The Most Autumnal Weekend

Autumn is definitely my favourite season. I love the warm orange colours, the knitted jumpers, the boots and the makeup. I love the crisp cold mornings but the sky is still blue and the sun is shining.

I wanted to celebrate how much I'm loving October and excited for Halloween with an autumn-themed weekend. Going to the cinema or going bowling is something I do often so I looked for something else to do.

On Saturday we ventured out to Scaddows farm shop for a spot of pumpkin picking. I've never been pumpkin picking before but photos I'd seen were like Instagram dreams so I dragged my friends out for the afternoon. I can confirm that it was an Instagram dream. There were tiny baby pumpkins to the biggest pumpkins I'd ever seen.

I thought when we came to pay it was going to cost us a fortune but it was so reasonably priced, I want to go pumpkin picking every year. It made it feel like it was properly autumn, it brought me so much joy. I can't wait to try picking some strawberries there in the summer.

If you're up for something a little more scary and a little less cutesie, my friends and I loved the idea of an escape room coming up to Halloween as something different to do (sorry pics weren't allowed). We decided to go for the Saw themed one - at half-past 10 at night for maximum scariness, obviously. I was pretty chuffed with myself for coming up with this idea until we got there and my stomach was doing somersaults. I was right to be scared, we were blindfolded before we entered the room and then handcuffed to the floor.

It was completely appropriate for Halloween and everyone had such a buzz afterwards. The tasks were completely mind-boggling but I loved how they made your brain work differently and our way of thinking definitely improved as we continued to solve more. It's an awesome idea to do with a group of friends, I would definitely do more, we want to do the Jack the Ripper one next!

How to enjoy being single

Girls, this one is for you. If you're newly single and struggling with it, I've got a few tips.


Get out of bed. I know you don't want to but you will feel so much better if you do. Put on underwear that you feel good in and do your makeup. Do it for you, because you want to look good and feel confident. Also, go shopping and buy yourself new matching underwear and show some skin when you go out, you will feel sassy.

Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT text your ex. It doesn't matter how much you want to or what the outcome is, it will make you feel worse. Some people's breakups end on good terms and they say they wanna be friends but that is so hard and I'm sorry, but it is very unlikely that will happen. Your ex is likely to come out of your relationship feeling differently to how you do. You might be able to see them after a fair bit of time has gone past and you have other friends there too but other than that, I would not recommend it.

You have no commitments now, no one that you have to go and see taking up loads of your time so go and spend time with all your friends. Have girly film nights, go for meals, go out clubbing, just enjoy yourself, you don't need a man to do that! And learn to enjoy your own company, I love time to myself to pamper myself or just chill out. I think you can forget to do that when you've committed yourself to another person but it's important. You do not need a man to complete you, you are enough on your own. If you feel lonely at night time or you ever just want a cuddle, one of your girls will be there, I know that mine are and it's soooo much better.

Five Things You Need In Your Student Kitchen

This blog post is not about boring kitchen essentials like a baking tray, a saucepan and a wooden spoon. This is about things in your kitchen that will bring you joy and encourage you to cook because you want to use them (and will make great Instagram photos!!) If you're interested in being excited to use the things in your kitchen cupboards at uni instead of having 'cup a soup', this blog post is for you!! <3

1. A cute mug!
If you buy yourself a mug that with a cool design that you really love, you'll want to drink tea or coffee out of it all day. If you don't drink hot drinks then grab yourself an adorable mason jar glass that you can drink water, squash, juice or whatever you like out of. if you're like me, you'll buy both. I'm obsessed with buying things for my room and kitchen that make me happy. You'll never be too lazy to get a drink and you'll keep yourself super hydrated.

 Not on the High Street glass mason jar with straw £8

Urban Outfitters mug £6.30























2. Chopping board
A white chopping board is so boring! It's definitely not asking you to use it to chop up vegetables and make a delicious home cooked meal. If you get a chopping board that looks really nice you can leave it on the work surface in your kitchen when it's clean and it will look so good. You'll see it every time you go into the kitchen and you'll want to use it.


