I have found a reason to love Christmas

Normally Christmas is my least favourite time of the year. I can’t be doing with all the forced joviality and having to spend time with people you wouldn’t want to spend so much time with. But this Christmas I have found something that makes me glad it’s this time of year. Unfortunately I can’t take credit for the suggestion, that was Mariella (who’s blog you can find over here). And what a suggestion it was.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please let me introduce to you the new Spirit of Christmas!!

Excuse me while I drool…………..

New crush

Well to be perfectly honest it’s not really a new one. It’s one that appears every now and then when I’ve been watching cooking programmes. It’s the bloke below; chef James Martin.

Now I did have a picture of this guy that I took a fair few years ago when I went to watch him cook at a food festival in Skipton but I have no idea what I’ve done with it :-(. If you are unaware of who he is he is a chef from Yorkshire who loves fast cars. Basically an ideal man; gorgeous, can cook, is tall and likes fast cars. Now if only there were more men like him out there I would be a happy woman!!!!

My crush raised it’s head again last Sunday when I went down to Birmingham with my mum for the Good Food Show. I found the show itself a bit disappointing as I was envisaging coming away from there with absolutely loads of lovely new goodies but apparently not. I did come away with a black forest cupcake though which was nice but very sweet. What did make the whole trip worthwhile though (despite spending several hours in the car with my mum!) was watching James Martin do an alternative Xmas lunch and a cut down version of Saturday Kitchen. In person he is absolutely gorgeous and definitely made me go weak at the knees. It was slightly disturbing though watching my sixty-something old mother drool over someone young enough to be her son but I’m guessing I can work through it with the help of a very good therapist.

Now I’m off to watch Saturday Kitchen that I recorded this morning and, as a bonus, Sarah Millican is on there and she is hilarious!!

NaNoWriMo is a bust!!

That’s it folks. NaNoWriMo is over and done with. Well for me at least. Personal circumstances and illness have conspired against me and I’m so far behind now that there’s no chance of me getting anywhere near the 50,000 words I need by the end of the month. I’m still writing though, just not the amount I need. Nevermind, things can only get better.

I’ve spent a lot of this week with friends and family. Thursday night I went to meet Sally in a shopping centre where we wandered around looking at lots of lovely things, me watching Sally eat fish and chips while I had a jacket potato (damn diet) and buying stuff!! Sally bought Christmas presents and more stuff for Xander and I treat myself to some more Chanel Coco Madamoiselle which I absolutely love but ran out of ages go and didn’t want to spend that much money on it but I caved, pretty much like I always do!!!

I spent a lovely day on Saturday with Catherine and baby Charlie who, despite his crying when Catherine tried to feed him pork casserole (distinct improvement on beef with blueberries!). We wandered around town and had lunch in a cafe and then wandered around town some more before taking the screechy one back to his dad where he was smiles and happy. Little monster!

Then today I went to a very small family party for my dad’s birthday (which technically isn’t until next week) where I cuddled nieces both big and small. Little niece Constance ran around closing the door and giving everyone a heart attack that she’d trap her fingers and big niece Charlotte was a big 12-year-old pain in the bum albeit and cute one who is growing up fast.

So that’s been my week (and week end) and now I’m chilling with a cup of (decaf) coffee and catching up on the new series of Misfits. Who doesn’t like Simon????

Quickie!!! (ooh err missus!)

Just a quick tiny post as its late and I should be asleep but the cat looks so comfy on my knee I don’t have the heart to move him.

Anyway I went to a Halloween Party last weekend and I thought I’d share a photo of me in all my gear. I was the Bride of Dracula which fits with me perfectly.

(yeah I know I shouldn’t be smiling but you can’t see what I could behind the camera!)

Night night.

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Fat Fighters number one

Well tonight heralds my return to the world of Fat Fighters. By 6pm I shall have been weighed, spoken to like I am either a child or disabled and have been forced to sit through a class listening to people moan or clap! I don’t like the first class. Not because I find it embarrassing or anything. I mean, everyone is there for the same reason. No, I hate the first class because it’s the only one I have to stay for because at the end you get told how many points you can eat a day and then they explain the plan to you which is something you could do in the comfort of your own home with a big bar of chocolate. (which, let’s face it, is why I’ve ended up going to Fat Fighters again in the first place).

