Monday Musings VII

Hello lovelies - is anyone else slightly terrified by how quickly February is already whizzing by? I know that I am! Anyway, it's apparently already time for another Monday Musing - enjoy!

♥ Roundup A bit of a quiet week to start with as we weren't really in a lot at all...
On Monday, I brought you my Monday Musings funnily enough!
Then it all went quiet until Saturday where I treated you to yet another Inspirational Interview, this time with the gorgeous Lily from Beauty's Bad Habit. I also did another video review, this time on some Miners Cosmetics bits that I was recently sent.
Sunday was also a double whammy of posts - I posted my first ever blog sale (there's still plenty left so do take a look!) and I brought you yet another video, this time giving you a nosey peek around my makeup storage


♥ inmywindow
I also got round to posting on my crafty/foody blog this week, so do feel free to trundle over there and have a look at some of my favourite things and I also shared my favourite snack

♥ Eye Eye

I've seen quite a lot of people again over the last week - I've had a few meetings (including one with the vicar of my church - more on that later) and we also went out for a meal with friends and then went for Sunday lunch at a friend's house which has been lovely! I feel like 2011 has been a really sociable year so far and I'm quite enjoying that! Last year I was very tired and stressed and quite down at times so I found it difficult to socialise properly but this year we seem to have seen tonnes of people already!


I've also seen quite a bit of Lego Batman as it's the game that Peter and I have been enjoying playing together recently - I love the fact that Peter and I share so many geeky interests, and playing silly video games together is one of our favourite things to do. I don't really think things that are uber violent or uber difficult though so we tend to stick to the Lego series :)

♥ Whirring Cogs

I've spent a lot of time (yup, youve guessed it) thinking about my GTP application - I've basically convinced myself that I've not got on, but I'm also aware of how utterly obscene that is! The deadline was just over a week ago, so I just need to chill out and accept that it'll probably be another week or so before I hear :)

I've also been thinking quite a bit about my friend Maarten who I work with - he was off work for a couple of weeks because his Grandmother died and a few other things happened and yeah - I've been worried about him, so it was great to see him back at work today and to be able to have a good catch up :)

The other thing that's taken up quite a bit of my time is the decision to leave the church that Peter and I joined around a year ago. I won't go into vast amounts of detail, but it's been a very painful experience and a very difficult decision to make, but ultimately it was right :) I'm now just attending Peter's dad's church on a Sunday evening and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from me and I'm me again!

♥ Hidden Treasures

This week I think you should check out...

RachhFit which is the new health and fitness channel from the lovely Rachhloves and her friend. I really do love the exercise videos that Rachel has posted on her original channel, and as she'll be running this with her friend who's a trained personal trainer, I'm really excited about what this might turn into!

A Little Obsessed is a blog that I end up reading almost every day - I love Sabrina's writing style and her photography :)

Giddy Princess a super sweet lady I was lucky enough to meet at the Aussie event I went to and a lovely blog with tonnes of reviews and videos.

♥ The Path...

This week, I'm challenging myself to stop being lazy and get back on the exercise wagon.

♥ Respect Yourself

As I'm writing this, I'm listening to Rachhfit's video on Eating Disorders - I definitely suggest that you go watch it, even if you don't struggle with eating disorders yourself. I'm not going to talk about it today, but I have struggled a lot with disordered eating in my life and it's something that I'm slowly but surely overcoming. For now though, I just suggest that you go watch her video and I would love it if you could complete her challenge, which is this: After you've read this post, I'd like you to post a comment with 10 things that you truly love about yourself - don't be shy! I want to know them :) Go on, do it now before you forget! Here's mine:

1. I love my eyes - they're the most awesome shade of green and have little flecks of amber in them!

2. I love the fact that I can connect so well with kids who have difficult home lives and that I work in a job that allows me to have a positive impact on their lives.

3. Ditto for kids with autism.

4. I love that I'm a naturally inquisitive person....

5. .... and also a brutally honest one at times.

6. I love my silly obsessions with receiving letters, the Netherlands and vampire fiction.

7. I love the fact that I set high standards for myself

8. I love that I make my meat eater friends vegetarian food and that they always enjoy it

9. I love how utterly ridiculous I am when it's just me and Peter

10. I love that I've made it this far and that I still manage to enjoy my life, despite some of the rubbishness that it's thrown at me :)

I hope you're having a happy Monday and that you've enjoyed the past week - please do share your things you love post with me and let me know any little bits and bobs that are happening for you over the next week or so :)

Monday Musings VI

Hello lovelies! Hope you're having a wonderful start to the week and that life isn't proving too stressful :) Last week really seemed to drag, hence I'm happy to be bringing you my Monday Musing for this week (which I hope will move a little more speedily!)


