Christmas time, mistletoe and wine

Wow, Christmas really does seem like so long ago doesn't it, or is that just me? It's weird how Christmas changes as I get older, I'm not sure if it was just an age thing this year, because we stepped out of our normal traditions and went out for dinner or due to some sad, unfortunate circumstances but even on the big day, it didn't feel like Christmas. However, I still loved and cherished every moment I was able to spend with my family and Lee, eating enough food to fill me for a year, sharing cringey cracker jokes and giggling at the pantomime on boxing day, even if my alarm did have to wake me up at 5am that morning, all ready to work in the Next sale. I was well and truly spoilt this year, I'm so grateful for everything I was lucky enough to unwrap on Christmas day...

Converse, knickers, cosy socks, pyjamas, Forever 21 stripy black top, Forever 21 long necklace

Simple skincare minis, Nivea sunshine essentials, Babyliss curling wand, Liz Earle skincare starter set, Victoria's Secret make up bag, mini impulse body sprays, cooling eye pads, face wipes, hand lotion, batiste, tangle teezer, tea tree oil, tea tree cleanser, Trevor Sorbie hair set, honey bubble bath, Flowerbomb perfume, Lady million perfume, Vera Wang princess night perfume. 

So, as you can see, I now have enough Soap and Glory to last me a lifetime, yay! I'm kicking myself for not snapping many pictures during the festive period but hey ho. I don't think I mentioned my job at Next to any of you, but yes, after moaning on and on I did manage to grab myself a Christmas temporary position and yesterday, it came to an end. It's been tiring but enjoyable, I met some lovely people and at least I now have experience of the crazy working world to add to that CV of mine. I hope each and every single one of you had a lovely Christmas and I wish you a very happy and healthy new year. Love,

Haul 4

1,2,4,5,6

Hello you lovely lot, I thought I would show you a few things I've bought recently as it's been a while. My wardrobe was definitely in need of some new winter goodies, I picked up a lovely khaki snood from Primark for a bargainous fiver too but it would not photograph without looking like a bundle of greyish wool. Sigh. I do love my two new jumpers, the blue one is such a nice bright blue, which is different from anything I own, it's a lovely fit with it's high neckline and tighter sleeves making it a little more 'put together' for daytime whereas the black one is the ultimate soft oversized jumper for those chilly days. I kept myself from buying cheap ugg boots last year because I wear them down within such a short space of time and we all know that that isn't a good look. They do keep your tootsies warm though so I couldn't resist. The Chelsea boots have hardly been off my feet since I bought them, they're simple so I find they go with so many outfits and they're super comfy. I did have to get these heeled after only 2 weeks though! I'm so bad for wearing shoes down! 

Moving on, meet my new bag. I managed to work out that it was actually the material on my last school bag from Primark which was making my clothes go bobbly in a certain place, making new clothes look tatty straight away, and that was why I was in need of a new'un. This is probably my favourite purchase. The faux leather is so soft and the bag is lined with a gorgeous berry coloured lining, it's so simple but aaah I just love it, I feel like it's quite classy with it's shape and subtle studding. I just picked up the Impulse as I like them for school, meaning I don't have to lug around a bottle of perfume as my perfumes seem to go down so fast when I do pop one in my bag. Finally, I did my back to mac and in return chose creme cup and I'm super duper pleased with it, it'll probably have a post of it's own sometime soon.

After a lovely Sunday lunch, I'm chilling watching Mr Beans holiday, such a good movie. Hope you enjoyed this haul, have you bought anything nice recently? p.s. how temperamental is my camera! Love,

Rachael xx

Haul 3

New look, £6 from £16.99

Blazer; Internacionale, £19.99. Bandeau tops; New Look, £2.99 each.

Black wedges, £10 from £25. Floral flatforms, £10 from £35 both ASOS. Green wedges; H&M, £10 from £24.99.

All earrings and rings; Dorothy Perkins, £1-£2. Collar necklace; H&M, £3.99.
Triangle necklace; Dorothy Perkins, £3 from £12.50. Hair Dye, £6.49 each.
L'oreal voluminous carbon black, £8.49 both Boots. Brush holder; TKMaxx, £4.99.

