There’s nothing that I love more than listening to music. I am obsessed with Spotify. I can’t go away from a shopping trip without taking a look in HMV at all the vinyls for my Crosley player (similar here). I’m always blasting music through my headphones when I get up or going to sleep, walking, cleaning or travelling. I would also enjoy it through bluetooth speakers like the Panasonic Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker so I can take full advantage of my favourite tunes whilst in the shower.
Don’t get me wrong though, as much as I love Spotify. I do still buys CDs from the Apple Store or from HMV but Spotify makes listening to music just so much easier. At the end of the year, Spotify shared a recap of your music from 2017 so I thought I would do a little review of it.
In 2017, I listened to 30,324 minutes, to 2,305 different songs and 1,122 different artists and explored 21 music genres along the way.
I wasn’t really too surprised when it came to how many minutes I spent listening to Spotify music but I was shocked about the amount of songs I have listening to as well as artists. My top genre was Pop which I wasn’t to surprised by because I listen to a lot of chart music.
My top artists really did come as a bit of a surprise! I love The xx and The Chainsmokers, I actually brought the XX vinyl in HMV the other month which I have started to listen to in the evening. However I did not expect to see Drake and Zayn in my top artists of 2017. Ed Sheeran’s album that was released this year was clearly an addiction so I can see why he was listed but I was certainly confused by Drake.
If you haven’t heard Dirty Laundry by All Time Low then I highly recommend you giving it a listen. It’s such a good, chilled song and completely different to your usual All Time Low songs from back in the day. I’m rather shocked that Drake’s Get It Together was in my top songs list to but the rest came as no surprise. For any of you interested, I thought I would share with you the rest of my top 100 songs in 2017:
Overall, I’ve loved seeing what I have listened too over the last year. I’m going to try and be a bit more diverse when it comes to my music taste and try a couple of songs from other genres. I really hope Spotify does a similar kind of thing at the end of 2018.
What’s your favourite song from last year? Any musicians/artists that I should have a listen too?
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I am usually super organised when it comes to Christmas shopping but for the past two years I have found it rather difficult. This year I am determined to stick to a budget and not over spend. Christmas shouldn’t be about how much you spend on presents anyway! With a couple of years practice, I have figured out a couple ways to help you stay on track which I hope can help you out if you still haven’t tackled Christmas shopping yet…
Organisation is key. Trust me on this one. I always start off by writing lists. The first is full of all the people I am buying for and the second is any ideas of gifts for that person – whether it’s something I have thought of myself or something they have told me about within conversations. In fact, ever since the first year of doing this I have kept a little notebook since the end of August so I have plenty of ideas of what people would like. Every time I buy something, I write down what it is and how much it is next to the names. This makes such a difference when working to a budget too.
Budget! It’s something I am hopeless at doing in every other aspect of my life but I can certainly do it when it comes to buying Christmas presents. Firstly, how much can you actually afford to spend? Not only in total but also think of how much you can afford for each person. I usually put a total at the top of the page of how much I want to realistically spend. In addition to this, I usually write a price next to each name.
Gratisfaction UKis a really good website to use. You can get samples of beauty and skincare products or free tickets to events. The website is updated daily so there’s always new things to save money on. The voucher codes feature is my favourite part of the website as it saves money when you are shopping online. Most recently, it has had an offer to save 20% on Marks and Spencer’s including clothing and beauty. There’s no need to sign up like with most other companies too. I have followed them on Twitter so I can stay up to date with the latest offers and freebies which they share daily.
Loyalty cards are my best friend. Whether it is to collect points whilst doing your weekly shop at Sainsbury’s or signing up to receive a rewards card, guaranteed it will take the ease off the Christmas shop. I had saved up £20 on my Boots advantage card which saved me a fair few pounds the other day. There are usually vouchers for doubling up your points at Boots too. It might also be worth finding out if you can use your student discount if you have one. It’s just another way of saving some pennies.
You can find some great bargains by shopping the sales. I actually found my aunt’s present in a closing down sale but I know she is going to love it. There are always going to be things being discounted around this time of year as well so it’s worth setting some time aside to have a browse. It is also super handy to shop around in order to find the best deal. Do you know those Christmas Gift Sets you can buy in the 3 for 2 offers? Don’t be fooled by them! You can probably save yourself some money by purchasing all the products separate and wrapping them up with other things like a personalised mini hamper. Charity shops are another great way to find some bargains especially if you have time to shop around a little bit. Just because it is already second hand doesn’t mean it won’t make a nice present either.
