MY BEST FRIEND: TEN YEARS!

Ten years ago today I met my friend Amy.

Soon after she became one of my best friends, and she helped towards molding my life into what it is today, and for that I am eternally grateful.

Many people believe that online relationships don't work, and where this isn't a 'relationship' in that sense, we have maintained an incredibly strong and close friendship for a decade through a screen, and I can promise all of you that that it not something one can come across with many people. Another surprising thing about our friendship is that, in my opinion, it hasn't been hard to maintain. Only having a few months where we weren't 'friends' as such during these ten years I believe we have a very strong friendship...and I hope I'm not speaking out of line when I say, for those few months where we weren't friends, I didn't for a second doubt that we would be friends again.

To Amy:

Thank you. 

These past ten years would have been completely different if I hadn't have met you, and I am so glad that I have. The majority of our friendship has been up, with only one major down that I can remember - not that I'm trying to remember the downs. You know my life as well as I know my life, I share my secrets and my stories with you and you are always there to listen...or read as it seems. I hope I reciprocate these acts of kindness to you also. It takes a lot in a person and a friendship to be able to know that even if they don't talk for a couple of days there's no problems within that friendship, and that we'll just turn around and be our random selves again (usually within a couple of minutes). We have that friendship which needs no introductions when we speak to one another. Our conversations are not finished at the end of the day they just carry over to the next day, even if we do say our funny little goodbyes when one of us...usually you, you old man, goes to sleep. We have this 'connection' which is rather spiffing - we will say pretty much the exact same thing, at the exact same time...sometimes we don't even need to be talking about that topic and we'll still come up with the same thing to say. We have a lot of common interests, of which I probably shouldn't go into on a public blog, with the only difference I can think of is our choice in chocolate, but I'm sure we can overcome that! I could continue writing forever, but that would be pointless as you'd never see this post, so I'll stop now. Just forever know that you're my best friend, and have been throughout the majority of the past decade. 

WHAT TO TAKE TO UNIVERSITY?!

I'm obviously no expert at this - in fact I haven't even arrived at university yet (16 days and counting!) but I thought I'd share with you what I'm taking to university.

For the first month I am living in halls, I am catered for and I have shared facilities. This means I don't have to take or buy any kitcheny type equipment with me and I won't be able to take all my thousands of bath and shower products cos I'll have to keep them in my small little room. However, I am moving after the first month and i'm not sure where to yet so I may be able to do an updated version of this if circumstances change!

I'll write my list and every time I buy or find something I think will be practical I will post a link to it, so this will be updated regularly! Primarily this will be for a girls room - but boys may find some ideas along the way!

• Duvet-----The university may provide this. Argos, Asda, Tesco, etc. sell good quality cheap ones. You're a student now - get used to buying the cheapest possible!
• sheets x2----- Same as above! I've bought these: here (Argos, £4.82) and here (Argos, £5.99). Make sure you get 2 sheets, so you alternate with washing them!
• Duvet covers x2-----Same as above! I've bought these: here (Argos, £12.99) and here (Argos, £19.99). Make sure you get 2 duvet covers so that you can alternate washing them!
• Pillows x2-----The university may provide this. I already own some pillows...but the same places as stated above may sell these too.
• Pillow Cases-----Most duvet cover sets come with at least one pillow case. Make sure you buy double the pillow cases to the amount of pillows you have (e.g. 1 pillow = 2 pillow cases) so you can alternate washing them! I bought these: here (Argos, £2.50).
• Mattress Topper-----This isn't exactly necessary and it might be worth waiting until you've spent one night sleeping on your mattress. If you find that it's uncomfortable a mattress topper should help! I've picked out my one just in case my mattress is uncomfortable: here (Argos, £29.99).

*Some of the following items definitely aren't necessary. I just thought that the decorative items are important to me because you can't decorate rooms in halls etc. so I'm buying all pretty stuff to help my room look decorated!*

