Summary

Afternoon lovelies, just a little update with what’s going on with me at the minute, I do have some planned posts written down to do it’s just finding the time to do them.

Slimming World – I had to go back! My eating habits were becoming shocking and I was also being very lazy with no exercise. I haven’t been to Slimming World since the beginning of June which is when I got my 1 stone award, I went back last Thursday (weigh in last night) and put on 8.5 pounds since my last weigh in back in June! 8.5 pounds! My god, it just goes to show how easy it is to do. I went last night and lost 3 pound and it was 'star week' for me so I was pretty chuffed. I am really enjoying the diet again this time round and I hope I can keep this up!

Baking – If you follow me on Twitter (if not, why not? =D @TheHQofBeauty) you will know that I have gone baking mad! Darren ♥ and I recently got a new oven installed in our flat which is fan assisted which means my cakes come out taller than me! So far I have made, Red Velvet Cupcakes and a Lemon Drizzle Cake. I have a carrot cake to make this weekend, it’s all go go go! I’ve been looking up cake decorations, piping bags and nozzles on eBay and last night I even watched a couple of YT videos on how to make fondant icing! Darren ♥ made a joke that I could make our wedding cake. We haven’t even talked about ‘the wedding’ but it got me thinking about it and I do like a challenge! Kind of wish I waited another month before going back to Slimming World…….man I love da cake! =D

I could eat one of these right now!

Blogposts and You Tube videos – You may have noticed that there has been a bit of a dip in my posts and videos, I’ve had a few family matters to attend to. Right this minute my Father-in-Law ♥ to be is recovering from major surgery so my blog and YT have had to take a back seat whilst we all pull together for him. I’m fattening him back up with Carrot Cake this weekend! I also had a massive phone bill from Turkey to pay and that kinda sucked up all my money that I usually spend on myself/cosmetics. Hopefully I will be back on track this month.

Cosmo Blog Awards – My sister Faye ♥ entered me in for the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards under ‘New Beauty Blog’ category, I’ve put off asking anything like this as I didn’t want it to come across as ‘begging’ but it would really make my day if you voted for my blog in the ‘New Beauty Blog’ category. I have voted for a couple of favourites this year, good luck to everyone.

That’s it for me really, I’m having a nightmare trying to track down the Oh So Special Palette by Sleek, I’ve tried the Superdrug over Monument twice and the Superdrug at Fenchurch Street, I even have my sister on the lookout. Thanks Fuzz ♥

I hope you all have a fab weekend, I should hopefully get a couple of posts done over the weekend and maybe even a video! Have you subbed to my You Tube channel too?

The HQ of Beauty

♥

Summary

Afternoon ladies! First up I just want to apologise for hardly posting anything for the last few weeks, since returning from my hols I’ve been snowed under at work and my personal life hasn’t stopped either. We had a big family ‘do last weekend for my Grandads 80th which was on the Isle of Wight. I managed to take a few snaps of my nails but the make up was nothing different to what I had done already. So here’s a little summary of things in my world.

Slimming World – Well I think it’s safe to say I’m not a member anymore, the last time I went was way before my hols, I managed to get to my stone award just before going abroad so I know I can do it. I put on 3 pounds on holiday, which I’m still carrying around with me now. I’ve also lost the urge to exercise and have become very lazy, booking classes at the leisure centre then cancelling them, mainly because I couldn’t be bothered to go. I read Nadia’s post on Weight Watchers, Nadia has done incredible on the diet losing 2 stone since the beginning of the year. I done Weight Watchers 8 years ago and it’s all changed since I done it. Maybe a change might do me good!?!

You Tube – A few weeks ago I recorded a little video for You Tube, it was just a little Hello video to introduce myself etc. Since then I haven’t had a chance to film anything with being so busy. So, on Friday I set myself up in the kitchen with make-up, mirror, camera and hair done nice ready to film, which I did. Halfway through filming my battery ran out on my camera, so I had to wait to film the 2nd part, I dropped my brush twice and I didn’t film an intro I just started applying make up. One half of my face looked like I had gone OTT on the blusher but it was just the shadows in the room. I just wasn’t happy with it so deleted it. Then Saturday afternoon I tried to film a hair video but I think I’ve lost my confidence with it before it’s even begun. Maybe I need a bit more practise.

This next bit is a bit deeeeep!

Amy Winehouse – After my shambolic attempt at filming a hair video on Saturday came the news that Amy Winehouse had passed away. This upset me a lot and I’m not ashamed to admit later on whilst I was watching the news at 10pm ( Darren ♥ was watching Tyson Fury) I did have a little cry. I’ve always been a big fan of Amy and couldn’t wait for her 3rd album to come out. A few years ago I even dressed as her for fancy dress party. (I was a healthy Amy Winehouse, I had curves!) I think we have lost an incredible talent at such a young age. I’m still upset about it and a little angry. It’s such a shame she couldn’t overcome her demons and come back to us fighting fit and reclaiming her place in the charts. (although I have heard Back to Black is No 1 in the album charts) My heart goes out to her family and friends. I do believe she’s in a better place now where drink and drugs can’t hurt her anymore. This morning at work one of my colleagues made a sick joke about her, which I will never repeat. I think jokes about the deceased are a step too far, something I will never find funny.

