SUMMER PLAYLIST PART 1

My ridiculously long uni summer holiday has certainly been good for one thing: my playlist game is top level. I've been working on a SUMMER PLAYLIST the past few days and thought I'd share some of my favourites right now! 

Panic! at the Disco feat. Lolo - Miss Jackson

Cue endless chanting of "Miss Jackson, Miss Jackson, Miss Jackson, are you naaaastyyyy." One of my favourite tween bands is back with a brand new single this summer, and so far it's been on repeat all day. Decapitating pretty girls, car-park dancing and a big-ass sword...if that's your thing.

Best Coast - When I'm With You 

Having a song you don't know properly stuck in your head is so frustrating. Especially when it's one of those perfect songs like this one. I don't even know how I found this song but its top of my summer playlist and is the best driving-in-the-sunshine-good-summer-vibes song you'll find. And the video has Ronald McDonald walking on a beach, if that doesn't float your boat I don't know what will. 

Jay Z feat. Justin Timberlake - Holy Grail 

Post Wireless festival blues are running strong. Opening their set on Sunday night with this killer album opener gave me total body goosebumps. Best. performance. ever. Obviously it's going to be top of the playlists for a while now, as well as the rest of this utterly perfect album. 

 

The Maine - Like We Did (Windows Down)

Adding to the perfect-summer-vibe songs, Like We Did (Windows Down) from The Maine's third album Pioneer is an easy breezy summer essential. Reminiscing of "being young" while dressed up as wrinkly old men, The Maine provides a song perfect for road trips, beach days and singing along with all your friends. 

Let me know what songs you guys have in your summer playlists! xo

The Forever Alone Diaries: Valentine's Day Edition!

Hello. It's that time of year again. And yes, you're single. 

Valentine's Day turns your average lovely, sweet, ordinary girl into three types of girls, I have found:

1. The crazy girlfriend - big on V. Day - overly mushy Facebook statuses and Instagram pictures of what her PERFECT boyfriend treated her to. Generally annoying, but even worse on February 14th.

2. The ANNOYING AS FUCK single girl - everyone knows this girl. She is SO DESPERATELY sad about being single on this dreaded day and will let everybody know this on every social media platform possible. Yes. That girl.
3. The girl not in a relationship who doesn't become a psycho/doesn't realllllly care that much about it all. (I'm putting myself here, not bias of course.)
(There is of course the lovely average girl in a relationship who doesn't get affected by all this Valentine's Day crap, but she is too normal and lovely to write about here, so sorry if you're that girl!)

Last Valentine's Day or as I have heard it described 'the worst day ever' - see girl number two - three girlfriends and I decided to spend the evening on a double-date. A fun dinner with the girls, with lots of wine in a restaurant overlooking the marina. Sounds like the perfect night, right? 

So the four of us were all dressed up beautifully, of course, and were off to celebrate what would be my first real Valentines day. After I'm labelling myself as girl number three, V-Day has never really meant anything to me, the odd card from my parents when I was little and that's about it. Not very romantic at all. 

Annnnnyway, back to the dinner. In general, the evening was perfect. I had fun, I felt and thought that I looked good - that sums up a good night right? Except, everyone else in that restaurant around us seemed to have a problem with the four single girls giggling away over some rosé. The restaurant chose not to decorate our table with candles etc like the other tables. The walk to our table was possibly one of the most awkward of my life. Every set of eyes, from pitying women to confused men - what were we, four single girls, doing out in a restaurant, couples territory, on Valentines Day? No wonder single girls go crazy when they're without partners on February 14th, we're pretty much conditioned to either be in a relationship or be miserable that we're not. 

This Valentine's Day, I'm learning my lesson not to flaunt my fabulous single fun 

and keeping it low-key with a girlfriend, a new dress I treated myself to and some drinks. 

What are your plans for the most romantic day of the year? *voms*

Winchester Winter Fun!

Being stuck doing the same old thing in the same old city can quickly get boring. From the gym to uni to my friends houses, I'm pretty much bored of Southampton already - and my term hasn't even officially started. 

So to cure our eternal boredom, my housemate and I decided to take a day trip to Winchester (being only 15 minutes from Southampton on the the train) for some sightseeing and shopping! 

Winchester is SUCH a beautiful city, from the Cathedral to the quaint looking High Street - I completely fell in love with the vibe of the city and found my new favourite shop! Yes I just used the word vibe. 

