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I took Belle with me on tour last week for our show in Solihull. We were getting into bed in the hotel and I was just getting comfy when she looked across as me accusingly.
‘Are you not even going to take your make-up off?’ she asked horrified.
‘No,’ I said, ‘should I?’
She gave me a wipe. Apparently the answer was yes. View Post
A recommendation from somebody is never a sure-fire winner for yourself. Taking a recommendation is usually based on trust and personal experience of a certain product.
What has worked for one person may not be suitable for what you are requiring – so a recommendation is either something that’s not as good as sold or a complete surprise in its effectiveness. Knowing for sure is doing the research into the product to see if it is suitable.
A case in point here is being recommended luxury vinyl flooring for your home, such as Amtico oak flooring. What is it, how does it benefit and is it right for your home lifestyle?
What is Vinyl Flooring?
Luxury vinyl flooring is a flooring product that replicates real hardwood, stone, slate and other flooring options into planks or tiles that seamlessly layer your floor.
This can be achieved in two ways, by clicking together boards or gluing down tiles, depending on your preference. The work can be undertaken by a professional installer and also by yourself if you fancy the DIY work and want to save a little extra on your budget.
The vinyl is made up of thin layers that each have their safeguards, from a highly durable wear layer to protective measures such as stain resistance, 100% waterproofing and eco-friendly properties. It has become a highly popular product due to its ease in maintenance and perfectly replicated looks.
The Benefits
Luxury vinyl flooring is a product that is all about savings in money and time.
Not only do you save money by choosing a product much more cost-effective than real hardwood or stone, but it also saves on buying specialist cleaning products due to its ease of cleaning. A regular sweep and vacuum and the occasional mop will keep your floor consistently looking like the day it was installed for upwards of two decades.
Due to its many protective safeguards such as scratch and stain resistance, you rarely ever have to replace any individual tile or board. It can also be laid in any room, such as kitchens and bathrooms that require a floor that can handle moisture at high levels.
Is Vinyl the Better Option?
Luxury vinyl flooring is a highly durable product, so if your home is prone to heavy foot traffic you will find it is perfectly suited to withstand it for the long haul.
Although it has protective safeguards in place, it is advised that rooms with furniture with sharp feet or edges have felt padding to ensure no deep scratches take effect. It is also recommended that whilst the panels and tiles provide high levels of waterproofing, any spills are cleaned up straight away to avoid long periods that could take a toll on the design layer.
Luxury vinyl flooring is a highly recommended product and could be the perfect fit if you look for style, ease, and protection within your home. When it comes to a recommendation, vinyl flooring such as Oak herringbone flooring certainly lives up to the hype.
Spring cleaning, spring clear-out and spring sales! This season means that the home can benefit from each of them, and your bank account will be cleared out also. There are simple cost effective touch-ups to your home that can last a lot longer without shelling out copious amounts from your budget.
Here are some ‘spring in your step’ home improvements to consider giving your rooms a bit of light for the sun returning.
Colour
Do your walls currently look faded or simply out of sync with the rest of the room?
Generally, when we think of changing a room the colour always jumps out as a major part of the problem. We all want to kick the drab into fab, and neutral colours are the best way to achieve this. No matter what you choose to implement going forward, it will stand much better against a neutral background.
Think of your long-term plans and choose colours that are set to last much longer no matter what future changes you decide to implement.
Patterns
A little creative interior expression goes a long way to making your room seem fresh and inspiring, especially if it is currently drab and uneventful.
By getting creative with blank walls and creating a collage of family photographs or art pieces you can spruce the place up at relatively little cost. For your floor, you could dispense with the carpet and install luxury vinyl flooring to get some great abstract patterns – especially if you look at the tones provided by the Invictus vinyl flooring brand.
You may think of those vinyl products of yesteryear, but vinyl flooring has come on in leaps and bounds to become a chosen favourite when it comes to interior design. It’s a great choice for durability and has the strongest protective safeguards against stains, scratches, temperature, and water.
A good place to look into vinyl brands will provide you with plenty of food for thought.
Storage
Children tend to have their toys out of their rooms and into other spaces around the house.
