30 Before 30: An Update

Happy New Year everyone!

You know how it is...new year, new you and resolutions like 'must get back into blogging'. So here I am! Lame

I thought that a good start would be to update you on my 30 before 30, as I can definitely cross of at least one of the big ones!

1. Get Engaged
2. Get Married*
3. Have a Baby
4. Buy a House
5. Save Enough for Our Wedding*
6. Have £10k in Savings
7. Earn at least £30k/year
8. Work for Myself
9. Be a Stay at Home Mummy
10. Buy a Mulberry Bag
11. Write a Book
12. Write a Recipe Book
13. Visit Australia
14. Visit New York
15. Visit Italy
16. Go to Harry Potter in Florida
17. Visit Disney
18. See the Northern Lights
19. Swim with Dolphins
20. Go on a Hot Air Balloon Ride
21. Grow my own Fruit, Veg & Herbs
22. Go Camping*
23. Have a Spa Day*
24. Crochet or Knit a Baby Blanket
25. Learn to Drive
26. Run a Marathon
27. Own a Pet
28. Cook through a Cook Book
29. Do a 365 Project
30. Own less 'Stuff'

And more of a breakdown...

2. Get Married - this one is OFFICIALLY crossed off and I am now unofficially Mrs Willmets-Secker (waiting for my passport to be reissued to prove my name change). The wedding was wonderful, I'd like to do a proper blog post, but I'm also hoping to get it feautred on a proper Wedding Blog, so I'll hold off for now.

5. Save Enough for Our Wedding - well obviously this one has to be crossed off now, and if I didn't get it done it's too late now...however, I am pleased to say, that even though it all got a bit muddy at the end with being so busy, having no internet and no time to keep track of the budget, I saved enough. I am so proud of myself.

7. Earn at least £30k/year - now that the wedding has happened, we've moved into our new flat (just 1 week before the Wedding!) I am going to get back on that job trail and find myself a new job and I will certainly be aiming to hit that £30k mark!

10. Buy a Mulberry Bag - now that we've got the crazy wedding saving out of the way and we can actually relax a little, I'm going to try and build up some good savings. And then one of my goals for 2016 is to buy myself a Mulberry bag (even if it's only teeny tiny).

22. Go Camping - this one can go too, now it wasn't awful, but it was by no means a picnic! We staying in Cheddar and it was gorgeous, the campsite wasn't too bad either. But the ground, not so comfy...and our tent, bloody boiling! Plus is absolutely poured on our last morning when we had to pack everything away, perfect. 

23. Have a Spa Day - now I don't know if it was a spa day as it wasn't technically in one place, but I've had a full body massage followed by a facial. Both were fine, not amazing and both could have been way longer. Want to redo this one somewhere proper and go all in for the pamper!

24. Crochet or Knit a Baby Blanket - right, so I started trying to crochet, I didn't get far..I actually can't manage more than one line, so unless this baby blanket is very long and thin, it's not going to fly. Officially removing this as a failed attempt.

25. Learn to Drive - so T is getting me some driving lessons as part of my Christmas present...this one's on the horizon

26. Run a Marathon - just a note to say that the new 2016 me isn't loving this one, new 2016 me feel lazy

30. Own less 'Stuff' - last update, this one is kind of happening, whilst I've definitely gained a LOT of makeup this year (hehe) and I now have  a large box of wedding 'memories' (or crap in T's eyes)...I am definitely doing better here! Our new flat is bloody tiny, so there's no choice but to throw stuff away. I might get the Marie Kondo book 'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing'

And now my questions is...is it cheating to change the list?

Oh and a wedding photo, because I want to show everyone that there is. It's my favourite.

 

Wedding Make Up: The First Steps of DIY

So after I was deliberating on the Professional vs. DIY aspect of my wedding make up, I've come to the conclusion that I'm going the DIY route for now. Oh God, what have I done?!
And if my practice runs all go terribly wrong then I can revert back and pay someone to do it for me!

I decided to look round the make up counters in Boots one Saturday with T, I promptly got terrified and overwhelmed by the choice - what do I need? Where do I start? What shade will suit me? The most pale, obviously.
After my minor panic/breakdown (it put me in a foul mood), we went into Debenhams to try and look around the Bare Minerals counter...typically, the woman had just gone to lunch! The lady at Clinique came over and seemed so friendly that I ended up going to speak to her.
Turns out they do a free 'make up lesson', aka make over. But for free, why turn it down?!
So after a quick colour match and a nice little sample pot of the Superbalanced Foundation in Alabaster (yes, only the palest for me!) I pencilled in an appointment for two weeks time to have my Bridal Make Up Lesson.

