Instagram Stalking...

Aside from Twitter, Instagram is my favourite social media network... They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and being able to see photographs from millions of people around the world is something rather incredible... As I'm sure most of you do, I have a few favourite accounts whose pictures I love, ten of which I'm about to share! 

1. nataliasmakeupcorner
I am obsessed with this Instagram account! The way Natalia showcases her products in the photographs is stunning, and her more personal posts every now and then make for lovely additions to her account! 

2. theresalila

Theresa posts mainly travel pictures which instantly sparks my desire to jump on a plane and explore the world! 

3. jasminestewart12

Beauty blogger Jasmine's account perfectly reflects her skills as a writer, frequently posting pictures of perfectly laid out cosmetics and often showing her pristinely painted nails; I love admiring her photographs for ideas and inspiration for my own blog pictures.

4. connorfranta

Connor's images have a slightly darker theme in terms of their tones, but his photography skills are undoubtedly amazing. Instant inspiration!

5. gh0stparties
Beauty, interior and lifestyle blogger Kate has a gorgeous Instagram account, many of the photos can be found on her blog under the same name. With an array of beauty, travel, food, fashion and lifestyle, her account has it all, and I'm very much in love with it.

6. rosielondoner

Similar to Kate, Rosie posts stunning snaps mainly focussing on lifestyle and travel. Her photographs are extremely professional looking and inspire me to become a better photographer!

7. ninakovalenko

Blogger Nina's Instagram account focusses on fashion, beauty and lifestyle, and all of her photographs are lovely to look at!

8. bubblymichelle

Michelle posts some lovely pictures of makeup, as well as lifestyle snaps and inspirational quotes!

9. amberfillerup

Amber's family pictures with her husband and baby literally make my heart melt, and I'm obsessed with her photos of fashion and hair tutorials... 

10. helensavenue

Lovely photographs of everyday adventures, I love Helen's Instagram account a lot! 

There you have it, my ten favourite Instagram accounts! My photography pleasures tend to be lifestyle and travel pictures, but a bit of beauty is always loved too! 

If you wish to follow me on Instagram or simply have a nosey, you can check my account out here.

What are your favourite Instagram accounts? Leave a comment and tell me! Due to my nosey nature I'd love to know and check them out! 

The Summer Bucket List

With a three month summer before (hopefully!) stepping into the big wide world and venturing to University, it only seemed right that I construct a list of all the things I want to do before the summer ends... Some serious, some silly, but all of them doable... 

1. Go bowling with friends and use our crazy nicknames on screen.
2. Read all of the books on my reading list.
3. Go to Bill's for lunch.
4. Have a scrapbooking session with friends.
5. Complete my scrapbook.
6. Blog, blog, blog!
7. Learn to cook.
8. Tick another country off my travel list.
9. Have a memorable summer trip.
10. Play messy twister.
11. Pass my driving test.
12. Spend a whole day baking.
13. Go on a girls trip!
14. Send a message in a bottle.
15. Take a tonne of photographs to remember the summer.

By the end of the summer I hope to have all of them ticked, and who knows, maybe I'll write a re-visited post at the time and see just how many I've accomplished!

What are your summer plans?

Park Picnics & Beach Fun

Last Tuesday, my best friend Cat turned 18! Similarly to Emma's picnic party which I wrote about here, Cat opted for a small social gathering in a local park for some picnic food and a summer meet up!

Arriving at midday, we took a quick trip to a nearby supermarket to pick up some food, mainly consisting of sandwiches, crips and drinks, with a few extra snacks such as sausage rolls and cakes! Once the food was purchased, we headed to the park and sat down in a lovely sunny area, where we commenced to eat, chat, and listen to music! 

I also took a few photographs whilst I was there, including these two in particular of Joe's shoes with a single daisy in front of one! 

After a good majority of the food had been eaten and beverages drank, we set off to the beach! Embracing our inner children, we improvised net-less volleyball, had a kick about, and even made a sand volcano... Aoife also brought her dog Lilly, who's the most adorable dog, ever. I would like to keep her please, Aoife... 

I must've underestimated just how hot it was (the sea breeze on the beach didn't help either), as I returned home looking much like a lobster... Lesson learned, always apply suncream in summer!

I had such a lovely day celebrating Cat's 18th birthday! The weather was perfect, and the people even better...

What have you been up to lately?

What's In My Hand Luggage?

Later today, after waiting for god knows how long at the check-in desk, and most likely even longer at security, I'll be jetting off to Turkey! 

Being only a medium-haul flight at four and a half hours, there isn't much I'll need to take in terms of hand luggage (though saying that, almost five hours is still a little while), but I've decided to share those necessities I will be taking with me! 

The important things...

This includes my passport, money, visa, insurance documents and boarding pass, as you know, you can't really get anywhere without them...

