Revision

Hello there!
It's that time of the year again, when all the students are knuckling down and trying to learn the final parts of their syllabus and, hopefully, before their exam date itself!  
I know there are lot of people in the same position as me, wondering how exactly they will manage to re-learn all their topics that they have learnt this academic year.  But the thing is, when it comes down to it, doing a few hours of work each night for a month or two is by far the better option than just hoping that the examiners will put exactly what you want to see in that exam in the paper!  When you put it into perspective, the number of hours is so much of a little fraction of how much time you'll have to spend in a job you don't love because you weren't able to do as well as you know you could have achieved.  I really think that education is key to everyone in our society, as without it we would (to put it politely!) be stuck in a rut! When you are young you have so many opportunities, and, well I can't make assumptions, but the amount of procrastinating I do is absolutely ridiculous, but I would hate to throw the opportunities I have away.   

There are so many different ways to revise, but just in case you might be stuck for a few ideas, I thought I would make a little list:

• Mind maps- these are one of the best ways to remember different points, whether it be for an essay subject or a subject with lots of topics which all slot together to create one massive subject!
• Writing pretty notes- this year I brought myself lots of notebooks which I can decorate with as many doodles as I wish, I then brought myself some lovely coloured pens and I am currently writing out all my notes, which I will then test my self on.
• White boards: I haven't tried this myself, but I think I'm going to order myself a whiteboard and pens, as this is what my friend does, and she writes up her notes, then rubs it out, and re-writes them as a bit of a memory game! (see? revision can be fun!... sort of...)
• Talk it through- for those who are better at learning orally, sometimes it helps me to just talk what I have learnt through to a friend or member of my family, and somehow your understanding of it just grows! This could also work  the other way round, and you could ask someone to read through your notes.
• Watching videos- for those of you who enjoy procrastinating, but without the guilt! Sometimes I watch TED talks, or search a particular topic on YouTube and having someone else explain it or give their opinion on something, which can be invaluable to some subjects!! Although BEWARE!!! Make sure you DO NOT end up watching other videos which are completely irrelevant, like dogs which can sing, THESE WILL NOT, I repeat NOT, BE HELPFUL!!!

I hope that these might have ever so slightly helped you?

What do you find is the best way for you to revise?

Kate Heidi x

A Trip to the Land of the Scots

This week I took a short trip to Scotland with my family.  We had a wonderful time, and it was really lovely to spend quality time, in a place where phone signal is unheard of, and to explore somewhere brand new to me and my sister. 

We were fortunate enough to stay in a beautiful hotel the Trossachs.  It was the most gorgeous hotel I've stayed in.  With lovely furnishings with tartan pieces, beautiful views (we were especially pleased with our beautiful view of the mountains, which, due to it being so cold, were topped with snow!) not to mention the beautiful pool, sauna, steam room and billiard room!

A picture of the hotel we stayed in, it never quite got this sunny though,
beautiful none the less!!

On one of the days we nipped into Edinburgh, which is somewhere where I have never visited before.  And there it was absolutely beautiful.  We went up to the castle, and then had a little adventure around the city.  It was lovely because it was so different to places such as London, and everyone in all of the shops were so kind and lovely.  And of course we had a bit of retail therapy too!

The lovely view from the castle of the water and the mountains in the background

When we got back we had a lovely candle lit fish and chips, and I tried some of the traditional haggis (and I'm proud to say, I'm a bit of a fan!!).  We later (after a game of snooker with Dad) lay in front of the telly, and watched the entire coverage of the Brits!  I am a bit of a sucker for awards shows like that, and somehow get a bit patriotic and emotional all at once! I love having a look at all of the outfits, and ALSO I always like listening to the radio 1 presenters getting all excited on the radio about the evening ahead, which they all get so excited for!  I am a massive fan of music, but unfortunately I am lacking in the talent department when it comes to musical instruments and all of that jazz, but I can respect all of these artists so much! And also all of the people that go into putting an album out!  I remember last year I was on the train in London the day after, and there was a girl talking to her friend about waitressing for all of these famous people, and saying how it was all so precisely thought out, I must have been impressed, because I've remembered it for over a year!!

One of the arches at the castle

Anyway Kate, keep on track!! ...

