Monday 30 December 2013

101 Things in 1001 Days #33


I know this is quite an easy thing to complete, but I rarely go out in fancy dress as it usually turns out to be quite expensive and not many of my friends enjoy it - this is probably the first time this year that I have been out in fancy dress! So what was the theme I hear you all asking? It was an 80's Night! I have always wanted to go out in 80's fancy dress as it seemed like such a fun era! Nick and I opted for the 80's fitness look so we could pulled together our own thing, which ended up looking like this...

"I got love for you, if you were born in the 80's"
 My outfit was made up of converse, leggings, swimming costume and bumbag which I already had. Then I got the top from New Look, leg warmers from Primark (they were bedsocks which we cut) and the sweat bands and visor came from our local fancy dress shop. You can't see it in this photo, but I had done my eye make up pink, silver and black - attempting to mimic the 80's look. I liked my hair - I curled it and back combed the top, before tying half of it up on the top of my hair! I want to do my hair like this all the time


It was a really fun night and was great to see what other people came up with to fit within the 80's theme!

Have you been to any fancy dress parties recently?

 
ZoFlo




Friday 27 December 2013

Friday Favourites #7

I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas! I loved spending time with my family and was lucky enough to recieve some lovely gifts too - So this weeks Friday Favourites will feature some of my favourite ones (theres quite alot!).

The first gift I absolutely love is a picture from my friend Hannah! It is probably the most thoughtful gift I have ever been given and I am so excited to put it up in our house! I'm not sure that you can see it very well in the photo, but it says "Our Home is full of.." and then contains words that relate to me and Nick (Cheese & Crackers, Indie Music, Cooking...etc). And at the bottom is says Est. 2013. By far the most amazing present ever!


In keeping with my owl obsession, my Mum got me this lovely apron! Now that I am trying to be all domestic goddess, I thought it was very appropriate! It's so cute and I will be using any excuse to wear it in the kitchen!


I actually asked my Mum for this one, as I have wanted one for so long but have never got around to getting myself one - a Tangle Teezer! I have naturally wavy hair and if I want it to stay wavy, I can't brush it! As you can imagine, this is a nightmare when it comes to the end of the day. I would 100% recommend anyone with naturally wavy / curly hair to get one of these! It goes through my hair with ease and doesn't hurt at all. I love it!


On my "All I Want For Christmas.." post, I asked Santa for a lush Topshop Coat. Looks like I was a good girly this year as I got it! It is the warmest coat I think I have ever owned. I went to the usual Boxing Day races yesterday, where it is always cold and windy. Luckily the weather wasn't too bad, but thanks to my lush new coat I stayed warm and cosy all day. (I don't have a full length photo of it but I hope you can appreciate how cosy it is just by seeing the fur hood!)


I will write up a full post about this one once I have tried out all the products, but the final Friday Favourite for this week is the Best of Benefit gift set! I mentioned on my "All I Want For Christmas.." post that I wanted to try out some Benefit Make Up, so after dropping subtle hints to Nick (aka sending him a screenshot of this on the Benefit Instagram site) it was nicely nestled in my stocking on Christmas morning. I didn't realise but according to Nick these were selling out fast. And with only 3 left in stock in our local Boots Store, he felt like the Arnie in Jingle All The Way (so dramatic!)


What are your Christmas Friday Favourites?

 
ZoFlo

Sunday 22 December 2013

How Pinteresting...

I am completely obsessed with Pinterest at the moment so decided to put together a little collage of my favourite inspirational images that I have pinned to my "Motivate Me" board. When I am struggling through the hell of final year and various other dramas, it sometimes helps when I look at these. It reminds me why I am here and that I shouldn't give up without trying my absolute best. 



What do you do to motivate yourself?

 
ZoFlo

Friday 20 December 2013

Friday Favourites #6

Something I have always had a secret obsession with is Candles! They make any room instantly look cosy and scented ones are my absolute favourite at the moment. My gran got me two lovely Prices Candles and a Yankee Candle holder (in the photo below) as a house warming gift. I won't lie I have never heard of this make before so wasn't sure what to expect. But as usual, my Gran never fails with gifts and I completely love them! Im not sure what scent the white one is as I got too excited and tore off the wrapper straight away, but the red one is Apple Spice and they both smell amazing! They aren't quite as pricey as Yankee Candles and I think they may even smell better (bold statement, I know).


