Disaster Davis

It’s time again for another #BeautiesOnFire post, you voted on Twitter and decided that our theme for this week would be Back to School! Firstly, if you’re unsure as to what this whole #BeautiesOnFire thing is (where have you been hiding?) then please feel free to check out my introduction post below, additionally you may peruse the past themes.








I do hope that this will prove to be in some way useful for you, don’t stress it too much and simply be yourself, show the best side of you! Have you had a best and worst interview? I’d love to hear all about your experiences, leave me a comment below! Of course don’t forget to check out the other ladies posts from the link up over at everythingandnothin’.

With Love,
Disaster Davis x

It’s evidently been a little while now since my last post and for those of whom follow me on Twitter and Facebook, the reason for this will be known , although due to not posting anything on here about it I wanted to update you on this today.

There’s no easy way of saying this and I hate having to write it, but a dear friend of mine passed away. Tom were genuinely one of the nicest people I’ve met and to have had the pleasure of befriending, he were intelligent, funny, caring and the most easy going of people. He were completely carefree and without a doubt the life and soul of any party. Being a healthy guy and at the young age of 26 years, it’s safe to say that this terrible news came as a huge shock to all of those which knew him. These past few weeks have been awful and it’s something that I still can’t get my head around, understandably I couldn’t handle blogging, finding that any motivation to do so or the inspiration of which to help me write my posts, had simply vanished.


Any loss gets you thinking about things and due to Tom being always such a happy individual together with the shock of the whole situation I of course found my mind to be in overdrive. Approximately a week and half before his death he’d invited me to hang out however it were late at night and I needed to be up incredibly early for work the next day therefore I of course turned down the invite, even though he had then asked to just have the one drink. This is something I’ve been beating myself up over since his death, despite there being no way I could have predicted this. It’s reminded me of the fact that all too often we get caught up in routine and duty whilst forgetting to truly live life. How many opportunities to do things and to enjoy time with loved ones would we make the most out of if not for the fact of mundane prioritising? This reminded me also of the need for many of us to stop putting other’s before ourselves so often, to stop missing out on things or failing to try new things based on what somebody else will think. Your life is yours and only yours, if you want something then you have to go for it, take chances and get out of your comfort zone because all too soon it could all be over. Do you want to reach the end only to regret not giving somebody a second chance, or wondering how different it could have all been had you pushed yourself toward the career of your dreams, to have travelled the world?  Live life to the full and unapologetically, be yourself and stay true to you. Life is often what you make it. Create so many amazing memories, as many as is possible and always remember to ensure that your loved ones know what they mean to you. Carpe Diem!


I wish to thank you for your understanding of my absence and for sticking with me. I’ll get fully back into the swing of things as soon as possible regarding any comments made or e-mails sent to myself during my time away. Have a stunning day and a life worth being jealous of yourself for!

With Love,
Disaster Davis x

Due to now being half way through 2016 I figured it would be the right time to take a look back on my resolutions. I’m sure you’ll agree that by being held accountable for something in such a large way via the internet, it proves to be the biggest kick to the rear possible. If you have yet to see my initial progress or would like a reminder of how I started the year off, then please head on over to my posts "Reach your Resolutions!” and “Recalling Resolutions”.

Upon reflection there’s considerable efforts I could be implementing in order to achieve some of the above, there’s another six months left of 2016 however, thus meaning I need not worry so much just yet. How are you progressing with your own resolutions or goals? Do you have any recommendations for face exfoliants, driving instructors or tattoo artists? If so then I’d love to hear from you, leave me a comment below. It will take no time at all and you would be being greater help than would be perceived.

With Love,
Disaster Davis x

This post has been requested and I’ve been intending to write it for a considerable amount of time now. Please do bear in mind that this is a topic I’ve been asked to write about - therefore please don’t assume that I’m attempting to brag or show off, as that is absolutely not my aim at all! I’d say that the title is rather self explanatory ergo if you’re interested in learning more then please do continue reading.

