Geeky Girl Gift Guide – Collaboration Post

Hey guys! It’s me again, Sarah from over at Raiin Monkey, bringing you as promised my next geektastic gift guide! If you saw my post on Wednesday, you’ll know that me and Nat are doing a Christmas collaboration together, each sharing some geeky gift guides for both guys and girls. Last time, Nat shared a gift guide for girls on my blog (you can read her post here), and I gave you my suggestions of Christmas gift ideas for guys here on Nat’s wonderful blog! So, today it’s my turn to write all about gift ideas for the geeky girls in your life!

As with Part 1 of my geeky gift guide, I’ve decided to include items perfect for those of you on a budget, as all my suggestions are £20 or under, and many of them would be great as stocking fillers! I’ve split up my guide into two parts again: present ideas for under £10 and also for under £20. I’ve sourced everything from UK websites too, to help keep the costs down 😊 I hope you all enjoy reading!

Pokémon I Choose You Mug (link) I was strolling through the grindstore website because it’s one of my favourite online stores for alternative merch and I spotted this adorable mug, that was just too cute not to include on my geeky girls gift guide. Just as Nat said in her post, everyone loves a good mug at Christmas! I love that this one includes all of the starter Pokémon so it’s a mug to suite every Pokéfan! Something I also love about giving mugs as gifts is that you can fill it with other little presents, stuff like socks, chocolates & sweets, keyrings, etc.

Despicable Me Fluffy Unicorn Notebook (link) THIS NOTEBOOK IS SO FLUFFY, I’M GONNA DIE!! Hahaha I couldn’t help myself 😀 How awesome are fluffy notebooks though!? I don’t know anyone who doesn’t appreciate a pretty, good quality notebook, and this one would make a fabulous gift for anyone who loves unicorns or just cutesy things in general!

DC Lil Bombshells Vinyl Figures (link) Being slightly obsessed with collecting blind box figures myself, I couldn’t not find another blind box for my geeky girls gift guide too! I love the DC Bombshell figures, they are gorgeous, and these little chibi-style versions of them are awesome! They celebrate all of the badass woman of the DC world, and there’s 12 to collect in these series 2 editions. One of these surprise figures would make a really cool present for any DC fan you know, both girls and guys.

Kawaii Sushi Coaster Set (link) This is a present for my fellow kawaii fans. Even if you’re not a lover of sushi (me neither!), you can’t argue that these coasters are super cute! At only £4.99 for 4, I think they are a bargain not to be missed! I love how colourful and bright they are too, and they are great for popping into a stocking.

Pusheen the Cat Pastel Green Plush (link) It’s no surprise that both me & Nat included Pusheen items on our gift guides for geek girls because Pusheen is amazing! It’s impossible not to love her, and there’s so much wonderful merch available lately. Artbox UK have quite a few official Pusheen plushies, including these three pastel 15cm plushies, available in green, pink and purple. Your geeky girl loved ones will be thrilled to find one of these little cuties in their stockings on Christmas morning 😊

Studio Ghibli Gang Tote Bag (link) I don’t know many geeky girls that aren’t fans of at least one of the amazing movies by Studio Ghibli, and this tote bag is awesome because it includes so many of the popular characters on it! If I used tote bags more, I’d buy it for myself for Christmas because I’m in love with the print! It’s one of those presents too that can be filled with even more Christmas gifts, which is always a bonus. Bags are the perfect gift for students too because they can always use another bag, whether it’s for taking to class with them or to use as a shopping bag or something.

Hatsune Miku Keyring (link) Here’s another animation themed gift, for geeky girls who love all things Japanese! This keyring is an official Vocaloid item and is only £2.49! Even if you’ve never watched Vocaloid, Hatsune Miku is such a cute and iconic character, that I’m sure any fan of kawaii culture or anime would love to receive this for Christmas!

The next part of my Geeky Girls Gift Guide is for those of you who are interested in stocking fillers that are little more pricey but still ideal for those on a budget at £20 and under!

Tofu Cute Amuse Lucky Bag (link) Each time that I’ve been to my local MCM Comic Con at Manchester, I’ve seen people walking around with these adorable Tofu Cute goodie bags, both a blue and a pink variation, and always thought that they were surprise Japanese and Korean snack bags since I know that the store sells them. However, I just discovered that the blue one is full of snacks, but the pink one or the ‘Maneki Neko’ bag is for surprise plushies! I am such a huge fan of the Japanese brand Amuse and their plushies, and so I now have a mighty need for one of these lucky bags in my life! The smallest of the bags is £18.99, but there are three other larger sizes with more products in that you can buy. Head over to the website to see examples of what you can expect inside. I think this would make such a brilliant present, especially since you get the free drawstring bag too! If you think your loved one would prefer the snack version, that’s only £12.99. Even better, but slightly more pricey than £20, there’s a special Christmas version of the Tofu Cute lucky bag, which has a mix of both plushies and snacks!

