Monday, 5 January 2015

December || Instagram


♥ Can't beat a Dominoes


 ♥ All gingerbreaded out with my gingerbread jumper and gingerbread leggings


♥ Debenhams Brunch


♥ Personalised Cambridge Satchel Keyring


 ♥ Multrees Walk


♥ Cosy pj's and slippers


♥ Luca in his Christmas jumper


♥ Pretty flowers from G 


♥ White hot chocolate with Zomato


 ♥ Christmas presents from Gary


♥ Pretty Naked On The Run palette


 ♥ New Pandora rings and Christmas nails


♥ Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Christmas Edition


 ♥ Cards Against Humanity Card Game. If you haven't played this then you should! It isn't to be taken too seriously because it can be seen as offensive but if you don't take it seriously or aren't easily offended then it's good fun! 


♥ Safety First


♥ Pretty lantern from Next that my friend got me for Christmas with my timeless candle in it


♥ Heinz Tomato & Chilli soup with mini croissants. This soup is amazing, highly recommend


♥ New Year Nails


♥ New Year cocktails

I hope you enjoyed a little look at some of the pictures I posed throughout December, if you want to see more then my instagram is @whatabbyloves. Pop over and say hi because I'm always looking for new people to follow on instagram.

,Lots of Love, 

Friday, 2 January 2015

What I Got For Christmas || 2014


 I don't know about you but personally my most favourite posts are what I got for Christmas or what I got for my birthday. I'm naturally a really nosey person so I love seeing what other people get and also it lets you see things that you might want to buy in the sales or with your Christmas money. I asked on twitter whether you'd be interested in seeing this post from me and I got a lot of positive responses so here it is. Of course I am not in any way bragging and am very grateful for all my gifts.


I'll start with my stocking gifts that I get from Santa Claus because obviously they are the most important. I got some underwear from Boux Avenue which came in a pretty box with fake rose petals in it and I also got a bra from Kelly Brooks New Look range which I love, The pants are the softest material I have ever felt and I now really want to buy more from there in their sale. 

Of course I got the standard Terry's chocolate orange to resemble the orange that we used to always get when we were little... we've moved up in the world!


The next thing I got in my stocking was a little Perry the penguin shower loofah thing and as you'll know if you follow me on instagram I have been loving the little Polar bear version of this. I'm super happy to have a second one to add to my little Body Shop family, these are the best things for gentle exfoliation in the shower especially if you wear fake tan and want to exfoliate but not remove it.



Everybody who knows me knows I absolutely love Frozen so I'm really happy to have a calender with lots of Frozen pictures in it.


My mum and dad got me this Pandora heart ring in my stocking which I love and wear every single day.


Another piece of jewellery my parents got me in my stocking this year was these pearl earrings which are from a jewellers in Edinburgh. They're really pretty and as my mum says "every girl needs a pair of pearl earrings".


 As you can probably see there was a slight penguin theme running through my stocking this year. I love animals and penguins are no exception!


This is one of my favourite things that I got in my stocking because my technology levels are super basic so hopefully this will help me get better and be able to improve my blog.


Everybody knows I love Yankee candles so it's no surprise that I got some for Christmas. These two came in a set but I had to rip them open instantly to smell them of course. Neither are scents that I've ever smelt before but they're both really fresh scents. Season of Peace reminds me of something but I can't think what it's like a mixture of fresh snow and peppermint maybe??



Recently I've had a little obsession with jars from Tkmaxx for storing my make-up in and beauty accessories etc. I was really happy to get a little small one that I can use for my cotton buds cause currently they're mixed in with my cotton pads and it's not good for the OCD.


Aussie hair stuff is my fave because it smells incredible so I'm happy to have two big bottles to keep me going. I always find it so strange that brands sell smaller bottles of conditioner than shampoo.. I can't be the only person who's conditioner runs out first every single time!?


Being a blogger I love my notepads for jotting down lists and ideas of things so this is a perfect pressie for me. Its a London themed notebook so that's even better.


My gran got me another Pandora ring and this one is the Princess ring and I love how pretty it is.


I got this gorgeous lantern from my friend Linzi and I've already been burning candles in it which looks super pretty. 


My cousin Emma made me this which I was pleased about because although this sounds really odd I've always wanted an 'A' for my room. I just think it will look really nice sat on my dressing table and would make a nice background for blog photos.


Linzi also got me this strawberry body set from the Body Shop and the strawberry scent is one of my absolute faves from the Body Shop so love, love, love that.


My friend Emma obviously knows me and my candle problem because she bought me a large Yankee candle yay, in the scent Christmas cookie. I'm sure most of you already knows what it smells like but if you don't it's really sweet, smells like a mixture of vanilla and sugar so quite like a cookie mixture. 


