Rain on your parade

Sometimes we can all have those glum moments and this week for reasons unknown has felt somewhat glum. Since no ones likes a moaning myrtle I thought I would focus more on the little aspects of the past week that made me smile. 

Seeing my little cousin

My new shoes arriving

Finally booking my flight to Berlin

Finding bands I use to love on my I-pod

Spending time with my friends

Walks in the park

Seeing Babyshambles will be playing in Leeds

Cuddles from Douglas

My new camera

Daim bars

Speaking with old friends

The Sun shining

Having my teeth whitened

Looking for a summer holiday

Old quotes from the Mighty Boosh

Sailor Jerrys and diet coke

lovely comments on my blog

Taking part in my first beauty swap

Trips on the train

Starbucks coffee
Drinking cucumber gin and tonic

Sammie

Country pub lunch

So this weekend my friends and I decided we would go for a nice country pub lunch. We had initially planned to go to a nearby lake and play on the pedalos but the weather didn't look too great. however the great British weather pulled through and the sun came out in time for a nice walk around the park and some pub grub. We decided to go the Roundhay Fox for lunch, I must say the pub had a lovely cosy welcoming feel to it but unfortunately we waited ages for the food to come and the service was incredibly slow. For starter I had the baked Cornish brie and onion marmalade brulee £4.45 and for main I had Handmade haddock and wholegrain mustard fish cakes £8.75. Since i love all kinds of cheese the starter went down well however I was disappointed by the lack of imagination and presentation. Had they of told me I was getting baked brie and bread I wouldn't of felt so disappointed.  The main course however was much tastier and the fish cakes were delicious.

How was your weekend?

Sammie

Spring in my step

Jacket: Topshop

Trousers: Topshop Similar

Necklace: primark

Shoes: Barretts*

If you saw my previous post on my shoe collection you will of noticed my newly reduced shoe collection is full of black shoes and I don't really own any colourful shoes. So when Barretts kindly gave me the opportunity to review a pair of there gorgeous shoes I knew exactly what I was looking for.  I picked these green, pink and gold court shoes available here for £35.

The shoes look stunning and I had originally chose them to wear with a cream floaty prom type dress to the races, however since I'm rather impatient I couldn't wait to wear them and ended up toddling over for a country pub lunch with them on, on Saturday.

The shoes really did brighten up my other wise monochrome outfit and received me a few very nice compliments.

I must apologise for the gormless look on my face, this was the only full outfit photo of myself, p.s. be careful when you ask friends to take photos, 9 out of 10 my head was chopped of!!

Sammie

This is a sponsored post. 

Shoes Glorious Shoes

So after a clear out of my shoe collection, I counted up and I was left with a nice round 50 pairs of shoes (including trainers and ones dotted around the house not pictured) My favourite few (or most un-practical) are still in there boxes, I really should of got them out I guess for the point of this post. I read recently a girl only wears an average of 7 pairs of hers shoes and I guess this is defiantly true for me, you may have even noticed dust of some of them! I live in my Converse on a weekend, plod about in my Uggs for work (I'm actually glad summer is coming to get me out this habit) and I find any excuse to wear my Jeffrey Campbell look-a-likes. This reminds me i really should invest in a real pair, there so easy to walk in and since I'm not vertically blessed there perfect to boost me up. Plus they always get me a  "how to do you walk in those" compliment, we all secretly love. I would rate that the third best compliment to receive as a female the first been an not so surprising "have you lost weight" with "are those your real eyelashes"(when they are) coming up behind. Until now I have had all my shoes thrown in the bottom of my wardrobe, sorry shoes it won't happen again, I promise. So I thought to help me wear more of them I would cover my floor and create a little shoe haven. I'm currently in the process of trying to condense my room and store things better (I guess moving out soon might not be so optional, as I'm running out of space). I think the only way to store my shoes will be to buy some shoe boxes for them all, shoe haven is nice but the shoes get dusty and they don't like it. Sorting through my shoes and letting go to a good 15 pairs was hard enough I'm dreading having to tackle my wardrobe next. 

Do your shoes and clothes take over your room?

