UNI | THE 3 THINGS I'LL MISS THE MOST

With my third year being in almost full swing now, and the word dissertation looming just that little bit more also comes the thoughts of what the heck I'm going to do when it's all over. Which lead me to thinking about what I'll miss most when it's all done and dusted.

1. So, first things first, I'll miss my best friends. Katherine and Monique aka my little chickens. I didn't come to uni expecting to meet two better people. Firstly Kat whose put up with me from day dot and then Mon who was the best friend we didn't know we needed till she ended up moving in with us in second year. Even the thought of us this time next year not living together makes me want to cry. So yes, seeing my favourite lil chickens everyday will be one of the things I miss most.
2. The freedom. Moving away from home is weird, you're just one day fully independent - no having to do the dishwasher or be forced into walking the dogs. So yeah freedom to do whatever I want whenever is up there.
3. The spontaneity. I'm going to miss the random nights that myself, Kat and Mon share in the kitchen. With us trying to be nice to each other for 5 minutes and not lasting 5 seconds, to the random dancing and singing and all those girly chats. I'll also miss the spontaneous trips to the pub, and the random last minute decision to get drunk playing card games in Harry's room on any day of the week (come back Harry). 

So there we have it. The three things I'm not quite sure how I'm going to live without when uni is officially done.

STYLE | MY MUST HAVE WINTER COAT

Hello loves!

So I finally had time to go do the autumn cliche of visiting a 'pumpkin patch'. However, the so called pumpkin patch I went to in Norfolk had more squished up ones than they did whole ones so that wasn't great. Anyway, to the post...

Alas with cooler weather coming to play I could finally wear my all time favourite coat (I never thought in my life I'd be wearing a pink teddy bear coat but here I am and loving it). Since I'd bought it from Topshop a month ago (it's already no longer available?!) I've wanted it to be cold enough so I didn't melt to death whilst wearing it so thank god it's finally feeling like autumn as I'm quite literally obsessed. 

I decided to keep it simple with the rest of the outfit as the coat really does the talking lets be honest. So I went for another favourite Topshop item of mine, the gingham top which ties at the waist and just some black Joni jeans.

What other styles of coats have you guys been obsessing over so far this autumn?

LIFE | WHY AUTUMN REALLY IS THE BEST

Hello again my lovelies!

First of all, lets acknowledge the fact that I haven't posted in a few months...the ironic part being the last blog post I posted focused on the topic of disconnecting from the internet. Seems as though I definitely heeded my own advice on that one. However, I'm back. A few things being different, one being my hair is a lot shorter than it was, and my life being very very different. But anyway, let's get to why we're all here.

AUTUMN

It's officially here, with all of our Instagram feeds being filled with pumpkin patches, the mentioning of the word Christmas, pumpkin spice lattes and the must have photo of feet in leaves that have fallen there's simply no denying it.

So why is autumn the best?

1. Firstly, the clothes. It's the perfect excuse to 'have' to go shopping to pick up those must have chunky knits, scarves, hats and buy those amazing new boots you just 'need'. There's no better time to have a wardrobe refresh than a change in season. Whilst putting the strappy tops and shorts away and getting out the trusted winter coat at first is a tad depressing. Once we accept the fact that you can't be wearing sandals outside anymore it's actually not half bad.

2. HALLOWEEN! need I say more? 

3. Cosy nights in are now back to being 'acceptable'. There's no guilt in not going out and enjoying the longer warm nights, with it now getting cold and dark at 6pm everyone can agree the best thing to do is get tucked up with a cuppa and binge watch crappy TV. 

So there we have it, three reason why I really think autumn might just be the best season.

Do you guys agree?

xxx

LIFE | THE STRUGGLES OF DISCONNECTING FROM THE INTERNET

It's 2017 and if we're being real everyone struggles to disconnect from the internet. For it's our lives and it's what we do with our time. How on earth do we fill the void of looking at our phones? Can we?

I think with checking social media being a very routine thing to do, which we do all day long, it now seems strange and slightly impossible to disconnnect from it. When I say that, I mean have a day, a week, a month, with none of it, don't have a peep at Instagram, don't refresh that Twitter feed (a hundred times waiting for something new) and don't bother watching the never-ending reel of snapchat and insta stories. 

STYLE | MAKING A CASUAL DAY LOOK READY FOR THE BIG CITY

Hello lovelies!

This style post was one of my favourite to shoot I think the city location was partly to do with it as well as a newly found love for this specific outfit.

Soooooo, it was another hot day (which are now a thing of the past) and I wanted to keep it casual to go about Cambridge in yet sometimes I do like dressing up an outfit a little. I also knew I wanted to wear this incredible frilly cropped, Topshop jacket which can be found here and costs £45. Since pairing this with a pair of light denim mom jeans in the past I knew that for Summer days pairing the jacket with light denim is lush but it was a tad hot for jeans so went for this Forever 21 denim skirt (which isn't available online anymore).

