2011 Snapshot

Happy New Year lovelies!

In 2011, I:
Met Gok Wan
Lost 3½ stone
Passed my first year of university
Met some amazing bloggers, including my much more fabulous twin, at Plus London
Saw McFly for the 3rd time
& One Direction for the first
Commiserated over the ending of Harry Potter
Turned 21
Met my soul mate Rosie
Attended the launch of Simply Be's first store
Had my first 'proper' job
Went to Leeds Festival for the 4th year in a row
Went to France
Lost my cat after a car accident
Dressed up as Luigi
Found a love of exercise
Attended various press days
Wrote a blog post I'm proud of
Achieved half of my resolutions
Fell in love with life
Bought too many clothes
& blogged too little!

Overall 2011 was amazing. My life may not have changed but my outlook has & I can genuinely say I'm happier than I've been in a long time. Roll on 2012!

2012

How did 2011 shape up for you?

Don't Call Me Up When The Snow Comes Down

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Top: Rocha John Rocha
Skirt: Primark
Tights: Primark
Shoes: New Look

I picked up this top while my mother was raiding the sale, I never thought I'd find something cute in Debenhams, especially RJR but I really like it. I think in future I'll wear it with my leather shorts though. Did you pick anything up in the sales?
xxx

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

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Wishing you & your loved ones a very merry Christmas. I hope you've had an amazing day filled with fancy presents, too much food & lots of booze! I've had an amazing day & can't wait to hit the sales tomorrow!

How did you spend Christmas?
xxx

You've Got That One Thing

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Dress: Praslin @ Style369
Tights: Primark
Loafers: Primark

It was my friends birthday yesterday (Happy Birthday Áine!) & this is what I wore for her birthday celebrations on Saturday. I'm a little bit in love with this dress, I think it's my new go to favourite. Sorry for the lack of blog posts lately, it seems all I do is apologise but I'm currently inundated with uni work!

xxx

Who's Gonna Save The World?

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Tuxedo Jacket: Evans
Vest: Topshop
Shorts: New Look
Tights: Primark
Vans: Office
Bag: River Island
Circle Scarf: American Apparel

What I wore to uni yesterday. I was late, hence the unmade bed & barely awake face! After practically jogging the 30 minute walk, I ended up storming in to my seminar mid discussion where I had to find a chair & drag it over a row of people which resulted in me dropping it on a babe (my bad!). Finally sat my ass down only to realise I didn't have a pen, paper or any knowledge on the topic so I basically spent the remaining time sweating. Attractive, me?
xxx

That's Just How We Roll

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Dress: Dorothy Perkins (Stolen from my housemate!)
Belt: New Look
Wedges: New Look
Clutch: Primark (Stolen from another housemate ;)


What I wore last night for a friends birthday. I think it's the first time I've enjoyed Tiger Tiger. It may have had something to do with the amount of alcohol I drank (I think I spent most of my evening on the floor!) & the fabulous people I was out with.
xxx

Sunday Summary 023

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Excuse the phone picture, I feel terrible & barely have the motivation to move from the sofa.

Today, the housemates & I made a sunday dinner & sat at the table like a little family! After the drama earlier in the week it was nice to just chill out together. I've been missing home this week too so sitting down to a proper meal & spending the evening watching rubbish TV & eating ice cream was fab.

I begrudgingly went to see the new Twilight yesterday & my opinion definitely hasn't changed. Cringe worthy is an understatement, it's possible I strained myself from all the eye-rolling! I'll definitely be giving the next one a miss. It didn't help that we were sat in front of a group of morons who thought talking all the way through & kicking the back of my chair was acceptable. I may have gone a little cray cray afterwards & told them where to go...oops?

I feel like I'm back into the swing of blogging again, not just updating my own but keeping up with reading others. For a while I'd stopped enjoying it and was just going through the motions. I'd forgotten just how much blogging has influenced my life, all the opportunities I've had and the amazing people I've met (figuratively & literally!). To get all ~acceptance speechy, thank you for sticking around; your comments & support mean a lot. (Tired & sentimental, me? Never!)

It wouldn't be a Sunday Summary post without me bringing up the X Factor; how amazing did Rihanna look? I'd like her entire outfit, weave included, now please! I'm bored of the acts though, as much as I enjoy Little Mix & Marcus, I'm past caring who stays & who goes. The best part about this series is the commentary on twitter!

