Saturday 23 February 2013

Billion Dollar Brows competition win

A little while ago I wrote a post about having my eyebrows done by Billion Dollar brows and it completely changed the way they looked! I was lucky enough to win a competition for a pair of their tweezers which came the other day. They look really good and come in a clear case which means they wont get dirty in my make up bag.
I have never found a pair of tweezers that really work but these have completely changed that. They are very easy to use and grab every hair so keeping my eyebrows neat is really easy. Even the colour of them is better than my other ones! I would really recommend these if you pluck your eyebrows, it means I can keep the shape of the brows done in the salon from home! I might even have to go and treat myself when I go home for my birthday and have them done again!

7. Cook a meal for someone

I may have slightly cheated on this one too...This week me and my flatmate have put together our stuff to make 2 (probably on the large side!) meals. They also both happened to be things I haven't been eating much of recently as my crohns belly doesn't seem to like them but I have surprised myself with how well I've been feeling! The first meal was a curry and the second was a spaghetti bolognese. The best part about these meals is we managed to use up things that needed to be used such as the mince which had been in the freezer for a very long time... Definitely be doing this much more!



3. See Django

This week has been a very busy one and despite me worrying about it going slow because I'm excited for my Birthday it has sped by! I was working yesterday and started to think about my 20 before 20 list and realised there is still so much to do! Luckily I managed to do 2 things last night, cook someone a meal (which I will write about in another post!) and see Django! My flatmate was invited out to go see it with some of her friends so I decided to go with them and make the most of my free tickets at Odeon while I can. It was such a good film and the soundtrack was amazing, I would recommend! It makes a change from the usual Friday night of going out and spending too much money!

Thursday 21 February 2013

13. Buy a whole outfit from a charity shop


Okay so maybe I have slightly cheated with this one... some of the items I did already own but I didn't really need any new shorts or skirts so I stuck with what I already had! Everything I'm wearing (apart from shoes, I have never found a good pair!) is from a charity shop.As you can see I am wearing the top and jumper from the other day which I'm really happy with. The top looks really cute without the jumper on and would be easy to dress up or down. The shorts were bought awhile ago, they were originally a pair of next jeans which I cut the legs off and then frayed. I then got some studs off eBay and studded one side of the shorts. They have become my favourite pair and people always ask where I got them and are surprised when I say I made them myself! The coat was from one of my favourite charity shops at home which is rammed with bric a brac, I think this cost me £3.00 and It goes with everything. The tartan scarf is good to brighten up a plain outfit with a flash of colour! Even my bag which was originally from River Island was from a charity shop and is the perfect size to fit all my things in for Uni. Overall the whole outfit only cost me around £20, pretty impressive I think! I apologise for the awful pictures!




Health and Well-being

Last Friday I had a meeting scheduled with the health and well-being officer at Uni. I was abit nervous as I hadn't been feeling too good and wasn't particually in the mood to talk about crohns. However I was really pleasantly surprised with how well it went and how kind she was. I didn't feel bad for having to take time off from my studies and she was really helpful with thinking of things that would prepare me for if I have a really bad day. Although at the moment I seem to be okay things could go downhill quickly and I dont want Uni to suffer because of that. She also helped me apply for 2 different types of funding which was alot simpler than I thought it would be. I now need to wait up to 4 weeks to hear back and then go for an assessment which how much help they think I need. I'm really excited to get the news and know that my final year at Coventry will  be made a little bit easier if I don't need to worry about certain things. 

I also spoke to her about my job and she made me realise that it probably isnt worth the money if it is going to make me more stressed and therefore ill. Hopefully I will be able to get some funding which will mean I don't need to worry as much. I decided on Saturday to hand in my notice at work which means I have 4 weeks left, although one of those weeks is my birthday and next hospital appointment which I am lucky enough to have off. I am so grateful to Odeon for holding onto the job for me and I am glad I made an attempt at going back to work but I think it is simply a case of too much too soon! 