Sammie

Vodka Milkshake

So I recently did my first guest post for Emma at EXFO if you missed it, here it is:

Allow me to introduce myself I'm Sammie from Little Blonde Life. Normally I have no problem conjuring up blog posts but as this was my first guest  post I was a little unsure what I should blog about. As big bang theory was on the TV in the background I found my bloggers block unlocked by the one and only Sheldon Cooper and thought the best way I could introduce myself to you guys was to offer you a hot beverage. Well unfortunately I was all out of hot beverages so instead I have made you guys a vodka milkshake. (I suppose I could of just made a milkshake, but c'mon where's the fun in that)

To make:

Blend ice-cream, milk, crusha (raspberry) and add a splash of vodka.

To serve: Top with whipped cream and of course a cherry on top.

Hope you all enjoyed my little post a big thank you to Emma for having me over.
Sammie

x

Guest post by Emma from efxo

Hello everyone, My name is Emma from efxo, a beauty, fashion and lifestyle blog. Sammie has very kindly allowed me to write a guest post for her blog! I wasn't sure what post to do, but I knew I wanted it to be fun! I recently won a set of US flag Violent Lips transfers and decided to do a makeup look using those! 

My inspiration came from this photo:

To use, you just place them against your lips, and trim to fit. You then just remove the plastic, place it on your lips and press against the paper back using wet cotton. Similar to how you'd apply those tattoos you'd get as a child!

They are quite tricky to apply so mine were a bit of a mess.. oops. I was home alone when I was doing these, so I was absolutely TERRIFIED someone would knock the door and I'd have to answer like this! 

Because my lips were a bit.. BAM! I wanted to keep my eyes simple, I just did a simple cat liner flick on top and then used a white, red and blue shadow on the bottom lash line. I do wish I'd gone a bit crazier on the eyes but 3 transfers came in the pack so I might try this makeup again, except this time go really crazy on the eye shadow! I might try to recreate the look I showed in the first photo!

I think this would be fun for something like Halloween/fancy dress or 4th of July if you live in the US. I know here in Ireland, on St Patricks Day, people tend to go a bit crazy and draw Irish flags on their faces! 

Oh and if you're interested in having a look at the violent lips. You can go to their website, they have soooooo many differrent transfers, animal prints, all kinds of country flags, glitter transfers and so many more! Below is just a selection.

I just want to say a quick thank you to Sammie for letting me post on her blog! She did a really cool Vodka Milkshake recipe post on mine if you want to have a look at that!

Emma xo

efxo - Beauty | Fashion | Life

Festival survival guide

We're all ready well into April and my gosh where is this year going, pretty soon it will be time for us all to put on our wellies,head of into the sun or most likely rain and sleep drunkenly in a field for a weekend. Who knows we might even see a band or two.

Having survived 8 festivals in my time (6 Leeds festivals, one Sonisphere and one Download) I feel in a good position to give you lot some handy tips. Unfortunately what I can't do is help you carry your not so light packing into the festival, stop your tent from leaking or make the toilets cleaner. But here goes:

1. Don't take anything that you will be scared to loose. I'm fully aware every magazine on the planet drills it into our little brains that a pair of Ray Bans are an essential for festivals but these cost a fair bit and have a good chance they will come back with a lens missing. 
2. Dry shampoo, baby wipes, face wipes etc are your best friend, don't expect the showers to be clean.
3. The cleanest toilets are in the quietest camp-sites! The port-a-loos in the arena will also be nicer then the camp sites. There are some times the treat of special clean toilets you can pay for so look out for these.  Don't ever expect toilet roll so shake what your mother gave you or carry tissues!!
4. Camping chairs are like gold dust, leave one outside your tent unguarded and its up for grabs. I'm sorry but this will happen. (not by me i'm nice).
5. If your going to a festival at the end of summer Leeds or Reading anyone? If you don't have a tent leave it late to buy one after July you will find all camping shops have sales on.
6. Keep your tent clean and mud free by taking a tent with a porch to store your muddy wellies.
7. Its cold on a night! Take warm clothing or drink more!
8. Don't expect anyone to help you carry your things in, everyone breaks there back entering a festival don't expect sympathy. Man up.
9. Don't camp too close to a foot path, this lead to the download incident of 2012 when my friends tent was bulldozed by a fire truck. Its also noisier and you have the greatest chance someone will stomp on the corners of your tent.
10. Make friends with the people around you.
11. Don't expect sleep, it might by 6am but for the cools kids the party isn't over yet. Expect noise.
12. Festival food is delicious! As much as you may be expecting a few greasy burger vans you could not be more wrong. The larger festivals will often have more food stalls then you can think of. There's every type of cuisine known to man at festivals but you can expect to pay around £7.00 - £9.00 for a meal. 
13. Walking back to your tent at night will become an obstacle course of guide ropes .Take a torch and keep it with you.
14. At some point you will loose your friends,when you do make new ones, find yours later. Unless your new friends are much cooler. 
15. Festival beer costs more than a gram of gold, load your self up like a pit pony and carry as much as you can in with you. No festival allows glass so tip spirits into plastic bottles.
16. Since your spirits are getting tipped into plastic bottles, unless you know your Smirnoff from your stoli, just take the cheap stuff. 
17. There's always that one friend who arrives a day later then the rest. At all cost avoid going to meet them! You will become there mule! They will off load there bags onto to anyone!
18. No matter how long the big TV camera stays on you for, keep your top on. Please. Your dad may even be watching BBC3.
19. Please refrain from bringing a guitar. Its 2013 not woodstock 1969 and no one wants to hear your rendition of wonder-wall when we could be at a silent disco.
20. Take your own poncho! As soon as it rains those plastic pieces of tat will be worth more then then gate's children's inheritance. 
21. As much as the arena seems a long long way away when your happily sat at camp with your friends with a beer in hand, do remember you didn't pay in excess of £200 to see no bands. 
22. If you are going to have a tent night stand be safe!
23. Finally enjoy self. 
24. Make memories.
25. Take photos.

