More Blood, More Sweat and Another Cup of Tea

I'm very excited as one of the books I've been working on is going to be out in the shops soon. More Blood, More Sweat and Another Cup of Tea is the second installment from Tom Reynolds a London Ambulance driver who's blog Random Acts of Reality attracts tens of thousands of readers a day. This compelling book will make you laugh, cry and probably wince more than once. Buy it, it's fantastic.

For those of you who haven't read the first book Blood, Sweat and Tea: Real Life Adventures in an Inner-city Ambulance the first book is also available both titles are available on Amazon now. Pre-order the second book or get the first straight away - I really can't recommend them highly enough xx

Two Weeks to Go

Right - the count down is officially on. We've got two weeks until the wedding. Got the dress, got the shoes, got the manicure and pedicure booked (thanks to Miss F the wondrous maid of honour). Having make-up practise with Miss M tonight (and using 27 Dresses and pizza as bribery for spending a sunny Wednesday evening doing my face! I cannot believe it's so close. My main fear is that it will be all over so quickly. I am however, incredibly excited at the prospect of a three week honeymoon in the sun. I have a stack of books ready to go into my suitcase, I've bought some Nicky Clarke heated travel rollers (yes I say it again Mr J is a lucky man) and my rather expensive new Tom Ford sunglasses. Now I just have to cram three weeks worth of work into the next two weeks to make sure I can have a guilt and worry free honeymoon. Wish me luck!! xx

p.s very successful jeans expedition in Topshop Westfield on Monday (yes went through the thighs of yet another pair of expensive jeans after five months which I just can't afford to replace). Accidentally bought some shoes and tops too. Whoops. Please let me know of any sturdy thighed jeans makers xx

Soap and Glory Dr Spot

I'm lucky as I've never really suffered too badly from spots (touch wood). I get the ooccasional whopper though, and when I do I try out different things to get rid of it. Some products have helped (Origins Blemish Buster Spot remover for example), but finally I found a miracle worker. Or at least I think it's a miracle worker. Mr J and I both had spots appear over Easter and both of them have gone or nearly gone after one application of Dr Spot Invisible Spot Fighting Gel by Soap and Glory. It's actually worth it's £6.50 price tag and doesn't dry your skin out. Try it. 

Hen Do

Have just had the second day back in the office after my absolutely fantastic hen do. Last Wednesday Miss D and I drove to Blakeney in Norfolk to prepare for the Friday arrival of my other hens. We both had office lurgy so we literally ate and napped for two days. It was fantastic. On Wednesday I thought I would spend the entire weekend thinking about work but by Thursday lunchtime I was so relaxed. I haven't had five days off work in ages.

Everyone arrived late on Friday - Miss F and I had managed to wake up long enough to put chicken and jacket potatoes in the oven! The next day we walked on Holkam beach (used in loads of films!) and went to The Jockey in Burnham Market to have a sweep stake on the Grand National. When I got back to the cottage the girls have set out a beauty bar with nail varnishes, face masks, foot soaks, toe separators, the works. Miss J had made a huge banner (which I've not got up on the wall in my flat). It was hysterical we all sat with our feet in bowls and face masks on, painting our toenails whilst eating smoked salmon nibbles and drinking pink prosecco.

We had champagne cocktails after getting changed for supper and I gave the girls their goodie bags I'd made. I'd got a bit carried away and everyone had a tailor made bag of grey cord with a lining to suit them. I've spent the last couple of weeks walking around with pin pricks all over my hands! I'd put fans, wild strawberry plants, lipgloss, small bottles of prosecco, and little red dog tags with their name on it. I felt so touched that everyone had taken a weekend out to come so I wanted to get them something.

Supper was fantastic my sister Miss J and Miss F had decorated the pub table everyone had place names and there were silver party poppers. It was so much fun. I had to play a Mr and Mrs quiz done by Miss M and I got presents for doing the right answer!! I haven't laughed so much in ages and the photos are ridiculous. When we got home we played hen do jenga. Miss F and Miss J had stuck labels on all the jenga pieces with names of drinking games, dares and silly things on. Was hilarious.

It was the perfect weekend - and I got given a photo album with loads of pictures of me and the girls in from over the years. Fantastic xx

White Teeth

Having spoken to another bride-to-be I've decided to get my teeth whitened. She was really pleased with the results and I've always suffered from patchy, stainy teeth. As I've been using the wedding as a goal to sorting myself out I decided to give it ago. It's not cheap at £350 but you do get gum shields that you should be able to use for life and a plaster cast in case you need to make new shields for any reason. The whitening gel costs £15 a syringe and I find a syringe lasts 6ish days. When you start you get five syringes and a syringe of gel to stop any sensitivity.

And I'd really say I (so far) feel like I've got my monies worth. My teeth are looking so much better and I actually feel so much more confident about them (they're quite big!). They have been quite sensitive. I've been using Sensodyne tooth paste and have had two or three moments with serious sensitivity in one tooth. However, this was only for five seconds at a time and I used the sensitivity gel twice in all so it really hasn't been a problem for me. Now they've been whitened I've got to get to get the front filling re-done to match the new teeth (I fainted on concrete and lost half my front tooth). I don't hate the dentist but I really, really hate injections. I'm a bit nervous.

I've done it for a month so now I'm waiting to see how they even up. You have to wait for a week or so to let the bleach settle out of the teeth so you can really see how the whitening has worked. Really want to get the filling colour right - the less dentist the better I think. People have been telling me that my teeth look great (I'm a bit worried after watching a certain episode of Friends but I've been told I'm not there yet). So far so good. I have to say I'm really surprised that I'm doing this... it's really not the usual thing I do. And I'm so pleased it's working xx