Photo Diary #14 Do you remember what I said, that first time we met?

Sundays face | Cocktails in Clapham | Queuing | The Breakfast Club | Shiny new Vespa | Cat-face cuddles | Naughty Nars purchase

I haven't done a photo diary post in a little while now, not since I got engaged, so I thought it was about time I did a weekend post :) They're my favourite kinds of posts to read and write, I must be the nosiest blogger!

So this weekend was a pretty relaxed one, but really really good fun. I felt like it was over far too quickly! Sometimes it's nice to have nothing planned and just see what happens, don't you think?
On Friday night my friend Nicola and I had a catch up in Clapham. We had planned on quite a tame night, but accidently happened to stumble upon on happy hour, oopsy. Cucumber sour cocktails, chicken burgers and a good friend to laugh with makes for a fabulous evening.

On Saturday morning, Stef and I braved the queue outside The breakfast Club in Soho
, we knew it was the only thing that would possibly cure our hangovers. Queuing was made a little less painful though, when they brought little shots of hot chocolate and marshmallows to everyone outside, what a cute little touch! Going anywhere else for breakfast just never measures up, it was well worth the wait when my All American pancakes showed up. I'm pretty sure I could live off pancakes ya' know.

After breakfast and a mooch around a couple of shops, (which basically involved me drooling over the beautiful underwear I can't afford in Agent Provocateur), we jumped on Stefs shiny new Vespa and headed to the movies. The perfect afternoon for nursing a hangover :) Les Miserable was pretty darn good, if you haven’t seen it already I'd recommend it. I'm not going to lie, for the first five minutes I did think about leaving, but you get used to them singing every line pretty quickly. So if musicals aren't really your thing, i'd still say it's worth sticking this one out.

Sunday we scooted over to do a spot of shopping in Chelsea. I was naughty and finally purchased the beautiful Laguna by Nars, it had to be done it was on my wish list for so long!We headed back to Clapham and Stef treated me to dinner in the ever so fancy Trinity (I might do a whole post on this for any foodys out there).
Later on the lovely Sarah from Modern Damsel swung by for a glass of wine and some blogger chat.

What did you get up to this weekend? Have you ever eaten in The Breakfast Club or Trinity?

Hannah x

A case of the blues...

Do you ever have those few days or a couple of weeks even where you just feel down, unmotivated and poopy for no particular reason?
I've felt like that over the past couple of weeks now. It's really ridiculous because my life is pretty much perfect right now and I love it, I have no logical reason to be feeling low.
I'm guessing it's an over-generous dose of PMT, so reading Gala Darlings  'The Ultimate Guide to making your period suck less' has helped a little.

Today I've decided to start writing a gratitude diary.
So every day, either when I'm at work or before bed, I'm going to jot down a couple of things I am grateful for, or good things that happened that day. It can be something really tiny like a particularly tasty latte, or something funny someone said to me. Then next time I'm feeling poopy, I can look back and see a huge list of reasons not to feel so poopy. A couple of things I've popped in there today are Stef making me breakfast, and making friends with a lovely little old lady in the que for the doctors this morning.

In another attempt to cheer myself up, today I've been basking in the combination of Vogue, tea, and a jammy flapjack. I'm planning on a bubble bath and facemask later. That should help do the trick.

I'm looking forward to feeling a bit more like myself again. My poor, poor fiance, putting up with my monstrous mood lately... (thank you!)

What do you guys do to cheer yourselves up if you’re feeling a little low or have raging PMT? Any tips, send them my way please :)

10 resolutions...

Buddies on NYE | The view from my front door on new years day | Toaster waffles with maple syrup

A very happy new year to all my lovely readers :)
I hope you all had a smashing one and saw out 2012 in style?
I had a nice chilled out one, at our local pub with Stef and my buddy Laura, we drank prossecco, had a little jig and watched the fireworks.

So, another generic blogger post today, I've been enjoying reading everyone’s goals and resolutions for 2013. It's great to see everyone being so positive. So I thought I’d share mine with you too.
I didn't think I actually had any resolutions, but yesterday when I sat down and actually thought about it, I came up with a pretty long list.
I think most of them are realistic, so here we go...

