Weekly round up

1. They make their margaritas strong at Revolucion De Cuba in Cardiff. 2. Finally got food from Mission Burrito, their carne asada soft tacos were great. 3. My find at the High Rise bookshop in Cowbridge. 4. My parents finally got an allotment.

5. I got locked in said allotment on my first visit. Smooth. 6. This week I've mostly been buying books. 7. Nat browsing Cofion bookshop in Tenby. 8. Stopping for tea and cake in Caldy Coffee Shop.

9. One of the many blue plaques in Tenby. 10. I've been loving the weather this week, plenty of opportunities to read in the garden. 11. My mother went slightly crazy for Easter. 12. My bedroom dresser.

What I'm thankful for #7

Being able to be by the sea

Friends who get me

Thinking optimistically of the future

Chocolate

Spring sunshine

Having a garden to sit in and enjoy peacefully

Finding my reading bug again

Summer plans

This summer is going to be good, I can feel it. Here are a few things I want to do this summer.

Watch live music. It's been quite literally years since I've been to a gig, in my early 20s I spent a fortune on going to gigs and it was brilliant. I want to watch some sort of live music this year, whether it's a big concert, festival or small gig I want to be surrounded by people who are all there for the same reason as me.

Visit Hay on Wye. I really think that Hay deserves more than a day trip but a day there may have to do. I want to wander around all of the bookshops, taking my time to find treasures, to see if I can find notes scribbled in old books and to see if anyone has left anything interesting in their book as a book mark. At lunch I'll visit a tea room and look through what I've bought that morning before doing it all again in the afternoon.

  

Sail to Caldey Island. Nat and I didn't get to go over on Thursday so I'm hoping to go back in the summer to spend most of the day there. 

Go back to Cowbridge. The High Rise Bookshop and the antiques yard I visited on my last trip definitely deserve a more thorough search, I spotted a few things at the antique yard that I wouldn't mind buying...sorry bank balance.

What are your plans for the summer?

Day trip to Tenby

Yesterday Nat (@bibliogeek82 / The T.A.R.D.I.S and the Teapot) ventured to West Wales to visit Tenby. After a quick pit stop to grab some Starbucks we were on the M4 and heading west. Thankfully bank holiday traffic hadn't quite picked up too much so we were there in no time, cue much excitement upon entering Tenby.

For those of you who don't know Tenby (Dinbych-y-pysgod in Welsh, meaning Little town of fishes/Little fortress of the fish), it's a sea side town in Pembrokeshire. It has over two miles of glorious sandy beaches, 13th century medieval town walls, a picturesque harbour and an offshore monastic island. Tenby is very much a tourist town, as well as beaches it has good independent shops selling locally produced art and crafts. 

Nat and I have recently decided to start a blog together, we're planning on finding and writing about independent and secondhand bookshops. This idea came from visiting the wonderful High Rise Bookshop in Cowbridge last weekend. It kick-started my reading bug (as the pile of eight books on my bedside table will attest to) and sparked the idea of the blog. Once it's up and running I'll be sure to share it on here.

Prior to going to Tenby yesterday I only knew of one bookshop in Tenby, the Tenby Bookshop. My family have been visiting the shop for more than 20 years, no trip to Tenby is complete without visiting it. Although the shop is less bookshop and more giftshop with books now, I still really enjoy popping in.

Earlier in the week I had searched online for secondhand bookshops in Tenby and only one came up, Cofion. It has no website, twitter account or facebook page, but there are some photos of it around from people who have visited. The photos I found made it completely necessary for us to visit, it was...unique.

  

Believe it or not, the guy that owns it does have a filing system. There was a pile of fiction, a pile of sci fi and fantasy, religion, autobiographies. The piles, however, were taller than me. Removing a book to look at felt a bit perilous at times with the books wobbling and threatening to topple over. There's also no through route in the shop so you can't walk around it easily, the poor man who came in after us had to reverse his way out of the shop to let us out. You'd really need to go in there with no bags and plenty of time on your hands to really explore, hopefully another trip will be on the cards in the future.

After leaving the shop we stopped for chips and then explored Tenby a little more.

