Christmas Nails! (& a Cute Hair Style) - (Blogmas)

Today my Mum, Sister & I all went to a Nail Salon and got just a little bit pampered. My Mum and Nicki got Mani-Pedis and I got Gelish nail colour with Christmas nail art on top. It was nice to have some girl-time after having not seen my Mum for quite a while. Here are some photos of today ...

Christmas Nails!

Waiting for the Nail Art on top of the Gelish colour to dry.

Nicki waiting for her regular manicure to dry.

I love my nails! They are not perfect but they are cute and fun. After Christmas I will remove the nail art with regular nail varnish remover and keep the red Gelish colour underneath for another week.

Close-up of the design.

I'm very happy with the job the Nail Technician did!

Also, I thought I'd share with you the cute hair style my Sister did for me this morning. I'm not great at doing my hair in any other style except for down or a ponytail, so when my Sister comes over I always try to convince her to test out her skills on me! Haha!

Back-Combed hair with cute plaits holding it all together.

Bambi was sat on Nicki's lap as she did my hair, and he wanted to get in on the action when she took a photograph of her work.

Have you done your hair / make-up in any cute styles in the run-up to Christmas? How about your nails?

Love & Kisses,

Vicki xoxo

Christmas Afternoon Tea & My Dad's Birthday - (Blogmas)

Today has been such a lovely day, it's not even over yet and there is more loveliness to come this evening ... Happy Vicki!

Today is my Dad's birthday and so my Sister and I decided to treat him to a Christmas Afternoon Tea at a cute Boutique Cafe in the village centre. It was so yummy, and we had a great time. We are now back at mine and Andy's place chilling / napping, and then later on this evening we are going to a family friend's house for dinner.

Here are just some of the pictures from today.

Cute Christmas lay out on the table.

Christmas Robin Napkins.

One of the other tables.

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Sandwiches, Egg Mayonnaise and Cress Rolls, and Turkey, Cranberry and Stuffing Sandwiches.

Scones, Clotted Cream, Raspberry Jam, Christmas Cupcakes, Mince Pies,  Chocolate Brownies, and Lemon Posset. 

Mini Mince Pie & Christmas Cupcake.

Andy & I. (He wasn't very happy to have his photo taken)

The Birthday Boy! My lovely Daddy.

Bambi wanted some of the chocolate birthday cake - which obviously he couldn't.

Birthday Cake.

My presents for my Dad. They were all quite obscure shapes, so the wrapping was hard and doesn't look particularly neat.

Presents & Cake in front of my Christmas Tree, waiting for Dad.

Me and my younger sister, Nicki.

Cake!

Nicki & Bambi are tired out from all the birthday fun!

Wishing my Dad the biggest birthday wishes - he is such an important person to me; I don't know what I'd do without him!

I hope I haven't made y'all too hungry from all these pictures!

Love & Kisses,

Vicki xoxo

Wagging Wednesday & Homemade Xmas Cards - (Blogmas)

Happy Wagging Wednesday! For today's WW post you'll get a double dose of Chihuahua cuteness - a round up of this week's doggy snaps AND the Xmas cards I made of the dogs this year!

First let's have a look at the past week ...

Bambi having a little snooze all cuddled up in his blanket.

Rio always likes to stretch himself out when he's relaxing.

Bambi, again under a blanket - a different one though. 

Look at Rio's big beautiful eyes!

Bambi asleep on my Dad's arm - it's his favourite place to lie.

My Sister was trying to write an essay the other day & little Rio decided that her laptop keyboard
was the best place to have a nap! Funny boy! 

No one can resist this cutie.

I also bought the dogs new jumpers this week (yes, some MORE ... they NEED them :P )! What do you think .... ?

Bambi 

Rio

In one of their beds.