♥ Roundup 
Quite a few posts this week from me :)
On Tuesday, I finally got round to doing my epic current skincare post, which is basically a Liz Earle Love fest hehe
On Wednesday, I treated myself in The Body Shop BOGOF sale offer and got a genuinely awesome bargain!
On Thursday, I posted an Alva Showergel review
On Saturday, I treated you an an Inspirational Interview of epic epicness with Caitlin from Shiro Cosmetics
On Sunday, I had a fight with several videos but eventually brought you my video review of ELF bamboo brushes and some other ELFy bits :)

♥ Eye Eye

This week I feel like I've mainly seen a lot of school - my week moved really slowly for some reason and it felt like I spent most of my time there... however, this can't be true as the other thing I spent a lot of time seeing was friends! We had 2 different sets of friends over for dinner, and hosted our cell group and I went for dinner with a couple of friends as well! (Not to mention the obligatory meeting up for coffee midweek!)


I've also been doing lots of reading this week which has been a nice distraction from work and a good bit of escapism - I utterly love trashy vampire fiction and have ever since I was about 10 or 11 and got a copy of The Secret Vampire by L.J.Smith free with Just 17 magazine. At the moment, I'm in the middle of the Morganville Vampires series, which I'm enjoying for its distinct lack of sparkly vampire (although I am partial to a bit of Twilight on the odd occasion when I want my brain to feel like mush)

♥ Whirring Cogs

You're probably bored to death of me saying this, but this week I've been thinking a heck of a lot about my GTP. I sent off my application last week and now I start the joyous process of waiting to see if I've made it through the first round of short listing.

I've also spent a fair bit of time wishing I worked a more flexible/financially rewarding job for two reasons - firstly, because I would have utterly loved to go to IMATS and secondly because I was invited to the Professional Beauty show bloggers event at the end of February but as it's term time I'll be working :( I was devastated.

♥ Hidden Treasures

This week I think you should check out...

Sprinkle of Glitter for super cute posts that often make me giggle, lots of lovely reviews and pretty pretty pictures!

An Exception to the Rule because she's a genuinely awesome person and picked me up an Inglot palette at IMATS - her blog is also choc full of reviews and the latest beauty product news and she doesn't have nearly enough followers!

Life of a Cosmo(naut) for amazing amounts of swatch p*rn....another utterly fab lady with not anywhere near as many followers as she deserves!

♥ The Path...

This week, I'm going to remind myself to let go and let God.

♥ Respect Yourself

Over the last week, I've had the privilege of being able to support a fair few friends (in my actual life and my blogging life) who've gone through some pretty difficult times. Hence my "Respect Yourself" idea of the week isn't actually related to things for us but to things we can do for others. Sadly, Western Culture is very focused on the "Me Monster" - when all that's important is yourself and we end up so busy that our sense of self preservation kicks in and we allow those around us to fall to the peripheries of our priorities. I think it would be amazing if this week, everyone who reads this makes an extra effort to help the people around them who need help. Put a line through the gym visit and go visit the friend who's having a tough time instead, buy an extra cup of tea when you're in Starbucks and give it to the first homeless person you see (better still, buy an extra Boots meal deal and give them that instead), send a spontaneous bunch of flowers to your mum/aunty/best friend and tell them that you love them, that you're thinking of them and that you're always willing to lend a hand where needed.... don't let the person have to wait an 30 minutes for the next bus because they don't have the correct change - pay for their ticket and don't expect them to pay you back, send a message to the person on twitter who seems hurt and upset, ask a friend how they really are and just listen for a while. Imagine if everyone who read this post did this - I think there'd be a few happier people out there, and that wouldn't just be the people that we show a little love to :)

Monday Musings V

Hello my lovelies - apologies for the lack of Musing last week - the combination of my birthday on Tuesday and getting sinusitis meant that I wasn't really in the Musing mood (far too excited/ill!) However it's business as usual today and I hope you enjoy :) Do feel free to leave me a comment telling me what you've been Musing over this past week.


♥ Roundup 
Ok so lets cast out minds way back in time and see what the last couple of weeks have held blog wise!


