Castle Combe, Lacock Abbey & Lacock Village

On Thursday last week the hubby and I went off on a bit of an adventure round some Cotswolds Villages. It was a lovely bright and chilly day so we wrapped up warm and headed off!

First up was "The Prettiest Village in England" Castle Combe. I have to say it really is a beautifully quaint and stunning little village. The village is full of history dating way back to Roman times. The village cottages are typical of the Cotswolds and are a pretty sandstone colour with natural tilling on the roofs. Each of the properties are hundreds of years old and are listed as ancient monuments to preserve the beauty of them for many generations to come! The village had been used in film quite a lot but most recently you would have seen it in Stephen Spielbergs "War Horse"!

Some Snaps of Castle Combe

Next up was the main event! (Well to me anyway) We went to the National Trust Village of Lacock to visit Lacock Abbey & The Fox Talbot Museum. Lacock Abbey was used as a film location for Harry Potter! I like millions of others am a massive #potterhead. I grew up reading the books then seeing the films and generally just love the #potter life!

The Abbey & Cloisters are over 800 years old. Incredible. The detail that is in the stonework is awe-inspiring. It was a nunnery from 1232 and then it became a Tudor family home. The last family that lived there were the Talbot Family.

The village, abbey & cloisters were used as filming locations for The Philosopher's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Order of the Phoenix & also for the Half Blood Prince.
The grass area in the middle of the cloisters is used quite a lot in the first two films!
The Chapter House Room is where Harry stumbles upon the Mirror of Erised, it also doubles as McGonagall's room!
The Cloisters you should recognise where Harry comes out of Professor Lockhart's room after a detention and then hears the basilisk! They are also where Dobby turns on Lucius Malfoy and tells him in no uncertain terms "You shall not harm Harry Potter!"
The Sacristy is home to Snapes Potions Classroom where he taught the young wizards & witches to "bottle fame, brew glory & even put a stopper in death"!
The Warming Room was used as Professor Quirells Defense against the Dark arts classroom!

      
I was honestly so happy. I think it may be my new happy place! I'm now thoroughly in the mood to watch all of the Harry Potter movies in order! <3 I would 100% recommend Lacock Abbey & village for a day out for Harry Potter fans and also just fans of English heritage and history!

Lacock Abbey & Village is also the first National Trust places we have visited this year so we are already on our way to seeing 12 before I turn 27!

Well done if you made it to the end! What is your favourite National Trust property? Do you like Harry Potter? I think I'm going to go and try and visit as many Harry Potter filming locations as I can now! 

Home

This is going to be picture heavy! :D

Sometimes all you need to start fixing your soul is a visit home. Family, Friends and a special place in your heart. For me home is Aberdeen, Bonny Bonny Scotland!
It's been 2 years since I've been back home and its ridiculous really as its only a 8 hour drive from Bromsgrove! Things have been a bit rough lately. I haven't felt myself at all and my poor husband has had to put up with all my struggles. We decided the best thing for us both would be a lovely few days at home! So we planned and 4 weeks later there we were in our little mini on the motorway heading home!

I love my hometown. I love my country and I love talking about Scotland! I found it really quite crazy how no one from my workplace has ever been to Scotland!! Like WHAT! How is that even possible it is literally 3 hours away! Same amount of time as London or Cornwall. Anyways enough rambling on, on to some photos and snippets of our time back home. <3

My favourite part of going home to my mums house is just how homely and comfortable it feels! Photographs everywhere of my whole life and favourite memories of our family! I'm always treated like a princess by my mum! She will even make me a cup of tea and because she doesn;t drink tea she hates making it! Must be love!

The Beach & The Seaside.
I Miss it so much. Where I currently live the closest beach to me is Weston Supermare and it is an awful beach. tacky and no where near as amazing as the beach I've grown up with all my life. Bias I know!

There is an adorable old fishing village at the end of Aberdeen Beach Boulevard called Footdee or "Fittie" if you are a local! The little old village dates back to 1398! Ok so there is nothing there but houses but they are really special delicate beautiful houses. They sit right on the shoreline and these delightful old fishermans cottages are set out in squares for you to have a wander round. You really do feel like you have gone back in time! Washing line hanging in the squares, sheds of all sizes and lovely elderly couples who are happy to spend time chatting to you about the village!  

And now for the selfies. Even though our best friends have all come down to visit us down south its still amazing to catch up with them back home! Lots of cocktails and drinks were had and I am now an extreme lightweight!

Now even though I spend every day of my life with this one. Every minute is special. Every minute I adore him more and more. He really is my everything! So heres some emotional soppy selfies from our wee break back home!

 Man Oh Man he is my world! Best Husband ever! #janetandangusgohome

Confident Ladies, I need you!

Long time no blog. No reason other than life! Eh.

Today I'm writing straight from my heart. I am having a wobble. I haven't taken a selfie for weeks... For the past month I just don't believe in myself and can't find anything about myself worth celebrating. I am having a total body confidence and self love meltdown. Oh also a dash of social anxiety issues too! Yay me!

