Lady Law Student

Getting ready for Uni

2016-08-31T03:54:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow see's the start of September which means that its only 4 more weeks until University starts, 4 short weeks. Trust me when I say that those weeks will fly by, soon you will be packing up your car, or your parents car or who ever has been tasked with the job of transporting you safely to your chosen University. So what top tips can I pass on to you for your first, second or even third year at university.

Buy a planner - or in short get your self organised, you will need to manage your time well so pick up a planner or use your phone calendar to sort out your first few weeks. The first two weeks of University are jam packed full of exciting events to meet lots of new people (potentially some of your best friends for the rest of your life!!), so make sure you drag your hungover self down to some events and meet people
Join a society - there is literally a society for every single hobby, sport, or subject you can think of, and if there isn't you can start you own. I made sure I joined the Law Society in first year and it was the best decision. They not only have their own sports teams, they also put on the yearly Law Ball and run all the competitions you will want to take part in.
Talk to people - it is so scary walking into your first lecture and not knowing a single person, you open the doors and 400 people are staring back at you. Do you know what makes that less scary...knowing people in the crowd. I'm terrible at biting the bullet and speaking to people, so luckily a lovely chatty Yorkshire gin lover plonked her self down next me and broke the ice! That lovely Gin fiend is still one of my close friends today (so thanks Laura for breaking the ice!)
Make the most of the extra curricular activities - I've mentioned before that its no longer enough to just have a degree, you need to show employers that your different from all the other graduates. The best way to do this is to bump up your CV with competitions, societies and work experience. The Law Society at Leicester put on tonnes of competitions each year, from mooting to client interviewing their is competition for every legal skill set that you will need. So dive in, put your name down on the list and have some fun!!
Find the Facebook Groups - Most University's will have a Facebook group for not only your subject but also each individual year. Click that join button because not only will you meet your course mate you will find those valuable second and third years to buy your second hand books from.

So there you have it my 5 top tips for preparing your self for the start of Uni, it will be the most exciting, interesting and challenging (in a good way) years of your life. If you take the time to get involved you will certainly reap the rewards. Let me know your top tips for starting Uni, or if your starting Leicester or studying Law this year.

Sending Leicester cwtches.

Lady Law Student
xxx

Warwickshire Wedding Shopping

2016-08-28T03:10:00.002-07:00

I'm not quite sure where this year is going, it feels like it was March yesterday and I blinked and BAM its now the August Bank Holiday. This week has been jam packed with lots of exciting trips and treats, the start of the week saw me jump into the Student Union Marketing and Events department for some pre-freshers briefing and the end of the week saw me trotting around the lovely White Boutique in Leamington Spa picking my wedding dress!!

So what else happened in between?

On Thursday my lovely Mother and I jumped in the car and headed down to the lovely Walton Hall in Wellsbourne for a mini spa break. Walton Hall is absolutely stunning, the weather was less than ideal on the first day but quite frankly the grounds were so beautiful that the rain didn't matter.

We started our Mother Daughter trip with a mini pamper session in the spa facilities, our Beauty Therapist for the day Molly was absolutely lovely and made sure that we felt relaxed and pampered all morning. The facilities were in need of a little love and care, and the pool was certainly in need of a jacuzzi, but the staff more than made up for it and both Mum and I had a wonderful day. The down time also meant that I finally got to read "The Cursed Child", possibly more on that in a different blog post!

So after our strenuous day of being pampered and looked after we dragged ourselves down to the restaurant for dinner in the main hotel. Our dinner was lovely but also the speediest three course meal I think I've ever had in my life! We sat down for dinner at 7pm and were done by 8pm (the staff are super efficient to say the least), the speed certainly didn't detract from the evening but it did make you feel as if they whisking you through as fast as possible.

Wedding Dress Shopping

The next day was hands down my favourite day of the whole trip, mainly because Mum and I picked my wedding dress. Having found the White Boutique on-line a few weeks prior to our trip we bounced out of bed and headed to Leamington for my dress appointment, where we were met by the lovely Ema. If your getting married and you live in the Midlands I highly recommend paying Ema a visit, she was amazing from start to finish. Both Mum and I were a touch overwhelmed once we were faced with a sea of dresses but Ema helped us sift through all the styles and fabrics to find my perfect dress.

The general rule is that you shouldn't pick the first dress that you try on....well I did exactly that! Once I tried it on I just knew it was the one, and as if it fate would have it the dress is called Zara which is the name of Simons Grandmother :)

Stratford-Upon-Avon & Two Noble Kinsman

Having picked my dress and accessories all before 12pm we decided to take a walk around Stratford-Upon-Avon and enjoy the lovely sunshine. Stratford is such a beautiful place, especially when the sun is shining, and not that far from Leicester! It is also packed full of the most amazing shops, my personal favourite was the Magic Shop that also sold ice cream and had the cutest seating area you ever did see!

Finally we finished off our trip away with a visit to the Swan Theatre to see "Two Noble Kinsman", which is one of the few Shakespeare plays I haven't seen. It was one of his last plays that he penned before his death and it is based on the Knights Tale by Chaucer. The whole production was absolutely incredible, from the costumes, to the set and the interestingly shaped Horses heads it was an highly entertaining evening.

So that was my lovely trip away in Warwickshire.I hope you all have lovely Bank Holiday weekend, whether your staying at home or going away. Let me know what your Bank Holiday plans are, and if you've been to Stratford recently. As always sending lots of Leicester cwtches.

Lady Law Student

xx

My September Bucket List

2016-08-19T07:56:00.002-07:00

Sometimes I look back on months, weeks, days that have passed and realise that I have wasted my days off on the sofa watching Netflix shows back-to-back (we all do it I know) while eating cereal out of the packet. On one of these recent lazy days off I was scrolling through some blog posts on BlogLovin and I came across a number of bucket list posts. The idea behind these is that bloggers post the things that they want to do before they "kick the bucket", so in line with this but on a less grand scale I decided to do a monthly Bucket List post where I would outline a few things that I want to achieve. Then at the end of each month, possibly in a section in my monthly favorites I'll let you know if I managed to complete any, or if I failed completely.

1. Dedicate more time to my friends

I am lucky to have to some quite frankly top notch friends (they really are) however I don't see them nearly enough. Some of this is due to the fact that as we all get older we've moved away, got married, had children and embarked upon demanding careers ( I say this as the full time student of the group), this means that it is often hard to get to together. This month I want to try and see my lovely friends even if its just for a lunch or coffee (so friends be warned Lady Law Student is coming for some quality time).

2. Get off the sofa and work out

Some months I'm super dedicated and I work out nearly 5 times a week and I eat well and just generally have my shit together. However some months, much like this month, I sit on the sofa eating doughnuts and watching documentaries. I have come to realise that I need to find a mid point, the happy medium as it were. So I am going to get off my bum at work three times a week, be it running, yoga or just a work out video at home I'm going to do it (please let me find the motivation).

3. Save some Money

All of my friends and family will testify to the fact that I am a Grade A shopping Queen (bow down before me) (jokes you don't have to). My wardrobe, makeup counter and bookshelves all show my problems. So this month I will not buy any new clothing, makeup products or books because honestly I don't need any more stuff. Instead I'm going to save that money and put it towards our wedding/new bed/car etc.

