Sick Tings 022
15 July 2018
It's now T minus 6 days until my trip and I cannnnot believe how quickly the time has flown? This time next week I'll be in Bangkok, ready for my 5 and a half week stint exploring Southeast Asia. I finally got round to getting some more trip related things done this week, and it's all starting to feel very real now. I applied for my Vietnamese Visa, which, can I just say, is a really smooth process. It's all online and if successful, you receive the visa within a few days and all you need to do is print it off. I also ordered a Caxton Card and bought some US Dollars, so I've also sorted out the currency side of things, and got that out of the way already. We've also booked our first hostel, and I'm so excited to stay there. We're only in Thailand for one night, and figured Khao San Road is a must, so we chose the Mint Hostel as it's fairly close by and looks really really nice. Now is that a classy budget hostel, or is that a classy budget hostel?
I've decided that I'm no longer going to be having my hair balayaged before my trip, and am even considering dying it much darker again. Thoughts on a postcard please chums. I did, however, really impulsively decide to have half of my hair chopped off. It was all very spur of the moment, but my hair was pretty dead and I knew that 8 weeks of sun, swimming and sweating probably wasn't going to do it any favours. I absolutely love it. It looks so much healthier, shinier and dries in no time at all.
Over on my Instagram, I've been going on a lot recently about a beach rave I was going to. Well, I went and it was so so so good. I went with two of my best friends, we drank all the double vodkas and boogied the entire time. One of my friends doesn't even like that sort of music but he had an incredible time - so if that doesn't show you how much fun it was, nothing will.
We should probably discuss the football whilst we're, yanno, after England made it to the semis and all that!! I think the entire nation got a lil overconfident after the first goal in that Croatia game, but what a triumph for the England team hey, getting that far? Also, who would've thought I'd be this invested in football? Not me, but here we are. Thank God the world cup isn't on for another 4 years because I'm not sure my poor heart can deal with the stress. I can, however, deal with 90 minutes of staring at Loftus-Cheek.
Post published this week
// Outfit Photoshoots - Dos and Don'ts
What have you been up to this week?
Outfit Photoshoots - Dos and Don'ts
12 July 2018
I've been harping on a lot recently about a recent photoshoot I had in London, so for today's post I figured I'd compile a list of tips surrounding working with a photographer. To be fair, this was my first ever shoot and I'm as far from an expert as you can get, but I definitely learnt a lot and thought I'd impart my new-found 'wisdom' with you all.
Do - Bring a few outfits // Don't - Strip in the street
Lol so I'd like to take this opportunity to say I did both of the above and the latter wasn't my finest moment. Picture the scene; we're down one of the gorgeous streets in Notting Hill and I decide I want to change into another of my outfits. There's both a police van and an ambulance on the street we're on, and I'm trying to get changed without being charged for the least sexy stripping the world has ever seen. Well, anyway, the skirt I was wearing got stuck so I had to get Fran to pull it down for me, classy. Moral of the story; wait and use a bathroom as a changing room.
Do - Shoot outside pretty houses/buildings/trees // Don't - Get runover
After shooting outside the white houses of blogger dreams, we decided to head to the more colourful ones on Portobello Road. What the published outfit photos don't show is the absolute fear in ones eyes as a car comes hurtling towards you whilst you're mid-pose in the street. Be safe kids, look and listen. No 'gram is worth a stand off with 3 tonnes of moving metal.
Do - Fake it til you make it // Don't - Be afraid to ask for guidance
As aforementioned, this was my first ever attempt at looking slightly less gormless than usual, in front of a camera with a proper photographer. Yep, I had no idea what I was doing. Nope, I didn't just stand there and panic. The trick is definitely to pretend that you know what you're doing and what your best angles are. If you're stuck, ask questions, but be prepared to get into positions of your own accord and come up with your own ideas.
Do - Keep moving // Don't - Keep actually moving
I'm sure this is one of those hacks that we've all seen a fair amount of on the 'gram. That 'oh you just caught me off guard strolling down this pretty street' kinda shot. Slow motion is definitely the trick to these. Move, but not too fast. It's alllllll about that comedy-sketch slow-motion movement. No one needs 89 photos of them looking as if in a mad dash to get to the Post Office before closing time. Just be cool and casual, cool and casual.
Do - Bring a few outfits // Don't - Strip in the street
Lol so I'd like to take this opportunity to say I did both of the above and the latter wasn't my finest moment. Picture the scene; we're down one of the gorgeous streets in Notting Hill and I decide I want to change into another of my outfits. There's both a police van and an ambulance on the street we're on, and I'm trying to get changed without being charged for the least sexy stripping the world has ever seen. Well, anyway, the skirt I was wearing got stuck so I had to get Fran to pull it down for me, classy. Moral of the story; wait and use a bathroom as a changing room.
