10 things I would tell my 10 year old self

In about 6 months I'll be turning 20, scary right!? Recently I've been reflecting on what I would tell my younger self, knowing what I know now. Here's what I came up with!

1. It's OK to get into trouble. I was always to scared to do anything slightly risky when I was younger because I was so scared of getting into trouble. I would like to let my 10 year old self know that getting into trouble is not the end of your life. You'll get over it and it will be hilarious to look back on later in life.

2. Experiment more. Stop playing it so safe! Wear blue eye shadow all over your eyelids and rock those neon leg warmers (they were so cool). Sure you will cringe when you look back a photos in a few years time but everyone needs that awkward experimental phase, plus you wont get away with those questionable choices when you're older so make the most of it!

3. Your boyfriend is not that important. We all know how heartbreaking it was when you split up with your boyfriend. Even though your 'boyfriend' was usually a guy who you asked out, then didn't speak to for 2 months before deciding that he just wasn't the guy for you. Yes at the time it was the end of your life but in 10 years you literally wont even remember all of your 'boyfriends' names.

4. Learn a skill. Since you're a kid and you have loads of time on your hands, learn something, join a club and get really good at something! Then when you're an adult you'll have a really cool talent, maybe you'll even be able to turn it into a career. I'm saying this because I am so bad at literally everything

5. Learn your times tables young lady! Yes its boring but you will thank yourself when you're older and you can actually count in multiples. This is a skill I have never mastered and to be honest I probably never will.

6. Its cool to have your own interests. This is something I'm only really learning now and its hard not to follow the crowd and try to fit in. But you will learn that differences is what makes everyone interesting and the older you get the more accepting everyone else becomes. So just do you! 

7. You'll always be shy and a little bit awkward, embrace it! While I am no where near as shy as I used to be I am still not exactly outgoing. When you're younger being shy is always seen as a negative and you're always pushed to be more outgoing. At the end of the day it's just a part of your personality and while you do gain confidence s you get older, its not something you 'grow out of'.

8. Your chubby cheeks will be with you for a few more years yet, live with it. I had chubby cheeks until I was like 15, even now they're there. I remember a time when I thought my puppy fat would never disappear. 

9. Don't force yourself to be 'into' things that you aren't 'into', give it time. I never really used to be that interested in things girls my age were interested in and it always made me feel a bit left out. I wasn't all that into beauty or High school musical or . But it's important to realise that you don't have to love everything that everyone else loves. And just because you're not interested in something then doesn't mean you wont gain an interest later on, I am now OBSESSED with all things beauty. 

10. Enjoy being 10 and good luck! The next few years are going to be emotional, hard and at times just plain confusing but everything works itself out in the end. 

*Insert embarrassing photo of 10 year old me here*  

Those eyebrows though!

Comment below with what advice you would give your 10 year old self!

xxx

Kitchen essentials for your first home

I've been moved into my first place now for a couple of months and am adjusting to independent life nicely. After all the preparation and worries involved in moving out its so nice to actually be settled in! One of the challenges of moving into your first place is knowing what you actually need to buy. When you live with your parents everything is there and there are things you use daily that you probably wouldn't even think about when purchasing things for your own home. I've decided to put together a series of essentials that you'll probably need for your first place. I'm starting on the most boring, yet one of the most important parts of the house...the kitchen!

The essentials:

Frying pan 

Pan set 

Knife set 

Cutlery (knives, forks, tea spoons, table spoons)

Plates

Bowls 

Glasses

Mugs

Chopping boards 

Baking trays

Oven proof dish

Cooking utensils

Can opener

Measuring jug

Pizza cutter (you could say this is not essential, but to me it is!) 

Kettle

Colander

Mixing bowl

Weighing scales

Obviously this list could go on forever, depending on what kind of stuff you like to cook. I'm not a great cook, but for me, that is more than enough to sort you out for the first few months in your first place!

I got the majority of my kitchen wear from IKEA. I would recommend going there when you have to buy a lot in one go. It's good value and everything is all in one place, which makes it a bit easier. 

Not the most exciting post but I hope you find it useful. Please comment below with anything I might have missed or anything you would suggest!

xxx

Things to do this Summer

The lovely weather we have been having lately has got me thinking about plans for the summer. Since we don't seem to get that much sun in the UK I want to try and make sure I make the most of this summer, and make the most of my time off work. I have a week off in 5 weeks...not counting or anything. I've also got a week in July and a couple of weeks in August, wooo! Hoping for lush weather for those weeks but knowing my luck it will end up snowing or something. But I wont let that thought stop me making plans! Not all my plans involve sunshine anyway...some involve potentially being in pyjamas all day and lets be honest, they are the best plans.

SO here's what I want to do this summer...

Watch the new series of OITNB

Visit Thorpe Park again 

Do some baking

Shopping!

Go for walks in the evening 

Visit a new place

Start (and actually finish!) a few crafty projects

Visit London again 

Pass my driving test (Booked in June, EEEK!) 

Go and pick some strawberries

Eat the strawberries!

Spend more time with friends

Try and eat a (bit) healthier 

Get up early and go for a walk

Practice making bath bombs

Go to a BBQ 

Go swimming

Blog regularly!

Try and go out of my comfort zone (shouldn't be hard as literally everything is out of my comfort zone!)

Start and stick to a workout routine

It will be good to see how well I get on with this list, lets see how many things I can get ticked off! It will be good to come back and look at this list if I'm stuck for something to do one day. Hopefully it's given you a couple of ideas as well. Let me know your plans for this summer!

xxx 

My bedroom so far!

