Just me, Leah.

#BEDM Day 24 - What's in my fridge

2013-05-24T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hiya lovelies!

What do I have in my fridge?

Water, loads of it
Grapes (lots)
Blueberries (lots)
Broccoli & cauliflower mix
Courgette
Aubergine
Stir fry noodles, sauce & veg
Cherry tomatoes & salad tomatoes
Cucumber
Margarine
Rice pudding dessert x 2
Milk & soy milk
Cheeses
Primula cheese
Diet coke
Tropical drink
Lemonade
Tomato sauce
Spicy mayo
Relish
Mint sauce
Pickle
Chicken breasts
Gammon steaks
Tofu
Pate
Ginger/garlic paste
Tomato puree
Herbs in tubes
Chocolate (KitKats & Wispas for hubs, orange Aero for me)
Beer, cider & Crabbies ginger beer

(Some things not pictured as they're in the door.)

What's in your fridge?

Thanks for peeking!

A couple of nail posts

2013-05-23T21:19:00.002+01:00

Hello YOU!

I hope your week is going great so far.

I have a couple of NOTD posts. Firstly the uber-sparkly pink polish from Nails Inc, Burlington Place, which was amongst the polishes hubby bought me for my birthday. It's as camp as a fully bedecked Christmas tree and I love it. This was three coats and my nail line was still slightly visible underneath so this is definitely a layering polish.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Next up we have the mani I have on now, which is Y'all come back ya hear, which is an orange with a jelly finish and The Colour of Minnie, the softly shimmering red. This was two coats each. I don't think the orange would ever be opaque thanks to the jelly nature of it.

I won't be buying any more OPI (no matter how much I'm drawn to them) as they're not cruelty free and I thought they were. Duh. I learn more all the time about my new CF mission. I will just concentrate on all the great CF nail polish out there like Zoya, Barry M, Butter London, Catrice, Essence, Ciate, elf, Models Own, Nails Inc, NYX, Tony Moly, etc etc etc.

I love the mix of orange and red together. I think I'll do lots more colour- blocking of nails like that.

What have you got on your nails at the moment?

Thanks for looking!

#BEDM Day 23 - Compliments

2013-05-23T15:25:00.002+01:00

Hi all!

Today I'm going to talk about compliments. Our mission for today is: Tell us about the best compliment you have ever received.

Who doesn't love compliments? I'm the same as anyone else in that respect. I'm going to go for the most recent compliment I received, which was on Friday from my cousin's little girl, C. She's really my second cousin but she wants me to be her auntie, so an Auntie I am! C is my favourite person, she's just adorable.

I was wearing a pretty peach dress with little cream hearts. She touched my dress at the hem and shyly said 'You look really beautiful in your dress.' AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. Consider my heart well and truly melted.

There's something extra special about being loved by a child. They love you for you, and that's as pure as it gets. She doesn't see me as a fat person, just as a person who dishes out lots of squidgy hugs and occasionally brings presents for her.

On Saturday when we went out for a meal to celebrate my dad's and brother's birthdays. C always wants to sit next to me when we go for a meal but on this occasion she had the company of other children to play with so she sat on another table. After the meal I teased her saying 'I thought you'd forgotten who I was!' She didn't say anything then, but the next day she sidled up to me for a cuddle and said 'I didn't forget you yesterday.' I said I know, that she had children of her own age to play with. With that she gave me an indignant 'B_____'s FIVE, you know. I'm EIGHT!' Well that's me told! :D

She was coming into my aunt's living room on Sunday when she whipped her head round and smacked her temple right on the heavy metal door handle. I think it made all of us feel sick at the sound of it and of course C was immediately in floods of tears. Her dad picked her up to have a look at her eye and she shook her head and said 'I want Leah!' so I gave her lots of cuddles and wiped away her tears. She said she felt sleepy so I was thinking 'Head injury - sleepy - not good!' but she was offered some of her favourite pomegranate seeds and she soon perked up, thankfully.

I've got this cardigan with studs on the shoulder and she loves it. She's always putting it on even though she can wrap it around herself 4 times. She looks like Dracula in his cloak wearing it, in fact this weekend she said 'What's a Dracula?' I said sharp teeth, likes to bite necks and she said 'Oh, a vampire!' Hehe.

Here she is hiding under her cardi while Dr Who final was on because the men with scary teeth were giving here the heebie jeebies.

So, what's the best compliment you've ever had?

Thanks for reading!

#BEDM Day 22 - Letter to my 13 yo self

2013-05-22T13:27:00.000+01:00

Hiya!

22 days done, 9 to go...not that I'm counting or anything....*looks shifty*.

Today's mission is: If you could talk to your 13 year old self, what would you say?

Strap yourselves in. Trigger warning for everything.

-----------

Dear 13 year old Leah,

This year you start having periods. I'm sorry to say they don't get any better and you have about 40 more years of this shit, so painkillers are your friend. Oh, and even though you're not going to discover the art of self-love for another 3 years, it totally helps with the cramps.

You're going into the most uncertain and challenging times of your life - at home, in school, and in your relationships with others, but above all this, your body will be the thing you are made to feel bad about the most. Yes, you were a very tubby child, but if not for the adults around you making you feel bad about your body, you'd be absolutely fine - in fact, by the time you're 15 your love of the outdoors and walking will mean almost all your puppy fat goes and you are muscular and strong as an ox, but you won't realise that until 20 years later when it's far, far too late. Kids are always cruel, but it's not really their cruelty that will affect you - it's the arseholes in your own family and church who'll do that - people who SHOULD know better. You'll remember one time at nan's when the adults were having a dig, and your cousins joined in too, because what adults get away with unchallenged kids think is acceptable behaviour. You stormed out over to the rec away from the cunts and to cry, wondering why your mum never stood up for you. 20 years later you'll realise it's because they did the same to her, and then you can't be upset with her any more.

