My New Years resolutions for 2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE 

Welcome to my 1st blog for 2017 and this one is all about my resolutions even though every year i say i’m not making any i always do.

My resolutions are relevant for me and my life some of you may be able to relate with them, I am not giving up chocolate or going to join a gym or stop drinking (As i don’t drink alcohol anyway) instead i am being more ruthless and selfish as i think this is the way forward for 2017.

For me 2016 was more lows than highs and was a huge test on me and Dan as well as our mental states, my anxiety and illness with food we had a lot of crap going on in our personal lives by having to move out our lovely home and go to stay with my parents we left our jobs as the company we worked for are appalling and treat staff like crap and we couldn’t cope with it any longer so onwards and upwards for this year, i believe people create there own look and this year cant be any worse than the last one.

Here are my resolutions for 2017;

1. To travel more and see the world i love going away and even though i am not a huge fan of flying due to my panic attacks it doesn’t stop me from seeing the world for what it is and visiting places i have never been before, places on my to visit list this year are; Florida (which is my 2nd home) Bahamas, Barcelona, Monaco and Edinburgh.
2.  To remain positive and not let the slightest things get to me or upset me i am a very sensitive and emotional person even though i don’t come across like this in person to most people and put on a front i intend to stay positive in all situations as everything happens for a reason and thinking negative makes you feel a whole lot worse and ruins a good day.
3. To not settle in life over the past 14 years since i got my very 1st job i have done nothing but settle in my career, i have worked in retail most of my life and its never been the dream job or the life i had imagined for myself its good if your a student but not full time if you want nice things or a car, house etc as the pay is minimum and the rewards and discounts aren’t as good as you may think, this year i am going to focus on what makes me happy as i am unable to do something i have little or no interest in and i want to start living my life how i imagine it to be, we spend more of our lives at work than we do with our own families so its about right i made a change and went after the job i want and i wont stop until i get it.
4. To get better in myself and my health as the past 9 years i have had ongoing issues with my stomach and digestive system which means i have been living on a gluten free diet for the past few years and now i am on a fodmap diet, i intend to get a diagnosis for my illness this year as its been left nameless by the drs and consultants and i am ready to get it solved so i can get back to being healthy again.
5. To be more confident this is something i struggle with on a daily basis and i think most women also struggle with this its not reassurance i need from others its what my brain tells me and i believe it (not good enough) to do the things i would like to do in life but feel i would be no good at so i wont attempt to try, i think i need to believe in myself more that i am just as good as anyone else and not to get so down if it doesn’t work or pay off.
6. To be selfish and cut out negativity i always put others 1st before myself but this year i vow to be more selfish and not go without or put my needs behind others, also there is lots of negativity in my family more so my dads family they all like to talk about you behind your back and slag you off for doing better than them in life as they don’t like to see anyone do better than them so this year i am cutting of all negative people in my life as they are toxic and i don’t need people bringing me or my dreams down.

These aren’t the usual resolutions people generally make but for me this its what i want to change in my life this year and i won’t give up after the 1st month like most people do as if i make these changes i believe it will change me for the better as a person going forward.

Thank you for reading and let me know what your resolutions are.x

What i got for my 30th Birthday

On the 28th December i turned the big 30!

I am not gonna lie i hate having my birthday so close to Christmas as when i was younger my aunties and uncles would always buy me joint gifts which i thinks a cop out and quite bad in my opinion just because its so close to Christmas day.

This year for my birthday we planned to go to Birmingham for the night and go shopping at the Bullring the next day, but. we had to scrap and cancel this plan as Dan got tonsillitis again for the 4th time this year and he was to unwell to go, so we have rearranged it for the new year now hoping it wont be as busy either when we do go.

Instead we just opened my presents and cards and popped to Mansfield to the chemist and i went in to Primark and managed to get the coat i had been looking at for the last month or so in the sale for £10 so i was happy with that purchase.

This was all my presents and cards i got for my Birthday the older i’ve gotten the more i have come to realise who matters and truly cares about me when it comes to receiving a card or even a Birthday text, i have lots of aunties, uncles and cousins on my dads side yet i received 1 card from 1 of his 7 sisters and 5 brothers, in my eyes thats disgusting and rude.

