15 Favourite Things of 2016

Here is my the first of my long overdue 2016 round up posts, oops!

This year has been a weird one. I definitely can't say this has been a very good year, and I believe I am not the only one saying this. Many bad things happended this year which can be considered bad for loads of people (Brexit, Trump and deaths of many icons..But also for me personally I wouldn't consider 2016 to have been an amazing year.

There are, however, a few 'things' that I really enjoyed this year. Things meaning music,books, tv shows etc.
I have discovered and loved so many songs, some that have such special meanings. If I had to mention every song that I have been loving this year I would still be here in 3 months, so I will only mention the albums that I have been loving a lot.

My goal regarding reading, was to read 70 books, I didn't meet this target but I still enjoyed quite a few books and some of them I will be including in this post.

So let's get into 15 favourites of 2016, (obviously I wanted to think of 16 things for 2016, but I just couldn't think of 16 things, just my luck,) in no particular order might I point out.

1. Rimmel Kate Lipstick no. 48. This year I have been a lot less interested in make-up than I have been in previous years. I still enjoy putting on make-up quite a lot, I (mostly) don't see it as a chore or anything. But I don't tend to spend most of my money on make-up anymore. However this lipstick  has definitely my favourite make-up item this year and my favourite lipstick, it's a browny toned lipstick. I would definitely consider this one of my favourite if not favourite lipstick ever. I've also gotten quite a few compliments on it which is always nice!

2. We were liars by E Lockheart. This might be my favourite book that I've read in 2016. This was such a page-turner with a shocking twist! If you want to read this book I recommend you go into it knowing hardly anything about it!

3. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. This was another one of my favourite books. I read it in the summer and I remember not being able to put it down. I would definitely recommend this book especially when you are a fangirl/boy yourself, there is some recognisable stuff in there!

4. Hollyoaks. I have now been watching this show for a little over a year and It a lot ( not as much as emmerdale, see number 5, which I haven't been watching as long) That's why I almost feel a little disloyal to Hollyoaks, because it has been replaced as my favourite soap, but I still watch it and enjoy it a lot!

5. Emmerdale. I have already talked quite a lot about emmerdale on my blog! If these favourite would have been in particular order this would have definitely been number one!
For some people it might be a soap, but it has changed my life, I met some great people through this show, it is amazing to be able to freak out, and talk about something that you love, with people who feel exactly the same. In the weekends I always slightly lost, because there is no emmerdale on, ( yes I know I am really in quite deep).

6. Glory Days - Little Mix. I have a feeling that I've already talked about Little Mix on my blog, but if you didn't know I absolutely love these girls! When I heard snippets of some of the songs on this album I wasn't sure whether I was going to like, but how wrong I was! I honestly find this their best album yet, it is full of proper bops! I love all of the songs on this album but a few of my absolute favourites are; power, no more sad songs and private show!

7. Back from the Edge - James Arthur. I honestly have no words for this album. It is an absolute masterpiece, and I don't think I will ever get sick of any of the songs on here, at least I hope so. I you haven't listened to it yet, you are missing out! All the songs on this album are so beautiful. All I want now is to see James and this masterpiece live!

8. Blurryface - Twenty One Pilots. Before 2016 I had heard of Twenty One Pilots but had never listened to any of their music. I can't remember why I started listening to their stuff, but I am very happy about it! I love their music so much, and many songs are so relatable. I went to see them in concert last November and I absolutely loved it

9. Downton Abbey. I had to include this show in this post, even though I have a confession to make here; I haven't actually finished this show?! When it first started I didn't watch it, I was 12 so maybe I wasn't too interested in it at the time, and as I got older I felt like I missed too much to just start watching it. My mum got the boxset for Christmas last year and I started watching it when I finished my exams in May, as I figured that I had loads of time but I still didn't get round to completely finishing it, and now I am so busy with university that I have again 'stopped' continuing. I feel like I should really finish it soon though, before I am completely out of it. I did include it because I absolutely loved watching it in the summer very late at night, and with a boxset you don't have to wait a week, you can just watch the boxsets back to back which is amazing!

