Wednesday 31 October 2012

Adventure Time (featuring boyfriend).

This week is my reading week from university (read: half term - no classes) so Reece came to stay for a couple of days. He arrived at my house at 10am on Monday, after spending over an hour travelling due to shitty rail replacement coaches, and spent the day in bed as he came straight from work (he works nights and finishes at 7.30am).

It's safe to say Monday was spent watching copious amounts of South Park, eating pasta and ordering an obscene amount of pizza. Possibly over £50 worth of pizza.


On Tuesday we got up early, for us 10am is early, and spent the day in town. 
I showed Reece around the Northern Quarter, my personal favourite area of the city centre - it has the nicest cafes and shops, but it is slightly more expensive. It also has a Carhartt store (which Reece loves), so we spent a good 20 minutes in there poring over the ridiculously overpriced clothing. I kind of fell in love with a tote bag in there, but at £55 it certainly didn't make it's way home with me.

Just a note: Urban Outfitters is a bad place to go when you have been paid a healthy wage and slightly expensive taste. Safe to say a lot of money was spent (not by me, I'm skint), however I was treated to a jumper - it was on sale! Although, I am ridiculously jealous of the Herschel rucksack he bought.



On the way to finding Rain City Tattoo - Reece has an appointment next week, we took a wrong turning due to my pants map-reading skills, and found a traditional sweet shop, selling everything from American cereal and confectionery (helloo mint M&M's) to good, old, proper sweets. It was ace. And expensive, like £6.50 for a box of Lucky Charms expensive. 
Before entering Reece said 'Don't take me in here, I always spend too much money'. He did.

We found Rain City Tattoo - eventually - and then went home. I had a go at making chicken noodle soup; it wasn't horrendous. Definitely not a 'proper' chicken noodle soup, but it was tasty and took about 40 minutes to make. I may post the recipe on here soon.



Today was home time for the both of us. It was horrific. The Autumn rain finally hit Manchester, we had a bus driver with serious anger management issues, and had to catch a (delayed) train and then a rail replacement coach home.

The journey from Manchester to Huddersfield takes 30 minutes by train, an hour including getting the bus from my house to the station. Today we left my house at 3.20pm and didn't arrive back in Huddersfield until 7.15pm. On the upside, I did read the first 100 pages of MAUS  (amazing) which I have to read for a class Monday. 

I also took a creeper photo of Reece sleeping, where he looks so cute, but I promised I wouldn't post it anywhere. Spoilsport. 

It's been a lovely couple of days, and to be a bit soppy, I couldn't be much happier right now.

I hope your week is going wonderfully so far.

Thanks for reading xxx

Sunday 28 October 2012

Weekly Summary #37

Off to Huddersfield, Scary eyebrows, Reading material,
Alkaline Trio, Sausage sandwich and potatoes, Homeward bound,
Caramel syrup, Cuddles, Walkies.

  1. This week has flown by, and I don't really have much to show for it - dissertation worry is kicking in now. I went to Reece's on Tuesday and spent the night. We watched Dexter and slept a lot. Definitely not an 'active' pair.
  2. My sleeping pattern is seriously out of sync; I haven't been sleeping until gone 3am and it's driving me mad as I waste half the day/have to get up really early and then feel like death. Not good.
  3. I finally got some caramel syrup from Starbucks to go in the coffee that my friends bought me for my birthday. I haven't tried it yet though. It was only £3.75 surprisingly! 
  4. Reece is coming to stay in Manchester with me tomorrow until Wednesday; it's my reading week for university so we're hanging out here and then I'm going back home for work on Thursday. Hopefully some reading will get squeezed in there somewhere(!!!)
On paper it has been a ridiculously dull week, but I feel like I haven't sat down. Probably because I've been constantly on and off trains. Sigh.

I hope you've all had lovely weeks!

Thanks for reading x

Thursday 25 October 2012

Autumn Beauty


This is my everyday beauty basket. It contains everything I use on a daily basis, and makes it easier for me to switch around a few products instead of delving through my big make up bag trying to find something.

My best friends made me a little hamper for my birthday and put everything in this basket. It quickly made a new home on my desk.


The Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect foundation is my current favourite. I did use the Healthy Mix Serum but it was too yellow for me. This is much more neutral and gives a lighter coverage, which is what I like. The Collection 16 Hour Wear concealer has become a cult favourite. I use it on blemishes and under my eyes and it lasts all day. 
The Vivo eyebrow palette is amazing value for money at £5 (available in Tesco), the combination of Topshop's Head Over Heels blush, and Mac's CCB in Pearl is gorgeous, giving a dewy sheen. 
The Collection eyeliner is my favourite, it's cheap and very pigmented. The felt tip makes it easy to create a wing too. The mascaras I'm using are Maxfactor 2000 Calorie and the Rimmel Lash Accelerator. They're ok, the Maxfactor one is good for volume, but nothing ground breaking.
The Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in Crush gives a lovely berry stain to the lips and is comfortable to wear. The Korres Lip Butter in Wild Rose is a subtler option, which leaves a red stain on the lips.


My eyeshadow are all pretty neutral. My favourites in my MAC palette are Naked Lunch and Satin Taupe. The Bobbi Brown Twilight palette is a purchase from a blog sale and is stunning. The matte shades are a bit powdery, but I don't mind as they look beautiful.
The Naked palette needs no introduction, it is worth the 'hype', but I tend to use the other palettes more.


The last bits are skincare and nail varnishes. I spilt my Clinique Clarifying Lotion while travelling home, but to be honest I am falling out of love with it. I'm finding it a bit too harsh at the moment. The Moisturising Gel is still amazing. It's non-greasy and sinks in quickly. It's also a lovely base for makeup.
The tester of the Moisture Surge is something I'm trying to use up. It's a thick gel that I use when my skin is feeling dry and a bit flaky. It's nice but I doubt I'll buy the full size.
The nail varnishes are my current favourite Essie polishes - post here, alongside the base and top coats I use.
The perfume is Stella by Stella McCartney and is my favourite. This post by Meg goes into more detail.

Thanks for reading x

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Autumn Wardrobe

Autumn Wardrobe


This is what I'll be wearing throughout Autumn. I chosen items I already own, or alternatives if they're not available online (damn you Primark). I dress pretty simply - a dress with tights, or tops/jumpers with jeans or a skirt (usually a H&M black bandage skirt) with very minimal accessories. It is very rare that you'll see me in a necklace, my watch is all I wear.

My footwear is pretty much a split between trainers and boots at the minute. I own 9 pairs of trainers (much to my sister and housemate's horror!) and 4 pairs of boots and pretty much live in them.
A decent bag is an essential; my parents bought me a black Cambridge Satchel Company satchel for my birthday last year and I still adore it.

Primark has some lovely jumpers in at the minute - starting at £8; this New Look one is a gorgeous alternative). This Topshop snood is ridiculously overpriced, I got one in a similar colour from Primark's mens section for a fiver. Seriously Topshop, what are you doing.

Lastly, I'll definitely be attempting a darker lip colour. After recently dying my hair a darker colour I've found wearing berry tones a lot easier as they don't clash like they did with my red hair.

What are your picks for Autumn?

Thanks for reading x

Monday 22 October 2012

Weekly Summary #36

Angora Cardi on top of silver, Blogging, Desk essentials,
Bed time, DEXTER, OOTD,
Dissertation reading, Today, Stuck in a lift

  1. Sorry it's a day late, but I didn't do too much last week, so almost forgot to write this week's post! It was only after my friend, Bobby, asked me where my weekly post was that I actually remembered! (Hi Bobs! x)
  2. Last week was a bit of a non-event, I had a hermit day which didn't help my already dreadful sleeping pattern. I also realised it is half way through the Autumn term so I need to get some work done. Fast.
  3. I've also spent way too many hours watching Dexter - how amazing is it though?!
  4. Today I went to the Imperial War Museum North at Salford Media City with some friends from uni for a day of talks about the Holocaust to help with one of the modules I am taking. The most eventful thing about the day was getting trapped in a lift for all of ten minutes. Until Matt actually prised open the doors seeing as we were on the ground floor.
  5. I wore my new coat and it is perfect; my H&M jacket still hasn't arrived, which is annoying as I want to send it back asap.
Thanks for reading (more posts coming this week!) x

Wednesday 17 October 2012

An Ode to Essie

Sand Tropez, Chinchilly, Angora Cardi

Ever since Essie nail polishes hit the high street there isn't a beauty blog out there that hasn't mentioned them at some point. I've bought a handful over the past few months, and these three are my current favourites.

Sand Tropez is described as a 'soft sandy beige' and I guess that's pretty correct. It is very pale, so looks nude on my nails. However, it doesn't give me zombie hands as I am extremely pale anyway. I only bought this last week and have worn it a few times since. I find it to be a little bit thinner in consistency than the others, so the first coat applies slightly streaky, but this disappears with a second coat.

