The month of July in photographs

As well as my monthly favourites that surround products or just general things i have been loving each month, i thought it would also be nice to share a collection of photographs from the month. Some months there will be more photographs than others, depending upon what i have done or what i have remembered to take a photograph off! I am also a massive photograph taker, i love taking photographs, it makes me happy and they are such a treasure in disguise, keeping holding of memories that can be looked back on and remembered, for many years to come.

As you all know, i went to Disneyland Paris at the beginning of this month, so that was a major highlight for me and i loved every minute of acting like a shameless five year old.

When i got back from holiday, i met up with my friends from my course, we went to Drayton Manor to the day and had such a good time! It was full of lots of laughs and i love these girlies very much.

Also this happened...

I passed my Foundation Degree course with a Merit!! I was so very chuffed, and i still am. I can't believe how quickly those two years have gone. I am changing institution for my final year which is exciting but also very scary! 

I didn't photograph this as it was a Mother and Daughter day out, but all the same, i thought i would give it a mention. On Saturday my Mum and myself, took the train to Birmingham and had a girly day out in the Bullring and did some cheeky shopping! I only brought two things, but i have some shopping trips planned in the upcoming weeks so if i buy more stuff then, i will include them within that haul!

I hope you all have had a lovely month of July, and i hope the month of August holds lots more exciting events and memories for you!

July Monthly Favourites

I can't believe it is this time of the month already, and that we are very nearly in August! Where has the time gone? I have found myself using and rediscovering my love for some old favourites this month!

I have owned the ELF Powder Brush for sometime now, but i have found myself using it more and more this summer to put powder on my face. I generally only use powder in the summer, so that i have keep the shininess at bay.

As well as the powder, i have been using Urban Decay's All Nighter Setting Spray, for when i know i have a long day ahead of me and i don't want my makeup to budge. This really does the trick, i brought it last year for my holiday to New York City, and i kind of forgot about it until i was rummaging around in my draws.

I have been wearing my Converse loads this month, they are just so super comfy (now that i have worn them in and my little toe has stopped being tortured!). I also love the fact they are all white so they can be worn with literally anything. These have definitely been my go to shoes of the month!

I was never really drawn to the Beauty Blenders when they first launched, but i came across one in Primark for a really affordable price (£1.50). So i thought i would give it a go. I have tried it to put foundation on my face, which i wasn't so keen on, i much prefer the finish on the Stippling Brush. But what i do love it for is concealer! The sponge itself is very soft and has a suede like feel to it, if you're ever in Primark, i would definitely recommend giving it a try.

On my Kindle this month i have been reading and loving the last book in the Divergent series, Allegiant. I am 70% through the book, so i am so close to finishing it. I have been hooked the whole series and i really don't want it to end! Luckily i have the Divergent film to look forward to which gets released on the 11th August. I would definitely urge anyone to read these books, it definitely surprised me how much i love them.

Sunglasses don't really suit me and i really struggle to find ones that suit my complexion, hair and just overall look nice. 

I brought these before my holiday and have been wearing them all the time! They fit really nicely on my face and because i have a small nose i really struggle to find sunglasses that don't just fall off my face when i put my head down! Also tortoiseshell frame doesn't look harsh on my complexion, like black frames do. 

  

I brought them from Tkmaxx for £20 when they were originally £120!

I am a massive lover of Zara perfumes. They are inexpensive, smell amazing and last a good amount of time on the skin. Not to mention most of them are dupes for the higher end perfumes that are on the market. I picked up Zara Women L'eau in the Spring time, thinking it would be the most perfect summer fragrance, and i was not wrong. It is a very fresh and summery scent. I was originally drawn to it for the bottle, it is beautiful and reminds me of a Marc Jacobs perfume bottle.

Last Christmas one of my best friend's (you can find her, here) very kindly gifted me this Sleek palette. This is the Sleek Face Form in Light. You have a bronzer, highlight and there bestselling rose gold blusher. They are all highly pigmented and you only need a slight amount of all of them. It is fantastic for travelling as everything is at hand in one palette with a big mirror too. The rose gold blush is perfect for the summer and looks so lovely with the highlight and the bronzer which looks very natural and sun kissed.