I'm not going to lie, the next few years are going to get gnarly. When you're 14 and away to visit your dad for the first time in years your mum is going to move an alcoholic rapist into your home. He's going to make your life a living hell for the next 5 years, try to sexually assault you (luckily you had no use for the 10 inch knife down your trouser leg at the time but I know you would've chopped it off at the root at the earliest opportunity), smash up the bathroom twice, ban you from entering the living room for the entire years he's there, make you leave school and go out to work to support your mother who is struggling to fund his booze habit, make you buy (and cook) your own food as soon as you start work and then nick most of it so you are forced to go hungry, beat the shit out of your dog so badly she goes blind, and all the while your mother will support him, even after he tries to coerce you into bed. Worse than that, she'll fuck off out constantly leaving you alone with him in the house so often that you get a lock put on your bedroom door and lay in bed, scared to make a sound so he'll know you're in, scared to even breathe. You'll spiral into ill mental health that will see you check under every bed and in every wardrobe for years to make sure you're safe in the house until finally, you move in with your mum's friend 5 days a week so you at least can concentrate on your school work.

You'll only get a break from this when you break down telling your dad about it aged 18. You hadn't been really close with him for a long time but soon you'll be living with him and he'll be sleeping on a mattress on the floor for a year so you don't have to put up with the abuse any more. By 19 you'll be moved out of the town that caused so many bad memories and off to start a new life. Things will get brighter. You're tougher than you know. That alcoholic cunt dies, and your only regret will be you're too far away to piss on his grave. You make it up with your mum, and your dad is there for you. What he didn't do in your early childhood years he'll more than make up for in time.

You'll meet and go out with a few arseholes, but long, long into your future you'll meet someone who'll make you realise the rest happened just so you knew what you didn't want in a partner.

Far from letting the events in your life poison you, you are more aware of the suffering of others as a result and try to be kind, because as you know all too well, you can never tell what a person is dealing with behind closed doors.

Oh, by the way, when you're 15 you'll have a dalliance with Sun In hair lightener. It won't go well, trust me. You should always wear sunscreen, but you won't. You really are a stubborn bugger.

Love,
Your positively ancient older self
x x x

Thanks for reading, and if you're feeling sad for me, don't. I got through it all, and I'm happy. I don't think about this stuff too much because it makes me sad, but it needs to be pulled out and dealt with once in a while.

Outside of My Comfort Zone 7 - Geek OOTD

2013-05-22T12:21:00.001+01:00

Hiya pickles!

It's OMCZ time again, and this fortnight's challenge was picked by Gail, who chose geek as the theme. Click photos to enlarge.

**EDIT** I forgot to list where my clothes are from.

Cardi, Simply Be (I think, past season) via eBay
T shirt, gift from a friend (a few years ago)
Skirt, Simply be (old)

We were talking on Twitter (Steph, Gail and I) about geeky things and I nearly did a dance when I remembered I have my original 1990s Gameboy...except could I find it? Could I hell! Oops.

So I went with big glasses, pigtails, a cardi (all good geeks love a cardi), my phone and a George R R Martin book as my geeky things. I have no waist nor feet in these photos, but hey ho, they'll come back for another day.

Go and check out the other ladies in the challenge.

1. Stephanie: http://www.seeingsp0ts.blogspot.co.uk

2. Gail: http://www.gailygumdrops.blogspot.ie

3. Rachel: http://www.happynessmagnet.com

4. Nicole: http://www.awellroundedventure.com

5. Becky http://www.mrsbebeblog.com

6. Mary: http://www.marysbigcloset.blogspot.pt

7. Becky: http://www.doesmyblogmakemelookfat.com
8. Emma: http://www.plussizemillard.blogspot.co.uk

Big props to 'Mama OMCZ', Rachel from Happyness Magnet. Get well wishes to Rachel from A Dress Is For Life who's got a bad back and sitting out this challenge.

How would you do geek chic?

Thanks for peeking!

#BEDM Day 21 - Dream job

2013-05-21T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hiya lovelies!

Today I'm going to write about my dream job. The brief was thus: If you could do anything in the world to make a living what would it be?

My dream job is writing. I love to write and blog and my ideal would be to be able to make money from it. Ever since I've been able to grasp a pen being a writer has been all I wanted to do. As a child when asked what I wanted to do the answer was always 'Be an author.'

The trouble is that aside from writing posts for my blog I'm terribly undisciplined. At the cusp of the year I set out to write my autobiography. Before you think 'Jaysus, she's a bit jumped up!' I have to say it has been at the request of a lot of people over a number of years as I've had a somewhat chequered past and an um, entertaining life, to put it in flowery terms. How far have I got in 5 months? Halfway through the first chapter. At this rate I'll be done by the time I'm about 70.

I have this terribly romantic notion of myself labouring over a rickety old typewriter, supping endless cups of coffee to keep me alert (I don't even really like coffee - it gives me the shits!) whilst I mop my angsty writer's brow and gaze wistfully at the outside world from a rain-drenched window. I keep thinking up reasons not to write, when quite obviously I need to find reasons to bloody well write.

I have the perfect location for inspiration - our living room has a view of the sea and our sun room would be the perfect place for me to write from - there's already a table out there I could use as a desk and it's out of the comfort of the living room so it would feel like 'work' rather than fannying around. There's nothing stopping me from sitting out there for an hour a day inspired by the sea and working on something, except my own self-doubt and a mild dose of hypothermia on cold days, but it's nothing an extension lead and a fan heater won't fix.

When I address my 'blocks' to doing what I want to do in a rational manner like this it blows them all out of the water and boils it all down to either laziness, or that perhaps I don't really want to do what I think I want to do - if that makes sense?!