10. Skam. I feel like I am cheating with this one. I haven't even finished all the seasons yet ( what is it with me not finishing things) and I only started watching it in November. I started watching season 3 because it was all over the internet after I finished season 3 I started season 1, which I loved more than season 3 to be honest. Now I am on season 2 but I haven't watched it in a while so I should soon continue watching it!

11. Room - Emma Donoghue. I loved this book a lot, and I am very happy about it having a happy ending. After I finished the book I also watched the film, and I also enjoyed that a lot. If you have never heard about this book/film, I'd definitely recommend you look into it. It is very sad but like I said, it has a happy ending.

12. Tsums Tsums. Pretty random, but I love tsums tsums a lot, so why not include them in this post. I started collecting them in 2015, I only bought two that year, and I wasn't sure at the time if I really wanted to collect them, but then in the summer I bought quite a few and built up a collection, so hopefully I'll add quite a few more to my collection in 2017!

13. Love is the Law - Charlene Soraia. It was only fair to put this album in here! Even though I don't really listen to the songs on this album at the moment, I did do so around April/May time and there are some really good songs on there.

14. Gold Magic - Little Mix. This perfume is my go to perfume, I absolutely love the smell, and I have been wearing it a lot this year!

15. Ted Baker. Last Christmas I got two Ted Baker giftset with mini perfumes in it, I have been using and loving these a lot this past year!

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

What were some of  your 2016 favourites?


Love,

xoxo

Life Update!

Long time no speak!

I honestly can't believe that is my first post of 2017. I guess I do have a reasonable valid excuse but still, I am quite disappointed with myself that I've already been slacking with my uploading schedule.

I am not sure if this is socially acceptable but I am still going to wish my readers a happy new year!

So where have I been? Not anywhere special and I have no extraordinary excuse, life just happened.
I had been working on a round-up blogpost that I was planning on posting that around the 30/31 December. I didn't get round to finishing it, as I fell ill, (nothing serious just a massively annoying cold) around New Years Eve. It is a good thing that I don't normally do anything special on NYE, so I didn't miss out on anything. I spent the last few days of 2016 in bed, which in a way was also quite nice!

When I got back home, from my family's where I spent Christmas and NYE, it was time for me to revise for my exams which were last week, and I didn't get round to working on my blog and I didn't want to type up a rushed blogpost just for the sake of it. But having now finished my exams I want to get back into the swing of things and because I was gone for a little while I decided to post this update first.

I do  still want to post my end of year post, also because it is something that I can look back on. I will probably even post two 2016 round up posts, as I was planning on doing a post on my favourite things and favourite moments of 2016.

That is all for now, this post was very chatty! I hope I am going to be able to post at least a blogpost a week, we will see!

Thank you very much for reading!


Love,

xoxo

Christmas Build Up Through The Lens

It is almost Christmas! The day that I am typing and posting this it is Christmas Eve. I have to be honest, I don't feel Christmassy at all, I can't really believe it is Christmas tomorrow!. This might be due to the fact that the Christmas holidays started so late this year and that I haven't had much of a Chrismassy build up to the 25th. Still, I am fairly excited about it being Christmas tomorrow and seeing people opening their presents and having nice food!

I didn't post nearly as much as I wanted to post this month, but because I have taken a few Christmassy photos these past 2 weeks I thought I would just share these on my blog!

// My gingerbread men phonecase is perfect for this time of year!// I bought these really cute mini stockings for decoration.// Here is a corner of my room that I like to call my Christmas corner!//

//Another christmassy shot of my room, I really like this part of my room, and this was the first year that I could decorate this part because I only got those shelves this year!// A shot of some chocolate can't not be included!// A cute shot of my tsum tsum collection surrounded by some Christmas lights.//

// I really like coffee and Starbucks but I don't buy Starbucks that often so it is quite special that I got two coffees from there in one week!// A shot of some Christmas lights in town.//

I also went iceskating twice this week after not having done that for years. I was pleasantly surprised that I could still iceskate! I didn't take my phone onto the ice, so I couldn't take any photos.

