It’s one of those days where I’m feeling really philosophical. I’ve just had my morning notification that my TimeHop is ready. Not heard of it? Okay, so it’s a little application you can download which scans your social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram & Twitter and manages to source all your exact photos, tweets and statuses from that exact day from years gone by.
Whilst I am all for it, the photo’s make me smile because hey, when do you ever upload a bad photo? But it’s the grim statuses that make me cringe. Most of mine are pretty light hearted. I for one cannot stand soppy or hate-filled statuses so will not abide to doing it myself but this time last year was when my Grandad was taken pretty ill. I’m not quite sure I want to relive anything that reminds me of that time?
I’m sure the aim of the game is to reminisce about some of the fantastic memories that I’ve had with my husband, family and dear friends over the years and most days it does make me chuckle to myself. But what does happen when something pops up that you don’t want to be reminded of. An ex who broke it off with you? The day your car blew up? This can’t be good for us to be reminded of that.
For example today’s offerings were a status from 3 years ago & I cringed when I read it. A preacher of none whining statuses (as I so freely admit here) I went and broke my golden rule! I have absolutely no idea what on earth I’m referring to, but whatever it was at the time clearly made me feel pretty crap.
However, fast forward to a year ago, I’m looking Happy as Larry at our local Christmas Light switch on. (And noticeably skinnier too!) Now whilst this is a happy memory, at the same time I’m looking at myself thinking ”Gosh, I wish I was that thin again!” – so it’s had a catch 22 effect on. BOOO.
TimeHop was recently in the middle of a scandal when on the anniversary of September the 11th our little TimeHop dinosaur was pretty jolly to say the least. In fact on my feed he was telling me ”Don’t Panic” which was pretty ironic.
Whilst there was a sullen image of respect below it just became distasteful. I just hope come the next anniversary they are a little more on the ball with their little captions.
For me, I do love this app & I feel myself checking it every morning to remind myself of plenty of good times. Do you have this app? Do love the fact that it brings up old memories or hate it because it brings up your past?
Are you one of those people that just scrolls and scrolls and scrolls through Pinterest on an evening? I can see you nodding your head. I am also a self-confessed Pinterest Addict and I will gladly hold my hand up and admit that. Whilst the excitement of pinning for our wedding this year has faded now the momentous occasion has passed us by in a heart beat I can’t help move on to my next ”project.” Yes, you guessed it. My dream home. Gone are the days I would spend ogling my Style Crushes I’m now endlessly re-pinning those log burning stoves & ”hearting” different images of roll top baths. My desire to own the perfect home has peaked and has now headed online to where you can actually buy these beautiful things.
Rodgers of York is situated at Monks Cross industrial park and boasts many collections of home ware from classic and traditional pieces to the more modern, eclectic styles. They are sure to have something for nearly every room in the house.
I picked out some of my firm favourites that whilst I’m dreaming of the perfect home, surely I can pick up the perfect furniture in the mean time. Right?
I dream of the day where I can own a lovely little countryside cottage so when I saw this beautiful set of furniture of a dining kitchen my eyes went all ”heart eyed emoji” – I love the white painted furniture with oak tops. Nothing screams French château quite like it? This is from the Bentley Hampstead collection, from the gorgeous dressers to large dining tables I could definitely see myself and Mr C having something like this in our forever home.
Who doesn’t love a lavish sofa? This is reminiscent of a French chaise langue & I love that style. The chintzy pattern screams ”feature piece” for any living room and doesn’t the fabric look oh-so nice? I think I’d end up stroking it continuously. This sofa is from the Alston’s Courtney range and there are plenty more to choose from.
You can see a pattern emerging here, right? Yes, you better believe it. It’s another white framed set of furniture with oak tops. I just think it looks so elegant and timeless. I love the style of the drawers on all the side tables and chest of drawers, it simply reminds me of the shaker style kitchens (which is of course how I would love my kitchen to be!) I dream of the day where I have a large enough bedroom to attain a blanket box at the end of the bed too. I can almost dream of being in a bedroom like this right now. Is it bedtime yet? This is from the Oklahoma range and is firmly on my dream home checklist.
It’s not just furniture that Rodgers of York does either? They have a fabulous range of soft furnishings, wallpaper and blinds too. It would seem that Rodgers definitley has everything covered! So if you are looking for a bit of ”Home Inspiration” then head to Rodgers of York, situated at Monks Cross Retail Park there is plenty of free parking to indulge in a bit of a home ware splurge! I for one will be heading there soon.