• Bed throw-----

• Decorative Cushions-----Personally I'm NOT getting any decorative cushions, I've decided to just get a bed throw because you need to remember you've only got a single bed. HOWEVER you can get pretty inexpensive decorative cushions so it is a good idea to get some if you want to brighten up your room! Good places to look for these are: Dunelm-Mill or The Range
• Candle-----I'm a bit of a candle addict. I'm not sure if universities allow them, but if they do I'm taking my favourite one. Sweet Strawberry (Yankee Candle, Regular Tumbler, £9.95).
• Alarm clock-----I already own this, but you can get it here (Ikea, £4.25).
• Door wedge-----I've read that if you live in halls it's easier to make friends if you wedge your door open, I figured I'd try that as I only know of one person going to the same university as me.
• Hot water bottle-----You must have one of these lying around? Otherwise places like Asda, Tesco etc. sell them cheaply. Asda £1.50
• Desk lamp
• Rubbish bin-----I'm taking mine from my room. I got it here (The Range, £7.99)
• Mug-----I have a million mugs that I love but I must restrict myself to a maximum of two mugs. You don't have the room to over pack!
• Towels (Large) x2
• Towels (Small) x2
• Towelling dressing gown-----I'm in 'shared facilities' accommodation and where I'm sure all the people I'll be in halls with are lovely I'm sure they don't want to walk in just as my towel comes undone or something so I decided to get a towelling dressing gown from here (BHS, £25.00)
• Dream catcher-----Or something similar to this for some quirky personality.
• Pretty hangers-----These don't necessarily need to be pretty, but I would like to add some personality to my wardrobe with something inexpensive like that. Personally I love these (Ikea, £5.50) but you can get packs of hangers from loads of places, especially department stores or grocery shops with homeware sections in it.
• Handbag-----Just any old handbag you have lying around the house. You don't want to have to always switch up your uni bag for you to be able to take it out shopping. Nothing to expensive, just something practical and neutral so it goes with anything.
• Uni bag-----This bag will be the permanant home for your pencil case, books and other uni items, you don't want to have to share this bag with also being your handbag, things get lost or left behind like that e.g. assignments!
• Clutch bag-----Well, hello you're a student now. You're not going to be a stranger to going out on the town or to the student union are you? You want a nice plain, neutral/black clutch/small bag for these times. Something big enough to fit your money/purse/card, your phone and your keys in but nothing more!
• Purse
• Keys
• Watch
• Prescription glasses and sunglasses
• Face mask-----Even students need some pampering from time to time! I use this NSpa 5 Minute Magic Mask available in store at Asda
• Face scrub/cleanser-----I use this Scrub Your Nose in it (Boots, Soap and Glory, £7.50) and this Angels on Bare Skin Cleanser (Lush, £6.35).
• Moisturiser-----I use this Skin Drink Moisturiser (Lush, £11.95)
• Spot stuff-----How I wish I didn't have to use this Dr. Spot (Boots, Soap and Glory, £5.33)
• Toothpaste
• Toothbrush
• Hairbrush
• Hair accessories-----Bobby pins, hair elastics, head bands etc.
• Shower gel-----I use these shower gels: Whipped Clean Shower Butter (Boots, Soap and Glory, £8.00), Clean on Me (Boots, Soap and Glory, £6.00), Rose Jam (Lush, £4.65 per 100g)
• Shampoo-----I use these shampoos: Banana Shampoo (The Body Shop, £4.50) and Trichomania (Lush, £5.35 per 100g)
• Conditioner-----I use these conditioners: Banana Conditioner (The Body Shop, £4.50), American Cream (Lush, £4.50) and R&B Leave-in Conditioner (Lush, £11.25 per 100g)
• Razor
• Wash bag-----You really don't want to be lugging everything around separately, especially if you're in shared facilities! Get a large wash bag to keep everything in! Look at places like: Boots, John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, Superdrug, Asda, Tesco etc.
• Flannel x2
• Sponge
• Hair oil-----I get very bad ends, so I use Argan oil on them. I don't use the high-end brand of Argan Oil though, which I'm sure is better. VO5 Miracle Concentrate Elixir (Boots, £5.19)
• Face wipes-----Now ladies, we all know how important Face Wipes are! Quick to take off make up, and also freshening up your skin! I use these Exfoliating Facial Wipes (Boots, £3.99)
• Eye make up remover-----Gentle Eye Make Up Remover (Boots, £1.99)
• Cotton pads
• Cotton buds
• Make up bag
• Make up-----Pack your daily make up and your evening make up, no more! You don't have room!
• Nail varnish-----Choose your favourite five (this will be unbelievably difficult for me!) But you can always buy a few more once you get there if you feel the urge ;)
• Nail varnish remover
• Push pins-----Get these from most stationary shops e.g. Staples, Asda, Tesco, Paperchase etc. I got these ones (Paperchase, £2.00)
• notebooks-----I suggest getting 2 A4 notebooks, 1 A5 notebook and 1 Refill pad! This gives you notebooks for any occasion. For example: The A4 ones are handy for taking to lectures, the A5 one is good for carrying around with you to take memos down and the Refill pad is a good all-rounder! Make sure they're what you need, ruled, grid etc. Spiro bound or threaded etc. I got these notebooks: Pink A4 Notebook (Paperchase, £5.00), Purple A4 Notebook (Paperchase, £5.00), Camouflage A5 Divider notebook (Paperchase, £5.00) and Linear Floral A4 Refill Pad (Paperchase, £2.50)
• Memory stick-----Important! I suggest getting the cheapest one you can (not second hand!) which is 4GB. This will be big enough for you to back up all of your assignments and important documents that you need to. Make sure you don't clutter this up with your music etc. Have separate ones for personal files and university files.
• Pens
• Pencils
• Highlighters
• Permanent markers
• Ruler
• Eraser-----Don't buy these stupid shaped ones, just buy a simple one like this! (Paperchase, £1.00)
• Calculator-----Okay, so you can get cheaper ones than it, but I loved this. It's so pretty! (Paperchase, £6.00)
• Sharpener
• Pencil case
• Staples
• Stapler
• Holepunch
• Paperclips-----Try to find some just plain paperclips from somewhere like asda or Staples. Paperchase didn't have any proper ones, but seeing as though I was making an order I made do with these animal shaped paperclips... (Paperchase, £3.50)
• A4 ringbinders
• Lever arch folders
• Plastic wallets
• Envelopes
• Stamps
• Driving license, Passport, Other forms of I.D.
• National Insurance Number
• Laptop
• Kindle
• Phone
• iPod
• Computer
• Cables and Chargers
• Rechargeable batteries
• Camera
• Printer and ink-----Get the cheapest and smallest printer you can find, and even that isn't necessary. The university will have printers, it's just useful to have your own in your room.
• Printer paper
• Inhalers
• Medicines
• Antiseptic cream etc.
• Plasters
• Books
• Weekend bag
• Hair straighteners
• Hair curlers
• Clothes!-----Don't forget that even though it might still be warm whilst you're packing, you're going to be going to university in September - AUTUMN! It will get cold, lets get real - it's England! I would suggest packing 7 full outfits and 7 extra tops. All of which are warm or have some jumpers that will go with them. Pack some cute wellies if you think you'll wear them in the wet weather. Hats, gloves and scarves will be important and your warm winter coat too - not just jackets! And don't forget that you'll be washing these things yourself for the most part, so make sure they can be washed in the washing machine - you don't want to be forking out more cash each week for dry cleaning, you want to be able to bung it in a washing machine and be done with it.

