Thrifty finds #4

I've not had the time to be trawling the charity shops and sadly it's not been car booting season so second hand finds have been a bit on the sparce side. Luckily my mum has been on the case

001: Brown cameo scarf pin
I have started to build up a collection of scarf pins when i'm out and about. They always look so pretty and you can always pick them up fairly cheaper. I'm like a magpie for any kind of jewellery. One day i'll get round to wearing them.

002: Celery, Onion and Cucumber pots

These have to be one of the ugliest yet amusing things around! I think they're fab and have been on the lookout for some for my bottom drawer since I saw my aunts collection. They remind me of my nan as her mint sauce version is one of my earliest memories as it was always on the table at dinner time. Funny how certain objects transport us right back to yesterday. I've got my parents to thank for these beauties.

003: Glass Tower Bridge salt and pepper pot

I adore quirky bits and bobs like this - things that look slightly out of the ordinary. This was actually given to my mum so we'll sharing! I love the fact it looks like the London landmark and has a little pot for mustard. Not that I eat mustard but I like little pots for EVERYTHING! It'll look so adorable for when I throw dinner parties. 

Have you found anything in charity shops recently?

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January Empties

This month I seem to be using up products like nobodies business! I've already done reviews on the linked products.

001: Aussie Take the Heat leave-in cream c/o Blogger event

I picked this up at an Aussie event I went to absolutely ages ago and have finally used it up. I tend to start a product and then get bored and it goes to one side. This didn't make my hair feel greasy which was a giant plus. I can't really comment too much as it's the first heat protection cream i've used but i'd definately buy it again if I didn't nab some different brands from work.

002: Batiste dry shampoo

003: Rimmel concealer

I have no idea what this is called as it's rubbed off but this was my failsafe product to try and disguise my dreaded dark circles. I've brought this time and time again. It glides on nicely and pretty much does what it says on the tin. The only reason why I wouldn't repurchase is because i've now discovered the Collection one. What a god send!

004: No7 Beautiful Skin eye make up remover

005: Marc Jacobs Daisy

This is my all time favourite daytime perfume - Chanel Coco Mademoiselle is my favourite evening. I spray this on by the bucketload. It smells so crisp and fresh. As you can tell i'm pretty rubbish at describing smells but I absolutely love this one!

006: No7 Beautiful Skin dry/very dry Day cream

007: Molton Brown vitalising vitamin AB+C Bath and shower

I recieved this in a glossybox back when I was a subscriber. I'm a massive fan of Molton Brown products - I just don't like the prices. It smells gorgeous and lathers up like a good 'un. There's nothing worse than a shower gel that performs pathetically.

008: Maybelline Colossal Volume express

I adore this mascara, it's one I got back to countless times. I love big fat brushes. I have fairly sensitive eyes and some mascara wands really hurt. This comes off like a dream and doesn't feel too rough on my eyes. It does the job very well indeed.

009: Vo5 High Volume extra strong hold weather resistant spray

Trying out a different brand has made me realise just how much I love this hairspray. It keeps your style nice and solid without feeling sticky and hard. The massive can is great value for money and it lasts for ages.

What items have you been using this month?

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My little brother's just discovered rock and roll

Outfit:

Burgandy dork t-shirt: Primark

Camo jacket: Topshop

Black skinny jeans: Primark

White plimsols: Vans

Diamond statement necklace: Primark

White art deco style earrings: Primark

One of my favourite things to do is going to see live music. From frequently attending Party in the Park as a kid - seeing Wyclef Jean on stage drove me wild ha - to finally getting to see the Libertines live at Reading, i've lost count of the number of gigs i've been too. One of the first things before you can pop along to a gig is of course to get hold of tickets. If you're a bit slow on the uptake like me and very often miss out on tickets, StubHub UK can be a lifesaver. Owned by Ebay, this ticket website lets you get hold of a variety of genres. You'll even get Robbie Williams tickets  -who I saw at Knebworth and is by far one of the greatest live shows i've ever seen. The great news is they'll be guaranteed to be genuine and you'll recieve them in plenty of time.

I'm seeing Two Door Cinema Club in London next Friday and this is the outfit i'm planning to wear - i'm lucky my office is fairly casual so I won't look too out of place during the day. I think skinny jeans and a tee are the perfect gig outfit. You don't want to be worried about your skirt riding up when you're dancing away to your favourite song. Comfortable shoes are a must especially if you're planning on standing. At the grand old age of 24 i've decided to stay away from the mosh pit - brusied feet no longer appeal to me.

Who's the best artist you've seen live?

This post was written in collaboration.

