Christmas wish list

Writing a blog seemed to work quite well for my birthday so I thought I'd create a Christmas wish list so that my friends and family can take a look at what I'm lusting over this winter!

I am not the easiest person to buy for, I am the fussiest person in the world when it comes to gifts, its not that I'm ungrateful I just don't like the thought of having something I'll never use. My parents have learnt the hard way - stick to the list, no surprises. Luckily my boyfriend is cool with the fact I'm a spoilt brat and that's why I'll probably receive trips for every birthday to ensure I can't complain LOL.

1. First thing on my list is some new gym gear. I feel like I'm always buying it but never have any. I've recently turned over a new leaf and embraced waking up at 6am every morning before work to fit in a workout (mainly because when it gets round to 5pm I would rather shave my head than drive to the gym).

I came across Adanola on Instagram and fell in love with their collection. 

£24.00 for top & £38.00 for the leggings - but I promise I'll wear them lots!

2. Winter jumpers. I literally have about 37 saved in my items on Asos. I just like to keep an eye on them..

This charcoal jumper dress (£45.00) caught my eye, combined with my new boots (post below)I can't wait for winter! 

This orange chunky knit jumper (£40.00) is also one of my saved items!

3. NARS - I've read a lot of good things about NARS as a make-up brand so I'd be keen to try some of their products.

Audacious mascara - £21.00

Iluminating multiple in either Luxor or St Lucia (£29.00)

Light reflecting setting powder £26.50

4. Bobbi brown -  I swear by the Bobbi Brown eyebrow pencil and at £29.50 its a bit steep. My boyfriend nearly died when he heard me hand over nearly £30.00 for something to draw my eyebrows on with - but its okay because I had a £20.00 voucher for my birthday plus you can't walk around with bad eyebrows.

Anyway my eyes are literally sealed up when I wake up at 6am so I want to try some of their hydrating eye cream (£32.00). I've heard it has a good cooling effect which is just what I need early in the mornings!

and the 'Vitamin enriched face base' £39.99

Another item I want to add to my make-up bag are these party stick cream shadow set. I hardly ever wear eyeshadow but would love to dress my face up abit more when I go out. At £32.00 I would hope the 'long-wear' lasts until 4am. 

5. A winter coat. I recently saw this coat on ThatPommieGirl its from MissGuided but currenty sold out - if anyone knows of anywhere that does a coat like this please send it my way!

6. Kevin Murphy. These products have always been my weakness. They sell the products at LoveHair in Broadway and I used to always tell myself I'd just pay to get my hair done and I'd always end up coming out with at least two products and an extra £45.00 to the bill. Everything smells and feels amazing. I've recently bought some shampoo and conditioner to help grow my hair (which I've been trying to grow for a good 10 years now). I've had the Young.Again serum before and it makes your hair so soft and silky but I've ran out :( I'd also like to try the Angel Masque. Both of these products are around £25.00 but they make such a difference to my hair! Also my collection wouldn't be complete without the Kevin Murphy roller brushes - yes I know I wont be able to blow dry my hair like the stylist but a girl can dream!

7. Storage. Even though my make up bag spends 90% of its time in my gym bag in the week or an overnight bag at the weekend I love these organisers for my make up and skincare products. These are avaialable from pretty much anywhere now. The 3 draws is higher on my priority list for my sincare products just because I move my make up around so much! They have some reasonable priced ones on the MUJI website.

8. Handbag. This ASOS Suede Embossed Croc Shopper Bag has been in my saved items since before my birthday - I've been arguing with myself whether to 'treat yo self' but hopefully some nice individual will buy this for me as a christmas present! It will make a great work bag for the new year (along with me new work wardrobe - post to follow)

9. Shoes. These ASOS HEARTBREAK HOTEL Lace-up Heeled Sandals caught my eyes in the New in section this week. How lush are they? Perfection in a shoe. These babies are £45.00 (FYI I'm a size 6 hehe). I probably dont need another pair of shoes  but you really cant have too many pairs of black shoes?

These boots I already actually have waiting in a big black Dune bag at my boyfriends in London *spoiler alert*. They are called 'Toulon' from Dune and I got them in black suede - I'm in love. We went to Westfields last weekend and picked out these beauties (Josh actually picked them out but I chaperoned). These are going to be a strong staple piece of my winter wardrobe. Lets just hope they are comfy! 

10. Quest bars. My last request seems abit random for a christmas list but I cant justify spending £25.00 on protein bars so if anyone would like to stock me up with some Quest bars I'd love you.