Still wanting to keep the jacket as the statement of the outfit I decided to pair it with a simple white jersey vest which is also from Topshop and can be found here. Wanting to keep it simple and casual so the whole outfit isn't too dressy and just let the jacket do all the work!

 I think this outfit is perfect for strolling round a city shopping etc and it's fast become one of my favourite summer day outfits!

Thanks for reading xx 

LIFE | THE HARSH REALTIES OF LIVING ON A STUDENT BUDGET

Hello all you lovely gals and guys. 

Today's post is a ramble on my personal experience of coping on a student budget (prepare for a large amount of complaining)

For those who haven't gone to uni or are about to, you might think that I must of known I'd be living on a student budget for 3 years so why complain? but trust me when you're initially setting off to uni whilst money is somewhere in your head it's certainly not a priority. Personally my brain was more focused that I was about to go move to a city, and into a building with hundreds of people I'd never met.

So first year...a word that sums up how I survived is overdraft. Boy oh boy was that a good friend of mine by the end.

I'd decided seeing as I needed to settle into a new city the last thing I also want to be stressing about is also settling into a new job so I decided not to get a job this year. I figured I could survive off of my student loan and savings...fast forward to Christmas and I'm deep deep in my overdraft. Semester two certianly called for some sort of budgeting (which of course didn't last...).

I've never been good with money really, for some reason it burns a hole in my pocket and I think my obsession with shopping is something to do with that. So from being comfortable with a part time job at home, and having money to buy some of the clothes I wanted,  to be able to go for a meal if I wanted, to suddenly have the reality check I can no longer do that hit hard. 

If I had advice for any first year it's to not blow all your money in freshers and actually attempt to budget. For me personally, the summer between first and second year the amount of hours I worked to get myself financially stable again wasn't all that fun!

Fast forward to second year...it was time I got a job. Which I did, I worked at my local Topshop in Cambridge. Getting a job there was one of the best parts of second year because I got to meet some of the best babes ever, two of which blog themselves go peep Charlotte at iamcharrloteolivia and Sophie over at sophiefoskett.

Anyhow, so yeah not only the people were fab but payday was also. But me being me now worked in Topshop which meant most of my wage went there...but without having a job in my second year I wouldn't of survived! So whilst being finically stable and not having to become friends with my overdraft again I still to this day have a spending problem...

So to finish of this post here's a list of the top 5 harsh realties every student faces when living on a student budget...

• Not being able to order takeaways whenever you please. The worst is when you're hungover and all you want is a dominos but your bank account just won't let you.

• The guilt. To a degree shopping isn't as enjoyable as it used to be for now every single time I buy anything (even a weekly shop) I'm filled with guilt and dread that £15 is about to leave my bank account and I'm left feeling guilty for picking up an expensive pack of grapes.

• A lack of luxuries in your life. The holidays, the massive spending sprees are a thing of the past for a while. Which is very depressing. 

• Not being able to give back. For me I LOVE buying presents for people for no reason at all, and this becomes a rare occurrence when surviving on a student budget. As a weekly shop is probably a little more crucial than that top for your mum.

• The trade off. For many students I think we've all at one point or another had to do a trade off. For example, I buy that dress I really don't need instead of doing a weekly shop, and end up eating pasta for a week...When this starts to happen it's when you know times are tough.

So there we have it, the harsh realities of living on a student budget. Although at times it's very testing. I love uni and whilst would love a lot more money wouldn't change it for anything.

Here's to hoping I survive my final year!

Thanks for reading xx

P.s I reached 900 followers Monday and I want to thank all 916 (current following when typing this) of you for following me and reading my blog! It's very much appreciated xx 

LIFE | TIPS ON FINDING YOUR CONFIDENCE

Hello all! 

So today's post is all about confidence (if you hadn't figured by the title...). For me confidence was never a thing that I had, I knew that and accepted it. I think it wasn't till just before I went to uni that I actually began to feel 'confident' - thank god.  

Confidence for different people can mean different things and therefore defined by different things. For me confidence is positive feelings towards myself, my body and mainly a belief within yourself, which in turn makes me more 'able' to do more things.

STYLE | DARE TO DOUBLE DENIM

Double Denim. Otherwise previously known as a fashion DON'T. 

However it's 2017 now and the days where myself and probably many others wouldn't dream of 'double deniming' are gone. Alas, it's socially acceptable (not that that would stop me anyway...).

TOP PICKS | DRUGSTORE MASCARAS

Hello all,

Welcome to my new series 'TOP PICKS'. I've been wanting to start this for a while seeing as I seem to have a lot of top picks, ranging from fashion to beauty products.

