Nasty Gal: The clothing brand.

Earlier today whilst making the latest set for the Fashion Friday segment, I stumbled upon an advert for a clothing brand I had never heard of, Nasty Gal. Intrigued, I clicked on the advert and took a little while to browse through their website. Unfortunately, this brand seems to be targeted at UK size 6-8/US size 2-4 skinny minnies with small boobs and long legs - my figure is mostly opposite. It is not curvier-girl friendly at all, but the clothes are still rather nice to look at (although the price tags make me want to run and hide under my duvet for the rest of my life). However, there are many unique, modern and interesting pieces, and here's my pick of the best!

The pink dress was the first item I saw that I immediately fell in love with. I loved the design; the neckline is something I have not really seen before and is definitely the kind of dress I'd want to buy if I was going out clubbing (or something along those lines). The blue dress reminded me of Cinderella's which attracted me to the dress straight away. I love the laced up bodice, it gives a sort of medieval feel but the whole dress is still up-to-date and modern. Finally, I couldn't not include an LBD in this - I love the one-armed mesh detail and the fact the whole dress is rather abstract. It is definitely a dress I would look into buying (if I ever had the money!).

The cat leggings are the cutest! As I was scrolling through the leggings section, they were definitely the first to catch my eye and that is why they earned a spot in this blog post. If they were Siamese cats, they'd definitely remind me of the cats out of Lady and the Tramp (yet another Disney reference whoops). These galaxy shorts are amazing, although very pricey. Call me a hipster but I love galaxy print things, although I don't own anything myself. The pastel rainbow jeans kind of match with my background! They would completely, if I didn't edit the background to be a little bit darker. I have never seen jeans like this before; one of the many unique items Nasty Gal has to offer.

I adore dip-dye at the moment, so this colourful top stood out to me straight away. It's so cute and spring/summery and would look excellent with cut-off shorts. The blue fade shirt is super cool, although I would prefer if it wasn't mesh - I'm not too keen on see-through shirts as it means I have to buy a suitable top to wear underneath it too. Now, I have a little bone to pick with Nasty Gal - Judas Priest and Slayer, as you may or may not know, are heavy metal bands prominently famous in the 80s. Obviously, this sort of music isn't so popular nowadays although they do still have a large fanbase made up of people from all age groups. However, shirts with classic metal bands' logos emblazoned on the front being sold on modern womens' clothing websites (meaning merchandising stores are not included in this right now) are usually bought by people who do not actually like this music, and who just want to look 'cool', 'edgy' and 'grunge'*. Ugh. Right. Okay. I only included these shirts in this picture to be able to add in that rant, and the rant is over. If you are interested, here is the Judas Priest shirt and here is the Slayer shirt (although you are much better off buying a similar shirt from an official licensed merch store and cutting it up yourself - it will cost a lot less).

Anyway... back to being nice to Nasty Gal because after all, their original pieces are adorable.

Behold... light up trainers! If you're old enough, you'll probably remember when you were considered cool if you had trainers that lit up as you ran/walked/stomped on the ground to make them light up. I remember having a pair, and they were my favourite shoes in the world at the time. So these trainers make me feel nostalgic and I almost forgot how cool they were! Secondly, these amazing platform wedges were the first shoes I saw (or at least the first that stood out to me). I love the studded spike detail on the back and they'd be something I'd want to wear whilst performing onstage. Thirdly, the round, black, pearl detail sunglasses are very aptly named 'Audrey Circle Shades' - at first glance they definitely reminded me of Audrey Hepburn. They aren't really sunglasses I'd wear, but I still wanted to include them in this post. Finally, and the last item I will be showing you today, the purple and blue sunglasses. They're quite strangely shaped, which makes me like them even more, and the fact the purple and blue fade into each other give it a softer effect to balance out the obvious edginess from the frame.

Thank you for reading this post, I hope you enjoyed it! Overall, I think Nasty Gal's clothes are very beautiful, well designed and incredibly unique, however I don't think I'll be buying anything from there any time soon due to the high price of all the items (the perks of being a student, eh?).

- Kirstie x

*GRUNGE IS A GENRE NOT A STYLE AND THESE BANDS ARE MOST CERTAINLY NOT GRUNGE!

