Wednesday Wishlist

Multi Coloured Flower Stud Set, £6.50, Topshop

How cute are these! Just looking at them makes me excited for summer, the many water fights, the hot weather, the smell of freshly cut grass...and all the summery girly outfits! I'd love to get these studs as they are so bright and funky (there's practically a colour for every look!) and you can also miss-and-match them for an even cooler look. 

Tall White Rock and Roll Sleeveless Top, £20.00, Topshop

I adore this top because it's a bit rock chick with the slogan but it's nice and neutral too. It's very stylish, can be worn with anything and can be made to look a bit more edgy with black skinny fit jeans and a leather jacket. This would look lovely with hair pulled up into a messy bun and bold, statement red lips. Or, for a less in-your-face look, swap the bold lips for a soft pink colour and instead draw attention to the eyes with heavy liquid eyeliner creating a cat-winged look.

Pink Floral Zip Front Bralet, £20.00, Topshop

Originally under the 'Lingerie & Nightwear' section, this very stylish bralet could be worn as anything. It would look lovely underneath a revealing top or a white blazer secured in the middle with a belt...either way its too cute to keep under wraps! 

Bourjois Limited Edition Blush, £7.49, Boots.com

Available in the shades of Rose Coup De Foudre, Lilas D'or, Rose De Jaspe, Rose Ambre, Rose D'or, these gorgeous Parisian blushers are the most chic thing on the market right now. The blushes, not much different from the original blushers offer the biggest difference in the very cute packaging based on the brands history. The blusher itself, however, is girly, easy to use and opens up to reveal a small brush and a small mirror to help apply blush on the go.

Soap and Glory Enormous Beauty Bundle, £35, Boots.com

A bundle of Soap and Glory's best products is available to order online again just in time for 'Mothers Day'. Although it is a little more expensive then the one that was available at Christmas, the products in this selection add up to over £70 originally. Some products include Soap & Glory Touch & Glow, Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker and Soap & Glory Wizard of Flaws. Hmm, I wonder if I could get this for my Mum as it's clearly a present she'd really like but never get round to using, thus giving it to me!

www.topshop.com

www.boots.com

A bit of Consistency!

So, this blog may not be amazingly popular (I was off course, hoping Belle de Jour popularity without the call girlness) but I appreciate the followers I do have and I actually really enjoy blogging! Writing is my escape from reality and I love going online to look up makeup tips or how to do my hair in a new way and in turn I want my blog to display these type of tips for people to look at too. But, with being in my last few months of Uni it's not very easy and I have to admit I have been finding it hard to remember to keep consistency on this blog. So I've put together a sort of schedule regarding Uni work, actual work, this blog and other elements of my life to get into a routine of getting things done when they need to be. Here are some things I'm hoping to have updated on this blog and when.

Every other Monday we have our guest blogger Laura Lowe telling us what its like to plan a wedding. On the Monday's that she doesn't blog, I'm hoping to start blogging some recipes, mainly ones aimed at students (my target audience) or people who don't have the time, skills or money to make amazing meals like the ones you see on TV! It's going to be a kind of along-the-way diary as I am a terrible cook myself, my speciality is probably pasta at the moment so it's going to be on a level that will interest you as readers. This will probably start after Easter when I've got my student loan in and can do a massive shop. There will also be some differences between my recipes and the recipes you read about on the internet elsewhere so fingers crossed this will be good for the blog.

On a Wednesday of course I do 'Wednesday Wishlist' which is so much fun (dreaming about what I would buy if I had all the money in the world!) but Wednesday is my long day at Uni and work so I'm up at 7am and don't usually get in till 7pm and I'm usually exhausted by the time I get in! However I will be continuing this anyway and to ensure it always gets posted I will put it together early in the week and have it scheduled to post on a Wednesday.

Fitness Friday is also something I do on a Friday but this only lasts for 50 days so obviously this is a temporary thing. I am looking to do a review of an online shop once a week too as there are so many beautiful products out there from independent sellers and I am currently thinking whether this would be better done weekly, fortnightly or monthly. I will also be looking into doing giveaways to go along with these reviews, if not with every single shop then most. So look out for these!