Next up is Gingerbread Lattes from Costa. I have had a few too many of these recently and I love them! I opt for the decaf version as I can't drink too much caffeine but you really can't tell the difference. I love the little Gingerbread Man that sits on top and the tiny little gold stars are super cute! By far my favourite festive drink at the moment!


My final Friday Favourite for this week is one that I am a little ashamed to admit. I have no idea what other people thing of Leona Lewis' new song One More Sleep but I love it! It use to annoy me but it has completely grown on me! I'm not sure if this is okay to publicly admit - what does everyone else think?


I hope you enjoyed my favourites for this week! Next weeks may be a little more exciting as it'll be post Christmas - Woooaaaw!

 
ZoFlo



Tuesday 17 December 2013

25 Facts About Me!

Here are 25 random facts about me, so you can all get to know me a little better!

  1. I am left handed
  2. My favourite colour is purple 
  3.  My Idols are Jessica Ennis, Fearne Cotton and Kirsty Allsopp
  4. I have an owl obsession
  5. My homeland is in Somerset 
  6. I ran the Bath Half Marathon 2013 in 2 Hours 23 Minutes
  7. I study Event Management but..
  8. ..I would love to be a Primary School Teacher
  9. Never Been Kissed is my favourite film
  10. I am a middle child, with two sisters
  11. I'm scared of the sea...
  12. ...and clowns
  13. My favourite food is Lasagne
  14. I used to work for Mickey Mouse
  15. I love keeping fit but struggle to keep it up alongside Uni (perhaps a New Years resolution?)
  16. Sometimes I can get really Hangry (Hungry & Angry - it's a real emotion)
  17. I hate Corriander
  18. I love Cats!
  19. I don't like eating Chicken because...
  20. ...my Dad kept Chickens when I was growing up
  21. My best holiday was a camping trip when I was about 2 years old!
  22. I'm really really organised 
  23. My favourite TV Programme is Don't Tell the Bride
  24. I love Music Events and Festivals
  25. Me & Nick have a cat called Humphrey
  26.   

 
ZoFlo







Friday 13 December 2013

Friday Favourites #5

This weeks Friday Favourites is coming from Somerset! YAY! I am finally back home for Christmas and I am so happy. Although I still have assignments and revision over Christmas, I definitely feel like I need a break from the stresses of Uni life! And the first thing on my list (which I got to help calm me down!) is Chamomile and Vanilla Tea! I have never been much of a fan of Chamomile tea, however this one has Vanilla in which has a much stronger taste and is so so yummy! I tend to have them in the evening, just before bed.
 

 So as we are now in the gloomy depths of Winter and the weather is taking a turn for the worst, I was in desperate need of some new boots! Although Nick said he would get me some for Christmas I was too impatient - I need them now! Nick got me these lovely New Look boots as an early Christmas present (obviously I chose them - he helped/agreed where appropriate). Usually I opt for completely flat boots - but they never end up making it into the New Year! This time I wanted something a little more substantial. These ones certainly fit the bill. They have a cute heel and feel like they have been made to last. No cold / wet toes for me this Winter!

New Look - £22
Finally, this is a product I have had for a long time - YoungBlood Lipgloss! I absolutely love this product and I am heartbroken that I have almost ran out! The colour is amazing and it doesn't have the usual sticky texture some lipglosses have. It's easy to apply and stays on really well too. What more can a girl want from a lipgloss?! I will definitely be buying myself another one of these - perhaps I'll branch out and try a new colour. I have never seen YoungBlood products in stores, but you can get it from Beauty Time Therapies for £17. Quite pricey for a Lipgloss but I promise you it is worth it!

YoungBlood Lipgloss in Rhapsody

Do you use any Young Blood products? Let me know what you would recommend.

 
ZoFlo

Monday 9 December 2013

101 Things in 1001 Days #64


So not only is this mine and Nicks first Christmas together (aww), it's our first Christmas in our little home together too - so we got to decorate it just how we like it! Our first Christmas purchase back in November (keen) was a Wreath! This one was only £8 from our local Garden Centre.


We also picked up these Holly lights which we have put all around the kitchen window. They look so cute and make it feel a little more festive!


As we didn't have any decorations, as well as buying some, we decided to get creative and make our own. I saw this in one of those home magazine and it was such a simple but effective idea! I literally used an old Scrabble game to put together Christmas themed words, along with plenty of Super Glue and Ribbon. I think they turned out really well and it didn't take long at all. It was a fun way to spend our evening!

