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Monday 30 April 2012

April favourites


Tangle Teezer:
This isn't really an April favourite more an every-single-month-since-purchase fave, but as this is my first monthly favourites I thought I'd include it. This is a miracle worker! Honestly. I used to dread coming out of the shower or getting my hair wet in the rain as the thought of brushing it scared me. With any normal brush it would hurt so so much, even when if it hadn't been wet it was still fairly painful to comb, but with this tangle teezer I can't feel a thing. Definitely worth the price and the hype and I can't imagine not having this now!

Maybelline New York Pure Cover Mineral Concealer:
I know that within the blogging world the cult concealer is the Collection 2000 one and every beauty guru I watch on YouTube also loves that concealer. However for me, my all time favourite has to be this Maybelline one. A bit more expensive at £6.19 but I love it. It doesn't crease and it covers up my awful dark circles and any blemishes I get so well.

Soap & Glory Thick and Fast Mascara:  
I got this free with a magazine not long ago and, while it's pricier then my usual drug store mascara choices, I will 100% repurchase this every single time I run out. My eyelashes are the major bane of my life. I have like 10 on each eye and they are so thin and light that without any mascara on I look like I have no eyelashes. I hate them so much and no matter how many mascaras I try I have to coat layer upon layer of mascara on them to get any sort of volume at all (and by this point there is so much product on my lashes they have all clumped together and it just looks terrible). This mascara however is a life saver and one to two coats of this adds volume to my lashes and it doesn't clump! Definitley recommend this mascara as I absolutely love it!!

Sleek Pout Paint in 'Port':  
I love this and probably wear it too many times to be honest. It's the lipstick I grab on a night out and I will admit that sometimes I will change my planned outfit if it doesn't go well with the colour haha. I just love the colour so much, purples definitely suit my complexion more then pinks and red and I think this is the perfect shade. It also goes on so well, has a really gorgeous feel on my lips and stays on for so long! As it's a bit tricky to apply I don't take it out with me when I'm on a night out but I find I don't even need to because when I'm back home taking my make up off before bed it has lasted perfectly. At £4.99 this is a definite bargain and I can't wait to try more of the other colours!


Blogs: 





Music:
Moving slightly away from the genre of music I typically listen to this month, I have been playing these two songs over and over and over again and will definitely make me think of Easter 2012 whenever I hear them in the future.



Television: 
This month I have really gotten in to The Apprentice. I had never watched it before as I am the kind of person that will watch a 5 second clip of something, dislike it and then decide that I hate the programme with a passion haha. Many people have tried changing my opinion of it in the past but it took my boyfriend to force me to watch an episode to make me realise actually how good it is!


What have you been loving this month?




Saturday 28 April 2012

Snap-urday #3: No please, stay here


I can't believe I've only been back at uni for a week! Feels like I've been here for ever. I'm already completely back into the swing of uni life and catering for myself. Although I haven't had the best past couple of days so I'm looking forward to this week ending and next week beginning.

Today has consisted of watching the football with my boyfriend, going for a walk with my boyfriend and watching lots of episodes of the quiz show Would I Lie To You on YouTube again with my beautiful boyfriend. Not a very interesting or exciting day but it's been nice and relaxing which is just what I need as next week I'll be starting my revision and I get so stressy about revision that I doubt by next weekend I'll even know what the word 'relaxing' means haha.



Postivies of this week:
+ handed in my last essay of year 1, waheyy!
+ got a new camera and bought some lovely stuff online :)



How has your week been?



Tuesday 24 April 2012

Every breath we drew was hallelujah...

So this isn't a recent holiday, me and my boyfriend went to Barcelona in August last year so almost a year a go now but I wanted to document it on this blog. I want this blog to house everything big/important/good that goes on in my life, in keeping with the 'diary' feel I've got going on, and Barcelona was a very good thing that happened and was probably one of the best few days of my life so that's why I want to do a post on it.

One of the many hidden side streets that had such stunning buildings

Sagrada Famillia - not yet complete but one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been lucky enough to see

Just one of the many beautiful parks

More of the amazing Gaudi's famous work

Barcelona 

One of my favourite pictures, I love how you can just walk down an average joe side street that is nothing special but at the end there's a magnificent piece of architecture, in this instance a beautiful church

My future house please, situated right on top of a large hill up from Parc Guell and consequentially having the most beautiful view of the city.
The aforementioned view!


