Lymington Quay in February

Clarins 3D Radiance and Too Faced Flatbuki brush

Too pretty! Love them both :)

The powder is very dainty and delicate, with a subtle brightening shimmer.

The Flatbuki brush is so compact and yet still functional, sprinkled with pretty cherry blossoms.

Almost too nice to use?

Ta-ta for now!
Swaf
xXx

Glossybox - Valentine's edition!

For those of you who have not yet heard of Glossybox, allow me to introduce you!

If you're the sort of girl (or guy - there's a male version too!) that likes to feel a little bit pampered, and gets excited by the non-billing kind of post (simple things), then you might like Glossybox.

For a £10.00 per month subscription (+ p&p) Glossybox will send you 5 beauty items. These could include full or sample size products from luxury or cult brands, whether well established or new, all beautifully presented!

I originally signed up for this in December, and enjoyed the Christmas edition. You can specify the kind of products you are interested in receiving, such as skincare, make-up or nail polish. I'm guessing there are manlier options for the guys!

I love the presentation - Christmas had a lovely red box and gold sticker, whilst Valentine's is a gorgeous shocking pink. The boxes are worth keeping too, they almost look too nice to open in the first place...

In my box this month I have received the following treats:

• Eyeko skinny eye pencil in powder pink (full sized)
• F.A.B. moisturising body wash
• Murad Hybrids skin perfecting oil-free primer
• Clarins extra firming day cream
• Clarins extra firming night cream

...and a sweetie!

I've been using the Clarins items for a couple of days and they do make my face feel very pampered! At nearly £50 each for the full sized versions, you'd expect it to.

That's what I like about the Glossybox concept - you can try out great quality stuff that will last all month without forking out loads. The sample sizes are usually quite generous, unless you get the full size! If you like to chop and change and try out new things (or are just fickle with beauty like me) then it will definitely satisfy your cravings. A liitle selection of luxury or fab treats :)

I can't wait for my next one!

Ta-ta for now!
Swaf
xxx

Hello Kitty Cereal

Tom's mum got me this a few months ago when we went to visit... it tasted a bit too sweet and fruity with milk so I ended up snacking on them like tiny biscuits!!


And they're was a bookmark on the back of the box to cut out yourself! I'm such a big kid :D


Ta-ta for now!
Swaf
xxx

TINY TANGERINE

Ahhhhhh! Look how sweet (literally!) these are! Also from Marks and Spencers. Teeny-weeny!

Kawaii Ice Cream Valentine's card!

Hello... long time no blog! Things got a tad busy at work. I stare at a computer screen all day and when my workload doubled I ended up feeling too fed up to carry on being a square eyes at home. I'm used to this and can manage it now, so hopefully I can get back to a routine again :)


I saw this adorabuhlz greeting card in - where else but Marks and Spencers! They do fab cards and I was instantly drawn to this one. It's not that original in it's design in the sense that we've seen images like this before, but I like the unique sleeve/holder with a cute message, and the sparkly bead sprinkles!


I did tell Tom that we shouldn't bother with Valentine's day this year. I bought this for me as a lovely piece of cute! I will probably stick it on my wall, or if I have time, find a nice way of displaying it in a frame. It's almost too nice to scribble in and then discard, and Tom wouldn't appreciate receiving it as much as I would enjoy staring at it!


So happy early Valentine's day to meeee!
Ta-ta for now!


Swaf
xxx

My recent embarrassing moments

1) Taste In Music


Yesterday, in a cafe with two colleagues on our lunch break, discussing fave music. Me, Liz, who is a couple of years younger than me, and Pete, who is in his late thirties but is very cool and fun.


Pete: I don't know if you guys know this band from the nineties, they're not very well known here even though they're British but they were big in America. They're called Bush...
Me: Gavin Rossdale!
Liz: Oh yeah, I know them!
Me (Loudly): I LOVE BUSH!!!


cue LOTS of giggles from my companions, and me suddenly realising what I said in a public place.


That left me redfaced, and having to explain to the other cafe-goers that "I meant the BAND, by the way" and was not in fact, a muff-diver. Not that there is anything wrong with that.


