Adventures in NYC take two.

I know this post is long overdue, but I just had to share it! It is a long one, so I won't be upset if you don't want to read the commentary of our latest trip but this one is more there for me and the fam to reminisce.

Mum & I loved New York so much last time we came that she decided to come again for her birthday. Obviously, we didn't leave daddy at home and Aunty G joined us too. Funnily enough, we're already planning another instalment next year!

For once the long haul was vaguely ok. The movies were good and I was sat next to a lovely couple of newlyweds. Despite mum's argument with another inconsiderate flyer, it was possibly the best flight in a while!

I thought this time we would get an apartment, rather than paying through the roof for a hotel. We stayed in an authentic little apartment in the East Village. It was a tad more stressful than turning up to a hotel with concierge and bell boy but we made it in the end. Apparently, I forgot to add the dialling code when trying to call the landlord. I was convinced we had been scammed and were stuck on the side of the street! Trust me to stress myself out for no reason!

Oh well, the multiple tequilas that followed definitely mellowed me out.

To round off our first day, we stopped in at Mum's favourite restaurant, Kat'z Deli. I'm not going to lie, it's a tourist trap and it's over priced but it's our guilty pleasure!

We decided to get our inner tourist out on our second day. We hit up midtown. We walked all the way up from 14th to the Empire state with a quick stop at our favourite Belgian bar. During our travels, the strap my beloved Rebecca Minkoff Moto bag snapped and there was no way I was paying out for an emergency bag I didn't really want. I ended up wrapping the strap around the flap and making it work.

 You would think that the second time up the Empire state building would be quite unimpressive. If anything, it is better the second time around! It's captivating.

Now, we couldn't get that close to Macy's and not go! Plus, I was in desperate need of a new handbag. After a quick drink in the refurbished cafe and on a handbag hunt I went. There were two new bag options, one was way out of my budget and the other a little too small for my liking. In the end,  the bank of daddy swooped in and saved me by buying half of it as my birthday present! It is literally my favourite bag of all time.

We ended our day in Times Square and Bubba Gump's. If you're going to brave Times Square, I would always suggest doing it at night, it's just too busy and not that impressive during daylight.

God Friday was hell. I had planned a lovely morning on the upper west side and a casual lunchtime stroll through central park. It turned out I had planned a trip to the seventh level of hell.

Breakfast started well at Cafe 82, by far the best breakfast diner in Manhattan... And they do take out! We decided to take a casual stroll towards Central Park, stopping off in a cute little chocolate shop. It took me the whole walk to the edge of Central Park to realise I had left my new handbag on the back of a chair. Bitch has never run so fast! Bear in mind, it was liked 30000000 degrees at this point. Mum and I spent the rest of the walk through Central Park trying not to die! The only good thing to happen since breakfast was receiving the best text ever telling my bestie S had just got engaged ♥

I cried, in the middle of Central Park, I cried.

To round it all off we ended up on the subway at rush hour. I'm not even going to explain how painful that was.

We  ended the night at 5 Napkin, if you followed my last trip to NYC you will know it's my favourite American chain. Me and Aunty G got a little tipsy and went shopping. We ended up losing track of time and left mum and day chilling outside a pizza place because I had the keys! Oooppss.

We thought we would do out own things today. Dad disappeared, probably to the pub and the girls hit 5th Avenue. We started in Bloomingdale's, Aunty G got a make over and mum and I ate the largest chocolate cake ever. Not forgetting the best cocktail ever to grace this planet!

We spent the majority of the day waltzing down 5th, nipping in all the places I wish I could shop! We chose a bit of a poop day for this area, St Patrick's was shut for the 9/11 memorial and it was really quite sad. There was also a workers union parade going up 5th, it was a sea of people and police. We ended up hiding in the Rockefeller Centre, left mum in a cafe and me and G went up to the 'top of the rock'.

If you think you need to choose between the Empire state building and the Top of the Rock, you don't. They both have such different aerial views of the city and both well worth the ticket prices.

We all met back at Schulberg's, our local. Dad had managed to make friends with a couple of Arsenal supporters while he waited for us. Then we headed off to this Greek restaurant we had been talking about. It was amazing. They had real Raki and the food was beautiful, I supposed it helped that I was white girl wasted by this point.

Today was the anniversary of 9/11. I can't imagine many people would want to be in the city today. We chose to use this time to hit up Woodbury common in upstate NY, the discount shopping mecca. Let's just say, we all went a little crazy! on the plus side, I replaced my Rebecca Minkoff with a mini version and tried on my first pair of Loubs (definitely not walking shoes!)

The hour(ish) coach out there is totally worth it, albeit, a little cramped on the return journey. The night time views coming back into the city were almost as good as the Empire and Rockefeller! On our next trip, I am definitely doing either one at night!

