Christmas Tree Decorating

IIIIIIT'S CHRISTMASSSSSSS!! 

That means it's time to deck the halls and trim the trees, which is exactly what I did in preparation for this blogpost in my "12 Blogs of Christmas". For weeks I counted down the days, even minutes, until it was finally time to put up the Christmas Tree and when that day arrived I was ready to get festive! ;)

 Firstly, to create the perfect Christmas mood for our evening of tree decorating, my sister and I popped on good ole' Home Alone (a personal favourite!) Then, we got decorating! 

I must admit, for the first hour it was a whole lot of posing, mid-hanging ornaments on the tree, to get the perfect artsy photo... As you can see below lol!

Eventually when the job was done and we got a chance to stand back and admire our handy work, the result was rather impressive, if i may say so myself! Don't you agree? 

Decorating the tree is by far one of the best parts of Christmas. What's your favorite ornament on your Christmas Tree? xxx

Five Fave Christmas Jams!

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear!" 

-Buddy The Elf

It's official! We are now in December which means that it is Christmas, which means that it is now "socially acceptable to play Christmas music". Although, in saying that, it's totally okay if you wanna play Christmas music on the 25th of June for the "six months till Christmas mark" which is so not what I do.. Pfft! 

So to celebrate the fact that it's now 10 days to Christmas I've made a list of my 5 fave songs to jam out to during the Christmas season. Without further a do, here are my FIVE FAVE CHRISTMAS JAMS!! (In no particular order ;) )

1. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree- Brenda Lee

2. Merry Christmas Everyone- Shakin' Stevens 

3. All I Want for Christmas is You- Mariah Carey

3. Driving Home for Christmas- Chris Rea

5. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)- Michael Buble

What are your favourite Christmas tunes? xxx 

SLIMY BOO BROWNIES

As Halloween is rapidly approaching, I thought I would do a quick and easy 3 ingredient recipe for you guys to make during the SPOOKY season! Enjoy!To make the Boo Brownies, first pre-heat your oven to 150 degrees. Then place all your ingredients in a large baking bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until fully combined.

Next, what you want to do is take a 13inch pan and line it with some grease proof paper. Pour the brownie batter into the pan and place it in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes, until the surface looks slightly crispy.

While you wait for these to cook, we can move on to making the SLIME to decorate. Take your icing sugar and add preferred amount to a bowl and gradually add water until it reaches the consistency you wish. I personally wanted mine to be a bit more runny so that I could drizzle it onto the BOO BROWNIES to give that desired SLIMY effect! After you have this done add a little bit of green food colouring to the mixture and stir well. VOILA! I give you the SLIME topping! 

Once you feel your brownies are done, remove from the oven and let cool completely before drizzling your slime on top.

I had so much fun making these brownies and I hope you do too! If you make them, be sure to send me pictures on Twitter and Instagram using the #slimyboobro

Nails, Nails, Nails!

Everyone knows that Christmas is the perfect time for glitter, it’s a pity we cant have that sparkle all year round! The good news is, Autumn is the perfect season for metallics. Understated and versatile they glam up your day without any need for a special occasion. I'm loving these nails from Fifth Avenue, my personal favourite nail salon in Cork. My nail specialist, Jurga, never fails to disappoint!

With the colder weather, pastels are out and warm tones and colours are all in! Spice up your colour scheme with a bold nail polish like these plum tones from Boston Beauty in Mahon Point. The girls are all so sweet and they open till 7 most nights so you can squeeze in an after work appointment, what more could you want?

We all know that Halloween is the main event on everyone's calendar for the Autumn Season. That’s why I couldn’t resist mentioning these little gems from Boston Beauty in Mahon Point. They're simply every Halloween lovers dream!

So crazy nails are not for everyone, which is why I also love these glam matt nails from Fifth Avenue! They're a bold statement for the Fall, but could also work fabulously with a sexy Halloween catsuit.. ;)

Last but not least is my personal favourite, a French manicure! Everyone is always so focused on the new style, but forget that a French manicure is classic and timeless, adding an air of elegance to all your outfits every time. These ones I found are from House of Beauty. (They also do a lovely student discount!)

I hope you enjoyed this weeks post, and I'd love to hear your go to nail style for the Autumn Season! Xx

Season Staples Every Girl Should Have

Hey Guys! That's right, I am oficially back and ready to blog! Just before I get into this weeks post I want to say that from here on out 4:00 every Sunday is when I'm going to upload a new blogpost so check back every week to see what I've been up to. 

Here in Cork, Autumn has arrived with a bang. The trees are shedding their leaves, the daylight hours are shrinking and there's an evident chill in the air. This also means that it's time to rotate my wardrobe from Summer sandals to boots and wooly scarves. So this week I'm doing a post on my favourite season staples that I believe every girl should own.

The first item I've been obsessing over lately is my denim overalls from Bershka. Overalls are a must have in the Autumn months as they're loose and comfortable enabling you to do all the activities you love and when in gets cooler in the evening, just throw on an oversized cardigan or plaid scarf and voila! You have a chic and cosy look. 

The next thing popping up a lot in my Fall wardrobe is my red quilted gilet. In the cooler months before Winter arrives there's a definite chill in the air, but it's still not quite cold enough to whip out the fur coats. So this jacket is a lifesaver for me. It's simple and classy for long college days or coffee dates with the girls. 

My Timberland boots are my life. They're a rusty brown colour and literally go with everything I own . I wear them with jeans, skirts, dresses, everything! In my opinion every girl should own a good pair of calf high brown boots. They keep you dry in the rain and look stylish on every occasion!

