Update and Top 5 Christmas movies!

Hello lovely people,

So last weekend I had full intentions on posting something however the weekend ended up being a rather special one because I GOT ENGAGED!! It was a complete and utter surprise but I am so happy. It was the best early Christmas present ever! so as you can guess my weekend was full of celebrations. This week has also been busy as I am finishing off assignments and packing ready to go home for Christmas. So I thought I would just do a quick post about my top 5 Christmas movies!

1. Muppet's Christmas Carol

If you read my Christmas tag blog you will know that this is my all time favourite Christmas movie. If you love the Muppets then you have probably seen it but if not watch it.

2. Nativity

Now as a teacher I always think how epic it would be to be able to create a nativity like this! This film is one of those that is really unrealistic but just super funny, but it is a great one for Christmas.

3. Love Actually

Now who doesn't love this film. It basically sums up Christmas. If you don't like romantic comedies then this maybe is not the film for you but this is really just one of those great Christmas movies.

4. The Holiday

Along the same lines as love actually this film is just a really sweet Christmas movies. It is one of those films you could just curl up with your best friends and a glass of mulled wine and watch.

5. Four Christmases

This is a really funny film and is basically about how being a family at Christmas is the most important thing. It is not about how much you earn or what presents you give, it is about being together.

What are your favourite Christmas/holiday movies?

So there is my top 5 Christmas movies. Sorry this is such a short post but as you can imagine my life is a bit crazy at the moment. I will be posting something this weekend so keep your eyes peeled for that. I hope you are all enjoying the run up to Christmas and I will speak to you soon!

Love G.x

Christmas Tag

Hello lovely people!

(image from Pinterest)

Its the 1st December!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can hardly contain my excitement!!!! I absolutely love Christmas and today I plan on spending the day watching Christmas movies with some mulled wine. I have some really exciting things planned for this blog over this Christmas period so stay tuned.  However I thought there would be  no better way to kick of the month then with a Christmas tag blog. I got the idea to do this blog from MakeupSavy, so here goes...

1. Do you prefer a real Christmas tree or synthetic?

When i was younger we used to have a real tree every year. I love the smell of real christmas trees, but they are always a hassle to clear up. We have two cats at home and they would always brush against the tree so there would always be leaves everywhere. Then we got a synthetic tree and actually it is pretty good. So after having both i prefer the synthetic, with some christmas tree yankee candles lit.

2. You're in a coffee shop, it's December, what do you pick?

I am always a massive fan of a mocha from starbucks and they have just brought out a orange mocha which i really like. If you like Terry's chocolate orange, then you will like this. So I would have to order that.

3: What's your favourite colour scheme for decorating the tree?

I have always been very traditional when it comes to Christmas and that includes decorating so I always go for the green and red theme.

4. Giving or receiving?

As much as i love opening presents from the people I love, I absolutely love giving presents. I love shopping for people and giving them something that they may not be asking for but completely sums them up as a person.

5. To mince pie or not?

Definitely to mince pie! I absolutely love mince pies and have been finding really hard to resist buying them until December.

6. What's your traditional Christmas lunch?

Turkey with all the trimmings. My dad does this amazing recipe with the Brussels sprouts where he adds bacon and walnuts and lemon juice, it is just amazing. Christmas lunch is probably my favourite meal of the entire year and I normally get through about 2  plate fulls! Greedy I know.

7. Christmas day fashion

Start the day off in pj's, but for Christmas lunch I will probably wear a Christmas jumper and a skater skirt, or a pair of leggings with some boots. Then I will wrap up warm with some wellies for a walk after lunch with the dog.

8. What's your favourtie Christmas song?

'All I want for Christmas is you' by Mariah Carey. This song mostly involves me dancing round my room in pj's and singing into a hairbrush!

9. What's your favourite Christmas movie?

This was easy, Muppets Christmas Carol! 'Tis the season to be jolly and joyous, fa la la' that is my attempt as singing. I literally watch this movie about 50 times over christmas.

10. Open presents before or after lunch.

Definitely before! We have this tradition where we have a stocking at the end of our bed every year, that has little bits and bobs in, which we open when we wake up. Then we open the main presents from each other before lunch. Then after lunch we tend to open presents from friends who have given us presents.

Just doing this tag has made me so excited! Please feel free to do this tag, I would love to here your responses.

love G.x.

Rocky Road birthday cake!

Hello lovely people!

This weekend was my boyfriend's birthday and as he loves rocky road I decided to make a rocky road inspired birthday cake. I thought it would be nice to share the recipe as it is really simple to make and doesn't need any baking time.

