I ordered this cardi on a random spur when I realised that although my summer wardrobe was building up quite nicely I had nothing to wear over all my clothes as a jacket, so after looking through all the standard websites - Misguided, Asos, Boohoo - this Boohoo cardi stood out to me. When I initially tried it on I just felt like a professor, not really helped by Matthew asking me why I was in a Harry Potter gown but after seeing my friend Becky wear a similar style I realised I do actually really like it! Paired with this dress and my trusty DM's I think it a great grungy summer look, one that I'm sure I will be wearing often!
My life the past couple of weeks feels so scattered. After I finished my exams I went back to school for a couple of weeks then my weekends were taken up by a dance competition so had barely anytime to focus on blogging. The past week I've been doing work experience at a PR company in London. It has been such a tiring week but such an insightful and interesting week. I'm extremely lucky that I can go back and do it for three more weeks in the summer! I break up from school this week and then am focusing on my dance show which is two weeks today ( so scary!) but am hoping to get back into the swing of blogging and post regularly!
So yeah, I think that was a really boring and rambling post but look out for a new video on my Youtube channel soon!
Bit of a random post today but I've been at a dance competition all weekend (Dance Mums UK were filming - and yes, my dance school beat them *smug face*) so due to stage make-up and my general laziness I haven't shot any outfit photo's. But with an order form Boohoo and H&M in the works along with my Topshop buys, my summer wardrobe will be ready to shine soon! However because of blogger being very dodge I wrote this post on Sunday but have only been able to post it today, sorry for the 10 days unplanned break!
I love music. It is another form of escape for me. To be comforted by words that you can relate to, to have background music to stop you thinking, and just generally to cheer you up. And my (guilty?) pleasure is country music. I don't really know where this developed from but I always like 'soft' music, I think I have my sister to thank for her getting me into Taylor Swift's earlier songs a couple of years ago. But recently there has been a lot of new young country musicians that have been fueling my need for summery music. So I thought I would introduce them to you;
Lucy Hale
'I'm that girl you think that's got it figured out.
But I walk around, with a head full of doubt.' - Nervous Girls
Mostly known for her role in the tv series Pretty Little Liars as Aria, she has branched out from PLL and recently released her first album. Before she got into acting her main passion was country music, and you can totally see that in her album. It has a range of slow meaningful ballads like 'Nervous Girls' and 'Road Between' to upbeat happy songs like 'You Sound Good to Me' and 'Kiss Me.' It is going to be on replay all summer I think, I just wish I could have a sing-a-long with Madeleine to it!
Dan and Shay
'Shades on spinning in a summer rain
Dancing in the rain no music
Just the right kind of crazy' - Nothin' Like You
Relatively new to the country music scene, Dan and Shay are a duo who after meeting in December 2012 got a recording contract within two months and a year later had there first single 'You+Me' already playing on the country radio. I came across them through Scooter Braun and James Mcvey tweeting about them so looked them up and was incredibly surprised. Their album - Where it all Began - is full of summery songs with romantic lyrics and an upbeat feel. I can imagine listening to it in the sun with the roof down and singing at the top of my voice. My favourites would have to be 'You+Me' and 'I Heard Goodbye.'
Hunter Hayes
'There's so much more to life than what you're feeling now
Someday you'll look back on all these days
And all this pain is gonna be invisible' - Invisible
Around February/ March time I was obsessed with Hunter Hayes' first album then I was treated because in May, just when I was getting slightly bored of his songs, he released his second album - Storyline! I haven't decided which album I like best but they seem both on par with each other. Hunter is such an amazing musician, he can play the piano and guitar and by watching his #Fortheloveofmusic youtube series you can see that he is just striving to be the best he can be and loves nothing better than to perform on stage. My favourites on this album would have to be 'Wildcard' and 'Storyline' for their punchy lyrics and rhythm but I also love 'Tattoo' 'Invisible' and 'Still Fallin!' To be honest, I love them all! It has such a range of ballads to upbeat songs that it is also, a perfect country album!
So there you have it, my playlist for the beginning of these summer months is mainly country based. And although it's quite random and not popular music for girls like me ,I love it and I'm not going to hide my guilty pleasure! Now for the denim, checked shirts and cowboy boots...
Do you like country music?
Currently Reading - Maya Angelou's I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Such a thought=provoking, interesting and amazingly written book!
On the Thursday of half term I travelled into London for the third day and went for my Christmas present to Topshop for a personal shopper experience. Now I won't say much about it because I've been sunbathing too long in this gorgeous weather and I need to get ready for dancing. Buutt, It was so fun! When I got there the person helping me, Rachel, had already picked out 10 or so outfits from my 'brief' I had given before. I then spent an hour trying them on, mixing and matching and asking for anything else. It was so fun and a really great way to getting a start on my summer wardrobe. I filmed a whole talky type haul video but really didn't like the outcome so bundled together this short video to show you what I got!
