My Mother's Day: A lifestyle post

Hello ♥

Yesterday was Mother's day as you all will know. I had a really lovely day, which was all planned at short notice but very successful in my opinion. I was treated to some beautiful daffodils from my sons (above) and my hubby brought me the nicest Thornton's chocolates. How cute is the box! 

Being the most forgetful couple ever, we completely forgot to send off our mother's day cards to my mother in law. We felt awful so decided at last minute to travel to the Isle of Wight to surprise her.

We took the very early morning ferry from Southampton with tired eyes and dreams of being back in our warm beds but it was going to be a fabulous day so that got us through. On our arrival, we hid from the house ready to shout surprise only to find our mum had gone to church. We were slightly too early. All was OK though, my husband's sister was home to greet us and help us prepare her gifts on the dining room table. When she did get home, her face was a picture. She was so happy to see us and to the give the boys lots of cuddles. I wish i took more pictures from this time to show you guys but it completely slipped my mind. After lots of chats, cakes, and a cuppa we decided to visit the local Owl and Monkey sanctuary as the boys have been bugging us to go for a while now. As always, it always turns into children's day rather than Mother's day. However, i am a huge monkey lover so was secretly excited about going there. 

The Owl and Monkey haven were offering free entry for Mums on Mother's day which was a lovely bonus. Especially when there were six of us all together and visiting these places isn't cheap. The sanctuary was lovely though, smaller than i expected but we had a nice time. Below our a few of my snaps from the day so you can kind of get the idea of what we saw and got up to. 

Sporting my new boots from Boo hoo. 

We only stayed at the Monkey haven for an hour as it was so cold. I can't believe this wintry weather we have having at the moment. I guess the whole of Britain is wishing for summer to hurry up right now. We decided for our afternoon entertainment to pop to Morrison's for cakes, sandwiches and scones to create a nice high tea followed by a film. Again, i forgot to take photos of this, so sorry about that.

Overall,  my mother in law and I had a lovely Mother's day. So many memories were made and cakes consumed. How did you spend your Mother's days?

Gem xx

P.s I am currently holding a giveaway. Please check it out. x

Saturday on the farm: A lifestyle post.

Hello

Today we visited a little farm near our home in Hampshire and thought I would share some of our family photos from our freezing but lovely day out with you guys.

Today we had a lovely day out at Millers ark farm which is just on the outskirts of Basingstoke. Although the weather is still absolutely freezing we really wanted to get out for some Saturday fresh air. We have visited Millers ark before during the last spring lambing season and we really enjoyed cuddling the new babies. As it's lambing season again we were really excited to return again this year.

As you can see from our family pictures, the farm allows a lot of interaction with the animals. Every pen had a staff member ushering you in to stroke, hold and brush the animals. This has to be our favourite part as most farms don't allow you to do this. This constant interaction makes the animals extremely friendly and tame, preventing those tears when animals have a little nip.

After all the excitement and a thorougher hand scrub, we visited the lovely heated barn they had for a sausage bap and cake. The food was so welcome as our hands were slightly frozen by this point but overall we had a really lovely day. Definitely recommend a visit if you are ever around the area.

What I wore today

Dress: New look

Cardigan: Primark

Boots: Primark

Coat: F&F

Belt: Primark 

Hope you liked our pictures. We had a lot of fun cuddling some baby animals. How have you been spending your weekend? 

Gem xx

Friday round up

Hello ☃

Happy Friday everyone. What a long horrible week it has been. Winter has come as they say in Game of thrones. I had many things planned this week but unfortunately had to make a sensible decision to spend my time hibernating at home. The last time i braved going out in the snow, i was stuck trying to leave the city for over five hours which normally takes only ten minutes. Never again. 

Last weekend for me was a busy one, seeing Les miserables at the cinema, hitting the sales (again), finishing with a few relaxing vodkas at our local. If you haven't seen Les Miserables yet, firstly why not? and secondly go to the cinema now. Such an amazing film. My husband is already prepared to watch it over and over again when it is released on DVD. One good thing though, i have created a couple of fans in a close friend and also my husband, so now i finally have people to talk about this amazing story with. 

From top left: New bunny night light/ i discovered hot pots, they really warm you up/ Playing in the snow/ the gorgeous Hugh Jackman in Les Mis/ My favourite Topshop purchase. 

During the week, the weather has really turned ice age preventing anything really exciting happening this week. However, I am very good at making the best of a difficult situation. I have been very productive around the home by starting the big winter clear out with lots of clothes going to charity. I really need to start shopaholics therapy if there is such a thing. Also i have been trying to learn how to design web pages in the hope i can 1. make this blog look better than it does and 2. hopefully start up a blogger design service. I'm struggling with all the ccs /html codes but I'm starting to get the hang of producing headers, buttons, labels and social network buttons.

