Some raves I’m currently enjoying

After yesterday’s somewhat more heavy post, I thought a lighter post was required about fluff and nonsense (some might say my speciality…). But I really appreciate all the comments and Tweet conversations that were generated in response to it. It made me feel like I wasn’t alone and that I wasn’t weird, so thank you 🙂

I cannot believe we’re past half-way through May. Time is flying by. I can believe, however, that the weather has taken a turn for the worse. Of course it has. One tiny step towards sunshine and warmer weather and then four steps back to rain and gloom. Such is life! Good for the gardens they say (I don’t have a garden…).

So fluff and nonsense, let us commence with a rave party.

Rave: when is a rave a big rave? When it’s about LEGGINGS. If you’ve read this blog for, oooh I don’t know, a month you might be aware of my love of leggings. I actually counted how many leggings I currently own and it’s over 20 pairs (OVER 20!). I could do a review post on different leggings (Lululemon, Fabletics, Forever 21, Nike, Tesco, ASICS, Brooks, etc.) but I’m not sure if that’s a particularly interesting post for anyone but me 😉

But ANYWAY, new leggings. I recently splurged on another pair of Fabletics leggings (my 3rd pair). I’m signed up to their VIP scheme and though I hate the premise behind it I do actually love the Fabletics gear. It’s not too much of a hassle either to “skip the month” when I don’t want to spend any money there and it is really good quality (for both running and the gym) and not as expensive as similar items from Lululemon or higher end sports gear. For £44 (yes, this is after the VIP discount. Seriously) I got these bad boys:They’re the Fabletics Brogan Mesh Leggings and, if I do say so myself, rather fetching. They’re too thick to run in (though I suppose you could but I prefer shorts 90% of the time when it comes to running) but for the gym they are PERFECT. And when I say the gym, I obviously mean the gym AND general life. Because if you know me, you know most of the time I’ll wear leggings if I can (I have often been banned from this attire at some occasions with friends and family).They’re not high-waisted but they sit comfortably above my hips and are oh-so flattering for the derriere and legs. They have mesh panels just above the patterns which looks gorgeous. They are squat proof and don’t slip down. 10/10.

And, *cough*, onto another pair of leggings I’ve recently acquired. My lovely parents dropped into Lululemon while they were in the States and picked up a pair of the Align II pants (in Bosenberry colour) as a thank you for house-sitting/early birthday present.

Shrewd readers might realise these are the same pair I almost bought in Covent Garden the other week but wasn’t entirely sold. Well after browsing online for ages and finding nothing else really fitted what I was looking for (and realising they’d be a similar fit, albeit different style, of a pair I already own) I decided I’d bite the bullet and go for them. Everything about them was perfect, from the material and colour, but I wasn’t sure about the high-waisted nature of them. I wasn’t certain it was very “me”.However, I’ve revised this opinion as they just fit like a glove and actually the high-waisted fit is just different rather than hideous (what a compliment eh). But seriously, sometimes you need to go for a different style and move outside of your safe bubble. And they’re Lululemon! (Yes, I fully admit to being a label whore, but in my defence Lululemon are such good quality and good fit. The price tag is painful but something I can rationalise).Right, whoops. That first rave went on for a decade.

Rave: OK this is a bit random, but deodorants. What’s your kind? Now I’ve previously always been a roll-on kinda lady. I just find it keeps me fresh and smelling good all day long, even with running. I was given the opportunity to try Soft & Gentle’s spray-on deodorant and thought “eh, why not”.

I was sent two products. The first was the 0% Aluminium Care dry deodorant.From the website:

  • % aluminium
  • 0% parabens
  • 0% alcohol
  • Suitable for very sensitive skin
  • Recyclable packaging
  • Vegan-friendly

I’m a big fan of being environmentally friendly and this is actually the best thing about this product in my view. I’m not one to buy skincare products that don’t contain certain chemicals or that are organic (*cough* assuming I do buy skincare products at all… I buy shower gel and that is it. Any moisturiser I use is either stolen indiscriminately from hotels or my mother). BUT I appreciate that it’s vegan-friendly and that it doesn’t contain nasties.

The most important thing (being an antiperspirants) is: does it hold against body odour and sweat? Well, yes I think it does. I’m not a huge sweater though so it’s debatable about how strong it is but for me this lasted all day. And it smelt of coconut which was very nice indeed.

I also received the Soft & Gentle Coconut and Jasmine ‘flavour’.This, according to the website, helps moisturise while also ensuring 48 hours of dryness and protection. I mean, I don’t know why you’d need 48 hours worth of protection in normal life but I can see how this would be handy for festival-goers or multi-day running events. Mmm lovely.

Both products smelt great, kept me nice and dry and, SO important, didn’t leave those pesky white marks on my clothes (even black clothes). So I have been converted to a spray from a roll-on!

And lastly, this coaster I love. It makes me smile every time I use it:

What’s making you smile this week?

Roll-on or spray for deodorant?

What’s your favourite brand of leggings?

**Full Disclaimer: I was sent the Soft & Gentle products for free. I wasn’t asked to write about them but I quite liked them so!**

A trip to London and Highbury Fields parkrun

Happy Monday! Back at it with another week. This weekend was a bit of a mad one.

