Birthday Weekend Antics ♥

Hello! Hope everyone is OK and had a good weekend, and having a good week. I have been a terrible blogger over the last two weeks which is partly because I've not had that much to blog about due to being on a spending ban, and because we have a lot going on at the moment. Without further ado, I shall continue!

It was my birthday yesterday and I had hit the grand old age of 22. Pass me the wrinkle cream! I have to say 'ooh when I was 21' now, which is slightly depressing! However, I had a great weekend and day, it was great. I met up with some of my workmates from my old job on Sunday night, and had a nice meal with them which was lovely to catch up. Then when I came home Ed went and bought my pressies upstairs and left them by the bed so I could see them all night, so I was so excited to get up, like a little kid.

I thought I would just show you what I got not to gloat, but because I'm a right nosey bugger and love seeing what other people get. I was a very lucky girl this year and Ed got me a Tresor Paris Bracelet which is absolutely stunning. The way it glistens under lights is amazing and it's got a gorgeous heart charm off it too. The packaging is pretty cool too, its a square box with see-through 'bouncy' film inside that suspends the bracelet, very swish. He also remembered I sniffed Burberry Body in Boots the other day and totally LOVED it! So I had that too! If you haven't smelt it yet, go smell it, it's amazing and settles wonderfully.

I love this bracelet, it is so me! It was also our 1st engagement anniversary, so a very special date. I can't believe it's been a year since we were at the top of that Eiffel Tower.

Eds amazing sister (I just call her my own sister anyway) and boyfriend (lets just say sister and brother in law), had made me this amazing scrapbook of photos! I couldn't believe it, they have spent so much time doing the book which I can keep and show to all our kids when we are older. I take gazillions of photos but never print them out, so it was such a nice, touching present which I will keep forever! Here are a few pages out of it.

I got some other great gifts too including earrings, flowers, gift vouchers, jumper and money. I am really thankful for everything and had a great day out shopping with the Mama too! So a Primark haul should be around soon! On the evening Ed and I went to Simpsons restaurant in Birmingham. It is an amazing a la carte style restaurant and we had been once before and definitely recommend it if you have any special occasions coming up!

I went for the purple and turquoise look, and probably looked pretty crazy for that restaurant, but oh well, that's me all over. 

Here was some of the grub we had! I have missed off the Pre Starter which was a Melon Foam, with crab and melon blocks, and the petit fours.

Top right: Rabbit and Ham Hock Terrine to start - (must not think about Peanut)

Top Left: Main course of lamb, which I have never had before believe it or not, feta cheese and erm, things that tasted good!

Bottom left: Pre Dessert of an almond and ginger jelly, sauce and foam which was amazeballs.

Bottom Right: Pudding. The winner of the night and the best pudding I think I've ever had in my life, which was iced crushed strawberries with a few halves, on a bed of chantilly cream and mint jelly cubes. Oh my god, I'm dribbling. Hungry anyone? 

Overall an amazing day and good grub is always a good day to end it. Happy Birthday if yours is around this week too, and have a great day even if it's not.

Ciao for now! XxX

You know those days when you jump out of a plane?

Ey Up Lovers! Well, yesterday I did on of the best things in my life EVER! I have literally always wanted to do it, so much so that my Mom can remember me going on about it when I was about 10! Now 21, my chance to Skydive came along, and was something I was never going to miss. If you are thinking about doing it yourself, I am going to put down my experience, if not just read on anyway, you might want to after!

With my old work, we decided to group together and do a dive for charity, and mine was the British Heart Foundation as unfortunately one of my cousins passed away in his 20's due to a heart attack, so this was the best charity to chose for myself. The other divers on my team were doing it for other great causes such as Breast Friends, and Macmillan. Together, we have managed to raise around £2,500 for the charities, so a great success! 

This was in the morning, on the way to the Skydive centre. I didn't sleep hardly at all the night before (hence why I have big ass suitcases under my eyes), and I was up at 5am having a bit of panic time. We stayed down in Cirencester the night before, so we were only 15 minutes away from the grounds. Once we pulled in to the site, I saw the plane I would be jumping from, and I must admit I began to fill up with tiddly tears!

Once we were through the gates, I saw my friends from Moor Hall, Kev and Seb. This was when my fear turned into sheer excitement, and I was totally ready for the experience. We went in to pay our final bits of dosh, and then my Mom pulled into the site with my little brother and sister! I also went with Ed, his sister and her boyfriend. It was really great to have them all there to encourage me! So then we went into the briefing, where we had a step by step talk about exactly what happens, and all the safety instructions. 

Me, Seb and Ryan. Fellow jumpers!

Here we all are waiting for the briefing. 

