2011 Best & Worst

 

1. I can only remember this year starting from about June really, or that's when Facebook tells me things actually happened. Anyway, in June I went on my very first GROWN UP holiday. I'd been on holiday (well, to Newquay for a week in a caravan) with my friends a few years ago without 'parentals' but this time it was with a BOY. A proper grown up holiday - mental! It took us a while to think of where to go because we didn't have a huge budget and we're not a couple who fancies clubbing in Benidorm. However, we did end up in Spain, just outside Barcelona. It was lovely but the weather was pretty poor :( and the beach was made out of stones...

But nevertheless we had a wonderful holiday and we put up with all the airport stress and transfers and spanish trains all on our own without much shouting - result!

2. This is one of my worst moments of 2011. I was back at University, I'd only been back a few weeks and my mum phoned me and said Bo (my cat) hadn't come home that night. He has done it before when we were on holiday and our neighbour looked after them, but all other times they're ALWAYS home on time. 2 more days past and there was no sign of him. I was beside myself. I can't really explain how it feels because if people don't have pets they don't really understand the immense connection you have with them. The third day came and he still wasn't home. I remember making my tea in my Uni house, going upstairs and just crying in to my plate! All's I could think were bad things, if he'd got stuck somewhere, if he'd hurt himself, if he'd been stolen. On the 4th day I got a phonecall at 8am off my mum, I knew she was going to work then so I just thought she'd tell me he hasn't come back in the night - she was crying down the phone out of sheer relief because my baby boo had come home!!!! I had to pause a minute and compose myself so I didn't cry down the phone too! Apparently she looked for him that morning and there was no sign, and she was walking around to her car door and he was just sat there!!! When she let him in, she said he cried SO loudly, like he knew he'd been missing and had made it home. A REAL HOMEWARD BOUND MOMENT!! To this day we have no idea where he had gone.

3. Another sad moment for 2011, this only happened the other month. In my first year at University I met a lot of new people, as you do. One guy I met was named Doug. He was one of those people that could talk to anyone, truly loved life and made the most out of every second. He was always smiling every time I saw him and was an utter pleasure to be around. He moved back to Leeds shortly after first year had ended and we all just kept in contact through facebook etc. We received the sad news that Doug had passed away one evening. I was in shock. I'm not going to go in to detail but it was under such tragic and freak accident conditions - such a waste of such a beautiful life. We knew we had to commemrate him so all his friends from Uni gathered in the local park with Chinese lanterns - however, Sunderland being Sunderland it was SUPER windy so we didn't get much done and I fell and cut my leg open! But we did get a few to fly and it was lovely to remember him in a delicate but amusing way, just as he would want it.

4. I am now in my 3rd year at University, super super scary! I still have no idea what I want to do. I am finishing my degree in something I have been put off by and don't really want to pursue it anymore, tres annoying. I have no idea where my path is going to take me - if I'm being truthly honest, all's I want in my life is a nice home, a family and lots of animals. I'm hoping Craig gets a stupendous job and I can stay at home with my animals and baby and bake all day! Drrrream.

One thing that makes Uni bareable is the people I live with. I have been very lucky. I live in a MASSIVE house (mansion house, as we like to call it) and everyone who lives there is bloomin' wonderful. The picture is of me and my housemates on Halloween - I was Wednesday Addams, my face is so white, it looks like the moon!

A heart of stone, a smoking gun.

The one thing I am a huge sucker for is cute underwear and I have way too much if I'm being honest. 

When I'm further up north for Uni and go to the metro centre I've recently been popping in Boux Avenue - a boutique esque store that sells lingerie, nightwear and other bits and bobs. The store is set out beautifully and the staff are super nice. For Christmas my boyfriend bought me some Pyjamas from there and they gift wrap for free and put faux rose petals in that have a fragrance to them and your items come out of the box smelling delicious!

So, when I saw they had a sale on their website recently I had a bit of a browse and found a set I really liked in my size for half the price. Brill! I opted to have it gift wrapped because, well, why not?! It's free, comes in a lovely box & smells gorgeous. 

 

Postage took 6 days but I did make my order on the 23rd December and obviously had to take in to account Christmas etc so it was quite swift to say it's a busy time. 

They also sent me a text the day before to let me know when my parcel was due so I knew to be in. 