The Rustic Dish heart shaped chopping board £12.99

similar >>> Wilko heart shaped chopping board £4

Not on the High Street marble chopping board £28

















3. Soup bowl
I was gifted a soup bowl before I came to university. It encourages me to make my own soup but I also love to eat Heinz tomato soup out of it too. In the autumn and winter it's so lovely to have one of these, it's really warming. And because it's made for soup, you can fit a full soup portion in and you're not trying to fit it in a mug and spilling it everywhere and waiting for it to cool until you can just drink it.

Lakeland blue soup mug £6.99


















4. Salt and pepper shakers
I've found that not many people in university halls have salt and pepper shakers. They tend to just keep them in the packaging they came in but that's an absolute nightmare because you can't control how much comes out and they often end up with a very salty dinner. I have salt and pepper shakers that I keep on the side because I always need them when I'm cooking and they're so handy to reach and they look super cute on the side (next to my chopping board and olive oil) so I don't mind.

John Lewis watering can salt and pepper shaker set £30

Etsy mason jar salt and pepper shakers £5.27











5. Pop tarts!
I buy my pop tarts from an American candy shop because they're soooo much nicer than the ones in the supermarket. They have loads of different flavours like cookie dough, s'mores, birthday cake and plenty of others. All students need pop tarts in their cupboard because we all know that they don't get up early enough for a proper breakfast, they're so quick and delicious on your way to a lecture or the perfect snack to get you through to lunch when you've woken up late and a proper breakfast is going to be too much and through your eating off for the whole day.

The American Candy Store Kellogg's S'Mores Pop Tarts £3.30

Why I love my Fitbit

As one of my Christmas presents last year, I received a Fitbit, and so did a lot of people I know. And if they didn't, they've got one now. If you're still in the small fraction of people who don't own a Fitbit, or you do have a Fitbit and you just want to read about my experience, here's why I fell in love with my Fitbit.

I have the Fitbit Charge HR which has in fact been replaced with the Fitbit Charge 2. When I went back to uni after Christmas, I realised that I was doing hardly any steps at all because I caught the free bus to uni, and the town centre is only a 5 minute walk away. Without my Fitbit, I don't even think I would have realised how little exercise I was doing and seeing this motivated me to do so much more. I started walking to and from uni and the days that I wasn't at uni, I'd go for a walk because I actually enjoy walking and I only got the bus because it was free and convenient. Walking makes me feel like I'm ready to take on the day and I feel so productive having already gone for a walk before getting on with work. I think that it is really worth taking the time out to walk somewhere because it feels so good to get some fresh air and doing exercise also makes me feel accomplished. After I started walking more, I also noticed a really positive difference in my body.

If you enjoy walking you can definitely walk without a Fitbit but I find it really helpful as it shows you how many steps, kilometres and flights of stairs you've done plus your heart rate and calories burned. I also love that if I do extra walking, the Fitbit app says that I can eat more food!!! The Fitbit app brings out the competitive side of me as it tells me how many steps all my friends with a Fitbit have done and I can challenge them which is a super fun way to motivate yourself to do more exercise. Fitbit also automatically recognises other types of exercise such as running and yoga if they take your fancy rather than walking.

Fitbit has great customer service and will replace your Fitbit if you have any problems with it at all. They have also said that they will continue to fix any issues with the Fitbit Charge HR even though they do not sell that model anymore. There are so many to choose from, if you don't have a Fitbit yet, I would definitely recommend it.

www.fitbit.com

Let's be productive

The first thing I like to do when I get out of bed in the morning is make my bed. You've only just woken up and you've already done something, it feels great! When I make my bed I feel so happy because my room looks so much cleaner. Once you've made your bed you won't get back in it and have a lazy day because you won't want to mess it up. It will instantly motivate you to have a productive day.

After that, I think it's necessary to tidy up. I can't focus and be productive in a messy room, I'll just be distracted for the whole day. It might take 10 or 15 minutes to tidy up but you'll be much more productive working in a clean environment.

