Sunday spends

Louis and I were walking through town today and we popped in to Blockbuster who were having a sale. We went a bit ott...

These are the films I haven't seen yet. I'll be watching Pan's Labyrinth after A Nightmare on Elm Street is finished, heard nothing but good things about it! The other three I haven't heard much about so a bit of a gamble.

These are films that I have seen but wanted to actually own. Bedazzled is a total guilty pleasure of mine, has been since it came out! Can't beat an Arnie film, Serenity or Face/Off and the Three Musketeers has a cast of loveliness!

Always on the lookout for something to nourish my hair. One of the pitfalls of being blonde is that my hair is quite dry and can get very brittle so I'm always hunting for something to make it feel a bit better. Also the same reason I bought the moisturising shampoo. I will have luscious blonde locks that don't snap or fall out!

The Supersoft is for Louis, he needed some more shampoo. I don't think he has specific preferences if it smells nice he will use it.

Another BB Cream, what a surprise! I'm using more and more Derma V10 products and hearing good reviews from people (especially my mother!) so they must be doing something right. Next time I'm going to go for the night cream, anyone used it?

Got a bit of a fright when I squeezed this out onto my hand, it's awfa orange!

My fears were quickly quashed though as it blended beautifully and felt really soft and lovely on my skin. I'll be using this on my face tomorrow to go to work, give it a proper test run!

Picked up this wee pot as well, though it would be great for keeping my slowly growing make-up brush collection.

See, how cute do they look!

So each of the dvds were £1, 11 in total. Each of the next items were from Poundland so a fiver in total for a  whopping grand total of £16. 

Bargain queen so I am!

Clothes are not my friend today

I tried to go shopping today for something to wear to a wedding on Saturday, I was having a really good day until I started trying the clothes on. After being in such a good mood after getting my size 14 Pure dress that I wore in my ootd gay pride post, I was geared up and ready to attack the shops and find something fabulous.

I failed miserably. Every shop I went into, I found at least one great dress. Tried it on and then left each shop feeling more and more dejected. They didn't fit, my boobs warped the dresses, the fabric clung to my belly making me look pregnant or they just looked bloody stupid on my body.

After an afternoon of this feeling mounting and my mood entering foul territory, I marched off to Savers and came back with some goodies. Goodies that don't care if I have huge hips, a big belly or a big fat arse!

Because I don't have enough candles and incense. Mulled wine has to be one of my favourite candle scents even though I've never tried mulled wine!

I've never tried any anatomicals products so I'm looking forward to giving it a wee go! Read a fair few reviews of their products and they have mostly been good things so fingers crossed.

I love this wee blurb on the back of the packet, are all their products like this?

I love my Face Food, and these are definitely my favourite. I used to hate peel off face masks when I was younger but the older I've got, the more I've loved them! I don't use them regularly though, only now and then.

Like my new Jacko gloves? Nah, I've never tried moisturing gloves so I'll be slathering my hands in one of my many moisturisers/creams and sleeping in these. I'll probably wake up with one on the other side of the room!

I really need to stop buying lip products and use all the ones I have first but I couldn't resist these! I love flavoured products for my lips so these butters were right up my street!

They all smell divine, even the chocolate one (I'm not usually that big a fan of chocolate scented things) I'll probably start with the raspberry. Let's see how long it takes me to lose these!

Who doesn't like nice smelling stuff! I've set this up already and can already smell it, it's wonderful! I was going to go for vanilla but I thought 'hey alana, get a scent you don't usually get, live outside the box!'

Can never have too many BBs, CCs, tinted moisturisers, etc so say hello to the latest in my collection. The thing that made me stop was the fact that it was ultra light, it's like they created a shade just for me!

At first I thought it looked really dark and orangey but it blended fabulously! Can't wait to try this on my fizzog.

Much like BBs, CCs and tinted moisturisers, you can never have too many face masks! I like having lots of different types of face masks as I have combination skin; always prepared! This smells divine. Cucumber is one of my favourite face product scents, it just smells so fresh!

I didn't leave this on my hand long enough to dry , just wanted to see how it blended. Also keeps it as a surprise for when I do actually use it.

