Last day of work and the start of the nerves

Yesterday was my last day at work - was odd leaving and knowing that's it for working for a couple of months - if not longer. I'm not sure many people would opt to make themselves unemployed in this crazy economic world and in honesty it does scare me. It's the not knowing how long it'll take to get the go ahead to work but what I do know is that I want to put my four years of university into use and get out of retail. But I guess it's time to be fearless. If we forget the random often generalist conversation i've sometimes blogged or mentioned on twitter some of my work mates have become good friends and it sucked saying goodbye. One made me some fingerless gloves with cute butterfly detailing and they all chipped in to get me a card, some cupcakes from Valerie Patisserie and $125 worth of spending money. I'm not sure what I'll use the money for, but I'm tempted just to spend it on days out or some trips to a nice restaurant.

Truth is I starting to get nervy. Not about me and Joe - everyday I get more certain about us and were we are heading and how this is going to be amazing new chapter for us. It's the being the little girl moving from Yorkshire to America and being the odd one out. I'm naturally shy and the thought of knowing as soon as I talk i'll be different scares me, not really having any friends there won't help matters. I know of some of Joe's friends from facebook but they aren't my "friends" and I don't know how to go about making new ones when I'm not working or doing things. 

Anyway hotel and train tickets to the airport are now booked so i'm battling my way slowly through my to do list. I stumbled upon a load of samples and travel sized products in my drawers from Sanctuary, Clairns and Ecerin which i'm wondering over throwing them away or doing a quick give away. Not sure if sample size products are what people would be interested in winning?

Pack pack packing stress

When it comes to any kind of moving one of the hardest things to do is to go through your stuff and sort. It also makes me realise how much junk i've kept from even before my university days. I still have countless files of my A Level work yet alone from my degrees.When it comes to immigrating everything gets sorted by memories and the potential of being able to replace it in America, so all the vintage crochet patterns get to migrate with me as do English branded nail varnishes. The latter of which is currently standing at 16 bottles - yeah there really is a problem there! I've been sending parcels over to America for the past two weeks - it isn't cheap [averaging about £8 a parcel] but it's worth it knowing i'll have some of my things there already.

To help my head to remain focus I keep writing to do lists - they are huge from sorting out all my banking [yeah still not done that] to my ISA, how to pay off my student loan whilst aboard, getting some dollars, buying some woolie clothes and dying my hair to just start you off. I keep just wanting to sort out the wedding and the honeymoon - that's much more fun. As you can see I do often get the case of head in the sand when it comes to the important things! Hopefully i'll get most of it sorted next week - well I need to really.

Tomorrow is my last day at work, it's been an odd week - slightly like the week you have before the summer holidays when your at school. I haven't been able to get my head into focusing onto things so I guess I feel a bit of a spare part. Plus it's been a quiet week so I've spent most of it filing and listening to some of their random lines they draw up in conversation - like moving to America will mean me putting on weight, wondering if i'm crying about it yet and why aren't I, constantly asking what my parents think about it and how I don't know what Joe's really like because we've never properly lived together.  #sigh. 

If you had to move countries what would you find hard to leave behind? Material or emotionally?

Our Winter Wedding

Yesterday we recieved our confirmation for booking our wedding venue one of the lines made me totally think of Don't Tell the Bride; "Good communication is key to a successful event. We have found that is the bridge or groom is not included/participating in the planning, he/she may have expectations outside of the understood agreements - which may not be accommodated upon arrival". Kinda hard organising a wedding with a massive ocean in between so I've let Joe sort a lot of our plans, he has my dress [hidden I will add]  sorted the date and booked the venue. With the stress of moving and visas I'm glad I've been able to take a back seat and let my boy ironing out the details.

