Sami & Albuferia

So in my last post, I informed you of my last minute holiday to Albuferia, Algarve, Portugal. I had such a good time guys, I totally didn't want to come back! It was nice to get away and relax in the sun for a while. I didn't get much of a tan, think I took too high a factor of suncream considering it was low season and while the temps were 28, a factor 20 might have got me a bit more sun.

So I just wanted to write a wee post and share some pictures to tell you about my time in Portugal and why you should give it a visit.

This was the hotel we stayed at called the Natura Algarve Club, it was so quiet at that time of year and one of the days we had entire pool to ourselves which was brilliant. We had a really big room with a massive balcony and the staff were lovely. I really recommend it!

The beach was lovely, this was a small one called Praia da Oura but there was a big one in the old town with sun loungers and umbrellas and stuff to rent which was also lovely.

We did the Albuferia Bar Crawl on the Tuesday night we were there and it was so much fun! We paid 20 Euros and got a free shot in every bar, plus a free cocktail on arrival and free entrance into the nightclub called Heaven (which opened at 3am might I add) which is normally 10Euros! This is how the night started, with a very nice Strawberry Daquiri, I then had a cocktail plus a free shot in every bar and ended up very drunk, danced all night and rolled back to the hotel at 5am. So that was fun, I highly recommend it!

This quirky American Diner was just up from our hotel and I had read good reviews about it so we decided to try it out one night and it was so good. We had lovely fresh big milkshakes and big juicy burgers and the staff were so friendly and chatting away with us and it was quite late when we ate but they didn't mind at all!

This is the Old Town which was lovely and the beach was much nicer there than the one in the new town, much bigger, we did a little bit of shopping here and had lunch and it was sort of cheaper than the Strip but it was full of these wee bugs that kept crawling all over us and making our skin crawl so we only stayed until the early afternoon and then returned to the Strip to finish our shopping. All the shops were very similar though but just varied in their prices.

On the last day I wore this beautiful Curvissa dress I won in a twitter competition, I had never had a chance to wear it before so thought Portugal was the perfect place. I'm going to write a review on it hopefully in my next blog!

All in all, I had a wonderful time and would love to go back some day but I have so many other places I want to explore first! But I highly recommend a visit to the Algarve if you get the chance. Also, I booked with Travelrepublic.co.uk and had absolutely no hassle whatsoever which was awesome as I had heard some bad reviews previously.

Anyway, it's late and I'm tired so I'm going to go chill and then go to bed.

Until next time,

Sami

Holiday Edition

Hello Lovelies!

This post comes to you inspired by my recent booking of a holiday in the sun for next week, I'm excited to just go chill out by the pool and have a nice cocktail in the evening. Of course, holiday means that you're entitled to shop for that perfect beach/poolside look! So here are my top picks!

The first set comes to you from Matalan! After my last rant about jeans and when I ordered some from Matalan they were perfect so I've kinda fallen in love with this shop and for summer, they are definitely doing it right! Have a looksie:

Eclipse Hem Dress - £14.00
Leather Sandal - £16.00
Floral Smock Dress - £5.00
Loose Fit Kaftan - £6.00
Floral Duffel Bag - £10.00

I love all of these items but the Floral Smock Dress is my favourite, it'd be so nice to throw over your swimsuit and wander down to the pool and it could go from day to night, a nice pair of sandals to match or a pair of small kitten heels and some jewellery and you'd be ready for the cocktail bar! I also love the duffel bag, it'd be perfect for the beach, big enough to take everything you need and small enough so you don't pack the kitchen sink! The Kaftan is also the perfect cover  up for running into the shop after a dip in the pool and the best thing is, all of these things come in various colours, I've just picked my favourites! Everything is so cheap as well! Matalan definitely have it right this summer. I'm definitely hitting my nearest store as soon as I can!

