Where Have I Been?

Well Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog. It's been over a month since my last post, but I promise the reason why I have been absent is a very good one! I actually have several pieces of news to share with you today so lets get started with the big one...

Most Popular Posts of 2015...

I've seen a couple of bloggers share these kinds of posts over the last few days and it was more for my own curiosity than anything else that I decided to check out my most popular posts from 2015...

Two Year Blogiversary and Giveaway

This was by far my most popular post of 2015, and needless to say this was one of the biggest give-aways that I had done on my blog ever. I was actually quite shocked by how popular it was. If you missed out on it you don't have to worry as I am already planning the giveaway for my 3 year Blogiversary!

My DFMA Diary Week One

I am unsurprised that this was one of my most popular posts of 2015 as it was one of the most exciting things that I did this year. For those of you that don't know I did a 1 month Film, TV and Theatre Makeup course and I decided to do a write up of my experience on the blog. You can check out week 2, week 3 and week 4, by simply clicking on them.

Bloggers Bake Along to GBBO: Black Forest Gateau

Ahhh my first week of the Bloggers Bake Along, probably my biggest achievement of the year was taking part in every single week of the bake along. I never made it easy on myself and the first week was no exception when I made this monstrosity of a cake for Tim's Birthday. The chocolate work was so fun, and it was the first time I made something so extravagant...

First Impressions: Lush Eye Jewels

This was one of my favourite new products of 2015 so I am glad that this was one of my most popular posts. It's more a Youtube video than a post, where I give a look at four of the eye jewels in the Lush makeup range from the Oxford Street store. I am so in love with these...

Bloggers Bake Along to GBBO: Mary Berry's Tennis Cake

The tennis cake, something that when I watched the GBBO episode, I thought looked so simple and beautiful... Then I made it, and OMG was this an effort and a half to make. I had to prepare a tonne of fruit, bake the cake, cover it in marzipan, colour some fondant, make royal icing in three different colours, AND try to make an upright tennis net... I was so please with the final result, even though it was without the tennis net...

There are my top 5 posts of 2015, are there any that I missed that were your favourite from my blog this year? Let me know in the comments below!

Sum Up Sunday #20

Couple's Selfie, Iron Man Makeup, New Youtube Video, A giant fan in our room, Playing with table confetti, New jelly sandals.

This week has been all about getting my life back on track. I had a doctors appointment, and an appointment with the HR department at work discuss me coming back. I've also spent the week being back on a diet, which has been surprisingly easy to follow. I am back on the Weight Watchers diet and this time I am doing the pro-points diet instead of filling and healthy meaning it is much harder for me to have a sneak snack and justify it as I have to write EVERYTHING down. Thankfully there is an iPhone app making it so much easier for me to make sure that I am on track. So much so that I managed to lose weight on my first week, yay!

This week I did my first proper makeup tutorial on my Youtube channel, and it was an Iron Man look, and it turned out way better than expected, if you want to see that you can check it out here.

Finally today I attended the Christening of my newest cousin, Eve. She is six months old and is seriously one of the cutest babies I have ever seen. Plus it was nice to see another family member being Christened in our family church, where we have ALL been Christened, and where hopefully one day my children will be Christened too!

Let me know what you have been up to this week in the comments below...

Reading: Nothing, I am picking my next read as I type

Listening To: Taylor Swift - Bad Blood

Playing: Games on my iPhone

Feeling: Nervous and excited

Looking Forward To: Going back to my job

Sum Up Sunday #8

This week has been pretty standard for me to be honest. I have been sticking to my diet and exercise plan, and I still haven't found it hard, or wanted to give up yet, which to be honest is amazing for me! A lot of what I have been up to this week, is blogging, to make sure you all have plenty of posts to read...

Last Sunday Tim and I popped into Basingstoke to do a bit of shopping, and we headed over to Pets At Home to get some Gerbil supplies. Outside were some beautiful owls from a rescue charity, and you could donate £2 and take a picture holding one of the Owls! Honestly the best £2 I think I have ever spent. I picked the smallest owl there, because he was just too cute, and Tim got some seriously great shots of him. The handler was telling me that he used to be kept in a tiny cat crate in the dark, so he used to crane his head right back to see some light, that's what he is doing in the picture above. Also because the crate was so small and he never flew his wings didn't develop properly so now he cannot fly. I'm so glad the team rescued him, I hate to think of this little beauty in the dark...

