As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Last monday we packed the car up and headed to Centre Parc's in Sherwood Forest.
I had never been to Centre Parc's before so I was really looking forward to it. We had lots of exciting things planned so I was very excited for our week ahead. We stayed in one of the Executive 3 Bed Villas with Adams Mum and Dad and his brother. The villa was absolutely fantastic! It had a lovely kitchen dining room and each of the 3 bedrooms had an on suite bathroom.

One of the noticeable things about Centre Parcs is that you are only allowed to take your car onto the site by the villas at certain times of the week (Arrival day between 3&5 and Leaving Day between 8&10) - since we got there at around 10.30 / 11.00 we decided that we would walk up to the village centre where the swimming pool was. We had pre planned this so we had packed separate swimming bags which meant we could just grab them. I would recommend doing this if you get there early - it means you don't have to worry about it.

Adam had promised me that when we got to Centre Parc's he would teach me to ride a bike (yep - I can't) so we went to hire a bike and I had a try, I could quickly tell I wasn't going to get the hang of it - I have very little confidence on it and couldn't get my feet going fast enough so we decided to go back and get me a Trik instead. Instantly the minute I got it I felt SO much better! It was definitely worth doing as we got loads of use out of this. This is worth doing on the first day/second day so you get the use of of it!

Wednesday saw me and Adams mum head off to the spa. Wendy had booked up a spa day complete with a Decléor Vitamin Glow facial which was absolutely amazing!!! I definitely think I need to start adding a facial in every month or 2 as a treat.

Overall it was a great week and I came back very relaxed and chilled! Now is the point where I spam you with pictures - you were warned!

I'm backkkkk! I'll be sure to update you with all our adventures once I have sorted through the photos but for now I wanted to get straight back into blogging. Thats in now, I feel like I have my mojo back.

So today I bring to you a multi use product. I mean who doesn't love a product you can use for more than one thing eh! I bring to you the Liz Earle Eye Bright.


I picked this up a while back when Liz Earle had it included in a package with their cleanse and polish and day cream. I haven't really used it a lot except for when my eyes are quite stingy. However last week I did my pre holiday beauty routine and waxed by eye brows. I got the usual redness and was thinking how much I wish I had picked up one of those Aloe Vera tubes when I noticed that the Liz Earle Eyebright has it in!!! I dabbed a bit on some cotton wool and found instant relief!

The Liz Earle Eyebright is available from Liz Earle stands and Online starting at £10.75 for 150ml.

DO you have any other multi use products???

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, tomorrow we are off to Centre Parcs for the week! I am really looking forward to it!!! I feel like I haven't had a holiday in aggggges (Ibiza in May just seems forever ago)

I have never been to Centre Parcs before but Adam has been quite a few times. We are going to the one in Sherwood Forest and will be spending the week in a luxury villa (hello hot tub) with Adams mum and dad and brother.

We had lots of activities planned, Bowling, badminton, the boys are going off to do Archery and the tree tops climb while me and Adams mum have a wonderful spa day complete with lunch and a facial and probably the most scary thing is Adam is going to attempt to teach me to ride a bike. Now I have 0 co-ordination and balance so it should be interesting!

I will be sure to update you on all our adventures when we get back.

So yesterday me and the boy decided to jump in the car and drive the 10 minute ride to one of the local wedding venues just outside of Newcastle (under lyme not the up north one) called Slaters. Now obviously we have got our wedding venue booked so we didn't go with a view to going to look at it in terms of the venue, but one the other things that Slaters has to offer is it is also a craft village with a big emphasis on weddings.


The craft village itself is lovely. It has lots of little shops and reminds me very much of an old style village layout but it is actually located inside one of the barns. They have different little boutique shops with Dresses, Photographers, Jewellers, people doing fascinators and venue dressers.

As I say we decided to go basically on a whim. I knew I wanted to at least go and have a look at Slaters on the basis that I like to get lots of ideas. We went to the wedding fair last week and I knew one of the people we had seen but not spoken to was also based there.