4. Get Organized

The beginning of my final year is looming on the horizon like Smaug the dragon loomed over the Misty Mountains (cheeky little Hobbit reference there for my work wife). So I need to get my ass in gear sort out my study room, plan my time and generally own my final year. Last year I felt like I took on way too much so this year I really want to focus on getting good grades and enjoying the last of my time at Uni.

5. Do some more Baking

I've set myself the slightly crazy task of baking my own wedding cake (clearly Lady Law Student had been at the Gin when I came up with this terrible idea). So September shall be the month where I experiment on people with terrible gin based cake concoctions (sorry Simon your waistline will not be thanking me for this). So people of Leicester watch out there shall be a crazy lady with cake on the loose.

So this is my September bucket list, hopefully I manage to achieve some of these things (probably wont but lets give it ago). Let me know if you do the same, and what you manage to cross off your list. As always you can follow me by subscribing to my blog or liking my page on Facebook. Sending huge Leicester hugs.

Lady Law Student

xxx

August's BirchBox and Love Me Beauty

2016-08-17T01:15:00.001-07:00

I love the start of the month, for so many reasons, but the main reason is it means my subscription boxes arrives woohoo, and I get to trial some new products. This month I stuck with BirchBox and Love Me Beauty, mainly because I love the range of products in each and the fact they are slightly different. The Love Me Beauty Box works slightly differently from BirchBox, due to the fact that you pick the products that you will receive.

So heres what I got in each box....

BirchBox

First of all I wasn't overly keen on the packaging this week purely for the fact that I own a lot of makeup bags already and I really don't need any more. That being said it is a good makeup bag and will be useful if your going on holiday, however I hope they go back to the boxes next month.After the highs of getting a spectrum makeup brush last month I was super excited to see what would be in this months box.

This months box is more focused on skincare and hair than makeup, so inside we have *drum roll*.

Anatomicals Coconut Mango Body Lotion - I love the smell of this lotion, I am a big fan of mango so I was really happy to see this when I opened my box/bag. It absorbs into the skin really well without leaving a sticky residue and makes your skin beautiful smooth. - £3.99

Philip Kingsley One More Day - Dry shampoo is always useful in my home so far I haven't used this but I'm sure it will be good. I try not to wash my hair too often as it strips the oils out of your hair so dry shampoo is always good to get me few the last day before I wash my hair. - £14.50

Balance Me - Radiance Face Mask - At least twice a week I slather my skin in a face mask so I'm always happy to receive a face mask, the blurb on the website makes the face mask sound great so we shall see. - £18.00

Marcelo Espresso Eye Liner - It is very very very rare that I wear eyeliner, I'm not good at applying it and I feel like once I've got it on that it looks like I've got way too much makeup on. That being said I am going to try it I think the brown shade may be more natural on me so fingers crossed I'll be converted. - £10.50

Merci Handy - Cherry - Hand sanitiser is always a good thing to have in your hand bag, who knows when you'll be stuck somewhere that doesn't have any soap etc. The smell isn't as overpowering as a I thought it would be so this little fella shall be moved to my handbag immediately.

English Laundry Perfume - For a long time I have used nothing but the Gucci Gardenia (which I love love) this perfume is sweeter than that but I do really like this one. The smell transports me to a French Chateau with the curtains blowing open (no idea why...literally not a clue), its a very sweet smell which reminds me of flowers in bloom. I don't think i'll be purchasing it but its nice to try. - Full size £60.00

So in full I was pretty happy I definitely feel like I got my moneys worth this month, I just hope next month they bring back the box (pretty please BirchBox).

Love Me Beauty

Within a day of my BirchBox arriving my lovely Love Me Beauty Box arrived (wahoooo), like I said above you get to pick the products you receive so in theory I should always be happy. This month I picked more skincare products than makeup, so heres what I picked.

Perfectly Perfecting Wonder Balm - I tried this in my hair yesterday and so far so good, I try and look after my hair as much as possible, my hair dresser Sacha at Georges Leicester is amazing so I try and keep her work looking good. After blowdrying my hair yesterday it definitely felt more manageable and smooth so...so far...good. - £18.00

Pixie Nourishing Lip Polish - My lips can get really dry sometimes and I'm also a huge fan of matte lips so these two things combined means I have to look after my lips. I've been using this for a few days and have been very happy with the results, it exfoliates off any dry skin and nourishes your lips so big thumbs up from me. - £14.00

Madeira Cellular Repair Serum - Last month I received a serum and I was so happy with the way it made my skin feel ( I have officially been converted to the joys of serums). This one is a scary green colour that blends in once it is rubbed in, it leaves my skin feeling matte which I love. My skin has been looking and feeling much better so this one was a win. - £38.00

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Oil - How beautiful is this oil..seriously look at it!! I put this on to my skin and immediately thought yes yes yes (sounds a bit Harry met Sally). This creates the most beautiful shimmer effect so I shall be saving this for Rome when hopefully I shall have a tan (lol probably more like a cooked lobster but a girl can dream). This oil can also be used in your hair, which I haven't tried yet, but hopefully it will look amazing. - £19.00

So all in all I was pretty happy with my boxes this month, let me know what you got or if you've used any of the products before. Hopefully your all enjoying your week, and if your not this post brightens your Wednesday a little bit. As always you can subscribe, follow me on BlogLovin, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Sending huge Leicester hugs to you all.

Lady Law Student

xx

Get your self some experience...

2016-08-13T03:11:00.002-07:00

As you may or may not have noticed I have been rather quiet this week, thats because I've been doing work experience at a Law firm in Nottingham. I have absolutely loved my week, the solicitors I was with made sure I had a varied week in lots of different departments and lots of things to do. So big thank you to them, also I got to spend a week in Nottingham which is a beautiful city.

With the level of competition in gaining Training Contracts it is now essential that you have some form of work experience on your C.V, whether its a vacation scheme, internship or just straight forward work experience.

So I'm going to give you my top tips for gaining work experience and how to ace your work experience.

How to get Work Experience

If you don't ask you don't get, when you get the opportunities to meet solicitors, barristers, chartered legal executives, chat to them and ask them for work experience. This is how I got my most of my work experience. I asked if there was any chance of me coming for a week and 99% of the time they say YES.
Once you've asked get their contact details and follow up with an e-mail and cover letter, I always follow up within a few days so that its fresh in their mind.
Be enthusiastic, so you don't want to work in property who cares still tell them how much you will value the opportunity.
Respond promptly to all correspondence, solicitors are busy busy people so they may take some time getting back to you. You do not have the same luxury always reply within 1-3 days of receiving the e-mail.
Be flexible with dates if they offer a number of dates try and be as accommodating as possible, obviously if its a week before exams they will understand.

So you've got managed to get some work experience...whats next??

How to ace your Work Experience..