During the evenings this week I have been unwinding by playing an online version of Cards Against Humanity, which if you haven't heard of already, is probably the most offensive and hilarious game ever created. You win a point if your card is the most funny and the first to ten points wins. If you want to give it a go then click here. 

Yesterday Tim and I went to Bills in Newbury for a little lunchtime treat, and it was lovely. I had a butternut squash Mac n Cheese... It was so yummy, I'm salivating just thinking about eating it again! We were very good and had no extras, and I just had a cranberry juice with my meal, so I'm hoping it wasn't too unhealthy an option for my diet...

Then we went out to see my mum as she isn't well at the minute, and I taught her all about Pinterest! She was looking for knitting patterns online and I thought Pinterest would be the perfect place for her to find some, and I was right! I even had a go at knitting, and I wasn't too bad at it, so I may have to pick myself up some knitting gear this year! When I was sitting on the sofa with one knee up, Tigger decided that he want to lay on that knee... He climbed up and dug his claws in and he looked so pleased with himself... He didn't last long there though I had to put my knee down he was clawing me so much!

I hope you've all had a wonderful week, and I'll see y'all in the next one.

This week I'm...

Reading: The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly (Still)

Listening To: Topsify playlist on Spotify and loving Uptown Funk...

Playing: Hidden Object Games (more to come on the blog soon)

Feeling: Happy that I lost weight again this week!

Looking Forward To: Having a naughty slice of cake later today (More on the blog soon)

Sum Up Sunday #7

Wowzer this week has been a busy one... Monday was the first day of my new life, I started my Weight Watchers diet, starting actually planning my blog, and started exercising daily. I have been very focused on myself this week, and so my Instagram seems to have suffered, I only have three to share with you this week!

The first thing I did this week was finally organise my blog schedule. You may have noticed that I have posted every day this month so far, and it's mostly down to this beauty. This calender actually came from this set of free printables from Every Day Enchanting, I've actually got different post it notes on it now, these were ones from a 'List Book' from Paper chase that I happened to have at the time! I hope this something that I carry on with for the rest of this year, and I hope you guys enjoy my more regular posting!

As mentioned above I started a new diet this week, and it is Weight Watchers. We are doing the Filling and Healthy version of the diet. You basically have a list of foods that are 'free' and you can eat as much as you like of these, it's mostly fruit or vegetables, and some meat. Then you get 49 pro-points a week to use on the non-list items. Tim and I were craving something biscuit-like and I found this recipe on Pinterest. The only thing you need to count in this recipe is the chocolate chips, because the other two ingredients are on the free list! They are made from Banana, Oats and chocolate chips, and that is it.. They are that simple, and they are quite tasty.

Another recipe for my diet, three ingredient pancakes! I also got this one from Pinterest (it's seriously amazing for finding things like this), they are made from banana, egg, and cinnamon. As you can see I added some blueberries to mine to make them extra yummy. Best of all, these ingredients are on the Weight Watchers filling and healthy list, so I can technically have as many of these as I like!

Finally this week I got to meet my newest cousin, Eve. She was born on New Years Eve (hence the name) and she is so tiny and beautiful... She fell asleep on me for almost two hours, and I honestly couldn't stop staring her... Seriously broody over here right now!

This week I'm...

Reading: The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang

Listening To: Earthquake by Labrinth

Playing: Mario Kart 3DS (a new addition to my collection)

Feeling: Broody!

Looking Forward To: Giving Eve some more cuddles...

Sum Up Sunday #6

From Top Left to Bottom Right: All my Baking Books, Christmas Chocolate collection, new stand mixer, Hot chocolate with all the trimmings, Gingerbread house, Sister Selfie, NYE Selfie, New Blog notebook, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Selfie with my bro, Wedding Selfie, and Cuddles with Sven.

