Ramblings of Geo

Christening day!

2015-04-27T10:00:00.000+01:00

Last Sunday we were invited to a christening for our friends Daughters, it was a lovely day and really nice to catch up with friends and family!

My Outfit was pretty much chucked together, i wanted to wear the black and white dress, but didnt want it to be too formal, or too black... So as i was literally running out the door i threw on the pink jacket and necklace. I cant express how much i loved my outfit!

Dress: H&M, Shoes: Dorothy Perkins, Jacket & Necklace: Newlook, Watch: Fitbit

A nice photo of Mikey and me!

Mike's mini beer... :)

The beautiful christening cake for the girls!

Easter Weekend: Birdworld Photos!

2015-04-24T10:00:00.000+01:00

On Easter Sunday we went to Birdworld, its kind of local to me and its a nice family day out.

They have loads of different types of Birds, like penguins, flamingos, parrots etc - they also have a farm where you can get in with the baby goats and pet the small animals.

We went with my cousin and the twins, our friends and their girls, and our family and niece :)

Easter Weekend London Photos.

2015-04-22T21:41:00.000+01:00

I had a really good Easter weekend, we took Mikes nephew out to London for the day and man was i tired at the end of the day! :)

We went to the Natural history museum, the sensational butterflies exhibition, science museum and Hamleys. Its hard work looking after a 6 year old, we felt like we were on high alert all day! haha

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DIY: Succulent table!

2015-03-31T10:00:00.000+01:00

If you like an easy DIY then this is for you...

I have had this Ikea table for a while, but the top of it broke when a canvas fell off my wall and smashed it. So rather then take it to the dump, i decided to upcycle it!

I then bought the supplies, they weren't cheap i will admit. It was about £30 in total for the soil, stones, and all the plants.

The table i was reusing was waterproof, so whatever you buy you need to make sure you aren't going to get any leakage. The table i have is still available from ikea, and i *think* its around £16.

My selection of cacti, succulents, and other rockery type plants. Soooo cute!

Step 1 - fill the base with about an inch of pebbles, this is your drainage.

Step 2 - get your placement just how you want it, then plant away!

Step 3 - Add some decorative pebbles, i got mine at the £1 shop, and then add a few of the stones that you used for the drainage on the top too. It brings it all together dontcha think?

I must say, im rather proud of my creation!

It adds some well needed greenery to my lounge and its really low maintenance. Even if i do have to gather the large pebbles up sometimes as the dog keeps stealing them.

Let me know if you create something similar, I'd love to see it!

Baking myself an Easy Jus Rol Breakfast!*

2015-03-27T10:00:00.000+00:00

I always see the Jus Rol pastry cans in the butter aisle, and always wonder how it works. Do Croissants just pop out? Do i have to cut them? what are they... what is this invention?

I was kindly offered the chance to review some Jus Rol products, so i decided to try out my FAV food, Croissants.. nothing better than a nice fresh baked Croissant for breakfast.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yummy!

Watch it go POP when you rip it open!

It took minmal effort to make these, you literally roll the pastry out, its pre cut so you could carefully tear it apart, or score it with a knife. Then you just roll it up as shown above (and on the packet) and then you can glaze them with some milk after to add a nice golden colour when they have baked.

All you need to do is get your butter and Jam at the ready and wait 10mins for them to cook...

And then ta daaaaa...

Now they dont look fantastic as it was my first attempt, i have made them again since and the looked a lot more like a croissant that you see in the shops. They are quite small so this was enough for 2 people, they make a perfect breakfast for a Sunday.

I literally cant stop buying them now to have in the fridge ready for Sunday Breakfast!

Im easily pleased when it comes to food... nom nom nom.

*I was provided with vouchers to purchase the item featured in this review. I wasn't paid to write the post, and all comments are honest and are my own.

Im back!!!

2015-03-25T21:11:00.000+00:00

I know... who am i right?

I have had nothing but problems with my stupid laptop for months, so finally i have sorted it out. Its a bit temperamental but should work for long enough for me to not risk losing my patience and throwing it against the wall...

I literally had about a bazillion emails too as my yahoo app wasn't working on my phone either. Technical nightmare!

