Birthday Bonanza!!

Hellllo there, see I promised I'd be back again soon and for once I actually delivered.
On bank holiday Monday it was my birthday (chocolate cake in bed please!) so I was obviously given a few bits and bobs by my ever-so-generous family and friends. Thought I'd share them on here because I'm seriously chuffed with what I got.

I'm a major Soap and Glory addict and spend the vast majority of my time boring my friends and mum about how much I love it and how good it smells so it wasn't really a surprise to me when I got given a load of it. Some of the things I was given were old favourites like Hand Food which I am never without a bottle of. I was really excited to get some products I'd never tried before - especially the Glad Hair Day Shampoo and Conditioner so I'll probs be sticking a review up of those soon.

My mum also added fuel to my growing nail polish addiction by adding two colours from the Bourjois Paris So Laque Glossy range to my collection. She picked 05 Taupe Modéle and 06 Adora-bleu (as modelled on my very chipped nails - "lasts up to 10 days" pah!) Love these colours and they're not ones I would normally pick which makes them even better! She also got me the Bourjois Paris Magic Nail Polish Remover. I'd seen this all over blogs and vlogs so I was totally overexcited when I unwrapped it! It's fantastic and works brilliantly (not so great on glittery nail varnish but hey what is?!). I don't know why Bourjois are trying to claim it's "red berry and vanilla scented" it's not, it absolutely stinks of nail varnish remover - but I still like it!

From friends I also got One Day on DVD. I went to see this in the cinema went it came out and loved it (well it is starring my best-friend-to-be Anne Hathaway) so my lovely friend Anna gave it to me. Another friend also gave me a copy of the boom The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid because it's his favourite book and he thought I needed to read it. I got this a few days before my birthday and I've finished it already. Can't recommend it highly enough!!

Again from my dear mother, a few items of clothing! I'm pretty sure these are all from TK Maxx but I'm not absolutely sure. I'm loving monochrome at the moment so I really liked the colours she picked. The collared shirt is absolutely amazing: contrasting patterns, button up collar it's like someone read my mind. The t shirt on the far right is adorable and pretty similar to a t shirt I
saw on Asos a while ago so I'm a fan of that too and the t shirt on the far left looks like a big lovey-dovey heart! N'awww

The pièce de résistance this year was this beautiful, leather satchel from my dad. I picked mine in a beautiful teal colour but there are loooooads of different colours available - it was a complete nightmare trying to decide! I am so utterly in love with it and cannot WAIT for uni to start again so I can show it off in all my lectures!! 

So anyway, that was my nineteenth...a pretty unimportant birthday but some wonderful gifts even so! 

Anyone else had a birthday recently? What d'ya get? I love having a snoop!

Just in case there's anyone out there gagging for a fight - this is obviously not a showing off post, if anything I'm showing off how wonderful my family  and friends are rather than my presents. I'm more than grateful for everything I was given and I just like to share things...

Quick Apology

Oh hey remember me? No me neither...

Yeah I haven't written anything in forever and a day. Muchos apologisos! I've been really busy recently with lots of exciting (but mainly boring) things going on!

First - I finished my first year of university. Oh my God I can't believe it either, as if I survived. I honestly believe that I am the proof that anyone can survive uni as long as they have pasta, wonderful flatmates and friends and a hilarious Twitter feed on hand for those near exam breakdowns! The last 2 weeks or so have been revision heavy what with having three 2 hour exams! Going out on a high eh! Anyway I finished on the 10th which was actually quite a while ago but there have been many alcohol induced escapades since then so time has pretty much passed me by!

Too much fun had post-exams

Don't drink, kids. 

Finishing Freshers means I'm moving out of my cupboard (if you don't know I live in a teeny tiny shared room)! I'm so excited to move out of my Harry Potter like existence and have a proper room which I can dance around in without having to worry about my poor ol' roommate. Although I am super sad to be leaving halls! It's been such a crazy experience and one that I guarantee I'll never have again - so glad to have lived here!!

Flatmate love!!

On a more exciting note...I am now one of the Features Editor for the Norwich Tab. If you're not familiar with it The Tab is basically a student tabloid, it was set up in Cambridge by a couple of students but has since spread round the country! It's pretty much known for being the lighter side of student news! Anyway, I'm absolutely thrilled to be part of the team here in Norwich, they're all so lovely and funny some of the nicest people I could hope to work with! So if ya fancy killing a couple of minutes check out the Norwich Tab (or whichever one corresponds to your uni!)

