Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

It's just over two weeks to go now until Valentine's Day. I don't know about you, but it only seems like five minutes ago that we were packing away our Christmas trees, so having this occasion so soon after can make it a little difficult to think of fresh gift ideas. Whether you're here looking for something to hint at your loved one, or looking for something to buy your wife or girlfriend, hopefully you'll find some useful ideas in this guide.

What I Learned From The Little Book Of Hygge

Hygge is a word that's been throw around quite a lot in the last few months, particularly in the blogosphere. If you've never heard of the concept (pronounced Hoo-ga) before, it originated from Denmark, one of the happiest countries in the world. Whilst it has been translated in many different ways, it is essentially all about creating a cosier, more intimate environment, and better quality of life. After reading a few blog posts, and thinking the whole thing sounded amazing and just what I needed to incorporate into my life, I decided to learn a bit more and treated myself to The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking.

My New Look Maternity Picks

Black skater dress / Blue stripe top / Ripped skinny jeans / Blue stripe shirt / Floral chiffon shirt / Cream frill trim lace top / Black sleeping bra / Floral wrap front dress 

If you read my Body Confidence in Pregnancy post, you'll know that one of the things I've done to improve my confidence with my changing shape was to invest in a few pieces of proper maternity wear. One of my favourite brands has come to be New Look. It's definitely the best brand I've come across in terms of good value (I'm was seriously praying that Primark would come out with a maternity range, but no such look) and some of the pieces are really pretty and flattering. Here are some of my favourite picks after having a little mooch on their website recently.

My February Photo Challenge

Since the Christmas holiday started, I tried to make more of a conscious effort to actually use my Instagram profile a lot more. My contribution to it during 2016 as a whole was pretty poor and I wanted to improve on that. Whilst it's definitely been getting a lot more use recently, there are still times when I skip posting for a few days. I remembered right at the start of last year, I took part in another photo challenge, and that really got me using my account more - I actually managed to complete it. So, this year, rather than finding another one to take part in, I thought I'd just make up my own!

Gestational Diabetes - One Month On

I've actually known I have gestational diabetes for a few days longer, but today marks one month since I had my first appointment and got my bloody sugar testing kit from the hospital, so I thought I'd share with you my experiences and feelings so far, and how I've been getting on with managing the condition.

Charlotte Tilbury Lipstick Collection

I've had the photos for this post ready to go for quite a while now, but due to my blogging break I never got round to uploading it! Oops, better late than never I guess! I mentioned in a post not too long back that Charlotte Tilbury lipsticks were fast overtaking the MAC ones as my new obsession. Whilst the shade range is obviously nowhere near as extensive, I do find these lipsticks to be my absolutely favourite formulas, particularly the super comfortable matte ones, and the shade range that is available is absolutely beautiful.

Body Confidence In Pregnancy

This is a bit of a sensitive subject for me to write about, and a post that I considered scrapping on many occasions. I've suffered with body confidence issues, on and off, for around half of my life. I used to think that when I got pregnant it would go away - there was a wonderful reason that I was getting bigger, so the fact that I was wouldn't matter. Unfortunately those sorts of feelings don't just switch off, and I've battled with mixed feelings about my body often throughout the last seven months.

High End Products Worth Splashing Out On

I really like saving up and making a high end makeup purchase. The packaging always seems prettier and more luxurious, and there's just something so satisfying about walking away with that new designer purchase. Don't get me wrong though, there's a few pricier purchases that I've been less happy with, and plenty of drugstore items I've loved just as much, so it can be tricky to know when to splurge out, or when to save your pennies on a cheaper alternative. Here are my top higher end purchases that I've loved and would definitely make again.

My Dream Office Space

My desk space has been exactly the same since my husband & I moved in together almost six years ago. The only thing that's changed is the desks location after we moved house last year. I've been thinking for quite a while that it's time for a bit of a refresh, so I've been researching new decor ideas to made it look a bit more clean and crisp, and just generally more aesthetically pleasing! As I'll be going on maternity leave in a few weeks, who knows if this dream will become a reality any time soon, but I've picked a few more budget friendly options just in case!

