A jam packed weekend!

Hi everyone!

So the weekend just gone was one of the busiest I've had for a while!

I love having plans on a weekend, but sometimes it's nice to not have anything set in stone so you can make it your own!

It all started on Saturday morning. My church had a coffee morning in aid of Macmillan. We do it every year and sell homemade cakes, scones, brownies, etc. - it's a good excuse to get together for a natter and make some money for a good cause! We raised over £280 and there's still more to come in so that's an amazing total!

Saturday afternoon was spent with my Boys' Brigade Company watching the South Shields Mariners football club playing a team from Northumbria University...safe to say we thrashed them 2-0.

I don't even like football or understand the rules, but I had a really good time! Everyone was so involved, and I'm sure the referee was blind half the time, but it's so easy to get caught up in the moment and the atmosphere. The lads had a great afternoon and all of the officers did too, so we may be going back sometimes soon!

Sunday was a typical Sunday in our house. Church in the morning followed by a scone in aid of Macmillan! Sunday lunch which was delicious as always, my Grandma came round too, it was her 91st birthday on Saturday...91!

On Sunday afternoon we went round to my auntie's house for a surprise 'party' for my mam and dad, it's their 25th wedding anniversary tomorrow! We had cake, sandwiches and a bit of fizz to toast the happy couple! They've got a pile of cards on the mantelpiece to open tomorrow so the house will be full of celebratory cards! 25 years is an amazing milestone to be celebrating!

And now it's the start of another week and I can't believe it's nearing the end of September...where is the time going?! I wish it would slow down a bit - give people a chance to breathe and realise how close Christmas is getting! ;)

Hope you all have a good week!

Until next time :) xx

Shopping

To all the people out there who hate shopping, I apologise in advance!

As the title of the blog post suggests, it's all about my love of shopping - it's a shame my bank balance doesn't have the same feelings!

I've always enjoyed going shopping for clothes and shoes, but now it's moved past the 'basics'...I'm now loving looking at home stuff: cushions, wallpaper, cutlery sets, plate sets, wine glasses, photo frames, canvases, you name it, I've probably looked at it and lusted after it! I already have a box of house stuff at Daniel's flat ready for when we get our own place...it'll smell nice anyway as there's a few candles in the box!

I feel like my love of shopping is similar to Sophie Kinsella's creation of Rebecca Bloomwood in her 'Shopaholic' series...minus all the credit card debt thankfully!
Sophie Kinsella creates Rebecca as what is looked at as the stereotypical woman: loves to shop regardless of the money and she gets into loads of debt she can't pay back. I won't say anymore about her story, but I highly recommend that you read it as I've read everything written by Kinsella and she is an amazing author!

There's this feeling you get when you go shopping, try something on and it looks amazing, try on a pair of shoes and they give you that extra lift, or simply choosing a nail varnish that suits your outfit perfectly; the feeling you get when you leave the shop with that shopping bag in your hand is a great feeling! The feeling is almost euphoric - that you've bought something you love and it's just for you. The smile people have when they're shopping is contagious. If someone's a happy shopper, people around them are happy shoppers - albeit this doesn't happen very often, but it has been know - good customer service helps this too!

I love trying clothes on because, and I'm sure many would agree, they look totally different hanging up to what they do when you physically try it on, which is often annoying and means I don't end up buying it, but nonetheless, it's always best to try clothes on at the time!

I went shopping today with Sarah and some birthday money, not expecting to spend much of it, but surprisingly, I did!

I bought two more MaxFactor nail varnishes in a nudey colour and a coral colour, so I'm sure they'll be just as nice as the other two I bought and blogged about recently. I also bought a nice new top from Next which can be seen as dressy or casual, and I feel it was an excellent purchase! I also bought two skirts from New Look and one of them was in the sale and an absolute bargain!

So all in all it was a good day!

If you've got any shopping/fashion tips I'd love to know so please leave a comment below!

Until next time :) xx

Netflix

Evening bloggers!

So, one thing I love having access to is a Netflix account, courtesy of Daniel.
I'm sure many of you have one, and if you don't have one I suggest you get one as it's amazing!

I know this sounds like a bit of a weird blog post, but Netflix is great.

It might not have every single film or TV programme ever made on there, but it is home to some of the best.

I'm currently addicted to Pretty Little Liars. I know many of you will have watched it all on TV and know who 'A' is, but please no spoilers! It's a bit like Gossip Girl, but scarier.

There's a wide variety of TV shows and films to choose from, loads of different genres so there's something for everyone.

