Life Lately...

So I know that recently I have been absolutely pants at keeping up with my online life. To be honest it's not that I've been too busy, or that I have been lacking motivation, I have just had a terrible case of writers block. Every time I sit down to write a blog post, I start, maybe get a paragraph into it, and then give up. However I have promised myself that I am going to start getting back into this now! I was only supposed to be taking a short break whilst I moved home and settled into a new life with my boyfriend. Enough is Enough!

So I thought I'd start off with something simple and share all my instagram photos with you from the time that I have been absent on here! I am also STILL taking part in the #100HappyDays photo challenge, but it's just taking me longer than most to complete...

24th May 2014: My cousin came down to visit for her little boys birthday and we all went to Monkey World. He loves taking selfies, so I always make sure I snap a few with him. In this one he was a little distracted by the TV!

25th May 2014: Treating myself to a mini mint magnum! My first Magnum in a long time I believe!

26th May 2014: After seeing all the lovely nails that my colleagues at work have. They all get theirs done professionally once a month. I decided that it was about time that I gave myself a mani! Of course it had to be blue...

30th May 2014: We had Tim's friend, Keith over for dinner, and he bought me a bunch of flowers! He is such a sweetheart!

1st of June: Tim and I treated ourselves to a Costa, and I tried their iced mocha mint drink. It was scrummy, but so filling, I couldn't finish it!

1st of June: Tim and I had a curry, this was the night before I started the 5:2 diet and is the last takeaway I actually had!

5th of June: My second after fast day on the 5:2 diet. We had these lovely Turkey burgers for dinner, they were seriously tasty, and only had 300 calories per serving!

8th of June: I finally got around to wearing my Lion king t-shirt that I got at Primark!

8th of June: I took my nan up to Costco, and we always have a slice pizza from their 'food court', I can't believe this massive slice only cost £1.50...

11th June: I made this SUPER tasty Cowboy Chicken Stew from the Easy Cook Magazine that Tim and I have recently subscribed to. The chicken literally fell apart, it was so tender!

16th June: Tim and I got sick of ordinary pizza, so we made puff pastry pizza! this one had ricotta and caramelised onions!

20th June: My workplace had a 6th birthday BBQ and we managed to get our own personal ice cream man!

20th June: This is the ice cream that I had (courtesy of the company I work for), it's a bubblegum knickerbocker glory! I really struggled to finish it...

21st June: I posted a picture of the dinner that I had last night! Salmon, with rice stuffed tomatoes! This was my first time eating salmon in three years, and I really enjoyed it...

So there you have it, that's what I have been getting up to whilst I've been away! I'm going to try and be better with posting, but I honestly can't promise anything at the moment... I guess we'll see...

Primark Haul #3

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well! I'm alright, been very, VERY busy the past few weeks, and I've been taking some time to try and get my life in a little more order. Now I'm back and I'm kicking it off with something nice and easy, a Primark Haul!

The first items on my list were some new cardigans in summer colours for work.

These were £4.90 each, and of course I had to pick up a blue one to wear. Although I did surprise myself by picking up a pink one, especially as pink isn't normally a colour I chose.

Next up I headed over to the t-shirts section, as I always tend to pick myself up a new t-shirt when I go to Primark, and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

This gorgeous Pug t-shirt was only £5, and will pair with most of my outfits! Plus who can resist pug faces?

As soon as I saw this Disney tee I knew I had to have it. The Lion king is one of my favourite Disney films, and this t-shirt is just too cute. It came in at £6 so it didn't break the bank either!

Something else I was on the hunt for were some light summery cardigans to wear over bright summer dresses, or even in the cool summer evenings, once again Primark delivered.

This beautiful large lace crop cardigan was a must have item for me. It cost me £10, but as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for my holiday to Wales in August.

As well as the lace cardigan I wanted something a little bit heavier, but still light, for when the summer breeze gets a little chilly, and this cardigan covers me perfectly. I went for white as it will go with everything and will be perfect against any summer colours. This one set me back £8.

The final items on my list was Summer footwear. My last favourite pair of sandals managed to last me a good 2 years, but they just fell apart, so I knew it was time to move on.

These laser cut sandals are feminine but at the same time not too girly. I'm not a massive fan of fake flowers or pearls on sandals as I think they look super tacky, so this is the perfect amount of feminine for me, and at £4 I couldn't leave them there.

I tend to buy a new pair of flip flops every year, normally because by the time autumn comes around they get thrown into a cupboard and forgotten about, and 9 times out of 10, they disappear. However Primark always have flip flops for £1, so it doesn't bother me too much that I buy a new pair each year. This year I went for this turquoise colour (obviously).

