Hello and welcome to a new Tea and Biscuits post. So in this post I am going to share some books I am currently writing, one being my book The Peabody Years, re-written, a book called Mum and Me, which will be made into a TV series aswell as of next year.
The Peabody years is about my life during my childhood living on the Peabody Estate in Hammersmith.
Then the book Mum&Me is about a mother and daughter relationship as they live together and often drive each other bonkers and the daughter, Elizabeth has arch rival nicknamed, Gucci Tits Gloria.
I will be creating a monthly Newsletter as of next year which you can subscribe to, to let and will let you know what is to come in the the month ahead. I will post this at the beginning of each month.
I will be writing my Google Blogs and a new post for my blog on the site, Bloglovin, todau and tomorrow along with my Weekly Shopping ideas post.
If you didn’t see the last post on this site, you can view this below, promoting some of the books I plan to read as of this month leading to Christmas and next year. Check the last posts I wrote in the link below:
Hello and welcome to another blog post. I this post I am sharing some of my books I plan to read this year, and if you go into the shop, The Works when it is open, they do a really good deal where you can by 3 book for £5, and in the Whsmiths they are doing, Buy One Get one Half Price.
Amazon though books can work out to be even cheaper, as I always look to see they have any used, and you can get books from Under £1 and £2.
So here a video of some books that I have purhased that I will be reading from now to next year, to help you find some good books too.
Hello and Welcome! Boy could I do with some Retail Therapy today as I actually slept a whole day without realising it, and it has been a very hard day and I have only been awake for 3 hours, and I just want to get through this year now, and be rid of it, because I have never cried so much in my life.
I want to keep my blog posts real and still want to share my Amazon Fashion Look Book Haul today as I do think it helps distract me from what is going on around me and is a great way to switch off and write about one thing I love, and that is fashion.
Amazon is great value for all fashion now, and whilst I am creating this blog and listening to music, The Greatest Love Of All, Whitney Houston, I want to say that no matter how difficult family life can be at times, when the chips hit the fan you know who are your real family and friends are, because they will either stay or go, and will put a knife in your back, whilst there are those who genuinely love you.
If you have the cash to splurge then looking over this year, I have learned that the value of money doesn’t come into it, and do whatever makes you happy. So have that splurge and enjoy.
I know I wrote in my posts that you should set a budget and a list, but going on today sometimes you just have to say Fuck it I will buy that coat or jacket and treat yourself no matter what the budget is.
Check out this Review on the tights I purchased from Amazon, which I totally recommend:
Ok so I know, that this is cheating, but I do believe in convenience and yes as an old friend I knew at Sitel would say “I am keeping it real”, yes thank you, you know who you are and yes it is the best way, and for the record I am not sending you up, I miss you loads and you were spot on and yes, there were some that weren’t in that place, but loved it there because when I worked in the Email and chat team, they were so funny and made me laugh sometimes from when I got in to when I left.
Anyway, I know I have detoured, so getting back to meal ideas. You can see that I will not be bringing out a cook book any time soon, even though I did have this ambition in mind one day, but I am not confident in cooking, I have got it wrong and like many felt like a failure when I have, and defeated.
However there are many different ways to make a curry, but if you do want to buy a microwave ready meal then Sainsbury’s do a good range and just had one from Tescos, which was Buttered Chicken and wasn’t bad.
I would love to cook a curry from scratch, as it is one of my favourite meals and loved it when I would have a Curry on a Sunday, and the Wetherspoon pubs used to do, a Curry Thursday and they are lovely too.
At the moment Tescos are doing a deal where you can get 3 ready meals priced at £2.50, for £6, which is a good deal.
If you want to use the jar of Curry Sauce then you can with diced chicken which I have done and my mother did, and would make out it was gourmet meal.
“Look at me Gordan Ramsey taste my curry”, and I bet he would say, “Yeah thanks you’ve just damaged my taste buds” as someone who was not my best friend would say. There are ones that can be nice out of the jar, like Lloyd Grossman’s and, the Tins like Sainsbury’s Chip Shop Chicken Curry.
My shop this week cost me with snacks included, £7.60.
So would I say to buy ready meals all of the time, no, but when there is a deal on them and you don’t feel like cooking then I am all for it.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
P.S: Please visit my Youtube channel as I have now relaunched it and added some new videos.
Gifts don’t have to be the normal ones you buy, but little items like a portable cup that they can take to work or like I do, now I working from home a lot, to the local park whilst reading a book. Who does not like a steaming cup of coffee or a hot chocolate when the weather begins to get colder.
Please check out my Pinterest board of Christmas shopping 2020 at Amazon:
If you can get yourself an Amazon card and would like to create an Amazon Prepaid card if we can do it, to help you with purchases and earn points as you do so using such a card.
