Me, Myself and Harley

Me. Myself and Harley are so happy right now, I cannot explain how great it feels to have our own space and home.

In the last few months following the single most important decision (leaving a c*nt, see my post on how this affected me),  I have made the next best decisions of my life (in my eyes anyway) moving home and jobs has brought me such peace.

As much as I enjoyed working with a few spectacular people and some of the work, the driving and tension in the team as it changed got far too much for me. The team seemed to split and there was far too much back stabbing and tripping up going on that I don't think I would have been able to maintain my cool much longer. The long drive was not great on my health either, I was constantly tired and getting chronic headaches, also coming home late wasn't great for Harley due to the fact that I was unable to give her a decent walk.

My home situation wasn't the best either, I think myself and my housemate got to the point where we needed our own space back again. I found it hard to settle and be able to do what I wanted to do, even cooking became a chore as I had to work around her.

The other downside to living with others is the fact that I had to constantly clean and wash up before doing any cooking of my own for the fact that there was gluten everywhere all the time, i.e. crumbs spewed all over the place.

Harley was restricted too, not being allowed in certain areas and being told off for menial things. That wound me up too if I am completely honest.

All this had made me a shell of the person I was, feeling alone and anxious, coupled with the tiredness made me slightly depressed too. something of which I have not admitted to anyone until now.

Since moving Harley has become her old self again and really is loving her own home being able to go wherever she wants as well as being able to sleep with me in the evenings. That aspect of the move has been the most important thing to me and having an extremely happy dog makes me beam too.

Along with that not having to worry about cross contamination has made my life a hell of a lot easier. I can also do as I please, when I please it's great!

Being a few doors down from my mum and not very far from my friends is just amazing, the support I get from them all is beyond anything I could ever hope for. I am so grateful to have such an amazing group of people round me.

With the new job too, my commute is so much quicker meaning I have more time in the mornings to be able to take Harley for a run and also chill out in front of the T.V before I head to work. I also get home in good time too meaning that Harley gets a long walk in the evening too.

The best part of the new job is the 4 o'clock leave on a Friday! I mean who doesn't love to leave early!

Although I am still struggling with a few things, I thought I would write this as a little happy post, and to say thank you to all those that have helped me get here. It is so nice to be told that I look happier and seem to be more myself than ever.

I just hope that things carry on going up for me, no pun intended!!!

My Pandora Wish List

Following the lose of my Pandora bracelet and with my upcoming trip to USA I though I'd do a quick post on my wish list. I have also claimed on my home insurance for the lose and have been awarded a settlement, which means I can make majority of my wish list a reality.

First up is the Disney Bracelet, on the designer you cannot select the Disney bracelet or safety chain which is a shame, so have taken a screen shot of those elements. 

I hope to get two pave clips of Mickey and Minnie, Eeyore, an Anna crown and 2 hearts. The two hearts will have their own saying on them, 'Be Magical' and 'A Dream is a wish your heart makes', both show stars on the back.

The Mickey Bracelet has little Mickey logos on the clasp.

Onto my normal bracelet I am going to try and keep it symmetrical. Although it will never match my old bracelet, as majority of the charms are no longer available; however it will be better as I can make it as I wish it to be. 

I would like to get two butterfly clips, Butterfly Pave charm and two Heart charms.  

The ghost will not be as shown, I have never liked the Pandora ghost and used to have a Chamelian one, which I have found on FlEbay! 

The graduation cap was a gift for my Degree so I will be replacing that and the I love my Dog charm was a gift from my colleagues at Chicks.

Again the designer wouldn't let me use the bracelet I wanted and therefore I have provided a picture below, I love the heart clasp.

Finally I would like to get a safety chain this time and this particular dreamer safety chain is only available in the USA, therefore will be purchased when I am out there.

If, when I have finished replacing the ones I can, I have some spare money I may just treat myself to some new rings.. or earrings but we shall see...

Do you have a wish list? Drop me a comment below.

Always be kind, you never know what personal battle people are fighting.

