BRB | Hitting the Pause Button

Ain't nobody got time for ANYTHING lately. Sorry guys I'm off on another blogging hiatus for a couple of weeks while we undergo another big, stressful life change. Thank you for bearing with, you can still keep up with my stresses, strains, moans and musings on the usual channels Twitter and Instagram of course. Keep an eye on the blog in a couple of weeks time for one of my first ever blogging competitions (did someone say MAC giveaway!?) keep an eye guys and I'll see you again very, very soon!

Until a few weeks time folks, BRB!

H.Elizabeth x

Ooops I tripped! | Sephora Haul

Woops...what can I say guys, I um... tripped and fell straight into Sephora on our travels recently, and then I tripped again and again, counter to counter until I racked up quite a hefty bill. What can I say? I'm just that clumsy, but on the bright side not only have I totally buffed out my kit, got some great new products to play with and found a few new firm favourites, but I've also got something to blog about! Isn't it great when these things work out? So without further ado and going into too too much detail here is my special Spanish Sephora haul.

Too Faced Semi Sweet Chocolate PaletteToo Faced are quickly becoming more and more known for their eyeshadow palettes here in the UK, and after watching a fair few tutorials and giving it a great deal of thought I decided to go for the slightly cooler toned Semi Sweet Chocolate Palette. Stick around for my full review in the future as well as a couple of looks I've been loving creating recently. And yes guys...it really does smell like chocolate and it's awesome!

Too Faced Bulletproof Brows KitI've been on the hunt for a good brow gel for a while and I've got to be honest, I'm not entirely sure this is it, but I'm more than willing to give it a good go for a while. Having been a brow pencil addict through and through I think it'll take an adjustment but hey, I'll try anything once!

Too Faced Melted Liquid Lipstick in NudeY'all know how I love my liquid lipsticks. Having dabbled with Revlon, LA Splash and more recently Kylie Cosmetics I fancied picking up just one more to add to the collection and you know for...research purposes! I picked this one up in nude and it was love at first swatch, I'm looking forward to testing out the formula and giving it a good ole comparison post in the future.

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in VanillaHype, hype, hype. The higher end version of my much loved collection concealer (a considerably cheaper and amazing alternative for those on a budget) so I'm looking forward to seeing how this holds up compared to it's counterpart.

Nars Highlighting Blush in AlbatrossHaven't we all just gots to get that glow? I've been testing out quite a few different highlighting products recently including creams, blush, colour correct techniques by brands such as MAC, Revlon, Bourjois... all sorts really. When I swatched this Nars product in Sephora (admittedly having never heard of it before) it was love, and I now hold it as my own favourite and a kit favourite!

Sephora EyeshadowsSephora eyeshadows have never been something I've heard raved about, but I'm absolutely baffled as to why. I decided to pick up a couple of gold, coppery shades in a glitter and a shimmer simply because of how darn pigmented my swatches in store were (stay tuned!)

Too Faced Better than Sex Mascara (sample size) & Too Faced Hangover Primer (sample size)

As a wee prize for spending so much on Too Faced cosmetics I was given a couple of samples to take away, one being the much coveted and raved about Too Faced Better than Sex Mascara and the Too Faced Hangover Primer.

Well now I have repented my sins and cleansed my soul, I feel so much better, now I just need to give my bank balance a bit of time to heal! What do you guys think of my picks? Is there anything you would have picked up in addition? Be sure to leave your comments below, come share them with me on Twitter, or if you'd like to see EVEN MORE make up you can visit me on Facebook and Instagram!

Until next time folks, repent, repent, repent!

H.Elizabeth x

Tiny Bird Heart Takeover | Abzmeet and How to organise your own blogger meet up

Almost a year ago, I organised the first ever Abzmeet. It all began when I started chatting to local blogger and same time baby-mama Sarah of Sarah Rooftops. After a while we wanted to meet in person and discussed the idea of holding a local blogger meetup.

