Time for a Catch Up

I actually can't believe it's been that long since I posted on this blog!
So much has happened and so much to tell! However now isn't the time.

I plan on seriously blogging again starting from Monday - to tell you the truth I've really missed it and can't wait to get back into the swing of things again!

I need to catch you all up with my big 3-0 ........yes that happened, my new job, weight loss and training plans and generally share things that have been happening!

I shall be back next week with lots of lovely new posts, reviews, hauls and the odd Christmas themed post!!!

The Autumn Tag

It's been a while since I last posted and this time I do have a genuine reason. I've been suffering really badly with a nasty kidney infection. Thankfully I'm slowly on the mend and felt up to posting this new blog post!

As I've mentioned several times I am more than looking forward to Autumn.
It really is my favourite time of the year, mainly due to the hibernation aspect but also for all the exciting things the Autumn brings!
So for my first post back I decided to do the Autumn Tag!

1. Ok we're talking coffee's - what's your favourite seasonal drink from Starbucks/Costa/Cafe Nero etc?  

I don't tend to drink too much coffee, particularly not from one of these fine establishments! If I go to Costa I'll often have a peach iced lemonade but think that is more a summer drink than an Autumn one. 

2. Accessories - what do you opt for, scarf, boots, gloves?

All of the above! I love Autumn and winter fashion! Scarves and boots are by far and away my favourite Autumn wardrobe staple. I'm currently on the hunt for the perfect pair of winter boots and you'd be hard pressed to stop me buying new scarves.

3. Music - what's your favourite music to listen to during Autumn?

My music taste doesn't change. I don't really listen to music all that much other than when at the gym.

 

4. Perfume - what's your favourite scent for this time of year?

I don't tend to wear too much perfume.....Any recommendations?

5. Candles - what scents will you be burning this season?

 

I love winter berry fragrances, spice apple. About this time of year Glade tend to bring out their christmas range which always smells amazing!

I love the Yankee Candle ranges too but don't often buy them.

6. What do you love most about Autumn?

Sleep!!! I love snuggling up under the quilt. Going for country walks wrapped up but not being totally frozen. There's also the fact it's my birthday, wedding anniversary and halloween! 

7. Favourite makeup look?

My make up stays much the same all year round. I tend to maybe warm up the look a bit with golds, and pale browns.

 

8. What are you looking forward to most in Autumn?

Strictly Come Dancing, My 30th, Wedding Anniversary, October Half Term (missing my kiddies)

Concrete!

Recently I've noticed a lot of concrete interiors and accessories popping up on my Pinterest feed.
Needless to say I wasn't sure about it, but the more I look at it the more I seem to like it. I kind of like the rustic, industrial feel and grey is by far my favourite neutral colour.

Whilst I'm not sure that wall to wall, floor to ceiling concrete is my cup of tea some of these cute accessories could certainly add some style to any space!

COX & COX - £225.00

COX & COX - From £14.50

BHS - £60.00

NOT ON THE HIGH STREET - £17.00

NOT ON THE HIGH STREET - £4.00

Hibernation

This last week has to have been one of the hardest of the year so far. I am so tired it's unreal.
Whilst I love having a routine again, the early mornings and rushing around are breaking me! They seem so much harder this term, than they were at the back end of last year.

Now the nights are getting darker I'm feeling a huge urge to get comfy, snuggle in and sleep lots! Unfortunatley the kids have other ideas. Despite being quite literally exhausted from their first week at school they still want ot attend clubs, see their friends and continuously eat!

Right now I'm really looking forward to October Half Term!

Trainer Addiction

I am totally a Nike Girl. Personally for me I don't think you can beat them when it comes to fit and comfort. Both the husband and the son also love their Nike trainers and I don't think we'll be wearing anything else anytime soon?

Although my current trainers aren't that old I do think it might be time to invest in some new ones so naturally I took to the Nike site to see which ones I LOVE!

Here's a selection......

 

NIKE FREE 4.0 FLYKNIT

 

Nike LunarSpeed Mariah 

NIKE AIR ZOOM PEGASUS

NIKE AIR ZOOM PEGASUS

There's a Change In The Air

I actually can not believe that it is September already! This year seems to be flying by far too quickly. I woke up yesterday morning and it well and truly felt like Autumn had arrived. Looking out of the window and the leaves are starting to fall and change colour.
Whilst I hate saying goodbye to Summer and I really do miss the kids when they go back to school, there is something abou the Autumn that I really love.
Snuggly nights in with a bottle of wine, cosy socks, toasted teacakes are all things I look forward too.