Croissants for breakfast on our balcony :)

More beautiful architectural designs

My favourite photo from the whole trip (you might notice that an edited version is in my header) - I love the side street where the apartments are stunning, the colourful bunting and the little glimpse of one of Barcelona's beautiful architectural features you can just see at the end of the street

This last photo may not look like much but it was my favourite place in the whole city. It was a beautiful little square with four walls of different stunning buildings surrounding it. It was quiet, very few people came there and those that did sat silently, listening to the wonderful street singers that performed there. When me and my boyfriend visited it for the second time on the last day of our trip there was an amazing Spanish singer who sang my favourite ever song - Hallelujah. He was so good and the song sounded even better in Spanish. It was a beautiful moment with the sun setting down on the courtyard, me and my boyfriend spending our last hour in Barcelona after an amazing week listening to him singing. Couples all around the courtyard were looking lovingly at each other, holding hands an kissing and, as cheesy as this sounds, it was such an emotional moment. Seeing how universal love is and how people who live millions of miles apart all share those feelings of love and appreciation. It was so nice to see because it reiterated the understanding that with all the politics and the hate and the fighting going on all over the world we're all the same, we all feel the same things and we're all human. The world is such a diverse place and everyone is so different to the next person but we're all so alike too with so much in common and I really believe that if we could all jut speak the same language (not just literally) we'd be friends. Being there at that moment in time just confirmed that for me. Watching the video I took of him singing this song and the courtyard type area and the people being moved by the song still makes me a bit emotional today haha. (Sometimes I am an utter sap and turn into a giant cheese ball so I'm really sorry and do believe that this isn't going to be the last you hear of my cheesy - ness. It's probably not even going to be the last bit of cheese I write in this post haha - sorry I'm awful!)

Barcelona is a breath taking city and my awful amateur photography does not do it justice but I strongly recommend going. I would do anything to relive that week and be in that courtyard one more time and I just think that it is a city that gives you a feeling that everyone should experience once in their life. I can not explain what the feeling was but it was the best I've ever felt and the happiest I'd felt in a long long time. These photos are just a tiny select few of my faves as I took over 900 haha.

This is all my opinion obviously but I just wanted to write my opinion down so that when I'm older, I never forget how I felt after visiting this place.

Have any you ever been to Barcelona? Is there any cities that you feel like this about?

Sunday 22 April 2012

The big 5-0

Not really sure why this picture is being linked to this post, I just didn't know what image to put with it and didn't want just a wordy post so I chose this one mostly just because I look quite happy and, if you continue reading, you'll see that the subject of this post is one I'm happy about :)
I know people do blog posts like this when they reach 500 or 1000 followers but I am so proud and happy that 50 people read what I've got to say and I am so grateful to everyone that I just wanted to do a little post about it!

I'm especially grateful as I feel like, content wise, I have merely been dipping my feet in the blogging pond and haven't really dived in yet. That is mainly due to the fact that I haven't got a camera yet as mines broke :( and so can't do the kind of posts I have in mind but also because I'm not entirely confident with putting things up on the internet about myself. I am a ridiculously closed off person and keep most things to myself so having an 'online journal' is pretty not me haha and I'm a bit nervous of people I know in 'real life' stumbling across it, reading it and mocking me. I know I'm not the only blogger who feels like that but it has been limiting me as to the kind of posts I do. However, I really really am enjoying writing this blog and knowing that 50 people enjoy reading it has given me a bit of a confidence boost!

Thank you so much to everyone who reads and comments on my blog, it means a lot to me :)


Saturday 21 April 2012

Snap-urday #2: Today I don't feel like doing anything

Please forgive me taking awful photo's of myself, this is something completely foreign to me and I'm hoping I'll get better over time - one day it might be funny looking back to these first couple of awful ones. For now, this was the best of a bad bunch haha!


So I'm back in Swansea! the picture above is how I looked after a long morning of travelling. We were supposed to set off at 8 so I was up at half 6, making sure I was all packed, showered and ready for when my boyfriend's family came to pick me up. However, Adam being as annoyingly lazy as he is, was only just awake at 9 o'clock so we had a bit of a late start! It was such a beautiful drive though, honestly the views you get going to South Wales from the Midlands are just stunning. If you are Welsh or live in Wales, you live in such a beautiful country and I don't think enough people give it credit for how stunning it really is! Adam's mom is a Bruno Mars fan and had his album on repeat, hence the title of today's Snap-urday haha.