Photo Credit to Sam from Rose Bud Annie for the photo

We got in touch with some other bloggers we knew from the area, arranged a time and date and that was pretty much it! There were only seven of us back then but we started to meet regularly, I set up a Facebook page (which now has 44 members), and earlier this year I set up a weekly Twitter chat, #abzchat. Although we started off as strangers it really feels like we are friends and part of a supportive community now!

Now I'm no expert, but here are my tips for starting a blogger meetup:

Get in touch with people you'd like to invite

Start liking and following bloggers you'd like to meet and strike up a conversation. You might want to use the opportunity to ask if they'd be interested in attending a meetup and if so what they'd like the event to be like.

Decide what kind of meetup you'd like to hold

It might be specific to a type of blogger or include everyone from a specific area, you might want to have a casual meetup or organise a sponsored or ticket only event. If you've asked potential attendees what type of event they'd be interested in then it's more likely they'll attend.

Organise your meetup

Decide on dates, times and a venue. We try to go with a different cafe or restaurant each time and stick to coffee/brunch in a central location so that it keeps the costs down for everyone. You might want to get in touch with local venues and ask if they can do a special deal or book an area but this may depend on the number of people attending.

Advertise your event

Once you've organised the detail, advertise! Invite those bloggers you'd love to meet, post it all over social media and your blog and ask others to share and invite people who may be interested. I set up a Facebook page after the first event as it was much easier to track who was attending and who'd been invited. We usually ask questions about where and when people would like to meet next but I've found it's better to give a couple of options and see what the majority choose as there will always be people who can't attend.

Organise people on the day

You want your event to be success and for everyone to feel welcome so as the organiser you'll want to familiarise yourself with the bloggers attending. We usually share our blog links on Facebook prior to meetups so that we can read about those attending and get to know a bit about them.

Get feedback

After the event you'll want feedback. Find out what people thought, what they liked and didn't like, how the meetup could be improved, and if they'd like to attend more. Ask people to get in touch with links to their posts if they write about the event and share and comment on them.

Good luck!

Have you organised a meetup or do you have any tips? Let me know below!

Barcelona Baby

 
By the time you read this I'll be long gone...... to Barcelona baby!

As you guys know from my last post I am off to Barcelona with my hubby this week and as is a tradition with Granite City Girl and I guess now Hannah Adams Make Up Artistry, I will be taking a little, tiny wee break to refuel, recharge and have myself a jolly good time abroad. Did I mention I run on solar power? Ach see now you know why I've been a big bogged down, I just need to catch me some rays! But my absence of course doesn't mean no content, heavens no! Instead I'll be handing over the reigns of Granite City Girl to some friends from the #Abzmeet gang namely Anastasia of Natbees Fashion.

You can of course keep a spy on my Twitter and Instagram if you want to keep up with what we're doing in Barcelona , where we're going and what we're seeing. Otherwise have a lovely, lovely week guys and I will return next Wednesday as per with brand new content and hopefully a photo diary of Barcelona and our adventures.

Until next time folks, love ya bye!

H.Elizabeth x

Our Tuscan Holiday | Photo Diary

Hello everyone, just a quick photo diary post of what we got up to in Tuscany today as I have had a couple of requests to share what we got up to. All in all it was quite a chilled out holiday and we didn't get up to much exploring you know, Tuscany and chill as it were. We stayed in a 'grande' villa just a 20 minute drive from Montepulciano, we had a few thunder storms, some glorious weather and a lovely pool to relax in and as I said we didn't really take that many pictures, because how many interiors shots do you guys really want to see? So here are some of the snaps we did manage to capture while we were off on our adventures. 

Hope you enjoy!

Granite City Girl Under the Tuscan Sun

Yes you guessed it, we're blasting off again (today we're throwing in some Pokemon references because the internet simply does not have enough geekery) this time we're off to bathe under the Tuscan sun to celebrate a milestone birthday for my father in law and my husbands uncle, so really all of these trips and holidays are justified right?  Although I'm not making any promises to stop jetting off on little adventures every now and then, even if they are only to Dundee.

I shall return with stories and pictures a plenty I'm sure in the next few weeks, though I'm not going to make any promises as to when that might be, so as annoying and vague as this is going to sound, 'I'll see you when I see you!'

