Guest Post: How To Change Your Look And Create A Whole New You

Guest Post by Supersavvyme

If you’ve stuck with the same look for a few years, however great it looked in the beginning, it may be starting to get a little outdated and tired.

Though changing your look can be daunting, it can also be really fun; giving you a forum to express your personality, be creative and look fantastic. If you don’t know where to start with your style renaissance, here are some ideas to get you started.

Jazz up your hair do

Hanging onto the same hair do for years or even decades is something that many of us are guilty of, however it’s also one of the easiest and quickest things to change about your look.

You can either have a lot of the length taken off or you can alter the look altogether with a bold choice of permanent or non permanent hair dye to give you a new look.

Invest in some good quality make up

You may not think there’s much of a difference between a £5 or £20 foundation but use a good quality product once and you’ll see and feel the difference straight away.

If you’ve been using the same old war paint for a while, try investing in a good foundation, blusher and mascara and you’ll feel fantastic in no time.

Invigorate your wardrobe

If you’re in charge of a busy household, finding the time and money to go shopping for yourself isn’t always easy. If you get the opportunity to go clothes shopping, it’s important to buy wisely. Though your friends or teenage daughters will probably have some fashion tips for you, try to buy classic pieces that will go with everything and be good for most occasions.

A few well-chosen items will help accentuate your new look and make you feel more confident. Fashion tips concerning classic combinations like this will always be relevant so make sure you learn the basics.

Commit one day a week for outdoor fun

There’s nothing like a bit of fresh air to make you feel invigorated, so try to commit one day a week to getting out and about. This could be anything from taking the kids for a walk in the woods to going for a jog in your local park. Both the exercise and change in routine will do you the world of good.

Changing your look can make you feel fantastic, so what are you waiting for? Grab some hair dye, hit the shops and get creative!

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What I Wore Wednesday: Watermelon Mojitos

The weather this week has been amazing! We've had a week long heatwave with loads of sunshine and temperatures in the high 70's. It's put me in a such a happy and sunny mood and I totally I jumped at the chance when Collective Bias™ invited us to create some Bacardi cocktails! Maybe it's just me but summer and cocktails go hand in hand!

I wasn't quite sure what cocktails I wanted to make at first but after grabbing some Bacardi I spied some limes. I know that Bacardi rum and lime go really well so the first thing I snapped up was a big bag of limes. NotBlondeHusband also loves lime so I knew I was headed in the right direction.

Next I went for some fresh fruit, coconut milk and some whipped cream. In my head I was mentally checking off my favourite rum cocktails Piña Coladas and Daquiris! Growing up we always got virgin daiquiris with whipped cream on top as a special treat when we went out to dinner growing up and I still love them now. My absolute favourite is a half/half Piña Colada and Strawberry Daquiri I had on our honeymoon called a Miami Vice. I have no idea what Tubbs and Crockett has to do with it but it's AMAZING!

I went back for some ice and mint so NotBlondeHusband could have the option on a mojito and we were good to go! After getting home and going through all my options I decided to through all caution to the wind and try something I didn't even think of and had never tried before: Watermelon Mojito Popsicles!

I'd seen boozy popsicles popping up on Pinterest but I've never actually made or had one before. I love frozen cocktails so it seemed like something I'd really like and perfect for a hot day. I found a few different recipes online and then created my own version!

Watermelon Mojito Popsicles

400g (2 1/2 cups) cubed watermelon
4 limes (juiced)
5 TBSP simple mint syrup (recipe to follow)
140ml (5 oz) Bacardi rum

Blend the watermelon in a food processor or blender and then push through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of any seeds and chunky bits.

Shake the watermelon juice with the fresh lime juice, rum and simple mint syrup in a cocktail shaker. 

Pour into popsicle molds and freeze overnight!

Simple Mint Syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 water
25g fresh mint

Pour the water and sugar into a pan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Usually this will be just before the water starts to simmer.

Take the mixture off the heat and stick into a large pan of cold water until it reaches room temperature.

Add the mint leaves and muddle (bash it a bit) and leave for 20 minutes.

Strain off the mint leaves and pour into an air-tight container to store in your fridge.

