Inspiration: The Ballet Edition

I love this look, I'm always so envious of Ballet Dancers, I would love to have that discipline. Although I did it when I was young, dance has never been my thing unfortunately; I've always been musical instead.

I feel like it is such a beautiful and whimsical look, and so ultra feminine <3

Lea

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Sailing!

Hello lovelies,

Today we're at the sailing down in Weymouth and I'm happy to report that the sun is out! I'm not sure what else we're doing today, but as far as I know there's a tour of a fort on the cards and potentially a shingle beach...

We managed to see Stone Henge last night on our trip down here, and I have to say I was really surprised at how small it was - I was expecting it to be a lot taller! I suppose it's one more thing crossed off the list of life experiences though :)

I just thought I'd mention that if you'd like to follow me on Instagram I'll love you forever :) My username is awonderful_life, I update it all the time :)

Best dash, the race has just started!

Lea

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Starbucks and London Zoo!

Hi Beautiful!

We've been up and about for a while now, we left the hotel we were staying in and checked our bags in at Victoria Coach station so we didn't have to carry them all day. It's really cheap and I'd really recommend them if you're ever wanting to do that!

We made a quick pitstop at Starbucks for some breakfast porridge which was delicious, especially with the honey maple sauce added in :) I also got a caramel cream Frappucino. I'm on my holiday in my defence! (And it only has 250ish cals in the smallest one, so I'll burn that off walking :p!!)

Now we're on a bus on the way to London Zoo and I'm so excited its unreal, I absolutely love the zoo, it's one of my all time favourite days out :D I always love the Red Pandas and the Camels for some reason haha!

Got to dash because it's nearly our stop, have a lovely day everyone :)

Lea

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Up for a snog?

Don't worry, this is not my attempt at a chat up line!

After we finished up at the Natural History Museum, (which was brilliant!) we were running a bit late for Harrods (read Pinkberry :p) so we decided to head back and freshen up. On the way I dragged Alex to Snog to get some fro-yo; what can I say? I'm addicted! It was lovely; more bitter than Yoomoo I would say, but still nice. Their toppings were definitely very interesting too. I went for watermelon and brownie with natural yoghurt and it was lovely! I have to say, call me biased, but I still do prefer Yoomoo. I'd say the main difference is that Snog yoghurt isn't as soft and creamy as Yoomoo, which is the main reason why I love it so much.

Now we're off to Brick Lane for a curry so I'd better dash :)!

Lea

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Olympic Beach Volleyball

The first event we have tickets for is beach volleyball. They were bought for us by Alex's mother as a birthday present to Alex almost a year ago now!

I have to say, this is the most random event ever! There's some very strange dancing teenage girls who are dressed in swimwear who keep running around like they're from Baywatch and I have to say that their dancing leaves quite a lot to be desired! - Hilarious to watch though! Then there's random snippets of music every 20 seconds bursting out and frankly I don't have a clue what's going on, but it's all very enjoyable!

The sun is shining and it's a great day in London, I feel so lucky to be here!

After we leave here at around 12:30, we're heading over to the Natural History Museum which I am super excited for!! Then if we have time later we're going to wander around Harrods for a couple of hours and I might even try to persuade Alex to let me stop by Pinkberry ;)

Tonight we're going for dinner with one of Alex's good friends from highschool. I think we're going for a curry on Brick Lane, so I'm told!

I hope you're all having a fun day :D

Lea

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London Baby!

We arrived in London at about 3pm and we headed straight out into Covent Garden to scope out the cute little shops. I went a bit mad when I saw the Moomin shop, I could have spent so much money in there!

Now we're sat in a bar just off Trafalgar Square with a lovely bottle of white ready to watch the opening ceremony.

What are you guys up to tonight? Are you watching the opening ceremony?

Lea

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I think someone might be a little bit tipsy!

Last Night at The Trafford Centre

I met Megan at the Trafford Centre last night (after 3 hours of being stuck in the Leeds traffic) and we had a lovely time. My mum met us and we had some dinner together, then she left and we hit the shops before finishing up by having a drink in Las Iguanas.

