Hey everyone. Just a very quick update on my weight loss progress this week.
So last week I was 12st 4lbs.
This week I am...12st 4lbs.
I suppose staying the same is better than gaining weight right?
I was fully expecting to not lose anything this week, as dieting has been affected by impending coursework deadlines! I've got a double hand in tomorrow, then it's mine and my other half's anniversary on Friday! I wonder what he's got up his sleeve this year?
xx

10 reasons why shelter cats are the best!

So, last Thursday marked 10 years since we brought home our beloved cat Smudge. We got him from a local rescue centre. He had been abandoned as a young cat and was living wild in the woods for 10 months! This made him a bit of a handful when he first joined our family! As you can see, he is now a massive fan of a warm lap! I can't believe the change I've seen in him in the last 10 years. I like to think that the love and care I've given him has made him the happiest cat around! 

So here are my top 10 reasons why, if you're thinking of getting a cat, you should adopt a shelter cat! 

1. Shelter cats are ready to go! The majority of shelters spay, neuter, litter train, de-flea and de-worm their cats before sending them off to their forever home.

2. The staff can help you pick the perfect companion. You get to see a wide variety of different cats and the staff have the knowledge to recommend one that will suit your home and lifestyle. 

3. It's perfect if you want an adult cat. My boy was 2 when we brought him home so he was already past the furniture destroying stage (much to my mum's delight). Older cats have just as much love to give and can be just as playful! 

4. It is a lot less expensive than buying from a breeder! My boy cost me a small donation of £35 to the shelter. He's repaid that to me in cuddles since! 

5. You are helping to support the shelter. The guys and girls in animal shelters do fabulous jobs looking after all the poor animals. I still donate cat food to Smudge's ex-home every christmas. 

6. You get to provide a happy and loving home for a cat who hasn't had a perfect start in life. Trust me, they repay that kindness! 

7. You'll feel better. Research shows that having a pet makes people happier and more upbeat. If that's not a great reason then I don't know what is! 

8. You are setting a positive example for others who might be thinking of getting a pet! 

9. They will love you for it! I'm still convinced Smudge remembers the day I chose him. He always comes to my lap first and runs through meowing at me when I come home. I'm the only one he behaves for too! 

10. And if you needed anymore reasons, you are saving a life! 

I may have come across as a bit of a crazy cat lady in that post (I am a little bit), but animal shelters are something I feel so passionately about. I will definitely be one of those women who adopts thousands of pets and lives on a huge farm so they can all run about haha! 

Hope you found this post helpful if you are looking to adopt a pet! 

xx

The best youtube video of the year?

Now this has definitely got to be the best thing I've seen all year! I loved it so much I just had to share it with the world. A 60 year old man did this, and it can play 30 different songs. It took him a whole year to plan! Just amazing!

xx

TheSundayPost

Hey everyone,
Now that I no longer work weekends, this post is so much easier to get up on time! I totally forgot I hadn't updated you all on my change of job! I quit sainsburys in August after getting an extension to my contract in the office I was working in over summer. I've just found out this week that I'm getting a further extension to May 2015! That takes me right up to graduation! Woohoo!
Anyway, what else have I been up to this week?
- Work. I now work Mon, Wed & Fri 9-5. The hours suit much better and give me more time to relax, especially at weekends!
-Uni. Next week is deadline week for 2 of my modules so I've been trying to work on my coursework. I'm awful at time management though. I do nothing until the deadline is upon me and then I'm stressed and doing all nighters to get finished on time!

Banana bread baking! I made another batch of this yesterday. It's such a yummy treat. You can find my recipe for it HERE

Last night I had a craving for an old school ice cream van style ice cream! So obviously the other half got sent to the shops to buy me the ingredients! This was totally worth the diet sacrilege! 

Speaking of diets, the ice cream seems to have done something useful! I'd hit a wall with the diet this week and wasn't losing anything! Then this morning, I'd dropped almost 2 pounds! Woohoo! We'll see if I manage to keep it off until WeighIn Wednesday, since it's Sunday dinner at Mum's tonight (and there is more ice cream on the menu!) 

Have a fabulous week everyone! 

xx

DIY: My Bedroom Feature Wall

Today I have something a bit different for you. My bedroom wall was so plain and dull and I've been looking for something to jazz it up a bit for ages. Whilst browsing ebay I found THIS wall sticker. Yup that's right it's a sticker! I've got a real passion for travel so it suited me perfectly. It comes in a huge range of colours, but I picked violet as it goes with my colour scheme. I had photo's printed and popped them up around the places I've visited with my partner. One day I hope to fill the wall haha! I've not quite finished decorating this wall. I'm hoping to find boarding cards and other souvenir items to stick up to make a really pretty travel feature on my wall. 

It really cheers me up every morning when I wake up and look at a picture from each place I've been to remind me of the wonderful times I've had. Perfect for a gloomy monday morning in Scotland! 

Let me know if you've done any similar DIY projects, or have any ideas for how I can jazz it up further! 

xx

Banana and Pineapple Loaf

Today I've got a really yummy recipe for you all! This banana and pineapple loaf is such a nice treat with a cuppa! 

Ingredients: 

175g self raising flour

2tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1tsp nutmeg

75g light brown soft sugar

2 eggs

3 mashed bananas

100g melted butter

1tsp vanilla extract

1 small tin of pineapple chunks, drained. 

