5 Places I Want to Travel to After Lockdown

I don't know about you but I've been spending a lot of time looking at images of all the places I cannot travel to right now. I mean, granted, working in travel means I'm constantly looking at all the beautiful places around the world, it's my job (lucky me!!) but I'm finding myself looking at calm, relaxing images of Santorini sunsets, the crystal blue infinity pool of a villa in the Maldives, the beautiful mountains of Switzerland, a bubbling hot tub nestled in the Devon Cliffs, a deserted white sand beach in Bali... you name it, if it's pretty and quiet, I've probably daydreamed about it. 

I think it's a form of therapy, and I sense a theme, that right now I'm desperate to be relaxing, de-stressing, listening to only the sounds of crashing waves rather than my kids whinging or screaming, which is what I spend at least 80% of my day listening to, currently. 
Tell me you relate?
But seriously, whilst we know that right now unless we're out there working on the front line or other essential work (for which we are all hugely grateful for, you're doing an incredible job - THANK YOU!) it's SO important for us to just STAY HOME, yet we're all dreaming of getting away, somewhere, anywhere further than our front gates right now aren't we? Many of us have had and will continue to have, holidays cancelled and rescheduled, and we're all looking forward to the day we can get travelling again. 

So, to help me get by, I've been thinking, of 
5 Places I Want to Travel to After Lockdown...


1. ISLE OF WIGHT

This beautiful island in the South of England is very special to me. It was almost my second home growing up. Some of my earliest, most favourite memories as a child were spent here. We have a family holiday booked here in the Summer. Who knows if we'll still get to go, but until then, I'm making lists of all my favourite places to visit with my children, when we do. 

2. BARCELONA

I've been spending some of my downtime doing some hotel brand training and have recently become a Luxury Brand specialist for Marriott hotels. I fell in love with a particular hotel in Barcelona and have been dreaming of a girls' weekend here ever since. I've never been before, but the idea of having both the city and the beach at arms reach really appeals to me.

3. MAJORCA

My youngest son has yet to go overseas. He's yet to feel the excitement of being in the skies, the feeling when you step off the plane into a hot country. He has yet to catch the travel bug that his big brother and I have. But now he has reached an age where I think he'd enjoy it, (...and I'd cope with him on a plane! haha) I'm desperate to take him away, even just somewhere like Spain or Majorca. Obviously, it won't be for a while yet, but I've already been looking at deals in my agent portal for next year!! As an Independent Travel Agent, I'm fortunate to have access to fantastic deals and personal discounts, which I'm definitely going to be making use of as soon as we possibly can! 

4. LONDON

CREDIT: Accor Novotel Canary Wharf - London

I adore London. It's an incredible city and full of amazing memories for me. I get the same overwhelming excited feeling arriving in London as I did many years ago. An evening away with the girls, in a lovely hotel with a rooftop bar, sipping cocktails and catching up would be perfect right about now. I cannot wait to do this! Get ready, girls! 

5. BUTLINS

I think my kids would disown me if I hadn't put this one in! My boys have been enjoying trips to Butlins since they were both babies. They both absolutely love it. (And Mummy is partial to an Adult's Music Weekend here too! ;) ) It's just jam-packed full of family fun and entertainment and there is so much for them to do and enjoy. We were last here at Christmas and had the BEST time! My youngest genuinely believes the Skyline Gang are his best mates and we cannot wait to go back and visit when we can. 

Which one to do first? 
But what about you? Are you dreaming of travel as much as me? Are you making bucket lists? 


Where do you want to travel to after lockdown?

Our 2020 Memories

*contains GIFTED activity

𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑫𝒐

Our family setup isn't the most 'normal' of setups, there are 10 years between my boys who are currently 5 and almost 16. My eldest is with his Dad 50% of the time, so our time together as a whole family can be limited. Plus, it can be difficult to find things that both of them will enjoy, as they're at such different ages.

