Monday 1 October 2012

September Favourites

If you've read my beauty blog then you'll know that I do weekly favourite posts. I tried doing monthly ones but I think I'd end up with a massive list, so doing the beauty favourites is easier as weekly posts. I thought I'd start doing monthly favourites on here, anything and ecerything that's not beauty related. So here are Septembers:

Entertainment:
* David Fencher's 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' - We all knew this would be in here, I loved it!
* Rita Ora's album 'Ora' - In particular 'meet ya' and 'shine ya light'
*Jayne Buxton 'Lessons in shooting ducks'
* Cameron Mackintosh's 'Oliver'
* The lady boys of Bangkok



Food:
* Salt water taffy
* Candy corn
* Good and plenty

Clothes:
* H&M leopard print trainers
* Burgundy hoody


What were you loving in September? 

Sxx


Book #8

Another week another book, and I've decided to read one from my over stacked bookshelf again. This weeks book is Sharon Griffiths 'The lost guide to life and love'


The blurb:
'Follow food writer Tilly Flint as she discovers her roots, her sense of adventure and the secret to happiness in this timeless, inventive tale for fans of Eva Rice and Elizabeth Noble.
Do the answers to Tilly Flint's future lie in her past?
In a nightclub full of the rich and famous, a glamorous model leaps from a window and escapes into the night. Food writer Tilly Flint - on a rare date with boyfriend Jake - is sole witness to her flight. Little does she know the chain of events set to unfold…
The following week, Tilly and Jake have the last of many arguments, leaving Tilly alone in the wild Pennines landscape where she's on assignment. Terrified yet strangely exhilarated, she investigates the area - and finds more than a few surprises.
Intrigued to learn that, as an only child, she has family in the area, Tilly starts to dig deeper, discovering her great grandmother's past and the eerie parallels with her own life. As she explores the treacherous moors, she stumbles across mysterious pieces of cherry-red ribbon. What do they signify? And who is the strangely familiar face in the local pub?
Then a chance encounter with celebrity Clayton Silver leads Tilly into a high-octane world that spells danger. Can the ribbons from the past be a lifeline in the present?'

Sxx

Sunday 30 September 2012

Book review #7 - Lessons in shooting ducks

I'm going to start this review off by saying that I loved this book! I even have it in my weekly faves over on my beauty blog. I'll be honest, I pretty much started reading this because I want to try and get through all of my books that I have and give them to charity because since I bought my kindle all the books on my book shelf have been collecting dust. Anywhooooo on with the review:


This book is based around the character Ally who is divorced with two children and whilst her ex husband seems to have had his share of girlfriends, Ally has had no such luck with men. One of her friends, Mel, works for a magazine and is doing an article about an American lady (a relationship coach) who gives seminars on how to meet Mr right. Mel thinks that this would be great for Ally to do because she's single and  it could be quite a laugh, and of course it would help Mel out big time....and prevent her from getting fired from the magazine.
Reluctantly, Ally agrees and sets off to her first seminar. She enjoyed it more than she thought she would and begins to take all of the 'homework' seriously. One task being that she has to set up three dates with three different men (duck decoys) that she isn't really attracted too. Date one is with a man that she really isn't attracted to, but he is her. The date went well, however he seems to want more dates and she doesn't. Date two is with the electrician who she is actually attracted too, but during said date she finds out he's not exactly who she though he was. So after two unsuccessful dates she decides against looking for 'duck decoy' date three.
During all of this time Ally gets to know a neighbour who is also single (and very attractive) and debates whether to make him 'duck decoy three' but decides against this, and out of the blue he asks her out for coffee which she eagerly accepts. Things start to get complicated when she starts to get feelings for her neighbour, and all of a sudden her ex husband resurfaces and announces that he still has feelings for her. Now she has the huge decision of deciding who it is that she wants to be with: the father of her children who cheated on her and broke her heart, or the very attractive neighbour who lost his wife and has made it clear he and Ally have a connection?
Mind made up she makes a beeline for her man, however when he finds out about the ex husband and the complicatedness and of course the seminars and 'duck decoy' he doesn't seem so sure he wants the relationship. Do things end up happily ever after? You'll have to give it a read to find out :P

This is definitely worth a read, such an easy and fun book. Filled with funny moments and those moments where you find yourself shouting 'Noooo what are you doing' at the book......or is that just me that does that?!

