Glimpse

Hello from me and Mr Penguin.

Honestly, it’s been a pretty challenging couple of weeks. For a start I had a bug with a cold that turned into a flu which turned my throat into a scratch board. Then medication that was suppose to work that didn’t (exactly why I hate medicine). Moral of the story is go and get the flu jab.

There has also been so much good. There was Christmas which was awesome and of course followed a great entry into the new year. Between those two events I ate my body weight in chocolate, chicken and supermalt. I have been thinking so much about this year and what I want to achieve. I don’t believe in luck as I reckon we make our own way. Normally I have new years resolutions all planned and written in my best handwriting at the beginning of the year. However, this year it is taking me a while to collate all that I believe God has planned for the year to come. I reckon this is because I’m really thinking and praying about it and not just writing good stuff down. So here are a couple of things I’ve thinking about. What kind of resolutions are you making, tweet me on twitter or write them down in the comments. My list isn’t 100% certain so we can share 😉

Some of the things on my list:

1. Truly dedicate my time and heart to God. Not just read a couple of verses a day, listen to a couple of worship songs and try to feel warm inside.

2. STOP PROCRASTINATING, urgh it is such an ugly habit that leads to so much regret. Totally not worth it.

3. Spend more time working on my hobbies (like my blog)and continue writing. Stop trying to only post ‘perfect’ posts, they don’t exist. Hopefully get a short story published this year. Any literary magazines for takers?….anyone 😉

4. Spend more time with my family and friends this year. My circle of friends has got smaller. Not because I purposefully stopped talking to anyone, but because it just happened. I love to meet new people, but I’m happiest with lovely people around me. People that just take take take are just exhausting.

5. Look after my hair, skin and body and stop complaining!

I’m like: ‘Argh my skin so sensitive’?

God’s like: ‘No, you just don’t know how to take care of it.’ Ouchy mouchy.

6. Be more open. The ‘I’m fine’ thing needs to STOP. If I need help this year I will just ask and not just suffer in silence. Silly me.

7. Stay away from weaves. They always go wrong for me. My scalp rarely likes them…..don’t know why I bother trying.

8. Avoid buying dresses and wear more separates. I can sometimes find buying bottoms hard as they never fit my urm…hip/butt area ha! But dressing up is fun when it involves more creativity I reckon.

9. Save up and buy myself an incredibly awesome camera for my birthday in August.

10. Eat healthier. More fruits, more veg and less sugar 😦

So what else have I been up to in the last couple of weeks?

😦

Bistro pub steak with 2 good friends, this was incredible but was not enough ha!

Excuse the chipping nails but what Christmas cuteness from the kids from Church!!??

Wrapping up someone’s first Christmas present…

The annual 25min agony over which Christmas card’s match my wrapping paper best.

Mocktail making at a December birthday!

Lately I’ve been thinking…

about a lot of things. I can’t get the children of the Connecticut shooting out of my head. So many children. Everyday something seems to be remind me of it. I can’t quite remember what it was like to be their age, but I remember what my siblings were like. When your the eldest child, things just stick. Like who was whose favourite toy, snack etc etc. Most of all I remember their innocence. They will never know what it feels like to enjoy our world. My prayers are with them constantly.

These situations remind me of my helplessness as a human being. They remind me of how much I need God. They remind me of the important things in life. Who doesn’t love sparkles, fresh tags and new crisp clothing? The problem with holding onto them too tightly is that we start looking towards ourselves and stop looking at the greatness around us. Faith(Christianity for me), family and friendships. Aspects of our life with greater/eternal impact.

This Christmas, among there will be stuffing and many gifts. I hope that you get a chance to ponder on the greater. The most important things in life cannot be seen with the naked eye…

Blogmas 2012: Mac Cosmetics Holiday 2012

You might be wondering….WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CHIOMA! have no fear, I am still alive and well, the blogging schedule was disrupted for a while. While I’m at it, happy December everyone!

(Enjoying my first Starbucks red cup of the season…yummy gingerbread latte)

Christmas is one of my favourite times of year. I love the buzz and excitement. I reckon it’s greatness centres around the fact that we celebrate something incredibly meaningful. Now obviously as a Christian, Christmas mean a lot to me. The excitement kind of makes sense. However, I’ve realised that a lot of  my generation and above seem to be getting tired of the whole affair.Fair enough there’s a lot of fuss involved. Regardless of what you believe who doesn’t love a fork full of turkey and cranberry sauce (nom nom). Say what you will,most people will be sitting around the TV with someone watching the conclusion to a dragged storyline from the likes of Eastender’s. Christmas brings us together.

So up until  the 22nd of December, there will be a gift idea’s. I will even feature present’s for guys(I find them so hard to buy for). Who says I’m not good too you….. Just to make it even more fabulous I will be participating in Vlogmas this year.

Now for those of you confused, Vlogmas is youtube vloggers post something everyday as a part of Christmas excitement. I being the genuis I am (ha), have created blogmas….say hello to posts everyday till the end of the year, YIKES!

Let’s start shall we.

Who doesn’t like something from Mac? What I love about this huge cosmetic brand is how they spear headed diversity in make-up before anyone else realised there was even money in it.

They have some incredible kits for the gift giving season. and all so beautifully packaged.

Prices start from £25 and are available from Mac Cosmetics online and at Mac counters everywhere.

Whole Flower Confetti?

Photography by Steve Watkins Photography

Happy thanksgiving to those across the pond!

I have seen all manners of confetti. I’ve seen coloured dots, whole petals, music notes. In the grand scheme of things confetti can seem like such a small part of a wedding. But let’s face it, no wedding photography is complete without the perfect confetti shot. It’s up there with the groom’s face as the bride walks down the aisle. Two people, happy and caught off guard…can’t go wrong really. Well…unless it goes up the brides nose ha!

Like so many aspects of weddings, it’s a great way to inject a couple’s stamp on the day. So new versions are always welcome.

Most of the time floral confetti is reduced to petals but LarkspurHill had a much better idea. Whole dried flowers…it’s a wonder few others have tried it. The story behind LarkspurHill is so cute.

A lady with 5 daughters and a great garden becomes very busy. After creating so many dried flowers for her daughter’s weddings, Cindy C thought she should share her produce. Good thinking Batman.

The results are incredible! On eof the best parts is that you can buy the months before the wedding and know that they will keep till the big day. We salute you Larkspur Hill.

An alternative guestbook…

Why hello there 🙂 If you are living in Britain at the moment, you may have noticed the completely random sudden drop in the temperature. I need to go grab myself some gloves hahah! If you are not living in Britain, I apologise….we British LOVE to talk about the weather. It is indeed a true stereotype. Now…..onwards and upwards!

I love wedding guest books. Usually at a wedding they are the thing you put off doing because the table is ALWAYS busy…and a lot of the time I reckon people forget to write in them. Unsure of what a wedding guest book is? Wedding guest books are a book that wedding guests write happy notes for the newlyweds in.

For any future brides looking to spruce that tradition up a bit….stay with me! Most guestbooks are filled with ‘best wishes, you look beautiful, have a great life, the cake was nice’…..the end. But what about asking your nearest and dearest to give you advice on the marriage(which is what your celebrating anyway?).

Check out this from the fabulously talented GoldFoxPaper

Advice for newlyweds printable guestbook £4.48/$7 at GoldFoxPaper on Etsy

The best part? They are printable…so you can print as many as you want! Did someone say bargain?

Feel like some music…this is my soundtrack at the moment! Doesn’t she look like Tina Fey?