On to my new favourite shop, The Hambledon. We spotted it just off the High Street with a "Pugs not Drugs" mug in the window, and I was completely sold. I ended up buying that mug (because ANYTHING with a pug on it is something I NEED) as well as a style book I can't wait to read. They also have some lovely quirky home stuff, like their prints (which I also fell in love with), Paul & Joe make-up and so many other amazing things I could probably go on forever! Check them out at www.thehambledon.co.uk if you're interested, they are super friendly and have the nicest looking store! (As you can see from the pictures below.)

Winchester Cathedral had to be visited, as well as Jane Austen's house and the Castle nearby. My housemate and I also went for a lovely lunch at the Slug & Lettuce, where I had my first fizzy drink in a week (because I'm a complete fizzy drink addict, this is a real achievement for me!)

Although it was completely freezing as I'm getting ready for the snow to hit, I loved walking around Winchester for the day and will definitely be going back when it's a bit warmer for a picnic near the Cathedral and summer shopping! 

My chronically single Christmas, and why it'll be amazing.

My name is Laura and I am a chronically single girl.

Pheeeewww. It felt good to get that out of the way. 

Do you know what is possibly seen as the worst part of it though? Being single around Christmas. 

However, here is my list of reasons as to why being single around Christmas doesn't have to be a horrible experience involving hideous Christmas jumpers, endless crying and generally being that single girl but that the festive period is the best time of year to be single. Honestly, it is. Bear with me.

Reason number 1: So. Much. Cheaper. You don't have to buy your partner any presents. Or their mums. Or worry about how much is appropriate to spend on them. To make it even better, I spent the money I may have used if I had a boyfriend on myself and bought a fur stole and some cool band shirts. Surely this is a win-win situation?

Reason number 2: Guilt free holiday time. That's right, you CAN spend all Christmas Day in your pyjamas with your family (not his, never his) not really doing anything at all and that be it. Then party New Year's Eve up with your best friends and some random New Years Kiss and not feel guilty or be stuck being the other half to a boring "romantic night in" couple. I think I know where I'd rather be this New Years, and it doesn't involve a sofa but does involve some drunk midnight kisses and fun with my friends thank you very much. 

Reason number 3: No stupid drama about the rubbish present your other half is bound to get you. "Oh wow, a lovely pink Parker pen with my name on it? How sweet..." Fan-fucking-tastic. Instead of being down about your relationship status, buy yourself something you actually want, or spend some money on drinks with the girls and actually enjoy yourself rather than having to fake loving whatever awful present your man could have thought up. Trust me, it feels so much better. 

Reason number 4: Office party snogs. Okay I don't have direct experience of this, but office Christmas parties are made to get completely silly on cheap mulled wine and have a cheeky kiss with that guy from work. 1. You can blame it on the mulled wine. 2. You can also blame it on the mistletoe. 3. Any reason to drunkenly kiss a lovely guy from work is completely okay in my book. Embrace being single, and that glass of mulled wine. 

Reason number 5: You don't have the worry about getting an awful present/getting dumped/having an awkward Christmas dinner with his family. You know why? Because nobody wants to spend Christmas with a box of mansize tissues and a face like a wet seal has repeatedly slapped it (this is my crying face, with some added running mascara). Spend it how you want to instead, without having to worry about your other half, or losing your other half even. 

Enjoy Christmas being your own, get shamelessly drunk or stay in your pyjamas eating cranberry sauce straight out the jar, but don't have a Bridget Jones "All by myself" moment about being single over Christmas, because, well...does that even need an explanation?

(And another point, there's no shared presents. I mean, what are they even about?!)

Harrods Windows get a Disney makeover!

All my Christmases have come at once this week.

As if I needed any other reason to be in love with Harrods. This year Harrods are decorating their Christmas windows display with a magical Princess makeover, with a high fashion twist on the Disney Princesses.

Some of fashions biggest names including Jenny Packham, Elie Saab and Versace have put their stamp on the classical princesses style with their own creations of the dresses, which will be displayed in the windows from November onwards.

Not only the ridiculously beautiful window display, Harrods are also featuring a 7,000 square-foot Disney Princess pop-up boutique - I actually squealed at this - that will be open from November 1st and is deeeefinitely worth a visit!

My favourite is definitely the Elie Saab Sleeping Beauty dress - it's so classic Elie Saab but is still perfectly in style with Aurora (my favourite Disney Princess) that it's just perfect! And of course Cinderella by Versace is worth a mention, how elegant is that dress? It's just so...Cinders! Without all the floor scrubbing and just the Prince Charming onwards.

(Apologies for my Disney madness, I am a teenage girl what can I say?)