Have you lot any good tips?

Sammie

But it tasted like summer

Its no secret to anyone that I am huge cocktail lover. I am also super fussy and want my drinks to be made correctly. It's one of my pet hates when bars have a cocktail menu and staff who can't even make a cosmo!!

Any how I thought I would share this cocktail with you as 1. It tasted like summer is coming 2. It had a mini meringue on top 3. Was made correctly. From Bibis Leeds £7.50. However I drank too many of them and could not tell you for the life of my what it included, but the mini meringue on top meant it was worth it own posts.

What's your favourite cocktail? 

Sammie

A simple month

Today was payday. This month i have vowed i will not buy anything that is not essential, clothes, DVDS, books,magazines, the take away at the end of a night out, you get the idea. Now don't get me wrong i'm not giving up my social life i'll still be enjoyin days and nights out but i think material things distract us too much. For example looking back to when i was in college i had far less money to spend on all these things yet i appreciated what i bought more. If i saw something in a shop i liked i might take me a few months before i bought it, yet when i finally bought the item it made me happy. Yet recently i buy things all the time and have no appreciation for them. I have a warbrobe full of primark and topshop and i dont feel i apreciate any of, despite working hard to buy it all. This is also why i promised myself i will start buying less and better quality. 
Recently in the world of blogging there has been a trend of "hauls" primark haul, boots haul, nail polish haul, etc and its a shame we feel the need to buy everything in our site to make us happy. Lets be honest we've all walked through primark and treated it like we had just been picked for a trolley dash aimless throwing jumpers, socks, necklaces, scarfs, pjs into the basket because it was cheap yet has this ever made us happy? 
On my to-do list this year was to buy a pair of designer shoes.Even though it might take me a while to buy them, as i intend to actually save for them and not blow all my wage. Then there is the issue I might hardly ever get chance to wear my pair of designer shoes (or more likely not be able to walk in them) however i know the happiness gained by having to wait for something i relly want will out way everything else. 
Since those shoes pictured above also cost £575 they are little dream. However there has been a little more affordable something that had caught my eye recently so i'v promised myself if i complete this spending ban, i'll treat myself to one quality item. (i'm keeping it a secret for now what i'v seen) I am going away to Berlin in a few weeks for my birthday so i might extend my good shopping to 2 months.

Sammie

Camping trip

So this weekend me and my 3 friends headed back to Scarborough for a camping trip. On the way we stopped of at Asda for camping supplies and I came across toasted mallow flavour vodka what I thought was rather appropriate for the trip (heads up: they also make a strawberry cheesecake flavour). After we had gather supplies for the weekend (and i got over the shock my friend had never tried hummus) we set of to the coast.

Upon opening my friends boot I stared baffled for a few minuets at the grey box shape in front of me, was it a cool box? Was it a  a BBQ? No! It was a TV! Well who says you can't have home comforts camping. I must say I was rather pleased my friends had thought to hook up the tent with a TV, iPod docking station and a heater.

