Giveaway: Win an £85 ASOS Gift Voucher.

A couple of days ago I was emailed by the lovely Rebecca from AO. After a brief back-and-forth about how we are both from the same town (it's always an exciting discovery for us Warrington folk- You tend to forget that there are like-minded people around here), we got back to the real reason why she had contacted me. Rebecca wanted to offer me a very generous £85 gift voucher to give away to one of my readers. It has been a while since I gave something back to you lovely ladies so I just couldn't say no! I picked an ASOS voucher as there is something for everybody on there- I am very jealous of whoever the lucky winner is going to be, the dress in the image above is one of the things I would buy if I could win- I have been lusting over it for ages! 

Anyway, here are the rules for entering:

-This giveaway is open internationally, yay!

-Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter. You must be a follower of my blog via GFC or Bloglovin' to enter, but there are plenty of options for additional entries too!

-Please note that I run these giveaways to say thank you to my loyal followers. Entries will be checked and accounts created solely for the purpose of entering giveaways will be disregarded.

- The giveaway will run for one week, and will end at 11:59PM BST on Sunday, August 18, 2013.

Good luck lovelies, and a huge thank you to Rebecca and AO! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*DISCLOSURE: Sponsored Giveaway. AO are kindly providing the prize for this giveaway.

Lifestyle: Gym For The Win and My Workout Clothes.

As some of you may know (or maybe not, considering the amount of cake and meals out I blog about), I am quite the health and fitness nut. Money Supermarket kindly offered to reimburse a month of my gym membership for me to talk about whether I think the money is worth it as part of their Gym For The Win campaign. I gladly agreed as I can safely say that switching to a more active lifestyle is one of the best decisions I have ever made for myself and I would encourage everybody to do the same.

I have been going to my local Pure Gym regularly for about four months now, and although I pay their special promotional price of just £10.99 a month, I would happily pay the full price of £18.99 as it is a decent gym with all the equipment you need (except for a swimming pool, so if swimming is your thing then it would probably be best to look elsewhere). But most importantly, I love the way that working out has affected me, both physically and mentally. Six months ago I had definitely hit a low point in my life, where my bed, my laptop and chocolate digestives had become my best friends. After waking up one morning feeling the same lethargic, depressed way I had felt for weeks on end, I decided it was time to make a change in my life and I decided to go down the healthy lifestyle route. As well as helping to burn off fat and tone up your muscles, exercise helps your body to produce endorphins which make you feel great. It has definitely helped me feel more confident and happy in my own skin, as well as giving me a better outlook on life.

Although a gym is not necessarily needed to have a healthy and active lifestyle, if you can afford to spend £15-30 a month on a gym membership, I would definitely recommend it. There is something about being in the gym that motivates me to get my workout done. I did start off by working out at home but I found that I was too easily distracted by the internet and the television. Plus, at the gym you have the benefit of having a wide range of equipment to use and members of staff on hand to help you out or answer any questions you may have regarding health and fitness. Give it a go- A lot of gyms these days offer rolling month contracts which means you can opt out at any time if you find that it isn't for you. If you would like to check out Money Supermarket's Gym For The Win campaign and maybe get involved, you can do so here.

I know that it can be difficult to motivate yourself to actually get up and start exercising, but one thing that I firmly believe is that if you feel good about yourself when you are working out, you definitely push yourself to go further. It's a little naughty, but on a few occasions where I have lost motivation I have gone out and purchased some nice new gym clothes to help get me back on track, so I thought I would show you what I wear to the gym as part of this post. There is no reason for your gym clothes not to reflect your personality just like your regular wardrobe, so bright colours and bold prints are the way forward for me. My favourite places to shop for gym wear are H&M and TK Maxx- both stock some lovely pieces for very affordable prices. You also can't go wrong by looking in Primark- I actually own a pair of leggings from their workout range which I really like, plus I always stock up on their super cheap shorts and vest tops.

 Sports bra and leggings: Kyodan via TK Maxx | Jacket: Primark | Trainers: Nike via JD Sports | Gloves: Nike via TK Maxx

Gold Sports Bra: H&M | Vest Top and Shorts: Primark | Base Layer Shorts (Purple): Nike via TK Maxx | Heart Rate Monitor Watch: Polar via Amazon

Do you/ have you had a gym membership?

