Sunny :)

This is only a short blog post to let you guys know what I've been doing in the sun these past few days, so here goes...

My sister, Pippa, broke up from school recently and on the last day they had an inter-form sandcastle competition and so I went to watch her from the cliff top. It was a really good idea and seemed to end the 'activity week' perfectly with everyone enjoying themselves. Her form lost by doing a replica of Mt St Helens (which they'd been studying in geography) and the group which won did a giant sea turtle which was visible from the clifftop. I wish that when I'd been at school we'd done this as our last day of term because it was a really lovely celebration and a good use of the nearby beach!

(She's the one in the middle of the photo wearing an orangy-pink top)

I've been doing lots of 'sunbathing' recently thanks to the hot weather and so I've got plenty of reading done which has been really relaxing. In that last sentence I used the word sunbathing loosely because I have incredibly pale skin which is a product of my auburn hair and so I burn really easily. So far this year I am convinced that I have developed a slight tan on one shoulder which is an achievement as I've never tanned before even if it does look slightly odd! I also haven't got too badly burnt so far this summer which is a miracle, especially compared to last year when I ran the Race for Life and, despite wearing factor 50, was so badly burnt that I went purple...ouch!!!

Me last year for the Race for Life...before the burn went purple!

I've also been lucky enough to be going out for afternoon tea quite a bit as it's too hot for coffee's out. These are pictures of my latest jaunt out which was with my family to a little place called Beachcomber Cafe in Barton-upon-Sea, near where I live. It is situated on the clifftop and does the most amazing hot chocolates which are particularly good in winter when you've been walking along the beach.

The cafe has incredible views of the sea from the garden where we sat and ate and, as with most places near Bournemouth, you can see the Isle of Wight in the distance. The Isle of Wight is a really popular tourist destination which I've visited once and we are often able to see the lights and fireworks from this part of the mainland. What I love so much about this view is the fact that the miles of sea look so peaceful and tranquil with the sun reflecting off it.

For my cake and tea I had a carrot cake with a cup of lemon tea which was really refreshing. I've always been a fan of lemon tea (tea with a spoonful of sugar and a slice of lemon) but I'm drinking it even more since I gave up dairy products. This is because I've found that tea tastes vile with other types of milk such as rice and almond which is really sad as I used to be addicted to my cups of tea.

The final thing that I've been doing a lot recently has been going to the beach. Since I live so close to the sea it would be a bit stupid not to visit it once in a while even if I do hate sand. I've tried to get over my hatred of sand because I've needed to swim in the sea in order to cool down some days and it has been so refreshing to swim about in the cool British seawater!

Please let me know what you've been doing in this hot summer weather in the comments below and keep your eyes peeled for my July favourites post which will be coming soon :)

..x

Summertime in Bournemouth

It has been so hot recently in the UK with temperatures soaring due to a heatwave and Bournemouth, where I live, has had some of the highest recorded temperatures. I know that for many parts of the world that above 30 degrees is not that significant but here in England it is so unusual that everyone has been talking about how unbelievably hot it is!

Bournemouth beach by 11am (picture taken by the Bournemouth Echo)

With Bournemouth being a popular seaside destination it was no surprise to see thousands of people flocking to the beach. It did seem incredible though that 120,000 people were on the beach the other day - you can see from the picture how crowded it was by 11am! It has been absolutely crazy with tourists everywhere and it has caused some chaos, not least because there are cars and traffic jams everywhere which has not been fun.

It has not just been the sun through which has excited us in Bournemouth because on Sunday our local football team, the Cherries, played Real Madrid. People have been talking about this ever since it was announced and even though the tickets were really expensive at £60, they sold so quickly that the club rushed to build some more seats! I know some friends who went and saw the match and although we lost 6-0, nevertheless everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.

I really hope that this good weather continues in the UK, its been so lovely that I just don't want it to stop. I laughed the other day when I heard from one of my friends who is travelling around Europe and she told me that it has been hotter here in Bournemouth than in any of the places that she has visited!

Please let me know what you think of this sunny British weather in the comments below.

...x

Ginger faces

I was cutting some ginger yesterday ready to freeze for the winter and these two pieces really made me laugh. I know it is slightly random but take a look for yourself and see if they bring some happiness to your day.

This first piece of ginger really looks like a person/animal thing with a really huge nose!

 My favourite has to be this one though which looks spookily like an old person!

I know that this is a really short post but if you liked either of these pictures or have some funny looking food around the house then please let me know in the comments below.

...x

Braids....and then Curls!!!

I decided to braid my little sister, Philippa's hair as soon as she finished school and it went pretty well. The only issue that I faced was the amount of time that it took to do because I wanted to create thin, tight braids so that they would stay in for around a week. 