 The colour theme for our Christmas Tree is red and gold so Nick went out and got the cutest heart shaped baubles from Next! I love Next home items and I did actually see these last time I went and I loved them, so I am really pleased that he picked these up! We also got some plain red and gold baubles from Asda as they are super cheap!


 And finally - here is our Christmas Tree in all its festive glory!


After a festive weekend of decorating, all that was left to do was admire out tree with a massive hot chocolate (with cream and sprinkles)!

 

Do you have any creative idea's for homemade decorations? I'd love to hear them.

 
ZoFlo

Friday 6 December 2013

Friday Favourites #4

I am beginning this weeks Friday Favourites with a very entertaining YouTube Video that I cannot stop watching. My friend Hannah introduced me to this and whenever I need a little lift...I take a break and watch this. I hope you all find it as entertaining as I do!



Why My Cat is Sad definitely has to make an appearance on my Friday Favourites list this week! I could scroll through the Twitter page for hours on end - it makes me laugh so much! If you like Cats you will love this. And if you don't like Cats, please take a look anyway because this page may just convert you! Even though this one was Tweeted months ago - it's still my favourite one!


I can't believe I haven't mentioned this on my Friday Favourites before - but Grey's Anatomy is my final Favourite for this week! I started working my way through the boxset at the beginning of this year. Unfortunately Uni work has got in the way recenetly, but I have just finished Season 6 and oh my goodness it was intense!! If anyone is looking to get into a good series, I 100% recommened Grey's Anatomy!!


Could you recommend any America TV Series for when I finish Grey's?


ZoFlo



Monday 2 December 2013

My Beauty Box Essentials

So we all have things that we swear by and are always a part of our daily routine - so I thought I would tell you all about some of my Beauty Box Essentials!
First up is my daily moisturiser. I love Simple products - I also use the Make Up Remover and Face Wash! I have sensative skin and they seem to be the only products that don't cause any irritation.

Sleek is a slightly newer addition to my Beauty Box (The Lipstick featured in my Friday Favourites) and I absolutely love the Contour Kit! I'm not a make up expert but this is so easy to apply and it looks great. I don't leave the house without putting this on first!


MAC Fluidline Eyeliner is my favourite product ever! I always use to struggled with mastering the art of eyeliner until I discovered this bad boy! As you can tell from the photo, I am almost running out! It costs £16.50 a pot, which is quite pricey but this one has lasted me about a year, so it's definitely worth the money!


Another product I cannot live without is Carmex! I love Carmex and find it is the only product that keeps my lips soft throughout the harsh wintery months!


I love Boots own Coconut and Almond Leave-in Condition! I have quite long hair so like to look after it. I don't like to use too many hair products, but this product smells amazing and leaves my hair feeling soft everytime I use it - I just cannot resist (the almost empty bottle shows that this is a true favourite of mine!)


Freederm is another of my essential products! I was actually recommened this by my Doctor (when I was being dramatic about my skin) and it works an absolute treat. I am relatively quite lucky with my skin, only occasionally having the odd break out but Freederm always seems to do the trick for me!


What are your beauty box essentials?

 
ZoFlo

Friday 29 November 2013

Friday Favourites #3 (The Christmas Edition!)

Happy Friday!
This week I have been so busy with my Uni work that I have actually struggled to put together a list of Friday Favourites - what is my life coming to!? As I only have two weeks left until I finish for Christmas break, I have decided to stick to a christmassy theme.

So first up is the obvious - John Lewis Christmas Advert. Not only do I absolutely LOVE Lily Allens cover of Keanes "Somewhere Only We Know" but I love the story behind it. It's the cutest thing and gets me so excited for Christmas everytime it comes on TV.


Next up is another obvious Christmas favourite - ADVENT CALENDARS! It is almost time to start opening those doors to reveal the yummy chocolatey treats! Yes I am 23, but I think it is always acceptable to have an advent calendar! It's not fair for all the little ones to have all the fun. This cute Minnie Mouse one arrived in the post yesterday from my Boyfriend - such a lovely surprise!


And here is a photo of some Christmas Cats - because I love Cats!

 
What would be on your list of Christmas Friday Favourites?

