Snapshots of Life

Hi Darlings,

This week has been a mixed one. I've deep cleaned my house, lazed in the sunshine, had toothache from my dentist being incompetent and had fun out and about with Alex. All in all though, it's been a happy one :)

Mozarella and Tomato for a BBQ with Alex

Homemade Ice-Tea

Freshening my bedroom for Summer

Trip to Krispy Kreme

New Red Blouse from H&M 

Let me know if you've had an interesting week?

Love you all,

Lea

x

p.s. All this hype about GFC; it's still going to be working (so I am informed), so if you'd like to follow me, please still click on the button to the right :) Alternatively, you can follow me via Bloglovin' <3.

Everything is just magical..

Hello Beautiful,

Sometimes we're all guilty of not living in the moment. It's a shame because we miss the little things. I'm making a conscious effort not to let these moments pass me by. Life's too short <3

Lea

x

p.s. All this hype about GFC; it's still going to be working (so I am informed), so if you'd like to follow me, please still click on the button to the right :) Alternatively, you can follow me via Bloglovin' <3.

Images via weheartit.com

Snapshots of Life

Hello Sweetpea,

I hope you're having a lovely day, I'm off out with my Dad. We haven't been out together in a long time, and since I don't live near my parents, I don't get to see them as much as I'd like. Today is about great food, good music, and shopping! (Honestly, he's a bit Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen - he loves to shop).

I thought I'd take this opportunity to show you a few snapshots of my life in the past week, it's not been all that exciting, but it's the little things <3

 Tea in my favourite mug, a gift from Megan's brother, Tom for my 21st.

 Breakfast with the girls, Eggs Royale at LS6 in Hyde Park in Leeds.

 Yo Sushu! One of my favourite places to eat, their Katsu Curry is amazing! This was on a trip out for my Mum's birthday.

 Candles lit as I curled up on the sofa with my book after my last exam.

Watching the sun rise through my bedroom window; I love to do this if I'm awake early enough.

It's all about the little things. 

I'm feeling very lucky at the moment, I'm about to start a new chapter in my life and I'm so excited to see what it brings <3

Love to you all,

Lea

x

p.s. All this hype about GFC; it's still going to be working (so I am informed), so if you'd like to follow me, please still click on the button to the right :) Alternatively, you can follow me via Bloglovin' <3. 

The Way The Cinema Should Be?

Hello Gorgeous,

A couple of days ago I went to see The Great Gatsby with Alex, and I can honestly say that it is an absolutely incredible film. The storyline isn't fantastic, but in terms of the acting, the staging and the soundtrack, it really is incredible.

However, Alex decided to surprise me and took me to the Everyman cinema in Leeds Trinity, and I can honestly say the entire experience was mind-blowing. This is not the place where you shuffle into uncomfortable sticky seats with your overpriced Coke and popcorn, this is how the Cinema should be.

 Margarita Pizza - this was so incredibly tasty, potentially one of the best Margaritas I've ever had.

 Olives and Garlic Bread...

And yes, I saved the best 'till last. Sofas. They were in two's and three's, and were fantastically comfy.

This in my opinion, is the way the cinema should be. It really makes going to the cinema a night out rather than a couple of hours in the dark. There is a full bar, so you can take in a bottle/glass of wine, beer, spirits, even cocktails. At the end of the film, people were still chatting and finishing their drinks while discussing the film, which was absolutely lovely. Such a change from people jumping up to run out and get out of the car park.

Having said this, it's not cheap. It's around the £11 mark for a ticket, and the food isn't exactly what you'd call economical. But if you're looking for a night out that's different, it's around the same cost as a meal out, or potentially even less. I can't wait to go back again, I'm a complete convert!

Let me know if you go!

Lea

x

p.s. All this hype about GFC; it's still going to be working (so I am informed), so if you'd like to follow me, please still click on the button to the right :) Alternatively, you can follow me via Bloglovin' <3. 

No Freedom

Hi there beautiful,

Last night was one of the worst nights sleep I've had in such a long time, so today it's all about home comforts. My favourite candle, a good book, even better music and a soft blanket, hell maybe even a glass of white if I'm feeling particularly rebellious!

I hope you have a relaxing day too, particularly if it's headed towards exam season for you too! Everyone needs a bit of time off, and since I utilised my sleepless night by powering through work, I feel like I can actually justify this one!

Have a great day darlings,

Lea

x

Snapshots of paradise

Good afternoon darlings,

It would be a crime to let these babies go by when the weather is so dismal outside... I think we all need a bit of warm weather eye-candy don't we!

I'm afraid that I didn't have the DSLR with me, as it technically belongs to Alex, and I feel terrible taking it away from her if I'm going to be away for a while (it's kind of her baby). The reason why there really aren't so many photos of me, (there's actually only one more in the whole bunch!) is that my mum isn't particularly good with cameras and doesn't understand the point in focussing on things...

