Lifestyle | Things that make me smile :)

Hello there :) How is everyone today! Hope you are all fine and dandy! Really not long till christmas now, I am literally super excited! Who else is excited or do you think it's to early for christmas? I'm desperate to wear one of my christmas jumpers but jack keeps telling me he will be grumpy if I do, so thats a no go as then the only way of making him not grumpy would be feeding him and well he eats a lot and thats effort to cook haha! Sorry Jack :P 

Some exciting news, well maybe not exciting for you but I'm super excited and happy about it, I am coming off one of medications! Yippee! So I thought I would share my excitement on here :) Mental Health is something that should be talked about more and made an easier topic of conversation! I'm so grateful for my lovely family and supportive boyfriend for helping me :) So yeah I guess that is one thing that makes me smile. 

I think it's important to write down or remember the things that make you smile so that if you are having a more of a frown day than a smiley day you can look back at the things that do make you happy in the hope of turning that frown upside down. I'm incredibly lucky and have a lot of things and people around me that make me smile so I thought I would share with you guys :) 

Okay so animals make me smile, how can they not when they are so cute, especially dogs! My grandparents have recently got this adorable little puppy Kimmy and well she is just beautiful and so cuddly! She is a proper andrex puppy. I don't know about you guys but I love the smell of puppies so spend a lot of time smelling her! Promise I'm not weird. 

My ponies always make me smile, I'm fortunate enough to have them at home now and there is nothing better than waking up in the morning and seeing there little faces or in daisy's case her big face peering over their stable doors or going and giving them goodnight kisses. These are little things but always make me smile and I'm incredibly grateful for having them in my life :) 

My brother makes me smile, I can't believe I'm actually writing this but he does, well a lot of the time anyway. We have are arguments but what siblings don't hey! He makes me smile because he has turned into a lovely young man. He went to uni in September and I miss him a lot more than I thought I would but he was kind enough to bless us with his company last weekend for dad's birthday which was a lovely surprise. 

Okay now I'm about to be soppy so if your not into that stuff then skip this bit! One of the things well people that makes me smile the most is Jack! He is the most supportive and kind boyfriend I could ask for and he has made me in to a much better and happier person. I'm so lucky to have him in my life, I never really believed that you could find your perfect match but then I met mine :) So I guess that is something worth smiling about everyday. He even manages to make me smile when he farts although I usually do have to reach for the gas mask! 

The Barney photo today is one of him, Jack and Kimmy. Barney loves both of them, Jack seems to think Barney loves him more than me but I think he is just trying to wind me up! Barney always makes me smile, just looking at his cute face does :) 

What things make you smile? 

Hope you are all well and jolly :) 

Anna-Louise 

xx

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Holkham Beach Photoshoot

Hello there :) How is everybody today?! Can you believe we are in November now? Where has the year gone?! Time just flies by when you are having fun or when you get older haha! Guess what only 7 more Monday's till christmas! Yay I hear you all shout, or not depends whether you are christmas mad or bah humbug! I am definitely christmas mad, already watched one christmas film and yes I am proud to say the christmas pjs have made their first appearance! 

I've been bad at the whole blogging thing again recently sorry fellow readers I will try and make it up to you with more blog posts before christmas although I can't promise that they won't be christmas based! 

Recently I was given an amazing opportunity to go along to a photoshoot and be the makeup artist. As I have only recently this year qualified as a makeup artist and am in the process of trying to build up my own business this was an amazing opportunity. It was all done for free but in return I get the photographs which I can use in my portfolio which is great as good photographs are so important to have in your portfolio especially professional ones. 

The thing that made this shoot so exciting for me was that it was a bridal/wedding themed photoshoot which is what my passion is, bridal makeup and hair. I also just love everything about weddings, there is just something about them that is so magical and lovely, I cannot wait till I have my own wedding to plan and have (secretly I have it already planned but thats being at wedding fayres for you). The couple in the photoshoot were already married, they got married two years ago and are still very much in love, which is a good thing haha so were happy to dress up again for the shoot. They were such a lovely couple it was a pleasure to work with them. 

There were a number of local businesses that were involved in this shoot, all for free again as we were basically helping each other out and trying to promote our services. There was a cake maker who made the most amazing wedding cake I have seen, a florist who produced some beautiful bouquets of flowers, a stylist who helped set the scene, provide the props and design the table for the photographs, me the makeup artist and the lovely photographer who has produced some amazing photographs, I just can't help but love her work! 