#1. Write a journal for the year.
This is something I have been doing every year since I was 5. As you can imagine I have a massive stash of diaries now! Last year was so manic that I was really naughty and didn't keep a journal, I'm so mad at myself for this because it was the best year ever. So theres no way I’m not keeping a log this year!

#2. Get back into the routine of doing yoga and running once a week.
Yoga and running are the only 2 forms of exercise that I actually get any enjoyment from, and before I moved to London I was doing yoga and going to a running club once a week. It doesn’t sound like a lot I know, but my body was so much nicer back then...

#3. Read more
I started off last year reading a few amazing books (The curious incident of the dog in the night, Life of Pi and The Graveyard to name a few). I'm not sure what happened but I kind of lost my passion for reading a little bit, or was it that I just couldn't find anything I wanted to read? Anyway, this year I want to read some really great novels (suggestions very welcome).


#4. Learn to cook...
or at least try! I'm the first to admit pretty hopeless in the kitchen (unless it involves baking a carrot cake). Stef tends to do all the cooking in our house, so this year I've decided it's about time I learn to cobble together a half decent meal.

#5. Be better at staying on contact with my friends
You know what it's like, before you know it a couple of months have gone by... so, yeah, I just want to make sure I'm more involved in my friends lives this year and make more of an effort, ‘cos I love you guys.

#6. Work on my confidence.
Pretty self explanatory really. Sometimes I think I just need to believe in myself a little bit more and not be so hard on myself.

#7. Be more motivated & use my time better
Especially where my career as a make-up artist is concerned! I feel like I do waste a lot of my free time, so I want to be better at planning constructive things to do.

#8. Eat better and keep drinking water
Well, you only get one body, you might as well look after it right? Being lucky enough to have a super fast metabolism, my diet is preeeetty bad. It's not that I don't enjoy healthy food or anything (hell, I eat anything), I just love carbs and have a ridiculously huge sweet tooth.

#9. Take better care of myself
I suppose this one ties in with eating better too. But just little things like improving my posture, getting regular haircuts (which possibly means getting over my fear of the hairdressers) trying to keep on top of my nails, and getting a proper skincare routine.

#10. Oh, and to make 2013 every bit as fun as 2012 was :)

I was going to put in drink less, but I decided against it, I thought I'd atleast be realistic, paha!
Have you got any new years resolutions? How did you spend new years?

p.s apologies if you follow me on instagram (magsy24) and have already seen these snaps!

The proposal...

Hey beautifuls, a very merry Christmas eve to you :)

A few of you have been asking me to do a post about my engagement, there's so much more to say than this but I'll try and keep it as short as I can...

On Wednesday night 12/12/12 Stef asked me to marry him. It was such an amazing surprise, I won’t ever forget it, it was beautiful, romantic and perfect, and I can't possibly even put into words how happy we both are.

Stef told me we were going to pick up his sister from the airport, and I'd booked half a day off work so we could all go for dinner together.
Luckily for him, I have no sense of direction whatsoever, so I didn’t notice until the last minute that he had actually driven me to the beautiful Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire, the first place we ever stayed together.
He'd booked out the same suite we'd stayed in when we were first falling in love, and arranged for me to take the next day off work so we could really relax, what an absolute sweety.

We started off our evening drinking champagne and ordering room service next to the roaring fire in our suite, it was soooo cosey and we were having such a giggle. Later on, and full of bubbles, we headed down to dinner.
When the restaurant was empty apart from us, and the time rolled round for us to order dessert, the waiter came over and put a big silver tray with a dome lid in front of me. Ooooooh, I thought, surprise desert, 'Stef what's this?' I said, 'I don't know, have a look'. I lifted the lid and there was a ring box there, and then he asked me to marry him :)
The waiters must have been watching, as soon as my eyes started to well up with tears they brought over tissues and a plaque of congratulations chocolates with a sparkler on. And that’s how it happened J I swear I’ve cried about a billion times since then hehe

The next day, after a lovely long lie in, in possibly the most comfortable bed ever and a delicious breakfast of fruit and waffles, we took a chilly stroll around the grounds. After all that snow and cold weather, the lake had frozen and frost covered everything, it was stunning, like how I imagine the gardens from Alice in Wonderland or Narnia.

