How My 2016 Went

2016 has flown by and we're all getting ready to welcome in a new year.

So I thought I would share with you all what 2016 was like for me.

There were some amazing highs I visited New York for the first time it's been at the top of my bucket list since I was around 13.
This holiday was fantastic and despite me getting ill the day before going I powered through and honestly I loved it. The sights were everything I'd imagined and more. My favourite had to be the Empire State Building at night it was stunning!

I started a distance learning degree with my work. Progression and all that once I complete this job will have a Bachelor of Science. I've finished two modules so far and have achieved solid 2:1 marks in both. Wasn't sure how I was going to fare with uni work but turns out I'm managing it rather well.

Blogmas #25: Merry Christmas!

It's CHRISTMASSSSSS!

Just a quick post after copious amounts of food and drink to wish everyone reading this a Merry Christmas.

I hope your day has been lovely and that you all got everything that you wanted!

I've been truly spoilt and had a wonderful day celebrating with family.

Currently snacking and watching the TV special christmas programmes. 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Blogmas #23/24: Christmas Eve

So I missed another Blogmas yesterday 2 out of 25 isn't bad right?

Christmas eve is finally here and to be honest it doesn't feel like tomorrow is going to be christmas where on earth has this year gone!?

I've spent my Christmas eve at the Birmingham Christmas market with family. 

Lots of food has been eat and mulled wine has been drunk. 

It was all very festive with the cute style stalls on display. As I've said previously I do love a good Christmas market.

The rest if this evening will be spent relaxing and possibly watching Elf aka the best Christmas film!!

This post is short and sweet as the mulled wine has made me a tad dozy.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas eve!

Thanks for Reading!

Blogmas #22 Christmas Gift Guide: Book Lovers

Christmas Gift Guide for Book Lovers

It's probably a bit late for another gift guide but for all you last minute shoppers out there here are my gift guide suggestions for any book lovers.

1. Book Lovers Calendar - This is available from Waterstones and is the perfect calendar for any avid readers.

2. Books I Have Read & Books I Want to Read - This is also from Waterstones and is great for writing down observations on books you have read and making notes on any book titles that have caught your eye to remember later.

Blogmas #21 Winter Lipstick Choices

Winter Lipstick Choices

It's almost Christmas where has the time gone and how have I managed to post for Blogmas nearly every day madness! I thought I would quit after the first week.

Todays Blogmas post for you all is on my winter lipstick choices, if you read my blog or follow me on Twitter you will know that I am a massive lipstick fan. I own far too many with some of them being similar shades (what can I say I'm a sucker for a dark red.)

Blogmas #20 Festive Hot Chocolate from Starbucks and Costa

Festive Hot Chocolate

If there's one thing I really love around this time of year it is that the coffee shops bring out all of the festive drinks.

I always opt for a festive hot chocolate- always!

So I thought I would share with you my favourites from Costa and Starbucks this year.

First up was the Costa Mint Hot Chocolate this tasted divine and you even got a mini candy cane - so cute!

Blogmas #19 Chocolate Covered Peppermint Creams

As you saw from my last Blogmas post I baked some festive peppermint cakes, if you have not seen this post you can check that out here.

After icing and decorating these cakes I had ALOT of leftover icing which seemed such a waste to throw away.

I remembered once making peppermint creams out of some icing and thought why not give it a go with the leftovers. So to the runny icing I added in more and more icing sugar and mixed until the icing formed almost a dough. I then made this into circles and placed them on a plate in the fridge to harden for at least 3 hours.

Blogmas #18 Festive Cupcakes

Today's Blogmas is some more festive baking! I love a bit of cake baking and decorating.

I found some mini candy canes and knew I wanted to put them on some cakes. These are my interpretation of peppermint cupcakes.

The ingredients you need for this are:

- 4 ounces butter

- 4 ounces caster sugar

- 2 eggs

- 4 ounces self raising flour

- Icing sugar

- mini candy canes for decoration

- Peppermint flavouring
- Red food colouring

Blogmas #17 Lush Father Christmas Bathbomb

I felt like I needed abit of a pick-me-up after a long week so I headed over to Lush to pick up a christmas themed bathbomb to put me back in the festive spirit.

