Gluten Free bargains!

I am part of a Gluten Free group on Facebook - shout out to "Gluten Free and Me" *waves frantically*. It is a great place to hear about people's experiences and recommendations for recipes, eating out and products. The other day I spotted a post about Gluten Free food being reduced in Tesco. The trouble with gluten free food is that it is so expensive. My friend summed it up pretty well: "You'd think it would be cheaper considering it hasn't got gluten in!" So naturally, hearing GF food being reduced made my ears prick up! Reading through the comments it seemed like some Tescos didn't have the reduced items but stores that recently held a "Eat Healthy/Live Well" promotion did. Bingo! My local Tesco was one of these stores so today I headed off to see if I was in luck!

Driving home from Tesco I felt like a pirate with a car boot full of treasure! My local store DID have GF food! The priciest item I bought was £1.25 - everything else was under £1! 

Now I'll confess I am a huge biscuit fan and I have resorted to eating non GF biscuits when I craved biscuits (slap on wrist moment I know!) but in considering today's haul was mostly biscuit based I won't be a naughty biscuit eater for a while!

 Enjoy Life Sugar Crisp and choc chip cookies 75p per pack

Udi's Choc chip and pecan cookies and peanut coconut cookies both 75p per pack

Enjoy Life Soft Baked double choc brownies and choc chip cookies 75p per pack

Protein GF bars (choc peanut crunch and choc caramel peanut) 87p per pack

Enjoy Life Cinnamon Raisin Granola  £1.25 per pack.

Meridian Sundried Tomato Cooking Sauce 62p each

Earth Balance Peanut Butter £1 per jar 

Number of items: 18 Cost: £14.10

I've never actually tried any of these before so I will post an update post once I have got munching to review each product but I am rather exciting to try all of these goodies (purely for research purposes of course!)

Hello Autumn

As we enter September we also enter my favourite season - Autumn. Don't get me wrong I like the other seasons, but Autumn has always been my favourite.

Autumn Days

One of my favourite signs of Autumn is when the leaves change colour and fall to the ground- the result being the type of scene you find as a sample screensaver on a computer. 

I love the crispness of the fallen leaves and the child in me will always want to go stomp stomp stomp through them! I love the smell of bonfires in the air- for me it is a comforting smell and one of my favourite aromas.

Food and Drink

After stomping on the leaves and smelling the bonfire filled air there's nothing I love more than coming into the warm and eating and drinking something delicious.

A couple of years ago I taught a girl who was half American and after Thanksgiving she bought me in a slice of homemade Pumpkin Pie. It was delicious! 

Since then I have attempted to make my own using tinned pumpkin- it's become one of my favourite desserts.

To wash down my Pumpkin Pie, I have to have a hot drink- either a hot chocolate or even better, the seasonal Starbucks Pumpkin Spiced Latte. I'm actually addicted to them so it's probably best they are only seasonal! 

Halloween

I LOVE Halloween! I'd love to go out to America and see the Halloween celebrations out there. My Pinterest is filling with Halloween ideas and I love seeing how people decorate their houses. 

For the past couple of years I have decorated my house- I have loads of Halloween props and I collect pumpkins. I love dressing up too and welcoming Trick or Treaters :) 

Every year I watch Hocus Pocus- it's a Halloween must see!

Bonfire Night

Where I live, bonfire celebrations take place in the local towns and villages each weekend from October onwards. Each weekend a town/village hosts a bonfire procession and fireworks display. I hope to go to my local one again this year- it's very busy but fun to watch! 

Fall Fashion

In the summer I practically live in flip flops and shorts, but in Autumn I love slipping on a pair of boots, skinny jeans, jumper/hoodie and scarf. It's pretty much my everyday look. 

One of my favourite pairs of boots are my Forever 21 cowboy boots I brought back from San Francisco! 

My Birthday

October 26 is my birthday, but this year it is also a special one- I'm turning 30!! Feeling slightly apprehensive about it and I don't have plans for the day itself, but earlier in October I am having a joint 30th celebration with two of my closest friends who also turn 30 in October- we are going with the rest of our closest friends for afternoon tea. An afternoon eating cake and drinking wine with my besties sounds like an afternoon well spent! 

So that is why I love Autumn... What about you?

Beauty on a Budget

Wandering round a shop yesterday I was in awe of all the makeup products on offer. According to the products on display, various parts of me could be plumped, volumized, extended and buffed. But where to begin? Do these products live up to their expectations? In one store alone I saw not only a wide range of products, but also a varying price range. Should I go for the most expensive? Should I risk the cheaper options? After staggering out of the shop with my head buzzing, I decided to put some items to the test. 

