What I Got For My 27th Birthday

I can’t believe I hadn’t yet thought about doing this post… Until now! Whilst chilling on the sofa and enjoying a well deserved Sunday lazy day I thought, “Hey! I never wrote a post about what I got for my birthday!” and I surprised myself. I mean I wrote a wish list so why not add a post about what I actually got?

Well better late than never… It has been over a week though since I turned 27… Oh dear. Maybe with age I am forgetting? 😛

These presents above are a mixture of gifts I received from Dane and his parents.

My favourite gift from his parents was this beautiful fox figure for the garden. I’ve been after something like this for quite some time now but hadn’t yet found anything I wanted and if I did it was shockingly priced (those are treats for in the summer when we do up the garden!) so I was really happy to get this. The detailing is gorgeous and it’s now sat outside by the back door. I hope we get some foxes in our garden when the weather improves… I love them so much!

Dane’s parents bought me some lovely gifts but I was especially happy to see four volumes of Your Lie in April manga inside of one of the gifts (which was actually on my wish list!). Apparently I was meant to receive the Azumanga Daioh manga instead but I already owned this manga so Dane is going to send that book back to Amazon. Oops. 😛 With the manga was an iPad holder from IKEA and a can of red spray paint. I had said how Dane’s moms was really nice but how I would want one in red. So that’s why I had a red can of spray paint. I’m going to definitely be spraying it when we have a nice day!

Then we have the gifts that Dane bought for me! Above as you can see there are four volumes of Your Lie in April BUT there is also the box on the far right which is the Blu-ray for the anime series of Your Lie in April. I’m so happy to have it as the art for the box is beautiful and it’s limited edition which makes me even happier!

As well as getting Your Lie in April manga I also got the first two volumes of Paradise Kiss manga! AHH! I love Nana which is written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa who is also the person behind Paradise Kiss. I’ve watched a little bit of the manga and I really enjoyed it, so I know I’m going to love the manga just as much. Sadly like Nana they’re not easy to find and when you DO find them they aren’t exactly cheap… We shall see what the future holds in terms of picking the rest of the manga up as there are five volumes in total so I only have three more to pick up.

My final present from Dane (that I got on the day anyway…) and my main one is this gorgeous Frozen Elsa Nendoroid! I had shown Dane her ages ago as she was on sale on a website we buy Japanese items from and bless him he went and ordered her. I had a feeling I was going to get a Nendoroid for my birthday but I didn’t think it would be Elsa! I’m not one of these obsessed Frozen fans but as soon as she was announced years ago I KNEW I had to have her. She’s gorgeous and so beautiful to look at and I know I’ll need to get Anna soon to go with her. I swear I need to do a collection post about mine and Dane’s Nendoroid’s soon as we have twenty now and counting. 😛

For my birthday in the evening we went out for a meal for both mine and my moms birthday as hers is the day after mine! We went to Frankie & Benny’s and had a lovely meal, drinks and had a right laugh! It’s a shame we didn’t get to do much else. The next day however me and Dane went to Peak Wildlife Park which was amazing! However we left pretty late so didn’t get to spend all day at the park like we wanted to. We intend to go back in the spring.

But on with more gifts! My mom didn’t buy me anything and instead gave me some money whilst my dad and brother both bought me some charms for my Thomas Sabo bracelet, which I got for Christmas from my mom (which you can read about here).

They both bought me some lovely charms and ones I had set my eyes on on Christmas Day when I was seeing what charms I could get in the future! My brother bought me both the robin and the lucky cat (which I recently found out is called a maneki-neko!) and they’re both so eye catching and different. The maneki-neko has definitely had loads of compliments and questions as to what it is.

Then on a daughter and dad day at the start of the week my dad bought me the fox charm which I’d hoped he would be able to get me. He also offered to buy me another charm too but sadly I didn’t see anything I was after in particular so we left it for another time.

I’m really loving how my Thomas Sabo bracelet is turning out! I’ll be writing up a wish list post for future charms in the next week or two.

This was one of my belated birthday presents from Dane, which he was intending on keeping a secret but wasn’t 100% sure if I wanted it still. I’ve been waiting for this game to come out for almost ten years and finally in late 2016 it came out! However whilst I was going to pre-order it and have it straight away Dane put me off due to some reviews he had heard about which were bashing the game and putting it down. This being said there were more positive reviews than negative and he bought it for me when it went down in price. Sadly due to so many people buying it we had to wait a couple of weeks for it to come out. It has been totally worth it though! We’ve been playing it together since we got it last week and I love it.

