VIVATRAMP | UK Lifestyle Blog

Bee's Photobomb: My Adopted Hometown

2012-03-02T18:54:00.000Z

Winter pretty much kills my chances of heading to one of my favourite parts of my adopted hometown so when the sunshine recently graced the skies I thought it was the perfect opportunity to catch some rays and give you an insight into my surroundings. I was looking at analytics recently and it astounded me to see where some of my readers live, from good ol' UK to tucked away in Texas, from France to Indonesia. Therefore, I thought it'd be quite nice for you guys to see where I spend my days because I always find it quite interesting to see my favourite bloggers' natural habitats; it's a tonic to my own wanderlust and helps me to understand their experiences. As you can see, I live by the seaside; I've always lived by the shore and I know I'll find it pretty difficult if I ever have to prise myself away from it. I call this my 'adopted' hometown because this is where I live whilst I study at university; it's a lot larger than home but it's still pretty cosy in its own way. These photographs were taken on different days, as you can tell by the warmer/colder juxtaposition! You can see other photographs that I've taken of my adopted hometown HERE.

Hometown aside, this week has been a bit of a strange one. I've not really done much of note apart from plan things. We are off further down the coast tomorrow to visit family before heading out for some fresh fish and a blu-ray night with Luke's brothers and gorgeous Brazillian wife. I'm pretty looking forward to it. In this next week, I'm hoping to get week in photos posts up and maybe do some photo an hour posts because I want to get Viva back into the lifestyle swing of things. How does that sound? I will also have a sketchbook update up ASAP as an absolute shed load of you seem to be looking forward to it! You lot are a mad bunch ;) Would anyone be interesting in a creative writing tips/inspo post too? Tell me what you'd like to see in the comments!

By the way, If you've done a post on hotspots in your hometown, leave them in the comments and I'll have a gander! I quite liked doing this post so if you'd like to see more like this, I'd be happy to show you specific areas of interest and/or the local food that is on offer....Let me know! What's your hometown like? If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? I'll see you soon, have a lovely weekend!

P.S Don't forget to enter my giveaway if you'd like to win a brand spanking new iPhone case!

Popping the Giveaway Cherry: iPhone Cover Giveaway

2012-02-28T17:30:00.006Z

iPhone covers @ iconemesis

I was recently contacted by the people at iconemsis who wondered whether or not I'd like a jazzy phone cover to play with. Some of you who know me best will know that I have the most low-fi phone in the whole blogosphere and that I don't know my BBM to my Face Time. My phone cost me £10 for god's sake! However, when I saw the designs, and the fact that one of them features work from my beloved Gemma Correll, I knew I couldn't pass up an opportunity.

Therefore, I'm giving one away to one very lucky winner! That's right, Viva is holding her first little giveaway! I hope the lucky winner enjoys staring at their pretty case every day whilst I slum it up with my boring black cover, Oh...woe is me! You can like them on Facebook HERE and follow their Twitter HERE! If you wanted to see a cover in action, Carrie from WishWishWish has featured her Fifi Lapin design in her new post HERE.

All you have to do to be able to win is:

1. be a follower of this 'ere blog through GFC! I want to reward my subscribers for sticking around!

2. leave a comment with your email address and your favourite design from the website

3. optional (for an extra entry): tweet '@vivatramp is popping her giveaway cherry @ http://vivatramp.blogspot.com/'

4. ~~send bee your iphone~~

Please note: If you're going to send a tweet, please make sure you put it in another comment so that it counts and is easier to work out when tallying everything up! Thank you very much. Winners will be announced on 13th March, 2012. Get commenting and sharing!

My Recent Puchases: Primark, LUSH, Paperchase & Zalando.

2012-02-26T17:30:00.000Z

LUSH Catastrophe Cosmetic Fresh Face Mask, £5.75; LUSH Dream Cream Tester, (free!); Korres Lip Butter in 'Quince' via ASOS, £5.40 (with student discount); Burts Bees Essential Kit (review to come!), c/o Zalando; Primark Blusher Brush and Foundation/Concealer Brush, £1.50 each; Primark Lingerie, £3.00 each; Primark Floral Bra, £7.00; Primark Blue Lace Bra, £7.00; New Look friendship bracelets, £5.99; New Look parrot bracelets, free (with BOGOF offer); Primark Floral Wire Headband, £1.50; Primark Oversized Peachy Scarf, £4.00; Paperchase Large Prairie Rose Box, £4.72.

Hello, ladies and gents! I'm finally back from essay hell and I cannot be happier for it. As soon as I'd handed them in, I headed into town and threw my piece of plastic at unsuspecting shop assistants. As you can tell from these items, I live on a rather limited budget but, sometimes, it's nice to spoil yourself a little - regardless of whether or not they're little things! As ever, I picked up a couple of bits from LUSH. I explained to the lady in the store that I was hoping for a pamper night so she kindly threw in a sample of Dream Cream because I sang its praises as I wandered around with her. The Korres lip butter is a staple in my handbag because I'm still fighting off the last of the wintery dry skin. A review of the Burts Bees kit will be up as soon as I've had the time to test drive the products a little more so keep your eyes peeled!

My Paperchase box is now housing all of my skincare/bodycare products and is also looking rather aesthetically pleasing on my Ikea bookcase. New Look are having a BOGOF offer on jewellery at the moment so I thought I'd take advantage and stock up on a couple of bracelets that'd bring my arm candy up to date with S/S. I'm pretty smitten with them already. I'm also rather taken with my cheap wire headband from Primark; It's going to take pride of place around my topknot this spring - I can sense it!

For some reason, I couldn't find any clothes I liked the look of in the couple of shops that I ventured in to - they're either not me or not suitable for my weird ass shape :/ Someone, help! I wouldn't normally share the contents of my underwear drawer with the viewing public but I thought these bras/undies were too pretty not to show. Primark is your best bet if, like me, you can't afford to spend too much money on housing your ladies but want styles that are still rather pretty. There were plenty of other styles that I would have loved to have picked up if they didn't come with a matching thong; I may be in the minority but I just don't get thongs. There's 'look at my bouncing buttocks' and then there's dental-floss-between-my-cheeks pain....

Anyway, enough of the over-share of info! If you'd like to see a more in depth review of any of the items featured then please request them in the comments! If you've got any requests for future posts, please feel free to leave them in the comments, also. I hope you all have a lovely rest of your lazy Sundays. I'm off to clean my bomb site of a flat, cook some dinner and attempt to do some uni work. Oh, snore! ♥

Refining my Jewellery Collection: The Jazzy Up or Down Necklace

2012-02-20T17:33:00.000Z

Kate Benjamin Multi Stranded Beaded Necklace c/o Accessories Direct

*I apologise for the darker lighting in this post, we have one source of light in this teeny tiny flat and that has been obscured by an attractive piece of scaffolding! Can't wait to head home and embrace natural sources of light!

My jewellery collection leaves a lot to be desired at the moment, hence the quest to refine it and bring it up to date. I want to invest in more timeless pieces and make my collection a lot more season friendly. With this in mind, I was pleasantly surprised when Accessories Direct kindly gifted me with this necklace from their Kate Benjamin range. Take a peek at their website if you'd like, they've got a range of different styles to suit most tastes and age ranges! From what I've experienced, their service is really good!

This particular necklace oozes femininity and I really like the ribbon tie on the back - albeit when I don't get my hair caught in it whilst attempting to tie it up on my tod! At £40, this necklace is a tad out of my price zone, it's two weeks worth of food shopping, but I know that I'll be using it throughout the spring season; furthermore, its pastel tones will work perfectly with even the simplest white t-shirt, pair of denim cut offs and beachy waves. Would I have bought the necklace of my own accord? Due to my personal financial issues, no, but as a once in a full moon treat - I think it's allowed. Regardless, it will gladly take its place in my new refined collection as the jazzy up or down necklace, because I think it could be pulled off in both the day and the evening. What do you think of it? What's the stand out piece in your jewellery collection?

I'd just like to say hello to my new readers and a big thank you to everyone who has voted on my poll so far. I'd love your input! I'll be using it to sketch out a few new posts/features and so far, its proved rather interesting! There shall be changes to Viva's content as well as design very soon! Keep your eyes peeled. I'm off to spend the night in the library slogging over these three essays before a late night face mask and movie combination with my good friend, Claire. I hope you're all well!

LUSH: P.S I Love You Gift Box

2012-02-14T16:00:00.003Z

Happy Valentines ladies and gents!

I know what you're thinking - where the bloody hell have I been?! Life has got in the way this past week or so meaning that I haven't really had the time to devote myself to Little V as much as I'd love to. I've got three looming deadlines for next week and I've still got 2 and a bit essays to complete before that comes around so, naturally, I'm a little snowed under and shit scared. One of those essays is based on Freudian theory and, as you can imagine, I've got to write some pretty interesting things about a narrative called 'Paste'. Oh, life! Apart from dreaded essays, I've been busy celebrating the gentleman and I's 2nd year together. We opened our gifts at midnight and then headed out for lunch after a nice lie in. We don't really celebrate Valentines as such because we both agree that it's a little commercialised but, to be honest, I'm just happy knowing that I'm with someone who I can see myself with for a long time to come. *Fingers crossed I don't scare him off!

Enough of the lovey dovey stuff, well...kind of! I thought I'd share one of the gifts that I was lucky enough to receive because I'm a bit of a LUSH fan and this pretty little box is too good to miss. I've no idea when they plan on taking these down or whether or not they will be on sale but, regardless, I thought I'd give you a little look into the box and share my opinions on the products. The box contains: 'It's Raining Men' shower gel, 'Soft Coeur' massage bar, 'Sweetheart' soap and 'Silky Underwear' dusting powder.

P.S I Love You Gift Box

As a fan of 'Honey I Washed the Kids' soap, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the 'It's Raining Men' honey scented shower gel was included because they share the same yummy scent. Despite its fragrance, you leave the shower smelling refreshing rather than sickly sweet which is good for people like me that don't like to perfume the body too much. The consistency is gorgeously creamy and, like all the other shower gels, a little bit of product goes a long long way! I'm also pretty glad that I've added another shower gel to my collection because it'll stop me from using up my supply of Snow Fairy as quick! I'd never really given too much thought to the dusting powders before but the 'Silky Underwear' dusting powder is so incredibly soft and Luke has already nicked some and marvelled at how it even turned his man skin into something vaguely strokeable. He also nicks my Snow Fairy - abnormal! As you may know, my skin is quite dry so I think I'll be applying this post-body butter in future to avoid it drying out my skin further. I think it's quite cool that you can also use this as a dry shampoo too; I've yet to use it for that reason but I'll let you know whether or not its overtaken my love for Batiste!

The 'Sweetheart' soap is wonderfully aesthetically pleasing but I find the scent way too overpowering for my taste. I'll use it regardless and just use another product to take the edge off the strong jasmine scent. I couldn't help but question poor Luke when I saw the 'Soft Coeur' chocolate-honey infused massage bar. I know that the staff in our local store don't mince their words *in a good way* and I couldn't help but laugh when he told me that they were discussing its edible qualities and sensuality with him. If only I was there to see his face! I actually bought this as a gift for my step-mum once before I realised it's umm, seductive qualities. Jesus Christ, sort yourself out Bee! Embarrassing stories aside, this product smells amazing and leaves your skin super moisturised. It's also great to use in and post-shower too! I'm not usually one for massage bars but I definitely make an exception when it comes to LUSH.

For its price, the products definitely live up to their expectations and I'm already thinking of things to store in the ridiculously cute reusable box that they came in! I've decided that my next ridiculous splurge is going to take place in my local LUSH store very soon so I may be back with a few comments on other products if anyone would be interested! I'm off to spend the rest of my Valentines day in essay hell. Think of me, won't you?! Thankfully, I'm allowing myself to take a quick break from it all tonight to eat pizzas and watch films. Meanwhile, I've become steadily addicted to this song. Listen to it, then repeat. I'll be back with photos and updates on my loif very soon - for those of you that don't appreciate my love of beauty products!

the things that make essay writing a little more bearable:

skyping my cat to find his little ear (he only has one) prick up when I call his nickname and shout 'TUNA!' //

going on a facebook cull and finally feeling free! // being teetotal and drinking 40p sparkling flavoured water on nights out instead // my gentleman writing me the sweetest card on earth // epic film nights featuring The Gosling // when people in the library actually shut the hell up for once - seriously, it's not a friggin' youth club! // Louise and Baby Glitter, there are no words to explain my love for them but they make my womb cry out for a mother/baby bond. In a totally non-weird way // Pinning EVERYTHING.

Bee's Perfume Collection feat. Marc Jacobs, DKNY, Burberry and Ghost.

2012-01-29T17:30:00.010Z

Hello ladies, I trust that you're all having a suitably lazy Sunday complete with a roast dinner, a quick snooze on the sofa and terrible made for TV movies! I've not been around much this week and, as ever, that's down to painful deadlines that insist on ruining my blogging schedule/attempt at a nice life. Thankfully, I've got a little bit of a break *she says* before my next ones so I'll hopefully be able to post more frequently - including my week in photos posts that seem to have gone astray! Speaking of posting, if there are any particular types of posts that you'd like to see me do then please tell me in the comments below. It'd really help!

I thought I'd bring you my perfume collection and my signature scents for particular events. I've watched/read plenty of these before and they also seem to consist of 20+ bottles and vague descriptions. Alas, my perfume 'collection' currently only consists of 4 bottles so I'll have to make do! However, I'd say that you don't need masses of scents to be able to chop and change between fragrances and a minimal selection also helps you define your signature scent. I'm the sort of female that one day dreams of the ultimate dressing table perfume collection so watch this space, because I'm insistent that I'll allow my collection to grow bigger and bigger. As you can tell, I adore perfumes and, luckily, I have a boyfriend that manages to pick me out some seriously pretty scents for my collection; this has meant that I've never bought my own fragrance! Luke gifted me with the following perfumes so I thought it'd be fun to include his opinion on each scent and it'll help all you boyfriends out there who are looking for ideas for valentines this year!

