Spring Awakening

As much as I hate to admit it, I am growing up. I will be 20 next month, and finish uni in a little over a year, before heading out into the big world as an adult; a proper, grown-up, independent adult.

While this sends shivers of fear and delight through my body, I have decided that in honour of my impending birthday and my leaving of the lovely, young, carefree 'teens' that has warmly cocooned me for the past nine years, I am going to start being a lot more sensible (shudder.) To start, I will write a to-do list each month.

 Some of my goals are creativity - based, some are things I need to get around to but never seem to find the time, and some are just to break me out of usual cycle and to have new experiences, like when I visited the Southampton Maritime Museum and Marwell Zoo earlier this year. I happen to be the worlds worst organized person, so I am putting it up here for you all to see, and if nothing else, I will be guilt-tripped into crossing off my list!

This March, I would like to…

1.Start my new job at Thorpe Park

2. Ace my interview for ‘Million Pound Drop’ (!)

3.Make Birthday Plans for April

4.Visit somewhere new and interesting

5.Attend every university lecture, and at least one guest speaker session

6.Visit Southampton Library and read two new books

7.Finish all my work sooner than the night before deadline

8.Collect my GCSE and A –Level paintings from school on my next home visit

9.Cook a brand new recipe

10.Attend the gym at least twice a week

11.Blog three times a week.

Wish me Luck!

Outfit Of The Day

Hello lovelies! 

Today has been an unusually brilliant Tuesday as both my early lectures have been cancelled for the rest of the year, so I don't have to be in uni until one, instead of the ungodly hour of 9am.

 My lie-in was interrupted by my very excited flatmate, who was on the phone being interviewed for Million Pound Drop on Channel 4! She entered us for the game show a few weeks ago, and we were both interviewed over the phone and given a short quiz (I got 8/10, and successfully answered questions on history and football - score!) and we were both invited to a second interview in London in March. I have tried not to get too over-excited, however my imagination did wander in boring parts of the lecture about a what I'd buy with my 'winnings'...Yves Saint Laurent rings and Louboutin's spring to mind!

I am definitely getting ahead of myself here, but I will of course let you know how the interview goes in a few weeks.

Anyway, on to the main topic! I thought I would have a go at an OOTD post as I haven't done one yet, but have seen great post's from other blogger's, and am looking to try out new features to add to my blog that hopefully readers will enjoy. 

Today was just a casual outfit for uni. I am wearing -

Scarf - £3, Primark
Camel frilled waistcoat - £7.99 down from £39.99, Zara
Black Cardi - £6, Primark
Grey t-shirt dress - $12, Forever 21 (USA)

Thin brown belt, £2, Primark 

Sunglasses - $5, Forever 21 (USA)
Gold earrings - free, my granny's from the 80's!
Middle ring - £3, sale, Topshop
Snake ring - 2euros, Spain
Nail Varnish - £5, 'Nude Beige', Models Own

I apologise about the lameee poses, and again about the bad quality pictures. I have thought about buying a nice Canon SLR but think its a bit expensive just for blogging purposes, especially when I have only just started to take this seriously again. What camera do you ladies use for your blog pictures?

New Frocks for Nights Out

My lovely flatmate Anna and I have forgone a social life this term in favour of nights in watching the O.C and gossip girl in our pyjamas, and have turned into student hermits. This week we decided to break out of our rut and have gone out a few times in two weeks, starting last Saturday to 90 degrees and Kaos in Southampton, with the gorgeous 4 Wilton ladies. The following Tuesday we went to pre drinks and 90's for our friend Emily's 21st, although being the drunk weakling that I am, I neglected to make it to the final destination of Audio!

I bought a new dress from Boohoo for the occasion. I have never ordered from there before, and have only online shopped for clothes a handful of times, but with a few big nights out planned and West Quay devoid of options I decided to splurge and order two dresses. The first dress I bought is a black and white striped number, which has a slashed neckline and nipped in waist, with a lovely skater style skirt. This is my usual style, as I don't have the figure or confidence for body-con unfortunately! 