2) Stop, wait, just a minute Mr Postman


This morning. Day off sick following terrible evening of uncontrollable shakes and aches, horrendous overnight (til 4a.m.) migraine with violent throw-uppage (yum, sorry) and for Doc's appointment.


Heard post land on doormat. Was getting changed to go to my Doctor's appointment, and peeked downstairs to see what it was. Noticed a package with my name on it so went to pick it up quickly in my bra and knickers. As I reached the doormat, and started to bend down, postie came back. I carried on bending but he must have seen me through the frosted window, the contrast of my pasty body and a blue bra. My only thought was FARK, don't ring the doorbell, cause now you know I'm here I can't run away!* So I stayed squatted on the doormat and a lovefilm disc plopped on top of my head. Cheers postie.


* I seem to have many similar experiences with window cleaners and scaffolders too.


Ta-ta for now!
Swaf
xx

Loretta the Ladybug: a rescue!

I got into work at 8.45am this morning feeling cream crackered after going out to a Panic! At The Disco gig last night with Tom (which was ah-may-zing). As per usual I went to the sign-in sheet at reception but I got a surprise today when I saw a gorgeous spotty ladybug crawling between the sheets! I thought I had better move her as it was about to get really busy with lots of people signing in who might accidentally squish her, so I whipped out my P!ATD ticket stub which was still in my bag and scooped her up. The caretaker passed me on the stairs and probably thought I was completely bonkers holding this ticket out and walking really slowly...

I popped her on my desk, went to do something quickly and when I came back she was trying to crawl into my cup that I forgot to wash last night. As I didn't want her to drown in chocolate milk I carefully scooped her out again and went to wash my cup. When I came back she had disappeared :(

I wanted to name her Loretta so I hoped she would reappear later despite searching for her a little bit.

About half an hour later I was staring into space when I saw that something in my pen pot didn't look right... and there she was! I took the opportunity to grab a couple of pics:

 here she is close up: 

 and again scuttling away: 

She's reappeared a few more times, running around on my letter opener. She looks like she's having fun :)

Update: Loretta looked like she had a problem with her wing - the filmy folding wing under the red one was sticking out cnd she was trying to take off but couldn't. She disappeared for several hours. Then at 5pm, as I was about to leave, she appeared on my keyboard...

I didn't want to leave her if she couldn't fly away, so my boss watched me attempt to coax her into a little pot whilst laughing at me for being so attached to her! I took her home, where she met Tom - who is fascinated by insects! As she couldn't fly away from prey I didn't want to put her in the garden, where we have a lot of big bugs and wildlife, so she has a new home in dad's chilli plant, where she will guard against aphids!

Hope you enjoyed!

Ta-ta for now!

Swaf (and Loretta)

xxx

Gonna ride my bike until I get ho-ome!

This year I made it my mission to get on my bike!

Both mine and Tom's bikes were neglected and un-rideable. Tom's was a very good bike he bought from a work colleague second hand for £20, to use to cycle to work. Unfortunately he busted the gear hanger. When we moved to Dartford he was going to chuck it but I convinced Dad to tuck it into the hired van anyway as Dad has a massive load of stuff in the car port (a posh term for an open walled garage) so we stashed it there over the winter.

My bike is the same one I've had since I was about, 12 or 13 I think. But luckily, I didn't grow much, and as I'm only 5'1" it still suits me fine. but my inner tubes and tyre tape were busted. I found another pair in Wilkinsons, but accidentally got the wrong size and when I went back to exchange they'd sold out of the ones I needed so I went back later. Good old Wilko, I think it may actually be my favourite shop - I can't walk past it without going in and grabbing a bargain!

Dad had a poke at Tom's injured beast - his bike is seriously huge!! Luckily he's 5'10" so it's all good (little and large teehee). It definitely needed a new gear hanger so we took the busted one to our local bike place and I would never had guessed how many hundreds of different types of this piddly little thing there are! They all look the bloody same! It cost about £2 more than he paid for the bike but they ordered the right one in, nd the next weekend was the perfect day for our adventure!! Sunny, and hot hot hot!

