The Days Gone By| Feb to March

It feels like forever since I wrote one of these posts, so I thought I would let you all know what I’ve been up to over the past month.

 

Valentine's Dinner- As you will know from my Valentines Day post, this year Matt and I decided to stay in and have an evening to ourselves. To make it special I cooked dinner (seems I never cook), and I’m happy to say I never gave him food poisoning so I would say it was a success.

Hart of Dixie- I am a little bit obsessed with this programme, and I know a few of you are also. If you loved Rachel Bilson in the OC you will love her even more in this…She is my girl crush!

Ebaying- I have been going mad on ebay this past month. I have so far sold about 40 items of clothing and made about £200. I think the people at the Post Office are sick of the sight of me, but it's great to get rid of my fat clothes and get some money for some new ones!

Theme Hospital- After seeing all the talk of the relaunch of SimCity, it had me wishing that Theme Hospital would be relauched also. So after a long search online I found out how to get the game to work on newer operating systems. You can see more info here if you are interested.

My New Apartment- Matt and I have signed for a new apartment and I am so so so excited! We will finally be living together again after 9 months of long distance, and we will be living in a building I have had my heart set on so I couldn’t be happier! Expect lots of posts about interiors, furniture and pictures of my new apartment in the coming months!

Confused.com- This past week, thanks to my blogger friend Jamie, who writes the Zombie Fitness Blog, I was featured on Confused.com. The article was about their top fitness tips from favourite fitness bloggers, so I was honoured to be featured.

Personal Fitspiration- As I was sorting through my pictures on my laptop this past week (blogger problems) I came across some bikini pictures of me from 5 years ago and was amazed at my flat stomach! I think I’m going to print out the picture and put it by my treadmill as some fitspiration!

Matts Birthday- My boy turned 27 last week so we were obviously out celebrating. We went for some food and plenty of drinks in Leeds last weekend, and I definitely paid for it the next day!

Hangover Breakfast- The second hangover of the month, this time from meeting up with my friend whom I moved to France with. We haven’t met up in about 6 months, so we went out for a few quiet drinks in Jesmond, Newcastle, which turned into playing drunken darts at my friends house till 2 in the morning. It is safe to say I was very thankful for this breakfast in the morning.

Fitness Clothes Haul- I finally went and bought some new workout clothes! My road running trainers are a little tired and have given me a sore foot this past week, so I went and bought these gorgeous new pink ones, along with new leggings and bras!

Mothers Day Afternoon Tea- As today is Mothers Day I have spent the day with my gorgeous Mother Bar. We went for a run on the fells this morning, had some laugh when trying to complete some hill sprints, and treated ourselves with homemade afternoon tea.

Froggy’s- The pond in my mum’s garden is currently home to hundreds of little frogs! We went up this afternoon to watch them all.

 

Do you love Hart of Dixie as much as I do? Have you ever made money from Ebay? What have you been up to over the past month? Anything exciting?

Preparing for Valentines Day| Passion Peel Off Mask

 

Well I don’t know what your plans for Valentines Day tomorrow but mine are very low key. As I’m in a long distance relationship I won’t be seeing my boyfriend tomorrow. Instead I’m off to my friends for pizza, wine and trashy television. So as my valentines Day will be at the weekend I took the opportunity to pamper myself tonight. Thankfully Montagne Jeunesse recently sent me this lovely face mask to try as an early Valentine present.

I was gifted the Montagne Jeunesse Passion Peel Off face mask*, which is jam packed full of pomegranate, passion-fruit, raspberry, grape and cranberry, even better it is suitable for vegetarians and full of natural ingredients. It smells divine and I love the striking red colour; really gets me in the mood for Valentines Day.  Their facemasks are available from Asda, other leading retailers and their website- www.montagnejeunesse.com

Montagne Jeunesse say-

“ Gently peel away dead skin with our amazing Passion Peel Off deep cleansing masque. Our Pomegranate and Passion Flower formula cleans, purifies and protects leaving your skin feeling fresh and radiant, perfect to get up close and personal!”

I say-

“ The mix of the red ingredients and the amazing fruity smell really made  in the mood for Valentines Day. The texture is fairly gloopy and very thick, however it spreads onto your face quite easily. There was enough in the packet to cover my whole face and neck. The mask took about 10-15 minute to set so gave me enough time to soak in the bath and paint my nails. Once dry it peeled off my face very easily and left it smooth, clean, fresh and with minimised pores.”

I also took the chance to paint my nails a gorgeous deep red, scrub and moisturise my body with the help of Soap and Glory and repaired my hair with an Aussie 3 Minute Mask. So overall I have spent the evening beautifying myself and preparing myself for a perfect Valentines Weekend. I plan to look amazing for my boyfriend and find that spending some time pampering myself always helps to boost my confidence and make me feel sexier.

