Mother's Day 2014 ❤ - Presents!!

Hellooo,

So another Mother's Day has been and gone, possibly what I personally believe to be the best day of the year - let's face it celebrating mummies and nannies :) On 30th March 2014, I celebrated my 4th Mother's Day which you can read about here.

I had an absolutely brilliant day and some yummy food :) spending the day with my family and watching Spurs lose on TV! Corey was either really hyper or quite grumpy, think tiredness had hit him and he slept for 14 hours that night!! Mum and Nan had decided they weren't doing presents this year, yet my nan got a Steam Iron and my mum got a Cake Mixer plus a bunch of flowers each :)

But I thought I would share with you what I got as I was over the moon and got some goodies ❤

So just a couple of little things from my partner, which he dashed to the shops for in the morning (apparently not the only one!) but my favourite flowers will always be Tulips and a cute little teddy that I had seen in Tesco!

Goodies that my mummy got me from Corey:

a glass trinket box saying 'mums like you are precious and few', Me To You 'Mum' champagne bottle figurine, mum photoframe, colourful kitchen knife set, an inflatable balloon which says 'I Love You This Much!' as well as a gorgeous personalised necklace!

Close up of the necklace, so it is all of our names, one on each circle - it is super cute :)

Like I said my mum got a cake mixer, which she put to use straight away and made these banana cupcakes topped with chocolate butter icing and crumbled flakes - sooo delicious!!

Corey wasn't really in the picture mood, but I managed to snap a couple - most importantly got an up to date one of Corey and my mummy, which is now my phone screen picture :) my two favourite people!

The day before Mother's Day I was at a Blogger's Meet which will be on the blog soon and I picked up my first ever lot of Lush products as a bit of a treat to myself :) But my partner said they could be from Corey and him as he hadn't got much else. A review will be done!

I am so pleased with my presents and couldn't of got anything better! Was just the perfect Mother's Day ❤ How did you spend your Mother's Day? :) What did you get or buy for someone?

Love, Gemma xo

Twitter ❤ Instagram ❤ BlogLovin ❤ Facebook

SERIES: Have You Discovered.. Foundation?

Hellooo,,

So the third week of #haveyoudiscovered series is upon us and its topic is Foundation. I have a good one for you this week :)

No 7 Beautifully Matte
It took me a while to bite the bullet and go ahead with this purchase, I am not sure why and I regret not buying it sooner. I could honestly rave about this product forever so I will try not to bore you too much!

No7 is obviously known to pretty much everyone as they have been around for so long. It is honestly just so good for oily skin, I have suffered forever and hadn't found anything yet that worked well on my skin or matched colour wise as I am quite pale. I took their Colour Match skin test by the lovely lady at the local counter. I was matched with 'Calico' the palest, of course! She gave me a tester which she said was enough to last one day, but ended up lasting me 4!

It is such full even coverage, super long lasting and need minimal amount too. Price wise it is reasonable at £12.95, as much as any drugstore but it does last a fair while. On my face, usually make-up I have used in the past (i.e. L'Oreal True Match) turns out cakey and orange but this never has done so far in the 4 months I have been using it. So I am really chuffed :) Especially, as a main issue sometimes is having to keep blotting my face during the day, I never have too anymore!

What would you pick as your holy-grail foundation? I will be checking #haveyoudiscovered hastag on Twitter to see your posts on what you come up with too :) Come back next week for Concealer!

Love, Gemma xo

Twitter ❤ Instagram ❤ BlogLovin ❤ Facebook

Mother's Day 2014 ❤

Helloo,

So not only is this a special post as it is Mother's Day but it is also my 100th published post as a blogger :)

So this took me a while to figure out and I had to double check myself a few times but this is actually my 4th Mother's Day - how crazy is that?! Especially as I have only a 3 year old, my little rock Corey. Honestly, this day is probably one of my favourite day's of the year, celebrating the most amazing possible thing ever and that is becoming a mummy. Looking back, it is quite strange really to see what we have overcome and been through but also wonderful to see what an incredible little human being he is becoming. Not just that but also what sort of lady I have turned into as well!

A normal tradition in my family which we have done since as long as I can remember is a family meal at my mums with all the family, which is lovely as we do for every special occasion and birthday - we certainly love our family time :) Today's meal is gorgeous chilli con carne - most of our favourites, certainly is mine!