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A day in the life of a weightwatcher

Although I supppose Weightwatcher is technically a diet, it's also a lifestyle choice. You learn to pick healthy options but that doesn't mean you can't have the odd naughty treat once in a while! This is a typical day's food for me:

Honey cheerios - 4 propoints

During the week I tend to buy one box of cereal and keep it at work. It's far to early to stuff my face when I get up!

 

Fruit - 0 proppoints

Does anyone else seem to get mid morning munchies around 11am? I think because I sit at a desk all day I constantly think about food - doesn't help that I sit next to the kitchen! I try to eat at least two portions of fruit a day.

Tomato and feta omlette - 7 propoints

I've gone off sandwiches recently and prefer something a little more filling. I don't like to waste more than 8 propoints on lunch as I like a few chocolate treats towards the end of the day. This filled a lovely little hole.

Chocolate minroll and Caramel wafer - 4 propoints

Everyone who works in the office knows that chocoate is very much a necessity! Around 3pm I tend to need a bit of a sugar fix and these do the the jobs quite nicely.

Quorn chilli burritto and rocket - 8 propints

For just 8 propoints this was such a filling dinner! I'll be eating quorn more often as it's so low in points meaning you can have much more. Always a good thing in my book!

All this food adds up to 23 propoints. I'm allowed 26 points a day but like to keep a couple left over incase I fancy a little treat after dinner. Light babybels are currently my favourite - they're only a point!

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Baby it's cold outside

Outfit:

Black cloche hat: Marks and Spencer

Grey faux fur trimmed cape: Marks and Spencer

Grey bodycon midi dress: Primark

Black long sleeved t-shirt: Primark

Black bow short wellies: Market

Black Bayswater: Mulberry

Rose gold oversized watch: Next (Birthday gift)

Ah the dreaded snow has arrived. You can blame that for the dark pictures - these were taken about 3pm! I wore this for my sister in laws 21st birthday meal at the weekend. I wanted to wear something a bit dressy but also weather appropriate. I think I just about managed it. I brought this amazing cape with my birthday money last week. My boyfriend has quipped that I look like Gandalf the Great but i'm ok with that. At least i'll be cosy in the cold! I always feel like i've taken a step back into yesteryear with this hat on. Just not too keen on the hat hair afterwards.

How have you been coping in the snow? I personally can't wait until it all melts away and everything ccan go back to normal. Getting to work is a complete nightmare!

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Weightwatcher's friendly breakfast - recipe

It may be cliche but breakfast really is the most important part of the day. It can help kickstart your metabolism for the day as well as stop that dreaded mid-morning snacking. I read somewhere that you should try to eat within 45 minutes of waking up. My normal breakfast routine consists of a boring bowl of cereal when I get to work. It's the easiest thing I can manage after that hour commute into the city. But when it comes to the weekend I like to get a bit more adventurous with my morning routine. As I usually like to have a bit of a lay in so I tend to have a a larger breakfast. A brunch if you like. Here's one of my favourite recipes. The great thing is it's very quick to make - great if you have a rumbling tummy!

Feta and tomato omlette with a propoints value of 7

Two eggs

8 cherry tomatoes

Season black pepper to your taste

Three sprays of fry lite

40 grams of Feta Cheese 

1. Chop the tomatoes in half

2. Crack the eggs into a jug and whisk. Season with as much black pepper as you want. Crumble the cheese into the jug.

3. Crumble the feta into the jug and mix in. Spray the fry lite into a frying pan and pour the egg mixture into the saucepan

4. Position the tomatoes as you like.

5. Cook for around 4-5 minutes and the pop under the grill until the top is starting to brown. Doesn't it look yummy?!

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The birthday girl

Last Wednesday I turned the grand old age of 24 - eeeek! I had such a lovely day and was thoroughly spoilt by friends and family. Here are just a few snipets of the day and Thursday. My mum once again treated me to a buffet - the best kind of dinner - with lots of family visiting. As it was my nan's 70th birthday the day, I gatecrashed that day too. My mum, nan and I all had a brilliant day out in London pretending to be posh at The Ivy and going back to yesteryear with a trip to see Top Hat at the theatre. I brought the Mulberry oyster card holder with my birthday money. I'm tempted to save up for the kindle case as I still have some money left over. Maybe i'm a tiny bit obsessed...

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Weekly Weightwatchers round up #1

I thought i'd start doing a weekly round up of how i've found weightwatchers, food i've eaten and my progress on the plan. This also ties in with the second weekly challenge where we had to plan our meals for the week.

