New Aspirations...

For those who don't know, I was diagnosed with ME/CFS eight years ago.  I would describe my level of ME as low to medium, I keep it at bay by pushing myself and trying take things slowly but not stopping completely and taking pain relief when needed (it use to be everyday but I can't deal with the additional irritability and grogginess!) The job I do is definitely not ideal, it involves long shifts/night shifts, but it is a field which I am passionate about and which gives me the drive to move on and make the most of my own life, as I witness overcoming their fears and ailments.  Granted, there are tough times like this week where because of work stresses and financial worries, on top of the physical side of work/life, I can feel a crash coming on but after living with this for so long I am able to recognise my own triggers and put into place contingency plans to hopefully put on the breaks - usually by booking a week off every couple of months to give me a chance t

With still no hot water it has been a challenge to feel glam over the last week or so, but on Sunday, L and I were invited over to lunch with one of my oldest friends... Whilst we only love 30 minutes apart, our hectic lives mean that we rarely get to see each other, but when we do it's like nothing has changed and we are back to being teenagers. We use to work together for the now redundant shoe shop 'Stead and Simpson' and it was there we became close - over a love of shoes and Sunday afterwork cocktails  We are so similar, yet so different - J is very glam and a real die hard girlie, with a love of make up, sparkle and fun. She has always inspired me to make an effort with my appearance, and introduced me to Stila lip polish many moons ago - something I can not live without now!  So when I knew we were going to be seeing her on Sunday, I wanted to make sure that I was bright and colourful but comfortable enough to play in the garden and the park with L!  So out came my b

It's been over a week now since we have had hot water... When it first happened last weekend, I thought 'oh that won't be a problem, we have boiler insurance, it'll all be sorted by mid week'... I was WRONG!  The boiler repair man came out on Wednesday, took one look at the boiler and told me yes he could fix it BUT wouldn't be doing it that day(!) as he couldn't touch the Magnaclean filter that is fitted to the pipes as it isn't covered . Yet, such filters (particularly this make) is now recommended by Heateam and insurers, to prevent scale and sludge messing up the boiler and causing insurers a big payout!  However, he'd come back and fix the £400 worth of parts, that had been caused by water damage from a leaking Magnaclean,  once we had got a independent plumber out to fix it (like this was a favour!) Queue much too-ing and fro-ing with Domestic and General, the people on their claims team tried their best, they have agreed that the te

A few weeks back I mentioned that I had purchased Small Talk and I promised myself that I would try it out properly and write a brief review...  What does it do? The packet and my hairdresser both recommended it as a 3 in 1 product to use as a thickener/energiser/styliser to help lift hair and give the layers some volume and definition.  My hair is fine but there's lots of it, so it appears thick, but it needs to have the frizz that's developed in the front since having L controlled, whilst not being weighed down.  Scarlett had used this on my hair when finishing it and had advised to use a pump of small talk on damp hair before styling - so once I had washed my hair I put 1 pumpful of Small Talk into the palms of my hands and distributed it through my hair avoiding the roots. It felt sticky and at first made the damp hair difficult to brush, although  through as it dried, I did notice the difference in the smoothness and my hairbrush began to glide through. 

When I got up this morning I was greeted by a crisp chill in the air, which can only mean one thing - Autumn is on it's way!  With this realisation, comes the excitement that with it brings new fashion into the shops.  As a child I'd spend hours looking at Mum's new Freemans catalogue at this time of year coveting all the 'winter white' and 'russet' coloured clothes (cream and burnt red to you and me!) picking out entire outfits and spending hundreds of pounds in my head...  Today, there is not much of a change, except instead of the catalogue, I can happily lose hours online looking through my favourite shops, but because I am a 18-22 depending on the shops, I am limited and until the past season, recent fashion hadn't inspired me much and wasn't necessarily to my taste!  Then low and behold... All my favourite styles and shapes from the 90s, began hitting the shops!  So, inspired by #FashionFridayPlusSize I am on a mission: To

 I’ve been following  Innocent Charm Chats  blog for over a year now and LOVE her fashion posts and style, which is all about embracing your figure and loving/celebrating the fact your curvy rather than hiding away.  If you've read my previous post you will realise that I am struggling with my weight and not loving my size right now.  So when I saw a tweet about starting a #FashionFridayPlusSize  I decide as part if my 30th birthday overhaul, I wanted on board. I want love what I am wearing, feel comfortable and embrace fashion in a way that suits my shape... I seemed to lose my style when I left fashion retail and gained a few sizes and now I want it back!   I didn't get around to sharing an outfit in the first two weeks -  so starting week 3 of #FashionFridayPlusSize here is my chosen outfit:  Sleeveless Leopard Print Skater Dress - New Look Inspire (Last Year)  Pendulum Cut Jacket - New Look Inspire Black Leggings - Primark  Bronze Glitter Sanda

Last Saturday was my 30th Birthday, D and L surprised me by arranging with my sister to book me into Ultraviolet to have a Gelish manicure and Therapy pedicure.  D wanted to book me in for a facial so that I could have a proper spa day but Pia and my Mum advised him that as Ultraviolet don't do Dermalogica and I hadn't found a place locally that I liked since my beauty therapist many years ago had left the salon I use to use, he would be best to stick with the nails...  I was a happy girl anyway. I booked in the manicure to follow my hair appointment last Tuesday, but they were fully booked, so they couldn't fit me in for the pedicure until the end of the week - brilliant for them and it meant that I got to spread out my birthday treats.  So, following my hair appointment (I will be blogging about that later), P took L for dinner and left me to enjoy a lovely hand massage and have a beautiful Gelish French manicure.  L wanted me to have Mr Tickle orange nail

The tradition of drastically making over my hair on my birthday started on my 11th Birthday (19 years ago!) when I lopped off my hip length hair. Having done similar when she got her first job and moved out, Mum encouraged me to make my own decision - in her words:  'it's only hair, it'll grow back.'  So armed with my picture of Teri Hatcher, circa Superman, I begun the hairstyle journey that has led to today. It's safe to say, Mum has always been there to encourage me to try something and if it doesn't work fix it. Up until I had L, I regularly had time and money to have my hair done, but with children priorities change and as my favourite stylist (and oldest friends) is one of the top stylists in his salon, therefore is currently out of my budget!  So I have been on the hunt for the salon experience that I could afford. My sister has a friend - Kirsty - who is a brilliant and very affordable home stylist, who always fits me in at the last minute a