fashionably late!

 Hello!
 Muchos apologies for yet another late post, what a hectic week or two it's been!
 I actually measured myself the day after my last post but haven't had chance to write as it has been my birthday and I've also been caning the nightshifts, so I'm gonna give you my measurements as of feb 3rd and hopefully I'll be a bit more prompt with my updates in future! So, moment of truth:

• Bust 42 inches on the larger part and 38 on the smaller = minus a whopping 3 inches from last month!
• waist 34.5 = -1.5inches
• hips 42.75 = -1.5inches
• left thigh 24.75, right thigh 25.5 = -2inches
• left calf 17, right calf 17 = -.5inch
• upper left arm 12, right arm 12.5 = -5inch

 If my maths are correct, that's a total inch loss of  9 inches!!!! I am so chuffed! Unfortunately I've not had the time to do any major exercise, but I have been eating well still and I'm joining that gym tomorrow, so I should be able to kick it up a gear too :) John took me shopping to get me some new clothes for my birthday last week, and while in River Island trying stuff on, I actually needed a size 12, woohoo! Now for me I usually find River Island quite small fitting so I never even consider anything smaller than a 14, but I actually needed a 12 in a jumper and a knitted dress! Yeah fair enough, jumpers and knitted dresses aren't that fitted or anything, but I'd still usually need a 14 in these kind of items, so I was still very pleased with the 12s thank you very much :)
 Here I am sporting the knitted dress on a meal out for my birthday

  In hindsight, taking photos after dessert (yes I had a dessert, it was my birthday!) was a bad idea, hello bloat! It was a great night though and the food was lovely.
 I also had a gathering at John's house on the Saturday before my birthday, here I am sporting my bargain Triple S dress, albeit slighty drunk

 Sadly because of the horrendous downpour of snow that day we didn't make it into town, but we still had a goodnight, and I was hangover free the next day, bonus!
 Considering I never get out very much, I had a third night out last week. Me and my friends Kirsty and Sean went to our local Lloyds bar for curry club and cocktails, and we were also joined by some other friends later, it was such a good night, I really wish I could get out more!
 Here is me wearing my latest River Island purchases (I got the top with my birthday money and the skirt was a gift from Kirsty)

 Sorry about my jugs!
 It's actually been a good week or so, can't believe I've still put in so many hours at work around the birthday boozing! Back to good girl after a work gathering at TGI Fridays tomorrow though :)

 I had a mega trip to Boots last week and spent almost £40 purely because I felt I deserved it! I bought myself a Max Factor Lipfinity Lasting Lip Tint in shade 04, and I LOVE it! It's a gorgeous pinky red colour and not too intense, as I really can't pull of deep shades without looking like a fella. This is what it looks like on

 I also got myself a Models Own nail polish in Champagne, it's like a gold-but-not colour, totally undescribable but gorgeous, and also if you buy two of their polishes you get a free black Nail Pen in Boots at the mo, so go take advantage!
 Number 7 products were also on 3 for 2, so I got my favourite tinted moisturiser, the Intense Volume Mascara, which make my lashes look all fluffy and feathery :) my favourite product though was the Beautiful Skin Hydration Mask for dry/very dry skin that needs an 'intense moisture boost'. I loved this product loads, I've used it 3 or 4 times already and it makes my skin feel lush after. If you've got dry skin this is what you need, and my skin is also really sensitive and this doesn't irritate it at all. Also, you only need one pump if that, so it'll last ages!

 So overall it's been a good week for me I think! The only downsides have been not being able to exercise, my guinea pig has shown no signs of improvement, and I also lost a shift at work last night thanks to my car exhaust breaking, which cost me £250 to fix (bye bye holiday fund!) after the mechanic also discovered my tracking was knackered and I needed 2 new tyres immediately and I'll have another one to fork out for next month, gutted!

 My plans for the next few days are lots of work, join the gym tomorrow, my Dad's birthday, a trip to Leeds on Friday with John and Newastle with me Treacle next Saturday, busy busy busy! I shall try to be good though and stay on the wagon, and I'll keep you updated when I can :)

 Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @MrsPumpkinShoes, and also if you want a free Graze box go to graze.com and use code 6PF69Z4

 Until next time! x

up and down!