Lastly, make the experience enjoyable. Plan your day (including where you are going to go for something to eat). I love being able to go and explore a different city when I go Christmas shopping especially if there is a market on at the time. I am usually equipped with comfortable shoes, a camera, my notebook and a pen, and Google maps in case I get lost or can’t find a particular shop. If you leave in plenty of time then you can really take your shopping trip steady and slow. You don’t have to rush the process.
So that’s my top tips for saving money this Christmas. Do you have any Christmas shopping tips? How do you save money when buying Christmas presents? Let me know your tips and tricks.
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I can’t believe how quickly Christmas is approaching. Surprisingly, I am rather organised and mostly finished all my shopping especially cause I started less than a month ago. October is probably the best time to start. I don’t tend to buy much online but when it comes to Christmas shopping sometimes it’s the easiest way – you avoid all the shops and the hour long queues. I was recently contacted by the lovely people at Amara and asked if I wanted to feature some pieces as part of a gift guide. They are a company that sell luxury gifts and homeware pieces and have such a wide range of items. You can basically do all of your Christmas shopping on one site if you really wanted to. I hope you enjoy the gift guide and let me know what is your favourite product I picked up.
I have been looking for a table to oven dish for a while now so when I came across this one on the website, I completely fell in love with it. The pattern is so gorgeous! I have been using it to make lasagne, pasta bakes and enchiladas but I also think it would look lovely to serve other foods in too.
I am so in love with the Christmas decorations that Amara have on offer at the moment. They have such a cute selection so I obviously had to pick a couple of pieces up to add to my tree decoration collection. The ones included above are: a cotton candy bauble which has a cotton wool top, a cinema popcorn bauble and a coca-cola truck bauble. It’s just something completely unusual to add to your tree this year. I really want to collect loads of different food ones for when I am able to have a Christmas tree in the kitchen.
Finally, I saw this wooden toy gift set which I thought would be perfect for Noel’s Christmas/Birthday present. All of the wooden vegetables and fruit pieces are really good quality and aren’t too big for his tiny hands. It also comes with a little chopping board and pretend knife for imaginative play. I just thought it was such a lovely set which he will get so much use out of for the next couple of years. There are other sets available to like; tea party play set and tool play set.
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“The best way to get into the Christmas spirit is singing loud for all to hear!” Am I the only one who doesn’t sing their heart out to all the Christmas films? Probably. I find the best way to get into the festive spirit is by cracking open the box of chocolates, snuggling on the sofa with candles burning and fairy lights sparkling with a good old Christmas film so I thought I would share with you my favourites…
Elf
The Holiday
Arthur Christmas
Nativity!
The Grinch
The Polar Express
Home Alone 1 & 2
The Snowman & The Snowman And The Snowdog
Miracle on 34th Street
An Elf’s Story
The Santa Clause Collection
Prancer
The Muppet Christmas Carol
What are your favourite films to get you in the festive spirit?
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This year I have really tried to up my photography game and although it is not fantastic, I feel as though it has improved since The July Journal’s 2014 blog photography.
With this in mind, photography props have become quite important to me. I’ve been trying to throw all sorts of creative ideas together to make my photos look a little different during the festive period this year. I’ve actually got a whole box full of props for seasonal photography and just for my ‘everyday’ blog photos that I post all year round. There’s so many things that you can actually use because you can use anything as a prop but I’ve put together a few ideas to up your blogging game during the festive period. Hopefully it can help some of you out for ideas…
Christmas Magazines are my favourite type of festive photography prop. I always find the pages filled with gorgeous, aesthetic images and are the perfect thing to add to your posts, especially the beauty related ones. Did I mention this can be free to? You can simply pick up the Boots Health & Beauty magazine for free if you have an advantage card holder or even Superdrug’s DARE magazine for free whilst your doing your Christmas shopping.
Decorations are another go-to photo prop for December. You will always have spare baubles, decorative beads, fairy lights, tinsel and candy canes laying around the house. They can add colour and sparkle to photos to give your images a bit more of a festive depth.