Be on time! If you have to get up early to get the earlier Train/Bus/Car/Taxi/Tram then do it, nothing looks worse than turning up late on your first day. If you turn up early/on time it will make you look keen and ready for work, if you turn up late they will think you don't care.
If you are running late because your transport got delayed or something happened outside your control then contact them, it shows that you value the time they have set aside for you and that your still on your way.
Dress smart (super smart) first impressions count for a lot (yes you shouldn't be judged for how you look, but you will be). If you turn up smart and on time they will think "hey this person cares and is ready to learn". If you turn up scruffy and late they will think "this person obviously doesn't care". So set aside some time the night before to iron your shirt and polish your shoes.
Take a note pad with you, when someone asks you to do something take notes so that you get the task right. If you attend a meeting, court, client interview or conference call take lots of notes and then type them up for the solicitor your with. If they haven't asked you to take notes offer beforehand it goes down well.
If your given a task and you think there is something extra you can do ask them if you they would like you to do that little bit extra, it shows intuition and dedication to the task.
Thank everyone for giving up there time for you, they are busy busy people and they will appreciate the acknowledgement.
If you have questions then ask them, every department I worked in I asked people lots of questions about their department, how they qualified, if they had an tips and what they enjoyed about the area of law they worked in. Advice is invaluable I gained an incredible insight into qualifying routes and day to day life which you won't get from just going to lectures.
Grab every single opportunity if both hands, if someone asks if you want to sit in on something say yes! One morning I had to get up at 5 am so that I could travel to sit in on a hearing, did i want to get up that early ...not particularly. Did I still say yes and love every second...of course.
Work on every task given like your being graded for it, there is a chance that you might apply to this firm for a training contract or vacation scheme. You want them to remember you as always working to high standard.
Enjoy learning how a law firm runs and how various areas work. I love seeing law in practice the reality of tort law in theory to in practice is incredible. You might not enjoy that area in theory but in practice you might think is the best thing ever.

So those are my tips for getting and acing work experience I hope they help and if you have any tips let me know. Good luck in getting your foot in the door, the first step is asking for it. Sending huge sleepy Leicester cuddles.

Lady Law Student

xxx

So you're going to be a law student...

2016-08-04T07:02:00.001-07:00

You've spent two years cramming for A Level exams, drafting personal statements, visiting prospective universities, panicking about exams, and then the long wait. Maybe you've taken a gap year or a few years out, either way the time is finally here your going to be a law student.

So what should you expect? Are the horror stories true? Are you going to have a life, or will it be three years of tears and case studies? How will you cope?

In my first year lecture, over two years ago (where does the time go), our the head of our Law school warned us that while other courses would get to enjoy the carefree fun of first year we would be cramming morning noon and night. Was this true? well yes and no. Yes you have to work hard, but you knew that already, but your not going to spend the entirety of your three year degree staring at the Library walls. It's about balance.

My Ten Top Tips for Surviving

Go to lectures - this might seem like a silly point to make, but if you go to the lectures at the time tabled slot then you wont have to spend valuable hours catching up on Black Board.
Do the reading - no one wants to sit in a silent tutor group, it will be the longest hour of your life if no body speaks. It will also help hugely when it comes to revising later on.
Get to grips with OSCOLA - I spent so much time stressing over my referencing, if you get to grips with it now when it comes to writing your first essay it will make your life easier. Also reference as you go, saves time and you wont have try and frantically remember where you got that case from.
Buy your text books second hand - Law books are expensive there is no beating around the bush, however if you pick them up second hand from Second and Third years you will save your self some valuable pennies.
Manage your time - You can still have a life, you can still go out, you can have it all...just make sure you manage your time. Of course you can go out on Wednesday dressed as Mario, if you do your work little and often you wont suddenly be faced with 30 pages of Land law hungover on a Thursday morning.
Start revising early - Those summer exams roll around quickly, I mean really quickly your there enjoying your Christmas break eating mince pies and then BANG exams are here. Start your revision before the Easter holidays and do little and often and you will ace those exams (and you wont be panic cramming right at the end).
If your stuck ask for help - E-mail your tutors, they are there to help but do it with plenty of time. If you send them an e-mail a day before something is due to be handed in don't expect a response!!
Join the Law society - Not only do they put on great networking events, competitions, sporting events, and the yearly law ball (a well deserved chance to let your hair down). It will also give you the chance to meet important contacts for when it comes to applying for training contracts.
Buy lots of highlighters and sticky tabs - when it comes to organizing your notes and finding that quote from some obscure academic or judge you will thank your self if you stuck a sticky tab next to it for future use.
Enjoy your self - Your time at University will fly by, three years might seem like a long time but it will fly by. I swear time is sped up at Uni, so get stuck in and enjoy your self, make friends, join societies and take part.

Enjoy your time at Uni, good luck and work hard. Let me know if you have any tips for being a law student, or if you have any general student tips.

Lady Law Student

xx

July Favourites

2016-08-02T06:12:00.003-07:00

What a month July has been, after the excitement of June (getting older, holiday and engagements) I thought July might have been a bit of anti-climax. However Ive still managed to cram lots of exciting things in-between working lots and lots to save for my final year. So seeing as we are now in August I thought it was time for my July Favorites.

So without further delay....

Beauty and Beauty Accessories

July Beauty Favourites

Brush Cleaning Mat

Firstly I must apologize for how dirty it is but that also shows how much I use it, this little mat has become part of my weekly brush cleaning routine. This mat works wonders, it has six different textures that help clean all your different make-up brushes without damaging the bristles. It has suction cups on the reverse that means that it attaches to your sink for easy cleaning. This little gem was a present all the way from Canada from my beautiful Canadian Soul Sista, and it was well worth the long trip that it had to travel to get to me.


NYX Photo- Loving Primer

On a recent trip to the NYX counter in the Boots at Fosse Park, if you live in Leicester you and you like makeup you need to take a visit to the Boots there its massive. Like a Bee to pollen I headed straight to the NYX counter which is stocked with pretty much every single NYX product you could ever dream of trying. I recently decided that I needed to add a primer to my routine so I picked this one up, I highly recommend this product it keeps my makeup on all day and makes putting on foundation a dream.

NYX - Lingerie

In the very same shopping trip I picked up these two matte lip products from NYX, they are slightly heavier than the NYX Matte Lip Cream (which I love) which makes them perfect for a night out. I'm a huge fan of nude lips during the summer, I move to a much darker lip in the winter. They have fantastic staying power and could easily be a cheap dupe for Kylie Lip Kits.

Clinique Beyond Perfecting

Ah Clinique...I tried so hard to stay away, I even tried to find your replacement but alas it was not to be. As you may or may not know I tried to find a replacement for this that was slightly cheaper from NYX, and I lasted all of one week before I had to return to my old friend. I wont beat around the bush I simply hated the NYX foundation from my Pay Day post, the shade was flat and washed me out, the coverage just wasn't good enough and it felt like it just didn't sit right. So I reinvested in my old friend, and to be honest one bottle lasts me around 3-4 months so I don't feel too bad about it.

Food and Drink

Edamame Beans

Edamame Beans and Rock Salt

Before my lovely Canadian Soul Sista returned to her snowy home land she got me ridiculously addicted to these beans. If you have been to Wagamamas, Yo! Sushi or any other Japanese restaurant you've probably come across these pods of deliciousness. They are soy beans still in there pods that you can eat hot or cold (but they must be cooked), you pop open the pods and munch away on the beans (I cover mine in either salt or a sprinkle of Parmesan). Recently I found them in the Chinese supermarket next to DMU for £1.70 per frozen bag, and I just had to bulk buy and stock my freezer. These are now my favorite snack food, and better for you than crisps.

