Mini Break On a Budget

On Thursday Mitch and I went on a road trip for a few days. He rarely has weekends off and so I booked two days off work during the week so that we could spend some quality time together. We had a lovely few days together exploring the south including the New Forest, Southampton and Winchester and it didn't cost much at all. 

 Lovely drive through the New Forest. Be sure to make a good "Road Trip" playlist!

Here are some top tips for planning a trip away in the UK if you are on a budget. 

Where should you go? 
A map is your best friend.
Decide on a distance that you would be happy to travel for the amount of time you will be away for. Travelling early on the first day and late back the following day will mean you only need one nights accommodation which will save pennies but if you're spending a lot on transport it seems a shame not to make the most of the journey and spend longer there. Google places to visit and look at the UK with a fresh set of eyes. Quite often there are places right on your doorstep that you've never visited but that hold some true gems and many people would travel far and wide to visit. 

 Winchester Cathedral was only an hours drive away yet I had never been

How you travel will greatly effect where you can go. 
If you have a car you could effectively travel anywhere in the UK within reason, if you're restricted to public transport you're a bit more limited and it's worth checking out a train map to figure out where is most easily accessible. 
Also even if you do drive sometimes it can be cheaper and easier to travel by train, especially visiting large cities where parking is hard to come by and expensive. 
Definitely do your research and if you're under 25 and travel regularly by train it may be worth investing in a young persons railcard.

 Driving seemed the best bet until a horse blocked the road!

When you go away can effect the cost...going away in the week will usually be less expensive than at a weekend (and less busy) Also avoiding school holiday times will generally be cheaper and quieter too. 

Reviews are so useful
Trip Advisor is my first port of call when looking for information on an area new to me. You can search for a whole town or city and then look at the top attractions, restaurants and hotels in that area. Reviews are invaluable in making the right choice for you but on a budget you may need to compromise. Cheaper hotels are cheap for a reason but they may just be slightly more basic rather than terrible, reviews will help you figure this out.

We stayed in the beautiful Wayside Cottage in Burley and it's 5 star reviews helped us make our decision

Shop around 
Deal websites such as Groupon, Living Social and KGB deals have great offers on hotels in the UK (and abroad) but be careful to read the small print. Quite often there are restrictions on dates the deal is valid for and if you have a specific date in mind it would be worth calling ahead to check the date is available before commiting to purchasing the deal.

Spontaneous last minute trip?
There are often good deals if you are booking quite soon to the date you want to go. No hotel wants empty rooms so quite often you will find good lasts minute deals. As it's name suggests lastminute.com has good prices, and if you're up for a surprise the top secret hotels are normally a great price. Expedia also have a similar thing. You don't know exactly where you will be staying, just the rough area, but the prices are normally a fraction of the usual listed price.

Getting snap happy at the New Forest Wildlife Park

When you get there
Make the most of being in a new place and go outside. Taking photos is free so get snapping all the glorious sites. Pick up leaflets in the hotel reception or local shops to see what attractions the local area has to offer. These sometimes contain vouchers for money off admission.

We enjoyed some tasty tapas at El Sabio in Winchester

Eating out
Eating out can be the expensive part so you could try to stick to one really nice lunch and one really nice dinner and then save a bit the other times. Lunch can be a few sandwiches from the local supermarket turned into a picnic in the park, or a British classic... fish and chips. Do however try to make the most of being in a new place and pick quirky independent restaurants rather than chains.

Enjoy
A break should be just that, not stressful. Planning is the key, researching the area before you go will save valuable time when you get there. Pin pointing what you definitely don't want to miss when you're there will mean you leave feeling like you can tick that place off your list, although it might be that great that you keep going back.


Abbie x

Making Lemonade [Part 2]

On Saturday my gorgeous friend Jaymie held a charity party for Cancer Research UK. I thought i'd share some of the photos with you (photos taken by the lovely Laura Jane Young..website to follow)

If you haven't read THIS blog post yet have a look to make a bit more sense of this one :)

On what would have been her wedding Jay did an amazing job of "making lemonade" and using her venue and guests to help raise over £2000 for a charity close to all of our hearts. I am so proud and inspired by her and know she will keep fundraising until she hits her £3000 target.

