Blogmas – Page 3 – Clairey Sweetie

Hey Sweeties,

Firstly the most exciting thing to mention today is that it’s the 1 year blogaversary of ClaireySweetie –yippee! …and how far we have come! Huge thanks to everyone that reads and follows; means tons and fingers crossed there are many more years (& followers) to come!

Secondly. As most of you were no doubt aware, last night was my work Christmas party and it was a Wild West themed do in a marquee (in the car park)! There was a free bar (a bugger when you’re driving), a rodeo bull, a live band, line dancing and American girls in denim hot pants a’ plenty! It was a bit cringey to begin with but once people got into the swing of things it turned into a really fun evening. It was also good because towards the end when all the Exec Board were made to go up and do a dance by themselves (partnering with the hot girls of course), we all stood around watching and laughing and I just had a moment where I was just so thankful to have found a company where I just fit. I still have a bit of a journey here to find my perfect role but in terms of the people and the company itself, I wouldn’t change it.

Howdy!

I had been gearing myself up for the rodeo bull/bucking bronco for ages, determined to do well and put my many years of riding to good use. Turns out, it’s actually quite difficult and I should have watched a few more people take their turn and pick up some techniques before entering the ring myself. But never mind; all good fun!

Whoops!

The best part of the night was the raffle; there were some fantastic prizes up for grabs –all tickets to see various acts at The O2 so I bought two strips of numbers to give myself a good chance; I had my heart set on Take That and Olly Murs. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be but amazingly I did though win four tickets to see Disney on Ice on Boxing Day! The in-laws and Ian are yet to be informed of this (sorry darling if you have read this first) but I am excited to go! Anyone else happened to have seen this, any good?

Until tomorrow x

Hey Sweeties,

You’ll be delighted to hear that this is the final product for me to post a review about from my haul at The Cosmetics Company –I appreciate sometimes things can feel repetitive- it’s also the second and final product I bought from the Bobbi Brown stand. The other product from that range I bought was the French Pink Blusher set which I adore; you can read that review here.

So, let’s get down to business.

Bobbi Brown Nail Polish £7.75 RRP £11

Let’s begin with the packaging. This is what first drew my attention to the nail polishes as the bottle is a beautiful but thickly cut cube shape which is lovely to the touch. Branding on the bottle is also kept clean and simple allowing the product to do the selling. The lid is the right size to handle application well as I hate lids that are too big or small making the task that already requires a certain level of accuracy and patience, fiddly. So for me this so far ticks all the boxes. The colour –Tuxedo Black– is wonderfully thick and jet in shade that I found impossible not to apply a layer of one of Barry M’s glitter polishes over the top of to add that bit of festive glitz, perfect you’ll agree for this time of year. I think to be honest I would be unlikely to ever wear it on its own so a bit of sparkle makes all the difference.

Product application is quick and easy and the brush allows for thick strokes so for the most part just one layer is needed. However, my care and attention did slip slightly so some nails did require two layers and application wasn’t always neat around the edges… but hey, we’re not all perfect!

As for durability, I think it lasts really well without chipping. Because it is jet black though nail growth is noticed more easily against other polish colours but I should think this can only be expected. Although black is actually a very easy colour to wear, I think on nails you don’t actually want the colour to be on all week, it’s more of a fun weekend look but this is of course my opinion alone.

Overall, Bobbi Brown’s Tuxedo Black is a quality polish and not too expensive (even at full price) and I would definitely be keen to purchase more from the brand in the future.

Until tomorrow x

Hey Sweeties,

In this Blogmas process, I would so far have to say that the weekends are when I struggle/almost forget that I need to post something as I am out and about and blogging to be honest, is the last thing on my mind.

So today was my last game of hockey for 2014 and although I would say it was one of the better matches for me in that I enjoyed it from the off, it was also the worst as we lost when we shouldn’t of done and (*hangs head*) I missed three goal opportunities. Two were just unlucky, the third really was no excuse for. But like I said last week, sometimes you just don’t get the opportunity or you simply have crap days. Today was a crap day.

Moving on.

Once I got home, because the day was so gorgeous outside (crisp and clear -the perfect winter day) I knew I couldn’t stay indoors so after a quick bit of food and a cup of coffee, I decided I would venture out to Hobby Craft in Staines and see what else is out in that part of the world as I’ve not been there before. Although the name let’s it down, Staines is actually quite a nice place and I’ll be definitely going back for a better look once Christmas mania has passed.

I am not sure if I have really explained Christmas to you guys before but I’ll give you the low down. Basically, for the last few years my family have pretty much stopped doing presents; we’ve relaxed a bit recently as we’ll slip each other the odd small thing but really, we stand by a no gifts policy. To begin with it was a little bit to do with finances, now it’s simply because we just don’t see the point of buying for the sake of buying. I can imagine this sounds unbelievably scrooge like but bear with me. Basically my brothers and I are now at an age where we really don’t need anything and if we do, we’ll buy it ourselves or ask it for our birthday. Also, as a family, we love buying things spontaneously for each other so Christmas in this sense doesn’t fulfil this as you are essentially, forcing yourself to find something to give. When this rule first got implemented, I hated it as I am someone that absolutely loves buying for others; I also hated it while I was at Uni as that’s when I could’ve got things I really needed like textbooks etc. Now, I feel just the same as the rest of my family, I walk round town and I just question all the consumerism.

