Shopping Spree! First EVER Primark visit! Part 3... Accessories & Beauty

*WARNING! Another looong picture-heavy post!*

Hello again lovelies! I promise that this is the last Primark post (for now hehe!) and I have in my humble opinion saved the best for last.

Jewellery. Handbags. Shoes. Cosmetics.... at this point in the Primark proceedings my funny mesh basket was so heavy that it was dragging on the ground (think Will Smith dragging the alien parachute across the desert in Independence Day and you get the idea) and I was beginning to panic about how much I had spent.

First stop on the final floor was jewellery and I made an immediate bee-line for the pretty pearls.

Earrings £1.00, necklace £2.50, bracelets £1.00

Oh-so-pretty! I'm sure that everyone has Primark pearls by now

so onto the next!

This is one of those two-in-one necklaces (£1.50) and I love it.

All credit goes to my amazing sister Olivia who patiently untangled this one from the others for me xx

Pink scarf £3.00. I love scarves. This one is so summery!

Large sequin floral shopper - £9.00

This is my handbag heaven!! Large enough to lose everything? Check.

Sparkly sequins? Check. Pretty floral pattern? Oh yes. SOLD.

Quilted heart cross-body bag £4.00.

I am loving cross body bags atm, and should have bought two of these.

It's currently my work bag :)

Quilted wide-fit flats £8.00

These look white here, but they are actually cream coloured.

(Excuse horrid carpet, it came with the house but it'll do for now!)

I only purchased one pair of shoes this time. The wide-fit section was miniscule and there were hardly any shoes left in my size! These shoes are so comfortable even during the dreaded first wear - I'm impressed Primark!

I have issues, yes indeed, with shoes, mostly centering on SHOE ENVY. If you've ever had it you'll know the torture.

My wobbly legs (see left sidebar if you're looking puzzled!) mean that I cannot just pick and wear any shoe I want. One basic requirement is that a Jo Shoe needs to have a strap... a mary-jane is ideal. Or in absence of a strap, a Jo Shoe needs to be pretty snug on the old heels so that it behaves and stays on my feet. Oh, and most importantly, a Jo shoe needs to look presentable. A Jo Shoe is not a granny shoe.

Then we can add something else into this mix. Yes, not only do my wobbly legs dictate much of my shoe-buying choices, but I have also inherited my family's wide feet. Oh goody. My friends can pick up any shoe in any style and like Cinderella, it fits perfectly. Granted, I have failed miserably on the Prince Charming front so far but I think you'll agree that denying such a girly-girl the shoe too is very bad form indeed.

So, it's very rare that I can find a shoe that I actually like enough to emit a mini-girly squeal (we've all done it) but these Primark bad boys are perfect. HURRAH!

If any of you lovelies have nice shoes Vs wide feet issues, I can recommend Evans shoes. They are the perfect width for me, and because Evans is a sister store to Topshop the shoes are much, much more fashionable than they used to be and you can find all sorts of gems on the website (and a few granny shoes too if that's your thang!). Evans are also fab if you have problems zipping up skinny minnie boots :)

And now onto the make-up!

To be entirely honest I almost couldn't get close to the (shockingly small) Beauty stand. Remember in Part 1 of my Primark posts when I remarked that the store was pretty empty? Well, it seemed that every female in Cambridge was on the third floor crowded round this stand. Mostly teenagers, but there were mums and grans too and it was just crazy. The stand had been stripped of almost every make-up item!

I really wanted to try Primark's version of Benefit's That Gal but couldn't see any aside from the grotty testers that had been well used and thrown back among a vast array of opened and tested make-up. My friend Lucie recommended the mascara as a perfectly good cheapie but that had sold out. How very annoying!

I saw some girls buying makeup that had obviously been opened and used. Yuck. Grubby makeup is not welcome here unless it's my own mess. (Note to Primark bigwigs: You really need to stock up on makeup and have a decent "tester" display!)

I did manage to get my hands on two interesting items that I had initially found in the mess. Amazingly I found some hidden riiight at the back that were minus grubby fingerprints and best of all still sealed!

