Everything5Pounds Review | Is It Worth It?

I love a bargain! That's not new news to anyone. So when 'Everything5Pounds' offered to let me choose some items of clothing from their website to review, I jumped at the chance. I wanted to see for myself what this site was really about.

To be honest, when I first heard about Everything5Pounds, I was skeptical to say the least. I envisioned a sketchy warehouse operating out of a backstreet in China. And I'm sure I'm not the only one. I mean, jeans for £5? Shoes for £5? Dresses for £5?! It sounds too good to be true!

Soap & Glory Fab Pore 2-in-1 Pore Purifying Mask and Peel | Is is a Miracle Mask?

My quest to find the best in budget-friendly skincare brought me to Soap & Glory's Fab Pore 2-in-1 Pore Purifying Mask and Peel. Lord knows, if anyone's pores need purifying it's mine! 

I don't suffer from a lot of breakouts (thankfully that epic pimple-plague of doom that attacked my face while I was reviewing Garnier's SkinActive Green Tea range has finally cleared up!), but I do have some pretty stubborn blackheads on my nose and chin that seem to have taken up a lifelong residence. Then, of course, there's the issue of my enormous pores. At least if Britain faces austerity in future, I can make a little money on the side by renting out my pores for small families to live in. That's how huge they are!

High Tea at Tea Rooms at the Pet Cemetery | Not as Bizarre as You Might Think

This weekend I travelled up to the end of the Earth North Wales to visit one of my best friends, Beth, for her birthday. It's amazing what a couple of days of good company and fresh country air can do for you. It can even undo the stress associated with the five hour train journey there on a cramped Arriva train that has no plug sockets and where a packet of Quavers will set you back £1.10. 

In anticipation of another equally uncomfortable journey home, Beth decided we should pop out for a nice breakfast and recommended the nearby Tea Rooms at the Pet Cemetery in Hollywell. I know what you're thinking because I thought the same myself. Why are you taking me to an animal burial ground for a fry-up? Isn't there a Spoons somewhere around here instead? But I was pleasantly surprised.

"If it's not baroque, don't fix it." Beauty and the Beast 2017.

Like many hard-core Beauty and the Beast fans, I spent the last year in emotional turmoil, switching back and forth between excitement and dread. When I first found out Disney had a live action remake of my all-time favourite in the making, my initial reaction was indignation.

How on earth were they going to improve on perfection? Were they or were they not going to include that naff filler, 'Human Again'? Who could they possibly find to play a convincing Belle?

And, as snippets were reported here and teasers were released there, I continued to view the whole thing with trepidation while simultaneously counting down the days like a child waiting for Christmas. Did I hate the idea? Did I love the idea? Who knows? I just know I had a lot of feelings about it!

But last week I finally got the see the film I'd been both longing for and dreading.

Photo: Disney

They're Real! Benefit Talbot Green Blogging Event

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to go to the launch of Benefit's They're Real Double the Lip two-in-one lipstick and lipliner, and the They're Real Duo Eyeshadow Blender. Kristie and Hannah (aka the lovely ladies from the Benefit counter at Boots, Talbot Green) put on a lovely evening with some live demonstrations, a chance for us to play with the products, and some delicious snacks (#priorities).

First let's talk about the new eyeshadow range because I can't contain my excitement about it! The eyeshadows come as a duo with a little spherical applicator. All it takes is a few swipes back and forth across the eyeshadow and a few strokes across your eyelids and ta-da!

Christmas as the Grape & Olive | Blogger Event

As November comes to a close and we continue to hurtle towards Christmas, I wanted to write a little something about the blogger Christmas event at the Grape & Olive in Swansea. Yes, it took place over two weeks ago, but, between the never-ending madness of my PGCE and an unexpected bout of lurgy, it's taken until now to find five minutes to sit down and write something up.

As someone who lives within easy driving distance of Swansea, I'm a little ashamed to say I'd never been to the Grape & Olive before. I'm even more ashamed to admit that, even though it's located at the top of the tallest building in Wales and therefore in the most visible building in Swansea, I ended up spending twenty minutes wandering through the marina in the dark, heading in the complete opposite direction. Such is the story of my life.

Monthly Musings: October 2016

October is my favourite month and I always get a little sad when it comes to an end, but this October has been particularly wonderful. For a start, the weather has been beautiful! Usually here in South Wales it starts raining at the beginning of September and doesn't stop until June, but the last few weeks have been dry, still and unseasonably warm. It's such a lovely change to hear the crisp crunch of autumn leaves underfoot as opposed to having to wade through a slimy, wet mulch. Eww.

And this year we had a Halloween party! Halloween is favourite time of year (I may have mentioned that before, just once or twice) and this month was cram-packed with all things Halloween. Making new decorations, baking Halloween cupcakes, putting together a costume, and, of course, watching Hocus Pocus.

I'm really sad to see the back of such a fun month.

Magical Moment

It goes without saying that the magical moment of this month was our Halloween party. It was fantastic! We had a creepy scarecrow and a graveyard and our bathroom was so terrifying that people were too afraid to go upstairs alone (I include myself in that). It was the best night I've had in a long time!

Monthly Musings: August 2016

To be entirely honest, I'm not really sure where August began and where it ended. Was I even there? To be fair, it's really hard to keep track of time when you're not in work or school. I very rarely know what day it is anymore. Roll on the start of my first semester back at uni!

But, for all that, it's been a pretty good month. My baby niece turned seven (seven!) and, partly because I want to be the coolest aunt ever and partly to wind up my brother, I bought her a six foot unicorn. I finally renewed my gym membership and went for a swim for the first time in about 10 years (I felt as if I was going to drown after a mere two laps, but, hey, I'll get there eventually). The sun finally came out a couple of times and it was even warm enough for a dip in the sea!

So all in all August has been an excellent end to my summer!

