Spending Ban | 8 days to go...and a little slip up!

So I am 23 days into my May spending ban, started by the lovely Kat from Tales Of A Pale Face. How have I done so far? Well, it seems that May is the month of sales  - Illamasqua and The Body Shop are just two brands that I can name and it took a lot of willpower to divert my attention away from them! I actually went into town with my Mum during the Illamasqua sale and I am not sure if you'd count this as cheating but she bought me a couple of things I liked whilst in town.. I didn't ask her to, she just did...Oops!

Nevertheless, I mention in the title that I slipped up and that I did - to the grand total of £3.80 (thanks Danniella for reminding me of the price!). The only thing I have bought all month is a copy of Marie Claire magazine which I have already read & recycled - just because it had this beauty included as a freebie:

This month, Marie Claire were giving away free Avon products and it is no secret that I love a good old Avon lipstick - see a rave review here. I knew I shouldn't buy it and I did try to persuade my Mum to purchase the magazine for herself and give me the freebie - to no avail - so I had to bite the metaphorical bullet and make it mine!

The colour is called Smitten Red and I absolutely adore it, it actually feels like I have finally found the perfect red for me! I will be posting a full review very soon in a guest post over on Lisa's blog so be sure to check it out!

If you're on a spending ban, how are you doing?

Wedding Planning Wednesday | 012

I attended my second wedding fair ever this weekend and I have to say I was a little disappointed. Although I have only ever attended the one before, my friend (who came with me) has been to a few now and she said that this was very small and not as well thought out as others. However, I did come home with a lot of business cards, quotes and some more ideas!

I was going to write about the event in more detail, however we stayed there for little over an hour, I took no pictures and Jack was having a tantrum most of the time so...there isn't much to tell!

What I can tell you though is that we have finally whittled the day down to two dates - there is 7 months between them but it all depends on the money situation we're in over the next couple of months! Our wedding is either going to be in September 2014 or April 2015 - I'm hoping for September but we shall see!

Personal | Is Bingo Becoming Cool?

I've made it no secret in the past that I love a game of bingo. Whether it is down the local for a tiny cash prize, at holiday camps where you win vouchers that you can redeem for prizes or just plain old online bingo, you can guarantee that I am game for a laugh. 

I have tried various bingo sites over the years and have begun to notice something - the people who play are becoming a lot younger. When you see pictures pop up of the winner and their prize, you normally expect to see someone middle aged staring back at you  - but more and more often, I have been seeing glamorous twenty something's smiling back at me through my computer screen. Is bingo becoming cool? 

It cannot be denied that since the internet really came into its own and the devastating recession, bingo and the substantial online bingo prizes have really witnessed a revival. The lottery and its scratch card counterparts are all getting bigger and better as people try to make some money in this hard world, where money certainly doesn't come by easily!

What do you think about the online craze that is bingo? Do you or other women in your family play regularly or do you consider it something for the older generation perhaps? I love a game, how about you?

Food | Discovering Discovery

For the Cinco De Mayo celebrations on May the 5th, Discovery sent us some lovely goodies to try out. I apologise for only getting this post up now, sitting down to find the time to include all the photos and recipes has not been easy!

We were sent a variety of items to use and Steve, being Steve, decided that instead of picking just the one recipe, he'd give them all a go and we would have ourselves a little Cinco De Mayo feast. 

 We picked up around 700g of chicken from our local shop; 450g for the All In One fajitas and 250g for our Cajun Chicken mix.

 For the chicken fajitas, we cut the chicken into strips before adding the Discovery Fajita seasoning. We then placed it in the frying pan and fried it until the chicken was well browned. Whilst doing this, we also started the Cajun Chicken wraps!

 We peeled off the top of the Cajun seasoning and added it to the chicken in the saucepan, in the meantime also keeping an eye on the fajita chicken, as seen below.

 Looking good, no?

 We then took the fajita chicken off the heat whilst finishing off with the Cajun Chicken by adding the sauce to the mix.

 Setting up for a Cinco De Mayo picnic in front of the telly :)

 The two chicken mixes!

 A little pot of salsa was included but the main star of the night was the new Garlic & Herb Soured Cream. I am a huge fan of garlic and herb flavourings so to see this included was fantastic! This will definitely be making its way onto my shopping list in the foreseeable future!

Thanks for a fantastic meal, Discovery Foods!

