WHAT'S ON MY SHELVES?

A few weeks ago I was reorganising the shelves in my bedroom and I posted a photo to Instagram and I'm really happy with how they look so I thought I'd share them with you.

I only have a very small bedroom so I have to find ways to fit everything in so it doesn't look overcrowded and make my room seem even smaller. Last year I redecorated and the walls were painted magnolia to brighten it up and I got a new bed with no bottom headboard which has also opened up the space.
One problem I do have is that I am a hoarder. There, I said it.

I hate throwing anything away. I'm one of those "but just what if one day I need this despite never having used it in the past 5 years?!" kind of people. I have got better. Ish. In the past I used to keep all the tags from clothes and I had a draw full of those buttons they put on the seam tag.

MEMORY JAR

At the end of 2013 I decided I wanted to do a memory jar throughout 2014 were I would just write nice things that happened on scrap bits of paper, keep them in a jar then read them back once the year was over. And I actually managed to stick to it! I didn't put something in every single day. It was just whenever I did something with friends or family or had a day out or went to some kind of event or just a nice little thing happened. I'd write it down, fold it up and put it in the jar.
I was going to look back through it on New Years Day but then I thought that I'd only just put my last piece in for the year so it seemed too soon, and I was also a bit ill last week. So now 2015 is starting to settle in, life has gone back to normal with festivities ending and going back to work so I have decided today is the day to look through the jar!

REFLECTION: 2014

So here we are. The last day of 2014 and the last day of blogging everyday for this month. I have to say, I am super proud of myself that I managed to stick to and get something posted every single day. I am possibly going to take the first week of January and do nothing as I am a bit poorly at the minute and I need a recharge.

As everyone will have every year, there's been high points and low points but let's look at the good...

This year I travelled more than I've ever done before. I'm very much hermit and never really leave my little town. In January I was a crazy person and went to Russia for a week. We visited Saint Petersburg and Moscow and the average temperatures were around -26C everyday. Slightly chilly...
It was a lot of fun and a great experience. I was so nervous beforehand as it was something totally different and I don't like not being in my normal routine so I'm really glad I did it and especially in Winter to get the proper experience!

FAVOURITE IPHONE APPS

Can you imagine if 15 years ago somebody said, "One day you will be able to store all the music in the world, the details of everyone you know and be able to find out literally anything at the click of a button and all that would be stored on one single handheld device" you'd think they were bat-poop crazy!
But as it goes, that crazy person was right. The smart phone dominates and almost everyone has one of some kind of tablet/internet device.

I'm very nosey and like those "what's on my iPhone!" videos/blog posts so I thought I'd throw in my two cents and show you my favourite iPhone/iPad apps. (I'm not sure if all of these are available on Android too, sorry!)

PINTEREST LOVING

Hands up... Who's ever taken a 5 minute recharge break, decided to have a browse on Pinterest and then the next thing you know you're three hours older?
I am so guilty. I open the app on my phone and then just mindless scroll and repin all the pretty things until someone snaps me out of my trance.

In case you aren't aware, Pinterest is a kind of social media site based around images. Think of it as a more sophisticated Tumblr.
It's great for getting inspiration for literally anything from hairstyles to interior design to where tog o travelling. Full of how to guides and photos that quite frankly make you ooze jealousy.

HOLIDAY IN KALITHEA, RHODES

So, Summer is officially over for me. It had started getting cooler hear the last few weeks but I knew I was heading over to Greek island, Rhodes at the end of September so until that was over, it was still summer!

SUNDAY LOVING #8

The weeks are getting faster and faster aren't they? On the other hand, the weeks until I go to Rhodes are now in single figures..! Roll on 20th September!
But on to this week...

MUSIC

This song will not get out of my head. This is "Rude" by a Canadian band called Magic! It's a bit different to what I usually listen to; it has a reggae vibe to it and it's going to be the perfect summer song. I just love it!

SUNDAY LOVING #7

It's that time of the week again so let's dive straight in..!

MUSIC

I haven't really been listening to anything new this week. (I'm still pretty obsessed with The Book of Mormon soundtrack to be honest.) So I thought I'd have a little throwback nostalgia. I was in my car this week when this absolute tune came on shuffle...

his used to be my absolute JAM. Britney at her finest - though forever going to love her. Can't help it. A not so guilty pleasure at it's finest.

FILM

Miss Congenialty. We watched this last night with a chinese takeaway and cheesecake. I've easily watched this film 368392648927 times (only a slight exaggeration...) So quotable and then added Sandra Bullock. Just LOOK AT HER. She's 50 and she is still so hot. And in this film she is just a total badass.
If you've not watched this for a very long time (or ever, you weirdo) then I highly recommend you rekindle the love for it.

