New Year's Resolutions for 2015

Hello to you!

Recently I have really been trying to become a better version of myself, & since it's a new year I decided the best way to do this is by listing some of the things I want to try & improve on for 2015. If you haven't made any resolutions yet, give it a try! A new year is a clean slate where you have an opportunity to decide what you want to accomplish and do with that time. Here are my new year's resolutions & the reasons why I want to do them.

1) Be a good student. I am doing this because I am determined to get good AS-level grades this year, so I want to put in the effort to get the grades & results I deserve! I know I will do well if I try my hardest, so that's what I'm going to do.

2) Keep striving towards a healthy lifestyle. The reason I use the words "keep striving" instead of just  saying"be healthier" because everyone has bad days where they eat entire bars of chocolate without leaving the house, and I know there will be a number of times where I want to give up with trying to be healthy. Even if I have bad days, I'm going to keep trying again and strive toward a goal of having a healthier lifestyle. By setting a more realistic goal like this, I know I will be more capable of sticking to it. Remember, it doesn't matter how many times you slip up as long as you keep trying!

3) Attempt to learn some yoga. I want to try this because I am quite a naturally anxious/panicky person and I feel that if I can learn methods that will help me be calmer and more relaxed/in tune with my life, it's definitely worth a try! (Bonus point: if I get good at it I can be super flexible again, olympics here I come!)  

4) Learn to accept when I've made mistakes. I am a very proud person and I find it incredibly hard to back down or apologise in an argument, so this one will be a challenge. My star sign is scorpio and so one of my natural traits is being proud, so if I can at least try to be more accepting of my personal faults it will be a huge achievement! I think personal growth is really important, and as I'm getting older I'm realising that I'm not always going to get my way and I'm not always necessarily right about things. If I can try to be more open-minded to other people's point of view I think it will really help me understand my friends & family better, and strengthen my relationships with them.

5) Keep thinking positive! This year I have definitely improved at looking on the bright side of any situation which has been a real struggle at times but I think it is helping me to be a naturally more positive person. I'm hoping to continue this throughout 2015, and really step up my game - try to spread more positivity around other people too!!

No one is perfect, and just because it's the new year it doesn't mean life is going to change drastically. I can't alter my personality but I can alter my attitude towards life and how I live it, and I am determined to make the most of the year! Recently I've become extremely aware of how fast time passes, and I'm determined to make the most of the time I have on this planet. 

I hope this inspired you to think of your own resolutions! Just remember to keep them realistic and don't give up :) I hope you have an amazing 2015! Make it a year to remember.

xo

Xmas & New Year!

Hello to you!

I hope you all had a WONDERFUL xmas & boxing day, mine was lovely!! I'll do a post very soon about some of my favourite presents when I get time as I got some really great stuff & it was great to see some of my long-distance family members after such a long time :)

As I have a very big family, it is hard to see everyone at once. Tomorrow I am going up to Yorkshire until the 31st to see my lovely cousins & spend a few days up north. My cousin Chloe has just got back from doing some journalism work in Iraq, and I'm really looking forward to hearing some of her stories. On the 31st, I'll be travelling from Yorkshire to Huddersfield to stay with some twitter friends until January 3rd! I'm so excited to see everyone, especially as it will be the first time I meet one of my bestest friends. 

Christmas is always a super busy time for me, and trying to juggle coursework and revision and my job around seeing family & friends has proved to be a challenge indeed! Around this time of year I always feel incredibly grateful, as life isn't always easy but I know I always have my friends & family as well as a lovely home. Presents are a bonus too of course, but as I get older I am starting to appreciate the less material things in life! (That being said, I still appreciate the material things a lot - they just become less important than the memories & experiences I have grown up with).

I'll do a christmas haul post as soon as I get my presents a bit more organised, hopefully it should be up within the next few weeks! What did you get for christmas this year? Does it feel any different to you as you get older? Let me know in the comments!

xo

Fashion - Mermaid Leggings!

Hello to you!

So today's post is going to be a fashion post, and seeing as it is my birthday soon my good friend Neve (@amazingneve on twitter) sent me this gorgeous pair of mermaid-scale leggings! If you know me at ALL you will know I completely love love love mermaids, and these are an absolute treat!! I have wanted a pair of these for ages so I'm very chuffed to have them!!

I posted this picture on instagram hence the editing here. (Cheeky self promo, follow me on there!!)

What do you guys think of printed leggings? Do you love them or are they too outgoing for your taste? What kind of legging prints are your favourite? Let me know in the comment below!!

xo

Mini Boots Haul!

Hello to you!!

So if you read my blog regularly you will know that recently I got a job! Finally having a job is great because now I can be more independent with my money & it's given more of an idea of "the real world", and of course - having more money on me is always a bonus, although I don't always spend it wisely!

I didn't buy many things from Boots as I focused on buying clothes more than makeup, but I did get a few things that I thought I should share with you!!

