A brief catch up!

Bonfire Night.

Hey, so I've not been posting much lately sadly. I realise I am only a fairly new blogger on here but life has been so extremely hectic lately! I finished my undergraduate degree at university last July and have since gone on to start a PGCE teaching Secondary Science, which really is a massive hand full! I'm basically constantly doing work for university or planning lessons/ marking etc. So please excuse my lack of posts lately! 

Heres just a quick catch up on whats going on in my busy life at the moment...


I am teaching Science at a school in Blackpool and go to university once a week. I am still working as a safety steward at PNE FC when I can. I still go on lots of walks with my beautiful pooch Pennie and go to see my friends as often as I can. If I'm honest I havent really bought many beauty products lately as I've just been too busy to even really go look around shops! 

Heres my boyfriend and I at a Bonfire night last week enjoying the huge bonfire and firework display. 

Introducing Clown Pennie... This was on halloween.  

The other week on a long walk with my favourites I managed to find a leaf big enough to cover my face! 

Vampire and Invisible Man on Halloween. 

Show Girl Pennie again on Halloween... she loved dressing up really! (well she put up with it...) 

Pumpkin! 

For some reason it keeps making my eyes look scary on this photo, but thought I had to share it! I bought this wig for £1 from pound land! I actually look like a younger version of my aunt with this wig on too! I didn't end up wearing the wig out on a night out because I figured I'd just get too hot in it. 

So heres just a snippet of my life at the moment and I'll try to keep updating! 

K 

A Few New Home Additions.

I thought I would do a small post about some of the new home items I've recently bought and loved. 

At the weekend my boyfriend treated me to this small Yankee Candle with the scent of Salted Caramel. It really does smell so delicious, and seriously makes you want to eat some salted caramel, it almost makes your mouth water! The smell hits you instantly as soon as you walk in to the room where the candle is, this even happens whilst the plastic is still on the candle and without the candle being lit. Which is fantastic because it makes the candle last longer because you don't feel the need to light it. If you hold the candle for only a minute too the smell transfers to your hand. Also, the candle was in the sale so only cost £1.20, I always feel that Yankee Candles are too expensive but whilst they are in the sale I can't resist. My only problem is that I wish I bought a few more, especially seeing as its only a small candle! But it was definitely a nice little gift off my boyfriend. I definitely need to invest in some more Yankee Candles too! Which is your favourite Yankee Candle smell?

Another great home item I am loving at the moment are these alphabet letter mugs from Matalan! I thought I would treat my boyfriend and I to some new mugs, at £2 a mug I couldn't resist. My boyfriend loves anything with typography designs on them so these mugs are perfect for him really. My only issue is now I have to find room for them in our kitchen, as I have a slight obsession with mugs so I may have too many...

What's New in my Bathroom Cabinet.

I recently bought this almond exfoliant soap from L'Occitane whilst I was in Ireland, which is priced at £4 in the UK. This product is definitely becoming one of my favourite soaps ever. There is nothing bad to say about the product, it is perfect for a simple hand soap or to put in the shower and use all over the body. It has a gorgeous almond scent to it, and is nothing but brilliant for exfoliating. The soap has small almond flakes integrated within the soap which exfoliates the skin softly. I have also found that this product is perfect for using when shaving your legs as it provides a great lather and also exfoliates at the same time leaving your skin irresistibly smooth. I only wish I had bought more now! 

After reading a great review about the Soap and Glory No Clogs Allowed Face Mask by Loulabeth I was very tempted to try the product myself. I have used various other Soap and Glory products but never a face mask by them. When I went to Boots last week the product was also on offer with a third off the normal price at just over £7, so I had to buy it. Although this price may seem a lot the tube is fairly large and seems like the product will last a long time, so is definitely worn the price as you can use the face mask many times. 

One thing I really like about the mask it how it also acts as a gentle exfoliator, so whilst it deeply cleanses your pores it also exfoliates your whole face. What is also great about the product is how you can either leave it on or massage onto your face for a quick few minutes to clean your face, or  t can be applied it for longer and leave on as a warming face mask for 15 minutes. In future I will definitely be trying some of the other face cleaning products from the Soap and Glory range.   

