Winter Ball | OUAW Events

My niece's birthday falls in between Christmas and New Year, so it's nice to spend time with her and actually do something, rather than buy another present for her.

My brother had the same idea and booked us in to a Winter Ball held by a local events company (Once Upon A Wish) that we had previously used for a Princess Knock for my niece's birthday a few years ago.

It was held at David Salomons in Southborough; a Victorian mansion with a vast estate, used for functions, events and weddings and it is a stunning venue.

Parking was easy to find, with plenty of spaces and there were OUAW staff on site to direct us to the event itself. There were also staff at the door greeting us, letting us know which table we were on, as well as giving out pre-paid goodie bags if you had pre-ordered one (which we had)

 

On our table was myself, my brother, our mum and my niece as well as another group of 2 adults and 3 children. The table was laid out beautifully, with our table number in the middle, colouring for the kids as well as water and glasses.

We took time when everyone was settling in to have a look at what the goodie bag included. Inside was a 'glass slipper', a pair of fairy wings, a wand, a tiara and a voucher for a glitter tattoo - well worth the money.

The event started with the owner of the company, Jess Nelson, taking to the stage to welcome everyone to the event and let us adults know that the bar was open!

The stage was then filled with prince and princesses singing and dancing - all the kids were in awe - and most adults were too.

The day continued with songs and dancing from the characters and they made sure to get the kids involved.

There was also photo opportunities, glitter tattoos, even a treasure hunt! As well as some quiet time with arts and crafts when the kids were all given a cupcake.

             

To finish up, there was a disco and every single child was given a book to take away - all individually wrapped up - which must have taken hours.

Every detail was thought of, including the amazing Cinderellas carriage for photo ops (Wasn't able to get a picture as there were too many children around it!) but it was simply stunning.

The costumes were honestly amazing, such good quality.

All characters stayed in character the whole day and were great entertainers.

The day was family friendly and good value. I would highly recommend the company to anyone with children.

They don't just do these big events, so if your child is better one on one - they also offer other options such as Home Visits and Princess Knocks where the character/s of your choosing will come to your house, as well as kids parties and more.

Princess Knocks from 2017 - Belle

I would highly recommend them for kids of all ages and you can find them online here or on Facebook here.

Have you ever used OUAW? Or are you planning to? - Let me know.

The next event is A Royal Tea Party in February - Book now so you don't miss out!

Much Love as Always,

*Please note; I am not affiliated with the company in any way, all opinions and pictures are my own and are from my own experience*

Miracle Tablets | Lifestyle

I have been dying my hair for about 18years now and will be the first to say that I don't take great care of my hair in between. I can go months without haircuts, get easily bored with the colour and have used more home dyes that I can count. With my wedding being next year, I realised I needed to buck my ideas up.

I have stopped using heat on my hair unless necessary (sometimes you need to dry your hair if you're like me and your washing days don't align with plans you have made!)

I am still on the look out for a decent hair mask as so far the ones I've tried haven't done much...

My hair is in the best condition it's been in ages... bearing in mind it's bleached... and I think it is all down to these tablets!

 Now, I've always been a massive skeptic when it comes to things like this, but after hearing about them from a friend after they had done wonders for her hair, I thought I'd give them a go. After all, what did I have to lose?

I ordered mine from Amazon but I'm sure you can pick them up in other places too and the ones I chose are the Solgar North Atlantic Kelp Tablets.

                                           

Apologies for the stock photo, but where I am now getting to the end of my pot, the label has peeled so much that you wouldn't be able to tell what they are! 

You get 250 tablets in a pot and take one a day. I'm not brilliant at remembering I won't lie... so I try and take them in the morning with my other pills.

Since taking these; my hair is healthier, longer and looks in such better condition.

The below picture was about 2 months before I started taking them.

   

This next picture is my hair now - I have also started bleaching my hair again as you can see, but my hair is no where near as elasticated as it has been in the past when bleaching and I can only think it is down to these miracle tablets!

I love them and tell everyone I can to get them because I truly believe they are a miracle. Have I said miracle enough times?

