Friday 30 December 2011

Hey There Lonely Girl

Let's start off with some New Years Resolutions.

1. Make full use of my gym membership
2. Try to do more reading for my degree
3. Stop buying impulse drugstore makeup - save up and buy something you love!
4. Get a hold on blogging regularly

2012 means a new start, something that everyone could use once in a while and something I'm looking forward to. I've done such a lot in 2011, I feel like 2012 could be even better than this year.

Since my blog has been a little lonely recently, I thought I'd show some pictures from memorable times in the last couple of months.

Images 1,2,3 - Our 1 year anniversary
Images 4,5,6 - A trip to London. We ate takeaway on the streets on Bonfire night, shopped too much and ate too well.
Images 7,8 - Our lovely Bunny CoCo, she gets cuter every day
Images 9,10 - Spending time with Alex, whether eating out (Piccolino's for reference) or staying in with comfort food and a good film (The Grinch ;))
Images 11-16 - A christmas trip to York with my Mum. We stayed at the Cedar Court Grand Hotel and spent a wonderful day in the spa, before hitting the shops, and a tour of York Minster on the following day
Images 17,18 - Spending time at home, and seeing friends from home. (Megan and Walter)

I havent included any Christmas pictures in this post, as I'm afraid I'm guilty of not being snap happy this Christmas! Hopefully Alex will have some and I'll remember the camera on New Years Eve.

Christmas was amazing, my family go all out for the festive season. Our home is always beautiful (I'll get some pictures before I go back to Leeds!) and the atmosphere is so wonderful. I feel so lucky.

I also got to meet Alex's extended family for the first time, who were also so lovely and welcoming. All in all I've had an amazing Christmas, an amazing year, and I can't wait to see what 2012 holds!

Lea x

Sunday 23 October 2011

Another Perspective [1]


Sometimes I feel that it's easy to forget that more isn't always a good thing.
I've seen a few skincare videos and blog posts floating around of late, and it's really got me thinking.
I really seem to have a very simple skincare routine, but my skin is something I get complemented on quite frequently. For me, less is definitely more.

{Desperately need to pinch Alex's camera! My iPhone just doesn't cut it}

The photo above shows everything I use on my face, bar my sunscreen.

My daily skincare ritual is really simple:

Morning:
1. I wash my face and use my Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser. It removes any excess oils or dirt that may have built up overnight, and generally wakes me up. The reason I opted for the Vitamin E version was for two reasons; firstly, I prefer the texture of this one to the Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser; and secondly, I really see the benefits that Vitamin E products bring to my skin.
2. I apply my moisturiser (Vitamin E)
3. I apply my eye cream (Vitamin E) - I use mine to moisturise and protect, it's not anti-ageing.
4. I apply my sunscreen

Then I'm done for the morning, and ready to put my makeup on.

Evening:
1. I take my makeup off with a makeup wipe, I swear by Jhonsons Dreamy Skin but they're always so hard to find. I stock up when I spot them.
2. I cleanse with my Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser
3. I use my moisturiser
4. I use my eye cream

The secret for me, in keeping my skin in good condition are the little extra steps I take twice a week.

1. I exfoliate using St.Ives scrub every 3/4 days
2. I use an anti blemish, or a refining mask once a week.
3. Once a fortnight I steam my face using a Lush Vitamin E/C toner tab (not shown)

I really enjoy using all of these products, they never let me down, and if it aint' broken, why fix it?

Lea
x

Friday 21 October 2011

Oh Sinnerman, Where You Gonna Run To?


This weekend Alex and I are making the trip back to her parent's home.
It's always nice to have some home cooked food, and tonight we should hopefully (finally) learn to play poker.


On a side note, I'm completely falling in love with jazz and blues again. Nina Simone and Billie Holiday absolutely blow my mind. I need to buy a record player to have in our home. My other one is too large, it's a vintage Bang & Olufsen and is stored at my parents home.