Magical Moment

Here's a picture of my touching a cow. A cow! I've been terrified of cows for most of my life. Nobody (including myself) understands why. It's not like I endured any bizarre cattle-related trauma as a small child of anything, but, whatever the reason, even the knowledge that there could be a cow somewhere within a three mile radius was always enough to send me into hysterics.
I knew I had to deal with this fear. After all, it's not acceptable to turn 25 and still have a crippling fear of lumbering herbivorous farm animals.

So, when my friend Beth and I went to a local country park and came across a miniature farm, I repressed my initial instinct to flee, arms flailing at the mere thought that there could be cows lurking nearby. In fact I looked them square in the face, sidled up to their enclosure and touched one (after a great deal of hyperventilating and crying).

Estee Lauder Blogger Event: Prosecco, Face Masks and Freebies...Oh My!

It's not very often that I get to describe a Thursday evening as fun-filled and glamorous (I mean, usually I'd be in my pjs by 7pm with a Mini Milk, watching Take me Out). But last night I was lucky enough to attend a fabulous Estee Lauder blogging event courtesy of their counter in Boots, Cribbs Causeway.

For a while I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make it, what with the exhaust literally falling off my car and the motor giving out in one of the windows so that it wouldn't go back up. Luckily the garage managed fit a new exhaust in time for me to make it to Bristol, albeit with a black bag taped to the side of my car in an attempt to keep the rain out. Trying to pay at the Severn Bridge was a nightmare I never want to have to repeat.

But it was definitely worth all the drama when I finally got there (slightly frizzy and dishevelled as I was since the black bag only held out for the first 15 miles of my journey). The event was held at Scavi and Ray, a chic prosecco bar in the Cribbs Causeway Shopping Mall that Carrie Bradshaw herself would be proud to be spotted at. We had an array of delicious nibbles and adorable little bottles of prosecco with straws, which went down a treat!

First we heard about the history of Estee Lauder, who was, in fact, a real-life woman and a sassy, ingenious girlboss at that! She was the first to give out free samples and gifts with purchase. You guys, we owe that woman so much!

And then we got into the products. I felt like a small child on Christmas morning!

We tried out some of the products from the Advanced Night Repair range including the foil mask made famous by Victoria Beckham. I used it on the back of my hand and even now, almost 24 hours later, one hand is still smoother and more fresh-looking than the other. My hands look they they belong to two different people!

We also got to try out some of the products from the Genuine Glow range, which was super exciting because a) it's designed specifically for us millennials and b) everything is pink! For me the stand out product was the Eyelighting Creme for Eyes and Face. The glow it gave my skin was so beautiful without any of the harsh shininess that you can sometimes get with cream highlighters. I fell in love!

From there we went and got colour-matched for the famous Double Wear foundation, which I've been desperate to try for goodness knows how long. Here's a fun fact: Estee Lauder have 44 different foundation shades. 44! That means there's a shade for everyone and no one has to settle for a colour that's a little too pale or a tad too warm. It's the utopia of foundations!

I had a little sample of Double Wear to bring home with me along with a goodie bag bursting with products I can't wait to try out. By this time next week my skin will be so smooth and radiant that no one will recognise me!

And the lovely ladies at Estee Lauder are so generous that they want all you guys to have a free gift too! Just take this picture (you don't even have to print it, you can take it on your phone) to the Estee Lauder counter at Boots, Cribbs Causeway and you'll get a free gift with any purchase!

I'm so glad my dodgy little car got me to Bristol last night because it really was a lovely evening. Thank you to all the ladies from the Estee Lauder counter for being so friendly and especially to Karen for organising such a lovely event! All in all the evening was a fantastic opportunity to meet some lovely new friends, learn more about a fantastic brand and fall in love with some new products.

Seriously, I've already started writing my Christmas list!

Review: BBC's Clean Eating's Dirty Secrets

Recently I've been trying my hand at cleaner eating. I've been doing my best to avoid processed food and to fill my plate with food that comes from the Earth as is instead of food labelled "pierce lid several times before microwaving on full power for four minutes", but I'm not quite there yet. The occasional biscuit (or seven), chocolate orange yoghurt or french fry still manage to find their way into my mouth.

Hence cleaner eating. Cleaner than it was, but not exactly clean clean.

I'm still new to the world of clean eating and I'm still trying to get my hands on as much information as I can to inspire and educate me. So when I saw the BBC had brought out a documentary called Clean Eating's Dirty Secrets, you can bet I was all over it. I like to be well-informed!

Unfortunately, this documentary does not seem to share that passion for being well-informed.

According to the BBC, this 34 minute long documentary follows Youtuber, Grace Victory, as she "investigates Britain's latest extreme diet craze", which kind of threw up red flags for me straight away.  After all, if clean eating is eating whole foods in their most natural state without all the artificial colours, additives and chemicals, food that comes from the Earth instead of a lab or a factory, then how is that an extreme diet craze? Surely that's just the natural human diet that we lived on for millions of years before the days of fast food, brominated vegetable oil and GMOs.

But it quickly becomes apparent that the documentary isn't actually about clean eating at all. In fact, throughout the entire programme I struggled to understand what it was about!

Grace says she's investigating "plant-based diets that are dairy free, sugar free, gluten free, meet free, JOY free", but throughout the documentary she jumps from one diet to the next in an almost haphazard way, not explaining their differences and instead sloppily labelling them all as 'clean eating'. Hello! Living a vegan lifestyle is not the same as clean eating. Not all clean eaters are vegan and not all vegans are clean eaters! Nor do gluten or natural sugars have any part to play in whether or not you're a vegan or a clean eater. I'm sure there are sugar free, gluten free clean eating vegans out there (who may or may not have joy in their lives), but these dietary preferences aren't all co-dependent or one of the same thing.

It turns out that what Grace is actually condemning investigating is veganism, which she deems "very middle class" because it's so expensive.

