#ootd: little red

Howdy mates, how are all you fine people doing? :)

I'm trying out a different kind of post today and so hope you all enjoy it. I have been super duper busy with yearly exams coming up as well as my textiles project and folio so stress levels are high. I wanted to write a new post and I know I owe you the last instalment of my holiday photos but they take up quite a time to organise so I thought this outfit post would be something quick and light.

Sorry for the selfie but I was super proud of my eyeliner. (did I really use a peace sign - currently questioning my life choices)

Let me tell you all the story of this coat. When I was in Year 4 I travelled to England with my family and while in London bought this beautiful coat. Year 4 !!! That means I was 9 !!! The problem is I love it to much to ever get rid of it and so of course the only logical solution is to continue wearing it :) Despite no longer being able to button it up I am completely committed to this coat and would marry it if I could :)

On a side note the weather today was so amazingly beautiful that I was going to burst from happiness. Winter is finally leaving and I will not be missing it :) Bring on summer, air-con and sweating as soon as you wake up :)
Sigh, who even talks about the weather? I'm such a boring person.
Until next time little munchkins,
Alex xx

Day in the Life #3: Croatia

Happy Sunday everyone, I hope you all had a fabulous week.
Here is the third instalment of my European holiday for you all :)

Sunset in Luka, this was taken around 10 o'clock at night because the sun sets so late

Oh look it's me and some flowers. We went on a road trip up to these cliffs which has an incredible view

After spending two weeks in Croatia we flew back into Germany. From the airport we took a very long car drive into the Black Forest region. Sharing the backseat with my brother for hours on end was not exactly enjoyable. The car trip was definitely worth it though because it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The little hotel we were staying in was gorgeous and we were surrounded by mountains covered in fog, it was like something out of a fairytale (it was also absolutely freezing).

The most beautiful hotel in the whole entire world

The normal sibling antics

German food is the best!!!! Don't worry, the beer was Dad's

Highlights of our German adventures include hiking to see the most breathtaking waterfalls and our mission to find the world's largest cuckoo clock (we succeeded). Of course I can't forget the amazing German food, we ate sausages galore as well as Black Forest cake (of course).

Waterfall party!! WOO HOO

The worlds largest cuckoo clock. One to tick off my bucket list :)

As if our hotel could get any better - they had three little bunnies !!!!! 

That's it for this blogpost, farewell dearest friends xxx

Day in the Life # 2: Germany and Croatia

Hi everyone !!
Sorry that it has been way too long, I have been so busy with the Chemistry trial and a million other things that I never found time. But now I have made time and the time is right now :)
Here are some more photos from my holiday which seems now to have occurred in my distant past.
Also, exciting news. The little video diary I kept whilst on holiday is (slowly) being uploaded onto youtube. The link for the first instalment is here: http://youtu.be/1X8K5JclNzI. I hope you all enjoy it and it provides some sort of entertainment because it was extremely fun to film and I'd love to do it again if I ever have an opportunity so let me know what you guys think.

The following two photos are from Germany, I have to say that Munich was definitely my favourite part of the entire trip. I can't pin point it exactly but I'd have to say it has something to do with the atmosphere and fact that it is a very beautiful city.

Neuschwanstein Castle. Crazy King Ludwig had indoor caves installed because well . . why not?

Bike riding through Munich, definitely one of my highlights

Next stop Croatia !! Our plane from Munich to Zadar was the smallest I have ever seen and to be perfectly honest I was scared for my life. After we had landed and my heart had returned to its normal speed I was able to enjoy the lovely warm weather and presence of my relatives (who by the way have the best recipe for Nutella croissants!).

Paint Ball with my gorgeous cousins and uncle. The bruises lasted for weeks but it was worth it.

Oliver and I in front of the 'Donut' in Zadar, we could totally pass as statues right?

 From Zadar we caught a boat to Dugi Otok, the island where my Mum was born. On Dugi Otok we stayed in the village of Luka (permanent population: 70), definitely not what I was used to. Every day we would wake up, swim, talk to thousands of crazy relatives and then go to sleep. The one thing I learnt while over there was that I was related to everyone I met (and I mean EVERYONE).

Oh Sali, you are trully beautiful (and abundant with cats)

Practicing some yoga :) How amazing and blue is the water ?!!!!

Another shot of the amazing water in Luka, someone take me back please!