Fashion Friday #9

As I was browsing through the Topshop website at college the other week looking for ideas and inspiration for my final gig outfit (which I have now decided on), my friend pointed out to me these amazing leggings with giraffes on. So... today's (or should I say yesterday's) set is based around these same leggings.

I think the background detracts from the actual outfit... oops.

I have tried to keep the rest of the outfit as simple as possible as the outfit would be overpowered if there were two key pieces. I think the little print on the tee is quite fitting to the leggings!

You can buy these leggings from Topshop here for £25.

- Kirstie x

University updates and Minecraft.

So... I have some very, very, very good news on the university front - I have been offered an audition at Southampton Solent University, my first choice! I got the letter through yesterday and my audition is on the 6th June at 10am. Unfortunately, because travelling there includes a two hour bus journey (plus extra time waiting for buses etc.), I have to get up at 6:30am. Which I never have to do. But I guess that won't be too much a price to pay if I get a full offer from Solent at the end of this all! For the audition, I have to prepare a 2-5 minute long song of my choice to play on bass, read an excerpt of sheet music (oh lawdy Jesus I am not good with that kind of thing) and finally, improvise over a backing track which will be given to me on the day. Luckily, I've been doing a lot of improvisation work this year at college, so hopefully that will be a piece of cake! Anyhoo, wish me luck because I am sure it will come in handy! :)

Onto my second topic of this post. MINECRAFT. My sister has been home ill from school this past week, and since I have Mondays and Tuesdays off anyway I stayed home with her (I stayed home Wednesday too because I really could not be bothered to go in). We have the Minecraft demo on Xbox, so we decided to give that a little go. 'A little go' turned into 'we spent a very long time on it' and honestly, I can say I am totally addicted and cannot wait to get the full version! Amber also found a version for phones/iPods/etc. so I have installed the demo version of that too and I can't get enough of Minecraft. Seriously, if you haven't tried it out yet, GO AND TRY IT OUT NOW (or whenever you have time to). It is honestly so addictive and cute! According to a lot of people, it is better on the computer because of modding and such, but according to my friend today, there may be a modding kit coming to Xbox too so... watch this space.

- Kirstie x

Beauty Review #1: Solait Gradual Tan Lotion {Part 2}

So, I finally got round to applying the medium/dark lotion again and of course, I post this late. Procrastination at it's best, right? I procrastinate even the things I enjoy doing (e.g. writing for this blog).

I applied the lotion Monday night and again, immediately saw a glow and slight change in my skin tone. I still wasn't expecting big results as it is gradual tan lotion after all. On Tuesday morning, I noticed a definite change in my skin tone and I definitely had a tan line where I hadn't applied the lotion, which made me very happy! I think the trick with this lotion is you have to keep applying it until you get the results you like. I am going to apply it for the third time tonight and then hopefully I will see even better results!

Meanwhile, this will be the end of the review. Just a friendly reminder this is vegetarian/vegan friendly, the product has not been tested on animals. I would definitely buy this product again, it is great value for money and from what I can tell, rivals even the bigger brands of fake tan! This shade of gradual tan is best for those who want a noticeable but still subtle change in skin tone, rather than a very subtle one. I'd say this kind of tan is only for making it look very, very natural rather than having the full on bronzed effect that you'd get with instant tanners. I rate this product a 4/5 as it is not everything I'd hoped for, but still very, very good and very lovely on the skin (it moisturises!).

- Kirstie x

Playlist for the Week #9 {20/05 - 26/05}

Maybe I'll just make this a Monday thing now seeing as I have failed, for the third week in a row, to post this on Sunday...

MONDAY: Brand New Start - Alter Bridge
I was looking for a song that could sort of go with the fact that the football season is over and now I'm sad. However, this song has a happy vibe to it because it reminds me the season will start again soon and it'll be a new start for Southampton to (hopefully) work their way up the league!

TUESDAY: Almost Easy - Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged's Wembley date sold out within half an hour of the tickets being put on sale, so the line "come back again, it's almost easy" is me singing to the tickets to come back so I can buy one and see Avenged. This is the third time I've missed out on them, raaageeeee!!

WEDNESDAY: Next Year - Foo Fighters
As some of you may know, I'm planning on going to university in September and if things go my way, I'll be living there. However, accommodation is only available for the first year of uni so I'll most likely be living at home again. As in, "I'll be coming home next year".

