Forget You 2016

I am finally happy to say that 2016 is on its way out of the door! this year has been an awful one for a number of different reasons not just for me but apparently for a lot of people. I'm glad that the year has gone, there are brief moments that have been good, but 2016 was definitely not my year. 

Set A Place At Your Table

It's the most wonderful time of the year, everyone around and celebrating. One of my favourites things about Christmas has to be the fact that everyone comes home and just for a while as the problems people are facing don't matter because for a moment everyone is celebrating the happiness that this time of year brings. Throughout the year we all get caught up in everything from business to the relationships we have that the important things slip our mind, which is why I love Christmas because everyone comes home and gets together again.

Compromise Moves Us Along

There's a saying that goes something like "what you see isn't always what you get" I’ve never really understood what that meant until now.

As we grow up we create this little bubble that we exist in and we become blind to what’s really going on. We never really pay much attention to what’s going on in the real world. If it doesn't appear in the glossy magazines or all over Facebook and twitter no really notices.

 The majority of people are blind to the events that are happening right before their eyes. We don't see the demons that are lurking around in the background, but the thing is we can only run from them for so long, because sooner or later there going to catch up.

No matter what the secret is one day it will be uncovered because that's the thing about the skeletons of the past is that they have a tendency to come back and haunt us when we least expect them. In time everything catches up and the sequence of events continues. what people forget is that ever thing we do causes a knock on effect, one thing leads to another until it creates something that is far too complex to handle.

We try to leave the bad things behind us and that doesn't always work out because there are something that we can't just ignore because or problems don't just go away. At the same time, there isn't always a way to fix things but we can find closure even in the hardest times. 

For example when people hurt us we can't alway forget what they have done to us and go back to how things were, but we can heal and move forward with the rest of our lives. 

Live Your Life

For a moment I want you to imagine something, imagine that every day at midnight in your bank account you had the figure £86,400 you didn't have to do anything to get it, it just appeared there. You could spend the money on anything that you wanted, but you couldn't save it or carry it forward you either used it or lose it, and at midnight the figure would refresh to £86,400. 

November Favourites

It's the most wonderful time of the year... almost it's the 1st December! the year is almost over and a lot has happened. So let's get on with what my favourite things have been throughout November.

People Help The People

Life is made up of moments, sometimes these moments go on forever and we become trapped inside them, this can be magical or it can be a nightmare depending on what you see because it's not always roses and chocolates. Sometimes bad things happen, even to good people, and it can feel like all that's happening is bad things. I mean when you turn on the TV most of the news reports lately are about bad things that are happening all over the world right now to good people that don't deserve it. 

Winter Warmers

Winter time is here, which means it's time to dig out the fluffy jumpers, big coats and boots. Any excuse I have to go shopping I will take, sadly I haven't had much time to do it so I've done a lot of online shopping. 

One of the places I have shopped is Esprit and  they have brought in there winter collection which I am loving because there are so many simple pieces in it that are amazing! So I've looked and I have created my Winter Look using some of the pieces that they have available.

Walking Away

It seems to be the common thing in relationships in the modern day that they come around get what they need and then leave you hanging without so much as a goodbye because it's all part of the games that they play. The worst part about someone leaving is the not knowing, not knowing what happenendd, why they left, if they're ever coming back. So you call them hoping that they will answer and tell you what you need and come back to you because you got attached to them when they didn't even let you in. 

October Favourites

October is over! It's unbelievable that there are 2 months left in this year. I find myself saying it a lot but this month has actually just blinked by because I cannot remember any of it... I haven't really used a lot of new products this month but here are the few things that I have been loving.  

Superdrug Hydrate & Shine Conditioner with Coconut Water-

I have been absolutely loving this, when it comes to hair care I normally go out and buy expensive products and I've found that none of them really work for my hair. It still felt like straw and scalp felt irritated from all the chemicals that I was having to use. I have been using this conditioner along with my normal shampoo (you can buy the shampoo as well if you want to) but I've found that for me just the conditioner works amazing! it leaves my hair feeling soft and looking healthy. 

Studio Brush Set-

I picked up this set of studio brushes from Superdrug and I have been loving them, they are so soft and work really well when applying my makeup. In the set you essentially get all the brushes you need, you get a powder brush, contour brush, foundation brush, and an eye brush. So you get everything you need which I think is really good because buying makeup brushes can be really expensive, I also think this is a good set if you are just getting started with makeup.

Jumper-

This month I have lived in my knitted jumper, it's just so comfy and warm which is everything you need as it starts to get colder out. If you follow me on Instagram then you will have seen this jumper, I bought it from Primark who actually have a lot of nice autumn jumpers in at the minute. 