Im still trying to delete the 1000's of PPI and car crash claim emails... ugh!

I have had major writers block too, i always seem to think i have nothing interesting to write about, although when i look back i had done so much. Its so easy to get caught up with work and the boring things like cleaning and washing etc.

Let me give you an update on the past couple of months...

December -

We had a 'christmas' party with some friends and my dad and Chisato... Yup my dad came back for christmas! and he's still here now. So at the party i made waaaaay to much food, but we had a good time and you can never have to much party food!

Then we had christmas, we spent the day at my nans house, i had both parents together for what i think may have been the first christmas ever...

Not alot happened that i can remember in January... ill have to come back to you on that one. Oh yes i remember... i read all 3 Fifty shades of Grey books whilst cooped up at him with a bad back. I had to have something to bide the time!

In February i saw Fifty Shades of Grey at the cinema... meh.... books are better. I also went to a Museum with Mike, Dad and Chisato... its called Milestones and its basically the area i live in back in the Victorian times. Its pretty cool for a small Museum.

And then March...

So i had my hair cut.. short. Well short for me anyway.

I love having a 'Lob' its so much healthier, i love love love it!

It was my dads birthday last week so we all went out for a meal, i think its the first birthday i have ever spent with my dad.

So thats me so far...

Im trying to get back on track with the old blogging Malarky!

Disaronno Versace - a perfect chrismas tipple!

2014-11-13T09:30:00.000+00:00

If your a Disaronno drinker or know someone who is, and you love fashion, AND love supporting charities, then you need to put this on your Christmas drink list!!

I was lucky enough to try out the Disaronno Versace Sour cocktail, and i can tell you now, its really good.

Versace designed this limited edition bottle which is available now and is £15 for the 500ml bottle. The bottle supports the Fashion 4 Development project which is a global campaign to tackle the issues in the developing world.

'Fashion 4 Development' is supported by The United Nations, and part of the proceeds of the sale of DISARONNO will go towards this charity.

Its a win, win sitatuation, you can enjoy your christmas drink and know some money is going to a good cause. Thats what christmas is all about isnt it? - Giving back to a good cause.

A gift you you..

Here's how you make the VERSACE Disaronno sour cocktail-

25ml DISARONNO

15ml Vermouth Bianco

15ml lime juice

Shake and pour over crushed ice

Top with a dash of Prosecco

Drizzle with Blue Curacao

*written for review purposes, but no payment or product received.

Armistice day 2014

2014-11-11T20:51:00.000+00:00

Scrapbook Update & a Moan about Hobbycraft

2014-11-04T19:49:00.001+00:00

I think i have decided that i want to try and scrapbook more regularly, im not sure i can manage every week although im going to try my hardest. I have my Simple Stories Sn@p binder which i think will be a good first timer album. I will be using some of their normal pocket pages along with some Insta pockets. I decided to try and go from December to December as i have a lot happening this December... who knows i might only fit December in one book... (How many times can you say December in one sentence... )

It was this video on youtube that inspired me to do this style of scrapbooking... i just loooove it.

Leading on from this i decided i NEEDED to go to Hobby craft to get some supplies, thus enters my disappointment.

Lets talk about my failed attempt at a shopping spree in Hobby craft... whats going on Hobby craft, why is your so called 'Papercraft' section rubbish now?!

I thought i would treat myself to some project life as it is currently 25% off... the selection was bloody awful. I know its on sale, but it wasnt even enough space to have a full selection laid out, it was all over the shop.

I wanted to buy Washi tape, alphabet stickers (Thickers or other American Craft ones) and some project life cards, or smashbook supplies. They had NO washi tape or alphabet stickers in the whole shop. Not going to bother going there again, think ill stick to online shopping in future which is a shame as i love the thrill of going to the store.

Please direct me to any good websites you know for scrap booking supplies or other scrapbooking bloggers or youtubers.

I also came across some free scrapbook classes online on www.scrapbook.com, i signed up to all the free ones.. so far so good, i have the Teresa Collins Albums made easy class, Learn to scrapbook, Sn@p Simple stories album in a class, and Journalling technices with Ali Edwards. You should sign up whilst their free, they get delivered to your inbox daily so its pretty cool.

