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

GIFTED ITEMS

'Step Away From the Cake...' - My First Week at Slimming World

I was always one of those really annoying people that ate what I liked and didn't put any weight on. I've never really had to worry about my weight, fortunately, all throughout my 20's, I was a healthy size 8-10. 

I have a huge sweet tooth too, I'm about the cake!! haha

My friends would be on diets and I'd be the one hitting the takeaways every weekend and pretty much eating crap all the time!

When I turned 30 I had Taylor, who was a hefty 10lbs at birth! So as you can imagine I had a lot of weight to lose, and although it didn't come off quickly, with the help of some at-home lipolysis wraps and a daily superfruits drink, I was back in a size 10 and still eating as I wished. However, as soon as I hit 35, everything changed.

Maybe it was my metabolism.
Maybe it was my 'eat what I like' lifestyle finally catching up with me.
Maybe it was the fact that around this time I became full-time self-employed which meant lots of sitting around on the laptop, not much exercise and a LOT of snacking!!
Maybe it was a mixture of all them. 

Just a few months ago I started to feel bigger, I started to feel uncomfortable in my clothes. I've never been one to weigh myself, not since I was trying to lose the baby weight 5 years ago. For me, the numbers didn't matter, it was how I felt in myself, in my clothes that was important, and I was starting to feel frumpy, my clothes were getting tighter, I was struggling to dress in clothes that felt comfortable, that FIT me! So it was time to get the scales out... 

The numbers on the scales shocked me. 

I had no idea I was that heavy. 

I had never been this heavy, other than during and post-pregnancy.

The final push for me was a photo of myself I posted on my Instagram. I didn't like the way I looked. I felt uncomfortable every time I looked at it. 

Something had to change. 

I stock some amazing diet products in my Online Shop that have always helped and I have always had great results (when I do them properly... ha) but I'm known for giving up too quickly (I fancy pizza, I have the pizza!!), having next to no willpower when it comes to sugary snacks and I tend to fail when doing these things alone. A quick fix is great if I stick to it, but I needed a lifestyle change, and I needed accountability. 

Hence why I found myself following the 'Slimming World' signs up the stairs of my local leisure centre and feeling my heart rate rise as I headed for the door. I walked in to see a few ladies wandering around, seating themselves in the semi-circle of seats around a table full of food, books, leaflets and all sorts. I'll be totally honest, when I saw the sign 'NEW MEMBERS WAIT HERE' in the corner, part of me almost turned back through the doors. But I sat myself down, flicked through the Slimming World magazine left on my seat and read through the leaflets and literature that surrounded the 'new members area' waiting to see if anyone was going to join me. I needn't have worried, I was quickly joined by 3 other newbies and the lovely consultant came over and chatted to us about what it all involved before we joined the other ladies. 

Stepping on their scales, I was even heavier than I originally thought. But strangely I didn't feel too bad as I knew I was now on the right track and knew what I needed to do to shift the weight and feel better about myself.

Slimming World has been around for 50 years now, but for those that don't know much about it, it's a flexible, 'no-hunger' eating plan that is described as 'food optimising' rather than a rigid weightloss 'diet'. So you can enjoy delicious, satisfying, healthy meals by filling yourself up on 'Free Foods' such as meat and fish, pasta, rice and eggs, paying close attention to those described as 'Speed Foods' like fruit and veg, which will aid weight loss, ensuring you get your (measured) 'Healthy Extras' which provide a good balance of nutrients, for example, milk and cheese for calcium, and bread and cereals for fibre, and then being more mindful about your 'treats', those things that we all love the most but ain't so good for ya! These are called 'Syns' and this enables us to still have a little bit of what we fancy but count them within our daily Syns allowance to ensure we don't have too much.

My consultant, Roxanne was absolutely lovely! She explained everything in simple terms, was relatable, down to earth, supportive and made herself available for any help or advice. I think the support and accountability of a good consultant and group is definitely what I need to help me work towards my target.

I walked home from the meeting (I know right, starting off on the right track!) feeling excited about the journey and ready to get home with my pack of booklets to read through and start planning my meals for the week. I took my 'before' photos, recorded my measurements in my diary and was ready to go.

I'm now coming towards the end of my first week. 

By the time this post goes live, it'll be weighing day. I can't tell you how nervous I am about not losing any weight. What if I don't? What if I've gained? I mean, imagine!! I'm sure many new members often feel like this but I feel like I'm eating more food than ever before, having 3 pretty substantial meals a day compared to my 2 very light meals and a big dinner as before, and that's if I had time for breakfast! But I know these meals are full of Free foods and Speed foods. And I've stuck to my 'average of 10 syns' a day goal and although there have been a few moments I've had to remind myself not to head to the kitchen to grab something sweet, I've not really missed snacking at all. I've enjoyed all my meals, I've been drinking my Detox Tea, which is a botanically infused tea including ingredients such as White Tea, Puerh Tea, Oolong Tea, Green Tea, Rose Petal, Black Tea, Persimmon, Chamomile, Dandelion & Ginger which can help to boost a weightloss / detox diet, as a yummy iced tea with loads of fruit. I've stuck to plan and I've been stepping away from the laptop and going out for short walks, and overall I've been feeling really good. 

There have been a few moments I've panicked... 'what can I eat at the carvery, I wonder what it was cooked in?', 'I wonder how many syns that slice of birthday cake had in, have I ruined everything?' and 'Just one more rice cake to feed my snack habit!!' but I think for my first week I haven't done too badly at all and I'm really hoping I've lost something and I'm on the way to a more happier, comfortable, slimmer me!!

So ladies, WISH ME LUCK!!!

I'll keep you posted!

Have you done Slimming World before?

Do you have any tips for me?

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