We were incredibly lucky and had a beautiful day for the shoot so hopefully there will be some fantastic photographs as Holkham beach in Norfolk is such a unspoilt natural beach. I will share the professional photos with you guys when I get them but until then I thought I would share with you the ones I took so you could see a bit of what we got up to :) 

We looked normal walking along the beach with a chair!

The Barney photo today is one of Barney and Katie as well they are just both so cute and this one looks like they have taken a selfie which makes me chuckle! 

Hope you are all well and Jolly :) 

Anna-Louise 

xx

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Catch up

Hello there! Hope you are all well and jolly! 

I'm afraid I have been rather useless at the whole blogging thing, just been getting carried away with the  fairies and all that and well time just runs away with you sometimes. 

It's been so long since I've blogged I'm a bit rusty, rust is a funny thing actually, it's everywhere. Not really sure why I'm talking about rust but why not hey! 

Are any of you netflix fans? I've become super addicted to it, it's all I seem to watch these days. I'm not even sure if I know what normal TV is anymore although I have been watching the great British bake off religiously! I don't about you guys but I love the bake off, it just makes me want to bake however whenever I try my masterpieces never seem to look like masterpieces like they do on the bake off! What is your favourite thing to bake? 

So one of the reasons I have not been blogging recently is because I have moved house and have got a couple of new ponies! Get ready for super cuteness! We have added two shetland ponies to our family called Teddy and Bear, who I am planning to start pony parties with soon so if you are after a pony party hola at me :) 

I've also somehow managed to find my better half! I'm not quite sure how but I have and well he is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Just want you other aspies out there to know that relationships are possible even if they are harder for us than others and there is someone out there for everyone that will except you for who you are even if you are a little crazy! 

Anyway that will be all for today as I'm watching Doc Martin as it is a long term favourite of mine! Will try my hardest to blog more often

Here is the Barney picture as well it's tradition to put one at the end of my blog! Barney says WOOF! 

Hope you are well and jolly :) 

Anna-Louise 

xx

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Catch Up

Hello there! 

Long time no blog hey! Feels like forever since my last blog post, probably because it is! How are you all? What exciting things have you all been up to lately? I've got so much to fill you all in on! I've been a busy bee whilst I've been away! 

So you may or may not have noticed that I haven't blogged in well months, you may care or you may not but I'm going to tell you anyway! One of the exciting things to fill you all in on is that I'm on the move! My family are in the process of buying our dream house, something we have all wanted for years, our own equestrian property. It's super exciting and we are planning on moving this summer! It's going to be a massive change and lifestyle change as instead of having a tiny garden to look after we will have 12 acres which takes a fair bit of looking after! The exciting thing about this is that we're going to be getting alpaca's!! It's all a bit unsettling at the moment as change isn't really my thing and this will be the 9th time I've moved house but I just keep reminding myself it will all be worth it in the end :) 

The main reason my blogging has taken a back seat recently is because I have been training to be a makeup artist for the last couple of months! It's safe to say it has been one of the best things I have ever done as well as one of my biggest achievements. I met some amazing people who I will hopefully keep in contact with and learnt so many exciting new skills. If you ever are unsure whether to go and follow your dreams and do something you love I say go for it, as it took me a while to make the leap to do this but now I would never look back and it's done wonders for my confidence.  I'm thinking of doing a whole blog post about my experience and to show you guys some pictures of my work! 

this is a photo from a professional photoshoot that I did as part of my course! (makeup by me) 

I've also gone and bought a new pony, we have had ponies for 9 years but I've had a break from having one for the past year! However I decided that this summer (not that it feels like summer yet) was the right time to get a new one again! She is called Daisy and she is a gypsy cob and well she is just the sweetest and kindest mare! She has also become best friends already with our other pony! Hopefully I will be able to have lots of lovely rides on her with mum! 

Barney is fine as usual! He is as happy as can be! I missed him loads whilst I was doing my course in London as I was gone all day but he was always there to pick me up from the station with mum of an evening! I think he is glad to have his mum back though now as he hasn't really left my side bless him! 

Hope you guys are well and jolly! 

Anna-Louise

xx

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Lifestyle | March Playlist

Hello there :) 

How are you all? Hope all is fine and dandy and that you have had a great week! It's the Easter holidays for a lot of people now! What's your favourite thing about Easter? Mine is chocolate eggs and doing the Easter egg hunt my mum makes for me, yes I'm nearly 20 and still like to do an Easter egg hunt but that's because I am cool like that! I start my MUA course tomorrow, I'm excited and nervous but mum is travelling up with me the first day and I've got my bag packed and my outfit chosen so I think I'm as ready as I can be! 

