5 things that change because of the weather

I know. I've been a bit pants at keeping this up to date over the last month. I have started posts, but not quite got round to publishing them. I plan to be better at it. Starting now.

The last few weeks have been a bit crazy weather-wise. It seems as though once the clocks went back someone decided it was Winter & - click - the weather changed. We, in the South of Wales, have been "lucky" I suppose, in that we haven't had the snow the rest of the UK have had to deal with. I say "lucky" because I wouldn't mind seing just a little bit....

The change in weather has meant a fair change in my lifestyle - what I eat, my skincare, the clothes I wear, my shoes, my homecare routines, spending...ok, I admit the last one is more time of year related than weather, but they do go hand in hand.

I wanted to write a bit about the changes I've noticed and to see if anyone else has some tips to share.

1. What To Eat
Snow, rain, the cold all tend to lead to one pot dishes - stew, casserole, pot roast. Food that is warming, comforting & filling. And what I've found more than anything - full of veg! If I am making a stew I know that I am going to get most of my 5 portions of veg in that one meal. It surely is not a coincidence that all the root veg is also in season right now - potatoes, carrots, swede, turnips, parsnips, celery, leeks - stick them all in a stew or under a joint of meat for a pot roast and it's guaranteed to taste great.


2. Update your Skincare Routine
Now, I know I am not an authority, all I can do is share my experience with you. My winter routine generally has 3 main difference.

First, I have a different moisturisers (face & hand) for winter as I do find my skin needs more moisture this time of year.

Second I have different foundations. A slightly different shade to make up for the lack of tan (ha!) and I am currently experiementing with different types - powder, mineral, cream - to find something that works better with my winter moisturiser. Which will probably be covered in another post!

Finally, lipcare. I suffer terribly with chapped lips every and it is only last year that I managed to get through relatively unscathed! My lips get very dry and it often expands over my lip line making me look like I have gone a bit mental with a lip liner - and not in a good way. I have tried everything, the Vaseline Lip Therapy Rosy Lips is currently my favourite.

3. What to Wear
I am one of those people that always feel the cold. I work in an office where I need to look smart & professional - which can be difficult in Ugg boots - not to mention I really don't like wearing heels when it's icy! But how do you look smart & stay warm in 4 layers of clothes? Not sure I've particularly cracked it, but I've found that smart jumper dresses (over a t-shirt)  are great with leggings and knee high boots (that will also fit an extra pair of socks). Still experimenting, so any advice would be great! :)

Edit (1st Dec)
Handy Link on how to wear your dresses in winter, all ready for Dressember.

4. Home Routines

I'm going to run through this quickly as it may turn into a rant, but briefly this is how my routine has changed (so far):
- Getting up earlier to de-ice the car to get to work.
- Finding places to dry washing as it can't go out on the line.

Alright - not as bad as I thought....but I'm sure I'll think of more.....

5. Spending
Bills go up because you're heating is on. Petrol costs go up because it's just far too cold to walk anywhere. Christmas is coming so you start buying presents. You buy new gloves, scarves, ear muffs, jumpers because you can't find the ones you bought last year. You need your new moisturisers & foundations (see point 1).

So, what's changed for you? How does the weather affect your rotuines? Got some tips to share? Please post your advice below and I promise I'll keep writing. :)

Housework & Flying

As this blog has been set up as a lifestyle blog, I thought it was time I posted about something very few of us can get away with - housework.

I know. It sucks.

But when it's done, how great do you feel? There's something lovely about sitting down in your living room when the sofa cushions have been 'plumped', when the floor is hoovered, there's no cob web in the corner, no dust on the tele, everything has been put away & that smell of polish is in the air.... go on, admit it - you like it too! :)

I am rubbish at it. I do it because I have to, plus I will confess hubby is actually pretty good at it too, so it's not left entirely up to me, and I don't have kids to contend with either.

I found it really difficult to get into any sort of routine, as I really didn't want to spend my weekends cleaning, rather than going out, especially as I know often have cakes to make too. Plus working full time there are some evenings I just really can't be bothered!

So I did a bit of searching online and came across FLYLady: "Your personal online coach to help you gain control of your house and home." The essence of FLYing is to divide your home into zones and concentrate on one each week, while carrying out tasks such as a Weekly Home Blessing Hour and the 5 minute room rescue.

While the premise is great - getting & keeping your home tidy with a series of daily tasks, I did find it difficult to keep up with it while having a full time job, and spending time with friends. I don't want to go into any detail about the FLYLady techniques beacuse she has so much valuable information on her website but here are a few lessons that I learned.