Just recently, Daniel and I have had a bit of a Disney fest. We've watched the Emperor's New Groove, Recess: School's Out, Monsters University and Toy Story 2. Yes this might seem a bit childish, but you can't beat a bit of Disney now can you?!

There's something for everyone. Horror, Fantasy, SciFi, Romantic Comedy...the list goes on! There's so many choices, we sometimes spend more time choosing what we're going to watch rather than watching the actual film!

There's so many hidden gems to be discovered on there too, old and new. There's loads of Doctor Who, Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries...and many, many more!

It might sound like it's for a younger audience, and perhaps it is, but you can always try it free for a month first to see if you like it before you commit to paying monthly for it - another good thing about it!

I'm so glad Daniel has a Netflix account already, as another good thing about it is that you can add more than one profile onto the account, so Daniel doesn't have to be stuck with my favourite programmes on his list, we have our own separate parts to Netflix so we can watch our own things - that was his idea, he has some good ones every now and then!

So now I'm going to go and watch some more of Pretty Little Liars, if you have a programme/film you think I should watch, please comment below!

Until next time :) xx

Nail Varnish!

Evening everyone!

So this post is about 'reviewing' two nail varnishes I bought today from Boots.

I have a massive box full of nail varnishes, and they come in a multitude of colours and textures. I'll give any nail varnish a try once!

I usually stick to Rimmel or Barry M, but today I thought, "we'll push the boat out and buy some MaxFactor nail varnish".

I bought two: 

I've been looking for a nude/natural kind of colour for a couple of months now and can never seem to find the right shade, and this one is amazing. It's just what I wanted!
The other is a deep red, more of a warm Autumnal colour and it's lovely.

The two of them promise glossy nails for up to 7 days, so I'll be judging how long that lasts!

 
The two nail varnishes went on really well, nice and smooth, and have so far stayed glossy!

Out of the two I think the "hot coco" - the nudey colour - is my favourite as I've been looking for this the longest.



I do like the red though! Red is one of my favourite colours and there's so many different shades that I think I'll be getting close to having them all soon!

These are images of the back of the bottles. I like how all beauty companies tell you the name of the nail varnish and its colour. It makes it almost a challenge to see how many you can 'collect' and share with your friends, between you you'd end up having them all!

I'll let you all know how long the varnishes last and how long they stay glossy for. Will they live up to MaxFactor's promise of up to 7 days of glossy nails?

If you've tried these, let me know what you think! If you think there's something else I should try, comment below.

Until next time :) xxx

My 23rd birthday!

Evening everyone!

So the other day it was my 23rd birthday, woo!

I've always liked birthdays. They involve, cake, funny cards, thoughtful gifts and spending quality time with loved ones. And this birthday was no different!

I was spoilt rotten! Lots of nice cards, surprise gifts and drinks and a nice meal out with the fiance to celebrate the day of my birth!

Sarah, my sister, is a baker. And she was going to make me a chocolate cheesecake, inspired by Lorraine Pascale. So I went shopping and bought the ingredients she needed while she was at work.

Turns out, I bought the wrong cheese...who knew there was a difference between cream cheese and soft cheese?! So, the cheesecake was a bit of a disaster...it's in the fridge, sort of dome shaped, but it tastes nice with a bit of double cream on top! Might not be the healthiest of birthday treats but so what!?

So Sarah made me some of her legendary brownies to compensate for the death of the cheesecake, even though it was all my fault! And they're delicious, of course.

This weekend is my birthday night out with my girls and I am super excited! We always have a right laugh and a good old drink, which is part of what being over 18 is all about!
I'm sure there'll be some photos of said night out on one of my blogs next week...the nice photos anyway!

I love birthdays. Mine and friends and families. It's a cause for celebration, yes you might be a year older, but so what? Surely that in itself is something to celebrate?

I'm a bit spoilt since I'm having another celebration with my friends, but they're a massive part of my life and I wouldn't be without them, ever!

Although this blog is free from pictures, I'm sure my next one will make up for it!

So here's something for you all to think about.

Your best birthday memory. What is it and why?

Feel free to comment below because I'd love to hear it!

Until the next time :) xx

Walk to Remember

Hi everyone!

Last night (Saturday 5th August) I took part in the Marie Curie 10K Walk to Remember up at Gibside. The area the walk was taking part in was stunning; the views from the top of a very steep hill were utterly breathtaking and the sight of the finish line was even better!

I took part in this walk alongside many members of staff, their family and friends from the school where my mam works. In April of this year, we sadly lost the Head teacher after a short battle with pancreatic and liver cancer. The school and all of its staff and pupils were hit extremely hard by this as it all happened so fast.