It really was the perfect little pre-Christmas get away to the countryside, I'm a very lucky lady indeed. Stoke Park is beautiful and has so much history, it was honestly like something out of a movie or a dream. It was the perfect proposal.

She made me buy it...

Hey beautifuls, 

sorry I've been a little absent, I've had a manic few days. If you haven't heard the news already, I got engaged :) I'm literally over the moon, it was absolutely perfect. I'll be writing a proper post about it really soon...

I was a little bit naughty today and caved in Space NK. Partly to do with the fact that my friend Laura convinced me that I needed this hand-cream... She made me do it, I swear!!

This Creme Broulee soufflé is my absolute favourite smell in the world at the moment, it's divine.

I literally want to soak myself up in it every night. I sound like a freak but it's seriously delicious. Laura made the point that I did just get engaged, so I need to keep my hands and nails in good condition to show off my ring... 

When she put like that, I suppose a little self-indulgence is allowed, right? I mean, c'mon, that just makes sense, right?

I'll be saving this for my bedside table, so I can go to bed smelling of soufflé, mmmm.

Have you tried Laura Mercier hand cream before? 

Photo Diary #13 and it's bound to make you smile...

Hello beautifuls!
How have your weekends been? I've had a packed one once again; I'll try and make this a quick-ish update so I don't bore you all to death!

Friday night Stef and I went out in Clapham for a curry and a few drinks with our housemate and his girlfriend. We ended up drinking rather a lot and I'm not going to lie, Saturday was a little bit of a struggle.
On Saturday we took a gentle stroll around the market in Angel (down Camden passage), and found the most exquisite little chocolatier, don't they look scrumptious? We tried the hot chocolate and it was literally like drinking melted chocolate, yummy. I've got such a sweet tooth its ridiculous. I think I have a super addiction to hot chocolate recently, I'm going to blame it on the time of year?! Which by the way, I also blame for my mulled wine addiction...

Saturday night was our anniversary, we went out for dinner at the very same place we had our first date, Paramount Centre Point. The food and wine was delicious (so delicious we gobbled it up before I realized I hadn’t photographed it, boohoo), and really, what can top that view of London at night, it's just stunning isn't it? We've had the best year together, and it was such a perfect romantic way to celebrate.

On Sunday it was time to get our Christmas tree, normally I make the Christmas tree man get them all out for me so I can choose the best one (I know this makes me sound like such a princess, but the right tree is important), but it just so happened that the first one he pulled out was perfect. That never happens!
After dropping it off at home we headed into town to meet the lovely Quentin Blake (you probably recognize him as the artist who illustrates Roald Dahl books). Stef bought a couple of Quentin’s original drawings to put up in our flat, so we were lucky enough to be invited to meet him for a signing. It was such an honor, he brought to life my favourite childhood books like 'The Witches' and 'Matilda'.

We then nipped out for some dinner with the lovely Sam Pepper (some of you might know him through making Youtube videos with Zoella). I ordered this pizza without realizing the size of it, half prawn and crème fraiche and half spicy sausage and chillies, wow what a combo! Somehow I managed to eat the whole thing, and I'm very proud of myself for that! Two bottles of Prossecco later, we headed home, cracked open some mulled wine and rather tipsily decorated our tree.

Phewf, what a manic weekend!

What did you all get up to? Lots of festive things?

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? I'm planning on blitzing all of mine tonight after work in Covent Garden, wish me luck, I'm slightly terrified of the manic Christmas shoppers....

Photo Diary#12 It's part of me, apart from me

Chilly Sunday stroll around the common | Ice-skating in Hyde Park | Icy pond | Chicken wraps for lunch | The Ferris wheel at Winter wonderland | Yet another Cheeseburger

You might have guessed that I've become slightly snap happy ever since I got my Iphone. I'm the most annoying person to go out with now because I just want to photograph everything. I won’t let you eat your food until I've photographed it.

It was so hard for me to pick a small selection of photos for this post, I've taken so many... I hope you like these little snapshots of my week.

So anyway, what have I been up to?

Last week the work ladies and I headed over to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, I've never been before and it has to be done really doesn't it?!

It really gave me that little Christmas tingle, the smells of mulled wine and hot-dogs, ice-skating and fair rides. I'll admit I was a little apprehensive about ice-skating, I haven’t been for a good few years, but I'm very proud of myself for not falling over! 