I would recommend all of the following perfumes and agree that their price tags are definitely worth it. I've tried to summarise the scents to the best of my ability and recommend the best situations for them but, as ever, it's down to personal taste. Hopefully, someday they'll work out how to create an online scratch 'n' sniff! I hope you find something you like about this post and look forward to reading about your favourite scents in the comments below ♥

Perfume #One: Body by Burberry
I actually got this little vial as a free sample from Burberry's Facebook campaign a little while back and I was pleasantly impressed with the size and the gorgeous smell. The scent is quite sensual, sophisticated and slightly floral with a creamy hint of musk that makes it instantly gorgeous. It also doesn't sit too heavily on the skin which allows for each note to reach their potential without being too overpowering. It embraces femininity and feels pretty to wear, however, I'm not a massive fan of the bottle; I think it looks a little cheap compared to other perfume bottles. Despite this, I'm sure I'll definitely be re-purchasing it in the future - although it does come with a bigger price tag. Use wisely ;)

It's perfect for ♥: date nights, long summer evenings and for dressing to impress.
Boyfriend says: 'feminine, unique and alluring. My favourite of Bee's scents'
Notes of: green absinthe, peach, freesia, natural rose absolute, iris, sandalwood, cashmere, vanilla, amber and musk. (according to Sephora)

Perfume #Two: Deep Night by Ghost
This fragrance spells out sentimentality and nostalgia for me and embodies those nights that you never want to end. I adore this fragrance; I've currently got a 30ml bottle as well as a 50ml and it's something that I'll forever repurchase. It's sensual yet sentimental. I also adore the bottle - simple yet beautiful. When intoxicated, my friend Dan actually told me I smelt really good whilst I was wearing this fragrance - does that sway you?!

It's perfect for ♥: nostalgic days, dreamy nights and for creating memories with your favourite person

Boyfriend says: dreamy, attractive and comforting. The packaging is nice and sleek too.

Notes of: indian rose, orange, white tree, apricot, vanilla, amber and musk. (according to Feel Unique)

Perfume #Three: Daisy by Marc Jacobs
One of the signature summer scents of many a blogger! Despite its carefree appearance, this fragrance is sophisticated just as much as it is fun, fresh and the absolute epitome of summer days. The bottle is just as fun as the smell - it's definitely one to keep out on the top of your dressing table. This is honestly one of the most nostalgic scents for me because it takes me right back to the gorgeous Greek beaches. It honestly is summer in a bottle! This is perfect for long summer days, sleepy evenings and laziness by the poolside. I'm definitely going to be re-purchasing for this coming summer!

It's perfect for ♥: long summer days, sleepy evenings and laziness by the poolside
Boyfriend says: summery, relaxing and fresh. My second favourite and I love the design!
Notes of: strawberry, violet petals, ruby red grapefruit, jasmine petals, musk and vanilla. (according to Sephora)

Perfume #Four: Red Delicious by DKNY
This fragrance is really fresh, powerful and energising so I usually pop it on in the morning to wake me up and to at least make it smell like I'm awake. It's fruity but not in a horrendously overpowering/granny way. It's a comforting smell and comes across as quite sophisticated and mature. The bottle is simple yet pretty but a bit of an awkward shape for storage. This scent is perfect for the colder months, long daytime walks and bitter evenings. Having said that, I'd say that it's quite versitaile; I've worn this scent everywhere and it fits every occasion. This perfume is best when its calmed down on the skin because it can be quite harsh when first applied.

It's perfect for ♥: colder months, long walks and bitter evenings.
Boyfriend says: fun, sweet and lively. This scent reminds me of Bee and I like the bottle.
Notes of: champagne accord, lychee, red raspberry, apple, rose, vanilla bean, patchouli, amber, sensual skin accord and raspberry (according to The Perfume Shop)

There you have it, my short but sweet perfume collection. I'd love to know what your favourite fragrances are so please feel free to leave them in the comments. There's so many more scents that I've got on my wishlist so I think I may have to save up some pennies in order to splurge. Either that or I can pray that Cupid brings me something for Valentines ;) I'm off to finish reading Freud's Interpretation of Dreams before chilling out with tv seasons and some much needed food. Hope you're all well!

P.S Add me on Pinterest. I'm more than a little obsessed!

Bourjois Little Round Pot Intense Eyeshadow Shade 'Rose Sable': Review

2012-01-23T17:00:00.047Z

Ladies and gents, it was love at first swatch.

I was stumbling around the aisles of my local Boots, in a bit of a hormonal daze, when my eyes were averted to this beautiful eyeshadow sitting amongst the Bourjois goodies. My girlish instinct (kind of like a spidey sense) kicked in, for what feels like the second time this week, and I found myself babbling over 'Rose Sable' and its sparkling baby pink shade that packs a ton of glitter. Naturally, I bought the bugger and didn't even contemplate the price or when the hell I was going to wear it.

Bourjois Little Round Pot Intense Eyeshadow:

Shade 'Rose Sable' £6.99

With regards to packaging, I don't think Bourjois can go wrong with their little round pots they're the perfect size for make-up bags and handbags alike. Plus, they look cute displayed on dressing tables. The little button and magnet also make them ideal for carrying around in your bag because they're less likely to spill. It also comes with a little mirror which makes it great for looks on the go.

These little round pots consist of a rich powder formula comprised of 87% mineral pigments to ensure great coverage and great depth. The formula is incredibly smooth which makes them really blendable, making this shadow great for illuminating and highlighting other looks as well as looking pretty as a base/main colour. I'm definitely going to be wearing it with some of my favourite neutral/gold shades over the coming weeks. If you'd be interested in seeing the results then please say!

With anything glittery/shimmery, it gets friggin' everywhere and you suffer from fall-out but, in all seriousness, I'd willingly have shimmery limbs for months after wearing this shade than never wearing it at all. I'm definitely going to be wearing this to death in Spring/Summer using it to highlight the outer corner and crease of my eyes. I'd definitely recommend this shade, even if you do just buy it to parade around your empty flat/house pretending you're a Disney princess*...

What eyeshadows have been taking your fancy lately? Let me know whether you'd be brave/extremely girly enough to wear this shade! I'll be back soon with a range of other posts. Meanwhile, time to ace this Gatsby essay......

*Totally not done that!

Twinkle Toes: Bee's Shoe Collection and Shoe Quest

2012-01-21T17:00:00.020Z

My shoe collection is embarrassingly, and quite sickeningly, bare. At the start of the year, I set myself a challenge to banish my badly battered plimsoles to the bin and to go out and purchase a variety of different shoes that would be both practical and wearable throughout the seasons. Why have I been surviving on one pair of plimsoles for around six months? The lord blessed with me a pair of, slightly large, Size 8's but decided to compliment them with a set of remarkably scrawny ankles.

Unfortunately for me, it's extremely rare that I find a shoe that lovingly accommodates my strangely shaped feet so when I do, it's something to make a fuss about! Over the next few months/this year, I'll be bringing you updates on my quest to build up my shoe collection and I'll aim to bring you selections of my favourites that I've stumbled across. I've certainly fallen in love with my coral ballet flat - it'd be perfectly fine to buy more colours, right?! Without further ado, meet pairs #1, #2, and #3.

#1: The Coral Ballet Flat

Thank the lord to whoever invented the elasticated back! As mentioned, my skinny little ankles are difficult to accommodate, thus meaning that I've had to abandon the dolly shoe altogether. Thankfully, some genius thought it'd be awesome to create a pump with an elastic hold around the ankle. Thank you, whoever you are. I adore this pair so much so that I'm definitely going to have to purchase more! I can't wait to pair these with a humble pair of skinny jeans in these coming weeks and cutesy dresses come S/S. I love everything about this pair: the spring-friendly coral shade, the soft front, the overwhelming urge to put these on and throw on a tutu so that everyone thinks I'm a super nimble ballet dancer......

@ Primark £6

#2: The Insanely Gold and Glittery Ballet Flat

These embody practicality, right?! Sssh, you aren't my mothers. I needed some cute shoes to wear out on my weekly Monday night clubbing sesh and these seemed like the best option at the time. As a Long Tall Sally, I don't wear heels but still want shoes that don't denounce my humps / make me look like a middle aged mother on a school run. Sparkly, feminine, comfortable and killer dancefloor move safe - what more could you want?! They aren't my favourites but they'll be ideal for going out and they're rather cheap!

@ Primark £4

#3: The Insanely Girly Pair

....Just when you thought things couldn't get any girlier. Yes, it's a pair of pink glittery shoes. No, it's not my usual thaaaaaang at all but I have my reasons. 1) They remind me of one of my favourite bloggers/youtubers 2) See the last sentence of item #3. Whilst my clothes are feminine, I quite like loose styles and dark skinny jeans so I'm hoping that these little buggers will brighten me up a little! I'll primarily be wearing these for nights out.

@ Primark £4

The elasticated backs.

I'll be building up my shoe collection over the next few months, hopefully adding a few pairs of more expensive shoes, and will definitely document it over here for those that are interested. I have actually picked up a fourth pair but they're just a bog standard pair of black plimsoles. I'm hoping to purchase some white Converse and a pair of Vans at some point for casual wear. If you've done a post on your shoe collection or know of some great pairs of flat shoes/boots then please leave your ideas in the comments! I reply to them all now that Blogger has finally got a commenting system.

I've got a shed load of posts lined up, including a few make-up/beauty reviews as well as some clothing things, so hopefully my craptastic Gatsby essay won't get in the way! I'm off to write said essay - lucky me! However, we did do the weekly shop in M & S so I'm sure the thought of all the goods we purchased will make the hours and word count flow by! I'll be back soon. Take care xo

Recent Purchases

2012-01-18T18:51:00.001Z

Hello ladies and gents, a few people expressed an interest into seeing a few of the other things I purchased the other day so I thought I'd oblige and show you. It's not that extensive (or expensive, for that matter) because I'm constantly watching the pennies but there's some nice goodies nonetheless. I've got a few more sartorial pieces that I haven't included in this post but I may feature them in an up and coming feature I'm thinking of. I'm a bit bogged down with work and horrendous hormones but I'll live. Hope you're all having a good week so far!

Fairground 'Button' Box £4 down from £8 @ Boots

With aisles reminiscent of the London riots, I perused the sale items in Boots (albeit apprehensively) in a last ditch attempt at finding something inspiring in the mounds of half price goods they've yet to shift. Unable to find cheap No7 kits (boo!) I stumbled across the typical 'kitsch and whimsy' section and found this cute box that would perfectly solve my jewellery storage dilemma. It's almost too cute but I think it just gets away with it. It looks lovely alongside my Kilner jars full of beauty products and for a bargainous £4 it was totally worth it! Have any of you found any treasures left in the sales?

Laser cut out 'Happy Birthday' card £2.75 @ Paperchase

Valentines card £2.50 @ Paperchase

Whilst purchasing my sketchbook, I picked up these gorgeous cards for a couple of events that are coming up. Yes, it is slightly early to pick up a Valentines card but I loved this one and there's no time like the present! It's also our two year anniversary on the 12th of February so I'm pulling out the stops to get him some nice goodies because I think he deserves it. The Rob Ryan-esque Happy Birthday card caught my eye simply because it's gorgeous and I'm sure my Grandma loved it when she opened it today! Yes, they were both on the expensive side but they're really pretty and the people are totally worth it...

Undies ranging from £1 to £1.70 @ Primark

Socks (not pictured) ranging from £2 to £2.50 @ Primark

For me, 2012 is the year of the get-rid-of-all-my-disgustingly-old-clothes-and-buy-nice-new-things. I'm aiming to buy a few pairs per week until I feel as if my underwear draw is stocked with enough prettiness, and, in turn, I will throw out all of the pairs that have been hanging around for years. I also bought a shit load of socks, this move was inspired by my new black jeans colouring all of my underwear blue. Thanks life!

Pj's: Bottoms £5 each @ Primark

In the same vain as the last point, I'm ridding myself of all my old pj's that, quite frankly, I've massively outgrown and/or are ridiculously gross. I'll be buying them for the next few weeks in order to stock myself up with a load of prettiness. I'm a fan of wearing huge flarey pj bottoms and these three pairs are the ultimate for comfort! I have fallen in love with the dusky broderie anglaise pair - even if Luke hasn't! He also doesn't like the floral pair; he refers to them as '90s nurse pants'. Charming! I, however, adore them all and think the broderie anglaise looks ridiculously cute and pretty on trend for S/S. I'm definitely going to pick up some more of the broderie anglaise accented pj tops they've got in at the moment so that I can replace the hugely oversized free club t-shirts that I sometimes wear to bed. Oh, I'm too sexy.

Wishbone necklace £2.70 (or something) down from £9.00 @ Accessorize

I love jewellery and I adore it when it comes with some sort of meaning. In my household, it has always been tradition to keep the wishbone from the roast chicken so that, after dinner, we could sit round and make a wish before pulling it apart to see who the lucky winner was. As gross as that may sound to some, I love it. As I'm not living at home anymore, I thought this was a great way to always keep it close to me. As cheesy as that is! Plus, Accessorize sales are THE DON!