 

 

 

 

 What I wore:

Dress: Lipsy VIP

Shoes: Aldo
Hair clip: Primark

My hair:
I did this myself using curling tongs, lots of clips and LOTS of hairspray!
It's loosely based on THIS tutorial and I put my own spin on it by twisting the front piece round to the side. Surprisingly it didn't take me to long to do and stayed in all night.


Abbie x

Ps. Sorry the blogging schedule has gone out of the window this week, the Easter Weekend was a hectic one and Bank Holiday Monday came and went before I realised it was blog day. I also chucked my phone down the toilet (by accident) which hindered my life slightly! I'm off to the New Forest tomorrow so think this will be the only blog post this week but I should have more for you next week :)

Mess, Motivation and Owls!

(Source)

So working long hours with a three hour round commute I should be forgiven for not having time to keep my room immaculate in the week. However I think this time it got a bit out of hand... 

That's what my bedroom looked like when I got home from work the other day unusually early at half past 7. Do you ever have those moments where a gust of energy motivates you to do something you've been putting off for ages and actually makes you enjoy the task. This is what happened that evening. Armed with a huge rubbish bag, a duster and my dads strong pair of arms we moved my desk further along the wall in the space where a ten year old computer had been living then I ruthlessly threw away old products that I've been keeping "just in case" and recycled last years supply of Glamour magazines. I made a "car boot" pile and set a side a lot of old bits and bobs that I hope to flog when then car boot sales start up again soon. I arranged all of the owl necklaces I have on an accessory hanger to make a nice feature on the wall and de cluttered my bedside table so that my lovely owl lamp was no longer hidden behind a photo frame, a candle and a box of tissues. Once that was done I stood back and admired my handy work (and then hoovered!) Here's some of the favourite things in my (newly organised) bedroom. Can you tell what my favourite animal is? Haha. 

Necklaces hanging on accessory hanger 

 Live, Laugh, Love sign Primark £3.50 

Lamp Dunelm Mill £19.99 

Relax Sign Primark £1 

Owl on stump Debenhams (gift)

Owl jewellery dish Sass and Belle (gift) 

Photo frame Dunelm Mill (gift) 

Postcards Paperchase 

Hanging Shabby Chic Owl Sass & Belle £1.95  

"Owl Always Love You" Hanging Heart Sass & Belle £3.75  

It had got dark by the time id finished so it's a bit grainy but I got a quick snap of the same area in the first photo to show you how good it looked...yes that is past tense...think I need another tidy up!

 

Abbie x

 

A Soap & Glory Story!

Well, not really a story but I liked that it rhymed. Anyway, I was thinking about what might go in my April favourites (thinking ahead!) and realised that I bloody love Soap & Glory products! They have such a good range and I use their products on my face, body, hands, feet and even bum! So here is an entire post dedicated to one of my favourite brands of beauty products with my absolute favourite packaging!

Here's a rundown of what i've been using:

Peaches and Clean 3-in-1 Wash-Off Deep Purifying Cleanser RRP £8

So starting at the top with my face this is Soap and Glory's cleanser. I go through phases of using different cleansers, from Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser to the Tesco own brand one i've tried them all, and I always go back to this one. I think this is my third bottle, and that's pretty good going considering I use it daily, you only need a tiny amount to cover your entire face and neck. I pop this straight on to a dry face in the morning before I hop in the shower. It smells gorgeous and it's always quite cold so feels like it wakes your face up. I haven't had a break out at all whilst using this and love how clean my face feels after my shower when using this.


Hand Food Hand Cream RRP £5/£2.50

You know you love a product when you have it in a miniature size so you can take it everywhere with you. This hand cream is incredible. It's non greasy and sinks in to the skin very quickly and has cleared up some dry patches I seem to have acquired this winter really well. As like all Soap and Glory products this smells lovely and when I put it on during my train journey to work I think the other passengers definitely enjoy it too!
I have discovered they now sell this in a huge pump bottle and I NEED this for my desk at work so a trip to Boots in on the cards soon.


