Saturday, February 28, 2015

+ 365 Days 58 & 59

Day 58 - Friday

I am late with this update as today was chaotic - like seriously crazy! Basically ages ago we arranged for the dog to have his op (snip and hernia repair) for today. Then last week I got a recall notice for my car - apparently the brakes were dodgy - the only day they could fit us in was today. I also arranged to pick up some cat food for the kitty rescue again for today (yep I'm an idiot)

So my schedule was 8.30am - leave house with dog for op but there were road works on the short cut to the vets so had to go the long way through rush hour! Managed to get to the vets for 9.15 tho and dog was dropped off. Then I had to drive back across town to the registered garage to drop the car off for 10 - luckily some of the rush hour traffic had cleared so I got there just before 10 - they told me originally my car would be ready after 3 hours when I dropped it off they told me they had 8 cars in and that it wouldnt be ready until after 5! By the time I finished up at the garage it was 10.20 - I had arranged to pick up the kitty food at 1030 so walked over to the ladies house - as I dont know that area of cardiff so well I had to walk using my satnav which told me it was a 30 minute walk but happily it was much shorter only 15 minutes - maybe I walk really quickly ? It was only like 1 1/2 miles - got to the ladies house 5 mins late - when I knocked the door (several times!) it was finally opened by a rather grumpy man who I had woken up - apparently the street has flats and houses so the numbers are duplicated and I'd been hammering the wrong door - sorry mister for waking you up after your night shift! Finally found the right house and she was out... I waited around for 5 mins and started to leave when I noticed someone coming down the street with a kiddy - I've never met the lady who was donating before so I kinda sidled down the road after her to see which house she went into and yay it was her. She had just taken her little boy to the corner shop to get some sweeties. Cat food collected I walked into town to get the bus home -  I thought it was gonna be a 5 minute walk - I was wrong it was a 25 minute 2 mile walk. Knackered doesnt come close!

Got into town and there was my mum waiting for the bus (she had caught the bus into town from the garage but gotten the wrong one lol)

Got home around 12ish and had a message from the drs telling me my script was ready to collect - so I walked to the drs picked it up and headed home - halfway home I realised I had forgotten to drop in a letter for my mums so I had to walk back to the drs.

Got home again about 1ish and was ravenous so had some lunch and then got a phone call to say my aunty had been rushed to hospital - spent ages on the phone trying to work out what the heck was going on - shes been unwell for a while but they were waiting to do tests and stuff. Then had a call from the vets to say Jac was ready to collect. Due to rush hour decided I would leave at 4 get the 415 bus with my mum to town and then walk to the garage whilst she switched buses to get to the vets and then I would met he with the car. Happily my uncle called and offered to give us a lift - he dropped me at the garage and took my mum to the vets - picked up the car around 5ish and was home by 530. Cooked dinner and made dessert for my mum and uncle and also cooked some chicken breast for Jac as a light treat. By time they got in and we had eaten we realised it was getting quite late and I needed to get some shopping so headed out to Morrisons - got home and unpacked the shopping and collapsed in a heap at around 10pm and then I went to bed. So no blog update.

Anyways the positive is Jacs operation went well, I didnt give anyone food poisoning with my cooking, I got a shedload of exercise and my car is fine :D






























Day 59 - Saturday

Today I have been crazy tired and Jac has been a very sad little dog :( he's in a bit of pain, he hates his buster collar and he isn't too fond of us either. After yesterday's crazy day I haven't done much - photographed some items for the kitty rescue selling page that have been donated. I also popped to my friends to drop off the drynites and stuff for her which she was happy with.

Today's positive is lazy days spent in your pjs :)



Thursday, February 26, 2015

+ 365 Day 57

Thursday whoop whoop is my friday again although this is the last one as I have now used up most of my annual leave and only have 1/5 days left for March.

Today our pooch Jac went to the groom room to have a full on bath, scrub, brush and hair cut. He is going to the vets tomorrow to have the snip and also get his hernia repaired (caused by his mum biting too far down the umbilical cord when he was born) so we asked to have his fur cut pretty short so that it easier to keep him clean and also keep his wound area clean.

I have to say he looks absolutely adorable when he has been groomed and seeing him when I came home today made me smile :)









Wednesday, February 25, 2015

+ 365 Day 56

Today is Wednesday :)

Today has been a quiet day - work was work usual grumbles and mumbles and issues - computer system crashed again for about an hour, people called and complained, staff complained, other staff complained, so nothing new.

I stuck to my diet, took a walk at lunch time to try and get some exercise from sitting on my rear all day. It was nice and sunny outside which was nice.

