2012 Week 3

Week 3 has been and gone, so here’s a round up.

A better attempt at using my Nails Inc metallic nail polish.

A frosty start to the day, but a lovely view from my office window.

This is what happens when you put bicarbonate of soda into apple sauce. Who knew? The cakes turned out ok though.

I got some new towels. Very Minnie Mouse but I love them.

My lovely friend surprised me with a skirt she had seen in the h&m sale and thought I’d like, she was right!

Coffee shop in work still thinks it’s Christmas! Apparently there are so many left we might have them till the summer.

Came home after work to a water damaged bedroom wall. Not the best thing in the world.

Spent an evening studying the h&m catalogue. Their home wear is beautiful.

On my way to the hairdressers I looked up and Edinburgh Castle looked so beautiful in the sun – even from the wrong side!

No visit to Starbucks this weekend, but made up for it with a giant hot chocolate in my Starbucks cup.

Had my first ever reiki session and very much admired this mirrored dressing table and display in the room.

Spotted this lovely hardware shop in Marchmont on my way back from reiki, will need to go back a day it’s open.

Arthur’s Seat looked pretty moody from my viewpoint on the Meadows.

I bought these purely because the design was so cute.

I spent the day in my Christmas jumper. Trying to get lots of wear from it before it needs to be packed away till next Winter.

I’m trying out some new products thanks to the No 7 vouchers I had from
Boots, a bit wary that I’m going to end up orange though!

Put some fairy lights up in my bedroom, I think they’re lovely.

Tags: Coffee, Edinburgh, No 7

Wine and Love ~ Jan ’12

Not sure that I’ll manage this weekly, but I’d like to go for a monthly wine and love and perhaps a bonus few every now and then too!

Wine:

1.  My hair, can I count this as a wine? My roots are terrible right now, at least when I was blonde the grey was disguised by the fact my roots were dark and were just generally bad, now I’m back dark my grey hair is shining through and driving me mad!  Only a few more days to go and then it’ll be dyed though.

2.  The cold.  It’s been really chilly the last few days and I can’t quite find the right balance in terms of warming accessories. Hat, scarf and gloves is too much, and too bulky, but without them it’s too chilly.  I wish it would hurry up and snow and then I’d feel like the sensible one in all my layers!

3.  My wisdom teeth.  They’ve been giving me grief since the start of December now, I’ve been to the dentist, but think I’m going to have to go back and start the procedures to get it taken out.  I’m not looking forward to it (or paying for it) one little bit.

Loves:

1.  My kindle.  It’s not a new love by any means, I’ve had it since May.  I’ve really been enjoying it lately though, I’ve spent a few happy Sunday afternoons curled up with a big cup of tea/coffee/hot chocolate and my kindle and read undisturbed in my own little world.  Most recently I read the whole of Tom’s Midnight Garden in one sitting and reminisced about my childhood reading. – On that note, I also found my childhood copy of Little House on the Prairie, so that’s been taking me back too!

2.  Podcasts.  I’ve gotten really into listening to podcasts lately.  They’re great when you’re getting ready for work in the morning, or while tidying your room/doing general housework.  My favourite two are from the Homefries website, and are Joy the Baker and The Because Show.  They make me laugh out loud and are just the right level of sillyness for me.

3. Pinterest.  I’ve recently re-discovered Pinterest and am happily filling up my boards with pretty things!  I’m sure it’s really just a to-do list for people that will never get done, but the stuff on there is lovely!

4.  Feel Unique.  I’ve signed up to a monthly Feel Unique beauty box.  This month I’m not overly impressed with it as it’s all skin care and no cosmetics. However, I am loving the Lierac anti-ageing cream in it, it’s not too early to start using it is it? After all, I’m now closer to 30 than to 20 which is slightly terrifying!

Tags: Feel Unique, Podcasts, Reading, Wine and Love

2012 Week 2

And there goes week 2, how has that happened so quickly?! Here’s what I’ve been up to this week.

Did some shopping in the Boots sale. All my favourite No 7 products are in this in travel size. And got a new curly hair set, looking forward to trying it out. And some new lipsticks for good measure.

Mince pie for lunch! Got to get them eaten up.

A cosy night in in front of the tv with my big slippers on.

I finally bit the bullet and bought a Nikki McWilliams biscuit cushion! This Oreo cushion was half price in the sale and I’m delighted with it. I hope it’s the start of a collection.

Trying out my Nails Inc magnetic nail varnish for the first time. Not the best picture, but I’m really happy with how it turned out.

A thank you letter from my friends children absolutely made my day!

A bargain from lidl. Saw these while buying bread and they’re super cosy and warm!

Edinburgh has some truly lovely sunsets!

Spent a bit of time in the afternoon trying to pin up my hair, not quite mastered it but I like it.

I’ve been using the myfitnesspal app for a while, I’m not trying to lose weight, just make sure that I’m eating a balanced diet and getting the right vitamins and minerals. Imagine my surprise when I weighed myself today and somehow I’ve lost 5kg since I started! I’m so happy, losing weight without even trying, no idea how that worked, but I’m not complaining!

An afternoon spent reading Tom’s Midnight Garden with my new miniature hot water bottle for company.

I decided to sign up for a Feel Unique beauty box, this is my first one and I’m not entirely impressed. If February doesn’t get better then I’ll cancel and try out one of the other ones. I’ll still try out all these products though!

