Back To Education Stationary Ideas!

I just want to start this post off by throwing it out there that the title and original idea for this post was for back to school, not education. Then I realised that it’s not just kids and teenagers who get to have fun buying funky stationary, older teenagers and young adults get to as well!

September is by far one of my favourite months of the year and I’ve explained on various different posts over the years why. It just feels like a fresh start to me. It’s when you started a new year at school, college and university. Hey! It’s even when many start their first years at these places and you want to always leave a good impression to the others in your year and classes.

I remember in August as a kid my mom taking me to the stationary shops to pick up some new bits for school. It was always an exciting time! New books, scented gel pens and a fluffy pencil case and I was ready!

Things haven’t changed either, with 90’s trends making a comeback in fashion AND stationary we now have so much funky stuff to feast our eyes upon again! There’s holographic, fluffy, unicorn and even Hello Kitty and Pokemon! Talk about bringing back some nostalgia!

Today I am very tired from a night of awesome drinking and talking with my friend Jacqui, her boyfriend Chris and of course Dane. I didn’t want to write anything at all today. I’m not hungover, but I’m very tired and lethargic. Urgh!

BUT I was scrolling through the internet and decided to do this post. The summer holidays are coming to a close and whether you’re returning or even starting a new year of education, here’s so funky stationary ideas for you to have a look at! 😛 P.S. Pray for me that I feel better by bed time. 😛

Oh by the way, this post won’t contain things you’ll need such as special equipment for maths, art, science, etc. This is just the bog standard necessities. 😛

  • Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Ruled Journal – £12.99 (link)

Now, although I am not a Harry Potter fan myself (sorry guys…) I know a lot of people who are, young and old! I find journals to be great not only for use as a notebook for classes, but also for personal too if you want to get any thoughts written down on paper. Although I’m not a Harry Potter fan this journal looks gorgeous and is definitely one that would get a conversation started for any Potter fan who would see it. It’s not cheap however, so this is a journal for something a little more special.

  • South Park Barrel Pencil Case – £3.99 (link)

This pencil case was mostly added for nostalgia. I remember when South Park came out and everyone and I mean EVERYONE went mad for it! Then WHSmith brought out some pencil cases for it and all the boys in my year had one at some point or another. I wanted one, but they were forever sold out in my local store. This is definitely more for guys but sod it, girls can pull this off just as much! I don’t think this is anything huge either which is always good if you have a small bag.

  • Hello Kitty Gel Pens – £6.00 (link)

Who doesn’t love gel pens eh? Especially scented ones! These aren’t scented but they’re Hello Kitty… What more do you want?! I always found different coloured gel pens to be great to use on certain projects and I’d like to say during revision too… I was one of these stupid kids who didn’t revise… How I would have been if I was as level headed then as I am now… 😛

  • Green Marble Notebook – £2.49 (link)

This is actually a notebook I really want to get for myself… But I won’t because I have WAYYYY TOO MANY! This is a notebook for the more older members of education who may read this post. It reminds me of the notebooks they have over the pond… You know the black and white ones that EVERY SINGLE high schooler owns and uses to write secrets in. ANYWAY! This is gorgeous and would be great to use as a notebook for a certain lecture or class.

  • Bramblewood Fox Notebook – £2.99 (link)

Yes, another notebook. BUT it has a fox on it and you know I love my foxes! I used to own a phone case with this same fox design on, which I adored! It’s just a bog standard notebook really, which you could use for classes or personal. I’d probably end up using it for classes. I find that when you have a really nice and funky notebook for classes, lectures or even at home for notes you just feel good opening it up to jot stuff down.

  • Aquamarine Pencil Case – £5.59 (link)

If I had to have a favourite item on this list, I’d say this is it. As you all know I LOVE anything holographic, turquoise and mermaid themed. This just ticks all those boxes for me and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t at all want to buy it… 😛 It’s a gorgeous turquoise pencil case with a fish scale sort of texture to it. This definitely reminds me of something the “cool kids” at school would have used. Either that or a fluffy pencil case! WHSmith have loads of these sorts of pencil cases available, with quite a lot of them selling out. So if you like the look of these sort of cases, get on there (or even in store) pronto!

  • Pusheen A4 Ringbinder – £4.99 (link)

I LOVE Pusheen and I have a feeling that if I had been a kid when Pusheen first came out, I would have saved up my pocket money ready for when school shopping came around to buy EVERYTHING I could! I remember in my last years of secondary school I used an A4 pad of lined paper inside of a ringbinder for when I jotted notes down. I don’t know how I did it to be fair, as years later I attempted to do that again when studying my MA and I HATED IT. Folders are really handy to have, especially during GCSE’s, but it’s always better to have a cute one.

  • What Would A Mermaid Do Prediction Pen – £8.00 (link)

Holy shit. I randomly found this obviously whilst researching for this post and I hesitated adding it at first as I thought it seemed so daft. I just couldn’t resist though. It’s so dumb but also so funny! If you love mermaid related stuff this pen is for you and the younger you are, the more you can get away with having it. 😛 It’s not cheap at £8.00 however, but it’s just such a novelty! Definitely something to cheer you up when you’re feeling down.

  • Gemma Correll Unicorn Pencil Case – £12.95 (link)

I love Gemma Correll’s designs and in the past I’ve bought and used her stationary items! I still to this day own my ringbinder I bought and now use it to house adult documents in, because I’m now a motherfucking adult. 😛 I saw this pencil case and knew it needed a place on this list. I’ve got a couple of mermaid items, so a unicorn has to be part of the mix too! This isn’t cheap but it is a brand and it’s massive too! This would especially be good for an art student.

  • Getting Shit Done Sticky Notes – £3.50 (link)

I remember when I was at university in my final year I was organised as fuck. I bought some post it notes, expecting to use them seriously and in the end I used them as a way to piss about so that I didn’t have to do any work on  my dissertation… I got a 2:1 on it and overall so it’s not like they affected my mark. 😛 They were boring though, so whenever I see funny or funky post it notes I wish they had been around when I was studying. These made me laugh so much! I may have to buy them for the office and blog related work. 😛

  • Scented Pencil Pack – £4.50 (link)

Smiggle is notorious for their scented stationary, even their pencil cases! It’s cool but I do wonder if they’ve overstepped the mark just a tad… I always give stuff a smell on the rare occasions that I pop in however. I have looked at these scented pencils in the past and it just makes me wish I was at school again! I’d have definitely bought the banana ones.

  • Mini Cookie Eraser Pack – £4.50 (link)

Again another scented item from Smiggle and one I just couldn’t leave out of this list. I was always a sucker for cute little erasers as a kid and I still remember to this day my mom bought me some puppy ones for when I started year 1. I couldn’t bear to use the one as it was just too cute. I’m pretty sure it’s still in my room at home somewhere! These little erasers are just adorable and I especially love that they come in a little plastic tub so you can keep them nice and smelling strong before using them.

So those were my picks for what you could buy for going back to education with. This list was definitely aimed more at a younger audience, but if you’re an adult who loves anything cute and kawaii then this list is totally for you too!

What items would you suggest people to pick up? Please leave links down below! I’m forever on the hunt for cute stationary!

I said at the start of this post that I hope I feel better when it’s finished, and you know what? I actually do feel better! I’m off to spend the rest of my Sunday chilled on the sofa with Dane.

Until next time, take care all and have an awesome bank holiday Monday tomorrow!

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Christmas ’16 Wish List

Ahh Christmas is just 20 something days away and it’ll be here before we know it! I pretty much have most of my Christmas present shopping done now which is great BUT what do I want for Christmas? Let me just add that this list was pretty damn hard to do as this year I found that I didn’t want all that much… I wanted a lot of make up if anything (Jeffree Star, Kat Von D and Korean beauty mostly!) so I didn’t want my list to be full of those things. Check out my wish list to find out what I decided to put on my list to Father Christmas. 😉

  • South Park: The Fractured But Whole The Coon Figurine – £11.99 (link)

If regular and old readers haven’t realised by now how much of a South Park fan both myself and Dane are then what the hell have you NOT been reading? We love South Park and I especially love the video games. I have 100% completed The Stick Of Truth and I’m eagerly awaiting the next game, The Fractured But Whole. I’m currently collecting the figures from the first game and of course I couldn’t NOT collect the ones from the second. Not only that but for Halloween in 2015 me and Dane both dressed as South Park characters, Dane as Mysterion and me as The Coon. So getting this would mean an awful lot to me. Although me and Dane have discussed about getting the bundle of these figures, which you can check out here.

  • Pokemon Pikachu Molded Mug – £15.00 (link)

Dane actually showed me this mug about a month ago when he was looking for some Christmas and birthday present ideas for me and I shrugged it off and said, “Meh we don’t need anymore mugs in the house.” BUT after a lot of thought I changed my mind and said how it would make a lovely edition, due to how unique it is. That and it reminded me of a Pikachu mug I made in art/pottery class well over 10 years ago when I was at school. It was awful but I loved that mug and used it as a pencil pot instead. So it would be lovely to use this in the cold mornings before work.