So thats my rambly post over with... ill be putting a video on my youtube with my rubbish hobbycraft haul.. so keep an eye out!

Doddle for Dogs Review & Giveaway!

2014-10-29T21:35:00.000+00:00

If your a regular viewer you will realise that i love my dogs more than life itself.

I was given the opportunity to review a new collar for dogs called 'Doddle' Its called Doddle due to its ease of use, its a doddle to use!

Doddle is a collar with a retractable lead built into it. I bet you wish you had thought of that idea!

Instagram: Ramblingsofgeo

We decided to give it a go on Vinny as hes a bit more laid back than Diesel, we used it on a recent trip to the vets for their yearly jabs, and it made life a lot easier.

The Doddle did make it a bit easier at the vets as i didn't have to faff about getting the harness off the dog so it wasn't in the way of his neck. It was a lot easier to get him in and out of the car too, he seemed less stressed too. I think the doddle is a good concept if you have well behaved/ trained dogs. Mine are a bit scatty (what jack Russell isn't!?) so i wouldnt be comfortable using this near roads as there is no way of stopping them from lunging into the road.

The pod where the retractable lead is stored is quite large, so i wouldnt let my dog wear it all the time. Its well made though and very strong. There is some loops to attached ID tags, or another lead if you wanted a back up.

I love that this is another product that has been on Dragons den, one of my fav TV programmes.

How Handsome does my boy look!!

You can enter to win a Doddle for your dog, just complete the Raffle copter widget below to enter!

Be sure to leave me a comment with what dog you have, and a link to your blog if you have one!

(Competition ends on 26th Nov)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Grandad, this ones for you.

2014-10-27T10:00:00.000+00:00

Its my Grandads birthday today, (and my mums, so happy birthday mum if your reading)

I wanted to write this as my grandparents live in france so i dont get to see them often, and i thought it was a bit more meaningful than another card that will just get put away and forgetten about.

___________________________________________________

My Grandad means more to me than anything in the world, he has taught me so many things in life and made me the person i am today. I am so grateful for what both of my grandparents did for me when i was growing up, and grateful that i could live with them when i wasn't happy at home. They gave me a sanctuary, somewhere that was home and i felt safe and loved.

My grandad cooked my crumpets in the morning, and used that as his tactic to wake me up in the mornings. I remember this every morning:

Grandad: George are you up yet, your crumpets are under the grill!
Me: (Still in bed all cozy) Yes Grandad im getting ready

5mins later

Grandad: GEORGIA YOUR CRUMPETS ARE BURNING - (walking towards my room)
Me: (Jumping out of bed to pretend im getting ready) I'M getting ready, hang on a minute!

This usually ended up with me having burnt crumpets, or Grandad pretending he had put them under the grill when he hadnt really and was just trying to get me out of bed. I was one lazy teenager, but teenagers need their sleep right?!

Grandad drove me to school in the mornings in his skanky work van, Grandad used to be a welder on cars (Chassis and body repair, see Grandad i remember!) So the work van wasn't exactly clean where he had a pretty dirty job working with cars and metal. We used to chat on the way to school and grandad used to enthuse in me that i should work hard at school, get a job and save money. My Grandparents work ethic was amazing, they both worked SO hard to provide for not only themselves, but me as well when they didn't have to.

I never went without anything. Some might say i was a brat but i can tell you now i have only been grateful for everything they gave me and did for me. I remember wanting this Mega blocks doll house type thing from Woolworth's when i was about 10, i was told no i couldn't have it. Yet i worked my charms and persuaded Grandad that i would clean his work van. As usual he gave in, and took me to woolies to get the toy, i loved that toy and played with it all the time... i never did clean the van.

My Grandads sense of humor is something to be desired. My grandads favorite sweets are American Hard gums (the ones covered in sugar) One Saturday evening when the whole family was over watching Gladiators, Baywatch and blind date.. you know the standard Saturday night in the 90's. My grandad disappeared and brought the hard gums in, my uncle always went for the best flavour... the black ones... little did he know, my grandad had taken all the sugar off and covered it in salt!!! Nigel did get a bit of a surprise! haha :)

Basically i just want to say - Thank you for being the best grandad any one could ever ask for. You have shown me so much love, kindness and taught me so much. I love that Mike thinks so much of you and loves spending time with you. He cant wait to play golf and go fishing next time he see's you.

