Skinny Dip London

In my November Birch Box post I mentioned that I’d received a voucher for Skinny Dip London as part of their design collaboration last month. It took me some time but I finally decided what Skinny Dip goodies I wanted to spend my vouchers on!

I went for two phone cases as I’ve just upgraded my phone contract to the IPhone 6S, however they also do a huge range of technology cases, stickers and cute accessories like handbags and purses!

The first case I decided on was the super adorable Krusty Shake, now this phone case is really big and makes my little 6S almost the same size as the plus! It’s definitely a novelty but looks amazing and I couldn’t resist buying it, being such a huge Simpsons fan!

This case is £16 full price but I think I got it for around £8 in the Black Friday sales. It’s no longer available for the 6/6S – think they sold out pretty quick, but you can still shop for the 5/5S model HERE. Alternatively you can shop all Skinny Dip’s Krusty products HERE!

I decided to go for a less ‘in your face case’ for my second choice and went for a gold edged glitter case, with a small gold Skinny Dip logo on the back. This one was simple and pretty and matches the dress I plan on wearing for my Christmas staff party!

This case is currently £14 but, again, I think I got it for around £7 in the Black Friday sales. The case is still in stock for a range of phones and you can shop for the 6/6S HERE!

I absolutely adore Skinny Dip’s products and now have four of their phone cases! I’m also waiting for payday so I can treat myself to a new clutch bag and some new IPad cases! The products are reasonably priced and good quality but some are a little more expensive so I’d suggest keeping them for a pay day treat! Take a look at all their products HERE.

What do you think of my Skinny Dip picks? Have you got any cute bits from them? Let me know in a comment below!

5 easy ways to budget your money

This time of year, as exciting as it is, comes with its own selection of anxiety inducing issues. The worst of which is money, how are we expected to stretch our normal wage over all the extra food, events and gifts!? At times it can seem impossible and can even make you start to resent a time of year you should be celebrating.

To help you get the much needed relaxation you all deserve this Christmas, I’ve come up with five simple steps that will keep you from falling into the big black pit of money despair! If you’re on a low income, on a student budget or are just looking to save a quid or two this Crimbo then these easy tips will help you get your finances on track!

Step one: Plan – Firstly you’ll a need a plan of action. The first thing I do when I see my payslip each month is sit down and write down all the things I need money for that month e.g. phone bill, travel, friends birthday. Then I order them from most important to least and work out places where I can make cut backs, such as car sharing instead of getting a train, or buying smart price goodies to lower my food budget.

By doing this you know exactly how much money you have left over to play with. After you’ve sorted out the most important parts of your list, pay for them first and then there’s a load off your mind straight away.

Step two: Paper money – What is paper money I hear you ask!? It’s those weird note things and bits of metal that no one uses anymore. Yep in this plastic card era it’s easy to forget that we have one really easy way of limiting our spending, taking out cash before we can blitz through it with our credit cards!

The first thing you should do after paying off all your bills and ensuring any direct debits are paid out of your account, is take out exactly the right amount of money you’ll need for the next month. For example: £30 for a girl’s night out, £150 for your daily commute, £20 for that friend you keep saying you’ll pay back and so on.

You can even separate each chunk of money into its own envelope and seal it so you’re not tempted to spend it before its time! Just remember to write on each envelope what the money is for, so you don’t end up spending your £150 commute money on your night out (we’ve all done it).

Step three: Bad habits – Something you need to rid yourself of if you ever want to save any money! Whether it’s smoking, drinking, junk food or Starbucks hazelnut hot chocolates (guilty) everyone has that naughty little habit that bites off a big chunk of budget each month!

Sorry to say but it’s time that you waved goodbye to bad habits! And what better time to do it than Christmas!? Get a head start on all the ‘New year, new me’ sheep and change yourself for the better starting now! Cut out those cigs, mochas and cheeky Nandos – it’s time to make a change! Cheaper replacements like a free quite smoking pack from the NHS, home made coffee in a flask and delicious packed lunches will all help save the pennies.

Step four: Recycle – this could technically be classed under bad habits as we are all guilty of refusing to wear an outfit because we were wearing it in our last tagged pictures on Facebook! It’s time to swallow that pride and start recycling your old outfits! Try adding a belt or statement necklace to an old dress to make it new again, you could even mix and match outfits with a friend if they’re on the budgeting hype!

We live in an age where thriftiness is chic so you would even have a go at making your own skirt, adding embellishments to an outdated dress or you could even give the good old charity shop a browse for a bargain – pennies saved for you and a donation to charity at the same time!