I was also fortunate enough to have a beautiful boat trip on one of the Lochs, the views were stunning, and at one time we even got a rare sneak peak at the sun!  I was lucky enough to be let loose with steering the boat, with instruction to 'keep off the grass', and I musn't have done too bad a job, because by the end, he'd asked whether I'd done it before!  Now, that may have been sarcastic, but I'd like to say it wasn't!!

The beautiful view of the snow-topped mountains and loch from the hotel

It was fantastic to spend some quality time with my family, and because had so much to do, there are tonnes of memories which we were able to make, which I'm sure it will last!!

I hope you've all had a lovely past week!!

Heidi Kate x

Festivals this Summer

Hello there!

I haven't been able to blog for a couple of weeks (sorry!) but I have tonnes to catch you up on!

It's that time of year, when Christmas seems AGES ago, and summer just can't come quick enough, people are planning their spring/summer wardrobes, their holidays and quite a few just trying to get through the exam period (if that includes you, good luck, good luck, good luck!).  It's the time of year when people are starting to get excited for the summer ahead, and are getting fed up of the weather, especially as here in the UK it hasn't snowed... instead caused some disasters flood-wise, and albeit no where near as serious... some seriously bad hair days! Why is it that the frizz decides this is a good time to come out??

In the UK there are many festivals which are getting lots of young people excited for the summer, such as Wireless, Reading and Leeds and the Isle of Wight (the list continues), and recently, in order to build up the suspense further and further, there have been a few line-up reveals.   Which I must admit, have excited me almost too much!

This year, so far, I have planned to go to the Reading festival.  Which for those of you who aren't quite sure what it entails, it is a magnificent weekend full to the brim of music from tonnes of different genres, from rap from the likes of Eminem, to Indie Rock from Biffy to Imagine Dragons (who,now, I don't want to brag, but I was RIGHT AT THE FRONT FOR!!).  The festival is also held in Leeds, also in the UK, and the bands play at both festivals, but on different days, so for example one band could be the headline on the Friday in Leeds, but on the Sunday at Reading.  There are thousands of people who turn up with camping gear in hand on the Thursday, or Early Bird on the Wednesday if you're lucky, and everyone's there to enjoy themselves and for a fantastic weekend jam-packed with memories.  Sell it to you yet?

So I thought I would give you a little R+L online mix-tape from the line up of last year, and the announcements of this year.

So here goes!

R+L 2013

Foals
Imagine Dragons
The Lumineers
Fall Out Boy
Bastille
Peace
Haim
Disclosure
FIDLAR
Sub focus
Amber Run- this is a local band, who unfortunately I didn't get to see, but I've heard they're fantastic live!!

R+L 2014

Line up 2014`

The 1975

Wilkinson

You Me at Six

Blink 182

Arctic Monkeys

Courteeners

Disclosure

Jake Bugg

Enjoy!!

Are you going to any festivals this year? Let me know in the comments!

Kate Heidi x

Liebster Award!

Hiya! I've just found out that I have been nominated for the Liebster Award by Emily, a fantastic new blogger who has some lovely blog posts which I have enjoyed reading!
For those of you who haven't yet heard of the Liebster Award, it is basically a lovely scheme where new upcoming bloggers award other upcoming bloggers.  I think it's a lovely way of showing people that you care and most importantly enjoy their content, and it's great encouragement to keep going!

So... The rules !
1. You must link the persons blog who nominated you for the award.
2. You must answer the 11 questions given by the person who nominated you.
3. You then pick an additional 11 people to nominate with UNDER 200 blog followers.
4. You cannot nominate the blogger who nominated you.
5. You must inform the nominees they have been nominated.

The questions which Emily asked me were as follows: 

What was your reason to start blogging?

The reason why I decided to start blogging was because I really wanted to try something new.  I have previously enjoyed watching YouTube videos, and I then started to get more interested in reading other people's blogs, and before I knew it I had made myself an account, and I haven't looked back!
What is your favourite item in your wardrobe?  
At the moment I really love my black leather jacket from Zara, I can wear it with almost any outfit, and it is easy to just throw on with a nice scarf if I'm leaving the house quickly.