My last item has to be, quite possibly my greatest charity shop find EVER.

So for those of you looking at this thinking it's some kind of weird sex toy, fear not! It's called a gorilla pod and it's a tripod stand for my camera. Now that I no longer have to balance my camera on piles of books, I might actually make some youtube videos!

Back to the dress hunting, one of my friends mum has actually sent me 2 dresses in the post that (should) arrive tomorrow so I'm praying one of them looks good. If by some freak chance I'm having another one of those days that I hate my body, my friend Juta has a fabulous dress that she has said I can also borrow.

I think the reason I'm getting so bent out of shape about what to wear is because this is my first wedding that wasn't family. The first of my friend's to get married (first that's invited me anyway) and so I am bleeding terrified but so excited as well! I'll be sure to take my camera and get plenty pictures!

OOTD; Gay Pride 2013

Unfortunately I couldn't go to anything during the day as I was working (I'll definitely try to make it one day though, it would be such a fantastic thing to be a part of!) but I had planned to go out after work with my mum, 2 cousins and my Aunt Jo (mojo jojo), family pride! It was such a great atmosphere to be around, everyone was just so fucking happy! We went to The Street in Edinburgh then CC Blooms for a bit before my mum headed home and I went to Opium (durty moasher at heart!)

This is what I wore and I felt bloody fantastic. For a start, the dress cost me £9! (I got 10% off because there was a wee tear along the seam and it was the only one in that size). Talking about size, it's a 14. A frigging 14, I used to be a size 22! I kept going on about this the whole night, I was just so freaking chuffed with myself! 4 dress sizes down from my largest. I'm amazed at myself!

Mammy and I

Cousin Adrian and I

These were the shoes I decided to wear and if you follow me on any social networking sites, you'll already know what happened...

Yeahhhh so I'm an idiot and it's my own bloody fault I fell! Ended up having to go to hospital last night and turns out I've sprained both my feet and knackered both my knees. That's a skill! It's still quite sore to walk but I'm making sure to divide time up equally between rest and moving. Hopefully it doesn't take too long to heal and I can start jogging/running again!

Asides from the falling over, I had a great night with my family and then I got to see some friends I haven't seen for quite a whille. Overall a great night and I'm still chuffed that dress is a 14!

Would 16 year old you be happy with where you are now?

I think that's quite possibly the longest title I've ever written for a blog post. The idea for this came to me earlier on today at work when an old school friend walked past with his parents, whose father just so happened to be our headteacher as well. On their way back, said old headteacher stopped and we had a wee chat, mostly about what I'd been up to after I left school.

I have to admit I felt a slight twinge of disappointment in myself. Here stood a man, who for 5 years helped me, guided me and wished me well when I left school to go to university. And here I was stood before him, without a degree, without finishing my further education with an avergae joe job. Part of me felt like I'd let him down and I felt quite guilty about that.

At 16 I was hellbent on wanting to become a journalist. I can't even remember where the idea came from, I'm sure I just plucked it out the air one day and thought 'yes. I'll do that'. I enjoyed English and Modern Studies, I was good at them, unlike maths (let's not go there) so logic dictated that a career in journalism would be a good move. The only downfall was I was never very confident in my writing, I'm still not but I've learned to accept it.

Of course university never quite went to plan. It was actually probably one of the worst moves I ever made, that's where my downward spiral began really. I have a rather addictive personality, I'm not trying to use that as an excuse or anything but once I get hooked on something, that's it! (I've learned to curb it these days, or get hooked on good things, like walking!). I discovered alcohol at uni, much like most students (although most students were at least legally old enough to drink it!) I got some pretty stress inducing news whilst I was there and I'm pretty sure that's where my mental problems kind of started.

I've had my ups and downs since then, some of which I've spoken about on here and some of which I haven't. I choose not to focus on the negatives these days, I've had many years of doing that so it's time to look for the positives in life!

Career wise, I don't think 16 year old me would be too impressed with 24 year old me. If I had managed to stick out at uni, I would have had a degree years ago and quite possibly a job in journalism or closer to it than I am now. Although if I had stuck at uni, I wouldn't have gone on to have my beautiful girls. There are always what ifs!

