After what felt like weeks of build up – getting ourselves all excited
on twitter – yesterday I jumped on a train to Birmingham to the FABB Birmingham
event! I had seen some write up about the events which had already taken place
in Liverpool and Manchester so I was very excited to head off to Birmingham!
Even more exciting I arranged to meet up with the lovely Sarah [Link] and Naomi
[link] who I met at the event I went to in May in Birmingham!
To be honest once I got there I was very glad that I had arranged to
meet up with the girls. Especially since Naomi knew exactly where she was
going! My sense of direction if I have not been somewhere is awful (thank god
for google maps and smart phones).
The event was held in the Custard Factory which isn’t somewhere I had
seen or heard of before but was an awesome area just south of the hustle and
bustle of the Bull Ring.
The building itself that we were in was a very cool café come bar
called Alfie Birds. Hosting 4 floors we made our way upstairs to where the event was
being held – of course after we had picked up our awesome free goodie bag.
How fantastic is this goodie bag! Inside there was a mini Benefit they are real mascara, a full sized batiste dry shampoo, some fake tan and a little travel mitt, some N spa perfect blur primer, hello breath spray, dermalogica exfoliator as well as lots of other little goodies!
There were lots of different brands at the event. Some beauty, some
fashion. It was lovely to chat to some of the brands that were there – there
was a mixture of brands that I had heard of like Me Me Me and other ones that I
was new to but that sounded amazing! It was lovely to get the opportunity to
chat to the owners of the smaller brands and listen to their background and
ethos! Often as beauty bloggers we try out so many different products but you
don’t get the opportunity to sit and chat with the makers of those products!
I particularly loved chatting with the owners of the brands – Bee Good, Bodhi and Birch and Anovia who all have an ethos of using natural products.
We also got the opportunity to chat to Tom Pellereau who was on the apprentice
a couple of years ago with his product the Style File. What was really lovely
is not only did he take the time to explain the products he had to us, he also
was interested in hearing what products we would love to see in the future and
took a genuine interest in hearing our ideas!
Look at all the fantastic products I came away with! Lots of amazing freebies! Me me me certainly gave a good haul of stuff away! Keep your peepers peeled over the next month or so as you know I shall be testing these out to the max!!! Overall I had a fab day - it was lovely to meet some new bloggers and catch up with some Id met before! I shall definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for future FABB events!!!
♥
I was SO excited when a couple of weekends ago me and mum jumped on the train to Manchester where we met up with my future mother in law and headed off to Manchester Central for the National Wedding Show.
I brought the tickets wayyyy back in August just after we got engaged after seeing it advertised online and I planned the day like a military operation so that our train from Stoke got into Manchester the same time as Wendy (the future MIL) from Sheffield! Unfortunately Wendy missed her train (long story) and we had to wait but it was all good!
The day itself was fantastic. I had never been to Manchester Central before but it was a gorgeous venue. We wandered around all the stalls where there was a variety of different people including invitations, photographers, cake makers, dresses. I tried a couple of dresses on from a shop which was actually local to me who I knew were going and who had the Alfred Angelo Disney dresses available to try on - if you have not seen these click here and fall in love.
I brought the tickets wayyyy back in August just after we got engaged after seeing it advertised online and I planned the day like a military operation so that our train from Stoke got into Manchester the same time as Wendy (the future MIL) from Sheffield! Unfortunately Wendy missed her train (long story) and we had to wait but it was all good!
The day itself was fantastic. I had never been to Manchester Central before but it was a gorgeous venue. We wandered around all the stalls where there was a variety of different people including invitations, photographers, cake makers, dresses. I tried a couple of dresses on from a shop which was actually local to me who I knew were going and who had the Alfred Angelo Disney dresses available to try on - if you have not seen these click here and fall in love.
My lovely mummy (left) and Wendy (right)
Sat having afternoon tea
Soooo yummy
Once we had afternoon tea we wandered around some more and I tried a couple more dresses on - one of which I fell in love with - completely not what I thought i wanted (but then that is always what they say) but thats all the details your getting!!!
