Family Trip to Scotland

So last week me my mum and my dad went up to Scotland to see my dad's side of the family. We tend to go up there once or twice a year and it's nice to see everyone and visit the usual places. My family all live in and around Kirkcaldy which is about an hour north of Edinburgh. 

However this was the first year of going to Scotland in august at the time of the Edinburgh fringe festival that I actually got to see a show. Being a drama student I don't know how I have managed that! I went to see Jon Cozart who has a YouTube channel called Paint which if you have been on the internet for even a short amount of time you have probably seen his videos either After Ever After of the one that introduced me to his channel Harry Potter in 99 Seconds. His show was very good although I am a fan of his channel, but my parents who are definitely not fans even enjoyed the shows.

The rest of the week was also lovely so I thought I would share (quite) a few photos of my week. 

So I had the Scan

A couple posts ago I talked about how I had found a lump in my breast and that it was diagnosed as a benign lump which is all good, however I still had to go for a scan to make sure everything was 100% ok, and as I had already blogged about my initial experience I thought I would blog this one as well.

I have never had to go for a scan before so was a bit tense and anxious for that but I knew that it was just going to be an ultra sound. However I couldn't spray any of my deodorant on before I went so I was more anxious of smelling than anything showing up. The fear of smelling was more than just my armpits, I went with my mum and as we were in the lift on the way to the breast imaging clinic my mum tells me my breath smells and then tells me that she doesn't have any chewing gum #firstworldproblems, so for the whole appointment my breath stank.

Just like the other few appointments I have had I removed my top half of clothing and was given a towel to cover myself before the doctor came in, and just like my other appointments it was very quick. The ultra sound confirmed what had already been told to me.

However what I did learn is that another name for the fibroadenoma is breast mouse/mice which is a very odd picture to imagine when you are lying on a hospital bed with someone scanning your breasts.

Going through this whole experience has really helped me to understand the whole process a lot more and has made me a lot calmer about finding any lumps in the future.

A Sunny Day in Sheringham

As this weekend was incredibly hot, me and my mum and dad decided to go on a little jaunt to the North Norfolk Coast.

The Day started with a lovely trip to Blickling Hall (where Anne Boleyn was born) for some nice lunch where I got to read a bit of my book while waiting for food and a trip to the second hand bookshop - the photo of the shop is taken on a stage which my Grandad built when he was stationed there during WW2. Then we went on to Sheringham a little sea side town with a few shops and a couple of arcades. My day then finished with a visit to The Two Lifeboats pub on the sea front for tea where I had my favourite meal of sausage and mash. The weather was so gorgeous I couldn't help but take a few photos and why not share them on here!

Urban Decay Naked: Smoky Event

So on Thursday (August 6th) the new Urban Decay Naked palette was launched in the UK. Me and my friend decided to go to the launch event at our local Debenhams it cost £5 to go to the event but I believe that if you chose to buy the palette (which I am yet to do) there was £5 off. Included in the ticket price you got a couple of free testers (bottom photo) and a free make over which we are planning to do next Thursday in preparation for a night out.

For me the event was just ok, however if I was quite knew to make-up it would have been fabulous. As the two make-up artists put make-up on the models they gave quite a few nice tips and tricks to help with putting your own make-up on better. Having spent many hours of my life watching beauty guru's make-up tutorials I kinda know what to do (I may know but I cannot do!) What I found was best about the event was that they handed round products to test and see what they were like, which definitely made me want to spend A LOT of money.

Although I didn't buy the palette or any products as it is a lot of money for me to spend right now - although my student loan comes in soon ;) - it was a lovely experience especially for someone like me who feels intimidated when speaking to people at make-up counters.

July Favourites!

For the first time I am going to do a Favourites blog, mainly as there are a few things that I have really been enjoying this month that I thought that I would share.

Beauty.

The Bare Minerals True Romantic Eye shadow Quad £29. This is the first high end eye shadow that I have actually bought. I got a Debenhams voucher and went in meaning to get an Urban Decay naked palette, but I got looking around and testing a load of colours and I fell in love with 1) the packaging, isn't it pretty and 2) I couldn't resist the shimmery gold!

Clothing.

Floral Bardot Dress, New Look, £14.99. I find this dress really comfy because of the skater dress fit, but it's also a bit different because of the Bardot neckline and very summery because of the floral.


Accessories.

Rose Gold Metallic Backpack, New Look, £19.99.  I have been looking at this bag whenever I go into New Look and also thinking about it whenever I am not in New Look. So finally about a week ago I bought it, and isn't it B-E-A-UTIFUL. it has a little front pocket and two small ones on the side, inside there is a zipped pocket and a phone slip like in most bags. There is plenty of room to lose all your items in as well :).

Choker, Primark, £1.50. Ever since they have come back into style I have really wanted to get a choker but I didn't really find a style that I liked and I have been unsure whether or not a choker would irritate me throughout the day. However because it has an adjustable chain it doesn't have to be tight against my neck. Also I really like the simplicity of the silver band with a small simple heart.