  • Pokemon Center Mew MokoMoko Plush – £28.99 (link)

Another Pokemon item! This time it’s Mew. I love Mew just as much as I love the Eeveelutions and sadly although my Eevee plushie collection is building up nicely, my Mew one remains small with me only owning one plush… Sad times. I’m hoping to change this next year however and what better way to start that than with this beautiful and soft looking Mew plushie! Of course from the Pokemon Center in Japan. It looks so soft and fluffy but sadly it isn’t cheap and I would have to wonder how big this must be to be at such a high price.

  • ColourPop x Hello Kitty Lippie Stix in shade Let’s Play – $5.00 (link)

Ew I said I wouldn’t add make up to this Christmas wish list but urgh I have to add something! One item won’t hurt, surely??? When I found out that ColourPop were going to have a Hello Kitty collection I went a little bit ape shit but said I wouldn’t buy anything due to the expensive shipping prices. However thanks to sellers on eBay it doesn’t cost as much as it would do to order from over the pond. I really love Let’s Play as it’s a gorgeous cranberry red with pink shimmer throughout. Perfect for the Christmas and winter season to wear to parties, at work and for shopping trips. I might end up treating myself to this on payday next week instead though. 😛

  • CraftyFoxCollective Iridescent Metal Effect Purple Quartz Crystal Pendant Black Leather Cord Necklace – £5.25 (link)

I’m not much of a jewellery wearer for many reasons, my main one due to work but I would love to start wearing necklaces I have always wanted to. I wear my one choker quite a lot and bought a thick velvet choker a few months back to wear (even though I hate it…) so I want to start buying more. This is a necklace I really like the look of and it doesn’t even cost that much! I saw some like this when I went down to London last month and I regret not buying it! Rainbow crystals like this one just make me happy to look at, so I would love something like this to wear all the time. They’re pretty easy to find on Etsy, but this was my favourite of the bunch.

  • Yankee Candle Cherries On Show Large Jar – £21.99 (link)

OMG when I saw this in a couple of Yankee Candle shops I was so damn happy! Sadly it isn’t on the official UK website… Why? I don’t have a clue! This was a permanent scent for Christmas years and years ago but after two years it was discontinued so when I saw it was back I got super excited and have told loads of people that I want it. QVC have them on a special offer at the moment, so I may try and persuade someone to get one or two for me whilst they’re around. 😛 This is one of my favourite Yankee Candle scents so I would love to have it back in my life again. 😛

  • Black Milk Clothing For Fox Sake Grey Toasties – $80.00 AUD (link) and For Fox Sake Cap Sleeve Skater Dress – $90.00 AUD (link)

I LOVE Black Milk Clothing and I search at least two or three times a week for items I can pick up second hand on eBay, so when I watched their latest YouTube revealing their Christmas collection this year I got super excited. They have not just one but TWO fox themed pieces this year which look adorable! Of course there are the pictures above of the two pieces of clothing, leggings and a dress. The leggings are my favourite of the two at the moment due to them being toasties, which means they’ll keep your legs lovely and warm when it’s cold outside. Could definitely do with those for Christmas! I’d wear them for New Years as well as my birthday. The dress is Dane’s favourite of the two and I do get why. It would be lovely to team up with a burgundy cardigan, some tights, boots and a big coat for Christmas parties, as well as for Christmas day. I doubt I will get either of these for Christmas as they are hella expensive, but I’ll keep hopeful for them… Or at least one of them. 😛

So that is my Christmas wish list for this year! What items do you have on your lists?

Throughout the Christmas period I will be writing a couple of gift idea posts including Final Fantasy for definite, possibly Christmas jumpers, as well as many many more!

What posts would you like to see though throughout December? Make sure to let me  know in the comments down below! I know I’ve been really quiet recently due to me being super busy with work and the house, but I’ll be trying to write plenty of posts throughout December.

I hope all my readers are well and until next time, take care all!

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March ’16 Wish List

Okay this is seriously a wish list this month because I SERIOUSLY need to watch my money now. I need to adult and only spend money on house related items… How boring. 😛 I’m hoping to do a wish list Wednesday post on house related items, so keep your eyes peeled for that in the future!

But for now, I’ll just be talking about all sorts of cute, and quirky items that I want for myself. Oh and FYI, I never bought a single thing off of my wish list last month… 😛

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  • Benefit Posie Tint – £24.50 (link)

I have to first of all say, I know there are going to be LOADS of lip products on this months wish list… Oh boy. BUT I picked up a sample of this lip tint and I have fallen head over heels in love with it. I am literally using this nearly everyday for work. A little bit goes a long way, and it leaves a gorgeous just bitten pink stain on the lips. I am just so in love. I will buy this one day, I just don’t know when at this moment in time. DAMN having to be a grown up and save money!

  • OPI Hello Kitty Collection Nail Lacquer in Starry-Eyed For Daniel -£12.50 (sadly no link as most stores have sadly sold out…)

I have been lusting after this nail lacquer for quite some time now… BUT I keep telling myself I don’t need anymore polishes, especially when I don’t really wear them anymore. I have my eye on quite a few of the lacquers from this collection, including this one, Charmmy and Sugar, and Say Hello To Hello Kitty. But I doubt I’ll pick any of these up, at least not any time soon at least. It is such a pretty collection coming up to spring and summer, and it’s been a long time coming OPI collaborating with Sanrio. I hope they bring another collection out in future with the rest of the Sanrio family!

  • Bee & PuppyCat Vol. 2 Comic Book – £10.76 (link)

I LOVE Bee & PuppyCat and after recently discovering that there was a comic book out of the popular cartoon show, I just fell harder in love with the show. The second volume of the comic book is currently on pre-order, but as it’s out in less than a month it’ll be mine before I write and publish my April wish list… Because I have that shit pre-ordered! OH YEAH!

  • Sugar Bunny Shop Doki Fox Yamiiko Sweatshirt – $25.00 (link)

Oh.My.GLOB I love this sweatshirt and I legit want it in my life… BUT MONEY! Y DO I HAVE NO MONEY?! Eventually this will become mine, when I don’t know, but it will be one day. It’s the gorgeous Sugar Bunny’s Doki dumpling fox on a sweatshirt, what more could I ask for? I love foxes as it is, but I especially love her Doki fox, he’s just so adorable. Dane bought me some of the stickers from her store a few Christmases ago and I keep them safe in my diary. I could imagine Dane buying me this for our third anniversary together… But we shall see what happens…

  • Lancome Juicy Shaker in shade 400 Mint To Be – £18.00 (link)

I’ve actually bought one of these already… *smacks hand when meant to be saving money* NAUGHTY NAT! But I bought one of the purple shades. This one however is a gorgeous blue/clear sparkly shade, and one that is also limited edition. I actually regret not buying this one considering what it is… But meh I’m sure I’ll be able to pick this up on another occasion. These are gorgeous and lovely to wear for work, and I know already they’ll be a real hit with teenagers, and especially in the summer when people are going on holiday. I’m going to be writing a review up in the week on the shade I picked up over the weekend.

  • Benefit Puff Off Eye Gel – £22.50 (link)

I have been lusting after this throughout February and I actually went to buy it a week ago, but it has sold out in the Boots store I visited! I received a sample of this when I picked up my Matte Rescue and I fell in love. It’s a lovely creamy gel texture, and when applied to the eye area it helps it feel cool, perfect in the morning! I don’t know when I’ll pick this up, as I recently purchased a miniature of Benefit’s It’s Potent eye cream, which I am loving at the moment! So I’m not in as much hurry right now as I previously was. I still can’t wait to get my hands on this though.

  • Nana Manga Vol. 16-21

I’ve spoken about this manga on my blog before, and it is by far my favourite. It’s also incredibly hard to get hold of these days, but my boyfriend finds me good copies on Amazon all the time… Thank God! I am currently on 13, but I know after I’ve finished writing and schedule this post, I’ll be reading it for a while before I go to sleep. I am so close to the end of the series, yet so far away! I know kind of what happens at the end, which sucks, but meh. I’ve watched the anime for the series, which I fell in love with too and own on DVD. I just can’t wait to get the rest of the volumes so I know that I’m one of the lucky few who owns ALL of the series. This is something I will definitely be buying off of this list. I can’t live without my manga.

So that was my wish list for this month! What goodies do you have on your own wish lists this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below of what you have your eye on.

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’re all having a great week so far.

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Holiday Haul

Whilst I was on holiday I think I brought home more items than I took away with me! It was my birthday the day before I went away and my Mom’s the day we flew and it meant I was spoilt with birthday presents and bought myself quite a few items too.

I just want to say I’m not showing off in any way what I was bought/bought myself, I just thought as I love haul posts, that some may enjoy this one. Especially as it’s all things from another country.

I also want to mention that some pictures are from Spain and some are from here, so do ignore the different settings in both images. Oh and that this post will be very image heavy, enjoy!

First of all I want to talk about what we picked up on the plane journey there. I knew I wanted one of these items but when my Mom passed me the others after purchasing them, I was rather touched as I had secretly looked at them but thought deep down how I didn’t need them.

These are the two lip products that we picked up. The one I said that I really wanted is this Victoria’s Secret Very Voluptuous Lip Plumper in Baby Pink. This is a gorgeous lip gloss with a built-in lip plumper, as you can tell by the name. I wore this loads on my holiday and after trying it on on the plane my Mom picked one up for herself. This was only £12.50 and I regret not buying another one on the way home. I’m sure Victoria’s Secret in town will stock these (hopefully in more colours!) so I’ll be keeping my eyes on these in the future. I will be reviewing this soon!