That's all for this post, I hope you all liked it. I only have one or more instalments to write before I reach the end of my trip. I'm really enjoying looking over it all, it brings back such nice memories as I set here in the FREEZING COLD labouring over the millions of school assessments I have to work on. 
In all seriousness I complain way too much, life is wonderful and I'm loving every second of it :)
Until next time, 
Alex   ox

Day in the life: Germany and Surprise

Guten Tag! I hope you are all absolutely dandy :)

I'm in Munich !!! (Actually that is not entirely accurate, I'm sitting on a balcony in Croatia but lets just pretend I'm still in Munich please).
I absolutely love it here, the food, the atmosphere and especially the food are amazing. I don't have as many photos as I would like because, well, let me list the reasons:
1. We don't have the big camera with us because Mum said it was too big to carry around
2. We don't have my small digital camera because for some strange reason it refuses to charge
3. The camera that we did take (an old, small digital one) is now broken, every time we turn it on it vibrates vigorously (notice the alliteration)
Basically my family does not have the best of luck with cameras. We have also had one stolen and another run over by a bike but thats a different story.
Anyway, I do have a few iPhone shots and some photos taken by the video camera. I'll put some in now for you to gaze your eyeballs upon :)

Breakfast. Yes I spilt my tea (artistically) and yes that is Nutella - Yum

Pastries galore

Some interesting machinery at the Deutsches Museum

This is a helicopter, I liked this helicopter

Our weaving skills were fantastic (warp and weft)

If anyone was thinking of giving me a present a pink vespa will be appropriate :)

The atmosphere surrounding these food markets was incredible!

I was very tempted to bring this little friend home. Hedgehogs are my favourite animal incase you were interested.

The town hall in the Marienplatz was quite spectacular

Despite the somewhat misleading title these photos were not all taken in the one day but are just the best of the photos I have been bothered to download, I promise there will be more to come. The wifi connection here is frustratingly dodgy and it has taken me all week to write this post because it continuously cuts out but thats ok because I think I might actually be able to publish it tonight. Sorry that it has taken me so long to post and the delay might continue but I have a little surprise for you all :)

Since my photo supply isn't exactly abundant I decided that I would . . . dun dun dun . . . drumroll . . . suspense . . . vlog!!! I have been creating a bit of a video diary to share with you all, I still need to edit a few things but then I will upload it onto youtube and hopefully you will all enjoy it :)

Ok, thats all for now. I hope you enjoyed this post, let me know what you think in the comments :)

Until next time, Auf Wiedersehen!

Love Alex xx

Review: The Fault in Our Stars

No it's not Okay :(

Yes I will be reviewing TFIOS, yes I've read the book and seen the movie and yes I balled my eyes out. So lets get started!!

I read the book last year and at the time there was a whole lot of hype about it. The book was amazing, I read it in two days, I just could not put it down. I fell in love with the characters (slowly and then all at once) and really enjoyed witnessing Hazel and Gus’ relationship grow. I’m not going to lie, at the end of the book (you know at THAT bit) a few tears did escape my eyes and that’s really saying something since the only other time I have ever cried from a book was when Dumbledore died in Harry Potter. Overall I can safely say that it is on my top 5 list of favourite books.

And then the movie came out.

The hype started up all over again, the Internet was drowning in TFIOS references, logging into any social media site made this evident. I personally thought all the rave was slightly unnecessary but after seeing the film I COMPLETLEY understand. Oh my gosh, just thinking about it makes me overwhelmed.

First off wow was that cinema crowded, there were people sitting in our seat so we had to sit in someone else’s seat which meant they had to sit in someone else’s seat etc. etc. There was a very, very long queue of people in the aisle that were there all the way up to the start of the movie, they might have ended up sitting in the aisle I’m not sure. Once the movie started everything else became a blur.

Ten minutes into the movie I was already crying – not even joking and I continued to cry for the rest of the movie. Seeing everything played out visually made it a lot easier to empathize (fancy term!) with the characters and I just couldn’t help the tears from streaming down my face.

My favourite part of the book was when Gus gets all excited about flying in the plane and Hazel gives him a little peck on the cheek and I was not disappointed with the conversion to the big screen, I might have even let out a little squeal.

eeeek!!

I have to congratulate Laura Dern who played Hazel’s mum, she was probably my favourite character and was responsible for half of my tears.

The end of the movie was perfect, incredibly sad but perfect, the way that they wrapped it up made it so complete. Once the movie was over I didn’t know what to do with my life, I sat there in shock as my emotions swirled and flipped inside me, I didn’t even know it was possible to feel that way. Judging by the loud (and sometimes strangely sounding) sobs from the rest of the audience I was not the only one with these feelings.

The whole momentous trip came to an end as we walked out of the cinema only to find a staff member holding a tissue box for everyone coming out. Absolutely hilarious and very appropriate.

After some careful consideration I have decided that the movie was in fact better than the book. I have never ever said this about any movie before so that’s certainly something. Obviously the book is full of emotion but to see it played out on a screen made it much more realistic and relatable and really dug deeper into my heart. Never before has a movie made me feel this way and I think it will take me a long time to get over it.