RIP Amy Jade (Mermaid) Winehouse 14th September 1983 – 23rd July 2011

24th July - Sunday would have been my Dad’s ♥ 60th birthday so me, Darren ♥, Faye ♥ and her fella Mikey ♥ went to the crematorium to see him. We laid flowers at his tree and wished him a happy birthday. The sun was shinning and it was beautiful. I felt like I could have stayed longer, sat on the bench for a bit, had a chat. I lost my Dad ♥ 18 months ago to the big C and I still don’t think its set in, it seems to get harder every year he’s not here, gets harder every time we visit him. RIP Dad – ♥ I Love You ♥

Ok deepness over! I hope to have some time to do some posts this weekend I don’t have a lot planned other than seeing a mate on Saturday morning so from now til then I will get my blogging head back on and think of some posts to do. I have also promised Darren ♥ that I would cut the spending down a bit this month and I’m not enjoying it one bit!

♥

Summary

Hey girlies, I am writing this with hours to spare before I’m up, up and away on my hols so I thought I’d better just do a quick summary. I have some scheduled posts going on my blog whilst I’m away but I will comment to all of you when I’m back. Or if I can sneak to an internet café whilst Darrens ♥ not looking then I will of course reply then. I’m not sure how I’m going to cope with no internet, no Twitter banter and no blogs to read! But I am super excited about going away. Our holiday to the Maldives last year was lovely but it rained for the entire second week, I didn’t come back the colour I wanted to be!

Slimming World – Ok, a few weeks back I told you I had finally reached my 1 Stone award which I did and I was so chuffed about it, so chuffed I drove straight to KFC and celebrated with a Zinger Tower Burger meal! *face palm*. It was also Darren’s ♥ birthday 2 days after that weigh in which mean a lot of Vodka got drunk and a lot of fatty horrible (lovely) foods got eaten. Hence me putting on 2 pounds and not going back to Slimming World. I really didn’t see the point in going to get weighed for them to tell me what I already knew then to try and fight getting the 2 pound off before I go away. I think I’m already in holiday mode! I haven’t put on anymore weight and fingers crossed I won’t whilst I’m away. I will do a summary when I’m back.

Go Ape – For Darrens ♥ birthday I took him to Go Ape at Leeds Castle in Maidstone Kent. It was all a big surprise and told him it was just me, him his sister and her boyfriend but when we got there 9 of our other friends were there too. I managed to pull it off with nobody blowing the surprise he was well pleased and I got a new dress out of it too! Go Ape is a tree top adventure place, with tree top high wires, tricky crossings using ladders, walkways, bridges and tunnels made of wood, rope and super-strong wire. The whole course takes 3 hours and was such a laugh, Darrens ♥ sister thinks I was a monkey in a former life. I’d go back tomorrow! Oooh Oooh Ahhh Ahhh!

Duty Free – I can’t tell you how excited I am at the thought of Duty Free shopping. Darren ♥ asked me what perfume I would be buying this year but to be honest I’ve got enough of that so will just be hitting MAC hard! On my list I have Vegas Volt, 109 brush, Strange Potion lipglass (if they have it) and a couple of eye shadows, I’m thinking Phloof! Or Crystal Avalanche.

Flip Flops – I have a flip flop obsession! I’m taking 8 pairs with me on my hols, the plan was to just take 2 pairs a white pair and a black pair. But I picked up 4 pairs in Primark for £1.50! They’re such a bargain and they weigh nothing anyway – right? Then I went to Asda and saw a pink and black pair for £2 each I just couldn’t resist!

Anyway that’s all for my summary, I do go on a bit don’t I! "Shut the ‘eff up woman!"

I’ll miss you all whilst I’m away, don’t forget about me!

Over and Out

♥

Summary

Slimming World – Last Thursday I weighed in at SW and lost 2 pound, which meant I finally reached my 1 stone award (again), it’s been a long time coming but with a holiday coming up it was the push I needed to get my head back in the game. I get weighed tonight but don’t hold out as much hope as last week, we had a cheeky Nandos before the cinema the other night with a few sweets and chocolates from the pick-a-mix. I feel good though and according to my scales I have lost 1.5 pounds since last week, but I was naked and had an empty stomach so it doesn’t really count. I might have a go on the Wii tonight before I go to see if I can shift half a pound! Apparently there is some kind of Wii game called Zumba Aerobics or something like that. Could be interesting.

Look at the size of Darrens Steak to mine. This is a normal dinner plate! He couldn't  move after this! lol

Swimming – I have fallen back in love with swimming and have been making an effort to go twice a week after work for half an hour. Tuesday and Friday nights are swimming nights and last Friday I managed 40 lengths in half an hour a personal best for me since starting it up again. On Tuesday I only managed 34 lengths, the pool was packed and annoying children kept getting in my way.

Babies and dreams – I have reoccurring dreams where I am pregnant, usually at the start of my dream then by the end I am going into labour and giving birth. I have these dreams a lot and I know I’m really broody and want kids, like, tomorrow. But these dreams differ slightly in that there’s always someone famous there to deliver my babies at the end of my dream. When One Born every Minute was on I had the singer Cher (not Lloyd) deliver twins for me. This week it was none other than Cheryl Cole herself, now looking down and seeing her peering into your lady garden saying “Why I pet” is not a-ok with me! There are probably good reasons for these famous people appearing in my Zzzzzzzz’s CC has been in the papers/news a lot this week and when Cher made an appearance we had watched Burlesque on DVD not long before. Dreams are funny ol’ things, mine are anyway.

That’s about it for this weeks summary, I’ve been really boring due to the fact we’re going away soon so haven’t been buying anything. We’re going on a ‘big shop’ to Primark and Matalan before we go, get a load of vests, t shirts and maxi dresses.

Please don’t forget to enter my Urban Decay giveaway HERE.

Follow me on Twitter for chit chat, randomness and a few Staceisms thrown in!

@TheHQofBeauty

Thanks lovelies!

