This week saw the launch of this year's Books are My Bag campaign and its bigger and better than ever. This time round the theme is desert island books and I've been asked to name my 8 books I'd take if I was stranded on a desert island. Now I'm taking it as a Shipwrecked type situation (man I miss that show) where channel 4 would swoop in a save me if I was actually about to die otherwise my list would be looking like this:

1. Boatbuilding Manual
2. SAS Survival Guide: How to survive in the Wild, on Land or Sea
3. The Wilderness Survival Guide: The Practical Skills You Need for the Great Outdoors
4. Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties: A Guide to Building Shelters in the Wilderness
5. Wild Food: A Complete Guide for Foragers
6. How to Survive on a Desert Island (Tough Guides)
7. Pocket First Aid and Wilderness Medicine
8. Ultimate Navigation Manual

I went into Lush yesterday fully intending to only buy the Halloween products but after the woman in the shop sang to me I ended up leaving with one Halloween and two Christmas products.


Sparkly Pumpkin contains juniperberry, lime and grapefruit oils but doesn't smell like citrus. Instead it has quite an earthy autumny smell. It's a bubble bar so will fill your bath with sparkles and bubbles.


This bath bomb smells amazing, like sherbet and cinnamon. It contains popping candy and course sea salt for that fireside crackle.



Five baths in one. Just break off a ring and crumble it in for some christmassy bubbles. Unfortunately my five rings became 3 after they got crushed in my bag but they're still good to use. The smell is sweet yet christmassy. I can't wait to try it out.

My job involves being on my own quite a lot so I've taken to listening to podcasts while I'm in the office and it's quiet. I've been listening to them for a good number of years now but my consumption has gone to a next level in the last few months. I've put together a list of my top 5 at the moment. If you think I've miss any off please let me know because I'm always on the look out for new podcasts.

And Bates wonders why everyone thinks he's a creepy murderer...

I rewatched the last episode this week and have caught up with my recaps just in time for tonight. The final series of Downton Abbey starts tonight at 9pm and I'm not sure I'm ready. That said I do have a list of things I want to happen in this final series.

1. The Dowager Countess must die.
Hear me out. The Dowager Countess was born 1842. Series six is starting in 1925 making her 83. That's really old now, let alone back then. As much as I will sob for days it would an excellent, yet emotional, way to mark the end of an era and the end of Downton Abbey.
2. Carson and Mrs Hughes get married
And live happily ever after. The end.
3. Baxter and Molesley hook up
Just get on with it already.
4. Anna and Bates go be creepy else where
I used to love Anna. The hate for Bates has been there for a long time but last series it rubbed off on to Anna and now I don't care about either of them. Maybe they'll have the Amy Pond effect and I'll fall back in love with them just as we have to say goodbye but they need to go. They're clearly cursed.
5. Daisy gets her GCSEs
I asked my friend Sophia (@sophiasaywhaat for quality Downton tweet-a-longs) what she wanted from this final series in she summed up what I want to happen to Daisy in one sentence, Daisy needs to get her GCSEs. She's the owner of a farm when is she going to remember that? I'm hoping she'll finally find some self confidence and move out and up in the world and become boss lady of the farm. That or as they suggested in the last episode, write a cookbook. Either way I hope she stays close enough that Mrs Patmore can still come and hang out with her.
6. Edith and Marigold move to London
Much like Daisy, Edith needs to remember she's the owner of a newspaper company. She needs to move away from the shadow of Downton and more importantly Mary and make a life for herself. I can totally see her getting more involved in paper and doing really well for herself in London. She just needs to break free.
7. Branson comes back
We know he does come back at some point. He's in loads of the final days of filming photos but I really hope it's not just for the final episode. I want as much Branson time (and Sybbie/Donk time) as possible. That said I want him to be happy. I'd be zen with him living on the estate somewhere with Sybbie and maybe a new wife, as long as she was lovely.
8. Mary
To be honest I'm not exactly sure what I want from Mary. I have a horrible feeling she's going to fall for the racing driver from Christmas and then he's going to crash. It would be great if that didn't happen. She should have married Charles Blake.
9. Robert doesn't die
The angina/ulcer shenanigans of the Christmas episode were too much. If he drops dead leaving George as the new Earl of Grantham I'll be so cross. Yes a new Earl would be a new start but I'm not down. Especially if he died and the Dowager doesn't. Cora and Robert just need to grow old together. It would be good if he didn't loose the entire estate and all the money but this is Robert Crawley, who am I kidding? 
10. Thomas finds a man
I'm so glad Thomas is back to his sassy, evil ways. I'm hoping he'll fall in love with someone that loves him. Possibly an aristocrat and he can leave Downton to become his "valet".
11. BONUS - They get a puppy
I had this fantasy that in the last Christmas episode that they'd buy Robert a puppy for Christmas and the puppy and Sybbie would become best buds. They would go off on adventures together and be so inseparable that Branson and Sybbie would have to stay in Yorkshire. It didn't happen, the Branson's went off to America, but I still want a Downton puppy.