In conclusion (essay style) the two most important thing that I have learnt from my TFIOS experience is that a) it is possible to feel emotionally attached to an entire cinema full of people you have never met and b) I need an Augustus Waters in my life (if you would like to apply for the role please let me know)

 

My heart is dying

Hope you all enjoyed this post, let me know what you think of me doing reviews or if you have any suggestions of what you would like me to review.

Loves and hugs and kisses,

Alex :)

How To: French Tips

I'm so classy. . . jokes, I constantly fall up stairs. Falling up stairs is not very classy.

Hey everybody!!!

So today I thought I would show you all a quick tutorial on how I do French Tips. I'm definitely not an expert or anything like that and when you scroll down you will see that my technique is really strange but I thought it would be a bit of fun. It doesn't take very long and it's a cute style that you can wear to school even if you have strict uniform policies like at my school. While writing this I realised that fingers are a very unattractive body part to photograph but anyway, I hope you don't find this too strange. Enjoy!

1. Start with clean, cut nails. You can add a base coat to protect your nails and make the style last longer.
2. Stick a reinforcement ring (yes the same ones you use on your school notes, it's weird I know) just below the edge of your nail. The gap should be the same thickness that you want your white tip to be. I find that the sticker creates the perfect rounded shape.
3. Using a white nail polish (I used Maybelline Colour Show in Porcelain Party) paint over the top of your nail that is not covered by the sticker. Wait for one minute so that the surface of the polish is semi-dry.
4. Oh okay, the lighting of this photo decided to be different, sorry about that. Very, very slowly and carefully peel the sticker of the nail. If the edge is a bit smudged or jagged you can neaten it up with a cotton bud dipped in nail polish remover.
5. Add a topcoat, repeat on every nail and your done !

Yay that's the end of my first How To post. I hope it's not too weird, I was thinking of maybe doing some hair tutorials and stuff in the future. We will see, tell me what you think :)
Love you all, 
Alex

Top 5: Things to Pack for a Holiday

Source: Tumblr

Hello dear internet world,
So I'm going on a holiday to Europe in a few days so I thought it would be relevant to come up with a list of my top five things to pack for when you are going away. It can be anything from a big overseas holiday, to a road-trip with friends or an overnight stay with relatives. Enjoy :)

1. Sun Protection 

Everyone loves warm weather and sunny days but getting burnt is not fun. Therefore I am being very responsible and telling you to slip, slop, slap because no one wants to look like a big red tomato. The products in the photo are what I tend to use, I use a specific face sunscreen because my face tends to be quite sensitive and also a lip balm with SPF otherwise my lips will become all burnt, blistery and gross. Wearing sunscreen won't prevent you from getting tanned, you can still achieve a summer glow without running the risk of skin cancer. So yes now that I am finished with sounding like your mum we can move on to number two . .

2. Books 

It's no secret that I absolutely love books and I think that a holiday is the perfect opportunity to catch up on some reading because you are taking the time to relax and take a break from your busy little world. I'm going to be packing these three books and probably a few more as well. We are studying Emma (look how I underline the titles like a good english student) at school and I was actually meant to finish it seven weeks ago but I'm slowly getting there. I'm super excited to read Paper Towns because I've read The Fault in Our Stars (can't wait to see the movie) and Looking for Alaska and really love John Green's style of writing. And finally City of Lost Souls, I'm a big fan of the mortal instruments series and the last book just came out so I'm super excited to see how the series ends.

3. Camera 

I think that a camera is definitely an essential for capturing all those special memories (sorry for the cheesiness). The event doesn't have to be that spectacular, the most ordinary every-day activities can make the best photos which are so good to look back on. Your camera doesn't have to be anything fancy (phone cameras are really good these days) as long as you are able to have a record of the things you see and activities you do.

4. Travel Journal 

Ever since I could write, on every trip that I have ever taken my Mum has nagged me to keep a journal with photos, descriptions of what we did and random things that I collected like serviettes. It always seemed like the biggest chore at the time but I'm so glad that I did it because I love looking back over them now. I would definitely suggest packing a little notebook in which you can quickly jot down exciting things that you see/do.

5. A big bag 

I always, always, always, no matter what, overpack. I also tend to pick up anything and everything, simply going to the shops will result in my bringing home a whole stack of fliers. This is why when I go on holidays I like to take a rather large day bag. This bag was a birthday present and is the perfect size for taking on the plane, to the beach, site seeing and pretty much anything else you can think of.

Congratulations for reaching the end of my first edition of Top 5, I hope it wasn't too long. I think the next one might be top 5 study tips or something like that so stay tuned (haha I have always wanted to say that).

Love Alex :)