Boyfriend’s Birthday Surprise!

This past weekend it was my boyfriend’s 25th birthday! I was super excited to celebrate and spend the entire day with him. I had plans for his birthday for a long time (that he didn’t know about) and I finally got to put them in place. A few times I mentioned a secret project on the blog and his birthday surprise was it. As he was turning 25 the first idea that came to mind was to give him 25 presents. I combined sentimental handmade gifts, with humorous ones as well as some of his favourite sweet treats. The gifts are unique and not what you’d automatically think to buy. I had so much fun buying all of these gifts and putting everything together and I wanted to share how things turned out!

Each present was numbered from 1 – 25 and given a sticker. There was no particular order apart from a few presents; #1 was a birthday card and #25 was a list of ’25 Reasons You’re Amazing’.

I blew up 25 silver balloons and tied them into bunches of 5. They were present #2.

Most of the presents are in this collage. The consumable presents hadn’t been purchased yet. They included Skittles, chocolate and fizzy drink.

All wrapped and boxed up!

I wrote a list of reasons why I chose each present which was the final thing I gifted to my boyfriend after he opened the presents.

The presents all unwrapped and my boyfriend opening a gift from his parents.

My outfit and makeup of the day.

Outfit Details:

• Jacket – Postie
• Top – Glassons
• Jeans – Dannii For Target

Makeup Products Used:

• Simple Radiance Brightening Moisturiser
• Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil in 002 Hazel
• Max Factor Lasting Performance Foundation in 101 Ivory Beige
• Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer – 1 Fair
• Maybelline ‘The Nudes’
• Max Factor Excess Shimmer – Copper
• Rimmel Scandaleyes Lycra Flex Mascara
• Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector – Opal
• MAC – Show Orchid

We went for an outing to Orakei Korako which is a geothermal area roughly an hour from where we live. There is a short boat ride which takes you to the guided path area where you can walk around the geysers and hot springs. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking and the weather couldn’t have been more beautiful. The temperature was warm without being too hot and it was also the first time I’d been on a boat. I only wish the boat ride had been longer.

After the trip we drove back and I had fish and chips for lunch – they were delicious! My boyfriend had Subway using the gift card I got him as one of his presents. After lunch I had a nap and we chilled for the rest of the evening.

It was such a lovely day and my boyfriend was very grateful for all the effort I had gone to to surprise him. I almost made him cry after reading the card and that was only present #1!

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What did you buy your significant other for their last birthday?

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My Weekend In Pictures

Happy Monday! I am officially on my week off from work and I had such a lovely day on Saturday that I wanted to share what I got up to. Sunday however, I spent most of the day in bed as it felt like a cold was coming on. *boo* I didn’t want that to get me down as I did have such a lovely day on Saturday; I got my hair done and treated myself to some new bits from The Body Shop.

I last got my hair cut in December so it’s been a wee while coming and I was super excited to get it done on Saturday! For the past few years my hair has been all one length and the past couple of cuts I’ve asked for some face framing. This time though, I wanted something a bit different and decided to add a second layer to my hair. I still wanted it quite long as I tie my hair up for work. I got my hair thinned out as always, got my fringe trimmed and I asked the stylist to put some waves in.

Hair Inspiration

These two pictures really inspired me. I love the long, wavy layers which is exactly what I was after. (Obviously, I didn’t dye my hair blonde though).

Both the hairdresser and hair stylist said my hair was in good condition which is always a bonus! I keep my hair routine really simple, I wash it every second or third day, let it dry naturally 99% of the time and don’t use heat styling tools very often.

The Finished Look:

After my hair was done I headed into town. I had a few things I wanted to do; I wanted to go to The Body Shop to spend my 20% off voucher and go to the library which I hadn’t done for ages.

At the library I was after Tanya Burr’s book Love, Tanya and I ended up getting Fleur De Force’s book The Glam Guide as well. Both of these look right up my street and are packed full of useful tips. I started reading Love, Tanya on Sunday in bed and have just about finished it already. The parts about her and Jim are so sweet!

