Rejoice! It’s the first weekend in a month that I haven’t worked and I have taken full advantage of it by.. getting back into my Saturday morning gym routine! (No, seriously that’s how I chose to spend the first part of yesterday, and I feel all the better for it.) And today we are having an early birthday celebration for my eldest brother as my mum will be away for the main festivities next weekend. I won’t touch on the heatwave save (so bored of talking about the weather) save to say my sandals are the comfiest pair of shoes I own so I was happy to be able to bust them out for the first time since I got back from New York.
All this working has left little room for much else, so here is a short list of things I do want to draw your attention to:
Wonderglow by Charlotte Tilibury
I was really trying to not spend any money this month, having spent rather a lot on holiday in New York (which you can read about here, here and here). But when I met up with a friend a few weeks ago and exclaimed at her on sight ‘WHAT IS ON YOUR FACE?! IT LOOKS AMAZING!’ and she told me it was this product – well, I just couldn’t wait until payday. I picked it up in Selfridge’s and swatched it immediately and then became worried about how glittery it looked in the bright sunshine of Tuesday. I needn’t have stressed myself out: a light layer worn under foundation provides the most beautiful finish to your skin – a sort of healthy, flawless radiance. It is pretty pricey, but a pea-sized amount does your whole face, so it’s going to last a good while (especially if I can resist slapping it on every single day). If you want some for yourself, you can buy it from Selfridge’s.
Smithills Open Farm
I took the day off on Monday to spend with my mum and niece, so we headed to this working farm in Bolton. My niece had the time of her life: there’s a petting corner where she held chicks and rabbits, and stroked piglets, dogs and even a snake; she also enjoyed two rides on a ‘pony’ (donkey) and a nice playground with a big slide. She even fed some sheep as I winced and worried that they were going to nibble her generous little fingers. A strong recommend for anyone who’s looking for a lovely day out with small children in the North West.
Yes Please! by Amy Poehler
What’s that you say? This isn’t news to you, it’s been out for ages and you’ve already read it and lent it to all your friends? Well, if you’re like me and you had not yet got round to reading it, then I can only suggest you do. It’s such an easy book to read due to Poehler’s writing style and it has you laughing and nodding along at some pretty serious points in equal measure. There are too many good bits to mention them all, but I particularly like the sections on apologising and the way women think about their bodies. Joanna Goddard wrote a lovely post a few months ago about the ‘motherhood mantra’ – an idea that she picked up from this book.
Ice cream sandwiches
I know I didn’t invent them, but I sure felt like I did when I served these up earlier in the week. It’s a simple and satisfying sweet treat to enjoy sporadically – a scoop of your favourite ice cream wedged between two soft cookies. I used Ben & Jerry’s Utter Peanut Butter Cookie Core and just bought the cookies. These homemade ones would be ideal though if you’re less lazy than I am.
The most beautiful thing you’ve ever read
A second shout out for Joanna Goddard here in one post – but entirely justified. Hers is my absolutely favourite blog out there and this post is just so up my street. As I tend to declare in moments of frustration at the state of some the pictures that I take for this blog, ‘I’m a WORDS person, NOT a visual person!’ Anyway, there was a thread on Reddit asking about the most beautiful paragraph or sentence people had ever read, and it inspired her to share hers. As for mine, the piece of text that makes me cry every time I read it, has stuck in my mind long after others have left and the one that I almost had tattooed on my flesh comes from Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach and it goes like this:
“When he thought of her, it rather amazed him, that he had let that girl with her violin go. Now, of course, he saw that her self-effacing proposal was quite irrelevant. All she had needed was the certainty of his love, and his reassurance that there was no hurry when a lifetime lay ahead of them. Love and patience – if only he had had them both at once – would surely have seen them both through.”
How couples share their finances and pancakes so easy you can even rustle them up for a weekday breakfast
Here on the blog, Nicky took up the tricky subject of sharing of how couples manage their finances. As we suspected this provoked a lot of comments with each one describing a different set-up to the rest. If you’re in a couple, how do you share your money? Head on over and join the conversation.
Meanwhile Rachel reminded us again how wonderful it would be to live at her house, a place so lovely they sit down together for breakfast every single day and sometimes these pancakes are on the menu. Good news is she promises they are really easy to make.
I’d love to hear sentences and paragraphs that you find beautiful, so please leave them in the comments below!
P.S. the best budget foundations (cos after you’ve shelled out for that Wonderglow you won’t have a lot of cash left), how to wear lipstick and another fun day I had with my niece.
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