I found this product half way through the month, but i already know i am completely in love with it! It is the MiracOILicious 2 minute treatment by Mark Hill. The product contains 14 essential oils (including Moroccan and Argan Oil) and plant extracts. I can not explain how soft this makes my hair feel and i have definitely noticed a difference in it's condition as well. They also do a shampoo and conditioner within the same MiracOILicious brand, so i will definitely be trying those out in the near future!

Oh, and it smells so exotic as well! 

I have also been loving the new TV programme that aired on E4 earlier this month called The 100. It is on at 9pm every Monday evening and i would definitely recommend tuning in! 

The series is set 97 years after a devastating nuclear war wiped out almost all life on Earth. The only known survivors are the residents of twelve space stations in Earth's orbit prior to the war. The space stations banded together to form a single massive station named "The Ark", where about 2,400 people live. Resources are scarce and all crimes no matter their nature or severity are punishable by death ("floating") unless the perpetrator is under 18 years old. After the Ark's life support systems are found to be critically failing, one hundred juvenile prisoners are declared "expendable" and sent to the surface in a last ditch attempt to determine if Earth is habitable again. They discover that not all humanity was wiped out. There are people on earth who survived the war, called "grounders" by the 100.

What have you been loving this month?

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice-cream!

Lets start off by saying, i am a major fan of ice-cream!

I recently heard of an ice-cream parlour that has not long been open in Leamington Spa (as far as i am aware, it is also the only one, in Leamington - there is one in Coventry). So i went to go and check it out and this is what i thought...

Lickety Lick Ice Cream Parlour

I really like the decor inside, it is quite american in my opinion. Everything was super clean and we sat on one of the booths which was also really comfy!

 There was lots of pictures and slogans on the walls, which gave it a nice touch and feel. There was lots of choice from the menu and the prices weren't overly pricey. I think the most expensive was a sundae at £7, which is about average.

The staff were very friendly and we did not have to wait long for our sundaes to arrive - which is always a bonus.

 I was undecided between a some sort of chocolate muffin with ice-cream and hot chocolate sauce or the ferrero rocher sundae. I went for the sundae as ferrero rochers are one of my favourite chocolates.

I always find myself left a bit disappointment when i have a sundae as people places seem to skimp on the added extras and it turns out to be one massive glass of vanilla ice-cream. But i can assure you, that this is not the case which the glass of delight - it was amazing. 

It was a mixture of cream, ice-cream, white chocolate chips, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce and broken pieces of ferrero rocher throughout.

I would definitely recommend stopping by Lickety Lick, if you ever find yourself in the area or you even live close by. I will definitely be making a reappearance and placing an order for the muffin and ice-cream next!

How to find it
Lickety Lick Leamington Spa: 12 Victoria Terrace, CV31 3AB (which is town the bottom of town, right next door to subway)
Lickety Lick Coventry: 152 Far Gosford Street, CV1 5DU

Disneyland Paris: Santa Fe Hotel Review

Santa Fe Hotel Review

Hotel Santa Fe is one of the Disneyland resort hotels and there are seven in total. I have stayed in two of the seven. Both of them being the lowest in price and have two star reviews on there website, Hotel Cheyenne and Hotel Santa Fe. The most recent one i stayed at was Hotel Santa Fe. 

The main reason why i decided to do this blog post was, when my friend and myself were thinking of booking it, i couldn't find any in detail reviews and if they were, they were bad. Which lead us to worry what the hotel was going to be like and after having not such a great experience at Hotel Cheyenne, we began to worry.

So you may be asking, what were some of the bad reviews saying? They ranged from the rooms not being very clean to having things stolen from there safes. But from my experience i can honestly say, i couldn't fault in hotel in any way, such there is things i would change and little nick picky stuff, but nothing major, and this is why...

From the moment we got there, we received such a warm welcome. The main behind the desk checking us in was so helpful. He literally went through everything and we were there for a good 10/15minutes talking to him (when normally they try and get through the que as quick as possible!). He even asked at the end if there was anything we wanted him to repeat! Like the ditsy person that i am, i brought the wrong travel plug! But the people in reception were so helpful and gave me one that i could borrow until the end of my stay.