When I need to be productive, I always shower before I go into the kitchen and make myself breakfast. If I don't shower first, I end up watching youtube videos whilst eating my breakfast and half my day is gone before I know it. If I've already showered, I'm ready to get on with the rest of my day and do some work.
Soap and Glory Smoothie Star Breakfast Scrub £8

ALWAYS write a to-do list!!! I used to think that this was so unnecessary until I started doing it. Never write too much on your to-do list because you'll just feel overwhelmed and probably won't do any of it and then you'll feel really crappy about it. Just write down a few things that you would like to do today and can realistically get done before dinner time. You'll be motivated to do all of your tasks so that you can tick them off the list and you'll feel so good about it once you have.
Zoella Stationery Book £10

Lastly, I think it's important to plan your meals for the week every Sunday. If you do this, you'll get much more work done during the day because you won't be thinking about what you can eat for tea because you haven't prepared for it. When I don't plan my meals, I don't eat anything healthy because I'm too hungry to start defrosting something at dinner time so I just have a ready meal or super noodles. It's so much better to have a meal plan and get everything ready the night before.
Paperchase Raindrops Magnetic Meal Planner £8

Decorating your uni room on a budget

When I knew that I was going to uni, I couldn't wait to move into my student accommodation and start personalising my room. But when I got here and looked into an empty white room apart from basic plain furniture and an ugly black pin board, this room needed a pick me up. But we all know that students are poor and can't afford to splash out on the home decor (or would rather spend their money on alcohol). So here's a few ideas on decorating your uni room on a budget!

1. Pictures
Let's start with the pin board. Print off some of your favourite photos, grab some board pins and voilà! I like to use the app FreePrints because you get 45 free prints a month, you just have to pay for them to be delivered. You can also get your photos printed instantly in somewhere like Boots and it'll cost you about 75p per print. I've also got a scratch map on my pin board. I bought this almost a year ago from Amazon for about £8 but you can buy them from so many different places. They vary in price so it depends how much you're willing to spend and the
design that you like. Don't forget that you can
get student discount in so many shops with
Unidays or an NUS card!
Amazon scratch map (£7.40)
Urban Outfitters scratch map (£25)

2. Cushions and a throw
Everything on my bed is from Primark!!! I don't think that you can ever go wrong with white bed sheets, they look so crisp and clean and you can still make your bed your style by adding a few cushions and a throw that you love. You can swap cushions over if decide that you want a different vibe or rearrange them and it'll be much more cost effective than a new set of patterned bedding which you might find doesn't go with the rest of your room. White goes with everything! Primark have a range of cushions, throws and bedding to choose from and they're so cheap! I also love cushions from Next and, T K Maxx do some great quality ones cheap than you would get them elsewhere. A throw is also a great idea because it can double up as a blanket!

3. Cacti
Having some sort of plant in your room is so uplifting, I think it's having that bit of green, it looks so vibrant. I have cacti because they're so easy to keep alive, I haven't touched them at all and they're looking great! You can buy a small cactus from any garden centre for a just few pounds so it's definitely worth it. My boyfriend also loves having a cactus in his room so I think they're something that everyone can love.

4. A jewellery dish
I love the jewellery dish I have on the shelf in my room. It's great to see my choice of rings and earrings in front of me but it doesn't look messy, it has a more shabby chic kind of look. Jewellery dishes are so inexpensive too, this particular one was from Next last year but the two linked below are quite similar.
Asos jewellery dish (£6.50)
Lisa Angel jewellery dish (£5)

5. Tealight holders
I'm not allowed to burn candles in my halls at uni so these don't actually have tealight candles in. I had a big space on my shelf and I needed something to put there, these are so pretty and they look really nice just as decor in a set of 3. This set was from New Look but is no longer available but I've linked some similar ones.
Dunelm tealight holders (£5.50)
Very tealight holders (£9.99)
Matalan tealight holders (£8)

 6. Fairy lights
How could I write this without mentioning fairy lights? I don't know what I would do without my fairy lights, they give the perfect lighting for when I'm just chilling in bed watching Friends before I go to sleep. They make my room so cosy and it feels so homely and warm. But they're pretty to put on in the day time too and take cute Instagram photos with them in the background, I just love them! They're so inexpensive, mine are from Primark and I have a big light up letter 'S' from Primark too. You can buy warm or cool toned lights, whichever you prefer and battery powered or plug in lights, go crazy!
Not On The High Street letter light (£12.75)
Matalan letter light (£15)
Lights4fun fairy lights (£4.99)
Lights4fun fairy lights (£7.99)