I was sent an email invitation midweek to a blogging event in London on Saturday and made the snap decision to go. It sounded really cool and, though London is such a faff to get to and get around, I’m trying to be more of a “yes” person. I also wondered if I could squeeze in a London parkrun before as the event didn’t start until 10am.

I almost gave up on the idea as it seemed all the parkruns were about 40 minutes from the location of the event and just not doable… until I had a look at Highbury Fields parkrun and realised it would take about 15 minutes on the tube.

I’m terrible at anything to do with public transport or being organised in general so I was a bit worried of all the pieces falling into place. I jokingly said to my dad he should come with me to help and he said that him and my mum had been wanting to go to London for ages so they’d be happy to come. The plan was we’d get a very early train (6.40am) and then get the tube to parkrun from Waterloo, do parkrun, then go to Oxford Street where my event was going to be near and they’d go off shopping while I did my thing. Then we’d meet up later for lunch.

We had enough buffer time to get to the parkrun thankfully so that wasn’t too much of a rush. The tube station is very close to the park and we saw the familiar fluorescent jacketed people setting up the finish funnel as we got into the park. We headed over and they explained the course and start to us and pointed me in the direction of the toilet as well.

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The course was five and a bit laps around a smallish park and fitness centre (side note: I saw people running on treadmills which blew my mind as it was a beautiful day and there was a lovely park outside!). There was a slight long incline up one side of the parkrun and a gentle decline the other. I’d been previously warned about this by the lovely Helen that though the incline wasn’t steep it did become wearing as the laps went on.IMG_4275

I started off way too fast and the first stretch was going up the incline. My legs felt drained almost immediately. Today was not my day, I thought. My parents (my mum’s first parkrun experience) stood on the side-lines to cheer us on. My dad had brought his GoPro so got some cool photos.

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After one lap my only thought was, “I have to do this four more times?”. I really wasn’t in the zone and was finding it quite tough.

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I fell into step with a guy running a similar pace to me and that really helped. He was probably running slightly faster than I would have if I’d have run on my own so it was good to stick with him. We overtook people which felt encouraging.

IMG_4254One more lap

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My pace master friend was the guy in blue in the above photo. He encouraged me to keep going on the last mile and I gasped, “I’m trying!”. He helped me pick up the pace.

I finished in 22:06 which was quite surprising (though my Garmin has measured it as 2.9 miles so maybe that’s why!). It wasn’t the best parkrun experience (in terms of actual running) and that incline DID feel more and more horrific as the laps went on. I hugged the guy and said thank you to him as honestly I probably would have gone a lot slower otherwise!

IMG_4168Always smiles when you’ve finished!

Then it was a mad dash back to the tube to get to Oxford Street. On the tube I had to baby wipe myself and freshen up as best as I could. I took my trainers off and put my flip flops on and attempted to sort my hair out. I was sat there doing all this next to a seriously elegantly dressed lady and felt like a right mess! But needs must.

I got there just five minutes late and they were fine thankfully. The event was a Secret London event (partnered with Collective Two) and was to involve getting your hair done by Headmasters, then yoga on a stand-up paddle board (!) followed by some smoothies from Alpro. But I’ll talk more about that in another post. Thankfully I was able to properly change and freshen up.

IMG_4173Bathroom selfie for the win Winking smile

The event lasted around two hours and was super fun. I then caught the tube to meet my parents for lunch at Barbecoa, Jamie Oliver’s London steak house. I adore Jamie Oliver so was really excited about this!

I was still in my yoga gear so felt a little dressed down but my hair looked cool soo…IMG_4273

The restaurant was fantastic. It had beautiful views of St. Paul’s Cathedral and the service was incredible. Out waitress was so friendly and so helpful and made us feel very welcome and relaxed.

IMG_4274Top left picture is the view from the window

For starter I had chicken wings (I know, I know, so boring and predictable). They were very tasty. Though there were ribs on the menu I decided to try something different for once. I chose the pit beef which, if I’m honest, I didn’t really know what it’d be!

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It came with half a romaine lettuce, bacon crumbs and bacon jam. I also ordered a side of charred broccoli with almonds and some parmesan-y sauce.

The meal was incredible. Literally every mouthful I was like, “this is so tasty”. It was very rich though and by the time I’d finished I was really full. I’d fully intended to have a pudding but I just didn’t fancy it. Who even am I, right?? I didn’t want to spoil the meal by feeling overly full so I decided to give it a miss (and hopefully find something sweet a bit later).

Then we headed to Covent Garden for a bit more shopping. Can we just talk about those stairs though at the Covent Garden tube station?! I saw a big queue at the lifts and then saw the sign for the stairs and thought that’d be quicker. I didn’t actually see the warning that there were 192 stairs (!!!). It just kept going and going and I thought I was in some weird tube station nightmare. Everyone around me was puffing and panting (as I was) and I was like “will this ever end!?”. There were two guys behind me and I kept thinking, don’t let them overtake you!

