Blog of the Month

This month’s blog of the month is The Clothes Horse.

I have to confess that I only found this blog a few weeks ago but I’m already hooked.  With her cute hairstyle and quirky yet cool style I have become somewhat addicted to this blog.  Oh and to top it all off her pictures are just amazing, the girl appears to be some sort of whizz with a camera... me jealous? No never...

Here’s a bit of a glimpse into this lady’s wonderful style:

Please check out her blog here and let me know if you love it as much as I do!

p.s. Don’t forget to follow me on twitter and you can now find me on WIWT.

Love,

A New Addition

You may have noticed that I didn’t do my usual once every other day post towards the end of last week and over the weekend, and there was one very good reason for this.  It’s this little man:

 

George Jenson (Yup, I gave him a middle name), is now 9 weeks old, and as cute as a button.  He is an English Bulldog puppy, and will one day look something like this:

Image taken from: petplanet

Now, I know he isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but to me, he is the most gorgeous little thing and I just love bulldogs.  As is the case with similar breeds, their appearance says nothing about their character, as Bulldogs are one of the most gentlest dogs you could ever hope to meet and absolutely love human company.  They’re great with kids and other animals and just generally wouldn’t hurt a fly.

If your after a dog to go on long walks with or a running buddy then they probably aren’t for you, but mr George will fit in a treat in our household, a little walk every morning and evening will do him just fine.

I love animals, and I honestly think that a home isn’t complete without them, and as we now have our one toothed cat Peggy and the newest addition George, I think that everything is now just as it should be in our little home.

So far he is settling in well and has been absolutely amazing, especially with the lovely task of housetraining haha!  I can’t wait to be able to take him on walks, but as he hasn’t had his second set of vaccinations yet he has to stay at home... lucky thing!  But until then I can start to teach him the good old basics of sit etc so he can be the best damn bulldog in town!

 

I’m sure George will become a regular character on this blog, this way I can make sure I’m taking loads of photos of him and can watch him grow up.

Awwwwwww, little George!

Peace out,

Maybelline Dream Touch Blusher: A Review

As regular readers will have seen (or on the off chance you had a little look at my blog a week or so ago), I went crazy in the makeup isle of boots.  No, not actual crazy, I wasn’t carted off covered in makeup, with nail varnish all over my face and chewing on a lipstick, I just splurged on their 3 for 2 offer and got myself some new makeup... See wasn’t that bad!  You can have a little look at what I bought here.

Anywho, one of my purchases was this Dream Touch Blusher by Maybelline.  

I love Maybelline products, as a complete tight ass, I think they are proper value for money!  You could spend so so much on makeup products, but when the likes of Maybelline and Rimmel are making such good quality ones at low prices why would you waste your money?

Right, so I love blusher, and normally I tend to wear powder, but now I am totally converted!  This cream blush goes on like a dream (the name therefore appears fitting), it has a creamy, some might say greasy texture, but it doesn’t feel like that on your face.  When applying I like to start off light and build up the layers slowly, and given that it’s a cream you have better control over where exactly the product will be applied to.

I use my ring finger to apply as I find I have more control over the product, and gives just the right pressure to work it in.

I have picked 07 Plum, as I prefer the slightly darker shade of this in comparison to the other ones available and think the colour compliments my skin tone (if I do say so myself).   The colour is highly pigmented so you don’t need to use loads of the stuff and has a really gentle shimmer which gives a very pretty look and feel about it.

Usually with powder blush I tend to find it wears off throughout the day, but with this lovely little product, it has great staying power and lasts as long as I want it to.  Naturally, it’s not magic and it’s not miracle stuff so it will wear off eventually but compared to other products I’ve tried I think it’s really well lasting.

Recently, I’ve been applying this blush and then using a tad of my normal powder blush over the top just to blend it a bit better, and then a touch of Collection Shimmer Shades highlighter (which I also got in my Boots buys), to give that perfect rosy cheeked look.  Ahhh, I do love a bit of blush... or a lot of blush in my case...

Overall I would say that I utterly love this blush and wear it on a daily basis, it is a beautiful colour and lasts all day... what more could you want!?!  Thank you Maybelline!

p.s. Don’t forget to follow me on twitter and you can now find me on WIWT.

Love love love,

Dream Destinations: Far and Away

So I’m now having withdrawal symptoms from sunshine, and with no big holidays booked there doesn’t seem to be much to look forward to.  God that sounds depressing, I sound a bit suicidal there, don’t panic, I’ll just cheer myself up by planning another holiday. 

