New Year, New Resolutions?

"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us." - Hal Borland
2013 has been the most life changing year for me. I gave birth to my son and have experienced a love I never knew existed. I have also learned a lot about myself along the way. 

I'm now on the road to becoming self employed so that I can spend more time with him - something I have always wanted to do but never been brave enough. Keep your fingers crossed that it all pays off! :-)
I have also learned that some friends are only friends because the 'conditions' of the friendship suit them. This has made me appreciate all those genuine people in my life even more so.
Onto the new year and potential resolutions. :-) Why does it take a new year to make resolutions? For some unknown reason it seems like a new year rolling around is the perfect time to make changes.
In recent years I have decided not to make resolutions. They seemed pointless, one month later I would be back to old ways.  Why set myself up to feel like a failure?
Yet, this year I feel compelled to make a few resolutions and I feel determined to stick to them. Who knows if it's just a fleeting feeling...only time will tell. :-)
The resolutions are:
1. I will diet and I will lose weight.
2. I will appreciate the here and now, not dwelling on the past or daydreaming of the future.
3. I will open a savings account for my son and make sure it gets regular contributions.
4. I won't let other people's attitudes/negativity rub off on me. They will live their life how they wish, as will I, I will chose to be positive. Hippy dippy enough for you? ;-)
5. The last but the most important is that I will enjoy every single moment with my gorgeous wee boy. When it comes down to it, it's all that matters anyway.
Are any of you making resolutions?
Love. x


@latte_fiend on Twitter. 
 

Grow Your Own Pizza Chef - Apparently. :-)

Every Christmas I buy myself a present. It might be a big thing, it might be a small thing. It's just whatever takes my fancy at the time.

Just before Christmas I was in Tesco doing a last minute shop. Even with a list I had been compiling for a month, I still forgot so many things. :-)

I seen this sitting on a reduced shelf, £1.75! It's from Gift Republic and is sold on their site at £9.99. 

I have recently been attempting bread making in my limited spare time and pizza dough has to be one of my bigger successes. So, this wee box seemed perfect as a gift for myself. Whether it works or not...time will tell but it's a bit of fun. 

The inside of the box contains the following: 

- 3 coconut husk starter plant pots

- 3 coconut husk compact discs

- 3 lollipop sticks (which they call plant markers)

- 1 packet of tomato seeds

- 1 packet of oregano seeds 

- 1 packet of basil seeds

- A short instruction book

Unfortunately I received two packets of oregano seeds & no basil seeds but hey ho, it didn't exactly break the bank. :-) Excuse the names on the sticks. I didn't realise I had no basil until after the photo had been taken & I was looking at the writing on the seed packets. :-) 

I'm looking forward to seeing how they grow (or don't!) I suppose they're a bit of practice for the vegetable/herb garden I intend to get started on in the early spring. It's been one of the 'wants' since I started house hunting & now that I have this place I have no excuse. :-) 

Is anyone else green fingered? 

Love. x 

@latte_fiend on Twitter.

My favourite Winter Skincare Products

Since I fell pregnant and had my son my skin has changed completely. Who would have thought it possible? Not me! I used to have an oily T-zone with a few blemishes every month that tied in with my period. The fun of being a female! :-) Now I seem to have combination skin with an infuriating mid area on my face (nose and under my eyes) which is dry. Couple that with the cold winter weather & it's been a chore to keep on top of it. That is until I got my grubby paws on these next few products. They have made my winter skincare routine easy as opposed to a military effort.

 

This is Lush's Mint Julips. It's a mint chocolate flavoured lip scrub. I use it every night before I go to bed & it leaves you with the smoothest, kissable lips. :-) The smallest amount will buff away any dead skin and at £5.50 it's not going to break the bank. 

My next saviour is Lush's Ultrabland Facial Cleanser. It's quite a creamy/oily texture (that will be the almond oil). There's no faffing around with it. You rub it over your face and remove it by wiping it off with a cotton pad or flannel that's been run under warm water. One of my friends particularly likes to use her muslin cloths to remove it. 

