BOOK OF THE MONTH: DELIRIUM

Ive decided that every month I'm going to try to do a post on the book I've been enjoying that month. 

This month, I've been completely obsessed with Delirium by Lauren Oliver. It's the first book of a trilogy and I absolutely love it. 

Its set in a futuristic, dystopian world where love is known to be a deadly disease that is feared and forbidden. When people reach 18, they're given a procedure to cure them of amor deliria nervosa - love or, as they think of it, the disease. Their ability to feel deeply for anyone is removed, and then they're matched with someone by the goverment and live a happy, loveless life. And they think this is better. They strongly believe that this is how life is supposed to be because it is all they have ever known. They just exist, not remembering what it was like to ever feel passion or pain. To them, love is a sickness, an illness. A disease of the highest order. And it must be stopped.

For Lena Haloway, this way of thinking is all she knows. She's an orphan living with her aunt and uncle, and is counting down the days until her procedure cures her, leaving her free of the temptation to love, and taking care of the amor deliria nervosa that could, at any moment, pollute her mind. For Lena and her best friend Hana, this is all fine. It's the way of life, it's expected and it's right. Then with only 95 days left until Lena's procedure, she meets Alex. Alex, the boy with hair like autumn leaves, and a touch that awakens her whole being. Alex, the boy responsible for Lena opening her eyes and realising that no, love isn't a disease and, no, it doesn't require a cure. The boy who infects her, consumes her, with amor deliria nervosa.

Lauren Oliver's writing style is so refreshing and thought-provoking. I got the book as a sample on my phone first, before I purchased the paperback copy, and after reading just the first chapter or two I was addicted. There are so many points in the book where you just have to re-read what's been written, just to take it in, and contemplate the words in awe. I could not put this book down and I highly recommend that you read it. 

PINE TREES

TOPSHOP JUMPER
TOPSHOP MOTO JAMIE JEANS
RIVER ISLAND BOOTS

I'm going to see Mockingjay on friday and I'm so excited its like my equivalent of christmas! Recently I bought these Ripped Jamie Jeans from Topshop. I think they're really good because they're thicker than the Joni Jeans but still quite stretchy and are high waisted as well. At the moment I seem to have obtained an abuncance of poloneck/turtleneck jumpers and now they are all I wear. 

OCTOBER PLAYLIST

All My Own Stunts by Arctic Monkeys isn't on Soundcloud, but you can listen to it here

JAKE BUGG

Sorry for the extremelyyy bad iPhone quality and any of my awful singing/shouting/screaming, but this is just a collection of videos from the concert

This Tuesday, I went to see Jake Bugg with my best friend and her brother and his friend. It was the best night of my year so far. My love for Jake has grown even more and I wish I could go back right now. First there were 2 support acts, one a strange band with a sparkly jacket and long hair&the second was Hudson Taylor. I'd heard of them prior to the concert and I thought they were great.

While we were waiting for Jake to come on the crowd all sung champagne supernova and it was a really lovely moment. Jake looked super cool&hot as usual and because we were so close to the front I had a perfect view. He started with Messed Up Kids and he did most of his Shangri La album and quite a few of his first album. IT WAS INCREDIBLE !!! He's so good live and his voice is absolutely unbelievable, the. There was such an electric atmosphere and I thought it was really thrilling and on the slower songs when all you could hear was Jake's voice and the blanket of voices around you in the crowd singing together it was sensational. Every song was amazing but my favourites were:

Storm Passes Away

Seen It All

Simple Pleasures

Taste It

Slide

Two Fingers

Kingpin

Broken

TARTAN AND CATS

TOPSHOP TSHIRT
H&M COAT
COW VINTAGE SKIRT
RIVER ISLAND BOOTS
CAMDEN MARKET SUNGLASSES

Hi, sorry for the extreme lack of posts this month, I've been fairely busy. 