Now, I'm not a vegan myself so correct me if I'm wrong, but a trolley full of vegetables and rice surely can't cost as much as a trolley full of ham, beef and chicken breasts. And, again correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure you'll find that the world over it's the poorest people who are living on a plant-based diet while the middle classes are tucking into their sirlion steak with side of peppercorn sauce. Vegetables are not reserved for doctors, lawyers and Jack Will's wearers.

Grace cites and chats with various bloggers and Youtubers throughout the documentary, including Brianna Jackson. Brianna suffered from an eating disorder for five years and, in an interview with Whole Lifestyle, she says, "if I hadn't found raw veganism, I don't think I'd be alive today...whole unprocessed foods really helped me trust food again". But, rather than heralding veganism as the reason for Brianna's recovery like she does, the BBC documentary almost makes out that Brianna's diet and her illness are connected, using her eating disorder story as a segway into a section on orthorexia.

(In case you're not down with the lingo, orthorexia is a medical condition that causes sufferers to avoid certain foods that they consider unhealthy.)

Brianna is a vegan advocate and certainly doesn't consider herself to be orthorexic. Needless to say, Brianna was more than a little upset when she saw the documentary. You can watch her response video here:


It's clear from the get-go that Grace's intention is to condemn and undermine a lifestyle that she blatantly doesn't understand and openly refers to as "a cult". She openly says "I don't want this lifestyle", she wants the diets she tries (for how many days is never really clarified) to fail and she wants to go back to her old, processed, microwavable ways. And that's fine! You do you girlfriend! (I just ate a Milkybar, who am I to judge?) But if you're going to make a documentary exposing the negatives of something, it needs to be researched, well presented...make some fragment of sense!

Overall the documentary is a poor attempt at cramming too many topics (anorexia, orthorexia, veganism, blogger influence, the regulation of the term 'nutritionist', a potato cleanse...whatever that is) into a measly 34 minutes. All these different aspects of what Grace confusedly terms as 'clean eating' are quickly glossed over without any real exploration and then sloppily thrown together into half an hour of misinformed confusion.

Rant over!

Clean Eating's Dirty Secrets is currently available for you to watch (and roll your eyes at as you see fit) on the BBC iPlayer.

Monthly Musings: July

Look everyone! Monthly Musings are making a comeback and, whats more, they've had a bit of a revamp! Please contain your 'oohs' and 'aahs' as far as possible.

July has, for the most part, been a bit of a strain on my poor, fragile nerves because my parents decided to pull apart the kitchen and fit an entirely new one. In fairness, it was crying out for a makeover. Those counters were here when we moved in 14 years ago and they weren't even fashionable then (nor, if you ask me, were they ever).

But, as excited as I was at the promise of an oven that wouldn't burn all my cakes and a Tassimo machine for a never-ending supply of vanilla lattes available in the comfort of my own home, the dusk til dawn drilling, the dust, having to wash all the dishes in the bath and living off extremely questionable microwavable sausages and powdered soups eventually took its toll!

The main thing is I survived! And, beige diet and general kitchen drama aside, July has been a pretty good month!

Magical Moment

At 24 years old I'm still a festival novice. The mud, lack of running water and the whole sleeping on the floor thing really put me off. But this month I donned my wellies and obnoxiously large flower headband and attended the extremely exclusive Wellifest. Never seen it advertised in the Rolling Stones magazine? That's because it's a festival that my (extremely creative and slightly bonkers) cousin, Elinor, throws in her back garden every year. We had bands, we had hay bales, we had pulled pork, we even had an impromptu dance floor! And, amazingly, it didn't even rain...until everyone was a few cans of cider too many to notice.

I had such an amazing afternoon and took so well to the boho-chic festival style that I might even go to an actual festival next summer. You know, if I can get over my aversion to porta-loos by then.

#FAIL of the Month

The sheer amount of straw I managed to get in my Jack Daniels during Wellifest. I mean...how?!

This month I'm obsessed with...

Crips that aren't really crisps.

Since the kitchen has been off limits, I've been pretty much living on snack food (or at least that's my excuse). So imagine my delight when I came across a delicious alternative to crisps that I could exclaim, through a mouth full of crumbs, were in fact pretty good for me...well, better than ordinary crisps at least. This month I discovered a brand called Eat Real, which produces all kind of gluten free, vegetarian and vegan friendly crisps made from lentils, hummus, quinoa and veggies. My personal favourites are the Sour Cream and Chive Quinoa Chips. Nom!

Photo|EatReal.co.uk

If you're reading this and thinking, "quinoa crisps...really?!" then to you I say, "Yes! Really!"
They taste delicious, satisfy my midday cravings and have the same satisfying crunch as those deep-fried potato crisps without the guilt.

Book

This month I've been reading *The Count of Monte Cristo and, to be entirely honest, I think I'll still be reading The Count of Monte Cristo for a good few months to come. It's a impressive 1300 pages long, but don't let that fool you into thinking it's some kind of meandering Victorian novel that spends the first 500 pages setting the scene by describing the colour of the grass and the noise of the birds (though, in all honesty, I do enjoy those kinds of books too). It jumps pretty much straight into the action and it's fast pace, intriguing characters and the unexpected twists and turns of the plot have got me totally hooked.

Photo|BarnesandNoble.com

In case you're unfamiliar with the story, a young sailor named Dantes is accused of treason by his jealous acquaintances and is imprisoned for 21 years before he escapes and vows revenge on the men he thought were his friends. I'm only a third of the way through and I'm struggling to put it down!

Youtube Channel

 LeahXO

This month I was lucky enough to be part of a collaboration with a group of small Youtubers. I thoroughly enjoyed it since, not only was it a great way to find some new channels to binge-watch, but I got to meet some lovely new Youtube friends too!

So this month's Youtuber of the month simply has to be the lovely lady who organised the collaboration and got us all together. Leah's channel is all things makeup and beauty related. She has a really sweet personality and a Northern accent that makes me want to listen to her talk all day long. Is it just me or is listening to a Northern accent like cuddling up under a nice, warm blanket somehow? No? Just me? Ok.