I'd always imagined having an autumnal wedding and that's what we'd set out to have, then things got pushed back to hoping to be married in November [even posting a blog with the date we wanted to marry] only to have it pushed back again. Now with my visa in my passport we booked our date for the start of December; in just over six weeks. It feels so much more real and secure knowing we've paid and booked our date. I've spent the last couple of days on weheartit.com and pin interest searching for winter wedding inspiration - loving the idea of white simple flowers, with a flicker of greens, browns and pale pinks showing through. I'm not really sure what's next to sort, we still need a licence but we can't get that till I move, then rings, flowers and a suit for my boy! Exciting times!!

At what point do you let old friendships fall?

Recently i've been having a bit of a facebook cull when it comes to "friends". I've only ever had 177 "friends" [which is minor compared to some] many of whom were in the same school/university year as myself, yet we wouldn't talk to each other in the street. And if that was the case - they were off to be blacklisted, perhaps that's harsh but with the whole visa lark I don't need to feel like everyone needs to know my business. 

Yet there is one person, well "friend" that i'm having a dilemma with. Let's call this friend C. Myself and C were really close at university when we where thrown together by the university people into living in the same freshers flat. While we're from different backgrounds socially [C being privately educated] we got on amazingly well, spending evenings and weekends talking the world away, we were clubbing buddies and cocktail girlies. This was all before boys. During the summer between first and second year C met her first proper boyfriend, couple this with moving into student housing nights in town decreased month by month, instead of going clubbing she'd rather shut herself in her room. Everything became about her boy. This continued into third year, and although we'd still have our natters, it wasn't the same. 

On leaving university [C went south and I returned to do a Masters] we were still good, not great or as close, but still friends. We'd text, email, facebook; sending the normal cards at birthdays and Christmas. Until it all stopped on her part. While cards from C were always belated, they went from being two weeks late to non existent. I've tried texting, ringing, emailing but never got any reply. It didn't help when my phone died and I lost all my numbers. Yet I know C still used the same email because months later she sent a group email regarding someone spamming it days before. C's facebook on the other hand hasn't been touched by herself or her friends for a good year and a half. 

I shouldn't let it bug me and I maybe it is time to move on and leave it as a lost friendship. But it's the memory of how close we were and the fun we had and in all honesty I do miss C. Maybe we were only a student friendship, thrown together under the circumstances and because those gone, the friendship too vanishes. With my time in the UK running out I'd love to be able to have that catch up chat but i'm not sure emailing C will get me anywhere, and emailing is the only form of communication I have left. Is cutting and deleting her on facebook the final end to that friendship?

What would you do bloggers? Would you risk sending another email and risk a wall of silence? Or would you let it go? Do you miss any lost friendships or have your tried to get them back? 

I'd love to hear your stories because i'm really really not sure what to do.

Image taken from weheartit.com

LIFE: Crackles

Yesterday we went to the arboretum at Castle Howard which is part of the Kew Garden network, for £5 you get to wander around a vast section of international and British trees set in a gorgeous location of rolling North Yorkshire fields. Visiting became a perfect chance of capturing the oranges, reds and yellows of the autumnal leaves and another excuse to test drive the new camera. What I love most about autumn is the colours and the crackles of walking over fallen leaves and the colours they turn. The more I play and learn about this camera the more I come to love it, there's some things I don't fully understand - especially how it changes the f scale [it does it randomly] but I'm fully at home with using the manual setting; which coming from a point and shoot camera to going fully manual is, in my eyes a big jump.

Tomorrow begins my last week at work, five days and then it's bye bye Boots. I began there as a Christmas temp in 2009 after giving up on a job offer to be a university researcher [why?! - long story] then got pulled into the dispensary. Don't get me wrong it has its really good moments and I've learn loads about medicines  but it's not what I went to university [twice] for. I might miss the people but I won't miss the conversation. So our plans are starting to slowly fall into place. Joe booked our wedding venue yesterday while I was out wandering around so that's all nicely sorted - never pictured having a winter wedding and I hope it's dry and not too cold!

