When I grow up

Taken from a book my school contributed to when I was 8! They kept our own versions of spelling

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." C.S Lewis

 I never knew what I wanted to do when I was growing up. When I was 8 years old I liked animals and my mum was a vet so I wanted to be a veterinary nurse. As I grew up a few awful science and maths teachers made me despise the subject, I hated plants and photosynthesis and still don't understand quadratic equations. Fast forward to college, I took A Levels in English, ICT and Politics. I enjoyed Politics and a college trip to Washington DC turned my enjoyment into love so I went to do a Politics degree. Careers advice at my college was useless, basically we were told if you didn't go do a degree you were stuck in retail. I already had a part time job at Claire's which I liked but didn't want to do that forever. 

Turns out a Politics degree was not for me, I hated political theory for one. I was run down, tired, suffered from illnesses constantly and ended up having my tonsils out. I restarted a year, still couldn't do it. Instead threw myself into work at the student's union shop and a local night club. Eventually it was time to leave my university town, I moved to Manchester with my boyfriend and got a generic call centre job which I hated. I moved back to retail which I knew I was good at, but hated. I liked people, I loved making sure they left happy. Working for a big supermarket doesn't let you do this.

The final straw was one Sunday I was left alone, as a "team leader in training" as a kind of test. A serious accident happened in the cafe and a member of staff was left badly bleeding, I immediately did not give a crap about the till queues and instead helped with the situation. The next day I was called in to discuss my "behaviour". Turns out helping a member of staff not bleed to death and then comfort your staff members that were basically suffering from shock is not how you run a successful business. I'd go home in tears every night, getting paid £6.86 an hour to spend your life in tears is not the one. I had to keep going, bills to pay rent to pay. Until I cracked.

I knew what I wanted to do, nursing. I'd known for a while but was too scared to embark on another degree after already failing one. I spoke to my mum who encouraged me to do what I want, I wrote a personal statement and at 7am on the morning of clearing I started ringing round universities. By 10am I had an interview the next day. By the next Tuesday I had a place on an Adult Nursing course in Leeds. We lived in Manchester, I suddenly had to hand my notice in. Everything went a bid mad. 

Over 6 months in to my first year I am in love, I have completely made the right decision. I won't discuss too much of my course on this blog, it's hard work but I know it will be worth it in the end. I finish 12 hour shifts on placement happy. I love helping a patient get washed, fed, dressed, washing their hair and making them comfortable in bed. All those who say we are too posh to wash can frankly do one. 

All I wanted to do when I was little was to grow up (I told people I wanted to be tall when I was older, didn't happen) but now I have rent and bills to pay? I hate being a grown up

Sweet Like Chocolate

 Body Butter / Lip Butter / Body Scrub / Shower Cream 

I love chocolate, when I was little the two things I would eat were macaroni cheese and toblerone. I was a horrible child. I still love the scent. In step The Body Shop and my sister, she bought me a wee Chocomania set as part of my Christmas present and I was hooked. 

The body butter is pretty standard Body Shop however it does promise "48 hour feel good hydration" which I don't think the rest of their famous range do. I am always dubious of promises like this, but this does keep my legs feeling lovely and smooth . It is the body scrub which is the winner for me, I love exfoliating. I'm odd like that. I've tried some that are full of salt (Ted Baker, I'm looking at you) and some that just don't do anything. This scrub however smells divine - almost nutty, has a lovely texture of sugar works well to get rid of dead skin ready for moisturising or fake tan if I am feeling adventurous.

The lip butter is always in my handbag, it is not as heavy duty as my Nivea SOS or Carmex but is a fine the rest of the time. It doesn't taste of chocolate though, c'mon I wasn't the only one hoping. I love that LUSH's lip scrubs taste amazing, but then remember I am also eating my own dry skin. Yum. Last but not least is the shower cream. Now I usually buy the cheapest body wash in the supermarket, or anything on offer. Except for Snow Fairy but that's a once a year thing. So to become hooked to a shower cream that is more than £1 is something for me. It is lovely and moisturising, doesn't irritate my eczema prone areas and has the same scent. 

I have since bought another set from The Body Shop Outlet store at Cheshire Oaks, they offer 40% off RRP when you buy 3 or more items. They also gave us an extra 10% for having a Body Shop Love Your Body card. Basically I bought them for cheap. Would I pay full price? For the body scrub maybe. Then again they always seem to have offers on their website.

xoxo

False Nail Love

 

Boots Perfect Finish Clear Nails - £8.50

False nails are nothing new, I've been wearing them on and off for a few years. I love that you can paint some awesome nail art on the Thursday night watching tv and have them ready to wear our Saturday night. I have also always had short nails, no amount of diet / supplements / nail care has ever helped them grow so I love that false nails give me long nails asap. I have had acrylics and gels before but prefer glue on as they are much more instant. I spend a lot of time in hospitals and practicals so nails or nail varnish is a big no no.

I have tried many types, the cheap ones you can get from eBay are awesome except I find them too thin and too long for my small natural nails. This set from Boots is a winner, 200 nails in 10 sizes, that includes extras of the most common sizes (6, 6.5 and 5). I find a set usually lasts me a week, my last set I cleaned out a fire, oven and collected wood and they didn't budge. This may also be down to the glue, my personal choice is Nailene Ultra Quick Nail Glue. 

xox

Revlon Girly Nail Enamel

  

Revlon Nail Enamel , Girly

I couldn't resist buying this nail varnish, need to remember that I cannot fuel my car with nail varnish. I was going to spend my last week with false nails on before placement with bright neon pink. This is a bit more subtle; a lovely pink with blue, pink and purple bits of glitter, similar to the formula of Revlon's Scandalous / Facets of Fushia. I have only tried it on false nails which usually don't need as many coats as natural nails, took two or three coats to be completely opaque however that could be fixed by using a light pink as a base.

I love it! Perfect for Spring, when it stops snowing. I also want to try it with gradient tips on light pink nails. I bought this in Boots within the 3 for 2 offer, the swatch on the website doesn't show the glitter or how pretty it is. I love the formula of Revlon's nail colours, and this is no different. (Well all except a nude I have from them which takes around 12342 coats to be opaque)



xoxo

Oh, hi there.

So, hi there. How are you? Blah blah etc. I thought I needed to revive this thing, only even if it is to rid the top blog post being my ugly mug with no makeup on. Nice eh. What have I been doing? Well we moved from Manchester after I managed to get on to my dream university course, we now live near Huddersfield in a lovely cottage in a farm yard. Lovely until this week when my car has been snowed in for a week and the nearest shop is a dangerous 40 minute walk down hill. I am studying at Leeds Met university so have had to learn my way around quickly!

Due to the snow I have been stuck inside for far too long, also have watched a lot of Hart of Dixie and Nashville. It has also given me a chance to draft lots of blog posts to get me started on my road back to being a ~blogger~.