What's In My Bag?

A couple of years ago I used to have a different handbag for almost every outfit and was always misplacing my keys, purse and everything else, but as I've got older I've narrowed it down to two, a black bag and a brown bag. Sorted.

Since blogging I have become a lot more organised and I know where pretty much everything is and now that I have just two bags it's a lot easier to sort out what I need to take with me. Now of course some of these products do change depending on the weather, where I'm going and what I'm doing but here is a look in to the general bits and bobs that you would find in my handbag if you were to sneak a peak.

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The Essentials

So first of all I won't be going anywhere without my keys. Now these are just my house keys and for the purpose of a nice photo I removed my three photo keyrings, my cuddly unicorn and turtle key ring and my work keys. I have so many keyrings as they are all special to me and also because it makes finding my keys much easier.

Second is my purse, of course this is another must as without it I won't be going very far. When it comes to my purses I like them to be bright and have lots of different pockets so I was extremely happy when I was able to buy this Ralph Lauren one for just £30.

Right! I cannot state just how important it is to drink plenty of water throughout the day, especially when you're on the go. When I don't drink enough I get headaches and feel yucky which is why I always carry a bottle with me.

Eating regularly is also important and for me I like it to be something healthy and enjoyable which is why I love these nakd bars. I always make sure that I have one to eat in my bag as I get rather peckish when I'm out and if I don't eat I get very grumpy and begin to feel nauseous. 

I've always loved taking photos but since becoming a blogger I find it essential to have some form of camera in my hand at all times and well lets face it, iPhone cameras aren't the best and their storage is a joke which is why I like to take my Samsung digital camera with me wherever I go. It takes lovely photos whilst being small and light enough to go in most my bags. 

Now I never used to keep a hairbrush in my bag but as my hairs got longer it needs brushing that little bit more often especially on windy days so I now make sure I have a one in my bag at all times. This no tangles is my favourite as it gets the knots out quick and easy without damaging your hair.

Garlic, onion, salami.. possibly three of my favourite foods that seem to be in most of the meals I eat which is why I would be lost without my chewing gum. Garlic breath? No thanks!

Finally, after probably far to many years, I decided it was time to keep a pen with me at all times and now I don't know how I ever managed without one. Perhaps I should have listened to my Mum sooner.

My Makeup Bag

Being a girl the contents of my make up bag changes regularly but for me there are some things that are just a must. First is lipstick, an item which I am never without. My current favourite is Mac Cosmo as it goes with everything and keeps my lips looking hydrated all day. However, on some days my lips need that extra bit of moisture which is why I have Vaseline in almost every bag and coat pocket. Cocoa butter is my favourite! 

Next is my Rimmel bronzer and Elizabeth Arden blusher brush. I have used Rimmels bronzer since I have worn makeup and I love it just as much now as I did then. It's the perfect colour for me and I love that it's not to sparkly so it always looks natural making it suitable to be worn on bare skin and on top of foundation.

Since blogging I have started taking much better care of my skin and now I cannot be without a hand lotion and nail file. This particular hand lotion is by Molton Brown, it's a fantastic product and the bottle is just the size for my makeup bag.

Now I don't know about you, but I cannot think of anything worse than smelling which is why I take a miniature perfume with me wherever I go. At the minute I have been using this bottle of Marc Jacobs Daisy as it has such a lovely spring/summer scent.

Last but not least are bobbles and hair grips just because you never know when you're going to need them. I always make sure I have two bobbles and then just a few grips for any unruly pieces of hair.

This makeup bag is the perfect size for my things and was just £8 from next.

If We're Lucky

Living in England sunshine is not guaranteed, not even in summer, but on those days we're lucky enough to have even a minute of sun I will be there with my sunglasses! These ones are by Ralph Lauren and are probably my favourite as I don't think you can beat a tortoise shell frame.

What things do you keep in your bag?

The Vamps 2015 World Tour.

First of all I want to say a HUGE thank you to my best friend Zoe for getting me this amazing Christmas present. I love love love music so going to see an incredible band like The Vamps is always going to make me happy, even if I was one of the eldest people in there that wasn't looking after children! 

Anyway, despite being a "boy band" with a teenage fanclub there not really boy band-y at all, infact they're super cool and extremely talented. Now when I say talented I don't just mean they put on a flashy light and dance show and sang good song, though they did that of course, I mean they write songs, produce songs, sing, play guitar, play drums and play piano too! As well as singing their own incredible songs last night they also did some fantastic covers from Taylor Swift to Sum 41.

