I Got Eyelash Extensions!

Normally I have short stubby eyelashes that I absolutely hate, so when I found out that an old (best) friend from high school was now offering eyelash extensions I pretty much jumped at the chance to get them. I awkwardly facebooked her about a week ago and we planned to get together for a catch-up, a brew and my eyelash extensions! This morning she popped round to my house and after much hugging and giggling and being extremely happy to see each other, she set out to make my short horrible eyelashes look Hollywood fabulous. The process took around an hour to complete and it didn't hurt at all. It wasn't an uncomfortable experience at all, in fact I just lay on my bed whilst she did them! 

What Are Eyelash Extensions? 

Eyelash extensions, as you probably already know are a bit like wearing semi-permanent falsies. But instead of a strip of lashes, these are individual lashes which are carefully bonded onto your existing lashes with a special glue. These should be applied by a trained specialist, as the industry isn't regulated this specialist should be apart of The British Association of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology. You can choose to either have a full set of lashes or half a set, I chose half a set so the lashes look more natural. 

How Long Do The Lashes Last? 

If looked after properly eyelash extensions should last around 4 weeks, but it all depends on your eyelash cycle. Some of us shed eyelashes quicker than others so it all depends on that. The extensions will drop off naturally when your natural lashes shed. 

How Much Did They Cost? 

My set cost only £10, it really does depend on where you get them done and who does them though because eyelash extensions can cost anywhere from £10 - £150. 

I absolutely love my eyelash extensions, they look so pretty and long but also super natural! Obviously I will keep you updated with how long my set actually lasts and how things go with them during the next few weeks. I think it would be good to document exactly when my lashes start to shed and how things look so that others who want eyelash extensions can see and fully understand exactly what will happen if they get them!

What do you think? Would you ever get eyelash extensions? 

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Tortoise Towers!!

This is going to be a geeky, crazy tortoise lady post so feel free to skip passed if you want! I just want to show this because I'm super excited! I've finally got an "upgrade" on Sid & Domino's houses and they are now in a double decker tables! The tables are absolutely MASSIVE, I mean so big that we've had to rearrange my room! It's taken 3 hours and £200 to make this a dream but oh lord I'm so happy! So here are a few photos of it and the torts! 

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Metcalfe's Skinny Topcorn - Sweet N Salt

So today I am poorly. I wasn't poorly this morning but I've got gradually worse during the day - 4pm being the worst time. I was in Tesco and suddenly I couldn't breathe and felt dizzy, then came the stomach pains. Since then I've been led in bed, waiting for death. To cheer me up my lovely Mother bought me a packet of Metcalfe's Skinny Topcorn and some Sunny D, so now I'm led in bed stuffing my face and feeling ever so sorry for myself. 

Ever since I found out about Metcalfe's Skinny Topcorn I have wanted to try it. It's been on my "most want to eat" list for months. Especially when I found out about the Topcorn Tribe - honestly, I've never wanted to be involved in a product so much in my life. So obviously when my Mum came into my room with this massive "share" packet of Sweet N Salt Topcorn I almost cried with happiness (and stomach pains). 

Firstly, if you don't know about Metcalfe's Skinny Topcorn here's a little background information taken from their website:

"It started with a POP. As the Co Founder of Pret & Itsu, Julian Metcalfe is obsessed with delicious and healthy food. Back in 2008 he was fed up of stodgy snacks that weighed him down & he wanted to create something that was light yet tasty to replace the bog standard crisp. Popcorn was the perfect fit & Metcalfe’s skinny topcorn was born. After experimenting with dozens of flavours & varieties (not to mention a run in with a chocolate drizzle machine) Julian came up with the perfect recipe for freshly popped butterfly popcorn tumbled with Metcalfe’s unique flavours & seasoning. Pret was the first place that stocked the magic stuff & from there, the company quickly gathered a growing legion of fans."