Who is your biggest inspiration? 
 My biggest inspiration are probably all of my friends, I admire them all in different ways so much, and I always aspire to be able to react to things in similar ways to them, or to be able to have a talent like they do, or to have a more courageous spirit like them.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
  I would like to see myself out of university, about to start my career (who knows what in!) with a lot of experiences behind me, and with a positive outlook on life.
What is one product you can't live without?
I love to have a bit of Elizabeth Arden bronzer on me, because it is always able to brighten me up, even if I'm not feeling up to it!
What are you most passionate about?
 I'm passionate about trying new things as often as I can, and trying to say Yes! to as many things as I can.
If you were stranded on a desert island, name 3 people you would choose to be with you (fictional or not)? 
I would definitely take Bear Grylls, because I would definitely be able to survive, Jack Whitehall because I think you need a bit of humour when you're in a tricky situation, and my best friend, so we could have a laugh about it when we got back!
Who is your celeb crush?
I've got a bit of a thing about One Direction, so I'd either have to say Niall or Harry, I don't think I'm alone here!
Nail Varnish or Lipstick? 
Nail Varnish all the way! I'm quite lucky because I have naturally long strong nails, and I love having them painted in a nice colour on a pamper day!
Favourite band/artist? (I love knowing this from people!)  
I am way too much of a fan of 1D, and am VERY excited to see them later this year, but also I loved going to Reading Festival last year, and I enjoyed seeing bands like Imagine Dragons, Biffy, Haim and Fidlar, who are all completely different!!
What was your biggest new years resolution? 
To carry on with this blog, and hopefully people will enjoy it!

The blogs who I have decided to nominate are:

Rachna 

Aveen  

Kate

Hannah 

Native feathers 

Gwen and Elena

 Emily

 Soph

 Stephanie

Emily

Carly 

The questions I have for you are:

1. What was your reason to start blogging?
2. Where is your favourite place to be?
3. What's your biggest achievement?
4. What would you have liked to have achieved in 20 years?
5. What is one product you can't live without?
6. What topics are you most passionate about?
7. If you were stranded on a desert island, name 3 people you would choose to be with you (fictional or not)?
8. Who is your celeb crush?
9. Shoes or Handbags?
10. Favourite band/artist?
11. What are you most excited for in 2014?

Kate Heidi x

I had tonnes of fun doing this award, and thanks again to Emily for awarding me with this, it's really lovely to know that there are real people out there reading my blog! Good luck to the girls I have awarded too!

Stress

Well hello there! I hope you've had a wonderful week so far! Unfortunately at the start of the week, it was the Monday that we all (well at least in England) had been dreading for the past 2 weeks!  It was the day when the entire country went back to work/college/school, well that is unless your dates are different, or you don't work on Mondays, or you had an inset day... but that's besides the point!!

So, I'm not sure about you, but I ALWAYS stress about going back! I'm always worried about whether I have done enough work over the holidays, have I forgotten everything, was there something I was supposed to prepare, and (most importantly) what am I going to wear??

In order to relieve myself from this stress (which by the way can have long term effects on your body, so I'm allowed to have a pamper!) I decided to treat myself to a luxurious 'me time'.  

Firstly I had a lovely bath, scented candles and all, and used some of my Christmas presents from my family, and had a good old soak!

I used the Joules body wash, body lotion, and body scrub (which by the way is a FANTASTIC exfoliator!), the Lush body conditioner. 

I also used a soap from Bubbles at Home which is a lovely shop in Bruges, where my sister and mum also brought some of the famous scented soaps.  I have also previously brought a dead sea mud natural soap, which really helps my skin.  It is also a really gorgeous shop with helpful staff (if you just happen to be popping into Belgium!) The staff there told me about their website, which offers a wide range of products, and I believe it does shipping too? I promise I've not been asked to talk about any of this!!!

I find that baths are able to unstress me, as I have a lovely bit of 'me time' which I think is so important in the modern day lifestyle, as it is so easy to stress all the time!  Stress can have some damaging effects on people, and nowadays people are constantly on the go, and find it almost impossible to find the work-life balance, which is made even harder with modern day communication devices, such as mobile phones and laptops, which, as much as I love them, can be a real pain sometimes!  Even just half an hour in the bath every so often instead of a quick shower before you nip out can have real positive impacts on you.  

I hope that this might give you an idea on how you can put some time away for yourself, and hopefully help you to find your feet at some point when the pressure is mounting up!

