Dealing with T.O.M

So girls I think we can all agree that when TOM arrives we are not too pleased! I am of course talking about Time Of Month, otherwise known as period. We all have to deal with it at some point in our lives and there is no doubt that is absolutely sucks! Over my last 7 years of dealing with my period every month I have found the things that make that time a bit more comfortable and less hell like. This post is also inspired by two of my favourite youtube/blogger girls +essiebutton and Amelia Liana, who a few months ago created The Period Tag:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtgTUo2ZJi4 

So here are my top tips for surviving your period and my answers to the questions from Essie and Amelia's video:

I should start by staying that my periods are very mixed, some months I will be in a lot of pain and be extremely hormonal, but others I can easily get on with my everyday life and be fine. The pains that I mainly get are achy stomach cramps and headaches, but I like I said I'm lucky that this isn't an every month situation.

What annoys you?

What annoys me on my period is everything, I become very irritable, and little things like unclean dishes frustrate me. My hatred for slow internet also increases to a ridiculous level during that time! Especially when I am trying to catch up on Greys Anatomy, which is a favourite thing to do, and has been for the last 5 years I have been obsessed with that show. 

Period outfit?

Pyjamas, of course! It is obvious to say anything comfortable, and for me that is to stay in pyjamas for as long that is acceptable, and then a little longer than that too...Seriously though, loose and soft clothes are your best friend, big jumpers and trackies are the way forward.

Favourite food?

You that it is that time of the month when you find yourself with a spoon in the Nutella jar, or at least that is what happens to me! I have a sweet tooth anyway, so when I'm on my period I like to cater to that even more than normal, so everything is peanut butter or chocolate covered. Tea is also an absolute must! Recently I have also been really into hot lemon and honey for a break or change from tea, which is super tasty and also really calming for the stomach.

Mood swings?

I would say that I do get mood swings during my period, but I'm sure my family would say that it occasionally occurs more than just at that time of month. I am an emotional bottler, so often during my period the lid is let off and I do get rather hormonal and rant and sometimes cry. What is important to remember, and I have to remind myself when I am having one of those moments, is that it is perfectly natural and okay to feel exhausted and frustrated during your period. 

Some other random tips would be to not allow TOM to take over your everyday life, as much as is possible try and ignore it and push through the pain. It sounds so pretentious to say, and I can hear lots of you scoffing at this, but some light exercise can often really help with period pains. I am not talking taking on a marathon or anything like that, but a walk or some stretching can help. Finally and most importantly is that as rubbish as you feel at the time, know that all girls can sympathise, and it is only a temporary pain, well at least until next month...

Hope that you enjoyed this post, and until next time,

B xx

What I'm Loving: November

I cannot believe we are basically half way through November, it will be Christmas before we know it! November is the time of deadlines, so I have spent the vast majority of the last few weeks in the library, however in those spare moments I have been loving listening, watching, eating and wearing the following favourites.

What I have been loving listening too is very simple - 1989! This whole month I have had the album on repeat, but some individual favourites on top of Shake It Off, would be Style and Out of the Woods. Clearly I am bias, but I do truly believe that this album would appeal to almost everyone, so even if you have always been a Swift hater, I encourage you to give 1989 a go! To add some variety though, London Grammar has also been an obsession this month, and after the launch of the infamous new John Lewis Christmas advert, I have also, of course been loving Tom Odell.

What I am loving watching at the moment is everything, I feel that TV is so on point at the moment. From my beloved Downton Abbey, whose finale last Sunday left me smiling and crying all at the same time to Vampire Diaries which continues to impress me every week with how much my love for Damon Salvatore grows! A more random favourite would be The Apprentice, which reminds me every week just how unattractive a man with a big ego is - well unless that man is Damon Salvatore...

One of the best things about this time of year for a coffee lover like myself is the festive drinks that the coffee shops bring out. For the last few years I have attempted to try all that Costa and Starbucks have to offer in the seasonal drinks department, and I think the 2014 selection has some of the best. The Eggnog Latte is my Starbucks recommendation, and as I am writing this post I have a Praline Cappuccino by my side, which ranks very highly in the Costa choices.  

