A day with Kate #4!

I got to meet up with Kate again on Wednesday as exams are long gone so instead of Guildford, we went to London to go somewhere different and mix it up a bit! 

As she's never been before, I took her round Covent garden and the surrounding area - next time she's taking me to Camden as I've never been there, I'm super excited! 

While I was waiting for Kate to arrive, I went to Forbes bookshop in Waterloo station and bought The Secret History by Donna Tartt as I'd heard about it from a friend reading it and it sounded super interesting! I read a bit on the train home and I love it already! I will post a review when I'm done.

We looked around my usual favourites (Kate Spade, Banana Republic etc.) and went to Ed's Diner in Soho for lunch which was really good! We meant to take photos of our lunches but we forgot - it was so good though, they never disappoint! The music also helps with the 50s American diner vibe they give out - bar seating and booths galore!

We went to H&M where Kate got 2 dresses, then went to TK Maxx where I found the softest jumper which will be perfect for when the weather gets colder again, I can't wait to wear it! I spent way too long looking at the jumpers and figuring out which looked the best and which was softest - I'm so happy with my choice as it'll look perfect with jeans and boots come Autumn! It has just the right amount of slouch to look laid back but still pretty and I love it! TK Maxx is such a great place to find cheaper pieces from more expensive brands. My jumper was £7.99 and was from Vero Moda.

We also went to Laduree so I could get my macaron fix and I got some sweets from a shop just off the main part of Covent Garden - the marshmallows are so yummy and are quite addictive, the raspberry jelly stuff inside makes them less sickly and just nice! I also didn't go overboard like I usually do, I'm trying to cut the amount of sweets I'm eating slightly in an attempt to become a bit healthier and get better control over my diabetes.

We then went to Oxford Street and to Selfridges to look around and it was crazy how expensive the items in there are! I was really close to buying a set of Ciate nail polishes (even though they're a bit harder to put on, their lasting time is amazing!) but decided against it eventually as they were £18.

We then went to sit around in Southbank while we waited for my train and found a cooler corner in the building away from the scorching heat.

I always love meeting up with Kate and despite the crazy heat, I had such a good day!
Jess xx

Adventure day with Imie!

Today, after absolutely ages of not seeing each other, I met up with my friend Imie and went for a shopping trip in Reading! She's currently at Uni so it's obviously been very difficult to meet up so this was a great time to catch up as we were both free for once!

We started off by having lunch at my favourite restaurant (if you can call it that...), Handmade Burger Co. where we proceeded to chat about life and take sneaky photos of each other, ending with each of us having a photo where we look pretty bored/unimpressed while we were caught off guard! 

I was looking at my phone...not asleep!

Imie concentrating on her drink...and still looking crazily pretty, it's just not fair!

I love the restaurant because it's like a fancy Nandos - quieter, better quality food and an insane selection of different toppings and types of burger! It only ended up being £10 each as well which was great, student cards are the best thing to happen to this world!

We then ended up going to House of Fraser and Imie ended up getting her first MAC lipstick and lipliner which brings my tally of people I've persuaded to buy one in the last month to three - I'm quite impressed with myself. After a look in Waterstones, New Look and Zara, we stopped off at Superdrug where I bought a base coat nail polish and Imie got some more make up - see her review post here. 

After a final stop off at Boots and a trip to Starbucks, we headed home. 

I had a great day and I can't wait to meet up with her again - I love seeing old friends that I'm still close with even after ages! 

Jess xx

P.S. Some of my older readers (pre-2014 Challenge) will recognise the dress - I featured it in my Things I've had my eye on recently post back in October! I bought it before I went to see Catching Fire the other day and I'm so so happy with it, it fits perfectly and it's a perfect dress for the colder months as it isn't too short and the sleeves and high neckline give an extra covering most dresses don't! It's from H! by Henry Holland at Debenhams for £38. I'll do a full-body shot when I have the time!

Fire Is Catching.

On Wednesday, me and a secondary school friend went shopping and saw Catching Fire in Reading. I'd read all three books within 4 days of buying them, just before the first film came out so I really love the series and couldn't wait to see what they did with the second film after the overall disappointing Hunger Games film compared to the books. 

I was so impressed! They stuck so closely to the book and almost cried at some bits! I thought the casting was down to a tee and I loved Sam Claflin and Jena Malone as Finnick and Johanna. I loved where they ended it too, I can't wait for Mockingjay parts 1 and 2 - if they stick with the same director, I know it will be amazing!