Tap Tap Dash-

This an annoyingly addictive game that my little sister downloaded and I have to say it's pretty good and I find myself spending hours on it when I'm on the train. You have a little character that you have to guide along a path and you have to tap at the right time to make them change direction and jump, which sounds simple enough so when you get it wrong and die it's even more annoying. 

More Than A Number

People are constantly fighting wars, sometimes against themselves, these are the harder ones to win. It's these wars that are the hardest as there is simply no escape, not even inside your own head. People think you're crazy because they don't know what its like to be you, to see the world from your perspective. From the outside, everything may look perfect but inside its a completely different story. 

Whenever people begin to talk about what's going on inside their head or what they are feeling, people tend to just shut it down ignore it and move on because they don't know how to handle it. People know how to fix broken bones, but they're not so sure how to help heal broken minds. 

Society has a way of trying to tell people what they should think, how they should feel, and the way they should look. So instead of seeing ourselves as individual people, we begin to see ourselves as numbers: the number of the scale begins to define our beauty, the percentage we get on the test defines how smart we are, the number of followers we have on social media defines our value, but none of that is true. We are more than a number, we are worth so much more. 

Inside of you, there is a power, there are ideas and thoughts that no one has ever thought of, and strength and courage that some could never imagine having. don't forget that power and don't ever give up on it. Society will try and break you can shape you in a way that it sees fit,  but society is just so ugly. Don't let it change you change it because we are part of society and have the power to make the change and help those fighting wars by showing them that they are not alone. 

Love Doesn't Let Go

At some point, someone said "if you love something let it go" that to me just doesn't make sense why let it go if you claim to love it so much? Letting go is what people seem to be good at, when things get a little tougher they tend to just walk away, how can you honestly just leave if you love someone?

YouTube

This one is a very quick post just to say that I have finally kick-started my YouTube channel, this has been something I have wanted to start doing for a while. I have posted a couple of videos on my blog before but some of you have emailed me telling me that you have had difficulties seeing them, so following that and a couple of words of encouragement from a friend I have very excited to say that I have finally uploaded my first video which is my autumn makeup look which I will link below for you.

https://youtu.be/BKmqZvYYAmg

If you have any suggestion as to what kind of videos you would like to see then please leave me a comment, if you like the autumn tutorial then people Like and comment and don't forget to subscribe while you are over there so you don't miss out on any videos! I hope you enjoy 

Change

Like most people I'm not a big fan of change, especially the kind that up skittles everything; in some cases, I like things to be routine, I like them to be constant. Ironically the only thing that we can guarantee is constant is change. 

We spend our lives creating these routines that we feel comfortable in, like waking up, having breakfast, brushing our teeth etc. and if we can't complete these tasks how we like to then it sets us off. For example, if someone breaks my morning routine I tend not to be a happy person, but things can't always be the same things are constantly changing, merging, evolving. It's kind of like when we say things like 'people don't change' or someone tells you that you've changed, it's part of our existence we are changing constantly. Simple changes can pass by without us even noticing but there are some changes which can shift the ground where standing on. 

This Queen Doesn't Need A King

Having a group of friends is great, then they all get in relationships and are talking about all the cute things they've done and you're just sat there as single as can be. It feels pretty shit at that time, I know that a lot of you based on your emails are in the same situation, but it's alright. There's nothing wrong with being single, there's nothing wrong with being old and single, there's especially nothing wrong with being 16 and single. Trust me you have a lot of things ahead of you at that point so don't even worry about the hassle of attempting to find a boyfriend.

Although people seem to think that because you're of a certain age you automatically means you have to be settled down... wrong! 

You don't have to be anything. I mean right now most of my friends are engaged or having babies, then there's just me, I still live at home with my parents and I'm not in a relationship, and I spend most of my time with my dog. My dog loves me and to me, that's more important than some fuckboy who's just going to screw you around for a while. I mean sure relationships are great, I've learned that you can't force them they either work or they don't so if your single and your friend's loving relationships are starting to peeve you off a little just remember that a queen doesn't necessarily need a king, forget the princess bull you are a queen and you run your own shit. I also stumbled across this little beauty on Facebook so don't even worry about being single... 

Eventually, you might meet somebody and fall in love but just take your time, great things happen in the blink of an eye.

September Favourites

It's the first of October! this makes me very happy as it means that Halloween is just around the corner and I simply love autumn time, I mean I love summer but Autumn is my season because it gets colder which means I get to break out the jumpers, and now have an excuse to spend nights bundled up watching Netflix. Besides the fact that we're in my favourite season let's get on with my favourite things. 

