100th Blog Post!

I can't believe it's my hundredth post already, time really does fly by doesn't it? I wanted to do something a little different for my 100th post and I asked on a twitter poll if you guys would be interested in a 100 favourite things or something else, and almost all of you wanted the favourite things, so here it is. I also thought it would be a great way for you guys to get to know me a little better, so lets delve in!

Yes, I really am holding a melon.

Guilty pleasures

Chocolate..everything chocolate

Binge watching TV

Justin Bieber...his new songs are great ok.

The Kardashians

Fairy lights..everywhere, in every colour.

Bands/Artists

The Kings of Leon

Lana Del Ray

The Lonely Island

Coldplay

Maroon 5

Disney Films
Fox and the Hound
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin
Hercules
Sword in the Stone (Merlin is the best!)

Drinks
Hot Chocolate
Water
Smoothies!
Cocktails - Whiskey sours or something crazy sweet and fruity
Chai Tea Latte (from Starbucks!)

Foods
Fruits - Watermelon
Chocolate
Pizza
Chicken
Vegetables - Sweetcorn/brocolli

Places
Home!
Edinburgh
Cyprus
Berlin
Paris/France

TV (overall)
The Walking Dead
American Office
Peepshow
New Girl
Game of Thrones
24


TV (currently)
Making a murderer
Brooklyn 99
The Walking Dead
Sex and the City
Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Films
Fightclub
Guardians of the Galaxy
All the Harry Potters
Lord of the Rings
Get Him to the Greek

Apps
Drop7
Instagram
Monument Valley
FB Messenger
Twitter

Podcasts
Sword and Scale
Richard Herring
Adam Buxton
BroKen
Kermode and Mayo's Film Review

Youtubers
Vivanna does Make up
Kiera Rose
Wonderfuly0u
Gabriella Lindley
Claire Marshal


Celeb Male Crushes
Chris Pratt
Seth Rogen
Michael Fassbender
Hugh  Jackman
Andy Samberg


Celeb Female Crushes
Natalie Portman
Scarlett Johansson
Jennifer Lawrence
January Jones
Julia Roberts


Super Heroes
Batman
Iron Man
X-men
Thor
Kick Ass


Fashion Brands
Topshop
New Look
H&M
Urban Outfitters
ASOS

Travel Wishlist
New York
Las Vegas
Anywhere in Scandinavia
Italy
Disneyland!!!


Makeup Brands
Charlotte Tilbury
NARS
Kat Von D
Barry M


Favourite Video Games
Minecraft
Diablo 3
DOTA 2
Anything by TellTale Games
Drop 7


Small things that make me happy
Cuddles
Hot Chocolate
Bed/sleep
Slippers
Nature

There we have 100 of my favourite things! I hope you learnt something new about me and got to know me a little better. If you have any other things you would like to know, please feel free to drop me a comment and I'll reply.

I'd like to say a big thank you for those that are new and those that come back to my blog frequently, 100 posts is loads and I can't wait to share the next 100 with you!

Big cuddles and snogs,

6 Months On: Buying My First Home.

It's been about 6 months since Nick and I moved into our first home together and to be honest, it still hasn't really sunk in yet. Sometimes when you come home from work to your own house or wake up on a weekend and realise that you are in your own home, it freaks you out a little (well it does for me anyway!)

So the idea for this post is to write down some of the thoughts about settling down here and making it 'home'.

The first thing I struggled with and still do sometimes, is the feeling of 'home'. I'm a very impatient person and seeing the house unfinished and not how I imagined in the daydream of owning my own perfect house, is something I struggle with sometimes. You really do have to learn to live in a constant state of 'work in progress' which I'm coming to terms with. There are the usual factors of money and clashing of ideas you had for the house but often you are lumbered with the unseen things that can't be changed, like the shape and size of the house. You have an ideal in your head of what you want each room to look like but then you can't have it that way because the room literally wont let you, then trying to deal with that and adapt is the next challenge. I recently read somewhere that the things that make your house a 'home' are not the new things you buy but the pieces that are given to you, which are turning out to be true!

