after surviving the crash that killed he sister. He gets her
back in a car again and as the book progresses you get an insight into both of
their lives.
It’s a difficult subject and does cover some things that were hard
to read but there are also some sweet moments and I enjoyed the book.
We're only on the 5th December
and I don’t think Blogmas is going to be achievable for me. As much as I love
doing these month long blog challenges I feel like I’ve bitten off more than I
can chew this time.
I’m going to plough on and I have far
more than 24 post ideas, but I seem to be tired all the time and have no energy
to sit down and write.
In the new year I plan to blog less
often but with more consistency. Getting better quality photo’s that have been edited
and content that I am proud of.
Yesterday I’d decided to spend the
day editing YT videos and while they exported I’d draft a blog post. The video
I edited took me about 6 hours to edit and I was doing other things in between and
it wasn’t a constant 6 hours but it was long enough. Doing that meant I didn’t
write one post, or edit any photos and I’m sat here on my lunch thinking what
can I put up today?
I’m going to endeavour to get some
more posts written and tomorrows post has been scheduled so I know I’m ok if I don’t
have time tonight. I was going to bring that post forward but then I’d be in
the same situation tomorrow.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and
why didn’t I start writing blogmas posts in October!
Are you
doing blogmas? How are you getting on?
Hello December and goodbye November? Did you enjoy November? If
you asked me a few days ago I’d have said no, It was rubbish but I’ve sat down
and done myself a spider diagram and it was a pretty decent month.
There was a huge bump in the middle that made it terrible. This
was my gran cutting open her leg and bleeding all over her house. No exaggeration
that there was blood on every surface, every wall has had to be repainted,
every carpet has had to be replaced and my mum has done a major declutter.
There is so much stuff in her house. She even still had her land girl hand
book! Not sure she’ll be being called up any time soon.
Another negative is work has been busy and stressful but I don’t
talk about work here but there is a clip in the video that directly relates to
a specific day at work. It the only clip I’m actually in so you’ll know which
one it is and it sums my work moth up. So make sure you watch the video.
I had a fun work night out at Junk Yard Golf, I even got a hole in
one! Followed by a meal at Pizza express.
I also signed up for 3 secret santa’s and I’m excited to send off
my gifts and one of my presents have arrived.
I managed to read three book, all young adult and I did enjoy
them. There will be a post and a vlog about them in the coming week.
I have also been to the cinema 4 times and I have to say 3 out of
4 films were ace. The Girl on the Train, A Street Cat Named Bob and the Accountant
are all worth a watch. I can’t say I enjoyed A United Kingdom. The reviews
looks great but for me nothing happened, there was a lot of longing and
brooding looks. Lots of staring out in to crowds. It wasn’t for me at all.
I’ve got myself a new guilty pleasure and it’s good to know I’m
not alone in this as facebook gives me notifications to show my friends also
have the same one. It’s watching Pearl Lady. Also known as Perfectly Precious
Pearls. It’s addictive. If you have kids and they like watching shopkins
(insert your own blind bag toy here) openings well this is the grown up version
and you will know what you kids love about blind openings. I’m not a lover of
pearls and I doubt very much I’d try and make a purchase but I’m hooked on
watching.
The weather has to get a special mention as well, Rain, Snow, Sunshine. It's been an odd month for weather and the video captures some of the weather I've encountered. This months video is also mainly commuting but that is my life. Me and MCRMetrolink are BFFs on twitter. They are in my top friends list every week! I've even take to sending them GIFs.
My final positive for November is that I’m back in love with
twitter. I’ve been interacting more. Tweeting more. I’ve done a few twitter
chats. I’ve felt so much love and positivity from that platform this month. I’ve
also realised I had notifications set to followers only so I was missing out on
things!
Please make sure you give the video a little watch. It’s only 60
seconds long and if you enjoy it I’ve got a play list on my you tube channel
with all the other ones I’ve made.
December is officially here and
we're three days in. Are you feeling festive yet? Have you done anything
festive yet?
Today I'm going to the Christmas Markets in Manchester with a
couple of my friends. We're going to drink Glühwein with amaretto and
maybe a Baileys Hot Chocolate. Looking at all the stalls, eating Lancashire
potatoes which have cream and leaks with them. There may also be some coconut
macaroons involved.
Other festive feels include seeing all the Christmas Tree’s going
up in the town and city centre and our main work tree went up the Last Friday
of November and it is pretty.
Drinking Starbucks festive treats. I decided to work my way
through the menu but I got as far as the toffee nut latte and I keep reordering
it. I wouldn’t say I visit one often but the girl had already tilled in my
black tea when I said no I’m feeling festive. Thought she was going to pass
out! She can’t remember my name but always gets my order right except when it’s
the festive season!
