Green Smoothie

Green smoothies have been around for a while now - smoothies made of all the things you probably wouldn't want to drink with some added fruit to make it a little bit more appetizing. I hadn't tried one until a few months ago, mainly because of the colour but now I've tried one I can see why they are so popular. As long as you put a good amount of fruit in to balance it out with the veg, you can't really go wrong! It's a really refreshing drink and from this recipe you can make 1 large glass or 2 small glasses of smoothie. Here is the recipe I use:

• 1/2 a mango (you could substitute this for pineapple if you prefer)
• 1 handful of spinach (or kale)
• 1 handful of cucumber
• 3 mint leaves (and one for deco on top)
• Fruit juice to sweeten to taste
• 1 banana

You will need a blender for this but I find that they don't have to be pricey - I got this Kenwood blender for £20 in Tesco which comes with 2 travel mugs and lids to take your smoothie with you on the go. You don't need to put anything in the blender in order, although I leave the juice until last. Once all the fruit and veg is in, just turn on the blender and blend until smooth! You can always add water if you prefer your smoothies runnier or for a bit of a kick, why not add a bit of ginger! Lastly, enjoy!

Sissinghurst Castle

Back in July for our anniversary, Nick and I went on a trip to Sissinghurst Castle in Kent. It's a beautiful place to visit, with it's stunning gardens and the amazing view you get of the Kentish countryside at the top of the Tower in the castle! Although tickets are pricey it is National Trust so it's well worth the entry fee. We were half tempted to get the yearly National Trust pass but there's not actually a lot of places to visit near us - but it is a good bargain if you are under 25.

Make sure you check out the castle itself, although a lot of it isn't accessible to the public (or at least wasn't whilst we were there) and take a walk around the lake - it was such a warm day so it was nice to be under the shade of trees! There is also a little cafe near the carpark so you can pick up a nice refreshing drink after all of the walking! Sissinghurst Castle is one of those places where you can visit all year round, I've visited in October a couple of years back when it was just as nice but a little less busy!

Argan Oil Shampoo and Conditioner

I admit, I was really really late to jump onto the Argan Oil bandwagon. I've seen both friends and celebrities raving about it and then there's me sticking to my usual boring hair routine of Herbal Essences shampoo followed by, you guessed it, Herbal Essences conditioner. I stumbled across the Argan Oil Shampoo and Conditioner by chance - in the special offers aisle of Tesco for £1 each! I had to try it for that price! Now I know you can spend a fortune on Argan Oil products, but I just don't see why you should, the ingredients all contain the one thing you want - the oil itself.

For a product so cheap, it was utterly amazing and has changed my hair care routine completely. Firstly, it smells so nice and luxurious as it it cost £20 instead of £1. As soon as I washed it all out of my hair, I could notice a difference straight away. It was silky smooth and appeared tangle free (which rarely ever happens to me!). I wash my hair in the evening and let it dry naturally over night so I was interested to see how my hair would fare the next morning.

Again, I can't fault this item, the next day my hair was still so smooth, moisturised and shiny. A little bit of tangle but not half as bad as the products I was using before. It's been a good few weeks since I first started using Argan Oil, but I'm still surprised of it's softness every wash. I couldn't imagine my hair care without it!

V05 Give Me Texture Instant Oomph Powder Review

I am one of the unlucky few out there that suffer from very fine hair. It has absolutely no volume to it and after brushing and styling it, a few hours later it will be limp and lifeless. I've seen a few reviews for the V05 volume power which are all so mixed. I wasn't sure about it at first, but at £4 I thought I'd give it ago. I would try anything that might help my hair!

I was surprised with how small the bottle actually is. There is only 7g worst of product in there but it should still last you a couple of weeks if you used it religiously. The packaging is bright and attractive like all V05 products - and also the perfect size for putting in your bag so you can volumize on the go.

However, I really didn't get along with this volume powder. I started off using a very small amount of the white powder and apply it with my hands directly to the roots. It made the hairs clump together and the texture felt very tacky, dirty and greasy - I was really itching for a wash! Volume wise, I didn't see a huge amount of difference. I tried adding a little bit more but again, not much luck. However, it does smell really nice but if you want some added texture and volume without the mess, I'd just stick to some dry shampoo!

Mini Boohoo Haul!

 So, the other week, I was a little bit bored so went on a few sites - Asos, Boohoo, Topshop etc - just to have a browse at their new items. In the end, I ended up buying a few things from Boohoo, whoops! It's been a long time since I've bought several things at once, usually I just buy a single item at a time, but I'll let myself off this time! 4 items may not sound a lot to some of you, but for me it's an achievement to find 4 things I like from one shop!