Photo of the Month

Here's me living the life of a real-life fairy princess at Welliefest. I AM the Snapchat filter!

Instagram: @aimee_oddball

The soundtrack of my month was...

Miranda Lambert - Gunpowder and Lead

Not that I personally want to go out and shoot anyone (though there were a couple of times during traffic jams...). But there's nothing quite like a good old sassy country song to turn up nice and loud on a summer afternoon.

This month I discovered...

There are only 880 wild Mountain Gorillas left...in the whole world!

Photo|WWF.org

I've been on a bit of a Netflix documentary binge recently (there's only so much time you can waste re-watching That 70s Show after all) and last week I came across Virunga. It's a 2014 documentary film about the work of conservation workers in Virunga National Park, a 7,800 square kilometre World Heritage site in the Congo, which is home to lions, elephants, hippos (basically the entire cast of The Lion King) and 25% of the remaining Mountain Gorillas.

You see the gorillas, how adorable they are, how the conservation workers dote on them and literally give up their lives for them and you begin to think, "Well surely no one's so thoroughly evil to the core that they'd consider hurting these poor, beautiful little balls of fluff."

Cue the arrival of the British! (There's a reason all movie bad-guys have British accents.)

A company called SOCO International barges in and starts exploring for oil (which is totally against international law). Throw in a rebel army, some tanks, a French journalist and a member of the Belgian Royal Family who is prepared to lay down his life to protect the park and you've got yourself one heck of a documentary. It will have you screaming at the TV and despairing at the greed and selfishness of the human race (even more-so than you do when you're fighting your way through the January sales).

Definitely go and check it out!

(Affiliate links marked with *)

Pokemon No-Go: My Pokemon Go Experience

In case you (somehow!) haven't heard, Pokemon has made an almighty comeback recently with the release of the new smartphone game, Pokemon Go. The world is going crazy for it, partly because, let's be honest, who doesn't love a Jigglypuff and partly because the game features augmented reality, which is basically just a fancy gamer way of saying you can use your phone camera to see the real world around you, but it's full of Pikachus and Squirrels.

My initial reaction to the news that the entire world was suddenly overrun with people rushing around trying to collect virtual Pokemon was, "Wait...what?"

Aside from the fact that the whole thing seemed completely bizarre to me, I wasn't exactly thrilled to see another time-draining app hit the market that would have us all glued to our phones. I mean, call me old-fashioned, but I'm getting tired of the glazed expression on my niece and nephew's faces as their brains melt into Minecraft, Roblox and the never-ending drudgery of flinging resentful birds at smug green pigs.

What ever happened to the pure joy of an entire afternoon spent playing with a cardboard box?

But, as Pokemon fever continued to spread and more and more people tried to convince me of the benefits ("People get out and about more when they're looking for Pokemon. If anything it encourages a healthy lifestyle!") I decided to give it a go. After all, I am a nineties kid. In my heyday I had 5 shiny Pokemon cards!

So I downloaded the app. I have to admit, when I first saw a Squirtle prancing around the living room my inner child squealed with joy. Into the Pokeball he went and (ta da!) I had my first Pokemon!

...Now what?

I could see there was another Pokemon hanging out at the end of the street so off I trotted and caught myself a Pidgey. It wasn't as fun the second time. Perhaps the novelty had already worn off or perhaps the fact that it was a Pidgey of all things was just too bitter of a disappointment. Either way, I lost interest and cut my Pokemon hunt short.

By the end of the day I had five Pokemon and had spent an entire car ride shouting at my mother, "Slow down! They're all getting away!" But I was already bored of staring at my poorly dressed avatar running aimlessly through the streets. And what was I even meant to do with these Pokemon now that I had them? I'd spotted some kind of Pokemon Gym during the car journey, but what was it for? And would I have to hang out on the M4 slip road to access it? Surely that's not safe!

My Pokemon adventure was short lived. By the end of the day I was totally over it and deleted the app to make room for a 'gym playlist' I made for a workout I know in my heart of hearts I will never actually get around to doing. I tried to get excited about all the Jinxes and Pidgettos that were loitering around, but I just couldn't get into it. I didn't like having my nose pressed to the phone screen, waiting for the next adorable little virtual weirdo to pop up. And let's not even get into the whole 'people accidentally walking off cliffs' thing.

I'm sure my opinion won't matter much to Nintendo though. Pokemon Go has already added more than $7 billion to the company's market value and I think it's fair to say that in many instances the game has already reached full-blown obsession mode. When I saw the video of hundreds of people swarming Central Park to catch a Vaporeon I had the same sense of confused disbelief as I did when the Spice Girls announced their reunion in 2007.

Once again it seems the 90s are coming back to haunt us. I guess if I can get over seeing a 32 year old Mel B trying to make metallic knee-high boots work in the twenty-first century then I can get over watching my adult friends running through the streets chasing Charmanders. But, seriously you guys, I draw the line at the return of Manpris.

Monthly Musings: October!

Hello everyone and welcome to November! Yes, I'm aware everyone else has been here for a while, but you know me. I'm never on time!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, October is my favourite month. I love the feeling of the crisp autumnal breeze and the crunching sound of fallen leaves beneath my feet. But most of all I love Halloween! The pumpkins, the black cats, the gruesome latex decapitated heads...good times!

I can't help feeling sad that October is over, but the one consolation is that it's time for Monthly Musings! Hooray!

Obsession of the month...

As I mentioned in my Halloween Goodies post, I have recently developed a huge (some might say ridiculous) obsession with scented candles. Up until this point I have always found the worldwide fascination with scented candles bizarre. I mean, realistically, you may as well just set fire to your money and sprinkle it with pot-pourri. Same basic principle.
But all of a sudden I find myself with some kind of scented candle shrine taking over half of my dressing table and I can't walk into Debenhams any more without sniffing all the candles in the home-wear department.

It's becoming a problem...

Accomplishment of the month...