1. 15 minutes is a long time - especially if you can manage 15 minutes a day sorting out a room or dedictaed to a project.
2. A timer is indispensible - if you want to get something done quickly set your timer and once it beeps (or makes whatever noise has been set) stop.
3. You don't need to be perfect all the time - don't put off a job because you can't do it perfectly right then, even a quick tidy up/clean/wipe down will make you feel better & make the job easier next time.
4. Work as fast as you can - as well as helping get your jobs done quicker, I found I put more effort it and you burn more calories.
5. Keeping your sink shiny does make you smile in the morning. :)

Water is good for you

Yup. We all know this, but it is only recently that I started making an effort to drink more water. So every morning I have a glass of water, I try to drink a litre throughout the day in work (plus whatever coffee gets made) and I have a glass before I go to bed.

Whether it actually makes a difference or is just a mind over matter thing - I don't really mind! It makes me feel better in myself, and I am sure my skin looks better too (although, this could equally be to do with my new skincare routine!) Plus it helps to reduce my hangover state! :)

I guess the point is that I have found a way to fit things I know I should be doing into my routine. It's easy and automatic. I make sure my litre bottle is filled and in the fridge before I leave work and I pick it up on my way to my desk in the morning.

Bouncing my way to fitness

In line with my new life I have decided to start exercising. I am lazy and not particularly sporty so I needed something that wouldn't take much effort (that I could do at home) and that didn't require any specific skill (catching, balance, throwing, hitting etc.)

I have been hit by the 'fitness bug' before and I purchased a mini trampoline (excuse me - rebounder) which I decided to dig out. I can do it in my living room while watching friends, it only requires me to make sure I stay on the thing and is, according to NASA, one of the best forms of exercise you can do. Perfect!

And guess what! I actually enjoy it!!

The first day I planned to do 30 minutes - I mean, how hard can it be?! Huh. I managed 10 minutes. And felt a bit downhearted, until I found this article that says you should start with 3 x 3 minute sessions a day. :) That I could manage. However I do also have to go to work, and I am definitely not a 'get up and exercise' kinda gal. So I have opted to stick to my one 10 to 20 minute session a day.

Yesterday, for the first time I managed to do a whole 30 minutes - a whole episode of Friends. And I am hoping I will stick to it.

It truly does give you a fabulously smug feeling when you're sitting on your sofa later on with a glass of wine. ;) And in some cases it will even drive you to want to be more healthy and have a glass of water instead. Just saying! Progress at your own risk....

Skincare and Make Up Routine

This is only day 2 of my new found skincare routines, but I figure it's as good a time as any to write them down so here goes.

Morning Routine
- Splash face with luke warm water (assuming I removed make-up the night before!)
- Dab on eye cream
- Moisturise face & neck with day cream
- Light layer of foundation
- Dusting of sparkly all-over-face powder or bronzer on cheek bones
- Cover eyelids with light base eye shadow
- Add a slightly darker shade on top
- Dab a bit of even darker eyeshdow to outside corner of eye
- Mascara
- Vaseline on lips, sometimes a dab of lipstick
- Liberal spray of perfume

Evening Routine
- Remove make up with eye-make remover
- Use 2-in-1 toner & cleanser
- Moisturise face & neck with night cream
- Moisturise hands with hand cream

This is highly likely to change over the coming weeks, but its a start, and I have managed to stick to it so far!

Feel free to comment below or link to a blog post with details of your routine or where you think I may be going wrong. :)

New Start

I tend to get quite stuck into things once I start them, so the first thing I wanted to do was go through all my make up, cosmetic and skin care products and sort them out. The photo above is everything I could find in a quick 5 minute dash around my house. I probably use one tenth of it on a regular basis - if that!

A bit of background before I carry on - I have been following Lottie's Finishing School Workshop the A-Z of how to become Feminine and Fabulous. This included sorting out my wardrobe (still in progress) and the latest post challenged us to wear mascara for a week. Although I do tend to wear make up, it's not something I do religously and I don't maintain a skin care routine. So I mentioned on Twitter that it was time to start using eye cream and apparently I should have been using it for a while. :) And that is what inspired this blog.

So, back to my make up. I grabbed everything I could find, I threw away everything that had gone a bit strange, was old or that I don't use. Then I selected the products that would become a part of my daily routine (including eye cream).

From left to right I have 2-in-1 cleanser & toner, lotion & eye perfector cream on top of my am/pm 'complete balance' moisturiser and eye make up remover. I'm sure I'll go into more detail on individual products at a later date. These are now in a box next to my bed ready for my before bed routine tonight.

I also separated out the make up that I tend to wear to work so that I don't have to go searching through all the rest of my make up in the morning and don't have any excuse to not wear it:

Again, I'll describe each product in a later post. But it gives you the general idea.

Then I sorted out an 'emergency' make up kit for my bag.

The main idea being that I don't have ay excuse to not wear make up. To not look nice. To not make an effort.

My plan for tonight was to give myself a bit of a manicure...but it's late now and I have no plans for tomorrow night, so it's something to look forward to on a Friday night in.

Good night. Time for my bedtime routine I guess! :)