I have both my Mum and my Nan, both of whom I am very close with and wouldn't be without really. As always they have done so much for me, even more so now with Corey. We don't always agree on everything but we have learnt over the years that it's okay to have differences. I couldn't think of two people who I could love more than these. Although I still think I have given them the greatest present ever of the first grandchild and great grandchild - don't get much better than that!

Next, is my other nan who unfortunately reached the 2nd anniversary of her death yesterday - a shame she can not be here today with me to celebrate. But someone I will never forget especially on a day like today, it still saddens me that she won't see Corey grow up or be there for my wedding in the future. I remember she always used to have silly big wedding hats, she already had one picked out for mine long ago. Nanny Betty on her 70th Birthday below which must have been 5 or 6 years ago now, if not longer. But I will always have her in my heart no matter what and where ever my life's journey takes me ❤

Looking back I have had some great Mother's Day, on my first I remember Corey being sick all over me first thing in the morning - what a lovely present that was! I wanted to find the perfect picture to share of Corey and I, searched and searched but nothing compared to this picture below that was only taken the other day..

cheeky monkey sleeping in mummy's bed - pretending to be asleep and smiled as he knew I was taking a photo, he even pretends to snoe which is so funny as he is getting so good at it. I love this little man I have created and don't know what I would do without him, my rock, my whole entire world and more ❤
Happy Mother's Day!!

So as much as this is a day for celebrating it is also a day to remember those who can not be around but love as if they were ❤ Hope you all have a wonderful day whatever your plans may be especially for so many of you lovely bloggers who will be celebrating your first :) enjoy it and hope you all get spoilt rotten!

Love, Gemma xo

Twitter ❤ Instagram ❤ BlogLovin ❤ Facebook

Ideal Home Show - Earls Court 2014

Hellooo,

So yesterday I went somewhere exciting, I took a trip to the Ideal Home Show in Earls Court, London with my mummy and hubby! We were lucky enough to get the tickets for free due to some deal they had on See Tickets a little while ago!

They had all sorts of furniture for the house and garden, make-up, food, fashion, cars, technology and much more! So thought I would do a post to share some pictures and show you what it was all about :)

Look how pretty the outside is, wasn't expecting that but just wowza! Cath Kidston style? Then this is also their main stage and a couple of exhibitions in the back, the whole flooring downstairs was artificial grass.

So do you see that BIG wooden thing in the background? It is actually a treehouse, a quite treehouse. It was quite beautiful inside, and was built by the "Quiet Mark" which provide technology that is quieter to help noise pollution etc. Quite hairdryer, kettle and alarm etc, was quite good actually! But how on earth do you get a quiet alarm? We didn't get to see it work so was slightly gutted. It cost £350,000 to make and will be donated to the The Children's Hospice - they will love it!

Ohhh how I love Mini's, how fabulous is that chair? I want it soo much, if only ey? Plus the strange champagne fridge car!

They actually made up houses, the size of actual houses that you could walk round for some inspiration etc :) They were really cool, and look at that Elephant lamp and those suitcase side table that it is on.

The garden wooden house thing was so big it had to be in 2 photos, living life like luxury - I could only dream!

They had a Cake Competition with the theme of celebration for Price George's first birthday later this year in July. The blue toy box (top right) is actually quite special to me, as they are a local company who made Corey's christening cake. But I have taken a close up of my personal favourite!

So they had the most amazing little bespoke luxury playhouses for children, I was in love! I couldn't get great pictures so I really recommend you check their site out here. The price is ridiculous amounts but trust me you have to take a peak!!

So the hubby and I left my mum watching what we thought was a fashion show for 10 minutes whilst we went and had a go on some amazing massage chairs, was such a miracle and certainly heaven in a chair - needed after the long day! When we came back to get her, we realised it was actually a kind of dance show; so glad I caught the last few minutes as they were really good.

I forgot to take pictures of the food and beauty sections, as frankly they were the busiest but they had some great tasters from sausages to sweets. The sweet stall was massive and cost a fortune! I can't believe I didn't get a picture but they had SPARKLY lipstick, so pigmented and it was hideous so I didn't really stop to have a look!

On the exit, these massive light shades looked amazing, they felt as big as the size of my kitchen!!

Now onto the good bit, the goodies that we brought..

This is their goodie bags they gave out, have to admit they are pretty rubbish like kitchen roll tissue, really??

