Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Helping To End Loneliness With Sunrise Senior Living ♥

If you've been following my blog for awhile now you'll know that loneliness has been a theme on my blog before, having felt very lonely myself since I gave birth to my son. I'm a firm believer that no one should feel lonely - one of the most horrible feelings in the world in my opinion - no matter what their age, so when Sunrise Senior Living asked if I'd be interested in contributing to their campaign to end loneliness amongst elderly people I was delighted to take part.

Ever since I was a child, charities that support and ways to help the elderly have always been close to my heart. I used to visit a local hospital after school and chat to the sick, elderly people in there and ask if they needed anything from the shop, etc. Since that young age I realised that no one should ever be left to feel alone or be forgotten, to me that is the saddest thing in the world. Sunrise Senior Living provide various types of care for the elderly, they also actively encourage community participation in their care homes across the UK - something which every decent person with some time on their hands should participate in really. A visit to a care home can take just half an hour of your time but could mean the absolute world to the residents there. Recent research from the Campaign To End Loneliness has revealed just how detrimental loneliness can be to a persons health and well being. In order to combat this they are looking for people's help to raise awareness and contribute to the campaign in any way that they can.

One older relative of mine has been through an awful lot in the past year and half, having had their world turned upside down quite unexpectedly. I have tried to not only be there for this person as a relative but also as a friend too. They expressed to me a few months back that they appreciated having someone to talk to because everyone needs someone to talk to and to be honest this broke my heart, no one should ever have to thank anyone for being there to listen to them.

Sunrise Senior Living provided me with a game of Scrabble, a pack of Bicycle cards (which Jacek was very happy about!) and £30 to spend on ingredients to make one of their recipes for dinner. I chose to make the Paprika and Red Onion Chicken as it sounded truly delicious and seemed relatively easy to make too but there was so many lovely recipes to choose from that I really was spoilt for choice, you can view their Recipes from the Heart here. I didn't make a dessert, even though they had so many yummy sounding ones, as the person I invited for dinner is a diabetic and I didn't want to tempt them!

The meal was absolutely delicious (most definitely because Jacek took over the reigns on this, I simply prepared the potatoes and veg). The chicken was perfect and I like that we got to try something else for dinner other than our usually plain chicken breasts or breaded chicken, it's nice to have a change. We also had mash and vegetables as these are a favourite meal accompiant of our guests. We'll definitely be having the Sunrise Senior Living paprika and red onion chicken again, it was one of the best meals I've had in ages!

After we were full to the brim we spent the night playing card games like 21, Old Maid and Snap, all of my childhood favourites. We also played Scrabble for the first time ever - yes really (where have we been hiding all this time?!) and considering that our guest only learnt to read and write properly a few years ago they did pretty good! We all had such a great time and it was fantastic to see our guest smiling, having a laugh and feeling included. I think we'll have to make this a regular thing as our guest usually eats dinner alone and that's no fun at all.

It just goes to show that something as small as inviting someone to dinner can really help to change their mood and make them feel involved with family and friends again. I shared the fact that I was hosting this night as part of the campaign to end loneliness on my Instagram last night and the response was great. People even stated that they'd love to do something like this themselves and if they do I'd be so happy. I'd like to sincerely thank Sunrise Senior Living for asking me to be part of this campaign and for reminding me to include my older relatives, friends and neighbours in things a lot more from now on. Lets face it, we all need some laughs and company to keep us happy, healthy and feeling included.

Would you host a dinner or other activity with your elderly relatives or friends? Or would you visit nursing homes, hospitals or neighbours to help in the campaign to end loneliness?