I was very excited about this little beauty in particular:

Being a bit of a Benefit fan, I've had "10" on my wishlist for ever.

This is the perfect equivalent if you're on a budget!

(although in Primark's version the pink side is blush not highlight)

It even comes with a little Benefit-esque brush!

"The Happy Couple" duo bronzer & blush £2.50

Bobbi Brown's Shimmerbrick anyone?!

Primark's version, "Little Glow Cheek", costs just £3.00

and I got it in the lighter shade, Sun Blush.

I haven't got round to using these yet, but when I do I'll let you know what I think.

Have you tried these? I'd love to hear your thoughts on Primark's make-up range...  

xx

Shopping Spree: First EVER Primark Visit! Part 2... Clothing

*Warning! Picture-heavy post!*

OK, now that I have my local store review posted here, let's get onto my purchases! (I'm still trying to find a word for Haul. I'm not keen on that word.) I did manage to spend just over £100 so I'll skip over the MANY basic vest tops, tees, leggings etc and skip to my favourite bits and bobs!

Apologies for any creasing etc, these pics were mostly taken straight after they came out of the bags. First up:

Sundress - £7.50. Probably my favourite buy!

I love, love, love the little pearl buttons and Kidston-esque print!

Organic bird print tee - £4.00. How cute! 

I have a thing for long tops that I can wear with leggings and flats :)

This came with a plain grey vest too but I'm wearing it :) Aren't the bows sweet!

Pack of 2 vest tops £2.00

Floral longline top £3.50

Blue-grey studded & sequined vest £4.00  LOVE!

If there's anything sparkly or super-girly then I'm there!

I had to get the oatmeal coloured one too :)

Loose-fit dress/top £8.00

White linen skirt £9.00.

I bought this to wear to work on sunny summer days :)

So there you have it. Shiny new purchases from the latest Primark addict :) Have you found any OMG-I-must-have-that-NOW's in Primark recently?

Ooh, while I'm on the subject of Primark clothing, do any of you girlies find the sizing plain weird, or is it just me? Everyone had told me to go one or two sizes bigger as their clothes are cut small, but when I saw the clothes I just kind of guessed whether they would fit (I hate changing rooms. I should really just get on with it and try stuff on as I never learn!). And yes I know that it is so inexpensive, you get what you pay for, blah, blah, blah, that I maybe shouldn't even make an issue of it, but it has confused me somewhat.

As I'm among friends I'll be brave (heck, you know most of my other secrets by now haha!) and tell you that I am generally a UK size 12 (equivalent to a US size 10 or Medium). In River Island and Topshop I often have to go for a 14 but that's thanks to my huuugeee upper arms (swimming has made them worse!) and my ahem ... boobies :) I'm occasionally a size 10 in places like Next, but usually, yes it's pretty safe to buy a 12.

All of my Primark clothes are a 12 except the floral longline top which I got in a 14 because I wanted it so badly and there were no 12's left. Most of my purchases fitted perfectly but two items came up large on me. Yes, I mean you, white linen skirt which fell straight down! Oo-er!... and oh hello lovely favourite sundress which is so big that the elasticated back doesn't even touch my body! If that isn't strange enough, the size 14 floral top is quite tight on me!

The rest of the vest tops, cami's etc are all ok as they are pretty flexible when it comes to size, but the moral of the story is... changing room for Jo next time!!

I'll be posting Primark Part 3 very soon showing a few of my favourite things to shop for- bags, shoes and beauty items!!

(Sorry lovelies! Only I could stretch 3 blog posts out of one Primarni visit! I haven't been on a massive clothing spree for ages).

xx

First ever Primark visit! (And a blonde moment!)

I've just posted my first ever Primark related post!! But for some reason it's ended up somewhere else in my archive!! I think it's because I hit "publish" by mistake when I first started writing it ages ago! *BLONDE MOMENT*

If you'd like to read it, please click here. More to follow tomorrow!

Thank you :)

xx

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more...

