ten year school reunion

Can you believe it has been 10 years since I left Secondary (High) School?! Because I can't!!! I know I sound cliché but time has just flown by and have no idea where it's gone.

Anyway I had a bit of a get together with some old school friends and someone thought it was a good idea to dress up as school girls to mark the occasion. Not my brightest moment but I thought I would share a few snaps of what I wore with you anyway.

My advice to anyone still in school is make the most of the experience and make sure you enjoy it! I really miss hanging out with friends, being carefree and the long summer holidays!

What do you miss the most from your school days? 

Sita xoxo 

hello + update

A Picture From My Bristol Trip 

Hi guys

I hope you guys are keeping well. You may or may not have noticed that we've been lacking on the blog post front recently.

Sometimes a full time job, life and sickness can get in the way of writing posts. I unfortunately have the flu and am sniffling my way through typing this post.

The frequent readers amongst you may know that we are transitioning to cruelty free/veggie/natural cosmetics.

It has been a month and half since we made this decision but I still feel as inspired as ever and become more and more inspired everyday to make this transition through watching/reading some amazing cruelty-free/veggie/natural beauty YouTube videos/blogs.

I am more than 100% happy with my decision. The only thing that makes me inpatient is having to use up all the products I have, sometimes I just feel like throwing everything in the trash and starting afresh. For now I am restraining myself and just working at using up my products.

So far the area that I am completely cruelty free/veggie/natural is deodorant! This may sound totally ridiculous to you but this makes me want to jump for joy. I know that this transition is going to take some time and so you have take the small achievements.

I have discovered a few great websites that have been aiding me along my journey, which I wanted to share with you guys.

The first one being the Environmental Working Group Website. This website offers a skin deep guide to cosmetics, a resource which is truly invaluable. You are able to search products to find their hazard rating. Furthermore they offer a function to input ingredients from any cosmetics not listed and they will create a hazard report for you based on the ingredients.

Another useful resource is the 100 cosmetic ingredients to avoid free download from The Green Beauty Guide Blog. There are also some great posts to read to.

As always the BUAV and PETA sites are a handy resource.

Feel free to share any other helpful websites so that we can all learn and benefit in the comments :)

I'll leave you with a quote: 

"No nation is truly free until the animal, man’s younger brother, is free and happy.” Sadhu T. L Vaswani

Sita xoxo 

a crisp autumn day in the park

 

This weekend I was sorting through pictures on my memory card, and stumbled upon these forgotten ones from a few months back. They reminded me of fresh air and fun walks in the park.

During winter time it's rather too cold for my liking and I become somewhat of a lazy hermit and spend my time indoors. I'm looking forward to spring time and days out exploring the countryside once again.

If you need a Monday pick me then this song by Lindsey Ray never fails to put a smile on my face.

If your in need of a fun activity this week  then go take a peek at our review of the film Cloud Atlas and see if it takes your fancy.

Talking of different seasons. What your favourite season?

Sita xoxo

film review: cloud atlas

Hi guys, hope your having a lovely weekend. What have you been up to? We were lucky enough to see a free advance screening of the movie Cloud Atlas. This is our review of the movie.

Official Synopsis:
An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution. 

Genre: 
Science Fiction

Starring: 
Tom Hanks
Halle Berry
Hugo Weaving
Ban Whishaw
Susan Sarandon
Jim Broadbent
Hugh Grant
James D'Arcy
Jim Sturgess

Official Site: 
http://cloudatlas.warnerbros.com/ 

Thoughts:
Without giving too much away the film jumps between six interconnecting stories. The stories are all set in different time periods, 1849, 1936, 1973, 2012, 2144, 106 winters after 'The Fall' (post-apocalypse).  Within each individual story each actor takes on a role, representing the movement of a soul from one time period to the next, in the overall plot.

Interestingly the story is adapted and directed by the the same people that brought us The Matrix. The film seems to be a combination of everything, drama, action, romance, conspiracy theories, and even a little bit of comedy.

