Lately

I've been particularly impressed with myself for saving up those pennies. It was a NYs resolution of mine and I've surprised myself by how well I've managed to stick to it. Avoiding the shops and working most weekends has helped massively! In the last week or two I have treated myself here and there. But over the last couple of weeks I've mainly been taking it easy and pottering about with the boyfriend, getting in to a good book, working my way through my stash of Lush products and enjoying the odd bit of sunshine. 

{I love a good cup of coffee and a slice of cake, although in this case a Tiramisu in a teacup. Delicious!}

A hot bubble bath and a good book definitely can't be beaten after a long day at work.  Me Before You has been on my 'to-read list' ever since a good friend reccommended it to me. I've only just finished it and I loved it. It didn't take me long to get stuck in to the story.

Below: I had to include this cute little picture I took a week or two ago. The sun was shining, I was sat in my back garden and this little munchkin was bouncing in circles around me. She is so adorable. Although sunny days can be short lived, it makes a change seeing blue skies and sunshine instead of the usual wind and rain.  I guess I wasn't the only one enjoying the sunshine! :)

What have your last couple of weeks consisted of?

NARS - Ondine Eyeshadow

This beautiful NARS eyeshadow caught my eye a few months ago now. Although I have a couple of other NARS products lurking around in my make up bag, an eyeshadow isn't one of them. After spotting this gorgeous taupe/plum coloured eyeshadow I couldn't resist. Ondine is a single eyeshadow (2.2g). I find the packaging to be a handy and compact size, it isn't too bulky and holds nice amount of product. Ondine is lovely and pigmented, there is a slight shimmer in this eyeshadow but it's very subtle. When applying this product I haven't experienced fallout. I love how buildable this eyeshadow is, and how easy it is to work with. It's definitely a versatile shade that you could often use as it works well on its own all over the lid, blended in to the crease or for creating a smokey eye.

I pulled out MACs Satin Taupe just so I could compare the two. Ondine appears more softer and smokier in comparison to Satin Taupe, whereas Satin Taupe has a frost finish and is more cool toned compared to Ondine. NARS Ondine retails at around £17 so it's not the cheapest. Although this is quite pricey for a single eyeshadow it is a beautiful shade, it's also very versatile and a worthy opponent to your typical browns and taupes.

{L-R -NARS Ondine and MACs Satin Taupe}

Have you tried any NARS eye products before?

To Read List

I'm sure this list will continously be added to...

-Citadel - Kate Mosse

-The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

-His Dark Materials Trilogy - Philip Pullman

-The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

-The Secret Keeper - Kate Morton

-Me Before You - Jojo Moyes

-Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

-The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

What do you have on your 'to read' list? I'd love to hear about any of your own book recommendations or if you've read any of the books listed above :)

The Little Things

{Pinterest}

-Kind words can be such a 'pick-me up'. After going through a bit of a stressful time a few weeks ago I really appreciated the support I received from family and friends


-Having a girly day with my mum which consisted of shopping, eating tasty food and getting our nails done. Something which we haven't had the chance to do in a long time


-Browsing through and watching lots of different films and TV programmes, on Netflix, during my rather long breaks at work. It definitely helps to pass the time


-Charlie's playful, and at times scary, sessions


-Friendship: I work with quite a small team and feel lucky to work with some of the most loveliest girls. They keep me smiling and laughing and I'm happy that we all get on so well


-Planning secret surprises for Mum's 50th birthday


-An impromptu trip to visit one of my closest friends. Something I've wanted to do but have previously struggled to get around to doing. As I had the weekend off I packed my bags and drove two hours to visit my friend. I really enjoyed having that quality time with her, visiting her new home and eating and drinking out at lovely places. Times like these are hard to beat they're always filled with smiles and laughter :)


-Giving the dogs a wash and a brush and watching them run around the house excitedly afterwards. I love how fluffy and cute they look afterwards


-Nice days.... like today, the sun is shining and the sky is blue. No rain and no snow


-Spending yesterday with my boyfriend and his family. We all stuffed our faces at a local restaurant and had a relaxed afternoon of pottering around the local shops. In the evening me and the boyfriend cosied up and watched the Easter special of Jonathan Creek


-Messing around on Snapchat with my brother. He never fails to make me laugh and this app is another fun way of keeping in touch and just being silly


-Picking up some new bath bombs and bubble bars from Lush. In particular The Brightside bubble bar which smells amazing


-Spending the odd hour or two on The Sims 3. I can't see a day in which I will ever get bored of this addicive game

Current Favourites

Soap & Glory - Heel Genius

I'm not normally one for applying creams or lotions to my feet, in fact you could say my feet do get a little bit neglected. After painting my toe nails a few weeks ago I thought I'd slap on a bit of this foot cream - and it's now become a bit of a regular occurrence. I normally apply this a couple of times a week before bed. It's suggested on the packaging to slip some socks on after you've massaged this cream in to your feet to allow it to soak in through the night. I really like this foot cream it has a fresh, clean scent to it which initially reminds me of a sort of cucumber scent. I find this cream to be very moisturising, it soaks in fairly quickly and leaves my feet feeling very soft and hydrated.

