Its been a long week that has mostly consisted of revision but I have managed to squeeze in some fun things to stop me going completely crazy. So here is what I've been up to this week. I'm one exam down now with only one left to go next week.

1. Abbi's birthday. So last Wednesday was my absolute BFF's birthday and shes a whole 21 years old. In the three years I've known her shes always insisted on us making no fuss for her birthday but this year I decided to just totally ignore her requests and go all out. My original idea was just to get a small group of our geology friends together for dinner to celebrate. But then I thought her flatmates might like to be involved so I contacted one of them and we hatched our plan. It soon grew to include her friends from halls and rugby friends as well. It took a lot of planning to get 4 separate groups totaling 18 people in the same place at the same time so a massive thanks to Felicity for all her help (you're amazing). It was 100% worth it for the look on Abbi's face when she walked in and we were all waiting to surprise her. Thanks for being the best mapping partner a girl could wish for <3

2. Cheeky Nandos. Ok after all the social media buzz surrounding #cheekynandos I remembered I had never actually been. So as a revision break Jared and I went to the one in Southampton and it was everything I expected. The food was good but not amazing and the banter was out in force. I don't know if I'll go again but I'm glad I experienced this part of British culture.

3. New Clinique bonus time. I recently discovered the site feeluinique.com (I know I'm about a million years behind the times) and used it to restock on some favourite facecream from Clinique. Partly because I was too lazy to go to town but mostly because you got a free bonus time gift with it. This included the Super Defense Day cream, Liquid Facial Soap, High Impact Mascara, Blush in bashful blush and a Chubby Stick in Roomiest Rose. I can't stop wearing it, its just too pretty! Plus the bag it came with is pretty cute. And you can never have too many little make up bags.

4. Malcolm in the middle. Such an oldie but I never watched it back when it was actually on TV. I'm currently on season 3 and it makes me so incredibly happy. Mostly because their crazy lives are remarkably similar to my own childhood except I am one of 4 girls instead of boys. Whether you've already seen them or not they are perfect for procrastinating as each episode is only 20min long.

5. Real Techniques brushes. I've always been a massive fan of Ecotools brushes but they don't have as large a range as Real Techniques. Everyone seems to love them and they are a similar price so I thought I would give them a try. I got the powder brush as I don't currently have a nice big fluffy brush and the Expert face brush. I've always used a flat foundation brush and find it leaves streaks so this is perfect for buffing in your base. Plus they were on offer in Boots. A girl's gotta take advantage of these things.

6. Sisters coming to visit. All three of my sisters came down to Southampton for a day out shopping followed by dinner at Turtle Bay. I was naughty and got three new dresses and had the juiciest steak for dinner. But shopping and good food soothes the soul right? That aside though it was nice to spend some quality time with them as now that two of us are at uni we don't get to see each other as much as I would like.

Things that have made me happy this week

Its been a really busy week for me and I'm pretty tired from it. I'm currently working every weekend and its really starting to take its toll, particularly as I am not very well at the moment with a really bad chest and throat. Poor little me I know.
However because its been a busy week theres been a fair bit going on and theres plenty of stuff thats made me happy.

1. On Wednesday I headed off to London with my Dad for a family party. I hardly ever go to London and its actually been two years since I was last there! The party was for my Dads cousins (so my second cousin?) 50th birthday and we went with my Grandad, two of my Aunts and one of my cousins and it was really nice to spend some time with them. I've never really met much of my Irish family and it was nice to meet some new people.
Also I always enjoy an excuse to get dolled up and I wore a black pencil dress with flats because I couldn't be bothered to walk all over London in heels. It was so much fun and I am really glad I made the effort to go.

2. This party seemed like a great opportunity to try out some of my newest beauty buys. I was so impressed with them that they made me happy enough to warrant their own point on this list. However I had to get ready to leave Southampton at midday and the party was from 7pm to 11pm. Therefore I needed my make up to stay put all day.  For anyone who is interested here is a quick rundown of my #MOTD. It felt odd putting all this slap on my face in the middle of the day as I don't really wear much during the day normally. 
After my usual Clinique skincare routine I used Clinqiue Universal Superprimer followed by Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation and Concealer in Alabaster. Not entirely sure how my olive skin is considered Alabaster but this is a surprisingly good match for me.
Over the top of this I used Clinique Stay Matt in 101 Invisible Matt. For my cheeks I used Clinique All Over Bloom blush in Peony and Seventeens Shimmer Brick in Pink Bronze. For my eyes I used Urban Decays Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Original, with my new Soap and Glory Supercat eyeliner alongside my Naked 3 eyeshadow palette. I finished this off with my Benefit Rollerlash mascara. Finishing touches were my eyebrows done in my Rimmel Pencil and my favorite Clinique Long Last Lipstick in So Sweet.
 Apart from lipstick touch ups and a quick repowder of my shiny nose my make up lasted ALL NIGHT. Yes thats right. I put it on at 12pm and and I took it off at 2am when I got home and it had not budged a bit. Thats 14 hours. Usually by the end of the night my make up is all over the place. I am crediting the two primers I used. You seriously need them in your life.
Excuse the poor quality of the selfie. There was wine involved by the time I thought to take a picture.