The next set I have actually comes from George at Asda, who also are doing it right. I loved a lot of their winter items too, a nice half heart jumper and I did even get some lovely jeans from there! Here are my top picks from asda:

Linen Rich Playsuit - £14.00
Tiger Print Swimsuit - £12.00

G21 Marl Dress - £10.00
Dip Dye Vest - £8.00

The swimsuit is definitely the stand out item here for me. They have a range of swimwear with various prints on it this year, including my favourite of places, New York! But I'm determined not to buy a new one because I've barely worn the one I do own. I'm also in love with the Khaki Playsuit, it'd be lovely with a pair of sandals for a cool night walk along the beach. Again, the dress comes in several colours and could go from day to night, thus minimising you're packing! I think the dip dye vest would be lovely with a pair of khaki ankle grazer jeans, again perfect for the cooler evenings. 

I have found more on Matalan and Asda than I have on my two favourite stores which is suprising, but then they might be waiting until it's really summer to release their big summer items. However, Matalan and Asda suit my needs, I need only a few things and the cheaper the better.

Of course, I can't post about summer without posting about Sunscreen and how important it is: 

WEAR SUNSCREEN GUYS, IT'S IMPORTANT!

I'm not planning on taking much make up with me, probably just my Benefit Fake-Up and Hello Flawless powder and some mascara. Foundation will just melt off in the heat and I'll only need some for night times in the bar :). I'm also taking some SPF30/50, probably both since I'm so pasty. I'm also planning on painting my nails before I go a bit like this:

Every nail a different summery colour, I think it looks really cool and then you don't really have to worry about it matching your outfit! Even the thought of the sunshine is making me happy so I'm off to stalk more online shops before heading out tomorrow. Oh and just to make you jealous, I'm going to share a picture of where I'm staying:

That's all for now and don't forget if you're going anywhere, WEAR SUNSCREEN!

Full of useful advice :)

Let's talk about Jeans...

So tonight I come with a warning label because this is going to be a rant about the state of Jeans these days.

Jeans. Right. They are generally a thing that all of us wear and generally, they are made of denim and are blue in colour. A bit like this:

(Photo found on Google Images)

Well now, Jeans come in every colour, red, green, blue, you name it, there's a coloured jean for it. They also come in various shapes and styles, straight, bootcut, boyfriend, skinny etc etc. I like this. I like that there is a variable for everybody and their different styles, it allows us to be creative in our fashion whilst still being able to buy things from the same shop. 

Now for me, I personally like to wear Super Skinny Jeans because I like them tight round my ankles. I like them to be made of denim so that in the cold winter then they are thick and keep me warm. That is just a personal preference. But I just have to say this.

WHAT.THE.HELL?!

I went on a hunt today in town for a pair of new black jeans because mine have faded since I've had them for quite a long time. /Sidenote/ Why do Black jeans never stay black? /sidenote/. Every pair of jeans I looked at were either 'Supersoft' or 'Ultrasoft'. Now, I am all for softness, everyone likes a good soft piece of clothing, especially in winter, nice soft wooly jumpers, brilliant. But soft jeans? What theeeeee helllllll! I don't give a flying frrrriiig about my jeans being soft. I want them to be made of decent material and supportive. These jeans, they are basically just Jeggings, and no offence to those of you brave souls who like wearing jeggings, but I want to wear decent jeans!!

Are companies trying to save money by making Jeans with less material? Is Denim really that expensive? I suppose if you're going to try and create it in several styles and colorus it can get pretty expensive? But what are you doing, companies? You're loosing my business to people who actually make decent material Jeans and I like shopping where I normally shop (the likes of Primark, New Look etc, Yes, I'm cheap!) but you are forcing me to go elsewhere and spend more money because I can't find what I'm looking for there. I know that I can't expect miracles from High Street stores because they are made for the High Street but still....they had been making Jeans that were decent years before now so what changed?