We had a mooch around the little shops, in particular I wanted to have a look at the venue dresser who I also knew did a button bouquet which I had seen last week but not been able to get a price of. Needless to say I shall be looking online as they started at £200 but at least now I know.

The good thing is with getting so organised early we are collecting lots of ideas and looking to see if we can do things cheaper or source them from different places.

While at Slaters we also decided to try their tea room. I had a lovely Jacket Potato with Beans and Cheese while Adam had a Ham and Cheese Baguette. I then had a scone while Adam chose to have a piece of Chocolate Cake.

As you may or may not already know - 6 months ago I packed up all the crap I had hoarded over 25 years and I moved out. Me and Adam decided that we were going to rent somewhere, mainly because we just didn't have the money for a deposit right now. I learnt and have picked up loads of tips and I thought I would share them with you all :)

• When you first pick up the keys to the house, make sure you check your gas and electric metres and take a picture of them. I did this the first day I picked the keys up and it meant that we were not paying for any gas and electric that was not ours. 

• When your boxing stuff up be ruthless. As I say I had collected quite a lot of crap over the years, stuff I had intended to use and never did, clothes I had never worn, get rid of them if you haven't used them! 

• If your moving out of your parents house you probably have little or no furniture like we didn't. Shop around and get the best deals for what you want and don't be afraid to buy from different places, it is tempting to just get everything from one place and pay one lot of postage (if you do it online) but sometimes shopping about can save you a fortune.

• Don't be afraid to visit charity shops - we have a couple of charity shops around Stoke which specialise just in furniture and you can pick up an absolute bargain. I knew when we moved in I wanted a 6 seater table so we could have both sets of parents around or more room for guests. We picked up this 6 seater table and chairs in Oak (solid oak) which also folds down to a 4 seater table if you want more room. This was an absolute bargain of £75 from our local British Heart Foundation. 

• If you want to buy furniture new - visit Ikea! We got quite a few bits from Ikea including a lot of kitchen basics which are dirt cheap, plate sets, glasses. We also picked up a lot of other furniture such as an awesome coffee table for £5, drawers for the bedroom which were £35 and bookcases for £10. The awesome thing about ikea too is that their prices depend on what colour furniture you chose. Most of their pieces come in white, black and various wood pieces. 

• Consider setting up an account for Bills. Me and Adam set up a joint bank account where we both pay into every month. We then have our all bills and rent come out of this and the left over is what we have for food. Saves us both gaffing. 

• Use apps. A lot of companies now have apps that you can use. We have our gas and electric with Eon and we can upload our metre readings and keep a check on our bill on the app. 

• One piece of electrical equipment I would defiantly recommend that you buy is a slow cooker. It is so tempting when you move out not to cook. I have never had a problem because both me and adam love to cook but I know friends who have moved out who go mad and live on take away. If you invest in a slow cooker you can whack something in before you go to work and when you get in, its done, little effort involved.

• Tying in with the above, plan your meals. I always plan everything because doing slimming world it is easier to track but I have found too that it can save you an absolute fortune! I make a list on a Saturday or Sunday of what we are going to eat in that week and then make a list for the supermarket based on what we actually need to but not just winging it! Even if I end up with a couple of extras it still saves me buying things we have plenty of.  Ive got the below planner from the Martha Stewart range at staples so we both know what we are having on what day. 

• Again in with shopping make sure you use all the resources around. With Asda you get can price check on your receipt, Sainsburys do it for you and give you a voucher if they were not cheaper. If you don't mind shopping at a different supermarket every week, download an app called My Supermarket allows you to put in what you want on your shopping list and it tells you where the cheapest supermarket is - great if your a planner who knows what they want like me. 

• Use the local amenities rather than supermarkets. We shop at a local butchers who has a massive outlet where the meat is so much cheaper than at the supermarkets! We go about once a month and stock up!