To start off with is my two top mascara picks. I'm quite fussy on mascara, so for me to find a good one is quite impressive and recently I've managed to find another one! 

My first holy grail is Maybelline 'The Falsies' which to be honest I've been on and off using since I was like 13. It's one I love but it somehow always seems to fade from my make up bag eventually then when I buy it again I just love it all over again. I love it as it doesn't crumble under my eyes, and actually gives good volume to my not so impressive natural eyelashes. As well as this it isn't expensive at £7.99.

A new edition to my mascara must haves is L'Oreal's 'Volume Million Lashes'. Similar to Falsies, the volume I can build up with it is pretty good. The lasting time is also impressive as with some mascara I find mid day I look in the mirror and I look as though I have none on...but luckily with this one that's not the case.It cos's £10.99 and I don't think that's out the way at all! 

So there we have it my top mascara picks! 

xx

LIFE | HOW BLOGGING HAS CHANGED

Hello all!

Today's post is going to be a bit different. For a while now I've wanted to expand from my normal style of posts as I  want to do more 'talking point' posts. As whilst I enjoy doing my usual style, to be able to have a platform which I can ramble my thoughts isn't so bad (and I hope some people can relate).

The 'talking point' of today? Change.

I've been back in the blogging game for a little while now and it's been a while since I last actually gave it 'proper' go and a LOT is different. When I started back up I'd noticed the change, and just accepted it and it wasn't till I read a post by Sophie who runs Fashion Slave which can be read here. That I had a real eye opener on just how much it's 'adapted' and I wanted to have a lil ramble about my thoughts on it all.

I think for anyone starting out from scratch to even me returning can agree that blogging this day and age can be slightly intimidating. I remember in 2013/14 all you had to do to gain a following was get some (in hindsight) crappy pictures of your favourite products on your dresser, a picture of your outfit in your garden or room and it just seemed whatever anyone could do would do. 

Now? photos have to look professional for every post and simply taking a picture of that favourite lip product on the dresser won't do, for now you need it perfectly positioned amongst pretty flowers and rings you never really wear otherwise known as blog props.

It's safe to say a lot has changed, and ever since reading Sophie's post on Fashion Slave it made me wonder what I actually think of the change.

One part of me thinks quite negatively of the change, with it putting pressure on bloggers who just want a fighting chance of being successful, as they feel they have to match the professional standard popular blogs roll out. For me personally, it initially and sometimes still is quite uninspiring for with being a student with next to no budget to put money into getting blog props, or that top of the range lens for my camera, it can all feel very overwhelming and a little impossible. 

Another rather intimidating factor is the difference in the need for your Instagram (and Twitter etc) to be as impressive as your blog, to have the likeable flat lays and the perfect outfit to match the perfect location. For me I've been obsessed with how my Instagram looks for a while so that hasn't changed but I just partly live for 2013 where my Instagram wasn't even connected to my blog and I didn't know what hashtags were. 

However, with negatives there's always positives. 

Although there are times when browsing all the incredible blogs can seem quite uninspiring, it can also actually be a motivator. As for me, I'd love for my blog to consistently be at the standards others are, and to work out how to do that on a budget can be seen as a challenge. As well as that, it just challenges each of us as people, and tests how much we want to blog, for me I love it so trying to keep up with the professional standard that now dictates the blogging world is worth it.

So to round things up on this lengthy post, I embrace the change the blogging 'world' has seen, and hope that with more and more practice my blog will only get better.

Thanks for reading xx

P.s feel free to let me know your opinions in the comments!

STYLE | A MUST HAVE SUMMERS DAY OUTFIT

Hello lovelies! 

Today's style post is an outfit fit for a summer day/evening doing whatever! As the temperature was reaching 30 degrees I opted for this amazing skirt from Topshop, as it's floaty and a very lightweight material it managed to keep me cool, so is definitely an essential for hot summer days. And yes I wore a skirt on a bike ride but the fit of it makes it so when you're on the bike it doesn't move, so all good. This skirt is fast becoming a summer favourite with it being so effortless with it making any outfit look great even when paired with the simplest jersey top.

As for the Brandy Melville top I have on, unfortunately it isn't on sale anymore as I got it last summer but once again it managed to keep me cool so I didn't melt in the heat and it also went perfectly. Seeing as the skirt's bright print is a statement itself keeping it simple on top is probably for the best.

As for my sandals, they're the best bargain ever, they cost only £3 from Primark and are one of the comfiest pair of sandals I own, they sell them in white, brown, denim and black so I'd recommend heading down to your local Primark to grab a pair!

TOP - BRANDY MELVILLE
SKIRT - TOPSHOP
SANDALS - PRIMARK

So there we have it a must have outfit for a hot summer day!

Thanks for reading xx