I've loved being back in the blogosphere! I've got quite a bit of work to do but, whenever time permits, I'll always aim to blog as frequently as possible. My list of posts to write is huuuuuuuge so I'll hopefully be popping up on your dashboard more often. I'm off to get back to tomorrow's seminar reading before chilling out with Prison Break season 2, a mountain of chocolate and my favourite male ♥

Inside Bee's Sketchbook

2012-01-15T16:54:00.003Z

Ever the slave to stationery and other thrilling goods, I found myself putting this gorgeous raspberry coloured leather sketchbook into my basket and not even feeling guilty about it. My various ideas and extensive lists had previously been scatter brained onto various bits of paper and hidden in the depths of various notepads. On my latest trip to Paperchase, I thought it was about time to put that right! I've got a lot of ideas to fill this beauty with and I hope that it'll get me more organised and allow me to blog more frequently around my studies. Studies, which ironically, I've ditched to complete this blog post. Naughty! Just because I purchased a 'sketchbook' it doesn't mean I fancy myself as an artist; my Grandma is an amazingly talented artist and, unfortunately, I didn't get that trait - I got her unbelievable clumsiness and capability to full over everything and anything. Damn you genetics! For those that may be wondering, the sketchbook and heart paper tape are both from Paperchase.

*This post isn't sponsored. Sadly, I have to feed my own stationery addiction. Paperchase, help a brother out! LOLJK.

The first page of my book is for pretty little things I find that I think help to shape me as a person and scream elements of my personality/things I'm passionate about. All of the lovely things you see above (minus the tape) were gifted to me by the amazing Zoe. She's sent me some awesome things over time and she never fails to cheer me up because of it. All of my biggest passions are incorporated in this page (minus Kettle chips and other foods) - my love of music, femininity, reading/writing, travelling and floral print! Floral print is synonymous with Viva too so it's nice to have a little homage to her on my opening page. I definitely need to add finishing touches to further explore other passions of mine such as, the Grint, everything HP, cats, owls and personal snaps. As I go along, I'm going to build upon this page - adding various ticket stubs and sentimental items until I'm completely happy with it. For now, I'm loving its, somewhat bare, organised chaos.

I added a little title page to my book because, well, I bloody love them. I was always the kid at school that got mega excited about starting new topics because it meant I could wack out another title page design. (It's a wonder I survived secondary school!). I just wanted something simplistic because, as expressed, I'm not exactly an artist. I settled for a sort of wild rose garden motif and intertwined a few important dates between the vines to symbolise my nearest and dearest. Let me hear a big 'awwwww'.

This third page is a bit text heavy! I decided to transfer my 'H is for Happy' list into this sketchbook - peppering pages with it along the way so as not to overdose on happiness. I cannot preach enough just how useful I've found this list. It regularly restores my faith in humanity and makes me realise that when the things closest to me don't seem that great, there's a world around me that I've grown to love. Please excuse my thumb in the photograph; I was showing my sister how to use her nail art pen but completely forgot I have no varnish remover in the flat. Oops. I hope you've liked being able to delve into my 'ideas' book, as sparce as it is right now. I'll be back imminently to show you various things that I've picked up from the high street recently (if the sky actually decides to give off any decent light!). I'm off to throw out some of my disgustingly old clothes (that got dyed black in the wash - boo) before settling down for a night of films, stir fry and such like. Have a lovely rest of your weekend!

P.S I keep getting the error code 'bX-h3bujr' whenever I click on 'Template Designer'. If anyone could help me work out what to do or have any advice as to get hold of Blogger about it, then please leave a comment! The forums are shit and a waste of time.

Received some bad news the other day.

Rest in peace Robbie;

Man's best friend.

Bee's Lipstick Collection: Sleek 'Cherry' True Colour Lipstick Review

2012-01-12T19:00:00.005Z

Sleek True Colour Lipstick in 'Cherry' £4.00

*Apologies for the change in lighting, the winter sky doesn't appreciate blogging :/ P.S I'm sorry I've been a little absent around here again but I've got a boring Shakespeare essay that needs handing in tomorrow and, naturally, it's shit at the moment!

Whilst perusing the aisles of my local Superdrug at the end of last year, my eyes averted to this deep cherry shade over at the Sleek cosmetics stand. Before my recent lipstick boom, I'd only ever really stuck to my trusty red lip* so I thought a deep cherry shade would be fresh enough but wouldn't feel too uncomfortably different to my typical 'look'.

Packaging
It's nothing special but its simplicity is, what I think, makes it appealing. The shape of the tube is different to normal lipsticks and I think it's fun without being gimmicky. The shade shown on the bottom is true to the shade once applied and, all in all, it's a nice bit of packaging.

Shade
When I swatched the tester in the shop, I instantly fell in love with the deep rich shade. It's actually a little darker than what it looks like on my lips in the photograph above but is pretty much identical to the last photograph - a pinky deep berry shade. It's a lovely berry tone to add to your Autumn/Winter collection. Furthermore, its moisturising formula makes it perfect for these coming months and their baltic weather conditions!

Formula and Longevity
This lipstick is super moisturising, which is essential for those, like me, that suffer from chapped lips in the winter. However, this lipstick bleeds like a whiney Leona Lewis track. I've found it difficult to keep the lipstick within my lips and end up looking a little like I applied it under the influence. However, I've yet to apply it with a base and a lip brush so I'm sure once I try these steps I may find it bleeds a little less. Its longevity, for the price, is pretty good. It stayed put for a few hours and even tackled drinks. It does fade but it actually fades into a lovely lighter hue. Therefore, I'm not too bothered!

Verdict
For £4, I'd say that this lipstick is a nice added touch to my expanding collection that I'll be rocking through these colder months. Overall, I'm quite impressed and will definitely be buying from the Sleek brand again!

Bee's Quest To Banish Dry Skin #1: Catastrophe Cosmetic Face Mask Review

2012-01-06T18:00:00.006Z

Catastrophe Cosmetic £5.50

I'd say it's guys and girls friendly!

*Excuse the design of my blog. I was messing around and it has now decided to break on me

A little late to the party, as ever, I have only just been introduced to my obsession with LUSH products. Whilst they've always seemed alluring, I'm quite asthmatic so it is a chore to even walk past their heavily perfumed store let alone wander around it and pick up a few goodies. However, for me, 2012 is the year of the dry skin fix so I'm going to whatever lengths needed in order to banish my dry spots for good! *Even if it does kill me! Luke lovingly bought me a few LUSH products for Christmas with my constant moaning about my skin in mind and I'd have to say he did a pretty good job. My favourite product that I was gifted was the Catastrophe Cosmetic Fresh Face Mask.

If you're like me, you love nothing more than to ignore every looming deadline -like I'm coincidentally doing now- and instead using your time wisely by hitting up the bath tub before caking yourself in lotions and potions. Face masks are THE DON! Catastrophe Cosmetic is full of blueberries and essential oils that work as antioxidants to reduce redness, irritation and to moisturise dry skin. Whilst banishing the dry patches on my face, it has also managed to make my complexion look a lot fresher and balanced and I couldn't be happier! Plus, it's also great fun - the mask dries like a mud mask so it feels exactly like Botox. I felt like a true Desperate Housewife! Once rinsed off, my skin felt smooth and as soft as a pair of buttocks thanks to the Irish moss gel used in the mask. What more could you want? Thanks to this mask, followed by my Liz Earle cleanser and a slather of moisturiser, I can now wear matte textures again!

It's definitely worth the money and I know it's a product that I'll be adding to my 'holy grail' collection if it continues to work as well as it has already. I'd recommend it for those with dry skin and those that suffer with spots/blemishes. If you're a fan of LUSH goodies let me know which products you recommend for dry skin and I'll be eternally grateful! What's your favourite LUSH product? Are their any other masks you swear by?

2012 goals ♥

2012-01-01T16:30:00.004Z

Hello! Happy 2012 Viva-ettes! Yes, it's that time of the year again - the list of 2012 goals. I tend to shy away from forming 'resolutions' because, quite frankly, they scare me and are quite forceful. I much prefer to set a load of different 'goals' to prevent boredom and to soften the blow at the end of the year when there are still things to be done. In previous years, I've written out huuuuuge lists of goals that I achieved and ignored in equal measure, so this year I wanted to keep them short and informal. I've not got much planned for 2012 so hopefully it springs some nice surprises on me. I'm amazingly thankful to be starting a new year in a much happier and comfortable place in my life and in my mind. This illness will not beat me, no matter how hard a fight it puts up. My all time favourite quote from Sylvia Plath*that is always featured in my sidebar* sums up my aims for the next year perfectly: 'Let me live, love and say it well in good sentences'. Please feel free to leave a comment to let me know what you're all hoping to achieve this year!

2012 goals ♥
purchase a film camera or two, save back £10 or more each month for things I'd love to buy: DSLR*, go on a city break/summer holiday with Luke, sort out my make-up storage: Kilner jars*, create an inspiration board, blog frequently and try different posts, tone up my stomach, meet some more bloggers, try and attend the majority of lectures and seminars, don't be afraid of treating myself, film some vlogs, do a few crafty projects, take lots more photographs, get earlier nights, buy new pairs of jeans, watch something at the theatre across the road, try new things/food, go to the River Cottage canteen, go to London again, pass my first year of uni, own at least three pairs of shoes/boots, invest in must have products, set up an inspiring work space in the flat, sort out my wardrobe and purchase things I'm in dire need of and buy pretty new things, make a meal from my cookbooks, purchase new cardis to replace the awful ones I currently own, drink a lot more water, buy new pj tops!, indulge in duvet days, be more creative, find fun ways to show off my photographs, go to a gig, change blog design, write a lot more, buy a domain, go camping, buy a pair of undies a week for a few months, stop jumping to the worst conclusion, read a lot more, adopt a proper skincare routine, say yes to a lot more, celebrate our two year anniversary with a nice evening in/out, hold down a job through summer, go on a break in the UK, get published again.

*I think I prefer this format to my previous year's goals because it makes them look a lot less daunting and less regimental, and therefore a lot more attainable. There's no doubt that I'll probably keep adding to this so I'll probably leave a link in my FAQ's for future reference. What are you hoping to achieve?

bee's photobomb: boxing day snapshots

2011-12-27T14:51:00.000Z

Classic Christmas jokes / Snuggles with the cat / Forming the buffet spread / Mamabear / First plate - shit loads of bubble and squeak. YUM! / Boxing Day outfit / Watching one of my favourite films on Boxing Day / Laying Christmassy flowers on my brother's grave / Can't beat a bacon sarnie / Got to see Luke on Boxing Day / My new hat! / Part of our festive ceiling / Last year's slipper boots are still going strong!

A few more photographs from this year's festivities. Its been a strange Christmas this year but lovely all the same. Boxing Day consisted of buffet food, Star Wars, talks of the future and lots of laughs. Luke and I were busy discussing things we wish to do in 2012 and its spurred me on to write yet another list about my goals for the following year. I'll post it on here if anyone is interested?! It includes personal aims as well as aesthetic changes. Leave a comment with your own goals for next year so I can get some inspiration.

I've been busy going through all of my gifts that I was lucky to receive and already had a few of the beauty products on the go. My LUSH face mask is a definite love and my jumpers have barely left my body these past couple of days. I've still got quite a busy time coming up surrounded by family members but I'll definitely have a whole host of different posts up soon. Again, I'll keep this short and sweet because I need to go and get ready for this evening. My cousins are coming over tonight for ANOTHER buffet and a few too many drinks. I'm rather looking forward to it because one of them has flown in from Austria. Have a lovely rest of the day.

bee's photobomb: snapshots from christmas day

2011-12-25T22:19:00.000Z

Our Christmas candle on its last day / My sister's Santa socks / Christmas table / My sister in her onesie / Santa's Mince pie and Sherry / Christmas dinner - yum! / A few of my presents / Opening my goodies / I had a shit load of prezzies! / Muffin having a little sneeze / Mum's Black Lace CD - the best gift EVER! / I have to lay out my presents in an organised fashion

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I trust that you've all had an awesome day and are now suitably passed out on the sofa nursing your food babies. I'm certainly doing exactly that right now. It has been an extremely fun/odd day. We woke up mega early and ate smoked salmon with scrambled egg before digging in to our presents. I'll do a separate post on what I was lucky enough to receive but I got some lovely knitwear, LUSH goodies, MUA goodies and some stationery amongst various other things. I thought I'd share just a few of the *literal* hundreds of photographs that I took. I'll leave it short and sweet because I've got to get back to bad dancing and peach schnapps. I'll be back in the next couple of days with other Christmassy posts. Meanwhile, I'll be spending tomorrow scoffing our annual buffet and visiting Luke! Enjoy the rest of your day xo

bee's photobomb: #xmasbloggermeet

2011-12-19T18:30:00.000Z

Lyzi's cute little squashed face / Kim the drunk, haha! / Myself and Abby looking like absolute stunners / Annoying Lyzi is one of my favourite past times / 1 cubicle 2 toilets = mind blown! / Stunners fo lyf. Having fun with Abby / Forget about these drunk snaps on my camera - oh, the hilarity! / Lipsticks!

What an absolute whirlwind! I keep getting sweeps of fresh nostalgia *hello oxymoron* every time I look at snaps from the #xmasbloggermeet. It was definitely one of those nights that was so insanely surreal that it makes you question whether or not it truly happened! Although, that may be down to the consumption of a bottle of fruit cider followed by numerous cocktails and a glass of wine....Woops!!

*courtesy of MyStreetChic

The day started out pretty horrendously when my bank would only let me withdraw £10 from my account meaning I've spent over 200 smackeroonies on Christmas presents (BIG FAT FML!). This was then followed by a missed train, much to mine and Sammy's dismay, which was then followed by a wait in the rain soaked car park! We eventually got there after about a million rants on my behalf (sorry Sammy!) and took off to Park Street's Nandos for some much needed chicken. Honestly, we were starved! We were greeted by the ever lovely Lyzi, Leanne, Gemma and Vicky and indulged in a good natter over our food. I'd met the majority before but it was lovely to see Vicky as I'd read her blog for a rather long time. I wish I'd got the chance to natter to her more but surprisingly, I am actually quite shy when it comes to new people! Saying that, naturally, I spoke too much and attempted to fill any silence that tried to creep up on the table! I need some sort of therapy, granted. A quick cuddle with the gorgeous and immensely awesome Ayden (I LOVE YOU!) and we were headed to the hotel for a chill out sesh with our alcohol stash before getting ready for the night ahead.