I completely recommend this film, the last Hunger Games film (not as good but still pretty good if you detach it from the books!) and of course the books!

Jess xx

My favourite things - comforts.

I love writing lists of things, whether it's about books or songs I want to remember, or a list of things I want to buy. 

There are loads of little things in life that I love!

 1. Movie days
 2. Spending all day in my pjs
3. Good books that make me feel anything
4. Long train journeys
5. Big jumpers/cardigans
6. Spending time with my older (secondary school) friends
7. People saying they still read my blog after telling them about it ages ago
8. Watching Disney films wrapped up in my duvet
9. Reading magazines before going to bed
10. Getting into my lounge trousers after a day at college
11. Writing blog posts that I'm completely happy with
12. Listening to Ingrid Michaelson and Lisa Hannigan
13. Chocolate chip cookies
14. Shopping without looking for something specific
15. Watching my favourite TV shows
16. Scarves
17. Getting my nails painted
18. New stationery
19. Learning new things
20. Finding a new singer/songwriter who is really talented
21. Mint choc chip and cookie dough ice cream

Hope you guys enjoy! I might have to do some more lists because I liked writing this!
Jess xx

Blog's first birthday!

It's been a year since I wrote my first blog post (I was the ultimate cringe, forgive me!) and what better way to spend it than with my one and only friend made from blogging, Kate! We went to Guildford and did quite a bit of shopping which was loads of fun!
A year has gone by stupidly fast and even though I only have 10 followers, I appreciate every single one and anyone who reads my blog for that matter! Every page view makes me happy! -virtual hug-

Getting in to Guildford was rather stressful - my train decided that it would be delayed for 20 minutes before showing up and Kate also had train problems so yeah....that was a good start! We ended up wandering around for a bit and then decided to go to New Look where we ended up buying the same skirt! Luckily we don't see each other often enough for it to matter, just another thing to show our similar tastes! I've been looking for a floral skirt that I like for ages and this one is perfect; I have lots of nice tops that have pinks, reds and white in them so they'll go perfectly with it! The skirt is made of a really light and soft material and is really swishy (if that's even an adjective...) so it looks really pretty!

I love it so much!

I love the pattern so much! 

It wasn't a true trip to Guildford without a visit to the American sweet shop. I haven't bought any for ages so I think I was well restrained! That, and the fact that the stock they had wasn't terribly good. I got my usual favourites and also picked up a box of berry flavour sour patch kids which are really good!  

I've heard countless bloggers rave on about these tinted lip balms for months now, but they've only been available in UK shops since the beginning of the week. There's a 3 for 2 on Maybelline at Boots so instead of just getting the 2 colours I wanted, I also got a 3rd free of charge! 

Baby Lips are supposedly super moisturising and make your lips softer and I can tell you, the hype was definitely worth it because these are the best lip balms I've ever had (either equal to or better than my tinted Burt's bees lip balms but yeah, still really good!). Their claims are pretty big but they're definitely up to scratch; I've been wearing one for an hour and a half or so now and my lips already feel softer. Quite a few lip products are quite sticky but these aren't at all, they feel light and you barely notice them! It takes a couple of goings over to get a really strong/bright colour but it also means that you get a choice with the strength of the colour you decide to make your lips which I find really good!  

From left to right: Pink Punch, Cherry Me, Peach Kiss

How cute is the packaging?!

They each have a smell corresponding to their names (Pink Punch is just fruity) and they're just fantastic! I think overall Peach Kiss is my favourite because the colour is more wearable every day as it matches my lips almost exactly and I'm a sucker for anything peach so it's perfect! Cherry Me is also a lovely smell but it takes longer to get it to an equal colour over all of my lips so it isn't as good for me. I really like Pink Punch but I have a feeling I'd need to be in the right mood to wear it because it is pretty bright. The colour and smell are still nice though! 

We went to H&M because there are usually pretty good deals in the sales and boy did I find one! This deep orange jumper was originally £7 in the sale but it had 2 holes in (one on the shoulder, one on the left of the jumper on the pic) so I managed to get the price down to £5 because they were pretty bad! Luckily my grandma is a dab hand at sewing and sewed the holes back up so now it looks brand new and I got a big discount from it! It's quite baggy but still looks good, plus it has a really cute neck too! I can't wait to wear it through autumn with some leggings and my brown boots, hopefully it'll look good!  