On Tuesday 11th, I reminded you all about the Nails Inc/Diet Coke promotion
On Wednesday 12th, I shared some info on the beautiful polishes from A England that appeared in my inbox
On Thursday 13th, I swatched like a mad woman and treated you to my review of the beautyuk palettes I picked up in Superdrug
On Saturday 15th, I brought you an Inspirational Interview with the fabulous Phyrra
Then it all went quiet whilst I celebrated my birthday and got ill until...
Thursday, when I bought you a little NOTD with a beautiful Spa Rituals polish I was sent and also a swatch fest of some more Darling Girl Cosmetics pretties that I picked up :)
Finally on Saturday I brought you one of my most popular posts to date, an Inspirational Interview with the utterly wonderful Lipglossiping!!!

♥ inmywindow

inmywindow has been ridiculously quiet - I've not even done my Project 365 updates (although I do have the pictures - I just need to upload them!). I did bring you a recipe for my favourite stew though which I definitely recommend you giving a try!

♥ Eye Eye

This week I've seen yet more of my GTP application form although I won't be saying that anymore as it's been sent! I'm very excited and a little nervous and utterly glad to not have to sit and stare at it anymore!


I've also seen quite a bit of sunshine which has made me really happy. I love winter sun - it makes things such a beautiful colour don't you think? It also means that I've been able to take quite a few pictures which is nice - one of my favourite things to photograph at the moment are the Geese that live by the river.... although I'm utterly terrified of Canada Geese, I have a real soft spot for the Grey Geese. They're such funny characters and are incredibly photogenic!


Another lovely thing over the past couple of weeks has been having the chance to see a lot of friends - in some ways I'm not a naturally sociable person, but I've really enjoyed catching up with people and having them over for dinner/meeting up with them for coffee. 


Finally, I've been seeing a heck of a lot of my beautiful beautiful Macbook - it's such a joy to have a laptop again!

♥ Whirring Cogs

Oddly, my Whirring Cogs is very similar to my previous one - GTP, money, God/church stuff. However unlike my previous post I'm feeling fairly chilled out about it all. I've made some pretty major decisions with regards to certain things that are hopefully going to make life a little less stressful and a little more enjoyable.

I've also been thinking quite a bit about food and cooking - I've been felling fairly inspired recently so I've enjoyed cooking lots of different things!

♥ Hidden Treasures

Oooo what to choose this week? These are three blogs that I really do love and I definitely recommend checking them out:

The Roxy Loves for a delightful mishmash of beauty, makeup, crafts and baking

Darling Girl Cosmetics for exciting DGC news and lots of wonderful FOTDs

Lauren Loves for lots of beauty bits and bobs (and also because she's a generally awesome lovely person)

♥ The Path...

This week, I plan to chill out and stop being anxious about the little things that are beyond my control.

♥ Respect Yourself

Anyone else feeling this mid-January slump? I am! It can be so hard at this time to keep yourself motivated with the same excitement and determination that you had at the start of the month when you were making all sorts of crazy and exciting plans.

It's easy to view that lack of determination as being a sign of failure and weakness, and when we let ourselves think that, all we do is trigger a cycle of negative thinking which is counterproductive to motivation! You haven't failed - you've just had a momentary wobble long the path. We all have them don't we? So instead of beating yourself up, why not use this week as a chance to set yourself back on the straight and narrow! However, I've got a challenge for us - instead of just trying to get stuck back into things straight away, I think it's a good idea to pinpoint exactly what it was that made us stop trying in the first place - did we set ridiculous goals? Did we not set tough enough goals? Were we trying to do something that we truly hated?

For me, I know that my lack of exercise at the moment was triggered by trying to convince myself I was going to exercise everday - for me, this is a ridiculous goal. I work a lot and have a fairly active schedule in the evenings... there's no way I can exercise everyday! Instead I want to aim for 3 focused sessions of exercise a week in addition to my daily cycle/walk to and from school. How do you need to modify your goals? What steps can you take this week to Respect Yourself just a little bit more? x

Monday Musings IIII

Blimey, I literally can't believe that it's Monday already! Last week whizzed by in a bit of a stressful blurr! Apologies that so many of my posts are text based at the moment - I'm rarely in my house when it's actually light enough to take decent pictures :( However I will be bringing you a review of some Beauty UK palettes that I picked up last week over the next couple of days and hopefully a couple of FOTDs as well :)

♥ Roundup 

A quiet week on Sparkle and Shade!
On Tuesday, I brought you my latest MyPure Package review
On Saturday I treated you to the first Inspiration Interview of the New Year with the uber lovely Maylovesmakeup
On Sunday, I pointed you in the direction of some very important info regarding the Glittersniffer Cosmetics recall/refund.