I'm also going to be doing Look Of The Week, but this will probably begin after Easter as I'll try and get three to five of these done in advance (incase I'm not going anywhere interesting one week) so I always have a look to fall back on.

I don't have anything necessary planned for weekends as of yet, except updating the latest discount codes for shops on a Sunday. This might be changed to a Monday though as it depends when the shops release the codes! I don't want to have to make a post every single time a shop release a code but DO keep an eye on our twitter because some shops release codes that only last a day or an evening so we'll put these on twitter and maybe along the side too, maybe not. Also, on this note, some shops don't state how long their discount codes last so every Sunday when I update I will try these ones and remove them if they have stopped working. However, there is obviously a chance they expire earlier during the week but I don't have the time to check them all every single day so sorry about that!

So that's a general schedule so far, and of course the blog will be updated in between but that may be a bit slack while I'm going my dissertation - hopefully not though now that I've got a schedule sorted.

On a similar subject, I have some news about the blog. It's exciting for me but nothing really that major. Basically I've really enjoyed writing this blog despite it being only set up to coincide with my dissertation. So when it comes to me graduating, I will continue blogging but a close friend of mine has kindly got a domain for the blog for me! So hopefully later this year this blog will be moved to an actual website with its own domain address and my friend will be helping me design the blog/get more hits. This will slowly be created over the next few months ready to use when I graduate I hope but obviously until I do that, this blog will be continued here!

I am also writing kind of freelance for a website called Laughter For Women as a hair, beauty and fashion writer which is quite exciting! The website is aimed mostly at older women but the lady who runs it is hoping to get a much wider audience so it's a little different from this blog but if you fancy it do check it out anyway! Just click on the name for the link! It's basically been put together for a feel good website, the type that you can just log onto for 10 minutes or so during your dinner break and have a laugh or get some tips so it's very easy to read, an article can be read quickly if you're in a rush, nothing too over bearing!

Additionally, I have set up a more personal blog. I was thinking of doing this for a while, separate from this blog but still linking it from here just incase anyone wanted to read about my boring life. When me and my ex boyfriend broke up I began to blog, taking a humorous approach on things which I think people found quite refreshing. The theme at the moment is very much about the break up and moving on but I will be using it as a more general blog as well with things like picture challenges, what I've been up to, my thoughts on things. I haven't decided how often I will blog and it's still looking a bit new even though I've done a few entires, so I'll tell you the link anyway but I will be making it look better soon. You can have a gander at that here.

Finally, we have reached over 1000 hits! This is a massive achievement for me! It may not be much compared to people who have hundreds of followers and get thousands of hits every week but watching those numbers slowly climb since January has been very exciting for me! I'd hoped to sort out a giveaway for when this happened but I'm still trying to sort that out. So, thanks so much to everyone who reads, any comments or feedback or suggestions would be very appreciated, we are always after contributors so if you fancy guest blogging about anything then get in touch!

Fifty Fit

I've had so much on so I haven't really had time to update lately but I promise to get back into routine soon.

So, let's get to it. How has Fifty Fit been going? Well the first week went terrible. Quite frankly no one in the house could be bothered to go for a proper shop so we lived of off takeaways for a week although I did a couple of work outs.

This week has been better, I haven't been eating properly but I haven't really been eating much at all either and I think I've lost a bit of weight! I spent the day up Penshaw monument today walking for three hours straight (I'm so lazy and I bloody hate walking!) but at least that was a work out in its own.

Expect more updates soon as I know I've been really slack lately so sorry about that!

The real ins and outs of planning a wedding ; Choosing A Venue

By our guest blogger Laura Lowe

Armed with my wedding bible, my best friend, the internet and some cupcakes, my (or should I say, “our”) next task was finding a venue for our wedding, and ultimately picking a date. If I’m honest, this was the bit I was really looking forward to! Perhaps not so much the actual picking, but more about being nosey and going to view all these beautiful buildings you read about in the magazines and getting to drink free champagne.

The venue. Easy peasy, right? You pick a place to get married, you pick a place for the party, you put down a deposit and job done.

Er, actually, no. This very decision takes up THREE CHAPTERS in my wedding manual. Three! The ceremony, the suppliers, the reception, one after the other, all with endless questions and decisions to be made. I ate two cupcakes before I had even finished reading the first chapter!

