24 things before 24

I saw a rather wonderful thing this morning in the blogosphere - Ella Masters mentioned her list of 24 things she wanted to do before she turned 24. It has things on it like visiting other people, attending specific events, making some lifestyle changes, and so on.
I think this is a wonderful idea! I believe it's a really important part of living a happy and fulfilled life - think about what you really want to achieve or experience, and then set a deadline for yourself. It's not about beating yourself up about what you haven't yet achieved, or if you didn't make your deadline, I think it's more about loving your life, and filling your free time with things that really make you happy. For me, that involves not watching much television. The internet has far more.intelligent and interesting things to say.
Anyway, with no further ado, here is my list of 24 things I wish to achieve in the rest of the year before I turn 24.
1. Pass my driving test.
2. Visit my friend in Florida.
3. Go on a road trip.
4. Stop hoarding so much crap I don't need.
5. Run a marathon.
6. Win an arm wrestle against a boy.
7. Repaint my bedroom.
8. Get a pay rise.
9. Read all 7 Harry Potter books in French.
10. Buy a sofa.
11. Learn how to dance on pointe.
12. Sell something I've made myself.
13. Visit my auntie down south.
14. Visit my uncle who's less south.
15. See Scotland and England play in the 6 Nations at Twickenham.
16. Get some winter sun.
17. Go to a gig.
18. See a full length ballet.
19. Find the perfect toothbrush holder.
20. Do some street style posts on the blog.
21. Get a professional massage.
22. Swim in the sea.
23. Go to an air show.
24. Get a DSLR.

Do you have any ambitions for this year of your life? I'd love to hear about them!

Hiccup helps - A Cure for the Common Cold

Guys, I don't know if you have noticed, but it's July. Not surprised if you didn't realise though. If you are anywhere in the UK, like me, you are probably suffering from trench foot, and you've caught a nasty cold. Bleugh.

But fear not! Dear Reader, I bring you the remedy for the common cold.

Cast of characters - a chopping board, a sharp knife, a teaspoon, a lemon, hot water, sugar, and a mug that makes you happy.

Cut the lemon in half.

Squeeze the lemon halves into the mug. Don't worry too much about seed and stuff. Or use a sieve if it bothers you. Or a juicer thingy.

Add some sugar. No really. Lemon is bitter. Two teaspoon still leaves this very sharp (which is how I like mine), but go for four unless you're trying to cut it out. You could also try honey, but that's a lot more effort, and you might not have it on hand anyway.

Fill up the mug with hot water.

Sip slowly curled up in your pajamas with a blanket and a good book/awesome telly/favourite magazine.

Make sure you get an early night as well, and you'll likely feel right as rain in the morning.

Of course, you've probably heard of hot lemon and honey before. Or a hot toddy (add a measure of whisky to the above). But making it yourself with a fresh lemon is definitely better than any lemsip. You could also use orange, lime or any other citrus fruit, but lemons taste really good, plus they have loads of vitamin C and zinc (the zinc is really important) - even more than oranges.

Love and sneezes

P.S. If you slice a wee bit the bottoms off those empty lemon halves, you can use them as tea light holders (pop them on a plate) and everything will smell lovely when they warm up :)

Pretty in Platforms

It was my birthday recently! Woo! To celebrate I went out for dinner and some drinks with a whole bunch of friends. I wasn't really planning to do much on the day of my birthday, as I have a big part on a boat planned for this weekend (watch this space for the photos after!).
For the occasion, I treated my self to a lovely new dress and some shoes to match.

The dress was from a shop in Edinburgh called Cookie, and was made by Eucalyptus. I can't find it in their collections but it's a lot like the Aya dress in a different print. The shoes are from Primark - they were the only ones I could find in the right shade of purple! The flowers in my hair I spotted whilst looking for shoes in H&M - so pleased they were the perfect shade

Here are some other photos from the night :)

We went to Le Mouton Noir, the Indigo Yard and Bacaro, all of which I can thoroughly recommend and will be visiting again as soon as possible.

Anyone else been out anywhere fun recently?

Love and kisses

That's Neat, That's Neat, That's Neat, That's Neat...

You guys know how I love to do my nails! Well I was in Superdrug the other day picking up a new eyeliner, and saw this wee black Dot & Flick Nail Art polish, from Andrea Fulerton. I was never sold with nail art pens, but this little squeezy bottle looked a good bet, and it was only £2.99! It has a long thin brush for painting lines and flicks and swoopy things, and then a dotting tool under the cap for doing spots and flowers and leopard print.

I also got my paws on some yellow sparkly polish from Missguided, which is free with this month's Cosmo. I love it in yellow and I'm tempted to buy the magazine again just to get the orange one too!

I decided to have a go at doing some tiger nails, spotted on instagram from Gem Fatale, and I followed the tutorial up on company.co.uk.

They were easier than I thought they might be actually! I used a basecoat of clear polish, then two coats of yellow. One coat wasn't quite opaque enough, but two was great. I'd probably have gone for three if I'd had time, but I only had like half an hour before I had to go out! After that I just used the brush on my Dot & Flick to draw two diagonal lines, then filled in the gap. If you're having a go at this one, be careful to make sure you wipe the brush really properly, to make sure you get pointy triangles! I was a bit worried about painting my right hand - drawing with my left hand is not my strong point - but the design is so straight forward that I had no real problems. The only difficulty was with the top coat - the black was a little prone to smudging because it wasn't fully dry yet. However, by painting horizontally, and using a good blob of polish on each nail, I just about managed to get away with it.

So I'm sure these won't be the neatest tiger nails you see this summer, I hope you like them, and I definitely think you should give them a try :) I got loads of compliments on them, and they're fun for pretending to be fierce and growly...

Product Review - Loreal Infaillible Eyeliner

This product is en route to becoming the old favourite in my make up bag. It's black, it's soft, and I'm never hunting for a pencil sharpener. It's perfect for smokey, smudgey top liner, or just a quick sweep along your waterline. You can go for the all-out, full-circle rock chick, or you can draw and rub out and draw and rub out and draw and rub out until you get this season's perfect cat flick. It has a rubber on the end, which pulls out to reveal a wee sharpener as well, so you can always look sharp.

It's such a versatile product with great pigmenting, and for once, the name infaillible is pretty much true. I can put this on before going out for the evening and still look passable when I drag my sleepy self into work the next day. If only I could find a mascara that would treat me so well!
Literally the best eyeliner I have ever owned, and it retails for around a £5 in high street chemists. What's not to love?
Are there any products which you buy over and over and over again?

Bare-faced Cheek

I've had bare nails for the last few days. Not like me I know, but it's important, for keeping your nails healthy. Coating them in chemicals every day can obviously be damaging so its good to let them breathe some days as well.
If you're giving your nails a rest, be sure to file them smooth, keep them all the same length, scrub them clean, and maybe use a buffer for some extra shine in the evening. Natural nails can look just as pretty, fresh and fashionable as the latest shade of sky blue or watermelon. AND, they'll go with everything :)

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