♥

Summary

Alright Scwheethearts! First up a big "HIYA" to all my new followers, I will be checking your blogs out over the next few days and follow back. I haven’t done one of these posts for a while now, I think I chose the wrong day to start them really. Mondays are always a bit hectic at work after the weekend and I find I don’t have enough hours in the day to do the post.

1 Slimming World – Last week I went back to Slimming World after having a break for 4 weeks, and I some how managed to lose a pound?!! How? I have no idea; I’ve enjoyed chocolate, KFC and a number of Darren’s ♥ amazing roasts on my month’s holiday. I did carry on with my exercise however so maybe that helped with keeping the lbs off? Anyway “it’s the final countdown, der der der derrrrrr der der der der der”, countdown to my holiday in 4 weeks. Darren ♥ and I booked to go to Bodrum in Turkey for 2 weeks. To get it at it’s cheapest the flight times are disgusting but we’re adults and can handle this kind of thing. So I am really putting my all into Slimming World for the next 4 weeks to see if I can make it into the previous stone. I am currently just hovering above it! Our holiday is all inclusive too so no doubt I will come back with a few extra pounds on. I can’t wait to be lying on that beach star fished with just a strip of material covering my lady garden! Wahooo bring on the brown/stripy/crabstick tan.

This is a picture of my food optimising Full English Breakfast on Sunday morning; this whole meal is 4 syns. 1.5 for each half fat sausage and 1 syn for my brown sauce (just seen in picture). Everything else on my plate is ‘free’, not bad huh. I used Milk for my scram eggs for my 'a' choice and 2 slices of 400g bread for my 'b' choice. I did have a “Phat” roast last night though and couldn’t resist roast spuds and parsnips. #can'tsticktothediet

2. You Tube – The more I watch it the more I want to be involved in it. Something’s are holding me back though. A part of me thinks I’m too old to make videos, there are a lot of younger people out there doing amazing vids and a part of me thinks I’ve left it too late to start and should maybe stick to the blogging. I also know zilch about editing movies, but I’m a fast learner. Do you think there is an age limit on this kind of thing? I also worry that because I’m not a professional people might think I don’t know anything about make up. Hurtful comments don’t really do anything to me to be honest, I think if you don’t like something stop watching, there’s no need for bitchiness.

3. Still loving make up – My collection has grown out of control but I seriously don’t buy anything unless I’m going to use it. Make up can be quite an expensive habit and buying things just because everyone else has it isn’t my bag. I literally use everything I buy but it’s still not enough, I want more ……..MORE!!

4. Primarni – Primark has never been one of my favourite shops mainly because I hate how busy it gets in there (Oxford Street I’m talking about you) but recently I went into my local Primark and bought some lovely shoes and a hair piece thing (post to come) and I am loving them! A while back me, Emma ♥ and the mother in law ♥ went to Lakeside shopping and I had one of the nicest experiences of a Primark yet. I wanted everything on the shelves! I will definitely be heading back over that way in the future. I want some dresses and vests for my holiday.

5. Make up Course – I’m currently enrolled in the Photographic and Catwalk course at the Morley College in North Lambeth which is on a Tuesday night with the lovely Karen Beadle. I’m really enjoying the course and Karen is a fantastic tutor. Please check out her website. The course is on for 4 weeks tomorrow is our last week, the course is £60 and I’ve really enjoyed it. You can find out more information HERE. Doing this course has just made me want to do a proper course more and more. One day…….one day!

Have a good week girlies.

Follow me on Twitter for chit chat, randomness and a few Staceisms thrown in!

@TheHQofBeauty

♥

Monday Summary and Easter Giveaway Winner!

Hey girlies, Happy Easter to you all! I’m back once again with a Monday Summary.

1. Slimming World – I spoke to my Consultant on Thursday last week and asked for 4 weeks holiday, just to have a break from it and go back full of beans again and hopefully not have put on too much weight! I really don’t want to give up altogether so thought having a break would be a good idea.

2. My Birthday – This year it fell on Easter Sunday, so Darren ♥ and I went out on Saturday afternoon to meet some friends at the pub, we left about 3.30pm and thought we would be back by about 8pm. 10.30pm we fell through the door straight into bed and stayed there til about 11am the next morning. We both felt a bit rough for my birthday but knew we didn’t have much planned. In the evening we popped round his Mum and Dad’s and had a fat Chinese. It was so nice.

3. Holiday – Darren ♥ and I both finished work on Thursday for 11 days and really thought about going on holiday for a week whilst we were off but decided against it due to the weather being so nice now and the price of it!

4 Giveaway winner Lucy from Beauty and the Blogger won my Easter giveaway so Congratulations to her I have sent you an email and will send your prizes out within the next few days.

5 Coldsore – This morning I woke up to a split lip and thought nothing of it but during the course of today it started to get sore and had a bump like effect to it. I drove to Tesco with 10 minutes to spare before closing to have it confirmed that it was the start of a coldsore! I am gutted, this is only my second one ever and had to get it on my week off. I had a couple of FOTD/Ns to do but can’t with this thing on my face. Hopefully it will clear up by the end of the week and I might be able to do a look.

That’s it for my summary this week, I have a few posts already planned out for this week so lookout for them. I hope you have a lovely week my beauts and enjoy the Royal Wedding if you watch it on TV. I know I will be watching.

♥

Monday Summary - Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Hey girls, here’s the latest instalment from my weekly summaries.

1 Slimming World – Last week I put on 2 pound at SW which I was expecting so I’m not that bothered about it. On the Isle of Wight the weekend before me and Darren ♥ consumed so much crap, here’s a run down. KFC (after weigh in = I will never learn), Friday – Burger King for lunch Curry for dinner. Saturday – Full English Breakfast, Fish and Chips for dinner, Sunday Bacon Sandwich and chips, Roast dinner with all the trimmings. I felt horrible after eating all that, so from Monday til I got weighed I was extra good eating just salads/jacket pots etc but the damage had already been done. I’m not giving up this SW malarkey and will continue till I get a bit closer to my goal. I always give up then put it all back on.

