Elephants and Engagements

I was going to schedule this post for when I return from my holidays in Thailand – but I really have to share the best day ever! Note: This will be a lengthy post but I want to tell you EVERYTHING because it was such an incredible day.

It all started at 8:30 on Sundayy morning (also known as Elephant Day). We got picked up to go to the Elephant Nature Park (visit their website here) by the minibus. It took us around an hour and a half to get from our hotel to the park itself but it was a nice drive with beautiful scenery. We were shown a documentary too, which was about the park and the woman who owns it. So many elephants are used on the streets of Thailand (mainly Bangkok) for begging purposes; their mahout’s (carers) will sell fruit to people to feed to the elephants. This part of the documentary had me in tears. We met some lovely people on the trip which made the day even more fun!

Once we arrived we had a brief talk from our guide Ruby, who explained how to behave around the elephants and the general rules of the park. Then it was feeding time. Each elephant has a massive bucket full of fruit that you can feed them. We fed an elephant who was over 80 years old, so she had to have soft fruit with no peel.

Ruby then took us on a walk around the park. It is in a valley with hills surrounding it and the woman who runs it wanted a place that elephants could roam around in and not be restricted in a smaller area. It’s so beautiful there and we were amazed how close we could get to the elephants. We met many of them, and also a four month and a nine month old! The cutest things ever. One of babies them took a liking to Will but we couldn’t touch the babies due to the protectiveness of the whole herd.

After an amazing lunch we washed the elephants in the river that runs through the park. The elephants just stand there so patiently and you throw water on them to make them sparkly clean. When they’re done they go and roll in the mud - so appreciative of our hard work!

We got to watch from above as the mahout’s bathed and fed the resident naughty elephant who has to do these things alone because he’s not very sociable and quite  rebel. At one point he tipped over a basket of fruit and crushed the basket... They also bathed and fed one of the herds with the young elephant so they don’t mix with another herd – apparently they don’t like each other!

We also watched a documentary about how the park was started; a woman called Lek (who is absolutely amazing and I adore her for what she’s done) grew up as part of a hill tribe, so she was around elephants a lot. There was a baby elephant who’s mother had died (cue tears from me) and managed to take the elephant in and help him grow up. It basically goes on from there. They shows how mahout’s train the elephants – but I don’t want to put you through the trauma of it, but know that it’s absolutely mortifying.

Finally, we got to feed the elephants again before saying goodbye to the most amazing day ever.

But it didn’t end there. As we got dropped off at our hotel, Will went to the room to get ours bags and whisked me away on a surprise night away at a hotel and spa down the road. We’ve not stayed in horrible hotels during our trip but they’ve been pretty basic. However this hotel was beautiful. We showered and went to dinner at the restaurant overlooking the river. While the meal itself wasn’t great – everything contained nuts and I hate nuts! – the setting was wonderful. I’d had a feeling earlier in the week something was going to happen while we were in Chiang Mai, but I’d dismissed it, so I spent the whole meal thinking “This is the moment, he’s going to propose”. Nothing. I won’t bore you with the details, but as we walked back through the hotel, we stopped by the little stream that was all lit up, and that’s where I was proposed to! I giggled and cried, and forgot to say yes straight away! It was absolutely lovely and I can’t stop looking at my sparkly ring!

So there ended the best day of my Thailand trip, maybe even my life! I’ll be posting about the holiday next week, but I just wanted to share my exciting news!

I Said I Would Never [52 Weeks of Blogging]

There are two main things that I said I would never do, but have ended up doing. I’ sure there are more but these are the two things that really stuck out in my mind for this prompt.

1. Be a teacher

I always thought that being a teacher was the worst thing I could do. But low and behold, here I am about to go into my second year. I’m not sure what put me off it, I think it was just the thought of having 30 children in my control and I was always in awe of those teacher that could do that and make it look so easy. But now I cannot think of anything else I’d rather be doing and I love my job.

2. Move to London

I’m from a town near Birmingham and I always thought that I’d stay in a town. The question of living in a big city, let alone the capital, was always a no. But then we moved to London, and I absolutely love it. I have friends that moved here from uni so I get to be with them again, I’ve met some new friends, and I always have something to do.