I don't even know how I have managed to cram so many things into this one week, no wonder I am so tired! Tim and I started off our week by finally organising our Christmas presents and finding places for them all. This prompted a clear out of our shelves, so that I could fit all my baking books onto them. Well I wish they all fitted on one shelf... some of them are actually floating around on a separate shelf... This also meant we had to find somewhere for all of our Christmas sweets and chocolates and thankfully we have a few spare shelves on our TV unit which is now housing a tonne of chocolate.

I finally ordered a stand mixer! I settled on one by Morphy Richards which was £69.99, my plan is to use this one for now, and then to save up all my money to buy a Kitchenaid later on, maybe when Tim and I finally move into our own place (I can dream right?). Tim and I have been very naughty this week before our new diet kickstarts next week, we've eaten far too many sweets and treats, including building a gingerbread house, drinking hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows, AND going out to Gourmet Burger Kitchen for lunch... All I can say is I'm going to miss all of these treats when our new lifestyle really sets in next week.

I've also attended a few events this week, of course it was New Years Eve on Wednesday, and we went to a party in my village, and there was a lot of drink and dancing. To be honest I didn't drink too much, Tim maybe had one too many, my 16 year old brother on the other hand came home completely sozzled, having managed to sneak a LOT of alcohol from under my dad's nose. Tim and I left the party early and went home to bed, and were rudely awoken at about 1:30am by my Dad barging into the living room demanding that I go and help him sort my brother and sister out who were royally pissed. I managed to get them out of the kitchen and up the stairs then as soon as I had settled myself into bed I heard dad shout, 'Oh now he's chundered everywhere', of course I had to go investigate, and I found my brother in a right old state. By this point my mother had now also been woken up (she was at home ill and didn't go to the party), and obviously was none to pleased to find my brother rolling around on the bathroom floor absolutely paralytic... We all tried and failed to get him to bed, and it took us about an hour of helping, and laughing to get him sorted. I can honestly say I have never seen anyone in that bad a state, he was talking nonsense, and crying... There is video evidence of all of this (which I took to show him the next day), but he's promised to ruin my life if I ever share this with the internet. Other than that it was a pretty good night.

Then yesterday I attended a wedding of some of our family friends, and it was a lovely ceremony. It's made me get the itch to get married to be honest... I'm just waiting around for a certain someone to ask! Then when we were outside my sister managed to snap a couple of decent photos of Tim and I, which I couldn't resist sharing.

Apologies for the soppy-ness, but I rarely take a good photo, so when I happen to get some good ones I always get excited. I'm not normally a fan of 'kissing' photos, but my sister snapped us mid-kiss and I think it looks really beautiful... It's probably one of the best pictures we have of us together actually...

Then to top off an amazing weekend I managed to handle Sven for about 15 minutes this evening! It was lovely, he was running all over my leg very confusedly, but settled down and then didn't seem too bothered. He did give me a little nip when I picked him up to put him back in the cage, but I think I scooped him up too quickly and he didn't like it. Either way, I see that as a success!!

This week I'm...

Reading: Blog posts! I'm enjoying reading everyone's resolutions/goals for 2015
Listening To: 'Who Run The World? Girls' playlist on Spotify
Playing: Luigi's Mansion 2 on 3DS
Feeling: Tired... and like I haven't stopped at all this week.
Looking Forward to: Getting back into a normal routine next week, even though that means going back to work.

Sum Up Sunday #4

From Top Left to Bottom Right: Limo Crash, Family Christmas Meal Out, Tesco Camembert sharer bread, Cute chalkboard decoration, Hot Chocolate Selection, Work Christmas Party, Christmas Came Early for One Little Boy, Tigger didn't like the wrapping paper, Selfies with Jared.

This week has definitely been a fun one, and the Christmas spirit has finally spread to everyone else around me! HUZZAH!

