The Afternoon Pause

I'm lucky enough to get to spend a day hanging out with my best friend pretty much every week, deadlines permitting, and we seem to have fallen into a routine. We meet at Kings Cross for coffee, and then peruse Boots, Mac and Accessorize. We meet on Oxford Street and go to Franco Manca or Honest Burger, before hitting up H&M, or she comes to mine and we invariably end up driving to Ikea for meatballs and a candle restock. We live in one of the busiest cities in the world, with a thousand and one things to do on our doorstep, but we rarely do anything else.

Whenever we head Oxford Street, we tend to walk past a ton of cute independant coffee stores, and we always say 'we should go there one day', but we never do.

So this week (after pizza at Franco Manca and hitting up H&M), we did!

Under the advisement of Katy, we headed to Taylor St Baristas, hidden behind Claridges, less than a five minute walk from Bond Street Tube Station (and our favourite central London Boots store). We were pretty exhausted from the previous three hours of pounding the pavement and we were definitely experiencing an afternoon slump, so we headed through the grey door in desperate need of a caffeine and sugar fix!

Both of us agreed on arrival we needed to come back for lunch, Daphne was eyeing up the Brocolli and Stilton Soup with a sourdough roll, and I had my heart set on a giant superfood salad complete with sweet potato chunks and beetroot, mmmm.

But since we'd gorged ourselves on pizza a few hours before, we settled for a snack instead. Daphne had a slice of coffee and walnut cake to accompany her latte, whilst I went for a a Tangerine and Ginger loose leaf tea, and a flapjack. Daphne demolished both of hers pretty speedy, so I assume that means they were delicious, and mine were freaking fantastic. The tea was sweet and gingery, and the flapjack was jam packed with delicious berries and almonds too. So good.

We spent half an hour resting our feet and recharging a little, and it felt so good. Everything is so go go go right now, that just stopping and letting the world go by for a while felt so good. When you have a lot going on it sometimes seems like the right thing to do is just keep going until everything is done, but taking a little time out can really help re-energise you, and stop everything seeming so overwhelming.

I think I've got the coffee shop bug! If you've got any recommendations, hit me up!

Spring Makeup Picks

It's April, which means whether the weather acknowledges it or not, Spring is upon us. Now, if you've followed my blog for a while, you'll know that I love a good seasonal makeup shakeup as much as the next beauty blogger, so it was only natural that I root around in the ol' Muji, and pull out a few Spring-appropriate picks.

When spring comes around I'm after two things; lightweight makeup, and a good old fashioned glow. However, what I'm not into, is a glowy foundation with a wet finish, I want something that gives a bit of coverage, has a natural finish and feels just like skin. High demands I know, but I've found something that does just the trick, the NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation. This stuff is THE BOMB, it's so lightweight on the skin, similar in formula to the L'Oreal Eau de Teint Foundation and the Maybelline Dream Flawless Nude Foundation, it feels just like a light dusting of powder on the skin. It offers good coverage, one pump is perfect for just evening the skin tone, two for everyday and three for high coverage, if I'm filming or going somewhere important. But it looks just like skin, glowy but not dewy or wet looking. I like to use a dampened Beauty Blender to press this into my skin for the most natural look!

If I want just a boost more glow, I've been reaching for the Smashbox Halo Highlighting Wand in Pearl, a gorgeous sheeny liquid highlighter that I bounce into the tops of my cheekbones with my Beauty Blender. This is more of a sheen than a shimmer, which makes it look super subtle, like you're glowing from within!

I've fallen back in love with The Balm's Frat Boy Blush, it's a gorgeous typical peachy pink with a hint of shimmer, but it's super soft and pigmented which means it's easy to go over board with. The trick with this is to use a big duo fibre brush, like the Real Techniques Duo Fibre Powder brush, which picks up the perfect amount of product to just give a light flush to the cheeks. Pretty and spring-perfect.

Eye-wise, I've been favouring a more simple look. I've been reaching for the Josie Maran Coconut Watercolour Eyeshadow in Playa Del Pink, the most beautiful shimmery champagne cream shadow there ever was. I literally just pat this all over my eyelid, into the crease, and it has so much dimension, it looks great all on it's own. For brows I've been relying solely on the L'Oreal Brow Artist Plumper, which just gives my brows a little definition and holds them in place.