And today I finally booked my plane ticket so there's only 16 days left in the UK. Its starting to get very real and nervy lately and there's still lots to do. Next up is a hotel for the evening seeing it's an early morning flight. So my question to you, for your last night in the UK would you splash out for a cosy nicer bed or slum it to save money? Baring in mind I'll be checking out at like 5.30am.

B&W in the country

 Finding the black and white setting on the camera was a bit of an experiment especially when it comes to exposure but the way of learning about fancy camera settings and how to use them to your advantage is to get out there and play. Plus yourself and your camera and you'll find out and learn amazing things. Less then a five minute walk from the parents house is a country lane which throws you right back into the rural world. Off the lane is the allotments where the first and last photograph were taken, the parents grow some flowers there and the b&w tones down the flowers vividness. The dandelion was blowing in the autumn wind which made it catch my eye, I love how the light and the focus makes it look so airy and light, almost fuzzy. At the end of the lane is an old farmhouse, it's slightly lost amongst the back gardens of new homes and opposite is a huge field full of old farm equipment graveyard, old combines, rusty old parts and creaky old out buildings. Moving from this to the outer suburbs of Detroit will be a huge move methinks!

Part seventeen - papers!

It always seems you have to take what the embassy say with a pinch of salt, from not having to pay before your visa until the day, to in reality having to have your payment receipt to actual be allowed to get in and everything else that occurred last week that nearly sidetracked our plans. When the courier lady declared it would take at least seven to ten working days before i'd receive my papers and passport I was resigned to not getting anything till next week. Then yesterday I got a text from the couriers declaring my visa papers would be delivered tomorrow [as in today]. I was nicely shocked to say the slightest! No doubt I probably annoyed people having to have another day off work but I needed someone to be home to take the parcel, with my ID and sign for it, it's my problem so I couldn't ask my parents to do it really plus with nine working days left at work [well eight now] they'll have to get use to being a man down.

One thing I always hate about waiting in for parcels or delivery people no matter what it might be, is their lax timing for arriving, anywhere between 8am and 6pm - well that's helpful! I was expecting it to be more at the latter end of the scale but surprisingly it was here by 9.30am! Good times. They lady I had part of my interview with at the embassy told me what to do with it once i received it, you have to open it in a certain way so you don't damage or tear the inner envelope. So inside is this hugely A3 paper envelope with huge declarations how I'm not allowed to open it or pack it into my suitcase and how only immigration in Detroit airport can open it when I go through the grueling immigration questioning. Luckily they returned my passport within which they've stuck in a fancy new colourful pages (very much like the design of the American passport) with a new photograph of me, my visa details on it and when I have to get my arse into America by (April 2012). So that's it, I have my papers, I can fly and (hopefully) enter and be with my boy! I should probably be looking at flights but I keep feeling I'm running out of time for when we originally wanted me to fly (November 4th) I still need to sort my banking out and parcel up stuff to send over. Ahhhhh!

They also resent the photocopy of the guidance regarding k-1 visas and how we have to marry within 90 days of me landing - just in case you forgot while doing your application. Luckily the boy's sorting out a lot of the wedding organisation. We have an eye on a date (December 8th); venue; a place for the meal and my dress is hiding in Joe's closet. Exciting!!

A date with China Glaze

You might think I believe America doesn't have nail varnishes [or lacquer as they call it] with the amounts I'm buying and emigrating with. Nail varnish has become a bit of an addiction lately, after going months without wearing any I now can't go without wearing it, but I will admit to being a bit behind the crowd when it comes to brands and having the top fashionable shades. Going to London was always the perfect excuse to top up, last time it was in buying three Models Own this time I thought I'd expand into China Glaze after working out where Sally's was along Shaftsbury Avenue. From the swatches I did in my hotel room into my note book you can see the three colours [avalanche, fifth avenue and black diamond] which are all China Glaze and the [mushroom] Model's Own. With both these brands I love the huge size bottle your getting [14ml] and the application for both is easy and buys well and fairly quick.

