Monday 31 December 2012

A year of fun

So, 2013 is nearly upon us. It certainly has a way to go to be as good as 2012, Olympics, Jubilee, a good year to be British. Personally, I've rather loved my year. I got to go to the Olympics, I've spent another year adventuring with my Mr B, I started my first ever job, and I've had two fab holidays with my favourite people. The last few months were a bit disappointing but hey ho. I'm hoping that 2013 brings health and happiness for my family, and fingers crossed I find a nice little permanent job and me & Mr B can finally get our little palace together.

What are your resolutions? I always set myself some & normally break them by 12.30 but that's half the fun. Quit swearing, not to always think the worst, save more pennies, blog properly. Oh, and to try and believe in myself a bit more.

Thought I'd share some of my favourite parts of 2012 with you... Hope you enjoy!












































Hope 2013 brings you everything you wish for xx

Friday 7 December 2012

Forget about those melting ice caps, we're doing the best with what we've got

It's been a strange old three months! There was a lot of uncertainty hanging over me with regards to my job.  One day it looked like I was going to be made permanent and the next it looked like my contract would be coming to an end.  My contract was only for 6 months but it had been extended with the hope of me becoming permanent.  Unfortunately that plan never got off the ground! So now it's back to the job search again,. Hopefully this time i'll be able to get a permanent role that I can settle into.

We scooted off to a lovely week in the lake district at the beginning of November at it was just what I needed.  It helped me to gain a bit of perspective and to just calm down and stop worrying so much about things.  I've had a few up and down moments since I finished but i'm keeping focussed on finding a bigger and better job & moving forward.

I thought it would be nice to do a bit of a what i've been up to lately post.  Now I have spare time on my hands i've planned to do plenty of blogging!

L-R

Whilst in the lake district we had our tea in a little fish and chip restaurant in Keswick one night.  It just so happened to be Christmas light switch on night, and as bizarre as it sounds the switch for the lights was on the wall behind our table! My mum joked to the lady that I could flick the switch & she let me! My little claim to fame!!

We went to see the Christmas tree switch on at Cheshire Oaks, thats the biggest tree in Europe! And I can confirm its huuuage!

Waterproof coats were needed most days in the lake district!

Cute little owls that my mum picked up from Bents Garden Centre.  She said they reminded her of me & Mr B :)

Me & Lego Harry Potter in the Trafford Centre.  Behind us is the biggest Lego tree, i'm planning on trying to recreate it next year!

Delicious hot chocolate from the Strawberry cafe in Kewsick

I fell in love with the Cinderella display in Bents.  If you live anywhere near it it's definitely worth a visit, makes you feel very festive and gives you plenty of ideas

Me in the Beatrix Potter attraction. Yes, i'm 24 but I loved it!

Beautiful flowers from work, made me cry!

My Ciate advent calendar. I couldn't resist it, sucker!

Christmassy Trafford Centre

My first Tapas experience!


Saturday 6 October 2012

Boots haul

Hi glitter balls!


As you might be aware from a recent blog post, my local Boots rather inconsiderably burned down! Obviously I was gutted, but I was hopeful of the opportunity to save some money at last!

How wrong was I? Boots recently moved into an empty shop at a local retail park. Thankfully it's nowhere near as easy to get to, and is a lot smaller than the previous store. Roll on January when it moves back I say!

Anyway, here's a little sneak peek of what I bought...






I've been looking for a product to protect my hair from my over indulging with my hair straighteners for quite a while. My hairdresser friend recently told me that my fringe is starting to look and feel very damaged eeek! So, I was on a mission. I've used Trevor Sorbie products before & always been impressed. Beautifully straightened smells gorgeous, and my hair definitely feels more protected & doesn't look quite as fried!


Unfortunately there isn't room for all the different beauty houses in the temporary store, but Clinique have managed to steal a little corner and fill it with Bonus Time goodies! I had been aware that it was Bonus Time but I'd given up any hopes of indulging in it, so I was rather thrilled to see I hadn't completely missed it!

I'm a big fan of Clinique 'Take the Day Off' make up remover, and I had been aware that my supply was starting to run low. So, I thought it would only be right to stock up! Oh, and it's Bonus Time?! Well I never ;)




I've been intrigued by 'Chubby Sticks' ever since they came out, I wasn't sure just how moisturising they'd be, I was a little concerned that it would just be like applying a crayon to your lips! I thought it was a good chance to give it a try and I've been impressed! The texture is lovely, and really does feel quite moisturising on your lips. The colour lasts quite a while as well. Always a bonus!




