March Favourite Things

So it's Easter Weekend - uhh....how did that happen?? Yet another month has come and almost gone and it's time to link up with Ashley for Favourite Things.  It was hard this month to pick out just a few as so much has been going on, but here we go....

1. Bath time

Hectic times and illness have made baths a must this month!  My body just isn't keeping up with everything I need to do and there are lots of aches and pains.  I love this cupcake bath salt that my mother bought me.  It's handmade by a small company in Devon and just too pretty to use!  I have been going through a lot of Radox muscle ache bath soak though since my more expensive Molton Brown soak ran out.  A steal at 99p as it is on offer in Boots right now! Time to stock up!!

2. This post here 

Amongst the birthday celebrations this month would have been my Nan's 83rd, I wrote the post Nana Chic in celebration of her love of all things beauty related - she taught me so much!

3.  Weekends away and days out with my favourite people

Weston-Super-Mare and Cardiff Children's Lit Fest.

4. This photo

I love this photo! My gorgeous girl is growing up so fast, it is scary that she will be eleven in a few short months and it often seems as though her childhood is slipping away.  I treasure moments like this, when she cuddles up with me and falls asleep.  It takes me back to nap time when she was a baby and makes me want to go back and keep her little forever.

What have been your favourite moments of this month?

Moving on to Friday's Letters with Ashley.

Glasses - Dorothy Perkins, Scarf - Dorothy Perkins, Coat - New Look, Leggings - River Island, Boots - New Look.

Dear Sunshine, thank you for making an appearance today.  Even though temperatures were still only just above freezing, it was good to get the sunglasses out and take a walk.  Please stay for Easter weekend and maybe lose the chilly wind?? Many thanks!  Dear school holidays, thank you for giving me more time with my princess.  It is good to see her relax a bit more without the stress of school and for us to be able to catch up with friends.  Dear Aspergers, please stay away this weekend.  We all deserve one weekend where you don't cause upset and stress.  Dear weekend, we are all SO excited that you are here.  We need you so much - four days of precious time together and with Dave's family, having fun and making the most of what is really important to us.  Dear Jesus Christ, Thank you.

What plans do you have this Easter weekend?  I wish you all a Happy Easter and hope it is filled with happiness and fun :)

A xx

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Sparkly feet!

I've been looking for some black, more casual, shoes for a while and a soon as I saw these I knew that I had to have them! They are canvas and adorned with alternate studs and gems and they are the perfect combination of comfy, studded and sparkly! As I am often wearing plain black ensembles to work, I also thought they'd liven up an outfit without being overwhelming.

 

 

I wanted to wear them last Friday night to the Biffy Clyro gig we went to but alas, the icy cold wind and rain put paid to that idea! So far, I have only been able to wear them once when we were provided with some actual spring-like weather, but I am looking forward to getting them out again.

£8.99 New Look

£6.75 with 25% friends & family discount voucher (my sister works there).

linking up with

 

Pastel fancies

I'm going with the pastels theme with my fancies this week. However, I've made the colour a bit darker with this first outfit due to my milk bottle white legs not being able to work pastel coloured shorts at the moment! As soon as I saw this look of the day outfit from Mango, I knew it was something I'd love to be rocking right now.

Mango - to get this look click UK or USA

I also love both of these tops from Warehouse.  I would probably style this loose top with either tan trousers or mint coloured jeans.  It looks so comfortable.

Warehouse - available in store

I love this floral top, I think the position of the flowers is perfect to detract from my small bust!  I would probably pair it with some coloured jeans or a cute little flared skirt. 

Warehouse - to get this click here

What has taken your fancy this week?

A xx

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Weekend Catchup

So, I'm sat by the fire, with a cup of tea in my pj's and a jumper writing this whilst Dave and Megan are in the kitchen baking some banana bread. Who'd believe that this time last year we were in the middle of a heatwave and this year it is still bitterly cold and the snow is still hitting hard.  We are lucky so far in that only the mountains are snow capped here at the moment, but family and friends in other parts of the UK still have lots of snow on the ground.

Despite of the cold we have had a lovely weekend.  Dave and I braved the icy wind and rain Friday night to go to a Biffy Clyro gig.  We got in early and went for a few drinks at the Chapel 1887.  It's a beautiful old Welsh chapel that was a landmark in terms of architecture when it was built in 1887 as it features strong elements of French gothic architecture. It has now turned into a bar and restaurant and is just beautiful. Dave and I will definitely be returning.  

   

The gig didn't disappoint, the visuals and set list were amazing although I suffered Saturday from standing all night. 

Saturday was a lovely relaxing day. Megan went to dance class with her friend and then headed there to play for the day. It's lovely for them to be able to spend time together on a regular basis now. They sure did miss each other when we lived in the city. It also meant that we could have a lie in this week and a leisurely afternoon walking around Ikea. We went there to finally get the missing fixings for my wardrobe and ended up picking up a few odds and ends. I love Ikea and could spend a small fortune each time I go there. Saturday night was spent watching Madagascar with Megan and another episode of The Wire when she was in bed.