I was really impressed by the Trafford Centre, since moving to Leeds I don't go half as much as I used to (which was a lot, trust me hehe) the changes in it were amazing! I mean, they have a Forever 21!!! SO impressed haha :)

I bought a couple of cheeky things, here they are:

Dress, H&M, £5 in the sale (!!!)

Beanie, H&M, (mens) £3.99. Brushes, Forever 21, £3.99. Earrings, Forever 21, £3.95.

7 Day Trail of the YSL Foundation, Clarins Instant Light NAtural Lip Perfecter, £16.

Lea

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A Lesbian Who Doesn't Like Gay Marriage?!

I'm so glad that my last post was received so well, your support and comments mean the world to me and I am so grateful for them. Just as I predicted, I lost followers, but I gained more than I lost, which was something I didn't expect. So hi to my newest followers, and thankyou for following me! It made my day! I also said that if I could help just 1 person then it would be worth it, and while I received quite a few emails, one in particular was worth it, even if I had ended up with 0 followers in the end <3

So the main question was about my beliefs on Gay Marriage, I think a lot of you were intrigued how someone who is gay could not support it. I think firstly I need to clarify that my wording was inaccurate; it's not that I don't support gay marriage in general, that was the wrong way for me to define it, it's that I don't support gay marriage personally.

Well that's confusing.

I know that doesn't make sense at first glance, but I'll try my best to explain it.

I understand that to a lot of gay people, being denied the right to Marry feels like a huge infringement on their human rights; who was Mr.Bigwig who legally defined marriage to say that it was just for a man and woman? Leviticus also says no haircuts, so why only listen to something that implies that marriage is not for same sex couples? The foundations that Marriage sit on are shaky at best and are under constant scrutiny. To some people, Marriage is incredibly important, for either personal or religious reasons, and for those people I understand why Gay Marriage is so important, and I support that fully.

However.

Religion is an area which I will discuss separately as that's a whole other issue, but in a nutshell, I don't believe that such an old text can be taken as concrete truth; it's outdated and non applicable to modern day life, if taken literally. (That is my own personal belief, I understand there are others who feel a different way and I respect your opinions). However, from the outset, it has been made pretty clear that marriage is for a man and a woman; it has never stated that it was for a man and a man or a woman and a woman. Likewise when laws were initially established, it was created as a union between a man and a woman; that was its function.

Well, I'm not with a man, I'm with a woman; therefore marriage is not for me. Civil Partnership was a pretty broken Olive Branch when it came to the promotion of equality between heterosexuals and homosexuals, but nonetheless, it's my Olive Branch.

Civil Partnership is a part of my identity, it is a symbol of my pride to be with a same sex partner. I am different, I am not 'normal' statistically, and I'm proud of that. It has taken me a long while to own it, but now that I do, I am comfortable with my label and I want others to know that. If a Marriage is defined as being for a man and a woman, then by my thinking, it isn't for me, because frankly, I don't fit into that category. Likewise, Civil Partnership is not for heterosexual couples, because they don't fit into that category. It's like letting men into the ladies loo; they just don't belong in there because they are inherently not part of that societal group.

My latter argument is slightly more controversial, so bear with me.

The LGBT population has been denied Marriage for such a long time, we have been persecuted and had our most basic human rights stripped many times throughout the course of history. It seems that Marriage is one of the final barriers, and we fight so hard for it.

The problem with that, is that the more we fight and the more that the authorities say no, the weaker we look, as they constantly maintain the power and the upper hand. From that exchange, the feelings of inequality are heightened, the feelings that we are less of a person than a heterosexual become increased. Why can they say no? Why won't they listen? Is it because I'm not good enough? And if that is not the case, then why do they have the power to deny us, and we have no power at all?

When you stop fighting for something, it shows that you don't care. It's like when you give up fighting to get your ex back, suddenly all the power they held has gone and they are left feeling deflated and powerless over you, as they no longer have that hold. You might not have your initial goal, but you have something different, but equal.

That is not to say that I believe that Civil Partnership is an equal to Marriage. As it stands there are some differences; they are few, but they do exist. The most poignant being the fact that there is no requirement for consummation (because they believe we cannot physically have a sexual relationship), and as a result, you cannot have a Civil Partnership severed as a result of adultery with another same sex person, as they do not recognise that it can happen.

