February Favourites!

Hey guys!

It’s now the beginning of a new month (hello March!) which means that it’s also time for a new favourites post! I try not to post these every single month, as I’m worried they might get boring if I post them all the time, plus I recently did my yearly favourites for 2015, but I wanted to post one this month because I have a few things I really wanted to write about!

It’s also a leap year this year, which meant an extra day to get stuff done! I spent mine sorting out some books, shopping, playing games and writing this blog post – how did you all spend yours? 

Before I start, a disclaimer – I either received the things in this post as a present from a relative, or purchased them with my own money. All opinions in this post are my own.

Okay, let’s get started! 

Yankee Candle Simply Home Toasted Marshmallow Wax Melt 

I got some Christmas scented wax melts a few weeks after Christmas, and this was one of the scents included. I’m a sucker for the Fireside Treats Yankee candle, and this smells similar, but sweeter, which I actually like! I usually have it burning for a few hours at night, and the scent fills my room nicely (my room isn’t the hugest room, but it’s a decent size, so sometimes I find it hard to find scents that linger). I’m not sure if they do it year round, but I would definitely purchase it again! 

Block! 

I downloaded this app on a whim when I was browsing the app store – something I do fairly regularly when I’m bored – and stumbled across this game. In this game, you have an outline of a shape (usually a rectangle) and some other oddly shaped colourful pieces, and you basically have to fill in the rectangle with the colourful pieces. It can be pretty hard sometimes, but if I’m having trouble with one, I’ll just come back to it later. There’s quite a lot of difficulty ratings to choose from too, and a couple of special modes, including double and rotate. It’s quite addictive, so beware! 

Wrigleys Bubblemint Gum

Chewing gum is one of the things I always like to have handy in my bag – I keep some in my makeup bag too, sometimes – and when I heard about bubblemint gum, I wanted to give it a try! It basically tastes like bubblegum, but it’s actually a chewing gum! It makes a nice change from mint if you’re craving something a bit sweeter. 

Pokemon Red

Okay, so when this game originally came out, I was really young and it was my first ever game! I loved it so much, and I played it endlessly for ages. So, when Nintendo announced last year that they were re-releasing it on the 3DS, I was almost as excited as I was when I was tiny. It came out on Saturday (20 years to the day that it was first released in Japan) and I’ve been playing it pretty much ever since! The music, the graphics…it just screams NOSTALGIA at me and I’m loving every single second of it! 

(I don't know why these pictures are sideways, they were the right way round till I added them to this post...)

Pokemon Cover Plates

To coincide with the remakes of Pokemon Red, Blue & Yellow, Nintendo released some new cover plates for the New 3DS, with retro Pokemon sprites all over them – I knew I loved them the second I laid eyes on a photo of them, so I preordered them and they arrived two games before the games came out. I love them!

They’re the only glossy cover plates I own so far – I have about 4 different sets so far – but it actually looks pretty good on them anyway. They contain the original 151 Pokemon (and Mew) and the colour of the Pokemon coincides to the type they are – for example, electric type Pokemon are yellow, water type are blue, etc!

I think I’ll be keeping these on for a while – at least until I expand my collection some more!

Clinique Happy Perfume

I got this perfume in a set with some body lotion for Christmas off my uncle & aunt (thanks again uncle Carl & aunty Di!).

I’d never actually tried any Clinique perfumes before – I like their makeup and skin care though – so I didn’t know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised! To me, it smells pretty floral and girly, which will be perfect for summer, as it’s light and fresh and just all round a beautiful smell!

Blaqk Audio – Anointed (& being on their site)

One of AFI’s side projects, Blaqk Audio, recently announced that they’ll be releasing a new album very soon, and this was the first single from it. It sounds quite different to their older material, but I really like it, and I’m excited to hear the rest of the album. They’re described as an electronic music duo, but this song sounds darker and heavier than usual!

They also asked fans to get anointed before the song’s release, and featured photos on their site. I was one of the fans on there – I’m not sure if I still am – so that was an amazing moment for me. 

MAC Viva Glam Lipstick – Ariana Grande Collab

Admittedly, I didn’t even know about this until I was reading through some other blogs and saw a couple of people reviewing it.

I’ve been looking for a really nice deep plummy/wine shade of lipstick for a while now, with not much luck. I’m also not the kind of person who wears anything on my lips very often, so I don’t know that much about lipstick! However, when I saw swatches of this, I was sold – it’s the perfect shade that I’d been searching for! It’s also matte, which is a plus, as I’m loving matte makeup at the moment! Plus, it’s a Viva Glam collaboration with Ariana Grande, and all proceeds go to an HIV/AIDs charity.

I really like it on me, too, and I’ve had compliments from people about it, so it’s a striking colour which is surprisingly wearable! 

Superdrug Strawberry & Raspberry Hand Sanitizer 

For a few years now, I’ve kept hand sanitizer in my bag – you never know when a bathroom isn’t going to have soap, or if your hands get sticky or feel dirty when you’re out and about. I’d never tried the Superdrug ones before, but they were 2 for £1.50 recently, so I picked up this one and the aloe vera one.