Now onto the popcorn! Sweet N Salt is a lovely mixture of - yes you guessed it - sweet and salty flavours. When I opened the packet for the first time I was overwhelmed by how nice these smell! Absolutely gorgeous! I honestly couldn't wait to stuff my face and I knew right from the word go that I was going to enjoy eating this massive bag of popcorn all by myself. I just love how the two flavours contrast so well with eachother, it tastes absolutely delicious. My favourite part in all of this is that the popcorn is actually so healthy! For a massive share bag like the one I'm currently scoffing it's only 115 calories (or 3 weight-watchers points!) per serving! Which is amazing when you think about how many calories are in a small packet of crisps (Walkers Ready Salted Crisps are around 133 calories, and that's only for a small bag!!) I can tell that Metcalfe's Skinny Topcorn is going to be my new favourite snack, it really is insane how nice it is. Plus they're super healthy so I can scoff my face without feeling incredibly guilty! 

You can buy Metcalfe's Skinny Topcorn in many, many flavours - Sweet N Salt, Chocolate Crackle, Heat N Sweet, Wasabi Glaze and Sea Salt - so you've got loads to choose from. 

Have you ever tried Metcalfe's Skinny Topcorn? What did you think?

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Sunday Selfie Diary #1

I have decided that Sundays are to be the day of vanity and all about me-ish-ness. So I've decided to start a Sunday Selfie post which I will do every week which will also explain everything I've done this week, sort of like a public diary. I don't know how long this will last because I am completely and utterly awful at real life diaries but hey we'll see how it goes! So let's give this a whirl! 

This week has been...stressful. Well most weeks are stressful because Uni isn't great at the moment. There's literally 2 other people on my course at Uni - Ayaz who never, ever turns up (honestly I'm not sure why he bothers) and Sophie. So obviously because there is nobody on my course, they don't have enough teachers to teach us. This has been a problem for the last few weeks and it's meant that I've not got any work done and I've been super stressed out - not sleeping, not eating properly ect. I still haven't got a teacher for one of my lessons so I've been working at Raising The Roof Production Company in Burnley instead. This is good and bad, bad because I'm paying all this money to a University that's not actually teaching me anything but good because I get to be in a real work environment. I spent all Friday at RTR doing some research for them and for one of my Uni projects but I'm not really getting anywhere at all. It's so annoying, especially knowing I'm going to actually have to hit the books because google and wikipedia are just not doing it for me! I spent the rest of the week at Uni, going to any lessons that were actually on (not many). Friday night I went to see Kieron and The Dark Rooms play in Live Lounge. Oh how I hate Live Lounge. We were in there for about 10 minutes before we saw two people having sex in the loos. God awful. The band were great though (as usual) and we ended the night in Malloys having a cheeky £2 glass of wine. Saturday and Sunday I've done absolutely nothing but spend time with Kieron. Eating, watching TV, playing GTA 5 and generally chilling out. It's so nice to have proper couple time at the weekend because we don't get to see each other a lot during the week. This week coming up is half term week so I'm hoping to do a lot more chilling out! I have a few things planned though! Tomorrow I'm going to be meeting the lovely Laura from Laura Loves That because I'm helping her with her Uni work - I'm going to be interviewed, so excited! Sometime during the week I'm going to get some proper eyelash extensions and then HOPEFULLY (fingers and toes and eyes crossed) I'll get to see my lovely Laura from Lisforladybird on Wednesday since I haven't seen her in aggggggges and I miss my blogger bestie! 

Anyways I hope you have all had a lovely week! What have you done? 

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Collection Gothic Glam Lipstick In Revenge

I am a massive lipstick lover AND I am a massive inner Goth so happiness overcame me when I found out about Collection's (formerly Collection 2000) Gothic Glam range. I wanted to buy all of the lipsticks -and probably will at some point - but I thought I'd be sensible and just get the one, so I chose the most wearable of the three shades. 

Like I said Revenge is one of three shades, the other two being Seduction and Scorned. I absolutely love the names of the lipsticks, they have such sexy names! I also really like the packaging, it's also very sleek and sexy - I really feel like Collection have gone all out with the Gothic Glam theme. 