To me, I would like to see the differences in Marriage and Civil Partnership cancelled out and a true equality placed across the board.

I would like to finish off by saying that my point of view on this is very controversial and people who are of my stance are few and far between. I know that Alex completely disagrees with me and wants to get married, but that is something we will have to find a compromise on.

I completely respect other peoples opinions on any subject, as there are too many in the world for only one to be right; some of you may strongly disagree with me, but that's okay.

I hope this has answered your questions <3

Lea

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Images via weheartit.com

The Gay Post

Okay, here we go!

This is something that I've thought about doing for a while, but the timing has never seemed right, but with me now approaching 300 followers (whoa, could I just say, thankyou all so much!) I thought now was a good a time as ever. I have always been a little afraid of backlash from this, but over time I have realised that I have never been subject to homophobia on my blog, something I am very grateful of, and which I feel really reflects on the wonderful and open minded followers that you all are.

As most of you will know, I am in-fact gay. It's not something that I have ever hidden on my blog as I feel that I spent such a long time hiding it when I was younger, I don't ever want to do that again. However, I'm always conscious that I shouldn't constantly ram gay issues down peoples throats - you're not here to read about that, it's a beauty and lifestyle blog after all!

When I meet new people in real life and they find out that Alex is a woman, I almost always get a lot of questions. When people think of 'gay' women, there's a pre-conceived idea that I don't fit with, and people find it shocking and intriguing. Over the years I have also been a bit of a support system to some people who are coming to terms with a person who they are close to coming out of the closet; when they don't feel that they can ask that person questions, they come to me. I also know that there are a lot of people who have questions but are afraid to ask them for fear of upsetting that person, so they never ask, and never get their answers.

In light of this I have decided to put this out there and invite you to ask me anything that you might have a question about, whether it's about gay issues in general, or myself personally, as I'm always open to my followers getting to know me better. Please don't be afraid of offending me, as I have a very thick skin and I don't mind at all. If it's gay related, you can ask me whatever is on your mind.

I'm aware that some people won't like this post, and I may lose a few followers along the way, but I feel that for the benefit of even one person who has a burning question that they want to ask, it's worth it.

I thought I'd kick start things with a few bits of information about myself and gay issues in general.

• LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender - our symbol is the rainbow (amongst others).
• Some people don't like to be categorised, and some women reject the term 'lesbian' in favour of 'gay'. I personally used to dislike lesbian, but have since become much more accepting of the term. I still generally use gay though.
• I came out when I was 17, and had a very rough time. Things went very badly for me but have since improved greatly, and now things are fine.
• I had my first girlfriend when I was 15/16.
• I realised I was gay when I was 15.
• I have had 3 serious girlfriends.
• I am what is referred to as a 'femme' lesbian.
• I don't believe in gay marriage (I know this one is the shocker, it's for reasons you probably wouldn't expect)

I hope I haven't offended anyone with this post.

If you have a question that you feel is very personal or on a matter close to your heart, please feel free to email me at suchawonderfullife@hotmail.com.

Lea

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I get the sweetest feeling!

(Kudos to you if you got the Jackie Wilson reference there :p)

I just spotted that a girl who I have followed for quite a long time now has mentioned me in a blog hop post. While I'm not part of the blog hop, I was so touched by it what I just had to put her out there and try to direct a couple more followers her way.

Her name is Louisa Mary and you can find her blog here.

I can honestly say that hers is one of the blogs that I always look out for popping up on my dashboard. She has a great mix of posts, and I especially enjoy her 'lifestyle' ones, like her recent Magaluf post. It's fun to read something other than a review on dry shampoo.

The bit that gets me is that I have never asked her to mention me, I didn't know it was coming, I have never emailed her personally even. She just picked me and did it. How lovely and selfless is that?

I often think how sad it is that most of the BIG Youtubers and bloggers don't use their status to help along the odd other person who they've stumbled across who they think perhaps deserves more followers than they have. I'm not talking about them publishing a Yellow Pages of all the blogs they love, just maybe the odd mention even if they are few and far between. I only ever seem to see them mentioning eachother...

So that's what makes this so special to me, that someone has gone out of their way to mention me, and to help me at the end of the day. That's a sign, to me, of a really beautiful person.

