2013 Roundup & 2014 Goals

Well I can't believe that 2013 has passed, I am writing this on the new years eve and I can't wait to make cheeseburger cupcakes and dress up as a 1920s flapper actress later on today/tomorrow! But before then here is my 2013 roundup, photographs, blog resolutions and my goals for 2014.

My highlights of 2013:

- Graduating with a First Class BSc Honours Degree in Psychology

- Turning the big 21

- Holidaying in Scandinavia and Russia

- My first blogging event (T.G.I Fridays)

- Features on Very and London Beauty Hub 

- Blog design changes, winning lots of competitions, seeing my first musical in years (Wicked)

- Having 9 inches of my hair cut off for the charity The Little Princess Trust (they make real hair wigs for children with cancer)

- Working with amazing brands, people and getting fantastic new followers

- Blog/social media milestones = over 900 GFC followers, over 700 Bloglovin followers and over 200 followers on Instagram and Twitter!

Well, it has been a mixed year with a lot of highlights but some disappointing and sad times. While looking for the photographs for this post I am so grateful for having a blog that I can look back through to see what I did and how I have grown. I love sharing important (and crazy, unimportant) moments of my life with my amazing followers and readers - thank you so much!! When I started this blog I never thought I would have 100 followers, never mind over 900! Thank you!

I have quite a lot of ideas for new exciting posts for 2014 including: skincare ingredients 101, 2013 favourites, blog tools/basics, freebies, reviews, share the love posts and of course giveaways. I want to get in the habit of a blog schedule, over the festive period it has been really useful - write a comment below to tell me what blog posts you would like to see in 2014.

My goals for 2014 are: be more confident and get out of my comfort zone, spend more time with friends, drink more water, apply for a Masters degree (late 2014) and get a job!

I hope everyone had an amazing christmas, new year and 2013 - happy new year!! x

Read More

Holiday photo diary: Stockholm, Sweden

This is the third part of my holiday photo dairy series, this time it is Stockholm, Sweden! We had two stops in Sweden and Stockholm was the first. I have never been to Stockholm and I was excited to go - we didn't book a Royal Caribbean tour for this place, we went by our selves. 

We got off the coach into the city centre and we walked to the parliament building and then the royal palace which in all honesty does not look like a royal palace - the Parliament building looks a lot nicer from the outside. We walked up to the palace and there was only one guard standing outside dressed up - and you can just walk into the palace courtyard! You could never do something like that in Buckingham palace and you could go inside the palace, we did for a couple of places but for the rest you needed to buy a ticket. We then walked around the numerous squares and tourist spots (and there were quite a lot of tourists) and the prices of the souvenirs (and everything really) was expensive! I did buy a mug from Stockholm which I love and I use it almost everyday for my gingerbread latte. We were told by other tourists that the changing of the guard at the palace was going to take place soon so we when it watch and it is was very very busy with tourists and the guards were a bit...pushy with the swords and the tourists were very pushy so I didn't really get to see much - some people are so rude - so that experience was a bit awkward and not very nice at all. 

Anyway we went looking around the more modern area of the city with department stores and we came across a Monki store! I love Monki so I had to go in, there is a Monki store in England but it is in London - I bought a tee and we went back to the ship. Overall, I have mixed feelings about going to Stockholm, it was an experience and I am very glad I went - and I love the way Scandinavian women dress, so chic and very simple! But the experience at the palace wasn't great and there didn't seem to be that much to do. 

Read More

Holiday Photo Diary: Helsinki, Finland

Here is the second part of my holiday photo diary and this one is all about Helsinki, Finland! This is part of the cruise again with royal Caribbean that I went on this august - I would definitely recommend royal Caribbean cruises and especially this cruise to Scandinavia and Russia.

The morning we woke up in Finland we hadn't docked yet and it was pouring down with rain - I haven't been on a ship on the sea when it was raining before, it looked quite strange and it didn't look like it was going to be a great day. When we were getting off the ship the rain was very heavy and it was about 17 degrees Celsius - in august! I went out of the ship, in the rain and wind and cold with just a jumper, cardigan, jeans and my ballet flats so I had to go back on the ship to get my coat! Not a great start to the day and we had a walking tour booked!

We got on a coach for the first half because it was pouring down and chilly - in the middle of august, although the rest of the day was gorgeous and sunny so I broke out my Free People Mr Cleaver Sunglasses (sale) which I love. We walked around the city, from souvenir shops, the rock church (Temppeliaukion Church), Finlandia hall, the city centre and finally the Helsinki cathedral/The Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral. We also walked to the Töölönranta resteraunt which was gorgeous inside, it has a fireplace and sofas - we had tea and pastries and then walked through the park.

Overall, I really liked Helsinki but as a capital city it wasn't as busy or congested as I imagined it to be. I would go back to Finland again, probably to northern Finland to see the northern lights.

Read More