December Favs -- & What have I been up to?

Hello everyone.

Sorry that I have been long time no speak. Quite a lot has gone on over the last few months and I have not wanted to share this on here. And as a result I have had a lot less time than usual.

I have moved house, Set up a flat from scratch, I work in a Online Retail store so Christmas is mental. Started a candle business, and if thats not enough generally been quite stressed and busy.

Product wise I am loving the xmas season colours from Sensationail. Loving Going for the Rose Gold. 

This is a quite neutral colour but has a lovely pink undertone and shimmer. (im not going to say glitter) Great for the festive season, but I shall be using this all year round I think.

I am loving my Iced Snowberries Partylite Candles still. I got an advent calendar this year with 24 taillights in. And I love when it is an iced snowberries day. It makes me feel all wintery.

I have added to my Body Shop Pink Grapefruit collection. I now have the big pump top shower gel, the body sorbet, and finally got my hands on the body mist. I do recommend however if you can get to the outlet stores version, I bought 3 products for £16 instead of the body mist for £8 shower gel for £8 and sorbet for £8.

I my loving my Tassimo machine, As well as wanting to be able to offer any guests a coffee I am loving the speed of using this to make hot water for tea, and experimenting with the variations of Hot chocolate available. I received 2x £10 voucher which bought a lot of pods. I have seen since the purchase of mine lots are on sale, I would suggest maybe getting one ordered in the post xmas sales.

Speak Soon

Nicola

New Month New Start.

Hey, Me again
I have recently had a massive change, I am going to aim to restart blogging fully in the new year.
I have a few posts written and scheduled for in December.

I feel like I am letting you down a little at the minute. However I am Pencilling in a few hours a week for planning and writing.

I have recently taken on a part time job which has affected my spare time in an evening. Which was my ideal blog writing plan time.

Speak soon (nov favs i think)

Nicola

Appreciate the little things:

Appreciate the little things:

Over the last week a lot of things have changed in my personal life. (Im not going to broadcast the ins and outs of this online.) However it has made me realise not to take anything for granted. Find what makes you happy, and work with that.

If something you are doing is making you unhappy or ill, you need to realise this and work towards and end goal to help make you better. That end result may not be easy, and could hurt others along the way. But as long as you think about it and take your time deciding what is the best outcome. Then you will get there in the end. 

It could be a massive leap of faith to believe in yourself and go for it. It doesn't have to be an entire life change. Just I have realised that you need to take a step back from your day to day life and see what doesn't seem to be working, and fix it.

However you do need to be appreciative of others and their feelings. Just because something may seem obvious to you, other people could be affected by the result. Take the time to think things through, talk to people for support if you need it and don't rush into anything. 

I know this may seem a little cryptic, but I hope the message I am aiming for gets through.

Speak Soon

Nic

October Favourites 2014

October Favourites:

Yet another month has flown by. In October I had been keeping myself to myself and loving easy home comforts. Keeping warm and wrapped up, loving simple surroundings.

Bath: I am still loving my lush the comforter bath bar. This month I have had an excama breakout. Therefore using the comforter and my prescribed medication. My skin is slowly healing and is feeling nourished in the process.

Food: The slow cooker is working wonders, simply throw in everything in a morning and leave on. Therefore a yummy smelling house and about 3 days worth of food sat waiting for you. Recently I have been making, a spanish style chicken stew. With chicken, chorizo and tomatoes. This is a very yummy warming dish. Costing about £6 but giving 4 big portions from one pot. Best to tub up and freeze for extra meals.

Life: I have just become a PartyLite Consultant. I went into this not planning on going out to the parties and being and online only consultant. With my knowledge of social media and blogging. I have had some success with this and it is early days. However I have had my eyes opened to the world of the parties. It is a good place for me to get out of the house for a few hours, have some me time, and be surrounded by yummy scented candles. If you wanted to know more information have a look at my website: www.NicolaWatson.partylite.co.uk I love candles, and now is a good opportunity to do something for me and sell them and make some pocket money in the process. 

Work: This is the quiet season for Photography, I am working hard on my website and the back end systems to hopefully help kick start a great 2015 and get plenty of bookings in the diary. I love wedding photography, I hope one day I can do this full time. However right now I just wish I could do it more often.

Friends: This month I have been in contact with a few friends who I may not have seen or spoken to in a while. I am very appreciative of the support I have gained, especially over the phone. It is amazing how a simple text message can help brighten your day if you are feeling lousy. I want to make a conscious effort to contact all of the true friends in my phonebook at least once a week. 

This month I have really understood this quote:

I feel that November is going to be a big month for me. (the first week has already seen a massive change - I will share this at some point) I just want to work on myself, get my mind and body healthy and work towards being the best I can be, in all aspects of my life.

What have you been loving?

Speak Soon

Nic

Autumn - Winter 2014 Home Comforts:

As the nights draw in an the weather starts to change this is when I find a change in the weather really changes my mood. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that I will share to try and help the transition from summer to Autumn / Winter.