Go and check her out??

Lea

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Traffic ruins everything!

I'm currently sat writing this in my study with my hair all gooped up from hair dye, (my roots were getting crazy!) I should have been on my way to Megan's to drop off the rabbit and then to go to The Trafford Centre in about 10 minutes.

However, there has apparently been an accident on the motorwat and it has taken Alex 2 and a half hours to go literally 4 miles, so it looks like I'm staying put for a while!

I'm hoping it'll clear up by around 12:30ish so I'll set off then...

Looks like it's odd jobs time then! Hair dyeing, painting toenails, cleaning the bathroom, oh how exciting!

What are you up to this morning? Have you been disrupted by the traffic around Leeds?

Lea

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Image viaweheartit.com

This is the life...

Reading blogs with a nice cup of tea (milk one sugar for reference :p)

I'm off to The Trafford Centre tomorrow to meet Megan and find her a dress for a wedding, I feel this may be the calm before the storm :D

Lea

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Gucci's Autumn 2012 Makeup

I find these images really powerful, normally women who have the appearance of no eyebrows are not considered to be beautiful, but Gucci seems to have come together with a group of the most interestingly beautiful women I have seen in such a long time. Whether it's a beautiful hair colour, stand out eyes, or flawless porcelain skin, these women really have it.

What do you think?

Lea

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Images taken from Google Images.

Holiday Hauling, Part 1

I went out this morning and picked up a few things that I needed for my holiday. I got quite a lot, but spent a really small amount in comparison to what I got I think!

I thought I'd let you in on the little bits first :)

Primark

I really wanted a cosmetics bag that would be large enough for me to fit everything in, so all my makeup, and also my mini shampoo, conditioner, and all my body products. (I have a small one that I use for my touch ups during the day that I'll be taking too). This one was the perfect size as it was large enough to realistically let me do that, but small enough to make sure I'm not taking half of my bathroom cabinet with me! This was £3 from Primark (the following are also from Primark).

The neon nail varnishes were an impulse buy while I was in the queue, for £2 I thought they were fun and would look great on my toes in the sunny weather <3

The earrings are a regular purchase for me, I always seem to lose the other half to the top two sizes! These were £2.

The neon Aztec inspired cuff was in the sale for £1 and I thought it was too nice to pass up.

The bracelets were actually from the mens department but I really liked the colours and different textures. It was £2 for the set and I can't wait to wear them!

I thought the bright neon hair ties were great fun for £1, and so were the bright bobby pins also at £1 (the plain brown ones were the same price).

The nail file comes with a case which is handy, and was £1.

Superdrug

I picked up some nail varnish remover pads as it's so much easier to use those than to carry a bottle of remover and cotton pads when you're travelling. I believe they were around the £1.50 mark.

I also went to the MUA stand as I'd heard great things from a girl who I work with about the pressed powder. I picked that up in the lightest shade (£1), the curling mascara (£2), the white eyeliner pencil (£1), the blush in shade 1 (£1), and the lip gloss in shade 5 (£1).

That means that for all of the above I paid just above £20!

I'll be back later with the rest of my haul - next up - clothing!

Lea

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If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain..

What a day! At about 4pm I thought my shift was never going to end! Thankfully I'm at home at last and I'm celebrating finishing work before my holiday.

Alex is watching some Ab Fab special and I'm sipping on a Pina Colada and reading a new book. If I find it any good I'll let you know about it.

I hope you had a great day lovelies, I just want to say a more recent thankyou to you all for your lovely comments and also for following me, it really does mean such a lot :D

Lea

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A Makeup Inspiration [3]

Soft Messy Hair with plenty of volume.

Flashes of white around the eye.

Soft fluffy lashes for a girlish look.

Peacock smoky eyes.

Bright orange-red lips.

Soft natural lips, for a soft kissable look.

Deep burgundy with highlighting work and a high shine.

Chanel's crescent silver-pink nails.

Lea

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Images via Vogue.com

A few places I would like to be

After another day of standing under a glass roof in the baking sun, I have come to the conclusion that there are a few other places I might wish I was (although I do really like my job).

I thought I'd let you in on a couple of them!

Yes please!