We caught an Uber and went to Bill's Burgers downtown. Never introduce your parents to Uber in NY, just don't do it. They became a daily occurrence after that.

Monday was a big day for us, we went all over the county. Started out in battery park to catch the Staten island ferry, which is free by the way! A few pictures of the Statue of Liberty later and we arrived in New York's beloved suburb. I don't want to ruin anyone's Florida childhood but Perkins has gone right down hill. Possibly the only bad meal of the week. One long ass Uber with and Elvis lookalike driving we arrived in Coney Island. The Blackpool of NY. It is my new favourite place! Aunty G managed to get me on the weirdest Ferris wheel ever! I'm just happy my corndog stayed down! We kept up the family tradition and found a miniature golf course, dad won, obviously.

After a lovely afternoon at the beach, we made our way back to the city. An hour later and we make a pit stop in Brooklyn, found a high-rise prison and mum went mental in a Michaels. Seriously, we were in there for a lifetime!

We had no plans for food so trip advisor helped out. Forlini's, an old school Italian restaurant on the border of Little Italy and China Town. It has mixed reviews, but by god it was amazing. It was like being in a 1920's mafia joint. The owner, Joe came round and welcomed everyone, we had chosen quite a quiet time so it was just us and a few other tables. The only complaint I have is their 'apple martini' it tasted like a glass of shaken apple sourz.

We didn't really do too much on our last full day. I hit up all the shops to rinse the remainder of my money. Didn't actually buy anything, I know, I'm shocked too.

If you made it all the way through my NYC memoirs, congratulations!

Until next time.

R x

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

USA vs UK.

I know a lot of my post recently have all been about my trip to America but I thought i'd post about some of the differences between us and our american counterparts. Here's a short list of differences I noticed during my recent trips.

Photos taken from: The Guardian.co.uk, farm4.staticflickr.com, Imgarcade.com & Salon.com

Privacy.

In the UK most toilets cubicles are basically a room on it’s own or enclosed enough that no one can see you. However, in the USA pretty much all cubicles have a two-foot gap at the bottom and top and inch hinges. Because, yeah, we want everyone to see us wee.

Sales assistants.

I’m not saying that all sales assistants in the UK are grumpy, it’s just the difference is so noticeable compared to sales assistants in the US. They welcome you on arrival, will do pretty much anything to help and 98% of them try and find a way to compliment you. (Doesn’t necessarily transfer the cashiers they all seem to hate their lives not matter what country you’re in.

Food.

Everything is bigger in the US, I don’t think they’ve heard of portion control. I bet they have the shock of their lives when they go to Europe.

Beggars.

The majority of beggars in America, well in New York, weren’t just asking for money. They were politely asking or complimenting people before asking help, not the ‘spare any change love?’ we’re used to in the UK. Some were even preaching their life’s story on subway cars, explaining how they got to be in their situations. Some of them were quite heart wrenching.

Tips.

Tips to me are a recognition of good work, in the UK tips are only really given if your server has done a really good job. In the US tips are customary, they even put suggested tips on the receipt! America is definitely the place to work in the service industry.

The Big one… Prices.

When you initially go state side every thing seems more expensive, only because you’re comparing dollars directly to pounds. If you use a currency converter you soon realise that even though the prices look higher they do tend to act

Lincoln Christmas market 2016.

I have a shopping problem and I love Christmas. This was never going to end well.

I know I'm a little late to the game but I have this great habit of spending ages writing these and forgetting to post them :(

So today was the first day of lincoln Christmas market. It's finally acceptable to drink mulled wine at every chance and I was reunited with P. I had the best day! 

We made the right decision and went early, we got there maybe an hour after it opened and even though it was busy it was not night time busy. It picked up when the sun started to set but by then we half way round for the second time. 

There were so many beautiful stalls but a few that I really want to talk about... all the ones that beat me. There are a few I can't talk about as I bought a couple of Christmas presents! 

Let's start with Tickley Spider I think it's safe to say this was mine and P's favourite stall. They make bespoke tweed bags, that are just beautiful. They have chosen a few staple bag shapes and let the fabric speak for its self. I'm obsessed with their 50's bag, the only reason I didn't buy one is that he didn't have any in my kind of tweed - I like mine a bit more on the tartan side. I bought a wash bag and P got the 'marmite' bag. 

After hitting up the Oslinc for an ostrich burger and trying to resist the giant doughnuts, we found the Celtic Spirit Co. We both indulged in their free samples and if I wasn't trying to watch my alcohol intake I would have bought the stall! Their hazelnut baileys is beautiful and their sloe gin had the burn I love. 

A welcome addition this year was a couple of Turkish stands selling decorated pottery and lamps. They reminded me of the markets in Crete. 