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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Soufeel Charm Bracelet | Review ♥

I've made no secret of my love for jewellery, sharing some of my beautiful jewellery pieces on the blog before, so when I was approached by the lovely people at SOUFEEL and was asked whether I would like to receive one of their charm bracelets with my choice of charm I simply jumped at the chance. It has to be said that I have a particular penchant for charm bracelets, I just love receiving charms for birthdays, Christmases and other special occasions, not only do they make stunning jewellery pieces but they also act as a keepsake of a wonderful memory too. I already have a Pandora bracelet which I've had since October 2010 it's now full with people charms and memory keepsakes so it's time to begin a new charm bracelet, that's why I was so delighted when SOUFEEL contacted me.

 The SOUFEEL packaging is absolutely beautiful - a sturdy white box with a pale blue bow and black velvet inside to cushion your bracelet and keep it safe. I think the packing of SOUFEEL's products just further adds to the fact that they would make a perfect gift.

The bracelet I chose to host my charms was the Exclusive 925 Sterling Silver Basic Bracelet* ($29.95) which I got in size 20cm so that it would fit comfortably around my wrist and have space for the charms too. This looks like a dupe for my Pandora bracelet but it is by far the more affordable option. The bracelet comes with a sturdy clasp with 'SOUFEEL' engraved on it. The only qualm I have with the bracelet is that it has no bulky bit at the end of the bracelet to stop the charms falling off when you're taking it off your wrist, I just have to be super careful with it. All of SOUFEEL's charm are suitable for other charm bracelets too such as Pandora, Chamilia, etc. so I think this is why they are bigger and don't have the twist part at the end of the bracelet to keep them secure. I do like the fact that I could chop and change these onto my Pandora bracelet if I so wished.

I chose four lovely charms for my bracelet, all of which have a travel theme bar one. The charms are all of fantastic quality and are stamped with the 925 silver mark. They don't look cheap and tacky like some other charm bracelet charms I've seen before and I think they're really sweet. Each one I chose has a personal meaning for me too which is lovely. SOUFEEL have a huge range of charms available so you're bound to find the perfect one to suit your personality and interests.

The first charm I of course had to choose was the Love My Son Dangle Charm* ($19.95). This was such a sweet charm and it immediately caught my eye. I love dangle charms especially and the word 'son' engraved on the holder was such a lovely touch. I really like the fact that the 'son' actually looks like a little boy and not a buddha like some other charm companies have. This is such a lovely charm for me to have and is most definitely my favourite out of the four I got.

My second charm was the France Eiffel Tower Charm* ($20.00) which has actually been upgraded to a prettier looking charm since I got mine. I visited Paris in 2012 and have been wanting to go back ever since. I also have a love for anything with a Parisian theme so I thought this charm would be quite fitting for my charm bracelet.

My third choice was the Aeroplane Dangle Charm* ($19.95) which again is a really sweet looking charm and I love the fact that it's a dangle charm. The airplane has jewelled windows, which I think is a lovely touch. This was the perfect charm to add to my travel themed bracelet.

Finally, the only charm I didn't get to choose as SOUFEEL chose it for me, was the Red Travel Suitcase Charm* ($25.00). Now I'm not a fan of red at all but this really is a lovely little charm and I love all the details on the suitcase with the silver embellishments, the little handle and tag. My mother loves red and has her mind set on getting this charm off me, she loves it!

SOUFEEL really do have a fantastic range of charms on offer and they always seem to have amazing deals on them too, especially in their What's New section. I currently have my eye on a vintage camera charm which is half price at the moment - do I deserve a treat I wonder?! SOUFEEL offer free shipping on all orders over $50 and a 365 day return and exchange guarantee which is great. They also have amazing special offers such as a free ring with orders over
$59, a free 925 charm with orders over $79 and a free bracelet with orders over $99 - pretty good right?!

If you fancy treating yourself SOUFEEL are offering my readers 5% off their first order with the code Fiona5off - I think I may need to use it myself for that vintage camera charm!

Overall, I highly recommend SOUFEEL to those who would like to have their own, affordable charm bracelet and have a wide range of charms and themes to choose from for it. I think one of these bracelets would make the perfect gift for someone special and I'm already thinking about getting my mother one for Christmas.

