On Mondays

I know, I know what you're probably thinking. She doesn't normally post about Mondays? But seeing as July saw me quite absent from the blog, I thought we might as well shake things up a bit! 

A lot has happened. 

July saw me move back home, watch the boyf graduate, graduate myself as well as fill my days with anything at all. I have read numerous books. Cleared through old magazines like there is no tomorrow. Celebrated birthdays. Eaten way too much food. Met new people. Organised my beauty collection (I do not need anything.)
Now we are over a week into August (already!) and here is a Sunday-meets-Monday post for you, filled with the things that I've been loving lately.

I (finally!) bought this plate and the matching cup from H&M.

I am absolutely loving Bear's Den and Blossoms music wise.

I am currently in a phase of trying to make bendy rollers a thing.

Mac Velvet Teddy. Enough said.

These M&S glasses are my new favourites.

After seeing the poster at tube stations, I've just watched the trailer for Wiener-Dog; definitely on my must-see list!

I recently acquired a Jack Wills rucksack; their bags are so en pointe.

It's the Olympics! I'm finding Google the best way to keep up with it all.

I am really appreciating having started my One Line a Day Diary last year; reading back what I was doing is really really nice.

This Boots Time Delay moisturiser is my new favourite.

If I wore glasses, I would definitely buy this Paperchase case.

It took me a half hour at least to unsubscribe from Apple Music; unsubscribe today from everything you're accidentally paying for!

The Garnier Ultimate Blends Collection have been the cause of me receiving a fair few comments on the condition of my hair lately; the Honey Restorer is the way to go!

How was your July?!
xoxo

Keeping In Touch

Mother has never had a phone. She is never going to get one. Nor would I even try to get her one. Since moving to the States, I also do not have a phone. I planned to get one originally, however with wifi everywhere, I don't actually need one. So essentially, I'm too lazy to sort one out/don't want to spend the monies...

My sister, in the summer, moved to Japan. She had previously been living in Hong Kong so we were used to distance and time differences.

Now I am 6 hours behind the UK and 12 hours behind Kobe. My sister is 8 hours ahead of the UK. And there's Mother slapbang in the middle. 

This has resulted in me waking up to a joint email from my sister to Mother and I, Mother's reply a little later, and then I am spending all of my nights replying to the joint emails, in, yes you guessed it, a joint email.

This system may seem insane and time consuming, but it's kind of comforting and therapeutic. But it is hard. However this has just recently highlighted to me, the importance of keeping in touch. With Mother, I need to contact her everyday, but your friends you don't necessarily need to message them every single day. But, and I am guilty of this, especially right at this moment, leaving it a couple of days is not how to go about it. 

Keeping in regular contact with people shows how important they are to you, and if you aren't bothering to reply to their messages at least on some sort of regular basis, their importance to you is obviously not that high. 

Don't get me wrong. We all get busy. We all forget things. But talking to people and contacting them is something that we should all take the time to do. As I have mentioned, I spend my evenings cosied up in bed with some tea replying to my family's emails. I am also currently writing to my Nan. I have planned a skype session with a good friend who I haven't spoken to in a while. All of these things matter.

Even if it is just a quick message, or text, to say hello, or remind them of a private joke you shared, some form of contact and keeping in touch is a definite must.

So go all of you now, and message that person you've been meaning to for days. No excuses now!

xoxo

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini | Book Review

So this is one of those books; you know the ones I mean. Everyone's read it, everyone loves it, everyone thinks it's amazing. Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad I've read it, but to be perfectly honest, this was one of the saddest books I have ever read (and the Noughts and Crosses series put me off reading, thank you very much Malorie Blackman). It just seemed that nothing good at all ever happened; at every turn everything that could have possibly gone wrong, did go wrong. Or as soon as something vaguely positive did happen, it would be drastically brought down by  devastation of some sort or another.
It follows a man called Amir sharing his life story, starting back when he was a child growing up in Afghanistan with a Hazara boy called Hassan. The relationship between these two is something which a part of me longs for; as a friend said of Hassan: 'He is such a beautiful person'. Various events unfold resulting in Amir and Hassan being separated. Amir ends up moving to America with his beloved, Baba, who throughout the entire book he strives to earn the respect and love from him which he believes he lacks.