And finally, the Christmas Cards I made this year. Last year the boys were in cute Reindeer outfits and the year before in Santa costume. This year I left it a bit too late to sort out costumes and themes so I decided to just take a photo of the dogs and edit in Christmas "stickers" with the InstaCollage App for iPhone. Here's how my cards turned out ...

This is one of the many photos I took and the one that I decided to use.

I edited the photo and put little Christmas Hats on the Dogs, used a festive boarder,
and added some text.

Card-making supplies.

Christmas Cards!

An example of the finished product - simple but cute! 

My attempt at writing in Lithuanian for Andy's Grandmother's card!
Haha!

I hope today's post has brightened up your day and made you feel a little more festive!

Do you make your own Christmas cards, presents or decorations? What are your favourite things to make?

Love & Kisses,

Vicki xoxo

Maintaining Your Weight Over The Festive Period - (Blogmas)

As I've said in previous blog posts, I am currently trying to lose the weight I gained whilst at University. I have joined 'Slimming World' and have a membership at a nearby Gym. Even though the weight is coming off slowly, it's coming off and I want it to stay that way - especially over the next couple of weeks.

Image taken from: exhilarateme.com

Christmas and New Years are great as they bring lots of social events and parties, but such fun can do some serious damage to your waistline. There is a lot of conflicting advise, so for today's blogmas post I will highlight a few of the best tips I have read on the internet.

1. Eat before attending a party - you'll be less likely to nibble at all the calorific snacks.

Image taken from: prevention.com

2. Keep a food diary & be honest in it. It's easy to forget what we've eaten during the day so a little notebook in your handbag can be a great way of controlling your diet.

Image taken from: alternative-doctor.com

3. If you know you are going to an event at the weekend & that you will definitely want to eat the snacks or have a drink, make sure you eat healthily in the week running up to the occasion. It's alright to treat yourself every now and again - as long as you haven't binged on McDonalds for the past 5 days!

Image taken from: milestoneops.com

4. Don't leave going to the Gym until January! Gyms are always PACKED in January with people trying to maintain their New Year's Resolutions. By going to the gym during December you can gage the busy and quiet periods so that come January, you'll know the best time to go. Also, you won't feel so bad if you treat yourself if you know you've worked for it.

Image taken from: indulgy.com
DO go to the Gym in January though!

5. Don't keep treats in the house. Late nights usually bring about the munchies and if you have cupboards filled with goodies you will most likely succumb to temptation. After Boxing Day, make sure all calorific festive foods are no longer in the house. Give them away to friends, neighbours or even a homeless shelter.

Image taken from: www.gpcarguy.com

6. Drink a glass of water before each meal to make sure you don't over-eat.

Image taken from: www.naturalgrocers.com

7. Mix it up with your mixers! Juices, although they can appear to be the healthier mixer, usually are laden with high sugar and calorie content. When choosing a mixer for your alcoholic beverage, soda / tonic water and other diet soft drinks are usually a better choice.

Image taken from: prevention.com

8. Make sure you get enough sleep. Sleep is very important for maintaining weight and for weight loss, so make sure you have a good time but that you catch up with your ZzzZzz's.

Image taken from: www2.warwick.ac.uk

9. Just because you paid for a meal, it doesn't mean you need to finish it. Wasting food is never good, but if you are full try not to eat more just because you feel guilty. Ask to take the food home in a 'doggy bag' or offer your leftovers to people around the table (this trick usually works around men, as most of the men I know say yes every time!).

Image taken from: www.lovefood.com

10. Have FUN! Don't beat yourself up over a piece of cake. There's no point being miserable so if you want to eat something, eat it! Just make a conscious effort to not over-do it.

Image taken from: www.staffordshireliving.co.uk

I hope you found some of those tips useful. I hate it when people preach about the "best" way to lose weight etc, but if you're like me and you like chocolate but you don't want to gain a stone over Christmas, some of these ideas might help!

Do you have any health or fitness tips that could be helpful over the Christmas and New Year period?

Love & Kisses,

Vicki xoxo