Why Children Love to Stay at Challaborough Bay

With it coming up to half term in the next few days and the summer holidays not too long after that here is a an idea to keep the kids busy for a week or so and whisk them off on a last minute holiday to South Devon.

Every Parkdean caravan park has been designed with the needs of families in mind, and that includes our Challaborough Bay Holiday park in South Devon, where even our youngest guests are made to feel special and guaranteed a  holiday to remember!

Come rain or shine, there's plenty to entertain young guests at the Challaborough Bay holiday park. Thant includes an indoor soft play area and our ever-popular Tot Stars and Star Landers kids' clubs, where your little ones will join in with fun games, and hear stories from the Parkdean mascots, Sid the Seagull and Lizzie the Lizard.

Older children are taken care of too, thanks to our Freestyle Teens Club where guests aged between 10 and 15 can hang out, make new friends and take part in cool activities. Whether they want to play a game of football, learn how to DJ or just chill out and shoot a game of pool, the Freestyle Teens Club is where teens can enjoy their very own space on Parkdean holidays at Challaborough Bay

Young people of all ages, and of course those that are just young at heart will enjoy the indoor pool, where you can even learn to scuba dive - how's that for a day with a difference? What's more, a shallow indoor toddler's pool allows tiny holidaymakers to take to the water in safety. When the weather is at its best outside, children can blow off some steam at the caravan park's pirate-themed adventure playground, inspired by the fantastic views overlooking Bigbury Bay Beach.

Speaking of the beach, Bigbury Bay itself has plenty to offer, as the wide, sandy beach offers lots of space for ball games, sand-castle building and of course sunbathing, plus there are facilities to hire surfing and body-boarding equipment if you and your family are feeling particularly daring!

 Of course, all of these fantastic family facilities at the Challaborough Bay holiday park are in addition to tempting restaurants , not to mention a luxurious choice of accommodation that ensures that every family can enjoy their perfect Parkdean holiday.

 

My Current Beauty Faves

Recently I have been splurging a little too much on my most favourite thing to buy...beauty products. And in the process of trying them out and testing away I have fallen in love with some old favourites I haven't used in yonks, so I thought I would grab a couple of my recent faves to show you all. If you would like to see a haul of everything I bought please let me know but even I am a little shocked by the amount of Boots, Superdrug and Debenhams orders that have arrived at the Bamber household the past few weeks. Ooops! Don't worry, everyone else has been spoiled too - it just so happens my weakness is anything in small pots and jars!

First off is the Naked Basics palette, I am certain you would have seen this knocking about all over the Internet and bloggers have been raving about it's amazingness for months and finally decided to add it to my collection. I own the Naked 2 palette and love it! But if I had to sum it up in one word it would be 'Shimmer'! The great thing about the Naked basics is it is branded as all Matte shades, although I think the highlight has the tiniest hint of sparkle running through it. I admit it, I am a neutrals addict, I rarely venture from browns and greys so I know this will be well loved and has already become my most reached for palette.

Next I fancied a little contour, who doesn't want to have cheek bones like Sam and Nic Chapman?? Okay Okay, maybe I am venturing a little high but I do love a defined cheek, plus as an added bonus it slims down the face so why wouldn't I want to give it a whirl. For as long as I can remember I have used the Bourjois chocolate bronzer but I really don't see that it gives that much colour pay off, maybe it is an old formula or it really just isn't working on my skin tone? Off I went surfing over to superdrug and popped this in my basket, its the Sleek Contour Kit in Fair (they also do one without the blush). It is great, the bronzer isn't too orange and I am loving the highlight! But watch out, the first time I used all three together I had a little too much 'glow' going on so I would recommend a matte blusher...I actually also got the Sleek blush by 3 palette in Lace and it goes perfectly :)

Brows, Brows Brows! I love a good Brow but always struggle finding just the right colour. I look back on pictures and sometimes I have blonde brows, then brown...even black. Having red hair and being pale I just couldn't make my mind up what shade to go for or what suits me best. Finally I took the plunge and bought the Anastasia Brow Wiz that Pixiwoo rave about in nearly all of their tutorials...I opted for Brunette and crossed my fingers that it would be the perfect colour. When it arrived I whipped it out and filled in my brows and it was perfect, it is a true ashy brown colour with no red tones which is rare to find. The only downside is it is so blumming well difficult to photograph! haha!