Hello lovelies!! I've had to escape onto good old Blogger for two reasons.
1) because it's the hottest day of the year in England today (31 degrees C) and I can't stand being outside, and
2) because the football is making me sooo angry! We were robbed of our 2nd goal.... and now we're losing badly to Germany :(

Thank you for all of your lovely comments recently btw, especially those concerning the post that I wrote about my cousin Michael. He is still in hospital at the moment but hopefully he will start feeling better very soon.

I have lots of upcoming posts written and ready for you all (ooh, get me!), including a 3-parter on my first Primark visit! Only I could produce a 3-part shopping post! Haha never mind, I enjoyed writing it!

Anyway, I was just checking MetCheck to see how sunny this week will be, when I noticed that it's going to be a wee bit windy in my neck of the woods (the pink boxes):

Gulp.

I hope it's a mistake or I'll be blown away! Does anyone have a storm shelter?!

xx

(Pic from MetCheck.com)

Candle, candle burning bright...

I thought that I would share my teeny-tiny scented candle collection with you today! I love the snuggly ambience that candles create, and you get the best of both worlds with scented candles... what's not to love?

Before I start, here's your Health & Safety lecture:
Always burn candles safely my lovelies!! Common sense is the big thing here, and candles have warning labels for a reason so please read it! I don't burn mine where little Gizmo cat could jump up and be burnt or knock one over, and I don't leave them alone either. Remember not to light candles close to curtains or bedding etc, and always make sure that they are properly extinguished before you leave the room or tootle off to bed. You can never be too careful! If in doubt... don't light it! Candles can be enjoyed as decorative items too y'know!

You can relax now. Lecture is officially over :)

Please excuse my rubbish smelly-smelly descriptions by the way. I find it really difficult to describe how something smells (anyone else with me on that?).

My Yankee candles:

(L-R) Shortbread Cookie, Fresh Cut Roses, Granny Smith

There is an amazing little shop two doors from my office which is crammed full of Yankee candles and they always leave the door open so that the most wonderful smell drifts out onto the pavement. I haven't bought a Yankee candle since last summer but I do often pop in and have a nosey and a sniff at their new stock...

I burn the Fresh Cut Roses candle on my dressing table and it smells gorgeous. It sounds obvious but the scent is exactly like roses - not like some of those sickly artificial rose scents around. Thumbs up from me!

I bought the Granny Smith candle to use in my bathroom. I think the apple scent is WOW - crisp and clean, and it's something a bit different. People always comment on how nice it smells :)

I haven't burnt the Shortbread Cookie candle for a while a) because it's been discontinued and I was saving it (I have no idea why I do that!) and b) because it's since been replaced in my affections by a different candle. It's gorgeously sweet and I loved it, and if I hadn't discovered it's superior it may well have been a firm favourite...

Next, my favourite candles in the world. My Country Home candles:

(L-R) Angel Food Cake, Grandma's Christmas, Country Home

I'm not sure if Country Home candles are stocked in the UK shops (I've seen a couple of v expensive ones on eBay) so huge apologies if not, but as I already said, these are my absolute favourite candles EVER... and I have years of testing different brands under my belt!

I got these from my Mummy as she imports a selection from Canada to sell through her business (she hand-makes and sells the most amazing shabby chic homewares and all sorts of other super-cute items. Mum mostly sells the goodies at Craft Fayres etc but a shiny new website is in progress! Woo!)

Mum bought me the Angel Food Cake 10oz (roughly 283g according to t'interweb) candle for my birthday and this is the candle that has far and away replaced the Yankee Shortbread as my favourite candle. Having used both candles, the Yankee smells  "fake" compared to the Country Home one.

I am an absolute sucker for a candle that smells of baking (I'm a sucker for eating anything baking-related too, hehe!) and freshly baked cake is how I would describe this. Mmmmm! I've been burning this in my hall and you can smell it all over the house. Yummy.