 Well, I've been a naughty blogger again, no posts in far too long! The only excuse I have is that I've been having a bit of a shit time lately if I can be quite honest, and when it hasn't been so shit, it's been busy!
 Enough of my moping though, lets get to it!
 Things that have made me happy this last couple weeks are the simple things: lovely texts and thoughtfulness make me smile for ages, and thankfully I've been on the recieving end of such texts from my lovely manfriend, it's weird how even if I haven't told him something's bothering me he seems to know anyway and goes out of his way to make me smile. I won't get soppy and say what the texts said as they were our little in-jokes that would make everyone who knows me disown me!
 Also I finally had my hair dyed after stripping it, it's gone a lovely shade of ginger/copper, I love it! I'e also invested in some more Lee Stafford hair products that I can't wait to try out. Pics will come in the next post I'm sure, as it's my birthday on Monday and I'm having 3 separate celebrations over the next week, can't wait! Speaking of my birthday, I finally found some shoes to go with the dress:

believe it or not, they're really comfortable! Can't wait to paint the town red and have a boogie in these! I also got my first birthday present the other day and I'm absolutely in love with it:

Kermit is awesome!

 In September last year, I went to see a band called The Boxer Rebellion at Shepherds Bush Empire (you may recognise them if you've seen the film Going The Distance, they're great!), they were so good, and they did a beautiful cover of Depeche Mode's 'Enjoy the Silence', and while bored the other day I searched for it on YouTube. I didn't find the one from Shepherds Bush, but I did find them performing it live at another venue. It's honestly stunning and I wanted to share it with the social networking universe, so I put it on Twitter (@MrsPumpkinShoes) and also linked in the lead singer of the band...he only bloody tweeted me back didn't he! This really did cheer me up, thank you Mr Nathan Nicholson!

 Also, my Glossybox arrived, yay! Got some lovely moisturiser, Clarins face products, eyeliner and primer :)

Things that made me not so happy:

 I'm not having much luck in the world of driving, I ran out of screenwash on my journey to work, scariest drive I've ever done! Also I seem to keep having near-misses thanks to people who clearly can't drive!

 I've been doing a lot of mixed shifts lately and as a result my sleeping pattern is completely messed up, I've resorted to using Johnsons Baby Bedtime products to see if that helps, watch this space! As a result of the lack of sleep, I've also had a whopper of a spot breakout, just in time for my birthday, fabulous!

 I've had to cut my nails right down :( they got so long and lovely...then they started peeling and breaking, yack!

 Amongst some other things, my poor guinea pig shows no signs of improvement, he has lost almost half of his body weight and is not the cute little porker he used to be. He seems ok in mood but he looks knackered and is still in pain from when he had a bladder stone removed, I don't know if it's come back or what, but I fear it may be time for him to go to guinea pig heaven soon, I'm really gutted. Here's Homer looking after him:

My babies <3

 On thesubject of watching the figure, I feel like it's slowed a bit thanks to the dramas in my life, but I'm headed in the right direction :) I should have weighed and measured myself today or yesterday but I've just not had the time, I'll do it soon and update you all :) last time I was weighed tho I had lost 6lbs. I've been eating really well on night shifts, filling up on fruit and seeds etc when everyone else has ordered takeaways or snacked on chocolate.

 To be quite honest, I'm convinced eating well has helped me feel more awake on night shifts, I usually really struggle but the last few have been somewhat easier, definitely and incentive to keep it up, this as well as my jeans feeling way more comfy and a definite visible change in my waist!

 I've even stuck to my one takeaway a fortnight rule, although I could really devour once sometimes, I'm resisting the urge and snacking on my Graze Box instead - if anyone would like to try one for free, use this code: 6PF69Z4 #shamelessplug

 I've been going to aqua aerobics and aqua jog when I've not been working, a Zumba class has also started at the same venue so I'm hoping to try that soon, and I've also found a gym for £20 a month, which I'm going to join next pay day, look at me go!

 On a parting note, I bought the current issue of Cosmopolitan today, if you ever need proof that curvy rules over skinny, here it is:

 beautiful or what!

 Laters x