 Lush actually advise that you use this product and only this product for one month to bring skin back into balance. I did this and it certainly worked for me. I'm more than impressed. Again, I don't think the cost is extortionate at £6.95 for a 45g pot or £10.95 for a 100g pot.

Product number three is Lush's Ultrabalm.

I work outdoors a lot and since I have developed this dry area I feel that I need to take that extra step to protect and nourish my skin while I'm outdoors. This product has the texture of wax and goes onto your skin a bit like Vaseline. I wouldn't recommend wearing it alone in the summer or under make-up as you will no doubt end up shiny (never a good look!) but for overnight and during winter it is perfect & incredibly nourishing. 

It has many, many uses! The Lush website states:

"Use it anywhere that needs some moisture; as a hand cream, on your hair to keep static flyaway at bay, as a lip balm, to brighten up your tattoos, on dry knees and elbows – even to tame your eyebrows and hold them so. There’s no end to the things you can do with one little tin." 

I also use it as a hand cream overnight while wearing moisturising gloves and in the morning my hands are so soft. It's £8.50 for a 45g tin and could probably last for an entire year! That's got to be a bargain item, right? :-)

All of these products are brilliant, I can't speak of them highly enough but I'm back to square one once the warmer weather rolls in. So, any advice, recommendations or suggestions are very welcome! 

What skincare routine do you have? What products do you use?

Love. x

@latte_fiend on Twitter. 

First Christmas With Little Man

Well, its Boxing Night and I have done nothing but overindulge for the past two days. Its been great! I thought I would take this quiet moment to write a post since I have been neglecting my blog recently.

This Christmas was a Christmas of firsts for me.
- My first Christmas as a mummy.
- My first Christmas with my gorgeous little man.
- My first Christmas preparing for Santa.

I have loved every single minute of it and cannot wait to do it all over again next Christmas. I had a "Baby And Me" day on Christmas Eve. We woke up, had breakfast together, napped together, opened LM's (Little Man) Christmas Eve box, had a walk together where we fed the ducks and deers, watched The Snowman together (well I watched it while he glanced at it now and again and rolled around on the sofa!) Then we decamped to my parent's house to spend a few days with family.

Waking up on Christmas morning to my son's smiley little face seemed to encapsulate in that moment everything that Christmas is about...love, family (& I don't just limit that term to those related by blood), happiness, the small, simple and insignificant things. Yes, we all like to receive nice things but Christmas is about so much more than that. 

My son eventually understood that the wrapping paper came off his gifts and revealed the toy inside. His favourite toy was still the mountain of discarded wrapping paper though. :-) He was overwhelmed at times, I think our excitement was rubbing off on him but he had a fun filled day which is what matters.

I couldn't help but get involved in Sarah Millican's #JoinIn on Twitter. So many people were alone (and lonely) this Christmas and something as minute as a hashtag seemed to make them feel loved. You could get a real sense of the spirit of Christmas through that timeline. I'll definitely be dipping in and out next Christmas too. 

I hope everyone else enjoyed their day and continue to enjoy the festive feeling for a few more days. 

Love. x

@latte_fiend on Twitter.

Life is so short

Apologies for the absence but I have been busy moving myself and baby boy into our new house. I now fully understand why they say that moving house is one of the most stressful things a person can do...

At least I thought it was one of the most stressful things until I got a bit of perspective.

I write this as I await news about a baby I know in respiratory failure. The doctors are using their last option to help him, after that there is nothing they can do for him. I look at my son, who is just a little bit younger, and I cannot imagine being faced with that. How do you even begin to prepare yourself? The thought alone kills me. Life is so very cruel sometimes. I still hope against hope that this little boy will be the one to make a miracle recovery.  He has so many people rooting for him. 

All of the above, that's real stress. Not "shopping" for a new house moving boxes around. It's sitting by your babies hospital bed not knowing what's around the corner.

It shouldn't take things like this to make you take stock of your life & appreciate what you have but unfortunately most of us lose our way a little.

I don't think this particular blog post serves any purpose other than for me to say - sit down, think about everything you have & be thankful. That's what I intend to do. 

Love. 

@latte_fiend on Twitter