Revenge is a very dark, almost wine coloured red shade with dark purple undertones (the photo above doesn't do true justice to how dark the colour is). It's a very intense, in your face colour which is definitely not for the faint-hearted. But it is a gorgeous colour, one that I think a lot of skin tones could pull off - it all just depends on how brave you are! The formula is amazing, it's so creamy and moisturising and does remind me a lot of Mac Cremesheen lipsticks. I found that this lipstick also had a long wear time, I've worn this for Uni and it's lasted a whole day. Though it does come off when eating and drinking, I found that by the end of the day it had left a dark tinted stain on my lips which I found really flattering. The only problem I have with this, and it's a problem I find with many dark lipsticks is that it feathers a little. I would suggest wearing a lip-liner so that it stays where it's meant to! 

Above is a not so flattering photograph of my fake smiling face wearing Revenge (sorry I got this from my Instagram and that's why it looks a little over edited but you get the idea). It's such a pretty colour and I do stand by the fact that I think it would suit a lot of skin-tones - I mean if I can pull it off then anyone can! Overall I really, really love this shade! It's perfect for Autumn and Halloween especially if you're feeling brave! And at only £2.99 at Superdrug and Boots you really can't complain on the price! 

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Models Own Velvet Goth Nail Polishes

Recently I received two of the Models Own Velvet Goth nail polishes in the colours Obsidian (black) and Amethyst (dark purple). I'm not really a big nail varnish girl, I must say that my nails are atrocious and short and over bitten but I thought "hey let's give these a go!" so when they arrived at my door I was quite excited to try them out. 

The Models Own Velvet Goth collection comes in 5 shades - Obsidian, Amethyst, Absinthe, Sardonyx and Valerian. Each of these shades are matte but with lovely little sparkly bits and tiny little jewels in them. They are all quite dark shades and would be absolutely perfect to add a little bit of sparkle for this Halloween! 

Firstly I'm going to talk about how impressed I am with the packaging. These nail polishes come in the standard Models Own bottle and are of standard size (14ml) but what really makes them special is the limited edition velvet tops, it really makes these products feel like they are a luxury product and it just looks so much nicer than a plain top bottle top! 

The texture of these polishes is a little strange - they're meant to be matte but obviously with the sparkles they become more textured. The consistency of the polishes is quite thin which does make the polishes go on a little bit opaque but it's nothing that a few layers won't fix! 

Amethyst 

Amethyst looks like a lovely dark purple shade in the bottle although is slightly disappointing when on the nails. It needs at least three coats to show up properly as it goes on very opaque and it also seems to have less jewels in comparison to Obsidian. It is however a very glamorous shade and I can see this fitting in with many Autumn outfits and looks though I'm not sure that it's quite "goth". 

 Obsidian

Obsidian is my favourite of the two (but then again I am a sucker for a black nail posh!) This one screams gothic glamour and it looks absolutely gorgeous on. It has a hell of a lot jewels and sparkle within the product which makes the polish look not only very pretty but also quite unique. This is more of a charcoal shade but after a few swipes turns into a beautiful dark black shade. 

I wanted to do some proper swatches for you, but my nails are horrendous so these will have to do. Here you can see the difference in the textures of polishes and also see the quantity of the jewels/sparkly bits. Overall I am really impressed with these nail varnishes, they are definitely the sort of colours I would wear normally and they do help me channel my inner goth (ha!)

Models Own Velvet Goth Nail Polishes are retailing at £5 in Boots, Superdrug and all major drugstores. You can also buy these at MotelRocks with 20% discount code MINICHIMP2001! 

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Night Out Outfit & Face

This is the gorgeous dress from Motel that I wore on Saturday for a The Dark Rooms gig! This dress is stunning on and I really want more like it so I'm on a mission to find more collared baby-doll dresses! I wore this with opaque black tights and black heeled boots! 

What's on my face? 