On our first time round, the Russian doll stall drew me in, I don't know what it is about them! I ended up caving on round two and bought a Christmas tree and P got one too! We were a bad as each other today! 

Near the end of the market in the marquees that no one can ever be bothered with, I found a gem, especially if you like pottery. I bought a small, heart-shaped dish. All the other ones were fully glazed but this one just called to me. 

I had such a lovely day wandering around but my back is paying for it now! We will be back on Sunday for the annual end of market day sesh.

Until next time.

 R x

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Would you rather beauty tag with J.

Hey Guys!

We have a little tag for you today :) Enjoy!

1.Would you rather go out with messy hair and nice make-up or Nice hair and no make-up?

R: Messy hair and nice make up! You can always rock a grunge look.

J: Messy hair and nice make up... Sorry.

2.Would you rather shave your eyebrows or have your eyelashes fall out?

R: Shave my eyebrows, I draw them on everyday anyway.

J: Eyelashes fall out, there's no way I'm drawing my eyebrows on... I can't trust myself.

3.Would you rather be forced to shop at only MAC or Sephora for the rest of your life?

R: Sephora all the way! I don't really care for MAC much anymore.

J: The not MAC, I needs that variety.

4.Would you rather wear lipgloss/lipliner look or 80's perm?

R: I reckon I could rock an 80s perm! ;)

J: 80's PERM!!

5.Would you rather leave the house with an obvious foundation line or overdone blush?

R: Overdone blush... Blush wears off so quickly on me it would be acceptable in under an hour.

J: Ahhh I don't know... Foundation line... This face does not look good pink.

6.Would you rather wear MC Hammer pants or biker shorts in public?

R: Mc hammer pants, every time!

J: Biker shorts, because they tight.

7.Would you rather have a bad orange-y spray tan or really weird tan lines that can't be covered?

R: This is the toughest question! Both are horrible options... I'm going to have to go with the Orange tan, at least i won't be the only one walking around like that.

J: Really don't want to be orange but I don't want to look like I failed.

8.Would you rather have a bad haircut or bad hair color?

R: A bad cut, at least with that you can style it to hide the whack job.

J: Colour. If you have bad cut you can't hide it at least you can change colours.

R: Ohhhhh that makes so much more sense... looks like I'm stuck with a wig.

9.Would you rather have youtube or twitter taken away forever?

R: Twitter. I don't understand it anyway.

J: Twitter! youtube has cat videos!!

10. Would you rather give up using makeup brushes or mascara? 

R: Neither. Haha If I really had to I think make up brushes... I'd just use cream products and my fingers. There's no way in hell that I could give up mascara, although I could just use falsies! Aghhh I don't know?!

J: Make up brushes... fuck it.

This was so much fun to write! We may do more tags with J ;)

Until next time.

 R & J x

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I don't know who created this, but here is an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cr1z3_CILs

The best martini in Manhattan

I feel like this post needs a little explanation... I wrote this back in September whilst living the dream in my soul city but I can't let the martini's of New York to go to waste! I was on a mission to find the best martini ever! Spoiler, I didn't really find it. So far my favourite is still a good old dirty martini from The Rouge Saint in Lincoln.

#1 The Belgian beer cafe on the corner of 5th & 26th. Dirty gin martini. $8 

A very drinkable martini doesn't give the normal burn! One for those who want to look awesome, don't particularly enjoy the burn of a good martini and drink more than a couple at a time . Overall, a very good martini and very cheap.

Dirty gin martini, A-

You'd be surprised how hard it is to find a martini. We went to 5 Napkin for tea and I had to settle for gin based cocktails. The first one was made for me, called smokin' Rosie. The second was a French 55. Both were lovely but the smokin' Rosie needed food.

Smokin' Rosie. C+

French 55. B+

We took a quick pit stop in the David Burke cafe in Bloomingdales. I had a cool as a cucumber, at $18 it's not the cheapest in the city but it was the most beautiful tasting drink I've ever had! The mix is simple, gin, agave cucumber and lemon. I even asked for the measurements, 2oz Hendricks gin, 1oz of both agave and lemon or lime, muddled cucumbers with a splash of cucumber juice.

Cool as a cucumber. A+ 

Next, we moved on to schulbergs on 2nd & 12th I had multiple negronis here. The first time we went I got them 241 at happy hour but we went back a couple of days later and paid $12 each. They were very drinkable and very alcoholic.

Schulberg's negroni factor A- 

Sam place different cocktail. I realise I was searching for the best gin martini and I had only had 1! So we got another in schulbergs. This time at $14 it was a little on the pricey side. It was drinkable at first but the more and more you got into it, the burn became apparent. If anything this is my favourite martini experience.

