Is It Summer?

I’m starting to question the standard of summer we are actually going to get this year. I look outside and see grey, overcast skies. And then when I go outside the temperature is far from warm.

Holiday Blues

Being back home after a holiday never feels easy for me. I do love home though. Home is absolutely where my heart is. But… I think I just like getting away from it all. The sunshine. The clothes. The treats. Lets just call it holiday blues, yes?

Summer Beauty Routine

I thought I would publish a few posts while I’m away in Spain holidaying it up This is the first of two posts. I’m trying to keep it in the theme of summer! So this is about my favourite body moisturisers at the moment:

It Gets Worse, Before It Gets Better

Yesterday I became ill with what I thought was just a head cold. I had an early night and set my alarm for 6:30 this morning ready to get to work by 7 today.

Poorly

Uh-oh. Today was not the productive day I had planned 24 hours ago.

I woke up at 5am feeling hot and unwell. My throat was sore and my head felt heavy. It took me a while to get back to sleep but I did drift off before finally getting up when the alarm pinged at 7.30 this morning.

Obviously its nothing serious, just a little head cold, but its strange how something like this can run you down considerably. I’ve felt lethargic and low on energy all day.

I had made plans to go with Gary to my Dad’s shop (he’s a hairdresser,) for his final trim before we go on holiday. Then afterwards we were going to go to the gym together. We headed off to the gym, arrived, parked up and got out the car with our gym kits at the ready, to find out it was closed. What donuts!

All I planned to do was walk on the treadmill, I figured gentle exercise is better than none considering I’m not 100%. I hadn’t completely convinced Gary that I was fine to go to the gym anyways so I think he was secretly pleased that the gym was shut. He called it a ‘blessing in disguise’ or something along those lines. I think that maybe he was right.

Today was spent mainly resting. I did venture out again with Dad, we walked to the shops for about an hour but even that gentle walk took it out of me! I came home and slept on the sofa for over an hour. Fingers crossed I’m feeling a little better tomorrow, I’m on the early at work so an early night is on the cards for me today.

_____________________________________________________________________________

I was sort of bummed that I’ve felt ill on my day off from work, plus I was hoping to feel really excited about my holiday which is in a weeks time! In fact I’ve felt worried that I’m going to pass my germs on to the others! It would be rubbish if they caught this before our holiday. I’m hoping this should clear by next week, a bit of extra hygienic precautions and some positive thinking could go a long way!

The countdown starts here:

7 Days
6 Days
5 Days
4 Days
3 Days
2 Days
1 Day!

Now Isn’t The Time To Slack

She says while she sits typing away lazily on her laptop.

My motivation is on a bit of a low at the moment. There always seems to be an excuse not to go and workout. You name it, I’ve probably used it as an excuse the past few weeks:

I’ve had a long day at work and really don’t feel like going to the gym afterwards.
Its too hot to exercise right now.
I feel sad.
I don’t want to hurt my knee before my holiday.
I’ve got a headache and feel like crap.
Did I mention how I’ve had a long day at work?

You see my point.

I think I should just grab my keys and gear and get myself down to the gym. But I’ve really struggled to put this theory into action and making excuses was the easy way out this week.

Its the last few weeks leading up to my holiday now and I know I could regret slacking at the last minute. But I feel like I have already spent a lot of time and effort into my summer body and last minute sloppiness shouldn’t have too big an impact. If I’ve learned anything the last year or so its that I should love my body for what it is –

Shapes and curves all the way!

Maybe seeing all my beautiful holiday clothes in my wardrobe should motivate me to go to the gym. I still have three days left of this week to correct my slacking, right?

Stepping Up My Game

Wednesday.

Today was my day off work and its gone way too quickly . My day began like a normal Wednesday morning, with a trip to the gym. I followed my workout plan for the week by doing some strength training.
Lately I’ve found that the weight on the majority of machines I use at the gym isn’t challenging enough for me anymore. Seen as though my holiday is only 5 weeks away I want to step up my game, time is ticking by and if I want results I am going to have to challenge myself.

So today, I increased the weight I used on the machines by one level. I had a much better workout because the extra weight was noticeably harder and I was ready to finish after doing 3 sets of 10 of everything.

I got back from the gym and just had time for a shower (and a picture apparently,) then Dad and I headed off to the cinema. I’ve finally watched Pirates of the Caribbean! What with my exams and what not, I just haven’t got round to watching it until today.

I tend to only go to the cinema on a Wednesday because all of my family are on Orange so we make use of the 2 for 1 offer.

Firstly, I want to say that I really enjoyed the film a lot! I love all of the Pirates movies, but I admit I was a bit worried that a fourth movie might be dragging it out a bit. Yet the storyline is still as exciting as ever, despite being quite different to the first three films. I like change if it works, and I think the change worked well in this film. Two thumbs up from me!

I did however, get a big shock today by the severe prices in the cinema. Oh my goodness! I know I haven’t been going to the cinema as frequently as I used to, but it seems like the prices have risen sharply! It cost us £11 for one 3D ticket to see Pirates, and by the way the 3D in the movie is a complete rip off. I’m not a big lover of 3D as it is, but this film wasn’t created to be watched in 3D, it was shot normally and the small bits of 3D added in are pants!

Oh and one other thing that put my nose out of joint today. Cineworld charge £11 for the  viewing of a film and then don’t even give you a proper ticket. Instead they give you some crappy bit of paper with your film details on . Whatever happened to good old fashioned cinema tickets? I have a collection of cinema tickets that date back as far as 2000. Cinema ticket collecting has been my thing for over a decade, so I wasn’t too grateful about this pathetic bit of paper acting as my cinema ticket. Meh.

