A little update!

Wow it's been 5 months since I last posted on here! There is no excuses at all, I just haven't had the inclination to write anything.

Since I last posted, I have become an Auntie to the most gorgeous little boy and have fallen completely in love with him. I could actually write a post on how amazing he is!!

I have had more knee surgery and am finally able to bend my knee after 3 long years of not being able to.  

I am also finally feeling in such a good place after years of being pulled to pieces by somebody who is no longer in my life nor has an impact on it!

As soon as I saw this quote, I knew it was relevant to me and is absolutely true.  It feels like I've waited such a long time to  get here.....now I can begin to enjoy life again. 

I hope to write more posts over the next few days to get me back into the swing of blogging again and will (hopefully) be back soon! 

Life Update

I have been super busy recently and all good plans to start regular blogging again has fallen by the wayside, but I'm hoping now that things are settling down again, I can get back into it.

This post is really just an update on what I've been getting up to recently, firstly I made the decision to look for a new job - for lots of reasons but I needed a fresh start and a new challenge. I have been in my new job for 4 weeks now and have moved from a small privately owned company to a large corporate one. This has meant getting to grips with a whole new ball game, learning all about the company and it's ethos and learning all about my individual setting. I have a huge challenge ahead of me, as I have been tasked with making big improvements and raising standards but I am looking forward to the coming months and hopefully making a positive change to the business.

I also have mentioned in other posts that I am due to be a Bridesmaid for my sister soon.... well the time has finally arrived! Linda gets married on Friday - I am so excited but also quite nervous as she has asked me to do a reading. I'm not one for public speaking and even though I'll know the majority of people there I may need a glass or two of bubbly before I do the deed. The only thing getting me through the thought of doing it, is thinking of my Dad (who is a very similar character to myself) having to do a speech too! 

I have also had to keep tearing myself away from baby shops after finding out that my sister is pregnant. I will become an Aunt for the first time at the end of July. I am so excited about this, I'm already planning things to do with the baby and making sure I fulfill my auntie role to the maximum.

After months of hospital visits, physio appointments, x-rays and an MRI scan, I have been booked in to have further knee surgery in May. Hopefully this will solve the problems with bending my knee, caused following my ACL Reconstruction in December 2012. 

So lots going on this year already...but looking forward to what the year has to offer.

Liebster Award #2

Hi everyone. I have been nominated for a Liebster Award by the lovely Alex at Glitter and cookies. Thank you Alex!

The rules of this tag are:

• Write 11 facts about yourself.
• Answer the 11 questions given by the person who nominated you. 
• Create 11 new questions
• Nominate 11 bloggers and tag them in your post 

As I have already been nominated for the Liebster Award before, you can read my previous 11 facts here

Here are the questions that Alex asked me:

1. Why and when did you start blogging? I started blogging in March 2013. I had been reading and enjoying blogs for about 12 months and always fancied having a go myself, so one weekend i just decided to go for it! 
2. What's your favourite clothing item and why? It's a fairly newish purchase, but it has to be the dress I wore to my sister's hen do. I absolutely loved the colour and style and I felt amazing wearing it. I got so many compliments that night too.
3. Dresses or trousers? I wear mostly trousers, but do love dresses too.
4. Dream job. Running my own children's nursery; it has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl.
5. Would you rather go to the cinema or stay home with a book? Stay at home with a book. I do like the odd night out at the cinema but you can't beat a chilled out evening with a book and a glass of wine.
6. Nude lipstick or red lipstick? It has to be nude. I would love to wear a red lip, but I'm not brave enough. Nude's are my comfort zone!
7. Do you collect anything? Yes, I collect anything heart related and I also collect Emma Bridgewater items, predominately in the (you guessed it) hearts design.
8. The city or the countryside? I am a definite country girl, I love the slower pace of life and the gorgeous views we get to see on a daily basis.
9. What can't you live without? Coffee! I'm a complete addict and drink at least 8 cups a day.
10. It's your day off: would you rather lay in or get up early to work out? Lie-in, I'm not a workout person at all!!
11. Favourite band/artist? I can't really pin this down to one person. I'm a massive Ne-Yo fan, I also love Disclosure, Sam Smith, Beyonce, Kings of Leon, Stereophonics and so many more.

