Lifestyle | What's In My Bag

Hey,

I love reading what's in my bag blog posts, so thought I would do my own version!

I got this bag for Christmas after spotting it in a little independent shop near my home. It's a tan and cream colour block satchel type bag from the brand 'Fashion Star' (who after a hunt online only seem to stock directly to stores - sorry!). Two aspects of this bag I love, firstly it's size. It's big enough that you can fit lots in but not so big you overfill it, which I often do. And second is the many different sections inside the bag which you can see in the photos below.

  

So what's inside?!

Inside the front pockets I keep my iPhone. I recently upgraded to the iPhone 5S in the Silver, and it's beautiful - plus 4G is the best thing since sliced bread!

In the zipped back section I keep my keys, and in the middle section at the back, some essential items - tissues, a mini Clarins Hand and Nail Treatment Cream (link), Soap & Glory Hand Maid (link), a nail file and some pens.

  

Then in the main section I keep everything else! Here you'll find my diary which I got from W H Smiths (which is an essential item for me at university), an umbrella which I got from ASOS (because living up North it rains...alot!) and my purse which is a purple/red snakeskin effect from John Lewis, crammed with more loyalty cards than I thought was imaginable! And lastly I have this MAC case which I was given years ago as a gift which at the time was filled with travel sized MAC eye brushes. In here I keep some other essential items including hair bands, a Rimmel stay matte pressed powder in Translucent (link) and a random brush. You'll also find an array of lipbalms - the Carmex Original in a pot (link), a Boots Essential Lip Salve in Peppermint (link) and the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Lip Balm in Dark Chocolate and Mint (link). I normally also have my headphones which are by Sony in there (link), however I seem to have lost them since moving back into my house here in Newcastle (argh!).

 

So that's everything in my bag!  I hope you enjoyed today's post, and feel free to link me to your what's in my bag posts below, I love reading them.

Love Alice x

New Year, New Start

Hey guys,

First up I hope you all had a brilliant Christmas and New Year!

Second, a massive apology for not blogging more regularly at the end of 2013. Things at university got a little hectic and then before I knew it, it was Christmas! Last week I handed in 3 assignments which are the last for a while now, and combined with no January exams I have some free time! 

I thought I would also tell you all my New Years resolutions. Every year I make them but never stick them out for the whole year, so perhaps by writing them down it will make me!

1) Blog More

Like I said, my blog got very neglected at the end of last year. So this year I'm going to stick at it and write more posts for you all! My aim is to blog once a week (and if you're lucky more!), and publish my post every Monday - a nice way to start your week.

2) Lose Weight, Tone Up & Get Fit

I'm combining these under the one resolution. I restarted my health kick at the end of last year and have lost 5 pounds so far (yay!), but now I aim to lose a further 14 pounds/1 stone. Yes it sounds alot, but I was this weight at the end of Sixth Form (nearly 3 years ago) so I know it's possible. To get there I'm going to increase my exercise and tone up. I've restarted running again, still playing water polo, plus doing other cardio and strength exercises to help. I'm going on tour in April with my university water polo team so want to look and feel better by then.

3) No Takeaways

I'm sure many of you can relate - you've been on a night out, perhaps had 1 drink too many and you find yourself in a takeaway shop. This happened to me far too many times last term, and I need to kick the habit. I had this as a resolution last year when McDonalds became my best friend after a night out. I managed reasonably well, only eating 2 between New Year and the middle of June, but it went very downhill when returning to university in September! I transferred the cost of a McDonalds into a separate account after every night out and saved so much money, so I'm going to do the same this year and use that money to treat myself.

4) Run Another Half Marathon
I ran the Great North Run last September, and dare I say it...enjoyed it! I'm aiming to run it again this year in aid of charity. I ran it in 2 hours 18 minutes last year and am aiming to run it in 2 hours-2 hours 5 minutes.

5) Keep Working Hard At University
Being in my second year now, everything counts towards my final result, so I want to keep working hard and am aiming for a 2:1 at the end of this year (or a 1st if I'm lucky!).

What are your New Years resolutions?

