Friday at last...

Yaay it's Friday afternoon and I have about three hours left of work! I love this time of the week.
These are the things that I look forward to on a Friday and keep me going through these dreary afternoons of clock-watching.....

A nice pint of cider at the local pub after work to celebrate the end of the week!

Usually a curry or some other take-away (bad I know!)
and most importantly ......

looking forward to a lie-in on Saturday mornings!

What do you look forward to at the weekend? Anyone got any Friday evening traditions?

Two hours and counting.....

Do it like a dude...

I'm sure you have all heard of Jessie J as she is making her way to the top in the UK at the mo, but I never realised what an AMAZING singer she was until my friend showed me a video of her sat in her room in her pyjamas singing! From her song 'Do it like a Dude' you can't really tell how talented she is but take a look at this....

(I hope this works it's my first attempt at up loading a video!)

On a similar note, I'm quite in love with Bruno Mars at the moment and who wouldn't be just look at him..

Mainly fell in love with him after watching the video for 'Grenade' - Bruno Mars if you're reading this (which is very likely haha) if you drag your piano all the way to my house wearing a suit like that - I definitely wouldn't turn you away!

Wishful thinking.....

Fancy dress time

I know it's late but here are a couple of photos from the fancy dress party I went to at the weekend!
Just to clear up, in my last post there are no photos of me (as some of you thought!) Lovely comments were left and thank you but they were left under false pretenses! Hehe.
Anyway, not as pretty as the previous post picture but here is what I looked like...






(I was on my out hence the jacket but it was the only pic I had of me wearing the hat my mum made me!)





Me and my friend Rachael (who was dressed as Lady Gaga)
And just for fun, the boys went as the 1966 World Cup winning England football team....





Until next time.....

Back to the 1940's...

Being a girl, one of my favourite things to do is dress up — not just to dress up for a nice evening — I mean full on, all out 'look at me' dressing up, the only kind you can get away with if you're doing fancy dress.
Well luckily that is exactly what I will be doing this weekend! I'm going to a 'through the decades' themed party on Saturday night which gives me the perfect excuse to dress in my favourite fashion era - the 1940s!
Think victory rolls, bright red lips, pillbox hats and pencil skirts.
A few examples for you...

These are my ideas for hair and makeup inspiration....

 (All images from Google)

Just incase you are curious to see how I end up looking on the night, I will take some photos to share with you lot!

Anyone got any ideas or tips for recreating this kind of look??

Rolling for victory....

Shoe dreaming.....

(google)

I want this.
Please?

Budget beauty all the way...

(Google image)

I probably should have explained this when I first started my blog but if you've come here looking for reviews and opinions on high-end brands and products you should skip along because you won't find them here - for three reasons mainly:

1— I live in a small town and we only have a small Superdrug store and an even smaller Boots store which don't stock high-end expensive make-up brands. (The most expensive range I could buy from is L'Oreal).

2 — Even if I did have access to these brands, I don't get paid nearly enough to be able to afford them.
3 — I don't see why I should pay megabucks for fancy packaging when I could get pretty much the same product for a lot cheaper.

Don't get me wrong I love make-up, I love buying make-up but I love a bargain even more (and having enough money to pay the rent).
A lot of people believe that high-end brands offer better quality products and some blogs I have read do make these products sound amazing, but I'm still sceptical - is it just the hype? Are they just drawn in by the advertising? Are they endorsing these brands just because they are 'fashionable'.

Just to reiterate my point I came across a very informative blog called Beauty and the Bullshit written by Rowena, who used to be the manager of a global make-up brand. She gives her inside knowledge about how make-up company's work and how they spend a little but make a lot.
Her recent post 'Pencil Pornication' tells how eye and lip pencils are all made in only a few places but bought up by lots of different make-up brands who put on their own packaging and their own advertising slogan.
So essentially a pencil that you buy from Rimmel could be the same as one you buy from Chanel but pay triple the price for. (This is just an example by the way.) You can read her post here

So if you're prepared to pay over the odds for spectacular packaging (which in my case just gets bashed about in my make-up case) then carry on, but for me it's budget beauty all the way!

Pretty penniless....

Lazy Sundays

This is what I look like today - pyjamas still on at 5pm, no make-up, and looking rather tired - what a treat for you all!
I didn't even go out last night but I have spent pretty much all day napping to try to get over the excessive tiredness I have been feeling over the last couple of weeks!
I am now about to attempt to make my first ever lasagne for the boyfriend when he gets home!
Wish me luck.....
Sam xxx

Just a quickie....

This is just a quick one (as the title suggests) to say a very very very 

BIG 

THANK YOU! 

to all the new followers that have joined me recently! 

I hope you like what you read!

Sam xxx

(google image)

Name change (again)

I know I've changed the name of my blog before, but I'm changing the name again -it's a woman's prerogative!
I've only been blogging for two months so I'm still finding my feet in this big-old cyber world!
The previous name just wasn't doing it for me but I hope this one will, what do you think?
Any suggestions on a good blog name will be much appreciated!!
Sam xx

Time to get my arse into gear...

I know it is a major cliché but my New Year's resolution is to get fit!

 (Image from google)

I've actually been trying to get fit for a while now, trying to go to the gym regularly before the Christmas period snuck up on me! It was actually in November that I stopped going to the gym regularly (actually I only went once in November and not at all in December - tut tut.) But before that I was going at least a couple of times a week.

Now all the partying is over and there is no excuse to eat loads of crap, it is time for me to get myself back on track. 

This is a GET FIT resolution rather than a LOSE WEIGHT resolution.

GOALS:

1 - FIRM UP.  

I don't have a set amount of weight that I want to lose because that's not what I am aiming for. I don't think I'm particularly over weight - just a bit more wobbly in places than I would like to be so my main goal is to tone and firm up. Unfortunately running through my family is a gene that gives us all quite large bums — we've learned to except it but my bum, stomach and arms are the main areas I want to firm.

2 - START RUNNING. 

I hate running. 'Why do you want to start then?' I hear you say? I want to love running. I love thinking about running but when I actually try to do it I'm not very good which puts me off. My legs can do it but my lungs can't handle running which brings me onto...

3 - INCREASE LUNG CAPACITY.

I need to be able to breathe better when I exercise. I get out of breath way too fast when I am doing cardio and I think the only way to increase your lung capacity is to do more cardio so that is what I want to work on.

ULTIMATE GOAL - TO FEEL CONFIDENT IN A BIKINI BY THE SUMMER!

I have been saying this for many many years but the above-mentioned big bum always gets in my way. 

I always fall at the first hurdle but this time I am determined to work harder at the gym and keep the good work up. I'm hoping blogging about it will encourage me to keep working hard at it too, so any encouragement, advice or tips you lovely people can give me would be much appreciated!!

Here's my stats as of today (incase you want to know) : 

Weight - 9st 8 lb (60.8kg)

Height - 5' 3.4" (1.61m)

Body Mass Index - 23.5 ( Ideal BMI should be between 18.5 and 25)

Body Fat % - 26.9% (good is 25.7% and excellent is 20.9% so I've got a bit to work on!)

Off to the gym to do some sweating.......

Sam xx