Can you actually believe that we are in the middle of May already? I honestly can’t get over how fast this year is going! Everything just seems to be moving so fast lately and I may be the only one but I’ve started thinking about Father’s Day already. After all it is just around the corner but luckily I have the most perfect treat for your Dad, or yourself…
The uniquely designed Inside Out Personalised Wrist Watch* is a perfect gift to give your Father. It has a stylish modern design with raised watch glass and very well made.
The watch can be personalised on the back to suit whoever you are buying for with up to 68 characters across four lines. I decided to personalise the back with: “Happy Baba’s Day, I love you to the moon and back, love Yasmina X“. I was so happy to find out about the personalised service as it’s very rare to find anything that links back to my family heritage in the UK. I’ve always been told to call my Dad ‘Baba’ as that’s the Arabic word for Father.
It was extremely east to order from the Gifts Online 4U website which makes the whole experience stress-free and quick. You simply choose your product, add your personal message and preview your item before confirming. You have the option of six different font options and can add a greetings card to your order as well.
After placing the order, the watch took 3-4 days to arrive which I was really impressed with. I’ve ordered personalised gifts before and they have never arrived that quickly so it’s brilliant if your shopping last minute. The watch came wrapped in a stylish presentation box which is a lovely touch.
The Inside Out Wrist Watch is just one of many options that you can personalise from the Gifts Online 4U. There is a range of other products including: hip flasks, pint glasses, photo frames and other personalised watches all perfectly suited for any occasions including graduations, birthdays, Father’s Day or other special events. They also have a great selection of Engraved Gifts for Men if watches aren’t your dads thing.
Overall, I am pleasantly happy with the whole experience. It was very straight forward to order the product. The customer service is fantastic and delivery was super quick. The quality of the item was brilliant for the money too. I definitely want to order from Gifts Online 4U again as it was one of the best experiences I’ve had with an online retailer.
This isn’t the only watch they do for Father’s Day either, they have a classic black dial watch that you can personalise with a photo of your choice which I thought was a lovely idea. Another personal favourite was this Wooden design which I think is also rather unique compared to what other retailers offer. You can purchase the Inside Out Wrist Watch here.
Have you ever ordered from Gifts Online 4U before? What’s your thoughts on getting a personalised gift for Father’s Day?
♥
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*The watch was gifted to me as part of a paid collaboration with Gifts Online 4U however this does not affect my opinion about the product or the service of the company.
As you guys probably know, I’ve recently moved back home and I have spent the past couple of weeks creating an office/walk in wardrobe space full of creativity and a calming, stress-free bedroom to chill in. The bulk of the decorating is done with just a few more finishing touches to add but it’s lacking a little bit of a personal touch. It’s like it needs the cherry on top of the cake or some art on the walls! I took some time out one evening to add the finishing touches to my little spaces using wall art by Desenio.
If you fancy buying your own, the code “thejulyjournal” gives 25% off posters* between 3rd-5th April. You can follow @desenio for more inspiration! *Except for handpicked-/collaboration posters and frames.
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of months then you will have definitely heard of Desenio. They have hundreds of photos, quotes, wall art prints and a selection of frames to chose from which can inject any wall with a bit of personality. They make the whole selection process of products so easy that it was hard for me to narrow down my choices! One of the website features that I really like is the Perfect Pair feature – it automatically gives you some inspiration of what prints work together and suggests a matching frame, ensuring all your wall art comes prepped and ready to hang. Super handy for those new to DIY or not so good at it like me…
The first two prints that I chose from the site were for my office/walk-in wardrobe. The room itself is full of motivational quotes and inspiration to create a work space that I love. I’ve also wanted to go for a slight feminine theme as it’s also my walk-in wardrobe with plenty of inspiration for outfits and styles. I really like the idea of having two prints that sit side by side; one smaller than the other on the top shelf of my desk.
The first photo art print, is a photograph called Black by artist Anna Subbotina. I wanted to portray my love for beauty in some way and I think is was the perfect addition to my office. It’s definitely something that is either a love or hate kinda thing but in my case I think it is amazing and so simplistic! I got this in the 50x70cm however there is an option to buy it in four other sizes.
I’ve had my eye on something similar to the Girl Power poster for such a while now. I love conveying my love for all things girl power so it was only right to get the GRL PWR quote print to go side by side to the Anna Subbotina image. It’s so simple but powerful at the same time and that’s what I love about it. I wanted to keep the images quite simple as I have a selection of other images above my desk and the room is full of clothes due to my open wardrobe.
