Easy Healthy Eating - Salmon with Mediterranean Salad

I love to eat and drink what I want around Christmas so I try to be as good as I can up until the end of November (when its my birthday) and then I can indulge for a month without feeling too guilty.
Last year I actually lost a little bit of weight before Christmas so that when I put on the dreaded 'holiday weight' I only went back to what I was before instead of adding to those January blues and all my clothes being that little bit too tight.
So I'm going to post a few healthy meal ideas that are easy and tasty. Gotta balance out all the festive crap I'm going to eat and the ridiculous amounts of mulled wine I'll be drinking!

Salmon with Mediterranean salad

This is a great light meal and so quick and easy. I used a Mexican dry marinade to give the salmon a little extra kick, if you don't have any suitable packets lurking in your cupboards you can simply season with black pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Just pop in some foil, on a baking tray and grill for 10-15mins.

The salad leaves, chopped tomatoes, half a diced red onion and diced pepper can all be mixed together in a salad bowl. I then added the little pot of herb and garlic olives with feta, these little pots are great because I find they have the perfect amount of dressing for the whole salad. You can usually find them in the cheese section of most supermarkets but if you cant you can simply buy feta cheese and olives separately and just use a small amount of extra virgin olive oil to lightly dress the salad.

Then add the avocado and mix into the salad.

There you have it... simple, quick and tastes great. 

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Monthly Motto - October

I've been really busy recently, at work, catching up with stuff at home and life in general. Its easy to put things off and end up not doing some things at all. I've unfortunately not blogged as much as I've wanted to and this post is much later than I'd planned. I had thought about not doing a monthly motto post at all this month because I was late getting round to writing it. But that brings me to this months motto... better late than never.
Its easy to put things off indefinitely, always saying you'll do that 'something' next day/week and then the following week and then it never happens. So this month although it might be a little later than I  might of originally planned at least I did it and thats a start!
I WILL start my healthy eating and exercising from today (no more 'oh its Tuesday, might as well start next Monday' and then 'oh its half way through the month might as well start at the beginning of next month'!) because its better to do it eventually than not at all!

So for the rest of this month I'm going to keep this in mind. I'm going to try and be more organised so I can fit more things in without feeling crazy busy all the time. It might already be half way through the month but now is as good a time as any to get shit done... Come join me.


Anything you've been putting off recently or just not had time to do?

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The House Of Rush #RushBloggerMeet

I attended my first blogger meet up last Thursday and it was fantastic. Becky from Lipgloss and Lashes and the Rush team did such an amazing job of organising such a successful event!
It was held at The House Of Rush in Piccadilly, Rush's flagship store. The outside is very deceiving, it looks relatively small, until you go upstairs and see the full beauty of it! 

We had champagne on arrival (and constant top ups throughout the evening), amazing food to nibble and even complementary treatments.

How amaaaaazing does this cake look!

There are gorgeous little treatment rooms where I had an oxygen facial. It is supposed to hydrate and plump your skin. I've never had one before, it's hard to explain as its not like anything i've had previously. The best way to describe it is that it's like having a gentle dry mist over your face. You come away feeling very refreshed! The bonus is that you can have it over makeup and it doesn't ruin it or affect the results. I was told that because of that and because its quite a quick treatment they have a few clients that regularly get one during their lunch break for a little 'pick me up'.. if only I worked closer! 

There were also Botox demonstrations taking place. Plenty of questions were asked and it was great getting feedback from the person getting it done as well as Dr Carver who is an experienced doctor. Even if it's not your thing it is interesting knowing the facts and realising some things you hear or see in magazines & TV aren't always 100% true. 

I also got my nails did! They really did spoil us. There were Essie and OPI manicures for all the bloggers. I went for Essie as I usually have OPI. Here I am showing off my pretty nails...

Time flies when you're having fun! Unfortunately the evening had to come to an end but to make it a little easier on us all we were given goodie bags before having to head home.

I had so much fun meeting lots of other bloggers whilst being pampered. Everyone was so friendly including the amazing people at Rush. A HUGE thank you to everyone involved as it really was a great evening.

Now I know not everyone could attend so here is a little something for you to make up for it;

20% off any beauty treatment with code BLOG20 or half price Microderm treatment with code MICRO50 at The House Of Rush.

