The week that was #24

This past week was one that I had looked forward to for what seems like forever. Nothing huge planned, more a case of a much needed and long awaited break. I haven't had a full week off work this year so the prospect of one made me very happy indeed.

DOING Following my Sister-in-Law's wedding, we began our week off with a couple of days pottering around the house, taking it in turns to tackle chores and various tasks. It might not sound exciting but it felt great to finally get some things sorted. We've had a busy time recently and things were just starting to mount up, but gradually through the week, we washed up, hoovered up, cleaned up and sorted different areas of the house.

Ethan, on the other hand, just put his feet up...

I cleared my wardrobe, sorted by dressing table, packed away winter clothes and Ethan's old clothes, tidied his playroom and hubs tackled the garden with help from his trusty Bosch garden tools.

My make up needed a big overhaul and a new vanity case helped me to bring order to the chaos.

Less clutter, more organisation, happier me!



On Wednesday, we went for a walk in our neighbourhood - hubs, Ethan and our dog, Watson - stopping for ice cream on the way.

Thursday was my birthday and I had a nice morning at home with my boys, opening cards, enjoying a bacon sarnie for breakfast and opening some presents before I headed to Hoar Cross Hall.

It's a lovely spa hotel in Burton-upon-Trent and they have a new hair salon by Matthew Curtis. I'll be sharing more about my afternoon later this week but suffice to say, it was a lovely way to spend any afternoon, let along my birthday. That, and the champagne we enjoyed when I got home!

Friday gave us the chance to use Ethan's paddling pool; Saturday we went to Venture Photography studio in Leamington Spa for a complimentary shoot as a thank you from Renault Birmingham for when we bought my new car, taking along lots of Ethan's cuddly friends, and Sunday we went out for lunch with my in-laws which was a very nice treat indeed.

It's been a quiet and relaxing week by all accounts, and over all too soon, of course. Ethan has grown in front of our eyes this week, in his speech, his understanding and his playfulness. His touch of the terrible two's has continued in spits and spots but he has also been so much fun too. It's amazing how he has grown into a little boy so quickly, and it's been great to spend some proper time together, enjoying life as a threesome.

READING Ethan has a new book in his collection, from the Parragon #bookbuddies monthly club, which is a Slide and See storybook of classic fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk (RRP £6.99).

It's a colourful book with really lovely illustrations and slide out sections that make the storytelling interactive, so your little one can take part and reveal the next part of the story as you read.

Ethan was very excited when this arrived and promptly took it away from me to read, sat in a corner, by himself. He was fixated for a good half hour, turning the pages and seemingly reading the story to himself, and since, he loves to point out the chicken and the cow on the tabs.

As for me, I've actually been reading too! I love books but it has been hard for me to get back into reading ever since Ethan came along; I just have no attention span!

I used to love the TV show Girls Next Door, about Hugh Hefner's three girlfriends, and always really liked Holly Madison. She's just released her book, Down the Rabbit Hole, telling her side of the story and whilst it may not be considered the most intellectual of reads, I've been thoroughly enjoying it and gripped from the start. 

I found the story of the three girls of the Playboy mansion fascinating at the time and still really like Holly so have found this book really interesting. Many people are cynical about her and the others, but hearing things from her perspective is quite illuminating and a good bit of escapism.

WEARING I've been working on my perfect red pout blog post, trying out lots of different red lipsticks to share with you my top picks and the one that I chose to wear on my Sister-in-Law's wedding day (all to be revealed soon!).

Other than that, there's a new addition to my make up bag that I think's pretty darn great. I've long been a fan of Soap and Glory's Archery eyebrow pencil. It's two ended but the only end I rate is the waxy pencil, which is great for building colour. There's now a new product offering the same waxy consistency but with an angled head - Archery 2-in-1 Brow Tint Pencil.

It has an angled shape, packing it easy to create the shape you want and define your brows, plus it has a small brush with eyebrow gel so you can set your hairs in place first before shading your brows in. 

For me, the colour is very natural but not quite dark enough for my hair colour at the moment (I didn't know there was also a darker shade available), so I add a little more shading for depth of colour with my Benefit Browzing kit, but the Archery pencil helps me create a precise shape quickly and easily. See above to see how the pencil alone looks.

It's back to work and our usual routine, but our next break shouldn't be too far away and with the sunshine we've been enjoying, nothing's too bad after all.

Kelly x