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Presentation Stress

As part of the live event module on my course we have had to put on an event for Marie Curie. We originally planned to do a pamper night but after little contact with the venue we had to change the whole idea at the last minute- stressful! I might have mentioned before that stress is a big factor with crohns and its important to keep it to a minimum. As well as changing the whole idea we also had to do a presentation on Thursday which was scary! I felt so nervous before that it started to hurt my tummy but after it was done I felt fine again. The presentation went really well and I don't know why I was so worried. It has proven to me that I can do things that I don't think I can do and if I can believe in myself a little bit more I won't get as stressed.

Today we got the results back and our group got a 1st so we must be doing something right! 

Monday 18 February 2013

20 facts about me!

I've seen a few of these on some of the blogs I read so I  thought that in celebration of my 20th birthday I would do one myself!

1. My full name is Hannah Ellen Isted

2. I was born on March 1st 1993
3. I am a pisces and I believe in horoscopes (when they are right!)
4. I was diagnosed with Crohns disease properly on 26th October 2012 and stayed in hospital for a week
5. I was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire in the same hospital I stayed in because of Crohns
6. I grew up in Bedfordshire 
7. I now live in Coventry in a house with 4 other people
8. I study Event Management and I love it!
9. I have a cat called puss and I miss her so much when i'm at Uni!
10. Im 5ft 2 1/4 inches!
11. I will be running a 10k for Crohns and Colitis in May
12. I hate the sound of polystyrene! 
13. My favourite holiday is Halloween I always try and celebrate it
14. I have a thing for ladybirds and a tattoo on the back of my neck that my cousin did
15. My favourite drink is Gin!
16. I love charity shops and car boots, the best feeling is finding a bargain no one else has
17. I have never really been ill before and now take 10 tablets every morning!
18. I have worked for Subway and Odeon and loved them both! 
19. I love the saw films and I have them all on dvd
20. I started this blog to write down my symptoms but now I love it! 

February Charity shopping

I've seen a few posts recently about the money supermarket £20 challenge and thought it was such a good idea I decided to challenge myself. I originally planned to go into town and hunt the charity shops for a present for my friends birthday but ended up buying bits for myself and my cousins wedding gift!   I love the charity shops in Coventry as they are all quite near to each other and most of them charge reasonable prices for things unlike some of the shops at home which are very expensive! The charity shop (not including the tea set) and poundland bits came to £15 so I think I did pretty good!

The first thing I bought was from British Heart Foundation, this jumper is from primark which I never normally buy from a charity shop but I really liked it! It was only £3.50 which I thought was a pretty good price. I would wear this with the top in the picture below underneath it and some denim shorts and tights, in fact its gone straight in the wash so hopefully I can wear it tomorrow!


This top was also from British Heart Foundation and it was only £2.99. Its from Forever 21 originally which is a shop I love but the nearest one is in Birmingham which I don't get to visit as often as I would like! This top would also look really nice with my leather trousers!


When I saw this top I wasn't sure about it as it was a size 20 (I am only a 10!!) but I put it on over my top and its just baggy enough to look nice. I really liked the little brown suede on the pockets which makes it abit different. This top was £3.50 and originally from Dorothy Perkins but I found it in Myton Hospice.


This was also from Myton Hospice, it really caught my eye when I came in the shop and I expected it to be really expensive as it looks vintage but it was only £2.50! I have filled it with all my face products that I use in the evening to store them away neatly.


This tea set was the best find of the day by far! It was also from British Heart Foundation and was originally £25 but I offered them £20 for it and they accepted. I think haggling at a charity shop is find if you think the price they have is more than its worth. Coming home and having a look on ebay the teapots on their own new are starting at around £40! This is a gift for my cousin for her wedding as she loves Alice in Wonderland so I am so happy I managed to get her something she can keep. I just have to resist the temptation to use it!


