You Are Not Alone - 2016

Christmas can be the best of times and for some, it can be the worst. We all need a little help at Christmas, even if it is just someone to say you can do this. I share these numbers every year, and I will continue to do so every year,  just to remind everyone. 

You Are Not Alone. 

MIND

Website www.mind.org.uk

Tel No   0300 123 3393

Samaritans

Website  www.samaritans.org

Tel No      116 123 

Alcoholics Anonymous

Website   www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk 

Tel No     0800 9177650 

Stonewall

Website    www.stonewall.org.uk

Info line 08000 50 20 20 

London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard

Tel No    0207 837 7324

SANELine

Website   www.sane.org.uk

Tel No     0300 304 7000

Papyrus, Prevention of young suicide

Website  www.papyrus-uk.org 

National self-help body for the Transgender community

Beaumont Society

Website http://www.beaumontsociety.org.uk

Information Line 01582 412220

Childline

www.childline.org.uk 

0800 1111

Depression Alliance

Website   www.depressionalliance.org

Refuge

Website   www.refuge.org.uk

Tel No     0808 2000 247

Beat

Beating eating disorders.

Website https://www.b-eat.co.uk 

Help line 0345 634 1414

Youth Line 0345 634 7650

Shelter

Website  www.shelter.org.uk

Tel No    0808 800 4444

NHS Non-Emergency Number

111

No Panic

Website http://www.nopanic.org.uk 

Tel No  0844 967 4848

Youth helpline     01753 840393

Mens Advice Line 

Support line for male victims of Domestic Violence

0808 8010327

https://www.mensadviceline.org.uk


I will see you all in 2017

Keeping Your Pet Safe At Christmas.

As a pet owner, christmas is full of opportunities to dress up your pet in christmas hats and jumpers for fun, right?

(He was as unimpressed as he looks) 


But we need to remember that Christmas can be full of dangers for pets that don't involve bad fashion.

How many of us have, in the past, given the dog the leftovers from Christmas dinner? Let the cat lick the plate? Or let the hamster run amok through the Christmas tree? It is easily done, right?

The RSPCA have created a handy infographic to help you keep your pet safe and happy this christmas. For example, did you know? Onion gravy can be toxic to dogs? Or that Christmas cake contains raisins that aren't suitable for dogs. It is so easy to forget, or just think that a small bit won't hurt.


It can.

It may well be that the problem isn't with the feeding, but with your pet getting stressed over the christmas period. Dogs and Cats do not always respond well to changes in their routine. The RSPCA have created a section on their website to help owners keep pets calm this christmas. You can read more here.  Keeping Pets Calm At Christmas 

Do you have any handy tips and tricks to help keep your pet calm and safe over Christmas? 

Let me know. 

*Disclaimer. This post was created in conjunction with the RSPCA

Deep Moisturising Collection Giveaway with Mane 'N Tail

If you have never heard of Mane 'N Tail then you are missing a trick. This shampoo and conditioner was originally used on HORSES before two horse owners decided that they were going to try it out for themselves. They told their friends, who told their friends, and the rest, as they say, is history.

What I can tell you about this product is, my hair has NEVER looked so good. I have recently bleached it again and you would NEVER be able to tell, my hair feels glossy and swishy and not dry at all. (I also have developed a craving for hay..... Ok, I haven't really)


But this guy below has.

I have teamed up with my friends at Mane 'N Tail to give you the chance to win the WHOLE Deep Moisturising collection, which contains, Shampoo, Conditioner and a Hair Strengthener as well as a Hand and Nail cream.

Deep Moisturising has never been so deep, or so...............moisturising.

So enter below, I highly recommend it, and if you aren't lucky enough to win, check out Mane 'N Tail for yourself, it is stocked in Boots and other places, and let me know what you think.






a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms & Conditions
You can enter via rafflecopter below. This competition will be open for one week from 13th of December and is open to UK entrants only. The winner will be contacted by email and the prize will come directly from the PR company. If the winner does not respond after one week, it will be redrawn. No alternatives will be offered and the winner will be chosen at random via Rafflecopter

24 hours with, A ST Style Columnist

7.45am     Wake up, Check all my social media platforms, not much interaction yet. maybe I should tweet something controversial so I can write a column about bullying on social media?


8.45am      Still nothing, I said that puppies were arseholes and still no hate. Time to upload a picture to my personal profile that says "No Haterz please"


9.45am.     Start a column.


9.47am      Finish the column.


10.01am    Create tweet saying about how hard I work and share 15 replies all agreeing with me.


10.15am.   Still no hate. What on earth am I going to write about tomorrow?


10.30am    Think, WWLJD (What Would Liz Jones Do/)


10.35am    I create new column belittling bloggers and stereotyping them all as airheads.
That should court controversy and debate.


10.37am     I finish column.


12.00pm    Yes, finally. I have received tweets debating my column, calling me out for my stereotyping. I ignore all the ones that say how I am in the wrong, and reply to everyone who agrees with me, thanking them for their support at this hard time.


12.30pm    Lock down account for half an hour, whilst tweeting about how much hatred I am receiving and how abuse on twitter should not be tolerated. I block a few people as well, that always stirs it up a little bit more.


1.00pm     Creates new article about online bullying and the distress it has caused me.


Go home and chill. LOL Mission accomplished.

Nativity, Tis The Season

If you have a child in primary school, right now I imagine you are balls deep in a bottle of Advocaat, dreading the hell beautiful moment, otherwise known as NATIVITY PERFORMANCE DAY.

Drinks Advocaat.