Harry Potter Crests Gift Set (link) Gift sets, like this Harry Potter official one, are a fabulous option when buying a Christmas present, because they contain more than one gift and usually come inside a pretty presentation box of some kind. This set will make a wonderful gift for any Harry Potter fangirl, no matter if she belongs to Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, since it includes all the Hogwarts House crests! Also, this would make the perfect Secret Santa present for any Harry Potter fan! Fellow Harry Potter fans…I’m curious, what house do you belong to? I’m a Ravenclaw!

Deadpool Arm Party Bracelet Set (link) Jewellery is always a nice gift idea for any occasion in my opinion, and I thought this Deadpool set was unique plus it would make a cool present for many geeky girls. Whether they are a fan of the DC comics or just loved the 2016 Deadpool movie (I know I did!), this would be an awesome addition to their Christmas stocking this year. The set includes five bracelets, all designed in different ways so that they can be worn as a set or individually. I think they are actually really pretty!

Star Paws Parody T-shirt (link) I adore parody tees, this one especially because it has light saber-wielding kittens on it! Is there anything more awesome than that, haha!? Just maybe, because the slogan on the tee says, ‘Meow the force be with you!’. I LOVE IT! I almost forgot to mention that there’s a Christmas sale on over at Truffle Shuffle that ends just before midnight this Sunday, offering 20% off everything (use the code: PRESSIE20). Whilst this offer lasts, why not grab this t-shirt for your geeky friends or family? 😊

Harry Potter House Scarves (link) The online store GeekCore has so much awesome Harry Potter merch so definitely go check them out if you or your loved ones are fans! If so, then this ones another item for you! These gorgeous Harry Potter House scarves would make the perfect gift right now with it being almost winter time! They would also be a great present for anyone you know who likes to cosplay! I’m very tempted to get myself one because they look really snug and I’ve been so cold lately!

Happy Piranha’s Every Fragranced Candle tealights (link) Nat featured a fabulous Darth Vader tealight candle holder on her geeky girl gift guide, so I thought it would be cool to include some tealights that could be purchased along with that! I was searching around for geeky themed candles available in the UK and I came across this set that looks brilliant! The ‘Every Fragranced Candle’ set is Harry Potter themed, based on Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. How cool is that!? You are supposed to guess the scent of these candles, which I think is great and there’s so many fragrances that sound amazing, like Peppermint Swirl and Blackberry Crumble. They are all handmade too, and would be a perfect Christmas gift for anyone, Harry Potter fan or not!

Pokémon All Over Print T-Shirt (link) We have reached the final item on my gift guide for geeky girls, and this is one of my favourite items of all that I’ve shared with you guys today! Just look how fabulous it is! I really like all of the bright colours and of course, that it’s covered in Pokémon. I mean, how could anyone not adore it!? I love the style of this t-shirt too, it looks very comfy. As the website states ‘it’s a die-hard Pokéfan must-have!’.

So, I hope that you enjoyed all of my present suggestions for your geeky girl friends, girlfriends, family or co-workers this Christmas. I’d love to know if the items I’ve featured have been perfect for your loved ones or even if they’ve just given you some inspiration on what to buy for them 😊 That goes for Nat’s posts too; please leave either of us a comment and let us to your thoughts on the items we’ve chosen. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Day and that you get some marvelous presents, whether they are geeky or not!

I just wanted to end my post by giving a big thank you to Nat for working with me on this collaboration! It’s been so awesome, and I’ve been wanting to work with her for the longest time, so I’m super happy that we finally have done ♥ Definitely keep a look out for more collabs from us in the future everyone!

I just want to say again, a massive thank you to Sarah for agreeing to collab with me for Christmas not just once, but twice! These posts have definitely been some of my best guest posts and collaboration posts I’ve ever done and the prospect of working with Sarah again in the future is already so exciting!

Don’t forget to go and read Sarah’s Geeky Guy Gift Guide here!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you have a lovely weekend… Hopefully surrounded like snow like I am! 😛

Spring & Summer Fashion Inspiration

Okay I know it has been a week since I last wrote and published a post on my blog, but I’m not lying or making excuses when I say I’ve been really busy the last week.

The weekend I went away to the Lake District and although it was tiring due to climbing a huge mountain and driving for over 3 hours there and 5 hours back home it was amazing and a much-needed break.

At the moment I am suffering with tired legs from the walk, as well as from a chest infection which is pretty crap but I have the next two days off of work so I’ll be writing up and scheduling some blog posts, yes!

