Monday 30 August 2010

One day....



One day.....

One day I'll have them....

Sunday 29 August 2010

So I'm a city girl now...

Well. It has been quite a while since I started on this. I never was any good at keeping a diary.

In the past few months I have:

- got my first grown-up job in the "real-world".
- packed up and left my beloved uni town and house.
- moved back to my Mum's.
- been to Hungary
- been offered and accepted a continuation job from the first real world job.
- packed up and left my Mum's house.
- moved to a city a million times bigger than any of the three seaside towns I've ever lived in.

It's very strange up a moving to a city where I barely know anyone (save the eternally busy "wife". I think saw more of her when we lived 2.5 hours apart!) to be thrown head first in to new environments, new noise, new people. I quite like it...with the exception of the constant traffic noise and bad drivers.

Unfortunately, giving up my beloved student lifestyle of books, coffee shops and walks for my office, laboratory and clothes that must be ironed has made some serious dents in two things: my finances (relocating is expensive!) and my wardrobe. About 85% of my belongings, and therefore 70% of my clothes are still in storage at my Mum's, still in the boxes and suitcases they left my uni house in. I'd never, ever owned proper "work wear" so have had to buy it all both quickly and cheaply, which makes me feel like a clone of every other person who has had to do the same thing. My work clothes all come from Asda and Primark's workwear sections and, while there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, they're just not me clothes. I've not felt like me since I left my uni town and I miss it. So, to get the feeling of me back, I've been on the hunt for what Mr DBB calls "ugly but very you dresses" and we have a winner :) This DPs beauty is exactly the me dress I've been hankering after. Mr DBB said he knew which one I was dragging him across the shop to see before I'd even told him what colour it was. My very fashionable ex-housemate who sometimes despairs at me for my choice of ugly clothes will indeed despair at me for this one. But I lovelovelove it. As soon as I can afford it, it will be mine and I will return to being the mooching, tea-drinking seaside country bumpkin in the ugly-but-brilliant dress, only from now on I'll be doing it as a grown-up city girl :)

Thursday 15 April 2010

Totally Teal - Boots No7 Nail Varnish

I can't find good enough image, but the Totally Teal Nail Varnish is on the Boots website http://www.boots.com/en/No7-Stay-Perfect-Nail-Polish_851324/

I've never really written a review, but I love this nail varnish so much! I'd never bought a No7 nail varnish because of the price, but I had a £5 No7 voucher and bought it a while ago. It's a lovely colour, a sort of murky, darkened teal. The first coat goes on a little streaky, but with the second coat the colour darkens and thickens. When it dries, it's a lovely creamy finish that lasts for ages! I usually, no matter how careful I am, chip nail varnish in less than a day but this one seems quite chip resistant. I had to give a presentation at a poster conference earlier this week and my poster was teal, so I thought it fitting that I would match my nails to my teal poster. Even better, the nail varnish is still going strong with no chips! Definitely a 10/10 from me!

Saturday 3 April 2010

April wishes

It's Spring! I always quite like Spring and look forward to Spring clothing. I like floaty dresses, cute cardigans, no more thick socks and winter coats! There's a fair bit that I want at the moment in the way of basics (grey and brown leggings, some cute flats, new jeans etc) but, in my continuing search for the perfect day dress, I've had my eye on this:



It's from Dorothy Perkins and is currently sold out online. I can't make up my mind if I like it or not. I like the simple shape, but I'm not sure if it will make me look a bit old-fashioned/older. Hmm...I may have to give it a go and see.

I'm really in to nail varnish at the moment. I bit my nails for years until deciding, out of the blue, to stop about this time last year. I can't work out how to post pictures of it, but there's a few OPI shades I'm wanting:

We'll Always Have Paris - a lovely deep purple that looks similar to the Rimmel Black Cherries, which is my current staple colour that unfortunately chips really easily.
Jade Is the New Black
Chick Flick Cherry
Dating a Royal - lovely light blue-purple

I'll be saving up for these!



Testing, testing....

Well now, this is my first foray in to the world of blogging. I've been inspired by a mixture of people, including friends and the girls at fashionbaggers, to give it a go, so here I am. I'm useless at keeping a journal and haven't managed it successfully since I was 11 and had my first crush, so sporadic blogging may be the answer.

A little bit about me. I'm 21, live and study in Wales, am in a long-term relationship with a lovely boy, live with three lovely friends whom I studied with at undergrad and now live with as a postgrad. I can generally be found in uni, at a computer, surrounded by books or musing the day away with friends in a coffee shop/at the pier. Each of those scenarios will most probably include a cup of tea. If I'm at home, the tea will be decaff green tea.

I absolutely adore fashion. I'd describe my style as an underestimate of what it could be, although that's only because of limited shopping facilities in my uni town, a student budget and the last shakes of teenage low-confidence. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not as big as I used to be and, yes, at 5ft 8 is is ok to wear shorter skirts than an old maid and heels. I particularly love the look of ditsy print dresses and flat boots but have never found my perfect dress or boots, so make do with dresses that I fall out of love with after a few weeks and boots that don't quite match. My very fashionable housemate despairs at me for this, but I don't mind it so much.

I also adore books. I would spend my life reading if I could. Unfortunately, this has fallen by the wayside in recent months due to study/work demands. I know most people would be baffled by that and say "of course you can still read while you study", but I have the peculiar habit of only being able to get really in to a book late at night of whilst on holiday. Also, I have a passion for research and a perfectionist streak that often sees my up until the small hours working on assignments and research work. At the moment, my research is my main passion and I'm aiming to get some of my work this year published. If the results are significant, that is!

That leads me to my next passion/vice. Academia and Cognitive Neuroscience. I never want to leave it. I adore it. I want to make a career in research, would love to run my own lab and department and find something truly ground-breaking. I'm working on it. Very slowly, but I'm working on it. I can't wait to start a PhD, I just need to work out where and precisely what I want to do it in as I'm struggling to narrow it down and find somewhere that would let me pursue it.

Lastly and by no means least, the other main part if my life is my other half. I'll call him Mr DBB. He's wonderful. Yes, we bicker like siblings, but he really is the perfect compliment to my personality and I've never met anyone that things just feel so right with. I love him lots. Who knows if it's the real deal, all I know is if it is, I'll be very happy with this being it.

Now that I've rambled away, I should probably post my first blog entry! Happy Easter/chocolate zombie day (depending on your personal preference) to all!