So, first things first, the ceremony.

1. Do you want a religious wedding? Yes, we are both in agreement about this.

2. Is a religious ceremony what you want? Well, yes, I’ve just answered this question!

3. Can you personalise the ceremony? I definitely need to ring the vicar...

After consultation with my intended, we rang up the church in the town where my family is from. Mum was married there and I was christened there, so it seemed fitting. However, after 3 ignored emails I finally got a reply from the vicar who put it in no uncertain terms that I was bothering him and to get back in touch closer to the time. What a grump! Then again, he doesn’t wear shoes, what do you expect?!

After much further deliberation, countless hours trawling the internet to find the rules for marrying outside the home parish, and several road trips round the country looking for a pretty, I had an epiphany. When visiting Mum, I dragged Rob to see the tiny church in the village where I spent my teenage years, not far from where my family lives now. It is very small, seating only 90 people and really in the middle of the countryside. It was only by co-incidence that we met the vicar there who knows me, and we got chatting about the wedding. Long story short, Rob loved the church, the vicar is happy to marry us there, and the date is set for 4th Aug 2012.

Are you impressed by our efficiency?!

Buildwas Church, Shropshire

The real ins and outs of planning a wedding by the future Mrs Burke

Fifty Fit

'Fifty Fit' was thought up by Laura Holt at 'Through The Eyes of Laura' (click on it to go to her blog) and I heard about it through Hayley from 'Mini Diva' who blogged about it today. The general idea is that for the next 50 days a bunch of bloggers are going to try and get into shape by eating more healthy and exercising more. Then, once a week, they will blog about how they've got on. It's blogged about so that they each share support from one another which means they are more likely to succeed rather then doing it alone and noone giving them motivation! The challenge also has what is called 'Five Days' which are those Five 'off' days you can have, for example if you're feeling really unwell, or you're going out for a friends birthday and cant get out of having a few cheeky drinks!

I have decided to joint the challenge as well. I am generally happy with my body, I just personally feel that as a person I am not very fit as I don't exercise and I don't eat healthy. I'm one of those lucky people who rarely put on weight due to junk food, but this doesn't mean that I'm healthy. I am also going through a break up at the moment, so already I have tons of 'self improvement' motivation. I have wanted to get more toned for a while now and with this break up taking place and the Fifty Fit challenge, I have no reason not to!

The only thing I am going to be doing a bit differently is the eating healthy part. So, rather then swapping my favourite meals for healthier options such as salad or fruit, I will be trying to eat in proportion. This means no snacking, and having a full three meals a day. I struggle to do this because my sleeping patterns are all over the place and, I know it's not really an excuse, but I'm a student! When it comes to main meals I always try to balance things out anyway for example by having chicken, wedges and spaghetti which is more healthy then just a tube of pringles (which, shamelessly, I had for dinner yesterday. In fact, other then 3/4's of a bacon and sausage buttie, that's all I ate all day!). So I will be trying to eat healthier in that sense. I still believe its eating healthy because it's much more healthy then skipping breakfast and snacking most of the day which is what I do now.

Additionally, on the subject of food, I may choose to have a takeaway once a week or a 'treat myself' dinner once a week, as I find this motivates me more!

Fifty Fit beings today (which is perfect because I did a brief work out today before I even heard of Fifty Fit!) and will end on 29th April. 

If anyone else would like to join, let me know and visit Laura's blog to be added to the challenge. Good luck everyone!

To begin with today I have not eaten at all yet (oops, I will have a bowl of rice crispies in a minute though), I've drunk a whole glass of water (I'll be trying to drink lots of water to be more healthy in the future) and I did 25 minutes work out on my 'Wii Fitness Coach' game, which, if I remember rightly and if it is correct, means I lost 30 odd calories today. Come tomorrow, now that I have actually heard of the challenge, I will be trying to eat healthier.

As of next week, I will update on a Friday as it sounds better 'Fifty Fit Friday' see!

Wednesday Wishlist

Black Glitter Print Vest Top, £9.99, Quiz Clothing

As you all may know, I do love my rocker/emo/indie boys! I don't think I've ever dated a guy who hasn't been in a band/played guitar/bass/drums or sung! I adore this top, it's cute, its cheeky and its available in black or white. If you're like me and like your rockers to be rockers i.e not popstars, then the black is perfect as its a bit rock chick/punk!

