The Sunday Catch Up #46

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone! It's such a huge build up to the big day and now, just like that, it's all finished. Now it's that weird in-between Christmas and New Year time, which I really need to be making the most of instead of spending my days eating and napping.

I'm hoping to get some serious blogging done this week but I seem to always say that and then nothing much happens…I hope with the New Year coming this will give me a bit of a boost.

Anyway, back to Christmas. I had a really lovely time and got lots of lovely presents. Vince got me a new tablet, which is very naughty of him but also very nice of him. I've literally been using it non-stop every day since Christmas day, I love it! I also got lots of other nice bits and pieces such as pyjamas, notebooks, perfume and a beautiful new Zara bag (post coming soon!). I spent the day at my mum and dad's house as they were having my sister and my niece and nephew over as well as my nan. It was great to watch my niece and nephew open their presents, they were VERY excited!

We had a lovely Christmas dinner and then later in the evening Vince popped over after he'd finished work and had his Christmas dinner at his parent's house. He stayed for a little while and we then went to his parent's house so it was very busy but it involved lots of food, which is always good.

On boxing day I went to my parent's again and did more of the same and since then I've been popping back and forth, eating leftovers. That's definitely the best bit about Christmas, eating turkey everything for days and days after. Vince is currently making turkey soup for dinner, yum!

New Year's Eve is really not far away now and I will be doing what I've done every year for years and that's go to Vince's parents house for lots and lots of lovely food. We usually watch the fireworks at midnight and just generally have a nice, relaxed night!

How was your Christmas? Are you looking forward to New Year? Let me know in the comments.

Before you go, catch up on this week's posts:

Kirsty Allsopp Rose Bath Creamers Kit

Appleyard London 40 Rose Bouquet

Bomb Cosmetics Berry Christmas Gift Set

The Sunday Catch Up #45

Hello, happy Sunday everyone! The last Sunday before Christmas, I can't believe it. I've finally finished all my present buying and wrapping and everything is ready and under the tree. Vince hasn't finished his shopping yet but I am not getting involved in that argument again...

I have work tomorrow and Tuesday and then I'm off for 12 whole glorious days. I absolutely cannot wait. On Christmas Eve I don't have much planned. Vince is working from 1pm until 10pm and then we're going to midnight mass with his family so we will be having a bit of a late night, then on Christmas day we'll be waking up bright and early to open our presents before Vince goes to work.

I'm spending Christmas day at my mum and dads and Vince will be going to his parents once he's finished work, he'll then be coming to my mum and dad's in the evening and we'll both be going to his parents even later in the evening. It's all a bit complicated but it works for us. It's actually so annoying that he has to work on Christmas day as we've never actually been able to spend the entire day together and it always means we have to get up really early!

I am hoping that these next two days go pretty swiftly…on Christmas Eve I want to get the house tidied, even though no-one will be coming round. I just don't want to worry about having to clean when I could be stuffing my face with food. Once Vince goes to work I might pop to my mum and dad's and see what's going on!

Have you finished work for Christmas yet? How are you spending these last few days in the run up to the big day?

Before you go, catch up on the week:

Christmas gift guide: stocking fillers

Christmas gift guide: for bloggers

Festive nails

The Body Shop Christmas Wishes Giveaway

Christmas gift guide: for pets

The Sunday Catch Up #44

This week was a good one as I had just three days at work and Thursday and Friday off! On Thursday Vince and I went to Bristol to get some Christmas shopping done and unfortunately it was a huge fail. We both just had no idea what to buy anyone so were wondering aimlessly around the shops for hours, starving hungry at the same time. Luckily in the end we worked through it and were able to pick up a few presents but there are still some that Vince doesn't have yet, argh!

During our trip we also popped to Five Guys, which is a new American burger place that is slowly opening across the UK. I have to say I wasn't that impressed. The menu is hamburgers, cheese burgers or bacon or bacon and cheese burgers with various toppings, fries and drinks. The up side is they have loads of different flavours of coke, Fanta etc but other than that it was a bit of a let down. A bit of an overpriced Burger King if I'm honest, so I was a bit disappointed. Chips were good though!

On Friday I did a few bits and pieces that I can never usually get done during the week due to work. I also popped to town and picked up yet more presents and my Christmas shopping is finally complete…which means one thing, wrapping. I hate wrapping presents as I'm so rubbish at it but I'm trying to do it slowly, bit by bit, so it doesn't drive me completely crazy.