Recently I bought this gorgeousss camel coat, which I absolutely love. I wish it would get colder so I can wear it more often without looking weird. Even more recently, I went to COW and found this green tartan skirt. Originally I had my heart set on Ameircan Apparel's green plaid skirt, but their prices are ridiculous, so I was extremely happy when I found this for like 1/4 of the price. The skirt has been altered a bit so it looks less like a kilt and more like a skirt, but now it fits perfectly and I love it. I don't know why I havent included my cat t-shirt in an ootd before because I literally wear it every single day. 

AUGUST PLAYLIST

Hi, so I've decided to start doing this thing where at the end of every month I create and upload a playlist of the songs I've been enjoying in that month. This is the first month yet, I'm not sure if anyone's interested in this or whatever, let me know. (P.S I couldn't get Kids by The Kooks on soundcloud because of copyright reasons or something but if you want to listen to it you can find it on youtube)

HOLIDAY HAUL

Slight cactus overload. Slight. I've just got back from my holiday to Majorca and France and thought I'd so a haul post of all the stuff I got whilst there/ at the airport. Firstly, I found this little shop called 'Gem 'n' Co' in a village in France, and they sold loads of different types of gem stones and quartz and rocks and jewelry and it was pretty cool. I got two chunks of quartz and three gem stones to put around my room. 

At a market in Majorca there was a stall selling really cheap necklaces and I purchased this hamsa hand necklace. I visited a different market in Majorca as well, and found these mirrored aviators that I rather liked, the only negative of them being that when wearing them, the whole family use them as mirrors and it can get very irritating. At the airport in paperchase I saw this gorgeouss cactus notebook and I love it. You can never have enough notebooks in life. Also at the airport in duty free, my lovely mother treated me to MAC's All That Glitters eyeshadow. In the pan it looks boring and slightly brown (I think that's just due to bad lighting), but on the eye its so nice and rose gold champagne coloured and I wore it almost every night on holiday. 

SUPERSONIC

TOPSHOP DRESS
ASOS SHOES
SUNGLASSES FROM A MARKET IN MAJORCA

I'm quite looking forward to autumn and jumpers and coats and the jake bugg concert. I've just returned from my holiday in Majorca and France and it hasn't stopped raining since I stepped off the plane. Ah home sweet home. These outfit photos were taken in Majorca in our apartment garden where it was nice and hot and warm enough to wear a dress. I've had this simple black dress for ages and I still love it, despite its very basic style. This is basically the most simple look ever, no accessories or a jacket or anything, just the dress. To my despair, my favourite chunky black sandals broke whilst on holiday so I opted for my holographic sandals instead. I think I'm going to be doing another holiday related post so expect that soon.

TIPS FOR GROWING YOUR HAIR

In November last year, I got about 6 inches cut off my hair. At the time, it was nice and long, but in bad condition and desperately needed reviving. So after spending weeks looking at pictures on tumblr and google of how I wanted it to look, I plucked up the courage to get it all cut off. In the end it I got it cut just above my shoulders, which was terrifying and a drastic change of appearance for me, however, I did like the end result and was happy with my hair. After a few months, my hair got to an awkward length where I didn't really know what to do with it, so I decided to grow it a few inches. If you're like me and are trying to grow your hair, or you've recently experienced a terrible cut that you want to grow it out quickly, then I have a few product recommendations and tips: 

PRODUCTS

I religiously use the Lee Stafford Hair Growth Range. This consists of a shampoo, conditioner and a treatment/hair mask. I highly recommend using all 3 of these together for the best effects. I think this range definitely improved the speed that my hair grew at compared to normal, and left my hair feeling amazing, and in excellent condition. It nourishes your roots and gives them the right proteins that promote hair growth, and also strengthens your hair to reduce breakage.