♥ inmywindow


Things have been a little busier on inmywindow this week - I've been enjoying sharing some of my crafts bits and bobs and photography with you. I shared some of my favourite fabrics from the Seamstar sale, did my first sewing tutorial for a fleecy headband/earwarmer and posted my first Project 365 update.

♥ Eye Eye

This week, I've seen a whole new side of myself - an incredibly creative side that is finally able to imagine something in my head and make it a reality. How? Sewing! I utterly love my new sewing machine and I'm finding that it comes quite easily to me. I designed and made a bag for my new camera on Saturday and on Sunday I sewed my first skirt. I love being able to be creative but also have purpose in my creativity.

I've also seen my new class - you might remember that before Christmas I told you I'd be working with a little girl in Reception with William's Syndrome and I started last week. I have to admit, the class I'm in is really pushing me to my limits but I love it. We have a lot of children with a lot of complex needs but it's great fun!

Finally, I've seen a heck of a lot of my GTP application form. After lots of umming and arring, I've decided that I am definitely applying for a GTP in Hull and as the closing date is the end of this month, I've been cracking on with my application form this weekend. I still feel very confused about the whole thing but I figure it's better to apply and reject them than to not apply and regret it.

♥ Whirring Cogs

Obviously I've been thinking a lot about my GTP but there have been quite a few other things on my mind this week.

Firstly, I've been quite worried about money - we're in a frsutrating situation at the moment where no matter how much we cut back our spending, we seem to have less and less money each month and, when we think things are getting better, we seem to just keep hitting financial blow after financial blow. Quite frankly, it sucks.

Another thing that's been on my mind a lot recently is my relationship with God and the church we go to. I don't want to say a lot here because I don't really like blogging about religious stuff, but the long and short of it is that I'm struggling with my faith and I'm struggling to like my church.

I've also been thinking a lot about body image and diets and fitness and all that sort of stuff, but I'll chat a bit more about that in Respect Yourself :)

♥ Hidden Treasures

Again, I've been reading lots of blogs this week and it's always so hard to choose my hidden (or not so hidden) treasures but this week I've been enjoying:

Beautiful You Beauty Blog and her beautiful nails

In a Perfect World - a relatively new blogger but a really sweet girl

Pink Sugar Beauty who has a lovely blog and a far too tiny amount of followers!

♥ The Path...

This week, I'm going to remember that even when I don't see it and don't quite trust in it, God's got a plan for me.

♥ Respect Yourself

Ok, I want to talk about something that's been on my heart all this week. Obviously, January is the perfect time to kick start our healthy eating routines and really work on getting ourselves in shape - I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling a little flabbier now than I did at the start of December. But I want to remind us all to keep something in mind (and I know I mentioned this in my Monday Musings last week, but I want to say it again). Fad diets are not the key to healthy, sustainable weight loss. Your body has an appetite for a reason - to keep you alive. And to keep your body fit and healthy, we need to feed it nutrients and good things. Quick fix diets are exactly that - a quick fix. There's no denying that the weight will drop off when you're on a purely liquid diet, but the minute you return to normal eating, it'll come back, leaving you feeling like a failure/fat/a terrible person/whatever you end up feeling like which probably ends up pushing you towards a restrictive diet again.

Ladies, I want to challenge you to do two things (and I'll explain why in a mo):

1. Ditch the scales! Unless you have an unhealthy BMI, you do not need scales.

2. Ditch the diets and focus on healthy eating and exercise.

Why ditch the scales? Because the number tells you nothing. Do you know that I weigh more when I exercise regularly than I do at the moment? And yet when I'm exercising regularly, I utterly love how my body looks. All the scales tell you is how much you weigh but our bodies aren't just made up of fat and therefore that number doesn't tell us how fat/thin/whatever we are - it just tells us a figure. Instead, lets learn to trust our own instinct of what feels right for us - lets learn to look at our bodies with an open and accepting eye. Not one of us has the perfect body, so lets stop aiming for it! Instead, I want to challenge you ladies to aim for the most healthy, most radiant, most beautiful version of you. We are not all meant to look the same - some of us have big hips, some of us don't. Some of us have non-existant bums, others have curvy ones. That's fine. We're meant to be different. Please ladies, learn to look at the mirror and accept yourself. After you've learnt to do that, start to look in the mirror and love yourself.