My life didn't turn out like I'd planned but then whose has? Do you have the job you wanted when you were 16? I'll be honest, what with today's recessions and shops closing all the time, I feel lucky that I even managed to get this job that I'm doing now! Sure it's not what I planned for at 16 but I'm earning a living and that my friends is quite a marvellous feeling.

I feel I should apologize for this post as a) it's all text, I felt if I added pictures it might devalue the point I'm trying to get across,  b) I don't think I have really got my point across, like I said earlier not all that confident in my writing and finally c) I don't think this post is very well laid out, it's more thoughts written down in no particular order.

Do 4 items count as a haul?

Got myself some treats a couple days ago, just couldn't help myself!

Full but brief post

I have these pants. You all know the kind I mean. 'Bridget knickers'. Except mine could put Bridget to shame. They are quite possibly the largest pants I have ever owned (this is including when I was pregnant!). They are a size 20 and go up past my belly button. There I said it, well I typed it out loud!

They aren't quite as 'sucky inny' as Bridget's but they are as fecking massive. When I first bought them, I'm ashamed to admit they were the tiniest bit tight but I just couldn't bring myself to buy the 22, it was almost as if I didn't want to accept that I had let myself get to that size.

The months have gone on and they have got looser and looser, baggier and baggier, more and more unflattering and I am finally at the stage where I can throw them out and know I will never need to wear them again. That's right, I'm chucking out my 'fat pants' and I'm never buying another pair again!

Also, I enjoy my witty title, I'm not very good at coming up with them so kudos to myself.

Conquering fears

Swap car for phone though.

For the second time since my high school days, I set foot in a gym. The first time I don't really count as I was shown the equipment at the college gym then never went back, tonight however, I was shown all the equipment (at a different gym from the last) and actually signed up to go regularly. I even jumped on the cross trainer for a whole 5 minutes before I remembered that Louis was waiting for me outside! (Totally not because some creepy guy saw me from the other end of the gym and moved over to the cross trainer right beside me.)

I went for the off-peak as I thought the peak was a bit too steep for me. Off-peak hours are 6.30am-4pm Mon-Fri and 5pm-9pm Sat and Sun, so I'll be able to go on days I don't start work till 2pm, if I'm working weekends I can go after and on my days off. I get access to the gym, the weights room and the pool and also access to a few other sports centres in my area.

Part of the reason I've never gymed before is my anxiety goes absolutely mental! I'm bad enough jogging with Muj through the park but to actually go into a gym, workout, sweat and be there long enough for people to be able to watch me (I know they aren't actually watching me but the thoughts there!).

I'm going to ask the instructors at the gym to help me come up with a program to follow as I'm a complete novice and don't have a clue where to begin!

The good thing about the gym I'm joining is there aren't actually any mirrors, not that I saw anyway. The bad thing about the gym that I'm joining is there aren't actually any mirrors, instead it's just glass so anyone that comes into the actual centre can see in. That'll be great for my anxiety ae?! I'll just have to suck it up and get over it! I'm there to improve my body for me, whatever anyone thinks of me is none of my business.

I'm really looking forward to this. I know it will probably take a while to get into a good routine and to feel comfortable being there but I know it will do me the world of good! In no time at all I'll be a well oiled machine.

Race For Life 2013

I took part in my first ever Race For Life today, my first ever public moving event (apart from going for jogs with Muj if you want to count those). I was accompanied by Michaela (on the left) and Muj (on the right) and my mum, the girls and Louis came to watch and cheer us on!

I lost my Uncle Billy this year to surprise surprise, cancer and I decided the day after he passed that I was going to do Race For Life and raise as much money as I could for him. He was the kindest man I've ever known and I couldn't say a bad word about the man. He is dearly dearly missed.

This is the beautiful sight I was greeted with on my last km, quite close to the finish line. Managed to hold back a few tears I felt welling up. Was so pleased my fabby wee girls got to see me do this though and Georgia wants to do it next year and get her own medal!