Step five: Be flexible – you could stick to every one of the steps I’ve given you and still have to fork out a tonne of money for some unexpected reason. You can’t account for everything in life: you could get a damp wall that needs fixing, or your phone could break and need repairing, or if you could get a fine for something – all of these things will take a chunk of money out of your budget that you hadn't anticipated.

But that’s okay! Try not to worry about it too much and work out a way around it, knock your £30 party budget down to ten and tell your friend you’ll give them their £20 next month. We can’t anticipate everything in life, we only do our best to deal with things when they do happen. Saving a spare £10 each month for ‘unforeseen’ circumstances could help you a lot – think of it as insurance for when something in your life goes t*ts up…..failing all this I hear the bank of mum and dad has really good interest rates.

I hope this post has helped you all a little bit and I hope that you’re all feeling a little more confident about the coming months! If you liked this post let me know in a comment below, also if you have any other budgeting tips then feel free to share them also!

Primark Christmas Collection

IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR – No I’m not talking about Christmas, I’m talking about party dress season!!! This time of year brings endless parties, cocktail catch-ups and celebrations that require brand new sparkly outfits – more than one of course, lest we have to face the dreaded ‘same outfit – different event – next to each other on tagged Facebook pictures - situation’.

As wonderful as new glitzy outfit shopping is, it’s hard to do without breaking the bank. So do we risk wearing the same outfit twice? Or do we go to that one reliable place that cares for us when we’re poor, gives us festive fashion for next to naught and provides accessories to mix up those tired old LBDs? Yes of course I’m talking about Primark!

Primarni have just launched their Christmas party wear range – and some of it is already in-stores in the UK and Ireland! The range starts from just £3 and features sparkling dresses for New Year celebrations, sophisticated blouses for staff parties and classic LBDs to see you through the festive period.

Check out the pictures above for my top Primark picks! My personal favourites are the long sleeved sparkly dress, the sheer black tights and that super cute fluffy pink bag! I'd also like to say how much I adore the setting for this photo shoot! It's so glam and looks so wonderfully Christmas-y.

Which is your favourite part of the new collection? What’s your top style tip for festive celebrations? Let me know in a comment below!

October BirchBox

 So it’s Birchbox time again and we’re going back to basics with October’s box of goodies! The Birch team have designed a box that will help take you back to your beauty essentials! From cleansing products to cosmetics, this box has all the bits and bobs you’ll need to get ready for the cold months ahead!

The October box contains a full sized Eyeko: Fat liquid eyeliner, a full sized Seche Vite dry fast top coat, a Bioderma mini micellar water, a Regenerate Enamel Science advanced toothpaste, a Beaver professional Hydro Nutritive moisturising shampoo, plus a Beaver Professional Hydro Nutritive moisturising conditioner!

The Eyeko pen is a super black, anti-smudge eye liner that costs £12 from the Birch store. I love this product and it really is smudge proof, however I’ve found it to be too thick for everyday wear and have resorted to saving it for nights out where bold and black eye makeup is more acceptable! It’s the perfect product for wearing under fake eyelashes – which I’ll be wearing a lot of over the festive seasons! Buy your Eyeko fat liner HERE.

Seche Vite is a brand I’m really fond of, so I was super excited to get their top coat. You can layer on this product pretty thick and it will still dry in minutes, it’s recommended you top up the product after three days to prolong the life of your ‘at home’ mani, but I’ve found it lasts longer than three days without reapplying. This product also doubles as a great base coat if you want to make your nail polish easier to remover and reduce the risk of stained nails! You can get your top coat for £9 HERE.

I’ve already posted about how much I love Garnier’s Micellar Water in my Bedside Routine post, so I was pretty excited to try out more Micellars! The Bioderma Sensibio H2O is £10.20 for a full size product and is really good for smoothing impurities and removing make up. It’s a really good product and does exactly what it says on the tin, but I think I’ll stick to my Garnier product just because it’s better value! However if you do want to try the Sensibio you can get it HERE.

The Regenerate toothpaste was a really nice and thick product which felt really good and hard working when I brushed my teeth. However after using BOCA for so long I was really worried about the chemicals it might contain. Turns out it’s not all that bad and helps to reverse invisible signs of enamel erosion, as well as protecting against cavities and whitening your teeth. A good product over-all but I think I’ll be sticking to my BOCA. You can get Regenerate’s toothpaste for £10 HERE.

