July.

Where the hell did July go?! I can't believe it's August tomorrow already. This year is just flying by.

My best pal Thomas did a June round up last month, and I liked the idea so I decided to copy him like I always do.

The month started off brilliantly. In the first week, I got a new car, was voted Employee of the Quarter at work and I finished my placement year for University.

On July 4th I went to a leaving do for one of the guys at work. My memories are limited but from what I can remember, there were countless arguments about Ring of Fire, I fell asleep on a balcony which felt like it was going to fall off, Tom can laugh at himself in a mirror for a stupid amount of time and Sarah is incredibly light.



My sister left for Finland on the 11th to go represent Team GB at a worldwide gymnastics event called Gymnaestrada. Here she is with her GB squad and some of the German team (she's the one on the far right).

Needless to say i'm insanely proud of her for this. From what she's told me it sounded like an amazing experience and she met people from countries all around the world.









The biggest event in July for me was my 21st. My birthday is in August but a lot of people are usually on holiday around that time (I know, how inconsiderate). So we went the whole nine yards; booked a venue, DJ, Photo Booth, caterer and I even booked a minibus to take me and my friends to the party after we had some Prosecco at my house. In a nutshell I had an amazing night that I spent with the best people. It consisted of arguments about how many claps to do in the dance to 'Saturday Night', my Grandma prancing around in a silly hat introducing herself to literally everyone, being pushed down a slide and having Sambuca and Tequila being forced down my throat. Ugh. If you want to read more about it - here's my previous blog post!

Over the weekend of my party, one of my best friends, Mary just kind of temporarily moved into my house. I don't see her a lot so when I do she's not allowed to leave! We spent the day after my party with one of my other besties, Kelsey, cuddled up in duvets watching Disney movies and eating Dominoes. Very luckily work had given me the 3 days after my party off, so they were naturally all spent lounging around not doing much.

The month ahead is looking pretty jam-packed so I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Twenty One.

On Saturday I celebrated my 21st birthday. My real birthday is 6th August, but being an August baby comes at a terrible price...
NO ONE IS EVER HERE.
I've always had my parties in July or September because the majority of my friends and family are usually on holiday when my birthday comes around (I know, how inconsiderate of them).

The day started with meeting my best friend Mary, and going to get my hair and nails done. Before this, I wasn't feeling particularly excited. I always feel slightly anxious before putting on a party, and this was the biggest one I had ever thrown. However after visiting the hairdressers the excitement began to build and Mary and I went home to begin with the drinking and getting ready, which is when Charlotte, another bezzie of mine, joined us. 

Kelsey arrived shortly after (another bezzie) and not long after that we were all ready to go so we made our way downstairs for Prosecco and strawberries.

Quick pic before we all get on the minibus with Mary, Jagger, Jess, Emma, Charlotte, Rachel, Kelsey and Foxy. The minibus driver was a bit miserable, and every time we asked him to turn the music up he would, but then he would very slyly turn it down soon after. What a dick.

My mum had been at the venue earlier on to decorate, so this was the first time I saw it all decorated. There were black, silver and purple balloons and a big silver 21. Of course, there were baby pictures of me stuck everywhere.

Once we were there I also got to see my cake (which was insane), and not long after I was on the meet and greet. My shoes were absolutely killing me, and after i'd made sure they lasted as long as possible, I made the swift change to flip flops.

I had a Photo Booth! Many silly pictures were taken and everyone seemed to love it.

I had such an amazing night consisting of arguments with Tom about how many claps you do in the dance to Saturday Night, laughing at my Grandma introducing herself to literally everyone and then doing the Macarena to Cha Cha Slide, dancing to as many songs as possible and getting pushed down a slide. I'm grateful to everyone who came and wanted to celebrate with me. The only problem is it went way too fast!

And Nathan was there so that was great.

What's in my bag?

I've been a bit stuck for a while thinking what I can blog about. My best friend Tom suggested I do a "What's In My Bag" post - so here it is!