Grandma's Christmas smells so welcoming, kind of like freshly baked biscuits - this is what the Yankee candle should have smelled like! I burnt this in my kitchen so much over Christmas, and Mum ended up selling two of these to my friends and one to my neighbour! This is the largest of my Country Home candles (14oz - roughly 396g) and I'm saving the rest of the candle for this Christmas :)

Country Home is what I'm eagerly waiting to use after my Angel Food Cake has all gone. I had to buy this after smelling it burning at my Mum's house. Oh my gosh, it's amaze. It has a cozy toffee fudge-like scent. Can't wait!

If you don't like super-sweet scents you might find these overpowering, but I do, so I don't :D

And last but not least, we have the scrumptious Banana Nut Bread candle from Our Own Candle Company:

This smells divine, like Banana Nut Bread funnily enough! I got this when I was in New York. I haven't used it too much because I haven't seen any of these in the UK. I love the handle on the jar too, it's so unusual... I wish I'd bought more of these :(

So there you have it. My tiny but well loved collection. There is a definite theme running through these sweet smelling candles! I do love other scents too but I'm trying not to buy any more at the moment.

I'd love to try a Jo Malone candle but those are just too expensive for me considering that you're just going to burn it (rrp is £20 for a little travel candle, £38 for a 200g home candle and £260 for a 2.5kg luxury candle. That's a huge candle all right, but YIKES! £260??!! They'd better be good! Haha I'm just jealous!)

What are your favourite candles?

xx

Lou's Sprinkle Of Glitter Giveaway!!

Ooooooh!! I just wanted to tell you that the beautiful Lou over at ***Sprinkle of Glitter*** is having a giveaway to celebrate a very well deserved 500 followers to her blog - have you entered yet?

If you haven't read Lou's blog before, you must take a look and hit that "follow" button. Regular readers will know that Lou is one of my favouritest bloggers ever (fact!) and she's a lovely lady too :)

Have a peep at what she's giving away to one very lucky follower:

URBAN DECAY Eyeshadow Palette with mini Primer Potion.

PRIMARK Nail Varnish set

BENEFIT It Stick

COLLECTION 2000 Lipgloss

What an amazing prize!!! The giveaway is open until 23rd July lovelies so you have plenty of time...

xx

*Photo and product listing from Lou's blog!*

Father's Day funnies xx

As it's Father's Day, I've been thinking about the special-est men in my world - my Daddy, Step-dad (Daddy #2), Uncles and my much loved and missed Grandads (R.I.P. :'( I miss you and love you both so much xxxx xxxx).

Last year my Father's Day post was deservedly mushy, so this year I thought I'd add a few funny photos of the Daddies and one of my Uncles (he is a LEGEND!!). There are more like this but I think I'd be in big trouble... so this is all you're getting! :D

Daddy #2 getting his groove on playing wii... oh yeah!

My Daddy dancing in the style known only to Dads...

I thought he was funny but my cousin felt sufficiently embarrassed

to feel the need to ask him to move away!

A different wedding reception this time.

This is what happens when my (v tipsy!) Uncle Brian

is left to his own devices in a corner...

He managed the beer glass, so gets a bit braver with the head-balancing trick...

can you guess what's coming?

Hahahahahahaha! LOVE IT!

(he did actually balance it no-hands for about a second,

*Go Uncle Brian!*

but I was too busy laughing to capure it... fail!)

Happy Father's Day to my Grandads, Daddies and Uncles. I love you millions xxxxxxxx

Picture Post #2

Very true. I like this.

xx

Photo: weheartit

Panic (and grump) over... I found them!

I know, I know... I'm ridiculously shallow to be so happy about this, but I finally got my excited little hands on the current issue...s of Glamour magazine - you know, the one with the freebie Benefit pencils that I was complaining about not being able to find?

(I gave the third magazine to my work colleague Amanda!)

I'd mooched into my local Tesco Metro at lunchtime today when I spotted an assistant stocking a new magazine delivery onto the shelves. I looked closer just in case and there they were! It was like I had some kind of tunnel vision because I just kind of homed in and grabbed all three faster than you could say "Yippee!!" (which, actually, is what was running through my mind. I may have even squealed it out loud and said "mine, mine, mine" like a complete maniac but honestly it's all a bit of a blur).