2 Lakeside – Me, Emma ♥ (sister in law) and Kim ♥ (mother in law) went to Lakeside on Saturday as me and Emma ♥ had a treatment booked at the Dove Spa at 1.30pm. Emma ♥ treated me to it for my birthday. We had a back massage, then was covered in mud from head to toe, then had a facial with a scalp massage, washed the mud off in the shower then was moisturised. We got this package from Travel Zoo for about £59pp it should have come to well over £100, it was such a good deal. We’ve done this kind of thing before and I have to say I enjoyed my last treatment better than this one. But it was still nice all the same. I spent a small fortune over Lakeside but I’m so happy with everything I bought. I will be doing a separate haul post for that so look out for it.

3 Twitter – I’m becoming addicted to Twitter, I now have 56 followers and I’m loving it. There’s never a dull moment on there and it’s a good way of keeping in touch with everyone.

4 Blog Inspiration – I finally managed to have a play with make up this weekend and managed some day time photos for one of the looks. I’m happy with the daytime look the other one is more of an experiment, I didn’t really know what I was doing but it was fun to see where it was taking me. I kind of like it too a little bit of block work! Look out for the post.

5 The fringe is growing on me, it seems to be behaving itself more these days, maybe where it’s got a bit longer, I’m not sure but it could be a keeper.

♥ Don't forget to enter my giveaway ♥

Have a good week girlies.

Follow me on Twitter for chit chat, randomness and a few Staceisms thrown in!

@TheHQofBeauty

♥

Monday Summary – A big Helloooo to my new followers

Hey girls, I’m back from my mini break with a summary for ya’ll! I’ve been reading up on all your blogs this morning, beats working anyday! I’ve noticed whilst I was away I’ve picked up some lovely new followers.

♥ Welcome to The HQ of Beauty ♥

1 Slimming World – I put on half a pound at Slimming World on Thursday which I thought wasn’t that bad considering I hadn’t really done the diet properly for 2 weeks. It could have been a lot worse. I’ve probably done more damage in this weekend than I did in them 2 weeks. I’m still thinking about having a little diet break, maybe til after my birthday at the end of April then come back to it with a fresh head and possibly a few pounds heavier! Mmmmm, having a break could be dangerous too! Oh what to do!. Maybe Weight Watchers is calling me back? I think I just need to get my head round it again because I know Slimming World works. I’ve been going since November last year and still haven’t got to my 1 stone award. It’s like throwing money down the drain!

2 Isle of Wight – Darren ♥ and I went away for the weekend on Friday afternoon and had a lovely few days on the Isle of Wight, if you’ve been following my blog from the beginning then you will remember that I was brought up down there and most of my friends and family still live there. We couldn’t have picked a better weekend weather wise it was beautiful. On the Friday we met my Mum ♥ at our favourite curry house in Shanklin for a lovely meal. Saturday I went out with some of my oldest friends and had such a laugh. I was suffering a bit yesterday but it was so worth it. Sunday was spent down the beach with my brother and nephews, then Darren ♥, Mum ♥ and me went for a lovely roast dinner before we had to get the ferry home.

3 The fringe – I still hate it, in every picture taken on Saturday night it doesn’t look right and I just can’t wait to grow it back out. What was I thinking!

4 Nails – A few weeks back at the Vitality Show we got goodie bags with a load of stuff in, in one of these bags I got a Sally Hansen Miracle grow nail polish which can be used as a basecoat or just on it’s own. This stuff really is miracle stuff my nails are healthy, strong and aren’t breaking/chipping etc as much as they used to. I’m really getting into nail art too!

5 Fake Tan – yesterday and Saturday saw the unveiling of my white/blue/chicken skin legs and I have to say they nearly put me off me fish and chips! I've kept them covered since October last year. Now it’s getting warmer I think it’s time to start looking after them a bit more. I managed to paint my toe nails before we left, so at least that was done. Lookout for a post soon about my epic fail at fake tanning with Xen-Tan! That’ll make you laugh!

Image from Google Images

I really don't want to end up like this!

Have a good week girlies.

♥

Monday Summary - This fringe has to go!

Hey girls, I missed my Monday Summary post last week due to the fact I was the busiest person in London with an audit at work, except my hard work was for nothing, the auditor didn’t even sit with me and go through my work! I was so annoyed, I missed vital blog posting for nothing! Anyway I’m back now!

1 Slimming World – Boring! I’ve really lost my way with it now, I got so close to my stone award too! Last Thursday I phoned and asked for a holiday week then the week before our consultant didn’t turn up so we couldn’t get weighed. This is what happens with me every time I start a new diet, I lose a bit to begin with then I just get bored. The weekends are my worst areas, Monday to Thursday I stick to the plan, give or take the odd chocolate but from Friday night it’s like I’m on a mission to eat crap for 3 days. I’m thinking more and more about joining Weight Watchers too. I done WW 8 years ago and lost 13 pounds (at the time I only had a stone to lose). I loved it, they have changed the points system too, I’m tempted to give it a go, it might give me the push I need. What do you think? Nic over at Miss War Paint has done amazing on WW and Gem from gemsmaquillage.