Jane was an amazing woman. She absolutely loved her job as Principal of the school, she was so down to earth and funny, she had a dry sense of humour and always got involved with the pupils and their activities. 

Some of the staff took part in a 'Muddy Race for Life' where the proceeds go to Cancer Research UK, and one of the teachers is doing the Great North Run for the same charity.

We're all doing our bit in Jane's memory as she was so incredible and it's still hard to accept that she's gone.


The walk itself was 10K set across the rural countryside surrounding Gibside. The views were stunning and the walk through the 'forest' as we called it, was interesting...

I'm not much of a walker. I have my bronze and silver Duke of Edinburgh awards, but I did these a few years ago now - and even then I wasn't made for hiking through countryside!

The walk started out gentle enough, bit of a downhill slope followed by some flat land. I'd been warned that Gibside was pretty steep, but I didn't expect half the hills to be so steep! It felt like if you stopped on a hill, you'd fall backwards and never be seen again!

Thankfully the walk wasn't a race, and everyone could go at their own, comfortable paces - we were a cross between a stroll and a power walk which suited me quite nicely!

As the sun began to set and we got deeper into the heart of the 'forest', we realised everyone was putting their torches on...we left ours on the kitchen bench! Good job I had a torch on my phone so we could see where we were going...that could have been a bit of a disaster otherwise!

 
Although the sights of the countryside surrounding the walk were stunning, seeing the sun set behind the scenery was amazing, the best sight of them all was this. The finish line.

People greeted us with balloons and pom poms, cheers and congratulations. There was a concert and fireworks afterwards which we didn't stay for - by this time all I wanted was to take off my walking boots and go to bed!

The walk was for a great cause, and the turnout was just amazing. So far, the school has raised £200 for Marie Curie which in itself is incredible.

If you wish to donate, please go to:

https://www.justgiving.com/nicola-west4/

and give as much as you can to this incredible cause.

The downside of doing a 10K walk?

My thighs are burning and I can't walk up or down stairs properly...but it's all worth it for the charity!

Until the next time :) xx

Bank Holiday Monday

Evening bloggers!

So how did everyone enjoy their Bank Holiday weekend? My Facebook feed was full of people being extremely hungover and having duvet days with takeaways, and with people going back out for more drinks as they were off work!

My bank holiday Monday was hangover free and spent it looking at views like this...

I went to Alston with Daniel and the dogs. Alston is a childhood favourite of both of ours, the quaint little town centre and the vast countryside surrounding it makes an excellent day out.

I took this picture down by the River Nent while the dogs were splodging in the river - they were extremely wet and I didn't appreciate it to say the least!

So the dogs: 

This is Dexter. We've had him 3 weeks and we adopted him from a shelter. He's always super excited and loves the car! He especially loves when you wind your window down and he can physically stick his nose out the window and sniff the air - strange but cute at the same time! He's still in training and still getting used to us, but he's getting there. And the best thing, he gets along with Oli which is all we wanted!

This cutie is Oli, or, as I call him, the Oli Monster! We've had him just over a year and he loves to cuddle! Oli loves walks, he looks like a tank when he strolls along, but he's soft as clarts and wouldn't hurt a fly...well, he did eat a butterfly once but, hey ho!
Oli needed a friend, hence why we adopted Dexter, and I think he's glad we did - he has someone to cuddle up to now! There's still a bit of jealousy when it comes to cuddles and saying hello, but we'll get there!

So, Alston. The River Nent. Dexter loves water, as judged by this picture! He was straight in the river and didn't want to come out when called! Safe to say he was horrendously wet!

Oli is clearly the poser in the family! He's always been a bit unsure about water; he never goes near the sea at the beach, but I think Dexter convinced him to go in and get wet - and then shake it all of near me, nice of him!

The area we were walking in is so beautiful and picturesque that I couldn't help but take pictures every few seconds! I could live there it's so pretty, and the dogs would love the hills and fields around...holiday destination me thinks!

This final scenic view is one of my favourites by far. I took this as we were walking back to the car, a couple of miles from where we were walking - it's so pretty! Look at how pretty it is!

The dogs slept all the way home, and judging by this final picture, they'd had a good day and we wore them out!

We all had a really good day and for that I'm glad. Extra long weekends are always an excuse to get away from the bustle of the town and just spend some quality time together.

If you ever get a chance to go to Alston, please do. You'll be able to take your own scenic photos, take your own dogs for walks and admire the beauty of the town.

Until the next time everyone :) xx