Thank you very much for reading!

I hope you all have a very happy Christmas if you celebrate it!


Love,

xoxo

Stocking Fillers // £10 or under £10 Gift guide

While I was doing some online Christmas shopping I saw so many cute things that I couldn't resist putting some of these cute gift ideas together for another Christmas Giftguide.

All these things cost £10 or less! So if you are still looking for some Christmas gifts maybe this post will be somewhat useful to you. This giftguide is also very suitable if you are looking for secret santa gifts!

There are of course so many under £10 and gifts useful as stocking fillers out there, so putting some gift ideas together is quite hard, but like my book gift guide these gift ideas represents the general idea if that makes sense.

1.  I saw these adorable dolphin keyrings and I couldn't resist putting them in this gift guide (and buying them!)
http://www.sassandbelle.co.uk/shop-by-product/bags-accessories/keyrings-travel-accessories/vintage-mini-whale-keyring/

2. If you are particularly struggling with finding good stocking filler gifts have a look on this site. On here I found these quirky Starwars torches, perfect for somebody who enjoys Starwars!
http://www.stocking-fillers.co.uk/fillers/under-10/star-wars-yoda-kaleidoscope

3. A notebook is in my books always a good gift! You can go for a very expensive notebook but of course there are also loads of very cheap notebooks out there! This particular one is from Sass and Belle
http://www.sassandbelle.co.uk/christmas/stocking-fillers-secret-santa-gifts/vintage-map-big-ideas-notebook/

4. This is something that I put on my own Christmas wishlist, this is a little Christmas giftset from Thisworks. It includes the mini deep sleep pillow spray and a mini deep sleep stress less aromatherapy roller. I have been wanting to try the deep sleep pillow spray for ages and I finally got round to asking for it for Christmas. If I find that it works well for me I will probably buy the full size. So if you know someone who has trouble sleeping sometimes, this is a very nice gift, also because it has lovely Chrismassy packaging!
http://www.thisworks.com/gifts/christmas-gifts-136/dream-team.html#sthash.Vm17rATK.dpbs

5. I think anyone with a phone would be happy with a phonecase! Again, this is one of these gifts that can be very expensive but also very cheap. This particular one is from Forever21
http://www.forever21.com/Product/Product.aspx?br=F21&category=ACC&productid=1000227646

6. A giftcard is always a good idea, especially when you are really stuck, and you don't have to worry about whether the person likes the present because he/she can just pick something out themselves. And it is often up to you how much money you want to put on the card. When they like coffee a Starbucks giftcard is obviously great.

7. A candle. There are so many scented candles out there at the moment. Candles are another one of those items that you can spend either loads or not that much money on. This particular Christmassy one is from George, Asda.
http://direct.asda.com/George-Home-Decorative-Jar-Candle---Golden-Vanilla/001708157,default,pd.html

8. Sass and Belle have various of these cute foldable shopping bags. These are so useful nowadays as you don't often get bags in shops anymore, so when you go shopping you can take one of these bags with you!
http://www.sassandbelle.co.uk/christmas/stocking-fillers-secret-santa-gifts/sheep-foldable-shopping-bag/

9. I peronally love tsums tsums so I added them to this gift guide! Tsums tsums are of course not everybody's cup of tea, but if you know someone who loves Disney, this could be a good gift, beware though once you have one you want to collect more! When you are really stuck for stocking fillers a soft toy is always a good option.

10. While I was looking around on the site full of stocking fillers I came across these rubber ducks with numbers on them, very random I know but they could be useful for children learning to count, or you could make up games using the ducks.
http://www.stocking-fillers.co.uk/fillers/under-10/counting-rubber-ducks

11. I love mugs and I think they will always make up a good present. Mugs with letters can make the present just that little more personal. These particular mugs are from Sass and Belle.
http://www.sassandbelle.co.uk/shop-by-product/kitchen-dining-accessories/tableware/bohemian-alphabet-letter-mug/

12. Last but not least, Chocolate! Chocolate is always a good gift to put in a stocking, or even to put under the tree!

And that is the end of a very random giftguide! You might have gotten some inspiration from this, who knows!