For lips, I've been reaching for The Body Shop's Colour Crush Lipstick 18, a beautiful sheer coral that just imparts a hint of colour to the lips, without being too much!

And lastly sticking with the coral peach theme, I've pulled Essie Tarte Deco out of retirement for spring, and I've fallen in love all over again. Such a beautiful shade!

What are your spring makeup picks?

March Happy Mail and Messy Box

I've been an avid reader of A Beautiful Mess for a long time now, nobody can scrapbook quite like those girls! Last month I decided to try out the A Beautiful Mess Happy Mail Service, and I loved it, and ended up ordering the brand new Messy Box service this month to try it out too. I ordered a month to month subscription for both, and figured it was just a one month deal, but when my Messy Box arrived, there was this month's Happy Mail inside too, so without realising I'd been charged for two months! I figured I'd show you guys both, since I have pretty mixed feelings about the contents and the experience I've had with them too!

For those of you unfamilliar with Happy Mail and Messy box, here's the essentials. They are both subscription services that run month to month, Happy Mail is an assortment of cards and prints perfect for sending snail mail, whilst Messy Box is scrapbooking supplies. It's a US based service, but for an extra $2 you can have international shipping inclusive of import taxes, which is pretty darn cheap. The prices are in USD, but I ended up paying £18.24 for the Messy box, plus a £1.54 charge from my bank, and £14.63 for Happy Mail, plus a £1.48 bank charge. The website says they ship on the 10th of each month, and both months I received mine on the 30th, so it takes almost three weeks to arrive for international shipping, not great but not terrible either. 

 Of the two, I think the Happy Mail subscription is my favourite, although I'll admit, I think last months was better. There's nothing wrong with this months, I think I just thought last months was more exciting, and more me! This months box contained 9 assorted cards and postcards with envelopes, one large print, one sheet of stickers, six neon gift tags and one shopping list notepad. I love the notepad, it's really cute and I'll definitely get a lot of use out of it, and I love the print too. Also, that pug card, so cute

The Happy Birthday, Thank You, and New Home cards are handy to have for any future dates coming up, although you probably wouldn't need these every month! It's always nice to have these kind of cards on hand though! The others I'll either send to my friends, or use within my scrapbook, I love the one with the Dolly Parton Quote, and the rainbow envelope it came with is so cute!

Unless you send a lot of post (or have a LOT of friends), I don't think you'd need to get this every month, but it's a nice little one off to get every now and then!

 Now I'll be honest, I was a little underwhelmed with the Messy Box. Don't get me wrong, I'll use everything in it, but I just expected something more exciting! I feel like there's a lot of card stock here, and for the price point I'd rather buy another Project Life kit. I think I expected more variety, stickers and stamps and even some variation on the card would have been nice, like a glittered sheet or something, all of the cards here look pretty samey. As a concept it's a great idea, but I just felt it lacked variety. 

In the kit you get a roll of washi tape, some white split pins (why?! This is the most unexciting inclusion of them all), some gold chipboard letters, an assortment of journaling cards, and some thin tissue paper circles and hearts (not entirely sure what I'd use these for?) for the price, a real let down.

Something to keep in mind, I was under the impression I'd signed up for a month to month subscription, where I can cancel at any time. What they don't tell you is that you have to pay a $15 fee per subscription to cancel the service. Had I known this, I probably wouldn't have ordered any at all, since I'm not really in a position financially to commit to the subscription!. My suggestion would be to go for a 6 month subscription instead, so you don't incur any cancellation fees (after the six months)!

Whilst this months boxes didn't blow me away, I wouldn't rule out ordering these in the future, and I really think they're on to a great thing here!

I think I'll stick with Project life kits for now, but if you send a lot of mail, this is a great kit!

5 Ways To Juggle a Blog With Other Commitments

Most of us in the blogging world aren't lucky enough to be able to devote all day every day to our internet hubs. Most of us have to balance in work, school, parenting, something else that takes up a good old chunk of our time. I started this blog back as I started uni, and as I'm coming to the end of my 3 year degree, I feel like I've finally worked out how to keep on top of everything!