 I've only ever tried the Chocolate brownie flavour but they are perfect as a treat (microwaved for 20 seconds)! These can be brought from Musclefood.com or any other supplement store.

I'll promise to put on my surprised face when I open any of these gifts!

Whats everyone else lusting over this Christmas?

AbbieJS

xxx

Birthday in Budapest

I've wanted to see more of Europe after visiting Prague and Nice earlier this year with work so was so happy when my boyfriend booked us a 3 day trip to Budapest. As previously mentioned in my last post our taxi came to pick us up at 4.30 AM - yes AM, but I can't complain it just made my birthday extra long!

Thursday 

We had a mammoth journey to Stanstead airport 4.30am taxi, 5.15am bus and then flight at 8.30am. We were both so tired, my boyfriend so half asleep he actually forgot to wish me happy birthday until we got onto the bus.. but I'll let him off he's really not a morning person!

We arrived to Budapest at around noon and went to check into our hotel which was on a cute little bricked backstreet. Its so odd to see such lovely architecture next to abandoned buildings, but this was common throughout the city. 

 We had booked to go to a restaurant we had read about online called 'Comme Sez Choi'. I may have made a slight error just before the meal in Josh buying me a pair of boots from Zara to find out we left the majority of our money back at the hotel and they really weren't as comfy as they were in the shop - the beauty of the shoes must of blinded me to the pain. So while Josh ran back to Zara to return a pair of shoes I ordered us our first of many glasses of wine.

We both had the Beef carpaccio to start, we'd already been given a small appetiser to share before this came out but both were absolutley delicious. Then came the more incredible main! I ordered the Salmon on arribiata rice, Josh had steak, chips & some green pepper sauce. They should sell that stuff in bottles - it was amazinggg. We both agreed it was one of the best meals we had in ages.

Josh had pre warned the waiter it was my birthday so I had to prepare my surprised face when they bought out a free tiramisu with a candle in! Take note, I used the birthday card all 3 days we were there. This was also followed by a glass of prosecco and 2 shots, one nearly blinded me when I tried to smell it so I politely slipped it into my water glass.

That evening we walked around trying to find the ruin bars, google maps failed us in this instance and after a jug of strawberry mojito we ended up in bed with a Burger King - but what better way to end your 24th birthday?

Friday 

Friday we woke up and decided to have a day of being tourists. We'd read a few blogs before we took our trip so I knew what I wanted to see. Unfortunately we were not lucky with the weather. 

We walked to the Castle bridge and tried some of the famous hungarian goulash in a cute little cafe. Followed by what I can only describe is like a flaky doughnut - whatever it was it tasted AMAZING. 

That afternoon the weather thankfully cleared and we decided to take a trip to one of the well-known Baths in the city. We decided to do the outside bath first, Take note - if you ever visit in the winter do this first, we were loving life in the 38 degree pool but my god when we got out. I've never ran so fast in my life. The inside of the baths are amazing really wish I'd got some photos so here's some I stole offline!

That evening we had a dinner cruise Josh had booked before we went. This was by far my favourite thing about the trip. Unfortunately we were not lucky with the weather and raining during a dinner cruise is not ideal, but we were lucky enough to get some great views regardless of this! 

It was such a perfect setting, they had someone playing a guitar while you ate amazing food. I quickly got very drunk from a bottle of prosecco (that also only cost £8.00 - winning) Everything is so lit up it was incredible - if you ever go to Budapest you must do this!

Saturday

Saturday we met one of Josh's Hungarian friends Daniel who invited us to for breakfast and to see the best of Budapest!
We brunched in a cute little cafe before going to the Citadella. The views were amazing!

Daniel recommended a traditional Hungarian restaurant for lunch, we decided to share a starter.. thank god we did! This was like a pancake filled with a stewed meat with a tomatoey creamy sauce (technical term) - it was absolutely lush but we were both quite full and were not prepared for the HUGE main.

Josh had the heart attack on a plate… Steak filled with mushrooms, liver pate, wrapped in bacon and covered in cheese. With potatoes that were fried in a 'little' oil.

I went for the Hunagrian dish that I couldn't really work out what it was. It tasted like scrambled eggs with potato, topped with chicken in paprika (paprika is used in EVERYTHING).

After eating our body weight in food we made our way back to the hotel before our journey back to London.
I cannot thank my boyfriend enough for this trip, it was amazing from start to finish and we did not stop laughing, mainly because I'm hilarious but also because we had to much fun. 

