A Blogger's Guide To Babysitting!! No 53 ...

Babysit for my brother!

Hello again!

As promised, this blog will feature the guide to babysitting that we have all been waiting for!
So this Saturday just gone, my brother and sister-in-law asked me if I would babysit for my gorgeous nephew and niece! I have never really babysat properly for them before as normally my mum has the honour of entertaining them all day and I just stay with them whilst they sleep. Also my brother and sis-in-law are so devoted to the family that they rarely spend much time away from the kiddlywinks. (If they're reading this, i'll definitely get some brownie points for that!!) Now this was no problem at all other than I had no idea what to do with them as Craig would have the car till he finished work.

When they asked me if I would we didn't expect the weather to be so nice. So some of the points you may have to adapt to suit your own climate. Here is a short guide for you lot, in case you ever get called upon for babysitting duty and don't have a clue where to begin...

A Blogger's Guide To Sitting on babies Babysitting!!

1. Take spare clothing.  You tend to do unexpected things with kids. Water fights? Messy foods? All situations like these can mean a change of clothing would be useful. Also, even just taking your trusty pj's so that when they settle down at night, you can comfy too!!
2. If you have long hair...tie it back. One thing you can guarantee is that being a babysitter means you are the entertainment for the night. All these mums who look amazing every single day, are with these children every single day. You on the other hand, are a novelty. They want to see how many times you can do a roly-poly down a hill. They want to see you do a cartwheel so they can show your yours and tell you how to do it correctly. They want you to run around playing monsters in the garden. Trust me, tie long hair back. If you think that you would not give in to their requests you are horrible mistaken. They will know how to push your buttons. Be aware!!
3. Have a camera at hand. Kids do funny things. All. The. Time.
4. Plan a baking/cookery activity. These activities have everything kiddies love. Food, mess, playing and fun! Just don't expect them to make the worlds best panacotta and you will not be disappointed! I planned on doing this over the weekend but due to the weather being so bloody beautiful, we made ice lollies instead! Again, fun, cheap and delicious to eat in the sun!
5. Always have a colouring book. What little girl doesn't love to colour?
6. Scooters are a good choice.
7. Despite what the parents say, chocolate is a wonderful bribe! Use it to your advantage!
8. If you tire them about by taking them to the park, playing in the garden etc, they won't resist bedtime. Also, if they exercise before bed, they will hopefully sleep right through and not disturb you in the night! This also means that when mum and dad get in from a wild night out, they have undisturbed sleep through the morning and are able to sleep off that tequila hangover!
9. Have some cash handy. You ARE going to need to go to the shop for either food, dilute pop or toilet roll. It is inevitable. You also may want to order food because you have been such a good babysitter!
10. Remember what it was like to be a kid. Everyone has that one babysitter they remember because they were mean, or made you go to bed too early, or wouldn't let you have anything other than water to drink or put you on the naughty step all the time! So, remember that. You don't want to be that babysitter. You want to be the cool one who goes to the parks and does cool things. Again refer to No.7

So there is my guide for you all to follow if you wish. One of the most important thing to remember in this is that you are giving up your time to babysit so don't make it boring. Make sure you have fun, cherish the moments with the kiddies and put your feet up with a good movie when they are all asleep!

I'll leave you with this picture...

Ice lollies!!!

Byeeeee xxx

PS. Did you enjoy reading this? Should I start doing a 'Blogger's Guide To...' every week? Let me know what you think in the comments!
xx

Such A Bad Blogger!!

I am so sorry!! I know I was meant to be uploading the bloggers guide to babysitting but I have only just sat down after a hectic day.

So, this is my plan...
Get up and go to work tomorrow!
Go to the gym
Have bathtimes!
Write the guide to babysitting and update the surprise day out blog with pictures?
I promise with sugar dusted cherries on top that I will upload tomorrow!

Goodnight and i'll see you guys tomorrow night!
Byeee xx

No 71 - Surprise Day Out

Hello again!

This is going to be a short one for you all as I am having to type this on my mobile phone and it's typo's galore!
Auto-correct fanatics would have a field day!

