Monday's Musings

Reading: Pride and Prejudice:

"Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance"

Listening to: The Strange Boys Be Brave 

Watching: Black Swan (If you haven't already, you must go see it) 

'Cardigan' and belt: Primark, Top: New Look and Skirt: Topshop

This is me post Uni and sans make-up; my skin has had a bit of a break out again so I'm trying to limit the amount of time my skin suffocates under make-up. This is quite an ordinary University outfit for me: nothing special I go for comfort over style, particularly in the Winter months. The 'cardigan' is actually a jumper that I got awhile back from Primark. However, its oversized style and bold horizonatal stripes was not working for me, what with my double F boobs and jelly belly. Thus, it had been resigned to the bottom of my wardrobe collecting dust but I hate waste so I just cut it up, and think it works as a cardigan. Regardless, it'll keep me warm.

So I wrote last week that I don't implement my New Years resolutions until the end of January as I find the depression of the month sets you up to fail. One of my resolutions, like countless other bloggers, is to read more often.  Although I am an ex- English Lit student I have shied away from the Brontes and Austen novels as I believed they were 19th century equivalents to our Sophie Kinsella and Jane Green. Instead, I often opted for grittier authors such as Steinbeck. This changed last year when I re- read Jane Eyre and I don't know if it was because it was for pleasure rather than an assignment or my age but I finally appreciated the beautifully composed prose and the leisurely pace of drama.


So in 2011 I have vowed to tackle more 'classics' that previously I had turned my nose up to. First on the list is Pride and Prejudice. I'm only 100 pages in and so far so good, and yet I can't say with a hundred per cent guarantee that I'm going to finish it. I normally read a book in two days but PP has been on my bed side table for over a week and I occasionally read a couple of pages and take it on the train with me. But more often than not it is chucked in favour of E4 on tele or Closer mag on the train.  Why you may ponder? Its nothing to do with the book itself but I guess I'm frustrated with the time it has taken to build up to character profiles and the apparent lack of drama leaves me in search of amusement.


I'm sure I read an article in Stylist magazine about how technology and modernism has created a society that can no longer hold an attention span or handle boredom and nothingness. I know I'm always on the go and never still. Even the 10 sec wait for a web page to load results in me adding a new tab and logging on to Facebook. And as a adult from a generation raised by MTV and Britney Spears I find that I no longer have the patience or desire to read a book that isn't going to give me fast results and instant gratification. And I can't decide if this progression is a good thing or not. My heart pulls to the latter and so I am going to quickly publish this, browse through my blogs, then update my facebook status to that I intend to run a bath and get to grips with the saucy Mr. Darcy!

What's your view on this? 

P.S I Love You.

 

Wasn't planning on doing a post tonight but I didn't plan on staying in either. Bleugh! I've had such a poo day. Has anyone else or is it just me? 

Well, this has been my third Sunday in a row off. My first was still during my exams so that was spent studying, but I made the most of it last week and had an awesome day in Edinburgh which gave me a thirst to pack in as much as possible today. 

 Last night as I lay in bed  I had a reverie of what today would bring... I would be awoken by my gorgeous boyfriend with steaming fresh Italian coffee and home-made pancakes topped with fresh cream and strawberries. Brimming with energy I would bounce out of bed, and slick my lustrous hair into a fishtail plait and only apply tinted moisturiser to my glowing complexion, ready to spend the morning hillwalking up our nearest mountain. 

After we came down the summit, in record breaking time, we'd refuel in a traditional British pub eating a Sunday roast whilst being entertained by a Jonny Depp lookalike with a guitar. In the afternoon, I would meet with my girls, shop till we drop then head out for cocktails. The evening would be consumed with more alcohol and a bit of dancing. 

Ahhh.... that would have been a lovely Sunday wouldn't it?

Well, I was awoken by my gorgeous boyfriend so that did happen. Unfortunately, I awoke to the sound of his barking cough and sniffles. Yes, my other half has came down with a chronic case of the man flu. This of course meant I had to drop my plans, stay in and make copious amounts of teas, lemsips, and a concoction of  honey, ginger, lemon and apple juice. 