Hazelnut milk

I have had such a massive sweet tooth at the moment, I ate an entire bag of cookies on the walk home yesterday (much to Simon's amusement). The one thing that has helped curb it is Hazelnut milk, I've been popping this on my cereal in the morning for a morning burst of sweet goodness. Normally I'm a sucker for Almond Milk but being the rock and roll person I am I decided to mix it up. It successfully transforms your boring healthy bran flakes into a morning treat ..so for that its made it into my favorites.

Brambles Favorites

This month Miss Bramble discovered that she rather liked the taste of our door frame, we decided that while she might like the taste we preferred it teeth mark free. So to curb this new chewing habit we picked up some bitter apple spray from Wits End it works an absolute dream, she hasn't gone near the door frames since spraying it on. I've even managed to protect my plants from her sharp little puppy teeth with it.

The second thing on Bramble's list is the Ruffer and Tuffer rope toys we picked up two toys from this brand and she loves them, the rope colors make it easy for her to see. The second bonus is that it helps with her teeth coming through and saves our furniture from destruction. So this brand gets Brambles paw of approval!

So that's all of mine and Bramble's favorites this month, next month's favorites will be slightly different so stay tuned for that. Let me know what you've enjoyed this month, and if you have tried any of the things in this post. As always you can follow me on Blog Lovin,or FaceBook you can hit subscribe :).

Sending lots of Leicester cuddles

Lady Law Student & Bramble

Pay Day Treats

2016-07-27T10:46:00.003-07:00

Twinkle lights, lashes and cushions

Goodies

Its pay day (woohoo) and its taking all my strength not to press checkout on my ASOS wish list, so instead of spending horrible amounts on 100's of white t-shirts and midi skirts I decided to venture into town and pick up some budget treats. Hopefully this will quieten the inner shopping demon (mines very large and very persistent).

First of all apparently I live under a rock, this is the only conclusion that possibly makes sense as I have never ventured into the Homeware section of Primark . I love Primark PJ's, socks, and makeup bags so its beyond me why I never ventured to Homeware, so today I finally did..and WOW!!

Homeware Treats

Cushion - £5.00

Hello Sign - £12.00

Rose Fairy Lights - £6.00

Cushion, lights, and hello lights

Candle - £1.50

How cute are these little treats, the home ware section in the Leicester Primark isn't the largest but I still managed to find plenty of goodies to take home with me. I'm obsessed with cushions and once I saw this I had to have it for my little office/study/spare room, I plan on spending more time studying at home than the library this year so I'm trying to make my study cosy as possible.

Next i picked up this adorable little Hello sign, this one was the last one left so I popped into my basket before anyone else could. This is now proudly sat on my desk looking all twinkly and lovely, the best part is that the its battery powered which means you can place them wherever you want without worrying where the nearest socket is (also potential wedding decoration idea).

Finally I picked some lovely rose fairy lights and this sea salt and lavender candle, I love candles and I have lots of sweet and pretty Yankee candles. So I wanted to pick up something a bit fresher, this has a very clean scent and isn't overpowering.

Makeup Haul

After a spent hours lusting over homeware in Primark I popped across the street to Superdrug and Boots. As I'm trying to save for my final year my beloved Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation is being rationed, so Ive been looking for a high street foundation for day-to-day wear. I (like most people) am a big big fan of NYX cosmetics, they have the best matte lip creams and I use their contour palette pretty much every day...so I thought why not try out the foundation.

Fingers crossed this is as good as there other products, I also picked up the lasting perfection concealer from collection. Ive heard the most amazing reviews about the concealer so I thought lets see if its worth the hype.

Finally I picked up an eyeshadow palette from Sleek, I never never never wear eyeshadow but I really want to experiment more with eye makeup (my current routine is mascara...thats it!!). The shades in this palate are neutral and golds which Im hoping will suit my blue eyes. In light of making more an effort with my eye makeup I also picked up some false eyelashes in Superdrug, I can't wait to try them out this weekend.

Sorry this is such a long post, hope you've enjoyed having a look through my little hauls, let me know what you pick up this week or if you have any of these products. As always you can follow my FB page Lady Law Student or on Blog Lovin. Sending lots of Leicester love and cuddles to you all.

Lady Law Student

x

Paddling Pools, Sunny Walks and Spaniels

2016-07-24T07:17:00.002-07:00

Hello all you beautiful people, I hope you've all been enjoying the sunshine this week doesn't it feel like summer has finally arrived? I really hope its here to stay, please pretty please be here to stay. I really love living in the city in the summer, mainly for one reason...GELATO. Leicester has turned into such a Gelato hub its amazing. I especially recommend checking out Gelato Village.

Paddling Pool

I've spent a lot of time this week sat in a paddling pool in my back garden in an attempt to keep Bramble and me cool ( and splashing around like a big kid).

Paddling Pool

Budget Swimming Pool

Bramble keeping cool

I love this paddling pool, I bought it from Amazon a few months ago for the puppy to splash around in when it gets too hot, and Ive finally been able to crack it out. I absolutely love it and so does she, we spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday splashing around and enjoying the sun. My neighbours were no doubt looking out of their windows thinking "what a strange strange girl she is" but quite frankly I don't care :).

Sunday Walks

My favourite day of the weekend is Sundays, yea sure Saturdays are great and you can spend the day shopping, lunching, exploring and seeing friends. However, I much prefer lazy Sundays with Simon and Bramble. We've been trying to explore more of Leicestershire recently, its got so many hidden gems that are worth a look. So this week we made the short drive to Groby and went for a walk around its beautiful countryside.

Dapper Chappy

Country walks

Bramble and Simon

Groby Pool

I love going on unplanned walks where you just find your way around and don't follow a set path. Bramble absolutely loved bouncing around in the long grass and splashing through some streams. However if you do visit Groby Pool make sure you don't let your dogs (or yourselves) into the actual pool as it has Blue Green Algae which can make you both very poorly.

There are still lots of lovely streams that your dog can splash around in to keep nice and cool, so I highly recommend taking a trip down there.

Hope your all enjoying your Sunday, let me know what your favourite thing to do on a Sunday is. Don't forget you can follow my FB page Lady Law Student and on Blog Lovin (if your on there). Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, sending lots of Leicester cuddles to you all.

Lady Law Student

xx

Books, Ikea, and Lemons

2016-07-18T04:56:00.000-07:00

Good Afternoon, it is a delightfully sunny day in Leicester today. I love living in the city when the sun is shining, especially in Leicester as there are so many parks within walking distance of where I live. The weather tomorrow is supposed to be just as beautiful so I intend on finding myself a spot in the park with some iced tea, a book and a picnic blanket and enjoying the weather (while covered in factor 50, because I burn!!)

On the topic of books...

For my birthday my lovely Sister in law and her hubby bought me two books, I love reading so books are always a great present.I am forever dragging the boy to second hand book shops and coming away with stacks and stacks of books, in fact I love books so much that I dragged Si and our friends to the largest second hand bookshop in Inverness and spent far too long wandering around the book stacks. Enough rambling.... so the books they bought me were... The Husbands Secret by Lianne Moriarty

and Behind Closed Doors by B A Paris.

The Husbands Secret

This book was great, if you enjoy books by Kate Morton, this is the perfect book for you. This is the first ever book that I have read by her, and it was so good that once I finished it I was straight on iBooks looking for another one to read. I am big fan of books with that focus on "ordinary" people and relationships between characters, this book had all of this and more. Its the perfect beach book and is a great read.