THURSDAY: It's Not You - Halestorm
If you listen to the lyrics, this is a sort of "screw you" to the last guy I was with. I'll let you in on a little secret - I always liked his best friend better. ;) I also saw this song live at Download last year, which was incredible as I have a massive thing for the lead singer, Lzzy Hale. She is so awesome.

FRIDAY: Heartbreaker - Pat Benatar
This is another one of the songs we're learning for our final gig. Although this song is technically 70s (it was released at the very end of '79) we're still doing it as our argument is that Pat would've toured with the song during the 80s, and was also more successful during that decade.

SATURDAY: Weekend Wars - MGMT
I haven't listened to MGMT in a while and this has always been one of my favourite songs by them so that's why I decided to include this song in this week's playlist. Also because it has the word 'weekend' in the title, and of course, Saturday is the first full day of the weekend.

SUNDAY: Hysteria - Muse
Dude, the bassline is so amazing. I have never, ever, ever been able to play it, it's just so tricky but as soon as I get the hang of it, it'll literally be the only thing I ever play on bass in my free time! Also, the song is pretty damn decent too. Here's your occasional (and first) fix of Muse on my blog.

P.S. I still never put the tanning lotion on, so the post is delayed again, until tomorrow. I am rubbish, I know.

A strange end to the season, to say the least..

..the football season, that is! Look away now if you're really not interested in football - I'm going to ramble on for a fair bit about the last couple of weeks!

First of all, there was an insanely massive surprise last Saturday, as Wigan Athletic took on Manchester City in the FA Cup final and ACTUALLY WON. 1-0, in extra time! This disappointed me as I am a Man City fan and for the goal to just be out of Joe Hart's reach above him dug the wound deeper. However, what makes this situation even more surprising is three days later, Wigan confirmed their relegation from the Premier League to the Championship after losing 4-1 to Arsenal (and also confirmed my main men Southampton a spot in the Prem next season!). A disappointing setback for City, but they really weren't trying their hardest that day and for Wigan, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (whereas City win things a lot more often) so I do believe Wigan were the more deserving winners. Congratulations to them, and I wish they were able to push on and stay up in the league but maybe we'll see them again in a couple seasons' time!

Secondly, an amazing win happened on Wednesday - Chelsea beat Benfica 2-1 to win the Europa League, to have the amazing achievement of holding both European titles at the same time seeing as they won the Champions League last year*! I am immensely proud of the guys as they are a team I have liked for a very long time. It was a very well deserved win, with amazing goals from Fernando Torres and Branislav Ivanović (seeing as he is a defender, this was amazing! Also his first goal for the club).

Also, FC Barcelona won La Liga last week! No surprise there really, but what was really amazing was that they never moved from the #1 spot in the league table, all throughout the season. Go Barça!

Today was the last day of the Premier League season (and probably the last day for most other leagues too). It was both a sad and happy day - a few footballers have retired this season; Michael Owen, Paul Scholes and Jamie Carragher all played their last games today and one of the most famous footballers ever, David Beckham, played his last match yesterday. It's another signal to the end of my childhood, as all four of these English legends I grew up watching play for our national team. Total respect and congratulations to these guys, as they have all had amazing careers and contributed heavily to English football as we know it. However, Michael and David have both contributed to overseas teams too, playing for Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and LA Galaxy between them.

A few managers have either left, retired or been fired which is always a sad moment in football. Football legend Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement from being a manager a couple of weeks ago - as most people know, he has been the manager for Manchester United for over 25 years. Most clubs get rid of their managers after one or two seasons, so for Sir Alex to have been a consistent manager for so long is an amazing achievement. There is no denying he is one of, if not the greatest manager to grace football. Congratulations to him, as he is a great credit to football. David Moyes announced he was leaving his managerial position at Everton the same day Sir Alex announced his retirement; funnily enough, it was confirmed he is to become United's new manager only a few hours later! Rafael Benitez had been set to leave Chelsea at the end of this season for a while now, and there's major speculation that my favourite past Chelsea manager, José Mourinho, is set to replace him. I am really hoping he is coming back, as he was Chelsea's manager when I first started supporting them and I've always thought he was an amazing manager, pretty much level with Sir Alex (they were even rivals when José was managing Chelsea). Finally, we received the sad news that Roberto Mancini had been fired from his managerial position at Manchester City, the day after they lost the FA Cup to Wigan - also a year to the day he guided City to win the Premier League title. Guess we'll have to wait and see who becomes City's next manager...

