Two weeks today I finally get to be back in this guy's arms. I literally cannot wait.

LYMH.

meet Jodie.

Say hello to my best friend at university. She's beautiful, witty, intelligent and we have the best time hanging out together. Little bit worse for wear in this photo as we got drenched trying to reach the club in miserable weather. Typical England!

Love you Jodie!

so lots has happened...

I went to the beach, moved into a new house, raided Ikea for the new house, had a BBQ/paddling pool house-warming/friends birthday party, made my room a little more 'me', discovered a shop not too far away that sells my favourite American sweets and went to watch the footie. 

Oh and I'm back into the studying swing of things again. 

It's been good, hectic, but good. 

 LYMH.

happy (belated) one year LYMH!

5th September. One year and counting...

He's a keeper.

What I'd Wear... Rainy August Days

Rain in August is a bit of a bummer but hey, gives me an excuse to whip out a cute umbrella and style my maxi dresses up in preparation for continuing to wear them into Autumn! 

V Back Maxi Dress - Topshop - £26
PU Hodded Biker Jacket - Miss Selfridge - £52
Shoes - H&M - £14.99
Porcelain Floral Umbrella - Topshop - £15
Etched Braided Cuff - Forever 21 - £3.90

LYMH.

I made a rainy day playlist.

Hello Bank Holiday. Oh and hello torrential rain.

So I lit some candles, snuggled in my cosiest cardigan and made a playlist that looks a little bit like this...

Bras, BBQs & British Weather

Just a few instagram pictures from this weekend. The highlight of my weekend had to be going to a Céilidh (said 'Kay-lee') held in order to raise money to help fight Breast Cancer. So many people are affected by cancer be it personally or through family, friends etc. and I think it's so important that we do raise both awareness and funding so that research into finding a cure can continue. The Céilidh was a fantastic night of laughter, dancing and bunting made out of bras, a perfect event for such a worthy cause!

Other spare moments were spent seeing my family, eating lots of naughty food and having a BBQ even though it was overcast and poured it down about 30 seconds after we stopped eating. Bit of a mad dash to take everything inside but totally worth it because I'm a big fan of outdoor eating, even if it is in slightly miserable British weather.

LYMH.

My Perfect Sunday.

I think my perfect Sunday would have to be waking up with Marcus at around 9am(ish) and going making a cup of tea to bring back to bed with me. Then maybe spending the next couple of hours reading whilst Marcus watches TV. We'd eventually drag ourselves out of bed, get ready (I'd throw on a summery dress to compliment the beautiful sunshine) and then head off in the car for a yummy breakfast that Americans seem to do really well (in my opinion). Then off to some place where there's large grassy spaces, some body of water - lake, river, fountains, I don't really care.  We'd lay out a huge blanket, rummage through the big cooler of food and drinks we brought at whim and chat, read, play mini games of badminton, frisbee etc. and possibly be joined by some great friends. Round about 5ish, we'd pack up and head back home, maybe stopping at the supermarket for whatever we fancy for tea that night. Well fed and content, we would then snuggle up for the evening with a DVD and plenty of popcorn, before heading to bed for a relatively early night so Monday morning is a painless as possible.

LYMH.

7 things about summer...

1. Refreshing drinks. My Nana makes big pitchers of orange juice, lemonade, a splash of wine, slices of lemon, orange and cucumber. Served over ice it's the perfect accompaniment to an evening meal (or at any time for that matter).

2. Sunshine. Sadly I haven't had much to enjoy this year due to being so busy working but trust me, if I had a spare day any time soon I'd be charging to the beach to sunbathe, splash about in the waves and run amongst the sand dunes.

3. Flip flops. Easiest, comfiest (open to debate, my Mum would argue otherwise) & most versatile shoe. Big big love.

4. Summer reads. Yes we should all spend time reading the classics and yes, I love Jane Eyre as much as the next person but lets face it... when it's scorching hot and you're relaxing in the garden, the best books to join you are romantic, chick-lit with vibrant scenery, hot guys and a cute ending that leaves you all warm inside.

 

5. Fruit. Even though we can get most fruit all year round now, it never tastes as good as in the summer! My faves are raspberries and blueberries (with a good scoop of vanilla ice-cream).

6. Lighter evenings. I'm so sad that we've already passed the Summer solstice. There's something so cheery about not coming home from work/school in the dark. Better enjoy it whilst I can!

 

7. BBQs. Good food, laughter, a healthy dose of Pimm's and you're all set for a great night. 

Photo credit 1/2 - my own photo /3/4/5 - my own photo

LYMH.

7 Things I want to have achieved by the end of 2012...

1. Work harder at university and do ALL of my extended reading.

2. Build up a good gym routine and stick to it.

3. Visit a new state (hopefully South Carolina).

4. Learn to cook 5 new healthy meals.

5. Host a great house warming party.

6. Find a foundation which matches my skin tone perfectly.

7. Start saving so I can spend the summer of 2013 in America with Marcus.


Fingers crossed I can achieve all these aims and more! 

