Latitude Essentials Haul

I'm excited to say that I'm finally going to lose my festival virginity! Its going to be the only chance I'll have this year to have a holiday; but its also my first time ever going away with a guy (yes, I reached 20 with long term relationships and no mini-breaks) so I'm slightly nervous/excited about that however I think being stuck in a car together for 8 hours (4 of those just stuck on the M4) with no arguments or bickering is a fairly good indication. So next weekend I will be venturing off to Latitude in Suffolk, with the boyfriend in tow, and disconnecting from the internet and outside world. Being a festival virgin I had no idea what to take so racked my friends who'd been brains as well as trying to remember what I used to take camping in my teens; my boyfriend seems to think that as I'm fairly girly now I can't handle camping, little does he know that I've done my Duke of Edinburgh and spent my childhood/teens camping at car rallies with my famalam. I think I possibly went a bit mad with everything I got, but seens as its technically my first mini-break I didn't want to completely sacrifice my beauty comforts.

Seens as I got bored before a night out and coloured my hair pink(more about that later), my hair needs looking after. Travel miniatures were on offer 3 for 2 in Boots, so I covered my shower essentials choosing smaller versions of products I already know and love. 

L-R

Ted Baker Origami Body Wash - £2.50

TRESemme Colour Revitalise shampoo

Herbal Essences Beautiful ends conditioner

There's nothing worse than waking up and instantly feeling grim due to a case of hangover/morning breath. So to combat it I went as far to get mouthwash, was hard to resist when superdrug was offering 3 for £3, just wish I'd popped into Superdrug first!

Travel Toothbrush

 Dentyl active ph smooth mint mouthwash- £1.20

Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief

I've always stuggled to keep my skin in check, however have more recently managed to find products and a regime that seems to be working. Despite not being able to take my normal 'kit' with me, I don't want my skin to get all horrid. Nivea have always been my go to wipes due to having sensitive skin, and simple was the safest option regarding a miniature moisture, its also what my sister uses and she has such good skin! 

Simple kind to skin hydrating light moisturizer- £1.50

Nivea daily essentials refreshing facial cleansing wipes- £2.99

Now we're getting down to the nitty gritty essentials. The festival staple babywipes, along with some deodorant wipes to help me cope with not showering daily, along with a jumbo tub of hand sanitizer to make sure me and the boyf don't pick up anything nasty.

Johnson Baby wipes - 88p!

Nivea stress protect 48h antiperspirant- £2.29

Halo deodorant wipes- £1.20

Cuticura antibacterial hand gel

Having greasy hair is possibly one of my biggest worries about next weekend as its something I've always been self conscious about so I've entrusted the fail safe Batiste (in the Red, which hopefully will still be easier to disguise in Pink hair) and trialing a different dry shampoo; as I was finally starting to think about how much I was spending!

V05 Plump me up dry shampoo- £1.69

Batiste dry shampoo Red- £3.99

For piece of mind I bought some travel locks, with 2 keys(So we should be able to keep atleast 1 between us :P ) to allow us to lock either the tent or the compartment with a belongings in it. After having to do my make up in the my tiny compact mirror at my boyfriends this week I realized I would need something bigger for the weekend, it also means when the girls come over before nights out its one less person squished up by the mirror in my room. As lame as it is, I caved and bought a disposable camera, well 2 but they were buy one get one free; friends had bought me one for my birthday and I recently had them developed and I'm a little bit in love with having the old school physical photos. I chose 2 different designs so we could each use one for the weekend and compare afterwards.

Superdrug Glo locks twin pack- £3.49

Everyday value shaving mirror clear (Wilkinsons) - £2.58

Boots Disposable Camera - £8.50

And finally meet Norman the Gnome; everybody says you need some sort of marker to help you find your tent when its dark and your worse for wear, normal people get a windsock or fluro stickers. Me and my boyfriend, being the oddballs that we are, decided it would be funny to get a tent gnome; however whether Norman will live outside the tent is now being debate as the boy is getting very protective of our gnome!

Anybody else heading to festivals this summer and feel like sharing their top buys? Let me know. Hope you're all enjoying the weather. 

fff 

xox

Summer Fashion Wishlist

So it finally feels like summer is here! Managed to have a cheeky BBQ for my Dads Birthday on Sunday, & to celebrate the family being back together again. So here are a few of my lusted after items for summer.

1- Tattoo Floral Teadress, Topshop, £45

2- Cherry Loco Blossom Crown, Crown & Glory, £12

3- Heart Elbow Patch Jumper, ASOS, £22

4- Pushlock Crossbody Bag, Topshop, £35

5- Floral Pencil Skirt, ASOS, £18

With summer coming up and possible day trips and festivals in planning all the pieces are inspired to fit round my plans. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I have a slight obsession with print dresses, so I simply couldn't resist this Topshop tea-dress with its light summery print which I would accessorize with this dainty floral crown from Crown & Glory. I've been lusting after a floral headband for ages to jazz up my summer daytime looks and to also wear for special occasions coming up this and next summer, so I doubt it will be long before I cave on this particular item. An item my wardrobe notably lacks are cover-ups that aren't black, so when I saw this cutely detailed jumper on ASOS it was lust at first site, not to fussy in the details and a basic colour means it adds to any outfit without detracting from the variety of printed items I wear/hoard. Bagwise I've always been in 2 extremes; tiny little clutches suitable for nights out or handbags that accommodate the ridiculous amount of stuff I haul about on a daily basis for uni. This bag from Topshop is a much needed addition, big enough to fit my purse, sunglasses and daily essentials but small enough not to be too much hassle to carry on day trips/festivals. Last but not least in a bid to introduce separates into my wardrobe I chose this bold floral pencil skirt from ASOS, teamed with plain shirts and tee's this could either be dressed up or down depending on my mood.