The Beaver Professional shampoo and conditioner uses the natural benefits of avocado oil and aloe vera to repair your luscious locks, leaving it soft and smooth. I loved this product the shampoo was great on its own and left my hair silky smooth and the conditioner is great for when your hair is feeling a little frazzled! I will definitely be purchasing these products in the future! The shampoo costs £11.50 and the conditioner is £12 – shop them both HERE!

There’s still time to get your hands on the October box – just follow THIS link. Have you ever tried Birchbox or any of the above products? What did you think of my reviews? Let me know in a comment below!

Elemis Pro-Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm*

I recently received a sample of the Elemis Pro-Radiance Illuminating flash balm to review, I'm a big fan of Elemis products but had never tried this particular one, so I was really excited to give it a go. This skin radiance flash balm promises to brighten, smooth and rejuvenate the skin to give you a more youthful and healthy looking complexion.

Although I'm only 20 I do worry about wrinkles and having old looking skin, so a product that promises to give me a 'smooth and even complexion' and 'dewy luminosity' was one that I couldn't miss out on!

Elemis state that the product will: "Instantly brighten the complexion and exude health and vitality". The balm is formulated with a powerful vitamin complex that protects against moisture loss, whilst the Purple Orchid, Noni and Acai used in the formula help to defend the skin against early signs of aging e.g. the stress lines I'm starting to get on my forehead and under my eyes!

Ultimately Elemis promise that the flash balm will reveal a smooth, even and dewy luminosity that you never even knew was achievable! But did it do everything it said on the tin?

My first impressions of the moisturiser were good, it's a light product so it doesn't feel cloggy when you apply it to your face. I used it for a week straight to see the full result and I have to say I was slightly disappointed.

Now I wasn't expecting to see my face completely crease and flaw free however I did expect to see some change. The dewy look that was promised looked more like greasy skin and the most significant improvement to my face was that the dry skin around my nose had gone - achievable by using Asda's own smart price moisturiser.

That was about all I got from this product. Does it make a good moisturiser? Yes it does keep your skin fresh and moisturised. Does it give everything it promises? No it doesn't. Is it worth the price? Definitely not.

At £32 for 50ml this product really isn't worth the price as you can get the same results from using a drugstore moisturiser that costs around £5. The product was okay but not worth the price and I probably wouldn't use it again. However if you do want to try out for yourself you can shop the product here.

Let me know if you've ever tried any other Elemis products, as I'd like to know if they have other products that are better and this was just a one off or if they're all just average, by leaving a comment below!

The 'bedside' routine

So today I wanted to share with you, what I like to call, my ‘bedside’ routine. It’s my morning/bedtime beauty routine consisting of a few god sent products I keep on my bedside cabinet. I go through this routine when I wake up in the morning and before I sleep at night and I've seen dramatic improvements in my skin and well-being since starting it a few months ago!

As you can see above (left to right) the first thing on my bedside is a little white porcelain jewellery holder. As annoying as it is, taking your jewellery off at night is really important! The natural chemicals of your skin can quicken the wear and tear of even the finest jewels so giving them time away from your skin while you sleep will help you prolong the life of your bling. It’ll also give your skin and ears a rest from supporting bracelets, earrings etc.

Next we have my little Yankee candle, not necessarily part of a beauty routine but something I count as essential. I light it when I’m getting ready for bed as the scent of lavender is really relaxing and soothing – perfect to help you drift into a deep sleep. However if you are the sort of person who drifts off really quickly DO NOT light candles before you go to bed, it’s not worth the risk of leaving a burning candle on overnight.

Next we have my Garnier micellar water which I use with the cotton pads that you can see in the glass jar on the left of the cabinet. Micellar water helps remove makeup and cleanse your skin without scrubbing or rinsing so it’s perfect for cleaning your skin in bed. I use this the second I wake up in the morning just to freshen my skin for the day and prepare it for the makeup onslaught it’s about to deal with!

In front of the water are my Garnier make up wipes, these are for dry skin (which I have a lot of) and are really good for preventing flaky skin, greasy noses and spotty breakouts. I use these to take off my make up before I sleep, followed by a quick wipe over with the Garnier micellar water.

After that is my Bliss aloe leaf and peppermint foot moisturiser. Everyone should have three moisturisers in my opinion, one for your body, one for your face and one for your feet, and Bliss’ foot patrol is the perfect exfoliating and softening cream for your poor feet! It’s an essential after a long day of work, chasing trains and torturing my feet with high heels and drunk dancing! I use it after my morning shower and just before I go to sleep at night.