Another product I finally bought after way too much ummming and aahhing, the holy grail Mac 217 brush and if I am honest I wish I had took the plunge so much sooner. When it came Matt said 'another brush, why? Don't you have like a hundered' I suppose he has a point, I love brushes and have more than I need but this is in the top 3! If you aren't familiar with the Mac 217 it is an all purpose brush but amazing for blending out eyeshadow. I love a smoky neutral eye so it was more of a necessity than an indulgence - Are you buying this Matthew? I doubt it haha :D If you are tempted then go and get it, I promise it is worth every penny!

Bare Minerals Warmth Face Powder. I have fallen back in love with the product over the past few months and I even forgot I had it I hadn't used it in so long, I only found it again thanks to Finley pulling out a massive box of make up all over the floor! The way I use this is to fake the 'Ive been out in the sunshine' look rather than using it as a contour powder as it is a little dark. Just a light dusting on the cheekbones and forehead gives you a lovely summer glow without looking orange and too made up. But beware it is very very pigmented and a tiny speck really goes a long way, I bought this pot back when I got married and still have all this product left! 

Oh hi Estee Lauder in Shell, welcome back into my life! Back in Oct/Nov of last year there was an uproar in the 'fair skinned' community - Estee lauder decided to discontinue their lightest shade and replace it with two alternatives - both wayyy darker than their predecessor and left the likes of me hunting for a replacement. I was liking Bourjois Healthy Mix serum is shade 51 but it was still that touch too dark for me and wasn't as much coverage as I was used too. Finally after calling up Estee Lauder pestering them for months (sorry about that Customer Services) and ringing my local counter time after time they have finally re-launched Shell. Wahoooo!

Now onto the eyes, I am going to be honest with you all here. I never used to like this mascara at all, I thought it was over hyped and really couldn't understand what everyone was raving about...plus all my mind could think was 'how much?' But once my first tube had all run out and I moved back to trying out a few other mascaras it dawned on me that it was actually really great. It is a easily buildable formula that doesnt clump and the brush is amazing at grabbing those tiny little outer corner eyelashes. I wouldnt say it looks like I have false lashes on but it definitely a lovely defining mascara, the only thing I would like changed is the price! It was £18 when I first purchased and already it has had a hike twice from £19 to £19.50! Holy Moly, if it gets any dearer I have to say Benefit I may have to love you and leave you and run off with another brand...my poor purse just cannot cope!

Recently I have really got into Lipsticks and I am especially enjoying Revlons massive choice! I have picked two different ends of the spectrum here one a Matte dense finish and the other a balmy sheer finish. Firstly the Revlon Matte Shade, the swatch is a little orange-er on the photo and is much more nudey with a hint of colour in real life but I love it. I was a little scared it would be one of those scary Matte lipsticks that stick in all the cracks and you are clawing at your lips to wipe it off in 60 seconds (i'm looking at you Barry M). But it is smooth, long lasting and is fully opaque in one swipe.
The next is one of a few Kissable Lip Stain Balms I have, as you can tell I am loving orangy tones and shades at the moment. All through winter I loved lilacs or just a plain lip but now I have pumped it up and cracked out the crazy summer shades. The colour although sheer is definitely buildable and super moisturising, I love them and when the 3 for 2 offer is back on in Boots I shall be stocking up on more.

That's a few of my current favourites rounded up for you all :D I hope you enjoyed the post and if you want to see anymore of the bits I purchased (all along the same lines) just let me know.

I have also just got a brand new storage system to house all of these lovelies in so next time I might be able to show you that all set up...that is if I can follow the flatpack instructions!

Love Kayleigh x

Kiddicare Woodland Baby Collection

A little while ago Finley and I were asked if we would like to try out and test some of Kiddicares lovely new woodland range! Knowing Kiddicare and their great products we of course agreed and were sent three lovely items. When I was pregnant I turned to Kiddicare and bought a lot of my little newborn essentials from Swaddle Blankets to a his Thermometer :D 

We were kindly sent the Woodland Playmat, Woodland Chime Ball and my favourite the Woodland Snuggle Blanket *

Our trusty postman delivered them and the first thing that we dived in and opened was the playmat, of course I had to let my little helper join in...I don't have a choice these days...he sees a letter, package and card and he has to open it! 

