AUGUST FAVOURITES 2018

Hello everybody!
Can you believe August is over already? It's sad that summer is coming to an end but I am also really excited about Autumn and Winter. I love the cosy months where you can layer up and start thinking about Christmas. I know there's a huge divide between those who are buzzing for Christmas (me) and those who roll their eyes and groan "It's still Summer for crying out loud!" (Callum). I'd love you to let me know in the comments or over on Instagram which one you are!

I've started looking for Christmas presents and am searching for some brands who would like to get involved with my Christmas gift guide series, so if you know of any, please let me know!

Anyway, enough about Christmas. This month I went on holiday and I took several (seven) books with me. Then I ran out of books. My mum had finished her book and lent it to me to read and as soon as I had finished it, I went on Amazon and ordered the second book. Why Mummy Drinks is a hilarious book about how bringing up children is not as perfect as people make it out to be. There are some huge laugh out loud moments in both books (the second book is Why Mummy Swears). Although I'm not a mum yet, I still found the books hilarious and I could relate to some of the things that the children did because it reminded me of when I was younger (and a pain in the arse, I now realise!)

I recently got my exam results and my mum bought me this Pandora Study Book Charm to celebrate. It is a really lovely piece and I've added it to my black leather bracelet.

I went to York for the pop up Shakespeare Rose Theatre experience. I went to see Romeo and Juliet but I purchased a Coriolanus quote magnet that says "Have We No Wine Here?" The experience was really good, the actors were fab and it was a really good weekend. I started a magnet collection earlier this year but currently all my magnets live on my radiator as I don't have my own fridge yet.

Whilst I was in York, I visited the Primark store and got this letter board which was reduced from £8 to £5. It comes with hundreds of letters to customise the board with. I've chosen a quote from The Greatest Showman at the moment but I can change it up as often as I like. I also got some fairy lights with pegs for £3. I'm looking forward to hanging up some photos using these.

Before I went to York, it was our 6 month anniversary so Callum bought me some lovely presents, including this Adventure Book from the film Up. I'm really looking forward to documenting our story together, like in Up. This has such sentimental value as well as being such a lovely gift!

I got Callum a new belt from Rydale. They have a range of belts available on their website and in store too for really affordable prices! This one is reversible from black to brown. Callum says he likes it and it seems really good quality too!

I got this Wensley scarf from Joules recently in the sale and it pairs perfectly with my black and white Harbour top. As Autumn just around the corner, it makes sense to have a few scarves handy to keep you nice and warm!

My mum ordered me some small baskets for my uni room. These are from Amazon. She also got me a set of 4 Bee coasters from Sass & Belle and a foldable cactus bag. If you've read my other blogs, you'll know that I have several bee themed items already. I also have a (small) obsession with cacti. I've been collecting them since I was around 11 and currently have over 20 in my bedroom.

Finally, this week I went to see Christopher Robin with my family and it was such a good film! I was sobbing all the way through. I won't spoilt it for anyone who hasn't seen it but I really recommend that you all go and watch it!

Thank you for reading! I've got more exciting blogs planned so keep your eyes peeled for them!

Charlotte x

MARELLA DISCOVERY 2 (TUI)

A few weeks ago, I went on the Marella Discovery 2 which is part of the Tui company. The ship has 11 decks, 918 cabins, 7 bars, 7 restaurants and 2 pools. We chose the Adriatic Explorer itinerary, featuring Corfu, Slovenia, Italy, Croatia and Montenegro.

The cruise was all inclusive, however for certain restaurants such as Kora La, Surf & Turf Steakhouse and Sushi Bar, there were extra charges, alongside 'premium drinks', such as Heineken, Bombay Sapphire, Absolut and champagne. In the all inclusive buffet restaurant, they even had Wensleydale cheese!

All inclusive drinks included a wide range of cocktails, prosecco, cava, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and many beers and ciders including Foster's, Budweiser, Peroni, Guinness and Strongbow. As well as mocktails and other soft drinks.