*DISCLAIMER: Money Supermarket kindly reimbursed one month of my gym membership (£10.99) for this blog post. All opinions expressed are still 100% honest and my own.

Review: Find Me A Gift- Personalised Tea Set.

Personalised Union Jack Tea Set For One: £24.99*

Since green tea and black coffee have taken up a significant role in my life (I might be addicted- I go to the gym in the mornings so I need my coffee to fuel my workout, and I drink around four or five cups of green tea a day- getting in those anti-oxidants!), I have found a new obsession with pretty cups and mugs. I never used to understand people who collect these things, but a nice mug really does add to the hot beverage-drinking experience, doesn't it? So when I spotted this adorable little tea set on Find Me A Gift, I just had to have it.

The set includes a little teapot with a lid, a cup and a saucer, adorned with the word "LOVE" and a pastel pink and blue union jack heart design. You can also add a personalised message on the other side- As this was a little gift from Find Me A Gift to me, I opted just to have my name written on the top half with "Time For Tea" on the bottom. The set arrived at my door, nicely protected in bubble wrap, around a week and a half after I ordered it, which is understandable as obviously they are made to order. I love it so much- it looks cute just sat on the dining room counter but I do enjoy drinking my tea and coffee out of it- it makes me feel oh-so British and proper.

This set costs £24.99 which I think is very reasonable for such a cute personalised gift, and it is perfect for any tea-lovers or mug/teapot collectors out there. Find Me A Gift has become a go-to website for me to scout out unique gift ideas as they have so many to choose from, from sophisticated gifts like jewellery and picture frames to the more novelty choices for the joker in your life. You can check out what else they have to offer on their website.

*PR sample. All opinions expressed are still 100% honest and my own.

Event: Get Pampered at Metquarter, Liverpool.

Not being one to pass up the opportunity to get pampered, on Wednesday I hopped on a train to Liverpool with my good friend, Kayla, to check out the Get Pampered event at the Metquarter. We met a few of miy lovely blogger friends there (Laura, Laura and Lola) before heading in to Liverpool's classiest shopping spot where we were greeted with sounds created by local DJ Namina and a glass of Prosecco.

Nearly 200 ladies attended the event, where we were allowed to roam around the stores and check out the special discounts, as well as being treated to hand and arm massages at Jo Malone, bra fittings with Freya Lingerie, skin mapping at Urban Calm and 1-to-1 style advice and personal shopping with celebrity stylist, Martine Alexander. Illamasqua were also offering complimentary makeovers, and whilst I have not yet mustered up the courage to try out their more daring purple and green lipsticks, I did opt to have my eyebrows filled in and my cheeks highlighted with their Defined Brows Set and I loved the finished result.We also couldn't resist posing for a few photos on the sexy purple couch which I have now decided would look fabulous in my bedroom! ;P

The icing on the cake at this event was quite literally just that! I was far too delighted to see them serving sample slices of cake from Patisserie Valerie, as anybody who knows me (especially if you read my last post) will know that I am quite the Patisserie Valerie fiend as their cakes, gateaus and pastries are just incredible! I definitely could have kept going back for more but I limited myself to a piece of pecan tart and a macaroon, which were to die for!

Overall, I had a lovely evening browsing through the stores and catching up with the girls whilst being given a little bit of special treatment. Metquarter are currently holding weekly competitions where, if you take a picture of your most lust-after item in the Metquarter and tweet it using the hashtag #snapwinwonderful and mentioning @metquarter, you are entered in to a draw to win your chosen item! Winners are chosen every Friday so don't miss out! I may have snapped a picture of some gorgeous Kurt Geiger heels to try my luck with ;)

Have you ever visited Metquarter? What is your favourite store?

My Life Lately Part 1: 21st Birthday and Graduation (WARNING: Contains food porn).