It is sooo much bigger than I imagined, when Finley was tiny we had a Lamaze foam mat and it was tiny in comparison to this. The mat itself has different textures for babies little fingers to explore and beautiful little characters dotted all over. Plus its patchwork...who doesn't like patchwork? We are currently using it as our reading mat in the living room, our floors are wooden throughout downstairs and its perfect for us to sit on whilst playing and reading our stories. Its lovely and plush so would definitely keep those little baby arms cushioned during tummy time....and may even encourage those tummy time tinkers (Finley was one) who aren't the biggest fans. I could see this being a perfect playmat to take you from newborn all the way through to toddler'hood.

When I saw a picture of the chime ball online I imagined it to be one of those spongy balls you can attach to a pram, about the size of a orange maybe but it is almost the size of a football! This really is to its advantage, Finley is loving it and is chasing it all around the house. He has since discovered throwing and I am so glad we have this, its light weight, soft and saves me chasing after him grabbing his humongous singing penguin off him before it lands on the cat! Its no wonder they want to be outdoors 24/7. The ball itself is squishy, and has all the same textures as the playmat, plus the little taggies and ropes that all little babies love....the same kind off attraction that they have to remote controls, telephones and keys??

My favourite of the three items was the Woodland Blanket - just look at that little owl face! Does anyone else have that one little animal that so appeals to them? I love the way they look, their round faces and squishy bellys...even our bedside table lamps are owls! So as you can imagine I was extremely happy to see this in the parcel, begrudgingly I parted with it for Finley....it was for him after all! What can I say, he has fallen in love. He used to have a little teddy blanket he slept with (I say used to because 'Teddy' has now been relegated to the bottom of his cot) but Little Squishy Owl has become his firm favourite. It all ties in with the theme and sports the same patchwork style and even and little hole underneath so you can use him as a puppet! I have been spying on the Kiddicare website and I am eyeing up a matching owl beanie teddy...which may just happen to end up living on my dressing table!

  

I was really impressed with this range and although everything is targeted from Newborn Finley is 16 months old and still getting some great use out of every item, I just wish they had been around when he was that little wobbly bobbly baby. 

I would highly recommend this range to all new mums, especially those who are expecting a surprise as the prints and colours are suitable for either a little boy or girl! A great idea would be if you are having a collection for a new mum in the office buy a few items from the set and present them as one big present bundle! Perfect!

 Here is a little secret for you, if we were to have had a little girl her room would have been a vintage woodland theme, with a massive tree wall mural hiding podgy owls and tiny robins. Bunting hanging allover the place and of course a giant patchwork bedspread! This set is perfect for anyone who is planing that theme or already has something similar.

Hope you enjoyed the review and thank you to Kiddicare for letting us get the chance to play and test a wonderful collection.

Love Kayleigh x

Carboot Sale Finds

Well its the weekend and in the UK when the sun is shining on a lovely Sunday morning you can find people up and down the country, parked up in fields setting up their tiny boot sale stalls from as early as 5:30am! Carboot sales usually run from April-ish to August-ish (I have to add on 'Ish' as like most things in the UK the weather does dictate) and of course we LOVE them. You all know I love a bargain and a carboot sale is THE place to find bargains. I'm not sure if you have carboot sales in the US, I am guessing they are like a garage sale but a huge one with loads of different sellers...please let me know though?

Last week with it being a bank holiday we had an extra day of boot sale hunting so we set off as early as we could, obviously Finley wanted to eat everything in the fridge that morning so we arrived a little later than planned but still early enough to beat the rush of buyers....a good boot sale tip...arrive as early as you can, you stand a great chance of picking all the best things up before the late crew arrive.

We ended up going to two different sales that day, we are at an advantage living in/very near to the countryside, as loads of fields = loads of carboots. The first was a little pants if I am honest, not many stalls and the ground wasn't very forgiving, it was all shingley rocks which Finley wasn't impressed with. But we still managed to pick up a few items...with a little haggling. Don't be scared to haggle, Matthew hates it and thinks why ask for 50p off, its only 50p? Well all those 50p's and £1's add up so it is worth a go. Plus remember, those people selling all their stuff don't want it anymore, they don't want to have to re-pack it all, drive it back home and put it back in the downstairs cupboard...and because of that I'm 99% sure you will get a bargain.