Another lip product that my Mom picked up for herself was a set of three Revlon Balm Stains, one which she gave to me. She gave me Honey Douche and although it isn’t really my colour, I bloody love it! I took a variety of lip shades on holiday with me but for the majority of it I wore this as it just worked with my new tan, and it just looks beautiful. It’s a nude pink shade and perfect for my skin tone. I can see me wearing this loads, especially for work. I really want to review this too.

Two of the products I looked at but didn’t ask for, where these two so my Mom must have read my mind when she handed them to me after buying them. They are a three-piece L’Occitane hand cream set, as well as six mini nail polishes from OPI’s Coca Cola collection.

I have to say that I haven’t really used much of the hand creams yet, but I did give the Verveine one a go and it does feel really light on the skin, as well as fresh and moisturised. This one will be perfect for summer! I’ve tried the other two hand creams in the set and will be saving these for a rainy day.

These nail polishes are amazing! I wore most of them throughout my holiday, apart from two shades (Sorry I’m Fizzy Today and Today I Accomplished Zero). My most favourite shade out of the set was Coca-Cola Red, which I wore on my toes throughout my holiday and was so beautiful to wear. I really love this set and is probably one of the best ones I’ve owned! I can’t wait to review this in the future, and hope to very, VERY soon.

I don’t know how long Spain have had Essence, but I know it only came to the UK late last year. So when I eyed up this nail polish whilst out food shopping I just HAD to have it! It reminds me of oil slick shades and because of that, it’s beautiful! These images don’t so it justice, but I know I’ll be reviewing it soon to bring you a hell of a lot more pictures and information about it. This was super cheap too at just €2! The shade I picked up is called You Wow’d Me Again. I wore this a lot on holiday and really loved it, it worked perfectly with the weather.

This is a rather random purchase but where we went on holiday they have quite a lot of Chinese markets with various different items in. It reminds me of a huge version of eBay but in the flesh. My boyfriend knows how much I want a Lucky Cat, so he picked this cutie up for me. You pop in a battery and his arm waves. I left this in my home abroad as I didn’t really want to bring him back home with me and I love it so much! There was something very relaxing about watching his arm waving back and forth, is definitely something I want for my own home when I move out.

I’m such a big softie when it comes to cute things, especially plushies and ones that resemble animals I love. Foxes being one, so when my boyfriend spotted this cute fox plush he picked it up for me straight away. He even bought me a matching keyring version too which I at first kept on my bag, but is now in my room hanging up.

The second plush I bought for myself and is a cute white seal. I saw this in the gift shop of the zoo we visited whilst on holiday and I honestly couldn’t resist him. I’m still really pleased I bought him and I’m currently using him as an arm rest. He made a comfortable pillow on the plane journey home, as well as something nice to snuggle into when I’ve felt a bit crappy. He’s just so soft and lush, and I just came up with his name, Bobby. 😛

As regular readers will know I LOVE foxes and as soon as I spotted this hoodie in Animal I KNEW I had to have it. My Mom was lovely enough to pick this up for me after I pointed it out to her and I haven’t stopped wearing it since. It’s quite a thick hoodie and I went a size up to ensure it would be nice and baggy, as I don’t like tight fitted hoodies myself. I haven’t seen this in the UK, although I literally just checked the UK website and they do infact have it on the website for a little less than what my Mom paid. So onto the design of this hoodie. It isn’t just a cute fox on it, within the fox is a picture which is beautiful. Inside of is as you can see from the above images there is a picture of a bird, some trees, and a lake. Basically a forest. It’s just so beautiful and I know I’ll wear this throughout the year.

Whilst on holiday I discovered a brand that I have indeed fallen in love with and wish we had here in the UK. This brand being Women’s Secret. I bought so much stuff in there and as there was one only a ten minute drive away from my home, I was there every other day having a nose at what they had. And what makes it even better? They always had a sale going on! Altogether I picked up a wash bag, a pair of knickers, a pack of six pairs of Pusheen knickers, and two sets of pajamas.

The first thing I want to talk about is this cute little Pusheen wash bag that I picked it. I can’t remember how much this was but it wasn’t much. Women’s Secret stocks so much Pusheen and as I love the cute little kitty, I couldn’t help but snatch this up. It’s very roomy and I’ll be using this to use whenever I go on holiday in the future, as well as possibly having it for when I travel to and from my boyfriend’s house.

This was probably my favourite purchase from Women’s Secret, once again Pusheen. In Women’s Secret they sell knickers in packs of six and they usually consist of cute characters such as Pusheen, Hello Kitty, Miffy, Minnie Mouse, and Pink Panther. Alas I really liked the Pusheen ones and didn’t care much about these being Christmas themed either. These were a bargain and I really have been in need of some new knickers.

Speaking of knickers, I picked these cute little ghost ones up for a cheap price too. I wore these quite a bit on holiday and they were rather comfortable so I ended up bringing them back home to the UK. The print on these are rather cute with these little ghosts and I can only imagine that these came out during Halloween. I was after a matching bra for these, which they did sell but all the sizes were WAY too small for me.

If there is something I noticed about Women’s Secret is that their sizing is a little off in comparison to UK sizes, they come up a size smaller which I won’t lie, made me feel overweight. 😦 Anyway, continuing on…

I love Hello Kitty, I always have and I’m pretty sure I always will. The pajamas I took on holiday aren’t exactly the warmest and after the first night there I was frozen solid. Where I have my second home it’s usually boiling hot, however in January it hasn’t been THAT hot, but more like a mild UK summer, which was still good nonetheless. Anyway! So I needed pajamas and so I got these. The print on these is so simple yet gorgeous and I was somewhat sad to leave these behind, but it’ll be more exciting to wear them when I go back.

More Pusheen, and more pajamas. These have come home with me and I can’t wait to wear them next week! Like the Hello Kitty pajamas they’re both extremely comfortable! The t-shirts are both long-sleeved and baggy, whilst the trousers are more like leggings and aren’t super tight, but aren’t exactly baggy either. The print on this set of pajamas is a hell of a lot more pretty than the Hello Kitty pair. On the sleeves and leggings there are cute little faces of Pusheen, which really do look cute. I bought way too much Pusheen from Women’s Secret, but I don’t care, was so worth it!

Every Tuesday and Saturday there is the market nearby where our home is and after a short walk, you’re there. So we decided after such a long time it would be nice to go and have a look around. I won’t lie, it was crap. I think from memory there was only one stall that didn’t sell duplicate items to one, or even two other stalls nearby. I didn’t really have anything in mind that I wanted to buy from the market, more like if I saw something I REALLY wanted to pick up, I might. That’s where these two harem style trousers came from. My Dad bought me two pairs and I can safely say they were worn a lot throughout my holiday, and I’ve even brought a pair back home with me. These are really baggy and comfortable and whilst the material isn’t very thick, it’s somewhat warm. These will be perfect for summer days in the UK seeing as they aren’t the warmest.

I was in need of a pair of flip-flops back home and I knew I wanted a decent pair, so when I spied these Roxy flip-flops, I knew I wanted them. They were in the sale too, so I couldn’t not snap these up. I won’t lie, these weren’t comfortable the first couple of times I wore them and my feet were pretty damn sore afterwards. However after wearing them in they’re super comfortable and I’ll probably wear these loads during the summer in the UK. I’ve not found a nice pair in the UK before, so these will come in handy.

Perfume wise I really was spoilt by my parents and I can’t say I’ll be needing any new perfume anytime soon (although I’ll probably end up buying some!). My Dad bought me a 75ml bottle of Loverdose by Diesel, which I have loved and owned since it first came out so I was excited to get a new bottle. My Mom picked up two perfumes for me, Ralph by Ralph Lauren which is a perfume I’ve wanted since I was a teenager. This is only a small 30ml bottle and is one I’ll keep in my handbag for work. It smells really nice and is rather strong for an EDT.

My favourite of the three is Addict by Dior. I’d never smelt this before until my Mom took me to the shop to pick up something for herself. I can’t describe how it smells, other than it being like a sweet but mature scent. It’s a really strong perfume and lasts for ages! The only flaw with this bottle is the weight, it weighs a bloody ton. This is definitely fast becoming one of my new favourite perfumes. It only cost around €63.00 for a 100ml bottle, but in the UK it costs nearly £100! I can’t believe how cheap it was to be perfectly honest and I really do love it.

These were some last-minute presents from my Mom and I can safely say they’re meaningful and lovely. My Mom’s known for ages that I’ve always wanted a Chanel lipstick and whilst we were away she bought me one. I looked at so many shades and I finally settled on this one. This one is the shade Emotion and is the Rouge Coco Shine finish, which is a mixture of a lipstick and lip balm. My Mom bought this the day before me and my boyfriend went home so I haven’t had much chance to wear it, but whenever I have it is has been amazing and I already want another! I can’t wait to review this soon, I’m so excited to show it off.

As well as that she picked me up a new lip liner to go with my Chanel lippy. The one the woman recommended in the store was Estee Lauder’s Double Wear Stay-in-Place Lip Pencil in Wine. This lip pencil is meant to stay in place for 12 hours, although so far I haven’t found that this does as it says on the tin, but I’m going to test it out at work and uni next week and see how I get on. It’s a gorgeous wine shade, as the shade gives away and works well with most of my dark shades, including my newest.

