Week Review: 15th March 2014

It's been such a hectic week this week, what with all the dissertation work I've been focusing on (not that any of that boring-ness will be reflected in this post!) so I haven't had a whole lot of blogging time but fear not! A face mask review post is on it's way to you shortly!

But for now here's a look back at what I've been up to (minus the uni work) this week:

// Ed's Easy Diner // We climbed a mountain // Roche //
// Pizza on top of a mountain // The view // Dublin Planning //
// Comfiest leggings // Forgotten photo from London Zoo // Cancer Research //

Ok so Saturday was definitely my busiest day this week. Started off with a trip to Ed's Easy Diner with my mum and brother, which was great (not just because of the American food) but because we rarely spend time as a family anymore and I've honestly missed it. Then I went to Newport to see Roche and since it was such a sunny day we decided to climb (that's probably a bit of an exaggeration) walk up Twmbarlwm Mountain. Roche packed pizza to have at the top (now that's my kind of picnic!) and the view was honestly amazing. We were so high up we could see the entire city and over to Bristol; even if, at the time, I wondered whether the climb was worth it! I'm so unfit it's unreal, let's blame the asthma I had when I was a child to make myself feel better for my complete lack of being able to breathe on the way up...
Then the rest of my week consisted of planning mine and Roche's trip to Dublin, which my Dad ever-so-kindly paid for as my birthday present from him. We're going from 2nd-4th of April, which doesn't sound long but we have 3 full days there and are definitely planning to make the most of it. Definitely going to squeeze in a trip to Dublin Zoo while we're there (I'm becoming zoo-obsessed...). I also ordered some check leggings from Topshop which came a few days ago and I am loving them! I live and die in leggings but these are without doubt the comfiest pair I've owned and I don't think my photo does them justice so I'll leave the link to them at the bottom of this post.
Finally, as I'm sure you've seen on your Facebook feed or on the news, women in the UK have been posting "no-makeup selfies" in order to raise awareness of breast cancer and get people donating. I don't know about your newsfeeds but there was a lot of negativity going around with them. People posting asking others to stop "clogging up" their newsfeeds with makeup-less photos and angrily saying it has nothing to do with breast cancer. Whether it makes sense or not those "no-makeup selfies" have raised £2million (and counting!) which is an incredible achievement that hopefully silenced those who labelled it as "pointless".
Now I think it's a great idea and I wish I had the confidence to post a makeup-less selfie but, as an Alopecia sufferer, I find it incredibly difficult to bare all of my "facial-baldness". So no I didn't post a selfie but I did donate and I hope everyone continues to do so because it is a great cause.

I'd love to hear your "no-makeup selfie" stories or if you have any tips or ideas for places to visit in Dublin they would be much appreciated too!

And anyone who's interested in those leggings:
Topshop Check Leggings (£25)

Feeling Festive #3: Christmas Pyjamas

One of the things I love about this time of year are Christmas traditions. Those things you do every year without fail or else Christmas just doesn't feel the same. I also love that everyone has different traditions so I'm here today to share one of my family's things that we do every year which maybe some of you do too. And that is Christmas pyjamas. Every Christmas Eve, after we've had our tea and we're about to wind down for the evening, we all get to open our "Christmas Pyjamas". I think the theory behind this is that we wake up fresh on Christmas day with brand new pyjamas, especially since my Dad insisted on filming us open our presents every year so we couldn't just wear any PJs! Despite the fact that I've now moved out, my Mum still insists on us having new PJs, which I'm glad about because I would hate to see that tradition fall by the way side. For the past few weeks my Mum has been pestering me to choose a pair so she can buy them, wrap them and I can act surprised when I receive them, but I'm still yet to find a pair (within our budget anyway!).

So for anyone like me who hasn't had chance to find their annual PJs or for those who feel like picking up a new tradition this year, here are a few Christmas-themed pyjamas (how many times can you say pyjamas in one blog post?!) to get you started:

Details:
1) Felicity Father Christmas Shorts & Vest Set (Boohoo.com, £10)
2) Katie Keep Calm Mistletoe Shorts & Vest Set (Boohoo.com, £10)
3) Santa Says Relax Pyjama Set (Topshop, £26)
4) Courtney Fairisle Shorts (Boux Avenue, £18)
5) South Penguin Fairisle Christmas T-Shirt (Very.co.uk, £16)
6) Sorbet Stag Print Pyjamas (Very.co.uk, £15) 
7) Betty Boop Fairisle Pyjamas (Very.co.uk, £16)
8) Minnie Mouse & Mickey Winter Hugs Pyjamas (Very.co.uk, £24)

And I'd love to know what your Christmas traditions are, so feel free to leave them in the comments below!

Feeling Festive #2: Dressing the Part!

This year I'm not feeling the most festive, whether that's because I haven't got an advent calender (how old am I?!) or because we haven't got any decorations. So starting from now I'm going to do my best to feel as Christmassy as possible, starting with plastering myself head to toe in Christmas clothes...Well maybe not completely but a Christmas jumper wouldn't go amiss. Trawling through the internet I found so many cute festive things and, if I had the money to do so, I'm sure I would've been throwing things aimlessly onto my debit card. But since I don't have the funds to do that I thought I'd just post a few of the things I've found, so here are my favourites!

1) Black Rudolph Sequin Nose Bobble Hat (New Look, £7.99)

I just thought this was adorable, not sure if I'm cool enough to pull it off but I want it!

2) Beluah Reindeer Christmas Jumper (Missguided, £16.99)
3) Acenitha Snowman Christmas Jumper (Missguided, £16.99)
Two really cute (and affordable) Christmas jumpers from Missguided. Considering you can only bust them out once a year I find a lot of these jumpers are expensive but at under £20 I think that's a reasonable price to pay.

4) Black Reindeer Light Up Christmas Jumper (New Look, £29.99)
Thought I'd include this in case you wanted the jumper to match your reindeer bobble hat! Too much? Maybe. I saw this in store and couldn't work out how it lit up but I'm sure for all of you more savvy than me about this kind of thing it'd make a cool jumper.

5) Fun Pudding Sweater (Next, £28)
Last of the festive jumpers, I just thought this was cute, albeit a bit pricey. (Yes the New Look one was more expensive but unless the pudding lights up I can't part with £28!)

6) Red & White Snowflake Fairisle Brushed Leggings (New Look, £9.99)
I've been desperate for a pair of leggings like this for so long but no matter where I look they never have my size. Maybe next year!

7) Brown Christmas Pudding Slipper Socks (River Island, £8)
Well I did say from head to toe! Don't think it gets more festive than walking around with Christmas Puddings on your feet.

8) Photographic Pug Boypant (Topshop, £4)
Maybe it's not necessary to be festive right down to your knickers but I couldn't resist a pug in a Christmas hat so these had to be included!

9) Reindeer Fairisle Ankle Socks (Topshop, £3.50)
Sort of a similar pattern to the legging but I just think festive socks are a must.

10) Christmas Character Nail Wraps (Topshop, £6)
And finally some Christmas nail wraps. I've never used nail wraps or fake nails or anything like that, I'm strictly a nail varnish kind of girl but I may be persuaded by these! They include Penguin, Santa, Gingerbread Man, Christmas tree, Rudolph and Snowman wraps. If you're going to be festive down to your knickers you may aswell do your nails too!
And the record for most uses of the word "festive" in one post goes to....