International Women's Day, Women's Day 2018, Lifestyle Blogger, Fay Simone

It’s International Women’s Day 2018 beautiful ones.

It is a day to share the love, discuss our thoughts and plan for the future and not only for ourselves but for the generations that follow. International Women’s Day shouldn’t only be thought of as a day for women but for what the female sex represents.

Feminism has been somewhat fashionable recently however there are a lot of people that don’t actually know what it means and actually embrace the reality of it. The dictionary definition of Feminism is ‘a doctrine or movement that advocates equal rights for women’. I would love to paint it high and bright and call myself a feminist but if I am going to be brutally honest I have all of the thoughts of a feminist but none of the gumption.

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That being said I honestly believe that we all have a deep dark feminist streak in us, the other thing I am pretty sure about is that a lot of us just don’t know how to unleash it. I am undoubtedly grateful for the many years of suffrage that I thankfully missed (oh what a millennial things to say!) and now have many luxuries in life owed to that period. I will sign petitions, I will join a march (or two!), I will campaign online but that at the moment this is my limit not only physically but emotionally and mentally right. Of course things change but for now I am firmly in my corner fighting the good fight on paper, screen and foot.

Everyone has an idol, someone that they look up to and see as a role model. There are so many inspiring women out there but a few of the ones that really inspire me are the likes of Coretta Scott King, Maya Angelou, Meryl Streep and in a very odd way Margaret Thatcher. They might all sound a bit wanky to say but you know what it really is a personal thing and they are all very different but the same in a weird way.

International Women's Day, Women's Day 2018, Lifestyle Blogger, Fay Simone, embrace, be yourself

Who are the wonderful women that inspire you?

#MegaMysteryBus Tour with MegaBus, #MegaMysteryBus Tour, #MegaMysteryBus, MegaBus UK, MegaBus, Bus, Coach,, Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock, 221b Baker Street, London, London Life, Love London, Streets of London, Lifestyle, Blogger, Fay Simone

#MegaMysteryBus Tour with MegaBus

221b Baker Street – what does that mean to you?! If it doesn’t then that is absolutely fine but if you like myself are a lover of all things Sherlock Holmes (Since Robert Downey Jr & Benedict Cumberbatch OF COURSE!) then that address will mean more to you than your average quotation mark or less than 140 character Twitter status!

Sherlock Holmes is the well known sociopathic detective with an uncanny imagination, brilliant mind and quite far on-spectrum personality. His work takes him across the length and breadth of my beautiful city London with his sidekick and friend Dr Watson. Together they seek out the illustrious Professor Moriarty their arch enemy.

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So now we have a little background… Just imagine how I felt when I was invited on a Mega Mystery Bus Tour by the lovelies at Megabus. Literally I jumped for joy and replied as soon as my hands stopped shaking from excitement. Sadly Catherine (Vintage Frills) was unable to make it but I was very lucky to be in the presence of some absolutely awesome blogger babes.

My team was Team 1 and consisted of the following babes:

Fran – @frannymac_

Diana – @grungekittyphotogeek

Angie – @chocolateandlipstick

Alessia – @theblondpond

Charli – @charlinice

Eboni – @eboniivoryblog

We all arrived to the Radisson Blu Portman Hotel London and were welcomed with drinks and lots of tasty nibbles (I mean a mini burger = YUM!!). We were then hushed to a halt by two very suspicious looking policemen who informed us that we were needed to assist the one and only Mr Holmes in solving a series of crimes occurring across our lovely city of London with the hashtag #MegaMysteryBus.

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Once sorted into groups we headed to the bus where each group was given an iPad (a very large one that thankfully had a rugged case and handle!) in a bag of cards full of clues and handy hints to gain points and get to the bottom of a series of clues that would lead to the secret code for the team to open the beautifully marbled Cryptex that was in the bottom of each bag. I felt like it was a crossover of the Da Vinci code which would be EPIC by the way – just FYI guys!

