Amazing Advertisers || April 2015

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Oooeee, how fast has this month gone? Very fast, that's how!

Now's the time to spend a little moment looking at the lovely boys and girls who have bought space at the side of this blog during April. Are you excited? I am!

(This April I tried to touch a swan. I failed.)

MissLauraBora's Blog

Laura is an Irish student and writes a beauty blog. This month Laura has talked about Barry M Nail Polish, her MAC 15 slot eyeshadow palette (swoon) complete with swatches and shared one of her YouTube videos too. If you're into beauty, this is a fun little place to stop by. 

Sunny Sweet Pea

Excuse me there I just got totally sucked into Jenny's blog for a while. The video on her new colouring book (no, not a kiddie one, a beautiful intricate thing of joy) made me really happy. I too have been enjoying some quiet colouring time and it really does calm the mind. I might have to blog about this soon I think! Defo check her's out- you'll be addicted! 

Get The Skinny

Get The Skinny, written by Tara is a blog dedicated to all the low down on life, style, fitness and recipes. 'Skinny' meaning 'info'. This blog makes me want to gallivant around London with my camera, experiencing amazing exhibitions and visiting swish little hidden restaurants. Beware, you're about to get total life envy!

SilverSpoon London

Angie, a long time Sprinkle of Glitter advertiser is back again with her beautiful blog. It is regularly updated and rich in the most beautiful photographs of beautiful places you will ever see. Seriously, swoon. If you are a foodie or are interested in seeing her stunning travel adventures, please, click over. 

Anna In Wonderland

This month Anna's beautiful blog has featured an absolute tonne of fashion posts with plenty of skirts to completely swoon over. I do love me a good skirt! Anna has also written a really helpful post about affordable travel and how to find the best deals which has really helped me since I plan on visiting Seattle soon with Darcy! Thank you Anna!

Doing Life My Way

Right now Alexandra is taking part in a 365 Blogger challenge which means she is uploading a blog post every single day for an entire year- quite the feat! I have enjoyed keeping up with her musings, some on specific topics, some just bits from the day and really applaud her for taking on this challenge. If you want to feel totally immersed, this is the blog for you. 

My Blonde Reality

I started mooching through this blog to get a feel for what I wanted to talk about but instead found myself completely sucked into the post about white chocolate passion fruit easter eggs. I don't care that we're approaching May, I want some! If they don't float your boat, Jennie also has a plethora of great posts about things to do in the big city, all with purdy pictures to boot :). 

Amy Antoinette

Amy's blog is just the sweetest place to spend a few minutes in your busy day. Having recently moved to America with her love and her baby boy Henry, it is currently filled with gorgeous photographs of incredible scenery, toddler loveliness and family life. I'm really looking forward to reading more of Amy's life. 

Trudy Johanna

Trudy's blog is a place to for a little bit of everything. A post I have particularly enjoyed this month has been 5 Little Things To Be Happy About. I love a gal that spreads a bit of positivity and I love all five of her points. I especially love the puppy/instagram tip that I will totally be following up on!

Life In A Break Down

Sarah's little slice of the net is a place for her to focus on all the things in life that are good, rather than spending too much time talking about her illnesses. I think it's very brave of her to take that step and to choose positivity in what must be a very hard situation. This month Sarah talked about tonnes of things including sunglasses, beauty, budgeting and home wares. Lovely! 

Darling Dee Dee

Darling Dee Dee is back this month with a bevvy of beautifully styled photos, product reviews and makeup to die for. Every time I check out this blog I feel like I want to go and organise all my makeup, find the perfect lighting and get my camera out. How does she do it?! If you are a cosmetics addict, you are going to LOVE this blog! 

And there we have it, just some of the gems we have here this month!

I hope you all have lovely weekends and I'll be back on Monday.

Toodlepip! 

xx

Motivational Monday || Jealousy

Aloha Sprinkerinos,

It is Monday. A fresh start, a new chance. All those things you messed up last week? Don't worry about them, you have another shot doing things better and I know you will.

Today's image from Pinterest was chosen because it's something I remind myself of allll thhhee timmme!!! Lately I've found I remind myself less and I think it could be because it's finally sunk in. Woohoo for positive reinforcements!

I think that we as women (and hello men if you are reading too) are naturally conditioned to compete with each other. One of my earliest memories is being told by a teacher to, 'sit nicely like Natalie' and suddenly I thought, 'Natalie sits better than I do, Natalie is better than me'. It stuck. When you look, there are SO many moments in our lives when we compare ourselves to other people and feel less. 

We don't need to do this. Just because someone is doing well, doesn't mean you are doing badly. If your friend gets a promotion at work which includes and increased salary, yours isn't going to be decreased. You didn't do badly, she just had a success and soon it will be your turn for a success as well. 

This week, if you know someone that has good news or does really well at something, be happy for them. It's not a reflection on you and if you work hard, you'll be having people be happy for you too. Don't begrudge or resent, share in their joy and spread even more positivity around your world. 

