Rambling || Life is for living, or is it?

It's 2:14am on Saturday the 21st and I'm awake.

I haven't been sleeping well lately, for the last couple of nights I've been up until 3am and I'm not sure if it's because I feel a lot of pressure right now to sort out my life or the fact I eat soup after 9pm or because I drink tea at 2am.

It could definitely be either of those things, however I feel like pressure is playing a pretty big part right now. It's nearing exam time and I know I should be studying, but it's hard to motivate yourself to study when you know when these exams are done you've got another 5 years of education to go, more studying, more exams....more pressure.

I'm a big believer that life is for living but I'm told by the people around me to hold back for now, to study hard, get a degree and get a good job....but how old will I be then? How many years would I have missed? It's hard to be motivated to do something you don't believe in or are not passionate about. If I'm completely honest with you right now I seem to have forgotten what I was once passionate about. What things do I enjoy? What things made me feel good? What did I used to do to pick me up, to put a smile on my face? I'm an empty shell.

Time flies by and I feel like nothing is accomplished. I spend more time fretting over not living than anything else. People tell me I've experienced a lot of things for my age but I want to experience more, I want to do more, see more and learn that way. I don't want to sit and listen to people tell me what famous psychologists, sociologists and business people found or thought, I want to discover it for myself.

But this is all nonsense. I am reminded on a regular basis that without a degree, I won't get a good paying job and without that good paying job I won't be able to 'live'. So I shall struggle through and we'll soon see where I end up.

Review || Fifty Shades Of Grey (FILM)

On Valentine's Day I headed to the cinema with my best friend and date for the day, to watch Fifty Shades of Grey. As someone who's read all three books and enjoyed them I was very excited to find out how they were going to creatively adapt it into a film.

First of all if you've clicked on here and are anti-fifty shades then can I ask you to read THIS that I wrote and THIS that was written by the fabulous Bethany Worrall.

As we settled into our seats I didn't know what to expect....

However at the end of the film I was very impressed. The film stays true to the important parts of the book. First impression was they cast the wrong people, Jamie Doran (Christian Grey) seemed really uncomfortable throughout the film and not exactly enthusiastic about playing the part, the actor who played Elliot was ok but not the trimmed and tidy gentleman I expected him to be, everyone else was ok but the star for me was Dakota Johnson, with only a few bad acting scenes like when she ''fell'' into the office and when she lost it with Jamie in the red room, apart from that she was exactly like I imagined Anna Steele to be.
Even after the casting disasters as the film continued Jamie started to grow on me and I started really enjoying the story line. I went in with medium expectations however I came out really impressed and actually pretty gutted with the cliff hanger it ended on. I will be buying this on DVD and I will also be taking another trip to the cinema when the next one comes out.

Will you be watching Fifty Shades?

Have you read the books?

Twitter | Bloglovin' | Instagram 

Family || Our Bluestone Break*

On the 19th of January at 6:00pm we packed up our cars and my fathers parents and headed on our way to Bluestone.

We arrived late about 8:30/9pm it was dark but we got checked in by a lovely receptionist and given a map to our lodge. Unfortunately navigating in the dark wasn't great and I'd strongly recommend you arrive in daylight!
When we arrived, we were all hugely impressed with our accommodation. The heating was on when we arrived so it was warm! We ate in on the first night around the big table in the kitchen and watched Silent Witness.

The next morning I booked myself, dad and Tirion in for an archery lesson. We were the only ones booked in for any activities that day due to the rain but we had a fabulous time none the less, the instructors were informative but also fun!

That evening we had a meal at The Farmhouse, I can imagine The Farmhouse is lovely in Summer however in January, in the cold it was freezing and this is no fault to staff or Bluestone it's the way the buildings built. Regardless we moved closer to the fire and enjoyed an AMAZING meal.
I had the lamb shank which was perfection.