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve, Eve! 

Lea 

x

My fairy lifemother...

Hello Sweet Pea!

One of the ideas that was presented to me on my Christmas Yankee Candle giveaway was to do a post on:

'Your thoughts personally about what your future plans are? E.g. a future fairy wish post! If your future fairy could grant you 3 wishes what would they be? Career? Marriage? Family? Visiting / moving to a new place?'

This was given to me by Carley from Talons and Posies, who's blog seems to have done a disappearing act and I'm gutted! I really hope it's a glitch because she's one of my favourite bloggers, and she's absolutely gorgeous! 

I thought this idea was fabulous, and so original. I love that she's gone to so much effort to think of something, so how could I not do it??

Wish 1 - Moving to a new place

I want to move over to the States ideally. I wan't the life with the beautiful old colonial house; think Bree from Desperate Housewives. I love the lifestyle over there, and I want to be somewhere where the sun shines on a much more regular basis! 

Wish 2 - 'Marriage'

It's no secret that I don't want to get married, you can see my views on that in this post. (I may however be tempted to marry if it involved Rachel Weiss. And Alex, I know you're reading this, so don't be coming home giving me grief. Two words; Penelope Cruz!) 

In all seriousness though, I do very much want to have a civil partnership. Although my relationship is not 'traditional', I myself am. As far as things go, I think you'll all have made the assumption that I'm the woman in our relationship, you're not going to catch Alex out in a dress on a Friday night at any point soon. I do have a very stereotypical female role in our house, and Alex is very much the male figure. We really are just like any other couple, and I would love to make our relationship official. We've been together over 2 years, have a beautiful home together and I can honestly say I can't imagine ever being with anyone else. 

Wish 3 - Career

Within the next year I will have won the Euromillions and will live in the lap of luxury for the rest of my life.

Or not.

It's always been expected that I'll go into Law as a career, since I mentioned when I was 14 that I might want to be a lawyer, the whole family latched on to it. If I'm honest, the idea fills me with both dread and despair. In my ideal world, I would love to have my own business. I thrive on common sense and I'm very streetwise, while education is incredibly important to me, I don't believe that you have to have a degree to be successful in life. One of the reasons why I love my blog so much, is that it's my own shot at something that I've grown myself. I hope in vain, that my blog might save me from my fate of a desk job.

------------------

And that, would be my ideal life! Hopefully, I might even manage to achieve all 3 rather than just 1 and 2. But that's something I'm working on. I have to say though, I love my life as it is now. I'm very fortunate and it's not something that I ever forget. 'Life passes you by while you're busy making grand plans' so I'm going to make sure I make the most of every single day, then even if I don't get these wishes, I'll have no regrets.

Have a wonderful day everyone,

Lea

x

Don't forget to check out my Christmas Yankee Candle giveaway HERE.

(Images via Google Images)

Oh Christmas Tree!

Hello Darlings,

Yesterday marked Alex and I's two year anniversary; we both took the day off so we could spend it together, and we had an absolutely lovely day. 

We had breakfast at an old favourite place that we used to go to when we lived in our last house, did some shopping for some Christmas bits and pieces and then came home and put all of our Christmas decorations out. Putting our first Christmas tree up, in our first real home together was a wonderful moment that I'll always cherish, it was such a fun and special thing to do together.

Later on we had steak for dinner that we bought down at the local market, and home made apple crumble for desert. I wrapped up most of my presents and put them under the tree, and we watched some of our favourite programmes with a bottle of wine. 

I know some of you won't be able to believe that my Christmas Tree is up already, but Alex and I spend a lot of time away from home in December, so we've put it up early so that we get the benefit!

Today we're doing a few crafty things, so as long as it goes to plan, I might share them with you tomorrow!

Have a lovely weekend everyone,

Lea

x

Don't forget to check out my Christmas Yankee Candle giveaway HERE. 

In my home this evening...

Hey You,

As soon as it gets dark at night, I go into hibernation mode. I get all the candles lit, turn the heating up, put something cosy on and make myself my favourite drink.

I have so much to do tonight, it's Alex and I's 2 year anniversary tomorrow, so I have a few jobs I need to do in preparation.

In other news, I'm getting so excited that it's drawing ever closer to my annual holiday away with my mum; it's now decided that we're going to Cape Verde and staying in the Clubhotel Riu Karamboa. 

I've been Trip Advisor'ing for the last half hour and this seems the best potential fit for us. 

Have any of you ever been to Cape Verde? What was it like? I can't wait to get some sun and put an end to my stint of albino'ness!

I hope you've had a wonderful day everyone,

Lea

x

Franklin my dear, I do give a damn!

