Urban Outfitters Bargain of the Week!

On Wednesday I took a quick trip to Bristol to meet up with my two friends, Jess and Sarah, who I haven't seen since our Graduation in November last year!

Of course we have kept in touch via Facebook and Twitter, but it's just not the same as meeting in real life. We decided to meet in Bristol as I live close by in Weston Super Mare, Jess was visiting in the midsts of her moving here and Sarah was close by in Swindon, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity! Thankfully the Riots were coming to an end and there hadn't been any more trouble in Bristol since Tuesday night so we went ahead and met up at the station and began a day of shopping! We stopped off for lunch in McDonalds and had a long chat about everything we've been up to, and of course, jobs!

We had a good mooch around the shops in Cabot Circus but I was trying hard not to spend too much. Luckily my nan gave me £10 the day before, which I used to buy an Urban Outfitters Cooperative Structured Cross-Body Bag that was just £10 down from £38! It was actually down to Sarah that I found this bag as she had picked up the white and brown version. I quickly moved over to where she was and found the brown/black version. I love love live it so much but I'm so annoyed that I've already managed to scratch it!

It's quite roomy inside but my purse takes up a lot of room as it's so big. I love the structured boxy feel of it and it is by far my biggest bargain of the week!

Isn't is a beaut? My satchel from Primark completely wimped out on me when the strap snapped clean off so I was due a new one! Amazingly this was the only thing I brought but when I'm back in Bristol for my work experience next week, I'm sure I'll pick a up a few other bits and pieces.

It was great to catch up with Jess and Sarah and even though we hadn't seen eachother since last year, there was no awkwardness about it, it was just like old times again. :)

Spend, spend, spend.

How was everyone's weekend? Vince and I haven't been up to much to be honest. We have recently taken to going to town for shopping trips either on a Friday after I finish work or on a Sunday as it's so much quieter than on a Saturday. Yesterday we went to check out a new Arts & Crafts market in the 'posh' area of Southampton and what a disappointment it was! Reading the website, it said we could expect Vintage clothing, jewellery, records etc..etc...but there were only about 5 stalls altogether, no vintage clothing, overpriced and not particularly amazing jewellery and more over priced records.

On the bright side, we got a little exercise as it's quite a walk away. On our way back we had a quick look around one of the ruins in the town. It's strange to think that I've been in Southampton almost 4 years now and never checked out any of the towns history. Southampton used to be surrounded by castle 'walls' as it's a naval town, but they were all destroyed during the war (that's totally an educated guess), however, pieces of these walls still remain and are viewable to the public. Vince and I took a little wander around an old church from the 1700's that has now been transformed into a memorial for sailors. It was pretty interesting and I managed to snap a few pics as well.

After the weather made up it's mind and decided to shine, it actually turned out to be a nice day so we had a little shopping trip. There was nothing much in particular that I wanted to pick up and I always find this the best way to go shopping. If I do have something in mind, you can guarantee that I won't find it! I ended up picking up some basic tee-shirts, a fringed top from Primark, bracelets and some Lush goodies!

This Primark fringed top is a little controversial as it's not usually something I'd go for but I love the fringing trend on other people and I was drawn to this when I saw it so had to get it. There is a teeny tiny crop top attached but I think I would probably cut it off and wear a longer vest top underneath. After trying it on I still wasn't 100% about it and I can't decide whether to take it back to the shop or not, what do you think?

While I'm here, I thought I'd post a few bits and pieces that I've picked up recently but haven't yet blogged about. I decided a few days ago that I wanted some bright blue jeans so off I popped to Zara and voila! £20 later, they were mine. I have only recently really given Zara a chance and although some of their pieces are a little pricey, there is the odd bargain, like these jeans for example. £40 in Topshop. :P I'll try and get a pic of me wearing them soon!

I also managed to snag a new Topshop Flippy skirt in 'Sand' from eBay. I originally saw it in Topshop last weekend and almost parted with £26 for it, but found the exact one on eBay for £10, bargain! I haven't worn it yet as I'm not sure what to pair it with but again, I'll try and get a pic of me wearing it soon!

I've also recently picked up a few bits and bobs such as a Topshop Powder Foundation. I got it i n the 'nude' shade and I do like but it has such a strange, chemical smell which really isn't nice. However, I can put up with the smell as it is a good foundation! I finally picked up the No7 Hot Cloth Cleanser which I've used one or twice now. I use these types of things about once a week as a little treat to my skin.