The pink suitcase is a bit of a secret for now as I am going to do a whole post about it as it is that good, so keep an eye out. Next, these spice powders were amazing - he added one teaspoon scoop with mayoonaise and it made the yummiest dip ever and lots of other recipe ideas he gave us. If you would like me to do a post on these then I will if you let me know in the comments! Then sweeties and honey roasted cashew nuts as I couldn't resist :)

So as we wrapped up our visit at the Ideal Home Show we then headed of to Leicster Square to find something for dinner. Mum is usually in London a bit but always for business and not pleasure. We hadn't picked up anything from the show for Corey as wasn't much for him, so we stopped by the M&M Store, and got him a policeman who has been named Noddy and me a keyring too. Then headed off to Chiquito's, my absolute favourite restaurant at the moment. Mum is a fan of mexican but never tried before so hubby and I were set on taking her and of course had their delicious Churro's!

So that was it for my day, I had a really fun time and the show was really good :) What do you think? Have any of you been? If you would like to know more about some of the goodies we picked up, please let me know in the comments!

Love, Gemma xo

Twitter ❤ Instagram ❤ BlogLovin ❤ Facebook

REVIEW*: Baker Days Cakes

Hellooo,

So today I have something really cool to show you, cake - not just any ordinary cake but a cake that fits through your letterbox! How cool is that :)

So the company is called 'Baker Days' - they create personalised yumminess delivered to your door, able to fit through the normal sized letterbox (you can get bigger sizes!!). Whether it is cupcakes or a cake, you can add a photo or logo maybe even choose one of their on designs.

Prices start fro £14.99* depending on what type of cake you desire and whether you have any party extras etc. On this particular cake you can add personalisation underneath the writing if you wanted to write a message to whoever the cake is for!

I was lucky enough to get to try one from their Mother's Day range, it took me a while to pick a design as they were all so pretty but finally settled with Mother's Day Rose one that had caught my eye from the beginning!

So here is what came in the box, a tin filled with cake, a mini tube of love hearts and a floral card :) below is a close up of the cake - such a pretty, classic and elegant design! :)

Unfortunately, my cake was a little squashed which I am slightly gutted about. Because the tin or box wasn't damaged at all I guess this was done during making before packaging which makes me wonder why there was no quality control? But one of those things. Here is up close of both damages to the cake so you can see what I mean:

The cake tasted absolutely lovely although it didn't last very long in this house with three of us!

Over all, I love the whole idea of the letterbox cake and the personalised cakes in whatever size you wish really :) it is such a sweet idea, and fairly average priced. They have something for all occasions!! We all love surprise post especially of the edible kind - so why not go and treat someone you know or love, maybe even yourself ;)

Be sure to check out their sites:

Baker Days Website
Baker Days Twitter
Baker Days Instagram

Love, Gemma xo

Twitter ❤ Instagram ❤ BlogLovin ❤ Facebook

GUEST POST: Travelling Abroad Pregnant

Hellooo,

Today we have my lovely friend Polly from Polly's Little World blogging about being pregnant and travelling abroad:

Me and my OH have always loved going abroad for our holidays, we both worked and could afford going to fancy hotels. We booked a holiday to go to Mexico in September 2012 for the following summer, little did we know a small bump would be joining us. I was 17/18 weeks pregnant when we flew out to Mexico and I had been suffering with bad morning sickness in the weeks leading up. I was really looking forward to a relaxing break before the all chaos began. I have always been great in the sun and never had any problems, I knew Mexico would be hot and sticky but I was not prepared for how my body had changed. I found it so hard to cope with the heat, I just wanted to stay in the air conditioned room all day and it completely drained all energy out of me. We weren't there to explore, we did have a lovely time and we enjoyed the quality couple time before two became three. If your thinking of booking a "baby moon" as they now call it I've put together a little list of things you must be aware of before booking a lavish holiday in the sun.

Vaccinations, Check with your doctor as some vaccinations you can't have in the first stages of pregnancy

Travel insurance is a must even though it will be more expensive

Check airline policies, some do not let you fly in the later stages of pregnancy and after 28 weeks some ask for a letter from your GP or midwife

Things to pack:

Make sure you buy lots of bottled water to keep hydrated

If it is a long flight buy some travel socks, not the best look but they keep varicose veins away

A higher sun cream than you would usually use. Your body produces more of the hormone Melanin which can make you more prone to sunburn

A big sun hat to shade you

Magi-cool, I found this a life saver. It is a can of cooling spray which doesn't require refrigeration so you can carry it around in your bag. Its also completely safe to use in pregnancy and on babies as its drug free.