I realised when I was packing my weekend suitcase for the Lake District that I don’t really have many lighter coloured clothes, nor do I have many dresses for summer, I don’t have many longer pairs of shorts, or any cool looking summer t-shirts and it made me feel rubbish and worried about what I intend to wear during the rest of spring and summer this year. As well as that I’ll be going away to Bristol in less than a months time, as well as hopefully going to Fuerteventura in September for a long holiday away with my boyfriend and maybe some friends.

So! I have finally decided to have a look online at some shops to get a vague idea of what sort of style I would like to start going for during the summer times and it seems to be swaying towards skater boarder/surf boarder styles and a lot of the brands I have had my eye on lean towards these too.

So for today mind I am making a post about my fashion inspiration for spring and summer this year.

Although I do shop the high street shops for clothes when it comes to spring and summer, since getting with my boyfriend I’ve been able to start getting back into the style mentioned above, which I’ve worn a lot over the past 10 years.

Some favourite brands in particular are Vans, Element, DC and Animal.

There are some certain pieces of clothing by all of these brands that hold a certain style that I like, whether it be a baggy piece of clothing or a tighter piece. I’m going to share them all with you today!

• Baggy t-shirts

You can’t go wrong with a baggy t-shirt! It can keep you cool and prevent you from feeling clammy during warm days as well as hide your tummy if you aren’t so confident about it, like the way I am with my own. I have a lovely baggy t-shirt by Element that I bought in the January sales and still now it’s doing me a good job and I wore it for my mountain climb the weekend, it did a great job of keeping me cool! You can get these t-shirts from Primark too for less than £10 each if you don’t wish to pay a big price tag and in all sorts of colours. I have one in a dark blue and a cream colour.

• Sweaters

I know the weather is getting warmer and with that sweaters should be put into the back of my wardrobe and left there until autumn and winter are upon us once more, but I just can’t! I love my sweaters, they’re that warm hug you crave when no one is around and are comfortable as hell! I wear them when the weather isn’t that warm, as well as in the evenings when the sun has gone done and I wish to sit outside. I live in my Animal sweater and I’m sure throughout spring and summer I’ll continue to do just that! As well as that one I also love my Spider Man sweaters from Forever 21, they do some awesome ones for a great price.

• Denim shorts

I have plenty of pairs of denim shorts and too right I should! They can be worn on their own with bare legs, or with a pair of black or patterned tights when it’s a little chilly or you feel a little conscious of your thighs (like I do). I have one pair of longer (just about the knee) shorts that I live in during the spring and summer when it’s really warm as I just feel too conscious to wear short shorts due to my thighs, but sometimes I just has to be done and at the right place, and with the right people I feel a little less paranoid. I do however want another pair of longer denim shorts, so that I don’t worry I’m too paranoid during holidays and such. You can pick these up ANYWHERE! I’ve always loved Topshop’s denim shorts, especially the American flag style, which I have one pair of and miss wearing terribly!

• A baggy hoodie

I don’t often wear jackets or coats during the spring and summer as it’s usually too warm to and as I get warm quite easily I often opt for a hoodie to keep me warm on my travels. One I’ve been grabbing lately is my boyfriends yellow DC hoodie, but I do plan to get my own Element or DC hoodie soon so I can stop stealing his. As well as that I also tend to put my Evanescence hoodie on, it cost enough so I need to ensure to wear it! xD

• Skateboard shoes

These are pretty much what I live in during the hot days as my Dr Martens are just too warm and the same can be said about my Chelsea boots too. I even wear a pair of black Vans for work! I wear my Vans slip on shoes, or my newer DC skate shoes during the warm days. They’re greats shoes that can just be slipped on and off whenever.

Now here are some pictures of some inspiration!

Image taken from weheartit.com

Image taken from weheartit.com

Image taken from weheartit.com

Image taken from weheartit.com

 

So I hope you enjoyed this fashion post! I’ll be going for some slight clothing shopping before I go to Bristol and I’m sure that shopping trip will result in either a haul post or plenty of what I wore posts after Bristol! 😀

I hope everyone’s week has gone off to a good start, I know mine has!

Until next time, take care all.

24th Birthday Presents!

So on Monday it was my birthday and I aged another year closer to my mid 20’s, boy I feel old! I’m hoping 24 will be a good year as being 23 was bloody rubbish!

Now I just want to add that I’m not doing this post to show off at all, I’m doing it because I want to show any nosy people out there (like myself) what I got as I love seeing what presents and gifts other people are bought and plus I love everything I was bought this year, especially the presents my boyfriend bought me, although one isn’t shown in this image as due to something that has happened I won’t be receiving said present until after the 24th of this month, although I know what it is.