Outfit for the summer ball just in case you care - love a good clashing pattern

More posts on the way asap! What have you been up to? Anything fun? I'd like to hear from you so drop me a comment puh-leeeeease!!!

p.s it's ma birfday on the 27th...just in case you wondered hahaha

We need to talk about Margaret

Unless you have been living in a hole for the last four days, you will be very much aware that Margaret Thatcher has passed away. As usual, when any big news story breaks, I went straight to Twitter to see what the masses were saying (and to look for some hilarious puns - I do love a good political pun!). To my absolute horror the first tweet I read about Thatcher was mourning the loss of 'a true feminist role model', the 'original girl power'.  As more news broke about Thatcher more and more of these claims poured in with former Sun Editor Kelvin Mackenzie stating that "feminists should weep" about her death. 

Really though, was Thatcher a feminist?  She famously claimed that she owed nothing to 'women's lib'. "I hate feminism. It is poison" she said - yep so much girl power there she'd give Scary Spice a run for her money. Thatcher was not a feminist, she is not a feminist icon or role model, she was merely a female. There is a huge difference. She wasn't proud of being a woman, if anything she tried to hide her gender as much as possible in order to make her way in to Parliament for example having elocution lessons to make her voice less high and feminine. Politics was undoubtably (an arguably still is) an old boys' club but Thatcher made no attempt to create a woman's presence in it. Thatcher may have been the first female Prime Minister but once she had battled her way there she made absolutely no effort to make it easier for her female predecessors to accompany her. I think it's fair to say that had she made more headway for other women instead of focussing on her own career ambitions then the idea of another female Prime Minister in the future wouldn't sound so ridiculous and far-off. 

In terms of policy, if anything Thatcher made things harder for women. Child care prices soared leaving many women unable to afford it. Yes it's true that there were more women in work but much of this was due to failing industry, leaving families broke and forcing women who had no desire to work into factories. Rising unemployment led to huge numbers of family breakdowns leaving the number of single mothers to soar. Whichever way you spin it none of these policies were particularly brilliant us ladies. 

So considering this why are so many people so desperate to portray Maggie as some kind of ideal woman, struggling for female empowerment? Maybe it's because we simply don't have enough women in politics to look up to but I can't help but feel we have Thatcher to blame for this! There are so many amazing women out there from all walks of life who deserve our awe and respect, who truly are female icons. Hilary Clinton, Caitlin Moran, Malala Yousafzai, your mother and your sisters. They are the women that I choose to look up to and choose to model myself on - not just because they are women but because they wear that badge with pride and they work towards a better future for us all. I believe that deserves respect, not bludgeoning your way to the top and then pulling the ladder away for those left below. 

 I for one would rather take note from Glenda Jackson who made this fantastic speech in Parliament in which she claimed that Thatcher was "the first Prime Minister diputed by female gender but a woman...not on my terms". Couldn't say it better really...

Shopping for Spring, Living in Winter - March Haul

So I guess this is a couple of days late, but the way the weather is at the moment it feels like we're still in December so really I'm 6 months early!
I feel like I've done quite a lot of shopping this month considering I'm on a constant budget. I'm not sure where I got the funds for any of this (thank you Student Loan Fairy)

Even though I moved to Norwich over 6 months ago I'm still getting used to the ridiculously hard water which turns my hair into a huge frizzball (think Anne Hathaway in Princess Diaries pre-makeover). I've been looking for products to help with this and the lovely shop assistant in Boots recommended John Frieda Frizz-Ease Original Formula Hair Serum.

 I've used it pretty much everyday this month and I love it! A little more greasy than I would like but you only need to use a tiny bit for awesome results! Dead chuffed! 

On the same hair vein I also bought L'Oreal Studio Matt and Messy Salt Spray. I was convinced to buy this by my friend Josie (www.josiegoestravelling.blogspot.co.uk) namely because it was on 2 for 1 and she didn't want to pay full price. Whatever the reason I really like it - restores any of the bounce that the serum drags out of my hair. Also I love the matt finish - I find super glossy hair a bit odd looking. 

Whilst in Boots I also picked up Rimmel London's Lasting Finish in 700 Block Your Green. I've used this a couple of times and I lurrrrve the colour! I really nice dark green with the just the hint of sparkle.

The last thing I bought in Boots this month was Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Anti-Aging Smoothing Lotion and oh my god I am obsessed with this! I use it when I come out of the shower on stretch or dark marks and it genuinely makes a noticeable difference! It smells like delicious Terry's Chocolate Orange AND it's non-greasy - perfecto!


This month I went to Forever 21 on Oxford Street. I'd never been to F21 before so I got way overexcited and tried on practically everything. In the end I only bought two things in the sale. First was a lovely turquoise jumper in a cable knit. It's nice and thin so should be good for the spring. I think it was about £7.99. I also bought an oversized dip-dye t-shirt! I really liked this because usually dip-dye goes from bottom to top but this goes from side-to-side (I am very easily impressed). Again it's really thin so should be good for

summer - I think it'll look nice tucked into shorts.