EXTRA

This week I downloaded an app called Happy Goals. It's 69p (not sure if it's on Android phones) and you can enter all the goals and targets you want to achieve. I thought it was a really good idea and I love the app design. As you can see, I've not done too well with my goals so far! I think I've spent longer trying to think of goals.
I really want 500 Bloglovin followers by the end of the year so if you aren't already, help a sister out?
£10,000 is definitely a lot of money and I don't really have a timescale as such for this one. I put away £100 every month and I'm going to start trying to put in what I have left at the end of each month too.
Reading is something I used to love when I was a lot younger and as I've got older I just lost interest. But I really want to get back into reading. So again with this there's no real timescale but I'm hoping I do a least half the target by the end of the year. I'm currently reading the book that inspired Orange Is The New Black.
Working out? Hahahahaha. But I also downloaded another app called Pump Up which looks really good so I'm hoping if I can use it every day for a month I will get into a habit of doing stuff! We shall see...


What have you all been enjoying this week?

SUNDAY LOVING #6

First week back to work after a week off is always the worst. So much catching up on top of all the normal jobs to be done. But then a chilled weekend was much appreciated and needed. 

And this week I have been loving...

MUSIC

It seems like a million years since Ed Sheeran's first album came out (and it still sounds amazing!) and last week his second album finally came out and I've been playing it pretty much non stop since. It must be so hard when you do an album that is so amazing to then try and go one better and not many people actually do it but this is incredible and I think it may even be better than +. I can't fully decide my favourite track but I think Nina is probably it at the moment. I genuinely don't think it's possible to get bored of Ed's voice and his beautiful lyrics. 100% recommend this! Perfect summer road trip album.

SUMMER TRIP TO LONDON

I mentioned in the last couple of posts that I have been to London for a few days. I have never been before and I have always wanted to so finally, it happened! We got up early on the Monday and headed to the train station and heading down to Euston. We had our Visitor Oyster Cards at the ready and we planned the next four days on the train down.
We were staying right opposite Kensington Gardens at Hotel 43 about 3 minutes from Queensway tube station. I highly recommend it here if you are thinking of visiting. It's easy to get to, the room is lovely, it's central to everything and lovely staff too.

(Apologies, this is very photo heavy!)

SUNDAY LOVING #5

The Sunday Post is back this week! It's been a long, tiring but all round lovely week off work. Monday o Thursday was spent in London, Friday we had a takeaway and Disney Trivial Pursuit night ('cos we are oh so cool...) and yesterday we headed to Manchester for TGI's and a few drinks. So I'm pretty happy to be spending all day in my bed with copious amounts of tea. Not so thrilled about having to go back to work tomorrow though.

MUSIC

Whilst in London we went to see The Book of Mormon. I didn't actually have any clue what it was really about but I knew a couple of my friends love it so I really wanted to see it myself. It is genius and the soundtrack got downloaded as soon as I was home and I can't stop listening to it already.

SUNDAY LOVING #4

We didn't intend on staying up for the England match last night but we did end up doing and so a late night to bed meant I only woke up at 11.30 this morning and it feels good!

MUSIC

I've had this album since the day it came out and I haven't mentioned it yet on one of these posts but I really want to. I love Lily Allen. Always have and always will. I was so upset when she said she wouldn't be making another album a few years back. Her lyrics are brilliant, so tongue in cheek and sassy and just great pop songs. So I was thrilled when she did come back and this album is wonderful! I love every song particularly Yours Insincerely, Our Time, Hard Out Here and As Long As I've Got You.

Definitely give this a listen if you need some good, upbeat songs for your summer playlist.

SUNDAY LOVING #3

Hope you've all had a great week. The weather has been so lovely this weekend. I spent yesterday afternoon at the park and then a BBQ in the evening with friends.

TUNES

SUNDAY LOVING #2

So far so good. Two weeks and I've managed to keep on top of this. Let's see what this weeks Tunes, Films and something extra picks are... (ooh the suspense..!)

TUNES

SUNDAY LOVING #1

Happy Sunday! And welcome to a new series here on Laddered Tights. I'm going to do my utmost best to make sure I post this every Sunday going forward. I thought it'd be nice to give a little insight into those things I've been loving each week besides makeup. And whatever we can do to perk Sunday's up is a winner, right? I was hoping to post a little earlier today but I've been at a blogger event at The Body Shop (more to come in this week..!)
The idea just came to me in the week whilst walking to work and I got a bit excited about it. Hopefully be a breath of fresh air for the blog, give it a bit more personality and give me a reason to do different things.

The focus is going to be TUNES, FILMS & EXTRAS. Tunes and films are probably straight forward... For tunes, it will either be a song or a whole album I've been enjoying in the week. Films... I go to the cinema most weeks so it will most likely be about that unless I see something else worthy of a mention. As for extras, this will either be something like a book, game, app, fashion/beauty item, or about an outing/event that has happened that week.

I do hope you like it! Feel free to share your favourites for each section. And now we've got all that admin out of the way, let's get on with the actual post...


