It's Too Hot, Hot Damn

Ok, I have been dragged out of semi-retirement because I want to rant and there are not enough characters on Twitter.

Basically, It is too hot. I don't mind a bit of sunshine, hell, I will take two weeks in the Canaries with a smile on my face but right about now, I am at the point where my ideal job is a crab fisherman in the Bering Sea (back when it was covered in ice) I am OVER, sunshine, I am over tit sweat and chub rub. I miss my jeans and I want to wear a cute knitted hat with a pom pom on it.

Now yes, currently I am suffering from a chest infection, so I am kind of grouchy, the ability to breathe is something that I kind of took for granted, currently it feels as if I am breathing through a wet sock, a sweaty wet sock. like the ones I have on my feet. I feel for everyone with breathing difficulties that are made a lot worse in this weather. I feel for the redheads who haven't left the house in 6 weeks and I feel for anyone who has expected me to leave the house for anything other than work as quite frankly, I am exhausted.

Do you know what I want? I want autumn. Autumn never hurts me. Autumn brings me orange and red leaves, bobble hats and mittens. Am I romanticising Autumn? No, I am not. There is nothing horrific about Autumn. I dare you to find one thing that is horrific about autumn. (Apart from horny spiders invading your living room. This is the price we pay for autumn, ok?)

Look at those leaves, don't they make you feel happy? Do you know what else I want?

Boots, a scarf, knits and candles. All the candles, currently the thought of lighting a candle is enough to tip me over the edge, one more heat source and I am going to melt into a puddle.

Right about now I am struggling to find any positives with this weather, sure, it was nice at first, sunshine makes everyone happy, but surely no one expected it to last this long and we are not set up here in the UK for prolonged heat are we?


Quite frankly, this weather can knob off.


What do you think? Are you ready for Autumn? What are you looking forward to?

OR, are you loving summer and long may it continue?


Let me know.

Remember When I Could Breathe Through My Nose?

Can we just take a second to remember when I could breathe through my nose? Granted, it was yesterday but damn, I miss it. Now, the only thing I can smell is Olbas Oil, sadness and desperation and I’m pretty sure they are all me. (The old lady wee smell isn’t me, I don’t think) 

WHY oh why are colds so shit? Genuinely, you know when we say, “Oh, I’m ok, it’s just a cold”? Why do we do that? Colds are awful. Colds are just our bodies way of wringing out bodily fluids that seem to appear from nowhere. Where the hell does all that snot come from anyway? Is there a vat of it, continuously just bubbling away next to my stomach, waiting patiently until it is needed? Does it just spontaneously appear? Like an evil leprechaun dripping ooze and suspiciously green? 

At the same time, the mucus is only a part of it. Have we talked about the pure misery? Because I feel like SHITTTTTTT. I know it’s “just a cold” I know that soon I will be able to breathe through my nose again. (God, I miss that) but URGHHHHHHHHHH. Currently I am leaving a trail of snotty tissues around my house like some sort of twisted Hansel & Gretel, But can I find a clean tissue when my nose is dripping like a leaky tap? Of course I can’t. That would be too easy. 

Also, a quick side note and I am not saying I have done this, because this would be A STUPID THING TO DO, when you have a snotty tissue dipped in Olbas oil in one hand and you sit on the loo to go to the toilet. DROP THE BLOODY OLBAS SOAKED TISSUE so that you don’t get confused in your cold addled state and wipe your vajayjay with the wrong tissue. Trust me on this, you can thank me later. 

One of the worst bits about a cold is that you feel at your absolute worst, first thing in the morning and last thing at night, you know, when you actually have to get shit done or, I don’t know, try to sleep because you are poorly and want to collapse into bed. The last thing you need at these points when you are feeling ill is to feel like shit on a stick. If I am going to struggle through this cold can I have the worst bit either in the middle of the night when I am asleep, or in the middle of the day when I am feeling like a bad-ass bitch for making it this far. When I crawl out of bed, ready to face the day with 60 5yr olds I don’t wanna feel at my worst, Thanks. 

So yes, I guess this post is basically me saying I am poorly, it’s last thing at night right now. Of course I feel ill, I would FULLY appreciate some tips for getting through the next few days please as I don’t think I make a very good poorly person, 

What do you think? 

Let me know. 

