The 5 Loves of my Life

If you read my last post, you'll know that I'm single and I don't have that kind of love in my life at the moment. But that doesn't mean I don't have love for other things and that I'm not loved.
I think it's very important for us to understand that love is not just one thing. It's forever moving and changing. There are thousands of different types of love from the buoyant love you feel for your favourite cereal to that in-your-bones love for your family. And after quite a cynical look at the "love" offered from online dating sites, I want to have a little look at the five things I am certain I love.
And I don't want you to know how bitter I really am. I have unicorns on my socks.

Source: WeHeartIt

Love Your Past: 100 Years of Brownies

The Brownie Section of Girl Guiding is 100 years old this year, and in memory of this fantastic organisation, which has provided my mum, me and both my daughters (and most of the female friends I know) with many evenings of badge related fun, all Brownies past and present have been encouraged to light a candle and place it in their window to commemorate this experience.



If you search Twitter with #bigbrowniebirthday and #worldthinkingday you can find many people who have already taken part in the candle displaying.
This is our offering.


Whilst explaining to the girls about the group I was in as an eight year old (Pixies), I was hit with many fond memories.  Brownies was the first time I tried those little silver ball decorations you get on top of cakes, and I thought I was very clever to be "tricking" grown ups into thinking I was eating real silver balls (of course looking back, none of them would have thought for a second I was actually eating metal).  Brownies was the first time I made a jam sandwich with a group of friends to gain my cooking badge (we were not allowed to actually cook) and I remember stacking them high and we shared them around.  Brownies was also the first time I won a big award - our group won a trophy for designing and building out of card a model village; we had a fire stations AND a church.

Tell us about your favourite Brownies or Guides memories. 

Error 404: Faulty Love Connection

So I'm the only single one here at FOTB and believe me, it ain't all Beyoncé songs and twerking my friends. No, sometimes it’s eating the whole tub of ice cream and not having the energy to justify it because there’s no one there to justify it to anyway. That being said, I could probably put some make up on to attract a man and maybe even brush my hair occasionally. But what fun would that be? It sounds like hard work, actually. No matter how easy Zoella and Michelle Phan make it look, I cannot do a smokey eye to save my life.
No instead I'll be hitting up Tinder and OkCupid tonight. Because that's where the real gems are found.

Have a dozen red roses, every Valentines day!

Its every girls dream to get a dozen red roses on Valentines day. Maybe I'm a little broken, or quirky, but when I asked Mike to buy me a dozen red roses, and he came back with two rose bushes? I was thrilled and really up for the challenge! I've never planted roses before, and I'm doing this as a "new" gardener - but here is how I'll have a dozen roses each and every Valentines day!

Image from weheartit.com.

We're Loving: Fellowship!

Tadaaaaaa (or drumroll)! after only being part of the blogosphere (just had to look that word up, phew) for about a month now we've decided to take it a step further. Our wonderful Sam has put a lot of work into this so we are incredibly excited to announce that we will soon be launching our magazine with the title 'Fellowship!'

It will be a short monthly magazine coming out at the start of each month. It will feature exclusive content adding to the topic of the month on the blog as well as a blogger of the month feature. For the first two issue we have interviews with our founders so you can get to know us all better and we introduce our new mascot.
And the best bit is that this month we're releasing two editions together!

You can already subscribe now by following this link here and it is absolutely free of charge.

We've got a little preview for you here so you can see what to expect from our newest project!

I hope you'll love the magazine as much as we already do and that you subscribe to see what it'll be like.

xx

Its The Silly Things Which Show You Care

I've been married nearly three years now.

God, that makes me sound old.  I'm not, at least I don't feel that I am.  I still drink pop with a straw, I still have sprinkles on my ice cream, and I still like dancing in my underwear (imagine Greys Anatomy, with less fabulous hair).  So when it comes to "grown-up" romantic ideas, I'm not quite sure we're there yet.  He doesn't use aftershave, not fussed for chocolates, and downloads everything he needs media wise, which kind of rules out most conventional ideas.

GUEST POST: Valentine's - The Outfit and the Gift

Hello my lovelies!

I'm Sami and I write ThatRedheadSaid; a lifestyle blog which covers pretty much anything and everything! I'm a 26 year old Medical Neuroscience student at the University of Sussex. I have a daft cat called Lily and have been with my long-suffering boyfriend for 4 and a half years - but we have known each other since we were just 12 years old! Aww. 

Anyway!! Today I'm going to talk about two key factors of Valentines Day date night. For the girls, I've devised an outfit solution, and for the boys I have been searching the internet for gift ideas.

I have created what I think it a beautiful, elegant outfit to use as inspiration. The key here is not to go over-board. As much as we love to dress up for our guys, after many years with my boyfriend and talking with his friends, I have learned that less is more. I love New Look, and this entire outfit is by them.