TUNES

HAIR CUT

Last week I took the plunge and got a lot of my hair cut off. I spent so long trying to get it long but I have been getting bored and even after 2 and a half years of not dying my hair, it was still growing out and I've always hated that it looked like I'd dip dyed it.

I'm a huge Alexa Chung fan. I love her style and her book is great. So after a lot of Pinterest searching of her I decided to just go and get my hair cut to that length too. And I love it! My hair is naturally wavy and I thought going short would make it bounce up too much but it's just how I wanted it to be.

RUSSIAN ADVENTURE

Hello!

Last night I arrived home from a week in Russia. I have previously mentioned I was taking a trip there with a couple of friends so i thought I'd share some photos from the trip with you, for a bit of a change to the norm on here. Hope you like it!

From last Sunday until Wednesday, we was in Saint Petersburg. Beautiful, old fashioned city with incredible architecture. We got ourselves all wrapped up and spent our first full day walking for about 6 hours in around -18C weather! Safe to say, we all in a significant amount of pain once we got back to our apartment. In Saint Petersburg we visited the Hermitage Palace (where Anastasia and the Romonov's lived!), Church on Spilled Blood, St Isaac's Cathedral and we saw St Nicholas' Cathedral too.

Just a warning, this will be quite photo heavy. But beautiful photos!

REFLECTION: 2013

Hello all! I hope you will all bringing in the New Year in the way you want tonight. We're just having a chilled night in.

At the start of the year, I posted THIS blog talking about New Years Resolutions and things I wanted to do this year. I'm not usually one for the whole Resolutions thing but there was a few things I wanted to do so I did it.
My main two things for this year where to become a blood donor and join the bone marrow donor list. I went for my first blood donation at the start of January but as I had been unwell, I wasn't allowed to donate so I went back in March and successfully gave my first pint. I was buzzing! It was nowhere near as bad as expecting and I felt great afterwards. I went to do my 2nd donation a few months later and afterwards I was a bit ill and the same thing happened the 3rd time and unfortunately I've been told I can't give blood anymore, or at least for a few years. BUT, I managed to give as many pints of blood this year as a female can and I did join the bone marrow donor list so I have done some good and I'm proud that I managed to do it.

The other main thing I wanted to do this year was to basically sort my life out. I wanted to get myself a more stable job and at the end of May I left behind the world of retail after 4 and a half years and got myself a full time office job. I do a lot of admin, marketing and sales work now and it still feels a bit weird not being in a shop (especially at Christmas! I've never had time off at Christmas!) and I miss the girls I used to work with so much but I am enjoying my new job. Before, my hours would fluctuate so much and some weeks I would be doing nearly 40 hours and some I'd only do 20 but now I have a solid work schedule that doesn't change and it's helping me get a more settled routine.

The other two resolutions mentioned on the post were to try be healthier and stress less... I think we all knew they were unachievable pipe dreams! I did try eat healthy for a good month but now that I am in the office, I'm not surround by fast food shops and I only work round the corner from home so I go home to eat so I guess I have become a teeeeeeny bit healthier. As for stress, that is something that is apparently never leaving my life. The joys of being an adult.
One thing I did want to do that I didn't have on that post was to drive on the motorway. I've been driving 2 and a half years and still haven't done it. I don't know why but now I'm probably too scared to do it but 2014, I will do it!

So, what will 2014 see for me?

Other than driving on the motorway, I'm going to start doing some serious saving so that maybe this time next year I'll be in a position to move out of my parents house and fend for myself. I'm very much at that stage where I know I want to move out but I don't have the funds to allow me to do it.
Then there's Laddered Tights. I know that I've not been the world's greatest blogger and I have neglected this site a little, especially in the last few months, but I'm going to make a conscious effort with it next year. I said how I've got more in to a settled routine now with work so I'm going to plan more and hopefully get a decent schedule going because when I do post things on here, I do get really into it and I really enjoy it but finding time and not wanting to be as "samey" as everyone else has proved difficult this year. But I do hope you'll bear with me and stick around!

I have quite a busy January coming up (which is definitely not norm!) so it may take a while for this "schedule" to action. I've a few shows/gigs booked and I'm also heading to Russia for a week on the 19th! (I know, I know. I am mental. I am aware of this.)

I really wish you all the best for 2014. Thanks for leaving such kind comments this year.

And if you missed it, I posted a 2013 Favourites the other day. Click HERE to read that. And remember to hit the follow on Bloglovin' button in the right hand sidebar, or leave your email to subscribe to my posts.

xxxx

2013 FAVOURITES

I mentioned in the previous post how I wouldn't be posting Monthly Favourites anymore, more just little reviews of new products I've been using, but I thought a nice way to round off the year would be to share my best of the best across the board.

First up, beauty!

Clarins Cleansing Milk | Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Wash | The Body Shop Tea Tree Toner | Bourjois 1 Second Nail Varnish Remover | MAC Mineralised Skin Finish Natural | Rimmel Nail Rescue | Benefit Pore-fessional