Clothes: I am always cold! even in the summer I am reaching for jumpers and cardigans, which means that I will have plenty of supplies around. But this also means If I'm cold in the summer how cold do I feel in the winter. This year when I bought some new clothes I also purchased long sleeve jersey T-shirts. They are ideal for layering up under blouses and jumpers to take away the chill. Also I love my boots, so simple to pair up with jeans and more stylish than pulling on my trainers.

Bedding: So far this year I am holding off turning the heating on. I have however found that swapping out the cotton bedding, and swapping for a jersey material really does help keep me warm. Even with the same tog duvet it does take away the chill. The only problem is trying to get up and out of bed is even harder as its snuggly and warm.

Food: This is when the slow cooker appears out of the cupboard and the stews, casseroles and other yummies start to be eaten. I am trying at present to be very conscious about the amount of wheat and flour I am having in my diet. Putting lots of meat and vegetables with a controlled mix of herbs and spices is a good way for this. All of the contents are known, and it makes it a lot cheaper making them at home. I make too much and batch it up and freeze for lunches and teas another day. I have asked for a certain chefs cook book for xmas about comfort food :-)

Relaxing: You all know I love my candles, but this is when I love to light one and sit by the soft glow. It helps me to feel relaxed and at ease. I have recently been loving my unscented candles. Or one particular candle that I purchased at my place of work. However I have just taken on a new part time role that I am going to love, which will involve selling candles!! ideal job for me I think :-)

There are 2 bad things about this time of the year and I am really not looking forwards to them over the next few weeks. I don't like the dark at the best of time however right now is worse. Due to the fact of I don't like people coming to my door when they are unexpected, and I am scared of masks and items that cover the face such as face paint and prosthetics. Therefore Halloween is not a good time at all for me. Therefore this year will as per every year involve, being home on the top floor, with the curtains closed and TV and music on so loud that I cannot hear the door. Im not a scrooge, I usually leave a sign out and a bag of sweets for people to take.

My other worse fear are fireworks, I hate the loud noises, and how you do not know when you expect them to go off. I jump out of my skin, and I hate the noise. Again this is a night where there curtains are closed and the TV is on. One thing with fireworks are they don't just go off on 5th of November, sometimes the weekend before, or after, and then random nights between then and new year.

What helps you to feel better at this time of the year? I would love to know as I may try them.

Speak soon

Nic

Where have I been?

You may have noticed I have been a little quiet for a few weeks. As you are aware we are all human and sometime things happen in your daily life that can take over a situation.

I am not going to publicly divulge this to everyone who can read this blog and go in depth of what has been happening. However all you need to know is I'm safe and well.

Over the next few weeks and months there will be changes happening, some of which I will post about on here and show happening. Some will be kept quiet behind closed doors.

I totally missed a September Favorites post and it seems a little strange posting this mid October. However a couple of things I had been loving are:

Lush bath items, I went to lush for the first time, amongst other items I picked up “the comforter” this pink creamy bubble bar is amazing. Smells like the sweets refreshers, makes your water pink and makes my sin feel amazing afterwards. I have loads left but will repurchase.

Kirkland Face wipes, I have a Costco membership and went a few months ago. I know face  wipes are not always thought of as being the best way to remove makeup, but when its a day of a wipe or don't do it, then I though a wipe would be better. I used to use simple wipes due to sensitive skin, but they were working out expensive. I bought this box from Costco of their own brand, it was £3 for a big box including 3 full size packs and 2 travel packs. They are not scented as such as say suitable for all skin, however they do smell of aloe vera and chamomile. They have not brought me out in a rash and remove waterproof mascara easily.

I think thats it for now, I will be back soon.

Nic

I have finally been to Lush

My First Trip To Lush:

This week I was very lucky to go shopping with a friend and we ended up popping past lush. I had mentioned before that I loved the smell of the shop and had never been in. So we popped in. I was amazed by all of the various items that were available. I never realised there could be so many options. 

I sent a quick tweet to a blogger friend of mine for suggestions (who didn't let me down as ever) as I was a little stumped as to what to get. 

I got a few things from most sections to try out. 

So far I have used some of the comforter bubble bar. A little goes a long way, so I will have this for ages. This smells like refreshers and is best of all pink! I used this in my bath and it felt so creamy and smelled even better in the water. And I know it may be the child in me but I have never had a pink bath before. I was careful when picking that i didn't get anything glittery and the shop assistant told me which things to avoid due to my sensitive skin. After the bath in this my skin felt soft smooth and nourished.

The other items I have chosen but have not used yet are:

I am looking forwards to trying everything. I just need to get a storage tin now for them all. Not that I don't love the smell of my bathroom right now with them sat in the bag.

I think I will be treating myself to a few more items, and I may now have a new set of things to ask for at xmas and birthdays.

What other Lush items would you all recommend?

Speak Soon

Nicola