school's out forever.

(image via familyfun.go)

Okay so maybe it shouldn't say for summer, but welcome to the real world. Today I had my last ever university lecture/seminar; meaning that, besides handing in work, I don't actually have to go back to uni, ever! It's exciting, a relief but also quite terrifying. The last words that were uttered to me today as I was leaving my class was from my tutor saying,' see you at graduation!' I've waited along time for this to come but still it feels like it should be a bigger deal than this. Maybe the time to celebrate will come after all the work is handed in. Just a few more weeks then...

three years.

That's 1 095.7266 days!!

Me and Alex celebrated our three year anniversary yesterday. It wasn't quite what we had planned but never mind; at least we spent it together. I woke up in the morning feeling dizzy and v. sick, I had to call in sick to work (something I never do) and get myself down to the doctors. They told me I had a viral ear infection in my inner ear, hence way I was dizzy, feeling sick and very wobbly on my feet! I got some meds and they just knock the life out of me. What was suppose to be a shift a work followed by an evening of wining and dining, it turned into a sleep fest to then wake up and plan a nandos takeaway. As soon as I ate that I was pretty much asleep again! Luckily we exchanged gifts while I was awake; I'm still waiting for one of mine, but he got a little Mexican themed gift set as he loves spicy things etc. Hopefully next year doesn't have its hiccups of being ill, the postman not turning up with things and everything will go to plan.

my week, according to the photos i've taken.

Last week was a long one; always either at uni and work and barely at home. I've also been trying to finish Alex's birthday presents etc. I've got one more thing to buy and then I'm done. Just the cake to make; but that should be fine. Fingers crossed. My time at uni is almost at an end-time has gone so quickly it's pretty scary actually. Just got a few more bits of work to do then I'm free. The weather is so nice this week; I have a bit of time off (including an unexpected day today-I'm not 100%, got a slight ear infection, most annoying part of it is that I'm dizzy and keep losing my balance!!) and I want to make the most out of the sun. I hope everyone had a fab weekend; now excuse while I stock up on anti-dizzy meds so I can try and plan an anniversary, anti-dizzy date. Yep, I got ill on our three-year anniversary! Good timing right?!

mary mary quite contrary...

(image via: greenweddingshoes)

It's sunny days like this that I miss having a garden the most. Of course today, like yesterday, will be spent at work but I would still like the option, when I'm not at work, to sit out in our garden and enjoy the limited amount of good weather England has to offer. From our flat I can see everyone else's gardens and I feel envious and annoyed, especially as these people seem to never be out in their gardens! I suppose when I lived at home I was the same, never out in the garden, doing other things. It just goes to show that you take things for granted until they're gone. Today would be perfect for a sunny afternoon walk in the sun, stopping off somewhere for a drink in a beer garden or by the river and then coming home for the first bbq of the year. But alas, it's another full day in at work with no natural light coming in but at the door. Don't worry sun, we will meet soon.

relax.

After so many posts last week this blog has somewhat been neglected this week; too much work and uni and too little sleep is not a good combination for me.

Today I've had my first full day off in, well...I can't actually remember, and it's been lovely. Alex has been chilling out after countless long days of job hunting, and so we are both relaxing and enjoying each other's company without either of us rushing off anywhere.

I intend to spend the rest of my afternoon reading, planning and getting ahead of uni deadlines and doing little else. Perfect.

I hope you're all enjoying the sunshine; and relaxing or getting ready for the weekend.

my week, according to the photos i've taken.

A v. green, St Patrick's week this week. Me and Alex met friends in Central London to go celebrate St Paddy's. It was great; full of great friends and yummy cocktails. I also had the Saturday off so it was a wonderful chill out day with another friend coming round in the evening for some food. The downside of the week is the fact everytime either of us has a shower it soon turns into a bath as water doesn't wanna go down the drain for a while. Thank god people are coming to fix it tomorrow; I'm running out of patience with it!

so many happys!

Happy st patrick's, happy mother's day but today is the most special of all:

Happy Birthday Mum!

I hope she had a fabulous day and was made to feel very special.

mum's the word.

So it's a Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mum. I wasn't able to spend the day with her (300 miles will be the reason) but when they stayed last week I managed to get my dad to smuggle her gift into the car ready for today. Through hours of internet browsing I came across a website I wouldn't ever usually think to go on but I did and I got inspiration for my mother's day present. I stuck with the yellow theme but I tweaked what I put it in the box to reflect my mum more. Yellow is a harder colour to buy for than you'd expect but I think there was variety.

