A Little Sunset Stroll.

I live in a village, surrounded by fields. I've never really taken advantage of the open spaces that surround the housing estate I live on.

I watch the sun set from my bedroom window every night, so today, after a day of fairly beautiful weather, and a sunshiney drive home from work, I decided to take a little evening walk behind where I live.

My sciatica is playing up a little bit at the moment, so while I don't want to do any full on exercise in the gym, I also don't want to sit about for too long to let my hips seize up.

So off I went, armed with my camera, taking a few photos on the way! Here are a few that I took.

4.5 miles later, it's time to put my feet up, put the TV on, and have a ham and cheese toasty. I think I deserve it!

Norfolk really is a beautiful place to live!

The secret wedding project!

A few weeks ago, my mum got married!

I wanted to give her and my step-dad-to-be, a gift that no one else would. A gift that money could not buy.

My step-dad proposed to my mum in March 2014, on a ski holiday to Serre Chevalier. Shorty after it happened, I came up with this crazy idea. An idea that I thought would never become a reality.

A music video. A video where all their family and friends would sing along to a song, dressing up, being silly, generally having fun, to a cheesy song about love. After all, who doesn't love a bit of karaoke, right!?

I wanted this to be a surprise for their wedding day, and I spent countless hours trying to work out how I could make it happen without them finding out.

After a mass email was sent to all of their friends and family, I knew there was no going back! Thrilled by some of the responses I got for it, I knew that I was doing the right thing! As you can also see, people were starting to chuck their ideas in as well, which was great!

It was now a thing. A thing that I had to be fully committed to!

I began travelling around to people's houses, armed with my camera and a bag full of props, and started to get the ball rolling. 

This was a year long project. After taking five months out of filming to enjoy life in the Swiss Alps, I was still working on this, right up until 2 days before the wedding.

The editing was tricky. Trying to get everyone in time to the music, without it looking out of sync, it took a lot of precision. But the whole process was fun.

The best part was, no one let it slip what i was up to, not even on a night out after a few cocktails!!

The wedding day came, the video was, by this point, now in the hands of the best man, and still, they had no idea!

I was so overwhelmed by the response from my parents, and everyone else: those who were involved and had no idea what I was really going to do with their crazy footage, and those who didn't know what I was up to. Secretly, really proud of it!

After a few upload issues to the internet, due to copyright, and the risk of me getting into trouble, this is the best way that I can share it, finally! It's a little while coming, but I got round to it eventually.

To everyone who has already seen it, here it is for you to watch again. For those who are in it, here you can see you embarrass yourself, again. And for those of you who haven't seen it, enjoy it!

Click here for the Wedding Video!! :)

Hopefully, this can also give other people ideas if they want to do something similar! I loved making it, and I'm so glad everyone loved watching it! Feel free to share it too...you never know who might have the same crazy ideas as me, and who don't think their ideas are realistic.

xx

My new little obsession!

I have to admit, I've never used Burt's Bees products before. I knew of the brand but had never been and purchased any thing from them. It wasn't until I was working on my winter season, when I met someone who loved their products, that I started taking a bit more of an interest.

I've always stuck to products that I know work for me, which is not many as my skin is so difficult to work with, and also quite sensitive, meaning more expensive things are a no go area as I don't want to spend money on something that is no good. I've spent so much money on cleansers, and moisturisers, and all sorts of other beauty products and cosmetics that I have tried and then given up on because they make my skin worse, or they don't do anything at all.

After the suggestion of trying Burt's Bees, I bought a couple of things. The brand is not really that expensive, but it is a bit more than what I would normally spend on things. Thankfully, it is living up to it's expectations.

I have technically only bought 3 things from them: a foot cream, a hand cream, and lip balm. Foot and hand creams are some of the things I have difficulty finding something that works for me. I am on my feet all day at work, and my hands dry out so much as I have to wear rubber gloves all day (joys of being a dental nurse!) so getting something that I am satisfied with without damaging my bank balance too much, is tricky. Also, I'm very prone to eczema, which is the most annoying thing! i've had it my whole life, and it can still be hard to manage. My hands and feet are unfortunately where it seems to crop up most.

I purchased the 'Coconut Foot Cream' and the 'Almond & Milk Hand Cream', and both have made me notice a positive difference! The foot cream is not greasy, which means I can put it on, leave it to soak in for a short amount of time, and then carry on with my day, without worrying that carpet/sock fluff is going to stick to me (gross!!!). I did find the hand cream a little bit greasy, certainly more so than my usual Soap & Glory 'Hand Food', which I LOVE, but it has worked really well for me! My hands are definitely softer and I will definitely continue to use it, although not as an every hour thing when I'm at work!

But this is not where my obsession lies. It's the lip balms that have really got me. I have spent far too much money on these little things, but I love them so much! I now have 7, so a different flavour for every day of the week, no? I've never had an obsession with a beauty product before, but I think I have one now!

The variety of flavours makes it so much better, because they actually taste and smell good when you apply them, and it lingers as well, making me love them even more! And what's better, it's all 100% natural ingredients!

I have different favourites for different reasons. The original peppermint one not only smells great, but it tingles your lips, which is a really nice sensation! Some of them I am yet to try as I have only just bought them, but if they go down at the rate the others are because I'm using them so much, then Burt has done a blooming good job and making good lip balms!

There aren't many more flavours to get before I have the whole collection, so come pay day, that is going to be my first purchase!

Right, I need to stop before I become a crazy lip balm lady, is that a thing, and is it too late?!





(P.S. Who ever I be kissing....my lips are more kissable than ever!!)

C is for....

....CRAFTS!

When looking around for decorations to go in my room, I decided I wanted one of those cool letters with the lights in, but I didn't want to pay the prices for one. Also, I don't need any more fairy lights in my room, so I ended up deciding against getting one.

Until I walked past Hobbycraft and saw through the window a display of wooden letters and numbers, and an array of paints, sprays, and paper to decorate them....why not make one myself? Firstly, no more fairy lights, I certainly have enough! Secondly, it's couldn't be hard to make one, and it's a fun thing to so on a Saturday afternoon.

I picked up the following items:

                         - Wooden letter 'C' - £3

                         - Copper coloured spray paint - £3 . 99

                         - Stick on gems - £1 . 50

I spent less than a tenner on the materials, and it took a very short amount of time to make. The sunshine helped the paint to dry within seconds of spraying it on.

Spray the paint on, let it dry, stick the gems on, done!

So that's it, and now it is sitting pretty on my shelf (surrounded by fairy lights of course!).

My new room!

After years of mismatching furniture and a lack of money in the back to replace it, I have finally gotten round to creating the bedroom space I have always wanted!

Last weekend, I ventured down to IKEA, and as a couple of my friends will know, I've been planning and meaning to go to the shop and actually buy something more than just things I really don't need (like tea lights, Mum!). I've been planning how I wanted to have my bedroom for a long time, spending countless hours browsing the IKEA website, and Pinterest for inspiration.

So here it it, the result of my long awaited bedroom renovation....and I'm so excited by it!

Before.

After a lick of paint.

New furniture!

My little beauty spot.

Storage sweet storage.

Where I will be spending most of my spare time...

Although I am super happy with my new room, I am slightly sad that I no longer have an excuse to visit IKEA. I'll just have to pretend I'm shopping for an entire house next time I go!