Round up and new shiny things!!

Sorry its been a bit of a while since my last post (excluding the new hair one) but I've been a little busy then we had the fiancé's parents up for 4 days so that was a very busy few days. As you can probably tell from my last few posts I like using pictures to highlight my posts, the following will be very picture heavy hehe 

We will start with Valentines Day. Now I love it, excellent excuse to act like a complete goof with the one you love. Now dont get me wrong I dont need an excuse to act like a goof or to spoil the fiancé by buying him gifts I do this quite often but Vday is special as there a nice cards and goofy gifts to choose from. I also like being able to go out for a nice meal without feeling a little guilty for splurging or it being an anniversary also its nice to celebrate love in general. This year we went out for dinner on the Tuesday then to save some money went for £5 gift limit plus a card. (love card factory!! nice cards that dont cost a bomb)

Clockwise: Cards, gift for fiancé and my gift from fiancé.

Me in my Valentines woolly hat (sporting my new sweep fringe) 

Next ... fun stuff and new stuff!!! starting with Cadbury's Egg and Spoon's, my new phone case from the fiancé and then my foray into knitting!

These were awesome!!

STITCH!!! He's awesome, the ears are retractable!!

  

I'm knitting a chunky headband, hopefully hehe

Next stop new things from fiancé's parents, a new tea pot and mug and then my beats!!

Cute teapot from Manns of Cranleigh! First brew, a fruity red berry tea, also new.

 

New white Beats! and my awesome awesome hair!!

Finally new things from the Metrocentre!! Primarné scarves, geek glasses and DORK tank top. 

 

Blue & Cream pattern cotton, Grey Sugar Skull chiffony, Black & Flowery chiffony, Pink Owl print snood!

  

Dork T complete with geek glasses then a close up of my new tortoise shell geek specs! 

Finally a pic of me and the fianceé to close up the post, because frankly we looked damn good LOL 

xXx 

New Hair ... eek!

So the other week I went for a haircut and as always the few days before I ventured onto google to see if I fancied having a change of style. Every few months I get a bit fed up with my hair and contemplate a big change, its very rare that I actually go for the dramatic but there are a few times I have. The first was in second year when I went from having shoulder blade length black hair to shoulder length choppy layers. 

After that I  started tying up the underneath and making an imitation bob. Then in third year I decided to get my hair stripped and go red. After a we moved I let my hair grow out a bit as I couldn't really decide what I wanted to do, unfortunately it didn't really do what I wanted so had to be chopped. Leeds hairdressers were awful. 

 

Along with different hair length and styles I have toyed with different styes of fringe. At first I really liked the sweep then it got irritating it started doing a curling thing above. Then I got quite short layers cut in and ended up with a sort of full fringe however it then started making me feel like I had a little round face :( 

So I have gone back to a sweep fringe, which I am trying my best to learn to style. Problem is my hair has decided to curl right when the fringe is supposed to go right. I spoke to the hair dresser and she says to give it a bit more weight/length but took some weight out of the top so it wouldn't go flat. I then had another google to find how I could achieve a nice sweep, it turns out I need a combination of hair drying, light straightening and a firm hold hairspray. Going back to the title of the post ... new hair ... when I was looking about for a new fringe the other week and for a new cut the other month I came across a really cool pic of a girl with lots of choppy red layers with lots of highlights in using pinks and coppers. So when I went for my trim I also booked in for highlights!! Initially I was thinking ombre/dipdyed but my hair isn't really long enough so I went for copper tone highlights.   

Here's me with my foils in getting lightened ready for colour

Now the piesta resistance my copper highlights and left sweep fringe. I love it might get a few more put in next time or a slightly different/lighter copper to compliment.

One of the things I love about this is that I can let them grow out quite a bit before I need them re-done. My only worry is how I am going to do my main hair colour, might have to rope in my mum to help just to my roots. 

Let me know what you think or if you have any tips for dying roots :s I've generally just done whole head so tips would be great. 

xXx

Durham ... a city steeped in history!

So I was talking with one of my friends last night and she asked how Durham was these days. See my friend, C, lives in LA. We met in Durham over 3 years ago and had many a fun filled lunch date or night out. Anyway during our chat C mentioned how she missed Durham and it got me to thinking how much myself and the fiancé had missed Durham last year when we were living in Leeds.

Image from http://www.dur.ac.uk/r.c.widdison/tour/peninsula.html#

It sounds strange because Durham is such a small city but there is just something about it. One of my favourite sights is when you come into Durham on the train and first see the Cathedral, sitting atop the peninsula with the streets sprawling out beneath it.  The minute I see the scene above I know I'm home!

How could you not feel a sense of awe looking at such a majestic building. The whole city is full of hidden treasures of history. You can walk down silver street or up saddler stree full of modern looking shops and restaurants and feel like you in any other small city but just take a look up above the store fronts and you will notice all the old brick work, vintage windows and just a general feel of the old city still thriving while modernity tries to adapt to fit. Take for example Jack Wills on saddler street, if you look up above their store front you will see a stain glass window which has been left in place and proclaims that this is the Robe Makes of Durham. The robe makers have actually moved onto north road but the window still remains. Oh and yes we still have a robe makers, this would be because whilst the Cathedral and Castle are the heart of the city, the University is its central nervous system.

This is another reason I love Durham, the collegiate atmosphere, some people might get annoyed at the students but I enjoy the atmosphere they can bring. The main difference I find between Durham and other Universities is that the buildings are melded with the city. I had matriculation and congregation in the Cathedral and lectures in one of the buildings on palace green, other colleges are hidden throughout the bailey and surrounding area. Aside from Castle and Hatfield the only way you can pick out college or subject buildings is by spotting the little gold plaques by the door. The students are a little easier to spot, look for the standard student attire or various college apparel but for the most part they harmless. A little spoilt but then hey if you go to London you have to wade though hordes or tourists so I wil take the spoilt students hehe 

Clockwise, Lecture rooms on Palace green, Cathedral Knocker,  Palace Green Library and the Market place Horse.

