Goals for 2019

It's the 9th January and the new year is already in full swing. Every year I like to reflect and set out a few goals that I would like to achieve throughout the year. But I fail miserably, every year without fail I never actually manage to tick anything off. That makes my years sound incredibly uneventful and that I don't actually do much, which is not the case at all. I find that I start well, then life just takes different turns and directions and I never actually achieve the things I originally set out to do. However this year is going to be different, I can already feel it and I'm ready to start making some big changes. Over the last few weeks, I've looked back at previous blog posts that are similar to this one and there is one common thing running between all of these posts and that is I don't set my targets or goals big enough, which may be a factor of not actually achieving the things I've set out. I've always been in the mindset that if I keep my dreams realistic then I take away any pressure and if I don't make them happen then no big deal. Well, this year it is a big deal as I'm a little bit fed up of starting a new year, reflecting on all that I've done in the past and feeling a little bit disappointed. Not anymore! The last few days I've been doing a lot of thinking about what it is exactly I want to achieve and I wan't to share my goals with you all. Some of you may read this and think I'm setting myself unrealistic goals or that I've got my head in the clouds and thats ok. But some of you may read this and feel the exact same as I do year on year out and like me are ready to actually do something about it and are ready to make a change.

What I Got For Christmas - 2018

Hello beauties! Happy New Year to you all and I hope all of you had the most amazing Christmas. I can't believe Christmas is already over and we are almost saying goodbye to the second day in Jan already; The last month has been a whirlwind and I'm sure I'm not the only parent out there who has just been non stop. Christmas is easily my favourite time of year, which is why I decided to have a bit of a break pretty much through the whole of December, I just wanted to spend all my time with my family and make special memories that will last a life time - So forgive me if this post is a little overdue or feels slightly irrelevant now. Don't worry I'll be appearing on your feed again in the next few days with a traditional new years resolutions post!

Hello I'm Back | The Past, Present & Future

Hello everyone! It's been a long time since I've sat at my laptop and felt motivated and inspired to write. I know I've been missing in action for a long time, not just on my blog but across all my social media and to be honest I've needed the break. Before I disappeared my blog posts where few and far between and I think I just felt the pressure of blogging - As you all know comparison is the devil, especially within the online community and I found myself really stuck in a rut. To top it all off my nana who I'm really close with passed away at the end of September which completely zapped all of my creative juices. It was a really hard time for me and my family loosing someone so close and I've never experienced a loss of someone close in my adult life so it was a lot for me to deal with. I've just spent my time over the last few weeks being with my family and focusing all my energy on whats really important to me - Archie. Archie is definitely the best medicine and his little cheeky smile has not only helped me get through my own personal struggles but he is always helping me grow and improve as a mother, he really gives me so much more than he'll ever know. In the back of my mind I've always had that little niggle telling me that I need to get back into the everyday swing of life, but the time has not felt right until now. The break was just what I needed and I feel ready to pick up my camera again and getting those creative juices flowing again. Sorry for the really rambly start to this blog post, I'm really out of practice, but what I'm trying to say is that I'm back, sorry for being gone for so long and that I've missed you all.

The Best Lush Bath Bomb for Busy Hardworking Mums

Like most people out there I'm a huge fan of Lush! Actually I'm yet to meet anyone who doesn't like the brand - Lets face it, who doesn't love a company that not only make products that look and smell incredible but who also make the best bath products ever! I've loved Lush since my very early teens, before Lush even became a huge global brand. My aunt lives in Poole, which is the birthplace of Lush so whenever my sister and I used to stay there during the summer holidays, she would always take us to the Lush shop and treat us to a few bath time treats. One of my favourite products back then where the bath bombs and they are probably still my favourite things to buy from Lush almost twenty years later. Picking your favourite product from Lush is just as hard as choosing a favourite family member, so much so that I don't think I've ever tried a product from Lush that I didn't like or fall in love with. I'm always buying things from Lush, so I want to start sharing more of my favourite products from the brand. I thought the perfect way of doing this would be to start up a little mini series where I choose favourite products for all my different needs and today I thought I'd share my favourite bath bomb for us busy hard working mums.... Which of course is Twilight.