I can’t really talk much about it on here sadly but the Pandora charm my boyfriend is buying me for my birthday is The Waving Cat charm! Due to not having this charm just yet my Pandora Bracelet post will be postponed until the start of February, but it will be worth the wait!

Anyhoo I received lots of lovely presents from my boyfriend, his parents, my parents and my aunt. As of yet I know my best friend has a present for me and I’m not 100% sure if my brother has a present for me or not, we shall see sooner rather than later.

So onto what I was bought and I apologise right now for dark images, when I took them it was pretty late at night (9pm to be exact) so I had to go with what I had I’m afraid!

The cute little teddy key ring wasn’t so much of a present but just a cute little thing that I got on the birthday card my Dad bought for me. I don’t know what I’m going to do with said key ring, I have contemplated putting it on my car keys but I’m not certain as of yet.

The butterfly bracelet here is by Bibi Bijoux and was a complete surprise when I opened the present on my birthday! Due to receiving my Pandora bracelet in November, I didn’t expect my Mom to buy me another bracelet. This is a gorgeous bracelet and has some little butterflies, a dragonfly and a crystal gem on it. It’s a very simple bracelet and can be worn for any occasion. My only problem with this bracelet us due to it being elastic it catches the hair on my wrist, which on quite a lot of occasions pulls them out, I won’t lie it bloody hurts! I probably won’t wear this bracelet as much as my Pandora, as I love my Pandora so much! But if I can try and wear this as an ankle bracelet during the summer, I’ll do just that. 🙂 Either way it’s gorgeous and I love it very much.

As I mentioned on Sunday my boyfriend and I went to West Midlands Safari Park on Sunday as an early birthday outing, as I didn’t see my boyfriend on Monday, which was sad for me. Still we had an amazing day out together and he bought me this Souvenir Guide Book which has been nice to look through after our day out. I’ll be making a post about our afternoon out on Sunday!

For my birthday he bought me this massive Yankee Candle in Sweet Strawberry. The sneaky devil asked me before Christmas what my favourite scent of Yankee Candle was and I told him this one and that IF he wanted to buy me one, to get a small jar. Bless his little cotton socks, he bought me a large jar and on Sunday night whilst we watched The Cat Returns, I burnt the candle. However I’m refusing to burn it anymore until I can pick up a large shade as it’s already started to well and I don’t want that! It was so lovely of him to buy me such a massive candle and it smells beautiful too, it’ll be perfect for spring and summer.

We have another present from my Mom, Paul Smith’s Rose EDP in a huge 100ml bottle! Back in my third year of University my Mom was bought this by my brother after I mentioned to her what a gorgeous smell it was. Whenever I smell Rose it reminds me of my best friend, as she wore this all the time when we were at University for nights out. After a while my Mom began to dislike the perfume and passed it down to me. Only recently I used up my 100ml bottle that she gave me and noticing this, she bought me a new one. It was lovely of her as I’ve really missed using this perfume. As well as my best friend it somewhat reminds me of my Gran, as whenever I wore this she would comment how lovely I smelt.

My boyfriends parents bought me three lovely presents for my birthday and when my boyfriend passed me the present and informed me who it was from, I was pleasantly surprised! I wasn’t expecting anything from them and it was lovely of them to get me something.

I was bought this real leather notebook with my name added to the front alongside a pink Parker pen! I LOVE stationary and it’s been years since I had a Parker pen so it’s lovely that they bought me one. It’s blue ink too which is lovely. After taking these pictures I started using the notebook and pen and so far I’ve written some blog post ideas down! I don’t know what else I’ll be using this blog for, possibly somewhere to write things down to help with my spending ban too. But for now, it shall be my blog book!

You can see my Pandora bracelet on the notebook, but that shall be saved until last!

The 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die was also a present from my boyfriends parents and I have to add how this book weighs a lot! I do read a lot (although in the past year I don’t recall even finishing reading one book! :S) and my boyfriend commented on the idea of every time I read a book featured in this book, to tick it off which I think I will do. I know when I move out and such I’m going to have a huge book shelf, as I use my window shelf for books at the moment and it’s pretty full now.

Okay now The Body Shop products aren’t actually presents from anyone, I bought them myself on my birthday. As a Love Your Body member it means I get £5 off purchases on my birthday, as well as 10% off purchases anyway! So I decided to use that to buy myself some hand related products as I don’t exactly need any body products and I was rather close to buying some face products to keep at my boyfriend for whenever I go to his. I picked up the Hemp Hand Protector in a huge 100ml tube, which retails for £10.00. When I opened up my membership for LYB I got a small 30ml Hemp Hand Protector for free, which was nice and since then I have kept it in my handbag and use it throughout my shifts at work. As well as that I picked up a bottle of their Sweet Lemon Hand Cleanse Gel, which retails at £2.50. This has actually been discontinued from The Body Shop now, which is a real shame as it smells amazing! I think every time I’m near The Body Shop in future I shall have a look for one of these to pick up as they’re lovely to keep in your handbag!