It is absolutely freezing in the UK at the moment, so my dressing gown and slippers have been the favourite of the moment. Both from BHS, my motto when it comes to sleepwear in the winter, the fluffier the better! Not the most glamorous, but definitely the most comfortable. So for days when I want to insert some 'glam' into my usually very casual attire, I have been loving the Tanya Burr lip gloss in Heart Skips A Beat, which is a lovely red/pink with subtle sparkle, very easy to wear and goes with most looks, plus helps me to inch closer to the festive red lip look! 

Overall favourite thing of the month would probably be celebrating a good friend of mines' 21st birthday. We had a lovely girls night in, drinking champagne, dancing to 90s tunes and gossiping way too much and then the following night a big house party. It was so nice to see everyone coming together to celebrate Em's landmark birthday and made me realise how lucky I am to have such amazing, supportive friends.

Top - Zara
Jeans - Urban Outfitters

That is a summary of what I have been loving this month so far, and on the lead up to the holiday month. It is crazy to me that 2015 is so close, and that I have already been in second year for 2 months! I hope that you all enjoyed this post, and I would love to know what you have all been loving this November.

Thank you so much for reading, until next time,

B xx

Happy Halloween

I have never been a Halloween fan in the past, mainly because I am super boring when it comes to fancy dress. I can honestly say that it has been about 9 years since I have done anything on the 31st October but this year it was a firm date on my calendar. A group of good friends of mine were hosting a mega house party which I knew I could not miss, even if that did mean me putting in the effort of finding a costume!

I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to find a costume but after multiple trips to the fancy dress store and my new favourite place, Wilkos, I managed to put something together. Getting ready for a night out is often my favourite part, I love putting on my favourite playlist and curling my hair, but getting ready for Halloween was on a whole new level. With two of my best girlfriends we got the fangs and fake blood out with a combination of probably a few too many champagnes and this was the final result.

Despite my reservations, I had so much fun, it was one of my favourite nights in the last few weeks. Everyone had made such amazing effort, and the guys had done the house up incredibly, it really felt like a haunted mansion! So thank you to the Church Street boys for hosting an amazing night and for converting me to the fun that can be Halloween.

I know that I have been slacking on the blogging front but I have had such a hectic couple of months with my uni work load, but I really want to get back into the swing of things!

Thanks for reading, B xx

My New Bedroom

My minor hiatus can be easily explained, I have just moved house! In the last week I have moved into my new home for the year, my first ever student house! This week has been a complete whirlwind and there are so many things to do when running your own house, luckily I have four lovely housemates to help me and keep me sane. 

If you have ever lived in a student house then you will know that we are not talking luxury accommodation so I have tried so hard in my bedroom to make it as homely and personal as possible. Please ignore the less than ideal red flowered curtains in the background which were definitely not my choice!

This is an idea that I stole from Pinterest, which is such an inspiration when it comes to home décor, and well most other things! I had some of my favourite photos printed and followed the very easy steps to create this heart photo montage on my wall along side my bed. It not only lets me display loads of my favourite memories and people, but also adds an amazing pop of colour to a room that was otherwise quite bare.

Bedding is an amazing way to transform a room, as it adds colour, pattern and individuality. My set is a super old one from Tesco that combines all of the colours I wanted for my room scheme: pink, white and minty blue. My throw is a huge fluffy pale pink one from BHS and my two cushions are the softest things I have ever felt and are both from Primark, which I would highly recommend checking out for cheap but really cute home items. 

My bedside table was probably my biggest bargain when shopping for new things for my room, of course Ikea was involved.  I saw this table and fell in love, it is so simple but chic and I am obsessed and the best part it was £15!!! If any of you are interested it is the Lindved in white,  My bedside table essentials include #daclip of course, The Death Cure by James Dashner which I am loving at the moment and a cup of green tea in a super cute owl mug. The vase which I do intend at some point to fill with flowers is from Zara Home and the lamp is also from Ikea, the Knubbig. 

These two posters epitomise me completely, my two favourite things: tea and Friends. The Friends poster, is titled 'Everything I know in life I learned from Friends' and that is definitely me, I am that person who in almost every conversation makes some kind of Friends reference! And I certainly agree I know wherever I have tea I have love! 

