It’s the beginning of February which means like it or loath it, Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. I’m not a major hearts and flowers type of girl but one thing I love about Valentines is it’s the perfect excuse to watch my favourite romantic blockbusters.

I’m a big fan of movie nights and with moving house I’m hoping it’s the perfect excuse to upgrade my TV to a Panasonic Viera 4K TV; there’s something about settling down to a movie on a big screen at home while snacking on popcorn with a bottle glass of good wine.

Here are my top three modern films for Valentine’s Day although I’m happy to watch these any time of the year:

The Notebook
This has to be one of THE films of my generation, I’ve watched it countless times and it never gets old; Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams have so much on screen chemistry that I can’t help but get involved with the film, every single time I watch it. Plus I do a mean “I wrote you!” impression (Prosecco not necessarily required!).

10 Things I Hate About You
A 90’s update of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew – Health Ledger and Julia Stiles connect so well to create such a believable story, and with snippets of Shakespearean dialogue it’s way more than just another romcom from my teenage years. For me it’s also Heath Ledger at his best, young and raw.

Romeo and Juliet
This is everything for me, from the perfect pairing of Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes to the music (I’m sat listening to the soundtrack as I write this) Baz Luhrmann is at his finest in this marriage of Shakespeare and pop culture. I think my long standing love for this film is that I was studying Romeo and Juliet at the time I first watched the film and instantly fell in love with how the words had such prominence in the film. Nearly twenty years later (yikes!) it’s stood the test of time and features in my top ten overall favourite films.

What’s your favourite Valentine’s Day film?

This is a collaborative post.

After months of keeping it under wraps I’m super excited to finally be able to say that we’ll soon be moving and it’s going to be one of our biggest adventures to date!

I’ve made no secret of wanting to eventually emigrate so it may surprise you that instead of thousands of miles our upcoming move will be less than 300 metres yet it’s worlds away from how we live now. You see it’s not your average house move; we currently live in a lovely 1950’s purpose built maisonette which has been perfect for us. However when the opportunity came up I knew it was more than just a house move, it’s an amazing life experience and opportunity for Boo and me. In the next 8-12 weeks we’ll be moving into an early 19th century grade 2 listed gate house cottage overlooking our village ponds.

I’ve known about the upcoming move for nearly three months but it was only on Saturday that I took Boo for a walk and talked about how great it would be to have stairs and a bigger garden with room for a trampoline… and just as Boo came up with the eureka moment that maybe moving would be a good idea we arrived outside what is to be our new home (wham, I’ll be giving myself 10/10 for major mama timing!). I was expecting Boo to be a little hesitant, she thrives on familiarity and routine so I wasn’t too sure how she’d handle such a big change, but from the minute we walked through the gothic shaped front door Boo was in love, as was I when I first viewed it.

By the time we left, Boo had already decided that we NEED to paint her bedroom pink (we’ll see about that one) and we’ll need a bigger mirror in the bathroom – can’t think where she gets that one from!!

Our big move and new home will be an amazing opportunity and adventure, and will see a complete change in the way we live. Say goodbye to wide curved windows and one level living and hello to solid wonky walls and period fireplaces. I’m a city girl at heart so this will undoubtedly be a steep learning curve in cottage living, but I’m eager to throw myself in on what is set to be our big project of 2016.

So it looks like I’m about to become an interiors blogger and both me and Boo are excited to share this amazing adventure with you. For now it’s time to transform our house into cardboard city and get packing!

It’s no secret that winter isn’t my favourite season; and it has a lot to do with hair. Winter is the season for dry, frizzy, and rather blah hair and there’s only so much conditioner a girl can slather on in the hope of lovely looking locks. Rush Hair invited me to one of their newest salons in Dorking to see how easy it is to transform your winter hair from drab to fab without a complete overhaul.

I arrived at Rush Dorking and immediately loved the decor, it’s a real mix of old and new – never has having your hair washed at the hairdressers been so blingy with the fabulous chandelier overhead.

My stylist Jessica, sat down with me before we got started to discuss what I liked, disliked, my hair type and how realistically how much time I spend on my hair every day aka if it needs a wash nothing beats a top knot for the school run. Jessica was great at understanding that I wanted Hollywood hair with as much commitment that a harassed mum can put in.

We decided on an all over gloss in a dark brown (no warm tones as I hate my hair when it turns red) with a treatment to help protect my locks from the harshness of winter and a fringe trim to help keep my look current.

And here are the results… excuse the blatant posing but who can blame a mama for sharing the ultimate change but the same hairstyle. So how did it fair afterwards? Well the great thing about gloss is that there’s no regrowth; perfect for those of us who can’t guarantee to book in every four to six weeks for root maintenance.

Rush know what they’re doing when it comes to hair and it shows at their newest salon, Dorking – great service, stylists that not only know what they’re doing but also ‘get’ their clients which really is the secret to a great new hairstyle.

I may not have roots but I think it’s time to think up an excuse for another trip to Rush.

Disclosure: My visit to Rush Dorking was complimentary; all opinions are 100% honest.