The room was clean, tidy and everything worked. The safe had a code number which you was asked to change when you went into the room so that only you could access it - this made us feel better. The maids came into the rooms and changed the bedding and cleaned the rooms every single day without fail. We also really liked the interior because it was Disney Cars themed, so it really made it feel like we was in Disney! There was a few Disney Characters wandering around the hotel (often found in the reception)

The shuttle bus came every 10 minutes from the bus stop which took you into the parks. The journey was only around four minutes - which is great if you have eager and excited kids!

We had breakfast included, when we booked our holiday and when we checked in we was also given another voucher were we could eat somewhere else in the park for breakfast one morning. 

Some of the cons (which are not really cons!)

The breakfast was very bread based and there was not a lot of option at all. But the food that was there was very nice and still hot!

You had to book a time slot for breakfast (which could be done in the morning or the night before). This was never really a problem for us, but i can imagine that it would be for some. Especially with children, as you never know when you are going to be ready to go! But if we was a bit earlier then they just let us go through anyway. I would advise going earlier to breakfast than later as it gets very busy.

There is only Wifi in reception. Which again, didn't really bother us as we were on holiday. But i can imagine it could be quite annoying for some people who still need to receive there emails.

The shower was also not very powerful and having long hair, it is a bit of a pain trying to get all the shampoo out! But i am also still trying to find a hotel that does have a powerful shower!

Overall verdict

Cleanliness 9/10

Rooms 8/10

Location 8/10

Value for money 9/10

Service 9/10

Food 6/10

Access to the parks 9/10 (you also receive a ticket that gives you two hour early access to the park before everyone else)

Would i recommend this hotel to a friend - yes

If you have anymore question about Hotel Santa Fe, then please don't hesitate to write them in the comments section below and i will try my hardest to answer them.

Liebster Award

RULES:1. Post eleven facts about yourself.2. Answer the eleven questions provided by the person who nominated you and then create an eleven-question set for the next group of nominees.3. Choose eleven people to nominate and link them in the post.4. Let your nominees know they've been tagged - and no tag-backs! 5. Nominate blogs under 200 followers.

I firstly one to start off with by saying a massive thank you to Chantal from http://savvysuperstylish.blogspot.co.uk for nominating me!

11 facts about me -

1. I am a complete handbag addict

2. I own way more lipsticks and nail polishes than i know what to do with

3. I love reading books

4. Anxiety will always play apart in my life, even though iv overcome the issues that caused the anxiety

5. My family and friends mean everything to me

6. Shopping fills me with a warm feeling inside - happiness!

7. I hate the word 'snog' - i am cringing even writing it

8. My favourite flowers are peonies

9. I start my third year of University in September

10. I am British and live in England

11. I am a major lover of Instagram

Chantal's Questions -

1. What's your favourite type of music? I like most kinds of music, as long as they are catchy and have a good beat

2. Sweet or Savoury snacks? This depends on the time of the year if i am honest. In the summer months i tend to eat more savoury snacks - unless its ice-cream and in the Winter i tend to eat (a lot) of sweeter snacks!

3. If you could be a celebrity for one day, who would you be and why? This is such a hard one! But i love Mollie King from The Saturdays, i love her style and very jealous that she has started her own clothing line.

4. Do you have any other hobbies apart from blogging? I love photography and taking photos

5. Would you rather never be able to watch t.v again, or never be able to listen to the radio ever again? I don't listen to the radio, nor do i really watch huge amounts of TV. But if it was a choice between listening to CD's over watching TV, i would definitely rather listen to my CD's - car journeys would be so boring otherwise, i love a good sing song in the car!

6. If you had a time machine would you only choose to go to the future, or would you only choose to go back in time, and why? I would choose to go back in time, so that i could see my Nan again :)

7. What's one makeup item you can't live without? Mascara, almost definitely - but there are a few close seconds!

8. If your life could be a movie what movie would you choose to live in? This one is so hard! This isn't technically a movie, but of a TV series, but they did make movies so it kind of counts, right?! When i was younger i used think that on my sixtieth birthday i was going to wake up with powers and cast spells. I was really sad when that never happened and soon realised it would never happen! Yes thats right, Sabrina The Teenage Witch. 

