25 facts about me TAG

What is your middle name?: Ruth

What was favourite subject at school?: Food technology

What is your favourite drink?: Pina Colada, but on a day to day water!

What is your favourite song at the moment?: Play with Fire by Vance Joy

What is your favourite food?: Raspberries or pineapple... or strawberries

What is the last thing you bought?: A hard back book! Shopaholic to the Stars by Sophie Kinsella (will review in due course)

Favourite book of all time?: Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers was my favourite of the trilogy

Favourite Colour?: Yellow

Do you have any pets?: Sadly not

Favourite Perfume?: Dolce by D&G

Favourite Holiday?: South Australia, an amazing trip!

Are you married?: Yes, have a wonderful hubby!

Have you ever been out of the country, if so how many times?: Yes, I live in the UK so often venture out, Europe, America, Australia, Hong Kong, Dominican Republic. I'm a lucky girl!

Do you speak any other language?: Touch of German

How many siblings do you have?: One older sister

What is your favourite shop?: House of Fraser (cheat I know!

Favourite restaurant?: Wagamamas

When was the last time you cried?: At the weekend watching Sons of Anarchy ;-(

Favourite Blog?: At the moment Media Marmalade - grown up, well thought out content

Favourite Movie?: Bridget Jones

Favourite TV show?: Sons of Anarchy, it is quite disturbing but I'm fascinated! 

PC or Mac?: Mac

What phone do you have?: HTC One in Gold, I love!

How tall are you?: 5'9"

Can you cook?: Yes! Although I prefer to bake!

What to do when you are flying solo?

I thought I'd write a quick post about how to entertain yourself when you are home alone. My hubby works away during the week giving me lots of time to myself. He's been working away for a year now and to start with I didn't do a whole lot. Time just escaped me and when it came to his 'home time' I would be reflecting on the week thinking about how little I'd done. So I made a decision to try and make the most of being on my own, rather than wallowing in solitude, below are a few things I have been up to:

1) Signed up to a photography course. 
I've loved photography all my life and invested some inheritance money in a Canon 7D and two lenses. This was a 10 week course, 3 hours a week, and the homework occupied other evenings in my schedule. I'd hoped to meet new friends that I would keep in touch with but it didn't quite work out like that. I will definitely sign up to another course in the future though!

2) Met up with friends
A good chin wag goes a long way on a night, having social interactions makes me happy and I used the time midweek to catch up with girlfriends. A cheeky wine on a Wednesday is welcome in my eyes!

3) Got value for money from Netflix
Reclusive option, but let's face it, as much as social interactions with pals are ace it is also lovely to sometimes just sit and watch a few episodes of Dexter or watch a classic like Overboard for a little hilarity. 

4) Bathed!!
LUSH is one of my favourite stores simply because I now have time on my hands that means I can indulge in a gorgeous bubble bath without any pressures to emerge from the tub prematurely. I really recommend having an indulgent night to make you feel relaxed and ready for a good nights sleep.

5) Exercised
Now I wish I could say I have taken the opportunity to run, but I can't tell fibs. I have however been out and about walking to stretch my legs and breathe in the fresh air of living in a rural village. I will be ramping my walks up to a job soon as I train for a 10k run, I will let you know how I get on!

6) Waltzed around to my parents house
Like any self respecting 30 year old I take myself off to my folks house for tea (that's an evening meal for those non-northerners!). A delicious meal, good company and usually a food package to take home with me... what's not to love about this entertainment option??


How do you like to spend time when you have an evening to yourself?

A tale of mismatched foundation, with a happy ending

That sad moment when you run out of your favourite foundation, the loss of a trusty faithful friend of my face. I finished the wonderful luminous silk foundation by Giorgio Armani and trotted off to town to purchase a replacement.

Lured I was, lured, by the YSL counter in Debenhams. Before I knew it I was being matched up to the Touche Eclat foundation, I tried it when it first launched and I thought "heck let's try it again". Biiiiiig mistake!

The YSL make up artist clearly was not capable of colour matching foundation. I am as pale as you get really. There are no blue tones but I am pale. I was alarmed when she took the 3 prospective colours from the middle of the colour range.... I guided her, explained there was pigmentation in my chin, I wanted a base to match the rest of my skin blah blah blah. I wanted to avert a foundation crisis. Well, it was a fail. I left that counter with a YSL consultation card telling me I was a B20, reassured this was definitely the right colour for me, and that if I wanted to compare to my old shade then I was welcome to but B20 was the right one. 

I looked in the mirror. I was yellow. I looked like Marge Simpson. Ridiculous. 

I said I thought the colour was too yellow, her response "this is a neutral shade, it definitely isn't yellow", well, I'm sorry but I think you'll find it is yellow! My eyes don't lie. They don't yet anyway...