Have I actually accomplished anything this month? Surely I must have done something within the last month that I can be proud of!
I mean, I would say I accomplished breaking in my new work shoes, but even that would be a lie because I got my mother to break them in for me.
I am really judging myself right now.

Thing I am most ashamed of this month...

The sheer amount of Milkybar Ghosts I ate. Repeat after me: Halloween is not an excuse to up your calorie intake by 4000%.

Book of the month...

You guessed it! I am still making my way through *Middlemarch! I've really been struggling to find time to sit down and read since I started my new job and, with another 500 odd pages left to go and my workload set to increase even more during the run-up to Christmas, I'm worried that I'll be reading this book for the rest of my life.

I am really starting to get into it though. I mean, I still have absolutely no idea where the plot is going (if anywhere), but I really feel for Dorothea and her disenchantment with grown up-life. I feel you girl!

Youtuber of the month...

grav3yardgirl

I was drawn to Bunny's channel this month because she is just as much of a Halloween nut as I am. I was lured in by the Halloween makeup tutorials and "Follow Me Around a Halloween Store" videos and then proceeded to binge-watch her channel for the rest of the month. She is totally mental...and I love it!

Things ticked off The 2015 List...

Absolutely nothing. I'm close though! All I need to do if finish Middlemarch and I can cross off "read 12 more books from the BBC Good Reads list". But the way that's going, I could be waiting a long time for that small victory.

Next month I will aim to...

Start eating more fruit and veg. Like...one a day or something...

Psst! You can check out my October Favourites here:

(Affiliate links marked with *)

Monthly Musings: May!

So I guess another month has come and gone and, all of a sudden, here we are in June with my trip to the USA less than two weeks away. I'm not entirely sure whether the last few weeks have flown by or whether they've crept forward at a frustratingly sluggish pace, but there's one thing I am certain of. My to do list never seems to get any shorter. 

So, with my next adventure just around the corner and the month of June well and truly upon us, it's time for what might be my last monthly musing until I get back in three month's time...

Obsession of the month...

My current obsession continues to be Game of Thrones. I'm sorry, but I'm still totally addicted to it. I'm halfway through the third season and, as I lie awake in bed at night, I'm plagued with the troubling thought that I might not manage to get through all of the episodes before I leave for the USA. True, I should probably be more concerned about the fact that I still don't have travel insurance, but the thought of spending the next three months in suspense, knowing there's a whole other season out there I have yet to watch...it's just too much! 

(Those of you who follow me on Instagram may have seen my ambitious attempt at Daenerys Targaryen hair. Oh how I wish I was as cool as she is!)

Accomplishment of the month...

This month I attended my last cheer competition of the season, Cheer Sport Wales in Newport. And would you believe it? We came second! Yes out opening stunt went a bit...wonky and yes the timing was off in the pyramid, but we came second! Not bad for a team who came dead last at the start of the season. In fact, not bad for any team!

Low point of the month...

Looking at my bank account after paying off the remainder of my trip. Ouch!

Book of the month...

The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins 

I'm a sucker for a nineteenth century novel and this one has the added allure of a gripping plot, twists and turns galore and so much suspense I found myself huddled under the duvet until 3am most nights, promising myself I'd go to sleep "after just a few pages more". The book is written from the perspective of various characters, jumping back and forth between them to unravel the mystery of the Woman in White, who, as you may be able to guess, is a creepy enigma...dressed in white. Expect the unexpected! 

Youtuber of the month...

Stepanka

As well as your typical hair and beauty type videos, Stepanka uploads a lot of videos where she pretty much just talks at the camera about whatever's on her mind. Be it about her relationships, her dog, her boobs, she doesn't really have a filter and that's something I really enjoy in a Youtuber. I mean, hello! Have you seen my channel? Not even I know what I'm talking about most of the time! 

Things ticked off The 2015 List...

31. Go on a trip by myself

Ok, so technically when I came up with this one I was thinking of a holiday or even a night away, but, seeing as the 2015 list has been an epic fail so far, I feel like I can cheat a little and count the day trip I took to Manchester. 

I had to attend a summer camp orientation day in Manchester at the start of the month and, when the orientation ended three hours early and I was stranded, unable to catch my train until after 6pm, I took a little look around the city. I'll be honest, it was nothing like I expected. The picture I had in my head was somewhere between a scene from the Industrial Revolution with huge chimneys pouring out a thick black smog, and Coronation Street. In reality Manchester was one of the most beautiful cities I've visited and the people were extremely friendly and helpful (which was great because I got lost...a lot). 

Next month I will aim to...

Be the best summer camp counsellor in history! Or, at the very least, not have the kids think I'm a complete and utter loser. 

I May be a Freak, but I'm a Freak with Snazzy Pens: Cult Pens Review

I'm a freak. There are a great many layers to my weirdness and a whole array of kinks and quirks that contribute to my overall uniqueness, but essentially what it all boils down to is that I am a fairly quirky human being. I keep a box of buttons, organised by colour, I have over 150 Disney songs on my Ipod and I have a paralysing fear of cows (they just have such a menacing look about them!).

Another one of my odd traits is my obsession with stationary. I mean, is it really normal to have so many feelings about post-it notes and page dividers? And surely most people wouldn't include a label maker on their list of desert island must-haves, right? But I have a deep-rooted love for anything that can organise, colour-code or sub-divide any aspect of my life and there's simply nothing I can do about it.

So, when I decided to undertake a new project last weekend, I'm sure you'll now understand why said project simply could not go ahead until I'd ordered myself a new packet of fineliners. Fineliners were, after all, the only thing that kept me sane throughout the torturous months spent drafting my dissertation. Actually, Jack Daniels may have played a part too, but mostly it was down to having all of my spider diagrams colour-coded and cute-looking.

And now we finally arrive at the point of this post. On my search for the best value packet of fineliners I could get my hands on, I came across I website called Cult Pens and, if you're a freak like me then you need this website in your life.