*courtesy of JK.

It was awesome to finally meet Abby of Abbbbbzwaaa fame and to meet the beautiful Steph who is as lovely as she seems! We all sat about in our hotel room chatting about various things and we also messed about creating quite a hilarious vlog where I perfectly impersonated my bed partner for the evening, Lyzi. Honestly, I don't think I will ever stop loving that girl. She is a gem. All of the girls looked bloody gorgeous in their party gear and definitely made me want to just lock the door and weep! Definitely not the place to bring your insecurities, haha. After god knows how many mirror minutes we headed to Java in search of other bloggers and the MyStreetChic angels! I was surprised at just how many people were there and it was so awesome to look around a room and see so many faces that you're used to seeing. Admittedly, I didn't talk to as many new people as I could because I was mega scared :/ I get really worried that I come off a little mental to start with so I just mulled around hoping people would come up to me! I did, however, grab JK for a chat because I did feel as if it was my duty to save one of the few males from a sea of unruly women, haha. It was also lovely to relieve Cherry of her duties for a moment to hijack MyStreetChic's twitter and to chat to her. She only lives down the road from me so hopefully I'll be able to meet up with her again for a longer discussion in the new year. After being grabbed for a horrendously cringe worthy chat (on my behalf) with the spectacular Gina it was time to head onto the dancefloor for a fashion show from Boohoo.com.

*photos above courtesy of Steph - don't you think the second one looks like the cover of a blogger's Christmas single?

I managed to chat to Emma for a little bit who was looking gorgeous in her dress! I wish we'd been able to natter more but the fashion show began! Hopefully, I'll be able to meet her again at some point. It was bloody lovely to get a long natter in with the gorgeous Ayden. I love that girl so bloody much! Honestly, if they ever decide to clone humans, they need to clone her first so that I can have my very own Ayden 24/7. She is a diamond. The fashion show showcased a selection of different looks and there were a few pieces in there that I definitely wouldn't have minded to find in my wardrobe. Massive congrats to Lyzihead for winning her flowers. She puts clothes on nearly seven days a week so she truly deserved that award. (I'm only messing by the way). The event soon came to an end (why does time fly when you're having fun?!) so we headed back to the hotel with a poorly Ayden for a few hours of hotel chats. I sat in the bathroom looking after my wee nipper Ay because she was rather poorly - we now know it was food poisoning!! Admittedly, I was a little sneaky because I used her state to sit and cuddle her for a long time - haha. Taking advantage of a situation? Yes, slightly. The night ended with a mass of cheesy chips consumed in the bath (I LOVE YOU LYZI), hotel room chats, a confused self, double bed fun, a rather drunken Kim and a sick Abby.

*courtesy of MyStreetChic

MyStreetChic, boohoo.com, all the companies that helped, that man that bought us a bottle of wine and to all of the bloggers I had the pleasure of messing about with for a couple of days. You girls are amazing! I'm spending the next couple of days over at Luke's to escape the last bit of wrapping that I need to complete before that Christmas thing or something or nothing. Hope you're all well!

MUA Pearl Eyeshadows Review: Shades #30, #22 and #24

2011-12-10T16:52:00.003Z

Before, I get started...I want to encourage as many girls/guys as possible to come to the #xmasbloggermeet next week. There's going to be a fashion show courtesy of Boohoo.com, drinks, lots of dancing, a goodie bag, a chance to meet fellow bloggers and a genuinely awesome night. A load of us girls are staying in the local Travelodge so if you're looking for anywhere to stay, come join us! There's already a load of awesome people attending but I want to see even more!! If you have any anxieties about it, don't...Honestly, once you witness the fitness that is my dancing skills you'll be wondering why you ever worried about your own ability at all! I wanna meet as many of lot as I can so please get purchasing and I'll see you next week for a whole lot of fun! P.S It's 18+ because it's in a club and Lyzi's dancing is XXX-rated PLEASE CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

1 all nighter. 3 seasons of Scrubs. 6 tubs of Pringles. 5,000+ words. 4 library trips. 1 essay. 3 creative pieces. 10+ breakdowns. 1 hand in. 1 extremely happy feeling.

Yes, I am back from the merciless pit that is assignment fun! I'm now done with assignments for the year and can sit back, relax and enjoy the festivities. I've felt at a loss without blogging. I guess you never realise just how big a part something plays in your life until you're kept apart from it. Like I pretty much suggested, I've spent the majority of my time sorting out assignments in between eating more sweet potato mash than I care to admit and going off on little naughty shops for Christmas presents for myself - woops! These little trips inspired my first post back to Viva. I thought I'd do a little post on my recent purchases because it's not something I really blog about but it's something I love to read myself. I've also included a bit of gift inspiration at the end. Enjoy!

Just lately, I've been going somewhat beauty crazy. It's a bit odd for me because, whilst I've always had my favourite products, I've never been particularly interested in buying in to new beauty trends or whatever; I'm putting it down to the hours spent watching my favourite youtubers whilst procrastinating!! My Christmas wishlist is full to the brim of beauty and fashion goods but I couldn't help but pick up a few treats for myself before the big day arrives. If you're a beauty snob, please look away now.....Click on images to make them less terrible!

MUA Pearl Eyeshadows: (swatches) L-R #30, #22 and #24

£1 each

That's right! I bought into the MUA beauty bandwagon and, to be quite honest, I don't feel at all guilty! If you know me well enough, you'll know that I always strive to find a bargain and money always leaves my pocket reluctantly so when I found out that my local Superdrug had a nicely stocked MUA counter, I couldn't say no! Luckily for me, they didn't have too many eyeshadow shades that were too close to my normal palette so I didn't go unbelievably crazy. However, I did find the beauties above! Even if you are a devout fan of high end beauty products, these little compacts would be perfect for your handbag on drunken nights out. After all, no one wants to drunkenly throw their £30 eyeshadow all over the sticky club toilet floor. If you're looking for some eyeshadow gift inspiration, I've also included a couple of sets that I've bought for the fam at the end :)

If you were to look in my make-up bag you'd be able to tell that I'm neutral eye kind of girl. I usually wear the No7 Renaissance 25 set but this little gem caught my eye and would probably look gorgeous shaded in with the colours I already own. This shade is absolutely stunning. Its got the right amount of shimmer without looking too 12-year-old-at-a-school-disco. For £1, it's incredibly pigmented and is going to look gorgeous over the festive period and for wild nights out.

Wear with? lashings of mascara, a flick of eyeliner and a gorgeous festive dress.

On the shelf, this shade looked completely different to what it swatches like. To the eye, it looks like a sort of light plum shade that, lets face it, I would neither be able to get away with nor wear. To my surprise it's actually a gorgeous dusky pink that could probably be worn both day and night because it's quite versatile. Again, it's really well pigmented and looks gorgeous when the light picks up its shimmer. A dab of this shade in the crease of the eye could really make a smokey eye pop as well as looking good in its own individual look.

Wear with? blended in with the shade below, a sheer shirt and wavy flowing locks.

Light baby pinks have never really been my colour whatsoever but this little beauty seemed sweet enough and it's a colour that I've wanted to experiment with since becoming a blondie. I think it'd compliment golds perfectly as well as quite sultry and flirty looks. The candyfloss colour of it takes me back to childhood and days at the seaside.

Wear with? fluttering lashes, a 6os style dress and a crackin' pair of heels.

That's me done for the day! I hope you liked this post, it's just something different that I thought I'd swing your way. I love fashion and beauty so I think it's a side of me that I'll try and spring on Viva more often. If you'd like me to create any looks with these then let me know. I might do a little vlog soon with my opinions of them once I've actually put them on my eyelids! I'm off to go and start packing for home time tomorrow lunchtime. I am beyond excited. Charles won't know what has hit him when I fly through the door - kisses and cuddles galore! It's natural that I sometimes miss him more than the humans, right?! I'll be back soon with a post on my new lippies. Until then, keep smiling!

Leave me links to your favourite eyeshadows in the comment; I'm always after inspiration! Please could you also leave links to pretty/practical make-up storage too! Thank you.

what bee did...

2011-11-29T18:40:00.002Z

Hot bowl of noodles for lunch // Afternoon reading in the form of 'Death in Venice' // Mini me loved her presents! // Nice hot bowl of tomato soup - the best thing since sliced bread! // You've got two hands for a reason, kids! // The gorgeous Georgia and I // Letting my hair down - yes my phone is tucked into my bra // Coffee and cake to sort out my hangover

Remember me?! I apologise for disappearing for a little while. Deadlines have slowly taken over my life but I promise I won't leave it that long again ;) I received my first grade through today and was pretty chuffed with it yet annoyed in equal measure. I made silly formatting mistakes that lowered the grade a little but I'm still happy with my 2:1! Onwards and upwards, albeit slowly because I'm currently nursing a little hangover...

I thought I'd post a few photos that have been sitting in my camera for a while. I've decided that soon, I shall bite the bullet and enter into the vlogging world a little more frequently. It's always something I've wanted to do but I've been reluctant due to my confidence issues/idiocy. Obviously, my blog is still my main priority but I think it'll be nice to get my opinions on various things out through videos. Let me know what you think.

None of this is really making any coherent sense today so please, bare with me. I've literally spent about an hour or so just passed out on my bed staring into space. Hangovers are evil, kids! As ever, I'm feeling suitably festive. I cannot wait for the next two weeks to hurry along so I can go back home and see my family. I'm also looking forward to the horrendous amounts of food that my mother will try to force down my gullet! Thank the lord for motherly affection. I'm off to cook up pie, sweet potato mash and gravy - comfort food to the max. Have a lovely rest of the evening!!

P.S There's still tickets for the SOUTH WEST CHRISTMAS BLOGGER MEET so what are you waiting for? Come and snap one up! All the details can be found HERE.

P.P.S One of my uni best friends just started up her nail art blog. She's already got some cracking designs up. You can go follow her HERE.

Bee's Gift Guide: For the Nail Art Beginner / Sister

2011-11-17T18:02:00.002Z

I owe a massive apology to my loyal tramps*. I've been annoyingly absent from the so-called 'blogosphere' for a while now and it probably bothers me a billion times more than it bothers you! There's really not enough hours in the day at the moment to do all the things I need/want to do! I've found myself cowering in my local coffee shop nursing my busy head with a white chocolate mocha (with a generous helping of marshmallows) whilst staring into space. My sister's birthday present gave me the perfect reason to procrastinate for a fair few hours and, in turn, come up with other cracking ideas for Christmas presents!

I thought I'd share her little present with you in order to inspire you/give you a kick up the arse to get your Christmas shopping started! (I've yet to start so this is a little hypocritical but ssssh!).This is an idea that is simply called '_________ in a jar'. When in doubt, stick something in a pretty jar and you're never going to fail; that's my motto! My younger sister is turning 16 in a couple of weeks, if you ask her she'll tell you the exact amount of hours til her birthday she's that excited, and I wanted to get her something a little different to the usual shit CD or terrible DVD; her taste is acquired. I'd previously made boxes of goodies for friends and family with specific themes but it had been a while since I'd done so. Thankfully, the ever lovely and resourceful Gem came to my rescue and told me to create her a little nail starter jar. Armed with perfect advice from nail art goddesses, I set out to create an awesome nail art starter kit! I'd better just mention that I also bought my sister the Models Own Nail Art Kit too - just so she had a pen and some other goodies to enjoy! Oooh, and I've also got her some dotting tools!

- I bloody love confetti!

This was a relatively cheap present to put together and is something that, I'm sure, will be a lot more fun for her than spending half an hour trying to unwrap my mother's ridiculously over-cellotaped present. I've always loved the look of Kilner jars. I'm not sure what it is about them but I think they're just so amazingly versitaile and beautiful so I picked one up from the high street and mused over what to fill it with. If Luke and I ever buy a house together, I will be filling the thing with jars. I bloody love them! Alternatively, you can pick up some nice ones from charity shops too. I gave my little jar a bath with some Radox before I used it because Kilner jars tend to smell like they've housed death. After her little soapy bath, she was ready to use. Here's what I used to create my little gift:

purple tissue paper: paperchase £1.50 // twine: came on jar but available on ebay //

kilner jar: wilkinsons £1.75

Kilner jars are actually amazingly cheap so I'd definitely suggest that you pick a few up for presents this year. You can also get ones with the flippy lid thing ~technical term~ to store your preserves in - yum! Paperchase has just opened up in the local shopping centre so I had a whale of a time waltzing around picking things up and then putting them down because I shouldn't spend all my money on notebooks that I'll never find a use for. Funny story, whilst I was browsing, a Grandmother asked me to help her find some 3D stickers for her granddaughter. I had no idea what 3D stickers were...so I just picked out some spongey ones and I'm now praying that I haven't ruined that little girl's Christmas/relationship with her Grandma!! Someone put my mind at ease?! A lot of the stuff I got for this gift came from Ebay and I'd advise you to use it as your first port of call for all things gifty. There are so many pretty ribbons, strings, tags and bags to be had for so cheap!

hot pink organza bags: ebay seller 25 for £2.49 // powder blue vintage style tags: ebay seller 10 for £1.25

// balloon confetti: paperchase £1.75

I adore the organza bags that I found on Ebay. They're so cute and really help to make the jar pop with colour. There are different sizes to choose from and so many different colours on Ebay so get looking! They're cute for storing goodies in as well as presenting jewellery. I picked up the powder blue luggage tags because I wanted something a little different to write mymessage on. I'll definitely be picking them up in festive colours for Christmas gifts.Naturally, I had to pick up some confetti because, A) it's shiny and B) it pisses Mother off no end because it gets EVERYWHERE!

