10 Things #3

I know it has been soooooo long that I have posted one of these, but I have been doing/using the same things so much that I didn't have anything new or interesting to show to you... until now!

1. I am booking myself a holiday (hopefully this week) with my Uni to go to Fuertaventura and I am so so so excited for the Summer! (Praying for a tan)!

2. Along with this holiday fun, I was thinking about bikinis all over again, and I LOVE Triangl bikinis so much! I have had one before, and the neoprene is just amazing! Worth investing - they are a tad expensive...

3. Following a theme of beaches and salt... Salt Spray from Toni & Guy is so good and it smells divine! I have used a number of different salt sprays but so far, this one has won me over! 

4. I had my nails done 2 weeks ago using O.P.I gel nails, and they are still in perfect condition after 2 weeks. So if anyone wants to know of a good gel nail polish that lasts, it's this one! 

5. The song that keeps me feeling happy and loving to dance is Lush Life, as it is so happy and bouncy, you can't not enjoy it. 

6. On nights out I struggle with the eyeliner job, and so found a really awesome product that makes it a lot easier for me as it is a thinner pen and goes on smoothly and not like a gush of liquid.

7. In this cold weather, my lips are dying for moisture, and I found Vaseline doesn't work as well as Nivea really, so you guys should honestly try this! (Plus it smells delicious).

8. Victoria Secret body mists always get me feeling like I'm on some beach out in the tropical areas and not actually stuck in a small room listening to a lecturer! My favourite one so far is this.

9. My room is so tiny, I needed some fragrance to make it feel fresh and open-aired, (if that is possible). So i purchased a diffuser that smells so clean and florally and just reminds me of memories. I don't know if it is available as a diffuser now, but every time it hits winter, this fragrance is brought out again!

10. I recently purchased a skirt that I normally wouldn't bother wearing, and I think I actually love it. I am a changed person! It is mainly going to be worn on nights out I think...

When Technology Takes Over...

Recently, I was clumsy and left my phone in a taxi and thought I would never see that phone again. (Thankfully, it was kept at the taxi base, so it was only 2 days without it)! Yet, it made me realise how much I rely on a phone in day-to-day life, which actually kinda worried me. In all honesty, it just made me have a really bad time out when I had just lost my phone. However, I coped quite well without it! Yes, I did miss the easy ability of checking on Instagram and just setting alarms for the mornings, and also the ability to just message someone asking where to meet etc, but I really wasn't desperate to go on a phone just to sit there scrolling through 'Facebook' watching pointless videos.

I sat at the dinner table with my flatmates, realising they were all just possessed by these phones, with no ability to socialise for about 5 minutes, without picking up their phone to just watch something pointless. I am personally a person who gets tired or agitated by technology. The way people will text, then send a message via 'Facebook' or 'WhatsApp' then also send a 'Snapchat' - because as if one message isn't enough to just contact someone eh?

When I meet an individual who feels the same, who tires of people messaging 24/7, it gives me hope that at least not all young people are obsessed with technology and phones. You start missing the bigger picture in life if all you do is dedicate your life and soul to a tiny bright screen. Yeah - I still have a phone, they are obviously very useful for communicating with people, but I know now that I really don't need to have a phone on me 24/7 to make it through a day.

Therefore, I challenge people reading this, to see if you can last a day without picking up that phone of yours, and just plan a day of doing something productive! See how many days you can last maybe? I lasted 2, and in all honesty, I won't be using my phone much at all from now on as you started missing out on real life!

New Year - New Inspiration

(Stolen from Tumblr again)

So it has come to that time of the year again where people start claiming to eat healthy and never pick up anything containing sugar again! - We all know your lying to yourselves. Yet I do feel like I could, at least, increase my intake of fruit and vegetables and eat less meat - (I think I ate meat at least twice a day). I purchased myself a NutriBullet, praying it will solve my dilemmas, but also exercise is a MUST in order to feel healthy. A YouTube video I recently watched by Kalel helped me get an insight on what you really need to do/eat in order to just be that little bit healthier, without going extreme and purchasing silly diet products.

Following from this, I am constantly seeing people advertising how amazing Juice Plus is. After researching more into it, it just appears to be the most unhealthy way of losing weight for the 'Summer Body'. It seems to just constantly tell you to drink a juice as a solid food replacement and then you will be thin. My friends have all gone through the phase of just drinking juiced vegetables and fruits and have dramatically lost weight within weeks/months. However, you eventually have to stop this liquid-only diet and it eventually leads to the person over-eating as much as they can as they haven't eaten solid foods in weeks. There is not great diet to follow, as no matter what, you'll get bored and go back to the usual ways. The perfect solution is just to do some exercise regularly, (preferably daily - even just for 3-5 mins), and to eat less sugar and fat and more vegetables. Don't cut out sugar and fat completely - treat yourself occasionally. It is your life and body, so don't feel the need to punish yourself by withdrawing all food that you enjoy just for you to fit into an outfit for a few weeks in the Summer.

