Friday Favourites: Peels | Eggs | Spring Scents

Oh thank Jimmy Choo its Friday and the Bank Holiday…..I have been super busy still have no honeymoon booked (hoping to finalise this today) very confused and can’t get my head around the prices, my cat it being a fuzzy bugger and is demanding crushed biscuits on top of this food, damn Felix Sensations for creating something with crunchy bits, the Sheba is just not cutting the mustard and for some reason we brought 50 pouches...I say we I mean Adam.

In other news my family is over, we have a family wedding next week, so there is lots of Cava and food going around and figuring out where everyone will stay next week.

So some things I have been loving over the past few weeks are:

Glycolic Peels

With my mission to try every facial in London I was excited to try my first Glycolic peel. I did have visions of going red like Samantha from Sex and the City but thought what the hell I will just have to take a few days hibernating at home!

The ‘Get the Glow’ Glycolic Peel by Dr Krystyna was held at the pastel wonderland that is Blush and Blow London in Parsons Green. I instantly fell in love with Dr Krytyna you know you are in safe hands and totally forgot about going red and blotchy (and she promised that doesn't happen these days).

I have been having a lot of LED facials recently and microdermabrasion but glycolic peels go that level deeper into your skin to exfoliate those dead skin cells to repair and replenish to get my ready for walking down that aisle.

The peel that I had was by Figorla using glycolic acid (stronger that the same acid thats in our high street brought products like Nip + Fab or Clearisil) the peel is quick, only 30 minutes so you can nip in during lunch if you would like you get a cleanse and the the peel is left on for 3 minutes then luscious serums are applied.

There was no pain or side effects and definitely no redness, you feel a little tingly and your skin feels like a babies bum straight after and after a few days your skin looks and feels incredible I can safely say I have got my glow back.

The 'Get the Glow Glycolic Peel' is £90 

Easter Time

Easter is only a few days away and I am super excited about all the Chocolate I am going to consume with my bestie in Jersey. Eggs don't just come in Chocolate form though I would be pretty happy if I got the L'Occitane Easter Egg with a little beauty treat hidden inside. This Cherry Blossom Egg has hidden away miniatures of Cherry Blossom Shower Gel, Cherry Blossom Hand Cream and Cherry Blossom Soap all for £15, you can also get an Almond Beauty Easter Egg as well.

But you never can go wrong with Chocolate and if you are around Clapham Junction pop into the new HEMA store at the station as they have the best Easter chocolate at super low prices, look how cute the pink bunny rabbit is. 

Getting My Tan On

Winter is hopefully over, if I keep thinking positive thoughts I am sure the sun will come out and stay at some point soon. Anyway whilst its not I have the new Bondi Sands One Hour Express which is making be golden.

I have used it as I prepare to jet off to Jersey. It takes one hour, you need to rise it off after, if your not looking for sun kissed leave it on for another hour or two. The two best points about this tan is its 1. foam and 2. smells of coconuts, no fake tan smell over here just a sun kissed Australian looking tan! A bottle from Bondi Sands, £18.99.

SPRING SCENTS

To help me get in the food for Spring I am looking to new scents and the one that I am using at the moment is: So Real, Cheap & Chic Moschino

In the fun iconic bottle of Olive Oil and Spring notes of bitter orange, raspberry and blackberry sorbet with floral notes of pink peony and jasmine coming through. 

Prices starting from £29.50 which will be launching exclusively with The Perfume Shop on 22nd April 2018.

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Jerusalem - bringing back the power of support for Team England!

npower, proud sponsors of Team England at the Commonwealth Games 2018 invited me down to Abbey Road Studios (I of course I took an obligatory selfie on the Zebra crossing) to attend the recording of their revamp of the official anthem of the Commonwealth Games 2018 – Jerusalem. npower and Syco records partnered with Tokio Myers and Jazmin Sawyers to revamp the iconic England anthem ‘Jerusalem’.

Jerusalem was chosen by the UK in 2010 as the track for CGE after it won first place against ‘God Save The Queen’ and ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ in a UK based poll.

I will break it down a little bit just in case you’re not aware of the Commonwealth Games, Tokio or Jazmin:

Commonwealth Games : Is a multi-sport event which happens every four years and has athletes completing from 70 commonwealth nations. The last Commonwealth Games was actually held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2014 and this year it will be held from 4^th -15^th April on the Gold Coast of Australia with more than 6,600 athletes. This year will be the largest games in history with 18 sports and seven para-sports.

The newbies to watch are beach volleyball, Para Triathlon and Women’s Rugby Sevens.

Tokio Myers: Won Britain’s Got Talent in 2017 for his epic pianist skills, if you fancy a watch you can watch on YouTube here.

Jazmin Sawyers: An athlete who has competed in the long jump, bobsled and heptathlon and won the silver medal for her 21ft 4.5in leap in the long jump at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.  Jazmin will be competing in the long jump this year to hopefully take home another medal. You may also recognise Jazmin from the sixth series of The Voice UK - that is why you can find her behind the mic on this track.