I met my husband who did nothing but laugh as we strolled up the street to my saviour, Harvey Nichols. That 'short' walk never felt so long. Greeted by a wonderful professional make up artist on the Giorgio Armani counter I explained how I ended up a Simpson (I wanted her to know I didn't do this to myself!). After a LOT of make up cleanser I was back to me, and she kindly reapplied my foundation. It was a perfect match. Hurrah to Harvey Nichols wonderful make up lady, hurrah to Giorgio Armani Ivory foundation.

Normality resumed, I was a new woman! 

I wondered, have you had any public make up horrors? How did you handle them?!

me again, with a lush product

Well I must say I woke up feeling refreshed today. After my late night heart pouring blog session I definitely slept well. Today I felt happy and at peace. Even a rough day in the office didn't bring me down. I think when there is something so much in the world you want, and you don't know if you'll have the privilege of having it, then it really puts the rest of your life in perspective. Live for today, and take the best moments of the day!

So what better way to spend an evening home alone than watching a little bit of Dexter and planning to take a LUSH bath! My latest favourite is the Comforter bubble bar, retailing at a hefty £4.50 I was unsure whether to purchase or not. Swayed by Tanya Burr talking positively about it I decided to purchase. No regrets!

Here she is in all her glory!

It reminds me of a stick of rock to look at, but really it is crumbly goodness! The main scent is fruity, blackberries and sweetness. It smells so good I wish I could savour something just as tasty. Oh well, diet beckons. 

Depending on the water pressure in your house depends how much of the bar you should use. I tend to use 1/6 of the bar in my bath because my water pressure is so high, LUSH advise you to use half of it. I guess it comes down to personal preference! 

I've been advised to include a bit of bath melt too to make your bath moisturising as well. Why not give it a try and report back? :)

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a little honesty

A new blog.

The past year has been an emotional roller coaster for me. I had a real spring in my step in September 2013, me and my hubby disappeared off for 3 weeks to cruise down the route 101 in the West Coast of America. We hiked mountains, drank local wine, took a trip over to Vegas to have fun on the slots, I also developed an obsession with criminals that frequented Alcatraz. That Al Capone was an interesting chap!

Come Christmas we settled down to some good festive spirit, had a gaudy amount of tinsel around the house and drank mulled wine. It was pretty picture perfect reflecting on it now. New Year's Eve was spent with our friends playing drinking games and just having a laugh, it was one of the best NYE's we've had.

On to January there were the inevitable blues but they were all swept away come February as I turned 30 and me and the mister celebrated our first wedding anniversary. My friends and family were simply amazing over both occasions and made a real fuss. It was a great time! 

Come May we jetted away for a fabulous holiday in Greece, it was great to get some sunshine and relaxation. It was our first time visiting Greece and I can't wait to get back there. Gorgeous weather and stunning seas and coasts (you really should go if you get the chance to!).

But the truth is amongst all of the happiness I've enjoyed over the last year it has also been touched with sadness and uncertainty. The truth is that we have been trying for a baby for a year now and nothing has happened. 

I can't really explain just how desperate I have felt at times. I started off with such optimism, I'd read the stats, I knew that it might take some time. I started off badly, I'll admit it, I pinpointed a week when I thought I would be most fertile and I declared this was our "window of opportunity", putting more pressure of my hubby than I should. I zapped all fun and heaped pressure on us.

Months passed, and more again. Nothing. Other than tears when those imaginary cramps, those late periods turned out to be nothing. Oh and a couple of UTI's to make me feel tip top at my lowest moments. I began feeling envious when Facebook friends posted scan pictures, and worryingly becoming angry at them. Everyone I knew as a close friend feel pregnant straight away, and they were typically the ones who would say to me 'it just happens'. Yes, for you. 

I've never told anyone we were starting to try for a baby, but I guess being newly married people have had their suspicions. It added pressure anyway, and I felt I had to prove I wasn't pregnant by having a glass of wine (or three) at every social occasion when I really didn't want one. My whole life has become about getting pregnant and kicking myself for failing at doing the most natural thing. 

I guess you could say I have been in a vicious circle. 

In June I went to the doctors to have my hormones checked out, they came back normal. I was told that when you seek help this is when you fall pregnant. Well, I can confirm that wasn't true for me. But the doctor did put my mind at ease, she said don't do ovulation tests, don't do mobile fertility apps, just get on with 'it' 2 to 3 times a week. So we have, for 3 months, and still nothing. 

A turning point was reading Kate's blog post. She spoke with such honesty about her situation and I only wish I had read this earlier. Kate seeks comfort in God having a plan for us all. I'm not a religious person but I do believe that things happen for a reason, and we really must make the most of our lives whilst we have them. I don't want to throw away the next two years of my life moping from one period to the next. I want to enjoy  my life with my wonderful husband. 

So I end this year of trying with the peace Kate talks about in her blog post. I hope that in my plan are babies, but if we can't naturally conceive we can explore a medical intervention or adoption. On my dark days of which I'm sure there will be, we can't be strong all the time, I will re-read this post, and probably Kate's and take comfort in that I did find my Mr Right and we have a whole load of good fortune there.

Thanks for reading, I hope if you are in a similar situation my story helps you find your peace too.