Edinburgh for the day.

Train delays and soy lattes. 

A brisk awakening was necessary this fine Wednesday morning; my grandma, cousin and I were Edinburgh bound. I found myself awake at 5:30am, too cold to sleep, and ready by 6am. Talk about organised. After some brief faffing and a spot of breakfast, we marched from my grandmas house to the metro station, braving the freezing temperatures and paying extortionate prices for single tickets to the train station.

(£2.60??? I nearly died!) 

In central station and 20 minutes early, we were rather chuffed, wasting time buying chewing gum and overpriced coffees. But this joy at our organisational skills didn't last long - delays. First a ten minute delay, then twenty then false hope as it fell by a minute, only to rise by five a second later. 

There was then an announcement stating we had to be at a different platform, meaning a lengthily trek over a steep bridge, a difficult task when you have your elderly grandma and cousin with a broken foot. Eventually, 50 minutes later than our arrival at the station, we boarded the train 30 minutes behind schedule. Annoying that the only time we've ever been early for anything in our lives it's delayed. Nothing is ever straightforward, but then again where'd the fun in that be? 

On the train and ready for the day, i started out with a brief wave of excitement, to be followed by a small nap and then a brief period of annoying my cousin by tapping her head continuously. Oh the banter. Then it was time to take cute selfies with my grandma. 

Then we arrived and we were HUNGRY. Food was all we could think about. It took us a long time to navigate our way around and we found ourselves hopelessly wandering with no brunch location in sight. Then we found  a 'tea boutique'. We felt ever so working class. 

One word - AMAZING

After a bite to eat, we had a shop around. Some serious damage was done to my already minimal bank account, after a 5 story primark and a 3 story H&M I have barely a penny to my name. Le cry. 

As I say, I was with my grandma and cousin who has a broken foot. This meant they couldn't keep up with my shopping-adrenaline fuelled speed and lots of pit stops on benches. I wasn't complaining. 

Edinburgh is a lovely place and is great for shopping. However if I see another packet of Westie shaped shortbread ever again I will probably cry, they seem to be on sale everywhere. Who doesn't love a tourist cliché aY? 

After all of that shopping, sitting down and drinking coffee, we felt it necessary to have dinner. We were looking for a cheap and cheerful pizza place, or as I prefer to call it; a shitalian. 

Instead, we found ourselves in what can only be described as the ritz of pizzerias. A place were there was marble spiral staircase to the toilets and portion size is negatively correlated to price (that's a bit of mathematical humour for you all). We ended up here by total fluke. If it was by choice, we'd have been in subway having a sub of the day and a drink for £3. Nevertheless, it was amazing and we all had a giggle at our gateshead  clampit ways.  

I ended my day in the greatest of ways- with a Mars bar. 

BEST. DAY. EVER. 

I really had such a lovely day. 

Emma x

DIY bag and room decor.

Friday night antics. 

Fridays. For me, there's no middle ground - I'm either out until 3am or lying in bed in a onesie with a take away ordered by 5:30. Today, it was the latter. So, with nothing better to do than homework, I did what any good student would do and avoid doing any work at all costs. This evening I decided that I would get a little creative.

As a as level student, I find myself laden down with 40,000 files daily (no exaggeration). So I came up with the solution of carrying my files in a separate bag and using a a smaller bag. Obviously being a cool and urban teen that I am (ha ha ha) I opted for a hessian carrier bag - a must have accessory for all of the cool kids. So this evening was dedicated to jazzing-ing up my bag. 

Ok so, to do this little diy you'll need;

-hessian bag

-buttons

-glue

-glue gun 

-fabric

-cup of tea (optional, but preferred)

                               

I started by organising which buttons I wanted, I then decided I wanted bunting across the front of my bag. 

I glued a long strip of gingham ribbon across the top of the bag with a glue stick and hot glued a button either side. 

Next I cut small triangles of the patterned fabric to make the bunting flags and glued them on with a glue stick. 

                                  

For extra pazzaz, I used a hot glue gun to add these peace studs. I just thought they were sweet so decided to add them. 

                                     

                                   

Finally, I used the glue stick and stuck this thick strip of mint green lace along the bottom of the bag. 

                                   

                                                                         Ta-da!

Finally, after my bag was finished and I had devoured my chinese takeaway, I decided to creased this lovely little frame for my bedroom wall:

     

I had to improvise slightly for the lettering, but that just gives it character, or so I'm telling myself. 

So here's a little insight to craziness of my Friday night antics, 

Emma x 

       

                  

Autumn is here.

The season of the pumpkin spice latte. 

