California 2

This is my post on places i'm going to visit. You're probably getting bored of these posts and don't like them but its something i want to do so you're going to have to put up with them. I'll also share my photos from my holiday with you!

This is a map of where we're going, our route is in red and i drew it on myself, just for you guys. Anyway, i think this is our route, it may change slightly but this is the rough route. We're going to land in LAX airport, then spend some time in LA, then we're going to collect our RV and begin drving up to Yosemite national park. Stopping at Bakersfield or some lake on the way. We will then spend a bit of time in Yosemite before heading across to San Fransisco. We'll spend a bit of time in San Fransisco and then we'll travel down the coastal road, which is meant to be beautiful, down to LA. Whilst driving along the coast, we'll stop at Santa Cruz, Monterey, Big Sur, Santa Maria, Santa Monica and Long beach. We'll also stop at other places, but they're the ones i'm most excited about. Then, we'll spend some more time around LA before finally heading home from LAX again. We were going to go down to San Diego but its too far down and we don't know if we'll get there in time. This whole journey will take 2 weeks, so it helps you understand the sheer scale of California, and therefore America.

Some of the places i'm most excited for are below - 

Venice beach.

Seeing the Hollywood sign.

Yosemite Falls.

Golden Gate Bridge, i'm actually really looking forward to San Fransisco in general.

The Coastal road.

Alcatraz Island and Prison.

California 1

So this post is some pictures of California that look beautiful, i'm just so excited for it! I'm also going to continue with some more posts about shops i'll go to and places i'll visit. Anyway its 9 days until i go so you can understand my excitement, can't you?

I'm not going to South Lake but just the road looks amazing.

I think this is Los Angeles

Palm trees make me happy.

I also love the American road signs, so much nicer than the English ones. Yes, that is how excited and how much i love america.

11 Things I Love

1. I love the beach in any weather, i would love to live near one. My favourite bit is the ocean though. I also love the hair the salt water gives me, it goes all wavy and i just love it.

2. Aero hot chocolate is the nicest thing ever, it bubbles up and tastes perfect when made with milk.

3. I am a keen traveller, the idea of discovering new places and doing adventrous things excites me so much. My list is very long but highlights are Australia, Dubai, Kenya and New York (If i take into account the fact that i'm going to California so thats off the list). Unfortunately, they're all very far away. I also really want to just do lots of activities like zip-wiring, scuba diving, skiing (again) and go-karting.

4. Reading, i read a lot but i haven't been reading so much recently. I recently read 'The Perks of being a Wallflower' which was amazing, but i'm trying to read all the classics like 'Wuthering Heights' and 'Little Women'.

5. Acoustic covers, this is so cliché but i do. The sound of the guitar is just so relaxing and the songs sound so much better, i'd love to be able to play a guitar but i'm so un-musically talented its ridiculous.

6.Milkshakes and frozen yogurt. I know this is two things but i thought i'd group them because they're both dairy. I'm not even going to try to justify this, i just love them.

7.  Adventorous things, i mentioned this earlier but i had to make a whole new point for this, but yeah stuff like zip-wiring. Especially (the idea of ) Surfing and Skiing. Okay so i'm awful at both of these sports but they are both so exciting i like to pretend i can. I really want to jet-ski one day and be good at water-skiing, also i love donuting.

8. Sloths and just funny animals in generals. I also love the way David Attenborough pronounces it 'Slooth'

9.  History, this has made me sound like a right geek but i love learning about History. I find it so fascinating and just learning about the past, its so exciting.

10.  Photography and photos. I'm not saying i'm good at photography, which i'm far from, but i enjoy taking photos. The idea of them being photographed and to remain a still memory of that moment makes me happy, and i have no idea why. I really like polaroids and camera films, i think its the vintage, classic feel of it that rather then being digital, its actually a memory in your hands. I just love making photo albums and looking back at old photos. I've made a pact this year that i'll take photos of all my memories and make lots of albums of them.

11.  Vintage things, i love vintage bits and bobs. I also love vintage cars and diners, so typically american yet i'm British  I so love the British phone boxes, they're vintage. I want to make one into a shower sometime. I also have a vintage book that I've turned into a scrapbook/photo album type thing and i love it so much. I also just love the vintage photo effect really, its so soft.I really love Cher Lloyd's US video for 'Want You Back', its in a diner and its got an amazing car in it, its just perfect. I think this love may link back to the history thing, but i'm also a sucker for modern things. I don't know, i have mixed likes. 

Sorry for the really jumbled up post today, it wasn't really planned so the sentence and paragraph structure is shocking and the sentences don't really link up but i was rushed.

My view on Feminism

There has been a lot of articles in 'The Daily Mail' recently about feminism and i thought i'd share my opinion on it. Of course, i'm not claiming to know alot on the topic since i am only a 13 year old girl, but my view has been collected in this years and its something that's never really been important to me but i though i'd share my view anyway.