I took a walk with the dog and took a nap and thats it.

So not really a productive day...

I did have a chat with a work friend who is going to be getting some apple crates from an old apple farm soon for her wedding and she's agree to pick a few extra up for me so I can make some thing - I'm not decided yet on what I will do with them - I am thinking of painting them brightly coloured and then lining them and filling with soil to use as planters for the garden

So today's positive is just having time to plan and think about new projects

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

+ 365 Day 55

Well today has been amazing.

1.  my nose is no longer like a leaking tap and I am able to breath again without sounding like darth vader :D

2. - 3 comp prizes arrived - a load of dry nites stuff for my friend who is potty training her little boy. Shes a late mum of one and she works really hard with little support from her boys father - nappies and pj pants and the bed mats are pretty expensive and shes such a nice person she spends her lunch times collecting stuff for me for the kitty rescue, she's given me loads of bits for my sister for Harmony as her little boys a year older so he's growing out of things as she gets into them and shes just generally lovely so I am really happy I can give her these things and save her some cash on buying them I think there's like over £50 worth of bits which will hopefully help her little boy with his training.
- I also received a book all about space which I am excited about (I'm a geek I like space and I'm heading Kennedy Space Centre again in Sept)
- and I won a £100 one4all card for my tips on being thrifty :) I already promised my mum I'd share it with her so we might get some theatre tickets and dinner with it but we haven't decided yet.

3. I won a comp on twitter for a night and breakfast for 2 at St Annes Manor Hilton Hotel and Spa. Originally I thought I would take my mum for mother's day but we are already going to London the saturday after to see the country living spring fair so after chatting to my mum about it I am going to try and get a booking for around her birthday in July - and as a treat I will book us their afternoon tea as well and maybe a spa treatment I havent quite decided yet

4. And although all of the above are pretty amazing the biggest positive thing today? My 18 month old niece walked for the first time using her walker. Harmony had a difficult birth and has low tone  and has been having physio and doing exercises every day. She recently started pulling herself to stand and today she was taking little steps whilst holding onto a walker I got her :) My sister phoned me in work super excited (although I couldn't talk as I was in a meeting) she also left about 10 messages on my answerphone and took loads of pics lol. Harmony is my sisters gift. My sis had Joshua my nephew when she was 20 since then shes had several miscarriages and almost died herself due to problems. Then 3 years ago she bumped into her childhood sweetheart and they got together and she fell pregnant with Harmony at the grand old age of 41. It was a difficult pregnancy and a horrific birth but both my sis and Harmony came through it. Harmony has a few problems shes a little behind other children of her age in gross motor and physical skills but she is going to get there :)

oh and number 5 I bought a cute little cat ring for £5 from the kitty rescue - it's gorgeous :)



Monday, February 23, 2015

+ 365 Day 54

So being Monday and back to work always sucks. Today I am still bunged up and full of a cold and didn't really feel like work 0 I weighed in and had put weight on too so not feeling so positive!

But I did manage to get out of the office dodging hail storms, torrential rain and bizarre wind spells to hit some of the shops.I bought my mum an awesome Mother's Day card in the Card Factory and I also bought her some Mother's Day gifts from Home Bargains (don't judge!) a pair of ballet style slippers for holidays, 2 x face wipes that she likes, a bubble bath and some fudge. When I got home I ordered her a little plaster heart that says top mum from Lippin's Treasure Trove - I won a giveaway form her a while back and I really liked the stuff she made - shes going to do the text on the heart in the colour I want too (purple) to match my mum's room.

So I am happy I have all my mum's gifts & card sorted. I know its not for another 3 weeks but I know I will be broke by then so I wanted to get this sorted early and ready for her :)

BTW Lippin has a giveaway going on her page on FB at the moment to win one of these little hearts - it's running til 10th March 2015 - I can highly recommend her - my previous item came really well packaged and super quickly - why not pop over to her page give it a like and enter? you might even win :)

Sunday, February 22, 2015

+365 day 53

Yay today is Sunday FUNDAY

So today me my mum and my niece headed out to Cardiff Airport as they had a holiday fair on. We already have our hols booked for this year. We are going to Niagara Falls for 3 days, Las Vegas for 4 days, then staying at Disney World for 7 days before moving to International Drive (also Orlando but closer for Universal studios and seaworld) for 9 days whoop whooop whoooop!