How was your week?
xxx

If I Was Gonna Go Somewhere, I'd Be There By Now

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Jumper: River Island
Skirt: Primark
Tights: Primark
Brogues: New Look


Wore this yesterday to go shopping, why is it that everything I went out to get wasn't in stock? Just my luck! I've been coerced into going to see Twilight tonight, wish me luck. There's only so much Robert Pattinson I can take.
xxx

At Your Inconvenience

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Cardigan: Primark
Dress: Primark
Belt: ASOS
Tights: Primark
Boots: H! By Henry Holland
Scarf: Primark

What I wore to uni yesterday. Today has been horrific, woke up to a call from my mum saying our cat had been hit by a car & killed. I'm just glad I wasn't at home to see it. Rest in peace, Sox <3
xxx

Give A Little Time To Me


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“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”
- W.M.Lewis

Here's to an amazing week
xxx

Sunday Summary 022

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Currently chilling in my monkey onesie waiting for One Direction to perform on X Factor. Shameless in my tragicness? Yeahhhhh buddy!

After storming to uni & sweating like a bish, a girl came up to me in the toilets to tell me that she reads my blog. This has never happened before & I had no idea what to say so I ended up mostly nodding & smiling...smooth going. (If you're reading this, thank you for saying hi & I'm so sorry for failing at human interaction!)

I went on a course night out this week & it was good times. Getting to know people better, dancing to terrible music & playing silly drinking games was hilarious & with plans to do it again in the future, my time at uni looks to be a good one!

I'm loving life this weekend as I'm finally back on track with my weight loss. Since returning to uni the scale has been at a standstill but I've finally managed to pull it together. I will reach my 2011 goals!

I did have another point but I'm running out of time to secure my place on the sofa for X Factor! I apologise for my blog basically consisting of Sunday Summaries though, I'm going to pull it together.

What'd you do this weekend? :)
xxx

October Snapshot

Apparently I forgot about August & September...

Where to start with October? It was a whirlwind of shopping, partying, dressing up, watching films, meeting new people, eating out & general uni life. My first presentation was last week & judging by the comments (people came up to us after!?) it went well so fingers crossed I'm off to a good start.

I feel like I need to start a diary as trying to reflect is becoming difficult with old age. Oh, I did get stuck in a New Look lift! My friend Aine had to reassure the other girl as she was freaking the motherF out. Whether it was from the lift breaking down or from being stuck in close proximity to us wasn't clear. I had an amazing Indian in Harrogate yesterday, I forgot how lovely the town is & the houses! I need to move. (Can you tell I'm clutching at straws here? I apologise for being utterly uninteresting!) I'm sure your month was much better. Here's to November! :)

Listening to: Ed Sheeran, One Direction, Nero, Cher Llyod, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Dappy, Lil Wayne & my future husband Professor Green

Reading: nothing, any book recommendations?

Watching: Gossip Girl, Dexter, The X Factor, Crazy, Stupid Love, Drive, Stake Land, The Ward, Red State, Insidious, Scream 4, Limitless & a whole host of rubbish films

Buying: cosy knits, boots, a pleather skirt & a silly amount of accessories

Wanting: some pleather shorts, a pleather dress, maybe some pleather pants? Why the hell not!

Trying: to attack this essay. So far it's not going well...

Loving: all the fireworks, got to love Bonfire night!

Planning: what to buy people for Christmas, how did it come 'round so fast?

Writing: career ideas, according to my lecturer the future is bleak.

Inspired by: Everyone who commented on this post! :)

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How did October shape up for you?

Sunday Summary 021

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Back to back Sunday Summary posts? Clearly I am an amazing blogger...

First off, Happy Birthday to my Nana! Unfortunately she missed out on my amazing presence today but I hope she had a fabulous time nonetheless.

It's Halloween weeekend & as you can see by my beautiful moustache, I went dressed as myself Luigi (the hat looked horrendous so spent the night on my desk). I had a fabulous night out with Mario, Hagrid, Voldermort, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, an M&M & a pumpkin. Slightly awkward that pretty much every other girl in the club had taken the 'slut rule' & ran wild with it; so while Mario, Hagrid, Ron, Harry, Voldie & I are stood in the toilets rocking facial hair, wigs & a mask every other girl was wearing a leotard...hilarious though!

I seem to have memory block regarding this week, either I'm more of an alcoholic than I thought or I didn't do anything of any interest (My bet is with the latter). Here's to hoping next week is more exciting!

Did you dress up for Halloween?
xxx

Sunday Summary 020

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Thank you so much for the comments on last week's Sunday Summary post, I'm back to loving blogging already :)

I've been loving life this week, been on some amazing nights out with the girls. Including one where we ran a taxi & ended up hiding out & swapping clothes in the middle of the street. Classy, me? Life in Leeds is better than last year already. Let the good times roll ;)

I went to a comedy evening with my mother & her friends last night, definitely an experience. They decided to smuggle in mini bottles of alcohol; saying that I was drunk is an understatement! I also ended up cornering one of the acts & telling him he looked like Russell Howard...awkward.