This year, we decided the make the most of our time together by planning some 'Memory Making' days, fun activities for us to do together, no matter how big or small and to make sure we're doing something fun together every month.

To make it a little more fun, we made a Memory Jar.

How We Created Our Memory Jar

We took a glass jar with a lid (ours is from IKEA) and filled it with pieces of paper with activities written on each one. Taylor really enjoyed writing all the exciting activities onto pieces of paper and popping them into our special jar.

Every month, we choose an activity from the jar to do, together, as a family. 

I'll be updating this blog post every month with what we get up to throughout the year...

January 

This month the activity picked out of the jar was CRAZY GOLF! 

So one weekday evening we headed out to Treetops Adventure Golf* in Leicester, home of two fantastic 9-hole mini-golf courses and enjoyed their Tropical Trail course.

The boys were putting me to shame with their hole-in-ones and we had a great time making our way around the course, enjoying the amazing rainforest setting, surrounded by chattering toucans, caves and cascading rivers.

I pulled things back at the end though, by getting a hole-in-one on the BONUS 19th hole, WINNING A FREE GAME! Whoop whoop!!

We finished off our evening with the most amazing pizzas, Treetop Sunrise mocktails all round and Nutella and dough sticks - which were SO good!! 

We had a fantastic time. Crazy golf is a great, fun activity for all the family and both boys were happy (except Taylor who was fuming he didn't win the bonus hole, despite the lovely Tom, who was looking after us for the evening, letting him a few extra goes... he's a bit of a sore loser and was grumpy all the way home! It's so hard being 5! *Mum eye roll* haha)

But we will definitely be back - I've got a free round of golf to play after all!! :) 

February 

This month, the activity picked out of the jar was MAKING A CAKE! 

Now, I'm no baker, so I'll admit it was a cake mix, haha, but we still had to add the butter, eggs, and water, so we ALMOST made it from scratch!! ;) The boys enjoyed mixing all the ingredients together and decorating the cake, but of course, the best bit was eating it! ;)

March

So this month the Memory Jar decided that we'd enjoy a FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT!

One Friday evening, we prepared some snacks, snuggled under the blanket and watched The Queen's Corgi. Such a simple activity but so lovely for all of us to be together and enjoy a family film together.

Are you making lots of memories this year? 

*A huge thank you to Treetops Adventure Golf for the complimentary visit

Creating Vision Boards for 2020

It's a brand new year... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
It's the time for goal setting and making plans. I'm big on setting myself goals, I'm a strong believer that goal setting is hugely important; to stay focused, to keep growing. It gives your brain direction. I run 2 businesses, and a blog, and I'm a single Mum of 2 kids, so I have to be organised, there's no other option. I'm a big list maker. My daily to-do list is basically a list of goals I need to tick off each day, and I have weekly lists, sometimes monthly lists. My business and personal life would be a hot mess if I didn't organise myself in this way!!
Vision Boards, Goal Boards or Dream Boards, whatever you want to label them, are basically a collage of words and / or images that represent what you want out of life, the goals you want to achieve.

There is no right or wrong way to create a vision board, it's totally your choice.
You may wish to think about small, SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely goals) or you may wish to go all out and reach for the stars with some crazy 'Sky's the Limit' kinda goals, with your absolute dream house, living your millionaire lifestyle. These are YOUR dreams, what's stopping you from reaching them?  Now, the idea isn't to hit all these goals by the end of the year. You don't fail if your dreams don't come true. The idea is to give you a reason every single morning when you wake up and look at that board full of all your hopes, dreams and goals to get your ass up, make some plans and take action towards getting to where you want to be, living the life you want to live!  How you create it is totally down to you too. 
Some people choose to create one digitally and have it as their laptop wallpaper, or you may prefer to use a pinboard, a foam board, a poster board, a cute wire display grid or even just a large piece of paper. Likewise, what you use is your choice too; magazine cut-outs, Sharpies, glitter, washi tape, stickers, photos, etc. Some people like to get super creative while others like a more simple look, whatever works for you! If you're not sure how you'd like it to look, head over to Pinterest for some inspiration.  

