Project 366 : week one

As I mentioned in my hello 2016 post, I've decided to complete project 365 in 2016 (taking one photo every day for the whole year). I'm going to publish these posts every Friday as a sort of mini diary, here's week one...

01/01 I've wanted this bush dab radio for so long so finally picked it up as it was reduced to $99 in the January sales (at harvey norman). I've missed having the radio on in the house, so turn it on at every opportunity and am loving exploring all the new channels (I feel like I'm cheating on hit92.9). 

02/01 We stayed over in Mandurah last night (god bless the car mattress) so Dan could take his mum out for breakfast before we all went out on the boat for the day. It's their last full weekend in Australia and time has completely flown by, it feels like we've hardly seen them. We spent the day floating on the river, cooking up a sausage sizzle and I started re-reading The Crucifix Killer by Chris Carter. 

03/01 We wanted a nice group photo of everyone so head to Kings Park in Perth to get some nice photos. Unfortunately everyone really struggled with the heat so we did a quick walk to the glass bridge, got our photos then ran back to the car and blasted the air con. We head back to our house just north of the city and jumped straight in the pool. That evening we cooked up a giant BBQ for everyone before they head back to Mandurah. Can we also just appreciate my new hair colour? I haven't been red for years and I'm loving it!

04/01 I tried out speed fit (an EMS training plan really worth it's own blogpost at some point) and then ran into Claremont quarter to finish off some gifts for the little back in England. I picked baby D up a lion king pyjama set from peter alexander (literally the cutest thing ever), a Hawaiian print t-shirt and colour in lego for C (to go with the cuddly shark I'd already bought him) and then couldn't resist picking up this denim heart print jumpsuit and pink lacey dress for H who turns 6 far too soon. 

That evening everyone came to ours and got a mismatch of takeout, cried listening to 'leaving on a jet plane' and then head to the airport for a goodbye pint (or earl grey in my case). 

05/01 I worked my last day shift before starting a month of nights. That evening I ran to grab my camera to get a photo of this amazing sunset, absolutely no photoshop- how gorgeous?!

06/01 Another roasting hot day, which doesn't really make for good post night shift sleep. I lounged around the house and apart from replying to a stack of emails and running to the post office I didn't achieve much ( unless you count binge watching house as being productive, which I do...it's pretty much hours towards my professional development if you ask me!). I ran out of my favourite Smith & Co Unwind diffuser   which has been keeping our laundry room smelling beautiful for the past few months (I filled it with a bit of water to grab this photo, I just love how it looks against the wooden windows). 

07/01 It's too darn hot (43c)! So instead of a nice steamy hot bath to induce sleeping like a baby I had an icy cold shower and smothered myself in twilight shower gel from Lush. I was given heaps of lush products over christmas, including some bits you can only get in the UK, which makes for one very happy Hannah. 

xo

Perfect brows and a contour palette to die for

Hands down, my favourite makeup trends are brows and contouring and there's one brand which triumphs all others when it comes to brows and contouring, Anastasia Beverly Hills.

Anastasia Brow express palette  ($64) 

The perfect palette for the brow beginner and pro alike, this little set contains stencils to guide you, wax, powder and highlight. I went for the brunette version and was initially worried the colours would be too fair for my dark brown hair but they blend in perfectly. I keep this kit in my handbag for touching up my brows on the go, I've even used the highlighter as eyeshadow on the run! What impressed me most about the kit is the staying power, usually I manage to sweat my brow product out in the gym but absolutely no worries with the Anastasia brow express, the staying power is incredible.

Anastasia brow pen ($34)

The brow pen is my new favourite makeup cheat, when I'm about to run out the door I can grab this pen and quickly fill in any gaps in my brows. The liquid sets quickly and, like the brow kit, has incredible staying power. Whilst it's not quite dark enough for me to completely change my brow shape, it's perfect for a more minimal look or if you've got a lot of finer hairs which you'd like to tint.

Anastasia contour kit  ($66) 

I've got a small army of contour palettes in my makeup drawer but this is. by far, my favourite. I have the medium to tan shade which suits my olive complexion perfectly. The pigment is absolutely fantastic and can be built up easily to give anything from a subtle shadow / highlight - sculpting the envy any Kardashian. I adore the staying power, something some of the drug store contour palettes I own just can't achieve, equally some of the higher end palettes I own don't hold the shadow anywhere near as long as the Anastasia palette does.

Have you tried Anastasia products before? 

What're your favourite brow and contour products? 

xo

This post has been written in collaboration with Sephora, who stock the anastasia range here in Australia. All views are 100% my own. 

hello 2016

I'm not going to write a recap on 2015 as I covered so much of it in my post about our first year in Australia , instead I thought I'd write about our plans for 2016 (in the hope that this time next year I can cathartically tick them all off).

via pinterest

travel

Our first mini trip is already booked to Brisbane in February,  I'm super excited to experience a bit more of Australia and to see my godmother who lives there too, what makes it even better is my mum's flying in and meeting us there too! We've not planned too much yet, but have already set our hearts on going to movie world and Australia zoo. 

Aside from Brisbane we both hope to make it to Esperence  for a camping trip and also up to Shark Bay in Western Australia to, fingers crossed, swim with whale sharks! Our car is all set for camping wherever we like, and the seats even fold down with enough space for a double bed, so I'm dreaming of waking up with the ocean at my feet and no one else in sight.

We'd also love to revisit Bunker Bay, to see how gorgeous it is in the sunshine!

Em from Relatable miss Renton at the front and me looking surprisingly happy at the back! 

health and fitness

I am a serial fitness and diet regime starter, and have over the years managed to shiFt a few stone and get myself from puffing walking to the fridge to able to back to back bootcamp and a spin class. However, at the end of 2014 I suffered a nasty injury which left me in a downwards spiral of self pity and inability to exercise. Luckily a few months ago I had the all clear from the doctors and am now able to do whatever I like, yippee! 

Towards the end of 2015 I found box and bike at queen street gym a high intensity, full body workout mixing boxing and spinning. The thought initially worried me a little, me and boxing? there can't be a worse combination- I hate violence and have no upper body strength, but I was quickly hooked and have been a regular ever since. And opposite to any of my beliefs, I've developed a pretty strong right hook. What's made it all so much easier is the sense of community at the gym, it reminds me so much of my crossfit box back in England- the trainers really make an effort to remember your name and every now and then treat you to your favourite combos.

I am fully set on 2016 to be my year health and fitness wise, I was doing so well in 2014 until my injury so I'm now even more aware of my limits but equally know how well I can do when I push myself! 

Personal

Our lease runs out in just under 8 weeks and so the house hunting begins again, we now know the area we like and whats affordable month by month for our rent. We've got a pretty specific list of what we need and what we want in a new rental but most importantly we're looking for somewhere a bit more affordable so we can start saving for a mortgage- ahhh grown up! 

We've also finally decided to get a dog of our own, the hunt secretly begun months ago but we're going to wait to get our dog until it's a little cooler (better for get to know you walks) and until we've moved. We're set on getting a Collie to remind us of Sadie or maybe a retriever, we'll see who's looking for a home when we're ready.

The only 'new years resolution' I set this year is to do a 365, taking one photo every single day for the whole year. Despite being overly snap happy on my phone I don't use my cameras anywhere near as much as I should, so this year they're getting out and about as much as they deserve. I plan on publishing them at the end of each week on my blog as a mini diary of sorts.

And I think thats that! I've got a few other little bits and bobs up my ( non existent because it's currently 38 degree) sleeve, but can't publish them yet as they're secrets! 

What are your goals for 2016?

xo