Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

I brought this book a few months ago and didn’t around to properly reading it until recently, and I have to say, its one of the best books I’ve read in a while! When I first started reading it I struggled to get into it, but I persevered and I’m so so glad I did.

It clear from the start that there are some underlying problems for Eleanor and theres not much in the way of hints apart from her mum who you get the feeling plays a big role in how Eleanor is as a person. The further into the book you get the more unexpected turns it takes. It really makes you evaluate a lot of things and you feel so many emotions through out the book. With out giving away too many spoilers, you really get the sense of how being a good friend isn’t always being the one to fix things, but just being there for them to cry to when they need. Its a book full of emotions and really helps to show that having a mental illness such as depression isn’t something to be embarrassed about and that talking to someone and taking things at your own pace can really help you regain control of things.

This is a definite recommended read!

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Small NewLook Haul

Today was a bit of a lazy day, so myself and my boyfriend went out to get a Starbucks and then decided to take a wander around some of the shops near by. We went into NewLook because I wanted to look at getting another skirt because I have one that I love and pretty much live in, and since this heatwave looks set to stay, I wanted to kit out with another to give myself a few more options.

There wasn’t a whole lot to choose from and I actually only found one skirt and no shorts which was a bit disappointing, but this one skirt I found will work well with a lot of outfits so its a good starting point. I also picked up a jumper that I liked that I can wear in the evening when it cools off a bit as well as into the autumn/winter time as well.

I also found a mug that looks super cute so I picked it up, it says Just Renewed my Gin Membership on it, which I thought was kinda funny.

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Money Management

Like most twenty-one year olds, I’m amazing at accidentally spending all my money by the end of pay day on things that I most probably didn’t need. I’ve looked at many different ways to try keep track of my money and I just never seem to be able to do it.

When I was in Italy, my boyfriends aunt mentioned her daughter has a spreadsheet that she tracks everything in. So when I got home, I looked for a tutorial on how to make a financial spreadsheet and I found a video from The Financial Diet on YouTube giving a step-by-step guide to making one.

I first set it up on Excel, however I moved it over to Google Docs because it made more sense to then be able to access it on my phone and iPad etc. So far it works amazingly! It calculates all my incomings (my wage varies month to month) and from there it works out how much I can put into my savings. I’ve done it to calculate 20% of my incomings for savings but you can adjust it as you want. You can then put in all of your expenses for the month such as petrol, spending money etc and it will total all of that up for you. The best bit for me is that it deducts your expenses from your incomings and tells you how much money you should have left over after that. This is the best bit for me because then I know what to expect in my bank at the end of the month and hopefully won’t go under.

So far this has been working really well for me and hopefully will keep me in line. I’m hoping to tick some goals off my list next year and need to start saving now to do it!

 

Italy Adventures

Italy is one of my favourite countries. Especially the town of Chiavenna, I visit there a lot both in the summer to swim in their waterfalls and in the winter to go snowboarding. So this year when my boyfriend and I wanted a cheapish holiday away (he has relatives out there who lend us a house to stay in) we booked tickets there.

The plan for the whole week was to do the bare minimum. It’s very hot there so lots of our plans were based around ice-cream and water. There are two waterfalls right near where we stay and we only made it to one as the other required a car we didn’t have. We walked to the waterfall and swam in the ice-melt water, sunbathed and took a nice walk back via a cooler (in both senses) cycle path that ran beside the river. We even got the train out to a nearby lake (near lake Como) and sunbathed there for a day.

One of my favourite things about Italy is hiking, and I love to go for walks with my boyfriends aunt and her dog, Blink. We went for some shorter walks just because of how the times worked, but we went up to their mountain house (its a half hour drive up the mountain they live on) and took Blink for a much nicer woodland hike which she loved.

Travelling is something I’ve never been able to do much before but now I’m able to, I’m hooked. After our city break to Copenhagen last December, we’ve also booked to go to Paris this December, but we’re hoping to drive rather than fly, so look out for that post!!

L’Oreal Paris Face Masks

My skin has always been an issue for me. As a teenager it was always spotty and a nightmare to get under control. As an adult the spots are less but the under-skin spots and blackheads are un-moveable. I’ve tried everything from blackhead strips, daily exfoliating and deep pore cleansers and none have worked for me.

I came across the L’Oreal facemasks on Amazon when I was ordering some sheet face masks and I thought I’d give them a go, they’d gotten really good reviews and they weren’t massively expensive. I brought two, the 3 Pure Clays and Charcoal Detox Mask and the Smooth Sugar Clear Kiwi Face and Lip Scrub.

Before using the face mask I took off my make up with a the Simple Face Wash, patted my face dry and then applied the detox mask with a foundation brush. It only took about five/ten minutes to dry and it also didn’t dry making my face feel tight. I rinsed it off with warm water and then used the Sugar Scrub.

The detox mask is really good and I strongly recommend it, a little goes a long way with this too so I can see it lasting a long time, even if I use it twice a week I think this pot will last me a couple of months. It doesn’t feel harsh on the skin which considering I have fairly sensitive skin, is a good thing.
Processed with VSCO with c1 presetThe Sugar Scrub however I found harsher on the skin. I’m not sure if maybe I was being particularly heavy handed or not but it felt rather rough on the skin. It did work wonders on my black heads though and got rid of a fair few. I finished it off with a black head strip to grab hold of any last little black heads. I’m super happy with the results from these and their now firmly put in my weekly skin care routine.