(Again, photo stolen from Google images)

While I'm here on this rant. I'm just going to throw in my rant about Super Skinny Jeans. I am going to give credit where credit is due, some High Street companies do make Super Skinny Jeans and that is brilliant, way to go, you've got my attention. Except I'm a bit of a big girl, I have hips and a bum. So I tend to wear sizes from a 16+ depending on where I'm shopping. Now this would all be well and good except, the super skinny jeans ARE NOT SUPER SKINNY. The ankles, they are flared! I don't want flared ankles on my super skinny jeans. That kinda defeats the purpose of them being Super Skinny, doesn't it? Or do I just have really thin ankles? It can't just be me, right?

So here is my question to companies making Jeans! Why are you saving on material and not making decent jeans any more? And what the heck is with the ankles? Really? They need to be that BIG?

Now, I'm not going to make this post all debbie downer, because I have found some High Street Stores that do suit my jeans needs and some I'm taking a chance on. So I stumbled into Next, the other day with my friend and they were trying to get people to sign up to their email newsletter in return for a coupon, so I was all like hey, cool and gave the girl my email address. She gave me the coupon for 10% off online which is fair enough. So I went on into the store to have a nosy about and their Jeans looked pretty decent to me, so I lifted a few pairs and tried them on and badda bing, badda boom they worked for me pretty well. They had a minor ankle issue but I wasn't  too worried about it than I usually am. The only problem is, they come with a fairly hefty pricetag of £22-28 a pair, compared to the normal £10-12 I normally pay for a pair of Jeans in other high street stores. But fair play to Next, they make a decent Jean and I think I'm more than willing to pay the extra £10 to get a decent pair. So well done Next.

Next Skinny Jeans in Black - £22

Now, Matalan. Matalan is not a store I normally shop in because there isn't one local enough for me to shop in frequently. But I took a chance on my hunt for Jeans online and they currently have an offer on their Jeans as 2 pairs for £20. Now I'm all for a good bargain so I have taken a chance and ordered 2 pairs, one black, one blue, both skinny, and in two different sizes to get a general idea if they work for me. Comapred to the £22 for one in Next, 2 for £20 is a pretty good deal. I will do a review of them when they arrive, here's to hoping.

Matalan Jeans in Midwash Blue - £16.00

I'm also going to recommend George at Asda because I'm loving their collection right now. They have some really lovely stuff. I recently went into my local Asda Living store and found a pair of Super Skinny Jeans in blue for only £14. Albiet, they are quite thin and not 100% pure jean material but for the pricetag and my personal needs, they were perfect. I did try and find a black pair in my size in the store and also online, but to no avail. 

George At Asda Super Skinny Jeans in Navy - £14

So blog readers, if you know of any other decent Jeans and where to find them, do let me know in the comments! Or fire me an email at samiandthecity@gmail.com

Apologies for the rant, but I just had to get this off my mind!

Sami

Benefit Bloggers Belfast Event

Helloooo,

I know it's been like 3 months but I've been busy okay :P. So I'm not going to make any excuses and I'm just going to get right in and tell you about last night, because it was awesome.

Luckily, I decided to check my gmail account the other day and noticed an invitation to a Benefit Bloggers event, a party for their new product launch and well after the last one, how could I say no? I also finally roped my bff into blogging since and enticed her to come to the event too in order to show her some of the blogging benefits. Her blog can be found here.

So let's get down to it. The Irish Benefit team were here to launch the newest benefit product, an ultra hydrating concealer called Fake Up! It has an outer ring which contains Vitamin E and apple seed extract to moisturise the skin and then the concealing core to hide dark circles and smooth the skin. And what does this amazing product look like, let me show you! I should also add, that the lovely Benefit team, gave us goody bags filled with not just one shade, but all three to test out, how awesome is that!!