After the briefing I was good to go, I had done a practise land showing I could lift my legs right up so I don't snap them, and practised an 'arch', which is the position you leave the plane in. I could not literally wait to board the plane. I was in the third lift, so the plane had already been up and down twice before I got on it! The first 3 people from the left of the above photo went first, then Seb in the middle, then Me and Kev at the end. So we got a great view of them landing, and their experience before our turn.

Here I am in the jumpsuit! Holding a pretty sexy helmet.

See what I mean? Wouldn't say no would you, really?

Me and my Edbud, who thinks I am mad but loves me all the same I hope!!

Me, Sexy helmet, Edbud and Mom.

All geared up, and ready to fly! Man, that harness was tight! Better to be tight than fall out of it though!!

Then our names were called. I grabbed my instructor and dragged him to the minibus ready to go go go!! I also have had professional photos and a video done, so as soon as I get those I will do a post with them on too. I got in the minibus with Kev, and about 14 other people who were jumping singly just for kicks. They were a really nice bunch who made me feel even more excited, as they had done it so many times before!

When we reached the plane my legs were shaking a bit so I staggered up the steps onto it. You cannot stand up straight in it it's so small! There were two benches which you straddle on to, getting nice and cosy with the people in front and behind you!

To my surprise, the plane took off and we were sat backwards, which is really surreal as obviously on a normal plane you face the way you are going. We got up to 12,500 feet, and the others only did 10,000, because all the single divers wanted to go higher so that meant a longer freefall, which was great. 

Once we reached 8,000, I was instructed to get on my tandem instructors lap - with great difficulty - who I felt extremely sorry for! But this was so they could really tighten the straps of our harness together, so there was no gap between us. Once we reached altitude, a light turned red in the plane, meaning the single jumpers could open the door. Then it turned green. Out they piled, jolting the plane with the weight that had been lifted. Within literally a couple of seconds, we shuffled straight forward along the bench, straight onto the floor of the door, onto the edge, and OUT! 

I was freefalling, in the sky at 12,000 feet, and did a 360 degree tumble out of the plane. Wow. What a feeling. Your breathing is compressed due to the obvious pressure, and the harness digs in a little, but that is something you can put up with when you are in this surreal world with the ground coming towards you. It felt like a dream. I didn't even think about worrying whether the parachute was coming out or not, I was too busy taking in what I was doing, and also thinking about how dry my mouth was as I opened it the whole time! The video will be hilarious.

That's me up there! I had been thumbing up the camera man, which I hope I had my head up for, when the parachute was deployed. The feeling was a very strong pull up of the harness and a bit of a jolt, but once it fully opened it went all quiet and we were drifting around. My ears totally blew out I could hardly hear a thing! He gave me the parachute toggles to have a go at steering and it felt awesome. He swiftly took them back off me, and we did what he called 'Twiddlys' where he spins the parachute so you spin in a big circle, which was great! I always like to do stuff to the full, if I'm doing it anyway, might as well go all the way. 

We then did a practise landing in the air, where he told my to bring my legs right up. I did it totally fine so we were set to land. It was a mad feeling with the ground  approaching you, but not once did I feel unsafe or at harm. It was pure exhilaration. The landing was totally smooth, my legs went high enough so that I landed on my feet, which I was so glad about as I have a coccyx injury. Then some helpers unhooked us and I was just in a total daze, continuously shouting "Wow" I think! I went a bit dizzy but after a few seconds I was fine. Then my family came to greet me and I was on cloud 9! Literally! 

It was one of the best things I have ever done, and the top of my bucket list completed. I am already considering planning my next one, and would absolutely love to do it alone one day I think!

  

Here is the final picture of us all with our certificates! It was a great day, spent with great people and couldn't of asked for better. Once we finished, and went to get something to eat, I started to spiral downwards a little. I think after all that adrenaline I was absolutely exhausted and had a banging headache, probably because of the tension the previous night! It was a big sigh of relief that my feet were on the ground, although in the end I was totally relaxed about it, even in the plane! I would urge anyone to do it, it is an amazing feeling, and really isn't as bad or scary as you may think. They are fully trained with clever, expensive, super-safe kit and they have done it thousands of times. If you get the opportunity, DO IT. It's mind over matter and I can guarantee you will love every second.

I am now due to get a little silhouette of a plane tattooed on my ankle, in commemoration of my first (hopefully not last) Sky Dive, and my love for travel.

Thanks to everyone at the Silver Stars centre for their help and encouragement, and especially George and Matt who were my Tandem and Cameraman instructors.

A day I will never forget.

Ciao for now XxX

Weekend Antics ♥

Again, it's been a while, and I am still yet to do some beauty blogging! Forgive me, it hasn't been the top of my priority list, but I sure am going to try! 

So, onto the subject...As I mentioned previously if you have read my blog before this, you would know that I went to Cambridge over the weekend to see Marina and the Diamonds. I went with my other half Ed, his sister Maria and her boyfriend Jonny. It is the second time we have seen her and I think she was even better than the first time. It was a really good gig, and with good company we had a great laugh. 