9. Who's your favourite YouTuber? I can't make the decision of only choosing one. So it has to be Zoe Sugg (Zoella) and Hannah Mags (Hannah Michalak)

10. What was your favourite toy when you were younger? This is going to sound so bizarre but never the less i loved her all the same. I used to go to Ballet and each week, one child got to take this frog home which was dressed head to toe in a ballerina outfit. I loved it so much, my mum hunted hi and low for this frog and finally she found her.  She is now looking not so great, with her arm nearly hanging off - she was well loved.

(image from google)

11. Where do you want to be in 10 years time? I want to be somewhere that i am happy and content, with all my friends and family around me.

My questions -

1. If you could visit anywhere in the World, where would you go and why?

2. What is your holy grail product and why?

3. What is your favourite childhood memory?

4. If you had to choose one food to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?

5. What is your favourite quote?

6. What is your go to accessory?

7. Why did you start blogging?

8. What is your biggest achievement in life so far?

9. What is your biggest fear?

10. What are you doing in your life, right now?

11. Who inspires you?

I nominate -

Laura

Sophie 

Ana

Biranna

Michaella

Meg

Kate

Emma

Jessica

Holly

Beth

Let's Make Some Lemonade!

Homemade Lemonade

This summer, i have been all about the Lemonade, in the past years i haven't really bothered with it much but it seems to bring a nice refreshing taste to my mouth! I think it all steamed from my fanta lemon phrase! Which by the way, reminds me of sitting my the pool in the hot sunshine somewhere exotic.

So i thought i would attempt to make my own Lemonade!

What you are going to need:

• 5 lemons
• Sugar
• Cold water
• A lemon squeezer
• A sieve
• One bowl
• A small saucepan
• A sharp knife
• Something to store the Lemonade in

The first thing i did was poured 3/4 of a cup of Sugar into the saucepan (i would make it a full cup if you prefer your Lemonade sweeter) and then i added one cup of water also into the saucepan and put it on a low heat. Remember to keep giving it a stir.

While waiting for the sugar to dissolve i cut all my lemons in half with a sharp knife. (Please be careful while using sharp knifes, if you are of the younger generation then please ask an adult to assist you)

Once you (or an adult) have cut the lemons in half, you can start squeezing them onto the lemon squeezer!

Don't worry if you get pips and a few bits of the lemon in the juice because we will sieve it out when all the lemons have been squeezed. By now the sugar should have dissolved into the water, and made a kind of thin syrup. If it has dissolved, then you can turn the flame off and we will come back to it in a moment.

Once you have squeezed all the lemons, pour the contents in a sieve. But make sure you have a bowl at the bottom, ready to catch it! (If the juice is getting blocked up with the pips then you can use a spoon to move everything around to make sure all the juice falls through the holes).

You can then add the lemon juice into the saucepan and give it a stir. Then you can add the contents of the saucepan into your chosen storage option for the Lemonade. You will then need to add around 3 or 4 cups of cold water into the bottle, close the lid and give it a bit of a shake. 

You then need to leave your Lemonade in the fridge for around an hour (i went back after half an hour and gave it a slight shake).

Then your Lemonade is ready to drink and enjoy in the sunshine!

Disneyland Paris: Princess Pavilion

Princess Pavilion

Do you have a child (or adult) that is Disney Princess obsessed? Then you will more than likely end up here!

Where is Princess Pavilion?

Princess Pavilion is situated in Fantasyland, next to It's A Small World. Prior to going into the Princess Pavilion, you need to get a ticket, which is just to your left (it's called The Old Mill), you will probably be able to see railings ready for the queues. 

Do i need to book in advance?

As far as i know, there is no booking in advance for the Princess Pavilion. It comes on a first come, first serve basis. Tickets are given out at 10.30 am, with a time slot. When it gets to your time, you will need to come back and que again (don't bother trying to arrive early either, we queued and arrived a bit earlier so we didn't miss our time and we was told to come back, even when there was only minutes to spare!)

When should i start queing for the ticket?

