Boy I’m Getting Old! Turning 26 and Presents I Received

On Wednesday it was my birthday, and I turned 26. I don’t feel old, but I feel like life is going by a little bit too quickly… But we’ll leave that for another post as I have a lot to say on that matter.

I had a really chilled out day for my birthday. I went to work in the morning, came home, and chilled out in bed with my boyfriend. I opened my cards and presents, and spent the rest of the day eating pizza, and playing on my PlayStation 4. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but just being with my boyfriend made me happy. We plan to go out for a meal when he gets back from holiday in a week, which will be lovely.

I went out with my family the day after my birthday for both mine and my mom’s birthday (hers is the day after mine! Weird, huh?) so that was lovely too.

I didn’t receive much for my birthday, but the thought was there, and some of the gifts I received were money or vouchers which I am still to spend and use. So when I do that, I can do a little haul then and there, but for now I shall show off what my boyfriend bought me for my birthday.

The first thing that my boyfriend gave me was a notebook, this cute Spirited Away related notebook, which is covered in Soot Balls from the movie. He remembered me showing him a post over on Buzzfeed that showed great present ideas for Studio Ghibli fans, and of course this notebook was on there. He got it from a seller on Red Bubble. I hate getting nice notebooks as I never wish to use them, but I’ll be using this one for blog related stuff. I can’t wait to be honest! I’m using up my other notebooks first, and then I shall start to use this one.

As I mentioned in my Boxing Day sales haul (you can read that here) that I knew my boyfriend had bought me a Yankee Candle for my birthday, and he bought me Snowflake Cookie, a Yankee Candle scent I have been after since it came out a couple of years ago. It reminds me of Christmas Cookie but a little stronger, and sweeter. I can’t wait to start burning it now!

I knew I was going to get Lush for my birthday as my boyfriend bought me a gift set whilst we were out and about shopping before Christmas. I had put the huge 1kg bottle of Snow Fairy Shower Gel on my Christmas wish list and alas my boyfriend bought me that for my birthday, as well as the Festive Friends Gift Set. I can’t wait to try out some of the goodies that came inside of the gift set, as well as the massive Snow Fairy.

I don’t know if this is classed as a present or not… But seeing as he bought it me not long before my birthday I imagine it kind of is. I was lusting after the Darth Vader PlayStation 4 controller, but it was sold out EVERYWHERE and if it wasn’t sold out, it was damn expensive. My boyfriend offered to buy me another one, that was just as cool and a little cheaper. One being the 20th Anniversary Edition which is to celebrate PlayStation being around for well… 20 years! It brings back a lot of nostalgia using this controller and I love it a lot! It also means me and my boyfriend can play together, we’ve been playing Little Big Planet 3, and Fat Princess together.

The final present my boyfriend gave me for my birthday was an adorable Eevee plushie from the Pokemon Center in Japan. He bought me a little Mew one, so the fact he got me Eevee too makes me so damn happy. He’s meant to be asleep, and these little plushies remind me of Beanie Babies… Remember them? I BET YOU DO! They’re just like those, and it really does take me back and bring all those nostalgic feelings back too. He was lovely to place on my chest whilst I played PS4 games, and I ended up cuddling both the Eevee and the Mew when I had a nap. Cute, much? Hell yeah!

So that’s the goodies I received for my birthday from my boyfriend. His parents bought me the amazing Lush Sweet Christmas gift set which was full of yummy goodies! My mom gave me some money, and my brother gave me some gift voucher for Debenhams… Think that will keep me supplied with lipstick for quite some time. 😛

My birthday was really nice this year, but it came and went in the blink of an eye!

What do you think of the gifts I received? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’ve had a great weekend!

Boxing Day Sale Haul

I can’t believe how fast the past couple of weeks have flown by! It only felt like yesterday that we were celebrating Christmas, than New Year, and yesterday it was my birthday. I have so many posts I need to write-up, but I’ve just been so busy with the celebrations, as well as work, and spending time with loved ones. So in hindsight I’m only just able to write about what I picked up in the Boxing Day sales! I have so many posts to get sorted, so please be patient with me over the rest of the week as I’m busy with work all weekend.

I mentioned in a post on Christmas Eve about what goodies I was contemplating or had even already bought in the Boxing Day sales. One of the main things I bought caused me so much hassle I nearly rang customer service and had a massive bitch out at them… But I was calm and collected (surprising for me in situations like this!) and I got the problem sorted. That item I shall talk about first, to get it out-of-the-way.

• Topshop Two-in-One Velvet Cord Playsuit – £60.00 (link)

It took a while to get this playsuit to my home, and safely in my wardrobe but it was definitely worth it! As I mentioned on my post-Christmas Eve, I had my eye on this playsuit during my holiday, as I saw it being advertised in a magazine. When I got home I got onto the Topshop website as soon as I could, and was sad to see it was sold out. So I had a look in some stores, and they had sold out too. I scanned Depop and eBay, but everyone was charging a fortune. So on Christmas Eve I had a look on the Topshop website again and there it was, back in stock! So with my student discount, and a £20 gift voucher, I ordered it. It cost me £34 instead of £60, which I was really happy about.

However, I soon encountered a few issues when it arrived… 1. It was too small, which was pretty upsetting to be honest, for obvious reasons. No one likes feeling like a fatty! 2. The playsuit arrived damaged. Something had ripped the bag it was packaged in, which had gone through to the playsuit itself and caused it to rip and be covered in mud. 3. It hadn’t even been packaged properly and was clearly one that had been sent back and re-sold to me. I’m not a snob by all means, but damn at least make it look presentable! These were all annoying, and frustrating issues, so as soon as I could I emailed AND tweeted Topshop about it with complaints. The complaints department fobbed me off with the email I received by saying, “Sorry you better take it back to a Topshop store to be looked at, and exchanged.” which made the situation even more annoying than it already was. I was going to make a complaint about it, but it’s past now and I have my new playsuit. However, the people who I spoke to via the Twitter page were amazing! They offered me some compensation by saying I could have free express delivery, AND 10% off. I asked if I could still use my student discount on the playsuit, and they said yes! It was incredibly generous of them, especially considering I only paid £28 for the playsuit in the end, including my £20 voucher and 20% off.

So I am now the proud owner of this playsuit and I cannot wait to wear it out soon. I intend to dress it up with some knee-high socks, and some flats for a cute Japanese school girl look. I might just throw my fedora on for good measure.

• New Look Back Ribbed Cold Shoulder Long Sleeve Top – £8.99 (link)

Sorry I don’t have a picture of this… 😦 I originally ordered two t-shirts from New Look, but I ended up returning the one as it didn’t fit properly. It was extremely annoying to be honest, as on the picture online on the model it looked like a normal length. But when I got it and tried it on, it was more like a crop top. This is due to me having boobs… Big ones at that. The t-shirt was rolling up whenever I lifted my arms in the air. Once again, like the Topshop playsuit it left me feeling less confident about my weight and body, and more like a potato.

However the t-shirt I kept fit beautifully and I’m wearing it right now to be honest. I’ve been after a cold shoulder top for years! Since I first saw my friend Faye (HI FAYE!) wearing one back when I first met her nearly three years ago (wow time flies!). So I’m glad to finally have one of my own. I expect a fashion addiction to start-up soon, especially as I now have my eye on other cold shoulder items from New Look… This wasn’t in the sale, but it was still a bargain at £8.99 and they come in four different colours too! May have to pick up that burgundy one soon.

• The Body Shop Frosted Plum Shower Gel – £2.00 down from £4.00 (link)

I wanted to try this shower gel all over the Christmas period that it was out in store, but I never got around to it… I was trying to save money, and use up products I already had accumulated in my cupboard. As Christmas loomed I found most of my shower gels had gone, and I needed more. So I thought, “sod it for £2.00 it won’t break the bank!” so I ordered it. It’s a lovely shower gel, that with a little it goes a hell of a long way! It has a fruity, yet floral scent to it which I really enjoy, but my boyfriend doesn’t like. I wish I had picked up the Frosted Apple scent now, but hey ho. Can’t have them all (well I could… It’s still available to buy…)!

• The Body Shop Africa Ximenia & Salt Scrub – £7.5o down from £15.00 (link)

I have used this body scrub since buying it, and wow it is amazing! I don’t think there will be any body scrub to top this and that is just after one use. This is a very thick scrub, which is more like a wax consistency (it isn’t wax!) and a little bit of it really does go a long way. I’ve hardly touched mine. I already know I will be repurchasing this scrub as it has really helped my skin already, and it smells amazing too! I can’t wait to review this in the future. Even at £15.00 this is definitely worth the money.

• Boots Soap & Glory Get A Smooth On – £17.50 down from £30.00 (link)

I popped into Boots to get some essentials for myself, but I ended up picking up this gift set after having my eye on it for a while. I was close to ordering this online when I ordered my Christmas Eve Yankee Candle but I wanted to be good and not order too much. I eventually decided to pick this up for various reasons, the main one being that I needed a new weekend bag desperately! It’s a gorgeous silver holographic bag, which is pretty roomy to be honest. I used it for New Years when me and my boyfriend went to our friends for the evening, and everything fit in there perfect. I also love the Sugar Crush collection by Soap & Glory, and so does my boyfriend who has been using the shower gel loads since I bought this set. I’ve used the shower gel, and the body scrub before but never the body spray, and buttercream until now. I love the spray, and have been using it for work.

