A baby shower weekend

Hello all, how are you guys?

This post is a little different but something i still want to jot down here as i want to remember it.
2014 seems to be the year of babies, i have 3 friends who are all pregnant and ready to pop, and we are only 3 months into the year.. last weekend, one of my best mates Sacha decided to have a baby shower. I had never been to a baby shower before so wasn't too sure what exactly to expect. I of course knew there would be the giving of gifts, so I bought a cute new born baby grow that had "Born in 2014" written across it.

I had my gift in hand along with a congratulations card and I made my way down there, Sacha had hired a hall out and it was a good thing too, as so many people turned up. I got to see so many faces that I hadn't spoken to in a long time, along with meeting lots of new people too. I hadn't been there for too long before we started playing some games, the first of which was "pin the dummy on the baby". There was a huge picture of a baby and we had blind folds on. We got spun around and then had to pin the dummy, the closest one to the mouth wins. We also did another game where we had to guess how big Sacha's bump was. We got given a tape measure and we had to try and work out how big her bump was, without actually measuring her, closest would win a box of chocolates. Needless to say.. I lost both games.

The last game, was one where we put one pound into a tin and we had to guess how much the baby was going to weigh when born, everyone said what they thought and were given a little ticket with the weight on, now we just have to wait for the baby to arrive to see who wins, and whoever does win.. well they win all those pounds that everyone put in the tin.

After the games, we had some music playing, but mostly we just wanted to sit around and catch up with one another, there was even some of the parents and the children from my old job.. who I looked after from when they were a baby so it was nice to see how much they have grown and whats going on in their lives at the moment. Then to finish of the day we had the cake. Sacha had two big cakes and I really don't know which one I enjoyed more. We also did the whole "gift giving", with Sacha in the middle and us all just throwing the gifts at her. I really don't think her little girl is going to want for very much at the beginning of her life, she literally got everything. A bath, moses basket, clothes, bottles, dummies, toys, all that's missing is the buggy and cot.

Overall, it was a lovely afternoon spent with good company and making loving memories together, I'm so super excited for when her bundle of joy arrives and I cant wait to be an auntie again.
I also cant wait for my other friends to announce when their baby showers are.

Have you ever been to baby shower? and have you noticed the baby boom this year too?
Ana
xx

FRIENDS, who are you?

Hello all,

The other day i was watching one of my favourite TV shows FRIENDS and it made me think, "I wonder what FRIENDS star I'm most like?" The more i thought about it, the funnier it became to think about how alike i am to one of them, or even, if i have certain friends who fit their characteristics and their traits to match one of the actual FRIENDS stars. I wanted to write a little blog post on it mostly for me, but also, wouldn't it be funny if you could all figure out what FRIENDS star you are most like too..?

So lets start with Monica Geller-Bing.

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She's stubborn, and bossy, shes a big neat freak and you literally can not touch anything of hers as she will know you've touched and moved things around, (remember the episode where poor Chandler tries to clean the apartment for her as a surprise, and he then spends the rest of the show looking through the photo albums to try and recreate the exact look again). She's a perfectionist and has a very unnatural organisation to her, i mean how many towel labels did she have again? She is also the most competitive, i mean, lets not forget the one where her hair was MASSIVE and she was trying to beat Mike at ping pong, it went on all night. Although underneath it all, she is just like the mother of the group, and her apartment tends to be where everyone ends up meeting up after a day of work etc.

Then we have her brother Ross Geller.

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He's the nerd of the bunch, yet, he's such a nice guy, that he quickly becomes the hot nerdy one, he's the one you can depend on to be there in your hour of need. He's pretty funny, but his humour is slightly awkward like him, and so some may not get it. He tries to be cool and fit in with the rest but he will always be the one most comfortable in his jumpers with elbow patches, (Who remembers when he tried to be hip and cool with his fashion sense and ended up wearing the same top as his date, can you say awkward?). He's a hopeless romantic who has had his fair share of the ladies. (how many times has he been married now?) He can seem very arrogant due to the fact he has a PHD and this makes him seem a little snobbish at times. He can also be insecure and irritable easily as well as a tad jealous and over powering, but under all that, he is one of the most sweet natured and loving of the bunch.

Lets move on to Rachael Green.

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Can be a little bit of a snob and a spoilt brat, she's a daddy's girl at heart, she can be a little bit of a pushover when it comes to her friends and what she wants to do in order to help them. She's a flirt and can get a lot of male attention, that she actually sometimes lusts after. She is also the fashionista of the bunch and the most up to date with whats hot and whats not. Shes not really into anything too deep such as political debates but shes up to scratch with what matches best with her Jimmy Choo shoes. She can at times seem self centred, but will try her best to make her friends happy and show them support. 