Irrelevant point but considering I'm currently watching the X Factor, how good was Professor Green? I'm a little bit in love with the man!

I've spent this weekend at home & it's been lovely. Nothing beats catching up with the family, home cooked food & being spoilt rotten! ;)

How was your weekend?
xxx

What I've Been Buying 002

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Top: 1, 2, 3
Middle: 1, 2, 3
Bottom: 1, 2, 3

I picked up some bits in Primark too, these boots included, but the lighting is terrible & the pictures won't come out right. In case it wasn't obvious, I love black. Bright colours, loud prints & unnecessary fance require too much effort. My attempts at colour blocking & clashing prints? Tragic. When it comes to getting dressed (& life in general) I'm lazy and as black goes with everything it means I don't have to think on a morning. Win/Win!

What've you been buying lately?
xxx

Sunday Summary 019

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I'm not going to get into the 'should I/shouldn't I' rules of apologising but if only for my own benefit, I'm sad that I haven't blogged recently & I don't just mean updating, I mean everything that comes with 'blogging' & keeping in the loop. For a long time now blogging has been a huge part of my life & I've loved every minute but at this point I don't enjoy my blog. I remember Lily saying you should write a blog that you would enjoy reading & whether that means writing more posts like this one or focusing more on clothes, I need to put more effort into making this a reflection of what I like & what interests me. I may have to give Bee's mind map idea a go.

In other news, I'm loving life this week! I'm back at uni & finally in the swing of things. Here's to hoping this year goes better than last though...

Although, why will no one hire me? I'm getting sick of applying for jobs, going through rigorous not to mention ridiculous questionnaires, only to be told 'sorry, there was such a high number of applicants, nobody even bothered to read your application, please try again.' R u srs?

I could complain about the weather but the sudden cold means I have the perfect excuse to buy a new winter wardrobe! Not to mention a reason to stay in & watch the new series of Dexter, Gossip Girl, Glee & The X Factor. Speaking of, how adorable is Marcus? The boy is perfection!

How do you decide what content to put on your blog?
xxx

Simply Be Liverpool Launch

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Last month I, along with fellow bloggers Rosie, Laura & Naomi had the privilege of attending the opening of the first Simply Be store located in Liverpool. Officially opened by Lisa Riley, the store is located in the Liverpool One centre & offers sizes 14 - 32. As well as the Simply Be range, the store stocks other brands including Joe Browns, Zandra Rhodes, Frock & Frill & the new Lauren's Way collection designed by Lauren Goodger from The Only Way Is Essex. The store was fabulous and the staff were lovely but the most impressive feature was definitely the 'magic mirror' in the changing rooms, the floor to ceiling mirror has a touch screen where you can pose for pictures with the option of printing them or sending them to your Twitter of Facebook. I tried on the black bodycon dress from the Lauren's Way collection (below) & the fit was amazing, it's well made & the structure was perfect.

This evening a second store has Opened in Bury, so if you're near either one, I'd definitely recommend a visit. Especially if you're not a fan of shopping online.
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...I have no excuse for the posing.
Dress: Dorothy Perkins
Tux: Evans Collection
Leggings: New Look
Boots: Topshop
Earrings: Urban Outfitters

Mean Girls Generation

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Confession time: I used to be a bitch. Call it a phase, teenage angst or just plain jealousy; I was vicious, angry and highly volatile. From peers to teachers, people I knew to people I didn’t, few were spared from a vindictive sneer or malicious comment. Picking people apart and tearing them down, whether to their face or behind their back, made up the majority of conversation. It was funny, right? Wrong. And funnily enough all that negativity failed to cover up the hatred I felt for myself.

Before you roll your eyes, this isn’t a heart wrenching story of redemption nor is it a tragic recount of my life and consequent personal growth (fortunately for you) but to summarise, I’m no longer a complete and utter knob most of the time.

As unfortunate as it is, I left school four years ago and in doing so assumed I’d left the idiocy and immaturity behind; I should be so lucky. From the pathetic rants at work to jeers in the street, it would appear that not everyone got the memo that spending less time concerning yourself with what others are doing and more time on your own life is not only beneficial to you but to those unfortunate enough to cross your path.

“Calling somebody else fat won't make you any skinnier. Calling someone stupid doesn't make you any smarter. And ruining Regina George's life definitely didn't make me any happier. All you can do in life is try to solve the problem in front of you.” - Mean Girls

We’ve all seen the film and if you’re anything like me you can quote it too but for all its popularity it seems the underlying message got lost somewhere. I read an article in Grazia magazine this week that left me quite frankly, disgusted. In her weekly column ‘Fiona’s views on the news’, Fiona McIntosh shares her views on a topical issue in an informative yet amusing way. Usually. Don’t get me wrong, I agree that Americans penchant for being able to sue everyone for anything is unnecessary and this apparent new ability to sue for ‘outward appearance’ discrimination borders on ridiculous; as Fiona says, attractiveness is subjective after all. However, my issue isn’t with the ‘law’ and whether or not it is or isn’t a good idea, it’s with Fiona’s views on why she doesn’t agree with it.


