Eeek it's like the 24th November, which means it is like 1 month till Christmas!

My partner won't let me put up the tree until the first Sunday in December, which I believe is the 7th,  but I'm like no way, we'll be taking them down as soon as we've put them up, so I've said to myself today, if I tidy up properly, I can put the tree up before he comes home!

The reason behind me wanting to have the tree up for longer is that last year our flat was so tiny that we couldn't even put our miniature tree up at all! We had a glittery 10cm tree that I got from a job I'd done (thank you, much appreciated) that made its way onto the mantle piece, and by mantle piece I mean shelf, and that was as far as our decor went, it was pretty depressing!! So this year that Christmas tree is coming out.... and now! Although I have a massive feeling when I open the box, the decoration is going to be missing & its just going to be my pretty pink tree!

So my POA for today is to rearrange the flat, which is probably going to be quite stressful as 1, I'm pretty unorganised, the amount if times throughout my entire life that I've started tidying and then left it worse off than when I began, and 2, we moved in two months ago & we still don't have enough storage space, so I either need to be brutal and chuck out as much stuff as possible, or work out a way of storing it, as currently there are like 3 ikea size bags full by the back door!

I feel that although I've only been here two months, I've deffinately noticed a change in myself. When we moved in I brought little Barbie's with me (and obviously lots more junk), and although my love for them will never change, I'm ready to remove them today and try and make some of my decor more mature, I'd love to have a theme going through our flat. I even asked Fran if I could get rid of the 'Me to You' Bears, but I think that slightly offended him lol!

Some of my lil Barbie's - RIP xx





Still debating whether I can let go of the normally sized Barbie!


Also along my 'maturity' route, I have ordered myself a dressing table!! A nice white one, with a few draws, a mirror and matching stool! I can't wait for it to arrive and get it set up!

I just want to feel all homely! I spend a lot of time here as I'm freelance, self employed, unemployed, whatever you want to call it ;) I'm going with living life exactly how I want to, and it's one of the best decisions I've made so far! So while I'm at home I want to feel relaxed and happy, as although yes I do love a day off, but my day off still consists of job hunting, sending invoices, worrying where the next job is going to come from, so if the look of my home can ease a little of the stress, then I'd like to do that as much as possible, as anyone else in this industry will know, in January and February me and my home will be spending a lot of time together (never mentally prepared for this period)!

Anywhos! So im going to post this post now! And if I do get my tree up, I will either add to this, or if I get some more Christmas decor I will create another post on it!

Thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoy planning your Christmas and putting up the tree!

If anyone knows of any good Christmas Markets in London, please let me know!  I was filming in The Tate Modern last night and it was overlooking some Christmas festivities, and I so wanted to join in!






Muchos Love,

Chanelle SP
xoxox

P.S. So yayyy I had a massive move around, and the tree is up! I decided to add a few extras, and there is a tennis keyring, two Ugg boots,  1 black and 1 tan, a Santa stress ball,  'C' keyring, and an owl and a turtle teddy! Tad cheesy, but me loves it, finally finishing it off with a large bright pink bow.... Obvz!



XO

Finally !!!


Anyone who knows me will know I thought this day would never happen!

I found a 'Share a Coke with CHANELLE' Coca Cola bottle!






Well okay luckily Mum noticed it as my cousin was picking up a bottle for herself, and it now has set up home on my windowsill in the kitchen.

Okay this bottle actually brings an array of emotions as we found it at Leicester Royal Infirmary Hospital in September 2014 after spending a lot of time there. I'm not going to go into details as to why all my family was there, as the close people will know and it's someone else's story to tell, but this period has been the biggest roller coaster of all our lives, and it brings tears to my eyes thinking about it now.

I am so thankful I can look at this bottle and feel strengthened and inspired about the family member that really suffered, you my beauty are so strong, you never complained once, so undeserving and have now inspired me so much, you're just stunning and I love you, and I'm wishing you a speedy recovery, your determination is something like no other so thank you so so much for fighting.







Muchos Love,

Chanelle SP
xoxox

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red...