Happy Birthday Grandad, here's to many more!

Now go get yourself a beer for reading all of this.

Love you

xxxxxxxx

P.S i know this photo will make you laugh so i had to include it.....

(Brian is my grandparents Jack Russell, and he is not violent at all... just loves to smile! haha)

Nails inc: Alexa Leather

2014-10-23T10:00:00.000+01:00

Oooooooh check out this lovely nails inc polish.

Its a leather effect, so it has a rough texture where you dont apply a top coat over the top. You want it to look rough, and leather like.

I love the new style bottles that Nails inc have brought out, its so sleek, and a bigger bottle so you get more for your money!

They are £15 a bottle with 14ml of product (Which is 4ml more than you got in the old style) you can get it from the nails inc website. It flew off the shelves when it was first released, so you might have more chance of getting it now.

*PR Sample

France: Part 3 - Aquarium du Périgord Noir & Mini Golf!

2014-10-21T10:00:00.000+01:00

Mid week we went to Aquarium du Périgord Noir which was about an hour from my grandparents house, the scenery on the way was nice, lots of fields and country side.

The Aquarium has 1000's of freshwater fish, and to be honest i thought it was pretty awesome. There was Sturgeon, Axolotl's, lots of Pleco's and a HUUUUUGE pool of Koi carp.

Beauty Must have: La Roch-Posay Effaclar Anti Blemish System*

2014-09-29T10:00:00.000+01:00

If you are looking for a 3 step system to get your skin in really good condition, then look no further.

The La Roch-Posay anti blemish system has three products, the first step is the Gel Cleanser, the second is the Clarifying toner, and the final, my favorite, is the Effaclar Duo+ Corrective cream.

Im going to mention the dreaded C word... but this would be an awesome set to give to someone for christmas. It is currently £32.50 in boots, and if your not happy with it you can get y0ur money back!

This set gives you a 6 week supply which i think will give you a good indication as to whether the product is going to work for you. Its suitable for sensitive skin, and specially for people with Acne. Its also Parabin free, which is a bonus!

I love the Effaclar Duo+ cream, i use it every day on my forehead... yes thats right. My forehead. I used to get these horrible little spots along my hair line. Since i started using this product the have completely gone. I went through a few weeks where i stopped using it, and they came straight back. So i've been back to my usual routine and they have gone again! woo.

*I was perked with this product, all comments are honest and opinions my own.

Veggie Quorn Lasagne with and my Dolmio bargain!

2014-09-26T10:00:00.000+01:00

Are you ready for a very quick and easy Veggie Dinner!?

Well here we go.... I was in the middle of a quick dash into Iceland to get some bread and milk. When i came across an offer where you could get a free Dolmio Lasagne dish if you bought two Dolmio sauces. The sauces were on offer for £1.50 each too which was a bargain!

I picked up two sauces, the tomato lasagne sauce, and the creamy white sauce. This got me the free dish. I then had to get some lasagne sheets, mushrooms, onion, mozzarella and some Quorn Mince.

All you need to do is..

1) Fry the chopped up Onions until slightly browned. Throw in the Mushroom and Mince.

2) Pour in the tomato sauce and let it simmer and heat through.

3) Next Layer the mince and veg in the dish, start with the Mince, then a layer of Pasta sheet, then a layer of Creamy white sauce.

4) Repeat until the dish is full, then cover with Mozzarella.

5) Cook for approx 25mins until the cheese is browned, it might be worth covering it with foil to give it a little longer to cook through so that the pasta sheets are cooked. (Ours were a little bit chewy)

6) Enjoy!

I have made a few other dinner with Quorn which you can look at the links below:

Quorn Cottage Pie.
Quorn Curry Bagel
Quorn with Cous Cous

France 2014: Part 2

2014-09-24T10:00:00.000+01:00

Im here with another French update. We managed to cram quite a lot in to one week, so i have to split up the posts through fear of boring you death.