Further note - this should probably be removed from this post because I spotted this top the other day but posting a picture there just made me want it more so I treated myself too it! I am completely and utterly skint at the moment but got paid £25 a while back for doing some reviews and thought this had been paid into my bank account...turns out it's been sitting in my paypal this whole time! It's a sign! Plus I can justify this purchase because I got a quid off and got cash back for it!

Lace Drop Back Top, £16.99, New Look

As I stated before, I am keeping an eye out for clothes to wear on my work experience and this has caught my eye. It's bang on trend at the moment with its peter pan collar detailing and the back has lace detail as well. It's white so its quite smart, but it's stylish as well. I'm pretty sure I could find a white lace top for much cheaper elsewhere, but I imagine this would look lovely and smart with a long black cardigan and dark blue jeans, or, for a more fashionable look, a cardigan in maybe coral or even a daring mustard yellow.

Serena Contrast Sheer Blouse in Mink, £19.99 and Denisse turn up stud detail shorts in black, £14.99 both New Look

I spotted this outfit being modeled for the shorts but I really love how the outfit looks altogether. I'm terrible with putting my own outfits together so this is quite nice to see and again this would be lovely for my work experience. It's smart and stylish at the same time, and the whole outfit screams sophistication.

Finding Mr. Bright, £28.50, Benefit

I adore Benefit! It's cute, quirky, and I love the names! This new set they have just brought out includes girl meets pearl - liquid pearl for face, posietint - poppy-pink tinted lip & cheek stain, high beam - luminescent complexion enhancer and erase paste no. 2 - medium brightening camouflage for eyes & face. So it's perfect for the mornings after those late nights and will fit right in your bag for whenever you need a quick makeup top up. It may also result in you meeting Mr Right!

Smash Up nail polish, £6.00 Models Own 

(coming soon!)

Models Own is one of the leading nail polish brands around at the moment and they have finally caught on to the fact that girls are no longer happy with their nails just being one colour. Models Own have now developed 'Smash Up' which is a variety of nail varnishes that give you a funky, cracked pattern when painting your nails. Soon to be available in 9 colours from the neon pink and orange to the classic black and white, these nail varnishes are sure to fly off the shelves! They are available at an affordable £6.00 and can be bought soon from the Models Own website, and Boots will also be stocking a few selected shades.

http://www.quizclothing.co.uk/

http://www.newlook.com/

http://www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk

http://www.modelsownit.com/

How to dress for a Date/Date Night - At The Movies

I have put together some outfit ideas using the website 'Polyvore' for a date at the Movies! I've tried to do a variety of different looks and have tried to use items that are all under £30. I think most of them are, the website uses dollars and I searched items under $50, which is equivalent to about £30 apparently. Anyway, click on the look/set to be taken to a bigger version, where you can click on any item in the set to be taken to where you can buy it, and find a list of where everything is from. But remember some items are available at a number of different places for cheaper so look around! I have also used make up ideas, the crushed makeup affect - which is so cute - obviously isn't a specific colour from a specific store (though clicking on it may take you to a shop) it's just an idea of how to do your eye makeup to go with the look.

Enjoy!

Look One - Girly

This is the girly look I have created, without going too over the top. I have tried to make it a mixture of both girly but casual by using pumps instead of heels and a mixture of both bangles and bracelets to tone the outfit down a little. I've picked a small clutch bag and some girly stud earrings. For makeup, I've picked (and would suggest) a mixture of smoky, chocolate browns for the eyes - basically smoky eyes but with much more softer tones. I've also picked brown mascara for eyelashes so you don't draw too much attention to your eyes. I've also gone with nude lips and a pinky/coral blusher, so the makeup as a whole is girly but not too 'out there'. I have also, of course, picked a French Manicure for nails!

