Ten Things I Love About Being Home

As its the long bank holiday weekend I thought I spent it at home with the parental department. It's been a great weekend with some amazing sunshine; I burnt my ear like a pro ginge. It all makes me actually quite excited to be moving back home from a month in August between when my work placement ends and the new university term starts. So for this Ten Things post I thought I would list the ten things that I enjoy about being back north.

1. The shopping. It is tradition to go shopping with the mothership whenever I'm home for the weekend. Today we went to the Metrocentre and I bought these two dresses from Primark for £5 each  - bargain!

2. The food. How is it that the cupboard is always full of delicious goodies? I'm definitely not complaining!

3. The freebies. I always find things in my wardrobe at home which I'd completely forgotten about. It's like getting free clothes. And sometimes this actually is the case; this weekend my mum gave me these bright red brogues which she bought ages ago and never wore because their too small. Don't mind if I do!

4. The samples. My dissertation research required lots of stream water samples. And my mother is very kind enough to offer to come and help me with the job, especially on the sunniest day I've ever been at Moor House. Saturday will go down in history as the first day I ever wore just a t-shirt at Moor House.

5. The DVDs. Most of my DVD collection and boxsets reside at home. Many joyous wars gradually turning my eyes square.

6. The towels. Does anyone else find that the towels at home are so must softer?....

7. The work. My parents are in the middle of a massive project of re-modelling their garden. This weekend I worked to tunr over and move a giant mountain of soil and make a raised bed. And then I planted this rose. Today I can feel the ache, but it's a good one like the burn after you've exercised.

Excuse the odd attire!

8. The Tesco visit. I miss just being able to pop down into town and pick up a teeth decaying feast for a fiver.

9. The talk. (I'm being sarcastic, no one in their right mind enjoy The Talk) What am I going to do when I finish uni? How I am going to afford it? Where am I going to work over the summer? I don't know. Now let me watch X-Men in peace

10. The roast dinner. I know I've already said food but, come on, a roast dinner is in a whole league of it's own! Especially with gravy, lots and lots of gravy.

I hope that you've all had a super-amazing bank holiday weekend. Can it not just last one more day, pretty please?

Ten Things I Would Tell My Past Self

I was thinking that it was about time I did another Ten Things post as I haven't done one in a while and they're great for when I'm suffering a bit of bloggers block and don't really know what to post. Buuuuut then I was totally uninspired as to what I could list 10 things about! Then I saw Chrissy's post  about the things she wishes she could tell her 16 year old self. So that got me wondering, if I stumbled across a time machine (as you do on the average Wednesday evening...), what would I want to tell the past me?

1. Wear sun cream. You're ginger, for God's sake! Slather it on like there's no tomorrow. Especially on your face otherwise you will end up with a seasonal freckle mustache. 

2. Don't waste time worrying about everything. Everything will be fine. Don't let it hold you back.

3. Get the maximum student loan for all your time at university. Then what you don't use you can throw it into savings until you need it for your Masters degree. Future you has a pitiful amount in her Masters fund and wishes she had thought of this earlier.

4. Triple vodkas for a £1 is not a good idea. You will not enjoy hugging the toilet all of the next day.

5. Don't be such a pushover. Man up girl! 

6. Don't go to the hairdressers thinking you'll be adventurous. I can guarantee that full fringe won't seem like such a good idea two months down the line when its super wonky from where you tried to trim it with nail scissors.

7. You don't get anywhere sitting around on your ass all day. Grab every opportunity that comes your way and get involved in everything that takes your fancy. Go out there, put in some hard work and make some memories while you're at it.

8.  When you go skiing, listen very carefully to the instructor about how to stop before you head off down the hill. It is awkward when you take out an entire group of other skiers with your blatant lack of skiing ability. 

9. Hello ickle baby Holly! When you grow teeth don't start biting your nails because it'll take you 20 years to break the habit.

10. Don't hug that man at Manchester airport. From behind he looks very much like your dad but he's not, they just have the same coat and are both bald. Carry on walking past him and you will avoid the most embarrassing moment of your life.

My beautiful mother and myself at about 3 years old. This is one of my favourite photographs from my childhood.

What would you want to tell your past self?

Ten Bedroom Inspirations

I was thinking that it was about time I did another ten things post.