As I said earlier, I'm a sucker for anything peach and when I was at Sicily, the only alcohol I liked was Bellini (Prosecco and Peach puree). I came home from my trip today and mum had bought me this! It's a non-alcoholic version of Bellini but it tastes almost identical, even keeping the slightly sharp/bitter aftertaste and fizziness of the Prosecco! It's also amazing because it apparently has 1 of your 5 a day so it's even healthy!

All in all, I think today was a pretty brilliant way of celebrating my blog anniversary, thanks to everyone who's been a part of this so far! I hope you keep reading! 

Jess xx

P.S. You know I said I'd keep you updated on the Barry M nail polish? Yeah...it hasn't worked out so great! 

Left hand

Right hand

As you can see, they haven't lasted very well! I haven't used a top coat because I don't own any but they had already chipped a little bit the night after I had put the nail polish on which doesn't bode well. The nail polish also stops looking as shiny and nice quite quickly and now looks dull and smudged even though I didn't touch it at all while it was drying (I left my nails for about half an hour before checking them). I'm quite glad that it's only cheap because it wouldn't be worth any more sadly! It's a shame because the colours are amazing! I might just have to invest in a top coat so my Barry M nail polish isn't a waste!

A Day out in London

Mark came up to see me straight after I got back from Sicily and we went to London for the day which was amazing! He stayed over 3 nights which was lovely! We just stayed in on Thursday which was nice and relaxed `very good after walking around for a week straight!)
On Friday we decided to go in to London which was super exciting because I haven't been for ages! I love London so it was really nice to go to loads of different places (thank you travel card!) and see parts of London I haven't properly seen before. We went to Covent Garden first and looked around a few shops which was nice; I really like it there and I really want to go back again! I finally got to go to a Kate Spade shop! It was honestly so amazing. The shop was so cute and quirky and the displays were adorable! I'll do an extra blog about it with pictures of the shop because it was so amazing! I found an absolutely gorgeous top down from £105 to £42 and Mark was just incredible and bought it for me because he's completely perfect! It has stripes and bows on it; two of my favourite things so how could I resist?!
We then went to Portobello road/Notting Hill to have a look at the market and it was so nice! It wasn't too busy so we got to look around the stalls properly! We also stumbled across the Hummingbird bakery, which I'd heard about before from Carrie Hope Fletcher (ItsWayPastMyBedTime on YouTube!) so it made me really happy to be able to try them! I got a red velvet cupcake because I've heard so much about them! The cakes were quite expensive but so worth it, mine was really tasty! It was a really pretty shop and the cakes were pretty too!

How cute are these cupcakes?!

I loved this picture on the wall!

We returned to Covent Garden because we had seen all of the market and we stumbled across a sweet shop called SugarSin that was the cutest thing ever! We got some little pots of sweets that are really nice! I got fruit chews, got my brother berry chews and Mark got Banoffee jelly beans! I'll put the pictures on the same blog post as the Kate Spade shop pictures because it was equally cute!

Kate Spade top, Hummingbird bakery cupcakes (red velvet and chocolate caramel),
Fruit sweets from SugarSin and a Hummingbird bakery brownie
- from Instagram

Jess xx

The Perfect Weekend.

This weekend made me realise that there's nothing that I love more than cuddling in bed playing pacman at 11pm with someone you care a lot about.

This weekend, as the title says, was really quite perfect. I went to see my close friend (&now boyfriend - yay!) down in Dorchester Friday-Sunday and it was really great! 

Friday was a relaxed day because it took 2 and a half hours by train to get down there which took up quite a bit of the day and included a stupid delay at my station so we had to go to the next station on which was quite stressful! From there everything was fine though; I got to Reading without any problems, got my coffee and some other bits & bobs and managed to balance 2 rather large bags, a coffee and a train ticket whilst walking through a barrier. I feel quite proud of myself for achieving this really! When I got there we decided what to do on Saturday and decided on the cinema so to prepare, we watched Despicable Me on DVD (plus all the extras - the minions are so so funny!). It must be one of my favourite films EVER. It's adorable and the minions and little girls are just hilarious and amazing! 