HAPPY SEPTEMBER! SHOPPING HAUL

Hello to all the readers out there, spending time reading my ramblings! 

Happy September everybody! I'm a bit late on the wagon saying that - it's the fifth today - but who cares because I now have a longer blog post for you to read!

I'm not sure whether I mentioned when, but I have definitely mentioned in a previous post that I was going to see my mummy soon! Well, here I am! Up north for a 3 hour car journey from my home in Southampton and I'm at my mum and her husbands wonderful, old, antique looking home. 

On Monday me and my mum went out on a shopping trip and my mum decided she wanted to spend some - okay a LOT - of money on me today. I've been thoroughly spoilt and I'm loving it ;) (although I am also very grateful!). As I have been spoilt with some beautiful things today I thought I'd share them with you in a shopping haul, as I know a lot of your blog-readers like to read haul posts - I know I do!

All my beauties from our shopping trip!

Here we go!

Our first stop in town was to find me some foundation pale enough for my skin. I had previously been using Clarins Ever Matte foundation in 'Ivory'. This is supposedly their palest colour even though it's number 103...regardless it was orange based and over the course of the day ended up turning my skin orange with it, which is unfortunate because it was lovely stuff otherwise.

Anyway, my mum took me to the Clinique counter and the lovely lady there - Amy - testing my skin for so many foundations. Unfortunately they were also orange based so they weren't right for my skin either - they need to make some pink based pale foundations! Anywho, she tried me with their BB cream and it was perfect. Gave me the right amount of coverage and I can layer it up too, it was perfect! 

They were also doing an offer where if you bought one make up product and one skin care product you'd get a make up bag full of slightly-larger sample products and a full size lipstick! We decided to get me the 7 day face scrub and I can tell you that even though it's gentle the beads inside the creamy, moisturising product work wonders! My scaley forehead has improved so much with this product alone in the past 4 days! 