Next is my E45 moisturising cream, not particularly glamorous but it’s probably the most exciting/least medical of all my moisturisers. Because I have psoriasis (a skin condition that makes your skin crack, flake and open raw sores due to the over-production of cells) I need to use a lot of moisturisers that have medical, as well as cosmetic, benefits and E45 is the perfect light moisturiser for this. I use it morning and night after I shower and use a small tube throughout the day on any exposed/sore skin.

Finally on the right are my Protein World vitamins. I take two multi-vitamins a day and I also take two Vitamin D supplements every day as they have been proven to help with psoriasis. Protein World’s vitamins are really helpful just because they come in a large jar for a pretty reasonable price. Multivitamins are always handy to have as it’s hard to get a lot of natural vitamins (that our body should get from the sun) when you live in the UK!

This routine helps keep my face fresh and free from breakouts and has helped the state of my poor scabby skin improve so much over the last few months! Also thanks to the vitamins my hair and nails have all improved dramatically! Another thing I usually have on my bedside is a bottle of water, I try to drink a pint in the morning and one before I go to sleep – water helps with energy levels and has tonnes of natural benefits, so a pint of cold water is the perfect way to start and end your day!

I hope this post has helped some people who suffer from skin problems as well as anyone just looking to improve their beauty routines. I’m considering doing a post specifically on treating acne/break outs and maybe one specifically on how I treat my psoriasis, so let me know if you’d like to read more in a comment below!

September Birchbox

Birchbox has been something I’ve wanted to try for a while now and as it was their birthday (or Birchday) in September I thought when better to give it a go? For those of you who don’t know what I’m on about, Birchbox is a company who send out a little box of goodies for you each month ranging from beauty samples to accessories and sweet treats!

When you sign up you go through a tonne of tick boxes to help Birchbox pick the samples that are right for you. Next you’re given the choice to pay upfront for a certain amount of boxes or pay monthly (about £12 a month including delivery). Then a few days later a little box of goodness shows up on your doorstep! Think Graze box, but with cosmetics not food!

The September box contained a Laura Mercier ‘flawless skin’ face scrub, a Benefit Porefessional: License to Blot sample, a Birchbox tangle teaser, a John Masters organic detangle serum, a Laqa & Co ‘cheeky lip’ lip pencil and a Bliss Foot Patrol softening cream.

The Laura Mercier face scrub was something I was really excited to try. I have really sensitive skin which reacts to a lot of products, however Mercier’s products have always worked really well with my skin. After trying the scrub I wasn’t disappointed, after five days of using it my skin felt a lot softer and smoother and my pores looked a lot cleaner. You can get the full sized version here.

Benefit’s Porefessional is a product I use pretty much every day! I have really visible pores and the Benefit products hide them really well, giving my skin and smoother appearance. The new roll up blotting stick, that the product now comes in, makes for easier application than the old tube version as well, so I would definitely recommend this product to those of you who wants smoother looking skin without having to spend forever applying products! Check out the full sized product here.

Thanks to the Birchbox tangle teaser and the John Masters serum, my hair has never been smoother. I apply a little of the detangler to my hair then rinse through with warm water, then I brush my hair through with the tangle teaser as I blow dry it. These two combined make for the perfect silky sleek hair look that is so desperately sought after this season!

The Laqa & Co ‘cheeky lip’ lip pencil is a really long wear lip crayon and is a really popular product in general, however I found the shade sent to be way too bright for my complexion. The bright pink colour really clashed with my pale skin and made me look pasty and drawn out, so even though it was a good quality product, it probably wouldn’t be something I’d go out of my way to buy as most of their colours are really bright and summery and I am not! *insert crying emoji here*

The final goodie in my box was the Bliss Foot Patrol softening cream. All feet go through dry, cracked periods – it’s not surprising considering what we put them through! Having a good moisturiser that targets the skin on your feet specifically is really important and I would strongly recommend the Bliss cream to be that product! After one use my feet felt a million times softer and I’ve already purchased the full sized product!

I know this was a super quick overview of each of the Birch items but I just wanted to do a mini review of each without the post going on and on! I will hopefully be doing one of these posts each month so stay tuned for more Birchbox goodness.

If you’re interested in getting your own Birch goodies then follow THIS link to get your very own box. Have you ever tried Birchbox or any of the above products? What did you think of my reviews? Let me know in a comment below!