The next thing  I'll say is the realisation that it is actually your own home, so when shit breaks, you need to fix it. You can't call up your landlord or blame your estate agents for all the things you need doing to the place and rant at someone else to get it out of your system. It suddenly becomes yourself you are frustrated with for not doing all those little niggley bits that need doing or finishing off, oh and of course the cost that comes with this. We learnt this the hard way when we had to spend £400 right before Christmas to get the boiler fixed so we could get heating...but you realise that £400 is totally worth it compared to freezing your ass off.

Realising all the things you hate about the house that you never saw when walking around and viewing the house, no matter how many times you see it before you buy! There will be things with every house you buy that you don't like, surely? Learning to just accept them and move on is a struggle but as this is our first home, it's things we can look out for when we eventually move onto the next house. It's all a learning curve and we all have to do it at some point.

I should move onto the positive stuff now right? Well of course you get to start buying amazing interior stuff. This is literally my dream. I'm obsessed with interior design, all different types and styles and picking which ones you want in your house is exciting stuff. It's just hard piecing it all together without costing a fortune but I really do class this as a 'hobby' so I'm constantly looking around for pieces to fit into our home. Although I do like the clean and modern look I do find myself adding random little bits here and there to make it feel a little more lived in and loved. So as you'll probably guess, the house will be a mixture!

The next point ties in with the previous one really, which is being able to do whatever you want. No more landlord saying you can't mount pictures or paint something a different colour, you have the freedom to do whatever you want to the house. Get a dog, get 5, ain't no-one to stop you!

Finally, realising you are paying towards something that you will own and will be your future is very re-assuring. Once you've gotten over the scary fact that you are borrowing about a billion pounds from the bank, you soon realise that paying a mortgage towards something you will eventually own is much much nicer than wasting half your earnings on rent every month. If you are lucky, in some cases this is cheaper than renting or you get a better space for a similar price.

This was a very long and rambley post, but I hope it was interesting!
Please let me know how you felt after buying your first home!

8 Things I learnt from re-watching Sex and the City.

I was given the Sex and the City boxset for Christmas and I couldn't wait to re-watch them in order and follow the story properly but when watching it I couldn't help but notice a few things.

1. They never cook!?

They have these beautiful homes that cost an absolute bomb yet they never cook or really spend time at home. What is with that?! Over 6 seasons that spans over 10? years not once do you see them cook. Are takeaways super cheap in New York or are they just super lazy?


2. Carrie's fashion sense is awful.
I'm not really sure how Carrie Bradshaw became this huge fashion icon, is it because she only buys high end clothing even if the clothes/shoes she buys are god-damn awful? In the last season she wears cargo shorts, heels and this big frilly pink top thing and it was seriously one of the most awful things I've ever seen.


3. For a programme about sex...they barely say the word.
So yes Samantha uses the most frank of words but for a programme about sex they often use the phrase 'making love' which is something I wasn't really expecting. I guess the underlying point of the film is that sex is great but it's infinite times better when you are in love with someone.


4. I am Miranda.
There is always one person you relate to the most in a TV show and it turns out I am Miranda. I'm not super girly, I'm all for the honest approach of no bullshit and she basically summed up everything I want from my wedding when she gets married. I just really get her. You don't need to be super into makeup and fashion or heels and you can still be sexy and I think Miranda does this well. (and no, I'm not secretly saying these things about myself, ha!)


5. Big is a prick.
There is no other way to say it, but he's a bell end. I'm all aboard the Aidan boat. He's a furniture designer with great taste, a cabin and a dog, oh and is crazy cute and loving...who wouldn't you want that? Carrie apparently...


6. Honesty is key.
There is an episode towards the end of the entire series where they ask a man on his opinion. 'Why didn't he call?'. The response, 'he's just not that into you'. It's almost ground breaking for multiple reasons, 1. Four intelligent and independent woman couldn't work this out for themselves 2. All they had to do was ask a man and 3. why do they even care? ha ha.
I think we can all learn a little from some honesty, if you aren't that into someone, save them and you a bunch of time and just tell them, don't beat around the bush (cringe).