These are photographs of her hair 8 days later, I think that they still look fairly decent although they did look better straight after they had been plaited. Honestly I was surprised that they lasted so long especially because she was in the sea everyday submerging her hair in waves of salt water!!

We finally took them out and her hair was absolutely massive but lovely and wavy from root to tip. It didn't take nearly as long to remove the braids as I thought it would which was good and my long fingernails helped me to rake through her hair as I went along in order to minimise the number of tangles. Despite this care, there were a few tangles in her hair when I had finished but it is unsurprising when you see the amount of hair that I had to unwind.

 I think that her hair looked really pretty especially when it was in the sunshine but there was a poodle-like quality about it before it was brushed down to this state!!

 Then we decided to see what her hair would look like if it was in a ponytail, the results were erm...huge??!! She looked even funnier when she put her hair into a high ponytail/pineapple style but I was forbidden from taking a photograph :(

Being able to have her hair in braids certainly marked the beginning of summer for her as I'm not sure that she'd have wanted poodle hair for school!!

If this has inspired or amused you then please let us know in the comments below...I'd love to hear your stories too.

Lizzie...x

June Favourites

I've decided to update each month telling you what have been my monthly favourites have been so, here goes for June...

Beauty Product:
Rimmel Lipstick - The lipstick that I have been loving this month is the moisture renew lipstick from Rimmel in colour 620, Coral Queen. It feels really lovely when you apply it and I've found that it stays on for a really long time, giving factor 20 sunscreen protection for my lips. Also, I think that the colour is really pretty, especially for summer because it is a corally, rosy colour which helps gives my face a summery glowy look. I recently bought this from superdrug in their 3 for 2 summer offer but it is currently £6.29 which is at the higher end of highstreet lipsticks but I think that its worth it.

Skincare Product:
St Ives Face Scrubs - I have real problems with my skin and I have tried all sorts of things in order to try and improve it while being aware of the fact that I am allergic to many skin creams. I was so glad to stumble upon the St Ives face scrubs because they feel really lovely and smell really good too! I have three of their creams - the St Ives Elements Warming Scrub, the St Ives Invigorating Apricot Scrub and the St Ives Blemish Fighting Apricot Scrub. I'm really hoping that by using these my skin will continue to improve ready for the summertime. Find out more about St Ives products here at their website.

Nail Polish:
Barry M Nail Gelly Hi-Shine - I bit my nails for 18 years and this year before my A-level exams I decided to try and stop biting them. I now have lovely long nails which I am thoroughly enjoying painting and my favourite colours in June were these two Barry M Nail Gelly Hi-Shine polishes. I love Barry M nail polishes because they are affordable and last for a good length of time as well as coming in a variety of colours. The colours that my sister and I chose were number 322, Mango, and number 325, Greenberry, because we thought that they were really summery and fun. I've had these on so much because they remind me that summer is here by looking really nice and shiny without chipping too badly. I'm definitely going to look for some more of these this summer, especially if Boots continues its buy one get one half price offer, although without the offer they are still affordable at just over £3 each. For more information on the different colours that this Gelly nail polish  comes in, click here.

Clothing:
Floral Skirt - I have been in love with my mum's old 80's floral skirt this month because it has been perfect for the warm weather that we've been having because it is made of a really light cotton despite being rather long. It is so comfortable and the number of colours in it means that it goes with so many of my other pieces of clothing. I really want to find some nice fabric which isn't too expensive this summer so that I can make my own versions of it because the pattern is really simple. The only thing that I'm not too keen on about this skirt is the fact that it is elasticated at the waistband and so I have to hide it under long tops or belts which proved to be slightly challenging at times. I did love it this month though and wore it so much that I'm having to try and love some of my other clothes now instead!

Book:
The Fault in our Stars by John Green - This is one of my favourite books this month because it was  really inspiring and had me in floods of tears throughout. I first heard of it through a YouTuber called Tyler Oakley who heartily reccomended it and so when I saw it in my local library, I jumped at the chance to take it for some light summer reading. The fact that it was about a cancer sufferer making the most of her life and falling in love was so different to some of the depressing cancer books that you read but at the same time there was the constant feeling that this was not a storyline straight from fantasy. I'm now keen to try and read some more John Green novels, especially if they are as gripping and beautifully written as The Fault in our Stars was.  You can read my full review of The Fault in our Stars here at my second blog.