Finally I laid eyes on these beauties and I fell in love. I'm a big fan of gladiator style sandals, and I was devastated when I lost my last pair. However as soon as I tried these on I knew I had to make them mine. These came in at £10, but in my opinion they are totally worth it!

So there we have it, that's what I sneakily bought the last time I went to Primark. Next time I'm sure I'll be picking up even more summer goodies for my holiday in August!

Have you been to Primark recently? What did you buy?

Welcoming New Cuties to our Family!

Hello everyone! I have returned (hopefully for good). To be honest I have been struggling pretty hard with what to write on this blog for weeks now. Every time I sit down to write, I just freeze up and can't think of anything. Then today I totally realised that I haven't introduced you to the newest editions to my little family!

Ever since we moved into the flat I have wanted a pet. I am used to being around cats and dogs, and being able to cuddle them whenever I want. Obviously seeing as we are currently renting, and don't even have a garden, we cannot have a dog or a cat. So when we originally moved in I asked our landlord if it would be OK for us to get something like a hamster, and he said that was fine.

When I was a little younger, me and my sister had gerbils, a black one, and a sandy coloured one. I only remember that the sandy coloured one's name was 'Sandy', I know right? Totally original...

Anyway we used to hold them, and play with them, and I' pretty sure I taught my one to walk across my arms and get onto my head. They are super intelligent, and cute little creatures, so I knew I wanted them again.

A little around a month ago, we went into Pets at Home, just to have a look. and I fell in love with this beautiful black Gerbil with a white stripe down his body. He was super energetic, and running around the cage. I KNEW I wanted him. I begged Tim to let me get him, but he put his foot down and said no, he still wasn't sure about getting a Gerbil. Anyway, I spent the whole day begging, and pleading, and pouting, and batting my eyelashes at him, and even crying... YES CRYING! Over this furry little guy. Eventually Tim caved and said we could go back and get him, so we dashed straight back to the pet shop, and when we got there he was gone... I was so totally heartbroken, I think I cried for an hour when we got back... I know, it's only a gerbil... but I get very emotionally attached to animals, OK?

After that I kind of didn't want to go through that experience again, so for a few weeks I didn't even go into Pets at Home. Then when we were visiting a nearby store, I decided it was time to take another look. To my complete surprise and joy, there was the perfect Gerbil, almost exactly like the one I had missed out on, maybe not as energetic, but still super cute. I turned to Tim and told him we were getting them, so we quickly started grabbing a cage, food, woodshavings, and then I grabbed an advisor to grab the gerbil for me.

I always knew I wanted a pair of Gerbils, because I hate the thought of only have one, and it being lonely. So I picked another gerbil to come home with us, and they got boxed up and ready to go! So without further hesitation, I introduce to you, my furbabies!

For the first day we got them, we really struggled to name them. We were told by the ladies in the shop that they are both boys, so we trawled the internet looking for famous double acts that we could name them after. However after not finding anything suitable I started to look up Disney double acts and toy with a few of those names. Some included, Mike and Sully, Timone and Pumba, Buzz and Woody, but after really thinking about it, there was only one film in my recent life that wanted to name this little boys after... That film was Frozen. There was no way I could call either of them Hans, as even saying his name makes me spit venom, but I was originally toying with Sven and Kristoff, seeing as at least they are a double act! Tim wasn't so keen on Kristoff though, and suggested that one of them be named Olaf, seeing as that is his favourite character. As soon as he said it I realised how perfect is was... So they have now been named Sven and Olaf. 

The black and white cutie, is Sven. He is the more adventurous of the two, always running around, digging holes and flicking sawdust out of their cage. He is always the first to discover new things that I put in their environment. He has jumped onto my hand a few times, but I have yet to fully hold him.

That leaves our sandy coloured baby being Olaf. He is a lot more quiet, and will happily sleep in their tube/house all day and will only come out for food, or if their cage is open. He loves his Sunflower seeds, and takes them straight from my hand. He has also sat on my hand a few times, I have picked him up once. He keeps biting me gently, so I looked it up, and apparently he's checking to see if I am edible, and in time will realise that I am not food, and therefore will stop nibbling me. The website also suggested that I wash my hands before touching him, so that I don't have any tempting smells on them!

All in all, they are very amusing little things, and sometimes myself and Tim just like to sit by the cage and watch them scurry around. I can't wait until they let me hold them properly so that I can give them proper cuddles, but until them I am just happy to have them in my life!

Let me know in the comments if you have any pets, especially if they are Gerbils! I'm also thinking about doing a Gerbils 101 post, so let me know if you would like to see that!

Vlogmas Day 18: Memory Jar!

