A Chatty Catch-Up | 2020 So Far

Well, what a bloody year these past 3 months have been, right?? This year has felt so unbelievably long already and we’re only at the end of March!! If you’re a blog regular, you might have noticed that I haven’t done a catch-up post since December, so I thought I’d catch you all up on the past three months!

I’ve separated it into months, instead of my usual format, to make it easier to remember what I did!!

January:

January is always a bit of a slow month, isn’t it? After the lull of Christmas, and the whole mould issue, we spent most of January cleaning the walls because we found mould in every room πŸ™ This is the upstairs landing and I’m pretty impressed how well it cleaned up!! I used a mix of thin bleach, all purpose cleaner and lots of hot water!!

As I said in my last post, I got a new job and left my old job at the end of January! My wonderful work bestie, Georgie, decorated my desk for me and I got loads of lovely gifts from everyone in my team πŸ₯°

My new job is in the world of HR! It’s not something I’ve done before but it’s been fascinating learning everything and my team is so lovely!! My parents got me a Topshop gift card for my birthday last year, so I got this cute black tea top for my new job! It has puffed sleeves and an elasticated waist 😍

February:

February was also pretty quiet as I was getting used to my new job and learning to cope with working 5 days a week again (my old job had let me work full-time but it was condensed into 4 days so I had Fridays off).Β As you can see, I’ve put up some pics of J and Mr Bear and also have the amaryllis on my desk that Georgie got me πŸ™‚

I also had minor exploratory surgery at the end of February, nothing too serious (for now), but I’m still waiting to see the hospital for a follow-up to see if I need further surgery later in the year πŸ˜•

Mr Bear managed to destroy his old cat scratching post, so we got him a new one from Aldi! He loves the carpet and the little cat face hanging down! It’s his new favourite thing to play with πŸ™‚

For the past year or so, I’ve been doing Microsoft Rewards. They give you points if you click their daily rewards and complete the challenges like “check out these spaghetti recipes” or “take this quiz on famous artists”. You can then claim the points as prizes πŸ™‚

For ages they only had prizes that I didn’t really want (like Uber vouchers or vouchers for XBox Live) so when they added New Look vouchers I decided to redeem my points! I bought a couple of dresses online with my gift voucher but, after I’d ordered, I stupidly carried on browsing online and fell in love with these boots!! However, as I’d just spent my gift voucher I didn’t get them πŸ™

When I went to pick up my dresses in store, I didn’t really like them so I returned them. This is the skater dress, but it was too clingy for me!

As the refund went straight back on my gift card, I checked the website for my boots but they were out of stock πŸ™ I then checked the shoe section in store to see if they had them but they didn’t. I did find these gorgeous zip-up vegan boots for Β£19.99 though and bought them instead. My usual 7s were a little too big, so I ended up buying size 6 for the first time in my life!!

A couple of weeks later, the first pair of boots came back in stock so I ended up ordering them. Although I loved them, I returned them because I’d only just got a pair of new boots!!

March:

Last year, I won a competition with my personal trainer and got a Miller & Carter gift voucher!! J and I decided we’d better go before it expired and ended up having a date night out at our local branch πŸ™‚ We chose the tomahawk steak to share, with onion bread, chips and a lettuce wedge each! As you can see, the steak was massive!! Unfortunately it was also a little on the rarer side (we’d ordered medium rare) which made it a bit chewy and the fat wasn’t cooked πŸ™ It was still lovely to get out though (before the social distancing and lockdown rules obviously) and we managed to get a free glass of wine each by signing up on the Miller and Carter website!!

I also got to work with Photowall, who very kindly gifted J and I a canvas for our bedroom! There’s a 25% discount available on my post until April, so check it out if you’re looking for wall art πŸ™‚

So remember the boots I ordered in February and returned because I didn’t need two pairs of boots? Well, they came back in stock for a second time and they were still in the sale for Β£18 so I knew I had to buy them again and not change my mind this time!! I took a gamble and ordered a size 6 as they were the only size available and they actually fit!! They are a little snug round the toe area so I’m going to have to break them in carefully!!

In the middle of March, around the time the corona virus really started to become scary, J and I both developed coughs so we had to stay home. While I was off, I ordered some books to have something to read (I had no idea at that point we’d end up in a UK lockdown and they’d come very much in handy!!) I had a voucher from my parents for my birthday so I got No One Home by Tim Weaver, Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham and An Evil Mind by Chris Carter. They’re all crime thriller books as that’s my favourite genre of book to read!! I’ve almost finished No One Home and it’s so good!!

The week I was due back to work, my work made the decision to close, so J and I are both working from home. I’ve been trying to really pamper my skin and I like to alternate between the Vitamin-C serum and the Glow Tonic serum, which were both gifted to me by Pixi Beauty β€οΈπŸ’› My skin has been absolutely loving them!!

Lastly, I was very kindly sent Dermalogica’s new Invisible Physical Defence SPF30 sunscreen. It blends into skin so it doesn’t leave that weird white residue behind and it provides protection against UVA/UVB rays and blue light! It also helps soothe skin and reduce uv-induced redness and dryness!! I can’t wait to try this out and let you know what I think!!

Finally, don’t forget to check out my amazing advertiser:

Kathleen Natural is a premium skin care brand, based in the UK, who have a passion for all things natural and organic. They have an incredible range of products and I’ve reviewed the Illuminating Serum, the Sonic Facial Cleanser and their brand new shower gels and body oils on my blog πŸ™‚ They’re also on Twitter and Instagram as well 🌸🌸🌸

How has your year been so far? Do you have anything positive that happened to you? Let me know in the comments below πŸ™‚ xx

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21 Comments

  1. I really feel for you about the mould! We had a serious mould problem in our old house. I had a dehumidifier pointed at the wall for several hours a day and still a lot of stuff got ruined beyond repair. I hope you can get it under control. I am loving the Dermalogica sunscreen too! xx

    Violethollow.com

    1. OH no, sorry to hear that πŸ™ I think the ventilation system has stopped the mould from spreading and now I’ve bleached it, it doesn’t seem to be coming back! Fingers crossed it’s solved the issue πŸ™‚ xx

  2. It’s been a very odd year hasn’t it? Haha. I hope you’re doing okay after the surgery and so glad you’re getting on top of the mold issue! We’ve had it before and it’s not pleasant. Hope you and J are holding up okay! xxx

    1. It really has!! Thank you lovely, still not sure what’s going on but it’s not too serious. The mould isn’t coming back so we’re so happy πŸ˜€πŸ˜€ we’re good thank you! How are you and the family? Xxx

        1. Weirdly mine was really bad yesterday but I’ve not been affected until now!! Yes, definitely rather hay fever than anything else!! x

  3. 2020 has definitely been a weird year so far! It sounds like you’ve had a few ups and downs these past few months. I love the floral dress and boots you’ve purchased!

    1. Thank you so much 😘 yes, I’m enjoying it a lot, well I was until I had to work from home and now I miss everyone xx

  4. Can we stop 2020? I want to get off! xD I’ll actually had a really rough start to my year mentally but I’m plodding on! We’re all having a struggle. Those boots look bad-ass, hun! You’ve got great taste! πŸ˜‰

    Daisy xoxo | TheDeeWhoLived

    1. Or can we just forward to 2021?? I’m sorry to hear that love, I’ve been struggling with my anxiety so I feel you!!
      Awww thank you! I love them both and glad I bought the second pair in the end xx

    1. It’s going so quickly, isn’t it? After you getting on okay with him being there all the time? Awww thank you, he’s our baby Bear β™₯️β™₯️

    1. Thanks Nic πŸ™‚ Yeah, it’s been a bit of a weird year so far but I hope the next few months get better for everyone πŸ™‚ x

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