Blogvember madness!

We have had my sister over to stay for two weeks whilst she does some work experience with Rob, so I have been unable to update blogs in the evening which is when I normally get round to doing it.

Sharing my iPad with her too, so it's difficult.

Lily is a poorly little girl at the moment, but hopefully she'll recover soon.

I chucked her purple and pink playdough yesterday so I will make her some fresh different coloured playdough soon. That will probably liven her up :)

Blogvember day 11: good nail polish!

Exactly a week after applying two coats of Revlon nail enamel in Fire Me Up, my nails STILL look pretty good!

There is only a teeny bit of wear on the very tips of my nails with a singular chip on my left index finger nail.

Excellent wear, I usually get 2 to 3 days wear before chips appear, probably worsened and weakened by washing up, or I change my nail polish just because I fancy a change.

I haven't had any chipped nails this week so I decided to see if the great effect would last at least a week. It has and I am that impressed that I bought a bright pink called Bubbly to try out.

Blogvember day 10

I really need to get back into the swing of YouTube!

I have had a break since completing Vlogtober and aside from the odd vlog I haven't been particularly active on YT.

What is annoying is the fact that you need to have a connected Google Plus account in order to comment. The company say 4 out of 5 users have a Google Plus account, but some people won't want to get it anyway!

The idea was to curb the nasty or spam comments made, but trolls will just have separate accounts. They aren't stupid!

So, I have just put my latest vlog up as writing this made me spring into action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=girARYWgmCQ&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvcNKKDvbUW6lIkwKMOSGDQ

Check it out :)

Blogvember day 9: make up haul

In need of a new mascara I hit the shopping centre in Aylesbury today with my cousin. 

Superdrug has 3 for 2 across all cosmetics at the moment, which is very tempting!

I can't find the new lipstick I bought so I will update on that when I do locate it, whoops!

I have been using a mini, sample size Clinique lasting mascara and I love it, but for the moment I usually choose "drugstore" mascaras.

I was intrigued by a new L'Oreal mascara but the brush put me off. Too much short stubby rubber bristles, more like spikes, with 3/4 of the wand containing short spikes and then one side has a wave of longer spikes. I then knew it wasn't going to be worth the money.

I came across the Revlon mascara in blackened brown, it is called Lash Potion, with the aim of helping your lashes grow. Mine have a region of shorter lashes on each, creating a little gap. So, hopefully this choice will be beneficial.

Having now been wearing the Revlon Enamel nail polish in Fire Me Up since Monday with no chips to be seen despite the amount of washing up I do, I was impressed enough to buy a bright pink colour in the shade Bubbly.

Once I have worn the red nails for an entire week I will update on it's wear and try out the pink, I'm looking forward to trying out my new purchases :) 

Blogvember day 8: switching nappy detergent.

When I started using cloth nappies with Lily I used Rockin Green, which didn't work at all. I disliked the fine powder which was easily inhaled and the fact that the powder smelt of watermelons but the nappies didn't.

I switched to Bold2in1 lavender pretty quickly and had fab results.

Over time I have found the TotsBots nappies to be a bit on the musty side when they are fully dry.

They smell fresh when damp from the washing machine but after tumble drying or air drying the musty odour is noticeable. Not so much with the other brands if nappies which have microfiber though. Perhaps it is an issue with minky, but I have heard of others complaining about a similar pong issue.

I thought I'd try out the Ecozone laundry powder with soap nuts as I know you can wash nappies with soap nuts, but they are in a powdered form. 

It doesn't contain anything you would find in a typical detergent powder which can quite often contribute to the issues that I am experiencing with Lily's nappies.

Like Rockin Green, the powder is quite fine with the bown soap nut granules. If you disturb it too much when getting a scoop full it creates a dust cloud which I try to avoid inhaling.

It comes with a shallow dispenser which I swapped for a Sainsburys blue scoop from a stain remover tub. For clothes washing I have been using the recommended 2 scoops for a hard water area.

It doesn't produce a great deal of detergent bubbles, but at least I know that the water is concentrated enough with the washing powder so it may work.