Hello, money has been spent and I'm back with another haul, oh dear. I have been trying to build up my basics recently which is why the clothing items may seem a little boring, however, the peplum top definitely steals the show for me. I was going to wait until I had the £18 and then splash out on the Topshop version but no need, I found this baby in the New Look sale. I usually stay away from tight fitting clothes as they often enjoy showing off my lumps and bumps but this beauty is so flattering, it totally sucks me in without feeling uncomfortable. I love how simple and classy it is. A blazer is something that has been on my wishlist for a while, this is actually the first one to ever have a place in that wardrobe of mine. The reason being is just because every time I go to buy one I always think they are too form fitting and I couldn't pull it off, this is perfect though, it may have a horrific neon orange thing down the inside but who's going to see it when you're wearing it? It's more casual than other blazers yet can still make you look smarter. I picked up 2 bandeau tops as I have a few things which could do with having one of these to be paired with, rather than me spoiling the look by having to chuck a vest top under certain items. I did pick up a white oversized t-shirt with cut out shoulders from New Look too, £4 from £6.99, however it was showing a hatred towards my camera, proving very hard to photograph. I do love it though, oversized tops are definitely more my thing, so versatile! The shoes. Where do I start, £10 each, how much of a bargain, the green ones are actually much brighter than they are showing up, I love them! As you can see, I may have accidentally on purpose had a rummage through the Dorothy Perkins jewellery sale, the prices are amazing! My large collection of other costume jewellery has been lying around collecting dust for a while now, non of my rings actually fit me any more so what do we do, we start a whole new collection with the next size up. A medium is a little on the large side but we can work with it. I love all of my new pieces, including the two necklaces. I have wanted the collar necklace for ages, I love how they both look, they really add to an outfit. I don't even need the hair dye now, I'm assisting my friend in her hairdressing assessment so she's going to colour it for me for the grand price of nothing. The mascara was a recommendation from this lovely blogger, I originally had the telescopic mascara scribbled down on my little shopping list, just because I am a little obsessed with Anna, everything she loves, I need. I just couldn't pay the price, I know it's not even that expensive I'm just tight with my pennies haha. I also got a new brush holder, I spotted this in Barbara's room tour and knew that it needed a place in my bedroom. It matches my room perfectly, it spins too, just saying.

What have you been buying recently? I'm currently blogging from school, this is strange, blogger has always been blocked but for some reason, it's back! Lets hope it stays, there are people behind me though, praying they can't see what I'm upto! Talking of school I have one more lesson and then my summer holidays begin, yay! I'm off to get my hair coloured and then spending the night with the girls. I hope you're all well and have had a good week .

Thank you for reading. Love, 

Rachael xx

My 17th - new belongings

I apologise for the photo heavy post but you may or may not know that I turned 17 on Friday. I got some wonderful things and am so so grateful for everything! My main present was that little envelope from my mam and dad, first things first I'm definitely keeping that envelope, my mam and dad got divorced when I was very young so I haven't had anything signed from the two of them in a very long time, it's the small things. Inside that envelope is a voucher for 10 driving lessons, yay! I can't show you it as it has my full name and local town on it but I cannot wait to start driving, my little blue Corsa came to live at mine on Friday which was so exciting. I have already booked my theory and just want to start driving now! The gift voucher next to it is to get my nails done if you were wondering. I feel like I should just explain a few things haha, the little empty bottle in the third photo is a refillable perfume roller ball which will come in so handy to throw in my bag, the ring is a gorgeous silver ring with a topaz from my grandma and the thing with the fairy is a lovely belly bar. I got my Casio, aaah! I was so happy, I absolutely love it, also, I finally own the real techniques core collection which I'm so pleased about, I can't wait to use them! In the photo with those brushes, the Hawaiian tropic SPF was a freebie thrown in from ASOS when my Casio was bought and the two pink bottles are a shower gel and body lotion which came with my Britney Spears fantasy perfume. Every year me and my mam buy each other a little bag of essentials, some people may think it's strange but I think it's a great idea which explains everything else in that photo. I now also have my first ever Yankee candle product, I got some pink sands tea lights and they smell lovely, I really love the tea light holders my grandma chose too, they match my room perfectly! In the last photo on the bottom right is a bin, which you may think is weird but I really want to add the finishing touches to my room and have been banging on about needing a bin for ages but I could never find one I really like, yes I'm that fussy about a bin haha. I guess my grandma just got me that Gollywog coaster because it's cute, bless her. I was also fortunate enough to receive quite a bit of money and have already bought some cheeky bits, I was going to include all of that in this post too but it's already way too long haha so I hope you don't mind another haul, possibly even my next post? 