Moving on to Phoebe Buffay.

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Phoebe is the most kooky one of the bunch, she can come out with really random things and thoughts that she has. She has strong beliefs but all of them are according to her view point. She is very spiritual and eccentric at times. She is probably the most creative of the bunch as well as the most musical of them. She had a tough upbringing compared to some of the FRIENDS characters so she is very street smart and can defend herself in fights and arguments. She can at times be really innocent and childlike to the way the world is, you could even say, a little naive. She often has moments of the stereotyped "Dumb blonde" where she says things that just makes everyone stop and stare at her. Although being the most out there in terms of characteristics, Phoebe is actually really funny, sometimes just the way in which she says something can be found humorous, or the tone in which her reply comes out, (these usually are aimed at Ross or Chandler however). Through it all, Phoebe just wants to be loved.

Now we have Joey Tribbiani.

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Joey is defiantly the most simple minded of the bunch, but he is very protective of all his Friends and is always there no matter what they need. He can be quite funny at times, but what makes his humour better, is that he doesn't realise he is actually being funny, and alot of the time he is funny by his dumb witted comments. He struggles to find permanent work, always looking for more and has a hard time sharing things, most notably food. He is a massive lover of food and will not share with anyone. (Remember how he wouldn't even let Emma, who is a toddler have some grapes off his plate?!) He is also the most promiscuous of the bunch, and loves the female attention he receives. He never fully settles down and is constantly moving on from relationship to relationship. Joey is the original happy go lucky kinda guy!

Lastly, we have Chandler Bing.

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To me Chandler is the funniest of the bunch, because his sarcasm hits things on point most of the time, and his wisecracks are humorous, witty and literally make you Laugh Out Loud. He is very loving and protective of his friends and his partners (especially when he and Monica finally get together). He is also the most scared for commitment out of everyone, he is very scared to take that next step when in a relationship, and also very scared to even take the first step such as approaching women to meet them. He can be shy at times and a little awkward in front of people, he is the one that is most desperate for love as well as being the one that taught us the most life lessons, (in my opinion, anyway!).

So there you have it, a little bit about each character and their traits and personality, now, if you were to be just one of them, who are you most like? or who would your friends say you were most like? It's scary to say that i think.. and my friends will probably agree with me on the fact I'm most like Monica. Regardless of how much i love fashion, or how kooky, or dumb i can act, they would say my neatness and overall competitiveness makes me more of a Monica then any other FRIENDS character!

Who are you? I would love you guys to tell me who you think you're most like and why, in the comments below! :)

Ana
xx

The July London Meet Up

Hello all,

On Saturday i was lucky enough to attend The July London Meet Up which was organised by the beautiful Helen, you can find her blog here. I was originally planning to go with my friend Anna, but she had to drop out due to some personal reasons, so i opted to going alone, but i met up with Bex and Lisa beforehand. It was so lovely to see Lisa again, and to finally meet Bex as we had been chatting on twitter for quite a while, it was nice to finally be able to get a real life cuddle! :)

We started to make our way down to Tiger Tiger where the event was being held. I say we "started" to make our way down, but what happened was we got lost first, then Bex's Sat nav skills were put to the test and finally i nearly pooped in my pants when a statue man thing came to life! *yes i screamed out loud in the street - No shame shown here* :)

When we arrived we were greeted by Helen and then we quickly split up to mingle around. I went and got myself a drink and then went off to try and mingle with others. I have to say this, was the most shy i have ever been at any event, so if you saw me or i saw you and didn't say Hello, the nerves kicked in full swing for this one! Sorry.

At the event i met some interesting people, there was Anna who works for Apivita, she was such a sweetheart and was telling me all about the brand and what products from them was in the goodie bags and what i could expect from them. The fact that all the products are made of natural ingredients made me even more interested and i can not wait to try the sunscreen while I'm away in the next couple of weeks, nor can i wait to try the samples! The second person i met was Bernice, who is trying to get her company Kekeli radiant skin off the ground and she's hoping that a launch date will be in October. So make sure you keep checking back there to see all the ins and outs of the company. The third and final person i met was the a lovely lady, who works for Paperself, (i think her name was Itsu) which is a brand of paper eyelashes. They were used on the incredible film "The Hunger Games" and i was super excited that we were given the chance to have some done ourselves. I sat myself on the chair and was the first to bite the bullet and get mine done, i opted for only the corners of my eyes to have them and i went for the butterfly effect. I loved the look of them, and with lots of mascara and eyeliner it is a real eye catching conversation starter. However, for a more natural daytime look i wouldn't get them done, also, even though they did stay on for the best part of 4 hours i did feel like they could literally drop off at anytime and i also felt them touch my eyebrows, but as Itsu said, i could always trim them down to a size i would prefer.