Can you believe it's almost April?! Where does the time go and the clocks have gone forward which means it's now lighter much later which is brilliant! As it's the end of March I thought I would share with you my playlist that I have been listening to this month as it's a great way of sharing the music you love and a great way of finding new music :) 

• King by Years and Years 

• Firestone (feat. Conrad Sewell) by Kygo

• Where Are U Now (feat. Justin Bieber) by Skrillex and Diplo 

• Make Me Feel Better by Alex Adair 

• Real by Years an Years 

• When the Beat drops Out by Marlon Roudette 

• Take Shelter by Years and Years 

• Outlines by Mike Mago and Dragonette

• See by Tez Cadey 

• Believe by Mumford and Sons 

• Sugar by Maroon 5

• The Nights by Avicii

• GDFR (feat. Sage the Gemini and Lookas) by Flo Rida 

• Time of Our Lives by Pitbull and Ne-Yo 

What music have you been listening to this month? What is your favourite song at the moment? 

The Barney picture today is one of him with one of his favourite toys which is known as the tennis ball. He has lots of these and this particular one was the lucky one that he selected to take to play ball with! 

Hope you are all well and jolly :) 

Anna-Louise 

xx

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FOTD #2

Hello there :) 

How are you all today?! Hope all is fine and dandy and that you had lovely weekends :) Did you do anything nice over the weekend? I went horse riding with my mum which was lovely because I don't really ride anymore since my last horse and it was nice to be back in the saddle! I think it would be super cool to go horse riding in America on one of those ranches! Has anyone done that before? 

I know another FOTD but they are an easy blog post to do and as I've got a lot on they are perfect and I don't know about you but I love being nosey at what different makeup people use! 

Now as I have said before I'm really loving natural fresh looking makeup at the minute so I am into tinted moisturisers and BB creams! I have decided that over the summer months I am going to try out a few different ones to see which ones I love! So for todays FOTD I have used the Diorskin Nude BB creme which has SPF 10 in it and I have it in the shade Light.  Currently I am really liking this one but we shall see how it plays out over time. I've been putting this on with the Dior backstage blender which is just Dior's version of a beauty blender and also slightly cheaper than a beauty blender! 

For blush I have been using one of my favourite blush's. It is a Bobbi Brown and their blush's are my favourites. This particular one is lovely as it gives a lovely warm colour to the cheeks without being too much which makes you look happy and healthy. This blush is in the shade Tawny which is a medium pinky brown. 

I then used a loose powder from No7 which is their perfect light loose powder and I have this in the shade translucent. I love loose powders apart from the mess they make, but they don't tend to make me look as cakey as pressed powders do so I love this for a natural day time look. 

The concealer I went for was a Rimmel wake me up one. I'm not sure whether I love or hate this yet so thought I would use it again.  I put this on with a micro - mini beauty blender. I absolutely love these for blending out concealer as they are the perfect size for your eye area. 

For my eyes I wanted to keep it simple today so I only used my MAC paint pot in painterly which is currently my favourite eyeshadow base and as well as being great if I want a natural look like today to cover up any redness or veins. 

For my brows I used the amazing Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow in blonde and then the clear brow gel from her range! She really is the queen of brows! I'm loving the Dipbrow at the moment and have been incredibly grateful that I've been wearing it recently as working in a pub means that things can get rather warm and my eyebrows don't budge. 

For my lashes I used my current favourite mascara which I'm sure everyone has heard about by now as when the samples were in ELLE magazine it seemed like almost every blog talked about it. It's Benefit Roller Lash of course! I love this as it really does make my lashes look that little bit longer and curled! 

Today's Barney picture is well a picture of Barney! He has been out for two lovely walks today and loved splashing around in a stream this morning! I love his expression in this picture today! We met a  lovely dog on our afternoon walk today, it was a giant though! It's the first time I've thought that Barney looks small! 

Hope you are all well and jolly 

Anna-Louise 

xx

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Lifestyle | Barney's week in photos

Hello there :) 

Howdy! How is everyone today? Hope is all fine and dandy! I love the word howdy reminds me of Toy Story and makes me feel like a cowboy well cowgirl as I'm not a boy but you know what I mean! Did anyone see the solar eclipse thingy? I don't really understand what it is to be honest, I didn't see anything either, it was far too cloudy where I was! If anything it just went a bit colder and maybe a bit darker but who knows that could have just been me I do feel the cold! It's the weekend YAY! I hope you guys are all having a lovely jubbly one :) 

I've just tried to tidy my room which I'm rubbish at so I thought I would have a break! Most of the things on my floor are Barney's toys!! He has so many and he gets them all out and leaves them all over the place for me to trip over or stand on! He is so kind. I asked him to help tidy up but apparently being a dog is hard work and sleep is more important as he is fast asleep! He also didn't reply to me when I asked him to help as dogs can't talk. 