Flip flops, your feet may swell so much that those fancy sandals won't be anywhere near fitting

An umbrella (just an average one will do) to shade you when walking around. You can see on the picture I am clutching mine

Lastly, have a lovely time and enjoy the peace and quiet.

That's it for now from Polly, let us know what you think and your opinions. Check out Polly's fab blog here also stop by and follow her on Twitter and BlogLovin.

Love, Gemma xo

Twitter ❤ Instagram ❤ BlogLovin ❤ Facebook

SERIES: Have You Discovered.. Primer?

Helloo,

Last Sunday you would have seen the start of this new Series which you can read about here, it was all based on skincare. Which by the way it is not too late to start this series, it runs every week until 27th July - so if you want to join go check out Becka's page here. Now we are onto Primer, this is also probably one of the shortest posts I will be doing so apologies in advance.

As a bit of a newbie on the Blogging scene (okay 6 months!) but still learning on the beauty front as it isn't really my fortay, I am yet to try Primers. I have very oily skin which I am trying to control and well with not a lot of money - it is proving to be difficult. I do have a sample of MAC Prep + Prime to try but it really doesn't look enough to actually give it a decent go.

So instead of being able to show you what I have, I need you to tell me what is best? :) Let me know your thoughts and I will be sure to check out all the posts tagged to #haveyoudiscovered on Twitter for some ideas too.

Love, Gemma xo

Twitter ❤ Instagram ❤ BlogLovin ❤ Facebook

REVIEW*: Stamptastic

Helloo,

So today I have something really cool to share whether you are a mummy, daddy, business owner or whoever :)

They are so amazing, I got the chance to review this just in time really. I hadn't even thought of putting Corey's name on things yet because he is only in pre-school. However, the day this arrived in the post I picked up Corey from pre-school, underneath his peg on the floor was lying a Spurs Hoody, his, one he hadn't worn in a fair few weeks, one I didn't even know was missing. How annoying is that, just lying on the floor? No one there had picked it up to find an owner or anything. Luckily, I found it!! But now, I am thankful for Stamptastic retailing at £8 per stamp and £10 for ink pad (black only).

I did the first line wonky, so I tried again so you could see better.. Obviously, you would usually use your last name, but Corey has two so I chose a middle name for my stamp and will certainly be re-ordering when he goes to big school :)

They literally work on pretty much anything - fabric, metal, paper, wood, leather and most plastics - plus no need to iron or sew. Could be use for stationary, clothes, lunch boxes, note cards etc. I really do think business' should invest in these too, as when signing letters etc it is a nice unique logo to add to it.

Really quick, easy and mess free. I highly recommend and couldn't be happier :) I am going to get stamp happy and stamp away!

Go get yours now on this link here!

Love, Gemma xo

Twitter ❤ Instagram ❤ BlogLovin ❤ Facebook

Nail Varnish Goodies

Hellooo,

So I have been having a bit of a clear out of things at mine, a mini spring clean to find some bits to sell in car boot season coming up. On the way though I found some Nail Varnish goodies at got for Christmas etc, I did some swatches and they are so pretty I had to share :)

L'Oreal Paris Colour Riche

So these are my recent buys in my Boots Haul which you can read here. There is 2 bright pastel shades and 2 bright shades perfect for spring and summer :)

Barry M

These I found hidden in a bag that was in a bag in my room haha :) so can't even remember how long ago I must have brought these. Again more pastel colours, clearly I have an obsession. The two plummy shades I thought were the same but they aren't - one is Berry Cosmo and the other is .. I prefer the which is the shade in the middle. Can you tell the difference?

Color Club

I was given these gems by my boyfriends best friends, I was so pleased. Never heard of the make before but I think they come from TK Maxx. They are the most beautiful shades which I have fallen in love with them all. Particuarly the blue and glitter - I am thinking of doing a 'Galaxy' themed nail art with these :)

Bit of a short post, but aren't they pretty? Which shades are your favourite? Mine are the Color Club ones!

Love, Gemma xo

Twitter ❤ Instagram ❤ BlogLovin ❤ Facebook