Blogger Bookclub - The Book of You by Claire Kendal

Another month and another book. This month's book was The Book of You by Claire Kendal. I'm not normally a thriller book fan, I wouldn't choose the book off the shelf unless someone recommends one to me so I was a little concerned I wouldn't enjoy the book.

The story follows Clarissa who becomes the focus of her colleague's, Rafe, affections. The book flits between 1st and 3rd person, some of the chapters focus on Clarissa and what Rafe is putting her through as she builds evidence to take to the police, while others are the story around her as she sits on the jury in a horrible trial, learning from this the sorts of evidence she needs before her story will be taken seriously.

Once I got my head around the change in person I really got stuck in and couldn't put it down, the more erratic Rafe's behaviour became, the more I could feel myself getting angry and frustrated, I  really grew to hate that character. 

I really enjoyed The Book of You when I didn't expect to! 

Check out the other girls in the book club to see what they thought!

Lorna - Leanne - Lizzie - Alyssia - Chloe

Christmas Gifts - Fit Food

Stocking fillers, usually made up up of tubes of smarties, bags of chocolate coins and, in my house, random trinkets from around the house! I always end up with stuff that I eat within hours and then feel guilty about it, so why not replace the trash with healthier options! 

You can't not have chocolate, a perfect replacement would be Green & Blacks Salted Caramel Thin, I love this, one square a day is my treat. 

For the nut butter addict in your life, you can't go wrong with a jar of the good stuff. Nuts 'n' More Toffee Crunch is amazing mixed into morning porridge or dolloped on pancakes, whilst Buff Bake Snickerdoodle is awesome straight out of the jar for a pick me up!

Finally, snacks on the go don't get much better then Quest Bars in their variety of flavours, heated up they are the food of gods. Propercorn help satisfy sweet or savoury craving, perfect for keeping you away from the crisps. Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a Chocolate Orange, well Bounce have that covered with their new Orange & Cacoa Bounce Balls, perfectly orangey and chocolatey, a great replacement!

Just a quick round up of food ideas for gifts, let me know which ones you would pick!

Blogger Bookclub - Techbitch by Lucy Skyes & Jo Piazza

I feel like I haven't actually sat down and read a whole book in forever, so when the opportunity came along to join a book club, I grabbed it with both hands!

This month’s book was the interestingly named Techbitch by Lucy Skyes & Jo Piazza.

Techbitch (Noun) someone who is a complete bitch in the technological world – Techbitch follows Imogen Tate, Glossy Magazine’s Editor, as she returns to work only to discover that her old assistant, Eve, has moved in and is transforming the magazine into an online version. As Imogen struggles to get to grips with the technology of her new world she has only one choice, to adapt or become extinct.

For my first book, it was so nice to sit down with some good old 'Chick-Lit', an easy read that I could just lose myself in. I felt that I could fully relate to having a person in my life who changes the goal posts, takes a lot of the credit for work I have completed and is just so incredibly two-faced! I grew to hate Eve's character and adore Imogen and I wanted to keep reading to find out how Eve would reach her demise!

Would I class it as a book that is well written? No, but then you don't pick up Heat magazine and expect it to be high-brow literature. If you're looking for something light and fluffy then this is a book for you.

Check out the other lovely ladies in the book club to find out their thoughts:

Lorna - Leanne - Lizzie - Alyssia - Chloe

Next month's book is  'The Book of You’by Claire Kendal.

Let me know what you think

xx

Christmas Gifts - Fitness Tech

Fitness technology is something that has exploded in the past 12 months; there are some many different options for all types of fitness fans. 

First up, lots, fitness trackers. Personally I adore my Fitbit Flex, I've had it a year and vary rarely leave the house without it. It tracks the basics of steps and general calories throughout the day, connecting to an app of my phone. From there the natural upgrade would be to the Fitbit Charge as it also tracks heart rate as well as displaying the time.

A cheaper option would be the Misfit Shine which is a bargain at £30. This is like the Fitbit flex as it tracks the basics and connects to an app, it would be perfect for someone new to fitness. One that I know is quite big but I've never tried is the Nike Fuel band where you earn points as a motivation depending on how active you are.

One thing I can't live without in the gym is music and I adore my wireless headphones, no more faffing about with trying to tuck the wires in my bra! These Beats by Dre are pretty pricey but perfect  in the gym, there are loads of other options as well so have a good look around for others in your price range.