Kate Heidi x

New Year's Eve OOTD

Happy New Year!

It's about this sort of time when we think back to all of things we have done throughout the year, the good, the bad, and the truly embarrassing!!

I'm sure most of you will have a new years resolution which you have promised yourself to keep throughout the year, and I hope there are a few of you who are like me, and sometimes... well the resolution.. it kind of goes AWOL!  I have tried all the usual- do more exercise, eat more healthily (and no- just because it has a fruit flavour, it doesn't count as one of your 5-a-day!!) etc.  But I never tend to keep them!

... BUT this year, it will be different! As I have now started this blog, my new year's resolution is to keep this running, and upload INTERESTING (I know that's based on your opinion!!) content regularly!

So, considering in some countries it is already new year, here is my first post of the year!

 Here is my New Year's outfit!

Here I am wearing a short dress from sheinside.com (which has a gorgeous collar- with a lace effect embroidery, and white cuffs on the short sleeves) , a gold pendent (lent from my sister), black tights (from Boots) and heeled boots from River island, which has gold embellishments on to pair with the pendent.  I also have a ring from Pandora on, in the month of July.

In order to do my hair- I washed with Tresemme Moisture Rich shampoo and conditioner, and dried roughly and added a few squirts (technical term I'm sure!) of Aussie leave-in Conditioner. 

I hope you have a splendid night! And have a wonderful New Year!

Kate Heidi x

Christmas Festivities!

Well what a merry Christmas it has been!
I hope you have all enjoyed yourselves thoroughly!

I reckon my favourite part of Christmas is the lead up.  I look forward to December the 1st SO MUCH so that I'm able to put all of my Xmas playlists on my phone (obviously Buble's a must!!), and all of the streets get cheerier as all the lights are being put up, and you finally realise that that corner shop wasn't quite as vulgar looking as you once thought, now it has florescent lights on! One of the most exciting parts is decorating the tree (of course!) with all of the baubles you own in the house, colour coding or not! Unfortunately, In my household we had a bit of a mishap with the decorations... They went missing! So we have had to make-do with the only ones we could find, and all things considered, I think we did quite well!

Also leading up to Christmas time, writing your Christmas cards is a MUST! Although handing them out... that can be the tricky bit! I'm afraid all of my friends may have to wait until the new year!

I've got to admit, I'm a bit of a shopaholic when it comes to buying presents for my family and friends!  I can't quite decide whether it's due to the sheer enjoyment of going to the shops, with all the shops' gorgeous decorations, and front windows (which must have taken hours to construct!), and all the people who are just running around like headless-chickens all trying to buy for their picky friends or trendy sisters who are almost impossible to buy for (!), or is it the wrapping of the gifts? This year I really enjoyed hiding in my bedroom with the sellotape, scissors and wrapping paper at the ready! Although I must admit, a few items were slightly shamefully wrapped!; or is it the look on people's faces when they open your presents? The pure delight when they open something which you knew they would love, and their reaction is exactly what they were hoping for.  I'm not entirely sure what it is that does it for me, but I think it's a bit of a mixture!

One of the major things I love about Christmas is how it brings the family together.  I was able to see almost all of my family this year, whether it be in person, or on skype to them in the States!  Seeing everyone come together was truly lovely for me this year, and I hope you had the same!

Finally, everyone's favourite day of the lead up to Christmas... CHRISTMAS EVE!  It's one of the most exciting days there is! All of the presents are under the tree, you've opened your last advent calender treat and finally it's time for Santa to come!  All of the TV is very festive and everyone is huddled around 'The Holiday' and gawking at Jude Law!  And just before you go to bed you have to leave a mince pie and some carrots for Santa and Rudolf to nibble whilst you're asleep, although getting to sleep is the problem... It's impossible!! I don't know about you, but I just can't do it! I'm left lying there, thinking about how wonderful the lead up is, and how exciting it will be tomorrow, and how awful I will feel when I'm lying horizontal after filling up on Christmas Lunch! But also how fantastic it will be to see my family all together, and celebrating!

I hope you've had a fantastic Christmas time, what did you get up to? Any favourite gifts? And I hope that you are excited for the New Year (especially the party!)!

Kate Heidi x