What are your fave fashion picks for summer?

FFF x

Hometown Glory

Despite Bath being as lovely as it is, I do have times when I do miss my hometown of Norwich, and due to its location most people don't really know what it has to offer and how amazing it it, and fyi I don't know anyone with webbed feet and I've lived in Norfolk my whole life. So here's a few reasons why people should visit Norwich/Norfolk more and my favourite places to go when I'm home.

Despite being a bit out of the way, for those of you that don't know Norwich is on the Bump bit of the country above London, Norwich is relatively easy to get to, with train and road links across the country and is less than 2 hours away from London by train. Norwich is the hub of Norfolk and due to this there are often a lot of day visitors to the centre, the easiest and often cheapest way to get into town is the brilliant Park & Ride service with 6 sites on the outskirts of the city; there are a huge range of cafe's and restaurants that service the city with chapelfield terrace offering the widest variety in one place: wagamamas, cafe rouge, yo sushi! ask italian, giraffe and soon a Gourmet burger kitchen :). However one of my all time favourite restaurants back home is "The Waffle House". Waffles? I hear you ask....yes waffles! Savoury or sweet this restaurant offers the yummiest waffles you can imagine with a variety of toppings, a personal favourite is the ham and cheese sauce waffle, but spag bol on a waffle always goes down a treat. They offer student discount but are fairly reasonable price wise, so if you ever come to Norwich they are definitely worth a visit .

Medium white waffle with ham and cheese sauce....NOM!

In Norwich you have 2 main choices shopping wise, the supersized modern shopping centre Chapelfield, which houses all the highstreet favourites, and the lanes, which is home of all the amazing independant stores.

Despite the ease and huge variety of shops in Chapelfield: H&M, Zara, Warehouse, French Connection, House of Fraser, Schuh, Boots and many more, Its nice to come home and rediscover all my favourite little shops again. I've found amazing presents and vintage finds in these shops and the best of all is the biannual fair they hold, which brings extra stalls and everyone out onto the street, another of my must do things if you're about when they're on!

As lovely as Norwich is by day it actually is pretty amazing for nights out, something that I really didnt appreciate until I moved elsewhere. Pretty much all the main bars and night clubs are within 1 mile of each other, so its easy to bar hop and flit between clubs depending on your mood. Personally I start off at one of the 3 wetherspoons nearby, The Bell, The Glass House or Queen of Iceni (Lloyds), working my way down stopping of at places like Revolution or Essence before heading into either of the 2 big clubs, Mercy & Wonderland. Mercy offers a very polished experience and advertises itself as being the classier of the two, however you do pay for it, so its always best to pre-drink before heading to Mercy. My current favourite is Wonderland due to the good nights they host, propaganda and back to the 90's, and the value of their drinks. I'm definitely taking the girls from uni to propaganda when they visit! Definitely look into Propaganda to see if the night runs near you! 

Enjoy Norwich Lovelies

FFF x

Apologies

As per usual uni work overtook all other aspects of my life, and the blog was one of the first things to get neglected. I've only got a week left now until I finish my first year, but have submitted all my work; despite a shakey start I'm much happier with how I'm doing now I've finished the year. Quite a lot has happened within my blogging absence, anyone who follows me on twitter will have noticed the unexpected arrival of a guy into my life, I've managed to sort out a flat for next year which I cannot wait to girly up with my flatmates, I'm on the waiting list to have my tonsils out (another thing my twitter followers will be very aware of!) and have some exciting opportunities for summer despite the knock back of not being able to return to my old job.
They say it takes 21 days to form a habit...so lets see how far I get this time.
By the way, I'm starting to add buttons for fellow bloggers that I like, the first is Emily from 'Rainy days and cups of tea' who I'll let you know more about later on, or click through to find out for yourself.
fff
x

Tell the World I’m coming home

Sorry about the recent gap in posting, I have lots of half posts started but nothing I felt I could publish yet. In my defense it was coming to the end of term, and I then had to pack and get myself home for the Easter Break.
Despite the time & hassle it takes for me to get home, and it really was a lot of both this time; my train between London and Norwich was cancelled so I was then stranded at Liverpool Street with most of my belongings in various bags and cases, I always enjoy being home. Coming home has become similar to how holidays when I was in my teens used to make me feel, you escape the drama of the daily and things somehow magically get put back into perspective. I'm sure not having to cook/clean/do my washing helps as well.
Coming home just allows me to take a step back from everything and re-evaluate it before diving back into everything, which trust me is quite intense at the moment trust me. So expect lots of reflective posts, a post of me gushing about my home town and other random stuff I feel like spurting out in the next few weeks.
Hope everyone's excited to have time off to spend with friends and family over the long Easter weekend
And a word of advice: Try not to always bump into your ex in town less than 24 hours after coming home!
FFF
xox