Monthly Archives: May 2016

(Insta)Life lately

30th May 2016
Ok so since moving out almost five months ago I have gone from monthly re-cap posts to well, this is my second since January! Still, I thought I’d still pop up some of my favourite moments from the last few months- to stay fully up to date you can of course follow me on instagram and I do plan to be more exciting and have more regular posts like this to go up especially now I’m less focused on posting my outfits.
New favourite lipstick from Paul & Joe
Teaching Mae to high five!
Most randomly appropriate gift from my best friend- there’s history here
How to make me very happy!
Tobias keeping guard of the flat
I feel so lucky to live right by here.
New favourite chocolate.
Weekend indulgence.
Best way to start a day- porridge and positive thought.
Cat woman, of course.
My funny girl.
Craft fair purchases.
Another purchase from one of the little local shops near me.
Unicorn glass from Anthropologie.
Cat mug, also from Anthropologie.
That face.
This park is pretty much my back garden.
Sun’s out and so is my inner poser.
After a hard morning terrorising workmen.
Sweetest duvet ever, literally.
Caved in to the hype!
Stemless CAT wine glasses from Urban Outfitters
That time my Mum tried to teach me to knit.
The original grumpy cat.
Kitty themed shopping haul.
Rose gold trainers.
These are my happy socks.
Saturday morning coffee dates with the best friend and this little cutie.
The perils of blogging with a cat around.
To see the photo captions just hover over the picture or click to see full sized!

Leave links to your instagram posts below, I love to take a nosy. Likewise feel free to leave your username in the comments and I’ll be sure to follow you…

Until next time.

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Teagime- not another “teatox”

27th May 2016
Over the last year there is been a wave of so called “teatoxes” hitting the scene. I’ve given them a wide berth as really I’m not interesting in losing weight, suppressing my appetite or drinking a laxative (essentially that’s what some of them are, glam!) and so when Teagime dropped me an e-mail I very nearly clicked delete without even giving it a read.

Luckily for me I did decide to take a closer look and I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. Teagime isn’t just another detox, it’s actually a custom blend of teas designed to help you achieve exactly what YOU want to improve with your health. There’s no one size fits all approach here, instead you fill in a detailed questionnaire filled with questions about lifestyle, health concerns and tea preferences then blend you up a two week supply of three different teas; one for the morning, one for the afternoon and one for before bed.

Teagime very kindly offered me a two week trial of my own custom blend to see what made them different. I found the process of question answering very quick and easy and then regular updates were given as to when my blends would arrive.

Upon arrival I was delighted to see they had also popped in two free tea infusers, handy if you don’t happen to have any lying around the place (which I actually do, I just don’t know where!). The teas are prettily packaged in brown paper pouches that can be re-sealed and the blends that Teagime had “prescribed” me sounded perfect for my needs.

My morning blend was called “No More Cold Feet” and contained strawberry, honey red tea and hawthorn berry to help improve my circulation. I’ve always suffered with cold hands and feet and didn’t expect much to change but after two weeks having a cup of this first thing in the morning I did find my extremities weren’t as quick to turn blueish the second the temperature drops.

The afternoon blend was “Balm for the Soul” and was made up of lemon balm, blackcurrant and oolong tea. I found this incredibly soothing and taste wise this was my favourite of the bunch. It’s fair to say I’ve been a bit stressed and on edge lately so to take time out to drink this around the time of day when my mind is busiest was a little pocket of peace- psychological or not I really benefitted from this blend.

My evening mix was “Breathe Easy” and contained peppermint, roobios and lemon peel. My digestive system, immune system and skin have taken a battering lately so having a blend designed to help heal these specific areas was a nice touch and was a pretty tasty and calming way to end my day.

Overall I’m really pleased I gave Teagime a shot, at £29.99 for a fortnight’s supply it isn’t a cheap option but for a little boost from time to time it is something I’d be keen to invest in. As I tea lover in general I really appreciated the variety of blends and teas- what’s your favourite brew?