Schulberg's Martini A

I hope y'all enjoyed this one! If your heading to the big apple anytime soon, you need to try the cool as a cucumber cocktail in Bloomingdales!!! 

Until next time.

R x

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Lazy Girl Nails: Take Two.

So if you caught my last post in my series for lazy girls, you will know that the Nails Inc. Paint cans are pretty much a waste of money.

This time I bit the bullet and bought Sensationail. I have so many nail polishes I thought best to get the Polish to gel starter kit, so I can use up my current polishes before splurging on the gel ones.

In the box.

For £49.99 you get:
Led lamp
Gel Primer
Gel transformer
Cleanser
Lint wipes
nail files
Mixing tray - for some reason mine wasn't in the box :(
Shitty cuticle push

How to apply.

So there are two ways to apply using your own polish. You can either paint your nails as normal, wait for it to dry and then apply the gel or you can mix the gel and polish together. I went with the first option and painted my nails first. One nail messed up and I ended up peeling it off, so I did one nail the mixing way.

First Impressions.

Lets start with the painting method first, as this is the way I did the majority of my nails. It was just as tedious as painting my nails normally. Boo. I suppose it would have been easier if I had used a fast drying polish! Once they were dry, I followed the surprisingly easy to follow instructions and cured the nails, ending by cleaning of the sticky layer. The first thing that shocked me was that they were completely dry! I don't know why but I was just so shocked. If you're anything like me and have shaky hands, the only down side to this method is the amount of polish on all over the skin.

So on to the mixing method. This actually worked much better and my one nail was done within 2 minutes, from start to finish. So they recommend for a full set to mix 6 drops of the gel transformer and 6 drops of your nail polish together. As I was only doing one nail I mixed three, it was probably enough for two nails. I would bet my 98% of my life that 6 drops would not do both hands! Even though this method was wayyyyyyy easier and quicker, I used so much more gel.

Overall, I'm a happy bunny. It only took me about an hour in total and that was mostly spend waiting for my polish to dry. It's easy as pie to apply and feels great once they are on. I'm going to see how long it lasts, the box claims up to two weeks but my nails usually chip within hours.

Results. 

Ive been using this system for about a month now. I even went out and bought the actual gel polishes! I think having the actual gel polishes make it 10 times easier! my nails take minutes now! There is only one issue I have with it... I just can't stop peeling them off. Whether they last a day or a week as soon as one chips i peel them all off. I'm working on it but it's just so satisfying to peel them off!


Until next time.

 R x

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

10 ways to be a savvy saver and get out of debt

I'm going to do a little disclaimer on this one. In no way do I consider myself a financial expert but I just wanted to share my tips and tricks on keeping yourself out of debt and saving money. Whether you're saving from something in particular or just to have a little cushion in times of need. Now that's out of the way lets get into it.

Anyone find it hilarious I have more dollars than pounds?!

Ill give you a little back story. About 6 months ago I caved and applied for a credit card. I felt I was at the point in my life where I thought I had the self control to use it sensibly. Hell was I wrong. For years I said I was never going to get one, I went 23 years of my life without even an overdraft. I had a decent amount of savings and I was dealing without lending money.

Anyone that knows me, knows I have a taste for the finer things in life. When I got the credit card I said to myself I would only use around £100 a month to treat myself to these things. Well that went so far out the window, I can't even. I got to the point where I was living off my credit card and paying it off with my paycheck. Some months I couldn't even pay it off and that's when the interest started. Here we are 2 months later and even though I am still having to live off it to be able to pay it off, we are getting there. So now that you know my story here's some of the things I have changed to turn my financial life around.

1: Unsubscribe to those daily shopping emails. 
You name the shop, I was on their mailing list. Countless emails everyday tempting me to spend willy nilly on things I didn't need. I've cleared out my subscriptions, now I only get emails about freebies  and samples.

2: Use your savings to pay your debt. 
If your in debt but you have savings you are literally spending your savings anyway. In a nutshell, debt costs more than savings earn. I can guarantee that the interest rate on your savings account is less that half of the interest on the debt. Therefore, you are spending more money being in debt that you are earning on the savings. I used the remaining of my once beautiful savings account to pay as much of the credit card off as I could and it was the best decision I've  ever made. I was earning less that £5 a month on the savings but paying around £10 for the credit card. Its madness.

3: Don't buy it if you can't afford it. 
This was the main reason I got to where I was... I was spending like £30 a day on nothing, random shopping trips would leave me over £100 down. I just didn't seem to realise that I was spending more than I had. I don't know if anyone saw the viral Facebook post about the guy in York that spent £70 on a trip to the cinema with his kids but I read that article with my new money conscious head like wtf was he thinking. I'm not saying stop doing things and do enjoy yourself but if you go the cinema and spend £70 on yourself and 2 kids, when tickets are like £5-9 you must be doing something wrong. He literally must have spent over £40 on food, for Christ sake why not just take £1 sweets in?! Nobody wants to pay £5 for shit nachos.

