Looking back...

Now all the festivities of Christmas are over and I finally have time to sit back and relax, I thought I'd do a summary of 2014. This year certainly has been such a roller coaster ride for me, I'd say this has been on par with the year my Nan died. There have been so many things that have happened for me, this year seems to have gone by in a flash.

January - I celebrated my 21st birthday, I got horrendously drunk and had a very bad hangover the next day. Also, my gorgeous little Jack sadly passed away after having him for about 13 years. RIP buddy <3

February - I received letters for two things that'd change my life. Jury service and an appointment to have my wisdom teeth removed. 

March - Quite possibly the busiest month of my life this year...early in March I had Jury Service for 2 weeks. The week after that, I finally signed the paperwork to move out of our old house to move into our new house. 

April - A week after moving house, I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed. I've never been knocked out before nor have I ever had an operation but I certainly would never want to go through having teeth removed again! 

May - My parents celebrated their 30th Wedding Anniversary, we had a lovely family meal with my Aunties and Uncles. I also looked after my sisters cats for 3 weeks whilst she was in Florida, possibly the most gorgeous cats I've ever laid eyes on. This was also the month my Nan told me I could have one of her friends kittens.

June - This is always a busy month for me, I have 2 birthdays and Fathers day all to celebrate in this month. This was also the month I got my gorgeous Bonnie cat! 

July - I celebrated my 2 year anniversary with my Boyfriend this year, we had a lovely day out shopping and we also went to Nandos for dinner. My nephews 2nd birthday was celebrated in July with a lovely party thrown by my sister, unfortunately there were very bad thunder storms so we couldn't enjoy the warm weather but I certainly took my Auntie duties seriously that day when it came to having cake thrown at me! 

August - This was the month everything went downhill for me...I became very ill in August, after having multiple trips to hospital, I had my appendix out and didn't recover very well. I really don't remember much of this month other than I accepted a new job and spent a lot of time in bed. A lot of time. 

September - I started my new job at the beginning of September, for a couple of weeks I was in training which I really enjoyed. My Boyfriend's birthday is also in September, so as a joint present for both of us we went to see Lee Evans at the NIA, possibly one of the best experiences of my life.

October -  I didn't eat take away food for the whole of October. Nothing else really interesting happened in October... there's nothing that stands out to me anyway! Apart from the fact I finally got my name on a Coke bottle thanks to my job!

November - I finally had a week off work to chill out and do absolutely nothing after having such a busy month in October. I literally did nothing but have lie ins, lazy days and kitty snuggles. I finally got referral to hospital for my IBS which hopefully means it'll be under control soon. Oh, and I finally began eating vegetables...

December - Ahh, the lovely month of December. Christmas shopping, endless parties and obviously, Christmas day. I've really enjoyed December this year, for some reason I looked forward to Christmas and I also enjoyed seeing all my family in one place. Also, this was the month I FINALLY purchased genuine Ugg boots and safe to say...I'm in love! 

Writing all of this down makes me realise just how much I've actually done this year and how eventful it's actually been. I'm hoping next year will be a lot less eventful...in some ways. I have a couple of plans for next year, lets hope I actually get them in to action.

Here's to an eventful and memorable 2014, I hope you all stay happy and healthy over the festive period and all enjoy your new year whatever you'll be doing for it! 

♥

Where have I been?

First of all I'm going to apologise for my absence these past couple of weeks, I've had quite a rough time. I thought I'd give you all a bit of an update as to where I've been and what I've been doing. 

Work became extremely busy and after spending all day in front of a computer, the last thing I wanted to do was come home and sit in front of my laptop. This meant my blog has been neglected. 

I've also been backwards and forwards to the doctors again...my IBS has come back with a vengeance and I've been quite poorly from it. I was constantly tired, nauseous and I frequently needed to take extended breaks at work. My appetite the last couple of weeks has grown less and less too. I'm finally being referred back to the hospital to get help controlling it as it's effecting the way I live now, which is the one thing I always said it'd never do. Until you've had IBS or have had symptoms, you will never know what it's like. I've literally wanted to hide away from everyone, I've found it incredibly difficult to get out of bed, go to work and face civilization. 