After having a look and a sniff of all the different Christmas bathbombs on offer. I opted for the Father Christmas bathbomb. One because it epitomises Christomas and two because it smells like candyfloss! This is my first Christmas bathbomb purchase from Lush this year (slacking I know!)

Blogmas #15/16: Christmas Traditions

So I missed a day of Blogmas! This was due to many reasons and unforseen circumstances that I just did not get a post written or have any time in the day to get it done. If I was a more organised person this post would have been written well in advance and ready to just press publish. Alas I like to leave things to the last minute and rush through them.

This post will count as day 15 and day 16 to keep the number order going.

Blogmas #14: Shrewsbury Winter Festival

Last weekend was the second Shrewsbury Winter Festival. I had gone to the one last year and really enjoyed so jumped at the chance to go again this year.

The only catch to this I would say is that you have to purchase a ticket for £6 whereas every other Christmas market or fayre I have been to recently has been free admission. Seems a bit of a steep price purely for entry considering the volumes of people that would visit it.

But nevertheless it was still a good Christmas market with a wide variety of stands, a lot from local  businesses as well so that's always a good thing.

Blogmas #13: Christmas Baking

Christmas Baking

Tis the season to bake festive themed treats. I saw the recipe for these on one of Zoella's YouTube videos and thought I would give it a go.

The base is brownies I used a box mixture from Betty Crocker (I'm lazy and I don't have the brownie knack just yet.)

Blogmas #12: Telford Christmas Market

If there's one thing that gets me into the Christmas spirit it's a good Christmas market. Food, gifts, drinks, attractions and more food!

This year in Telford they had their own German market is quite small I'd say 15 stands at the most but quaint non-the-less.

Definitely worth a trip out if you like that sort of thing.

Blogmas #11: Favourite Christmas Songs

Favourite Christmas Songs

Blogmas day 12 is all about Christmas Songs here are some of my favourite songs to belt out during the festive season!

1. All I Want for Christmas - Mariah Carey

2. Fairytale of New York - The Pogues,  ft Kirsty MacColl

3. Merry Christmas Everyone - Slade

4. Last Christmas- Wham!

5. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee

6. I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday - Wizzard 

7. The Power of Love - Gabrielle Aplin (it was on the John Lewis ad it counts.)

8. Do you Hear What I Hear (not sure who originally sang this one)

Those are my favourite Christmas Songs.  What are yours?

Thanks for Reading!

Blogmas #10 Decorating the Workplace for Christmas

It's tradition at work to put up decorations for Christmas.

We have loads of hanging decorations and a lot of ceiling space to fill!

This is generally the first day of December we have half a day of setting up all the decoratioons around the library.

Blogmas #9 Much Wenlock Christmas Fayre

Saturday the 3rd of December was the Much Wenlock Christmas Fayre and lights switch on. They closed off the whole of the town and had 100 stalls for visitors to peruse comprising of gifts, trinkets and of course food.

Blogmas #8: Christmas Jumpers

Christmas Jumpers

A staple around the festsive period is the Christmas jumper. If you don't have a Christmas jumper day where you work have you even lived?

We have one every year and I have got into the habit of buying a new jumper to mark the occasion.

These are the Christmas jumpers I currently own I'm definitely a fan of the cutesy ones and the festive animals.

The gingerbread man one and the polar bear one are from Primark (they do some bargain festive jumpers) and the penguin one is from Tesco's.

I'm such a fan of Christmas jumpers and I think it has to be obvious what they are these subtle winter pattern ones do not count!

There's just something about wearing a Christmas jumper that gets you into the festive spirit.

If you're looking to buy one my suggestions would be go to Primark, Tesco or Asda (they have some good ones in this year at reasonable prices.)

What type of Christmas jumper do you normally go for?

Thanks for Reading!



Blogmas #7: 10 Things I Love About the Festive Season

I think it's safe to say everyone has their own specific reasons to love the festive season and I wanted to share with you 10 things that I love about this time of year.