Electronics (and their chargers)

I think this is pretty much a given, but I'll definitely be taking my phone on holiday with me! Not only does it have my Spotify playlist on it, but I also prefer using it to take pictures than with my camera... You never know when you're gonna come across the perfect photo opportunity (out-of-window cloud shots anyone?) .. Plus, gotta have Facebook Messenger to communicate with my friends back home! 

I've also gotten into the habit of taking my iPad abroad with me (there's no way I'm taking my MacBook!) as it's easier for FaceTiming relatives and friends, keeping up with the blog while I'm away, and I also use the SkyGo app to download movies to pass those hours on the plane... 

Though it's doubtful I'll use my camera in the airport or on the plane, I always think it safer to keep it with me in my hand luggage! 

Earphones, (never headphones) because who doesn't like to listen to music and look out of the plane window, thinking about life and pretending you're in a movie?

Books

I'll always always always take a book on a plane... Chances are I'm not going to listen to music or watch films for the whole flight, plus, I'm a major bookaholic... I only take one, but I haven't decided which one to read first yet! 

I'm also taking my personal journal, as flight time is the perfect time to just sit and write... Plus, I've not written any entries for about two weeks, whoops... 

The other book is my blogging book, full (well, not quite) of ideas and inspiration for new posts... As I'm planning on writing a post or two on the plane (hopefully...) this'll come in handy, and, who knows when inspiration will strike?

Cosmetics (kind of)

As I said earlier, I'm only on a medium-haul flight and will be landing quite late into the night, so I personally don't see much reasoning behind taking my entire makeup bag on board with various creams and moisturisers... Plus, who wants to start taking everything out and putting them in those clear plastic bags? Not me... 

The only things I will take are hand sanitiser; airports are full of people and there's a very good chance I'll want to eat something on the plane, and also my hand cream; as I just love the smell of it... 

Miscellaneous

Although I doubt it'll be sunny in England before my flight, and it definitely won't be sunny in the Turkish night, I'm taking my sunglasses in my hand luggage for the same reason as my camera; safety. 

Tissues, for sneezes and such...

Playing cards to pass flight time!

I've not pictured them, but I'm also taking my pyjamas in my hand luggage! As I must have mentioned a billion times already, I'll be getting to my hotel quite late, and I don't particularly fancy opening all three suitcases to find my pyjamas in the middle of the night when I'm tired and just want to flop into bed... By keeping them in my hand luggage they'll be super easy to access and much less effort will be needed! (A little tip for if you arrive at a destination late - keep pj's in your hand luggage!) 

Finally, food and drinks... I always buy a bottle of water from the airport to keep hydrated on the plane, and snacks are a must... Especially those boiled sweets your Nan always seemed to have a never-ending stash of (well, mine did anyway) for the annoying side effect of flying that is your ears popping... 

That's just about it! I think... I hope...

What necessities do you take in your hand luggage?

18th Birthday Haul!

Last week I celebrated my 18th birthday, which you can read all about in my separate post here! Haul posts are amongst my very favourites to read (and write!) so it made sense for me to write one of my own... 

My main gift was a MacBook Air from my parents! I guess it could count as a birthday present, but also fell into the category of 'Chloe has no laptop and is probably going to Uni in September', so it was partly paid for using the money they've both saved for my going to Uni since I was a baby... They always did have high hopes for me...
I am absolutely and utterly in love with it, no doubt about it. 

Jewellery

From my Mum, I got a Pandora Princess Tiara ring! I love it so so much, and have been wearing it every day since! I was a little worried it was going to be a little too fancy for wear on a day to day basis, but it really isn't! That's not to say it's too casual for formal wear though! 

I also received a Jon Richard tennis bracelet from my auntie which is stunning! It's so pretty and will definitely come in handy for Uni balls and formal occasions!

Sticking with jewellery for a little while longer, I got these silver Pilgrim earrings from my Mum's friend which are gorgeous! It's safe to say I'm well kitted out for formal occasions in terms of jewellery! 

Bath & Body care

My sister bought me the Soap & Glory Orangeasm gift set which I am very excited to use! I've never had anything from Soap & Glory in this particular scent before, though I've smelled it in the shops and loved it! I've also never tried any of the Soap & Glory fragrance mists before, so I'm also looking forward to trying that out! 

I received some mini bath bombs from my friend Alex, and although I've never tried anything from Bomb Cosmetics before, I've always admired their products when I've come across them! Bath times just became even more fun! 

Speaking of fun, I got quite an array of Lush products! My friend Emma gave me the Sweetest Thing gift set, which included the Sweetie Pie jelly, a pink bar of Fun, and a Bubblegum lip scrub! My other friend Emma (yes, there are two Emma's) bought me a bottle of Dirty Springwash, perfect for my upcoming holiday to Turkey! These are actually my first Lush products that haven't been bath bombs so I'm very excited to use them!