I suppose the only way to find out if I'm book author material is to give it enough of a go - suck it and see, as they say. I don't doubt that writing a book is a massive commitment of time and effort, and it may just be I'm better suited to shorter pieces of work, but either way exercising my writing muscles in any way, shape or form can only be a good thing. I think the hard part is choosing something to write about, in which case a bash at my own life story might be a great way to cut my teeth. No one knows me like I do, after all!

In this day of the internet we are all our own historians. There's never been such a wealth of information available to 'pass on' to our loved ones, and what better way to influence the way we are remembered than telling our story in our own words?

Have you ever thought about writing your story? What's your dream job?

Thanks for reading.

Life update/Twitter malarkey

2013-05-20T22:31:00.001+01:00

Hello all.

Some of you who follow me on Twitter will know my blogging Twitter account @justmeleah_blog was suspended about 10 days ago. I thought it was because I'd retweeted a photo of a gigantic penis which was too good not to pass on (hahaha.) It turns out I was actually suspended because I got caught up amongst a bunch of spam accounts and they'd suspended my account in error. It has been reinstated now.

In the meantime I was tweeting up a storm on my original/general chit-chat Twitter account, @justme_leah and lots of people who were following me on my blogging account then started following me there too, which now leaves me in the position where some of you will be following me twice. For some of you that'll might be too much of me, so feel free to follow me on one account or both, if you wish. ;)

To clarify, the @justmeleah_blog account will have my blog post links posted to it, I'll be taking part in psbloggerschat on that account and chatting about blog related things, with a tiny sprinkle of real life stuff thrown in.

The @justme_leah account will be used for more of my general life stuff, will likely have a few health-related posts about Fibromyalgia/CFS/depression and activist-y stuff about the welfare reforms/disabled rights etc. It's also likely to be a bit more sweary than my blogging account on occasion and will have a lot of my Instagram photos posted to it.

So follow me on one account, both (or none) as you wish!

-----------

Aside from the 31 days of May posts (which I'm kind of regretting starting as I worry I'm boring you all) I've not had as much time for the blog as I'd like of late. I can't go into the exact reasons why, but a mixture of life stuff and slightly-more-ill-health-than-usual is putting great demands on my time and it means I've had to batten down the hatches in the last week and focus on self-care above all else. I'm fine, hubby's fine, and it'll all come out in the wash, so just bear with me and I'll be back to regular scheduling soon.

Have a great week and thanks for reading.

#BEDM Day 20 - Newsflash

2013-05-20T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hi all!

Today is day 21 of 31 days of 'Blog Every Day in May.' Today's remit is: Talk about something that is in the news today.

Well, my cousin told me something yesterday from the news, and it's in the forefront of my mind now. Now, a disclaimer. We can't believe everything we see in the news. Half the time the 'news' is there to distract us with fripperies while mass genocide goes virtually unnoticed, but I'm not going to talk about anything as important as war - I don't know enough about it. (We seem to have reached a Catch-22 already.)

Celebrity I do know a lot about, shallow bitch that I am - although having said that, I made a conscious decision to stop reading trashy mags and newspaper articles about who was shagging who because it's so transient. However, when someone has been in the public eye for so long, we tend to feel we know them, and that leads me onto...

I first became aware of Johnny Depp when he was in 21 Jump Street (the old TV show, not the hilarious film of recent times.) Or was it in Nightmare on Elm St where I saw him first? Either way, I fancied his part-Native-heritage butt off. He had his wild model-shagging days and then settled down to a life of domestic bliss in France with the gap-toothed sylph Vanessa Paradis. Although he was taken out of our daydreams and into the arms of the person responsible for 'Joe Le Taxi' (Youtube it if you're not familiar) it was somehow OK because Vanessa was relatively normal by Hollywood standards. She wasn't made of hair extensions, acrylic nails and silicone. She probably reeked of red wine and garlic and may have swallowed a few snails and frogs legs in her lifetime. You can't be jealous of someone who's chewed on a snail, surely?! Anyway, I digress.

Then the news came that Johnny and Vanessa were splitting up, and there were rumours it was because he'd fallen cock over vagina for smokin' hot Amber Heard, Johnny's co star in The Rum Diaries. If you haven't seen it, for fuck's sake watch the mano-a-mano bouncing up and down in the car scene below. I think I laughed up a kidney. Anyway, back to the tale of the middle aged man making a total arse of himself...so he's *allegedly* left the mother of his two children for a woman for 20 years his junior. Oh, it's all amicable, of course - methinks because Vanessa Paradis is too classy to drag their business through the gossip columns. Why, Johnny, why? Why think with your cock? (Actually, why do any of you male earthlings think with your purple heads instead of the one with eyebrows?! Rhetorical question, obvs, you're still thinking about Amber Heard.)

All things age Johnny, even you. In 2, 5, 10 or 20 years Amber Heard might have fucked off for someone who's in better restorative order and then you'll have whiskey-soaked nightmares of the gap-toothed baby-mama you left for a taste of younger poon. Is it worth it, when in a few years your kids may call another man 'daddy'? Are you planning on recycling your life and having a couple of kids with your new squeeze and her younger womb? Did you do it just because you can? Have you for all these years hoodwinked us? Was the staggering drunk Cap'n Jack Disney-ola persona just a front for what is essentially an alcoholic tramp with entitlement issues? And why is the rum always gone?

Or have I got it all wrong? Is it wrong to suppose blame on the part of the one who shacks up first post-break up? Is it biased of me to think that because men have left behind their 'old' families for aeons to life afresh with younger partners Mr Depp is doing the same? Or is there no smoke without fire?