Chinchilly (the cutest name ever) is a cool grey colour, with a hint of mauve in it. I love a good grey nail varnish and this one doesn't disappoint. I don't have any issues with the consistency of this one, and you could get away with one coat. 
You can see a combo of Sand Tropez and Chinchilly in this blog post.

Angora Cardi is my ultimate favourite. This photo doesn't do it justice, in real life it isn't as red - it is more of a dusty rose, brown, mauvey mix. This blog post shows it in its true glory. I've been wearing this constantly; the consistency is perfect, and can be opaque in one coat, but I always apply two. It's just stunning, I urge you to go take a look!

As everybody always says, the new wide brush is brilliant; it makes application quick and easy. I find it also helps to get an even coat.
I always use the Revlon Nail Treatment as a base coat, and the Liquid Quick Dry top coat - both of which I recommend.

Thanks for reading x

Birthday Bits and Pieces

It was my 21st birthday on the 1st October, and I thought I would show the things I was gifted, and the things I bought with money I received. Just a note to say - I'm not bragging, I am very aware I was very lucky and appreciate everything I received.


My sister (I'm a twin) and I bought each other watches this year; I was toying with asking my parents for a Michael Kors watch, but mum wasn't keen on the idea, as apparently there's an old wives tale that says buying a watch means you're saying goodbye to someone, I don't know.
Anyway, Colette lives in York for uni, and lives near a Fossil outlet. She bought me this absolutely gorgeous stainless steel Fossil watch, and silver feather ring and bracelet. I adore feathers, I was overjoyed with this set. I haven't taken the ring or watch off. I'm a bit more wary about wearing the bracelet as I have the wrists of a toddler, so I haven't had the courage yet. 

These Nike SB Stefan Janoskis were from Reece. He was asking me for weeks what I wanted and I just couldn't decide, I'm rubbish to buy for. I knew I wanted some trainers, and initially looked at some grey New Balances, but every pair I wanted was sold out in my size. Then I saw these. The bottom sole is the same minty green as the swoosh, they are beautiful and so comfortable. He got them from the Nike website - they're still available here; I literally saw they were in my size and he bought them instantaneously. Being a size 4 is tough sometimes.
Reece also bought me The XX's new album Coexist which is stunning. I forgot to photograph it though. 



I bought these New Balance 410s after seeing them on Meg's blog in this post. My grandma, cousin and auntie all gifted me some money, and these are what I chose. I got them from this ebay seller, brand new. The colour is stunning, and considering I mainly wear grey/black/white I get a considerable amount of wear out of them. They do come up a bit small though, so if you're looking into buying New Balances, I'd suggest going half a size up.
I really want a pair of grey 420s now. Maybe for Christmas.


My best friends bought me a cafetiere and Starbucks caramel sauce as I am obsessed with Caramel Macchiatos. They also bought me some coffee which has a hint of butter toffee in it as is delicious. They also bought me a little charm for my Lovelinks bracelet, which I haven't photographed as I am terrified of dropping it and losing it as I haven't put it on my bracelet yet.

The perfume is Stella by Stella McCartney - a scent I have wanted for months - and was bought with money gifted to me by my elder sister. It is a gorgeous scent and last for ages on my skin. I can spray it at midday one day, forget to spray it the day after and I can still smell it. Amazing. My parents also gave me some money so I bought a few bits and pieces I had been after for a while. The laptop case was one of them - a complete bargain from ebay (again). You can get it from this seller.  


These last bits were bought with the money from my parents. The jeans are these grey BDG ones from Urban Outfitters, the dress is from Vila, via USC, and the boots were £30 in the Office sale. A complete bargain. 
I have also ordered this coat from Asos and cannot wait until it arrives!

So, that is everything! I'm very grateful for everything I received, and think that I have been quite careful with my spending, as most of the items were sale buys or had considerable discount. I'm very happy with everything!

Thank you for reading :) x

Tuesday 16 October 2012

My Work Experience - Publishing

So I am currently sat at my desk at my work experience placement taking a break (ahem) from doing a bit of events promotion, so I thought I would write a quick post about my time here.


I am working at a small independent publishing house, called Comma Press, located in the Northern Quarter in Manchester. This particular publishing house specialises in publishing collections and anthologies of short stories. I've known for a couple of years that working in publishing is something I wanted to do after I left university, but had little knowledge of the industry. After looking around and applying for a handful of internships in London, I decided to try contacting independent publishers back up north.