You know when it’s your birthday and you unwrap your presents in one of two ways, you’re either a person that’s frantically rips the paper off at mammoth speed to then move on to the next one or you are someone who peels things carefully, savouring each moment. I fall in to the latter category and when my subscription of degustabox lands on my doorstep at the end of the month I can’t wait to carefully to unveil what goodies are inside. October’s was a culinary dream & pretty much everything in the box made me shrill with delight.
Kent’s Kitchen Meal Kits RRP £2.50
Stop what you are doing. Put down your jar of fake curry now. This is what you need to be doing from now on. I say this so strongly because this is what I have just had for my tea. To say it was delicious would be an understatement. The wonderful meal kits from Kent’s Kitchen are an easy 1, 2, 3 step process. Fry your chicken or choice of meat and add the pots one by one and see your meal cooked within 20 minutes or so (don’t forget a tin of coconut milk for the Bengal Curry.) Simple yet so effective. Mr C & I have been leaning towards the curry’s that include a powder recently, it just seems to create so much more flavour and this one has to be one of our favourites that we have tried. Despite it being a Bengal curry it did taste very fragrant like a Thai Curry which is my favourite dish, this is probably why it is such a winner!
Brioche Pasquier Sliced Brioche Loaf RRP £1.69 & Brioche Pasquier Pan au Lait with Choc Chips RRP £1.60
To say I’m not a savoury fiend, would be a downright, total lie. But, when you add chocolate to some scrummy milk bread I cannot resist. Going all continental I have been enjoying a Pan au Lait every morning (& quite possibly every evening but shhhh!) because they are simply to die for. I’ve already had the pleasure to eat these two products in the past so it was only right to be thoroughly thrilled at the prospect of creating one of my signature dishes with Mr C, bread & butter pudding with the sliced brioche. I can’t wait to make it this weekend on a cosy, wintery Sunday afternoon.
I didn’t even get a look in with these when they arrived. They firmly entered Mr C’s mouth and were laid to rest in his stomach. I think it took him T-Minus ten seconds to eat all these so overall I would say that they went down a (sweet) treat!
Solo Marshmallow Creme RRP £1.99
As the biggest fan of ‘’Fluff’’ this made my eyes light up. I’d never tried the toasted marshmallow version so I was excited to get a spoon and dig right in. It was delicious but very rich which meant only 2 spoonfuls would be enough, anymore I’d be in a marshmallow coma with my head over the toilet. I think I’m going to create the delicious fudge recipe with it instead of spooning it like Nutella!
Blue Dragon Sweet Chilli Sauce RRP £1.39
I love, love, love sweet chilli sauce. Especially to dip Thai style vegetable rolls in! However, I’ve gladly sat and doused numerous crisps with the sauce at great measures. It is just too yummy to stop at one or two. Receiving two of these means I will be kept in ‘’Sweet Chilli Heaven’’ for some time.
Special K Cracker Crisps RRP £1.89
I’m on a diet so it disgusts me to think I’d happily sit and quaff on about 5 packets of crisps if I wanted to. So imagine my glee when I found the Special K Cracker Crisps in the box! At 60% less fat these little crisps make it feel less sinful. Although BBQ flavour isn’t exactly my favourite, they were actually really flavoursome which surprised me! At £1.89 it’s at the higher end of what I would want to pay for a family-size bag of crisps, if these were on offer I’d definitely think about getting them for a healthier alternative.
Bear Paws RRP 55p
I can’t say that I was a huge fan of these. Mr C gladly wolfed them down. I’d describe them to taste a little like those strawberry winders all the ‘’cool kids’’ would get in their pack ups at primary school. I never did like them. Whilst I praise the ‘’no added nonsense’’ strapline (which actually lives up to it’s premise – they are made of only apples, pears, strawberries & little sweet potato extract!), the fun aspect of the paw shaped fruit shape for kids is great too, sadly it just wasn’t for me!
Enhance Drinks RRP £2.49
I’m a water fiend & I will drink pints of it a day. I’m also weaning myself off diet coke which has been a task but I’m getting there. I’ve been trying to think of ways to spice up what drinks I have and this has been the perfect answer! I love orange and passion fruit so it’s reminiscent of a J20. At just 1 calorie per drink it means I can have a couple of fruity drinks a day and not feel guilty about it!
What I haven’t tried yet…
Get Buzzing Bars RRP £1.30
I love the aspect of nuts and oats. I love anything like this. I don’t know why I haven’t delved in with this yet but the combination is perfect for me & I have no doubt that I will be dying for more after I’ve tried it. Whilst some may feel the price bracket is a little steep for 1 bar I have seen something similar in our local shop retail at nearly £2! So to me, this is quite the bargain.