First of all we just have to say that the acting, costumes and make up in this film are all without fault, if it wasn't for the credits at the end showing us the all the different roles each actor played we would not have recognised some of them.

Secondly this is one of the longest English films we've seen. The running time is 172mins, nearly three whole hours. However to be honest the time flew by and we didn't realise until afterwards how long we had been sitting there for.

To conclude Cloud Atlas is an interesting and thought provoking film, even after we've left the cinema, we're still thinking about the different stories and the links between them, and the pieces that bring them together. So whilst we ponder about it some more, we'll leave you with the trailer and then you can decide for yourself whether it captures your interest enough to go and watch.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars 

Trailer:

The UK release date for Cloud Atlas is 22nd February 2013. (Was released in North America Oct 2012)

Are you planing to see this movie? If you've already seen it what are your thoughts? 

We would be interested to know if anyone has read the book and your thoughts on the movie adaptation? 

Sita & Radha xoxo

Disclaimer: All opinions are honest and our own. 

new year, new goals: inspired by nikki phillippi!

When the new year comes around most people make resolutions, usually focused around dramatic changes that they want in their lives. To eat healthier, to exercise everyday, to lose a certain amount of weight.

Last year I decided against making new year's resolutions because I found come February I had forgotten a good chunk of them.

This year I was ready to the same, until I was inspired after watching this You-Tube video by Nikki Phillippi.  In the video Nikki talks about separating your goals into categories  and then listing small tangible steps, in other words something small you can do each day to achieve that goal. 

Often goals are unrealistic and hence they are not achieved, the method described by Nikki enables you to have small very realistic steps, and because they are realistic expectations upon yourself, it makes it a heck of a lot easier to achieve your end point.

After finding inspiration from watching Nikki's video and thinking about my own goals and what I would like to achieve this year, I made my own set of goals following the method described.

Travel & Hobbies 

I love to travel and discover and experience new places. Last year I only managed one holiday abroad. I really would like to go on  a minimum of two trips abroad, this year. 

Last year when I was living on my own I use to read a lot, Since I've been home for the past 5 months I've managed only one book! I really would love to get back into reading as there are so many books I want to read but just haven't got around to!

1) Go on two trips abroad this year

Tangible steps: 
Spend five minutes a day researching/planning/organising/finalising a holiday 

2) Get back into reading

Tangible steps:
Make a reading list of books I want to read. 
Spend two minutes a day reading and work my way through the list. 

Relationships
Since leaving University and entering the working world a couple of years ago, I feel that I don't keep in contact, and get together as much with my friends as I use to! I guess everyone is busy with their working lives, but I really think it is important to make time to see your friends and this year I really want to make an extra effort to stay in touch and get together on a regular basis.

1) Reconnect with friends

Tangible steps:
Text one friend everyday
Talk to one friend every month on the phone for a good 20-30mins

Health & Fitness
I think every one of us could say that would like to eat more healthily and do more exercise. It can definitely be grouped into the classic New Year's resolution category. I'm not wanting to lose weight, just eat a more nutritious and balanced diet and exercise in order to feel better and fitter!

1) Eat a healthier diet

Tangible Steps:
Eat a portion of fruit or vegetable with every meal of the day
Eat Breakfast every day 
Drink a glass of water with every meal to keep myself hydrated. 

2) Get back into exercising

Tangible steps: 
Take the stairs at work each morning 
Put on a YouTube workout video and spend 3 minutes a day working out

Financial 
I guess I'm not getting any younger, I'm soon to hit 26, and I need to start thinking about the future, getting my own place and settling down etc.

The best part of this goal is I've set up a direct debit so I don't even have to physically do anything further.

1) Build up my savings nest - to spend on a car/ deposit on a house

Tangible Steps:
Set up a Direct Debit for £250 from my wages to go into a regular savings account each month. 

