The Blogger's Snail Mail

The lovely Gemma over at Lipsticks And Lashes regularly organises a blogger's snail mail exchange. Its a lovely way to meet someone new and its nice to receive something in the post that isn't advertising spam or bills.

This is my second time taking part in the exchange and this time I got paired with the lovely Steph from Stephanie Jayne. She's a mum-to-be so getting to know her brought back a lot of memories of my pregnancy and the anticipation of the new arrival.

There are just a few "rules" for the exchange:
- You send a gift to the value of £5, no more.
- You write a letter telling your person everything that you've learned about them.
- You send some positive, uplifting words.

Simple! :-)

Steph had mentioned that she was starting to get a wee collection of clothes together for her little lady. I immediately decided that the best thing I could send her would be an outfit for her little one. It was lovely to go shopping for it because I'm so used to shopping for my little boy. I can't wait to see her wee lassie wearing the outfit when she finally joins us. :-)

Steph was very thoughtful when it came to putting my gift together. She popped in chocolate (which my and my wee lad broke into straight away as you can see in the photo), a bath bomb, a wee candle and some face masks.

Last night I put O to bed and I ran myself a gorgeous bath, put one of the face masks on, lit the candle, grabbed a glass of wine and soaked for a good hour. Its the first time in ages that I set some time aside for me so it was very much appreciated. I of course have the evenings to relax when O goes to bed but I normally use that time to clean the house for the following day, complete some paperwork etc. It was lovely to just switch off and do absolutely nothing.

Thanks again Steph and thank you to Gemma for organising it all.

I look forward to the next swap.

A bit of appreciation for some of you lovely folk. :-)

The title says it all really! The people mentioned below have blogs that I enjoy reading but I think the people behind them are pretty great too. :-)

Bex at I Always Believed In Futures and Crystal at Crystal Says
When I first started my blog I hadn't a clue what I was doing! I had been reading blogs on and off for a few years and felt like I wanted a "go". I reached out to Bex and Crystal on Twitter and both were so friendly and generous with their time. I occasionally catch up with Crystal still and she's one of my favourite Twitter people. She just has this generous nature and wants to help however she can. Plus, she lives in NYC so I get jealous regularly! ;-)

Carol at Flitty Chick Fancies
I met Carol through a beauty swap a few months ago. They couldn't have paired me with a nicer lassie and her blog is always one of the first I catch up with when I get a spare 5 minutes. I'm really enjoying getting to know her and hope to catch a coffee with her one day if I ever find myself in/near Cork.

Michelle at Thou Shalt Not Covet
Michelle's blog is choc full of so many beauty products that I lust after, plus her Twitter feed regularly makes me laugh. Big thumbs up. :-)

Amanda at Amanda Niescior
I got to know Amanda a wee bit when she did my blog design (which I still love, months later). She's a young'un but has such a mature head on her shoulders. Super friendly, super happy and a funny wee lass. :-)

Leighanne at Bump And Beyond
I first "met" Leighanne when her wee baby Darcy was still cooking. :-) Now I love hearing how Darcy is doing and I especially love reading Leighanne's fashion posts. They give me plenty of ideas for my next shopping spree, too many ideas!

Shay at Two Tiny Terrors
Shay is just the sweetest. I love her Growing Your Own and Kids Crafts And Activities posts. I've worked in daycare for more years than I care to mention but its always good to check in with others for new ideas or ways to refresh old ideas.

Lindsay at Newcastle Family Life
I love reading her blog but I'm currently enjoying all the bumpy pics. I miss my bump! Also, on a personal level I feel like that she gets where I currently am to an extent as she was a single mum herself at one point. At some point I'd love to sit down and have a chat with her about it.

Keeley at Dragging Online
Keeley is an online only drag queen. She describes her blog as an outlet for her creativity. I love her fashion/celebrity posts and she has a certain wit that makes me chuckle as I read them. Definitely what you need at the end of a long day.

Tanya at Polka Dots And Cups Of Tea
Tanya has a beauty/parenting blog like myself so I get a good "fix" when I catch up on her posts. She'll often write a post about her children whatever the topic might be and it always strikes a chord with me, I "get" it. Don't tell her but I secretly read to see if Emma has written any more posts. ;-)

There are lots of you but these are the people that come to mind as I'm writing this post. Thanks for the blog posts, the inspiration, your time, your kind words, ta for all of it.

Empties No.4

Another empties post! I enjoy these when I'm having a bit of a mental block. :-)

Avon Tahitian Holiday Body Mist (£3.60 from the Avon site)
I know its Avon and you either love or hate their products. I love this body mist. I have an obsession with all things coconut scented and this smells just like summer to me. Love it! Sometimes I just spritz it around the house when its one of those dreary rainy days. :-)

Neutrogena Spot Stress Control Daily Cleansing Lotion (£2.66 in Superdrug)
I can sometimes have a few blemishes around my period. A friend suggested that I give this a go and its really worked. Sometimes I get no blemishes and if some do appear then they tend disappear just as quickly.