Tim and I were minding our own business on our laptops last Sunday when Tim heard an almighty crash. He ran to the kitchen window to see what it was an this Limo had crashed into a parked car. Now I don't think I've told the story of the Limo as of yet, but basically this guy parked his limo along the side of the road by our flat taking up 3 cars spaces, and he had been parked there for a month. This meant that now everyone was struggling to find parking, whilst this guy has his own PRIVATE driveway just down the road. Anyway, Tim and I jumped at the chance to be nosey and took the recycling out so we didn't look too much like we were gawking (even though we were), and I actually knew the guy who's car had been munched by the Limo, thankfully he will be getting a company car from work shortly, so it doesn't make much of a difference to him. After a little bit more poking I found out that the limo had simply come out of gear and rolled back into his car!!! I know it's naughty but Tim and I couldn't help but giggle at the Limo driver's misfortune, especially after all the trouble he had been causing us.

Then last Sunday night Tim and I got both our families out together for a Christmas meal at Strada, which was seriously good, despite them adding a £35 "optional" (but not really optional) service charge to our meal, which I thought was ridiculous considering how much our bill was already! Other than that it was really delicious and every one had a great time. I ended up having a mini pumpkin risotto, Chicken and mash, and apple tart. Speaking of good food, I spotted this caramelised onion Camembert sharing bread from Tesco on the Metro website and knew that we had to try it. Best of all it was a mere £5! It's only available until the 31st of December so if you want to try it, I suggest you go out and grab it now.

On Tuesday I attended my work Christmas party which was held at Newbury Racecourse (how posh), and we got a free two course meal out of it, and who can really turn down a free meal right? When we turned up there was complimentary champagne, of which I had two glasses, and then there were three bottles of wine on each table and considering only three of us were drinking, we had plenty. In fact I didn't purchase a single drink that night, and I was quite drunk by the end of it!

This weekend was my favourite for a long time as Jade and Jared came to visit! Now I haven't seen Jared since March and I cannot believe how much he has changed since then. He's so much taller, and talks a lot more than he did back then. He comes out with the funniest stuff... He said my mum was tapped!!! We all almost died it was so funny... Anyway on Saturday we spent the whole day in town with them, and then went back to Mum's to give them our Christmas presents, and as they live so far away, and we all wanted to see Jared with his gifts, Jade let him open them. I bought him clothes and a pair of red Dunlop High Tops for Christmas, as Jade said he had plenty of toys, but not a lot of clothes. He opened the clothes first, and he must copy what he's heard other's say when they open gifts, because without really looking he gasped and said 'Woooooooooooow'. Then proceeded to drop them on the floor an pick up his next gift (children, eh?). I helped him open his shoes, and once we'd ripped the wrapping paper off of the box I flipped up the lid and he gasped, 'NEW SHOES' and he grabbed them out of the box and took them to Jade to show her. Honestly melted my heart watching him open those presents, and Christmas didn't just come early for Jared, but also for me for getting to spend time with him. 

This Week I'm...

Reading: 5Ib's in 5 Days: The Juice Detox Diet - Yes I am planning to go on a Juice Detox. As you may or may not know a few months ago my dieting was going strong, and then I got my new job, and things just went out of the window. My plan is to follow this 5 day detox, take a short break of 4 days, and then get straight back into my diet. I will be writing all about my juicing experience so watch this space!

Listening To: The Frozen Soundtrack (again), Tim and I watched this again the other night and I haven't stopped listening to the soundtrack since.

Feeling: In the Christmas Spirit!

Looking Forward To: Christmas! I mean come on, who isn't looking forward to Christmas right now, it's four days away!

Sum Up Sunday #1

My Animal Crossing Diary, Starbucks at work, Trying sleepy tea, Yogurt covered cranberries, Blueberry Pancakes, Cute bear hat, My favourite Mac 'n' cheese, Injuring my thumb, Pin the dummy on the baby.

This week has been pretty full on. At work I have been bogged down, and trying to get used to a completely new job role. Don't get me wrong, I am really enjoying it, there is just a hell of a lot to do, and also remember. I haven't really had a lot of time for me this week, but I've got a few more exciting things coming up next week, so I can't wait for those!

I'm really enjoying getting back into Animal Crossing, if you haven't been following you can read my first two diary entries here and here. I'm making some serious progress on this game, and even making some new friends.