Yesterday and today have been pretty relaxed. Yesterday morning's lie-in was ruined though as Vince's car wouldn't start so I was up at 7am de-icing the car half in my PJs with my hair all over the place. Not fun. Unfortunately the car still isn't starting so we're not quite sure what's up with it. Vince is going to be biking it to and from work now when I can't give him a lift. Great time for the car to die to be honest, but that's always the way!

How has your weekend been?

Before you go, catch up on this past week's posts:
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Give the gift of pampering with Seascape

Yves Rocher Flowerparty By Night Eau de parfum

Christmas gift guide: For Her

The Sunday Catch Up #43

No Sunday catch up again last week, sorry about that, but I really didn't do anything interesting. This week I'm back with a few snaps from the week and as you can see, Christmas is in full swing. Pay day came and went and most of the money went straight on Christmas presents. I now have just a few bits and pieces to get.

Vince and I are planning on doing some Christmas shopping this coming Thursday as he has yet to get his family anything. Why is that always the way with boys? I can just tell we'll be wondering round the shops not being able to find anything!

Anyway, we got ourselves a new Christmas tree this year, one that is much thinner as the old one really stuck out too much. We got around to decorating it on Monday night. I came across the knitted Santa you can see in the picture - this is one of those decorations that's been in the family for years. I believe my Nan knitted it when I was little and some how I have come to have it so it sits pride of place at the top of the tree! Does anyone else have any decorations they use year after year?

Talking of decorations, most of ours are used year after year but last weekend I was browsing in Wilko's and came across their gorgeous range of decorations. I instantly went a bit mad and picked up loads of new baubles for our tree, which I thought looked really cute. Vince had other thoughts but oh well! You can see one of the bells above!

This coming week is a three day working week for me, so I'm really looking forward to it. As I mentioned Vince and I are going to go Christmas shopping and fingers crossed I can get some blogging done as well on the Friday. These are my last two days off before Christmas so once they're over with it will be work, work, work ready for a further 12 days off, oh yeh!

How has your week been? Before you go, why not catch up on the past two week's worth of posts?

Christmas gift guide for him

L'Oreal Paris Infallible Nail Polish

Christmas decoration wishlist

The best of the beauty crackers

The best of the beauty advent calendars

Makeup Revolution Ultra Blush Palette Golden Sugar

Introducing: Wild About Beauty

The Sunday Catch Up #42

Hello again! After a two week break (oops!), the Sunday catch up posts are back. I'm not quite sure why I didn't post for two weeks, but I wasn't really into it anymore and I wasn't taking many pictures of things or doing anything particularly interesting so I thought I would leave it until I actually had something to write about.

This morning I woke up with a terribly sore throat, which is pretty annoying. The one thing I can't stand about having a cold is the sore throat, it's just so irritating. Vince has actually been ill all week. I thought it might be developing into flu but I think he's on the mend now that he's passed the germs to me. Anyway, to help myself feel a bit better I took a little trip to Boots and actually ended up spending about £25, oops again.

I spent the morning on the sofa in my PJs watching Youtube videos and I watched Vivianna does Makeup's new video about what's in the likes of Boots and Superdrug at the moment and it just gave me the urge to shop so I got showered and dressed and headed out. Weirdly I actually found quite a few things - I think it really helps when you know the exact product you're looking for and while watching Anna's video I actually made a few notes of the things I wanted so I was able to go into the shop and pick up exactly what I needed. Luckily all of the cosmetics were on 3 for 2, woohoo!

I am going to spend the rest of the day getting some blog photos done if the light stays ok. I really need to stop wasting the weekends because the light disappears so quickly so my chances of getting some good photos are very slim. I actually have tomorrow off work so hopefully I'll get some more photos done then as well. I have quite a stack of products backing up so really need to get a move on and get planning some posts. I actually bought a wall planner/calendar yesterday ready for the New Year and to help with planning all of my posts. The next step is to sort the spare room and get myself a desk!

How have you been spending your weekend?

Catch up on the past two week's posts:

Faking a good night's sleep

Flossy Style Cervo Black Houndstooth Plimsolls

Herbal Essences Dry Shampoo Uplifting Volume

Makeup Revolution 'The One' Blush Sticks

The Sunday Catch Up #41

So my week off has been and gone and this past week I've been back at work and back to normality. Looking back the week has gone pretty quickly. On Tuesday evening Vince and I met up with a couple of friends from college and we went to a pub for dinner. The pub is new so it was really, really nice and the food was delish too. For some reason we had a touch of the giggles on the night so it was a pretty good night over all.