What did you think when you heard those 'Johnny loves Amber' rumours might actually be true? Or do you not give a flying monkey fuck who he dips his wick in?

This, my friends, is why I stopped reading the gossip columns. My time could be so much better spent.

I will now go and watch grass grow for an hour to free myself from the headache I got trying to work out what drives Johnny Depp's dick radar.

Thanks for reading, it's been a ride!

Now for the love of all that's good and holy, watch this scene.

#BEDM Day 19 - Favourite tradition

2013-05-19T21:37:00.004+01:00

Hi loves!

Today's post is all about traditions.

We all make up traditions that carry over year after year. What is your favourite tradition? Big or small, share the details and why you enjoy it.

I'm not a traditional person per se - I don't have a Sunday roast, I don't have a weekly fish night, no scheduled bonk days, or any other such thing, but one big tradition in my family is to spend Christmas Day at my aunt's house. When my nan was still alive about 20 of us used to pile round her house for Christmas lunch and a buffet tea. It was crowded, freezing cold despite the numbers, and we always used to have to manoeuvre over a drunk uncle passed out on the floor blocking the way to the bathroom, but those are times we all look back fondly upon because we were all together. My nan would get her record collection out, which had 'classics' like Max Bygraves, Chas and Dave and other cheesy sing-along tunes. She loved a sing-song, my nan, Cockney bird that she was.

She died in 1997, and the first Christmas after that we went to my aunt Sis's house, but since 1998 my aunt Ann has always hosted Christmas lunch. Numbers have dwindled over the years, as the 'glue' that held us all together has gone and the family has fragmented into its own factions slightly. Of course it'll never be quite the same again, but we make the best of it - after all, life goes on. I'm sure many a family before ours has lost its matriarch and at the same time lost some of its sparkle. Some people have such a life force about them that everybody is different somehow in their absence, almost as if we've lost the oil to our gears and nothing flows quite as smoothly. My nan was one of those people who smoothed everything over, brought everyone together and made things it all look effortless. I'm sure she had a good swear over the cooker when no one was in earshot, but her main priority was making sure everyone was fed, and fed well.

Look at the fetching 70s wallpaper below!

L-R Me, nan, my brother and my mum, who's shooting the world's greatest evils to whoever was taking the photo. Note we're all elbow deep in crisps. Stay classy.

What's your favourite tradition?

Thanks for reading!

#BEDM Day 18 - Best friends

2013-05-19T20:53:00.002+01:00

Hiya!

Today's subject in the blog every day in May challenge is: Who are your best friends and what makes them so special?

Well, I'm very lucky because I have many friends. I have old friends from back home, one of whom I've known since I was 5 years old. I have old school friends I'm still in contact with on Facebook, many of whom came to my wedding last year. I've stayed friends with my first boyfriend's sister, a friendship lasting over 20 years. I have a bunch of great mates who I met in the late 90s through a penpal agency for people into rock and metal music. We've never lived close together - two of them are in Manchester, one now in Wiltshire, but we see each other 2-3 times a year and always have a blast when we get together.

When I worked I had a lot of colleagues who I called friends, but once you leave a workplace a lot of them turn out just to be acquaintances. Not all of them though. When I was in my last job, I met two reprobates called Tom and JP. We became fast friends. Now one of them lives in Canada and the other is in Oxford, but I know those two will be friends for life.

JP left & Tom right.

Coincidentally, JP ended up going out with my friend Rach (after some meddling from me - ha!) and they are now in Canada for at least a year. We've had lots of fun over the last few years together.

Homer's face!

I say!

They are sorely missed but Skype and Facebook don't make them seem so far away.

How long have you known your best friend(s)? Are they close in proximity or half a world away?

Thanks for reading!

P.S. This is a catch up post. I was away yesterday visiting my family. I have today's #BEDM entry to post shortly.

My nail polish collection - shatters, greens & corals

2013-05-18T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hello loves!

This brings us to the last of this series. Whew.

You can see the rest of the series here:

Pinks are here.
Silver/grey, grurple here.
Purples and lilacs here.
Blue and teal here.
Reds here.
Black, browns & golds here.
Nudes, whites & yellows here.

OPI Shatter the Scales, OPI Super Bass Shatter, OPI Gold shatter, MUA Shattered Ice, MUA Quiver, MUA Jailbreak, MUA Shiver, MUA Broken Arrow.

MUA Pistachio Ice Cream, elf Mint Cream, MUA Shade 5, Sally Hansen Lickety Split Lime.

MUA Shade 13, Models Own Golden Green, W7 Metallic Saturn, Models Own Dancing Queen, Barry M 299 Racing Green.

elf Nude, Barry M 318 Peach Melba, Ruby & Millie Nude (this is about 10 years old!), Front Cover Cupric.

VIVO Funfair, Nails Inc Copacobana, MUA Shade 4, Accessorize Orange Flash.

Thanks for peeking!

Do you paint your nails much?

I used to bite mine until they bled up until the age of 14, at which point I decided I wanted long nails so I stopped just like that. I think I started biting them again in my late teens, but it didn't last long.

Thanks for reading!

Off with her head OOTD

2013-05-17T18:00:00.000+01:00

Hiya lovelies!

Although I'd love to bring you a Marie Antionette outfit post (*stores that idea away for later*) this is actually a post where some of my head is missing.

I took these photos earlier in a rush. The camera battery was flashing at me of its impending death so I took 40 quick photos on self timer while my tea was about to burn. When I looked, I'd chopped parts of my head off in a lot of the photos. My bad. I wore a lovely hair flower as well. Tsk!