LYMH.

Sunshine and a lake.

Just a couple of pictures that have emerged from the start of the summer. One of Marcus' relatives took them and so all photo credit to her! I love 'action' photos, the second one makes me laugh - I look so determined in pulling Marcus in the lake. It was revenge for when he earlier tried to push me off a dock, I promise!

LYMH.

Confession time.

So here it goes. I, Laura, have a photo-taking phobia. Yeah I know you might be thinking 'riiiiiiight okay she's bonkers' but I'm serious! 

I absolutely adore photos but I hate taking them in public. I always think that anyone nearby will think I'm a weirdo or some crazy tourist or that I'm stupidly vain... the list goes on. So I don't do it. On a regular basis I want to snap away at my food in a restaurant/ my hair when I'm getting it done at the hairdressers/ at the way my university looks so pretty sometimes... yet my stupid fear of looking stupid stops me.

I want more photos. I want take more photos of Marcus and I together to look at over and over when I want to cry because he's so far away. I want photos to frame, to put on this blog, to give to my family. I want to be able to pose for outfit photos and not feel like an absolute tit. So I'm taking a stand. No more feeling silly, just go for it. Lets see how I get on ey?

LYMH.

Update: I took a photo of myself in the gym today. But not before I checked that no one could really tell and I did it so quickly that it isn't great however, PROGRESS! *pats self on back*

Aforementioned photo:

Fashion.

Some random pictures of outfits I found on my iPhone, I need to start taking photos of my favourite ones more!

I adore fashion. I love clothes, accessories, thinking of ways to put things together, how clothes can change your shape, skin tone and a whole other manner of things. However, when in comes to fashion at the moment I have several problems:

1. This summer I'm working 6 days a week as a swimming teacher. This means shorts, polo, flip flops and seriously bad hair (I don't bother actually making an effort doing it any more because 2 minutes into my first lesson some kid will splash water over it and trust me chlorinated water and hair ain't a good combo). Not exactly the height of fashion.

2. Before mentioned 6 day work week is knackering me out. Therefore when I get home all I want to do is put my pjs on and go to bed.

3. When living at home, I have the smallest room ever. This means that all my clothes don't fit in my wardrobe and so are scattered not just around other rooms in my house but at my Nana's as well. It's quite hard to put together outfits when the exact item you need is lost/ shoved in a drawer which can only be opened when a bed is moved/ at another house altogether.

4. I have no money to buy any new clothes and so therefore have banned myself from even venturing onto Zara's website because it depresses the fcuk out of me.

5. Even if I did have £££ (I'm a typical skint student) ... where would I store my beautiful new clothes!? Sigh...

I can't wait to move into my new house in September when I'll finally get back a decent amount of space to call my own and stop having to wear the same outfit constantly because I can't find anything else acceptable. Other than that I'm going to embrace my tiny available wardrobe and try to become one of those chic women who wear only basics and look fantastic. Yeah who am I kidding... 

In the mean time I'll continue reblogging gorgeous girls on tumblr and pinning like there's no tomorrow.

LYMH.

White.

In September I move into a new house up in Newcastle with all my best girl pals from university. And I'm pretty excited about it. 

So yes, I'm already planning a few bits and bobs which I would love for my room. I want my theme to be fresh and crisp and white (no sh*t sherlock) but I haven't got millions of pounds so here are some of the items I've scoped out so far. 

Roll on September and uni!

LYMH.

7 Things I'm Grateful For This Morning.

Image credit.

1. My wonderful father who is going to pick me up on my lunch break, buy my a new swimming costume (#swimmingteacherproblems) and take me somewhere nice for food. 

2. That it's Friday. Friday's are never so bad.

3. Two Broke Girls. Tonight when I come home I plan to eat, snuggle up in bed and catch up on my new fave show.

4. Looking forward to spending time with my friends this weekend.

5. That I'm wearing my favourite jumper. H&M I love you always.

6. I have my window open and although it's raining (standard) it smells really fresh and nice.

7. My boyfriend. He's a good'un, end of.

(I do realise 7 is a strange number but it's my lucky number so go with me here...)

LYMH.

Morning cup of tea.

Image credit.

Not going to lie, I haven't had the best couple of days. I've been grumpy, stressy and generally not very nice to be around. However, sat in bed this morning sipping my tea, somehow life suddenly wasn't quite so bad. So thank you the good old British cup of tea. You're always there for my morning cuddle when Marcus can't be and make early mornings slightly less painful.

If I ever move to America then I will fully be taking a suitcase packed only with my beloved Yorkshire Tea. And maybe some hobnobs... yes definitely hobnobs. 

LYMH.

