Sunday 16 June 2013

Birthday haul

I thought I'd do a birthday haul today. Just a little disclaimer before I get to the interesting stuff, I'm not doing this to boast or anything, I'm doing it because I think it might be interesting for some of you who don't know what to buy for a friend, a parent, a sister, for any girl in your life.

The cake my sister made for me :) It's an iPod cake

First of all, I was doing exams and revising on my birthday so I didn't really celebrate it in any special way on the day. I had a small glass of champagne and opened my presents. My Mum also cooked my favourite dish: spinach and feta pie! But other than that, there was no big party or anything. I will be celebrating properly after exams though!





















Now, on to the presents. This won't be in the right order because I can't remember exactly which present I opened first. Anyway, I got a lot of jewelry this year. I got a pair of gold earrings from my grandparents on my Dad's side and a pair of pearl ones from one of my oldest, bestest friends and her family.












I got a gold bracelet from my other grandparents. This was my great-grandmother's so it's very precious! I also got this lovely bracelet from my aunt and uncle (Mum's brother). It's made of platinum and tanzanite.












From my sister I got four miniature yankee candles. They also came with a little container but unfortunately that broke. I love the smell of them anyway and will be burning them as soon as I get a container.


From my sister's godfather, who is a very good family friend, I got a photography coffee table book. It's got some fantastic pictures in it!


I also got a makeup bag from my Mum's sister and her son. It's waterproof and it has a little pocket inside, perfect for a little mirror, or lip products!


Then, from my parents I got my trip to New York of course which is in a couple of weeks! I can't wait! I also got a painting by Jonathan Wheeler who is an artist that we met when we went to visit my aunt and cousin in Scotland. I love his style! With the painting, I also got a little bookmark with some of his work on.


From my boyfriend I got an oversized pajama t-shirt that I love and you can never have too many comfy clothes! I also got a poster with drinking quotes seeing as I'm 18 and some sweets.

By the way, the t-shirt says "I hate mornings..."

And last but not least, I got some money from my other aunts and uncles and cousins. That will definitely come in handy for traveling next year!

I hope this gave you some ideas if you're at a loss at what to buy for a girl you know!

Sunday 9 June 2013

Life update blog

Sorry this is going to be a quick one guys! I should be working right now because I'm in the middle of exams but I thought I'd do a bit of a life update.

First of all, I turn 18 on tuesday! I should be overexcited about this, but... unfortunately I have a maths exam the next day which means I'll spend the majority of my time revising, ah well, such is life. After that it's parties all the way though so I'm not really complaining!

The quality is terrible but this is a photo from my birthday last year

For my 18th and also just for the fun of it, I'm going to New York with my Mum! It'll be the first time I go to the states so I'm very happy about it. New York is supposed to be amazing too so I can't wait.

After that, I'm going on a little city trip to Paris with my boyfriend which will hopefully be very nice. I haven't been since I was 4 years old so I'm really excited about that too. It also means we'll get to spend some quality time together, this year has definitely not been the easiest so it'll be nice to be able to relax.

Then, I go to Burgundy with my whole family including the boyfriend. We wanted to stay near Dijon and Beaune but we booked really late so we're staying near Sens which sounds lovely too, although it's further north. It's supposed to have a nice little market and I must admit, the house we're staying at looks gorgeous!

I'm also going to have a gap year which is quite uncommon in Belgium. I'm very happy with my decision though and think it will be very enriching and an interesting experience.

Throughout all this, I plan to start a youtube channel, well actually I've already got the channel, I just need to upload on it. This will help me log what happens during my travels and I think it would be quite fun. The first few videos should hopefully be up at the beginning of July. I'd love it if you could tell me what you think or if you have any tips!

Have a good week and hopefully I'll have something more interesting to talk about next post. xxx

Sunday 2 June 2013

May favourites

June is here which can only mean three things: may favourites, exams and birthdays! School is nearly over and I'm so excited even if it's a little bit scary to think that these exams are the most important ones and that I will soon be thrown into the real world. Anyway, let's get to this months favourites.

I've not been using a lot of makeup this month because I thought I'd give my skin a break and the main focus was getting back to a healthy lifestyle. Thsi means that a lot of these favourites will be food related.

1. Fruit: I have been eating A LOT of fruit this month. I've never been a huge fan of fruit and always preferred eating a meal with lots of veg. But, I decided that I'd had enough of sugary cereals and milk that kept breaking me out so I've been having fruit (often a banana or some strawberries) with some yoghurt for breakfast. I love this combination. It gives me loads of energy and keeps me more or less full until lunch, whereas cereal didn't.


2. Lemon curd and marmite: These are my little sunday treats. I'll have two slices of toast, one with lemon curd (waitrose one is my favourite) and one with marmite. They're not too unhealthy so I don't feel bad when I eat them and they are so tasty. Now I know marmite is one of those things that you either love it or hate it. I have personnaly always loved it. I can remember having marmite sandwiches at school when I was about 5 so it's always been somthing I've liked.


3. 30 day challenges: Now I only started this last week but I'm going to put it out there anyway. I've been doing Carly Rowena's 30 day arm and abs challenges. I'm not going to lie and say they're easy because they're really not. I think these must be some of the toughest workouts I've tried so far but they are so worth it. I've only been doing them for a few days and I do feel stronger and fitter and I have seen a difference appearance-wise. If you want to check her out here's her youtube account where you can find her 30 day challenges and other tis and tricks: http://www.youtube.com/user/Carlyrowena, she's amazing.

4. My "new bag: This isn't new but I've never used it that much and I rediscovered it this month. I was using another bag for school but the strap snapped off when someone decided to try and run me over with a bike so I found this one. It's the perfect size, I can fit my file in it aswell as my books and PE equipment (trainers, t-shirt and shorts). I also think it's quite fun, it's colourful and it has butterflies on it, great for spring/summer. It's from paperchase but I don't know if they still sell it.


5. La Roche-Posay's Lipikar milk: I've been loving this because I've had very dry skin this month. It's been quite itchy too and this really soothes it. I'm hoping it'll clear up soon because the weather seems to have calmed down a bit. Last month we had rainy and cold one minute and then humid and sunny the next. Anyway, this product has really helped and it has rehydrated my skin a lot.