Top - New Look (2012) size 26
Scarf (used as belt) - H&M £6.99
Skirt - Yours £12 size 26/28
Shoes - Rocket Dog

I found the fit on the skirt to be very generous. I could have got away with the 22-24. The waistband is very stretchy but I don't need it. If not for my big arse it might fall down ;)

P.S. If you're observant (or you've seen photos on Instagram) you'll notice I'm a bit browner. than usual. I used a Xen Tan mousse fake tan this week. I have a review coming up next week.

Have a great weekend!

Twitter//Instagram//Facebook

#BEDM Day 17 - Walk to work

2013-05-17T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hi!

Today's mission to talk about is this: Describe or photograph your walk to work. Or journey to work if you use transport. Is it pretty or incredibly dull? Can you find something of interest on your way?

I'm not well enough to work at the moment. I really used to enjoy walking before I was ill, even if my end destination was the workplace of doooooooom!

Since I don't walk to work, I thought I'd show you a few photos from our last walk, which I haven't shared here yet. These were taken a couple of weeks ago. We went for a brief walk on a very cold and windy day along the seafront near to us. We left when our hands went numb. Brrr! Can we have a little warmth with our sunshine please, Mother Nature?

Do you walk much?

Thanks for reading.

Twitter//Instagram//Facebook

Famous Makeup Zebra Complete palette

2013-05-16T18:00:00.000+01:00

Hi lovelies!

As well as MUA, another make up brand I'm seriously impressed with is Famous Makeup (previously called Sue Moxley Famous.) Famous is made by the same people behind MUA, FB Beauty. See my post about that incestuous cosmetics relationship here.

I first came across Famous in 2011, when the products were for sale in Superdrug stores. I was blown way by the buttery smoothness of the eyeshadows and the way they blended so effortlessly.

Soon after I discovered them everything went on 50% off in Superdrug, and I thought they'd gone bust in the recession, so I jumped in with both feet and stocked up. Luckily for me they were just going in for a full re-brand and created their own website to start trading from. Since that time they've often had sales or discount codes on so I've been able to stock up on lots of gorgeous goodies for very little cost.

At the moment they have 50% off everything and a free party purse (an animal print make up bag with 4 mini glitter polishes in it) when you spend £10 so it's a total steal.

Today I have the Zebra Complete palette to show you. It has 16 eyeshadows, 3 blushes, a bronzer and a pressed powder. I love Famous' packaging. Pink and animal print features heavily, so I'm in my element.

Please click on the photos below to see larger images.

This is currently just £5.99 instead of the regular price of £11.99. What are you waiting for?!

If you want swatches of everything just yell in the comments and I'll get to it.

Thanks for reading!

P.S. I've got some outfit posts coming up in the next couple of days, at last. Life has gone a bit crazy at the moment and I'm playing catch up.

Twitter//Instagram//Facebook

#BEDM Day 16 - Pampering

2013-05-16T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hello loves!

Today's thing to talk about is pampering. What is your ideal way to pamper yourself and relax?

Well, I relax every evening with my feet up on a footstool, a cuppa by my side and my laptop in front of me whilst I read blogs.

I read all kinds of blogs - beauty blogs, fat acceptance blogs, fashion blogs, craft blogs, nail blogs, opinion blogs. I'm subscribed to about 400 blogs and spend at least a couple of hours a day reading them. It's like reading dozens of little magazines. If I like the writer, it doesn't really matter what they write about, although I do like lots of pretty pictures to look at as well. I peer over the top of the laptop and kinda watch tv at the same, although it all goes in one ear and out of the other while I'm immersed in blogs.

I don't have a schedule or a regular day for pampering. The kind of things I do to pamper myself are face masks, doing my nails, giving myself a head to toe body scrub, and recently I did fake tan. I tend to do pampering when I remember - for instance, if I spot the face mask in the bathroom cabinet while I'm cleaning my teeth, or if my skin is looking really dry and I need a boost of moisture.

There's probably a lot more I could do in the way of pampering, but there's only so much time in the day.

What's your idea of a good pamper? How do you relax?

Thanks for reading.

Twitter//Instagram//Facebook

MUA Extreme Metallics quad eyeshadow in Starstruck review

2013-05-15T18:00:00.000+01:00

Hello pickles!

I've got a quad eyeshadow from MUA to show you which I'm completely in love with.

Please click on photos to see larger images.

I bought this quad about 5 months ago. All 6 varieties of the quads are out of stock on MUA at the moment. I really hope they come back into stock soon (and aren't being discontinued!) because the quality of them is phenomenal. As you can see all of the shades are really intense and shimmery. I don't do subtle! There's a lovely mint green, a rose gold, a champagne and a chocolate brown. I'm thinking up a chocolate mint eyeshadow look as I type. You get 5.9g for £3.00 on the MUA Store and in Superdrug stores/website. Please bring these babies back soon, MUA!

They are incredibly smooth and pigmented shades. They're as soft as butter and blend like a dream. I'll do a look with this quad soon.

I showed you another metallic quad here.
Do you have any MUA eyeshadows?

I think I will tweet MUA to find out what's happening with these quads.

Thanks for peeking!

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#BEDM day 15 - Life's a lesson

2013-05-15T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hiya!

Today's mission from the blog every day in May schedule is: What is the single most important lesson you have ever had?

Well, life's a series of lessons and I don't think we ever stop learning, right up to the moment when we die. What is the biggest of these lessons so far?

Source

I could say so much about this quote, but I think I'll just let it speak for itself.

What has been your biggest life lesson?

Thanks for reading, as ever.

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#BEDM Day 14 - Food glorious food

2013-05-14T21:41:00.000+01:00

Hiya all!

Welcome new people - glad to have you aboard!

I signed up to blog every day in May and there's a topic to talk about each day.

I don't go out to eat very often. I'm not a fast food girl. When I go out to eat, I want something a bit naughty but 'proper' food, not plastic. I eat healthily at home so when I go out to eat I let myself off the chain.