Today, the final games of the season were played (obviously). I think the most interesting game was the 5-5 draw between West Bromwich Albion and Manchester United - it must have been a very well played, interesting and tense game. There has never been a 5-5 draw in the Premier League, so they also made history! The rest of the results were:
Chelsea 2-1 Everton
Liverpool 1-0 Queens Park Rangers
Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal
West Ham 4-2 Reading
Southampton 1-1 Stoke City
Swansea City 0-3 Fulham
Wigan Athletic 2-2 Aston Villa
Manchester City 2-3 Norwich City
Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Sunderland
I don't think many people were expecting Man City and Swansea to lose! This was slightly disappointing as it affected Southampton's overall finishing spot, as did many of the other fixtures including their own seeing as they walked away with only one point rather than three (which they would have got if Rickie Lambert's goal in the first minute wasn't disallowed as he was ruled offside). However, I wouldn't have wanted Michael Owen to lose his last ever game, so I'm not too upset. It doesn't really matter too much where we finish, as we are still going to be in the Premier League next season and hopefully finish in the top 6, if Morgan Schneiderlin's prediction is right! Let's just say this won't be the first time he's proved people wrong...

P.S. hopefully my next post regarding football will be my announcement of getting a job at St Mary's Stadium! Not getting my hopes up because they usually end up being crushed

- Kirstie x
*note for those who may be confused - the Championship and the Champions League are two different things. The Championship is the second tier of the English football league system, whereas the Champions League is the biggest European competition between non-national teams.

Beauty Review #1: Solait Gradual Tan Lotion {Part 1}

This is the first beauty review I have ever done - so bear with me if it's a little patchy!

...that pun wasn't intentional, I swear.

Anyway - I have tried out both the Light/Medium and Medium/Dark tanning lotions. They are Superdrug's own brand, so that is the only place you can get this tanning lotion from if you're looking to buy it too - the usual price is £4.99, but it is currently on offer for £3.29!

As you can see, the bottles are virtually exactly the same except for the little label specifying which shade it is, so be careful you pick up the right shade you want! Also, this product is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

I tried out the light/medium shade first as I am quite pale; I noticed it gave me an immediate slight glow which I liked. It smells delicious with a coconut scent too, but it quickly fades once the lotion has been absorbed, leaving a slight biscuity smell which, luckily, isn't unpleasant at all. The following day, I noticed a very slight change in my skin tone, however after this it faded so I had to re-apply the tanning lotion. I wasn't very content with how little my skintone changed - I expected it to be a little bit darker! However, I would recommend this to someone who is only looking for a very, very subtle change. I expect this would work better on someone with very, very fair skin.

After this, I decided to try out the medium/dark toned lotion. Again, it had the same coconut smell fading to the biscuity one, and I noticed a bigger change in immediate glow than the light/medium lotion - this was a good sign as I wanted to go darker than the result of the lighter toned lotion. The morning after, I definitely noticed a change in my skintone; I looked like the result of staying out in the sun for a few hours, safely tanning. However, it has faded slightly so I am going to re-apply the lotion tonight and see if I have better results tomorrow morning.


[UPDATE: I didn't have time to put the lotion on last night, so I will do it tonight and post Part 2 tomorrow]

Fashion Friday #8

Well... Saturday. I literally had no time whatsoever to post yesterday - as soon as I got home from college, I had to do chores around the house and then get ready to go and see my best friend Zahna's performance of Macbeth (which was fabulous and she & her class were all amazing, I may add). So, here's what should have been yesterday's post!

As some of you may know, I'M GOING TO SEE PARAMORE IN SEPTEMBER!!! I am so, so SO excited and I cannot wait. I missed out on the first lot of tickets yesterday morning as they sold out really quickly, but then Paramore were lovely enough to add an extra Wembley date so whilst I was waiting to go in to watch Zahna's show, I bought my ticket. Thank God for smartphones (or rather, thank the inventors). So, this Fashion Friday is based on what I'm planning to wear to the gig!

The shorts and tights I'm planning on wearing are more green than blue, but everything else is more or less the same. I may also have to add a jacket into the outfit equation depending on the weather... I'm also quite scared, as I will be getting the train and tube to London without my mum or dad for the first time ever. I will, however, be with my friend Jake so at least if we get lost we won't be alone. How scary would that be?!