Ahem

Anyways we wanted to go look at the fair because we are not doing Disney next year - we have been for last 3 years and much as we love it - it is damn expensive and so next year we are going to do a cheaper holiday to somewhere different. Our vague plan at the moment is to do 10 days in Canada and 4 days in Iceland as with Iceland air you can do a stop over of up to a week with no charge. Price wise its coming in at around about £1200 per person based on this years prices. We were hoping at the fair we could find out where is good to visit in Iceland as we would like to see the Northern Lights, and to find out if we could possibly fly from Cardiff rather than heading down to London to fly. Whilst we were there we also picked up some brochures on Croatia which is our second choice just because it's somewhere different and it apparently had Gorilla sanctuaries and stuff to see.

Unfortunately none of the companies there did the exact holiday we fancied :( but we have got the brochures to look through for inspiration and to find other excursions etc that can be done.

We spent a good hour or 2 wandering around the booths and chatting to people - we also picked up some freebies, my niece got her face painted and KLM had a free photo booth to get photos done with silly hats on which me and my niece just had to do :D

Freebies - yay - coaster, pens, stressball, sweeties and flipflops :)

KLM Photo Booth

Lizzie in the Fez & Me in a pilots hat



On the way home we stopped off at The Rhoose Toby Carvery and had sunday dinner there - it was fantastic - I'm not a big veg eater really but they had a great selection (carrots, red cabbage &cranberries, peas, green beans, cauliflower, swede, roasties and mashed potatoes) 4/5 different gravies, loads of different sauces, HUGE yorkshire puddings and a good choice of meats - beef, turkey, pork or gammon. The food was delicious I had red cabbage and cranberries which I haven't tried before which was amazingly good also scoffed down carrots, peas and green beans, roasties, mash, pork, gammon and beef, stuffing a yorkshire and loads of beef gravy nom nom nom

The drinks are bottomless - you just go refill them yourself - drinks cost £2.50 each and carvery was £8.99 per person. We were all too full for desserts but they looked and sounded fab too.

During the week they do like 2 carveries for £11 so we will deffo be going back :)

On the way back we stopped off at ASDA so I could buy soup for the diet for work for next couple of weeks and so that mum could buy some other bits.

So today's positive is just enjoying family time - we had a lovely day just hanging out and chatting about holidays and stuff :)

Saturday, February 21, 2015

February Wins and Freebies :D - updated as items come in :)


Here's my wins and freebies from Feb - to make it easier I have started writing this at the beginning of the month and added items as they arrive (some may have been won in January but only arrive in Feb) as it's easier to keep track of everything that way :)

First one is a freebie :)

Head & Shoulders Hair Thickener from Savvy Circle  this is such a fab wesbite for coupons, freebies and trials and I highly recommend them :) I have taken part in numerous product trials from them and you get a lot of cool stuff up (in the past I have had Lenor unstoppables, shampoos, car air freshners, tooth brushes etc) They ask in return you review the product - if your doing a trial then they have surveys and conversation reports and discussions to do which doesn't take that much time. If its just a trial or sample product then you just need to take 1-5 mins and give them a bit of feedback - as some of these products are quite expensive (this one costs £9.99) they aren't really asking for much in return and to be honest I think the more you review and feedback the more likely it is you will be invited to take part in future trials :)



This finally arrived (took about 6 weeks) a little sample pouch of Soap & Glory body butter cream direct from the S&G webbie. Can't wait to try it out I am sure it will smell amazing


I am so happy with these dresses which I won from Lindy Bop on facebook - they do regular give-aways over on their FB page and if you aren't luck enough to win one they are incredible reasonably priced too at around £30 a dress with some amazing sales too and the dresses came super fast like within 2/3 days - deffo worth a look :)











I won this signed by the cast poster and DVD from HeyUGuys - great entertainment site with lots of cool competitions running as well and they have some pretty awesome merchandise in their shop including an amazing goonies hoody which when I have some spare cash I am totally buying for myself! They are on youtube, facebook and twitter :)

This is the signed poster and dvd for We still Kill the Old Way



Also my football from Capital One arrived - I donated it to work :) I won this in a comp on their Facebook - they often have comps running to win sports equipment for kids teams and stuff


From the Jack Daniels Christmas Traditions competition - a JD Hip Flask - because it's alcohol related (although sadly they didnt send a bottle of JD to fill it) I had to send my ID in order to receive this prize. I'm please my aunty's hub loves JD so that's his xmas pressie for next year sorted! They often do giveaways and comps throughout the year but it's over 18's only

