Worldwide Wardrobe: New York City

Worldwide Wardrobe 2013: New York City 

Zara shirt - £39
H&M trousers - £25
Zara shoes - £46
ASOS necklaces - £15
Accessorize Clutch - £57
Accessorize Bracelet - £15
Total - £197

This is my entry to the very popular and amazing competition Worldwide Wardrobe from travelsupermarket.com If you haven't heard of it then you must check it out because the prizes are just too good. In brief, you have to create an outfit with £200 or less for a city and situation and then a winner is picked! You can put forward an entry for all the destinations if you want, but I just focused on the one of my dreams - cocktails in New York City. Enough, said. 

I've never been to NYC and if I got the chance to sip some cocktails whilst pretending to be Carrie Bradshaw, this is the killer outfit I would pick. The shirt from Zara is a classic piece that you could wear on a number of occasions and style it with different accessories to create your desired look. I chose a pair of pleather trousers to give my outfit some texture and edge without going overboard with a crazy pattern, which you can see I have saved for my clutch bag. The Aztec pattern is huge again this season and I think this Accessorize clutch has it all. Picking out the turquoise in the clutch I have chosen a necklace and statement bracelet to compliment, think classic meets bohemian. Finally, the shoes. Oh the shoes. This is the style of the moment and the silver studding just tops it off. I want them and I want them bad. 

Let me know what you think of my outfit choice and also links if you enter as I'm kinda obsessed at looking at people's outfits for this competition! It all closes on the 5th of June, so enter here

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It's not OK...

Image from weheartit

I did an It's OK post a little while back that got a good response, so thought it was mighty time to do an 'It's not OK' post to moan about things that are just not OK. Let me know what you think as I may do these as a monthly feature, I know, you can't contain yourself! Let's get to it...

It's not OK...
To be in a public toilet and think "Please let that bit of liquid that's touched my bum cheek be water and not someone else's wee" who are these seat wee'ers? Stop it, stop it right now.
To refer to a breakfast as a buffet when it doesn't include croissants. Seriously, it aint no buffet without some baked goods.
To listen to someone tell you their name and then call them something different when you've just met them "Hi, I'm Katie" "Ah, nice to meet you Kate!" (I did this at uni a lot when I met people haha).
To say LOL instead of actually laugh. We've all done it, but yeah pretty sure it's not OK.
To indirectly tweet or write status's about people and then not spill the beans. Grow some balls and stop asking people to inbox you!
To abbreviate words, but actually make them longer than they were originally. I said 'what's on teev tonight?' the other day, just no.
To wear band t-shirts and not know who the band is. I don't think this is a major no no, but at least google a song or two so when questioned by someone (usually a group of lads) you don't look like a complete moron.
To wear sunglasses in doors and/or when it's raining. If your from England like myself then I know we all live in a state of despair where we long to wear sunglasses for more than one weekend in June, but you look ridiculous holding an umbrella, at night, wearing shades.
To get your phone out in the cinema. This is just a general moan of mine that I thought I would share. If you are one of these film txt-ers then I'm sorry, but we can't be friends.
To tell your friend she looks good in something when she looks terrible. This also works when they ask you if they should keep something they once made the mistake of buying. As a friend it is your duty to tell them that the striped sock like scarf they had from their emo days is never coming back into fashion.

I'll leave you with a quote from a random stranger on Saturday "The only problem with the sun coming out is a Mr.Whippy ice cream just can't handle the heat. The minute you've been given it, its melted all over your hands, its upsetting really" (we even moan in the sun here!).

Image from weheartit

Top 5 Beauty Handbag Essentials: London Beauty Hub

 

Some of you will already know this if you read my blog normally, but I do a weekly post for a new beauty website called London Beauty Hub that launched in January this year. I basically do a 'Top 5' post every week where I pick a product or trend that I want to cover. I got the job because I wanted the writing experience and as I work flexi time (FYI: flexi is da bomb) I have a few afternoons spare when I've done my weekly hours. So, check it out if you want to, this is the link for this week's post 'Top 5 Beauty Handbag Essentials' 

 

Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions for next week's topic! Also, I would love to know if you guys work for anyone else doing any writing or beauty related stuff :)

 

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Berlin: Part 2

Welcome to the next installment of my trip to Berlin! If you missed the first one click here cause you know what? It was pretty sweet.