Why ditch the diets? Because as I've already mentioned, quick fix diets are not sustainable and promote a vicious cycle of self loathing. Unhealthy restriction is not good for you and whilst it may occasionally result in some weight loss, it will also bring a lot of other things with it - irritableness, guilt, weakness, fatigue, increased vulnerability to colds and flu and in extreme cases, loss of periods, hair loss and other horrid things. Now as you're reading this, you're probably thinking I'm one of those people that's always been ok with their weight and never bothered dieting. One of the people who eats the chocolate biscuit in front of you just because they know you're on a diet. Not true. I first started restricting my food intake when I was 13 and started making myself sick at 14. For years I struggled with "disordered eating", and it's only in recent years that I've managed to find a happy medium and a balance with my diet. And the way I've done that is to develop a healthy relationship with food and a passion for cooking. I've discovered that a healthy, balanced, plentiful diet actually leaves me feeling far better about myself than restricting my intake ever did. 

So what is a healthy, balanced diet? For me, it's a diet that's free from meat and (for health reasons) wheat. I also avoid too much dairy because I find it makes me feel icky. I eat cakes and lovely treats in moderation and I try my hardest not to beat myself up about it. I use fresh vegetables all the time, treat myself occasionally to the odd ridiculous meal like veggie sausage and chips and I have fun when I'm cooking! I have big portions because my food is full of good things and fairly low in fat. I try to include good healthy protein in my evening meals (lentils, soya mince and beans) and I eat nuts most days. It's about finding that happy medium and try to work out the things that you can cut out (e.g. the 4 cans of coke, the meat with every meal principle, the Pizza Hut every Friday night) and then educating yourself about delicious things to eat.

I'd really recommend Vegweb for some delicious vegetarian recipes and Oh She Glows for some more reading on ditching the scales and choosing the road to healthy eating.

If you have any questions, please do feel free to ask and let me know if you take up my challenges. Also, please don't think that this is me saying that people who do diet are stupid. I know that a lot of people can make them work and that some of the more sustainable options like Weight Watches and Slimming World are fabulous. Love, love, love xxx

Monday Musings III

Happy Monday Lovelies! And Happy Day Off to most of my UK friends - can't believe it's yet another Bank Holiday. I'm kind of ready for life to get back to normal now (and, more importantly, for the postal system to get back to normal now). Monday Musings did take a little break for the festive season, but I'm happy to say that it'll be sticking around for the forseeable future as i really enjoy sharing bits of my week with you!

♥ Roundup 

The week before Christmas, I posted a massive thank you for helping me win the Superdrug Britney Radiance Competition!!!! Thank you again. I also posted my Darling Girl Cosmetics review, announced my giveaway winner and wished you all a Merry Christmas!
On Thursday, I told you about my Christmas celebrations and shared some of my lovely pressies with you.
On Friday, I announced my Best of 2010 "awards"
On Saturday, I shared my New Year Goals and asked you to share yours.


inmywindow roundup - as you'll know if you read my New Year's Goals post, I'm relaunching inmywindow as a craft/photography/cooking blog, so I'll also be sharing a weekly round up of posts from there over here incase you fancy taking a look. As I only started on New Year's Day, there's not much to share this week - just my first post, my 50 craft projects in 52 weeks goals post and little look at my favourite fabrics from the Seamstar January Sale.

♥ Eye Eye

This week, I've been lucky enough see to a lot of countryside, which always makes me incredibly happy! We went for a long walk with my Sister and her family/friends the day after Boxing Day and then Peter and I went on an extremely muddy 7 mile walk on New Years Day. Last year I didn't managed to do much walking in the countryside for some reason, which I'll be trying hard to resolve this year!


I've also seen a lot of joyfulness - quite often, I find Christmas a bit disappointing and so do many others that I know, but for some reason this year seemed so relaxed and full of joy which was wonderful!

I've also been lucky enough to spend a lot of time with good friends and with my family, which I've really appreciated. It's been nice to have some full days off with peter where we've had no specific plans, and my wonderful friend Dave was back from Bangladesh (he works over there for a charity) and brought his wonderful Canadian girlfriend along to meet us for the first time - it was so flipping good to see him. I miss him a heck of a lot. (Coincidentally, you can see Dave's ear/arm in the photo I won the Superdrug competition  with as it was Dave who walked me down the aisle on my Wedding Day)

♥ Whirring Cogs

I've been thinking a lot about the New Year and the goals and challenges I want to set myself. I love this time of year as I love the newness and the anticipation of things getting better. Obviously we can end up disappointed as things won't always go the way we want them to, but I think at the end of the year, no matter how difficult, I always find myself able to reflect and find something good to take with me into the next.

