Keeping fit at your desk #OfficeYoga

It often comes as a surprise to people when they learn that blogging is not my full time job and it is infact a hobby.  Outside of the Blogger bubble, I actually have a full time role, not your average 9-5 job but a job that that is demanding, can be long odd hours but gives me the flexibility to come and go as I need to.

I work in an actual office Monday to Friday and like many office workers, I am tied to my desk for most of that day replying to emails, dealing with queries and questions and dealing with people face to face.  Recently in the news, there has been a lot of noise about office workers needing to exercise for an hour a day to avoid an early death and sitting still for 8-9 hours a day is never going to be good for you anyway.  So my colleagues and I have taken on board some of the points made from these reports and as we get a whole hour (and a bit more) for lunch, we decided to go out and explore our local surroundings for that one hour, whether that is to the local park, walking further afield for lunch or, sad as it sounds, going out catching Pokemon.  The fresh air (as fresh as it can be in London anyway) does me a world of good anyway, I always feel much better when I have been outside, especially if it is sunny.

If getting out and about during the working day is something you find hard to do because of work pressures or other issues there are still things you can do.  #OfficeYoga is a term I have heard of more than once over the last few months, a friend of mine recently started up her own business going into offices and going 20 minute slots of yoga with office workers to show them how much a difference it can make to their lives.  Whilst she hasn't yet made it across to my office because we are undergoing a few renovations, she has insisted I have a better office chair than the one I currently have which severely lacks lumber support, so ive noted that point along with remembering to get up and move about.  Feeling good on the outside is just as important as feeling good on the inside and I do try and set myself a goal of getting to the end of a piece of work and then moving around, but if I am alone in the office, which for a few days of the working week I am, then Yoga at my desk, for me, is idea and this is how easy it is:

So if you find you offer suffer with a stiff neck, sore lower back, aching legs and feet, tight hips, sore shoulders and headaches, getting it, shaking it about, moving around and stretching will help minimise the discomfort and help with stress and tension which is a viscous circle of the aches and pains. I know if I am under stress along comes a headache and then the pain radiates down, if I can stop it happening then I am in.

Please do keep a look out for @Furniture_Work's #OfficeYoga campaign video 

coming soon!

*this post is a collaboration but all words are my own.

Mypurrfectgiftbox - Dancing in the moonlight

The August edition of Mypurrfectgiftbox* has arrived and it is aptly titled 'A Day In The Park' which celebrates the end of Summer, warm nights and romance. We now look to longer evenings, shooting stars and even fireworks. Once again, this box has gifts for both you and the furballs in your life.

The First item is an exclusive for the box is fairy lights but not just any fairy lights, they are infact cat face lights and I just absolutely adore them.  Each one of the 20 cat faces appears on Mulberry Paper and has been hand painted and they are battery operated and have a retail price of £18.95 and are also from Etsy.

I am a big fan of prints, especially cat prints so I was really delighted to see this one which depicts three cats sat on the moon with a hanging star, really cute and quirky.  From Etsy designer ACatLikeCuriosity there are many prints to add to the collection.

Sticking with the cat theme still, we have a fun cat vinyl sticker with a romance theme.  It can be used to decorate anything from your iPad, car window, laptop and so on.  Again from an Etsy store and costs just £2.99 and is really cute.

If Jewellery is your thing and you love cats, then this cat bangle will tick all of those boxes. This cute cat in moon bangle is an adjustable stacker and the charms are just delightful, the C stands for Cat and the moonstone charm adds a bit of colour.

Now if the bangle wasn't cute enough, how about this amazing blingy cat ears headband? Now this I absolutely love and whilst Hector thinks it is fun to try and pull it off my head, I think it is so much fun and again quirky.

Now I have got over the excitement of gifts for the humans, there are some treats for my three boys, well Dude managed to commandeer pretty much the whole of the box by sitting on it, so this is what was inside.

The cat treats are always really popular with my three and this time we have Vet's Kitchen little hearts treats.  These have been designed to deliver specific health benefits to cats through natural active ingredients. They are hypollergenic and free from artifical colours or flavours.

When it comes to cat toys, again they are always popular with my three and this time it was Dude who was the first to get his paws on them. The first was a cute handmade wool heart and it also comes with a dried premium catnip herb centre. Priced at £4 from Paw and Gnaw.

The final item in the box is again a toy for the cats and it is a felt bird which has been handmade from an Etsy store called Clasicats.  Filled with catnip and adored with feathers to make a tail, this is one toy which has had all three cats chasing and hunting it around the house.

Once again, this is another amazing Purrfect Box and with something for everyone, we have a very happy household. If you like the look of these products, there is a shop to treat yourself or your little ball of fur right here.

If you have never come across this box before then here is a little background as to how and where the idea came from. Kim and Juan Kniveton the founders of My Purrfect Gift Box are dedicated cat lovers, so much so they moved back from the USA to the Isle of Man to set up and run their own idyllic countryside retreat for cats - Boodee Beg Boarding Cattery, something I dream of doing (if I ever win the lottery). With their onsite gift shop not doing as well as they had hoped, Kim and Juan decided to start My Purffect Box and each month they choose to focus on a different cat charity, rescue centre or shelter and highlight the work they do through their social media sites and through information that comes in each box. They then donate 5% of all our profits from that month's box to that chosen charity of the month.

*this post contains PR samples unless indicated otherwise

Getting things done with BidVine

Getting things done is awesome. More accurately, being done and enjoying the outcome is the real reward of dealing with the smallest fix to the largest project. The problem is that finding someone to help you get there has remained a hassle. Wasn’t technology supposed to help with things like that? Is pretty much what I think about the discovery of apps on my iPhone, iPad or even laptop most days and that too is the ethos of BidVine.

Bidvine is designed to help you get things done by finding competitive quotes for jobs you need doing, whether that is hiring a domestic cleaner, a handy man, wedding hair and makeup and even someone to take some professional photos for you. What I love is that it can all be done via an app or via your computer, depending on your preference and it is a simple case of Request, review and Hire in easy to follow steps.

The website is so user friendly and easy to use with everything you need right in front of you. Facing you straightaway on the homepage is a search box asking you what it is you would like help with, so I opted for portrait photography, I have hardly any decent photos of the mister and I together, not even on our wedding day, so it is something I would like. So having typed in my request and postcode, a list of options come up for you choose from what type of portrait you need, where will it be taken, type of image you are looking for, how you would like the images displayed, your budget and the delivery of the service. All of which are simple tick box exercises. 

Once the form was completed, I was sent an email letting me know that there are limited photographers in my area that could meet my needs but that on my behalf they would still hustle to get me a quote from at least one qualified professional.  So already within minutes I have someone bidding on my behalf, doing the leg work and promising to keep me up to date with what was happening and that by Tuesday morning I would hopefully have something or someone to work with.  The end result was that I not only had one quote but three different ones ranging in price from just slightly higher from my lower budget £75 to the top of my budget £200.  When the quotes come in you get to then view each company's portfolio, qualification and references, read reviews from other customers and then you can either call them directly or continue to use BidVine to send your messages.

The best part about BidVine is that it costs you the customer absolutely nothing to use the service and the team at the company review every service provider's profile before it can go live but of course it is always sensible to do your own research before settling on the company you choose, this is where reviews from other people come in handy.

I am really impressed with BidVine, I love how easy it is to use whether you have limited internet experience or know your way around pretty well.  It is easy to follow, the questions are relevant to the job you need doing and it isn't intrusive and your inbox isn't filled with spam messages within seconds.  Great service and definitely one to add to the favourites back for those pesky jobs!

*this post is a collaboration but all words and experiences are my own.