Explanation Part 6

Who would have thought there would have been 6 occasions where I have a wee apology to you lovely readers for not posting?  Well, I certainly thought it might be the case.  For me, blogging is a hobby, its something I love doing; writing and creating (hopefully) exciting and intriguing posts for you all to read … but its certainly not my life.  Its not my life, its not my job, its just something I do.  Life is far bigger than this blog.

The first thing that happened is I went to Scotland.  Ohh yes, I popped on up to John O’Groates and it was wonderful.  And then when I got home full of inspiration and ideas, my internet decided to stop working .. for 12 days.  Terrific timing.  Anyway, since the internet has been back up and running I’ve just been so busy.  I’ve had a few London days out, headed to Royal Ascot, been to a Boat Party, had my bi-annual Dance Show … life has been pretty hectic.  Hopefully I can fill you all in on it over the coming weeks.

For now … fall in love with life, I dare you.

Fall in love.

March Verbs

A little late in the game here (well, only 9 days but you get the point!).  I’ve moved house!  March has officially been moving month, which I can safely say has completely and utterly taken over my life.  But not in a bad way, I hasten to add.  I have absolutely loved every second, sofa shopping, interiors buying, packing, life in boxes, Ikea flat pack (not so much) .. the list goes on.  It’s definitely the biggest and most exciting thing boyfriend and I have ever done, a new chapter!  And we couldn’t be happier.  Here’s what I got up to in March:

Watching: Kirstie’s Best of Both Worlds

I absolutely love Kirstie Alsopp.  I giggle at her and Phil Spencer, lust after her ladylike elegant dresses and aspire to have her home and property knowledge, which is all rather funny, because boyfriend cannot STAND her.  Anyway, she’s got this great new show on 4od which involves couples searching for the best of both worlds between urban and rural. Being a homeowner and all (squee!), property is another interest added to my list.  This show takes you all around the country, seeing different properties, prices and ideas – a great watch.

The lovely lady herself.

Reading: Debenhams Catalogue

Not particularly literary genius, I know.  Since beginning on my quest for my ideal home, I have found Debenhams homewares to be absolutely excellent.  I think they have the best variety of quirky and colourful designers (right up my street) at reasonably affordable prices (but make sure to wait for the sale!).  The catalogue allows me to peruse at my leisure and pin point bits and bobs I might save up for, all to make our lovely flat a little more lovely.

My March Must-Read

Listening To: Moving House Playlist

Oh yes, we made a playlist.  Since we were without the internet for a while, we reverted back to grand old reliable Itunes to make a moving playlist.  We were so lucky to have all our friends and family rallying round helping us, so it had to be something everyone would like (and not get sick of!).  It mainly included the likes of Bastille, Simon and Garfunkel and Katy Perry.

Bastille made regular appearances in our move.

Wearing on my body: BDG Bad Boys – Comfort Edition

Long term readers may remember a post I did last year about my FAVOURITE ever pair of jeans (which you can read about here:https://bellasbits.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/bdg-bad-boys/ ).  BDG has since become a favourite brand of mine in the jean stakes, and I haven’t been out of this pair this month.  They are really ill fitting Mum, Helen Hunt style jeans, but are comfy as anything.  They are 90s high rise straight leg, but look good with anything and have been a life saver in the moving house department.

They look a bit like this.

Wearing on my face: Maybelline Baby Skin

Having big pores, the same as my Mother and my Grandmother, I have found the recent pore minimising beauty products a life saver.  After a year of shelling out £20+ for Benefit’s ‘Porefessional’ version, when Maybelline launched Baby Skin at just £7.99 I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.  Whilst the quality and coverage isn’t quite as good as Benefit, Maybelline’s product still acts as a great pore minimiser and primer for foundation (just make sure you let it set!).

Baby Skin

Eating: Pizza

Anyone who knows me will know how much I like (okay, love) my pizza.  Our new flat is a stone’s throw from a Pizza Hut, so pizza became a well loved, easy, cheesy comfy favourite in the dinner department.  But April is now here and I’m a year older so I’m trying to only have pizza once a month now.

Too much?!