• Organise your time. A big old planner is your best friend. Block off your work/school/mummy commitments, and any social arrangements, so you can see what time you have left. Then you'll have a better idea of what time you have to devote to your blog. If you can block off a couple of hours a week to take all your photos, great. If you have an afternoon off at the weekend to write content, fab. If anything, I find that scheduling these things in makes me more likely to do them, because I know I won't get another chance to do them!
• Plan, plan, and plan again. At this point in life, I've got notebooks coming out of my ears. I keep an Erin Condren Life Planner with everything from my classes to social events, to to do lists, to meal plans in, which is basically my own life manual. I then have a separate diary for Uni deadlines, classes and to do lists, a diary for each of my blogs where I keep track of my schedule, a notebook for each of my blogs where I plan the photos I need to take, to do lists, and a notebook filled with blog ideas to name a few. I also use the Simplenote app on my phone to draft blog posts on the go, jot down ideas and make lists. Writing everything down makes it easier to stay on top of things!
• Don't expect too much. We'd all love to be able to post everyday, but sometimes it's just not feasible. Make a realistic schedule, and if you can post more often, great, but if not, don't kill yourself over it. Two awesome posts a week is better than seven lukewarm ones.
• The reserve tank. Every blogger needs a reserve tank. In fact, I have two. I have an ideas reserve tank, for when I run dry on post ideas, and a blog post reserve tank, 5-10 ready to upload posts, for just in case I run out of time. I don't use them often but they come in handy!
• Get on top of your schedule. When I'm posting daily, I like to have a rough idea of what sort of post is going up every day for the next month. It could be something like 'monthly favourites post' which is fairly self explanatory, or it could be 'haircare review'. I like to schedule my posts a week in advance, so I know I have a few days buffer should something come up which means I can't get a post done in time. Staying ahead of yourself is half the battle!

Do you have any top tips for fitting blogging around other commitments?

Disneyland Paris Hotel New York

 I'm one of these people who likes to research the crap out of every aspect of my holidays before they happen, I like to know all about the hotel, the area, the food, the activities. It's partly an anxiety thing, I'm an anxious traveller, and the more I know about where I'm going, the better I feel, but it's also a fear of missing out thing! I don't want to miss something important!

Anyway, getting to the point, when I was searching for the Disneyland Hotel New York where we were staying, I realised there was very little information about it, a small amount of info one the Disney website and a few less than helpful trip advisor reviews. So, I figured I'd add to the pool in case anyone else out there was looking for information, or if you're nosy like me, you can have a peak inside the hotel!

So the Disneyland Hotel New York is billed as a four star hotel with a 'contemporary art deco' feel. As you can imagine, it's all themed around stereotypical New York imagery, from the bright yellow cabs to the walls painted like subway stations.

Let's start with the good stuff! The rooms were spacious, clean and quiet, and the hotel itself is situated right at the edge of Disney Village, making it the closest hotel to the park (bar the hotel actually in the park!). We were grateful for how close it was after spending all day on our feet! The staff were all super friendly and helpful, particularly at the concierge! The wifi is great too, we were able to stream Netflix easily from our rooms, which is unusual for a hotel!

The hotel has two restaurants, an a la carte and a buffet-style diner, as well as a bar which serves snacks. Our room was bed and breakfast, and we could have breakfast in any of the restaurants. They had a good choice of pastries, cereals and continental meats and cheeses, but they could have done with more fresh fruits and the hot food was a little weird. They had delicious pancakes and good ol' american streaky bacon, but the scrambled eggs were powdered (big no no) and the sausages were veal, which was a bit weird. 

The hotel has a big old swimming pool, with a big jacuzzi at the back, and 3 people steam rooms and saunas in the changing rooms. The pool was a little chilly, but it was nice to get a few lengths in after a long day at the park!

 Whilst there was nothing specifically wrong with the hotel, it definitely didn't quite match up to some of the other 4* establishments I've stayed in. Decor is definitely dated, whilst to a certain extent it fits the theme, some areas definitely needed updating, such as the bathrooms, and in some places the wallpaper was looking pretty tired. It was lacking basic amenities that you would expect with a five star rating, like tea and coffee making facilities in the room, and somewhere to sit in the lobby.  None of this was deal breaking, but the sort of thing you'd expect to see in a four star!

With this hotel, you're definitely paying for the location over anything else! Whilst we enjoyed our stay there, if we were going back for more than a few days, I'd definitely consider staying somewhere self catering, it got very boring eating out in all the not very healthy restaurants!