Superdrug's Naturally Radiant Brightening Micro Polish (£4.99 in Superdrug)
It brightens my skin up of a morning. It isn't too harsh or too abrasive - something that I used to actually look for in an exfoliator! I have since learned that its really bad. Shame on me!

Ginger And Co.'s Double Up Creamy Body Wash
These guys are the perfect dupe for Soap and Glory and they just have a more purse pleasing price tag! ;-) It leaves my skin nice and soft and it smells great too.

Have you tried any of these products?
What were your thoughts?

Inika Light Reflect Highlighting Creme

Highlighters and anything to do with contouring are things I have stayed away from in the past. It took me long enough to perfect a few basic looks that I was happy with without trying to contour or highlight.
Though recently I have been liking the dewy look and for me its not as daunting to try as some of the other looks out there.
I decided to try Inika's Light Reflect Highlighting Crème. It was ordered through the MyPure website and costs £17. I've said it before but MyPure are all about natural, organic skincare. I try to take care of my skin so any products I can use that don't contain any nasties is a positive thing for me.
Anyway, back to the product! Its a good shade for my skin now that I'm slightly sunkissed but I don't think it would work for me in winter when I'm much paler. A friend described the shade as "champagne" and I think that's quite apt. It blends in easily and gives me the dewy look that I've been after. I apply it to my cheekbones, brow bone and cupid's bow.
The only downside to it is that you barely have to touch the tube and some will splodge out so I've had to be careful with my heavy handed ways! :-)

Have any of you tried this product?
What is your go-to highlighting product?

Empties No.3

If you stopped by my blog recently you probably noticed that the blog posts have dried up somewhat. I don't know when it happened, or why, but I seemed to lose my blogging mojo for want of a better word.
I miss blogging though and thought a wee empties post would be an easy way to dip my toe back in the water. :-)

Nivea Extra Gentle Eye Make Up Remover
I've tried a lot of make up removers over the years and quite a few of them have made my eyes sting or become puffy. This is my go-to eye makeup remover. Its gentle, removers even the most stubborn mascara and doesn't leave my eye area looking red or puffy. At £3.35 in Superdrug it gets a massive thumbs up from me!

Lush's Dark Angels Fresh Facial Cleanser (£6.40 for 100g)
I have a love/hate relationship with this cleanser. My skin approves of it, I like that it cleanses and exfoliates at the same time but lord, its a messy one. Its stained a few of my face clothes and I normally have to give the sink a good rinse after I've used it. For this reason I have banned myself from using it anywhere other than when I'm in the shower. :-)

Blistex Med Plus For Lips (£2.30 in Boots)
Everyone has their favourite "take care" lip product. This is mine. Part of my bedtime routine is to use a lip scrub and then slather this on before jumping into bed. I wake up with soft lips and its great in the winter for repairing your lips if they've become a bit weather beaten in the cold air.

Olay Regenerist 3 Point Super Serum (currently £19.99 in Superdrug)
I liked this product. I loved the smell. I loved how it sat on my skin. It definitely firmed up the eye area but I absolutely detested the bottle. It is pump action (which is fine in itself!) but you can't see into the bottle. A few times I thought it was empty only to try it days later and find there were a few applications left.

L'Oreal 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Water
I used all of this so it obviously wasn't terrible but I don't know what it did for my skin either. My face never felt particularly clean after it so I ended up using it as a makeup remover for the most part and it did the job well. I know others that have loved this product though, so I think its just a me thing.

Have you tried any of these products?
What did you think?

Wee update.

Bet you thought I had fallen off the face of the earth, right? :-)

I had lots of different wee blog posts lined up. I usually write them in "notes" on my iPhone when I have a spare moment. 

Unfortunately I updated my iPhone on Sunday night and during the process it went into recovery mode. I hadn't updated to iCloud in weeks and weeks because I was low on storage so Sod's Law, I lost everything. All the blog posts I was working on, all the blog post photos I had taken. 

The saddest part for me is that I lost all my wee baby videos. I can't explain how upset I've been about it. But I wake up to little O's gorgeous face and that's all that really matters. 

Lesson learned, back up and back! 

It now feels like I'm starting my blog all over again. *sigh*

That thing called love....

Today has been one of those days...

Wee man is cutting a back molar (I think) and goes from inconsolable to ticked off in the blink of an eye!

He's also at that stage where he's into everything, so on quite a few occasions today I've had to move him from something, tell him why I don't want him doing A, B or C ("please don't put your wee finger in the plug, you might hurt yourself") and then redirect his attention so it doesn't become his main focus. 

I put him down for his nap about half an hour ago and was rubbing his head as I do before he drifts off.

I just felt emotional out of nowhere and immediately thought "I hope he feels loved".

I don't know where it came from or why. I don't know why it hit me so strongly and with such force either.

This wee boy gets told a million times a day that I love him. I'm very affectionate and tactile with him. We spend as much time together as possible and I try to make every minute count, so when I'm having my saner moments (like now) I have no doubt that he feels loved. 

Though it does show you how one trying day (we all get them, right?) can attack your vulnerable side and make you doubt yourself. 

Have you ever had a moment like that?