I don't have a huge make-up collection but I am very partial to lovely Benefit goodies, especially when they're freeeeeee instead if £14.00 each! (Glamour gave away a free mini Bad Gal mascara last summer too so hopefully it'll become a regular thing hehe!).

Glamour magazine, I salute you and all of your Benefit goodness. You made a down-in-the-dumps lady very happy today!

Did you get your Glamour?

xx

Oh - if you can't find a copy of Glamour and you're feeling rather glum about it like I did, don't fear! You can Benefit from a little something too (see what I did there?) because hey, I feel your pain.

Glamour also gave it's lovely readers a 15% off voucher code for purchases from their uber girly website. Type GLAMJUNE at checkout between 09/06/10 to 19/07/10 and you're good to go.

Just don't blame me if you spend too many pounds ;)

(Sorry to my international lovelies but I don't know if this code is UK only)

Kind of puts things into perspective, doesn't it?

Hello lovelies!

Firstly you guys are amazing. You've not only followed my little blog but have taken the time to leave such wonderful and encouraging comments that I honestly feel overwhelmed by your kindness!!

I hope that you won't mind me scribbling a bit of a glum post today. I'm feeling down this evening, and it's because my dear, dear cousin Mike is feeling really rubbish at the moment.

Mike has Cystic Fibrosis and has been going through an awful time recently. He has just been placed onto the Organ Transplant list as he desperately needs new lungs. He's been in hospital for a few weeks now and he's usually so positive but I think the enormity of it all is (understandably) getting a bit much for him.

I just feel so helpless. If he needed a kidney I would give him mine. They could cut one out right now.  My Mum always taught me never to say "I want"... well Mum, I know you won't mind me using those words today!

I want Mike to get his transplant and be able to feel well again, something that we all - myself included - take for granted too much.
I want Mike to be able to go home to his beautiful wife Claire, who he misses so much that it breaks his heart.
I want Mike to be able to live the life of a 25-year-old and not have to be stuck in hospital linked to IV's.
I want him to smile his beautiful smile again. Mike is a truly beautiful person inside and out. He's my family!

Mike has a blog about his CF journey here and he follows mine so I'm sure he'll completely want to throttle me for writing this!

So, this is a little message to Mike:
Hey fella! I hope this blogpost doesn't offend. I hope you understand that I'm writing this not to get everyone to write you sympathetic messages, because I know you much you hate sympathy. You don't want to be treated any differently because you're not different. (Slightly odd sometimes, yes, but we'll let that one go :D). You're a normal 25-year-old being denied a normal life right now. But like I've told you, your new lungs WILL come and your ninja army of friends and family will hold you up and support you every step of the way. You've been there for me during the worst time in my life and it goes without saying that I'm always there for you too. I'm so proud of you and I'm writing this because I love you, dude! xxxxxxxxxxxx

Mike with his lovely wife Claire

 (shamelessly stolen from Mike's facebook!)

Lastly some little linkey-links for you: Cystic Fibrosis Trust to explain all that is CF better than I ever could, and the very important Organ Donation - UK home page.

xxx

Wow!! Hello new followers!

Oooooh blimey, I literally just almost fell off my chair in shock when I saw that I have so many new followers this evening!

What an amazing surprise to see you all! Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to pop by and follow, it really does mean a lot to me xxxxxx

Shopping Spree: First EVER Primark visit! Part 1... Cambridge store review

I took some much needed Annual Leave from work a few weeks ago and finally went to Primark!!

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that this post is a store review. Now I am the first to admit that it is a tad strange to review a Primark store!! I didn't intend to, this was going to be a post showing you all of my goodies but it just kind of evolved into a review so I kind of just went with it, hehe! It's all good fun and I like to do something different now and again!

Don't fear if this review post is not your thang, I'll be posting all of my favourite barganious buys very soon so keep your eyes peeled!