Now that the countdown is on for my wedding, I want my hair in the best condition possible. 

Do you have any wonders like these? I may be a true convert...

Much Love as Always,

30 Before 30

So a couple of weeks ago I turned 29 and it started me thinking about all the things I have done so far in my life.

• I am finally in a job that I love and that challenges me every day.
• I have the best family and friends around me who know how to make me laugh and to pick me up when I'm down.
• The biggest challenge in my life so far was when I went travelling to Australia for almost a year on my own. It was the best thing I ever did, and I always advise people to go if they can!

But I feel like I need to do more before the big 3-0.

So I have come up with a list of things I want to do, some small and others rather large!

I do feel like some may be slightly unachievable but I love a challenge.

So here goes... (no specific order)

• Walk over the O2 Arena
• See a show on Broadway 
• Drink a pint of Guinness in Ireland
• Go to Gay Pride in Brighton
• Have a girls holiday                      
• Swim with Sharks/Shark Diving
• Buy a Designer handbag.               
• Take part in a cooking class     
• Spend a day at Spitalfields Market
• Visit Scotland
• Visit an Ice Bar
• Break a world record (this was a suggestion from a work friend...she's finding one for me apparently... !)              
• Start to learn Turkish (I was always horrendously crap at learning languages in school, but I go to Turkey every year at least once and have done for 13 years as my grandma has an apartment there so I figure I should probably learn some!)
• Learn more about cars (I'm seriously crap when it comes to cars and as I use one every day I should learn a bit more!)
• Take more pictures and learn more about photography. 

• Actually get a proper skincare routine in place and stick to it! 
• Go to a Disney Afternoon Tea
• Visit Harry Potter World in Florida
• Finish 100 Books in the year
• Save a deposit for a house
• Sing at an Open Mic Night (Super scary! although I used to do musical theatre, I don't like being able to see the audience!)
• Make more memories with my family and friends. 
  
• Start Pole Dancing (I've heard it's great for fitness!)
• Move up in my job
• Enjoy a Sunrise and Sunset with Jack
• Lose 4 Stone (I have started Slimming World and am on it!)
• Reach 1,000 followers across my Social Media
• Reach 1,500 unique visits a month on here
• Reach 100 subscribes on my Youtube channel
• Be on the radio - (I have actually completed this one- I was on Radio One's 'Whats my age again' last week!)

Did any of you have a list like this? Did you manage to complete it?

Much Love, 

Tk xx

Monzo

Rewind a few months ago, and Jack was raving about this pay as you go card he'd found run by a crowdfunded bank that his mate at work had told him about.

I was extremely skeptical, and also didn't really see the point in all honesty.

I had a bank account already, why did I need more cards clogging up my purse? Especially when I would have to move money over in order to use it, which seemed like a lot of extra hassle that I wasn't keen on.

Eventually he wore me down and I agreed to get one.

To start, you download the Monzo App, and fill in all of your personal details, as you can expect. You also need to send a 15 second video of yourself to confirm your indentity, which I was a bit skeptical about to start with but it's not as bad as it sounds. They confirm your video against pictures from your passport or driving license that you also send pictures of.

Once this is all sent off, you will then see a cute little gif of your card winging it's way to you.


The app shows you when you spend your money, as well as where and also splits your money into categories such as Shopping, Groceries, Eating out and more.
If required, you can change these if they have got it wrong, although I have never had to!

I had to admit defeat and accept that Jack was right, which is super difficult for me to say!

Recently, the company have upgraded many accounts from prepaid to current accounts. So we still have bright orange cards, but we can use them as we would with any other bank account.

The app is also new and improved, still categorising your spends, as well as having saving features called 'pots'.



You are able to name the pots whatever you like and move Money into them super quickly and easily.

We are also to pay for items together, by requesting a split monzo payment. (obviously only available with friends and family who also have Monzo cards)



I would definitely give Monzo 5 stars and if you haven't heard of them and want to know more now, click here for more information.

Any questions, just ask!

Much Love,

Tk,

xx