Results: clean nappies but still have the musty smell issue!!

Smell of the nappies when spun - clean

Smell of the nappies which were air dried - musty

Smell of the nappies which were tumble dried - musty, maybe the heat contibutes to locking in the pong

Smell of the nappies whilst being worn and only wet once - will update soon!

Blogvember day 7: spaghetti sauce recipe

I have just topped up with freezer with 10 bags of fresh homemade spaghetti tomato sauce. I love knowing that I always have some on standby and I know exactly what it is made from.

Friends who are self-confessed salad dodgers are surprised to find that the tomato sauce didn't just contain tomatoes!

If you fancy giving this a go, here is my picture step by step guide.

You will need:

1 diced onion

1 large sweet potato

1 courgette

1/2 aubergine/eggplant

4 400g cans of chopped tomatoes

1 vegetable stock cube

Seasoning

2 tbsp oregano, fresh or dried

Garlic purée 

Start off by peeling and slicing the sweet potato

...aubergine

...and courgette

Assemble on a large baking tray and bake for 50 mins at 180 degC

Until they look like...

Blend all of these roasted vegetables.

 Interesting look!

Next up, soften the diced onion in a tbsp of oil. Once softened and to the blender and whizz. Add one jar of the chopped tomatoes.

Divide into two large saucepans.

Add 1.5 cans of chopped tomatoes to each saucepan and add a cup of stock to each, one tablespoon of oregano to each and seasoning to taste.

Add a squeeze of garlic purée to each saucepan to taste.

Stir well and simmer on the hob gently for 20 minutes.

Once it is cool add a cup of the sauce to your labelled freezer bags. I find the best way to do this is to open up a bag and place it inside a small jug and use a cup measure to aliquot out the sauce. 

Aliquot is such a good science term :)

Flatten the bags to get rid of any air bubbles and secure well. Stack in a freezer.

Ta dah!

I kept this bag aside to make some sausage rigatoni pasta which was pretty delicious if I do say so myself :)

Blogvember day 6: nails of the day

Today I am wearing a Revlon nail polish in the vibrant shade of All Fired Up. It really is a bold, primary red and I love it!

As you can see the writing on the bottle has worn off a bit, but my sister bought this in a store for just a pound, so I don't really mind if the bottle is a bit battered looking, as long as the polish is okay.

This red is blue based so it looks great if you happen to have pale fair skin as I do. The nail polish itself I found to be fairly runny but one careful sweep with the brush can cover most of the nail.

Revlon's All Fired Up has a glossy finish. I found no need to apply a top coat as it looks like there already is a shiny top coat.

As the name suggests, Revlon nail enamels feel pretty hard wearing and make your nails feel abut tougher than they actually are. I'd say they are long wearing but I do a lot of washing up so it does loosen after a while and as my nails grow.

This red siren nail polish has brighten my nails up and is quite a contrast to the dark plum colours I have been wearing to death recently.

It retails at £5.99.

Blogvember day 5: hugging a prawn

I have to upload a lot of footage from the weekend and I am waiting for the right opportunity to do it. Lily is currently pointing at the light and calling it the moon. As you do!

Here is Rob showing the Brighton beach lobster some love. He last gave him a hug in 2011! I think you can 'like' this lobster on Facebook!

  We checked out these pair of striped legs which used to live in Oxford. Wit woo!

And blinded ourselves trying to take a half decent photo :) happy days!

Blogvember day 4: back home!

We had a fantastic time in Brighton, despite such a stormy night. It was quite soothing to hear the crashing waves, maybe for me, Rob didn't sleep too well!

I took some vlog footage to show where we visited and that should be up not before too long :)

Lily was a very good girl for her Auntie, my parents already miss her, aww!

 

Blogvember day 3: off to Brighton!

Just a short blog entry today, as Rob and I are escaping off to Brighton shortly. Looking forward to it lots.
I incorrectly assumed that my mum's iPad charger would be compatible with my iPad so I thought why bother bringing my own, so my own iPad is on critical battery. Boo!

