I'm Back...

Well hey there! I know it’s been a while. I know practically nobody will have noticed my absence from the blog as I only had around 10 Bloglovin’ followers when I published my last post but I still somehow feel compelled to write an explanation...

Firstly, I realised that starting a blog at the same time as basically beginning a full time job (I was working Mon-Fri 9-5 on placement) was possibly one of the worst things I could have done as I was so freaking exhausted from placement that I couldn’t contemplate anything other than sleep and/or studying.

Secondly, I have just came to the end of undoubtedly the worst summer of my life. It’s been a pretty crappy year to be honest. Last year my Gran was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease (a type of dementia) which took a real toll out of my entire family. She lived alone as we lost my Papa when I was 13 and although she was still coping, this year she really started to go downhill to the point that I was scared for her safety. There was a horrible atmosphere in my home as my dad really was her sole carer (his sister lives abroad) and had a lot of worries and responsibility on his shoulders so was understandably stressed and sometimes took his stress out on us when we tried to help. She became more and more confused, forgot how to cook meals for herself and began wandering out of her own house and getting lost. The one aspect of her character that remained through her illness was that she remained a very stubborn lady and wouldn’t accept any sort of help like meals on wheels and of course we couldn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want to so we were really stuck in a tough place. We were considering plans for the future when things took an unexpected turn. Her friend was helping her to get ready for a routine doctor’s appointment when she noticed a lump on my gran’s back. She pointed this out to the doctor who immediately sent her to A&E at our nearest hospital. She was in the same hospital as I was working in for placement so I would visit her after every shift to see how she was doing. Over the next couple of weeks, her decline was unbelievable. To cut a long story short, she was diagnosed with a rare form of muscle cancer. The doctors decided that treatment would not be beneficial and so a palliative care plan was put in place. Visiting her every week and seeing the gradual decline in her health is the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through. She spent just over 5 weeks in hospital before being moved to a care home where she could be looked after in a nicer and more homely setting where the nurses had more time more one-on-one care. She passed away just over 2 weeks later on the 5^th of September. My entire family were (and still are) absolutely heartbroken. How somebody can go from attending a routine doctor’s appointment to no longer being with us in the space of exactly 8 weeks is just unbelievable and something I still cannot wrap my head around. My only comfort is the fact that she is no longer in pain and that the last time I saw her I hugged and kissed her and told her how much I loved her – and she was able to say it back. I still miss seeing her face light up every time we visited, she really was a true reflection of how the simple things in life can make you so happy. 

I’m not trying to upset anybody with this post and I’m very sorry if I have. I just felt like I had to write these feelings down somewhere. The one thing I want anybody reading to take away from this is how important your family is. We take them for granted far too much but there is nothing more important than family. Please make sure your family know how much you care about them and take the time to visit them when you can. An unexpected visit can really make a grandparent's day.

Anyways, after a tough year and a half, and a truly horrible couple of months I’m hoping that things can only improve. I’m going to London for the September weekend with my family since we never got away for a holiday during the summer and I’m really looking forward to it. I plan to pick up a few beauty bits and they will undoubtedly feature in my next few posts. I’ll plan to have then done in the next couple of weeks. I’m really looking forward to getting back to blogging as I really enjoyed it before life decided to turn crappy and I’m really going to try super hard to work on my blogging skills and content!

Until next time lovelies!

Jen x

This Week

Hey lovelies! Hope you all had a great week, here's a few pics of what I've been up to:

MORE studying; I really need to know my stuff for this placement so have been studying almost every night, I'm exhausted!

I got a new car!! I picked it up yesterday & I absolutely love it!

Picked up some Krispy Kreme donuts on the way to get the new car, I couldn't resist! 

So there we have it, a very shot & sweet "this week" post but I really haven't been up to too much to be honest as I'm still trying to get into the swing of the hours for my new placement. 

What have you been up to?

Jen x

This Week

Hello lovelies, hope you all had a great week! 

First off I'd like to say I'm sorryyyyyyyy about the lack of posts this week, I've just finished my first week of my hospital placement which has all been a bit overwhelming after a three week break & I've just been too tired to post anything. I also want to say that if you've followed me on Bloglovin or Twitter & I haven't followed you back yet I'm not being rude by not checking out your profile, I honestly just haven't been near my laptop this week to look at anything! Anyways, now that I'm in to the routine of my placement I'm going to be a lot more organised with my posts & plan publish at least 3 a week - honestly you may be begging me to shut up by this time next week! And I'll also be looking for new blogs & Twitters to follow so say hi if I don't follow you or give me some recommendations on who to follow! 

Anyways, on to what I've been up to this week (which isn't much)...

So the main thing I've been up to this week which I've already wrote about is that I had my first week of my surgical placement! It's been a great week & I've learned a lot but after having a break between uni & placement a full week of work has hit me quite hard so I've been enjoying a nice relaxed weekend to recharge my batteries before it all starts again tomorrow!

I really want to make sure I know my stuff for this placement as I'm now in year 2 (almost year 3 - eek!) and am obviously expected to know more than I did last year so I've been reading up on my physiology notes & books to make sure that I'm well informed! Boring but necessary.

Yesterday me & my mum decided to take Bailey for a nice long walk since the sun was out - a very rare occurrence in Scotland believe me! Near where we live there's a canal and if you walk along it for around half an hour there's one of our favourite restaurants at the end. It's a great place to take the dog for a walk as they have lovely decking outside which overlooks the canal so you can sit outside & enjoy the sun. We got a pulled pork burger & chips to share & it was SO good!

The walk back wasn't quite so pleasant as Bailey was too hot & point blank refused to walk. We managed to walk about 100 yards at a time & then he would lie down again. The only time he would walk happily was if he saw people walking towards us because he wanted to say hi. Such a stubborn pup.

So there we have it! Like I said I really haven't been up to much as placement just floored me but hopefully I'll be less tired next week & will have the energy to do a bit more. What have you been up to this week?

Jen x

Wedding!

Hello lovelies! Hope you've all had a great week, I'm off placement for the weekend which is nice because I'm exhausted after my first few shifts (that's why I've not had many posts up this week, I'm sorry!!). Anyways, as I wrote about in my last "This Week" post, I attended my cousin's wedding last Saturday so I thought I'd write a post about it! 

Me & my sis

No time to take pics before I left so a bathroom pic was required

Me, my mum & my sister

The ceremony 

My cousin's beautiful boys

The happy family

My cousin & her bridesmaids on the bouncy castle

Josh absolutely loved seeing his face on my phone's camera!

My mum & dad on the dancefloor

Me & my gorgeous cousin

One of the wedding favours

Dress | Topshop

Shoes | New Look | (Old)

Bag | £15 | Available here

I'll start off with my outfit; I had no time for any 'proper' outfit pictures before I left as I was employed by my mum & sister to do their makeup as well as my own so I ended up running around like a maniac trying to get ready on time & did half of my own makeup in the car on the way there. My dress was from Topshop's petite section (no link unfortunately as I can't find it on their website anymore). I'm so happy it was from the petite section because most dresses I buy need to be taken up since I'm such a tiny hobbity elf. I loved the colour of it & it fit really well. It can also be dressed down with a denim jacket & converse. I bought my shoes from New Look last year & I absolutely love them - the multicoloured aztec pattern means that they go with every colour imaginable & I can walk in them without looking like Bambi learning how to walk for the first time. I bought the clutch bag a few weeks ago from Accessorize which I think went really well with the outfit.

On to my makeup; I used my usual foundation (Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow) & concealer (Collection's Lasting Perfection) along with NARS Orgasm blush from my NARSissist palette (review here). As my cheeks & lips were pink, I kept my eye makeup quite light - using two colours from my Urban Decay Naked Palette (sin all over the lid & hustle in the crease). On my lips I used my new MAC lipstick in Chatterbox (review here) which was a nice pinky colour to compliment my dress.

The weather was so gorgeous last week which was lucky as we get about four sunny days a year in Scotland. The ceremony room was dressed beautifully with pink & green ribbons tied around the chairs & fairy lights right behind where the ceremony took place. I thought the bridesmaids' dresses were absolutely beautiful too! When my cousin first told me the colour they would be I honestly wasn't sure as I personally don't think pink & green go that well together but I think the shades she chose complimented each other perfectly & the bridesmaids all looked beautiful in them. My cousin's wedding dress was absolutely gorgeous & fit her amazingly well considering she had twins less than a year ago! The boys were so well behaved all day & I managed to grab a few cuddles with them throughout the day until my other relatives insisted that they should be allowed to hold them too. There was a bouncy castle outside which was great fun for the kids at the wedding (& the adults!). At night my older cousins arrived as well as my brother & his girlfriend & it was lovely to see everyone all together & dressed up. My mum's side of the family is quite big so it's difficult to get everybody together at the one time! There was a band at night which was great fun & after a few too many drinks it didn't take much convincing to get me up dancing with my cousins. My cousin couldn't dance properly in her wedding dress so later on in the night she changed into her onesie which I found absolutely hilarious!

To sum it up - I had an absolutely amazing day!

Anyways, I'm absolutely bawling because I've just caught up with the last episode of The Vampire Diaries (does anybody else watch it? HOW COULD IT END LIKE THAT?!) so I'd better wrap this up before my laptop packs it in due to water damage.

What do you think of my wedding outfit? Do you have any Summer weddings coming up? And how GUTTED are you about the ending of The Vampire Diaries? Let me know in the comments!

Jen x

This Week

Hello lovelies!

Firstly I'm sorry I've been so quiet this week, I was back at uni every day this week so have been crazy busy all week! I have around 200 blog posts to catch up with on Bloglovin which is absolutely mental so hopefully I'll have time to catch up with them next week. Anyways, as said I haven't had much time to do anything this week but here are a couple of pics nonetheless...

As I said, I was back at uni this week mostly 9-4 so it was pretty full on & I've been exhausted as I'd got used to my lie-ins on the three weeks I had off. 

Another reason I've been quiet this week; I attended my cousin's wedding yesterday! I had planned to write a post yesterday before I left for the wedding but unfortunately I didn't have time after both my mum & sister employed me to do their makeup as well as my own so of course I was running around like a crazy person & still applying my own makeup in the back of the car on the way there. It was such an amazing day/night & it was so great to see all of my family because there are quite a lot of us so it's difficult to get everybody together at the one time! I may do a separate post about it next week depending on the quality of the pictures I managed to take (I may have had a few drinks). 

So that's it! Sorry it's super quick but I start my first shift of my new placement tomorrow & really should have been asleep an hour ago but I never learn & am still getting organised as we speak so I shall bid you a good night as I rush off to get my bag organised for tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Jen x

This Week

Hey lovelies, hope you're all had a great week! Here's a few pics of what I've been up to...

The weather was really nice on Tuesday so me & my sis decided to take Bailey for a nice walk in the sun. 

I hadn't seen my brother or his girlfriend in a while since they've both been busy studying for uni so on Wednesday me & my sis went into town to meet them for lunch. I wanted to go to an Italian but was out-voted so we went to TGI Fridays instead. I got their cajun chicken pasta (as always - it's amazing!) & found something new & amazing on the menu: cheese & bacon chips (you can see them on the left). There are no words to describe how good they are. Try them. 

I had a night out in town in the uni girls on Thursday. We got our exam results on Thursday morning & found out we all passed so it was nice to meet up & celebrate, even if I did feel a bit worse for wear the next morning...

So that's a few things I've been up to this week. Have you done anything nice?

Jen x

This Week

Hello lovelies! It's been a few days since my last post, sorry about that but I've been quite busy the last couple of days. I hope you've all had a great week, here's a few pics of what I've been up to...

My sister had her last exam of 5th year on Wednesday so we spent a couple of days just watching films & eating ice cream as she really needed to chill out after studying for weeks. Seriously, I've been scared to breathe the last couple of weeks in case she shouted at me. 

My little pup turned 5 this week but me & my sister found this old pic of him from when he was just a few weeks old! This is the picture the breeder sent my dad & the picture that decided that we were getting him. How adorable was he?!

Yesterday me, my mum & my sister went into town & had a lovely brunch. If you're reading this & you live near Glasgow you need to try the Cup Tea Lounge! It's absolutely gorgeous inside & really reasonably priced. I had the pancakes which were amazing.

I went shopping. Again. It's becoming a problem. I picked up a few beauty pieces so I'm sure I'll have a post up about it next week! 

Not pictured:
I also got the details of my next placement this week! If you don't already know, I'm a student nurse & was informed this week that my next placement is going to be surgical, eeek! I'm really excited!

Finally, I got a letter this week informing me that I have a job interview for a post that I thought I'd been rejected for as I sent my application away ages ago! I'm really excited, fingers crossed I get the job!

So that's it! A few pics of what I've been up to during the week, have you done anything nice? 

Jen x

Room Inspiration...

Hello lovelies! I have a different type of post for you all today.

It wasn't even that long ago that I changed my room around but recently I've been itching to totally redecorate again! My room currently has three lilac walls & one purple wall with all white furniture. However, as you can see from my wishlist below I'm currently lusting after something totally different.

Bedding | £19.99 | Available here

Dressing table | £95 | Available here

Bunting | £17.50 | Available here

Personalised print | £35 | Available here 

First up I'll say that to compliment all of this gorgeous stuff I'd want my walls to just be white so that the colourful features would really stand out. 

So first we have this beautiful bedding from Dunelm Mill. How gorgeous is this?! It looks so lovely against the white furniture in the picture & as I already have white furniture I think it would just look beautiful. Although it's patterned I don't think it'll look too girly as long as the rest of the room is fairly minimal. It's a really reasonable price & I'm really tempted to pick it up when I'm paid & just put it away for the future because I'd be gutted if in a few months I decide to redecorate & it's not there anymore. 

Next we have the gorgeous dressing table from Ikea; a beauty lover's dream! I already have a white desk in my room but to be honest it's looking a bit tatty & I don't even use it to do my uni work so it just ends up accumulating rubbish that I should throw out. I'd love a dressing table like this to store my makeup but unfortunately can't justify the price tag at the moment. If anybody knows of any cheaper alternatives please let me know! I'm seriously considering asking for it for my birthday (is it sad to ask for furniture for your birthday?!) as it's just so gorgeous. 

As I've said, I would want my walls to be all white if I was to buy the patterned bedding so of course they would look quite bare. This bunting is from notonthehighstreet.com & I just think it would look so beautiful draped across the the tops of one or two walls. I think it's so sweet & would compliment the bedding really well without being too "in your face". 

The next item again would be used to brighten up bare walls & again is from notonthehighstreet.com. Now I wouldn't buy this for myself as I think it would be a little bit too sad but it would be such a gorgeous present! It's essentially a personalised print where you go on the site & type in someone's "likes". This is then made into a gorgeous collage that can be hung on the wall. Again, I wouldn't buy this for myself but it would be a gorgeous present even if it is rather pricey! 

So there we have it! A wishlist of my ideal room, although knowing me I'd get my room like this & then crave a change again! I think it's a girl thing to be honest. 

What do you think of my wish list? Are you planning anything special for your room at the moment? 

Jen x

This Week...

So I thought I'd make this a weekly Sunday post just as a little run-down of what I've been up to during the week, hope you enjoy!

I had an exam AND a 3000 report both due on Thursday (cheers uni) so I spent the majority of my week studying. I think my exam went well & me & my friends went out for drinks after to celebrate which was nice! I now have a few weeks off before I start placement, woo!

My mum brought my Granny Grace's old jewellery box down from the loft & let me & my sister pick a few pieces each to keep. I chose this necklace & two watches which I think are really beautiful. I lost her when I was 6 so it'll feel nice to have a piece of her with me whenever I wear any of these. 

Excuse the Instagram filter please! So me & my mum went shopping today & as you can see, I went a little bit crazy. Oops. Because I'd been stuck in studying for the last few weeks I actually had more money than I thought towards the end of this month, so naturally I went out and spent it all. I'll do a haul post on all of this later in the week as the light for photos was rubbish when I got home.

So that's it! A few snippets of what I got up to during the week! Did you do anything nice?

Jen x