Until next time.

Sxx

Monday 24 September 2012

Camping

I finally managed to upload my camping pictures onto my laptop which means I can finally do my Camping post!! I had such a great time, although it was absolutely freezing at night and we had some not so friendly spiders in the shower block. Although I don't think any spiders are friendly. They all scare the living daylights out of me!!

First off we travelled to Flamingo land, where I proceeded to scream like a 5 year old girl on every ride we went on!!

Some of the rides:














We walked into the zoo but they had moved most of the animals so we didn't get to see many :( We did see the camels which I stupidly thought were rocks!!






We went from Flamingo land onto the campsite where we stayed for the night. By the time we got there we checked in then went out to a local pub for some food, the back to the campsite where I decided to lie on the picnic table staring at the stars. The skies are beautiful up in the countryside!!





We also made two little friends :/


Annnnnnd that was my little camping adventure :)

Sxx


Sunday 23 September 2012

Book #7

Time for another book, I've decided to read a book from my book shelf again rather than buy another on my kindle just so I can get through the huge amount of unread books I have.

This weeks book is Jayne Buxton' 'Lessons in duck shooting'


The blurb:

'Ally James' life is in dire need of a makeover. Juggling the demands of a neurotic boss, the sudden appearance of her ex-husband's latest arm candy and the endless whirl of school runs and fish sticks seems to have become a mammoth effort of late. And watching The Little Mermaid with her kids is probably the closest she has come to an exciting date in years. So when her best friend Mel persuades, or rather bullies, her into a dating seminar, Ally finds herself reluctantly giving in. Marina Boyd, American relationship guru extraordinaire, claims that all you need is some shrewd self-marketing and a steady stream of trial men -- or, to use her term, 'duck decoys' -- and you're on a sure-fire road to Mr Right.
Ally's not so sure, though. Can packaging and promoting possibly be the same as dating and falling in love? And how on earth would you find the time for a makeover, a direct mail campaign and a branding programme when you're busy putting out fires at home?
Ally is about to find out ...'

:)

Sxx

Book review #6 - How to be famous

So, after my big fail last week with 'one day' I wanted to find a book for this past week that I could really sink my teeth into and I did just that. This weeks book was Alison Bond's 'How to be famous'


This book is exactly what it says in the title. It's about three young woman (One a lot younger than she first makes out) trying to make it big in Hollywood and how their lives intertwine with each others . Two of the woman are aspiring actresses and the other working for a talent agency, until she gets fired and is left to figure it all out alone. Two of the women get to know one another over a very important phone call, one of the woman (Melanie) being the aspiring actress who's trying to not get thrown off the movie set and the other being the 'agent' (Lindsey) trying to sort out the mess. Lindsey manages to sort out the fuss over the contracts which then lands her a job in L.A helping out at the agency's office over there and taking care of Melanie. On Lindsey's (coach) journey to the states she meets the other aspiring actress (Serena) who keeps her guard up and doesn't really want to speak to anyone, especially Lindsey.

Once they're all settled in the city of Angels, each doing their own thing - Lindsey becoming a big help to Melanie in so many ways and then becoming Serena's agent, which then gets Lindsey fired from the agency for not telling them - they all have problems and secrets they come to face, and all turn to Lindsey for help. Maybe Hollywood isn't the life they thought it would be........

I really enjoyed reading this book and found it hard to put down, it was such an easy read. Deffo a thumbs up!

Sxx

Saturday 22 September 2012

Be confident. Be yourself.

I was going to blog about my camping trip  today but I'm having trouble getting my pictures onto my computer, so I've thought about something else to write about which I'm sure pretty much everyone can relate to.....Self confidence.


Some people have all the self confidence in the world, and some don't have any at all. Up until recently I didn't really have all that much, until I found my style and told myself  'if people don't like me, then that's their problem' It probably sounds weird to say 'I found my style' and this gave me confidence, but it really did. I pretty much have a 'rock chick' edge to my look now; wearing skull T-shirts, rock band T-shirts and my military boots all the time. And in all honesty, I feel so much more confident about myself now that I don't blend in with the crowd. I've never really been one for blending in, I've always wanted to stand out and not because I want people to look at me or pay me attention but because I don't see the point in everyone being the same as everyone else.