I wore my big voluminous hair extensions and simple gold jewellery, as anything too bold would have looked silly with the dress.

On Saturday I attended the 21st birthday party of one of my flatmates from halls, which was held on a boat that sailed around the Southampton docks. I went with my flatmate Anna, our flatmate next year Joanna, and Vicky. It was a really good night, even though my smuggled vodka got confiscated by a bouncer, which meant we had to fork out £10.50 for a bottle of absolutely vile rose wine!

I wore my other boohoo dress, although unfortunately I don't have any full length pictures of me wearing it. It is a beautiful bright green colour, with a high neckline covered in chiffon flowers. I wasn't crazy about the style, but I loved the colour so much I bought it anyway, and it was only £20. I wore it with nude courts, gold jewellery and my amazing five dollar earrings I picked up in New York in December. 

Anna and I forcing down the wine

my bargain-ous $5 earrings

It was a really good night, and it was nice to see everyone all dressed up on a boat, although I did feel a little bit like I was at my year 11 riverboat prom again! I know its a long way off, but I have no idea if I'll throw a big fancy party for my 21st, although it would be nice it seems like a lot of hassle.
Did anyone else do anything nice at the weekend?

Fruit Cocktail Nails

For the past week I have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of my first ebay purchase. As a die-hard Amazon girl, I had always been sceptical of ebay, despite many friends scoring bargain priced benefit make-up on the website. 
However, all that changed early last week when I was idly browsing (ok, putting off doing work and I'd run out of box sets to watch) when I spotted the cutest, prettiest, tiny little fruit stickers for nails. I am a sucker for anything glittery, cute, bright and a little bit naff, so I promptly snapped up 120 minuscule stickers for the princely sum of £1.24 all the way from Hong Kong. 
They dropped onto my doorstep today, and after I had completed boring but necessary tasks such as an Asda food shop, I scurried up to my room to try out my new playthings!

The nail art wheel - click here to buy your own!

I used: tweezers, a treatment nail varnish that turns clear as it dries (despite owning every nail colour under the sun, I could not find a clear anywhere in my drawer!) and the stickers.

My tools

Rather than put them an every nail, I decided to decorate my thumbs with as many stickers as possible. Below is the finished product...Voila!

A grapefruit, watermelon, orange, lime and two apple stickers.

In my nail art frenzy, I ordered another sticker wheel from Hong Kong, this time with a flower and butterfly theme. As soon as they arrive I will show you in a brand spanking new post. 

I'd love to know what you think; would you wear these stickers? 

Tangled up in Fun

For one of my course option's I have had to write a review on a topic of my choice. Having seen 'Tangled' at the cinema recently, I decided to review it, as it is honestly one of the best light - hearted films I have seen in a while. Hopefully you enjoy my review, and if your considering going to see it, you should!

The latest Disney animation to hit the box office is loosely based on the classic fairy tale ‘Rapunzel’, by the Brothers Grimm. As a 20-year old who has grown up on a diet of Disney, I had high expectations for the film that I just weren’t sure would be met; but I was enraptured within moments.

Taking its cue from previous Disney classics such as ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Cinderella’ the plot follows a beautiful young protagonist who is prevented from living a full and normal life by an evil villain, but who is eventually saved by a dashing young man.

Disney’s newest Princess is depicted as a teenage girl who is both scared and exhilarated at disobeying the villain Gothal, who is masquerading as Rapunzel’s mother in order to benefit from the magical qualities Rapunzel’s long golden locks possess.  Gothal pretends the outside world is cruel and evil, and forbids her expressly to leave the tower.

Rapunzel is played by Mandy Moore to great effect, as an extremely personable and witty Princess. She is shown at times to be opinionated and strong – willed, a departure from the classic damsel in distress role that Disney princesses of old were often confined to.  The movie also benefits from two very funny animal sidekicks, a horse named Maximus and a chameleon called Pascal. The male saviour and narrator Flynn Rider is a flawed thief, but he changes over the course of the film as the romantic relationship develops.

