2014 goals... not resolutions!!!!

Hello lovelies!!! This is going to be a really quick post from me today. I have started thinking about what I want to achieve in 2014... I don't want to make resolutions... as I just think they are too easily forgotten, however I think creating some goals which are achievable is worth doing!

I'll let you in on a little (or not so little!) secret - I'm a bit of a big kid at heart! So to help me achieve my goals I am going to put together a good old fashioned rewards chart! I need to iron out some of the details but I've started putting together a list of my goals...

1. Floss everyday (ok I know some of you may already do this but for some reason I just find remembering to floss to damn difficult! I have some gum issues so I know I need to do this but I just need to keep reminding myself)
2. Remove my make-up every night before I go to bed (again this one is a no-brainer but I'll be completely honest with you all I am lazy and I have real trouble doing this every night - I certainly do it most nights! Just not every night... opps)
3. Exercise at least 5 times a week (this might seem like a lot but I have quite a serious weight problem, I'm probably carrying an extra 30kgs, and while I already see a personal trainer twice a week I need to ensure I am either going to the gym, taking the dogs for a walk or using my exercise bike at least 5 times a week, if not more)
4. Stop eating so much junk food (again this is a regular 'resolution' for many people but my weight gain is caused pretty much entirely by food, I actually did a small amount of study in nutrition as part of my uni degree and I know enough about nutrition to know that it's my diet which is letting me down)
5. Stop spending money on luxury items (I seriously need to limit my spending. Mr K and I are starting to consider saving to buy our own house and at the rate I spend money on things that I don't actually need I will never save anything)

Ok so I haven't yet worked out what exactly I need to do in order to get a 'reward' from my rewards chart, it's certainly unrealistic of me to never eat any junk food ever again!!! So there are clearly a few holes in my rewards chart plan but I'm confident I'll get there. I think it's important to note two things 1. My reward to myself won't be food related, rather I'll be able to buy a luxury item I've been eyeing off, probably make-up or clothing related! and 2. I just want to make it clear that one of my goals is not actually to lose weight this year. While that would be a nice bonus I want to try and get my exercise and diet on track - hopefully the weight will start to move as a consequence of this but I'm hoping for more of a lifestyle change than a weight loss specific goal! 

Anyway I'm hoping to use this blog to keep myself a little more accountable in achieving my goals... I'm hoping to check-in once a month and see how I'm going with my goals. Hopefully one and two are easy to manage... and let's just hope I can get 3, 4 and 5 on track!!!! 

Would love to hear some of your goals for 2014... perhaps we can motivate each other... 

Favourite make-up products of 2013

One of the things I have really gotten into in 2013 is make-up. I've never been that much of a fan, I'll be honest, but over the last year it's an interest that has really taken off for me! I've probably spent more money than I should... have spent LOTS of time on youtube watching beauty tutorials and vlogs etc. from some great youtubers. Surprisingly I have really learnt a lot of how to apply make-up properly and just in general about good products and the different things to try for my skin. 

I actually thought there might be others like you out there, those who are semi-interested in make-up but have no idea where to start! That was me about 12 months ago, I am now the proud owner of a small-ish collection of make-up (well it may be continually growing... when I can afford it!) and other beauty related 'stuff' - I started off with the typical drug store make-up but have also included a few of the more 'high-end' products over the past few months.

I thought some of you may be interested in seeing my favourite make-up for 2013. I pretty much wear most of these things everyday, I do have lots of other make-up but I usually only wear that for special occasions or when I want to feel particularly dressed up. All of my favourites are very neutral and more of the 'everyday' type look... without further ado here are my favourites for 2013... 

So as you can see there are a couple of obvious products here - clearly the Naked 2 pallete by Urban Decay stands out as well as the Two Faced Shadow Insurance - these are both products I tend to wear most days. Apart from the MAC Prep + Prime, the Estée Lauder Day Wear (tinted mouisturiser) and a very old Cliniqué blush the rest of my products are all drug store. Mainly Rimmel but also some Maybelline. Probably for me my stand out products of 2013 have been the Two Faced Shadow Insurance whatever I put on my eyes would always crease - and then I got the shadow insurance eye primer and it completely changed my life!!! I am not usually one for wearing make-up to the gym (I certainly do not put on make-up just to go to the gym), but when I have gone straight to the gym from work once I've finished my make-up and sweated (a LOT!) for at least an hour my eye make-up is still there and looks like I only just applied it! It's FANTASTIC!!! 

