Shopping haul!

So on Tuesday I got the pleasure of dragging my boyfriend around Meadowhall in Sheffield (but to be fair we spent most of the time looking for things for him!) 

The main purpose was the buy a few things for our upcoming trip to Abu Dhabi and that is exactly what I did! I thought I would do my first haul blog and show you what I bought, where from and how much!

First up is nail varnish. I wanted a colour that was summery, but one that was subtle and could go with anything. I tried a few different brands on my nails, but couldn't find one that I liked and that seemed to dry well. 

Seventeen Gel Colour Varnish  - After spending about 10 minutes walking round the nail varnishes in boots, I eventually found this one. It is from a boots own brand called 'Seventeen'. I have had some products from there before, but usually there nail varnish doesn't stay on very well. They have re-branded their varnishes and added a new 'Gell' range and they are amazing! The range of colours is fantastic. I put it on straight after I got home and the quality is so good! It goes on really easy and I found that two coats created great coverage (I think one would look good if you needed a quick application). 

The colour I eventually settled on is called 'Mint BON BON'. As it suggests its a mint green, which really goes with anything! They cost £3.99, which I think is great value and boots had an offer on with 3 for 2 on all make up and nail products so be quick and the offer could still be on!

Check out the rest of seventeens products on the boots website here

Leather Strap Sandals - I had been eyeing up this product on the new look website for a while and wanted to see what they looked like on and they were perfect! They are genuine real leather too, which ensures they will last through a lot of wear, plus when they cost just £12.99 I couldn't say no! I fell in love with the light blue colour (which is the one I bought) but they do 5 other colours as well including black and red.

I love the layout of the straps and how they go around your foot and ankle and am very much looking forward to wearing these on holiday. 

If you want to view them online find them here. 

Casual t-shirts - I wanted to get some loose tops to keep me nice and cool during not just holiday, but during the summer (if the rain ever stops!). When I am looking for a cheap everyday clothes, or something that I don't mind getting ruined, I will always go to primark, it's cheap and some times you go in and can great bargains. I bought 3 t-shirts ranging from £2 - £4 in three different colours - pastel blue, green and grey. I think they are perfect to just quickly throw on with some shorts and sunglasses. Plus i'm not going to be too bothered if I get sun-cream on them or have to throw them away  - they only cost a few pound!
Primark doesn't have a website, but everywhere seems to have a shop somewhere, so although I can't link you to it, i'm sure you can find them!

VO5 Shampoo & Conditioner - I wanted to buy some cheap, yet lovely smelling Shampoo and Conditioner to use throughout my holiday. I went into Superdrug to see what was on offer and I was not disappointed by what they had! As well as the product I bought, they had my favorite hair range ever... Aussie!! This was on offer of 2 for £7, but I opted the try something different and a little cheaper. I saw these V05 products - and although I have never used them before - I have heard some great things about it. They were on an incredible offer of just £1.97!!! My main tick box for hair products was the smell. I wanted something that had a really strong lovely smell that would also make my hair feel great. Out of the whole range, I opted for the 'Give Me Moisture' selection as I want my hair to still be in a good condition under the hot sun. I am very much looking forward to using this very soon! 

To view more VO5 products or see what else superdrug has on offer click here

So that was a selection of my shopping trip, I hope you found it useful! 

What things have you been purchasing recently?

"The quickest way to know a woman is to go shopping with her"

Summer Shorts

Summer Shorts by samantha-charles featuring layered tops

Uniqlo layered top
uniqlo.com

Forever New shorts
$45 - forevernew.com.au

ASOS zipper bag
asos.com

Tiffany Co gold infinity ring
tiffany.com

Sparkling Sage charm pendant
6pm.com

Topshop chunky jewelry
topshop.com

TOMS sunglasses
toms.com






Sponsored Post 

Book List

At every opportunity I get, I read my book. Travelling on trains quite a lot - whether it's too visit home for the weekend or to visit my boyfriend for a few days - I always like to have my book with me and get a good chunk read. 

However, I have a massive book buying obsession. By the time I have finished one book, I have bought another 5! I never buy brand new books though, I love to buy a second hand book, I feel a sense of recycling and giving an old book a new home. 

So I have set myself a challenge of two things.... 

Number 1: Not to buy any new books at all (No matter how much I want them!) until I have at least started two of my others. I currently have 6 books on my university shelf that I have bought/borrowed of people and haven't even started as well as others on my shelf's at home. 

Number 2:  Write a review to post onto my blog about every book I read. I have been wanting to write book reviews for a long time now, but I just didn't know where to start with them. So I have researched and read so many book reviews that I think I have a better understanding of how to do it. 