7.Women are just as confusing as men.
Dating is a cruel and confusing game and it doesn't matter which side of the dating wall you are, that shit is confusing, no matter how many brunches you sit talking about it with your 3 gal pals.


8. Oh and they never take their make-up off before bed.
Nuff said.

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick.

If you caught my 'What I got for Christmas' post you will have seen I got a Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick in the colour Amazing Grace from my lovely fiancé, which I was very happy about. I usually think quite hard about doing reviews on products, specially as I'm trying to be doing more 'meaningful' posts but I couldn't resist with this one, because once again I am suitably impressed with Charlotte Tilbury.



I picked out the colour I wanted after much deliberation looking at the website and swatches. I must say the swatches on the CT website are quite accurate, so I recommend you have a look if you are thinking about buying something. 

Lets just mentioned the packaging right off the bat, because we all know how gorgeous it is and we all love it, so obviously no disappointment here, I would like to say that it has a good weight to it and the snap you get when you put the lid on is very satisfying. But that's enough of that!

The next thing I want to mention is the shape, this has a very different square flat tip which differs from the usual pointed rounded tip you usually get but I have to say that I find it much easier to apply.

Then onto the good stuff...formula. Now I've struggled with Matte lipsticks in the past, they can be quite hard to apply, drying on the lips and flaky, but this is the complete opposite. It's very moisturising, so not drying at all, very easy to apply, it glides quite easily on the lips and isn't flaky at all. The pigment is great, this colour is quite bright so I kind of dab it on my lips and rub it into place with my finger but go over with another layer for more of a colour pop.

The colour is very beautiful, it's hard to explain fully but the colour isn't like a huge BAM in your face colour, its muted down but still very bright colour, it's almost like getting the colour and putting a slight blur on it, yep that was a totally weird way to describe a lipstick colour, but I'm rolling with it.

The smell is quite sweet smelling, it reminds me of the MAC scent, so if you like a sweeter smelling product this is nice, however if you don't like sweet smelling lipsticks the smell doesn't stick around when on the lips that much, so you'll only smell it when you put it on, so you might be able to cope with that.

Then finally, it's not tested on animals which is always a good thing. This is my go-to luxury cruelty free brand every time..specially at £23 a lipstick...eek! But I honestly think it's worth every penny. 

If any of you are wondering if I'm planning on getting another.. I am and I think im going to pick up the colour Sexy Sienna when I lift my own spending ban which is more a muted pink rather than a coral colour...so give it a couple of month for that review...


Let me know if you are planning on getting any CT products as I would love to know what you get!!

Polaroid Series: 600 Type.

For those that don't know I have a passion for Polaroid and analogue cameras and have done since I was about 10 years old. I just love the fact you can watch a photograph develop in front of your eyes and capture a moment in time. I started this Polaroid series (link here to the last one I did) as I have multiple camera's of different shapes and sizes and prices and thought it would be interesting to talk about them.

The camera I've chosen to talk about today is the 600 Series. This is the camera that started the obsession all those years ago. I remember  looking through the Argos catalogue for my 10 or 11th birthday and setting my eyes upon the Polaroid camera and deciding that was what I wanted for my birthday. I still have the original few photographs I took at my dads house, it was mostly of my family, my nan, my friend Lucy and I and other random crap. 

As you can tell from the photo, it's looking a bit old now but it still works perfectly fine 15 years later. This model is super bulky and heavy and you unfold the top, which as soon as you do you can hear the flash charge up.

There is a little thing you can flick between to look down the view finder, it's meant to help you pick between shooting 1 person or multiple people but I really don't think it makes a difference, they all come out pretty much the same anyway. There is also the standard little view finder in the back to see how many films you have left in the camera, although this version goes up to 10, as back in the day you got 10 shots per film pack rather than the 8 you commonly get now, so be warned when loading it up now it will always be 2 less than the number it shows you.