How I Edit My Instagram Photos - My New Favourite Editing App

Do you remember the days where everyones Instagram theme was all white and we all used and abused the whitening tool on Face Tune just to get the right effect? Not to mention the most used filter on VSCO Cam - A5. I'll hold my hands up and say that I'm guilty and when I look back on this section on my Instagram theme I really hate it. Actually thats a little extreme, I don't hate it, but it's definitely not what I'm about anymore. Whilst some bloggers still work this theme AND make it look amazing, it's just not me anymore and I'm definitely more about injecting some colour into my feed. For the last couple of months I've been sticking to one consistent colour in my theme, which is pink and I absolutely love it. But over the last few weeks I've tried incorporating some more lifestyle photos in as I feel that this makes things look more personal and I can give you guys a bit more insight into my life. All these changes on the gram means I've been experimenting with different editing apps and seeing what suits my style best. Well, over the last two months the process of editing my photos has never been more fun and I can only put it down to my new favourite app - A colour Story and today I want to tell you all about it and how I use it to edit my Instagram photos.

A Little Tour of Archie's Nursery

I was scrolling through my blog the other day hoping that some inpirstation would strike (I've had a bad case of the dreaded bloggers block recently) and it occurred to me that I've never shared Archie's Nursery with anyone on the Internet. I know a lot of you who read here are fellow mums or mums to be and I know that I loved reading these posts whilst I was pregnant and I spent way too many hours browsing Pinterest for nursery inspiration. Archie is now two and it makes me a little sad to think that not only is he growing up, but its time to start changing things up a little bit in his room and start making things a little less babyish in there. Theres talk between the hubby and I about upgrading Archie's cot to a bed as he's almost out grown it (he's really tall for his age) and with a new bed I think it's time for a new theme (hello Pinterest). So before everything gets turned upside down and redecorated I thought I would grab some snaps for you guys and myself - Because let's face it, I would be gutted if I didn't have these photo's to look back on in a few years time.

Everything You Need To Create The Perfect Pancake Day at Home with Asda's Pancake Range

Can you believe Pancake day is tomorrow? Pancake day has to be the most exciting day since Christmas and in my household we LOVE pancakes! We love them so much so, that we don't wait a whole year fill our tummies this scrumptious food, so as you can imagine we love going all out on a special day that is purely dedicated to eating pancakes. This year I've teamed up with Asda and have been getting some extra practice in before the big day and I've been trying and testing out the Asda pancake range so I can help you create the perfect pancake day at home too. So if you love pancakes just as much as I do then keep on reading and grab a pen and some paper as I've got your shopping list sorted.

My Plan For 2018 | Goals & Things To Look Forward To

Happy New Year everyone! How is it January already? Last year flew past and like most bloggers out there, I'm feeling fresh with ideas and ready to jump feet first back into the blogging pool. Unintentionally I took my a little break throughout December - As it was Archie's second Christmas I just wanted to enjoy every minute of it and we constantly had fun things planned throughout the month, so sorry if you missed me, I promised I miss blogging a whole lot more. I thought I'd kick start things off this month with a 'Goals' post. I never make new year resolutions as I always find it so hard to stick to them and only feel disappointed if I've failed at the end of the year. I think it's much nicer to just lay out some goals and things to work towards so if you're interested in what I want to achieve this year, then keep on reading.