This is one of the final presents I got… I say got but I wasn’t gifted it. My aunt gave me some money for my birthday so I decided to treat myself to a new water bottle with the money. This is from The Disney Store and as you can see it’s a Baymax water bottle. It’s so amazing and I love it so much! I mostly use it for work as I like to keep hydrated during my shifts. It’s screw cap and fits a good amount of water in. I try to drink at least two of these a shift (I work 8 hours a day btw…) which I think is a pretty good goal! You can also pop lemons into this too but as of late I haven’t bothered with drinking lemon water. It’s something I’ll start doing again very soon.

So those were my presents I got (or bought with money…) for my birthday this year! I loved all my presents and I can’t say that I have a favourite… Although I do love how my Thomas Sabo bracelet is turning out! I loved everything though to be honest. I loved getting more manga to read, a fox figure for my garden, money and geeky things!

I just want to thank not just my family and friends for helping me have a lovely birthday this year, but mostly Dane for always being there for me. I’m so excited to start 2017 in our home and I’m even more excited for all the adventures we’re going to have this year.

How are all my readers doing? I miss your faces! Leave me some love down below or over at my Twitter (@maybeecoffee)/

Until next time take care all and I hope you’ve had an awesome weekend!

The Love/Hate Tag!

I love a good tag post. I find it helps readers get to know the writer of a blog a lot better than most posts will. I recently found this one on Tarnya’s blog sweetallure and I thought it would be nice to give it a go myself! I’m currently lying in bed on my day off, working on my blog, and relaxing. I have YouTube on to keep me company, my Red Raspberry Yankee Candle burning, and a hot cup of Ribena. So I’m prepared!

The Rules:

The tagged person must share a total of 20 things; 10 things they love, and 10 things they hate.

They must nominate 10 bloggers to complete the tag.

10 Things that I Love:

1. Bubble baths. No matter what time of the year or whatever time of day I love bubble baths. They’re warm and comforting, and great if you want to relax and pamper yourself. I mostly use Lush bath bombs and bubble bars in my baths but sometimes I like to change it up and use The Body Shop products, and sometimes just supermarket and drugstore brands. I’ve always loved baths, ever since I was a little girl. I once spent two hours in the bath just playing and being in a world of my own. I don’t do that anymore, but that just goes to show how much I’ve loved them from a young age.
2. Food. I love food. Seriously if I love anything more it is definitely eating. Bacon, melted cheese, pizza, chicken, ham sandwiches, Marmite on toast, maple and bacon sausages, Yorkshire pudding, Japanese food, oh you name it and I’ll probably love it. As I’ve already said I especially love Japanese food and I love Yo! Sushi for it’s buffet style Japanese cuisine. Katsu curry is my favourite, followed by chicken ramen.
3. Beatrix Potter. If there has always been one thing I have loved since I was a young age, it has been Beatrix Potter and all the wonderful stories she has written. My favourite is probably The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse, due to the whole town versus country theme. Of course, my favourite is the country and I can totally relate to Timmy Willie. I recently visited The World of Beatrix Potter in the Lake District and it was amazing! I would love to go again, and I’m sure I will if me and my boyfriend are that way in the future
4. Duvet days. Seriously who doesn’t love them? I just love staying in bed all snuggled up with something to watch on my iPad, or a game to play. Can’t beat it
5. Gaming. I’m a nerd, so I love playing games, whether they be console, hand held, or even online games. I’ll play them! I’ve recently 100% completed South Park: The Stick of Truth and I’m currently lusting after Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer
6. Anything salted caramel flavoured. I love salted caramel, I know a lot of people do but I loved it before the hype! I know a lot of people who also hate salted caramel due to the thought of it tasting salty, but I really love that. One of my friends bought me some salted caramel chocolates from Thornton’s and they were amazing! I would love some more. I recently picked up a salted caramel hot chocolate powder from Whittard and it is delicious
7. Pole dancing. My fitness is pole dancing. I used to do it years ago for about a year but had to give up for personal reasons. But since June I have started again and I’m so pleased that I have! I feel fitter for doing it, and it’s just fun to get out of the house and go and have fun doing that for an hour with some of the girls in class. I hope in the near future that I can start going twice a week, and buy my own pole to practice on at home.
8. Photography. Although I am far from being professional, I love taking pictures especially of animals and nature. I’ve owned my Nikon digital SLR for three years now and it is my pride and joy. I love going to animal parks, and fun places so I can take plenty of pictures.
9. Foxes. My close friends and family know how much I love foxes and I have a small collection of fox related items in my room now. My mom recently bought me some fox vanilla room air fresheners from Avon, and they are incredibly cute! She’s already seen an umbrella, a draft excluder, and a huge foot slipper that she’s craving to buy for me. I love my mom too! 😛
10. Nendoroid figures. Gorgeous and kawaii Japanese figures by Good Smile Company and ones me and my boyfriend collect like crazy, and have done so since Christmas 2014. I bought him his first one for Christmas, which was Mikasa from Attack on Titan, and he bought me my first one for my birthday at the start of the year, which was one of the characters from Penguindrum. Including that one I have two, but my boyfriend has a whopping eight figures and his collection is STILL growing!