Loving the floral bonus time tin!




Lovely little freebies inside, reviews to come soon!




Some more polishes, because obviously I don't have enough already! I'm a big fan of Essie, long lasting polish which in my experience you only need one coat of. To be honest I'm a bit disappointed in the baby pink Barry M polish. Once applied its very watery and you need a good three coats at least to build a decent colour up. However, I was won back over with the Barry M pink/golden glitter. It looks great over a nice pink colour, just enough level of sparkle to wear during the week.


Sparkle soon!

S

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Sunday 9 September 2012

The real legacy.

We've become quite familiar with the word 'Legacy' over the summer, It seemed to be the hot Olympic word. I like many got totally swept along In Olympic fever, and I thought long and hard about what the Olympic legacy might be. Might we all start watching local hockey matches, take up cycling, develop a passion for athletics, the list was endless. Once the Olympics ended I think it didn't take people long to return to a normal sportless life. There was a sense of pride to be British, proud of team GB, but personally I don't think the whole 'Sporting Legacy' really got off the ground.


I'll be honest, I wasn't sure at all about the Paralympics. I've never watched it before, and it's never been something I've wanted to engage in. I myself have a disability, since the age of five I've had severe Arthritis. My joints are quite severally 'deformed', I struggle to walk, I need help to dress, to put shoes on, the list goes on! Honestly, I've never ever wanted to engage with my disability, I've hated it quite frankly. I despised to use the word 'disabled' when talking about myself, I'd say I had a condition or an illness, anything to not have to use the dreaded D word. Sometimes I use a wheelchair and I hated being in it. I would never make eye contact with people and if anyone did happen to look at me I would be imagining what they are thinking "Aww look at her, poor girl. She'll never have a life" When out in public and I needed help, whether that was to take my coat off or to help me try some shoes on during a shopping trip I'd shut my eyes and blank everything out.

I've been stared at countless times, I've had people ask me out right "What's wrong with you?!" I've loathed myself, I never ever thought someone would find me attractive, I've gone into bars on nights out and held my head down in shame. I've gone out of my way to cover my joints up, to ensure no one could see my swollen wrists or knees. I've been too scared to wear a dress and let people see my legs.

The Paralympics made me feel uncomfortable. I know that says a lot about me! I wasn't sure how it was going to make me feel. One day I was home alone and I settled down with a nice cuppa and started to watch..... I soon found myself swept along! Gradually I noticed people's perceptions were changing, I noticed I was starting to find myself thinking wow! Paralympic fever swept over us all, we stopped noticing the disability and started to see the person, the ability. I genuinely think these games have succeeded to do something that Governments, disability organisations, the press, Tv program's, have been trying to do for years. They've changed public perception to disability. We now don't just see the disability we see what that person can do, disability is something to be proud of. I never ever thought I'd say that! I myself have found myself thinking what can I do?!

For me the Paralympics have left us with the biggest legacy. For the first time in 24 years I want to hold my head up high and say yes, I have a disability and I'm proud.

Thanks for reading!

S xxx


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Thursday 6 September 2012

Ribbons in our hair and our eyes gleamed mean

Ever since I was a little girl I remember loving nail polish. Once School broke up for summer holidays my mum would paint my nails for me, I loved it! I'd feel so grown up and glam. As I got older my love for the polish continued. My collection grew and grew and I started discovering different brands of polish and finding my way in the vast colourful polish world!

These days I seem unable to enter a supermarket or shop and not find my self standing In the beauty isle searching through nail polishes. Always on a mission to find that different shade of pink or that extra sparkly glitter polish. It might sound silly but I get so excited by all the different colours laid out before my eyes! Kid in a candy store springs to mind.

I realised today that I have a significant amount of nail polishes but I always seem to use the same ones over and over. So, on a little mission to correct this I've gone about trying to arrange my collection in an attempt to use all of my various colours!




Quite a lot huh?!





These are the polishes I use the most, can you spot a theme?!




This Ciate polish came in my 'Caviar' set. I love the colour and it's a long lasting polish, lasts a good few days with no chips.








The OH got this for me from work a few weeks ago (he works in the beauty industry!) and it's a really nice, light colour. It needs a few coats in order to get the full effect but you end up with a nice light pink with a slightly blue undertone to it.




I LOVE this shade! I've really got into OPI this year & so far I'm impressed!




I purchased my first Essie polish a few weeks ago, I've seen quite a few bloggers saying how good it is. So far I'm impressed, lasts a good time with no chips.