1. Festive Hot Chocolates - be they Starbucks, Costa or your own home made you can't beat a good festive hot chocolate. My favourite currently has to be the peppermint hot chocolate on offer in Starbucks.

Blogmas #6: Christmas Candles

Christmas Candles

If there's one thing I love it's a good scented candle so when it comes to Christmas time it is definitely time to break out the festive candles.

After all who doesn't love a good festive scent cinammon, spiced apple it makes everything feel that much more homely!

I had a subscription box for scent melts last year and of course they had a christmas themed box so I have built up quite the collection.

Scents included:

- Cinnamon Sticks

- Peppermint

- Whiskey

- Mistletoe

- Christmas-O-Tree (their own scent)

- Christmas Pudding

Blogmas #5: Gift Guide: For Him

Christmas Gift Guide for Him

Blogmas day 5 and we have a Christmas gift guide for him! While the photo has specific items my gift guide will be more generalisations.

Alcohol

Always a good start find out what their favourite beverage is and buy them some cans or a bottle. It's Christmas why not splurge for the fancy alcohol it makes a good gift.

Body Sprays/Aftershaves

A standard gift for any guy be they your boyfriend, brother or father. After all who doesn't need a nice smelling aftershave? The stereotypical one being Lynx sprays. Boots and TK Maxx do some nice gift sets of this sort of thing around Christmas.

Tesco Dairy Free Finds

I'm always looking out for good dairy free finds when I'm out food shopping. While in Tesco the other week I noticed they had really expanded their Free From range so I picked myself up some goodies.

Blogmas #4: Festive Hot Chocolate

Peppermint White Hot Chocolate

Another thing I love about the festive season is when all the festive drinks hit the coffee shops. 

I decided to have a go at making my own festive hot chocolate.

I'm a big fan of white chocolate so I thought I would make a peppermint white hot chocolate.

The ingredients I used are:

- White Chocolate

- Peppermint Flavouring

- Milk

- Whipped Cream

- Festive Sprinkles

Blogmas #3: Favourite Christmas Films

My Favourite Christmas Films

One of my favourite things about the Christmas Season has to be all the Christmas films! Who doesn't love having a pyjama day with cosy blankets and food watching Christmas films.

So I thought I would share with you all some of my favourite Christmas films to watch around this time of the year!

Blogmas #2: Gift Guide: For Her

Christmas Gift Guide for Her

Do you struggle to find that perfect Christmas gift for your daughter, friend, girlfriend, niece etc?

Here are some ideas that can hopefully help you out!

Sleek i-Divine Palettes

Perfect for any makeup or eyeshadow lover these palettes are budget friendly at £8.99 each which for 12 eyeshadows is a bargain! The shadows are good quality and pigmented a perfect makeup treat and there are so many colour options it might be hard to choose! These can be found at Boots or Superdrug.

Blogmas #1: First Day of Blogmas

The Festive season is upon us and for bloggers that means one thing - it's time for Blogmas again!

For those of you who don't know what Blogmas is it's where a blogger posts everyday until the 25th of December with festive blog posts. These can range from anything be it gift guides to a persons favourite christmas films.

Travel: Italy: Ventimiglia Friday Market

As Nice is so close to the boarder between France and Italy we decided to hope over for the day and visit the Friday Market in Ventimiglia. This was probably the closest tourist attraction we could find that would mean it was a day trip only.

Rate or Slate: Nyx Lingerie Liquid Lipsticks

As you can probably guess from my many posts I am a big fan of liquid lipsticks especially matte liquid lipsticks. I've been waiting for ages for the NYX Lingerie Liquid Lipsticks to be stocked in Boots and finally the other day I went in and realised my prayer had been answered.

Don't get me wrong I could have ordered these online but as some of the shades looked similar I wanted to see the swatches for myself.

Nice Le Banthai Restaurant

While in Nice we visited a few restaurants and found some firm favourites for food. One of these was Le Banthai in the Old Town.