On Thursday we went along to Eymet Market, its a morning market, and its my favorite. I love the atmosphere, the smells, the feeling of being lost in translation. I dont speak french, i know my hello's, please, thank you and the odd bit of vocab. But being in a small Bastide where everyone speaks french is brilliant. (There is alot of english down there too though, which ruined the atmosphere a bit)

Looking down a narrow street

Birdies on wires

The town is a square with a fountain in the middle, and has narrow streets going off every direction, and the market leads off up to Eymet castle.

How beautiful the colours of the bags and baskets are!

We finished the market off with a beer and a sit down. The weather was pretty hot whilst we we're there. About 27+ most days!

Pretty much every afternoon we spent our time here...

We did manage a dog walk before dinner too, which was nice. We took Brian up to the field behind my grandparents house, and thought it would be rude not to snap some photos of the sun flowers, even if they are dieing.

I even finished off the walk with a photo shoot of their cat Manu..

More to come next week!

You Beauty Discovery Box: Sept 2014! + Video!

2014-09-22T10:00:00.000+01:00

This months YBD box was their 1st anniversary Birthday special!

As usual you can choose two items from their monthly list, this month they also threw in a birthday extra. It was a full size pot of the Tony & Guy Glamour volume plumping whip. (Which costs more than the whole box put together!)

I was a bit late to select my items this month as i was in France and forgot to make my selection... All the 'Good' stuff was taken, but i like to pick some random things i wouldn't otherwise try. So my selection was the MAVADRY (drys your nail polish super quick) And the Eyeko hydrogel eye patches. They put two packets of the eye patches in, which was a surprise!

They also threw in a few extras, this month was a make up sponge, and 2 Crabtree & Evelyn teabags. I love that they put some well-being products in as well as beauty.

I have used the eye patches and they were really soothing to your eye area. They definitely make them less puffy. The MAVADRY is ok, it does what it says by drying your manicure quickly, but i found that it was very chippy. I didn't use a top coat over my OPI polish so that's probably why.

You can check my other posts about this subscription box by clicking here.

I did a quick video to go through what i received in the box..

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Grip it: Review & Giveaway!

2014-09-19T10:20:00.000+01:00

I dont know if i have mentioned it, but if you follow me on instagram you will see that we have been building a walk in wardrobe. We have a pretty big bedroom for a 1 bed flat, so we did away with the 2 double free standing wardrobes we had, and my very Handy Husband built us a 4ft x 5ft walk in!

I'm not going to do the big reveal until its finished. One thing i have been meaning to do for a while was hang this mirror. This Mirror cost me £5 from a charity shop, and has been hanging out in the bedroom waiting to be put on the wall. Now the wardrobe is complete, structurally at least... We have space to hang the full length mirror! woo

As you can see we need to do a lot of work, painting wood, painting the room, getting new flooring/carpet etc. But at least now i have something on the wall to make it feel a bit more complete. One of the main reasons we delayed hanging this mirror was that the walls of the wardrobe are made from Plasterboard. Its not the strongest of materials, especially when your hanging a 3ft mirror from it.

I was contacted by a company called 'Grip it' they have a very handy kit of fixings especially for plasterboard/drywall (if your from the US).

Its a pretty cool kit, you get everything you need in it and it costs £19.99. You get drill bits, screwdriver, bolts, screws, and the grip it fixings in a variety of sizes dependent on your need. You can use these for anything from a Mirror like we did, or a radiator, kitchen cupboards, anything up to 180kg!


In action..

These fixings are relatively easy to use, i did find that it made more sense watching their video on how to use them rather than reading the instructions. We found the product easy to use and effective. My husband was really eager to give it ago, and was like 'Oooooh it comes with drill bits' when he opened the kit.. haha - Easy to please he is!

I have also found it really interesting reading about the product and how the 'inventor' was only 13 when he came up with the design! How amazing is that, he was also on dragons den which is a programme that i love.

They have very kindly offered a kit for one of my readers!

Enter through Rafflecopter, and leave me a comment on what you plan on using them for!

Click here to enter Via Rafflecopter

*I was perked with this product for review purposes.

Bonjour Francais 2014! Part 1

2014-09-17T10:00:00.000+01:00

We took off for a week at the end of August and went to see my grandparents in the south of France, Eymet in Bergerac to be exact.