10 Things that I Hate:

1. Rude people. If there is one thing I cannot stand it’s people who are rude for no reason. Hey, if I’ve been rude to you then fair play. But if I’m just being nice and casual, then you have no reason to be that way with me. Due to my experience in customer service, I hate seeing fellow customers be rude to the staff when out and about. I just want to tell them to stop.
2. Animal abuse. I don’t think I need to explain why. I just hate seeing it on TV shows, and reading about it. People who abuse animals are appalling and disgraceful human beings.
3. Crap coffee. I love coffee, so when I buy a coffee whilst out and I’m excited to drink it for it to taste awful I feel really sad. Once someone made me a coffee and the coffee machine clearly wasn’t set right, so the coffee was too coarse. I mentioned it to the member of staff and they sorted it for me. The coffee they made me as a replacement was beautiful! I hate coffee like Mellowbirds though. That’s not coffee, that’s just wrong.
4. Bad drivers. Urgh. Just URGH! I like to think I’m a really good driver, so when someone is a bad driver near me I hate it so much. Little things like not signalling annoys me, and speeding unnecessarily too. It always happens when there isn’t a Police car around.
5. Fake duplicate items from China. As a Nendoroid figure collector, me and my boyfriend have been victims to buying fake figures. Well, once. Since then we’ve been really careful and researched as much as possible before buying. There were loads of fakes flying around Hyper Japan and it annoyed us. There are also loads of fakes around eBay, but if you know how to shop for the figures, then you can avoid getting fakes. But I just hate it. People charge hundreds for fakes and a lot get away with it.
6. Food. I love food, yes, but I also hate food. I have a lot of food phobias, and due to some of my allergies I’m also allergic to a lot of fruit. It sucks when it comes to bananas as I love the smell, and I used to love the taste but I can’t eat them due to my allergy. My mouth swells and feels like it’s on fire, which sucks. So I have to avoid banana unless it’s artificial. With my phobias I can’t eat some foods due to texture, or sometimes even smell and look. It’s horrible and it can restrain me from eating a lot, but I hope over the years I can get better, especially when I have my own children.
7. Selfish people. I’ve dealt with my fair share of selfish people over the years, and only recently got away from them, which I’m happy about. Selfish in the sense you do favours for them, and never get any back. Selfish that you have to do what they want to do, and forget whatever you want to do. Selfish that you’ll help them in dark times, but they won’t help you. I just HATE selfish people and they can all go away!
8. People who walk their dogs without a lead. There is nothing worse than this. I’ve heard of dogs, cats, and other animals being attacked for no reason by dogs that don’t have a lead on. One of my friends cats recently had to be put to sleep after being badly injured of an attack from a dog that wasn’t on a lead. The only time dogs should be let off a lead is when in a dog friendly park. I’ll never ever do this with my own dogs, it’s just not worth the risk.
9. Bullies. If there is one thing I hate in this world, it’s a bully. I was bullied terribly throughout school, college, and even at times in university. I don’t know if I just have that face and personality, but I was bullied and over stupid things. It sucked, it depressed me, and I skipped school because of it. Now I’m older if I see anyone going through what I went through and I feel the time is right, I open my mouth. No one did for me, so I will for others.
10. Fake glasses. As someone who needs to wear glasses I still get annoyed when people wear those cheap, fake glasses from Claire’s to look “hipster” and “cool”. No. It really isn’t cool having to wear glasses. It’s expensive, it sucks needing to wear glasses because you can’t see without them, and it also sucked being bullied for being a “four eyes” at school when it wasn’t even your fault!

Tagging:

ALL OF MY READERS AND FOLLOWERS!

I would love to see what 10 things you love and hate!

So that’s the love/hate tag! Did you like finding out what I love and hate? If so what did you like finding out about? Do you agree with them, and what do you love and hate? Make sure to let me know in the comments, or over on Twitter @maybeecoffee.

Until next time all, take care and I hope everyone’s weeks are going well so far!

Things I Love About Spring

Image taken from weheartit.com

It’s been spring officially for a month now and I always forget how much I love it until it comes around late March.

Thanks to plenty of early shifts at work, weekends spent out and about with my boyfriend, as well as my curtains being able to stay open for longer due to lighter nights, I’ve began to notice loads of things I love about spring, which I thought I would share with you this evening.

ALSO I realise this post is very LATE coming up on my blog today, but I’ve been rather tired since finishing work this afternoon. However now I’m wearing my new onesie (which I will be posting about next week!), watching Goodnight Mister Tom, texting my boyfriend, and having a cup of tea I’m ready to get this post written and posted on my blog.

So I hope you enjoy it, I know I’m going to enjoy writing it!

Image taken from weheartit.com

The sound of rain, especially light and heavy rain.