It is pretty good spending time with my kitty cat. We didn't know where she was this evening so my mum had to flush her out of her invisible hiding place using a handheld Hoover, poor cat!



Lily adores her and strokes her gently but diss like showing the cat all her different toys and assembling them around the cat. She did get a rap from the cat but Lil did try to pull a whisker!

Blogvember day 2: Brighton up!

 It is our wedding anniversary weekend, and Rob and I are heading to Brighton, which is where we met.

The weather isn't going to be so great I've heard but the lights on the prom and the pier will liven the familiar atmosphere up.

In the mean time I want to brighten my skin up. Brighten/Brighton. See what I did there? 

I haven't been feeling my best lately and my skin is reflecting this. When I feel sluggish, my skin can break out and just lose any form of vitality.

So I have applied a light layer of Korres Wild Rose Instant Brightening Mask.

It comes in a diddy little thick cardboard box with a matte texture, which could well be produced from recycled materials.

The tube I own holds 16ml, which I think is a bit on the small side, but I ensure I only use as much as I need.

What I love about Korres is that they produce only natural products, or at least try to stuff their products choc a bloc with natural products known for their skin benefits.

They emphasise this point by featuring a hefty list of typical cosmetic ingredients which they don't use and this takes up at least half a side of the packaging. They really intend to mean business here, no beating around the bush. Amongst other ingredients, it contains shea butter, avocado oil and of course rose oil. 

The Korres Wild Rose Instant Brightening Mask is packaged in a tube I would liken to a travel size toothpaste tube. It feels quite clinical in that way, perhaps as a botanical and natural products company that is the look they are aiming for with this style of packaging.

The mask itself is pure white and lacks the consistency of a conventional clay based mask. It resembles a light moisturiser in texture and spreads well onto the skin.

The amount squeezed from the tube in the photo below is the amount I generally use to apply to my forehead and the same amount again to apply to both of my cheeks. If I used this mask all over my skin regularly I would run out in a matter of weeks. So I focus on the parts of my skin which would usually have a natural brightness, especially the delicate under eye skin merging with my cheeks.

As you may be able to tell from the photo below, the applied mask/cream doesn't sit as an even layer on your skin, when you apply it it seems as if some is absorbed into the skin. I leave it on five minutes longer than the recommended time, for a total of 20 minutes.

I aim to use this mask in the morning time before I apply makeup. But as I leave it on for 20 minutes this cannot be a regular part of my skin care routine since my mornings are busy being a mum of a toddler. It is a treatment which I enjoy using once every couple of months or when I feel I would benefit from it.

I definitely see a difference as to how my make up sits on my skin throughout the day and my facial skincare products seem to absorb easier too. I usually see a marked difference in the brightness of my skin especially the day after application, however the most instant difference is the glow and softness my skin has after I wash the product off.

Korres Wild Rose Instant Brightening Mask can be purchased online, for example, at feel unique for £7.00

Blogvember day 1: Nails of the Day

Vlogtober has finished. I thoroughly enjoyed it as my first video every day experience. I didn't find it a problem, luckily my uploading speed is quick due to some jolly good internet around here. Although as you know I had a scare towards the final days of Vlogtober regarding the seemingly imminent death of Rob's PC.

Pinch, punch, first day of the month anyway!

I have decided to do blogvember for the month of November. I actually can't believe it is November already. Next month we will be going to the States, so excited!

Nails of the Day (NOTD)

Lately I have been wearing just models own in champagne. It is a gorgeous colour, metallic, reflects different colours, definitely represents champagne well but if you add a pink undercoat you could get a rose gold effect. But I'd classify this as more of a white gold. And as soon as I tried it I fell in love with it.

I did not even want to take it off, so after a top up I decided to go over the top with Rimmel London 60 Seconds in 600 Deliciously Dark. This is a very very deep dark plum colour. Very autumnal, bordering on gothic. One coat allows the light through it so you can see the red pigments, whilst more coats will deepen the colour and it will appear exceedingly dark with a hint of plum if you scrutinise your nails. I do find that dark nail polishes such as this can stain your nails especially the longer you wear the colour and the colour tends to sink in around the cuticles which is a bit of a nightmare to remove.