I got lovely cards and presents from the people who matter with lots of Dory balloons, confetti,a keyring, note book, lots of money to treat myself with and some beautiful diamond pear shaped studs from my mum and a yankee candle with some limited edition bits from the cath kidston Disney collection which have now all sold out online.

Because of my Gluten free allergies etc i was unable to have a Birthday cake shop bought so i settled for some home made gluten free vanilla cakes i made for everyone to enjoy.

Thats all for my blogs for 2016 i hope you enjoy reading them as much as i do writing them and next year for me i am planning on upping my blogging and vlogging game with weekly videos on youtube and blogs, keep a look out and i wish you all a healthy and happy new year.

Thanks for reading

Amy x

What i got for Christmas 2016

Happy Friday folks today is the 30th December and Christmas 2016 is officially over in my mums house the tree and all the decorations are down and all the new gifts we received have been put away in there new homes.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas with loved ones, this was all our presents under the tree on Christmas morning, Santa even knew we had moved house.

This Christmas i asked for a few things but my main present was a brand new Samsung nx mini camera in white i did want the mint green one but everywhere had SOLD OUT so white was the next colour on my list, my dad got me this so i could start vlogging properly from next year.

I have seen alot of bloggers and youtubers using this camera as i wanted something as a starting point for my vlogs and not over spend on something like a canon as they are out of my budget at the minute, this was still a lot for a camera at £250. 

My next main present which was a joint gift from my mum for me and Dan and it was a brand new laptop, and no its not a Mac as i am not a huge fan of them and prefer a windows style laptop so we googled what was best compared to a Mac and it recommended the Acer Chromebook 14″ which is what we went for in the gold colour as i didn’t want a silver or white one, we got this in the Black Friday sale from Currys pc world for less than £200 its gone back up in price now though.

Dans had a play around with it the last couple of days and he said its really good and responsive and just as good as a Mac but a lot less in price, i am yet to use it but from next year i will be doing lots of blogging and editing videos on it.

I also got lots of lovely other gifts and 7 boxes of chocolates, i got some new penguin pyjamas and hot water bottle, a tripod for my camera, nail polish set, Disney dvds and a new fossil watch and watch strap from rosefield watches in pink as i had the grey strap last year plus some other little bits and bobs.

We had a lovely Christmas day very quiet but thats how we like to celebrate it, we had a lovely dinner and played some card games, ate chocolates and watched some festive films that where on the tv.

Thanks for reading x

Recap on the last week 19th – 24th December

Happy Christmas Eve everybody.

I am far from feeling festive or in any sort of Christmasy mood, i think its hard when you dont have your own house and can do things how you would like, living in a bedroom at my parents isn’t what i had in mind as i want to feel festive films on cuddled on the sofa with treats, chocolates and buffet foods, i build it up in my head that Christmas is better than what it is but its just a deadline of making sure everything is done there is no fun and enjoyment in it anymore for me anyway.

So this past week has been quite boring as i don’t feel like i have done anything as i have avoided public places for how busy they all are.

Monday; Me and Dan attempted to go to Mansfield to Sainsburys to get some bits in we wanted but it was so busy we couldn’t get a space and we drove to Tesco instead which was still busy but not as bad the annoying thing was they hardly had anything i wanted to get so had to go without, we then came back and made some lunch and chilled out watching vlogs we had to catch up with.

Tuesday; I felt ill again with my stomach as it was still bloating even though i was sticking to my fodmap and gluten free foods i was still getting a reaction which was getting me down, i decided to call my dietician to go back and see her as something is no longer working and i need other food options, i also made an appointment to go back to the drs for more tests to be done as this is unresolved and its still not been pinpointed to what issues i am having in my digestive system.

Wednesday; This for me was the worst day i had had in ages with my anxiety going through the roof, i had a panic attack which drained my energy and not only that but i had 1hr 10 mins sleep all night as i was wide awake panicking and worrying in bed, i felt so low and my mind was all over the place, i haven’t felt like this for a couple of years and every thing is stressing me out atm or getting to me more than it should (anyone who deals with both anxiety and depression know how hard it is to switch off and try and relax its easier said than done) my mum did buy me some flowers to cheer me up and make me smile which they did.