We cycled around for about 3 hours, going on the roads to the nearby town and exploring the woods, which was lovely and quiet apart from dog walkers and a couple of other hardcore cyclists.

My legs look orange in the second pic because my fake tan came off when I shaved that morning (didn't anticipate shorts weather) so I reapplied it ant it was a bit... extreme. A very friendly dog licked a patch off as well... I hope he's okay :S

There was another cute little doglet laying in a spot of shade the middle of a path near his owner, with his legs stuck out backwards in the way that makes them look like a rotisserie chicken. We had to cycle round him, but he was lovely, his bemused little face made me smile! Thought it rude to take a pic though.

at the time it was too bright to see I'd missed Tom's head completely!

It was a great day although it was my first time riding a bike in about 10 years and therefore the first time riding with traffic. And as Tom had no idea where we were going, I had to lead the way! Nearly pooped my pants in fear. But I made myself go down some steep hills which was fun! I have to say, downhill is definitely better!

I plan to pimp my bike out soon, so hopefully If I get round to it there'll be a blog on that. Might keep it red though...

Ta-ta for now!

Swaf

xxx

Panda Fun and Chinatown Sweets in London

Howdy!


I was out in Central with my beloved last week, in the Trocadero on my way to a certain store (I'll tell shortly) and happened to wander into Accessorize. I didn't plan to, but being a jewellery obsessed magpie, I have a gravitational pull which sucks me in anyway.


I only had a quick look around, but I immediately spotted this little fella!! Which is the same style as my cat ring that I mentioned in a previous post.

Again he was £4, and i snarfled him up instantly. I was tempted to get some of their cute panda phone charms too, but I will do that another time, in another Accessorize!




Anyhoo, in the Trocadero centre in London (just off of Leicester Square) there is this awesome shop called Ho! Panda at the back entirely dedicated to Kawaii Panda-ness that I just want to buy everything from.

On our anniversary last year, Tom got me a little plushy Panda keychain with just the tiniest hint of a rosy pink cheek! It's actually on a phone charm strap but is a bit large and cumbersome for my preference. It was quite romantic really, as I call Tom my little love panda - one of his many nicknames!

I want their Panda hats too, but I must say I prefer this one from bangbangcrash. I'ts in a list of things I desperately covet but really can't afford... (ironically, my etsy wishlist).




Then in Chinatown we stopped off at one of my favourite stores - Nippon and Korea Centre. Don't let the name confuse you - it's full of awesome imported food! We bought a load of stuff some of which we had no idea what it contained, as we were feeling adventurous and peckish - a deadly combination!


Then we headed to Trafalgar square for Tom's tourist picture and sat on the Countdown Clock for the London 2012 Olympics to eat our wares!

Tom bought a bag of crisps which resembled nik naks, had a strange picture of indeterminable meat on the front, but actually tasted amazing. He ate them too quick to get a pic though.

I bought Norimaki rice, soy and seaweed crackers which were quite yummy, and a sesame covered rice ball.

This was okay, the rice bit was quite bland, and the mung bean centre was sweet. A couple of odd textures but not disgusting! I found it was too much and too filling and couldn't finish it. If I bought them again I'd have to get a pack of little ones! Strangely my mouth is watering slightly for it...

I also got these awesome PANDA chocolate biscuits which were so so yummy. Definitely getting more of these if I see them. This pic was taken in Nando's while we ate dinner -  I ate the biscuits on the train home! Even tom enjoyed one - he doesn't eat sweets usually, but I love it when he does - it makes him cuter!

They all had funny little expressions! It was as if they knew they were about to be devoured. Their poor terrified little faces!!

The whole reason for our trip was to see City and Colour in Royal Albert Hall. Beautiful venue, nice sound, few weird hecklers and dodgy attempt to play the 'last clap' game. Disappointed He didn't play a couple of my faves but it was a cool, chilled out gig. Their lighting guy was really OTT, in a good way!

I had a video video but Blogger won't seem to upload it even though I left it for ages!!

Ta-ta for now!
Swaf
xxx