Huge January Haul :)

When it comes to shopping, I always look for any sales, deals and bargains that I can find. My mum dreads January because I always want to go shopping and find all the deals! This year I gathered quite a varied collection of items, from clothing to beauty to a Cath Kidston Card Holder and my mum (yet again) was impressed by the amount of money I saved.

 

 

Clothing:

 

 

 Recently I have developed a bit of an obsession with coats!

 

Above Left - Primark - Cream Coat with Faux Leather Sleeves - £29.99  £10

Above Centre - New Look - Fawn Faux Fur Coat - £39.99 £14

Above Right - New Look - Wool Coral Coat - £34.99 £12

 

 

 

 Surprisingly I only purchased four jumpers this year!

 

Above Left - Primark - Fawn Coloured Wool Jumper - £12 £4

Above Centre - Sheinside - Grey Wool Jumper with Lace Detail - £22.99 £8

Above Right - Primark - Grey Oversized Thumper Jumper - £12 £2

Not Pictured - Local Store - Grey Wool Jumper with Snowflake Detail - £10 £5

 

 

 

 Other clothing I purchased!

 

Top Left - New Look - Flannel Pug Pyjamas - £14.99 £5

Top Centre - New Look - Floral Sequin Bodycon Dress - £24.99 £7

Top Right - Primark - Silver Playsuit - £12 £5

Bottom Left - Primark - Green Pattern Jeans & Light Denim Jeans - £12 £5 (each)

Bottom Right - Topshop - Pink  Leigh Jeans & Burgundy Studded Leigh Jeans - £42 £7 (each)

 

Accessories:

 

Below - New Look - Earing Set - £4.99 £2

Top Right - Primark - Mint Green Purse - £5

Bottom Right - New Look - Ring Selection - £2.99

Not Pictured - Cath Kidston - Pink Floral Card Holder - £14 £6

 



 
 
Beauty & Bath:





 

Top Left - Rimmel London Eyeshadow (Spicy Bronze) - £4.99 £1

                       Rimmel London Colour Rush (Make Me Blush) - £4.99 £2

 

Top Centre - Body Shop - Clementine Hand Sanitizer x2 - £4 £2 (each)

                    Glazed Apple Bath Jelly - £14 £7

                          Frosted Cranberry Shower Gel £6 £3

                                           Frosted Cranberry Scent Burner x2 £6 £2 (each)

                                   Glazed Apple Scent Burner x2 £6 £2 (each)

 

Top Right - Nivea - Make-Up Remover, Night Cream, Exfoliating Scrub, Pearl & Beauty Deodorant, Cleanser, Sensitive Face Wash, Daily Facial Cleansing Gel - 3 for £8

 

 

Top Left  - Rimmel London 60 Seconds Nail Polish - Instyle Coral & Lets Get Nude - £2.99 (each)

 

Top Right - Lush - Butter Bear x3 - £1.99 £0.75 (each)

                                   So White Bath Bomb x3 - £2.99 £1 (each)

                                Magic Star Wand Bubble Bar - £4.99 £2

                                    Candy Mountain Bubble Bar - £2.99 £1.50

                      Sweetie Pie Shower Jelly - £4.99

                                      Butter Ball Bath Bomb x2 - £1.99 £1 (each)

 

 

The only other thing I purchased this month was a selection of books!

 

I purchased these books on a special offer of 7 for £10 but individually they would have been:

 

The Accident - C.L Taylor - £2.99

These Things Hidden - Heather Gudenkauf - £1.99

The Guilty One - Lisa Ballantyne - £1.99

Little Face - Sophia Hannah - £1.99

Just Another Manic-Mum Day - Mink Elliot - £2.99

Little Miracles - Giselle Green - £1.99

Little Beach Street Bakery - Jenny Colgan - £1.99

 

That's everything I purchased in the January Sales and as you can see, I definitely found myself some good deals! In total for everything mentioned and shown above, I should have paid £480.70 but I only paid £177.72. Overall I saved £302.97 which is around a 63% saving!

 

 

Thanks for reading my Huge January Haul, I hope you enjoyed my sale finds! :)

2015 Goals and Aspirations :)

I know with it being January 12th already that I'm a little late in the game with this post but I haven't broken any so far. Normally I set myself a number of difficult goals in the New Year to achieve and then break them around March time. To avoid that this year I have set myself different types of goals; small, easily achievable goals and then a fairly important, long-term goal that will have to be gradually worked towards. 

 

My (hopefully) easily achievable goals:

 

Schedule my life better 

I am generally quite an organised person, but with university, my life easily becomes quite messy, cluttered and de-organised - especially living a two hour bus ride away from university. This year I will plan more in advance, not leave things to the last minute and complete things little by little instead of all at once.

