Let's Catch Up!

Ok so as I said in my last post, I've been Blogger AWOL for 2 months so I thought I'd do a catch up post of everything that's got on in that time. It seems like an absolute blur looking back on it and trying to remember what I've been up to; what would I do without Instagram to remind me?!

End of December 2013:

// White Christmas with Gramp // Millie versus reindeer decorations // Fajita Night //
// Christmas Eve cinema trip with Mum // Christmas PJs tradition // Presents from Boyf //
// One of the Xmas presents to Boyf // Dexter & Uni Work // Presents from me to me //

I was lacking the festive spirit so my Gramp decided to put on White Christmas which, I know, is a classic but I'd never seen it. Adding to the Christmas spirit, my Nan came back with light up reindeer and sleigh for their back garden which my dog in no way appreciated; she didn't know what they were or why they were in her favourite carpet spot but she wanted them gone! Not really in-keeping with the "Christmas tone" of this part of the post but Roche and I decided to have a Fajita night which is definitely something that needs to be done more often! Then onto Christmas Eve, which is full of traditions in my family, starting with mine and my Mum's annual Christmas Eve trip to the cinema which this year involved Saving Mr Banks. I honestly can't rave about this film enough, it's just an all-round great family film full of the Disney magic I'd been missing. Christmas Eve ended how it always did, with Christmas Eve PJs, this year's being a reindeer vest and red shorts set from Boohoo. Christmas Day was full of the usual family festivities and the new addition of driving over to Roche's in the evening to do our own little Christmas. He knows me so well getting all of my favourite things; pug make-up bag and calendar, Nirvana T-Shirt and of course Batiste dry shampoo (where would I be without it!). I bought him something the big kid deep down inside of him (ok really not that deep down...) had been mentioning for months in the run up to Christmas; Lord of the Rings Lego including Gollum figurine to remind him of me (long story short: I used to get called Gollum in high school because the resemblance was uncanny). Finally, no rest for the wicked, uni work doesn't stop just because it's the last couple of days of the year but I couldn't face doing it without my beloved Dexter and buying myself some presents as a reward for trying to be a good uni student!

January 2014:

// Millie's Vets trip // My first opticians visit // My usual view //

// Cinema Trip: American Hustle // Puppy-sitting // Ruby Tuesdays // 

// Night out // Hangover Day // High School teacher on Pointless //

January absolutely flew by! So to start from the beginning (leaving out New Years which was awful), Millie does not in any way like the vets, I don't blame her, I'm probably the same when I go to the doctors but she was properly shaking and hiding under chairs and, being the mean owner that I am, I just couldn't resist taking a picture! I also, at almost 21, had my very first eye test. Probably something that was long overdue but it turns out I have good vision and no need for glasses! Summing up my usual view in photo three, Roche and football, can't say I'm in any way a football fan but I am a fan of Roche so if keeping him happy means watching men run round in shorts then it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. We also went to see American Hustle which I was kind of expecting more from considering how huge the cast was. That being said I did really enjoy it but it was one of those films where it ended and I wasn't sure what to make of it. I then got to do something I absolutely love doing; puppy-sitting! Anyone who knows me knows I'm near-enough obsessed with puppies and dogs in general and I cannot be held responsible for the "aww" noises and baby speech that leave my mouth when a puppy crosses my path so I jumped at the chance of looking after Roche's dad's puppy Jake. Little tinker. Then there was some Ruby Tuesdays action (love, love, love!) and a night out for no other reason than we all needed to de-stress and I had a new dress, which is from Missguided and has accelerated my love of tartan. With every night out, brings a hangover day which involved not really moving from the sofa for 90% of the day. Finally a total surprise while flicking through channels, I spotted my high school geography/form teacher, who has to be said was my favourite (if we're allowed to show favouritism). Needless to say he did not do very well, which was gutting because judging by Facebook we were all rooting for him! Genuinely lovely man, even when we used to wind him up a treat.