Action shot! Not my most fabulous look but ken whit, I don't care. I wasn't doing it to look good. That mass of red hair is Muj giving me a high five and the wee blue sleeves holding up the sign was Georgia with the sign you can see in the last picture.

I deliberately made sure I didn't see what my mum had written when we were in the house, I wanted it to be a surprise when I was there.

I finished in a respectable 48:50, my goal was under an hour so to get under 50 minutes, I was amazed! My wee mammy ran up to me and hugged me and had a wee cry. Think she was quite proud of me :)

I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be for this and I ended up walking a fair whack of it but going the last km or so, people were holding up signs that were great! "Run, my dad just farted" and "Run like you stole something" Louis joined me at one point as well for a wee walk which was lovely of him.

At the finish line we were given a bottle of water, our shiny medals (which I wore all day, even while doing my shopping in Asda!) and a wee pain au chocolate which I gave to Georgia. Despite being very red in the face for quite a while and wee bit out of puff for a bit, I felt fucking fantastic. After we all finished, we headed off to Spoons for a pint and some lunch, much appreciated and very tasty!

This is my first of many races I believe. I'm going to start a medal collection! My ultimate goal is to run the London Marathon one day. Who want's to join me?

So thanks to this little beauty, I have a working computer again! It's so slow and takes forever to load things but at least I now have the option if Louis isn't here with his laptop.

Having this, my tablet and my phone, I have no excuse to not be blogging! I've got my camera as well so NO EXCUSES ALANA.

It still amazes me that something this small can make internet work! I still remember when it would take a good few minutes to connect to the internet, it would play you a song as it connected and you would get screamed at to get off so your mum could use the phone. Just me?

So yeah the point of this post is basically to say I will becoming an active blogger again. Got a couple posts I'm about to write up and schedule. Exciting times ahead for alanagetshealthy!

Blogilates for beginners

When it comes to exercise I prefer to follow routines, check things off lists that other people have gone to the trouble of making. Partly because I'm lazy and partly because I don't have the first clue where to begin! Imagine my delight when I got an email from Cassey yesterday to let me know she had created a Blogilates Beginner's Calendar!

I've been wanting to try out Blogilates for a while but after watching a few videos, I was utterly terrified! I know it's going to be brutal, it will hurt some days and I'll probably curse Cassey Ho for the torture but at the end of the month, I've a feeling I will feel great and be sending her love tweets!

I'm going to start this calendar tomorrow. Yeah I'm kinda putting it off as I could fine well start today but I actually want to get some tidying done before I head off to the cinema with Louis (possibly going to see 2 films tonight!) So tomorrow I will wake up and proudly call myself a doer of Blogilates.

I did receive the #JuneOnFire calendar but I figure it would probably be a better idea to ease myself in with this beginner's calendar first. I will try my best to do round up posts but probably not every day, there will more than likely be pictures on instagram of my sweaty face and rage tweets. I hope you're looking forward to it as much as me!

Have you tried Blogilates? How did you get on with it?

Want to do this Beginner's Calendar with me? Let me know! We can swap stories, motivate each other and moan to each other about the pain!

So I'm still not used to using my tablet but I have figured out that I can post from it as if I'm using a laptop/computer. Happy days! Now I iust need to figure out if I can add pictures but that can be a job for another day.

I feel like I've totally lost my mojo this past wee while and all I am is a wee worker bee. I'm slowly getting back on track with everything but it's taken much longer than I thought it would. I want to be that person who inspires again, the person who clogs up your feeds on social networking sites with her workout logs, blog posts and upbeat attitude.

I feel so out of the blogosphere loop, dont know whats happening in beauty land, fashion world or health town. I want to go back to interacting with bloggers and trying new things out

This is a very 'I' post and I apologize for that, I'll be back to my happy, chirpy self by the next post. Tomorrow is Day 1 of Wii Fit (again), doing it first thing in the morning totally sets me up for the day so looking forward to starting that again. Also need to go back to having early nights.

This almost feels like a promise post to myself and you guys. I will try harder and if you think I'm not trying hard enough, shout at me! Seriously though, I'll get it back. Ill make you all proud again.

Till next time, make good choices and be happy!