Summer Reading List

If you didn't know, I am a reader. On a fairly large scale. I read much more than I watch television, and as an aspiring novelist I am always trying to enhance my literary mind. However, with third year taking over my life the past six months, I have not done much reading in 2013. I have read 33 books since January 01 this year, which may sound like a lot but is below my average and below my Goodreads reading challenge. 
But it's Summer now, and my apparent lack of employability means that I can read all the books that I've been putting on hold for a few months now. The books I'm most looking forward to reading are:

*All Book Cover Images sourced via Goodreads and Waterstones

Ready Player One -  Clive Ernest • We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver • Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella • Whale Talk - Chris Crutcher • The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight - Jennifer E. Smith • Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher • Defending Jacob - William Landay • A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin.

As you can see I enjoy a right mixture! I can't quite give up YA novels (guilty pleasure), and I've wanted to read Game of Thrones for a very long time but never had the time on my hands to tackle it. The others are ones I've seen good reviews for and have piqued my interest.

Are you a reader? What's your favourite type of novel? What are you most looking forward to reading over the coming months? - Let me know! 

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The Eyebrow Problem

The current obsession with eyebrows is something I find slightly weird. As a young teenager I can remember my older sisters teaching me how to pluck, and telling me that I should strive for even eyebrows that perfectly match my hair colour, and if it doubt over size, always go for smaller.  Hence, it's taken me a long time to fully embrace the stand out eyebrows trend. I think the slight obsession I've developed with Cara Delevingne has definitely spurred me on! 

I've started to fill in my eyebrows using the darkest colour in the Rimmel Orien palette. I'm naturally very light, although my hair has darkened due to dyes and what not. This means that my eye brows can look a little light for my face and for want of a better word, they can tend to almost look greasy. I don't over-do it when I fill them in, I'm still blonde and I don't quite fancy a Scouse Brow, but it definitely gives them a bit more definition. Here's my eyebrows before and after:

 Do you fill in your eyebrows? How dark do you go?

Look what I won | A Wooden Tree

Hi guys! 

A couple of months ago I entered a giveaway over on onesheepishgirl a wonderful blog about knitting and crochet.   I stumbled upon Meredith's blog in March, and although I'm not a knitter, I love reading her posts. So, I entered this giveaway and low and behold I won the grand prize! 

The prize was an Ornamental Mr. Narwhal plush and Stag Tea Towel from A Wooden Tree. A Wooden Tree is filled with nature themed plushies, prints and pins, and I fell in love with her items the second I looked at her website. 

Let's take a look at what I got:

Just out of the box, a little crumpled!

Mr. Narwhal chilling on the boyfriends bookshelf.

Some pins added to the parcel :) Isn't that bird one lovely?

Narwhals are a running joke in Matt and I's group of friends, so really he couldn't be more perfect for leaving university. He'll be chilling in the new place, reminding me of our friends and the wonderful time I had here. Both the products are of a wonderful quality, and I know they'll last for ages. I definitely lucked out. 

To take a look at The Wooden Tree and see the products available, click here 

Date Night | Wagamama Plymouth

Last night my boyfriend and I decided to go out for dinner, and catch up because we've both been working so hard recently. People don't understand that living with someone does not necessarily mean that you spend a lot of time with them. Matt and I have basically been seeing each other between the hours of 12am - 2am when we watch telly before bed (and most of that time I'm already half-asleep!) because he's been working hard on his final design project of the year and I'm in revision hell. We've both been dying to try Wagamama since it opened in Plymouth, so off we went. I was happy to finally be able to dress up slightly for something!

Date night outfit (feat. dirty mirror)! I got to wear heels for the first time in however long.

Wagamama opened in Plymouth last weekend, so we were really quick to try it. It's located in the historic Royal William Yard Harbour, which has truly stunning views over Plymouth Sound and is lovely on a beautiful evening like last night. We got a taxi there and back as it's a bit of a walk, but taxis in Plymouth are generally very cheap and good value - both ways for £10! As well as Wagamama, Royal William Yard boasts a range of cafes and restaurants, including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Canteen and Deli:

It was both of our first time trying Wagamama, one only very recently opened in my hometown so I hadn't a chance before. I know that everyone left right and centre loves it though, so I was pretty sure I would. I'm a YO! Sushi fiend, so I ordered the Chicken Katsu without much glance at the rest of the menu, I'll be adventurous next time. Matt ordered the Chicken Ramen. We also got a bowl of Chicken Tebasaki to share - we love chicken! We were a bit bewildered at first, because the restaurant has a few quirks as I'm sure anyone who has been before knows, such as sitting you alongside other people and writing on your placement. 

I readily accepted my food when it came, ate a few bites before I realised that it wasn't katsu curry at all! I was a little oblivious. It was delicious, closer to a Thai Green Curry, but not what I ordered nonetheless. The waitress apologised and brought my food over as soon as it was cooked, and left the plate of notkatsu curry there for Matt and I to pick at if we wanted to. I probably had four bites from it in all, but I devoured my katsu and by that point was stuffed. 

Matt tucking in! And my wrong curry.

It was a lovely evening spent with my lovely man at a lovely place.