Day 3
So, day three started with a teeny lye in because of the previous evenings cocktails and rocking out in the underground rock bar. After some breakfast we got up and strolled to the Reichstag, which was about a 15min way away.

 My feet seem to disappear in this picture...magic shoes!



 It's so hard to take a photo of yourself with a historical building in view. Also, we are so like Chandler from Friends - goons!

After that we walked the two mins over the road to Brandenburg Gate, which was also amazing to see as it's where so many historical speeches from Hitler and his party were and of course the hotel where MJ hung his baby out the window is near it!

We then wandered in a straight line because that takes you to Museum Island which is (you guessed it) a roundabout with lots of museums off it - genius!

 There university is a little posher than Bournemouth's!

One of the many memorials

We went to the German History Museum, which we both really enjoyed. It's a great museum to learn about German history as a whole and not just the war related aspects, both very important obviously.

This guy's name was Keith, which cracked me up.

After wandering round the museum we went for a terrible lunch at some place called Andy's Diner (I think). If you are in Berlin, avoid. After feeling slightly unsatisfied we hopped back on the underground and went back to the hotel for a bit of a rest before another evening of eating and drinks!

We went for an Indian in the Kreuzberg area, thankfully the food was much nicer and we got free tequila shots - bonus. We didn't go out clubbing, but this is a huge area for clubs if you ever go to Berlin. Just a quick note though, almost all the clubs are in old warehouse type buildings, off the main streets and underground so do expect to be surrounded by people coming out of the station and then nobody.

After our Indian we paid 2 euros for a photo booth snap (they are dotted along various streets, so you just hop in), which you have to do in Berlin - cheeeeeese!

Day 4
On day 4 we went to a very pretty part of Berlin called Pretzlauerberg, that is suppose to resemble Barcelona in the summer months. It was still very pretty in the snow, just less beers and more coffees on the go.

I had their version of a cuppa and a cheese and ham croissant. Seeing the colour of tea through a glass does make it less appetizing and a little hot to handle, but it tasted like tea so I'm not complaining.

We then went to see some of the Berlin wall, which is right outside one of the tube stations. There's a fairly large section of the wall with information about the wall and how it was used in the war. It's a bit like an outdoor mini exhibition! Watch yourself when you have photos taken though, as there is a lot of chewing gum stuck to the wall... hair + gum = nightmare. I kept my distance and hoped for no sudden gusts of wind!

After this we went to the Topography of Terrors, which was so good. If you are going to Berlin and you want to learn about the war in as much detail as possible (who doesn't) then this is the place. Let me put it this way, if you don't know much you will leave here knowing all the minute details that got Hitler into power and how he continued to stay there. The museum shows you all the buildings the Gestapo operated in and takes you right up to the present day (pretty much) and shows how the Nazi party operated and the aftermath of Hitler's reign.

Our next stop was Checkpoint Charlie...

 

 

 

After all of this, it was getting pretty late and of course we were getting hungry (we love food way too much), so we consulted our Lonely Planet guide and decided to head for a delicious sounding Thai restaurant called 'Good Time' - great name - in Hausvogteiplatz

First off, thank you Lonely Planet! Good Time was literally good times, the food tasted so good we didn't want it to end! They had really nice candles for mood lighting, so all my pictures were way too dark and did not do the food justice, but we had:

The best prawn crackers in the world, ever. 

One gigantic prawn cracker, loads of normal ones and then these little wafer thin ones, plus a truly magical satay sauce
Duck with spring onions and plum sauce in pancakes

We then shared...
A pork penang curry & a beef dish with chilli and peppers
Jasmin Rice (came with the meals)

All washed down with singha beer and coca cola

 

The restaurant had an open kitchen, so you could see all of the food being cooked and there was a very welcoming and authentic atmosphere. We paid a total of 40ish Euro's for the above and would recommend. 

Feeling full and happy, we headed back to the hotel to relax before going out for a few more drinks (of course!)

 

Hope you enjoyed this post, bit of a long one! Stay tuned for Part 3 coming soon. Have I tempted you to visit Berlin or made you reminisce from a previous trip yet? 

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It's OK...

Did Jesus really say this or is it a song? (shaky fact alert) image source here

Thought I'd mix it up a little and keep you on your toes with a new style post. Not actually that creative because these types of things are everywhere, but they always make me smile.