Toodlepip!

xx

Book A Smear Test Please

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

WARNING - I'm going to be really graphic in this blog post. If you are very young or very not OK with that kind of thing, I'd suggest finding a more delicately worded article about smear tests to read because I would be upset to cause any offence to anybody. Some of this content could be classed as, 'adult'.

I love my pussy. 

Last week I booked myself in for a smear test at my local doctors surgery and tweeted about it, as you do. There was such a big reaction from all of you that I thought I would write a blog post on the subject to answer some of the questions I've been having.

I had my first smear test just before I fell pregnant with Darcy and was nerrrrrvous! I'd never had anyone look at my VAGINA (yes, I just shouted VAGINA at you because I'm always such a wuss about it and say lame things like, 'downstairs area' or 'nether regions' but let's face it, it's called a vagina. I wouldn't call my leg my 'walking long part', or my ear my 'hearing hole', so I'm going to force myself to gussy up and say it. Vagina. Vag-in-a) in a medical way before and I felt weird. 

Before I went I fretted a LOT about the nurse seeing my vagina. Should I fully shave the whole thing? Should I do a style? Should I just tidy it up? Should I do nothing? Should I wear nice knickers? Should I care? I worried a lot. 

If I'm logical about it, I shouldn't have worried. I don't feel uncomfortable to take my knickers off in a sexual capacity so why would I feel nervous to do it for a person who only wants to do a helpful thing for me?

In the end, I went for a general tidy (nice mental image for you there), standard knickers (I'm not trying to seduce her after all) and I had a very thorough shower (if you see what I mean) about 40 minutes before I left for the appointment. I realise that's a lot to share but that's what I worried about the most so chances are you'll be worrying too. 

When I arrived (after an age in the waiting room thinking about a stranger poking around in me), I was ushered into her office, she asked a few questions about my general health and periods and such and then she said, 'OK, take you bottom halves off and pop yourself on the bed'. The horror. This was my least favourite part. It feels quite unnatural to undress your bottom half in the middle of the day in a little office. 

I did as I was told, she came round the curtain, told me to but my feet together and my knees apart and there it was- she could see my fully right there omg vagina. And it was fine. This woman looks at vaginas all day every day. She could not give a crap if one is more pink than the other or if one woman has hair and another doesn't or if one woman has big lips and another has tiny ones. She just wants to do your smear and see you on your way. Remember that. It's just a body part. It's not that special.

She lubed up (yeah, I said 'lube') this thing that, can I be blunt?, just felt like a large sex toy (please God don't ever let my Dad read this blog post), slid (sorry) it in and then because it's hollow, poked this little sort of mascara brush thing through it, swiped about, pulled it out and voila, you're done. 

She left the curtained off area, I put my knickers back on, she asked a couple more questions and I was on my way and she was ready to vagi-swab the next lady. No big deal. 

Here is what the NHS says in it's official blurb about it :

"The cervical screening test usually takes around five minutes to carry out. An instrument called a speculum will be gently inserted into your vagina to hold the walls of your vagina open so that your cervix is visible. A small soft brush will be used to take some cells from the surface of your cervix.

The sample of cervical cells will then be sent to a laboratory and examined under a microscope to see whether there are any abnormal cells.

Some women may find the procedure a bit uncomfortable or embarrassing, but for most women it is not painful.

If the test picks up abnormalities in the cells in your cervix, it may be recommended that you have treatment to remove them, or further tests in a few months to see if they return to normal on their own.

You shouldn't have a cervical screening test during your period, so try to arrange an appointment before or after your period is due. The middle of your cycle is the best time to have the test (usually 14 days from the start of your last period)."

None of the procedure hurt. This means a lot because I do not deal well with pain. I will cry at the slightest discomfort and I have a VERY low tolerance almost everything haha. I have a LOW pain threshold. If this didn't hurt me, it REALLY DOES NOT HURT. I didn't find it uncomfortable physically, I just felt a bit weird mentally. Throughout the whole experience I reminded myself that if I were to develop cervical cancer I would have to have a lot more procedures so just do this and be done with it. 

The nurse was nice to me, the whole thing was free on the NHS, by doing this I am helping to make sure I will live a full life with my little girl (something my own Mother did not get to do with me) and I am taking care of my health. 

It is so important. It could be a matter of life or death. It is also a privilege to have this available because so many women before us did not. Use it. 

If you are putting off or ignoring your smear test, please don't. I promise you it isn't horrible. I'd actually rather do that than things like go to the dentist or have a blood test! If you feel nervous, take a friend or relative, book it for first thing in the morning so that it's out of the way and plan a little treat for later that afternoon to have something fun to look forward to. You will be fine I promise!

To look at the NHS official page about smear tests (which are actually called 'cervical screening' tests), click HERE. 

Have you had positive experiences with smear tests? Share them in the comments.

Toodlepip!

xx