Throw Back Thursday: Music Singles I Bought

I started this post as just a throw back post to older songs I used to love that I had been listening to lately. But the more songs I ended up picking, the more I realised I was picking songs I bought the singles of! So I added a few more and voila! I had this post.

I’m starting with the first single I ever bought Baby…One More Time by Britney Spears. I had, of course, other music before this, I can think of 4 albums I had on CD (Spice, Spice World, What’s the Story (Morning Glory) and Now 36) but this was the first single I remember buying.

 

Of course, I was also a big Christina fan. And while I definitely had Genie in a Bottle on single, I picked Come On Over as I heard it recently at work and it’s been stuck in my head. I do find the video funny though, I think it’s the shimmering satin sheets in the background rippling.

 

I do really like Jennifer Lopez songs as well, they are so catchy. I remember with Love Don’t Cost a Thing, I played it on my cousins’ computer as it a video element to the CD. Oh the technology!

 

Speaking of those cousins, I remember playing Hero by Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott there when I bought the single. Ya ya, you can mock Nickelback all you want but I still like this song! And I was a massive fan of the Spiderman film it came from.

 

I still have Overload by Sugababes on CD, packed away in storage. It was, and still is, one of my favourite songs. I must really check out some MKS stuff.

 

There’s something about Kelly Osbourne that I’ve always loved. Back in the day, I think it’s because her punky style of clothing was very DIY, which I was into at the time, and I always wanted to be daring enough to pull it off! I bought the Papa Don’t Preach single when it was out, I really like the rocky edge to it.

 

Lastly I’ve been listening to Coldplay a bit recently, specifically the Rush of Blood to the Head album. I bought Clocks as a single, it’s just so beautiful and I still love it. I spoke about it a bit here in this post years ago.

That was fun! I think I’m going to do a post like this again in the future.Have any older songs that remind you of your childhood been stuck in your head recently? I’d love to hear which ones they are!

Palm Tree Nails

I’ve been wanting to do these nails for a while, but kept putting it off. Now that the weather isn’t as warm as it was, I decided to pep up my nails and keep summer going!

Pretend that the blue in background is the sea and not a car bonnet!

I had another orange polish in mind when I was thinking of this look but couldn’t find it. Probably for the best as I think this Rimmel Cocktail Colour in Shirley Temple works so much better as has that sparkle which just adds dimension. I used Barry M’s Nail Art Pen in Black to sketch and fill in the palm tree. It turned out much better than I thought it would! Just looking at these photos warms me up a bit, which is much needed as today I’m feeling very cold!

Essence Colour Flash Mascaras

I had hinted at these mascaras back in my post about the Essence Rock Style Hair Dye Powder. I had worn the purple mascara in that post but wanted to wait to put all the pictures together in one post. I have 3 out of 4 of the colours, I’m missing the blue one but I have the purple, red and turquoise ones!

Purple

     

Turquoise/Green

       

Red

         

I think the purple is my favourite, followed by the green. The red is definitely for when you want to make a statement, I think it would be great for Halloween too actually. These can also be used in your hair, which is great if you want a flash of colour, however they do make the hair crispy, so it won’t be it’s usual shiny and smooth self! But still fun to do every now and again, I used the green on the bottom of my hair and was really impressed with the results, it has seriously tempted me to dye the bottom of my hair green!

I kept the make up relatively simple to showcase the mascaras but I do have another post planned with different ways and looks to wear coloured mascara, I just have to finish taking photos.

Do you like the look of these? Which colour is your fave? Comment below and let me know!

These products were part of the goodie bag from the Essence UK Launch. All opinions are my own.

Disraeli Avenue by Caroline Smailes Book Review

 

When I saw this on NetGalley, something went off in the back of my head. I was sure I’d hear of it and I was sure I’d hear it was good but I just couldn’t remember where or when I’d heard it! After speaking to Beth from Plastic Rosaries about it, I decided to give it a go.

Disraeli Avenue is a novella with characters from Smailes’ previous book, In Search of Adam. It’s set around the houses and their tenants of Disraeli Avenue in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Each chapter focuses on characters from a specific house and a snippet from their life. Now, because it’s set around In Search of Adam, it DOES give away what happens in that book, so beware of that, there’s big time spoilers. That said, you don’t need to have read In Search of Adam to enjoy this, as I certainly did. If you like people watching or are fascinated by the secret lives of others, then you’ll probably enjoy this. I for one like to this about people who pass me on the street (not in a creepy way!) and what part of their life they’re thinking about at that time and how my life in some very small way crosses theirs. Does that sound a bit strange? I just find it so interesting that all these different lives and issues surround you every day and yet most of the time we never get to hear about these things.