Makeup

Using some of the birthday money I received, I went on a little shopping spree and spent quite a fair bit in the Urban Decay section of Debenhams... After trying the travel size Perversion mascara, I fell in love with it and knew I needed the full size! I treated myself to the full size mascara, as well as a lipstick in the shade Rush, and the lipliner in the same shade to match! I've been wearing all of them religiously since!

Miscellaneous

Moving onto a few randoms, though not all of them as that would take far too long! My lovely friend Emma kindly assisted in expanding my Yankee Candle collection by giving me the Simply Home Votive Set! All of them are perfect for summer with their fresh and summery scents, and I can't wait to burn them...

One of my absolutely favourite gifts came from my friend Alex, who gave me a selfie stick! I'm not ashamed to say I'm a frequent selfie taker, whether it's with friends or even on a good hair day, so this was the perfect gift! It came in especially handy at prom where rather large group selfies were required, and I've genuinely kept it in my handbag at all times... You never know when a group selfie will be needed! 

There were a few other miscellaneous gifts I received from friends and family, such as nail varnishes, other items of jewellery, a lovely memory box from Catherine, and several Geography related gifts from Becky who I used to sit next to in Geoggers lessons! 

As a little disclaimer that I'm sure we're all sick and tired of seeing on haul posts, I'm in no way showing off what I have or received, I'm simply sharing the very thoughtful gifts my closest friends and family members decided to lovingly give me. As mentioned earlier, these type of posts are my favourite - I can't tell you how many times I've read a haul post and come away from it with a wishlist as long as my arm... It happens more often than not, I can tell you that... 
I'd also like to take a second to send massive thank you's to everyone who made my 18th birthday oh so special! 

I hope that this post gives you some kind of inspiration, maybe you want to try out some of the things I mentioned, or maybe you've gained some ideas for gifts to give yourself! 

What are some of your favourite gifts you've ever received for a birthday or special occasion? 

Eighteen

Wednesday 1st July, 12:03am, I became an adult...
Am I supposed to feel any different, any wiser, more mature? I have no idea, but I feel exactly the same... I wasn't expecting to feel older overnight, that kind of thing only happens in films (13 going on 30, anyone?). I'm still exactly the same person as I was a week ago, only with a new age and a new status as an 'adult' in the slightly terrifying real world. 

Still being in the first week of my adulthood, nothing has changed. I guess I always imagined that responsibilities and maturity and taxes (yes, taxes) would be thrown into my face the minute I turned 18, which thankfully hasn't been the case... It's all to come, however, and although the concept terrifies me to my core, I love the idea of an impending care-free summer, full of fun and excitement, before the real hardship begins. 

Becoming an adult isn't all doom and gloom though, for one, I can now legally drink! (Yes, that is what I'm deciding to mention first!) I'm not a massive party-girl, and don't drink all that regularly anyway, but it's nice to know that when I do I'm actually allowed to be doing it... 

On my birthday, the celebrations kicked off with myself and Mum taking a trip to Carluccio's for brunch. (After opening my cards and presents of course!). We travelled to our nearest restaurant via train, and my day started in the best way possible when the lovely man behind the ticket desk noticed it was my birthday due to the '18' badge pinned to my dress, and wished me a Happy Birthday over the tannoy once I'd reached the platform! With that, everyone on the station platform cheered and applauded, and albeit being slightly embarrassing, it was also rather awesome... 

Upon reaching Carluccio's, we both ordered Bellini's (my first legal drink... so what if it was 11am...), as well as ordering some food. I opted for eggs Benedict, whereas Mum decided on the Carluccio's Breakfast. I think I can speak on behalf of the both of us when I say it was delicious, and sitting outside in the sun made it all the more special! 

Once brunch was finished, we embarked on a little shopping spree! Several hours and a little bit of spent money later, I found myself with three new dresses, a scrapbook and some sandals... Birthday shopping is the best kind of shopping! 

We made our way back home before soon heading out again, this time accompanied by my sister and Mum's friend Shelley, to ChimiChanga's! I ordered the Smoky BBQ Chicken, and all in honesty I was so indulged in my own meal that I forgot what everyone else ordered... It was mouthwateringly good, and can I please have a personal ChimiChanga chef?... 

For desert I ordered the Honeycomb Smash Cheesecake, and my oh my, it was phenomenal. I could have eaten six, it was that good... 

Shortly after, I was surprised by a massive chocolate cake with an '18' candle, whilst my family and the waitresses sang happy birthday. Making my birthday wish, I blew out the candles before leaving the restaurant and returning home!

I had a truly amazing 18th birthday, and an equally amazing party at the weekend - keep an eye out for an upcoming post all about it, and also a post dedicated to what lovely gifts I received for my birthday!

What have you done lately? Have you celebrated anything? Leave a comment and tell me!