This isn’t anything special but this is a necklace I picked up whilst I was on holiday and one I have fallen in love with. It’s so simple, yet so nice. It’s two rings linked together to create this cool little necklace. I think it’s meant to be a religious necklace, but I don’t care. They also had these in a black ring instead of blue, but I preferred this one. It wasn’t the cheapest of necklaces but I didn’t care, as I had some euros to use up anyway. I’ve worn this none stop since I got home and I think I’ll be wearing it for a while.

This was one of the last things I picked up before I came home and I’m so glad I found it to buy, as it’s one of my favourite things to wear now. It’s a cardigan by Protest, a surfing and snowboarding company who I hadn’t heard of until we went on holiday. My boyfriend had however and when I told him about a surf shop called Protest where we were going shopping he got super excited and we went there as soon as we could. This is a waterfall cardigan and isn’t the thickest one in the world, but is gorgeous and will be perfect for spring and summer when it starts to get warmer outside. I’m sure I’ll be doing a look book with this in the future! I checked on the UK website and this costs more over here than it did where I bought it from, so I’m pleased about my bargain! It’s a gorgeous white and navy knitted cardigan and isn’t itchy at all! As well as that it has nomadic patterns on  it, which looks beautiful.

When I discovered that there was a Zara a mere fifteen minute drive away from where our home is, me and my Mom knew we wanted to go and have a look. I can just tell you, everything in that Zara was cheap! I think there was only a small part of the store that wasn’t marked on sale, which surprised me. I didn’t really spot anything that took my fancy, however I saw this bag and although I knew I didn’t NEED it, I WANTED it. It was originally €35.99 down to €29.99. I’ve wanted a really nice handbag for a while, as currently I use my backpack for everything so now I have something nice to use whenever I go anywhere special… Ish. Although I would like a Vivienne Westwood bag. 😛

Just want to first of all say, I know that this t-shirt is creased, I don’t know how it got into this state. :S As you may have seen from my Holiday Wish List post, you’ll have seen this t-shirt on there and whilst I went shopping on holiday I found it and picked it up. It’s this lovely fox t-shirt by Element, one of my favourite skateboarding brands to wear. I own quite a few of their t-shirts and they’re all super comfortable, this one is definitely comfortable too. This actually cost more to buy whilst I was on holiday than what it would have cost here, as after looking it’s now in the sale for £9.00, although they don’t have my size. It’s not a very thick t-shirt and was lovely to wear both in the day and in the evening. Whilst it’s chilly in the UK I’ll be wearing a thermal t-shirt underneath it.

I know this isn’t the best picture of my new jeans, but I was pressed for time when getting these pictures and I didn’t have anyone at home at the time to take a picture of me wearing them. These are the jeans I picked up whilst I was away and I can safely say they’re the best jeans I own at the moment. They’re by G-Star and I ended up buying them to wear in the evenings when it was a little on the chilly side. I knew I should have taken some with me! Anyway, I can’t say I remember how much these were, but they’re so damn comfortable! They’re a mixture between a boyfriend fit and skinny fit, which is a perfect jean style for me. They do come down a little baggy on me so I sometimes find I need to roll the bottoms up so that they don’t drag. I can see me wearing these loads now I’m home and especially for university as they’re just so comfortable. I wore these with my new Star Wars Vans that I mentioned in my Boxing Day Sales haul and they looked amazing together.

From the same shop as my jeans I picked up this beautiful maxi dress, it was the reason I ventured into the shop in the first place to be honest. I’ve only owned a couple of maxi dresses and over the years I’ve put a bit of weight on and those two dresses don’t look that great on me anymore… Which sucks. Since then I have gone on to try on other maxi dresses and they all look the same, show off all the horrible parts and don’t even show off my best assets! So since then I have envied smaller girls than myself for being able to wear them, as quite frankly I love the look of maxi dresses. So I did worry when I went to try this maxi dress on that it would do what other maxi dresses had done and in the process make me feel fat and crap. HOWEVER it didn’t do that at all and made all my best assets look a hundred times better! This is a gorgeous navy maxi dress and is really long. On the back there is a see through netting style which looks really nice. This only cost €25.00 which is dead cheap for how lovely it is. I’ll be doing a look book with this very soon.

This was one of the first things I picked up when I went on holiday and whilst I didn’t need it, I’m so chuffed my Mom picked it up for me. I hadn’t even noticed it in the one shop we popped into, until she showed it to me. This is a pretty cool t-shirt, as when you wear it the Vans logo on the front turns pink with body heat. This isn’t a very thick t-shirt but as I said with the Element t-shirt, I can wear a thermal underneath whilst it’s cold in the UK. I wore this quite a lot whilst I was on holiday as it’s so soft and comfortable. I can’t wait to wear this more here.

Whilst I was away I knew I wanted to start a collection of bracelets as whilst I love my Pandora, I wanted something I could wear around the house as well as at work and just all the time basically. The watch was something I saw in a Billabong shop and my Mom offered to buy it for me, considering I didn’t have one. The bracelets all cost next to nothing and are all really nice quality for how much I paid for them. The white peace bracelet was picked out by my boyfriend due to the message on it, which he says sums me up (although of course I don’t agree!) and sadly during my time there and since I’ve come home, it’s began to rub off, which has made me sad. The turtle bracelet is from the same shop and I love it! I was going to buy another one, but I left it in the end. It’s really pretty and I wear it all the time now. I don’t know if its real leather or not mind.

I want to talk about my new watch, because it’s bloody gorgeous! It’s by Roxy and is called Whenever. I spotted it whilst just having a nose at the watches and kind of fell in love. I told my Mom about it and asked me to show her, as she said I would be a fool to leave it as it sounded really nice. The band is real leather and is splash proof, which is handy and was handy whilst I was on holiday. This isn’t a very big watch which I really like, nothing worse than a huge watch hanging off your wrist. These are available in the UK by the way and are currently in their sale.

The last thing I wanted to talk about was my new Pandora charms. My Dad owed me a birthday present and said before we went away that he would buy me a new Pandora charm, so whilst I was having a look for a charm to buy my Mom, I spotted this seahorse charm that I’ve wanted for nearly a year. So he offered to pick it up for me and I can safely say I LOVE it! It really does add some colour to my bracelet, which now seems to be having a turquoise and red theme going on with it. I also wanted the water bead charm, but I ended up buying this myself as a treat and it really does stand out on my bracelet but I like how it works with the seahorse charm and it will always remind me of my holiday away and where my second home is.

I loved my holiday away and I’m so glad that my boyfriend was with me. It was our first proper holiday together and it was amazing being able to show him my second home and where I spend many years of my childhood and early teens.

I’ll be posting more about my holiday very soon in the future, so please keep eyes peeled for that!

I hope everyone has been okay the past two weeks I was away and posts will be back on here starting from today.

Thanks to all my readers who stuck with me whilst I was away for still being here.

Until next time, take care all.

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September Empties

Excuse my language but holy shit I used up a lot of products in September! I don’t think I’ve ever had this many items in an empties post and it’s really surprised me.

I won’t lie, I am glad to be rid of a lot of the products I had as whilst most were good, it is good to have a clear out so that new things may be bought and wasted money on. 😛

I just want to get this out there now that when we enter into 2015, I’m not 100% sure if I will be writing up anymore empties posts as whilst I do enjoy doing them I do just think it’s a hassle to save up all the empty bottles in my bathroom. I am just putting this down to how much I saved up this month and I may change my mind, we shall see how the next three/four months go…

  • Gillette Satin Care Shave Gel.

I’ve mentioned this before, if you would like to read more about it look here.

  • Hello Kitty Liberty Body Wash.

I was given this body wash in a gift set from my sister-in-law and I really did love it! I saved it for quite a while until I decided to use it and within a few weeks it was gone and I have missed using it. It was softening on the skin, lathered beautifully and left my skin smelling gorgeous! It reminds me of the scent the old pink FCUK products that Boots sold at Christmas time in the early 00’s and it really did leave me with some childhood memories! If this is out again this year I’ll probably pick some up as I really enjoyed using this. I am really sad to see it finished.

  • Philip Kingsley Body Building Shampoo.

I’ve had this shampoo for ages so when it finally came to its end I was really shocked! It just didn’t seem like it was ever going to run out. I’ve since repurchased this in a 1 litre bottle as I really do love this shampoo! If you want to read more about this it featured on my 2013 Favourites, you can find that here.

  • Carex Strawberry Fun Shower & Bath.

I LOVED this shower and bath and when it ran out I was actually really sad, but at the same time I wasn’t as it only cost me a £1, YES A WHOLE POUND COIN! This really did smell like sweet strawberries and perfect for children or anyone who loves strawberries like myself. This really did remind me of The Body Shop’s strawberry shower gel and on a recently shopping trip I picked one up for my boyfriend, who loves it just as much as I do. This leaves your skin feeling great and smelling delicious and it was a treat to use in the bath alongside a fruity bath bomb. BUY IT if you want to try something good, you won’t regret it.

  • I Love… Cosmetics Hand Wash in Mango & Papaya.