The products in this post were all bought from a supermarket called Lidl. I had read snippets of reviews in national papers but I wanted to see for myself. This post isn't sponsored by Lidl, it is merely me grabbing some products off their shelves and giving them a go. This is also my first beauty review so please bear with me! :)

EYES

I dream of luscious, gorgeous eyelashes that flutter. Having not been blessed with these, it is down to beauty products alone to help me on my quest. I have tried false lashes, but do not always get on with glue (allergic reaction isn't an attractive look!) and eyelash tinting. This did quite a good job but it wasn't possible to maintain this regularly.














Lidl's make up range is called "Cien". The black mascara I bought was £1.99 and was the "Volume" mascara - they also had a waterproof one available.

Putting this on I immediately noticed how unclumpy it was - a real positive. I put on a few coats and each time it went on smoothly - no clumping of lashes or heaviness. If you are looking for a daytime mascara I would really recommend this. 

After

Before

LIPS

I usually stick to a plain moisturising lip balm but decided to go a bit crazy and picked up a gloss AND a lipstick (quite a big step for a non makeup person!). 

I chose a "Light Coral" lipstick (£1.99) as I thought this would suit both daytime wear and evening use. The lipstick went on easily and had a slight goldy shimmer. My lips can be quite sensitive, so I did put on a small amount of moisturising lipbalm prior to applying the lipstick but I was pleased with the colour. 

I do like red lipstick but I already own one, so I decided to get a "Red Hot" red lip gloss (£1.99) just so I could compare. Lip gloss can be a tricky one - some can be sticky and there is nothing worse than getting your hair stuck in sticky lip gloss! When I applied this gloss it went on quite easily and thickly so you wouldn't need to apply too much to the wand in one go. The colour was vivid which was great, as some gloss looks great in the bottle but comes out quite thinly when applied. I did a blotting test to see how long lasting the gloss was, but most of the colour came off straight away, so if you are choosing a gloss and want it long lasting, it may be best to look elsewhere. But for the price I paid I was more than happy! 

SKIN

My skin is pretty fair, apart from when I go on holiday and tan easily. I have freckles across my nose and cheeks too which I quite like My skin can flare at times where bits of it go red (mainly across my cheeks) so I wanted something that makes my skin look youthful but blends the colour. I chose Lidl's Osiris Avisé CC Cream - a colour correcting cream with SPF 15. 

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The store I bought mine from had the cream in "Natural" or "Tanned" - make sure you check the tube carefully as both are identical and the gold lettering stating the shade could be missed. I chose Natural as I wasn't sure how dark even the natural shade would come out. When I put it on I think I made the right choice shade wise. The cream was applied easily and blended well. It felt light and smelt lovely - not "makeupy" like some products do. It gave my skin a nice glow and didn't look or feel greasy. Think I will be using this regularly!

Lidl also do eyeshadows and nail varnish, and lipsticks and lip glosses in a range of colours all for the great price of £1.99. I think I will be a regular customer!  

A new direction

I have been sitting here wondering about the direction to take my blog. Yesterday I was able to meet a friend for coffee and we had a small wander around town. I went into a shop and was faced with rows of makeup and beauty products and I just thought "Where to begin?" Growing up I was always a bit of a tomboy so didn't really wear much make up. As I have got older I have begun taking more interest in it and now I approach my 30th birthday in October (eek!) I'm now starting to look for things to help me desperately hold onto a youthful glow! 

Quote of the day yesterday came from my friend: "I'm looking for a beauty product that makes me look about 30 years younger...."

So from now on my blog is going to be a bit of a mixed bag - reviewing products, random musings and of course, my adventures!

Support for ME sufferers

As someone new to this ME business, I felt scared. I felt like a failure. Why had this happened to me? 

But I would also consider myself lucky. A dear friend of mine has ME and she has been a great support to me. She got ME earlier than me and was able to join a group called AYME (Association of Young People with ME)- a UK charity that supports children and young people who have ME. Unfortunately I was past the cut off age of 26 when I got ill, so I could not join this group. However my friend was really kind and put me in touch with some of her friends from AYME and I have been able to make some great friends. I hope one day we will all be well enough to meet face to face. 

So with AYME not an option I joined Facebook groups for ME sufferers and again I have made some lovely friends. Some of the groups are "open" groups which means any posts can be seen on your Facebook newsfeed, while others are "closed" which means everything remains private within the group. 