On Saturday we went to Weymouth which was really nice - it's a really pretty seaside town with lots of shops....me + shops = lots of shopping, and that's exactly what happened! I ended up getting some gorgeous black and white polka dot sandal wedges from Debenhams in the sale for £17.50 and they're just amazing! I'm going to take them on my trip to Sicily next week and gove them a good run out! They're so cute and comfortable too, I love them!

The perfect pair of wedges

I still can't believe they were only £17.50!

I was telling Mark about a perfume I've heard a lot about from other blogs and what not and how it smelled amazing. I went to the loo and I came back and he'd bought it for me as a present! He's really so adorable and it's amazing! (Just as a side note - we've been unofficial for about a month and a half, it's not like he's buying me amazing presents after a day of dating, don't worry!) The perfume is Laugh with me LeeLee by Benefit and it really is the most gorgeous and delicate summery floral smell. They describe it as a woody floral smell in the booklet and that's pretty much spot on I think! It's pretty and subtle so it's really good for an every day wear instead of a special occasion perfume. It also comes in the cutest packaging as well, I'm in love completely! It's so cute! The bottle is also amazing too!

If you haven't tried this out then do, it's really amazing! 

I also went to New Look and bought a couple of strappy tops for Sicily because they'll be good to wear in the super hot weather! I got a white one and a pink one and they're both so nice! 

We saw Despicable Me 2 in the cinema and it's honestly one of the funniest films I've ever seen. It matches and possibly even beats the first one which is pretty impressive! The little minion clips during the first part of the credits were also just as funny, I just can't get enough of those yellow guys! The purple minions were hilarious too! It's definitely one of my favourite non-Disney films though, so brilliant! 

We went to Dorchester centre on the Sunday and it was so lovely. There was a market which was really nice to look around and I ended up buying 8 books!!! I spent £8.50 on them put together instead of on only one so I'm pretty happy! I regret not getting more though because I overlooked some books because I thought mum had them but it turned out that she didn't so yeah...silly on my part really! I'm really excited to read the books I did get though! I've either heard really good things about the books, the authors or I thought they sounded interesting so I'm rather excited to give them a read! At least I won't be short of reading material on the Sicily trip! If you've read any of the books then tell me what they're like in the comments below!

I can't wait to start this pile! They all look so good! 

We also had a really lovely and romantic lunch at Carluccio's which was pretty perfect! I've decided I like Mark's neck of the woods rather a lot... His house is in the middle of nowhere and in a proper village like out of TV shows but it isn't completely remote because there are some pretty nice and rather big towns quite close by which is really nice! It makes where I live feel like the middle of a busy city! It's a shame we live so far apart because it's so lovely spending time with him and it's rather special and fun when we're together. He's one of those people I just click with and can have a great time with so yeah, pretty perfect if you ask me!
Jess xx

It's time to grow up, little wildflower.

I went shopping with my mum on Saturday which was awesome! We don't spend enough time alone together so it was good just having a girls day out. The main reason we were going in the first place was that I've been eyeing up some polka dot loafers in New Look for about 2 weeks so I decided to go and buy them! With my student card discount, I bought them for about £11 instead of £13 so I'm really pleased that I got to save money! They're gorgeous and really comfy so I'm super happy with them.
Mum also bought me this really gorgeous tunic dress from White Stuff, again polka dots!
If you haven't already figured out, I'm a bit of a spot lover! I find polka dots so cute! They make everything look amazing!


Absolutely love these shoes!

This dress is so pretty and comfy!

 

I've finally finished my classics notes for the Greek tragedy plays which has made me incredibly happy, I spent Sunday writing the last of them and I'm so glad they're done! I just hope that I've done them right now...
I found a really lovely song on YouTube which was suggested after listening to a couple of Lewis Watson songs (go and check him out, seriously. He's amazing!) and I've been listening to it for 5 days straight, not even joking. I haven't listened to any other song unless I'm listening to TV or the radio. It's called Little Wildflower by Andrew Simple and it's easily become my favourite song. It's another acoustic but what else is expected of my by now?! It's a gorgeous song and the lyrics are actually so relevant. I listen to it whilst revising and doing my work and most other times at the moment because I'm so stressed, I'm literally ready to crack at any second so it calms me down and makes me happy. I can't even put into words how much I love it! Listen to it and see for yourself! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpWz6TiYj6o
It was actually sunny today which was brilliant, always means everyone is in a good mood! Unfortunately, I then went to the extended project exhibition at college with my family to find that mine wasn't on display which was quite disappointing and upsetting because I worked really hard on it!
Ah well, things can only get better!
Jess xx



My weekend!