My favourite restaurant is a place called Charlie Browns in Eastbourne. It's an American themed diner which has been under the same ownership for about 30 years. There's a 5 ft Statue of Liberty as you enter the restaurant, and there are black and white photos of America all over the walls. The food there is gorgeous and I've been going there for nearly 10 years. The portions are large and taste absolutely delicious.

Believe it or not the huge cheesy garlic bread below is just a starter!

This is my favourite thing to eat there - garlic chicken, chips and salad.

I never have room for a dessert! The atmosphere is always cosy and intimate, especially before Christmas (below.)

I only go a couple of times a year, but it's always a pleasure.

What's your favourite restaurant or favourite meal?

Thanks for reading!

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#BEDM Day 13 - Go green

2013-05-13T23:22:00.000+01:00

Hiya ducks!

Today's blog every day in May challenge is: Talk about being green, eco-friendly or ethical. What do you do to make a difference?

We recycle everything we can - glass, paper, plastic, card, junk mail, packaging materials etc. I'm conscious when buying things with plastic you can't recycle in this country and try to avoid it. I know a lot of plastic is shipped off to China and other places to be recycled as we can't deal with it here. What the hell is that about?! If it's sold here it should be recycled here, or else it shouldn't be used. We shouldn't be polluting the fuck out of other countries! That's all wrong. There's an article here in the Mail. I hate to give them traffic, but I can't remember where I first heard that lots of our waste is shipped abroad, so that'll have to do. We get kerbside collections for everything except glass, which we take to the bottle bank ourselves.

We have over 10 strong jute/reusable carrier bags, so when we go food shopping we use those. If we leave them at home by accident I'd rather buy more jute/reusuable bags than use normal carrier bags, which is how we've ended up with so many. I get annoyed with myself if we forget our reusable bags. When I'm in town unless I buy something huge or heavy I usually throw it in my huge Mary Poppins handbag. When we have the shopping delivered, we recycle spare plastic bags with Tesco.

We're always getting those plastic bags through the door from charity shops who collect your unwanted bits and bobs so we often donate that way. We only throw things out if they're broken or not in a state to be reused. We put our old Christmas tree out with a sign on it saying 'Please take' last year and it was snapped up straight away.

Of course there's more to do to be greener - there always is. In an ideal world I'd go to butchers, bakers etc. and pop everything in a string bag 70s style so there's no need for plastic packaging, but who honestly has the time or energy to do the rounds of the local shops?

I read the newspaper and some magazines online as it's just a waste of paper to have them laying around the house.

Something I always do and have done since my teens is cut those plastic things which hold drinks cans together into tiny pieces. I've seen some really awful photos of sea birds and turtles who've got caught up in them when people don't cut them up.

Another thing we do when out and about in public is take our litter home with us, don't pick flowers and only take photographs, as the old saying goes.

Source

Something I've recently found out about is palm oil. The need for palm oil (which is in bloody everything from food to toiletries) is one of the reasons mass deforestation is happening, and threatening the habitat of orangutans. Read here for more about endangered orangs and read here for some of the other names palm oil goes by, such as sodium lauryl sulphate. I need to start paying closer attention to labels.

What do you do to take care of the environment in your own little way?

Thanks for reading!

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Face spam - FOTD

2013-05-13T18:00:00.000+01:00

Hiya lovelies!

It's been a while since I've posted a make up look. I did some make up on Saturday and it just came out great. Most of the time I apply make up and know what I'm going to get, but occasionally there are angels at my fingertips and some magic happens.

Saturday was the day for me, so I'm going to spam you with my face. My eyebrows (the bane of my life!) came out great, my eyes looked sparkly and aside from the horror of going a bit buck wild with the blusher, I looked in the mirror afterwards and said to my hubby 'You could've done worse! I scrub up all right!' Of course he had his head stuck in the computer, so I was talking to myself, but you can't win 'em all! ;)

There are some colours which really bring out the hazel in my eyes - burgundy, purple, and grey. I've used Gunmetal by Urban Decay on and off for years, but I haven't reached for it for a long time - perhaps as long as a year. I don't know why, because it makes my eyes look fantastic.

I used: (CF denotes cruelty free.)

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer in Lemon Drop - CF
Virgin - shimmery nude, from the Urban Decay Naked palette - inner corner highlight/brow highlight - CF
Gunmetal - grey, from the Urban Decay Naked palette - lid - CF
Creep - black, from the Urban Decay Naked palette - outer corner, blended slightly up and out - CF

Avon Spectralash mascara
Barry M black gel eyeliner pencil - CF

Face
Avon Ideal Flawless Invisible Coverage foundation
Famous shimmer brick in Pink (old stock, before they relaunched) CF as far as I know (made by the same people as MUA)
Catrice brow kit - CF

The Avon products were bought before I knew Avon test on animals by law (for sale in China) and I look forward to using them up and buying cruelty free alternatives. I'm really pissed off because the Avon foundation is the best one I've ever had, but I won't be buying it again. The mascara is shit - clumpy and horrible. You'd be best off to avoid it.

I made the decision to try to go cruelty free almost a year ago. I'm not going to say it was easy, and I'm not going to pretend I'm happy with every product in my household - not by a long shot. I'm not used to second guessing myself at every turn, and navigating the bullshit that different companies put out to try to mask the fact they still test on animals is like knitting with water - but it is worthwhile.

I've gotten so caught up in bargains I've bought things and later regretted it when I've realised they're not cruelty free. I have a huge stockpile of make up and toiletries to work through. The money is already spent and I'm not in the position to throw everything out and start again. A lot of my make up choices were accidentally cruelty free ones (I've always been an Urban Decay addict) but I'm finding it harder to remember to check toiletries. I've always been far more discriminating about what I put on my face than what I put on my body plus I get gifted a huge amount of toiletries at Christmas - it's my family's thing. What do I do then?! Accept and donate out to save my conscience, or shrug and say at least I didn't spend money on a dodgy company so hey ho? I'm not sure what is moral. Maybe asking for vouchers is the safest option in future?