Onto the review business. My local store is in Cambridge, incidentally one of my favourite places on Earth - I'm so lucky to live close by. It's especially beautiful in summer. If you haven't been to Cambridge, get yourself on a plane, bus, train... and get there if you can (how many of you just thought of the Oleta Adams song, like I just did?!)

Anyhooo, I'm digressing... Cambridge Primark opened last year and it's MASSIVE. Here it is in all its three storey glory:

Interesting pics, huh ;) It's pretty darn huge and completely dominates one side of the street. I was so excited!

The general consensus from the more experienced Primarni shoppers among my friends (and let's face it, it isn't difficult to find one!) is that Cambridge is one of the nicer branches in my general area, and based on my single visit I'd have to agree. I had a touch of the old Primark on-a-mission-tunnel-vision but as far as I remember (I may well be wrong!) the ground floor was ladies clothing, the first floor was men's clothing, holiday shop, and accessories (bags, jewellery etc), and the top floor was children's clothing, homewear and shoes.

Aside from clothes as far as the eye can see, I remember walking in past the burly security guards (eek!) and thinking how clean the shop looked. That's always a Brucey Bonus to start with, yes?

The clothes were neatly arranged in size order and there wasn't any of that horrible "picked over, unfolded and discarded" naughtiness, even on the £1.50 basics tables. Just piles of neatly folded clothes.

One of my shopping pet peeves is clothes on the floor and there were NONE to be found here (my local H&M take note!). I was expecting to have to rummage and fight for clothes so that was a very pleasant plus point!

We (Mum, 14-year-old sister Olivia & I) visited on a Thursday lunchtime. Despite it being half-term, the store was not especially crowded. You could walk straight into the changing rooms (not that we tried any on...tsk) and although the till queues were long, they were well staffed so we didn't wait longer than around 5 minutes to be served. With the exception of one harrassed woman on the Returns counter (defensive much? We were asking where to find something, not complaining!) the staff were pleasant and polite which always makes for a pleasant shopping experience.

In summary, and bearing in mind that this was my first visit so I cannot compare, I can highly recommend Cambridge Primark to my blogging lovelies. Hurrah!

Oh, and there is a nice Patisserie opposite the entrance too with both interior and al fresco tables - very good for resting weary shopping feet ;) It was busy, but we didn't have to wait long for a table.

Some other pics of our Girls' Shopping Day:

Olivia sampling some chocolatey goodness from the Patisserie!

                             

A post-shop fashion show is always essential!

Store address: 62-74 Burleigh Street

                       Cambridge

                       CB1 1DJ

Phone number: 01223 300026

Opening times: Monday, Tuesday - 9.00-6.00
                       Wednesday - 9.00-8.00
                       Thursday - Saturday - 9.00-6.0
                       Sunday - 11.00-5.00

Store opening times vary around Christmas, New Year and Easter

For sustainable travel options to the Cambridge store, in conjunction with Cambridge City council, please visit http://www.primarkcambridgetravelplan.co.uk/

(store address info etc from Primark website)

Disclaimer: I was NOT asked to do this review, and neither did I receive any payment/discount etc. My opinions are all based on my own personal experience. To my knowledge Primark have no idea that I have written this, however if one of you Primark bigwigs ever happen to read this, I really, really ♥ your shop. Freebies would be wicked. (btw that was a JOKE!)

Handmade blogsale goodies!

Earlier this week I was an early bird visiting Lou's blogsale and was lucky enough to be able to buy some of her lovely handmade earrings. Yippee!! (If you get your skates on *I think* there are one or two things left so hurry and click!)

I love handmade jewellery as it's so personal and unique, and there's something very special in the knowledge that it hasn't just been churned off a production line, but someone has actually sat down and put a lot of time and effort into each individual piece.

I have never bought anything from a blog before and I was Lou's first blogsale customer too so that was pretty cool!

Within a couple of days my goodies arrived in a gorgeous little lilac bag filled with lots of ice blue sparkly stars, accompanied by a sweet note from Lou :)

These are the cutest - and most unusual - earrings that I have EVER owned!