Another key feature of Durham is the market place. This has undergone a bit of an overhaul in the past few years but the overall feel is still the same. Yes the Horse has moved and is now facing the wrong way but hes still there. I cannot count the number of times I have uttered or heard someone utter the phrase, "so meet at the Horse yeah" it has always been a gathering place and before they put in seats one of the only places to sit and eat your lunch. There are two things the market place has lost that I do miss, the first is the cobbles, this is mainly for pure comedy value on a night out watching the female students stumble and fall whilst the rest of us walked over them easily having been doing so regularly since we were 16. The other is the phone boxes, there was a collection of them outside the pub, old red ones that really added something. Now the market place is more open and has been resurfaced. but it is still surrounded by the same old buildings keeping watch and it sill holds markets and fairs at various intervals. My favourite being the food fair with all its european treats and delicacies. 

There are still a few little treats you ca find up on palace green. Namely this old school phone box and vintage post box. Sometimes one of the best things to do in Durham is to just go for a walk. Me and the fiancé have done this on several occasions and in various types of weather. Our favourite route is to walk down from the back of the Cathedral over Prebends bridge and along the riverfront. Its hilarious in the snow and relaxing on a summer evening after a meal out. 

Looking at Framwellgate bridge and then the view of the footpath from Framwellgate bridge

Clockwise, lamp at the end of Prebends bridge, footpath below Framwellgate bridge, top of the steps from the path onto Framwellgate bridge and finally the end of Prebends bridge in the snow.

It is very hard to explain my love of this historic city, it was the first place I went on the bus to go shopping as a teenager, the first place I went drinking, where I graduated from for my Masters, the first place I lived with Fiancé and in May next year I will get married in another historic castle in County Durham, Lumley Castle, then it will be the first city I live in married to Fiancé. So many memories all linked to one small city nestled in the North of England. It may be cold, it may have many hills and it me be small and packed with people at times but I wouldn't change a thing about it for anything. 

Snowy pics of the Cathedral from the river bank and the Castle

My final pic to close this post is of me and C inside the Cathedral the summer we met. So many memories of good times with great friends in an amazing city. 

xXx

Nails!!!

So the last couple of months I've been getting back into painting my nails. I love long square nails, most of the time mine look like talons and more then once people have assumed they are fake when I've just got a coat of clear on.

I used to paint them all the time, mainly black when I was a kid but then I started mixing it up. I loved it so much I would paint them on Monday nights after cadets then take it off for Friday session and repeat the following Monday hehe 

Then I kinda stopped wearing it for a while, mainly at uni. I think it was because they chipped all the time and I hate chipped nail varnish. Then last year the Fiancé's sister introduced me to Rimmels nail repair which has worked wonders, my nails are stronger and as such they dont bend as much so the paint doesn't crack. They still wear along the edge which is annoying as hell but hey I've got hoards of different paints and you can pick them up dirt cheap now so having to add an extra coat after a few days isn't going to break the bank. 

Anyway I just thought I would share a couple pics from my recent forays into nail painting. I've decided to get some nail art tools so I can use some of my brighter colours to dot or line etc There are so many ideas floating around on Instagram and people post great pics of each stage so you can follow them like a how to. 

The first pic's were inspired by Fianceé's sister V and some pics of a current trend. For her Bday in November V had shellac done with her ring fingers done in gold glitter and the rest black, it looked ace!! The glitter was amazing and super shiny. So one night when I was bored I decided to paint my talons but instead of doing them all one colour I used contrasting colours. 

Cream base with brown ring fingers!!  This is using Rimmel Nail Rescue as a base coat then No7 stay perfect So Simple and Beanie.  Next up were Christmas nails. 

I loved V's shellac nails so much I decided to my own version. I dont have a very nice black polish so this is two different types, two coats of NYV i119A then a top coat of Gallery Colours Black 212 which I think could be from a market stall hehe its a really dark black but doesn't go on the best. The gold is Barry M gold 289. Then at christmas my sister gave me two Barry M crackle paints. I dont have a pic but my first attempt was 17 turquoise with Black crackle over the top, it looked really cool with the splash of colour coming through. Then my next attempt was using the Barry M purple crackle 322, I used 17 light silver for the base. 

The crackle goes on matt so I use a coat of Boots natural collection clear as a top coat. My latest choice is black with silver glitter. 

This is two coats of the NYC black then a top coat of Gallery Colours black. The glitter looks a lot better in person then in the pic, that is two coats of Millenium 212 silver glitter. Last up are a couple pics of my growing nail varnish collection. Most of the large No7 ones I got at Boots using the vouchers where you got £5 of No7 stuff making them £2 each which is awesome for a10ml bottle, the little ones are an xmas gift of Fiancé's rents, so are the little 17 ones. The 17 magnetic is off my mum this xmas and I've yet to try it. Most of the others are ancient, the Maybelline Wet Shine Diamonds I picked up off a market stall down south and its fab makes a french manicure look a little bit different to a plain white and the Pure Ivory is really nice for a base as its not too pink. 

Variety of colours from No7 and 17 

Bit of Barry M, Millenium and OPI. The OPI isn's that good.

The miscellaneous, Rimmel, NYC, Collection 2000, Maybelline and Avon 

These are just my attempts so far and I will write more posts as I have a play about. I am considering buying some Nails Inc polish as my friend has over 100 of them and she swears by them. They also have some really cool colours, just need to save up first as they a little bit pricey.

Bye for now. 

xXx