If you’re looking for something consistent, then you might not enjoy this. There’s a mixture of different chapter styles, from conversations in text messages to diary format to letters and to people gossiping on the phone. Some chapters are written in phonetic Geordie slang, so you can imagine how the speaker sounds. I personally liked these elements, I found it mixed things up and contributed to the idea that there’s all these different characters.

This is a quick read, I read it in one day while on various buses. Also all profits from this go to One in Four, a charity which provides support for people who have suffered from sexual abuse and sexual violence. There’s no real plot in this book but if you love things that are character driven and are nosy about the lives of others, you might enjoy this short read.

This copy was requested from NetGalley, with no obligation to produce a review. All opinions are strictly my own.

Throw Back Thursday

I’m taking a break from the TBT Nails for this week as I wanted to do another TBT kind of post. When I was at home last month, I discovered a bunch of things that I had kept from over the years and thought this might be a fun post to do. I did a similar kind of post when I first moved out of home and went through all my junk (you can find that one here).

Page from a kids Filofax Activity thing

I used to love these kinds of things, where you could fill in all your favourites. I have no idea when this is from to be honest, but I had at first listed Jumanjii as my favourite film but crossed it out for Greece (ha, I totally meant Grease! My spelling is so bad here). I had Robin Williams listed as my favourite actor (even before his death earlier this week I was going to do this post and when I remembered this page after I heard the news it made me feel even sadder. He was a massive part of my childhood, of some many people’s childhoods, and some of his films are still my absolute favourites. I could go on but if there’s one thing we can take away from all this is that mental health is still such an important thing to talk about). I had Brookside listed as my favourite TV programme! What kind of kid was I?!

 

Tapes

 

On the left is the Grease soundtrack (well, couldn’t have it as my favourite film without having the soundtrack!), with the bonus songs of Blame it on the Boogie and Canned Heat at the end of the tape to fill up the space! On the left is one of my oldest tapes, the second tape in a Disney compilation that I got one Christmas off my uncle to go with the cassette player I got that year. I think I was 7? No idea where the first tape is though, which is a shame.

 

Selection of Old Nokias

If there was a nuclear war, you can be damn sure there would be Nokias still intact! Before my current iPhone (which was my mother’s phone before I got it), all I owned were Nokias. These are all of them except my very first one, Nokia 3310, which I sold after I got the one on the far right, which was my very first camera phone. After that one went, I got the middle one which lasted me 4 years before upgrading to the one on the left. I still own a Nokia for my English number though I should really swap my phones around.

 

Barbie Postcard

         

This was sent by a cousin who lives in London, before her summer holidays over in Ireland. From the address on the postcard, I would date this around 2000.

 

Lemony Snickett Print

My sister printed this off and slipped it under my bedroom door one day. Not creepy or sinister at all….

 

2003 Elle Diary

 

 

Oh to be young again! I used this diary to fill in things that I did so I could remember and I’m glad I did. It shows so many things, like my first time meeting friends (including my boyfriend of 9 years!), all the fun things I did with these friends (cinema, discos, hanging out with each other), serious things like my Nana dying and the things pictured above (Justin Timberlake concert, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix book release and my Junior Cert results). It filled with fond, fond memories.

 

Christmas Card from 1998

                                 

While I still have a lot of cards and stuff that I got from primary school (specifically this year, as it was my last year there before moving), I don’t know why this wasn’t with the others, packed away in storage. Perhaps because of the way my name was spelt wrong?! (seriously people, it’s not that hard!)

 

Favourite and Least Favourite Colour Sweet

In Transition Year, I decided to survey my friends on their favourite and least favourite sweet colour (what a barrel of laughs I am!). It was probably sparked by an argument with some friend over which was best. Here’s the results below.

Colour	Favourite	Least Favourite
Purple/Black	5	4
Red	6	1
Green	5	2
Yellow	2	4
Orange	3	2

Red seems to be most popular, with the purple/black the most polarizing. My favourite is green and yellow is least favourite. It would be interesting to see if anyone has changed their minds! I know I didn’t.

It’s so amazing what you can discover when doing a proper clean out! What have you found when spring cleaning?

Roller Skate Cake

Ah, finally a break from nail polish posts! Not that I’m complaining but I do like the break things up a bit. And I haven’t posted a foodie post in a while.