The ship had a range of activities available, including mini golf, a climbing wall, virtual reality experience, Broadway show lounge and an outdoor cinema. There were clubs for children and teenagers too. The ship had a spa and gym and a shopping area too.


Around the ship there were brightly coloured penguins, These kept getting moved around by both staff and guests. Here are some pictures I took of the penguins.

Saturday
The first day on the ship (Saturday) was spent at sea. This was a good opportunity to make use of the ship's facilities, however both pools were extremely busy. As we were in the middle of the sea, phone signal was extremely limited. I came across one bar for a few minutes, but that was all. The ship has an internet service, however it costs a fortune to use. I was a little disappointed at the lack of a free internet service. Most hotels/restaurants/cafes have free internet and the cost of a cruise is a considerable amount more than those anyway, so to pay for internet as an add-on seems a little unfair. That was my only major fault with the ship though.

 Sunday
On Sunday, we arrived in Koper, Slovenia. Koper is a pretty coastal city with many cafes, shops and sculptures/fountains.

Monday
Overnight we sailed to Venice, Italy. Monday was spent exploring Venice and doing all the classic tourist things. We saw the Bridge of Sighs and many, many gondolas. To get from the ship to St Mark's Square we took a water bus (which I believe was 14€ each for a return ticket). 

Tuesday
We sailed into Split, Croatia and wandered around the town. There were many shops, cafes and souvenir stalls. We had ice creams from a stall as it was very warm!

Wednesday
On Wednesday we went to Dubrovnik, Croatia. We got off the ship and had a really quick walk around but didn't get much chance to explore because the heat was getting to us too much. There were many souvenir stalls and gift shops.

Thursday
The last day was spent in Kotor, Montenegro. We took the tender boat from the ship to the shore and wandered around the historic town. We stopped for a drink in a bar with Wifi. Be aware that in Montenegro, data roaming/texts/ phone calls will cost you an absolute fortune. If you want to use the internet, turn off your data roaming and find a cafe, otherwise you'll end up with a hefty phone bill like some unfortunate people on our cruise. I really liked Kotor, it was a very unique town with lots of buskers and many wild cats.

Friday
Our flight was in the afternoon so we had to wait around on the ship all day. We got a courtesy cabin so we could freshen up and leave our bags there during the day. In the afternoon we got a coach transfer to Corfu airport. Corfu airport is not a great place to be when the weather is unbelievably hot. The air con seemed to be broken and there was not enough space for people to stand or walk, let alone sit. We queued for ages and there were flights getting delayed left right and centre. Once the queue finally got moving, we breathed sighs of relief. But then we were made to stand outside under the scorching sun whilst we waited for the shuttle bus. Once on the shuttle bus (which lacked aircon and opening windows) we were packed in like sardines as we waited for the driver to go and get his coffee and chat to a fellow driver. Once we were finally on the plane, things got better and we arrived safely at the airport after our flight.


If anybody has any questions about the ship, any of the places we visited or anything else, please don't hesitate to ask either in the comments below or message me on Instagram.

I hope you enjoyed the blog, keep your eyes peeled for more exciting blogs on the way!

Charlotte x

WHAT TO BUY FOR YOUR UNI FLAT (Bathroom Edition)

Hello and welcome to the bathroom edition of 'what to buy for your uni flat'! This will be the shortest blog as there isn't a huge amount of things you can buy for a small ensuite bathroom.


This bathmat is from Studio and it was reduced from £19.99 to £5.99. I'm going for a grey and yellow theme in my bedroom and bathroom, but this mat is available in different colours.

 I got the small mirror from B&M for £4.99 but I think this will go on my desk in my bedroom instead of my bathroom, I'm not too sure yet. It has two magnifications. I got these butterfly glasses for my birthday so I'm not sure where they're from. These flannels came in a set from Studio (mentioned below).

Studio have 8-piece towel sets reduced from £24.99 to £6.60. They include x2 face towels, x2 guest towels, x2 hand towels and x2 bath towels. I got two sets, one in silver and one in slate. These towels are an absolute bargain and are really good quality too.

