A Weekend in London.

My boyfriend and myself spent the past weekend in London. My dad picked us up from our front door bright and early at 6am (I was already cranky from my 5am alarm and not having time to apply winged liner) and managed to get on the train at Edinburgh Waverley at 7.30am. The train was nice, empty and quiet until it reached Newcastle and then it got very busy all at once. Three people from Edinburgh were enjoying their beer a little bit too much and were causing a riot which is always entertaining, especially when the police were waiting for them at London King's Cross.
We arrived in London at 11.51am to 27 degrees heat, which is just far too hot to be walking about with a suitcase.
Here's a list of my favourite things we got up to (in the order they happened):
1. Lunch at the Diner on Carnaby Street. First stop in London (after Topshop!) was Carnaby Street, and when we spotted the Diner with a free table outside we knew we had to go there for lunch. I ordered the Reuben sandwich - which was yummy! and a fresh iced tea. After an early start this meal was exactly what I needed. However, my two minor complaints about The Diner are; a service charge was already added to the bill and our server was not the nicest. I wouldn't usually mind but our waitress' customer service skills were SERIOUSLY lacking and a £4.22 service charge on a £30 bill is just ridiculous, especially when it's not deserved.

2. Arriving at the hotel - we were staying at the Aloft London ExCel, which yes is quite far out the centre but the DLR makes getting there extremely easy. We booked our trip through the East Coast 2 Day Rail Break on Superbreak, which is just fantastic and makes travelling to London (especially from Scotland!) a lot more affordable. The hotel room was very nice, it had the comfiest bed I've ever slept in and the breakfast buffet each morning was delicious and had lots of choice for everyone!

3. Going to Camden for the markets and a few drinks. We got up early on Saturday to explore Camden (one of the only places we didn't manage to go to on our last visit!) before we made our way to Hyde Park. Was such a good atmosphere (despite the crowds!!) and I enjoyed having a Kopparberg in the sunshiiiine - but I didn't enjoy paying £5 for it eugh.

4. Saturday was the most important day for us - we were going to see The Libertines at BST at Hyde Park. Saturday was just incredible, we saw The View twice, drank far too much beer/vodka/wine, had an amazing burger and got to witness the Libertines live. I'm still in a state of disbelief that it actually happened. I'm absolutely gutted it's over. Hopefully they'll come back to Glasgow Barrowlands soon so I can see them again!

5. A highlight of Sunday was not checking out until noon. We got to have a relaxing, slightly hungover, morning. We went to the buffet breakfast and ate far too much hash browns and scrambled eggs, and then got ready to leave and spend the day at Westfield (which was kind of ruined by a half hour long bomb scare - not the best environment to be trapped in when you're hungover!).

We eventually got home on Sunday night after the train ended up having to stop quite a few times due to a track failure which was frustrating but what can you do! We didn't actually get up to much on this visit to London, as we purely went down for the British Summer Time festival at Hyde Park; we went to London in April 2012 where we got up to a lot more tourist activities! I also found it a lot harder dealing with the crowds this time, during April there was crowds but it was bearable. This time was just ridiculous, especially trying to get on the tube. I'm not sure how people actually live in London and willingly leave their house to go into Central London during the summer - I would be going on a 3 month holiday if possible!

Have you ever been to London? Any good things to do that we missed out?

Things I'll miss about university

1. Let's not lie, the first thing I will miss is SAAS and Student Loan every month. The 7th of each month will now just be filled with heartbreak and longing for what used to be. I kid, I kid! But when you have a hourly paid job, it was nice to know you'll receive at least a certain amount of money for definite each month. (However, I shouldn't be paid hourly for too much longer!)

2. Drinking on a school night. I used to love an impromptu decision to head out one night, when everyone was in a good mood and classes started later the next day there is nothing better! However, finding a 9-5 job means sacrificing mid week fun.

3. Another thing a 9-5 job doesn't allow; long lies during the week. I desperately need sleep, to the point it's absolutely ridiculous. However, I'm also looking forward to having a 9-5 job in order to sort out my sleeping pattern and becoming a real grown up haha.

4. Seeing friends every day in class.

5. The feeling of finishing your last exam and looking forward to the summer ahead. Really going to miss having a 4 month summer every year!

However one thing I will not miss is the stress of coursework/exams and being skint! Graduating is a strange feeling, I graduated last Wednesday. I'm sad that it's over, especially because the whole day was so perfect, however I'm looking forward to beginning my career and moving on with my life. (Ask me the same question this time next year and my answer may be different! haha).
What do you miss/What do you think you'll miss about being a student?