I also picked up my first ever blusher! Can you believe I've never worn blusher before? I decided to go for it on a whim really and scoured Boots for quite a while for the perfect shade. It took me ages of testing out different shades and I was getting a little annoyed so just picked up what I thought looked nice and was cheap in the Natural Collections range. I went for 'Rosey Glow' in the end which has turned out to be quite lovely! I also picked up a blusher brush from Models Own!

I also wanted to post some pics of some other clothes that I've recently brought. These aren't for me, but for my little niece who is due on July 10th! My sister has lots of newborn clothing so I've been buying a few bits that are for 3 to 6 months. I picked these up from Pumpkin Patch as they were on Sale and are so cute!

I'm sure she will be one stylish baby!

Fish Feet!

Long time no see! While I was at home this weekend I barely went near my laptop so haven't had a chance to blog yet. I had a lovely time this weekend just shopping, eating and relaxing!

We didn't get back until late on Friday evening so I didn't really do anything until Saturday. I originally planned to stay indoors and catch up on writing and blogging but my sister persuaded me to go to the Hairdressers with her. Unfortunately they had no appointments so we decided to go to the new Fish Pedicure salon that recently opened in our town.

Garra Rufa Fish Pedicures are so popular at the moment, and I know they'll probably die out just as quickly, but I still wanted to blog about the experience.

The fish foot spas are a natural pedicure method that has originated from Turkey. It is a unique skin treatment that massages and exfoliates feet using the Garra Rufa fish. Although most people think that the fish have teeth to nibble off dry skin, they in fact have toothless suction-cupped mouths which enables them to lift away dead skin from your feet easily. The treatment is totally painless, but you may feel a slight tingling sensation. The Garra Rufa fish only work on unhealthy skin that has been softened by the water, and their hard work leaves your feet feeling soft and refreshed.

A lot of people are worried that letting fish suck on your feet can cause some diseases but the water in the tanks is continuously filtered to ensure it is kept clean. The UV lighting within the tank minimises bacteria growth and the fish stimulate acupuncture points, helping to regulate the nervous system, relax the body and ease fatigue. Blood circulation and flow is greatly increased during the treatment and the Garra Rufa fish can help to improve some skin conditions. People with broken and sore skin as well as warts or verrucas are not allowed to take part in the pedicure, which eliminates the risk of catching anything.

The Salon that has just opened near me is relatively small, with only 5 tanks, but I quite liked the cosiness of it. We were asked to soak our feet in a bowl of warm water for five minutes before being told we could put our feet into the tanks.

The feeling of having to put your feet into a tank full of fish is so unnatural that I didn't want to do it! As soon as I did, all of the fish were drawn to my feet and began nibbling at all of my dry skin. The sensation was the weirdest thing ever and at points I couldn't bear the thought of what I was doing and wanted to pull my feet out quickly. It didn't help that I am quite ticklish on my feet and at one point one of my reflexes made me kick my foot out a bit too violently.

Because it was so weird, I still can't decided whether or not I enjoyed the experience. My main advice would be to try not to think about what you're doing. Two people who were also in the salon with us were reading papers and not paying attention, therefore weren't squealing and giggling like my sister and I.

When our 15 minutes were up we were told to dry our feet and they were sprayed with hygiene spray. I have to say my feet felt really soft and smooth after the treatment, but there were still bits of dry skin that the fish hadn't managed to get. I think a bit longer than 15 minutes would be good for me and I would have loved it if a proper Pedicure followed.

I think I'd definitely recommend this treatment and I think I will try it again, but I'll try to stay a bit calmer!

I swear for the rest of the day I felt like I had fish hanging onto my feet. It was such a weird sensation that even when I think about it now I feel all funny! But my feet felt so nice afterwards that I am definitely doing it again.

On Saturday evening Vince and I met up with our friends for a yummy Pizza Hut! I've not laughed so much in so long and for some reason we all had the giggles that night. We were the last ones left in the restaurant and I think our Waitress was a bit annoyed with us after we mucked up the orders and Vince spilt a drink across the table!

On Sunday my Sister and I took another trip to town in order to do some Shopping. We were initially looking for things for the baby but Weston is so rubbish that we barely found anything. I think I brought a teething toy and a Parasol and that was it! So instead we treated ourselves and my sister spent the gift cards I got her on a lovely Maxi dress! I treated myself to a new cardigan and some shoes, which I'll post about soon! We had a nice little lunch in BHS and a bit of a giggle. I can't wait until the baby arrives! I still have so much that I want to buy her!

So that was my weekend in a nutshell! We're back in Southampton now and I've been at work all day. We're currently waiting for our Chinese to be delivered so I best be off!

