At Home With Rachel

Check out Rachel Ashwell's beach house on Oprah's site here

I have to confess it's a bit too white for my liking - I need a bit of colour! What do you think?

And good news for those of us pining for Rachel's next book installment it's available to pre-order here

Supermarket Specials

Last week I did a post on CK alternatives and today it’s the turn of beauty products!

After reading Sophie Honeysuckle’s post on Barbara Daly’s Face Lift cream I decided to get myself down to Tesco and give it a try (esp when I read her follow up post about her hubby’s comments here)

I am suitably impressed. Day to day I try not to wear to much make up and this is perfect for taking the edge of. Usually I wear Benefits primer which does the same job for me but I prefer Barbara Daly’s price tag.

As I’d run out of my fave YSL mascara and was pondering the success of my new purchase I decided to give Barbara Daly’s "full on" mascara a try. With a £15 price difference I could be on to saving myself a fortune. I went so far as to put YSL on one eye and Daly’s on the other (yes I have far too much time on my hands!) and I couldn’t tell the difference.

Thank you Sophie for introducing me to Barbara Daly!

There’s no stopping Tesco right now with their Finest Range of Perfume and Bath products that have a distinct similarity to a certain Jo Malone. I started with the Ginger Vanilla & Pink Pepper when I needed a day perfume and was very happy (esp for a fiver!) and since then have added Red Rose & Jasmine and Lime, Mandarin & Vetiver to my collection. They are perfect for work and have a range of bubble baths and lotions to match (I’ve avoided buying them so far as my bathroom is over run with lotions and potions!) – Sophie has also blogged about these products here

Let me know if you’ve tried any of these products/ranges and what you thought of them and more importantly, let me know any supermarket products you’ve discovered.

So Proud!

Well done to my brother (in the blue top) for completing today's Floral London Marathon in 4 hours 19 minutes

I finished this book yesterday and have to admit whatever my views on aspects of it I did enjoy reading it and if you can get hold of a copy (mine came from the local library) it’s worth a read.

As I mentioned in my previous post there are some ideas I don’t agree with but others that are worth considering.

I liked how she used free samples from beauty counters as gifts.

Wouldn’t a sample perfume be nice to pop in with a thank you card or one of our swap packages? I have gathered sample beauty products together in the past and managed to sell them via eBay on occasion but I like the idea of re-gifting.

I did smile to myself as I walked to work this morning scanning the floor for “roadkill” pennies – no luck so far though!

For those asking how the author managed to get through Christmas, quite simply it seems. Gifts from charity shops and boot sales, reusing wrapping paper and handmade cards.

I spent an hour yesterday browsing through the links mentioned in the back of the book but again I wasn't impressed with the "free" samples available. I spent the hour logging details on various sites, declining invitations for a "free" photo session or extra Bingo credit and kept returning to a page where I had to sign up for a payable subscription to be entered - a waste of time!!

***SPOILER ALERT***

Of course by the end we find out what she gave her brother as a wedding gift, lifetime membership to the National Trust priced today at £1390. Whilst a lovely gesture a lifetime gift but I can't help feel it's slightly extravagant!

I can't deny the book has given me food for thought but I certainly don't see myself aiming to live on £1 a day!

My Initial Thoughts

Today I've started reading How I Lived a Year on just a Pound a Day which Mrs Thrifty recently gave her views on here

I have to say as much as love these types of books and find them interesting I do often find them extreme

Don't get me wrong this isn't a guide but a story of one persons journey but I have to say the idea of hitch hiking to save a few pounds worries me slightly. I can imagine the look on my parents faces if I told them I was off to Brighton using my thumb stuck out on the M25!!

I also find it slightly strange that her reason behind doing this was to buy her brother and his fiance a wedding gift. Surely it would've been more inspiring to have put something together that was handmade or thrifted?

I know many of you gave your views on Mrs Thrifty's post but if there are any more of you out there who have read the book and have an opinion do let me know!!

I am actually looking forward to the next Chapter tomorrow which is December, lets see how Christmas went for her

CK Alternatives

On my travels recently I have found some lovely Cath Kidston alternatives with a thriftier price tag so of course I have to share them with you

These wallpapers can be found here from the Millie collection and the spotted oil cloth type fabric is from The Range

And whilst on the subject of bargains if any of you love Yankee Candles and have a Home Store & More close by they are selling large jars for half price!

I have already brought 2 for Christmas presents! Yes this is the earliest I've started buying presents

Thank You

Thank you so much for all your well wishes for my nan's funeral today

I am pleased to say it went well and was a lovely service and I'm proud of the comments my eulogy received and the smile it brought to everyone's faces

Goodbye Nan

Today I share the sad news with you that 2 weeks ago I lost my nan

Today we will attend her funeral and I will honour her memory by giving the eulogy

I'm pleased to say she leaves behind many happy memory like our family holidays

(Photo taken in 2007 with 4 of her 8 grandchildren)

I will miss her dearly and remember her always

Cracking It

I finally cracked the perfect hard boiled egg this morning

What did you have for breakfast this morning?

Say Hello

My friend Rose who has just started her own blog and she would love a visit from some you lovely ladies to make her feel welcome

After listening to me go on for hours about how much fun we all have she finally got bored of me and gave in!!

Rose will be showcasing some of her wonderful Sissix characters she makes and sells and she even named her blog Victoria Rose Paper Crafts to include me in her future endeavours!!

So please pop over and visit Rose at Victoria Rose Paper Crafts

Have a great weekend everyone

Wordless Wednesday

Knit One

For my birthday I received Knitting for Dummies and CK knitting needles and last night mum helped me get started

My nan taught me to knit when I was younger but I was never able to cast on and off

Despite the book and a tutorial on You Tube it was my mum who showed me what to do!

Her casting on tip was much easier than the demonstrations

I'm going to wait till I get the hang and feel of knitting on a basic level before I go any further and am already joking with friends that they'll all be receiving scarves for Christmas

Bank Holiday Booty

I'm still waiting for one of two of my local boot sales to start so instead took myself to my "favourite" charity shop and hit the jackpot

Look at all the wonderful things I found

I can't decide whether the food/plate warmers or dolls bed was my favourite finds

The Good Luck plate will be added to the basket of vintage goodies I'm preparing as a Bridal Shower or Wedding gift for my friend

Enid Blyton books are always a must

I thought some of these titles were more boy orientated and I hope to read to my nephew in a year or two

Did you get any Bank Holiday booty?

Easter Goodies

from my mum today

Thanks mum!!!!

Happy Easter

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter eating lot's of chocolate

Image courtesy of Linda at Somewhere in Time

Welcome to the 30's

Happy 30th Birthday Me!

Then

Now

I'm off for my fun breakfast tea now and some pressies!!!

To Do Box

I often have various bits and pieces lying around that I need "to do" something with be it writing birthday cards and so on so I decided to use my new box file from Tesco for the job

Now all these things are kept together and I can easily move the box onto bed with me and go through what I need to get done

And the good news, all my Easter cards have been written and are waiting for posting!

One Word

WICKED

Today my sister in law and I went to see Wicked in London

I was blown away. Everyone had told me what an amazing show it was and they weren't wrong.

I was blown away by Karen Ellis who played Elphaba

Have you been lucky enough to see this show? What did you think?

Polka Dotty

I'm loving red & white polka dots right now!!

I couldn't resist these goodies from Tesco at the weekend

Check out this spread in the Next Summer catalogue

Very CK-esq dare I say?