little h: 2016

What I Got For My Birthday

18:00:00

Yesterday I turned 22. I still don't really know how I feel about this; quite old I guess. But even so, I'm going to pretend I'm still 21 (I can get away with it!).

Laura Ashley Bag

As you might remember from my Birthday Wishlist post last week, I really wanted this bag. I just love the colour, the size, everything. And what made it even better, is that my boyfriend bought me one!

Canvas Photo

I thought I'd just list what I got by person, and this was another present my boyfriend bought me. This was taken on my graduation last month, and it's a photo I really love of the two of us together. It's a photo I have everywhere - on my phone wallpaper, my laptop wallpaper, everything. We're planning on moving in together next summer, so we'll keep this photo somewhere in our house to remind us of this day!

Make Up Selection

My auntie is a huge make-up lover, while my mum isn't, so she always buys me something make-up related for my birthday. This year, she bought me a selection of mascara, eye shadow, lip gloss, and everything!

Photo Frame

My best friend who moved to Australia for a year surprised me last night by turning up with a beautiful photo frame from John Lewis. I absolutely love this style, and it fits perfectly with my bedroom! I think I'm going to put a collage of photos of us both growing up in there as we've known each other since nursery!

Jack Wills T-Shirt

My brother's girlfriend has this top, and I couldn't help but want it every time I saw her wearing it! My parents soon caught on and bought me one for myself! It's really really soft, and even though I'm a size 8, I still fit into a size 6 (even with another top underneath as I was trying it on!).

Apple Phone Case

I'm not a huge fan of the hard plastic phone cases, as I like being able to take it off to put my phone on my speakers. My family each has a different colour phone case from the Apple Shop, and my brother bought me this cute white one which suits my white phone perfectly. He couldn't find the exact colour I wanted in the shop, so I may be changing it for a lilac coloured one next week!

Manicure

I don't get to spend very much time with my mum (I do, but not just the two of us), so she treated us both to a manicure at one of our local nail bars. She went for a normal manicure, while I got a Shellac.

I'm so happy with what I got and I had the most amazing day and birthday weekend!

lifestyle

Bullet Journal

18:00:00

I've only recently started my bullet journal, because I thought it would be something fun and creative to do over the summer to stop me getting bored. Since I've only been doing it since the start of July, I've only got a few pages so far.

Opening Page
I didn't want to start with a boring index page or anything, so I decided to open the journal with a simple but pretty 'hello'

Motivation Page

I decided to fill the first couple of pages with motivational quotes, because I sometimes lack motivation and need some positivity in my life. I tried to make the fonts as different as possible. My favourite quote on this page is by Shakespeare: "Though she be but little, she is fierce." I love this because I'm strong enough to get through personal issues I've had in the past, and I'm also small (so it's basically a summary of myself in a quote!). I've also added quotes from Harry Potter which I also love!

Weekly Spread

This gives me an idea of what I need to do each day of the week, so here I'll include appointments, to-do lists and other bits and bobs. I had originally started off doing a different banner for each day, but this was quite time-consuming and I thought I'd just keep it plain. The week I photographed was a quiet week for me because I was working 40 hours that week, but it just shows you what you can add.

Bucket List

I currently have two bucket lists in my bullet journal: one for the year, and one for the summer. Both of these are now full, so I have lots of things I'd like to do and achieve between now and December! I'm planning on ticking each thing off as I go!

Travel Bucket List

Here I've made a short list of places I'd like to go around the world and in the UK (more are around the world than in the UK, I must admit) if money wasn't an issue. Yes, I've included places like Bora Bora (because who wouldn't want to go to this amazing place?!). I already know I'll be going to one of the places on my bucket list in the next week, so I can tick this off when I get back!

Monthly Memory Page

At the end of the month, I like to summarise the good things that have happened in that month. So for instance, during July I had my first pay check in six months, and I graduated from university! But because it was a fairly quiet month for me, I decided I would add a photo from my graduation to this page to fill it up a bit. My June memory page is much fuller, as I'd been on holiday, found out my university grade, and started a new job!

What's in your bullet journal?

lifestyle

My Birthday Wishlist

18:00:00

lifestyle

Packing Checklist for a Long Weekend Abroad

18:00:00

lifestyle

My Summer Playlist

18:00:00

lifestyle

5 Things I've Learned From Working Full-Time

18:00:00

lifestyle

My Week Off

18:00:00

If you hadn't noticed, I recently (well, last week) had a week off both work and blogging. It was something I had planned for a while, mostly because I knew my boyfriend (Alex) would be off, so it would be nice to get away and do stuff together. The first weekend, we drove the three and a half hour drive up to Bradford to visit Alex's parents. We planned to stay here for the week so we could house-sit whilst his parents were on holiday (and also to look after his mega-cute rabbits!). The weekend was a bit of a chill-out weekend, so we spent most of it in bed catching up on some much needed sleep!

Monday

We finally ventured out of the house and took a trip to the local IKEA even though we didn't need anything. I didn't buy anything at all, except a 50p ice-cream (omg they are amazing!). We got back to the house in the afternoon, and decided to binge watch Friends, because that's how I watch Friends, before going on a brief night out with Alex's old school friends.

Tuesday

At the weekend we had booked tickets to see Finding Dory at the Everyman in Leeds, because who doesn't want to cuddle up with their boyfriend on a comfy sofa at the cinema?! It was such a good film, and if you've already seen it: how cute was baby Dory?!