I'm in Cambridge tonight as I have an exam to take tomorrow! Boooooo! So i have taken a short break from revision to write this for you all!
On Thursday I took Craig to the zoo to see some monkeys and the zebra!
Now I really wanted to upload the pictures tonight but due to the internet restrictions here it wont let me do it quickly.
Instead, i will upload the pictures tomorrow along with my babysitting survival guide blog from the weekend! Aren't you lucky ??
What I will say is this, seeing the smile on Craigs face as we walked around the enclosures reminded me of why he's my best friend and partner in crime!
Now I should be off to sleep because not only have I got an exam tomorrow, I have to drive back home straight after in this heat! It's going to be a long day!!

Good Luck to anybody reading who also has exams on at the moment!
love you all!!
Byeee x

Picture Update!!!!!!
Zoo Timessss...

Cute little baby monkey on momma monkey!

Ottersss!

Walking with Lemurs...NOT dinosaurs

Craig ;)

Beautiful kitty! I wanted to take it home!

Penguinss

Wild dog. Even though I still contest that it's a bear cub!

Beautiful zebra!

Cambridge food times..

yum

Yumyum

YUMYUMYUMMY! 

Let's Have A Week Off!

Helloo again!!

As you can tell by the title of this blog, I am off work all this week. To be honest it couldn't have come at a better time. I'm having a difficult week I'm finding it really hard to have some get up and go about me. I don't write this to gain any pity or sympathy, I'm just being honest. I knew I was backsliding again at the back end of last week when I wasn't looking forward to my birthday, which was on Monday. Luckily, I have a wonderful partner who on Sunday surprised me with Disney birthday balloons ready for Monday. This was to get me excited and for him to see me smile.
I do love that boy!
Another lucky thing is that I have an amazing network of friends and family who made my birthday a really lovely day. I was spoilt by everybody and I love you all so much!

Also this week I have been contending with university deadlines and unreliable technology that decided it wanted to delete one of my assignments the day before it needed to be sent. Oh joy! That night I stayed up till the early hours of the morning re-doing the whole assignment, but I did it, the work was sent off and now all I need to do is focus on my exam prep for next week!

The strangest thing for me right now is that even though I feel utterly rubbish in myself, I really enjoy spending time with my friends. They manage to take my mind off everything that is rubbish and I can just escape from my own mind. Whether they're coming round for tea and cake, going to the pub for some din-dins or just hanging out together, they never fail to make me smile. I sometimes underestimate the power of friends and I am so thankful to have all of mine!
I am now making it my mission to not take my friendships for granted.

So as of tomorrow I'm putting my positive head back on. I had stopped doing my relaxation techniques at night thinking that it wasn't doing much good but now I'm not entirely sure that was the right thing to do.
So now lets go back to:

• Relaxation/breathing techniques
• Smile more
• Laugh - Laughter is the best medicine

 I also want to say thank you to all of you lot reading this little blog of mine! It really means so much.
Over the weekend i'll be posting a few more blogs as yesterday I went to the zoo with Craig and tomorrow we are on a babysitting mission!

Here are some pictures from my birthday!

My balloons!!!

Tanya Burr cosmetics from Craigg!

Just a few bits and bobs I opened in the morning.

Beautiful creamy mushrooms on ciabatta

Mediterranean linguine !

Half way there with my M.A.C pallette!

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday so special! The whole day was so nice and as I keep saying, I am so thankful for you all! See you over the weekend and I promise to pull myself together!!!

Enjoy the sunny sun!

Byeee xxx

No 94 - Eat A Mussel

Hellooooo again!

This weekend has been soo tiring! But guess what?!... Yep, you guessed it right, on Saturday night I finally ate a mussel and therefore ticked off number 94 of my list. For me this was a great achievement as ever since I can remember my parents and brothers have loved these shellfish. They were eaten all through my childhood and the smell alone used to put me right off.