After a few hours of being at the event, the goodie bags were handed out, and boy oh boy were they jam packed with things, so much so, that you had to be careful not to drop anything out. Everyone also got a huge nail art box from the company Rio Nails, and when i say it was a huge box i am NOT exaggerating!

It was then time to go and do some shopping, everyone split into groups and went off on their own. I have to say my little group of girlie's was incred!! :) I just wish we had more of a chance to talk to each other, they were so funny and i made some good memories in London Town with them! :)
I only really needed a mascara and eyeliner, but having not found either of the ones i wanted, we bought some food from Boots instead and then made our way down to Topshop on Oxford Street to go and get snap happy in the photobooth. We managed a photo of 4 of us before we actually squeezed 6 beauty bloggers all into one tiny space! *oh yeah, the memories!*

The group then, split into just 3 of us, and we decided we would go and sit on the steps of an old church, eat our food and just generally dance around to One Direction. :) (Yes, we got some weird and odd looks from passers by). The rain finally kicked in, we had been expecting it all through out the day, so when it finally hit, we made a mad dash to the underground to get the tube home!

All in all, the day was amazing, i got to see some old faces but most importantly meet new ones, that i would love to see again. :)

I want to say a special thank you to Helen for organising it all and making sure it ran smoothly, thank you very much and a big "well done" to you, I knew you could do it, here's hoping for another one next year! ;)

I want to say a special mention to Grace, Olivia and to Kat, who i got to meet and would love to go for drinks and dinner some time, you guys were so funny, and made me feel very relaxed, i loved all of our conversations and jokes, memories were deffo made with you girls. I would also like to thank the little group of girlie's, that i got the chance to go shopping with, Ellie, Islay, April, Catherine, Lauren & Sam. You girls were so much fun to be around, i wont forget the photos, or the dancing in the street Ellie. It was also so nice to meet Lauren who bought my iPad mini from me a couple of weeks ago! :) such a good day spent with you girls.

Now onto the photos...

Myself and Islay - Photo taken by Islay herself! :)

(This photo was taken by Kat from Tales of a pale face)

(Photo was taken by Olivia from Beauty From The F Jord)

My outfit of the day.. Crop Top - Primark Trousers - Market Stall Flat White Pumps - Primark Anklet - Home made Ring - Primark Necklace - Lasula Boutique

First shot... 4 beauty bloggers in the first shot. (back row)Islay & Lauren (front row) Myself & Ellie Second shot...

6 beauty bloggers all managed to fit in this tiny booth on Oxford Street.

(back row) Catherine & April (middle row) Sam & Islay (bottom row) myself & Ellie.

And.. another group shot!
Photo taken by Itsu from Paperself! :)

As for the goodie bags, we were spoilt rotten with everything in them! So thank you to all the brands who contributed! :) My friend Lisandra came over in the evening and we had a good rummage through the bag and she took some bits and pieces for herself, so my goodie bag photo will not have all the contents that there were, as i never got round to taking photos of it before Lisandra was let loose on the bag! LOL

How amazing is all this from Rio Nails?? We were well and truly spoilt!

Ana
xx

The London Bloggers Party

Hello my lovelies,

On Saturday, i met up with the beautiful Anna from Anna Rozanska. Together we were off to The London Bloggers Party. After a little confusion with where the actual event was taking place and trying our best to avoid the rustle and bustle of PRIDE, we made our way to Hanover Square to Dirty Martini. Me and Anna were eager to go in, but not before filling our tummies, as i hadn't even had breakfast that morning, we quickly found a MacDonald's and then went to Hanover Square park and ate in there. It was so nice to finally catch up with Anna, I've known her for years but we don't see each other often, as i live in London and she is based in Sheffield, so it was lovely to spend a bright sunny Saturday Afternoon with her (Even if her feet were killing her because she decided to be all glamorous and wear heels the entire day) :P

After our brief lunch we made our way to Dirty Martini, and were checked off the guest list and then made our way down to a basement type room, it was a long and spacious  place and there was an open bar plus lots of seating areas. We were welcomed instantly by Scarlett who told us to try the new "Scarlett London Martini" that they were kind enough to make for us bloggers. We took our seats and i got a chance to catch up with Rachel, who i had previously met at the Bloggers Lunch which was also organised by Scarlett, you can read about that post here.