Get onto cleaning products I use around the house and I'm pretty sure almost none of them are cruelty free. That's a good excuse for using natural cleaning products like vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice, and then there are less crappy chemicals for me to breathe in as well.

Even a year on, it's baby steps, and in as much as I feel guilty for not doing better already, I feel some small comfort from trying to change my ways. I've still got a long way to go - I can imagine some people stay oblivious because information can be conflicting and it can be like trying to see black and white in a sea of grey. It's daunting. I have a plan to deal with the toiletries situation - Aldi don't test any of their own label make up/toiletries/cleaning products on animals (plus it's cheap, yay!) so I'll go on a major stocking up mission so next time I run out of something, I don't even have to think about choices. Superdrug don't test any of their own label stuff on animals, neither do the Co-Op or Tesco (on own label products.) It's just a case of changing habits and not picking up things willy nilly. I'll get there with a bit of forward planning. If I had a cat or dog the thought of them being taken off and having shampoo squirted into their eyes or their fur shaved off and bleach rubbed into them repeatedly I'd feel sick to my stomach. It's no different with rabbits or rats - they're still sentient beings. I look forward to a world where nothing is tested on animals - there's so much which can be done, for example in vitro testing. More here.

Do you mind if things are tested on animals?

Does the price (there aren't as many cruelty free drugstore products compared to higher end cruelty free products) and inconvenience of searching out cruelty free buys put you off?

Thanks for reading!

P.S. If you're after some reading about cruelty free make up there is a good thread here. It's a few years old now but there are a lot of good points brought up in the comments - for example if a company doesn't test on animals but their parent company do, would you still buy their products? Again, there are so many decisions to make and it all comes down to personal choice. There's no black and white to be found anywhere on this subject, just multiples shades of grey!

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#BEDM Day 12 - Collecting

2013-05-12T23:06:00.002+01:00

Hiya :)

Today's mission if I choose to accept it is: Are you a collector? Maybe a bit of a hoarder? Tell us about something you like to collect. Or if you favour minimalism, perhaps tell us why?

Hmmm.

There are only 2 things I hoard - clothes and make up!

Anyone who follows this blog knows I have a problem resisting dresses and make up. I would normally take a photo of my wardrobe and dressing table right now, but I daren't!

Right now, in 5 overflowing bin bags and a box lay the contents of my wardrobe, because my last wardrobe broke. The rail snapped off the sides under the strain - 18 months ago!! For the last year and a half my clothes have been in a massive heap at the bottom of the wardrobe. The old wardrobe was disassembled on Friday. I bought a wardrobe (from my friends who are moving to Canada) and it was put up on Friday night by hubby and 2 of our friends. It's a little rickety but hopefully it'll do the job. Here are some of the bags of clothes awaiting being re-homed.

I can't show you a photo of my dressing table currently. Having 5 people in our bedroom on Friday (3 fellas working, me and Rach watching - ha!) proved somewhat chaotic and my dressing table got annihilated. Hubby moved a drawer and basically side-swiped the whole thing! There are lotions and potions everywhere. Tomorrow I shall restore order!

Do you collect anything?

Thanks for reading!

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My first Birchbox

2013-05-12T18:00:00.000+01:00

Hi you!

I've had a couple of Birchbox monthly subscription boxes now and thought it was about time I talked about them.

In this box:

Gerda Spillmann Renaissance Age Serum
Posh soap which smells like old ladies
Mirenesse Glossy Kiss lip crayon
Weleda Skin Food moisturiser
Natio cleanser
Birchbox mirror

Click to enlarge

I'm going to pass the soap onto someone with no sense of smell. The lip gloss will get used since it's cruelty free and it's rather pretty. There's a gold tinge to it which doesn't come out in the photo.

I might use the Weleda moisturiser and the mirror is handy (it's about palm sized) but I'm not too enthused overall with this box. I've got tiny skincare samples coming out of my ears. I really wish there weren't so many skin care samples in beauty boxes - they don't usually last enough to find out if they work. More make up in beauty boxes, please!

I'm a bit of a beauty box slut - I had a Carmine subscription, which got taken over by Glossybox. I stuck that out for a while then tried Amarya - the natural and organic box - but fancied a change after 4 boxes and signed up to Birchbox. I've cancelled Birchbox now and may go back to Amarya as I feel better about their ethics and I liked the products more.

Have you tried a beauty box subscription? If so, which one did you like best?

Thanks for reading!

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#BEDM Day 11 - Book love

2013-05-11T20:05:00.000+01:00

Hi!

Today's blog every day in May subject is books.

Tell us about your favourite book. Or maybe give us a top 5 of the books that changed your life.

I used to be a real blog worm, but these days, not so much. I get crampy hands because of Fibromyalgia so holding books is a pain. I'm going to get an e-reader with a stand case so I can get around it. In the last few years I've not read so much, so I'm going to list 5 authors that I've enjoyed both in the past and more recently.

Source

1. I've read one and a half of George R.R. Martin's books thus and but LOVE them.
2. This is one of my favourite books.
3. I first read this as a teenager and loved it. I've re-read it in the past and need to re-read it again soon.
4. I absolutely love John Connolly's Charlie Parker series, especially the characters Angel and Louis.
5. No shame! Reading the series I first fell in love with Edward Cullen, then Jacob Black later on. Team Wolf! Pure escapism.

There are a lots of books I feel I should have read, but I fill my head full of hot air, mostly. If you could recommend me one book I MUST read, what would it be and why?

