Pre- birthday celebrations in London

So i appear to have abandoned the blog for a few days now, shame on me i know, but i do have a reason as to why i've been MIA. I went to London for a long weekend to visit some uni friends, a trip that was long overdue, and also tagged on a couple of extra days to stay with my Dad. It's my birthday tomorrow, i'm still trying to come to terms with the fact i'm turning 22- where are the years going?! So this trip was like a pre- birthday celebration.

I am very disappointed in myself that i haven't come home with many pictures but that has to be a sign of a good trip right? There's not much time for snapping away when you're having a good time.

On Friday night i met my friend from work and we headed for a drink or two at a bar in Hoxton, the London nightlife is one of the things i miss the most about the city, I love that there's always so much activity and bustling atmosphere wherever you go. The night ended with a late night dominoes and chill out session back at my friends flat- a great way to end a day of travelling.

Saturday evening saw us head into central London to meet a couple more friends for dinner and after much deliberation we had made a reservation at Cocochan, which turned out to serve the most delicious food. Our table was soon full of an array of Asian dishes including from Dim Sum, Thai green curry, spring rolls, duck salad, edamame, jasmine rice, chilli and lime chicken and of course cocktails and wine. Oh god i'm getting so hungry just writing about it. After dinner we headed to Carnaby Street for gin and tonics... and more wine.

I was also treated to some birthday cupcakes handmade by my friend which were super tasty, that tasty infact i asked for the recipe so i can attempt to make my own.

So all in all i had a lovely few days away, it's always so nice to be reunited with close friends as we all live in different places now. One of the girls brought along her snazzy Fuji polaroid camera and captured some cute photos although sadly she isn't in the one below as she was playing photographer!

Fashion haul

So when i was in London last week i might have done a bit of shopping, in fact quite a lot of shopping. But i've found two ways to justify it to make myself feel a bit better about the amount of stuff i brought home: Number 1- my Dad was feeling rather generous so very kindly treated me to a lot of the clothes, and number 2- i thought the Christmas sales were really rubbish, so now i'm making up for it!

So i thought i'd do a brief haul of everything that ended up in my shopping bags. First up is Zara where i stocked up on basic tops that i think i'll get a lot of use out of, and EVERYTHING i got was from the sale, and were major bargains. I paid between £3.99-£9.99 for each of these pieces- what a steal?!

Next up is Topshop, i went to the Oxford Circus flagship which was surprisingly bearable to shop in, i usually get stressed out in there after about five minutes. I desperately needed some basic blue jeans so opted for a pair of Jamie's, and also found the Joni jeans in olive green which is a shade i'd not seen before. Joni's are my favourite fit, they're super skinny and high-waisted so i know i'll wear these alot.

And lastly are some random pieces i picked up on my travels. The striped jeans are from Pull & Bear which isn't somewhere i usually buy from but i decided to pop in as i was passing the door, and i spotted these. They were reduced from £29.99 to £9.99, and when i see a good reduction things seem to end up coming home with me. They're something a bit different for me so i thought i'd give them a go. Finally are some socks, because you can never have too many, right? I got the Topshop pairs to wear with black cut out boots as i love a bit of tartan at the minute, and as for the animal ones, who doesn't want cats on their socks?

I also got a few beauty products but i will feature those on a separate haul as i fear this one will turn into a bit of an essay...

And finalyyy, weather permitting i'm thinking of doing some look book pictures featuring some of the new things i've got, so keep an eye out for that!

London

Apologies for blogging being rather slack this week, i'm spending the week in London so have been a bit busy. Well when i say busy, i mean shopping and eating. Yeah that's pretty much all i've done. Yesterday i hit Oxford Street which usually stresses me out due to the amount of people and almost overwhelming amount of shops, but it had been so long since i'd been i put my stresses aside and got straight in there!

I actually didn't intend on buying too much stuff, but looking back that was a really stupid thing for me to think. How can i resist the choice here?! So things got a little crazy and i ended up with far too many things that are definitely NOT going to fit in my suitcase to go home. Everything i have brought (so far) is fashion and beauty based so i'm thinking of doing a bit of a haul when i get back home?

And as for food i have already consumed (it's only been two days) Ben's cookies, Pinkberry, Lola's cupcakes and Krispy Kreme. OHMYGOD I FORGOT HOW AMAZING BEN'S COOKIES ARE. And tomorrow i'm heading out to partake in yet more shopping so i expect some more damage will be done in terms of naughty food and other purchases.

So for now i'm going to enjoy my last couple of days in and around the city until i return back home, boooooo.

I couldn't resist some mini Oreo cupcakes

It's not the end, it's to be continued

This summer saw my University life come to an end, and at this transition i think every student either experiences a sense of relief, or utter sadness. It's safe to say i fell into the latter category. Of course this time is also exciting; education is officially over, and the opportunity to get out into the real world and make money is upon us, and who doesn't like money?

But for me these positive feelings were mostly outweighed by negative emotions. I was parting from friends who i had only known for three years, but when you're living with these people, or spending the majority of your days with them, they become a huge part of your life. The realisation that 'uni life' is officially over is something that takes some adjusting too, at the time you feel weighed down with deadlines and projects (which i don't miss!) but in hindsight uni is a pretty sweet way to spend three years. My friends and I were regularly indulging in shopping sprees, eating out, working our way through various cocktail menus, and genuinely having a good time.

Alongside these changes, the thing i found the worst was having to leave London and move back home. Goodbye big city and independence, hello small town and parents! I didn't have a job lined up after Univeristy which meant realistically i had to move back home, as my funds would have rapidly diminished living with Southern outgoings. It had always been my dream to live in London, coming from a small town where you're atleast an hours drive from any kind of city life, i craved hustle and bustle, and diversity. And London did not disappoint.

Six months on from graduating i still miss all of these things, and although i can't relive my uni days i will certainly be returning to the big city at some point. Like many of my fellow graduates i'm also struggling with knowing where i want my career to take me, and sadly Nottinghamshire doesn't quite have the fashion opportunities  that are available in London. So i'm currently working part time at Topshop, which satisfies my need to be around clothes, whilst continuing the search discover what's next.

But that's enough of the downer, i am grateful i had the opportunity to go to uni whilst meeting some amazing people and having great experiences along the way!

Do any of you relate to my post uni woes?

Dress Asos | Shoes Zara