The best thing about where I work is being able to go and grab a Starbucks or a Costa not even a stones throw away. On top of that we get sent (free) fruit boxes twice a week, packed full of all different fruits. This week a lot of our team were working from home, so by Friday there was plenty up for grabs, including a punnet of blueberries. I snagged them and decided to make blueberry pancakes, which I had never actually tried. They will no be making their way into my regular recipes.

Yesterday Tim and I went to look for a Baby shower gift (for today), but couldn't find anything, I did however find this cute bear hat, which I didn't buy, but may go back for by the end of the month. Tim then made his Mac 'n' Cheese for myself and his mum, who thoroughly enjoyed it! It is seriously the best Mac 'n' Cheese in the world, no lie.

Today I had a baby shower to attend, and having not found a gift yesterday, mum decided to pick me up early so that we could go and take a look at Mothercare. Unfortunately as I was making my way to her car I slipped on a rather mossy path and took a rather big chunk out of my thumb. As I type this it is splinted with a lolly stick, and wrapped in cotton wool. I fear I may have done something a little worse than simply taking a chunk out of my thumb, as I am in extreme pain whenever I bend it. If it hasn't calmed down by tomorrow, I will be taking a trip up to A&E...

Other than that today was really fun, we played a couple of games at the baby shower, including pinning the dummy on the baby, in which I managed to get mine on the babies shoulder. My mum also decided we would play the 'Smell the Nappy' game, in which we were given 5 nappies to smell and had to guess what was in them. All of them (apart from one) were chocolate, so it wasn't anything too gross, and the final one was peanut butter and mustard, which I managed to guess without issue! The baby shower was for my uncles girlfriend and she only has about a month left of her pregnancy, and I honestly can't wait to meet my newest cousin!

This week I'm...

Reading: Mary Berry's autobiography, which is taking me longer to read than it really should be.

Listening To: The Hoosiers, The Trick to Life. An album that I was obsessed with as a teen, and have recently rediscovered.

Feeling: Sick :-( Mainly due to the pain I am in with my thumb, I hope this passes by tomorrow.

Looking Forward to: Going to Bristol next weekend with Tim, it'll be very nostalgic, and Christmassy! 

I hope you're week was good, and I'll speak to you all again next week!

#100HappyDays Day 48-54

Blogging for two days in a row now? I think I am finally getting back on track, and I am certainly enjoying it! Today I bring you another #100HappyDays roundup, I'm actually not posting one of these every day, and some days I'm posting several. Mainly because I want there to be more interesting things for you guys to look at! So let's go...

Day 48: I finally met my boyfriends neice! She is only 11 weeks old and so small. I had lots and lots of cuddles, despite not technically being family. I love this picture as we look like a proper family! So glad I got to hand her back at the end of the day though...

Day 49: Tim bought me Frozen for Easter! More fool him though, as I'll be watching it all the time now!

Day 50: Tim and I finally got our hands on an Xbox One. Setting up was fun, and the instant sign-in and hand controls are pretty cool too. Can't wait to start playing Assassin's Creed Black Flag!

Day 51: I made cottage pie for dinner, and even though I severely burnt my mouth on it, it was super yummy, and I can't wait to have it again!

Day 52: I found this when moving my clothes around the other day and I couldn't resist wearing it. I'm still #TWFanmily at heart.

Day 53: I realised I had all the ingredients needed to make mini pizza muffins for lunch, they were seriously tasty, and Tim was jealous that he didn't think of it first!

Day 54: I cleaned the Gerbils cage, and it's looking better than ever. Seeing my boys run around in their plastic balls, whilst I was cleaning, was a giggle.

So there we have it, another week, another 7 photos... This challenge is just flying by...

#100HappyDays 8-17

I know, I know, I haven't blogged in a good week or so... BUT I have had good reason! Firstly, last Monday, I started my new job, and secondly, myself and Tim have moved in together!! It's all very exciting. We got the keys last Monday, but have only just officially moved in, due to not having any furniture! I will be doing a tour of the place once everything is unpacked and we are settled, but for now I thought it was about time that I caught up with my #100HappyDays photos! We've got a lot to get through, so let's get going!

