Happy Belated New Year

I'm a little late to the New Year celebrations I know. Since New Years Day I've been ridiculously ill and not able to face the computer so things are a little behind schedule!
Along with most people I've made several resolutions to myself for 2015 and so far I've been sticking to them- as much as illness has allowed at least- and I've been feeling good for it.

Resolutions:

1. Keep a diary- above is a photo of my beautiful new Filofax which I am using to keep track of appointments, schedule blog posts, jot ideas and generally keep a record of anything special to me :)
2. Drop a dress size- I'm perfectly happy as a UK size 16 but in the interests of making sure I stay fit and healthy I'm looking forward to shifting some weight :)
3. Take  packed lunch to work every day except one treat day a week- such a simple way to save money and avoid temptation from all of Bath's cafes, but everyone deserves a treat on a Friday :)
4. Write down one thing every day that has made me smile- no matter how small, I think it's important to sit down at the end of the day and think of one thing that has made it special for you so that you always end on a high note :)
5. Cut down on drinking- no more hangovers for this girl! After two weeks of having an infection in my head that feels exactly like the worst hangover in the world, I have no desire to ever feel this way again, let alone inflict it upon myself! :)
6. Stop standing in my own way by doubting myself- no one ever got anywhere by doubting their own intelligence or ability and I'm starting to see that I'm not all that bad and that I need to embrace my strengths :)

Mostly little things, but all together, already living 2015 by these resolutions I am happy and excited to see what the year brings.

Have you made any resolutions this year? What are yours? Are you managing to stick to them?

Annie xx

Welcome to 2014, Here we Go!

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2014!
So, another year has passed and its amazing how much has happened since this time last year.
I can't say that 2013 was a great year on me, nor does t seem to have been for a lot of other people I've been speaking to, but that's all the more reason to make sure that 2014 is the best it can be :)
I don't have any resolutions per say but this year I am hoping to cross off more of my Little Wishes starting perhaps by booking myself in to get a beautiful professional manicure on Friday :)
I think that if I resolve to do one thing this year though, its to spend less and save more! I'm kick starting that with a beauty spending ban for January, meaning that I'll only buy something if I actually need to, like the essentials (deodorant etc) so no more popping to boots on my lunch break for a quick browse!

In terms of Three Little Buhos I want to carry on doing what I love and keep sharing my makeup addiction with you and enjoying such a fun hobby that keeps throwing exciting opportunities to me and the chance to meet and talk to some amazing people. I have lots of things planned and am sat here with my brand new blogging diary open, editing photos for posts, festive candles lit, ready to get stuck in :)

So bring it on, lets enjoy 2014 and make sure that we all make it the best it can be!

What are you looking forward to this year? Do you have any resolutions for 2014?
Annie xx

Resolutions

I've never been one for making new years resolutions. If I haven't wanted it badly enough to achieve it for the rest of the year, why would I magically be able to because it's 2013 rather than 2012?
I have a lot of admiration for people who decide that this is the year I will give up smoking, or lose that 2 stone and manage it, but the way I see things is that if I was that unhappy with something then I will change it asap rather than waiting for January to roll round.
For that reason I haven't made any resolutions as such this new year. Not that I don't think there are some aspects of my life that I could do with working on, but over all I think I'm a pretty nice, and contented person.
One thing that I am constantly battling though is my fight with depression which has been going on for nearly 5 years now. It isn't that I can't be happy, but when I'm on a downer I find it near impossible to see it. That is where this little book that my lovely auntie bought me for christmas comes in, and I guess, to an extent, my one small resolution.

Like I say, it isn't that I am an unhappy person in general, but due to my depression, if I am having a rough time I find it very hard to find anything to smile about. So in my pretty little book, I resolve to write down one thing each day that has made me smile. Simple things. The little things that I forget about when everything seems to be full of doom and gloom. Hopefully this way I will remember to appreciate the small things that brighten life up and learn to worry less about the things that do get me down :)

This is the first three days worth of my Making Me Smile book :) Happy things in a pretty little book, definitely one of happy little pleasures on its own!

What resolutions have you made this January? How are they going so far? Good luck with them all!
Annie xx

NOTD-New Years Eve Sparkle

Happy New Year guys :) So yeah, tomorrow is 2013, scary eh.

Yesterday I did a spot of sales shopping at TK Maxx and found this gorgeous Butter London set for just £5 and simply had to bring it home. Rude not to I say.

Butter London is one of those brands that I spend a lot of time lusting over but have never really splashed out on, but being pink and sparkly, this stole my heart.

The shade of both the lippy and the nail varnish is Fiddlesticks and as a nail varnish it comes out as a lovely, opaque, one coat coverage fuschia pink. I have to say though that whilst the nail varnish is amazing, I was really disappointed by the lippy; there was hardly any colour pay off and its pretty sticky as well. I might try it over a lipstick next time as a sort of glittery top layer but alone, I found it pretty useless.
But back to the nail varnish!

Isn't it gorgeous? In the photo above I have used two coats of the varnish however I could have easily gotten away with just the one. The colour is completely me and I cannot believe that I haven't come across it before. If you're a fan of Girl About Town by MAC then Fiddlesticks goes with it perfectly for that fun matchy matchy look and thats what I'll be wearing to our party this evening (god knows what with though, the outfit is still a mystery!)

Over all, I think if I had paid £21.00 for this set then I would have been disappointed due to the lippy, but I could totally justify paying the £12 RRP for the nail varnish alone and it is even one of my new top polishes :)

Do you own any Butter London products? Have you had the same experience with the lippys as I have? What's your favourite shade from them?
Annie xx

ps. Have you entered my £250 Boohoo giveaway yet? If not then why?! Enter *here* it closes tomorrow!

Lampy's Place

Hi, I'll start off by saying once again that I have been a bad blogger and neglected my blog for too long, Christmas is just too exciting and distracting clearly! I hope you all had a great time, I know I did. But now that all of the festivity is done and dusted and just a few lonely chocolate reindeer that the New Year diet forbids us to eat remain, it is time for things to go back to normal.
This, of course starts with the obligatory New Year's resolutions. Every year we make them and every year we break them. So I decided that this year, instead of torturing myself with the promise of happily slipping into size 8 jeans by this time next year, I would do something worth while that would actually do me some good. For this reason, I have decided that my New Year's resolution is to bring some calm and order to my overly hectic life. These last few months have been crazy and its time to slow things down a bit and rest.
Sadly, that means I have closed down my lovely little folksy shop. Unfortunately I just haven't been able to find the time to craft things any more so my little shop was being even more neglected than my blog and without the time to advertise, the sales just weren't coming. So for now Lampy's Place has closed its doors. Maybe one day it will re-open.

On a more positive note though, this does mean I will have more time for baking, blogging, sleeping and relaxing which is a lush way to spend time between work, commuting between Bath and Canterbury and writing essays :)
What are other peoples resolutions this year?
Annie x