I took about my mum all day; she truly is amazing, she owns her own business and is brilliant at all see does. I hope everyone's mum's had a wonderful day and were made to feel like one in a million.

My mum's little box of sunshine.

let luck be a lady tonight.

Happy St Patrick's Day!!

I've had today off and its been lovely. Alex and I went out last night with friends to celebrate St Paddy's Day early so it was nice to catch up on sleep and do nothing today except watch the rugby and have a yummy roast. I went all out for a night out to celebrate St Paddy's; green dress, bit of green make up and of course my Irish nails. Green and gold with shamrocks painted on the gold. Hope you're all enjoying your weekend. I'll leave you with a song from my youth that seems fitting for the day.

we're early, we're early for a very important date.

So last week my parents came up and had a pit stop at our flat before we all carried on to Kent. Luckily I knew, roughly, what time they were coming and was able to put together my mum's early birthday tea party. I made sure it was a complete surprise and I think it paid off! It was a lot of baking the week leading up to it but it was worth it to see my mum's face as she saw the table. I made the colour theme purple and yellow as purple is her favourite colour and yellow as it tied in with the daffodils (another favourite of mums).

I made macaroons for the first time and I think they went pretty well, I'm definitely going to experiment with more colours, flavours and icing the next time I make them. The marshmallows that were made also went down a treat. I got the idea from the ever faithful pinterest and they turned out great. I used normal icing and made it yellow and lilac and then just coated them in sprinkles. It wasn't all sweet things though; I also made southern fried chicken bites, courgette polpettes and paninis.

The cake was my favourite thing to show my mum. I did the sneaky all white (raspberry flavour) icing to cover the cake like I did with Alex's rainbow cake, although this one had iridescent edible glitter sprinkled on top. I also decorated the top with some print out butterflies that I simply attached to garden wire (inspiration from rubyju). Once you opened the cake though it was three layers and a rich purple. My mum was very surprised and hopefully loved the cake. I take it as a good sign that half the cake, the marshmallows and the macaroons were packed up and sent home with them at the end of their stay on the Monday.

i'm gonna wash that man right outta my hair.

I love dry shampoo and I usually always have a can of it in with the rest of my hair products etc. Usually I stick to my old faithful, Batiste Original, but recently, while out shopping with my mum, we came across a new dry shampoo. Charles Worthington's Front Row Refresh and Revive Dry Shampoo. As it was part of a Boots deal my mum got one product and I got the dry shampoo. I thought I'd review the two to see how the classic lives up to my new addition.  

I first used the Batiste when I went to my first Glastonbury and it has served me every since. Maybe it is the sense of nostalgia; as I spray the can I am instantly reminded of misting up the tent every morning trying to look somewhat clean. The Batiste is perfect any time you need to sort those roots out for an extra day before you wash your hair properly. It is light in your hair and it doesn't leave any residue. However, if other people also used dry shampoo they would probably recognise instantly that you hadn't done your hair as the smell is quite distinctive.

The Charles Worthington also has its pros and cons. It is also light weight but it leaves you and your surrounding area with a slight coating of dry shampoo. Luckily it doesn't do this to your hair and it wipes away quite easily, however, I would prefer it to stay in the can or go on my head not my black clothes! It also has a fresh smell to it and isn't as distinctive as the Batiste. You can also get away an extra day without washing your hair and just using the Charles Worthington, which is always handy if you're running late in the mornings.

Overall, its a tricky one to pick, old faithful over a new product. I think for a camping trip, weekend away and tight budgets Batiste is my winner; but if you wanted it to look slightly cleaner for longer and some added volume and a 'treat yourself buy' then the Charles Worthington is the way forward.

(images via allure and boots)

handbags at dawn.

Another birthday make for mum and this one, I have to say, is my favourite. I got the original idea of decorating a canvas and making it as a present from this wonderful blog abeautifulmess. I wasn't sure how to decorate it at first, I only knew one thing- it was going to be purple. So while flicking through Pinterest and the internet I came across this beautiful find ashleyannphotography and I'm so glad I did. The bag turned out better than I had hoped for and it was simply but yet so effective-just my kind of craft. I liked adding a bit extra, I used the doily pattern in the folds of the bag on either side so when you open it, it adds more jazz. The K also had a bit of fabric paint added to it for that extra bit of sparkle. As it was part of my mum's birthday present I thought it was only right to fill the bag with even more presents. Presents in a present, you can't beat that!

candle light.

