Leona's Wedding

Last weekend, on a beautiful sunny day in Devon, my babe Leona married Liam. It was such a lovely day! She looked stunning (of course), the venue was wonderful and I got to stroll around with the coolest hair ever!

FF CLXXV

Jordan has written a wonderful post about Latitude Festival and look what a freaking babe she is!

#RevealYourFlavour with Volvic

Have you heard about this little thing called the Olympics coming up? Like everyone else in the UK, I'll be rooting for Tom Daley in the diving and I'm positive that he'll do us proud, in spite of his recently-revealed secret: He struggles to swim one length of a 50 metre pool. Volvic managed to tease the revelation out of him as part of their Touch of Fruit Reveal Your Flavour campaign, encouraging people up and down the country to share those sides of their character that have previously been kept hidden. Now, I thought long and hard to come up with a revelation of my own but, erm, I'm just too open. I don't have any secrets or hidden passions. Instead, I've written two lists- one for new readers who won't necessarily know these aspects of my character and one of little facts that I don't think I've revealed before.

Review // Balmoral Beefeater, Southampton

Recently, a brand new Beefeater opened up in my hometown. Rich and I have been saying for a while that we'll go to visit it but somehow never get around to it. As luck would have it, Beefeater got in touch with me a couple of weeks ago to ask if I would like to visit their newly revamped Balmoral restaurant in Southampton. It's a fair few miles from the one we keep meaning to visit but a Beefeater is a Beefeater, right? I very happily popped down en route to Ikea for a lovely weekend lunch.

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I think I need to try some H&M blushers because this packaging is beaut! 

Review // Superdrug First Impressions

Superdrug recently opened a brand new store at Whiteley Shopping Centre in Fareham. Unfortunately I wasn't able to visit the store so Superdrug very kindly sent me some new and exclusive products to try out. Since there are so many, I've decided on a first impressions post with some more in-depth reviews coming later.

What I learned when my tweet went viral

Viral might be the wrong word. My tweet- this tweet- has a grand total of 44 retweets. Yet somehow it's completely exploded. I've now been featured on Buzzfeed, The Daily Mail, The Sun, Metro and I've just found out it's on Cosmopolitan today too. I was even asked on This Morning, before they ignored my replies and just pretended they'd discovered it themselves. Not bitter... This bizarre turn of events has taught me a lot about what it's like to suddenly have the spotlight on your blog for a brief moment. 

Rylan Book Signing

Fun fact: Rylan was the first person I ever voted for on X Factor. I'd always watch it but, until 2012, never cared enough for a contestant to pick up the phone and actually spend my hard-earned cash on them. Then Rylan came along and I bloody loved him right from the first 10 seconds. One night, Rich was away so I was watching X Factor on my own and saw this performance. I couldn't resist a little cheeky vote (especially as nobody was at home to judge me!). Over the past 4 years, I've been rooting for Rylan all the way and it's legit been my dream to meet him this whole time. Finally, after years of waiting, I had my chance...

FF CLXXIII

I love seeing people's posts from the Warner Bros Studio Tour, like Kat's.

Review // Urban Decay Comfort Matte Vice Lipstick in Criminal

Matte pink lips are where it's at. Remember when House of Fraser asked me to review some make up on their site and I chose the Diorskin Airflash Foundation? At the same time, I was sent offered a lipstick and decided to try one from Urban Decay. Years ago, Helen convinced me to buy an Urban Decay lipstick, assuring me that they were amazing, and I was less than impressed (review here). It seemed only right that I give them another chance so settled on Comfort Matte Vice Lipstick in Criminal, partly because it was a matte pink but also largely because I liked the shade name. 

Blogosphere Magazine

Oh hey, guess who's all famous and shizz? I mean, appearing in a real life magazine is totally the same as being famous, right? A good few weeks ago now, way before the tea party, Blogosphere Magazine got in touch asking if I'd like to be their guest lifestyle editor. Let me tell you, I damn near bit their collective hands off!