4: Whittle down your basket when shopping online. 
Say you really need something and the best way is to buy online. If you're anything like me that one thing you need will turn into six more things your just have to have! Last week, I did my first Boots shop since I had decided to change my spending habits. I started off in old spending mode and went from a just a primer to a basket full of beauty products I already have too much of. I sat there looking at my basket of over £60 like, I just can't spend this.  In the end, I spent £20. I went through everything individually and asked myself 'do I actually need this?' the answer is usually no.

5: Prep your meals.
I would love to say that I've gone from food shopping every night to being able to do a weekly shop and that's it. I have not been able to get this one under control yet. I have started packing lunch for work instead of paying about £4 a day in the canteen, but at night I still have to shop. I have started buying food every other day and making sure I have things for the next couple of days. We are slowly stopping the £7 a day on tea.

6: Set savings goals.
Even if you're not saving for anything in particular, set a goal. I've got multiple trips to save up for (hint hint: there may be another New York blog/video later this year) but even on top of putting money away for these I've decide to satisfy my handbag addiction I am going to save for a high end purchase. I've set myself a limit and I have a few options for when I get there so I know I'll get one I want.

7: If you don't use it, sell it. 
I have had 2 iPhone 4's just chilling in my draws for 2 years... a year ago they were worth £100 now they are worth £20. In know it's hard because you never know you could need that 3rd phone in a couple of years... but you really don't. I have multiple things I don't use anymore just collecting dust. there are so many ways to re-sell your unused things. Gumtree, eBay, Envirophone! Just suck it up and part ways.

8: Use what you have.
If you are anything like me, you have back ups of back ups. I cannot even tell you how many back up cleansers and facial scrubs I have chilling in my back up draw. Hell, I even have a back up draw. I have about 8 tubes of toothpaste and god knows how many bottles of nail varnish remover! If you have it you most definitely do not need another one yet.

9: Shop around.
Ok, so you have a hankering for this beautiful something. I can almost guarantee you can find it or something very similar somewhere on the magical world of the Internet for less money. I was majorly lusting over the Chloé drew bag, God knows I don't have £1000 for it. After a little shop around I found one rather similar one in Accessorize for £35. I know its not that much cheaper but its a massive difference.

10: DIY
So this is one money saver I have always tried to do but before, there were things I thought I couldn't do.  I started off by doing my own nails, and eyebrows. That's easily £40 a month in savings by doing it yourself. Last week some complete poopface decided to take out Dennis' wing mirror, garage wanted to charge me around £55 to sort it. Bought a replacement on eBay for £14 and found a YouTube video showing me how to replace it. Bam, brand spanking new wing mirror and saved about £40. Lesson learnt, if you can do it yourself why pay someone to do it for you?!

Until next time.

 R x

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Save or splurge: Chelsea boots

So if you're anything like me with tree trunks for legs, you will know the struggle. Trying to find a pair of ankle boots that don't make our legs looks even bigger is virtually impossible. But good news ladies, I think I might have found them.

Let me start with a little back story. So as I'm sure your now aware I have been searching for the perfect pair of chelsea boots for well over 6 months. Whilst on my recent adventure in Dublin, we were out one day and my shoes decide to fall apart right in the middle of a rain storm. We were coming up on 6/7 pm and a lot of the shops were starting to shut. We wandered past a Penny's (Primark) and I caved, there was no way I was going to make it back to the hotel without buying some form of new foot covering. So me and T ran in and had a look round the shoes. I was originally looking for the shoes I had on... mainly because they are £3 and I was quickly running out of money. They literally had nothing I could see myself in, but then I saw them. Today's steal, these vaguely attractive grey ankle boots with a slit in the side. Once I had them on my feet I was sold. €17 later I had wonderfully toasty feet. My only regret is not buying the other colour! Apparently British and ROI Primark/Penny's do not carry the same stock :'( 

After a few weeks of loving these cheap ass shoes, I knew I needed another pair. Primark was a bust as they were specifically for Penny's, believe me I went as far as contacting primark to see if I could get them! So my hunt began. I searched the depths of the internet for hours and literally found nothing. Randomly out of no where I tried Jeffrey Campbell, low and behold they had a whole range of boots with the same alluring side slit. I caved and parted with £111 (after discount) 6 times more than I had paid for the first pair. When they arrived, guess what... they didn't fit! I was mortified. They went back in the box and back to the shop. My search began again. 

