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Tuesday 27 October 2015

I'VE BEEN TRAVELLING

... THE INTERNET. As some of you might know I am off on my gap year travels in January. In the run up to my departure, and to continue as I travel, I've set up a travel blog which I'm truly in love with. To be honest, I love writing that blog at the moment and since I've been working 5 days a week and don't wear make up to work, the whole beauty and fashion thing in my life has just disappeared. (I did buy a Real Techniques sponge though, and it has changed my life.)

I've been spending free time exploring other travel blogs, gathering ideas, creating plans, spending money, working out budgets, planning visas... The list goes on and on and on... But at the moment it's something I truly love to do and I just can't wait to be in all of these amazing places. As a result of this though, this blog has taken a back seat and I don't feel the urge to sit down and type out a post.







However, on my travel blog I've been scrawling out posts on each of our destinations and our flights and as I book my visas and begin to consider what I should take on a 4 month trip to Southeast Asia there will be posts about that as well. So if you're interested in following my plans and adventures then here is where to find me.

Saturday 19 September 2015

FALLING IN LOVE WITH BUDAPEST / PART 1

My mum bought my boyfriend and I plane tickets to a city of our choice for my birthday back in May. I had mentioned many times that I wanted to go to Budapest so we went ahead and booked it. I read how cheap Budapest is as a weekend break and as I looked further into it I wanted to go there more and more, although I'm not sure what specifically attracted me to it. After my trip I am completely in love with it and want to back again next year and one day take my mum.

After a 2am start we decided to drop off our bags at the hotel and wonder about town. We stayed at the Roombach Hotel Budapest Center which was 5 minues walk from ruin bars, parks and all he main shops. The hotel had been newly done and was very modern inside. The foyer was colourful with modern copper twists and the bedrooms had wallpaper covered in words in a typewriter-like print. My mum and I found this after searching all over the internet and I'm so glad we found it. The woman at the desk was also super helpful and I would definitely consider staying there again if I were to go back.

We headed down to the river which seemed to be the best place to get our bearings. We were able to see all the landmarks and were then able to work out how far away everything was from each other while we were both still half asleep. This is when we realized how small the city was.


Hunger was the next thing that kicked in. We didn't quite know where to go to eat and after walking past a couple which looked not very appealing or on the more expensive side we consulted the guide book we had. I wouldn't normally do this but I simply was just too hungry to try to find internet in order to look anywhere up. It directed us to Ötkert, a little ruin bar past Chain Bridge, heading towards the parliament building. Here I had the best burger I had all week. It was on the more expensive side, although I put that down to the tourist appeal of ruin pubs.



As it was such a nice day we decided that we would sit outside although the inside was really unique and beautiful with a covered courtyard in the centre. All ruin pubs have their own unique styles and vibes but it is common for them to have some kind of courtyard in the middle which is usually open air.


Right at the end of the road (another reason we sat outside) was St Michael's Basilica. We headed inside to look at the beautiful interiors...




And to get a panoramic view of the whole city...



 


After this we headed back to our hotel to check in and had a nap since we were both exhausted from our early start. We then prepped ourselves for dinner and looked on LikeALocal where we found Jelen Bistro, a place known for it's great Thai food that also had a bar for a drink before dinner and a fair amount of outside seating all along the pavement. We both absolutely loved this place and it was a great way to ease ourselves into the quirks that bars and restaurants in Budapest all possess.




The most amusing thing we noticed was that something like a vodka and coke was never on the menu and the people serving us rarely knew what we were asking for... So they bought me a glass of coke and a double shot of vodka. It is much cheaper to drink beer and wine in Budapest and Will sampled the beer in every bar and restaurant we visited. A pint and a vodka and coke was between £4-5.


After dinner we decided to walk along the river to see the city lit and it was still fairly early. However exhaustion got the better of us and we headed back early so that we would be ready for breakfast (included at the hotel) and could head out to the thermal baths...



Thursday 3 September 2015

I'M GOING TO ASIA

...For four months! I was going to write about it on here but I have actually created an all-new travel blog here which we are currently sharing our route on (as of tomorrow). Please go have a look if you want to see what I'm up to in the run up to my travels and then follow me around Asia (metaphorically, of course).



Wednesday 5 August 2015

Summer Recently Played


Not Fair by Lily Allen is one of my favourite songs at the moment since I watched back the set from Benicassim from last year (post here). I'm not actually a big music listener at the moment which is strange but when I do put something on in the shower or on my walk to work these tend to be what I'm listening to!

Thursday 30 July 2015

ICE BAR LONDON @ HEDDON ST.