Dr Oetker Extra Dark Chocolate RRP £2.49 & Dr Oetker Fine Dark Cocoa Powder RRP £1.89
This coming weekend I’m ready to get my bake on. These babies will feature heavily in the making too. I’m hoping to make my famous chocolate pecan pie. One of Mr C & I’s favourite puddings! Absolutely shockingly bad in the calorie stakes but oh-so finger licking good in the taste stakes. Once I’ve made it I will gladly share the recipe with you all.
So, to round up another fabulous degustabox would be to say that it was fabulous! As I’m not a beauty addict but a huge food lover this is the perfect subscription box for me. With it coming up to Christmas it would also be a great idea to buy a subscription for a loved one too. To help you on your way I have a discount code QCICX which will save you £3!
I’d love to hear from you if you sign up!
Rebecca xxx
C/O degustabox for review purposes. All views are explicitly mine I am not influenced by any other factor.
I only started my diet & exercise regime on Monday but already I’m starting to see the results, maybe not on hips & thighs but in my mindset.
Yesterday I posted something of a diary post here, it felt so therapeutic to just write it down and not hide behind the happy persona I portray. It actually made me deal with it head on. And for that, the last month I have been comfort eating, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol on a weekend and it’s had a negative effect on not only my body but my mind too. It was time to take action and really make me feel good about myself.
Last night I did 45 minutes of swimming and was under my calorie goal on MyFitnessPal. To see it written down gave me the boost I needed. I’m a person that likes to see results clearly so keeping fit by using the tools such as MyFitnessPal has really helped me get into a mind set to achieve something. Not stopping there, this morning I made my way down to our brand new local, outdoor gym. Not only is it great for the community, it’s free & it makes gym equipment accessible for the masses. I really think this should be championed in places where transport links aren’t great to those huge, branded, well-known gyms!
After a successful #HappySelves chat on Monday night we actually were trending on twitter! Despite feeling down & out over the last month this chat has really helped me when feeling low. The chat wouldn’t be what it is without it’s participants and for that I am truly grateful to you all. I feel like I’m going down a road now to making myself feel good about myself. Everything starts at ”ME”, it may sound selfish, but having that told to you is the biggest feeling of relief you could even possibly imagine. It isn’t selfish to want to feel better mentally and physically so I have taken that advice and fingers crossed, in a months time both you & I will see the results!
I’d love to hear what you use to keep motivated? For me it’s using MyFitnessPal and reading inspirational quotes. Also, getting off my bottom & just moving is the biggest thing too!
Today I really struggled. Sometimes tears just have to fall despite trying to keep your head above water. It would seem that tears keep falling a bit too frequently at the moment. To me this indicates that I’m not just swimming without a paddle, I’m slowly sinking. Things are tough at the moment and those things that are just going round my head like a whirling derby. I need to start taking my own ”Happy Selves” advice but sometimes it’s hard to sing from your own hymn sheet, you know?
I’m making slow positive steps and creating myself a new diet and exercise plan, to motivate me, but once I make a positive step I seem to jump a few hurdles back. I’ve been somewhat lacking in motivation for the last few months. With a countdown to our holiday in Egypt I think it is the welcome break I need after a very crazy, roller coaster year. This month marks a year since my dear Granddad was taken in to hospital with pancreatitis, a very deadly disease. It was a raw & painful 5 months and the family pulled together through some of our darkest times. He defied all odds, and there were a lot stacked against him, but he came home earlier this year to open arms.
It seems the winter months are the hardest, for most people they are. The dark mornings, the pitch black nights. You barely live an existence (or that is how I feel, which is probably down to my own personal issues). But, things just generally start going wrong at this time of year. Planning forward I know I need to see a light at the end of the tunnel & I am slowly getting there but it’s pulling everyone else dear to me in to the light too. I take on not just my own personal battles but the ones of those I love and surround me, too.
2014 was a beautiful year for James & I, we got married and it was a wonderful day celebrating just him & I. A day I will never forget. I am thankful for those moments and it’s them that I need to cling on to to bring me closer to feeling 100% right again. I’d hate for this entry to end on a negative note. One day I am a half empty glass kind of girl and the next it’s half full, even brimming. I suppose that’s my exuberant nature of my personality. It is like a see-saw and I just need to find that balance.
Footnote: I had a chat with my boss after writing this and it felt so great to just release all the demons that have been plaguing me recently. It was so nice to speak so openly and honestly with someone that you look up to and respect without being judged. The advice was sincere and genuine, I know I’m going in the right direction by asking for help rather than drowning on my own. I can do this. I just need to always remember,
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