I won't insult you by suggesting this is a tutorial, because, lets face it, apes could probably put these together and make them look better than I did but I'll just cover the basic steps. You just need to take your tissue paper and fit it to your jar - you want some overlap at the top so that you can squash it all down to conceal your prezzies! Throw a few bits of confetti down the sides of the paper just to jazz it up a bit and of course, throw lots inside!! To make it look more interesting you could obviously use printed tissue paper or go for quirky newspaper for a different look altogether. My sister can always be found sat in her room surrounded by a big collection of nail varnishes getting high on the fumes so I knew that if I bought nail varnish, I couldn't go wrong. Her collection of colours is actually pretty constricted so I picked up a load of mini nail varnish sets from the high street in order to make sure I covered different colours and ensure that they'd fit in my pretty little organza bags.

The two little four piece sets were from H & M and I think they were £2.99 each. They're pretty little pastel colours that I know she'll absolutely adore and they're perfect for floral nails. The other two pinky colours were in a set from - wait for it- Poundland!! I know, right?! They look really cute so I'm glad I picked them up - for 50p you can't really say no. To present them, I just popped two into each organza bag and filled it with some obligatory confetti. Gem gave me the heads up that there was a little nail art kit in Poundland that I couldn't pass up so, curiously, I paid Poundland a visit and saw the little beauty there. Regretfully, I didn't get any snaps of the little individual bags but they contain pearls in various colours, hearts/stars in various colours and little nail gems. I think it'd be ideal for any beginner to nail art that perhaps doesn't want to buy too much in whilst they're still getting to grips with it. If she likes these, I'll definitely buy her some off ebay for Christmas!

Here's the finished result! I had so much fun putting this little jar together and it's definitely given me ideas for future projects and presents. I've compiled a mini list of alternatives that you could fill the beloved Kilner jar with. Let me know if you have any other great ideas/will be putting jars together this festive season! I've put some alternatives together to give you all a helping hand. What do you think?

Alternative fillings:
1. fill up your kilner jar with homemade chutneys, jams or sweet treats!
2. create a sewing kit in a jar!
3. treat your mum/grandma/sister/girlfriend (etc) to a little pamper jar: fill it with skincare goodies, bath bombs and luxurious smellies. you will forever be loved!!
4. fill it with nostalgic sweets for peckish family members and kids!
5. create some handmade crafts and present them in the jar
6. brew your own alcohol or make your own lemonade and fill the jar with it's goodness!
7. take the lid off of your kilner jar and use it to present a pretty little flower for the keen gardeners in your life
8. grandparents love a bit of nostalgia? fill it with old photographs of the family together and little things that remind you of them
9. fill it with toys for little hands to enjoy
10. purchase a tall jar and use it to house a load of arty goods and pens/pencils for the artists in your life!

Hope you've enjoyed this post! I had a lot of fun with it and would love to do stuff like this in the future. Have you had any present brainwaves as of late? I'm off to try and coax Luke to wander around the little Christmas market with me - I'm hoping the promise of a pulled pork roll will tempt him!! xo

snap happy #36: my week in photos

2011-11-10T10:30:00.001Z

Doing a horrendous amount of posing. The first photo is part of my attempting-to-avoid-essay-but-being-a-pinup shoot, the second is a quick snap before fireworks and the third is my botox actress face. I'm easily amused / The lighthouse on firework night / Another set of photos from the aforementioned shoot / Chicken and bacon ravioli / Claire and I / Animal lovin' / Shameless posing / Grudge style photo / A collage of cider induced fun on my part / PIZZA! / More pisstake posing / NACHOS!

If you aren't now hideously sick of my face, you've got a real sexual attraction to me. Kudos. Apologies for the amount of snaps of my mug! It seems being the owner of a face is the only interesting thing I've got going for me at the moment bar a pile of work to do and little enthusiasm. Before I ramble, I'd just like to acknowledge the horrific accident that took place on the M5 the other day. All those people are in my thoughts as are the emergency services who braved it all to save what they could. One of my friend's brother's was in the crash but is, thankfully, stable. All my prayers are centred around him recovering as soon as possible. It just goes to show that you never know....

It often amazes me just how many new experiences that the blogging community has to offer especially the idea that there's a ton of people out there that know about me. Claire (her face is up there ^^) told me that one of her friends from home was mega surprised to see her face on here because she reads my blog! It gave me real perspective and it dawned on me just how small this world is, haha. So, Sammy...if you're reading this...HELLO!!!

I'm amazingly tempted to splash a bit of cash at the moment. A mass of work and stressy seminar leaders make for an insatiable need to buy things in order to forget said irritants. I'm definitely going to treat myself to some goodies. If you know me well, you'll know that I don't like to part with my cash; I own one pair of shoes....and they leak. If you've seen any awesome things out there recently pop me a link...I'm in the market for a few new possessions!! Anyway, I need to dash to my seminar so I'll love you and leave you for now!

P.S There's still plenty of places left with regards to the Christmas Blogger Meet. You can register for tickets HERE. If you've got any questions please feel free to email me at: vivatramp@gmail.com

sensory season: things i love about autumn

2011-11-04T11:39:00.000Z

*all photographs are my own. if you steal them, i'll track you down and sit on you.

darkened sky // cosy slippers to encourage toasty toes // bare trees

crispy leaves before they fall // woodland walks // hearty bowls of thick soup
snuggling up in my duvet // hot bubble baths // coffee dates
printed scarves // comfort food // hiding inside from the elements
family time // cosying down with a mug of milk and biccies // baking treats

'The autumnal canvas had become suffocated with rich reds, plums and burnt oranges; hues all fighting for dominance among the withered leaves. Brash perennial Dahlia’s lit up the flowerbed for a second season; their musky scent subtly flavouring the otherwise damp air. Upon their entrance, the grand Horse Chestnut trees embraced each individual visitor with their wide arms, luring them into a sense of security with every shaded step. Hedgerows rich with plump blackberries swelled on the neatly woven brambles, awaiting pairs of greedy hands to stain with their syrup. Those very hands were clinched around hot beverages; with each sip they took, the air filled with a comforting mist. The more adventurous amongst them enjoyed their picnics on the dewy grass; the smell of hot bubbling soup and crumbly sweet pastries wafted through the crisp clean air '. - descriptive extracts from an autumnal day by myself.

In my opinion, autumn is the best season because it allows me to stuff my face before reassuring myself that it's solely for winter padding and inevitable hibernation. Everything becomes more atmospheric and cosy - perfect for those of us who can usually be found underneath their duvet with a good book. Summer always seems to be so hit and miss but with autumn, you know what you're getting. You know you're going to be walking to your 9am appointment with your breath misting the air in front of you. You know you're going to need those 25 layers that you've cleverly managed to hoist on top of the other. For me, my autumnal uniform consists of: oversized printed scarves, coloured skinny jeans, wine colours, a large coat, fairisle socks, high waisted shorts, crop tops, ridiculous hats, jersey tees and a standard pair of mittens.

I'm hugely excited for Bonfire Night, anticipating the arrival of Christmas, snuggling up in my duvet, making a few cheeky autumnal purchases and movie nights. I'm easily pleased! I'm spending the next few days slaving away over an assignment. It's the story of my life! Thanks to those of you who have stuck around despite my posts being less frequent that usual. I'll be back soon xo

snap happy #35: my week in photos (kind of)

2011-11-01T14:26:00.000Z

Uni friend. Oooh, friend! | Nice big close up of my face and terrible hair for you | Repping my 'awesome' crop top in Oceana. I have no idea who the guy holding me is...and I had no idea he was there until I found this photograph | Uniii friends. Ooh, disco room friends! | My first M & S christmas sandwich of the year - the first of many! | Fatherbear and I strolling around a very rainy Plym | Halloween snacks for my film night with Claire | Collage of Claire, Emma and I. My eyes looking insanely blue | Chilling in the alleyway - not really sure what this snap is about | Watched Shaun of the Dead with Claire because we realised its the scariest film we both owned - LOLZ!

Hello! I thought I'd bombard your screens with photographs a plenty whilst I take a little break from my mounds of work to eat my first Christmas sandwich of the year. By the end of this post, I could easily slip into a turkey induced coma so please - bare with me! My life seems to be occupied by assignments, reading, Sims Social and jaunts around the town. I've got my first official assignment hand in next week so, in true OCD style, I've created a colourful comprehensive plan of every little thing I need to write. My seminar leader was blown away by my colouring in/doodling skills! I'm devoting my day off tomorrow to the library and its mass of information so hopefully, I can pull something bloody wonderful out the bag.

Halloween has, thankfully, passed us by. I really don't get it as a holiday. I'm much more of a Bonfire/Firework night person - which is handy because this weekend sees that very night! There's just something amazingly atmospheric about a town coming together to watch one sole display but I swear to god, if they play Firework by Katy Perry I will be diving headfirst in to the bonfire. It's safe to say I'm feeling well and truly autumnal - the leaves are falling, the sky is darker and I'm comfort eating as if I were going into imminent hibernation. I managed to gorge my way through four BBQ chicken fajitas the other night and felt like weeping for more. Does anybody else eat a lot more in winter or is it just me and my greedy self?

Anyway, I'm just rambling now so I'm going to go and be productive! I'll quietly read the rest of Jane Eyre and contemplate the mass of washing up that seems to have accumulated around the sink. I'll be back soon with another incoherent ramble. Keep smiling!

better late than never: bee's travel journal

2011-10-21T18:36:00.000+01:00

I was meant to dedicate a post to this after I came back off holiday all the way back in July. (You can view some of my holiday photos whilst weeping into your hot beverage here). However, I'm an incompetent fool and completely forgot that I promised you an insight into my travel journal that I actually fell in love with. I first blogged about the 'Bon Voyage' travel journal here and, luckily, Luke took the hint and bought me it for my birthday ;) If you'd like one for yourself, you can buy it right here. There's still tons of room left in the journal so I'll be dragging it around the world with me for a few years to come. Have any of you guys ever kept a diary like this (albeit with better illustrations)? Apologies for the extremely dodging lighting/blurring issues on some of these images. I only had the scanner for a very short time because Luke has bought himself the new Batman game so I couldn't re-do them! Boo. Click on the images to view them in better quality.

(stunning illustration, i'm sure you'll agree)

There you have it! My scribbly little travel journal. I'd just like to point out that this is in no way sponsored. Unfortunately, I've yet to reach the stage in life where people send me journals just for spouting a lot of shit on the internet. A girl can dream! I'm off to immerse myself in creative writing work; it seems to be the only thing I ever do! Luckily, I've got a film and snacks night to make the situation a little easier. Hope you're all well!

snap happy #34: my (belated) week in photos

2011-10-18T17:59:00.000+01:00

My beautiful Charles having a little lunchtime snooze | Got a bit peckish after my length seminar so treated myself to 3 99p burgers. Classy fo' lyf comes to mind! | I popped back home last weekend and took this snap of the pier on a bit of a miserable day | My new 'awesome' crop top found on Victoria's post! | Salmon & Mushroom Tagliatelle is becoming a staple dinner - the photograph is blurred with excitement! | It was Luke's birthday last week so I bought him this lovely little card | Just a smidgen of my category of drunken injuries. Stay sober, kids! | Some of the stuff I'm working on at the moment. I love colouring in my notes as I go along - think my seminar leaders think I'm a tad weird though | Can't stop eating snacks at the moment | Mama's homemade Mars Bar syrup crispy cake - the best thing in the world! | My grumpy man sunbathing in the autumn sun.

Hello! Oh god, I abandoned Little V yet again, didn't I?! I feel terrible but I also feel rejuvenated and ready to actually create some quality posts instead of some half-arsed affair. I managed to pop home for the weekend just gone and it was the perfect remedy for my over-worked head. I ate lots of good food, snuggled on the sofa, had cuddles with the cat and slept in my glorious old bed again. It was truly magical and, for some reason, made me stupidly excited for Christmas! I know, I know! It's that dreaded C word that gets dragged out months in advance only to lose its magic when the day actually finally arrives. I can't help it; I just love a good reason to stuff my face at ridiculous times of the day without feeling guilty/judged! What does my life consist of right now? I've got quite a lot of work going on at the moment so I've been occupied with various creative writing pieces as well as reading books larger than most book cases. On a positive note, it cured my insomnia for a while. I say 'a while' - the smart arse council have plonked an ice-rink outside my window so my nights are now full of sounds of the generator. I'm thinking of setting up a video camera once it's all in full swing and selling footage of people falling on their ass to You've Been Framed. I've got a stellar business mind, I know.

I'm off to spend the evening brainstorming for my assignment whilst eating a sizeable amount of Veggie stir fry accompanied by a side of Masterchef. Perfect.

