Bienvenue à Toulouse

My Erasmus year is well under-way - I have been here in Toulouse for a week already! I have already fallen in love with the city with its endless restaurants, small windy streets, beautiful scenery and buildings, friendly people and, of course, too much cheese and wine.

River Garonne

This first week has been incredibly busy yet amazing - it has been like freshers all over again with so many names to remember that I am relying on Facebook to help me out. Everyone is incredibly friendly at my university and from what we have already experienced of the city sights, shopping, restaurants and nightlife I know already that I will be very happy here.

On the day I flew out I was incredibly nervous as I thought about my limited language skills and the doubts in my mind as to whether I would even like Toulouse. However, I have barely had time to think about that as I already feel so at home here.

Me and my friend have certainly landed on our feet with our beautiful apartment - it is cheap, perfectly located, clean and spacious. Couldn't ask for more :) I am just about finished settling into my room so make way for a bedroom post coming up in the next few days!

As if it wasn't hectic enough moving to another country, I celebrated my 21st birthday on Monday! It was a nice and quiet celebration with a few friends as we had to wake early the next day but it was still lovely. I feel very fortunate to have celebrated my birthday a few times over this year as I had early celebrations before I left so I cant complain!

This is quite a rambling post so I apologize if I am boring you! So much has changed in a week its hard to put into words. But at the moment, its looking like this is going to be a year to remember :)

À bientôt!

Alice x

Packing, packing, packing

As I have mentioned in a few posts I am soon to leave England and jet off to France for my year abroad at university there! So I am currently very busy packing and organizing myself for that.

It may seem weird but I actually love packing, it's a great excuse to organise and gets me very excited for my trip. However, I think even my organisational skills would not allow me to fit my whole life into one suitcase, so I decided to ship over some stuff also!

I decided to use Send My Bag which is an amazingly cheap service which allows you to send a bag or box to another country (to send my very large box it cost me just £25!) which was ideal and most definitely needed for my extra shoes, clothes and home comforts :)

A cuddly toy? Dont know how that got in there...

If you are embarking on a year abroad or just going on a long holiday, here are my top packing tips! (they are probably quite obvious but you never know :) )

1. Write a list before you do anything - rather than aimlessly throw things into a suitcase really think about what you will need. Less chance of forgetting something important!

2. Put on a film or tv show as you pack - Packign can sometimes take hours so a good film can make it much mor enjoyable!

3. Wrap your valuables in other clothes - Your bag might be thrown about a bit so be careful.

4. Bag up liquids! You don't want to open your suitcase to find that your clothes are drenched in shampoo.

5. Finally, weigh your bag! Nothing worse than having to re-pack at the airport in front of a line of people if your bag is too heavy.

If you are also going on a year abroad this year, or you;re considering doing one, check out thirdyearabroad.com as its great for tips and tricks of what you will need to do before you go.

Are you going on holiday or on a year abroad? 

Alice x

Beautiful things

Thought I would share some of the bits and pieces that I have been loving recenty.

My beautiful Urban Outfitters shorts have been great for all the festivals this year. Very comfy and go with everything!

I got this jumper in the Zara sale for an absolute steal of £5! I just loved the design and it was great to chuck on when the evenings get chilly at festivals (the next time I say 'festivals' hit me). Not the greatest quality as the unicorns are coming away at the edges but for £5 -very cute.

It is my birthday at the start of September and my wonderful friends gave me my gift early as I will not see them on the day! Part of my present was this beautiful handbag from M&S. Its a perfect everyday bag and fits endless amounts of clutter inside with the various pockets :)

As featured in my few posts you can probably tell that I love flowers for the summertime - they give a bohemian twist to any outfit. These are all from Primark apart from the smaller daisy one at the bottom which is from H&M.

As much as I love the summer I have been enjoying wearing these beauties again as the evenings get a bit chilly. They are so comfortable and give you a nice height whilst still looking casual. I got them last winter at Topshop (they were quite cheap considering they are leather), no doubt they will bring out something similar this season.

What have you been loving recently?

Alice x

Flowers in her hair

As you know i've luckily been to some small festivals this summer - with flowers, dresses and wellies it is one of my favourite times of the summer!

I have yet to master taking good outfit photos so as a compromise I thought i'd do a little run-through of my favourite festival fashion from the photos I already have from the festivals alongside my favourite pieces.