Spiritual 
I'm afraid to say i'm definitely more of a glass half empty person than a glass half full person, and i would like to be more positive this year. 

1) Reconnect with god

Tangible steps: 
Spend two minutes a day praying 

2) Feel happier and be positive 

Tangible steps: 
Read one inspirational quote each morning
End the day thinking of three good things that happened during the day 

To all of you that made it to the end, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read this post.

If your thinking it's already half way through January, it's too late to set some goals now, then I would say you still have 338 days of the year left, it's not to late! So definitely take some time and think about your goals and see if this method will work for you.

Do tell me your resolutions/leave me links in the comments below, because I would love to read them!

Today's Inspirational Quote: "Nothing is impossible, the word itself say's I'm possible!" - Audrey Hepburn 

Sita xoxo 

a clean room = a clear mind??

Hi guys!

Some of you may recall that I moved back home over two months ago now. In fact the start date of my new job was August the 1st (nice and easy to remember!). I really can't believe how fast the time has gone but also the fact that I'm still  living out of a suitcase!! Not entirely true, it's more like two suitcases and some boxes, but you get the gist. It's getting a bit ridiculous now. It's gone beyond ridiculous.

Therefore I have decided to be firm with myself this week, I have the rest of the week off and I have decided that I'm going to embark on somewhat of an organisation project. Let's face it..I really need to!

Has anyone else heard the quote/saying a clean house equals a clear mind?? (or something to that effect). Well I personally think it holds true. If my surroundings are clean and tidy, there's a  much more positive energy within the room, which helps me to focus.

My head has been very scattered of late and i'm hoping that not only will this project help me to find my clothes more easily in the mornings..but will also help to clear my mind.

What are your thoughts on this? Is there some sense to what i'm saying or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Sita xoxo

P.S. Don't forget to wish me luck with the cleaning! ;) 

our day at the paralympics

Hiya everyone! As promised here are some highlights from our day at the paralympics. We  started the day watching wheelchair basketball. We were lucky enough to get seats right near the front and a had great view of the whole game. It was such great fun to watch, and seriously we could not believe how fast the game moves from one end to the other. We watched three games, one of them being men's Canada Vs Germany and that was one fierce game! Canada were completely on form scoring basket after basket, Germany we have to say were very aggressive competitors. There were a lot of German and Canadian fans in the audience and the atmosphere in the stadium was fantastic. 

We also watched two games of tennis, men's doubles, team GB versus Cananda, and Team GB took the game in two straight sets in only an hour! We then moved to centre court to watch USA against Brazil, USA were leading and we thought the game was there, but Brazil came from behind and pulled it out of the bag to win the tie break!

All in all definitely a great day! We hope you enjoyed our pictures :) 

GO TEAM GB!!! 

Sita and Radha xoxo 

guess where we were?

Hiya everyone! We were in London this weekend for the paralympic games! We had an absolutely amazing day. The events we saw were wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis. It was great to be there in person soaking up the atmosphere and supporting the athletes.We shall share some more pictures with you  just as soon as we have had a chance to go through them.

Have you been to see the paralympics? What events did you see?

Sita & Radha

weekend up north

Hello Everyone! Hope your having a great long weekend, alternatively hope you had a great weekend if you did not have a bank holiday where you are. 

I went up north this weekend to visit some family. Now typically for a bank holiday weekend and classically for the north (well every time I go anyway)...yes you guessed it, it was pouring down with rain all of Saturday! Our first stop was Manchester, we actually did not go out anywhere due to the rain.  Instead we opted to stay indoors and I had a nice time catching up with my cousins, and also playing with my youngest cousin who is 4 years old and absolutely adorable! 