I just HAD to include a picture from Bambi here! Something we have been seeing the past few days is rain, and plenty of it. We were told we were going to be getting some lovely weather for Easter and whilst it hasn’t been so bad it’s just a bit rotten at the moment, which is a bit of a shame. This being said, I do rather like the sound of rain, both light and heavy especially. I’m one of these people where if the weather isn’t too cold outside whilst it’s raining, I’ll open the window so that I can listen to it whilst I do whatever I need to. It’s just a relaxing sound and before now I’ve listened to those hour-long videos on YouTube of where you listen to sound effects whilst trying to sleep. Some of my favourite rain related ones are the sound of rain whilst in a car and in a tent. As well as how lovely it sounds, it’s good for all the new spring plants and flowers that are growing through beautifully!

Image taken from weheartit.com

Still being able to drink hot chocolate throughout the day (especially the evenings!) due to it still being chilly.

I love hot chocolate and as I work in a coffee shop, I have hot chocolate on tap, however I want it, whenever I want it. I don’t drink it every shift I work as that would take away the treat of having a hot chocolate in the first place, but when I do have one, it’s yummy! I especially love mint hot chocolate and honeycomb hot chocolate. I treated myself to a naughty mint hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows, it was amazing!

Image taken from weheartit.com

Burning candles, although that is acceptable throughout the year.

I love candles, especially my Yankee Candles! I received a large Sweet Strawberry Yankee Candle at the start of the year for my birthday from my boyfriend and only since the start of this month have I been burning it. It’s lovely to pop on a candle and watch it burn into late into the night, there’s just something nicer about burning a candle in the spring, than there is in the winter and I don’t know why! My boyfriend shares my love for yummy candles, and he’s owned two apple scented ones since the start of the year, so whenever I go to his for the weekend he burns his yummy Apple candle by Lily Flame. Can’t go wrong with candles, no matter what season!

Image taken from weheartit.com

Cherry blossom trees.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always liked something about cherry blossom trees. I don’t know why but they’re just so beautiful and symbolise spring perfectly. Cherry blossoms only last until the end of spring, which is a real shame as they’re so gorgeous and add something bright and colourful to the season and especially to the UK. On my drive to and from work, as well as wherever I go really I drive/walk past loads of cherry blossom trees at the moment. Some are a light pink, some are a dark pink, but no matter what they’re all beautiful! My two apple trees sprout beautiful white blossoms every spring, which makes me happy and as we’re growing a cherry tree in the garden now, we’ll eventually have some gorgeous pink blossoms of our own. I intend to go out with my camera and get snap happy whilst the blossoms are around. Cherry blossom trees are my favourite trees!

Image taken from weheartit.com

Lighter, thus later evenings.

A year ago I would have thrived off of this due to being able to go to the pub any night of the week (especially the weekend) and due to it not getting dark until nearly 10pm I’d be able to sit outside in the beer garden with people getting drunk and laughing my head off… Although I still want to occasionally go out and enjoy the lighter evenings in a beer garden with my friends, I don’t wish to get drunk, just merry. As well as that this past year has taught me that there is more to life than going out every weekend to get drunk. I’m 24 now and I’m not getting any younger, I sound rather soppy but I’m getting to that time in my life where I would like to start settling down, getting what I want from life and making the most of it. Now instead of going out every weekend to get drunk, I spend it with my boyfriend, and sometimes even our friends where we’ll go out somewhere nice for the day and in the evening too. With the weather picking up a little and the later evenings, it means late walks and merry pub outings will be occurring. As well as all those things I love the view from my window from the late afternoon until it finally gets dark, it’s just gorgeous and I can’t really put into words how much I love it.

SO those were all the things I love about spring! Well, the ones worth mentioning anyway! As well as all those I also enjoy new baby animals being born, Easter, being able to wear my spring clothing, and finally the joys of pollen soon taking its toll on my nose, throat and eyes (I hate having hay fever)!

So, what do you love about spring? Let me know in the comments!

I’ve really enjoyed writing this post and sadly it is a day late, but better late than never eh?

Well I’m off to write some more blog posts up, I’ve got a long night ahead of me. 😉

Until next time all, take care and hope you’re excited for the weekend!

The Blogger Love Tag

Image taken from weheartit.com

I heard about this tag from the lovely Amy over at A Little Boat Sailing and thought as I hadn’t taken part in a tag for a while, that one of my posts for this week would be a tag post and what better than a blog related one!

Keep your eyes peeled at the end of this post for who will be tagged to take part! 😀

1. What was the first blog you ever came across?

I think it was probably either moonbeamstarlight or Fleur De Force but I’m not 100% sure which one it would have been. Either way I love both of those blogs, even still today and their YouTube channels too. 😀

2. Favourite blog reads?

I do really like reading blog posts by maliberrymakeup as she’s very thorough when she writes up reviews, she talks about Lush which I like reading about, and as well as that she’s a lovely and friendly blogger, as well as honest. She will reply to any comments you make on any of her posts too, which I think is awesome! Another favourite blog of mine to read is temporary-secretary and has been for quite a few years now. I love how she writes about a bit of everything, from beauty, to fashion, and to lifestyle. I currently love whenever she posts about her family dog Bonnie, who is a gorgeous little poodle! As well as that I love when she posts about candles too, as candles are a weak spot for myself. She’s also a lovely blogger and comments on my posts every now and again, which makes me extremely happy as I don’t get comments on my posts often, let alone from a popular blogger!

3. Best blogging friend?

Definitely my friend Amy over at Von Dork. She’s been my friend for a matter of years anyway, but before Christmas we’ve grown stronger friends than before and whenever we chat it’s usually blog and beauty related. She’s who I go to talk about blogging. My friend Poppy from letsdrivefaraway also used to be a blogger and I used to go to her all the time about blogging, but as she’s M.I.A. at the moment, I don’t talk to her about it as much as I used to, but I still do. 🙂

4. Name a blog that enables your purchases?

Probably The Sunday Girl, as she gains access to lots of products before they even come out in store!

5. Five blogs everyone should be reading?

mishmreow

emmapickles

thediaryofapoorgirl

maybeitsmeganleigh

littlewinter

6. Your favourite way to read blogs?

Depends but I stick to using Bloglovin’ as it’s just an amazing website, as well as a great app to have on your mobile phone or tablet. I mostly use Bloglovin’ on my phone whilst I’m at work if it goes quiet, when I wake up in the mornings before I get ready to go out, and I use it on the train too if I haven’t taken a book or any music to read or listen to whilst I’m on the journey. When I go to reply to any posts I like the look of, I use my laptop for that as it’s just easier to use than my iPhone or iPad.

7. Bloggers that inspire you?

Oh there’s so many! Little Winter inspires me for sure as her photographs look lovely and clean, and some of the things she has posted about I’ve wanted to try myself in the future too. As well as that my friends inspire me with my blog writing! They just write-up amazing posts and they all have 100 plus followers, so they’re all doing well for themselves. 😀

8. Favourite blog design/look?

I like when blogs look clean and professional, which some nice pictures on the sides and a lovely banner too. I’ve wanted to achieve my own clean look on my blog but I’m just too quirky! Speaking of which, I like when a bloggers banner matches what their blog name is, as I think it just looks awesome personally as it shows they’ve gone into detail with their banner, whether they created it and edited it together or got someone else to do it.

9. What is your favourite thing about blogging?

I like being able to share my thoughts and feelings on things that I feel passionately about, such as lipstick, perfume, beauty products, the odd fashion post, as well as lifestyle related things. I know when I read someone’s posts about something I’m interested in, that i wish to read a true and realistic post with honest opinions on whatever they’re writing about, so I aim to do that myself when I write. Personally I write for myself first and my readers second. I enjoy writing on my blog because it helps me with my anxiety. If I feel anxious I’ll do some writing and it helps take things off of my mind, but this is just a plus really!

10. Name a blogger you would most like to see write a book in the future!

temporary-secretary about fashion. Her fashion tastes are so lovely and to see them written inside of a book would be amazing. I could imagine it being manga or cartoon style drawings with a cute little drawing of her cat and dog. I’d definitely buy it and it’d just look so cute and quirky, not to mention unique too!

Well that is the end of this tag, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Finally down to who I tag… ALL OF YOU! I didn’t want to pick anyone out, so instead I would love for you all to take part and let me know in the comments if you’ve taken part as I’d love to read what you’ve put for your answers.

Seeing as it’s Friday, I wish you all a lovely weekend and I’ll have a post on my blog on Sunday about something coooool. 😛

Until next time, take care all!

My Pandora Bracelet

Image taken from weheartit.com

I told you before 2014 started that in the future I would do a post about my Pandora bracelet and finally, nearly 2 months later, it’s here!

Before I kick off with this post, I just want to add how I am not meaning to show off which charms I have, or for that matter how many I have. I know I love seeing and reading about other people’s Pandora bracelets and I thought it’d be nice to share mine too! So if you feel I AM showing off, then this post obviously isn’t for you…

I’ve been excited about writing this post up for a while, so without further ado, let’s get on with it!

So here it is, my Pandora bracelet! I have the bangle instead of the usual charm bracelet that most own. I’d always set my heart on the charm bracelet, but when my Mom brought me this bangle back from her holiday in November last year, I was pretty pleased about it! She has the charm bracelet and I’m really not a fan of it, but I guess that’s just me! The clip for this opens with a bit of force and due to that it closes firmly and stays that way, so I never have to worry about it undoing whilst I’m out and losing any of my charms. I don’t know how much this cost her to buy me from abroad, but these in the UK cost £55 and of course this is in silver too.