I got out to shop later on but Glasgow was overcast by a grey sky today and it made everyone from the train conductor to the sales assistants in one foul mood, thus putting me in a mood. It just went from bad to worse in the evening after refusing to cook and wanting to go out for dinner I dragged my poorly boyfriend to Chiquitos only for the food to be substandard and cold. Half way through the meal when I wasn't getting any conversation I immaturely threw the mother of all strops. In the end I told my boyfriend that I was not going to come home with him as I was going to meet friends who were already at a pub, and I didn't know when I was going to be home but I did know that I'd be blootered when I did. 

It was only when I got to the pub that my ancient phone received messages from my friends informing me that tonight had been called off. Refusing to back down and call my boyfriend to pick me up I ventured the 30 min walk home. On the plus side  during the walk I got a couple of propositions from boy racers and honked at- ha! not had that done since I was like 15.  On the not so plus side a 60 year old man started whistling at me  

and shouting:" hey sugar lips wana piece of this!' Q me running the remainder of  the journey lol!

So today was what I think the young kids these days call a fail. It ended with me watching P.S I Love You and god do I feel guilty for being a bitch to my manfriend when he's been ill. Enough of my essay and  moving swiftly on the the outfit: the jacket is  Zara, Shirt H&M and the shorts are topshop jeans that I cut up years ago. The final-photograph, you know the one where my face is like Casper and you can see my tripod in it- is me trying to show you my nails as I tried to do a Panda design. 

All I can say is roll on tomorrow! 

xxxx 

Baby, you'll be famous...

I'm a sucker for a palette, especially one that is descibed as 'Complete Face Kit'. Famous by Sue Moxley is a brand that I ordinarily walk past in Superdrug. Afterall, bewitching, alluring and titillating are adjectives in which I want make up to create.  Famous, on the other hand,  is not something I desire. Nor does the name Sue Moxley entice me to buy as I do not read the particular newspaper she writes a beauty segment for. However, back to my original point: I'm a sucker for palettes and this little beauty caught my eye in Superdrug today. Opened up, it looks like this:

 

From my left we have the handy sized  wide-screen mirror, to the six lip gloss shades ranging from frosty pink to scarlet red.  The girly shades are lovely and there should be one to suit every skin tone however the consistency of them leaves a lot to be desired as does the staying power of the product.  

 The mid section is where it really goes pete tong, it contains from bottom highlighter, bronzer, then blush and to its right three miniature sized brushes.The highlighter barely gives any coverage which is in sharp contrast to the brash orange tinted shade of bronzer that was too harsh on my paley waley Scottish skin. The blusher again did not suit my skin tone, but its consistency and pigmentation was satisfactory. The brushes received the destiny of all my other brushes from drug store palettes: tossed in the bin. Does cheap and useless ring any bells? 

However, the shining light, the palettes resurrection, lies in its piece de resistance, the 18 highly pigmentated

eye-shadows in a variety of rainbow colours on offer.   

 

Experimenting with the colours today I attempted to create a look I had seen in Look magazine pre Christmas that merges 3 metallic colours to give a dramatic party look. I used the metallic gold and browns in the middle row and the two silver shades in the bottom left to create this look: 

I may have missed the boat with this look and will recreate it in oh what it it now 332 days until Christmas. I am eagerly awaiting spring/summer and I think the green shades of this palette will enable me to create great on trend looks. However, for the time being I'm going to rock the Gothic trend of autumn/winter 2010 for as long as I can drag out. 

So, overall this product reminds me of the cheap palettes that you used to get in your stockings at Christmas when you were twelve. It's not the ultimate or complete face kit for me as I would not wear this variety on colours on a day to day basis and they are not long wearing enough for my liking. However, it was only twelve pounds and the variety of colours mean an endless about of time creating fun, experimental looks.  

Anybody else tried Famous by Sue Moxley? 

xxx 

School's Out...

 Ahhhhhhh!!!! That's the sigh of relief from a third year uni student who's just finished her first semester exams. Although I'm relieved my final exam today was a bit of a disaster as none of my preferred questions came up. I managed to answer the set questions, if in a haphazard rambling sort of way. But what's done is done. Semester two doesn't start back till the end of next week so I'm looking forward to a few pyjama days watching Mad Men and getting round to see family and friends. This was what I wore today...

Dress: Primark. Cardigan: Zara 

All Primark 

It's probably the most 'dressed up' I've been for an exam in a long time. It dawned on me in the middle of one last week that I was the only girl (that I could see anyway) who wasn't wearing make-up, my hair hadn't been styled into some 'do' and although I couldn't see I bet no-one was still wearing their pyjama top under their jumper! Yes, I looked like a hobo in comparison to my fellow students but that didn't bother me, it was the fact these other students had the confidence to spend time away from studying prior to the exam to make themselves look pretty.

