Welcome to Miami

I am sat watching Miami Ink and it has brought back happy memories from my holiday in May. We (me, the boyfriend, my mum, my dad, my sister and her boyfriend) went to Orlando for 2 weeks and we did a day trip to Miami.

Me!

We started the day early and headed to the Everglades and did an airboat tour, then we visited an animal sanctuary that housed a variety of rescued animals who had been kept as pets illegally. One little crocodile had actually been kept in someone's bath! The Armadillo was my favourite. What a cute little critter!

Then we did a cruise and saw the mansions of the rich and famous! Here I am before we went on the boat. Excuse the sweaty mess but it's hard to look glam in 110 degree heat!

The mansions were out of this world! My favourite was a pink one which I believe belongs to Elizabeth Taylor. Next up we strolled along South Beach (in the sweltering heat!) and took hundreds of photos of all the art deco hotels, the beach, 'Muscle Beach' and Versace's house which was just amazing!

Then we went to..... the Miami Ink shop!!!!! I'm a huge fan of the programme and it was AWESOME to see the shop and we even got to meet Darren Brass.

Darren Brass outside the shop!

I have been to Orlando 4 times before but this year was the best. It was a blast and going to Miami was a definite highlight!! I would love to go back one day.

I thought I would share a couple of snaps from Miami with you! I took 1500 photos during the holiday, most of which can be found on Facebook, but I won't subject you to any more than the ones above :)

Has anyone else been to Miami?

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Beauty buys of the week - part 2.. Lush 'Lemony Flutter'

When I asked for some cuticle oil/butter recommendations on Twitter, 'Lemony Flutter' by Lush made the most appearances! So, off I went to Lush in Leeds to grab this little beauty and also have a nosy round the newly refurbished shop (which looks great!)

Firstly, there is a lot of product for the price. A little bit goes a long long way so it will last me ages.

I have been applying this like crazy. I can't get enough of the stuff! After a week of applying this to my cuticles, nails and hands several times a day there has been a noticeable improvement in the appearance of my cuticles. They were dry and slightly tatty looking before, not any more! No more tatty bits!

I recommend this if you're looking for a cuticle butter. It's a really cheap product that has worked for me in a short space of time. I will continue to use it daily, and I have started to use it on my toes too!

I personally love the smell. My boyfriend hates it. It gives him a headache apparently! So that is something to bear in mind. It is a very strong smell, very strong indeed, but I prefer that to something odourless.

I would give this 4.5 out of 5. It loses half a mark for making my boyfriend feel queasy! :)

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The Ultimate Five (tag)

A HUGE thanks to Lauren Loves for tagging me on this. I was very flattered to hear that I was one of the first blogs she started to read regularly! It is a nice feeling and very strange because I always think my blog is pooh compared to some others! I put a lot of effort into it and spend a lot of time reading my comments and replying (just ask my boyfriend, he feels like 2nd best to my blog sometimes..oops!) so I'm glad you guys like to read it!

Go check out Lauren's blog if you haven't done so already. Her blog is really good and she deserves way more 'followers'!

Oh my. I also just remembered that Cat at Swirledpeacat tagged me for this too! Thank you chick! Hers is another blog you should all check out too. So go have a peek if you haven't already!

So, there's three parts to this tag. First off, a shout out to five blogs you love to read (a sentence or so to say why you love them), then tell us five things you love and five facts about yourself. Simples!

The first part is hard. I love so many blogs and I have tagged loads of my faves recently, and it makes me feel bad for all the blogs I don't mention. So, I am going to tag nobody and say I love everybody!

Ok.. five things I love:

1. Christmas. It is the best time of year. All the shops are full of Christmas gifts and decorated in sparkly lights. There is food and drink flowing everywhere. And of course there are presents aplenty! :) My new job closes over Christmas too, what a bonus!

2. My dogs. And animals in general. You all know that anyway though :)

3. Money. I love having enough money in the bank to feel comfortable. I love being able to buy new things that make me feel more confident and I like little treats like the cinema and going out for dinner.

4. Smart cars. I own a Silver Smart which I showed you all in a previous post once, and my car before that was a Smart too. They are so nice to drive. They aren't slow like some people think, they are actually quite speedy and I can nip into small parking spaces no problemo!

Plus they are quite a 'green' car and road tax is only £35 a year! Get in! I would LOVE a pink one. Perhaps that can be my next car..

5. Cake. I am a total cake fiend, and I really wish I wasn't so that I could lose a few pounds. You name it, I like it! My favourites are battenburg, french fancies, coconut tarts, lemon curd tarts and fruit cake! YUM!