I'm totally obsessed with button up shirts at the moment and spotted this little number in Primark for £12. I absolutely LOVE it the pattern is adorable plus who doesn't like a good rhinestoned collar. This photo doesn't show it very well but I posted a photo of it on my Instagram a while ago if you're really desperate to see it! Since I bought it I've seen dupes in Topshop and New Look and they've all been way more expensive! Glad I got the bargain!


So have you bought anything this month? Written a blogpost? Link me - I love seeing what other people are into!

(p.s Sorry for the mega long post - I promise it'll only be once a month)

Carrot and Meringue Cake | Recipe

I always like to make a cake whenever we have a family gathering. My family isn't very big so I always have loads left over and never know what to do with it - this occasion was no different! For Easter I decided to make a lovely carrot cake with meringue icing and thought I'd share the recipe with you! It looks amazing and is dead easy so definitely worth a shot!

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I really do Heart Holi!

Paint splattered Tatty Devine...

Hulllllo,
Last night I was lucky enough to go to Tatty Devine's 'I Heart Holi' party! I applied for the free tickets online and I really wasn't sure what to expect - I lucked out and had a really great time!

Me and my friend Jennie after the paint...

The party was to celebrate Holi also known as the 'festival of colours' which is a Hindu festival which celebrates (among many other things) the beginning of spring. The night started with everyone wearing white in a huge white room in I Heart Studios in Bermondsey. I had opted for a very cheap £5 dress from Primark which I saw at least a dozen other people wearing that night (obviously someone had sent out a memo!). When we were queueing outside in the freezing cold I suddenly got worried that maybe this was a wasted journey and it wasn't going to any good but as soon as I walked in I knew we were going to have a brilliant night! We were greeted with complimentary cocktails provided by Midori, a melon flavoured liqueur. I of course tried all 3 cocktails on offer and my favourite was the rainbow one, pretty and tasty! I didn't think they were that alcoholic but my squiffy head this morning begs to differ...

Rainbow cocktail

Midori cocktails

There was also make overs provided by Llamasqua, nail art from Nancy Mc, an Iheart photobooth and loads of Tatty Devine give aways so all sorts of lovely stuff! Considering the event was free I was totally gobsmacked by the amount going on!
Halfway through the night came the really fun part! It's a tradition at Holi do throw coloured powder paint at eachother. Paper bags of powder were passed around and mayhem broke out! It was totally beautiful with bright colours everywhere. Everyone's white dresses were now a big mix of pink, greens, blues and oranges! Although it was safe to say I was left wishing I hadn't worn my glasses because I couldn't see a thing...

Colourful flowers

Delicious rice - seriously couldn't get enough of this stuff

Looking a bit more colourful after the paint...still with a cocktail in hand

Rihanna For River Island

L-R Rihanna wears - Split Side Maxi and Double Top Straight Jeans with Cropped T-Shirt 

Last night Rihanna officially launched her collection for River Island and like the lady herself it is the perfect mixture of grunge and glam - I am definitely a fan. The cuts and shapes of the line are definitely rooted in the 90s (check out that denim shirt skirt below) but the collection has a very dark colour base (with the occasional pop of bright yellow) which I think brings it fully up to 2013. Overall I really like the line! I think the cuts are really interesting, especially the use of knotting as seen in the yellow dress below and the knotted vest. Also, as an extremely vertically challenged individual, this may be one of the only times I've looked at a maxi skirt and thought I could work it with my wardrobe! 

My favourite pieces from the line are the the Double Top Jeans (as modeled by Ri-Ri herself above) and the dipped hem stripped shirt! The shirt is an obvious choice for me, I'm an absolute sucker for all things dipped hemmed and button uppable but the Jeans are like nothing else I would usually pick! I think it's because they're so incredibly 90s I wouldn't feel out of place strutting onto the Saved By The Bell set in them, but at the same time the straight leg and turn up keeps them really up to date. Whatever it is...I want them! 

Overall I'm really impressed by Rihanna for River Island - it doesn't feel gimmiky or over-branded like some other celeb lines *cough Kardashians for Dorothy Perkins cough*. It feels like it has definite shelf-life and could go a long way! 

L-R Black Crop with Black Split Maxi Skirt / Grey Crop with Grey Split Maxi Skirt / Yellow Tie Dress / Denim Shirt Skirt

Some of my favourites....

Top - Black Trucker Boots £95 / Cropped White T-Shirt £20 / Black and White Shirt £45
Bottom - Black and White Tank £20 / Knot Vest £18 / Roll Sleeve Tank £20

So what do you think of the collection? Love or loathe? Favourite items? I'd love to hear what you think...