What is your favourite stocking filler?


Thank you very much for reading!


Love,

xoxo

Week in photos // December

Remember how I wanted to post a bit more on my blog this month? Yes me too.  I wanted to post this blog slightly earlier but oh well, things are pretty busy at the moment and I just couldn't get round to writing this post earlier! Hopefully I'll be able to do at least some mid-week posts this month!


Here are some snapshots showings the things I got up to this past week!

//In December we always visit a garden centre near us that goes all out when it's Christmas. We had some dinner here and then we went through the whole shop. Here are a few Christmassy snapshots of this trip.//

// One last snapshot from the garden centre.// This year's advent calendar.// I started burning this candle, it's the wild berry scented candle from George Home.//

// I started writing some flashcards, I find flashcards very useful when it comes to revision.// In the train I read a bit of Oliver Twist.// I couldn't help taking a picture of Emmerdale on the screen because that can't really be missing in a week in photos, as I watch that 5 evenings in a week!//


What did you get up to this week?


Thank you so much for reading!

p.s. Christmas is getting closer and closer!

xoxo

Book Related Gifts // Christmas Giftguide

I really want to post more blogposts this month, to kind of do my own Blogmas. I could never really attempt Blogmas because I simply do not have the time and if I would post everyday this month I would not have any ideas left for 2017!

In this post I'd like to share a few book related gift ideas with you. I love reading and I honestly think books, especially coffee table books make great Christmas gifts! Personally I would love to give and receive all these gifts!

As there are so many books and book related things out there, I picked out 10 gifts that basically represent the general idea.

1. There are quite a few books out there which are great for people who love creating writing. Maybe they are doing a course on it, or it is just a hobby, either way these kinds of books would be perfect for them. These books will often offer topics or certain situations to inspire people and get them thinking (What would a character do when they are in this kind of situation?) This particular book gives the reader 5 minute exercises which will really develop them as a writer and these excercises could help them when they are stuck for ideas!

The Five-Minute Writer by Marget Geraghty.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Five-Minute-Writer-Exercise-inspiration-creative/dp/1845283392

2. There are many books on mindfulness out there and I would definitely call some of them coffee table books. If you know someone who could do with a bit of insight on how to relax and destress this book would make a perfect gift for them! I know I would happily receive books on this topic! :)

The Little Book of Midfulness by Dr Patrizia Collard

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Mindfulness-Minutes-Stress-ebook/dp/B00J3C4YTE

3. This is a perfect gift for book lovers that isn't a book! You can find many of these 'book' bags on the site that I will link below. Personally I absolutely love the classics bag range from Penguin and these are of course a well fitted gift for people who love to read classics!

https://www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/collections/tote-bags

4. If you know someone who has an absolute favourite book, you might want to have a look whether there are different covers for that book. I know Penguin do some lovely covers for some of the classics. Books with gorgeous covers are perfect to put on display!

5. Moving on to another book related gift! Mugs! Who doesn't like a nice mug? On the Literary Gift Company site you can also find Penguin classics mug, but you can also find loads of other mugs related to books! You could make a cute little hamper including a mug, a book and maybe a pack of biscuits!

https://www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/collections/mugs-1

6. Ahhh coffee table books! I think they make an amazing gift. There are so many out there so I'm sure you will find the right one for someone. As an example I picked a book that I would love to receive and have a good look through. I think the photo on the cover says it all!

https://www.amazon.com/Destinations-Lifetime-Worlds-Amazing-Places/dp/1426215649

7. Another book that could class as a coffee table book, but also a book that could be very useful to someone is this book. There are so many books that will be useful to someone because of their hobby. This one in particular will make a good present for someone who loves drawing or wants to improve their drawing skills.