Supporting The Vamps was Luke Friend from X-factor who has a truly amazing voice, The Tide, a Californian boy band who were really good as well and very entertaining and Union J who's music I don't really listen to but did a fantastic live performance.

 Though we were in seating for this concert, we did stand through pretty much the whole thing so I'm glad I chose the chunky heels that I did. I teamed them with my ripped Topshop jeans which I of course turned up to look that little bit more stylish and also to show off the slimness of my ankles in contrast with the chunky heels. I then went for a very simple baggy black tee which I dressed up with my gold collar necklace and River Island fedora hat with gold buckle detailing. The hat finished of this outfit perfectly and also hid where my hair had stuck to my head from getting too hot!

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Jeans - Same Here, £42

Shoes - Similar Here, £24.99

Top - Similar Here, £12.99

Hat - Same Here, £25

Necklace - Similar Here, £6

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If you've never thought about going to see The Vamps, but you like their music, you should definitely consider it as they are absolutely incredible and if you're interested to see what I'm raving on about I shall be posting some videos of them to my Twitter and Facebook which you can head on over to now via the links below. Don't forget to follow and I shall follow back!

I had such a fun time and really want to see them in concert again.

Who do you recommend I see next?

A Beautiful Day In Matlock.

As a child I went to Matlock a lot, walking, visiting the caves and spending time in the sweet shops and arcades. Now that I'm older that's changed I love to go there and explore the antique stores and local shops, as supporting local businesses is such an important thing and you often find much nicer and unique items. Matlock is a beautiful place and it's perfect for a day out no matter what your age.

This bank holiday weekend the weather has been a bit temperamental we've had wind, rain and sun so I wanted an outfit that would be suitable no matter what. This gorgeous grey and nude knitted wrap was just £20 in the Next sale and I love how it can be dressed up or down and worn come rain or sun. On this occasion I tried to dress it up a bit wearing my new River Island hat with gold buckle detailing and having my hair in a chic yet simple updo. 

Black is always effortlessly glam and with the colours and pattern in the shawl I could get away with wearing it head to toe. This ASOS turtle neck dress top with side splits is gorgeous and I cant wait to share it with you a little bit more at a later date but for now all you need to know is that it actually has short sleeves and I have simple worn a long sleeved black top underneath in order to keep me warmer and also create the impression that it is a long sleeved turtle neck top. I completed my outfit with black skinny jeans, my thigh high boots and a small gold skull necklace. These boots may not have been cheap but they were definitely worth the money, I wear them loads!

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Wrap - Similar here, £12

Top - Same here, £16

Jeans - Similar here, £22.99

Boots - Same here, £159

Bag - Similar here, £7.99

Necklace - Similar here, £12

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I had great day exploring all the shops and found lots of amazing things like old binoculars, cameras, toys, typewriters and prams, we also had fun at the aquarium and enjoyed a delicious slice of tiffin at a little cafe. Whilst all the stores in Matlock are lovely I would like to give a special mention to Magpie Antiques & Collectables a gorgeous shop with friendly staff who were happy to help with taking a few photos for my blog, if you're ever in Matlock make sure you pay them a visit.

I of course couldn't leave without buying a few things and treated myself to some bathbombs from Talisman, some Joint Pain Relief from Dad's Bees and some gorgeous Helena Rudkin Earrings, all of which you can expect to see on my blog soon.

Thanks for the picture Magpie Antiques!

Project: Organised.

Working, blogging, doing an NVQ, learning to drive, going to the gym, partaking in Zumba, seeing my family, friends and partner and getting some 'me time' is a lot to get done and though I do manage to juggle it all reasonably well, I decided it was time for me to get a bit more organised and stop flapping around in my 'organised chaos'.

This simple yet cute A4 notebook was just £5 from Tesco and they also have an A5 one for £4, I opted for A4 as I HATE having to fold nice crisp pieces of white paper. Grrr, one of my many niggles. This notebook caught my eye with it's bold title. I love the simplicity of the black and white with just that little pop of colour provided by the dividers, it's very me. I also love the fact that its a binder as it makes mistakes easy to remove, one pull and the page is gone. That's another thing I dislike, mistakes in my work! 

This notebook has a plastic front and back keeping it clean, tidy and free from tears and bends, it also has an elasticated fastening to keep everything together. It is divided in to 5 sections and each divider has a pouch so that you can keep any loose sheets in it as well. There is a good amount of lined paper in each section and at the back of the notebook is a plastic wallet with a zip where you could keep smaller pieces of paper, paper clips, post-it notes and perhaps your pen.

This is a fantastic notebook and I only have one complaint, and that is that the little cards that they provide you with keep moving around and look as though I may end up loosing them.