My hubby bless his heart is trying his very best and I love him eternally for it but even with his help I'm still feeling a bit down about everything! I can't think of anything that may of started this wobble as I had a fantastic time at Style XL and met so many of you wonderful and inspiring ladies! I just haven't been able to feel great about myself for the last month!

Now I'm not going to bash my body or speak anymore negativity as I already know this isn't going to help me! But I am going to ask you to help me, if you will?

When you have had a wobble on your journey to body acceptance and to loving yourself how did you help yourself out of that terrible deep dark hole?

Do you have a favourite quote or image that helps keep you positive?

I'm a book worm so if anyone has recommendations for body posi/self love/plus size books that are great then please leave me a comment! 

Same goes for any youtube video's on the subject! 

If any of you have covered this topic (I imagine a lot of you have) Then please leave me a link to your posts I'd love to read them! Or tag me on instagram!

Anyway! This has been oddly emotional and reliving to write.. feel free to leave your snippets below and I promise I'll try them out!

xxx

Pay Day Shopping Spree!

Ohh July felt like a very long month!

Why is it that when you have no money you see so many things you need to buy! Yet when pay day is just round the corner you can't seem to find anything you want that badly?!

Either way I have still managed to compile a bit of a pay day wish list!

Jumpsuit & Sandals   Beauty Blender   Travel Guides & Maps   Glam Clam Brush Set

I don't own a jump suit and they are something that scares me a little to be honest! No time like the present to break down some fashion barriers of my own! I love the print on this one though and the chunky gladiator style sandals would go perfectly I think! 

I looked at this make up brush set in Selfridges in Birmingham last weekend and fell in love! The super cute clam clutch and pastel coloured brushes are perfect for wannabe mermaids! The brushes were rather soft and I bet they are a dream to use!

I've just always wanted a Beauty Blender but can I justify the pricetag on a what is essentially a sponge? Maybe I'll try the cheaper alternatives first!

And lastly the travel guides and road atlas of Europe are 100% being bought this pay day. Myself and the hubby and our crazy puppy are off on some epic campervan travels at the end of Spring next year! We plan on travelling mostly Eastern Europe and a special tour around Italy. That is something I plan on making a blogging series out of! Our Van makeover, general planning and of course how we get on travelling with our (will be 2 year old) dog Dougal. Not your usual Gap year stunt!    

Whats on your payday treat wishlist? 

Monday Musings - My Body Confidence Story

After spending the weekend with some confident and empowering ladies last weekend and then hearing some of their own personal body acceptance & confidence stories at Model XL the body confidence pageant it had me reflecting on my own personal journey and made me want to talk about my story and how I’m becoming more accepting and confident with myself. It might be a long post you should probably make a cup of tea, settle down and grab a biscuit. Chocolate variety would be best.

My story of being plus size doesn’t come from one of bullying, heartbreak or anything else. I don’t have something that’s happened in my life to pin point the moment I became plus size. I just did and I just am.

I was a happy healthy kid wouldn’t of called myself chubby, just pretty average to be honest. When I was around 12 or 13 years old is when I first noticed I was bigger than most of the girls in my year at school but not massively so. 

As I grew up into my teens I got bigger around a 16/18 when I was 16 years old and my weight has fluctuated ever since. In my teenage years I really hated my body and my size and I tried everything from Lighterlife (milkshake meal replacements – YUCK, this “fad” ended in Tesco’s ready meal aisle with me crying about mashed potato) I then tried the cabbage soup diet (yes that’s a real thing), I went to an audition for the Biggest Loser UK and got down to the final bunch of people, I joined Weightwatchers and I even went as far as trying to get a loan so I could have a gastric band. Drastic unhealthy thoughts lead to drastic measures. 

As the years went on I got bigger and smaller but never less than a size 18. I had a terrible “relationship” that put me in a really bad mind set about myself and when that finished I ate my feelings for a while. It was then one night in our local pub I met husband Angus. It wouldn’t be fair to say anything less than meeting him changed my life.

Now I don’t want him to get a big head when he reads this but when we first started dating, he slowly showed me how someone should love another person. He loved me exactly as I was. He never tried to change me or hint at me to change. He told me I was beautiful right from the world go. At first I didn’t believe him – how could someone so handsome and lovely be interested in my fat self.  He continually showed me love and unconditional support for everything in my life and with his support I began to accept myself and love myself. I felt so happy and confident in life that I didn’t bother to diet for our wedding day. I got married to my best friend on the happiest day of our lives wearing a beautiful plus size wedding dress. I was a happy fat bride and I wouldn’t change a thing about our wedding day bingo wings and all. 

  

He has and still pushes me to wear whatever the hell I want to wear and not care about anyone else and their opinions and without his support and sometimes unwanted pushes I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I wouldn’t have been a finalist in a plus size beauty pageant that was featured in national press and on TV, I wouldn’t have made some amazing friends in the plus size community, I wouldn’t have worn some of the amazing dresses that I wear all the time now, I wouldn’t have been the Face of Style XL or modelled on the catwalk!