Victorian Newspaper with Historic Newspapers

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I shared my Victorian society book wishlist? Well, shortly after it was published, I had an email from Historic Newspapers asking me if I wanted to review one of their real Victorian newspapers. Erm... would I?! 

Book Wishlist // Classics

I love classic literature, although I don't read nearly enough of it. In fact, I didn't even start reading classics until a couple of years ago when I tried Frankenstein and fell in love. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I fell for that old stereotype of classic literature being stuffy and dull. Since my enlightenment, I've developed a long list of books that I'm eager to read.

Charity of the Month // The Prince's Trust

One of the issues very close to my heart is tackling inequality for children and young people. It's something I studied very closely during my teacher training and the reason why I was placed in a "deprived borough" for my final placement. I'm firmly of the belief that circumstances should not define anyone's future, and that is why I support The Prince's Trust.

Nails // Essie Spaghetti Strap

Normally in the summer I'd plump for bright nails. However, with the weather being so far from sunny and with a wedding and a funeral coming up in the next couple of weeks, I need to look fairly restrained. Instead, I decided to try a light pink that I've had my eye on for a while- Essie's Spaghetti Strap.

Review // Etta French Violet and Sweetpea Jewellery Candle

I love a good candle, so when Etta French asked me to review one of their luxury jewellery candles, how could I say no? This new UK-based company sells the most beautiful candles in a range of five different fragrances, and each comes with a hidden piece of jewellery encased inside the wax. After much deliberation over which scent I'd most enjoy, I finally settled on Violet & Sweetpea and was over the moon when it arrived. In fact, the lovely folk at Etta French even packed a couple of bonus mini candles but I'll save those for a future review.

FF CLXXII

Is it just me or is Carrie in a different exotic location every week? This time it's Brazil and I'm not jealous at all...

My Grandma's Legacy

My Grandma loved reading my blog. I still remember sitting in her kitchen, telling her about it for the first time because I couldn't believe a company was actually paying me to write a post (this post). Every time I visited, she'd ask how it was coming along and loved hearing about all the different opportunities I had. She always loved it when I wrote a post about her so it seems right that I pen this one now.

Ladybird Books with I Just Love It

I absolutely love the old Ladybird Books. In fact, I have a handful of originals up on display in my living room. When I found out about the Ladybird Books for Adults, I thought they were a great idea and bought The Wife as a joke Christmas present for Rich. Needless to say, I was very enthusiastic when I Just Love It contacted me explaining that they were launching personalised Ladybird Books. 

101 in 1001 XXIX

Sometimes, I regret not being a little more vague with my goals when I set them. In June, I freaking went to Amsterdam but, as this wasn't one of my 101 in 1001 targets, it counts for nothing. I can have the most jam-packed month ever, like this past one, and yet achieve hardly any of my goals. Memo to self: Make the next ones a bit more generic! 
#56 Watch 50 new-to-me films 20/50 Rich recommended Eddie the Eagle to me. Although I don't watch many films, I tend to like British-made, feel-good films based on the true story of an underdog overcoming diversity. It's pretty niche, I admit, but it's my thing. He knows me well as this was right up my street! 
#61 See 5 shows 6/5 Marie and I had a great time at The Rocky Horror Show! 

The Rocky Horror Show Tour

Back in 2013, my Grandma took me to see The Rocky Horror Show in Woking and it was one of the best things I ever did with her (terribly-photographed post here). Almost three years later to the day, I returned to the same theatre with Marie to see the show as a late birthday treat. It might not have been quite funny entering the auditorium with someone my own age, rather than pushing a tiny, sweet 78-year-old in her wheelchair, but I still had a whale of a time!

FF CLXXI

In August, I'll be going to Austria on my own so I found Freya's post on how to take photos of yourself while solo travelling really helpful! Think I'm going to be asking a lot of Austrians to take photos. Sorry Austria!