I had read in the week that St Catherine's Island was now open to the public but only on the weekends, in all the years I've been going to Tenby (so 28 years) I've never been on it. I was a bit disappointed that it wouldn't be open as it was a Thursday but as we got onto the beach I realised that there were people on the island. After paying our £2.00 each we climbed the stone steps to the top of the island, they were £2.00 well spent as the views were wonderful.

At the moment you can't get into the fort as it's not safe but it is hoped it will be open for tours from this summer. 

Nat was brave enough to paddle

With the sea air tiring us out it was time for tea and cake, the new Caldy Coffee Shop had opened since my last visit so we decided to go there. We weren't let down, it was a very charming coffee shop with comfortable seating, huge slices of cake, good tea and free wifi.

After resting in there a while we were both getting tired so decided that we ought to get up for a wander around Equinox, a shop that sells pretty much everything. 

A quick stroll through the side streets of Tenby and we headed off for a quick stop in Saundersfoot.

We walked through the tunnel that connects Saundersfoot and Coppets Hall, I finally got to see how the Coast Restaurant was coming along. It looked great, I'm hoping I'll get to eat there (after staying in St Brides Hotel - it's been a dream of mine for a while) one day.

As it was getting late and cold we headed off back to Cardiff, swinging through Laugharne very briefly.

It was a great day which made me realise that I really want to go for a break in West Wales for a week or so, there's so much to do and see. 

Do you have any tips on places to visit in West Wales or bookshops Nat and I can visit for our blog?

Being alone

I've been feeling pretty lonely lately. I've been laying in bed wondering what the feeling is that I get when I get under the covers, it's something lurking in my chest but I've not been able to put my finger on it until a day or so ago. I miss getting into bed at the end of a long day and chatting to someone I love. I'm lonely.

Before I properly got together with my ex we had a long distance relationship. He'd call as I was going to bed and we'd talk until I fell asleep then he'd call when he was going to bed (usually around 3am my time) and we'd talk on skype until we both fell asleep again. When we were together we'd lay in bed and chat about stuff, I don't really remember what but I remember it being nice. Comforting.

Now I get into my usually cold bed, alone. It's fine. But I miss laying there just talking about crap, films, how my day had been, plans...whatever. 

I have things going on at home, health related things (not me) and I want someone to give me a hug and tell me that it'll be ok. I want someone to hold me or just cwtch with me on the sofa, I miss that so much. Physical contact. Holding hands, kissing, the usual stuff. 

I've been a moody cow lately, I'm not afraid to admit it. I've been frustrated and snarky to anyone who crosses my path, it's been like a cloud has been following me around. People are annoying me. Because of this my patience is wafer thin, I don't have time for people who are hiding their true feelings, people being passive aggressive, people trying to bull shit me or people I care about. It's like I have an angry ball of knots in my chest, it's not a nice feeling.

I have wonderful friends, friends who make me feel less alone when I'm with them, friends who may read this and tell me that I'm not alone. I love them for it, but unfortunately they can't crawl into bed with me and pull me next to them and cuddle me until I drift off to sleep. Hopefully this feeling will pass, but in the meantime I'm not ashamed to say that I'm lonely.

My list in detail #6

Get fit enough to jog 5km

I'm on a bit of a health/fitness kick at the moment and part of that is aiming to get fit to do a 5km muddy run in July with some of the girls from work (you can sponsor us here if you want). I'm also doing zumba at least once a week and until last week I was going to an aerotone class but I've had to give that up, I'm hoping to start going to Group Power and kettlebells soon. In order to start training for the run, Nat and I are going on our first walk/jog this Thursday, wish us luck!

Visit somewhere like Go Ape or Tree Tops

I don't have a special reason for wanting to do this, other than it looks like really good fun. There's a Go Ape about an hour away so a trip is in order soon.

Skincare - my products

If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know that I've had an ongoing battle with my skin for years, now that I'm approaching my 29th birthday I finally seem to have got to grips with what it likes and what it doesn't. I thought I'd introduce you to the products I'm currently using to keep it in a half decent nick, I'll never have perfect skin and I doubt I'll ever feel completely happy about going foundation free but using these products is certainly helping me feel better about my skin.