Summer visit.

I unexpectedly got some time off from my summer job the last couple of weeks of June and so after some last minute bookings and mild panicking from yours truly I was off and away to see my boy! 

Marcus' sister, Brie was graduating that weekend so we went back to his home town for my first ever graduation experience. Her ceremony was lovely and she looked gorgeous as usual.

The weather was beautiful the whole weekend and it was so nice to meet some more of Marcus' family and have some time to spend with Brie and his parents. We also went to Marcus' cousin's graduation and her grad party. The party was held in a park and the lake looked so beautiful that day. If we hadn't of had to go early because we had to drive home, I would have loved to have hired a boat or pedalo because the water looked so serene.

Back in Buffalo the next weekend, one of Marcus' friends from high school came to visit and had never been to Niagara Falls. So I returned for my third visit and my second excursion on the Maid of the Mist. Even though I'll never get back the delight I got when I saw the falls for the very first time, they still manage to make me take a step back and go 'wow'. The sheer amount of water cascading down is incredible and the Maid of the Mist is such good fun.

Other things we got up to during my two week visit included going to a big outdoor Fountains of Wayne concert (so awkward that probably 99.9% of the people there were just waiting for Stacey's Mom - including ourselves!), having a great rooftop day drinking party, eating yummy food (I especially love Wendy's burgers and fries, Chipotle and my beloved Sourpatch Watermelons) and an epic mini-golfing session (Marcus killed it and I sucked). Such a good two weeks!

Marcus rocking his pinny and shades during our rooftop session ;) love you!

LYMH.

Easter 2012: Back to the US

((This is going to be photo overload. Warning you now!))


I got a beautiful 4 weeks off for Easter this year and so I made the most of it and flew to visit Marcus for just over 3 weeks. I knew that it'd wouldn't be the most action-packed of visits seeing as the poor boy still had to work Mon-Fri but I just wanted to see him as much as I possibly could!

We started off with Marcus' 23rd birthday. I used my insanely good baking skills (hello cake in a packet) to whip up this sugary delight:

He didn't have a big celebration but we did go out for a meal with some of our friends which was really nice! We also headed out that weekend to Pittsburgh with the lacrosse team which Marcus coaches. We stayed in a nice hotel in Down town Pittsburgh which unfortunately seemed pretty sleepy at night - we struggled to find somewhere to eat after 11pm, cue Domino's ordered to our room, classy classy. 

The boys didn't have a match on the Saturday and so Marcus and I did a bit of exploring. We ate lunch at the 'almost famous' Primanti Bros. Restaurant and sampled their speciality of sandwiches which have the fries in them! They were really good and HUGE but I ate it all like the fatty I am ;)

We also saw the two stadiums from across the river - PNC Park and Heinz Field. Marcus still has a way to go before I fully embrace American sports but he keeps trying...

I also got to catch up with one of my good friends from camp, Rachel, who was a counsellor in my bunk. We met up for breakfast at Pamela's Diner (I don't know which location but it was near the University!). I had pancakes with strawberries - so good!

After another match on the Sunday it was time to head back to Buffalo as Marcus had work on the Monday.    Although I spent most of my daytime watching American TV in the apartment seeing as I couldn't drive and there isn't anything local, we did get up to some nice things in the evenings. We went to Niagara Falls and walked over the bridge to take photos, watched the Buffalo Bandits and generally spent some quality time with each other.

Being the lovely girlfriend I am, I went to one of his lacrosse matches in the snow and froze my arse off. The snow was coming down so badly that I could barely see the pitch. Not going to lie, I lasted about 15 minutes before I gave up and went to sit in his car. Not before I took this picture though to remind him of my dedication ;) it doesn't even look that bad but trust me it was!

Marcus' parents visited one weekend and we had a lovely time eating out, watching more lacrosse matches and the all important shopping! When I'm at home I study at Newcastle University and so I loved seeing Brown Ale on the beer menu at one bar/restaurant we ate at!

My final weekend in NY was spent heading back to Marcus' home town to see some of his friends. On the way down we stopped in Syracuse to have dinner with the amazing Britt. We ate at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and waited about 45 minutes for a table but my goodness it was worth it. Great atmosphere (they have live bands on regularly), good food and really good service. If you're in the area definitely make a visit. I'm not particularly adventurous and so just had the BBQ chicken with fries and a salad but it was so damn tasty and in a huge portion. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

I even got to experience the joy that is red solo cups for the first time. I felt so American! 

So that was my little trip over the pond for Easter. I left with lots of tears not knowing when I'd see Marcus again but knowing that we'd still make it work somehow. It was so nice having a whole 3 weeks together & even though he had to work so much, just being in the same country was amazing. I love Marcus' friends and family and even though I have a major tendency to become an awkward turtle when meeting new people, their kindness never fails to bring me out of my shell.

LYMH.