I trialled the Superbalanced Foundation over the next couple of weeks, I really like how light feels and looks on my face and the colour is perfect.
I also got my hands on a sample of some Estée Lauder Double Wear foundation (I'm not sure which shade, as the lady at the counter wasn't really that helpful), I tried that one a few days ago and it was so much heavier than the Clinique Superbalanced.

Two weeks later, back I went to the Clinique counter, with one of my bridesmaids (Clara) for moral support and to observe.
An hour later, a lot of wedding chat and me not really learning too much, my face looked like this.

Not too shabby eh?

My feelings were...I like the overall look, I quite liked the peachy shade of blusher and the gold/bronze eye shadow was lovely!
I really didn't like the way she did my eye liner and eye lashes, I have super long eye lashes and so they just got tangled and clumpy - I think she a little overwhelmed with how long they are!
I also didn't like the lipstick; the colour was ok, but it had a bit of sparkle in it, which left me feeling like a 15 year old. It also dried my lips out like crazy and by the time I got home they had gone all crusty, as if I had spent several days in the arctic.

Still, I think it was a fantastic starting point for me. I walked away with the Superbalanced Foundation in Alabaster and the Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel.

AWOL

Yes, I know I've been AWOL for a little bit now. Sorry!
We've just hit our mega busy time of year at work...the dreaded exam period. Hours and hours spent wading through exam scripts, inputting marks etc. It's all fun.

I usually have a ton of free time at work, which is when I do work related tasks wedding planning, blogging etc. But I haven't even had a change to keep my poor diary up to date recently, he's so bare! No meal plan put in, I've only updated my bills and exercise!

I'm hoping to be back on it soon enough, with a massive catch up. I'll try and make more effort to at least post a Photo Friday every so often.

I also need a little time for me at the moment, next week is the anniversary of my Dad's death (I can't even believe I'm writing that). I can hardly believe it's nearly been a whole year and it's been a rough few weeks for me again. I've actually tried to write a couple of posts about it, but I've stopped them all because they've made me too upset.

Enough of that for now. I better be getting back for work. No time for sneaky breaks!!

Uphill Cycling, Scones and Jam and some Camping Equiptment

I'd say that's how I would sum up last weekend (it's another weekend already!!).

We started Saturday off by getting the train from Romford to Kelvedon, bikes in tow. We were planning what I thought would be a easy little nip out on the bikes from Kelvedon to Tiptree to go to the Tiptree Jam Factory, Museum and Tea Rooms. Yeah, it wasn't such a great ride.
Firstly it was on the road the whole way, which I am not a fan of, and the whole way there was uphill...4 miles of just uphill! My poor little legs cannot take that after nearly a year of not cycling!

We finally got there, somehow, and joined the queue for the tea rooms...and then spotted a sign to say that the museum would be shut from 1pm for a private event. Checked the time, it'd just hit 1pm! We were at least able to get some food (a VERY tasty Ploughmans with a pork pie followed by the scones I posted a picture of yesterday) and have a look around the shop...and we didn't buy everything they had! Which is a miracle, considering they had two walls full of different jars of jams and preserves!!
Then it was back on the bikes for a 4 mile downhill ride (so much better than the way there!) and arrived at the station just as the train pulled away! We only had to wait 30 minutes for the next train, which was a nice break as my thighs were burning!

On the train again and out futher into Essex to Colchester. We had a bit of time to walk around the town and pop into a few shops before everything closed. We came away with some camping gear, tea towels and a sausage dog door stop (we have named him Porky).
Colchester was lovely, it's Britain's oldest recorded town (in case you didn't know) and it had a lovely castle and gardens. We eventually got back on the train, which was now full of drunk people on their way out, which made for a wonderfully quite and relaxing journey home, ha!


Then Sunday ended up being completed camping gear related, we put in a big Amazon order and went into Central London to buy some stuff too.
Only to later decide that we would not be going camping this weekend...it's a Bank Holiday so all the trains are crazy and it's going to rain. There goes that 30 Before 30 plan, but I'm pretty sure putting me in a rainy field for two days on my first camping trip would not make me want to go again!

This weekend, instead of camping, we're off into Essex again to the Braintree Outlet Mall...shopping, yay! We might also look at beds. Yup, beds.

Not don't you tell me I don't live a thrilling life ;)

Enjoy the long weekend!

Photo Friday #19

The yummy scones we had last week at the Tiptree Jam Museum!

My 100th Post!

I'm not really sure how much the first few posts counted seeing as I hadn't really got into the swing of this blogging thing, but hey...this is my 100th post!!

Isn't that exciting! I wish I had something momentous to put, but I really don't at the moment.

I just want to say thanks to anyone that actually bothered to read this. And encourage you to say hello, it'd be nice to know if there's anyone out there or whether I'm just yammering away to myself (most likely).

But that's all for now, Happy Thursday folks!