Birthday Meal with the Family

Hey!

So my birthday isn't until Wednesday but my mum is travelling a lot at the minute with work so this weekend was the closest chance we'd have to celebrate my birthday just the four of us! So we decided to go to our local Coast to Coast in Sheffield and have a feast!

I wore one of my holiday dresses and I love it! Its from Love (Brands at Topshop) and you can find it here :) I have it in two colours and it's gorgeous.

You'll see my awesome cake in this photo, my little sister is quite the baker and she made me this awesome pig cake

I did take some pictures at the restaurant but my tablet doesn't want to recognise my camera so I can only upload these photos that I had on my phone! :)

It was lovely to spend time with the family, they spoilt me way more than I deserve!

I spent all of today building my new lego iron man house and helicopter. Yes I asked for a superhero lego set for my 22nd birthday haha. I don't think you ever get too old for lego, no matter what you say, you get excited if a child asks to play with lego with you, so why not just play with it anyway!

I also want to say a massive happy fathers day to my dad who is amazing, and has always been there for me :) Love you dad!

I hope you have all had an amazing weekend, and spent it with your loved ones :)

Love from Amylou x

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A Mini Mason Jar Obsession

Hey!

I don't know about you, but I think mini mason jars and mini glass milk bottles are the cutest things ever. I've never had any mason jars, but the milk bottles are just like the ones the milkman brought us every day in primary school, adorable. Add a paper straw, and you've got me hooked.

This obsession has either come from Pinterest or Etsy, but either way, it's one that's sticking with me!

They look like such cute and fun glasses for drinks in the summer or at a party, and also make the most adorable vases for mini bouquets!

I've had a little browse of pinterest and thought i'd show you some of my faves! (All photos are from Pinterest and are not my own - I wish they were though!)

I mean how cute?! Unfortunately I don't have room for them as i'm staying at my parents house for a while but when I move back into my own place I can't wait to look into buying some!

What are your thoughts on recycling/upcycling old jars and bottles? Would you ever use them?

Love Amylou x

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My Summer To-Do List

Hey!

I decided to do something a bit different today and make a list of all of the things that I want to do this summer/the rest of 2014. I seem to always make a list of things that I want to do in the summer, then at the end of the summer, the ones I didn't manage just get forgotten about! So my aim is to do all of these this summer, but if it's runs into Autumn, well i'm only human!

1. Read a book. This one seems like such a simple thing, but when you're busy you find it hard to fit the time in, without feeling guilty! Since starting university I think i've only read 2 books for my own entertainment and not a work-related book, and i've been there almost 4 years!

2. Learn to like healthier food. I think this one will be more of a case of forcing myself to eat it until I like it. Apparently you only have to eat 8 teaspoons of something before you start to like it, so i'm planning on putting it to the test! I'll be 22 in a fortnight and unfortunately I can't live on pizza and fried chicken forever! :(

3. Spend a day doing absolutely nothing. When was the last time you spent a day doing nothing, and didn't feel guilty about it? If it was recent then i'm very jealous! I always feel the pressure to be doing something, and if it's not work then I feel bad about it! But it's important to have time just to do nothing, and enjoy the quiet time!

4. Do something for me. So this one i'm already planning, i've wanted to get highlights for ages now, but didn't because people told me they liked my hair dark. Well I want to dye it and so i'm going to! I think this ties in with me just generally living my life for me, and not just doing what makes other people happy or what they want me to do, but that's a whole other story! :)

5. Do something new. There are so many things that I just don't know how to do/have never experienced. Even if it's something super simple like cooking a new meal or going somewhere i've never been before. Although nothing to do with balance, i'm not expecting miracles here haha

6. Take more photos. Something I don't tell people very often is that I actually love photography. I'm just not very good at it. Photos capture memories and they are so valuable that you should take as many as you can. I love taking photos, and whether others think they are good or not, if I like the way it looks, it just makes me so happy, and we should always do more of what makes us happy!

7. Spend more time with family and friends. Something so simple as lunch with my girls, baking with my sister or a bbq with the family can make such a difference to your mood. Or to mine anyway! I'm very blessed to have a very supportive and close group of family and friends, and just spending time enjoying ourselves together is priceless! Cheesy, but those are the people who will always be around you, so why not spend as much time as possible with them! You don't want to look back and just remember all those times you were on your own unhappy, when you could have been with them enjoying life!

A short list, but an important one I think! 

What are your plans for the summer? Is there anything in particular that you want to do?

Love, Amylou x

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My Wantfeed Wishlist

Hey!

So it's my birthday in 2 weeks (well, 15 days) and I've been using the Wantfeed website to make a list of all the things I've been loving! It's great to have a site where you can list everything you like in case people are ever stuck when it comes to your birthday! I also love it because I have the worst memory and I always forget what I've seen and wanted, so now it's all there in one place! I think my favourite thing about it is that you can find people with similar likes to you, and then see the things that they want! Great for if you feel like you want to look at things you don't usually look for yourself! :)

I just thought i'd share with you a few of the things I've been adding to my list recently!

You don't just have to add girly things either, there are categories for cars, art, weddings, home décor, all sorts! Definitely a new favourite site to visit!

Have you tried out Wantfeed yet? If you have, share your page link below!

Love Amylou x

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Staying Positive/Motivational Quotes

Hey!

I'm not usually one for looking up quotes or remembering certain sayings but lately I seem to come across a lot that I want to remember, so I thought i'd share them here! Plus i've been watching a lot of revenge recently and I love the quotes they start with!

