Home Sweet Home

 I don't get homesick often, mostly because I head home every two weeks or so, so it's not too bad. But right now, home is a strange place to be. It's home, but not quite home.

Last month, we lost our beloved elderly Labrador. Teaser outlived everyone's expectations, living til thirteen with two metal hips and one eyeball less than she started with. She was my best friend, always happy to see me, and the most loving creature in the world. She bought happiness, love and smiles into our home. I honestly don't remember what life was like before her, she's been with us since I was eight.

And now, without her presence to warm the house, home doesn't feel like home. It feels a little colder, a little more empty, and a little less comforting. 

Despite still having a dog and three cats milling about the house, things just aren't the same. 

I miss my best girl.

Tips for Packing A Travel Makeup Bag

I always find packing a travel makeup bag really difficult - it's like picking which children to take and quick to leave behind (I know, it's ridiculous). Over the years with travel for work and play, I've kinda gotten into a groove with it, so I thought I'd share my tips for any of you lucky people headed off on holiday soon!

Pack as you apply your face. That way you can make sure you don't forget anything. Add in multiple lipsticks or blush options if you're going to be travelling for a while.

Pack old favourites, skip new purchases. Now is not the time to find out whether your new foundation oxidises. Pack products you know you can rely on to look good, so you won't find yourself out buying a new mascara in the airport.

Think multifunctional. Pack a shimmery blush so you don't need to pack a highlight. Take cream blushes that double up as lip colours. Take an eyebrow pencil with a built in spoolie. Think about how you can cut back without missing out.

Protect & double check. Got a soft powder? Put a cotton round in the compact and tape it shut. Packing lots of liquids? Tape the lids shut and pack them in individual sandwich bags, that way if a suitcase explosion does occur, the damage is minimised. Nothing worse than spending the first hour of your holiday washing shampoo out of a dress.

Function over form. Leave the pretty, ornate packaging at home and think travel friendly. Plastic foundation bottles, rollerball perfumes, cream eyeshadows, that kinda thing!

Write a list, and take it with you. That way when it comes to packing up your hotel room, you won't leave anything behind.

What are your top tips for packing beauty bits?

A Weekend To Do List

As a freelancer, the only real difference between weekdays and weekends for me, is that I'm the only one still working come Saturday and Sunday. I'm trying to be better at achieving things other than work at the weekends, so today I thought I'd share my weekend to do list, in case you need a little weekend inspiration. 

•  Start the weekend off right by clearing the decks. By Friday night, my flat tends to look like a small paperwork bomb has gone off on every surface. Spending a quick hour tidying up means I can get on with the weekend with a clear conscience, and it makes Monday morning a little easier. 
• Get out on a photo walk. I always feel so inspired after spending some time out exploring with my camera. You don't even have to go out somewhere specifically, sometimes I'll just get off the tube a few stops early when I'm headed out, and walk the rest of the way looking for pretty captures. 
• Try a new recipe. I'm going to do some trial baking before my picnic next week, it's the perfect excuse to get back in the kitchen, it's been so long since I've baked! 
• Plan a date night in. A midweek pick me up, I'm going to plan out a dinner & movie night in with Con. We're saving for our move right now, so a budget friendly date night in is a good plan. 
• Pick up some organisational tools. I need some boxes & baskets to organise my cupboards and get things ready for the big move! 
• Indulge in a pamper evening. It's been so long since I've done the whole bath, facemask, mani pedi routine, and I could really use the downtime. - Have an early night. Clean PJs, fresh sheets, a hot cup of tea, candles and Gilmore Girls on Netflix. Bliss. 

 What are your plans for the weekend?

The Perfect Notebook

It's taken 22 years of intense stationery addiction, but I've finally got my perfect notebook setup in place. It sounds so lame I know, so if you aren't a stationery nerd - normal scheduling will resume tomorrow! 