Five facts about me:

1. My middle name is Claire.

2. My starsign is Aquarius. Supposedly that makes me friendly and a humanitarian (true), honest and loyal (true), original and inventive (not so sure on that one), and unpredictable (unfortunately true!)

3. I have one sister who is 2 years older and the complete opposite to me. She has black hair, green eyes, is very tanned, and she is so laid back (unlike me.. I'm a total stress head!) Hello Adele! :)

4. People who have heard me sing tell me I'm quite good. My family want me to audition for X Factor, it is never going to happen! I'm too shy, too scared of failure and I would hate to be famous/on the tv so why bother! I'm happy sticking to karaoke, and 'Lips' at Christmas time with my family. lol.

5. When I was little I had a really bad asthma attack and asthma affected me in my younger years quite badly, and occasionally it still troubles me as an adult. It turned out I was allergic to most animal hair/fur and peanuts, and the day of my 1st attack I had eaten a tub of peanuts and slept on a feather pillow. I am no longer allergic to peanuts and me/my parents have had lots and lots of fluffy animals over the years none of which I'm allergic to!

Thanks for reading guys! xxx

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Beauty buys of the week - part 1.. Estee Lauder

These are the makeup/beauty products I have bought this week and I'm going to do individual posts about them as and when I have had chance to give them a good test!

On the right you will see Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation. I have been using this for the past few years and I absolutely love it! It covers all my blemishes and spotty business, it stays put all day and it has a spf 10.

Lately I have debated trying out something new. I paid a visit to the Dior counter and almost bought the Dior Forever foundation after hearing so many good things about it from a few bloggers. I was very impressed with it. It made my skin look great without being too heavy and it felt lovely on my skin. Unfortunately they didn't have any samples in my colour so I wasn't able to test it out the next day using my usual routine, which I think is quite poor considering the price of the foundation. So, in the end I went back to my trusty Double Wear.

My skin is quite blemish free at the moment and if it stays that way I will definitely purchase Dior Forever foundation at some point in the future so that I have the option to use both, perhaps the Dior as a day time foundation and Double Wear for the evening.

I also got a free gift from Estee Lauder, and as free gifts go this one is a very generous size! It is DayWear Plus which is a 'multi protection anti-oxidant creme spf 15'. The blurb on the website says it actively shields skin to help prevent lines before they appear - so your skin looks smoother and heathier, longer.

I have been applying the cream, waiting half an hour, then applying my foundation and I must say my skin feels great afterwards; really smooth.

As you can see my skin looks fairly clear here after applying the Double Wear and I just wish I could be brave and show you a 'before' photo to prove how good the foundation is!

What is your all time favourite foundation?

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This weeks clothes purchases

I have been a bit naughty this week. As well as my new sunglasses I have bought a few new items, mainly for my new job as I want to look smart on my 1st day :)

I spotted this Barbara Hulanicki top whilst walking past the sale rail in Topshop and it caught my eye because I recently saw Zoella wearing it and thought it was lovely. It was only £15 which is a bargain considering it is such a gorgeous print and lovely material too.

I also got a lovely long cardigan from H&M which I haven't photographed due to constantly wearing it since buying it :) It was £14.99 which is a fairly good price as it's quite good quality. It's hand wash only though. Grr, annoying.

I don't normally buy sale items but I have bought something else from the sale, this time a smart skirt from River Island which was reduced to £12. I thought it would look nice to wear at my new job. It is grey and plain, but there is some ruching which adds a nice detail to it. I thought it would look nice with a white shirt tucked in.

I have wanted a blazer for ages and I saw this one in Miss Selfridge a few weeks ago. Today I had a hunt round Leeds and tried a few places but this Miss S one is the best fit and the one I liked the best. It was £45.

I will be able to wear it for work and with skinny jeans too so hopefully I will get lots of wear out of it.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend so far? Today after shopping my boyfriend treated me to lunch at Wagamama and I had a delicious chicken noodle soup. I gave the chopsticks a go but in the end gave in and asked for a fork because I was starving and wanted to shovel it in! :)

We got absolutely soaked today. It was raining cats and dogs! How is the weather where you are today? I'm absolutely sick of the rain, it is non stop!

We have played the lottery tonight for the first time in absolutely ages. Fingers crossed! If we win the jackpot I will buy all my followers a drink!

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to having Sunday roast at my mum and dads house :) And on Sunday night I will be a bag of nerves ready to start work on Monday morning. 8.30am start, jeez!

Lots of love, xxx

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