This can be either you are not ridding yourself of older toys that are no longer played with or you need extra space to accommodate them. Turning one wall into a complete storage space, providing room for books, DVDs, ornaments, and enough space at the bottom to place a chest for those toys is a great use of space and helps to keep things in their place. The children will love having their treasure chests and storage boxes are pretty cheap in the right places.
Spring is a time for a change so why not look into fresh colours. Luxury vinyl flooring such as oak parquet flooring can offer a unique style, as well as making your home look and feel fresh for the season ahead.
If you are like most people reading this, you probably can’t wait for the second Sunday of May – when you finally get the chance to make your mom or the mother in your life feel appreciated. But do you really have to spend a lot to make her feel like the most special woman in the world? Absolutely not!
If you have a tight budget and cringe at the very thought of spending money, you’re lucky because there are many things you can do for mommy that actually don’t cost much.
Let’s look at a few fun, yet inexpensive, things to do on mother’s day, including when the kids are involved.
Whether she has kids or she’s a single parent, nothing can be more heartwarming than waking up to a nice breakfast in bed for mom. It could be anything from homemade omelets with the family, fresh fruit and yogurt, customized cookies, or even something simple like a hard-boiled egg.
While a sumptuous meal could sweep her off her feet, it doesn’t really have to cost a lot. Just make sure to bring something mouthwatering, something she’d consider a special treat.
It could be a huge bouquet of roses or a single vibrant bloom that she’ll appreciate – either way, it will surely make her day. Even if you live far away from mom, Mother’s day flowers are always a nice touch to get her.
The best part is that they won’t even cost you much, especially if you get them from a florist that offers special deals like discounts and free delivery.
A fragrant bouquet is guaranteed to have your mom smiling and eager to make it to your next dinner date.
If mom’s not up for a fancy brunch or she’s feeling a bit lazy, why not treat her to a movie night? You don’t need to spend money on a babysitter or bother a friend to keep watch if you have younger siblings.
Just rent one of those great Mother’s Day movies, pop some popcorn and enjoy the movie while your mom snuggles in with her favorite snacks and beverage. You can also make this a themed movie night with special food and decorations to match your favorite films.
Whether you live close or far away from the mom in your life, some sort of family outing can be a great way to celebrate her on the second Sunday of May.
If you want to make it a fancy night out with the family, take her to a nice restaurant for dinner. If you want something more casual, you can take the kids to a fun amusement park or festival.
It could also be a night out in the park for a bonfire or a picnic with her friends. And if you live in the city, how about planning a long walk or a bike ride around the city to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature?
Are you tired of watching football? Why not play some of the classic board games that mom likes to play with the family?
You can make it a fun family game night or play the games as a fun outing with just mom. Bocce Ball or lawn bowling can also be lots of fun to play with mom. It doesn’t have to cost much, but it will make mom feel special and you might even have a bit of fun yourself.
Kids are often in the picture whenever mothers are mentioned. If the special mom in your life has kids, you can have them tag along and engage in inexpensive activities like the following:
To conclude, the list of things you can indulge in on Mother’s Day is exponential, but you now have some solid ideas to consider. In the end, the main aim is to ensure the mom in your life feels special, celebrated, and appreciated. Having the kids tag along can make it even more fun.
Over the last several years, many consumers have shifted to buying more household goods and services online. Many people may be skeptical about buying furniture on the internet, but it is becoming increasingly popular. Today’s modern technology combined with excellent customer service has made shopping online better than heading out to the store. With access to so many different furniture options without having to leave the house, you’ll find the perfect piece in no time. Here are several things to note when you want your furniture buy online.
Save Time
Shopping for furniture on the internet is perfect for busy families with hectic schedules. Buying furniture online saves you valuable time instead of traveling from store to store. Simply grab a cup of tea and curl up on the couch with your laptop and you have plenty of furniture retailers at your fingertips. You can even browse on your smartphone while you’re on the go. Unlike shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, which could easily consume an entire day, shopping online can be done whenever you have a few free minutes.
Global Marketplace
One of the best advantages to shopping online is having access to a global marketplace without needing to travel far and wide. Unique pieces from around the world were once only available at specialty stores and usually came with a high price tag. Thanks to the world wide web, you can purchase an affordable, one-of-a-kind piece from across the ocean with the click of a button.