Anyway, I hope you like this set, and if you're also going to Paramore let me know - I might see you if you're at the second Wembley date (Saturday 28th September)!

- Kirstie x
P.S. ASDFGHJKL!!1!!1

Playlist for the Week #8 {13/05 - 19/05}

I'm getting so rubbish with posting on time, let alone regularly!

MONDAY: Paradise City - Guns n' Roses
This is one of the songs we might be learning for our final college gig next month (it's in two and half weeks!) so I learnt it on bass yesterday. It was a lot trickier than I expected it to be - Duff McKagan's basslines sound so easy but they're a lot harder than you'd expect!

TUESDAY: Decode - Paramore
I don't know why I picked this song, I guess I get the vibe it will fit Tuesday well. And also because it's one of my favourite songs eveeerrrrr. Definitely my favourite Paramore song too, I've loved it ever since the first time I heard it back in the days of the first Twilight film. :')

WEDNESDAY: Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis
You may remember this song from a few years ago. I remember my mum asking me if this was Chelsea FC's theme song and if that's why I liked them. It's not Chelsea's theme song, but Chelsea are playing the Europa League final on Wednesday, so here is Chelsea's unofficial anthem.

THURSDAY: Grow Up - Paramore
Okay so I have yet another Paramore song in the playlist #sorrynotsorry ;) I'm probably booking driving lessons on Thursday when I get home from college because I don't trust myself enough to do it myself so I'll get my dad to help me. Driving lessons = a part growing up.

FRIDAY: Too Many Faces - Cherri Bomb
I've been listening to Cherri Bomb a lot recently so I thought I'd include them in the playlist for the third time. They're all insanely talented girls (and guy now) especially for their age - they're all younger than me. Although Miranda's 18 soon but yeah she's still younger than me. c:

SATURDAY: Lesson Learned - Alice in Chains
I finally got round to putting Alice in Chains' album 'Black Gives Way To Blue' on my iPod (after my sister got it for me for Christmas) so I've been listening to the album quite a bit. Here's a song off the album, also in celebration that their next album is coming out soon, yay!

SUNDAY: My Hero - Foo Fighters
Sunday is the last day of this year's Premier League and since Southampton are most likely staying up, this song is dedicated to Markus Liebherr, Nicola Cortese, Nigel Adkins and Mauricio Pochettino for saving Southampton, getting them back-to-back promotions and keeping them up in the PL.

Fashion Friday #7

The item I have based this set around is the sunglasses - you may recognise them as the pair I bought on Tuesday. I decided to include them in today's set as I love them so much. You can buy them here for £20 from Topshop.

Little piece of trivia - the model in the photo is Irina Shayk, who is Cristiano Ronaldo's girlfriend. I didn't even realise it was her until I added the photo to the set!

- Kirstie x

The past few days...

...have been eventful, to say the least! On Monday, I went with my mum and sister to see my grandad down the social club he often goes to, as it was his birthday (and it was also a bank holiday! Although I have Mondays off anyway - and Tuesdays). It was the first time in ages we'd been to the club and the first time I was actually allowed to drink... so I ordered one of my current favourites, rum & coke. Before you start to worry, I can assure you I don't drink loads! I'm sensible, honest. I won't be becoming an alcoholic any time soon, I promise! If ever. Too expensive a habit/addiction to keep up anyway. Anyway - that was good, and it was lovely to see my grandad as I hardly see him.

On Tuesday I went to Fareham town centre, and that's where the mini-haul comes in! I won't repeat what I did, because I pretty much covered everything in that post (asides from buying large fries at McDonalds and picking up lemon and lime Slush Puppy squeezy jelly stuff for my sister). On Wednesday, I woke up late (whoops) so I decided there was no point going to college because I'd only be there for about an hour before I'd have to go home, so instead I went to Southampton to finally hand my stewarding application in at St Mary's Stadium. After that, I went to the Saints Megastore and bought the match-day programme of the match I stewarded back in February! Good memories. Also, Morgan Schneiderlin is on the cover of the programme, which makes me very happy! If you didn't already know, he is my favourite footballer.