Jac's Super new coat arrived too :) This is from Pet Shop Bowl but we won on a giveaway on AnnaInWonderland's blog from a rafflecoptor give away - I've always been a bit dubious about these thinking it's impossible to win but I was wrong. This arrived super fast too. I had the email on Friday - I replied and she forwarded my details to PSB who then set me up with an account, They e-mailed to say it was on it's way on Monday and it arrived on Wednesday so super fast. They also sent a free bag of kibble too and a coupon for a discount on a future order. Jac was very impressed although he wouldnt keep still for pics. Really nice thing about this coat is the way it fastens - it goes over the head and then has wrap around velcro straps to hold it in place and elasticated straps which go around the back legs - once on this bad boy isn't coming off any time soon and Jac still has the freedom to move, cock his leg and do what comes naturally without getting anything on the coat and it's waterproof too. Jac also loves the kibble so much so I am going to have to order him some more










From the Original Source FB Page a free full sized bottle of their new lemon and coriander :) Again they often run competitions and giveaways on their FB page so it's worth liking their page and following them. I love OS products and think they generally smell amazing without being overly girly so this is definitely a page I am going to be keeping an eye on for future give aways!














From Jenning's Brewery Daily win game - runner's up prize of a compass keyring, luggage lock and some post-its:) Again this is over 18's only. You can enter every single day and you have 3 chances to win and the prizes change weekly/monthly.





From Global Cool website - Black Carbon by Declan Milling - I am currently reading this - it's a bit heavy going but good so far :) They do lots of giveaways on their sites of books etc they have reviewed so its worth checking back to find something new and cool to read.



From @Match_UK  on twitter - signed copy of AgeSexLocation by Melissa Pomentel - haven't started this one yet as still reading the one above. If you follow Match UK on twitter they often have comps and giveaways and they have some cool bits up for grabs.




















From ADDIS Home on FB - they sell home wares and I won this cute little city cup in their giveaway. They have some lovely brightly coloured kitchen items and some innovative little gadgets for sale too.





















A freebie :) Sample of Shampoo & Conditioner from Bumble & Bumble - these are fab for overnight stays at a hotel :)


From Holiday Hypermarket on Twitter in their Friday Freebie comp :) this is pretty awesome - a huge towel, a canvas baggy, a pen, some playing cards, a drinks mug and the best part of it all a really cool set of travel adapters which come in their own case - awesome and they do a freebie friday every friday :) My niece has decided she wants mine :( so I will be entering again who knows might get 2 times lucky right?


I Won this equalizer DVD from FlicksandtheCity - it was a rafflecopter entry so not sure if it was via social media or just from their blog - but they are on twitter, FaceBook & have their own webbie and they do lots of giveaways and review the latest films and stuff so worth following :)


I won this book directly from @StripesBooks  on Twitter - The Legend of the Frog - it will make a great gift for my great nephew or niece:) Stripes Publishing do kids books from 4 up to teen and they often do giveaways of their latest books on twitter so give them a follow they will also give you ideas of new books for your kids to read





I won this book about living with dry skin conditions for kids from thebabywebsite - I am going to donate it to work as it has some lovely pictures in it and is written almost like a sensory/social story :) It also came with a free calendar. The baby website has tonnes of articles, advice, free comps and other goodies for mums to be, mums, carers and those working with kids.



I won this heart shaped had warmer from Nature's Finest FB page back in their December giveaway but its taken a long time to come :) They were giving out literally hundreds of items daily so it probably took a while to sort :) They also run regular give aways on their FB page so again it's worth following them and they also sell yummy fruit so its win win


I love LOVE this - Diana F+ Deluxe Lomography Kit which I won in the Carnaby London Reasons to be cheerful January comp. I had pretty much convinced myself it wasn't going to come as originally they e-mailed and asked me if they could pass my details onto the company providing the prize Lomography - I didn't hear anything for about 4 weeks so I contacted them to check they had received my first e-mail and they told me the prize had been dropped in to their office and did I want to collect it or get it delivered. I asked for it to be delivered as had no plans on going to London til Easter time. It then took another 2 weeks to get here and I am so glad they sent it - it weighs a tonne I dont think I would have been able to carry it around London all day. Anyways this has to be the most expensive and best prize I have won since starting comping at the end of November - it costs like £200 to buy and they even sent 3 sets of film with it to use too :). The Carnaby street page is pretty cool as it lists the shops and events taking place and it hosts plenty of competitions with high end retailers and restaurants in the area :)














I won this free packet of Toffee & milk chocolate popcorn from the Thornton's Twitter page - it arrived in the post in a jiffy bag and was surprisingly not all broken by royal mail and quite delicious - we finished it off in about 10 minutes (so much for my diet lol)


Won 2 tickets to go to the Country Living Spring Fair in March in London from the World of Cross Stitching FB page. They hold regular Friday Freebies as well as showcasing cool cross stitch charts and free designs etc.