Although this featured in my favourites last month (read here), I really couldn’t wait to see the back of this product throughout September. It wasn’t a bad product but I found that due to its bright orange colour if you dripped any on the side, it would stain and has stained. I won’t be picking up this scent again, but I will pick up one of the others, preferably the coconut scent! Otherwise this was great, it smelt delicious and left my hands feeling clean and moisturised.

  • Soap & Glory The Greatest Scrub Of All Facial Exfoliator.

Another product I couldn’t wait to see in the bin! I used to love this scrub, it was my holy grail and when I suffered with some dry eczema style rash on my face years ago, this was the only thing that cleared it up! However over the years I have grown bored with this and now I can’t stand using it anymore. I didn’t even finish this product up, it just one day seemed to go gloopy and I ended up just throwing the rest of the product away. The things I don’t like about this scrub is how greasy it feels on the skin after use, it makes me cringe just the thought of it! I think it’s just to moisturise the skin but I just don’t like it. As well as that the scent is disgusting, I don’t get soap & Glory’s scents but apart from Sugar Crush they all make me feel sick. Shame that as the past year has gone by, I’ve grown to dislike most of Soap & Glory’s products. It does make me rather sad.

  • T-Zone Clear Pore Gel Facial Wash.

I LOVE this face wash and as soon as I was running low I picked up a replacement. This costs less than £2 to buy and it really is worth the money. I don’t know if it’s due to what food I eat, me getting older or the face products I now use but I’ve noticed since using this wash that my skin has improved a hell of a lot! I recommend this to teenagers with troublesome skin so SO much as this is what I used to use when I was a teenager and it really did help my oily skin. You can pick T-Zone up at great prices in Home Bargains and Body Care, so keep your eyes peeled.

  • Sure Maximum Protection Deodorant in Sensitive.

I get through one of these every month and since May I haven’t mentioned one… I think because of the fact I always mention one and I always mention the same thing… Go and read about it here! 😛

  • The Body Shop Coconut Hand Cleanse Gel.

I love my hand sanitizers and I REALLY loved this one! I bought it when I went to Bristol in June and since then it has been so lovely to use, having a sniff of the empty bottle now reminds me of summer and Bristol. Soon as I can I will be picking up another bottle. I recommend The Body Shop cleanse gels so much as not only do they keep your hands germ free, but they leave your hands smelling lovely too. Go and check them out!

  • Carex Strawberry Laces Hand Gel.

Whilst The Body Shop cleanse gel was great, this was a let down and I couldn’t wait to finish the bottle! When you smell the bottle it has a light scent of strawberries, which is pleasant but when you use this on your hands it just stinks of alcohol and I hated it because of that. It wasn’t worth the money I paid (I paid £2 for 2) and I regretted buying it as soon as I started to use it. I don’t recommend, head to The Body Shop and pick up their strawberry cleanse gel, it’ll be worth the extra money and last longer! The cap on this was also rubbish and it opened inside my work apron and leaked everywhere, was really annoying. Don’t waste your money!

  • Wilko Fruits Bath Bomb in Strawberry & Pomegranate.

The first thing I want to say about this bath bomb is how awful it is. My Mom bought me 3 bath bombs for £3, as she knows how much I love my bath bombs! As soon as she brought them home I knew I wanted to try one out, so I popped the whole bomb into the bath and had a good, long soak! I just want to apologise if I go into TMI here but I just want to get out there how this product made me poorly. Before using this in the bath, I was fine but the day after I didn’t feel myself, but the day after that I was rather poorly… And it turned out I had thrush. I suffered from it for a week and it was painful and uncomfortable and I KNOW for a fact it was due to this bath bomb. If you have sensitive skin (or sensitive bits like I clearly do!) then steer clear of this product as whilst it felt moisturising on my skin it really did leave me feeling poorly and run down. I haven’t used the other 2 bath bombs and I have contemplated taking them back to get my money back. I’m not going to bother wasting mine or anyone else’s money on the Fruits collection anymore. I am really disappointed as the collection has had a lot of positive comments. For a little money I would just prefer to splash out on Lush.

So those were my empties of September, I still can’t believe how many products I finished! I doubt it’ll be the same in October, but who knows!

I hope everyone had a great September and I shall see you next month.

Until next time, take care all.

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September Wish List

Boy time is flying for 2014! Soon enough it’ll be 2015, woohoo! So with another month, I bring to you another wish list. This one has certain themes to it, some holiday themed, some just nail themed. Either way I need to save money, only a few little treats now! There are some other bits and pieces I want to get my hands on but when I will is another story.

September Wish List

  •  Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Melange (from the Once collection).

This nail polish is stunning and one that I know already that I need in my collection! It’s described as a “golden teal, matte finish” and something beautiful that I don’t have in mu collection. It’ll be gorgeous to wear for autumn and winter and with the matte finish it’ll look even better in my opinion! I’ve only owned one Illamasqua nail polish, Raindrops (review here) which is a gorgeous shade. Illamasqua’s formula for their polishes are great and I’m really surprised I don’t have more of their polishes. This isn’t cheap at £14.50 but I’m sure it would be worth every penny and I really can see this becoming a permanent shade to their collection.

  • Superdrug Croyde Cable Cardigan.

I spotted this cardigan a couple of weekends ago when I went to visit my friend Gabriella and we both awed at how beautiful it was. Soft, warm and a gorgeous burgundy colour we both fell in love… Luckily I restrained myself from buying it, or asking my boyfriend to lend me the money for it! I know I will buy this eventually as I just can’t help but need it, my friend Poppy even wants it now after I shared it on Instagram! This isn’t cheap and I’ve found it on websites for well over £50! I’m sure it wasn’t this much in the shop that my friend and I found it in. Either way, I’m going to be good and save my money up for a while… To buy this of course! No I joke! But with autumn upon us in less than 20 days, I’ll probably need this for those chilly evenings that will soon be upon us.

  • Matalan Spot Print Tankini Style Swimsuit.

As I’m due to go on holiday at the start of January I’m after some new swimwear, especially a costume as whilst I may look okay with clothes on, I don’t look so pretty without them and quite frankly I hate my stomach! For swimming and such I want to invest in a nice swimsuit to paddle around the pool in, and what better way to go than with a swimsuit that has tummy control! Melon Lady recently shared this in a haul on her YouTube channel and I fell in love with it, it looks vintage and gorgeous and I can rock this with a pair of shorts whilst walking around the shops too if I really want to. At £15 this is a bargain and I need to get my arse to a Matalan soooon if I’m in any hope of picking this up.

  • Loungefly Disney Ariel Turquoise Glitter Embossed Bag.

This bag is beautiful and since I set my eyes on it, I want it. However this isn’t available in the UK… Yet! I have wanted one of these bags for a while, but with the Hello Kitty print on it, however I never found one I actually really wanted so I left it. However this bag is beautiful in many ways. Ariel is a mermaid and thus already amazing and the fact this is glitter AND turquoise makes it double amazing! I would love this bag in time for my holiday, as from seeing them in the flesh, these bags are HUGE and you could probably fit everything in there. I really do hope this comes over to our English soil, as soon as it does I’ll be buying it!

  • OPI How Is Your Dane? Nail Lacquer (from Nordic collection).

I won’t lie, I only really want this nail polish because of the name… Well that’s the main reason anyway! Otherwise the shade of this nail polish is beautiful and one I’ve been after since the summer, ready for autumn and winter. My boyfriends name is Dane (as regular readers and people who know me will know) so when I saw the name of this it made me giggle like a little kid but when I saw the shade, it’s like OPI knew I was after a chocolate-brown. OPI’s description for this shade is “Pass up this cinnamon coffee? You’re barking up the wrong tree!” which is really nice in a weird way. This isn’t cheap, like most OPI polishes but I want some staple shades for autumn and winter this year and I think this could be one of them, it’d look gorgeous with some glitter over the top!

  • Loungefly Hello Kitty Mustache Coin Purse.

I have wanted a coin purse for a while, but one that matched my wallet… My old wallet that is. However now I have my new one, there is a chance for me to get the coin purse to match my current wallet. However I fancy a change and when I saw this coin purse online in Beadesaurus’s sale I thought it looked gorgeous and reminded me of a Hello Kitty wallet I wanted ages ago! As I’ve already mentioned my holiday is coming up in the New Year and I don’t really want to take my huge wallet with  me abroad, so I’m thinking of picking up something like this instead. Something I can just keep my money, cards, receipts, etc inside with no worries.

  • LiP SMACKER Red Velvet Lip Balm.

I recently found out that Lip Smackers cake flavoured lip balms will finally be coming out in the UK and I’m quite excited. You can’t go wrong with a flavoured lip balm and for anyone who doesn’t know me, I LOVE red velvet and quite frankly anything and everything that tastes and smells just like it. I don’t really need another lip balm, but what would another one hurt to keep in my hand bag or on the side of my bed, huh? There are loads of flavours from this Cupcakery collection coming out, such as Strawberry Sprinkle, Birthday Cake, Berry Buttercream, Vanilla Coconut, Salted Caramel, as well as Red Velvet. I’m excited for this collection and I’m sure I will mention more about it in the future.

  • OPI Peanuts Collection Mini Pack.