We might not put up a traditional Christmas Tree at my house but I’m really into the Christmas Spirit already this year.
I have a huge lipstick collection but only really
wear a true lipstick in the winter. I've picked out my 10 favourite winter lip
colours. I've split into 2 posts so keep your eye peeled for the next instalment.
Essence – Barely There
I adore the Essence lipsticks. This shade is the perfect no lipstick, lipstick on me, it’s not very long lasting but I don’t think any lipstick is on
me. These are really easy to apply and smell nice. I also think the product and
packaging seem more expensive than the £2.30 price tag.
Freedom Pro Lipstick Bear 115 - Mannequin
This was from a box of 5 Freedom lipsticks in the nude colour collection. I picked this up
months ago and I'd forgotten about. I decided to try wearing all of the colours
to see which ones I liked and this is the one I keep reaching for. It's a good
throw in your bag work lipstick.
Makeup
Revoltion - Rebel with Cause
This is a really rich warm burgundy colour and I
believe its a dupe for MACs Rebel but I've never swatched them side by side. I
love wearing this in these cooler months. It feel like I’ve made an effort
when all I’ve done is applied lipstick. MUR lipsticks are £1.00 each and their only failing for me is the lids just don't stay on but for the price it's not really an issue.
Revlon Lip Butter - Candy Apple
This is from the Revlon Lip Butter range and I have a few colours from this range. I really like the fomula of the product and I do wear this colour all year round as it can be
worn sheer or layered for a deeper colour. I love that it's a little bit
sheerer and lighter than a traditional lipstick. This is easy to wear on the go
and
Essence – Dare to Wear
Another great essence lipstick, this is a beautiful
red shade that isn’t over powering and a good all round red shade. I’ve worn
this during the day and on nights out and it works well for both.
The next post features my other 5 favourite
lipsticks for this time of year, that post will feature some slightly higher
end lipsticks but as always there will be a couple of more budget friendly
picks
Book Review
#Blogmas2016 | Book Review | A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Thursday, December 01, 2016
I recently saw the trailer in the cinema for A Monster Calls and I felt scared. I honestly thought it was going to be a horror film and I hadn't realised it was a book.
When I saw it was the girl gang book club book of the month and it was in the zoella book club with WH Smiths (I bought the first set and was impressed) it made me buy it and I decided to read it straight away before even taking photos to make sure I was in time for the chat and as I type I’m planning on rereading it right away so that I can go through and make notes ready for the chat and to try and make sense of it all.
And at time of editing the post I'm still only half way through my second read and I missed the chat.
When I saw it was the girl gang book club book of the month and it was in the zoella book club with WH Smiths (I bought the first set and was impressed) it made me buy it and I decided to read it straight away before even taking photos to make sure I was in time for the chat and as I type I’m planning on rereading it right away so that I can go through and make notes ready for the chat and to try and make sense of it all.
And at time of editing the post I'm still only half way through my second read and I missed the chat.
It’s a fairly short book and has taken me a couple of hours (4 tram rides) to read. This morning I whimpered, then let out a loud sobs I read a page on the tram. Meaning everyone turned to stare at me.
The first thing you need to do is read the Authors Note at the beginning. I found this really moving and has a important and hopefully spoiler free details in it.
The story itself is powerful but not scary or anywhere near as hard going
as I expected it to be. Maybe that’s the YA element to it but as a grown up
(well I am 35) I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m recommending people read it and i'm still enjoying it the second time round. I'm even putting post it notes in it.
Its set in England and focuses on Conor a 13 year old boy.
His mum is ill with cancer, his dad has a new family in America and his Gran,
who isn’t like everyone else's gran. She has an office in her garden and a
sitting room just for sitting. No TV (How traumatic for a 13 YO!) (And Me)
Conor has Nightmares on a regular basis since his mum
became ill and now a monster calls at the same hour, as the story
progresses the monster appears more frequently.
It has a Christmas carol feel with the monster relaying 3
stories and wants a fourth, the fourth being Connors story and it has to be a
true one.
It covers a difficult illness that has made Conor a carer at such a young age. It also touches on bullying and dealing with a step family across the other side of the world.
It covers a difficult illness that has made Conor a carer at such a young age. It also touches on bullying and dealing with a step family across the other side of the world.
I've know Beth for a few years and we both love a lot of the same things including planning and stickers.
We've chosen to use the Whimsical Snow Globe Kit which which is for the Erin Condron Vertical planner. This isn't the planner I have but as my planner is not a standard size i'm sure I can make this kit work for me.