I have an Amazon Credit card and it has been a Godsend.
There will be more coming as we draw nearer to the festive season.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
P.S: Please check out my Just Giving page, to donate towards my fundraiser this year for Tommy’s, who support and raise awareness of Stillbirths and Premature births:
This time of year can be expensive and have two more birthdays to think about as we lead up to Christmas.
WOULD AN EMPTY BOX DO!
What I tend, as talked about before, is I do a budget for each person and then have an idea of what they would like to get for birthdays and Christmas.
Christmas is going to be different this year, with lockdown and many shops being closed, so looks like Online Shopping is gonna be the theme this year.
What I tend to do is look all round an online shop and see what offers there are and see if they have a clearance sale. Stores like ASOS, Amazon and Very do, and you can get some really good clothes in these sections, of many online shops.
I do save my change and it has been a life saver, and I would encourage everyone to do that as, Rob Brydon says, “Every bit goes a long way”.
There are cashback sites too, but be aware some charge a fee, to use their services. Yet my bank Halifax do a cashback scheme too. Never used it as it on how much you have actually spent, which is told to you.
Be aware of scams, as this time of year they will crop up. Take no notice of any emails saying they are from HMRC and you are owned a refund or rebate. Complete nonsense. They would never send an email, but will be a written letter in the post.
I am going to add an Amazon video below of some gift sets available from Amazon this Christmas and other items that would bee great as gifts too. However, still do your maths, as they can be cheaper online or in store. It all depends on the product, and time of year.
There is a whole week sale on Amazon, as it is Black Friday week, finishes on the 30th November at midnight:
This week I am talking about changes in life and getting rid of the things that no longer spark joy.
Yes Kon Marie, this is dedicated to you, as I see what you set out to achieve. This was to help people to gain a spark in their life again and that inspires me no end.
This does include getting rid of friends too. If they make you feel self conscious by trying to put you down in front of people, who nit pick and slag you off behind your back, just get rid and let them stay in their unkind mess.
I am so done with that, like you would not believe. I can not believe the amount of shit I have had to deal with this year, and I bet they do feel smug about it.
I have written a post on my fictional blog The West London Girl, which hits on about this kind of thing, for those who pretend to be there for you, when they are not (check it out below):
I don’t mind people not liking me, as you can not please everyone. It the case of “Like it or lump it”, and let them decide if they want to be a good friend or not, but make it clear,
“If you like me great then be it, if not get the fuck away if not”. I find when people do this, it is time wasting and they are just using you, to get a kick out of their lives and it is really about their own insecurities not yours, and have no benefit to people, so I leave them where I found them and continue on growing myself and learning from people like these.
I see my friends as family. I always have, even when we don’t see each other that much, I just like those like me, like to hang out, chat, have a laugh and look forward to seeing all of them time.
With materialistic things, I go by how it makes me feel and if I feel like it is going to depress me, I get rid of it. The same as friendship. It is the best way. Example if I see a picture of people that I know are not nice, I don’t give it the time of day.
If there are people always on at you, then they must like you, as to keep picking on someone who means not harm to them, I must be dong something right for them to do so.
Nevertheless, it can take its toll and they do mean for you to cry and in my changes of life I did almost become the worse version of myself but I grew out o it, moved on and now am doing the thing I love out of this world, being in love again with a wonderful man, writing professionally and creating new books and songs.
I do write this kind of blog on my site: Everyone Can Build a Castle, but wanted to share this on this site, as my everyday living is, facing challenges aswell as fashion, beauty, skincare and shopping tips and advice. Please see the video I created below:
So if there is something in your everyday life that is bringing you down, then it is time for change and for something new.
Please check out my JustGiving page. I am raising money for a charity called, Tommy’s, they support and raise awareness of stillbirths and premature births. Please check out my page below:
I love buying new clothes this time of year, and I have bought some lovely items from TU items from Sainsbury’s, TK Maxx and Amazon.
The one item I love is a good collection of jumpers for the Autumn and Winter, and I don’t do plain clothes often, as they have to have a logo on it, patterned or have sparkles on on them.
YES THAT’S THE KIND OF GIRL I AM!
However these jumpers above are lovely to wear and I have bought two of these in different colours. I have created two videos sharing the items I have bought, from Amazon and so check these out, AND BE ADDING MORE:
I have purchased a Grey and Black Be Kind jumper, a Black one from TK Maxx, and other sweaters too, which are easy to wear and are great for those cosy winter days.
What you should do to help make sure you add to your Winter and Autumn Wardrobe, rather than buying an item that doesn’t go with any of your clothes, is to see what Autumn and Winter fashion you already have, create a few outfits and then take a note of what you would like to include and buy.
