Durham Lumiere Festival of Light

On Sunday, my parents and I decided to visit my sister and while we were in the area, we thought we'd take a trip to the annual Durham Lumiere Festival of Light. 

Luckily it wasn't as cold as it has been these past couple of days (anyone else wake up to pure solid ice on their windscreen this morning? Phwoar it's sure getting cold), and there was only a sprinkling of rain so it wasn't too unbearable being out in the cold for so long. 

The main show area opened up at around 7.30pm and I have to say the organisation of the event was fantastic. We followed hundreds of people on the path round and up to the Cathedral with minimal waiting, where we were met by some gorgeous lights being projected onto the beautiful cathedral. 

Apologies for the rubbish-y images; my camera doesn't seem to like the dark

We then continued through the Cathedral to the smaller but equally as pretty attractions, my personal favourite being a phone box filled with tropical fish, which sadly I couldn't seem to get a good photo of. Stupid camera.

We also grabbed hot chocolate and a homemade cookie each from a cute little stall along the way for just £1 (which was yummy!) to warm up a bit before continuing to a couple more sights further on. 

Dresses made of tiny lights

As we were all working the next day and had a beastly drive home that night, we left at around 8:30pm having seen less than half of the lights on show, which was a huge shame. But it really was worth the journey; there was a lovely atmosphere and we all really enjoyed spending time together as a family.

Who would have thought plastic bags would make such a pretty Christmas tree?!

Unfortunately, Sunday was the last day of this years show so if you do want to take a peek, you will have to wait another year for the next show! It is completely free so a great little event if you're struggling to occupy the kids or just want to fill an evening. 

I just wish I could have told you about it sooner! 

Love, 

Jo xx

Guess Who's Back...Back Again

Oh my word have I misbehaved this past month or so.

Since starting my new job as a Radiographer (oo, how grown up and sophisticated am I?), life has been pretty much non-stop! Trying to adjust from having more time on my hands than I could imagine to barely having time to brush my teeth has been strange, but now that I have begun to settle into work properly I feel like I can (hopefully) get back onto the blogging bandwagon. Granted, my posts won't be as frequent as they used to be, and I will have to somehow fit blogging around my shifts but all I can do is my best, eh?

I'm on late shifts this week anyway so hopefully I can schedule some posts during the day for the next couple of weeks. 

Anyway, how are you all doing? I've missed you! Give me updates!

I haven't been doing much exciting outside of work to be honest. My sister visited home from Newcastle a couple of weekends ago and we went bowling with her boyfriend and my dad for the first time in so many years. I lost (expected), but we had such a laugh and had some fun on the arcade games after.

We also had a bonfire gathering at our house with a few family friends, food, fireworks and lots of alcohol which was lovely. It's a nice yearly tradition that we have which will hopefully be continuing for many years to come.

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Did you have a nice Halloween/Bonfire night? 

I also started my Christmas shopping on Monday (sorry to those who are still not allowing any mention of the 'C' word, but I am far too excited this year!). My best friends and I are doing a Secret Santa this year so I already have that one in the bag. For once I have actually managed to be organised. *fistpump*

For some reason I've found this post really hard to write up! I think I just need to get back into the swing of things and hopefully things will start to spill out onto the page again soon enough.

Anyways, I've probably really bored you here but I will get some posts scheduled and hopefully get back to normal(ish). Hope you'll forgive me for my absence just this once! 

Lots of love, 

Jo xx

A Healthier Me

First off, I hope you're all having an amazing bank holiday weekend; the weather here in the UK has been gorgeous so I hope you've been making the most of it, as I don't think it will be around for much longer !

 

It is actually the effects of this stunning weather that has inspired this blog post. For someone who doesn't burn easily in the sun, I did pretty darn well for myself yesterday. Having spent the day pottering around the garden and doing jobs outside, I obviously hadn't realised how strong the sun was until I got in in the evening.

 

My nose, shoulders, chest, arms and legs are now bright red. And I mean bright red. I look like Rudolf gone wrong.

Now, I actually felt really bad once I realised how much I had actually burnt, and this got me thinking about how little I actually do to take care of my body.

 

So I set about compiling a list of simple changes that I will be making from now on in an attempt to keep my body healthy.

 

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1. Look after my skin

 

After that little introduction, let's start with the obvious; protection from the sun. I'm pretty annoyed at myself for not applying sun cream as it's such a ridiculously bad habit to get into, so from now on I vow to wear sun cream whenever I spend time outside in warm weather.

 

Although I religiously follow a facial cleansing and moisturising regime, my body gets extremely neglected. I am way too lax when it comes to moisturising my body, and so starting tonight I am also going to be moisturising my body every night before bed.