My bedroom has a strong calming theme and to coincide with this I wanted to chose a range of prints that I could look at when I wake up or go to bed and immediately feel at peace and relaxed. The Hygge definition quote that I have put above my bed was the perfect choice. The definition, I feel, describes my bedroom perfectly.
The final two prints I brought were the Green Banana Leaves and Green Palm Tree for the wall as you come in my bedroom. I chose these because I feel as though nature is the perfect addition to create a calming atmosphere. The colours within the prints even represent calm and peaceful which immediately changes the feel of the room. They were all super affordable with the prices starting at just £2.95 for the smallest size. Bargain!
If you are on the hunt for some affordable wall art to update your room, flat or home then I highly recommend checking out Desenio for a variety of photos, quotes and prints. Remember you can use the code “thejulyjournal” gives 25% off posters* between 3rd – 5th April.
♥
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I’m writing this after a bit of a stressful week, not in terms of physical stress but more mentally. Does that even make sense? I am currently sat in my extremely cold flat with my heated blanket on full pondering about life on a Sunday afternoon. There’s a mix of red roses and yellow and white flowers on my table with a candle burning. The flowers definitely don’t go together but I like them. I’m not really sure what to write about but I have a couple of things to talk about which don’t really belong together but they are getting put into this post because I need them off my mind. Grab {insert drink of choice}, sit back, read and relax…
I’ve now lived in my little nook for half a year. A lot of things can change in six months but do you know the biggest lesson that I have learnt? No one really has their sh*t together! Surprising, right. I’ve found living on my own extremely hard. Yes I have my boyfriend closer to me now I’ve moved but things aren’t particularly perfect. We argue like every other couple but we have finally started to talk about feelings in a healthy manner rather than shouting and giving each other the silent treatment for a couple of days. There are days which are spent day dreaming that I get along well with his family and we can all live happily ever after together but as I mentioned that is just a dream – things don’t really work out like that. Partner’s parents don’t need to like you, they may not think their son or daughter is suited to you but guess what? That’s their opinion and what matters is how happy you are with your boyfriend/girlfriend. I am lonely however I have friends; internet friends who help on those evenings when I feel a little bit down and work friends who make my shifts at New Look rather amazing, oh and Dora.
Adulting is a dangerous journey with a rollercoaster of emotions that everyone including me and you go through. But no one really knows what they are doing. There’s no guide book that tells you how to do this, that and everything in between. It’s a bit like cooking a new recipe without the actual recipe. Just hear me out. It’s around 18.30 and you’ve just got home after a long day at work, you have a meal plan that you have been told to write down from a million of these “how to budget” blog posts that you read so you decide to try out one of these recipes. It’s either going to go amazing and taste delicious so you’re going to live off it for the next week or it will end up in the bin either uncooked or burnt and you will be blasting your favourite tune whilst your Pot Noodle is heating up or your favourite Domino’s pizza is being delivered. I obviously prefer the pizza but funds might mean you live off Pot Noodles quite a lot. And truth be told this cooking malarkey is much like adult life. There are going to be things that work really well and then there are also going to be things in life that you are going to learn from whether that be decisions to do with relationships, friendships, career choices or even just actual cooking. It could even be personal situations like your goals of what you want to achieve or how to organise your income and expenditure. Just to let you know I have no clue what I do with my money every single month, #fail but I am learning and that’s the important thing. I have even started writing things down in a notebook which is a start.
If you follow me across social media then you might have seen my rather ruthless clear out of makeup, clothes and god knows what else was included. I think it was a sign of a quarter life crisis but after watching Leena’s video about her wardrobe clear out. I realised that we are all wrapped in a world of consumerism. A place where it is promoted and advertised to always jump on the new makeup palette bandwagon or the latest fashion trends but I’m not going to do that anymore. Well, try not to. I like my makeup collection to be small and full of all my favourites. I like having my wardrobe full of mix and match items that enables me to explore my own personal style. Not only this but as someone who is living on their own, independently I don’t have the money to spend £100s on new makeup, skincare or clothes as much as I love a good Charlotte Tilbury lippy or shopping in Debenhams rather than Primark. If you do then good on you, go treat yourself but I’m presuming 99% of you reading this might be on the same page as me. Well, I hope I am not the only one.