I hope this post gives you a little insight into my room and how I have tried to transform a room that looked slightly like a hospital ward before I moved in, into a place that is my own. If you have any decoration tips or tricks do let me know and thank you very much for reading, and until next time,

B xx

What I'm Loving: September

Rather than your usual monthly favourites type post I thought I would try something slightly different. This is a breakdown of what I have loved listening to, watching, eating and wearing over this month so far. Plus my favourite thing I did this month, which features some very good looking men!

To begin with what I have been listening to, and this would not be a post by me if Taylor Swift wasn't mentioned, but wow Shake It Off has truly been my anthem of the last few weeks. Any excuse to play it at full volume and dance like no one is watching! On a more mellow level though I am still obsessed with the whole of The Fault In Our Stars soundtrack, particularly All of the Stars by Ed Sheeran and both of the Birdy tracks. Finally, Sam Smith, he is everywhere at the moment and rightly so, his voice is angelic and his new single I'm Not The Only One is by far my favourite song he has ever released. 

What I am watching at the moment has quite an eclectic mix, if you follow me on twitter @cloudbelle25 you will know that I have been loving X Factor so far. I am very happy that Cheryl and Simon are back and of course there is always love for Louis Walsh! Another reality type show that I have been a fan of for many years is the Great British Bake Off which at the moment is all me and mum can talk about! Something Mum is not a fan of, but it is a highlight of my weekend is Made In Chelsea NYC which is just further fuelling my love for New York and of course for Lucy Watson! For people outside the UK though something that I have recently become hooked on is The Office, the US version, and I can honestly say that I laugh hysterically out loud at every episode I watch. 

Houmous, that covers all that I have been loving eating this month. I love just the plain regular one, but also all the amazing different flavours, some of my favourites being lemon and coriander or caramelised onion. The ultimate though I have found this month is the Marks and Spencer Piri Piri Houmous, which was life-changingly good! 

I have been very boring with what I have been loving wearing, but what I lack in style I have made up for in comfort. If you have never tried the fluffy Primark pyjama trousers you have not felt true comfort. I have pretty much lived in my various different pairs over the last few weeks. They are amazing pyjamas but I also wear them as the perfect item of lounge wear too for those days when 'real' clothes are just not what you want! 

My favourite thing of the month is very easy for me to choose, as early this week I was lucky enough to attend a press launch of the opening night of Dan Osborne joining the Dreamboys! One of my best friends was working for Cosmopolitan and managed to bag us some tickets for honestly one of the most crazy and surreal nights of my life. It was basically like having a real life Magic Mike experience.... 

That concludes what I have been loving in September, thank you for reading and let me know if you would like a similar post for October which I am sure will include Downton Abbey and Pumpkin Spice Lattes!

B xx

My Hangover Routine

So it happens to the best of us, and yet we never learn the torture that is The Hangover! Now luckily I have never experienced anything on the level of these guys in Vegas, finding a tiger strolling around or a random baby, but there have been some mornings when you wake up feeling like you may just never recover from the night before. For these very occasions I have constructed a certain routine I like to follow in order to best survive this near hell!

You wake up in the morning, sadly not feeling like P.Diddy, but rather like you got punched a thousand times over in the head and in the stomach. Your best friend right now, water, and lots of it. Coming in from a night out I always try to make sure I have a cup of water by my bed because when you wake up you will feel like the Sahara Dessert!

The next step is to manage to actually make it out of bed because if you are anything like me you will still have your makeup on from the night before! The feeling of getting all that mascara off and having a clean, fresh face will literally be life changing in the midst of a hangover. My favourite product to use is the Clinque Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm as you can rub it into dry skin all over, including eyes and it takes makeup off incredibly plus removes any oil or dirt that will have been sitting most likely on your face all night. 

When I come in from a night out I usually grab the closest comfiest item of clothing I have, which invariably is my beloved purple fluffy dressing gown from Primark. So in the morning once my face and teeth are clean I like to add to the comfort levels and grab my go to hangover outfit, some form of tracksuit bottoms, I personally love my Hollister ones, and then a sweater of some kind. Walking around campus whenever you spot this outfit you can pretty much guarantee they have been out the night before!

Now that you are sufficiently comfortable it is time to sort out the fact that your stomach is churning, and for me there is only two remedies to this situation and that is a strong cup of a tea and some buttered toast. Plain and simple but works every single time! 