My day off absolutely flew by! Going to the cinema in the middle of the day certainly didn’t help. I’m back to work tomorrow, on the early (7-3) so my alarm is set for 6am … eeeek! I think I need to go and catch some “zzzzzzzz’s”

Have you enjoyed any films at the cinema recently? Do you think 3D is as good as its made out to be?

Driest Spring For Over 100 Years

According to the news, we have had the driest spring on records for 100 years.

Parts of the UK have had the driest and warmest spring for more than a century, latest figures from the Met Office confirm. (Source.)

Wednesday.

Yesterday was certainly a nice omen for the month of June in  my opinion, bringing the promise of sunshine with it. I am definitely a summer-loving kinda gal.

Dry spring – bad for the grass:

But good for our morale and tans .

I made the most of the nice day by sitting in the sunshine with mum for a couple of hours. It put me in a lazy kind of mood and afterwards I had to drag myself to the gym with the boyfriend. But it was worth it. I know I would have regretted not going.

Buying gym shorts was also a very good idea, even though at the time when I bought them I was worried I wouldn’t get the chance to wear them. Yesterday shorts were very appropriate in the heat! I normally dislike the chill of the gym from the air-conditioning, but I welcomed the cool breeze yesterday.

I focused my workout on strength training yesterday. I started off by warming up with 5 minutes walking and then headed down the end of the gym to lift a few weights. I finished up by warming down with 5 minutes walking. Nothing too strenuous on such a hot day.

Post-workout snack:

 

A juicy orange satisfied my craving for something sweet and delicious after my workout. I find oranges really summery, maybe because of their bright colourful appearance reminds me of sunshine. Fruit is so refreshing in the summer – I love it

How have you found the warm spring so far?

Sunshine And Shopping

It was good to have the sun and a bit of the heat back today, but according to the weather forecast its going to change again over the weekend.

My day started with a game of hide and seek,

Who can spot the guinea pig?

The girls went out in the garden today, and the grass has got really long in places. They loved playing in the long grass .

They love Spring time like their Mum!

Friday.

Today was much the same as yesterday: I got some jobs done around the house and wrote some more of my essay. I also went into town as I needed a few bits from Primark. I find Primark a bit hit and miss, but I actually got some nice clothing today including a top and a summery dress.

Plus, some funky nail polishes from Boots.

I’m so eager for some real shopping (the kind where lots is purchased and lots is spent.) However, I am waiting until the end of the month because that’s when the boyfriend gets paid and I will also have had time to save some more money up by then.

I spent the evening catching up on some Desperate Housewives.

(Source)

I have loads of television programmes to catch up on, about four episodes of Desperate Housewives and the last episode of True Blood. Our Virgin + box automatically records all our favourite programmes we set each week. Although this is a life saver sometimes I also think we get behind on what we watch because we rely on it so much.

The new series started off with a bang, I love it.

Then at about half 10 I received a phone call from work asking me to start at 7am tomorrow instead of 9am. This means that I have to get up at 6am tomorrow now…

But it also means I finish at 3pm now rather than 5pm.  

Tomorrow, its my grandma’s birthday so the family are gathering for another curry and then after that Gary and I are heading out for his friend’s birthday too. I’m pleased that I have an extra few hours to get ready now . The weekend should be a good one!

Off to sleep now. Goodnight.

How was your week? What are your plans for the weekend?

Jobs

Not the sort you get paid for though.

Go to gym: check!

Wash up: check!

Put dishes away: check!

Hang washing out: check!

Hoover upstairs: check!

Feed guinea pigs: check!

Vote: check!

Write essay: semi check!

Thursday.

Today has been a productive day of keeping busy with this and that.

I started the day fairly early with a trip to the gym. I did a treadmill workout which I found on CarrotsnCake’s blog. I really enjoyed the walking workout as it kept me motivated and I wasn’t bored, which I sometimes find I am. I ended up burning 425 calories, just from walking! (Well you do have some pretty steep inclines during part of the workout) but I was really pleased with it. Its nice to have a workout that doesn’t take it out of you but you still feel as though you’ve worked hard.

When I got home my mum had left me a few jobs to do, putting the washing on the line, dishes etc.

Weirdly enough I quite like days like this where I manage to be productive.

I need to keep myself busy at home or I know I will start binge-eating out of boredom.

It is sometimes hard to motivate yourself when you’re the only person at home.

I am the sort of person that can motivate myself, however it is also good to be motivated by others . For example, I much prefer going to the gym with a partner than on my own. Even though when I get to the gym I do my own thing. Weird right?

Although it has been a bit of a boring day by myself, I feel like I have achieved something. The house is tidy, a few jobs have been crossed off the list and my essay is coming together. Although I haven’t finished it yet, I worked on my American Literature essay most of the afternoon. Slowly but surely.

I was pleased to see that I have just over a thousand words to go!

However I think I managed to Tweet just as many words.

I sometimes frequently get distracted by the internet ! If it isn’t Facebook or Twitter its online shopping that distracts me. MUST. LEARN. TO. FOCUS.

Voting.

Today I also voted for the first time in the local election. Last year I missed out on voting in the general election as I was still seventeen.

I don’t pretend to know very much about politics or what not, but I do think its very important to vote. Especially us women. Personally I think that all politicians are crooks and I didn’t really know who was right to vote for today.

Yet I was happy that I went down to the library with my dad and voted. Something about it felt sort of liberated and that we have given our little say in the community.

 

What jobs give you a sense of achievement? What do you think about voting?

I have a feeling I will sleep well tonight. Goodnight.