The film is quintessentially Disney in look and style, yet uses modern CGI effects to make the 3D movie as realistic as possible. It is enriched with colours, shapes and intricate details, such as the inside of her painted tower, with certain scenes as beautiful as a painting. The film also follows Disney tradition by incorporating original songs throughout, resulting in some irresistibly catchy musical numbers, particularly the song “I’ve got a Dream” which has the potential to be a classic like ‘The Little Mermaids’ ‘Kiss the Girl’ original song.

Whilst overall I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, I do not think that the villain Gothal lived up to the archetypical Disney antagonist, such as Ursula or Maleficent, as I was often confused as to whether she actually loved Rapunzel, or if she was solely using her for her magical hair. This conflict in character made it hard to see her in an overtly sinister light; the movie would have been more enjoyable if she was a truly evil and terrifying character.

This Disney film is enjoyable at all ages, and even as an adult viewer, I found myself tearing up at the sad moments, and wanting to join in with the rousing chorus’s. It uses the best in technological advances, yet follows the format of great Disney films that have come before. It is an imaginative and original take on an old tale, which has all the makings of a new Disney classic.

Dogeared jewellery

My shopping obsession has led to my new favourite accessories discovery Dogeared, a philanthropic Californian jewellery and gift company who make accessories that are not only beautiful, but also have a message for the receiver.
After browsing for several hours I have discovered that they have different ranges, but my favourites are the dainty necklaces in the 'Make a wish' and 'Karma' styles. 
The surprisingly inexpensive (although I still can't afford one) necklaces are absolutely gorgeous, and are gold dipped also, which means you can wear them always without worrying about an unattractive rust coloured neck! I first saw their products, albeit unknowingly in 2004 when Marissa / Mischa Barton wore a gold wishbone necklace in several episodes of the O.C, that her real - life boyfriend had given her. I then found them when browsing the Asos site, but found a bigger collection at NettieFrolic.com where I fell in love again and again and again! 


I thought I'd share with you my favourites, as they make a perfect gift for any female relative or friends birthdays, and Mothers day is next month. And if your buying, my birthday is just around the corner...

Gold Love and Happiness Hummingbird necklace, £45.95

Gold Make a Wish necklace, as seen on Mischa Barton, £44.95

Gold Guardian Angel necklace, £46.95

Dip - Dye me!

Lately I have been coveting the dip - dye hairstyle that I've seen everywhere, but my hair has consisted of the same boring, brown side - fringed style for my entire life, with a brief and ill - advised foray into blonde highlights aged 11.

Since she has catapulted onto my fashion radar, Nicki Minaj's rainbow hue tresses have been a particular source of envy, but I remind myself that a) she wear's a wig, and 2) I would look ridiculous going into uni or Asda for my food shop with that hair do!

After deciding that I couldn't pull off a Lady Gaga - esque crazy colour, I started looking at the ladies who have been quietly rocking this trend for a few years, such as Ashlee Simpson and Rachel Bilson. They both have dark hair like me, but have literally tie - dyed the ends a lovely ombré colour.

Armed with print outs of google images of my inspiration, I popped down to boots and stocked up on blonde hair dye that promised to take my chocolate locks to a nice dark honey blonde, which can be bought here.

I separated my hair into two pig tails, and put copious amounts of dye in from just below my shoulders. The regret started to kick in precisely 30 seconds after the dye was put in, as I feared I would be left bald, or worse - with a bob! But after 40minutes and a quick wash and blow dry I was actually impressed! My hair had definitely got lighter, and although it wasn't the precise ombré colour I'd wanted, it was a light coppery brown. I am going to buy some more dye next week to make it slightly lighter so the contrast is more visible and I can get the perfect colour, but for now, here is my new Dip Dye do!