This this trip made the couple of weeks (now just 5) until our next holiday so much more bearable and I cannot wait for Mauritus for Christmas!... this also means my eating out posts should really slow down and my fitness posts increase in preperation for my bikini body, but I'll let you know how that goes.

AbbieJS 

x

My birthday month

Yes you've read that correctly - I've had a birthday month. This isn't down to me trying to make October all about me (which actually includes 5 weekends)but having siblings,a busy group of friends, two seperated parents and a long distance boyfriend. Juggling all those plans into one weekend just wouldn't of been practical.

The first weekend (2 weeks before my actual birthday) I invited the girls to go for birthday brunch. I'd heard about the Boston Tea Party online and wanted to go try it for a while. We decided to make it into a shopping day (any excuse) and we all met in Worcester for brunch. I don't get to see the girls together much so this was such a lovely morning (and ended up being a very expensive day).

I went for poached egg on wholemeal toast with salmon and mushroom. This was all followed by a game of children's pictionary which we all actually found quite difficult - it was obviously created for child geniuses.

The shopping trip was very successful. I NEEDED a pair of winter trainers and have had my eye on the Nike Thea's for months. I knew I would have some money for my birthday so splashed out early on these beauties. 

The following weekend was a birthday weekend with my dad, he loves clay shooting and I haven't been since my 21st. We took my boyfriend and his girlfriend. I had a few fluke shots but apparently I don't have a good 'master eye' which a lot of women struggle with, as well as I physically can't close my left eye without my right which makes me feel slightly retarded but we cant be good at everything.

In the evening we went to my new favourite Italian, ASK. I haven't been here for years, my dads girlfriend is gluten free and FYI the gf menu there is amazing!

I went for a starter from the gf menu, it was kind of like a lasagne but made with courgette instead of pasta, it was INCREDIBLE and big enough to fill me up, but of course I still had 2 courses to go. I made a sensible choice of a chicken and bacon salad for my main, however I put the dressing on then realised I didn't like it so ended up eating a bit of everyone else's food including pizza and my 1 year old nieces pasta.

My sister had the most amazing dessert (obv I had a bite or seven). It was a dark chocolate cup with toffee sauce to pour over which melted the chocolate over a scoop of ice-cream -the dream.

My birthday fell on a Thursday, by this point I was dying from a cold - not ideal.But this was a blessing during a 2 hour flight next to what looked like a homeless person. I travelled down to London on the Wednesday afternoon ready for our very early(4.30AM)journey to the airport the next morning. My boyfriend had booked us a 3 day trip to Budapest (I know- what a babe). I will write a full post on Budapest as theres so much to fit, including around 37 selfies. It was an amazing trip and I would 100% return.

The night before my birthday I was surprised with Prosecco from my boyfriends housemates - I haven't drank in over 3 weeks so it tasted extra good. It was slightly weird opening my presents the night before my birthday but due to our early flight I had to! 

My boyfriend had a present for me, which I was not expecting at all, after he'd already booked to go to Budapest which is way more than I've ever previously had. He's deffinatley set the bar high for next year though - I'll be expecting a car next year babe! I did think it was an empty box and was going to have something written on it like 'Just so you had something to open on your birthday' He had read my blog and bought me one of the items from my wish list. I never thought anyone would actually read this but after I have also received a spa day & make up voucher also from the blog I think I might have to do this for Christmas now! Take note everyone, write a blog and show your loved ones, a subtle buy me this.

I was so happy with it and decided to wear it most of the trip, such a diva on my Ryanair flight.

The following weekend I went to my mums for a birthday dinner, we went to a cute pub by hers and I had he most amazingggg fish cakes and salmon.  

Followed by in my opinion the best Sunday ever, a long walk, a big breakfast, a duvet day with christmas films (in October yes) and my mothers roast.Linda makes a mean roast.

My final weekend I had a spa day booked for me by one of my best friends Holly. I've never been on a spa day and it included a 30 minute back massage which I literally could not wait for and it was incredible. I nearly hugged the woman as she left the room. I left feeling soooo relaxed and it was a great way to conlude my birthday month - Thanks Holly!

From my 23rd birthday to my 24th I have had the best year ever, I have such a great group of friends, amazing family and an incredible boyfriend which I am all so thankful for. I cant wait to see what happens in the next year! 


AbbieJS

xxx