It's Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

L x

Congratulations Are In Order!

This delightful weekend, we were part of a very special day!

V got married to E! Been so excited for them, you would think the 3 of us were getting married! Haha.

As P was the best man, and me being P's PA as we seem to call me, we had to make sure the groom was fed and ready in time. Me & V ended up crying with laughter over breakfast due to a joke P told...

"What's furry and minty?"

"A polo bear"... Believe me, you had to be there.

A couple of nights ago, E asked us to make sure V was given a few things before the wedding. Did forget over breakfast. But when we gave him the first two, the grin on his face was priceless. The picture above doesn't even give it justice.

I did take a lot more pictures but too many of them were blurry *sadface* 

This is going to sound so cheesy and soppy, but seeing them together was so wonderful. Couldn't help but grin for them when they looked at each other. Massive smiles themselves, love pouring from their eyes.

I had a bit of a moment when E had a dance with her Dad. Rude of me, but I had to get out of that room. Felt like the room got much smaller, and I was about to panic. 

When V had his dance with his Mum, E came to see how I was. I love that woman, really do. Felt so awful for having a little breakdown on her special day. I have that sense that as we get older, we'll be good good friends and not just sister-in-laws. 

I can't truly write down everything about the day. So many memories to put in order!

L x

December Delights & Decisions

It's that time of year where I start getting excited about not just Christmas, but the whole month.

This month I also celebrate my birthday. Well, I wouldn't celebrate it exactly. In the week between Christmas & New Years is never a good time to have a birthday! Plus I'm working... Booooo!

But this year, I'm more determined to enjoy it and hopefully start some traditions.

For example,

1. Create some Christmas decorations and involve the nephews and niece. In fact E-R has already started the decorations and I've put the one she made for P & I up on our front door.

2. Bake some lovely goodies and get the family to try them out. Perfect the dessert to take over on Christmas Day when we all get together.

3. That Christmas Eve present. You know the one I'm on about... The ones I've seen floating about mention pyjamas. To start it off, I'm thinking maybe a DVD. P, I know you're reading this... It doesn't mean that it IS a DVD!

Maybe not tradition-making but,

4. Try new things, whether it's wearing eyeshadow, lipstick, more dresses etc.

5. Do something with my hair other than tie it up! Get adventurous!

I'm not going to make a massive list. It has already been a busy month so far!

L x

Achievement!

Last time I blogged about my hypothyroidism, I last clocked in at 32 days... 

152 days later and I've still taking my tablets every day. Such a massive achievement!!! 

Obviously as a kid, my record is much higher but as an adult? Paha! 

I'm not going to lie, I've had them days where all I wanted was to sleep all day and just bury my head in the sand about it... But I can't. They're important tablets. My Nana made me realise that if I don't take these little tiny tablets every single day of my life, I won't function as me properly.

It does bug me that I'm stuck like this for the rest of my life, with regular blood tests to find out my levels, having to take my tablets before my breakfast, making sure I don't have too much iron as apparently that's meant to be avoided, keeping my vitamin D up as well so I don't get ill... Sounds easy haha! Whatcha going on about Laura?

One of the guys at work knew all about hypo (yep, let's shorten it down to make it easier) and oh it was good to be understood! 

It is quite hard to explain it to my unrelated & a few related loved ones, and sure they'll understand what it is, but not the effect it's had on me... 

In these last 184 days, I have felt better. But at the moment, just don't feel up to scratch. 

L x 

A New Discovery & Review

Eyebrows.

They're a nightmare.

I did the mistake of overplucking once and now I'm paying the consequences. 

It's more the outer parts that I have trouble with, so I thought I could always fill them in instead of looking like I have half eyebrows. Not a good look, ladies (and gentlemen)!

Argh! See? Although in this picture, they don't look as bad as they usually do.

But hairloss is a part of hypothyroidism.

Do not like that symptom whatsoever! I did think I'd get away from that. Sadly not...

Anyway, as I already had a few brow pencils from sets of Christmas presents from over the years, I thought I could always use them.

Not a great colour to be honest. They're all too dark and I look ridiculous.

This picture doesn't even show the true darkness of the colour.

So when I came across this much lighter one...

I HAD to pick it up! For £2.98 it was the cheapest I've seen.

I have looked at MUA in Superdrugs but they either didn't keep any in stock, or they just did a very dark brown or blonde.