Drinking: Leffe

As a thank you present to all our friends and family for helping us move, it was only fair we stocked our brand new Whirlpool fridge with ice cold beer for the hot and sticky weekends.  We go to Belgium most years, and this beer has become a firm favourite.  Leffe Blonde is the version we’ve mostly been drinking and is very light and refreshing.

Blondes are clearly the best.

What did you get up to this March?

Moving House and The Ideal Home Show 2014

Its that time of year again!  Where I drop everything, take the day off and saunter off to Earls Court to take in a whirlwind day of interiors, food, drink, make-up and nick nacks.  You’ve guessed it, it’s the Ideal Home Show.  One of the reasons it was so important for me to head to the Ideal Home this year is because I’m moving house!  Therefore, it was absolutely essential to pick up some great interior ideas.  (And now – I’ve lived with boyfriend for 10 months and he’s finally come round to my taste!  No more tartan!)

Being quite the regular (you can see a post on a previous visit here:

https://bellasbits.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/the-ideal-home-show/)

I know what I like, where to go and most importantly when to go.  I.e., you must lightly jog to the show homes at 10.02am to avoid 3 hour queues.  Here’s some snaps of the day:

The amazing entrance!

I absolutely loved this two tone wallpaper, almost dip-dye style.  I think its a design that would like great on a feature wall (I’m maybe thinking of this for my bathroom in a red), because it gives you that colour without being too bold or overpowering.

We’ve got a lovely little alcove wall like these in our new living room, so we’ve decided to fill it with some feature wallpaper to make it really stand out.  I love this library look, but not the entire ensemble of the pictured room.  Whilst I like some elements of Scandi design, the whole wood, burning fire place and off greys is a bit much for me.  But hey, that’s my taste!

I really like the idea of having that shelving above the bed.  I’ve invested in an incredible 5 foot head board that will really draw the eye to the bed, which is of course, the main focus of the bedroom.  We’ve expecting storage to be a slight issue in our new abode, so a shelf across the top of the bed could really help.  You can display treasured items like in this picture (which I’m sure I’ll have a few of!) or have it as more functional storage, with pretty and colourful boxes perhaps.  A great idea.

This is just incredible, I love it.  Its by an artist called JJ Adams, and I’m seriously considering purchasing it.  We’ve got a great wall space in our kitchen where we could really do with some amazing art.  And well this, this pretty much fits that bill!

So there you have it!  I’m moving house (so apologies in advance if I’m a bit AWOL with internet problems etc.) and the Ideal Home Show!  Ta-ta.

 

2013 – An AMAZING Year.

It comes to that time of year again of reflection, reflecting about the past 12 months and what you’ve achieved, whether it’s been a good year, a great year, or whether January 1^st just can’t come quick enough.  I did a similar post this time last year (https://bellasbits.wordpress.com/2012/12/31/gonna-party-like-its-2012/), I do just find it so amazing seeing how far you come.  It’s only when you really sit and think about it, that you realise it.  Here’s what I’ve done this year:

January

• Celebrated New Year in Bruges, Belgium, one hour ahead of London!
• Created the term #SNOLO (Holla, snow day, anyone?!)

February

• Appeared on national television, on the hit BBC1 show ‘Pointless’.
• Had a lovely getaway to Portsmouth to celebrate V Day.
• Partook in the ‘Pure Dance’ dance show in front of hundreds of people with my university street dance competition team.

March

• Competed at one of the biggest university dance competitions in Loughborough with my street dance competition team.
• Celebrated my birthday (ever so slightly early!) with a murder mystery party.
• Once again, attended the amazing Ideal Home Show and at ate at Greg Wallace’s restaurant.
• Attended my first ever baby shower for a great friend.

April

• Celebrated my 21^st birthday with a getaway to beautiful hotel in Bath.

May

• Sat (and passed!) my university final exams.

June

• Spent an incredible 3 and a half weeks in Sydney and the Gold Coast, Australia.

July

• Moved into my first ever grown-up flat with Boyfriend.
• Went to the Cricket for the first time.
• Graduated from university with a BA Geography 2:1 (Hons)

August

• Spent a fabulous two weeks in Cyprus.