3. After this party on Wednesday I was feeling naughty and decided I couldn't be bothered to go back to uni. Yes I know, I'm a bad person. But I don't care. I spent Thursday just chilling on the sofa (nursing my hangover) and I've got to be at home for 4 lovely days with my crazy family. I literally love them so much.

4. Seeing our new kittens, they are just so cute! They've got their eyes open now and are just starting to try to walk around. Its impossible not to be happy while holding a newborn kitten in your hand. I've been taking so many pictures of them and sending them to my friends to make them jealous. Not feeling any guilt about it either, I mean can you even believe how CUTE they are?

5. Its Bonus time at Boots at the moment and I've grabbed myself some great Clinique Products. I love the chance bonus time gives you to try new products that you might not have necessarily chosen for yourself. I am loving the blusher and the Chubby stick eyeshadow and I think they make a great spring look. I wore them both to work on Friday and they made me feel so on it. I mean get me, coordinating my make up to the seasons. My only complaint is I wish Clinque would let you tailor the products to your skin type. The Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion is just too rich for my oily skin and I wish I had the option of exchanging it for the gel version (which I LOVE). But overall I love the bag that this came in and I was also really impressed with the mascara. Its the perfect size for my handbag too. Get yourself down to Boots and get one for yourself, you won't be dissapointed!

6. This weekend I managed to drive Jasper for the first time since Christmas and he was such a good boy. I think I should get extra dedication points as I was feeling really poorly and going outside in the cold was the last thing I wanted to do. This sport has been such a big part of my life over the last 13 years and its makes me sad that because of uni I can't devote as much time to it. It was so nice to get back to it though and I'm going to make a determined effort to try and squeeze it in around work and uni.

Christmas Cocktail Party

Bit late for this post but who cares, life got busy as I am currently drowning in work.

Last week was the Geology Society Christmas Cocktail Party and my god was it fun.

I've been to this event every year since being at uni and with each passing year I remember less and less of it and they seem to get better and better.

Kicked the night off with girly predrinks at mine getting ready. Found myself doing everyones make up and hair which was great because I LOVE playing around with make up. I also treated myself to a pair of hair curlers so got to work on making my hair EVEN curlier than usual. Fun times.

My housemates (who are not geologists) joined us as I decided to combine this event with my birthday night out as they are so close together. We all headed over to my boyfriends house as he lives just round the corner before heading to the venue itself.

The music was excellent, with yummy cocktails and I had a lovely evening chatting with my lecturers, socializing with my course mates and dancing with my housemates. My non geology friends did ridiculously well on the raffle and someone won a bottle of fizzy red wine. Yes it is as disgusting as it sounds.

The night was only slightly marred by high heel pain as I decided to wear my highest most uncomfortable (but sassiest) heels so I decided to drink to numb the pain. This works but also means you can't stand up in them very well.

Anyway I think the pictures of the night speak for themselves. Big thanks to my housemates for coming and I think we can all agree it was the best night we've had in ages.


But then again any chance to get glammed up is good with me!
Pictures courtesy of SU Photographic Society events team

A super cringy, yet funny pic of the dance floor.

5 Dresses that I want right now

Just going to put it out there that I really really love dresses. They are an effortless way to look pretty and feminine with minimal effort and I'm all about things being easy. In the Autumn I like to layer my dresses with tights, knits and ankle boots to beat the chill. Here are five dresses that I am currently trying not to splurge all my student loan on. 

Loving the dark, Autumnal colours with delicate prints on these pieces. I reckon all 5 of these would look great with knee high boots and a leather jacket which keeps the look practical and stylish.

1. Topshop skater dress £34 2. River Island Kimono dress £35 3. H&M Textured Bodycon Dress £24.99 4. ASOS Swing Dress £28 5. Joules Floral Wrap Dress £69.95