You will need:

350g digestive biscuits

125g chocolate (whatever variety you prefer, I used dairy milk chocolate)

225g unsalted butter

25g caster sugar

55g mini marshmallows

100g white chocolate chips

 Half a pack of rolo's (you can add as much or as little as you want)

First of all you need to add together the butter,sugar and chocolate in a large pan. Then melt over a low heat till all the butter has melted.

Crush the digestive biscuits into little pieces. I used a potato masher as it was the only thing I had around but a rolling pin would do the same job.

Add the biscuits to the pan and stir till they are all covered. Then add the chocolate chips, marshmallows and rolo's and mix again.

Then grease a sandwich tin with a little butter and add the mixture. Take as spoon and smooth over the top of the mixture. 

Then place in the fridge for 3-4 hours just to make sure everything is set. And that is it. Obviously you can leave it that way but as it was for a birthday I decorated it with some white icing and the rest of the rolo's.

The thing I love about this is that you can change pretty much anything you want to depending on who you are making it for. I have made white chocolate one and added jelly tots and jelly beans for more of a kid friendly cake. I also love adding raisins to milk chocolate as well.

I hope you have enjoyed this and maybe found a new receipe to cook. Let me know in the comments if you have made this before and what you like to add to your rocky road.

G x

Surviving your first night at uni!

Hello lovely people!

So here is a slightly different blog. I was looking back through all the pictures I took when I moved into my uni halls ready for first year. I had no idea what I needed to take and no idea what I would need for my first night/week of uni. It seems hard to believe that my sisters are now off to uni and I am beginning my third and final year of uni. Now I know how stressful moving day and how emotional your first night away from home can be so I thought I would just share a few tips I learnt on how to get through my first night at uni.

So some essentials you are going to need:
- Wet wipes/ baby wipes: They are handy for absolutely everything and a must have essential.
- Dry shampoo: Lets face it moving in is going to be sweaty and quite often after meeting all your housemates
and settling in you just don't have time to wash your hair before you go out at night. So dry shampoo is the answer.
- Body Spray: To make you smell extra fresh and fruity when you go out on your first night.
- Fake Tan/ Gradual Tanner: I am not a massive fake tanner but I will pack on the gradual tanner before I go out at night because lets face it no one wants to see ghost white legs.
- Dressing Gown: To stop the awkward covering up when you meet your housemates in the kitchen the morning after.

-Slippers/flipflops: Because lets face it after a night of pre drinking the kitchen is the last place you want to step barefoot.

-Mirror: In my experience the mirrors are always placed in the worst lighting areas possible, so bringing your own mirror is the way forward.
- Bottle opener: However I have become pro at opening bottles with a flat head screwdriver!

Now I have talked a lot about going out and in my opinion going out on the first night is the best thing you can do even if you don't like clubbing. Lets face it everyone is going to be in the same position as you, they are all going to be new. The first night out for me was a real bonding session with the people in my flat and it was the best time ever.

Now everyone is going to have a difference experience, but when it comes to the first night or the first week, we are all in the same boat. I went through a couple of days where I was really homesick but then I stuck at it and I love uni.

I hope this helps some of you who are going to uni and I wish all of you that are the best of luck!

Let me know what you think! If you have been to uni, what are your tips?
Love Grace x

Our Anniversary - Whipsnade Zoo - Outfit of the day

Hello lovely people, so at the weekend it was my boyfriend and my third year anniversary together. It's gone so quickly but we decided to celebrate it by going to Whipsnade Zoo. So I thought I would share with you my outfit of the day and some pictures I took. I hope you all enjoy.

For some reason it looks like I'm frowning in this picture but it was because it was really bright.

Top - Forever21

Jeans- New look (then just rolled up at the bottom)

Sandals - George in Asda

Bag - New Look

So yea, these are just a few of the pictures I took, it was only when I went to take the photos from the camera that I realised I had like over 100 photos to sort out. It was such a lovely day though and I felt like a very special girl.

Me and my man!

I hope you all enjoyed this and I will see you soon!

Love 

Grace x

The other side of me!

Hey guys, so today's blog is a bit different to the ones I have been posting recently. As you can see on my blog I am a trainee teacher and will start my 3rd and final year of teacher training in September. I am really excited but also a bit nervous at the thought that this time next year I will be getting ready to teach my own class in September. I am the type of person who loves to know what is coming up and love being prepared and obviously I know that you can't be fully prepared for what to expect but I thought that I would try to get a few tips.

So to help me start to get prepared and to think about things over the next year I brought this book, which has been highly recommended. The book is called 'How to survive your first year in teaching' by Sue Cowley who is very well known in the teaching world.

This book is great! It is split into four parts and covers everything from how to approach your first lesson, to behaviour management skills, planning and the induction process etc. I found the book really easy and the chapters had specific themes running through them so it was easy to digest.