Big Fashionista x x x 

Christmas Party Ready With Simply Be

So Christmas party season is now creeping up on us fast and I don't know about you but I am at that point in the year where I am so cold, my idea of party wear is a onesie, slippers and a hat.

So, if I am going to dress up, I am going to need to feel a BILLION dollars in my outfit or I am not even playing.

Luckily, Simply Be have got a fantastic party wear section and I am now completely ready for my Christmas party in a Little Mistress dress that is not only Christmas party perfect but can stay in my wardrobe ready for that summer garden party or spring wedding.

Don't forget, when you are browsing for that perfect dress, take a look at the Simply Be beauty section,  I was pleasantly surprised to find brands there such as Clarins, Pixi, MAC and Nars.  If I am creating my whole look from one website, then finding high quality brands such as those fills me with confidence.

I love the wrap over style of this, the pattern is bold and beautiful and the dress is surprisingly heavy for a floaty dress.  Everything you would expect from a Little Mistress dress from Simply Be.

The cut-out arm detail is a great touch too. It looks good and really fits in well. I hate it when a dress has unnecessary detailing, this works.

If you love the dress, IT IS STILL AVAILABLE, (I hate it when you see dresses that you love and then when you check, it is out of stock) I would say it is very true to size. No need to size up or down.
You can buy it HERE -> Simply Be, Little Mistress Floral Wrap Prom Dress

What do you think of my choice of a Christmas party dress? What are you going to be wearing this Christmas party season?


Let me know.

*This post contains PR Samples

Rules To Ride The Bus By

Now since starting my new job in September, I have become a bus wanker a fully paid-up member of the club of users of public transport.

Now, don't get me wrong. Buses are nice, I get to sit in a seat and someone else drives me to my destination, kindly picking up other bus wankers passengers along the way. It works.

BUT, I've noticed that since my daily commute began, I have become a creature of habit and this can be a bit of a problem. I have realised that I now have MY SEAT. This seat is perfect for me, I sit on the back row, on the lower deck, on the left hand side of the bus and it is the way I like it, until one day, SOMEONE SAT IN MY SEAT.

If you ever want to know what betrayal feels like, it is knowing that the bus driver didn't stop the bus immediately, get out of his cab and go up to the seat stealer and say, "Awfully sorry, but you must be new to this route, this seat is actually reserved for Kellie" The seat thief would have immediately apologised and MOVED OUT OF MY SEAT. Everyone would have laughed and we would all have lived happily ever after.

Instead, the driver DID NOTHING. NOTHING, he just carried on driving the bus, knowing FULL WELL that I would be boarding his chariot at exactly 6.53 and be left with a complex decision to make that NO-ONE should have to make pre-7am.

Do I ask them to move out of my seat? Obviously I have paid for it, it is not my fault that unlike trains, the bus service do not allow us to reserve our seats, (If you ever want to make that happen WY Metro, I will be the first to sign up) Do I sit somewhere else? But what if I inadvertently sit in someone else's reserved seat, what happens then? Anarchy, Anarchy is what will happen, I can tell you. Do I NEXT to the person who is sitting in my seat, making them feel uncomfortable enough so that they move at the first opportunity, fleeing the scene, leaving me free to slip into MY seat, or do I just accept the fact that they have overthrown my reign and it is their seat now. The Queen has been ousted, long live the Queen.

Decisions, decisions.

Who knew that riding the bus every day would be filled with such rules?

If you think the ride into work is bad, you should see my journey home, people are packed onto my bus like sardines, I am lucky enough to get onto the bus before the bus turns into a tin can filled with fishy treats but that just means that at some point, SOMEONE WILL SIT NEXT TO ME.

I cannot bear it. Especially if they don't follow the No 1 rule which goes,

If there are no spare 2 seats and you have to sit next to another passenger you don't know, the SECOND a 2-seat becomes free, YOU MOVE TO IT.

THIS IS A RULE AS OLD AS TIME, and yet I have lost count of the amount of people who sit next to me on the bus, sharing my seat as the bus empties out, leaving space for them to move and they still don't move. It makes me uncomfortable, MOVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.


Is using public transport every day destroying me, do we think?


Should I learn how to drive and save myself the stress of bus rules and non-reserved seating or do you fully understand where I am coming from?


Let me know.

Bristol Piano Man. This is NOT romantic.

You know those newspaper reports that a week or so later, still make you mad?