My wonderful boyfriend Craig tried one about two years ago thanks to my mother and he even likes them too! So about 6 months ago, I thought lets give this a go. Surely it can't taste as bad as it smells, so my mum made a fresh batch at home cooked in a lovely sautéed tomato sauce. Everyone else polished there plates in a matter of minutes. Everyone apart from me. Now I am not joking when i say this, I was sat for a good two hours with the same mussel on my fork. For some reason, I could not bring myself to put it anywhere near my mouth. The thought of something so slimy and rubbery put me off completely. In the end, I gave it up as a bad job and ate ridiculous amounts of bread and vegetables to fill the mussel shaped hole that was left in my stomach.

After this ordeal, I forgot about the mussel nightmare for 5 months and was never tempted by one again until this blog came about. I decided to use my list as a way of experiencing new things. I would eventually eat a mussel. Well guys, this Saturday just gone, I ate one! Granted it took 20 minutes of pep talks and coaching from my friends to do it, but it happened. I was in the same predicament again. Mussel on the end of my fork, putting it to my mouth and then taking it straight back away again. I even asked my friends at the table what it tasted like, what texture it was. To be fair, they didn't make it out to be that bad. Even Craig said it was just like a prawn.

Well here is something for you...boyfriends lie! They lie, and then they sit and laugh at you whilst you have to chew this disgusting, ocean tasting, chewy, rubbery thing that apparently is meant to be 'soooooo nice' or ' my absolute favourite' as my mother would say. Nevertheless I am glad in a way that so many people spurred me on to do it because if not, I would not be able to write this blog for you all. It would be rendered pointless and I would probably have No94 on my list until every other one had been completed. So in a way thanks, but no thanks. It's safe to say I won't be pursuing mussels anytime soon. Ick.

On the upside, I got to spend some time with some lovely people and drink cocktails and Tequila to my hearts content!

Ladies night all right! Mine was the tequila shot and the Margarita!

 

Monday was my birthday so watch this space for an update on what I got up too and what food I ate that day! It sure as hell wasn't mussels!!!

Love you all ,
Byeee x

Favourite Funsies From ... April!

Helloooo lovelies!!

It's finally time to write up my first ever favourites blog! Now this isn't going to be just one particular category of products, it's going to be a mix of beauty, technology, food etc!

1. Now my first favourite has to be the one thing that keeps surprising me on a daily basis! I use this item every single day and it makes keeping up with you guys, social networking and keeping me organised so much more fun! Yes, I am talking about my mobile phone! Now I have had this phone about 7 months now and every time I use it, I find something new and exciting! Its the Nokia Lumia 1020 in yellow. It has an amazing quality camera at 41mp and has a Zeiss camera lens. All of the photographs that have appeared in my last blogs have been taken on this phone so go check them out to see the quality. I also love love love the fact that this is a windows phone. I went from an iPhone to the Lumia and I just find it so much more fun to use. The live tiles on the background are fun and fresh, the apps are easily accessible and i just love it! You can read the specs here Nokia Lumia 1020 specification . If you are due for an upgrade and are a bit bored of your current operating system, give it a look see!

My live tiles!!

My phoneeeee!

2. The next thing in this favourites has to be the new hairspray I bought on recommendation from a friend. I spoke about it in my blog when I went shopping in Cambridge. It is from the 'Fat Hair' collection and can be purchased from Superdrug. Alternatively you can buy it here buy me here!! The hold on this hairspray is incredible! I tend to use this if I am having wavy or bouncing curls in my hair. If i use it in the morning, the style will last all day until I get home later that night. It is really affordable too so it gets an 8/10 from me! The only downside is that it doesn't give nice movement if used on straight hair, but for bouncy hair it is a winner!!

3. Oh my god this blush. I have used this religiously for about 3 weeks now. The colour is a beautiful warm peachy tone that looks really nice against a contoured cheek. It is such a girly colour and a complete winner in my book! The colour I use is called Rose bloom and you can buy me here!