The book was very well written, and at times I really did find myself captivated by the story, however a book such as this would normally take me days to get through. This took me around a month simply because I struggled so much to keep picking it up as it was depressing me so much. I would definitely recommend this book to those who absolutely adore reading, but word of warning: it is not for the faint-hearted.  

(Note: I apologise for the lack of proper photo; the problems of travelling back home for reading week...)

Next Up: The Wolf of Wall Street - Jordan Belfort

What are your thoughts?

xoxo

A Day In The Life #3 | Birthday Goodies!

So some of you may be aware that it was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and I was completely spoilt by my family and friends. I wanted to blog all of the lovely things that I received, it has just taken me some time...
Get ready for a picture heavy post!

So here are some bits; as you can see it is a mixture of amazing beauty products and percy pig...
From left to right: keyboard stickers, Mac lip gloss, Moleskine Diary, Percy Pig sweets and cake mix, Nail Art Set (buzzing to try!), Bicycle necklace, Hello Kitty Sweets, Sisley eyeshadow and eyeliner pencil and of course some stickers.

My sister also sent me a box of lovely goodies! Most of which were Moomin related; if you follow me on Twitter, you'll probably know that I love Moomins.

From Mother... this beautiful gold Claddagh ring which I have been wanting for years

And of course my lovely kitty cats sent me this Vaseline pouch as they know I am always losing it.

I hope that you found this interesting; if you're nosy like me then I love seeing what people receive for birthdays and Christmas etc! 

xoxo

Mother Proof Beauty Rules (They Never Fail!)

My Mother is full of some very unique wisdom and although her love of make up and all things beauty does not quite reflect mine, she has taught me many very important things over the years. Not to mention have I always had certain things ingrained into me by general life.
So I thought that I would share these and maybe spread the wisdom!

1. The Killer: always remove your make up before bed. (Sorry guys, but you know it's true...)
2. Try not to touch your face; what's on your fingers will go onto your face! (Wipes off jam smears...)
3. Plucking brows after a bath or shower is most definitely easier. 
4. Only put your conditioner on your ends (smother it on them if you will); otherwise your roots will become very greasy! You may in fact not need conditioner if your hair is naturally very soft. 
5. Applying body moisturisers/lotions is best when you skin is still damp. (Check your righteous butters if you don't believe me!)
6. A bit of cold(er) water can make your hair that much shinier. 
7. Use your face moisturiser on your neck too!
8. Old toothbrushes can be great for exfoliating lips. 
9. Always file your nails and never cut them; file in one direction, the same way every time. 
10. Never tug hair bands out of your hair, unwrap them. 
11. Always start brushing your hair at the ends. 
12. Do not stretch the skin around your eyes when applying or removing make up; this equals wrinkles!
13. Use your ring fingers (are they both ring fingers?) to apply product(s) to your face as it is the most delicate/gentle and will damage your skin less. 
14. Face creams and body creams are not the same. 
15. It's nice to let your skin breathe a little some days; it's okay to leave the make up!

I hope  that you've found these useful and maybe your mother's have told you these as well!

What are your fail-proof beauty rules?

xoxo

A Day In The Life #1

I'm a bit behind on my post schedule so hopefully there will be another one of these going up very soon!
Not the week just gone but the week before was reading week and most of mine was spent holed up in my room, wrapped up in blankets and scarves with cups of tea working on my essays. This sounds quite cosy but was a lot of work!
I did however discover love for Sleek! And oh was I late on joining that black-cased band wagon. I also managed to get myself a job; hoorah! Look out for me a catering event/bar near you! To celebrate, I took myself off to Starbucks and got myself my first Red Cup. I had a salted caramel mocha with the new espresso base and oh my, it was divine. If you haven't had one of these bad boys, I am telling you to go asap. With cream, caramel sauce and salted caramel on top, you can't go wrong!
At the weekend my parents came up to stay which was lovely. We had a really nice meal at Ask on the Saturday and did some lovely shopping on Sunday (with more Starbucks!). We had a lovely walk through the gardens which had a lot more in it than I ever realised with greenhouses and Eden Project-esque domes! I got a lovely candle which I'm sure I'll be posting about soon.
All in all it was a pretty good week; very productive and lots of treats!

Have you had your first red cup yet?

xoxo