Saturday Favourites: 30th January

Ooops this is super late as it should of gone out yesterday for my Friday Favourites article but oh well...I was so lazy that my new diet went out the window and I not only ordered a pizza but garlic bread and chicken strips as well which equates to about 10000000 calories. 

Anyway this weeks favourites has ended up focusing around the things that keep me sane and chilled. I am quite an anxious person and this year it is one of my goals to really give myself some "me time". It is so easy to say but to actually dedicate time is really hard. The most depressing day of the year has been and gone but it's still dark and miserable outside with storms heading this way…the words stressed and depressed come to mind. So here are my favourite things for my 'me time'. Remember take each day as it comes and be happy.

I have really been trying to get back into the swing of things since Christmas but with my to do list like 5 pages long it has been making me feel anxious and a bit stressed. So this week I have been having nice warm baths with some trashy magazines, reality TV on or the monthly issue of the Waitrose magazine, thats right I LOVE it and no I have never actually made any of their recipes. Then slip into your pyjamas and the comfiest slippers you can find for me there really is only one winner and they are these UGG slippers from Cloggs. They are literally the first thing I put on in the morning...even thinking about them makes me relax.

I have been making sure that every day I dedicate at least 30 minutes to keeping my mind busy but not on work and the answer to this is to get an adult colouring book, I literally get lost in my book and they are great presents, my mum has finished one already!

Another outlet for keeping your mind busy but relaxed is to start looking into your next holiday. I am currently researching my trip to Iceland in March and it is making me so excited knowing I will be away from normal life soon and planning exciting things to do, although not sure you will get me diving in freezing cold water!

I have got into a ritual this week, when I get home I light up all the candles in my lounge like this one from AromaWorks, they are actually lit now. The aroma and mood lightening does wonders to my mental health and just makes the whole evening or day so much more relaxing.

Someone that I missed over Christmas and my recent press trips has been my little baby Dylan or Dill Pickle as he is commonly known as and doesn't he look so bloody handsome in this picture. My cat the model. Anyway animals definitely have calming qualities and Dylan always makes me happy even when I feel a bit down. Even if you can't get a large animal get a fish or something I promise it will have a calming effect.

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COMPETITION: Win Tickets to the Wedding Show of the Season

With friends getting engaged left, right and centre especially after Christmas it feels like everybody except for me (been in a relationship for about 10 years, ovi not marriage material!) anyway... I decided that I can at least get in the spirit of things and head down to London Olympia for the largest wedding show in the UK, I can pretend I am getting married and go with a friend that is planning on having a winter wedding this year.

So why don't you join me ? I have THREE pairs of tickets to give away, at either:

20 - 21 February 2016 Manchester Central 

26 - 28 February 2016 London Olympia

4 - 6 March 2016 Birmingham NEC

If your not sure what to expect from The National Wedding Show but here are some little teasers:

• Find the perfect venue
• Try on a fairy tale dress 
• Check out what could be on your wedding menu 
• Watch incredible floral creations 
• Moving away from the wedding there will be honeymoon destinations
• Wedding experts is every field and hundreds of inspiration for your Pinterest board
• Champagne bar to raise a toast to the big day 

Head over to my Twitter account here and all you need to do is follow me and RT my pinned tweet. SIMPLES

I will be there on the Saturday so watch my Instagram feed for inspo if you don't manage to get tickets. 

Terms & Conditions

• Only available on standard advance adult tickets

• Offer valid on any one day

• Offer valid on tickets purchased via telephone or internet

• Offer subject to availability

• Offer only valid on spring 2016 National Wedding Shows at Olympia, the NEC and Manchester Central

• Ocean Media reserves the right to withdraw this offer at any time.

• Transaction fees apply

• Ticket price includes a free show guide

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Ted Baker Bath & Body Collection

Who knew that Ted Baker did beautiful bath & body products?!? My hand is certainly not up and they all look so pretty with that touch of luxury that graces every Ted Baker product.

The Sugar Sweet collection brings two fragrances; Lyla and Polly. Lyla entwines a mix of sweet floral notes and summer fruits with jasmine and vanilla being the key notes. Polly is packed full of fruity notes with key notes coming through of mandarin, red berries and peach. These are really perfect all day fragrances that can easily sit in your handbag and keep your smelling lush.

Alongside this Ted Baker has launched some indulgent bath & body products I have been using the Soft Floral Pink Collection and it definitely brings a touch of luxury to your bathroom. The collection mixes jasmine, neroli, patchouli, sandalwood with a hint of musk at the end and just looks so pretty. Featured here is the bath bubbles for a sumptuous relaxing treat at bath time and hand wash and moisuriser duo.