T&Cs
BLOG20 valid against beauty services only, not products or hair services. MICRO50 valid only against Microderm treatments. Offer expires on 31.10.13 and is only redeemable at The House Of Rush. BLOG20 and MICRO50 must be quoted when calling to book an appointment.

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September Makeup Buys

I spent more than I had hoped last month on makeup up but oh well, these things happen! I'm a sucker for an offer and there seemed to be a few going on. So here's what I bought and what I think so far...



Real Technique Brushes - Eyes Starter Set & Limited Edition Duo Fiber Collection

Last month I bought a few of my first Real Technique brushes and loved them (you can see last months buys here). Straight away I added the eye brushes to my 'must have' list so when I saw HQ Hair not only had 15% off selected Real Technique brushes they also had a 'up to 20% extra off' day, I couldn't resist not only getting the eye brushes but also the limited edition Duo Fibre collection.
Plus they do free delivery.. Bonus!
I haven't actually used these brushes yet but I actually cant wait. Real Technique's are one of those hyped up brands that really do live up to the hype and I actually haven't seen a bad review yet. 



Maybelline - Colour Tattoo 24hr Eye Shadow in 'Pink Gold' and 'Metallic Pomegranite'

Another favourite in the blogging world at the moment. I already have 'Permanent Taupe' and really like it, its not shimmery like these ones so also works great as a base. I love the colours of these new ones I bought and I think they work great blended together as well. These were only £1.89 from Direct Cosmetics. 


Urban Decay - Build Your Own Palette

I love Urban Decay and already have a few of their eye shadows. You get a free eyeshadow included with their 'BYO' palettes so they are great value for £14 for the six space or £8 for the four space.
I went for the six spaced eyeshadow palette which also comes with a little brush. I may do a separate post at some point to go through the UD eye shadows I have as I honestly love them and can't wait to build up my collection more.


Urban Decay - Tinted Moisturiser and De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray

These were more impulse buys when I was buying the UD eye shadow palette but i needed a new tinted moisturiser and always wanted to try the setting spray. So far I'm really liking the tinted moisturiser, I don't use it everyday, more when I want a simpler makeup look. I find it gives great coverage without feeling heavy.

I bought the setting spray in the smaller bottle as I really wanted to give this a try but wasn't sure how well it would work. I haven't tried any other setting sprays before but chose the 'De-Slick' one as I can get quite shiny on my forehead. I definitely think its worked when I've used it but I'm still not 100% sure how well. I think I'm going to have to try it out more (day and night) before getting off the fence!


Elizabeth Arden - Flawless Finish Ultra Smooth Pressed Powder in 01 Translucent

I needed a powder to 'set' my makeup and stop the shiny areas. I bought this on Direct Cosmetics (£8.99) when buying the Maybelline eye shadows. I use this pretty much every day and although it looks like it has a colour to it, it is actually translucent.
You don't need much and as you can see even though I've been using this nearly everyday for nearly a month it doesn't look like i've touched it, so I expect this will last some time.


Benefit - Boi-ing Concealer in 02 and Stay Flawless 15-Hour Primer

Whilst attending a Benefit event (you can read about it here) I picked up a few products with 20% off. I had heard a few mixed thoughts about the 15-hour primer so when getting my makeup done this was a product I really wanted to try.

The makeup artist advised me that you don't blend it in (which is a common mistake). It's in a stick form that you apply by rubbing it over your face but then apply your foundation/base as normal over top straight away. This will then blend with the primer.

I really like this primer and am actually impressed. I definitely tell the difference when I haven't used it. 

The Boi-ing Concealer really is 'industrial strength' as it says. The coverage is great for spots I tend to get around the chin area but a little too heavy for under the eyes. Even though its not so multi-use its definitely become a staple in my makeup bag and I think a product I will buy again (if I ever finish it - you don't need much). 

Benefit - 'Double The Real' They're Real Mascara

This is a product I already had and love. I only had the small mini bottle so had to pick up this offer of getting a full size bottle and getting the mini size free (plus the 20% off). I love this mascara for everyday as it gives great length and honestly lives up to the markerting. I would probably be more likely to wear my Dior Blackout mascara for a night out as it gives more thickness and volume. 
Overall I do love this product and would definitely recommend this mascara as a great all rounder.


For those who liked the look of the Rimmel nail varnish in the first picture - its 405 'Loafer Love For You'


Any products you like the look of? Any you've already tried?

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