photo diary | lincoln christmas market

On Friday my friends and I decided to take a little break from essay writing and revising to take a trip up to Lincoln to see the Christmas Market. The train wasn't too bad for us on the journey there as they put on a large train due to the market and all the carriages are declassified so you can sit in first class, so that is exactly what we did. We were the only ones there, and as it was lunchtime while we were on the train we all sat and eat that without funny looks from other passengers like normal. 

FRIDAY 6TH DECEMBER

We had a look round Lincoln Cathedral as entry is now free and I felt like I was walking around Hogwarts. There was also a choir singing some Christmas song, they were lovely. 

Now onto the market, the bit we went for!

This beautiful building in the heart of the market is actually the crown courts!

For the journey back we again got to sit in first class and enjoy our dinner as we left at 6:30 and didn't get back into Leicester until 8:30. I had the new pigs and blankets panini from Costa! It was so yummy! It was followed by a doughnut from Doughnotts, of course, where we both had a cookie monster this time. 

Lizzie stayed in Lincoln and took a picture for me of the Cathedral at night!  SO beautiful, definitely will be going back there. 

We are planning to go to Manchester Christmas Market next year as I have always heard such good things about. I am also going back to Nottingham next week and I can't wait to see the Winter Wonderland there as it is always my favourite thing!

what i wore last week | university edition

Over the past couple of months, I have started to think a little more about what I am wearing rather than my classic jeans, white top, denim jacket and vans. I bought a new pair of jeans last month from Asos and a cardigan from Monki in September and they have been my new favourite thing to wear.

So over this past week, I have thought a lil more about what I have been wearing trying to put a lil more effort in however that is not always the way. It was also very cold Tuesday morning for my 9am so the beanie did come out.

MONDAY

Top - Misguided

Belt - Forever 21

Jeans - Asos

Coat - New Look 

Shoes - Nike Air Force 1's

TUESDAY 

Hat - Primark

T-shirt - Asos

Jumper - Primark

Jacket - Misguided

Jeans - Topshop

Shoes - Nike Air Force 1's

WEDNESDAY

Top - H&M

Jumper - New Look 

Coat - New Look

Belt - Forever 21

Jeans - Asos

Socks - Asos

Shoes - Nike Air Force 1's

THURSDAY

T-shirt - H&M

Hoodie - Tala

Coat - New Look

Leggings - Tala 

Shoes - Nike Air Force 1's 

FRIDAY

Top - H&M 

Belt - Forever 21

Jeans - Asos

Coat - New Look

Shoes - Nike Air Force 1's

I really enjoyed doing this post and hope you have enjoyed seeing a lil bit of fashion content on my blog! Thank you so much for reading and hopefully, I'll be back with another post soon. 

things to do in nottingham | kitty café

I have been considering doing a new series on my blog about things to do in different cities around the UK, and maybe elsewhere. However, I was stuck on where to start but of course, I chose to start in Nottingham - my home. 

On Tuesday I took my friends from University on a day trip to Nottingham, where I showed them some iconic sights and then we went to the Kitty Café - the main reason for our trip. 

LOCATION: 31-37 Friar Lane, Nottingham, NG1 6DD

Friar Lane is just located off Old Market Square, a very central point in Nottingham. Very easy to find. 

You have to book in order to visit here. However, It is very easy and can be done online via their website - https://www.kittycafe.co.uk/locations/nottingham 

Once you arrive at the cafe you have to pay a welfare chare which is to ensure the health & well-being of the cats. For adults its £6 and for kids it's £4. With this, you get an hour in the cafe. 

They have a wonderful menu full of food and drinks, however we only had drinks as we were going elsewhere for food. I must say from what I saw of the food though, it did look delicious! 

Now to the best bit - the cats. 

Have any of you been to a kitty cafe? I think we are going to try and go to the one in Birmingham next.  Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed! I can't wait to write some more posts for this series. 

back at university | life update 03

I have now officially been back in Leicester for a month and I thought it was time to write an update on here, for you guys but also for me.

Throughout the summer I imagined how my life would be when I come back to University and boy was I wrong. Honestly, I imagine things so much that when they don't actually happen I almost get upset over it but for no reason. It's weird. I think that's why I love watching tv shows and films so much because I can easily escape reality. However, just because it isn't how I imagined doesn't mean I am not enjoying it. 

My new accommodation is so amazing, I bloody love it. I have my own little studio flat, so no sharing a kitchen with anyone and having a fridge/freezer all to my self!!!! I even have a cute little 2 person sofa, which is surprisingly very comfy. I have fairy lights all across one wall, photos everywhere, a giant Avengers Endgame poster above my bed, my lil pop vinyls dotted around the room and this year I have a cute little house plant! I did manage to break the plant pot so that doesn't look as cute now but it is still alive. I am feeling very content in my room. I just need a few more photos and some pillows for my sofa (which are at home) and then expect a room tour, at some point.

University itself has been good. I am in every day which isn't brilliant but some days I am only in for 1/2 hours, however 2 days a week I am in till 6pm which isn't the best thing. I have also been blessed with my first 9am. The modules for 2nd year and very interesting so far, apart from one but you can't love em all. I am currently doing one optional module till December and then I have another optional module that starts in January for 2nd semester. I picked 'Media & Crime' for this semester and Policing for 2nd semester - originally I picked 'Forensic Investigation' but they had to cancel it due to a lack of lecturers. 

Since my last update (last November) I have done a lot. I had a lovely long summer that started back at the end of May - the 23rd to be exact. I spent most of my summer at work, but when I wasn't at work I was spending as much time as I can with my friends which was lovely.