Taking Archie To See Santa at Wyevale Garden Centre

I've always loved Christmas, its easily my favourite time of year and has been since I can remember. I have wonderful memories of Christmas as a child and it gives me those warm fuzzy feelings in my tummy when I reminisce and think about all those magical moments. Christmas as an adult has always been wonderful too, but I think it's children that bring that extra magic to Christmas. Now we have Archie, Christmas has become magical again and this year will be his second Christmas. For me it means getting into the Christmas spirit early, putting on those Christmas films and I kid you not, Archie and I spent a good portion of last week dancing around to Christmas music - All we need to do now is put our tree up, which is happening sometime this week! I just want to cherish all these magical Christmas moments, which is why we plan on doing as many festive things as possible over the next month. This weekend we really got all those festive feels and took Archie to our local Wyevale Garden Centre to see Santa in his grotto.  It was so special and so magical, so I thought I'd share our day with you and it might help you decide where you want to take your little on this festive season.

My Baby Is Now A Toddler! | Archie's 19 Month Update

As soon as I typed the title of this post, a little wave of sadness washed over me because I can't believe how quickly Archie is growing up. It only feels like yesterday that he was a little tiny baby and I can't believe where the time has gone. I know Archie has been a little teeny tot since he turned one, but in my mind he was still a little baby - But now he's reached 19 months I don't really feel like I can get away with calling him my baby anymore, although in my mind he will always be. It's been a good few months since I last done an Archie update post, the last one was when he reached 15 months, which you can find here. So much has changed in four months and I've seen been so much  progression in his development, I thought it was about time I share with you all how he's getting on.

American Express® brings the Glitz and Glamour of the Red Carpet to Milton Keynes and you're Invited!

Sponsored Post in Association with American Express®  

I’ve always loved the theatre, going to the cinema and watching the release of new films. Regular readers here will know that I studied Drama at university, so the arts have always been something I’m hugely passionate about. Since becoming a mum last year, I rarely get those evenings out and these days, its usually a date night on the sofa for my fiancé and I with a good DVD and takeaway. However it’s still really important for me to make that extra effort and do some of the things I used to do pre baby. I know a lot of you feel the same as me and love a good film as much as I do, so I’ve teamed up with American Express to help spread the word on how you could register for a free ticket to the see the 61st BFI London Film Festival Opening Night gala film Breathe at a cinema near you. 

New House of Fraser Store Opening at Rushden Lakes | Take a Look Inside!

I love shopping theres no doubt about it, but regular readers will know my struggle because my town is shocking when it comes to choices, theres only a few decent shops on the high street and nowhere to buy any high end makeup and as a beauty blogger this is a nightmare! You may have seen my post a few weeks ago about the new shopping centre Rushen Lakes opening (here) and my shopping prayers have been answered. Why? Because House of Fraser finally opened up their doors and this new store of theirs literally whisked me away to beauty heaven. Towards the end of last week I was kindly invited by the team at HoF to attend the opening of their new store, which got me so excited for a number of reasons - the main one being House of Fraser has to be my favourite department store. I've been to Rushden Lakes a few times and every time I've passed HoF I see the lighted up Mac and Urban Decay counters calling my name, so for me the countdown on the store opening was on. So on Thursday morning I took the 15 minute trip over there and had one of the best shopping experiences of my life; So amazing that I just have to share it with you all.

New Marks & Spencer Opening at Rushden Lakes

One thing thats always made me feel very lucky as a blogger is being invited to events that I would never dream of going to or would pop up in everyday normal situations. I think every blogger out there gets that blogger buzz when you've been singled out to go somewhere and its one of the best feelings ever. Since having Archie I rarely get to go to such events now, mainly because most of them are in London and it's not so easy to get childcare last minute. So when Chloe contacted me on the behalf of Marks and Spencer asking if I would like to attend the opening of the new store in Rushden Lakes I was thrilled and of course I had to say yes. I've always like Marks & Spencer, especially their food halls, lets face it you can't beat a bit of M&S food and I'm always popping into my local one to top up my stash of Percy Pigs (they're my fave). I've always enjoyed shopping in there for Archie's baby clothes as well, as they have some adorable pieces.

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The Perfect Christmas Gift For Her & Him | Sudio Vasa BLÅ Earphones

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