This camera is still really decent and still is being sold some places, I think you can get these in different colours now rather than the standard grey you got when I got mine, I know I've definitely seen some black versions around. This version also has a strap to help hold the camera steady when you are taking shots.

I do still like this camera, it comes with a flash which is handy in some situations but the really big downfall for this is how big and bulky it is, it's almost impossible to carry around in a bag without it getting in the way and it's not exactly subtle when cracking it out in public. I would know seeing as I was that girl asking waiters to take photos of us and them literally looking at me like I'd handed them a human head. But it's a classic and still looks pretty retro and cool on my shelf.

This takes pretty standard shots, I wouldn't take this with me if I wanted something super detailed or in the distance but it's fine for group shots of people or fairly close up things, but it's not the most high tech of the ones I own, but maybe a fun starting point for someone getting into Polaroid cameras. The last time I looked on eBay these were still very cheap and easy to get a hold of.

Black and white film. (I'm on the far right btw!)

Colour film, My brother and I at Wayne Manor aka Wollaton Park.

An example of when the roller doesn't spread the ink out evenly.

An example of old out of date film which changes the colours etc.

It takes 600 type film, which is the iconic square shape that everyone associates with Polaroid and is still pretty readily available from the modern film stores (Impossible Project) but you can also find some out of date stuff on eBay. Out of date film can be fun because it unpredictable and can give some cool effects if you like experimenting, but I would recommend you buy new if you want nice crisp and decent pictures.

So that is my overview of the 600 type Polaroid camera, I will be doing more of these in the future as I cover all of my collection, so please check back! Please let me know if you are a Polaroid camera fan or you want to get into them and need some advice, I would love to hear from you!

Healthy Living Tips.

Right about now everyone will be on the healthy eating and going to the gym hype after new year resolutions so cue all the healthy eating and recipe posts. I thought I would throw in my 2 cents on the topic as someone who has recently revamped my entire eating habits, lost the weight I wanted to through healthy eating and managed to maintain this for over a year now.

I'm not going to preach that I am the perfect example of health, I still don't eat amazingly healthy 100% of the time and I'm not super fit, but I have changed my eating habits to much healthier and feel much better about it. I mean whilst writing this I am about to order a take away because I can't be bothered to cook but please know that sometimes it's OK. It's OK to have a treat sometimes and yes it takes a long time to learn not to feel guilty about it, but you can't eat perfectly 100% of the time and having a treat from time to time stops the binges. I was a self confessed chocoholic and I still find it really hard to stop myself eating an entire family sized bar to myself.

Buy Smaller Plates.

One of the first things I did when I decided to change my eating habits was to buy smaller plates. The plates we had were huge and when cooking you tend to fill your plate which equals much larger portions. Having smaller plates that look full with less food on it, not only is this just much better for you by not over eating it also does some kind of mind trickery. I found this really helped get my portions under control. Another thing I'll tag on here is to give yourself a smaller portion to begin with, eat it and then wait a little while to see if you are still hungry and if need be have a little more but give yourself time to tell if you are actually still 'hungry'. Same goes with being 'full', eat slowly and listen to your body, if you feel full, then stop eating food, it's pretty simple really.


Go au naturale.

One of the easiest things I found helped me was to live by the rule of natural food. With any type of food I pick up if I have no idea what goes into making it, I tend not to eat it. For example, so much frozen food, oven meals, pre-made meals are full of crap. Lets say for example you pick up a ready meal that has sausage and mash in it, if you made that at home, it would include sausages...and potatoes, it shouldn't include a bunch of other products you have no idea what they are. So strip back your meals to basics, vegetables, meat, some kind of carbs. It's not crazy complicated. Don't eat fried chicken everyday, don't eat deep fried crisps or chocolate bars and eat more fresh food, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, easy peasy.