Thursday; I got 6hours sleep still not great but since living at my parents i have had 1 good nights sleep as my dad wakes early for wok which wakes me up and then i struggle to get back to sleep as i am not used to being woken at 3am every week day, i decided to paint my nails ready for Christmas today in the Tanya Burr red glitter polish as its festive, i completed wrapping the presents up and we have got through 10 rolls of wrapping paper this year next year people can have a gift bag as i might be a creative person but i hate wrapping presents up, we also watched the film Curly sue which is a classic and even Dan enjoyed it as he had never seen it before.

Friday; Christmas eve eve and i decided to bake some shortbread biscuits using my new cutters i got from home bargains in festive shapes, i put some mini party sausage rolls in too for everyone to eat as thats always a food i associate with Christmas and buffets, today i started to take some new tablets from Boots for my stomach which should help me digest food as it gets stuck in my digestive system and makes me bloat or sick so i am hoping these will help until i see my dietician in January.

Today is Christmas eve and we are watching films on the tv and later we have our Christmas eve bags to open with treats in for later and new pjs for me, Dan is ill and has a cold which is the same as what he had last Christmas so he is feeling far from festive and so am i.

This is the last weekly blog of the year

Thank you for reading and i wish you all a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year x

Recap on the last week 12th – 18th Dec

Happy Sunday folks,

The last week we have tried to do everything we wanted before the kids break up for Christmas and the shops become rammed to the point you fall out with yourself due to the stress of last minute shopping.

Monday; We took a trip to one of the garden centres near us called Brookfield’s which is at Mapperly top, i have only ever been once before a few years ago and they had Christmas photo points and a Santa’s grotto so like the big kid i am i needed to go, I always forget how EXPENSIVE garden centres are and it costs about £6 for a coffee, we didn’t stay to long then came home and chilled out.

Tuesday; Chilled day i wasn’t feeling to good again with my stomach and it just looks like a balloon all the time, getting sick of eating the same foods over and over when your gluten and wheat intolerant and have to be on a fodmap diet also without eating fish and meat theres not much choice left for meals, i am arranging to go back to my Nutritionist in the new year as its getting me down on a daily basis feeling like shit, my mum picked me up the Christmas tv guide so i could have a look at what films are on and what a big disappointment they are I don’t know who picks what goes on over xmas but the options are rubbish and repeats from last year and the year before that. 

Wednesday; I took my mum to Mcarther glen the one near us at jct 28, its not as good as all the other outlet shops in the uk but it will do as i couldn’t be bothered to drive to York outlet or Cheshire oaks, we popped to get some bits for my dad as he had the lease presents out of everyone under the tree, We got some good offers and savings in the Fossil store, Thornton’s and Hallmark as my mum got me a Yankee candle the large jar for half price in my favourite smell (Snow in love).

Thursday; Today was another pj day for me as i felt really run down with a head cold and my stomach was still off so i was being really careful on what i was eating with every bite of food my stomach just bloated more and more, i watched the Santa Claus movie with Dudley moore in it and fell asleep it wasn’t as good as i remembered it to be and then later in the evening i finished off the wrapping presents.

Friday; Today i made rice crispys Christmas puddings that i had seen on Pinterest and some vloggers doing on Youtube, I didn’t do gluten free ones as gf rice crispys are £3.60 sod paying that works out £2 more, all the family said they where nice so thats good, I also cleaned my make up brushes as this is something i hate doing I always clean mine with shampoo and a brush cleaner from eBay which is so good and i would recommend getting one they are 99p.

Saturday; Today we chilled most of the day before going over to see Dans family to take there Christmas presents and his parents dog was happy with his new Santa toy and then we decided to go to Fosse park shopping as it closed at 8pm and we thought it would be the best time to go, I went to Primark and got a couple of jumpers, a long hoody, glitter socks and some lip crayons.

Sunday; These days are for being lazy, watching films and eating biscuits drinking tea whilst writing this i have got National lampoon Christmas vacation on the tv this was a film i featured in my top 10 Christmas films to watch, 1 week today and its the big day and i can’t wait for a nice dinner and lots of presents with the people i love.

I hope your all ready for Christmas and if you haven’t already go and have a read of my blogmas blogs which include;

• Too 10 Christmas films to watch
• What to buy the person who has everything
• Making mince pies
• Christmas on a budget

plus many more, Thanks for reading x

Blogmas day #12 (Tanya Burr makeup advent calendar reviews)

Happy blogmas day 12 everyone.