I also have to say I am loving one particular lip combination which I have been pretty much wearing non-stop these past few months. It consists of the Revlon ColourStay lipliner in Rose, with a Maybelline lipstick in 205 Nearly There and then topped with a Maybelline lipgloss in 110 Mirrored Mauve. It's just the perfect nude colour on me with a slight hint of the mauve/pinky colour coming through. It really is lovely and super affordable!!! I do own a few of the more expensive lipsticks, a couple of MAC lipsticks, a few Estee Lauder, Clinique and even a couple of Clarins ones too but there are just so many great drug store lipsticks out there that you really don't need to spend big bucks on lipstick! 

Anyway that's enough from me... what have been some of your favourite beauty products of 2013? 

Flying dogs!!!! Happy 2014!!!!

I love spending time with friends and family, and for me one of the most special times is Christmas and New Year! Every year Mr K and I go up to Echuca (country Victoria, Australia). We have two beautiful puppies, Meg, our eldest is 5 years and Gypsy is 3 years. We visit Mr K's mother in Echuca and she has a lovely salt water swimming pool and two years ago Gypsy decided she loved to swim!!! Christmas is usually the only time I get to have a holiday, so I like to enjoy it by relaxing, swimming and generally spending time recharging my batteries in the sunshine!!! (And yes it's summer in Australia right now... we're on the opposite side of the world to America so naturally we get the opposite season... makes sense... right...!)

I wanted to show you all the joy that Gypsy brings us all when she decides to come swimming with us...

So I'll put the pics in order so you can see the full jump step by step! 

Step 1: Wait... wait... wait... wait (that pointed finger on the left is the signal for 'wait')

Step 2: 'Ok' - that's the word we say when she's allowed to do something - in this case jump! 

Step 3: And here we go!! Flying through the air towards Mr K!!! Hilarious... we also have video footage too! It just gets funnier and funnier the more we watch it. 

And here it is from another angle... (the other dog is our Meg!!! She likes to follow Gypsy around and try to rescue her when she jumps into the water!)

Spreading Christmas Cheer… but managing the Christmas budget

If you haven’t noticed already I LOVE Christmas!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! I get a lot of joy from buying Christmas presents for my friends and family, I love getting the Christmas decorations out and making the house look pretty and festive, I own a large number of Christmas t-shirts (I live in Australia so it’s summer right now! No white Christmas’s for us!) and I regularly collect santa hats, reindeer ears and other amusing Christmas accessories! Mr Katie does get a little frustrated with me, but he gets over it!

This Christmas Mr K and I decided to put a limit on our Christmas spending on each other, we are a little strapped for cash and are currently trying our hardest to slowly save to buy our own house. So we agreed on a $25 limit – and a theme! We had to buy a present that reminds us of the other person, so it could be funny, silly, practical, whatever really! But it had to mean something to us. I’m pretty happy with what I got Mr K, a spicks and specs trivia game (he is pretty obsessed with the show!) and then some practical things like a toiletry bag and some bath products. Mr K is always having a bath - so getting bath stuff just reminded me of him so much. 

This year was the first year that I set myself a Christmas budget. Usually I just spend away until I’ve gotten everything and I don’t bother really keeping track of anything. I will be the first to admit I’m hopeless with money! I rarely budget at all and when I do I usually don't stick to it!!! This year though we were a little strapped for cash and I have a few large expenses coming up in January that I need to ensure I have money for! My solution this year was simple, and certainly not rocket science! I merely wrote everyone down that I had to buy a present for. Set myself a $$ limit for each person and wrote down exactly what I bought and how much it cost. And this year, believe it or not, I actually stuck to my budget!

It is without a doubt extremely difficult to manage Christmas cheaply, and I applaud anyone who can do it, and those who have no choice. I know it's not about money, gifts or food, it's about family and faith (if you are that way inclined). Nevertheless Christmas always seem to creep up on me and leaves me with an empty bank account!!! I wish everyone all the best over the Christmas period, I know it can be hard for some people but try to focus on the positives!

I thought I'd show you all a photo of my tree and my nicely wrapped Christmas presents, you'll notice they are on a shelf up high, right near the top of the Christmas tree! This is so our two beautiful puppies (ok they're not really puppies, one is 5 the other is 3!) can't get their sneaky little paws (or teeth!) into the presents!

For me I think this Christmas was a huge success! I love spending time with family and friends during this time. I forgot to take a photo of the food I cooked for Christmas Eve dinner with my family - the pudding was a huge hit (I still have over half of it that I'm making my way through!) and I also cooked roast pork and a variety of veggies to go with it. It was a lovely night with my family and one of my closest friends (whose family live in NZ so she has had Christmas Eve dinner with my family for the last 5 years!). I did remember to take a photo of the table... so you can see how I decorated! 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I look forward to getting stuck more into my blog this year... (now that it's 2014 after all). Stay tuned for my goals for 2014 and my favourite things of 2014.