In total I have 7 charms, 3 of them came with the bracelet when I received it, 2 were Christmas presents from my Dad, 1 was from my boyfriend for my 24th birthday this year, and 1 was from my Dad for my 24th birthday this year. As you can see they’re all silver, only one containing some sort of colour, which is my Waving Cat charm. Another thing you can see with my charms is that apart from my N charm, they’re all animal related! This wasn’t intentional, but I really do need to break out of the animal charms pattern.

I’m going to talk about each charm in detail, but not too much detail! Just about who bought it me, what occasion and why they bought it for me, I guess my family and boyfriend know me well! I’ll be talking about these in the order I’ve received them.

Owl

This is the first charm I received on my bracelet and because of that it’ll always be one of my favourites. I don’t know what made my Mom pick this out for me, but I have a feeling it’s due to my owl lamp in my room. Either way it’s so cute and the detailing on it is lovely! In the future I can see me buying my Mom the same owl so that we have matching charms, but this being said, the Camera charm is on my wish list, which she was bought recently, so that could always be our matching charms. Who knows!

Charms R-L: Cat, N, and Mrs Hedgehog

This Cat charm is cute and whilst it wouldn’t ever be on my wish list, it’s the thought that counts and the cats little face is rather cute! Apparently my Mom had bought this for herself, but ended up giving it to me as she thought I would like it more, which makes this charm even more sweeter! The cat does just look all snuggled up and comfortable on its cushion. This charm reminds me of my Mom and it’s definitely something she would pick up for herself, which is why I like it so much.

I rather like this charm. As regular readers will know or if not, you’ll see my name at the side of this post, my name’s Natalee, so of course the letter N charm had to be bought for me! My Mom got me this when she bought me the bracelet and it’s a nice charm to have and probably one everyone should have on their bracelet. At one point she did contemplate getting me the rest of my name, but I said it was a tad on the tacky side and that the N was good enough for me. 🙂

This is one of my favourite charms, my Mrs Hedgehog charm. My Dad bought me this for Christmas 2013 and it has a big meaning behind it. As a child Mrs Tiggy-Winkle reminded me of my Gran, I don’t fully understand why but the cute little hedgehog by Beatrix Potter has always reminded me of her, maybe the way she acted, what she wore, even her cute little face! Sadly, as old readers will know, my Gran sadly passed away nearly a year ago, so when I saw this charm, I knew I had to have it on my bracelet. Every time I look at it, it reminds me of my Gran, so it’s lovely to have that feeling whilst I wear this. As well as that the detailing on this charm is beautiful! The little rounded dots for her spikes, her little toes, and even the detailing on her handbag! It’s a beautiful charm and I’m glad to have it on my bracelet.

Charms R-L Bunny, Waving Cat, and Elephant

This bunny charm was also another Christmas 2013 present from my Dad! He knew he was going to buy me Mrs Hedgehog, as he knew how much I wanted it, but whilst we were in Pandora he asked which other charm I wanted. I had a look in the display and asked to have a look at the Bunny. My boyfriend had commented a few months previous of how I reminded him of a bunny too, so that was rather cute. ANYWAY! I just loved the look of the little Bunny charm and although it is obviously a Bunny to symbolise Easter, it’s still really cute and another of my favourites. The detail on this charm is amazing, maybe even better than the hedgehog, thus being the most detailed charm on my bracelet so far! He has his cute little face, long ears, and paws, but as well as that he also has a basket on his back full of Easter eggs! The basket is really detailed and is shown to be a wicker basket, and there are two eggs inside of it, one with swirled patterns all over and one with zigzags and dots. Amazing quality, as well as being adorable, a very girly charm!

This charm is actually the reason why this post wasn’t written up and posted more sooner! I would go into details, but there’s not much point about that, all I’ll say is that he was sold a fake version of this charm… A terrible one at that! After a crap day at work a couple of weeks ago, my boyfriend and I ventured to town for some yummy food and to possibly buy some nice things, where he ended up buying me this charm. He had originally bought the fake for my 24th birthday this year, but due to that he sent it back, got a refund and a month or so down the line, he bought me the real charm! This charm is beautiful and my boyfriend did well in the reasons as to why he chose this one. I’m not sure if he had seen my wish list that I posted about just before the end of 2013, or if he had just been good and paid attention to what I’d been talking about before Christmas. I know I’d mentioned to him before about wanting this charm, but also how I would really like a Chinese Lucky Cat whilst we were out shopping. EITHER WAY the thought was lovely when he gave it to me and said, “I know how you wanted a Lucky Cat, so I thought this would be perfect for you!” which of course, is so sweet! I love this charm so much and it’ll always remind me of him and I especially love that it has that little bit of colour of it, as this is the first charm on my bracelet to contain any colour. Love it so much!