Compare Deals
If you are looking to buy a specific piece of furniture, shopping online allows you to compare several different retailers with ease. Traditional furniture shopping forces you to visit a bunch of different stores until you find what you’re looking for. It also could mean driving back to one of the first stores for a purchase if you decide they carried the best option. Online furniture stores may offer exclusive deals you can’t find anywhere else. You could save big when purchasing an entire set of furniture for a particular room.
Lower Costs
Because of the high number of furniture retailers online, costs are kept low. Companies reduce their prices to increase the volume of sales. The increased competition amongst stores translates into major savings for customers. Unlike the cheap furniture stores of the past, big discounts no longer mean sacrificing quality. In fact, in addition to selling durable, stylish products, many retailers offer discounted or free shipping. Online furniture stores also offer free or affordable installation assistance and warrantees.
Avoid Sales Pitches
Many traditional furniture stores employ sales professionals who receive commissions on products sold. As a result, you may feel pressured into purchasing something when you haven’t fully decided or had enough time to compare your options. When you shop online, you remove the middleman between yourself and the retailer. You are free to take your time deciding which furniture works best in your home without the hassle of pushy sales employees.
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I’ve never been very good at pocket money. When my kids were younger I would start off with great intentions, and then I’d have a day where I’d feel all carefree and expansive and like nothing really mattered, so I might as well buy them treats.
My children quickly cottoned onto these moods and called them ‘put anything in the trolley’ days. With Belle now, even though she’s 19 and earns her own money, it still happens. In Tesco just last week I somehow ended up buying her the official Taylor Swift magazine. Guilt I suspect, for the fact that I was going away. She saw weakness and she made the most of it. Good for her.
When Belle was younger we did have a brief fling with a pocket money app where kids could get their own card. Belle loved this, because she’s always very much doing things like pressing the buttons for me at cashpoints, but the fees for it made it seem a bit silly – why was I spending twice as much as I needed every month, just for the sake of a few pounds on a card? Surely it made more sense to just let Belle have it all in cash? I think we ended up actually opening a full blown bank account in the end, just because it was cheaper.
If your kids aren’t old or wise enough to have their own bank account or debit card but you still like the idea of teaching them about money and how to save and spend it, then HyperJar could be the answer.
HyperJar is a totally free money app that adults can use to budget, save for specific items and events, and even earn bonuses on spending. It works very visually by allocating money to different jars, which you create according to how you want to spend your money. I know finances can be daunting and that many people, including Belle, find something visual much easier to understand than spreadsheets.
For the grown ups, HyperJar works like this:
There are many reasons you’d want to buy a natural-looking wig, you could just be treating yourself, or wanting to shake up your look.
Wigs are fun and practical and, if you find the right one, no one would notice the difference.
But finding a natural-looking wig can be quite the challenge. Here are our top tips to help you find a natural-looking wig.
The first, and probably most important part, of finding a natural-looking wig is to find high-quality hair. The better the quality, the better the wig will look. Wigs are made using two kinds of material:
Synthetic wigs have come a long way from their party-city days. When made correctly, high-quality synthetic wigs can be indistinguishable from real human hair.
By comparison, human hair is much heavier and reacts more naturally to the elements. This gives it a more realistic look.
Brands like Luvme hair offer a wide range of fantastic, natural-looking wigs. If you’re interested, check out this detailed Luvme hair review guide that covers everything you need to know.
Whether you choose a synthetic or human hair wig, your choice of wig caps is non-negotiable if you want a natural look. Lace-front wigs are a must.
With a lace front wig, you’ll be able to style your wig as you choose without having to worry about it looking unnatural or fake. This is because the wig cap is largely made of lace, so when parting the hair, you’ll have a natural-looking hairline and scalp line.
This maintains the illusion of having natural hair. Just be sure that you install your lace-front properly before parting. If you don’t install your wig properly, the lace on your forehead could lift and ruin the illusion of natural hair.
Monofilament or hand-tied wig caps are essential if you want to achieve a more natural look. The construction of these caps differs from traditional methods because it gives the appearance of an actual scalp when the hair of the wig is parted and styled.
Each strand of hair is carefully and expertly pushed through the cap and knotted in place by hand. This is an intense, time-consuming activity that master wig makers have perfected, but it truly makes all the difference. Not only does the wig lay better when installed, but it is also much gentler on the scalp than heavy hair wefts.
But, much like lace-fronts, monofilament wigs are expensive.