So an hour before I was due to leave the house I closed the books and took up the make up brushes. That mental hiatus away from the books really helped things sink in and I went into the exam looking good and brimming with confidence. Shame really that none of my questions came up....

Awww you've got to laugh at yourself sometimes! Catch you guys soon xxx

Musing Mondays

Note to self: buy rechargeable batteries for camera! This is my outfit that I wore to my dad’s 50^th birthday party on Saturday night. The photos, however, were taken tonight as the batteries for my camera had died before we even got to the party. So my hair is a bit flat, my tan has faded and I don’t have fake eyelashes on. But I’m sure you get the gist.    

So third post in and already I’m blog cheating. Before you know it I’ll be photo-shopping myself into outfits taken from the Topshop website tehe. I’m afraid that you will have to bear with me until firstly, I get used to being ready ten minutes before I must leave the house so I have the time to take pictures. And secondly, until I learn how to use the functions on my camera. I found it so difficult to get the ‘right’ colour of my dress and also how to photoshop. I did play slightly around with the saturation but I can’t tell the difference to the original.   

Dress: H&M (Current Season)
Shoes: Car boot (50p!)

So whilst I’m sure the blogosphere is going mad for the Britney Spears episode of Glee I have been sitting in awe mixed with sheer horror watching “One Born Every Minute”. I think this series should be enrolled into the sex education programme at school. The act of labour is glamourised in film and TV as a few pushes and out comes baby. This show, especially last weeks, demonstrates the reality that labour is no mean feat and is bloody painful. It’s realistic enough to suppress my broodiness for another couple of years at 22 so I’m sure if would be an effective birth control weapon to a group of 15 year old school kids. However, if and when I do give birth, the programme has made me hope that I manage to look even half as good as Lydia (the girl who gave birth in the pool). What a babe, even at nine months pregnant she looks amazing in a bikini!  

I’m right in the middle of my exams at Uni so life at the moment pretty much sucks. I wake up, study, eat, study, procrastinate on facebook, study, look at blogs, study, then bed. Can’t wait for Thursday when it will all be over (for a couple of months at least). For me, when the January exams finish that’s when the new year begins. I never implement my New Year’s resolutions until the final week in January because I find the depression and stress of the month just sets you up to fail. 2011 is going to be such a defining year for me and I can’t wait to get on with it.

How is everyone else getting on with their exams, and/or have you stuck to your New Year’s resolutions?

I'd love to hear from you.
Love, love xxx

Holiday

As by way of introduction and the fact that a huge spot has erupted on my chin I'll share with you some of my outfit snaps from Egypt that I've just came back from. The holiday was a surprise so much of what I wore are from two or three years ago and my accessorizing leaves a lot to be desired. Also, I stupidly forgot to pack hair products, so I was on holiday in a humid, windy place with no mousse, hairspray, or hair pins this meant my hair was usually left down and straight. Boring!

 

So there you have it, thats what I look like, all 5"3 of me. Anyways, over the next few days I'm gonna figure how to use this blogger malarky, cause believe me its harder than it looks, and should be back with you all technically glued up and ready to post. 

Keep Safe xx

First Post

Howdy,

My name’s Deborah, I’m 22 and I live just outside of Glasgow with my manfriend James. I’ve been a long time lurker in the murky waters that is the blogosphere (Although, back in 2006 I did have an anonymous blog in which I poured my teenage romance woes out to a whopping two online followers). Nonetheless, curiosity, mixed with boredom, and led by my desire to procrastinate I have decided, today is the day, to be an out, loud and proud blogger!   

Now for the poncetastic blogger parlance: This blog will be an organic formation. It shall mainly consist of articles on my life and will include photographs taken by yours truly. It may include outfit posts although please do not misjudge me as a wannabe ‘fashionista’ as I couldn’t tell you a Giles Deacon from a Henry Holland. Meh, fashion schmashion as long as it looks good I don’t care if its ‘in’ or not. Creams, lotions and potions, on the other hand, are more of my forte: moisturisers, blushers and nail polishes if I don’t already have it, I want it!  

I have learnt so much from the posts by fellow bloggers (Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish, e.l.f, etsy) that I hope my little droplet of a blog brings some enjoyment to someone, anyone out there.

Happy reading x