The man in Bristol who was refusing to stop playing the piano until his ex-girlfriend returned to him is still boiling my piss, over a week later.

I'm seething at his sense of entitlement. I'm seething that people think that what he did was romantic, and I am seething that in 2017, women are not allowed to make a decision to end a relationship without a self-entitled dick deciding that it isn't over and what she wants, doesn't matter.

Can we start with the people who were defending him.


"It is romantic"

No it fucking isn't. It is creepy as hell.

"Can't fault a man for trying to win back his woman"

Er, I can. I will. She is not his woman. She decided that the relationship was over. She is entitled to make this decision.

"I wish someone would make grand gestures like this for me"

No one needs this. Making a grand gesture is lovely. Refusing to accept that a relationship is over and then acting like a child and declaring you will not stop playing the piano until she comes back is not a grand gesture, it is a scary, stalker manoeuvre that he has no right to do.


Apparently he has now stopped playing the piano as someone punched him in the head.

I HOPE it was one of his friends. punching some sense into him. I don't believe in violence but what he was doing was wrong, what the media did, glorifying and romanticising his dickish move was wrong. There is no winner in this sorry tale.


I hope that it stops other men from thinking that what they do is "romantic" and realise that it is wrong. But I don't think that it will. And perhaps that is what is annoying me.



What do you think?


Was the Bristol Piano player romantic, misguided, or exhibiting behaviour that was both frightening and manipulative?


Let me know.

Films That Make You Cry

Yesterday, I sat down and watched The Fault In Our Stars for the VERY FIRST TIME.

(I know, I'm late to the party, just wait till I get round to watching Harry Potter.)

I cried. I mean I ugly cried. I cried so much that it actually HURT, bloody hell. Now I know that I am a complete wimp when it comes to films, (I cried at Moana) but this film? DAMNNNNNNNNNNN.

I can't even LOOK AT THEM without sobbing.

So I asked some friends on Facebook what films made them ugly cry and the answers were varied.


Ranging from

Marley & Me - Penny, Steph, Tracey

Okja - Georgina, Lex

Green Mile - Kirsty, Hayley, Pip

A Monster Calls - Penny, Jade

to

Toy Story 3 (SECONDED)

Bambi

and LOTS MORE.


No-one said The Champ, which I remember breaking my heart to when I was younger, and Hachi A Dogs Tale, WHICH BROKE ME INTO A MILLION TINY PIECES.


But what film makes you absolutely sob? What film do you remember making you ugly cry?


Let me know in the comments, So I know to avoid them, because honestly, I don't think I have any tears LEFT.

Dr Who?

It's been a while since I've had a rant on here but you know what? A day like today kind of deserves one. This afternoon, a new Dr was announced and from the furore on social media, you would think that Jeremy Hunt got the job. Although to be fair, it would be the nearest he ever fucking got to a doctor, that's for sure.

The new Dr is a woman, and people are SHOOK.

You have people out there celebrating, you have people out there who are reserving judgement until they have watched an episode and then you have people who swear blind they are never going to watch it again, purely because the new Dr has a vagina and not a penis.

You know, the character in a TV programme that can regenerate and fights aliens and is ACTUALLY an alien, but isn't actually real, people are throwing their TV remotes out of the window and requesting a refund of their licence fee.

What is the betting that these people currently outraged, read the Daily Mail and complain about immigrants online on a daily basis, but HEAVEN FORBID you mess with their own beloved alien.

"It is pandering to the PC brigade"

"Dr Who is a man, always has been and always will be

"Feminists ruin everything"

are just some of the comments online today, and I CANNOT STOP LAUGHING.

I for one, welcome our new female Dr and I will be tuning in at Xmas to see how it all goes, how about you?

What are your thoughts on the new Dr, let me know your thoughts.

Big Fashionista x x x

Why Festivals Might Not Be For Me

Firstly, how I got to 41 without going to a music festival is beyond me, I probably should have spent some of my teens and twenties going to music festivals, but I didn't. Which is why now, after going to my first music festival, it is time to realise that perhaps music festivals may not be for me.


Don't get me wrong, I had a fantastic time. I went to Let's Rock Leeds and I saw some of the people I missed the first time around, like, Dr & The Medics, Tony Hadley, Kid Creole and The Coconuts and Human League and they were fab.