 The items look as they do on the website and I got what I expected. I know you always run a risk when buying things online because you're unsure how they're going to fit. The knickers fit like a dream, they are the perfect size. However, the bra is a little on the snug side and the cup is a little small. I know my bra size but it does seem like most stores have different sizing on both back size and cup. A little disappointed about the bra but it does fit, it's just more fitted.

I have found no problems with the quality and aesthetically they look great! 

*Note - I paid for these items and this is an honest review. 

Toothpaste kisses.

Hello! I hope which ever Holiday you celebrate was great yesterday. I had a lovely Christmas day. My mum thought I'd burnt the turkey which I really hadn't at all the skin was just gorrrrgeously crispy, mmm. 

I was utterly spoilt present wise and got lots of wonderful gifts. 

I went to the sales today, yes, the boxing day sales! Luckily I live in quite a small town so it wasn't as bad as some places.

 

I'd been after this jumper for AGES. I saw it on the River Island website a while ago and always ummed and ahhed whether to buy it and never did.

Anyway, today I spotted it in the sale rack, there was one left and low and behold it was my size!! Hooray.

I apologise for the bad quality pictures that are about to follow, I'm going to buy a tripod as soon as I get back to Uni so no more mirror shots.

The navy lace top I got today from Primark, it was £6! 

 

Wishbone necklace, Topshop.

I didn't buy this dress today, my bloomin' marvellous boyfriend Craig bought me it for Christmas.

 

Dress, River Island.

You might notice I have quite a thing for lace.

I suppose the next big occasion we all face is NYE. I hate it. Utterly detest it. Yes let's pay twice as much for an equally poo night! No thanks. 

NYE day I will be at a farm (yes, a farm) with baby Keira, my mum and Craig and NYE night I will be snuggled on the sofa watching films with the odd glass of vino.

Have a good one!

Sinatra blue.

Tonight I am oh so lonely. My cats have abandoned me to have a nap, my boyfriend is out with his friends and my mum is on a Christmas do. So here I am, eating Green & Black's (nom!) and watching Come Dine with Me. Although I can't say I feel too bad, the weather is bloomin' awful so being wrapped in my blanket in my PJs isn't all doom and gloom. 

I've bought some new make up recently, although I've never featured make up on my blog before as close ups of my face aren't the best really! But since it's Christmas, here's a treat.

 

The lipgloss is Collection 2000 'Lock and Hold' in 'Body Pop' - I am in love with the colour and it's not too sticky but I do find the applicator brush a little flimsy.

I purchased Bourjois Delice de Poudre bronzing powder in shade 51. I'm usually one for blushes but I thought I'd give myself a bit of colour since it's winter. The bronzer smells DELICIOUS and comes in a nice compact so less chance of breaking it. I put it on quite light as not to be too overdone but obviously you can apply as you like!

I probably won't blog now until late Christmas Day/Boxing day depending on how much wine goes down! I cook Christmas dinner in my house since I am a spectacular cook (ho ho ho, not really) but my Christmas dinners are pretty damn good!

Hope Santa brings everything you wish for & you all have a great Christmas :)

Diamond dogs.

Ahh what a carry on. In my last post I explained how I'd lost the USB for my camera and was waiting for a new one in the post. Well, I thought the easiest way would be just to get one off eBay. WRONG. It's dodgy and doesn't work. Grrrrrreat. So today I practically turned the house upside down whilst trying to search for it but to no avail. HOWEVER, I came across a memory card adapter. Basically, my memory card in the camera is TINY and doesn't fit in to my laptop ports, but you put the memory card in to the adapter, but the adapter in the laptop and voila! So all that fuss for nothing.

Yesterday me and my mum braved the cold and took a trip to the Manchester Christmas market. Manchester is only 45 minutes away on the train and not too expensive so it was a nice little day out. The market itself was lovely and had the usual craft stalls and gorrrrrgeous food! When I went to the Newcastle one they had these warm coconut maccaroons, and they had them there yesterday! Mmmm.

We also indulged in a hog roast bar with mulled cider and roasted pork in a log cabin. It was a silent when we first went in but then I heard a trickle of music out of the speakers and was expecting some Christmas songs...but oh no! You'll never believe they started playing 90'S DANCE MUSIC. That's right, 'One night Heaven' and all that. Quite surreal...

