FaeriWood

  As a child with a tracheostomy (and even as an adult) I would walk in to a room full of strangers and there would always be that one funny fucker who would comment on my very loud breathing. "Sounds like Darth Vader just walked in" they'd say; or if they were really trying to bully me they'd call me Darth Vader's daughter. My reply was always "that makes me Princess Leia [asshole] think it through". I may have added the asshole bit… I was eight after all. But it helped me get through those hurtful comments and it still does because those Vader comments still happen twenty plus years later. People are assholes but fuck you because I'm a princess and a General and one with the force. *imagines middle finger emoji right here* "Member Star Wars?!"    Rogue One  was sold as a stand alone movie within the Star Wars universe. If you've never seen a Star Wars movie or didn't particularly like the previous trilogies t

A year ago today I walked in to my office and almost immediately was told to go home. From there I went straight to my GP and whilst waiting to get blood tests I passed out and my mum had to be summoned from work. I was then sent to A&E and I didn't leave the hospital until Christmas Eve. I was readmitted a week later on New Years Day (by ambulance) and then twice more over the early months of 2016. I have had dozens of tests, scans and examinations, been probed in places a person should never be probed and spent most of the year in pain and highly medicated. This wasn't the start of my health problems and it won't be the end but that day, that moment, it was my breaking point.   It's been a long, exhausting, traumatic year; for everyone. 2016 sucked.  2016 feels like the year where the world has aged. It's lost it's shine. It's all gone to shit. Everyone is dying, politics in all corners of the globe is in tatters, Nazis have rebranded. TH

I'm not going to beat around the bush here, winter's a bitch when it comes to skin care. We are submitted to rain, icey winds, sleet, more rain, snow, did I mention rain? And then you step inside and the central heating kicks in making it even worse! Winter is a dick. So here are a few life savers that I have to have nearby.  Face Have I told you how much I love La Roche Posay Hydraphase Intense Masque? Yes. Several times! It's true though. I love it! If my skin needs some intense rescuing then hydraphase is my go to. I'll use an spf like this Ultrasun Face Cream too (because even in winter your skin needs light protection) but if I was stranded on a desert island I'd want a vat of the hydraphase.  Hands I can be quite obsessive about hand cream all year round but I become religious about it during winter. I'm currently switching between the Tony Moly Banana Hand Milk I picked up in Sephora (gosh I miss Paris) and the Neals Yard Bee Lovely h

I don't know about you but I hate receiving vouchers as a gift. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love spending them, but initially opening the little card or envelope always results in a little "oh... thanks". I'm fully aware of how ungrateful that sounds but don't worry the gratitude comes as soon as I'm stood at the tills handing over someone else's cash.   Aside from my admitted ingratitude one of the things that bugs me about gift voucher is how impersonal they can be. Nothing quite says "I don't know you" like a JD Sports gift card when your idea of exercise is your weekly hoover round the house. IF you are going to get a voucher or a gift card for someone it has to be personal. There has to be thought put into it. Don't just grab that Next gift card from stand by the tills in Tesco. Dig deep, if you can, stay local and most of all think about the person not the price!  With that in mind I've drawn up a list of