From talking to a few of the Commonwealth athletes who attended the recording at Abbey Road Studios, many confessed to not knowing the lyrics to Jerusalem or even knowing that it was the official Team England Commonwealth anthem!  They did however say that they felt that the song has more relevance to sport and that it evokes more emotion that will definitely help fans get behind Team England.

Although Jerusalem is a perfect choice for the Commonwealth, it has yet to ignite the same passion as other sporting anthems. According to a recent poll by npower “Over 80% of fans surveyed are oblivious to the fact that Jerusalem is played when Team England win gold at the Commonwealth Games. Despite its grounding in British history many people are still confused when it comes to knowing Jerusalem’s origins, lyrics and even its tune.” .

By teaming up with Tokio Myers and his unique music style, npower has transformed the hymn into a modern, monumental piece of music that will hopefully resonate with modern audiences. You can really feel the raw uplifting emotion of the song, and with a 54 piece orchestra and a 10 person choir the song is truly brought to life! Jazmin’s voice also reinforces the ‘Power of Support’ message, trust me you will be blown away – have a listen below.

 This year we will see the largest ever group of English athletes compete and its important England get behind them all as a country to show their support for Team England and the revitalised anthem definitely will help

Down at Abbey Road Studios I got to watch the entire process from the track being produced to the live recording in the studio alongside Team England athletes and the families and friends who inspire them. The athletes included; Jack Laugher, Max Whitlock, Ellie Robinson and Lois Toulson who all attended the recording with their families – their ultimate support network during the games.

From talking to the athletes its was inspirational to hear how they wanted the nation to get behind them to really get excited about sport they were all excited to compete with athletes they have idolized over the years. One thing that was really important to them was to feel the power of support with their family and UK fans behind them has made they who they are today and they wouldn’t be completing without that. I know I can’t wait to watch them on the TV.

The Official Anthem of the Commonwealth Games England 2018 will be available to purchase today on itunes and Spotify and The Commonwealth Games will be televised live on the BBC April 5th.

This post is sponsored by npower

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My Wedding Update - 7 months to go

Right it is time for me to really start getting down n' dirty and actually plan my wedding as I am drowning in wedding magazines but am yet to do very much. There is a lot of ummm'ing and ahhh'ing over the thousands of different suppliers and to top it off my Sister just got engaged so that is another wedding to plan. So basically I really need to step up my planning game. In my day-to-day job I actually plan events everyday so you would of thought this would have been really easy but sadly it's not....

Anyway I thought I would share with you what I have actually done and what you might want to book before you get to your 7 month milestone:

1. Get Engaged...although I did actually buy my wedding shoes before I got engaged, as they are Jimmy Choo and I found them in a sample sale for £75. I had to right?!

2. Engagement Party: This is actually a great way to start planning your guest list, I was already quite busy with wedding planning and as my family are out of the country I didn't want anything big or fancy just a nice afternoon with a few friends at a local pub which was right by the river and with the sun out it was beautiful.

I was a bit confused on what to order at the party, like do you put money behind the bar? but I also have an expensive wedding to pay for. We ended up buying a bucket of beer and a magnum of Champagne, which helped everyone get pretty merry and cheers to our engagement. 

For decor as it was outside I did not need to do too much as it was in a beautiful location with views of Hampton Court Palace and the river.

I did need to include one of my favourite brands: Bubblegum Balloons - who just produce the most beautiful balloon designs for events and weddings and they also have an online shop with some stunning items for a parties which I used for mine and have also used for a baby shower before as well - look how pretty they are:

Pack of baby pink confetti balloons
Personalised Engagement Confetti Balloon

Venue: The next action was to actually find a venue and you really wont have many options if you are booking 12 months in advance everywhere was already getting booked up for 2019 so I did not have that many dates to choose from for 2017 so we had to make a decision FAST. We ended up finding a cute barn in Surrey...I will reveal all the details after my wedding day but I fell in love with the venue due to the fact that is was full of flowers, character, had a separate barn for the ceremony and it was small like Adam and I.

Save The Date Cards: I wanted to get these done quite quickly as we do have a few friends and family all over the world from Houston, LA, Australia and Dubai. I did not want to be restricted to having the design similar to my formal invites or stationary on the day so I thought I would create my own personal design via Canva (if you have not used Canva before it is a brilliant FREE tool and you can make some beautiful designs for invites) I used the photo Adam and I took to announce our engagement then used InstantPrint to print them on high quality card in postcard size they also have a beautiful wedding range and even a FREE downloadable wedding organiser – which includes a 12 month checklist!

Wedding Fairs: Before you can start booking items for your wedding to need some inspiration and wedding magazines can only take you so far but Wedding Fairs happen all year round and I am sure there is one just around the corner.

- Wedfest, Sussex Wedding Festival : A festival themed wedding fair based at Tulleys Farm in Sussex with over 50 exhibitors with tipi's, photographers and even wedding dresses Pimms and nibbles. This one was very close to our venue so thought it would be good to check out the local suppliers.

- The National Wedding Show: This is one of the largest wedding fair's in the UK and they are all over the place. I came away with like 5 bags of brochures from Honeymoon destinations to stationary.