The Xpress flat brush is quite wide and excellent for providing as much nail coverage in one stroke. This is exactly how I applied it over my nails already sporting the metallic base coat.

As you can see the champagne colour is peeking out around the cuticle perimeter of the nail. I love the combination of the colours,the metallic base adds a touch of light to a very very dark shade.

Quite experiemental but I love the effect and I will try this look again using a different dark autumnal top coat. But not all of my nail polishes feature such a handy brush as the Rimmel Xpress flat brush, so I may not be able to achieve a one stroke effect and I dislike nail polish lines where you can see you have overlapped.

This style of nail polish application can also give the illusion of neater nails, slimmer and longer with a great shape, which is a bonus of course.

The Models Own and Rimmel London 60 Seconds nail polishes retail at £5.00 and £3.69 respectively.

Homemade play dough, false lashes and happy days!

I was pretty poorly last night so today was a bit of a write off. We didn't go out, we just had a lazy day in drawing and playing with play dough. I made this play dough simply ages ago, July I think. After a quick squish together any salt crystals were disturbed and it was pretty malleable. 

I think I will make another batch with the tangerine food colour gel which I have been using for the Halloween cookies. 

Here is a link to the food colour. I highly recommend it just based on the intensity of colour it produces. I will have to try it with macarons soon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sugarflair-Spectral-Concentrated-Paste-Colour/dp/B005FGR92G

If you fancy making home made play dough yourself, it is pretty simple and as I have discovered it lasts for ages when stored correctly ( I used a purple ikea food bag). 

This is the recipe I used from a fab blog: 

http://www.thefabulousmomsguide.com/2012/05/how-to-make-play-dough-play-doh-3/

Here is Lily making her daddy play dough cookies :)

No dressing up for us this October 31st. We essentially had our Halloween do yesterday with friends. Lily dressed up as Princess Leia, a costume she was given as a christening present last July from her uncle. He thought he had the baby size but ended up being sent the toddler size, which was perfect for her costume this year.

I was a bit boring and just wore a lot of black and purple with a black cobweb style scarf. I wore a lot of pink,purple and charcoal eyeshadow with purple corner false lashes. I managed to stick them on quite well despite it being my first try ever and not having any tweezers to hand.

 The lashes were pretty flicky and kept brushing my eyebrows! Rob liked the look, but I reverted to usual makeup before ballet (which due to illness I missed :( )

Lily was not impressed when I plonked the Leia wig/hat on her head. For the most part she looked more like Luke Skywalker :)

In other (exciting and relieving) news...

I did plenty of PC testing this morning and essentially the device drivers are all hunky dory which despite being good news did not highlight why the USB ports won't recognise my camcorder.

I stuck in my USB cord which charges my creative zen MP3 player and checked that it worked and it did. So I thought, wait a minute if that cord fits my camcorder then it may just work.

Alleluia! It does and now I can happily continue my future vlogging plans without feeling downcast that they will never come to fruition. Fingers crossed it stays this way. Bit of a worrying few days for both me and Rob, phew!

Possible computer issues and Meals

Rob took his PC to Plymouth for a weekend of gaming with friends. When it returned it did not want to play ball. The noises it made! And every USB port seems to be a bit weak, sometimes it connects sometimes it doesn't. I'm worried it will conk out. I use the PC for editing so I'll be in a pickle if it conked out.

Anyway, unrelated, I lost last weeks meal footage :(

But I can tell you what we had anyway which is the same thing really, you'll just have to conjure up your own images :)

Monday- duck casserole with rice. Lily adored this!

Tuesday- breaded turkey escalopes. I usually use Mrs Crimbles sage and onion stuffing mix as the coating but ocado only offer Hale and Hearty as their gluten free version. It was tasty, but certainly different. We much prefer Mrs Crimbles.

Wednesday- slow cooked BBQ lamb ribs with a beetroot and potato salad with peas. Since there isn't much meat on ribs I could eat this meal before ballet.