For me one of the favour parts of camping is setting up camp. For me the joy of un-rolling my sleeping bag after the tent is put up is blissful. (Well not quite as blissful as pouring the 1st drink)

Friday after we had all un-packed we went for a walk around the cliffs. One of the things was my friends was shocked at is that I had actually packed sensible shoes. (I might as well get some use out of that pair I bought for the gym i'm yet to join! One thing I love about Scarborough is it has such a mix of scenery from the beach front to the cliffs.  It made me feel like a kid again exploring around.

As it got dark and after the sun set we found a secluded little spot, made a fire and toasted marshmallows.  Does anyone else purposely burn the marshmallows so they go kinda crispy but still gooey? There's something so satisfying about sitting around a camp-fire in a beautiful location that really makes me appreciate the small things in life.

After this we headed back to the camp-site and a tired me feel straight asleep. Saturday we then headed of to play mini golf and visit the sea-life centre (more to come on this).

 How was your weekend?

Sammie

Garish: Adjective Obtrusively bright and showy; lurid.

After a little chat on Thursday it dawned on me all the prints we previously labelled "garish" are now all back in fashion and we love them. As i'v always been a fan of bold prints and colour i am sat pretty smug when i can finally wear the (what the hell have you bought that for) items in my wardrobe with pride. I'm not claiming i'm a trend setter but who else watched the sound of music and started eyeing up there curtains! So here are my top garish jackets items:

River Island 

Topshop

M&S

Mini Noor

ESTY

Sammie

Better blogger challange

A few days ago i asked everyone on twitter to send me their blogging links then to re-tweet so i could hopefully find new blogs to follow. I was bombarded with links to some fantastic blogs i had never come across before and i made sure i posted a comment on every blog. It made me realise one of the reasons i love writing my blog is the interaction it gives me with other bloggers. It also reminded me CAPTCHA is a pain in the bum! Seeing that people have viewed your blog every day is nice but lets be honest we love a comment. 

Therefore i have set myself a 5 week challenge that:

• I will aim to comment on 50 blogs throughout the whole week.
• I will take part in at least 1 blogger chat.
• I will use the Blogger Birthday calendar and wish the birthday bloggers a happy birthday.

Sammie

Motivation.

So yesterday on a blogger chat the topic was what type of blogger we all are. I would consider myself as a lifestyle blogger but ultimately i would say i always aimed to write my blog as a diary to push my life in the right direction. If anyone writes a blog then you will most likely understand and agree that writing a blog is hugely motivating in so many ways. When i first started writing my blog there was one thing i really wanted to achieve and that was a change in career. (It was one of the main reasons i had in mind when i started blogging, so i could keep track of progress) Yet up until now i have felt rather reluctant to share any aspect of this whats kind of silly. I think ultimately because i don't want to fail. However this week i'v been pushing myself in the right direction. As you might be aware from my twitter @lilblondesammie i have started running. Getting fit isn't something i started for fun it is in fact as my career choice is between the RAF or the Royal Navy. At the moment i have been to see the careers advisers a number of times and narrowed my job choice down between 2 jobs. What is more difficult is that i can do both jobs in the RAF and the Navy giving me 4 choices making it harder. I am torn between both at the moment so i'v been spending most my spare time researching everything. Both have a lot of merit but i'm swayed more towards the Navy for the time been. 

Since i have finally shared my goals vaguely with you all there is just some time to mention a few other little things. I am now ready to book in for my driving test. I also found out i need glasses (just for driving) just its such a shock re-gaining some vision back i think when you need glasses you don't realise it as you just presume your not suppose to see that far anyway. When i was little having to wear glasses would of made me cry if i'm honest however i actually love wearing them.  I also picked up a spider man glasses case, the optician gave me it for free as i don't think he could quite believe i wanted it. Spidey-sense! (Its a good job i have a smallish head as the glasses case is quite clearly for children) I am also now 4 months smoke free and still going strong. 

It surprisingly feels nice to finally open up about my true goals for the year. Just daunting now making the first few steps towards my true goals.

Sammie

Cupcakes round 2

So if you saw my last post on baking cupcakes  you will know i'm not the best at decorating cupcakes. So i thought I would have another attempt at my decorating skills. Pondering the baking isle in the supermarket i had the best intention to buy some piping bags and practice my skills the traditional way. When on special offer they have the easy swirl cupcake icing. I would never really buy this as its expensive and takes some of the fun out of the baking. To be honest i won't be buying it ever again it ran out after i iced about 4 cupcakes so not good value and it didn't taste great. I did however make some slightly better looking cupcakes this time around.