January Sales Haul

Good morning friends, and happy 2023

This year I’ve set myself the challenge of no spend and minimising/decluttering my life (blog post on the way) Now, before we get to that, I had a few items I needed to replace, ‘out with the old, in with the new’, and then better to do that than the *January Sales?
Also a few products I put by for upcoming birthday…shop smarter!

*A few items were purchased in the Boxing day sales but took a few weeks to arrive/collect

Remember… it’s not a saving if you didn’t want or need the item in the first place.
Below are a few bargains I picked up

Superdrug
• Disney Princess Washbag Toiletries Set – £10 now £3

• Oral-B Pro 1 680 Pink Electric Toothbrush With Travel Case – £60 now £25

• RuPaul Sashay Away 18 Shade Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette – £10 now £3

• Studio London Colour Icon Eyeshadow Pigment Vault – £5 now £2

Boots • No7 Protect & Perfect Collection 5 Piece Gift Set – £32 now £16 (value £68)
(Bought as a future gift for a friend)

• Soap & Glory Pinkly The Best Original Pink Collection 5 Piece Gift Set – £20 now £10 (value £33.75) (bought one for myself and a friend)

Make up Revolution • Revolution Skincare x Sali Hughes Reusable Fabric Rounds – £8 now £4

• Planet Revolution The Matte Fixing Spray – £7, now £3.50

XX Revolution x Powerpuff Girls Powerpuff Eye Patches – £15, now £7.50

• XX Revolution XX Nude Satin Liquid Lipstick in shades Sequel & Laid Each – £10, now £5

• Makeup Obsession Double Ended Felt Eyeliner Pen £7 now £4.90

• Makeup Revolution X Soph Super Spice Eyeshadow Palette £12, now £3.60

Matalan • Towels (Red Bath sheets) originally £12 now £7
• Maxi Dress £11, now £7.60
• Make up bag £6, now £3
• PJs set, £12.50, now £4

I’m pleased with the bargin’s I found, however remember, don’t get pulled into the hype of a sale if you weren’t looking for the item in the first place.

Now that I’ve picked up a few presents and replaced a few items of my own, we start continue with ‘The Minimalism Challenge’

Kaya •

Welcome 2023

Happy 2023 friends ✨

If you’re happy as you are, then carry on living your best life.

If you have decided you want to make a few changes in your life, then remember, it’s YOUR life.
Your life to do what you want with.
Take control, put those plans into place, make a list, turn those dreams into reality, and create your own happiness and memories.

Wishing you all light, joy, laughter, positivity, strength & love ✨

Wowcher Clearence Mystery Box Review

Good afternoon friends,
How are we all doing on this grey stormy Saturday?


I have now cancelled all subscription boxes, (any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!), and have been looking for mystery boxes. Well damn, there are dozens out there, but not many with decent reviews.

Now, I’ve never used Wowcher before, but their clearence mystery boxes caught my eye. £10.99 (+£5.49 delivery) for a mystery box with a minimum of 20 items, what have we got to lose?

Here’s what I received –

• Hanging liner basket 14″
• Garden netting
• Snail plant holder
• Spray bottle

• Nail files
• Pumice stone
• 5mm knitting needles
• Twilight make up brush travel organiser

• Paper towel holder
• Alcohol pads
• Rail hooks
• Universal Microfibre Cleaning Mop Pad (mop not included)
• Interior Dehumidifier
• Wireless speaker suitable for iPhone/8/8P/X

The contents are basically a ‘Poundland Haul’, and after waiting 2 weeks it was a bit anti climatic, however I will use almost all of the items, but otherwise it’s not too bad!

I now may need to learn how to knit?

Have you bought one if these boxes before, or are you curious to?

Kaya •

Simple Blackberry Crumble recipe

Good evening friends, I’m in full swing for Autumn, the summer clothes have been packed away, the autumn candles are filling the house with that cosy welcoming scent, and I’m ready to bake! This quick and easy dessert that can be whipped up and ready to serve in an hour.

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

400g blackberries (these were picked from our garden)
55g caster sugar
For the crumble topping
200g plain flour
100g butter
100g Demerara sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (optional)

Custard or vanilla ice cream for serving (optional)

What you’ll need
A glass dish
Mixing bowl
A wooden spoon


Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

2. In the glass dish, mix together the washed berries and caster sugar until coated evenly.

3. Rub the butter into the flour to make a light breadcrumb texture.
Add in the demerara sugar and cinnamon until combined and spread onto the berries

4. Bake for 45 mins until golden brown.

5. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving, and enjoy!

Kaya •

Let’s get to it

Good afternoon Friends,

Well, hasn’t it been a while? I hope every single one of you are thriving, smiling, and feeling strength within.

This morning I realised I haven’t blogged this year, which surprised me as I have half a dozen blogs pending, I thought I’d actually posted a few but clearly not.

No ‘new year new me’ update, but to be more self away and conscious of my mind body and soul. A little time away to refocus was required, now I’m back with a clearer outlook

This year I intend to be consistent; blogs with health and fitness updates, recipes, beauty box reviews, film reviews, with plenty of adventures on the way.

Hoping you’ll stick around for the journey

Kaya •

Boxing Day Swim 2021

Good afternoon there friends,

Blimey, it’s been a few months since I’ve last blogged. I’m back! (Again)

We decided to mix it up a little for boxing day this year, of course we had the standard turkey sandwiches, cheese and crackers and yet another tipple, but before that Callum and I took part in the Annual Boxing Day swim.

I’d always thought people racing into the sea late December were mad, this year something sparked in my head, and it all looked quite appealing!

F it, why not?