I’ve made a post about the Peanuts collection that OPI will be bringing out for Halloween, you can read that post here. I am SO excited for this collection to come out! As soon as it becomes available to buy, I’ll for sure be picking it up.

  • Adventure Time Jake Phone Case.

I spotted this on eBay when I was having a look through all the Adventure Time bits and pieces listed on there. I love this phone case, it has a quote from Jake on it which says, “Dude, suckin’ at something is the first step to being sorta good at something” and I LOVE it! I’ve been feeling pretty down the past year and it hasn’t really gotten any better, but this quote does make me feel like it’s not just me who is out there struggling to get things right first time around. I’d love to have this case to look at everyday, every time I feel crappy and hopeless. It’s less than £8.00, which isn’t bad really when you think about it. My boyfriend wants the same case too, so if we were both to pick them up we would match, which is always nice.

So that is my wish list for September! I really wish I could buy everything off of the list right now, but money. xD

What’s on your wish list this month? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and have a great weekend.

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Japanese Series: Places To Visit (Inc. Boyfriend’s too!)

Image taken from weheartit.com

Hello and welcome to post number three in the Japanese series! As I mentioned last week on the Asian Food post, I would today be talking about places I really want to go when I visit Japan. As well as that, I also mentioned that I would have a special guest on this post, which in turn is my boyfriend. He asked if he could write about a place he wants us to visit when we both go to Japan in the future and of course I wouldn’t say no!

I shall be talking about three places I really wish to go and visit in Japan, my boyfriends post will find itself amongst those posts and you’ll be able to tell which is his place that he wishes for us to go and visit… It’s snow related. 😛

Whilst the place he wishes to go and visit is snow related, all mine are kawaii and pretty much anime related, which makes me sound a little bad sad, doesn’t it?

This is going to be a pretty long post, so no time like the present to get talking about all the places we wish to go to when we visit Japan!

Sanrio Puroland

Image taken from weheartit.com

When I was talking to my boyfriend about places I could mention on here, I came up with four altogether, this being one of them but when I mentioned that I felt rather silly for wanting to go to such a place, he said he knew how much I wanted to go and it was definitely worth a mention!

I’ve been in love with Hello Kitty and all things Sanrio since the age of 11. I can’t remember how I came to discover who Hello Kitty was, but when I did I was hooked and for years I went out of my way to find things Hello Kitty related to buy. Eventually I discovered that Hello Kitty was by a Japanese brand called Sanrio and there were many other characters just like her and just as cute! I came to find out about Chococat, Charmmy Kitty, Cinnamoroll, Pochacco, Kuririn, My Melody, and many more!

Although Puroland isn’t number one on my list of places to visit whilst I visit Japan, I know it’s definitely there and it’d be a shame to miss it whilst I was there. I’ve seen many pictures of what it’s like inside Puroland itself and it looks like so much fun! I know I would end up spending a lot of money in there, I have to say and that would probably be one of my main reasons for going, to stock on cute Sanrio related products! This is more for children than adults, but after loving Hello Kitty since a very young age, the child in me would love this.

Pokemon Center

Image taken from weheartit.com

I don’t know if I have really spoken about it much, but I love Pokemon and have done since it came out on the Game Boy back in 1999. It’s been over 10 years since then and over that time there have been loads more games released, the anime followed after the game which I watched religiously as a child, card games were invented, and as well as that, Pokemon Center’s began popping up all over Japan, as well as in America.

When I first found out about the Pokemon Center, I thought it was just a museum and thought nothing more about it, but back in 2011 I did some research on it and pleasantly discovered that it was infact a shop! You could buy all sorts in there and I imagined how amazing it must be to actually go and wander around. Then one morning in 2013 whilst I lay in bed, waiting to go to work, I searching “Pokemon Center Japan” into YouTube and was greeted by hundreds of videos that people had recorded, all of them showing what the Pokemon Center was like. The one that showed up the most, was the store in Tokyo!

The stores are owned by The Pokemon Company in Japan and The Pokemon Company International in America. As I would be visiting Tokyo when I finally go to Japan, the Pokemon Center in Tokyo would be the ideal store for me to visit, this being said there is also a store in Tokyo Bay, so knowing me I’d go and visit both if it was doable!

I’ve already said to my boyfriend that I’ll probably need a lot of money for when we visit the Pokemon Center, as I’d want to buy a bit of everything to bring back home with me. I know when I visit Japan anyway that I’ll be buying a lot of stationery (they have the best stationery!) but I know I’ll want to come home with a huge Eevee plushie. Whenever I watch the videos of people in the Pokemon Center’s I just want to buy most of the things they show and I envy what things I watch people showing off that they’ve bought in haul videos.

This is probably number one on my list of places to visit in Japan… Alongside all the yummy food shops too of course!

Shiga Kogen, Nagano Prefecture – The place Dane (my boyfriend) wants to visit

Japan is a destination I NEED to visit in the near future, although being content with doing the expected things of visiting Tokyoʼs many attractions and districts (Iʼm looking at you Harajuku), getting communal in an onsen and traveling south to visit Osaka and Kyoto.

There is one thing I must do and that is to snowboard in Shiga Kogen, Nagano.

As Natalee may have explained, I am an avid snowboarder going on yearly trips away to the French Alps. Resorts in the French Alps tend to be very similar and having to go there every year is becoming quite monotonous. Apart from going up north to Norway and visiting the homeland of my all time favourite snowboarder, Torstein Horgmo, snowboarding in Japan is a high priority.

Japan is notorious for is snowfall, is an incredibly mountainous group of islands and has literally hundreds of Skijo (ski hills). Adding the fact some of my favourite snowboarders, Kazuhiro Kokubo and Tadashi Fuse, are both from Japan it all greatly adds up for me to snowboard there. If you want to truly understand what it is like to snowboard in Japan see the snowboard film “Seven Samurai – The Catcher on the Line”. And to quote Jimmy Peterson from his book “Skiing Around the World”:

“Snowstorms breeze into the Japanese mountains almost unabatedly from December until late March. The cold, stormy fronts blow in from Siberia, picking up extra moisture as they cross the Sea of Japan. They then dump enormous amounts of white fluff all along the western side of Japan. A number of the Japanese resorts rank among the most snow-rich ski areas in the world.”

image taken from powerhounds.com

That above image should give you an idea of what I want to experience.

Most tour operators (I.e Crystal Ski) would suggest going up north to Hokkaido for the fresh powder. There are two problems, I can think of, with that.

The first being that it’s an 1hr 30min plane ride away from Tokyo, where as going to Shiga Kogen is nearly a 4 hour drive away. Bear with me on that. Yes it takes longer, I have taken multiple 24 hour coach journeys to the Alps and even with flying there is always a 2-3 hour transfer from the airport. Plus flying is always a hassle of checking in, boarding and waiting to fly. So I can handle a measly 4 hour bus journey. In the long run it is much cheaper and you get to see the sights of Japan en route.

The next reason is as follows…

Image taken from flightcentre.com.au

Do I need to explain more?

Well yes. This is the Jigokudani Monkey Park, located on the edge of the national park in the Nagano prefecture, a short distance from Shiga Kogen. A place where just under 200 macaques live and bath in the natural hot springs, which you can visit and get up close to. How close you say? These guys are supposedly incredibly tame and let you get within inches of your camera to take nice close-ups, whether I want my camera/phone stolen by a monkey is something of contention. Having it in such a close proximity to a great resort would be incredible and taking a day trip to visit the park is a must in my book.

Ghibli Museum

Image taken from weheartit.com

Like most people, I LOVE Studio Ghibli movies and since I first discovered their films back in 2004/2005 when I watched Spirited Away and since then I have gone on to watch My Neighbour Totoro, Porco Rosso, The Cat Returns, Kiki’s Delivery Service and many more!

I vaguely remember finding out about the Ghibli Museum even existing due to reading about how there is a short film about the cat bus from My Neighbour Totoro and how it was only being shown at the museum at that time. I researched a little about the museum and since then I have wanted to go there myself!

I won’t talk too much about Studio Ghibli here, as I’m saving it for my fourth and final Japanese Series post next week, but I will say this much… Studio Ghibli is the Japanese version of Disney so I can only imagine the museum to be like a mini version of Disney Land, but that little bit better!

Upon checking out the website in the past about what the museum is all about, I’m already craving to go at this sentence:

Standing in front of a sign that says “Ghibli Museum, Mitaka”, a very large Totoro welcomes you at the entrance. When you look through the portholes, soot-black Dust Bunnies are there as well. But this is not the real entrance. Totoro shows you where the real entrance is.

Real entrance??? This is a total children’s fantasy, adventure world, and it just sounds wonderful! Plus the fact that you are greeted by a huge Totoro, is somewhat of a dream come true.

Some of mine and my boyfriends friends have been to the museum and they’ve told us nothing but positive things about it, but as well as that I’ve seen various YouTube videos about it too and all of the people in question spoke of what a wonderful place it was to visit and how they want to go back in the future.

This isn’t number one like the Pokemon Center, BUT it is the second place I would like to visit and I already know like the Pokemon Center that I WILL need a lot of money when I visit, as I will want to buy myself a huge Totoro to cuddle and keep on my bed.

As my boyfriend and I are both big fans, we both really want to visit the Ghibli Museum and it’d be lovely for us to venture around together.