- Brides the show: Brides The Show is a little smaller than The National Wedding Show but it seems to have a more high caliber of stalls but they all do seem to have a higher price point. The stylish decor of all the stalls does draw you in and some beautiful designer stalls.

  

Some other bits I have finalised are:

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REVIEW: HelloFresh Rapid Box

HelloFresh, I have seen the lime green, lime pretty much everywhere are I kind of relate it to someone giving me a discount as I always see HelloFresh at Waterloo and on the odd occasion a discount code will fall out of a parcel filled with clothes I have purchased.

When thinking about New Year resolutions two were high on my agenda:

1.     Get healthy / Lose a few pounds stone for my wedding

2.     Sort out my partners finances (he is poo at managing money) / Stop spending so much money on food.

Even before I got home HelloFresh was at the back of my mind and then they emailed me asking if I would like to take part in a trial….my prayers had been answered…yes please.

After trawling through the website and looking at some previous recipes I was starting to get excited and spoke to some colleagues about it all who knew someone who was using HelloFresh and one colleague was about to embark on the same journey as she heard that it could cut down your shopping bill.

My main issue with food is that I live such a busy lifestyle I don’t have the time to think or create an amazing healthy meal every evening, so what do I do, I just grab a pizza. HelloFresh must of read my mind as they are actually championing their new launch the Rapid Box – meals in 20 minutes, I can vouch that they really do only take 20 minutes, from getting the ingredients out until it reaches your dinner table.

Monday was my set delivery day and at the moment you can only get three meals which is actually perfect, at the end of the three week trial Adam said maybe we should go for 5 days I pointed out that every Monday we still had our last meal to eat so three a week was more than enough for us.

Monday was an exciting day I am out most of the day so when I got an email with a photo of my HelloFresh box on my porch I was excited to get home…don’t I live an exciting life.

Anyway opening the box was exciting, who doesn’t like parcels being delivered with ingredients measured out exactly. For the three recipes you get an individual bag with all the dry ingredients which I just pop above my fridge until I need it and you get a weird furry bag filled with icepacks with all the items for your fridge.

I figured out in the third week you could actually pick your recipes if you choose before Wednesday. So over the three weeks the recipes I had were:

RECIPES:

- Beef Feijoada

- Seared Turkey Steak with Cream Lentils and Sweet potato

- Chicken Chow Mein

- Superquick Mexican Chilli

- Chicken Laksa

- Lemon and Rosemary Turkey with Creamy Pasta and Broccoli

- Chermoula Grilled Chicken with Chickpeas and Couscous

- Spaghetti Puttanesca with Avocado and Rocket Salad

- Sticky Sesame Chicken

I think one of the issues I come up against with my meals during the week is variety I don’t really have time to think about what I am going to cook and when I do want to cook a new recipe it costs me a fortune on new ingredients. On the website you can also save your favourite recipes, I think out of the above I didn’t not like any of them and the variety was great my favourites were the Sticky Sesame Chicken, Spaghetti Puttanesca and the Seared Turkey Steak with creamy lentils and sweet potato – I didn’t even think I liked lentils.

Ingredients

Moving on to the actual ingredients they were really fresh and lasted the entire week which is another issue with buying a weeks’ worth of ingredients, half way through the week I have to throw half the vegtables in the bin – money just down the drain. Everything was so easy if the meal required the chicken or turkey to be cut up, this job had already been done, if you needed honey or peanut butter you got a little sachet no mess and the packet was finished with. I think these are some of the things that ensure that you prep and cooking time is kept to 20 minutes from opening the box to getting to the table.

OUTCOMES

So after my three week trial on #TheRapidChallege how did I think it went?! Well see the results for yourself:

WEIGHT

Even though there is spaghetti and white rice the recipes are all really healthy and with my target weight reduction of 3lbs per month to hit my target wedding weight I managed to lost 4 lbs in three weeks, now I am sure that is not just down to HelloFresh I think I ran two times as well HA but the fact I wasn’t popping into Tesco’s on a daily basis and I was having the leftovers for my lunch meant I was not tempted to pick up the odd red bull or the essential dairy milk bar. Also there was not a huge amount of leftovers so it meant I had a small lunch not a huge mac and cheese microwave meal from Waitrose.

SAVINGS

Well in comparison to November (December doesn’t count as I was out of the country and my parents brought all the groceries) November spend was £206 this month was £106 so paying for HelloFresh would have been £102 so that is a £4 saving but does that really matter the point is I have not spent any additional money on food…no loss and tasty meals!!

TIME

My time is so previous that is why I would always revert to a pizza. I think I have saved around 30 minutes a day during the week in total – which is actually a lot of time and energy.

SLEEP
Now I am not sure if this has anything to do with HelloFresh but i have noticed I have been sleepy like a BABY.

I see this as a lifestyle change and I hope to keep my evenings free and hopefully lose a few more pounds. S

HelloFreshRapidbox is from £4.92 per serving, with produce selected from only the finest suppliers and delivered straight to your door.

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