 

Exercise more and be healthier

Now I know that the majority of people have this as a  'New Years Resolution' but I do eat fairly healthily with only the occasional slip up and attend the university gym. However, sleep is the problem for me because I definitely do not get enough of it. This year I plan to increase my exercise levels by doing more at home, like taking the dogs longer walks or simply going walks or jogs myself. I will eat healthier by not having the occasional slip ups and to feel healthier within myself I aim to get enough sleep (at least 8 hours a night) and at the right times.

 

Stick to my skin routine

I have the type of skin that becomes dry fairly easily and with having a lot of allergies, my skin is often not in its best form. In the past I tried a variety of different products in an attempt to improve my skin and only found ones I liked near the end of 2014. 2015 will be the year that my skin is at its best with the regular cleansing and nourishment it will be getting.

 

Read, write and blog more

I love to read and write, when I was younger I used to write numerous short stories and as previously mentioned even won a contest once. In 2014, my reading levels decreased and I didn't write for pleasure very often at all, which is why I made a blog. I had always been interested in blogging, so this year along with setting myself the challenge of reading 30 books this year, I plan to write blog posts at least 6 times a month. This blog will not be one of my 'failed' projects.

 

Give more 

As mentioned previously, I am a volunteer first aider with St Andrew's First Aid which brings me a great sense of achievement but I do want to give back more. At the end of 2014 I donated a large collection of toys, books, games etc. to Yorkhill Children's Hospital and it made me feel like I had achieved something worthwhile in 2014. I would like to do something similar this year as well, to give back and feel that sense of achievement again.

 

My (harder to obtain) long-term goal:

 

To be happier and more confident within myself

I am not a very confident person, I can admit that and because of this I have missed out on opportunities in the past. Even though it is going to be a long and hard process, I want to improve my confidence and become happier this year, despite any obstacles I may be faced with along the way, because at the end of the day, it will be worth it. I want to be able to enjoy things they way they should be enjoyed, to experience new things and to like them, to be happier within myself and not let other people bring me down, I want to be myself and not be scared.

 

 

I hope 2015 brings you the all happiness and achievements you hope for xxx



30 Things About Me :)

I have always been interested in blogging, I just never got around to actually doing it. So this year, 2015, I'm going to make my blog happen. So what better way to start it off than telling you a little about myself.

 

 

1) My name is Lauren (which apparently means wisdom).

 

2) I was born on July 4th 1995 in Scotland, UK.

 

3) I have curly red hair, pretty similar to Merida from the Disney film Brave.

 

4) I have attended two primary schools and two secondary schools.

 

5) I have qualifications from school in Psychology (A), Human Biology (B), Chemistry (B), English (B), Math (C), Administration (A).

 

6) I am currently at a university in Glasgow studying Psychology.

 

 

7) When I was six years old I got my entire right leg trapped in a drain pipe in my school yard resulting in ambulances, police and firemen arriving at my school and taking 5 hours to free me!

 

8) I have anxiety.

 

9) I have a younger brother named Stuart, a black Labrador named Millie and a chocolate Labrador called Buttons.

 

10) I have a lot of allergies, including chocolate!

 

11) I once entered and won a local short story writing competition.

 

12) I have a weird fear of peacocks.

 

13) Just Dance, Guitar Hero and Mario Kart are about the only video games I'm any good at.

 

14) Basketball is one of my favourite sports to play.

 

15) I have won medals in athletics, cross country, skiing and figure skating.

 

16) When I was in the third year of secondary school, 29 other students and I went to Austria on a skiing holiday for ten days with three teachers.

 

17) October 2012 was the best month of my life.

 

18) New York City is my favourite I have ever travelled to.

 

19) I love candles.

 

20) So far I have been to 15 concerts: Girls Aloud x6, Cheryl Cole x1, Jessie J x2, Kylie Minogue x2, McBusted x1, X Factor x2, Cher Lloyd x1.

 

21) Tv Shows take up about 50% of my life.

 

22) I like to read.

 

23) I have a really good memory and can recall back to my early childhood memories at aged only 2.

 

24) My friends mean the absolute world to me.

 

25) My favourite YouTubers are Alfie Deyes (PointlessBlog), Zoe Sugg (Zoella), Louise (SprinkleofGlitter), Tanya Burr and SacconeJoly's.

 

26) I have an obsession with Demi Lovato, Girls aloud and Cheryl.

 

27) I cannot cope with noisy eaters!

 

28) I am a First Aid Volunteer with St Andrew's First Aid and spend hundreds of hours a year volunteering :)

 

29) For the future I wish to have quite a lot of children.

 

30) I have slight OCD, especially involving the number 3 (which is why this list ended on 30). 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this first blog post and the many more to come xxx