We didn't find anything mind blowing there but we got a few good bits and wanted to show you our 'steals of the day' :D

A little bit of a random purchase but we just had to have it. Finley loves and I mean LOVES our washing machine and if we let him he would happily sit all day opening and closing the door, pressing every button and of course pulling all the washing over the kitchen floor! The seller must have thought Mathew and I were mad because we were like 'wow look at that' all excited about a tiny plastic washing machine...they saw Finley's cute little face and we explained his love for kitchen appliances and they gladly parted with it for one golden pound! It is sitting proudly with his other toys and has been scrubbed within an inch of its life with Milton....another tip...scrub and spray everything with soap and antibacterial spray, you might want these peoples second hand goods but we do not want any of their second hand germs! 

 Mummy's one and only purchase and I splashed out on this dainty little ring holder for my new dresser...once it arrives! It caught my eye on this little old couples stall and they offered it me for a pound, how could I refuse. Looking back I wish I had picked up a few other pieces, they had some lovely glass pieces perfect for make up brushes and little cotton pads, but hopefully I will bump into them again when we next pop down.

Books, Books and more Books! There were sooo many books for sale but if I bought all of them I would have been able to open a little children's library. The majority of them are all board books as Finley still hasn't grasped the idea of 'no ripping' so until he realises why 3 pages are missing from Mrs Tiggywinkle we are sticking to the sturdy variety. I picked up a little potty training book for when the time comes, a cute little pop up book and my fave is the Oxford Picture word book. Its like a little dictionary type book and it has some seriously retro illustrations! It was published back in 1979 :D These were bought off two different sellers but casting my mind back for all of them together we paid £3.50.

Plastic plates were on my shopping list already for Finley as he currently using my Little Mermaid selection and although the tail of Ariel and Eric is the greatest of all time I felt Finley needed more of a variety and a few boy options to choose from. So when I saw these lot I snapped them up for a pound....oh yes! They are all in great condition and after a blast in the dishwasher they were as good as new. 

A massive car mat...for £1!!

We bought this from the same stall as the washing machine so no doubt they knocked the price down a little for Finley but to be honest we would have paid a little more. It is double the size of that above as I had to fold it in half to fit in in the picture. It is definitely an item for him to grow into but for £1 I don't mind storing it away for him :D You can see a theme to our carboot trip...more like a 'shop for Finley' day! To be honest that's how I find my life nowadays, I am meant to be buying a pair of shoes for me and I'm scanning the boys section on Next! I cant help myself!

Our most expensive purchase of the day but is defo my favourite. I first caught sight of this on a stall and a lady was fishing through it, grrr I said to Matt 'Oh I would have had that' next minute he walks over with it :D the lady wandered off and we gazumped her and paid up. It is a huge massive box of jigsaw wooden train tracks, cars, people, trees...anything and everything. I have seen these online and always shyed away because a huge set can be close to £30-£40 but for £5 Finley is all set and ready to go. He can even team it up with his play mat...

That was the sum total of our morning and we even enjoyed a sneaky butty before we headed home. I hope you have had fun looking through or treasure (does anyone else always say treasure in their head in a pirate voice? I don't think I say it normally anymore?)

I hope you are out looking for some bargains this summer and if you enjoyed this post let me know and I shall share more of our boot sale finds in the future.

Thanks for reading everyone

Love Kayleigh x

A rainy rhyhm kind of afternoon

I have got quite a bit to tell you all in this post including exciting news, a spectacular review and a cheeky competition you can enter so lets get comfy and have a good ol' Chin wag shall we?

If you follow me on Facebook (you can find me here if you fancy a look) you will have seen that back in March I entered a competition to be one of a group of Bloggers to work with a company called The Toadstool and become one of their 'Toad Testers'. I completed my entry and submitted my form and didn't really think that I stood a chance with such popular bloggers entering but guess what, I received a lovely email from the managing director Niki advising me I was one of the lucky bloggers to be picked :D Wahoooo! If you fancy checking out the other bloggers you can see all the other Toad Testers here, I am always looking for new reads and there are some fab bloggers in the group. Keep your eyes peeled for more upcoming reviews from The Toadstool and if you would like to be a Toad Tester for 2014 head over to the website and send them an email asking for them to let you know when to apply - Exciting times! Plus if you sign up to their newsletter you automatically get 10% off your first order.