Behind Closed Doors

I normally hate the phrase "unputdownable" , for so many reasons, mainly because its not a word, and secondly just say "I couldn't put it down". However...this book I defy you to put it down. I started it last night at work and before I knew it I was 197 pages in. This book was not what I was expecting at all, it is bone chillingly dark in places, granted I've not quite finished it yet, but there were parts of this book that really shocked me. It is not a gore filled book but it will make you shiver, it certainly makes you question how much you know about the people around you.

On a happier note...

I indulged one of my great joys in life and dragged the boy to IKEA on the weekend and picked up some little gems that I'd like to share with you. Firstly, in attempt to make our yard/garden look less yard like we picked up some greenery.

My favorite is the little lemon tree that Bramble is sat in front of, I don't know if it will produce lemons that we can actually use but I love how cute it is. We also picked up a little olive tree and two small shrub plants. I plan on picking up some fairy lights to brighten up the wall and some staggered flower beds so I can plant some herbs and flowers.

Finally we picked up this super cute tray table that we are using as a mini bar area.

This comes in lots of different colors but I just loved the gray one a little bit too much and this was my favorite purchase.

Hope you enjoyed this weeks post, Its my little brothers 21st birthday this week so I may be a bit quieter this week. Let me know if you liked anything your saw in this weeks post and if there are books you loved reading this summer.

Sending Leicester cuddles to you all.

Lady Law Student

Congradtulations

2016-07-15T03:24:00.001-07:00

First of all ....

A huge congradulations to all the Leicester Law Students who graduated yesterday, I can't imagine how good it must feel to know that all your years of hard work paid off. I got to see some of the fabulous outfits from my reception desk yesterday and you all looked amazing. Big shout out to all of the beautiful ladies from the Union Point reception desk who graduated this week, you all looked stunning and should be so proud of what you achieved. I hope you all really enjoyed your day, you all earned it.

Watching everyone graduate made me super excited to do the same next year, I can't wait to walk up on stage and receive my degree. It also means shopping for a graduation outfit, so keep your eyes peeled for a graduation outfit post in the future :)

This week ...

This week I've been; baking, working,puppy training, editing my blog layout (let me know what you think), writing an about me section , and receiving lots of lovely post goodies.

So...what do you do when you've got a whole bowl of limes and lots of gin....you make a Gin and Tonic Cake.

I doubled the recipe and made two and had a little bit left over for some cupcakes as well and instead of making the candied limes I just grated some lime zest on top of the icing, I also included some tonic in the icing. They are scrummy and one of my lovely ladies has one on its way in the post to her. I love making loaf cakes and I think that this will probably be my wedding cake, because both the fiancee and I love gin.

Postal Goodies

Obviously earlier in the week I received my Love Me Beauty Box and was super impressed, today I received my BirchBox and my favourite purchase from ASOS (more on that one later).

First of all my first ever BirchBox, I was super impressed with the packaging, the Love Me Beauty Box is super cute but this just feels more luxe and a bit more together. The colours are beautiful and the contents was a little bit of everything that I love.

I can't wait to try the sheet face masks, I love face masks and I try and do one at least once a week. I suffer with really bad skin at times and it can really get me down, so every week slapping on a face mask really makes me feel much better. There is nothing worse than still having spots at 27...seriously I thought i'd be done with teenage skin by now.

Also I was so freaking happy to see a spectrum makeup brush included, I'm obsessed with how pretty these makeup brushes are and I can't wait to try it out. A full sized Frizz Ease was also included with will hopefully save my hair over the humid summer months, fingers crossed. I also can't wait to try out the nails inc nail varnish which is the prettiest nude pink colour ( a serious wedding nail contender). Finally a full sized lip colour designed by Millie was included, its a beautiful boho pink colour that I'll be trying out this weekend.

Finally .....

My wedding shoes arrived, as I'm trying to plan a wedding a student budget I thought I would make the most of my student discount. ASOS has the most incredible wedding collection, and with a 10% student discount I decided to order my first wedding item....MY SHOES

I know some of you will be thinking...snooze she is wearing flat shoes, well yes I am. Its going to be a long day and I want to be comfy, plus I plan on swapping to a surprise pair of shoes at my reception...which I may reveal later on...or may not. I'm already completely in love with these shoes and they were only £25.00...and with student discount they were only £22.50.

Hope you enjoyed this post (and the new layout), sorry to spam you with another post only two days after I posted the last one I was just excited to share these with you. Next month I'll include my Love Me Beauty and Birch Box in one combined post. This weekend I'm dragging the poor boy to Ikea, so if you see a sad bearded man walking round Ikea that will be him.

Sending lots of Leicester cuddles to you all.

Lady Law Student

Love Me Beauty ...

2016-07-13T08:41:00.001-07:00

Love Me Beauty

I love getting things in the mail, so I thought it was about time that I signed up for a monthly beauty box. After hunting through the mountains of monthly subscription boxes available, trust me when I say there is a box for everyone out there, I settled on two different boxes. The first box I subscribed to was the Love Me Beauty, which arrived today, the second box I subscribed to was the Birch Box which should hopefully arrive later in the week.

The Love Me Beauty Box works slightly differently to most monthly boxes, your allocated a number of points and then you pick from a selection of products (worth different amounts in points) until you've reached your total. Some products are obviously worth more in points that others. So enough rambling...heres what I received.

Firstly I love the packaging, all my lovely products came in this little makeup bag in this beautiful pale blue colour. A girl always needs a makeup bag so this was a lovely added surprise.

So these are the products that I chose; pixi by petra mascara, La potion Infinite , Caudal Radiance Serum and the pop band.

I always sleep with my hair tied up away from my face, but then the next day I have that dreaded kink in my hair which is just one more thing for me to sort out in the morning. Having read that this leaves no kinks in your hair I was excited to give it a go, however when it arrived I was dubious as to whether this would contain my mountains of hair..I guess we will have to wait and see.

The second product I picked was the Pixi by Petra Lengthy Fibre Mascara, I love trying new mascaras. Saying that I have been using the same mascara for a while, which is the MAC Extended Play Gigablack Lash, however I love trying new products so I'm excited to try this out. The brush is slightly curved with lots of lovely lash catching bristles which I love and you can see that the formula is loaded with fibres which should be super lengthening.

The third product I chose was a serum, mainly cause I don't really use them and I wanted to see whether they are as good as everyone claims them to be. It claims to boast the radiance of your complexion and appearance for a smoother brighter looking skin...and I thought to myself who doesn't want that so into the basket it went.

Finally I picked a "super hydrating, restorative anti age cream" because I'm 27 now and you've got to start protecting your skin as early as you can right?? I have no idea how early your meant to start using anti ageing products but I figured what harm can it do??

So thats everything that I picked, let me know if any of you use the love me beauty box and if so what you picked, or if you use any of the products and love or hate them let me know. Hope you all enjoyed the post...if you do feel free to follow me on BlogLovin or on my FB page Lady Law Student (shameless self promo..sorry).

Sending lots of Leicester cuddles and Love.

Lady Law Student

xxx

Homeware treats on a budget ...

2016-07-09T11:27:00.002-07:00

Homeware treats on a student budget

Happy Saturday everyone, somehow (goodness knows how) I managed to end up with a Saturday off work...so...to celebrate I popped into Leicester and did a little bit of homeware shopping. Currently I'm on a pretty tight budget as I save up for 3rd year, so this meant that I really tried to shop around for some bargains and seeing as I found some I thought I'd share them with you lovely people.