Last Friday was my friend’s birthday and seeing as she plays roller derby, I thought it would be perfect to make a cake made in the shape of a roller skate! I went to Pinterest and searched for a similar cake, most of them were ones that are standing up but eventually I found this one with a tutorial of how to cut the right shape. I waited for my cake to cool completely before cutting, then put on a crumb coat and let that sit in the fridge and then applied the final icing coat. I cut a start out of tin foil to act as a star stencil and used strawberry laces as the real laces! I’m pretty happy with how it turned out and even happier to report that it all got eaten too! Worth carrying into the bar in an empty Stella Artois box.

Catrice Le Grand Bleu Limited Edition in Mermaidy Mayday

When I looked up this Limited Edition collection online, I wasn’t overly gone on anything. But in person when I saw Mermaidy Mayday I was intrigued. It’s a light blue almost jelly like polish with large and small glitter pieces. It was the slightly cloudy consistancy of the polish that really intrigued me.

I decided to put a light blue polish down as a base coat, other wise I’d probably need about 5 coats to make it opaque on it’s own. Though it could be certainly used on its own. I went for an old Essence colour that I’ve had forever. Here’s the results.

Because it’s a jelly polish you get that nice sandwich effect when you do a few layers, which I really liked. And I don’t know about you but this reminds me of Cinderella’s dress! The colours and the sparkles.

You can probably just about still catch this on Catrice stands now, I know there’s a new collection out but sometimes it takes a while for them to change.

Throw Back Thursday Nails with GOSH Rainbow

I remember the obsession with this polish when it first came out! People went mad over it, I even ended up sending a bottle on to a friend in America. Then there was outrage when it was discontinued. I really don’t get why brands discontinue such popular products! I understand keeping your brand fresh and all but there are some things that should be just leave alone.

Ahem. Rant over. Anyway, I usually like pairing this with black or something dark as I think it really makes it pop. But I had just bought Emerald Bay by Catrice (which, speaking of being discontinuations, it’s being axed from line now. So I got it half price). I thought having it over such a greeny shade would create something ‘mermaidy’ and I was right! I love it.

If you like this, fear not! There are many many dupes available. Though I think this is still my favourite.

July Recap

I meant to have this out yesterday but I flew back to Manchester from Ireland in the morning and was just too shattered to write a post.

Celebrating- A number of things really! I started a job in July, I went back home for my cousin’s wedding and it was also my mother’s 50th birthday.

      

The beautiful indoor marquee style reception; The only full length picture of my outfit! (ignore upside belt!); close up of vintage inspired hair, make up and nails

 

Crafting- Knitting loads of squares! They were for knitting club, who were using them for an animal shelter fundraiser. I took the chance to practice new stitches and designs, sad I didn’t take a picture of my results! Also had to alter the dress from above as the shoulders were too big. Was pretty happy with the results, even if it was a little wonky (yay for long hair hiding all dress sins!). I did however leave the hem for the experts to alter.

 

Playing- QuizUp! Yes, I know I mentioned it last month but when I was home at Ireland, nearly all my siblings got the app and we all played each other. Other than that, I haven’t really had a chance to play many games as I’ve been so tired and busy with work.

 

Cooking- Fried rice. I’ve made it several times this month, partly thanks to watching this video on Jamie Oliver’s Food Tube by The Dumpling Sisters. I’ve made fried rice several times before but thanks to the video I made a super bumped up version for myself and my boyfriend. Though the other times have been simple enough, quicker versions.

 

Swimming- In the rain! Just swimming in the rain! I had waited all week back home for the weather to pick up a bit so I could go swimming in the sea but by Friday morning it became clear that wasn’t going to happen so I decided ‘sod it, let’s going swimming in the rain! Sure I’ll be getting wet anyway!’. Really glad I did, sad I won’t get any more chances to go swimming back home though.

 

Eating- Taytos! Kimberley biscuits! Irish fry! Club Lemon! HOT CHICKEN ROLLS! Yes, all those finer Irish delicacies. And a lovely ice cream one night on the prom back home, looking over the sea.

 

Listening- Of the more recent releases, I’ve been listening to Pharrell’s Marilyn Monroe. I wasn’t sure about it when it first came out but I slowed warmed to it. Managed to delete all my iTunes library like the fool that I am so while trying to recover songs and build back up my library, I’ve been listening to songs I’ve added along the way. Might make a separate post for that.

