A day out in Portsmouth!

On Saturday, my family and I went to Gunwharf Quays shopping outlet in Portsmouth to have a look around and to see what it's like compared to Bicester. There were so many amazing shops there and a really good mix of high street and high end brands which was good to look around. The actual place was big and nicely spaced out so it wasn't too crowded and busy which was one of the problems with Bicester when we went there - this was nice though! 

I ended up buying a shirt from Ralph Lauren and one from Joules which I've been wanting for ages so I was super happy with that! The Ralph Lauren shirt was an amazing deal as it was £25 down from £80! It's such a great quality piece as well, I can't wait to wear it!

Joules on the left, Ralph Lauren on the right! 

There was also a Cadbury's shop that had loads of discounted sweets and Roses pick n' mix which was amazing, just a shame that I couldn't buy a lot of it as I'm allergic to nuts!
Overall, it was a really fun day and if you can, it's such a good place to go for a day out as there are shops there for everyone with any budget!
Jess xx

The Liebster Award.

The lovely Jenn over at HelloGutentag nominated me for the Liebster Award! Thank you so much Jenn, you guys should check out her blog as it's really great! 

The Rules

You need to link back to the nominator 

State 11 Facts about yourself

Answer the 11 questions given to you 

Nominate 11 new bloggers with less than 200 followers 

And give those nominated 11 new questions

11 facts about me

- I own way too many nail polishes and lipsticks - over 20 of each!

- I use my phone more than I should but it's how I keep up to date with everything!

- I own so many books that they don't all fit on my bookshelf, or the piles I have on my chest of drawers, I have little stacks all around my room! 

- I can't decide whether Autumn or Winter is my favourite season yet - I would probably have to say Autumn as a whole but Christmas as a holiday as I always feel so much happier, plus the lights on people's houses are incredible!

- I'm straight edge and won't drink, smoke or do drugs. I don't get the point of any of them and can have fun without them!

- I'm one of those people who will shout at the TV and sarcastically answer them because stupid people irritate me. 

- The last gig I went to was Madness at Alexandra Palace in October and it was honestly one of the best I've been to, the atmosphere was incredible and Madness sounded exactly the same as they do on record!

- I am left handed but don't suffer from the smudge most seem to get when writing, I don't know how!

- I have an addiction to scarves, I also own over 20 of them too!

- I have the fashion sense of a 21 year old American living in New York; way too expensive for my non-existent salary/pocket money! 

- I spend my free time at college walking down by the river, I get a huge sense of peace and happiness from just watching the world go by.

Bonus facts!

- I'm a diabetic asthmatic with a nut allergy, it's rather fun being me!

- I REALLY want to own a typewriter, I think they're so pretty!

Jenn's questions

1. What are you top 3 favorite blogs?

I would have to say The College Prepster, Someone Like You and Kerralina as they're all lovely - Carly is my blogger who I check on every day and is a fashion inspiration for me, I speak to Lauren quite regularly for someone who has that many followers and she is amazing and Kerry is just great, I love following her adventures at Uni!

2. What social media do you use the most? and why?

I obviously use Blogger every day to write/read posts, use Facebook to talk to people, love looking through Instagram, posting little snippets on Twitter and reblogging off Tumblr. I don't use Pinterest as much as I used to anymore. 

3. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas! It's such a great time of the year and it always makes me so happy! I also love spending the time with family, and everything always looks so pretty!

4. Do you have a car? what kind?

I don't, I'm currently learning to drive but I'll hopefully get one some day!

5. What is your favorite song RIGHT NOW?

Eet by Regina Spektor - I rediscovered it again on Friday and I haven't been able to get it out of my head! The video is also incredible.

6. What are 3 must see shows that you watch?

I don't watch much TV bur I would have to say NCIS, Doctor Who, Sherlock and Merlin (I know that's 4 but Merlin is finished so doesn't count in my book - still an absolute must watch though!) 

7. Favourite movie?

I don't have a single favourite movie but my top 5 would probably be Notting Hill, Aristocats, Avengers, My Week With Marilyn and The Proposal.

8. If you could go ANYWHERE in the world where would it be?

I've always wanted to visit Paris and New York - they both look so amazing and so different from my life now!

9. How do you keep your blog posts organized or do you just go with the flow?

Sometimes I'm super organised and schedule posts days in advanced when I'm feeling particularly creative but other times (most of the time...) when I'm not as free for time or I lack in inspiration, I just write when I feel like it and go with the flow! 

10. How did you come up with your Blog name?

My favourite book is Adorkable by Sarra Manning and it also inspired me to start blogging! I also thought it was quite a fitting name as I'm a bit of a dork so yeah!

11. What do you love about blogging?

I love seeing that people read my posts, comment on them and I also love seeing where my views are coming from, it's really interesting to see how many countries accidentally stumble across my blog! I also just love writing for writing's sake - if I don't become and Archaeologist/Ancient Historian, I want to become a journalist or something along those lines, that style of writing seems to fit me the best!

My nominees!

Kate from letscapturethecastle

Tash from Wanderlustandbabble

Hannah from Twoforjoy 

(not 100% how many followers she has but I love her blog so yeah!)

Caitlin from Oceanicstars

My questions

1. Why did you start blogging?

2. Favourite item in your bedroom?

3. 1 thing you're addicted to? 

4. What do you own the most of? 

5. Do you have any pets? 

6. What is your favourite topic to write about?

7. Any idea about what you want to do when you're older?

8. Do you think you will still be blogging 3 years from now?

9. What is one thing that you're really proud of?

10. Describe your style in 5 words?

11. What is your favourite beauty product?

I was also nominated by Kathryne over at confessionsofanessexgirl so I thought I'd answer her questions as a bonus as I really like them!