As some of you may have noticed, I have been very on-and-off with my blog for the past few months. A lot of this was due to uni stress and some personal issues, and also because I had kind of lost the sense of direction that my blog was going in. I have been doing some re-evaluating recently; trying to find myself and what makes me happy whilst relaxing a little now that I am free from word-processed documents and crazy deadlines. And I'm pleased to say I am finally getting there. I am hoping that now, I can really get my blogging streak back as I am not going to lie, I have missed having the mental capacity and the motivation to sit typing up posts every day, take photos, read other blogs and reply to all the lovely comments I get. I have really wanted to start incorporating more lifestyle and personal posts in to my blog too- with being out of uni I have just been taking some time to enjoy life and have days out, and I would love to share them with you. So, in a bid to add a more personal touch to my blog, reintroduce myself to my loyal old followers and for my newer followers to get to know me, I thought I would put together a couple of posts of what has been keeping me busy over the past couple of months. Thinking about it now, there has been quite a lot so it will probably take up a couple of posts, so I thought I would start with the two main events in my life recently; my birthday and my graduation.

So, in June I finally turned the big 21. I don't know why, but I have always looked forward to my 21st birthday. Maybe because it's that age where you start being taken more seriously. Plus I can legally drink in America now ha. I'm not a huge party animal these days; I much preferred the idea of being able to spend quality time bonding with those I love whilst still remembering the occasion the morning after, so I opted to just go for a nice meal at Harvester with my grandparents and my best friend. I love it at Harvester- everything I have ever had there has been spot on, and the caramel apple pie with custard is to die for! Me and my friend also went for tapas and cocktails the day after my birthday which was lovely. Even though things didn't quite turn out as I had originally planned and I didn't get to celebrate my birthday with my whole family, I still had a lovely couple of days with those who did make it special and I felt spoilt to death. I didn't actually take that many photos, hence the Instagram collage, but I can share with you the amazing Red Velvet cupcakes that my sister-in-law bought for me!

The second big thing that has happened to me recently is that I finally graduated. Honestly, to think that after seventeen years in full-time education I am finally free to take on the world is crazy, and wearing that cap and gown I have never felt prouder. University wasn't the easiest three years; not only for me but for everybody on my course. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of living away from home, made some amazing new friends and fell in love with the city of Liverpool, the course just wasn't what we had all expected and I still have my debates about whether it was worth all that money. But hey-ho, every single one of us pulled through it, and graduation was a day for us all to finally relax and celebrate it together.

My mum and I stayed in Liverpool over night as I had to be at registration early the next morning. We decided to start the celebrations early and went out for dinner at Amalia Italian Restaurant, where I had some yummy soup followed by a garlic chicken and mushroom calzone that was bigger than my head! If you are looking for an Italian restaurant in Liverpool I would definitely recommend this place; it has a really relaxed atmosphere and the staff were so friendly; not to mention the food was delicious- the bread that they serve with the soup and pasta dishes was so good- I seriously could have just eaten that by itself!

The weather was glorious on the day of graduation- It was just at the beginning of that crazy heat wave we had, so even though we were sweltering in our gowns, it made for happy moods and good photographs. After the ceremony and a quick photo session with my friends, I headed off with my mum and grandparents for lunch at Patisserie Valerie. Oh. My. God. If you have never tried the cakes from Patisserie Valerie, you need to check for your nearest cafe and head down there; it's my new weakness. I had a salmon and cream cheese bagel as my main which was absolutely lovely, but in all honesty whilst I was eating it all I could think about was which cake I was going to choose for dessert as there are LOADS. I ended up going for the Tiramisu which was amazing, and my mum also gave me half of her Double Chocolate Gateau slice as she doesn't have much of a sweet tooth and I'm a little fatty. My grandparents also bought me a celebration cake which I designed myself and ordered beforehand- I am super indecisive so I ended up putting together the most sickly-sounding combination but I can assure you it was amazing... Are you ready? Vanilla sponge cake with one layer of chocolate cream and one layer of coffee cream and plain cream around the outside, with mixed exotic fruits on top and dark chocolate around the outside (just wait till you scroll to the bottom of this post and feast your eyes on it!)

After lunch, my mum and I decided to make the most of having a free day in Liverpool City Centre and we shopped til we dropped before enjoying an AH-mazing cocktail (mine was called a Knickerdropper Glory- it was just like an ice cream sundae in cocktail form) and some tapas at Tapas Tapas.

I know that this has been a really long post; well done if you have made it this far but I really hope that you have enjoyed reading it- Let me know if you would like to see more lifestyle posts like this from me as and when things happen! Here I leave you with some pictures from my graduation and lots and lots of food porn from that weekend- It was definitely an indulgent couple of days haha!