Now my eyebrows are better! They're not great or perfect. But it's a much better colour.

I need a lot more practise, a hell of a lot more.

Rimmel, thank you!!

L x

Pictures are my own.

Product: Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil in Hazel. Bought out of my own money. £2.98 at Asda.

Still A Newbie

I apologise for the silence. Combination of starting my new job and working as much as possible to earn them pennies, and busy busy busy on days off.
Not a good combination! It's made me ill. *sadface*
Lots to come when I have the chance! 


I've been living in the Midlands for just over 2 years now. And yet, I still don't know my way around that much. I know certain areas, but to a certain degree.

I remember when I moved to Greater Manchester... Quite often, I'd just get on the bus, get off somewhere and explore.

I have no idea why I haven't done that down here. 

So often, I want to just get on the bus to Leicester, and do some window shopping. Pointless I know. But I've only been there a small amount of times, and mostly we have a mission to get the Christmas shopping over and done with!

I do enjoy the Primark there, I will definitely admit that! 

The sparkly jacket from this post was from there and it's the only Primark I've seen go to a bigger size. Major plus!

So I got onto Google and created a list.

1. Hartshill Hayes Country Park

2. Twycross Zoo

3. Warwick Castle

4. Tamworth Castle

5. Heart Park

6. Hoar Park Farm
7. Coventry Transport Museum
8. Gorse Hill City Farm
9. Planet Ice
10. Coombe Country Park
11. Plantasia
12. Birmingham Christmas Market.


I'm sure there's plenty of other places that I would love to go to.
Just means that will be another post!

L x

Date Night #2

We went to the circus! P's very first time too.

P got a couple of free tickets thanks to advertising them at work, and I must say I'm glad! 

Prices are around £20 each ticket. First and last night are £7-8.

Thoroughly enjoyed the night. There were a few acts that I couldn't watch.

1. At the start (check out the pics of two guys on a sort of ring). My stomach was in my throat. Especially when he was outside of the safety. And blindfolded! They were both great when they were both using a skipping rope. 

2. A girl in a bubble. So much more appropriate for a nightclub. Was disgusting. Especially with so many young children. You can imagine what the guys were like...

3. Woman swinging on a rope. I'm so glad I had some candy-floss! Distracted me. I'm quite scared of heights so for her to be swinging really fast and very high up... I could not watch it. 

I will apologise for bombarding you with a whole lot of pictures and videos. 
I did leave out a lot of the acts, either because of blurriness or because they weren't that good. 

L x


All pictures and videos are my own.

Things Are A'Happening

Firstly, I started my new job. Boy, was I achy and tired by the end of it! But I like the fact I'm earning! Yayyyy :D having a bit of trouble about my birth certificate however. Apparently they need a "full" certificate rather than a "short". Slight nightmare. Needing to pay for things for the job, before I've even started earning enough.

I've got to buy some new shoes. The ones I bought from Evans have started to go down the terrible path where they're uncomfortable and I cannot stand to even put them on. 

A proper review another day.

Anyway! We've got out new furniture too. Have I mentioned them yet?

A sofa, chair, desk, cabinet, bedside table? All for £5 altogether. 

Pics will be in another post. 

Also, we've been talking lately about how we really need to crack on actually owning a place. We've talked about it before but things tend to get in the way and to be honest, to own a property, you need buckets and buckets of money. (Not literally...)

But the other day I thought I might aswell have a mooch on Rightmove and came across a property that caught both mine & P's attention and we're trying to crack on with it. Trying to find out about mortgages are hard work by the way! Or is it just this town?

Fingers crossed that we're able to at least try and go for it.

It's a little fixer upper but not too much I don't think.

Any advice on mortgages?

L x

Currently Loving #2

One Republic - Counting Stars

Really cannot stop humming this when I've not got it on repeat.

I've been taking my tablets for 148 days now. Got about 2 or so more years until I make up for the time I spent having trouble remembering to take them.

The Vampire Diaries!

I'm all set for the new one. I never thought I'd be into it as much as I am! Looking forward to The Originals aswell. I love the fact that the actor who plays Klaus is actually English (well, Wales I think). I really do like the character Elijah. Yum!!   

After 2 years of job hunting, I've got a job! Can't believe how difficult it's been to actually get a job. Of course there's volunteer work, but when you're trying to contribute towards a wedding and when we start a family, it's not that good. I went in today to find out my hours. I can't wait to start working!