The next day it was spa day for me and mum. I booked myself in for an aromatherapy massage and mum for a head, neck back and shoulder. We were greeted by reception and given robes and flip-flops and sent to change in a fabulously decorated changing room. We then met our beauty therapists, mine was called Ruth and I highly recommend her! She was fantastic....funny and energetic but then highly professional as soon as I lay on the table....I have never felt so at home and comfortable in my life.

After our treatments we went and tried out the thermal rooms, sooooo many to choose from and all to different tastes. I liked the ice room and the herbal room. Mum liked the traditional wooden sauna. But there was one other thing to do before we left and that was to try the OUTSIDE hydrotherapy pool. OH M G. I have never experienced anything like this before, although freezing outside the pool was warm and relaxing, we looked up at the blue sky and couldn't believe it had been raining some time earlier that morning.

When we got back from the spa we had a lovely lunch and started packing. We all arrived home refreshed, relaxed and impressed.

For those people who are thinking of booking or have already booked your stay I have a few tips for you.
*Make sure you take enough food, drink and snacks. (We didn't) - There is a shop there but it's a little walk and it may not have what you fancy.
* The self catering cooker is touch screen (Grandma spent ages trying to work it out)
* Take plenty of jumpers, even with the heating up it can still take awhile to warm up.
* Pre book activities days in advance if possible
* Definitely pre book the spa weeks in advance

Huge thanks to Bluestone for getting in touch and booking our accommodation for us!

Thinking of going to Bluestone? Booking Bluestone? Been to Bluestone? 

Let me know! 

Twitter | Bloglovin' | Instagram 

Beauty || Contouring with e..l.f

Mum and I recently attended a Make Up Master-class at the e.l.f store in Cardiff. The class was basically about the different types of contouring and how it differs for each face shape.

Here are some of the products that the e.l.f MUA's used. 

The first type of contouring was a day contouring which was demonstrated by the lovely Hannah! She showed us how using very few products you could change your face shape.

The next look we learnt was the Kim Kardashian Iconic contour. Which was demonstrated by Antonia.

And finally Emily demonstrated the 2015 contour which has been up and down the catwalk recently.

It was an awfully informative class, I feel like a learnt so much about contouring! I had a go the next day and one of my colleagues in work said how wonderful my make up was and asked if I'd changed anything. I think the Kim Kardashian contour is quite a bold contour and I'm a bit nervous about giving it a go at the moment but the day contour is so quick and easy!
Mum also had the time of her life and won a social media competition!

Keep an eye out on Twitter and Facebook for the elf stores next Make Up Master-class dates that will be revealed the end of February!

Do you contour? Which contour do you use?

Twitter | Bloglovin' | Instagram 

Corsets || Corset Story*

I love trying new things so when I was approached by Corset Story one of the biggest international retailers of corsets I decided this was my opportunity to take a couple of steps out of my comfort zone. I've always been fascinated by corsets and the wide range of designs.

My Corset Story experience

This was my first time ever putting on a corset, I was alone in the house and decided to see if I could conquer it alone. How very wrong I was. My beautiful corset hooked in the front but you could adjust it at the back. I'm ridiculously stubborn and instead of adjusting it a little bit to give me more room I forced myself into it clipping it at the front.....and got stuck. I had a minor panic where I thought I might die, (a tad melodramatic). Eventually I managed to unclip and when mum got home she helped adjust it properly.

I think I fell in love with how I feel in a corset. It lifts you up, pulls you in a little. I actually had some sort of cleavage to which was a major perk.

Here's the corset I chose. An elegant simple black one with a beautiful pattern all-over.

Thoughts

The first thought I had on this corset is oh my, this feels really expensive more than the £75.00 price tag. The quality of the product from the wiring down to the ribbon feels like good quality, I've had this corset for over a month now and there's been no fraying of the ribbon or any issues with the wires.

My waist appeared a couple of inches smaller than it actually is and to my surprise it didn't feel uncomfortable. It felt like someone was holding me in. No issues breathing after I adjusted it properly (ha ha)

(More Photos To Come!)

Corset Story are now doing a deal 3 for £75.00 which you can access right here.

Twitter | Bloglovin' | Instagram