Liz Earle - Skin Repair Moisturisier

After trying out the mini Liz Earle skin care kit I decided I'd purchase the full sized moisturiser. This product stood out the most to me and was the one product I felt my skin really agreed with. I now apply this every morning and night. It leaves my skin feeling nice and hydrated but isn't too heavy. It's quite rich so I don't tend to use too much of it. I love the light scent of this cream - it's subtle and sweet. 

Philips Satin Soft Epilator 
I received this epilator for Christmas - I had specifically asked for one as I've been wanting to try epilating for a while now. A handful of work friends have been telling me about the benefits of epilating and I thought it was definitely worth trying. In a nutshell an epilator is a mehtod of hair removal. It's an electrical device which grasps hairs and pulls several out at the same time (basically like tweezing). It doesn't sound particularly pleasant to be honest. Although it's taken a few attempts I'm starting to get used to the sensation of epilating and I really do love the results. At the moment I've only epilated my legs but eventually I hope to do under my arms aswell. As the hairs are being pulled out they don't grow back as quickly as they would if you were shaving. In the future I'll think about doing a more in depth post about epilating for those of you that may want to know more. 

Benefit - They're Real! Mascara

I held off from trying this product for a while as at £18.50 this mascara is definitely not the cheapest, but I gave in and I have to admit I love it. This mascara gives my lashes a full, natural look. But Benefit's mascara seems to go one step further. It stays put all day and really opens up the eyes.  It can be quite difficult when removing your eye make up, although this depends on your method and the products you use. After a few months, like with many other mascaras, this product can tend to clump slightly. Although I've found this easy to work with and just comb may lashes through if there is the odd bit of clumping, unlike some other mascaras which are a complete nightmare and leave you with what looks like 5 giant lashes on each eye. I'll definitely be repurchasing this, it's very flattering and easily a favourite.

T.V
I've really been in to a few TV programmes over the last couple of months; My Mad Fat Diary, Nashville and more recently The Vampire Diaries have been top of my list. Bit of a variety as these programmes are quite different from one another, but I've been enjoying watching them all. 

The first series of My Mad Fat Diary has finished now, but is apparently set to return. 
Nashville is a new US series which has recently started, it's a few episodes in to the first series currently on More 4. Finally the Vampire Diaries, I've heard a lot about this series and although I haven't been following it at all I decided I'd give it a go. I'm about halfway through the first series at the moment- so far so good. 

What have been your favourites recently?

Words To Live By

I always love doing my 'Words To Live By' posts. I quite often go through quotes and find they can, at times, be very uplifting, motivational and sometimes quite supportive. When I stumble across those that I love and/or relate to I save them to my phone or computer and like to share some of them with you all. All of the above images were sourced from pinterest.com. The original sources are unknown. 

Catch Up

My laptops broken! It was slowly becoming more and more useless so I decided I should probably pop down to the little computer shop in town. So that's what I did, and was told that the hardrive was on its way out. SOB. Luckily everything was backed up as it's all getting fixed now. So whilst patiently waiting for it to be fixed I have been Internet free, well minus the usual bit of browsing on my phone! I've missed blogging so I thought I'd attempt a post from my phone. 

Trips

Despite wanting to chuck my laptop out of the window, prior to the computer shop visit, things have been good. It was the boyfriend's birthday a couple of weeks ago so I planned a secret trip to Cornwall. I love surprises and he had absolutely no idea. Although the weather was a bit temperamental (not at all surprising) it was a lovely little trip away and we had a great time. We travelled around most of Cornwall and stopped at various little places for walks, pictures, hot drinks and food. To name a few places - we stopped at St Ives, Padstow and Newquay. It was so relaxing and nice to have a change of scenery. I love being by the beach and Cornwall definitely has some really beautiful beaches! Carbis Bay in St Ives (top left and bottom right) has a lovely beach. After browsing around the town we walked back to the car, it then started to rain. By the time we got in to the car we were both absolutely drenched!

I also spent a week in my old home town catching up with some family and friends. It's always nice going back home and spending some quality time with loved ones. As its over a two hours drive from where I currently live I sometimes struggle to find the time to go and visit everyone, so sometimes months go between each visit. It was quite a chilled out week. I just enjoyed having the time off work and doing the simple little things such as having a cup of tea and a girly chat and catch up with my best friend or watching a couple of films with my Dad! Ahh the little things eh :)

Valentines Day

My boyfriend is the sweetest. We had nothing planned for valentines... to be honest I'm not a huge valentines day type of girl. A nice simple meal out would have been fine. But my boyfriend had planned a really special afternoon/evening. He'd booked us both in for a hot stone back massage at a spa hotel, a lovely meal and a room for the night. The hotel is a favourite of ours and one we often visit it when we can as a bit of a treat. It's in a really scenic location sat beside a beautiful lake. The hot stone back massage was a little slice of heaven. It was so relaxing and therapeutic. My work can be quite punishing on my back so I felt so much better for it. I can't recommend it enough if you're yet to try one.

Well in a nutshell that's it. Aside from all of the above I've been working like the busy bee that I am and trying to save up those pennies.  When I've had the chance to watch a bit of television my TV picks have been 'Nashville' and 'My Mad Fat Diary' (I love both of these, especially the latter) and a bit of 'Hollyoaks' on the side every now and then. Thankfully my laptop will be returned tomorrow all shiny and new, well kind of. I've missed catching up on my favourite blogs and being able to go on to my iTunes and update my music. Although you can do pretty much all of it these days on your phone, I much prefer my trusty laptop :)