This week has been disappointing to be honest. I've been relatively good all week - i've had a few hiccups but nothing that I would class as "binge eating" and falling completely off the wagon. I may have gone over my points allowance a few days but this has only been by a point or two. Trust me i've been consuming a hell of a lot less calories than I did during the month of December. That's why I thought I was destined to either stay the same or lose a lb or two. Alas it wasn't to be and I actually put on a lb! I feel so disheartened and really don't know why this has happened. I'm bracing myself for a gain next week as well as I have my birthday, my nan's birthday and a trip to the Ivy all the content with. I really wanted to be 5lbs lighter for Berlin on 1st Feburary but this doesn't look like it's going to happen. Let's hope I can do some damage control by being extra good on the days i'm at home.

Right i've eaten a host of delicious dinners this week thanks to my mum - life's so much easier when she follows the plan too. They're all from Weightwatchers cookbooks and if you fancy a recipe just let me know and i'll put together a post!

Monday:
Sweet and Sour Pork with brown rice - 11 propoints




























Tuesday:
Spring chicken risotto with pesto bread - 14 propoints




























Wednesday:
Courgette, Pepper and Spinach pasta - 10 propoints

Thursday:
Pan Fried cod with rice - 10 Propoints




























Friday:
My phone battery died so I didn't get a picture of this!

My favourite from the week has to be the Risotto. You got such a big portion and it was very filling. I've got a soft spot for Italian dishes.  Plus chicken is my favourite meat however boring that may be!

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Blogger babes #1

I never thought for one minute that i'd make real friends from the world of blogging. So many of them have graduated from 'internet friends' to people who I geniunely count as some of my actual friends. They had been there for me when times have been tough and they never fail to make me laugh. It also helps that they put up with some of my crazy talk and totally get my quirks! Here are just a few of my favourite blogs and the people who have made blogging so worthwhile.  I'm going to sound like a totel fangirl!

I was going to do this all in one hit but when I started writing it the list started getting longer.  So i'm going to spilt it up. This is in no particular order!

Hannah
Bow Dream Nation


















Hannah never fails to make me laugh nor fails to not tell you as it is. She's the one girl who is always up for an evening out and the one I can count on to join me in that drink. Even if she does come from the south of the river... She's also a fantastic enabler and helps me spend money I don't always have! Totes a diamond!

Sarah
City Girl Fashion Box


















This girl taught that spending £20.50 is more than acceptable for a blusher. Have you seen her collection? She clearly has too many and should *ahem* pass some onto me! She has a knack of making me laugh out loud with her saucy texts and always seem to know some cracking discount codes. Certainly one to follow!

Elodie
Elle Yeah







































The token Frenchie is absolutely bonkers but this is the very reason why she's amazing. She is so funny without even realising it and I wish I was as cool as her! Here's to many more drunken gatherings in Australia aka West London!

Sarah
My Sentimental Heart




















Sarah is one of the most genuine people I know - I haven't known her long but I can't imagine she's not got a bad bone in her body. She makes me green with envy over her fantastic wardrobe. Check out her blog for stylish outfits. It makes me want to be more sensible and invest in something other than Primark!

Sarah
A Million Dresses























Sarah is honestly one of the nicest people I know - I feel like I have so much in common with her. She is always there when you want a chat and offers some great encouragement. Not to mention she's a complete baking queen. That Victoris Sponge she made for the Leamington Bloggers meet was delish!

Look out for some more bloggers coming in the next few weeks!

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Lacey Lady

Outfit:

Blue navy lace dress: Primark

Blue coat: H&M

Red slipper shoes: Primark

Navy tights: Primark

Gem statement necklace: Primark

I don't very often wear short dresses but this one reminded me of a zara dress I saw so I thought i'd treat myself. It's verging on slightly being indecent but with thick tights I can get away with it. I do feel much more at home in a midi though! I did try to attempt a mini cheat beehive using a bumpit but you can't really see in this picture. Once day i'm going to attempt a real one - it's just finding the time!

Not much is happening this week - i'm aiming to squeeze in a cinema trip. I've got an unlimited Cineworld card and seem to have turned into a film geek. I can't wait to see Gangster Squad. I'm quite happy to watch a few hours of Ryan Gosling! Homeland will also hopefully feature heavily this week if I have my way! I'm loving the fact that not much has been going on these last few weeks in term of a social life.  Sometimes it's nice to just plod around. December was such a hectic month and my bank account is slightly weeping. So I can't really do anything even if I wanted!

Hope you all have a good week :)

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Feeling blue

Outfit:
Blue jersey midi dress: Topshop
Shaggy faux fur jacket: Primark
Statement diamond collar necklace: Primark
Black tights: Primark
Black leather healed boots: Topshop

This isn't the most exciting of outfits but the chances are if you see me in real life, you'll see this gracing my body. This is the outfit I pull out when I  can't be bothered to rummage through my wardrobe and I know it looks presentable. I wear it at least twice a week - who says bloggers don't have any imagination? My boyfriend likes to refer to this jacket as my Silver Back gorilla coat and to be honest I can't argue with that! It's so cosy and I feel it's the perfect jacket for this time of the year.