Considering those two things I would never do have actually both happened in the last couple of years, who knows where I could end up next!

Childhood [Sunday Social]

Hi there! It’s coming up to my last few days in Thailand… I’ve done so much here and can’t wait to share some pictures of this beautiful place. But today it’s Sunday and that means we’re joining Neely and Ashley once again for Sunday Social.

 

Here’s a sneaky peek of what I’ve been up to today in Thailand. It was the best day of my life and there’ll be a whole post about it once I’m back home.

 

 

 

 

1. What do you miss most about being a kid?

I think I miss the simplicity! Being a kid is so much easier.

2. Did you have a nickname growing up? What was it?

For a while it was Pizza… Because of Margarita being my middle name. Hilarious, I know.

3. What was your favorite thing to do at recess?

Play Spice Girls… That was the BEST!

4. What did you want to be when you grew up?

A vet… But as I said before, I didn’t want to see dogs die!

5. Did you participate in any school activities?

I was Vice Captain of my house at school in Year 11. I also did choir through primary school, as well as ballet and tap. And I did school plays quite a lot.

6. What is the funniest thing you did as a kid that your parents still remind you about?

I once said “I’ll always love the Spice Girls” and I’m occasionally reminded about that. It’s still true now!

That’s all for today folks. Happy Sunday!

Half Moon Nail Tutorial

One of my first posts was about my slight obsession with nail varnish. At the time I had around 50 bottles, that has now grown to over 60. I really should stop but I wont. Usually I just do a plain nail but once in a while I’ll be adventurous and do something a little different. My favourite look is the half moon nail which looks a little like this (excuse chubby fingers!)…

It doesn’t take a lot off effort to get this nail look, but I think it looks super effective. Remember to use a lighter colour for the half moon and a darker colour on top.

 

1. Prepare your nails in whichever way you do… I buff mine with a buffer from Boots, and then use Sally Hansen Maximum Strength as my base coat, it’s made my nail strong again!

2. Use a lighter nail varnish and apply one coat (two if you need more coverage). Make sure this coat is smooth or else it will be harder to  I’ve used Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Lychee because it’s a nice nude colour.

3. Once the lighter coat has dried, put a reinforcement washers near the cuticle so the outer side makes a half moon shape. You can adjust them to make the half moon larger or smaller – it’s up to you, but keep the size consistent or else it’ll look weird. Make sure they’re stuck over the whole nail and right to the edges. I cut my stickers in half to help them last longer.

4. Paint 2 coats on the top part of your nail with the darker colour, my colour is the Rimmel Salon Pro in Punk Rock. Let the coat dry for at least 10 minutes.

5. Once the nails are completely dry carefully peel off the reinforcement washers from each nail and use a top coat. I’ve used Rimmel Pro Super Wear Ultra Shine Top Coat.

Et voila! 

Two-For-One [Sunday Social]

Hello from sunny Thailand! I'm having a wonderful time, except it is SO HOT! I'm hoping for brown legs and arms when I get back, but we shall see. As I missed last week’s Sunday Social, I am combining the last two weeks. Cheeky, I know, but you’ll get over it.

11/08/13

1. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a vet. But then I realised I’d have to see dogs die, and that’s where that dream ended!

 

2. What was your favorite way to kill time as a kid?

The Sims! That’s still my answer now to be fair.

 

3. When did you get your first cell phone?

I think it was around 13 when I went to High School. It was one of those chunky Nokia’s that you could change the cover on. I had a Tigger cover for a while.

 

4. What is your favorite magazine to read?

Heat magazine. For those in the US who may not know it, it’s a celebrity gossip mag.

 

5. What is the one random object people would be surprised to find in your purse?

I currently have a golf ball from when we played mini golf on my birthday… Not sure why I have yet to take it out though!

 

 

18/08/13

1. What is something you've always wanted to do but are afraid of?

I would LOVE to sky dive, but I’m a wimp so it’s not likely to happen any time soon.

 

2. Where do you see yourself in five years?

I still want to be teaching, but maybe making a move from England over to San Fransisco (my boyfriend is a big NFL person, and eventual wants work involving NFL, preferable the 49’s).

