Mid-Week Rambles

Hey guys just thought I'd do a quick post (as I had some time) to let you know what's been going on.

So last week I had half term where I was revising for my mocks for this week, I also have my annual school dance show coming up for the end of March which is keeping me busy after school and most importantly it's MY BIRTHDAY next Monday so I'm organising some things for that.

As a result it has left me with little time to do proper blog posts but I promise over the next few weeks things will be going back to normal and I will be doing regular and detailed posts once more.

This is just a second request if anyone has the time to do a guest post for me it would be really appreciated, as some of you may have seen I had a travel one by Annie R Lindberg on Monday which I loved. 

There are quite a few benefits like - 

free advertising

new viewers

a fairly big audience

experience in writing for others

and helping me out which means I owe you haha

It can be on anything a tag, a review, a trip, a haul whatever you fancy. 

Let me know if you're interested or have a post - millie_whittaker@hotmail.com

Thanks for reading and being supportive of my inconsistent blogging at the moment.

Lots of love x

Guest Post: A Day in Oslo

Hey everyone, so todays post is by Annie from Annie R Lindberg. I have just discovered her blog and really love it, she takes such amazing photographs and I love finding out what she's been up to or just staring at her beautiful pictures. This post in particular just makes me want to go to Norway so I hope you enjoy her piece as much as I do and be sure to check out her blog x

Hi! I know this is a little while ago, but I wanted to show you these pictures and tell you about this day anyway. It was early january and my boyfriend and I were still back in Norway visiting my family. Kevin, my boyfriend, had never been in Oslo before, so my father, my step mother, my youngest step sister and I went there together with my boyfriend to show him around the city. The reason why he haven't been there before is because he is from the Netherlands, and this is only the second time so far that we visited Norway together, and we didnt have the chance to go last time. It was pretty cold and rainy this day but it didnt stop us from doing some sightseeing in Oslo!

We started out taking a walk trough the castle grounds where the royal family is living.

                 

After walking around the castle grounds we went to the famous pier of Oslo where you can walk along the water called Aker Brygge. There are shops, cafés and resturants you can visit, and it is a very popular place to visit in Oslo for shopping and dining.

We went for some shopping here (and my youngest step sister posing with a bear statue, haha!) before heading to dinner. We went to a very popular pizza place in Norway called Peppes Pizza to eat dinner. They have the most delicious pizza I have ever had, and I eat there quite often if I am eating dinner out.

Ah that pizza was sooo good! 

So after we had been eating, talking and laughing for hours while getting stuffed on pizza, we went to a very old resturant near the famous ski jump just outside Oslo called Frogneseteren to have a coffee before heading home. 

This place is a lot higher up than Oslo itself and it was incredible snowy there so I couldnt get a good picture of the outside of the place, but as you can see the inside is very old and beautiful. We had a coffee and a cake here before heading home and on the way we stopped outside a very old hotel, also close to the ski jump, called Holmenkollen Park Hotel.

It was a great day with family and my boyfriend loved seeing Oslo, even if it was cold!

What do you think of the pictures? Have you ever been to Oslo? If so, how was your experience? Tell me in the comments!

x Miss Annie

Guest Posters Needed

Hey everyone sorry for the lack of posts this week but I have mocks over the next couple of weeks and am struggling to juggle both revision and blogging.

As a result I am pleading for some guest posters. It will only be for the next couple of weeks because that's when my mocks will be over and it can be on pretty much anything you like (preferably beauty, health, fitness, lifestyle or food) but if not whatever you can muster up will be fantastic. 

If you are at all interested please email me millie_whittaker@hotmail.com with questions, ideas, drafts or even the finished product.

Before I resign for the next two weeks I just want to say a big thank you to you all because I reached 200 followers on Bloglovin. I can't believe there are so many of you reading my blog now and it was only under a month ago I reached 100 followers. So a big thank you to you all, I really appreciate it and I onwards and upwards to the next hundred.

Lots of love xx

Mid-Week Rambles

*In case you haven't checked it out yet, I did a guest post on Celia Blogging click here to check out my review of the Vichy Dermablend Corrective foundation.

Revelations:

This week has been pretty strange, I'm not a very deep or emotional person but as it's coming up to my birthday I am beginning to think more about myself, what I'm doing, where I'm going etc. (which is why last Mondays post was more motivating and a little bit deeper than usual). 
I've realised that I need to start taking advantage of my life and doing all I can to get the most out of it. 

How to do it:

1. Avoid negativity (as much as possible) - I should be grateful for all I have and if I'm honest so should most of the people around me, so I'm going to try to moan less and avoid people that bring me down.

2. Eat healthily - I'm going to cut all bad sugars properly from my diet for as long as possible because I know it is good for my body and will help my skin --> which will build my confidence and make me happier.

3. Exercise regularly - exercise releases endorphins and endorphins make you happy. Why avoid something that makes you happy and helps you become healthier?