I certainly wouldn’t consider myself well-travelled, I haven’t visited many countries, so I feel I have a lot to catch up on, and therefore, I need to squeeze in as many holiday destinations within the next few years, before I squeeze out any children...  The list is most definitely endless which makes it very difficult to select exactly where I will be jetting off to next, so I figured I would make a nice list of my dream destinations that one day I will most certainly visit.

So this people, is my (not comprehensive) list of dream destinations.

China

Picture Taken from travel-direct

A rather large place I know, therefore, I think the only way I could appreciate and take in as much as possible of this country is through a tour, sounds like a plan stan!  There is so much that appeals to me about China, I know there is so much to learn about the culture and history of this place that I get excited about even thinking of going there. 

New York

                

Picture taken from citybreakusa

Ah the city that never sleeps!  However, given the amount of things to do and see here, it is quite likely that you will be extremely knackered, and even if the city isn’t sleeping, I most certainly would be by the end of the day.  I don’t  know where to start when describing all these things I want to do here, but despite all the sightseeing I would definitely have to squeeze in some shopping, is there a more perfect trip? 

Las Vegas

                   

Picture taken from lasvegas360

I’m no gambler, but come on, in Las Vegas you would have to give it a go!  I don’t think I have to justify any reasons why this is a dream holiday destination, it’s no picture perfect beach holiday but it sure as hell looks fun.

Vietnam

Picture taken from intrepidtravel

To be fair, I really really would love to visit Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, however, I thought it would be a bit excessive to list of all these, so I have chosen the country that if I had to, HAD TO, pick this is it.  Thailand seems to becoming a popular holiday destination and it is for this reason that Vietnam is my front runner instead, as I would prefer to visit somewhere that is unspoilt by tourism.

Australia

Picture taken from 3ds

It’s about as far away as you can get before you start coming back, but that doesn’t deter me, I would still love to visit Australia.  Having previously had a bit of a taste of scuba diving and absolutely 100% loving it, I can’t think of anywhere better than the great barrier reef to do some more, I can’t imagine how beautiful it must be (I’m a wee bit obsessed with the sea, or more importantly, what’s in there!). 

St Lucia

Picture taken from nautibuoytoo

Ever since primary school, and completing a topic on this beautiful island I have wanted to visit.  Obviously all the Caribbean islands are beautiful, and I would quite happily give my right arm (not literally, please no offers, I use it on a daily basis) to visit any one of them, however, St Lucia, to me, looks particularly idyllic.

Kenya

Picture taken from telegraph

There’s one massive attraction with Kenya for me, and that is safari!  We’ve all been to zoo’s and seen some wonderful animals, which otherwise we may never see in our lives.  However, myself, I absolutely love animals and it seems like an absolute dream to see these animals in the wild in their natural habitat, undisturbed by interfering humans.  I always say that when you go on excursions on holiday, especially those that involve animals, that it somehow never seems real, and always feels staged, which I guess in some ways it is.  However, with a safari, nothing is staged, your just merely a spectator watching wild animals, and I personally couldn’t think of anything better.

Where are your dream destinations?  Does your wish list look anything like mine?  Let me know :)

p.s. Don’t forget to follow me on twitter and you can now find me on WIWT.

Bewsh,

Goa: Just a Glimpse

So March is now long gone and therefore, so has my holiday, booooooooooo!

So I figure, having now had a bit of a taste of India, I would give you a bit of a glimpse into my holiday, likes/dislikes, my general impressions of the place and any tips that I have to share....  It’s good to share... or at least that’s what my mammy always taught me.

Our Holiday

Right, so we stayed at the Ronil Beach Hotel in Baga in north Goa, which is good in India standards (different to the UK!), but generally probably a 2 star.  For us it was ideal, it was in the centre of town and surrounded by restaurants and shops and the perfect location if you’re after something similar to our holiday.  Despite the fact it was a 2 star the hotel was a fairly good standard and at the end of the day I do think a hotel is just a base, unless of course you’re staying somewhere where it’s just not possible to leave the hotel on a regular basis.

 Ronil Beach Hotel

I’m not really a big lounging about kind of person, don’t get me wrong, I do like a bit of a lie around the pool or on the beach every now and again, but generally I get soooo bored.  So during our trip we done a bit of exploring and a lot of walking up and down the beach which can take you into a number of the different towns which lie along the coast.

While we were there we also went on some excursions, two of which were booked through Thompson (who we booked our holiday through), and one through a local company (John’s Boat Trips).  These excursions were:

Mumbai Express: One day sightseeing trip to Mumbai with an overnight journey back to Goa.  I’ll go into this trip a bit more later.

 

Elephant and Spice Excursion

Elephant and Spice Excursion

 Elephant and Spice Excursion

Elephant and Spice Excursion

Elephant and Spice: A trip to a spice farm and ride on an elephant, self explanatory really...