On Sunday we headed up to Morecambe to visit my aunt who recently moved there. I've been to Manchester many times but this was my first time visiting Morecambe. Luckily for us, the rain decided to settle come the afternoon and the sun made an appearance! we took the opportunity to head out for a walk along the coastline. The coast is actually quite beautiful and it was a shame that we didn't have more time to visit the lake district. Hopefully I will get a chance to go there again. I have travelled to many places abroad, but I feel like I haven't really explored the UK, even thou I live here! 

What did you get up to this weekend?

Sita xoxo

buttons abroad lisbon day 1

Hi Everyone! You may recall that we went on holiday to Lisbon during July, we have finally had a chance to go through the pictures, so we shall start sharing then with you!

Our first day commenced by waking up around 4am in the morning in order to get to the airport for our early flight. Suffice to say we mostly slept through the journey!

Once we arrived in Lisbon the first thing to hit us was the heat (after getting out of the air-conditioned airport of course!) It was so nice to step out into the sunshine, seeing as at that time it was constantly raining in England!

We decided to take the aerobus service to the hotel. The ticket is very well priced at only 3.50 euros, in addition you are able to use the ticket for 24 hours. There are three separate lines, going into the city centre, oriente (which is the Parque-das-Nacoes area) and  the third going to the financial district. They have a leaflet with a list of hotels and which stop you will need to get off at, and the stops are called out, so its easy enough to get off at the right stop.

The hotel we stayed at was the Hotel Miraparque, this is located near Marques de Pombal square, we got to the hotel two hours before the check in time, however they were nice enough to get our rooms ready for us early.

After freshening up with headed back out to explore, we decided to make use of the bus passes, and headed back to the airport and took the bus to the Parque-das-Nacoes area. After getting of the bus, cross a couple of roads, walk through the metro station area, and you'll come out on the other side and opposite, you'll find the Vasco Da Gama shopping centre.

Obviously we could not resist having a look in the shops, but surprisingly nothing was bought! If you head towards the end of the shopping centre and come out the other side, and head towards the river you can see the Vasco Da Gama bridge (the longest bridge in Europe).

This is also where the cable cars are located, you can see Radha in the picture above carefully manoeuvering herself along the walkway alongside the river. (In my defence there was a loud creaking sound as we walked over so was scared I'd fall in!)

The cable cars cost four euros to go one way, we decided to go only one way, but you can come back to where you started if you want. To be honest having sat on the cable cars we would not recommend them, you basically see what you see if you just walk along the river, there are no spectacular views.

After getting off the cable cars we walked through some gardens, to get back to the shopping centre and make our way back to the hotel on the bus.

The Parque-das-Nacoes area is also where the aquarium and casino are located, if that's something your interested in visiting.

We hope you found this useful. more pictures to come soon!

Sita & Radha xoxo

pastel pinks, pretty florals and mercedes-benz world

My New Boyfriend 

My New Ride 

Hi Guys! Hope your well. I myself am very sad the weekend is over. I went down to Surrey for my friends engagement ceremony and decided to make a weekend out of it and stayed over at the Brookland Hotel & Spa for the night. The hotel is right next door to Mercedes-Benz world, so we couldn't leave without having a look around.

 I'm wearing a pretty pastel pink, floral dress that I just recently purchased from Primark. It's currently on sale for £8, so go have a look in your local Primark if you like it. I paired it with some white sandals from miss selfridge, some fake pearl earrings and my usual bag from urban outfitters, which you guys have seen many times now!

What did you get up to this weekend?

Sita xoxo 

moving home and new job

Random pictures I took on the road home 

Hi Guys!!! I hope your well :) , As you may have guessed from the title, I have some exciting news for you. Yesterday I moved back home to my parent's house. The main reason is because i'm starting a new job. It's a more senior role in a larger organisation so i'm nervous but excited, all at the same time!

These last two weeks have been really hectic. I have literally been living at work trying to finish things off before I leave. As well as packing up my flat ready for the move!

