Running with Team Herald for the Mini Marathon!!

Sorry guys for the serious lack of posts over the last couple of weeks,I've been super busy in work and life has seriously gotten in the way of things. Don't worry I'm back again, I've really missed blogging and sharing my favourite gems with you all. I also have pretty exciting news that I want to tell you guys. As you can see from the title of this post I'm going to be running the Flora's Womens Mini Marathon in June. Last year I took part and I jogged it in a time of 1hr 13mins which I was over the moon about. I wrote a post about my experience on the day and if you ever are considering signing up for the Marathon I'd definitely say go for it. It's such a wonderful day out and the rush you get when you see the finish line is unreal. I know it was a huge accomplishment for me.

A couple of weeks back reading the Evening Herald, I seen a blurb saying they were looking for people to run the Marathon with the Evening Herald. I applied for it, never in a million years thinking that I'd hear back. Last Wednesday after work I got a email from the lovely Dee telling me that they'd love me to be a member of Team Herald. Not going to lie I was in shock, when I sent my email in I didn't think anything else of it and hearing that I got it completely blew my mind. My family and friends were really delighted for me as they know how hard I've worked over the past two years. My goal for this years Mini Marathon is to beat my time from last year which I guess is on everyones mind. After getting the phonecall everything happened so quickly, I had some pictures taken and a telephone interview which happened in just two days. On Tuesday I picked up the paper to see my story in there which was really surreal. I put it up on my personal Facebook page and within a day it had 100 likes which was a bit overwhelming to see how supportive my friends are. To get such amazing feedback really made my day! I'm in the Fast Jogger category which is a bit daunting but I know if I train well and right I should do just fine.

I hope some people draw inspiration from my story and it helps them. I know weight is such a personal topic and I know back before I started Slimming World it never effected me but I still wasn't too keen on talking about it. As I have 11 weeks to go until the big day I've started training, with the weather being so bad in Ireland I've been going to the gym quite a bit but when the weather gets better I hope to go jogging around my area. I got a pretty good app called Map My Run on my phone which I feel will help alot. I also want to buy the Now That's What I Call Running CD, I seen it in HMV last week and I love listening to good music when I'm jogging so this will be perfect. I'll be doing updates every week until the Mini Marathon in June so if you guys get to read the articles definitely tweet me and let me know! I'll be putting links up on Twitter regardless so don't worry if you miss them. This is another exciting new chapter for me and I can't wait to get started.

Thanks for all the support so far, you guys are truly amazing,

Laura<3

Maybelline Volum' Express Big Eyes Mascara

When I first saw this mascara being launched Stateside I couldn't wait to see it hit our shores. On a trip to Boots in early February while I was having a browse on my lunch from work I spotted this beaut on the stand. I'm so glad it has finally been released over here as it is quickly becoming my favourite mascara.

Why do I think this mascara is amazeballs? It contains not one but two brushes one for my upper and one for my lower lashes. I'm not one for lashing mascara on my lower lashes as I think it can sometimes be a little OTT unless I'm heading out on the town, that's another story completely. The mini mascara brush reminds me so much of Clinique's Bottom Lash mascara, it just looks really natural and is perfect for everyday. I'm lucky to have pretty long eyelashes but they are ridiculously straight, oh to have everything. After curling my lashes, I apply to coats of Big Eyes mascara and not only does it give that extra oomph of volume my lashes need but it also holds a curl for pretty much the whole day. I couldn't really ask for anything more from this mascara. The last Maybelline mascara I was really impressed with was their Mega Plush mascara, this one definitely knocks it out of the park. Big Eyes is also really easy to remove I've been using Garnier's new Micellar Cleansing Water which I can't rave about enough, literally soak two cotton pads with the stuff and voila the mascara is on. No panda eyes in sight!

In all my recent Instagram selfies (let's not lie we're all guilty of them!), I've been using this mascara. It's definitely my most reached for mascara at present. I love how you can need a couple of strokes and your ready to go for the day. I don't see this being hit off its perch for a while. I'd definitely recommend checking it out the next time you take a much needed shopping trip to Boots. They are also running their 3 for 2 on beauty products at the moment so there's no excuse not to pick up this gem.

Have you tried Maybelline's new offering? What do you think?

Laura<3