So my purchases were meant to come to £12.50 but I paid less than £5.00 for all these as I also had 25% knocked off of my purchases too! I love The Body Shop and since November they are fast becoming one of my favourite shops!

Firstly I apologise for the first image being a tad on the bright side, but due to how dark my room is I couldn’t get a decent pictures of my shoes without flash being used. Although I have paid for these myself, my new DC skate shoes are going to be another present from my Mom who insisted I buy some new skate shoes as my near 10-year-old Vans are seeing their last years now (I hope not!) and that a New Year should mean some new shoes! I knew I wanted some DC skate shoes and especially the Court Graffik style, which is what these babies are. My boyfriend has a couple of pairs of these trainers and so does one of my friends and they just look awesome with both skinny and baggy boyfriend jeans! My boyfriend has a pair of these in black and purple, which I wish would fit me otherwise I’d have stolen them by now! I’ve wanted a pair of these style DC skate shoes since the age of 17 after finding a pair of black and red ones I wanted, sadly when I want back to Schuh to buy them, they’d gone and they weren’t online to buy either. I haven’t found them since then, but if I do in my size I’ll soon snap them up! Anyhoo I tried these on as soon as they arrived and I love them!

Yes they aren’t exactly fashionable but deep down I’m still a skater kid and I love to dress down in my baggy jeans and baggy or tight fitted t-shirts, alongside with my skate shoes. PLUS skate shoes are some of the comfortable shoes to wear when you have to walk a lot, fact!

Finally we have come to my Pandora bracelet and what charm my Dad bought me for my birthday. I haven’t yet had chance to wear this out with my new charm on it, but I’ll be doing that over the weekend, which will be great! I didn’t know which charm I wanted and had a good look on Pandora’s website for some ideas. It had stated on their website that this elephant charm had infact sold out and had sold out in stores too, so I gave up hope of getting this one and looked at another elephant charm instead. When we got into the store I had a look at the charms to see that the elephant charm I had seen in the first place was in there and for sale. So after a while of deciding between this, the other elephant and a turtle I decided upon this one! I love this charm, it’s so cute and right up my street. My bracelet so far is mostly animals, which is strange to me!

I have seen some more charms I would like, so I’ll be making another wish list later on this year (probably June) and surprise, surprise, I’ve found charms with some colour to them!

As well as that I also received some money, £10 from my aunt and £30 off of my brother which was lovely of them both! I’m going to put my money away in my savings, as I don’t really need anything right now and as I mentioned earlier this month on this post, I’m currently on a spending ban.

I also received a Fearne Cotton dress from my Mom but I’ll be featuring that in a What I Wore post sometime soon!

Anyhoo, apart from my best friends and my boyfriends Pandora present which will be added here as and when I receive it those are all the presents I received for my birthday! I love them all so much and couldn’t ask for better presents.

I don’t have a favourite out of everything I received but the present I am the most excited for is the notebook and pen that my boyfriends parents gave to me as I love notebooks so much and I was after a new Parker pen so I couldn’t be happier with these.

I hope you liked this post, if you have any questions about anything I received for my birthday then  please feel free to ask in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care and I hope everyone’s week is going well!

October Wish List

Finally after months without one, I finally have a new wish list out!

I’m currently sat in Xscape in Milton Keynes, watching my boyfriend and his friend snowboarding. I’m sad that I’m not able to join them, but my time will come.

So whilst they go off snowboarding, I’m sat in the cafe watching them on the slope and writing up a wish list post. I’m using my boyfriends MacBook Pro, as he has Photoshop, which I lost on my old laptop when it died on me.

So, I have plenty of lovely things to show you, so let’s get on with the post! 😀

• Heart Elbow Patch Jumper from ASOS – £22.00.

I noticed this jumper from ASOS months ago and have been pinning over it ever since. I have pleather skater skirt just like what the model is wearing in the picture, so in the autumn and winter months I’d be wearing that sort of outfit out during the day and in the evening. I think this jumper would also look lovely with a tartan skirt of some skinny fit jeans, teamed with boots of course, or creepers. I love the little heart-shaped elbow patches, they just make it look really girly and cute. You can also get this in black with brown elbow patches, but I didn’t like the black and brown combination.