September

• Had a lovely few and relaxing days in the Isle of Man.
• Learnt to like red wine (this is a big one!).
• Went Glamping for the first time.
• Rejoined my local dance school, that I have attended since I was 11!
• Began a Masters course in London.
• Joined the gym.
• Went on my first ever London night out.

October

• Saw Jessie J perform live at the O2.

November

• Joined a church Gospel Choir.

December

• Celebrated 3 years with Boyfriend with a weekend city break to Barcelona.
• Performed with the church Gospel Choir in a Christmas carol concert.

To Do:

• Celebrate Christmas with a wonderful few days away in the Isle of Man.

Wow, when you write it all down like that, it really does seem like a lot.  Whilst Bella’s Bits is a place for me to chat to you all about clothes and make-up, it’s also a place where I share some of the bigger, more important things in my life, like my take on political or ethical issues, for example.  It’s also my little diary like slice of the internet where I can think about what I’ve achieved, and looking at 2013, I’m proud!  I really have done so much this year and am so proud and happy with what I’ve achieved.  I feel so blessed with the life and opportunities I’ve been given.  You know, I can’t really do it justice here, there aren’t any words!

I would really encourage you to do as I have, go through your year, and really think about what you’ve achieved.  Think about your friends, your dreams, your family, your hopes, your travels, anything that inspires you to wake up the next day and keep going.

Fall in love with life in 2014, I dare you.

(FYI – I’m taking a bloggy break over the holidays, so have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I’ll see you in 2014.  Toodaloo!)

2010 Year Of Culture: July

So July!  Slightly more prompt on this one, thought I’d blog now cause I plan to be absent for a while.  As of tomorrow I’m pretty much camping solidly for 2 and a half weeks meaning a sincere lack of internet!

Week 27 was the second half of my week in grand old NYC.  And to be perfectly honest, there was enough culture there to last me the whole of next year too, so I think I can get away with that spanning two weeks ;)    Week 28 was so good.  Jet lag in toe, I popped up to London to see ‘Shrek: The Final Chapter’ at the Imax at Waterloo.  Incredible!  By far my favourite of all 4 films and the screen was just amazing.  I hadn’t been to the Imax for a while before that and I’d forgotten it’s sheer scale; flipping huge.  Definitely go if you get the chance!

Now Week 29 was action packed.  First, I headed up to London again to the Grace Kelly Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum.  So beautiful.  I came away wanting to be classy, sophisticated and actually turn into a lady.  All her clothes were just so elegant, hardly anything low cut, no legs on show, just so modest, so simple and so pure.  She said that when you have boring clothes as such (some were very plain and neutral), people pay more attention to you and who you are as a person.  It made me think.  While I can see the merit in her idea, I and many other people use fashion as a tool to express who we are as people, and not let our faces do that.  Maybe it’s her era.  Just got me thinking.  Either way, she was a beautiful lady.

The rest of the week was performing at Camberley Theatre for my final Street Vibes Dance Show (stay tuned for a blog on that one) and a trip to Manchester.  Whilst I quite possibly had 3 of the most intense, stressful and dramatic days of my life up North, I did really enjoy myself and manage to get quite a bit of culture in there!  The Lowry Art Gallery was probably my favourite, hand in hand with a Spencer Tunick Exhibition = Hello Nakedness!

Week 30 was yet another trip to London (It IS only 25 minutes away guys!), this time to Buckingham Palace!  I felt so regal.  I decided I wanted to go and see the State Rooms a few months ago, and slowly it turned into a whole family affair for my Dad’s birthday.  A lovely day out, and the Palace was just amazing!

So July has been a good one for culture!  I’m really enjoying my Summer and every day is bringing something new, amazing and exciting.  Stay tuned y’all :)

One of the 934 shots of NYC, me in front of Times Square.  One of the best holidays of my life :)

Shrek!

SO GOOD – you actually have to see this.

Grace Kelly – quite possibly the most beautiful woman to ever exist

Manchester!  And yet another appearance of the wonderful Rosie Hall :)

Buckingham Palace State Rooms – simply gorgeous.