Recently I purchased this Anatomicals Peach Shampoo from ASOS for £3.50. I had always been attracted to the products from Anatomicals, mainly due to the great product packaging. Sadly I was not impressed with the Peach Shampoo, the product says that it leaves your hair feel soft and greatly conditioned however I didn't really feel like it did this. On the other hand, one plus with the product is how amazing it smelt, it really did smell gorgeous and like peach ice tea.  However, I may be persuaded to try some of the other Anatomical products and see how they are, such as the shower gels or conditioners. 

Have you used any of these products? 

My week on Instagram.

As you can see the majority of my Instagram photos (_katyjayne) end up being photos of my dog Pennie, or the beautiful places I go to walk her. The first photo is at a place in Blackburn called Pleasington that Pennie just loves because it is full of rabbits to chase! The fourth photo is at a park near me called Worden Park which is also a great place to go walk your dog. 

I was also in Ireland last week, in Galway to be specific, so a lot of the photos from my Instagram last week were taken there. Such as the photo I took whilst watching Milton Jones in a cosy little pub called Roisin Dubh,  which is definitely a must if you're ever in Galway! Salthill beach was fantastic too and is also definitely worth a visit if you're ever in Galway, its a cute little beach, but it was actually heaving with people all day due to the great weather, I also managed to get really sunburnt that day too, which is shocking as I was in Ireland. Also the views from the beach were so beautiful. As you can see I also enjoyed taking lots of photos of Twizel, who was the Springer Spaniel that we looked after whilst we stayed in Galway, she was such a sweetheart and I am definitely missing her now! Wanted to kidnap her and bring her home with me, but sadly she had to stay in Ireland. 

I took a couple of photos whilst on the airplanes going to and from Ireland, I just love the photo of Ireland from in the plane because it just shows how beautiful and green Ireland really is, as you can see from the vast amount of fields and woods. The other photo I took whilst flying over to Ireland and you can see Wales down below. 

Hope you've all had a lovely week! 

Happy Holidays!

I thought I would do a quick post about my holiday to Menorca. As I got treated to a free holiday thanks to my boyfriend's lovely mother! We went away for a week, flying from Blackpool, which was a long enough time to go away for to Menorca. 

Ultimately the holiday was a beach/pool holiday to just relax and chill, especially relaxing seeing as I have recently finished my degree; so a week of relaxing and not doing much after many deadlines and exams was definitely needed. 

We stopped in S'Algar in Menorca, which was about a 20 minute bus journey from the capital Mahon, and where the airport was. The flight was only 2hr 30 minutes which is a bonus, and thankfully we had really good flight times. We got 7 nights and 7 days in total in Menorca, and it was just the right amount of time to go away for. 

The apartments were really lovely, really nice and spacious and also clean. Our apartment was on the second floor (the apartments were either first or second floors), so we had a lovely view of the town and sea from our apartment. Most days the weather was lovely and hot, but not overbearingly hot thankfully. I think the warm weather we had been having in the UK had slightly prepared us for the heat. A couple of days were more overcast/cloudy but it was still very warm and we had not rain, woo! 

Most days we just walked around taking in our surroundings and the town, a couple of days we stayed by the pool and a couple of days we went into the Capital Mahon. Although we had a really lovely time, there was not really too much to do, hence why 7 days was long enough. We walked to the neighbouring towns a couple of times, but with the heat and also the fact that there was not much in those towns either, it was not worthwhile walking to them too much. 

The city of Mahon was truly lovely, and a definite must if you are going to Menorca. It was refreshing to have a change of scenery and also to have the options of different shops and bars. We mainly walked around all the shops and streets, and also round the harbour. We went on a glass bottom boat, but that day the weather was really windy, leaving us both feeling motion sickness! I suffer quite badly from motion sickness and don't advise anybody to get on a boat when the weather is windy! On the Saturday we sat in a cafe next to the main church in the city, there was a wedding on so it was lovely to watch all the dressed up people going into the church. The wedding party also hired a DJ who was fortunately playing all the kind of music my boyfriend and I love. Sitting by the church, drinking a small beer and listening to the music was definitely one of my highlights of the holiday. 