This weekend had been one of doing absolutely nothing apart from visiting family and eagerly watching Homeland. I brought Connor it for Christmas and I think i'm enjoying it more than him! I'm absolutely obsessed and could easily watch it all day long. Damien Lewis? Sigh... I say no more. LOVE HIM!

I also recently created facebook page for my blog and it would great if you could like it please :)

Hope you've all had a great weekend!

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Weightwatchers Challenge #1 - Sort your fridge

As you know I was very excitedly asked to become a Weightwatchers ambassador and as part of my role i'll be taking on weekly challenges. The first challenge asked us to sort out our fridges and remove the temptation of left over food by putting it out of sight. We were also asked to create a recipe using the leftovers. I must say I was very proud of this one as it was so tasty! On New Years Day we had roasted gammon and my mum rather overestimated how much we needed so we were left with over half a joint. With this in mind I decided to rustle up a tortilla.

This will feed around four for lunch or light dinner. You can have half each for a more filling dinner with some salad on the side. It's around 22 propoints for the whole dish. The sheer amount of vegetables help to make it very filling! I used these vegetables as they were in the fridge. It only takes around 20 minutes or so to cook so you don't  have to spend the whole night cooking! Ideal for a mid week dinner.

You'll need:
1 onion
1 leek
100g of gammon
4 eggs
Pepper to season
4 tablespoons of milk
1 Courgette
3 sprays of Fry Lite

001. Spray the Fry Lite into a large frying pan and saute the onion for around 3 minutes or until it starts to go golden brown.

002. Crack the eggs into a jug along with the milk and as much pepper as you want. Give it a good whisk and leave it to one side.

003. Add the leeks and cook them for around 3-4 minutes.

004. I cut the courgettes into smaller slices so they cooked quicker but it's up to you. Add them to the frying pan and cook for about 3-4 minutes again.

005. Add the sliced gammon and warm through. Remember to keep stirring so it's even.

006. Place the egg mixture into the frying pan. Leave until the bottom feels a bit solid. It's doesn't matter if the mixture isn't cooked on top.

007. Put the frying pan under the grill. Just keep it under there until the mixture cooks on top and it starts to go brown. Make sure you keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn!

008: Ta da! Look how yummy it looks! I put a teaspoon of low fat cream cheese on mine to make it a bit more exciting. Jut remember to add the extra propoint value.

Let me know  if you make it! You'll be able to see how I sorted my fridge on Instagram later on in the week.

If you're thinking of giving Weightwatchers a whirl you can look into joining here. It's well worth the investment! You can't put a price on being healthy.

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December empties

001. Original Batiste Dry Shampoo
I've been having a love affair with this product since I was 14. I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread when I discovered I no longer had to wash my hair everyday - anyone else find hair washing a chore? It's a complete god send for girls with fringes as I find this is the first part of my hair to go greasy. All you need is to rigerously massage the product in and voila perfectly style hair. It's also a winner to help add more volume.

002. Nivea Firming Body Oil
This was first brought on a whim as it was on special offer. I liked it so much that this is the third bottle. I'm going to put this out there and say I suffer from stretch marks on my legs thanks to an unwanted growth spurt at the age of 11. Oh woe is me! Therefore i'm always after a wonder product to help make them fade. This along with Palmers Cocoa Butter does them a world of good. It will probably work better if I used it twice a day - i'm just too lazy!

003. Boots Essentials Cucumber Cleansing Wipes
After being warned against using facewipes to remove make up - such a novice - i've switched over to make up remover. But these come in very handy for when i've had a few too many drinks and can't be bothered to go through the motions. They are nearly always on offer and if you keep them upside down they stay very moist. Nothing worse than a dry facewipe!

004.Nivea Visage Daily Essentials Refeshing Cleansing Lotion
My all time favourite cleanser is Caudalie but at £15 it's not always affordable so i'm always on the look out for other alternatives. This cleanser glides effortless on the skin and doesn't leave the area looking greasy. A little goes a long way so the bottles lasts for a very long time - making it great value for money.

005.Caudalie Fleur De Vigne
I went along to a Caudalie evening hosted by Glossybox and because I spent an absolute fortune - easily swayed - I was given this perfume as a free gift. It has a lovely fresh smell and is perfect for everyday when you don't want a overpowering scent.

006. GreenPeople Fruitful Nights night cream for younger looking skin
I recieved this in a Glossybox a little while ago. You can never tell how well a product works - in my opinon - from just using a sample. I can't tell you if it's a wonder product but I can tell you that it feels lovely on your skin! It does have a very clinical smell though which I wasn't over keen on.

Have you tried any of these products?

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