Outfit 1

Headband - Primark

Sungrasses - Ebay (here)

Crochet dress - H&M 

Outfit 2

Headband - Primark

Sunglasses - Ebay

Strapless Top/Dress - Peacocks

Shorts - Levis Urban Outfitters

Duffle bag - New Look

Outfit 3

Crop Top - New Look

Shorts - Levis Urban Outfitters

Belt - H&M

Headband - Primark

These outfits are pretty casual but I have been obsessed with these flower head-bands and I think the rest of the outfit can't be too loud otherwise it will look like a car crash. These Urban Outfitters shorts have been my summer staple - the £35 price tag was painful at first but I think they have been worth it as they go with absolutely everything!

Make way for a lot of packing/orgaisation and birthday posts coming up as I leave for France in less than two weeks! This summer has flown by.

What are your plans for the rest of the summer?

Alice x

Festival Fever

The last few weeks have been pretty busy for me due to going to a couple of local festivals - WOMAD and Fieldview Festival. They were absolutely amazing because of the incredible weather, music, food and company.

Fieldview Festival is very special to our area as it has become somewhat of a tradition for me and my friends to go every year as it is small and personal and yet never fails to impress. I would say this year was the best yet which is bitter sweet as it is also the last ever year! What am I meant to do next summer?!

Bec and Me

I am hopefully going to do a couple of posts on my Festival OOTDs very soon so stay tuned for that!

The Other Tribe

With a great festival comes a great playlist so I just thought I'd share just a few of the gems I descovered thanks for Fieldview Festival this year:

Bears Den

Luke Sital-Singh

Jacob Banks

The Other Tribe

Colour The Atlas

Bears Den

Are you going to any festivals this year?

Alice x

Summer Nails

My Go-to summer nail polishes!

Rimmel London 60 Seconds - 415 Instyle Coral
This is a beautoful Coral which goes with anything and has great staying power.

Barry M Gelly - Prickly Pear
I love the Gelly Nail collection from Barry M, they are super glossy on the nails and again stay on for a good amount of time!

Barry M Gelly - Lychee
Perfect Nude when you find you can't wear a bright colour on the nails.

Miss Sporty - 17
I love Miss Sporty - super cheap and a great colour range.

Maybelline Super Stay - Mint for Life
The perfect pastel mint for summer and it stays on for a good amount of time (maybe not exactly 7 days like it says on the packaging though).

What are your summer nail polish favorites?

Alice x

Go-To-Makeup

I thought I would do an updated every-day make up post today as my last one was agess ago. Just thought i'd show you the products I reach for every day and do some mini-reviews of them!

I realise these photos are quite washed out because of the lighting but you get the general idea.

Rimmel 'Wake Me Up' Foundation - 100 Ivory

This is probably my fourth bottle of this stuff as I really enjoy it. I'd say it gives a medium but build-able coverage and does what it says on the bottle and 'wakes me up'. I am one of those people with a very fair complexion and this is the lightest shade they do and it blends perfectly into my skin.

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer - 1 Fair

This is my holy grail product which I cannot live without. It is perfect for under the eyes and covering up any pesky break-outs! And it is reasonably affordable too. I usually have one of these in my bag so i'm prepared for anything haha.

MAC Pro Longwear Eyeshadow - Sweet Satisfaction

This is my first ever MAC product and was a gift from my friend. I really like the colour as it is a perfect every-day shade to wack on the eyelids and not worry about having to blend it etc. I do really like it and it has great staying power and its lasted since I got it in September so I would probably repurchase as it's worth the money!

Collection Fast Stroke Eyeliner - Black

This again is a repurchased item - it stays on all day, is cheap and is easy to use so what more do you need. I always wear my eyeliner with a slight wing to it - it feels weird if I don't do it now.

Maybelline The Falsies Mascara - Black Drama

This mascara is amazing and im sadly running low so gonna have to fork out £7 for a new one :( It is great at giving length and volume though! My only complaint is I cant use it on my bottom lashes as it can run.

Rimmel Soft Khol - 061 Jet Black

This is a nice soft liner for my water line. I don't take this all the way along my bottom water line just half way in.

MUA pressed powder - Shade 1

I have nothing much to say about this product it was just what I had at the time and it was cheap - won't necessarily repurchase but its not horrible.

Natural Collection Bronzing Powder - Golden Glow

I have used this for almost years now but not because I have repurchased it but because I have never finished it! I don't love it though so can anyone recommend a good drugstore bronzer please?

Benefit Blush - Bella Bamba

This is just a sample product but I really like it and it is actually lasting me a very long time! I could never bring myself to actually buy it though as benefit prices are just too much for me - not worth it in my opinion!

Natural Collection Eyeshadow - Crushed Walnut

I actually use this eyeshadow for my eyebrows! It works perfectly to fill in any little gaps and shape them a little and as long as I brush through them after applying it it stays put all day. And its an absolute steal at £1.99.

What would you say are your go-to make up products? Also leave me suggestions for a good drugstore bronzing powder please!

Alice x