So the thing that is probably trending the most in the social networking world is this snow. It hasn't caused too many problems for us as we live within walking distant of where my husband works and the schools. However i had hoped to go into the city for a walk. My children and Labrador have loved the snow. We have been out in it trying to create a snowman without the dog destroying it. The snow has made the puppy a hyperactive monster who just cannot stop running in circles, eating up the snow as she goes.

From top left: Trying to walk the dog/ new geek tshirt/ freezing on a snowy walk/ my AF bloggers challenge dress/ ice age/

Hope you have an amazing weekend and are not snowed in like us! 

Gem xx

Fun in the snow. A lifestyle post…

As one of my 'blogging' new years resolutions i decided to merge my family blog with my fashion blog. I hope this is OK with you guys. I was finding writing two blogs too much and my family blog wasn't really getting enough readers to warrant all my hard work. Looking at other blogs i have seen that mixed themed blogs do quite well, so hopefully i won't lose any followers for talking motherhood. I promise though it will be mainly fashion and beauty posts but i am defiantly aiming for a post a day.

So on to today…

Thanks to my Facebook and twitter feeds i knew even before i pulled open the curtains i would be greeted with a beautiful view. Snowflakes were falling and my garden was white. I love snow days but i admit they can be a pain in the neck. But whoever you are you can't help but want to start a snowball fight or compete with your neighbours to build the best snowman. Not every part of it is fun. Walking in it to school was a challenge and we had a few near slips. Also it stops you from being able to go anywhere.  As a kid you wish for the snow to come but as a adult you grow to hate it.  

These photos were taken on our morning school run. I had promised the boys we would build a snow man when they returned but unfortunately by lunch time the snow had melted. I have heard we are expecting more snow soon so hopefully they can build their snowman then. 

Gem xx

A Weekend of Les Mis and a few outfits ★

Hello my lovely readers ♥

I was going to start posting 'what I'm wearing today'  posts but this weekend i have been rather busy with the family to sit down at my computer. So I'm am just going to compile my pictures into one big post.

Friday 

Friday nights are spent with friends at our local family friendly pub. We like to chat about the week and let the kids run around with their friends. Everyone normally dresses very casual here but as i have spent all week in leggings, wellies and baggy tops i wanted to make some effort.

I wore a white dress with a peter pan collar from my favourite shop Primark. It has a horse and woodland print with a purple belt. For some reason i find myself buying a lot of clothing items that have collars, i just love them.  This dress was in the summer 2012 sale for £5. Bargain.

Saturday 

I have a little more to say about Saturday. Today was the day i finally got to see Les Miserables at the cinema. If you follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on facebook you'll know that i am a massive Les Miserables geek. I have all the cast recordings, seen every film made and been to the queens theatre twice. My review of the film? I can't say i was happy with it entirely. I'm sorry to say Russell Crowe ruined it for me. He is not a singer bless him. When he started to sing one of my fav songs 'Stars' i was so disappointed. Also as much as i was impressed with Amanda Seyfield's singing in Mamma Mia, i felt see struggled with the high notes playing Cosette. Hugh Jackman was amazing though and I admit i cried when Anne Hathaway performed 'I dreamed a dream'. So emotional and so perfect. My favourite girl was of course Samantha barks. She is the one and only Epoinine. She really should have got more credit for her role. Have you seen the film yet? Let me know your thoughts on it or if you are also a fellow Les Miserables geek. 

As the film is a massive three hours long i decided to dress comfy casual. I wore my favourite Atticus jumper from Play.com, (I'm sorry i cannot remember how much this cost), with my grey skinny jeans from Primark. 

Sunday

Today we woke up with the intention of having a very lazy Sunday. It has been a very busy week for us with work, extreme house cleaning, school and job hunting. However while making breakfast we realised we had no food in the cupboards so a quick shopping trip was needed. Yesterday before the cinema, i sneakily ran in to Topshop to see what was left on the sale rails. I found this dress which i have actually been after for a while now. It cost me £20 reduced from £38. Even though it may be a little to dressy for food shopping i still cant help showing off my new purchases. 

It is a deep red skater dress with capped sleeves. The material is textured and thick, ideal for the winter. Also the dress is stretchy which i love even though the dress is unfortunately a size to big due to being the only one left. I teamed it with my favourite Primark bow belt, black wooly tights and my Chelsea boots also Primark.