The final picture is a few of the bits I got from Poundland. If you look carefully in there you really can find some good things. The white tub is acryic nail remover as Im having trouble getting rid of the end bits of mine! The moisturiser I thought I would give a try as it is for sensitive skin and I needed a new day cream. This mascara I have heard lots of good things about and I could believe it was only £1! Its a brown/black so I will use it for the day time when I dont want to wear much make up. 

Sunday 17 February 2013

2. Make a stew

I've made a stew before but this time I wanted to make a proper one with lots of good ingredients that will make my crohns tummy happy! Before work this morning I came down earlier than usual and got the slow cooker out ready to chuck all the bits in. This stew I used beef, suede, carrot, parsnip, potato, onion and a stock cube and thats it! I left it in for about 8 hours and then served it up with some rice and it was delicious! 





Saturday 16 February 2013

20 before 20

In two weeks it will be my birthday and as I am turning 20 I decided to make a list of things I would like to do before then. Its quite a simple list, more of a 'to do' list as I hate not ticking everything off! While i'm completing the list I will try and take some pictures and see how far I get! 

20 before 20

1. Go speed dating
2. Make a stew
3. See Django
4. Eat something new
5. Bake something savoury
6. Be able to run solidly for half an hour
7. Cook a meal for someone
8. Get a spray tan 
9. Visit the transport museum in Coventry
10. Change the way my blog looks
11. Do more crafting
12. See 5 films I've never seen before
13. Buy a whole outfit from a charity shop
14. Start yoga
15. Send someone a letter
16. Go for afternoon tea
17. Visit one new place on the train
18. Make £100 from my bedroom
19. Start a scrapbook
20. Reach 4000 blog views

Lets see how I get on! 

Friday 15 February 2013

Happy Valentines!



Another shingles update...

Its a little bit late for valentines day but I thought I would do a lovely romantic post on my shingles! It has now been over a month since I had shingles and I am very happy to see them go! The pain was awful and It was horrible for my confidence as I couldn't have that part of my body out. I haven't had any more pain although I do occasionally feel a tingle around there. My main concern was scarring as some of the blisters were very sore and lasted a long time but it doesn't seem to be as bad as I thought. The biggest scar is under my arm but the others look like scars from acne which I would like to get rid of! I have included some very bad pictures of what it looks like now!

I have been applying Superdrug's version of bio oil every night before bed and whenever I remember and it is definitely helping them to clear up quicker and reduce the redness on my skin. I bought the oil awhile ago for another scar on my ankle (a very drunken night and new shoes!) but never got into the routine of putting it on. It was a bargain at about £3 after using my 30% off card and then some points I already had. I know that there is a version in poundland but I haven't heard any reviews of it! I would recommend this one aslong as you take the time to keep applying it.





Monday 11 February 2013

Big bag of drugs

It has been awhile since I spoke about what medicine I am actually on and as it has changed I thought I would do a quick update about what I take now. Every day I take 11 tablets which I keep in a bright striped make up bag so I always see it and don't forget (I have only ever been close to forgetting once!) I take these every morning after my breakfast. My other tablets used to have to be taken an hour before so I'm glad I changed over! These are what I take and what they do...

Omeprazole: The red and white capsule, this is for acid reflux

Adcal: The big white ones: these are for calcium and vitamin D

B vitamins: Slightly yellow tablets: this is something I choose to take to help stop tiredness

Azathioprine: 2 cream tablets: an immunosuppressant to stop my body attacking itself

Prednisolone: 4 white tablets: a steroid used to reduce inflammation

Rigevidon: 1 white tablet: this is my contraceptive pill!




Sunday 10 February 2013

Bargains

I haven't posted much on the 'clothes' side of my blog recently so I thought I would do a post about my recent bargains. The first is a t shirt from warehouse that I got from a charity shop! It was only £3.50 and is a size 16 but I like the baggy fit and the colours go with most things I already own. The second is a long sleeve top from primark which was only £8. I really like the two tone style and saw a top like it in Zara which had leather sleeves but couldn't justify buying it! If I do eventually buy some leather look trousers this top will also go with them. My final buy was this playsuit that was reduced from £15 to £7. The top part is lace and the bottom is a shiny material. It came with a bow belt which I have changed to a pink one to match my shoes. I wore it out the other night and was very happy with it, apart from someone having to unzip me whenever I needed the toilet!