It is estimated that around 5 million people have visited The Tower of London to see the Poppy installation over summer, which started on the 5th August, with the final poppy being placed today 11th November 2014 (alhough I believe there is still talk of extending the dates, due to it's popularity)


Well I'm extremely thankful that I got to be a part of those 5 million, and made my visit on this very special day of November 11th 2014 marking 100 years of remembrance, and although I couldn't see the final poppy being planted, I got to witness the atmosphere, which is something like never before.

Today London came together as one! At 10.30am The first gun signal & closing roll of honour, 10.50 the final ceremonial poppy was planted by 13 year old army cadet Harry Hayes, and just before 11am a bugler sounded the Last Post and the thousands at The Tower of London, and the millions across the nation took part in the two minutes silence to honour the fallen soldiers.

Today has made me realise how much appreciation I really do owe to the people who have fought, so we can live in this county and have the lifestyle we do, and I don't believe that has ever fully hit me until today. It was a pleasure to pay my respects to the 888,246 people who have given their lives for Great Britain, it's beyond inspirational, and thank you to the people behind creating this installation so we can all come together and remember the fallen and be thankful.

I managed to film a minute video leading up to the silence, a few claps afterwards, and a video of the poppies & numerous photos. I really do love you London for what you have to offer, and I appreciate every day here more & more.





Ready for a day of respect, trying to rock a sophisticated hairstyle with natural make up!




Meeting a lovely stranger sharing his appreciation for what London has to offer :) he was living in Sydney.




The crowds after the silence, a lot left which meant we got a chance to get closer to the poppies.




Where we stood for our two minutes silence.







The Sea of Poppies.







Selfie with Olivia & The Poppies.





I actually have a small vase of poppies in my flat (decor was there when we moved in) and I will definitely be looking at them differently now and will genuinely appreciate the value of a poppy!







Muchos Love,

Chanelle SP
xoxox

In October 2013, me & the boyfriend decided to finally make that trip to Madame Tussauds. I'd been before as a child with my Mother and I remember having my photo with Brad Pitt, Darcey Bussel and The Beatles, who at that time I didn't know who they were, and I even thought Jean Paul Gaultier was a prisoner (why I would think they would spend thousands recreating criminals I don't know)  but maybe that's just proving how young I was during that trip, & it was definitely time to revisit this landmark.

I went a year ago, so things may have slightly changed now, but I've just made this decision that im going to try to go through all, well a lot, okay a few of the albums in my mobile & try to blog about them, so cheers to 1 down when this is posted!

Madame Tussauds opened over 200 years ago, & in 1835 got its first permanent location base at Baker Street Bazaar, where visitors originally paid 6 pence to get in. It now resides at Marylebone Road, and has done ever since 1884 and has literally been a busy tourist attraction since day one!

Madame Tussauds was born as Marie Grosholtz & learnt her skills from Dr Philippe Curtius, and was forced to make death masks during the French Revolution which are also on display at the waxwork museum, along with the Guillotine that beheaded Marie Antoinette, and the oldest figure on display, Louis XV's sleeping mistress, sculpted in 1763.





Madame Tussauds is split up into numerous sections, and I will show you a few of the snaps I took (not including every waxwork), taking you through the museums journey in the order it appears in.

As you enter your welcomed to the celebrity red carpet 'party' event, section 1.

Below I have snapped,

Emma Watson,
Colin Firth,
Kate Winslet,
Dame Helen Mirren,
Victoria & David Beckham,
Chanelle Sadie Paul,
JOKES!!
George Clooney,
Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie,
Leonardo DiCaprio,
Naomi Campbell,
Jennifer Lopez,
Morgan Freeman,
Taylor Lautner,
Jean Paul Gaultier,
Johnny Depp.





Section 2 shares the same area, and covers a few Bollywood stars.

Below,

Madhuri Dixit-Nene
Aishwarya Rai
Shah Rukh Khan




Section 3 covers film.

Below we have,

Shrek,
Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's,
Tinkerbell,
Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch,
Charlie Chaplin,
Daniel Craig in James Bond,
E.T. in E.T. Phone Home
Stephen Spielberg,
Bruce Willis in Die Hard,
Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator.





Section 4 Sport.

The first photo is dedicated to The Olympics 2012,

Tom Daley,
Jessica Ennis-Hill,
Olga Korbut
Usain Bolt,

Second photo is associated with football,

Christiano Ronaldo,
David Beckham (making his second appearance),
Jose Mourino,
Pele,

Final photo is a mix of sports,

Tiger Woods,
Muhammad Ali,
Rafael Nadal,
Jonny Wilkinson.






The Royals are in at section number 6.

And personally I think we fit right in, no?

The Queen - Elizabeth,
Prince Phillip,
Duke of Cambridge - Prince William,
Duchess of Cambridge - Catherine 'Kate' Middleton,
Princess Diana - of Wales,
Prince Harry,
Prince Charles,
Duchess of Cornwall - Camilla



Section 7 continues on to be culture,

Few below are,

Albert Einstein,
Stephen Hawking,
Vincent Van Gogh.



The next section is our music stars. One direction have their own photo opportunity section at the towards the beginning of the tour, after the red carpet party, but I am showing them here with the music stars, as that is officially who they are.



Below,

Britney Spears,
Beyonce,
Cheryl (now Fernandez Versini),
Bob Marley,
Justin Bieber,
Robbie Williams.





Continuing on to World Leaders, section 8.

The Men!

David Cameron,
Boris Johnson,
Barack Obama.




Section 9 & 10 is the Chamber of Horror & Scream! Which most of it you couldn't take pictures so there's not really too much to show.  I'm always petrified of jumpy things or dark areas, or the thought of something touching me, but we were reassured no one or nothing would touch us, so me & Fran ended up leading the small group through, I screamed at every chance possible,  and after one person scaring the living daylight out of me, he then asked to touch the bun on my head! After ages of me holding up the followers behind me arguing with him that we were told no one would touch us, I finally gave in & let him grab it! A weird scenario, but it only enhanced my memories & petrified pleasure of the chamber tour, to be fair that may have pretty much been the only time I opened my eyes!



Section 11 is behind the scenes at Madame Tussauds,  which I didn't take pictures of, other than the historical pictures I started this post with.

12 is the Spirit of London ride. This was a lovely tour in the infamous London black cab. It started with Elizabethan London, William Shakespeare,  The plague, The Great Fire of London killing off the plague, Sir Christopher Wren, The Battle of Trafalgar,  Queen Victoria, The Industrial Revolution, The World Wars, The Swinging Sixties, The Seventies, The Eighties and beyond, bringing us right up to the bright lights, sights & joys of current London.









The final chapter of the waxworks were Marvel Super Heroes, section 13. My partner really enjoyed this section, & I was overly impressed with the ginormous Hulk waxwork prompting me to pretend I was being attacked by the one and only Hulkster!

Below,

The Incredible Hulk,
The Invisible Woman - Jessica Alba,
Captain America - Christopher Robert Evans,
Nick Fury - Samual L Jackson,
Iron Man.
Spider Man.





This then followed on with section 14, a 4D Movie Experience of the Marvel Super Heroes, which was fantastic & we both thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Museum then ended like the tourist attractions all do, with the merchandise shop, which I clearly wanted to purchase anything & everything!  But we did narrow it down to a plastic 'Madame Tussauds' drinks container with a straw, which I think I have used once, twice at a push!

I'm so glad I got to revisit Madame Tussauds again, but the only thing I would change if I got to go again, would be to take the journey much slower. As it gets so busy, you tend to rush to take a picture with a waxwork, otherwise you get no chance, but this also meant, I jumped in, got the shot & didn't really spend as much time taking in the actual detail & pure beauty of these waxwork figures.

But none the less thank you for a pleasant experience.

Muchos Love,

Chanelle SP
xoxox

Well here's a bargain I can definitely say I'm overly impressed with!
There's always that risk with purchasing low priced make up products, but honestly this was a risk well worth taking!

New Look.... known to most as a reasonable priced high street retailer for the latest fashion clothing, well now they've produced their own line of make up, beauty & fragrance and I love it!

The make up range currently consists of...
4 liquid foundation colours (at present just for the lighter skin tones)
4 pressed powder compacts
4 colour pallettes of bronzer
4 liquid concealers released through a small brush
4 matte blusher colours
10 single eye shadow pots & 4 colour pallettes each including 5 eye shadows
Numerous selection of liquid/ pencil eyeliners
Brow pencils
4 lip liners
12 lipstick colours in reds, pinks & oranges
6 lip gloss colours
Mascara varieties in volume, resistance, definition & length
And a whopping 30 colours of nail polish.
They also have a range of brushes as well.


Okay so far I've only purchased three products, but I will deffinately be adding a lot more to my collection.

My first purchases consisted of a 'warm nude' 5 colour eyeshadow pallette, an absolute steal at £4.99 the colours are great for everyday wear, or you can vamp up the eyes by using the darker section of the pallette and go for a smokier effect.

Yayyy another one scratched off my 2014 bucket list! Number 47.... This year I celebrated Halloween, and not only that,  I also carved my first pumpkin! I deffinately had the best Halloween, and I got to spend it with my loved ones, even if we did celebrate on completely the wrong days.

Halloween was on a friday, and it was my Grandma's last evening before she headed back to Spain the next morning,  so we spent that evening with a Chinese takeaway! Yes not very Halloweeny but I loved it nonetheless, we also had my cousins around so that made  it extra special too, while enjoying watching Mum answer the door to the trick or treaters, and eating all the leftover sweets once she brought her pumpkin back inside.


Okay I spent most of saturday in bed as my allergies were playing up so I didn't want to open my eyes, and to make matters worse, I left my glasses back in London and couldn't stick my lenses in straight away as my eyes were just puffballs! I deffo didn't need a Halloween costume during the day thats for sure! Anywho I'm glad that at around 8pm after a glass of wine I decided to get ready and make an effort!  After 9 we headed to the Halloween party at The Fiddlers Elbow, and lets say we were well underdressed with our headbands & matching coloured dresses to our themes (cat & pumpkin), as oh my everyone made a cracking effort! It was a real pleasure to witness all these spooky & entertaining costumes! Wellingborough & The Fiddlers, you did us proud! Sorry my pictures underestimate the effort made by everyone that night!





Luckily Sunday I wasn't hungover as I got to finally do what my initial plan was for celebrating Halloween..... CARVE A PUMPKIN YAYYYY!

So Francisco (the bf) annoyingly had to make this into a competition and he'd been harping on about it the last couple weeks, so guess what... let the battle commence! Okay I know Halloween is supposed to be all creeping and gory, but with me being way too feminine, I had to go for something cute obviously!  I started my hunt through loads of Disney pumpkins & fell in love with someone's version of the Fairytale Castle & a version of Frozens Olaf.... then it hit me, okay worse, it broke my heart! I've never ever carved a pumpkin,  there was no way I was pulling off these designs. I then stumbled across a Mickey Mouse, and the fight was on! Francisco on the other hand took his inspiration from a pumpkin that was in a picture with Eminem....

We had previously purchased some carving tools from Sainsbury's for £1.50 which were just perfect for bringing our designs to life, although slightly fragile after we created our masterpieces, so thankfully my mum purchased a £2.99 pack in the half price sale, (now £1.50 you know cause by sunday Halloween was clearly over) which are now in the cupboard ready for next year, this pack had two of every tool & a stencil pack of designs too! Gotta love a bit of Aldi - thanks for the bargain!

I actually had the best time carving my pumpkin, I started by carving off the top, and surprisingly even enjoyed scraping out all the insides! I then drew my Mickey, although slightly misshapen as I didn't have a stencil, and I also wrongly carved from the outside inwards, rather than the other way, but this was all a learning curve for me, and quite frankly I'm actually really happy with the outcome & I may, just may, have slightly fell in love with my Mickey pumpkin!!


Woop go me!

Here's a few pic collages of the pumpkin process, and in the pictures of all three pumpkins, my Mum's is on the left, & Fran's on the right!









To be honest I was actually impressed with all three of our pumpkins, as both Mum & Fran's were carved extremely neatly... but I deffo went for the trickier design right...!?

Can we say     Chanelle 1   Francisco 0     ????? ;)


Muchos Love,

Chanelle SP
xoxox