I'm Back! (Nearly)

Bonjour,

I'm returning to blogging after a short and not entirely willing absence. I won't bore you with the full deets but I thought the grass was greener when it came to my job and it certainly hasn't been. I've learnt the hard way but I'm getting back to being my normal self and really looking forward to being back on familiar ground on Monday. I even laughed this evening. I'd forgotten how that felt.

So no goss tonight, just an update to let you know that I'm here, I'm well and I'm ready to get back into the action.

Proper posts to follow next week!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend,
Naomi
x

Hello

Hey everyone,

What with the busy run up to Christmas, not only at work but socially, I just haven't found the time to blog.

I've also had a crazy month at work which has meant no sneaky blog posts at lunchtime. However, I'm very excited that after 3 years at my current agency, I'm starting at another agency on a completely different account i.e not automotive. I can't wait to get stuck in!

So with sorting out my new job and also trying to furnish my pad (I've been on a curtain mission for about 2 months and I can tell you having no curtains when it's minus 10 degrees outside is not fun. Neither is fake tanning up and hoping none of the neighbours can see!) I just haven't found the time. All my money has been ploughed into bills, bills, bills oh and council tax so there hasn't been anything left over for luxuries such as new make-up :(

I'm planning on taking a short break from blogging so I can devote my spare time to house stuff shopping and preparing myself for my new job. I will be back in the next couple of months but I feel I need to concentrate on other things at present.

I hope you're all fab and are having a good 2011. I'm making 2011 my year :)

Naomi
xx

P.S It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago so I baked nearly 50 cakes for the agency so I thought I'd show you snap:

EOTD

Hello,

It's snowed again! Yesterday I was at work saying to my colleague 'Oh whatever, it's not going to snow' then suddenly huge cotton wool ball sized snow flakes flew down. And then again today. The problem is that none of the roads have been gritted around here so it's like an ice rink. Not fab.

I went to the German market in Birmingham for the first time this week with some old friends from uni and had such a fun time. I had mulled wine, a 'red sausage' (it's meant to be the best so I've been told) and some little pancakes with Nutella. It was freezing but really put me in the Christmas mood.

I wore one of my favourite eyeshadow combos using Urban Decay's Naked Pallete for my EOTD:


- Sin e/s all over the lid
- Toasted e/s on the crease
- Darkhorse e/s in the outer corner blended up to the browbone and under the eye
- Virgin e/s in the inner corner

The effect is a daytime smokey eye which goes fab with MAC's Viva Gaga lipstick and MAC's Melba blush.


I hope you're all keeping warm and have a fab weekend.

Naomi
xx

Where Have I Been?

Hello everyone,

I've been off the radar for a few weeks recently because I've been really busy at work and that's the only place I can post blogs :( We have to prepare all the new marketing materials for the start of January so December is always busy which is rubbish! So, I thought I'd let you know what I've been up to the past couple of weeks.

I had a work Christmas meal a couple of weeks ago at a place called the Crazy Bear which is amazing. The decor is out of this world. It's very modern but almost a bit kinky but in a good way; think cream padded walls decorated with diamantes, fur and feathers, chaise longues embellished with gold and upholstered in leopard print. The loos are mirrored so you almost get lost in there and you can see straight through to the mens'! Here are some photos from the website.

We had our meal in this booth:


The lavish bar:


And one of the crazy bedrooms (we didn't stay though):


I'd booked the day after off work to do my Christmas shopping and buy my own very first Christmas tree. So, here are a couple of photos of my tree but minus a fairy because I'm still trying to find the right one:



Then, on the Saturday my mum and I went to the ballet to see Cinderella. We go most years and normally see the Nutcracker but it was Cinders turn this year. The ballet was beautiful. The direction was brilliant and the sets were amazing. I had such a good evening and it's really lovely for my mum and I to do girly things together :)



I went to my boyfriend's work ball last weekend which was in a beautiful hotel in the Cotswolds. We had a three course meal, followed by awards and then a disco so we had lots of fun. Luckily, we were staying in the hotel so we just flopped up to the room when we'd had too much booze! I wore a black lacy dress by Ghost which has an asymmetric hem in a flamenco dress style. I tried to get my boyf to take a photo when we got back to the hotel room but someone had had a bit too much 'fizzy pop' and took a crap blurry one! So here's a dodgy 'posing for the camera' shot that I took:



And then I had my boyfriend's mum' birthday lunch the following day! So, that's what I've been up to and with all that and work, it's been a bit crazy but I think December's always are!

Have you been to lots of Christmas parties? Are you ready for the big day?

Naomi
xx

So not a fan..

...of this:

It's a new range of body lotions by Vaseline called Sheer Infusion with Stratys-3 (yep I have no idea what that is either. It sounds like a type of cloud). The idea is the lotion sinks into the deeper layers of the skin, rather than sitting on the surface, to provide ultimate moisturisation.

So the pros are that the packaging is visually appealing in my bathroom and the texture of the lotion is light but yet enough to make your skin feel thoroughly moisturised without feeling sticky.

The huge con is that when I apply the Vitamin Burst lotion, which has a pleasant orangey scent in the bottle, the scent on my skin changes to what I can only describe as a sweaty gym kit which has been left around for a few days to fester. Not pleasant at all, especially when you have clean sheets on the bed and all you can smell is musty old sweaty damp that you find out is emanating from yourself! :(

Now, I don't know whether this is just a problem with me or perhaps it's because I wear fake tan but I've never had this problem with any other moisturiser. Rubbish.

Anyway, if you do fancy giving this a try (although I'm certainly not recommending it) then it's currently on offer in Sainos (Sainsburys) for £2.49 (save 50%).

However, I can recommend any of the moisturisers in the Vaseline Intensive Care range especially the one with cocoa butter.

I hope you're all ok and enjoying the snow. It seems the Midlands is the only place to have had about 2cm instead of the 10ft everywhere else has had! I do love how snow can make the most unattractive scene look beautifully picturesque. Here's a little photo from my work window:


Naomi
xx

Pretty In Pink

Whilst perusing the net for a suitable client Christmas night out dress, I found this gorgeous one from French Connection:


I do think £140 is a lot to pay so I'll probs wait until the sale when it'll be about half the price but it is amazing.

I love pink and love how girly the dress is. It reminds me of Baby's dress in Dirty Dancing because it's so swishy and swirly at the bottom. It's like a princess dress.

I think this would look cute with either matching pink or silver platform shoes and a few diamond (I wish)/diamonte accessories.

What do you think? Do you have a fab Christmas party dress for this year or a timeless piece you can wear over and over?

Naomi
xx

Sharing The Wealth

Hello,

I received an email newsletter from the Bull Ring in Birmingham and saw there was a click through about Illasmasqua and acheiving the perfect false eyelash look. I've never used Illasmasqua or even tried any of their products as I haven't ever seen them in the shops nearby. Rubbish! Although I've probs not looked hard enough.

Anyway, getting back to what I'm rambling on about, the page the click through went to is brilliant. I'm sure all of you know how to apply falsies but this is a step by step guide with photos including tips such as breaking the spine of your lashes (the falsies, not your own!) so the ends don't pop up which I never knew about.

So, I'm sharing the wealth if you fancy taking a look http://www.browsebullring.co.uk/news/perfect-eyelashes-from-illamasqua/

I hope you're having a fab day. So glad the fog has cleared but it's freezing! I've had the heater on all day.

Naomi
xx

P.S So excited by the arrival of Forever 21 in the Bull Ring. Fi-n-ally!