My 11 questions are:

1. Where is your favourite place to go?

2. If you were Prime Minister, what is the first thing you would change?

3. Favourite place to shop?

4. What is the funniest thing about you?

5. Who is your idol and why?

6. If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 things would you have?

7. Describe yourself in 3 words.

8.What is your favourite beauty product and why?

9. What is your favourite song?

10. Where do you get your blog inspiration from?

11. What one thing would you change about yourself if you could?

The 11 bloggers I tag are:

Melissa

Annatha

Plus all the bloggers from my previous Liebster Award Post, as they all deserve recognition. 

Please go and check them all out! Thank you xx

Lazy Friday Evening

Hi everyone! Firstly I must apologise for my lack of posts recently, no excuses what so ever, other than I have been incredibly lazy. I plan to post more regularly now, particularly as it's coming up to 'JulieHearts' 1st Anniversary and I would like to further develop and improve my blog over the next 12 months.

Tonight, I have just felt like having a relaxed evening. I poured myself a glass of wine, lit a Christmas candle ( I may be feeling just a little bit nostalgic) from the Yankee Candle range in the scent 'Snow In Love' which I must add smells gorgeous. I am actually full of cold at the moment but I can still smell it very strongly, but I'll save a review until I can pick up the scent properly.

I put on my PJ's and decided to watch a bit of YouTube as the TV tonight is absolute rubbish. It's so nice to have an evening where you can just relax and put your feet up for a couple of hours ready to start a busy weekend tomorrow.

What plans have you got this weekend? Have a great one, whatever you're up to! X 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, hope you've all had a lovely time!

I haven't been around much on the blog for a few weeks, but I really want to get back into writing regular posts, especially now that the Christmas madness is out of the way!

So have you made any New Years resolutions yet? I have decided this year to stop the whole "loose weight" promises and have instead decided to go with the resolution to drink more water, eat healthier foods and take regular exercise. I also want to spend more time doing what I want to do and to stop agreeing to do things just to make others happy, I don't mean that to sound like I want things all my own way but reflecting on last year, there are many times I've sacrificed doing things with my boyfriend just because I didn't want to turn a friend down. I certainly need a better balance and am looking forward to a more positive year ahead.

I have some nice events coming up this year to look forward to...my sisters wedding, my boyfriends 40th birthday (I am planning a surprise break for the two of us) and a lovely summer occasion. I hope you all have a fantastic year too. 

Christmas Shopping

I booked today off from work so I could spend the day Christmas shopping, but having woken up full of cold and not wanting to leave my cosy house I quickly changed those plans to a bit of online retail therapy!

I started off by getting out the presents I had already bought, then made a list of the people I want to buy for and started assigning gifts to the list. I then made my 'to buy' list.

I actually amazed myself and got all but 2 presents from the same website. Debenhams had 30% off a large section of both beauty and clothing, so not only did I get some fab presents but I saved myself some money too. The downside was that I ended up buying myself 2 pairs of boots, but I definitely needed them and it cheered me up too (trying to convince myself here!!) 

Have a look at the Debenhams website either for yourself or for some fantastic gift ideas www.debenhams.com

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? What have you been buying? 

Weight Loss

You may have seen that I have written a series of Weight Watchers Weight Loss posts on my blog over the last couple of months. I have been working hard to loose the weight I put on following surgery, but I must admit the last couple of weeks I have been so busy with work, starting and setting up my new Phoenix Trading business (which you can have a sneaky look at, if you fancy www.phoenix-trading.co.uk/web/julieclarke/ ) that my diet has gone completely out of the window. I seriously have not ordered any shopping in for over 10 days so couldn't follow the plan even if I wanted too.

Luckily, I don't know how, I have managed to retain my weight loss but seriously need to get back to my classes, order in a healthy food shop and plan a week of good meals before it slowly creeps back on again.

So by writing these posts I feel like I have someone to answer to about my weight loss which gives me the motivation to keep going. My plan for this week is to loose 2lbs by next Saturday.