Look Two - Rock Chic/Look with an Edge

This look has a bit more of an edge to it and is for those girls who want to stand out or who want to really impress by showing off their style. I've chosen casual clothes again - a nice printed top with dark colours and black skinny fit jeans - with the choice between either black converse trainers that go with the outfit or pink converse trainers that stand out and really make the outfit 'rock chick'. Rather then using the typical deep, black smoky eyes with heavy eyeliner I've used a mix of a peach, brown and purple eyeshadows which mixed together will create a gorgeous, sultry and sexy look which is both dark and feminine. Because the eyes will be a bit heavy, I've used a very light peach blusher. For the lips I've used the new MAC Wonder Women range - which is a statement in its own - in, again, a light colour to keep attention drawn to the eyes. I've used a variety of different bangles and the earrings are quite girly to keep the outfit feminine. All in all this look is a bit different, but will definitely go down well on a date especially if you know your date loves listening to the rocky stuff! If its a bit much for you, try plain black pumps instead of the converse, a more girly shade on the nails such as coral or hot pink and tone down the eye makeup a little.

Look Three - Dressed Up/Classy

This look is for the date that doesn’t end at the movies i.e. that may lead to drinks or food afterwards. This look would also be perfect for dates that aren’t at your normal cinema – instead cinemas that have bars or restaurants in them or those old cinemas that are restored to how they are in the olden days. Y’know the ones I mean, with the red curtains and candle lit tables. Anyway, onto the look.

I’ve picked a fairly plain dress which can easily be dressed up or dressed down. I haven’t chosen a necklace with it because the neckline has what is called a peter pan neckline which is what stops this dress being completely plain – it’s the bit that makes the dress interesting! So a necklace would only draw attention away from this. I’ve also chosen girly but pretty basic accessories – small stud earrings, a rose ring – all of which match the outfit. The black bracelets break the outfit up a bit so you are not drowned out in one single shade. The headband is there for the heels – you can wear the heels alone to dress the outfit up, the headband alone to dress it down, or them both together to equal the outfit out. The headband definitely stops the outfit being too OTT and if you are lucky enough to be taken to one of the oldie cinemas then you’d look the part with the headband! Again with the heels – they are a lovely neutral shade and are very girly but if you feel heels are too over the top then they can be swapped for a pair of pumps. The makeup I’ve kept very pink and basic as well, with again soft tones for the eye shadow. I’ve also picked this nice cream bag rather then a clutch bag because it can just be thrown over your shoulder if the date does continue elsewhere.

Look Three - Casual/Dressed Down/An outfit for an early showing!

Finally this last look is a really casual one for a girl who wants to be comfortable and doesn’t want to look like she’s tried too hard. It’s especially good if it’s a date that’s in summer or if it’s a day date with an early showing at the cinema. I’ve picked quite casual clothes – a loose fitting t-shirt with nice detail and highwaisted shorts, which are also quite fashionable. It’s a very basic outfit. The pumps are leopard print, which spice the outfit up a little bit. Because the outfit is quite simple, I’ve used dark shades for the eye shadow and would suggest doing sexy smoky eyes with large eyelashes for this look. You can get away with this because the clothes are so simple. I’ve picked a pinky shade for lipstick as well, something that doesn’t clash too much with the eyes but also has a bit of colour, and again a coral blusher. For nails I’ve chosen a nice, girly pink that will add colour to the outfit along with the accessories. The large flowery bangle is bright and colourful and just the one dresses up the outfit without having to wear loads. I’ve picked chic earings and rings – you can see for yourself in the photos. I would also suggest earings that hang down as well rather then studs to give the outfit a little ‘oomph!’ Finally a cute chic clutch that matches the rings!

Well, that concludes my post on how to dress for a date. I've tried to do four original looks that are also stylish and fashionable! Let me know what you think or if you'd like to see a different style or a post about outfits for a different date (dinner, gig, clubbing...?)!

The real ins and outs of planning a wedding ; Choosing the Bridal Party and Best Man

By our guest blogger Laura Lowe

When it came down to the nitty gritty, choosing who I wanted as my bridesmaid was actually fairly simple. Laura, who I have known for nearly 7 years, is a little bit crazy and that’s what I love about her. She’s always been my confidante: the one who I spent our frees at college with embattled in those all important blackjack and poker games, sneaking off to town at lunch time to avoid the horrible school dinners and choosing dresses for prom. Then the frolics at Uni where we spent the 4 years getting far too drunk on strangely coloured apple sours and peach schnapps, eating too much all-you-can-eat Chinese and spending way too much of our overdraft on pretty handbags. More recently, and probably because we’re getting old, we enjoy demure cups of coffee and spend a pleasant afternoon dunking custard creams. Mum has dubbed us the “WI”, and Rob knows that our intense texting session just has to last the exact amount of time the footy is on.