We finally have my last charm and most recently bought. My Dad bought me this gorgeous Elephant charm for my 24th birthday this year. He didn’t know which charm to get me and whilst I looked in the display box it was a choice between this charm and the Turtle charm and whilst I still want the Turtle, I’m really glad I asked for this one, as it’s now been discontinued! It’s such a cute cartoon looking elephant and out of the 3 charms my Dad has bought me to date, this one will remind me of him more than the others! Elephants are said to be old and wise, which is exactly what my Dad is. I just love how this Elephant looks, it’s another of my favourite charms for sure!

So that was my Pandora bracelet and the charms I have on it!

They all mean a lot to me but the one flaw I have with my charm so far is that it has no colour on it, which people keep commenting on! I’ve seen two coloured charms that I would like to get, but I’ll be saving those for another wish list post.

Do you have a Pandora bracelet? If so, which charms do you have on it?

If you don’t have a Pandora bracelet, would you like one? If so, which charms would you want on it?

Let me know all your answers and questions down below!

Until next time, take care all.

P.S. Sorry I’ve been quiet the past 3 days, I’ve just been pretty tired and lazy, but also I’ve just wanted to spend time with my boyfriend without writing getting in the way. 🙂

Valentine’s Day With Lush

Wow look at me making a post about Valentine’s Day!

As you know in a months time Valentine’s Day will be upon us in a months time and whilst it feels like we have all the time in the world… Realistically we don’t and before we know it those days will whoosh past us in the blink of an eye and our loved ones will be wondering if/what we will have bought for them.

I remember this time last year HATING Valentine’s day, for the  obvious reasons… I was bitter and single and hating on all couple and love related matters.

However this year whilst in some aspects I’m still a little bitter, I’m not single and although we won’t go the whole hog, Valentine’s Day gives my boyfriend and I a good reason to go out and eat yummy food until we cannot eat anymore.

I will be doing a couple of Valentine’s Day related posts and ta-da! Say hello to the first post for it!

I love Lush, as regular readers will know and after spending a fair bit of money on Christmas, I intend to do the same sort of thing for Valentine’s Day and I for one am excited about what products Lush have in store for us this year.

So come with me as I talk about the products Lush have to offer and the ones I’ll be buying myself this year. Like myself you could always buy yourself something nice, or someone else for that matter.

With marshmallow root, Fair Trade vanilla and fresh pomegranate juice, Prince Charming will sweep you off your feet and carry you off into the sunset, leaving your skin silky soft and smelling lovely – the fragrance is made using a beautiful blend of grapefruit, sandalwood and geranium oils.

Prince Charming Shower Gel sounds so yummy and something I would enjoy using during spring afternoons! Personally I don’t think I will be buying a bottle of this until after trying a sampler, as I’m allergic to quite a lot of Lush soaps, so I always try before I buy if I can. On Lush’s website they had this little bit of description for it:

Originally inspired by the Adam and the Ants classic, ‘Prince Charming’, this shower gel has transformed along the way and now it reminds us of the kind of Prince Charming you’d find in a fairy tale…it’s bold and courageous, absolutely gorgeous, and it smells incredible.

It sounds really yummy and the ingredients remind me of The Comforter Bubble Bar and Mmmelting Marshmallow Moment Luxury Bath Melt which I am still yet to try both  of! This will smell delicious and I can’t wait to get a sample pot to try of it!

Like all the Lush Shower Gel’s Prince Charming comes in three sizes; 100g at £4.65, 250g at £9.25 and 500g at £15.95. This shower gel isn’t cheap, which is a shame to be honest but either way I’m sure it smells delicious!

This smooshable massage bar is beautifully fragranced with Fair Trade vanilla absolute. Inspired by the humble Jammie Dodger biscuit – as you peek through the heart-shaped hole on top of bar you can see into the sumptuous white fondant centre.

I’ve never been a huge fan of the massage bars by Lush as they feel really greasy on the skin and in the past whenever I’ve been given some as samples to try out they’ve always gone straight into my bath tub to use as a bath melt instead. I have seen a couple of massage bars in the past that I have wanted to try but never got around to getting them. However as mt boyfriend and I give each other massages on occasions I thought this would be nice to buy for Valentine’s Day, as well as for when I start my snowboarding lessons. The name of this bar reminds me of The Cure’s song Close To Me, which I love! He gives loving back massages and this would be a nice think to use during them. On Lush’s website there’s a bit of a description for Close To You:

Made with a luxurious blend of butters and oils, including cupuaçu butter, shea butter and olive oil, this rich bar is also made with cornflour to leave your skin silky smooth. It shares the same delicious vanilla fragrance as Rock Star soap and Creamy Candy bubble bar – guaranteed to bring your lover Close to You!