Develop a vision board or a folder that I have created, which I am going to show again one day. It’s in my old home Epsom, but I love putting this folder together and looking through it as it does give me a loads of inspiration.
Check out my Pinterest Pins:
Now Amazon and other retail stores, love normal persons who are fashion experts, to promote their items. I have now become an influencer myself, by buying items from such stores, and remember to use Amazon site to show the different looks of fashion you have and bought from stores, either online or on the high street and add a review of items purchased, and other retail social media sites. Often stores will give you credit for doing so and have competitions, to encourage regular customers to write a review.
Then customers can then ask you questions about goods bought.
What retailer want yo to do is GRAB OTHER CUSTOMER’S ATTENTION!
What I love about retail stores, those that sell clothes online aswell as on the high street, you can create lists of items you wish to buy and store them, for you to go back to.
Now we are coming up to Christmas what you can do is a wish list, which I always did as a kid at Christmas time and can now with the wonders of the internet, is to create one on Amazon and share it with family and friends, so they know what to buy you and your kids.
You can create a baby shower wish list, Wedding gift list and ask your kids to write one down of fashion and other items, so you an then create a list for each child and other members, and then it is all there.
I HAVE LINKED ONE BELOW NOT FOR YOU TO BUY ME ANYTHING BUT AS A EXAMPLE!
As with buying items, do still have a budget and shop around, and now if a retailer doesn’t have a wish list option you can create a favourite selection list, and again go back to it and share it, either by email, Pinterest or via Social media such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The item I am looking to add is another pair of jeans as I do see this as a staple item and can be dressed up or down, and if worn with a blazer, can really make a casual look, LOOK Tailored.
I have more Amazon Look Book Hauls coming, and I have also showed some of the Amazon Christmas Jumpers for 2020, so check out this video on my Youtube channel BELOW:
Then you have the classic white shirt, and I have added one to my Amazon Recommended list, and I have to say that Sainsbury’s TU range is brilliant too, and check out this outfit put together, which I am wearing today.
In the above photo, The vest top is from Uniglo, Jumper from TK Maxx, Skirt from Sainsbury’s TU range and tights and trainers from Amazon.
The tights are from a retailer called Amazing Health Ltd, and trainers are from Ferlern Direct.
When it comes to buying clothes I do have a clear out, and going to do the same this year, once I go and get my clothes in my old home in Epsom, as there are many items I have not worn and can be donated or sold, online.
A great way to build your clothes and to create a fund for purchasing clothes is to sell some online, and I will be definitely be doing this at some point, and donating items too.
So I hope you enjoyed this post, I will be writing more fashion blogs and be doing some Christmas gifts for 2020.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
P.S: There are some more links and videos I would like to share below:
The tops you see like the red one at the beginning of this video above, which is red with Polka dots, are great tops, that I am going to buy more as they fit nicely and shows you off and is easy to wear.
There are also some sweaters included and I have different colours, one in Mauroon and another in a Baige colour. They wash really well, and no the colour doesn’t run and should be done up to a 40 degrees or under wash.
One of my tops though did come with holes in, but not too obvious so I have still worn it, but do check before you through packaging away, just in case.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
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Hello and welcome to another post. I haven’t done this type of post on this site for a while, so thought that it is about time I did.
I love sharing my love for music, as it has always been a part of my life. So in this post I am Celebrating My Favourite Music.
Since the beginning Autumn and Winter I have gotten back into music and there are two that have hit my heart and I love to bits, and no lie I sent two to a record company and I am very proud of them. One has been used to advertise a supermarket chain’s Christmas Advert.
The First song I love is one called The First Time and has been recorded by Rod Stewart and the other is song called, Give a Little Love. These are now on Youtube and I am very proud of them.
I know I won’t be believed by some people, but it is true and I have written more, which I hope to also be produced as well.
A song that has helped me this year, is a song called, Now That You Love me, but was originally called, “Everyone and you love me”, which was recorded by, Wendy Moten, along with some other hits too.
I wonder if there will be another charity single?
I would love there to be, but it is recording it, as we are in another lockdown, thanks to Boris Johnson, however it is possible and I would love to see it.
Music would not be music if it didn’t mean anything and a song should come from the heart aswell as your head, and the song I have played this year, which was not written by me, is a song by Chas and Dave, called, “There is no pleasing you”, which at the time was ringing true.
So I am going to lay down again, now writing this post and listening to music, which is like my ritual every morning. That is the joy of music, you can use it for many purposes, and can use it to start your day ahead and like I do at night, use it to help you wind down to go to sleep.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
P.S: Please see below a link to my JustGiving page, as I am raising money towards a charity called, Tommy’s, who support and raise awareness of Stillbirths and Premature births:
Carries Versatile Fashion 