It's so much easier for someone to say 'just be yourself and don't let anyone get you down' but I think it's worth it. I spent so many years (as a teenager) trying to find out who I was and got constant little remarks from people I thought were friends about what I wore etc And I now realise it was because they themselves didn't know who they were and they were the insecure ones.


If I could go back to being a teenager I'd tell myself  'Wear what you want, do what you want and don't let anyone bring you down' Because that's what I tell myself every day now, and it works.

I hope this wasn't a rambley post, and that it helps someone who is lacking in the self confidence department. Just BE YOU!! 


Sxx


Sunday 16 September 2012

Book #6

Ok after my very failed attempt at reading last week (I so wanted to love that book) I've picked out another book to read instead of buying one on my kindle. I think I'm going to read a book from my bookshelf one week then buy one on my kindle the following week. Once I've read all of my books, the one's I know I won't read again, I'll give to a charity shop :)

Anyway , this weeks book is 'How to be famous' by Alison Bond


The blurb

'Lynsey Dixon never plans anything. She has no commitments and no responsibilities apart from her job at a London talent agency that specialises in neurotic actresses like Melanie Chaplin. After keeping her calm head in a crisis, Lynsey is offered a transfer to Los Angeles to help Melanie settle into a new television show. Lynsey can recognise an opportunity when she sees one. An opportunity for serious star spotting and sunny days.

Melanie Chaplin is excited to be famous, but being famous can make you forget yourself. Soon she is wildly in love with a married man and pregnant by her womanising co-star, Fabien Stewart. Being a star can be stressful. And why, when her career is soaring, is she jealous of the young wannabes nipping at her Jimmy Choo heels?

Serena Simon is the most beautiful girl in the world. She didn't exactly choose Hollywood. When you look like Serena, Hollywood is the only place to go. She has a plan and it's working. Fame is only a photoshoot away. Any minute now someone is going to find out that this sexbomb is a teenage runaway, just fourteen years old.'

I think I might enjoy this one

Sxx

Book review #5 - One day

I failed big time with this weeks book. I was reading 'One day' by David Nicholls and I just couldn't get into it at all :(


When the film first came out I was dying to see it, but by the time I went it wasn't showing anymore. So as soon as I spotted the book I snatched it up......and forgot I had it. When I got my kindle I pretty much forgot about all of the books I had, until Monday when I was sorting through them and remembered I had this.

I read about a third of it and I honestly had to force myself to read that chunk of it. When I read a book I pretty much know after the first few pages whether I'm going to like it or not. I made myself plod on with this book because I've read and heard so many good things about it, but for me it wasn't all that great and didn't grab my attention.

Maybe I'll try again in a few months

Have you read this? What did you think?

Sxx

Thursday 13 September 2012

What I'm taking camping


Wooooohooooo I'm going camping at the weekend and I'm a little overexcited about it haha Me and my friends are staying in a wooden wigwam  for the night (how posh!) and usually when I go away I tend to do a  'what's in my travel make up bag' post over on my beauty blog so I figured let's post something similar on here. So I'm doing a clothes post.

Here's what I'll be wearing:


* White cardigan from store twenty one
* Black vest from Primark
* Green shorts from Primark
* Leopard trainers from H&M




* The North Face jacket from Blacks
* Rolling stones T-shirt from Ebay
* Burgundy shorts from Primark
* Converse from Schuh

Hopefully (if I can find my camera) I'll take lots of pictures of where we're staying and put a post up on Monday :)

Have a great weekend!

Sxx



Wednesday 12 September 2012

The girl with the dragon tattoo - The movie

After reading 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' and loving it, I was interested to see how alike the film was. So whilst shopping in Asda I spotted Niels Arden Opley's version for £4.00 and after watching it I have to say I was quite disappointed.



So off I trotted to HMV to buy David Fincher's version, which I thought was 100% better. From the very beginning of the film it's very much the same as the book, Henrik is on the phone to his friend and police officer talking about the flower he got sent to him.



