What I did on my week off!

I've been thinking for a while of what I could blog about next. I had a few post ideas a couple of weeks ago and instead of being smart and spacing them out, I got a bit excited and posted them all in one week.
Last week was the first time I've ever booked a week off work without having a real reason to. In the past it's been because i'm going on holiday. So it was amazing to relax for a week, meet up with a few friends and not worry about a thing. So to commemorate this wondrous occasion, I thought I'd share with you what I got up to.

Monday-Wednesday.
Even though I had the week off from LEGO, I still had to go work at my placement 9-5.

Wednesday evening.
After finishing my placement shifts for the week, I went to stay at my cousin, Harriet's house. I'm incredibly close with her family and I often go stay there every few weeks. We have a tradition of having my Auntie's famous chicken pasta (pasta bake with chicken in), and we watch a horror film. This time we plugged our phones into my Uncle's big speakers, turned the living room lights on, my cousin got the disco lights out and we had a little dance around the living room.

Thursday.
I had a very productive day. When I started University I went to a Freshers Fair and naturally inherited heaps of flyers. Most of them had pretty cool designs so I decided to blue tac them all to my wall.
Mistake.
I'm a very indecisive person; my room is a prime example of this. I'm permanently moving furniture round and changing the decorations on my walls. So I decided to take all of my Freshers flyers down. This took off like 80% of the paint on my wall. I realise i'm going off on a kind of tangent right now so long story short, I re-painted my wall.

Friday.
My friend Charlotte and I have quite an unhealthy obsession with the TV series Sherlock. We even went to the world record attempt in Temple Newsam.

Here is a picture of us on The Mirror's website donning our deerstalkers. Next stop, Hollywood.

So anyway, Charlotte came round to my house and we watched Sherlock Series 3 and played Sherlock Cluedo which I had just bought from Waterstones. You don't need to tell us how cool we are, we already know. But we had a great day and we always have such a laugh.

Saturday.
I started dance classes again. For those that don't know, i'm a Dance Teacher at my local community centre. Usually I choreograph 2 groups, 4 dances each. However, a week before classes started, one of the other teachers discovered she was expecting a baby (aww!) and told us she couldn't teach anymore. I jumped to the rescue and took over, so I now have 3 groups and 12 dances to choreograph and teach!
With it being Valentines Day my boyfriend James came to stay over and my mum and sister also had some friends round. Us 'kids' sat and watched The Inbetweeners whilst the adults talked about boring stuff.

Sunday.
Sunday, was perfect. My sister, James and I spent the day playing board games and taking it in turns on the PS2. I haven't had a sunday off from work in quite a while so it was amazing to just relax and spend the day in my pyjamas.
Then to finish the week off, Mother Riley served an amazing sunday dinner.

I need to book casual weeks off more often!

Long lost hobby.

I used to dabble in photography. I actually went to a few classes to learn different techniques and ended up really enjoying capturing that perfect picture.
However when I started University I kind of lost touch with it all.

My poor, barely used Canon 600D.

One of my new year resolutions this year is to start using it again. Partly because it cost an arm and a leg and also I miss using it.

A small collection of some of my old shots.

Hopefully this year will provide me with a lot of opportunities to get my camera out again and I can capture some great memories to stick on my wall!

Rambling post #2: Summer.

Without a doubt summer has always been my favourite season.
The hot, sunny weather seems to just bring good moods out of people and it just generally feels like such a happy time of year.
This summer in particular is a very exciting one. On the 6th August I will officially be a grown up - I turn 21! It's actually quite scary. I never wanted to turn 19 or 20 and now i'm going to be 21 it just feels like the years are going too fast.
I'm also going to Mallorca with my family and boyfriend yet again. We all absolutely love the villa we stay in and every year we go back it just feels like home. I'm so excited to go back.
Then in September (this isn't exciting for anyone else), I go back to University after my year placement. I'm actually missing it a lot and I can't wait to see all of my friends again.
I don't really know the point in this post. I'm just generally excited for summer as always. I think i'm actually craving heat and sunshine now.
Winter, do one.

𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

#1 Christmas Gift: The Urban Decay Naked Palette.

My sister definitely topped the Christmas present charts when she got me the Urban Decay Naked Palette last year. It's the perfect palette to use for both casual and a perfect going out look. And the best thing about it; it all still looks so natural.

Another benefit of this palette, you get some free eyeshadow primer!

Virgin - This one is perfect to highlight the corners of my eyes and just under my eyebrows.
Sin - I like to wear this when I go out for a casual/slightly dressed up day out like shopping. It's a very plain colour with just the right amount of sparkle.
Naked - This is just a little darker than my skin tone and isn't shimmery so it's great for a casual look and goes perfect with Buck (also not a shimmery one) to create a natural smokey eye look without any sparkles.
Sidecar - This one is very similar to Sin and makes a very nice natural shimmer.
Half Baked - I love this one as it's a very nice golden colour and can highlight any shade on the eyes. I especially like to use it with Smog and Darkhorse.
Smog - I really like to use this with Darkhorse when I want to get really dressed up. The two together can make a very nice shimmery smokey eye.
Toasted - Slightly darker and pinker than Half-Baked, I love this one when I want a darker shimmer, and goes very well with Hustle.
Hustle - A very dark brown, perfect for creating those dark corners.
Creep - I haven't used this one yet as it's a very dark colour and at the moment i'm on a dark lipstick hype and I don't like to have both dark eyes and dark lips - it's either one or the other.
Gunmetal -  I haven't yet used this one either, I imagine it will go very well with Creep to create a heavy smokey eye.

I decided to get artistic and instead of showing a picture of the palette, I created a swatch on my arm!

In the end, my favourite shades have to be Sidecar, Sin and Naked. 

Internship!

So as part of my Events Management degree at Leeds Met University (I refuse to call it Beckett), I have to work in a placement for a year in the industry. Those that know me, know my first 6 months weren't the best. The centre where I was working didn't really have the facilities to accommodate me and the other 2 students. We would frequently go home as a result of the lack of jobs they had for us. To any one else, going home early is good news, but when you're in it to gain skills and experience, it's a complete waste of time.
In the end, I decided enough was enough. In the year I was supposed to be experiencing all of these new things in the industry I wanted to work in, I wasn't learning a thing. I needed something that was going to challenge and develop me for a career in events.
Then in December, I applied for an internship at a well known dance school in Leeds. Walking in for my interview felt like I'd stepped inside the Fame movie. Dance students were everywhere. Leaping, jumping, shouting, running around. It was like I was this weird, shy, new kid in a sea of eccentric and overly confident performers. Thankfully, I wasn't kept waiting too long.
Long story short, I got the internship and I started at the beginning of January. In the space of 1 week I had learned a lot more than in the 6 months I spent at my other placement.

     I have my own desk!

Whilst I have painted a pretty bad picture of my first internship, I still met some lovely people and gained 2 good friends from my course who I look forward to seeing again in September when we're back at University.