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A Bright, bold and affordable tablet from Amazon

26th May 2016
It’s hard to imagine now that I ever held anything against the Kindle. From my original stance of “I only like real books” I now realise that there is a place for both those and the e-book in my life and it’s rare that I head out for longer than an hour or so without my Kindle in my bag (so much lighter to carry for one thing).

Things have advanced hugely since the original Kindle launch and the Fire saw the introduction of not only an e-reader but a tablet too, at a surprisingly affordable price.

My Mum has had a Fire for some time and loves it so when I was offered the chance to trial one myself in one of three snazzy new colour ways I was game on. I’ve had the chance to test it out over the last two weeks and I kind of fell in love with Magenta powerhouse and have since decided to save up for one of my own.

At just £49 for the 8gb version this really is one of the most affordable tablets on the market and it packs a seriously powerful punch especially in comparison to my now almost vintage iPad.

The display is crystal clear which makes both reading and browsing a doddle and everything synced up seamlessly with my standing Kindle and Amazon account meaning I could access the books I was currently reading, my wish lists and gift card balance. This is a nippy little device thanks to it’s powerful processors and although 8gb storage isn’t loads you can easily extend this with the purchase of a microSD card.

The inbuilt camera takes good, clear photos and with capacity to link up to all of your social media you can share a snap in seconds. The App Store is comprehensive and will keep you well supplied with games as well as all of your favourite social networks. You can also download TV shows and movies (which I didn’t do, I admit) and access thousands of music tracks from all of your favourite artists.

For me the big draw to this is the portability. It’s so compact and lightweight it’s hard to believe what it’s capable of. I love the addition of the three bold colour ways (magenta, red and blue) and for the price you really, really can’t go wrong.

Already have a Fire? Let me know what you love best! And to anyone contemplating getting one, I highly suggest it. I wish I’d save some of my birthday money now to purchase my own!

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Etsy Introductions: The Catkin Boutique

25th May 2016
Hot on the heels of my previous Etsy feature comes another, also discovered at the HAVE market a few weekends ago. This time I present to you Nicola, owner of The Catkin Boutique who I fully admit to being drawn to for the name alone! Of course I came away with a purchase in the form of some adorable cat earrings as well as a rather sizeable wish list of Nicola’s other creations.
The Catkin Boutique is full of cute handmade animal themed accessories. Nicola, the cat lady and general animal fanatic behind the label draws all her images in pencil and transfers them to plastic to make one of a kind pieces of jewellery. She also hand silkscreen prints her illustrations onto fair trade totes and cards. She loves to make beautiful jewellery and totes that are a bit quirky with a sense of fun and all inspired by nature. Keep an eye on her ever growing collection of earrings including narwhals, hedgehogs and platypuses (and of course cats!)
I’ve popped some of my favourite items from The Catkin Boutique below but as always I strongly suggest you pop over to the shop yourself and let me know your favourite pieces in the comments.
It’s only a matter of time before a tote bag finds itself in my possession.

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Posted in jewellery, shopping, wish list

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Father’s Day Inspiration with Look Mate

24th May 2016
I’m on a bit of a role with my Father’s Day gift ideas this year having previously barely touched on the subject due to lack of inspiration. Today I’m introducing perhaps THE funkiest sock brand I’m yet to come across, Look Mate.

It might be a bit of a cliche or even seen as a bit of a cop out but I happen to think that socks make an excellent gift, especially when they are super quirky and fun (and let’s face it, who doesn’t need more socks?)

Each pair of Look Mate socks costs £10 (and don’t worry, they cater for us ladies too!) or you can sign up for the monthly sock subscription at a cost of £9.00 for one month, £8.50 per month for three months or £8.00 per month for six months. I think the idea of a sock subscription as a gift is a great idea and something I’ve bookmarked for future present purchasing!

I’m a bit of a sock fiend, I can never resist something bright and bold. I’m not quite sure my Dad shares my extremely bright tastes but socks always seem to go down well with him and I have high hopes for these!

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