4. Be productive - I always avoid doing my homework which leads me to staying up late the night before it's due in rushing to finish it. This leads to stress, lack of sleep and a cranky Millie. Therefore each night I am going to get my homework done the minute I get in, even if it's not due until the next week because then I will be minimising my chances of stress and a late night.

5. Me time - I am someone that is quite happy by themselves, I enjoy my own company but I don't always take the time I have by myself to be productive, so for 15 minutes everyday I'm going to try to do yoga and meditate. This'll give me time to clear my head, release any stress and breathe.

So these five things I'm going to be doing from now on, which will hopefully make me happier and of course healthier, which are my main goals for this year. 

*I tried to lighten up the post with some funny pictures - hope they made you laugh a little

My Perfect Timings

To get my metabolism going as soon as I wake up, I like to have a cold glass of water when I get out of bed.

Afterwards I like to do my workout. I prefer to workout in the morning just because it gets it out of the way and leaves me feeling"pumped" if you will for the rest of the day.

As soon as I've finished my workout I like to have my breakfast. Breakfast should be your biggest meal of the day so to counteract the number of calories I intake I eat straight after my workout because I am still burning calories. 

Fact: If you exercise with weights, you burn calories 

for a longer period of time after you stop working!

During and after my workout I tend to drink 1 and a 1/2 glasses of water to keep hydrated.

For breakfast I always have a cup of green tea because it helps to boost your metabolism.

Throughout the day I have around 8-10 glasses of water. I make sure to drink a glass of water before each meal.

At 11:00am I have a piece of fruit to keep my metabolism going.

At 1:00pm I have lunch.

At 4:00pm I have a snack - usually carrot sticks, I love them so much!

6:00pm - dinner 

Interesting Theory: Apparently your dinner should be the size

 of YOUR handful. (for me incredibly small)

Before I go to bed I have a cup of mint (herbal) tea to help cleanse my senses - I get really bunged up and coldy around this time of year.

When I have a day like this I feel energised and rejuvenated but it's hard to get it perfect all the time!

When do you like to do what? 

Should I change up what I'm doing?

#AllBloggersGreatAndSmall

 Hello everyone, this week's "mid-week rambles" is a fun little tag called "All Bloggers Great and Small". I was tagged by Deanna owner of "The Girl who Wished the World" so check out her blog and her version here and thank you Deanna for tagging me. It's only a little tag but I thought it would be fun...

1.     What makes you want to blog?

To start with, my cousin had a blog and introduced me to it, ever since (on and off but now consistently) I've been hooked. I love testing new products and discovering new products through other people. It's also a great way to meet new people from all over the world that have similar interests to you. Also getting a comment gives me the biggest buzz that I blog just to get more.

2.     Your Morning skin routine?

Splash face with water, (atm) use Magnitone Pulsar to cleanse and mini exfoliate, then Bioderma before applying Effaclar Duo + as serum, moisturiser, primer then makeup.

3.     Your favorite blogger?

I love The Londoner and my cousin This London Life - both really interesting reads and full of personality

4.     A beauty product you couldn’t live without?

Soap & Glory Hand Food - that stuff is incredible

5.     Your favorite make-up brand (drugstore)?

Probably Maybelline just because the majority of 'drugstore' products I buy are from there

6.     Your favorite make-up brand (High-end)?

I love Bobbi Brown and Clinique

7.     What is your staple wardrobe item?

My green parka with (faux) sheep looking fur on inside from Topshop (the one in Zoella's November Favourites?)or probably something like black skinny jeans

This was a fun and non-time-consuming tag which I really enjoyed, so thank you again to Deanna and I now tag my new followers on Bloglovin so I can get to know you:

eltoriasecrets.blogspot.co.uk

all-things-fashion.blogspot.com

emsbeauty17.blogspot.co.uk

bettymeetsthecheshirecat.blogspot.se

holliefurniss.blogspot.com

Hope you all enjoyed this tag, it was something a bit different! Talk to you Friday x

Guest Post

Hey guys, check out my guest post on Celia Blogging. It is a full, in depth review of the Vichy Dermablend Corrective Foundation. Click here to read it. I absolutely love Charagh-Bibi's blog so be sure to follow her on Bloglovin here if you don't already and I hope you like the post x

A Quick Message

Just a quick message to everyone on the quest for the hot summer body --->

Losing weight and becoming healthy is 80% diet and 20% exercise. If you are looking to be healthy you need both, unfortunately it doesn't make a difference if you are on that treadmill for hours on end; if what your putting in your body is bad, you won't get the results you want.

Eating a balanced diet will help your weight loss, health and skin so why wouldn't you do it? 

I know it's difficult to beat those chocolate craves (you're talking to Mrs. Sweet-Tooth) but that toned and slim physique won't come unless you make the change.

Are you ready to make the change?

Beauty Haul and FI

Over the last few weeks I've had a little splurge on some beauty products, I couldn't help myself there are too many products I want atm. I thought I'd show you what I've bought and what I think of them so far - I will be doing full reviews in a few weeks when I have a better understanding of the products.

Enjoy!!