Overall we had a fantastic day - there were some good stalls there and some good talks throughout the day. However one thing I was a little disappointed with is that it was claimed as a National wedding show and yet 99% of the people there were from Manchester or norther.
This would have probably been fab to go to if you were from Manchester or if you have nothing booked for your wedding but for us, everything is more or less sorted. I was hoping that there would be more people there doing table decorations or such - the only person of any sort like that was a very rude lady who ran a flower stall who seemed outraged when I said I was allergic to flowers - a total difference to the lady I met at a Wedding fayre this week who explained not all flowers have a scent (apparently dutch roses don't) which was fab to know!
I had a great day - I wouldn't go to this again next year but we definitely had a nice day out and was nice to spend time with not just my mum but Adams mum too :)
♥
It may only be October but the truth is, it is actually only 9 weeks until christmas!
I love christmas, I am like a child in a sweet shop and this year I am especially excited since it is mine and Adams first christmas together.
We made a detour to Trentham Garden centre on the way home when Adam picked me up from work yesterday. We knew they had started having their christmas stuff in because when we went a few weeks ago on our week off they were just starting to put the stuff out. When we went last night it was like full blown christmas!!! We had to hold ourselves not to grab a trolley and fill it with stuff! It wasn't just all the trees and decorations that got me excited, all the table decorations too! We have a 6 seater table which I love and we have decided we are going to have my mum, dad and brother around for Christmas lunch. I am looking forward to getting all the bits.
Thinking about Christmas also got me thinking about Christmas Traditions. When I lived at home we had several traditions; Its not Christmas until you have seen - Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, Muppets Christmas Carol and we always had bagels for breakfast on christmas morning. Me and mum always had a little tipple of baileys when we were making christmas lunch. Now I can't help thinking about other traditions and what traditions I would like me and Adam to start!
What Christmas traditions do you have as a family???
Also feel free to follow my Christmas board on pinterest (unloved button) - as well as my others of course!
I love christmas, I am like a child in a sweet shop and this year I am especially excited since it is mine and Adams first christmas together.
We made a detour to Trentham Garden centre on the way home when Adam picked me up from work yesterday. We knew they had started having their christmas stuff in because when we went a few weeks ago on our week off they were just starting to put the stuff out. When we went last night it was like full blown christmas!!! We had to hold ourselves not to grab a trolley and fill it with stuff! It wasn't just all the trees and decorations that got me excited, all the table decorations too! We have a 6 seater table which I love and we have decided we are going to have my mum, dad and brother around for Christmas lunch. I am looking forward to getting all the bits.
Thinking about Christmas also got me thinking about Christmas Traditions. When I lived at home we had several traditions; Its not Christmas until you have seen - Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, Muppets Christmas Carol and we always had bagels for breakfast on christmas morning. Me and mum always had a little tipple of baileys when we were making christmas lunch. Now I can't help thinking about other traditions and what traditions I would like me and Adam to start!
What Christmas traditions do you have as a family???
Also feel free to follow my Christmas board on pinterest (unloved button) - as well as my others of course!
♥
You may remember back in August (here) I posted an updated so say we had 2 new members join our family.
I can't believe that we have had them for 3 months now!!!
I just thought today that I would share a little update with you as to how our little girls are getting on!
As you can see they are getting much bigger now! I can not even tell you how much we are in love with them!! They are getting such little personalities now! Adam is still struggling to tell them apart (they are identical apart from Luna has about 5 or 6 hairs on her right ear)
Bella is a total mummies girl! She was the smaller one of the 2 when we had them. She has caught up with Luna now but when you look at them she still has a slightly more baby face. She loves to come and snuggle on you - she particularly likes to snuggle on your shoulder. If you pick her up she loves to have a little nibble on your fingers but will let you hold her for ages before she jumps down.
I can't believe that we have had them for 3 months now!!!
I just thought today that I would share a little update with you as to how our little girls are getting on!