I know I haven't exactly kept up to date with my Vlogmas videos, but I have been a very busy girl this month. I am just thankful that Vlogmas has kick-started my Youtube Videos, even if I have only posted 5... it's better than none though, right?

Anyway yesterday's video was all about an idea I found online when I was looking for gifts for my boyfriend, and I thought we'd give it a go. So without further ado, here is Vlogmas day 18, featuring my boyfriend, Tim!

Animal Crossing Diary: Week #1

I was seriously excited when my copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf arrived on Tuesday. It shipped last Thursday and everyday I'd come home hoping that it was there, I had a while to wait but I haven't been disappointed! I thought it would be cool to write these like a diary entry from the point of view of my character, which is called Alyssia, obviously!

Dear Diary,

This week has certainly been a busy one, I've finally moved to Rosebush!

I was pretty surprised to see that everyone in town was at the station to welcome me, it's not every day that people welcome you in such an awesome way. Then I found out they thought that I was the new mayor! I tried to tell them that they had made a mistake, but they seemed pretty happy so I just went along with it! Isabelle, who is my new secretary, took me to the Town Hall and explained my role to me a bit more, and explained that I need to apply for a permit to be mayor. To get the permit, I needed an address, meaning I needed a house. So I was sent off to Nooks Homes, to see to that.

Firstly I had to pick a spot for my new house, so I chose to place it between the river and the ocean, so that I have plenty of options when I want to go fishing! Then until I could afford a down payment, Tom Nook put a tent in it's spot so that I would have somewhere to sleep.

I didn't have any furniture to start with so to be honest it was looking kind of bare. After I had sorted this I dashed back to the Town Hall to see Isabelle, she told me it was time for the tree planting ceremony, to mark my arrival as the new mayor in Rosebush.

Just like that I was officially Mayor! To complete my permit I need an approval rating of 100 percent from the residents of Rosebush, so for now I am working on that, and I've also been enjoying the town.

Catching up on my fishing....

My new duties as mayor....

Visiting the museum....

AND I finally made the down payment on my house, meaning, it could finally get built!

Here it is, my first home that's all my own! With a Blue roof, my favourite colour!

I even had time to enjoy the Summer Solstice yesterday, Isabelle set up this cute photo boothy thingy, and I had fun taking my picture there!

Finally I've just been meeting the townspeople and making new friends! I'm hoping that next week as going to be just as fun as this one!

Fingers Crossed!

Nintendogs Diary #1: Meet Chief!

I got my 3DS a few weeks ago and I'm ashamed to say that I haven't played it as much as I would have liked! Anyway I like that it's a crime if you own a DS and don't own a copy of Nintendogs. Yeah it can get a bit boring, but who can say they genuinely don't think the little dogs and cats are cute! I bought my copy preowned so when I first loaded it there was a rather neglected looking dachshund on the screen, a quick erase of the data and I was ready to go!

The problem I always have with this game is that I never know what breed to choose. I love all breeds of dogs, if it's a dog you can guarantee that I will squeal in joy when I see it! The best thing about this game is they've really worked on the way the dogs look, obviously they are never going to look 100% realistic, but they are much cuter than in the original Nintendogs! Anyway... after half an hour of agonising over all the breeds I settled on a Shiba Inu, which just happens to be one of my favourite breeds!

Ladies and gentlemen... meet Chief! My little (virtual) Shiba Inu puppy! I may not be able to get one of these little beauties in real life, but for now I'll be satisfied with this little guy! Isn't he just the cutest?

He even looks fuzzy, unlike the original nintendogs, which were kind of flat, he looks cute and fuzzy and soft and you just want to cuddle him! Right? I also like that the flooring looks a lot more realistic than it did in the other games. I think the new overall design is so much better!

This is him giving me his 'right paw'. Instead of the original 'Shake' command they now have 'right paw' and 'left paw'. I'm not really sure why, I always thought one paw was sufficient!

I really like this picture, I bought him this collar pretty much as soon as I got him, and I think it makes him look so cute!

I've only been playing with him for a little while, but I'm already in love. Please tell me I'm not the only adult that likes playing Nintendogs? I think it's a good way for me to satisfy my insane craving to own a basically one of every breed of dog! I've only taught him a couple of tricks so far, but I'm hoping that come tomorrow he'll be ready for his first obedience competition!

Please let me know if you enjoyed this post and want to see more posts like these? I am waiting on a delivery of Animal Crossing and already have 4 other bloggers to play that with! I'm thinking of doing an Animal Crossing diary and other general gaming diaries of whatever I play. It's much easier with 3DS games because you can take screen shots pretty much anytime! So watch this space for lots more gaming things!