Now some of you will be saying, but I don't like many vegetables or fruit, so this makes eating harder, that's OK. You need to experiment a little with things and see what you prefer. If you only like peas and sweetcorn, that's OK, you can use these in a variety of ways and it's great if you could get a portion of each everyday. One of the things we eat often is jacket potatoes, don't buy the biggest potato you can find but an average sized one, add some salad, add some meat, heck we even have it with rice, but you made it from scratch, you haven't added a bunch of random ingredients you didn't need. Food can be tasty and easy and simple.


Exercising...ugh.
The dreaded exercise chat, you can totally join the gym or go for a run or you can just do little things like increasing your steps per day. I did find that changing my diet and starting the gym at the same time was too much and I found it hard to stick to everything at once so I, personally, decided that my diet was more important to change first. 

I work in an office and drive to and from work, so I basically do no exercise, so I tend to go out and have a walk about in my lunch hour to just get your body moving around and get out of the office environment. This could be a great time to go for a walk with your partner in the countryside, this could be walking your dog once or twice a day, but get your body moving more than you were before and it doesn't have to be crazy intense..you can increase your exercise as time goes on.

When we slip up.
This really is inevitable and when it happens, accept it and move on. Don't wallow in the pizza you had last night, pick yourself back up again and start over, don't let yourself think 'OK well I had that pizza, so this chocolate bar will be OK and I'll just start again tomorrow'. That might work sometimes, but in most cases that one pizza will turn into a 3 day long binge, a mountain of guilt and feeling like shit. I found allowing myself to make mistakes and moving on from them made it much easier because after all we are all human and lets face it, pizza and chocolate are amazing.

~

I really hope this didn't come across as preachy I just thought I'd give some tips that worked for me over the past year and a half. I've managed to lose 1 stone in total and keep it off but most of all I regained my confidence, I just feel so much better in my own skin and it's been a long time since I've felt like this. So I'd love to think someone could take something from this.

Tell me about your weight loss stories or any tips you might have in the comments, I'd love to read them.

LUSH: Catastrophe Cosmetic Face Mask First Impressions.

During a recent LUSH event I had the opportunity to make my own Catastophe Cosmetic face mask. It was a great little experience putting all the ingredients in and mixing it around and seeing it all blend together and not just in a pot when you walk around the store.

So when I got home from the event, I put the pot in the fridge and completely forgot about it for about a month, standard. So during an evening binge of Sex and the City I was rummaging around in the fridge for some chocolate and I caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye and thought, it is time. I couldn't remember anything about this face mask, I had no idea if it was meant to be moisturising, calming, cleansing etc.

After scrapping back my hair, I went about slapping it on my face. The first thing you notice is how nice it smells, it just smells so lovely of the blueberries, which is one of my favourites! It was quite easy to slather on and smooth over my face.

Just so you know, the cute rating when this is on your face is -100, you look like something out of The Walking Dead...



It advises to leave the face mask on for 10-15 minutes, but I always leave them on for much longer. I think I left this on for about 45 minutes..or however long 2 episodes of Sex and the City are...

I wiped this off with a flannel and some warm water and it came off really easily, I didn't need to scrub hard or anything.



Afterwards my skin felt really clean and soft. The thing I noticed the most was that my spots and redness had gone down so much. I was actually really impressed by how much they had gone down, it's currently the morning after using it and my skin is still really calm.

I have one more use left in the little sample pot we got given but I can really see me re-purchasing this for when my skin is going mental and it needs some help. I think this would be a great one to use once or twice a week to help keep balanced skin or if you are having a major breakout or something.

Keep an eye out for more LUSH reviews in the future!



*this product was gifted to me at a LUSH event, all views, opinions and crap jokes are my own.

Sunday Sit Down #4

It has been about a week since I set myself my some blogging and life goals and I already have updates..isn't that exciting? So I'm pretty much just going to delve right it.