 Me and mam are going down for the Saturday - got reasonably cheap tickets on the Megabus (£26.50 for both of us return) and on the way back we have MegaBus Gold tickets never actually tried the Gold service apparently you get free drinks and snacks on it. Whilst we are living it up in London my dad has to come down to Cardiff to kitty and puppy sit. I love my dad for doing this especially as the poor guy is allergic to cats and I have 4 hehe.


Nice little Freebie - Heinz did this last year as well - they were giving away 20,000 of these seeds on their Heinz FB page so plenty of people were able to grab some - going to grow them in a pot in the garden.


Another little freebie here - a small sample of Lacoste L!VE for men - I like this freebie because rather than just being a bit of card to scratch and sniff it's an actual little bottle like the Avon reps used to bring when I was a kid :) This one is going to go with my nephew's polo shirt (that I won in a different comp) for his birthday or maybe Easter I haven't decided yet. I haven't tagged the page because I genuinely can't remember where I got this from - I'm assuming the lacoste home page for the UK



Vidal Sassoon Salonist kit - from supersavvycircle - they were giving out like 1000 or so of these kits for people to try - you get 1 dye for yourself and then 3 different ones to hand out to family and friends. It all comes packaged in a shiny VS carrier bag and you also get a cute black VS towel too. You obviously have to give feedback and complete surveys and testimonials etc as a circle member but you also get to try some pretty awesome stuff too. Cant wait to dye my hair and there will be pics to follow :D


We went to the free holiday fair at Cardiff Airport on Sunday 22/2/15 - as well as free entry they also give free parking (you have to get your 'passport' stamped by a minimum of 5 of the visiting companies for the free parking) It was really good we spent about an hour wandering amongst the booths and picking up brochures to help us plan next year's hols. Lots of the companies were giving away little freebies :D although we ate a lot of them (welsh cakes, sweets, choccies, biscuits hehe) and here was also a face painter and kids entertainer there and a free photo booth by KLM. We brought home some free pens (about 10 in total!) some sweets, some flip flops, a stress ball, a coaster and the photos of me and my niece (who also got her face painted lol)  in the KLM booth where they had hats and props to use. They also had comps to win things like flights which we entered into :D It was a fun way to kill an hour and hopefully if they run it again we will go again as it seems to be a yearly thing :)














Whoot a £100 One4All Gift Card from KeepMoat's new years thrifyfifty comp



A book all about earth :) I won this on Twitter from All About Space and I can't wait to read it - being a book worm I love new and interesting books



I won these from MadHouseFamilyReviews giveaway on their blog. The people providing the prize took a while to send it through due to issues with couriers so they included an extra pack of the bed mats to say sorry. I originally entered this for my sis as she was talking about looking at potty training with my niece but due to Harmony's skills being a bit delayed and also she is only 18 months when I won I decided to give them to a friend of mine who has a little boy who's just under 3 who is currently potty training. She's a fab lady and I am sure they will save her some cash and help with the training :)


I won this fab little safe from a facebook comp run by eSafes - it's super cool apart from being bright pink and matching my bedroom (ooh coordinating goods), it got a guarantee that it will keep cash safe up to £1000 and valuables up to £10000 not that I actually have anything that is that valuable to put in it tho :(











From Global Cool website - The Midnight Rose by Lucina Riley - I haven't started this one yet but it sounds cool from the blurb. They do lots of giveaways on their sites of books etc they have reviewed so its worth checking back to find something new and cool to read.


From CapitalOne on Twitter - a Remote Safe :D




I'm super annoyed with myself as I deleted the photos for the following before uploading them and I have used them so can't rephotograph them grrr:

A coupon for a free bottle of Sunny D from their FB page - it was valued up to £1.49 but Morrisons currently doing it for £1 - we got the regular one :) Here's a pic of the half drunk bottle seeing's as I deleted the coupon picture. They do regular giveaways and they also give away a voucher for a free bottle to 10/20 people each friday as part of freebie friday



A sample of Lotus biscoff spread this was advertised as a link to follow on their FB page - enough for 2 pieces of toast and a money off coupon off the full sized product but only a pic of the coupon cos I ate the spread (it was really gross and I wouldn't recommend although their biscuits are delicious). They do regular giveaways and comps on their fb page as well



I also won an awesome hotel night stay over on twitter - obviously no physical prize to post to show you all but I'm well excited - its an over night stay with breakfast plus use of pool and gym for 2 at St Anne's Manor Hilton Hotel & Spa - I am sure photos will follow when I get to visit :D & a £100 Gift Voucher for a local opticians :)