Valentine's Day is coming

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Ok, with Valentine's Day less than a month away I thought I would do a post on gift ideas for her. However, every girl is completely different so if you're using my blog to find the perfect gift, just use it as a rough guide. You will need to do your own research!

Ditch the cliche gift of Roses/Chocolates; they are in the past... Unless she has stated that this would be the perfect gift or expects them each Valentine's Day.

1. Jewellery - First question is does she wear Jewellery? If she does then what type? I have a nomination bracelet and pandora bracelet. Charms for either of those would be a perfect gift for me, but a terrible gift for someone who doesn't own either of the bracelets.

2. Perfume - What is her favourite perfume? Is she running low? Firstly, if she has just got 3 bottles of the perfume at Christmas, she won't need another bottle. However, if she didn't get the perfume recently, maybe this is a good shout! I got my favourite perfumes at Christmas - Lady Million by Paco Rabanne and Jimmy Choo by Jimmy Choo. I also got a few bottles of perfume to use for work such as Heat by Beyonce so the last thing I would want on Valentine's Day is perfume.

3. Underwear - Some girls would love to receive nice underwear and others would look at you as if you had to heads. I am one who would love to receive nice underwear especially as I rarely treat myself to a decent lingerie set. I have never owned Calvins (Calvin Klein) so this would be a perfect gift for me. I can never seem to justify spending £46 for the set. But be careful, it may be your girlfriend's worst nightmare.

4. Flowers - Ok, I know above I said ditch the roses but some women adore flowers. Find out what her favourite flower/flowers are and get her a bunch made up. It will be personal to her and so not cliche! I don't appreciate flowers like other women do, so this wouldn't be the best gift for me. However, last Valentine's Day Jamie got me 12 red roses and I was over the moon. It actually was super romantic. Read a bit about it here. But, as much as I loved the roses, I've him warned not to buy me flowers again because once is enough! 

5. Handbag/Purse - We women can never have too many handbags or purses. I love River Island bags and purses so it would be hard to go wrong. Has she had her eye on a nice handbag but can't justify buying yet another handbag? Does she need a purse to match one of her handbags? If yes, you know the perfect gift.

6. Jacket/Coat - I very rarely buy myself new coats/jackets nor do people often buy me them either... Until this year - I decided I wanted mum to buy me a new mango coat and then I seen a nice jacket from River Island so got dad to buy me that. On top of both of them I seen a nice coat reduced to £20 in new look and couldn't resist the bargain. So a jacket/coat probably isn't the best gift for me this year.. But it could be for your partner.

7. Makeup - What girl doesn't want you to buy them new makeup? Apart from those who don't wear makeup or don't wear it very often! Anyway, why not buy her that mac lipstick she has been wanting for ages or that urban decay eyeshadow set that caught her eye? She might even be running low on her favourite foundation or need new makeup brushes.

8. A Getaway - Most girls love being surprised with a weekend away somewhere. Me and Jamie went to South Dublin for 2 nights at the start of this month and it was amazing... The best part was being able to have a break away from all the madness of normality. This probably wouldn't be the best choice for me as I'm not long back from a trip..but any other time this would be ideal! Has she mentioned anywhere she is dying to visit?

9. Concert Tickets - has she been going on about how she really wants to go see *insert artist here*? Why not surprise her with concert tickets and go with her? Then closer to the time you can also surprise her with a reservation at her favourite restaurant before hand. She will love that you have given up your time to take her to a concert she really wants to go to. Most girls love the opportunity to make more memories.

10. Sentimental Gifts - Is she sentimental? Does she appreciate handmade gifts? Why not create a memory box for her - I have one where I keep all kinds of tickets (from events to public transport) and tags etc. Most of the contents are memories of things me and Jamie have done, but there are other things from events or trips I have went on with my close friends. What about a thoughtful photo album? Fill half the photo album with photos you know she will love; this could be of the two of you or her with her friends/family or just photos that you/her have taken that she loves. Leave the other half blank for her to fill herself. A mix CD with all her favourite songs on it; and don't tell me you don't know them because she will sing them about the house all the time. Fill a mason jar with date ideas; next date day/night just pick out a piece of paper and roll with it. The list is endless. Stuck for more sentimental gift ideas? Google is a wonderful thing, it will come in very handy.

11. Amazon - Is she into Amazon? Why not check out her amazon wishlist? I don't really use amazon but I know a lot of people who do. So the wishlist would be the go-to-place.