 

Reading- Not a lot really, as shown by my July Reading post. I did also participate (and not complete) BookTubeAThon, which you can read about here.

 

Laughing- At this GIF my brother showed me! Even thinking about it makes me want to start giggling.

 

Socializing- So on top of my usual knitting club antics, I also went out with 2 of the girls from the group one Friday, first time going out here at night! Nothing too late though. Also went to a blogging workshop with Pearls and Polo Girl, hosted by Kate Feld, which was very interesting. I went to Liverpool, where I saw Rainbow Rowell in person (post here) and also got to meet up with the very lovely Beth from Plastic Rosaries. And of course there was meeting all my friends and family back home in Ireland, which was lovely. Skype is great and all but it doesn’t beat being face to face with those people!

And that’s it! A fantastic month I must say, really enjoyed it. Looking forward to this month too, lots of fun things coming up. It feels good to have things to look forward to!

July Reads

It’s August and so that means we’re already into autumn (well, you are if you’re Irish as that’s how we base our seasons)! July saw the BookTubeAThon, which I did not do as well as last year but I’m still glad I did it! I can’t even remember how much I’ve read this year, so going through my Goodreads for this post will be interesting!

July Reads

Think Like a Freak by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt

This was on of my books on my 2014 Releases I’m Looking Forward To post and one I was lucky enough to receive on NetGalley to read. I did a full review here if you’re interested but the basic idea behind the book is exploring how if you change the way you think or act, you can improve your life. It’s not a self-help book, it’s more a collection of stories of ‘freaks’, or people who have stepped outside the box and used different thinking to achieve their goals. Find out why it’s sometimes a good thing to say ‘I don’t know’, why Nigerian scams are so badly written, the upside to quitting and why Van Halen requested no brown M&Ms in the tour rider! If you’re a fan of their previous books, you should be aware that it’s not quite the same, it doesn’t use economics like the first two books but it’s still an interesting read.

 

White Rabbit by K.A. Laity

Another book I got thanks to NetGalley and one I recently reviewed earlier this week, you can find that post here. It’s a detective story with a supernatural twist. Draygo is a disgraced ex-detective who has a big blot on his career and an even bigger drug problem. He finds himself working as a fake psychic, even though he has very real psychic powers. When the soon to be ex-wife of media mogul is gunned down during a consultation with Draygo, he finds himself holding the gun and being framed for the murder. After bail is posted for him by journal Saunders, he finds himself reluctantly dragged into an investigation of the White Rabbit and the dangerous world linked to it. A short, witty and highly entertaining read.

 

Persepolis: The Story of Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

This was the first book I read for the BookTubeAThon challenges. It covered two challenges; read a book with words and complete a series (this is book one). It’s a graphic novel (can you say that when it’s not a novel but a memoir? Would you just say graphic memoir? Though that sounds like it’s a memoir with lots of graphic scenes!) about Marjane, a young girl who lived in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It’s told in little snippets and stories of Marjane’s life, as well as giving some historical context to life in Iran. It’s a fascinating read and I found it very funny in places as well. Well worth picking up!

 

The Hive by Gill Hornby [audiobook]

I kept seeing this around Christmas time in shops but never picked it up, despite being intrigued. It wasn’t until Beth over at Plastic Rosaries gave it a good review that I decided to give it a go. I got it at Audible as I wanted a book to listen to during BookTubeAThon while walking to work.

The story follows the mothers of St. Ambrose school over a period of one school year and the change in dynamics between the mothers and the Queen Bee of the mothers. I really liked some of the characters, they were fun, and I found the I liked seeing how the dynamics were changing. I’ve heard some people say how they thought it was boring but that’s probably because there’s no massive plot twists or climaxes, it more character driven.

July Stats

Number of books read- 4

Ratio fiction to non-fiction- 2:2

Number of eBooks- 2 (Think Like a Freak and White Rabbit)

Number of audiobooks- 1 (The Hive)

Number of books borrowed from library- 1 (Persepolis)

Number of books from Reading Resolutions- 1 (Read more books from genres I don’t usually read)

And that wraps up July! 4 books is pretty pathetic but I’m in the middle of several books at the moment (The Antiques Magpie, Because I Said So!, Lost, Stolen or Shredded and 2nd Persepolis book), I just got super distracted and never completed them. Though I will, hopefully pretty quickly as I have loads of books to get through, books I own, books from library, ebooks I’ve purchased and NetGalley books! Keep me away from bookshops please! (Not really, if you take me to one I’ll love you forever).