Sheffield Meet Up ♥

So after attempt 1 of this huge post, I managed to delete it all :( so here goes attempt number 2!

Warning: Text and photo heavy post!

For anyone who follows me on Instagram or Twitter, you will probably know that I went to Sheffield Meet Up last Saturday, which was hosted by Rachel, Caroline and Charlotte. Rachel asked me if I'd take some photos of it, which is the reason for so many photos on the blog today!

I met up with Caroline, Charlotte and Fran at Manchester Piccadilly, and we all caught the train together to see Rachel. Here, I was introduced to Claire and we all begun to help set up. Lots of companies had donated so many products and I just couldn't believe the amount that kept appearing out of nowhere to be added to the goody bags. Charlotte had also been very busy and spent hours hand making personalised name tags to attach to each of the bags.. as I am like a magpie, the glitter and hearts were amazing..!

The event was hosted at The Handmade Burger Co. in Meadowhall and they let us have a whole half of their restaurant! They were amazingly generous and provided us with a meal, of which I chose the cheese & bacon chicken burger. We also had a side each, but after the burger, Rachel and I could only manage to share our chips as the portions were so big! We even had bottomless soft drinks for the whole time we were there and I cannot wait until they come to Manchester (apparently in July - eek excited!) Thank you for an amazing meal!

Once we had finished our food and got rid of our food babies, it was time for yet more goodies in a giveaway. My name was drawn out of a hat bag and I was lucky enough to win a Pore Essential product from DHC worth £28! I was amazed as I never win anything! Charlotte won the Paul Mitchell hamper which I will admit, I'm sure along with everyone, I was a teeny bit jealous as it looked SO amazing!!

Some of the prizes and Charlotte's hamper

Giveaway time, bloggers, inside the bags

Other bloggers at the event

After delicious food, more goodies and chatting away to friends, old and new, it was time for us to split into smaller groups to visit the Lush store. As a newbie to Lush and only popping in when I've had to drag the boyfriend in (hence, spending hardly any time in there,) I'd always thought they just sold bath time products...how wrong I was! Each group had the chance of spending time looking at new products, interacting with them and testing them out. Our group consisted of: me, Claire, Rachel, Charlotte, Stacey and Kerys. The first product we had a play with was called 'FUN.' This is a play-dough like product, that can be used for bath bubbles, as soap or even shampoo and was in fact so much fun! (See what I did there?!) We are all such big kids and the toy element had us hooked! - Stacey more than some, as she kept playing with it the whole session we had in the Lush store!! ;) 

Next, we moved onto looking at their 'Emotional Brilliance' makeup range which I did not know even existed! Here, everyone could test out which products they were most suited to. They did this by closing their eyes and pointing to the three colours they were most drawn to. This equated to a colour and keyword, such as pink = passion, and a certain type of makeup: lipgloss, mascara etc. It was a great way to get involved and to see what type of a person you are!

To end the session, we had a little play with some ingredients that go into lots of the products and were given a wealth of information. After that, we were given yet another goody bag, with a few products to try out..including some makeup! I just want to say a huge thank you to Lush for having us, being so enthusiastic and teaching us so much about the products in the shop. I will definitely be back!

We all then went off in little groups to complete shopping lists, but Caroline, Charlotte, Rachel, Fran, Claire, Stacey and I all happened to meet back in Primark... However, we were all so zonked from the busy day that we didn't buy much..makes a change for me!! Here we gave Claire a little present for her wedding this weekend (eeeeek!) which so very nearly made her cry!.. and we said our goodbyes to everyone.

I had such a fantastic day and made so many true friendships that I just want to say a huge and heartfelt thank you to all those involved! I can't wait for the next meet up and to see everyone again :) 

(By the way, congrats if you managed to sift through all of this!)

(All photos are my own. Please do not use without asking for permission)

A biiiig catch up-Weekly Ins and Outs

It has been a while since I last posted (oops) but I have just been working so so much. Now that my supervisor is on holiday, I am covering all of her shifts. This means more hours but finishing at 3 pretty much every day so I have time to actually relax and blog! :)

So, here goes three weeks into one post!

Ins:

Weddings:

• A couple of weeks ago, I met a bride-to-be, Emma, to discuss wedding contracts as I am her official photographer! Eek! It is quite daunting but I am looking forward to it. Once I start my new course I will be setting up a new photography blog and page on facebook, so I hope some of you will be kind enough to follow :)

• One of my best friends is getting married in Cuba in January. Although I cannot afford to go out there for the actual ceremony, she and her hubby-to-be are having a blessing in their local church and reception once they get home. At the moment, we are all organising her hen do so it's all very exciting!! If anyone can give us any tips on good games or anything to surprise the hen with, let me know!
 
• Charlotte, a friend I have met through blogging, has set a date for her wedding next year too! I am so looking forward to hopefully look for dresses with her in Manchester from September!

Trips:

• A couple weeks ago, I went on a trip to Sheffield to meet my blogging friends, Rachel and Charlotte. (A what I bought post will be up soon!) It was a great day out, and included a trip to Frankie & Benny's..mmmm! As I was giving them their birthday presents, the waiter (who thought he was being really friendly, but was kind of weird) asked if it was their birthdays. I knew straight away that they'd be getting candles in their desserts..was so funny! 

Charlotte, Rachel and me :)

• I've also been away to London with mum for a couple of days, however will be writing a post all about this! :)

• Last Friday was Mum's birthday and she kept saying to my brother and I not to spend a lot. Recently she has done ever so much for us though and we wanted to treat her so we had already decided what to get her. When she kept saying only spend like £5 or something we were like 'Yeah, yeah...' so she told us off when she opened her present which was..a kindle! I know secretly she was really chuffed with it though as she had been wanting one for a while and she has already read a couple books. Just a heads up though..if you want any kind of accessories, ebay is the place to go. This was the seller that I bought a couple bits off and I even got a free reading light with it!

• Sunday night I had a works night out. We achieved the best in a questionnaire about the company we had to do which meant head office paid for a night out for us. It was smart dress and actually felt like we were at a wedding! As we went in we were greeted with bucks fizz and canapes..not sure if I've spelt that right but you get my drift! We then had a 5 course sit down meal with unlimited wine! (Well, it was limited but meant we had just over a bottle each...!) I had the duck spring rolls, lasagne, lemon meringue, and cheese & biscuits. We also had a sorbet in between the starter and main..this makes me hungry just thinking about it all! Everyone had a great time, got pretty merry and of course had sore heads in the morning but it was so worth it! I'm glad I have made such good friends from work :)

(Excuse the erm..more merry photo!)

Outs:

• Again, having no money. When I say I have no money, obviously I do as am working, but as I am still in my overdraft whenever I get paid no money is increased. It just gets a little closer to zero! So it never actually feels like I am making any money.

• Trying to get information out of Manchester College is a nightmare!! I have seen that you can apply for a grant if you don't get funding, but when I ring I get some unexperienced girl on the phone who says "Ermmm...I don't think we do anything like that." Good job my tutors for the course seem a lot more helpful! Rant over :)

Have a lovely week and sorry for the mahooosive catch up!

Gina xoxo