First I've tried China Glaze's Avalanche varnish which is a highly metallic purple silver shade. At Sally's they had China Glaze on 3 for 2 so it was the perfect excuse to test out a range of their products, additionally it comes in huge 14ml bottles so your getting a lot for your money. It applies easily and thickly [I was thinking it was like liquid gold when I was painting my nails] although a second coat finishes it off nicely the thick handle for the brush helps a lot due to it fitting nicely into the hand. Additionally I was nicely surprised how well and quickly it dried, you can see the brush strokes a little - perhaps because of the metallic edge but that might be done to my application rather then the product [who knows?!]. Nevertheless it's really shiny even before applying the top coat. I'm already eyeing up the fifth avenue colour as a potential colour for the wedding day - I think it matches some of the flowers on the dress!

I did really want to buy some OPI varnishes but I couldn't justify one at their price on top of having these four sadly.
 
What varnishes are you currently craving and adoring? What are peoples experiences with magnetic varnishes - really want to have a go with them but i've heard mixed reviews.

LIFE: Sunday Snaps - London Edition

A Sunday wouldn't be a Sunday without my photographs really so I thought i'd take the opportunity to put up some of my London photographs from my trip there last week. Compared to my normal snap happy attitude I really didn't take that many photographs (I even took my old camera!) I guess I was too busy with hitting Oxford Street and my date with the Embassy. I did treat myself to lots of yummy food; Yo Sushi for tea, a trip to The Diner in Soho for some Philly Steak [would highly recommend] and popping into The Primrose Bakery in Convent Garden. The latter was to get a super yummy lemon cupcake, I loved how it came with it's own paper doily it's those little added extras that impress me. When I went to London in August I popped into Lola's in Selfridge's, yet I think Primrose have the edge on yumminess!

One of the fun parts was getting to go shopping, working in York I get bored of seeing the same old and small shops so it was nice having that proper feeling of shopping in a city especially having a wander around Primark no matter how crazy that place always is. I totally splashed out on nail varnish getting some Models Own - spending the last bit of my money on my boots card and getting 3 for 2 on China Glaze in Sallys. I had to grab the American vibe by popping into Forever 21, I do really like that shop, some of the clothes are hit and miss but they are top on jewellery, luckily there's one near Joe so I can't wait to properly check it out.

This week sees the organisation and move getting into full swing, at least that is the plan. First stop getting some things posted out to the boy - things like books and little bits and pieces and then into the more boring but practical stuff like sorting my banking out - where to start with that i'm not really sure. But more excitedly - only two weeks left at work and a date for the wedding!

Part sixteen - the interview

So after all the excitement, perhaps it's time to explain the how's about getting through my visa interview. I guess until your actually there you could read a million web pages and experiences and non of them will be like your own and in reality unless your immigrating you might never ever get to step inside that building. Getting into the Embassy at Grosvenor Square was like going through airport security, you line up with your passport and your interview date ready to hand over, your given a see through bag to empty your coins, belts and keys into [your not allowed to take anything electronic into the building, so phones, mp3 players, key fobs, laptops, batteries are all banned - I left mine in the left luggage in Kings Cross].

After getting through the first line, you queue up for security checks, bags and paperwork go into a box to be X rayed while you walk through the security checking device. Then you walk towards the entrance pass lots of armed guards with very scary guns, but you can understand why. Once your in embassy I was given my identification letter and number, this number is the one I waited to hear being called out to go to my interviews. Until then you sit in what resembles an airport departure lounge, rows and rows of seating all facing screens. After getting into the embassy and sitting down at 8:25am it took an hour before I was called for my first of the interviews. 

The first part involves handing over my original documents - the police forms, birth certificate and my passport, the lady asked me a few questions about how I met Joe, took my fingerprints and went through the immigration process once I land at my "point of entry" [Detroit airport]. Oddly she knew Detroit so she passed on some really useful information about how to sort and where in down town we need to go to do the next steps to adjust my status. After that she told me to sit back down until my number was called again and to fill out the courier form. 