For my lovely best friend's birthday I thought she deserved a lovely treat so months in advance I formed a plan. This plan was unavailable to put into action 30 days prior to the treat itself but when the time came Ice Bar, London was booked.


Ice bar had a great selection of some of my favourite cocktails as well as ones I haven't heard of. I stuck to vodka as tequila has funny effects on me and the mojito's were delicious! In the square cups made of ice they were super cold and, although it is a little gimmicky you are paying for the great experience that we had! As you drink your glass melts away from your mouth which was weird but kind of cool, too. Just don't drop your glass as it's £4 for a replacement... and I guess that isn't including the drink!



Even the walls are made of ice... Yes, other people were licking them and yes, that's kind of gross.


Dinner with a beautiful view by the Thames! St Pauls was just to the right which is my favourite building in London and although the sunset in London is not like that on the beach but it was pretty beautiful. We had dinner at Gormet Pizza Company on South Bank and it was delicious! Would recommend if you want somewhere not too expensive and super quick! We were seated immediately at 7:15pm on a Friday!




In a giant pineapple made of ice and quite happy about it. Thanks to the guy who took this photo after I passed my phone to him out of the little peep hole.



These bottles were absolutely freezing! Thanks to the lovely barman... who gave us free shots.




I'm so glad I booked this for us and honestly Ice Bar had some of the best customer service ever since I originally booked for 4 but had to cancel two of the people as they were sick and couldn't make it. Rather than saying it was too late they offered me either a full refund of the tickets or two refills per person missing. Obviously I opted for refills(!) which meant we had 3 drinks each! Definitely something great to do if you're visiting London or wanting to celebrate something special and the Gormet Pizza Company on South Bank (walk towards St Pauls/TATE) was a great place to have dinner on such a warm evening as it gave us a beautiful view and amazing food at a reasonable price considering it's London. I also thought their service was great. Happy Birthday Jojo!

Tuesday 28 July 2015

H&M HOME: Grey, White & Copper

I've fallen for the copper trend. Normally I wouldn't be such a magpie to such a trend since I see no real point in spending a great deal of money on homeware type items since I am 18, living at home and not exactly in the position to spend money on such, honestly, useless items. However, we have been moving house for the past year and while we have waited for the house to be built I have become increasingly more obsessed with planning every single detail of my new bedroom. Also, H&M is super cheap and they are very accommodating to my grey, white and copper needs. And I love their marble trend, too.

H&M HOME

Chopping board - £9.99 / Vases, pots, bowls and candles - £4.99 - £13 / Throw - £40 / Basket - £7.99  Jar - £13 / Tray - £15 / Bedding - £30

Saturday 25 July 2015

SPOTTED @ ZARA

I've been spotting things again... and ordering them. I really liked my quick little 'SPOTTED:' post I did about the River Island Cami Bikini Tops (here) and I thought I would post this gem I spotted in the Zara sale... £50ish to £22.99 is my kind of bargain. I love the subtle two-tone and I have been searching for a bag for ages with a zip, a hand and shoulder strap and handy compartments. This ticks all boxes but has proven very difficult to find! Preferably I wanted black but this caught my eye and was too pretty to click away. For the price, practicality and prettiness, I just couldn't leave it alone.

SPOTTED @ ZARA

I am travelling a lot in the next two months as well and the size means I will be able to get in lots of travel essentials and although it's not quite big enough to use as a hand luggage bag when you have nothing else, such as a bag in the hold, it will fit inside my suitcase and I can fill it with travel essentials! I'll be posting soon something along the travel essentials line, so stay tuned.


Tuesday 14 July 2015

Acrylic Nails / The Low Down

Today I got my acrylics taken off after having them since the end of May. They were great for my birthday and leavers ball and other events I had going on (see my catch up post) but after a couple of them snapping and having them for nearly 2 months they began to annoy me and become inconvenient so I decided to get them taken off before my holiday. I thought I'd tell you how I got on with them and what I think of them as well as my plans to get my nails back on track now that they're a little thin and brittle.

Getting them on and the process // My boyfriend's sister did all of my acrylics for me including the full set, infills and removal and after seeing the care that she did it with I would not go to a nail bar to get them done or let them use a drill on my nails because she managed to keep my nails in the best condition possible (although acrylics will make your nails brittle). The filing on your actual nail does make me cringe a little bit but it's something that just makes the acrylics look as good as possible and why I would not get them re-done every few months. The couple of my nails that snapped off (three snapped in total) are now much thinner and tender than any of my other nails and will definitely take longer to return to their 'normal' state.