2 The Vitality Show – I went to this with Faye ♥, Emma ♥, Laura ♥ and Emma’s friend Helen. I was a little bit disappointed this year that a couple of my fav exhibitors from the previous year weren’t there. Nails Inc and Crown brushes, I was gutted about Crown not being there, I was after some new cheap brushes. We had a lovely day, picked up some great freebies and then went to TGI’s at Piccadilly for dinner. This was the night of the riots in London, we had a riot going on right outside the restaurant, they set fire to wood and plastic right outside the door. I didn’t really enjoy my food because of it, the rioters had face masks on like Patrick Swayze in Pointbreak. By the time our meal finished they had moved on.

3 I made a big mistake of getting a fringe cut in and now I hate it, it’s been about 3 years since I had one and back then I really liked it. Maybe this will just take some getting used to but, it’s completely changed the shape of my face and on Saturday night they all said it suited me but I looked different. Which I suppose was what I wanted but I’m not happy with this one. Although one of my colleagues today said it makes me look younger! "Back of the net!" Lol

I don't think I'm a fringe person *sad face*

4 Floating Lotus Canary Wharf – On Saturday night Darren ♥ and I went for a Chinese meal with his Sister ♥ and her new fella. It was delish! Have any of you been to the Floating Lotus? Or Lotus Floating as the website says, it doesn’t sound right. The service was super quick and we had a really nice meal.

5 Nail designs, I’ve been admiring nail art blogs this past week and found some good ones. I bought a white nail art pen from Claire’s and had a go myself. I didn’t do bad for a first go, post will be up tomorrow.

That’s it this week for the summary, not much going on with me at the minute to be honest, hope you have a good week my beauts!

♥

Monday Summary (A little late)

1 Slimming World – I lost 1.5 pounds this week at SW and I have to say I was pretty chuffed with myself. I’m now half a pound away from getting my 1 stone award, however after the weekend I’ve had I’m not sure I’m going to make it this week. Darren ♥ was off all weekend with me and we had a lovely time just lazing about the lounge, this also included a Chinese takeaway on Friday night then a Kebab on Saturday. Let me explain this kebab though; it was Chicken and Lamb chunks (proper name I think is Shish) with salad and chilli sauce, I had a handful of chips and a bit of garlic sauce so I don’t consider this to be a bad meal, I never eat the pitta bread that comes with it either. Then yesterday Darren ♥ said he’d cook one of his famous roast beef dinners and well I couldn’t say no to some roasties. Ahh well we shall see what the damage is on Thursday. I am thinking positive about it all *smiley face*

2 Seeing friends and family – Me and my 2 best buds finally decided on a date that we are all free to have a good ol’ knees up. We’re all quite spread about at the minute, I live in London, Anna lives in Salisbury and Hayley still lives on the Isle of Wight. The weekend of the 9^th April couldn’t come quick enough. Not only are me and Darren ♥ going to the best Indian restaurant in the UK (Isle of Wight) I get to see my gorgeous Nephews ♥, Brother ♥, Sister-in-Law ♥ and my beloved Mumma ♥.

3 Rejoining twitter - I joined Twitter ages ago, just under my own name but didn’t really know how it worked so cancelled my account. I know a lot of you are on it so thought I would join again this time under my blog name. I’m still a bit clueless with it to be honest but, I’ll get there. At present I’m following 30 people and 7 followers! If you’re on twitter @TheHQofBeauty come join my party!

4 Sweet tings! – Since joining SW my taste buds have changed so much, I was always the savoury girl, crisps, cheese, crackers, bread and nuts were things I’d consider living off before SW. Now though, my cravings for sweet things are getting out of control, a day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about a crème egg, galaxy ripple or making a batch of sweet cupcakes for me and Darren ♥ to devour! It’s making my SW journey hell, these sweet things are full of calories and are super bad for the diet. 1 measly bar of Cadburys Dairy Milk is 13 syns (you’re allowed 10-15 a day). Chocolate and cake never used to bother me, but now, it’s very hard to say no.

That’s it this week for the summary, hope you have a good week my beauts!

♥

Monday Summary and a big Fank Youuuuu!!

1 Slimming World – I had a really bad week diet wise and completely wimped out on going to class, I didn’t stick to the diet one bit and knew I had put on weight. I’ve tried my best to stick to it this week but it’s been hard again. I struggle the most at the weekends, then after a heavy meal on a Sunday night I start thinking about it again trying to forget about the damage I’ve done. I will go to class this week. I’m thinking about changing diets completely and maybe going to ‘the other side’ (Weight Watchers). I’m trying not to think about it too much until I get weighed and see what the damage is. It’s a vicious circle, eating makes me happy so I eat then I feel guilty and get upset, then I eat to make myself happy! Darren ♥ thinks I put too much pressure on myself, I’m just angry because I can never stick to it and never make it to my target goal before giving up. *Think positive Stace*

2 Morley College Course – Last week I said I was going to write a proper post about this but it’s really not worth it, it’s such a waste of money. There’s 5 of us in the class and we’re all complaining about it. We basically just put our make up on for 3 hours, I know more than the tutor and I think I could probably take the course myself! A few of us went for drinks after and 2 of the girls said they’ve learnt more from me! I was supposed to be booked on for the next course too which is Eye Makeup but hopefully I can transfer to Photographic and Catwalk make up, this course is taught by Karen Beadle who is a professional MUA.

3 Make Up – I think about make up constantly, I can’t wait for the week to be over so I can sit in front of my mirror with everything out, seeing what looks I can come up with. I must admit I’m running out of ideas and eyeshadow! I think I need to invest in a palette off eBay, maybe one of those Coastal Scents ones?? Do any of you have them? Or can any of you suggest one, maybe with some bright colours?