Just a quick thing before I go. When I got home I managed to have a look at the review I had published in the Portsmouth News. So, have a look (Click the image to view large!):

Deploy the battery, We’re taking back control

I post so many reviews, nail art and wishlists posts on the blog these days that I don't often get time for a more personal post about what is going on in my life!

Today is my last free day until I start work! I'm going to be working at the University I graduated from for 3 months on an Online Content Writer Internship. The official Internship doesn't start until the 13th but there is some other work for me to do until that date. The sooner I can get money the better really! I'm pretty much going to be working full time and will have evenings and weekends free so there will probably be lots of scheduled posts for a while.

I can't wait until payday already. I have so many things that I want to get for myself as well as for my niece, who is due in July. I've promised to buy her changing mat and of course I won't be able to help myself and will buy her lots of cute clothes and toys. First on my list is a hungry caterpillar baby-grow! Cute! I've asked my sister to tell me EXACTLY what she needs so I can make a list and buy her stuff that is definitely going to get used and she's been very specific which is good!


This weekend has been pretty relaxed. Yesterday I popped into town specifically because I wanted to get the voucher in the Daily Mail newspaper for the free Body Shop Body Butter, but of course, I ended up spending way more money than I really should have. With the voucher, came a 'spend £15, get £5 off' offer, so I took full advantage of that and got myself and Vince a few goodies...

I picked myself up a little Strawberry Shower Gel and Body Lotion set for £5 seeing as they had none of the full size Shower Gel. I also got myself a Coconut shower gel because of it's glorious scent, a headband, the free body butter and hair & bodywash for Vince. 

Going into the Body Shop with Vince is hilarious! He likes to sniff all of the testers and recoil in loud disgust at the smell of them all and he was extremely disappointed that they didn't have bubble bath! I know he hates shopping with me, especially on a Saturday, but he did pretty well despite the hordes of people and the amount of shops I dragged him into! He'd much rather stay at home but I like to get out of the house and get some fresh air! The weather was pretty good and he got a treat from the Body Shop out of it anyway. :P

I had to pick up another hair dye as my new red hair has revealed some patchy spots of brown! As it's so long now, one box of dye didn't really cover it properly so I'm going to brave another box! Does anyone else fall for last minute purchases when they're stood in the queue? I always do! I ended up buying a pack of three Dairy Milk and some fizzy sweets. I really shouldn't fall for it but I'm a sucker!

We always spend Saturday nights infront of the TV and as Vince is a bit of a whizz in the kitchen, he always takes on cooking duties. Last night he rustled up some home-made KFC which tasted delicious and was much cheaper than the real thing! His cooking skills amaze me sometimes, he is so inventive and even if he hasn't made a dish before, he just improvises and goes for it, which means I get lots of yummy meals...and lots of weight gain unfortunately, lol!

This weekend I've also taken full advantage of eBay's free listing fees and have literally put my life onto eBay. I still have more to add today after I clear my wardrobe out, so let's just hope I sell it all. If you're interested, you can view my items HERE

So there's my weekend in a nutshell! I will try and blog again mid-week and give you all an update of how the job is going. :)

Spring has sprung

It's been a long time since I wrote a proper blog post! Most of my posts recently have been nail art and promotional posts, but I promise it won't continue to be all like that. I'll definitely try and write properly more often, it's just difficult at the moment as not much is going on!

As I previously mentioned, I had an interview with River Island. I thought it went pretty well...as soon as I walked in, I was asked to pick out an outfit suitable for a Friday/Saturday night out. Well, I picked some black skinnies and a cute 'going out' top along with jewellery and some pretty killer studded heels. I had to explain my choices, which I did pretty well and then answer the usual customer service questions. They said they would let me know by the next day but I got an email from them about half an hour later saying I wasn't successful. I probably shouldn't have mentioned my work experience placement in March, but I did say I would be willing to not do it if I was to get the River Island job. If that wasn't the thing that made them decide not to hire me, then I don't know what is. I don't want to be big headed but I feel like I did well in the interview, I was chatty and friendly and answered all of the questions. I'll just have to put the interview down to experience and move on. I'm going to wait until AFTER my work experience placement to look for some jobs now I think.

So, this leads me onto my next piece of news! I was kind of dreading Work Experience just because it's going to cost SO much to travel to and from London every day. Luckily I have £200 saved up already, but I had nothing spare for lunches and the odd bits and bobs, but it seems like my luck was in as I won £100 from The Shopping Forecast! I couldn't believe it! Basically, I am part of the Style Council on the website, where I add items I think are going to be on trend for the season ahead. At the end of every month, the items with the top votes win and the people that submitted them, win £100. I submitted a gorgeous black and white stripe trench coat which got over 40 votes!