At the start of this year I embarked upon a slight health kick with the intention of improving my health overall, rather than it being about losing weight. There were ample changes of which were implemented and in the space of four weeks I had lost a stone, I were elated with this considering that it hadn’t been my focus. So, what changed?



Fluids
Firstly, I expanded my water intake considerably, making sure to stay hydrated at all times and I’d cut down drastically on all other drinks. I went from being an unbridled tea and fizzy pop drinker to drinking only one cup of tea a day and cutting out fizzy drinks entirely. I also cut down significantly on alcohol, managing to limit myself to a few shots and one stein at a friend’s Birthday celebrations in January, I’m usually quite a drinker therefore this were a remarkable achievement alone.

Comfort Eating
This is a problem I’ve always struggled with, like a baby with a blanket - I require food to find contentment. I simply adore eating, it’s actually really hard to ever find myself hungry because there’s almost always something being thrown down my throat, when I’m annoyed, upset, cold, bored, procrastinating, menstruating - it’s quite possibly my answer to everything! By some miracle I cut this out! I honestly have to say that this were the hardest part for me and the only thing I can assume is that I’d suddenly found an unexpected and inconceivable will power within myself, as I would usually crumble within a few hours. This is probably the main reason for my weight loss.

Activity
In a bid for some alone time, a chance for reflection and to get myself out of the house whilst promoting a healthy endorphin rush, I made the decision to go swimming once a week. I’m a Leeds Get Active card holder, meaning that at selected participating centres I’m able to redeem an hours swimming session per day and the same applies to the gym, there’s some centres which will allow both to be taken advantage of in the same day and this is completely free. I couldn’t say no really, could I? After all there’s a centre located within a twenty minute walk from where I live. Due to the fact I weren’t very active to start with and remembering that I were borderline Agoraphobic at that point in time, I feel that an hours swim session per week were definitely an appropriate amount, I also eventually added gym sessions to this as my mental health had started to improve a little, although I were rendered unable after a short while due to complications with my foot, of which is being operated on tomorrow!

Phone Apps
In a bid to encourage my levels of activity I downloaded the ‘RunTastic’ app which calculates the calories lost during a range of different activities. There’s more of course that the app can be used for, as there’s the option to pay fees to go pro - I however opted to utilise the free option. Alongside this I also downloaded ‘My Fitness Pal’ - an app used predominantly for tracking both diet and exercise on a daily basis, this app has an array of features and also has a paid premium option - again I used the free version only. Inputting personal information such as height and weight, including a target weight, this app will then calculate the time it will take to shed a healthy amount weekly, also providing the user with a calorie goal to achieve the required results in that time. It’s great because it does the math for you and when putting in any activity completed in that day you’re then able to see how much more you can eat in that day without putting on the pounds - perfect for when you’re wanting to treat yourself. I could go into further detail about these apps therefore if you would like me to do so then feel free to leave me a comment below or on any other social media platform.

Other
Always remember to chew your food thoroughly, the longer it takes you to eat something the fuller you will feel. I’m a rather leisurely eater anyway so for me this were proven the proverbial piece of cake. I became more thoughtful in relation to my food choices, opting for healthier options more often and cutting down hugely on the snacking, or all together on days when I’d had a heavier meal. My Fitness Pal were definitely a friend with that, I used the active days as my opportunity to allow snacks, likewise, if I felt particularly hungry one day then I’d go for an evening walk to even out excess calorie intakes. This still weren’t about losing weight for me, though. I figured that if I could get used to a smaller intake of food daily, then over time my stomach would become accustomed to this change also, meaning I’d then become full quicker. To achieve this I aimed for a 1,200 calorie intake daily, recommended by My Fitness Pal and still within an acceptable and healthy level of consumption.