One of the reasons why I love Laura so much (other than our mutual love of cake) is because of how she reacted when we said I was getting married. Not the usual “Eeeeeee OH. MY. GOD!” but a “Even if we had been friends for 50 years I will not wear a horrible dress!” That’s my girl! Even better, is that she is incredibly indecisive, which is brilliant as I am the total opposite.


Rob’s decision was, apparently, ‘easy’ and ‘manly’. He decided to ask Shaun to be his best man, as they have known each other for 16 years and are still great friends despite living over 50 miles apart. Every time we visit, I hear stories from years past, most of which are not repeatable, but some of which I’m sure he will share in the most embarrassing way possible on the Wedding Day.


My bible says that I must choose a ‘bridal party’ (even though Laura is the party!), but I guessed that we would need more than just the four of us. It was the obvious choice to include my brothers and Rob’s brother, and we have asked Rob’s sister to be my second bridesmaid. This wedding business is turning out to be expensive!  

The real ins and outs of planning a wedding by the future Mrs Burke

Review of 'Chalet Girl' - Release Date 18th March 2011

You’d be surprised to find out that Chalet Girl is actually quite different from your average teen movie rom-com. Chalet Girl is a light hearted, humorous and inspiring story with a pinch of romance thrown in.

Chalet Girl is about an ex pro skateboarder called Kim (played by Felicity Jones) who gives up skateboarding after the tragic death of her mother. Cue years on and she’s stuck in a rut with a dead end job. Kim then gets the opportunity to work as a chalet girl and so leaves her undomesticated father for the summer to earn some money in a world a long way out of her depth!

The opportunity soon turns into more than a job however as she slowly makes new friends, begins snowboarding and becomes more than friends with someone supposedly way out of her league.

Chalet Girl follows Kim’s journey over these few months as she accepts a new lease for life – pushing herself to take that extra leap whilst trying to finally accept her mother’s death.

Kim also meets Jonny (Ed Westwick), who stays at the chalet with his family and his long-term girlfriend (Sophia Bush). Despite the fact that he is in a relationship and that he is from a whole other world then Kim, the two soon spark up a close friendship and before long Jonny is considered a love interest. However the fact that his mother pressures him into proposing to his long term girlfriend cued with his feelings for Kim means that he is portrayed as a bit of a twat!

Both Ed Westwick, and Felicity Jones act exceptionally well in this film with believable chemistry as two of the main characters. Other familiar faces in this film such as Bill Nighy, Sophia Bush and Bill Bailey also add to the brilliance of the film and have their own scenes that really make up the humour for this story. Bill Bailey is particularly hilarious as Kim’s father who cannot look after himself at all and ends up living on beans on toast when his long suffering daughter is away!

Additionally, Kim’s journey as a snowboarder in this film is also very refreshing in that, like many other sports that require you to push to the limits, snowboarding is sometimes seen as a ‘man’s sport’. Kim also meets another pro snowboarder who is female, and this is quite uplifting to watch in that females are portrayed as excellent snowboarders in this film – even better then men in some scenes!

The film delivers as many heart touching moments as it does laugh out loud moments and is very different from you’re stereotypical ‘boy-meets-girl’ movie. Instead we find ourselves associating with the character who is quite simply you’re average teenage girl trying to survive among posh girls, good-looking men and professional snowboarders. However, this down to earth girl manages to fit in (with a few mishaps along the way) and shows that where you’re from isn’t everything – it’s about who you really are inside.

As corny as it sounds, Chalet Girl is an inspiring movie that will tempt you to take your own leap of faith – whether that’s something as little as approaching a new group of friends you have nothing in common with, or travelling and working abroad for the summer!

My rating...

Watch it with..A group of friends for lots of giggles and perving on Ed Westwick, or with you're boyfriend who will enjoy the sporty snowboarding element of the story!