Yesterday Vince had a very, very rare day off. He literally never has a Saturday off so it was really nice to have a lie-in and then we headed to Bristol for a bit of shopping. I completely forgot I still had vouchers left over from my birthday so I picked up a new jumper with one of them. I didn't get much else to be honest, but it was nice just to be out of the house and actually do something. Admittedly I did come home and have an afternoon/early evening nap followed by trashy TV and a takeaway for dinner. Perfect!

Today has been a bit more of the same. I've spent most of the morning cleaning and now doing today's post. During my week off I scheduled all of this upcoming week's posts so I don't really need to do any photographing/blogging today, however I feel like I should incase next week's weather is bad. Talking about this upcoming week, I have a whole week of Halloween-themed posts coming and I'm really looking forward to seeing how they go down. The first one will be up tomorrow! There's a tiny sneak peek in the pictures above.

How has your week/weekend been? Let me know in the comments.

Before you go, catch up on this week's posts:

Lush Rose Jam Shower Gel

Barry M Super Chic Shadow & Primer Palette

Bioderma Hydrabio Moisturising Mask and Scrub

Barry M Starry Eyed Shadow & Blush Palette

The Sunday Catch Up #40

I can't believe my week off has come to an end. It's not gone too quickly thank goodness and I've definitely made use of the free afternoon nap time. On Monday it was my birthday and Vince got me a lovely bunch of roses, a new perfume (reviewed here) and vouchers for Topshop. He also took me shopping Bristol during the afternoon and out for a meal in the evening, which was lovely!

I also got a bunch of flowers from my nan and grandad, which are really lovely, and vouchers/money from friends/family. I've still got some vouchers left as I couldn't find anything when I was in Bristol so need to have a browse online. All in all I had a really nice day but I can't believe I'm 26 now, old lady!

On Wednesday I went to Bristol again with a friend I haven't seen for a while. We went for a bit of a look around and some lunch. I bought a few odd things but STILL have vouchers left, haha. It was a really nice day, despite the rain, and good to catch up too as it's been absolutely ages.

I also got quite a bit of blogging/photography done during the week too. Not as much as I planned so I'm going to have to get some done tomorrow as well, but I am planning a week's worth of Halloween-themed posts from the week commencing October 27 so keep an eye out for those. If you're a fan of the Cherry Pie Facebook page you might have already spotted some sneaky peeks.

From Wednesday onwards the week went a bit quicker than I liked. Yesterday I popped round to my nan's in the morning as she's just got a new puppy. He is a Yorkshire Terrier (I think), called Barney and he's so, so cute. He's so tiny as well, smaller than my cat! It really made me want a dog, although I know really that it's not a good idea at all, he was just so sweet and friendly.

Before I go I just wanted to thank all of you who have followed me as there's now more than 1,400 of you! I can't believe it! If you're not already following, why don't you?

And before you go, why not catch up on this wek's posts:

Lush Christmas 2014

Marc Jacobs Limited Edition Pink Honey

Lush No Drought Dry Shampoo

The Sunday Catch Up #39

Hi everyone! Happy Sunday. I am particularly loving this weekend because not only have I had Friday off but I also have the up coming week off work as well and…it's my birthday tomorrow!

On Friday I had to unfortunately buy my car a new tyre. While driving to work one morning I hit it rather hard on the kerb while trying to get out of the way of an ambulance and somehow I ripped a big chunk out of it. But now it's all sorted and I'm £45 down. Boo.

Yesterday was rather exciting as I popped to town with my sister and got myself a new tragus piercing, yay! I initially wanted a triple helix but it was a bit expensive so I went for this instead. I actually have a tragus piercing in my other ear and it's one of my favourite piercings and I absolutely love my new one too. It actually hurt more than my first tragus piercing did. It was mainly from the guy pulling the ear and trying to put the jewellery in but it was over pretty quickly. Since then it's not really hurt much and I've even been able to lay on it in bed, I just hope it heals nicely and quickly. I am already planning to get the triple helix on my next pay day.

This morning I was going to go to the car boot sale but when it came to 7am I just didn't want to get out of my bed so I gave it a miss. Instead I've had a pretty relaxed morning of laptop time, cleaning the bathroom and sorting my wardrobe out. Hopefully I'm going to get some blog photos taken today ready for the upcoming week.