My Little Box May 2016 Dolce Vita Edition

Yet another amazing box from the My Little Box team, I could tell you how much I love this box however I fear you may get bit bored seeing as you've all have heard it too much, but seriously just look at!

I have to say I loved this months actual box and was so happy because it matches my new decor in my bedroom, so has now become my new lipstick box. 

First up is this gorgeous little piece The Divine Marchesa's Oil, R.R.P £25.95. Yes thats correct even the name states divine and let me tell you this is amazing stuff. I love the smell and texture, it is easily applied and quickly soaks into the skin. I only wish it was more readily available in the UK, however I have found it here but there is a big delivery charge of £8.62. That said I do think that when I have some spare cash I may just decide to splurge on it. 

Here we have the My Little Beauty item, Summer Sunbathing Illuminating Moisturiser for Legs, R.R.P £8.00. This is basically a gradual self tanner and unlike most has a lovely subtle scent to it. The formula is really silky and is really great in that it is easily applied evenly.

Here is one item I have been looking at getting for my upcoming trip to the USA, so its safe to say I was super happy to get this in my box. This Turban is a specially made My Little Box item, R.R.P £11.00. I was also really please to see a little guide on ways to wear it within this months My Little World magazine.

Who doesn't love bit of Jewellery, this Ring retails for £12.00. In my eyes for a faux gold ring that is bit steep, especially considering you can get sterling silver rings from Accessorize for a similar cost. That said I do really like the gold toned leaf effect which can compliment almost every outfit.

Last but not least was this gorgeous perfume, La Fille De Lair, Courreges, R.R.P £55.00. This sample size of this gorgeous scent is perfect to fit into my make-up bag. The perfume seems to have great wear time too, which I find to be especially important. 

All in all I am super happy with this months box and I look forward to seeing what else they come up with in the June edition!

Always be kind, you never know what personal battle people are fighting.

Glossybox May 2016

This months box is jam packed full of travel friendly products for the upcoming holiday season, I for one was super happy to get a really lovely travel sized sun screen. We also got to choose our own Revlon Mascara and in addition received another item which was such a lovely surprise!

Tails Dog Food*

When I first heard of Tails Dog Food service, I was unsure as to what they actually offered other than just dog food. Well they offer a tailored made service, where you fill out a questionnaire all about your dog and their specific needs in order for Tails to tailor make your dogs food.

The package arrived super quick and when I opened it I saw that Harley's name was on the bag and the food cup, which I thought was pretty cool. You even get a little booklet which tells you how to fix the cup together in order to get your dogs recommend scoop size. These are labelled slots which mean that the scoop can be easily adjusted.

In terms of the quality it has 38% meat content and 3.4% fibre and 22.5% protein.
Harley did seem to really like to food, although she didn't always eat it straight away, she always ate the lot. She didn't change in attitude or behaviour which was good and her coat stayed lovely and shiny throughout the trial.

There is an option to trial a different blend of kibble, where you re-enter some details and get a weeks trial for around £7.20 (for Harley's size) this would vary depending on your dogs requirements.

I would recommend this service to anyone that forgets to buy food as they will send you a bag each month, with the added choice to delay it if you find you haven't run out of food. The price is reasonable and is suited to your dogs bag size, Harley is a large dog and has a lot of exercise, therefore required quite a large bag which was priced at around £30.00 for a months supply.

For the quality of food and service, I would highly recommend this to anyone that wants the best for their dog!

Tails have kindly given me a voucher code for you to sue to get 2 weeks free trial with only £1.00 postage, follow this link ROMANOVS.

* I received this product for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased feedback, all my views and opinions are my own and have not been influenced in anyway. Please see my Disclaimer for more information.

Moving Home and Renting with a Dog

 

I never realised just how stressful this process was, honestly I bow down to those who have had to go through the process of buying a home and all that comes along with it.