Inferno by Dan Brown - I've read some of the other Dan Brown novels featuring Robert Langdon and have seen the films so when it was announced that he was releasing his new novel I was desperate to get my hands on it. Unfortunately, despite buying it as soon as it was available I was unable to read it for two main reasons: one - I was in the middle of my final A-level exams and was busy reading things for that; two - my gran was going in for a hip replacement and is an avid reader so we thought that we would let her read it whilst she was in hospital. When I finally managed to sit down and read it I was not disappointed and read it so quickly because I was absolutely hooked. I'm just waiting for the next Dan Brown novel/film to be released, it can't come soon enough! You can read my full review of Inferno here at my second blog if you want to see more of my ramblings about the actual book.

Music:
Clouds by Zach Sobiech - I was sent a link to the SoulPancake documentary of Zach Sobiech and was so moved that I just had to listen to his single. Zach had a rare form of bone cancer which he knew was terminal and so before he died he recorded his original song called Clouds. It has become amazingly popular on YouTube with millions of views and a special tribute version has even been made where famous people lipsynced to his track. I think that knowing the background behind the music has made it even more poignant but even without knowing that, the beautiful melody and lyrics would have made it incredibly popular. I know that this song will continue to be on my playlist for this summer and I just wish that he was alive to see the success of his music. Listen to it on YouTube by clicking here or watch the SoulPancake documentary here. 

Tomorrow by Gianluca Bezzina - This was the Eurovision Song Contest entry from Malta and was so unbelievably cute and catchy that I have been listening to it non-stop since. I know that many countries do not have the pleasure of watching Eurovision but for many Europeans it is a complete guilty pleasure and people become strangely competitive over normally rubbishy songs. I did truly like this song though and thought that it should have won the whole contest. Regardless I have been playing it all the time, especially in the car because its the sort of song which is really good to sing along to. I'm definitely going to be looking up some more of his music now! Listen to it on YouTube by clicking here.

Tv Programme:
Wimbledon - I know that this is sort of a June/July favourite but I just couldn't resist putting it in here because I have watched so many hours of tennis this month; I've watched Roland Garros as well as Queens, Eastbourne and of course, my favourite, Wimbledon. Tennis is my favourite sport and although I don't play it now, I used to play quite a lot so maybe that's where my interest comes from, who knows?! This year was particularly exciting with the British players performing incredibly well and I watched all of the Laura Robson and Andy Murray matches as well as some of the other players. One player who I had never heard of before who I really enjoyed watching play was a German called Dustin Brown because he played some sublime tennis especially against Lleyton Hewitt. I know that many people are saying that Wimbledon wasn't as good this year because many of the big tennis stars such as Federer, Nadal, Williams and Sharapova were out quickly but for me these matches were some of the best tennis that I saw because players really were fighting for a place in the next round. I'm hoping that next years championships will be as good and that I'll perhaps manage to get tickets!


Paul O'Grady For The Love of Dogs - We have an 11 year old Cairn Terrier and so I'm always interested to see dog shows on tv but this has to be my favourite. I am such a fan of Paul O'Grady and think that he is just perfect for this show because he always connects with the dogs and completely loves them. In the first series Paul O'Grady adopted a puppy called Eddie (who is in the picture) and understandably wants to adopt most of the dogs that he meets during his time at Battersea because they are just so adorable! For anyone that hasn't seen the show he is at Battersea Dogs Home in London (which tries to rehome lost or abandoned dogs) and each episode features a few dogs in the aim of encouraging people to think about adopting one of these dogs and not a brand new puppy. There were some particularly sad cases in this series with one dog being adopted despite not having long to live and another being so neglected that it was just skin and bones and unable to trust humans.  This programme has sadly just finished for another series though and so I'll have to wait and see if another one will be made.


Food:
Alpro Yoghurt - This might seem like a slightly odd choice but it has recently been discovered that I can't have any dairy products and so I am now trying to lead a dairy-free life, leading to my discovery of soya yoghurts. Therefore I have been addicted to the Alpro Kids yoghurts because they taste really fruity and are completely moreish, coming in two flavours: Strawberry and Banana, Peach and Pear. I have also been loving the Alpro Vanilla pouring yoghurt because it is delicious on its own as well as being really good with fruit as a dessert - I've been loving strawberries with this...yum!

Random:
Homeless Photographs Website - This website showcases a collection of black and white photographs taken by Lee Jeffries of homeless people in the US and Europe. I found looking at the pictures mesmerising and the black and white nature of the photographs made them even more moving. The website says that "You can get lost in the intense gazes, maps of wrinkles and scars, and all the emotional stories behind them" and I find this to be particularly true as I have sat and looked the these pictures for hours because each time you look at them you see something new. This photo is one of my favourites and shows the haunting quality of the images. I would heartily recommend that people go and visit the website by clicking here.

I hope that you enjoyed my June favourites despite it being slightly late! Please let me know in the comments your responses to my favourites and some of your own June favourites.

Lizzie...x