Yes I could easily make a Christmas list and Ian and I still buy things for each other but -and I know how ridiculously cheesy this sounds- for me the best thing I could be given is time. I live away from my family and rarely see them and all four of my best friends live away from me so again, I don’t see them as much as I would like to so yes gifts would be lovely but a day with each of them would be more valuable and precious to me. So, this Christmas my family will be getting vouchers that equal in a day out with each other i.e. a girly day with my Mum, a Daddy-daughter day (with my Dad)… For my friends, I am giving them a little handmade decoration; something personal & something they know I’ll have spent time creating and these will be given in person as I am fortunate enough to be seeing them each over Christmas & early January. This is why I had to venture to Hobby Craft…

While in Staines I bought a few other Christmassy bits for the house as we’re hosting Christmas this year and also a gift for my Secret Santa at work which I know they will just love!

What have you guys been up to?

Until tomorrow x

Getting a tattoo can be a really fun and exciting experience, but there are a few things everyone should consider before getting inked.

I have four tattoos (so far), all of them done for different reasons and inked by different tattoo artists.

My first tattoo is on my lower back which I got when I was 18 or 19. Growing up my mum didn’t have a problem with piercings (and I had quite a few of them too) but she always said that she would be really disappointed in me if I got a tattoo.

To be honest, I never thought I would get a tattoo, for years they just never appealed but then I started to think one on my back would look nice, so I started drawing some designs and at the time I knew a good tattooist, then I just went for it.

My second tattoo is a lily with a butterfly. Originally I just got the outline of the lily done, before later getting it coloured in and a butterfly added.

I won’t lie, I wanted this tattoo because there was a small group of us that loved tattoos, and I also fancied one on my wrist. My Mum was a little bit annoyed at this addition but I had moved out of home at this point and was leading my own life.

My third tattoo is on my left rib-cage. This tattoo was a kind of rebellion following a break-up with a long-term boyfriend. I needed a word, a word that I needed to have ingrained on me to remember how to be and that I was worth being with for how I was/am. That word was ‘believe‘.

We are in a generation where nearly everyone has an inking of some sort but I think we do all need to consider how we’ll look if we choose very visual tattoos. Things like the workplace, potential employers might not favour a heavily tattooed sleeve; it’s annoying, but you do have to consider these things.

Five things to consider before getting a tattoo:

Research and spend time looking for a reputable tattoo artist
Be patient, if you can’t get booked in for a few weeks this is a good sign -it means your tattooist is in demand and obviously worth waiting for
Think about your design, be clear with what you want, it’s with you for life after all
Think also about location of your tattoo. The back of your leg may look great now but will it when you’re older?
I will also discourage inking names… unless it is of children; on the whole they shouldn’t later divorce you and leave you with a permanent reminder of them.

What advice would you share to someone before getting a tattoo?

Until next time x

Hey Sweeties,

Firstly I apologise, the post I had planned for today I ran out of time to write and the post you’ll be reading now is what I had thought I would write tomorrow… But like I said, I ran out of time to write anything before having to be in London all afternoon and evening and so I figured I would just write about my day now while it’s still fresh… Although I am definitely ready for my bed!

So, what have I done today? Well I had a work meeting this afternoon and then straight away afterwards, as it’s the last meeting of its kind before Christmas, we went ice skating at one of the pop up ice rinks in the city before heading to dinner at Giraffe in Spitalfields. As I had organised everything today, I was chief time keeper and one thing my colleagues have now learnt about me is that I become incredibly stressed when timings are needed to be adhered to. I am someone that is punctual at the best of times but of course we all snooze those extra 5 minutes sometimes and all sometimes are a bit tardy at leaving the house on time but when that happens… I get stressed. I hate being late!

Anyway, I won’t bore you with the meeting but all you need to know is that it didn’t start on time which meant we were still talking when we should have been heading across London to Broadgate ice rink (near Liverpool St Station). Fortunately we were only 10-5 minutes late to our session which actually didn’t affect the skating at all. However, I wasn’t that impressed with the rink. It was small & the management behind getting your skates/returning them was incredibly poor, there was just no structure and there was just one or two staff trying to sort skates and shoes for a lot of people. Also, no one checked our ticket (which was for 11 people) so quite frankly I feel we could have easily skated for free. Besides all this, it was quite fun… I just don’t think I would bother with pop up rinks again unless it’s at Somerset House -that I have heard is beautiful!

Because returning skates was timely, we were late for our dinner reservation but at the end of the day I think every restaurant in London needs to just accept that people are late owing to how long it takes to get places. Anyway, we booked Giraffe as its one of those places were I haven’t had a bad meal at and generally caters for everyone. As you can appreciate by this point I just need to get a drink in me and a Mojitos was swiftly ordered! Unfortunately it wasn’t the best Mojitos I had had, it was more Bacardi than it was lime and minty… I then ordered something a colleague had and that was delicious! I can’t remember the name as I merely just pointed at my colleagues when ordering rather than calling it by name. I think it was a mango daiquiri… It was delicious and that’s all you need to know really.

For main I ordered the chilli beef burrito which again was delicious but Luke warm and others had varying problems with their meals, mainly temperature rather than flavour. I know you are probably reading this and thinking the whole night was just a disaster but we did actually all have fun and the staff in Giraffe were incredibly understanding and adjusted our bill to account for the disappointments. We did also leave a good tip so although we might have been seen to be a pain, we were clearly grateful for the service we received.

Dinner!

Righty, my train is about to pull up in Slough so I’ll sign off now. Ian is picking me up so once home I’ll quickly upload this and then go to bed! Tomorrow I am working in the morning and I have the afternoon off so I am heading back into London for a mooch about the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park and then something top secret in the evening which I’ll reveal in time.

Until tomorrow x

Wild West Themed Christmas Party & 1 Year Blogaversary

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Getting a Tattoo: Five things to consider before getting inked

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Christmas Ice Skating & Work Social Fun

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