Pre cleanse

Super Facialist Vitamin C Cleansing Oil. REN Rosa Centifolia Hot Cloth Cleanser. Clinique Take the Day Off Balm

I use three different pre cleansers on rotation, although at the moment I'm mainly using REN's hot cloth cleanser. It smells wonderful and it really gets everything off, although it struggles at waterproof mascara. I take them all off with a flannel soaked in hot water.

Cleanse

REN Mayblossom T-Zone Control Cleansing Gel. REN Clearcalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser. REN Evercalm Gentle Cleansing Milk

 You could say I'm slightly obsessed with REN, and you'd be right. Their products are amazing, they sorted out my skin after a particularly awful breakout last year. I use the T-Zone Cleansing Gel only once in a while when I feel that my skin is more oily than usual, I need to re-purchase it soon. The Clay Cleanser is my newest REN purchase and it is freaking amazing. About two or three weeks ago I had a cluster breakout on my forehead, a place I've never suffered with spots before, and this helped so much. It smells great and leaves my skin really smooth and clean, it's definitely going to get re-purchased. The Evercalm Gentle Cleansing Milk was the first REN cleanser I bought (although it had a different name back then), this is the product that helped calm my skin after it had broken out and generally gone all crazy on me. Another re-purchase will be needed soon, it'll be my third bottle. Again, they all get taken off with a hot flannel.

Exfoliate

No 7 Total Renewal Micro-dermabrasion Exfoliator. Urban Veda Radiance Exfoliating Facial Polish (from Birchbox)

 I don't tend to use exfoliators all that much, maybe once or twice a month. I've had the No 7 exfoliator for maybe coming up two years, that's how infrequently I use it as it's very harsh. The Urban Veda exfoliator was in a Birchbox in February and I really do like it, it does a good job but is gentle. It also smells lovely.

Tone

Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz. Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic. L'Oreal Age Perfect Refreshing Toner

I use two toners morning and night, since Christmas I've been using the L'Oreal toner followed by Liz Earle. The L'Oreal toner is really refreshing and gets rid of the last scrap of anything that may be left on my face (which is rarely anything to be honest), I follow it with the Liz Earle toner which soothes my skin and plumps it up.

Mask

REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask. Super Facialist Rose Hydrate Intense Moisture Mask. Super Facialist Tea Flower Deep Cleanse Pore Purifying Clay Mask. Liz Earle Intensice Nourishing Treatment Mask

Now that I'm writing this I have realised that I've missed a mask out of the photo, try and imagine a tube of Dr Organic Manuka Face Mask sitting up there too. I try and use REN's Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask once a week, it really plumps out my skin and leaves it looking fresh. The two Super Facialist masks get used when I need them, same goes for the Dr Organic mask. The Liz Earle mask I use very infrequently, mainly because it's a giant pain in the backside to get out of the tube and I don't feel like it actually does anything for my skin, it's the only one I wouldn't re-purchase.

Serum

Botanics Skin Relief Serum Ultra Calm. No 7 Youthful Eye Serum. Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair

I use the Botanics Skin Relief Serum every morning as part of my morning routine, I suffer from red marks in areas I've had spots as well as my nose (seriously, it's glowing at the moment - if you have any tips/products I can use please let me know) and this helps to calm the areas down. The No 7 eye serum is used twice a day, I've suddenly become hyper aware that my age is starting to show around my eyes and I'm battling to try and get rid of fine lines. I use the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair every night, it feels like a luxury to use it and it makes my skin feel great.

Moisture 

Body Shop Nutriganics Smoothing Night Cream. Ridiculous amount of REN samples and one Clarins sample. REN Hydra-Calm Global Protection Day Cream

So many samples! Can you tell I buy my REN products direct from them?

At the moment the moisturisers I'm using are the REN Keep Young and Beautiful Anti-Ageing Eye Cream (morning and night), REN Global Protection Day Cream and Body Shop Smoothing Night Cream. I've been getting on with the Global Protection Day Cream long enough that I've nearly run out but I don't think I'll re-purchase, lately my skin hasn't liked it for some reason. The Smoothing Night Cream I've only used for about three nights so it's too early to tell if I like it yet, I know I'm not fussed on the smell though!

So there we have it, my skincare collection. This post was inspired by a chat I had with two of my work colleagues who were amazed at my morning and evening routines, no doubt if they see this they'll think I'm mad but that won't stop me!

Do you have any products you think I should try?