My favourite is probably number 10. I love sentimental gifts, and it keeps the cost low as well! Most sentimental gifts can be made for £5 or less.

Me and Jamie have decided this year not to do presents, I would rather just go out for dinner and spend some time with him. Plus both our 21st birthdays are coming up soon and we are going back to Amsterdam in March.

Later! ♥

2016 Goals

I'm not one for making New Years Resolutions, I prefer small realistic goals.

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So, my Goals for 2016 are:

1. Blog at least once a month.
2. Check at least 3 things off my bucket list (this could be hard as a lot of it is travel based, but hey..that could make 2016 fun!). View my bucket list here.
3. Achieve a BMI of 22 - ie lose weight!
4. Save money - I don't know how to go about it. Any suggestions? Currently trying to just save as much as possible on a monthly basis.
5. Eat Healthier - Maybe instead of having Chinese once a week, I will eat a salad, I don't know. But I want to look after my body :)
6. Get another tattoo! I have a few in mind and I definitely know which will be my next.
7. Meet new people!
8. Look into a new blog name/purchasing my own domain. If anyone knows anything, let me know.. I don't want to lose this blog and the posts.
9. Decide on a new League of Legends Summoner Name... I'm bored of Salvadora.

What's your New Years Resolution? Or what are your goals for the next year?

Later! ♥

My Top 5 Films to Watch on Christmas Eve

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Because it's Christmas Eve I have decided to share with you my 5 favourite movies to watch on Christmas Eve. However, for the run up to Christmas I love watching any Christmas films. In fact, literally the first day of November I watched Nightmare before Christmas which is like probably my favourite Christmas film, or close to it.

1. Elf

This is definitely at the top of my list, it's the perfect Christmas film. I love the Story line. My favourite part is when Jovie starts singing "Santa Claus is coming to town" and all of New York join in to make Santa's sleigh fly. After all, the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

2. Home Alone

I don't even know why, but I always associate Home Alone with Christmas. What's even better now is that my 5 year old brother adores the film as well...perfect!

3. The Grinch

This is a Christmas classic! I love love love the Grinch. My favourite scene is when the Grinch doesn't know what to wear and then says "that's it, I'm not going". That's exactly what I'm like when getting ready to go out (laughs).

4. Frozen

Ever since Frozen came out in December 2013, I have been obsessed. I have also watched it every Christmas Eve since (2013, 2014 and this year, 2015). I think it might have to become a "tradition". Olaf is my favourite character, what's yours?

5. Santa Clause (1, 2 or 3 I'm not fussy)

This year it was Santa Clause 2 as it was on Comedy Central!

What are your favourite Christmas Eve movies?

Ps, apologies I haven't been blogging in over a month! I don't know what has been wrong but I haven't had any motivation not any topics I really wanted to blog about! But I hope that will NOT be the case in the new year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

The A to Z of me

So, I've been feeling bad about the lack of blog posts and it gets me down that I just seem to have no time to spend on blogging..

Anyway, I cam across a blog post about an A-Z challenge. From reading the introduction and other posts I got the idea of it. The purpose was to base each blog on a letter starting with the letter A and finishing with Z. Obviously the list of possibilities is endless. So I thought to myself that this was a brilliant idea BUT I wouldn't have the time currently to keep on top of it. So I'm going to postpone this challenge for now and do the things I love from A to Z instead.

Sorry it took so long to post.. I just could not think of anything for 'O' and then it finally hit me!

A is for... Adventure

What can I say? I love getting out and about and visiting different places.

B is for... Beach

At the first mention of beach, I'm in! I love all trips to the beach, day or night!

C is for... Cocktails

I can never say no to cocktails, they are my weakness.

D is for... Driving

I love to drive. You can't go wrong with a good road trip

E is for... Elephants

One of my favourite animals!

F is for... Family

I would definitely say I am a very family orientated person. Plus, no matter how much they get on my nerves, I still love them.

G is for... Gin

One of few spirits I actually enjoy drinking and like the taste of.  Especially with tonic or cloudy lemonade.

H is for... Halloween

I love to dress up. Take a look at this year's costume here.

I is for... Ireland

I'm from Northern Ireland, so "I" just had to be for Ireland. I love being Northern Irish/Irish. I'm also such a home bird, I didn't even go away for uni and refused to go away for placement. I don't see me moving away from home (ever) unless it's a last resort kinda thing.