 

3. What are you looking forward to before the end of 2013?

To my friend’s wedding in a castle in Italy! It’s going to be beautiful and I can’t wait to share pictures with you.

 

4. What are your hopes for your blog?

I hope that I will still be writing my blog in the years to come as I do very much enjoy it. I’d also like to be able to make my own banners and layout properly, but I’m not tech savvy so that’s not a very achievable hope!

 

5. Do you always see yourself living in your current town/city?

Definitely not. If the move to San Fran didn’t happen, I’d move a little out of London so I could afford a nice house.

 

6. What is your morning routine?

As soon as I wake up I do a little check of Facebook, Instagram and the celebrity news (if I’m not in a rush I’ll play some Candy Crush). I’ll then shower, do my face and hair, brush my teeth and be ready. It doesn’t take long, I just dawdle quite a bit.

Behaviour Boards

Last week I was faced with the mammoth task of transferring my classroom (check out the before here) into my own lovely space for my new class. First stop (because I didn’t want to do any planning) was my behaviour board. There are only 7 children in my new class so behaviour management will be a lot easier than it has been in the past when there are 30 children to manage. I love positive reinforcement; stickers, high-fives and all that malarkey so I was looking forward to making a whole board for the purpose. Don’t worry though, there are strategies in place for the negative but we wont dwell on those.

So here is what I’ve done with my board. It’s right by the SMART board so children will always be able to see it and we can refer to it in lessons.

On the left are rockets which are part of an two-tiered individual reward system. The first part is not visible in the photo (as it will be placed next to the carpet), where they receive a star for good things that they do. Once they have 10 of these stars they put a sticker on their rocket. Once they’ve teacher 10 stickers on their rocket they can  get a prize from the prize box (filled with bubbles, pens, colouring books, crayons etc.).

The big UFO on the right is a class reward chart. Because our behaviour board has a space theme we’ve adapted the typical marbles in the jar, and changed it into aliens in the ship. When the children are collectively behaving, or have done something well, they will get an alien in the ship. Their aim is to get 30 aliens to get a reward. The reward is changeable so we can decide what we want to do. The options are currently things like watch a movie, go to the park, and have a picnic.

In the middle is a poster with our class rules, which the children came up with themselves. They’re there as a reference point so that children can always see them.

So there we have it, it’s the first thing that I have done in this classroom and I’m feeling very proud of it. Let's see what's next...

Holiday Time!

Finally, I’m off to Thailand! As you read this, I shall be high up in the sky and on my way to sunny Thailand. This is my first holiday and two and a half years, and mine and the boyfriend’s holiday in almost 4 years. We have lots planned (including an elephant day!) and my camera is all ready to take a million pictures that I can’t wait to share with you all. There are blog posts scheduled for Thursdays (I think this is my new weekly blog day), as well as my weekly link-ups, so you won’t miss me at all.

Toodles, and I’ll see you in two weeks!

My Goals For Motherhood [52 Weeks]

Now let me tell you this now, I am nowhere near motherhood right now – teaching kids is enough for me – so I’ve never really thought about this topic. All I do know is that when I am a mother, I want to be the best mother I can be. I’ve had a lot of friends have babies, the first person I knew was when we were 16 and just finishing school. She is absolutely amazing. Since her first little girl 10 years ago, she went on to have another girl and a little boy. We lost contact for a very long time, but reconnected on Facebook a few years ago. But I can tell you that she is so dedicated to her children. The bond she has with them is lovely and I admire her so much. I remember when she found out she was pregnant, it was a shock but she really embraced it and has got the most beautiful children now. She is what I want to be; dedicated, loving, caring, and always there for her children.

The Transformation Begins…

So over the last few days I’ve been popping into school to make a start on setting up my new room for September. Now I didn’t realise how much of an effort it was going to be to prepare a classroom! It’s not been left in the best of states (there’s been a big clean of all of our rooms, as well as other reasons) so there is a lot to do. Although, thanks to Pinterest I’ve come up with a million and one ideas to make my classroom wonderful (click here to visit).

Just as a visual, this is what I’m dealing with. 

I shall keep you updated with what I’ve been doing with it, I’m so excited to see how it looks when I’m done. If you have any ideas from these pictures, then just pop a comment below for me. Why thank you for your help.