But I need my creature comforts, CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE TOILETS??? Every time I needed the loo, (Quite often, I have the bladder of a toddler) I wanted to cry. The words CESS PIT were muttered under my breath more times than when I walk into my teenagers bedroom, the smell. OH MY GOD, the smell! Is that normal? Why is it normal?

Is this why people drink? So they don't have to smell the portaloos?

The weather was fantastic, I have never experienced weather like it, so so so hot, the kind of day you want to either hide away and eat ice cream or be out with friends and eat ice cream, UNLESS, like me, you are concerned about the sun safety of others. I managed to burn one arm, (I'm a twat, but I'm a safe twat) but some people were topless or wearing bikini tops and I was flinching as they walked past, it looked like a Lobster convention where the beer was cold and in plentiful supply, (If you didn't mind queuing for an hour)

I kept flinching at people and thinking, "They are going to feel that in the morning"

Mum Mode Level 10.

I also don't like crowds, so we sat on the grass, well out of the way, high on the hill to get a great view of the stage and listen to the music.

Which is great at first, until another 10,000 people descend on Temple Newsam and pretty much all of them decide to sit in front of you/beside you/on you. 

It was at this point I wondered who I should have sold my soul to, to upgrade to the VIP section. 

They had posh loos, at this point, I would have sold everything I own, just to get access to the posh loos. 

Face paint helped. Face paint always helps, right?


Slush puppies helped, but then, Slush puppies always help too.



I have come to the conclusion that festivals are perhaps not for me, unless I get either A, A VIP pass, or B, a posh loo pass.

There is no shame in admitting that perhaps festivals are not my thing, I had a great day out with my husband, but would I do it again?


I'm not sure.



How about you? Are you a festival fan? Do the toilets always smell that way? And where does one get one of those inflatable things you lay in? They looked fab.


Let me know.

Be At One Leeds, Cocktails

You all know that I bloody LOVE a good cocktail so when I was invited to the opening of the new Be At One on Boar Lane in Leeds, I accepted my invite quicker than I would accept an invite to get naked with Tom Hardy.


If you've never been to a Be At One before, think cocktails, with some more cocktails, and thrown in for good measure, MORE COCKTAILS.

From Oxford St, Kings Cross, Nottingham to Bristol, Be At Ones are springing up everywhere and bringing you beautiful bars with cocktails you may never have tried before.

We had a cocktail tasting and got to sample a lot of the cocktails, (although I did take umbrage in having to share each cocktail with 5 other people, don't ask, I wasn't impressed)  and I found a lot of cocktails that I probably never would have chosen for myself but would now ask for by name.  ANYONE that names a cocktail a Jager Mega Drive is ok by me.



This Sherbet cocktail was one of my absolute faves.

We got a lot of background into the bars as well as the thought that goes into each cocktail, I do love on the menu it gives you a helping hand in what to choose by giving you a wheel of choices and tastes to help you narrow it down a bit. If you want something creamy, it lists them all in one place rather than you getting confused and ending up drinking the same one each time. It encourages you to try something new.

The taste masterclass was great but for me, the real test was when they turned up the music and let the evening run as if it was a normal evening with all of being able to order a drink. The atmosphere was great, as you can see, there was dancing on the bar and everything, FAB. 

I'll definitely be going back to Be At One to try some more cocktails, there is a Be At One somewhere with an Irish Disco Biscuit just waiting to be drank.


Have you been to a Be At One, before? Let me know what your favourite cocktail from there is.

Hard skin remover for feet? How A-peeling!

Firstly, let me apologies for the pictures of feet, let me apologise for the pictures of dead skin and let me just apologise, full stop. I was never going to blog about this so I don't really have any artfully posed pictures of feel covered in rose petals or Rose Gold nail polish on my toe nails. I'm shit, what can I say, I'm a busy working woman who cannot even find a cat to put my feet on to get an Instagram worthy shot at the moment. (I will turn in my blogger card at the door, Im a fucking disgrace) 

HOWEVER, what I can tell you, is that I am wearing sandals, at least I think I am, when I look down I just see boobs, Its a great view, trust me. I am wearing sandals and my feet are in my opinion, OK. which is a HUGE step for me from thinking that my feet are absolutely vile and I hate them, Urgh feet. 

So here follows the story of me using one of the feet peeling foot masks to try to remove dead skin from my feet which pretty much nothing was ever going to remove. 