Waiting seems to be what going to the embassy is all about, the second hour wait seemed however to go a lot quicker, and to be honest i did enjoy all the people watching. There was so many types of visas yet along people there, from families, posh city workers, young people, older people, all there to immigrate, and the amount of different passports i saw was amazing. You forget that you're just one person in a sea of millions trying to get to America, I guess it still is a country with a massive draw for people.

An hour later and I was called to see the second person for my more formal interview, checking my fingerprints he got me to swear my details where true, asked about what Joe does for a job, why I was working for Boots with two degrees [I ask myself that a lot] and how we met. He went through my whole file of papers, signing and ticking things - my file is literally one or two inches thick! Than after passing me my documents back and telling me he was keeping my passport he informally just told me go "take your courier sheet to the payment desk because your approved". I walked to the desk with the biggest smile ever on my face.

It will take another 7-10 days to get my passport with all my visa paperwork back then I'm free to enter America and my new life begins. Even two days on from finding out it really hasn't sunk in, next week will be crammed with trying to start sorting everything out. Altogether this part of the "journey" took nine month, we have a couple of months out, we get married and the next steps start all over again.

Thank you to everyone that's ever supported us or wished us well and said well done, it really does mean a lot.

Part fifteen ... approval

This will only be a super short post, I would apologise as I've only just got in from London and i've been up since 6.30. It's been a very emotional and tiring day but i'll save you all those minor details for another post. But the big big big news is that this girl got her visa approved to be with her boy :D [well it still has to be posted to me and things but again minor issue]. Just want to thank everyone who's supported this whole process and "journey" for the past god knows how many months, we know it's not the end but it's a big hurdle out of the way.

Part fourteen - America calling

Today I woke up with that achy feeling you get after crying too much and from not having enough sleep. Two sleepless nights and feeling pushes to the limit with the visa finally took its toll. What didn't help matters was a comment on the visa forum that the embassy wouldn't be open today because it's and American bank holiday so i wouldn't be able to sort my payment out. Something however made me go later into work, something made me give them a call just to see if they were open. And thankfully, they were! So now i'm all paid up, receipt in hand and I can wander off to London knowing that pretty much everything is as sorted as it ever could be.

The next post here won't be till after its all sorted, whatever the outcome. If anyone has any spare luck going, feel free to send it my way! But if you fancy knowing the outcome sooner then it'll probably be getting posted upon my twitter. 

Wish me luck!

LIFE: Tears and Pogs

This weekend has been fairly pants to say the slightest as anyone that follows me on Twitter might have gathered through my random ahhh moments. Work was rubbish all week and it took me to Wednesday to realise that not one of them had asked either how my birthday had been or even what my boy had got me. Charming. The week dragged so bad and to top it all last night I spent most of it crying because I realised I didn't have an "affidavit of support" for my visa application - the world literally went from under me. That is the instance of not being able to understand the [rubbish] information your provided with upon the embassy website. The affidavit is basically a statement from your visa sponsor, in my case Joe that he can fiancally support me until I work, so 24 pages printed out later of tax returns and pay slips we're somewhere closer. Well I say that even though I messed up another element of my interview - one letter said the k-1 visa is paid for prior to the interview, second letter directs you to a PDF declaring you pay on the day, brilliant I thought - i'll just pay on the day. Well no actually you can only pay before, looks like i'll be late to work because I have to pay up tomorrow morning and get an email payment confirmation. I think any luck regarding this visa is actually running out, i'm not confident anymore, i'm so unbelievably stressed and upset about this whole lark. No one can ever tell me immigration is easy, ever.