I used a foam board and armed with my printer, some scissors, glue and some gold stars I was ready to go! I felt it was easiest for me to just print images out as I wanted them. I thought about using magazines, but they're not something I regularly buy and I wasn't going to go spend £4-5 on a magazine in the hope that I'd find some images that I resonated with or enough letters to create the word I was thinking of. (plus it reminds me of a creepy ransom note! ha!) It's important to think about what your goals are in advance, so you know what you're looking for. What do you want to do this year? What would you like to achieve? Where do you want to go? What does the life you want to be living look like? Think about your family life, your career goals, your health and fitness, finances, your home, making memories and having fun, your relationships, education maybe, spirituality, personal development, self-care, emotional wellbeing... there is so much to think about, so decide what is important to you.  Get designing!
Once you know, get designing your board; write words, stick pictures, get your goals and dreams for 2020 stuck in place. You don't necessarily need to be specific at this point, you don't need to explain what each image means, nobody else needs to understand what anything stands for, or why, this is YOUR vision board, YOUR goals, as long as YOU know the goal and dream behind it all, that's fine. However, if you'll be using the vision board to manifest, you're going to need to get a little more specific. (I'll explain more about that later...) Google images was my best friend whilst creating my board, I simply searched for an image or word that linked to my goal, printed them out and stuck them down, alongside some of my own personal photos which I grabbed from my social media. I also used some positive affirmations and quotes I found on Pinterest that really spoke to me and I felt were words I needed to read, and most importantly, say, on a regular. It didn't take me long at all, but I was pretty specific and knew what I wanted. My vision board is very much designed like a collage and I threw a few gold stars on to make it look pretty. I'm very happy with it and I cannot wait to give it pride of place in the new desk area I'm planning for myself. 

Manifest those Dreams
Once finished, you want to display your board somewhere you're going to see it and look at it every day. Now, I'm all for a bit of woo-woo and a big believer in the Universe having your back and always listening, and I LOVE the way the Law of Attraction works.  When you look at the things on your vision board, close your eyes and imagine that goal / dream is real and that you're living that life. This is where being specific about your goals comes in. If you have a picture of a car on your board, does this mean you want a new car, you want to go on more road trips, take some driving lessons or book your test? When you're manifesting your goals, you need to be specific about what you want. You want to lose weight? How much weight? What would you look like? You want more money? How much money? Enough to pay the bills? Enough to clear your debts? Enough to be able to go on numerous holidays this year? Make sure you're specific when you're putting it out there into the Universe! I also think it a fantastic idea to get the kids involved.
I was chatting to my boys about what I was planning to do while we were out for lunch, and my 5 year old wanted to do one too! I think it's a great idea as it encourages them at an early age to dream, there's nothing wrong with young kids having goals and dreams. Not only does it teach them responsibility, it allows them to aim high and builds self-confidence. With Taylor, I asked him what did he want to do or achieve in 2020, then we printed pictures off and he got to work writing his sentences and decorating his board. It was super cute when he woke up the following morning saying, 'Mummy, I just looked at my Vision Board as soon as I woke up.' I hope that having this board reminds him of his goals this year and he feels joy and pride when he fulfills them, and I hope he continues to set himself goals throughout his life. 

What are YOUR Goals and Dreams for 2020? Have you made a Vision Board this year?

 

Top Tips for Applying False Lashes

I've spent many years trialling out ALLLLL THA mascaras, lash serums, lotions and potions to give me longer, more voluptuous lashes. Everyone wants longer lashes right? 

Lashes are a HUGE part of your makeup look. 

Not only that but when someone looks at you, they're looking into your eyes. Lashes can completely change a look. But I could never get my head around false lashes... ohhh I've had it all; not being able to get them on properly, cutting too much off, not leaving the glue on long enough, them popping off halfway through the day, them sticking into my face every time I blinked and generally making a huge mess! Once I even poked myself in the eye with a pair of tweezers!! Waahh!! On the odd occasion I'd get them looking okay, halfway through the night they'd feel so uncomfortable I'd end up taking them off. It was safe to say I wasn't applying them properly. 