Burger Parlour

A few posts ago I told you all about my crazy July and all the good things that happened for me around that time. As luck would have it I wasn’t the only one that fortune shone on that month.

Josh applied for a new job in June, heard back at the start of July, passed all the required tests and interviews and was offered a place at the end of July. He has just started his four year apprenticeship training and is insanely excited!

To celebrate even more good news we went to the Burger Parlour that has just opened up near us. We’d heard good things about it but had never had chance to go there, but with a reason to celebrate we thought we’d give it a shot!

Burger Parlour mainly serves burgers (surprise surprise) but also has pizzas, steaks, hot dogs and much more on their menu. There is also a super cute ice cream parlour attached to the restaurant which I was pretty excited about!

I had the Crispy Coated Chicken Burger which was is a bread crumbed chicken breast topped with bacon, brie, Hawkshead chilli jam and salad, served in a sesame seed bun with fries.

Josh went for the Wild Boar Burger which was a 5oz minced boar meat patty, infused with garlic, spring onion, honey and oyster sauce, topped with jalapenos and blue cheese. That was served with homemade crackling, pepper mayo and sweet potato fries.

If I’m completely honest I’m not a huge burger fan and only picked the option I did because I love brie! But I really did enjoy my meal, all the ingredients for the burgers (and other dishes) are locally sourced and the food has a wonderful ‘homemade’ feel to it.

Josh loved his meal but was slightly disappointed with the crackling, it came slightly anaemic looking and soft, whereas crackling is usually slightly darker and tougher/crispier. We asked for it to be cooked for a little longer but it returned anaemic and still oddly soft – we gave up on it after that.

For dessert I ran to the ice cream counter like a child running downstairs on Christmas morning! Josh opted for the chocolate fudge cake and I got a three scoop sundae with bubble gum, mint choc chip and cookies and cream flavours!

Dessert was brilliant and all the ingredients were, again, locally sourced – it’s always good to know where your food is coming from!

The service was also excellent at the Burger Parlour and you can watch the chefs cook your meal through the serving hatch that stretches along the wall of the restaurant.

Overall the meal and experience at Burger Parlour was excellent, with the exception of the crackling, so I’d probably give it a 4 out of 5 stars!

Have you been to a Burger Parlour recently? Where’s your favourite place to grab a burger? Let me know in a comment below!

Lasting finish by Kate: Nude collection

Last month Kate Moss and Rimmel London launched their new Lasting Finish Nudes collection. So, embracing the nude lip that has been featured so heavily in the AW catwalk shows, I decided to give the collection a go.

The collection consists of five nude shades that promise up to 8 hours of coverage and are designed to give a bare lip look to any skin tone. However the shades also look fantastic mixed and matched with different skin tones.

I decided to go for two very different shades; 42, the shade recommended for my skin tone by the 'make-up specialist' in store, and shade 48, the darkest in the collection.

Shade 42, shown above is a pink/peach shade but not quite nude I'm comparison to my skin. Sorry 'make-up specialist' you were wrong.

Although it is a gorgeous colour, I can't really wear it as a nude because my skin is several shades lighter than the lipstick. However I do plan on investing in shade 40, the palest in the collection, in the hopes it will work better with my skin tone.

Shade 48 is a deep brown and looked really nice in contrast to my pale skin and I can imagine it'll make a beautiful nude for people with darker skin tones.

So by this point I've decided the shades are pretty awesome, but what about the 'long lasting' colour promised by Rimmel? They claim their product will last for up to 8 hours, but does it really do what it says on the tin?

Well yeah pretty much. Shade 42 lasted me a full day at work (7 hours) and then a full night of drinking after a quick re-application on the train. The colour did start to dull slightly after about five hours but was still visible without having to reapply.

Shade 48 was even more durable than 42, it lasted a full day of work and only had to be reapplied after I'd eaten, 8 hours after the first application! 

Overall I am a fan! I also got two Rimmel lipsticks from Kate's regular collections in shades 3 and 38. Both colours are, again, nudes - I'm a nude fan don't judge me!

Shade 3 is a beige/pink colour whereas 38 is more of a coral/creamy pink shade. Both lippys are also lasting finish and each lasted about 6 hour before I had to go over them.

Overall I absolutely adore my new lipsticks and would seriously recommend them to anyone looking for the perfect Autumn shade!

Have you tried any of the nudes collection? What did you think of the shades I picked? Let me know in a comment below!