We were blessed with having another lie in Sunday morning! Megan was tired and did not want to get out of bed. After a visit to my lovely Grandad's, we took Megan to the National Museum of Wales for the first Cardiff Children's Literature Festival. I plan on writing more on this later in the week but let's just say that Megan was thrilled to meet Cressida Cowell, author of the How To Train Your Dragon series and movie. She was an incredible lady and Megan was able to get another book signed.

A slow cooked shoulder of lamb, roast potatoes and veg was the perfect warm end to a wonderful weekend.

I apologise for the lack of photos this weekend but it really was far too cold to be taking them outside! Plus the wind and rain did all sorts of wrong to my hair and skin!

What did you get up to? I hope you had a lovely time and it was warmer than ours!

A xx

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Friday's letters. A very special birthday message :)

Happy Friday everyone! It's that time of the week to link up with Ashley for Friday's letters and Long Distance Loving for Friday Fancies - boy has it been a busy week.

1. New Look 2. H&M 3. Michael Kors 4. Topshop 5. Topshop 6. Kurt Geiger

Dear lovely, lovely skirt, You make me feel so happy! You're making me think of warmer weather and how you will look so pretty with sandals and a strappy top.  I may have to wear you with leggings underneath and boots for now though as the weather apparently thinks it is still winter and I don't think that I can wait until it warms up.

Dear Owen, Happy 9th Birthday!! I can't believe my fab nephew is nine already and what an awesome birthday you had.  You're going to look so good in that tee I bought you! ;)

What a wonderful surprise you had opening your present to find that the whole Welsh rugby team had signed your shirt and that rugby legend, Adam Jones had not only destroyed the opposition scrum and played a major part in winning the Championship last week, but had also sent you a birthday message. The perfect present for a rugby mad boy!

Dear weekend, You are going to be amazing! I am off work today, Dave has a half today and we are going to see Biffy Clyro tonight. Can.not.wait. It turns out that we both were at the same Biffy gig and Cardiff Uni Students Union, before we met and just before the band hit it big time.It's the first time however that we will have seen them together.  We also have to find a holiday for this summer (nope, we've still not managed that one) and will be taking Megan to the first ever Cardiff Children's Literature festival (I'm kinda excited about that one too!).

Today is the start of the school Easter holidays and I'm looking forward to some lazy days with my munchkin.  It is also my lovely friend Deb's birthday, so a BIG Happy Birthday shout out to her aswell!!

What are you doing this weekend?  I hope that you have a great one.

A xx

A rugby championship and a dance trophy!

So this weekend went quickly, as they always do. It kicked off Friday by raising money for Comic Relief. I had a day off work but had to get Megan ready for a day of fun at school. This consisted of the obligatory red nose and crazy hair. Cue, Comic Relief red hair spray and red glitter spray. She also had a tag rugby tournament which obviously meant that it rained! Therefore, red hair ran and resulted in red everything else!

My Friday was a little more laid back. Still on orders to rest at any given opportunity, I did some housework in the morning, popped to my mums for a cuppa and a chat, then headed back to bed to watch Sense and Sensibility. Once Megan and Dave were home, we ate cheesy bean burgers (recipe tomorrow) and relaxed in front of the tv.

Saturday was the big day!  If you read Friday's post here you will know that there was a small matter of a Wales v England rugby match - the showdown of the Six Nations Championship - and it didn't disappoint (well, some of us anyway!).

  

I could write a whole post on the match, but all I will say is that tensions definitely built up at home (what with Dave being English and all), and let the pictures tell you the rest!

Ladies, you're welcome!! (posted by @mikephillips009)

Can you spot the Welshman on BBC's coverage?!?

Sunday morning was spent preparing Megan for her dance presentations and competition, which meant lots of hair spray and sparkle!  Megan has done a fair few of these presentations (her dance school are current British Latin Formation Champions), but her partner Zoe has only just started.  Therefore, we were very pleased and proud when they came back with this 2nd place trophy from the Cha Cha final!!

Zoe & Megan 

All that was left was a pork roast dinner and the weekend was rounded off perfectly :)

I hope yours was just as good.

A xx

Friday's Letters

It's my favourite day of the week and time to link up with Ashley for Friday's Letters.

Dear Weather, Make up your mind, sunny one minute, rain the next and then more snow storms.  You do realise that British Summer Time starts in a fortnight do't you?? Just checking as we don't seem to have reached spring yet!  