And, when combined with lace-fronts and high-quality hair, the price can be hard to swallow. The combination, however, can be breathtaking. Wonderful hair, a lace-front, and a monofilament wig cap are the staples to finding a natural-looking wig.
Another important, but not necessarily necessary step, is picking the right hair color. Once you’ve found your dream natural wig, imagining and planning your new look becomes almost second nature.
You might always have wanted blonde, brown, or red hair, and now the options are endless! But we would caution you to rein in your horses and take a step back.
If your goal is to achieve a natural look, you might want to rethink opting for a crazy color. For example, if your natural hair color is dark, then a dark wig would suit you best. If you have lighter coloring, a light wig would suit you best.
Our advice is to invest in two wigs. One that is a natural color that suits your style and coloring, and the other, a more fun, playful color and style. With these, you’ll be able to switch up your look with ease. And it would give you the freedom to express your personality and style as well.
Our last tip, and most important, is to buy your wig from a reputable, trusted seller. There is nothing worse than ordering a wig online and spending a ton of money, only to find that it doesn’t meet your expectations.
How many phone numbers do you actually know off by heart nowadays? How many appointments do you remember without a note or a reminder on your phone?
It’s all well and good saying ‘well I don’t need to remember if I’ve got my phone to I? but what if you were to lose it? Worse still, what if our over reliance on our phone to remind us of things that in the past we would have remembered ourselves is actually damaging our memory?
It’s called digital amnesia: Nowadays, we are entrusting our phones with all the things we used to remember on our own, effectively diminishing our memory. One in two people can’t remember their children’s phone number, one in three can’t even remember their partner’s phone number.
How can we train our ability to remember? Learning languages can help the brain improve concentration and aid memory, as explained in the infographic “SOS memory: does learning languages help the brain?” by Babbel, the world’s first language learning app.
From Plato’s aversion for writing, the culprit of taking away some of our memory, to fun facts about polyglots and the language of space, this infographic will take you on a journey into our ability to remember, and the help that learning one or more languages can provide.
Language study online through short lessons, a new routine and spaced repetition are all useful tips and practices to help one’s memory not only with a new language, but also in all everyday situations, as proven by a Swedish study: Those who take language courses are better at remembering names of the people they just met.
This definitely sounds like something that would benefit me as neither names nor faces are really my thing. I can put down a book and immediately forget the name of every character, which I’m sure can’t be a good thing!
Guest post
Fostering is one of the best journeys a person can take. It gives vulnerable children a warm and caring home – one that keeps them safe and secure. It’s not an easy thing to do, though, and even the best parents in the world struggle with fostering at times. But the good times certainly outweigh the more challenging aspects of the work, and seeing a child happy is the ultimate reward. But as a single parent, you might wonder what it means to take on that responsibility without a partner.
Can You Be a Foster Parent If You Are Single?
Being a single person doesn’t affect your fostering ability. If you are kind, caring, and compassionate, and have enough love to give to a child in need then you certainly have the foundations of a great foster parent.
There are some things that you will need to consider when thinking about fostering though. This includes your work and whether you can fit this in around fostering, whether you have a strong support network of friends and family around you, and if you have a spare bedroom in your home that is comfortable and warm, and always available to a child in your care.
There’s lots to think about but one important piece of advice to anyone who is considering embarking on this incredible career is to never just assume that you wouldn’t be able to foster. Speak to a fostering agency or your local authority and they will be able to offer tailored advice around your personal circumstances.
If you think you want to foster as a single parent, it’s crucial to understand what it entails. Read on to learn more.
Fostering Becomes Your Career
When two people decide to foster, often one of them can stay in full-time work, depending on their situation. As a single parent, however, the chances are you will need to make fostering your full-time career. If you have a job, you might need to consider leaving it to take up fostering full time. For some, that is a plus, as you get to do what you love from the comfort of your own home, which often means spending more time with your own children too. Plus, you’ll receive a generous financial support package to help cover the costs of caring for a child as well as provide you with a professional fee for your hard work and dedication.
Your Support Network is Crucial
A solid support network is crucial when caring for vulnerable children and young people. You’ll quickly learn just how important the support from your family and friends is when you become a foster parent, even more so when you’re doing it alone. Luckily, though, becoming a foster parent naturally builds a support network. You will have your social worker to talk to, as well as a close community of other foster parents. If you need help, reach out!