So the first shop that I ventured into was ...

TKMaxx

I love browsing around TKmaxx, they are my favourite shop to pick up workout clothing from and converse trainer socks. Occasionally I venture into their Homeware section, and by occasionally I mean all the time, the duvet cover section is my absolute favourite ( I'm obsessed with bedding). This week I was on the hunt for picture frames and I picked a lovely worn silver wooden effect frame for a print that my lovely sisters in law to be sent us.

£6.99 TKMaxx

I then took a wander around the kitchenware section and picked up a teapot for loose leaf tea from Bodum, I normally use a tea infuser (I've got a super cute pug infuser and a Man-a-tea infuser). However, I thought I'd try a Tea press teapot as sometimes I want more than just one mug of Green Tea. Plus it was such a bargain at TKMaxx at only £5.99, which is nearly £20.00 cheaper than it normally retails for.

£5.99 TKMaxx

The second shop I popped into was ....

Wilko

I was hunting for some more photo frames to frame some holiday photo's and my friend wanted to pop into Wilko to pick up some door knobs, as you do, while I was waiting I wandered into the frame section. Wilko is normally the shop I pop into to pick up cotton pads for removing my makeup and not for homeware, however these frames were too good value not to pick up. I picked up two single frames and one multi photo frame.

£5.50 Wilko

£4.00 Wilko

I can't wait until we have our own home so I can create a gallery wall of all our pictures of our loved ones, but at the moment we have them arranged on our book case.

Next I popped into....

Tiger

I freaking love this shop, it is like a happy little Ikea that is full of wonderful little treats. Its the best shop to walk round, the music is so happy and everything is so bright and colourful. Of course best of all its a complete and utter bargain. My lovely friend Laura, the wonderful lady who bought me the lush face mask, bought us the sweetest little engagement candle. So Ive been searching for a little candle holder and I found this glass holder for ..... £2.00... its such a bargain.

£2.00

Finally I popped into paper chase

Paper Chase

Seriously who doesn't love Paper Chase it is a mecca for all stationary lovers, I always buy my cards from here, mainly because they do student discount and have a brilliant reward card system. I decided to start a Wedding/Engagement box to keep all the mementos, we've been so lucky to receive such love from all our friends and family and I wanted to keepsakes to be able to look back through in years to come. So I picked up one of their storage boxes in this beautiful gold polka dot design.

£8.00 (£7.20 with student discount)

Inside I've got the champagne cork from our first celebratory bottle with Simon's parents, a photobook of our holiday together, all our engagement cards and the ring box. As the planning and celebrations go on I plan to add the invitations and a sample of the dress fabric etc.

So thats all from my budget homeware shopping haul, I've included all the links for the products where I can find them. Also this week I set up a Lady Law Student FB page so give it a like if you've enjoyed todays post.

Hope you all have a lovely Saturday night, whether your hitting the town with friends or cuddling up on the sofa watching movies. Sending big Leicester cuddles to you all.

Lady Law Student

xxx

The Results are in.....

2016-07-06T03:14:00.001-07:00

The Results are in....

Finally, after what seems like an absolute age, I have received my exam results and I can happily announce that I got...*drum roll* ....a High 2:1. I'm so happy with the results and massively relieved that I've got 40% of my degree sorted. This year I did feel like I had taken on a little bit too much and I was worried that it would be my grades that suffered. While I am glad that I still managed to gain the grade I wanted, I will still be cutting back for my third year. Each year it gets tougher as they cut more and more student grants which means I have to pick up more and more hours, however sadly this is the reality for a lot of students. So to all you students working crazy hours to fund your studies I salute you, I fully appreciate how hard it is and it will all be worth it in the end. I cant wait to graduate next year and celebrate how hard I've worked.

Time to Celebrate

So to celebrate I have had a little pamper session, after a week of amazing food, wine and gelato, my skin was a bit of a mess. I suffer with breakouts a lot but the past few months I've been eating super healthy and working out lots and my skin had cleared right up. However, sadly on the week of my big birthday and engagement my skin was a disaster, luckily covered in all pictures by Clinique Beyond Perfecting in 0.5 Breeze (this foundation is amazing). I will admit it isn't the cheapest at £25.00, however one bottle lasts forever and it covers all sins. I came home determined to sort my skin out, and as if fate would have it my lovely friend, Miss Laura, had sent me a little birthday parcel including some lush face mask.

Lush face mask

This face mask is AMAZING, I used it once and my skin the next day was 100% better, the face mask is called Mask of Magnaminty. It has the most incredibly minty smell which is beautiful, fresh and clean, all lush products smell amazing so that's hardly a surprise. The other thing I absolutely love about this is that its self preserving, I love Lush face masks but I struggle to use all the product before I have to throw it away so the fact that this one doesn't go off as quickly is a massive plus, which is also a plus for my purse!! I'm sure you all know how to use a face mask, but if you don't,

I applied it to clean makeup free skin and left it on for the recommended 15 minutes, and then I removed it with warm water and a flannel. My skin felt amazing afterwards so thank you to Laura and Lush your both my favourites this week!!

My second pamper purchases

This week I sadly ran out my favourite blusher Benefit Dandelion , I love love love this blusher but on my student budget I can't afford to splash out at the moment. That being said it does last a very long time so if your willing to spend a touch more and treat your self it is worth it as this blusher has lasted me forever (and I wear makeup most days). So on my day off this week I decided to find a high street dupe, I searched Superdrug (which currently has 3 for 2) and picked up three new blushers. The closest match was Barry M - Make Me Blush Powder Blusher in Fairy Cake, it is such a pretty pink and is super buildable.

Fairy Cake

However seeing as it was 3 for 2 I also picked up some beautiful triple baked blushers from I Heart Makeup Factory , first of all the packaging for these products are too cute I saw them and just had to have them. Price wise they are only £4.99 which I thought was too good to pass up, and finally the colours are super pretty shimmery perfection. So I picked up the Queen of Hearts and Iced Hearts, the first is a pink shimmery colour which I will probably use for evening blush or on holiday in Rome. The second is a light shimmery highlighter which looks so delicate on top of my new Barry M blusher. I highly recommend taking a look at both of these products.

Blushing hearts - Candy Queen Hearts

Blushing Hears - Iced Hearts

Finally..my favourite purchase

I am a massive Harry Potter fan, so I can't believe its taken me this long to finally purchase so Harry Potter Pyjamas . Primark pyjama's are my favourite, they are cheap, comfy and come in the best designs and when I saw these I just had to have them!! I forgot to upload a picture of them but there is a picture of them on my Instagram @katdolly.

That's all from me this week, sorry if its been super long and rambling. I've tried to include more links so you can see where I get everything from.

Hope you all have a wonderful week and you get to enjoy some beautiful sunshine. Sending love and hugs.

Lady Law Student

xxx

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The Good, The Great and The Ugly

2016-06-30T08:22:00.001-07:00

What a week...