We’ve really got into Studio Ghibli more than ever and with my boyfriend collecting all the films, our visit to the Ghibli Museum in the future will be extremely exciting!

Speaking of Studio Ghibli, next weeks post is going to be a really exciting one!

As I mentioned above, my fourth and final Japanese series post will be about Studio Ghibli and I’m excited to write about it come the weekend.

So, which places would you like to visit in Japan? Hey, have you been to Japan? If so where did you visit, any places you can recommend?

My boyfriend recently inquired about prices for our future Japanese holiday and now we have decided to save up for it! So as many suggestions as possible, especially kawaii and food related!

Until next week, talk care all and I hope you’re enjoying this series.

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February Wish List

Now I know I didn’t create a January Wish List last month, but my Birthday Wish List was a replacement of my usual monthly wish list post so… This is the first official wish list post of 2014!

I know I’m on a spending ban at the moment but that doesn’t stop me from wishing for items now, does it?

February Wish List

I know my wish list this month isn’t the longest, but there isn’t really anything I really want and three of the items on this list are things I need more than want.

My current bag, which is also my favourite is beginning to break and thus may see some of its last days so I know soon enough I will need another bag. I’ve decided that I want something nice but something that also won’t break the bank! As you can see on the above image I do have two bags to talk about, the one I shall be talking about after this one. Since venturing into Oasis Market in Birmingham for the first time back in 2005 I have since then loved going there and my favourite shop in there has always been Beadesaurus. It started off as a bead and jewellery shop but has fast grown into a shop for all sorts! They stock Loungefly bags, wallets and accessories and as a Loungefly fan I love to have a mooch at what new items they have to offer every couple of months or so. They of course have an online shop, as well as a few in Birmingham and whilst I spotted this bag online recently I have very much so fallen in love with it. Yes it isn’t cheap but it’s a Loungefly bag AND a Hello Kitty bag! For something that has Hello Kitty on it, it’s rather grown up, which I rather like! I think I would like to go and have a look at this bag in the flesh before ordering, just in case I wouldn’t like it. I shall have to see though.

  • Disaster Designs Paper Plane Satchel Bag – Various prices from eBay.

I have wanted this bag FOR YEARS! Beadesaurus sold it for a while but when it sold out I was crushed and since then every year I will have a look for it on eBay. I’ve recently remembered its existence again and searched for it on eBay to find it at some decent prices, even for cheap prices for bidding! I’ve got my eye on it at the moment and I could really see me investing in this bag. I used to go to university with someone who owned this bag and it was absolutely gorgeous! I was rather envious of her and I think out of all the bags I have ever wanted, this has to be number one on the list but whenever I’ve gone to buy it I’ve never had the money. I have seen one on eBay I’m tempted to bid on, the bag itself is used and looks a tad on the dirty side, but with a good clean I’m sure it’d be good as new! Watch this space!

Since the Kingdom Hearts games came out probably 10 years ago now I’ve wanted them, but for some reason I never picked them up, which still to this day makes me feel a tad sad BUT it doesn’t matter as they’ve now brought out the games on one game for the PS3, which of course is my console of choice! GAME have it on offer for £20.00 at the moment and loads of times I’ve contemplated buying it, but as if yet I haven’t picked it up, in the worry I could find it elsewhere for less. I’m going to see if I have any cash spare during February, as I always like to have at least one PS3 game to play for when I don’t fancy blog writing, watching a film, reading a book, etc so that I can have something to do. Plus as my boyfriend is a gamer it would give us something to take in turns to play. Another plus is I like Disney, which is of course heavily based in this game!

My Dad and I recently discovered a Pandora stockist near to where we both live, so if we ever wish to buy any Pandora items in future, we don’t have to trek all the way to town or Merry Hill, which is nice! So as we had discovered this shop we decided to go in for a look at what charms they were selling. Whilst my Dad was having a look for something, I had a look myself and spotted this gorgeous ring that has been brought out for Valentine’s Day this year. It’s a gorgeous and delicate silver ring with a little red ruby looking heart on it. My hands aren’t the most delicate and girly looking in the world but this ring made them look lovely and girly and as the ring is delicate it felt really nice to wear, for any occasion. When the shop assistant informed me it was only £35.00 I was taken back and was there and then tempted to splash out on it, but of course I left it but I WILL be buying it in the near future as it’s just too gorgeous NOT to buy.

For my birthday at the start of January my boyfriend bought me a large Sweet Strawberry Yankee Candle and the night before my birthday (I opened my presents from him the day before my birthday as he couldn’t be with me for the actual day and wanted to see my reactions to my presents and such) after our meal out for my birthday we watched The Cat Returns and put the candle on to burn. However as I don’t own a large shade it started to well and I told him that I refused to burn it anymore until I picked up a shade. I nearly bought one from Clinton Cards but my Dad insisted it was too expensive (£15.99!) and he was right. I had a look online as soon as I got home and found that I could pick up a shade AND a tray for less than Clinton Cards were selling just for the shade alone! I was close to ordering it not long after finding but due to lack of funds at the time, I left it. I think whilst I don’t NEED a large shade just yet, it’s a waste just leaving the candle on the side to gather dust, as I want to burn it so much. It was one of my favourite presents for my birthday as my boyfriend knew that I wanted this candle for years!

Sometimes I will randomly search the word “fox” on clothing websites and sometimes some real gems will come up, this obviously being one of those. At the moment every other person who comes into work will be wearing a huge, fluffy parka and I just want one so damn much right now! This one is perfect and it just looks so snuggly and warm and as it’s over sized I know it would be comfortable too! The hood on it is huge and lined with the faux fox fur which is lined throughout the parka too, so I’d be snuggly and warm throughout the rest of the winter season! My Mom nearly bought me this bless her as she knew how much I wanted it, but I told her it was too much money and that I would try and find myself a cheaper version of said coat, if not another parka from Topshop that I have been lusting after. I’d wear this parka with skinny fit jeans, my Chelsea boots, all sorts of skirts and dresses too and hell, maybe even a pair of denim shorts! It’s just something you can dress up in and it’s very grunge if you ask me! A gorgeous parka, but bloody expensive!

I’ve been eying up the butter glosses by NYX for a while now and have been lusting especially after Peaches & Cream for quite a few months now. However, after finding a blog posts with all of the butter glosses swatched on said blog, I came to see that Cherry Pie was a gorgeous red shade and one that I have been longing for in a gloss form for quite a while! At £5.00 each you can’t really go wrong and I could see me using this for work as sometimes I just can’t be bothered most of the time to apply a lipstick and keep needing to reapply, but I love wearing my bright and dark lip products at work! I probably won’t buy this just yet, but I definitely will do after my spending ban!

So, those are the items on my wish list for February, what are you wishing after this month? Let me know in the comments.

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

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Christmas 2013!

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To start off this post, I am in no way, shape or form trying to show off about what I received for Christmas and if you already feel a bit sore about this post then I advice you to leave now. Around this time of year I like to read of what other bloggers have been given for Christmas and the reasons behind why they may have received such items from loved ones, family and friends, so I thought I would make one myself as I’ve always wanted to. Plus regular readers may wish to know what I had nice.

I’ve never written a post like this before (from memory anyway!) as I haven’t received this much stuff since I was a teenager! I love everything I was bought and I know everything had some kind and lovely thoughts behind them.

So without further ado, let me show you what I got! 🙂

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So this is the big pile of presents I received Christmas Day! As well as two presents from my boyfriends parents, which I will mention and show pictures of at the end of this post.

These were a mixture of presents from both my parents, my best friend, my sister-in-law and nephews and my boyfriend. I also received £20 from my aunt and £40 from my brother, which was lovely of them all! I intend to go shopping with my boyfriend Saturday morning to buy myself Beyond: Two Souls for my PS3 as well as a new diary. The rest of the money will be saved until I find something I really want or need.

A lot of my presents this year were fox related, which in itself is amazing as I love them so much!

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This gorgeous fox wash bag with some toiletries in there was from my best friend. We met up Monday afternoon to have a catch up, a bite to eat and to exchange presents. We were going to wait until Christmas Day to open these but decided to there and then as she just got me worked up as to what she had bought me. I had been eying this up every time I went into Boots but never thought to buy it for myself, I’m so happy my best friend bought it for me mind! In the set you get a body butter, body wash and bubble bath and look how cute the packaging is for the body was and bubble bath! They also smell amazing! It reminds me of a mango and passion fruit lip balm I had when I was at school, but my boyfriend commented how he thought it smelt of strawberries. Either way it smells amazing and this little wash bag will come in handy too.

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This is a lovely Liberty London Hello Kitty set was from my sister-in-law and nephews. I wasn’t expecting anything from her as she’s been so busy and such lately with the boys so it was lovely that she was able to get myself and my Dad something nice. In this set there is a shower gel and body lotion, along with a shower cap which has a gorgeous pattern on it! I used the body lotion yesterday before my boyfriend and I went over to his Gran’s with family for a party. It was lovely to meet the rest of his family and his Gran is so sweet and Irish so that’s a definite win! 😀 With the shower cap, I can’t see me using this unless I use some special conditioning mask on my hair, but otherwise when I shower I usually put my hair up in a high bun. The last time I used a shower cap was when I last had head lice! Shower caps freak me out to this day and always remind me of when I had head lice. *shudder* Either way this is gorgeous and the body lotion and shower gel smell amazing! I’m keeping the body lotion at my boyfriends to use when I’m over here.