As I'm now off work for a week I want to really get my bum in gear with my blog. I'm planning a Halloween extravaganza of posts but they're going to take quite a bit of time - keep your fingers crossed for good photographing weather for me!

As I mentioned, tomorrow is my birthday and I actually have a dentist appointment at 9.30am. Fun times. After that I will probably do a few bits and pieces and come back and do some more blogging. I don't really have much else planned for the week except on Wednesday when I am going to Bristol with a friend. I think we're just going to have a bit of a mooch around and probably get some food. I haven't seen her in ages so it will be nice to catch up.

Has anyone else noticed how autumnal it's become recently? Last weekend was pretty warm but this past week has been cold, cold, cold. I've been snuggling under my blanket every night and lighting my lovely candles!

What have you been up to this weekend? Got much planned for the week ahead?

Before you go, catch up on the week's posts:

Zoella Beauty Soak Opera and Bath Fizz

Collection Little Mix Love All About The Eyes Palette

Bedroom Wishlist

Essence All About Nude Eyeshadow

The Sunday Catch Up #38

So this week has been a tad different as I've been staying at my mum and dad's house to look after the dog while they've been on holiday. The week didn't go as quick as I thought it would, it went pretty slow and was a bit rubbish as well to be honest. It's been really weird to stay in mum and dad's house again after moving out just over two years ago.

I now wonder how I ever coped living here as I do a few things differently at my own house. There's barely any mirrors for a start, just one big one in the living room and teeny bathroom cabinet. At home I have full length mirrors to do my morning routine in so it's been really weird trying to adapt. I've had to try and remember to give the dog his medication everyday (you'll be glad to hear I did remember) and I've had to walk him every day as well. Usually when I get home from work I slump on the sofa infront of the TV and my laptop but this week I've had to give the dog some exercise. It's actually been quite nice going on little walks, it really stretches my own legs after being sat down at work all day.

I have missed being at home though. I've missed Vince (of course!) and Charlie. I've had to ring Vince every morning to make sure he gets up for work - that was really weird as I used to have to do this when we didn't live together, so it took us both back a bit! He's been coming round every evening for dinner, which I've had to cook I must add. Mum and dad left us lots of food and it doesn't even look like we've eaten any of it, oops.

This morning I've been cleaning, hoovering and took the dog out. Now I'm just waiting for mum and dad to get back. Their flight gets in at 10:45 so they should be back a little after that. The dog has been missing them like crazy, he's currently sitting looking out of his window, waiting for their van to arrive. Not long now!

This week coming I am only working four days as I have holiday booked - yipee! I say this everytime but I want to get caught up on my blogging during the week. I really need to 'step up my game' as it were. The blogging game has really changed over the past year or so, blogs are becoming more like online magazines these day. Not that I'm saying I want to start an online magazine, I just want to revamp my content a bit!

This afternoon I need to get some blog photos taken actually. Luckily the weather is pretty perfect, no blazing sunshine and no rain. Fingers crossed it stays that way so I can take some snaps.

Catch up on the week just gone:

Barry M Autumn/Winter 2014 Silk nail paints

Bathroom Wishlist

What have you been up to this week?

The Sunday Catch Up #37

I must have written this post about three times now. I've had one of those days where I've been really unmotivated and moody. I think it's because I didn't sleep very well last night, but I tried taking some blogging photos and just got really annoyed with myself because I couldn't get the perfect shot.

So instead I decided not to bother as I don't want to make it a chore. I did manage to snap some photos of some nail polishes and I've written up another wishlist post so I think those will suffice for the upcoming week. I really don't want blogging to become something I don't enjoy and it slowly is becoming that so when I have a day like today I'd rather not do it at all and take a break. Hope you understand.

Anyway, enough moaning. My mum and dad went on holiday today so I've moved into their house for a week to look after the dog. It's going to be really weird being back after living in my own place. I'm not really sure how Vince and I are going to work things out like eating dinner etc but I'm sure it'll be fine and I expect the week will fly by. The poor dog is already wondering where they've gone though!

How has your week been?

The Sunday Catch Up #36

What a lovely relaxing end to the week I've had. I actually had Thursday and Friday off work as on Thursday it was Oscar's first birthday! I can't believe he's one already, it's gone super fast. My sister put on a lovely little family party with a monster theme as you can see from the monster cupcake. Oscar got lots of trucks, fire engines and cars for his birthday - proper boys toys!