I have decided to do a 2 day blog combined for the final blogmas for 2016.

Every year i have a chocolate advent calendar but this year i wanted something a little different so back in October i was having a browse on Superdrug online and came across the Tanya Burr makeup advent calendar it should have been £25 but it was on offer for £15 I know it was 2 months early for December but i didn’t want to miss out on the offer.

This what it looks like, it is a beautiful blue colouring with metallic at the top and white glitter to look like snow on the roof of the house there is also Tanya and husband Jim and there cute little dog Martha in the windows to give a personal touch.

On the 1st of December i was excited to open my first door and see whats inside;

On the 1st day of Christmas my advent gave to me; A beautiful pinky/ red lip gloss in the shade Candy cane.

On the 2nd day of Christmas my advent gave to me; A very handy nail file.

On the 3rd day of Christmas my advent gave to me; A small compact mirror for my handbag or makeup bag.

On the 4th day of Christmas my advent gave to me; A pot of gold glitter dust in the name of Champagne sparkle, who doesn’t love glitter I can’t wait to use this.

On the 5th day of Christmas my advent gave to me; A lip gloss in the shade Berry pavlova, I am not a huge lip gloss fan but its a nice colour.

On the 6th day of Christmas my advent gave to me; A gold nail polish in the name Glitter and gold.

On the 7th day of Christmas my advent gave to me; A silver glitter eye liner in the name Ice glitter.

On the 8th day of Christmas my advent gave to me; A pot of white glitter dust in the name Snow day.

On the 9th day of Christmas my advent gave to me; A matte lip colour in the name Christmas stocking (this is my favourite out of all the items).

On the 10th day of Christmas my advent gave to me; A gold glitter eye liner in the name Treasured.

On the 11th day of Christmas my advent gave to me; A red nail polish in the name sleigh bells (another one of my favourite items in the calendar).

On the 12th day of Christmas my advent gave to me; A silver nail polish in the name Glitter rain.

This was worth the money and i would have paid more for it too if i hadn’t have gotten a good deal in the first place back in October, I do own some of the Tanya Burr cosmetics and i am a fan of her makeup range, I was intrigued to see what this would be like and it certainly didn’t disappoint and i would buy another one next year and recommend you try this if you love make up.

In total the advent calendar comes with;

• 3 x Nail polishes
• 1 x Matte lip colour
• 2 x Lip glosses 
• 1 x Nail file
• 2 x Pots of glitter dust
• 1 x Compact mirror
• 2 x Glitter eye line

Thanks for reading my last blogmas of 2016 x 

Blogmas day #10 (Christmas on a budget)

Happy blogmas day number 10.

Christmas for most people means spending far too much money to the point they get in debt, spend all there monthly wages and struggle to live for the 1st couple of months in the new year, i know i have been guilty of this before.

The last 3 years i have realised its not about spending loads of money on presents, the older you get the less you want as most things cant be bought.

When i lived in Dubai my Christmas day was quite sad as i wasn’t with my family or the people i loved, the only gift i opened was a pair of flip flops and i spent Christmas with my Dubai friends who i had known 2 months, i realised that it wasn’t about how many presents i got under the tree it was about being with the people i cared about and who cared about me making new memories and being content with what i have got.

Christmas can be done on a budget and i will never go over the top as its a waste for 1 day, why on 1 day of the year do we all go over the top with spending and having the tree flooded with gifts, children get so many presents now they don’t remember half the things they get, its like a competition who gets the most gifts and who’s spent the most money.

• Set a budget and don’t go over
• Save money throughout the year o you aren’t short over Christmas as you still need to live and pay bills
• Buy presents throughout the year save on the big expense in just 1 month
• Buy 1 main gift
• Look for offers and deals
• Stocking fillers less than £5 each
• Buy from independent stores or small businesses
• Make your own cards to give out more personal

What i did last year was set a figure of how much i would spend on people i was buying for and not go a penny over or get side tracked along the way, me and Dan don’t spend loads on each other as when we want things throughout the year we will buy them for ourselves or save up for them.