Providing that you don't have to go into work or school, or there isn't an essay due in the next day, how I like to spend my hangover day is in bed or on the sofa watching endless hours of trashy TV. Reality TV is my guilty pleasure of choice, episode after episode of the Kardashians, in fact when I was feeling slightly fragile after a night out only a couple of weeks ago I watched all the Kardashian wedding specials from Khloe and Lamar to the most recent Kimye one!

Sadly when I have been away at university this last year I haven't had access to a bath, but when I am at home this is another crucial step. A Lush bath bomb or some Body Shop bubble bath combined with your most relaxing playlist will help you forget all the embarrassing things you may have done the night before and how your head is still pounding!

This pretty much rounds up all my top steps to the hangover routine I perform after a night out with my friends. Whilst I do not recommend this on a regular basis, it is good to know that when you do decide to let loose and maybe drink a few too many tequilas that the next morning you won't be totally marooned in bed with no idea how to stop the world from spinning!

I hope you guys have enjoyed this post, and until next time, lots of love, B xx

The calm before the storm!

Summertime Sadness

First day of September means the end of summer, and whilst here in Britain the weather gave up about 5 weeks ago we could still say it was at least meant to be summer. I thought I would take this time to look back over the last few months at what I have loved this summer and then also why I cannot wait for Autumn.

Coming back from university at the end of June marked the end of one amazing year and whilst I was super sad to leave I was also so excited to back home with my family and friends. It is amazing how quickly you settle back into life at home after a year away, and it also makes you realise all the things you missed about home.

For the whole of July I was interning at at PR firm in London and whilst at times it was stressful, and even boring it was an amazing experience. What I particularly enjoyed was living the 'London lifestyle' and though that does include the hell of commuting it also means the lunches in the park, the regular coffee breaks, the office attire and feeling like Rachel Zane - well I wish! 

I would occasionally lunch on the steps of St. Pauls and do my best to emulate the Gossip Girl steps of The Met!

From the cosmopolitan city girl life during July, to in August when for a while I'm pretty sure all I did was sit in my bed watching TV series after series! I have always been a massive TV fan and over this summer I have added to my already rather long list of series that I watch. As mentioned in numerous posts I became very quickly obsessed with The Mindy Project, but also in a slightly different genre I finally got around to watching Revenge which I have been recommended for years. 

These shows are both addictive in totally different ways, but I would highly recommend them both. Two amazing female leads who both kick butt, one more literally than the other!








Speaking of incredible women, I had the biggest fan girl moment ever of the summer when a certain +essiebutton replied to my tweet! I have loved both Essie's blog and Youtube channel for years and her recent Nordic Vlogs have been the highlight of my subscription box for the last couple of weeks. And I have #daclip to thank for it all ;)

This was a seriously cool moment for me and I literally haven't stopped talking to my sister about it since! Sorry Lu!

Quick plug whilst we are at it - my twitter is @cloudbelle25 if you want to follow my probably not so interesting daily insights!










If you do follow me on twitter than you will have seen that last weekend I met John Torode at the BBC Good Food Festival at Hampton Court Palace. I have watched Masterchef with my mum for years so when he wandered past it seemed criminal not to ask him for a picture. And wow he was so nice, he insisted that we 'take a selfie' which I was more than happy to oblige to. In general our day at Hampton Court was honestly one of the best family days out we have ever had, it was a beautiful day and the palace is stunning, plus we ate about our body weight in free cheese, what more can you want out of a day!?

And if we are talking summer highlights how could I not mention the fact that this summer I finally started my blog which is something I have thought about and wanted to do for such a long time. It is all still so new to me but I am honestly loving it, both writing my own and becoming more involved in reading other peoples. I cannot wait to see where it will take me.

That concludes a round up of the things I have loved this summer, clearly there are so many others I could have chosen, but really to summarise what I have enjoyed most is taking the time to be with the people and the places that I have missed whilst being away at uni this year. Saying this I cannot wait to be going back to university in a couple of weeks and starting my second year which sounds so crazy to me, but I just know it is going to be just as incredible as this last year has been!

Thank you as always for reading, and until next time, B xx