Thanks for reading!

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Flash The Flesh #1

2013-05-11T16:12:00.002+01:00

Hiya Saturday stunners!

I'm involved in a a new outfit post challenge - flash the flesh.

When a group of bloggers join together for a chat you know that the final result has to be super!! And so this happened once more when, a few days ago, we were talking about our preferences between mini and maxi and Becky thought that it would be great to create a challenge which goal was to show a little bit more skin and our body (but with style and no vulgarity) showing proudly our curves. And so it was born “Flash the Flesh”.

The idea behind the challenge is to flash a little flesh, how you do this is up to you, but it could be getting your legs out, getting your arms out, getting your cleavage out, wearing a crop top and showing your belly, or a mixture of these, but i just want people to be proud of their bodies and proud to show them off.

I decided to flash my bare legs because I don't really like them and I am really trying to accept & love them, as they're a part of me after all. As a functional pair of legs they're perfectly fine! ;)

You can't see it in the photo because of the flash but I have erythema on my shins. They're quite red and there are lots of broken blood vessels so I don't like having them out when I'm outside the house. It's silly - a bit of redness is no reason to hide my legs away, but I'm a bit paranoid about them!

Outfit details

Dress, ASOS Curve, via Lolly
Jacket, Yours
Shoes, Evans

Go check out my fellow flesh flashers!

Becky: http://www.doesmyblogmakemelookfat.com

Becky: http://www.mrsbebeblog.com

Beth - http://www.tinkerbellandthelostgirls.blogspot.co.uk

Charley http://biggirlabouttown.blogspot.co.uk/

Christiana - http://www.lifeofouk.blogspot.co.uk/

Emma: http://www.plussizemillard.blogspot.com

Kaye - http://polishedcurves.wordpress.com/

Kim - http://www.callmekim.net/

Lolly - http://lollylikesfatshion.blogspot.co.uk

Mary - http://www.marysbigcloset.com

Natalie - www.awheelbarrowfullofstyle.blogspot.com

Nikki - http://nattynikki.blogspot.co.uk/

Rachel - http://www.adressisforlife.com

Steph http://seeingsp0ts.blogspot.co.uk/

Vicky - http://www.thecurvedopinion.com/

Thanks for reading!

Also, if you follow me on Twitter - my blog feed @justmeleah_blog has been suspended because I very stupidly re-tweeted a photo of Kirk Norcross's enormous wang. Loads of people I follow also did it, but they suspended me. C'est la vie. If you want to follow me on my other account, please do so here. I've also updated my link below to reflect the other Twitter account. Ta!

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Be YOU tiful

2013-05-11T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hi pickles!

I just wanted to write a post about being ourselves, no matter what. There's so much pressure on women (by 'women' I mean anyone who identifies as a woman, no matter what sex organs they were born with) to look a certain way to be called attractive, feminine, womanly. Our bodies are commodities to be dismissed or lauded, depending on how much we weigh and how feminine we look. We're expected to be this perfect little package for all to look at, and can be subject to horrible insults when we don't fall into line.

Isn't this lovely? Check out the seller on Etsy.

The media is a horrible clusterf*ck of unspoken rules. We're expected to be pert of breast and bottom with Tippex teeth, tanned skin (but not too tanned), not too much make up (but not too little either), nice nails, long legs, sleek hair on our heads but none anywhere else, be tanned, and exist purely for the viewing pleasure of other people. *Barf*.

I got to thinking a couple of days ago when I did some fake tan for my friends' leaving party. Do I want to be tanned because I've been led to believe a tanned body is prettier somehow, or do I really like being brown? I decided, yes I do like to have a bit of a tan, as I can get away with wearing less make up and look slightly healthier and more attractive (to my own eyes.) Do I think everybody looks better with a tan and should always be tanned? Hell no! Each to their own.

Then I started to think about other things, like hair removal. If you believe the articles in beauty magazines we're all expected to be as bald as a new born rat everywhere except our heads. I reject this and do what I like. I may not shave my armpits for three weeks at a time and I might not shave my legs for 3 months at a time. My husband prefers my pits to be shaved but doesn't care if my legs are stubbly, and neither do I. I'm quite keen on strimming the bush because quite frankly, having a stray pube entangled in my knicker elastic as I walk down the street isn't my favourite thing. I wax my little tache about once a month because when I do close up lipstick swatches you can see it otherwise and as I'm the tail end of my 30s I've noticed a few hairs appearing on my chin which I'm not dead keen on so I whip those wee blighters off too. Do I think hair-free is the way to go for everybody? Again, nope. I was quite thrilled all those years ago when Julia Roberts unleashed her furry pits onto the world. I thought they looked quite stroke-able. I often see photos on Tumblr of ladies with full leg hair and think 'More power to them!' I like rebels and it IS rebellious to throw off the shackles of societal pressure and do your own thing.

I think it's supremely sexy when someone bucks the trend and is confident enough to be themselves, even if it isn't deemed acceptable or attractive by society as a whole. And if you do tan, wax, pluck, exercise like mad to keep your pert boobs and bum, tooth-whiten, have acrylic nails, have cosmetic procedures and everything else to look good for yourself, great. Doing things to please yourself is fantastic - self care is so important. However I do think if it gets to the point where it feels like we're doing things for the sake of other people more than ourselves then we need to ask ourselves some questions about what would really make us happy.

How far are you prepared to go with your beauty regime?
Is your regime based on being attractive for your own sake, for a partner, or to be accepted by society?

I would say I probably groom to please myself 60%, 25% for my hubby and 15% to be considered 'normal', although in some ways I do relish in being 'alternative', both by being fat and by being tattooed. Go figure!

What's your take on this?

Thanks for reading!