This smells amazing, and it feels really nice on your hands – some of them can make your hands feel sticky, but this one doesn’t. It’s bigger than most brands, too, so it’s better value for money, plus I like that it’s bright pink, so I’m less likely to lose it in my bag!

Ben & Jerrys Minter Wonderland Ice Cream

Okay, so I’ve always really loved mint choc chip ice cream, but hardly anywhere seems to sell it (not near me, anyway).

I was in my local supermarket a few weeks ago, just browsing the frozen food area because I needed some raspberries for smoothies, and I came across this little gem. It’s peppermint ice cream with massive chunks of dark chocolate in! Peppermint is one of my favourite mint flavours, so I had to get it and try it, and I’m really glad I did, as it’s probably my all time favourite ice cream flavour now!

Sadly for me, it looks like it’s either a seasonal flavour or it’s been discontinued, as my local supermarket were selling it dirt cheap the other day to get rid of it, so it looks like I won’t be pigging out on ice cream for a while now! 

So, there we have it – my February favourites! Do you like any of the things I mentioned, or will you be trying any of them out? Let me know, and see you next time!

TAG // MUSIC MEMORIES

Hey guys!

I was browsing through my YouTube subscriptions box the other day, as I usually do when I get bored and have some free time, and I stumbled across THIS TAG, as created by Zoe London and Sophie Eggleton. It looked really fun, so I decided to give it a go myself on here (as I don’t have a YouTube channel and don’t plan on having one for the foreseeable future, aha)

So, let’s get started! I tag any of you who like music and think that this tag sounds like fun too :D 

1 – MY WORST GIG EXPERIENCE?

I think I only have a couple, really!

There were a few times when I was younger, when I ended up missing the last train home, so ended up getting stuck in London (once in St Albans too, oops) and had to get my dad to pick me up! The only other bad things I can think of is gigs where I’ve ended up with concussion or a sprained ankle – surprisingly, there’s been a few of those – and the time when I went to a festival v last minute – literally I got told I was going at around 2.30am on the day – and I couldn’t take a friend with me, so that dampened the experience a lot. 

2 – A MUSIC VIDEO THAT BLEW MY MIND?

I think it’s probably Basket Case by Green Day. I remember the first time I saw it and I was mesmerised by it, and it was the first time I’d ever thought about a music video in much detail, so I’m pretty sure it was that! 

3 – A GIG THAT MADE ME LOSE MY SH*T?

One of my all-time favourite shows to this day is when You Me At Six played The Final Night Of Sin. I’d been seeing them since they were tiny, before TOYC, so to see them sell out this massive venue was such a proud moment for me. I remember being in the crowd and just not caring about anything, just singing along to every song (and crying to a few too, oops). Definitely one of my best memories, and gigs, to this day! 

4 – THE BAND I WISHED I COULD JOIN?

I’m pretty sure that at some point, I’ve wanted to be in most of the bands I’ve liked, haha! Let’s just say You Me At Six cause they’re the band I always chose to sing at college for assignments! I'm also pretty sure I wanted to be in Green Day too!

5 – A SONG THAT REMINDS ME OF A PARTNER/FRIEND/FAMILY MEMBER?

Oh God, I have a lot of these, I’m just going to choose three though or we’ll be here forever!

River People by Madina Lake reminds me of my cousin, Emily – we met at a Madina Lake show and it was an amazing night, and she’s been there for me through so much, and this is one of her fave ML songs so yeah!

Rather Be by Clean Bandit reminds me of my best friend Lisa – Dan and Phil always used to play it on their radio show, and we used to watch it religiously and text each other the whole time it was on, so this is probably the one song from that time that reminds me of her.

Finally – this is a band that most of you won’t know, but I spent a large chunk of my teenage years seeing this band a ridiculous amount of times in loads of different places, and dragged so many of my friends with me too (sorry guys!) So, the final song, which reminds me of all the people I dragged with me to their shows, is Fires by The Chase! 

6 – BEST GIG EVER?

My best gig ever is definitely AFI related, but I can’t decide which show I liked best – when I saw them for the first time ever, at Give It A Name festival in 2007, or when they played in Birmingham when they did the Crash Love tour in 2010.

Obviously, GIAN has so many amazing memories attached – I spent all day at the barrier, desperately clinging on to try and keep my spot in the middle, and the security tried lifting me out just before they came on until me and some lovely people around me convinced them not to, Then the people around me were really nice during the show, making sure I was okay, and I sobbed my eyes out when they played Silver and Cold.

Birmingham was also amazing – I was freezing cold the whole time I was queueing, to the point where me and Vicky had to go and buy blankets because it was so cold. Then, we managed to get to the barrier, to the right. Even though there was a group of girls who were trying to push me off barrier, and who stole my set list at the end (luckily, the security guard got me another one off the stage and made sure I got it, even when they were trying to snatch that one too) it was still an amazing show – they played most of my favourite songs, I cried at Silver and Cold again (I don’t think I’ll ever NOT cry at that song), most of the crowd were lovely and didn’t push too much, and I met 3 of the band after the show! 