Base

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation in Ivory

Rimmel Clear Complexion Powder in Translucent 

Collection 2000 Liquid Concealer in Light 2

Cheeks

Topshop Bronzer

Mac Coppertone Blush

Eyebrows

Miss Sporty Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil in Brown

Vivo Ultimate Brow & Eye Kit shade #1

Vivo Eyeliner in White (for highlighting)

Eyes

Sleek Palette - Orange & Matte Brown

Miss Sporty Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil in Black

Bourjois Paris Volume Clubbing Mascara in Ultra Black

Collection 2000 Fast Stroke Liquid Eyeliner

Lips

Mac Ruby Woo

Vivo Black Liner (at the edges)

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Mac Rebel

For a long, long time I was after the Mac Rebel lipstick. I'd seen it on many youtubers and bloggers and always thought the colour was so gorgeous and versatile, so obviously when I received it for my birthday I was literally the happiest girl in the world! Now it's been a few weeks, and I've been wearing this pretty much every other day so I am obviously very, very ready to review this for you!  

Mac Rebel is described as being a mid-tonal plum although I do find it to be more of a dark pinky-purple. In the bullet the colour can be quite overwhelming as it seems so dark but once on the lips the colour is a lot lighter and in my opinion it is a colour that would look good on pretty much every skin tone (especially in this Autumn/Winter months). It is a Satin finish, which I really because it moisturises your lips really well.

I found Rebel to also be a long-lasting colour, it doesn't feather or run and I've worn this for a full day of University without it coming off - so that's five or six hours of staying power right there! When out for longer I rarely have to re-apply (maybe once or twice on a long night out) but do just to keep the lipstick colour looking fresh. It's amazingly pigmented especially after a few extra swipes and it also smells really nice! Is that strange to say about a lipstick? I'm sat here smelling it right now and it smells good enough to eat. It smells quite a lot like vanilla which I really like and think is such a nice touch to a lovely lipstick. 

Overall I would say that Mac Rebel has quickly become one of my favourite lipsticks (although I could say that about all of my Mac lipsticks). It's such a gorgeous colour and it works so well with so many outfits and looks. I'll definitely be wearing this a lot during these dark and gloomy Autumn months!

What do you think? What is your favourite Mac lipstick?

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Motel Rocks Buys

I went shopping!! Of course it got to that time of month where I was in desperate need of some retail therapy. And where else would I shop than my all time favourite online shop Motel Rocks (yes I'm obsessed, no need to point it out!)

I ordered these on the day that Motel Rocks' website went down. If you have me on Twitter, you'll know that it took me about 3 hours to navigate around the extremely slow website, and then it wouldn't let me add anything to my basket. I was in absolute despair! When I finally did get to add the items to my basket, about 5 minutes later they disappeared and I had to go and find them again! Extremely annoying, but in the end I managed to make my order and two days later they arrived at my door!

This time I decided on buying: Motel Penny Babydoll Dress in Mandala Blue (click here), Motel Jilly High Waisted Jean in Acid Wash Denim (click here) and Motel Beatrix Collared Babydoll Dress in 90s Leopard (click here). 

I decided on buying two dresses because I've decided dresses are going to be my thing this Autumn. I love dresses with warm wooly tights and boots, I think they're perfect for the ever changing weather! The jeans are also absolutely perfect! I now own three pairs of these jeans in various different colours and shades, they're such a great fit for someone as short and small as I am. They're really comfortable and on trend, and also quite cheap at £40, so I definitely suggest you check them out.

Don't forget you can get 20% off all items at the checkout by using the code MINICHIMP2001

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Simple Autumn Makeup Look

I just wanted to post up a simple look I've been wearing recently. I absolutely love this look because it reminds me of Autumn - the changing leaves, Halloween & Bonfire Night. This look is based around the use of Mac Morage as the main focus on the lips. For the eyes I used mostly neutral shades from the Sleek Snapshots palette and then blended the creases of my eyelids with a dark red shade. I also used Mac Coppertone blush and a Topshop Bronzer to add a subtle blush and contour to my face. 