Back to Routine!

Last week was a crazy busy week. Mostly spent getting the kids ready to go back to school!

 

 This summer has been totally amazing! I've had a blast with these two little darlings......The weather has been amazing, which for the UK is fairly unheard of.

Juggling working from home and looking after the kids this summer has been a bit of a challenge, but I'm sure there are other mums out there who can relate!

Despite having an amazing time with the kids, I've found I've had to keep them seperate quite a bit to stop the arguing..............

I love the lack of routine in the Summer holidays. The chance to stay in bed and watch a film, go on long lazy picnics and just spend all day at the beach is great.

I'm now ready for the Autumn, it is after all my favourite season.

10 Things About Me

I've not been blogging for all that long so it strikes me that many of you won't know all that much about me!
So here are 10 things you didn't know.........

1) I'm originally a Yorkshire girl! Always will be at heart! Whilst I love living in Lincoln going back to Yorkshire always makes me feel a little bit happier

2) I suffer really badly with panic attacks and anxiety. This isn't something I'm proud of or like to talk about too much really - maybe one day.

3) I would love love love to own my own pretty traditional sweet shop.

4) I met my husband when I was 17

5) I had my son when I was 18!

6) I don't regret many things but I do regret letting myself put on so much weight and not taking proper care of myself.

7) I wish I'd gotten over worrying about what people think of me sooner and hit the gym harder when I was younger! The weight might have come off easier then!

8) I have three cats, Samba, Farrow and Fang. I'm still not sure if I'm a cat person but I prefer it when they are around.

9) I've only learnt to LOVE shopping within the last couple of months. I've spent 99% of my adult life hating shops - to be honest not sure if it's the shops or the way I felt when I couldn't fit in anything that I hated?

10) .....and FINALLY.......I am a HUGE Strictly Come Dancing Fan and am quite literally counting the days to when it will be back on!

If I'd Known Then What I Know Now

Slight boast post coming up - I would apologise but I'm actually kind of proud so I'll boast away!

 

Nearly 7 years ago I got married! I chose the dress but quickly realised it didn't look that great on me. I'd spent hours upsetting myself trying on numerous different dresses in numerous different shops I settled on one that looked OK. Whilst I'll never be totally happy with the dress I chose or the way I looked in it, I am happy with the man I married and that's what matters most. 

Even on my wedding day I knew that one day that dress would be far too big for me, and I would look back and laugh.....Well it's been a long 7 years (nearly) but that day has finally come!

Yesterday evening I found my wedding dress and tried it on..........It's finally too big!!!!!! 

 

(excuse the picture quality the boy was less than impressed with taking the photo)

- Yes the belly is still there but it's going!!!!!

I can't tell you how proud of myself I am. I still have a really, really long way to go and I'm not 100% certain that I'll ever be totally happy with the way I look - I mean is anyone? But I know now that I am well on my way!!!!

The Great British Bake Off

I love cake! Just putting that out there!

No but seriously I do love cake - I didn't get to the weight I was by eating cucumber and salad. However I am an appauling baker. It's one thing that has been on my todo list forever but due to all manner of excuses I've never gotten round to learning!

For the last few years I've satisified my need to bake by watching the bakers struggle on The Great British Bake off. I love it.
Let's be honest it's the best way I get to watch someone else making the cakes and don't have to struggle with the temptation to eat the cakes at the end of it!

I really will learn to bake - In fact I might make it my mission to learn before the end of the year.

Do you have any easy recipes you could share with me?

App LOVE!

Last night I was browsing Instagram and stumbled across some photos of an old school friend. She looked amazing so I decided to do some digging to see what her secret was. I think I found it........The Nike Training Club app! As a big Nike Fan I thought I'd give it a go.

So I downloaded it and was pleasantly surprised with what was on my screen!
I'm not normally a big fan of fitness apps. I have My Fitness Pal which I use fairly regularly but actual exercise apps tend to get on my nerves and don't always work in the way I want them too. They remind me of exercise DVD's with the exception of the Jillian Michaels ones, I always finding myself sitting and watching them - to see how hard they are obviously, only to never take them out of their boxes again!