‘How can you compare bona-fide racial discrimination to big bottom prejudice? It’s like comparing hurt feelings to verbal abuse’ - Fiona McIntosh


I don’t know where to start with this. According to Fiona, it’s not okay to discriminate when it comes to things that can’t be altered, such as race, yet seemingly anything that can be altered is free game. Three guesses as to what should be picked apart: ’22-stone muffin eaters’ because ‘you can control the size of your bottom, you can’t control your race’. As someone who is not only the owner of a big bottom but is also a racial minority, I can assure you abuse is distressing regardless of the form of hatred. More importantly, as a grown woman who by writing a column in a popular magazine has a certain level of responsibility, why is it so hilarious to be a miserable bitch? Now I’m not saying we should all make cakes out of rainbows and smiles, by all means have a giggle over the slightly unhinged people who seem to infiltrate the bus station or share a wince over those who think it’s acceptable to wear Crocs (I’m looking at you, mother) but bullying in any form is not okay.

Inequality is strife, women are still seen as lesser than men, racial minorities are still underrepresented, homophobia and transphobia is an ever present issue and what’s worse is rather than focus of uniting against all forms of hatred, we turn against each other. When it comes to bullying or being bullied, ask yourself ‘why does it matter to me?’ why does someone who’s overweight matter to you? What effect does it have on your life? And don’t give me the bullshit about health, either in terms of caring about theirs or its supposed cost to you. On the other hand, why does it matter to you what some passer by thinks? Don’t give them the satisfaction of putting you down, you don’t know them but more importantly they don’t know you.

Too many people are unhappy, depressed or even suicidal because of what others think or say about them. So the next time you find yourself about to tear someone else down, stop and have a bit of common decency because when it comes down to it, we’re all human and we deserve a bit of fucking respect.

Birthday Post!

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On Thursday, I turned 21. Thank you so much for all the birthday messages on Facebook & Twitter, I had a fabulous couple of days celebrating! On Tuesday, I went to Leeds thinking I was going for a meal with my housemates but after luring me out of the house for a drink then making up a crazy scenario so we had to go back, I returned to find my housemates had teamed up with my friends from home to throw me a little surprise party. It was completely unexpected & so thoughtful, I could have cried!

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On Thursday I went shopping in Manchester with my mum, nana & little sister. It was my first time in the city centre & it's beyond amazing. Harvey Nichols & Selfridges? Heaven! After champagne & strawberries on the train, we went to the Hard Rock for lunch, then shopped 'til we dropped (quite literally).

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I've had an amazing week and thoroughly enjoyed every second. After having a huge joint party for my 18th, it was lovely getting to spend my 21st with my nearest & dearest doing the things I enjoy the most.

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Sunday Summary 018

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Excuse the dodgy photo from last night, I was slightly hungover & tragic looking today...

Apparently the world is conspiring against me (dramatic, me?). I've finally gotten back into some semblance of a routine with life & when I came to blog earlier I found out the only charger we have left is now broken. So, I'm currently sitting in the car using the car charger. Considering we live on a main road & I'm getting dodgy looks as we speak, think of this as dedication.

In case my previous rambles hadn't alluded to it enough, it was Leeds Festival last weekend. It was immense! Whilst there were barely any bands I wanted to see the 'banter' side of things may have been my best year yet. I met some lovely people, saw some great bands & had a fantastic time. Roll on 2012.

I got my eyebrows threaded for the first time this week for the bargain price of a fiver. Thank you, Superdrug! My eyebrows are finally looking decent & the process was quick, cheap & pain free. I'd definitely recommend it.

Thank you so much for still reading & putting up with my long absence & crap blogging skills lately. I feel terrible for not keeping up with everybody. Bloglovin informs me I've got over 1500 blog posts to catch up on so I'll be tackling that bad boy tomorrow.

It's my birthday this week (I'm getting old!) & I'm travelling all over the place but hopefully I'll still be able to bore thrill you with another post at some point :)

Hope you enjoyed the weekend!
xxx

We Live On Fascination

IMG_3870 editConsidering I was in France for over 2 weeks, I don't seem to have any pictures to document it. Well, aside from copious amount of my siblings (courtesy of my mother) & various images of food that is... Aside from the first one which is of the house, these are all from the same day; I didn't just wear the same thing constantly, promise!
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Enjoy the weekend lovelies!