 If you want to stay organised and you like things neat and tidy this Project Notebook is definitely for you, I love it and am already finding it so handy. You can order yours online here.

How do you stay organised?

The Start Of My Journey To Health #JTH.

In recent years I have grown to love all things exercise. I enjoy treadmills, bikes, dancing and most definitely weights. Ladies, lifting will not make you look like a man. However, no amount of exercise will make up for a bad diet, a healthy diet really is what makes or breaks your progress.

When I use the word diet I'm not talking of these fad diets, I mean a healthy lifestyle. A life where your diet fuels your body, gives you energy, clears your skin and makes you feel and look good, a diet filled with nutrients. Fruit, veg, protein, good fats, good carbs.. All things good! Not all carbs and fat are bad, in fact our body needs them in order to build muscle and burn fat.

Now I've never been what people would call fat, but I was what I call skinny fat. I was never bigger than a size 6-8 but I wasn't toned, I wasn't fit and I definitely wasn't healthy. I would skip breakfast and live on the same foods, sandwiches, crisps, chocolate, pizza, chips, macaroni cheese etc. I used to love these foods and now I don't even really like them. I never had any energy, my skin was bad and I was never full. Then I slowly introduced breakfast and starting eating a bigger variety of foods that were healthier during the week and going to the gym and doing cardio but I still loved chocolate and pizza at the weekends. Looking back I can't believe I ever lived like that! At the time I didn't hate how my body looked, but then I suddenly did and I also felt bad for what I was doing to it! 

I decided to start eating clean. Clean eating is having natural foods that haven't been processed so you still eat food (not juices and shakes etc), you still eat fats, and carbs but just the good ones. This sort of eating is also known as the Caveman Diet. They lived without packaged food, think fresh meat, fish and poultry, fruit, veg, nuts, eggs, potatoes etc and so can we in theory, it's easier said than done. I also slowed down on the cardio and focused on toning up and building muscle which definitely made much bigger changes to my body than cardio ever could, I'm talking nice booty and toned legs! 

Here's the part I'm going to struggle to tell you. I became obsessed with my routine (I'm kind of OCD  about things) that if I even ate the tiniest bit of food that wasn't healthy or skipped a gym session, I would feel so angry with myself that I'd cry, and that's no way to live. It had stopped being about being healthy and had become about being thin for my holiday. I'd never been body confident and I thought being thin would help but it didn't, looking back now I most of all miss the way my body felt on the inside, how much energy and strength I had.

After my holiday, I stopped eating like this and slipped back into my old ways a bit. As you can imagine avoiding all treats is not easy. At first I was really angry with myself but at least now I know what I really want. Yes, I want to eat clean again and be healthy but I also want to enjoy my life and not miss out on things, like that delicious slice of birthday cake, so here is me making a declaration to start doing that and I hope that sharing my journey to health and happiness with you will help me turn my life around and along the way help some of you. Keep your eye out for the hashtag #JTH for blog posts relating to my Journey To Health.

I have no qualifications in nutrition or fitness so anything I share is purely personal research, however I will never encourage bag habits. We all deserve to feel good on this inside and outside and enjoy everything in moderation.

Who's joining me on this journey?

Think Happy Thoughts.

So, last week was a really tough week for me and a really horrible start to the new year as I had to say goodbye to my dog, Pippin, my best friend of 15 years. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do but I am so happy that he was in my life for such a long time and that I have so many great memories of him. That got me thinking, I need to be more positive in life and focus on the good.

Now, unless you know me really well then I come across as a very positive person always smiling and encouraging others to do their best. However, I am a dweller and an over analyser with a very overactive imagination, so I have decided to create a jar of happy thoughts to encourage me to focus on the good.

The idea of this jar, for me anyway, is basically whenever something good happens, makes me smile  or laugh or whenever I have a moment of gratefulness I simply write it down and pop it in the jar. Writing that moment of happiness down helps me remember it more and focus on the good not the bad, then whenever I am having a bad day I can simply look at how many happy moments I've had so far this year and if it's a really bad day I can read a few of them to cheer myself up.

My jar contains everything from a good party to people telling me they read my blog, from booking a holiday to having great people in my life. There are no rules to my jar, except one... Think Happy Thoughts.

This is such a simple idea and doesn't require a lot of time or money. The jar was from home bargains a while ago, the ribbon was off a cake and the white paper can be picked up from anywhere. It looks super cute in my window and every morning when I open my curtains it reminds me to think positive. 

I hope you like this idea.

I love you little fella

xxx