See you next Monday!

Love Alice x

Quick Post!

Hey,

Just a really quick post from me now (back in university at 4!) to apologise for the lack of posts over the last few weeks. Things got incredibly hectic with assignment deadlines, water polo training and matches and life in general! 

There will be a photos post later tonight of the last few weeks and then normal blogging should resume now I have no more assignments to hand in until January.

Also I'm nearly at 100 followers, so thank you for reading!

Hope you are all well,

Love Alice x

Lifestyle | My Week #4

3rd October - 9th October 2013

1. Pre drinks with 2 of my housemates

2. Silly faces

3. Work is already building up

4. Casual Sunday morning on our road

5. Selfie before Wednesday night out!

What have you guys been up to this week?

Love Alice x

Lifestyle | My Week #2

19th September - 25th September 2013

1. Quiet night in

2. Bongo fun whilst watching Geordie Shore

3. Attempt to sort my life out

4. Snazzy t-shirt and badge for the Newcastle University Visit Day this Saturday

5. I won a £250 Clarins voucher as part of their Summer Draw!

Quiet one on the picture front this week! 

What have you guys been up to?

Love Alice x

Lifestyle | My Week #1

A new weekly post from me - my week in photos!

12th September - 18th September 2013

1. (Larry) Lucky Lamb birthday cake - my sister's 15th birthday

2. Goodbye Oxfordshire

3. BUPA Great North Run

4. Completed in 2:18:45!

5. Unpacking in my university room

6. First night back out in Newcastle

7. Club Trop

Love Alice x

Lifestyle | 5 Tips For Starting University

It's that time of year again when lots of people are off to start university. I'm very jealous of anybody being a 'fresher' this year, I had an amazing first year and would love to do it all again!

But here are my 5 tips for those of you starting university -

1) Make the most of 'freshers' week

If your university is anything like mine, not only will you have a variety of nighttime events, but also events throughout the day. I wish I had made more of an effort to do these daytime activities rather than just sitting around the flat (admittedly with others!). They had such a wide range of activities including cocktail making sessions, paintballing, beach trips, tours of St James' Park, the list goes on! Not only will you get to meet even more people, but the cost of all these was already included in our (rather expensive) wristband for the week.

2) Get involved - societies, clubs etc

Join societies, sports teams etc and get involved with them. Not only will you meet people with the same interests as you, it will get you out and about and looks great on your CV if you take on an active role.

3) Stock up on paracetamol, cold and flu medicine etc

Word of warning now - you will get freshers flu. Its inevitably going to happen, hundreds of new people put into one area and germs are going to spread like wildfire. Stock up on all your cold and flu remedies before you go, so at the first sign of 'the flu' coming your way you can start dosing yourself up without having to try and find the nearest chemist. 

4) Stock up on cupboard essentials

Another stock up, but this time with kitchen cupboard essentials - tins of beans, soup, dried pasta, jars of pasta sauce etc. When you've spend the majority of your loan and you still have another week until you can go home for Christmas these essentials are vital.

5) Enjoy first year

Don't stress out too much, do some work, but also go out and have fun. The phrase 'work hard, play harder' springs to mind. First year is such an amazing year of your life and is the only time where the phrase 'you only need 40%' can be used! This time next year, you'll be sat here like me, thinking this year I'm going to have to do some more work...

Are you off to university this year? Have fun!

Love Alice x

Hello!

This is my third attempt at starting this blog and I'm still slightly hesitant, maybe it'll be third time lucky eh?! I've toyed with the idea of 'blogging' for a few years now, having developed a perhaps, slightly unhealthy obsession with makeup and beauty products. This obsession only seems to keep growing, despite my limited student budget. As well as this, I want to create lifestyle type posts.

So where do I start...well I'm Alice, and I'm about to start my second year at Newcastle University. When not at university I live in a rural West Oxfordshire village, my two homes are very different as you may imagine! 

I aim to create a lifestyle/beauty/fashion blog, which I hope many of you will enjoy and continue to follow on its journey (hopefully I'll get a bit further compared to other attempts to start!)

Love Alice x