Now I feel a bit more comfortable about my work experience placement and I'm even looking forward to it now. I'm currently creating a proper Online portfolio of all my work, where I can direct potential employers. I've been thinking about doing a video CV/Resume but I'm afraid I'll look like a complete idiot and will loose my train of thought on camera.

I've applied for a couple of Journalism related jobs that are taking place in the months before I leave Southampton, so I've got my fingers crossed for those, but if I'm not successful, I might look at going home for the Easter holidays and working back there for a few weeks!

I've been on a few shopping trips recently and finally found myself a pair of navy cropped trousers! I'll be sure to post a blog about my haul soon and I'll have a Matalan haul coming up soon too!

Sneaky shopping trip

I've been very naughty today...I accidentally on purpose paid a little visit to New Look today and purchased two tops from my Weekly Wishlist!


After looking around town yesterday, I tried on the Peter Pan Tie Shirt but decided against buying it, then today, after my trial at Hotel Chocolat I decided to go in and try it on again, knowing I would end up buying it.

While browsing around I spotted the Spotty Peter Pan Tee and as that's on my Wishlist aswell, decided to take it into the changing rooms with me. Luckily both tops looked really nice and with 20% student discount (thank God for Student cards that don't expire until July!) I had to get them both as a little treat and also as something to wear during my Work Experience at Red magazine next month.


As I mentioned, I had a trial at Hotel Chocolat this morning. I think it went well. I had to greet customers as they came into the store and then offer them a sample of a Strawberry love heart. I was very polite, asking the customers if they needed any help etc..etc but when offering samples I was not telling them they were Strawberry love hearts until they had already picked them up and started eating...the manager told me I should be telling them straight away that they were Strawberry which I started doing. My aim was to try and sell some of the chocolates but unfortunately nobody brought any. :( My trial only lasted half an hour as it was a really quite morning and I was told I'd hear back in about a week. I feel kind of confident and unconfident at the same time, I'm kicking myself for my stupid mistake!


Now I'm looking forward to doing nothing all weekend. I was originally supposed to be going to London with Vince to see My Chemical Romance at Wembley Arena but I decided to sell my tickets on Twitter to a fellow fan. I really need some money at the moment so it didn't seem right that I was spending £60 on a hotel for a night plus tube fares and meals as well as already having paid nearly £60 for the tickets themselves. Luckily someone brought the tickets pretty quickly and the Hotel was free to cancel, so now the money is going towards my work experience travelling next month. They are my favourite band ever but I've seen them 4 times before and I'm sure I'll see them again, it's a shame but I thought I'd be sensible for once!

I think I can relax now..

..only for a few days but as my Portfolio for Life As A Freelance sits complete on my bed, ready for hand in, I feel a bit more relaxed. It was quite stressful to do, seeing as I had a printer that wouldn't cooperate and I realised I had forgotten some important pieces which I had to do at the last minute; and can I just say how frustrating it is trying to get freelance rates, editorial lead times and advert rates from magazines. No matter how much you email or phone, everyone is so unhelpful. Don't they remember how it felt to be a student? When I'm a big high-flying Journalist, I will definitely remember to help out the students!

After yesterday's phone call, I feel a lot happier about what's going to happen after University. When I come back from the Easter holidays I'm going to start packing up my stuff and moving it into Vince's room. Though that is going to need a BIG spring clean before I'm even setting foot in there! I need to get rid of a lot of stuff..mostly clothes I don't wear and DVDs I've only watched once. My collection is ridiculous.


Last night Vince and I went to see A Day To Remember at Portsmouth Pyramids. It was absolutely brilliant! I will admit that Vince was right about where we were standing because I had a really good view and the band themselves were great. The support bands weren't really to my tastes and we were quite disappointed with the merch but because it was the last date of the tour, they pretty much had nothing left. :( I saved us both £12 on ticket prices as I managed to get a guestlist place in return for a review so I should probably work on that either today or tomorrow.

As for the rest of the week, I don't have much planned. Uni on Wednesday and Thursday and possibly watching Vince play another gig on Friday and then a nice relaxing weekend ahead! I can't wait to go home now! I'm trying to save for my shopping trip to Bristol but I currently only have £30. I'm also meeting my friends for an evening of Curry and the rest of the time will probably be spent working at the holiday camp. :) I am definitely looking forward to a nice holiday, hah.

P.S - A £25 ASOS Voucher giveaway at Sitting Pretty