That's the Exciting News now onto the review.

We have had these beautiful wooden instruments for a while now as Niki knows how much Finley loves his music...I think its just making any noise possible to be honest. haha. As well as the Haba Rythmik set she even added a wooden shaker to the mix!

Well as the sunshine has been out since the weekend so have we, soaking up every last little ray we could and have hardly been indoors. But as the weather took a turn for the worse yesterday, we decided to delve into his music box once again and start making some music.

As you can see from the pictures they are lovely and chunky perfect for his little hands to grab. They look seriously cool, Finley has other little maracas etc but they are all plastic, nothing as fancy as this set. Plus they are wooden!! Wooden Toys = a very happy Mummy. I am a little old fashioned that way, Matthew and I love wooden toys, the look, the feel and also the durability.

We all sat down and grabbed an instrument each, which Finley then swapped with us every 2 mins until he decided he would tap the drum with the triangle..hmmmm! But its not about being perfect, what I want for Finley is to improve his fine motor skills, teach him about rhythm and the biggest thing - have a whole lot of fun. Another major benefit of musical toys is they keep him so occupied, he is one of those children who is only still when he sleeps....seriously! I want to encourage his concentration and 'sitting still' play, I love chasing him all over and that he loves bouncing from me to his dad but when he starts staying with the grandparents I'm not too sure they would love chasing him for hours on end haha! The set itself says that it is best suited for little ones aged 2+ but Finley is just shy of 16 months and I personally think it is perfect for him and a toy he can definitely grow with...getting your moneys worth! All for a bit of money saving!

Another great point is they sound beautiful, not like some of his toys we have...does anybody else own a rather annoying CD player with a women singing nursery rhymes a little too over eagerly! Wow *crosses fingers the batteries run out soon* haha. I'm sure there is always one toy in every house like that. 

But the great thing is you decided what to play, how to play it and what songs to sing along too. My favourite was the triangle, it took my straight back to primary school. Finley was in charge of the drum, he banged it with the triangle, the little sticks and his rattle...anything that made a noise he liked.

And for when he is a little older the set came with a booklet of songs we can play all together, fab idea!

Finley and I are seriously loving this set and I cant wait to see how he develops from his now random bangs and shakes to hopefully copying rhythms and learning little tunes. If you fancy buying either the Rhythm set priced £21 at or Rattle shaker priced at £7.90 you can here and here.

 We had a great afternoon but unfortunately the weather hasn't improved today, in fact it was worse - Shucks! So I am off searching for more indoor activities to keep that little mind of his busy and occupied until the sun is well and truly shining again.

Here are a few snaps of Finners playing with his toys and also Matthew drumming with Finley's head...which randomly he quite enjoyed.

 

For some reason Finley was not feeling the 'photo vibe' and the only face on shot I got of him was this one. His little hair tweedle sprouting out and a tiny pouty lip...that boy!

And Finally who fancies entering a competition :)

The prize is £20 off any Haba Summer toys at The Toadstool, they include some very cool sand sculpting toys...like a sand cake!!! I want one haha. So if you have a sandpit or fancy some new funky cool toys its worth an entry. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I think that is just about everything for today folks, thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day whatever you are up too!  

Love Kayleigh x 

What's in my Changing Bag - Toddler Version

I am sure that this is not going to be THE most exciting post you have ever read, but an intriguing one none the less. I love 'whats in my bag' type posts and videos, I cant get enough of them and the majority of time everyone has near enough the same things...just like mine. 