It was only recently that I decided I had to crack this false lash malarky once and for all, because lashes really do make a huge difference to your look. Plus, I have quite hooded eyelids so false lashes help my eyes stand out a little better. 

Practice makes perfect, right?

And after much practice, picking up a lot of tips and tricks on the way, I think I've finally cracked it...

I wanted to share with you my Tips to Apply False Eyelashes:

If you're a beginner, I'd definitely start by applying liner to your lash line, whether that's a small amount of eye pencil on your waterline smudged into your lash line, or a full-on cat eye with a liquid liner, lining the lash line helps to hide any gaps. It's also a good tip to apply mascara first,  I will explain why later, but only a small amount is needed just enough to coat the lashes. 

When removing the lashes from the casing, gently remove the lashes from the outer corner with tweezers or fingers, being careful not to break the band. Next, you want to tease the band a little by giving it a little wiggle to bend the lashes slightly to make the band a little more flexible and less stiff. You may want to roll them around a finger or thick makeup brush for a while to give a natural curve shape and stop them lifting once applied. 

You're probably going to need to trim them down. Having huge lashes hanging over the corner of your eye isn't a great look, so you'll need to measure them and cut them down to a size that suits. Gently take the lashes with a lash applicator, or fingers (whatever is most comfortable for you) and place on the top of your natural lashes. Whatever you do, you don't want to place the lashes too close to the inner corner. A great tip is to take a pencil, hold it vertically against the edge of your nose and you want the lashes to start where the tip of the pencil is pointing. It's personal preference whether you trim from the inner or outer corner, depending on the style of lashes. Trim gently and ensure both lashes are the same size and keep placing them on your natural lashes as many times as you need, to check. 

Next, glue. Apply a very thin layer of lash adhesive onto the band. Choose one that has a brush or wand applicator if you can as these are a lot more practical to use than those without. Make sure you coat the band from corner to corner, leaving no part of the band uncoated. Ensure that the outer corners are coated well as you don't want them lifting. Then relax for about 20-30 seconds. This is important as if you start to apply the lash before the glue is ready, it'll be much harder, probably slip and slide around and take much longer to get in place. You need to wait until it's slightly tacky so it clings to the lash line when you apply. 

When you're ready, take a deep breath and go for it! 

Using the lash applicator, or fingers if you feel more comfortable, start in the middle first, gently pushing the band as close to the lash line at the centre of your eye as you can, and looking down into a mirror, stick down the inner and outer corners, moving them around into shape. Remember to bring your mirror up and look straight ahead to check the lashes are in place and match well. 

To minimise gaps between the false and natural lashes, bond them together with a lash applicator, or fingers. This is where the mascara you applied beforehand comes in handy, as it'll help set them together. Gently squeeze them together and then once completely dry, fluff them up. 

It's a good idea to take the glue out with you, in case they begin to lift during the day. 

And when you're ready to remove them, gently pull them from the inner corner, remove any dry glue from the band using tweezers or your fingers before replacing them back into their plastic casing.  I read somewhere that dipping a clean mascara wand into oil and gently brushing across the band will remove any dry glue, I haven't tried that myself but anything that helps the lashes stay in good condition so you can get multiple uses out of them is great!

What about you? 

Do you have any tips for applying false lashes?

Products in images include:

Kiss Lash Couture Naked Drama - Chiffon

Kiss Lash Couture Naked Drama - Tull

Kiss Lash Couture Naked Drama - Organza (on the eyes)

False Lash Applicator Tool - Silver

Revlon Precision Lash Adhesive Dark

all from falseeyelashes.co.uk

ENTER CODE 'LASH 10' AT CHECKOUT FOR 10% OFF

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