As for the day itself, my friends are so cute, I walked into social for break and there they were at our table shouting happy birthday and popping party poppers. That's when I got my helium balloon which I proudly carried around school for the rest of the day, even if it was knocking everyone out haha. That night I went to a local Italians and had a very nice meal with my mam, her boyfriend and Lee. It was just a lovely chilled night to be honest. I did tell you all that I was going to 'hopefully post some birthday outfits' but once again I was in a massive rush on Friday and they just turned into a massive failure, I do have some photos though which I will show you in another post. As for Saturday, I said there would be drinks involved, well that didn't happen, I also said that the girls had something planned for Tuesday but I have just found out that plans need to be rearranged. I definitely did have a really nice birthday though! 

Thank you for reading. Love,

Rachael xx

Haul 2

Hair dye; £6.49, Deep treatment; £4.99, Carmex; £2.69 all boots

Top; Miss Selfridge £10 down from £18

Shirt; Dorothy Perkins, I can't find this online so am unsure of the price, sorry!

Dress; Primark £17

'Denim' look shirts; long sleeved £10, short sleeved £8 both Primark 

Vectra3 studded slippers; Topshop £28

Chocolate!

Aah I love it! Ring; Argos

Hello m'loves, a little late but I hope you had a nice Easter if you celebrate the occasion, our family don't do much to be honest, just an excuse to overload ourselves with chocolate. I did get some exciting new things over the past 2 weeks, I have included a few things which I have kindly been gifted with so I hope you don't mind that. I absolutely love the pink top, Miss Selfridge has some amazing pieces but they're all so pricey so I was super happy to find this in the sale. It's much more neon that what is showing up and I love the print as well as the high neckline. The shirt was an Easter present from my lovely mam as she knew that I had been eyeing it up for a while, it's also not showing up as bright as it is but it's so pretty! This dress definitely looks much better on and hopefully I can show you sometime. I really love the high-low hemline trend and this floaty dress shows it off really well, it has an interesting print but I must say, it still has a very feminine feel to it. I have wanted a denim shirt for a while but in all honesty I do find denim rather uncomfortable and restricting so when I spotted these very light, soft denim look versions I was a happy chappy. I love them to throw on over whatever when the weather is a bit warmer. I'm sure you all recognise these babies, the vectras, I own the black and silver ones and they may as well be the only shoes I own because I wear them so much! They are so comfortable but unfortunately my feet have a bit of a problem with shoes and I will manage to wear them down within such a short space of time. My black ones are currently suffering and I really don't want to think about the day that I have to throw them away. This is where my logic comes in, I bought the nude colour as they are just as gorgeous as the black but a lot more girly and spring/summer appropriate so hopefully I will reach for these more often meaning I'm not getting as much wear out of my black ones so they will last longer. Plan.