If you are staying in a Disney hotel, then the two hour early access to the park will become your best friend - seriously! Head down to the queue as early as you can because as soon as the park fully opens, the queue will get ridiculous!

Is there a good time to visit the Princess Pavilion?

When the weather isn't looking so great. My friend and myself, started queueing from about 9.45 am and by 10.30 am, the queue was big but not massive because it had started to dazzle and rain a bit. Coming from England, we are used to a bit of rain so we wasn't that bothered by it. But what did bother us was when we came back at our allocated time, they were literally giving away time slots. My guess is that because it was raining they didn't give away all the time slots. Which made a chance from the day before when we heard people queued for hours and by the time they got to the table to get a ticket they were all gone!

How long do you have to queue the second time?

If we didn't get there earlier than the allocated time, then probably about 10 minutes or less.

How do you find out what princess you are meeting?

Sadly, you don't, until you literally walk around the corner to meet them. 

Can you take your own photos?

You are allowed to take your own photographs, there is also a professional photographer there as well ready to take the shots you may have missed.

Is it worth it?

In my opinion, yes. We saw Rapunzel around the park a few times, but each time the queue varied from two and half hours to four! Which makes the hour we queued up seem nothing. Also what is better than seeing a child's face light up when they meet a Disney Princess?

Do you feel rushed?

Even though we were two young adults, we didn't feel rushed at all. We saw Belle from Beauty and the Beast and she asked us lots of questions and was happy to take lots of photographs with us.

Any further advice?

If there is two of you (two adults) and then the child(ren), then id advise one adult to wait in the ticket queue while the other adult takes the children on some rides. As lets me honest, as adults, the main reason why you would take a family holiday to Disneyland would be for the children, and they would just be bored standing in the line waiting, as an hour to them is probably half the day!



I hope you enjoyed this blog post and that you found it helpful! If you have any questions that i didn't address above, then please write them down in the comments and i will try my best to answer them, the best i can!

As Summer is now approaching, i will be doing some random Saturday blogs, now that i have more time on my hands before i start my third year in September!

My Holiday Through Photographs

Hello all!

I got back from Disneyland Paris on Thursday evening and i wanted to share with you some of the snaps i had taken throughout my holiday!

Warning: This will be a very VERY picture heavy post!

As apart of my weekly lifestyle post, i will be featuring some reviews, advice and tips and tricks for Disneyland Paris. These will be the things i learnt through my trip and i wish i knew earlier or just general things i couldn't find before my trip and i want to make it accessible to others if they are looking to find it. 

So let's begin...

I stayed at one of the Disney Hotels - Hotel Santa Fe. It was Disney Car themed (i have never seen the movie, but the decor of the hotel and rooms were cool!). You can expect a review of the hotel coming you're way soon!

Just a word of warning - the food is not on the cheap side, which you would expect from Disney. We stayed for five days, so we experienced a lot of the different restaurants. My favourite has to of been the Rainforest Cafe. 

Service was super quick, food was amazing (they also offer deals - we got our main and pudding for 20 euros, which is a very good deal), the staff were so helpful and friendly and just the atmosphere is like nothing i have experienced through the moving animals and interactive sounds.

My Disney top was purchased before my holiday from Primark for £6

Minnie Mouse ears - 12 euros 

(We met Belle through the Disney Pavilion - keep an eye out for a blog post!)

We also bumped into and met a few Characters. These were only a few of the ones we met as i am trying to limit the photograph content!! 

The Disney parade was amazing. I would definitely recommend seeing it. When we was there it was at half 5 but the time can be checked on the information board. I would also recommend getting there early to secure a good spot! We watched it from Main Street about half way down because we wanted to get the Disney Castle in the backdrop.

One of my favourite things we did while at Disneyland Paris was see the Disney Dreams show. I can't actually describe how amazing it was, it is definitely a must see! 

I won't include too many photographs because it will spoil the surprise if (and when) you get a chance to watch it. 

We also took the chance to have a nose around the Disneyland Hotel. It really is incredible! I would of loved to stay within this hotel - maybe one day?!