I don't have anything overly exciting lurking in my changing bag, just the essentials. All the exciting things (especially those that are breakable) go in Mummy's bag so if you would like to see whats in my handbag let me know and I shall upload that too :D 

First off my changing bag is the Yummy Mummy Changing Bag in the Lovebirds design, I bought this when Finley was around 4 months old and debated getting a blue boy type bag but I thought, I will be carrying it 90% of the time and it kinda is a present for me so why not have it a tad girlie?! It is a little pricey at £79 but it has stood the test of time and has loads of features! Finley's old bag barely fit his Dr Browns bottles in the dedicated slots so they had to go in loose and were just roaming around the place, leaking everywhere! Gah! The Pink Lining Bag has two handy bottle holders that are also insulated...perfect. It also comes with a padded changing mat however it does take up a lot of room so depending where we go I might not take it out with us. A little pen holder...for all those notes I am taking at playgroup....yeah! More like stopping Finley hitting poor Scarlet over the head with a maraca. A tiny clip for your keys and a fancy mirror for keeping yourself, preened, beautiful and well, yummy...or in my case 'top knot, leggings and no mascara' YES!

1. Spare Clothes

Yup...a necessity for any little person aged 0-maybe7. Now Finley is a little older and seems to have grown out of his reflux and isn't being sick every 20 minutes I tend to take a spare pair of trousers of jeans, a little all in one vest and a T-shirt...I must have whipped out the t-shirt the other day for something so you shall just have to use your imaginations for that one. A spare pair of socks....which happened to be odd. I always put matching ones on when we go out but these little tinkers slipped in...but I was keeping it real for you all! When he was tiny we took out sooo many vests, onsies, muslin squares, bibs, outfits! His whole wardrobe was in that bag. 

2. Nappies and Wipes

I always have a handful of nappies stowed away in his changing bag, we tend to opt for disposables out and about for ease of use. And a pack of THE best wipes everrrrr....check my best wet wipes review here. I love them and I bought a 12 pack bundle for £12 from Chemist direct recently as I can never find them cheap enough in the big supermarkets. We also have nappy bags too, but a flimsy plastic bag wasn't floating my boat when I took the pictures so it was removed from shot haha. Once you have seen one you have seen them all I suppose. 

3. Snacks 

Snacks, Snacks and more Snacks....now Finley is a little better with his eating I like him to have something to nibble on if he fancies it so I always stock up with plenty. His current faves are fruit puree pots, little nibbly biscuits, flapjack type bars, raisins and smoothies! Yum! We always have a juice on standby too, I wish he would drink just plain water but no matter how much we tried he wasn't having any of it, so I trick him...sorry Finley. I fill his beaker almost to the top with water and splash in a tiny bit of fresh juice like Apple or Orange. I am guessing it just takes that 'plain' taste away. 

4. Changing Mat and Little Red Book

I mentioned before that his changing mat is a little bulky and it takes up so much space, its a great thick plush thing but now he is older he is double the size of it anyway. We only usually take this out if I'm not sure of the changing facilities but it is always stored in here to keep it safe. 

We also keep all his little appointment slips and any of his medical details like his Little Red Book in the plastic wallet. I had no idea what a Red Book was before Finley and had never even seen one before, but it is a handy booklet that you take to all your Health Visitor and Doctors appointments. It has all his weights logged in there from when he weighed less than 6 pounds. All his injection details, just anything medical or developmental. I was wondering if you have anything like this in the US? 

5. Toys and Books

Soooo many toys, to be honest some often end up in my handbag we take that many...anything to keep him busy and distracted. On a side note here, Finley has started playing with them so well recently, not just bashing them around (even though he still does do this) but crawling around driving his cars, sitting and pressing buttons but then waiting till a song has finished and presses a new one, he will even sit with a book and turn the pages one by one pointing out Peppa and George. Too much cuteness for me to handle.

6. Toiletries and Creams

I am always lugging around some kind of lotions and potions for Finley...and I even found a toothbrush buried deep at the bottom. The health visitor gave us this and a little tube of toothpaste because she said not to use any baby toothpaste with less than 1000 ohm? Not sure what that stands for exactly. They have to have at least 1000 'units' of fluoride in to be doing any good, so she gave us this tube but said just use our normal grown up toothpaste and he will soon enjoy the minty taste :D I also have a tube of the world best tea tree cream which is my magic cure for anything and everything...I love it! A little mini Sudocrem that I received in a Bounty pack when I was pregnant, luckily Finley has had Nappy rash less than 3 times so we hardly use this, but still handy to have to hand. A tiny Olbas oil for sniffly noses and a 50+ suncream as the weather is starting to pick up and the sunshine is out!