Clean On Me Creamy Clarifying Shower Gel RRP £6

I love this shower gel so much. This huge bottle lasts me ages and I love the pump dispenser, no broken nails trying to prise open the top of a bottle in the shower!


The Righteous Butter RRP £10.50

I used to be obsessed with the Body Shop body butters and although I still love those recently I have migrated to this one. Like the hand cream it sinks in super quick which is great, no one likes hanging around naked waiting for body lotion to sink in when you're in a rush!


The Scrub of Your Life Smoothing Body Scrub RRP £7

I've lost count of how many bottles of this stuff i've got through. It's the best scrub i've tried, not too rough but feels like it really exfoliates and smooths my skin. I use it every other day after washing with Clean On Me and before moisturising with the Righteous Butter and I love it!


Sit Tight Firming and Smoothing Lower Body Serum RRP £16.50

This stuff is my saviour! This is the old packaging which i'm still working my way through. I bought a couple of these before they changed it to the Intense XS version and I still haven't used a whole bottle even though I use it almost every day. Massaging it in to my thighs and bum it leaves a slight tingly warming feeling and as the name suggests works best when you're sat down. I spend 80% of my day sat on a train or at a desk so that helps! I have noticed a change already and will be using this up until my holiday in June hoping it will tighten and firm up the skin in these areas in time for bikini time! They have recently bought out another new version called Super-Intense 4D which I will try once I have used up all the bottles of the Intense XS version I bought when it was on offer. (See THIS post!) Hopefully it just keeps getting better and better because I love this old version!


Heels Genius Foot Cream RRP £5.50

And finally we have a foot cream! Before I discovered this I don't think i'd ever moisturised my feet. Other than painting my toe nails my feet got very little attention, but now they love their life. Every night I smother my feet in this and put some socks on. In the morning the skin on my feet is so soft, can't wait for sandal time!


And there we have it, all of the Soap and Glory products I am loving at the moment. You may think I've just featured any product by them i've ever bought but that's not the case. I wasn't a massive fan of their hair products as they left my hair feeling quite greasy and their eye cream isn't the best I have tried so they aren't in this post. The range is vast though so i'm sure I will be adding more products to my collection and when I find more I swear by I will be sure to do an update :)

Abbie x

H&M: Happy and Monochrome

Working just off Oxford Street I have been known to "pop to the shops" EVERY week day, be it before work (Primark opens at 8am don't you know!), during lunch (I can do the whole of New Look AND find time for a sarnie in a lunch hour), or after work (it's cheaper to travel home after 7 so it kind of makes sense right?!) In the quest to get on the property ladder I have since curbed that habit considerably and only crumble every now and again. Wednesday evening was a crumbly one...

I popped into H&M on said evening; I'd seen some amazing monochrome trousers that I simply needed! I got the trousers...and also two skirts and a top. Oooops! Buuuut it came to a ridiculously small grand total of £34.96 so I don't feel that bad...and I won some money (£12.50) on the Grand National so that almost covers the trousers...anyway...onto the clothes!! 

First up is the infamous trousers..how amazing are these...  

 

View on H&M website 
What's even better is they were only £12.99! I live in tights in the winter (with dresses, not on their own...weird!) and in the summer I'm mostly in dresses without tights but in the spring I like to make the most of the dry pavements and get out of my boots and into "Spring" footwear, and I can't be wearing tights with sandals (doesn't mean you can't! It's just not for me!) so these are what I am calling my "Spring" trousers. (Labelling clothing items by seasons means technically you can have at least four of everything!) So these are going to be worn with sandals/pumps and a cute vest or tshirt...possibly this one... 

View on H&M website 
I nearly bought this in white too but had to resist, especially with the £7.99 price tag. I love wearing plain tshirts with bright/patterned trousers or skirts but it can be a bit boring so the lace on this is the perfect touch. It's even prettier in real life! It can be dressed up or down and is just something I think will stay in my wardrobe for a very long time. I may also team it with this skirt... 