February 2014:

// Another night out // Sudden realisations // London Zoo //
// Valentine's Day // Want an adventure // Cinema trip: Lego Movie //

// Russell Howard's Wonderbox // Babysitting the Dweebs // Birthday celebrations //

And finally, February! Another birthday night out with (mostly) my favourite people to celebrate some people completing Dry January. Following that I realised that uni will be over forever in a few months and, since I've had the absolute best years of my life so far, it's the scariest thought having to leave this place and these people. I had a sudden realisation that everything is going to change (I'm not good at change!) and I have no idea what I want to do with my life. It's an adventure I suppose! Speaking of adventures, Roche booked us a trip to London Zoo for my birthday because I absolutely love zoos and the nearest one to me is Bristol which, I hate to say it, has gone downhill in recent years. Onto my first ever Valentine's Day! I know it's all commercialised and you should show you love your partners every day not just one day a year but it was my first one and no one's ever bought me roses before so safe to say I got caught up in the Valentine's moment. Also with the pressures of dissertation writing, even more recently, I've just fantasized about dropping everything, hopping on a train and exploring somewhere I've never been before. I'll do it one day, I love adventures. Yet another cinema trip to see The Lego Movie, which I didn't think would be my thing, but I surprised myself by LOVING it! I recommend it, it's just a happy film. Last week I went to see Russell Howard live and it was just the pick-me-up a needed, I was crying with laughter throughout the whole thing, he did not disappoint! Then this weekend Roche and I were puppy-sitting the troublemaking Spaniel Jake again which I will honestly never get tired of. And finally, it marked a week until London Zoo and my 21st birthday, expect a blog post!

Week Review #7: 15th December 2013

// Revision & Johnny English // Nan & Gramp's 50th Anniversary // Stole Boyf's Cap //
// Starbucks // Knackered Boyf // New Scarf //
// The Hobbit // Puppy Williams // Mum's Christmas Tree //

Sorry for the late week review (again!). Been having some health issues lately so blogging took a bit of a back seat. Last weekend was spent revising for an exam I had Monday but I couldn't resist watching Johhny English while it was on TV! Sunday I had my Nan and Gramp's 50th Wedding Anniversary meal to go to. It was so nice to be around the family because, since I've been at uni, I've spent any time with them. Considering I'm in my third year of uni that's a lot of time I've missed! One thing I will miss over Christmas is the hot chocolate in the uni Starbucks, they spare no expense on the cream! You get an absolute mountain and don't get charged for it. The last week of term is always hectic and the fact that we had 3 assignments in that week really did take it's toll on Roche, flaking out under the Christmas tree! Although he did manage to get me an early Christmas present in the form of a Topman scarf which I love; he couldn't have me being cold! (Or just got sick of me complaining about how cold I am...). Then Friday night we went to go see The Hobbit which was amazing! And featured a pug cameo which made my day. Pugs are taking over the world I tell you! Then this weekend I spent at my mum's with my dog following me round acting like my shadow (I've missed being stalked by her...) and we put up the Christmas tree! Still don't feel Christmassy though, despite typing this at my Nan's house, which resembles Santa's grotto, while watching White Christmas. It has to kick in at some point surely?!

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....

Feeling Festive #1: Gift Ideas for £15 and Under

I've already done a post about how to tackle the "I don't know what to get for So-and-So" (see here) but I thought I'd do another gift ideas post because there are some great little bits and pieces out there that won't break the bank. Whether you're looking for a stocking filler, Secret Santa or just a little something, there are so many things you can get for £15 and under. It may look like I've gone a little bit Urban Outfitters mad in this post (and maybe I have!) since 50% of the items I've listed are from there but I just think they have some really nice gift ideas. I do branch out a bit near the end I promise! So here goes...

1) Monkey Nail Dryer (Urban Outfitters, £8)
This may seem like an odd one but for someone who loves painting their nails, hates waiting for them to dry and is too lazy to sit there frantically blowing their fingers for ten minutes, this seems like a winner! And come on, look how cute it is!

2) Fuck Off Floral Eye Mask (Urban Outfitters, £8)
Excuse my language there, I suppose this is more of a joke present for that one "Do not wake me or you'll be sorry" friend that we all have. There are other eye masks on the Urban Outfitters website (including an owl and a cat) if you're not a fan of all things offensive but I'm all for acknowledging those grumpy sleepers!

3) Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal Hot Water Bottle (Urban Outfitters, £10)
Living in a student house where we can't exactly be as forthcoming with the heating as we'd necessarily like to be, I'm all for hot water bottles and I just think they're good to have in the house; everyone should have one! That with the added festive vibe I'd say this would be a pretty good stocking filler.

4) This Is Not A Book (Urban Outfitters, £8.99)
This is another book (or is it...) by Keri Smith, who also created the Wreck This Journal. I got a Wreck This Journal a few years ago and loved it, even though I'm not in the slightest bit creative. This is along the same sort of lines where each page contains an instruction or task for the reader to carry out. It's just a fun, interactive gift that makes even the least artistic people (i.e. me) look creative!

5) "Girls With Class Don't Need A Glass" Hip Flask (surprise, surprise: Urban Outfitters, £12)
Another great Secret Santa or stocking filler present for those who like a drink. It's just a really pretty take on the traditional "old man's" hip flask and you never know when you're going to need one!

6) Shot Roulette Game (River Island, £13)
Bit of a different gift idea compared to all my other ones but staying on the alcohol-theme, this just seems like a fun game, whether you use it to pre-drink with before going out or just to add something different into a social gathering.

7) Make Your Own Lip Balm Kit (notonthehighstreet.com, £15)
This is something I hadn't seen before but thought it would make a pretty cool gift for anyone who wanted to try something new. Each kit comes with enough ingredients to make 5 of your own natural lip balms. They offer four different flavour kits: strawberry, spearmint, orange and unscented and everything has already been weighed out for you so it's a really easy way to get creative!

8) Reindeer Votive Candle Holder (Boux Avenue, £5)
Again going for a festive present, I thought this reindeer candle holder was really cute and I can only imagine how lovely it would look in a dark room with a candle burning away in the middle of it.

9) A Little Scented Something Drawer Sachet (Boux Avenue, £6)
Another little stocking filler (not that we're saying any of our friends have smelly drawers!), I thought this was really pretty and I just remember my Nan always used to have little potpourri balls in all of her drawers so I guess this is just a prettier, more modern version of those to leave your drawer and underwear smelling nice.

Week Review #6: 8th December 2013

//Train Essentials // Train Selfie // Liverpool was Christmassy //
// Roche // Star Wars Purchase // Costa //
// Liver Building // Dinosaurs at the Museum // Roche Again //

A very much overdue week review! So last week I went to Liverpool for a few days with my boyfriend to do some more sightseeing and Christmas shopping in a city that we both love. We got to do a lot more this time round and it definitely seemed less rushed. On the Wednesday we just wandered round and hit the shops because the 4 hour train journey killed us off; who knew you could get so tired from just sitting on a train for 4 hours?! I didn't buy a whole lot but I did pick up a Star Wars top that's got the characters as they would be in the 70s if they were in their school year book. Then just had a chilled evening of food and drinks. After the last couple of weeks of uni it was definitely a welcome break, just to relax away from Cardiff and spend some quality time together because, despite being on the course and seeing each other every day in uni because of that, it felt like we'd hardly actually spent any time together (weird).

// Couldn't resist train selfies! //

// Chilled evening with the pub and a wander round looking at festive things //

Thursday was when the real sightseeing happened. We got up early to make the most of our day because we had to get the train back at 5pm. Started with yet more shopping (how could we resist?!) then we walked down to see the Liver building, think we must have taken a photo of it from every single possible angle between us!

// Morning of shopping! //

// Liver Building // Museum of Liverpool //

From there we saw the Museum of Liverpool and thought what better way to learn more about the city than find out about its history which was actually really interesting. After that we took a wander down to Albert Dock, which I can imagine looks so pretty at night, where we stopped for a much needed Costa! There's a definite Beatles vibe in a lot of the places we saw around the city (understandably) yet this time we didn't manage to actually do any of the Beatles tours or go to the Cavern Club which I reeeally wanted to do.