And it is so simple to prepare. You just throw everything in a mixing bowl, mix together until smooth (apart from pineapple chunks in the mixture). Oil a 2lb loaf tin and pre heat oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 4. Cook for 50-60 minutes and hey presto, you have a yummy cake! Leave to cool for 10 minutes before eating though or it's impossible to cut without crumbling! And guess what? There's only 210 calories per slice! 

My Heroine

Today is the 91st Birthday of the woman I look up to most in my life. Meet my Gaga! (I couldn't say Gran as a kid and Gaga just stuck!)

Ever since I was a little girl I've spent loads of time with her and she's simply the best Gran anyone could ask for! So here is why she's my heroine:

- Firstly, she's 91 years old and is still as fit as a fiddle! If I make it to 91 I hope to be just like her! She travels the 8 miles from her house to the city centre every day, has a wander around the shops, gets the paper and enjoys a cup of tea in a cafe. It's her secret to staying youthful in old age! 

- She's raised 3 children who've turned out to be intelligent and wonderful people.

- She looked after both me and my brother when we were tiny so my mum could go back to work and have a career. 

- She loves spending time with her grand-children. Every school holiday she would take us into town for the day which always ended with a little treat dinner in Burger King (She had a small chips and a cup of tea every time without fail!) I'm 22 years old and she still believes in giving me £5 pocket money every week so I can have a little treat! 

-She's just hillarious. Her one-liners have me crying with laughter every time! 

- She's always right! You can go to her for advice and whatever she says, it's sure as hell true! 

So a huge happy 91st birthday Gaga! I hope you have a wonderful day, the memories we've made together will stay with me for the rest of my life! 

xxx

Weigh-in Wednesday!

Hello all! So I've booked a cheeky holiday to Mexico as a treat for my graduation next year, and I need to get a bikini body! I've been dieting for a few weeks now and I've lost 5lbs. I plan on documenting my weight loss journey here with my new feature post, Weigh-In Wednesday!
My diet consists of eating from healthy cookbooks, calorie counting and more exercise than normal! My goal is to lose 2 stone, putting me at a much healthier weight of 11 stone.
So drum roll please......
Last Wednesday I was 12st 7lbs.
This Wednesday I am 12st 4lbs
That is a loss of 3lbs!
Woohoo!!
Hopefully I can continue this into the week ahead!

Favourite Things Tag

Wow so it seems my last blog post was many moons ago, for which I am very sorry! Thank you for sticking around! I'm not going to lie, I found I was losing interest in my blog and it became more of a chore than an enjoyable past time. Expect to see some changes round here in the next few weeks as I change things up a bit! I hope you will enjoy my new content just as much! 
So I saw this tag on the lovely Smoking Peaches and thought it would be a good way for me to break back into blogging! So here are my favourite things below! 
The rules are 20 categories, 3 favourite things! 

The 20 Categories

1. Products

- Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel (obviously)

- Tresemme Colour Protect Shampoo & Conditioner

- Soap & Glory Thick & Fast Mascara.

2. Foods

- Pollo ad Astra Pizza from PizzaExpress

- Sour Skittles

- Kraft's Cheesy Pasta (haha!)

3. Places

This one is very hard!

- New York

- Isle of Skye

- Alvor, Portugal

4. Things you miss

- Having my dinner cooked for me every night by my mum

- Having a dishwasher

- Being in New York

5. Things you do when you're bored

- Read through blog posts from other bloggers

- Play angry birds on my phone 

- Online shopping!

6. Things you enjoy when its sunny

- Ice Creams

- Relaxing in the garden with a glass of wine

- Barbeques at mum's house on a Friday night

7. Films

- The Lion King (will always be my favourite film!)

- The Great Gatsby

- Shrek

8. Songs

- Ed Sheeran, Lego House

- Runrig, Loch Lomond (Can you tell I'm Scottish?)

- David Guetta ft. Sia - Titanium 

9. Brands

- Ugg Australia

- Forever 21

- Juicy Couture

10. Outdoor things that you like

- Walking (more recently, hill walking)

- Visiting the Beach 

- Cycling

11. Events

- Weddings

- Christmas 

- Halloween (because it's my other half and I's anniversary)

12. Cartoons

- Family Guy

- American Dad

- The Simpsons

13. Buildings

- The Empire State Building

- Edinburgh Castle

- The Museum of Natural History

 

14. Anything in everyday life

- Rekorderlig Cider

- Afternoon naps on a rainy day

- Yankee Candles

15. Traits in any person, not just partners

- Honest

- Caring

- People who have manners (I can't stand impoliteness!)

16. Influences

- My Gaga (gran)

- My Mum

- My friends

17. Drinks

- Pepsi Max

- Mango & Raspberry Cider

- White Wine

18. Experiences

- Visiting New York 

- Getting into Uni and (slowly) making progress on my course

- Getting my first job and working there for 5 years

19. Things to Watch

- The US Office

- Nashville

- Game of Thrones (can you tell I like US TV shows?)

20. Youtubers

- The Saccone-Joly's

- Zoella

- xameliax

Feel free to copy and paste this over to your blog if you want to take part like I have done! Also if you are interested in food and drink, go check out my other half's blog Whiskybeercigarbeginner and give him a little follow to get him started in the blogging world! 

xx