I'm currently sitting alone in my room in my empty flat. None of the girls are back yet so I'm feeling pretty lonely. To make matters worse, I didn't clean my room after the last night out we had here so it was full of Carling cans, vodka bottles and empty orange juice cartoons. So since getting here at 1 o'clock I've spoken to no one and have spent the time tidying my room. Not exactly the welcome back I was wanting but at least it's all out of the way and now I can just concentrate on my essay and revision for my up coming exams.. Joy!

Good news though, my loan is in! I've already placed an E.L.F order (keep a look out for posts and reviews on that) and bought my Summer Ball ticket. I'm super excited for the summer ball as it's a vintage garden tea party theme with a small fun fair and Tim Minchin will be performing!! One of my all time favourite comedians, really can't wait to see him live. This all means I'll have to buy a new dress, no complaints there though!



Positives of this past week:

+ had a nice little win on the Grand National and I used the money to treat me and Adam to the cinema and a McDonalds
+ me and Adam booked our trip to Italy!!!
+ had a lovely last week at home with my family and Adam's family



How has your past week been? Any one else a fan of Tim Minchin or have anyone impressive playing at their Uni summer balls?



Thursday 19 April 2012

Rome Rome, many tears have fallen here

So in my last post I mentioned something I was going to be hopefully spending my student loan on but I didn't want to say what it was in case I jinxed it or something but my boyfriend got a big sum of money the other day from his tax rebate and so we decided not to wait 'till I got my student loan and just spend his money on... BOOKING OUR HOLIDAY TO ITALY!

Colosseum, Rome

Trevi fountain, Rome

Florence

Venice

Venice

*All images taken from Google

On the 19th September (so in exactly 5 months time, eek!) we will be flying from Gatwick to Rome, where we will spend 3 nights. Then we will travel to Florence where we will spend one night and then to Venice, where we will spend 2 nights before flying home from Marco Polo.

One of my 20 things to do before I'm 20 is to visit Italy and I can't believe I'm actually going to do it!! I have always wanted to go to Italy as it's my favourite place in the world. Silly really, considering I've never been there but it just looks so beautiful and I am sure it is not going to disappoint. To make it extra exciting we will be there on my 20th birthday so it will actually be the best birthday present ever!!

The whole trip, including the around Italy trail pass is costing us just under £400 each so not too expensive really for 6 nights in 3 amazing cities! As neither of us have been to Italy before we're not too sure on how expensive it is there so don't really know how much spending money we will need and stuff so if any one has been to these places before if you could let us know roughly how expensive it is there and perhaps recommend some things to do I'd be grateful! I'd love to hear your stories about your travels to this wonderful country. Or if your from Italy! This post really doesn't do my excitement justice but I'm literally like AHHHHHHHAKRJIJREGAHH YAYYYYYY!!!! inside and I will be for the next 5 months. Since booking it, I've spent the hours googling the three cities and deciding what clothes to take/buy! So so so excited haha.


I also want to mention Being Little's blog give away. If you're not already a follower of her blog you should be as not only does she post lovely outfits and cute decorations she also does the best give aways and this one is no exception! Definitely worth checking it out and I'd say good luck but it is so good I'm quite hoping that I win it haha.


Does anyone else have any holidays planned for this year? Or exciting birthday plans? I'd love to hear them :)


Tuesday 17 April 2012

I am carrying my cold heart home


This will be my last Tuesday in Birmingham as on Saturday Adam's dad will be driving us the 135 miles to Swansea, which is where we both go to uni. As much as I can't wait to see all my flatmates and as much as I've missed the beautiful beach and having it so close, I'm not really looking forward to going back. I'll miss my family and how easy it is living at home and having everything done for me (I know that sounds super lazy but it's going to take more than 8 months of living away from home to break an 18 year routine). I always feel like this though when the day I go back to uni is looming but as soon as I'm back in Swansea I feel at home and, while I obviously still miss my parents, I relish my independence and love being back with the amazing girls I share my flat with. Right now, at this precise moment in time though, I'm hoping this week goes as slow as possible so that it'll seem like I've spent a lot longer at home then I actually have.