They have every type of pen you could possibly need in your life as well as some other stationary-type bits and bobs and they had the best price I could find for those fineliners I so desperately needed. Not only that, but shipping was free and crazy fast (I placed my order Wednesday evening and here we are on Friday and I already have them). And not only that, but my parcel also contained some sneaky surprises. I got some complimentary Staedtler pencils to go with my Staedtler pens and...a packet of Haribo!

As if I wasn't excited enough about the fineliners, they go and throw in some scrumptious sweeties as well!

So I know the vast majority of you will think this post, along with my enthusiasm for colour co-ordination, is very strange and/or unnecessary, but when I find a product or a company that impresses me, I like to share it with you guys. Sometimes that may be a new App or a restaurant and sometimes it's a shop that specialises in pens. That's the beauty of this blog. You really never know what you're going to get...

Also, Cult Pens in no way paid me or offered me a lifetime supply of free pens or anything in exchange for this post (trust me, if I had a lifetime supply of pens coming my way, you'd all know about it). In fact, they have no idea I'm even writing this and, in all probability, will also think I'm a freak for my excessive pen enthusiasm.

But that's fine. Because I am a freak.

Monthly Musings: March!

Obsession of the month...

My obsession this month was a new TV programme on Netflix called Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. It has all the components of what I would consider to be the perfect TV show. The humour is bizarre, random and totally genius, the theme tune is catchy, and you never know when one of the characters is going to randomly burst into song. It's fabulous on so many levels!

Unfortunately, I made that fatal Netflix error of watching the entire season over the course of two short days and now I'm stuck twiddling my thumbs until they upload the next one.

Accomplishment of the month...

This month my Youtube channel hit 100 subscribers! I'd call that a pretty awesome accomplishment. It's so exciting and I'm so grateful/amazed that people like my videos so much. And I've been getting so many lovely comments and messages from my subscribers too! 

If you are a subscriber then thank you! I really, really, really appreciate your support. And if you're not, what are you waiting for? Go subscribe and experience my rants and ramblings in an entirely new medium! (Plus there's a super awesome giveaway going on right now too!)

High point of the month...

I'm not even ashamed to say that one of the most memorable occurrences of the month was coming across a Milkybar Milk and Cookies chocolate bar. Just when I thought there wasn't anything more delicious in the world than Milkybar chocolate, they go and put little chunks of cookie in there! It was just...everything! 

Low point of the month...

Not being able to find said Milkybar Milk and Cookies chocolate bars anywhere since. I mean, in what kind of cruel world would I find something so perfect, just to have it snatched away from me? 

Book of the month...

I've spent the entire month trawling through Stephen King's 'The Stand' and I still have another 150 pages or so to go. Unless something truly monumental happens right at the end, I can't see it working its way into my top 10. Or top 20. It's a really great story, but it seems ridiculous that a plot that takes place over the course of a single summer needs to be over 1000 pages long. I mean, come on! Margaret Mitchell squeezed 16 years worth of plot into a novel shorter than this one!

Youtuber of the month...

Popgnome

This month I've been binge-watching videos by Kourtney and Jessica, AKA Popgnome. Their channel is a mixed bag with videos about everything from lipstick to DIY, food to dogs. You know I like my Youtbers down-to-Earth, fun, and interesting to watch and these girls tick all the boxes! 

Things ticked off The 2015 List...

I managed to tick just one more thing off the list this month (it's going painfully slowly).
32. Visit somewhere new
This month I took a trip to the Forest of Dean with my friend Beth, her boyfriend, and a whole lot of his friends. Yes, I know I'm a party-crasher, but who can blame me? After all, a weekend away is a weekend away!
We stayed in little cabins surrounded by trees and mud and (so I'm told) all kind of animals. Personally it's the closest to camping I ever want to get. And imagine my surprise when I realised that the Forest of Dean is actually nowhere near the Lake District!
Actually I'm beginning to wonder whether it's too late to add "brush up on basic Geography" to The 2015 List.

Next month I will aim to...

Make some headway with The 2015 List. I'm three months into the year and I've only managed to tick off a measly two accomplishments. Maybe I won't aim for number 6 (climb Snowdon), but there are plenty of random things on there that would actually require very little planning (or effort). 

Monthly Musings: February

So the second month of 2015 has drawn to a close. I successfully survived another Valentine's Day alone without resorting to a heart-shaped chocolate overdose and, as we move into March, we're one step closer to being able to throw off our bulky winter coats and embrace the first signs of summer as it glimmers on the horizon (or, for those of us living in South Wales, a slight increase in temperature with a good chance of showers).

Those of you who read last month's musings will know that this month I challenged myself to spend less time shouting at re-runs of Judge Judy between mouthfuls of shortbread dipped in Nutella. Well, I'm proud to say I've spent a lot less time in my pjs this month, but I'm far from being anything close to interesting and/or fun. For instance, today I was determined to go out and 'live life', but the only place I could think of the go to is an overpriced bar 15 minutes from my house. So here I've sat, nursing the world's most expensive glass of lemonade and pretending to get some work done.

But at least I'm heading in the right direction I guess.

So here's a recap of my month...

That hair!

Obsession of the month...

My February obsession was Blown Away, an album by Carrie Underwood. I downloaded it at the start of the month and I've been continuously listening to it on repeat ever since. I'm listening to it as I drive, as I work, as I attempt to force my hair into a semi-attractive style, and I sing the songs to myself while I'm in the shower. I've been a Carrie Underwood fan for years (I don't know whether I'm more impressed by her music or her wonderful country-girl hair), but this is my favourite album of hers. It just makes me want to put on my cowboy boots and pretend I'm cool.

Accomplishment of the month...

While organising my lipsticks was a pretty big deal, I'm going to say the biggest accomplishment of the month was competing in my first cheer competition. No, scratch that. My biggest accomplishment was competing in my first cheer competition without having to run off the mat and vomit into the crowd of spectators. 
Either way, it was an amazing day and, if you haven't already, you can take a look at how the competition panned out in my cheer vlog.