Anyway back to The Nike Training Club.
Nike have designed the app for FEMALES - Yes that's right not a scary weightlifting man in sight! There are 100+ different workouts all designed by Nike athletes! Pretty credible right?
There are 3 different programmes to choose from GET LEAN, GET TONED, GET STRONG. You can also pick workouts from top athletes, ones you might have actually heard of.

So I booked the kids into kids club at the gym and headed there this morning. I hadn't actually intended on doing the Nike Training Club workout but after 30mins on the treadmill I was losing the will to live, so I figured I would give it a go.
It was great. I had a 30 minute circuit based workout, only using dumb bells and a 5kg medicine ball. I was sweating and actually felt like I'd had a good workout at the end of it. I think next time I need to use heavier weights, but for the first time it was good and made a nice change.

I don't think I will be using it as a replacement for my weights programme or the classes I enjoy, but I've downloaded a programme so for the next 4 weeks I'm going to somehow add it in to my already packed gym programme. It can only help right?

Sweat in my eyes

Wow! It's been a while since I last posted. My husband has been off work for the last two weeks so we've been enjoying some quality family time. Including a camping trip which I shall be blogging about very soon!

In the meantime, I thought it was about time for me to update on my gym progress.
Well it really hasn't been happening. Having the kids off school has actually made it a lot harder than I thought it was going to be! So far I'm lucky if I've made it to the gym once a week and eating clean has totally gone out of the window.

However the kids go back to school next week and my head is now back in the game - in part due to the arrival of my new gym headbands.....There is nothing like new gym kit - no matter how small, to get you fired back up and in the mood to workout.

I picked up these super cute headbands from Southwood Stores. They are a UK stockist for the ultra cool I Can I Will workout wear!

I've been looking for some new headband for a while. My hair is forever getting in my way when I'm doing weights and it drives me insane! A lot of headbands out there move and slide about when you're working out but these have a silicone strip around them which stop them moving and at £4.00 + P&P for a pack of three they really are a steal!

Which gym wear brands are your favourites?

My Hair Care Routine

I've always had really quite long hair. Every now and again I'll get it cut into a shoulder length style but for much of my life my hair has been long. I totally love long hair but keeping it looking nice i bloomin' hard work! My hair is naturally very thin and tends to look lank really quickly so getting some volume in it is a must for me!
I am forever changing my hair routine but for now I've found one that works and I'll be sticking with it....at least until my supersize bottle of conditioner runs out!

Loreal Elvive FIBROLOGY Thickening Shampoo - Currently on offer in Tesco £1.99

Hair Culture Deep Cleaning Conditioner - £1.99 ALDI

I tend to wash my hair every two days as I find if I wash it anymore it becomes very dry very quickly. Two days is about the most I can go without my head resembling a deep fat fryer! 

I've only recently discovered this shampoo when they were giving out free samples at my gym! I am now a convert. I love it. It's the only shampoo I've tried in recent times that actually gives me any volume to my hair. It costs around £4.00 at full price. For me it is totally worth the money but when the rest of my little family are using it, it can work out a bit pricey. FYI this shampoo is on offer in Tesco at the min for £1.99 - the conditioner too I think!!!!

This conditioner seems to have given me my shine back! I have tried thousands of conditioners over the years and they all seem to leave my hair looking heavy and greasy. That was until I read a blog review (I can't remember where) on this conditioner. It is an absolute billy BARGAIN at £1.99 for a 1 liter tub from Aldi!

My hair is shiny and it certainly gets rid of any product build up! Needless to say I'm hooked and will be for a while I think?

What are your hair care favourites?

Summer Reads....So Far

I love to read - always have. As yet I've not converted and bought myself a Kindle (both the kids have one) so I'm still reading good old fashioned paper back books - preferably ones that are on sale at tesco... Two for £7.00? YES PLEASE. Personally I don't think you can beat a hard copy of a book, Particularly in the summertime when the edges get a little torn and tatty, you usually drop your book in the sea and there is nothing like reading a good summer book again and finding it has sand stuck in the midddle and still smells of Sun lotion....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......