There’s a vast array of things I could have done additionally although I felt that the above were all enough, especially initially. I find it exasperating to make a commitment to things regardless, however I happened to do wonderful with this for a few months before unfortunately abandoning the whole routine during my transition back into the working world. Although a little over a stone weren't a huge loss I'd definitely started to notice some shrinkage around my hips and stomach, they aren't the best however some evidence of this can be seen in the above photographs, the before being in the polka dot bikini and after being the black.

Have you been pursuing the same endeavour? Which tips would you like to share with others? I’d love to find motivation and acquire something inspirational to assist me with getting back into all of this - I have weddings to look presentable for!


With Love,
Disaster Davis x

I'm not sure the two words used for this title are the most often used together but it is what it is! Read on if you've found yourself a little baffled by the above and all shall be revealed!




I'm unsure if I've mentioned this yet (only numerous times tehehe) but I've been chosen to be the maid of honour/chief bridesmaid for my High School best friend! Hannah must be utterly insane... Oh, wait! Of course this means that the time would come where myself, Hannah and the other bridesmaids were required to venture out and attempt to find bridesmaids attire for the big day, since this is also pretty much the very last thing left to do as I have never met a bride to be more organised than Han! Together we took to Leeds in the hope of finding inspiration, with the only real aim at this point being to try out different styles of dresses with the intention of finding out what does and doesn't suit us the best. We toyed with a mix of styles, in any colour available, and luckily found that we were all in agreement over our dislikes and preferences. There were some surprises and of course whilst there were dresses we delighted in there were indeed some rather questionable garments available also. All in all, everything sailed along rather smoothly and with an added crafty trip to a pub for a refuel! The only disasters we encountered were the evacuation of the Trinity Centre whilst being stranded on the top floor, Hannah seemingly attempting to wash a table at the pub with her pint, of which she had yet to drink from, lastly myself getting stuck in a dress and having to be rescued by none other than the bride to be herself. Some use I'm going to make as her right hand woman!



Once our shopping had come to an end we then parted ways with plans to meet again in a few hours time at Hannah and Kallum’s house for a BBQ! Before long we were all back together, with a much larger amount of alcohol, stuffing our faces in the garden, also with the guys in tow. The weather had surprisingly done us proud and it were a delightful evening, some of us got rather merry and I speak on behalf of all when I say that we had a fantastic time together.




What memories have you made recently and what events do you have to look forward to? I do hope I have provided some form of entertainment due to my inability to partake in a tolerable photograph!


With Love,
Disaster Davis x

It’s not everyday that you go shopping and find yourself surrounded by huge cake sculptures. I found this occurrence far too unique to keep to myself. Cake anyone?



So the deal is, I went shopping with the girls recently in Leeds and just after experiencing a false alarm evacuation whilst being stuck on the top floor of the Trinity centre, amongst a ridiculous amount of Saturday shoppers, our eyes were diverted to a delicious display below. Leeds in cake!







The space were open to the public to peruse, of whom were given a free sample of cake once getting to the end, yummy! It has to be noted that the queues were getting a little more intense once we had finished, but thankfully we were amongst the very lucky first few - phew! The delicacy were displayed in the Trinity centre, Leeds, from Saturday 14th until Friday 20th.



I hope you enjoyed the evidence of edible excellence above, did you get a chance to sample this delight for yourself? I don’t know about you but I really want cake now!


With Love,
Disaster Davis x

During the May Bank Holiday weekend there were somewhat an influx of birthdays. Firstly, my best friend Riley’s, followed the next night by another of my best friend’s, Sarah! Wrapping all of this up on the Sunday with a date night it proved to be an especially hectic and pleasurable weekend indeed. I felt it would be rude to refrain from sharing the fun!

For the first night of craziness we were town bound and onto Leeds it were, to indulge in a fun filled family and friend karaoke night in the Merchant, followed afterwards by additional drinks at my cousin’s flat. Since Riley is a bit of a novice when it comes to venturing into town on the evening hours, I were given the responsibility due to my best friend position, to both decide on a plan and ensure he enjoyed his night, getting rather merry in the process. Taking into consideration the fact that he nodded off on Steph’s sofa before suddenly sprinting to the toilet in order to vomit that of his own body weight, I’d assume that I succeeded in this endeavour! I certainly had a whale of a time, the weekend got off to a cracking start!