Book of the month...

I got through quite a few books in February (determined as I am not to lose any more brain cells), but the one that stood out for me was Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It was beautiful to read, words lovingly stitched together in a way that almost gave them a texture of their own. It really forced me to evaluate my life, to consider the passing of time and the inevitability of death, which, while far from uplifting, was certainly more interesting than the thoughts I usually encounter on a daily basis ("Why would they take Tangled off Netflix?" "My foundation just ran out. How can I possibly leave the house?" "If these crisps now have half the fat, can I eat two packets?" and so on).
But, honestly, this is the best book I have read in a long time. 

Youtuber of the month...

Linzy Rae 

If you like your beauty gurus funny, down to earth and honest then I'm convinced you will love Lindsay's channel. Have you ever watched someone on TV or Youtube and thought 'I wish we were BFFs, she looks like so much fun'? Well that's how I feel about Lindsay (and the Long Island Medium, but that's a story for another day). 

Things ticked off The 2015 List...

Any movie with hot men in uniform is fine with me

I was convinced I had utterly failed again and made it through another entire month without crossing a single thing off the list, but when I double checked, I realised I'd managed to tick one off without even realising it. That totally still counts!
29. Watch Top Gun
I'm not sure how I made it to the ripe old age of 23 without watching a film in which Tom Cruise runs around dressed in military uniform (seriously, where has this been all my life?!) but it's fair to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Apart from the depressing bit in the middle. I sobbed through that part.

Next month I will aim to...

Work out some kind of life plan. Or, at the very least, work out what to do with the next few months. Don't get me wrong, being a full-time Disney Princess is all very well and good, but I need to start asking myself some important questions. Is this what I want to do for the rest of my life? If yes, who will realistically want to hire a 40 year old Elsa impersonator? Where shall I go on my summer holiday this year? Shall I get a fringe cut in?

By the end of March I'd like to have a clearer idea of what I'm doing with my life. Or, if not my life, then at least my hair. 

Monthly Musings: January

"...the cuddly dressing gown with bunny ears on the hood..."

January is already drawing to a close and, one month into 2015, I'm not entirely convinced that I've made the best start on my New Year's Resolutions. I've spent a worrying amount of time curled up in front of Judge Judy in the cuddly dressing gown with bunny ears on the hood that I had for Christmas. Actually, Judge Judy has severely eaten into the time I'd planned to spend exercising, going new places and generally transforming myself into a well-rounded grown-up. Oh well. Maybe next month.

To ensure that the months don't slip away from me as quickly as they did last year and to try and encourage myself to stick to those pesky resolutions, I've decided to start writing monthly recaps. I'll write about my favourite things from the month, high points, low points, random annecdotes and whatever else seems relevant at the time. I know, super organised and well thought out, right?

So here's an insight into my January!

Obsession of the month...

This month I embarked on a worrying relationship with detox water. For Christmas I had a detox water bottle, which has a little inner section to fill with fruits and veggies so that the water gets infused with all sorts of goodness and tastiness. It was meant to be a part of my healthy new lifestyle, which ultimately backfired when my mother threatened to confiscate the bottle for fear that I would accidentally drown myself in citrus flavoured water. In fairness, I can see how 4 litres a day could be considered excessive.

Accomplishment of the month...

Finally locating my missing passport. For three weeks I tore through the house, pulling out draws, toppling furniture...I even ventured into the attic! But at last I found my passport, buried in a forgotten bag of toiletries I never got around to unpacking after moving back home. Clearly I should have known to check for vital documents in amongst my moisturisers. 

Thing I am most ashamed of this month...

Last week I ate half a loaf of white bread. All to myself. In one afternoon.
(Bonus shame points - I have a gluten intolerance, therefore making the white bread consumption twice as bad because I'm meant to avoid it like the plague.)

Book of the month...

Bridget Jones's Diary.
Although not as good as the film, (which could be because I am biased towards anything that has Hugh Grant's sexy voice in it) the book did have me laughing out loud. That said, I did not enjoy the record of her daily weigh-ins, which were a constant reminder that even Bridget Jones is skinnier than me. I know she's a fictional character, but it was a kick in the teeth all the same.

Youtuber of the month...

Kendall Rae
I enjoy her humour, random outbursts, and the fact that just as many bizarre and humiliating things seem to happen to her as they do to me.

Things ticked off The 2015 List...

...None. I really need to work on that.

Next month I will aim to...

Spend less time in my bunny dressing gown (even though it is the most amazing piece of clothing I own and it should be socially acceptable for me to wear it out in public), watching Judge Judy and eating Nutella out of the jar. Instead I will seize the day! I'm not entirely sure what that comprises of yet...

Fabulous Photo Gifts: Snapfish Goodies Review!

Now that Halloween is over I'm starting to allow myself to think a little about Christmas. I'm not the kind of person who feels the need to put up a Christmas tree in the first week of November and I am most certainly not the kind of person who posts those memes of Will Ferrell in Elf with the caption 'only 150 more sleeps until Christmas'. In fact, I usually like to keep the holiday entirely confined to the month of December. But this is the first time in three years that I'm going to be home for the run up to Christmas so I can't help getting excited. Plus, the lovely people at Snapfish sent me a voucher so I could write up a review for them so, thanks to them, my Christmas shopping is already well under way too!

Let me just begin by saying that I love photos. My room in university was plastered with them and I have a totally overwhelming obsessive compulsive thing going on with putting all the family prints in chronologically ordered albums with labels. I feel very strongly about it, which is probably weird.

Anyway, at this time of year I always see adverts for personalised photo gifts, but I've never actually gone out and bought any because I was convinced they would look totally cheesy and that the gift recipient would be like, "...wow...a t-shirt with a picture of you on...thanks...". But I must say, I am very impressed with the things I got sent from Snapfish and I will definitely be purchasing more photo gifts from them in the future. Overall the choice was amazing, the quality is great and I now have a whole bunch of quirky personalised Christmas gifts to dish out this year. And some goodies for myself. (Of course!) So here's a look at the goodies I got...