It comes in three shades, light, medium and deep and all of them are packaged neatly to reflect the colour. Once you open the box, you are met with a lovely lipstick like tube which is silver with a lovely pink swirly design, which is ultimately girly, but I love it! Once you open that tube you can see the actual product and understand what I meant when I said it has an outer ring and inner concealing centre:

Light / Medium / Deep

Here they are swatched on my skin:

Light / Medium / Deep

When Mark Rogers, Benefit Ireland's trend artist was 'faking me up' he asked me whether I preferred my make up natural or a shade warmer and I like it a shade warmer since I'm so pale anyway and he decided I'd be a medium, which is surprising since most of us Irish gals are so pasty and pale that we were light haha. He also colour matched us to a Hello Flawless powder which they gave us along with the 3 fake-up shades as it's the 1st birthday of the Hello Flawless range. He decided I would be a 'Cute as a bunny' Honey shade. Here's a picture of him putting the fake-up on me:

The whole event was held in The Ivory, a restaurant in Belfast's Victoria Square. As you can see, they treated us well with champagne and even had some entrees for us to munch on, though I  much preferred the cute waiter handing them out! Benefit also had 2 girls from 2 different Benefit counters in N.Ireland, one from Debenhams and one from Menarys in Lisburn and we were given mini makeovers and allowed to test whatever products we wanted which was awesome. 

I got taught how to use the Eyebrow kit as I have never touched my eyebrows at all but the girl who was giving me the makeover (I'm awful, I can't remember her name, she was lovely though) was saying how eyebrows totally give shape to the face and once she had finished, my eyes looked a bit bigger as well which was cool so I think I might invest in that. I think the kit is a wax and then a bit of colour so that it doesn't harm your skin and stuff. She said that we should totally go and see her in Debenhams and that they do a brow-mapping service and show you what it's going to look like beforehand so if you're a newbie like me and are worried about it, you can see how it'll look before they do it. She also put on some eyeshadow, one of their creaseless creams and then a nice coral colour over my lids, here are some pics of all of that:

 

Apologies for my hair, It was rainy and windy and we had to run from the train station.

So girls, I promise you that you need Fake-Up in your life. It makes such a difference and totally brightens your face and it won't harm your skin. I'm already thinking of the 10 million ways I can use it - especially for work! And I'm going out on Saturday and it will totally help for then too. I will try and report more as I learn to use it!

Anyway I'm going to leave you with a few more pictures and some links to the Benefit team! Also if you are another blogger, please say Hello by either leaving a comment, or you can talk to me on twitter. I didn't get a chance to talk to many of you whilst I was there, so I'd like to be able to do that now :P.

Mark & Caoimhe showing us how to use Fake-Up

Mark needed a table to set all the products and then we spent 5mins putting the pipe in the doll's mouth!

All of the products available to try.

Check out the benefit team here on twitter and their facebook page:

Mark / Benefit Ireland / Benefit Ireland Facebook 

Christmas Masquerade

Heylo,

My work's Christmas party theme this year was a masquerade ball. This orignally didn't bode well with me because the first and only masquerade I'd been to previously I didn't remember anything from after 8 aftershocks and double vodka and redbull haha. However I did start planning this one early.

I did have my mask from the last party but it was black and heavy with feathers and beads and since I wear glasses it was kind of a pain in the ass, so my idea was to find a mask that would go over or under my glasses and sit nicely and not cost much because it's December and Xmas is just around the corner.

I spent a good two weeks searching for a dress on all of the websites I could think of until I found a pretty one on New Look  - pics to come. It's black with a gold belt so I decided to go Black & Gold as my theme. I bought gold glittery shoes from ebay which were also a nightmare to find because I wanted a low heel and in my size and a style I actually liked. Then I had trouble finding a bag because I don't like clutches and I'm allergic to the chain style belts because of the metal they are made from. So I was having problems all round and then it came to trying to find a mask! Even more of a nightmare.

I did find these lovely ones on Etsy by Tom Banwell..