It's OK...
To be a 'beauty blogger', yet on many occasions only paint the toenails on the toes that can be seen through your high heels
To consider reading a few chapters of a book as having read the whole book "Oh yeah I read the first Harry Potter"
To wear underwear that doesn't match because nobody really has their life that much together
To believe that eating a salad at lunchtime makes eating an entire Easter egg when you get in from work completely acceptable
To use face wipes all the time because you know what life is too sort for the use of mini cotton wall pads all over your face
To have no idea what most the #trends on Twitter actually mean and then have to Google them
To get a new camera, leave it on the 'smart-does-everything-for-you' setting and then add 'photographer' to the wide range of skills you have on your CV (like Joey from Friends)
To still show your mum what recent purchases you made and keep convincing her that £80 for THAT much stuff is a bargain
To start waving goodbye so you don't have to hug someone, thus creating a 'wave wall'
To introduce a 'shaky fact' into a conversation and then when people question you, insist that you read it somewhere in a book because that means its obviously true...

There you go, some things that I think are OK. Add yours onto the comments and leave your blog links, so I can make sure I'm not on my own with these (awkward).

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March beauty favorites

As my brother just put it "It's like we've just gone straight from Winter to Summer and skipped spring" HELLO SUNSHINE! As the sun made an appearance, I took the opportunity to use my new camera (still practicing) and catch some rays - let's jump into it...

There have been quite a few beauty favorites I have been loving in March, so I will keep them as short and sweet as possible:

Lady Million Perfume by Paco Rabanne
It just smells so good. It's like the right mix of girly and edgy and it lasts really well. I mentioned before that two of my friends from uni Jess & Fran used to wear this all the time, so it reminds me of them and good times at University which makes me instantly happy. Does anyone else have fragrances that you go back to because of their nostalgic qualities? or just me creepily smelling my friends...

Max Factor Smooth Effect Foundation - Buff Beige
Always in my make up bag as its great for when I don't have much of a tan and need something a little more subtle. It has quite a matte finish I think, so it's good if you have oily or combo skin types. Only downside, its pretty small so I get through it quite quickly as it's not a very heavy coverage. It's only £7 ish though and if you shop in Boots every week like me you get money off and vouchers all the time anyways.

Benefit Erase Paste - No 1 Fair
I've only had six hours sleep can you tell? oh no you can't my friend. Still loving this, click here for more deets as I have over talked it already!

Topshop Ooh La La LipstickI mentioned this here and here as it's a recent purchase. It's so summery and just the right shade of coral that isn't too in your face - perfect for daytime and nights out!

MeMeMe Fat Cat Mascara
I got this mascara in a Glossybox a while ago, but only just needed to use it and I have to say I was really impressed. I was coming to the end of my mascara and thought it would be good to take a new one with me to Berlin. I was worried that I would regret taking a mascara I haven't used before in case I was disappointed, but I have to say this mascara made my lashes look super long and it didn't need a thousand coats to do so. It also managed to withstand the snow in Berlin sticking to my lashes without running a single bit - thumbs up.

The Body Shop Almond Hand & Nail Cream
Purchased a while back now and still going strong. Really love this cream as it dries really quick and hydrates my skin so well. I have hands like a lizard from being in Berlin at the moment so this is getting even more use than normal.

Real Techniques Stippling brush
Made it into the March favs as well as February's. No need to explain this to my fellow bloggers, but it's a great brush. Sturdy, no loose hairs, compact and leaves your foundation flawless - totes recommend.

The Body Shop Eye Shadow Blending Brush
A #TreatTuesday treat, this brush blends your eye shadow incredibly well. The bristles are super soft and it's a really good size. I use this all the time, especially when my smoky eye has gone a bit smoky face and I need to blend it all together.

Lee Stafford Hair Treatment
If you read my blog already or follow me on Twitter then you will know that I long for long locks. I bought this on one of my many #TreatTuesday 's and have been using it as much as possible to keep my blonde hair looking as fresh as possible. I definitely think it's helped with the ends of my hair especially and it also smells really good. I don't think I will be tripping over my hair anytime soon, but I am glad I chose to try this out.

Schwarzkopf Gliss Hair Repair
More of a life long fav this one as I have used it for a long time now. I really rate this stuff because my hair is so knotty and has the ability to break hairbrushes if it's in a real tangle. My Grandma actually told me about this a while back and I have to say my hairbrush glides through every time I use it AND it's only £1.99 from Superdrug or Savers.