So the notebook in question is this one from the one and only Erin Condren. I got the beautiful pink marble cover with my name on, but there are SO many cover options that you're guaranteed to find one you like. It's not the cheapest notepad, but for me it's totally worth it.

The inside cover is laminated with a lined section, perfect for writing in important to dos. I use the Erin Condren Wet Erase markers and they're great, fast drying and they don't smudge or transfer. 

The pages inside are super thick and soft, which, if you're a paper nerd like me, matters. One side of each page has a little to do list bar which comes in super handy when planning out work stuff!

The pages are split into four coloured sections which I've separated with Martha Stewart page tabs. It's perfect, I have a tab for blog, a tab for home, a tab for freelance and a tab for YouTube. 

On the inside of the back cover I added a personalised list pad also from EC. It comes with little sticky pads so it was super easy to add in! It's perfect for shopping lists, to do lists, and making notes!

So basically I'm hooked! If you want to order anything from EC you can use this code to get $10 off!

What's your favourite notebook? 

A Weekend in a Backpack

This may just be my proudest life achievement. All my things for two nights away in one backpack. I'll pause for you to applaud me. 

The backpack in question is a bargain Amazon find that I love because it's quite petite! I did a full post on it here if you want to see a little more of it. 

I have this handy little wallet from Skagen which houses my cards & phone, so I slipped that and my headphones into the front pouch so they're easy to grab. My phone case is Kate Spade, isn't it gorgeous? 

I managed to strip my clothing down to the bear necessities (see what I did there?), I wore a pair of jeans, jacket & my sunglasses on the day I travelled down, so I packed underwear into a little Cos jewelry bag, two tshirts and a necklace to jazz things up. The necklace is new from Oliver Bonas in stores soon, and I'm obsessed with it! 

I popped a few essentials into an Oliver Bonas Wash Bag, these are such a handy size! I put in my phone charger, moisturiser, hand sanitizer, deodorant & face wipes. I have things like face wash & hair stuff at home so these were just the bits I needed! 

Makeup-wise I stripped things back to reliable essentials, my Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua, Estée Lauder Brush On Glow BB Highlight, MAC X Ellie Goulding I'll Hold My Breath for base. Eyes kept simple, a mini Gimme Brow, MAC Painterly Paint Pot, an Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Supply & NARS Audacious Mascara, and Chanel's Adrienne Lipstick. All of this fits easily into my Charlotte Tilbury Makeup Bag with plenty of room to spare! 

I'm headed back home for work so I took my Erin Condren Life Planner & Notebook home, which took up a fair bulk of space in the bottom of my bag. I packed my iPad Pro, Canon 550d, Canon G7X, mini Joby GorrillaPod & some spare batteries & memory cards. These things makeup up my travelling work kit and has everything I need! 

And that's it! Are you proud of me? I'm proud of me! 

Flat Updates: My Dressing Table

You can expect a few more flat updates over the next few weeks as we will be finally leaving our little flat in September after 3 years, so I want to make sure I have lots of photos to remember the first flat Connor and I shared together.

With that being said, I thought I'd let show you my dressing table set up. It's taken the best part of three years but I'm finally happy with the setup I've got going on! Now, I don't keep all my makeup here, the bulk of it is in another dresser, but I keep my everyday bits and pieces here!

The dressing table is from Ikea, and I really like it, it's not too big and it's kinda unimposing in the room. Connor and I covered the glass panel in marble contact paper - it's not the neatest job but I love how it looks, and it's handy to have another background for blog photos!

The mirror is from Ikea too, it took me about six months to track it down in stock having seen it online, but it was worth the wait! It's from the PS2014 collection, and it's perfect for the space. I used to have a vanity mirror on the table, but it was taking up so much room so this was a great alternative!

I keep my everyday makeup in two two drawer Muji drawers, it's just the right amount of space for my go to favourites. I originally had them stacked on top of each other, but I appreciate the symmetry of this setup more.