Do - Shoot outside pretty houses/buildings/trees // Don't - Get runover
After shooting outside the white houses of blogger dreams, we decided to head to the more colourful ones on Portobello Road. What the published outfit photos don't show is the absolute fear in ones eyes as a car comes hurtling towards you whilst you're mid-pose in the street. Be safe kids, look and listen. No 'gram is worth a stand off with 3 tonnes of moving metal.
Do - Fake it til you make it // Don't - Be afraid to ask for guidance
As aforementioned, this was my first ever attempt at looking slightly less gormless than usual, in front of a camera with a proper photographer. Yep, I had no idea what I was doing. Nope, I didn't just stand there and panic. The trick is definitely to pretend that you know what you're doing and what your best angles are. If you're stuck, ask questions, but be prepared to get into positions of your own accord and come up with your own ideas.
Do - Keep moving // Don't - Keep actually moving
I'm sure this is one of those hacks that we've all seen a fair amount of on the 'gram. That 'oh you just caught me off guard strolling down this pretty street' kinda shot. Slow motion is definitely the trick to these. Move, but not too fast. It's alllllll about that comedy-sketch slow-motion movement. No one needs 89 photos of them looking as if in a mad dash to get to the Post Office before closing time. Just be cool and casual, cool and casual.
Joking aside, I asked Jodie, who shot my photos, whether she had anything she'd like to contribute to this post, what with being a photographer and all that. Her response was to pick a versatile location to get the most out of the shoot as possible and also to make sure to credit the photographer as word of mouth is really important!
What are your tips for outfit photo shooting?
Sick Tings 021
10 July 2018
Whatta week. We're still amidst a glorious heatwave, England are in the semi finals and your girl was awarded another Dean's Award. It's been a busy busy week, hence the delay in getting this Sick Tings post up, sorry! This time last week I was on my way to a day of all things blog, blogging and blogger with Fran and Emmanuela. We had a photoshoot with Jodie, ate incredible food, drank delicious cocktails, and discussed everything under the sun. I've written a whole post on the day here which includes a whole lotta photos and the story of us being thrown out of a bar.
Last week I had an impromptu dinner with the Soton Bloggers and it was really lovely. We headed to L'Osteria, and oh my, the food was as good as ever. For those of you have never heard of L'Osteria, imagine a pizza the size of a small county and you won't be far wrong from the truth. I managed to eat all of mine, bar a couple of crusts, so I'm considering myself as the next extreme food eating competitor, no biggie. I had another swig of an Aperol Spritz and would like to confirm that I still cannot stand the stuff - why is it so hyped?? It's a no from me, chums.
I went for dinner and drinks with a couple of my uni besties this week and it was so good to finally catch up. I hadn't seen them since the boat ball. so it's fair to say there was quite a lot to catch up on. We had dinner at Zizzi's and then went for cocktails at Vodka Revs. The roof terrace at the Southampton one is so pretty - why hadn't I been there before? If you're local, I'd definitely recommend going and checking it out. I'm not sure there's much better than sitting with your best friends on a sunny July evening, sipping Pornstar Martinis as the sun goes down.
In other news, this World Cup has turned me into a bit of a football loon. I've never had an interest in football before, but something has changed this summer, and now I'm super keen. Sidenote: perhaps downing pints every time England score and shotting vodka if we win isn't such a good idea, Becca hun. Let's not do that again. Anyway, roll on Wednesday, I have all of my fingers and toes crossed, so the sooner the game comes around the better, am starting to lose feeling in them.
Our second-year results were posted last week but yesterday I received an email from my university saying that I've been awarded a Dean's Award for this year. Woop woop. I was also awarded one in my first year, so fingers crossed for next year and I'll hopefully have the hat-trick. (Who new hat-trick was spelt hat-trick... You learn something new everyday, huh?)
What have you been up to this week?
The Ideal Blogger's Day in London
5 July 2018
Tuesday was a really really really good day. It was filled with good food and drinks, alllll the pretty London locations and a few absolute blogger babes - what more could you want?
The day started with a 9.30am train to Waterloo, and a couple of tubes to Old Street where I was meeting Fran and Emmanuela. Now, Fran has been one of my blogging pals for pretty much the whole time becc4.co.uk has been around and it was sooo nice to finally meet her. We'd been talking about it for ages, and she was just as much of a babe offline as she is online. Anyway, the first stop on our blogging day out was Shoreditch. After meeting at the station we headed for a wander around and it's just as cool in person as it look on the 'gram. I'd never been before so it's fair to say I got pretty snap happy. We were originally planning on heading to the Cereal Killer Cafe but didn't end up getting there because we took so many detours and stops at all the pretty murals, that by the time we'd finished it was time to head to Notting Hill.