P.S I'm currently working on a piece of writing that I would love your input with. All I want to know is: what are your favourite things about Autumn? What things come across as autumnal to you? Throw all of your thoughts into a comment below this post. Thanks! I'll be back with my own autumnal post extremely soon!

my life in lists #11: things to do when you're bored

2011-10-13T16:34:00.003+01:00

1. listen to your favourite song on a loop
2. pretend you're in a music video whilst singing said song
3. create a scrapbook of obscurity
4. go to the nearest play park and swing as high as you can
5. be sentimental
6. be a troll on youtube - just to annoy the beliebers
7. discover something you never knew (aka watch a shit load of QI)
8. bake cakes and, naturally, eat them all
9. create a recipe/cocktail ideas book - complete with illustrations
10. take advantage of the free resources in your local area
11. go for a long walk accompanied by a long think
12. dress up without reason
13. try and walk as much of your local area as poss (see Jamie)
14. draw your surroundings
15. be indulgent
16. go for lunch with a friend and not give thought to the bill
17. make some ridiculous prank calls and laugh til you cry
18. call someone
19. make rules...and break them
20. search for photos of cats - you'll be occupied for hours
21. write a piece of fiction
22. watch movies back to back - only stopping to fill the bowl with more popcorn
23. count your freckles
24. write letters to loved ones and old friends
25. start walking and don't stop til you've found somewhere new and exciting
26. plan a holiday
27. send friends mixed cd's
28. pour a hot bubble bath
29. treat yourself to breakfast/all day in bed
30. take photographs of the littlest details
31. shy away from technology
32. watch the sunrise
33. watch the sunset
34. pick some flowers and put them all around the house
35. smile
36. be different
37. do some sponatenous exercise
38. take the train to a new place
39. have a walk in the woods
40. volunteer
41. put on a stupid accent for a day
42. visit a gallery
43. get tipsy at lunchtime and spend the afternoon giggling
44. take a cooking class
45. leave little notes in library books
46. create a wall collage
47. clear your phone book of people you shouldn't call again
48. go to the theatre
49. spend some time alone
50. surround yourself with people
51. dance terribly
52. attend a pub quiz
53. design!
54. draw the things that you'd put in a time capsule
55. list your favourite things
56. take photographs of the things you'd save in a house fire
57. write a blog post
58. collect your favourite quotes
59. people watch from a coffee shop window
60. go charity shopping and buy the ugliest dress you find
61. drag out your old cd's and embrace the 90's once more
62. do some colouring in on your boring uni notes - guilty as charged
63. write a love letter
64. order takeaway
65. watch all of river cottage on 4od - been there, done that ;)
66. write a story using a flashback
67. sew
68. explore
69. play a drinking game
70. film a VLOG about your passions - saucy.
71. spring clean
72. go for a nap and wake up not knowing what the time is
73. create a bucket list
74. create an inspiration board
75. try on your whole wardrobe and style yourself
76. do some fun diy on your clothes/furniture
77. try out some new nail art
78. sort out your bookmarks!
79. have a pamper session
80. hide your underwear in your partner's make-up bag (that's something Luke does....)

•••

I thought I'd publish another of my lists from my book of scribbles. It's Luke's birthday today so we've been celebrating by gorging on triple choc cookies. He's ventured off to play video games with the lads so I'm struggling to keep myself away from the Hotel Chocolat goodies I bought him as part of his prezzies! We are off out for a right old knees up tonight which will probably end in us coming home at 12 because we are too drunk for the club. I'm looking forward to it!

For those that are interested, the South West Christmas Blogger meet is still very much going ahead! I've got a lot of exciting details about it that I'm not yet allowed to spill but when I can...you'll be the first to know! Is anyone else stupidly excited for Christmas yet? They're building the ice rink outside my flat as I type - that surely means it's not wrong of me to be a little giddy! I'm off to grab a nice shower before chaos resumes. Have fun!

a busy monday morning.

2011-10-10T13:32:00.000+01:00

Hello! MEGA apologies for abandoning little V for a whole week but I was simply a tad too busy to attempt to put words to screen. My week was full of a billion literary devices, Fat Man Scoop and falling back in love with James Corden. I went to see One Man, Two Guvnors at the theatre last Tuesday and left the theatre inspired and crazily smitten with that cuddly bear of a man. I recommend popping along to see the show if you can. It is definitely worthwhile! I've also been busy doing a billion assignments like the good student that I am. My course is going really well so far but I'm afraid that I'm turning into that girl that just won't shut up in seminars. You know the person that always snaps in with their opinion if there's a spare silence?! Yeah.

I've also managed to have a couple of good nights out and I got to hang out with my family at the weekend. My mamabear really is a godsend. She brought down her homemade cake, snacks galore and smoked salmon. I miss her to bits but, luckily, I'm popping home next weekend for Luke's birthday so I'm going to cuddle the living crap out of Charles the cat when I get through the door. One of the highlights of the week was clapping eyes on my dear old Lyzi again. Oh, I love that lady and I hope we have many more days out to come! I'm sorry this is all such a rush but I've got a three hour seminar to attend and a mountain of reading to do before a much needed night out tonight. Hope you're all well!

snap happy #33: my week in photos

2011-10-02T15:47:00.000+01:00

Here's a little random selection of photos from the past couple of weeks! I'm spending today cooped up indoors with assignments because I really need to get them done even though there's a glorious heatwave. I took full advantage of it yesterday and you can real all about that here. My flu is starting to really do my head in so I'm going to stuff myself with tablets, take a large swig of cough medicine and pray for the best. I don't want to be coughing my guts up in my 3 hour seminar tomorrow. Yeah, that's right...three hours!!

Today consists of finishing off my creative writing assignment. I'm half the word count down and I'm still unsure as to how to make the plot fit together but fingers crossed it works in my favour. I'm rewarding myself with a burger, some episodes of Chuck and a movie later. The best way to spend a Sunday night with my sickly other half! Hope you're all having a nice weekend.

& things I've been loving this week:

the disco room, random productivity, fresh textbooks, understanding, my satchel, photographs, creativity, ideas for a reinvention, exploring new places, food!, old friends and Poundland deals!!

bee likes to explore her hometown.

2011-10-01T16:09:00.000+01:00

CLICK IMAGES TO MAKE THEM CLEARER/LESS SHIT.

What with the outrageously gorgeous weather, Luke and I decided to leave the flu-ridden flat and catch some sunshine in my new hometown! It's technically a city but 'homecity' doesn't really have a ring to it, does it :/ We headed out armed with a bottle of water and a point and shoot ready to just chill out and escape the pile of work that I've already got to get my head around. As ever, we didn't stray far from the coast and lapped up a lot of fresh sea air that has consequently made me feel a lot better! I honestly think that I was a seagull in a past life because I can never stray too far from the shore. We decided to walk in a direction that we haven't done so before and in turn ended up in a completely new borough. I'm so glad we did because we came across some beautiful pastel coloured houses that I'd love to make my own, Arthur Conan Doyle quotes galore and a pretty little patch of beach. We even stumbled across two weddings - sweaty wedding photos, ahoy! I don't think I'd fancy donning a heavy wedding dress on a day like today! It was the best little walk to take my mind off of being horrendously ill and that terrifying piece of creative writing; which I will have to tackle once this blog post is published!

It certainly doesn't feel like October at all. I'm having to drag out the summer dresses from the back of the wardrobe. I swear my knitwear is feeling a little left out! I'm afraid I'll have to leave it here because Luke can't go without 4 minutes without attention, haha. I'm off to go and do a little Poundland shop (3 cans for £1!!) before settling down to write. I'll be back tomorrow with even more photos of the seaside - woops!

sickly child.

2011-09-30T15:29:00.000+01:00

Please excuse my webcam flu face. It was the only way I could put my serious point across, haha.

I'm here to apologise. I have a complete lack on enthusiasm at the moment because I'm horrendously busy painfully attempting work and coughing up interesting things into plastic bags. Once my work is done, I'll be back here right as rain with much better content for you. Until then, all I can do is say a big fat sorry ;) My flu seems to be never ending to the point where my throat feels like its been scratched out. Oh, woe is me.

Otherwise, everything is going relatively well. I'm hideously nervous about my creative writing task :/ I guess I should give myself more credit but I'm just finding it hard to think of a plot that I fully believe in/hasn't been done a billion times over. How do you find inspiration/ideas for creative writing? I'm sure, given a few weeks, my writing mojo will be back and I'll be wacking out award-worthy texts. I jest.

I'm going to spend the rest of the day completing seminar stuff, questioning my own writing ability and watching too many episodes of Masterchef for my own good. I'll blog very soon but if you can't do without my insane ramblings, please follow me on Twitter!

h is for happy: things that make me happy #50

2011-09-26T18:41:00.001+01:00

Sweet lord alive, talk about life in the fast lane! I've finally finished reading the epic poem for tomorrow's 9am start. It's taken me days! Am I the only one that likes to write a billion notes as I go along? I'm massively missing the blogosphere but I've got the end of the week to revel in such delights and I may even get to see the gorgeous Lyzi so it's not all doom and gloom. I'm hell bent on going out and exploring once all my work is done so I'll hopefully have a mass of photographs for you all pretty soon.

I had my first ~proper~ lecture today complete with bearded lecturer, dumfounded moments and literary arrogance galore. It was great fun even though I felt slightly out of my depth when people were throwing extremely complex literary devices around the room as if they were commonplace in everyday conversation. I'm sure I'll become a little more confident soon! I'm going to have to be because I'm writing my first piece of prose this week before relaying it to my classmates. Good lord alive, time to get the creative juices flowing. I'm fully aware that not much of this is comprehensible but I'm on a tight schedule and I still need to tart myself for this evening's frivolity. I apologise greatly.

I'm off to nom a beany cheesey jacket potato before heading off to a UV club night. Don't you just love fluro colours and insane drunken idiots? Thank the lord for cider, that's all I can say! Here's a load of things that've been keeping me happy lately....

246-252:

images courtesy of: weheartit or tumblr unless otherwise linked to various flickrs below.

All credit goes to their respective authors - go check out their work!

image one, image two, image four, image five, image six, image seven.

What's been making you happy lately?

my life in lists #10: current observations #2

2011-09-23T14:07:00.000+01:00

1. vodka will always be kind to you
2. always take your key with you - the emergency man doesn't like 2am calls
3. freshers week will be the death of you
4. you make terrible first impressions - rectify them now!
5. freshers are 90% tosspots
6. celebrity masterchef will never fail to make you laugh
7. little miss la-de-da will never be friendly
8. smirnoff ice is like drinking lemonade
9. grandma + skype = winning combination
10. never go to a club sober
11. leaflets make good coasters
12. don't listen to drunken idiots
13. lose some tub
14. dubstep is terrible and you look stupid when you dance to it
15. don't try and phone your kebabby back home - they won't do delivery 2 hours away at 3am
16. some english students are terribly annoying. don't try to kill them.
17. induction week is boring but it gives you great people watching opportunities
18. anticipating starbucks' christmas coffees will never get old
19. dancing like carlton from fresh prince in a club is always going to be hilarious
20. you need to get your camera out and get snap happy
21. tuna pasta bake will always taste amazing. always.
22. falling asleep for an hour whilst you read doesn't count towards time spent reading
23. you look awful in geek glasses
24. apparently it's uncool to know all the 5ive lyrics..including the raps

•••

Hello! I'm just about alive. I'm terribly sorry that I've abandoned little V of late but life is pretty hectic right now. I'm knee deep in Freshers Week and my days have been taken up with boring chats and horrendously annoying English students. You know those people that take something from a poem and try and turn it into this big overarching idea without any clear evidence? Yeah, they really get on my tits.

This week has consisted of so many different things. I've been out and about, drinking far too much, disliking far too many people and rather enjoying myself all the same. I'm going to attempt to finish reading one of my texts for next week today but I know that there's far too many distractions to actually make me behave for more than five minutes. I don't really have many wild Freshers Week stories as of yet to be honest. Apart from: getting locked out at 2am, wacking out some dad dancing on the dancefloor and a shit load of drinking games. I'm going to try and dedicate some time this weekend to sitting down and sorting out the blog and hopefully wacking up some good posts for you all. What are people interested in? Wanna see my new hometown/abode/uni stuff? I was thinking of posting meals up or something? We've been creating bakes, stir frys and curries galore lately! That probably explains why my thighs are wobbling a whole lot more recently. I seriously need to get shredding.

I'd best go bury my head between the pages of The Odyssey! Hope you're all well. Little V will be back up and running properly very soon. I promise ;)

P.S If you head over to My Label you can use '10MYLABEL' at the checkout to get a cheeky 10% discount. If that isn't an incentive, I don't know what is!

snap happy #32: my week in photos

2011-09-18T18:12:00.000+01:00

I'm well and truly out of the whole blogosphere loop at the moment. We've still only got one internet port so Luke and I are currently battling for use of the net; it's not a pretty battle to have with a blogger/serial tweeter! One of my best friends has just left and I doubt I'll see him again before he returns to Aus so I'm pretty low about that.Why is it that the nice ones always find a way of drifting off?! We had an awesome couple of days watching the sailing, shooting zombies, eating too much fast food and chatting about budgie smugglers. It has been lovely and quite educational - especially for one housemate who actually had no idea that they celebrated Christmas in Aus. Thankfully, he's not on a Geography degree!

Tonight is going to be a quiet one so I'm going to utilize my time and catch up on Masterchef and QI. Priorities, as ever. I'm also going to cook up some jacket spuds oozing with beans and cheese 'cause lets face it - they really hit the spot. I've got to attend boring induction things tomorrow before embarking on Freshers week. If I die, I want you all to know that there's no other way I like to procrastinate more than to read all your blogs and post photos of my life up here on Little V. What's everyone been up to? I want a good natter! I'll be back tomorrow with a H is for Happy post.

my life in lists #9: current observations

2011-09-16T20:29:00.000+01:00

- addicted to my fisheye flat peephole!