I understand the benefits of both types of groups- open groups allow awareness to be spread wider due to the fact anyone can see the posts, while sometimes the closed groups allow people to vent or be a bit more personal without everyone knowing your feelings. The confusion with open and closed groups has led to people (not me) posting private things and having it appear on others newsfeeds which has caused embarrassment and upset so if you are unsure which groups to join it really is key to check the privacy setting so you know who can see what. 

After my diagnosis my doctor referred me for an ME support group run in my county. I went to an information session at a local health centre first and then had to wait to attend the actual sessions.

I had to wait a while for the actual groups to start- my introduction session was in June 2013 and the groups didn't start until January 2014 after being delayed from September 2013. I was so relieved when I got a letter saying when my sessions were- I thought I had been forgotten! 

The group sessions were at the same health centre I had gone to for the introduction session and took place fortnightly. I was pleased to see it was only a small group- I can get overwhelmed in larger groups. Everyone was so lovely and ranged in ages and circumstances. There were 8 sessions in total, each one with a focus. 

Our first session was similar to the introduction session- a kind of What is ME? What are the sessions about? kind of session. We were given homework to do- an activity diary over a few weeks to monitor sleep, rest and activity. I quite enjoyed the colouring in! 

Session 2 was about stress and therapeutic rest. The aim was to try and reduce our stress levels and to rest but not sleep in the afternoons - something we all said could be a challenge! Zzzz

Session 3 was about the importance of a good night sleep. ME is a strange illness, we can feel so exhausted and drained and fall asleep in the daytime yet our night time sleep patterns can be so erratic we can suffer from insomnia! I try to avoid sleep in the day if I can, but there have been nights where I am awake because the pain in my body is so intense. Just goes to show ME isn't just about "feeling a bit tired". We have a LOT more to deal with! 

Session 4 was about Activity Management. This involved pacing, prioritizing activities and delegating where able. I found this session really useful. I can be quite stubborn and want to do everything yet my body reminds me that I'm ill and that if I do too much (or even somedays the bare minimum) it is going to give me serious payback. When I can I do a little bit of laundry but hang it up the next day. That way I'm am not pushing myself to do too much. The only thing i make sure of is that my fiance's shirts are washed for work and I'm pleased to report as yet he has never run out :-) Some days I'm pretty much sofa bound so I don't punish myself if I can't get things done. I'm also so lucky to have the support of my fiancé, our families and friends. It is so sad knowing there are people far worse off than me- I wish I could help. 

Session 5 was about thoughts and trying to avoid unhelpful thought patterns - Cognative Behavioural Therapy (CBT). If you have ME it is easy to slip into these negative thoughts- it is such an isolating illness, one that totally drains and changes our life, stops us from being "us", with the added stigma of it allegedly being "all in our heads". No-one has ever said this to me personally and I'm not sure how I would actually react. I'd like to think the humorous side of me would reply "oh it's not just in my head, it's in my back, arms, legs, neck, hands, toes and even fingers." But I can't help that think I would be much more upset! 

Session 6 was Graded Exercise Therapy (GET). I must admit I was slightly skeptical about this, having read lots of negative comments about it online. In my opinion if I can I will, if I can't I won't. It is all well and good being told that exercise will make me better, but in fact it actually won't. It could make me worse, much worse. I'm not really sure if this GET targets everyone with ME- I know people who are bed bound and cannot stand or sit up, let alone be expected to go for a walk etc. All I know is I have to listen to MY body and do what feels right for me. 

Session 7 was a 1:1 session which felt quite strange without the comfort of the rest of the group there. It was basically a chance to chat with one of our course leaders about the course, what we had gained from it and what the next steps were. It was only a short meeting, mine was about 15 minutes. The most stressful part of it being the fact I nearly had my car smashed into on the way there. Luckily I was ok and I got to have a nice lunch with two of my friends from my old work afterwards. 

And so to session 8- the last session. I felt quite sad in the lead up to this. I had really enjoyed going to the sessions and making new friends. This session was basically about looking forward to our goals and looking at how to deal with setbacks. One of my friends bought in cake which went down a treat during the break! 

I was pleased I had managed to attend all the sessions, and had lots of reading material to take away with me and share with family. I am sad my group is over, but I am pleased I can keep in touch with the friends I have made. I also feel really sad that I have reached the end of the line for help. I can be re-referred but it would be the same 8 sessions. I wish there was more that could be done after these sessions, especially for the sufferers who are unable to get to these sessions in the first place. 

Let's hope things can change soon.