I am currently sat in my old bedroom, surrounded by boxes and suitcases! I really don't know where to start unpacking. My room at home is actually smaller than the room I was in, so I already foresee problems in trying to fit all my stuff into this room. I suspect some boxes may never be unpacked!

On a separate note did you watch the Olympic opening ceremony yesterday? What did you think? I thought we did good! My favourite part has to be, the lighting of the torch, all the petals uniting to become one. I'm rather sad that I don't have any tickets.

Anyway I should get started on the unpacking! Enjoy the rest of your day :)

Sita xoxo

ola lisboa!!!

Hi Guys! Hope your all well! We went away to sunny Lisbon for the week! Here's a sneak peek...more pictures and details of what we got up to in upcoming posts :)

Sita and Radha xoxo 

thanks and outfit

Hey guys!


Thank you all for your get well messages. I'm feeling a lot better but not quite 100% yet (hence the turtle neck under the dress). This week has been really eventful; due to the horrendous thunderstorm with hail the size of golf balls, my workplace was flooded. It was awful and most of the building is in an unusable state! Although that does mean some time off work! =D Hope the weather's been better where you are.


Today I decided to wear the dress Sita got for me from ASDA for £5. I love the print on the dress but am not too keen on the style, especially the sleeves. I think it makes me look a bit frumpy and is something Hyacinth Bucket would wear. I love keeping up appearances but don't want to dress like her! It came with a thin black belt, which I didn't wear. I'm going to alter the dress but can't decide whether to make it sleeveless or cap sleeves. What do you think? 


I wore it with some faux croc flats from Urban Outfitters (£10) and of course the turtle neck from Zara (£8) as I have still got a sore throat. 


Radha xoxo

update and apologies

Hi guys!

I hope you are all well. First of all Thank you so much for all your support. Hello and welcome to any new followers. We really appreciate it. You may have noticed that we have been a little MIA recently (well more than a little) and for that we apologise.

Radha has been unwell with the flu but is getting better now :). I have been really busy attending courses and completing assessments for work as well as busy at work so it's been rather mad lately for me.

Yesterday, I finally had a chance to come home to my parents house for a day, but it's more of a hi-bye stay as I'm off again today. I'm going zorbing with a friend. Well I hope I'm going zorbing. See the thing is I was ment to go like a month ago, but they have already cancelled it twice before due it being too windy. That's why I'm keeping my fingers (and toes) cross that it will go ahead today. I shall be very disappointed if it doesn't.

I actually can't believe that it has been a month since I first wanted to go and now it's coming up to the end of June, I feel like this year is going way to fast. I kinda wish I had a pause button so I could just stop time for a little while, and have a chance to breath! Is that just me or do you feel like that to?

Anyway enough of the rambling, the point is that we shall be getting back into the swing of things :)

Enjoy the rest of your day and we'll see you soon!

Sita & Radha xx

P.S I'll let you guys know if the zorbing goes ahead and or not.

a pinch and a punch...

...on the first day of the month and no returns to you all :P 

Happy 1st of June everyone! Can't believe that we are already in June...it only seems not so long ago that we celebrated the new year. 

So the weekend just gone must have been one of the nicest (and I have to add the warmest) weekends of the year so far and where was I?!...Stuck indoors at work. Unfortunate but I'm hoping that we are to be getting some more sunshine and that wasn't the start and end of summer that I happened to have missed. 

Guess who got the short straw and is working bank holiday Monday and Tuesday...yes you guessed right...that would be yours truly. If you guys are having jubilee celebrations make sure to have double the fun and have some fun for me to :) 

Seeing as the sun was out I wore a bright floral dress and i'm also sharing my first face of the day with you. It's a very simple look but i'm not claiming to be an expert!

Outfit Details 

Dress: Oasis 

Tights: Fenwick (they are pink but showing up as purple!) 

Shoes: Monsoon

Garnier deodorant review

Hey guys!