• Boots Yankee Candle Large Jar in Christmas Eve – £10.99 down from £21.99 (link)

I’ve been after this candle for years, probably 6 or 7 years now… Boy has that flown by! It was a complete steal at £10.99, and I was tempted to buy another Yankee Candle too as they had Christmas Cookie and Snowflake Cookie for the same prices, but I left the last two as my boyfriend admitted he had bought one of them for my birthday (you’ll find out soon which!) so I just bought Christmas Eve. I can’t wait to burn it soon.

So that’s everything I picked up in the sales! I don’t think I did too bad in hindsight. I did buy some goodies from Lush, but that’s for a separate post coming up soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

What did you manage to pick up in the sales? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all.

April Wish List

I won’t lie when I say that this wish list post seemed hard to do at first because I honestly don’t really want anything special at this moment in time. I put that down to wanting to save money and I did infact treat myself towards the end of March to a few things (3DS game, Wall E Pop Vinyl and Attack on Titan badges…).

However I did think long and hard and even searched through my wish list folder in my bookmarks, as well as my history and found 6 things to talk about. One I actually spoke about last month but there is a reason why I’m bringing it up again this month.

So this is my wish list for this month, some I don’t need, some I would like. But for the majority, I probably won’t even buy.

• Cooking Mama Bon Appetit Nintendo 3DS Game.

Now I’ve bought a new game I probably have enough games to last me another couple of months, but no. No that never happens. I’ve always loved the Cooking Mama games and whilst they’re seen as being stressful due to the sort of challenges you need to complete, I find it rather relaxing at the best of times. I also never get time to cook in my real life (not properly anyway!) so it’d be good to try and attempt to make some dishes in game anyway. This isn’t that much money either so if I’m really bored and want something new, it won’t break the bank for me.

• Yankee Candle Set of 2 Celebration Large Jars (Red Velvet & Celebrate).

I know I spoke about Celebrate last month (link here) but this is sold as a set so sadly I couldn’t avoid mentioning this candle again. My favourite Yankee Candle is Red Velvet but sadly it has been discontinued in the UK, so whenever I find it for sale at a decent price I usually want to buy it. These candles are being sold by QVC at a bargain and whilst they are currently on a waiting list, me and my boyfriend are probably going to be picking these up. I’ll keep Red Velvet and he can have Celebrate. QVC always offer some really good deals so keep your eyes peeled on them for these.

• Vans Realm Backpack in Stars and Stripes Print.

I’m not in any need of a new backpack, but I’m keeping my eye firmly peeled on this one for in future sales. It’s a really pretty Vans one with stars and stripes print all over. My current backpack is amazing, but I have a feeling by the end of uni life it’ll be on its last days. I would like a purple galaxy print backpack, but I shall still keep my eye on this one. I may be trying to get away from my skate/snow style but I love my backpacks, they’re comfortable and roomy.

• Yankee Candle Love is in the Air Hearts Melt Warmer.

I’ve been after a new wax tart warmer for ages, as whilst my current one does the job, it is badly chipped in most places and not exactly the best to look at due to it. Plus I only paid a couple of quid for it, so I can’t complain much. Who can deny a cute melt warmer, which will leave your melts in heart shapes? I’ll wait for this to go into the sale mind, as I’m not paying over £10 for this. That’s just too much for me.

• My Neighbour Totoro Notebook.

I love notebooks. I always want a new one and I honestly don’t know why. But for my dissertation I really want this notebook. I’d carry it around with me everywhere for ideas and to jot bits and pieces in. This isn’t that expensive and I’m pretty sure it isn’t official, but I’m not that bothered about it. I love My Neighbour Totoro so I can’t really deny this being mine. I have also spied an Attack on Titan notebook that looks exactly the same as this one, but I don’t think any are for sale over on eBay at the moment… I will keep my eye out though.

• Nendoroid Yoshino.

Finally we have a Nendoroid I’m after and my boyfriend has actually bought for me. I’ve always been drawn to this Nendoroid and whilst I don’t know why, I do at the same time. I mean, look how cute she is!? She’s from the anime Date A Live, which I’ve only started watching recently and whilst it is rather odd, it’s also pretty cool too. I need to finish watching the first season so I can move onto the second, which started not long ago in Japan. Nendoroids have definitely turned into my guilty nerdy pleasure and I just can’t help but be fascinated by them. They’re so damn cute and make great collectables for adults and anime fans alike. She didn’t even cost that much including postage which is amazing. The sad news is I won’t be able to have her until August, sad times. But she’ll certainly be worth the wait!

So what do you have on your wish list this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care all and see you soon.