I've been scouring around for bedroom decor inspirations lately because a few weeks ago I signed the contract for my house for next year when I'm back at university. I'm so excited about my new room! Its currently Elliot's room but he'll be graduating this year and plans to go home to Liverpool so I'm going to have his room. Its a gorgeous room (when its not covered in the general mess that guys apparently are happy to live with); its got an amazing high ceiling and a big bay window and a fireplace. Its lovely and light, and unlike all the other bedrooms in the house it doesn't have God-awful granny-pattern carpets (ah, the quirks of student housing). It just has so much potential to be a beautiful room so I've started looking so some inspirations for decor ideas. These are my favourites from what I've found recently.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

I love the huge Paris mural 

6.

7.

I want a wall of books. Stat. 

8.

A photo collage is a must; I love displaying memories.

9.

I so need a quote on the wall.

10.

I know, I know, but a girl can dream, right?!

As you might be able to tell, I'm loving the fairy lights. They just make any room look so cosy and just make me totally relax. I really want to get some of these ambient balls. I'm also crushing on bunting right now. Look how amazing some of these bunting designs are. 

Hope you are all having a good weekend. I've spent the morning in bed, the afternoon blitzing the kitchen and the evening lounging on the sofa with my flatmate James watching Being Erica. Such an addictive show, you guys should watch it.

H x

Ten Table Lamps

So, I've decided to set up a feature called 'Ten Things' where I show you the things that I am crushing on at the moment, the ten things to be precise. I totally started getting into the whole internet window shopping malachy lately and have seen so many pretty and quirky items that I want to share with you guys so I'm going to make it so that each Ten Things post has a theme, and I've already made a list of a whole bunch of themes I want to do!

The first theme for Ten Things is going to table lamps. Random, I know, but a few weeks ago I tragically broke my all time favourite table lamp; I was vacuuming and accidentally pulled on the wire, making the table fall over. The shade was made of glass so obviously smashed into a million and one tiny pieces which was heartbreaking to watch as, not only did I love the lamp just because it looked really cool, but my parents had bought it early on in their marriage from Habitat so it had sentimentality too. Now I'm looking for a new table lamp and, in my searching, I've uncovered some pretty amazing ones. Here's ten of my favourite:

1. Baby bedside lamp from Radiance
I love this lamp because its just so pretty. I've never usually one for pink but this looks so gorgeously delicate.

 2. Bottle neon lamp from Notonthehighstreet.com
At first I thought these were a bit garish but now I think they're great. I'd want to get a few in different colours and display them all together.

3. Louie white glass table lamp from Habitat
This lamp is basically the contemporary version of the one I broke. When lit, they look like balls of light and give this amazingly soft glow to the whole room.

4. Vintage cup and saucer table lamp from Folksy
My friend who is studying art made a lamp base similar to this and it was incredible. So I was really excited when I came across this one which is made from a set of vintage cups and saucers.

 5. Jeeves table lamp from Graham and Green
Because who isn't a fan of Jeeves?!

6. Love Heart Lamp from Next
I think this would look gorgeous on some shelves or a bedside table with fairy lights draped around. Oooh, and maybe a few candles and flowers.

7. Birdcage table lamp from Dunelm Mill

This birdcage design is incredible value but is cute enough not to be too tacky. It's look perfect in a pretty bedroom which had the whole pristine, starch white linen look about it. Unfortunately my bedroom could never be described as pristine. 

                                       

8. Colgao from enPieza
I find this lamp quite creepy, yet somehow still charming.

9. Upcycled Jagermeister bottle lamp from Notonthehighstreet.com
This is a fabulous lamp! I love it, love it, love it! It comes in some many different kinds; Disaronno, Smirnoff, After Shock, Jack Daniel, all the old favourites. Blue Sapphire looks especially cool because it glows blue. And the best thing about these lamps is that they recycle old bottles whilst looking wicked. Tempted to have a go at making this with some LED lights rather than fork out a whole bunch of money for it. And that way I'd get to enjoy some (possibly not so) quiet nights in with a giant bottle of Jagermeister!

10. Wise Owl table lamp from Urban Outfitters
Finally we get to the lamp that I most want to buy for my bedside table. However, disaster has struck and Urban Outfitters have suddenly stopped selling it! Will have to keep my eyes pealed for something similar. I don't care how mainstream it is, 'm just loving the whole owl craze at the moment.

Keep an eye out for the next Ten Things post. Excited to make this a regular thing!
H x