• Sweetheart Dress by Wal G from Topshop – £30.00.

This lace dress by Wal G comes in loads of different colours, but I opted for the bordeaux shade, as I thought it would look gorgeous throughout the autumn and winter season this year. I love lace dresses for this time of year too. For it being stocked in Topshop I was amazed at how cheap it is and if it wasn’t for being so poor at the moment, I’d have bought it by now. This would look lovely during the day and the evening as it would look great with a pair of boots, creepers or even some spiked flats, of course with my spiked pleather jacket to match. I’d mostly wear this dress with my navy military coat, or what I like to call my Sherlock coat. 😛

• Burgundy Fox Print Jumper from New Look – (Was £24.99 when I wrote this post) £12.00.

When it comes to chilly weather, you can NEVER have enough jumpers and with bonfire night and even the Christmas German Market looming upon us before we know it, I’ll be needing as many snuggly jumpers as possible and as burgundy is one of my favourite colours and foxes one of my favourite animals… It’s as if this jumper was made for me! It looks super soft and snug and as soon as I get spare cash I’m going to go into New Look to try it on. I’d definitely team this with black skinny fit jeans and shorts, as it’ll look and feel lovely. Teamed with boots and a warm coat and I’ll be toasty warm all autumn and winter!

• DC Rebound Hi Se from DC Shoes – £35.00.

I love DC SHoes as a company, so I of course love their footwear! I’ve owned a pair of DC Rebound Hi shoes since I was 18/19 years old and they’re still lasting me now, however they’re white and very much neon and even though I love them so dearly, I would like a darker coloured pair that I can wear throughout the colder months. I’ve been keeping my eye on these since May and every other month the price of these has gone down. Eventually I will buy these, I love the navy and white, but I especially love the red bandana style pattern on the shoe itself. It’s only minor on the shoe but it looks so nice. I saw someone wearing these on a train ride to my boyfriends a couple of weeks back and even though the woman who wore them had smaller feet than me (size 3 at a guess, I’m a 7!) they looked very comfortable and I regret not asking her if they were as comfortable as they looked!

• Cut Out High-Waisted Black Skirt With Shoulder-Strap from Choies – £25.99.

I follow meowismful’s blog via Bloglovin’, but I’m also a subscriber to her YouTube channel and when she spoke about this skirt on one of her haul videos, I just fell in love with it! It’s really grunge and I think it would look beautiful teamed up with jumpers, quirky t-shirts and worn with creepers is a must too! I think I’d be inclined to wear this skirt all year round and as it’s a one size fits all, I’d certainly hope it would fit me, as I have quite a big bum and skirts sometimes ride up, it can depend on the material. This does remind me of something I’d have seen being worn by someone on Tumblr, which gives it a massive thumbs up in my books!

• Pinnafore 2 For Dress from Warehouse  – £35.00.

I saw this dress over on alittleboatsailing’s blog two months ago and just fell in love with it so much! There’s something gothic about it that I like and I think it would be lovely worn in the winter time with my big red coat and my boots, it would give it a bit of edge I think. However I did go into Warehouse to buy this but they didn’t have any left in my size, so I was told, “If you go onto the website you can get Warehouse to send us your size for you to buy from here.” So as soon as I got home I did just that, that was back towards the end of July and my dress still hasn’t been shipped to the stored I needed it to go to, which to me is just wrong and bad customer service. This has put me off buying this dress a little bit, but that being said it’s so damn pretty that I just need it in my life!

• Vans Sk8 Hi Marvel Spider-Man Trainers – £65.00.

When I heard about this I went to go and look at them on Schuh’s website straight away and let’s just say, I fell in love and contemplated getting myself overdrawn… Bu I was smarter than that and have waited patiently for them. I know these are on my Christmas/Birthday list for someone to buy me or for myself to save up for and sadly buy myself as some sort of self present. I heard that the design on these is perfect and that they look better in the flesh than they do on the pictures and they were right. The front of the shoe where its red is suede and has a beautiful web print on them, perfect for any Spider-Man fan, like myself. As you all know I love Spider-Man and to have these to wear out and about would be a dream come true. I love Vans trainers, they’re so comfortable and my 7-year-old Vans trainers haven’t let me down yet and are as comfortable as they were the day I bought them back in 2006. I’d wear these trainers with skinny jeans and maybe baggy jeans. These are what I would wear when I’m not feeling up to making an effort or if I’m walking around a lot. I wonder if I’ll get them for Christmas… *hint hint* 😉

• Natural Bamboo Cute Fawn Handmade Phone Cover from and by Little Doe – £18.99.