View on H&M website 
I basically gravitated towards this skirt...it's similar to one I saw in Primark and regretted not buying but there was a reason I stopped myself getting that...I must have known this one would be half the price! It was only £5.99! (Anyone else think H&M is beating Primark at cheap fashion pieces at the moment?) I was gutted they didn't have this in my size but the size up fitted just fine. It's long enough to wear up on my waist which is very flattering and has a line of buttons down the front which is a nice touch. I think this would also look lovely in the winter with tights as well as on holiday with flip flops. Roll on summer! 

View similar on H&M website
Lastly we have another skirt. As mentioned above I find skirts really versatile and this is another winter or summer skirt. I am loving monochrome at the moment (can you tell?!) and think this would look great with black, white or even a brightly coloured top. I have to say I can't look at it too long though, makes my eyes go funny! This one was only £7.99 which made me very happy. I always think about how much something would cost in Topshop and that makes me feel a lot better! 


I will try to borrow a willing volunteer to take some snaps of me wearing these with some outfit ideas for you. And I'll try not to go shopping for a little while now! I said try... 

Abbie x

Top 5: Nail Varnishes

Recently I had a mass room clear out (dedicated bedroom clear out post to come!) which involved me opening my nail varnish box and chucking any nail varnishes that I really would never use; from five year old clumpy ones to my favourite ones that I'd used so much the brush could no longer reach the nail varnish, oh and the hideous lime green one I got free from Boots once, yuk! All in the bin! And how many did I have left when I'd finished doing that you ask? Oh only 102!!! So although I can't be totally ruthless and throw away perfectly good nail varnishes that I have collected over the last year or two I had a think about what my 5 favourites are and they live in my more accessible make up box. Here's what I picked... 

Barry M Silk Nail Effects in Meadow (RRP £3.99)
I love the finish of this, it is quite silky as the name suggests. I generally prefer solid coloured nail varnishes as opposed to metallic, shimmery ones but I feel like this one meets somewhere in the middle. I have a lot of clothes in this colour so it's a safe bet that if I paint my nails this colour they will match my outfit.
http://www.barrym.com/products/nails/effects/silk-nail-paint.html 

Essie in Lacquered Up (RRP £7.99)
Every nail varnish collection needs a classic bright red and this Essie one is just perfect. It dries quickly and leaves nails looking super shiny. I love wearing this with a little black dress.
http://www.boots.com/en/Essie-Nail-Polish-Lacquered-up-15ml_1343416/
 

Nail Girls London Colour in Purple #7 Deep Rich Plum (RRP £13.50)
I love this dark, sultry colour, it's perfect for a night out. I have some very similar colour ones in my collection by Nails Inc and Barry M but i've found this one doesn't require as many coats as those to get the perfect colour and it doesn't chip at all!
http://nailgirls.co.uk/?product=purple-7

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in Papaya (RRP £3.99)
There has been huge hype in the blogging world about the Gelly Hi-Shine collection from Barry M and rightly so. They leave a lovely finish in just one coat and the colour choice is incredible. I am slowly building up my collection but they seem to add new colours faster than I can buy them! I have my eye on the beautiful light turquoise Sugar Apple colour for my next naughty nail varnish purchase (I say naughty because as my mum would say... "Really, more nail varnishes!?") Of my current collection this coral shade is my favourite, it brightens up any outfit and is perfect for the coming summer months.
http://www.barrym.com/products/nails/effects/gelly-nail-effects.html

MUA in Moody Mink (RRP £1)
I'm saving the best til last. Not only is this dusky lilacy grey colour one of my favourite colours to wear on my nails but it costs just ONE pound! And with the low price you don't have to compromise on quality. Not only do the bottles resemble the Essie ones but the quality is up there with them too. They go on like a dream, dry really quickly and last for ages! SO impressed with these and don't feel as naughty adding these ones to my vast collection!
http://www.muastore.co.uk/nail-polish

So there we have it, if my house was on fire and I had time to root through my room and grab a handful of nail varnishes I would choose these little guys (As if! I would grab the massive box and run!) 