1. What is your favourite place in the world?

I love my house, sitting by the river when I'm at college and covent garden in London.
2. What made you start a blog?

I read Adorkable by Sarra Manning last summer and it made me want to start a blog as it sounded like loads of fun!
3. Do your friends/family know about your blog?

Yes, my parents seem to read it quite a lot and some of my friends know about it through twitter and helping me make sure the layout is good!
4. What is the best thing you have ever done?

I don't know! I guess I'm quite proud of my GCSEs as they came out really good (8 As and 2 Bs!), I'm really happy I started going to Archaeological digs, glad I've been on lots of school trips because I've seen quite a bit of Europe and I'm really happy that I started blogging as I've become more confident and made new friends because of it!
5. If you were stranded on a desert island, what 3 things would you keep with you?

My kindle as I have loads of books on there, a water filtration jug so at least I could drink safer water and my medication. I'm a bit too sensible with these sorts of questions!
6. Where do you get blog inspiration from?

Everything and anything - I write what I want, when I want and anything can inspire me!
7. What's your favourite book/series?

Harry Potter is the obvious one but I also love the Hunger Games trilogy, Artemis Fowl series and what I've read so far of the Sunday Philosophy Club books by Alexander McCall Smith.
8. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Hopefully working in Archaeology or Ancient History! A museum would be great really.
9. What's one thing you couldn't live without?

Probably my phone...it keeps me up to date with everything going on and it makes it so much easier to contact people!
10. What is your favourite blog?

Answered above!
11. What 1 post are you most proud of writing?

I love all of my posts, otherwise I wouldn't have published them! I really like my favourites post from yesterday though as I think it'll be a great thing to start doing!

I hope you guys enjoyed the double dose of questions, I enjoyed answering them!

Jess xx

Birthday!

It was my brother's birthday today! He's now 15 and insists (as he does every year) that he's now only a year younger than me instead of two!
We went out for lunch which was nice, I had these really yummy ribs and then a hit waffle with honeycomb ice cream. It was bright orange but it was so tasty!
I also drank the can of Mello Yello which made me sad because its so yummy!!
But yeah, it was a good day! I got to see my auntie and uncle again and me & my brother didn't get annoyed at each other even once which was nice ^.^ it was a good day all in all! :)
Jess xx

Mickey and Minnie

I did my classics timed exam practice homework today and afterwards when my hand was hurting, I decided to paint my nails because it gave my hands a rest!
I realised I had red and black so I decided to do Disney style nails and put the Mickey Mouse symbol on some of my nails! For the first time doing a design on my nails for a looooong time, I think they turned out pretty damn good!



I'm pretty proud of these!
Taken on Instagram

Next time I have a decent amount of money, I think I'm going to take a trip to boots and buy some White, Yellow, Grey and probably some more Black nail polish. (my black is enamel and its quite gloopy, not very good for anything apart from dots...shame because it's a good nail polish!)
If I get these colours I'm going to do this design again (It'll be ruined in the next few days because I'm rubbish at making nail polish stay on...) and on the currently plain nails, I'm going to do a yellow bow in the middle and then little white spots on them! Mickey and Minnie nails! I love painting my nails but I haven't really done designs...plus I only have bobby pins and cocktail sticks so I can't do any amazing designs...I can improve with practice though!

It's my brother's birthday tomorrow so that will be fun! We're going out for a meal so I'm excited!
Jess xx


8 reasons why YOU should start blogging!

At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to start writing a blog; I wasn't sure if I was interesting enough, funny enough, smart enough etc. but I found that it's great fun, you meet awesome people and once you start it's really difficult to stop!
I encourage anyone that's thinking of blogging to start, and if you're not, try it anyway! If it isn't for you, you don't have to carry on anyway!

So here are a few reasons why I think you should start blogging no matter who you are or where you're from!

Why you should start blogging and how to just have fun doing it!

1. It's completely personal - It's your blog. This means you can write about what you want. Guaranteed, if you find something interesting, there will be at least one other person on the internet that shares your interest and will enjoy reading your blog!
2. It's a good way to vent  - Sometimes it's nice to just sit down after a difficult day and just write about it. Who knows? Maybe you'll get someone nice giving you an encouraging comment or some advice?
3. It's your blog, work around you! - you control your blog, so you control when you upload a post. If you don't have any ideas, that's perfectly fine! If you have a million ideas, also fine! Do what you want when you want; that's the great thing about the internet, you can do and say what you like because the blog is completely yours and yours alone. No one tells you what to write or when, blog around your schedule and work load.
4. It improves your writing skills - I'm being serious. I had to write a piece of journalistic writing for my English coursework last week so I wrote it in the style I usually do; my teachers both love it and my style!
5. You meet people you wouldn't have otherwise! - I've actually made a good friend through blogging which I find amazing; our lives are actually pretty linked which we found really creepy when we first started talking, but you have the opportunity to meet and talk to people from around the world which is amazing!
6. It shows dedication - being able to keep a blog running and updating it regularly will show people that you can keep at something over a long period of time which is always a good thing! Not that you'd want to show your blog to anyone... :P
7. It gives you a chance to be creative - I love being creative but I lack the time and motivation to do anything properly arty. A blog is great for satisfying my creative side because I can do and say what I like without thinking much about what others think of it.
8. It's FUN! - I found blogging quite hard to begin with, but once you get in to the swing of things, it's really great! It's a great way to be productive but take a break from work at the same time, and you're doing something interesting!

Obviously blogging isn't for everyone, but I do recommend trying it, it's great once you start! If you don't like it you can always stop anyway, nothing is stopping you!
Jess xx