In the last few days I have finished reading 'The Book Thief' and I will say without a doubt, it was the best book I have ever read! You may have heard of it, as it has just been released as a film staring Geoffrey Rush. I will be doing a full blog about the book in the next few weeks! 

A friend at university has just given me a book to read that she has raved about for months and months, so that one is my next project. It's called 'The five people you meet in heaven'. She told me that the book changed the way she views life and the people she meets on the street, so I am super excited to read it! (I am already on page 20!)

I currently have a waiting list of books at uni and am trying to put them in order of ones I want to start reading and others that I want to save for my upcoming holiday. Most of them have films too, so need to get reading them soon (I keep getting nagged to read the hunger games quickly by my boyfriend!!)

                                         

I am going to try my very best to blog about each book I read over the next few months.

Do you have any good book recommendations? 

"A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at the end.  You live several lives while reading it."

Long distance relationship survival

Whenever someone asks and they find out i'm in a long distance relationship, their first reaction is to make a sound and look at me like I have gone crazy and say things like 'oh I bet that's hard!'. Well yes it is hard, but it gets easier by you working at it and doing certain things to help it along. I have come up with a list of my top 5 ways on how to survive a long distance relationship! 

1. Contact:
I think this may be the most important one. Keeping in contact. Try and talk to each other at least once a day. The occasional text conversation is great but its also nice to hear your other half speak to you directly and know that their full attention is on you. The invention of Skype and Face-time is the best thing ever to happen to long distance relationships. Even when there not in the same room, you can feel as though they are for a short amount of time. You can fill them in on all the ups and downs of your day. After a Skype session with my boyfriend I always feel 100% better about everything! 

2. Set dates and plans:
Another very important one! Make sure you set dates of when your next going to see each other again. I found a quote once saying 'Missing someone is hard, but not knowing when your going to see each other again is even harder' and this definitely sums up long distance. It is so important to make sure you know when you can next see each other and count down the days. It means that you have something to look forward to. Making plans for when you do see each other is also just as important. Whether it be cuddling on the sofa with a film and chocolate, or going out for a meal - just make sure you have planned something. There is nothing worse than both sitting there on your phones not doing anything and feel like your wasting time together!

3. Something to remember 
For Christmas I got bought the most gorgeous teddy ever - named William. He is something to cuddle and remind me of my boyfriend (I also did the usual girlfriend thing and stole a hoodie too!). They both have a spray of my favorite smelling aftershave of his, to make it extra special. My advice is to definitely get something that both of your can have to remind you of each other.Even if it is just having pictures of each other on the walls. 

4. Never go to bed on an argument 
Having arguments is never easy. But when your not together and you argue, you can't 'kiss and make up' properly. I find that you tend to argue more when your not together because for some reason you brain says 'your not with him, so lets argue more!'. My advice would be, never go to bed on an argument. There is nothing worse than spending the night not being able to sleep because your thinking about arguing. So be sure that you are made up and happy again before the night is over, you will feel much better!

5. Stay positive
Now I must admit I am the worst at doing this! Not for thinking the relationship won't last, but more for saying things like 'we aren't going to see each other for ages' or 'This is so hard'. My boyfriend is constantly saying to me to 'stop being such a pessimist'. or 'stop being so negative'. I just find it very hard to stay positive when you have been put into a situation that you have no control over changing. One thing I find really useful is thinking about how grateful and thankful for having someone like this in my life. I simply have to look at the picture on my wall or a silly snapchat to remind myself that although we live over 100 miles away from each other, we are still very happy!

So that is my top 5 tips! I think with all of these things together any long distance relationship can work. But remember... It can only survive if you both want it too. You both need to put effort in to work at it! 

"Distance means so little, when someone means so much"

Monthly Favorites

As a new feature to my blog, I have decided to do a 'Monthly Favorites' section. At the end of each month, I will look back at what the best moments of that month were, favorite purchases, outings - anything that has really been great throughout the month. 

So.... as it has recently turned March, I thought I would start by looking back on what has been the best things about February. 


At the beginning of February I went home for a few days, saw some family and ate lots of food (Best part about going home!). Whilst there my parents decided to bring out the pasta maker and cook a meal altogether featuring some of our favorite foods. We opted for home made tattletale with seafood - squid, mussels (prepared by me!), king prawns and scallops with a marinara sauce. It was amazing! We were so full by the end of it and ended up having to take a break half way though, but it was totally worth it. I will post the recipe at a later date when I have collected it together, so watch out for it!

A unique way of hanging the pasta!