The Perfect Get Away

Ever been in the scenario where you just want the ground to open up and swallow you whole just so you don't have to be in a certain situation? I have on numerous occasions, such as when you're in a bar and some creepy guy just won't take no for an answer. I mean a girl admires someone who's persistent, but there's a fine line between persistence and denial sometimes you just have to take a hint.

So I'm going to tell you about a very awkward 'date' that I once went on. I suppose with a story like this the best place is at the beginning.

Flash back a few months, this guy who was a friend of a friend, we'd met on a number of occasions but I wouldn't really say we were friends, wanted me to go out with him (at this point I was really busy and just didn't have the time) I had said no on a number of occasions, until eventually I caved and went out for coffee with him. 

Binge Season

I would like to say that the majority of this summer I spent doing amazing things... However, I spent most of it binge watching Netflix series. It was actually fairly good, there are a number of good series on Netflix right now. 

House

This is a series where Dr House (Hugh Laurie) is a medical genius and all of his patients have some major mystery illness which no one else can figure out, and he and his team  have to find a way of treating them. The amazing thing about this programme is that there are 8 seasons with most of them having over 20 episodes, which makes it even more binge-worthy! 

First Days

First days can be awful for some people, not necessarily because it's a bad day but sometimes just because of how nervous people are. This is nearly always the case for me, with university just around the corner for some people, my second year starts this week let's talk about my first day at university.

As it was such a big deal and I was the first person out of my family to go to university I didn't really know what to expect. Also the fact I was the only one to go meant that there was more pressure on me to do good, mainly what I put on myself. 

So as you can imagine day one was not good for me, I was a complete nervous wreck (made even worse by my anxiety) it was so bad that I almost didn't attend.

Keyboard Warriors

The advancements that we have in technology in today's world are amazing, you literally have the world at your fingertips. People have never been more connected than they are today, it’s now possible to have a conversation with someone while being at opposite ends of the planet. You can send a text to someone in a matter of seconds, or make a phone call, even make a video call thanks to things like Skype and Facetime. 

Commuters Guide To Surviving University

Gong to university is a giant step in anyone academic career, with that it can be the most daunting one of all.  A lot of students will take up residence in Halls and move to university, some however chose to commute (which is what I did/am currently doing) there are a lot of different reasons people chose to commute and with the transport that is available today it's sometimes the best option. 

As a commuting student I remember on the run up to my first day I was somewhat of a nervous wreck, one of my main thoughts was that everyone else would have already moved to university and had already got to know people and I would just be alone (even as an adult this is still one of my biggest worries). This is a common thing for everyone, as at fresher's there are thousands of people that are in the same boat as you, but just because you don't live at university doesn't mean you can't get to know people before you go.

August Favourites

The fact that I'm currently sat here writing about my August favourites is kind of freaking me out, seriously where has the time gone. It doesn't seem 2 minutes since I was writing about my January favourites. True to my word this month I do have a couple more things that I have found this month that I have loved, so without further rambling here are my August favourites.

Maybe Tomorrow Is Going To Be Better

Over the last few days I have found myself using the phrase "it's just one of those days" an awful lot, the truth is it hasn't just been one of those days it's pretty much been one of those years. In case you don't know what I mean when is use the phrase one of those days, it simply means when everything just goes wrong and nothing makes it better. So you just kind of reach a point where you're like

What's in my bag?

As Uni draws to an end for the year I have now found the time to empty my bag which is full of all the rubbish that I have collected over the last 11 Months. I'm not saying that I haven't cleaned my bag out for that long, it's just been that long since I have fully emptied it and It's pretty full. I thought it would be interesting to see what is in it...



Let's start with the bag, this is one that I picked up from Primark I don't normally get my bags from there but this one was ideal for what I wanted for Uni. It's a basic black bag, with a pocket in the front and a little pocket on the inside as well. The thing that I like the most about this bag is that it comes with the 2 different straps. You can carry it as a handbag or over your shoulder which I really like being given the option of.

Love Chin Chin

Anything to do with food is always a win with me, which is why when I received these in the post I got a little excited. These are African snacks that are little biscuits but are a lot healthier than snacking on actual biscuits. I received them in 4 different flavours: Vanilla, Cinnamon, Chili, and Lemon. The come in a small plastic packet, almost like the packets that you get crisp in which makes them really easy to carry and fit in your lunch box to take with you. 

July Favourites

It's August, I'd like to be able to say that I'm now on summer break but that would be a lie I am still in Uni and getting ready to finish for the year. Although this month I have managed to give a couple of new bits pieces a try.