Lea

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Images via weheartit.com

Saturday Morning Lusting

If I had a bit of spare pocket money, I would love these. I can imagine getting lots of wear out of the pumps on holiday, and who doesn't love gummy bears, the earrings are so fun and sweet for a summery day!

Pumps £7.99, Pull and Bear, link here.

Belt £5.99, Pull and Bear, link here.

Dandelion FLuff Cuff £10, link here.

Gummy Bear Earrings in any of the circled colours £2.50, link here.

Union Jack Scarf £13 River Island, link here.

What do you think?

Lea

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The Holiday Shoe Dilemma - general ridiculousness!

I know I'm not alone out there with this, we're all (well, most of us) guilty of packing a silly amount of shoes for a holiday, just in case!

The problem that I'm facing though, is that I have to take so many pairs shoes! I don't know how I'm going to fit everything in!

My current total is up at a whopping 7 pairs for a 10 day stay!

Want to see how I got to that?

1. Hunters - for unreliable British Weather and for Devon/Cornwall.
2. Trainers - for running and general exercise.
3. High Heels - for night time, we're off to the Candy Bar apparently!
4. Medium Heels - for meals out, when I need to dress smartly but also need to walk a lot.
5. Pumps - for comfortable walking all day around London/Cornwall
6. Sandals - We're supposed to be having a heatwave, so I'll need something light to walk in.
7. Flats - For casual nights when heels are too much but pumps are too casual.

Okay so I'll be wearing one pair to go in, so that means packing 6 pairs. The problem is, wellies, trainers and 2 pairs of heels are going to take up a lot of room! I'm going to have to squish the others in around them!

I'm getting frustrated just thinking about it haha. Are you a serial shoe overpacker, or are you one of those amazing women who can make it a month on 2 pairs of shoes?

Lea

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Image Via Google Images.

MUA Pastels Pallet Swatches and Review

Swatches are taken in natural light and correlate to the first image. No primer has been used and they were swatched 2-3 times each.

I haven't done a review in a little while so I thought it was about time. This is one of the first things I have bought in quite a while that I really enjoy using, so I thought why not, and at £4 it's a complete bargain!

Most of you will be familiar with MUA, it's a range stocked in Superdrug where the majority of makeup retails at £1, with the odd 'larger' product being slightly higher. The pallets are £4, and are fantastic for the money. I use the Heaven and Earth Pallet from MUA very frequently and am actually on my second one!

This particular pallet is their new addition, filled with pastel shades. I had been on the hunt for something like this for quite a while but to my surprise there really wasn't any kind of answer to a true pastels pallet available in my Boots or Superdrug. I knew MUA did one but it was never in stock so in the end I went ahead and ordered it online and I'm so pleased I did.

As you can see by the swatches, they give a lovely sheen of colour, and I have to say that when applied to the eye they stand out even more. The exception to the good pigmentation however is the first shade, so the top left. It has very poor pigmentation, but it's not something I'm worried about for the price and the fact that I don't like the colour all that much personally. Having said that, it could be used as a base to other eyeshadows, so not all is lost!

I'm not afraid of wearing colour on my eyes, so I'll be rocking these all over my lid, but if you're more of a neutral fan, I'd say that since they're shimmery and pastel, they're much easier to wear than a bright matte shade, so maybe a good place to start if you'd like to wear more colour on your eyes :). Another way to wear would be to use them under your lower lash line for a flash of colour, that would look beautiful too!

What do you think? Is this your cup of tea? I'll definitely be sneaking this away with me on holiday for a few quick and easy looks, with a fun edge!

Lea

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Some Interior (And Exterior) Inspiration

I thought I'd pop up a few images from my decoration inspiration folder. These are just a few of the things that I'm loving at the moment <3.

Brightly painted front doors, especially with contrasting flowers around them.

High gloss black walls, it would have to be the right room to pull this off but when it is, wow what an impact!

Exposed wood is one of my favourite things, I find it so beautiful and it really brings the outside in.

A tent room. I found it really difficult to find a picture of a tent room, it's essentially where you drape the ceiling with soft floaty fabric to simulate a tent. It looks stunning when done properly.

Outside walls brought inside with contrasting glass doors, just simply beautiful.

Lea

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Images via weheartit.com or Google Images.