To start off, I got my bag from H&M. I can't remember the exact price but it was around £25. I absolutely love it and use it pretty much every day now. It has press studs at either side of the bag so you can minimise it if you're wanting something smaller. Without the studs, it's pretty huge, and my bag needs to be to carry around all of my rubbish!

My purse, River Island. Pretty much every single purse i've owned has been from there. I love them. I always need a pretty big purse to fit in my millions of loyalty cards. It's very rarely thick with money #studentprobs.

My Filofax. I keep my entire life in here and i'd be completely lost and frequently late to work without it.

My Soap & Glory goodies. I can't go anywhere without these guys. Hand Maid is my favourite out of these; it smells so good!

Moleskine Notebook. Everyone needs one of these. Sometimes when i'm out and about i'll suddenly get a good idea for a blog post or some good moves for dancing and I need to jot them down before I forget. I've got a memory like a sieve so it happens often.

Just like any other bookworm, it's essential that I have a book in my bag just in case. Right now it's 'The Bees' by Laline Paull. I'm reading pretty frequently at the moment and my average is about 1 book every 2 weeks.

Glasses. Prescription and sun. Yep, I joined the OAP club and picked up my first pair of glasses about 2 months ago. I'm only supposed to wear them for driving, reading, computers etc, but I feel pretty comfortable wearing them now so they're on 90% of the time. Unfortunately, my sunglasses aren't Ray Bans. I used to have some, hence the case, but last year, I knelt on them and they broke…

I simply can't go anywhere without these. When I need to choreograph a dance, I listen to the song repeatedly for a few days. It makes me absolutely hate the song but it gets the creative juices flowing!

Pencil case. Packed with highlighters, Bic biros, pencils and a rubber. Not the most exciting item in there but hey ho.










Then there's all the rubbish at the bottom like receipts, loose change, various bus tickets, lip balm, broken pens, tissues, and every so often the odd LEGO brick (absolutely no idea how they even get in there).

June favourites

I can't believe it's July already! Where is the year going?! Here's a quick look at some of my favourite cosmetic buys this month, each one i've been using pretty regularly and I would recommend every single one of them.

Maybelline 24 Hour Superstay Lip Colour Lipstick in Timeless Rose £8.99 Boots

I'm in love with this colour. The conditioning balm plumps my lips and makes a nice base for the colour, making it easy to clean off at the end of the day but also keeps it in place when you need it!

Sleek Contour Palette in Light £6.49 Boots

I'm obsessed with make up videos - especially contouring. I've been using bronzer for a while and it can look too shimmery and orange. I love the Sleek eyeshadow palettes and when I saw this in a store in town, I needed to give it a go, and I wasn't disappointed!

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water £2.79 Boots 

I've only recently started to use Micellar Water. Up until now it's just been facewipes and facewash until a friend nearly had a breakdown when she found out what I was using. "Facewipes strip your skin of their natural oils!", "They're so bad for you!", "You NEED to use Micellar Water!".

So here I am giving it a go. It takes my make up off so easy and my skin hasn't been this clear in so long! I am loving it!

Benefit Total Moisture Facial Cream £29.50 Boots

This has become a pretty regular participant of my evening skin routine. After i've cleaned my face I put a small dollop on my cheeks and massage it around my face, then in the morning my face feels as soft as a baby's bottom!

Toni & Guy Casual Sea Salt Texturising Spray 200ml £4.99 Superdrug

This is brilliant if you're having one of those 'you want to look good but you're too tired and lazy to do anything about it' days. All it takes it a couple sprays onto my hair, a quick brush through and i'm good to go. This is one of my favourite looks at the moment. I've always been a fan of sea salt waves - they make me feel like i'm on holiday! With this one, I feel that the best results come when you've used it on wet hair.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid SPF15 30ml Foundation £21.50 Harvey Nichols

Once you go MAC, you never go back. It took a while to find the perfect shade (they have a lot to choose from!), but after I used it for the first time, I was amazed! Only a small dollop (1 pump) was needed for enough coverage on my face, and it looks flawless! My favourite thing about it is the fact that it feels like i'm not wearing any foundation at all.

(I'm pretty surprised there's no Soap & Glory in here, doesn't mean I love them any less!)