Abbie x

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Making Lemonade...

 

Everyone's heard of this phrase or seen it on a shabby chic styled sign on the wall of a gift shop....
Well recently my boyfriend's sister Jaymie has demonstrated this in the most incredible way and this post is dedicated to her. (Sorry if you thought this post was actually going to show you how to make lemonade...google it?)

 

Jaymie is more than my boyfriend's sister, she is a great friend and I was overjoyed when she asked me to be her bridesmaid when she got engaged on Christmas Day 2012. We scoured Pinterest for inspiration, discussed the important matter of which shade of coral ribbon I would use on the handmade invites and wandered car boot sales looking for vintage picture frames. We reached the five month countdown to the wedding in November and it was really all starting to come together.
Then the unthinkable happened...
Her fiancé left her and their two girls. The wedding was cancelled...

In a time of great heart ache and so close to Christmas Jay could have crumbled.

Instead she made lemonade.

The venue was booked and there was no chance of a refund, the invites had been sent, everyone had saved the date and bought their outfits. How could she break the news that there would be no wedding.

Then she had a brainwave....

What if she turned the wedding in to a charity event. Instead of giving wedding gifts the guests would donate money in return for the chance to win prizes with all proceeds going to Cancer Research UK. The charity is close to all of our hearts but Jay's grandfather is fighting terminal cancer, so it meant the world to her to be able to help raise money for such a good cause.

I set about making something we could share on social media to help spread the word of the event and find donations of raffle prizes. With the ambitious target of £3000 we needed something that would get people's attention. That's when I made the connection with the lemon/lemonade quote. That's exactly what she was doing. Taking the shitty situation she had found herself in and turning it around to something positive. That's the only way to make it through life really, isn't it.

We spread the word using this picture and #letsmakelemonade

Slowly donations started pouring in and the media got in touch. The local newspaper printed THIS lovely article to help us raise awareness of the event.

Now with just over two weeks to go until the big day I can't wait to see what Jay has achieved by putting on her strong head and making lemonade.

She is such an inspiration.

If you think so too please head to www.justgiving.com/jaymie-kennedy as even just a pound or two will put a smile on our faces. I know she won't stop until she's reached her target. There's talk of a skydive if the target isn't reached at the party! Please save her from having to chuck herself out of a plane!

Abbie x

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In Pictures: My March Adventures

Now I don't know about you but when I come across a new blog one of the first things I do is scroll through the last few months of posts and check out what that blogger has been up to and what they've been writing about. Most of the time I am pleased with what I find...but if I was to stumble upon this blog on my internet travels I wouldn't be too impressed. They say that first impressions are formed in just one tenth of a second (I can't even imagine how quick that is!) so anyone that stumbles upon my blog now isn't going to have much to go on. Before this post my blog was an empty shell; it would be like someone meeting you for the first time when you've just woken up, your brain's not engaged and your face hasn't met Mr Make Up Bag. To give you a better idea of me I thought I would sum up a months worth of activity in one post. Yes, this involved me clicking straight into the photos folder of my trusty iPhone and scrolling back through the month of March, and as it turned out it was rather an eventful one.... Here we go!

Yes don't adjust your monitors that is Andi Peters circa 1995... and that is me next to him. On the first day of March I had the pleasure of appearing as a contestant on the new ITV1 game show "Ejector Seat" and it really is as crazy as it sounds! 6 contestants, 6 glorified arm chairs and the threat of being flipped up in your chair if you get too many questions wrong! I can't say how I did as it hasn't graced the screens yet but when I find out its exact air date (I know it will be sometime in May or June) you will be the first to know! I for one can't wait to see it mainly just to find out if they edited out some of my more stupid comments or if I'm subject to bullying for the rest of the year particularly about a very expensive pair of sandals...
PS. I had to blur the background as we're standing in front of the set, and posting that online before the show has aired would be frowned upon.  