As quickly as the room was empty with only the early bird bloggers, it got extremely full quite too. Suddenly the room became quite warm and loud and everything became a bit of a bustle to move about in. Mostly because us girls all decided to stay in one section of the area, and no one really wanted to venture out from that space, we didn't want to seem like the unsocial one! Haha, i got to meet so many youtubers, and bloggers that i have watched, listened to, read, and just generally loved and i was so excited to be able to collect new business cards (as well as finally give mine out) of bloggers i had never seen or met before. It was also lovely to finally put faces to names etc. Although i will be honest, there was so many that i was like, "i recognise her, but I'm not sure on her URL or her twitter name! :| Ops."

My Outfit of the Day..

Coral Boyfriend Blazer - Primark (old)

Black Trousers - Market Stall

Shoes - Primark (old)

Blouse - Matalan

Necklace - Lasula

Bag - Boutique in Newcastle (But most people thought it was Mulberry, so I'll go with that ;))

Watch - Vintage Market Stall

Max, thought he would take a picture of me, so i captured one of him too..

These were the only shots i managed to capture, as the whole event took its toll on me and all i wanted to do was mingle with everyone else and make new friends.

Now time for some photos, from Scarlett London's blog, and all thanks to her boyfriend Max who can be seen in the photo above.

(Max's photo)

Overall, it was a lovely event, even if it seemed a little hectic at times, and a little crowded it was lovely to see so many new faces and catch up with some old ones! :)

It was lovely to finally meet Islaay (I-LA), Fenetta & Tanya as i have been speaking to them for a while now. It was also lovely to see so many other bloggers and i only wish i had more time to chat to each and every one of them.. Ashleigh, Joelle, Ellie, Ellie, Jess, Sophia, Lucia, Shay, Georgina, Kimberley, Becky, Lorna, & Christina. Until next time girls, i hope we get a chance to chat some more.. :) aaannnddd, Ashleigh, me and you need to meet up more often, you are just too funny!! :) haha

I want to say a massive thank you to Scarlett, for organising this opportunity for us to get to know each other a little bit better, i cant imagine how much hard work goes into doing something like this, i always look at the scale of these things and think WOW! So thank you so much for taking the time to organise it, you rocked it and did an amazing job! :) Also thank you so much for organising a little goodie bag for all of us to leave with, it has some amazing things in (but I'm saving the goodie bag for another post) I'm super excited to try the hair oil among other things!

Also present at the event was..
Search Laboratory, who gave us goodies bag which included a book full of SEO tips. After talking to the girls about it a little, i was really intrigued and excited to get stuck in to reading the book.
Quiz Clothing, which also provided us with a goodie bag, with an amazing voucher for 70% off clothes, have you seen some of Quiz's clothes?, I'm super excited to spend this.
Cloud Nine Hair, which i didn't actually get a chance to get round too, this saddened me, as i am always desperately on the look out for new hair care products that can tame my messy hair!
and finally,
Oriflame, which is a make up brand trying to break the UK market. We got to chat to the girls for a little about the brand, we got to sample some of the goodies and then we were allowed to jot down which products we would love to test and try out, i HAD to put my name down for the eyebrow kits, as it just looked amazing! I'm super excited for those products to arrive too!

So all in all, The London Bloggers Party was way too much fun, if i missed your name out I'm super sorry, there was so many of you lovelies to get through, but if we did chat drop me a little comment below. It was lovely to meet everyone and I'm super excited to make my way through all those business cards i got, plus to start using and testing some of the goodies i got in my goodie bags!

Did you attend The London Bloggers Party?!
Ana
xx

Liebster Award.

Helloo, while i was away in Newcastle on my mini break i got nominated for a "Liebster Award" by Jenn from Hello, Guten Tag. I really enjoy reading Jenn's blog, not only does she have a similar job to me, where she works with the little kiddies, so i can totally relate to some of her posts, but she lives in Canada, and so its so nice to have posts with different perspectives and different tastes to just here in the United Kingdom.

The Liebster Award is giving to new bloggers by bloggers. It's a way to acknowledge each other and to say "you're doing a great job." It is for blogs with 200 or less followers, so its a great way to spread the word about other blogs and get them more acknowledgement.

When you receive the award, you post 11 random facts about yourself and answer 11 questions from the person(s) who nominated you. You pass the award to 11 other blogs (make sure that you tell them you nominated them) and ask them 11 questions. You're not allowed the nominate the blog(s) who nominate you. (To get the button, right click the picture on my page and save the picture to your computer. You can then upload the picture to your blog.)

So, here we go with my 11 random facts..

