Meal Prep 101

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Gemma

If you follow me on instagram you will know that I am all about packing my own lunches and prepping my meals and snacks for the week on a Sunday so they are all done and dusted and I can just lift them out of the fridge at 6am before hitting the gym. I had always done this but since starting Kayla Itsines’ BBG programme I have been properly dedicated to the cause. I will post more about BBG soon but I’m now on week 14 of Kayla’s guides and love them. If you put in the work you can definitely see results, plus the BBG community is great, very supportive!

First of all, why is meal prep important? Well, ever heard the expression “abs are made in the kitchen”? It is true. You can work out and do all the crunches you want but if you aren’t getting your nutrition right – I definitely wasn’t before – then you’re just going to get frustrated – I did! I’m also willing to bet that very few of you have a full service kitchen at work so taking your food with you is pretty important. Not to mention that it will save you a fortune and buying processed/”ready meal” food is going to be full of hidden, abs destroying ingredients. It’s not just lunch either, offices are hot beds of unhealthy snacks so you’re going to need your own snacks to both look forward to throughout the day and help you avoid the biscuits, chocolate and sweets! So these are my top tips for meal prepping that I have learned whilst doing BBG. Continue reading →

Fabletics Review

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Gemma

This is a post that I have been meaning to write for months but better late than never!

I was given a three month subscription to Fabletics for a birthday present last year and having posted some of the outfits over on Instagram I was asked to review them, therefore I thought I would break down my review by pieces, design and service. Continue reading →

How to upcycle your finished Yankee Candles

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Gemma

So I told you I would be back with a little craft post and here it is. I don’t know about you but we love candles in our house and I joke that our candle choice falls in to two seasons Yankee Candle (Autumn and Winter) and Jo Malone (Spring and Summer)! This post is a tutorial on how to upcycle your Yankee Candles once the wick has burned right down but there is still a good inch and a bit of wax left.

We love the Yankee Candle jars and they last forever – these are two we actually bought in the YC outlet in Florida on our honeymoon in Sept 2014 so they have done very well. Not only do the candles smell great but the jars are super useful too – so how to get them clean and get the remaining wax out/what to do with it? This is a pretty much free solution too, the only thing you need are glass votives (we already had loads in the house) and some new wicks – you van get these on Amazon for a couple of pounds. Continue reading →

Updates from the Shire

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Gemma

I’d taken a short sabbatical from the blog but I’m back! I’ve been over on Instagram though so you can follow me there. Anyway I have quite a few updates including, a Fabletics review, an update on my bikini body mission, what I’m reading, some craft ideas that I’ve put together/done in the cottage and some recipes – just finding the time to get it all in the blog!

This is a super micro-blog but above are a few things I have been up to recently, Christmas with our families, working out, stacking logs and skiing!

Making an Autumn wreath for your home

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Gemma

When the seasons change I like to alter the decor in our home a little, whether it is a different display on our hall table, different linens for our bedroom or a wreath on our front door. No, don’t worry, I’ve not dived straight into Christmas already! Autumn always puts on such a great display of colours that I wanted to reflect that. So here’s my quick how to on making your own front door wreath to cheer up those dark evenings and make your own front door even more welcoming.

Continue reading →

Weekend in the Shire – Wedding Anniversary!

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Gemma

My husband and I have just celebrated our first wedding anniversary and we had such a lovely weekend so I thought I would share how we celebrated with you guys. Your first anniversary is paper which in terms of a gift proved more tricky than I had thought! However, even though we hadn’t collaborated our presents to each other were really complimentary which was fab. So if you are coming up on your first year of celebrating wedded bliss then here are a couple of ideas for you. Continue reading →

How to Pack Hand Luggage Perfectly – Part One

Posted on September 12, 2015 by Gemma

I haven’t written a travel post (or any – sorry work is crazy but I have posts lined up!) in a while and as it is one of my passions I thought I had better put that right. This post is part one of two, this first post shares how easy it is to pack for a two week trip with just a trolley bag and the second post shares what to carry on for long haul flights. I love travelling and I love being organised, I also hate losing my luggage and being bored so I have hand luggage travel down to a fine art. Maybe I should explain those last two statements, I hate losing luggage so unless it is a ski trip or trans-Atlantic I always use just carry on and I hate being bored so I always have a range of “projects” in my hand luggage to keep me amused… These are my top tips on how to pack for a two week break with just hand luggage Continue reading →

Weekend in the Shire – The importance of friends

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Gemma

This weekend was a brilliant weekend in the Shire! We took a break from cottage decor, cottage budgeting and minor DIY to meet up with friends, chill out and enjoy our home.

On Saturday we were off to a local loch (lake for my international readers, but not the one with the monster) and met with two friends and their dog, no this isn’t an intro to a bad joke. Whilst the boys rented a canoe and paddled off for an adventure the girls enjoyed a stroll in the beautiful Scottish scenery and found a great spot for tea and cake. It was fantastic just kicking back with one of my best friends and watching as the guys paddled up in their canoe, we had hoped for a small amusing capsize but they were far too competent for that. Continue reading →

Weekend in the Shire – Glitter print tutorial

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Gemma

I hope you have all had a great weekend! It was another super busy weekend in the Shire. Including date night on Saturday, we hadn’t had a date night in a while so we went to one of our favourite restaurants and had a great laugh together, including running back to the car in the rain trying to share our tiny umbrella, lots of fun! You can read my whole post on dating (your husband!) here. Last weekend I updated an old wardrobe by painting it with chalk paint, it has had a great effect and really brightened up the room. This weekend I decided to make some artwork for our bedroom. I’d had the idea of having a quote print and then quite fancied something with a bit of shimmer so out came the Christmas crafting supplies aka the glitter and glue! You can see the finished product above and below I will show you the step by step guide I took to make it! Continue reading →

DIY Project – Painting Furniture

Posted on August 4, 2015 by Gemma

I have been properly MIA these last few weeks so apologies as I am sure you have missed me…;-) Life got very busy and notes fell a little by the way side. However there has been a lot going on in our little cottage in the shire so I have a few projects to share with you. The first thing to happen was that we have started overhauling our bedroom, we got a new carpet and refreshed the paint. We hadn’t decorated at all since we moved in almost a year ago so it really was time. I will share a picture of the whole room overhaul once it is done but in the meantime I want to share my weekend’s project with you. The small wardrobe that lives in our bedroom (we converted a cupboard into a larger wardrobe- this one would just be way too small on its own!!) It just did not go with the cottage’s decor and looked decidedly 90’s so after some research (which my mum helped with) I decided to use chalk paint to give it an update. Chalk paint doesn’t involve sanding down your furniture first or priming it – had that been the case this project would just not have happened, no time for sanding, priming and painting, well no time and definitely no patience. Here’s how I did it! Continue reading →

Notes from the Shire

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