I go back to school tomorrow for the last few weeks before summer. It feels like it will be a bit of a drag but I'm hoping it will fly by as it's mainly focusing on our personal statements then I've got a work experience placement!
What's your favourite piece in my video?
Currently Reading - The One by Kiera Cass lived up to expectations and I finished it within one afternoon.
Currently Playing - Lucy Hale's album 'Road Between' has also lived up to expectations, my favourites at the moment is 'Just another Song' 'Kiss me' and 'Road Between!'
I have finished my exams for this year! The Friday feeling is top-notch right now, it's just so exciting! I actually have to go back to school until July so that is a bit of a bummer but that's on Wednesday so I have a little while yet! I'm so excited to have a bit of freedom from revision and exams for a while!
A bit of a random post this afternoon but if you saw my London vlog you will have seen me in a garden looking over Oxford Street. My mum and I were wondering in John Lewis ( I got very excited about some garden furniture...) when I saw a sign for a 'rooftop garden' so we went and explored to find out that it is part of their 150 years celebration. Now I felt a bit like I did in my reflections post, I think that there is something about looking over people and being disconnected from the street that really intrigues me. It was so lovely laid out with plants everywhere and the cutest garden furniture. The English geek is me thought how it was an oxymoron/juxtaposition/contrast between the urban view that went on for miles to the green plants living in the city on the top of a massive building. There was a serenity of being away from the hustle and bustle of one of the busiest streets on London and just being a spectator. The view was spectacular - funnily enough a few days before I was saying how I've never seen London from a height (like the London eye) but I have now, and it didn't disappoint! There was something so special about this area that I just had to share!
Now reading: I finished 'Broken hearts, Severed Heads' at the beginning of this week and LOVED it! It was such a refreshing YA novel that was slightly different to the traditional, hence why I think I liked it so much. I've got a new kindle! Thanks to my amazing parents who have replaced my old one so I plan to download Kiera Cass The One and spend all day tomorrow reading it, I've been waiting for the final in this triology for a while!
Throughout winter I had thought to myself how cool it would be to accessorise some outfit photo's with this massive umbrella but never seemed to get round to it. So when I went to shoot these before going to London last Monday and it was raining, I jumped at the chance - my mum, not so much. She stood hidden from the rain inside whilst attempting to zoom to get some decent photo's, which I think she did actually manage to!
When I went shopping to Primark a couple of weeks ago I picked up about 10 dresses to try on! Most of them were pale pink with a collar and I was certain I would end up getting one however none looked right, but then I slipped this dress on and it was perfect. It fit great, it looked great and could it be anymore great? (Well, yes - the zip could have not broken and I wouldn't of had to go back and get a replacement buuut) No! Sheeesh, what an overuse of a word! I think it has a subtle grungy 90's type feel yet remaining girly which is the exact vibe I'm liking at the moment. So I paired it with my trusty DM's (I promise I'll get some new shoes soon) my gold watch, matte white nails and I was ready to go!
You can check out the vlog of my day trips to London here - without blowing my own trumpet too loud I'm actually quite proud with this video. So would love it if you could give it a watch and let me know what you think of it/ what I could improve! Also subscribe whilst your there *shameless plug.*
Now reading: You can see over there < - Check out my goodread's page to see my recommendations, what I'm currently reading and what I plan to read!
Now Playing: Patiently waiting for Lucy Hale's album to be released tomorrow!
On Wednesday I travelled to London to meet up with Jordan but completely forgot to take
many photo's. I had been so intent on vlogging it and because of that I
forgot to take out my camera and take photo's! But these three photo's seem to
be the only ones took whilst at Ed's diner. When we firstmet up after both
being overwhelmed by the massiveness of Kings Cross and unable to spot each
other we jumped on the tube to Camden Town. We wondered around the markets
aimlessly for a while, browsing and looking at lots of different things.
However due to the weather (rain rain and more rain) we decided to be all
sterotypical and go to Starbucks. Here we just had the loveliest chat, chatting
about I don't even know what! After some more wondering we decided to venture
to Oxford Street. We ended up going to Ed's Diner which I ever only go to when
I'm with blogger friends! After taking a few selfies etc we jumped back
onto the tube and said our goodbye's.