1. life is pretty awesome
2. men will try to dance with you until you point out your boyfriend. don't feel bad for them!
3. the disco room will always be the best bet - even if it means you have to dance alone
4. if you can't style it, get it refunded! bye bye high waisted shorts
5. charm really is dead
6. the 'no swearing' rule within the international drinking rules will end up making you consume a lot of alcohol
7. it's shit living near beeping traffic lights
8. people watching is a free educational past time to enjoy and not be ashamed of
9. sausages for lunch will always hit the spot
10. even though you feel you need to, don't tell buskers where they're going wrong
11. the amnesty international man doesn't want to help you find the postbox
12. 24 hours without Internet feels like torture these days
13. my family will never grasp how to have a nice normal skype conversation
14. wherever you go, there's always some z-list celeb to gawp at - michael collings from BGT, ahoy!
15. simply owning a vagina will let you off such things as the beer bong and monkey chug
16. you will sit through a whole load of shit films in your lifetime. don't let it get you down!
17. sorting out your itunes library isn't the sort of productivity you're after
18. living with a boy isn't that bad...once you get past the toilet issues, trips to GAME and xbox time.
19. never spill your drink...drinking out of a sweaty shoe really isn't worth it
20. never use your knowledge of Westlife lyrics to impress people

It's that time of the year where the hours zoom past without warning and the teabags start declining rapidly due to my incurable need for a nice mug of tea. I'm happy as that Larry bloke people talk about right now. The flat feels like home and I think I've already made new mates. I had my first night out last night which was eventful. I will always fail at Ring of Fire and I will always find myself drawn to the disco room despite the fact all my mates consider themselves way too cool for that! I think all this change is exactly what I've been needing. I feel me again. I feel like making a song and dance out of everything (:

•••

I hope you've enjoyed my little list today. I thought it was the best way of catching you up on things that've been happening to me lately/things I've been thinking about! My best friend, Nibs, is down tomorrow so we are gunna have a bit of fun before gracing a house party for beer pong and frivolity. I'm feeling on top of the world. I'll see you Sunday for another Snap Happy - although, at the moment, the majority of the photos on my camera are of Luke's rather badly stubbed toe!

hometown glory

2011-09-14T16:24:00.001+01:00

- old blurry shot of my new hometown. good, i know.

Hello! I'm alive, well and nearly settled in to my new hometown. These past few days have been a whirlwind and I know that the real fun hasn't even begun yet. My shoulders are aching to buggery but it's all been worth it cause our little pad finally looks like home to me e.g I've covered it in all my Disney shit. The past few days have all been about sorting the flat out and purchasing goodies so it's nice to just be able to sit down with my laptop and glass of Pink Lady apple juice and blog. Little V definitely feels like a home to me wherever I am!

I skyped the family last night which resulted in lots of laughter and confusion. Who knew it could be so bloody difficult to work a webcam/talk one at a time?! Mother took it upon herself to give me an update on Embarassing Bodies. I really wish she didn't! Disappearing fanny? I honestly don't know how people bring themselves to watch that programme! I've taken up another hobby thanks to my new flat - people watching. One of my favourite things to do is lie on my bed and watch all the non-suspecting people walk by. I'm definitely going to have to use it as a muse for something because some of the sights I've seen have been priceless! Anyone else a secret people watcher? My favourite place to people watch is the airport; Mamabear and I find it fascinating to guess where people are flying off to! Sad? Maybe. Entertaining? Definitely.

I'll leave it at that 'cause I don't want to bombard everything with info. I'll be back later this week with some photos or a list. I'm off to go and chill before nomming on a Chinese 2 course meal (with side!) that we bagged from M&S. High class student eat your heart out! Tomorrow sees my first night out - lets hope I manage to survive!

h is for happy {w49}: things that make me happy

2011-09-12T11:00:00.025+01:00

This is a scheduled post because I'm currently enduring a car journey with my mother and her interesting radio station preference aka Sad FM. Thanks for all your lovely comments on my last post! I read through them all and found them extremely comforting. Today is all about moving in, buying food, shooting zombies, buying cushions and having a film night with my man friend! I'm pretty darn excited for it. We really want to make the flat a 'home' so we'll no doubt be filling it with quirky items/anything superhero related. Yes, we have mature taste. Mamabear is piling us off with a huuuuge swag bag of snacks because she knows that I can't be truly happy without a stash of Pringles and some Jammie Dodgers in my belly. I'm high maintenance, shoot me! Here's your weekly dose of happy:

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all images courtesy of: weheartit or tumblr unless otherwise linked

By writing my blog address on the images I am in NO way taking credit for them or the idea of this list. All credit goes to their respective authors.

It's merely to protect my little 'H is for Happy' series.

snap happy #31: my week in photos

2011-09-11T11:00:00.003+01:00

Typical shoe pose | The beautiful bride and groom. The groom was signing the book in this photograph..it does rather look a lot like he's taking a nap though | Myself at the wedding. Looking like a chubby bear for some reason! Silly hips | Blurry drunken fun at the Harvest Home | A compilation of drunken antics á la Bee! | My new zebra scarf | I'm addicted to hoisin duck wraps | Fountain | Looking at the droplets | Beautiful Brazillian bridesmaids | Can't beat a good old prawn cocktail! | My handsome man and the pretty venue

~ All my thoughts are with those affected by the devastation that took place ten years ago to this day. It's a tragedy that I still can't quite comprehend the scale of even now. I visited Ground Zero a few years ago and the pain of the attacks was still beating through the ground and I felt overcome by emotion. All my prayers are sent their way.

Hello! REMEMBER ME?! As I type this, I'm surrounded by my life in cardboard boxes and I'm feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement. I've got billions of questions flying round my head and it's really off-putting. Will people like me? Am I gunna weep like a child for my Mamabear? Can I still remember how to write coherent sentences? Will my new bed be bloody awful?

It's finally hitting me that I'm finally heading off to university. After a terrible gap year, I cannot wait to put my head in a book and get some serious essay work done. I'll be regretting saying that within about a month, granted. I haven't got a clue what to pack next and I don't even think I'm ready to leave just yet but, I'm sure it'll all work itself out. I just want to meet new friends, wake up not knowing what happened the night before and blossom into a much better person. In some ways, it's almost as if moving away gives you a chance to re-invent yourself. University is going to be one big adventure but it's one that I can't wait to tackle. Lets face it, it can't be any more shit that this gap year has been! I've already had an awkward, 'so what did you do in your gap year' conversation with a new coursemate. I didn't know whether to just lie and say I'd been volunteering in an African village or whether to just say, 'I was diagnosed with a life long illness, suffered depression and remained unemployed for the most part' and be done with it! Haha. Oh, life.

I can't write a little catch up without mentioning just how amazing Luke's brother's wedding was. There is no way I can convey just how much the beautiful couple mean to me. From the violinist playing 'Use Somebody' to my boyfriend's gorgeous speech...it was all perfect! I just know that they're going to be so head over heels in love for the rest of their lives and, for me, that's something I envy more than anything. I was unofficial photographer for my 'father-in-law' for the day so I'm sure I'll have some better photographs soon. I'm moving tomorrow so I'm not sure when I'll get to post next as I'll be unpacking/settling in etc but I'll just and update ASAP. Thanks so much for sticking by me this past year, it's not been an easy one but you lot have made it as nice as it could be. All in all, life is one big ball of excitement at the moment and I hope that you lot will stick with me and the next part of my life! I'm feeling pretty perfect right now.

P.S I guest posted for my favourite lady, Lyzi, the other day. You can see that HERE.

snap happy #30: my week in photos

2011-09-05T16:44:00.001+01:00

Ebony's charity shop foam clogs! My espadrilles sadly died today due to the terrible rain | Ebony and I | You can't beat lunch for under £3. Especially when it usually consists of 90% cheese | Just a little part of my goodies from Zoe! | Only Grandma's have j20's in their fridge! | This little ladybug wouldn't leave me alone | The pond looked gorgeous because all the petals had fallen | Pretty little bee | My childish scrawls

Life is interesting when the majority of it is packed up in boxes ready to go to your new 'home'! I've been enjoying a little time away from the ~interwebz~ over the past few days and it's been lovely. I've been over fed by Grandma, perused the charity shops with Ebony, chilled out with Luke and nerded up on my reading list. The other night, I turned off all communications and just sat and solidly read my book in a couple of hours. It was such an overwhelmingly nice feeling; especially as I immersed myself in a hot bubble bath straight afterwards.

This week is more than likely going to be all about the wedding of the year on Friday. Move over Wills and Kate! Luke's brother and his fiancé are to be married on Friday and I cannot wait. They're such lovely people and I just know that they're going to be so so happy with each other. There's not many people who you can say that about these days! I'm going to be wearing this dress. It's so beautiful but I'm now stressing about what colour accessories to go for. Anyone got any ideas? Luke and I have written a little reading that he's going to read during the service. It's rather sweet!

I had to throw away my summer espadrilles today because the rain and boozy Saturday night left them in tatters. It was such a sad feeling to just dispose of my summer in such a way but I think I'm ready to embrace some autumnal clothing. I've already purchased a gorgeous scarf, new coat and a blush pink jersey tee. I'm planning on adding a pair of shoes and a pair of berry coloured jeans to my wardrobe courtesy of my overdraft. Oh, what it is to be eternally skint! I'm off to go and pack some more things!

my life in lists #8: things i'll miss about home

2011-08-31T11:35:00.001+01:00

•••

P.S Do you remember my Clippy bag design?! Clippy are running a little competition with all the bloggers who designed their own bag and if mine gets enough 'likes' I'll win a cool 30% discount for you lot to use on their site. Does this sound tempting? Well, they'll also pick one winner from all the 'likes' in the album to win a bag of their choice! So, quick...go and get voting for my bag design! The competition is running til Monday so get a scoot on! Go here to vote!

h is for happy {w48}: things that make me happy

2011-08-29T22:05:00.003+01:00

I apologise if you've all been subjected to my angry/disappointed tweets this evening. I was just miserably assessing my finances and feeling a little let down by a certain someone for their lack of support throughout my life. I've since come to realise that it's not worth it to let such people drag me down. I've also learnt that it's not wise to attack packs of biscuits to subside the angry/upset thoughts. Then again, I bloody love a good chocolate digestive or ten! Anyway, onto my day! I've spent the day crawling around local country pubs with the family; it was certainly good for the soul. The first pub we went to was actually a converted country house that served the nicest homemade food and had a wonderfully cosy atmosphere.

It's only a couple of weeks until I move and I've already gone through a range of emotions. Oh yes guys, the weepies have taken place! I still can't believe that within a fortnight I'll no longer be living in my home county of the last 19 years of my life :/ You know what they say, you can take the girl out of Somerset but you can't take Somerset out of the girl! I'll be showcasing my cider drinking antics to my new home county pretty soon, I'm sure! I'm off shopping tomorrow so I'm hoping to pick up some underwear bargains and a dress to wear to Luke's brother's wedding. Why do I always leave dress shopping til the last minute?! I'm gunna go grab another cuppa and watch tv into the night. Have a good week!

P.S There's still items in my blog sale. Looks like I'm gunna need as much £ as possible ;)

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all images courtesy of: weheartit or tumblr unless otherwise linked

By writing my blog address on the images I am in NO way taking credit for them or the idea of this list. All credit goes to their respective authors.

It's merely to protect my little 'H is for Happy' series.

snap happy #29: my week in photos

2011-08-28T12:18:00.000+01:00

Orecchietti al Pollo - pasta with garlic, chicken, mushrooms and a hint of chilli. It was yum! | Annoying my Facebook friends by being a spelling Nazi | Standard photograph of beautiful Robbie | The beautiful bride to be after a nasty Tequila Slammer! I found this 'Keep Calm' poster in a classy little cocktail bar. I thought it would be very appropriate for some people! | The sky at the start of the week | The sky at the end of the week | Introduced my Clippy bag on little V | Creating my own superhero | B & Q promoting a bit of 90s dance | This will always be the funniest thing to do in department stores |

What a whirlwind week! Everything feels a little out of sorts at the moment because I feel like I'm within two parts of my life. Insert age old 'chapter' cliché here. As you can see, I've been quite family-orientated lately and it's felt good. I've decided that the one person in my life that I can always count on is my mother. At this point, I imagine the first chords of this song playing. Honestly, she's been an absolute rock recently and I doubt I could write a summary of my week without including how amazing she is.

Today is all about chilling out and eating a whole load of gammon; the way I'd live my whole life if I could. Has anybody else started having lingering thoughts of Christmas? I'm already getting that holidays are coming feeling and the card shops haven't even rolled out their tacky Xmas stock yet! Am I wrong to get so excited? Shoot me, if so. I think I just want an excuse to eat as much as I am at the moment. I've got the autumnal munchies bad!

I'm off to go and stalk blogs, nom a toastie and coax Luke into making me rounds of milky tea! Have a lovely end to your week. I'll be back tomorrow with a dose of infectious happiness.

clippy bag: the ideal university book bag!

2011-08-25T14:11:00.000+01:00

* CLICK THE IMAGES FOR CLEARER PHOTOS.
The weather nor the lighting was wanting to play game so click the photos and they make look a little better ~fingers crossed~

It's not often that I'm contacted by lovely PR people, let alone PR's that actually know my name and are really interested in my blog, so I was pleasantly surprised when I was contacted recently by Clippy. They showed a real interest in my little V and had actually been reading it for a year! Eeep. Clippy is a brand based in London that enable the masses to create unique bag designs to show off to their peers. You receive the shell of a bag and then you get to design it to your heart's content. You can choose from a range of bags including handbags, totebags, washbags and even pencil cases! I'd never heard of the brand before so I scoured their website for information and was immediately sucked in by the history of Clippy.

The first bag was made by Calypso Rose on her kitchen table many moons ago and the brand has since escalated and even gained the custom of none other than Helena Bonham Carter! If it's good enough for Bellatrix; it's good enough for me! I love how easily customisable these bags are. If you're anything like me, the faintest bit of creativity makes you nauseous. No worries - you can either do a bit of DIY or you can customise them online so that they arrive at your door with your photographs in. I uploaded my photographs online and was surprised to see how easy it was! A few clicks and it was making its way to me. The photographs were also really good quality.

images of: my mamabear, the beach in my hometown, summer reading, charles in a sombrero, myself, my favourite summer shoes, grasshopper infested daisies in the countryside, pick and mix and idiot faces.

I'm moving out soon so I wanted my bag to ooze the familiarity of home and the people I hold dear. I'm pretty chuffed with how its turned out. Even Luke was impressed and that's not an easy thing to achieve! I'm definitely going to be carting mine round at university and using the little pockets to store my train tickets that I always misplace. It's the perfect size to conceal my folders and it's also waterproof - ideal for the Great British summer we are having! I think I'm also going to mix it up a little and store cute postcards or fabrics in the pockets.