The collection starts from £4 , available from

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Friday Favourites: 21st January

My love for skiing is well and truly back after a recent press trip to the Hochkonig region, part of Ski Amade in Austria. With a flight only being 1h 10 minutes you really have no excuses. I find skiing one of the best ways to relax, whilst up a mountain all you can think about is the incredible scenery not what is next on my to do list! A full post will follow shortly but thought this definitely deserved a shout out.

I am a recent convert to Nars using their All day Luminous Weightless Foundation so I couldn't resist trying some of the key products from the Steven Klein collaboration and I am in love Lip Gloss in Fast Life and Killer Shine Lipstick in No Shame and Besame Mucho. The collection also has some incredible nail polishes my favourites areBlack Fire and Hard to Get. The collection is available from Sephora.

Before I jetted off to Houston I got my eyebrows dyed and threaded from House of Fraser, Shavata. I have had them dyed once before but I really need to keep going as they look so much fuller and generally on FLEEK. Getting your brows dyed and threaded usually lasts about 3 weeks and costs around £30 but I totally recommend it! 

Proud Sister moment here, my brother, Robbie Kay has designed his own t-shirt ‘Saving the World’ in partnership with the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society. You need to be quick though as the t-shirt is only available for 12 more days.

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5 things to do in Cabo

As you may have been jealous seen I recently headed to Cabo, San Lucas over Christmas and New Year with family Kay. I had heard of Cabo as a holiday destination but never actually been but as my mum tells me it's where all the A-list celebs reside including George Clooney and Sandra Bullock and if its good enough for them, its good enough for me. Cabo, San Lucas is right at the tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. Its well-known for good night life, amazing beaches, stunning scenery and affordable water activities including whale watching.

As this is my first post on Cabo I wanted to do a round up of everything we saw and got up to over the week, if you wanted to visit. My mum was already looking at prices for Jan 2017 before we left so Cabo definitely made a good impression on us and I had text my other half who didn’t come with us about potentially going in the Summer, although he was shocked at the price (there are cheaper options out there though, LOTS.)

The first thing to do in Cabo is to book an all-inclusive resort, you cannot go wrong….as long as you don’t drink the water, bottled all the way people! We stayed at Monticristo Estates part of Pueblo Bonito Resorts. We went for Monticristo Estates as they offered private luxury villas as we wanted some privacy for my little superstar brother AKA Robbie Kay (give him a Google if you have not seen him on Heroes Reborn or Once a Upon A Time yet). The resort was the epitome of luxury, I have never stayed anywhere like it, it was truly beautiful we even had our own infinity pool and hot tub...pure luxury. The landscape was incredible like most places in Cabo. From the villa we could see the ocean so clearly, we could even sport whales from time to time and the sunsets were just spectacular. 

To get around or down to the main resort all you had to do was call for a golf cart, sometimes this did take a rather long time but it was a nice walk down. The main resort hosted a multitude of pools, restaurants and bars, my favourite by far was Sunsets & Sushi anything with tuna was incredible and spicy and the Lemon Daiquiri was my drink of choice or a Margarita on the rocks. This was truly luxury living.

One of the main draws to Mexico is the whale watching and from December – April the sea in full as the Baja Peninsula separates the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean, creating a little whale highway. I have been whale watching before in New Zealand so I actually was not that bothered but the family wanted to go so I wasn’t going to say no. Big boats are not the case in Cabo, they send out dingy's to see the whales…maybe not digny's but tiny boats that can fit a max of six people, they were literally siting right next to the whale. Not sure what would happen if one surfaced under the boat mind. Anyway we were in a slightly bigger boat and the whales were just incredible, I think we saw over 10 and one, I kid you not jumped out of the water. It was a true OMG moment that none of us captured on camera! So if you only get to do one thing whilst in Cabo I can not recommend whale watching enough and if you don’t have small children go in a tiny boat but make sure you are wearing a life jacket.

The list is pretty endless for what water sports you can do from diving to Flyboarding (if you don’t know what this is you basically wear a jet pack powered by water, kind of looks cool in a video but not so much when people do it). We decided to partake in three different activities paddle boarding and jet skiing, two things I have never tried before and then a boat tour around the Baja Peninsula ending up at Lovers Beach for some snorkeling.

If you fancy a walk around, I recommend popping to the marina. There you will find the majority of the whale and fishing trips along with a trip on a pirate style boat...as well as many yachts worth millions. There is a wide array of restaurants and shops dotted about with tourist tat, if your looking for something a bit more formal there is a shopping centre. As you wonder through the marina make sure you have your camera at the ready as pelicans and sea lions roam.

Winter it is the perfect time to head to Cabo as it’s not so hot that you can’t even step on the sand but you can still get a fab tan. Another plus is it's a great excuse to get your summer wardrobe out from having been hidden for six months. Some of my Summer essentials were:

Fedora Hat

Moccasins

Plunge Swimsuit

Large beach bag

Summer dress

Jumpsuit (for the cooler evenings)

 

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