I’m a fan of Little Doe’s jewellery, she likes foxes and deers like myself and when Scarlet posted a picture of this phone case on her Facebook page, I was hooked instantly and knew I just needed this cover for my iPhone! It’s made out of natural bamboo and has a gorgeous picture of a female fawn on it. You can have it customised too by picking from a selection of colours (pink, black, red, lavender, yellow & mint green) that you would like to have for the fawns rose, I’ve already decided that I would like mint green for mine. You also don’t have to own and iPhone 5 to become an owner of this gorgeous case, it’s also available for the iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, Samsung Galaxy S3 and Samsung Galaxy S4. I can’t wait to get my hands on one and when Scarlet announced she would be bringing out designs with foxes on, I felt ecstatic! I can’t wait! 😀

• Barry M Matte Nail Paints from Barry M’s website, Superdrug & Boots – £3.99 each.

When I heard that Barry M were bringing out matte nail paints I was pretty excited about it and the fact that they’re all named after coffee related things just made me laugh… Because I work in a coffee shop of course! So anyway, you get five different shades to choose from and whilst I don’t want all of them, I probably want most! You have Espresso (matte black), Crush (red wine), Caramel (coffee brown), Vanilla (light grey) and Mocha (a dark brown). All the shades are beautiful but the ones that are catching my eyes the most are definitely Espresso, Crush and Vanilla. I could see me wearing Espresso to death over the winter period as I love wearing black nail polish and for Espresso to look matte and leather like when you wear it, it appeals to me a lot. By the time this post goes live, these polishes will be available to purchase in both Superdrug and Boots stores.

Well that was my wish list for this month! I’ve really missed making wish lists and as my boyfriend is lovely enough to let me use his MacBook Pro to write-up and edit posts together for images, I think my wish lists will see a quick return to my blog!

What have you seen that you hope to add to your wish list for October? Let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you have a good weekend.

Snowboarding wish list

Recently, as regular readers may have noticed, my blog has been a little on the quiet side the past couple of weeks and I apologise for this.

I’ve just been a mixture of busy and stressed with work and haven’t had much time to think about what to write-up next for my blog.

My boyfriend has been lovely enough to suggest this blog post idea to me one night whilst I was whining to him about not having much up on here for you girls (and guys) to read.

He loves snowboarding and I think the day I ask him, “Will you come with me to buy some snowboarding stuff, please?” he’ll be like an obsessed woman searching for a matching handbag and shoes for her next night out. 😉

As you may have read over on my goals, I was hoping to go on a snowboarding at the start of 2014 but due to lack of funds I won’t be able to go in the big group I intended to go with. Instead my boyfriend suggested me and him go somewhere for just us two, which I thought was a lovely idea.

In October I intend to go and learn how to snowboard in a day, which I’m super excited about!

Until then I’ve been looking at snowboarding gear that I’d like to buy for myself for both practicing in, as well as for holiday.

Even if you aren’t interested in snowboarding, you can take a look at how awesome the pants are that you get to wear out in the snow!

Or even if you’re a newbie snowboarder like myself, you can read this post and get an idea of the sort of equipment and attire you will need for your first time in the snow.

So I hope you enjoy this post, I haven’t made a wish list post for aggges!

This picture was kindly edited for me by my boyfriend. It’s long because he tried to make it look like a person was wearing it, lovely touch if I do say so myself. 🙂

On this picture are some vital things you will need as a snowboarder, whether you are a newbie like myself, or even if you’ve been doing it quite a while like my boyfriend has been. Here I’ll go through what you need for your head (face included), torso, legs, feet and your snowboard. Protective gear will be included in the leg part.

• Head gear.

It’s really important for most sports that involve fast speeds that you wear a helmet. It protects your skull and essentially your brain from getting some serious damage. You don’t want your head to get damaged whilst riding fast down a snowy hill, do you?

It’ll get cold so as well as keeping your head safe from bumps and knocks, you’ll want to keep it warm too and you can’t go wrong with a fluffy beanie. I love beanies and I don’t own enough of them! This beanie by Burton is a gorgeous blue colour with flecks of blue and white throughout it, which makes it look great for in the cold weather. They have it in red too! I can see me buying this for wearing during the cold winter months, not just snowboarding.