Both versions had a few differences. In both, there was no relationship with Cecilia, Blomvkist gets taken down to the basement of Martins house in different ways, the way Martin dies is similar in both films but different to the book, when Blomvkist gets shot it's in different circumstances (I'm 99% sure it was whilst he was out running, in the book) There were many more differences in Opley's version than Finchers, Id say that the main storyline was the same as the book, but for me the small details that were missed out/changed made me not so keen on Opley's.

The ending in David Fincher's version is pretty different from the book, but I shan't spoil it for you all! If you're looking to watch the film, I'd say read the book first then watch David Fincher's, it's much better in my opinion.

S xx

Tuesday 11 September 2012

The numbers challenge -

Bit of a random title I know, but I couldn't think of anything else to call this post. So here I am again with a list and a bunch of challenges. I have no idea why I set myself up for these things, but they're usually the product of a very boring day at work. This time I decided to list the numbers 1 to 10 and next to each number write something I want to do (I'm rubbish at explaining myself) So for example, say I had wine next to number 4 I would have to try out 4 different wines. Making sense yet? I'll get on with the list and it should all become clear :P

1 - One different country (Woooo for a holiday)

2 - Two things that scare me (They say do something that scares you everyday, think I'll just settle for two things!) 

3 - Three things for charity

4 - Four different zoo's - Flamingo land zoo

5 - Five different cocktails

6 - Six different theme parks - Flamingo land

7 - Seven different foods

8 - Eight different landmarks

9 - Nine different cities

10 - Ten different flavour ice creams (I only ever have vanilla!! :O )


I'm unsure of what time frame to give myself to do this challenge..........let's say a year and a half. There's no way I'd cram it all into one year!

Wanna join in? I tag you all to come up with a list :P

Sxx

Monday 10 September 2012

Book #5

Time for another book. I have to say that I'm pretty sad that I finished the 'millennium' trilogy! I'll have to watch the dvds now ;)

This weeks book is One day by David Nicolls -



What the blurb says:

'You can live your whole life not realising that what you're looking for is right in front of you. 15TH of July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after? And every year that follows?'

I'm really looking forward to reading this!!

Book review #4 - The girl who kicked the hornets nest

This weeks book was Stieg Larsson's 'The girl who kicked the hornets nest'


I didn't get this review up in time (Sunday) due to the fact that I didn't finish the book before today. This is purely because I kept putting it down after a few chapters and having to make myself carry on reading, which I never found with the other two. I was really looking forward to reading this because I enjoyed reading 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' and 'The girl who played with fire' so much. This is my least favourite out of the three, for 2 reasons. 1 - The story kept going off a lot through the book, explaining background stories/details. Which I understand is important so the reader understands the full extent of the story, but it was literally every other chapter, and lasted a full chapter. I just think it would have been easier to swallow if these explanations were maybe cut down a little. 2 - There wasn't that much of an appearance from the two main characters. I understand she's laid up in a hospital bed so can't really be out and about, and he's out there trying to uncover the truth, but I'd have thought there might have been a little more of them both.

This is just my opinion, I'm not bashing the book at all I'm just stating why it was (for me) a little harder to read, and my least out of the three.

Anyway, on with the story -
To be honest I'm having trouble writing the storyline because the book baffled me with the continuous story jumping from one character to the next and the long in depth explanations of certain topics. Anyway, the jist of this is Salander is laid up in hospital recovering from, an operation to recover a bullet (or 3) in a hospital room, two doors down from her father (who was the one that wanted her dead) On the outside of the hospital Blomvkist, along with others, is trying to stop Salander's old psychiatrist from putting her back into an institution. He's also trying to uncover many secrets and conspiracies about the secret police - Sapo (who had dealings with her father) The murder charges have been dropped against Salander, however she's been charged with the attempted murder of her father, so it's all a race against time until her court date.

Towards the last quarter of this, I really got into it again. There's a lot of drama towards the end and I was once again on the edge of my seat!