5 easy ways to organise your life

I know how hard it is to juggle all the important aspects of life; work, uni, relationships, family all whilst trying to maintain a healthy social life. My lecturer used to call it ‘spinning plates’, trying to focus on one part of your life without neglecting the others really does seem impossible sometimes, especially when you have deadlines to meet!

So good old me has compiled 5 easy steps that you can take to organise your time better! These steps probably won’t solve all your problems, but hopefully they might make your lives a little easier and maybe, just maybe, they might give you a little more me time!

Step one: Write things down! I can’t even begin to tell you how important this is if you want even the smallest amount of order in your life! Get yourself an organiser, like mine shown above, and write down important dates!

Start with important things like deadlines and work hours and school/college/uni times, then add specific time slots to complete your work in – aim for times that you’ll be alone or in the environment you work best in. Then go for the personally important things like social events and time with your loved ones. Finally in the spare space you have left over add your much needed ‘me’ time – get some face masks and wine and chill girl – you deserve it!

Step two: Stick to your schedule! Just writing stuff down isn’t enough!  You need to make your schedule and stick to it. Sure it seems impossible to complete all your deadlines in the time allocated but if you organise your time wisely and stick to your plan you will pull it off! – I believe in you!

Step three: Keep your work space clear! If you want to be organised you need to try and remove any distractions that could lead to procrastination. Make sure your work space is clear and that any unnecessary clutter is put in its rightful home! A clear desk equals a clear mind people!

As well as your desk make sure your room/home is de-cluttered regularly. It’ll help you focus and again will help you avoid procrastination. Also if you clear out your unused belongings you can sell them on ebay and maybe earn a bit of money!

Step four: Work hard! You will not achieve anything unless you work your ass off! You need to work hard to maintain organisation and success. Work hard when doing your uni or school work, commit to your job. Hard work pays off and if you complete work earlier than expected it opens up space on your planner for ‘me’ time!

Step five: Don’t be too hard on yourself! This could be the most important step of all time, yes you need to schedule and work hard, but don’t be mad at yourself when you slip up. Sure you’ll miss a meeting, sometimes you’ll forget to call your great-aunt to thank her for the slippers she crocheted you and yeah you might even have to work over a ‘me’ time session because you forgot you had homework for the next day!

But you can’t hate yourself for messing up! We’re all human and we make mistakes and that’s fine, just make sure one mistake doesn’t lead to you giving up on your new schedule altogether! Get back into it and go easy on yourself!

I hope these steps will help you organise your time better and hopefully help you de-stress a little! Let me know how you organise your time, or let me know what you think of my steps, in a comment below!

One hell of a month

To say July was one hell of a month is perhaps an understatement. It has been a crazy, amazing emotional roller coaster that has hopefully set me on a path to my dream future.

It all started on the 29^th of June, I woke with a jump, shaking with my heart doing approximately 10 million beats per second (slight exaggeration has been used). It was results day and I’d just jumped out of a nightmare that I’d failed my degree, been forced to pay my £50,000 of debt upfront and had then been disowned by my entire family…it sounds crazy but I know all you other students know the kind of nightmare I’m talking about!

I threw myself out of bed and ran to my laptop to view my results, as they loaded I remember feeling insanely sick and wanting to throw my laptop out the window. As my transcript finally popped up on the computer I burst into tears – I was graduating Uni with a 2:1 BA Honours degree!

Thus began the start of my most successful month to date. Following my results I graduated on Monday the 13^th of July in Liverpool, I’ll be doing a separate post on graduation soon. It was one of the most amazing and exciting days of my life and I can't wait to tell you all about it! Then guess what happened - the day after I was offered a job interview.

That Thursday I travelled to Lancaster for my job interview with Netplay TV and, following a casual chat with my potential employers, I felt pretty confident on my return journey. About an hour after I got home I received a phone call from Netplay to say they wanted to offer me the job! Obviously I accepted!

I started the following week and have been there for about three weeks now! It’s such a great job and it’s so good to be working in a city again!

To top off all my amazing news I celebrated my 21^st birthday last week with all my friends and family, we had a garden party with afternoon tea and then a BBQ and cocktails later on in the day. I was spoilt rotten and got pretty drunk – a successful 21^st celebration if you ask me!

So hopefully my crazy month offers some excuse as to why I haven’t blogged much throughout July! It’s been one hell of a month indeed! I should be back to blogging as usual this coming week as I get used to commuting and working full time again!

I hope all your months were as successful, let me know what you got up to in July in a comment below!