Now, not technically 'Tech' but everyone needs a decent bag for storing all the tech and fitness wear in as well as a water bottle to keep you hydrated, I don't go anywhere without my Water Bobble, I have a 500ml for the gym and a 1L one for day to day, I aim to drink 3 of those a day! 

So there you are, some possible picks for the fitness fanatics in your life - which ones would you pick?

Christmas Gifts - Fitness Wear

People have been asking me what I want for Christmas since October and I really have no idea, but after watching 3 Xmas films in a row, baking an Xmas cake and watching loads of YouTube gift guides, I now feel suitably inspired to sit down and put together some lists.

First up, fitness wear. Over the past 10 weeks I've been training once a week with a trainer and then training myself a couple of times of week - it's going well and I'm developing quite an obsession with fitness wear, I'm developing quite a collection! Getting new gym wear is a real motivator so would make the perfect gift! 

My favourite place to shop is Active in Style, they have so many great brands from Lorna Jane to Running Bare, personally I adore anything from Onzie, I own two pairs of their booty holders and they suck you in and make you feel like you can lift anything!

Another good place to stop by is Sweaty Betty - they have gorgeous printed leggings, great slogan tops and some fantastic accessories! Plus they do gift cards so if you're not sure what someone would want then you can load one of these up and they can treat themselves!

Final stop would be Nike to grab some new trainers. I'm a bit of a trainer snob and only wear Nikes, I have 3 pairs in rotation and I adore them all because they are bright and add a pop of colour to my normally all black outfits. No one can ever have too many pairs of trainers, plus you can get some good deals on them if you visit outlet stores or keep an eye out on ASOS for them.

So there you have it, a few gift ideas for the fitness fanatics in your life, next up will be a fitness accessory gift guide - don't know when but keep your eyes peeled!

What do you think of my picks? Where else would you recommend for Fitness Gifts?! 

Hello November - October Round up & November To Do

 

Pictures from my instagram - _sarah.mc

October has been & gone faster then I realised, it's been a very busy time, especially as I've now been in my new job for 7 weeks now! I've not blogged because I just haven't wanted to, I've needed time for me to take in all the changes in my life and get my head around it.

So October was a fairly calm month until the very end - it included:

- Visits from friends

- Really getting into my routine with my PT

- A weekend visit to N.Ireland

- Making soup (it wasn't good!)

- Stocked up on candles at IKEA

- Fell in love with my foam roller

- Cooked lots of batches for lunch!

- Saw Hamlet

- Enjoyed lots of pug cuddles

- Taking lots of photos

November To Do:

- Cook something new

- Take fitness progress pictures

- Try a new recipe for lunch

- Try Zoats for breakfast

- Edit some photos

So just a quick round up of my month and looking forward to the coming months, once December is here life really gets a tad crazy with school (work) and family life!

How was your month?

X X

Boots Star Gift - Smashbox #SHAPEMATTERS 3 in 1 Contouring Palette

I know it's a tad early to even start thinking about it, what with it still being fairly warm as well as only being October but I had to share this deal with you!

Boots have just launched their Christmas shop, each week releasing a Star Gift which would make a great present for yourself or someone else - personally this weeks gift is something I wont be giving away!

From Smashbox you get the #Shapematters 3 in 1 Contouring Palette which includes:

- 9 award-winning Photo Op Eye Shadows (Vanilla, Totally Nude, Champagne, Stripped, Posh, Platinum, Sumatra, Aubergine, Blackout)

- 3 Contour Powders for most skin tones

- 1 Highlighter

- 2 best-selling Brow Tech Powders

- 1 Brow Tech Wax

- 1 double-ended Shadow/Brow Brush

- 1 full-size mirror

- 3 Interactive Get The Look Cards (Brow, Face, Eye)

According to Boots' website, this palette has been created with Sephora as is a multi-product palette.

Normally this will be £60, but until the 8th October it's only £30, a total bargain! 

So, head down to Boots or pick one, or two or even three up here online while you can - think I need to go and grab one!

What do you think, too early for Christmas? 

Nails - Minty Greens

L-R
Turquoise Gloss, Greenberry, Mint Candy Apple, Pool Party, Blossom Dandy

I know the seasons are changing and we are moving into Autumn but I still love minty greens, especially for on my toes - it's nice to have a pop of colour hidden away under socks. I've probably done a post similar to this before but I've had a few new additions over the last few months so I thought I would do an update.