As you can see they are getting much bigger now! I can not even tell you how much we are in love with them!! They are getting such little personalities now! Adam is still struggling to tell them apart (they are identical apart from Luna has about 5 or 6 hairs on her right ear)
Bella
Luna
Luna is in comparison is a bit of a daddies girl. She loves to sit and snuggle with daddy and recently has started suckling on Adams hand. Luna in particular is usually the one running around like a complete nutter (although to be fair they are both guilty of that)
Both of them have settles in so well. Both of them love to snuggle up. They are both absolutely crazy for kitten milk. Seriously you only have to open the fridge and they know what it is! They are both pur so load as well too!
At the moment we are working up to getting their collars on them (so Adam can tell them apart) but at the moment they are still a little small i think! We are also working on teaching names but with two of them we are finding it difficult! Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
♥
Hello lovelies.
First of all I want to throw this out there and say this isn't a sponsored post. Any opinions here on this app have been formulated myself and I have built from using and loving the app myself.
What I want to talk to you about an app called My Supermarket.
You know when you go to the Supermarket and with some you get a voucher or you have to put your receipt number in to say if they have been cheaper. With the my supermarket app you cut that step out altogether. Rather than you finding out your cheapest supermarket after you have been and done your shopping, with the my supermarket app you find out which is the cheapest supermarket before you go.
When you open up the app it gives you the option of creating a new list. You then get the option of choosing a supermarket - I usually chose Asda as that is one of the ones we go to regularly apart from Aldi - which you can also choose.
Once you have selected your list, you then build your shopping list. You can either do this by typing the its you are looking for in the search box or it also breaks items down for you into categories such as fruit and veg, diary.
First of all I want to throw this out there and say this isn't a sponsored post. Any opinions here on this app have been formulated myself and I have built from using and loving the app myself.
What I want to talk to you about an app called My Supermarket.
You know when you go to the Supermarket and with some you get a voucher or you have to put your receipt number in to say if they have been cheaper. With the my supermarket app you cut that step out altogether. Rather than you finding out your cheapest supermarket after you have been and done your shopping, with the my supermarket app you find out which is the cheapest supermarket before you go.
When you open up the app it gives you the option of creating a new list. You then get the option of choosing a supermarket - I usually chose Asda as that is one of the ones we go to regularly apart from Aldi - which you can also choose.
Once you have selected your list, you then build your shopping list. You can either do this by typing the its you are looking for in the search box or it also breaks items down for you into categories such as fruit and veg, diary.
Once you have your list all together you can browse the list you have and it will give you a price of how much everything will cost at your chosen supermarket. It also gives you the option of comparing here.
Once you have hit the compare button it brings up how much your items would cost at the supermarkets it compares with. I always ignore Boots and Superdrug as I don't see the point in this unless your comparing health and beauty items (great if you want to see if the boys razors are on offer anywhere).
Another good thing about this app is it allows you to see offers - quite often if we need food for the kittens I will get it up on the app and see where the kitten food is on offer - you wouldn't believe the difference - some supermarkets it is £3.50 and others it is on offer for 2 for £5 so obviously we go where the offers are!
Have you ever used this app? Are you loving it?
♥
So i am ever so slowly approaching that age where I will be considered closer to 30 rather than 20! Scary thoughts! Right now I am enjoying being smack bang in the middle!
Todays post is something a little different. Here I thought I would share a list of things with you that at some point during your 20's you are going to learn! We have all been there so hold your head high and keep going!
Comparing yourself to others is absolutely pointless
I think in your 20s you learn to find out who you really are. I am much more confident of who I am and what I want now than I was 6 years ago. Maybe that comes with age and experience but I definitely think that your 20s are when you learn who you are and what your about.
Be Patient
Everyone assumes that by 22-23 (when you have left university if that is the path you chose) that you should know what the heck is going on. What job do you want to do, When do you want to get married, how many kids do you want. Seriously! At 22 I thought I had everything figured out (well not everything - I thought I knew the career path I wanted to take) - Fast forward 3 years and I couldn't be doing something more different and you know what - I am ok with that! I really enjoy my job and can't wait to look forward to progressing within the new field I have chosen.