If you were to ask my friends to sum up me in a nutshell, they would say anything to do with beauty, cars - specifically classics, and soul music. I know this because I asked them a couple of days ago.

I'm the kind of girl who's always been the the odd one, I've never really followed the rest of the crowd. I know what I like and I'm very passionate about it. Soul has always been a huge part of me, I was raised on it and I honestly do believe that for soul music especially, being part of it brings you into a community, it's a lifestyle almost. I'd rather sit and listen to Smooth FM on a friday night with a bottle of wine than be out on the lash somewhere - that in itself has led a lot of people to think that I'm really odd, let me tell you!

So my point to all of this I suppose, is that I've always written whatever I fancied on here. I don't have a regiment, I've done everything from OOTD's to The Gay Post. And I hope, from that, you've all got to know me, from what I write, to the way I write it. But one of the biggest parts of my life, and my personality isn't shown to you (don't worry, I'm not going to start shoving classic cars in your face). So from time to time I'm going to share with you some of the soul music I'm listening to, and some of the events I go to.

I know this won't be for everyone, so feel free to completely ignore them. But, I'm always on the look out for other soul people out there. So if you do happen to be part of the community, whether it's Motown, Northern Soul, Funk, Old Soul or anything else in this world, get in touch!

So this time I'm going to leave you with Aretha Franklin - What A Fool Believes.

It's a real feel good song, and listen for the change at 3.55, blows me away at every time.

Have a great night everyone,

Lea 

x

Don't forget to check out my Christmas Yankee Candle giveaway. You can find it HERE.

What's in my bag?

Good morning darlings,

You might be surprised to find out that I don't actually have a handbag. I swap and change all the time, normally just taking my lipstick and my cards and throwing them into whatever bag takes my fancy that day. I'm not one for having that staple handbag that goes everywhere with me, I'm not sure why, I suppose I like to travel light!

This being said I do have a Uni bag, which comes with me 5 days a week and is most definitely packed to the rafters. I guess you could argue this is my handbag... 

This is what I carry with me on a daily basis. I also normally have either my iPad or the MacBook but they're both on charge at the moment.

 I love Paperchase stationery, and I have to say that I think the set I have this year is my favourite yet. My folder is divided into sections for all of my modules with a section at the back for items such as conqueror paper, envelopes and flashcards. 

 So far my diary has never ran out of battery. I hate it when I need to know what I'm doing and my iPone is either dead or doing something that takes up a long time. My academic year diary keeps me organised with lectures, seminars and all of the dates I have with friends and Alex. 

 Yes, I genuinely do keep all of my pens with their nibs pointing the same way. (How ridiculous is that?) I keep all types of pens and highlighters in one compartment, sticky notes, tabs, eraser and ruler in the other, and the middle section holds my memory stick, some stamps and paperclips.

 When it's winter I like to take soup with me to Uni. We have an area where we can heat up food so I fill the flask up and have it for my lunch. 

 My purse, of course. 

A hairbrush and an umbrella, because I live in England and you can't really go anywhere without these  two. And also my car keys. I live quite far from the University as we fell in love with a house in the suburbs of Leeds. In fairness it is only a 10 minute drive with clear traffic, but if I was taking public transport it would take me around an hour and a quarter to get in. I rent a car space privately that is just behind the law building and it's worked out great so far!

I also carry a small pouch with my 'health' essentials. Alongside my lip balms, I also carry:

 My nail file in it's protective case, and nail glue for any nail disasters during the day. 

Ibuprofen caplets, because I suffer from migraines (I hate the powdery ones, I can't get them down, they have to have the sugar coating). I normally have Nurofen Migraine, but since the ear ache I've had basic ones because I've been getting through so many of them. 

I also have the original L'Occitane hand cream, it's my all time favourite and smells like baby powder.

One of my Sweet Anthem solid perfume samples. Phoebe is my favourite but Annabelle comes in a close second. I love the fact that you can sample the fragrances before you buy - I'll be placing an order soon for a full sized Phoebe, and potentially this one too.

 And finally I have my makeup bag. I keep my daily basics in here but never anything expensive incase I lose it. As a general rule I carry Collection concealer, powder, (I wear the lightest shade in both), highlighter, blusher and lipstick.  I also have an MUA eyeshadow pallet, a Rimmel eyeliner and my Sleek Contour Kit. I really enjoy Collection for my Uni makeup bag, I find it great quality for the price and it generally does what it promises to. Best of all if it gets broken or lost it can be replaced in a pinch. 

And that's it! Sometimes I feel like my shoulder is about to fall off but at least I'm prepared.

Now I'm off (with my bag) to Uni, so I'll see you later!

Lea

x

Don't forget to check out my Christmas Yankee Candle giveaway HERE.