I slightly stuck my head in the sand, well into a bowl and did some baking this morning, i've been baking a lot more lately and I think i'm improving! Today I baked my first two recipes from the Mary Berry cook book I received for my birthday - making some St Clementine muffins and some vanilla cupcakes, both taste utterly yum! The rest of the day was spent rather much gutting my bedroom for which three huge black bin liners went into the bin find of the day being some of the old pogs I use to play with at school when I was about nine or ten then followed off with a bath - which felt rather posh having one in the middle of the afternoon. It felt good in an odd way getting rid of a load of junk, yet I still think i've tempted fate too much, i'm not sure how I break it to Joe if I fail to get my visa.

Yesterday, when things were still more rosy looking I brought myself a brand new camera. I've been thinking about getting a brand new one to improve on the former 6MP camera that normally is the instrument behind my blog photographs. I ended up buying a Fuji S3300 bridge camera [basically a camera that looks like a DSLR but without the change of lens], I wanted a DSLR but i'm a very lucky girl and i'm being treated to one for a birthday present from the boy, plus we needed a more "everyday" camera that wouldn't take up space needing a load of lenses, I sometimes don't fancy being in the middle of downtime Detroit or going around everyday with a hugely expensive camera. So far so good though, i'm trying to get my head around all the fancy features and trying to opt for the more manual options the first of which is the dying flower head photographed above.

Does anyone else remember playing with pogs? Got any exciting plans for the week ahead?

Part thirteen .. questions, questions, questions

One of the things I panic a lot about when it comes to the visa is all the protential quesitons they might ask about our relationship - the visa i'm on [the k-1] is basically a non immigrant visa which lets me into the USA for 90 days within which we have to marry. Then we attempt to adjust my status and that's another battle in itself. First we need to prove we have a proper relationship, and it's more then just showing you have the odd photograph together. I know I shouldn't worry - because what we have is proper and i'm not mail order bride, but its the not knowing what they want to hear. The questions [well sample ones you can find on the internet] are pretty straight forward but drive you in circles dusting over the "how did you meet", birthday dates, addresses, places of work then needing to know things like;

When is your birthday - your in trouble if you don't know this one me thinks ...

What is your fiancées designation at work ... i'll tell you after i've worked out what designation means ... job er social worker?

Did you have an engagement party ... are you for real? It's hard enough trying to get to see each other yet along get a party organised for an engagement. To be honest I know few couples who ever have had an engagement party.

What do your parents think of your engagement and did you make a formal announcement ... no comment - swiftly moving along ....

Why are you getting married in the U.S and not your home country ... cuz we just are, i can't really explain why apart from me hating my job, hating living at home and Joe having a career, a job, a car, a cat ...

Do you understand your finances language ... well he does use funny words like sidewalk, freeway, trunks, pants for trousers but I can improve it ...

Can you show proof of your arrangements to marry - to be honest this is rich. Countless countless times your reminded NOT to book any plans or flights or weddings because you might just not get your visa, so why would you go booking venues and send out dated invites when your wedding might not happen?! All we have is some stamped out invites and a wedding dress hung up in my boy's cupboard.

The easiest of the questions though; what do you love about your ficance  ... he's my best friend, my rock, my guy that I giggle with, he's caring, affectionate, passionate, sweet, caring, and funny. I love how he makes me feel inside, and i love the tingles I get with him. Why wouldn't I want to be with a guy like that?!

The adjustment of status questions are even worse - requesting details of your housing arrangement and where you keep your rubbish in the kitchen apparently sometimes I wonder how many "normal" relationships could answer those questions. But I think i'll worry about these questions first.

So please Mr Visa don't think what we don't have isn't real, it made be based over a huge distance and we may not physically have spent loads of time together, but I know damn sure what we have is amazing special ... how else have we managed to do this for over two years?!

Head down and back to swotting!

Day to night

Times Square

Central Park

Washington Square Park

I somehow stumbled over Stephen Wilkes works on a wander around the internet, images of different New York landmarks from Times Square to Central Park. The images are taken across 24 hours and then merged together, often producing one image featuring between 30 to 50 images. The end results offers a glimpse into the city that really doesn't sleep, yet a somewhat eerie element of time never stopping, playing with light and darkness.