Obviously because I haven't yet done my NQT year I can't say whether the tips in the books work or the advice is good, but I would say that this is a great book to get you started and prepared for what lies ahead of you, because let's face it we all know that this is not going to be easy.

I hope you guys have found this interesting and I would definitely recommend this book if you are planning to start your NQT year soon. You can get it from amazon and Waterstones.

Let me know what you guys think. Are any of you in the same situation as me with your teaching career? Or are you already a teacher and have got a few tips for first year teaching? I would love to here from you

Gx

What's in my bag (trip to London)

So I'm going to London tomorrow with my boyfriend and I thought I would share with about what I am taking in my handbag. I live really close to London (only about 20 minute train journey) so most of the things I am taking, I normally have in my daily handbag.

The bag itself is from New Look and I've had it for a couple of years now. It's not my regular handbag but I like to have a bag that I can strap across my body when going to places like London, so this bag works really well. The bag is spit into two, there are three pockets in the front and then one main compartment with a small zip pocket in it.

So here is what is in my bag!

In the front pockets there are :

- 2 pens

- a compact mirror

- some hair pins

- my house keys

In the main part of the bag I have:

- my Cath Kidston purse

- my sunglasses (just in case it is sunny)

- a soap and glory hand maid (which smells absolutely amazing)

- a soap and glory hand food (the best hand cream ever)

- a small bottle of soap and glory body spray

(if you can't tell I love soap and glory products)

- Glucose tablets (these are actually for my boyfriend as he has diabetes, so I always carry a tube in my handbag.

- my camera

- my phone

I will also have my oyster card but it is with my boyfriend at the moment.

I also carry a small cosmetics bag, which contains most of the travel things I take with me. The only things I don't have with me is my foundation and eye shadow as these will last all day when I put them on in the morning so I don't need to retouch them during the day.

                                                                                 My makeup bag contains:

- Natural collection pressed powder in shade warm

- NYC Big Bold bronzer in shade 602- Metropoli Tan

- No7 face brush

- Sleek blush in shade 923 - pomegranate

- Natural collection concealer stick in shade fair

- Rimmel Match perfection 2-in-1 concealer and highlighter in shade 030 classic beige

- Maybeline great lash in brownish black

- L'Oreal Paris super liner Blackbuster

- Natural collection brown eyeliner

- Palmer's coco butter lip balm

- Elizabeth Arden lip gloss in shade 18 - rosegold

       - NYC lipstick in shade 438 - Candy rush (my most used lipstick)

So yea, that is everything I am taking with me. I will be doing some shopping so I will probably do a haul at some point on here. I will also be blogging my outfit tomorrow as well. I hope you have enjoyed this and let me know what you think.

Have a great day everyone!

G x

20 things you should know about me!

1.  I am 20 years old.
2. I am currently studying to be a teacher ( will start my final year in September) at university which I absolutely love.
3. I have a boyfriend who I have been with for nearly 3 years now and yea love him to bits.
4. When i'm not away at uni, I live with my mum, dad and 2 younger sisters who are twins.
5. I have two cats and a dog. (they aren't actually mine, more of a family pet but yea)
6. I love reading, I do admit I love a good trashy novel but I love reading in general.
7. I love cooking and baking. I am quite good if I do say so myself :)
8. My favourite colour is purple!
9. I love eating out in restaurants. Me and my boyfriend both are slightly obsessed with Nando's which led to the staff at the Nando's near uni actually recognising us when we went in! oops :)
10. I love the summer! In England you can't really guarantee a summer but I love just being somewhere hot, topping up my tan.
11. I love Christmas! (that is about the only thing I do love about winter)
12. I played a lot of sport in school including football, hockey, table tennis, swimming, cross country, athletics and netball and competed on many occasions.
13. Following on from that I actually am a national champion 6 times in tables tennis, and competed nationally in both cross country and swimming. :)
14. If I could choose a favourite animal that you wouldn't keep as a pet it would have to be an elephant.
15. I am a very easy going person and most of the time happy.
16. When I was little i took all advent calendars, including my sisters and ate all the chocolate from them. My mum realised what i did when i came downstairs with chocolate all round my mouth and the advent calender's in my hand.
17. I love shopping! ( my boyfriend will testify to that)
18. Our favourite thing to do is to curl up on the sofa and watch a good movie. We do have quite a few!
19. I don't really have anything i'm afraid of.
20. My ideal car would be a mini. I will have one, when i can afford it!
    

Hope you enjoyed this blog guys!

Why hello there!

So this is my first ever blog. I have always wanted to start something like this, to get my thoughts down and to use as something to look back on. So yea....

Basically this is going to be a blog of whatever comes to my fancy, it will include bits on my life as a trainee teacher, bits on beauty and bits on fashion and whatever comes to mind.

So I hope you enjoy this and can follow me along on this journey!

Love
G x