L to R: L'Oreal Glam Bronze Bronzer in shade 06, Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (an old favourite of mine), Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Intense Colour Balm in shade 'Drive Me Nude', Real Techniques Shading Brush, Simple Light Moisturiser.

I already have so many half empty concealers lying around but I can't resist buying more, & my obsession with bronzers is slowly growing!! I hope you liked taking a peek at my most recently bought products, and I'll do a review of one of these products next month if I really like it!!

Hope you enjoyed this post, let me know in the comments if you have any of these products already & what you think of them!! Do you have any recommendations for what I should buy next?

xo

College is Overwhelming

Hello to you!

So this isn't going to be a happy post talking about the holidays or makeup today, this is going to be my stressed-out rambling post where I try to sort things out in my mind.

First of all, my results day was yesterday and I was very happy with my results! I got 5 A's (in English Literature, English Language, Biology, History and Drama), 4 B's (Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Religious Studies) and 2 C's (French & Art)!! I got into all the courses I wanted to do, and today was my enrolment - where the stress began. 

I don't know if this is the same with every college across the country, but at my college they give us "flying start" work which is basically projects for each subject to do BEFORE college that you bring in on day 1, just so they can see the kind of work you will produce throughout the year etc. It's meant to help with the step-up from GCSE to A-Level work. Anyway, just now I went on the website & downloaded the PDF files for each of my subjects (English Lit, Biology, Psychology & Film Studies) and when I started making notes on all the work I had to do, I started panicking. I know there is a lot more work to do at A-Level, but honestly I don't think anyone could've prepared me for the transition. I was surprised by the heavy workload I was given straightaway for one subject alone, and by the time I had reached my fourth subject's "flying start" work I was reduced to tears because I've got to a point where I don't feel I can physically get all of this done by my first day. As well as completing 4 big projects for each subject, I still have to go and work 6-8 hour shifts at my job, buy all my college supplies, buy new clothes for college, organise and de-clutter my room, and make a schedule all before I go to Cornwall next week!! I don't know where to begin with this, and suddenly I feel overwhelmed with things I have to get done before college.

I'm going to try and make a checklist of stuff to do and complete one day at a time so it is bearable, but at the moment I am definitely struggling. No matter how much you wish you could deal with everything life throws at you, sometimes you need to be able to say when things are getting a little too much to handle!!

I hope all of you are well, and if you are stressed out for the same reasons as I am please let me know in the comments how you plan to deal with your stress and some tips on being able to organise your day-to-day life!!

Sorry this wasn't a very happy post, I just needed to write some things down to get them clear in my head. Thankyou for reading. (I haven't proof read this post or anything, so I'm really sorry if some parts of it don't make sense. I'll be back with a happier post next week.)

xo

A Healthy Pledge

Hello to you!

So you may know that I am constantly in a battle with myself to keep healthy, and when I am determined I am very driven but when it comes to being healthy I always seem to fail!

So now I have decided to make a pledge to myself of some simple rules to stick to, so I can make myself healthier in simple ways! Here is my healthy pledge:

1. Drink at LEAST one bottle of water every day (preferably 2 bottles, but usually I don't drink out of bottles so this will be hard to measure accurately).

2. Eat slightly smaller portions. Even if it means using smaller plates, there is no need to eat a huge plateful of food if you are feeling full but we have a tendency to want to finish EVERYTHING on our plate rather than waste it. Instead of doing this, if I have eaten enough I will put the rest of it in the fridge to save it to eat later if I get hungry or maybe use it as an ingredient in a meal the next day!

3. Swap chocolate & crisps for some fruit. Now I do love my twixes or salt & vinegar crisps, but recently I have been swapping them with tinned peaches which has been really lovely! Tinned peaches is now my go-to snack, and now as we are getting nearer to summer I hope to be buying some more great tasting fruit like raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, etc!

4. Do 20 minutes of yoga a day. Yoga is a really simple form of exercise which helps your flexibility and calms your mind, as well as being a good way of doing some simple exercise! I have a daily yoga app which I plan on using every day over summer as I think it is really useful.

5. Do a 10 minute workout every day. 10 minutes may not seem much but it is enough time to get you sweating if you're working hard enough! Whether this is a short run or a proper workout using an app, as long as i'm getting 10 minutes of cardiovascular exercise a day that's good enough for me. (Obviously for some people that sounds like nothing, but for me even leaving the house is a chore on some days!)

So there you have it. These are the 5 rules I would like to stick to for the foreseeable future so I can create good habits, & maybe one day in the future I will look back at this post & see how well I stuck to it!!

Are any of you trying to create some healthy habits? Do you want to get healthier & fitter before summer so you can get that perfect bikini body, or are you looking to make healthier changes for life? I'd be really interested to hear from you, let me know what you think about this in the comments!!

xo

Reflection on 2014 so far

Hello to you!

So I have a little bit of free time in between all my revision at the moment and it's been quite a while since my last blog post. It is now June, so we are officially halfway through the year! I thought I would use this as an opportunity to show you some pictures from this year and see how I think I've changed as a person and some of my new interests.