Top 5 from Lush

Something I've recently become obsessed with is Lush. I love the experience of shopping in Lush, the staff are always so friendly and seem like they actually care. Their advice always seems honest and I never feel like they're recommending expensive products just to get a sale. I think, as a whole, Lush are a fantastic company both in how they treat customers and their staff. Undercover Boss may be sort-of-trashy TV (which I'm only kind of ashamed to say I love!), but the episode showing the manager of Lush going into stores in Canada is definitely worth a watch, and the only time I've ever seen no one insult the company they work for! I think that says a lot, as you can definitely tell a lot about a company through the way they treat their staff.
Anyway, here's a list of my Top 5 products that I've tried, there's still a lot of products on my wishlist! I'll leave links to all the products.

1. Ultrabland cleanser - this is just beautiful! I love everything about this product. It smells beautiful and it even removes the hardest to remove mascara - They're Real by Benefit. This product is a very thick mix of oil and cream and it really softens when you place it on your skin. It melts all make up away, and I usually remove either with a hot cloth or with water and cotton pads. On especially heavy make up days (e.g. Saturday nights) I do usually repeat this process (depending on the amount of drinks I've had!), but that's just because it feels so lovely, it's not always necessary!

2. Big shampoo. Using this shampoo for the first time was the strangest experience, if you've used it I'm sure you'll know I feel! The shampoo has large chunks of sea salt in it, so you'd expect it to feel very gritty and leave your hair feeling horrible - or at least I did! However, as soon as you add a little water to this when it's in your hair it lathers up better than any other shampoo I've used! It makes your hair feel big (as the name suggests) and gives you added volume, which is something I need desperately. On top of that it smells amazing so you can't really go wrong!

3. Roots hair treatment. This is a really thick, minty cream that you put on the roots of your hair when dry, you leave it for 15 minutes to work its magic then go in the shower and wash your hair as normal. This does wonders for my hair, as it is very thin and needs all the help it can get!

4. Full of Grace serum bar. This product is similar to their massage bars, it's a solid oil type product that heats up when you hold it and melts on to your hands. It's got an odd, but lovely scent and it's excellent for using at night, especially after using an intense face mask or scrub.

5.Dragon's Egg Bathbomb. This is my favourite bath bomb (with the exception of Fluffy Egg which is unfortunately only available at Easter), as it smells amazing and it leaves your skin feeling amazing after a nice long soak in the bath. Also bath bombs make bath time a bit more fun don't they?

What products from Lush would you recommend? I also love their toner sprays!

Currently Loving

Today I thought I would share a list of things that I'm currently loving and enjoying. Sometimes it's nice to sit down and think about the little things in life that have been making you smile recently. 

1. knowing that the past year of working hard was worth it and on the 18th of June I'll be graduating with a   2.1 in MA (Honours) International Business.

2. my post-Turkey tan. Yes, some parts of legs are very sunburnt, however I've got quite a nice 'bit of colour' as people like to keep telling me. I enjoy being pale but it's nice to be tanned for a little while!

3. having time during my days off to do housewife things such as washing, ironing and keep the flat generally tidy. Also knowing that I have time now to bake and take time over cooking; two things I really enjoy! I think I'll start with banana bread because it's the best - if I do say so myself!

4. watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the beginning on Netflix. This was my favourite programme when I was younger, now that I'm watching it at 22 I've kind of realised that I was probably too young to be watching it at the time. I'm still enjoying every minute of it though

5. Graze boxes! I've recently started getting Graze boxes delivered and I love them. I know I'm very late to the party but I love how exciting it is getting mystery treats delivered to me every Thursday morning. I'll not harp on about them any more because I'm sure everyone knows how they work now, but if you'd like to try them and get your 1st, 5th and 10th box free here's my friend code: JADEM73QE

6. Endless cups of tea during the day

7. Mango scented everything, especially candles!

8. Long days filled with sunshine

9. Gnocchi with spicy red pepper pesto.

10. Body Shop Vitamin E Moisture Cream - and the fact I got it for free when I entered a code at the checkout to receive 35% off and a free gift when you spent over £5.

What's been making you happy recently?

Introduction list

1. My name is Jade and I'm a 22 year old currently waiting to graduate and spending my days applying for job after job after job.

2. I've started this blog to keep a sort-of diary on my job hunt, I'm planning to create lists for different things I like; covering lifestyle, fashion and beauty. I've got lots of posts planned and I can't wait to get writing!

3. If anyone does bother to read this and find my thoughts entertaining, I'd love to know so give me a comment! :)

Until next time! x