Eyebrow- I never normally do anything with my eyebrows I usually just leave them, I decided it was time to change that. I've been using the L'Oréal Paris Brow Artist Plumper  and I'm loving it, it's so simple to use as it's just like putting mascara on. It also makes my eyebrows look so much fuller and even when they are in desperate need in being reshaped. 

Ice cream- had to put this one in because it is just too amazing not to add in my favourites, that is Ben and Jerrys S'Wich up cookie dough ice cream. It beats the original cookie dough ice cream by miles as its a combination of cookie dough and Oreos and it's just far too amazing not to mention. 

Fitbit- This month I have been testing out my Fitbit and have to say I've been loving it. If you have one feel free to comment your name and we can connect. I use mine all the time to track my sleep and my movement, I feel that since I've had it I've definitely been moving more because I can see the steps and the amount of time that I've been active during the day. 






Short and sweet, what products have you been trying and loving this month? comment any things yu think I should give a try during August.

Losing My Shit...

Ever get to the point where you get so consumed by the world around you and the idea of making a living that you forget to exist in the world and just live? 


Sitting here writing this feels more like I'm venting but in some way I guess that's what blogging is about, saying what you want about something, there's no script to what a person can blog about so that is what I am going to do here. Even then I don't really know where to start but I guess the beginning is the best place for me to start.

Over the last few months I have somehow managed to get myself completely lost... theoretically although there have been moments when I have been actually lost. 

The kind of lost I mean is when you're just forget where you're wanting to go in life, or is that just me? at the age of 19 so many people expect me to have things figured out and honestly I have absolutely nothing figured out, I still live at home with my parents, I'm unemployed and I'm doing my degree, I have a list of a thousand things that I need to do and zero motivation to do any of it. At this point I'm on the brink of a major disaster, if I was older I'd potentially consider this a midlife crisis the only reason I'm not saying that is because it would be rather tragic to think my life is haflway over at this point. 

I just don't have the foggiest of clues as to what's going on, my mind is in over drive and it's not looking pretty right now. When I look at other people they all seem to be going about their day getting on with it as if they know what they're actually doing, me on the other hand I'm just winging it hoping for the best hoping that one day I'll somehow magically figure it out. The most confusing part about all of this is that I'm not actually sure what I'm trying to figure out and the more I think I know the less I actually get. Life right now is like when you skip the introduction to a game that explains how you play the game hoping that you'll be able to pick it up as you go along, I have yet to pick it up and if anyone out there has please let me know becuause I'm a sinking ship. 

 Adult life sucks, I just want to run away, hide, eat pizza and binge on Netflix... 

Lemon Bars

When life hands you lemons... make lemon bars which is what I did. I had the day off and a list of things that I needed to do, so instead I decided to head into the kitchen see what I had in an bake; because sometimes I don't feel like being an adult and doing all the adult things I have to do.

 Anyways...


Ingredients

For the pastry:
275g of butter (softened)
200g of caster sugar 
150g of plain flour 

For filling:
4 large eggs
150g of caster sugar 
1 tablespoon of lemon zest 
100ml of lemon juice 

Icing sugar for dusting (optional)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C 
2. To make the pastry, cream together the butter and sugar, once this is well mixed sift in the flour (the pastry you get will won't be as firm as other kind of pastries. Press this into a baking tin, place in the oven for 15-20 minutes (until the pastry is golden and firm) 
3. While the pastry cooks mix the ingredients for the filling, ensure that they are fully combined together. 
4. Once the pastry is cooked, pour in the filling and cook for a further 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting.
5. Dust with icing sugar 

After all of that you have the fun part of cutting them into whatever shape you want to, then you get to eat them! 

Chicken Pasta Bake

On occasion I have to make food for more than just myself, with my schedule I'm not always at home when everyone else eats so I'm usually cooking for myself. 

My speciality is pasta bakes, I'm pretty good at them, they are also a dish that you can make for as many people as you need to if it's 1 or 1000 people that you need to feed. One of the best things about pasta bakes is that you can experiment with them so much, you can create a lot of different meals without changing a lot. 

Ingredients:

• Chicken 
• Pasta 
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Cheddar Cheese  

For the tomato sauce (can use shop bought) 

• 1 teaspoon olive oil 
• 2 cloves of garlic 
• 500ml crushed tomato
• 1 bay leaf 
• 1 teaspoon oregano 
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil 
• Salt and pepper to taste 

For the cheese sauce (can buy it from

Shop) 

• 50g of butter 
• 250ml of double cream 
• Salt 
• 75g of Parmesan cheese 
•  

To prepare the tomato sauce 

1. Sauté the garlic until a golden brown colour (do this on a low heat because garlic is easy to burn) 
2. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano and bay leaf. Stir to mix everything in, then allow to simmer on the heat until reduced into a thick sauce. 
3. Mix in the basil. 