The Ugly

What a week its been, this has honestly been one of the most up and down weeks that comes to memory, I can honestly say it has been like riding a roller coaster. The end of last week saw My furry family and I head off on holiday to St. Davids in Pembrokeshire for 10 days of relaxing with friends. We arrived late Thursday night having just voted in the EU referendum. We awoke Friday morning to the news that the UK had decided to leave the EU, I can hand on heart say that this was not the news I was expecting. Having spent a year studying EU law I firmly believed that we would be remaining within the EU and that this was the best option for the UK. I'm not ashamed to say that the news brought tears to my eyes, I do not believe that the UK has made the right choice and I'm currently undecided as to whether I will stay when I graduate from university. While it may, in the long run, lead to a stronger economy, I am tired of being the generation that lives through uncertainty. I am the generation that saw the introduction of tuition fees, the removal of student grants and one recession. The idea of facing further uncertainty and a possible second recession greatly saddens me. But that being said, I suppose it falls to us all to pull up our sleeves and knuckle down together to make this work.

The Good

Don't worry this weeks post won't be all doom and gloom. The good this week is that I spent my birthday with my wonderful partner. friends and cheeky spaniel Bramble. We spent a wonderful week playing board games, cooking, drinking (possibly too much) and playing on the beach. It was a truly wonderful long weekend and I am so lucky to have the wonderful friends that I do.

Bramble in the sun

My wonderful partner and friends

Prosecco and Trivial Pursuit

St Davids, Pembrokeshire

I highly recommend, to absolutely everyone, visiting Pembrokeshire in Wales no matter what the weather is like it is always beautiful and full of incredible things to do. There are countless beaches to visit, amazing places to eat and independent shops crammed full of beautiful things to take home. My top 5 things to do are;

Narbeth, Pembrokeshire - one of the best tapas restaurants in Wales is located there, its called ultracomida. It also has tonnes of independent shops full of incredible treats.
Cwtch restaurant, St Davids, - we eat here every single year and it never fails to wow me. The menu changes most days and serves up some wonderful local produce. Also cwtch means cuddle in welsh.
Caerfai Bay, St Davids Pembrokeshire - less busy than most beaches in Pembrokeshire and is completely stunning. I took the dog for a walk there most mornings and the fresh sea blew out any cob webs from the night before. (pictured below)
The Bench , St Davids - the best gelato in wales, made from milk from the farm down the road. Also if you have a craving for a particular flavour you can request it and they will make it for you within 48 hours.
The Farmers Pub , St Davids, Pembrokeshire - traditional local pub, full of wonderful pictures of the local lifeboats, stunning beer garden and they sell kitkats behind the bar...what more could you ask for .

The Great (saving the best till last)

The Best news of the week...month...year for me is that *drum roll* my darling partner..now fiancee asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes. He took me to our favourite spot in Wales (a small bench which overlooks the sea on our favourite walk) and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, I of course burst into tears (of joy) and said yes. There are no words to describe how happy I am and I'm beyond thrilled that it happened in Wales. This means that there may be a student wedding budget blog post in the future (depending how crazy 3rd year is)

Fiancee and Bramble

Sadly we now only have one day left of our holiday before we head back to reality, so I am going to spend it curled up with the dog and a book. Sending sandy hugs and cwtches from Wales.

Lady Law Student

xxx

June Favourites

2016-06-20T01:11:00.000-07:00

Good Morning it is a very rainy Monday morning here in Leicester, so I thought i'd write a blog post to cheer my self up. I've seen lots of bloggers post their favourite products each month so I thought I would do the same.

June Favourites

(I know its not quite the end of June but I'm off on holiday on Thursday so I thought I would post this before I jet off on my holidays)

Makeup & Beauty Products

Benefit shy beam dandelion

This is my current go to highlighter, its the dandelion shy beam highlighter from benefit, it's a liquid highlighter which I apply with either my beauty blender or my highlighter stippling brush from real techniques. It gives just a gentle touch of highlighter and it is perfect for creating that beautiful strobing effect that all the bloggers and MU are going raving about.

Garnier Micellar Water

My second favourite this month (and probably this year so far) is the Garnier Micellar water, this has been a skin life saver. I suffer from really bad skin at times and this makeup remover has cleared by skin up no end. I use it morning and evening with a cotton pad and I cannot recommend this highly enough. It takes off all makeup easily and leaves my skin feeling so refreshed.

Keratin Oil

I always use Argan oil when I wash my hair to protect it from the heat that I (and most people) subject their hair to when styling. I recently ran out of my favourite oil and I thought that I would try one with keratin (hair protein) as well as Argan oil. I love love love this oil, I use it before I blow dry my hair, after straightening to smooth and after styling for a sleek finish. The other great thing about this product is that its often on offer (which is super important if your a poor student)

Food & Drinks

Ultra Cleanising Matcha Green Tea Powder

This month I've given up coffee and tea and I've swapped to a morning Matcha Green Tea Almond Milk Latte instead. I mix 1tsp with boiling water and mix until its a dissolved and then I add almond milk and ice and I whiz it my blend active. I've only recently started drinking it but so far I'm a huge fan it wakes up in the morning but doesn't make me feel like I'm wired. I also sometimes add a tsp to my lunch time smoothie if I feel i need a boast later on in the day. (This is also currently on offer in Holland and Barrett)

Homeware

Table ware - Naomi Battersby Pottery

My super talented friend has just finished her degree at DMU (De Montfort University Leicester) and invited us all to her degree show on Friday. She has created the most stunning range of table wear, I absolutely love her large bowls with the speckled grey effect. I highly recommend checking out her designs and following her on FB and Instagram She has also earned her self a place at the Younger Designers Show in London, so if your around London time go check it out.

Peonies

My favourite flowers used to be Lilies however I've recently fallen in love with Peonies, I picked up these stunning flowers from Lidl of all places. The sweet Williams were £1.50 and the Peonies were £3.00. I know that flowers are realistically a luxury for a student but sometimes you just feel like treating your self and I just fell in love with how big and beautiful they were.

Clothing & Accessories

H&M Gym Leggings

Can we just take a moment to fall in love with how bright and jazzy these work out leggings are. I'm obsessed with jazzy gym wear, I find it motivates me to get off my bum and go work out. H&M's activewear collections are pretty much my go to gym wear at the moment I love all their different designs and collections. So go check them out!!

Present from my Soul Sister

I love this ring far too much, it was a leaving present from my Canadian Soul Sister before she flew home. It's a vintage map of her home town so that she's always with me and I'm reminded of her. I've no idea where she got it from but I think its the perfect present for long distance friends.

Bramble's Favourites

As I'm sure your aware we recently extended our furry family and brought home the cutest little cocker spaniel called Bramble Liddi (or Reese's Pieces, Brams, Fur ball, Naughty Spaniel, or Bramblelicous). In honour of this I've added a Puppies favourite section of all of her favourite things.

My other owner - Simon

This is probably Bramble's favourite this month (year/life/ever), her other owner (and my partner) Simon. As you can see she is a bit in love with him and gets super excited every evening when he comes home. I guess he is also one of my favourites too.

Crate beds from Pets at Home

Being the naughty little spaniel that she is, she has been rather terrible at chewing her beds. We bought Ruff Tuff pet beds originally but at one point they only lasted two days, which for £30 a go it was not economical at all. So on a recent trip to pets at home I found these crate mats for £8.00 (BARGAIN!!!). The designs are a little bit bright but so far they are holding up well, they also fold in half and velcro together which is great because they also fit in her travel crate (massive plus) and as you can see they seem to get her snooze of approval.