 My friend Robyn got me this amazing Soap & Glory set which has lots of my favourite bits and bobs in it. The righteous butter, scrub of your life, hand food and heel genius are a few of my faves. I'm really excited about the cosy socks too because they look really fluffy. 




I got lots of body butters, face masks, perfume, chocolates and winter things like a nice pink snood and some gloves. Another favourite thing is this snuggle fleece from Next it's basically a big fluffy hoody so it's perfect for lounging around in. I also got these Little Blossom post it note and tab set, it's really pretty and has lots of animals on it. I love things like that because it helps me be more interested in being organised and revising.



 My most favourite presents this year were from Gary, probably the most impressive was that he got me the Naked On The Run palette!! I have been after this since I went to the Debenhams event and I must have chuntered on about it enough that he took note and bought me it. I'm a Naked palette fan and I already have all three so obviously this is a must have for my collection. 


He was also very thoughtful and bought me a Michael Kors purse which matches the Michael Kors bag he bought me for my birthday perfectly. I also really like that this one comes with a slot for your phone so if I feel like travelling light or if I'm going out for a night out/nipping to the shops it will double up as a clutch bag.


He also got me the romance ring from Pandora which looks really lovely on it's own but I love wearing it with my little love heart one on the top of it but it looks beautiful on it's own too.


I was also very lucky to receive the Bobbi Brown Make-Up Manual which I have wanted for the longest time and I was so surprised to see that Gary had bought me this because I didn't think he was that knowledgeable about makeup. 


The last few things Gary got me was a giant Thorntons reindeer and some Lindor chocolate truffle things and this book. The story behind this was I seen one similar and was saying I thought it would be fun to do and he went to get it but it was out of stock so he bought the 'more' version of it. Basically it has lots of different things to write about and I love writing so it'll be perfect for inspiring my creativity. 

I also got lots of money and vouchers so no doubt there will be a haul post up soon on the things that I buy with them!

I hope you liked seeing what I got for Christmas! Let me know in the comments what your favourite presents were this year.

Lots of Love,

Thursday, 1 January 2015

New Years Resolutions

New Years Resolutions are something I gave up making a long, long time ago because I always used to make them and break them within a couple of days. However, this year I have decided to make some acheivable resolutions and to share them with you guys so that I have to stick to them and if I don't then you can all think of a suitable way to punish me!!

♥ My first one is a pretty big one for me and that is to only depend on myself. I know that sounds really stupid but I'm one of those people that rely on other people to be happy and I get security off others almost. Then it's scary that if you fall out with that person or they are no longer in your live that you'll be really hurt. So that's a big one for me- become stronger within myself.

♥ My second one is to read more. I love reading books and it makes me really happy but I don't make enough time to read with my busy lifestyle.

♥ Spend more time with friends. Whilst I'm at university I always get so bogged down with coursework and tutorials and exams that I don't get to see my friends as much as I would like too. I also often let anxiety get the better of me and won't do something because of something involved that scares me which leads me onto my next resolution..

♥ Do more things that scare me. This may sound like a weird one but from someone who has come from being embarassingly shy and has anxiety trust me it works. If you push yourself into doing things that make you feel uncomfortable they soon become things you are comfortable with. I think I'm going to do a post going more into this in the New Year if anyone would like to read it?

♥ Be a nicer person. Just generally try to be more generous, more caring, more appreciative and to ignore negativity. I'm really bad for getting so wound up about things other people do and letting it bother me when really they don't care, the only person I'm hurting is me so let it go *bursts into song* 

♥ Go to more blog events. As I mentioned before my anxiety has led to me turning down invites to things simply because I'm too nervous but I'm going to make a massive effort next year to prevent this.

♥ Save money. I have a lot of expensive things I need/want to buy next year- I really want my own car and also a Macbook for improving my blog and I also really want to move out ideally within the next three years so I need to stop frittering the pennies away and work hard! 

♥ Work hard on my blog. I really want to grow my blog because I love doing it and it's become more than I ever imagined it would so I'd like to continue that in 2015. Whether that's learning technical ways to improve it or making improvements to my posts etc.

♥ Don't chase people. If someone wants to be in your life then welcome them but if they want to leave it then let them! I've wasted far too much of my life chasing 'fake friends' or people who don't make any effort or only want you when they need you. Don't waste your time hounding these people trying to make them want to spend time with you, if they don't they don't and you don't need them.

Those are my New Years resolutions for 2015, don't be afraid to give me a row if you think I'm not sticking to these! What are your resolutions for 2015? 

Lots of Love,