Lea
x

Thursday 20 October 2011

Never give up, it's such a wonderful life [no.2]



{Apple pie and cream whilst reading blogs on a cold rainy night}


I can't believe how fast time flies, the nights are closing in ever quicker and it seems that every time I step out of my front door the cold wind bites that bit harder.
This will, however, always be one of my favourite times. The darker, romantic evenings, the comfort of walking into a warm cosy home after a hard day. Comfort food and the return of a good hot chocolate.

Halloween is coming up, and a trip to London to celebrate bonfire night, along with our anniversary. There seems to be so much colour and warmth in our lives at the moment.

You'll see that we have a new addition to our little family. She's called CoCo, and she's a dwarf lionhead. She brings us so much happiness and laughter. It's hard to imagine the times when we would be covered up under blankets before bed, watching or listening to something to pass the time without little CoCo being sat at our feet.


{A fluffy friend who reminds me of a lovely day trip to Chester Zoo, with a present of my favourite sweets}


{Little CoCo. Incidentally the easiest animal I have ever litter trained!}

Lea
x

Sunday 11 September 2011

Never give up, it's such a wonderful life [no.1]


This week Alex and I decided to go out at night on a whim and see what happened. Leeds is such a vibrant place, there's always something going on. We had no plan, we hopped on a bus and wandered around the city. We decided to head down to the docks to Brewery Wharf, and ended up sat by the water in a bar/restaurant called Oracle. We had gourmet burgers which were amazing, mine was chicken bacon and avocado, and french martini cocktails. As the week progressed on, I discovered a love of a childhood favourite of mine once more, white chocolate Rice Crispie cakes. They're so easy, just melt a quarter of a tub of butter and a packet of marshmallows in a pan, stir in Rice Crispies and then once they've been off the heat for 5 minutes, stir in white chocolate chips. They're amazing after 5 more minutes, sticky and warm. My final craving at the moment is a rabbit, the one in the picture is my rabbit from my parents home. He's so so old now, and I'd love to adopt a new bunny to have with me in my new house.




Lea x

Wednesday 3 August 2011

My Week So Far

This week seems to have been completely hectic, and it's only tuesday! I am however counting from Sunday, so please forgive me. Most of it so far has been filled with redecorating my room in Leeds, I wish I had taken a before and after shot, but when it's finished I'll post a picture of the end result. Lets just say so far, 2 days of solid hard work are paying off, it's so much cleaner and brighter when you introduce white gloss paint and magnolia, rather than the entire matt emulsion mess that covered every surface before, (light switches and doorhandles included). A lot of hard work has gone in to it so far and I'm only half done.

I can't even begin to put it into words how awful I'm finding being away from Alex so constantly. I just can't sleep on my own and my parents seem to have no notion of it whatsoever. I"m getting too tired.

This weekend will mark Alex's 22nd birthday and we will be celebrating in Leeds, so that will hopefully give me a little respite.

Lea .x

Friday 22 July 2011

Who says romance is dead?

Today I'm driving up to Alex's parents to stay with her while she house sits for them. I can't wait to get away and spend some proper quality time together, it's always so peaceful when it's just the two of us. We don't have very much planned, other than a picnic in the Lake District on Sunday. I'm just looking forward to long lazy days and nights together, lie-ins, good food and good conversation.

Lea x

Wednesday 20 July 2011

My Life

At the moment, interior design seems to have taken over my life. Alex and I have just moved to the last shared flat that we will have. I'm sort of sad about that, but to be honest, I can't wait for it to be just the two of us.
This will be the first room we've moved into together, as last year I moved into Alex's place where she was already living. It definitely had her own stamp on it, and while I really don't want that to go away, I'm excited to get my hands on a project to help pass away summer. Sure, it's a small rented room, but it's light and neutral with huge built in wardrobes and a wood floor, so it'd be a shame to waste it.

I want most of it to be white/antique white, but with romantic colours such as a soft pink for the accents. The main focus for me will be the bed, it's where we spend a lot of evenings, cuddled up with a bottle of wine, or listening to the rain hitting the window on a winter morning. It's a romantic place, and somewhere we gravitate to; I think it might always be that way. Nice quality bedding, with throws and pillows makes it special, it's a luxury I feel is worth the investment.

I've been drawing inspiration from these pictures:






Lea x