I've also been thinking quite a lot about the GTP in Hull and whether or not I should apply. I think I'm erring towards the side of applying any way as it's better to apply and reject them than to not apply and kick myself. I seem to swing between thinking it's an excellent idea and thinking it's a silly idea on a pretty much daily basis, so I think I just need to apply and get it out of my system!

Finally, I've been thinking a lot about sewing and crafting and making our home beautiful. At the moment, we live in a little two bed terraced house and we really don't have enough room at all. We're not clutter collectors by any stretch of the imagination - we just have no storage space where we are at the moment and it can become quite frustrating.

♥ Hidden Treasures

I've found a heck of a lot of blogs this week, although most of them are sewing ones! However, some of the beauty blogs I've been enjoyed recently are:

Rotten Otter's Thoughts for beautiful photography, a gorgeous mishmash of topics and a fabulous New Year's Goals post!

Big City Dreams who has a gorgeous blog and seems like a very sweet blogger indeed!

SBV is such a gorgeous blog full of pretty pictures and a slightly retro style. Also, she bakes some frankly droolworthy treats!

♥ The Path...

This week, I want to remember that the key to a healthy body (and healthy mind) is a balanced diet of deliciousness and an appropriate amount of exercise - crash/fad diets do not make your happy and aren't sustainable :)

♥ Respect Yourself

Speaking of which, I really need to make friends with the wonderful Jillian and her 30 Day Shred again. I fell off the wagon a little before Christmas but I knew that was going to happen so I feel pretty chilled about it all. I'm happy to have started Shredding before Christmas as it means that I know what to expect and it'll be easier to get into and stick with in the New Year :)

However, I have done a fair bit of walking this Christmas, which will definitely have helped shift some of the overeating! I've love the middle to end of this past week as we've had a return to our "normal eating pattern" which is high in veg, low in processedness and wheat free. Wheat makes a huuuuge difference to my health but over Christmas I sort of slacked off to make it easier for other people (I'm vegetarian as well) - man did I notice the difference. I've been wheat free for nearly two years now, and although I sometimes have a sneaky bit of cake here or a bit of bread there, I rarely eat lots of wheat and oh my goodness... .I was in pain! It's good though - it means I'm starting 2011 with a firm reminder that me not eating wheat is not a faffy diet thing, it's something that has an actual impact on the quality and enjoyment of my life. :)

So my lovelies, if you've managed to make it this far though such an epic post, how have your weeks been? What are you musing on this bank holiday Monday? xx

Monday Musings III

Apologies for the slight quietness on Sparkle and Shade over the last week - the final week of term was utterly draining and a little stressful so all I wanted to do was sleep and then one of my best friends from Uni came to stay for the weekend so I spent a lot of time catching up with her too! Nevermind though, I'll still let you in on some of my Monday Musings!


♥ Roundup 

On Monday, I shared my previous Monday Musings
On Wednesday, I finally learnt how to curl my hair and asked you lovelies how you curl yours!
On Thursday, I realised there wasn't long left in the Superdrug Radiance Competition and today there's even less time left (it closes at 23.59GMT so if you haven't voted, I'd love it if you could scoot over and vote for number 6!)
On Saturday, I treated you to an Inspirational Interview with the immensely talented and utterly lovely Dvora Divine.

♥ Eye Eye

This week I was lucky enough to see the snow and ice finally melt away - it's not completely gone (and in fact, this morning the River Ouse had frozen over again in part) but it was a welcome sight all the same!


I've also been lucky enough to see one of the most beautiful brides and one of the most gorgeous weddings I've ever been to on Saturday. Classy, understated and so full of adoring love.


Finally, I very literally got to see my good friend Rachel who I lived with throughout my time at Uni. It's been a few months since I saw her last so I was really appreciative.

♥ Whirring Cogs

I've not really been thinking much over the last week or so in some ways - mainly just about how tired I am. I've genuinely not been this tired for a long time and I think I'm probably still getting over having Flu to be honest.