My granny got me some Palmolive Aquarium soap because when I was younger I used to love it and made my mum cut out the fish in the middle. I had a huge collection of those fish and used to blu tack them to the walls. Ahh nostalgia.

I got a Metaltex Rolling Cart to put my toiletries and cleaning stuff on to keep them organised. This was from Amazon but many places do similar products.

 Cleaning Products:

• Flash Bathroom Cleaner- Tesco
• Tesco Lime Toilet Cleaner- Tesco
• Bleach- Tesco

Other things I recommend:

• Loo Roll 
• Toothpaste/Toothbrush (& charger if it's electric)
• Shampoo/Conditioner
• Shower Gel
• Baby Wipes
• Toilet Brush
• Painkillers
• Sanitary Products

WHAT TO BUY FOR YOUR UNI FLAT (Kitchen Edition)

Hello and welcome to the kitchen edition of 'what to buy for your uni flat'.

As I'm sharing a kitchen, I obviously don't have to buy as much, but we're each having our own crockery sets/cutlery and pans etc.

I've done a fair bit of my kitchen shopping online at Studio because they have an amazing range of items at extremely affordable prices! This 3 piece non-stick knives and chopping board set is currently down from £16.99 to £3.99! It comes with 3 knives and safety shields and a white chopping board.

I got some more chopping boards from Amazon as well so I can have different boards for raw meat, cooked meat and veg.

I got a set of 4 Click n Seal storage boxes from Studio. These are going to be so useful for keeping my leftovers in and are priced down from £16.99 to £5.99

This 6 piece utensil set from Studio was reduced from £19.99 to £6.99 and they seem really sturdy and of a good quality.

My mum bought me this egg cooker from Studio because I can't seem to boil an egg in a pan! The Tower egg cooker can boil up to 7 eggs at the same time and is also able to poach eggs or make omelettes. This was reduced from £24.99 to £9.99 so my mum bought herself one as well.

My mum got me this Cooksmart set from Studio which includes an apron, three tea towels and oven gloves. I'm not an amazing chef but I've promised my flatmates that I'll make cupcakes so an apron may come in handy so I don't get flour all over myself! This was £14.99 reduced from £29.99.

My Granny does a lot of shopping at Lakeland and she bought me a few things for uni. I can't find this frying pan on the Lakeland website or anywhere else on the internet but it's a Tefal Invissia frying pan. Lakeland have other frying pans so I'll link them here. That link will also take you to some pots as well. My mum is lowkey a hoarder and whilst this is usually a bad thing, it meant she had a spare set of pots to give me (don't ask why because I honestly don't know why she had them). So that was good because it meant I could save a bit of money there.

Other things that my Granny bought from Lakeland include a measuring jug (£4.99), some Toastabags (£6.99)  and some wooden toast tongs (£2.49) because once I tried to get toast out the toaster using a knife and my younger sister had to stop me before I electrocuted myself (yes I am an idiot). these tongs are also magnetic so you can stick them to the side of your toaster so you don't lose them (something I would do tbh).

My granddad had some brand new mixing bowls at his house and said he was never going to use them so I (very kindly) took them off his hands. If you can't scrounge any mixing bowls from anybody, I recommend this set of 3 plastic mixing bowls with lids from Lakeland. They look really good and are priced at £14.99.

My parents bought me these stacking tumblers with a star pattern from Next a few months ago and I bought the matching wine glasses using a Next giftcard that I had. The tumblers were £10 and the wine glasses were £14.

I have a few things for baking those cupcakes for my flatmates but I won't bother including photos of everything:

•  Kenwood Hand Mixer- Currys
• Cupcake Baking Tray- Amazon
• Baking Tray- Amazon
• Cooling Rack- Studio
• Sieve Set- Amazon

Other things I would recommend:

• Metal Tongs- Amazon
• Kitchen Scales- Studio
• Can Opener- Studio
• Bottle Opener/Corkscrew- Amazon  
• Vegetable Peeler- Amazon 
• Wooden Spoon- Tesco 
• Pan Scourers- Tesco
• Flash Kitchen Spray- Tesco

A List of things I still need to get and will link them once I've got them:

• Bread Knife
• Utensil Pot
• Cutlery Set
• Crockery (Plates/Mugs etc)
• Washing Up Bowl
• Kitchen Roll & Holder
• Washing Up Liquid

If you're not sharing a kitchen, you should probably get extra things such as:

• Kettle
• Toaster
• Microwave (if one isn't already supplied)
• Hoover
•  Dustpan & Brush

WHAT TO BUY FOR YOUR UNI FLAT (Bedroom Edition)

Hi everyone!

