Tried and Tested: Update

So I haven’t blogged since last Thursday, at first I got a little annoyed at myself because I broke my sixteen day streak of blogging but then realised if I couldn’t get to a computer there is no point getting annoyed or just putting out content in a rush just to tick a box to keep the streak going.

So here’s a little update of what I’ve been up to.

On Friday I went to Bicester Village for the Emirates event, taking full advantage of the twenty percent off most stores were taking participating in. I love Bicester because even though the stores are outlet and most of the items are from previous seasons, every store is immaculate and you wouldn’t even be able to tell if you are purchasing old trends or past season stock.

I had been to the last Emirates event in the summer and found some amazing bargains in the Levi’s store and Paul Smith, even though I had only gone to browse! On this trip I went with the intention of buying a warm winter coat and found some amazing ones in MaxMara and the new Acne Studios store, obviously both a little out of my price range but it’s given me the incentive to save up for my next visit. This time I came away with some amazing gym gear from Under Armour a brand I’ve always admired but never shopped in. It was nice to move away from my comfort zone of Nike to try something new and I’m amazed and very happy at how well the clothes fit. Everything is so soft, very well made and washes very well. New gym clothes is the push I needed to get back in the gym!

That’s what I love about shopping at Bicester Village, I try brands I wouldn’t normally shop at if I went to my regular shopping mall.

On Saturday I gave myself permission to relax at home, something I haven’t done in such a longtime. I love it when it gets dark early and having the central heating on because the house feels so cozy making me want to spend the evenings indoors. It gave me the opportunity to rearrange my wardrobes, donate unwanted clothes to charity and spend time in the kitchen cooking.

Sunday was a cinema day, I haven’t been to the movies in a while so I had to make good use of my Cineworld card. I watched Paddington 2 which I thought was really good, better than the first film in my opinion. The storyline was really good and kept the audience engaged and there was a mixture of adults and children watching. Next up was Daddy’s Home 2 and after that A Bad Moms Christmas both were “meh”, I could actually have found better things to do with my time during both films. These were the only appealing films out this weekend and I was looking to have some belly laughs that’s why I opted for these ones. The first Daddy’s Home and Bad Moms films were actually really funny but as with most sequels the second one never really lives up to the first. I can hear gasps of “three films in one day”, I’m an all or nothing kind of person! Sometimes we make a day of it rather than just watching one film because then we feel satisfied and it makes it worth travelling to a certain cinema. Ultimately it was a nice day out, time to switch off and relax.

Back to the manic working week on Monday and if I was to offer a quote for Mindful Mondays it would be from aloveletteraday “Love is taking care of yourself. Mind, Body and Soul. Once you love yourself. You are able to love another.” I think this is so true, inner self care is so important in order to be happy for yourself and others. Exercise, yoga, meditation, taking a bath or any activity that helps you relax is a good way to start taking care of yourself.

Now here we are for Tried and Tested Tuesdays, I haven’t really been using any new products but I have whipped out my Amazon Kindle recently. I love reading and a physical book will always win for me but sometimes you have to look after your pocket and I’ve realised Kindle books can be considerably cheaper. I bought this book by Nick Ortner recently, the hardback is £15.22 and the Kindle version is £1.66, so you can guess which one won!

Now that we’re all caught up, I’ll see you tomorrow for some Wednesday wisdom!