Whilst you are wrapping up your presents, you could always keep some spare wrapping paper, ribbon, tags or even use the finished presents in your images during blogmas. I was lucky enough to be gifted some personalised gift wrap from Pretty Gifted* this year however you could use the ones that you have bought to wrap your Christmas presents up. I like to layer them on top of each other so it isn’t just one colour.
Patterned fabrics is another one of my favourites. I don’t know about you but I have some amazing Christmas bedding on, thanks to Primark. I love using a splash of pattern in the back of my images. I find it’s not too much if you feature it in the corner of some images. You could also use scarves, patterned pyjamas or those extremely festive leggings that you find in Primark these days. It’s another great way to add different textures to your images too.
Not one of my favourites just because of the mess it can leave but why not use glitter sprinkled in images to add something different. It doesn’t have to be loads, it could even be specifically Christmas/Festive related glitter pieces that you can find in craft stores. Tweezers are handy to have around whilst doing this so you can pick out your faves part of the glitter mixes.
During Autumn I used artificial leaves in the background of some images that I took for my blog posts, why not use pinecones, holly or candy canes?
Hopefully this can help some of you out a little or gave you some photography inspiration maybe?
♥
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One of the worst things that I have ever had to deal with is insomnia. If you have had it then you will understand the pain that I go through. It all started when I went to university in 2013. I remember going downstairs to my friend’s room at 3am every morning requesting one of her sleeping tablets but they never really worked. Nowadays it’s even worse in my attempt to switch off from social media proves difficult and then when I do I end up overthinking everything from a list of things I need to do to worrying about something which is probably stupid.
Apparently the standard eight hours sleep isn’t enough for some people, it’s down to the quality of sleep. Anyway, as you can imagine when the lovely team over at Benenox sent me their Overnight Recharge I was extremely intrigued to find out if it improves my sleep.
So, you’re probably wondering what the heck is Benenox? Well, Benenox Overnight Recharge* are a flavoured food supplement ideal for those who struggle with disrupted sleep, tiredness, low energy and concentration levels. It claims to “supplement your body’s stored energy levels to support good quality sleep, leaving you feeling fully recharged and ready to take on the day ahead“.
It comes in two flavours, Blackcurrant and Lemon & Ginger. Overnight Recharge is a combination of:
honey which is known for its health benefits and believed to boost glycogen stored in the liver to use during the night
Sustamine® which is a combination of two amnio acids to help the liver store glycogen by slowing the absorption of honey in the stomach
Vitamin B6 which has been shown to reduce tiredness and fatigue while supporting psychological function in turn helping you feel more energised.
I have used the product since 6th November and the first thing I have noticed is the effect it has had on my concentration levels. I feel as though I can truly concentrate on the work I do when I am in college as well as paying more attention when I am at my placement. Obviously working with a lot of children during the day and playing with my boyfriend’s six year old means I need a lot of energy – Benenox Overnight Recharge has improved my energy levels as well. It’s nice to know that the product has improved how I function during the day but the main question is, has it improved my sleep?
I can’t say it’s improved when I go to sleep because I’m still finding that difficult however falling asleep as been a lot quicker since taking the food supplement. It kind of puts my body into a relaxed, calm state so I’m not worrying about a million different things every night but I do still have the distraction of my phone and switching off from that. I have been measuring my the quality of my sleep through the ‘Bedtime’ function on my iPhone and ever since starting the food supplements, the quality of my sleep as improved massively. Nowadays, once I am asleep, I stay asleep which is such a big improvement.
If you’re interested in trying Benenox Overnight Recharge, you can find the vegetarian friendly food supplement in Asda, Holland & Barrett and on Amazon, priced at £12.49 for 135ml. It is quite expensive compared to sleeping tablets but I’m definitely going to continue purchasing it for a decent night sleep.
Have you tried Benenox before? Are you a night owl or a morning person?
♥
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Christmas Magazines are my favourite type of festive photography prop. I always find the pages filled with gorgeous, aesthetic images and are the perfect thing to add to your posts, especially the beauty related ones. Did I mention this can be free to? You can simply pick up the Boots Health & Beauty magazine for free if you have an advantage card holder or even Superdrug’s DARE magazine for free whilst your doing your Christmas shopping.
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