If this isn't your kind of thing then feel free to skip this post! But I've just been having a tough time lately and some of these have helped me keep my head up high, hopefully if you ever need them they could do the same for you too! :)

This first one I came across on Pinterest (I know, shocker) but I just think it's so true:

"As you grow up, you will learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once, and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every 60 seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back. Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin" - Unknown

One that's short but simple (Also Pinterest):

This one is from www.bitsotruth.blogspot.co.uk and I definitely recommend you pop over and visit if you feel like you need an inspirational quote!

Then finally one of my favourites:

It's important to remember that if you don't think you have enough to be happy, you probably never will, the only way to be truly happy, is to know you already have everything you need, anything extra is a bonus, not a necessity.

Love Amylou x

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Make-up and accessories haul!

Hey!

I seem to be starting these things way too often with an apology! Whilst I try to write as often as I can, life keeps seeing to get in the way!

In my absence however I went for a little shopping trip! I spent a good 4 or 5 hours girly shopping with my sister, so I thought i'd show you my favourite things that I just bought! :)

 So this first one could be cheating, whilst I did buy it this weekend, it's actually for my birthday which is in a couple of weeks, so I'm not allowed to keep it just yet, isn't it pretty though! I've been using the sleek palette which is quite similar but I love the naked range by urban decay so I thought i've give their flushed palette a try! I got this one from Debenhams and it was £22 :)

If you spend £50 in debenhams at the minute you get 500 bonus beauty points, so it would have been rude not to buy something else! The search led to these lovely new YSL products :)

I've been looking for a felt tip-style eyeliner, and I've heard good things about the soap and glory one, however boots is at the opposite side of meadowhall (shopping centre) to debenhams and so I went on the search for a similar product and came across the Shocking False Eyelash Effect eyeliner from YSL, i've already used it twice and I honestly don't know why i've been struggling with a paint pot and brush for so long, when these eyeliners make it so much easier! This one was £25 from the Yves Saint Laurent counter at Debenhams :) which is a bit pricey for an eyeliner, but I think you have to be really careful what you put on your face, especially if you have sensitive skin! 

That didn't bring the total quite to £50 and that's when the assistant at the YSL counter pointed out their new mascara gift set. Which includes a full size luxurious mascara and a mini eyeliner pencil and their best selling lipstick. The lipstick is a deep red and so adorable, it's about half the size of the regular lipstick and so fits perfectly into your handbag! The mini pencil is also ideal for sticking in your bag for any last minute touch ups! The whole set was £24.50 which I thought was really good as that is the same price as buying the mascara alone! You can get it online here :)

One last thing I got from debenhams was this brush shampoo from Bare Minerals

I've always just used my shampoo but when I saw this I wondered if it would make any difference, and I was very pleasantly surprised! (If not a little disgusted at how much make up it actually pulled off my brushes) I put a few drops into a bowl of warm water and let my brushes soak in it for about 5 minutes, they seemed even better than new, really soft too! It was £10 from bareMinerals at Debenhams which again could seem a bit much but I loved it, and i'll definitely be buying it again when it runs out!

I decided it was time to step away from debenhams then! And moved onto next and topshop! I love the colour mint green, and so when I found this bag I instantly fell in love!

At only £22 from Next I just had to buy it, it matches so many different colours and will go great with all the new pastel clothes i've bought for the summer! I would go on, but I don't think I really need to say much more!

I did get a few new outfits but i'm terrible at photographing clothes so i'll have to show you those in a lookbook/ootd type post(s)! I've been having a super stressful time at home so it was just nice to have a day with my sister not thinking about much and having a girly lunch/shop/pamper day! 

What do you like to do to chill out? Have you tried any of the products that I bought? Would love to know what you thought of them!

Much love, Amylou x

disclaimer - all products were purchased by myself with my own money and all views are entirely my own.

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Home accessories

Hey!

If you don't like interior decorating, or buying products for your kitchen that you'll only use once, then you probably won't like this post. But, if like me, you love the little details, DIY and always want things for rooms that you haven't yet decorated, then this is the post for you!

I spend way too much of my time looking on Pinterest and Etsy and in stores like Laura Ashley picking things up and saving pictures of things that one day, i'm gonna put in my house. So I thought i'd share some of my favourites with you! :)

(I'll post some photos of my own in my next post, I promise!)

This one is not just actually one product but a whole shop on Etsy (great start Amylou) and it's The Lauren Collection. The different wreaths and cushions are just adorable, and the great thing about this shop is that they also tailor make things just for you, so you are getting something personal. These cushions are my absolute favourite:

I always greet my boyfriend with hey handsome, and he always says hey gorgeous, so I kind of feel like I need these in my life.

Now this little decorating idea I can't trace back to it's original post! I found it on pinterest and it links to dotcomsformoms.com but when you click it, it says it has been removed. But I am in love so I will share it with you here:

Is that not the cutest little playhouse EVER? I feel like I need to live in a house with a staircase, for the sole purpose of building this.

I don't think this needs an introduction:

My own soft serve ice-cream machine?! I need this. It even has little compartments to put your toppings on! I don't believe you if you say you don't want this. You can buy it here from the Chef's catalog. You're welcome.

My last link is to another Etsy shop called Designs by Nicolina. She makes cards and quotes to hang on your wall and they are adorable and I want to buy them all. Show i'll show you a few! :)

Did I mention La Vie en Rose is my favourite song ever?! :)

Love Amylou, x

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