Her final favourite this month is the Natures Menu meaty treats, we were recommended these by our puppy class instructor (Wits End Training School, Leicester). They are grain free, free from artificial flavours, gluten free and are made with real meat. She loves loves loves them, which makes training way easier (especially for recall training in the park). I also love the fact that they are softer which means you can tear them up in to smaller pieces so that they last longer.

So thats all from me and Bramble this week, I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I hope you all have a lovely week and this maybe brightens your rainy Monday. If you have any questions about anything in the blog then drop me a comment. You can also follow me on Instagram @katdolly, Twitter @haines_cat and on Snapchat @katdolly.

Peace and Love

Lady Law Student

May

2016-06-10T07:09:00.001-07:00

May 2016

It's been a busy couple of weeks so I've been away from my blog for a bit, but now with a long summer ahead of me I'll aim to try and write a post at least once every two weeks. So without further delay here is my May post.

Trying New Things

New LimeCrime - I have two moods, the cutest and most perfect nude matte lip to ever have existed, its called marshmallow as well which I super love. I wear it for nights out and day trips its so versatile. The second shade which is super dark is perfect for a vampy dark lip, I love it for nights out, it definitely sums up by other moods.
Makeup storage - I have forever been scanning through pintrest looking at makeup storage, especially the acrylic ones. I just love the way you can see all your different lipsticks, palettes and brushes. So I decided to dive and buy my own from Amazon. I mega mega mega love it. I can be super messy at times and I love the way that it keeps it all contained.

NYX - I'm so happy that this brand is now finally in boots, I'm forever buying it from asos but now I can go down and browse through all the amazing colours in person. They also make my favourite contour palette (powder and cream). I use the powder for my day-to-day contour and cream for a stronger more dramatic night time look. I also cannot hype up the lip liners enough they are so perfect I love them.
Finally - My New lace off shoulder top from H&M it is so structured and lady like I LOVE IT!! I love H&M it is my go to shop for; gym wear, day-to-day, work wear and evening glam.

What I've been up to

May saw me say good bye to my favourite Canadian Soul Sista, after a crazy night of tapas, tequila, gin, champagne, margaritas, jager bombs and sangria. We partied till 5:30 am (for those who know me...that is crazy late for me) its normally the time I get up to let the puppy out. It was the best night and the perfect see you soon for my Soul Sista.....obviously I'll have to start saving for my first visit to Canada.

My Last Exam...THANK GOD is over. It is so nice to not have to wake-up and immediately hit the books. So with all my spare time I'll be trying to get back in shape, start a bullet journal and do so much needed puppy training.

Up Coming Plans

So....whats planned for June ..Well in 2 short weeks we'll be driving to Wales to spend a week with friends. I plan on laying in the garden with a glass of wine, eating lots of gelato on the beach and cuddling my best friends baby.
I'll also be catching up on lots of missed date nights with the boy, who has been some-what neglected due to lots of revision.
Finally I'll be spending some quality time with the latest member of our family Miss Bramble the cocker spaniel. We started puppy classes week and we have lots of homework to do.

See you soon

Lady Law Student

xxx

Puppy Countdown Begins ...

2016-04-19T13:53:00.002-07:00

Puppy Countdown Begins....

This week was MEGA exciting for so many reasons, the main reason being that I got to see my puppy for the last time before we pick her up for good. I am beyond excited to finally bring her home, although the timing is not the best (she arrives 16 days before my first exam). That being said this is something that my partner and I had always wanted to do. So without further adieu may I introduce the lady herself ..

It was 100% love at first site and I cant wait for all the walks, training, chewing and pooping that are to follow. For the past 6 weeks I've been puppy proofing our little house for a our new arrival, which has meant lots of toy shopping, researching and stealing my nephews stair gate.

Apart from that this week has involved a lot of much needed revising(in my super cute home office) and tv watching,( big shout out to the new Stacey Dooley documentary (give her stuff a watch she is amazing). So in between all the land law revision, puppy research, working both jobs and my 3 other modules life has been fairly hectic. So tomorrow means a much needed night off with my girls for some dinner. face masks and bubbly! Even More exciting *drum roll* the boy turns 27 this weekend which means lots of gin, presents and BBQ (and embarrassing photos)

See you all next week

Lady Law Student xx

A stands for April and Adele

2016-04-10T09:02:00.001-07:00

A is for April and Adele

The start of this month was pretty special as I got to go see Adele live with my Canadian Soul Sister, it was quite literally one of the most incredible nights. Even though second year exams are just around the corner sometimes you need to take a night off and let your hair down, which we certainly did. Adele is one the funniest and most talented performs I've ever seen, granted the last gig I went to the lead singer threw up into a towel and threw into the the crowd so she didn't exactly have much competition.

Me and the Canadian Soul Sister.

However this does mean that I've had to hit the books hard to catch back up after our weekend off, so in the spirit of this here are some handy revision tips.

1. Coffee is great but don't over load on it otherwise you wont get enough sleep for the next day. I swap to green tea in the afternoons to keep my self going.
2. Wear something comfy to the library if your in there for a long time you want to be comfy and relaxed. Sure that pencil skirt looks cute but are you really going to be comfortable in it.
3. Gym breaks are a huge help, sometimes a quick gym session can revive a wiped out brain.
4. Mix it up, don't drill away a topic if its getting you down, Switch it up and come back to it when your owning another topic (that confidence will do wonders)
5. Plan your revision snacks, take some apples and bananas instead of bags of sweets (you'll thank me me later)
6. Take a break every now and then, just go for a walk around another floor or out of the building so you don't get cabin fever.
7. Drinks lots of water, a hydrated brain is a happy brain!
8. Cheer your friends on, if they are struggling and down remind them how awesome they are. What goes around comes around.
9. Don't compare your self to others, its not worth it don't do it. We've all got our strengths just because someone seems super together doesn't mean that they aren't worried too.
10. Dungarees make great pencil cases

Good luck with revision everyone :)

Hello

2016-04-06T09:10:00.001-07:00

To quote Adele "Hello its me"

Hello, I'm a second year law student trying hard to pass exams and avoid revision at the same time, trust me when I say that this is a job in its self. Shock horror I'm also a mature student ( I know I look so youthful) working two jobs to pay for a chronic shopping, baking, reading, makeup and cushion habit!

While sat on my bed, a few days ago, in my favorite sushi pj's surrounded by EU text books and notes I decided to start a blog, I thought to my self why procrastinate with Netflix when I can write it all down in a blog and look back over my time at uni in a few years. I guess I should tell you a few things about my self before we get started;

My Name is Cat
I own the cutest cocker spaniel called Bramble Lidi
I'm 26 soon to be 27 (hello mini life crisis)
I study law with the hope of being a solicitor
I love baking but don't really like cakes that much
Shopping is therapy
Makeup is like dressing up everyday and I love it
I try to be a gym bunny but I suck at it
Nature documentaries are my crack!
I cant spell, if I had to live without spell check I'd be in trouble.
Ebay shopping is a way of life.
Reading is one of my favorite hobbies
Instagram is far superior to Facebook
I love the color grey (if i could I'd paint my whole house grey)
Complete and utter Lush addict
Part Welsh and so proud of it
Stationary addict
Scared of the dark
Salted caramel is the best flavour
Coffee. Love it!