I made my mind up that I wanted to purchase the Vitamin E Night Cream from The Body Shop after seeing Rachel mention it on her blog a few times. Normally I just apply my moisturiser morning and night but since we are heading into winter and my skin can get dry I wanted to try something more nourishing and keep my skin looking nice and healthy. I also picked up two soaps for my mum, we’ve used the Shea one before which is absolutely divine and I also picked up the Moringa which is a lovely, light floral scent. On a complete whim I also picked up the  Black Musk Eau De Toilette. I sprayed it on my arm and I instantly loved the warm, sensual, musk-ness of the scent. I am nearing the end of two of my other perfumes so I figured why not purchase a replacement?!

I am a bit of a social butterfly and don’t like to brag but it still never fails to excite me when I get a tweet off one of my favourite people and another one likes one of your Instagram photos. On Sunday morning, I woke up to see Adam Rickitt had liked and replied to my tweet wishing him happy birthday and later on Sunday afternoon I check Instagram to see Dannii Minogue liked a photo I posted of her.

What did you get up to at the weekend?

Get Ready With Me: Weekend Glam

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a lovely weekend! This was one of the first weekends in a while that I’ve felt I’ve been able to relax and haven’t had anything crop up or on the go. I had been looking forward to this weekend for a long time, ever since Ellie Goulding announced the release date of her third album ‘Delirium’. While I was getting ready to go into town I came up with the idea to do a little OOTD/FOTD/Get Ready With Me post as well as sharing the rest of my weekend with you. Enjoy!

Outfit of the Day

Pants: Black leggings

Top: Cream t-shirt with black shoulder detailing

Shoes: Holster sandals in Pewter

Face of the Day

Instead of just listing the products like I normally do, I thought I would give a step by step guide to how I did my face.

1) Using Garnier’s Micellar Water (not pictured) I cleansed my skin before applying Simple’s  Light Hydrating Moisturiser.

2) After 20 minutes I patted Rimmel’s Fix & Perfect Primer in the shade 001 into my skin.

3) Next I applied my eyeshadow using Maybelline’s ‘The Nudes’ palette.

I used the two taupe shades in the top right hand corner and the black shade to line my crease.

4) Moving onto my base. I used Rimmel’s Match Perfection Foundation in 081 Fair Ivory and Maybelline’s Fit Me Concealer in 15 Fair.

5) For mascara I opted for my trusty Rimmel ScandalEyes Lycra Flex. This mascara gives my lashes a lovely curl that lasts all day.

6) Time for blush. Dainty Doll’s You Are My Sunshine is a lovely rose-gold and I apply this by swirling my ring fingers in the compact then rubbing them both together to get an even amount of product. I lightly dab the blush on to the tops of my cheeks in a circular motion.

7) You all know lips are my favourite part of my makeup routine and for this look I tried something new. I patted Revlon’s Tutti Frutti Lip Butter into my lips to get a light wash of colour then layered L.A. Colors’ Glossin Go lip gloss in Sherbet (not pictured) on top to give my lips shine. The result, a luscious peach lip!

All made up and ready to go!

The first stop for mum and I in town was lunch. The two of us shared a strawberry thickshake and some hot chips.

After lunch the time had finally come to buy Ellie’s CD; what this whole trip was about.

I couldn’t resist playing the album as soon as I got home and I suspect it will be a real grower. Ellie is one of those artists who I know I will love pretty much everything she does and her music always makes me feel happy and excited when I listen to it. I can still remember the day I purchased her first album and how I would listen to it literally every day.

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There’s not much else to report really. Sunday involved me sleeping in and not getting up until rather late *ahem 12:30pm* and catching up on blogging and getting this week’s posts written up for you. I hope you enjoyed this post and do let me know what you did with your weekend!