It was freezing cold but sunny yesterday...hoorah! Check out the view from my office in work, such a nice place to be and I even got to wear my sunglasses when out and about :)

Dear Harley, thank you for being so adorable, making me laugh with your stubbornness (you must get that from your mama!), being my hot water bottle and teddy bear when Dave's not here.
I often joke that you're the most stable man in my life but apart from my Dad and until recently, for the last ten years that has been true!

Dear Mango, why oh why do I feel the need to subscribe to you and receive all these temptations to my inbox? 

 

  

Mango

Dear Welsh Rugby Team, (*Dave, don't read this bit!) I am reluctant to write this but YOU CAN DO IT! This is it.  The final match of the Six Nations Championship. Remember last year? Winner takes all match against France, at home.  We did it then and we can do it now against the old enemy.  England may have a clean sheet and we had a blunder at the start but we can keep hold of that trophy and stop them getting a Grand Slam on our territory.  Everyone has been posting photos in the build up, but I don't want to tempt fate.  Please win so that I can show them next Monday and so that my English boyfriend can't gloat for the remainder of the weekend!!! 

Dear Dave, I love you babe! Please remember that come 5pm on Saturday afternoon ;)

Have a good weekend lovelies.

A xx

This 'n' That

This past week has been one long life lesson (more on this next week).  Anniversaries came and went, I tried to work more, got sick and have ended up taking more time off work as a result.  I stressed so much trying to make Dave's birthday perfect even though I was sick, that I got more sick and frustrated him as a result and I am now even more bummed at the fact that I was ill to start with. Confused?? Me too. 

That as a result of being sick, I have no photos whatsoever from said birthday and that I was too ill to want to take a photo of my outfit or of us together.  The only photo I have is of wrapped presents...lame.

This Sunday was also Mother's Day here in the UK.  My lovely girl adopted a tiger for me via the WWF.  The pack came with a cuddly tiger (my favourite), and you can also adopt an animal and raise vital funds for conservation by following the link here.

That whilst I am under orders to rest, I have managed to find these two adorable Love Label outfits on Very, that must find their way into my summer wardrobe!

 

 This little man (or lamb) made me smile, I mean a smiling lamb - how could he not!?!

How has your week been? I hope a little less stressed!

A xx 

Nana Chic

Last week was the third anniversary of my Nan's passing and would have also been her birthday.  Although three years have gone, the pain and suffering she went through at the hands of cancer are still very raw and I didn't feel able to mark the date.  This week though I thought I would celebrate her birthday and pass on some of her beauty secrets that she taught me.  She was very dignified until the end and often claimed she had Royal blood (although surprisingly, we are still unable to substantiate that claim!!).

Nan & Grandad during her battle with Cancer, about 8 months before she passed away. Courageous & dignified until the end.

Elnett hairspray
My Nan was a hairdresser, so she knew her stuff about hair products!  After the passing of her first husband and with three children to look after, she set up her own hair salon in Cardiff.  She swore by Elnett and would not use anything else (although she was never a fan of the "because you're worth it" adverts!).  I always carry a handy sized can around in my bag.

No.7 Skincare 

Growing up, I can never remember my Nan using anything other than No.7 skincare products and they are a staple in my routine also.  I adore the protect and perfect range (the serum and eye cream especially) and as I have combination skin, the beautifully balanced foaming cleanser and moisture creams are perfect.  They can be a bit pricey, but Boots frequently give £5 vouchers and 3 for 2 offers so I snap them up then!

Christian Dior My Nan certainly loved her luxurious make up and Christian Dior eye pallets and blushes were her favourite.  Unfortunately, they are a little out of my price range but there is no denying the quality of their products.  The eye colours glide on, stay put and are easy to remove and the lipstick stays put without being drying.  I really wish that I could afford these on a regular basis!

    

found here

Brooches When it was suggested that I use a brooch to jazz up an otherwise plain outfit, I must admit I was in need of convincing! Nan always wore a brooch when out but it was fine for her she was well, a Nan! I had visions of going out looking like the Queen!  But, when I added a silver, sparkly brooch to the waistband of an otherwise plain black, mesh dress I was amazed at the difference it made.

Since then I am hooked and so is my daughter.  Such a fun way to change the look of an outfit, whether they be vintage, sparkley or just cute and fun.

When it came to clothes, my Nan had vast amounts! Seriously, you would not believe the number of closets one woman could have! Even in her 70s, she had the most beautiful ball gowns to take on cruises.  The one thing I remember however, is that no matter how expensive or cheap an outfit was, as soon as she came home she would change out of it, cover it and hang it up.  She would then put on a lounge suit and take off her make up to relax and let her skin breathe.  Now that is one thing I can do.  I sometimes feel that Dave only sees me in leggings, tracky bottoms or pj's as when I get home that's the first thing I like to do.  But hey, it's ok...Nan did it!

What secrets have you learnt from your Mum, Nan or Aunt?

A xx

Linking up with the lovely Shanna for

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