To make the cheese sauce 

1. Melt the butter in a pan on a low heat.
2. Add in the double cream stirring constantly, then mix in the cheese, add the salt to taste (if the sauce appears too thick then add in milk) 
3. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Celsius 
4. Put the olive oil in a pan and fry your chicken until cooked 
5. While the chicken cooks boil the pasta in a pan of water 
6. Once the chicken is cooked take it out of the pan, when the pasta is cooked drain all of the water. 
7. Add the chicken and tomato sauce to the pasta and mix until all combined
8. Empty the pasta and chicken into an oven proof dish, pour the cheese sauce on top and sprinkle with cheese. 
9. Place in the oven until the cheese has melted and browned 

It's as simple as that, you can always change what meat you put in, or add anything you want to. If you do try this one let me know how you get on, leave me a comment!

June Favourites

Pinch Punch it was the first of the month, another month has gone in a split second. June has been a hectic month for both good and bad reasons so my favourites are rather short as the middle/end of the month was filled with some family issues so I haven't really tried too much but here are some of the things I have tried. 

Foundation- as you may know from my holiday posts (that I shall leave the link to here) I went away and spent the week soaking up the sun, which basically made my freckles darker so my foundation didn't cover anymore; meaning I needed a new foundation. I've used the Rimmel 25 hours foundation before so I figured I would give the Rimmel Match Perfection foundation a try and I'm glad I did because the coverage it gives is really great and it blends really well, making it a good drugstore foundation. Also the package that it comes in is also really useful, as it's a pump top meaning that there's less waste compared to when you have the open top ones. 

Seventeen Phawwr Concealer- if you read any of my posts or follow my private or blog Instagram you will mostly know that j have horrendous bags under my eyes regardless of how much sleep I get, so a heavy duty concealer is a requirement in my makeup case. This one by seventeen is defiantly up there with one of the best I've tried as it's reasonably priced, heavy duty coverage but still has a lightweight feel to it, and it's staying power is also pretty good as it lasts for a couple of hours. 

Book- I tried to read at least one new book a month more if I can, this month I read the five people you meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. I have read a couple of Mitch Albom's books before and I have loved them, reading this one I didn't want to put it down. I'm not sure whether it's the story that Mitch is trying to tell or the way in which he tells it that gets me hooked. The book is about exactly what the title says, however there is so much more that comes with it, while reading it in a sense helps to understand everyday things that weren't as obvious. If you have the chance then you should definitely give it a read. 

I know this month’s favourites is really short, the reason for that is simply because I've had family issues and I've not really had the time to do anything or go out and try new things, but I promise things are looking up and I will try more things out, let me know if there's anything in particular that you want to see, until next month this is my favourites. 

Your Skin In Summer

A lot of people want to get the perfect summer tan, by doing this a lot of people forget to actually take care of their skin and actually damage it with some of the methods they use to get a tan. Looking after your skin all year round is important, in the summer there are a few more things that you have to think about. 

1.  Wear Sun-cream- when people want to tan they tend to just jump out in the sun with nothing on, this just increases your chance of getting servery burnt which is highly dangerous. Even when it seems cloudy it's always a good shout to put on sun-cream just in case as you can still get burnt. 

2. Avoid being in the sun midday- if it's possible it's better to seek shade during midday as this is when the sun is at its highest point and you're more likely to get burnt. 

3. Protect your lips- wear lip balm with some for, of SPF factor in to protect the delicate skin that's around your lips and keep reapplying every few hours I like to use the Nivea one which is SPF 30 which to me as someone who burns easily is a good factor to have. (I'd avoid using oil based lip products as in the sun you'll just essentially be cooking your lips. 

4. Moisturise!- the heat will dry out your skin which if you do get burnt or you do begin go tan will just cause your skin to peal, which you do want to avoid, so make sure you moisturise. Also apply a moisturising after-sun at the end of the day, even if it doesn't appear that your body has necessarily burn as sun burn can take a couple of hours to develop. 

5. Keep hydrated- this one is not only fir your skin but for your entire body and physical health, keep regularly drinking water and remember to actually drink water as your body needs than more then any other drink.  

Remember to look after your skin, you only get one in a life time it's really important that you take care of it.