I feel like I have literally just given you a run
down of our day like a schedule. Sorry for this bitty blog post. Last night I
felt a bit overwhelmed with all the content I have from the last few days. I
vlogged my three days in the city, I've got lots of new purchases and had some
fun experience's so all of these will probably be posted in a weird and odd
timescale, sorry!
P.S. I've also decided that this is going to be the
first post of my new series that I will be starting on the blog; as I will be
(hopefully) spending a lot of the summer I figure this is a good way to
document them!
Now reading: I've just finished The Treatment by Suzanne Young -
I really really enjoyed it, the concept is so strange and odd but found it
really hard to put down!
So, with not shooting an outfit in a month I suddenly become awkward and unable to take a nice photo! But alas, you can see the outfit at least. I got these jeans near the beginning of the month and have literally fallen in love. They are so loose-fitting and comfortable, have the right amount of 'distressed denim' and I just really like how they sit. When I first tried them on, before a school mufti day, I instantly disliked them and was going to send them straight back. But reflecting on that I knew the only reason I disliked them was because they were so different to what I usually wore. But I knew that 'Life begins at the end of your comfort zone' (cheeseyy, I know) and took the plunge to wear them to school. And actually felt confident wearing something different!
I have seen this hairstyle around a lot at the moment. At first on Kylie Jenner, my friend Emily and then on Megan. After a few attempts I think I got the hang of it, and it was soo comfy! It was just really handy as all my hair stayed off my face but it was still 'down' in a sense.
This afternoon I'm off to London (one of my three trips this week!) with my family to go out for a meal and see War Horse to celebrate Madeleine's birthday and the fact she goes to Australia on Wednesday for two months - jealous doesn't even begin to cover it!
Motel Rocks always have sample sale's in London and every time I really want to go but can't because it's in London and school etc buuut on Thursday they are having one on Great Portland Street and I'm already going to be in London for a Topshop personal shopper thing (more about that later) so am going to pop along! I'm very excited to see what they have to offer!
Once again another obligatory 'sorry for my absence' from my blog front whole scenario - The last week or so all I have been doing is revising and dancing and whenever I got a break, I slept! But with one exam left in two weeks I've spent yesterday and today recovering.
Last year I attempted some video's on youtube but got really frustrated with editing etc so thought I would stick to blogging but since then I have become even more obsessed with youtube and figured why not try it out? So yesterday I filmed and edited with quite a few hiccups but overall I'm quite pleased with the result!
What do you think? Do you have any suggestions for future videos?
Now Reading: In the last two weeks I have read - Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green, If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman.
I am super super excited for If I Stay the film to be released - even if I watch the trailer, I sob!
You know when you sit in an exam and have actually nothing to write? Yeah, that was me today. I had my English AS exam this morning and it was okaaaay, not great but not horrific but my History paper this afternoon was awful. I had revised and felt fairly prepared but the questions that came up were so specific and hard. I just need to forget it and focus on my two next week. Speaking of exams - sorry for the absence! I'm now on study leave, which although it means being home all day it means when I do anything that fairly resembles relaxing, I feel bad. But afternoon 3 1/2 hours in the exam room today I felt I deserved to blog!
Pens - Before my exam today I needed to buy some pens and came across these colourful delights in Tesco. They came in a pack of 6 black and 6 different colours and they are so pretty! They made my morning just a little bit better.
Make-up - These two pieces; Rimmel Match Perfection in Ivory and Loreal's Superliner and my recent purchases. Typically lots of my make-up ran out at the same time so in to slowly build up my next stash I re-purchased my two favourites that I use most days!
Books - I recently read If I Stay and loved it, It is said to be the 'next' Fault in Our Stars and although it didn't touch me as much as TFIOS did, I re-watched the trailer and once I finished it tears were streaming down my face. But, I need recommendations! My most recents reads are Emma by Jane Austen, You before Me by Jojo Moyes, The Book Thief and If I Stay so if you have any recommendations that you figure I might like, let me know! I recently saw Jesy's instagram and am so jealous of her stash of books!
Food - During study leave I am really trying to make a conscious effort to try and eat healthy and do more exercise. I've started my motivation by watching healthy lunch ideas video like this, this and this!This has actually made me excited to be healthy! I'm trying to substitute my unhealthy snacks with fulfilling ones - like dried cranberries and cashew nuts. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up!
Youtube - I am fully obsessed with youtube, it's actually an unhealthy obsession! But I've recently been thinking of trying to take it up and make my own video's recently - I had a brief stint with it last summer but I'm just really tempted to shoot something in half term and see how it comes out, What do you think?
P.S. Congrats if you read this far, it was an incredibly rambly post - that is what not blogging for a week does to me! I really really hope to shoot an outfit post soon so keep an eye out for one soon!