(Side note, DOES ANYONE drink Snowballs at any other time than christmas? In fact, does anyone drink Snowballs at all these days? If not, that is one drink we need to bring back, I bloody love a Snowball.) 

Anyway, Nativity plays, because as parents, we don't suffer enough.

Recorders, because the teachers have suffered enough.

More tinsel than the tree in Trafalgar Square, and more plastered on smiles and "Oh wasn't that amazing?" than you get from backbenchers after PMQ.


Drinks more Advocaat. 


Does anyone else find that they end up knowing the lines better than their sodding kids anyway? My beloved crotchfruit only had one line and yet I knew the 27 lines before hers and the 38 lines after hers. In fact, if my beloved child would have been off sick, I could have probably subbed for her and 40 other kids at the same time.

Advocaat drinks more. 


Don;t get me wrong, I love a good nativity. BUT, I bloody love them for when they go wrong. That small child that goes rogue and decides to either freestyle Little Donkey or dance their way through Away In A Manager? Yeah I want to be the mum of THAT KID.

Picture credit, Hurrahforgin.com


The child that shouts their line after the previous lines have been whispered, the child that knocks it out of the park with their footwork, these are the events that make an EXCELLENT Nativity play. When it all goes perfectly, it is all so safe. I want someone to drop the Baby Jesus,



Don't you?



Have you already experienced this years Nativity play? Tell me what happened, did you get a child that went rogue? Or did something go wrong?

It could be that you remember something you did as a child in your Nativity performance? I still cringe at hitting a bum note during my solo of Little Donkey as a child.

More Advocaat drinks. 



Let me know in the comments.

the Positives of 2016

I apologise in advance for the gushiness of this post, but I make no apologies for saying that, apart from all the famous people dying (that was kind of shit) you know what?

2016 was kind of a good year for me.

Now I'm not saying that Bowie died for my happiness or anything, but I am going to look back on this year with fondness.

I married my soul mate. A man that makes me so happy, I could burst. A man that is truly and utterly my equal and who makes me smile and laugh every day. I have never been so happy, comfortable or felt so loved as I do now.

My children grew a year older, if not a year wiser (what can I say, they are children) Ooooooooooh, one got amazing GCSE results, one got voted House Captain at school and one decided that maybe the Xbox wasn't the most important thing in his life (baby steps, right?)


I also discovered what feels like my true vocation and decided that in 2017 I am going to train to be a Teaching Assistant. I start my course in February and already work in a classroom a couple of days a week.


I had some amazing experiences in 2016, I visited some beautiful places, I got to hug my mummy on my wedding day and each day I remembered to be thankful for everything that I have.


Whilst everyone else will be glad to see the back of 2016, and I have to admit, the Grim Reaper seems to have become a bit of a power crazy bitch this year, I can't lie.


This has been one of the best years of my life.


How about you?


What positive things have you experienced in 2016? What would make your highlight reel?



Let me know.

Christmas in an Ideal World

I REALLY need to start my christmas shopping soon, don't I?

Ok, before you all fill my replies with comments about how you were finished Christmas shopping in August and completed your wrapping in October, let me explain. IN A WORLD OF THE INTERNET, (An Ideal World, see what I did there?) I do not NEED to start my Christmas shopping early. I have WEEKS where I can search for the best prices, the Ideal gift, (Oh look, I did it again) the perfect present for the perfect person. I don't need to brave the high street, getting stressed and angry or giving up and spending the afternoon in Costa. (We've all done it, haven't we?)

I am a "let the presents come to me" sort of person and Ideal World have made my life even easier by creating handy sections of various christmas gifts. You have, For Him, For Her, even a For the kids section.

Ideal World offered to send me a selection of their best selling Christmas gifts, gifts that can satisfy even the most difficult members of the family, (You know, TEENAGERS) and we enjoyed testing everything out and learning about what makes something a best seller.

So let me talk you through the products, for the F1 fanatic, or car fanatic, we have a Williams Car Cleaning Kit which you can purchase here -> Car Cleaning Kit 

For her. actually, for me. These are for me. I love a good face mask, You can check out the whole Elizabeth Grant collection here -> Elizabeth Grant Collection

In a world where we HAVE to be connected, a tablet is always a welcome gift. This Android tablet by  Go Clever is a non-expensive way of getting connected. it is only £69.99 and is also available on Flexi-pay. Check it out here -> GoClever Tablet

Oh god, I am so happy to get this, it is a Drone, a fantastic, HD Camera drone, a drone with enough flying time so that you don't have to spend three days charging it, just to get 4 mins flying time. You can laugh, but it does happen, I speak from experience. This Drone is usually £139.99 but is currently £59.99. We are going to take it to the Lake District with us this Christmas.

If you have not heard me banging on about this brush, then you must have me muted on all channels. THIS BRUSH IS MAGIC. I love it. I couldn't even tell you where my hair straighteners are any more. These take a minute to make you hair sleek like a dolphin. Well, if a Dolphin had hair, it would only wish to be as sleek as YOU. I adore this Simply Straight brush, I have had mine for a couple of months now, which means my teenage daughter is currently eyeing this up like a Dingo eyes up babies. Currently it is £29.99 on Ideal World. I paid a LOT more than that for mine so if you want to save yourself some money, you can find the brush here -> Simply Straight Brush 

So who really needs to stress about their christmas shopping, not me. Not in an Ideal World.

You can check out all of the Ideal World christmas collections here -> IDEAL WORLD CHRISTMAS COLLECTIONS  for if you need more inspiration for your christmas shopping. Let me know what your favourite is and what you hope Santa brings you. 

*Disclaimer, this product contains products sent to me by PR.