I spend no more than £100 on Dan for Christmas to some that might not seem a lot of money but to me i don’t see why spending £500 on someone for 1 day is necessary, the older you get items become more expensive and some things just aren’t worth the money and i wont put myself in financial struggle to go over the top on gifts, maybe if i had lots of money i would view it differently but like most people in England who are paying for rent, cars, food, kids etc each month and struggling to get by its just not worth it.

I love this quote from Dr. Seuss in the film The Grinch, I believe this is very true Christmas cant be bought from a store and it does mean a little more.

Appreciate what you have got like your family, love and health because if material items make you happy then how happy are you really inside, they always say money doesn’t make you happy.

Thanks for reading x

Recap on the last week 4th Dec – 11th Dec

Happy weekly blog number 13 everyone, 

The last week has been filled with shopping, lots of Christmas films, playing a game for the 1st time ever and finally finding the best gluten free bread i have tasted in the last year.

Monday; My aim today was to find a Christmas jumper that i had seen advertised online at Aldi, yes Aldi they had loads of nice Christmas jumpers in for men, women and children priced better than the ones in Primark at only £7.99 each, I got my hands on the one i wanted which was a flamingo skiing Christmas jumper, i love flamingos and for one to be on a jumper i knew i just had to have it.

• Here is a photo of my Festive Flamingo jumper.

Tuesday; Today we decided to have a chilled day at home and for the 1st time ever i played the board game Monopoly, I had this game for Christmas back in 2001 and i never opened it as i wanted to keep it as it was The Disney edition anyway me, mum and Dan all played it for a couple of hours however i didn’t win but i did enjoy it and no doubt we will play again over Christmas.

Wednesday; We went to Mansfield as i wanted to have a look in the Primark they have there, it’s not as big as most Primarks but i did manage to get some bits i liked, i got a new jumper, a Mickey T-shirt and some rose gold sequin slippers i wanted we then popped to M&S as i wanted to look in the food hall at there Gluten free range and i was impressed with the selection, I picked up some gluten free chicken coujons, a small loaf and some chilli crackers it was quite pricey for these 3 items coming to £8.40, but it is the BEST GF BREAD i have tried all year as it doesn’t have that smell gf bread has and it taste like bread not metal.

Thursday; Today we went over to dans parents house to take the Christmas cards and get some bits from his childhood he wanted to keep and store at my mums house, we then went to see his Gran and took her a nice Christmas plant a poinsettia and a card she was really happy to see us and loved the gesture of the plant, we then come home and wrapped the last few presents we had stacking up and we watched The polar express with Tom hanks voicing most of the characters I love this film i watch it every December.

Friday and Saturday; 2 super chilled days i caught up with vlogmas on youtube and then wrote my blogmas posts, we watched a film Miracle on 34th street and i managed to watch Hairspray live which was better than Grease live they did early on in the year, i would recommend watching this if you haven’t seen it yet, last night i went to bed early as i wasn’t well with my stomach it bloated up and was so painful it made me cry, i am back to logging and tracking everything i eat as there is something making me poorly again.

This is what happened to my stomach last night, let me know if anyone else gets this with allergies to gluten and wheat as i am interested to know how it affects others.

Keep a look out for Mondays Blogmas as its a fun on for anyone who loves makeup.

Thanks for reding x

Blogmas day #9 (Christmas sale shopping tips)

Happy blogmas day number 9, 

This will apply to anyone who loves a bargain without having to leave your home.

The past few years (few being 5) i have always done my sale shopping online on Christmas eve morning, most stores go into sale ONLINE on the 24th December and the shops themselves will be in sale from BOXING DAY onwards some opening as early as 5am like Next for instance, i worked at Next throughout my college years and i always worked a 10 hour shift on sale days and we would always get 1st pick of all sale items the day before they went on sale to the general public.



• MY TIP; If you know someone who works at a Next store then get them to get the items for you as it saves you que-ing in the freezing cold to be pushed and shoved and fight over a £4 top, your better off getting the item code and writing a list of what you want and see if the person you know who works there is kind enough to pick them up for you.

The 1st site i go on christmas eve morning is always Boots as they have all the christmas perfume sets half price aswell aswell as all the 3 for 2 items, over the years i have gotten so many bargains and saved lots of money, i am more than happy to go without any presents from boots on christmas to open as i have saved myself a fortune shopping online in the sale the day before, i got 5 perfume sets last year and some Ted baker makeup all for less than £70.