Although I am only renting, it has still meant that I have had to go through reference checks, which I knew I would fail and need a guarantor. On top of that trying to find someone that will accept a dog is nearly impossible! There are so many bad dog owners out there, that have created such a bad rep for people like me making it extremely hard to get landlords to even entertain the idea! I understand that landlords may have been stung before with an irresponsible dog owner, but seriously we aren't all like that! I cannot comprehend how anyone would want to leave dog mess laying around and have their house dirty? Having a dog is no excuse, they certainly don't want to live like that either! So just keep at it and keep looking, it will take longer than usual but you WILL find somewhere.

If you can get one, get a reference for your dog. This is something landlords can ask for and even if they don't it may help ease their minds.

I found this place by chance, my brother actually spotted it on zoopla and I instantly jumped on it! I mean it is only a few doors down from my Mum and so so close to all my other friends and family! Trustworthy dog walker right there were my initial thoughts!

The letting agents have not helped in the process either, they are extremely poor with communication and don't seem to want to ease in your stress levels. Having spoken to several people about this it is clear this is just a general trait of an estate agent... Good work guys think you need to work on that! So my advice with this is to keep chasing them up, they will not contact you. If you want a job done well, you have to do it yourself.

After going through the process of referencing and then having to wait to hear back from the landlords whether they were happy to proceed on the basis of a guarantor and then that all coming back fine for the letting agent to just tell me sorry still need to confirm with the landlords to see if they want to go ahead? Come on I thought you had said that it was all A okay based on the fact that I had a good guarantor?!?

The main thing that was stressing me out was the fact that I knew I needed to leave where I was and it was getting extremely uncomfortable being there. So having to keep waiting for an answer when I could have been spending that time looking for a different place to live if this one feel through, was beyond frustrating. Honestly I got so many colds/ flus in that time I lost count.

So after spending 3 weeks in limbo I finally found out that I got the House!!! Yipee!!!

 

From here it is pretty smooth sailing, you just have to pay the deposit and first months rent. Once that is all done you can agree a move in date to get the keys! I did my move in date mid week on the 26th April, so that I could get stuff moved over during the week evening's. I was also very lucky in that I planned to have a half day on the Friday and a few days after the weekend before I started my new job. This gave me the whole weekend to get everything in and where I wanted it as well as settle Harley in.

I had started packing as soon as I got the all clear and got boxes from supermarkets and that people were chucking away, much cheaper than trying to buy them. I transferred all my stuff by car and over a few trips, however you can hire a van and do it that way, just note that it is always cheaper hiring a van in the week rather than a weekend.

Settling Harley in was a lot easier than I thought, she wasn't happy the first night I started to move things in, however here is where I made the biggest mistake I could have! I didn't bring any of her things over first... so lesson learnt and great advice for you is to ensure you have some of their things in the home before you bring them over to the new place.

I know this because on the Thursday evening when I had some of her toys in she was right as rain, running round bringing her toys everywhere, even showing Suzanne round the House. She had pretty much settled in there and then!

Not only do you need to get all your stuff in but you need to insure it! I use Top Cashback where you get money back on normal internet purchases for free!! there is no sign up fee, just simply buy something off the internet through their link and get cash back, I think I got about £21.00 back on my home insurance. Every little helps.

I searched for deals on wifi etc. but found that because I was an EE customer it was cheaper to do it directly through them and get a good deal.

The other things to consider and arrange are all your utility bills and council tax, remember if you're living on your own you get single persons discount.

One massive thing to note is that you must go through an inventory report with the landlord on the day you get the keys, to agree on existing damage etc. this covers both you and them in the event of a dispute later on. Ensure you get lots of pictures too. On the day of move in make sure you write down all the gas, electric and water readings before you do anything, you don't want to be paying for someone else's debt!

I hope this is helpful to at least one person, I for one am glad that it is all done and feel so much happier in myself. Seriously loving all the space to myself.

April Lookback

I am sorry I am a bit late with this, usually try to get this post done by the start of the month. That said it has been a very hectic few weeks.

Home
I am ecstatic to tell you that I have landed the house I wanted and am seriously loving living on my own and Harley is loving it too with her having free reign to roam wherever she wants.

I finally got to move in on the 29th April, with having access to unload stuff during the week so I didn't have to do it all on the 29th. Harley soon settled in when she realised that was going to be our home and I wasn't going to be leaving her, she even gets super excited when people come over to show them round the house.