Photo Calendar

Firstly I ordered a calendar for my mother (so let's hope she doesn't read this). I have to say, I had a lot of fun designing it. There are what feels like hundreds of different background themes for you to choose from. I was in creative heaven! When choosing your backgrounds you can either keep it simple and choose a theme, which includes twelve different backgrounds, one for each month, or you can go totally crazy like I did and scroll through them all and mix and match. Great for people like me who are extremely picky! 

You can also change the photo layouts to include a different number of photos and you can add captions. My favourite part was that you can customise the dates on the calendar and add pictures and captions to them, which makes it even more personal. What's more, you guys know how much of a technophobe I am, but all of these changes were really simple to make and it's all very self-explanatory. Bonus!

Notebook

Next I got myself a cute little notebook. I have a bizarre, deep-rooted love for stationary so I couldn't resist the idea of owning a notebook with my face on it! You can opt for either lined or blank paper and you can customise the cover depending on what background you want and how many photos you want to put on there. The covers are paperback and usually I'm a hardback kind of gal, but I must say it is sturdy. It has successfully survived being stuffed into and carted around in my handbag of doom without any sustaining any damage. In my world that speaks volumes.

Animated Backpack Tag

While we're on the topic of animated gifts, I also got myself an animated backpack tag, which may actually be my favourite thing. I was initially unsure about the whole 'animated' business. You can choose between tags that had two photos that would switch back and forth as you moved them side to side or one like mine, which is just one photo that looks 3D because of the concertina fold. (I'm sure there's an easier way to explain that, but just roll with my convoluted ramblings.) 

Despite my reservations, it looks fabulous and now I wish I had ordered a few more things from their animated range. The quality on this is really great and I can't wait for my next trip so I can use it! Seriously, I love it! Why wouldn't I need a picture of myself in a cowboy hat on my luggage?

Photo Mug

I also got a Christmas present for my sister-in-law. I opted for a photo mug with a collage of pictures of my niece and nephew. You can upload up to 15 photos (or just stick to one) and add a caption. This is super cute! Again, the quality is high and it doesn't look tacky. You can pick the colour and the font of the caption, which is great too. My parents absolutely fell in love with it when they saw it so maybe I'm going to have to order in a few more of these...

Photo Keyring

Last but not least, I ordered a keyring with one of my favourite pictures of my niece and nephew on it. Originally I had intended to give it to my father to put on his work keys, but I'm very tempted to keep it for myself. It just makes me smile! Simple, but effective.

So, as you can see, I ordered quite a selection of different bits and pieces. The Snapfish website is easy to use (good for people like me who have no technical knowledge and/or patience) and I'm happy with all my goodies. Now I just have to finish off the rest of my Christmas shopping. Wish me luck with that!

To snap up some fabulous photo gifts of your own this Christmas, head over to the Snapfish website:
http://www.snapfish.co.uk/snapfishuk/welcome

Things get Artsy: Crafty Creatives Review

I'll admit that I'm not exactly an artistic genius. I'm not much of a drawer, I can't make sense of water colours and, at 23 years of age, I'm still banned from using charcoal in the house because of the amount of damage I've been known to cause with it in the past. But I love arts and crafts. I'll give anything a go. I've knitted a blanket, made birthday cards and scrapbooks, sewn my own Halloween costumes, and let's not even bring up my obsession with the glue gun.

So I was thrilled when Crafty Creatives offered to send me one of their boxes to review. They are a monthly subscription box service and each month they send out different types of creative goodies.

Actually getting my hands on the box was a bit of a drama. I was out when it got delivered so it got returned to the Royal Mail Office, which wouldn't have been a big deal if I could have actually found the Royal Mail Office. Bear in mind I've lived in this town since birth. I've been to collect parcels countless times before. It should not have been as traumatic as I made it. But I an incompetent human being and, as a result, I ended up driving around in circles for twenty minutes, reversing into a wall, getting harassed by a fellow driver with no patience, and getting stuck in a pointless narrow lane. When I eventually found my way to the office the mean driver behind me bullied me and took my parking space and I ended up having to park on the double yellow lines, which I hate doing.

Then, package in hand, I drove home and arrived back in my street at 3:25pm. I live opposite a school. 3:25pm is not a good time to arrive home. Exhausted, frustrated and in desperate need of a packet of crisps, I wedged myself across our drive, aware that the back end of my car was over my neighbour's drive (and boy does he go into a rage about that kind of thing) so I couldn't leave the car. Then there was a very confusing stand-off between me and a woman who, for some reason, refused to move from outside my house for a whole 25 minutes. All in all it was very stressful.

But, thankfully, my cute little box was totally worth it! I imagined the it would be full of poms poms, pipe-cleaners and the like, but it actually contained an Inkodye set from Lumi. At first I was confused. Then I became slightly more confused. Then I read the instructions and suddenly I was very intrigued.

Let me explain this the best way I can. It's a kind of sunlight activated dye for cotton and other natural fabrics. You apply the dye to your fabric and then you cover it with objects or photograph negatives to partially block out the light. Then you leave it in the sunlight and the dye gets activated. 

My set included the dye, the wash to use on it afterwards, a little roller, a photograph negative and some pieces of fabric to practise on.

And it gets cooler! You can download the Lumi app, which has all sorts of ideas for you to try. Plus, you can upload your own photos and they'll send you a negative to print with. So you can print your pictures onto cushions, clothes, pencil cases..

Look! You can even have my strange face on a jumper!

Odds are I would never have tried or even come across Lumi Inkodye if I hadn't got my box from Crafty Creatives. That's got me wondering about how many other fabulous crafty goodies are out there waiting to be discovered! If you're an arty type person and love getting goodies in the post you can take a look at their website and have a little nose for yourself.

Beware friends and family, you will all be getting photo printed goodies for Christmas!