Bioderma Sensibio H20:

I've been using this Bioderma for quite some time now, I'd say over a year perhaps. I absolutely love it, it's one of those things I think will always be one of my favourite beauty products. I find it so hydrating, cleanses my skin nicely and it takes off my makeup really well; which of course is what it's supposed to do but finding a cleanser that doesn't sting my sensitive skin is one I will stick with for the long-run.

Bioderma Sébium H20:

As I adore the Sensibio I thought I'd try out the Sébium as it's made to "purify and cleanse your imperfection-prone skin". I do get blemishes often due to me being young and hormonal so I figured this could help. From what I've tested it the same consistency as Sensibio (watery and hydrating) and slightly scented - I'd say a fruity cucumber fragrance (I know that's not a real thing but hey that's what my nose smells). Again it doesn't sting my skin and takes of my makeup well but we'll have to see if it helps my skin. 

*I only got a tester incase I didn't like it!

Benefit Porefessional

I've heard so many bloggers, youtubers, everyone raving about this product and since my pores are the size of Jupiter I thought I'd give it a whirl. So far I'm really liking this product, I'v been using it is a primer and putting extra around my nose chin and forehead and I can see a difference. It really does fill in your pores and creates a great base for makeup. Thumbs up from me!! Going to have to purchase the full size product now!!

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge

I've heard a lot of people talking about how amazing the beauty blender is for over a year so when Real Techniques brought this blender out for 1/2 the price I figured it was a no brainer. I've never used a sponge to apply makeup before and having tried this one both wet and dry I much prefer the affect I get when the sponge is wet. I've been using this for about a week, I first tried it dry and the next day wet (with warm water then ringed out) I'm not really sure why but I think it applies and blends out better with my skin. However this has not yet impressed me as much as my Real Techniques Stipling brush - which I use foundation every day, so we'll see if I change my mind and make it my number 1 applier.

Vichy Dermablend Corrective Foundation

I've been testing this product for a couple of weeks after being on a quest to find a new foundation. I've done a full review that will be shown on Celia Blogging soon. 

Illamasqua Eyeshadows

I've decided to be more adventurous with my eyeshadows so I decided to go with "Imagine" and then for regular neutral eyes I bought "Wolf". Although I haven't used it on my eyes the colours are really pigmented and have a nice feel to them. So far they seem really lovely but I can't say too much because I haven't used them yet.

Magnitone Pulsar

This is a similar product to the Clarisonic Cleansers - but a different brand. I've only used this once and will be doing a full review in the next couple of weeks but all I'll say for now is it makes cleansing so much quicker and easier - time saver indeed!

Mid-Week Rambles

Wow here we are in February already, did anyone else completely miss January? It went so fast!!
Another week and another goal accomplished, I am so happy and grateful to have reached over 150 followers on Bloglovin - it was only 2 weeks ago I reached 100!! I am so overwhelmed and excited to reach 200 now and a massive thank you and hello to all my new followers!!

Yesterday was my dad's big 50th birthday, and because my brother's at uni we went out for a family dinner on Saturday and just the three of us last night.

Saturday night we went to the Chop House in London which is one of my favourite steak restaurants. I didn't have a starter because I know how good their desserts are, so for mains I had the Sirloin steak and chunky chips - which was OMG amazing. The chips were perfectly salty and crispy and oohh I can't go on I'm going to start dribbling all over the keyboard. For dessert I had sticky toffee pudding which is most definitely my favourite dessert of all time. It was perfect, moist, gooey and oops this time I did dribble.
I don't have any pictures of food because I was so engulfed in conversation and more so food. But here's a picture of all of us in front of Tower bridge.

Last night my mum, dad and I went to our local Pizza Express who serve the most incredible lasagne - no one (even mum) makes lasagne like they do. We went pretty early and had a chilled movie night in afterwards. Who says getting old has to be bad?

my brother being oh so clever

the big man himself

So this week will consist of me getting over yet another illness, continuing with "30 Day Shred", testing out some new products and redesigning my work space - so nice and busy.

I hope you all have a lovely week, thank you again to all new followers for getting me to 150 see you Friday x

How to: Stop Unhealthy Snacking

I am one of those bored bingers, i.e. when I am bored that's when I begin to eat and eat and eat and I don't realise it because I'm focusing on something like the tv.
If you're like me and do this or do it for other reasons (like emotional - I do it too) then my number 1 tip to help you banish this habit is...

Cut and Box

I want you every evening (or every other if you don't get through it all) fruits and vegetables that you can snack on during the day, then put them in boxes and stick 'em in the fridge.

Why?
The reason why I recommend you do this is because when you're hungry/bored/emotional/etc. instead of reaching for that chocolate bar or that bag of crisps you will reach for the cut up fruit or vegetables. Also because it is already cut up and fresh it means no time is wasted cutting and peeling so there is no way you can make any excuses.

I do this and have found I am reaching for carrots and apples more now rather than chocolate and biscuits which is pretty good for the weight loss situation.

So simple? Then why aren't you doing it!!