Anyway now the kids have broken up for school I've not had a lot of time to read too many books, in fact i've only managed three but here is a quick synopsis and review of the ones I have read!

1) A Cottage by The Sea - Carole Matthews
A week away in a cottage by the sea with her best friends Ella and Flick, Leads Grace to an interesting week of affairs, betrayal and a new arrival............

I loved this story read it in record time. The characters were all realistic and I could certainly see traits in them which reminded me of certain people in my life! The story was a bit wishy wash in places and the trail of the story following Ella seemed to be a bit hit and miss at times but overall it was a great summer read! I'm a big fan of most of Carole Matthews books.

2) Wedding Night - Sophie Kinsella
How to stop your sister making the biggest mistake of her life!

This book was great from start to finish. It had me chuckling to myself throughout! Reading this when I was feeling a little bit down certainly lifted my mood! It has however left me slightly intrigued as to how Sophie Kinsella came up with all the sabotage ideas :-) Read it and you'll understand what I mean!

3) The Chocolate Lovers Club - Carole Matthews
Realising your boy friend is a cheating dirtbag, you actually quite fancy your boss and planning a jewellery heist....that's what Lucy Lombard has to look forward to in this story!

Personally I wasn't that great a fan of this book. Like A cottagc by the Sea some of the story was a bit random and seemed like it was just their as a filler. To be honest it was ok and makes great poolside reading but I won't be rushing back to it in a hurry!

The British Tag

Jumping on the bandwagon with this post I'm afraid folks.....It's the British Tag! Thanks to Sammi From Beauty Crush for coming up with the idea :-)

I am British born and bred and although some most days I dream about living in warmer climes I actually wouldn't want to leave!

So without further ado here are my answers............

HOW MANY CUPS OF TEA DO YOU HAVE A DAY + HOW MANY SUGARS?

I don't drink all that much tea since I started my diet....water kind of took over so maybe 2/3 tops. I don't have any milk or sugar either......how boring is that?

FAVOURITE PART OF YOUR ROAST?

For this I'm torn! I love love love proper roast potatoes....not shop bought ones but proper ones like my grandmother used to make! I also love Yorkshire Puddings. It's not a proper roast without either of them!

FAVOURITE DUNKING BISCUIT?

This has to be Malted Milk - I know a lot of people hate them and I just don't get it they're gorgeous and hold the tea well whilst dunking :-)

FAVOURITE QUINTESSENTIALLY BRITISH PASTIME?

You'll see from my Instagram feed that I love the good old British Seaside. I love to see the kids playing on the beach and eating good old traditional FRESH fish and chips....not part of the clean eating lifestyle but I call it my cheat meal :-)

FAVOURITE WORD?

There's a lot of words that I use that are perhaps best to be left unsaid on here!

COCKNEY RHYMING SLANG?

Apples and Pears = Stairs. Dog and Bone = Phone.  Hank Marvin = Starving.  Adam & Eve = Believe
That's all I know....not very good am I?

FAVOURITE SWEET?

Floral Gums, Midget gems and proper Wine gums from a proper sweet shop.

WHAT WOULD YOUR PUB BE CALLED?

Honestly no idea?? I really can't think of a name? Maybe The Spitfire????

No. 1 BRITISH PERSON?

Well I'm going to have to say The Queen.....Who else???

FAVOURITE SHOP / RESTAURANT?

Is this British or just in general??
BRITISH - Joules & or Next and a good traditional English Pub. Our local does a good meal!

FAVOURITE BRITISH SONG?

Hmmmmmmmm Hey Jude always pops into my head - can't say it's my favourite but it does seem very British after all it gets played at every opening / closing ceremony and festival.......
Otherwise maybe Adele Someone Like You?

MARMITE?

Yes Yes Yes..... I bloomin LOVE the stuff. when I was little I'd eat so much that it would burn my mouth.....Always looked like I had a clown smile.
Now I love a slice of Marmite on Toast when I'm tucked up on a winters Sunday morning........BLISS.

I TAG YOU......What are you're favourites??

North Norfolk Coast

WARNING PICTURE HEAVY!!