Finally my 4th season staple for the Fall months is a good floppy hat. I purchased my burgundy one in Paris a year and a half ago and found that since then it's been both a Summer  and Autumn staple of mine. A wide brimmed floppy hat is the perfect way to add a little spunk to a plain outfit and give an aura of mystery about you! 

That's my Season Stapes I think are a must for every girls Fall wardrobe! What are your Season Staples? Xx

The Importance of Staying True to Yourself

Hey Guys! Today's post is something a little different to usual. This is an english essay I did in school about the importance of staying true to yourself and just being you! It's a personal essay and it's a topic that I take quite seriously myself. So, go grab a cup of hot chocolate and a comfy place to sit, as it's going to be a rather long one...

They said it would change me, make me just like the others. Right then and there, I promised myself that would never happen! Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I've always been the 'outcast', the person that didn't fit in no matter where I was. I hated it. No, no, correction! I hate it... Present tense. It's still the same, I don't belong, I'm different and I'm not sure why. But it's okay! I've learned to live with it. I'm not going to change for other people. If the don't accept me because of my 'unique' (at least that's what I like to call it) sense of style instead of wearing the latest 'Nike Roche Run'. Or because I prefer to bake or blog rather than make sure I'm all caught up on 'Celebrity Big Brother'. Or even if I prefer Youtubers such as Zoella, or Alfie Deyes, or Marcus Butler rather than big time stars like JB or Adele. That's not my fault. I like who I am! I'd rather be true to myself than live a lie to be popular. It's just who I am.

In a world that's dominated by technology, stereotypes and social media, it's hard to stay on track and to not get caught up in the whirlwind of it all. People believe that young girls my age should be a certain height or weight, or wear certain clothing and hairstyles. However, when girls try to fit this criteria, society complains that we lack originality and that we're all the same! How is that fair? In a world like that, how can anyone survive? The answer... Just be YOU. I know it can be hard, but at the end of the day, who cares what they say? While they're talking about you, you've got their attention. Even if someone doesn't like what you're doing, it's still your name they've got in their mouths. Surely that's got to count for something, right? If people don't care as much as they say they don't, then why are they still watching you, waiting to see what comes next? 

Being true to yourself is always the one bit of hope we can hold on to. It's the security net in my life. If I wasn't being true to myself, I would find it harder to be happy and satisfied with myself when I leave the house every morning! Sure, I may have more friends and be considered so-called, 'cool', but why would I want that? I'd feel as if I was doing the world a great injustice. I feel bad for depriving it of my utter greatness! Like everything else, there's a stereotype for this thing I believe they call 'Normal'. When realistically, there's no such thing! 

Once, I had this dream. I was tall with long legs. I was a slim size six with perfect skin, straight and sparkling teeth and I had long, thick, flowing blonde hair that tumbled down my back to my waist. I got straight A's all the time (pfft, as if!) and I had what you'd call a 'Rock God Boyfriend'. My life seemed perfect! But something wasn't right and I just couldn't figure out what. When I arrived to school (in my dream) I realised what the problem was. I looked around and every other girl there was exactly the same. Same outfit, same hair, same colour eyes, EVERYTHING, just different names! We were doppelgängers. Clones of one another! Quickly, my blissful dream morphed into my worst nightmare and I shot upright in bed panicky and with sweaty palms. I realised then that I could never be anything but myself. I would only ever have my own opinion, draw my own conclusions, think for myself. I would dress how I wanted to and read books in my pyjamas with a mug of hot chocolate, instead of going out and getting drunk, if I felt like it! It was my choice and I refused to let society drag me down and make me something I wasnt. 

At the end of the day, being you is more fun anyway! There's no-one like me and I'm proud of that. As my granny always says "Jodi, after God made you he threw away the mould! And that suits me just fine!" In today's whirlwind that is life and peer pressure, it's important to stay true to yourself, as without that, what's your real purpose in life? God puts us on this earth to be ourselves, so quit wasting time trying to be someone else and have fun just being you! Besides, everyone else is taken anyway! If people don't like you, ignore them and do it anyway. As wise ol' Dr. Seuss once said, "Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind!!" Dr. Seuss, he's got things sussed! 

The Deadliest Pre's

As a Leaving Cert. student in Ireland, it means that my pre's are looming nearby like a big cat ready to pounce any day now and make mince meat of their cornered prey. It also means that, in my head, it's 'Procrastination Season'! (Hence, this blog post as I try to avoid studying for English Paper 1.) However, with that said, I do in fact have a couple of tips that really help me to focus my mind and get me out the other side of exam weeks, alive. Here they are!

Top Tips for Surviving the Pre's

1. Don't panic! Take time to read the questions clearly and make sure you understand them. NEVER dive straight into the answering!

2. Make your own handwitten notes, they'll make sense to you and will be ideal for last minute skimming just before you enter the exam.

3. Make sure you get enough sleep. Lack of sleep and overworking your brain can lead to higher stress levels and lower concentration levels.

4. Take short breaks and reward yourself. Studying for long periods can make you become bored and frustrated. Instead do short slots of 45 minutes of intense work then take a ten minute break to make a cup of tea, or check Instagram. However, DON'T LET YOURSELF GET CARRIED AWAY WITH YOUR BREAK.

And finally, tip No. 5...

5.QUIT READING BLOGS AND GET STUDYING!!!

Those are my top tips for surviving the 'Deadliest Pre's'! I wish you every success in your exams!

Much Love, MissJ xxx