Return of the Princess...

When I started blogging, I wanted to tell women everywhere that we all deserve a little time for ourselves and that when we look our best, we feel our best.

I am ashamed to say that I haven't been living up to this ideal and as I survey my dodgy hair (that should have been cut weeks ago!) and my chipped nail polish I have decided that urgent action is required.

Luckily I am not alone in this feeling and so a group of princesses has been convened.

My mission is to get myself ready for summer! I've lost all of my baby weight but my stomach needs some toning work. I am really tired at the moment (just found out I am anaemic) so I need to boost my diet with lots of good food to improve my skin, hair and nails.

Due to time constraints (a.k.a the realities of work, family and home) I am going to undertake a slightly smaller challenge this time, 6 steps in total.

1. Improve the amount of fruit/veg in my diet.

2. Start taking my vitamins again to ward off anaemia. Also resume taking cod liver oil for my dehydrated skin.

3. Body moisturiser- every day!

4. Do 30 mins of exercise three times a week (I know this falls short of the recommended targets but I need a goal that's achievable)

5. Ensure my feet are flip flop ready by exfoliating, moisturising and polishing my nails!

6. Increase my water intake to 8 glasses per day.

In preparation for the challenge, I decided to have a final blow out, see the (shameful) pictures below...

I ate...an entire box of biscuits (oops!)

I drank...gin and tonic

I shamefully gazed at...my chipped nails

At least she wasn't wearing socks....

I'm currently sitting at home drinking a gin and tonic and eating a LOT of chocolate. My partner is attending to our daughter who is very vocal tonight!

I was hoping we'd get out today and visit my friend and her new baby. However when we got up this morning my daughter was very snotty and still had a bit of a temperature. The last thing I wanted was to pass the cold on to my friend's baby so we ended up staying home.

The Princessing has gone pretty well in the past 24 hours. Last night I had a lovely bath with some Elemis Bath Foam (you will find a picture in The Day in Pictures below), exfoliated, put on a lovely Liz Earle Moisture Mask and moisturised everywhere- lovely! Went to bed feeling very very chilled out!

Today has gone quite well, I managed my flossing, anti-ageing cream, eye cream, a healthy breakfast (yoghurt and fruit today!), applied hair oil, took my vitamins/fish oil, avoided crisps, moisturised and stuck to my two cups of tea! I have to say that after the first 10 days I really do feel better, my skin looks great and my hair is lovely and shiny. I feel generally a bit less stressed, I think because I am taking time out to look after myself.

I also took the time to plan my list for the coffee morning, I'm going to make a Chocolate Orange Cake, Victoria Sandwich, Rocky Road and a Lemon Drizzle Cake. A couple of my friends are supplying cup cakes so there will be plenty cake to go round. Really excited about the prospect of making all these yummy cakes for a good cause.

Today's "It wouldn't happen to a real princess" moment comes courtesy of my daughter who managed to kick her foot into her (rather dirty) nappy just as I was changing it. Thankfully I had taken her socks off (after a prior poo and sock incident) so it was only her leg that I need to clean, although she did manage to get in right the way up to her knee. (!)

Tomorrow I am going to stretch myself and hit all 20 targets. This may mean I am up until some crazy time of night baking!!

Here is the day in pictures:

I ate.....I applied.....I admired.....I wore.....

Fish and chips (naughty!), Elemis Sp@ Home Bath Elixie

Pencil Skirts on red.co.uk, Wrap cardigan from Warehouse 

It's been a loooong night...

I had a lovely bath last night with some rather posh Elemis bath elixir that my mum bought me as a christmas gift. Did a lot of exfoliating and a lot of moisturising while my lovely partner looked after baby. So I felt pretty much like a princess when it was time to go to bed.

Unfortunately our daughter had other ideas and only wanted to sleep on mummy or daddy. No matter how hard we tried she just didn't want to go into her own bed. I used every blanket she has to make it comfy, put her musical mobile on, even put a hot water bottle in to warm the bed and took it out when we were about to lay her down- still no joy!

It was gone midnight and she was still going strong which is why I am sitting here still in my dressing gown and with something that resembles a birds nest on top of my head. The british winter looks like it's starting to make an appearance as it's very cold, very grey and very rainy here today.

There's only one thing for it- kettle on, vitamins taken and the princessing has begun!

Even the men from Sainsbury's have seen it....

Online grocery shopping is great, mainly because it saves me a trip to the supermarket. Whats not so great is when they turn up unannounced, half an our early when you have your boobs out! Then proceed to come and stare in the patio doors because no-one has answered the front door. And why, oh why did there have to be 2 of them today?!

So there you have it, even the men from Sainsbury's have seen it...

I had a better princessing day today, achieved 12 of my targets and after I post this I am off for a bath/exfoliate/moisturise sesh which will bring me up to 15! Consistently performing badly with the water though, it's just so boring!

Really excited because my registration pack for Macmillan Cancer World's Biggest Coffee Morning arrived today. Some of you might know that my grandad was recently diagnosed with cancer, I can't do much for him but I hope that by hosting a coffee morning that I can give something back to Macmillan who were incredible to my grandmother when she was passing away. I don't know a single person who hasn't had their life affected by cancer in some way. The day is going to be mum and baby friendly- most of us will have babies under 3 months so if you fancy joining us please e-mail me on: beautybellabellezza@gmail.com

Here's the day in pictures:

I ate.....I applied.....I admired.....I wore

Salmon and broccoli bake, Benefit Erase Paste, Macmillan Coffee Morning Kit, Zara Studded Moccasins

The countdown from day 100- progress so far!

It's been a huge challenge to start princessing today! Last night we had a party to celebrate my partners 30th birthday. This meant cooking for 14 people whilst looking after a teething baby!

Luckily it all went well, the food was gorgeous and the baby eventually slept at midnight.

All this meant I started the princessing challenge a little more tired than I would have liked, here's a summary of today's activities:

Healthy breakfast of banana on toast and yoghurt washed down with water, took vitamins and omega 3, 6 and 9, face mask on, exfoliated and moisturised as per my daily target.

Nails were done yesterday so didn't have to worry about this. Eyebrows getting threaded tomorrow!

I haven't done so well at drinking water (only 3 glasses today) and I totally forgot I wasn't allowed crisps. Oops.....

All in all:

Targets achieved: 14
Targets not achieved: 6