Crocodile Dundee Trip

Crocodile Dundee Trip 

 Crocodile Dundee Trip 

Crocodile Dundee Trip

Crocodile Dundee: A trip down the Mondovi river looking for fresh water crocodiles.

We really enjoyed all these trips, but did find it was cheaper to go through local operators, and I would recommend you booked through these for local tours, but maybe for further destinations, like our trip to Mumbai I would definitely say to book though a company you know and trust.

 Ingo's Market

 Ingo's Market

In addition to this there are many markets going on, most notably, Anjuna market on a Wednesday and Ingo’s market on a Saturday night.  We went to the Saturday night market and loved it.  There is live music, plenty of food stalls and so so many market stalls that you’ll get lost walking around them all.  I loved the whole hippy vibe of this market and found it quite similar to Camden, I would definitely say this is worth a visit when you go.

Food

Generally food in Goa is quite cheap; we spent about 350 pounds for 2 weeks, where we had to buy our own lunch and dinner every day.  I would say the average spend for us for each meal was around 12 pound, that’s, with both our meals and drinks included.  Obviously, prices will very but it’s quite minimal between restaurants.  I would say you will be pushed to find bad food, generally all the restaurants we visited were pretty good, but if you’re going over there looking for amazing curry you may be slightly disappointed.  I personally love curry, we ate it pretty much every day, but I certainly wouldn’t say that it was any better there in comparison to what we have at home.  Also, I certainly wouldn’t say the curries are any more spicy to what we get here, so don’t be afraid to try anything, I love spicy food, so I was disappointed that they weren’t very hot.  Come on, give me the hard stuff! 

Generally we preferred restaurants, but the beach shacks there are all very cheap and serve good food so be prepared to give them all a try.

If you would like some recommendations of some good restaurants, then let me know.

Mumbai

Driving past a slum

Dhobi Ghat

 

Streets of Mumbai

Hanging Gardens

 View over Mumbai

Gateway to India

We knew before we left to go on holidays that we wanted to visit Mumbai.  I think that without visiting here I would not have felt like I had seen real India, as Goa is more of a tourist destination.

Having flew in in the morning we were taken around the city to see the slums, thieves market, Victoria train station, the hanging gardens, the biggest open air laundry, gateway of India, Taj Mahl hotel and a few other places.  I feel our tour give us a good insight into the city and I learnt quite alot.

Although Mumbai was a good experience it most certainly not a city that I would ever visit again.  There is a massive difference between rich and poor, for example surrounding the Taj Mahl hotel (which is extremely plush, and one of the most expensive hotels in India), people are literally just sleeping on the streets, a common sight on the streets of Mumbai.

To travel home we used the sleeper train, which is around half a mile long and has 26 carriages.  We were in second class, where we had bunk beds 3 high and were open to whomever was passing through.  Despite the fact there were mice on board (I saw one run past), and we were literally sleeping surrounded by strangers, it wasn't half as bad as I thought, and I would definitely do it again.

In my bunk - no room to sit up!

I’ve never been to somewhere like this in my life, and I feel that anything I say here won’t really do justice to what I saw and learnt, but if you would like to know more, then just let me know.

General Impressions

 You'll see alot of cows wandering around

 

Baga Beach at sunset

Calangute

Candolim Beach

I would say that if you are going here purely for the beach, I would recommend you look elsewhere.  This certainly isn’t you picture perfect beach location, in fact the beach was very dirty.  There seems to be a general lack of respect towards the beach, and given that this is a beach location you would think that people would generally look after it better, but this is certainly not the case.  We found we had to keep our shoes on when walking along the beach this is because there is a lot of litter thrown onto the beach and a lot of broken glass.

 Baga Beach

Baga Beach

 

 Main road through Baga, just outside our hotel

As you would expect from a beach holiday it has got that beach vibe in the towns, where the roads are lined with clothes/trinket stalls and generally all streets and towns have the same look.  Most of the time there are no pavements and alot of scooters, so if your quite nervous of traffic, then get ready to be on edge.

Scooters are easily rented in Goa, and most tourists do seem to use them even though it appears that most of them have literally no idea how to drive them.  I personally didn’t use a scooter as I have some value for my life, and I wouldn’t recommend you did, but at the end of the day, it’s up to you man.

Overall I enjoyed my holiday, was happy that I had been there but probably would not go back.  For one, there are so many places in the world I have not seen that I can’t fathom why you would continue to see just the one same place and also because I think whatever is good about Goa now will be erased as more and more tourists go there.

If you want to know anything else or want some tips or more information about Goa/Mumbai then let me know and I’ll try help.

p.s. Don’t forget to follow me on twitter and you can now find me on WIWT.

Peace and Love,