I've been in need of some cropped tops/jumpers for a while now. I had seen some in Topshop that I liked but I remember them being about £15 and I just couldn't justify that amount of money for a basic top. When I saw these two tops from Boohoo for £8 I fell in love and just had to buy them! They are both cropped and have a ribbed texture and fit really nicely. The black one is an off the shoulder design which I think looks lovely both dressed up or down!

The third item I bought were these round sunglasses. Again, I had seen some in Topshop about a month ago but they were too big for my face and the ones I liked on Asos were £12. So at £6, these Boohoo ones were an absolute bargain and I love them!

The fourth and final item bought was this lovely black smock dress with white embroidered detail at the bottom and an open shoulder. It's such a unique dress I think and would be perfect with some boots and a fedora in the Autumn! This dress was £10 down from £18 in the sale so amazing!!

 
I must admit, I had never bought anything from Boohoo before. I had never seen anything I'd liked so never bothered. However, I'm thrilled with both the quality of the items and the time it took for my delivery to arrive. I ordered it on Thursday afternoon and it arrived on Sunday morning - I didn't even realise you could get parcels on a Sunday! So thank you Boohoo for a lovely shopping experience and I'm sure you'll see me again soon!

Smock dress 
Off the shoulder crop top 
Ribbed crop top
Round sunglasses

What I'm also wearing:
Faux Leather Skirt - H&M 

 

Rome

Nick and I visited Rome in November last year and it was a brilliant break - and our first ever holiday together. We're both people who love to explore places, so a holiday where we just sat in front of a pool all day just wasn't for us. Although it was pretty chilly in the UK, it was about 20 degrees over in Rome so the perfect temperature for sightseeing and lots of walking! We were so lucky with the weather and it only rained on one day out of the six we were there for.

We stayed in the Kennedy Hotel which was right next to the Termini station in Central Rome, making getting to and from the airport ridiculously easy. The hotel was basic but we were rarely there so it didn't matter, and we did get breakfast included which was a bonus. We booked our holiday through British Airways, and it only came to about £220 with flights and hotel!

We made sure we saw all of the main attractions in Rome including the Colosseum, The Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. One of my favourite highlights though was walking all the way to the top of the dome at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City and seeing the view.

During our trip we made sure to eat as much pizza and ice cream as possible. We found food to be fairly affordable and had a lot of spending money left over after our trip. I came to Rome thinking it was an expensive city, but in reality it was probably no worse than going to London! We hope to return in the future, but we are currently looking into our next city break, possibly Istanbul so stay tuned!

25 Facts About Me

• I live on the south east coast of the UK, in Folkestone, Kent
• I used to live in Hastings
• I have 3 cats - Suki, Logan and Eric
• I live with my fiance, Nick
• One of my favourite hobbies is photography, and I have a collection of over 60 film cameras (no space for them though!)
• I love buying home accessories more than clothes...
• I used to suffer from ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• I am an adrenaline junkie and love theme parks...
• ... But I hate flying
• I have a very long bucket list, mainly filled with countries I would like to visit
• I spend too much time watching youtube videos
• I would genuinely love to live in Ikea
• When I was younger, I wanted to be a teacher, but then decided I didn't actually like children...
• I have one younger, and very intelligent, brother called Alex
• Over the years, I have kept rats, mice, rabbits, chickens, fish and cats.
• I am a bit of a control freak so very much enjoy playing the Sims.
• I am the least organised person you'll ever meet
• I hate horror movies
• My favourite book is Wuthering Heights
• I love Star Wars and Harry Potter (Nerd alert!)
• I am veggie - never have liked the taste of meat!
• Favourite show has to be Game of Thrones!
• I have a diploma in Music Performance and can play keyboard/piano
• I love to bake - especially chocolate cake
• My favourite food is mashed potato

And whilst we're here, I would like to introduce my babies (well, cats). Logan - the white kitten with blue eyes, his brother Eric (yes, we're having an X-men theme here) the ginger kitten. The kittens are now 5 months old so slightly bigger than in this photo! Our first cat Suki, black and white with a little Hitler mustache. All of my cats are rescue cats and I would urge anyone to consider a rescue cat if you are wanting one, or any animal for that matter. There are so many animals out there that need loving homes, so why not pop down to the local rescue centre to see what they have :)