To find out more about the Discovery Foods range, just click here.

PR Samples.

Blog Every Day In May | Playing Catchup

Well, I think we can safely say that I have not really captured the essence of blogging every day in May. Due to a mix of internet issues, a busy working schedule the past week plus Steve being at work all week, I've barely had time to think let alone blog! But in this post, I aim to give you some little snippets on the topics which I missed.

Life's A Lesson

I don't really think that I have learnt many lessons in my life - except that often those people that claim they will always be there for you won't be - and that's ok. If you don't mourn losing them from your life, then they never deserved to be there in the first place.

Pampering

I could go on and on about pampering until the cows come home, after all beauty posts do feature quite a bit on this blog! What I love doing most is putting Jack to bed and jumping into a nice, hot bubble bath with a facemask on with either a paperback or my Kindle for company. Bliss! I've actually run out of bubble bath right now - shock horror- and I can't buy anymore until my spending ban is over. Oh, the pain!

Walk To Work

I don't really walk to work; I work in the next town over which is far too much to walk so I generally get the bus (or a lift if Steve is on nights/off). I have tried to walk it once when the bus broke down. It was not my best decision.

It was bitterly cold that day! Luckily, our supervisor came and picked us up!

Best Friends

I'm not going to talk too much about this subject as I think I put it best in this post here.

Favourite Tradition

I don't really indulge in many traditions, to be quite honest. I used to have loads when I was little but they have all disappeared as I have grown up. I suppose I did indulge in one this weekend - for the 3rd year running, my friend came round for Eurovision with alcohol - and we did appallingly again! Haha!

Newsflash

This story. Such lovely pictures but such heartbreaking tales behind them. I cannot even truly explain how I felt when I read this article earlier on today. It truly is heartbreaking. As both a mother and someone whose family has been ravaged by cancer and other terminal illnesses (and still is), I only hope that the surviving people in each photo takes some sort of comfort from these  pictures of them and their loved ones.

I Love My Post | 37

Co-Hosts wanted!! If you fancy co-hosting with us drop pop an email through to: sarah@lifeinabreakdown.com

Welcome to the I Love My Post blog hop where we invite you to link up your favourite post of the week, to show it off and hopefully receive some love from the others partaking in the hop!

If you are yet to participate in a hop they are really simple to get the hang of all you need to do is 'hop' around, hopefully finding some new great reads!

The Rules are simple.

1. Check out and follow the hosts and co-hosts. Leave them a comment if you would like them to follow back.
2. Choose at least 3 other blogs and hop on over and leave them some love, plus let them know how you found them - I'm sure they would love it if you followed as well!
3. Have Fun and come back next Saturday.

Please just don't link up and click off to make this successful everyone needs to hop around!

Your Host’s this week are:
Sarah from Life in a Break Down
Bex from Futures
and our lovely co-hosts are:
Brigitte from BreezeyBee Blog
Danielle from KalamityJane Kosmetics
Merk from Merk and her Mastiff
Myranda from Pretty Living PDX

I would love it if you would tweet, share on facebook or place our button on your blog, the more sharing we can get happening the bigger this hop can become!

Tweet

<div align="center"><a href=" http://www.lifeinabreakdown.com/tag/i-love-my-post/" title="Life in a Break Down"><img src="http://imageshack.us/a/img268/1971/ilovemypostnew.jpg" alt="Life in a Break Down" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

This week's Featured Blog is:

Run by two Mum's Powerful Mothering brings you a fun and lively blog that depicts the adventure of these two lovely Mum's ~ Sarah

If you have been featured grab our button!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.lifeinabreakdown.com/tag/i-love-my-post/" title="I Love my Post"><img src="http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/6545/featuredb.jpg" alt="I Love my Post" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

If you fancy being next week’s featured blogger make sure you follow all the rules give you hosts and co-hosts a follow and Sarah could be calling on you next week to come and feature with us.

We now have a fantastic Mail Chimp List so if you want a weekly reminder about the hop Sign up now!

Giveaway | Father's Day: Gorgeous Recycled Brass Cufflinks from La Jewellery

OPEN WORLDWIDE!

Would you like the opportunity to win some lovely cufflinks from La Jewellery? Then read on for more info!

All you need to do is complete the Rafflecopter below. Please note that by including your email address, you are giving consent to La Jewellery to be added to their mailing list and receive latest offers & competitions on a monthly basis. GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway