They Know Me So Well!

Okay, I'll admit it, I am an addict. A stationary addict. Pens, pencils, magazine holders... you name it, I want it. I think my biggest vice would have to be notebooks. My obsession with stationary didn't exactly go unmissed when I was in Australia, with my aunt and friend, both of whom I lived with on separate occasions, noticing pretty much straight away. This was probably due to the fact that I dragged them both into Kikki K, AKA my favourite store in the world, at every given opportunity. I'm actually pretty glad they noticed because, if they hadn't, I wouldn't have received some of the amazing leaving gifts from them that I did. These gifts just happened to include a laptop (in a Kikki K bag) and I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried. Here's what I received...

Let's Have a Chat...

It's weird to think that, this time three weeks ago, I was on a fifteen hour and then a nine hour flight back from Australia. It's hard to believe that my six month Australian adventure has come to an end. I spent my last day in the most touristy way possible; on Bondi Beach in my Aussie hoodie and in a very hungover state. I left with new tattoos, new friends and plenty of new (some slightly fuzzy) memories and exciting stories to tell. Unfortunately for me, I came down incredibly ill on the plane. My best friend arrived at Heathrow airport and came running towards me, ready for a happy reunion, only for me to sink to the floor in hysterics, demanding to be taken to A&E.

August Wishlist: Interior Design.

I can't believe that my gap year, a year of adventures, is coming to an end. If everything goes to plan, I have another month of travelling and basically doing no work or studying, before attending university. Admittedly I'll be attending three years later than planned, but that's not the point (though someone should probably tell my family that). I'm excited though slightly nervous about this new chapter in my life and excited to meet new people, but I'm mainly excited to decorate my university room. I seriously love interior design. After all, this is the person who spent an hour sat in a library reading a book about lightbulbs. I'm in Spain at the moment and, while most people read a book or sleep whilst lying on a sunlounger, I have a browse on various websites such as IKEA, NotOnTheHighStreet, H&M Home, NEXT, etc. Will people judge me for buying placemats, house plants and salt & pepper shakers? I think I need to remember that I am attending university, not moving to South Kensington. I plan on keeping everything pretty basic, and then adding plenty of colourful details. Either way, here are a few things I have my eye on to make my room a home...

July Favourites.

(...) Can time please slow down?! I don't understand how it's going so fast. I've loved my time in Australia so much that I should have just gotten married just so that I could stay there for longer than my VISA allowed and so that I don't have to pay international university fees. One thing I've been loved about my time there is that I've been wearing less make-up and, when I do wear make-up, I've only been wearing my holy-grail products. So, here's some of the beauty (and also non-beauty) products that I've been loving recently...

The Dior Sunglasses Dupe.

You know those Dior sunglasses that nearly everyone has or wants to have? Yeah, well, I want them. I could go out and buy a pair but, now that I'm technically an adult (scary) and growing up (even scarier), I'm a little more money conscious. Plus, I wouldn't have as much money to spend on travelling, which really is my one true love. Luckily for me, I've found the perfect dupe and they're even available in multiple colours! I'll take ever pair colour available please, and a few spares for good luck. You can find them here, and they're only $1.95!

Exploring a Tropical Island - Singapore #6.

If you've read my Meet KC post, then you'll know that, while in Singapore, I spent a day at Pulua Ubin, a tropical island located between Singapore and Malaysia. Your data provider actually switches  from a company from each place, so just buy going to Pulua Ubin you can say you were in two countries in one day! One thing's for sure though, I don't think I've ever breathed air as clean or felt so free as when cycling and hiking around this tiny island, exploring everything it has to offer. From palm trees to lily-pads, wild boar to monkeys, lakes to streams... Everything was just incredible. Definitely one for the bucket list, and a place I hope to return to one day. Though if I do return, I'll have to remember to take the mosquito repellent with me - a month late and I've still got bites!

I Put WHAT On My Lashes?!

Okay, this is your official warning, I'm about to big myself up, toot my own horn, etc, etc. - I'm one of those annoying people that has naturally good eyelashes. Like, people comment on them and ask what mascara I'm wearing, only to look seriously pissed off when I tell them I'm not wearing them and they're my natural lashes, so you can probably imagine how people look when they see me a few days later when wearing make-up. If people didn't look at me with such disgruntled faces, I'd probably share how my enhance my lashes with two easy beauty products, something they could so easily achieve too. Instead, I'll share them with you...

Crying Over a Perfume & Plenty of Empties.

While on my gap year, I've been determined not to spend so much money on anything beauty and fashion related and, after five months of travelling, I'd say I've done pretty well. There have certainly been a lot less transactions on my bank statements anyway, even if the same amount of money is coming out each money (Can Richard Branson please adopt me because I can't keep spending so much on air travel). Because I've been on an economy drive, I've been rediscovering plenty of beauty and skincare products that I had floating around in various drawers and make-up bags, so many in fact, that I'm probably going to end up having to repurchase everything at once (swings and roundabouts...), but that can wait until I'm back on British soil, just so that I don't have to pay so much for extra baggage... Now that my suitcase is probably about seven kilos lighter, here are some of my empties...

Hiking in a Tropical Rainstorm - Singapore #5.

It's official, after my trip to Singapore, I could survive on a deserted island with crazy rain and smoke monsters like the one in LOST. I've done it all. I've had my hair bobble break and had to tie my hair up with a piece of string I found in a tree, and I was even running on a treetop walkway through the jungle when it suddenly started to rain, heavier than I've ever seen, so much that I could barely see and had to shelter in a tree (100% had to refrain from shouting "JAAAAAACK". Kate Auston, eat your heart out)...  Before I let my imagination run wild and imagined just how I was going to kill a polar bear, my aunt and I visited the Botanic Gardens & Orchid Garden of Singapore. I don't know a lot about flowers and plants, but I can tell you that it was beautiful. We actually chose to go on what was the hottest and most humid day of the week, so just seeing the words 'cool house' was enough to help me ignore the sweat dripping down my neck and send me to a happier place. One too many selfies were taken but, with such a perfect backdrop it was hard not to...

Tips for Nervous Flyers.

I'm actually writing this while sat some 30,000ft in the air, on my way from Perth to Singapore. For someone that does a heck of a lot of travelling, you'd think I'd find flying a lot easier than I do. It never used to bother me, it would play on my mind a bit before the flight, but I'd soon be over it and be asleep before the plane even took off, only to wake up to someone prodding me, telling me we'd landed and that it was time to pack up my stuff. Now that I'm older and my anxiety has gotten worse, I find flying just that little bit more scary. I think it's the build up of it and generally over-thinking things. It's not the turbulence that bothers me, or being with strangers (I'm that annoying person that'll spend the whole flight talking to you, if you let me), I think it's the thought of being trapped, being in an accident and just the fact that planes are weird. Metal cylinders that somehow stay up in the air? Okay. Totally normal. But with the amount of flights I've been on in my life, especially in the last year (flying from London to Australia takes a bloody long time), I've slowly been finding ways to cope with it, so thought I'd share some of them with you...