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For the next couple of hours we tore around the streets of London taking pictures, chasing ‘criminals’ and finding clues that would get us to the end of a very tiring but enjoyable adventure. On the bus back were told that there would be a special guest awaiting our arrival and it was not Sherlock! It was of course the Megabus man (does he have a name?! If so let me know!). When we got back into the warm the winners were announced – we came SECOND!!!!!!! Yay!!!

#MegaMysteryBus Tour with MegaBus, #MegaMysteryBus Tour, #MegaMysteryBus, MegaBus UK, MegaBus, Bus, Coach,, Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock, 221b Baker Street, London, London Life, Love London, Streets of London, Lifestyle, Blogger, Fay Simone

Would I do it again – TOTALLY! But next time I would make sure that I was in comfy clothes and not post work clothes (preferably gym gear!).

A massive thank you to the lovely people at Megabus & Search Laboratory (Jennie – @lifestyledbyj) for hosting me and to Matt for snapping lots of lovely pics for us whilst we were on the run – I had an absolute blast.

All photographs used in this post were taken by Matt Chappell for Search Laboratory who kindly gave me permission to use them.

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International Women's Day 2018, International Women's Day, Woman's History Month, Mind The Gap, London Underground

Let’s celebrate Women’s History Month together shall we…?!

Throughout the month of March it is officially Women’s History Month, now you may have noticed that there is an awareness day/week/month for almost everything now but you know what I honestly LOVE it. If we all show a little more awareness about the little things in life then it can really make a big difference.

You may or may not know that this year is the 100th year anniversary since women were legally allowed to vote – that is a HUGE milestone and being an independent women with the right to legally share my views and be counted as part of the general population without feeling like a second class citizen is a very good feeling. Of course for this I am extremely thankful to those that fought the good fight all of those years ago to actually make it all happen. There is still a large gap with regards to equality but it is one that is closing day by day.

International Women's Day 2018, International Women's Day, Woman's History Month, Fay Simone, Body Worlds Amsterdam, Body Worlds, The Happiness Project

On Thursday 8th March it is International Women’s Day and there are a whole host of events happening across the city. This year will be even more significant than those before it strongly owing to the #MeToo movement.

Penguin recently announced a pop-up bookstore called Like A Woman Bookshop – The book shop will be selling the works of only female authors which will be organised by theme – it will be open from 5th to 9th March in the Shoreditch area. There are a couple of events at the shop itself that are still available on the Penguin web page for the Like A Woman Bookshop. There are also a whole host of other delightful events over on the International Women’s Day website.

From this little corner of the blogosphere I just wanted to give a huge shout out to three people that I consider amazing women. Of course the first one is my mother and although at times she can test my patience I love her unconditionally and that will never stop. She is ½ of the reason why and how I am who I am today and I will forever be thankful for that. The second person is Catherine from Vintage Frills, we have been friends from the age of 13 and no matter what even through petty and some long term arguments we have always been there for each other. We get on each others nerves but we also ‘GET’ each other. She may not be my sister by blood but is my sister from the heart and that will never change. And last but not least is one particular individual that I feel strangely protective over which annoys her all the time but she loves it too. We work together and although we fall out we have been friends for 4 years now and I’m sure there will be many more to come – if she behaves herself! Oh dear Sash!

International Women's Day 2018, International Women's Day, Woman's History Month, Fay Simone

What can I say, the Madre has good taste!

International Women's Day 2018, International Women's Day, Woman's History Month, Fay Simone, Vintage Frills Blog

This one was nabbed from her beautiful insta feed!

International Women's Day 2018, International Women's Day, Woman's History Month, Fay Simone

Nabbed off her Facebook page as she would kill me if I posted one of my pics! If it’s good enough for the princess’ FB page!!

International Women's Day 2018, International Women's Day, Woman's History Month, Fay Simone

So… who are the women in your life that you like, love and respect?!

Please remember sharing is caring!

There will be more posts throughout the month so keep checking back.

#InternationalWomensDay

#WomensHistoryMonth

One of THOSE Days, Rant, Shit Day, Coffee, Department of Coffee, Fay Simone

Today is definitely feeling like ‘one of THOSE days!’ – you know the sort of days where it seems that absolutely nothing can go write but it really isn’t that bad in the long run?!

