What I got for Christmas and my Birthday!

Hello all, welcome back! I'm finally back with a working laptop and here to bring you a blog post about what gifts I was given for my birthday and also for Christmas.

I recently turned 19 and with this and Christmas so close together I have been well and truly spoiled. I'm not at all posting this to brag or show off about what I got, as I've been at university I wasn't around before Christmas so all of my presents were a complete surprise and are things I've had on my wishlist for a while now. 

Where I can I am going to post the shop where the gift is from however as they're gifts I obviously don't know the prices.

I hope your holidays have been really great and that you've had a relaxing time with the special people in your life.

Left: Fleece PJ set - Sainsbury's - Christmas gift from my Grandparents

Top: Heart shaped necklace - unknown - Christmas gift from my boyfriend

Bottom: Red handbag - unknown - Birthday gift from my grandparents

Top Left: Silver quote bangle - Equilibrium - Birthday gift from my mam

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain"

Bottom Left: Nivea minis bauble - Limited edition for christmas, gift from my brother

Top Right: Handbag - Matalan//Scarf - Edinburgh Woolen Mill

Bottom Right: Nivea giftset

L-R:

Poppy jug - Christmas gift from grandparents

Microwavable dog (called Pam) - TKMaxx - gift from my mam

Alice in Wonderland notecards - Waterstones - Gift from my mam

Top: Sainsbury's recipe book - gift from my mam

Bottom: Wreck this Journal - Waterstones - Gift from my boyfriend

I hope you enjoyed this post! I am so happy to be back to blogging after a month or so off! I'm working on scheduling posts as I type so I'll be a lot more reliable from now on, thank you for reading! Have a good week and stay golden! 

Gracie xo

Disclaimer: all the images are my own and taken and edited myself. I use either my Fujifilm Finepix S2980 camera or my iPad therefore the image quality varies.

New Year's Resolutions + 2015 Reading Challenge!

Hello all, and welcome back!

Today I am bringing you my New Year's resolutions, a bit late I know, but I wanted to wait until I was back at university before getting kick started with these. I have tried to keep my resolutions short and realistic, these are things I think I can achieve by 2016 and I've tried to take one from each category - you'll see what I mean!.

My first resolution is a physical one, meaning that I will be able to see a change in myself as the year progresses. I am aiming to maintain going to the gym for 1 hour, 3 times a week. This is what I currently do in terms of fitness and it fits in with my schedule at uni as well as being a realistic amount for me to be at the gym without getting bored or lazy.

Number two is an education based resolution. I aim to work towards getting a C in all of my assessments at university. So far I have been pleased with my results in essays, however there have been times when I've gotten a D and felt envious of my friends getting B's. A pass is 40% and I am aiming to keep above 50%.

Number three is a mental resolution, this may sound a bit weird but I am aiming to think more positively and banish negativity from my mind. I am very self conscious and tend to be a panickier and pessimistic so I am aiming to work on getting more positive. This includes spending little to no time around people who can be negative and judgemental and all round trying to think see the best parts of bad moments.

Number four - the last one - is a fun goal and that is to read as many books as possible! Since the beginning of my final year of school my reading has really decreased, I've always thought the best people are well-read and therefore I want to try and read as much as possible in 2015.

This is where the title fits in, I was on Pinterest around Christmas (I am addicted to Pinterest) and found a post which was attached to this link 

(http://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-Challenge-2015-36071458?crlt.pid=camp.RTlcdYOWNcmE)

This is the 2015 Reading Challenge as posted by Popsugar. I have made a list of all the challenges and plan to read a book, then note it down next to whichever challenge it fits! 

So far I have read two books, Love Rosie by Ceceila Ahern and The disreputable history of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart. Both of these books have been added to my list and I will do a blog post update when I have three books I've read!

Have you guys got any resolutions and how well are you sticking to them 18 days in? Let me know! 

Good luck with 2015 and stay golden!
Gracie xo