Phew! Those are my March Favorites, leave me links for yours as I will need to explore some new stuff this month of course :)

 My cat was pretty interested in what I was doing...

 

Until she realised you couldn't eat it. Catching some rays was a better plan!

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Berlin: Part 1

Guten Tag! Apologies for my recent disappearance from the blogging world, but I jetted (makes flying Ryanair sound much more sophisticated) off to Berlin during the very early hours of Good Friday morning with my boyfriend for a bit of an Easter break and I thought I would give myself a break from computers for a while too (obvs, jumped onto Twitter and Bloglovin as soon as I was home, but the break was good).

I thought I would do a series of my travels in Berlin and share some snaps from the six days with you all in case you are thinking of going or just want a peek! I will spread these posts out, so I don't bore you with the Berlin hype too much, but here's a few bits and pieces from the first few days:

We arrived to snow falling and caught a bus to where we needed to go to reach our hotel...kinda. We didn't realize for some reason that the underground was right next to the airport and blissfully unaware of this we hopped on this random bus that took us on a pretty scenic route to the centre (we also only paid 1.40 Euro by accident because we think we were suppose to get off a lot sooner and not at the last stop - oops).

Eventually, we made it to the hotel which was the Adina Apartment Hotel near Hauptbahnhof station which we were both really happy with! The hotel is like a mini apartment/suite with a bedroom, bathroom and lounge/kitchen and diner and it's all really modern and the staff were very helpful etc. We decided to get an apartment so we could save some money on breakfast and so we didn't have to wake up for it too. It's still like a hotel though, so it's like having a flat with a cleaner who cleans everyday - something I could get used to!

The rest of the first day was a bit of a boring one I guess, we got our bearings, stocked up on food, ate a lot of our food and watched the film 'Savages' before getting some sleep ready for a big day of sightseeing or 'getting our Berlin on' as I kept saying for some reason....

Day 2

Feeling fresher, relaxed and in holiday mode we went to the city zoo (there are two, this one is in zoolischer garten) because wherever there are cool animals, Alex has to go and see them. The zoo had pretty much every animal you can think of, which was amazing to see, especially so up close.

"I don't think y'all ready for this jelly" 

However, we both felt like the animals were a bit cramped and not in the best enclosures, which wasn't so amazing. Everything was in German at the zoo pretty much, so it was hard to tell whether they were on any breeding programmes etc or if they were there forever. We weren't fans to be honest, but would love to know what you thought if you have been? This guy pretty much summed it up! (I have censored his modesty. Not that he cares as he was just letting it all hang low...)

After the zoo we went to The Hard Rock Cafe, which I just love. I've been to quite a few now and started collecting the cocktail glasses a little while ago, so added to my collection a little further after indulging on a HUGE burger and fries.

We then wandered around some shops where we went in this crazy 'it's always Christmas shop' which was pretty cool and then sauntered back to the hotel for a cuppa and some Toffifee which I had never had before - pretty amazing hazelnutty goodness.

In the eve we headed out for some more cocktails, which was a bit of an ordeal at the beginning because we went the wrong way for a while and ended up in the freezing snow alongside the Berlin Wall in the pitch black. It was like we were trying to re-enact a scene from the war as there was nobody else to be seen as we hurriedly walked by the wall wondering how we ended up in such a sketchy place with prison like buildings.

After that experience though we did make it to where we thought we were headed before which was full of life (thank gawd) and cheap strong cocktails. A few Long island ice teas later, we went to some underground indie rock bar (loads of the bars are underground) which was really chilled and full of cool people (and me and Alex). We stumbled back in the early hours, made a chip butty and hit the sack.

Those were my first two days in Berlin! I will continue with the rest over the coming weekend/week, so keep an eye out if you are interested.

Something I know a lot of you are interested in is my blog giveaway winner, so without further a due, drum roll.....golden envelope....dramatic pause (plus other cliché award moments), the winner is the beautiful Hannah over at Which Way To Wonderland? Congratulations! Thanks to everyone who entered, major chuffed with the response to the giveaway.

On a final note, it's my birthday next Thurs (11th) so please send all gifts to Emma...kidding (sort of). I will be doing some b day related posts and beauty stuff though, so keep an eye out for those too!

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