I've been looking at the make-up section in Tesco and there were a few lipsticks that caught my eye. We had a voucher for £3 off £20 so when we were falling short of using the voucher, Phil let me get one of the lipsticks. Such a lovely colour!

It's fast becoming my favourite lipstick to reach for even if it's a lazy day or I want to feel glamorous.

L x


Pictures are off Facebook (Vampire Diaries fan page) and Asda.

Thrifty Wedding #6

As always, we are trying to save some money when it comes to the wedding.

We've already decided on the decorations we want for the reception, but completely forgot about the church.

I already found these when I was searching for wedding freebies.

Paper Rose Wreath

These, we've decided to have hanging on the end of the pews as we can't do much else with them.

Paper Rose Bouquet

I am stuck on the decision of these. Can't think of whether I should go with my initial plan or try and create them. They would certainly help where I won't panic whether or not the flowers would last long enough for the wedding.

DIY Paper Napkin Flower Garland

This one, I have already started trying. As you can see from the picture below, my attempts still have a way to go until they're how we would like them.

It is quite hard to twist the bottoms like the instructions tell you to.

I am wondering whether I oughta try bigger napkins...

L x

Pictures are from website (top 3) and my own.

25 Tidbits About Me

I've seen these floating around. Thought I could give it a go. Give you readers a little inside to me...

1. My favourite colours are red and yellow, but I always seem to enjoy dressing in blue...

2. I have never been abroad. The furthest I've been is Cornwall, and I haven't had a proper holiday for 10 years. That needs to change!

3. I love kitty cats. My first was called Wellington Boots or Welly for short. Absolutely crazy! The second one, was meant to be a family cat. Tilly. It was more like she adopted me alone. I miss her so much!! She was stolen off me and I couldn't get her back. I miss my furbaby.

4. I grew up on tea apparently. Found that out recently. Blocked it out obviously when I went through a phase of disliking it. Now, I seem to be getting into it again. Not just fruit teas, but if I have a cuppa tea, it's gotta be PG Tips!

5. I've been collecting books since I was 16. I have 2 bookcases full and even that's overloaded. It's my dream to have a library room of my own. One day it will happen! P has been warned...

6. I had ringlets growing up, but now after years of straightening, I've lost them and find it hard to keep curls when I actually curl my hair.

7. I have no fashion sense for my own body. I still try.

8. I dislike time-wasters and hypocrites. I know too many.

9. I lost my Dad 20 days after my 16th birthday. Will be ten years this coming January. The loss doesn't go away. All the wedding plans get me so emotional when I stop and think about him.

10. My Great-Grandfather was French so I've always wanted to find out about that side of the family but hit a brick wall each time. My Great-Grandmothers ancestors are from Ireland. And I found out Kevin Keegan is either my Nan's cousin or my Great-Grandmother's. My Grandfather's side? All from Lancashire through and through. No wonder my accent comes out real strong when it wants to.

11. I know the offside rule in football/soccer. And I can describe it. Not many girls know that. Thank you Nan! Really impresses P.

12. I love baking and cooking, but if I do it too many days in a row, it starts getting irritating. I'm going to be practising baking wedding cakes soon. Just hope people don't bug me to make them their own.

13. I'm a massive superhero fan. DC, Marvel... all of them. My all-time favourite? Superman. I did a project on superheroes and villains for college once. Superman was the main project.

14. My skin has developed a very weird dislike of water. I can't even do the washing up with gloves on without it still affecting my skin.

15. I've been putting off starting a family since I was 18/19. Yep, I had one of them kind of family members who kept hinting to do so. Hopefully, next year!!

16. I am from a big family, but thanks to circumstances, I've found out who truly classes me as family. I'm actually a black sheep! So now, I tend to just think I have a small family. I absolutely love and adore P's family!

17. I enjoy watching P play field hockey. Go Aardvarks! I'd love to be a mascot... however, I cannot for the life of me find a costume. Seems like that's a mission for me! They do try recruiting me, but I wasn't that good in high school, and I won't be now. 

18. I'm a complete novice at make-up. I did go through a phase where I wore it, but then I spent a couple of years without it. Now, I'm struggling to find what works for me.

19. My favourite TV shows are Supernatural and Glee. There's a few more trying to worm their way into my list. Like The Vampire Diaries! I'm so grateful D is letting me use his Netflix through my Wii. Currently on Season 3, and I'm trying to watch Season 4 before the new season starts.