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This is all the goodies my boyfriend bought for me and as regular readers will know (as well as my friends who read my blog) this is  our first Christmas together and it sure is a wonderful one to have started off with. He really did spoil me this year and I love all the presents he bought as I know each and every one had thought behind it and for that it’s made each present as special as the next. However I do have my favourite one…

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Running up to Christmas Day my boyfriend told me how a lot of my Christmas presents were fox related and I thought I only had one fox related present (which I already knew about) but this wasn’t the case and I received three fox related presents from him! This was probably my favourite Christmas present as I have been in search of another fox jumper for ages (I have my eye on one from Animal… It’s in their sale!) and when I saw this, I was over the moon! It’s a gorgeous cream colour with various different coloured dots running throughout the wool, which is lovely and looks different! Of course as you can see in the middle is a gorgeous fox, which is super soft and fluffy to touch! I’m going to wear this tomorrow when me and my boyfriend go shopping. I can’t wait to wear it! I’ll be teaming it either with a tartan skirt and my Chelsea boots or my wine skinny fit jeans and my Chelsea boots. Also with whatever I chose to wear I’ll be throwing my pleather biker jacket with spiked shoulders.

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This is another one of my favourite presents from my boyfriend! He’d sneakily wrapped it up inside the snowboarding pants he’d bought me, which I knew about him buying me back in October. We’d ventured into Forbidden Planet whilst shopping in Coventry one afternoon when I spotted this Lumpy Space Princess beanie. I mentioned this on my December Wish List and was close to buying it myself the last time we went in there, but I’m glad I didn’t as it was a lovely surprise! This hat is gorgeous and soft, as well as warm and I’m wearing it today. It’s probably one of the nicest hats I own and I’ll be wearing it a lot over the winter season, as well as when I start snowboarding! BTW Lumpy Space Princess is from Adventure Time, a show me and my boyfriend started to get into recently! Here’s a video all about the gorgeous purple diva! She’s amazing and I know so many Adventure Time fans who love her. I also love Princess Rainicorn!

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Snow Pants

These are my banana pants, to you, my yellow snowboard pants. My boyfriend bought these for me months ago but then stated how he was going to get them me for Christmas. They weren’t cheap and probably cost him near to £50, if not over that amount and these babies were in the sale! They’re super comfortable and super baggy, which is exactly what I wanted! I just love the colour of these and how awesome they look on too. I so far have my snowboarding pants and some gloves, all I need to get now is a jacket, a helmet and some crash pants. Then as I learn and get better I can get my own boots, as well as some more protective gear and in the future a snowboard!

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My boyfriend wanted me to open this before Christmas but I declined and said I wanted something to open on the actual day. He had told me it was a game and showed me the top left hand side of the box and hinted at, “This is a  game you’ve wanted a while but haven’t bought. Also we thought it was only available online too.” At first I couldn’t guess what it was but after asking if Pewdiepie on YouTube had played it and him saying yes I guessed it was The Binding Of Isaac and alas I was right. I have indeed wanted this game for a long time but after attempting to play it once, whilst tired after Christmas dinner and then once again after Boxing Day after yet being more tired I as yet haven’t really played this properly. However, my boyfriend hasn’t been able to stop playing it!

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Everyone always gets me chocolates or biscuits and this year I got this gorgeous tin with two foxes on the front, with some chocolate chip cookies inside. My boyfriend and his Mom spotted this and picked it up for me. I love when people can see things in shops and think of me, which is why I’ve probably received so many fox related things this year. I probably won’t eat the biscuits out of this tin, but I’ll certainly re-use the tin for something! Maybe my lip products.

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I always love receiving a new calendar at Christmas time and last year I received a Domo Kun one, when deep down I did really want a Simon’s Cat one. SO when I saw a calendar shaped present inside the big bag I had a feeling it was this calendar. I remember spotting it in Waterstones when my boyfriend and I went into there for a look one Sunday afternoon and I spotted this, his reaction being, “It has stickers!” So I’m really pleased to have received this, as I love Simon’s Cat! When I go sales shopping I’ll be picking up the diary to match, as I’ve had one the past three years now.

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This is the final present I’ll be talking about that I received from my boyfriend, and also one of my favourites! I knew I had this present as the one time I visited the German Market with my boyfriend and our friends I stopped at the plush toy stand there and looked at the cute little fox plushies, as well as searching for a red panda one. My boyfriend offered to buy me this and I didn’t really turn his offer down so I said yes and he said I wouldn’t be able to accept it until Christmas Day, which of course was the other day. This fox plush is super soft and fluffy, I think I’ll be keeping it on my bed as it’ll always remind me of my boyfriend. I don’t know what to call him (or her!) at this moment in time, I don’t mind taking name ideas! 😉 Here’s a cute picture of me holding it! My boyfriend took loads, but this one was the best out of the bunch.

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These are the lovely beauty related things my Mom got me for Christmas. I actually wasn’t expecting anything from her, as she said to me, “What would you like Nat? I haven’t bought you anything.” What a bloody liar! Bless her though, when I was handed three or four presents off of her I was pleasantly surprised and I love everything she has bought for me!

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She bought me three Elemis items, Skin Nourishing Milk Bath, Quiet Mind Room Mist and Fruit Active Rejuvenating Mask. I haven’t yet tried any of these products but I intend to Saturday night or Sunday morning when I’m back in Birmingham (I’m in Coventry at the moment…) and I can tell you, I’m excited to try these! The milk bath smells of vanilla and honey, which is one of my favourite scents so I know I’ll enjoy using this in the bath to help me relax. I did give the room mist a spritz and it smells amazing! I’ll be using this on my bed when I change the covers every week and maybe on the curtains in my room once a month. It’s said to help you have a peaceful nights sleep, which I always long for! Finally the mask, I really can’t wait to try this, however I do have rather sensitive skin, so I really hope this doesn’t burn my skin whilst I’m wearing it, otherwise I will have to donate it back to my Mom.

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It’s really quite funny about my Mom also buying me L’Occitane for Christmas, as I didn’t actually know she knew this brand existed, so I bought her some lavender soap and hand cream from L’Occitane in Birmingham, hoping she would like the set. We opened our presents at the same time and we were pleasantly surprised and both said how we had a L’Occitane hand cream to start 2014 off with! All four products are almond related and the only one I have tried so far is the Smooth Hands hand cream, which not only makes my hand feels amazing, but it smells delicious too! I think I have been converted to L’Occitane! As well as this I got a Foot Cream, Shower Scrub and Shower Oil, but this is an Eco Refill version, which doesn’t bother me. I can’t wait to try these out on Saturday night or Sunday morning too! I’m somewhat excited to smell of yummy almonds.

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Dressing Gown

These were the last presents I received on Christmas Day (thus the reason for the iPhone pictures) and it is a Keri Smith book and a dressing gown with my name on off of my boyfriends parents. The dressing gown is a gorgeous dark pink colour and as you can see has my name (spelt correctly) stitched onto the right hand side of the gown. My boyfriend’s Mom bought me this to use whenever I stay over and it was a lovely buy from her! As I mentioned I received one of Keri Smith’s books, Finish This Book. I already own Wreck This Journal and I loved it! I want to soon enough own all of her books but this one had been on my wishlist for years (two or three to be precise) so the fact that I finally own it, makes me super happy! I’m going to give it a go over the weekend whilst I’m back in Birmingham. I can’t wait!

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Finally we have the last of my presents that I received and my favourite ones this year too. My Dad bought me two Pandora charms to add to my bracelet that I received in November and whilst it wasn’t a surprise, it was lovely that he bought them for me.

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Pandora

I received two gorgeous charms off of my Dad and whilst he knew I wanted the Mrs Hedgehog charm he didn’t know I wanted the Bunny charm  until we popped into Pandora and bought these two charms, as well as two for my Mom. I love the two little charms I received and even popped the Mrs Hedgehog charm on my December Wish List. I mentioned over there (I think anyway!) that Mrs  reminds me of my Gran and has done since a young age so I knew I wanted this charm when I saw it on Pandora’s website back in November. As well as that after looking at the Bunny charm I loved the look of it. The detail on both of these charms is amazing! The Bunny has a little rucksack on, which has two Easter eggs inside. The Mrs Hedgehog charm has a cute little bow in her spikes, as well as a spotty dress on and a little handbag in her right hand. You can also see her little feet popping out of the bottom of her dress. The detail for them both is amazing and I can’t stop looking at my Pandora. I’m rather proud of the charms I’m starting to get on my bracelet and in the next week or so I’ll have a post on here all about my bracelet and which charms I own, as well as a wish list of which ones I’m wanting!

So, those were all the presents I received for Christmas this year! As I stated at the start of this post, this wasn’t written up to intend on showing off, or upsetting people. I like reading posts like this, so I thought regular readers, as well as new ones might want to read about what I received.

Any negative comments made on this post (as well as anywhere else on my blog) will be removed straight away and reported.

Anyhoo, what did you receive this Christmas? And did you have a lovely day? Let me know in the comments!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, I really enjoyed mine, as well as Boxing Day!

Until next time, take care and see you soon.

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