I hope to get back in to the swing of things soon, we all know the next week will be a busy one so hopefully I'll have lots to blog about, with it being Christmas, new year and then my birthday all within two weeks of each other! 

I know I don't have many followers but the ones who I have, thank you for sticking around even though I'm very much in and out of blogging!




♥

November favourites.

We're in December already?! Where the hell did last month go? We all know what that means, November favourites! 


Lets kick this off with my absolute makeup favourite, rediscovery and...re-staple...? in my makeup collection. Revlon Colorstay foundation in Ivory. 

I've only recently rediscovered my love for this foundation. I previously tried the normal/dry formula for this foundation, however the grease demons on my face are back so I decided to pick up the combination/oily formula this time. Oh my god, this is like a dream on my face. Personally, I love the smell of this foundation as it's not too overpowering and it's not too cakey on my skin. I get very high coverage from this foundation, I don't need to use a concealer. I also really really like the fact that this foundation almost dries powdery. I can easily wear this foundation all day at work and through the evening right up until I go to bed. Now that's about...15 hours wear! In that time, my face has never gotten shiney and it looks exactly like it had done when I applied it. This may retail for around £12.00 in good makeup stockists, but Revlon, you've found yourself firmly back into my makeup drawer.

Second favourite of the month is the Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker lip gloss crayons. 

I'm an absolute sucker for anything from Soap and Glory, I absolutely love their retro inspired packaging. These caught my eye as I've always wanted to try their lip crayon range but never had the guts to at £8.00 a pop. This was retailing at £15.00 when I purchased it from Boots, which personally, I don't think was that bad. I actually used my points on my Advantage card to buy these. The colours on the picture are a little more vivid than the actual product, however the colour payoff on these crayons are so nice. They're subtle on first application but definitely build able. My favourite out of the three is the darkest shade called "Raplumzel", it's a really deep toned colour which suits my skin tone perfectly. These are super moisturising, don't need reapplying that often on my lips and are a nice chunky size. I definitely feel like I've gotten my money's worth with these and I'll certainly be purchasing more in the future. 

What would a monthly favourites from me be without a Lush product?

Now I'm not a huge fan of some of the Lush soaps as I find them quite sickly, but I purchased Rockstar soap with my last Lush purchase and I'm so happy I did. It's a sweet but not overpowering scent, lasts all day on my skin and makes my skin feel super soft. Lush describe this as "nostalgic seaside rock" and they certainly are right. I've been using this every day now for around...a month and I've barely used anything of the smallest block you can purchase. I'd definitely repurchase this again, however I'll more than likely be switching to a different soap so I don't get bored of the scent too easily! I'm pretty sure I paid around £3-4 for the smallest block which is going to last me forever!

I actually work for Vax, however in their recent Factory Sale I fancied myself a steamer.

I actually purchased a Steam Fresh Combi as the fact it's a 2 in 1 steamer really appealed to me. After having Bonnie, I like to keep the carpets fresh to keep away fleas and also so I can clean my kitchen easily. I'm not going to write too much on this as it sounds like I'm promoting products, however if you're looking for a multifunction steamer, I really do recommend this one. I'm so impressed, my bathroom has NEVER been so clean! 

The last favourite I'll write about this month is something I've been battling with for..as long as I can remember. 

Now you're probably thinking...why have you got a picture of vegetables there? Well, to be brutally honest, I haven't eaten vegetables since I was a tiny baby, and that's not even joking. I have always eaten fruit but vegetables just really worry me and I don't know why. I've tried several times to conquer my eating habits but have only just succeeded. It felt like the right time to try again and this time, because I was in the right mindset, I was finally able to get over my fear of eating vegetables and actually introduce them as a staple part of my diet. Now I'm not gunna say I love every single vegetable out there and I'm going to try every single one, but I'm so proud of myself for even putting a beansprout or a carrot or even a parsnip in my mouth. I've actually enjoyed trying new foods and this is why it's in my favourites. 

What have you enjoyed throughout November? What are you looking forward to in December? 

♥