Thinking you want a slice of the action? Clippy have kindly given little V her own code so that my readers can get 20% off all products until the end of September! All you have to do is type in 'VIVA20' at the checkout! Happy shopping.

p.s there's still some nice things left in my blog sale
p.p.s my email address has changed. if you wish to contact me please email: vivatramp@gmail.com

a dreary day in august

2011-08-24T19:08:00.000+01:00

I am absolutely shattered! Honestly, who needs 30 day shred when you can walk around Ikea for 2 hours and get more of a strenuous workout/leg ache. I managed to pick up the cute little pen holder, it was actually a cutlery holder, from there as well as purchase this little bookcase. I'm sure my books will appreciate their new house; usually they're stacked on top of one another like a knowledgeable leaning tower of literature. Luke was an Ikea virgin but I think he fell in love with the place when he realised he could pick up a hot dog for a mere 50p. I passed and binged on a good old Bacon Double Cheeseburger. I swear they're the burgers of Kings!

I've decided I'm going to get back into scrap booking and making ridiculous collages as you can see from the second photograph. Those cuttings came from some awesome zines that the lovely Claire sent to me what seems a lifetime ago! There's something so unbelievably therapeutic about cutting out images and creating your own little masterpiece from them so I'm excited to see what becomes of them. Apologies for the extremely diva-esque photographs of myself. I wasn't really feeling putting my whole fell-asleep-in-the-car-and-now-I'm-not-sure-who-I-am eyes on camera. As you can see, my knees are healing up well. I am so so clumsy and not in the clichéd blonde bimbo way. I think I've just got a serious case of vertigo which leads me to crash back to earth every now and again. Oh, tall girl problems.

Everything seems to be falling into place for my move. My lovely Grandmother surprised me with a parcel containing a handpainted card, academic diary and a cheque the other day. Grandparents are so thoughtful! I'll definitely be putting the little bit of money towards the cost of my books. Which reminds me, there's still lots of pretty things left in my blog sale. Go and take a peek!

I'm going to go and spend the rest of my evening gorging on terrible television, nomming a bacon sarnie and writing up lots more lists. Hope it's not too rainy where you are! I'll be back tomorrow with a post about my amazing new bag ♡

h is for happy {w47}: things that make me happy

2011-08-22T12:05:00.001+01:00

I'm a terrible blogger, I know. On the other hand, I'm winning at life at the moment! Winning means getting tiddly, smashing up your 'good' knee and waking up hurting in places you never knew you could hurt, right!? I attended my first hen night over the weekend and was amazed at what goes on during such events. If I ever get married, I just want a quiet night in with a bottle of vodka and a handshake for bagging a man that willingly wants to spend the rest of his life with me.

I had a lovely week last week full of quality sibling time, film nights and noodle dishes. I've come back down to reality recently and realised just how many weeks it is until I'm moving out! I'm not overly upset yet but I know this time in a couple of weeks I'll be caressing the bath and reminiscing about all the good times we've had together. Ah, all those cosy winter nights immersed underneath it's bubbly goodness. I'm hoping to change things around with the blog soon so keep your beady eyes peeled. Until then, here's a few more things that make me happy:

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one, five.

all images courtesy of: weheartit or tumblr unless otherwise linked

By writing my blog address on the images I am in NO way taking credit for them or the idea of this list. All credit goes to their respective authors.

It's merely to protect my little 'H is for Happy' series.

CHRISTMAS BLOGGER EVENT!

2011-08-18T16:45:00.001+01:00

(kitty photo to lure you in)

Ever thought: 'I'd love to have a good old knees up with my fellow blogging friends whilst surrounded by crazy decorations, sexy santas and a goodie bag full of lovelyness'?! Well then, it's your lucky day....

The gorgeous Lyzi and I along with the MyStreetChicas have decided to organise the ultimate Blogger's Christmas Party on Saturday 17th December in Bristol. It's an evening event. It's early days so ideas are flying around at the moment but we need to get an idea of numbers.

We aren't asking for definite answers, we just want you to register your interest so we can pick a venue to fit a whole bunch of gorgey bloggers in! It doesn't matter if you aren't from the South West or you don't think your blog is 'popular' enough. Everyone is welcome! We've given you lots of notice so that you can book time off work, get cheap transport and find some accomodation. We will be providing details of the latter within the coming months.

If you're interested in being kissed under the mistletoe by a drunken Lyzi or a drunken Bee please leave a comment below, email either L or I, tweet us or alert us in some elaborate fashion. Hope to see you there!

Bee: rebeccaalicestevenson@googlemail.com
Lyzi: beinglittle@hotmail.co.uk

h is for happy {w46}: things that make me happy

2011-08-15T14:41:00.000+01:00

Writing this post was just what I needed after a productive morning of being angry at things. It really annoys me when people are careless so I've been scowling at the staff of my local bank for messing up my new account. I'm feeling a little more at peace now! For those of you that are interested, Lyzi and I are already organising the next blogger meet up and it's scheduled for December. If we can get it all organised quickly we'll have a killer venue and the perfect party night for us and our blogger friends to let our hair down and flaunt our Christmas party dresses. Does that take your fancy?! We'll be looking into cheap hotels and transport etc in hope that some of you further north can come and be a part of it. It promises to be awesome! Would people be able to make a weekday if they booked the time off now? We are frantically checking dates.

In other news, I'm also going to be getting a blog sale going this week because the thought of living off a pound for another month actually makes me want to cry. There'll be some nice affordable stuff for you all to take a peek at. I've got to dash back to Luke's now for more film marathons but I hope you all have a lovely rest of the day! Do you agree with my picks?

226-230:

all images courtesy of: weheartit or tumblr unless otherwise linked

By writing my blog address on the images I am in NO way taking credit for them or the idea of this list. All credit goes to their respective authors.

It's merely to protect my little 'H is for Happy' series.

snap happy #28: my week in photos

2011-08-14T12:02:00.000+01:00

Good morning happy campers! I've had quite a whirlwind of a week but without the photographic evidence to prove it. My sister returned home from her holiday in the early hours of the morning so I went to go and greet her at the airport in my pj's. I then consequently had to do the walk of shame because I saw a guy I know and he was just staring at me as if to say, 'you're a mess'. Oh, lolz! Of course, I can't forget to mention the fact that I met some absolutely amazing blogging friends on Friday. It's like being surrounded by old friends yet you've got soooo much to discuss! I don't think we were capable of awkward silences. It was a perfect day full of shopping, eating, nattering and fun. I'd like to just say a massive thank you to the MyStreetChic ladies. They came along and had a good chat before taking our style photos for their website. As a non-fashion blogger, it was completely out of my comfort zone so I bet my photo will come out horrendously awkward but it was still the best fun I've had in a while. Here's a little exclusive for you to...let's just say you need to keep your calendars free for mid-December and buy a Christmas party dress.

I headed to Bristol Balloon Fiesta this week as you can see from the mass of photographs. The fiesta basically brings crafts, food, music and hot air balloons together to create a fun evening out. I can't believe Lyzi went but didn't go in the evening for the night glow/balloon take-off! I spent the evening sipping on strong local cider, nabbing myself a freebie or two, wolfing down a carvery bap and dancing on a hill in the pitch black whilst the balloons lit up to music. It's not everyone's cup of tea but it's something I've been doing every year of my life (minus the cider) so it's something I always look forward to! I actually posted about the fiesta last year here. Oh god, it's so awkward to look back on this time last year.

Just a quick mention again about those gorgeous MyStreetChic ladies. Gina and Sian were so lovely to us and I hope to see them again at some point for more nail art chats! They have awesome jobs that I wouldn't mind stealing too ;) If you head over to the My Street Chic website you can have your own piece of the site to represent your city/towns/villages style and show off its chic credentials to the rest of the UK ;) You could be the next My Street Chica! I'm sure Sammy and I will set one up for our town so we can show off everyone's sexy shellsuit/camel toe combo! Hahahaha. I'm off to go and adopt my usual Sunday routine before heading to Luke's for a movie night. Keep smiling.

my life in lists #7: things i would like in my life right this second

2011-08-12T11:00:00.000+01:00

This is a cheeky little scheduled post because as you read this I'm rubbing shoulders with some of the South West's blogging finest! I'm a lucky lady, indeed. It almost didn't go ahead because of the pathetic rioters that have been gracing our news screens lately. I'm disgusted by their behaviour and I hope they all suffer the consequences of their ill-judged actions. I don't know why people can't have a bit of decorum and respect. I also don't know why they can't have a bit of taste - Sports Direct?! Oh dear. Thankfully, it seems the country is slowly returning back to its former riot-free state.

In cheerier news, my mate Hugh has decided to set up a River Cottage canteen in Plymouth - my future hometown! You have no idea how many fan girl squeals I made when I read such glorious news. Yeah, I'm middle aged. I'm a Fearnely-Whittingstall fanatic and I don't care who knows it! I'm hoping Lyzi and my best friend Ebony will be able to make the opening day and catch a glimpse of the beaut with me. I'm going to be holding a little blog sale over here at Little V within the next few days so keep your eyes peeled for bargains. I desperately need some dollar for uni so I'm hoping it'll be fruitful! Here's a few things that I'd quite like that I jotted down in my notebook recently:

1. restored peace within the UK/a ban on politicians conspiring/a ban on Ed Milliband's voice
2. more blonde highlights
3. nice eyebrows
4. shockwaves curl and wave mousse
5. breton. you can never have too much
6. a warm mug of tea with milk and two sugars
7. a dinner date
8. a tartan scarf
9. a shoe rack full of espadrilles and brogues
10. a facial at the spa
11. a cure for many a fatal illness
12. onesies/kigus for every day of the week
13. a river cottage-esque lifestyle
14. a dress for every day of the year
15. mismatched plates
16. fresh flowers
17. billowing jars of coloured pencils and pens
18. pretty letter paper
19. painted nails
20. a euro road trip
21. a dreamcatcher above my bed
22. city breaks
23. a venue that'd play my favourite songs
24. a dancefloor so i could skip around to aforementioned songs
25. stacks of moleskins full to the brim with ideas
26. him
27. bicycle rides
28. natural light
29. the comfiest pair of skinny jeans in the world
30. fluency in a range of languages
31. to write more letters to people
32. nostalgic photo albums
33. a full bookcase
34. photograph wall with mismatched frames
35. slouchy jersey t-shirts
36. un-shrunk mittens
37. the colour plum
38. fleecey loungey bottoms
39. comforting homecooked food
40. smiling faces
41. disposable income
42. disposable photographs
43. creativity
44. agreeable opinions
45. a term or two at hogwarts
46. a family of cats
47. a shelf of kilner jars
48. colourful storage boxes
49. art
50. published work
51. walks in the best of places
52. floral prints
53. balance
54. pretty perfume bottles
55. travel
56. a fancy firework display
57. chinese takeout
58. a jukebox of every song i've ever liked
59. an hour with lost loved ones
60. a good old fashioned cuddle

•••

I'm off to go spend the day with lovely ladies, eat some good food, pose and enjoy!

viva♡s: internet finds and inspiration

2011-08-10T17:20:00.000+01:00

Good evening! Here I am with my weekly dose of internet finds. I doubt I'm the only one that'll surf countless sites (hello Etsy and Tumblr) for hours claiming that its in the name of inspiration, right?! Good. I've had a pretty productive day today. I've swapped banks, cleaned the house and done some extensive research into various things that I won't bore you with. I also popped over to my Grandma's for lunch. She lives right across the road from me which is a lifesaver when you run out of ketchup or want someone to watch terrible crime dramas with! She stuffed me with salmon sandwiches before making me help her delete her emails. If any of you have had to deal with a 'silver surfer' I'm sure you'll feel my pain! She's quite possibly the only lady in the world who reads forwarded emails, finds them hilarious and then prints them out! Bless her. All in all, its been a good day. I'm planning on spending this evening sorting out a blog sale, emailling south west blogger ladies, nomming a jacket potato and picking my sister up from the airport. I love going to the airport. I'm a bit of a strange one, right?! Here's a few things I've liked recently:

♡ this typewriter bio and its tumblr ♡

♡ this vintage bottle collection ♡

♡ this handy little tip ♡

♡ this cute little piece of artwork ♡

♡ this idea for another list - she's chosen some pretty awesome women ♡

♡ this loud piece of vintage knitwear ♡

♡ this harry potter scar necklace - i need one! ♡

& i'm also loving:

researching modules • breton stripes • compiling even more lists • chuck marathons

the rioters getting the punishments they deserve • a simple jacket potato • lunch dates • this flickr •

how close the next meet up is!

h is for happy {w45}: things that make me happy

2011-08-08T11:00:00.004+01:00

Vivatramp is now a self-proclaimed 'lifestyle blog with a smile' and what a better way to illustrate that fact than with another of my posts on how to be happy! Readers often tell me that they swoop by little V every Monday for their weekly dose of happiness and that's extremely humbling. It's amazing to know that this list helps others as well as myself. For thirty minutes or so a week I can let my mind wander and think of the nicer, and more often than not, simpler things in life and that's a habit that I never want to tire of. I'd love to find out what makes my readers happy so if you've got a little list please pop it in the comments box!

In other news, Luke is back from his brother's stag do today; it'll be interesting to see whether he comes back in one piece or not! (edit - he has!) I'm off to go and prance about in a Breton stripe and sort out university dribble. Why not look through the 'H is for Happy' series here ♡

221-225:

image 5

all images courtesy of: weheartit or tumblr unless otherwise linked

By writing my blog address on the images I am in NO way taking credit for them or the idea of this list. All credit goes to their respective authors.

It's merely to protect my little 'H is for Happy' series.