However, on the bus home... disaster struck and a migraine triggered. Unfortunately, I don't just get the awful headaches - I also get aura (it affects your vision), nausea, and sickness. Since the bus journey from Southampton back to Gosport takes around an hour and a half, I was really worried I'd have to get off the bus and phone someone to come and pick me up. Luckily, that didn't happen and I made it home without any mishaps! I rested for the last part of the day and when I felt a little better I went downstairs and made some cheesy pasta. As in, plain pasta with cheese melted on top. That is what I'm probably going to live on when I go to university (hashtagstudentlife) as it is one of my favourite things ever and so cheap and easy to make, yay!

On Thursday, I was intent on going to college but unfortunately my body decided that nope, still not time for me to go in! The migraine lasted through till Thursday too - luckily this time, it was only the headache. I mooched about the house for most of the day until I got a massive craving of McDonalds' new McFlurry, Chocolate Fudge Brownie. Mmmmm... they've had it before, and another with a slight variation -  I think it had raspberry sauce in it instead of the chocolate. So I took the bus downtown purely for the McFlurry, although I had a cheeky quick look around New Look but didn't find anything that really stood out to me. After I'd finished the McFlurry, I got the bus back home and listened to music for a little while before leaving to catch even more buses to get to my dad's house, where I watched my sister on FIFA for a while, then went on it myself, then let her go back on it.

Finally, today, I was able to go back into college! I think the migraine has left, for now. No telling when it'll be back because they are utterly unpredictable and it seems anything can trigger them. Stress, tiredness, being excited about something, sadness, too much computer (whoops), dehydration, and weirdly enough, the weather. Which is what I think triggered this week's one, as the weather suddenly went from beautiful, warm and sunny to colder, cloudy and slightly rainy. Anyway. Today's college day was quite fun and it went by so quickly! I got in a little bit late as my bus was late, but then within half an hour of being in my first lesson I'd finished my last essay for one of the course modules, hell yes! After that lesson it was supposed to be rehearsal, however we ended up in the Mac Suite working on another assignment, which I finished just as the lesson finished, woohooo! Thumbs up for non-procrastination. In our third and final lesson, our teacher told us to pick six 80s songs to learn over the weekend seeing as our gig is in three weeks... arghhhh! We've picked eight, but two are going to be backups, which we have yet to decide...

And then I am so excited for tomorrow! It's the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Wigan Athletic! We're getting pizza too, yay! Little things like this make me so happy.

- Kirstie x
P.S. Fashion Friday coming right up ;)

Mini-haul #2

Today I went to Fareham as there were these sunglasses I'd seen on Polyvore that I really liked, and coincidentally enough they were from Topshop and in stock in the closest one to me. So I decided to go there to see if I suited them...

I absolutely love the swallow detail on the edges - I think it's an adorable little addition to such pretty, vintage-looking sunglasses. They were £20, although since I had my student card with me I got a cheeky little 10% discount meaning I paid £18. A little more than I'm usually willing to shell out on just a little accessory, but I just couldn't resist them and for once, I could actually afford to spend out a little more than usual!

I have also decided to try out gradual tan - every year I try and get a tan, but every year I end up staying pale as a ghost. So this year, I decided to put my "I don't want to be fake" thoughts behind me and try out Superdrug's own gradual tan lotion which I bought for £4.99. I may have to try this out a little later so I can start my tan off for tomorrow's day at college!

As you can also see from the photo, I bought new sheer black tights for £2.99 from New Look. I got a ladder in my previous ones (or should I say, my mother's, but she doesn't know they were hers oops) so I decided it's time to buy another pair seeing as I need tights to wear with the white lace dress, as it is really rather short! And also, I don't like wearing socks with bare legs so tights are my only other option, as I wear the dress with cute little leather brogues I bought from New Look for around £15.

- Kirstie x

Playlist for the Week #7 {06/05 - 12/05}

I'm seriously getting rubbish with posting regularly, what with the bank holiday yesterday I'm in a muddle with what the day is! Anyway, here's the 7th playlist of the week. By the way, I will keep the previous week's playlist on the playlist below when a new one's added! So there'll be two different playlists on there every week, being the new one and the previous one.

MONDAY: Pretty Girl Rock - Keri Hilson

Again, like last week's with ABBA in the playlist, my sister will get what this reference is about. Also, I strangely really like this song... I don't usually like this stuff, but this is so catchy and fun and I like the meaning behind it (she's telling women they should love themselves as they are).