4 Jamie Oliver’s Butchers - I treated me and Darren ♥ to a Rib Eye Steak each from Jamie’s butchers at St Pauls for din dins on Saturday. We’ve had them once before and loved them. This time though they came out a bit on the small side but again we couldn’t fault the meat. I think I have definitely changed to a Rib Eye girl after being devoted to Sirloin for so long it just doesn’t quite cut the mustard now.

5 Reaching 200 followers – Woweee! I was so pleased when I logged in this morning to see that I had reached the 200 mark (202 now!), thank you, thank you, thank you to you all for following, commenting and just being fab! I never thought I’d reach so many followers but I have to say blogging truly makes me happy and having each and every one of you following me makes me happy too. I will probably do a giveaway when I reach the 500 mark, that way I’ve got plenty of time to collect/think about what to do. Thanks again girls (and boys if there are any?) ♥

That’s it this week for the summary, Darren ♥ and I are still on ‘mission save’ so haven’t been out and about much at all.

Have a good week my lil peanuts!

♥

Monday Summary

1 Slimming World – This week I put on 1 pound at SW, I’m not too bothered about it really, I knew it was coming, it’s my TOTM which means my local shop has sold out of Galaxy Ripples and I am hormonally spotty! I’m feeling positive about this week though, if I don’t lose it’s not the end of the world. It’s just taking me a little longer than others that’s all. I enjoy going to class and there's some real competition in there too.

2 Thriller at the Lyric Theatre – Faye ♥ and I went to see Thriller on Tuesday night and had the best night. We’re both massive MJ fans, I bought us the tickets from lastminute.com for half price, £29 each. First we went to one of our favourite restaurants for Pizza, Ask Restaurant. I had a spicy Vesuvio with Faye ♥ opting for a Calzoné. I’m sure having this heavy dish 2 days before weigh in didn’t help matters either. I know from experience to have my heavier meals at the weekend so that by the time I get weighed they aren’t sitting heavy on my tummy. Anyway Thriller was amazing, we were 2nd row from the front, we had the best view and by the end of the show were up on our feet dancing along.

3 Morley College Course – Back in January I decided to have a look around for some small make up courses to attend until I can do the big course and found 2 courses at the Morley College which is just near North Lambeth. These courses are on on a Friday night after work from 6.00pm to 9.00pm. The first course is called Beauty for Beginners; Makeup Techniques and the second course is called Beauty for Beginners; Eye Makeup. I will do a full post on them when I have completed the courses. Right now I’m just excited to be doing anything that involves someone in the profession!

4 Spending time with Darren ♥ - he’s been working a lot recently, staying late through the week and working weekends, so we haven’t spent much time together. He was supposed to be working this weekend but everything got cancelled. We spent the weekend together, I cooked us dinner on Saturday, after which Darren ♥ fell asleep for an hour and a half, as soon as I heard him snoring in the lounge I knew it was my opportunity to whack out the make up and have a mess about. FOTN to come.

5 Clothes shopping – I seem to have got in a bit of a rut with my clothes outside of work. For work I just wear trousers and tops/jumpers all week, I work on a building site which is covered in dust/mud etc so I don’t wait to be wearing any of my nice clothes to work. However outside of work I don’t seem to have much to wear either. Since learning of the Treat Street scheme I’ve been ordering more and more off the net to get points and also, it’s nice not having to go shopping. In a way I hate it. The only time I seem to like shopping is when I’ve got no money, then when I have got money I don’t see anything I like. I’d love a day with a personal shopper or Gok Wan if he’s available. He’d sort out my pear shape (more apple at the minute) and my ‘bangers’ as he calls them. Oh to be more stylish!

Have a good week my lil peanuts!

♥

Monday Summary

1 Slimming World – I lost 1 pound at SW bringing my weight loss to 13 pound! I’m so pleased with myself, I put in a bit more exercise since my last weigh in, also I had a big night out the night after weigh in (Cheese and Wine night) so knew I had to be extra good so that the scales would show a loss. I have 1 more pound to lose and I want it so bad! I’m upping my exercise again this week in a bid to get that 1 pound off, heck I might even get into the previous stone if I’m extra good!

2 Nintendo Wii – Darren ♥ bought me one of these a long time ago with me promising to use it everyday ‘even for just half an hour’. I did good at first, then I joined the gym and the Wii got forgotten about. When I jumped back on the Wii a month before Christmas it said Congratulations you have lost 7 pounds since your last weigh in. I was over the moon. I had a break over Christmas but now I am in full swing with it and I love jumping on to see if I’ve lost any weight and watching my Mii character get slimmer. She was a bit podgy when we first got it. Darren ♥ hasn’t been on it since we got it and his little Mii character has fallen asleep! It’s quite funny.

3 Getting presents *happy dance*  - I got home from work on Friday to a massive present from Darren ♥ it’s a Think Pink gift set from Lush. Darren ♥ bought it for me for no reason other than he loves me! Ahhh love him. I will be doing a more in depth post about it soon and each individual bubble bar, bath bomb and moisturiser in it! So keep ya eyes peeled.

4 Tums and Bums – I went to this class on Saturday morning and really enjoyed it, I heard there was a new instructor which I’m pleased about because the one before was 20 mins late the last time I went, I was furious! I ache today though and I’ve got another class to go to tonight! I will get that last pound off!

5 Missing Darren ♥ - He has a lot of work on at the minute, working all hours he can so we can add the money to our deposit pot, bless him. Before Christmas there wasn’t so much work about and for us it was all about lazing on the sofa at the weekends, watching films and just being together. As much as I like my own time every now and then, I do miss his company when he’s not there. Then when he gets home he’s so tired he falls asleep on the sofa and isn’t his usual funny self. Think of the money Stace!

Hope you all had a nice weekend!

♥

Monday Summary

Hey girls, I hope you all had a lovely weekend, here’s another Monday Summary for you all.