1. I was born in Portugal, lived in France for a while and grew up in England which is where I'm currently living.

2. I have a bad "biting my nail" habit, that I've had it since i was old enough to chew and i also hate it.

3. I am a BIG Harry Potter fan, as in.. read the books, seen the film, done the tour, and all the jazz in between.

4. I love stand up comedy, i think Lee Evans and Michael Mcintyre are 2 of the funniest people I've heard before, they make me cry tears of laughter.

5. I'm very loud, opinionated and I'm very direct, i will tell it how it is.

6. I have the biggest crush on Enrique Iglesias and i want to bore his children.

7. My mother isn't around anymore as she moved back home to Portugal, i don't really speak to her.

8. I have had 3 other blogs apart from this one.

9. I think Jennifer Lopez is one hot Latina mama, she is just beautiful.

10. I wish i did more baking in my free time, (Might have to take it up as a hobby).

11. I get really nervous when people ask me to to do guest blog posts on their blogs because i always feel like i might let them down with it, i hate pressure.

Now to answer the 11 questions by Jenn.

1. What is your favourite TV show?

This changes depending on the time of year, i loved watching LOST, and FRIENDS, but at the moment I'm enjoying Arrow, The walking dead and Strictly come dancing which is on here in the UK.

2.  What is your favourite book?

This question is IMPOSSIBLE for me to answer as I'm the biggest book nerd there possibly is, i love reading and always have a book on the go, at the moment I'm enjoying books by Harlan Coben..but i loved reading The Help recently (i also did a book review about it on the blog).

3. Do you have any kids, if not do you want any?

No i don't have any, and yes i most defiantly do want some, when the time is right and i feel that i am financially better off to support them then yes. I also cant wait for that day! :D

4. What is your favourite blog?

Again this question is like the book one, i follow and read far too many blogs to pick just one but I'm going to pin down 3 that i really enjoy going to.

Life of Bon

Le Beauty girl

The Black Pearl Blog

5. What is your favourite drink?

A bit boring i think, but i love my Coke a Cola. :)

6. If you could be on any TV reality show which would it be?

I hate the reality shows that we have over here in the UK, i would love to have been a part of Jersey Shore as i love that show even if it is a little over the top, and I'm counting it as a reality TV show regardless, over here we have Geordie Shore which is supposed to be the version of that..its funny, but i would NOT have liked to have been in it.

7. Your favourite song at the moment?

At the moment, my favourite song is One Day by Matisyahu, kinda old but I'm still loving it. Although this changes every day!

8. What is your favourite thing about blogging?

I love the freedom i have with my blog, it literally is my little place on the net that i can rant, rave and generally talk rubbish on, i love that in years to come i will have something that i can look back on and giggle about what i was loving and hating in my early 20's.

9. Do you have any weird hidden talents?

Urm, not weird i don't think, i can play the piano but only The wedding march song, that being the song most people walk down the aisle to get married to. LOL

10. Are you going to dress up for Halloween?

Well Halloween is already over but yes i dressed up as an Dark Angel, (i did a post on it just below :P)

11. Whats the one thing you must always have on you?

Apart from my phone that literally comes everywhere with me, probably a lipstick of some sort, so i can brighten up  my lips with a splash of colour. :D

Time now for my 11 questions to my nominees..

1. Whats your dream job?

2. Whats one blogging tip you can give to people just starting out making their own blog?

3. If you could go to any country in the entire world, where would you go?

4. Whats one piece of advice you have been given that you carry around with you always?

5. Who's your favourite actor and actress and why?

6. Can you tell me a fond memory of when you were growing up, it could be anything?

7. If it was your last day on earth what would you want to do with it?

8. What do you love about your family?

9. What do you think is the greatest invention in life?

10. What would you like to be remembered for when your gone?

11. If you could tell one person one thing, you have always wished to, who would you tell and what would you tell them?

 

And now finally its time to nominate 11 blogs i think deserve this award too..

Andddd the nominees are..

1. Sarah @ Clothes Drawer 

2. Sarah @ The Purse Snatcher 

3. Jayde @ Badromancejayde 

4. Rachel @ Along the way with Rae 

5. Vicky @ Daily hoots|Lifestyle blog 

6. Marta @ Everyday Vogue 

7. Rebekah @ It's kind of lovely 

8. Sarah @ Life as a wallflower 

9. Jess @ Live Life, Save Money 

10. Alannah @ Rock that chic 

11. Gina @ Through these brown eyes

Thank you once again to Jenn, i had so much fun filling this in as well as being creative in coming up with my own ideas for questions, and i discovered so many new blogs, from reading other peoples Liebster Award posts.

Hope your all doing well.

Ana X