Fostering is Always a Challenge
You can’t expect every moment as a foster parent to be easy. That’s not just because you are a single parent, though – it’s because being a parent is always challenging! Whether you’re looking after an infant, pre-teen, or teenager, there will be obstacles. As long as you go into the fostering journey without any expectations and you are ready and willing to work through the challenging parts, you will make an excellent foster parent.
Experience with Children is Helpful but not Essential
You don’t even need to have raised children of your own to foster, although some experience with children is beneficial. As a single foster parent, you will have a lot on your plate, after all, from managing meals to supporting your child in school, and everything in between. If you have no experience at all, you might find it useful to volunteer at your local Scouts group or something similar, so you can build up your skills and confidence around children. Plus, there’s lots of training to complete too.
It’s An Extremely Rewarding Experience
While fostering is not a walk in the park, it is an extremely rewarding experience. You will get to change a young person’s life, and in the process, they may also change yours. If you think you can do it, contact Fosterplus for more information. Your fostering journey is one you won’t regret.
I was gifted these noise cancelling earbuds from QuietOn. All opinions my own.
On Thursday morning I am off on the first leg of a two month long tour. That sounds terribly fancy, like I might actually be famous or something, so I should hastily add that it’s not my tour – I’m just the host for Gill Sims.* I say ‘just the host’ but really it’s a pivotal role right? I’m sure Michael Parkinson wouldn’t call himself just a host, and obviously that’s the sort of interview skills we’re going to be looking at it, given that I’ve never done it before.
(Can you tell from that slightly frantic introduction that I’m a bit nervous??)
*Takes a deep, soothing breath*
For the last couple of weeks I’ve been making packing lists and bulk buying dog food and fretting about Belle and obviously taking on more work than I can physically fit in, and it’s all going fine, tra la la la la. One of the things on my packing list is, rather conveniently, a nifty product I’ve just been sent to try out from QuietOn – the QuietOn 3 active noise cancelling earbuds.
They come in this dinky little carry case – isn’t it adorable?
One of my biggest worries about the tour, aside from the obvious concerns like making a fool of myself on stage and drinking too much and having to be Parkinson with a hangover, is sleep. Sleep doesn’t exactly come easily to me at the best of times, and since having children – i.e. the last 27 years – I’ve been a light and restless sleeper, easily woken by small noises. This is fine of course when your kids are babies and you need to be alert for lions and what not, but when one is 19 and the other doesn’t even live at home anymore, it feels like a bit of a pointless skill.
Sleeping away from home can be even worse – I’m always alert for new noises, and traffic can be a real issue. I like sleeping with the window open and can do this at home because we live somewhere quiet, but away from home, in large cities, I’m not going to be waking up to birdsong and a babbling brook am I?
(Note we don’t have a babbling brook at home, I’d just like one.)
Well, I don’t need to worry about that now do I? Thanks to QuietOn I should be looking at quiet, restful sleep whichever Premier Inn I rock up at. View Post
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I spent a very satisfying 20 minutes in bed this morning with Charlie.
I know, sounds saucy doesn’t it? I haven’t taken a fast but efficient lover though, I was actually discovering some NEWS. I say it in capitals because really THE NEWS is not my thing. For a while a few years ago I thought I would try to take an interest and so I set my alarm to wake me up to Radio 4, but after a few weeks I was just so depressed. The awful news seeping into my subconscious from around the world was just too much.
Over the last couple of years it’s become even harder to take anything positive away from the news – it’s been a literal daily death count – and as a form of self-preservation I’ve had to step away completely. I have too much to manage in my own life, I don’t feel able to soak up everything else around me, especially when it’s stuff I can’t do anything about. I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds the news overwhelming?
The downside of filtering out all news of course is that you can feel like a bit of an idiot when people are talking about something big, that clearly everyone in the world knows about but you. ‘Ukraine?’ you say, ‘something going on with them is it?’
Okay, so it’s not quite that bad, but it definitely leaves you feeling ignorant, in all senses of the word when it’s a humanitarian issue.
How do you filter the news though? How can you make sure you have an awareness of what’s going on but still preserve your sanity? How do you pick out the stories that interest you without getting swamped in bad news?