20. I have no clue what I want to do with my life job/career-wise. I've always wanted a calm life, and I've got it. A bit too calm sometimes. 

21. I love lists. Very weird of me, but it helps me. With hypothyroidism, it's extremely easy to forget things so lists certainly help. I even look for printable organisation sheets. 

22. I hate feet. Hate them. Don't like them anywhere near me. Hate people touching my feet, in fact just the thought of it makes me feel disgusted! If someone tried putting their foot near my face? Death warrant, I tell you! Haha!

23. I've gave up alcohol. It's never interested me. Now and then, I cave in to social drinking, but at home. I recently tried the alcohol-free Kopparberg. What a waste of money! Wasn't anything special, and I could have saved money by getting dilute and lemonade. I would like to try mocktails, however! Any suggestions?

24. I love having my hair stroked and played with. You can imagine what I'm like at the hairdressers, right? It's like heaven for me! I'm sure I bug P when I constantly ask him to play with my hair or stroke the back of my neck. When I'm having a snuggle with J-L and he starts playing with my hair, I go so quiet!

25. I wish I had more dresses. They make me feel so girly, but I tend to just grab my jeans and just go with that. I miss my girly side! I started reading blogs to inspire me to make that little effort. It's slowly getting there. I've started building up my make-up brushes so I'm ready to get going. I will get there again!


Believe me, there's a whole lot more to me, but I guess you'll have to find out along the way... :)


L x

Thrifty Wedding #5

One of my Aunts who is also one of my Godmothers has been so generous to offer to do P & I some favour bags with almonds in. I cannot remember the name exactly. Bon-something!

We are still going to do what we originally wanted with the favours, but this is something a little bit more. Something traditional.

Five almonds for five meanings:

1. Wealth

2. Health

3. Happiness

4. Love

5. Fertility

We have picked our wedding invites! We haven't finished sending out the Save the Dates but at least we have agreed on something for a future month!
I cannot remember how I found out about Wedding Chicks, but their invitation suites are amazing, and a lot of their freebie stuff. 
I would highly recommend checking them out!
We've got the table numbers sorted, name cards for the tables... it came with the invitation suite. Oh and a reply card.
You can get monograms, wallpapers for your phone, and a variety of signs and labels.


We've decided on what we want for our wedding cakes. That's right. Cakes. We're having 3. We know the people who are coming are quite fussy and it would be best to have a variety. Thanks to not concentrating when I was baking not long ago, I changed the amounts of the ingredients and found the perfect recipe. So I'm just going to use that, mix it up abit and practice so we can save a few bob on the wedding cakes.
We're going to ask P's parents to do the fruit cake as I have no idea how to make them and I'm not confident. Sponge cakes however? My cup of tea!



L x

Wedding Wishlist

Necklace. Shoes. Purse.  Hair accessories.

L x



Images taken from websites linked above.

Wishlist

Dress. Cardigan. Shoes. Necklace.

I'm always stuck between Autumn and Spring being my favourite season.

I don't like being too cold, and I don't like being hot either... yes, I know, I'm a weird one.

But as the nights are getting darker sooner and there's a chill in the air, I started looking at my clothes and whether they're suitable for Autumn.

Not so much. Uh oh!

I'm not going to be able to just buy a whole new wardrobe but I can try getting some staples that will go with all sorts.

Sadly, I don't have enough dresses that I really want to wear this Autumn. I've dug out my really thick tights so they're ready. The dress situation must change!

I really love the colour and pattern on the dress shown.

Cardigans... Oh how I love cardigans. And yet, my super thick ones have disappeared. I have a suspicion that I accidentally left them behind when I moved and unfortunately, I cannot retrieve them back.

I'm after a really chunky warm cardigan for this Autumn & Winter, and when I walked into Asda and saw all their new stuff, I was practically drooling! P had to drag me out of the store.

This is definitely going to be bought first! 

And shoes! I badly need some decent ones. I have some that are still wearable from 2006! Dear Lordy! I did buy some ankle boots from Evans a few years ago and they were fantastic, but they're reaching the end of their life and I need to replace them. 

What's your favourite item of clothing for Autumn?

L x

Pictures from New Look at Asos, Asda, and New Look.

Goodbye For Now, Little Brother!