I saw in one article that there was a small box with the fact '1 in 7 women don't label themselves feminists' (or something along those lines). The way the fact was phrased made it seem like this was shocking and they should label themselves feminists. I don't think the fact took into account that these people may not be feminists. I don't see anything wrong with women believing in womens rights and being equal but still not labeling themselves a feminist.

This whole issue with men holding doors open  for women is a matter of opinion but i don't see anything wrong with it, i don't feel its demeaning to women in anyway. Its showing respect for women. I feel like its a traditional part of our English culture, because its always been something that's quite British  If people from abroad think of England  especially america, they think of 'Ladies' and holding doors open for 'Ladies' is often associated with this. Its not a massive issue if you don't want the door held open for you but they make quite a big deal out of it.

(We can hold doors open for men too)

I suppose i do see the counterargument that these feminists have, that the women are strong enough to pull it open themselves. We as a nation are quite stereotypical and often we see women as having the more dainty, less physically demanding jobs. To a certain extent this is true because men are usually stronger than women, but women are capable of being strong and doing physically demanding jobs. I can pull a door open and always will, but if a male has gone to the effort of holding the door open for me, then i'll take it. Its a polite thing to do, whether you're male of female. I don't see it any different depending on what gender it is, at the end of the day someone is holding the door open for you, so just take it. Gender is just a way of grouping people, its not anything much more than that.

Obviously i do think women should be treated as equals to men. We should be allowed to get paid the same amount of money for a job as a male does. I read a shocking fact somewhere that says for the same job (forgotten what the job was) and same hours of work, men get paid more for the job than women. I also think we should be able to pick whatever job we want, not be restricted depending on gender. I believe this for both men and women, i think that its right that men can take maternity leave. I'm don't just believe this for women. I just think both genders should be treated equal because i don't see why gender should be such a big issue, its just to differentiate between who can have a baby and who can't. I do get quite worked up about women having to stay at home whilst men work, although its is part of our culture and i understand that. Times have changed and we've become more developed as a species and this is no longer true, i think male or female can be the housewife/househusband. Although women do carry the baby, you couldn't make a baby without a male so he's just as important.

One thing that really pushes my buttons though, is when people say 'Get back in the kitchen and make me a sandwich.'. No, you can make your own sandwich. I'm not going to go any further into it, because i'll write a lot but i just get extremely annoyed.

So maybe, looking back, i am a weak feminist. I do believe in women's rights and being equal but not quite so extreme as others.

Anyway, this was my view on feminism and so on, I'm glad you took time out of your day to read this and i hope it made you think in any way. Or in the best case, shaped your opinion on feminism further. Hope to see you again soon, bye!

California Outfits

In March i'm going to California for 2 weeks which i am so excited about that i can't contain it, but anyway i thought i'd make a post about some outfits that i'd wear. This has actually surprisingly taken some time and i love all the outfits. In an ideal world i'd own them all but the items are a little steep for me to buy them all so i'm going to have to settle for a few items. I may also do a post in the future with some outfits that i plan to wear since i own all the clothes. I don't know what the weather will be like in California in the end of march/beginning of April so do correct me if i'm wrong. Anyway, without further ado i shall showcase my outfits to you!

Skirt - £20 from Topshop   Top – £11.99 from Missguided   Belt – £6.99 from New look 

Necklace  - £4.99 from New look   Nail polish - £2.99 from Rimmel

This outfit is perfect for warmer days since you've got your arms and legs on show. Its quite a bright outfit and the acid bright pink and orange just remind me of sunny California. I love the contrast between the orange and pink because i'm in love with those colours together.

Top - £22 Topshop   Jeans - £19.99 H&M  Shoes – Toms.co.uk £34.99    Cardigan – £14.99 New Look   Rings - Urban Outfitters £12

I am in love with toms but i fail to own a pair yet because i worry that my feet will grow, which i guarantee they will, but i didn't let that stop me from using them in this outfit! I used a burgundy colour to match the burgundy cardigan, i thought medium wash jeans suited this look best and i thought stacks of colourful bracelets finished it off with a California vibe. 

Shorts – boohoo £20       Top – Topshop £15     Cardigan  - Urban Outfitters £48       Cross necklace - River Island £4     Angel necklace - River Island £8   Sandals - (forgotten where from, sorry)   Lipstick - Revlon £7.99

I love how the black, the suede brown and the fringes all work togather to create a really relaxed boho vibe which is a another way i picture California. I love wearing black tops with denim instead of white so incorporated that like of mine into this outfit. I love the pop of red in the lipstick and the cardigan, i think a red nail polish would be perfect with this outfit aswell.

Thanks for reading this post, I hope you liked it, bye!