TUESDAY: Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns n' Roses

This was one of the first songs I listened to today, so I decided it would be good to include it in this week's playlist. It says "bluest skies" in the song, and since there are blue skies again today, it kind of goes with the weather. Although I know he's singing about a girl's eyes really.

WEDNESDAY: The Unforgiven - Metallica

Again, one of the first songs I listened to today. Wednesday's my first college day of the week, and it's when everyone on the music courses is in. Most of the music department like Metallica, so I thought it would be fitting to include this seeing as they don't make much of an appearance!

THURSDAY: The Western Boy - Little Comets

Idk man I just really really love Little Comets. If you're into indie music, you should totally give them a listen, because they are awesome and their backup vocals are just totally awesome and weird and cool. And their guitar riffs... don't even get me started on them. They are amazing.

FRIDAY: Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden

Soundgarden haven't made an appearance in a while, so here's a little bit of them for Friday. If you know only one song by Soundgarden, this is most likely it! This is their biggest and most recognised hit and is probably the song that brought them massive fame. I'm not totally sure though.

SATURDAY: Saturday - The Enemy

Funnily enough, a song called Saturday on Saturday. And yet another song off the FIFA soundtrack. Quite fitting though, the FA Cup Final is this Saturday, yessss! Manchester City vs. Wigan Athletic. I like Man City, so I'm rooting for them to win. It should be a very, very good day.

SUNDAY: Hate To See Your Heart Break - Paramore

Yet another song off Paramore's new album. I've noticed quite a few people are feeling really down recently and I just want to say I'm always here if you need to talk to someone! So this song is dedicated to all of you guys who have been feeling a little (or a lot) upset in the last few days/weeks.

Fashion Friday #6

Today's outfit is inspired by the mint green nail varnish and hair flowers I bought the other day. As you can see, I have included a similar colour nail varnish in the set...

I decided to match it with same-colour sunglasses and Converse, a plan white vest/tank top/whatever you want to call it, paired with embellished and distressed shorts. I think this outfit would be good for a day out in the sun trying to get a tan - although maybe a bikini would be better to avoid annoying tan lines where you don't want them! Summer seems to have arrived as soon as spring found its way here - I've been out in shorts myself as it was too hot even at 9 in the morning when I left for college earlier.

- Kirstie x

Mini-haul #1

This is my first mini-haul - I say "my first", I have really been on many in the past, but this is the first that I will be posting about. It was an incredibly mini shopping haul because I am really the fussiest person when it comes to shopping and can take ages to decide whether I really want to buy something. I guess this is a good thing though, because it means I only buy the things I really do want! I went out with the intention of buying bass strings, a new bass bag since my one was falling apart, and earphones. None of which I got on Tuesday (but I got the strings and bag today). Here is what I ended up getting instead...

Claire's Accessories were doing a 3 for 2 offer on nail varnish so I just had to snap up a few as a bargain. I wanted a sea-foam green sort of colour anyway, and I ran out of top coat the last time I painted my nails so I needed to get another bottle of that. The third colour I chose was a simple white - this might come in handy soon (it appears a pale blue in the picture, ahhh). They were £2.25 each meaning I only spent £4.50 on them, yay! I also bought these cute little hair flowers for £3.50 to match the green nail varnish - I will post my outfit from today the next time I get a chance to as my dress had to go in for washing... remind me to never wear light coloured things when there is a chance I could spill things on them!

- Kirstie x
P.S. I also bought the Southampton FC Away Shirt, yay!

This weekend in a nutshell.

Let's just say, in a very brief nutshell, this weekend has been super freaking brilliant asides from one teensy setback.

Now I'm going to expand this nutshell and tell you all of what happened, starting from around 1pm Saturday afternoon when we left the house to firstly drop my sister off down town, and then secondly drop me off at St Mary's Stadium for around 2pm. Not much happened in that space of time except at one point we were cruising down the motorway listening to Muse - a band I hadn't actually listened to in absolutely ages, so that was pretty fun. My dad parked down a side road away from the main traffic towards the stadium, so I could then hop out of the car and walk the short distance from where he parked, to the stadium. By this point I was literally shaking with excitement - not only was I going to see actual live football for only the second time, it was really my first time being able to be a part of the audience due to the first time being for a stewarding course. And I was also going to see my favourite team, and if that wasn't enough, my favourite footballer too, Morgan Schneiderlin (who I have quite a large crush on, I must say).