Sxx


Tuesday 4 September 2012

Book list:

We all know by now that I'm a huge bookworm. I've been reading blogs and getting recommendations from friends of books to read, so I thought I'd make a list of them all and tick them off as I go:

1- Stieg Larsson - The girl with the dragon tattoo Read
2- Stieg Larsson - The girl who played with fire Read
3- Stieg Larsson - The girl who kicked the hornets nest Read
4- JoJo Moyes - Me before you
5- Marian Keyes - The brightest star in the sky
6- Melissa Hill - The last to know
7- Melissa Hill - The charm bracelet
8- Tina Heavey - Where the love gets in
9- Sandra Bryd - To die for
10- Patrice Sarath - The unexpected Miss Bennet
11- Carla Kelly - Borrowed light
12- Alyson Richman - The lost wife
13- Sara Gruen - Water for elephants
14- Rosy Thornton - Crossed wires
15- Eva Ibbotson - A song for summer
16- Hannah Richell - Secrets of the tides
17- Elizabeth Noble - Between a mother and her child
18- David Nicholls - One day Reading
19-
20-

Any more recommendations? I'll literally read anything but horror, I'm a wuss!! :P

Thanks for reading

Sxx

Sunday 2 September 2012

Book #4

Time for the last book of the trilogy- Stieg Larsson's 'The girl who kicked the hornets nest'


What amazon say - 

'A young girl lies in a hospital room, her tattooed body very close to death -- there is a bullet lodged in her brain. Several rooms away is the man who tried to kill her, his own body grievously wounded from axe blows inflicted by the girl he has tried to kill. She is Lisbeth Salander, computer hacker and investigator, and the man is her father, a murderous Russian gangster. If Salander recovers from her injuries, she is more than likely to be put on trial for three murders -- the authorities regard her as a dangerous individual. But she won't see the inside of a courtroom if her father manages to kill her first.'

I'm excited to read this one, the other two have been great reads!

Sxx

Book review #3 - The girl with played with fire

This weeks book was Stieg Larsson's 'The girl who played with fire'


Unlike 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' I was able to get drawn straight into this book, and it's probably my favourite out of the two purely for this reason. It's action packed and has a great storyline, and again left me wanting to carry on reading. The only thing that confused me was the amount of characters in this one (Obviously the main two - Blomkvist and Salander - were in it) and that it kept jumping to what was happening with each of them, so it was quite hard to remember all of the names. However a great book none the less :)

Anyway, on with the actual storyline:

OK, the basic plot of this book goes a little like this: There's a journalist and his girlfriend who are writing  (he) a book (she) a thesis about sex trafficking in and around Sweden. Blomkvist agrees to print the story in  his magazine and also help publish the book. Things take a turn for the worse when Blomkvist finds his two friends dead, and later finds out the Salander's guardian has also been murdered. Who becomes the number one suspect? Salander
The hunt is on to find the 'dangerous, psychopath' before she strikes again. The police believe she committed the murders. Her old boss believes she committed the murders. Blomkvist doesn't. He believes that the murders are connected to the book his friend was writing. The police and her old boss are doing everything they can to find and apprehend her, but Blomkvist tries to find out the real killer and prove Salander's innocence. 
Towards the end of the book we find out what happened to Salander as a child, and the reason she is the way she is. The last two or three chapters I was literally on the edge of my seat, so much drama, action and surprises. I can't wait to read the third book to find out what happens!

This is a definite must read! If you liked 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' or you like books filled my mystery and drama, this is for you

Sxx

Saturday 1 September 2012

Update

Just a quick update to say I haven't forgotten about this blog, I just haven't had all that many exciting things to blog about recently. Well unless you can count working and shopping haha However that's all about to change and there'll be many exciting posts coming up.

I'm going camping in 2 weeks......IN A WIGWAM (can you tell I'm excited???) and to flamingoland whilst down there so that shall make for action packed (I hope) post. And I've got  few little outings planned so it's all good.

I'm still posting weekly book reviews (loving 'the girl who played with fire) so keep your eyes peeled for those on Sunday's and I have my beauty blog so feel free to have a spy :)

Thanks for reading :)

S xx

Monday 27 August 2012

Book #3

Whilst reading 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' I was seriously debating whether to read the second book in the trilogy 'The girl who played with fire' that was until I got absolutely hooked on 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' and decided I just had to read it.....