J is for... Jamie

I was going to put Jelly but after a lot of consideration I thought my wonderful boyfriend deserved the spot more.

K is for... Kisses

When shared with the right person, they give me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

L is for... League of Legends

I know. I sound like such a nerd. But it's a really fun game!

M is for... Music

The world would be very dull without music. I love just listening to the radio when driving and I always find myself singing along to the songs. Especially Disney songs, I just love singing them... even though I don't have the best singing voice!

N is for... Netflix

I would be completely lost without Netflix. "My list" just continues to grow. There are so many TV programs and films I want to watch.

O is for... OJ

I love love love orange juice. I always make Jamie buy me it. I can't believe how long it took me to think of it! I'm slightly ashamed and feel as if I need to apologise to orange juice (lol)!

P is for... Picked Onion Tayto Crisps

Crisps are a big weakness of mine and Tayto Pickled Onion are my favourite!

Q is for... Quiet

Its nice to have peace and quiet every so often. It's so relaxing.

R is for... Relationships

Friends, Family and Boyfriend. I love the relationships I have with the people involved in my life.

S is for... Swift

I love Taylor Swift. If you had have came to me a couple of years ago my opinion would have been the polar opposite! Although I wasn't pleased when she decided her music would no longer be available on Spotify, I still love her and her music. I've been considering buying her new album for my car...I don't buy CDs!

T is for... Travel

I would love to travel the world. I hope to visit many different countries over the next few years. And by few years I definitely mean many many years. I enjoy visiting new places, one of the perks of Jamie spending 6 months in Copenhagen. Read about my trip here.

U is for... Under the sea

I suppose this is just another way of saying Jamie has made me obsessed with sea life. I love going to see all the pretty fish in aquariums. "Under the sea" fascinates me, the My favourite is clown fish, although that's probably been the case ever since I watched Finding Nemo... Which reminds me of how excited I am for Finding Dory!

V is for... Vampires

I love vampires! Vampire based TV shows, films, books, you name it! I'm currently watching "The Originals" on Netflix and I am really enjoying it! Although, for a girl who loves vampires I am yet to see Vampire Diaries... But I'm excited to start it! I know I should have watched Vampire Diaries first, but I'm already hooked on The Originals! Oops!

W is for... Winter

Ok so I hate the cold and snow/ice... But I love winter clothes, hot chocolate, sitting by the fire or getting cosy indoors and CHRISTMAS!

X is for... X Factor

Recently I haven't been all that into it but if someone else is watching it I will happily watch it with them. It's a show you don't have to watch every week to enjoy, I like that.

Y is for... Yankee Candles

I love love love Yankee Candles, they smell amazing! My favourite is clean cotton, I love how fresh it smells! I also love their floral scents.

Z is for... zzz

I love my sleep! And if I don't get enough of it you probably don't want to talk to me.. I can be VERY grumpy!

What are your A to Zs?

Later! ♥

Amsterdam Break

Gonna keep this short and sweet, but if you wanna know more, leave me a comment on this post :)

So me and Jamie jetted off to Amsterdam on Wednesday 26th August for a 3 day break and boy was it beautiful.

Although our stay was short (and sweet like this blog post!) we still had an amazing time and visited many cool attractions.

Firstly, the hotel! We stayed at hotel Casa 400, Amsterdam, and it was lovely! At first we got a room with a double bed that consisted of two mattresses that easily slid apart. I knew this would be super uncomfortable so I said to reception. The next day a double room was made available to us and the bed had one double mattress. So I can't really fault the hotel much but would recommend (if you decide to stay with the hotel) stating that you would like a  double room with a double bed that has a double mattress as opposed to 2 single mattresses. Anyway, the rooms were beautiful and large in size. I was impressed, especially as it was so cheap.

What we did in a nutshell:

We took a trip to the red light district. It was so surreal. But the canal was beautiful and was even prettier when it was dark and all the red lights were shining. Unfortunately I can't find the photos I took when it was dark :( I really enjoyed being able to visit the red light district, it was truly amazing!

We visited Madame Tussauds which was great fun. I have many photos from this visit but my two favourites are me raving with Armin Van Buuren and selfies with Gingy. I had looked up Madame Tussauds Amsterdam before we decided to go and was excited to see Princess Fiona but when we arrived there was a sign saying she was "at a far away swamp and would return soon". I was gutted. But there was a lot to see and the wax figures were so realistic. We seen Lady Gaga, Beyonce, George Clooney, Spider-Man, Wolverine, David Beckham, E.T. and much more. It was so much fun.