Laura Mercier Blush in Rose Bloom

4. One word...Lush! Now every girl loves Lush & I am no different! At Easter I went in and bought some of the carrot bubble bars and for some reason, I didn't get to use them till mid April. I should not have waited. Not only are they shaped like carrots, you get a bunch of three which last about 2-3 baths each! Now that is value! Unfortunately as they are limited edition for Easter you won't be able to purchase them again till next Easter but keep an eye out for them!!!!

Carrot bubble bars!!

5. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. That is all that needs to be said about this next favourite. It is a mug. It has the Marauders Map on it from Harry Potter. It is huge and I love it.

Amazing mug of tea!!!

6. Finally my last April favourite. Girly times!! Last month was strange. Some weird stuff happened, but I am so glad that I got to spend time with my friends. We have laughed, had a little cry at times, been out for dinner, eaten sweeties, watch movies and gossiped! I love all my friends. Here is just a little picture of a few of my fabulous friends! I love the rest of you too, I just thought one picture was enough haha!

Just 3 of my lovely, bubbly friends!

So that's it. My April favourites. If you have/try any of these because of reading this then let me know in the comments what you think!

Ciaoo!

P.S - This blog was not sponsored.

xx

No 11 - Visit The Farm With Family!

Hellooo you lot!!!

It feels like it has been so long since I last posted!!! This week has been absolute madness. So many things have made me smile, made me laugh and some stupid films have even made me shed a little girly tear! Who knew?!

Amongst all the other things i've been doing this week, today I ticked off No 11! Wahoooo another one down!! The end is still so far away though... but I guess that isn't entirely a bad thing!

As a quick round up, on Thursday me and Craig went shopping in Meadowhall! I came back with next to nothing and was incredibly disappointed! Having said that, Craig managed to pick up some presents for my birthday next week that I helped choose so it wasn't a completely pointless trip! To cheer myself up from the lack of damage my debit card experienced I ran off to the Disney shop. Every girl knows that you are always guaranteed to find something smile worthy in there... and boy, I was not wrong!

Oh yeah... I bought a Sven!!!!!

The look on my face says it all. I was slightly upset that there was not an Olaf plushy, but Sven's cute little face cheered me right back up again!
Saturday night was a night full of alcohol fueled fun. Here I am with Craig and our smallest kitten, Luna...

She doesn't look amused.

...and then here I am with some of my favourite lady friends!

The Girls!

Sunday was a day full of family fun at Hardwick Hall food festival...

Candy floss heaven!!!

Blade Runner

My blades!

Now I know they aren't real blades but my god these were one of the best things I have ever experienced. The sheer power you need to move properly on them is unbelievable. They are also very heavy so keeping your balance can be quite tiring work. I must have had my set on for about two hours or so? I can't decided whether the bruise I am now sporting on my inner left ankle is to do with these or the fact I fell off a unicycle? 

Finally, today. Now I regard my friends as my family. They are the people I text when i'm upset, the people who comfort me and cheer me up. Don't get me wrong, my blood family do this, but it's nice to have a second family for support too! The kind of family where you can just sit in silence whilst being in awe of Channing Tatums abs, and afterwards everything is peachy again!

So, as today was bank holiday and I was off work again, we decided to have a girly day!

Girly day started with a trip to the farm where one of my friends keeps her horse, Wiggy. We saw all the little fat piggies that live behind the stables and some of the new calves came to see us too!

Now Wigs is a lovely horse and whenever I want to ride he is very obliging and fun! So we all went out for a bit of a walk and a trot!!

Silly lighting!

Of course I had to have a little cuddle afterwards!

Cuddle times!

After we had our fair share of farms, horses and hover flies, we went to grab some food and a drink from a local Costa. After that we went our separate ways for a couple of hours and then re-grouped for a film late afternoon. All in all the day has been lovely. The whole bank holiday weekend has been a good one really, but I must say, the one recurring thing I have enjoyed over the last week or so has been family. Whether it is actual family or my friend family, they make everything seem brighter. Seem worthwhile. I think it's important to remember that these days.

Your family will always be there, because family are friends. Friends are family!

I will post an April favourites blog this week I promise!

Stay safe, stay happy. 

Byeeeeeee xx