J was the one who found the next pair, on a casual late night scroll through ASOS. Now I was indecisive, I was too worried that they were going to come and not fit, again. But again I caved. This time they arrived and for the first 5 minutes I though they were going to have to go back. To my joy after warming up a little they were just as comfortable and the primarni ones. Only issue now is I want the black ones and ASOS are out of stock! (edit back they are back in stock but I'm too skint to justify more shoes)

Splurge: Jeffrey Campbell Savion cut out boots £131

Pros:

Full leather 

Waterproof

Cons: 

Price

not suitable for wide feet

Save: ASOS Rumble pointed ankle boots £38

Pros:

Price

gold accents

Cons: 

Synthetic

Water makes them crumple

Steal: Primark split side ankle boots €20/£15

Pros:

Price

Wide fit

Cons: 

Synthetic

Water makes them crumple

Adventures in: Dublin

So me and Josh have been talking about doing this birthday adventure since he was 18... Here we are 5 years later on his 23rd birthday chilling in the motherland with a Guinness in hand. Note to self if you going on a group trip, don't let J book things. We're on the 6.25 flight home on Monday morning.

Before we even left the hotel decided to cancel on us and we were without a roof. In the end we found one, out by the airport. Cost us more in taxi's but on it made out 3am wake up call on Monday much more bearable 

Much of the week was spent either in the pub or shopping. Hungover on Friday, we spent most of the day trying to find C a new phone.. Boy cannot live without tinder. Don't judge me but I had to stay in on Friday night, beer has not been agreeing with me lately. Hence a recent trip to the quack, but that's another story. We spend Saturday in the Guinness factory. If anyone goes to Dublin, it really is the one and only place you have to go! I cannot explain to you the difference between even Irish Guinness and the first pint in the storehouse. As it was J's birthday we found a cute little Italian to celebrate. If you want a beautiful cheesy lasagna hit up The Italian Corner. Somehow they managed to get 23 candles into a tiramisu.

Saturday night ended in Everleigh Garden, Both myself and Connor were on dating apps.. Ironic being in a room full of people and your phone is still more attractive than actually mingling with real people. Despite being sat on my phone half the night like a boring bitch, it was a great night. Trying to hail a cab at 3am was not, everyone and their mother wanted a god damn cab.

Sunday, was pretty much a write off. We managed to make it into town for the football, only to have them turn over to the rugby! Although, the Philly cheese steak in Quays bar was on point. To end the trip we had a drunken adventure in an arcade, met some crack heads in the Pool bar and managed to stay out of the drunken rugby bar fights. 

It was such a good long weekend and anyone planning a trip to Dublin, the one tip I can give you is... to over budget! I took €300 to start with and had to top up about €200. It is most definitely not a cheap trip.

I did film parts of the trip but a lot of the time I was more focused on Guinness that I was handling the camera! So if you want to see part of what we got up to... here your go.

So this has been along time coming... it has taken a good few weeks for me to be bothered to edit the video. Enjoy!

Until next time.

 R x

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

No More D-word

I have finally come to my senses, I have seen the light. Dieting does not work. I have wasted so much of my life dabbling with every fad diet out there. Some of them are easy and work for a while, others are terrible and some just do nothing. No matter what I do no fad diet is never going to be a life long change, when you finally come to this conclusion you realised that you need to make changes that will work for you.

This epiphany came a couple of weeks ago, I realised that restricting things just makes me want them more. I found that cutting things down and choosing healthier options is the way forward. It  came after reading an article about the 'clear skin diet' - for the life of me I can't find the article now :( - but they kept going on about how the diet was so easy because it was all things that most people would be happy to eat anyway. It got me thinking how if you wouldn't eat it normally your not going to stick to a diet.

If anyone read my diet posts from last year, I was doing the military diet. I loved it. It was possibly the best diet I have ever done but it was just too restrictive. I probably stuck to it for a couple of months before my sandwich and chocolate addiction took control.

This time I have just been making healthier choices, instead of having a sandwich, ill have a salad. I'm having easy cook meals in smaller portions so I can still enjoy everything I love. My chocolate addiction is satisfied by a Freddo, which by the way are now 25p. 25 fucking p.  I know that if I want take-out it's not the end of the world. I just won't be having them multiple times a week anymore.

At the moment I'm feeling pretty positive and after two weeks I've lost 6 hopefully this one lasts. I might do a few healthy posts every now and then, it keeps me accountable.


Until next time.

 R x

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Shaving for lazy girls

Have you got the theme yet?

This year I came to accept the fact that in a number of aspects in my life, I am one lazy bitch.

One common issue in every girls life is the removal of body hair. Some chose not to remove it, each to their own, but most of us would prefer if it just didn't exist! Except on the head :) I'm focusing on legs and arms today... what you do with other hairy body parts is you own business, but my legs especially are one thing I can never be arsed to do! I used to say to myself I would shave my legs whenever I washed my hair, but then I started going longer between hair washes... and then you have the odd time where you just can't be bothered.