If you get a chance to look around one of the hotel rooms do it! We asked if we could, and someone showed us around. Just the bathroom had literally two rooms! It was pretty much like a mini apartment, but with something like that comes a hefty price tag of 900 euros for a standard room, up to 3000 euros!! Good job Disney offer some good deals - maybe i will go back and stay there when i have won the lottery!

I hope you enjoyed looking at some of my photographs from Disneyland Paris!

I had an amazing time and i would urge anyone thinking about going to definitely do it. For the whole five days i acted like a shameless five year old, and i loved every minute.

Disneyland Paris Haul 2014

Disneyland Paris Haul 2014

If you don't already know, i went to Disneyland Paris for five days with my friend at the beginning of July. We had an amazing time and i will be doing future blogposts about reviews and tips and tricks for around the park.

The Above picture

Thumper - 22.99 euros

Biscuits - 6.95 euros

Thumper egg cup - 7 euros

Autograph book - 8 euros

Minnie pen - 2 euros

I got this photo frame from a little shop in Disney Village (they also sold it at other stores) and this was 30 euros. On the photo frame it says "Disney moments.... make the most magical pictures"

This was brought from Harrington's on Main Street, in the bigger disney park. It has a Mickey Mouse silhouette around it and it has writing around it that says "Dreams come true". I brought this for my Pandora bracelet, but i am sure they will fit on other similar bracelets. This was 60 euros.

The film 'Bambi' is one of my all time favourites. So when i saw this super cute ornament i fell in love! I also really like how Flower is in the snow globe as you don't tend to see much of her around. I absolutely love snow globes as well, and i have always wanted one, so i was sold on the spot. But when i picked it up i noticed it had something that you twist, so i twisted it and it sings "Rainfall showers". It is definitely the most cutest thing ever!

This was 35 euros.

I was very excited to see that even at the beginning of July, there was still a Christmas shop that you could look around and by stuff! I love Christmas so buying something here was a must. I wanted something a bit different and that i hadn't already seen in Disney shops, here in the UK. So i found this one, which has the Princess Castle inside in gold glitter and there is a little Tinkerbell on the top with a wand! Also when you shake it (gently of course!) the little stars at the bottom move too! This was 12.99 euros.

Not going to lie, i have no idea what i plan on doing with this because i don't strain tea! But i just thought it was adorable and couldn't leave without it. This was 5.99 euros.

 Of course i had to get some Minnie ears, they are a staple for anywhere Disney related! You can buy these absolutely anywhere, but we got them on our first night at The World Of Disney store for 11 euros.

This was the only clothing item that i brought and i plan to wear this to bed! This was from one of the shops (the orange one, i can't remember the name though!) in Disney Village. It was 35 euros but it was in the sale and i got it for 13 euros!

I wanted a nice photo album to treasure the photographs we took. I really liked this one because it looks more expensive than it actually was! This was 29 euros.

I am also a massive pasta fan, if i had to chose one food to eat for the rest of my life, it would be pasta! So when i saw they did Disney pasta, well i just had to pick some up!!

The pasta is Disney shaped with the Princess Castle, Cinderella's Glass Slipper, A Princess, A Pumpkin and lots more! These were 4.50 euros.

That was all i got from Disneyland Paris!

But on the way back home, i may have picked up a few bits from Duty Free...

I have always wanted to taste Laduree Macaroons, but here in England, they are very expensive and i just can't justify spending five pounds on ONE macaroon!

So when i saw they had a little shop in the French airport, and i had some euros spare, i was definitely going to pick some up!

For a box of eight, it cost me just under 17 euros, which i thought was a pretty good deal! 

I have just eaten one while typing this blog post and my taste buds are tingling! They are amazing and i am sure they won't last long.

I also picked up some Marc Jacobs earrings, i had my eye on these while i was in New York City in November last year but i never picked them up. So when i saw them in the airport i was drawn to them (well, them and the sale sign!). They were 40 euros, but because they were on sale, they went down to 25 euros but when i got to the till they went down to 20! Don't you just love it when that happens?!

I also picked up this little Chubby Stick from Clinque. I got this free in a magazine which only cost me £2.50! So i thought that was a right bargain! 

I hope you enjoyed seeing what i brought at Disneyland Paris, and i hope it gives you some ideas of what is in the shops if you are planning a trip!