They were made from leather, came in all colours and sit nicely around your face so you could put glasses over them. He even makes ones specifically for eye glass wearers. However he is based in the US and when I calculated the price and the time it would take for them to get here, it wouldn't have made it on time which is unfortunate. Once I had this style in my head though, I couldn't find anything that matched and I searched for hours upon end on amazon and ebay. 

Eventually I stumbled across a tutorial online on how to make your own mask using netting, fabric paint and a print out. I decided this was the best option for me as I could make it to fit my face around my glasses and in my own design. If you're interested in this tutorial, click here to read it. So here's a picture of how my design turned out:

I tied it using ribbon and it worked out perfectly. Now onto the outfit!

Dress - New Look

Shoes - Ebay

Jewellery - Muse (no website)

I re-dyed my hair using Manic Panic Vampire Red and I had my first ever fake tan! I usually don't bother with fake tan but my mum said since I was wearing gold I needed to not look so pale compared to it. I used some Dove Body lotion and fake tan wipes that my friend gave to me and it didn't turn out badly at all! For jewellery I wore some gold bead bracelets and I did have a necklace which was a small clock from Muse which is a shop in the city centre, I think it's independent as there doesn't seem to be a website for it. I'm not wearing the necklace in the photo as it got caught in my hair and I had to break it out of my hair which was painful. I eventually got a back from Peacocks which was black with a gold sparkle trim which I also forgot to put in the picture lol.

Overall it was a good night and we managed to get a taxi at a decent hour this time and we weren't freezing our butts off because we planned ahead and brought our coats! Last year we didn't get home for ages and had to stand trying to hail a taxi for a good hour before one arrived for us. Mad!

Anyway I'm not feeling festive at all and I haven't bought any presents because I'm broke but I get paid again before Christmas and I'll be running about like a headless chicken then trying to find the perfect last minute gifts!

I hope you're enjoying the festivities though!

Sami

Lots of Updateees.

Hey Guys

I didn't realise it had actually been nearly a month since my last post!! I've been so busy. I was away the first week of November in Scotland seeing my lovely boyfriend and then came back and went straight back to work and then it was my best friends birthday and was planning that for a bit and just busy busy!!

But I'm here and I have lots of things to talk to you about.

First of all, I'm going to rave about make-up brushes!! I used to use a sponge to put on my foundation, literally squeezed a drop or two, folded it over and rubbed it on and thought that would do. Then my sister got into beauty therapy and she started using make-up brushes so I thought I'd give that a go when I couldn't find decent sponges any longer, so I went cheap and bought one from ASDA just to give it a go, but I never liked using it and tended just to use the manky sponge I kept just incase. Then I got into this beauty blog scene and started reading all your reviews of make-up brushes and the most recommended brand I found was Real Techniques. So I went and bought myself a Real Techniques Stippling Brush the other week. It looks like so:

I have no actual idea what Stippling means but guys, it makes such a difference!! Literally a small drop on my hand covers my face and it's so easy, I can do my foundation in under a minute!! I never thought that such a simple tool would make such a big difference but it definitely does! So I think that recommendation came over well beauty bloggers and I am definitely recommending this one along with you!

I got my November Glossybox but I haven't actually used anything out of it yet so when I get around to that I'll do a wee blog update about it.

Recently, I've taken an interest in upcycling/thrifting clothes. Part of my new plan to 'Get my shit together' is to stop spending money on clothes apart from the necessities like underwear and just try and do something with the clothes I already own - I blame Pinterest! That website is super addictive. I was going through my wardrobe and I had a bag sitting of stuff that I was going to take to the charity shop and thought well why can't I do something with this stuff. In the bag there was a black Maxi dress with tags still on that I had never even worn which was just a waste. I decided this dress was going to be my first project. So I put it on and stood on a chair and gave my mum some scissors and cut the thing so it was a shorter dress - just above knee level. 