My wonderful mussels! 

One of my favorite purchases of this month comes not from shopping... but from food! Myself and a few of the girls from the drama society decided we needed cake and tea in our lives more often and this started with a trip to an amazing tea room in Sheffield. I have had cakes from their before but not actually sat and eaten there. They do a really wide range of cakes and their definite specialty is their cupcakes. They do everything from white chocolate and peppermint, salted caramel, chocolate and hazelnut just to name a few! Each day they surprise people with a special (which really are very special). Today's it is Mint chocolate chip, with a gooey center and glitter to decorate! 
On our outing I went for the raspberry and Lemon, it had loads of lemon curd in the middle, which was absolutely delicious and all washed down with many cups of tea! 

My final favorite comes from valentines day. Being in a long distance relationship, you have to find the time too see each other whenever the opportunity comes. Me and my boyfriend celebrated our valentines together a few weeks later than the actual date, but the plans he had defiantly made up for it. We spent the day feeding the ducks, walking in the rain, eating a picnic under the stars and just spending the day together whilst we had the chance. Perfect!

Feeding the ducks! :)

So those are some of my favorite things during February. 

What did you all get up to last month?

Got any favorite moments?

Link to the cafe!

http://www.fancie.co.uk/

"Whatever you decide to do, make sure it makes you happy"

Progress Report!

Since going live with my fundraising page and the blog on Saturday afternoon, the response has been overwhelming! By the afternoon of the following day, I had reached 50% of my £200 target. Both friends and family have donated, all leaving good luck messages and others to say how they had been affected by Macmillan cancer support too. 

One of my closest friends from school who I have know since the age of 7, donated and left me this message, showing to everyone how long I have been growing it and how much having long hair means to me! 

A comment from a close friend of mine, showing
how much my long hair means to me!!

I was out shopping with a friend and my phone kept going off saying I had emails and every time I looked, there was another donation. I can't believe the amount I have raised so far!

So I decided to raise my target from the original £200 to £300 and see how far towards that I can reach. The closer I get, the more I will raise it and I am currently 36% towards the new target!

Percentage raised since moving my target!

If you haven't done so already please share the link to my fundraising page and also to the blog. On my blog home page, there is a fast 'just giving' button. This will take you straight to the link to donate. Even if it is only a pound, every little really does help!

Donate & Share!

http://www.justgiving.com/Samantha-L-Charles

"The capacity to care is the think which gives life it's deepest significance"

Doing my bit for charity

So I have very curly hair which gets everywhere... Literally!! I am constantly moving it out my face and apologising for it blowing in other peoples faces! So it's time for it to go!!

For a while now I have wanted to cut my fairly long hair for two reasons...

1. So it's ready for summer to keep nice and cool

And

2. I have been growing my hair for so long and my goal was to have it about half way down my back, which I have achieved....

so it's time to cut it off!!

I heard about the little princess charity through someone who does youtube videos and is doing the same thing. They are a charity that take hair and use it to make wigs for children who have had cancer and chemotherapy and therefore have lost their hair.

But not only did I want to give my hair to the Little Princess Tust, but I also wanted to get sponsored to do it. So I decided to choose a charity that I know something about and is a title more close to home.

The macmillan cancer suppirt charity. They are are charity caring for patients and their families to help them get through it. They have nurses to go into people's homes and have helplines to give advice to people from how to manage finances whilst Ill, but also helping with telling loved ones that someone has cancer.

I have known about Macmillan for a long time. My granddad died from cancer when I was around 13 and he and the family were cared for by macmillan nurses and staff. Also my mom has organised Macmillan coffee mornings with her work for many years and I have always known her doing them.

I am planning to do this just before the Easter holidays at university start (aiming for the week of 7th April) and my aim at the moment is to raise around £200, so please please give towards this!

i will be writing a blog about my progress throughout and am panning to film it being cut off for everyone to see.

My closest friend also has a blog, which she will be writing on about this so please follow the links to her too!

Thank you everyone for supporting me!!

Samantha

xxx

My just giving page

 http://www.justgiving.com/Samantha-L-Charles

The little Princesses Trust 

http://www.littleprincesses.org.uk/

Macmillan Charity

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Home.aspx

My friends blog - give it a read!

http://www.aletterfromem.blogspot.co.uk/

The length of my hair at the moment!

Welcome!

Welcome to my brand new blog!

I am going to fill these pages with everything I get up to including being a student, book reviews, trips,music and everything else happening in my life! 


(I am also going to finish all my blogs with a little quote so here is today's!)

"All the dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them"

Walt Disney