To celebrate a year since our first date, he took me to Revolution (or Revs) for dinner and some cocktails. We somehow managed to get the four cocktails we ordered for free! Wooo!

We then went back to the house and slobbed out after filling our bellies with food, and spent the evening watching Spectre (because I hadn't seen it!).

I didn't actually realise until I dragged poor Alex around half of Leeds' shopping centre just how amazing the shopping up there was! It was tonnes better than Birmingham, with nicer and bigger shops! So I'll definitely be going on a proper shopping trip up there again!

Wednesday

We had planned to go further afield, but the weather wasn't its best, so we stayed pretty local. We took a trip to Ilkley Moor, and even in crazy wind and (some) rain, this is the view we got!

Alex then took me to the local pub before we went back to his parents'.

Later on, we had to drop his rabbits off at what I call Bunny Hotel, because we weren't around the next two days. I sat with them on my lap for the journey, and they were both shaking so much because they didn't like the drive and it was so sad! :(

Thursday

York has always been a place I've wanted to see for a long time now, and I finally got to go!

We went into the Minster to have a short look around, but we didn't pay to go in, we just looked from the foyer. As Alex had a Starbucks giftcard, he took me to Starbucks for a bit, before we moved onto another coffee shop, and eventually ended up window shopping.

We then walked around the city walls (the whole way) which took ages, but was so worth it. My health app on my iPhone told me we had walked 21,000 steps by the end of it, which was around 5 miles!

Friday

Friday was our final chill-out day before heading back, so we decided to have a full on Friends binge for around 6 hours. We then took the 4 hour drive down to Hertfordshire to see Alex's best friend for her birthday, before going on a night out!

What will you do on your week off work?

lifestyle

Date Ideas

18:00:00

It's now been a year since my boyfriend and I went on our first date! I thought I'd make a list of some of my favourite types of dates we've been on together in the last year.

1. Picnics. I've always loved having picnics! I live in a quaint town in the Midlands where there's a river, so we often go and sit by the river with a picnic when the weather's good.

2. Cinema trips. A cinema trip is great if you're not really sure what to talk to your date about, plus you always have the film to talk about at the end! My boyfriend and I went to see Finding Dory last week!

3. Restaurants. I find this a great opportunity to chat over some good food, and really get to know your date. Make sure you choose a restaurant you're both happy with! Some good (and relatively well priced) restaurant chains I've been to on dates with my boyfriend are Nando's (obviously!), Turtle Bay and Prezzo.

4. Ice-skating. This is the perfect opportunity to hold hands and have a laugh when you watch each other fall over!

5. Walks. My boyfriend and I are always going for walks, even though we wouldn't consider it a date anymore. I feel this gives us both chance to get to know each other better and we both really open up to each other. It's obviously free to do, and you can walk for as long as you like!

6. Coffee date. As a lover of coffee, I simply had to add this. This is usually a good date idea for during the day, and relatively cheap depending on how much coffee you drink! It's also a great suggestion if you're under 18!

7. Bar dates. If a night-time date is more your thing, or you don't get time during the day, you can always take a trip to a bar in the evening. Of course, you don't have to drink alcohol, and both have to be over 18 to go. This can sometimes end up being quite messy if you do end up drinking!

8. Mini golf. I've done this on previous dates and really enjoyed it. You can always coincide it with a picnic in the park as well!

What's your favourite kind of date?

fashion

Primark and New Look Haul

18:00:00

Last weekend I went on a quick shopping trip with my boyfriend. I only intended to return a pair of shoes and change them for a different pair, but no. Me being me, decided to go a bit mad in Primark and New Look along the way!

Navy Dress: £6.00 | Primark

I really love the colour and style of this dress. I usually worry about the length being too long (being 5'1 can you really blame me?) but it's actually the perfect length for me. I'm thinking of taking this away on my next holiday, but I'll also wear it out and about at weekends or on hot days.

Boots: £14.00 | Primark

Are they boots or are they shoes? Who knows... I came across these in Birmingham a couple of weeks ago but they didn't have my size. Luckily I went to a different store and found them in my size and in the colour I wanted! I think I'll probably wear them with a pair of white or black jeans with a nice top.

Shirt: £10.00 | Primark

I bought this so I could start building up a wardrobe for when I start working in schools this year, but I've also decided to wear it with some jeans too!

Top: £6.99 | New Look

I'm still not really sure how I feel about this top still. I know I already own lots of white tops, but I thought this would replace the one I lost last year.

Cold Shoulder Top: £11.99 | New Look

There were quite a few colour options for this top, but I ended up choosing the pink coloured one as it's quite summery and would go well with my shorts or white jeans. It also adds some summery colour to my wardrobe too!

Blouse: £17.99 | New Look

This was mainly bought in preparation for university in September. I thought it would go well with both work trousers for when I'm on school placement, as well as with jeans for a more casual look.

Bardot Top: £9.99 | New Look

I love bardot style tops, and I also love stripes, so this was a must-have for me this summer. I'm probably going to wear it with my shorts with some sandals for the day time, and dress it up with white jeans and my new Primark boots for the evening.

Sandals: £5.00 | New Look

I never usually wear sandals because I don't like my feet much, but I'm sure I'll get some use out of these! I love the tan colour, and again it adds colour to my shoe collection (they're all black - did you guess?!)

Candle: £3.00 | New Look

This was more of an impulse buy, plus I needed something under £4 to add my basket up to £50 so I could use a coupon! I'm planning on putting this one on my shelf or bedside table, but who knows, it could end up anywhere!