Here is Marina herself! Sorry it is bad quality, it was hard to focus on her as she moves around a lot.

We checked into the hotel just before we went over to the gig, but as we were filling in the registration card, we realised Ed had forgotten our case! No clothes, make up, brush, toothbrush or anything! It wasn't great but we managed to get a toothbrush from the hotel but with everything else missing, I wasn't a pretty sight in the morning! Here was just a little instagram of my croissant in the morning, and I liked the napkins!

Add me on instagram: @untilimdazzled  see you there =)

This is Jonny and Ed. They are like tweedledum and tweedledee when they are together. Bless 'em.

So then we came back on the Saturday, and I decided to get my hair cut! I haven't had it cut in over a year. The hairdresser was telling me off for the state of it after all the bleaching and dying, and it was in such bad condition he ran his hand through it and it all broke off! I had a good two inches off, which I think has helped the condition massively. So here are some proper pictures. I decided to have a more 'glam' blow dry, I quite like it all bouncy, but it takes ages to do so I doubt I can recreate it anytime soon. Hopefully I am still pulling the blue off without looking like a real weirdo! But it's my favourite colour so I love it really! 

So that is that I guess. Nothing else interesting. There is a video to put up on this blog, I've just got to piece it together, so check back soon!

Ciao for now XxxX

Update & Tesco Cleansing Range Review! ♥

I appear to be slacking on this at the moment! It is purely due to no time, and not much excitement really. I'm sitting here with my head covered in foil at the moment, putting a few blonde streaks in. You have no idea how difficult it is, putting streaks in on your own! So if this turns out any good, it'll be a miracle! I'll probably put a picture up if it hasn't turned out too bad! Fingers crossed! We are off to Cumbria today on business so should be good! Booked the hotel last night and it looks lovely, right in the lake district. I guess there are some perks to working in the hotel industry, so I'm taking great advantage while I can in my last week!

A couple of days ago I wasn't feeling too well, so Ed had been looking after me and did me breakfast before I went to work at half 6 in the morning! It was so cute, mmm Marmite on toast and a banana to take! I absolutely love Marmite! 

The diet has appeared to have gone out the window...It is so hard. I went to Moms yesterday and bought us a strawberry pavlova each from Sainsburys. Oh my life they are amazing. It has strawberries on, so thats one of our 5 a day isn't it?! Haha! Plus I am taking cakes into work on Friday, so it's only right we try them out isn't it?

We also went for a chinese last night, which was really nice. Happy Chinese new year by the way! I just wanted to put this on because we were reading the dessert menu, and Toffee Apples and Toffee bananas aren't available Saturdays 8pm - 10pm! We thought it was hilarious. So at 7.45pm, it's still OK to have a toffee banana....Okey dokey then! 

We went for a shop round Tesco afterwards, and this is Ed with a little bird having a shop around! The poor birdie couldn't find the bread aisle, so Ed we helped him! Gotta love Eds face too hehehe <3

And Ed wanted a little go in Rupert the Bear's car. In a suit, it's just brilliant.

So I bought a couple of things to try at Tesco. I had seen a few people on youtube recommending Tesco's cucumber facial skin care range, so I thought I'd give it a go. It is an absolute bargain as every product in the range is under 80p! So I got each product in the range apart from the wipes, because I always use huggies pure because they are thicker. So I tried it last night, beginning with the face scrub. It felt really nice once lathered on the skin, and has ex foliating beads in, which got rid of a lot of my make up. My face felt refreshed from just using that alone. Then I used the cleanser and toner, which got rid of the remains of my make up, and finished off with the moisture cream. It absorbed into my skin very quickly, and it feels all soft the morning after! I think it's a total bargain, and is suitable for all skin types. All the ingredients are natural and it smells lovely and fresh. I'd definitely recommend it!

Also as you can see, I purchased the new Maybelline Air Foam foundation. I don't know whether it was Tesco, or Maybelline themselves but there was copious amounts of cellotape holding the lid on of the bottle. It took me absolutely ages to get into it, I bent my nails back, and sliced my thumb open with scissors trying to get into it! I wasn't a happy bunny, so that's the first negative. When I eventually got into it, I shook the bottle as instructed, and I pressed on the top to release the first blob of mousse. There is a plastic seal you have to break so you actually end up squirting out more than you need. Also the foundation came out white at first. It is literally the consistency of hair mousse, and I tried it on the back of my hand. It is extremely thin and quite sticky actually. It seems pretty see through, but I have yet to try it on my face. At the moment as it stands, for £6.99 I don't think it's going to be worth it. But I shall let you know as soon as I have tried It on my face I'll let you know!

So I've waffled on enough now, and I'm going to wash out my hair and see how that's turned out!

Ciao for now!xXxXx