What do you think of my SOUFEEL bracelet and charms?

*I was sent a bracelet and charms by SOUFEEL for the purposes of this review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

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Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Currently... ♥

Now that 2015 is halfway through I thought it was time to take stock of my life again and see just how I'm doing. I think June has been the month where I have wanted to step away from the blog and my laptop for awhile and just immerse myself in other hobbies instead of wasting time endlessly surfing the net. I've noticed that I begin feeling very dizzy, ill and tired if I spend too much time on the laptop so I only use it now if I really have to. June has been a great month for me so far and I hope the rest of the year continues like this - fingers well and truly crossed! Judging by the above collage life seems to be very pretty, pink and girly these days - I love that.

Making: I've been making lots of cupcakes recently and they've been going down a storm with my friends and family. I've begun to try and get more and more creative with my decorating and additions to the cupcakes themselves and I love how they've all turned out. You can see my newest bakes here for unicorn, mermaid and rosey loveliness.

Cooking: I haven't been doing much cooking lately, I actually hate trying to come up with new dinner ideas because my toddler never eats them and it's so much effort. Not strictly cooking but I didn't make my son some chocolate porridge, an idea I got from my new Crumbs Family Cookbook that I picked up at Britmums. It went down a storm with him.

Drinking: Far too much Coke. Cherry Coke, original Coke, Coke Zero - which by the way just tastes like Pepsi, yuck - if it's from the Coke range I want it but this has to change because it's so unhealthy. 

Reading: At the end of May I began reading books again for leisure and I am loving it. So far I've read Confessions Of A Fallen Angel by Ronan O' Brien, Have A Little Faith by Mitch Albom, Playing With the Grown Ups by Sophie Dahl and I'm currently more than halfway through The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. It's so lovely to sit out in the garden on sunny days with a book in hand again.
 
Wanting: To sleep! Oh my God I'm so sick of being woken up suddenly in the morning and this isn't even from my toddler! I need to get a lock for my bedroom door and keep everyone and the noise out.
 
Looking: Forward to our family holiday to Jersey where I'll see my Dad and his girlfriend Shirley. I want to do lots of photographing on the island and visit the neighbouring island of Sark too, we have lots planned.

Watching: A lot of movies recently. There comes a time now in the evening after Tyler Lee has gone to bed and before Jacek comes home from work that I watch films that are usually on Channel 4 or 5. On Sunday I watched Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame and I honestly can't remember seeing that film as a child. I also watched Monster In Law but if I see Jennifer Lopez playing the exact same character she does in every film again I might just scream. I want to begin watching films a lot more now and next on my list is 50 Shades of Grey, which Jacek actually watched without me, can you actually believe that?!

Wishing: That I was already on holidays, I got used to being away from home when I attended the Britmums Live blogging conference in London last week.

Loving: Upcycling old furniture, it's like my new 'thing' and I can't wait to do some more this month as part of my Graham & Brown ambassador role. You can see my latest interior makeover and upcycled armchair here.
 
Smelling: Of Yves Rocher Flowerparty By Night perfume, I love the scent so much and it's a great one for summer.

Listening: To lots of music. I always have YouTube on on my phone as I'm getting reading in the morning and have it on in the background as I'm writing blog posts. Right now I'm listening to Marilyn Manson on a YouTube mix, I love that it actually goes onto the next song now instead of stopping after each one.

Buying: New MAC lipstick, which I most definitely don't need but can't resist buying anyway. Chatterbox and Saigon Summer are my newest shades as well as Reel Sexy which I got from Back to MAC - yay for freebies!

What have you been up to lately?
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W7 Up In Smoke Palette | Review, Swatches & Giveaway ♥

It's no secret that I have a penchant for eye shadow palettes, I probably have far too many for one person to get through but I can never resist getting a new one, especially when there are so many pretty new releases coming out and when my other half goes and surprises me with a new eye shadow palette and one to giveaway on my blog, well, who am I to refuse - that's love right there people!