The Saturday were then devoted to Sarah’s birthday celebrations and saw our group through pre-drinks at Lee’s house before heading to town for a night of Attic based antics! ‘Propaganda’ is a personal favourite of mine with regard to ‘club nights’ and it has to be said that I thoroughly enjoyed sampling my many ‘Jedi Juices’, a cocktail made of course in honour of May 4th.




After plenty of dancing, drinking and a generally fantastic night with a ridiculous lack of sleep and at a crazy time in the morning, I have literally no idea how I felt alive enough to finish off the weekend perfectly with a date night, but I somehow did! I’m not about to kiss and tell, although we started our evening off with drinks in Headingley, which were a welcome change for myself and I had a lovely time. I failed to take any photos of myself that night however the picture below is taken from another night this year when I wore the same outfit.







I can say for certain that I had a spectacular May Bank Holiday. How were yours? I’d love to hear all about it.

With Love,
Disaster Davis x

I'm literally so exceptionally enthusiastic about the topic of today’s post! There’s been birthdays and new additions in the Davis family, with twins everywhere! I couldn't be happier right now and I've been itching to write this one, although it’s considerably distant from the fashion and beauty world.


Firstly, Birthdays! Three years have already gone by since my beautiful Echo and Eden graced the world and my life with their angelic presence. I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone, it feels like only yesterday when they were so incredibly tiny, since they had their own babies six months later and just everything else collectively. I cherish every last moment of which I've spent with them, although the time has passed by at such an alarming speed, one of which makes me feel especially uncomfortable. I don’t want to ever be without them and knowing that I’ll have to someday means that I’d like to discover a way in which to slow time down substantially or pause it entirely! Saying all of this about ‘pets’ may seem a little overboard to some, however those of which know me will realise just how much my fur babies really do mean to me. They’re not simply ‘just a pet’, they’re a part of my family and are, in my mind, my children. There’s nothing that I wouldn't do for any of them, they mean the world and more to me and definitely light my life up to an unfathomable degree.


Looking back at old baby pictures of both Echo and Eden is surreal, watching them grow day in and day out means not typically noticing all of the changes as they advance, exploring the pictures is when realisation dawned on me of just how much they have changed, how larger they both are, where have my tiny babies gone? I fall in love with them over and over again each day, they make me continually proud and bring me joy and happiness in abundance. Their birthday were on Tuesday (19th) and due to the slight tinge of sadness at them getting older, I celebrated in a way that changed and expanded the family!


Yes that’s right, another twin set! I've been bonding a little on every visit to my local pet shop, with two adorable little African Spiny Mice! They were born on November 11th last year and have been in the pet shop for some time now. I felt so bad for them being there for so long and I have zero ideas on why they haven’t been snapped up yet because they’re the cutest little cherubs full of fun! They would have become a part of the family a lot sooner although there were nowhere to keep them in the house, I'm a little over run as it is! My Mom were finally worn down however and said on Tuesday that if I could find a place for them, then I had free reign to bring them home. This meant I were on a mission, I simply HAD to find a space somehow, therefore I created one out of thin air! It weren't long before I were back at  the pet shop, buying a new cage to set up at home, before popping back down for my little boys. They’re so fast, bombing around chasing one another, as quick as lightning. These two bundles of energy were up to mischief constantly after bringing them home, checking everything out and being extremely inquisitive, playing with one another and looking for attention from their Mommy, of course I were only too happy to oblige. I still can’t take my eyes off of them and it has somehow made my feelings grow for ALL of my babies. The Davis house somehow feels much more complete with the latest additions. Chase and Chance fit in around here instantly and I've most definitely fallen in love yet again. They’re the cheekiest little guys and bringing them home certainly took a little of the edge away from the fact that my biggest babies are growing up.