I still have a long way to go on my body acceptance and confidence journey. I wouldn’t even say I’m a quarter of the way there but the most important thing I must remind myself of every day is that I am making my way there. It’s a journey not a sprint. I want to be truly confident in myself and to love myself unconditionally. I’ll get there one day but until then I’ll keep on rocking what I’ve got and enjoy life in the moment!

That’s all I’ve got for now but I’m still very much on my journey and I still wobble here and there. If you want to share the moment you realised you were worth more than a clothes size or the weight on the scales please feel free! I’d also love to hear ways you have become confident and accepting some little tips and tricks!

Love

Janet 

1950's Glam

This dress is gorgeous! I got it to wear for Style XL as I couldn't decide on outfit for the day at all. My dressing room still hasn't recovered from my mass wardrobe emptying the night before the event!

The dress is by Hell Bunny and it's the 50's Cannes Vintage Rose print. I love the almost sweet heart neckline and the cut of the dress gives such a flattering shape. I do have to admit I am not the fondest of halter necks but I really enjoyed wearing this one.

I felt like the amount of cleavage on show was maybe a tad much for daytime wear so I wore my favourite black lace camisole from Marks & Spencers over the top and a white cardigan and turned the dress into a skirt! Does anyone else do this? I thought it looked great and made a great daytime outfit!

I paired it with some cute Espadrille Wedges and a slick of red ruby woo lipstick! I do love a floral dress and most of my wardrobe is made up of florals!

Do you have any Hell Bunny dresses? Which are your favourites? Leave me a comment and I'll have to check them out!

#WeHaveStyleXL

Last weekend I attended Style XL 2015 at the Paragon Hotel in Birmingham. It's only my second plus size event (first being curvy con 2015) and it is by far my favourite. It was organised by the wonderful Leah Shafik who blogs over at Leah XL and the day ran seamlessly. 

I was a catwalk model for Apples & Pears Clothing and their new made to measure range. The gorgeous pink Kimono with lime green pompom edging is so light weight, loose and great with skinny jeans and a tee for a casual look or dressed up with killer heels and a bit of bling! Come pay day I'll have one of these in my wardrobe! The owner of Apples & Pears Clothing is a lovely lady called Liz. She is such a gem and I really enjoyed chatting to her about her brand and passion for clothes that fit each and every curve on our bodies! Here are some snaps of me on the catwalk! Me and all my curves and rolls! In hindsight I wish I had taken a different pair of heels to wear but hey ho! I'm so proud of myself for getting up there and giving it a shot! It's something I've never done before!

There were so many awesome catwalks and my favourite to watch was A Rose like this Designs and her graduate collection. SKILLS! Super cute, fun, quirky and bright the models really brought her clothing line to life!

I was also a catwalk model for Yours Clothing and I wore a bright pink maxi dress! Now for those that know me a bright pink, jersey material, maxi dress is so far out of my comfort zone. I just feel as though they really cling to my every lump and bump and I'm not very tall therefore I don't even own a maxi dress of my own. Never the less I put on the dress and when I looked in the mirror instead of thinking how lumpy and bumpy it looked I decided to pick out the positives for myself and I thought "Wow this colour actually looks pretty great! My hair goes great with this and the length is perfect for me" and slowly but surely I began to fall in love with the plain pink maxi dress! Yours Clothing had given me a white tassled bag to wear with my dress and off I went down the catwalk with my fellow curvy Yours models!

              

I had such a fantastic day shopping, speaking with brands and getting to know so many plus size babes! If you haven't attended a plus size event yet then I would say go for it! It's such an empowering and confidence building weekend full of making new friends, catching up with old ones and strengthening the bonds in our plus size community!

After the main events of the day there was a short break and then the evening began! We had a catwalk from Curvy Kate with some confident, fierce ladies strutting their stuff in some beautiful lingerie!

Then we had the Model XL Body Confidence Pageant which was amazing! The ladies who entered had to make an Eco outfit for their first round which is something they had upcycled or recycled from fabric and materials! My personal favourite round was the round where they had to tell us what body confidence meant to them and how they have gained their confidence. The girls all spoke so well and lovingly while telling us about their own personal journey for body confidence and acceptance the lovely Sarah from plussizeproud.co.uk told us her story and it realy resonated with me and I must admit she had me with tears in my eyes. What a lady! <3 I was there backstage with all the models to help them into their clothes and for general fun and chat! They were all so buzzing and the energy in the room as they waited for the judges to announce the winner of Model XL was electric! The winner was the Lovely Sian Yapp! This lady caught my eye all day, she is so confident, friendly and kind! She modeled an amazing bikini on stage that had burgers and fries all over it and she just rocked it all day! Total Babe!  There are so many photos to share so here are a round up of some of the days selfies and a selection from Model XL!

I hope you all enjoyed reading this! If you were at Style XL how amazing was the weekend?! Leah did such a fantastic job! And if you were not at Style XL you should check out the new community site over at www.stylexl.co.uk its a new exciting venture for Leah and something we can all get excited about!

If you want to enter Model XL body confidence pageant next year check out Model XL!