As you can probably guess the food they had on offer was Thai food. We had walked past this restaurant a couple of times and the aromas wafting out of the door were mouthwatering.

Travel: Nice Market

While in Nice we visited the market they have looking for some souvenirs and bargains. The market runs down a strip in between restaurants in the old town and had lots of potential gift ideas and food. Which is always a must!

Jeffree Star Rose Matter Velour Liquid Lipstick Review

I'm a massive fan of Jeffree Star Cosmetics particularly the Velour Liquid Lipsticks. One colour I have been dying to get my hands on for a while was Rose Matter. You literally have to keep up to date with the Jeffree Star social media accounts as restocks of each colour are sporadic and random.

Finally though I have my hands on this colour and wanted to share with you my thoughts and a lip swatch for pale skin. 

Kylie Cosmetics Ginger and Kymajesty Review

I had a sneaky purchase off of Kylie Cosmetics at the end of October. This was when they had the offer on that every order would receive a free Kymajesty Metal Matte lipstick.

I was really tempted by the Kymajesty when it was first released but wasn't sure if I would be able to pull it off so decided against it. When this offer came up I jumped at the chance, considering how much the delivery is a free lipstick seemed like a pretty sweet deal.

Along with the Kymajesty I ordered the single Ginger Liquid Lipstick. Here are my thoughts on both of these products and some lipswatches.

Lush Autumn Leaf Bath Bomb

Another week another Lush bathbomb to turn my bath water into magical colours. This week I am using the Autumn Leaf bathbomb, I have seen so many instagram pictures of this bathbomb and I knew I had to give it a try.

Korean Beauty from TK Maxx

I've heard so many rave reviews of Korean beauty products and how good they are for your skin. 

I've been wanting to try something Korean beauty wise for awhile and the other week while I was in TK Maxx I noticed they had a whole rack of these animal themed face masks. 

I already love a good face mask so I knew I had to try one. It turns out the face masks are actually animal themed and make you look like the animal on the box. You get three face masks in a box. This one is The Creme Shop Wake Up, Skin! Animated face mask. In rejuvenating coconut gel. This one in particular was £3.99.

Tour of Galimard Parfumerie

One of the tours we had while in Nice was a trip round the Galimard Parfumerie in Eze-village on the way to Monaco.

While here we were given a tour round where they explained how different perfumes were made and we were shown the process.

Nice: Day Out in Monaco

Another of our many day trips out was to Monaco, this was something we had booked in advance as part of a guided tour.

They took us to Monaco ville and Monte Carlo, no sights were included but we had time in the tour to go visit them.

Lush Northern Lights Bath Bomb

I've been slacking on the blogging scene again being ill and uni work has kept me busy and I've honestly just felt quite demotivated. I have so many draft posts and I just haven't found the time to write them. One thing that has inspired me to get back into the swing a bit is the Halloween/Christmas Lush products.

A Day in Cannes

While in Nice we took a day trip out to Cannes known for the glitzy film festival and stunning scenery.

We lucked out and the weather was sunny and incredibly warm. We were hoping to have a tour of the Palais des Festivals but happened to visit while there was a business conference on.

The Worst Holiday Experience I Have Ever Had

I want to do a wonderful post about my holiday in Nice and talk about the culture, the food and the stunning views, but before I can do that I feel I need to get this post out.

There was one major thing that put a dampner on the whole holiday, there are many ways it could have been avoided but the main thing is that it is not what you expect staying in a 4* hotel.

If you were looking for a happy holiday post this is not the one, wait for the next one.

I want to note that this was purely my experience and if you have been there before you may have had a different far better one.

Restaurant Review: The Indian Lounge, Nice

Last week I was on holiday in Nice, France (there will be a blog post specifically on this shortly) 

While there we ate at a restaurant called the Indian Lounge. Located in the Old Town down one of the sides streets, this bright colourful place caught our eye and the aromatic smell of delicious Indian food drew us in. 

The restaurant was so unique and beautifully decorated that I felt it deserved its own blog post.