First off, sorry I haven't been blogging for a little while, life and homework took over for once!
I finally met Kate (http://smilingismyfavourite.blogspot.co.uk) on Saturday which was awesome. We started talking on BlogSpot in September ish, then twitter and finally Facebook around October time. We went for a shopping trip around Guildford with the limited money we both had and it ended up being a great day of laughing at horrible clothes and buying some amazing stuff!
Being me, and it being Guildford, I obviously bought some American sweets (who would have guessed?!) for about £8! I was quite proud, I was expecting to buy so much more because I've recently been having withdrawal symptoms and cravings for American sweets which isn't good!


There were a few sweets that didn't make it home for the picture...
all very yummy though!

Only 2 packs of Swedish fish, most of the Nerds, 2 Laffy Taffy strips, the can of Mello Yello and half a bottle of Pineapple Fanta left now! I go through sweets so fast despite being diabetic! (My blood sugar is still under pretty good control though which is awesome!) I also originally had another can of Mello Yello and a pack of berry Starburst (SO GOOD.)

I also bought a gorgeous dress from New Look for £13, because of my Student Card I got it for £11! I'm still not completely sure about what I'm going to wear with it but I'll find something eventually, it's gorgeous!




Thankfully changing rooms have good lighting so I could get a decent picture of an outfit for once!

How cute is the pattern on the dress?! I just fell in love with it!

I love the navy and bows, 2 of my favourite things when it comes to clothing! It's so cute with the white collar as well, I love it!

I also went to a party with my old school friends Saturday night which was a lot of fun! I do love how I can go back to them and it will always feel the same being back with them! Annoyingly because of my horrible cold and sore throat, I had to leave early, but when I was there, it was awesome!

On the Friday, I went to the Crew warehouse sale at Ascot Racecourse with my parents and I got some super pretty stuff - it's all been taken and hidden away until my birthday so you'll have to wait until then to see any of it! I can say that I've found a new love in the form of a dress that I tried on though, it's perfect and I'm in love with it!

I spent quite a lot of Sunday doing homework but I also went to John Lewis and also found such a pretty purse from Radley but that is also being saved for my birthday! It's adorable though!
I did find some Kate Spade mugs when I was looking around and they were super cute - £20 for a mug though! It's a shame because if they were cheaper, I would have probably got one! They also had some really nice paperweights and keyrings too - why does Kate Spade all have to be so pretty and stylish and expensive?! Why why why?!

Hopefully I'll be more up to date with my blogging now though! I miss it so much when I don't blog - even for a day or two!
Jess xx

Decembrrrrrr

It's been so cold recently! It's definitely almost Christmas! I'm so excited!

On Friday, it was the late night shopping where I live. The high street looked so pretty with all of the

Christmas lights and stalls! The shops were all lit up and some were even playing Christmas music! I saw some of my old friends too which was fantastic, I've missed them all so much! When you've been away from people that you spent what have been (so far) the most important years of your life, you realise how close you are with them when it's like you never left them after not seeing them for months! It really makes you appreciate true friends and they'll always have their own little space in my heart, no matter where I go and who I meet. I love you guys! 

I also got a gorgeous scarf from one of the shops for only £8!! It's so nice! I can't wait to see what I can match it with! I've got a nice collection of scarves now, but I didn't have a floral one like this so I was over the moon when I found it! 

My pretty scarf I bought for only £8!!

Yesterday, my grandma gave me a little box of chocolates from Fortnum & Mason, it's adorable! It's a teeny box with 6 squares of chocolate in them, each a different flavour! There's Ginger, Mint, Cinnamon, Milk, Coffee and Orange. I can't wait to try them, Fortnum & Mason always do the best food!

The teeny box of chocolates!

I also went to Longacres for the first time in about 3 months which is awesome because it sells loads of american food! I have a slight obsession so if you read this regularly you would know that this makes me incredibly happy, especially when mum buys me stuff! :D Grape Fanta, everlasting Gobstoppers and laffy taffy makes me happy :) 

2 litres of grape Fanta and Wonka's everlasting Gobstoppers!
(Laffy taffy was eaten by the time I did this picture...but I had grape and strawberry!)

I'll be back later with a more Christmassy themed post!

Jess xx