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/uk/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=5620449634649&category=BOOKS-STATIONERY-EU

8. 'Milk and Honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival.' I've seen this book circling around the internet quite a lot recently.

Personally I am not mad keen on poetry but lately I have started to appreciate it a bit more and I have gotten more interested in it so I would love to get this book. If you know someone who is into poetry or maybe just getting into it this will probably make a very good gift!

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

https://www.amazon.com/Milk-Honey-Rupi-Kaur/dp/144947425X

9. Is that another coffee table book? Yes! I came across this book in a gift guide this morning and I had to add it to my own one! This is a book full of words that have no direct translation in English. I absolutely love the cover and it has loads of drawings in it.

Lost in translation by Ella Frances Sanders

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Translation-Illustrated-Compendium-Untranslatable/dp/0224100807

10. Last but not least I thought I'd add a 'proper reading' book that isn't a classic. If you know what kind of genre a person is into it can be fairly easy to find a book that they will like. Even though I know it isn't always that easy especially when a person already has loads of books but maybe you can gift a person with a fairly new book. Another really nice idea is gift someone a book that you personally absolutely love! I put The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky in the collage as that book is one of my asbolute favourite books!

- Another gift idea is giving someone a book that's been made into a film and also give them the film on dvd! I think that would make a really nice set.

I really hope you found some inspiration for book related presents!

Thank you so much for reading!

Love,

xoxo

Hello December!

picture from: https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/551972498054776694/

It's the first of  December.....

Which means it is time to open advent calendars and watch vlogmas!

For me, November flew by very quickly, a lot quicker than October even though October only has one day more! I am very happy that it is December as I love Christmas and the countdown to Christmas.

I though I'd write a little post discussing a few things I'd like to do this December, basically my December goals if you will.

My main goal is to start feeling festive and preferably not at the end of the month but starting now.
To be really honest I am not really feeling that festive at the moment at all and I don't really know why, maybe it is because I haven't listened to Christmas music yet, In all honesty I have kind of put of listening to Christmas songs. I don't actually know when I usually start listening to Christmas music maybe I always wait until it's actually December. I do feel that is a good time to start because otherwise by the time it is Christmas all those Christmas songs will be coming out of my ears.

So listening to Christmas songs is a definite must and will put me into a festive mood!

Decorate my room: every year I decorate my room. I have a little Christmas tree that I put up. I love unboxing all the familiar decorations, I always forget what I have! We also decorate the rest of the house and put up a Christmas tree but decorating your own personal space has to best because you are the one deciding what you put where.

Wrap Christmas presents: wrapping Christmas presents is actually one of my absolute favourite things to do! We have bought some really cute wrapping paper this year so I can't wait to get started!

Buy presents: to be able to wrap presents you first need presents! I do have quite a few Christmas presents already but there are also quite a few presents that I still need to buy.

Relax: I have been getting really worked up about school and schoolwork lately and I really want to try to be a little less stressed this month. This is my absolute favourite time of year and I don't want to ruin it by feeling stressed. The Christmas holidays also start very late this year, so if I had to wait until the holidays started, to feel relaxed and festive I'd be feeling relaxed and festive for just 2 days or so before Christmas Eve and I'm not fancying that at all!

Write a 2016 related blogpost: I really want to write a cute blogpost in which I mention some of my favourite moments/things that happened in 2016. I do have to give myself plenty of time to write that blogpost though because if I have to write is last minute I'll forget to mention loads of things!

Read a few books over the Christmas holiday: recently I haven't had any time to read for pleasure even though there are so many books on my bookshelf that I am desperate to read! Hopefully I'll be able to read a few books that are top on my TBR list!

Have a lovely Christmas day: this is a obvious one I guess but I am hoping to have a lovely Christmas day and then I don't mean that I wish to get loads of presents, I mean to just have a lovely day with my family and eat loads of chocolate!


What are your goals for this month, let me know!

Thank you so much for reading!

xoxo