We had a shoot booked with Jodie at 2pm, and so just had time to squeeze some lunch in before meeting her. We went to a restaurant called 'Patty and Buns' and the burgers were amazing. I had a pink lemonade with mine which was equally as delicious. After paying for our bill and a quick outfit change in the loos we headed out to meet Jodie. I'd never done any sort of photoshoot before, but it was honestly such a breeze to work with her. We, okay just I, shot multiple outfits (lol, I know I'm extra) in multiple locations and I'm so so excited to see the finished results. I'm going to be writing a whole post on working with a photographer, so look out for that coming soon. (If you have any questions you wanna ask etc for the post feel free to shoot me a DM)
After the shoot we headed for a wander down Tottenham Court Road because Primark. It wasn't quite as fruitful as expected but I did pick up a cute bandeau top to wear whilst I'm away. People of London, how do you even shop at Primark regularly?? There's about thrice the amount of stuff and 10 times the amount of people compared to my local stores - gimme the Bournemouth store any day.
We did have a table booked at Tonight Josephine but only after we'd gone to order our drinks did we realise it was an over 21s bar ?? Pls advertise that more TJ, I was so excited to go, shame I'm not 21 until March! So, instead we headed to a Slug and Lettuce and devoured their 2 for 1 cocktails. Of the ones we ordered the Pornstar Martini was by far the best one in my opinion, I could do with that stuff in an IV. They weren't showing the football, so at about 80 minutes we headed to one of the nearby pubs to catch the end of the game, or so we thought. Who knew it would go on that long? I'd already left and was at the station when the penalties were started, and thankfully befriended a man with an iPad who was watching it. I don't think I'd been that tense since waiting in the car before my driving test. Whatta result though, it's coming hoooooome!
Anyway, there we have it, my day in London full of bloggery shenanigans and a whole load of photos
Sick Tings 020
1 July 2018
I AM BLOOMIN LOVING THIS SUNSHINE. It would be wrong to start this post without addressing the absolute bliss that is the weather in the UK at the moment. Highs of 30 degrees? Yes please. For those who are new around these parts, I live and go to uni in Southampton during term time and then live in Bournemouth(ish) the rest of the year. So, it's fair to say I made the most of living by the sea this week.
A couple of my uni friends got the train down and we spent the day on the beach, sunbathing, drinking and messing around in the sea. There's an enormous amount of fun to be had with a blow up watermelon ring - don't knock it til you try it. I ended up calling one of my 'home friends' and he also came to join us down on the beach. It was so nice to see my home friends and uni friends in one place, all getting on. After a solid 5 or 6 hours, we got dressed and headed to BH2 for dinner. We had no idea what we fancied eating but ended up in Las Iguanas. I'd never been before, and oh my, it was incredible. I had the Buenos Aires burger and I'd definitely have it again. We washed our food down with 2 for 1 cocktails, and it was all just a really good time. The football, however, not so much of a good time and the only word I have to use to describe the match is dull.
I then went to the beach again the following day, and yet more sunbathing and swimming was done. We had lunch at Turtle Bay, sat on the terrace, and it was lovely. I had the chicken wrap with sweet potato fries - would also recommend it. Now, I'm not usually a huge ice cream fan but there's something God-tier about eating an ice cream on the beach after an afternoon of swimming in the sea.
In other news, we got our results for second year and this girl GOT A FIRST!!! Woohooooo! Last semester was a very busy one, and not just academically. I attended a festival during exam week and hosted a huge birthday house party a couple of days before a midterm, so it's fair to say I had quite a lot going on. Anyway, I'm absolutely over the moon - roll on 3 more carefree months of summer before my third and final year of education.
Speaking of uni, I moved out of my first student house this week. I obviously lived in halls the first year, so this house was our first proper student house, rats and all. I've written a post all about the realities of student housing which you can read here. It's sad to be saying goodbye to our house, it's fair to say a whole load of shenanigans went down during our time living there. But, our new house is bigger and hopefully less ratty, so onwards and upwards folks.
My feet are really narrow, so most sandals and flats don't tend to fit me, so I'm in trainers pretty much 95% of the time. Anyway, this week I was just having a scroll on Boohoo when I came across a few pairs of sandals that I really liked, and shock, they actually fit! They were really affordable, and whilst not the most comfortable of shoes, I'm very happy with my purchases. Get ready to see them in a load of posts and Instagrams from now on. So, if you're looking for some new summer shoes, get yourself on Boohoo.
Saturday 30th June marks exactly 3 weeks until my 5 and a half weeks of backpacking around Southeast Asia with my bestie. Exciting stuff!! I've posted our itinerary for Vietnam here if you're interested in reading what we have planned. Between now and our flights I still have quite a few things to sort out, such as visas and currency, but other than that we're pretty much ready to go!
What have you been up to this week?
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