1 Slimming World – I lost ½ a pound this week at SW taking my weight loss to 12 pounds in total. I was quite pleased with this as I didn’t have the best of weeks and really shouldn’t have lost anything. My consultant told us a funny story of a lady at her other group who was losing half a pound putting a pound back on losing a pound then putting 2 on etc. The lady bought her food diary in the following week but hadn’t filled out the rest of Monday (Monday was her weigh in day). She said well I don’t fill that in because it’s treat day. It turned out after she was getting weighed she was going home having chocolate, fish and chips and then apple crumble and custard all washed down with a bottle of wine. When they totalled up her syns (you’re allowed 10-15 a day) she was having 166 after her weigh in alone, this explained why she wasn’t really getting anywhere on the scales. It made me think about my own journey and although I don’t have as many syns as that I do have a ‘treat’ day on a Thursday. So from this Thursday until next Thursday I have vowed to try the diet 100% and see if I can get my 1 stone award again. It’s so hard, my love for chocolate is growing with my age I’m sure of it. I never used to be bothered by it.

2 Wearing bright lipstick - On Friday I bought my sister another little birthday present. I treated her to Girl About Town by MAC a bright fuisha pink. I had planned on buying Vegas Volt for myself but my eye caught Up the Amp and I fell in love! When I showed it to Faye ♥ she wasn’t sure about it, she said it wasn’t a colour she thought I would wear, which is right, I’m a proper nude girl and love all the pale pink, nudes and peaches but felt like it was time to branch out a bit. I’m so pleased I did, I felt really confident and sexy, and I got a compliment as soon as we walked into the party we were going to. I have my eye on Russian Red by MAC next! Yay for bright lippies!! Look out for FOTN featuring Up the Amp soon!

Moi wearing Up the Amp by MAC = ♥ it!

3 One born every minute – This programme is on every Monday night at 9pm and shows pregnant women going into labour and having their babies in various different ways. I love this programme and I am very broody, I have been for years though. Does anyone else watch this? Do you dream about having a baby every Monday night too? I dreamt I was pregnant with twins, one boy and one girl and Cher (the singer) delivered them!?! The baby bit I can understand but Cher? Really? and no she wasn’t singing “if I could turn back time” lol. Darren ♥ often tells me about his mad dreams, usually running around fields with guns (that’s what black ops does to you)! My dream on a Tuesday morning is always an interesting listen on the bus to work; they must think I’m mad!

4 Missing friends and family – My family and I are from Northolt originally but moved to the Isle of Wight when I was about 9 years old (I think). I left the IOW five years ago and moved back to my roots, well just round the corner anyway. Something always pulls me back to the IOW maybe it’s just all the happy memories I have down there. Most of my friends are there and a majority of my family. I think it’s sad when you lose touch with friends and only use Facebook to stay in touch. What did we all do before it? Just never speak to anyone?? It’s a bit of a lazy way of staying in touch really. I miss girlie nights out and Sunday sessions down the pub with my mates, getting tipsy on cheap plonk and just having a giggle. Staying in touch shouldn’t be difficult and distance shouldn’t matter. Ring your girlies and stay in touch, after all, it’s good to talk x

5 Baking, I found my love for baking again this week and made my sister 2, yes 2, Lemon Drizzle cakes. I made her the first one last Tuesday and surprised her with it at her work as she had the day off the next day for her birthday. Then she fb’d me asking me to make her another one as she didn’t get much of the last one. I wish now I took a picture to show you because it came out a lot better than the first. I don’t have a fan assisted oven and I hate it. I have to play about a bit with the ingredients to get it to rise. So I made the 2nd cake for her party on Friday, for which I drank too much red wine and probably ate too much cheese! I’m keeping positive for SW though.

Well that’s it for my summary. Do you think I should continue with these posts? Let me know girls, I won’t be offended if you think I should quit while I’m ahead.

♥

♥ Monday Summary - Happy Valentines Day Lovelies ♥

Hey girls, here we have another one of my Monday Summary posts, things that have happened to me since last Sunday. Enjoy, please let me know if you don’t really want to read anything like this, I’ll stop the posts. I thought it would be nice for you to get to know me a bit more that’s all.

1. Slimming World – I lost 1½ pound at Slimming World this week, even after my massive meal last Saturday which wasn’t food optimising at all! I felt very in control all week, cooking healthy slimming meals for me and Darren. On SW you can have 10-15 ‘Syns’ a day, usually I max out my syns having 15 everyday, using them for things like ketchup, brown sauce and chocolate. But I have been keeping them very low all week so I will try to do it this week too. Although the 3 crème eggs I bought yesterday may not help! 8½ syns each a crème egg is, so it is possible to have one a day and still lose wait. One of my old SW consultants used to be a chocolate lover and she used to have a Galaxy Ripple (9 syns) everyday and still lost weight on the scales.

2. My phone – I have a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and I hate it! On Sunday I went to pick it up again from the o2 shop near me from repair. This is the 3^rd time I’ve taken the phone in, this time they replaced it with a handset rather than fix the problem. I chose this phone rather than the iPhone because my previous phone was a Sony and I loved it. The camera was amazing, probably the main reason I went for it again. However the camera on my new phone is nowhere near as good although it is the same 8.1 mega pixel camera the quality is rubbish. The signal on the phone is the worst I’ve experienced, if I need to have a lengthy conversation at home with anyone on my phone I have to swap the sim card into my old phone so that we can have a decent conversation, I shouldn’t have to do that and pay nearly 50 quid a month for my contract. Booooo Sony!