He's moving to Texas today! Such a massive step but I'm proud of how L's being all head-on about it.

We don't talk that much, but I am going to miss him!

Hopefully he's going to keep in touch...

I've got many more embarrassing pictures but what I'm going to remember, is when I stayed at our Dad's house and we'd draw Scooby Doo characters until we had to go to bed.

And watching the wrestling at our Nana's. And arguing over who's the best wrestler. The Rock is my opinion... Yes, it has been a long while since then!

The hugs I'd get when I saw him at a family event. Always finding him taller!

I love you little brother. You may not remember these times, but I sure do!

Good luck for the future!

Good luck for the adjustment once it sinks in that it's your new home.

And thank you A for loving my brother.

I am definitely not going to be saying goodbye. Seems so final if I do.
Just gives P & I an excuse to go over there for a holiday some time in the future!

L x

It's Here!

After much hassle and lots of emails going to and fro, and a couple of phone calls here and there... it's turned up!

To be honest, I started panicking thinking that I'd just ordered from a company that are no longer up and running. But alas, it is not so! They emailed back, and it finally got sorted.

I was slightly annoyed with myself and the company because thanks to their website saying that my order was still processing, I actually missed the delivery for quite a few days.

But that is over and done with and I still have to find somewhere to store it! Argh!

It's so incredibly perfect! I burst into tears as soon as I tried it on and looked in the mirror. Ended up thinking about my Dad and how he would have been if he'd seen me and cried harder!

It's been nearly 16 months since we got engaged and of course we knew we're getting married, but it seems much more real now. 

L x

What Would I Wear?

My brother L is moving to Texas on Wednesday... and getting married in November!! :D

He & A are such a cute couple! L isn't one for showing affection, but A has brought that side of him out. 
Looking forward to her being my sister-in-law even if I don't get to see her :(
It's going to be so weird not to see him at future family events... I've always known that even though I don't see him now, there's always been that factor.

After talking with A about the type of wedding her & L are wanting, I got to thinking about what I'd wear if I was able to attend. 

Sadly I can't as it'll be in Texas, but I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures of them both!

Dress: here.

Cardigan: here.

I already have some plain black wedges that would finish this outfit off.

Just looking at this cardigan makes me think of an Autumn wardrobe. But that's for another time!

L x

Pictures taken from Asos and Asda.

A Thrifty Wedding #4

We bought the flower-girl dress!

Looks so cute and for such a low price, we just had to get it!

Can just see E-R walking down wearing the dress with her curls bouncing. Eeek!

The cheapest price of a dress so far was £50 and as we're trying to save money as well, we didn't really want to spend that much. So when I saw this for £14, it was perfect!

We had a choice between this one above or...

This was in fact just £13 but the colour seemed quite dark for a little girl as a flower-girl in the summer. 

I also got some hair accessories! So lovely... and never been used!
They popped up on Freecycle and I immediately asked about them, and I got a reply straight away saying I could have them. Didn't know what to expect really, but when I picked them up and checked them out... I'm so glad!
Only problem is, I did think I already knew how I wanted my hair... now? Not a clue!

L x

Pictures taken from George at Asda & Next.

My Week in Pictures #2

Balloons at the carnival. 

Teddy bungee-jumping off the church, again part of the carnival. 

A ride at the carnival... Used to love these as a little girl. 

Did two lots of spaghetti bolognese sauce. Miss my veggies!

Lovely double rainbow <3 

Tigger! Got to hang out at D's house today and spent some time with this lovely fella!

My informal interview outfit... Sadly I found out today, I was unsuccessful. Feeling quite gutted!

Rainy day outfit.

I want one! Alexsandr looks odd...

A meal to cheer myself up.

L x

All pictures are my own.

Currently Loving...

I'm not sure if this is going to something permanent, but I have to share with someone!

Katy Perry - Roar

A female version of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines.

I do warn you... this is quite rude haha!

I'm also currently suffering from a bug at the moment so it has gave me the chance to rediscover The Vampire Diaries! 

I only managed to watch up to a certain episode in S2 when it was on TV. The one where Damon's friend Rose is dying? That one. So emotional!

 I'm on disc 3 out of 5 in Season 2... yes, yes, I know. I'm very far behind. But that's what DVDs are for! I can't seem to get enough.

As ever, I'm also loving Supernatural. 

Watched the penultimate episode this morning and I can't wait to see the finale next week!

L x