7 – THE LAST SONG I LISTENED TO?

It’s actually playing right now, and it’s Girl’s Not Grey by AFI, funnily enough <3 
I think that Sing The Sorrow is probably my favourite album of theirs, go check it out if you haven't already!

8 – A SONG THAT SUMS ME UP?

I genuinely have no idea, aha. I’d like to think it’s something really cool, but I’m pretty boring and average really, aha. I’m just going to say Silver and Cold by AFI, as they’ve been a massive part of my life for so long, and it’s my favourite song by them, so I’d like to think I could be summed up by them! 

9 – WHAT MUSIC ERA DO I WISH I WAS AROUND FOR?

I kind of wish I was around for the last 80s/early 90s, as there’s so many bands whose music I loved around that kind of timestamp, so it’d have been to experience it in that era instead of decades later.

10 – A SURPRISING MUSIC RELATED FACT ABOUT ME?

Some people find it surprising that I took Music Technology at college! Also, I was in two different music videos when I was in my teens (two different bands as well) which was pretty fun, and two good experiences! 

I hope you enjoyed this post – please feel free to let me know if you do it too, as I’m nosy and would like to see what other people put too!

Breakfast // Quick & Healthy Ideas

 Hey guys!

So, I've decided that one of the things I wanted to do this year is blog about more recipes and food ideas - I've always really loved baking, for example, but it's never really been something that I've blogged about, even though I love reading other people's foodie blogs and drooling over the gorgeous pictures of delicious looking food!

I thought I'd kick things off with a quick post about some quick and healthy breakfast ideas! So why start with breakfast?

For starters, breakfast is the first meal of the day, so it naturally makes sense to start there. Also, a few years back, I stopped eating breakfast as often. I know there’s a lot of people like me out there, who either don’t have time for breakfast in the mornings, or just can’t face eating when they get up – but breakfast is pretty much the most important meal of the day, as it sets you up for the day ahead, so I've made it a goal of mine to start eating breakfast every day again this year, even if it’s just something small like a banana with a cup of tea.
I usually don’t like eating as soon as I wake up – I like to have a cup of tea and take a bit of time to wake up before I even think about eating – and I’ll usually have something like a couple of slices of toast, some porridge, or occasionally something cooked like sausage and egg! I personally get bored of food if I’m eating the same things too often (I don’t know if any of you feel the same, but my brother could – and does – happily eat the same things day in, day out) so I decided to look up some quick, easy and healthy breakfast recipes that I could try, and I thought that I’d try some with you too! 

First things first –  

smoothies! 

I’d been wanting a specific blender for a while – my dad has the same one (as well as a NutriBullet now) and I like using it when I stay at his – and I finally bought one just after Christmas! It's the Breville Blend Active VBL062, I do believe, and I love it! 

I’ve actually been having smoothies most mornings since New Year, and I keep playing around with different combinations of ingredients! The good thing about making your own smoothies is that you know that there should be less sugar in them than shop bought ones. One of my current favourite recipes is 200ml water, 200ml whole milk (the cups for my blender came with measurements on the side, so you can see how much stuff you’re putting in, and they recommend you don’t fill it above the 600ml mark!) a small handful of spinach or kale, and a small handful of frozen berries (you can use fresh fruit if you want to, but recently I’ve been using frozen because I find it easier). If you want to make it a bit more filling, you can also add a scoop of unflavoured protein powder or 1 – 2 tablespoons of oats. You can pretty much add whatever you want, though – almonds and other nuts, seeds, supplements…whatever you like! Just make sure you blend it well if you put oats in!

 
The second thing is

 overnight oats! 

I’ve seen pictures of this online so often, and it always looks so delicious and tasty! You simply put some oats into a jar or bowl (around 50g is the average on most recipes I’ve seen for this) and add some fruit, nuts, seeds, etc and mix in. Then, top it up with some milk (most recipes seem to suggest almond milk or something similar, but I don’t like the taste of nuts so I usually use whole milk), give it a stir and leave it in the fridge overnight to soften and soak. Then, the next day, simply grab the bowl or jar from the fridge and voila, instant breakfast! (You can also warm it up in the microwave if you don’t like cold porridge).

The final breakfast idea on my list sounds a bit weird, but I see people raving about this all the time – 

avocado and poached eggs on toast. 

Avocado is full of good fats, so it’s a good thing to try and eat fairly regularly. Simply make some toast – wholemeal or seeded bread is best – then add some kind of spread (we usually use olive oil spread at home). Scoop out the insides of an avocado and crush it, then spread it on the toast. Poach a couple of eggs as normal, put them on top, then season and eat – simple! I've only had this a handful of times, and it's pretty nice but also pretty rich and creamy so I don't like to eat it too often!

There’s so many other amazing healthy recipes out there, but these are just some of my favourites – hopefully I'll be trying out (and sharing) some more soon! 

What kind of healthy breakfast recipes do you have, and will you be trying any of these? Let me know!