Crunchy leaves and loafers, what's not to love? For all of the common white girls out there, autumn is a time to unite over the holy grail of coffee consumption- the pumpkin spice latte. 

I am a lover of autumn, as the colder seasons begin to approach, my cardigan envy kicks in. As a lover of all that is knitted, everyone I see in a cardigan leads to my deep rooted desire to purchase all of the jumpers and cardigans in the world. As unfeasible as it sounds, at that moment in time it's a perfectly reasonable demand. 

I refuse to believe anyone could dislike autumn, fairy lights adorn everything and the season of oversized scarves is upon us. My excitement over this is shameless.

                       

That white gal on a budget.

For all we all LOVE a pumpkin spice latte, let's face it- we don't love Starbucks' prices. So, if you also find yourself a psl-lover but rather skint, here's my little recipe for an at home version that tastes just as good;

Take an instant latte sachet, stir in milk, 1 teaspoon of honey, cinnamon & mixed spice to taste. Then add the boiling water and voila, another prime example of budget happiness.

                      

Emma x

Homemade knitted bunting.

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/13032199/?claim=e5k7rttt4ur">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

My knitta, my knitta. 

I do enjoy a good crafty project, who doesn't? As the weather starts to get colder and autumn goes into full swing, I begin to find myself making an endless amount of bunting and adorning everything with fairy lights-not to mention the increased rate of candle burning. All of this is my attempt to make my room feel a bit cosier, considering during most of November/December I'll find myself huddled up in blankets here so I try to make everything as aesthetically pleasing as possible. 

So, here's a little tutorial on how I made this delightful pastel blue knitted bunting.

My knitting knowledge is far from extensive, my skills stretch as far as a simple pattern and the basic ability to cast on and cast off. I wanted this bunting to be mini triangles to they would sit nicely along my shelves (also because I didn't want them to be too technical). 

If you have absolutley no knowledge when it comes to knitting, a basic YouTube tutorial might be of help here, all you need to know is how to cast on and once you can do that, the rest is easy. 

When you cast on, you need to set the wool out in a loop with the needle inside, pull the end until it's tight around the needle; 

Next you need to put ten loops on the needle

And complete one line of knitting. 

Now, complete the next line and on the last loop you drop it, pulling a previous loop over the top of it in order create the angled edges of the bunting. Repeat this after every line until the end loop, tie a knot and cut off excess wool. 

I absolutley love the final result and I think it's the perfect adornment to shelves everywhere. 

I hope this little how-to encourages a few people and isn't too vague. Once you have basic knitting knowledge, you'll understand what I'm trying to explain, but as I myself don't really know what I'm doing, my explaination isn't very clear. Hopefully you enjoy this mini tutorial for my knitted bunting, 

Emma x 

Autumn make up

The fine line between the kardashiansand the Jeremy Kyle show- one smudge of black too far and you've done it. 

When doing eye make up, recently I find myself going a bit overboard and sometimes I do find myself looking like I have just been punched- let me assure you this is not a good look. I find that there's is a fine line between the overdramatic smokey eye look and the crack whore look. I am tryi to find a balance somewhere nicely in the middle. So if you, much like me, find yourself beginning to resemble the black swan, it's time to come up with a new eye look. So with the help of my trusty naked 2 pallette here's a quick little tutorial on eye make up. 

Ah autumn. The season of leaf crunching, brisk walks, dark mornings, ugg boots and pumpkin flavoured EVERYTHING. A time when collars and jumpers re-surface, I'm almost weak at the knees just thinking of it. Autumn also means the return of my favourite combination- over the top eyes and bold lips. Oh yes, autumn is a time when plum lipstick is smeared across every mouth, and copper eye shadows dabbled over every eye lid. I find myself part of this cliqué, an elite following of autumnal lovers. 

To achieve this highly over the top but always acceptable look, I first applied a highlighting concealer all over my eyelid and undereye. This is a nice way of hiding my undereye bags that just scream sleep deprivation. 

Oh, I don't slack on that concealer. Just an FYI this was before I blended it, I wasn't intending on the phantom of the opera look. 

Next, using my front cover crease brush, I applied the shade tease to the outer half of my lid.

Then using the shade snakebite and my teeny tiny real techniques brush, I lined my eye in a cleopatra-esque flick. That is if cleopatra were a big fan of brown glitter.

Now for my favourite shade. Half baked (insert multiple heart eye emojis here). Urban decay have unlocked the key to my heart with this shade. It is pure gold pigmentation heaven. I applied this to my inner eyelid Again using my crease brush, and blended out with a blending brush. Dreamy. 