AX Paris Dark Green Ruffle Front Midi Dress

Stone V Neck Crop Cardigan

Black Mid Heel Court Shoes

Black and Nude Colour Block Clutch 

Limited Edition Multiple Gemstone Stretch Bracelet

Don't forget if you're a student, you get 10% off with New Look all year!

I am also planning a 'how-to' make-up post so be sure to stay tuned for that.

~    ~   ~   ~   ~

Now. Boys. Pay attention. I am going to help you really impress your girl and earn you some serious brownie points. You can order all of this online, so you don't need to feel super awkward in any shops or get any stick from your mates. You don't have to lavish her with gifts; the ones that will really make her smile are the ones that show you put some thought into it. I hope these will inspire you and serve as a useful guide.

Pro tip: No hearts, and be creative!!

Lush - Lots of Love Gift

Ernest Jones - 9ct White Gold Cubic Zirconia Butterfly Stud Earrings

The Flower Studio via NotOnTheHighStreet - Red Rose Flower Bottles

Sophia Victoria Joy via NotOnTheHighStreet - Personalised Her Favourite Things Bottle Box

Hotel Chocolat - The H-Box Valentine Selection

Black Tied - Silver Infinity Symbol Necklace

I hope this has been helpful and eased some anxiety! 

Talk to you all again soon!! :)

Buttermilking it For All It's Worth

Red velvet cake is something that has become synonymous with Valentine’s Day. You could almost say that the red velvet cake has been buttermilked for all it’s worth! Get it? No? Ok.

Now I understand this but if you’re me, you absolutely dread having to make Red Velvet anything. It’s not that I don’t like Red Velvet, in fact it’s a really lovely flavour, but I’d prefer to buy it in the shops than slave away over it in the kitchen. There are often quite a few different ingredients and I always forget one or two, it’s just inevitable and it makes me cry on the inside everytime. The common one I always forget is the buttermilk!

 Image

So I’ve got a handy list of buttermilk substitutions and ways to get by. Yeah, that’s right, when it comes to making Red Velvet I am at the “getting by” stage.

A Lovely Day Out

Whether it's a sunny february day that makes you feel like spring is finally on it's way, or a dull day that you'd rather spend in bed, this outfit would surely brighten up a day out with your loved one.

Date Night Make Up Video

I'm so excited to be doing my first ever make up video today and to be sharing it on Fellowship of the Bloggers! I didn't realise how daunting it would be posting my "make up faces" on the internet, so please no judgement there. We all do it! Whenever the mascara comes out, you know there will be stupid faces involved! That's actually the reason I edited out me doing my eyeliner. I'm practically blind and had to get riiiighhhhttt up close and personal with the mirror and laptop while I was putting it on and I didn't think you guys needed to see that!

All the make up used in this video is 100% cruelty free and vegan and is by a brand called Arbonne. In order of appearance:

Primer, Liquid Perfecting Foundation in Neutral Beige, Eyeshadow in Linen, Eyeshadow in Smoke, Liquid Eyeliner in Black, Triple Action Mascara in Black, Bronzer, Sheer Glow Highlighter, Lipstick in Runaway Rouge.

If you're interested in any of those products you can purchase them from www.arbonneinternational.com.au using my Arbonne Independent Consultant ID: 613297231

Do you have a go-to make up look for date nights and special occasions and things? I usually like to wear winged eyeliner but I left the tips off for this look because my boyfriend tells me "you look better without those line things near your eyes" and also because I wanted to keep the make up simple for this video.

Thanks for watching!
Sunae xo

GUEST POST: How My Parents Made My Wedding Fuss Free

Hi all,

I am WhyIamNotSkinny, a South African who has been living in Brussels, Belgium for almost 6 years and blogging about food experiences for the last 2. My normal sphere of writing is food related (recipes tested, restaurants reviewed and of course festivals/markets and general food experiences). 

So when I got the information pack from FOTB  – with the theme of Love for February – I knew that I would stray for my norm… and write about something a little different.

So this is a story of us… and my amazing parents made our wedding day fuss-free and fun!

Welcome to February - Love Month

via

February is all about love on FOTB. From self love to true love, weddings, first dates and meeting people on the internet, we have it all covered here this month! We believe that Valentine's Day shouldn't just be for happy couples, and we hope to provide something for everyone.

There will be advice, there will be tutorials, there will be stories, anecdotes and recipes for all! Blogging, in many ways, is a labour of love and we want to remind all of our readers that we love and appreciate you all. I'm a romantic at heart, so I may get a little soppy and I apologise for that in advance, but Happy February everyone and Happy Love Month!

Sunae xo