I didn't really spend much on our holiday as I always tend to go for the cheaper food options (habit of being a poor student!), and also recently bought lots of clothes that I didn't need to buy anything. The only thing I bought was a bookmark from a local art gallery! And my boyfriend treated me to a new cute make up bag from one of the shops in the capital. 

Overall I had a really lovely time and it was so nice to just get away with my boyfriend and experience our first real holiday together. We have been to London together, but this was our first holiday abroad. Ive come back slightly browner, and way more freckly, and unfortunately with a few bites from the mosquitos. I got bitten 3/4 times and my boyfriend didn't get bitten once! Typical. I think in future we will stick to more city breaks :) 

Pukka Three Mint Tea Review

First of all; this tea smells so divine! Simply opening the packet to put the teabag into the cup releases a fresh minty fragrance. It’s also caffeine free so it is fine to drink at whatever time of day, I’ve really enjoyed drinking the tea in morning as it is so refreshing and uplifting, but also in the evenings instead of my usual cup of tea to help soothe my stomach.

I started off trying the Twinning’s everyday blend with peppermint, as I wasn’t keen on mint tea to begin with. However, as I grew to love the everyday blend with the subtle hint of peppermint, I decided to try a mint tea.  

I’ve been testing this tea for a few weeks now, I was experiencing some stomach cramps the other week and this tea has proven to be really soothing and really did help soothe my stomach, I would definitely recommend this product. Another great factor with this tea is just how refreshing the tea is; so is perfect on a hot day, or if you are feeling a bit sluggish then this tea is a fantastic pick-me-up. Also this tea has a slight sweetness to it, which is great for a sweet tooth like me! But what is great about this tea is that although it has a strong mint fragrance and taste, it is still gentle and soothing compared to other stronger mint teas.

I leave my teabag in the cup to brew with hot water for approximately 5 minutes, however what is great about the teabags is that if you prefer a milder, less intense tea then leave the teabag in the water for a shorter period of time.

I simply cannot say one bad word about this fantastic tea – I will definitely keep purchasing this amazing tea, and will definitely be telling my friends and family to give it a try.

Here is the Pukka website with all their details and products: http://www.pukkaherbs.com

Wander in the Woods.

Lovely day out in the sun!

Trying to make the most of the lovely hot weather we have been having lately, my boyfriend and I took my cocker spaniel to one of our favourite walking spots yesterday. Which I thought I would share with you. It’s at a water reservoir not too far from us called Roddlesworth Reservoir.

We park up next to a country pub and walk our way round the three reservoirs. If anyone has a dog or simply loves to go nice walks then I definitely recommend this beautiful spot. What is also great about this walk is that you can make it into a long 3 hour walk all the way round, or a quicker 1 hour walk; around one reservoir or simply the first part of the woods. It is mainly flat land too for anyone who doesn’t want to walk up big hills. I really need to show this lovely walk to my friend Abi, so we can take our pooches on a walk round the reservoirs soon, which when we do I'm sure I'll post again. 

As you’ll see from the photos I’ve posted below; the walk is mainly woodland and forest, which I just adore as does my cocker spaniel Pennie, but there is also the big reservoirs, which provide a gorgeous water view, and also a great spot for the dogs to go for a swim, and from the reservoirs you can see Darwin tower in the distance. Also the walk doesn't get too busy during the week, but it does get a bit busier at the weekends, which is great because my cocker spaniel likes to be left alone when she's on a walk, so she much prefers going here for her long walks. 

I packed us a picnic, so when we got half way round the reservoirs we sat by the water and ate. I stupidly forgot to put on sun lotion so of course being the pasty girl I am got all burnt on my shoulders. Next time we walk here we are going to walk up Darwin tower too, as where we park there is a little pathway up to the tower.

We do this walk with my cocker spaniel in all kinds of weather, whether it’s sunny and hot, or raining or even in winter with the snow and ice. This walk is definitely a must for all dog walkers!

 :)