Today (Monday) from the start was an absolute disaster story and it actually quite surprised me as usually I’m not usually an ‘I HATE MONDAY’ kinda girl, much more of a ‘get on and grind!”. Today however beat me, it really did. From the moment I woke up it was doomed I tell you – my phone is FUCKED and I mean completely unusable. From what I had been told the Samsung S8+ was shatterproof. Well, to save your hearts from breaking if you have one and in the hope that you will get an even stronger case than the one I chose from Spigen (I absolutely LOVE their phone accessories) – it is most definitely NOT. The sick joke of the situation is it feel from about 10cm away from the floor which is NOT a great height guys! Really isn’t all about size is it. Like I said up top – ‘one of THOSE days!’.

So, as you can see with my day slightly in tatters I had to get up and just get on. Thankfully NatWest Bank Advantage Gold Insurance covers my phone and hopefully by tomorrow or the day after (today or Wednesday!) I will have a brand spankin’ new handset (THANK YOU NATWEST – You have made me one very happy girl!).

Monslay, Monday, Weekday, Monday Motivation, Morning Motivation, Fay SimoneThe above caption/pic is not mine – it was found on Google!

After the main catastrophe of the day I headed to the gym with Catherine and we did a little buddy workout before I had to rush off to work for a couple of hours after my post shower melt down of not packing any clean underwear (yep that happened and thank christ I only had to be at work for a couple hours literally *rolling my eyes HARD*). Finally after a few more little manic episodes (which were at work so we won’t be talking about those!) I was able to grab a coffee and some food and head over to Catherine’s house for a quick catch up, cup of tea (her selection is INSANE!) before heading home to chill.

It may sound like it has been a chill day but I haven’t felt this manic in a long time and actually ended up with either a spot or cold sore on my bottom lip (my skin doesn’t seem to be able to make up it’s mind which one it wants on there!) which is bloody painful. So, as things were uber shit I decided that it was time for a mega self care session. Which I will detail in my next post as this particular rant has gone on LONG ENOUGH don’t you think!

Have a great Tuesday – hopefully it is not ‘One of THOSE days!’

I would LOVE to hear your #TuesdayThoughts

A Perfect Sunday, Matcha Latte, Sunday, What makes a perfect sunday, 5 things to do on Sunday, Preparation, Cleaning, Reading, Coffee Drinking, Tea Drinking

What is your idea of ‘A Perfect Sunday’?

There are several things that make a perfect Sunday for me. Of course we all have different ways of relaxing and spending our days whether that be writing a trusty to do list for the week ahead or taking a full day to rest, recuperate and prepare yourself mentally for Monday morning and the rest of  the days that you gain to speak aloud just because they are not part of the glorious weekend.

Personally as I work shifts and I will be spending this particular Sunday doing a 12 hour stretch courtesy of the NHS (it sounds like prison, but it’s not!) it will not be a perfect Sunday so I will of course be taking full advantage of my Saturday (yesterday) and other days off in the week. Now, without waffling on for too long I’m gonna delve into a few of my favourite things about what makes a perfect Sunday for me.

A Perfect Sunday, A cup of tea, Sunday, What makes a perfect sunday, 5 things to do on Sunday, Preparation, Cleaning, Reading, Coffee Drinking, Tea Drinking

Tea

When I say I’m not talking about your regular cup of Yorkshire Gold (I do love a good cuppa) but something more like a nice Lemon, Ginger & Manuka Honey or a recent favourite of mine Liquorice & Peppermint. There are so many brands out there but most recently I have been revelling in the glory of Pukka Teas. When brewed as instructed the flavour for a tea bag is exquisite and the closest I have got to my beloved loose leaf tea. A cup of tea is one of the first things that I have each day and it really does give me that centred feeling – the 10 minutes that I have to myself each day whilst enjoying a cuppa is just the best thing so of course it is a great start to a perfect Sunday.

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Reading & Coffee

I know that we seem to have moved quickly from a good cuppa straight to coffee but after a quick drive to the town centre I grab an extra hot coffee a stack of magazines  alongside my most recent book on the go and like to head back to bed or curl up by the window and watch the world go by. It might sound a bit wanky but who gives a shit – it’s a perfect Sunday for me right!