TIPS

• Embrace your new hair. For me personally, trying to do the styles and use the same techniques that I did on my old hair was impossible. Mess around and find out what looks best for your new hair length
• Lay off the heat. I'm kind of a straighteners addict, and find it hard to go more than two days without straightening the front parts of my hair. But to make it grow faster, I found that leaving my hair natural as often as possible was really beneficial.
• Let your hair air dry instead of using a hairdryer
• Try not to aggressively brush your hair when it is wet. This strains the hair and can lead to breakage.
• Don't wash your hair every single day. It strips the hair of its natural moisturizing oils that keep it healthy and stimulate growth

SALLY CINNAMON

eBay T-Shirt
Urban Outfitters Dungarees
ASOS Shoes
Camden Market Sunglasses

 I recently brought these denim dungarees, which I rather like. They're kind of over-sized and bordering on tomboyish, but I prefer this type to properly fitted shorts and think it gives more of a 80's-90's feel to the outfit. I recently made my first ever ASOS purchase, which included these gold holographic shoes. I think they make most of my boring outfits a lot more interesting and I don't think I have ever owned such a brightly coloured shoe. Also, they are extremely comfortable, which is a bonus.

PARMA VIOLETS

Topshop Dress
eBay Shoes
Camden Market Sunglasses

Hi, sorry for not posting in ages, my crazy social life really just got out of hand.

Last Sunday (when these photos were taken) I went to Warner Bros Studio Tour, The Making of Harry Potter. It was absolutely incredible, and I'm going to do a post on it later. The day before going, me and my friend went into town and I got this dress in topshop. I think this is the first time I have worn a colour ever on this blog, can somebody give me a medal please? I really like the low waist line and the powdery purple colour is super cool. 

LONDON

OUTFIT ONE
Topshop Jumpsuit
Topshop Shoes
Cow Denim Jacket
Vintage Bag

OUTFIT TWO
Cow Vintage Dress
Topshop T-Shirt Underneath
eBay Shoes
Camden Market Sunglasses

These pictures are a bit all over the place, but as you can probably tell, I went to London this weekend. On the first day there I went to Camden Market and had lunch and purchased some stuff for myself and my friends birthday. It was horrendously busy, and full of tourists and obey hats, but I really enjoyed my time there. Me and my mom had lunch by the water and a funny chinese man gave us some free chips. Camden is a great place to photograph because of the vibrancy and colour, loads of signage, typography and little trinkets. But its also awkward as most stall holders don't want you taking pictures of their stuff, and I shouted at a few times.  

Day 2 consisted of Spitalfields Market. In my opinion, there were better stalls and things to buy here, but I preferred the atmosphere of Camden. I discovered this shop that was similar to Cow Vintage, called Rokit, and I got a green Killers t-shirt for £3 which I was pretty happy with. I also bought some knitted badges of a stall in the market that I'm going to decorate my school bag with. 

Overall, I really liked London. I also went to Oxford Street for the first time and it was amazing and we went on the Emirates Skyline thingy too. All the people/waiters in restaurants/shop assistants that I spoke to were really really friendly and nice, compared to people I encounter in Birmingham where I live. I thought it was really interesting seeing all the different nationalities and fashions and people all together, and when some men were playing guitar and violin on the tube it was just cool.

FAKE TALES OF SAN FRANCISCO

EBAY TSHIRT
GRANDMA'S WARDROBE/JAEGER SKIRT
COW VINTAGE JACKET
EBAY SHOES
H&M HAT
PRIMARK SUNGLASSES

Hi, today I went to see the highly anticipated 22 Jump Street, I've been waiting agesss for it to come out in the cinema. It was absolutely hilarious, probably better than the first film and despite his age I still want to marry Channing Tatum. I went with Shan, and to be honest we both felt slightly overdressed to go and sit in a dark room and watch the film, but nevertheless I like my outfit today. 

