Bournemouth Bloggers | #bloggersclothesswap

Last Saturday I was invited to a local blogging event hosted by the Bournemouth Bloggers. This event was a little different to any I have been to before as it was a #bloggersclothesswap. I don't claim to be a fashion blogger in any way shape or form! I wear the same clothes to work week in/week out and only have a few pieces I wear routinely at the weekend. Since I left my job at Topshop to work at the hospital, clothes have made their way down the priority list of things I need to buy. However, I was able to take along a few pieces for my fellow bloggers to try.

I tagged along with my blogging buddy Becca who I met up with in Bournemouth town before hand (so I could quickly pop into Tesco's and pick up a copy of Frozen on Blu Ray - am I the only Disney fan who hasn't seen it yet?). The event was hosted by Hannah and Rosie at The Orange Rooms. I hadn't actually been to The Orange Rooms in Bournemouth before as when I used to go clubbing (yes - I realise I sound old now) it was called something else (Empire, maybe?)

We had the upstairs bar area to ourselves which is decked out with an Alpine theme. I just love the sign that says about moose breeding season! Hannah and Rosie were already there cataloging the items they already had and we added our items to the pile. Each of us were given a tag with our name on it and given stars which corresponded to the value of the items we had taken to swap. For example, I took along a pair of Topshop shoes which originally cost £30 so I was given 3 stars on my card. I could then use these stars to purchase another item which had the value of three stars or three items which had the value of one star etc.

Once everyone's items had been checked in, we had a quick get to know you session where everyone introduced themselves and their blog and gave an interesting fact about themselves. Then it was time to browse the items! We could wander round, pick things up and try things on, then when you found something you liked, Hannah checked off the value of the stars on your card. I managed to get a top for work and a coral Topshop cardigan which I'm looking forward to wearing this spring/summer.

After we were all swapped out, some of us headed downstairs for some food and a good ol' chat. Becca and I spied some sweet potato fries (check out the massive one I got in my box!) and polished off a chocolate brownie and ice cream each after! It was nice to catch up with everyone again as I hadn't seen them for so long and I hope we can meet up again soon!

Have you ever been to a clothes swap event before?

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Beautiful Jewellery from Lily Charmed

I was recently sent some gorgeous jewellery from the lovely people at Lily Charmed* who contacted me to see if I would be interested in reviewing some pieces from their silver polished collection which is officially launched today! Lily Charmed was launched in 2011 by Marcus Pearce and Lucy Lee, and named after Marcus' charming daughter, Lily. They specialise in creating personalised pieces which have more thought and sentiment than pieces you can buy off the shelf.

When you visit the website you are given the option to create your own necklace or bracelet or choose one which is ready made. I went with the create your own option as making it fully customisable is much more fun and unique. I chose a 45cm sterling silver necklace to start with and then added a singular silver key charm. Lily Charmed love that every gift is personalised for the recipient and this is very true in my case. For those of you who don't know, I got married two years ago and changed my surname to Keyes, on our wedding day my parents gave us a pair of silver decorative keys which now hang on the end of our bed and ever since then I have collected little trinkets with keys on including, cushions, mugs and even my diary - so when I saw the key charm I knew I had to choose it! I also chose the wishbone charm in silver. The thought behind this charm was it never hurts to wish and aspire for things and when I look at this it will remind me to keep pushing to achieve my dreams.

You can add multiple charms to the same necklace or keep them separate, you can also purchase the charms individually so if you have a friend or relative who is building their collection you can add to it at any time. I personally like one charm to a necklace as I don't like things too busy but the beauty of these is that you can add as little or as many as you like. Each charm is also available in two finishes, matte and polished. Mine are both in the polished finish, which I think gives them that little extra sparkle!

When my package arrived the next day, I was definitely impressed! When I pulled them out from the envelope I couldn't help but think aww they're so cute! I almost didn't want to open them. The box is a wonderful idea to store the necklace, (and the neat freak inside me thinks they stack really nicely!) inside there is a message card which frames the charm you choose and also shares the meaning behind your gift. I thought the message which was written on my card was very thoughtful and the personalisation was a very nice touch. You can change the colour of the insert card as there are several colours available although I think the teal is nice as it matches the colour of the Lily Charmed logo (another neat freak quirk!).

The price of the products varies with each different necklace, bracelet and charm combination but every design is affordable and would make a fantastic gift for a friend or loved one. I'm going to have to hint to hubby for a few more I've got my eye on!

You can find out more about Lily Charmed by following them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Have you heard of Lily Charmed before? What do you think to their pieces?

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This Week I...#14

Today's post is a little bit late as I had to hot foot it to PC World this morning as my anti-virus software had run out on my computer. Obviously I ignored the warnings saying it was expiring soon and thought I would deal with it on a later day...but hey ho, it's done now for another year!

It's been a busy week for me this week with another week of late shifts at work leaving me with early mornings to do various bits and pieces (read: be lazy at home). On Monday, I took advantage of a special Mother's Day offer at my local beauty salon (even though I'm not a Mum yet) and had a full body massage - it was just what I needed to relax me (little did I know that it was going to be a bit of a busy week ahead at work. I probably could have done with it on Friday instead!).

In other work news, I received my Institute of Biomedical Science Certificate of Achievement Part I certificate (what a mouthful!). I finished my portfolio in December and sent it off for approval and after my manager contacted them to find out what was taking so long, it was discovered that my certificate was lost in the post and I had actually passed in January but they sent me a replacement and I can now proceed to Part II so I can become a proper registered Science Technician!

This week I also crossed off another item on my 30 before 30 list when I went for my first ever brow wax. I've always been a little dubious that my brows would look awful but after chatting to the lady that did my massage on Monday I was talked into coming back and I'm really glad I did. I love the shape of my brows now and finally realised how awful they looked before!

This weekend has also been eventful as I attended the Bournemouth Bloggers #bloggersclothesswap. It was great to see old friends (and new faces) again as I haven't been able to attend an event since the Southampton Meet Up way back in August last year! I've got a post coming up on the event so I won't spoil it by talking about it now, but I had a fun afternoon clothes swapping and catching up.

As I've been so busy and not had internet for a few days I haven't really followed any blogs or liked any posts but I've got a list of local bloggers I need to check out/follow so look out for them on my This Week I...post next week.

What have you been up to this week?

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