On the 6th of March it was World Book Day (I had written "here in the UK" then realised it's called World Book Day...DUH!) Anyway, the only memories I have of participating in World Book Day at school are:

1. I was four, my mum dressed me up as Little Red Riding Hood. I got to school and found another girl in my class had had the same idea... only her cape was made of velvet ooh er...my mum made a remark about how she looked more like Santa to make me feel better.

2. I was ten, I decided to dress up as The Little Match Girl (who?!) and walked to school wearing a rag of a dress and with an old net curtain draped around my shoulders. Obviously I couldn't take actual matches to school so I cut the sharp ends off some cocktail sticks (which didn't really help reduce the amount of sharp bits!) and took those. I'm surprised no one stopped to check I was ok.

Anyway, a couple of weeks before this year's World Book Day my boyfriend Mitch's sister called upon me to create her four year old daughter's fancy dress outfit. As it would be her first ever one as she's only just started school I had to do her proud.
If you didn't know I love owls so naturally it had to be Hedwig. I promptly gathered the materials I needed including three fleece blankets from Primark and a white feather boa from eBay and set to work. I transformed a novelty rabbit hat into a novelty owl hat using felt, glue and feathers and made some wings using different layers of felt. I cut the feather boa into strips which I attached to a white top and used what was left of the boa after I had massacred it (and made it look like I had murdered a duck in Mitch's bedroom) to make some feathery anklets. Finally I created a little envelope out of felt complete with Harry's address. (Mitch pointed out that Hedwig wouldn't have delivered mail to Privet Drive but 4 year olds can barely read so I thanked him for his input and continued on my way.)
She absolutely loved it and looked adorable. I now need to think of something to top it next year!

The sun popped his head out briefly in the middle of the month so we headed to a lovely village nearby called Marlow and fed the ducks. Mitch has two nieces, his youngest one (not Hedwig) was more interested in eating the bread than throwing it to the ducks!

The following weekend Mitch went car shopping and I popped into London to explore the Ideal Home Show with my two best girl friends Laura and Becka and Laura's friend Rachel. I had never been before but it was a good day out though not quite what I was expecting. There was a lot of things for homes (including owl ornaments so I was happy!) but there was also a HUGE section dedicated to food. (i'm not complaining) We got to try lots of samples including alcoholic ones (after being ID'd!) and I had an argument with a man who was selling a a little device to convert a can into a bottle. I said I had no use for one as I rarely drink fizzy drinks and he said he would invent canned water so I could use one...riiiight.

I have been trying really hard to curb my spending on beauty products recently and by looking at this photo you would think that I had totally failed...WRONG! 
I had picked up a few tubes of Soap & Glory's Sit Tight from eBay after hearing good things and hoping to improve the appearance of my thighs for bikini time in June. I had only been using it for a few days when I spotted it in Boots reduced from £16.50 to £8.25. Not only that but there was a 3 for 2 offer going on so I picked up three boxes and trotted off to the till. She scanned them through and the total came to £8.24...they were actually half price again to £4.12 AND the 3 for 2 worked on top. I ran back and grabbed SIX more boxes... with a 300 extra points coupon for my Boots card they worked out at about £2 each...but everyone in Boots does now think my bum and thighs have major issues. Who cares, I absolutely love a bargain and after giving my mum some to try out she is hooked too so I don't think it will take that long to get through it all! 
I will post a detailed review once I have been using it for a month or so as right now I love the tingly feeling it leaves when I put it on my skin and it definitely feels like it's doing something but whether I can actually see a difference remains to be seen.

I'll round off this post with a foody picture. How amazing is that giant chocolate eclair!? March ended with Mother's Day so my family went out for a lovely meal at a local country pub/restuarant. I love eating out and as i'm saving to move out I eat out a lot less than I used to but there will still be plenty of foody posts, mostly puddings, as they're my favourite.

If you made it to the end of this post, congratulations! I know it is a pretty mammoth one but hopefully it gave you a little insight into my world. If you enjoyed what you read please make my day by leaving a comment/following my blog/both of these.

Abbie x

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