Half- finished books

I have a bookshelf above my bed and I thought I'd show you the pile of books on top of this bookshelf that has accumulated over the past few months.

I obviously like a bit of danger when I sleep!

 
Some of these books I've started reading but never finished, others I have read (mostly the Christmas related chick lit... ahem!) . I'm really bad at staring books and not finishing them so I'm going to set myself the challenge of finishing all of these books that I've never got around to finishing!

My reading list for the next few weeks

How To Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran- I'm a couple of chapters into this one. It's good so far. I can't remember why I didn't finish it!

The Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas- I've started this one. I was enjoying it, but it never grabbed me and more excited books came along..

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell- I really haven't read more than a few pages so far..

A Week in December by Sebastien Faulkes- Sebastien Faulkes is one of my favourite authors but there was so many characters in this that I kept forgetting who everyone was.. I just need to push on!

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert- I've read about 3/4 of this. I took it travelling with me a few months back. I haven't loved it so far but continued reading while I was away but promptly forgot about it when I got back. It'd be silly not to finish it now!

Northern Lights by Philip Pullman- I read the whole dark materials trilogy years ago but started to re-read this a while back. I got quite a way through but this was just before christmas and I think I forgot about it when new shiny books appeared!

Anyway... I'll write reviews of the books when I finish them. I'm going to try really hard to finish all of these before I find new books to read. This may be a challenge as if you haven't already guessed, my attention span isn't great lol!

What are you reading at the moment? Do you recommend it?

Cheerio!

Time for tea!

As I come from a nation famous for tea drinking I thought I'd share my favourite teas. I am rather partial to a nice cup of tea and I have a few favourites that I pick depending on my mood and what I fancy.

A pretty tea cup and plate that I recently got from a charity shop

-Clipper organic tea. This is my standard tea. 'Builders tea' if you like, though it is organic! I like to start my day with a cup of this but also at any interval throughout the day. Milk, no sugar please. Friendly and reassuring, like drinking a warm hug! Goes excellently with a plain chocolate digestive biscuit (or two...).

http://shop.clipper-teas.com/teas/everyday/organic-everyday-tea-1

- Twinings green tea with apple and pear. This is light and fruity and refreshing. After reading about all the great things green tea does for you, I tried to find one I liked and this is my favourite so far!

http://www.twinings.co.uk/green-teas/apple-pear-green

- Twinings straberry and mango tea. Some fruit teas don't taste of much but this one is really fruity. After a indecisive shopping trip a few years ago when there was an offer on these teas I ended up buying 4 of these range and this one was the only one I really liked. It's a gorgeous pink colour when brewed as well! Nice for when I don't want any caffeine.

http://www.twinings.co.uk/fresh-and-fruity-infusions/strawberry-and-mango

- Char Roobois orange and eucalyptus. This is a recent purchase actually. It's loose tea so is a bit more of a hassle but I love it! It's very refreshing, the mixture of the fruity flavours mix well with the freshness of the eucalyptus. Roobois is also caffeine free so this is another good evening drink.

http://www.charteas.com/home/shop/product/1-0-28.html

-Fresh mint tea. Another favourite is mint tea made with fresh mint (ie. mint leaves in hot water). This is very cleansing. It's nice if you've had quite a rich meal. We have loads of fresh mint growing in our garden so this one is also free!

From pinterest.

Does anyone have any tea recommendations?

HRH collection

One of my recent (but before the spending diet- don't worry!) purchases was a chain necklace from HRH collection. Before I share the chain, I want to talk about the girl that makes them. Her name is Alex and I've followed her blog and youtube channel for a while now and have always admired her classic yet modern style. Her chains are so much a part of her look and for a while I've wanted to try one to see if I could emulate it.

I decided that I'd start with one single chain as this isn't my usual style (and also the price!) and so I went with the 'Sheba' necklace.

As you can see it's a fairly heavy duty chain comprising of two types, one smooth and one textured. I'm struggling to style this so I don't look like a wannabe rapper...  I don't think I'm cool enough to pull it on its own. I think actually paired with the sheba necklace that she designed it with, it would look more of a statement piece and suit me more. So.. until I have money to spend on another necklace, I have come up with a solution...

The sheba.. restyled!

I folded it in half, doubling up the chains, separating them by texture. I prefer the necklace on me this way. I did it with ribbon, so nothing permanent so I can undo it when I want to. I also think the ribbon gives the hard chain a slightly girly-er  edge.. This necklace doubled up is actually just like her 'original cuff' necklace so maybe I should have just got that one lol!

I need to neaten up the ribbon..

What do you think? I'm looking to expand my collection now! Her stuff is really popular and when I saw on facebook that she'd restocked recently I was so tempted to get another piece. I want the ombre bracelet but I resisted because of my spending diet! Aren't you proud?! Also if anyone has any tips to make it work just how it is, I'd love to hear them!

Coincidentally, you can see my mini mannequin that displays some of my necklaces in my bedroom. It's from Hobby Craft and I just painted it black. I decorated one more elaborately and gave it as a gift to my mum a while back. 

Cheerio!