I mailed around, with a concise covering letter and my CV attached, explaining what I wanted to gain from a work experience placement with each publisher. Comma were extremely friendly and helpful and arranged a start date for me.

I have been working here since the beginning of September, mainly helping with events promotion (using social networking - Twitter, Facebook etc) and sending out email invitations.
I have also been proof-reading material for upcoming publications. This may sound dull, but it is my favourite part of the job! 

I am overjoyed to be a part of Comma, as they have been extremely accommodating and flexible. I currently work here one day a week.

Tips when looking for work experience:
  • If/when emailing a company you want to work for be clear and concise. No waffling (a bit rich coming from me, I know). State your case and availability.
  • Have a decent CV ready to send out - I highly doubt my CV is anywhere near as good as it should be, but it has all the necessities on there. Also explain in your email why a placement at the particular company would be beneficial to you - tailor each email to each particular company - make it personal and professional.
  • Be flexible - I know this can sometimes be tough, but the company has no obligation to offer you any placement, so if possible, work when is best for the company. I am extremely lucky that my current placement is very flexible and take into account the fact I am a third year student, and therefore cannot work as often as I would like.
  • Be persistent. I emailed a different publishing house in February looking for work experience, however, they were booked up until the end of July. Instead of accepting this, I emailed again in June and got myself a few days work experience in November.
I hope this has been interesting/informative (if not I have a couple of beauty posts due later this week so keep an eye out for them!)

Thanks for reading x

Sunday 14 October 2012

Weekly Summary #35

Ootd feat. Nike Janoskis, Ootd feat. New Balance 410s, Starbucks boy was a sweetheart,
Cheeky mid-week sale purchase, Post is good, Ootd for Jonny Craig,
Jonny Craig, Late night purchase, This happened - bye bye red.

  1. This week has been a hard one. I'm not going into details but the latter end of this week has been horrendous.
  2. I also spent quite a bit of money this week - justification: birthday money, but I am definitely on a spending ban now, especially as I really don't need anything else! I'm waiting on the jacket in the post and then that is it!
  3. I spent Thursday and Friday with Reece, after the bad news I received a cuddle and a shoulder to cry on was definitely needed. We went to go see Jonny Craig at Leeds Met Uni Bar. To be honest, he wasn't half as good as I was expecting. His voice is brilliant, but he was pissed off his head and came across as a bit of an arse. The vocals were great though!
  4. I dyed my hair (semi-permanent) brown last night. It's definitely a change, I do quite like it though. It initially came out way too dark so I washed it twice with fairy liquid and it stripped some of the colour out, leaving a reddy-brown, which I do quite like. However, I doubt I'll be keeping it.
  5. I have a couple of posts planned for this week - now I finally have everything from my birthday purchases I'll be doing that soonish. It's definitely not in anyway bragging, I've been lucky (and a bit of a bargain hunter) with my birthday money this year. Mid-season sales are my friends.
I hope your weeks have been better than mine! 
Thanks for reading x

Wednesday 10 October 2012

Most Read Blogs - Take 1


1. Lips So Facto


Meg's blog has been a firm favourite for a while now; I found her originally via youtube (her channel here) and then discovered her blog. Her posts are mainly beauty, which are very clear and precise. It's because of her I bought Stella by Stella McCartney perfume! I also love her sense of style, and fully appreciate the fact she is an English Literature graduate. I always find it inspiring when I discover others who study/have studied English. Not entirely sure why. Meg is just the kind of person I'd like to have as a friend and chat to about eyeliner and books. She also likes Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath, which are signs of a winner in my book.

2. Essiebutton 

I again discovered Estee through youtube (channel linked here). Like Meg, her posts are mainly beauty related. I love Estee's blog because her writing style is so distinctive; if you've watched her on youtube, she writes exactly the way she speaks, which is refreshing as sometimes beauty blogs can be a bit clinical. She has a complete personal touch.

3. A Little Bird Fashion


Jen's blog is one of the first blogs I truly started reading. If I find a blog I really, truly love I tend to sit down and read every single post right back to the beginning. That reads as 100% creepy written down, but it's true. Jen's personal style is fantastic, classy and stylish (and she manages to pull off yellow, I always admire someone who can wear yellow). The photography is always lovely too. With Jen's blog you can tell a lot of time and effort has been lovingly put in. Each new post is a pleasure to read.

