The Big 2-1

Well it's finally here, I am a fully fledged adult. This has possibly been the hardest birthday to get my head around. While my life is fairly put together, it is nothing like I imagined it would be.

When I was young I always imagined that I would own a house, be engaged and just be super mature by the time i was 21. I'm only just realising how young 21 is. The thought of settling down scares the hell out of me. I'm only just starting to realise that I will not even have graduated university until I am 23. Scary.

But hey, its been one hell of a birthday....

Couch to 5K

I am writing this in hot, sweaty gym clothes having just tried my first run on the Couch to 5K programme. This is an NHS suggested programme designed to get even the biggest couch potato up and running 5K in just 9 short weeks.

Let's just get this straight... I cannot run. I am sat here in what feels like the midst of a slow and painful death.... but surprisingly I feel good, and positive. The programme works by slowly building up your endurance using a mix of running and walking. It suggests running 3 times a week with a rest day in-between. The first week comprises of three identical 'runs' lasting 20 minutes where you alternate between a minute of running and 90 seconds of walking. I downloaded an app to my phone, which to be honest looks fairly tacky. It comes complete with some motivational quotes that sound more like you are preparing yourself for war than a 20 minute run.

We'll see how this goes...hopefully I will be able to stick to a plan!

Have you found any exercise plans that work for you?

A Trio of Primark Dresses

It's been a while since I've been anywhere near my blog and youtube; after finishing my second year at uni and going straight into my placement things have been fairly hectic. Luckily I am now settled and can finally get back to it! So why not start with a shop everyone loves... Primark!!

I live literally two minutes away from my local Primark so it's too easy to go in after work and have a little bit of a splurge... Here are three dresses I recently picked up which I absolutely love.

Skater Dress - £5

This may be one of my fave sets of £5 dresses that Primarni have ever done. I now own three of these skater style dresses and they fit amazingly. They're flattering on every figure and skim over everything so nicely. I love being able to pick up a whole new outfit for a fiver!

Summer Dress - £13

I wasn't sure about this dress when I saw the price of it, but after putting it on I fell in love with it. The colour is so vibrant and perfect for when we do get summer!

Tea Dress - £8

I absolutely adore this tea dress. The colours are beautiful and deep, perfect for all seasons. The sleeves are a flattering length and I just could not believe my luck for £8. This is definitely my favourite dress that I have seen in Primark in a long time and I am debating picking it up in more colours!

Have you picked up any Primark bargains recently?

Interview Series #1

Hi everyone, at the moment I have been looking for a placement as part of my degree. Luckily, I have now been successful in gaining one but thought I would share some of the experiences I have had in a mini series covering topics from how to dress all the way through to the actual interview. 

Image: We Heart It

Hopefully some of these may help anyone looking to get any job, although I'm no expert! :)

Look out for my first post: How to Dress for an Interview!

February Favourites - Video

How short was February? I know it is the shortest month but it always goes so painfully fast! 

Anyway, here are my February favourites!

TOPSHOP Leigh Jeans: A Love/Hate Relationship

Every girl spends her life searching for the perfect pair of jeans right? Well a couple of years ago I thought I had found mine when Topshop released their Supersoft Skinny Leigh jeans. 

Ever since I was a child I had problems with trousers, I seemed to have really sensitive skin on my legs and any harsh material would immediately break me out in a rash. This always made jeans incredibly difficult which was a pain as I am definitely a jeans girl at heart. These 'jeans' actually contain no denim, they are like a very thick pair of leggings and are made of cotton, polyester and elastane.

I absolutely love skinny jeans when they fit perfectly and found these fit me wonderfully when I tried them on in the shop. They were just tight enough to suck me in, remain tight after extended wear yet let me comfortably move and sit down. 

Original Leigh jeans

Pretty perfect?

Original Leigh jeans

Actually, not so much.

The fabric started to wear very quickly anywhere that took any strain. The colour faded very quickly on the backs of the knees, the pocket where I kept my phone and anywhere the jeans creased. I bought two pairs at the same time around December 2011 and both pairs split exactly a year later. This is the best pair, the others have splits in unacceptable places to show! 

Normally I would take split jeans as something to just happen and am used to it happening on the bum of the jeans! But this is not what happened with these, they have worn through where natural creases occur and as both jeans did exactly the same thing at the same time it is definitely down to the quality of the jeans. 

As these jeans allowed me to be comfortable in jeans I thought the £38 price tag was worth it to buy some more, even if these only lasted me a year as well. So I went to Topshop a couple of weeks ago and picked up two new pairs in exactly the same size as the previous two pairs I owned.

Here is where I get confused. The sizing of these two pairs are completely different. My new blue ones are far too big and beautiful oxblood ones are far too small....um, what?

New huge Leigh jeans

 When I tried these on they felt like they fit well so I removed the tags as I presumed they were exactly the same as previous ones. However, within five minutes of wearing them they had gotten so ridiculously baggy, especially round the knees. This photo does not do it justice. Baggy jeans are my pet peeve so I was not happy, come on Topshop.

New huge Leigh jeans

New huge Leigh jeans

I was then worried the oxblood ones I had wanted for so long would do the same so put them on to wear round the house a bit before removing the label. Then I found I couldn't even move in them. I have assumed that they will loosen up with wear so haven't taken them back just yet but I am scared to sit down in case they rip! I am still deciding what to do with them :(

Tiny Leigh jeans

 Has anyone else loved/hated these or any other 'jeans'?

Tiny Leigh jeans

Tiny Leigh jeans

Bye Bye Jan

As January draws to a close, I can really feel that general hmph feeling I get starting to leave. Every year I get the January blues and get so excited to see return of February! Personally the beginning of Feb always brings a very sad day for me, but I allow myself to feel sad on that day, then move on and get excited about Valentines!

Being a massive romantic Valentines always really excites me; it is mine and my boyfriends anniversary as well as a day where you can tell anyone that you really appreciate them, wahoo!

I know a lot of people hate Valentines day and tend to skip over it just waiting for the day to end, but why not treat it as a day to pamper yourself? Take a long hot bath with a book, give yourself a manicure or learn how to cook a really nice meal. If there's no one to share it with then try to find the things you love about yourself, we all need to learn to have just a little more self confidence!

If you really can't stand it then sorry if this blog post wasn't for you! Why don't you kill some time and check out a great local band to get you in a great mood on this beautifully sunny day!