Recently I have preferred a nice oat latte (regular milk doesn’t seem to agree with my digestive system anymore – must be the age or previous over indulgence!). Onto the stack well let’s have a look shall we:

  • The Simple Things (Monthly)
  • Blogosphere (Quarterly)
  • Kinfolk (Bi-Annual)
  • Cereal (Bi-Annual)
  • Current Read: Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon
  • Current Audio Book: Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch read by Kobna Holbrook-Smith (otherwise known as the sexiest reading voice I have listened to in quite some time!)

There are plenty other options for reading materials but these are the ones that are currently on my radar and will continue to be for quite some time.

A Perfect Sunday, Sunday, What makes a perfect sunday, 5 things to do on Sunday, Self Care, Lush Bath Bomb, Bath Time

Self Care

From foot scrub to face masks a perfect Sunday is one that all of the proverbial above are included. Recently I have been using a particularly popular Garnier sheet mask that can usually be found in Boots on offer and my advice is to take full advantage of such offers (Boots Advantage – oh I do make myself laugh!). Recently I tried out the new Charcoal Black version and let’s just say it was less than great, there will be a comparison on the blog very soon.

One of my favourite parts of my little self care ritual is something that may seem incredibly minuscule but really does make a big difference – lip care. Scrubbing my lips at least once a week and keeping them well moisturised especially in the colder weather really does make a difference. For as long as I can remember I have been using Lush’s Mint Julips – it is just the freshest feeling when you scrub away the dry bits and wash off the scrub to a refreshing supple set of lips. After a good scrub and rinse I like to use the luxurious Nuxe Reve De Miel – it smells of lemons and prolongs the feeling of freshness on a perfect Sunday morning.

A Perfect Sunday, Sunday, What makes a perfect Sunday, 5 things to do on Sunday, Preparation, Cleaning, Reading, Comfortable clothes

A long bath is the finishing touch for the self care portion of a perfect Sunday. So whilst the hot water is running I finally make the bed, make another cuppa and grab one of my favourite bath bombs (at the moment I am LOVING a mixture of Lush’s Over and Over bath bomb mixed with a Butterball bath bomb. The mixture of the two give you a beautiful colour, scent and feeling on the skin – what more could you ask for on a perfect Sunday?!

A Perfect Sunday, Sunday, What makes a perfect sunday, 5 things to do on Sunday, Preparation, Cleaning, Reading, Planning ahead, weekly planner, stock photoThis picture is a stock photo (the only one in this post as I couldn’t find a relevant photo of my own today!) – it states that no credit is needed but the the person who takes these photos has an amazing selection – please check it out HERE and donate if you want to/can.

Planning

A perfect Sunday is one that consists of list writing, meal planning and general life admin. Not the sort of admin that takes all day but the sort that can happen in bite sized chunks over copious amounts of tea, coffee and snacks. I am the first to admit that I am bit OCD when it comes to getting my diary and general life in order so it is perfect when I actually have the time to sit and mull things over. As I work shifts each week is different so I plan out what I can realistically get done on my days off according to my set out shift pattern and then any other time I have is either spent with friends and family and planning out blog content.

A Perfect Sunday, Sunday, What makes a perfect sunday, 5 things to do on Sunday, Preparation, Cleaning, washing up

Cleaning

Don’t you just love a good clear out?! I know that I do! There is nothing better than clearing out out make up, making room for new bits and having a shift around with current storage solutions. I like to bleach the bath, toilet and sink and then give it a good scrub before I run my Sunday morning bath ready for lush special. Once a month I like to get out all of my make up brushes & tools and give them a good scrub – it is incredibly satisfying.

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Moving on to the kitchen and despite having a dishwasher I find it quite therapeutic standing and doing the washing up whilst listening to my most recent audio book – in fact that is how I get through most of my cleaning – with an audio book. It is great to have a clean house ready for the week ahead.

So . . . that is a close to perfect Sunday for me lovelies – what is your definition of a perfect (or close to!) Sunday? I’d love to know what you get up to…

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