Inside the make up bag there was:

1. Deep comfort hand and cuticle cream
2. Take the day off makeup remover for lids, lashes and lips
3. Moisture surge face spray
4. Lipstick in 'Soft Bloom' (a lovely nude colour - very Maisie-ish)
5. High impact mascara (not pictured..oops)
6. Some sort of eye cream (I gave this to my mum so it's not pictured)

You can pick up the 7 day face scrub from the counter in John Lewis or here for £18.50

You can pick up the BB Cream in store or here for £26.00

Unfortunately the offer for the make up bag full of stuff doesn't seem to be available online anymore, but it may be available in store!

Excuse the awkward picture of me, but this is my lovely new scarf! I paid for the majority of this, I love it. It has a dark base colour with pretty designs. It will go with most of the things I love to wear! It's lovely quality too, very strong and thick feeling, although it's a reasonable light-weight scarf so you can wear it as an accessory in warmer weather too!

You can pick this up from Marks and Spencer or here for £25.00

These pajamas were so gorgeous I just had to get them! The top has additional support in it for ladies who are a little top-heavy, or for ladies who just want that additional layer of support. The bottoms are so comfortable! They're a lightweight material so you can wear them in the summer, but in the winter they'll be snuggly if you tuck them into your bed socks! Perfect all-rounders.

You can pick up the pajama bottoms from Marks and Spencer or here for £16.00

You can pick up the pajama top from Marks and Spencer or here for £9.50

This beautiful wash bag is lovely and roomy, fits all of my shower, face and body stuff in it easily! I could probably put my travel makeup in it too if I wasn't OCD about messing it all up! 

You can get this wash bag from John Lewis for £14.50

Of course I had to visit Lush. In fact this was one of my best trips to Lush, the lady who helped me was so lovely and friendly I'm glad she offered to help me. I often ask people to help me because I want to try something new every time I go in there. My mum gave me £10 to go into Lush because she doesn't like the smell, and I also had a bit of spare cash to put towards my purchases too.

Firstly I knew I wanted to try a new shampoo, I explained to the lady I have quite dry hair, it's naturally wavey and I'd like to enhance that with a really moisturising shampoo. She asked me whether I had tried any of their shampoos before and I said yes and that I've tried: Cynthia Sylvia Stout, Rehab and Curly Wurly. She then asked me what I thought of Curly Wurly because that's what she was going to suggest. I said that I loved what it did but the bits in it really bugged me because my hair's so thick. She then suggested I try a solid shampoo called 'Trichomania' which is essentially Curly Wurly in solid form without all the bits. She showed me how to use it and I agreed that I wanted to try it. She cut me a larger slice than she was meant to but still charged me the same - lovely lady!

She then said that because my hair was so dry I should try one of their conditioners. I've never tried one of their conditioners so I was very excited by this. She suggested that I try American Cream. I'd heard some good things about this and it smells divine so I agreed - and I definitely do not regret it!

She also suggested that I try 'R&B' which is a leave in conditioner. She let me try some on my dry hair and it worked wonders for my curls, really defining them and making them into more ringlets than waves. I did say I couldn't afford to buy that along side it so she gave me a sample put AND FILLED IT UP! I've never had a sample pot be full before! She did it on the down-low though and said it should last me around 6-12 weeks depending on how often I use it. It's lovely and smells so good I will be buying the full size when I've run out of the sample.
Finally, as I was queuing up I grabbed some toothy tabs. I'd never tried them before but as I find brushing my teeth tedious I will try anything (that's not to say I don't brush my teeth, don't be grotty!) so I picked up some of the Chou Chou I Love You toothy tabs. I must say this is the only product I haaaate from Lush. I will not be buying these again, especially in this flavour. I almost threw up - I do like the idea of the tabs though so I might try a nicer flavour! 

You can get Trichomania in store at Lush or here for £5.39 per 100g

You can get American Cream in store at Lush or here for £4.50 per 100g

                                                                                            £8.95 per 250g

                                                                                                £14.25 per 500g

You can get R&B in store at Lush or here for £11.25 per 100g

£19.95 per 225g

We also made a quick stop in Boots for a couple of basics - see above. You know how these things work ;)

My mum also bought some material (see in first photo) to make me a larger make up bag for when I go to university.

That's the end of this haul blog post - enjoy the rest of September my lovelies!
xxx