My t-shirt is from eBay and is sporting my favourite band, Arctic Monkeys. My shoes are also from ebay and are inspired by my 'Shoe Crush: Truckers' post. For ages I've wanted an American Apparel Tennis Skirt, but they're a bit out of my price range at the moment, so when my Grandma found this in her wardrobe and gave it to me, I could not believe my eyeballs. I think it looks exactly the same and I got it for £0 so I'm very happy.

LIFE UPDATES

Since my camera is broke and the weather is awful I cant really stand in my garden and take pictures for outfit posts (although I do have a lot of new stuff that I want to upload). I kind of want to convert my blog into a mixture of outfit posts and writings on whatever I'm thinking about, so kind of following suit of Rookie but obviously in my own style etc. 

Anyway, this post is just a quick one on general things happening in my life at the moment.

Two weeks ago I went on holiday to the South of France and it was really fun and warm but I'm not very tanned unfortunately. We have a lot of friends there and it's kind of like a second home because we've being going since I was 4, and a kind of 'summer community' has developed over time and I enjoy their company very much. I got to use my new Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 quite a bit whilst there too, and finally wear all my new summer clothes/shoes purchases as well.

For my friend Shan's birthday (peculiarthoughtss.blogspot.co.uk) next month, we're going to Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour in London and I can't waittttt. I'm a massive fan of all the films and the books I've read so far (I'm only on Goblet of Fire so I can't call myself a true die hard fan until I've finished them all lols). I need to save my money because theres so many things I want to buy there (i.e wands, butterbeer, chocolate frogs, robes, scarfs etc). Has anyone been to Harry Potter World before? Was it good??

Also, I've booked Jake Bugg tickets and I am beyond excited because he's so good and I've never seen him live before and we're standing and it'll be crazyyyy. It's in October so we'll have to wait a bit though and the tickets were £27 and I can not wait. I'm going with my best friend Shan who I have previously mentioned, her brother and his friend. 

Some pictures from my holiday:

BIRTHDAY HAUL

I haven't posted in agesss because my camera is completely broken, and I've been pretty busy. As you can guess by the title of this post, it was recently my birthday, on the 27th April. I had a lovely day and it was really exciting and fun and I got lots of amazing presents that I'm extremely grateful for. 

My main and favourite present was a Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 White Camera. I'm completely in love with this camera, it's so cool printing photos instantly and it looks really cute&is so easy to use. I love the mystery of not knowing what the picture will look like, since there's no display screen, and just taking it and hoping for the best, not being able to edit or finalize it and just getting what you get. 

Another thing which I am totally enchanted by is Rookie Year Book One. I've been a massive fan of the rookie mag blog for ages, and have finally got the first book. Since I unwrapped it, I've been completely absorbed in it, it basically hasn't left my hands. If I can give you any advice in life, or if you are to gain anything from scrolling through my little blog, it is to BUY THIS BOOK. Whether you read their blog or not, I don't think its possible not to love this book. I'm not going to ramble on for too long about its content, I'll probably do a review once I've finished reading it, but the pictures are literally heavenly, and all the collages (/mood board things? I don't have a clue what you call them?) are gorgeous. It's full of general life-related topics (mainly suited to females, but I guess some guys would enjoy it too), cools DIYS, amazing playlists, interviews, stickers, advice and general fangirling. 

From my best friend Shannon (peculiarthoughtss.blogspot.co.uk), I got the whole Maze Runner Book Series, which I'm really excited to read and very grateful for. The other book I got was 'My Future Listography'. It's really cute and fun, and I love making lists, which is kind of weird, but thats what you do in this book, listing all the things you hope to do/achieve/have/see/be in the future.

I got a few things from lush, which are really lovely&have accomplished turning my bath exotic shades of electric blue, and filling it with seaweed and glitter. 

One of my other favourite presents was the NAKED 2 PALETTE!!! I was so happy when I got this, the colours are all so gorgeous. I didn't have any of the other naked palettes, apart from the Naked Basics, so now I can begin my collection!

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday so lovely, and to anyone who got me anything, or wished me happy birthday x