I then asked my mum to put a hem on it because I am kind of useless with a needle and thread which is something I'll have to work on if I'm going to thrift clothes. I had originally wanted the dress to go with these beautiful shoes I got from ebay: 

I originally got these to wear my Work Christmas Party but then decided on something different altogether so I had these beautiful shoes and nothing to wear them with/for! I then decided my dress needed a belt to bring the red and black of the shoes together in the dress. I knew in my head I wanted a sash belt with a bow and I searched high and low online for one but couldn't find it, so I just went to craftworld and bought a metre of red satin and I got 3 Large Hair Clip Bows from Poundworld and got my mum to get handy with a needle and thread again and wallah! Outfit made! Here's a pic:

Please ignore my double chin...This was the best pic of a bunch we took at my best friend's birthday party. I organised a Cocktail Masterclass for her which is something she had always wanted to do, it was lots of fun and the cocktails were all £3 after that so needless to say we were all pretty drunk afterwards!! However I would definitely recommend it as something to do so if you're interested bookcocktail.com is the place you're looking for. It was a good night all in all but we were there from 6pm basically and ended up going home at midnight because we're old and our feet hurt and well we did have to work the next day. 

I think I'll end the blog here, hopefully next week I'll have some good news and a glossybox update.  Also I added my blog to bloglovin so you can follow me over there, I also plan on updating my sidebar with more links and stuff so if you want to be added/add me to your list leave me a comment and let me know.

Until next time

Sami

Glossybox & List Update

Afternoon Blog Readers!

I know calm down, this is like my 3rd post in a short amount of time, I'm finally feeling the blogosphere and trying to get into a bit more - which is actually double hard because my laptop is fucked but yeah. 

So today I'm going to talk a bit more about the beauty side of things and then I'm going to update you on my list of things, yeah, remember that? Those ten things I wanted to achieve by November.

While I was exploring the beauty blog world and the general interwebs, I came across several beauty boxes which people reviewed or rated or whatnot and was considering giving one a go. The basic premise is that you pay £10 a month plus P&P and they send you a little box full of sample size beauty products that can range from lipstick to bodywash to shampoo or even make up brushes, the idea is that you are getting to sample a couple of different products before you buy them. Since I had been searching ebay for sample size products of a couple things that came highly recommended by beauty bloggers, the beauty box idea seemed the answer to my problems. Sure there was no guarantee that they'd send me what I want but better to pay £10 and get 5 decent size samples that pay £2.50 for one tiny one on ebay. 

Finally, after some hmming and haaaing I just bit the bullet and ordered the October Glossybox. Now they said if you live on the island of ireland (which i do, the north obv) that you may have to wait 5-7 days for your box to arrive. However mine came the day after they were released so I was quite impressed because I was struggling not to click the links of other girls who had got theirs and were reviewing the products already, it defeats the whole surprise aspect when you open it. I got the box and climbed back into my bed with it - man the postman comes early these days and unwrapped the box to find the following:

Dr Jart+ BB Cream, Skinetica Anti-Blemish Treatment, Yves Rocher Lipstick, Olay Regenerist 3point Treatment Cream and Anatomicals Pink Grapefruit Body Scrub.

I read the little information card and then started opening the products and smelling them/testing them on my hand/arm.  The body scrub smells really nice and it's hard to go wrong with body scrub but I'm not sure that I'll use it because my skins so dry and scrubbing it to death just dries it out much more. The lipstick was far too dark for me and I don't like using it so I gave it to my bff who loves dark lipstick. The skinetica stuff was pure alcohol basically and my super sensitive skin would've had a heart attack had I used it on me but I gave that to my sister who gave it to her boyfriend who had broken out during the week and it seemed to work for him, so at least other people are getting use out of the products I'm not using. I did use the BB Cream and I was impressed, although it didn't give coverage like a foundation - which is what I thought BB creams were partly supposed to do? - but it did make me look shiny and it felt nice on my skin and with SPF40 I can see why it's popular. As for the Olay Cream well I kinda forgot about it so it's still sitting in the box - not sure if I'll use it. Overall, for £10 (+P&P) it wasn't a bad deal at all. I think I'll give it another go for Nov and Dec and see what happens - hopefully christmassy products will be included/good - a bit of philosophy cinnamon bun shower gel? I'd love to try that! 