Thursday 7 February 2013

Miss Selfridge competition win!

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had won the Miss Selfridge twitter competition, today my top came! It's so pretty and would look really nice with some shorts or even just my jeans. Once I have lost some more weight I plan to get some leather look trousers which I think it would go really nice with! I love Miss Selfridge so I feel very lucky to have been the winner of the prize!



Crohns



Wednesday 6 February 2013

Birthday party bag!

Today I had a big shopping trip in town and managed to get the bits for my party bags for my birthday! I'm going to be 20 in march and as part of the celebrations (I'm planning on making them last all week!) I am having a slumber party with some of the girls at uni. I got the bags from wilkinsons with little butterflies on so I can use the party platters I got from the charity shop a few posts back. I also went into superdrug where I can use my 30% off card and bought body sprays and face masks for less than a pound each, they were also on 4 for 3! I then went to primark and bought 2 pack of 5 socks for £2.50 each to divide up and also some bracelets which were only £1.50 for 3! I also added in some little tiaras and plan on getting some sweets at a later date. I can't wait!



Tuesday 5 February 2013

10k App

After the not so promising start with the training plan yesterday I decided to try a different route and do as the doctors always say which is 'listen to your body'. Pushing myself too hard, too fast is clearly the wrong way to go and although I want to get running straight away I know its going to take time and will be a slow process. 

I decided to put my iPhone to good use and have a look at the apps available. I came across '10k for Pink' which is free on the app store and is for breast cancer awareness. My run is in 16 weeks and this app is for 14 weeks so it gives me a couple of extra weeks to make sure i'm at the right level and just in case I get ill and cant train there is some spare time! This morning I was up again at 6:30am to meet Lisa, we ran around Earlsdon starting with the 5 minute warm up walk which warmed us up slightly (it was freezing!) The app then told us to start jogging for 90 seconds and then walking for a further 60 alternating for 20 minutes. It did vibrate to let you know when to change but as it was in my pocket I couldn't feel it! I hope that next time if i'm playing music it will pause it to let me know when to go into the next phase. We found this method much easier that constant jogging but both felt like we could have ran more but the gradual increase will be better for our bodies. I already do a lot of walking as it takes around half an hour to walk into Uni from my house so I am used to it which is why I am excited for the next weeks where the jogging increases. The eventual target is to run for 60 minutes which the app says will be 10k!


You can sponsor me for my 10k here! http://www.justgiving.com/Hannah-Isted





Friday 1 February 2013

Warwick Sports

A few posts ago I mentioned the Bupa 10k i'm running in May for Crohns and Colitis UK, now that i'm feeling well again its time to start training! As it has been a while since I have done any real running I needed some new shoes and after contacting Warwick Sports they were kind enough to sponsor me them to get me going. I made the journey into Warwick today (which is lovely, if you haven't been I would suggest you do!) to go and see Ray to discuss what I would need. The store is really easy to get to with a huge range of sports goods and helpful staff. We tried on a few pairs and it turns out I needed a size bigger than I thought! In the end we settled on a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12 which felt great and far better than any other running shoe I have worn before. Ray also gave me some running socks to go with them as my trainer socks didn't really cut it! I picked up a pair of black Ronhill leggings that fitted great and will be better to run in than my tracksuit. They were generous enough to sponsor me with as well.

I am overwhelmed by their generosity and how helpful they have been with getting me going. As well as the gear they gave some great advice and I left the shop feeling prepared and ready for my run. I'm very excited to start training now and plan on my first run tomorrow morning, I will definitely be posting more updates as soon as I get going! 

I really couldn't recommend Warwick Sports more, you can find them on their website HERE!