I divy the drawers up into base, lips, cheeks and eyes, with a few miscellaneous items thrown in too. I tend to rotate out the contents every two or three weeks, and it works for me!

On top of one of the Muji units I keep a glass & copper box from H&M home with all my everyday jewelry in. It's super cute but, like the Muji drawers, a pain in the ass to keep clean. The other has an empty Diptyque candle in with all my makeup brushes in, and a couple of miscellaneous makeup items. I need to use up another Diptyque because my brushes are bursting out (and they desperately need a clean!).

And in the middle I have a marble effect H&M home tray with my go to perfumes (Diptyque Eau Duelle & Giorgio Armani Si), my favourite foundation (Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua), and my lash curlers (Shu Uemera). My moisturiser is normally here too but it was in the bathroom when I took these photos after a Sunday night pamper sesh! And lastly my beloved Caudalie Hand Cream which smells like grapes and sinks in super fast!

I guess I'll make the most of my last few months with this set up before we move!

The Life Update: Moving

So I'm moving! After four years in London, I'm headed home to the south coast. It feels a bit weird that it's finally happening, but it's time! 

Connor's Masters finishes in mid September and we hand the keys back at the end of the month. So we still have two months but there's a lot to do before then. I want to use this move as a chance to have a massive sort out and Marie Kondo style declutter, so my to do list before September 26th is growing by the minute. Any tips for packing, decluttering and moving in general would be much appreciated!

We are on the apartment hunt but in no rush, we want to find the perfect place and we're happy to spend a little time at home whilst we look for the right place. Since we will likely be spending a month or two back at my parents house, I need to pack everything into two categories, stuff to have at home and stuff to pack away until we're in the new place. 

Connor has taken a job which means working for himself, and I'm going to be launching my website at the end of the month, so we will both be working from home. So we'll be looking for somewhere with room for an office as well as general living space! I'm excited to do some more home style posts, as we put together the space and search for perfect pieces to fill the flat!

It's going to be a busy few months, but I really hope that by Christmas we will be settled in a new flat close to the sea! 

I am honestly so excited for this next chapter, and I can't wait to share it with you guys! 

Chasing Sunsets

Over the last month since my Grandad died, I've found myself with more time on my hands. Time that, over the last 6 months, I would have spent at my Grandad's house. For the first few days it was really hard to find a way to fill the time, and I found myself driving around in my car aimlessly. That was until, one day I was sat in my car on the beach front just as the sun began to set and started snapping photos. Since then, I've been on a sunset chasing mission, running around at 9pm searching for the best sunset.

Brighton: iPhone Only

I take so many photos on my iPhone these days, mostly because I don't always want to carry my heavy DSLR about all the time. I always feel like I'm not supposed to share iPhone photos here, but these were just too beautiful not to share! 

If you like this little peak then maybe I'll make it a regular thing to share phone snaps! 

I started the day in Brighton with brunch at Hen Restaurant. I met with Carrie who came with heavy praise for the waffles - she wasn't wrong! Dreamy decor alongside gluten & sugar free waffles that tasted like heaven - a great start to the day! 

 A little meander through the Lanes, stopping to snap awesome graffiti and succulents that matched my shoes. As it was Saturday, it was totally rammed, so we didn't linger long, just enough time to snap some photos and pick up some magazines too. 

 Carrie and I retired for an afternoon pick me up at The Flour Pot Bakery! I've heard so much about this place (not least about the Friday donuts), and it definitely lived up to the hype. Gorgeous minimalist interiors, delicious cake, and the best cup of Creme Caramel Rooibos I've ever had the pleasure of drinking. 

 I left Carrie after a productive work day, to reconvene with my wonderful friend Annabel, who I realised I've known for half my life. We had dinner at Franco Manca (my favourite pizza joint) before chowing down on cinnamon donuts on the pier for dessert. A perfect end to a great day, catch ups, donuts, sunsets and fresh sea air!