 
ZoFlo

Tuesday 26 November 2013

All I Want for Christmas....

Dear Santa,

This year has been my favourite year so far and I feel I have been extremely good and have been working really hard. I would really appreciate if you could consider the following items as Christmas Presents for me!

First up is this lush coat from Topshop. Everyone NEEDS a lovely warm winter coat, so really this is an absolute essential.

 I love a good book, but haven't been able to find anything that I have really gotten into since I read P.S I Love You (that was a long time ago!). So this year, I would really love an Amazon Voucher so I can update my "book" collection on my Kindle!



  And finally, I desperately need to update my make up collection! I LOVE Clarins...and am looking to branch out and start using more Benefit products too! Any products or even vouchers would be appreciated!


I think that's all for this year. But perhaps you could send a little snow our way too! Would be lovely to have a white Christmas!

Let me know what is on your Christmas list this year! And can anyone recommend some good books too!?

 
ZoFlo

Friday 22 November 2013

Friday Favourites #2

First on my list of favourites for this week is...
CHRISTMAS JUMPERS!
Not entirely sure if it is too early to be getting excited about this, but I've been getting into the Christmas spirit all week with my present wrapping and decoration purchases so I felt it was definitely okay to get a Christmas jumper too!

You can pick up both of these from Primark for just £12!

Next up is the new series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Everyone always complains about reality TV, but lets be honest - we all secretly love it. The Bushtucker Trials are great and I know most of the Celebrities on it this year so I am definitely going to be hooked! Click here to see Mondays Bushtucker Trial. Matthew & Joey both did incredibly well!

Another of my favourites is a recent purchase of mine - a black cat hat! I will be wearing it all winter! It's so cute and I fell in love as soon as I saw it. I got it a few weeks ago from Next and it is still available online. For only £10 I think it would be foolish not to add this to your winter collection!


The last thing I have put on my list of Friday Favourites is Carnivals! Apparently it's only us Southern Folk that do Carnivals and I love them. I always make sure I go to one of the bigger ones once a year (this year was Glastonbury Carnival) and tend to drag my family along with me too! It was my little Niece's first Carnival experience too and she absolutely loved it!

Me & My Niece at Glastonbury Carnival

Let me know if you have found any Christmas Jumpers else where...or if reality TV is your guilty pleasure too!

 
ZoFlo

Friday 15 November 2013

Friday Favourites #1

To make sure I stick to blogging regularly, I have decided to introduce my Friday Favourites. I will blog once a week (alongside other random posts) to update you on all my favourite things! So here we go...

This week I have discoved my love for The 1975. The Manchester (UK) based rock/indie band have been helping me through the stresses of my final year and I literally cannot get enough of them! My favourite song is "Girls".

 

Next on the list is Cats Wearing Tights. Yes this is a real thing and yes it does provide me with hours of entertainment! I stumbled across the Facebook page last week and find it is a great way to avoid doing anything productive!

Last on my list of Friday Favourites this week is my new Sleek Lipstick! I am new to Sleek products and after deciding I definitely needed some new make up, I took advantage of the 3 for 2 offer at Superdrug. I ordered the Contour Kit (in Light), the Au Naturel iDivine Palette & the Barely There Lipstick. I'll be honest, I ordered the lipstick to make up the offer but I am so pleased I did. It gives a light pinky colour to my lips & goes on so easily. Obviously you do need to reapply this one - however for the price (£4.99) I never expected this one to stay put. I will definitely be ordering more lipsticks from Sleek in future!




What would you include on your Friday Favourites list?

   
ZoFlo


Friday 8 November 2013

What Has ZoFlo Been Upto This Year?

I thought it would be a good idea to show you a few things I got up to throughout 2013, so you can get to know a little more about me!

So one of my New Years Resolutions at the beginning of 2013 was to be a little more spontaneous and adventurous! Sometimes I can be quite shy and reserved, but this year I wanted to spend more time doing things with the people I love most (aww / vom).

So my New Year kick started when I recieved an email saying I had been allocated two free tickets for Dancing on Ice (I applied for them on SRO Audiences). After reminding myself of my New Years Resolution, I thought YOLO (yes - I just used yolo!). I dragged my beautiful friend Hannah along with me and after a long wait (Sorry Han) we actually made it into the venue and got seats! We weren't sat together but we still got to see Dancing on Ice live. And to top it all off, the Philip Schofield replied to one of my tweets...IN PERSON! I actually met the real life Silver Fox. I wanted to cry (as you can tell, I'm a big fan!).