Whenever I'm looking for a polish that will last I always reach for the Models Own Hypergel in Turquoise Gloss as I know it will still look good after a few days. Turquoise Gloss is definitely a very blue toned minty green but it looks really nice against my skin tone. For high shine I like to reach for Barry M Gelly in Greenberry which is more on the green end of the scale of minty-ness, a lovely fresh colour. 

For a pale green I tend to reach for Essie Mint Candy Apple, it's a cult favourite amoung bloggers but it isn't my favourite. it's a nice polish with a good finish but not one that I would rave about. Moving down to the most green toned end of the scale I've got a Topshop polish in Pool Party which is a really bright turquoisey/green - I love this for really sunny days although the finish isn't as long lasting as some of the other polishes.  

Finally we have my favourite of all the these - Essie Blossom Dandy. I picked this up when I thought I had lost my Mint Candy Apple and needed a replacement but couldn't find MCA in Boots or Superdrug. Blossom Dandy is the warmer cousin of  MCA. It is so much easier to wear then MCA, plus I could wear it all the time! 

Just a few of my favourites at the moment - I think it might be time for me to put these away and dig out my autumnal shades but for now I'm loving minty greens - what greens are you still loving? xx

Photography - Shoreditch, Spitalfields Market & Brick Lane

I've been working on my photography recently, something to fill my time with during the summer holidays and it's something I've wanted to learn about for a while. So I treated myself to a groupon voucher for a walking photography course, booked the course and waited for the date.

When the day arrived I made sure I had a fully charged camera with an empty memory card and headed into London. Trains were a bit of a mare that day so I turned up a little late but a quick e-mail to the tutor to let him know and they waited for me near Shoreditch station. He quickly went through what I was aiming to do and really encouraged us to look carefully before taking a picture. We had to play with what level we took the picture from, standing in different places, sitting on the side of the road - never did I think I would be sitting on a kerb in the middle of London.

We wandered then round to the market at Spitalfields where our tutor set us the challenge of asking if it was OK for us to take a picture of them working or their stand - this was really scary for someone like me who is normally very shy but I manned up and did and got some great pictures as well as feeling incredibly hungry around the food! A little bit of wandering around, he pushed us to take pictures of people without them really being aware, being 'natural'. We also worked on our people photography, finding nice places to stop and getting someone to pose, I ended up sitting on the step of a gorgeous house, it was slightly embarrassing as I hate having my picture taken! From here we walked round to find the graffiti! 

When we found a good spot filled with amazing art work - spent about 30mins here taking pictures before it was time to head home. Once I got home I hit up a bit of editing of the pictures, I took so many and I'm still working my way through editing, playing around with contrast and brightness - its great fun really and something I never thought I would have the courage to do!

So here are just a few of my edited pictures, some are my favourites, others are ones that work, but I've never put my work up on the Internet before for people to see so I would love some feedback! 

Let me know what you think!

Healthy Snack Ideas

I'm really enjoying my healthy eating at the moment, I feel like I have a lot more energy, I've cut out a lot of overly processed crap and am finding a balance with food that is better for me as well as still being tasty.

I thought I would show you some of the things that are living in my cupboard for grabbing when I need a quick snack. I keep a lot of these items in my desk at work for when I need them.

Caramel or chocolate coated rice cakes - I didn't think I would like these but they are amazing! I picked these up in the free from aisle in Tesco and keep these in my desk when I'm at work or in my bag when I'm out and about - perfect as a little pick me up.

Graze boxes - I love these, I've been getting them for ages and I adore them. I love that these are all calorie counted out so you can easily track them plus there is such a wide range of boxes - my favourites are the popcorns, flapjacks, beef jerky or all of the dippers - especially the caramel dipper! you can choose how often you want delivery and then chuck them in your bag and you're good to go!

 Fruit - My arch nemisis, I'm really not keen on eating fruit, I'm really fussy about texture of food and fruit has bits in it so I only pick 'smooth' fruits that I can make into a smoothie or eat quickly but it wouldn't be my first choice of snack!

Peanut Butter - Since taking the pictures for this post I have discovered Pip & Nut peanut butter and it is love! I've always loved peanut butter but paired with apple, in a smoothie with frozen banana or just straight from the jar and I'm happy, perfect for a quick energy hit!

So there are some of my favourite healthy snack ideas, I have a load more if you would want any more ideas! Would also love to know what snacks you go for!

xx