Money Monday

I think when it comes to money that there are certain types of people. Take my friend, she accounts for every single penny that comes in and goes out. I bet that she could tell you at any given time, exactly how much is in each bank account she has . Now with this, she is not a penny pincher. Indeed she lives a much more extravagant lifestyle than me but she manages her money very well.

All the moolah! From Weheartit

Quite opposite to this friend, I'm ashamed to say is me. I would call myself an ostrich. I spend money without thinking what my balance is with my head stuck firmly in the sand. I don't add expenses up and then I am surprised when I finally read my bank statement (having avoided it for a week). Now I am an intelligent person (without blowing my own trumpet lol!). I have a masters degree. It can't be that hard to change my habits can it?!

Well I'm going to try!! I know it may be slightly over the top, but I'm going to be strict with myself for a while to try and beat some good habits into me. I don't want to carry these bad habits into my adult life when my financial responsibilities extend to scarily responsible things like houses, pensions and so on..

-When I'm aware of how much money I have I don't knowingly overspend so therefore I will check my current account every day.

- To practise some self control I am starting a spending diet. I found out about this idea from the blog and then she saved. I'm giving myself £75 a month to spend.

-To make sure I stick to my spending diet, I will track everything I spend on an excel spreadsheet. I spent loads of time earlier in the year, making an all singing, all dancing one and never really filled any of it in! Not this time though!

What my spreadsheet should look like! From Weheartit

And of course I shall let you all know how I get on here. Wish me luck!

Cheerio!

Picks of the week/ weekly roundup

Fashion
This week I'm going to pick a combination of clothes. It's my H and M top (see below) paired with pale pink jeans. The weather has warmed up a bit and so paired with a cardigan and coat, this combination reminds me that spring is just around the corner!

Beauty
I dyed my hair this week. I have dark blonde/ light brown hair naturally that lightens in the summer. The past few years, I've had occasional highlights that have built and built and following a trip to South East Asia a few months ago became very light and golden. I decided to go back to my roots (literally!) and I used Clairol nice n' easy non permanent in 91, dark blonde. I left the tips untouched to give a slight ombre effect and I really like how it turned out! It was very easy (as the name suggests), my hair feels in great condition so I am one happy customer :-).

Films
I saw Crazy, Stupid Love on Valentines Day. I really enjoyed it! It was  different to standard chick flicks and it had Ryan Gosling in!!It's centered around a couple who decide to get divorced and the people around them. Definitely recommended!

From pinterest

Books
I still haven't read any books- dammit! Need to change this!

Food
I made this chicken with a red thai and peanut sauce  on Friday. It was very tasty but I forgot to put the corriander (cilantro) in! Ooops! Never mind, it was still nice, but I guess it could have been better! We had it with brown rice, broccoli and carrots.

Image from Kalyn's kitchen. I forgot to take photos.

Money
Not too bad. Bits and bobs here. I've decided however that I'm going on a spending diet. More on this to come later in the week!

Health and Fitness
I'm feeling a bit better now and I've been swimming a few times and am planning on running in a few hours. I really need to step my fitness up a bit if I'm going to do a triathalon (which is on my 30 by 30 list) in the next few months, even if it is a beginners one!


Now for some weekly goals:
- Be on a spending diet.
- Focus on triathalon training at least 5 days next week.
- Continue trying not to snack between meals (haven't been doing very well on this one!).

When life gives you lemons... and other corny phrases that I am partial to

From Pinterest

I know, I know, these phrases are corny beyond belief but I really believe that sometimes they can get you back on track in terms of positivity, motivation and self belief. At the moment, I have plenty of spare time before I start working. That's putting a very positive spin on things and I've been getting quite frustrated recently. However... I need to make sure I use this time positively like crafting, sorting, seeing friends etc!

So... if you are in need to any life pick me ups, take a look at these...

From Pinterest

From Pinterest

From Pinterest

From Pinterest

From Pinterest

Does anyone else have any good ones?

Cheerio!

My make up volume 3

I started doing these a while back and thought I better finish them off. So without further ado.. my lip products...

From left to right: M+S lipgloss in pashmina, Benefit the gloss in rave reviews, Urban decay pocket rocket in david, juicy tube in lychee, Benefit Benetint pocket pal, Red rimmel lip liner, M+S- pillarbox, Rimmel -starry eyed, vintage pink, Clinique- bamboo pink, Kate Moss for Rimmel- 03, Barbara Daly- Sorbet.

As you can see, I don't have a huge amount of lip products! I mostly use lip balm or a tinted lip balm from day to day. I'm really excited to try the Revlo lip butters when they are released as they've been hyped up so much on youtube!

I'm not a lipgloss fan really. I find them sticky and my hair always gets stuck in them! I do like the Pocket rocket though! It smells like creme brule and this one is a really nice deep pink colour. I also really like the mini benetint, as the colour doesn't rub off, you just have to top up the gloss. You can also build it to the exact colour you want which is good!

I'm just getting into lipsticks really. I have yet to find colours that just screem 'me'. I do like the ones I have though. I want to try these mini private lipsticks from Duwop which are meant to react with your chemistry to create the perfect shade. Has anyone tried them?

If you're interested here are my face products and my eye products!

Cheerio!