I'm a bit of a tights fiend, I have so many pairs it's ridiculous. I'm the worst with tights with designs on though because I always ladder them...always! The ones above are from Primark because I ladder them so much I usually spend a few quid on them rather than a tenner. 

These are some of my faves at the moment:

1. House of Holland, 2. New Look, 3. Miss Selfridge, 4. Marks and Spencer, 5. Topshop.

I'm going out on Friday night for Christmas but I have no idea what to wear! Is it obligatory to be all sparkly at Christmas parties?!

Sleepy Sunday.

Before I start, I'm just going to add a little something. I took loads of photos this week on my camera but I seem to have lost the USB lead for it, therefore all the pictures on today's post are from my phone camera (which is rubbish) so that's why the quality is pretty poor. A new usb is in the post so fingers crossed we'll have nice shiny pictures by my next post. Anyway...

 I have finally returned home from the extremely cold North East where I attend University back to my Lancashire home. Yay! I am one of those people that gets extremely home sick. I remember a few weeks ago in November when I had just returned back to Uni from my reading week, and I hadn't been in the door 5 minutes before I broke down in tears, crying and wailing on my boyfriend's shoulder that I wanted to go back home...what a mess! 

I also tend to do things very last minute...it's a horrible habit. If I'm going out with my friends, I am guaranteed to be the last one ready, oops! Anyway, as you can imagine, I didn't start packing to go home until an hour before I was supposed to leave. I only had one dilemma though, in that I couldn't fit my precious Yellow in my suitcase.

Yes, his name is Yellow. I've had him since I was a child and as you can tell, I was clearly very literal back then. I managed to squish and squeeze him down the side of my suitcase, so he came home with me, hurrah.

One of the reasons I love about coming home is it's just so cosy, especially over Christmas with all our decorations, being toasty warm and a big TV. My Uni house is a nightmare, the living room is FREEZING. I live with 9 other people including myself so the kitchen is always, well, gross.

Therefore when I come home I indulge in the one thing I can't do at Uni and that is bake!

I made some Christmas biscuits today and had the kitchen all to myself whilst listening to Queen Beyonce and shaking my tush.

I got the recipe from BBC Good Food but altered it a little to fit what I wanted to do.

This is what you will need:

For the dough:

140g icing sugar sieved
1tsp vanilla extract 1 egg yolk
250g butter

375g plain flour sieved

Decoration:

200g icing sugar sieved

Edible food colouring of your choice

and any form of decoration! In my case, I used white piping icing.

They are so simple to make and look great with decocration. I'm pretty sure they're meant for kids but whatever.

Just a few tips when making them:

Clean up as you go...it saves you lots of mess at the end!

If the dough is a little flaky, add some milk.

Wear an apron...flour is a nightmare.

If you don't have non stick paper (like me) just grease your baking tray with butter and flour.

I haven't tried them yet as I'm waiting for all the icing to dry so not sure how they taste but I'm sure they'll be lovely.

The rest of my day will be spent watching films on tele (don't you just love the amount of good TV over Christmas?!) and cuddling my darling cats, Morris and Bo.

Have a great Sunday :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

I have neglected you for so long, apologies. Today I am taking the very daunting step in to my very first outfit post, argh! I borrowed my boyfriend's posh camera and my room mates tripod, which I have no idea how to use and have nearly broke about 5 times (sorry, Steph!)

My room is super cluttered, in a tidy kinda way, I just have SO much stuff I have collected during my 2 years here. So finding a spot to take pictures was, well, impossible. Hence why you have a lovely background view of my curtains and door.

Coat - H! by Henry Holland for Debehams.

Top - Topshop.

Skirt - Primark.

Necklace - Poundland (there's a story to this!)

I got this necklace when I was Wednesday Addams for Halloween. It was £1.

I actually wear it the wrong way round, it has some weird black gems on the other side, but I thought, it's so similar to cross necklaces that are being sold at 10x the price! Mmm bargains. Accidental bargains!

I managed to get one of the most in demand items ever from Primark. Probably because I got it from Blackburn Primark which is a relatively small town opposed to big city Primarks. Anyways, I love it. My boyfriend calls it my SPARTAN skirt. Whatever.

Er, my face.

Now that's over...time to talk about Christmas. I have managed to do all of my Christmas shopping.. Hooray. Online shopping makes it so much easier!

I've also been to quite a few Christmas markets already, they're so cute, I love them.

How are your Christmas plans coming along?