Yum! Perfect after a long hot day. So I know you're thinking umm well that's all great and tasty but isn't this What I Wore Wednesday? Well I only went and gave myself a Watermelon Mojito Manicure, too! I feel like Lisa Turtle at the Murder Mystery Mansion; remember she matched her dress to her drink?(sorry for those who aren't into Saved by the Bell)

Do you have a signature cocktail/mocktail? Do food or drink ever inspire your outfits?







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The Co-operative Legal Services

When it comes to planning for the future, to put it bluntly, we suck. I don't have a pension (why contribute when I wasn't sure if I'd even be living in the UK), I don't have any investments and we don't have a will. As morbid as it might seem we realise we really need to get things in order in case the worst happens. While we might have gotten away with not planning for the future before Blondie Boy we can't afford not to now.

Luckily The Co-operative Legal Services have recently launched a YouTube Channel, which features simple yet impartial advice on Family Law, Wills and Probate. The Co-operative Legal Services wanted to launch the channel to offer simple, impartial legal advice covering a range of issues (family law, wills and probate). They cover topics such as divorce and separation, child welfare, how best to write a will and understanding probate. The videos are interactive and easy to understand, as they want to offer advice to those people who are looking for it but aren't sure where to start.

I had no idea even where to begin with writing a will so I found this video on what to consider really helpful:

Selecting guardians is obviously one of the more important parts of writing a will when you have children and Co-operative Legal Services advise how best to do this:

The presenter of the videos is Christina Blacklaws who is the Director of Policy at the Co-operative Legal Services and specialises in Family and Childcare Law. She has been featured on Radio 4's Woman's Hour and The Guardian as some examples of how well she is respected in her field. 

Although the videos are produced by the Co-operative Legal Services they do not push their services exclusively. You received impartial advice which is simple and easy to understand. 

You can view more videos on Family Law at the Co-operative Legal Services YouTube Channel.

This is a sponsored post but all views expressed are our own.

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What I Wore Wednesday: Swallow Baby Doll Dress

I'm starting to get into the groove at work and I'm trying my best not to wear the same things over and over again but  I've had to return the past two different shipments of clothes I bought online because they didn't quite fit right. To be fair one dress did fit but it had short sleeves with horizontal stripes going all the way from arm to arm across my chest and I looked like a linebacker!  So I'm doing my best to shop my closet and mix and match what I do have already while shopping the sales for new finds.

This dress is borderline too short for work but since it was still chilly last week I paired it with leggings and a cropped blazer to try and business it up a little bit. I didn't have any external meetings so really I was just at a desk all day so I didn't need to impress anyone. NotBlondeHusband and I have been working opposite shifts so the bathroom selfie makes another appearance! 

Cropped Blazer-HM

Swallow Baby Doll Dress-HM

Leggings-Marks and Spencer

Black Studded Flats-New Look

I've been experimenting with hot rollers and honestly it's been hit or miss. All I want to do is make it so the ends of my hair flick up and are sort of curled. I'd normally do this with a blow-dryer and round brush but I don't want to wake the boys up in the morning. So I try curling my hair with hot rollers at night and hoping for the best the next morning. It's not foolproof or even slightly predictable! 

In my head I think a really big barrelled, rotation, hot brush tong thingie would work but I have no idea if such a thing exists? I've also heard that sleep-in rollers might give volume and shape. Has anyone tried those? They sound good but I'm having flashbacks to the bright pink foam rollers my Mom put in my hair when I was little that gave me a huge, long Diana Ross-esque fro which is lovely on her but not necessarily so nice on a pale, blonde girl. Anyone who has any over-night styling or quick styling secrets I'd love to hear them!

Also if you're feeling lucky my 5th Blogoversary £100 Giftcard Giveaway is open worldwide!

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5 Year Blogoversary £100 Voucher Giveaway!

It's been five years since I started rambling away about randomness here on Transatlantic Blonde. I've blogged on and off for years so when I started I never imagined I'd actually stick with it this long or that y'all would actually read it! I'm still continuously shocked that I have an audience outside of my friends and family who have to listen to me :)

To celebrate my blogoversary I think it makes the most sense to give a present not to myself but to my amazing readers--I wouldn't have accomplished all of this without your support! The traditional fifth anniversary gift is wood; no offence to trees but that's kinda boring. So instead I'm giving y'all the chance to choose your present! You could win your choice of £100 vouchers in my blogoversary giveaway!