The highlight of my evening has got to be going on the "Power Tower". It lifts you up to the same height as a high rise building (it's not for the faint-hearted), we could see the whole London skyline at night time. It was completely breath-taking and I kicked myself for not taking my camera on the ride with me!

Stef and I spent Saturday afternoon watching the rugby by a log fire in a cute little pub in Primrose Hill. I'm not normally one for rugby, but when you team it with a few glasses of mulled wine, home-made sausage and mash, a log fire and a cuddly boyfriend, it sounds much more appealing, right? I love Primrose Hill, it's got to be one of my favourite places in London.

We walked to the top of actual Primrose Hill after dark, to see London all lit up and pretty (for those of you who don't know, it's another spot where you can see the whole of London). It was tooo cold to stay out forl long so we headed home with a bag of dark chocolate covered pretzels. Good way to spend an evening? I think so.

On Sunday we had a little stroll around Clapham Common, it was so chilly that the pond had frozen over and by the time we got home for a scrummy lunch of chicken wraps, my face was pretty numb!

Since I've recovered from my ill spell, pretty much all I wany to consume is cheeseburgers. This one was burger number 4 of the week, I'm such a pig. I think because I couldn't eat anything for so long I'm making up for that now! So sorry for the constant food porn photos, you know by now that I'm such a foody and I'm just really enjoying eating at the moment!

Now, I seem to have rambled on sufficiently....

How were your weekends?

Do you like taking photographs of the things you're getting up to?

Lola's

Stuck for a gift idea? Trust me, cupcakes will go down a treat with pretty much anyone you know. Unless of course, they don't like cupcakes, in which case, definitely don’t trust them.

My obsession started last week when my good friend Laura brought me a box when I was unwell, what a total gem.

Let me tell you now, they were certainly the best way to celebrate feeling better!

I've never eaten such a delicious cupcake in all my whole 23 years.

The strawberry one has got to be my absolute favourite, with raspberry coming a very close second! I think I'm even planning on arranging a giant Lola’s strawberry cupcake as my wedding cake, it's really that good. I’d go as far as saying it’s the most delicious thing you can do with your clothes on! tehe

I've nipped into Selfridges since then to stock up too. Yes, I am a huge fatty, I know, I know.

If you're planning on Christmas shopping in central London, I'd definitely recommend hitting the Lolas' cafe in Selfriges. If you’re not keen on spending a great deal, you can even order just one cupcake, it'll come in a cute single box too.

I'm planning on eating my way through every flavor, so far I've tried and tested Oreo, red velvet, banana, raspberry and strawberry. 

Being a huge foody myself, I think these are a perfect present for someone, great to take home this Christmas for your pals or parents. The best part? You can even order them online on the Lolas Kitchen website, a savior for all you last minute shoppers out there. I'm not judging, I'm one of those too.

Have you ever had lolas cupcakes?

Tonight I'm going ice-skating in Winter Wonderland with the girls from work, I'm slightly terrified about this! It should be really Christmassy though, I can't wait to hit the carousel bar (oh yes, a bar on a carousel that rotates as you drink,), eat candy floss and poop myself on rollercoaster’s. Have any of you been before? Let me know if it's good!

Sorry I haven't really done any beauty related posts lately, I'll be back on it soon :)

Burberry

I fell totally and utterly in love last weekend.
I took a little trip in to Burberry on Oxford street, purely to help my boyfriend pick out a new trench coat.
I'd promised myself that I would keep my eyes tightly shut and walk straight past the women’s department, knowing it was more than likely I would spy something I'd fall desperately in love with, consequently spending the next few months in agony not being able to purchase it.

Trust me to go ahead and spot possibly the most expensive trench they have in the whole bloody women’s department. A whopping £3,500.
Isn't it gorgeous? And besides, who doesn't want to shop somewhere where they offer you wine?!

I just love how this is a such a stunning fashion twist on the classic iconic trench. It's such a statement with the studded leather arms and luxurious real fur collar. *swoons*

Can anyone suggest a good high street copy? I haven't seen anything like this, so please let me know if there's a more affordable version!

Have you ever fallen in love with something completely out of your price range?