Thursday- super quick broccoli and pancetta pasta bake after a day out with Claire and Violet

Friday- sausages and mash

Saturday- shepherds pie

Sunday- gluten free fish fingers, sweet potato, peas

Because if this potential computer problem I am reducing next weeks editing by skipping the meals vlog. Plus it will be a short week as from Friday until Monday we will be away. In fact I will add a picture to here rather than film.

Toodle pip :)

Update 31st October- the USB ports won't "read" anything so I cannot upload any footage from my camera

:(

So the PC did not like it's weekend away at all.

Hope it is something that can be fixed :(

Happy Halloween!

Back to blogging?!

I made an effort to resume blogging again. I started last year but swiftly got distracted with wedding koans and little Lily. I started again a month or so ago and used my laptop which is sadly nearing the end of its days. It was an immense hassle and I'm not sure why that is but it was very difficult to complete a post without experiencing a crash and controlling where photos went was the bane of my life.

So, I had a brainwave today and got the blogger app. Hopefully this will work because I have some ideas to supplement what I am already up to on YouTube.

This week's highlights...so far

Monday- I actually managed to film a complete Day in the Life. Getting back into the swing of actively filming something that involves me rather than the usual Vlogtober. Lily and I had a great day at soft play despite me feeling like I was getting a UTI. I am fine now though, perhaps the 2l of cranberry juice over 2 days helped!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UAD--meeBg

Wednesday- Rob was away on business, but luckily a friend looked after Lily whilst I went to ballet class. I am really really enjoying it, everything is flooding back and I improve every session. Good exercise too, I am definitely getting my flexibility back!

Thursday- We had a day trip involving a just over an hour train journey and met up with Claire and Violet. The station at the destination had no functioning lifts which was super duper annoying for those with prams and disabled people or the elderly. Luckily a young woman with a toddler looking at the stairs in despair results in kind people offering to help. I filmed a DITL throughout the day and that will be published very soon. We had a great day, as usual we wore the girls out at soft play and hit the shops and enjoyed a pumpkin spice latte. I think Claire got my dose of spice in her latte as mine was pretty weak whilst she got a spice overload towards the end of the drink!

Friday- we went to Sainsburys and I couldn't get a look in down the toy aisle since it is the once-yearly half price toy event. From what I could see it looked pretty good, but with so much traffic down that aisle I didn't want to even attempt it!

We got a pumpkin, pumpkin cutting instruments, Halloween cookie cutters and a funky witches outfit for Lily to wear to a Halloween theme birthday party this Sunday.

Rob went away to Plymouth yesterday for the weekend and has taken his PC for a gaming night so my weekend Vlogtober vlogs have been scheduled to publish at 7:30 each morning. Back to normal on Monday! 

My night in consisted of trying to watch tv with a delicious The Collective banoffi live gourmet yoghurt (bit of a mouthful, haha!). That was so good but the tv was not. Hmm maybe we ought to get youview...

I started searching for toddler entertainment for the long flight to San Diego in December. Maybe a pair of toddler headphones would be a good idea since I'm sure not everyone will want to listen to Sarah and Duck or Peppa Pig!

Saturday- Lily was a poorly girl around 10pm last night. She must have eaten something that disagreed  with her but she snuggled on the sofa and cooled down, had a dose of cal pol and a drink of water followed by an episode of Sarah and Duck. Then she went down to bed in fresh bedding and as out like a light. She is her usual self today, hooray!

I have my uni best friend coming up to stay this evening, so I'm excited to have a girls night in. I haven't seen her in ages. She was unable to come to our wedding last November as she had a car crash on the way! So it will be almost a year since I last saw her, not on! Oh well, she is days away from being a qualified science teacher now, so I'll forgive her, haha!

Sunday - we went to a 3rd birthday party today with Lily dressed as a witch. I made some shortbread cookies and added orange food gel so they were really vibrant. Last night was so nice, nail painting, film, cheesecake and Pringles. Plus talking in bed until one of us dozed off, much like sleepovers!

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