July Favourites

Can you believe it? July has come and gone and we’re already a week into August. I’d love to use my superpower to slow down the summer because I’m enjoying the holidays way too much! Especially because a week today I will be arriving in Thailand for two weeks and I’m SO EXCITED!

The end of the month means it’s time for my July favourites... Sidenote: Excuse the blurry-ness of the pictures; my camera was running out of battery really quickly so it was a quick photo session!

BEAUTY

I am absolutely in love with Rimmel Kate Moss Matte Lipstick in 107 (available here). It’s a rich wine shade and it looks really nice with a natural face. At first I thought they’d be super-drying but it’s just right (although it does start to feel dryer as the day goes on. he pigmentation is amazing, and it just has great staying power (trust me – I spend most of the night saying “Is my lipstick still there?”). I enjoy this lipstick very much, go forth and love it too!

I very rarely wear make up in the day so I always carry a lip balm around with me. Currently I’m using the Blistex Raspberry Lipstick Blast (available here). It’s so creamy and it keeps my lips smooth all day. It smells and tastes absolutely delightful.

These Sleek Blushes are just delightful. On the left is Rose Gold and the right in Pomegranate. Rose Gold blush is perfect as it leaves a nice amount of shimmer with a touch of pink in it. Pomegranate is a rich berry colour with a slight shimmer in it. Both of these blushes are really pigmented so no need to use a lot which makes them great value for money!

I’ve always been a sufferer of those pesky bags under the eyes so I recently started using Botanics All Bright Refreshing Eye Roll On (available here). I’ve been using this for around 4 weeks now twice a day and it really has helped reduced the bags under my eyes. It definitely has made me feel more comfortable with my eye area.

Finally, we have Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Lychee and Rimmel Salon Pro in Punk Rock. I’m always all about nail varnish and like to change it up all the time, and these are my current go-to shades. The Barry M polish is a lovely nude shade that is perfect for summer, while the Rimmel shade is a wonderful purple with a slight greyish tone. Stay tuned for a nail tutorial with these two colours coming on Friday.

FASHION

I’ve never done any fashion on this blog, but I needed to share this gorgeous purple lace skater dress from Matalan (available here). I wore this to a wedding last Sunday and it was so comfortable and just the right amount of dressy. I'm not a fan of my thighs, but these skim my legs in just the right area so they don't look huge. I have three more weddings over the next couple of months so this is great to recycle for another one.

I also am not a jewellery person at all, but I am loving these skinny rings at the moment. The group on the left are from Primark (part of a multi-pack) and the others on the right are from New Look (part of a multi-pack). These rings are so versitile; they fit into a casual outfit perfectly (I teamed a few with a white t-shirt and green jeans today), and look fabulous with a more dressy outfit.

AND THE REST

Firstly, I need to share my birthday present from my two good friends. One of them works at Magic FM so he gets to meet all the big names. And he got me two mugs from work. They’re not just normal mugs, they have been signed; the first by ALL OF THE BACKSTREET BOYS and the second by MARK OWEN!!! That’s right, wonderful Mark Owen of Take That (and yes, that does say "To Sarah with love Mark Owen"!). . I actually wept when I opened it. I’m such a mess!

If you don’t know, I’m a huge fan of Mumford & Songs and I absolutely love the new video for Hopeless Wanderer. It’s fantastic. So much that I’ve watched it five times today, and Facebooked it to my boyfriend so he can enjoy it at work. The boys have made a parody video using the talents of Jason Sudeikis, Ed Helms, Will Forte and Jason Bateman. Watch and love guys.

I’ve also been loving my new tv and unit that we got last week. My auntie had this 50 inch television, but that wasn’t big enough so she upgraded to a 60 inch. And guess who got the last one – that’s right, us! We, of course, had to get a new unit for this television so a trip to IKEA happened. And the above is what we came back with. The unit is the BORGSJÖ tv unit in white (available here) and we got two Lekman boxes in red (available here) to keep bits and bobs in. And there's a lovely reflection of my living room in the tv for you...

And that’s everything I’ve been loving in the month of July. Here’s to August!