Overall, I think if you are willing to try and mess about with products on your skin then Glossybox is definitely a good idea for you but if you just want to try the top recommended products for you/your skin type then try going to the brand's counter and asking for a sample size or a test to match you to their whatever. Overall, not bad products for a not-at-all bad price.

Moving on! 

A while back, you'll remember that I posted a list of ten things I wanted to achieve this year and I was supposed to be working my way toward them, well it's been a while since I let you know how I was getting on with this so I thought I'd give you a quick update:

1. Finish at least one of the novels I have started. - Since my laptop fucking died with all the stuff on it - I do have a back up - I just haven't had a chance to spend some quality time with a computer to write - my mum, sister and I are all currently sharing one so that's fun. I don't think this will happen though NaNo is coming up so maybe I'll give it a bash? We'll see.
2. Learn to drive. - I dont even know why I set this as a goal, It's too expensive and I just dont have an interest in it so I dont think this one will even happen.
3. Open a savings account and start saving. - I DID IT!! FINALLY!! I had opened a savings account like a while back but then I forgot about it, but I finally set up my online banking and now I can just transfer money over whenever I can afford to so yay!! There's currently £10 in it haha. I get paid on Friday though so I'll make a transfer over then.
4. Get another tattoo - DOUBLE DONE!! You'll be aware that I posted about doing this one the first time when I got my book tattoo, well just yesterday we went back to the tattoo artist and got another one, this time it's on my hip and it's an infinity symbol with the word 'love' in it. I'll post pics when it's healed and not all red and icky looking.
5. Go to an open mic night - poetry, not singing. - I done this one several times over as I discovered a poetry night in Belfast and went to it a few times before I started working every Friday night! At least I did it!
6. Blog at least once a week. - Well yeah, you know this one is a major fail considering my posts were few and far between up until now but hopefully now that I've got a good mindset going on I'll be keeping up with posting more often, also JUST BUG ME until I post something :P
7. Get a job or work experience relevant to my career goals. - I did try and write for studenty.me but I just didn't have the time for it. So I gave up. Also with the way the economy is, finding a work exp placement is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, fucking impossible unless you set it all on fire. So yeah, I don't see this one happening anytime soon. 
8. Bake all the cupcake recipes from the cupcake book I bought. - So I made like 6/50 recipes and then got bored because the basic idea of making them is the same, flour, sugar, water, eggs, etc just add different colourings and flavourings and mix match it up when you feel like it, so I gave up on this. At least I know how to make them!!

9. Visit another country. - I went to Scotland in August and September and I'm going again in November - as my now boyfriend lives over there. Believe it or not, I had never actually been to Scotland before then so this definitely counts as it's a new place and it's still a different country than Northern Ireland. As much as I would love to go somewhere sunny and warm and chillax with cocktails by the pool, I just can't afford it!
10. Go to at least one new bar/club/restaurant/place. = I went to Eivissa for this one which was crap. I also had Dim Sum for the very first time and I ate prawns which I hate!! It wasn't too bad at all - which I know isn't a place but it was a new experience and I did want to expand my palette so that's cool. I also had a work friend over cooking us several dinners which were always something different that from what we normally eat - even the carbonara because well, it wasn't from a packet! Haha. 

So that gives me a total of 5/10! I suppose half isn't bad and I am working on some of them or at least trying to like my blog and my writing. I guess that's good enough for me. As long as I keep trying I think I'll be okay!

Anyway, I'm hungry and my tattoo needs more bepanthen, it's been like 4 hours so I'm away to do that.

Until next time,

Sami