{Smitten Saturday}

Today I am linking up with Sarah over at Glasgow Mummy (@glasgow_mummy) for her smitten Saturday.

I've decided to choose my Urban Decay naked 2 palette which I am loving! I've been much more into make up and trying out new products since finding YouTuber and MUA Tanya Burr. Love her tutorials and product reviews. Would recommend checking her out!!

The naked 2 palette is a lovely mix of neutrals shimmery and matt.

I've been tagged...

My sister @Glasgow_Mummy has tagged me to take part in a meme.


The rules are that you have to share 11 facts about yourself, answer 11 questions that have been asked (in my case by @Glasgow_Mummy), ask 11 questions and then tag 11 other bloggers to participate.  I don't know if I will have 11 bloggers to tag as am quite new to this so will see what I can do!

So here goes...

{11 facts}

1. I am a mechanical engineer
2. I absolutely adore my beautiful cat Pickle
3. My favourite alcoholic drink is a Henricks Gin & Tonic with cucumber garnish
4. I speak to my sister (and sometimes goregous nephew & niece) every single day on the phone, sometimes more than once.....then there are e-mails, tweets and texts too!
5. I am very impatient
6. I can play the saxophone
7. I have climbed Kilimanjaro
8. I am addicted to applying lipbalm (currently have 6 lip products in my handbag)
9. I have killed every single house plant I have ever been gifted
10. I have had the same recurring nightmare for years which I can never quite pin point.  It's a mix of claustrophobia & agoraphobia.
11.  My Insights Personality profile labels me as a Blue (then Red, Green & Yellow)

{11 questions for me}

1. Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging in September 2011 as prompted by my sister.  I don't do it very often and have a very small audience who view my dear blog.

2. Do you have any secrets you will go to your grave with?

I do have quite a few secrets.  And certain ones I am very good at keeping others maybe one or two people will know.

3. If people could read your mind, what would surprise them?

Couldn't possibly divulge ;-)

4. What one thing would you change about yourself and why?

I have scoliosis so would love not to have the back pain and discomfort which comes with.  Would changes loads of things about myself but that is the big one.

5. If you were to have another child, what would you name him/her and why?

I don't have any children at the moment and am not going to share any of my baby names.

6. Have you ever left a restaurant without paying?

Nope!

7. Where's the best holiday you have ever had and why?

I went travelling in Asia a few years ago for a month and it was amazing.  I absolutely loved Thailand, the food, the people, the temples....would love to go back.

8. As you've moved into adulthood, have you become like your mum or dad?

I hear myself saying thing which I know they say, I don't mind it.  I think its cool.

9. What's the one thing in your life that, if you died because of it, people who knew you well would just shrug and say "well, I'm not surprised"?

Something to do with cats.....maybe eaten by a tiger or something!

10. What's the one food you hate more than any other?

Anchovies are the devil, closely followed by coriander.

11. Who was the baddie in any childhood nightmares you used to have?

There was some pirate programme we used to watch and if you were a baddie you got a black spot on your hand.  It used to totally freak me out.  That or the fact I was exposed to Chuckie in primary 3 which gave me nightmares for years!

I answered the wrong questions!  Just been alerted to this by big sis!!  Here are the ones I actually should have answered as made up by Sarah!

1.  Have you ever been pulled over by the traffic police?
I have never been pulled over and never been caught speeding.  No points on my license.

2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
As boring as it seems I would live in Glasgow to be nearer my sister, nephew and niece.  I miss them a lot but the oil industry and therefore my job keeps me in Aberdeen.

3. What is your favourite flavour of crisps?
Has to be salt and vinegar.

4. What's the last movie you watched?
I watched 21 Jump Street on DVD which was ok.  Bit of a guy film.  Husband was next to me killing himself laughing at parts and I was just like "what?!"

5. What is your favourite thing to wear?
Hmmm.....at the moment I am loving my coral topshop blazer but generally would say any of my scarves or my old school brown sheep skin mittens which belonged to my mum.

6. What does your last text message say?
"Oh whoops!! Duh!! I shall change it!!" about this very blog post!  Previous to that was some very exciting news from a close friend.