When we arrived it was raining...

But then the next day it turned out lovely!!

We Went to Roquegeoffre (Nr Beynac) to go canoeing down the dordogyne for the day, we did 15km and it was a new experience to me. I have never canoed before let alone in a really wide river with a strong currant. It was pretty fun, just a bit scary to begin with.

Picnic lunch by the river

My Grandad and me :)

Mikey and me

Our first full day was great fun, and for once i was very sensible and wore my La roch posay spf 50 oil and didnt get burnt once! I came home with a lovely tan so just goes to show you still get a tan with high factor.

It was only 11 euros for the day, well worth it!

Review: Stila Magnificent Metals eye liner*

2014-09-15T10:00:00.000+01:00

Ooooooooh look what Stila have to offer.

I saw these collection when i was at the Christmas in July event last month (I mean... July, where did august go people?!)

Metallic Black Gold*

I'm loving this eyeliner, its kind of a two tone, a black base with gold throughout. You can use this as a shadow as well as a liner. Its a bit bold for me as a shadow and im not very good as blending it all out... so im sticking to using it as a liner.

It has a creamy texture and is almost sponge like to touch in the pot. Very strange.

What i like is that its not impossible to remove, although it does get gold bits of glitter all over the place.

I love that Stila's products feel well made, you dont get that cheap make up packaging feel with it, if you want to have a cheeky splurge then you can buy this from the Stila website for £24.00

Where have you been?

2014-09-10T11:00:00.000+01:00

Im still here...

I have been on my holidays, and im just getting back into the flow of normal life. boooo

Ill be back to show you some holiday snaps soon!

xo

Technics is reborn!

2014-09-09T21:07:00.000+01:00

I dont know if you remember Technics, they were pretty iconic from when i was younger. My mums boyfriend had a stacked Technics stereo, it was his pride and joy.

I remember it played the most amazing sound quality, and i couldn't wait for them to go out and leave me home alone so i could stick some of their 'grown up' music on and dance away.

I used to listen to music like Manic street preachers, and techno music... bit of a difference.. but i just loved the sound of the music.

Technics have relaunched and are coming back!

I need to get saving some money so we can get a new stereo... Technics might well be on my wish list!

*i was perked for writing this post.

You beauty discovery box: August 2014

2014-08-18T09:00:00.000+01:00

I know it wasn't that long ago since i posted about the July box, but here is the August selection:

I chose two items that would be good for my holiday, one is the Eucerin SPF 30 sun fluid, the other was the Peggy Sage nail varnish in pink.

The extra goodies they put in this months box were;

Buffing block, Face D cream sachet, and a his and hers Jimmy Choo perfume samples.

I cannot say how much i love this box, its only £6.95 which is an absolute bargain!

CODE Beautiful volumising mascara review

2014-08-15T09:00:00.000+01:00

I was very lucky to be given a mascara from CODE when i went to the Dowal Walker xmas event. I had never heard of the brand prior to going to the event;

HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT IT?!?!?!

The Brush

I have honestly never worn a mascara that makes my eyelashes feel nice after. I dont get that cruddy dry lash feeling when i remove it. Its makes my lashes look natural and not clumpy.

I wasn't given this to write a review, i genuinely love it. I had a little read up on their website and it says that the formula has vitamins, and wax to help encourage lash growth. It has little teeny fibres in the mascara which really makes a difference in the length of my lashes. In the photo above im wearing one coat of the mascara... can you image if i layered it up!

I also noticed on the website that it sells for just short of £20... now i have to admit i would not pay this for a mascara, i begrudge paying for my Maybelline Rocket mascara... so when this runs out it will have to go on my xmas list.

Instagram Update: The dogs

2014-08-14T10:00:00.000+01:00

I thought it would be nice to show our baby boys this week as my little vinny turned 6. I remember when i first saw him, he was 1 week old. And the cutest little pup you ever did see.

Diesel is going to be 9 at the end of the month so i thought they could celebrate this week with some squeaky toys... yes you heard that right.

squeaky toys.

I needed ear plugs, it was SO loud, but they enjoyed themselves so much, their little tails were wagging like crazy.