At the end of 2012, my little sister asked if I would run the Bath Half Marathon with her. Already aware that I wanted to be more spontaneous as well as get fit, I decided to sign up. At the beginning of 2013, I decided to take it a little more seriously and up my training sessions. I was in the gym most evenings and even found myself getting up at 5:30am to go running before work! It was hard work but with a finish time of 2 Hours 26 Minutes I was pretty pleased with myself. I loved the challange as well as the feel good factor of raising money for charity!

Iron Man 3
As I was on my placement year at The Walt Disney Company, I wanted to make the most of my opportunities as an Intern. So when asked if I wanted to attend the Iron Man 3 Premiere I obviously said yes! From a sensible, work perspective, it was amazing to see the work that goes into such high profile events and the stress everyone is under. From a excited, 23 year old perspective, it was amazing to be walking on the red carpet with the likes of Robert Downy Junior, Dermot O'Leary & Alex Zane (Wow, wow, wow).

 Next up was Glastonbury Festival! As most of my friends & family already know, I am obsessed with Glastonbury Festival! This was my second year attending the festival, however my first experience wasn't too good. You definitely need to make sure you go with all the right people to these kinds of events! This time I wanted to explore ALL of Glastonbury - not just sit in my tent all day. I can honestly say I had the most amazing time. I went with my best friend and younger sister (and their boyfriends) and we really made the most of it. Chilling in the Circus & Theatre Fields & the Field of Avalon during the day, but still making sure we didn't miss all our favourite bands! At night we would sit around our campsite next to our giant candles - it was so chilled! I have managed to secure my ticket for next year and am so excited!

Glasto 2013: My Sister, My Best Friend & Me!
Glasto 2013: Arctic Monkeys on the Pyramid Stage.
So I should tell you that just before Glastonbury Festival, I started talking to Nick (now my boyfriend of 4 months). After a successful first date, he invited me on a second date to The Olympic Park Live concert where Vampire Weekend, Ben Howard & Mumford and Sons were playing (amazing second date!). I was a little apprehensive at first because 1) I had seen all these bands the week before at Glastonbury, 2) this would mean staying the night in a hotel with him and 3) was this too much to accept too soon? Luckily I decided to just go for it - I liked this guy & he must of liked me to ask me on a second date, right? It was such an amazing time and the atmosphere was incredible! I loved every minute of it and I am so glad I agreed to go!

July 2013: Me & Nick

My final exciting encounter for 2013 (so far anyway) was a Secret Gig at my University! This was advertised as a guest speaker that would be giving an inspirational talk to students at our SU Bar. There were limited spaces available and as me and my friend Elena are in our final year, we decided to be keen and see if this guest speaker could inspire us! The SU Bar soon filled up and with rumours flying around that it was going to be Tinie Tempah, we were getting excited. After a short wait and an introductory speech from our Student Union, it was of course a Secret Gig by Tinie Tempah! I think the fact that this was free made it a million times more exciting! He did a very energetic half an hour set, including a mixture of all his songs. It was very surreal going to a gig at 3pm but it was amazing. See, sometimes being keen and attended extra talks can pay off!


 Those were just a handful of the exciting things I have done this year! I think I did really well at sticking to my New Years Resolution and have so many great memories to show for it! If you're a little like me and shy away from doing crazy things - you should honestly just go for it! I've had such an amazing year with all my friends & family and will definitely make sure I say yes to more things in the future!

Let me know if you have said yes to anything out of the ordinary!
Found this on Pinterest: Just Something to Inspire You All.





Thursday 7 November 2013

Remember, Remember, The 5th of November!

As I am currently a student living 125 miles away from home, my wonderful Boyfriend drove up last week to spend a long weekend with me. Of course it was coming up to Guy Fawkes so we HAD to go to some sort of Firework Display! St Albans was the final decision and it definitely did not disappoint!


Looking over the lake at the Verulamium Park, the 25 minute display lit the whole sky. The atmosphere was brilliant and the crowds the display drew in was impressive - definitely the largest display I had ever attended!

I absolutely love the Autumn / Winter Seasons so this was the BEST way to spend my weekend - wrapped up in my winter clobber in the freezing cold (whilst eating a Toffee Apple!).