 

2. Drink more water

 

I've always drank far too little and when I do drink, more often than not it is tea (or vodka... nah just kidding. Kinda). I am going to start carrying a bottle of water around in my bag and have a glass with me as much as is possible when I'm at home.

 

3. Snack healthily

 

I eat very healthy and well balanced meals, but these are seriously let down by my very unhealthy snacking habits. Crisps are my absolute weakness, and up until a couple of weeks ago all I would snack on was crisps, chocolate and sweets; nothing else.

 Two weeks ago, I cut out the bad snacks and started to munch on fruit instead. Already I have noticed a huge difference in my energy levels and in particular on my skin, which is so much clearer and less dull.

I now have an unhealthy obsession with tangerines. Why did I not snack on these before?!

 

4. Start running

 

Now I'm afraid to say I absolutely despise running. I personally find it very tedious and because I get tired out so quickly, I give up with it. However, I have downloaded the NHS Couch to 5k app and intend to try and get into running properly.

I even bought some pretty pink trainers to motivate myself.

 

Trainers | Windsor's | £16

 

So these are my 'get healthy' aims this summer. I'm not aiming to lose weight, but I would like to tone up a little and feel physically fitter.

I'm keeping my aims simple, not too far fetched and easy to achieve, and hopefully I will see some results!

 

Do you have any tips for a healthier body?

Are you on a health kick this summer?

 

Jo xx

 



Guest Post Request!

Okay, so life is definitely getting in the way of blogging at the minute.

I obviously haven't reached the drastic stage yet, but as I have exams, deadlines and an increasing amount of hours at the hospital to juggle (as well as the inevitable Christmas preparations) I am predicting a serious case of blog neglect on the horizon.

Damn you third year!

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So I was wondering if any of you lovely lot could help me to keep my blog as active as possible by doing me the honours of guest posting on Painted Glitter!

If I have any volunteers for this, my plan is to schedule as many guest posts as possible roughly between now and the end of January.

As I don't expect a huge amount of offers (sad face) I will obviously also be posting myself as much as I can manage.

All I ask is that you use clear images on your posts. I don't have any specific requests on the content, just whatever you fancy (obviously as long as it fits in with the theme of my blog). Beauty, fashion, life, health... anything along those lines!

If you are interested in helping me out, I'd love you to pop me an email at jotwentytwelve@hotmail.co.uk with a rough idea of what you would like to write about.

Thanks for reading!

Jo xx

Go Ape!

So at the start of this week one of my best friends moved to Italy for a year abroad as part of her uni course (you can read her blog on her journey here).

Unfortunately this means very little contact with her as she currently has no internet and texts/calls cost a bomb, so we will be relying on good old fashioned letters to keep in touch!

 

Anyhow, a couple of weeks ago as a little present for her before she left, a few friends and I organised a day out at Go Ape.

 

Three words: It. Was. Hilarious.

Go Ape describes itself as a way to 'get in touch with your inner Tarzan'. Pretty accurate description I'd say!

It is basically an adventure park with zip wires, Tarzan swings (the scariest thing ever!), and numerous other tree top crossings such as tunnels, ropes and bridges.



http://goape.rusic.com/go-ape-share-your-adventure/ideas/1059

We went to the one at Grizedale in the Lake District (there are 28 different sites dotted around the UK), which is a massive 18 metres up...

...now that may not sound that high, but come back when you've stood on that tiny platform and attached yourself to a mahoosive tree with a measley little rope and tell me that is not high!

It is such an adrenaline rush. The longest zip wire was a massive 200 metres long!

http://goape.rusic.com/go-ape-share-your-adventure/ideas/3047
 

The zip wires were definitely the highlight of the course...I would definitely recommend going first at this point. Standing at the bottom watching my seriously uncoordinated friends land with pure elegance and grace like a sack of spuds (i.e. horizontally and face first in a pile of wet mud) without a doubt made my whole day...I literally cried with laughter.


(I didn't dare risk take my camera or phone all the way up there with me so unfortunately I have no pictures of the day; all the pictures in this post are from the Go Ape website)

http://goape.rusic.com/go-ape-share-your-adventure/ideas/3018

Now prices may seem a little steep at first glance:

10-17 year olds - £20
18 years +   - £30

But the course takes roughly 2-3 hours to complete altogether, so it doesn't actually work out too badly price wise!

Plus if you're a student, just use the code STU654 at the checkout for 20% off!
Just don't forget to take your student card on the day!

You can book your Go Ape session here.

I would seriously recommend this to anyone who is a bit more on the adventurous side and loves that  bit of an adrenaline rush, it really is a fab day out.


Thanks for reading,
Jo xo