As I got to the top the security guard was congratulating everyone saying we were champions which was amusing. I assumed my parents had taken the lift. I waited for ages, seeing the people who had taken the lift all fresh faced and happy and the people who had taken the stairs on the brink of collapse.

Finally I saw my parents and they fell into the latter category. They looked like they were about to die. My mum, bless her, couldn’t even talk. I couldn’t stop laughing (I know, I’m very mean). I mean I was very proud of them of course but I couldn’t believe it – I’d found the stairs tough and I’m fairly fit!

I only had one shop I wanted to go into… Lululemon. Walking round that shop is DANGEROUS. Honestly I could have bought everything. I do find the whole Lululemon experience a bit odd though as all the staff are very American. NOTHING against them but American retail sales people are a lot different to British. They’re very chatty whereas Brits kind of leave you alone and don’t engage much in random conversation. But anyway, they were very helpful and in the end I bought a tank top, a gorgeous pair of leggings and a long-sleeved top. My credit card needed resuscitating thought afterwards!

FullSizeRenderMe in my leggings and top at the beach walking the dogs when we got back to my parent’s

Then I topped off my happiness quota by getting a giant tub of fro-yo with strawberries, raspberries and brownie pieces.

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It was delicious and perfect to finish the day with!

It was such a good day but it was a very tiring day. I was exhausted when I got to bed that evening and fully dreading my 17 miler planned for the next day…

What do you like to do in London?

What’s been your favourite blogging event if you’ve done one?

Have you done any parkruns in London? I’d have loved to have done Bushy parkrun but it was just too far away to have been feasible.

Rants and Raves #25

I’m so tired this week. The weekend really took it out of me. Fortunately I have a day off tomorrow, wheeee! So I can do more sorting and organising (*cough* and spending). Alfie’s back from my parent’s now as well. He does not like the balcony at all bless him! On to some rants and raves…

Rave: It’s so close to Christmas. I’m such a big fan of Christmas. I love the music, the food (ALL ABOUT THE FOOD), the festivities, the sparkle… Everything. I was wearing my ‘gateway’ Christmas jumper at the start of December.Christmas jumper

Old house selfie

See, it’s not quite a Christmas jumper but it’s fairly festive. I think I can get away with wearing it in January as well. I do have a proper one that I’ll be rocking out soon.

Rant: I hate myself (real hatred) for saying this but… Justin Bieber’s music is growing on me. WHAT’S GOING ON. I still detest the singer as I think he’s very arrogant and just not my type of person (as if we’d be friends otherwise;)) but his latest music is so bloody catchy.

Rave: I don’t tend to spend lots of money… But when it comes to workout gear, I can’t seem to stop. I found these gorgeous pair of Lululemon capris on eBay the other week.

Lululemon capris

Lululemon gear is just gorgeous but ridiculously priced. RIDICULOUSLY priced. Even worse than Sweaty Betty. I often have a little look on eBay to see if I can find anything and I was chuffed to score these for a discounted price. They are so soft, fit like a glove and just make me wish I was millionaire so I could buy everything from that shop.

I also bought some (more) leggings from Fabletics in their Black Friday deal. Two pairs of leggings for the price of one, I couldn’t resist.Fabletics leggings

I’d had these mesh capris in my ‘Wish’ bag already so I was happy to get them and another pair (more funky coloured) for the same price. I was concerned the mesh would be annoying but I barely notice it.

Rants: Buying loads of new gym and running gear wasn’t a great idea just before I moved as it only meant packing more stuff. In the end clothes that were in drawers ended up in bin bags… which then ended up like this when I needed to find certain items.

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Yes that is a random tool kit

My running and gym gear has lovingly been put away now in my newly created chest of drawers. Though I still have a bin bag left of normal clothes I’ve yet to get to. Priorities.

Rave: I’m really into snacking on biltong and dried meat at the moment. Such a good snack to tide you over until your next proper meal.

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Like meat crisps in a way 😉 Sorry veggies, I know that must sound awful to you.

These high protein crisp snack things though didn’t blow me away… bit bland. I’ll stick to my Snack a Jacks I think.IMG_6308

Rant: Websites that don’t accept hyphens in names. CaptureSo many don’t accept ‘Anna Smith-James’. IT’S MY NAME. My name isn’t Anna SmithJames. Or Anna Smith. Or Anna James. It’s Anna SMITH-JAMES. And on that subject, it’s JAMES not JONES. EVERY FRIGGING PHONE CALL. *Sighs*

On the subject of my name. Before I got married I was Anna James, but then I took Ben’s second name (Smith) and made two boring names into an interesting one. Now my intention is to find my next husband and just keep adding to my name, like Anna Smith-James-Taylor, and so on.

Obviously I’m joking. But I’m not changing my name. Who knows what the future holds but for now my name is remaining the same. The process of changing it is far too stressful… so many people, companies, websites to inform.

Rave: I found out what noise was keeping me awake. It was a scent thing that had been left in the flat. It clicks and ejects a puff of scent out every so often. I thought the noise was due to the wind on the window or something like that but then I was right next to it and heard the bastard. It has since left my flat. Though I do also now have ear plugs 😉

What are you rants and raves this week?

Are you a light or heavy sleeper?

Did you get anything on Black Friday?