So this weeks book is 'The girl who played with fire' by Stieg Larsson


What amazon say:

'In the second book in the Millennium sequence, The Girl Who Played with Fire (as in its its predecessor), Lisbeth's closest ally is the older journalist Mikael Blomqvist, even though she has abruptly ended her emotional relationship with him. Lisbeth has left all she knows behinds her and has begun a relationship with a gauche young lover. But after a grim revenge run-in with a man who has abused her, she becomes a suspect in three murders, and is the subject of a nationwide search. Blomqvist, however, is convinced of her innocence (he has just been responsible for a blistering report on the sex trafficking industry in Sweden), and is determined to help her – whether she wants his help or not.'

Lets give this a read....

Sxx

Sunday 26 August 2012

Book review #2 - The girl with the dragon tattoo

Week two, time for another book review. This past week I've been reading Stieg Larsson's 'The girl with the dragon tattoo'


I'm going to start off by saying that this took me ages to actually get into, and if I didn't know the basic storyline I would have put it down and started reading something else. HOWEVER I continued to read on (a few of my friends told me to get through the first few chapters and then it gets good) and for me it got very exciting at chapter 16, and I couldn't put it down!

Let's introduce the characters:

* Mikael Blomkvist - Editor of a magazine (millennium) who writes a story on a shady high profile business man and ends up getting charged for a false story
* Eric Valgner - Wants to find out who murdered his brothers Granddaughter (Harriet) some years ago, so hires Mikael to help uncover the truth
* Harriet Vlagner - The 16 year old missing (presumed dead) Granddaughter of Eric's brother
* Lisabeth Salander - The girl with the dragon tattoo. A private detective, who later gets hired to help out Mikael solve the murder mystery

Now for the storyline:

Blomkvist gets fired from his editorial position, at his own magazine, for printing an untrue story on a shady business man. Eric Valgner sees the story and after some research (by salander) decides to hire Blomkvist to uncover the truth of Harriet's murder. After months of finding no new evidence Blomkvist wants to give up, but can't because of his agreement with Erin Valgner. However after a visit form his daughter, Blomkvist then discovers new evidence and asks for a little help in doing more research, cue Salander. The two dig up a lot of dirt on the Valgner family which doesn't amuse certain family members, however this doesn't deter either of them and they carry on with the task in hand. Eric Vlagner gets rushed to hospital with a heart attack so Blomkvist does everything he can to solve the mystery. But things don't turn out how everyone expected them too......

Towards the last third of the book I got completely hooked and couldn't wait to read the next page. This keeps you on your toes and is full of surprises!

Sxx


Tuesday 21 August 2012

Book #2


Time for a book. What I'm going to do is, every Monday I'll put up a post of what I'm going to be reading that week, then the following Sunday I'll post a review of said book :) I have another book review on my other blog if you'd like to read that too.

This week I'm going to read something that's been on my 'to read' list for so long and for one reason or another I never get around to reading it. 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' by Stieg Larsson.


What amazon say:

'I want you to find out who in the family murdered Harriet, and who since then has spent almost forty years trying to drive me insane” The Industrialist: Henrik Vanger, head of the dynastic Vanger Corporation, is tormented by the loss of a child decades earlier and convinced that a member of his family has committed murder. The Journalist: Mikael Blomkvist delves deep into the Vangers' past to uncover the truth behind the unsolved mystery. But someone else wants the past to remain a secret and will go to any lengths to keep it that way. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Lisbeth Salander, the enigmatic, delinquent and dangerous security specialist, assists in the investigation. A genius computer hacker, she tolerates no restrictions placed upon her by individuals, society or the law.'

Ready to give this a read :)

S xx

New blog

Life's an adventure, enjoy it!

Hellooooo and welcome to my second blog :) I already have a blog which is pretty much all beauty related with the odd few little adventures/non beauty related posts thrown in there too. Because most people who d read it are interested in only the beauty things I figured I'd start a second one for all other shenanigans. I'm a total book worm so I'll be posting weekly book reviews, I also love travelling so there'll be 'adventure' posts and any other crazy things that I get up too :)

I hope you enjoy reading this, and don't forget to check out my beauty blog :)

Thanks for reading!

Sxx