In August it was my mum's birthday and honestly, we had the best day! We took our dog, Pickle for a walk around a local nature reserve and then I treated mum to Afternoon Tea at the cutest Vintage Victorian Tea Room. We got a pot of tea and some sandwiches to start off with, and then a cake stand which had 4 MASSIVE slices of cake and 2 scones. We shared the red velvet cake and took the other 3 slices home, my brother ate one of them. We then went and got our nails done as we had wanted them done for a while and luckily they weren't very busy. We ended the day with a meal at Annie's Burger Shack in Derby - which I was very overdressed for.

Overall I had such a lovely summer and I was sad when it was over but I was ready for University. As I mentioned my timetable isn't too bad, especially as I am only in till 11am on Friday's and next semester I have them off!! I also get an 'enhancement week' this year so I am going home for the first week of November which will be lovely. I'll get to snuggle with my dog and the cats if they move, as well as spend time with my family and hopefully see my aunt!

I have quite a few exciting things that will be happening over the next year, and I am so excited. I feel like the rest of 2019 will be great, and hopefully, 2020 will be just as good. I say this like there isn't still 2 months left of the year. They will go quickly though I am sure, soon it will be Christmas and then New Year!

Anyway, that is enough from me. I hope you enjoyed this lil update. Hopefully some more posts will be coming soon as I have an exciting few weeks and some good ideas. Thank you for reading!

my skincare routine 2019

Back in October 2015, almost 4 years ago, I wrote a post called 'Autumn pamper routine' which is the closest thing to a skincare routine on my blog. However, since 2015 I have become a massive fan of skincare and have really been caring for my skin especially in the past year. In the past couple of months, I have finally got the perfect routine that I LOVE so I thought it was finally time to share with you all.

MORNING / NIGHT

Glossier Jelly Cleanser
Simple Toner - Since April I have been using reusable cotton pads (from amazon) to reduce the amount of single-use products I use and they are brilliant, I highly recommend. I even got some for my mum back in August.
Glossier Bubblewrap: Eye and lip plumping cream
Olay Complete lightweight 3-in-1 Moisturiser day fluid (SPF-15)
Dr.Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Colour correcting treatment
Laneige Lip sleeping mask

My routine is the same morning and night, however on the nights I wash my hair in the shower I also use a scrub from Superdrug - Vitamin E Facial Scrub. I don't like to use it every day as I feel it can be too rough for my skin, so 2-3 times a week seem to work perfectly for me.

I am so proud of how my skin looks now and how I have actually managed to get a good routine down that I like doing morning and night as I never use to do that. I always use to put moisturiser on or wash my face with a cleanser when I remembered to. Now I feel like a different person.

Finally, if you would like to try out Glossier (I would it's my bloody favourite thing) then you can use my link to get 10% off your first order!! glossier.com

Thank you so much for reading, if you try out any of the products I would love to hear what you think as well as hearing any recommendation you have for me to try.

less than 24 hours in leicester

The other weekend my mum and I took a little trip down to Leicester for a concert at De Montfort Hall, called Gigs in the Garden. It consisted of 3 acts, Scouting for Girls, Professor Green and Busted. 

BODEGA CANTINA
Our first stop in Leicester was actually for dinner which we had early due to the concert starting at 6:30pm. As we were in the city to pick up some Lush and for mum to get her tragus pierced we stopped in St Martins Square (my favourite place in Leicester) and tried out Bodega Cantina. It is a beautiful little Mexican place, we had nachos to share to start which were homemade and absolutely beautiful. I decided to go all out and get a cocktail, a vodka cosmo. For our mains mum and I, both had a burrito however I had a naked on (in a bowl rather than a wrap).

SCOUTING FOR GIRLS
Roy, Pete and Gregg always put on amazing show, scouting for girls truly are one of my favourite bands ever. I can't even count how many times I have seen them live but they always impress. Mum and I always have the best time seeing them, and we have definitely already get tickets for their UK tour in November/December this year.

The setlist
Heartbeat
This Ain't a Love Song
James Bond
It's Not About You
Grown Ups
Millionaire
Posh Girls
She's So Lovely

PROFESSOR GREEN

BUSTED
I have always been a massive fan of Busted, ever since I was a little girl. I knew after I saw McBusted live I needed to see ALL of Busted when they got back together. So when I saw they were coming to Leicester with Scouting for Girls I asked mum straight away if she wanted to go and thank goodness she said yes!! We had such an amazing view and honestly had the best time, 4-year old me would never believe that I'd been seeing them live at the age of 20 and close to the stage!! Still emotional.

The setlist
Airhostess
What I go to School For
Thunderbirds
You Said No
Crashed the Wedding
Sleeping with the Light on
3am
Shipwrecked in Atlantis
Radio
Nineties
Year 3000

We ended the evening by having a nice walk back to the hotel, followed by a cup of tea and a doughnut from my favourite place - Doughnotts!! If you ever find yourself in either Leicester, Nottingham or Derby I definitely recommend trying them out. Mum loved her's (choc orange) and she isn't a massive fan of doughnuts. I had cookie monster - a personal favourite from them. 

The following morning we packed up our bags, had another cup of tea and got ready to head to breakfast at spoons. I went for something different this time, usually I am a small or large breakfast type of girl at spoons but instead, I went for smashed avo on a muffin with poached eggs. Mum had scrambled egg on toast with baked beans, and of course, we had several cups of tea too. 

It felt strange going to Leicester and not staying in my accommodation but instead of staying in a Premier Inn. It was fun to experience it in a different light with my mum, however, I cannot wait to move into my new accommodation - NEXT SATURDAY !!! woohoo. Can't wait to show you my new room for my 2nd year at University, and get back into blogging again as I been slacking.