OOTD - Knitwear

This is my outfit of the day for Sunday. I wore my new kinitted jumper from H&M which i included in my last haul. I don't do these often but i want to do these more but their very annoying to do as you have to take time to take the pictures, and then you have to upload them, then you have to write a post on it. Theres just so much effort to put into it. Without further ado, here's my outfit.

I'm wearing my knitted jumper with some high waisted shorts from Primark which i believe were £10. I brought them last year though. I'm wearing some black tights aswell. No shoes on here but i wore some brown boots from New Look which were like £22 or something that i got recently. Also, i studded the neckline of my jumper with some studs from river island which were in my last haul also.

Anyway, thanks for reading my first ever OOTD post. See you later!

Little Haul

I went shopping for presents on Saturday! So i thought i'd show you what i brought. I'm going to start off with some cheeky purchases for myself.

I brought this knitted jumper from H&M, I got it in the sale for £7! It was originally £15 so i was very happy with this bargain, and i really like it. I really like knitted jumpers because they're really Christmasy and wintery. I just love knitted jumpers. I also did read in the newspaper the other day (yes, i'm an avid newspaper reader) that lots of shops are putting sales on before Christmas to entice customers in so they buy more because customers have been spending a lot less money in shops recently. Shops usually do these sales after Christmas.

Jumper - £7 (Originally £15)

Secondly, i got this anklet for myself from Topshop. I thought it was bracelet and i only realized when i got home that it was an anklet. It was in the sale for £1.50 which i was really happy with.

Anklet - £1.50 (Originally £5)

I also picked up this pack of 10 studs for £6 from River Island. I've been wanting to pick up some studs for a while now but i'm not a fan of buying online, so i didn't. When i saw these i got so excited, literally everyone in the store must of turned round to look at me. The best thing about these are that you can use them as many different times as you like on any product. I would highly recommend purchasing these studs.

Studs - £6

Now onto things i brought as presents. Now i would show you what I've got for my brothers, my mum and my grandparents but I've wrapped it all up so i'll show you some of what i brought for my friends although i still need to buy some more.

First of all i brought this Benefit set for £10 from Boots. Its called 'Benefit Besties' Its got the 'Some-Kind-A Gorgeous' foundation in medium and 'That Gal' primer which is a brightening face primer. I'm not a fan of the packaging as its not their usual fun packaging. It looks a bit cheap. I'm also not pleased with the set once i opened it up at home because the products are very small. My friend will probably only get a few uses out of them.

Benefit Besties - £10

For the same friend i brought the Soap and Glory 'Sugar Crush body wash'. I was going to get her the 'Sugar Crush scrub' but she commented on the body wash so i brought it for her although she doesn't know. I'm not crazy over the scent though. It smells a bit too sugary, although its supposed to smell of sweet lime. I do usually like citrus and sugar smells though so this was strange for me. I was pleased with how big the container is, it holds a lot and its got a pump at the top to get it out with so i really like that. Another thing i notciced was that the body wash isn't actually pink, its white. i thought it was pink so i was disappointed to find out that its white.

Body wash - £6.50

There was a 3 for 2 offer on all luxury bath products or something like that so i felt inclined to buy 2 more soap and glory products. They were minis though. I purchased the 'Scrub of your Life' body wash and the the 'Flake Away' scrub. The scrub smells amazing, it says it smells of shea butter, sugar and peach seeds but it just smells yummy.

Both - £2.50

Next i brought some Jack Wills pants although these were purchased online and collected by my brother on the way to college. I brought 3 pairs (well, actually my mum did) for myself and 2 of my friends. Mine and 1 of my friends have been wrapped up though. So I've only got one pair to show. They're really soft, I apologize if thats weird. It was a 30% (I think) off offer online  but its over now. I got these for £8.75 (if it was 30% off). I got navy and pink for myself, black and hot pink for my friend and my other friends pants are below. Jack wills also gave us these really cute gift boxes to wrap them up in with tissue paper and ribbon which is really cute.

Pants - £8.75

(Sorry for the blurryness)

I also brought these earrings from river island which are little swallows. They're gold and i love them but i don't have my ears pierced so they're being gifted to my friend.

Earrings - £1.50

In the city where i went too, there is a really cute sweet shop so i went in and brought a few sweets.

Firstly i brought some candy canes, very festive! I brought 2 strawberry and i peppermint although in the picture below its just one of each. The peppermint is the one with more stripes. They were 99p each which i thought was rather dear for some candy canes which aren't even that big but nevertheless i purchased some.

Candy Canes - 99p each

I also brought some tongue tattoos which are really cool. You press them on your tongue for a few seconds and it imprints a picture onto your tongue in red. Unfortunately these only stay on for a few minutes but their still really cool for 50p. You get  sheets of 6 and there are 4 sheets in a pack.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read my haul. I hope its given you some ideas as to what to buy for your friends (or yourself).