Weekly Summary #38

£50 Domino's, Coffee date, American sweeties,

Ootd, Again, Purchases,

Ootd, ALEXISONFIRE TICKETS ARRIVED, Buy one get one free gingerbread lattes

1. This week was my reading week from uni; safe to say absolutely no reading was done. I am actually starting to panic about how little dissertation work I've done to be honest. Kick up the arse is needed!
2. Reece stayed in Manchester this week, you can see what we got up to in this post :) It was lovely to have him here for longer than a day.
3. We came home on Wednesday evening and I have been working every day since - helpful for Christmas present-buying money, but a bit crap otherwise. 
4. I also managed to get into a huge fight with a taxi driver. He turned up 20 minutes late,  making me late for work, so I refused to pay. He tried to follow me into work and threatened to phone the police. Luckily, the lovely managers at work stuck up for me and got rid of him. Very hectic, and scary.
5. MY ALEXISONFIRE TICKETS CAME. Definitely one of the highlights of a rubbishy weekend; Reece and I are off to London the first weekend in December to attend the farewell gig. I can't wait!

Definitely a week of two halves, but some cheeky (and cheap) purchases have helped sooth the wounds of a crap weekend!

I hope you are all well!

Thanks for reading x

November

Dress and socks - Topshop, 80 denier tights - Miss Selfridge, 

Desert boots - Clarks, Fjallraven Kanken Backpack - Asos

I'm going to be a cliche and say it: where the hell has 2012 gone?! There are less than ten weeks of the year left, and Christmas present budgeting panic has set in, alongside dissertation panic (I haven't even finished the novels I'm writing on yet, major self-loathing going on here).

Anyway, this outfit is a complete dream. I would buy and wear every single thing, however the dress would not suit me, but I adore it regardless. Plus it would look awesome under my Mango coat, but as usual the Topshop price tag is way out of my budget.

I actually have the rucksack (read: filched it from my boyfriend after he bought a new one) and it is the perfect size. I love it. 

I am loving the cold weather at the moment, I'm sure it will become old very quickly, but right now, I love being able to get wrapped up warm and wear a ton of layers. I just don't work in Summer.

October's playlist:

A Case of You - James Blake

Lionheart - Bury Tomorrow

Clavicle - Alkaline Trio

Colourblind - Counting Crows

Nose Over Tail - Alkaline Trio

Thanks for reading x

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

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

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

Autumn Wardrobe

Mango coat, Vila dress, Topshop jeans, New Look jumper,

Cambridge Satchel Company bag, Fossil watch, Revlon KBS in Crush, 

Office Boots, Topshop Snood, New Balance 410

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

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