I decided to write a series of 'what to buy for your uni flat' blogs as I am going to uni in September and have been buying bits and bobs ready for my flat. I am sharing a flat with 4 other people and we each have our own bedroom & ensuite but we're sharing a kitchen/living room area.

I struggled to think of everything I needed to buy and I did a lot of browsing for blogs but none of them seemed to be terribly helpful.

 I got my bedding from Studio as they have a huge range of good quality products for extremely good value! I have two duvet sets, the Dreamscene floral double duvet cover set (which I can't find on the Studio site but they have a huge range of duvet covers) and the retro flower power double duvet cover set which is reduced from £67.49 to £9.99. My mum actually ordered these for me and bought herself a few new duvet sets as well! She got some plain grey fitted sheets, sheets and pillow cases for me as well. The mattress protector is Silent Night and is from Studio for £17.99.
You will also need a duvet and pillows. My mum's friend is buying me my duvet as a late birthday present so I can't really write much about it yet!

My mum got me these cushions to match my colour scheme. The Bee Happy cushion is from Next and was £10 and the bee cushion cover was £9.99 from Amazon. The grey fleece blanket was from Primark and I got it a few years ago.

I don't think this is going to be an essential for everybody because a lot of people I've spoken to have been horrified at the idea but I really like ironing so picked up a Morphy Richards Breeze Steam Iron from Tesco (I think these are only available in store so I'll link another site here.)  I can't find the exact ironing board that I have but Amazon have a range including this patterned tabletop ironing board for £7.70.

I got two of these Curver storage baskets from Tesco and currently one has my towels in it and the other has stuff packed for September. They're grey so match my colour scheme well but I think they're available in black as well. I can't link them as I believe they're only available in store.

My mum bought me this cactus doorstop from Next because I have a rather large collection of cacti/succulents and needed a doorstop, so this was quite fitting.

I had some Next giftcards so I decided to get myself some yellow photo frames. My bedroom colour scheme is going to be grey and yellow and I saw these and thought they would go perfectly. I got two different sizes and they were £7 and £6. Unfortunately these are not available anymore at Next. I found some similar frames by Hampton which are available on Amazon. A desk lamp is essential as well, this one was my granny's but she decided to donate it to me as she didn't use it. Similar lamps can be found at places like B&Q. The medium fabric rice mouse is handcrafted in the Yorkshire Dales by Jackie from Heart of the Dales. She has a range of different fabric rice mice available in three sizes, small, medium and doorstop, as well as fabric hearts and bunting.

I had some New Look gift cards so did a bit of online shopping and got a clock and a mug in the sale. The mug is currently unavailable. 

I have many other things to suggest so I'll just write a list of them below and link some of them as well:

• Cactus pen- Rex London
• Makeup Organiser- B&M
• Coat Hangers- Poundstretcher 
• Fake Tealights- Amazon   
• Mirror- B&M

A list of things I still need to get so will link them as I get them:

•  Duvet
• Pillows
• Pen Holder
• Wash Basket

Other things I suggest taking:

• Makeup
• Hairdryer/Straighteners etc
• Slippers & Dressing Gown
• Fairy Lights 
• Hairbrush
• Chargers (laptop/phone etc)

My York St John hoodie also arrived last week. It was completely free from the university and is really cosy as well. For anyone who doesn't know, I'll be studying English Language at YSJ from September onwards.

I hope you found this blog useful, I'll be uploading the kitchen and bathroom editions soon.

Charlotte x