Back in October, my dad moved to a city near my hometown where we stay at every weekend and it's really beautiful. This year I have found myself appreciating living in such a gorgeous area, and it's making me want to actually leave the house to go on walks and such more! Living next to the beach is really lovely, although I'm not looking forward to the hot weather as it will be packed 24/7!!

For my sister's birthday a couple months ago, we went to an under 18's night club & I took this slightly cringey mirror selfie as I think this year I have embraced a slightly girlier look and I am hoping to buy a lot more skirts & dresses this year as I got tired of wearing jeans all the time!! This picture reminds me of how much I like getting ready for a night out with friends, so hopefully this year i'll be going to more parties and gatherings because i'd really like to meet new people and make more friends as I start college this year!!

This is a picture my mum actually took of the garden (although yes, I did edit it and put a white frame on it. Oops.) and I think this is a really artistic, cute outlook onto our garden and it's quite summer! I love the wisteria growing in our garden, it is really nice to sit outside by it.

Before you say anything, I am aware of the fact I have stickers on my face! I took this picture just before going to the orthodontist for my last appointment before getting braces, which I thought was quite a significant part of the year as until the end of 2015, I will be a brace face. At least i'll end up with some straight pearly whites at the end of it!

Several weeks ago I developed an interest in American Horror Story as everyone seemed to be talking about it, and I don't know about you but I am AWFUL at watching anything scary as I have a very overactive imagination!! Luckily for me, Evan Peters plays a characters in every single season so as well as loving the plot line I also get to stare at a VERY attractive character through each episodes. If you've never seen American Horror Story before I definitely think you should watch an episode or two and see what you think!! Season 1 (Murder House) is probably the scariest, but I am a complete wimp and I LOVED it. Click HERE for a link to where you can watch all 3 seasons (without an account needed or any annoying pop-ups! I love the internet.)

It seems most of this blog post has been made up of selfies, and 2 out of 3 of these pictures have been bad mirror selfies. I am using this picture because this year I plan to get healthier and hopefully more toned. I look like I have a flat stomach in this picture (yes I was sucking in my stomach, you're probably lying to yourself if you say you don't do that in pictures) but I would like to try and get a bit toned & hopefully continue getting healthier! I finish year 11 this year and there is a 3 month gap between my last day & the first day of college, so hopefully I will use that time to my advantage and start getting healthier!

I took this picture while doing English revision at Costa with one of my best friends. I felt I needed to include a picture to do with school because the biggest change in this year will be leaving high school! At college, you have so much more freedom and independence but that also means more responsibility. Although I am really looking forward to experiencing what college is like, I am also sad to be leaving high school as I have been there since I was 11 years old! Some of the biggest changed happen in life when you're a teenager, and my life is DEFINITELY not what I expected it would be like when I was 11 years old thinking about the future. Although not all of my memories from school are happy, I will definitely miss it a lot!!

I don't have a picture for this but I also thought I would tell you guys I now have a job working at WHSmiths! It may not be the most glamorous job but I am really excited about working for my own money and getting real, hand-on experience in the working world. Also, it means I will be buying more makeup & beauty products so I shall be writing more blog posts about them over summer!!

I hope you enjoyed reading this post as I haven't done a nice, old-fashioned blog post like this for a while. I only have 1 week of exams left and then I am completely done with school, and my last official day is June 27th! Hopefully this will mean I have more time to work on improving my blog and writing more posts. Have you thought about what is changing in your life this year? Do you have any plans over the summer? Let me know in the comments, i'd love to hear what you've been up to recently!

xo

Things to look forward to

Hello to you!!

So...it's been a while! I'm sorry for my extremely long absence but i've been so busy with exams and stuff I haven't had the time to write a proper post! I wanted to do a quick update talking about something I think everyone should have: a list of things to look forward to! Of course it's good to live in the present but sometimes if you're in a negative place or not feeling too great it's nice to see what things there are to look forward to where you know you will be feeling a lot happier. This is my current list!

- Meeting Bert in July! I'm finally going to be meeting my twitter best friend and she's going to be staying at mine for a few days, i'm so so so excited!!

- SitC! Summer in the City is a huge youtube gathering and I can't wait, i'll be meeting so many of my friends/mutuals/followers there and it's going to be unforgettable.

- Dance Camp! I went to a festival last year with one of my best friends, my brother, my aunt & my cousin! We made so many friends there and i'm really looking forward to seeing everyone again this year :)

- College! It sounds silly but i'm really looking forward to experiencing college, yes it will be a lot of work but I can't wait for more freedom and meeting new people!!

- Ed Sheeran! I went to see Ed live in 2012 with my best fridnd and in October we are going to see him again! It's still pretty far away now but it's going to be amazing!

Another thing that is coming up soon is prom, but I want to dedicate a whole blog post to my prom so I won't discuss that now :)

So that's my current list! It may not be that long yet but there are so many other things i'm excited for this year, yet these things I have written about above are going to be the highlight :) do any of you have a list like this? If you make one, what will you write on it? Let me know in the comments!

xo