Top: Very-Berry Cupcakes

Bottom: Pink Sparkle Popsicles

I always admire and envy those who are able to create jewellery and I certainly would never in-a-month-of-Sundays have been able to make these. The attention to detail is amazing.

If I had a DSLR (grrr, I so want one!) then I would have been able to zoom in better so that you can see. I tried with my basic little Kodak but it ended in a blurry mess. Anyway, I'm sure that you can tell that they are rather fabulous indeed and I'm a very happy lady!

I wore the popsicle earrings yesterday for the first time and it's love :) Today I shall debut the cupcakes! Thank you Lou xxx

Aaaand, last but certainly not least, I'm being completely spoilt lately when it comes to jewellery!

Rach is another talented jewellery maker (is that the correct term, "jewellery maker"?) who held her first blog contest recently. Three contest winners were offered the choice of an amazing TWO items as prizes - earrings and necklace, earrings and bracelet, or necklace and bracelet... and not only that, but winners were also given the choice of colour, style and fastening. How amazing is that?!

I'd never entered a blog contest before so couldn't believe my luck when I was chosen as one of the WINNERS!!!!!!!!

I opted for a necklace and bracelet and cannot wait for them to arrive!! However patience is a virtue as I'm sure Rach is a very busy bee making all of our gorgeous goodies :) Thank you to you too, Rach! xxx

Both Lou and Rach are lovely ladies and I've been following their brilliant blogs for a while now so please check them out!

xx

This is me, now (May review)

Listening... Pendulum, Glee, Alicia Keys, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Summertime (my summer classic EVERY year!)
Reading... The last few pages of LA Candy by Lauren Conrad and I'm actually beginning to enjoy New Moon, although I haven't progressed too far!
Watching... EastEnders (as always!), Extreme Makeover: Home Edition but it always makes me cry, Million Pound Drop or whatever it was called!
Buying... Oh God, I've been buying everything this month :/ First ever Primark visit cost me a fortune, as did discovering lovemakeup.co.uk... oh and some cordless hedge trimmers for Dad's early Father's Day present :)
Wanting... OK so this one is not from May but oh well! It's to find the current issues of Glamour magazine with the free Benefit make-up. It's completely sold out in my town, and I'm very grumpy about it.
Trying... to restrain from jumping in the car to search out said Glamour magazines further afield. Sensible realisation that the petrol cost will outweigh the freebies is holding me back. I still have the hump about it though.
Loving... hot weather, light evenings (yippee!), swimming, Cambridge in summer = beautiful.
Planning... my new garden. I'm finally calling in the professionals!
Making... pizza to watch with this evening's England v US World Cup match. I'm not really enthusiastic about the World Cup this time around for some reason. Other years I get swept along in the hysteria, but we will probably get knocked out early as usual so I can't be bothered. I'll still watch our matches though :)
And I say I'm "making" pizza - in reality I'm just popping lots of yummy random toppings etc onto a base!
Writing... not enough blog posts! Am shockingly behind on my Mass Observation assignments too, must must must get scribbling... (hmmm, this hasn't changed from last month!)
Cooking... not as often as usual due to swimming schedule! (this looks familiar too!)
Inspired by... finally feeling happier within. The world is starting to look much brighter!

Photo: weheartit

Tag: 8th Picture

I spotted this on Lou's ***Sprinkle of Glitter*** blog and had to consider myself tagged!

Please take a peek at Lou's fabulous blog, it's right up there with my favourites. When I first started following I literally read the whole thing (don't you love it when you find a blog you can get absorbed in?). I initially saw Lou in one of her YouTube videos and she's such a sweetheart :)

The general idea of the tag is to choose the 8th picture from the 8th folder in your Pictures. NO CHEATING!

This is what mine was:

Eeeeeek.

Had it have been the 9th photo, I would have been looking a lot more presentable (i.e. actually facing the camera and with my nose looking less beaky!) but no, I was honest enough to give you the 8th picture!