There is a really good mix of sheets, including, full boxes, washi strips, check boxes, day labels, functional stickers and deco stickers.
I'm excited to get started with this kit and as I rarely use a full kit i'm excite to have left over stickers which will work for all year (well a lot of them) as we've picked a pastel kit rather than a more traditional red / green winter kit.
I've been consistently filming my empties over on my Youtube Channel but I think I'm also going to start blogging them as well. Is this something you're interested in reading?
I know empties videos and posts are a bit of blogging marmite. I personally like watching and reading them. If someone can get to the end of a product then I think you can get a true impression of if you'd like the product.
I've often bought an item based on someones empties video, even if it wasn't something they loved. The way they described it and how they said it worked for them and knowing why things works for me made me try a couple of products so I wouldn't worry about saying something isn't good for you. If you say why.
I know when I filmed these empties I said I didn't like the product on me and I didn't really explain why or what it was like so this post is going to try and remedy that.
The Products
Bath Products
Now winter (ok, ok I know it's still autumn) I take a lot of baths, mainly because we only have hot water when we have the heating on (boiler won't do hot water only) and this month I've used up three products.
Bath Salts - I've done myself a mischief and hurt my neck and back, meaning I've turned to bath salts to try and help ease and relax my pain levels and I've enjoyed using these. The black packet are Therapie Roques O'Neil and this size pack (100g) retails for £10 which is a lot of money. This came in one of the many Latest in Beauty boxes I've bought over the last couple of years. I'd put off using them as it made it sound like you'd be covered in a layer of salt that needed to be brushed down but that wasn't the case. They smelt amazing but for the price I don't think I would buy them myself but they were lovely and relaxing and they dissolved quickly in the bath water.
The larger pack are from TK Maxx and cost £3.95 for 1kg which I think is much better value. I've had a look on the Westlab website and they retail for £5.99, however they are being sold on ebay for £12.99. These dissolved well and I did feel very relaxed. We've bought a couple more pack from the same brand but different types of salt but I will be picking up another bag of the epsom salts at weekend.
Shower Gel
Is it just me who feel like shower gel lasts for ages then you use two up at once? This seems to always happen to me.
Original Source - Sweet Apple and Vanilla Milk - This was part of a gift swap and isn't a scent I'd have chosen for myself but I adored this. It made my skin feel lovely and salt and the scent reminds me of milk bottle sweets with a lovely light apple aroma.
Imperial Leather Fruit Chew - I am loving these imperial leather shower gels at the moment I've tried a couple from the swizzels inspired range and this really does smell like fruit salad chews.
Hair Products
If you've watched any of my empties videos you will notice a hair product theme, a type of product that pops up pretty much every month and that is dry shampoo. I never used to use it but this year I've got lazy and now I only wash my hair about twice a week. I could do with washing it daily but I've come to depend on my dry shampoos.
Elnet hairspray - This little tin has lasted me well, it came from a beauty box and as someone who rarely used hair spray it's been a great addition. Small enough not to take up much space but handy to have in. It worked well and always handy to have.
Batiste - I prefer the fresh over the blush scent, but both worked well for me and as I'm using it so often I always have a couple of these can on hand. I've been buying them from home bargains but i've noticed in boots a lot of the cans have had a bit of a redesign.
Aussie Winter Hair 3 min miracle - Another disappointment. I found this quite drying on my hair. It's not terrible but as someone who has dry hair I though a this hair mask would make it more oily but it seemed to feel quite dry but also really nice and shiny which is a real contradiction. Over all I'd say I wasn't keen. The scent is different form the original three min miracle but it smells nice and you can tell it's an aussie product. If one of these arrived in a beauty box i'd use it but I wouldn't go out of my way to pick one up.
The Others
John sons Cotton Bud - It's probably time I stopped mentioning these and there is rarely a month that goes by that these are a staple and they are worth buying over own brand ones.
PS...Love This Oval Cosmetic Pads - I've been buying these for a while and they are fine. 90p for a pack of 100 which I think is good value. I do prefer the oval pads over cotton rounds. I wouldn't say they are a holy grail item but I will rebuy them.
Vaseline Intensive Care Spray Moisturiser - This is a bit mixed for me as I hated the scent. The moisturising part well but I was reluctant to use very often as I couldn't get on with the strong scent.
Makeup
Boots No 7 Dramatic Lift Mascara - I was a little disappointed in this. It was a little dry and I only got about 3 weeks use out of it before if felt like I wasn't picking up any product on to the wand. I'm not sure if mine was bad or if i'd opened it when I first bought it and it dried up but I didn't have a great experience with it.
What products havee you used up this month?