So where am I going with this? I'm sure y'all don't want to know about my Chewbacca legs.

I decided I needed to find an alternative to shaving... there are a multitude of options, waxing, removal cream, tweezing and epilation.

I've tried waxing... not my thing! Removal cream... I have never been able to find one that didn't make eczema worse:( tweezing? who on earth would want to tweeze their legs?! but apparently it does happen. So here we are with epilation. I had head so many mixed reviews on using an epilator, but I thought about it and realise I spend more money on things that are far more pointless, I might as well give it a go.

Instead of spending a ridiculous amount of money, I got a pretty cheap one. What's the point in spending £200 when you can get one that works perfectly fine for £20? I ended up getting the Braun Silk épil 3, pretty much the cheapest in their range. I got mine from Argos for £29.99 and then walked into boots and realised I totally could have got points on my card if I had gone there first :( but Oh well.

So the part that anyone still reading has been waiting for... my experience.

I honestly cannot believe I have not tried epilators before!! The lady in Argos when I bought it said that she would compare the feeling to getting a tattoo. That didn't worry me too much as I barely felt either of mine, if anything I enjoy the pain of tattoos, but then I realised that most people consider tattoos to be rather painful. I'm not going to lie, the first run was painful but I got used to it pretty much instantly. I would actually go as far as to say it became relaxing!

Now that's the legs... I tried to do my underarms. It was the worse pain I have ever felt! They look beautiful now and the pain gets less and less after a few uses but you have to get through that initial torture. There is nothing I can compare the pain to, imagine a bunch of red hot needles stabbing you in the armpit for 5 minutes. it didn't get better like the legs did, but now that my hair grows back in patches its bearable.

There were some cons... and I think it may have something to do with me getting one of the cheapest ones. The silk épil 3 and 4 only have 20 tweezers but the next model up has 40. It took me multiple runs to get all of the hair. Both legs took me about 20 minutes in total, but honestly the time doesn't really matter to me.

Also, I didn't really think about where the hair went when it came out... EVERYWHERE. Half of it ended up all over my bed, some was just chilling in the epilator and then the rest stayed on my legs so I didn't really know where was clean.

The biggest issue I had with this device was that it only came with a 2 pin plug, you know those stupid bathroom ones that are apparently only for men's shavers. We don't have one of these plugs in either of the bathrooms so I had to run back to Argos to get an adaptor!

Overall, I would recommend epilators in general to any lazy girl. If I were to buy again I would definitely spend a little more money but this baby is now my best friend! Smooth legs and white armpits for life ♥

Until next time.

 R x

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Seven deadly sins: beauty edition

Image taken from Caitlin's blog, who credits the author Chris Hill (for the life of me I couldn't find him)

Apologies bitches. I'm having a lazy week... it's tag time!

1. GREED: What is your most inexpensive beauty item? What is your most expensive?

I think my least expensive item that I actually use is Collection lasting perfection concealer you can usually get it for less than £4.

The most expensive is probably Estée Lauder advanced night repair, I couldn't even tell you if it's really worth the money but I love it all the same.

2. WRATH: What beauty products do you have a love/hate relationship with? 

Eyeliner! It's the bane of my life. I don't have the steadiest hand so it usually ends up all over my face and I have to do it all over again. I just love what it does for my face so I endure the pain.

3. GLUTTONY: What are your most delicious beauty products?

I hope this means smells haha but borjouis deluce... It's smells like actually chocolate, it's heaven for your face.

4. SLOTH: What beauty product do you neglect, due to laziness?

Lip liner.. I tend to use either liner of lipstick, I only really use both on 'special' occasions.

5. PRIDE: What beauty product gives you the most self confidence?
A good red lip all the way! Either a red or a plum. At the moment I'll loving Marc Jacobs kiss pop lipstick in pop.

6. LUST: What attributes do you find most attractive in the opposite sex?

That elusive V ;) and shoulders, I love a good shoulder hahaha.

7. ENVY: What items would you most like to receive as a gift? 

Perfume, I can honestly never bring myself to spend the money. I always appreciate perfume as a gift.

Bonus Sin:

8. WHORE: What is the beauty product your have an ridiculous amount of?
Nail varnish, every time I go shopping I buy a new one. I have 131!!! The worst part is I only use about 5.

Until next time.

R x

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

P.s I honestly couldn't tell you where I found this tag it has been sat here for soon long. If you are the author or know who created this tag... let me know and I'll credit them :)

Exercise tips for lazy people

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who enjoy exercising and don't find it a chore in their routine. Then there's us, (I'm going to assume if your reading this we are both as lazy as each other). The ones who can't even fathom that two minute walk to the corner shop or to the kitchen. The ones who don't feel any guilt by skipping that work out for a cozy date with netflix.