Let me know your thoughts on the Les miserables film.
Thanks for reading.
Gem x

January so far.. A personal post

Hello,

Its 2013 already, wow. I really can't believe how fast 2012 went. It seems a lot of fellow bloggers, personal friends, and family are quite glad 2012 is over. I agree. For me 2012 was a huge rollercoster, containing many highs and too many lows for my liking. Also, other than starting this blog, i feel i haven't really achieved anything. I still can not drive, i am still a stay at home mum, and i still feel like I'm stuck in the bottom of a well. Im also still badly suffering with anxiety and feel this is what has stopped me from leaving the comfort of my shell. Feeling this way, i have decided to make 2013 my best year ever, starting with being over positive and throw all my negative feelings away. I have never before made new year resolutions as I'm bad at sticking to them but i want to write a blog post next year full of positive things i have achieved. So, i have decided to add a blog post at the end of each month, rounding up what i have been up to, what i have achieved, and what i have planned for the next month. This is more for me to keep track of my achievements and progress. Hopefully i'll be working, driving, a house owner, etc by 2014. 

January so far …

The first week of January has already been a great start for me. Instead of staying home, i got outside and did things for me. Every day i have been getting up early, walking the dog, cleaning the house and kept in touch with friends. 

The first day of January was welcomed with a few close friends, some fun drinking games, and watching the London fireworks on BBC. Its our favourite way to celebrate the new year.  No waiting in the rain for taxi's, no over priced shots or being a sardine in a over crowded nightclub. Plus we could actually talk and laugh. How did you guys bring in the new year? 

Most days have been spent ignoring my spending ban and hitting the sales, but in a positive way its kept me active and away from the left over chocolate. On wednesday i undertook my biggest achievement for this week  which was booking the very last ticket to see Les Miserables on London's  west end. I am not so keen on venturing into London on my own. I get very paranoid of people looking at me. The hardest part for me was sitting in the theatre alone. I felt a lot of eyes on me. I relaxed a lot though when i over heard a lady behind me saying that she was alone because her friend couldn't get tickets. Its nice to know you are not the only one in that situation. I am a huge huge fan of the show, and i admit i sat and cried on my own during the finale. I just thought to myself, ill never see the people sat next to me again. 

So thats January so far. Still some of the month left so will update the post at the beginning of February. 

From left: my new years outfit, top: les mis at the queens theatre, buckingham palace, shopping haul.

How much is your face worth?

 

Hello.

 It is the last day of 2012 and chose to finally get round to my 'How much is your face worth?' post.

I have seen a couple of these posts on beauty blogs and have been trying to get round to writing mine for a while now. All it involves is adding up how much the make up that goes into your everyday 'look' costs? I was a bit scared to do it myself, as i am no makeup expert and never really know the best products to buy. Also i do not like spending more than £10 on single item as i have felt cheaper products can be better than the expensive ones. Basically I'm a bit of a cheap skate.

Heres what goes into my everday look, quite alot really.

 

 

"that gal" face primer by Benefit £21.00 (travel size shown)

Collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer (light) £4.19

Collection 2000 lasting perfection foundation (biscuit 3) £5.99

Topshop eye brightener £6.50

Rimmel eye pallette £9.99 (no longer available)

Kate moss for Rimmel lipstick (22) £5.49

Collection 2000 Black liquid eye liner £2.99

Collection 2000 shimmer shades blusher £4.19

Maybelline the colossall volume express, Cat eyes £7.99

 

Total: £68.33

It really adds up though doesn't it? Although its not as much as i have seen on other blogs. Thats probably because i hang around the collection 2000 stall rather than the high end ones such as Nars and Yves st laurent. I would like a few of their products though! I should say that I mostly work from home (full time mummy) and rarely go anywhere exciting so although this my current 'everyday look' I only wear this amount of makeup at weekends or if i have time before the school run.

I'd love to know how much your face is worth ... leave a comment below.

Gem x

 

New blog name!

Hello!

Just a quick post to say I have decided to change the name of my blog. I felt 'Gemma's Beautiful Finds' did not fit in with the blog at all. I have come up with 'Gemma's Thoughts and Loves'.

 

When I started this blog, it was with an idea to use it for my wish lists of outfits I have found. As things went along, it has become much more. But I find that I have so much to share that I decided to just make the name more versatile. I am going to start posting more beauty products as well as a few posts on my life.

I won't be changing the URL address yet as this will make things very complicated, especially with the ads I currently have running.

Also my facebook has changed  to:     www.facebook.com/Gemmasthoughtsandloves .

 

Hope you like the new name. Thanks for continuing to visit with me and for all the lovely comments I receive.

 

 

October to 5th November in pictures.

Fashion and beauty

From top left, Chelsea boots by primark, bracelets by Freedom at Topshop, Red lipstick from glossybox, Primark haul, Mermaid nails by Topshop, Feather and gold spike earrings from Primark, October's Glossybox, Watch from Txmaxx, Peplum top by primark.

 

 

Family

 

From top left, Bonfire night, Halloween costumes, Halloween pumpkins, Anniversary meal and chocolates, walk in the fields, isle of wight ferry, Finally the isle of wight zoo featuring casper the white lion.

Happy Bonfire Day!This was our local firework display in 30 seconds. Hope you all had a lovely day.
Gem xx