So firstly, drum roll please... we have chosen the venues for our wedding. Yep, we totally went straight in with that goal and sorted it. I'm going to do more posts on these as things come closer to the actual wedding planning phase. I've already contacted both of the venues and they are free for the date that we want (give or take a week) and it's super duper exciting. For those that are interested we are aiming for around the 10th of October 2017, yes its miles away but hey weddings aint cheap, so this gives us plenty of time to save money and really make it special. The last thing you want to do with your wedding is rush it or go cheap, because it's the one time you really get to make it your own, plus I don't want to regret not doing it another way after. I can't wait to go visit them when the weather clears up slightly!
So, there you go ladies and gents, I'm crazy excited and now have to wait 22 months....sigh.

Then as of this week we have also booked our first holiday of 2016 out to see Nicks mum in Cyprus in May, which is crazy exciting. By the time we fly out there it will have been 7 months since we saw the fam, so we are both super excited to get out there and soak up some sun, go on some adventures and spend time chilling with the family. I'm also excited at the prospect of having my engagement resized so it fits my finger properly, as some of you may know we got engaged in Cyprus last April and decided to buy our engagement ring out there too. The ring we bought was too big and the jeweller we bought from assured us it was totally resizeable but after talking to a few places they couldn't do it because it turned out to be 5 sizes too big. We contacted the lady we bought it from and she said she was happy to re-size it for us next time we are in Cyprus..so here's hoping we can get it done even a couple of sizes smaller so it's at least a little tighter, cross you fingers for me!

Then lastly, saving money. I've been really trying to resist all urges when buying things week which has been going really well. Nick and I had a chat this week and have decided to take a big step and move all of our earnings into a joint bank account as a step to save much more money. I'll let you know how this works out but we are planning on putting this in action at the beginning of February, what better time to save more money when you have a wedding to get planning?

I also went out for lunch with the lovely Sheffield bloggers lot as we've not been together since before Christmas. It was great seeing everyone and eating cake at the Eten Cafe, I work right next to this place and have never been in before so I might pop in more often now as I enjoyed it. They also do some really cool local artwork so I might make a purchase at some point!

The first week back at work went surprising quickly so that can only mean next week is going to drag like hell so good luck to everyone else out there!

Lets catch up soon?

What I Got for Christmas 2015.

I've been debating for awhile whether to do this post or not..that and the awful lighting/weather situation didn't help. But you can probably already tell that by the date this post has gone live...

I find these posts to be quite interesting as I'm a nosey so and so, but I also often find myself coming away from reading others and feeling a bit shitty about myself after not getting 3k's worth of stuff. I watched one YouTube video that lasted 25 minutes...25! of none stop Christmas gifts, it wasn't all cheap stuff either, it was all substantial bits and pieces.

So this post isn't going to be full of the most recent eye shadow palette, or any kind of Apple products for that matter, so fair warning this is not your standard 'What I got for Christmas' post, it's probably much geekier...

So the first three things I got were Pop Vinyl's, Nick bought me Dumbledore from Harry Potter, then my friend James asked me to pick out 2 I wanted, so I picked Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy and then Hershal from The Walking Dead. I love Pop Vinyl's so much, starting to get quite a little collection going now!

Then I got a Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick in Amazing Grace, I have to admit I picked this out myself but I was so happy to finally get my hands on it. It's so pretty and the colour is great, I wore it on Christmas day and it hung around for quite awhile, so I was impressed with it. I fear this might be the start of some more lipstick purchases though...

Then for anyone that saw my post about Urban Outfitters: Home ware Gift guide before Christmas, I linked a few polaroid frames I liked and I may have got a little one for Christmas. I love it and I really want to buy some more...but at least you guys can see what it looks like with actual polaroids in! Very cool.

Then I asked Santa for this Fish Eye Lens for my iPhone, I've got a lens like this for one of my analogue cameras so I thought it would be cool for taking some different photos. A fish eye lens basically is a curved lens so that you can get more of the shot in it, I'll post a photo below so you get the idea!

My instagram is https://www.instagram.com/sweetalluree/ if you want to follow! 