Over the years I've learnt that when I'm dieting, I don't really need to go to the gym. Don't get me wrong I'm completely aware that my results would be much better if I actually did a proper workout every now and then! But these simple little life changes mean that I can't still enjoy binge watching netflix and loose weight all in one go.

Before we get into this, I need you all to promise me you won't waste your money on home/gym equipment. You may think you'll use it every day but you won't. I've had an exercise bike for almost 5 years now. I've used it less than ten times. Just don't do it!

So my fellow lazy humans... give these few small changes a chance! You probably some of them already anyway.


Walk everywhere.
Living in a city really helps with this, but there are so many ways you can add extra walks into your routine. If you use the bus... just get up a couple of stops before you usually would. If you have a car, use it to your advantage drive to the middle or nowhere or a big ass park and go for an adventure.

Fidget.
It burns calories, end of.

Learn to be cold.
The colder you are the harder your body has to work to keep you warm. Easiest but not the most comfy way to burn extra calories.

Take the stairs, every time.
It may be a myth that stairs are the secret to a perfect bum but when your at the bottom of of a staircase, imagine that amazing bum you're going to have!

Workout Dvds are a gift from god!
I know that technically this counts as a proper work out but only if you do the whole dvd! Most of them have sections you can pick and choose from. Just make sure you do the warm up and cool down sections or, you know, just those two. If you're feeling really lazy.

Don't let that skipping rope go to waste!
It was fun when we were nine! Why can't it be fun now!

Remember the gym is all around you.
cliché, but you can turn anything into a exercise tool and anywhere can be your gym. You've got the widely known cans as weights but you really can exercise anywhere. I have a friend who used to do 5 squats every time she  went to the toilet and had the bum everyone wants. Or you know, you could just go to the club and do extra slut drops.


Before y'all start shouting at me, if you already do all these and your a lazy bum, I'm sorry but you my friend are gonna have to suck it up and part with your laptop.

Until next time.

R x

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

My Week Without Alcohol

I thought this week was going to be a lot harder than it was! I'm aware just the title of this post makes me look like a borderline alcoholic but I can honestly say I don't need alcohol to enjoy my life and I've learnt this week I don't really need it at all. I just love a good bottle of wine everyone and then;)

Before Christmas, it was getting to the point where I was having a bottle of wine a night. If you had asked me 2 years ago if I could drink everyday what would it be? I most certainly would not have said wine. I used to hate the stuff. Now a casual bottle of wine after work is not something I would say no to.

On Friday evening, I enjoyed my first glass of wine in 7 whole days!! In all honesty I haven't even missed it! I would have done dry January but I probably would have killed someone haha. Is it really that bad to have a casual wine habit? In the end I made up for my week without and ended up having a bottle and half on Friday.

Here I am on Monday hitting up the whiskey... honestly, nothing will stop the mid week drinking and as long as I wake up capable to drive to work and be productive for the day I don't think its really a problem. This post was more for my mum, I know my drinking habits have been worrying her. See mother I don't need to drink I just like to :)


Until next time.

 R x

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Lazy girl nails

I'm sure the majority of you lazy girls have at least seen if not lusted after the Nails Inc Paint cans.

Spray on nail polish? What is this sorcery?

I was sat in the pub the first time I saw this product, within seconds it was in my Amazon basket and a drunken Rosey was more than excited for the tedium of nail painting to be in the past. This was back in the beginning of November, here we are in a new year and I have only just received it! Looks like a hell of a lot of people went just as crazy as I did!

I don't want to ruin it for you but this is not the holy grail we have been looking for :(

It wasn't all doom and gloom, this was really easy to apply but not that easy to get off. Maybe with a little work this could be the future of nail colour.

I followed the instructions to the letter, even bought the recommended 2 in 1 base/top coat (god knows I don't need anymore top coats) but some how... this was the end result.

I really do hope they work this out, even after multiple hand washes it looks like I had fingered a unicorn. One day us lazy girls will have pretty nails with the smallest amount of effort. I still have hope.

Until next time.

 R x

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Bringing back the blog.

I hope nobody missed me too much. I let being a grown up take away the important things in life. lipstick. God, I haven't worn actual lipstick in months.

The lipstick and the blog are back. This is not a new year resolution (you should all know I don't believe in them) but J mentioned she wanted to spend this year changing the little things that make you a happier and healthy person and that made me think. This blog helped me when I had nothing to do with my life and even though I've come along way since then, there's still something missing. We all need an outlet and this is mine. I'm not going to promise a regular schedule of posts, but I'm sure there will be at least one ;)

So hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and an intoxicated New Year.

Until next time. R x ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