What I am completely looking forward to however is getting my student loan and finally having some money in the bank! Not that it will be there very long as I've already got a list as long as my arm of things I need to spend it on. First and foremost is something me and my boyfriend have been planning a while so, fingers crossed, we'll be able to get that sorted when we've both got some money (I'm not going to mention what it is yet as I don't want to jinx it), then I have to get my beloved camera fixed, it's been out of action since December and I'm missing being able to take photo's :( (having it back will also mean I no longer have to take pictures for my blog on my webcam so I'll be able to take photo's of products and finally get some posts up that I've been planning for ages!) and then, of course, I want to treat myself to some new skin and haircare products and clothes. I know I shouldn't spend my money before I actually have it but I've been planning on buying these things on my list for so so long I'm so excited to actually be able to get them and throw the thing away haha! However, I must remember to save enough money for food and nights out this time as I do not want a repeat of last term when I had to ask my dad to put money into my account because I couldn't afford toilet roll (one of my '20 things to do before I'm 20' is to get better with money and I think that little anecdote explains why I need to haha!).

I'm not doing much during my last week in Birmingham. I have an essay to do for next week and all of my friends have gone back to either college or uni so I'll just be spending time with my family, my boyfriend and his family and Microsoft Word.


Does anyone have any exciting plans for this week? Does anyone else spend their money before they've got it (bad habit haha)? 


Tuesday 10 April 2012

Dry your eyes mate

If any of you read my Project Perfect post you'd know that I said my skin was something about me that I liked. Well, that is no longer the case! It's recently gotten so dry and flaky (ewww) and my eyes are just awful.. taking eye make up off is a right pain because they are so sensitive and dry! The dryness is only around my T - zone though, the rest of my face is lovely and smooth and neither dry nor oily, I don't understand where/why it's come from all of a sudden :(

I'm really in need of a decent moisturiser for dry skin and one for the eyes and if any of you know any that you could recommend to me I'd really, really appreciate it! Similarly, if you have or know of any posts/YouTube videos that explain good routines to combat dry skin I'd really love to watch or read them and I'd love to try any of your suggestions.. anything to help my skin back to it's former glory :)

Thank you!




Tuesday 3 April 2012

It's enough to make Kings and vagabonds believe the very best

On Saturday I went to my cousins wedding. It was a really lovely day, the bride looked beautiful and they were so cute together, you could really see how much they loved each other.

There first dance was to the song 'Can you feel the love tonight?'. Before then I'd never really listened to the lyrics or thought it a very good song, to me it was just famous as the song from Lion King. But, listening to it closely and watching the two newly weds dancing their first dance to it, it struck me just how romantic a song it is and how beautiful the lyrics are. Especially the line that is the title of this post 'it's enough to make Kings and vagabonds believe the very best'. I don't know how much the numerous vodka and oj's I'd consumed added to this, but I was getting really emotional haha. I'm a proper old, soppy romantic and I love weddings so much. You could actually call me obsessed (which my boyfriend does) but I just think it is such a beautiful and magic thing and of all the weddings I've been to in my 19 years, I could really see on their faces that it was the happiest day of their life!

I would put pictures of the actual day up with people that aren't me in them, but I'm not sure whether they'd want their photos being up on the Internet and as no one knows about this blog I can't ask them so here's some of mine and my sisters outfits :)

I'm so in love with my dress it's unreal haha. It's such a gorgeous colour and a lovely spring design with a lace top and lace cut out band just underneath the boob area. It's also ridiculously flattering, honestly I have never looked at myself in the mirror whilst wearing a summer dress and felt so thin! It was £36 which considering it's from Topshop I don't think is too bad as you can get plain t - shirts from there for £20, and it comes in loads of beautiful pastel colours! If this is your kind of dress then I'd definitely recommend popping in your local Topshop and picking one up! I'm searching for every opportunity to wear mine haha.

Dress, Socks: Topshop

had to blur out my face and legs on Instagram as they wasn't looking at their best haha so don't worry, it's not your eyes but I think it's a good photo to show off the dress
My sister's dress is from Asos

I planned what I was going to wear when the whether was amazing but unfortunately on Saturday (and ever day since boo :() it was cold and cloudy so I had to add thisgorgeous blazer from Forever21 (not that you can see it at all clearly in this picture, but it's the only one in which I'm wearing it, sorry!)

P.S ignore my face.


My sister just got an iPhone so of course, we had to test out the camera and Instagram haha ;)

Does any one else feel the same about weddings? Is anyone going to any soon and if you are what are you wearing?