The things I do for you guys ;)

This photo was taken in a local pub on New Year's Eve 2008-9 and it's me with my friend Paul (sorry Paul!).

I'd love to see your 8th Pictures, so I tag you all!

xx

Crisis of confidence... bit of a deep one, this!

Hello again lovelies!

I'm getting kind of sick of listening to myself yet again apologising for lack of blog posts... I have so, so many planned posts, but strangely I find myself feeling somewhat timid about posting sometimes - do any of you understand that?

I currently have 12 followers and I appreciate you all so much - thank you xxx

When I started blogging it didn't enter my head for a second that anybody would actually read my scribblings. Heck, it took me about a month to figure out how to find another blogger's page hahaha! I kid you not...

The reason I created my blog in the first place was to keep a record of my life and everything in it. Hence why 90% of my earlier posts are very much about me and my life at that time.

But now that more lovely people are reading my blog and/or following my musings I kind of felt like I needed to blog to keep you all interested, but because my blog is neither one thing or the other I didn't know which direction I should steer it in so that you would continue to enjoy reading it. It was at that point that I started to feel as if I was losing my way.

I have to tell you right now that I'm not here to win hundreds of followers. Blogging to me is not a popularity contest. As much as I appreciate my followers, if nobody followed me I'd still blog, for me.

If more followers come, yippee! I would be a very happy girl. But it's not my sole purpose of blogging, you know? (OMG I hope that doesn't sound as bad as I think it does!)

To be honest I kind of panicked for a while. I'm not a beauty blogger. I mean, I have a nice little make-up collection which I LOVE, but I'm certainly not proficient enough in application or knowledge to create a blog about it.

I'm not super talented in... well, anything really. Apart from talking. I can talk for England. But this is a written blog..... so I'm screwed!

I'm a geek. As much as I love going out with friends I've pretty much left my hard partying days behind me and really enjoy being at home with Singstar, friends, copius amounts of alcohol and a pizza!

I'm now in my 30's and still love Harry Potter books for goodness sake! There is not much hope for me really ;)

I'm not super confident in myself and despite counselling still think that I look hideous. (Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a bitch!)

I work 9-5 and in between that, swimming commitments and seeing friends, there's not much time left for exciting adventures.

I have a disability that up until a year ago I could not acknowledge properly even to myself. Stupid really, because if you see me walk you can't miss it ;)

But, I thought, I have these followers now, so what do I write about? HELP!!

I love shopping, yes, I grant you that. I could maybe shop for England if my bank balance allowed (sadly it does not) but there are only so many shopping posts that I can force upon you without my blog turning into something that is not true to me. So that idea went out of the window.

Then it FINALLY dawned on me that you didn't follow me because I'm a beauty blogger, or because I go to all of these far-flung places and experience amazing things, or because of what I choose to spend my money on, or because of what I look like.

You follow me because (for whatever reason I cannot fathom) you like my blog just as it is.

So. The penny has finally dropped. I have decided to stop overanalysing everything and continue just being me. I'm going to stop being scared that you won't like me as I am and just... be me!

I'm not going to start blogging about what I think I should be blogging about. I'm going to blog about what I WANT to blog about. And sometimes, just sometimes, there's a difference between the two.

Yes, you'll still see shopping posts and more TAG posts simply because I love doing them... but I'm not going to be afraid anymore to let you see the real me shine through.

My blog won't change drastically. I have always blogged about things that are true to me. The same posts would still be here whether I have 0, 12, or 122 followers. Rather than write about things that were not really "me" just for the sake of blogging something, I decided to take a step back and that's partly why my posts have been thin on the ground of late.

I hope you'll stick with me and carry on reading (and if you've got this far into this post I congratulate you!!).

You guys are the BEST, seriously. You always take the time to leave me lovely comments and I speak to a couple of you on Twitter and facebook too (add me if you like), and between those mediums and your blogs it's great to get to know my followers and readers :)

Phew. Now that the weight's finally been lifted I can get this blog back on track.

TAG post, anyone? :)

xxxx

(photos from weheartit)