Anyway I'm pretty much obsessed with my dog and he is just so photogenic.  I am constantly taking photos of him so I thought I would share some with you!

He looks like he is smiling in this one! 

He loves to shake right next to us just incase we wanted to get wet too! Silly Dog! 

Walking with Katie dog, Kirstie (my mum) and me are some of Barney's favourite things to do!

Barney is the best thing to ever happen to me, I don't know where I would be without him! Dog's really are the best friends going! 

Hope you are all well and jolly :) 

Anna-Louise

xx

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Lifestyle | Tips to try and relax

Hello there :) 

How is everyone today? Hope you are all well and jolly! Have you been up to anything exciting this week? Maybe jumped out of a plane (safely) or met someone famous or maybe just rowed a boat? I'd love to say I have done something exciting this week but, that would be a lie and lying is bad! I've spent a lot of time with a good friend of mine called bed! It's so comfy and cosy!

I've kind of lost a bit of my blogging enthusiasm recently but that's probably because I have lost a lot of enthusiasm with life. I'm going through a low phase at the moment, I know why but when your so down it's hard to get out of feeling like you do. I seem to cry all the time at the moment, I don't want to get out of bed or leave the house, I feel like I just don't know how to be happy at the moment and I'm fed up. So I guess when I feel like this it's hard to blog because I don't have anything to blog about! Anyone have any tips for feeling happy? Please send them my way if you do! 

FUN FACT : Prawns are not always a pink/orange colour, they are instead a blue/grey colour before they are cooked! They look much better when they are cooked, they look a bit creepy before hand! 

So my mum bless her has been racking her little brain at the moment for ways for me to relax and things for me to do to cheer me up so I thought I would share them with you in case you are feeling under the weather too, as it's all about helping each other right :) 

• Smelly Candles : Whenever I'm feeling a bit stressed I love to have smelly candles on in my room, I find them super relaxing and it makes my room smell nice and gets rid of any Barney fart smells. 

• Read a book: I love reading, well I do when I manage to stay awake to actually read a book, I find reading very relaxing and also a great way to help me sleep if I can't. I've also joined a book club recently which is great although I haven't managed to read any of the book club books yet! 

• Listen to music: Now this is one of my favourite things to do to relax, I love just putting my headphones on and forgetting the world and listening to music. I also find this a great way to calm me down when I'm feeling angry. 

• Face Mask: I find face masks so relaxing, although I did try one of those peel off ones the other day and that was lovely till I tried to take it off, I thought my whole face was going to come off! Anyway I think they are a great way to relax, it's always important to pamper yourself and it's a great way to destress. 

• Have a bath: Nothing beats having a nice relaxing bath, well a spa or hot tub would maybe, but annoyingly I don't have either of those in my house. Baths are so relaxing especially when you have a nice bath bomb to put in it or some lovely bubble bath! Bubbles are the best, I like to make a beard out of the bubbles to try and imagine what it would be like to be santa! Does anyone else do that?! 

• Watch TV: This is something I have always loved to do to relax. I tend to watch TV shows such as Friends and Big Bang as they are two of my all time favourites and watching them makes me feel like I'm there and I'm friends with them. I was in bed for most of year 11 with ME and Friends is one of the only things that kept me sane! I've recently become a massive PLL fan too so that's what I watch at the moment. Netflix was the best purchase ever! 

• Getting my nails done/painting nails: I love having nice nails, I instantly feel happier strange but there is just something so great about having good nails. I was lucky enough to be treated to getting my nails done by my gran this week, I love getting them done it's so relaxing and the people are so lovely where I go. The only annoying thing is that it costs money so I only get them done for treats or when I can afford it and if I can't I will paint my nails :) 

• Spending time with Barney: This is the best thing and always helps me to relax/calm down/destress. Spending time with my best friend is the best thing in the world. He is always there for me and I can tell him all my troubles and he doesn't tell them to anyone (he couldn't if  he wanted to though). He doesn't judge me and he loves me, he is always by my side when I need him even if I'm cross or upset. Taking him for walks in the countryside or playing ball with him is a great way to relax as I love seeing him so happy and it's so peaceful!  I couldn't ask for a better dog to own, he is one in a million. 

(this is his new favourite toy) 

What things do you do to relax?? 

The Barney picture today is one of him curled up on my bed with his pheasant. Poor Barney just wanted to sleep and then there was me putting a camera in his face! He just takes such pretty pictures I can't help it! 

Hope you are all well and jolly :) 

Anna-Louise

xx

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