Firstly, it puts the feet in the bag (Please read that in a Silence Of The Lambs tone or it just doesn't work) 

Oh hang on, see i told you i was a terrible blogger lately, HERE is the foot peel that I purchased, I got it from Amazon, I am sure there are other stockists available but I am lazy, and I have the app. Soz.

Buy it, its fab. (Do I actually need to continue with this now? Are you all just here for the pictures of peeling feet? YOU ARE, AREN'T YOU? YOU MONSTERS) 

So I put my feet in the bags, planning to sit on the sofa and not move for the 90 minutes it told me to wear them, 2 minutes in and i needed a wee, the phone rang, my youngest wanted help putting on a hat or something equally ridiculous and I had left my phone on the other side of the room. SIGH. 

So I can assure you, you can walk around while wearing the bags on your feet, you look like an absolute KNOB whilst doing so, and you are constantly in fear that you will fall over, but you can walk around. 

after the time has elapsed, you take the plastic bags off, they call them socks but  assure you, it is like tying Asda bags around your feet, and then you wait, you wait and you wait and you wait some more just like at a red traffic light that you start to assume MUST be broken and then just as you forget you did it, you take off your socks at the end of a long day and your sock resembles some sort of freakish snow globe that has malfunctioned. Skin everywhere, 

And thats when it starts to get FUN. My name is Kellie Dawson and I have an addiction to peeling skin off my feet. 

Dear God, the satisfaction I got from peeling my feet was almost sexual. I am not even sorry, t was all I could think about. I was sticking my feet in the bath as many times as I could get away with just to loosen more skin so that I could peel it off in sheets. Some people wonder when they can slip off for a crafty wank, all I could think about was when I could next peel skin off my feet. it was intoxicating, addicting, I kept waving my feet in front of my husband going look at my gross feet, aren't they gross? 

I never realised how grey my feet were until the pink started showing through, and then I just wanted to see more, if I could have peeled down to the bone, i genuinely think that I would have done so. I just couldn't stop. It was amazing. 

All of the hard skin came off the balls of my feet and across. I peeled in places that I didn't even realise I had hard skin, I PRACTICALLY DEGLOVED A TOE AND I LIKED IT. 

but then, as always, good things must come to an end, I ran out of skin to peel, my feet were baby soft and pink. (I must add that my poor feet were sore for a couple of days, not unbearably but it does make you wonder if we do need a bit of hard skin to protect our poor feetsies) 

It has been a good couple of weeks since I last used the foot peel and I can't lie, I want to do it again, but I want to let the hard skin build up a bit again so that it is not a disappointment in comparison to last time. I'm gross aren't I? This is why I don't often do reviews, I am too honest. 

Do I recommend using a foot peel? FUCK YES, it is disgustingly brilliant and I loved every moment. 

Do I recommend YOU use one? 

Only if I can come and help you peel your feet. 

What do you think? Have you ever used a foot peel? Have I put you off for life or are you now furiously scouring the internet to find one. Let me know in the comments

 

What I have learnt in my first year of marriage

So today is my first wedding anniversary. My husband and I (I do love saying that) have now experienced one year of blissful marriage.

What have I learnt in my first year of marriage?

Absolutely nothing that I didn't already know. 

I knew from the minute I first laid eyes on him, that I wanted to be with this man forever.

I knew that we were perfect for each other.

I knew that, despite the fact that when we we first met, I lived in London and he lived in Leeds, we were going to make it work.

and I knew that neither of us had ever experienced love or a relationship like this before.

Our wedding was perfect, well, apart from my husband falling victim to a bug that both my daughter and I had the week before the wedding. He spent the night before and the morning of the wedding being extremely ill. Poor guy, he didn't eat any of the wedding breakfast, in fact he didn't eat anything for about three days after the wedding either, thats how sick he was.

It was so great to see my London family and friends mixing with all the friends I have made in Yorkshire. Both sides really enjoyed meeting each other and some great friendships were created on that day.


Quite possibly, my wedding day was my favourite day of my life.

Do you want to see some pictures?

I've never shared these ones before, so I hope you enjoy.

We got married on Eurovision so what else could our theme be but music?

 Men doing mens stuff.

I absolutely loved my dress and I knew I really wanted a train, it hitched up in the evening but LOOK AT IT.

 One of my best friends, Katy, fixing my veil after it came off.