This year there were 3 Annual Boxing day swims on The Isle of Wight, each raising money for their chosen charity.

We took part in The Shanklin swim raising money for Sandown and Shanklin Independent Lifeboat

We arrived at The Small Hope beach at noon where The Salix Cafe had Music and entertainment as well as serving hot food and drinks including mulled wine and mince pies.


Tubs of pastel powder were spread out along the beach ready for a explosion of colour before the horn blast for us to race into the sea.

That was the plan – instead handfuls of coloured powder were grabbed and thrown around the beach covering everyone involved. It was hilarious and beautiful.

At 12.30, the horn blasted, myself and about a hundred other rainbow coloured people cheered as we threw ourselves into the sea.

Splashing around in the sea on December 26th, covered head to toe in powder, it was invigorating, and as you can imagine, a little chilly!
I should mention, I was dressed as Wonder Woman. As you do!

I knew from watching previous years people normally dress up, so I dug out a comic con costume from 10 years ago.

We swam, splashed, floated around and enjoyed the waves crashing into us for a few minutes before we ran back to land.

So far an amazing £350 has been raised for the Independent Lifeboat.


And bonus, I won joint 1st prize for best fancy dress. Who doesn’t love a tub of Hero chocolates?

I’m tempted by the New Year’s Day swim, although I may avoid the coloured powder – that took some serious scrubbing, it got ev-er-ry-where!


Kaya •

Good evening friends,

I feel lost and as though I’ve lost my spark. Stay safe, take your time, write a list, and breath. We’ll get there

Kaya •

One Pot Guinness Beef Stew

Good evening friends,

It worked!
If you read my last blog post you’ll know I was toying with the idea of making this dish in my Dutch oven from my Autumn Fab Fit Fun box.

This was the first time I made this one pot, Dutch oven stew, I was intrigued but unsure of the outcome.
Oh my goodness, this stew was thick, tender and absolutely delicious with a smokey sweetness.
Mix it up this season and give it a go

Prep time 15 mins
Cooking time 1 hour and 20 minutes
Serving 4

Ingredients
• 220ml (1/2 can) Guinness
• 400g cubed beef in 2inch cubes
• 50g dark chocolate
• 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into small slices/chunks
• 2 large parsnips, peeled and cut into small slices/chunks
• 2 large potatoe washed and quartered
• 3 heaped Tbsp plain flour
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp Olive or vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme (chopped)
• 4 sprigs of parsley (chopped)
• Salt and pepper to season

Instructions
• Heat oil over med/high heat in a dutch oven.
• Cook beef cubes for 4 minutes, then set beef aside on plate.

• Saute the onion and crushed garlic for • 3 minutes. Then stir in the tomato paste, and turn down to a low heat to simmer

• On the set aside beef, seive the flour onto the cubes to combine the juices and flour, this will give a paste like consistency.

• Next add Guinness, stock, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar and chocolate, to the Dutch oven and stir well for 5 minutes.
• Add the flour coated beef and stir well.

• Pop on the lid and leave to cook on a low to medium heat for 40 minutes.

• Gradually fold in the carrots, parsnips, potatoes, thyme, and  parsley.
Cover and simmer for an additional hour.

Serve this hearty flavoursome stew and enjoy either alone or with crusty buttered bread.

Kaya •

Pop Culture Mystery Boxes Review

Good afternoon friends,

This week my fiance and I enjoying an escape and a few days away to Winchester (blog to be posted soon).

We walked past HMV as saw a stack of
Pop Culture Mystery Boxes for just £9.99 each

We no longer have a HMV on the Island, and had been meaning to pick up a Mystery box from Amazon

The boxes cost £9.99 each, with a minimum value of £25. You will receive at least 5 items, which are Pop Culture/Licensed merchandise products from Film, music, gaming and more.

Box 1
•A Game of Thrones thermal flask
•Frozen 2 lined notebook
•Frozen 2 Olaf keyring
•Toy Story Woody keyring
•4x Game of Thrones postcards
•Harry Potter A4 poster

Box 2
•The Legend of Zelda mug
•The Legend of Zelda glass Rupee
•Venom Notebook
•A4 wooden Batman plaque
•Facemask Illustration by Steven Rhodes, Concept and art direction by Kellie Taylor

As you’d expect, the Mystery boxes are a bit hit and miss.
We thought the 2nd box was pretty cool and will make use of all of the items – even the Rupee, will be a geeky feature to our shelves that some will be able to recognise.

The 1st box however was a bit of a dud box.
The flask will definitely be used, it is always handy to have a notebook around the house, but the HP card, GOT postcards and the keyrings will either be passed on to a friend or donated

Although you can purchase the boxes online, is suggest grabbing one in-store, as our heavier box had much better items, that may be a winning factor?

Have you tried a mystery box before?
If so, would you recommend it to others?

Kaya •

30 Day HappinessChallenge

Good afternoon friends!

How are you all doing this Sunny Saturday?

I have a fully free weekend, with no plans. How glorious does that sound?

I’ve been harping on recently about my poor mental health, exhaustion and stress, enough it enough, I need to throw myself back into the positive spin of things.

For everyone, life has been a bit of a emotional rollercoaster, it’s time to realise I can’t do everything, and that I have to give myself a break and improve my lifestyle slowly, step by step.

A few years ago I took part in a 100 day happiness photo challenge, and took to Pinterest to find something similar.

I found a simple and heartwarming 30 Day challenge by ‘captivating crazy’

We may be 7 days into the month, but there’s no point waiting until September to start the challenge so why not spread out the first 8 challenges over the weekend?

Screen shot this photo above and join me in this challenge

Kaya •