Then as I'm pretty much a Tv/Movie nerd, I got some Dvd's for Christmas. First up I got the Sex and the City box set, which I've wanted for ages! I've watched most of them in a random order so I can finally watch them in order..I'm on season 4 already...woops.

Then I got Guardians of the Galaxy, I've basically been in love with everything about this film since I first saw it and have been trying to convince Nick to watch it with me, so he bought it so we can watch it together....p.s he loved it.

Then finally, Nick got me the Harry Potter boxset, which fun story I'd also bought him too, and if you read my Harry Potter Tour post you'd know he admitted he has never seen all of the movies, so I bought them him so we could watch them together and he bought them me because he knows how much of a fan I am. So I'll give you the low down of what he thinks when we get around to watching it. Because I didn't have the receipt for the boxset I bought him, we returned the one he got me and bought The Walking Dead Season 5 instead, as he is also watching through that with me (after years of trying to convince him).

Then as I've kind of become obsessed with candles over the last month or 2, Nick bought me a little pack of Yankee candles so I could burn a few and see if I liked any of the scents. I've already burnt the berry one and the cookie one, so they arn't in the photo, but they were a cute little gift!

Then the final thing I'm going to talk about are these slippers, mostly because my feet are almost always cold, yes, even in summer or in foreign hot countries.  So a good sturdy pair of slippers are a must and these ones from Nicks dad and step mum are so cosy and warm and I've basically worn them none-stop since.

I also got a few more gifts, including an amazing rainbow lit keyboard for my computer, some money from family and other home bits and shower bits, which I equally loved and will use up. I just can't photograph everything in life, especially with such terrible lighting. I also had a pretty good selection of chocolate that disappeared approximately 1 day after Santa delivered it.

So there you have it, I hope this was a little different from any of the other What I got for Christmas posts, I like to think I have a different style to most. Please let me know what you got! or leave me a link to some of your posts in the comments below!

Hope you all had a great one and a happy new year!

LUSH Sheffield Event.

A couple of weeks ago I was very kindly invited to the LUSH store on Fargate in Sheffield city centre to learn more about LUSH products, have a chance for a one on one chat about hair and skin with the staff and finally make some of the products ourselves, which is very very exciting!

Blogging Goals for 2016.

I've been blogging for almost a year now and that blows my mind, I honestly never thought I would stick to this thing for so long but here I am and I'm definitely sticking around, soz.

I certainly have some aims for the development of my blog over 2016 which I thought I'd share with you, after all, we all have something we want to improve don't we?

 The first thing I really want to do is write more meaningful posts, yes we all love a good haul or make up product reviews, but I really want to write about things that don't cost money and make use of the things I already own. Thinking up new ideas and covering topics that are a little out of the ordinary is going to be my aim this year, it's not all about how much money or 'stuff' you have, it's about the angle you approach a topic from.


Then, as I've heard pretty much every blogger on the planet say, I really want to improve my photography. This may be just learning how to make the most of the camera, thinking of interesting ways to shoot products, making the most of the natural light or awesome flatlays, but I really want to improve my photography and thus improve the appeal of my blog to you lovely lot. 

I also really want to get more involved with the blogging community this year, I've already managed to wedge myself into some groups and make friends and if this is to grow in the next year, I'd be extremely happy. I love making new friends, going to new places and having new opportunities, so I will certainly not be turning these things down if they arise in 2016, this is my 'Yes Man' moment!

Then lastly, I want to grow my social media on all platforms. I actually hated Twitter before making my blog but now I'm constantly checking my account... and I've always loved Instagram, so this year I want to make a real conscious effort to grow my social media platforms. I'm going to attempt to join in more twitter chats, post much more regularly on Instagram and more importantly, interact with you all and spread some love. This is certainly something that wont just happen over night, I'll have to set aside time every day or other day to comment on things I like, give praise where praise is due and hopefully spread a little positivity around this little blogging world, but I really intend to try harder.

I can't wait to see all you lovely blogging lot through another year. Onwards and upwards for everyone, there's plenty of room at the top for us all!