I managed to get all of my utility bills etc. sorted that day too and I will be doing a blog post explaining what to do as I do think this can be a daunting process for some.

Job
I have also left my old company and started my new job on the 4th May (oops creeping into May here).

I was really touched with the gifts and leaving messages I received and certainly didn't expect it. Even though I was sad to leave a few people I think I will miss Tony Stark to most, he really is a pleasure to work with and someone you can rely on and trust. Perfect for having those bitching sessions with.

My role hasn't really changed, however I suspect it will be a lot more in depth and responsibility which I really don't mind.

Love Life
What can I say... I don't really know if I am being completely honest. Having just moved house and jobs this hasn't really been on my radar and isn't a priority right now in my eyes.

I am currently really enjoying having my own space and am getting back into a routine with Harley, so haven't had to time for the make species. If anything they will just annoy me at the moment, I need to have this time for me and not to worry about someone else as harsh as that may sound.

I think after being messed about and screwed over for so long that my mind just needs a rest from all the drama that goes along with relationships.

Harley the Dog
There's not much to say on this front, apart from the fact that we went to our first ever agility competition and much to my amazement Harley stayed with me the whole time and didn't run off at all. We didn't win anything, but that doesn't matter to me because seriously that is just such a big achievement in itself! Looking forward to doing more!

Goodies
There has been quite a few goodies this month, from my usual Glossybox reviews to a Body Shop Haul.

I think my favourite, as it seems to be every month, was the My Little Box, the theme was a flower book and it is just so gorgeous.

I also won a competition!!! I won a £100 voucher to spend at Dipple & Conway on a pair of specs.

That's it for April, however I have a lot more going on in May and Cannot wait to tell you more about it!!!

Always be kind, you never know what personal battle people are fighting.

Love Me Beauty April 2016

After enjoying my initial experience with Love me beauty, I thought I would try out a 3 month subscription. They have recently released news that they are completely scrapping beauty boxes and are going to be sending out each months products in a make-up bag of some description, is;t that great!

My Purple Lipsticks

A purple toned lipstick is perfect for a good old Girly night out, or if you fancied a darker look these are the lipsticks you want.

From left to right:

• Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry (R.R.P £7.99), best matched with MAC Lip liner in Vino (R.R.P £12.50)
• MAC Matte Lipstick in Flat Out Fabulous (R.R.P.£15.50), best matched with MAC Pro Longwear Lip liner in More to Love (R.R.P £15.00)
• MAC Pro Longwear Lipstick in Endless Drama (R.R.P £18.00), best matched with MAC Lip liner in Vino (R.R.P £12.50)

Flat Out Fabulous is a bright pinky purple tone which is perfect for adding a pop of colour to any look, with its super long staying power it is perfect for a night out too. 

Black Cherry and Endless Drama are extremely similar in colour, black cherry is a prefect description of the shades. These aren't very easy to apply as they smudge and they stick to the skin really well, that might sound good but not if you are trying to shape your lips and get it wrong. I wouldn't usually wear this unless I wanted to go for a more gothic look.

Sorry I've been Slack

First of all I just want to say sorry to all my readers (if I actually have any, other than Christie *cough*), for being so slack on my blog the past week or so. I have literally just moved house on Friday and have no wifi until the 13th May! This means that my lunch break = blog session.

I have also just started my new job today, so am settling in all over the place, hence why my blog has gone on the back burner.

Harley was also not well due to stress because I was packing and moving stuff over, which freaked her out. I think she thought I was going to leave her. Since moving in she has settled down and has really made it her home, it is so lovely to have her back to her usual self.

To make up for it all I will just let you know what I have coming up.

I have been sent a free trial of dog food by Tails, so will be doing a full review on that.

I will also being doing my usual Lookback and subscription box reviews, along with a Moving Home post and an All about Utility Bills post.

In addition to the above, I have also been asked to review DIWAH Jewellery, a website where you create your own piece, so you can look out for that.

Always be kind, you never know what personal battle people are fighting.