I guess I need to round this post up a little so here it goes. I’m not saying adulting is easy because it really isn’t and I think I’ve made my point in this post. There are a lot of obstacles thrown at you but I reckon together, our little blog family are able to pass as a kind-of functioning, internet-socialising adults who can make everyone else around us whether that’s your big sister, non internet friends, partner, parents or grandparents believe that we know stuff and how to deal everything even if we don’t.
What’s your thoughts on adulting? Do you find certain things too much to handle sometimes? I would love to know.
♥
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When it comes to Valentine’s Day I know that many have strong opinions about it but overall it’s either you complete love celebrating the day with your partner or single gals or you despise the day and don’t understand why it even exists. I hate to break it to you but I am kind of looking forward to this year’s Valentines – #sorrynotsorry. This is the year that me and my best friend of ten years celebrate being in love for the first time together and honestly I couldn’t think of anything better. I’m not the one to go extravagant and buy many gifts for him but the one thing I have thought of was using personalised wrapping paper. I think it just knuckles down to adding something a bit more meaningful to your gift.
Pretty Gifted are an experienced paper and printing company whom have created a bespoke gift wrap service. I’ve used their company before during the Christmas period and fell head over heels in love with their wrapping paper. It’s such good quality and the fact that you can cater your design to your liking makes me love it even more. Each sheet comes in the size of 70cm x 50cm and there are so many different choices you can make using different colours, fonts and symbols.
If you are interested these are the options that you can choose from:
Background – Gold, Peppermint, Silver, Pearlescent, Black & Red
Font – Candy, Split, Monster, Arro & Lulu
Foil – Silver, Gold, Copper, Rainbow & Aqua
Message – You can have up to 60 characters.
Font Size – Small (5mm tall), Medium (8mm tall) & Large (16mm tall)
Once you have customised your wrapping paper to your liking, it will then give you a preview of what your design will look like. For Valentine’s Day, I went for a simple red background with rainbow font saying ‘I love you’ with a heart symbol but I reckon you lot reading this can be much more creative than me. When you’ve completed your design you then have a choice of 1 sheet – £7.95, 3 sheets – £18.95 or 5 sheets – £29.95.
If you fancy treating yourself to some personalised gift wrap whether that’s for Valentine’s Day, a certain birthday or celebration then feel free to use july18val to receive 10% off your whole order.
The wrapping paper has always arrived quite quickly despite how busy the post can be at times. It arrives nicely rolled up in a triangular package with gift tags and a silver gel pen. As I mentioned earlier, I think it’s just the small touches like this that makes giving gifts that little bit more special. I still have plenty of ‘Happy Birthday Noel’ wrapping paper left for his birthday this year.
Have you ever used Pretty Gifted before? I would love to know what your opinion is on Valentine’s Day.
♥
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Today I thought I would talk about the taboo topic – money. I think it’s a tough subject to talk about. It’s quite personal to each individual and no one ever really wants to talk about it but at the same time I also think it is really important. Money is something that you aren’t really taught in school or education. It’s as though you are meant to know how to handle budgeting, saving and investing it automatically and I don’t know about anyone else but to this day I still struggle to budget and save money. Anyway, grab yourself a cuppa and a notebook and if you are struggling like me then this post might help you with a few ideas.
Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help – Firstly, I completely understand what your going through, trust me! I was so nervous to ask for help but I get it. You don’t want to get all embarrassed and ask your parents for help, right?! Well, I asked my dad when I was really struggling and nowadays we spend five minutes at the weekend to double check everything is in order and it has helped me so much to stay on track and to get myself out of debt. If you don’t want to talk to a parent then I would perhaps seek some financial advise at the bank. I know that the Citizen’s Advice Bureau is really good too. They can help you write an income and expenditure list, contact companies who you owe money to and set up affordable payment plans. I particularly like browsing through the Money Saving Expert website for things that I don’t understand. Just make sure someone knows what you are going through so you don’t feel as though you are tackling it on your own.
Consider Looking At Your Outgoings and Income – I used to find it such a chore to sit down and write a list of bills that need paid and how much money I have available for food, utilities and treats. A while ago I started to work out exactly how much money I have per week and each month. It can be difficult if you have lots of outgoings but once you have got your head around it, you will feel so much better. I have learnt how to prioritise things. Write a list before you go food shopping with everything that you need – not what you want. Check your bank balance every couple of days. I use my mobile banking app which is really easy to set up and nearly every bank has one. I have been strict with what I have been subscribed too. For example, I don’t need Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Netflix or if you want all three maybe look at sharing the price with a family plan between friends or family so you don’t have to pay for it all. Now I am not saying I am an expert in this because I am far from it. I am still learning and that’s okay.