The best video that has inspired me would honestly be the video by Kalel, which just let me realise that cutting down the meat amount will help a lot more, as I don't need to eat meat twice a day!

Learn to love yourself and just enjoy experimenting with different foods! :)

Daily Journal

I have decided to start off my year being slightly more organized and prepared! The Daily Journal I purchased from UO just looked like the perfect item to help me with this goal. I'm mainly using it to write down creative thoughts or ideas that I will probably, knowing me, forget within the next hour! Also, being a student, I seem to be running out of money quite rapidly, and so I am hoping I can write in what I've purchased - maybe then I can at least save? (Hopefully)!

I'm hoping this may inspire others to do the same, as I'm missing the simple things of writing and jotting down random ideas in colorful inks and doodling a silly picture in the corner! Don't you? 

If there any other really good notebooks/journals out there, let me know!! As this journal always becomes out of stock the minute they restock it!

Hope you have a good new year and dust away those cobwebs for a fresh start in 2016! 

10 Things #2

So back to the drawing board on what I have been enjoying these previous days that have really stood out to me and may also give you ideas on what has stood out for you! 

 (Stolen this image off of Tumblr - thought it fitted the festive season).

1. So far, my favourite Christmas film that I am constantly watching on a regular is Muppet Christmas Carol - I know, it has become a guilty pleasure!

2. I seem to be finding myself going out wearing these boots constantly and it is so easy to wear these for day and night time events!

3. Whenever I am home, I am always drinking a Christmas tea, which I hope will be back next year as I am going to miss the cinnamony goodness! (Please?)

4. Coming back from University means I have to do the classic meet-up dates with friends, who I haven't seen in so long... and where is the best place to meet? Wagamama's.

5. Of course a perfume that smells so fresh is needed when you are constantly being bombarded with the smell of mince pies and roasted potatoes. So what better fragrance to use than a Clinique one? It is so simple, yet smells so beautiful! 

6. Lately, I have been missing the fun moments of just jotting down events and things I have done during the day etc. So I decided to purchase a journal that may help me just write down anything random that comes to my mind! - (These ones seemed the cutest and I first saw them in UO).

7. To go along with this new desire to write randomly again, I thought I may as well get more inks for my very old primary school classic... the fountain pen. I feel like everyone in my class had one of these, obviously cheap ones! I never realised that you could purchase inks in 1000s of different colours!

8. The song thats making me feel nostalgic is the one from the first Scooby-Doo film on the island! You will remember it once you have listened to it - trust me.

9. Everyone needs a pair of adorable socks to keep them warm in Winter, (or just to chill in and have a laugh to yourself whenever you look at them).

10. The funniest film I have watched recently is one I came across on Netflix. So if you are up for a laugh and you think you're unlucky - watch this.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year! :) 

Kew Garden Christmas Lights

The best way to feel like it is truly Christmas is by visiting the Kew Gardens Christmas event! I have never felt so happy to walk about a garden filled with bright colors and lights glittering. The peacock displayed above was in a bright, dazzling blue, and the pictures cannot even do justice to what you really see - so I apologize for the bad photos! 

Something even more dazzling was the massive, almost curtain-like, display of lights changing colors and fading on and off. It was so mesmerizing and magical, and the music played amongst each display really fit every single lighting effect! Magical! 

I would highly recommend visiting the lighting display of you are anywhere in the UK and looking for something to do with family! Made me feel like a child in Disneyland all over again! 

It's a shame the event only goes on until the beginning of January, but on certain days you can get tickets at the entrance. Thankfully they are so friendly you're guaranteed to see this incredible trail of lights, whilst also passing stands where you can melt your own marshmallows and sip mulled wine, (or hot chocolate), - yum!

Travel Fund

    (Found this cool jar idea on Pinterest)

So I am finally starting to save for a holiday! Not sure what or where, but it's a start, right? I realised that I have way too many coins just lying around, (mostly 1 or 2p coins), but I never know where to put them! I got to a stage where I opened up my purse and it was a guarantee that a waterfall of coppers would fall on to the floor and I'd end up losing half the money. I eventually bought a jar and within only a few days, filled it with many coppers that I have found lying around in my bedroom! I'm starting to think that I might be able to afford a good holiday this year, and hopefully this jar will inspire loads more people to do the same, (rather than losing the coins like I did)! :) 

Getting Festive

It's time to start welcoming the Christmas spirit into our lives rather than shying away and pretending you're the new Scrooge! To me, Christmas is the best time of the year, where it's acceptable to stuff your face and watch hundreds of childish films with no judgement - my favorite is The Grinch! 