Now, I felt the tiniest bit of blackout, blended across my crease, was most necessary.

I also used a detailer brush to line my lash line in blackout as false eyelash prep. 

This is it as far as eye shadow is concerned. Next I cleaned up my brow bone and under eye using concealer and applied my red cherry lashes. The emotions run high when it comes to these eyelashes, I have nothing but praise for them, they are so easy to apply and really great quality. I'm actually getting a bit emotional just talking about them. For £2.89 (eBay), they are such good value. 

Now, after tearing up over half baked eyeshadow and red cherry lashes, I filled in my eyebrows with the seventeen brow box and highlighted my brow bone with the shade foxy.

After I applied the rest of my makeup, 

This was the finished result:

I was more than pleased with this eye makeup, for me this is a good solution to my eye makeup woe. 

Hopefully this helps anyone else struggling to define and eye look between kim kardashian and a black eye. 

Emma x

Tuesdays

Budget happiness for beginners. 

I love food. It seems like a blunt and fairly odd opening statement, but when you feel as passionately as I do about anything edible, it's the only words necessary. Simple, plain and clear. I just love food. My sister is a fellow food lover, and when staying at her place we find ourselves indulging in anything and everything.  This is usually the stage we find our issue- were both skint. I work part time in a cafe, earing myself a sweet £3.72 an hour and so it comes as no surprise that minimum wage doesn't quite cover the costs of caviar and prosseco every night- it barely covers a nandos. My sister, with a new flat to furnish and pay for, doesn't find herself in the economic situation allowing her to pay for this either. What to do in times of such woe?? The answer is simple. ALDI.

How can such a simple word be so pleasing? How can four letters bring such joy? Why do I feel so overwhelmed with happiness that I am close to tears when I hear that one syllable? This may seem a tad extreme, but I don't joke when it comes to aldi. *insert badass explosion in the background and I walk away from it with sunglasses on like some really cool action film with like Bruce Willis in it and I'm like holding a gun and it looks so badass*

Anyways, to get back on topic. Food. We wanted food. We wanted tasty food, anything less than this will not suffice. For us, there was only one option- we had to venture out into the cold North-eastern mid afternoon,(3pm in gateshead really isn't that epic) and venture to the promised land. Aldi-bound in my sisters fiat 500, we had one thought on our mind. Macaroni cheese. We're both far too fond of cheese, but you 'Gouda' guessed that later.(ha ha ha cheese  related hilarity ha ha ha).

After a brief visit, we returned to the car with what can only be described as a carrier bag of happiness, containing such delights as 23p Jaffa cakes and waffles. It was going to be a good night. Once we got to her apartment block, we seemed to get straight out of the car and into our fluffy pug onesies- a blissful scenario. 

*insert onesie pug selfie*

*ta-da*

My sister collapsed on the sofa after her long day at work, leaving me in change of making, perhaps assembling would be a better phrase, the tea. And oh how I assembled it, I assembled it good. 45p pasta boiled with love, milk stirred into cheese sauce powder with the upmost care and the piéce-de-residance; bacon. Need I say more? We put it in the oven but hastily took it out when we realised we couldn't wait any longer.

Oh, oh it was worth it. 

With tears of joy we tucked in. It was wonderful. Macaroni cheese followed by naps and Jaffa cakes. I do believe that if you google the definition of the perfect Tuesday night, this post will in fact come up. I most definitely had the most wonderful experience of my life. At 9pm exactly, i found myself lying in bed and my eyes closing. I was probably tired from all that sitting down. 

Emma x

A first encounter.

Awkwardness 101- a brief how to

As first encounters go, I'm sure this will be pretty mediocre. I doubt there's any way to have a first encounter with strangers on the internet that wouldn't be awkward, as proven by this long winded and embarrassingly vague attempt at whit. Ignoring that,lets proceed.

Hello. I'm Emma,  I'm 17 and from a wonderfully delightful town called Gateshead. (If you've been to Gateshead you'll understand and appreciate the sarcasm in that sentence, Gateshead is anything but delightful and quite frankly can only be described as the place dreams go to die.) I can only describe myself as having an overwhelming love for all things floral and cath kidston-esque, that is equally weighted by an undying love for cherry lambrini. Classy, classy gal.

I'm not entirely sure why I've started a blog but I must say I do quite enjoy the thought of sharing my thoughts with delightful internet folk, an example of my optimistic hope that I actually reach anyone other than the occasional old lady who stumbles onto my page whilst learning how to operate the internet.

I hope this little opening statement to my blog wasn't too awkward to handle and that you do infact return, it would be rather lovely.

Emma x