I can’t say I’m looking forward to it. I like eating chocolate and cream cakes and takeaways but I guess something has to be done before I get much older! I shall update this post after the class and let you know whether I am surprised my how much weight I’ve put on or whether I am wanting the ground to swallow me up!!!

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Back on the Fat Fighters bandwagon

Yup, as much as I hate to admit it since I stopped going to Weight Watcher (or Fat Fighters as I prefer to call it – dust anyone?) I have steadily been putting back on the weight that I lost. So I have finally decided to do something about it and I’m off back to Fat Fighters. I’m not going to the same class though. To be honest the woman running that one was so annoyingly happy and chirpy that I just wanted to strangle her. And I’m going to follow the same plan of not staying for the meetings. There’s only so much clapping and cheering I can take! But the ritual humiliation of heading off to get weighed each week is what I need and if that means that I have to pay £19.99 a month to essentially just get weighed then that’s what I’m going to have to do.

I can’t say I’m totally looking forward to it. Obviously I’m looking forward to losing the weight again but I’m not looking forward to hours spent planning what I can eat and what I can take to work for lunch! The books are going to have to come back out and I might have to purchase one of the ‘easy meals for the sad people on their own who cry into their food and wish they could just eat chocolate’ so that I have an idea of what to cook and how but it’s just tough and I’m going to have to get my head in to gear and get something done.

At least I have another added incentive in that my best friend has asked me to be godmother to her gorgeous son and I need to look good on all the christening photos. Losing some weight before then might mean that I can find a lovely outfit and not look huge!

So goodbye takeaways, chocolate (well the amount I eat anyway) and all the stuff that tastes so good but that is so bad and hello vegetables, fruit and smaller portions! At some point I might even get myself off to the gym but for now I’ll stick to the diet and falling over my feet in the comfort of my own home when I do my workout games on the Wii!!!!

Now I’m off to eat my naughty food stash in the house so that it’s all gone before Monday……..

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I may have done a little bit of shopping……

We’ve all done it right? As soon as payday comes around you want to go shopping and spend a little bit of cash. I did this last weekend both in Boots and online. So, if you’re interested, here’s what I bought with my usual justification for buying them!!!

My nails have done their usual trick as soon as it gets a bit colder and the heating is on and they’re just falling apart in front of my eyes. When I saw these in Boots I figured I’d try them. You get 200 nails for £8.50 which I don’t think is too bad. I’m going to try them out this weekend when I got to a Halloween party after I’ve painted them up on friday.

I love the normal formula of L’Oreal Volume Million Lashes but there are some times when you need a waterproof mascara so I figured I’d have a go with this one. I’ve not used it yet but will do soon.

I was wanting a new foundation as the Rimmel one I am currently using is running out and I wanted to try something new. I saw this used on a few YouTube videos so I thought I’d give it a go. I have used this a couple of times and I have to say I’m impressed. The coverage is just enough and it doesn’t look cakey at all. The only downside is I don’t think it lasts the 16 hours they say it does.

This is the second tube of this concealer I own and whilst I’m not sure about whether I like the Rimmel Match Perfection foundation, I do like this concealer. It covers up my dark circles (unless I’ve had a really bad night) and it’s nice and creamy. I’m sure I’ll be using this for a long time to come.

I have to admit, I got this one by accident. I meant to pick up the red Kate Moss lipstick but I obviously wasn’t paying that much attention!!! I can’t for the life of me remember what number the colour is (I’ll check later!) but it’s like a ‘my lip but better’ colour. It’s good for something subtle for work and the formula is quite nice. I might have to go back and get the red one too cos I really liked the colour of it.

I have been seeing this brush used on YouTube for ages and raved about on blogs from around the world so I finally managed to get around to using it. I have high hopes for this brush. I can’t wait to use it in the morning.

I seem to be on a bit of a foundation kick at the moment and, to be perfectly honest when I bought the Bourjois foundation pictured above, I forgot that I had gone and bought this one. The colour may be a tad light for me but I reckon I can work with that and it’ll come in handy for the halloween party!!!

Speaking of the Halloween party (!) I have been making a costume and I have to say it’s turned out quite well if I do say so myself. I tried to take pictures of the skirt but you can’t really see the detailing. I’m hoping that there will be some good pictures from the event itself and I’ll put some up here if I can. I have to admit that the thing I am looking forward to most is doing my hair and make up because Halloween is an excuse to go all out (not that I really need one). I’m gonna practice on Friday night so if it turns out good I might put up some pictures.