I can't think of anything more exciting than the over the top Christmas lights hanging in the streets whilst people shower their homes in colorful epileptic flashing lights! I feel like every year you HAVE to buy more baubles for the tree - even if you know your tree may topple over from the mass weight of them all. My tree still has decorations on it that I made back when I was 5 years old, which always makes me laugh whenever I get out the pasta made bauble! 

But the food is the most important part of the day and there is always room for a gingerbread house... Even if it just sits in the room for decoration. :)

Christmas Wrapping Ideas

The time has come, where I always struggle every year to think of a better way to wrap presents and make them look like I actually put in some creative effort! This year I finally decided to actually TRY and do something different compared to my usual wrap it quickly last minute and pray that the paper doesn't unstick itself.

My attempt at making it look Christmassy was better than usual. I decided to use simple brown paper as it makes the red stand out more from the ribbon and bells! The paper you can pretty much get at any stores, but the bells I purchased from here. I simply just cut each individual bell off the garland and tied it with the ribbon I used for the presents!

This was a present given to me by my friend, but I thought the wrapping was so well thought out that I had to use it as an example of another effective way of wrapping a present! It was so simple and cute with tissue paper wrapped around each individual present. Sadly I have no idea where she had purchased the tissue paper or bag, but WHSmith does a similar tissue paper.

There are probably so many other neater or more creative ways of wrapping, which I may eventually get round to trying out myself, but these are quite fun and creative ways of doing presents this year with minimal effort and it doesn't cost much to do! So for anyone, who is either running out of time or money (similar to me), then here is your answer! :)

10 Things #1

I feel like I want to do a regular '10 Things' post so that I can show what is going on in my life and what has caught my eye in the past week that I think is worthy of sharing with everyone! So regularly every week I hope to be doing a post similar to this!

Found this quote the other day and it made me giggle!

1. I love this song right now! It makes me feel so happy when I am walking to my lectures or seminars and keeps me in an upbeat mood.

2. Cannot live without my old trusty pair of Converse that really are beginning to show that they are worn daily, (oops).

3. As it is winter and Christmas is just around the corner, I think we are all in need of a snuggly fur, (fake of course), blanket to drink wrap around us while we drink hot chocolate? 

4. I am seeing soo many pictures of people skiing right now and I am feeling jealous! I wish I was back on the slopes at this incredible place on the Alps!

5. I found a book that took my fancy. It is from Urban Outfitters - I swear they have the best books selling at that store! 

6. My skin is slowly suffering the the university diet of absolute rubbish, so thankfully this product is slowly fixing that - and it smells of fresh oranges!

7. Being further North for uni made me realise how thankful I am that my mum bought me a new coat for the winter. It's managed to keep out most of the cold wind! 

8. A creative video, because why not? 

9. Definitely needing this breakfast next week I think!

10. I was running a lot last week trying to get out of the rain and realised Spotify kept changing my song... did anyone else know about the 'running' feature? It is pretty cool! 

Jamie Oliver's Italian Restaurant

This place can never do wrong on its meals at the Bluewater branch!

The Italian nachos - basically fried ravioli with mozzarella stuffed inside it, (delicious)! Considering I didn't think you could really fry pasta with a tasty outcome, I was pretty impressed! 

The main reason I chose this dish is purely because the pasta looked like tentacles! I don't think you can ever really leave this restaurant feeling hungry after the massive portions handed to you of such amazing food. 

And to top of my meal, I ended it with raspberry frozen yoghurt!

Would highly recommend visiting this restaurant if you ever are near to one! The one I always go to is at Bluewater and it's always so welcoming and friendly and the food comes quickly so you're never left starving on the side! :) 

Health Kick

My attempt at being healthy after the shocking uni diet is going well so far! After living off daily meals consisting purely of pasta, cheese or chicken, I'm officially needing some fruit and vegetables!

I absolutely love smoothie bowls lately, and top it with berries and seeds! This one contains frozen mixed berries with passionfruit and mango yoghurt and some blackberry frozen yoghurt!

For lunch I've been mainly eating Covent Garden soups. This one is a lentil and smoked bacon soup with toasted pitta break on the side! 

I'm hoping it'll make me feel more awakened and healthy after living off the basics for the past 3 months - here's hoping! 

Study, Study, Study.