I'm a huge fan of the W7 range of eye shadow palettes and this new Up in Smoke palette is no exception. The W7 palettes always have a nod to the Urban Decay Naked palettes and with UD's upcoming Smoky palette release, W7 of course, had to release something special also. Now I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of smoky eye makeup, I just don't think it suit me and makes my eyes look tiny but as the Up in Smoke palette has some lighter shades for a bit of a twist, I like mixing the lighter and darker shades to create a more wearable look.

Up in Smoke offers twelve gorgeous shadows, all of which are shimmer bar the one darkest matte shade. The colours range from the almost white, appropriately named All White to pink, champagne, darker purple and various shades of grey. I like that the lighter shades have fun and happy sounding names whilst the grey and darker shades have quite gritty names, I thought this was a nice touch.

All White: A shimmery almost white shade which pearlescent finish, so perfect for highlighting the brow bone and the inner corner of the eye.

Bunny: A peachy coloured shimmer shade with a pearlescent finish. This is quite light but the finish would make it a lovely addition to the eyelids as part of a smoky look.

NYC: A beautiful mid-toned pink shade with gold undertones - I guess you could call this rose gold? It's so stunning and I love how it can look either pink or gold depending on how the light hits it. This shadow also has a pearlescent finish.

Jive: A champagne coloured shadow with silver undertones. Again this is a nice shade for creating a lighter smoky look. This shade also has a pearlescent finish.

Cement: A light silver shade with a slight metallic look.

Thunder: A darker silver shade with dark grey undertones. This shade also has a metallic look to it.

Meteor: A very dark grey shade with silver glitter throughout. This would be a perfect shades for nights out, who can resist a hint of sparkle?

Carbon: A mid-toned grey shade which has a slight hint of dark purple. This is a gorgeous shade and it kind of reminds me of oil, really pretty for smoky eyes.

Diesel: A slightly darker grey shade with a more intense purple throughout. This shade really is like diesel and again is so pretty, I love the undertone of purple, I think that makes it a lot more wearable than just plain dark grey.

Arty: A dark purple shade with plum and pink coloured undertones which again make it a lot more wearable than just a simple dark purple would be.

X Factor: A dark silver shade with hints of grey. This is a really pretty shade for a smoky look and is perfect for nights out along with Meteor.

Coal: A very dark grey almost black shade with a matte finish. This is the kind of shade that I could never wear as I think it's far too dark for my eyes but it's a perfect shade for those who love the dramatic smoky eye look.

Considering that this palette was only €10 or two from the W7 range for €15 I think it's extremely good value. I think the shades within it are beautiful and I love the fact that they aren't all typical dark (and unwearable for me) dramatic shadows. My favourite shades from within the palette are NYC, Carbon and Diesel and I shall be wearing these three a lot.

As I stated at the beginning of this post, Jacek actually picked up another Up in Smoke palette for me to giveaway to one lucky blog reader, nice of him right? To be in with a chance of winning a W7 In the Buff palette of your very own all you have to do is enter via the Rafflecopter below. This giveaway is open worldwide and will end on July 1st. Best of luck to all who enter!
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Monday, June 22, 2015

My 1st Britmums Live Experience | 2015 ♥

This weekend Jacek and I were lucky enough to attend the Britmums Live blogging conference in London for the first time, my attendance being sponsored by the wonderful people at My 1st Years. If you're unaware of My 1st Years they are a fabulous personalised gifts company who have the most beautiful gifts and items for children. We're a big fan of their products for our son and I have reviewed their products plenty of times on the blog before if you fancy a read! I went to Britmums with a surge of excitement and nervousness and was anxious to see what delights the conference held for myself and my fellow bloggers.