Sleek I Divine Vintage Romance Palette Review

I am a huge fan of Sleek Makeup affordable products with a high end brand type quality yes please!

One of my favourite purchases thus far is their Vintage Romance eyeshadow palette.

Travel: Yosemite National Park

Another stop on our trip was Yosemite National Park which is located in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. 

The park is stunning and absolutely massive we were put on the tourist trail in the valley which wasn't long and there was no chance of you losing your way and getting lost, you could just follow the crowds. The weather was sweltering but the trees gave off some much needed shade and you got sprayed with water from the waterfalls while walking by.

Travel: Disneyland California

You can't visit California and not go to Disneyland! While on our two week tour this was a must! This was one of the last few trips on the tour, you know what they say save the best for last!

We were lucky that when we went it landed on the 60th Celebration and they had exclusive merchandise and special parades going onto celebrate.

I had never been to Disney before and I am a massive fan, so of course I was like a kid in a sweet shop when we went and what better one to visit than the original Disneyland park?

(Please note: Ignore my outfit in these photos, it was a 2 week trip and towards the end of it stylish was not a look I could go for.)

Travel: The Grand Canyon

Over a year ago now I visited America for the first time, one of the places that was at the top of my travel list! I went on a two week tour around California (This included Arizona and Nevada.) 

I realised that while I blogged about the trip I did not do any specific posts related to the different places we visited or the sights that we saw.

We went to many places on this trip, I gained so many amazing memories, saw many amazing tourist attractions but the one that was near the top of my list had to be the Grand Canyon.

It was a stunning experience!

Weekly Sunday Roundup

What I've done this week:

This week has been one that has flown by quickly and I don't feel like I've done that much bedsides working. Finally I have my second module for the distance learning degree I'm completing. I've seen friends had a good catch up and a laugh which was much needed! I've gone to pad fit for the first time in two weeks thankfully it wasn't as hard work as I thought it was going to be. Then mostly this weekend I have been seeing family and looking after my grandad. Got stuck into two new reads and tonight I will be going to see Bridget Jones's Baby a bit of Colin Firth and Patrick Dempsey never a bad thing!

11 Tips For Distance Learners

Hi Everyone, so I have officially been a Distance Learning student now for just over 2 months, I've even handed in my first 2 assignments. (2 down loads to go!)

It has been an eye opening experience getting back into writing assignments and having to learn new ways of working. 

I'm doing this degree whilst working full time and I wanted to share with you all some tips I have learnt thus far:

1. Plan your time - what with working and have a social life you would definitely need to set yourself specific days to study.

Beauty: Kylie Cosmetics Leo Lip Kit Review

I'm FINALLY getting round to reviewing the Kylie Cosmetics Leo Lip Kit! I bought this on the first launch of the Birthday Edition, I had been waiting for a dark red lip kit as I am obsessed with the colour and I am a big fan of the Kylie Cosmetics formula.

Delivery

I would note that this took AGES to go through customs and probably arrived at my house almost 2 weeks after arriving in London. While this has nothing to do with Kylie Cosmetics because of the brands reputation I was getting frustrated and feared it lost. We all know how hard it would be to get a refund! Thankfully this did eventually arrive and somehow I did not get charged customs.

Lifestyle: Dairy Free Curry

So I finally made a dairy free curry from scratch instead of using a sauce in a jar. If I do say so myself it turned out really tasty!

The ingredients I used were:

- Chicken

- 1 Tin of Coconut Milk

- 1 Onion

- 1 Carrot

- Broccoli

- Sweetcorn

- Basil

- Cumin

- Tumeric

- 3 Tablespoons Mild Curry Powder

5 Blog Goals

I have been using my blog alot more reccently and I'm really enjoying creating posts and having people actually read and comment on them. I thought i would share with you some of my goals for my blog hopefully within the next year:

1. Reach 50 followers. (im currently at 14 on blogger and 21 on google+  which amazes me that even this many people want to follow and read my ramblings.)

2. Create better quality photographs for blog posts. I can be abit lazy with photos and just upload them as they are. Id like to start editing them abit more and make them a higher quality.