49 of the fifty states are represented in the stained glass at the top. They're still working out how they're going to fit Hawaii in.

After a kinda disappointing tour of the Capitol we walked down the tunnel that connects to the Library of Congress and arrived just in time for the next tour. After a short video explaining the role of the Library everyone was split into 3 smaller tour groups and assigned a guide. We were given Shelley and jumped aboard #shelleystour.As soon as this little lady in bright fuchsia started bellowing SHELLEY'S TOUR as she walked up the stairs we knew we were in for a good time.

Shelley turned out to be some what of a rebel and we loved her for it. Highlights included see the beautiful reading room and one of the three remaining copies of the Gutenberg Bible. As well as Shelley going off tour to show us a cabinet containing the photo of the first meeting of the AME church. She showed it to us as a mark of respect for the recent shooting in South Carolina but while we were there she also pointed out the irony of a receipt in the cabinet from Thomas Jefferson selling one of his slaves to another founding father.

Buffalo Wild Wings
After a day schlepping round DC all you need is a massive plate of wings. My friend, Emma, who I was travelling with, knew just the place. BDubs, as its know by the cool kids, is a sports bar restaurant that specialises in buffalo wings in a whole host of flavours. Delicious and good value and being in America, massive portions, I can vouch that those wings tasted just as good the next day.The most exciting bit though is the iPad they give you when you're seated. It contains trivia games and poker that you can play against those on your table and in the rest of the restaurant. Being quite competitive and loving a good quiz we found ourselves locked in a battle with "Adecat" and we won every time.

Michelle Obama's inauguration ball gown.

My favourite parts were seeing the original Star Spangled Banner that was the inspiration for the song (the sheer size of it was incredible) and the exhibition of the Presidents and First Ladies. Unfortunately I’ve lost a majority of the photos I took on my phone while out there otherwise you’d be looking at a picture of me behind the president’s lectern right now doing my best Obama impression. On display was a number of belongings from the past presidents including the hat Abraham Lincoln wore when he was shot but my best bit was the display of dresses worn by all the First Ladies on their husband’s inaugurations since 1909.

When it comes to skincare I've never been very good. My "routine" for the last few years has been rubbing my face under the shower and slapping on some moisturiser when I remember. Every now and then I'd use an exfoliating scrub but that was it. I quite often didn't even bother to take off my make-up if I'd been wearing it. Gross I know, but I could just never be bothered.

Then I got lost in a Sali Hughes/Caroline Hirons YouTube loop. Watching their videos made me realise skincare is important and I need to make more of an effort. Growing up I had awful acne from about the age of 10 until 18. My skins only really been pretty clear in the last 2 years. I tried loads of stuff on that, including prescription treatments, but what worked the because what just leaving my skin alone. Since my oily, spot ridden teenage years my face has become more dry and just leaving it alone no longer works. So I've gone out and gotten myself a set of products and am now slowly training myself into a routine that takes better care of my face.

I'm now where near perfect and doing it every day yet but it's a positive change and my skin is looking better for it. As I've started using lots of new products all at once I have no idea if it's one particular product that's working well or all of them together but I'm happy with the results so far.




I've really not a fan of bananas. I had a banoffee cupcake the other day at work after being told it was a toffee cupcake. It was the worst betrayal known to man. So when I bought this I was taking a risk. Luckily it doesn't smell particularly banana-y. It anything it smells like playdoh. You do get a hint of banana after its been on for a while but it's not too strong and by then I'm washing it off any way. I use this every now and then for a pamper.