I'm a bit sort on blog inspiration at the moment, i'm not really buying anything because of moving because i'm trying to save suitcase space and my head's having a constant panic about my interview next Wednesday. I try not to ramble on about it because it makes me panic more, I don't want to tempt fate and i'm not sure how repetitive I sound by posting it a lot. Plus I just feel like i'm having a rubbish week.

So bare with me, it'll be back to normal soon catch me on twitter until then.

Article from which the above images where taken from can be found at the Daily Mail website.

Give away winner ....

After what seems an age since I started the MUA heaven and earth palatte give away I'm pleased to announce the winner as .... Nadin who blogs over at Happiness Blvd. While her laptop is currently fried at the moment [how I know that tale too well myself] her blog is a fabulous showcase of make-up, beauty and life. I'm more then happy that the palatte will be going to a good home and definitely go check her blog out!

Thank you for everyone that entered - it was real fun running it and i've definitely caught the bug to post some more, it was rather exciting working all your enteries out and using random.org to pick the winner. I've managed to gather together some samples [Clarins and Dove among others] which might just be the next give away in forthcoming weeks so stay tuned if you fancy being up for that!

Nadin - i'll email you and we'll sort the details about posting you your goodie!

October Calls

So that is September down and now we roll into a rather hot October. October is going to be the make or break month regarding my visa, i'm very very excited yet nervy at the same time. In ten days I have my visa interview which will be the conclusion of nine months of the visa adventure, i'm actually having to swot up on my relationship, learn all those facts about the family of your OH and knowing point down to where he works, lives, where he was born. Its odd having to dissect your relationship into such detail. I even handed in my notice last week even though that's a massive thing to do in the tempting fate lines. I just couldn't face having my interview and having to work the four weeks notice on top of that. They seem to be messing me over on holiday pay and days i'm owned and making me change all my days off to help other people and la la la. I really can't wait to leave. I'd rant about the company but I won't go along those lines.

But being a planner and organiser, I had all my days off sorted into gutting my room but everything has been thrown into the air and I have this huge panic about running out of time to properly sort through my things. Today I managed to [re]find three lush bath bombs and one lush soap, they look like they might have been there a few years [the date on one labels is 2009 I will admit] but I'm sure it'll be fine - I'm rather looking forward to having three baths to use them up!

When I wasn't sorting [or eating those yummy cupcakes from the boy] today was spent having a BBQ - who'd have thought that would be possible in the UK in October and I've had my head in Shopping, Seduction and Mr Selfridge - about the history and life of the man behind that London shop - it's very interesting! Now it's time to work out who won the MUA giveaway - exciting stuff!

Have you ever re-found anything exciting? What you all looking forward to this October?

LIFE: Now i'm 25 ...

It's odd saying i'm now 25 [as of yesterday] feel like I should be growing up and not living at home, nevertheless it was rather nice actually having a birthday with some sunshine, that's a rarity! I came home to find a HUGE interflora box with these gorgeous flowers from my boy - i'd love to tell you what all the flowers are but my knowledge is limited to merely the pink roses, lilies and orchids. Then there was a second red box filled with the most yummy personalised chocolate cupcakes. All from my boy - i'm a very lucky girl. The rest of the presents are from my folks - including luggage tags, travel adaptors, a Mary Berry cookbook [since I love seeing her in the Great British Bake Off] chocolate and hair stuff. I got some money too, just need to work out which camera I want to put it towards - it's a hard decision!

I thought it was about time to mention that I finally jumped into the bandwagon and got a Twitter. Half of it's due to forthcoming changes with this blog and half starting to hate all the changes on facebook and how suddenly hard it is to navigate around. There's something more fun about twitter when it comes to posting my random rambles. If you fancy following along then please do!