Tags: Feel Unique, Nails Inc, Nikki McWilliams, No 7

2012 Week one

Well the first week of 2012 has come and gone, and I thought I’d share a selection of photos with you to show you what I’ve been up to.

I got a copy of guiding magazine and spent a cosy evening reading it with a cup of tea in my bed.

A candle lit bath, with mulled wine scented bath bomb and mulled wine scented candle. It was lovely.

The return of the storm! It was so wet and windy that I refused to leave the flat until it passed.

After the storm we ventured to asda and stocked up the fridge!

Time to go back to work and to wrap up warm.

January view from my office window. Somewhat dreich out there I’m sure you’ll agree!

Vegetarian chicken cous cous for lunch. I’m still confused about this.

My computer, still as cluttered as always, some things never change.

An early morning walk to work meant I got to see the swans.

Jane Austen 5 year journal. I’m quite excited by the idea of this.

Ending the week in Starbucks with coffee, cake and a good book.

Tags: starbucks, weather, Week in Photos

Wine and Love ~ Week 2

So I just found this scheduled post that hadn’t posted from the start of December, and thought why not, I’ll just post it anyway!

This week has been pretty good I think, but I’ll still manage to get a few wines in there!

Wine

1. Firstly, wine itself. I attended a drinks reception on Friday night and got horribly drunk. It was one of those events where as soon as you take a drink your glass is topped up so I have no idea how much wine I had. The end result, a large bruise on my arm (I remember falling, I just don’t remember who was involved!) and the mother of all hangovers on Saturday! No more wine for me for a while.

2. The wind and rain. Last week one of my wines was the weather being changeable. This week I just dislike the wind and rain. It’s made it completely pointless even attempting to do my hair in the morning as by the time I get to work I generally look like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards!

Loves

1. Starbucks Christmas coffees. I went to a different Starbucks this weekend for my frequent ‘it’s Sunday, I need to get out the house’ trips. I took my kindle and happily spent a few hours with coffee, cake and a good book.

2. My friends (too soppy?!). The friends who give you a good talking to you when you need it. This week they have been amazing and never have I appreciated them more.

3. Comfort food. This week has been miserable outside, so home made lasagne, macaroni cheese and casseroles have been on the menu.

4. BBC iplayer. Iplayer has definitely kept me entertained this week, I’ve discovered a host of new trashy shows, Hot Like Us, World’s Strictest Parents and Young Apprentice to name but a few.

Tags: Wine and Love

I Love Lists Friday

I love lists Friday, something I’ve stolen from Tracey

1. I’m almost one week in to my Zaggora Hotpants two week challenge
2. Is there anything better than a big comfy cushion? Yes, a big comfy Tunnocks Tea Cake Cushion!
3. The most entertaining news story of the week, girl gets stuck in clothes horse.
4. Starbucks cup magic, I haven’t managed to find this app yet, I suspect it might just be an American thing, but I love the idea!
5. Stars in the sky, wish this was available to buy, it’s such a nice message.

Wine and Love ~ Week 1

I’ve been reading Wine and Love over at Miss Smidge for a while now, it makes me smile every week.  It’s wee things like this that I miss about blogging, having a place to put all these thoughts together.  So what better way to start my blogging back off than to join in on this meme.

The idea originally came from Norah and this is how she explains it:

It’s a weekly meme, hosted every Thursday. It gives me a chance to complain, hence the wine, of what’s bugging me this week. And then on the flip side, trying to keep things light and sunny, the list of things I love that week. I started it because I know we all have ups and downs during the week but at the same time, I love focusing on the positive. Hence the meme.

So here we go with my week 1 Wine and Love.

My weekly wines:

1. The pre-December, pre-Christmas shopping fear.  I’m not able to do any Christmas shopping until I get paid next week, it’s a bit terrifying that I’ve left all my Christmas shopping until December itself.  I’m normally much more organised than this.  I haven’t even written a list of who I need to buy for, really been putting it off.
2. The weather (I’m British, surely complaining about the weather is essential in my first one of these?!).  Right now in Edinburgh the days are starting off pretty mild, in fact I tend to get all hot and bothered before I leave the house in the morning.  Fast-forward to mid-afternoon and it’s wet, miserable and blowing a gale outside.  I’m never dressed properly because the weather has changed so much from leaving the house in the morning to leaving work at night.
3. My hair, I got it cut and dyed only two weeks ago, a drastic change from blonde back to my natural dark colour.  I love it, however, the dye is fading already and I can see bits of blonde creeping through, I don’t think I should have to go back after just two weeks to get it redone surely?

My weekly loves:

1. My new boots.  They’re beautiful Caterpillar boots, all fur lined and gorgeous.  They’re going to be amazing in the snow and ice and much more sensible (and pretty) than wellies!
2. Losing weight, I’m not intentionally dieting, but I am becoming more aware of what I’m eating.  The positive outcome of this is that I’m losing weight – sadly I didn’t weight myself at the start so don’t actually know my progress, but I have jeans that I can now fit into again!
3. The dark winter nights.  I love that it’s dark when I leave work, it makes me feel all cosy when I get home, throw a big hoody on over my dress and light some candles and watch tv or read a good book.  These things don’t feel right in the Summer when you should be out enjoying the sunshine, so I relish these evenings.
4. My own bed!  After being away for work last week, staying in a travelodge, I really appreciate the comfort of my own bed, my own pillows, my own duvet and blankets…. Sometimes there’s nothing quite like it.

Tags: Wine and Love