Cue Charlie – your personal journalist.
Charlie is an AI bot who helps you sift through the news in a neutral, healthy way, giving you a selection of headlines and letting you find out more about any that take your interest. It’s a bit like having a partner sat in bed next to you, scrolling the news sites so that you don’t have to. They pick out things that might interest you and read out highlights, sparing you all of the anxiety inducing doom and gloom clickbait that news sites use to increase traffic and revenue.
Wearing jewelry can help improve your overall look. Apart from wearing the best clothes, accessorizing them with some embellishments can elevate your outfit while also allowing you to feel good.
Vintage jewelry is getting more popular each day for a reason. Apart from completing any ensemble, they have an uncanny ability to attract anyone’s attention with their understated elegance and vintage appeal.
Because they’re unique, they can tell various stories, as each piece has a tale behind it. Vintage jewelry can come in many exciting pieces. Have you ever seen an art-deco neckpiece with Asscher cut diamonds? Or how about a Victorian-style pearl necklace with an oval pendant? It must be a showstopper, right?
Listed below are some reasons to buy vintage jewelry:
One of the best-selling points for vintage jewelry is its story. Since they were produced in ancient times, there could be reasons why they were designed that way and which events they were associated with.
It could be a piece of jewelry that your great grandparents wore during their wedding ceremony or something that was designed during the Great Gatsby era. With the stories behind each piece, you can guarantee that they’re priceless.
As vintage jewelry holds plenty of memories, it could be a great conversation starter whenever you’re at a party. You could tell a tale about the adventures of your vintage jewelry and what you’d have to go through to acquire it. Who knows, maybe it came from your great-great-grandparents finding their way back to you.
Vintage jewelry is usually handmade since there weren’t many machines that could help produce jewelry back in the day. Seeing the intricate details and craftsmanship of handcrafted jewelry is what makes it so valuable.
You might even see some imperfections from hammering a piece flatly or even how they try to rope a gemstone in place to ensure security and stability. With vintage jewelry, you can guarantee that it’s sturdy for a long time of use. If you’re the type who appreciates all kinds of art, opting for vintage jewelry would always be the best choice.
Vintage jewelry is another form of craft in an embellished form. As you see a great piece, you can observe its superb craftsmanship and how each element was designed to create a unique style that echoes the exquisite taste of that forgotten era. It’ll be an excellent piece for your vintage collection.
Since vintage jewelry is handmade, there would be no exactly alike pieces. Since no piece of machinery can automatically produce any piece of jewelry in an instant, people back then needed to manipulate and control each piece to create their desired finish.
Each hammer manually creates a different mold and shape. With that, you can ensure that your vintage jewelry is unique and like no other.
Depending on the piece of vintage jewelry you’ve acquired, there might be a time when it’s custom-made for a significant person. Not only that, it’ll hold great memories, but great stories as well.
There’s also specific symbolism for designs because they must represent something. This will give the jewelry a purpose and not just something great to look at.
Since you’re purchasing second-hand jewelry, you can help to save the environment as you’re saving the dumpsite from adding waste. Apart from reducing waste, you can also help minimize some unnecessary mining and manufacturing for gold and gems, which you might end up selling or passing on to your future generation.
Moreover, mining and manufacturing metals can also contribute to air pollution as they need heavy equipment to finish the job. With vintage jewelry, you’re not increasing the need for mining and manufacturing, but rather taking advantage of what’s already been produced.
Most jewelry today is modern and shiny. While contemporary jewelry can enhance your look, the allure of vintage pieces involves respect and admiration. What great fun it would be to match your modern clothes with vintage jewelry. It’s a great piece that will go harmoniously with any outfit.
There’s plenty of vintage jewelry that you could choose as a statement piece. You can either play with it and add more pieces to your ensemble, like a necklace, ring, bracelet, or earrings, and make yourself feel like royalty.
Furthermore, don’t be afraid to mix and match modern and vintage pieces to create a balanced and earthly look. It’ll be a great combination that will make you look and feel good.
The Verdict
Buying vintage jewelry is more than just an old piece. It holds plenty of memories and appreciates the craftsmanship of a bygone era. It will feel like you’re wearing classic art right on top of your skin. Moreover, they don’t cost too much, making them a great buy and also helping to improve your overall look.