Try And Earn Some Extra Coins – Whilst I was at University, I was working part time. It just gives you a little bit of extra money to play with or to add to a savings account. They usually suggest anything between 16-20 hours a week is okay before it begins to effect University work. Now that I have entered a full time job many of you are probably thinking that you haven’t got time on top of your usually hours. Well that’s where you hobbies and skills can come in useful. It’s no secret that a lot of bloggers make money through brand collaborations and social media placements. You could sell the skills that you’ve taught yourself. Copywriting, photography and design are all things that could be done freelance and alongside a full time job in the evening or weekends. It’s also something great to add to your CV and to talk about in an interview. Blogging has given you so many transferable skills so use them to your own benefit. Polly has created her own online shop whilst studying and now has a whole studio and team helping her, Kaye takes outfit photos for bloggers but also works on campaigns for big named brands and Mark has set up his own copywriting business from University too. It doesn’t have to be related to blogging either. If you have a real passion for a certain skill or hobby then it’s definitely work considering.
Curb Your Shopping Addiction – Don’t get me wrong I love shopping. Who doesn’t love shopping especially when you are buying things you really enjoy. However, if treating yourself to that eye catching new eyeshadow palette from Too Faced or spending £100s on ASOS is too tempting then unsubscribe from newsletters and try not to pay attention to it. Easier said than done but if you try and rethink your buying behaviours then your money will stretch a lot further. Not only have I started selling my clothes on Depop and Vinted but I’ve been using these apps to buy new clothes too. I’ve started browsing the charity shops instead of the new in section on the Missguided website. It’s not just about the treats in your life too. Try and use this when doing your weekly food shop. Instead of going to Waitrose, perhaps shop at Tescos with a Clubcard or Aldi.
Staying In Is The New Going Out – I used to go out to different restaurants rather than staying in however this is the new norm! You can easily find recipes online now and when you look at the price which you would spend on going out then you realise cooking is probably cheaper after all. Instead of buying your lunch from Greggs just cook something at home or bring your leftovers from the night before.
Do you have nifty ways to make or save money? I would love to know what your ideas are!
♥
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Hands up if you’re addicted to your Netflix account! *slowly raises hand*
I’m so bad when it comes to binge-watching Netflix series. I can’t just watch one episode. I have to schedule time out of my week to watch a whole season or at least a couple of episodes. If there is one thing that Netflix is good at then it is a good old series to get yourself stuck into and after re-watching all seven seasons of Pretty Little Liars over the past 5 weeks, I’m excited to share with you some other shows things I highly recommend to you.
The Good Place
If I was to use one phrase to describe The Good Place it would probably be weird but addictive. Eleanor, the main character, dies and finds out she has made it to The Good Place. She ends up getting into a lot of awkward and funny situations in her effort to become a good person to stay in the good place. I was hooked after the first episode. It’s a weekly series but I binge-watched the first two seasons and I am just waiting for the next episode to be released. It has so many brilliant actors and actresses and I am pretty sure you will love it just as much as I do!
Stranger Things
If you have not heard of Stranger Things then you have probably been living under a rock and I feel quite sorry for you. It’s a dark science-fiction series with fantastic acting and thrilling scenes. Again, it’s another show that I have binged-watched over the course of the weekend when it was released because it was just so good! If you haven’t watched it already then I’m begging you to add it to your watchlist.
13 Reasons Why
Out of all the series that I have recommended, this one is the one that hits home the most. It’s about a teenage girl who has left behind a range of tapes after committing suicide for Clay to play back. I was repeatedly crying through many of the episodes. It’s been nearly ten years since my best friend committed suicide and watching this gave me an insight into how she must have felt at the time. I think a lot of the topics that is covered within the series is something that all young people go through and by young people, I don’t just mean teenagers. I am talking about those who are in their early twenties too. It’s a lot more serious compared to the others and I think if you are feeling mentally low, it’s probably not a good time to watch it.
I would love to know if you have watched any of these. Let me know what I should be watching next!
♥
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The uniquely designed Inside Out Personalised Wrist Watch* is a perfect gift to give your Father. It has a stylish modern design with raised watch glass and very well made.
My bedroom has a strong calming theme and to coincide with this I wanted to chose a range of prints that I could look at when I wake up or go to bed and immediately feel at peace and relaxed. The Hygge definition quote that I have put above my bed was the perfect choice. The definition, I feel, describes my bedroom perfectly.
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