// Costa // Dinosaurs! // Ancient Greece // Roche //

But hey ho there's always next time! Finally we had a bit of time to kill before our train so we went to the World Museum (two museums in one day, how cultured do we think we are?!). Couldn't resist going to see the dinosaurs first, we're suckers for anything prehistoric so standing infront of a dinosaur skeleton for five minutes was enough to turn us back into excited children on a school trip. There was also a little aquarium in there and I loved the Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Greek exhibitions (yes, Disney's Hercules songs were playing in my head the whole time I was in that one!). 

Then we had the looong train journey back which, after all that walking the last two days, I found it very difficult to stay awake in. Next time I'd love to visit the Cavern Club since we missed it this time round and I'd definitely want to do the Sightseeing Bus, not only to save my little legs, but because I like knowing all the inside information the tour guides tell you.

All in all a much needed few days!

The Joys (and "Not-So-Joys") of Christmas Shopping

Nothing I like better than seeing my puppy under the Christmas tree

(Last year's photo, don't worry I haven't gone decoration mad yet!)

So Christmas time is very nearly (if not already) upon us and that comes hand-in-hand with the dreaded Christmas shopping. Don't get me wrong I love going around buying presents for people and seeing their faces when they open them, the bit I dread is the first step: thinking of what to get people. With some people you know straight away what you can get them and what they'll love, with others it's not that easy. Even people you know exceptionally well can be difficult to buy for, I'm sure we all know people who, as soon as they want something, they buy it making it hard to figure out what's left in the world that they could possibly want. While others *cough* my dad *cough* without me even having to ask, a month before christmas (or his birthday or father's day) without fail will email me a list of things he wants and I just pick a few from the list. As easy as that makes it I don't like just getting people things they've asked for because, lets face it where's the fun of Christmas if there are no surprises?!

I'm super-organised (borderline OCD) when it comes to lists, lists over the years have become a sort of obsession (yes I've previously made a list of all the lists I needed to be making...). So here are a few tips that have got me through many years of present giving:

1) Make a list (or a brainstorm/spider diagram/mind-map) of all of the things that person likes. It could be anything; music, tv programmes, even colours and patterns (e.g. my housemate loves leopard print so that would definitely go on the list). This could spark some kind of idea and, with the help of key word searching on Amazon/Google/Ebay, you can get some really different ideas. For example: typing "Breaking Bad" into Amazon, within seconds I found, not only the boxsets, but some really cool tshirts, mugs and even one of those bobbleheads that people have in their cars (yes, really!). So you started with a tv programme but don't necessarily have to get anything DVD related. So your friend could be sitting down next to their Breaking Bad bobblehead watching Breaking Bad while wearing their Breaking Bad tshirt, drinking from their Breaking Bad mug...too far?

2) Joke Presents. Now everyone likes a laugh and a surprise so what better way of adding to your gift than getting an additional joke present. Joke presents are rarely expensive but can cause a chuckle and a lot of the time show you've made the time to get them something personal. You could use lists again or think of something off the top of your head but it's always good to think of some of the inside jokes you may have with that person. For example, one year a friend of mine got given a pillowcase with Edward Cullen's face on because she once got with a Robert Pattinson-lookalike and she has forever regretted it. Silly things but it got a smile and a giggle and isn't that what Christmas is all about?

3) Days Out. Presents don't always have to be gift wrapped under the tree (as nice as that is), sometimes a day out after Christmas can be more fun and kind of extends the festive season. Like I'm desperate to go to the zoo so I'd think that was a good present. Another example is my boyfriend supports Liverpool so for his birthday this year I paid for us to stay up there and do a tour of the Liverpool stadium. I don't think any item I could have bought him would have made him as happy as he was while we were up there. 

One last random idea that I like is for your boyfriend/girlfriend you could get them the DVD of every film you saw in the cinema together on your dates (providing they liked the film obviously!). I just think it shows a lot of thought and it's personal, shows that that time meant something to you. Now this may seem excessive if you've been together for like 4 years because that could potentially be a lot of DVDs! But in those cases maybe set a time limit of all the films you've seen in the cinema in the last 6 months or a year etc.

So now I've waffled on for this long, I'd love to know what your Christmas present ideas and tips are for this year?