7. What were you doing at 12 noon yesterday?
I was out with some work friends for lunch celebrating someone's birthday.

8. What is your most treasured memory?
Probably most memories involving my mum.  They are all treasured now she is gone.

9. What do you think is the single best decision you've made in your life so far?
This one is hard, I'd probably say choosing engineering as my degree.  The job and the resulting financial benefits have done me exceptionally well.

10. Do you have a pet?
I have a beautiful bengal cross cat called Pickle who is 2 years old.  My sister looks after his "brother" Onion in Glasgow.

11. What is on your bedside table?
I have a lamp, a small heart shaped ring dish for my jewellery, a photo from the night Chris asked me to be his girlfriend, hand cream, my night cream and of course lip balm.


{11 questions from me}

1.  What is your greatest achievement?
2.  What is your biggest regret
3.  If you could only eat one meal, the same meal every day for the rest of your life what would it be?
4.  What's your favourite noise?
5.  Do you have any tattoos?
6.  Have you ever cheated in an exam or test?
7.  What's the best thing you have ever done?
8.  Have you broken any bones?
9.  What is your biggest pet peeve?
10.  Do you snore?
11.  If you could have any job what would it be?

If anyone is actually out there reading this feel free to take part.  I don't know 11 bloggers to tag!!

:-)

{sunday roundup}

So another week has gone by...been a bit more prepared with the photos!!

I went on a couple of runs this week, 5.36 miles on Monday (in addition to my circuits class) and then 3.16 miles on Wednesday.  I beat even more of my personal bests and managed a 8m 18 sec mile, fastest 1K and fastest 5K times.  I was at a race night on Friday and won 5 personal training sessions in the raffle which is ace!  Can't wait for that.  Never had a personal trainer before.  I haven't given up on Insanity but it was way too much to do 6 days a week.  I have been eating too many treats of late so next week am aiming to cut that down.

Me after one of my runs

Chris and I had out wedding video featured on the blog We Fell in Love which was nice and also on Cherry Tree's blog too.  We also received our final versions of the wedding video on DVD.  I have watched everything and loved hearing the full versions of the speeches again and the ceremony too - shed some tears and laughed again at many funny moments.  So impressed with Cherry Tree Films.  Can't recommend them enough.  DVD came in a beautiful little box.

We Fell in Love Blog

Cherry Tree Gorgeousness

Wednesday lunchtimes are really good fun as I get away from my desk and walk my friend Shona's dog Poppy.  She is just adorable and as someone who would love their own dog but can't commit to that right now its perfect for me.  For one lunchtime I get to pretend she's mine!

Poppy and I

Poppy

On Wednesday I also got my HD Brows done and I am really pleased with them.  Hard to get decent photos to share but hopefully you will be able to get an idea.  The biggest improvement is definitely the colour.

Before and After Brows

I ordered a new pair of trousers from ASOS, they are Mango but I coulnd't get my size in John Lewis nor find them on Mango's own website.  Never the less tracked them down on ASOS and they arrived and were perfect!  I wore them with a black vest top to a charity race night on Friday night.  Ended up a late one but I wasn't overly drunk so functioning pretty well the next day.

On Saturday Chris was away hillwalking so I did some tidying around the house and did some work in the garden as the sun was shining.  Our garden is a jungle and after a few hours of hard work I have made little impact but it's a start!  Of course Pickle was with me keeping me company.

My weedy garden and navy Joules wellies

Me and the beast!!

Today (Sunday) Chris and I are off to the kitchen showroom to spec our kitchen.  Excited for that!! Also have a nice lunch somewhere.  Until next week....

{sunday roundup}

I don't really do much blogging about myself but thought it might be nice to do a summary of my week as inspired by my sister's Sunday Roundup.  Now I wasn't planning on doing this so don't have photos of everything but will try and plan better for next week!!

So the week began with me trying to get back on track with my fitness.  I actually started the series Insanity and did the fit test on Tuesday and the first work out video on Wednesday.  Thursday I was in pieces and couldn't face another video so went for a run.  I did 4 miles and broke three records.  Pretty pleased with myself!  Beginning to enjoy my running again.  However, not exercised since Thursday!! But have circuits class tomorrow.