On Lush’s website it states how other Lush products like this one are infact some of my favourite ones, including Rock Star Soap and Creamy Candy Bubble Bar. They contain yummy vanilla and other ingredients to give them their yummy sweetie type scent and I know I would love using Close To You as a treat!

This only comes in one size and for that it isn’t exactly cheap at £5.50 for a small 45g bar, this being said it would be worth the money as I wouldn’t use this much, once every two weeks or so. If I don’t pick this up, I wouldn’t be at a loss as I would pick up one of Lush’s permanent massage bars.

The Love Locket was inspired by the kind of heart-shaped locket you wear as a necklace, perhaps with a secret photograph of a loved one inside. In the same way, you have to unlock (crack open) this Love Locket bath bomb to reveal the secrets hidden within…

I actually heard about Lush bringing out their Valentine’s Day range recently thanks to Lush Birmingham posting about this Love Locket Bath Bomb on their Instagram page. They showed a demonstration of how this works and it looks truly gorgeous and as well as looking gorgeous, it sounds as if it will smell wonderful! This is a massive bath bomb that you split in half to reveal a little heart inside. As well as a little heart inside this huge bath bomb there is also plenty of shimmer as well as a little hearts. The image of the inside looks absolutely gorgeous!

The outside shell of this bath bomb is full of paper confetti hearts that will float up through the water.

When you break open your Locket you will also find a smaller heart-shaped bath bomb hidden within, that’s filled with agar hearts to create a romantic spectacle in the bath. Love Locket is made with a blend of uplifting and sensual oils to create a luxurious, indulgent Valentine’s Day treat. Create the perfect romantic bath for two and immerse yourselves in a cascade of hearts!

On Lush’s website they state how Love Locket is similar to Vanilla Puff Dusting Powder and Soft Coeur Massage Bar, which I have wanted to try for years! I would be more than willing to pick up both Love Locket and Soft Coeur to use for a romantic evening in with my boyfriend as Soft Coeur smells of yummy chocolate, so I can only imagine that Love Locket smells of a yummy cake chocolate smell!

This bath bomb just shouts Valentine’s Day and is something that would be lovely to give to someone you like as it’s such a lovely gift that packs a punch in many ways. This isn’t a cheap bath bomb and will cost you a whopping £6.95! A lot of money but I think I would splurge on it as if you can 3 uses out of it anyway I’m bound to get at least 6 or 8 uses out of it! I’d make sure it would last me for quite a while, seeing as it’s so expensive!

A delightful, whipped up gloss made from luxurious and protective butters including Fair Trade shea and cupuaçu. This preservative free tinted lip gloss gives a touch of colour to the lips. It’s so easy to apply you won’t even need a mirror!

Personally I wouldn’t buy this as I have enough lip products to last me a life time! However this would be great for friends to buy one another, as well as for men to buy their loved one for Valentine’s Day, as men hate when women cover them in lipstick marks…. Well mine does anyway!

The Kiss Lip Gloss is yet another limited edition lip product and Lush do a great job with their lip products, I’m pretty sure this was out last year but I’m not 100% sure about that. Either way this lip gloss looks gorgeous and although I won’t buy it myself, I would buy this for someone if this was a permanent lip product.

This contains the same ingredients as Lush’s massage bars, which makes this lip gloss super moisturising as well as looking gorgeous in various ways. As well as containing plenty of moisturising ingredients it will also make your lips a light glossy pink sheen with slight shimmer inside, as well as containing mandarin so it’ll taste and smell yummy too!

We’ve created a light balm using the same aerating technique we use for our massage bars. It will moisturise and protect the lips, whilst giving them a subtle pink glossy sheen. It contains delicious organic agave syrup to leave your lips deliciously sweet.

Organic mandarin and almond essential oils give a delicious taste and fragrance, making every kiss unforgettable. We also added guarana seed powder (a natural skin plumper) to make your lips irresistible.

For £5.75 your lips will be feeling soft, looking pink and shimmery and tasting yummy! What more could you want from a lip gloss eh? This will be a nice one to buy for teenage girls!

There are some more products to choose from such as Neon Love Soap and Tender is the Night Massage Bar. Alongside all these products Lush have also brought out three gift sets full of yummy products for a loved one to use over Valentine’s Day, these are Lots of Love, Neon Love and Toucan Love.

I love Lush’s limited edition collections, but as the years have gone by their Valentine’s Day products seem to have gone downhill, however I do really love the look of Love Locket, which for nearly£7.00 I think I’ll be picking up in the near future, maybe two as I think that would last me well up until the summertime!

Before I buy anything of course I shall be giving all the products a sniff in store next weekend when I go into town with my boyfriend, fun times!

So, what do you think of Lush’s Valentine’s Day collection, do you love it or hate it? If you love it which products are catching your eye? Let me know in a comment down below!

Until next time, take care all and I hope your week has started off well.