Bracelet, Primark, £2.00. This is a very recent purchase of mine and I have only worn it a couple of times, but I find that it being a mix of a bracelet and a ring adds to it and really makes it something different that I have never owned before.

Other.

The Truth About the Harry Qubert Affair, Joel Dicker. Although this is a chunky book it didn't feel like there were 600+ pages. It was a complete page turner, it felt that with every chapter there was  new twist to the plot. It really kept you guessing from beginning to end, which is something that I really love in a book. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone (well maybe not little children!)

What I've Read: January - June

Initially I was going to do a post a month about what i had read in each month but who am I kidding I won't blog that frequently, and sometimes I will only read one or two books a month which I thought would make for a very boring short blog (in hindsight that would be better than a list of 15 or so books) but oh well there are still 6 months left of the year to change how I blog. So in future there will (hopefully) be a blog a month of what I have read with a mini review of my opinion of the books.

However for today I will just list the books and give a rating out of 10!

So without further a do lets begin!

1. The Death Cure (Maze Runner #3) by James Dashner. The first book of the year started with the last if a series. Yet it was still worth a read if you have read the previous books. I started with the prequel which is still my favourite of the Maze Runner books. Rating: 6/10
2. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. It had a slow start with a new character and a new narrative introduced every chapter, but once you got further into the story and the connections between characters became clearer the book got better and better. Rating: 8/10
3. Girl Online by Zoe Sugg. I'm not going to go into the aspect of the books being ghost-written as I don't have an issue with it. First of all I will say that I am clearly not the targeted age range for the book but I still enjoyed the story even though it is a tad predictable, the characters were likeable and i will probably read her next book. Rating: 7/10
4. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. When I picked up the book I though it would be much more supernatural and spooky, however that does not mean I did not thoroughly enjoyed reading it.  If I had known more of the story before buying I probably wouldn't have gotten it but I am glad I made that mistake as I thoroughly enjoyed it. Rating: 8/10.
5. No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. This is the second book of McCarthy's that I have read and i enjoyed it just as much as The Road. I don't normally go for western stories but I knew I liked McCarthy's style of writing and I wasn't disappointed. Although if you are squeamish then this may not be a good book for you! Rating: 7/10.
6. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It took me a while to read this one and I don't know why. Normally when it takes me a long time to read a book its because I am not enjoying it but All the Light we Cannot See was a beautiful story of two children facing adversity in World War 2. It may just have been the lack of time I had to read the book or it may be the size of the book that took me some time to get through. Rating: 8/10
7. The Birthing House by Christopher Ransom. A generic horror story about a haunted house, this book left no lasting affect on me and at parts the story just got beyond strange. There was never really any suspense and I didn't keep me awake at night like a good horror story should, that's all I really have to say about the book. I don't know how I finished it. Rating: 1/10
8. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. This was possibly one of my favourite reads of the year. I love a good thriller and this was a good thriller. The girl on the train is a real page turner I really wanted to find out what happened next. Although a few months later I can't actually remember what happened at the end. So I don't know what that says about the ending. However at the time of reading I really did enjoy it, especially as I was reading it on a train! Rating: 9/10
9. All I Know Now by Carrie Hope Fletcher. Again like Zoella's book this one isn't really aimed towards my age range, being only a year or so younger than Carrie I read it more as an autobiography than an advice book. Yet I can see how her words would be comforting to a young girl/boy going through adolescence needing some words of comfort from someone who has recently had to struggle through the tough years that are high school. Rating: 7/10
10. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. If you like post-apocalyptic novels then you might just like Station Eleven. To me it was one of those books that you could pick up and read for a long time without realising. Rating: 8/10
11. The Circle by Dave Eggers. The circle was much like Station Eleven in the sense that it was an easy read. What I loved about this book was that it felt like it could happen any day the way that technology is advancing. After finishing the novel whenever I hear about apple buying new companies and expanding I start thinking about this book and how apple are taking over the world (and yes I do own an iPhone). While reading The Circle it felt like it had heavy influences of 1984 but with a bit more modern. Rating: 8/10
12. Still Alice by Lisa Genova. Again one of my favourite books of the year so far. Although this one is completely different to The Girl on the Train as it was emotionally draining to read just how quickly Alzheimer's can affect someone. Yet although hard to read at times it was really interesting to read, I would thoroughly recommend it.  Rating: 9/10
13. Cross Stitch (Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon. I started reading this one because my mum wanted to watch the Amazon prime original TV series and I thought I would read the book as we watched the series. I really enjoyed it apart from the almost game of thrones like amount of sex. If you like pretty much anything book genre wise you will like this. however it take me a while to get through.  Rating: 7/10
14. Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes. I was quite disappointed by this book and I can't pinpoint why. I thought the premise was brilliant, Hitler waking up in 2010 what could be better! However it all fell rather short of what it promised, it was all rather predictable. I would probably still recommend it as it was an easy read.  Rating: 6/10

If anyone has any good book recommendations I would love to hear them!