Nike Running App

I had Friday off work and decided to have a chill out day.  First I went shopping and bought a couple of new t-shirts from TKMax.  One with the letter "A" on it and the other says Dweeb.  I then went home and started watching Homeland Season 2.  I did this online via Blinkbox which I found via google and got £5 free credit for signing up.  It's a Tesco company so you can also collect clubcard points which is handy.  Needless to say the rest of Friday and Saturday morning I spent in a Homeland blur with Carrie, Brodie and my old man crush Saul.  If you haven't seen it def check it out.  Simply superb.

Pickies fell asleep on me while I was watching Homeland

Next I became a covergirl as hubby and I were featured in the Scottish Wedding Directory this month and also on the cover of the Venues Magazine.  Pretty exciting :-)

Scottish Wedding Directory Venues Supplement

On Friday I also did a patch test for my HDBrows appt.  This was basically a transfer which I had to wear for 48 hours.  No reaction to it so I can get my brows tinted next week.  HDbrows involves tinting, shaping, threading, waxing and trimming your eyebrows.  I can share the results of my session in next weeks roundup.  Getting them done at Preen Beauty in Aberdeen - my favourite salon.

HDBrows Patch Test

My week ended with catching up with lots of my lovely friends.  I had a joint friends (husband and wife) 30th birthday party on Saturday night followed up with tea and cakes with two of my bridesmaids on Sunday morning and lunch with the party goers afterwards.  Fab end to my weekend.  Here I am ready for the party in aforementioned "A" t-shirt from TKMax.

Coral jacket from Topshop, Sequin scarf from It's Darling, T-shirt TKMax

Will try and get some better photos for next week!!! Hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend.

XXX

{kitchened out}

Initially choosing a kitchen was super exciting but now its just becoming a pain!!  To get to the stage for a quote the amount of time and faffing with some kitchen companies is painful.  I have found it pretty frustrating to be honest as I know exactly what I want.  I have had another appointment today which went very well and am now confident we will be using this company for our kitchen.  I love their matt white glass units :-)

This is a model of what we want although the positioning of the furniture is not quite right.  But the kitchen layout is pretty close.

The sort of style of kitchen is ultra modern like these:

I love these handles I have seen and also would have the white matt glass cupboards on the full wall and the dark grey for the island cupboards.  The designer white Corian would go on the kitchen island.

Sleek handles which give a minimal streamlined look

Matt white glass door (amazing), grey door and Corian worktop

Very excited to get cracking.  Have started a spreadsheet to track all the things we need to buy and choices which need to be made :-) I'm in my element!!!

{period delights}

I mentioned in one of my previous blogs that I would share with you some of the period featured which made me fall in love with my current house....

{Upcycling}

Upcycling - the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality...

I have a few plans at the moment for upcycling / revamping.  I have completed one little project which is a table I bought from the Heart Foundation charity shop for £15.

Here is a photo of the table as it was when I bought it.  It's not great quality nor is it a proper antique or anything but I liked the spindle legs and it was a perfect size for the turn of the stairs in my hallway.

£15 table from charity shop

I bought it with the plan to paint it so would never have kept it as is.  So firstly I sanded the table down to get a good surface for my undercoat.

I did the sanding by hand and carried it out as best I could on the legs but it was a bit tricky.

Next I painted a grey undercoat.  This went on very well and was easy to apply to the whole table.

Table with undercoat

Next I started with the layers of paint.  I painted the top with a dark grey gloss paint and the legs with a matt bright yellow.  The yellow on the legs was a complete pain and took about 6 coats.  All in all I'm quite happy with how it looks but if you examine it closely its not perfect.  I think if I tried this again I would test out a spray paint.  Of course the hall still need decorated so the muddy green carpet and delightful textured magnolia (grim) wallpaper don't really go with my snazzy upcycled table!!!

Finished table

Next mini project will be making and covering a new headboard for the bed in my guest bedroom.  Have been getting some inspiration via pinterest.