Being alone is ok
This time last year - in fact 9 months ago in fact I was sat down with one of the girls at work discussing the fact that I hadn't got a boyfriend and that I needed to find a date for the silver wedding party she is throwing in November. I got to the stage where I felt like everyone around me was a couple. Fast forward 9 months I am sitting in the living room of my own house with a boy I loved far too long and engaged to be married! You honestly never know what is around the corner! Be prepared the ride is fab!
Todays post is something a little different. Here I thought I would share a list of things with you that at some point during your 20's you are going to learn! We have all been there so hold your head high and keep going!
Comparing yourself to others is absolutely pointless
I spent a lot of my teenage years comparing myself to other people. I have always been the bigger one amongst my friends and its not easy when your growing up, not to look at your friends and make comparisons! When you get to your 20s you come to realise actually you are your own person and who cares.
Its not as easy to find new friends
Remember the days when you went to school and it was easy to make friends with the people in your class by bonding over your hate for the subject/teacher - Well being in your 20s isn't like that. I don't know if it is just me but it is really difficult to meet people your own age. I work with a group of people who are all at least 30+ with a couple of exceptions. I don't go out a lot (I have never been one for nights out) and its not easy to just go up to people and go "hey wanna be friends" - or is it just me?
You don't have to be attached to your BFF
Remember when you were at school (if thats where you and your BFF met) and you spent every waking moment talking to each other. Being in your 20s isn't like that! I can go weeks without speaking to my best friend. The good thing is that when we do see each other, its like we have never been apart.
Being a grown up is hard
Forget the times when all you had to worry about was when the next issue of Smash Hits magazine was due out or what lip gloss you were going to get with your pocket money; when you get to your 20s you have to think about things like Bills, Rent Payments, Council tax.
You learn to value
Tying in with the above one. You learn that you can't just spent money like a nutter on shit you don't need and learn to be more appreciative when you do buy something you have wanted to get for a while.
Its ok to fail
There are times in your life when you are going to make mistakes and gradually you learn to accept that its ok and you use it as a way of becoming a stronger person rather than letting it define who you are.
Be yourself
I think in your 20s you learn to find out who you really are. I am much more confident of who I am and what I want now than I was 6 years ago. Maybe that comes with age and experience but I definitely think that your 20s are when you learn who you are and what your about.
Be Patient
Everyone assumes that by 22-23 (when you have left university if that is the path you chose) that you should know what the heck is going on. What job do you want to do, When do you want to get married, how many kids do you want. Seriously! At 22 I thought I had everything figured out (well not everything - I thought I knew the career path I wanted to take) - Fast forward 3 years and I couldn't be doing something more different and you know what - I am ok with that! I really enjoy my job and can't wait to look forward to progressing within the new field I have chosen.
Being alone is ok
This time last year - in fact 9 months ago in fact I was sat down with one of the girls at work discussing the fact that I hadn't got a boyfriend and that I needed to find a date for the silver wedding party she is throwing in November. I got to the stage where I felt like everyone around me was a couple. Fast forward 9 months I am sitting in the living room of my own house with a boy I loved far too long and engaged to be married! You honestly never know what is around the corner! Be prepared the ride is fab!
♥
I love cooking and when a new slimming world recipe came my way I couldn't wait to try it. I am in absolute LOVE with this recipe and have made it SO many times since getting it so I thought I would share it with you.
Heres what you need:
Heres what you need:
- 2cm piece of ginger
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2tsp Chinese 5 spice
- 6 tbsp of Soy Sauce
- 3 tbsp of Tomato Puree
- 2tsp of sesame oil
- Chicken - I used breasts but you can use thighs or portions of your choice (or I suppose you could try another meat too - I keep meaning to try with Pork!)
Step 1: Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl
Step 2: Once combined spread the chicken out onto a baking tray and bake for 10 - 15 minutes
For a change (not done this before) I decided to add a few monge tout to it for some added veg - if your adding veg follow step 4 - if not just wait for chicken to be done and dish up.
Step 4: Add Monge Tout or chosen veg to sauce pan. Once softened add the chicken so that the sauce coats your veg.
Step 5: Serve up with the side of your choice. I did noodles this time but I have also done it with homemade egg fried rice.
Enjoy :)
♥
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