snapped acrylics hurt 

when I first got them on

Getting them off and aftercare // As I said, I got my nails done as a treat to myself for things I had going on and they did feel really special and great for a while but after I started working more now that it's summer it became a bit of a hassle and I was catching them on things which was quite painful so I just decided to get them off so that in the sunshine they would grow and breathe. I am actually now using O.P.I's Nail Envy which I applied after getting them off so I will report back in a couple of weeks to let you know how I have got on with it and whether I think it's worth the huge price tag! My nails could be in an awful condition but actually aren't too bad and they have grown to the length that my acrylics were and I'm hoping I can keep them like that!

freshly off and coated with nail envy

freshly off and painting with nail envy

Thoughts // I would not be one to have acrylics all the time or for no reason but I think I would consider them getting them again for a special occasion in the future. I would be even more up for it if this O.P.I Nail Envy works wonders on my nails so I'll let you know!

the day before I got them off

my new best friend


Have you gotten acrylics before? What did you think and would you get them again, or do you have them all the time? And have you ever used Nail Envy and how did it work for you?



Wednesday 24 June 2015

SPOTTED: RIVER ISLAND BIKINI TOPS

These are my perfect bikini tops: a little bit of push and holds everything in. I don't have the biggest boobs so triangle shaped bikinis don't do anything for me and I love something that really holds everything. I saw these on Lucy Watson's Instagram and loved them straight away. For only £15 they are, in my eyes, a bargain and the bottoms that they match with them are also lovely and relatively cheap with around 8 colours to choose from. There is also a limited edition version of this bikini with a different pattern on each side that has a small cut out in the middle. I might have to pick up two....

#1 spotted


Sunday 21 June 2015

Turning Eighteen & Leaving School | June Catch Up

I've been light on the posts recently due to exams but on Wednesday I finished and am now a free woman for the next 18 months before I go to university in 2016. I'm taking a gap year which I have losely planned but will be looking into much more very soon! I wanted to do a catch up post to update you as I've had lots on recently while I've been away.


It began with the last ever day of school and the beginning of study leave. This was celebrated appropriately with drinks and 90's songs after a primary-school-esque sports day took place followed by a BBQ and getting our year books and leavers hoodies. In our leavers assembly we were shown a great video which had been in the making for months (youtube here) which featured everyone and this was followed by a light hearted game of Take Me Out.




On the Saturday was speech day, at which I did not win a prize but it was the final taste of school assemblies and every one got all dressed up. When I got home I was met by suspiciously early birthday decorations and a shout of surprise from my nana, aunt and uncle along with 3 of my closest friends, brother and mum. I got a beautiful Russian wedding ring which will be featuring in many posts, I'm sure as well as travelling bits and a big photo frame titled '18 Shades of Hannah' by my friends.



The next day was my 18th birthday which I spent at Tunbridge Wells Bar & Grill (their cocktails are amazing) which was so delicious and I had loads of my family there and my friends. I then visited the pub in the evening where I was ID'ed for the first time and saw some other friends. I was lucky enough to get a trip to New York with my dad and a trip to Budapest for me and my boyfriend from my mum as well as a trip up the Shard in London and money towards my travels. I felt so lucky and spoiled that day and I wish that it didn't have to end! The day afterwards I had to go straight back into revision for my A2s.







I then got to drop revision for another day for a wedding. I haven't been to a wedding since I was about 9 so I really enjoyed myself. It was such a beautiful day and I had been excited about it for so long so Congratulations to Sam & Grace!







The end of exams was then kindly upon me. Me and my friends went to the local pub for ice cream sundaes to celebrate (something we had been planning for a long time) and spent the evening drinking fizz with a rather drunken game of articulate and not so great renditions of Mamma Mia songs. Beginning of freedom!



There is a big forest by my house which takes part in the forest tour and this year Tom Odell was playing. I saw him last year at Benicassim although I was sat on the grass. My mum loves him so we and my boyfriend all went to see him and he is great on stage. He was supported by Rae Morris as well who I really like at the moment and both of them were excellent. I wouldn't see Tom on his own again but if he was playing at a festival I would go see him.




Finally, my last ever school event. My leavers ball was held in a marquee in the head boys garden which was brilliant because they were able to do everything the way we wanted to. It was a fantastic night (although I took my shoes off when there was lots of glass around and hid lots of jelly shots in my bag although it just filled my bag with jelly...) and something which I'll really treasure because the people in my year are great.



So that brings my life up to date and today I have spent the whole day watching OITNB as I promised I wouldn't start season 3 until I had finished my exams. Its so great to be home with nothing to do (except go to work a couple of times a week) and I'm so glad that exams are over. I have a couple of exciting things planned for summer like going to Liverpool to visit my cousin for a week and going to France to meet my boyfriend who went to Russia today for 6 weeks. I can't wait to enjoy this freedom!