This weekend we decided we would take the kids on a trip to the seaside. Having spent nearly 30 years visiting Whitby every summer I decided it would be nice to have a change and find another pretty , non tacky seaside town! We're also going camping in a few weeks so thought it would be good to investigate!

After nearly 4 hours in the car (traffic) we arrived in Wells next the Sea! It was gorgeous! The little town had just enough shops and a lovely little cafe. We spent about 2 hours wandering in and out of the shops and the kids had a go at crabbing.

To get to the beach we took the little land train. The beach was lovely and clean and had a fab sea channel which was perfect for the kids to jump and play in and we didn't have to worry too much!

Later on we headed to Hunstanton for Fish and Chips and to watch the sunset. 

The kids had a great day! We will certainly be heading back there soon! I'm hoping to buy a beach hut :-)

Which Seaside Town do you visit?

LOVE LEOPARD PRINT

One thing I've noticed lately is that now the shops are stocking their autumn clothes there is a lot of leopard print popping up about the place.

Now usually when I think of leopard print I immediately think of Kat Slater and Beverley Callard (Liz Mcdonald in Corrie) and I get put off it straight away but after looking at some of the coming season pieces I think I may be a bit more inclined to try it....in small amounts at least anyway. I defiantly think that leopard print accessories are the way forward for me anyway.

Here's a few of my favourite pieces that I've spotted so far......

1 - ASOS 2 - DOROTHY PERKINS 3- NEW LOOK

4 - DUNE 5 - NEW :LOOK 6- ASOS

What do you think of Leopard print and How will you be wearing it?

False Lash Effect Mascara

Recently I've found myself finally becoming interested in my skin, hair, nails and the way I look again. I don't know if it's down to the fact I've lost weight, or because i look healthier or simply just because I have an element of self esteem again but either way I'm interested.

So I've decided to start doing product reviews and some beauty posts. 

Now i really don't profess to be a professional but I know what works for me and what products I like. I'm really not into spending big bucks on products so I like to make the best of what I can afford and I thought it would be a good thing to share with the world !!

So here is my first (well technically second) beauty post!!!

Collection 2000 Volumising Waterproof Mascara!

Unfortunately for me I was not blessed with lush long eyelashes. In fact some days I'm lucky if I look like I have any eye lashes at all! I've spent a small fortune on mascara, and false lash products but few if any of them have given me a natural looking lash effect. I'm not big on clumpy looking mascara and super long eye lashes just make me laugh......Peacock style ones are great for a night out but not everyday wear !

I've tried expensive brands and I've tried the cheapest of the cheap but the one I've found that gives me the most natural look is this Collection 2000 Volumising Waterproof mascara. It gives my lashes a long but natural look, is easy to apply and even though it is super waterproof it's easy to remove the odd smudge when applying. 

There aren't many mascaras out there that are truly waterproof but this one stood up to my floods of tears at my sons end of school service so that makes it Fab in my book!

Do you prefer natural or false lashes?

The Play House

I've been looking for and promising the little Miss a playhouse for a long time now and we finally found one.....Well kind of!
Next door were getting rid of there's as both their kids have grown up and really outgrown it. While it isn't the perfect summer house I'd pictured buying for the little Miss it is certainly a fixer upper :-)

So now starts that makeover...........

I've been hunting on Pinterest for some serious Play house decoration inspiration and think I've found the perfect house.....Just need to buy the paint now........

SOURCE

SOURCE

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All the Time In The World

My 30th Birthday is fast approaching, and recently I've realised that many of the things you are meant to achieved by the age of 30 have somewhat evaded me!
I am still yet to travel abroad or even travel to the South of the country, I haven't yet bought a house or found myself the perfect career.

Who decided these were all things that you needed to achieve before the age of 30? I am married and I do have two beautiful kids but that's about as much as I've achieved! I know that bringing up kids is no mean feat and I am immensely proud of the people they are becoming and the way they are turning out, but the other things like a career and house are always in the back of my mind.

Part of me wishes I could go back in time and achieve all those other things, but if I had travelled would I have met my husband? If I had a career would I of had time to have my kids? Probably not.
I've decided that in the run up to my 30th it's time I started to forget, or at least not think about all the things I haven't achieved and start to think about all the things I have done.