So we've been in our new place for a couple of weeks now and while there's still a bit to do, we're pretty much settled in now. So now that everything unpacked and in place, I can start thinking about what to do next! 

The room I'm most excited about is our bedroom, so that's what I'm going to show you today! This is the room as it is now, it looks a bit bare but there's still plenty I want to do here. I'm going for a shabby chic look in here.

This is my current 'dressing table'. I want to get an actual dressing table to go in this space pretty soon as this just looks messy! It would also be so nice to have it a bit more organised! I quite like this one from Argos. Its nice and small, I don't want anything to bulky as this isnt a massive space. I'm also a bit obsessed with white furniture, so it had to be white! It's not that shabby looking but I'll make it work. I'll probably change the handles, I'm not a fan of the silver ones, but that's easy to do.

this is the rest of the room. It was pretty hard to take a good photo as its so bright outside today! Not that I'm complaining, it makes a change from the constant rain we've been having. One thing we definitely need here is more cushions. As well as white furniture, I also have a bit of an obsession for cushions. 

Speaking of white furniture...I'm debating on whether to paint the bookshelf in the corner. I like it but I feel like it looks a bit dark, and as I'm planning on getting a white dresser and have a white bed I just feel like it would go better. I was thinking about painting it white and distressing it a bit and then sticking some nice paper or wallpaper to the back so it looks like this. I'd quite like a blue floral pattern on the back as I'm going for mainly blues and pinks in this room. What do you think? Should I leave it as it is or go for it?!

We also need a couple of bedside tables. I have one, you can just see it peeking over the top of the bed. This is the same colour as the bookshelf but I think we will probably end up getting  rid of this or using it in a different room and getting 2 new ones. 

I also have some lego dotted around this room as you can see...its my boyfriends and I'm hoping I can persuade him to move it into the spare room!

At the end of the bed we have a big blank wall. This wall is the longest and is the same wall that my dresser will be against. I really want to put something in the space at the end of the bed and I think something like this would look really nice. It actually looks pretty easy to do as well.. I would like to do it with a rectangle frame rather than a square, I'm not even sure where I can find big frames, any suggestions? 

I could probably buy something to go here but that's no fun! I also love a bit of crafting and it's nice to have a project to do. 

xxx

Sweet Potato Fries

So I have heard a lot about sweet potato fries lately and decided to give them a go. I am not adventurous when it comes to food, I could literally eat the same thing every day of the week. I also tend to eat a lot of pasta based foods, I mean pasta is great but its good to get a bit of variety. There is only so much pasta I can eat! 

I decided to give sweet potato fries a go and they're a new favourite! I love how they are nice and fluffy, almost creamy. They just pack a bit more flavour and a better texture than normal potatoes. And they are actually so easy to make. Trust me, if I can make them, you can make them. I once almost made a fire while boiling an egg. Heres how I make mine...

First you need to wash your potatoes, don't want to be eating dirt. I would use about 3 sweet potatoes for 2 people, this depends on what you're eating with them, the size of the potato and of course...how hungry you are! 

Cut your potatoes up into wedges. I usually do quite thin wedges. Be warned though that sweet potatoes are really hard to cut so you'll need a fairly sharp knife. I always end up jamming my knife into the potato and then not being able to get it out again so a thin knife is probably best!

Put all the wedges in a bowl, add some salt and pepper and olive oil. (or any other oil you fancy) If you're trying to keep them healthy then use less oil, but just make sure there's enough oil to coat all of your wedges. I'm quite generous with the oil because I like mine nice and crispy! Then stir everything around to make sure all the wedges are coated. 

Just tip them on to a baking tray and pop into the oven. I put the oven on about 200°C and leave them in for roughly 30-40 minutes. This is long enough for the middle to be fluffy and the outside to be crispy. You might need to leave them in for longer depending on how you want them but make sure to check them often so they don't burn. That would just be tragic. 

Then all thats left to do is serve and enjoy! I love them with BBQ sauce because thats also got a sweetness to it, the two go really well together. I had some earlier with a Quorn steak and both were delish! Definitely worth giving these a try if you haven't already, they're healthier than potatoes and they count towards your 5 a day! 

xxx

19th Birthday!

So today was my 19th Birthday, I woke up to snow this morning, although it all melted away pretty quickly! I didn't get up to that much today but last night we headed to the cinema to watch Daddy's Home. Definitely worth a watch, it was hilarious! Today was pretty chilled, but that's how I like it.

I like to reflect on what I've done this past year but I don't tend to plan much for the year ahead, just go with the flow! Saying that though, I do actually have things I want to achieve this year. Number one is to move out and it looks like I'll be on track to do that in the next 6 months or so...very excited! I'd also like to pass my driving test this year. I started taking lessons last year and hopefully this year I'll get it finished! I also want to really work more on my blog this year, I want to post more often and post better content. I'm still getting to grips with everything and it will take time of course but I'm learning, slowly but surely.

As for what I did this year...the main thing for me this year was passing my apprenticeship (both the worst and best thing I've ever done) and getting a job. I was lucky to be taken on at the same place I did my apprenticeship, I know a lot of people in my class had to go out and find jobs elsewhere at the end of theirs. I also started driving lessons, which was a big step because I was so nervous! I put it off for so long and I'm so happy that I finally started!

I feel like I have grown and changed (for the best) a lot this past year and I'm looking forward to see what next year brings! Now I'm off to eat some cake and do a bit of online shopping!

xxx