7. Spare Change

I found this lurking around in the bottom of my bag...that shall be topping up the piggy bank.

That was the grand total of what was hiding inside my changing bag, if you have any staples or essentials you think I have missed out then please let me know what they are and I shall pop them in. I'm sure as the seasons change so will my bag so any tips are welcome here for what to pop in for Summer all the way to Winter. 

I hope you enjoyed reading and if you want to see my a 'Whats in my handbag post' please let me know and I shall get snapping and showing you the amount of rubbish I cram into one bag haha. 

Whilst I was taking the pictures little Finley was peeking over his gate spying on what Mummy was up too and I realised that he hasn't appeared in recent posts so I put together a little photo collage of him being cheeky for you all to have a gander at. I promise this is the last picture in this already very heavy pictured post. Have a great day everyone!

Love Kayleigh x

Taking the plunge....cutting off my long hair!!

Yes that's right, you heard me loud and clear...I have only gone and had my hair cut, and not a trim a whole bunch has been taken off. 

If you know me you will know I have a little fear of having my hair cut...not a phobia or anything like that but when I was around 14 or so I had hair down to the bottom of my back and some wannabe trend setter hairdresser decided it would be a snazzy idea to chop it all off into a weird bob type boy haircut! It wasn't a good look for a young girl, who didn't yet have access to GHDs and so I wore my hair in the tiniest little bunches on top of my head for around a year...so much so my school friends said they looked like shrek ears. So as a result ever since then every time I visit a salon the usual 'trim please' blurts out as I have flashbacks to the whole 'shrek ears' phase. *Shakes it out* If you would like to see my horrendous boy hair please let me know and I may even do a hair story post to give you all a good belly laugh.

Anyhow, I had been thinking for months to cut my hair but never had the bottle to call up and book myself in. When my local Saks salon put a message out on their Facebook page saying that they were looking for models...only hair models otherwise they would be in for a shock when I walked in haha. Perfect I thought, they wanted someone for a certain cut a square layer if you will and suits mid to long hair. Great....so I messaged them and they booked me straight in. I also asked if I could blog all about the morning and they happily said I could :D

I have been a hair model a few times before but it has always been for colour, back in the day there weren't many people who would put themselves forwards for a bright red all over colour with purple slices. I once told school I was going to the hospital for some kind of made up appointment and walked back into ICT with flame red hair swishing behind me...oops!

The following week I popped down to the salon and a lovely lady who is currently an apprentice at the salon was all set up to get cracking on my Barnett. She talked through the cut I was having and if I had any questions, then the dreaded question came up "how much can we take off" I was brave and held up 5 inches ready to be chopped.  No going back now....

She was great, talked me through the whole process and there was a stylist with her to answer any questions she had or give her any hairdresser tips or tricks.

I could see the cut coming along nicely and instead of feeling anxious about saying goodbye to my long hair I was excited to see it being cut into a real style again. I even admitted to cutting my own hair which I have done for too long...and they could tell *slaps wrists*. And to be honest looking back I can tell, my hair never sat right and don't get me started on what my fringe was like...splinge alert. But since its all been styled properly and they corrected all my mistakes it falls so much better and my fringe has been fixed. Hoorah!

From This                                                                        To This  

To This :D

Bobbie-Jay, the lovely lady who re-did my whole do was fantastic and did this curly masterpiece blow dry with only brushes? Say What? I love it, I love how it has gone from random lengths all over the place to a lovely blunt cut at the bottom...I am even tempted to get another 2 inches cut off so it is officially mid length but it might take me another 8 years to pluck up the courage.

Curly version

Overall I am so pleased I took the plunge and finally cut more than a millimetre off my hair, I would recommend it to anyone that is contemplating it.

I now want to change the colour but one step at a time otherwise Matthew may not recognise me.

I totally recommend taking a look in your local Saks salon and asking if they have any apprentices that need models for cuts or colours. Why not get pampered and possibly a whole new look whilst saving yourself some pounds as well. You can check for your local Saks salons here. Alternatively if you don't have a local Saks just ask your nearest or most fave salon if they have any opportunities going.

Straight Version :)

Wahooo for new hair :D 

Love Kayleigh x