I'm going to ignore how adorable Morgan is in this photo because
the guy directly to the left of his hands is pulling the best face ever.

As soon as I got into the stadium and found my seat I went to stand by the barrier to have a look at the goalies warming up. After a little while the rest of the team came out and honestly, the way I felt then... I'd love to have that feeling for the rest of my life, it's sort of like when you see a band and then you're like "OH MY GOD THEY'RE ACTUALLY REAL" yeah. That's how I felt, hehehe.

Unfortunately, this part of the story does not have a very happy ending. Southampton lost 3-0 to West Brom; West Brom were by far the better team that day and Southampton didn't play very well at all for some reason. But hey-ho, you win some, you lose some! I'm still proud of the team - that was the first game they'd lost in over 6 games. Plus, it wasn't all bad, as Manchester City won their game. :)

After the match, we popped to Asda to pick up a crate of cider seeing as I would be turning 18 in a matter of hours and I wanted a mini party with my best friend, my sister, and my sister's friend (who got me a card, a bracelet and a mahoosive badge! Awh!) except of course it would only be me and Zahna drinking since my sister and her friend are only 13. We got a crate-full of Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime, and since some toffee apple flavoured cider was on offer, three for £5 (I think) we also got those to try too. They were delicious!

Time passed and then suddenly I was 18. More time passed and suddenly it was 4am, so we decided we should probably sleep. Then more time passed, and it was 10am and we had bacon sandwiches yay. Even more time passed, I opened cards and the occasional present which was lovely ahh :') Eventually, we went to Frankie & Benny's and oh my god it was deliciouso. Being the silly woman I am, going to an Italian-American restaurant I ordered the very English fish & chips. After we'd all finished, the background music suddenly cut out and then there was loud birthday music. I immediately knew it was for me - there were balloons tied to the end of the table so I sort of knew it was coming!

Then the cake arrived... an amazing Thorntons one ahh :') Once I'd got over the initial embarrassment of all attention on me (I found it hilarious really), we cut up the cake. I think this post is getting a little boring now, so I'm going to end it here because not much else happened after this asides from I went back to my mum's and opened cards and presents again hahaha :')

- Kirstie x

Playlist for the Week #6 {29/04 - 05/05}

My internet is back, yay! Be prepared for a post spam...

...starting with this one.


MONDAY: Come Into My Head - Kimbra
Yet another song off the FIFA soundtrack; I honestly cannot get enough of it. I may have to buy it... I spent practically all day Monday on here until me, my mum and my sister went out for dinner with my uncle and grandad to celebrate my 18th which was the day before. Yay!

TUESDAY: (One Of Those) Crazy Girls - Paramore
I still haven't got over my new obsession with Paramore's new album, so here's another song off of it. My sister got me the album for my birthday, after telling me she wasn't getting it for me, making me actually genuinely believe she wouldn't. That was her plan all along. Thankyou Amber <3

WEDNESDAY: Free Me - Foo Fighters
This song is featured purely because Foo Fighters' album In Your Honour makes me feel so summery and the weather has been so beautiful and warm lately (with a couple of exceptions). This is one of my favourites off the album and one of the ones I listened to on the way to college today.

THURSDAY: Rooster - Alice In Chains
I have been singing this song a lot lately and am trying to get a cover sorted. I don't know why I've featured this song for Thursday in particular, but I just have. As you may have remembered from one of the Fashion Friday posts, this is one of my favourite Alice In Chains songs.

FRIDAY: Aeroplane - Red Hot Chili Peppers
My friend is doing this song for her grade 8 bass exam and when I got home I listened to it today for the first time in ages. It's such a bloody brilliant song and Flea's bassline is insane. If I could ever play bass like him I would be so happy. He is incredible, a true legend.

SATURDAY: National Anthem - Lana Del Rey
I can't believe this is only the second time I've featured Lana Del Rey in one of my playlists for the week. She is my absolute most favourite solo singer and every song she writes is so in depth and meaningful. On top of that she has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard.

SUNDAY: Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight) - ABBA
Okay, so this is probably one of the least serious songs I will ever include in a playlist, but if my sister is reading this post, she will get why this song is so funny. It's a sort of inside joke. And also... if you've seen the post on Tumblr... Yeah. If I find it, I'll link it. :)

- Kirstie x