Regardless of time passing by, money, excuses and laziness would of always played a part in whether I achieved everything I wanted to achieve by the time I was 30. I think it's time to start appreciating everything I have, and to work towards the things I want for the future. In the last 30 years if there is one thing I've learnt it's that you can have anything you work for! Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Looking after the Burn!

Ok so that title may be slightly misleading. Whilst we all know I LOVE the feeling of muscle burn when training, this post is in fact about sunburn and looking after your skin!

This past weekend we took the kids Fishing. Whilst I actually hate fishing with a passion I'm not going to lie it was quite nice to just lie there in the sun while the kids were entertained.
Now I am fairly anal about applying sun cream. My grandmother died from a form of skin cancer and since then it has shaken me up a fair bit.

On a daily basis I wear an SPF moisturiser, however on Sunday after lying in the sun for what seemed like forever my face was fairly burnt and tight when I got home!

Not too long ago I had a massive panic about turning 30 and invested in some Nivea Q10 anti ageing night cream. To be honest I found it too thick for my skin and it brought me out in spots. Everyone told me my skin wasn't ready for it so I put it in a drawer and forgot about it.....Until SUNDAY!

When I went to bed Sunday night I absolutely lathered it on! It made the most PERFECT aftersun for my face. I woke up the next morning and my skin was fully soothed and hydrated and all the redness had gone down!
I certainly wont be investing in expensive after sun treatments when this works so well!

Currently On offer in Boots for £4.99

One big fat run

Last night I was doing a little internet browsing......Let's be honest when aren't I? Anyway....I came across this site and LOVED the idea!

In a nutshell the idea is to eventually get over 1 million overweight women to be running 5K. The runs are held every month and you take part on your own, in a group or just with a running buddy. You can complete the 5K anyway you like as long as you complete it and upload a photo to social media!

I am in desperate need of something to keep me going at the minute as due to the fact my weightloss has well and truly stopped I'm feeling somewhat demotivated. So I'm planning on signing up for the August event.
I'm not in too bad shape so I figured I would use this as a bench mark for all other 5K's. This time I am doing it solely on my own, probably on a treadmill.......so watch this space for updates!

On another note I'm heading to Body Pump tonight for the first time in a long long time! It's the new release (BodyPump90) so figured now is as good as time as any to head back! Hoping that by shaking things up again my weight loss might get kick started again.

Emotional Times

It's been a seriously emotional week here!
My little (not so little) boy left primary school yesterday and I think it has affected me much more than I thought it was going to!

For the last week I have been a complete ball of emotion. I didn't really know what to expect and I'm certainly not ready for the boy to move on to pastures new, but I guess this is the start of an exciting new chapter, one that I hope will be as successful as the previous one for him!

Because of everything that has been going on, and because of all the school events my exercise and diet plan has well and truly fallen by the wayside. So far this week I've made it to the gym once for leg day.
It has been quiet nice to take a week off and focus on things other than chicken and water, however I am now itching to get back to the gym and smash it next week. Getting to the gym and working out around the kids is going to be somewhat difficult!

European Night

Crikey I am really rubbish at the minute.....I've been working on a few things and all will be revealed soon!
Anyway I promised a post about the Euro night we went to so here it is!

I've been working out hard lately as I was desperate to wear a dress! I bought a dress I absolutley loved - and the fact that is was a bargin from Dorothy Perkins made me love it even more! I was desperate to show how hard I've been working.....That was the idea anyway!!
Instead I got there wearing my dress and immediatley felt fat and self concious. Now I know I still have a long long way to go but looking how far I've come by now I really should be feeling better about myself.....seemingly not! I worry more now about what I look like than I did before I started losing weight. I guess I'm just more conscious of it.
So the night consisted of me asking my husband multiple times a second whether my hair was ok, whether I looked fat etc. It also meant that I missed a big portion of the night as I was worrying A LOT.........

However despite this a fab time was had by all! We drank lots and ate lots - far too much...After not eating bread for nearly 6 months I suddenly consumed a lot of French Bread and by 10pm was feeling huge and bloated. This did nothing to help with my self conscious worrying!

Anyway here is a few pictures from the night......

 

Despite not drinking a massive amount my head was rather sore the next day so we headed to the seaside for a bit of chill out time. The only problem was it rained most of the time we were there but never the less we had a great family afternoon out.