OMG, this is some seriously cool stuff…

Whilst I have a thousand things I want to get done today I took some time out to have a quick look over my favourite blogs using Bloglovin which is seriously cool. Check it out HERE. And whilst I was having a quick look I hopped on over to Makeup Savvy (brilliant blog, you should check it out) and she had posted the best video I have ever seen. The video is for Dermablend which is a makeup designed to cover up things like tattoos and birthmarks. I would tell you a bit more about it but you have to check it out for yourself.

The guy in the video is Zombie Boy aka Rick Genest from America. I had a quick look at his webpage (HERE) and to be honest I think this guy is cool. Hope you enjoyed the video.

Glossy Box

I picked my first Glossy Box up from the post office this evening and was so excited. If you don’t know what a Glossy Box is, hop on over HERE and take a look. I like the concept because I like getting surprised packages in the post so it works for me and, at £12.95 a month, I reckon it’s a luxury I can afford to treat myself to.

So this is what the pretty box looks like (I apologise for the crappy photos!)

You can’t really tell the colour but it’s pink (not necessarily my favourite colour but you can’t have everything).

When you open it up, you get a sheet telling you all about what you have in your box and then when you lift that up it’s all prettily packaged.

And these are the goodies. First up, Leighton Denny Expert Nails in Hanky Panky. You can’t really see the colour in the picture (cos I suck at taking them) but it’s a bright orange, slightly metallic colour. I’m not sure if it’s my kind of colour but I’ll give it a whirl.

Then there’s three trial sized products from Dermalogica which is a brand I’ve never really used before because it’s quite expensive. You get three products and a bag to keep them in. First product is Dermalogica Age Smart Multivitamin Thermafoliant which is described as ‘A powerful thermal skin polisher that combines physical and chemical exfoliants. Then there is Dermalogica Age Smart Multivitamin Power Recover Masque which is ‘a powerful masque of concentrated antioxidant vitamins to help skin recover and regenerate (I’m looking forward to using this one because my skin cold do with some TLC at the moment). And finally there is a tiny (very very tiny) tube of Dermalogica Age Smart Renewal Lip Complex which is listed as coming with the cosmetic bag which is probably to make up for the fact that the tube is TINY!!!

Then there is something that I can’t wait to try and that is Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof eyeliner in Moray. I love Stila products and I’m hoping that this one delivers. And this one looks more or less full sized.

There were also some perfume samples in there but to be perfectly honest, each and every one of them reminded me of something an old woman would wear so I’m going to be giving them to the old woman (my mum!)

So, I’m very much looking forward to getting my Glossy Box each month.

NaNoWriMo

It’s that time of year again when I have started really thinking about NaNoWriMo. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept, hop on over to the website HERE and take a look. If you can’t be bothered to follow the link (or if I haven’t managed to add the link right) I’ll give you the general gist. Basically the aim is, throughout the month of November, you manage to write 50,000 words of a novel. If you think that there are 30 days in November and you have to write 50,000 words and do the math, then you realise that you have to write 1,667 words a day to hit the target at the end of the month. Think it sounds a doodle? Then you’re wrong!!!

I took part for the first time last year and I managed just over 53,000 words in about 25 days and that is part of the problem I have with November. November is a big month for me. There are several birthdays, both friends and families and then there is my birthday on the 30th November which generally means a lot of drinking and socialising which eats up the writing time! But I think that the reason I managed it last year is because I was working 12 hour shifts and not doing a normal 9-5 job. This meant that I could write loads on my days off shift, forget about writing when I was on days and then get an hour or so done while I was on nights. That adds up to a fair amount of writing time. This year? Well this year I will be attempting NaNoWriMo whilst working a job with proper hours and I think this is going to be difficult. Generally by the time I get home from work I am shattered and only fit for vegging in front of the tv until I drag my sleepy self off to bed.

I honestly have no idea how people manage to consistently write books and hold down a full time job? Maybe they just have more drive than me? But anyway, regardless of the reasons I’m gonna have a damn good try this year. I’ve already started plotting (although I think something else might creep in there and take over) and have various strange bits of paper stuck on my living room walls!

This weekend I’m off to stock up on supplies (pro plus anyone?) that will see me though November and into editing beyond.

So, if you want me at any point in November then be prepared to be ignored cos I’ll more than likely be glued to my computer, iPad or a good old fashioned piece of paper!!

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