Big fan of the Rimmel 60 second polishes, as you can tell! Really good if you're like me and super impatient waiting for nails to dry. Nothing worse than spending a good half an hour painstakingly painting to then smudge it.




I grouped all of my glitter & nail effect polishes together in an old glossy box, they are really good for storing polishes and make up. If you're really creative you can make your own draws with your old boxes. I'm yet to try that however..!





One of my friends let me have the use of her hairdressers card at the local beauty supply warehouse. Keeerr-Ching, everything was so much cheaper than on the high street. I picked up this set of glitter polishes by 'Sinfull' I'm like a magpie, drawn to anything that sparkles.







Models own juicy jules. Fab glitter polish. You really do get a good range of sparkly-glitterness, if that makes sense?! I really like applying this over a hot pink colour.









OPI rainbow connection..I stumbled across this polish on amazon, it may as well have had my name written all over it! You get some big chunks of glitter in this polish so it can take a few coats to get an even covering.




I'd had my eye on the Ciate 'Caviar' collection after I read quite a few blogs about it. I couldn't find anywhere online that still had it in stock, everyone went crazy for it! However, on a little trip out to the Trafford Centre with the Mr man I spotted that selfridges had a pop up Ciate caviar shop... So over I trotted (once again like a child at a candy store) I had a little demonstrate of it on my finger, spent half an hour deciding whether or not I needed it in my life (I knew all along I did!) and hey presto here it is!




I think this box is perfect for polish storage... Cute and very spacious.




My polishes are now all grouped together in colour order. Fingers crossed I might stop sticking to my trusted colours.

I'll let you know how I get on!



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Tuesday 28 August 2012

August Additions

I can't believe how fast August has gone!!! September is almost here, and with it the return of the dark nights.... Am I alone in quite liking them?! Cuddling up, chunky knits, lying In bed listening to the rain. Perfect!

August has been a busy old month & I'm rather gutted I haven't managed many posts. I will do better!

A little round up of August:





An Olympic adventure started the month off....






The garden suddenly came into full bloom in August, I absolutely love the beautiful colours in our garden at the moment.




It's nice to be able to take some pictures outside! I love this long vest from Topshop - it's what I call an easy outfit... Dress it up, dress it down. That's the kind of outfit I like!




The closing ceremony came around all too quick! roll on the Paralympics tomorrow!






The OH went away over bank holiday so I treated myself to some pampering. I'm loving my glittery gel nails at the moment!




Welcome home Mr B!




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Monday 20 August 2012

But I know someday soon I will get home, and I know someday soon I won't be alone

Today has been a strange day. It's brought some good positive news, but it's also brought news of a very important and significant day moving further away.

I apologise for talking in riddles! I'm hopeful that soon everything will work out just fine, even if we have to wait a little longer.

Anyway, I will do a proper blog post this week, I promise! In the mean time I think this picture sums things up perfectly:








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Friday 10 August 2012

Dreams are made of this

A few months back me & the OH were very fortunate to receive some Olympic tickets. We had the option of Cycling, Beach Volleyball and Gymnastics. It was a fairly easy choice! The opportunity to go to THE Velodrome, THE Olympic Park, it was a no brainer.

Each week our excitement grew greater. Watching the Velodrome play host to several Team GB gold moments further fuelled the excitement. Like most we sat and watched the Olympics each night, each time thinking we're going there!

The week before we spent decorating our flags & working on our outfits!











How special does Mr B look?! ;)


Then the day arrived. We stayed in a Holiday Inn (absolutely beautiful!) near Luton. We parked up at Hertfordshire County Showground as we were taking full advantage of the Park and Ride! We got on the 5.30 am coach.... Excited, yet half asleep!




Beautiful sunrise!

It was very surreal once we got to the Park, we both said it was hard to believe we were actually at the Olympic park, the place we've been watching on TV every day.









The Velodrome was mind blowing. Such a beautiful building and I really don't think there's a bad seat / view in there.







Mr Hoy ;)

We had an absolutely fantastic rest of the day in the Olympic Park. Admittedly we were both in a bit of a daze with it all. I'm not even sure if it's sunk in yet! It really is a once in a lifetime adventure.

















I'm sorry there's so many pictures In this post! Sometimes I think it's better to let the pictures do the speaking, and this is certainly one of those moments

Will you be as gutted as me when the Olympics end? I'm very excited for the Paralympics to begin though :)

Until next time....


Sarah

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