We were awake at half three on Friday morning to catch our flight to Stansted. We were both so exhausted that we couldn't remember our phone pin codes and blocked them - what a couple of ding dongs! After an hours bus journey and another hour walking up and down what seemed like the longest street in London we finally found our hotel. I was suffering from exhaustion and the aftermath of travel sickness from the bus and all I wanted to do was get in a quick power nap before the event began - luckily I was able to catch forty winks (literally!) otherwise I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the event at all. If you're ever attending Britmums I highly recommend going to London the night before so that you can wake up on the day of the event feeling refreshed and ready for all that's in store.

Picture ruined by my hair blowing across my eyes, but still, the Twirlywoos!
As we reached The Brewery the first blogger I bumped into was Kerry from Oh So Amelia who was attending with her adorable baby son Harrison. I was so happy to see Kerry as she's one of my favourite bloggers and even though we only spoke briefly it's great that I was able to speak to her in person. As we entered the grounds of The Brewery we were greeted by the Twirlywoos. I absolutely loved this as I'm always one for a photo op and Tyler Lee is a big fan of these guys and I was left singing their theme tune for the day! We even got Twirlywoos headbands to keep - can you tell I was excited by this?! I'm such a child.

After this we moved into The Hub where we got to speak to different brands and PRs. I have to admit that I thought this area would be much busier and that I'd see a lot more bloggers I knew, sadly I didn't but Jacek and I did get to speak to a lot of lovely PRs and really took our time with them too. We were given free wine by Lindemans and the PR for them who we spoke to, who was called Nathan, was one of the friendliest people we met at the whole event. The girls who were representing Beattie Coms and Parragon Books were super lovely too.

The lovely Helen teaching me how to knit.
We also spent a lot of time in the Lady Sew and Sew craft room which was was adorned with gorgeous looking fabrics and handmade items, all of which I wish I was capable of making! A lovely woman named Helen retaught me how to cast on in knitting and from their I was flying, it's funny how the art of knitting came back to me after thirteen years! I wish I had gotten a chance to crochet and make some bunting too but Jacek and I were starving so we had to go and get dinner. I had to take pictures of all the gorgeous crafts in the room as they really were laid out so beautifully. I love the look of the letter cardigan up above, I have to get my nan to make a 'T' one for Tyler Lee.

Vicki & I in the kite garden.
On the way out we stopped off at the beautifully decorated outside areas - the whimsical umbrellas and flower themed garden being my absolute favourite, it was so peaceful and sunny out there. In the colourful kite garden area I bumped into three lovely bloggers who I'm friendly with on Facebook - Vicki from Elliebearbabi, Andrea from Blogger Mumma and Gemma from Sunshine On A Cloudy Day Blog. I also met Lucinda from Teacher 2 Mummy who was in our group photo. All the girls were super friendly and we had a great chat. Funnily enough on day two of the conference they were the only bloggers I spoke to again but it didn't really bother me as we all got on so well.

Gemma & I in the beautiful umbrella and flower garden.
Myself, Vicki, Andrea, Gemma & Lucinda.
Day two was spent doing much the same things as day one but we had to leave a bit earlier to catch our bus back to Stansted to catch our flight. We were so exhausted and I really do wish we had taken an extra day in London so that we could have enjoyed our time there more, we both felt as though we were rushing around the whole time. I really wish I had spoken to more bloggers. I'm not one to just join in on conversations as I'm quite shy and that's something I need to work on but I've been speaking to a lot of bloggers online since the event so hopefully I'll get to meet them all one day.

Merci Mamam gave us all these beautiful eternity bracelets engraved with Britmums Live 2015 so that we always have a keepsake from our experience, such a lovely thing.

I would like to sincerely thank the wonderful people at My 1st Years one more time for sending me on this great adventure. Britmums Live was my first ever blogging conference and hopefully not my last. It was a great experience to have and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, The Brewery is such a gorgeous space to be in. Hopefully I get to go to Britmums again one day and hopefully next time around I would be less shy and a lot more sociable!

Were you at Britmums Live 2015?
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