We visited the iamsterdam sign/letters. However there was an event occurring in the area and we didn't have much room for photos... Unfortunately I was unable to get any photos of the full sign but I got a few of both me and Jamie with some of the letters!

We also visited an photography museum called Foam, it was incredible. However, photography wasn't permitted so I don't have any photos. All I can say is if you're ever in Amsterdam, check it out!!

We went out for lunch/dinner each night and it was just great to experience different cafes and restaurants. We went to a Steakhouse one of the nights and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was also an Italian restaurant that we tried and the pizza was to die for! I can't really remember the names of the cafes and restaurants but what I can say is you won't be stuck for choice for places to eat! 

Along with trying many restaurants we also tried many different bars which meant trying different Beers and Ales (mainly IPAs for me), I really enjoyed the selection. One of the nights we actually left without paying, the bar tender was nowhere to be seen and we needed to catch a metro... Shh!! Don't tell anyone. P.S. Does this count as "Dining and Dashing"? Because it's on my bucket list and I know I'll feel bad if the bill is supposed to be over £10.

Have you been to Amsterdam before? What did you enjoy most?

Are you intending on visiting Amsterdam anytime soon? I really recommend it!

Later! ♥

November Goals

Time just keeps ticking, I don't understand how it's November. It feels no later than September!!

Anyway, review of October Goals:

1. Book Flights to Scotland

This trip unfortunately isn't going ahead now :(

2. Request Leave

Leave was requested ✓. However, I cancelled my November leave request as the Scotland trip is not going forward. But I am well ahead of myself and also booked time off in February for me and Nicole to visit Jamie (flights yet to be booked)!

3. Finalise Halloween Costume

Check ✓

I absolutely loved being Misty! I even had my own Togepi! Check it out on Instagram!

4. Drink more water

Check ✓

I have been drinking a lot more water and have extremely cut back on fizzy drinks! When I do crave a fizzy drink I make sure it's diet/zero as I'm led to believe these are slightly better for you, or should I say less..bad..

5. Hang out with friends more

Well.... I have to be honest and say that I didn't really achieve this goal. Although, I have been more social.

So onto this month's goals:

1. See the dentist

My mouth has been giving me so much bother. I really need to see a dentist. It could potentially be too late to save the tooth so this is URGENT!

2. Finish up the A-Z of me blog post

This post has been sitting in my drafts for goodness knows how long! Really need to finish and post it!

3. Christmas Shop!

I hope to get as many Christmas presents sorted as possible this month. December is a stressful month and I hate leaving presents to the last minute. This time last year I had the majority of my presents bought. Compared to now where none of my presents have been purchased.

4. Book flights to Liverpool for February

If I have enough money at the end of the month I hope to book my February flights while they are still cheap! No point having the time booked off with no flights!

What are your goals this month??

Later! ♥

October Goals

Ahhh, how is it October already??

September flew in!!

Anyway, review of September Goals

1. Get a hair cut

Check  ✓

I got my hair and evened the colour out by putting a brown dye all over (my hair even looks in better condition, yay!)

2. Book flights to Liverpool

Check  ✓

I have booked flights to Liverpool for Halloween. I go on the 29th of October and come home on the 2nd of November!

3. Save

Again, I think saving is coming along ok. I have a secure amount in savings.

So this is another check ✓

4. Hang out with friends more

I don't think this one is a check although I have been hanging out with friends more than I was.

5. Drink more water

Another one that can't really be checked off the list. I have been drinking more water and I even bought orange cordial to try and encourage myself to drink more water.

So onto this month's goals!

Photo Creds: Jamie Toal

1. Book Flights to Scotland

I'm intending on visiting a friend who goes to uni in Stirling at the end of November.. So I really need to book flights

2. Request Leave

In order to be able to go to Scotland I will need time of work, I keep forgetting to put in a leave request. So that's one of this month's goals. (This also needs to be done before booking flights)

3. Finalise Halloween Costume

Obviously this needs done this month! I still have a few bits and pieces to purchase for it!

4. Drink more water

Again!

5. Hang out with friends more

Again! I need to make more time for my friends - baby steps!