I am becoming more and more exhausted from education these days; spending copious amounts of time on just re-writing out essay after essay. So I decided to just take pictures of random moments within the past week or so that just relax me or make me happy, (and obviously food is going to be one image.)

Just relaxing in a bath can just relax me and allow me to take an hour just to forget about work and revision and focus on just me. I didn't realise that the troubles I would pay for relaxation was scrubbing a bath tub of a glitter afterwards for about 30 minutes. 

What would life be without Nandos. Extra Hot - I show no fear! 

Last image of the 3, a small town called Rye. It's so beautiful in areas and as there's hardly ever any service in some areas, it can be the most relaxing place to take a break. 

LUSH

With it being the season for warm baths and relaxation, I decided to invest heavily in LUSH products as so many people were raving about them! Of course I was only aiming to buy a maximum of 3 bath products… but that didn't end well as you can see above.

LUSH Melting Marshmallow

It turned the bath this beautiful rose colour and the smell was not too overpowering at all! It was amazing for my skin as it felt so soft afterwards and the smell of marshmallows stayed on my skin for a day!

LUSH Northern Lights

This was a Bonfire Night special LUSH product! It is a simple purple stick yet inside there were so many colours of blue and green with some glitter to represent the fireworks. My favourite out my massive bundle of festive treats and the originals so far would have to be the Northern Lights purely for how it looks when it has dissolved in the bath! BEAUTIFUL.

Christmas Houses in USA

For some strange reason I have an obsession with decorations within American homes. Yes it is a guilty pleasure of mine that when a friend is jetting off to the US, my first request is: "Please take a picture of the American homes/streets?" I just love them! They are considerably larger to any UK standard home and they just spurt out an essence of warmth and pumpkin pies. They are so simple but yet so beautiful. When Christmas arrives within our household, the basic decorations of lights are placed on trees or around banisters etc. Despite all these efforts, our house will never look like any of these entrances to a home. 

A dream of mine is to have a recreation of these scenes within my own home… crazy? Probably. The fact that I have found my dream front door for a future house is a bit odd! But don't we all plan and dream of these crazy minor details for a home? It cannot be just me that walks down a street during Halloween/Christmas and looks at the front of a house and thinks that they have decorated it perfectly with pumpkins or lights?

Even thought Christmas has passed, I am not going to let it go so soon! The plans I have for this upcoming year excite me but I am aiming to make the Christmas decorations outdo these below. (It won't happen but I can dream right?)

I was hoping that eventually one of my friends would have pictures of Christmassy American houses but sadly they didn't see as many as I thought there would be, so these were the only pictures sufficient enough to display the beauty of it! Good luck to anyone with the same dreams and crazy plans for their future house! :)

Disney Days ♡

I had a long summer due to study leave and decided to book a last minute holiday to somewhere that I've wanted to go to for so long! Disney. 

I loved every minute if this place, even if I did only go for 3 days :(! 

I really want to go back and I'm so jealous of people that go so regularly... I just need to start saving up! 

Disney village was just too cute with all the creme houses with lights scattered over them and little old fashioned shops placed within them! It's like a dream world in there and I didn't want to leave. 

I'm hoping to go back soon and maybe visit the American one as I haven't done that in so long! So Florida here I come! :) 

My Camera!

                                                       Topshop Firecracker Lipstick :)
       

                                          My camera!!!

                                         It was in my garden :)

My beautiful camera helps me capture moments I love so much! Sadly for a while I had no chance of using it so it was locked away in my wardrobe for a while, but now I have got my hands on it again and went wild today with our reunion :) . I experimented with things I had not used yet on the camera and so now I know fully the uses of it all! Getting good angles of lighting and making it a crisp picture which I probably will send to the photo shops to print off so I can have a few things knocking about on my walls! I have decided to start a collage and so I really am in need of good ideas for photos, I have decided about doing loads of them with friends but mine are mainly screaming at me when a camera comes out? We are all in the same boat, I look a mess but I am not afraid to snap a few! Hopefully they will gradually adjust so that I can at least make a start on this project because it is tiring me out :( I only need a few that is all I ask!

Obsession With Orange

                     
                                                     Jack Wills hoodie... not in my size :(
                                   

                                          Topshop Peaches and Cream! Delicious!
 

                                                    John Lewis Towel :)


My obsession with orange continues as I buy towels, nail varnish and I have now bought an American Apparel hoodie in that colour! I love the colour I even bought lipstick, fire cracker from Topshop, and it looks amazing! I think orange is avoided quite often as it is a DARING colour but I am officially going to brave it from now on and stand out in the crown as a clown! :)