Look, it is the beautiful Lynnette Peck, not only did I marry a man I met on twitter but I have made some friends via twitter that I consider friends for life.

 My husband handprinted these shoes as a wedding gift for me. Musical theme and the colour matches my hair and the colour scheme. These shoes were actually white, he changed the colour to look like music paper. How clever is he?

 Yes, we had our own logo. The perks of marrying a graphic designer. He created everything.

My father died many years ago, so my brother gave me away, but the charm bracelet wrapped around my bouquet was a gift from my dad to my mum so it felt like he was there too.

Family, every single person who came to celebrate our big day with us. We are so pleased and proud to have been surrounded by people who love and support us. Whether they travelled from miles away or from close by, we were touched by everyones best wishes and love on the day and ever since.


I had the best wedding day and today we are celebrating our first anniversary as a family.


Have a great day, I hope you love the pictures as much as I enjoyed the day.

Dove Body Wash, Body Positivity or Marketing Ploy?

Ok, can we talk about this?

Let me repeat the crap that Dove are spouting line that Dove are taking with this

"Each bottle evokes the shapes, sizes, curves and edges that combine to make every woman their very own limited edition,"


SHOW ME WHERE I ASKED FOR THIS.


Show me, as a plus size woman where I asked for a gimmick designed by a company that doesn't always have the best track record on body positivity. 


Show me, WHY we need this? 


I wish companies such as Dove would stick to making products FOR my skin instead of trying to get UNDER our skin. This faux concern for me as a person and how I feel about myself is just getting annoying now. Let's not forget, Dove have been pretty hit and miss with their campaigns in the past, and whilst I would much rather companies do acknowledge body positivity, I am starting to feel as if Dove are now targeting Body Positivity as a selling point and just using it to sell more bottles. 

Other questions I have about the new Dove bottles.


What happens if I use the wrong bottle? 


Will there be changing rooms added into Superdrug and Boots so I can try the new bottles on? 

Can I share a bottle of this with someone who has a different body shape or would they be better off buying their own bottle? 

Are we meant to collect all the different shapes as if they are some kind of freaky Pop Vinyls?


And my most burning question for the Dove Marketing team, 


Would you not have been more Body Positive if you DIDN'T separate bottles into different shapes, and instead made one bottle with the tag line, ONE SIZE FITS ALL? 

Surely thats Body Positivity? 



Let me know. 

Broken iPhone chargers, don't get your fingers burnt

Up until yesterday morning, I always charged my phone overnight, via my bedside lamp that has a USB charger in the back of it. Like most bloggers people, the thought of my iPhone dying halfway through the day fills me with the FEAR. I charge my phone overnight and then usually have it on charge at some point in the afternoon too.

Until yesterday morning, when I woke up to THIS.

It was absolutely white hot and the smell in the room was just absolutely awful, I quickly took the charger out of the USB and just felt SICK at the thought of what could have happened.

What if I was one of those people who stick their phone under their pillow?

Or what if one of my three children would have used that charger to charge up their phones? Leaving it plugged in for days on end without paying attention to it. It just really does not bear thinking about, does it?

When I posted the picture on Instagram, a lot of people commented, "Cheap charger, thats what happens when you buy a cheap charger" but I am pretty sure that this is not a cheap charger as we usually buy my chargers from Apple, or we get a new one with our new phones. In the last 4 years I know for definite that I haven't purchased a cheapo charger.


The wire was ever so slightly damaged, at the top, you know, where every single bloody Apple charger seems to give way, but I NEVER, EVER expected to wake up to the smell of burning, end up with a scorched bedside table and a small blister on my finger.


But I just keep thinking it could have been SO much worse.


Today, I beg you. PLEASE look at your chargers, ALL of them, check them for damage and if they are damaged, THROW THEM AWAY. Replace them if you can but please, if your charger is damaged in any way.



THROW THEM AWAY. 


I won't say that my house would have burnt down, if I hadn't have noticed it, I just don't know what would have happened. I don't want to EVEN think about it.



Has this ever happened to you?


How would you feel if you woke up to this?


Plus, let me know if you check your chargers. Can we have something good come out of this please?

Entrance Music, music to enter to

Does anyone else find it REALLY hard to enter a room?