Goggles are necessary for when going down hills at fast speeds to keep the cold and the wind out of your eyes, plus I’ll probably need a big pair to accommodate my glasses. I saw these purple ones by Electric and fell in love with the colour. I wanted a pair of Electric sunglasses for years, but after a while I changed my mind and bought Ray Bans instead. These goggles are ideal for in the snow and the purple would look so nice with the blue beanie. However the main reason why you need to wear goggles when snowboarding is to prevent snow blindness. The amount of sun, being at higher altitudes, and it all reflecting everywhere is very bad for your eyes and can cause blindness. The air and such also doesn’t help and think about it, it’s very hard to keep your eyes open going that fast in snowy conditions, isn’t it? 😛

You’re keeping your head warm with your beanie, but what about your face? That’s where a face mask, buff or a balaclava comes into the picture (literally! xD) I liked the look of this one with the white and red as it reminded me of red paint being dripped into water. Very poetic, I know! Either way I found it hard to choose a face mask for myself, as most of them have little mouth holes and it really creeps me out. These will keep your nose, cheeks, lips and well the lower part of your face warm and free from cold burns, which is ideal. As well as it being cold out, it can also be really quite warm up at the top of those snowy mountains and hills and people tend to get sun burnt, which is why a face mask can also be ideal.

• Torso.

You NEED a jacket when it comes to snowboarding, or you’ll probably find yourself shivering and with a bad cold, if not phenomena the next day… Well I image anyway! I couldn’t find many jackets I liked the look of but I saw this one and it just looks really autumny with the orange and the black. You wouldn’t go unnoticed in this, that’s for sure. I’m not 100% sure about how waterproofing and breath-ability works with both the jacket and pants yet so that hasn’t really affected my choice at the moment.

Gloves are an essential when out in the snow, even when walking around in the cold in winter in the UK you need a good pair of wooly gloves, but wooly gloves aren’t enough when snowboarding and you need something thicker. I chose these because they look thick, warm and are nice colours too.

• Lower body.

Before I took up the idea of snowboarding, I had always loved how baggy and comfortable the pants look. I’ve always wanted a pair of flare jeans since I was a teenager and I never got to own a pair, so I may as well own a pair of snow pants. For some reason the colour red just attracts me the most and these are just perfect for me. You need comfortable pants so that you can move about easily, as well as be warm at the same time. I like the bright colours that you can get pants in, means you won’t ever get lost when you fall in the snow. As I mentioned on jackets, I’m not 100% sure about how waterproofing and breath-ability works with both the jacket and pants yet so that hasn’t really affected my choice at the moment.

“When you first start learning to snowboard you’re going to fall on your bum, a lot! So you’ll need some protection (impact shorts) for it, otherwise you’re going to leave the classes with a really sore bum.” Honest to God, this is what my boyfriend said to me when we first started looking for snowboarding gear for me. So yes, newbie or not you need some protection and it seems bum protection is where it’s at. At least with two layers, my bum won’t be cold. 😛

• Feet.

Due to the pressure that snow boots can cause on your feet, you need some good snowboarding socks to ensure that whilst you’re riding you have comfort. Plus they’re probably extra thick so that your feet stay nice and toasty whilst riding around. I decided to pick some purple ones, as they go with the colour of the boots and the goggles.

Of course you need a good pair of snow boots and when I saw these ones I thought how gorgeous they looked. They look colourful, thick, warm and like they would do the job for me when riding and walking around in the snow. From their description they seem ideal as a starter boot and at a decent price too, can’t go wrong. A plus is that the colour purple matches my goggles and socks, whilst the white matches with my helmet and gloves. Woop!

• Equipment.

To ride a snowboard you need bindings to keep you feet attached to, it isn’t like a skateboard where you just jump on in your best Vans trainers and that’s it. I decided to find a blue pair of bindings to go with the board that I like the look of. They’re really quite expensive but I hear the more you pay, the longer they’ll last.

Finally we have the most important thing you will need, your snowboard. Whether you buy one or hire one for the day, you can’t go anywhere without one (well you could try… I guess) so it’s best to try and get a good one if you intend to buy one. I don’t know when I’ll buy one, due to the money but when I do I know I’d like to get a high quality one, for a decent price and of course have a cute image on it as well. My boyfriend told me ages ago that the DC BIDDY was a great one to go for as a newbie to snowboarding so I took a look at this blue dolphin design. You can also get it in a purple eagle design (which I love the colours for) which is the one my boyfriend said would be ideal for me. I could see me buying this snowboard in future as it seems like the perfect first board to get and it’s a great price too for a high labeled board too and I really like DC.

So that’s my snowboarding wish list! I know it’s not usually the kind of thing I post about, but it made a change, didn’t it?

Providing I go for my snowboarding in a day class in October, you’ll see a huge post about it all and I reckon it would be image heavy too.

I’m so excited to start snowboarding in the next month!

Have you ever been snowboarding? If so let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all!

P.S. With some of the gear mentioned on this post, I haven’t been able to go into detail as to why you need to wear them for snowboarding in and such because I don’t know the exact details of all this, but in time I will do. However if you have any questions, please feel free to ask, as I’ll have my boyfriend on tap to help me answer these. 😉