January Sale Haul

I was expecting the past week to be a bit of a downer... Christmas over, back to the normal-routine-blues kinda deal. I'm happy to say though it's been a really enjoyable week. My nearly three year old (when?! how?!) has been on great form, we had some fun stuff in the diary and I finally did a bit of sale shopping!

I grabbed a couple of things in the Zara sale. One was the Links Necklace I've had my eye on for weeks but held off buying as I knew, being quite heavy and chunky, that it'd get limited wear, but seeing it had gone into the sale was enough to push me to finally order it!

I also ordered the Text t-shirt, a baggy/ lazing around the house kind of top. I really just liked the "You had me at hello" graphics!  

Finally as far as clothes go, I succumbed to a bit of a "beauty over practicality" purchase. Recently I read a post by Laura at Buy Now, Blog Later where she recommended the fashion blogger, Sincerely Jules. I immediately loved this post featuring a sequin bomber jacket and it totally brought out my inner magpie! The jacket she's wearing is still available, but I have to be realistic about when I will wear things and I'm not sure how a sequin bomber would go down at soft play, for example!  So, a slightly less casual version seems the the way to go for me. Cue a bit of Google research and the following Abercrombie Leanne cardigan is now winging it's way to me.  I love the "dirty" grey and that it will work dressed up or down.

I've done a bit of make-up shopping this week too, so I'll share that in my next post. Until then, hope you've had a great weekend!

X

Carpe Diem: Beginner's Ballet!

2014 was a good year for me. I finally lost a lot of my post-baby weight (I attempted to cope with sleep deprivation after my son was born by eating lots of cake) and generally enjoyed life a lot more!  Maybe it's a taboo to admit that I find the toddler stage so much more pleasurable than the baby stage. Sleep + communication = recipe for a much easier life in my opinion! 

With my increased sense of wellbeing I noticed I started to challenge myself more and late last year I decided to act on a secret dream I've had for years!  I never took ballet lessons as a child and have always wanted to learn. After seeing an advert for an adult beginners class, I bit the bullet and signed up. 

The class was great fun, and although I doubt I was winning any prizes for grace or co-ordination, I was surprised how much we accomplished even in the first session. I can see its definitely going to be good for my posture, and it was such a great feeling to realise such a long-held ambition!

X

Clean(ish) eating: Sweet Potato & Pea Curry

Last year I had a big focus on diet as I had a lot of weight to lose and as part of that started trying to eat more naturally and much less meat. 

We're largely vegetarian at home now but I noticed over the last couple of months that I'd become a bit lazy about making meals from scratch and focusing on natural ingredients, so I'm hoping to remedy that this month! 

We big fans of curry and it's a regular meal for us so I like to collect simple, tasty (but not too spicy - needs to be toddler-friendly) recipes.

Tonight we tried a Sweet Potato and Pea Curry that I found on the BBC website here

It was delicious so I thought I'd share it with you!  Here's the finished result...

Ingredients:

3 tbsp curry paste from a jar (I used Patak's Korma Paste)

1 onion, finely chopped

450g potatoes, cut into chunks

2 large sweet potatoes (about 900g) cut into chunks

600ml vegetable stock, from one cube is fine

400ml can coconut milk

175g frozen peas

The original recipe calls for fresh coriander but I used 1/4-1/2 tsp of dried

Method:

Heat the curry paste in a large pan and stir in the onion. Cover and cook for 5 mins, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the potatoes, stock and coconut milk to the pan and bring to the boil.

Turn the heat down and simmer the curry for 20 mins until the potato has softened. Add the peas and dried coriander, bring back to the boil and simmer for 2 mins more. 

The original recipes suggests 10 minutes preparation - I may just be slow at chopping and peeling potatoes but it took me significantly longer. I'd allow more like 20 minutes!

Let me know if you make it, I'm sure you'll love it! 

X

New Year Beauty Round-up

I can hardly believe it’s the end of 2014! So much as happened this year and it feels like I've come a long way!  More on that another time... For now though, I’m going to round the year off, and simultaneously kick-start this blog, with some of my beauty and make-up favourites from the past year.

I feel like 2014 was the year I discovered my perfect skincare routine and I currently have a cabinet full of products I totally love.

Cleansing: 
Emma Hardie Amazing Face (my favourite of all the “hot cloth cleansers”)

Moisturising: 
Embryolisse Lait Creme Concentrate //

Kiehls Hydro-Plumping Serum //

Egyptian Magic Cream //

Kiehls Midnight Recovery Concentrate // 

Eye cream is the only work-in-progress as I’m ambivalent about my current one (Kiehls Creamy Eye Treatment).

This year I’ve definitely increased the amount of moisture I put into my skin and it’s the happiest it’s ever been! 

Make-up Bag Staples…

NARS Tinted Moisturiser //

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer //

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural //

Collection Extreme 24Hr Felt Tip Liner in Brown //

Elizabeth Arden Smoky Eye Pencil in Brown //

Laura Mercier Eye Kohl in Black Gold //

Burberry Sheer Eyeshadow in Rosewood //

Clinique High Impact Mascara //

Suqqu Eyebrow Liquid Pen //

MAC Mineralize Blush in Warm Soul //

Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment //

Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain in New York Scene //

Soap & Glory Gloss Stick in Plum Jam //

Here’s to a great 2015 (and lots more blogging!)
X

Hello, I'm Laura

Welcome to my blog. It’s a catch all for my thoughts on life, parenting and my love of beauty and fashion.

I’m married, a mum of a two year old boy (nearly three - eeek!) and my little pooch Oscar, a miniature poodle.

Before mum-life I worked in Internet Marketing and then as a freelance make-up artist (which you can read more about on www.lauraharrisonmakeup.co.uk & www.makeupoftheday.co.uk - my now abandoned beauty blog!)

Hope you enjoy x