• MY TIP; If you have seen something in Boots you like for yourself or maybe to put away for gifts for next year then buy them on the 24th online, as people are getting wise to the half price offers on boxing day and all the good stuff has gone by the time you get to the shop and you would have missed out.

Retail stores like River Island, New look and Topshop start to do offers and mark downs on clothes before they go into sale on Boxing day, but these shops are sneaky as they know in advanced whats going to be in the sale, they mark on the price tag in PENCIL what the sale price will be (for example; 0025) in the corner of the tag, if the item is £50 then its very likely its going to be reduced by 50% which is a huge saving and means you can buy more items in the sale and are getting more for your money.

• MY TIP; Keep a look out the week before christmas if you go in any of these shops and have a look on the labels and i guarantee they will have numbers in pencil written on them with the new sale price, shops can’t sell you these items until the day they officially go into sale at the pencilled price, so don’t make the mistake of buying it the week before when you could save yourself money the day after Christmas, I think we are all guilty of doing this once. 

My favourite shop of them all is Zara which unfortunatly for me they don’t go into sale online and instore until the same day, when it comes to the end of certain seasonal stock warehouses tend to have a lot of items left over they haven’t sold aswell as they hoped, these are the items that are normally reduced 1st, Zara sales aren’t as good as the others straight away as they only take a small percentage off items to start off with and then the bigger reductions tend to happen in January and thats when you can get some great bargains.

• MY TIP; When it comes to sale shopping online with Zara i always add the items to my basket a couple of days before the sales due to happen and then once the sale has started i go back into my online basket and see whats been reduced or sold out because i missed out, If you wanted to go into a Zara store when the sale is on then you are brave as its like a jumble sale gone wrong, its messy, untidy, unshoppable, ques for days and instantly puts you in a bad mood.

I hope this helps any of you that love a bargain as much as me and getting more for your money when it comes to shopping in the winter sales.

Thanks for reading x

Blogmas day #8 (Christmas memories as a child)

Happy late blogmas day number 8.

I thought i would tell you about Christmas for me as a child, as the older i have gotten the christmas magic has dissappeared and its doesn’t feel the same anymore, don’t get me wrong i still like christmas but its not what it used to be. 

I would always get so excited to go to bed early Christmas eve and leave out a mince pie, carrot and a glass of milk ready for his arrival in the night, i would always wake up in the middle of the night listening out for santas sleigh on the roof and the bells ringing from the reindeers, except this never happend, i used to ask my mum “How does Santa bring my presents?” as we didnt have an open fire place, as growing up it was a retro gas fire, my Mum used to say that he Used magic dust and that would make me more excited for his arrival.

Being an only child christmas for me was always a lonely time as i had no brothers or sister to play with Christmas day or share my toys with, i didn’t mind though as it meant i got spoilt rotten with lots of lovely gifts from all my family, I remember 1 year i think i was about 6 or 7 years old i got a Playmobil mansion house and it was my favourite present ever, i would play with this for hours on end and i still have this now in my Mums loft as it was something i never wanted to throw out.

I always knew it was nearly December when my Mum would give me the Argos or Index catalog to ring around the toys i wanted, i also used to be treated to some toys from the Early learning centre which is no longer around, i was allowed 10 toys and i always got 1 main present either a bike or my 1st computer, here are a few toys i remeber getting over the years.

Here are a few of the toys i got at christmas growing up in the 90s; 

• Cabbage patch kids
• Dream phone game
• Disney severn dwarfs
• Car mat
• Polly pockets
• Aladdin electronic game

Christmas for me was always quite boring the older i got as what i wanted became more expensive so i would get less and less presents, i was always given £100 from my mum and £100 from my dad they always got me seperate presents and they still do now every year even though they are still married to eachother, I have a huge family when it comes to aunties, uncles and cousins but i have never been close to them growing up and they would always give me crap thoughtless gifts or give me something i alredy had.

I am so glad i got to grow up in the 90s without social media and ipads as i was happy playing on the street with my friends on Christmas day with our new bikes, scooters or roller blades, The generation of children now are receiving ipads for Christmas or smart phones and they are ages 4 plus, they probably don’t write letters to santa, instead they just go in a toy shop and know what they are receiving as they have asked for it with no eliment of suprise Christmas morning.

Thanks for reading x