Until next time folks, I'll try and bring home the sun!

H.Elizabeth x

Our Paris Adventures | Bateaux Parisiens Dinner Cruise

Today ladies and gents (upon my return) I would like to share a little snapshot of our recent (and first ever) trip to Paris for our honeymoon in May as this is something I would like to rave about due to our inexplicably positive and amazing experience with this company and the fabulous value for money we received during our journey and that is with Bateaux Parisiens river cruises.

Back when we were booking our trip to Paris I distinctly remember being incredibly indecisive when it came to activities for the week ahead, but having said that I knew exactly what I didn't want. I didn't want a guided tour exploring the histories of the city (sorry sometimes I am an uncultured sod) as I felt that would waste a great deal of our already short time in the city, I didn't want to have to keep up with a group of snap happy tourists and I definitely didn't want to have mandatory viewings, I was in Paris to relax and enjoy time with my new (ish) husband none of which involved my fellow tourist, so when I came across glowing reviews for a dinner cruise company named Bateaux Parisiens I was instantly sold.

The cruise promised viewing of almost all of the main attractions of Paris (including the Eiffel Tower - where the boat departs - Notre Dame and the Love Lock Bridge) complete with a 3 course French dining experience (including wine) as well as professional photography on board during your trip. There are a number of different times and options for your cruise, for example a lunch cruise, which is shorter and slightly less expensive, a late evening cruise (which is more expensive) but we decided as we were doing this as our last hoorah in Paris we would go for the 6pm dinner cruise which lasted approximately 1 hour 45 minutes. The entire experience only cost us 164E which also guaranteed a window table, needless to say I had anticipated this to be one of the highlights of our trip and we were not disappointed.

Upon boarding we were given our menu and shown to our lovely window table (which was utterly beamed by sunlight but who are we to complain!?) kitted out with an ice bucket, wine and champagne and a cute little faux candle then we were introduced to our waiter for the duration of our trip who took our entire order so all we had to do was relax, enjoy the views and each others company as we sailed serenely along the Seine. The menu had a choice of 3 starters, 3 mains and 3 desserts, none of which served as a disappointment, everything was cooked to perfection, after all miss this is France and the dinner here is never second best (wee Disney reference for you fans out there) but don't worry I shan't bore you with all of our dishes and the intricacies of French cruise cuisine all I will say is it was the finest meal we had away.

Another on board service that I very much appreciated was their on board Bateaux photographer who took 5 - 10 pictures of you and your party to develop them at the end and give you the opportunity to buy them, now which other tour operator offers this type of service? We ended up coming away with a couple of pictures which serve to us as a perfect reminder of our time in Paris as well as the amazing views we experienced with the cruise and I can't wait to give them the frame they deserve (the folder they're in at the moment is the folder they need right now but not the one they deserve - scathy Batman reference)

When we do eventually visit Paris again I consider this to be a must on our list, for me it's the best way to see the best of Paris and by far the most romantic (although that may have been the vino talking!) so I do hope if you're going along to Paris for the week or maybe even just the weekend you'll consider Bateaux Parisiens, of course if you want to ask me any questions you might have about the cruise I'm always free on Twitter or if you'd like to see more upcoming Parisian adventures we had you can follow me on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, I'll be dreaming of Paris.

H.Elizabeth

Au Revoir | Granite City Girl's Honeymoon

Bonjour et Au Revoir mes amis! Yes no sooner am I back from my little blogging break than I am jetting off once again, but this time I really do have a good excuse, honest. You see we're off on our honeymoon for a week, finally  after almost 10 months of wedded bliss we are finally off to celebrate! We are so looking forward to our little Parisian break, this past year has been a whirlwind of events, milestones and general happenings, from dissertation all the way back in April 2014, to graduation, our wedding and new job opportunities you could say it has been all go in the Granite City Girl household, and so I bid you adieu today once again as we jet off for another little break, but don't worry I shall return and with plenty of content to be sure to be sure!

 

Until next time folks, I'll send you a postcard, au revoir.

 

H.Elizabeth