I recently received the new Garnier mineral deodorant sample. I was quite surprised as I didn't realise Garnier made deodorant! The deodorant claims to to leave clean feeling, fresh underarms so much so that you feel you can wear your top twice. Now that's one hell of a claim! It doesn't contain alcohol, which is always a plus for me as I have really sensitive skin and suffer from eczema. It is enriched with an ultra-absorbent mineralite from volcanic source and claims to provide 48hrs of protection. It also contains an anti-bacterial agent, which is suppose to help prevent odour.  

I was pleasantly surprised with the product even though I usually prefer using roll-ons. The lock switch on the bottle work well- no spillages in my bag. I did not get any white marks on my clothes which is always great when wearing black. But most of all, I was impressed as I was left with dry, fresh feeling and smelling underarms for over 24hrs even in the hot weather we've been having recently in the UK! I didn't test it for the full 48hrs. It has a fresh and subtle smell, which I liked. I also found it was great if you had cut yourself shaving (something I always manage to do!) The cuts healed relatively quickly. As to it's claim, I definitely was able to wear a top twice whist using it. It cost about the same as a bottle of Sure or Sanex.

So what are the downsides? Well the only ones I could find were availability. It is available at selected online stores and larger stores only. I definitely loved the product and would recommend it if you can get your hands on it! 

Have a good weekend =D

Radha xoxo 

florals, brights and yellow tights

Hello Everyone! Hope you guys are enjoying the weekend! These are some pictures from last weekend when we had some sun and I had the chance to wear my floral dress from Primark I bought recently. I love floral dresses, they make me feel so girly. I especially love this dress as it combines my love of florals with my love of brights! :)

Outfit Details: 

Dress: Primark £10

Cardigan: H&M £9.99

Tights: River Island £2 

Shoes: Primark £6

Bag: Urban Outfitters £10 

finally a chance to wear my primark dress!

This weekend the rain cleared up and made way for the sun to shine! Yay! For those of you who have been following us for a while you will remember my spring ready dress from my Birmingham haul 2 months ago. The weather was finally nice enough for me to wear it :) My relationship with new clothes tends to go one of two ways, I either wear something straight away and if that doesn't happen then then it will sit in my wardrobe for ages before I eventually discover it. But once I do start wearing it I will wear it endlessly, until I get bored and discover something else.

I decided to make the most of the good weather and was out and about in the countryside, pictures of which I shall share with you soon.  I also went to watch the new Johnny Depp movie Dark Shadows. It's a vampire movie set in 1972 based on a television program of the same name. I don't want to give the story away as I myself find it annoying when someone tells me what's going to happen in a movie as it ruins the suspense. I have to admit I am a big fan of  Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaborations. I love the quirky sense of humour and the slightly awkward characters they work with. However this movie did not live up to expectations, the storyline was not great and I was expecting the movie to be alot more funny from the trailor. If I were you I  would wait for the DVD!

 

Outfit Details: 

Dress: Primark £13

Tights: Warehouse £3

Shoes: Primark £6  

What did you get up to this weekend? 

Sita xoxo 

home for the weekend and friends engagement

Hiya it's Sita! Hope you guys are well. I've been really busy with work recently, I was working over the whole of last weekend so decided to take a couple of days off and came back home to my parent's house for some rest over an extended bank holiday weekend.

Yesterday I decided to brave the rain and went out to meet a friend and did a bit of shopping! Some of you following for a while will know that I live in a very small town, with not many shops. So I was excited to get some retail therapy, especially as the last time I did any shopping was when I went to Birmingham all the way back in March!

My Friend Dona just got engaged a few weeks back. This is the first time I have seen her since and got to see her ring! I'm sure you'll agree it's absolutely beautiful  :) I am so happy and excited for her and looking forward to the wedding :) The heart shaped diamond is soo cute!

A haul post coming soon! In the meantime here's a sneak peak ;)

What are your plans for the bank holiday weekend? or just the weekend if you don't have a bank holiday where you live?

Sita xoxo