I've also been thinking a lot about politics and corruption and corporate greed and that sort of thing which makes my head hurt and my heart sad. I've been feeling very challenged in how (un)ethical my life is and I've been trying to work out some achievable steps for changing that, which I'll possibly chat a little more about in the new year.

The other thing that's been occupying a lot of my thoughts is thinking about the shocking mess that the postal service has managed to get itself in. I'm quite worried that the majority of our presents aren't going to arrive, although I've just come home to discover Royal Mail had tried to deliver 2 parcels whilst I was out, so that's maybe a little more positive!

♥ Hidden Treasures

I've not had masses of time to read many blogs this week, let alone discover new ones, but here's a couple that I always think are wonderful:

♥ Mizz Worthy for being such a beautiful and lovely person. I had the pleasure of meeting her a month or so ago and she's fab!

♥ Beautys Bad Habit because she has gorgeous photography (in fact, she's just done a photography 1010 for bloggers post which I recommend reading) and stunning makeup. Again, I was lucky enough to meet Lily when I met Jen from Mizz Worthy and she's so lovely!

♥ Oh She Glows for a being truly inspiring lady. Her blog will (probably) change your life.

♥ The Path...

This week, I want to remember to not pay back evil for evil but instead to love the people I find difficult and do/say only nice things towards them.

♥ Respect Yourself

Me and Jillian have become firm friends with the 30 Day Shred, although it has taken a bit of a backseat whilst Rach was staying (I feel that no-one other than my hsuband should be subjected to the sight of me Shredding). I'm surprised at how much easier I've been finding it.

One other way I've been respecting myself is to be more mindful of what I eat - we always have options and whilst I don't think we should be constantly denying ourselves the things we desire, I do think that it's good for us to harness our cravings and work out what the true root of it is. I've been much more careful to check if I'm eating because I'm bored or if I'm eating because I'm hungry. 9 times out of 10 when I'm snacking, it's because I'm bored or thirsty! Try it - it might make a difference :)

That's the end of my Monday Musing's for this week - what have you been musing over recently?

Monday Musings II

Hello lovelies! Can you believe it's Monday already? I feel like time is wizzing past! Thank you so much for all your lovely comments about last week's Monday Musings - I'm so glad that you enjoyed it. Here's my musings on the last week - enjoy! :)
♥ Roundup 

On Monday, I brought you my first Monday Musing, wich you should check out if you're wondering what on earth this is!
On Tuesday, I did a little review of the Sleek Sparkle Palette
On Wednesday, I gave you my thoughts on a couple of Burt's Bees Lip Products I'd been sent for review and I also asked you what you do to stay fit and healthy.
No posts on Thursday and Friday as I was at work/being generally angry about politics.
On Saturday, I treated you to the next installment of my Inspirational Interview series with Jen
On Sunday, I shared my first impression of the 30 Day Shred

♥ Eye Eye

I've seen a heck of a lot of the inside of my house this week due to having flu - I've also seen it change from disorganised chaos to a nice tidy place to live!


One thing that I've been quite happy to see is the snow finally starting to melt - well, I say snow, what I really mean is thick thick icey death. So happy to see that gone!


Last night, I was performing in the Minster Carol Service, which had somewhere around 2,000 people so I saw a heck of a lot of things there! I was in the choir, which means I saw all those people as I looked out at them, then I was leading the recessional, which meant I could see nothing but pitch black and I also half saw the beautiful poi performance I was involved in. Led lights in the Minster?! Yes please!


One final thing I saw was a block of ice carved into the shape of Sonic the Hedgehog - brilliant!

♥ Whirring Cogs

I've been thinking a lot about health and fitness (you'll probably have guessed that from my blog posts recently) and also the things that I eat - I have a few exciting ideas for blog posts that I'll be bringing you over the next couple of months I imagine. I feel really strongly about keeping my body fit and healthy for lots of reasons - partially because it's my way of showing that I respect myself, partially because so many members of my family struggle with health issues and partially just because I actually quite enjoy it.

I've also been thinking about Christmas and all the plans and logistics for that. I'm preaching at my church on Christmas Day which is utterly terrifying - I probably haven't actually thought about that anywhere near as much as I should have!

Finally, I've been thinking how much I'd like to win the Superdrug competition that I'm a finalist in! There's only a week to go, and I know you're probably all fed up of me banging on about it, but I would really, really appreciate it if you could go here and vote for number 6. It takes literally 30 seconds and if you don't click the box for a newsletter, you get zero spam, as well :)

♥ Hidden Treasures

This week's hidden treasures are not really that hidden as most of them have more followers than me but nevermind:

♥ Ruth's Reflection because she's stunning

♥ Draw the Stars for pretty pictures

♥ Rachhloves for fitness and beauty inspiration

♥ The Path...

This week, I want to remember to keep the true meaning of Christmas at the heart of all my busyness and planning :)

♥ Respect Yourself

A new little section that I want to add is Respect Yourself - I think that eating healthily and exercising is a fabulous way of showing yourself some respect. It takes work and effort to make those choices, and everytime we do something that's good for our bodies, it's like giving ourselves a sign of love and respect.

A few people commented on my  30 Day Shred post and said that they felt it might be a bit too intense for them. I want to suggest that you start out with something gentle - something to ease your way into doing something good for your body. So here's my two suggestions:

♥ If you're really unfit, why do you start with something super simple like this Quick and Easy Yoga Routine by Rachhloves - it's less than 10 minutes and although it isn't quite as well talked through as a professional video, it's a great starting point.

♥ If you're a little more fit or you're a little less scared of working out (but you still don't feel ready to be shredding), I'd recommend either of these two videos AM and PM Yoga, a video I've used for years and I love (especially the AM part) or Yogalates - I love this boxset as it has something for every mood!

What have you been up to this week lovelies? xx

Monday Musings I

Hello lovelies and Happy Monday! If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that I'm full of flu at the moment and therefore not really sleeping that well either. And what do I do when I can't sleep? Think about my blog of course! The result? Monday Musings!

Every Monday, I'm going to be bringing you a round up of my thoughts from the previous week - posts I've done (Roundup), places I've been (Eye Eye), things I've thought (Whirring Cogs), blogs I've loved (Hidden Treasures), things to work on for the next week (The Path)... just a bit of a mishmash of things from inside my head!

♥ Roundup 


On Monday, I brought you my top Christmas Gifts
On Tuesday, I asked you some Camera Questions and shared a little about the launch of Liz Earle Leeds
On Wednesday, I walked home in a blizzard and shared my Snowy Pictures
On Thursday, I received some hugely exciting news and discovered that I'm a Superdrug Britney Radiance Finalist and also shared my November Favourites and Winter Skin Saviours.
On Saturday, the gorgeous Sirvinya took part in my Inspirational Interview series.
On Sunday, I reviewed Elf's 32 Eyeshadow palette and also launched a thank you giveaway for reaching a whopping 250 followers!

♥ Eye Eye

On Tuesday I had some time to kill before my poi rehearsal, so I took myself to the cinema to see Harry Potter - it was wonderful :)

Obviously this week I've seen lots of snow, with the prettiest place being the Old Village in Huntington where Peter's parents live - it was like the front of a Christmas card.

Other than that, it's been a quite week due to all the snow... I suppose one thing I can "see" now is our beautiful Christmas tree! It's so red and gold and sparkly and beautiful!

♥ Whirring Cogs

I've been thinking a lot about my future and about what I want to be when I "grow up" (some would say that at nearly 24 I should already know but nevermind them!)... I have some interesting decisions to make and I'm sure I'll be bringing you more about those soon. One exciting piece of news is that I'm going to be supporting a girl with William's Syndrome in Reception a couple of afternoons a week from January - it'll be nice to have something to challenge me that isn't Leon!

I've also started thinking about my goals for the next year, which I always find exciting! I've already written my New Year Goals post - it's read and waiting for New Years Day! 

I suppose the other thing that's been really on my mind is Christmas - I love it! I can't stop thinking about presents and songs and films and Christmas dinner and all sorts of treats!

♥ Hidden Treasures

I've found so many fantastic blogs that are true hidden (and some not so hidden) gems recently! I'll be bringing you a few each week to check out! This week, why don't you have a browse over:

Makeup Barbie for beautiful photography and fabulous step by step photo tutorials

A Perfect Lie for a delicious mishmash of beauty, fashion, book reviews and general thoughts. Love this blog!

Becky Blog for food, fitness, photos and a fantastic collection of lipglosses (serious, check back to some of her early posts - this girl has a collection to lust over!!)

♥ The Path...

This week, I want to remember that I don't have to feel guilty for silly things like feeling ill or buying people presents. They're just normal things, that normal people do and there's nothing bad about them :)

I hope you've enjoyed this first Monday Musing - do tell me what you think! I'd love to hear some of your musings of the past week so feel free to leave me a comment :) xx