If you read my blog you'll know I have a lot of different interests and cover a lot of different topics so I couldn't just choose one prize! All of the prize options give you a chance to win some of my favourite things! When you enter my 5th blogoversary giveaway you are entering for a chance to win your choice of:

£100 of Amazon vouchers or

£100 of ASOS vouchers or

£100 of SpaFinder vouchers or

£100 of Starbucks vouchers!

I dare you to tell me there isn't something there for everyone! What is there on Amazon you can't buy? I'm in love with all their American grocery items personally but then I also would love a mini shopping spree on ASOS or treat myself to some pampering with SpaFinder or feed my Frappuccino addiction with Starbucks. No matter what you choose I'll be jealous!

To enter leave a blog comment with which option you'd choose and what you'd buy with your vouchers and follow the instuctions on Rafflecopter. Competition ends Friday, July 19th (see widget for hours remaining). See Rafflecopter widget for full Terms and Conditions. OPEN WORLDWIDE! Vouchers will be issued to equivalent of £100 if you live outside of the UK.

Thank you to the friendly folks at Appliances Online for donating the prize! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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What I Wore Wednesday: Mar Menor, Spain

I really wish Glasgow knew what summer actually means. It is currently 55 degrees and raining--I'm sorry but that is not how summer is defined in my dictionary. Luckily while we were on holiday by Mar Menor, Spain we actually got to experience summer. I'm talking temperatures in the 80s/90s, swimming outside, blue skies and SUNSHINE!!!

We rented a villa with NotBlondeHusband's sister, mom and her husband; we had our very own pool and hot tub. We ate breakfast outside on the patio and swam every day and generally only went inside to sleep. It was absolutely perfect and over way too fast.

Blondie Boy LOVED the pool. We had to enforce a sort of backwards adult swim where he was allowed 15 minutes in and 45 minutes out only because we were worried he'd still burn even with super high SPF on. He is a total pool rat and we're going to look into getting him swim lessons again now we are home.

Perfecting the lift from Dirty Dancing

We were only 10 minutes from the beach at Mar Menor (a salt water lagoon separated from the ocean by a large inhabited sandbar) and 25 minutes from the ocean side of La Manga (the aforementioned big ass sandbar) but we only ventured there twice. We drove down La Manga one evening and Blondie Boy had such a great time playing in the sand along the ocean that we went to the Mar Menor beach the next morning to build more sand creatures and collect shells. If you're going to this part of Spain the water in Mar Menor is really warm and really shallow so is pretty ideal for small children!

I pretty much was in my swimsuit all day and then changed into a sleeveless top and shorts or a sun dress at night. It so rarely gets warm enough for shorts in Glasgow I had to buy some before we left! I've put them away for the next time I'll need them but I'm not holding my breath!

I have about a gazillion pictures of Blondie Boy swimming or playing with his new cars (visiting Spanish Toys R Us was on his to do list) but I won't bore you all with them. I'm so glad we were able to get away and I would totally go back again. At first I was worried we didn't really do anything super cultural but then I realised growing up our vacations were about going to the beach and getting good weather and honestly there is nothing wrong with that. If you think of Spain as our Florida (Midwest Americans go to Florida, Scottish people go to Spain), lazing by the pool all day doesn't sound so bad. To be honest does lazing by the pool ever sound bad?

We did go into Cartagena, a former Roman strong hold, for the afternoon and walked around the cobbled streets and even found our way into Sephora (why are is Sephora on the continent and not in the UK?!? Why is their iced tea on the continent and not in the UK? Why are churros so freaking tasty?!?!) and had drinks on the harbour. It was super windy but we managed to snap one picture on the promenade and then another when we got home.

High Low Skull top-HM

Dark Wash Denim Shorts-Forever 21

Flip Flops-Old Navy

We all know I have a minor major obsession with skulls so when I saw this shirt at H&M I had to buy it. Forever 21 only opened in Glasgow a month or so ago and honestly I wasn't sure if it was my type of place but since they had shorts that fit me it TOTALLY is! I've learned over time not to try and buy pants/trousers that aren't made in America. I know that sounds odd but my American ass is not made for British jeans what can I say! Do you have issues finding pants/trousers that fit right?

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