Fuss Free Makeup Menu

What I'd give for an extra 15 minutes in bed sometimes! If I can get that, and sacrifice part of my makeup routine, then damn it I will! Luckily, I've got a great number of products in makeup stash that take minimal effort to apply, I can just quickly swipe on & go in no time at all. In fact, I'm loving my sleep so much at the moment (symptom of pregnancy I'm guessing) that this has become my go to makeup look, particularly on weekdays when getting out of bed becomes that little bit harder!

Current YouTube Favourites

I love YouTube. It's the perfect way to kill a few hours on a lazy afternoon, or to perk myself up when I'm not feeling too great. Quite often a YouTube marathon whilst laying in the bath will be a part of my pamper night routine. Whilst I also love reading blogs, I find watching a video is so much easier to do, it requires a lot less effort. I thought I'd share with you my current favourites, in case you're looking for any inspiration on channels to subscribe to. You'll see I'm still very much loving the vloggers at the moment.

Pregnancy Pamper With Sanctuary Spa

It's been said through most of my pregnancy, but especially now I'm into my third trimester, people keep telling me I need to relax (easier said than done when you're staring at an unfinished nursery, ahhh!). I bought the Sanctuary Mum To Be Ultimate Retreat Hatbox for my sister's birthday last year, as she was pregnant with my niece at the time, and thought it was a great little treat to receive when you're pregnant. You can imagine my delight then when I received my own for Christmas, and I got straight down to trying the products out for myself for a post-Christmas pamper & de-stress evening.

How To Beat The January Blues

So we've all dragged ourselves out of bed for the second working week of the year, when really all we want to do is lounge around at home eating the remains of our Christmas chocolate and watching our favourite Netflix series. The January Blues can hit some people really hard, and can be difficult to shift, especially whilst it's still cold and miserable outside. Here are ten things you can do to give yourself a boost at this time of year.

Winter Sales Haul

So in traditional fashion, I was straight online even before we'd got to Christmas Day seeing what bargains I could snap up in the winter sales. There wasn't a great deal I was after for myself, I have to admit most of the money I had aside for the sales went on clothes very my little boy - there were so many cute things around, particularly in the Asda sale - but I did pick of few of my own bits & bobs up that I thought I'd share with you.

Second Trimester Update

I feel like I've been pregnant for the longest time, yet I still can't believe that I am now here in my third trimester. My personal life was dealt a few blows during my second trimester, I even used to joke that my pregnancy was the only thing going right at the moment. Then a pretty nasty diagnosis a couple of weeks ago threw a spanner into the works there too! Still, I am determined to remain positive.

2017 Reading List

I think most years recently I've set myself a goal to read X amount of books by the time the next year comes around, and I've mostly failed with this! The thing is, I love books and I love to read, but I never seem to find the time to actually sit down and get lost in one. It could prove pretty challenging to get through a huge list of books once I've given birth, so I think setting myself a target just five for this year should be manageable, but of course I'd love to add a few more to the pile if I can.

Most Used Products Of 2016

I don't think I really made too many new beauty discoveries in 2016, certainly not compared to previous years anyway. For me, my priorities changed and I'd much rather have gone out and bought clothes & essentials for my unborn child, or more practical items, than lots of treats for myself (that's not to say I didn't every now & again!). For me, 2016 was more about discovering what worked for me beauty wise and then sticking with that, so there aren't many new launches as such within this post, though a few were new to me personally this year. So here's my run down of my most reached for products throughout 2016.

7 Things I'm Looking Forward To In 2017

Happy New Year everyone!! I hope you all had a great time celebrating last night, whatever you did, and you're not paying too much for it this morning! As you can imagine it was a bit more of a sober affair for me, just having a nice evening with my friends & husband, but it was still lovely.

I've seen loads of "Goals for 2017" posts popping up in my feed over the last few days. I did consider writing once of those myself, but I always end up looking back at the end of the year & realising I've barely done anything I set out to do, and my goals always end up being really samey. I think also with so many big changes coming up in my life this year already, I don't want to push myself into committing to anything else - I'm just going to take each day as it comes. Instead I decided to write a post about the things I know will be happening this year and that I absolutely can't wait for. 2017 is gonna kick 2016's ass!!