On Friday I was aiming to have a full on day of blogging but I ended up spending most of it sleeping on the sofa. I'm not sure why I was so tired as I didn't go to bed late at all, but when Vince came home from work we kind of both just slumped down on the sofa and fell asleep so I only actually got one blog photo taken. Oops.

Luckily I spent the majority of Saturday catching up and taking loads of pics as today I'm off to Woking. My mum's side of the family is getting together to scatter/bury my great nan and grandad's ashes so we probably won't be back until later, meaning there wouldn't be time for blogging.

What have you been up to this week?

The Sunday Catch Up #35

I realised this morning that the only photos I've taken this week are make-up/nail polish related so apologies for that. However, this week I did feature my absolute new favourite collection from Barry M. If you missed it, check it out here. This week I've been wearing the grey and yellow combination and I absolutely love, love, love it!

Anyway...As usual the week has been pretty quiet, Vince has been home later than normal every day this week just gone so I've had to make my own dinners, which I'm really not used to anymore!

Yesterday I popped to my nans in the morning with my dad, sister and neice and nephew, which was nice. It was actually the fifth anniversary of my grandad passing away, which has gone so quickly, I can't quite believe it's been so long. Obviously we always go to see nan and take her some flowers - she was over run by flowers! I took her a bunch of roses and my sister took her some massive, lovely sunflowers and then my dad got her two bunches - she had so many that she didn't have enough vases for them. Hopefully they cheered her up a bit.

I spent the afternoon having a nap (obviously) and then headed to the park with my mum, dad, neice and nephew and the dog before Vince and I went to our friend's for the evening. We had lots of food and a few too many drinks. Vince actually has the day off today, which is so rare! I'm currently waiting for him to go to the shop to buy something for breakfast, I can't wait! Yum yum!

Next week I only have a three day week! I have Thursday off because it's my nephew, Oscar's first birthday! I can't believe he's going to be one! I've got him a toot toot drivers airport, which connects to a car garage he's got - hopefully he'll like it. I decided to book Friday off as well…just because! It's always nice to have week days off, there's something extra special about it!

What have you been up to this week?

Before you go, catch up on the posts that went live this week:

Barry M Autumn/Winter 2014 gelly nail paints

The Steamcream Face Challenge

Bee Good Vanilla & Honey Lip Balm

Lush Yuzu & Cocoa Bubbleroon

The Sunday Catch Up #34

So that's one week of September done! I still can't believe we're into the last few months of the year, I am already looking forward to Christmas!

I've felt much better this week after being ill previously. The honey and lemon with blackcurrant worked such a treat that I've even been drinking it when I've been well because it's so tasty.

This week has flown by as usual. I've not done much after work in the evenings really, which is such a waste as I could probably be getting on with some blogging or something. I definitely need to make the most of my evenings more often. Have you noticed how it's getting darker earlier and earlier? I think it was dark at around 8pm the other day!

Yesterday I spent the morning doing a few chores like picking up parcels, doing a bit of shopping. I also popped to Homebase with Vince to pick up some pots and compost to plant up some bulbs. I know I said I wouldn't bother trying to grow anything again because everything always goes wrong, dies or doesn't grow at all but I wanted to have a go at planting some bulbs. I bought some Hyacinths and Tulips because they are some of my favourite and it would be great to be able to grow my own. We'll see how it goes come the spring…I might try my hand at growing tomatoes and beans again. It's a bit of a pain because I don't really have much in the way of borders in my garden and the earth is really hard and full of stones, not good for growing in so I have to do most of it in pots and grow bags. If you know of anything idiot-proof that I could grow, let me know!

I'm hoping to get my blogging head on today. I really want to get an outfit post shot as I was sent a tshirt to feature but I'm just not sure what to wear it with! I find shooting outfit photos around 5pm is a good time to do as otherwise I get alsorts of awful sunlight streaming through them or I'm squinting because the sun's in my eyes, no matter which area of the garden I shoot! I wish I could do more outfit photos but my wardrobe isn't particularly interesting to be honest. If I bought clothes more often I might be able to do more and be more adventurous with my locations - maybe it could be a resolution for the New Year!

Before I go I just wanted to let you know that this week I was featured on a little thing put together by Yahoo Lifestyle, who featured a range of beauty bloggers talking about their August beauty favourites. Check it out here.

Also before I go…I finished Game of Thrones this week - ahhh! I need series 5 to hurry up. Has anyone else watched it?

Let me know in the comments what you've been up to this week and what you have planned for next.

Catch up on the week:

Lush Catastrophe Cosmetic Face Mask

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette