May 2014 | Laura Lou Rambles With You

OOTD: Toddler addition on location :)

We we're out visiting family and thought I would snap a quick OOTD with Freddie :)

We we're having a lovely time feeding the ducks!

Freddie is wearing a red shirt from Primark.

Jeans from Tesco

White high top converse from Office

I love seeing children versions of outfits of the day I think they are really cute so if you have any feel free to leave the links below :)x

At home pamper session

With the January blues bugging the life out of everyone I thought it would be nice to do a post about resting, relaxing and pampering ourselves!

In box number one (sounds very game showy doesnt it lol) is my christmassy candle that i got from my bestfriend, smells lovely and festive (think cinnamon lol) there is also my beauticology decadant chocolate shower creme and white chocolate body butter. The other cream is a gorgeous smelling hand and body lotion, smells divine (think passion fruit lol) i got this in a set by soap and co for Christmas.

In box number 2 is my mineral peeling gel, i got this for christmas and really like it, it is meant to be used as a cleanser, but i use it before i put my face mask on to get rid of dead skin. The face mask in the picture is my go to mask! It is a bargain at 99p from superdrug, and my face feels super soft once ive used it. The other half always comments on how glowing my face is after lol (bless his cottom socks ai) i have sensitive skin and find this does it wonders, doesnt break me out which is always a concern.

Finally in box number 3 is all of my bits and bobs that i use to do my nails, the cuticle oil, nail file & buffer came in the soap and co set with the hand and body lotion in box 1. There is also my OPI nail envy which im swearing by at the moment to help repair my nails from damage after having acrylics on a couple of months ago. The other polish is my city blackout by NYC, i think black is a staple polish colour for winter and wear this all the time.

As a busy mummy to my lovely toddler and working during the week to i always find it a must to have these random pamper evenings!

So if this post does one thing i hope it persuades you lovlies to grab at least an hour for yourselves tonight and give yourself a midweek pamper session!

Go on girlies you deserve it!x

Liebster Award

It was lovely to wake up to a tweet from the lovely Nadine over at @_afrobritchick whos blog you can find on http://www.afrobritchick.com/.

It was a tweet to say that she had very kindly nominated me for the Liebster award. I love finding new blogs and it is always heart warming to know that others are enjoying reading mine so this sure did start my day off with a skip in my step lol.

Now according to Nadine you have to answer the 11 questions given to you by the person who has nominated you and then you have to tag 11 others excluding the person who has nominated you, & set them 11 questions to answer. The idea being that we all get to find out a bit more about each other and get to discover lots of new lovely blogs out there.

So lets get into it ...

1. What inspired you to start blogging?

I have been passionate about writing & rambling lol since I was small. I tried to blog for years on and off but never really had the time to dedicate to blogging seriously. I got diagnosed and had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from my kidney last year & it threw everything into prospective. I decided to dedicate my time to things I actually enjoyed doing and this was one of them & im so glad I did.

2. What is your lifetime ambition?

My lifetime ambition has always to become a writer. I have always been a city girl but since having my little boy my ambition is also to move out of London to somewhere quiet and work as a freelance writer.

3. What is your favorite saying?

I really love quotes and sayings and quirky little positive anecdotes that keep me going. Its hard to choose one but I really like the simple yet effective saying 'Nobody can hurt you without your permission' I think it just says alot about life in general, as in we are in control of ourselves and our feelings, don't give control to others when it comes to how you feel.

4. How long does it take you to get ready on a normal day?

I can be up and ready to leave within an hour and a half on a normal day with my little boy, im im just going to work I can be up and out the door within half an hour lol.

What are you most passionate about?

My whole life revolves about my son and I am passionate about giving him the most enjoyable and fun life I can.

6. What are you listening to at the moment?

I have had THE 1975 album on repeat for months I just cant stop listening to it lol

7. What is your best childhood memory?

My nan and grandad used to have a holiday home in Kent and we used to go there at every opportunity we could, weekends, school holidays the lot & spending time down there near the beach is my best childhood memory.

8. Where would you like to visit that you havent already?

As I have mentioned before I have never been on an airoplane so I would love to spend some time in a hot country on a beautiful beach with my family.

9. Hot or cold

It is getting freezing in London all of a sudden and i am so tired right now it is making me feel even colder lol

10. When you are feeling down what do you do to lift your spirits?

I workout. Without a shadow of a doubt I can always guarantee that I will feel good after doing a workout so if I am feeling low I will workout or listening to some upbeat music.

11. Who is your favorite disney character?

This may sound wierd because it is not your usual disney princess. I love the cat Marie from the aristocats lol and i always have she is just so cute and i bloody love her lol.

That was so fun to do lol. So please find below the 11 bloggers I have nomianted and the 11 questions I set for them?

I nominate:

Amy over at http://amyjwalters.blogspot.co.uk/

Siobhan over at http://www.siobhanemma.co.uk/

Fiona over at http://www.dollydowsie.com/

Lucie over at http://www.fatbeautyx.co.uk/

Emma over at http://www.ramblingsofacraftymum.blogspot.co.uk/

Amy over at http://aaamylouxo.blogspot.co.uk/

Lauren over at http://laurieleaf.wordpress.com/

Lois over at http://makeupofmayhem.blogspot.co.uk/

Allie over at http://tie-dye-eyes.blogspot.co.uk/

Collette over at http://shrewd-fox.blogspot.co.uk/

Melissa over at http://www.insidemellysmind.com/

My 11 questions for you all to answer are:

1. Put the music on your ipod/iphone, press shuffle then skip 3 songs, what song do you end up with?

2. What is your favorite thing to post about?

3. What food couldnt you live without?

4. What was your best memory of 2013?

5. Hot chocolate or tea?

6. What is your top hair care tip?

7. What number 1 rule do you live by?

8. What beauty product couldnt you live without?

9. What country would you like to visit?

10. What is your favorite childhood TV programme?

11. Favirote all time song?

Meat Free Monday - Sausage Casserole

Hi guys. First of all apologies for being a bit MIA from the blogging world, but im back with posts written up for this week and ready to reply to comments etc.

I thought i would ease myself back in gently and do this Vegetarian sausage casserole for #MeatFreeMonday.

Ingredients

2 medium carrots

1 medium big onion

1 courgette

1 tin chopped tomato

1 tin baked beans

1 tin kidney beans

4 vegetarian sausages

Serves 3-4 people

Start by softening the onions, carrots and courgettes for about 4minutes. While your doing this cook the vegetarian sausages according to the instructions on the pack.

Once they are soft without being brown and mushy add the kidney beans, stir in and leave for another minute.

Next add the tinned tomatoes, baked beans, a sprinkle of mixed herbs and give it all a good stir and leave to simmer gently until the sausages are done.

Once the sausages are done cut them up and add, stir in and serve :)

Nail Art Weekly Project #2

Welcome back to week 2 on the Nail Art Weekly Project created by the lovely Dani from http://www.gingerbreadsmiles.co.uk

The theme for this weeks nail art is a favourite film or TV show.

Here is my inspiration for this weeks post the one and only Finding Nemo :)

A few things spring to mind for this theme but I decided on Nemo because it's a super cute family film and the colours and nail art ideas are endless.

Here is a collage of some pictures I found on Google that I used for inspiration

I had fun doing this weeks nail art, I was quite happy with how they turnt out because I didn't have time to plan out how I wanted them to look I kind of just went with the flow using the pictures I found.

I used various different polish's to create this look but all of them were from NYC apart from the turtle inspired nail which i used bourjois green and no7 brown for.

I was probably happiest with how this sea themed nail turnt out the blue glotter really helped bring it to life.

Here is the Nemo Nail lol. I hadnt realised until the last minute that I had lost my black nail art pen darniit so couldnt define the look as much as i had hoped.

I really enjoyed doing this weeks theme and i love looking at all of the other clever designs done by the girls, if you are involved in this project tweet me the link for your theme :) x

OOTD: Thomas land

Welcome back o faithful readers :) Im sorry for my absence in blog land and everything else at the moment. I have got some personal issues im currently sorting out. However I am back today with a quick OOTD.

We took Freddie to Thomas Land at Drayton Manor on Friday. He loved it and I would recommend it to all mummys and daddys with little Thomas the Tank Engine enthusiasts lol. The weather held up and we managed to dodge the light showers of rain by using the cute Thomas themed soft play.

I wanted to be comfortable as we were going to be on our feet all day so I opted for this comfy casual outfit.

I wore my Maroon blazer from River Island. I love this blazer because it is so versatile. It can be dressed up or down and is super comfy. Two pockets either side for your phone etc. I hate fake pockets.

Underneath is a white top with mesh detailing up top. Its an old one so unfortunately I cannot remember for the life of me where it is from and the labels are washed out lol

On the bottom are my denim jeggings from Dorothy perkins. I love these jeggings. They are so comfortable and flattering.

Finished off with my Maroon converse from JD sports.

I have got a Spring in my step :)

In London town last weekend we were blessed with lovely sunshine and warmth as a reminder that Spring is finally upon us :)

As most of the Londoners around we flocked to the park for he weekend. On Saturday Freddie had put in a request for ice cream so we went on the hunt for an ice cream shop. On the way to work I had noticed a new ice cream shop had opened in Islington called Udderlicious so we headed there. Our timing wasnt great as we got caught up and swept along in the traffic of the Arsenal fans all heading home from the game, but before we knew it we had reached the ice cream shop. We were so happy we had made the journey over to North London because although a little pricey the ice cream was delicious! We would recommend and revisit Udderlicious. With the most basic of flavours of chocolate ice cream to the most creative of walnut and ricotta there is bound to be something to suit your taste buds. The staff were super friendly and you get very generous portions as Dean soon found out when he ordered 3 scoops of ice cream and was handed a mountain of ice cream in a cone :)

After our ice cream we walked a little way down the road and spent the rest of the day in the park until early evening, it definitely gave us a taste of things to come in Spring/Summer.

On Sunday Freddie had his first Football session with Little Kickers. It was the cutest thing and a very proud mummy and daddy moment for me and Dean. W were greeted by 2 friendly coaches and Freddie was given his little football kit. As Freddie will be going to nursery later on in the year we though it would be good to get him used to taking instruction from other people whilst being part a group, plus Dean was very keen to get Freddie stuck into footie as soon as possible lol. We were really pleased with our experience of the first session and could tell the lesson plans are carefully thought out. Freddie thoroughly enjoyed himself and we can't wait to go back this week for session 2.

After footie we grabbed some lunch and headed back to the park for the day. We had a really nice relaxed weekend and it has really gotten me into the mood for the sunshine :) I hope it sticks around.

May favourites :)

As May draws to a close, and what a lengthy month it has been, with more bank holidays than you can shake a stick at (not complaining lol) I thought I would do a post on some things I have been loving this month.

Let's start by getting the first non beauty related thing out of the way. Walking! I own a car, and I'm ashamed to say I use it way more than it needs to be used (now cover your eyes fitness freaks) in the winter I've even been known to drive to my corner shop eeekkkkk. At the beginning of the month I decided to have 2 days a week where we leave the car at home and walk more, after all, these boots we're made for walking right lol. Since starting I've realised how much I've missed being out in the car and just walking about & I've fallen back in love with walking :)

Is there anyone else out there who is still trying to use up the surplus amounts of soap and glory products they got for Christmas? Raise hands ladies come on let me see em! Well I found yet another box of soap and glory goodies and have been using this scrub like it's going out of fashion. In sure it doesn't need an in depth review and most of the female population probably has this or has at some point, and let's fancy it I ramble on enough as it is, but this is definitely a May favourite of mine.

As you can see half of my hair is blondish, and I got it dyed that way a couple of months ago now in my pledge to go pastel! Now I've found my hair is in an awful state and have been trying to limit the amount of time I have it in a hair tie and limit the amount of product I use. So I'm loving using this 1950s inspired hair scarf I got with my skirt last year to keep the hair out of my face.

Ok I'm guilty, here is another Christmas present lol. I got this in another gift set and kind of neglected it. I came across it whilst giving my bedroom an overhaul the over the day and it's been my go to body cream this month. A little goes a lot so this will last me a good while, it smells nice and absorbs into the skin quickly :)

If you guys and dolls have done your May faves please send me the link as I love to read them :)

'Lemin drizzle' homemade hair mask

A couple of months ago I had half of my hair dyed blonde in a bid to gradually get some pastel shades flowing threw my locks for summer. Now I had heard all the information about how dry your hair can get from bleaching but deary me I was not prepared for how damaged and brittle my hair would become. I am partly blaming the bleach but in all honestly I am majorly blaming the shampoo & conditioner combo I have been using to keep the blonde, blonde.

I am on a budget so decided to do some research into some products I could find at home in order to make my own home made hair mask & from this has come my lemon drizzle hair mask.

You will need:

The yolk of one egg

One or two cups of milk depending on the length of your hair

2 tablespoons of olive oil

A squeeze of honey

The juice of half a lemon

Now there's nothing fancy to this, you literally put all of the ingredients into a bowl (I use a measuring jug to make it easier to pour on my hair) give a good mix with a fork or egg whisk and apply to damp hair.

Work in from root to tip and I then cover my hair with a shower cap and leave it for half an hour.

Top tip: rinse off with cold to luke warm water because you do not want scrambled egg in your hair if you use hot water lol

I'd love to know if you guys try this out and what you think of this recipe. If you do drop me a comment below x

OOTD: 1950s inspired

Hey guys & dolls. I know I've been away for what seems like forever, but I am finally back with tons of new exciting posts in the pipeline :)

I'm going to jump straight in with an OOTD. My laptop is currently being repaired so I am having to blog via my phone so please bare with me with regards to quality of posts at the moment)

As the title suggests this OOTD is a 1950s inspired one. I love everything 50s and as soon as the sun was shining here in London Town, I jumped at the chance to try out my new skirt.

I am wearing a rockabilly skirt which I purchased from an amazing website called wagtails dancewear. There clothes and gorgeous & very affordable. You can check out their site at www.wagtailsdancewear.co.uk

Underneath my skirt is a black petite coat which I already had. I believe I bought it from eBay but a quick google search which soon find you tons of options for those.

I wore a black body from ASOS which has a scoop back (my boyfriend is still in training to be my blog photographer lol so no pic of the back in afraid). I finished off the outfit with a pair of frilly socks and a pair of plain white pumps also both from ASOS.

I think this is a really cute summer outfit. It's really comfortable and just something different to wear in the summertime. I was inspired to wear this outfit because I went along to the vintage fair in the old spitalfields market which was a really cool place to find.

I thought I may get a bit chilly later on in the day so threw this sheer white short with black collar and cuffs on over the top. I got a matching headscarf with my skirt so popped that on to :)