3. Not going to the gym - Me and Emma ♥ have been going to the gym 3 times a week since June last year with the exception of a few yoga classes and a couple of swims. At first I loved the gym and felt it was really helping my weight loss, it was great to be in a routine and exercising. Now, however, I feel like we need to change up our exercise a bit to benefit more out of our membership. I told Emma ♥ the week before last that I would be giving the gym a miss for a few weeks and I have to say it is nice having a break. I haven’t been to our leisure centre once, instead I had a go on my Wii at home for half hour or an hour and I’ve really enjoyed it. Tonight I’m going swimming straight from work and maybe do a class on Wednesday if I can get on. There’s a Zumba class starting up at the top of my road in a couple of weeks so I’m looking forward to that.

4. Valentines Day – Darren ♥ and I have decided to not go mad for Valentines Day this year, we bought a card for each other and I’m cooking Darren ♥ a nice meal for tonight. I’ve just been to Jamie Oliver’s butchers at St Pauls to get us a couple of Ribeye steaks. The plan is; meal and then sofa for DVD/One born every minute!. Just being together is enough for us; it doesn’t have to be Valentines Day to be soppy. I kinda think it gets all blown out of proportion any way and turns into this big money making con.

5. Me time – On Saturday Darren ♥ went to the pub for a few hours with the boys whilst I stayed at home. It was lovely to finally have a bit of time to mess about with make up (FOTD post to come) and to have a few hours to myself. I had a lovely relaxing bath then sat myself down to watch Come dine with me, which at last wasn’t a repeat!

Did you all have a nice weekend? Are any of you a massive Come dine with me fan?

Happy Valentines Day!

♥

Monday Summary (A little late)

Hey dolls, this post was all ready to go up last night but my connection at home was rubbish so here it is. This is a new feature on my blog, they will hopefully be a weekly thing of what good (or bad) things have happened including the weekend. I rarely get time to write my blog at the weekend, there’s so much to do at home, I use a laptop all day at work so it’s nice to give my eyes a break.

Slimming world - I have been a member of SW since November last year and so far have lost 12 pounds, I went on Thursday last week and gained 2 pounds, I’m a little bit disappointed in myself because I know I can do it. Before Christmas I was loving SW and loved it that I was losing 1-2 pound a week steadily. Christmas is probably my favourite time of year and to say I overindulged is an understatement!! After my Christmas break I put on 4½ pounds when I returned to SW, I thought ‘that’s ok’ and ‘I can get that off’ but the chocolate has got me, I consumed enough Galaxy Ripples and Crème Eggs last week to last me a lifetime….. well not quite…… about 4 Rips and 2 Eggs, but that’s a lot for me. It was my TOTM though and the word on the street is that it can affect your weight loss. I had a little chat with myself in the car on the way home and decided to really go for it this week and hopefully see a big weight loss on the scales! I got my 1 stone award just before Christmas and I’m desperate to get back there.

Zumba - I went to my first Zumba class ever on Saturday morning, I really wanted to enjoy it, I’d heard so many of my friends going on about it on Facebook and decided to take the plunge and go to a class, I wasn’t that nervous as I’ve been to many an aerobic class. Everyone in the class had clearly been before and knew all the moves to the routine. They jumped into it and I just had to pick it up as we went along. The next bit of the routine everyone knew except me, this is when the instructor told me to ‘pick it up Stacey’!! Pick it up? I hadn’t even been shown what moves we were to be doing and to top it off her husband was there filming it to be uploaded to You Tube! As soon as the class had finished I ran to my car effing and blinding, swearing to never go there again. There is a class starting up on a Tuesday up the road from where we live and maybe that class will have a better instructor. Surely if there were new people to the class that had never done it before you should show them what kind of routine we would be doing rather than just flapping about trying to copy what everyone else was doing? I left feeling really annoyed, I’d wasted £6 on that and I wanted to enjoy it so much more. This class all added to me losing weight at SW, I don’t think it helped that much at all. I wanted to be aching the next day after this class, instead I ached more walking from the restaurant to Cirque Du Soleil! (see below)

Cirque Du Soleil - Darren♥ bought me/us tickets to see this for Christmas, we went on Saturday night and had the best night ever. First up we went to Black and Blue for dinner before the show, I had King Prawns to start, then a Rib eye Steak with chips (cooked medium) all washed down with 2 glasses of red wine. I would love to tell you that this was all food optimising on the SW diet but I’m afraid not. What happened to my will power? Why did the words ‘No chips for me please’ not come out of my mouth when ordering?? Cirque Du Soleil is on at the Royal Albert Hall. I loved everything about the show especially the make up it was amazing. The strength and stamina of the performers is incredible. You wouldn’t be disappointed if you went, click on the link and watch the little video on the website (45 secs), the make up on that alone is amazing.

Image from google images

Illamasqua – 2 hour Night Diva course, Faye ♥ bought me this 2 hour course for my birthday; it’s at the Beak Street studio in London. I’m counting down the weeks until this course and I’m super excited about going! Thank you again Faye ♥ x. Read my full post about the Illamasqua Night Diva Course. Save 25% on your booking by quoting 'Metro25'.

Sundays – I love Sundays, lazing on the sofa watching films with Darren♥, catching up on You Tube vids whilst Darren ♥ plays Black Ops, I even love the huge ironing pile I have to do, all whilst watching Come Dine with Me, I even watch the repeats! Ever since I can remember I used to say to my Mum ♥ a cup of tea always tasted better on a Sunday than any other day of the week and I still stand by that now. I hardly ever drink tea at home except the weekends and Sunday tea is the very best of the week.

Well that concludes my Monday summary; I hope this week will be as eventful as last week!

Have any of you tried Zumba before? Do you think I should try it again?

♥