My mum's birthday is coming up but her and my dad came up last weekend and so I gave her a few of her presents early. I decided to give these tea light holders ago after seeing them here charlottehupfieldceramics. I have to say they really are as easy as she says they are. I had a little trouble getting the glue off the tins to start with but Alex looked it up and found a handy trick. If you spread the glue with peanut butter and leave for a couple of hours it should lift the glue- and luckily it did. Then you simply fill the tins up with water and freeze them. Once you've got your block of ice you can start; my pen marks for the patterns starting to wash away as the ice started to defrost so I just used dabs of nail varnish to place my markings. After that, a nail and hammer were used to make the holes. I painted them my mum's favourite colour; I ended up doing two coats and I had to use a cocktail stick to make sure the holes weren't covered by paint. It was such a simple idea but it looks so chic and pretty. I'm so pleased with how these turned out and cannot wait to try new patterns out with different colours.

my week, according to the photos i've taken.

Its been a busy week, especially the weekend, but it was all lovely. Early birthday surprises; lots of car trips; travelling the Kent countryside; visiting family and spending quality time with my parents. A lovely weekend, now a semi-chilled out day ready for work and uni for the rest of the week.

waiting.

(image via etsy)

Alex and I have a busy weekend ahead of us and we cannot wait. It'll be good to get away to Kent for the weekend and to do something a bit different. We're currently awaiting the arrival of my parents, who are staying over tonight, before we all head off early Friday morning to Kent. We've got a few things planned; including meeting my friend Chantelle, which is lovely as for once we can meet a little nearer to her side of town. We're also going to do some exploring as we're keen to stay in this area of the country but this side is more expensive that the other side. Alex is also going to be meeting my dad's side of the family. So far he has only met my gran and her husband from that side of the family so it'll be new, exciting and nerve-racking. The christening is on the Sunday and I finally have my dress. It's fairly bright so hopefully the weather will be reflect this and it'll be sunny. We're (mainly Alex) are doing some last minute cleaning before my parents arrive, so it looks a bit more presentable. Better pick up the polish and start helping...at least its not hoovering!



my week, according to the photos i've taken.

This week has been pretty easy going; an evening out with Alex and eating far too much food, having friends around and cooking, being stuck at one computer or another trying to accomplish some kind of work and milling around in my pjs. This week coming up is a lot busier but I'm looking forward to it. My parents are coming up on Thursday and then we're heading off to Kent to go to a family christening. We're also going to explore the area more as Alex and I are interested in other places to move to after uni etc. I've also got to get a couple pieces of uni work out the way before we go visiting family/explore Kent so I'm going to be a busy bee.

versatile

 

Thank the person who sends you the award and add a link to their blog in your post
Write 7 random things about yourself
Give the award to 10-15 other bloggers you love and tell them about it!
Post the Versatile Blogger Award Picture to your blog!

What a lovely thing to come home to after a long, boring Sunday at work; thanks to thatclassybrit for awarding me the versatile blog award. Her blog is wonderful, full of everything, I suggests you take a look at it.

7 Random Things...

1.I have double jointed wrists and it freaks Alex out.

2.I've watched all the lotr films more times than I can count.

(image via lotr.wikia)

3. I love nothing more than coming home and putting my pjs on.

(image via designmom)

4.There is usually always a bottle of wine in my fridge.

5.I love reality/trashy tv.

6.I own way too many sunglasses.

(image via flickr)

7.Some of the music I listen to; its like I'm my 14-year old self all over again!

Check out these blogs:

lifeasadaydreamer

jasminestreasurechest

lilmisschickas

pierrelecat

amyfbl

paperpocket

kitsch-n-sync

new music.

I countlessly hear songs while I'm out or at work and hardly ever am I in a position to find out who sings them. This time was different; a song came on our work radio, we were quiet so I sneaked to see who sung it. The answer SBTRKT.

A voice accompanied by amazing backing tracks that I can plug in, listen and instantly image myself dancing around my house to it or even better dancing on a night out to it! I love discovering new music (even if its only new music to me). I haven't really gone out my way to find new music recently and I know thats very bad. All I can say is who knew the work radio could change its habits (we usually have the saturdays and britney spears) and therefore change mine.

twitter: @SBTRKT

february loves.

# Snow.

# Date nights.

# Pinterest.



(image via obyandtarabennett)

# Finding a dress for the christening.

# Planning my makes for birthdays etc.

# Humus.



# Finishing my essay.

(image via writeawriting)

# The first signs of spring.

(image via guardian)

# Getting back into a routine.