Day 8: We bought this lovely blue orchid for the flat, it looks so pretty in our windowsill, plus blue is my favourite colour!

Day 9: I went to Cotswalds Wildlife Park and they only have a low wall around the penguin enclosure, so I got pretty close to this guy! He even let us stroke him!

Day 10: Tim treated me to lunch at Café Rouge! I just had a chicken baguette, although he also let me have a pudding, so I had their tarte tatin! Which is freaking awesome!

Day 11: The first day we had keys to the flat, so I thought I would sneak up a cheeky photo of it! This is actually part of the living room...

Day 12: We had our first takeaway in the flat, although there was flatpack furniture everywhere...

Day 13: I've started taking softmints to work, and they are seriously scrummy!

Day 14: We finished putting our bed up! This was actually the first night we slept in the flat, it was awesome! P.s it's a kingsize!

Day 15: My first home made lunch, in my brand new lunchbox, I was extremely proud!

Day 16: I went to see Fall Out Boy with my sister, and we got to the second row!!! It was THE most awesome concert I have ever been too. I sang along to every single song, and now with it only being the day after, my voice is all over the place.. totally worth it though.

Day 17: I was very lucky that Tim and I received this Air Fryer as a moving in present! We'd been eyeing one up since way before we even chose the flat, but now we have one! We are both seriously excited to use it!!

There we have it, a massive roundup of my #100HappyDays photos! If you want to see them as I post them, then follow me on Instagram, and let me know what you guys have been getting up to! I'm hoping to get back to my normal blogging now we've actually moved in, and especially want to get my Youtube back on track, so watch this space!

#100HappyDays 1-7

Welcome to my first #100HappyDays post! A couple of my favourite bloggers were posting photos using this tag, so I thought that I would jump on the bandwagon, so let's see my first week of pictures.

Day one saw me joining a gym with my boyfriend for the first time in my life. It's all part of my plan to get healthier!

Day Two was when I finally got my tablet back from repair! Well they gave me a new one anyway...

Day Three was my final day at Vodafone, I'm gutted that I had to leave, but I'm moving on to bigger things.

On Day Four, I painted my nail again for the first time in forever! I love these Barry M Silk polishes, this one is in Mist!

The evening of Day Five was spent bowling with my Vodafone work buddies, that was a good night, also the first time I have had a proper drinking session in a long while.

On Day six I treated my boyfriend by cooking American style pancakes with chocolate chips in them, they were scrummy!

Day seven was spent cuddling my most favourite bitch in all the world, my beautiful dog, Maizey...

So all in all I've had a very good week, although I've got a stressful one ahead of me, so I don't know how that is going to turn out!

Insta-Roundup: December 2013-January 2014!

Seeing as I've been TERRIBLE at writing my 'Week in Instapics' posts, I thought I should have a bit of a catch-up, and so I've decided to post all my instagram photos from December until now... Get ready for a picture overload!

 From top left to bottom right: On the train, Pretty Blouse, New Headphones, Steak Treat from the Boyfriend, Paper Snowflake, Hot Chocolate.

 From top left to bottom right: Terrible Selfie, Christmas Tree, Standard Nandos, New Boots, Selfie with Jade, Posing with the Cutie.

 From top left to bottom right: Work Selfie, Text Santa Hat, Present from Kerrie, GIANT Turkey, Truth Hat, My boyfriend being TOO funny.

 From top left to bottom right: Christmas Pascal, Polar Jumper, Nice Christmas Selfie, New Tablet, Hat from Tim's Mum, Gloves from his sister.

 From top left to bottom right: Frankie and Benny's Sundae, Smoothie from Coals, Duck Pate @ Coals, Cheesy pizza bread, Date night selfie, Eyeliner Selfie.

From top left to bottom right: Being cooked for, Chilli Dog, My sister being a fool, Owl Thingy, Reading Material, Cuddles with my baby <3

So there we have it, that's what I have been getting up to on Instagram!! Hopefully I'll keep up with weekly posts from now on, to save these massive photo heavy posts!