Have you tired this mask from Montagne Jeunesse? What have you done to prepare yourself for Valentines day? Have you been pampering yourself?

Valentine’s Day| Ideas For A Special Day

 

With little more than a week to go I’m sure those with partners are busy wracking their heads for ideas on what to do for Valentine’s Day. I have been with my boyfriend for five years and I still end up over thinking about what to buy him, or how to spend the day. It is one of those holidays where although the aim is to show your loved one’s that you care, it is difficult to demonstrate your love, and figure out how to make the day extra special. I know that just spending the day with your partner should be enough, but it is nice to go that extra mile to make Valentine’s unforgettable. So for those who struggle for ideas I have put together a few homemade and inexpensive ideas along with the help of Pippa Middleton and her book Celebrate. 

Dine In

There is no need to folk out for expensive set menus in busy restaurants and hotels when making dinner at home can be just as special. I don’t cook at all, so at Valentine’s I make the effort to design and make a three or four course dinner for my boyfriend. Try and pick foods which you can share, my favourite is chocolate fondant with strawberries and marshmallows! Make it extra special by making your own menu, decorate the table, fill the room with candles and create a soft. romantic playlist full of your and your partners favourite songs. 

Cute Cards

Valentine’s doesn’t have to be just for those with partners, share the love with all those that are special in your life by delivering homemade cards. Knowing that you have put in the extra effort to make a card will really brighten up someone’s day.

Picture Perfect

An inexpensive and thoughtful gift is that of a photograph. Create an album or scrapbook with your favourite pictures of you and your partner. Annotate it with your favourite moments from your time together; your first date, the moment you fell in love etc. It doesn’t have to be an album, how about picking your favourite picture of you and your partner, printing it out and putting it in a cute frame. This works great for those in long distance relationships; you can print out a picture of yourself for your partner to put on their bedside table.

A Hundred Reasons Why

For those on a budget look no further. Find an old glass jar (Asda sell them for £2), some ribbon and a sheet of paper. Cut your paper into one hundred pieces and on each one write a reason why you love/fell in love with your partner. Fill the jar woth the hundred reasons and tie some ribbon around it. The perfect sentimental present for very little money.

I Owe You

Sometimes the best present is quality time. Take 20 pieces of card and write an IOU on each of them, tell your partner they can cash one in each week so you are guaranteed some quality alone time together. IOU’s can be as sweet or as saucy as you want, some ideas would be; massages, breakfast in bed, dinner at your favourite restaurant, a bath together etc.

You’re My Sweetheart

Shop bought sweets or chocolates can be great but how about making your own. It is relativity simple and cheap to make your own cupcakes, popcakes, gingerbread hearts or chocolate truffles and they are so much more impressive than shop bought ones.

A Year of Dates

Again a gift of time. Fill twelve envelopes with twelve notes detailing twelve different dates. At the beginning of each month give your partner the envelope detailing the pre-planned date. To make it extra special write a poem that hints as what the date will be so they can spend some time speculating what you have planned for them. Some ideas; Dinner for two, A couples massage, Night at the movies, A picnic on the beach, A bubble bath and foot massage, Tickets for a concert or sporting event.

A Perfect Place

On a map of your town, mark all the places that hold happy memories of you and your partner. Mark out your first date, first kiss, favourite view, favourite place for breakfast etc. Use hearts to circle your special places. You can easily print out maps from Google and can even frame the finished product, or leave it unfinished so you can continue to mark it together.

Remember Me

Similar to “A Hundred Reasons Why”, but instead your partner will fill the jar themselves. Either sew or cut out a number of hearts and plant them around your house and amongst your partner’s belongings, places such as; their suitcase, work bag, coat pocket, gym bag, shoes, underneath their aftershave, anywhere an everywhere! Then give them a jar wrapped in ribbon with a tag stating “Remember, I love you.” The aim is that everytime your partner finds a heart they will think of you and smile, they then return the heart to the jar after they have found it.

I hope you have something special planned for Valentine’s day, and if you haven’t that my list has helped you. Let me know which one is your favourite and what you like to do for your partner on Valentine’s day to make it extra special!

Valentines Day

I hope you all had a lovely day, whatever you were doing. I am one of my only friends that is in a relationship, so the majority of people I know were on nights out. I stayed in with my boyfriend, and treated him to a three course dinner cooked from scratch from me. It took me all day seems I am an awful cook, but I thought it was more special that taking him out. 

I think I did alright. What did you do for your special someone? Or did you treat yourself?