4. Neon/Bible

Aimee is a fashion student from London, and I basically love every single piece of clothing she posts about. Her style is everything I want mine to be: using basics to create lovely, simple looks. I adore the layout of her blog, it is so clean and not at all fussy. Her haircut is amazing also, completely stunning.


5. A Little Lipstick

The last blog I'm going to mention in this post is Jade's. The thing about Jade's blog is that it is completely honest, and completely 'Jade'. She's a lovely girl and therefore her blog is lovely too. The writing is exquisite (yet again another former English student) and always a pleasure to read. I suppose Jade's blog would fall into the category of 'lifestyle', with posts about her various goings on. I find A Little Lipstick to be a wonderful read, and provides a real insight. I'm not entirely sure how to go on about Jade's blog without sounding like a creep, so I'm going to stop. Basically, go read it. Now. She may not post often, but each post is exquisite, with a lot of time and thought behind it. 

A little bit of a different post from me, but I thought I'd show you the blogs I read often. These five ladies are by no means the only blogs I read daily - I'm sure there'll be plenty more of these posts, but these five are the ones that popped into my head first.

I hope you all give them a read, if you haven't done so already.
Thanks for reading x

All images belong to the bloggers mentioned.

Monday 8 October 2012

Weekly Summary #34

Epic food shop, Pasta Norma, Dissertation meeting,
Cinema Trip to see Perks, My favourite men, Birthday pressies from Reece,
Cuddles with Oscar, Birthday present from me, And another.

  1. I hope you'll forgive the Monday post (yet again) but I've had a massively busy week! I had my first dissertation meeting and I think I may have the basis of a decent project, I just need to get my nose stuck into reading some Virginia Woolf and soon!
  2. I was still ill for the beginning of the week so I missed work experience on Tuesday to recuperate in bed.
  3. I went to see The Perks of Being a Wallflower with Abbey on Wednesday and it was brilliant. I wasn't a massive fan of Emma Watson as Sam, I always envisaged her to be a bit more ballsy, but she was good regardless. The screen play was written by the author anyway, so it was never going to be bad. It was great.
  4. I stayed at Reece's on Friday night as we were supposed to be going to a gig (Jonny Craig in Leeds) but it has been postponed until next Thursday so we just stayed in bed and watched Homeland (which I haven't finished yet, but it is amazing!) I was also given my birthday presents, which I am in love with. The Janoskis haven't left my feet.
  5. My New Balance 410s also arrived. They are like hugs for my feet. I love them.
I'm thinking of doing a post on the things I have got for my birthday (not a bragging one, obviously) if you would like to see it. I was given some money and have bought a few things. 

Thanks for reading :) x

Monday 1 October 2012

October

Parka and Necklace - Topshop, 'A Casual Vacancy' - Amazon, 

It's finally October! October is my favourite month, and not just because it's my birthday month. October cements the fact that Autumn is here, the weather is turning colder which means big coats and scarves. I just love it.

However, there isn't much in the shops that is catching my attention at the moment; I am on the hunt for a parka as I want a slightly lighter coat, that's warmer than my leather jacket, but not as toasty as my Paddington Bear duffle coat. I've been drooling over this Topshop one for ages, but there is no way I will ever spend £95 on a parka. 

I also saw this necklace on a recent shopping trip, but again couldn't justify the price tag. I rarely wear necklaces so it wasn't worth the splurge. It is absolutely stunning in person though!

My copy of A Casual Vacancy arrived in the post this morning and I thought it deserved a mention. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I am definitely excited to get stuck into it. J.K. Rowling is all kinds of fabulous, in my opinion.

The last two items are items that have received/will receive for my birthday. I turned 21 today and my sister and I bought each other watches. I chose a simple steel Fossil watch. I initially wanted the Michael Kors version, but Fossil are about half the price and just as gorgeous. Fossil apparently make Michael Kors watches too, so paying the extra £100 just for a name seemed a tad ludicrous. 
My boyfriend has bought me the Nike Janoskis, after a long time of searching for a pair in my size. I love the colour way as the Nike 'swoosh' and sole are a light minty green, which paired with the grey is lovely. I don't get them until Friday, and I am so excited!

September Soundtrack:
Swim Good - Frank Ocean
Thinkin Bout You - Frank Ocean
Angels - The xx
Let Me Love You - Ne-yo
I Don't Mind - Defeater

Thanks for reading x
 
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