When I first moved from London to Leeds, I found going to events quite daunting when I didn't know anyone at all. (That changed quickly, Leeds bloggers are possibly the friendliest bunch you can hope to meet) To be honest, I was always a little anxious about going anywhere where I didn't know anyone, until I found myself some entrance music.


via GIPHY

Ok, so we can't always be as awesome as Kesha but the one thing I found helpful when entering a room was having some entrance music, either playing on my phone via earphones, or having a kickass song in my head, giving me some confidence to kick ass and take names. (This may be a bit of exaggeration, more like giving me the confidence to kiss ass and take pics, but you get the drift?)


My main song of choice over the years has always been The Raconteurs, Steady As She Goes, or occasionally,  Killer Queen by Queen.

Before then, I would shake outside for at least 20 minutes, trying to build up the confidence to enter.

Now, I'm strutting. (well, not exactly but you know what I mean?)


So I'm asking today, do you have entrance music? Either to help you overcome anxiety or just because it gives you an extra boost of confidence?


If you do, what is your go-to tune?


If you don't and now I've got you thinking, what WOULD be the song you would love to enter a room too.




Let me know

Pampering Time with Q61

Like most women trying to balance a work life and home life, I RARELY get time to pamper myself so when I was invited down to Q61 in Leeds to experience their salon treatments and get some me time, I am not ashamed to say that I bit their hands off for the chance to relax and beautify myself. 

What can I say, I LOVE the idea of taking some time to really relax and unwind and be pampered but when push comes to shove, if I have an hour to spare, the chances are I am going to end up cooking a meal, tidying away some clothes or doing some homework. Taking the time to spoil ourselves comes WAYYYYYYYYYY down on the list and usually gets pushed further down when something new comes up, am I right? 

When my children was small, I considered being able to pee in peace, pampering. 

But now, well now I am older, wiser and totally understand the concept of ME TIME, even though I may not always be able to execute the idea, but an evening at Q61? 

I can make time for that. 

Yes there were cupcakes, Is it even a blogger event if there are no cupcakes? 

There were also individual eyelashes being attached, nails being painted and pedicures. 

Now, I don't know how I got to 41 without having a pedicure but I was bricking it. I do not like my feet being touched, AT ALL, but in the spirit of trying to pamper myself, I sat in the booth and with only minimum screaming and slightly more giggling, I had my very first pedicure. 

I didn't kick the poor lady in the face either, everyone is a winner, right? 

Very wise words on the wall of Q61. 

Now let me take a second to tell you just how wonderful the people behind Q61 are, a husband and wife team, they started Q61 after Mrs Q61 had a bad experience and they both decided that they could do a lot better, trust me, they can. The salon is chic, welcoming and has a relaxing calm air about it. I genuinely wish everyone lived in Leeds so they could experience it. 

Plus, they had nice cupcakes.

Are you even a blogger if you don't move the official photographers camera a fraction to the left to create a shot? 

Individual lashes being applied to the beautiful Jess. 

If you are based in Leeds, I HIGHLY recommend paying Q61 a visit, I will definitely be returning myself. You can check out their website here -> www.Q61studio.co.uk or go and say hi, when you pass them on Duncan St. 

Are you a salon fan? WOULD YOU BE, if you got the time to spare? Let me know

Let's Hear It For The Sofa Desk

Let's face it, a pretty desk at home is wonderful for the 'Gram, but how many of you with a blogging desk end up covering your desk with clothes and working from the sofa?


I am sans desk, deskless, without a desk, I have no desk, and when I see people with beautiful desks that they work from, I turn a wonderful shade of green  just for a moment, before I remember, I HAVE A SOFA DESK.

The humble sofa desk comes with various optional extras, The sofa desk blanket is a popular bolt-on, as are the numerous sofa desk cushions that can also be artfully arranged onto the sofa desk making it into a sofa desk CAVE.

Even pets much prefer a sofa desk to a plain desk and there is a hell of a lot more room for pets on a sofa desk.

When I am at my sofa desk, I can put my feet up, I can curl up on my side, I can sit up straight if I choose, (this rarely happens) at a desk you are pretty restricted with your seating.

Ok, I will admit, my sofa desk can sometimes be taken over by other people (RUDE) I don't have as much storage as I would have, if I had a beautiful desk, and my stationery doesn't even have a HOME!! (Sad times, right?)

Would I have a desk if I had the room? HELL YES I WOULD.


Would I still blog from my sofa desk?


You know what, I probably would.



How about you?


Are you a desk or sofa desk kind of person?


Let me know