Do your own fur babies elicit the same emotions within you? I’d love to hear about your own bundles of joy so do feel free to leave me a comment below. I never tire of hearing about babies of any species.


With Love, Stomps and Squeaks,
Disaster Davis, Echo, Eden, Jeremiah, Chance and Chase x

I've said this before and I’ll say it again, it’s often the little things of which many overlook, that really make you smile. We just need to be open to noticing and valuing such situations and occurences.




Above are a few previous posts of which I have wrote about little things that have made me smile or I've simply appreciated. Today’s topic of focus ties in with positive relationships, however. It’s always nice to feel appreciated and cared for, isn't it? That’s exactly how I feel after receiving some treats from friends last week, just because.


Whilst shopping with my best friend Riley, I noticed some really cute nails in Primark, I were at the time pondering getting a set of acrylics done, so I decided I were going to leave the nails, despite only being £1. Riley weren't letting this happen and decided to buy them for me as a little random gift, also because he really liked them himself - which is incredibly rare! In that same day I got left a present in my shared locker at work by my friend Josh, a big bar of Oreo chocolate, yum! That didn't last long, let me tell you! It really only takes a small act of kindness, showing a person that they've been in your thoughts, to make them feel appreciated. I really am so lucky to have such incredible people in my circle of friends. I'm rewarded with the same feeling when somebody leaves me a lovely comment here on the blog, it means so much to know that someone has taken the time to write something for me, so a huge thank you to all of which have done, you’re incredible!


Have you been shown any acts of kindness recently? Are you planning to make somebody else feel cherished? Giving is even better than receiving. Show someone special that you care! I'm going to show my appreciation for Josh in the form of kicking his rear end at pool this evening, because I'm clearly just the best friend there is, muahahaha. Remember, the little things often matter the most!


With Love,
Disaster Davis x

High school reunions are something of which everyone has heard of and many have attended. Whilst these are, I think, typically ten years after leaving high school, myself and the old group decided to organize an unofficial reunion between us, almost a full eight years after leaving West Leeds High School in June 2008!

Why did we do this ourselves? Well for one I’m not sure of the protocol regarding this type of event and who organizes them etc, secondly our High School no longer exists and thirdly, with the powers of social media, why on earth not? I have recently become really close again with my high school best friend, Hannah, and I’m actually going to be her maid of honour at her wedding next year. We have both been feeling rather nostalgic of recent and therefore when it were suggested to some of our other old friends, like magic, it happened!


I for one loathed high school, I really didn’t have a good experience at all, but my shining light in an otherwise all encompassing abyss of darkness were my circle of friends. Some would say that we were a very odd bunch, with what could be described as the many differing ‘rejects’ thrown together, yet it made for the most awesome mix up possible! Without these guys and girls my school days would have been infinitely worse and I’m proud to call them friends. I’m sure I’m speaking on behalf of everyone else when I say that our un-official reunion were absolutely fantastic. It were incredible seeing everyone again, whilst being able to catch up and talk about old times too. We really did have some rather hilarious experiences. It’s safe to say that some of us got rather intoxicated and I’m without a doubt looking forward to doing it all again, hopefully soon and with more in attendance!



It’s insane to ponder the notion that these people have known me between thirteen and twenty years, as a couple of them I also went to Primary School with. It’s disheartening how we all lose touch after school as our lives get in the way of friendships, it’s amazing though, how we were all able to gather again and how it felt somehow as though time hadn’t passed. I’m so lucky and thankful to have such remarkable people in my life and I look forward to many more exhilarating times to come in the future. Thank you to each of you for the epic memories then, now, and still to come!


Now for the outfit and make-up side of things, venture below!

Have you experienced a school reunion yet, either officially or un-officially? I’d be delighted to hear about your own events, memories and friendships. Remember, everyone isn’t always in the past for a reason, sometimes life simply gets in the way. Lets all reconnect with those relationships of which hold real value and meaning. Reach out, life is too short!


With Love,
Disaster Davis x