 I'm not too sure how the hair dye is going to look on my hair as I have went from a rather bright permanent red to a semi-permanent dark brown which came out jet black leaving me with black hair that still had red in it and some said it looked purple in the sun, I really loved it but like many others because summer is on the way I wanted something lighter and more soft looking. When I read this post stating that the exact colour recently used on Cheryl Cole was the L'oreal casting creme gloss in iced mocha I knew it was what I wanted so I grabbed two of these, lets hope my hair looks as good as hers! Because it was 3 for 2 I chose the Aussie 3 minute miracle colour deep treatment as my freebie, I knew that Jetley Mess had recommended me an Aussie product but could not remember for the life of me what it was exactly and blogger was failing on me, refusing to load on my phone so I just went with anything, I have used the little sachets of the 3 minute miracle product before and remember liking them so we shall see how this goes. As for the cherry Carmex, my mam picked me this up because my other one (the original) had vanished off the face of the earth and I was making a little bit of a deal of it because I am slightly OCD and if I loose things or if something gets thrown and is irretrievable before it is empty/unusable it will make me so unsettled! I'm a freak I know. I wasn't a massive fan of the original but I have higher hopes for this one, although I know some love the original I'm sure the fact that it has salicylic acid in it has something to do with the poor performance but this one doesn't, yay. Oh and I just fancied showing you my Easter treats, yum! I just couldn't resist sharing my ring with you. An amazing gift from Lee, it's so beautiful and I am so grateful! The camera definitely doesn't show the true beauty of this ring and no, it is not an engagement ring!

I have learnt 2 things whilst writing this haul, one; my camera really isn't too good and two; everything really does look better 'in real life'. If you are on Easter break I hope you've had a good one and are looking forward to returning to school, haha as if anyone is. I haven't done anything exciting but it's been quite chilled, now 4 days before I return to sixth form I am stressing about the amount of work and revision that I have not bothered to do. Such a bad student, I shall get it done though. Hopefully. Oh and I changed the name of my blog, I wasn't happy with 'Cinderella's castle' at all, lets face it, it is a little cheesy. 'Dreamer' popped into my head and you know when you think, that's it! I hope you enjoyed this post, what have you been buying recently?

Thanks for reading. Love, 
Rachael xx

Haul 1

One Day; £10, Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation; £5.98 both Asda, Strawberry milkshake candle; Primark £1

Earrings; New Look £4.99 each

Brogues; Dorothy Perkins £15, Plimsoles; Primark £2.50

Bird shirt; £6, Lace jumper; £8, Lace shirt; £8 all Primark

Leggings; Topshop £20, Zip through hoodie; Primark £12

I may have indulged in some retail therapy this half term...Had to pick up One Day after seeing it at the cinema and loving it, thought it would be the perfect movie to watch cuddled with the boyfriend on valentines day and it was. Following friends Dexter and Emma living there separate lives throughout the years until they realise what they really need is each other, it really is a cute love story. My much loved MAC pro longwear foundation is sadly running low and I cannot justify the £22.50 price tag so picked up the new Rimmel one with its pretty attractive packaging, we shall see how this works out. As soon as I spotted this candle sitting on the shelves of Primarni I knew it would look so cute in my room and it smells good although its unfortunately not all that obvious when it's burning. I'm not one to enjoy spending money so was super happy to get some bargains; New Look have buy one get one free on their jewellery at the minute as well as 20% student discount (unsure if it's still going, this was Tuesday) so I managed to get both sets of earrings for only £3.99, I rarely step out of my comfort zone and wear anything but studs, I was getting tired of wearing the same ones so was happy that my eagle eyes spotted these, they are so pretty! The brogues were another bargain, reduced to £15 then 25% student discount on top of that, not bad eh, I'm not sure how I'm going to style these brown ones though, any ideas? The plimsoles were just a replacement for my poor white ones which have been through a bit of a battering, I needed shoes to wear for my comfy hoodie and leggings days at sixth form and thought these would do the job. Got a bit carried away in Primark, ending up with 14 tops in my basket before realising that there was no way I was going to buy them all so narrowed it down to these three, perfect spring colours and all so pretty. I was lucky enough to win a £25 Topshop gift card from First Student which was super exciting considering I don't have the best of luck when it comes to give aways which lead me to giving these leggings a home in my wardrobe. I have slowly accepted the printed legging trend and have become to like them, these are super comfy but a bit of a warning, they are super long! For me anyways, suppose i'm a shorty. I must admit Primark prices are definitely rising and £12 for a hoodie was a bit of a shocker (a men's hoodie I should probably add) although the Topshop ones start at £22 so we can't complain. It's so comfy though and is really good quality, love the colour too! 

Hope you enjoyed my little haul, what have you been buying recently? Thanks for reading. Love,
Rachael xx