These photos have come out a little bit rubbish and possibly too over blurry. I think it's because I used flash, but to be honest my room is so dark right now, it's hard to take a good photograph when the nights are coming in quicker!

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Sleek Snapshots Palette [Review & Swatches]

So this is the first time I've ever bought a Sleek eye-shadow palette, everybody always absolutely raves about these so when I received one for my birthday I was over the moon and seriously couldn't wait to try it out! Since I've had this I've had a great play with lots of different eye looks and honestly I cannot praise this palette enough. 

The Snapshots palette has a mixture of matte and shimmery shades with a fantastic colour selection. It has twelve shades all together, five are matte shades and seven are highly pigmented shimmery shades. The matte shades are a little more powdery and less pigmented - which is not a big deal as I know that it's hard to find highly pigmented matte eye-shadows that look bright on the skin, though the matte shades for some reason do seem to have a lot more fall-out than the shimmery shades *go figure*. I love how versatile this palette is and how easy the eye-shadows are to blend. You can make some seriously gorgeous and adventurous looks by just using the shades in this. All of the shades are really wearable too and there's some great shades in there which will work well for Autumn and Winter styles. Plus this palette is really affordable at only £7.99! 

I'd really like to get myself another type of Sleek eye-shadow palette as I'm just so in love with this one! What do you think? Have you ever tried any of the Sleek eye-shadow palettes? 

Swatches

First Six Shades - Two Matte, Four Shimmer

Second Six Shades - Three Matte, Three Shimmer

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Motel Rocks SALE!

I just wanted to let all you gorgeous people know that Motel Rocks currently has a sale on at the moment. It's a great day when my favourite brand/shop in the WHOLE world has a sale on and I am about to get crazy with my spending - you can't blame me, they have some amazing clothing! 

You can access the sale by clicking here, don't forget that you can get 20% off all items (including anything in the sale) by typing in the code MINICHIMP2001 at the checkout.

Happy shopping!

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EBAY Bargain Winter Coats

I am in serious need of a new coat. I bought a Winter coat last year from Ebay for around £7 (it was from China) and it's lasted all year and it was absolutely gorgeous, but recently I may of stood on it and broken the zip - so now I am cold and in need of a new coat. I've been doing some searching on Ebay again and have found loads of really cute jackets for cheap as chips prices so I thought I'd share them with you. A little coat/jacket wishlist! A lot of these coats come from China or Japan, but don't let that put you off - although they may take a week or two to arrive, I have found that they are fantastic quality and that they are SO much cheaper than buying from Topshop or where-ever you buy your coats from. Personally I think the first two are my favourites but I'll leave it up for you to decide which one you like the most!

1. Army Green Fur Hooded Parka - £17.99

2. Leopard Print Fur Parka - £18.49

3. Quilted Coat - £16.95

4. Padded Military Jacket - £24.99

5. Faux Wool Parka - £10.99

6. Leopard Print Hooded Jacket - £8.99

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Home Made Pizza!

I am a complete and utter sucker for cooking and baking, and am frequently found in the kitchen trying out some new recipe. In the past I've made some mean enchiladas and some gorgeous home made cheese and onion pies among many other delicious cakes and snacks. I really do enjoy it and it's something I like to do on my own to make other people happy and well...full. 

Yesterday I went to the supermarket with my lovely boyfriend Kieron and he saw a packet of pre-made pizza base and decided he wanted pizza. I however wanted to make the base from scratch, so set off into the shop to find yeast and bread flour. Then went home with all my ingredients and very excitedly made two gorgeous pizzas from scratch.

Here's how I did it! 

Ingredients -  

• 300g strong bread flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 200ml of water
• 1 bottle of tomato purée
• 125g of cheese - preferably mozzarella but I used a four cheese mix for one of the pizzas
• variety of toppings e.g - tomatoes, sweetcorn, meat, peppers, onions, mushrooms, pineapple, or whatever takes your fancy

Step ONE

Make the base - Put the flour into a large mixing bowl and then stir in the yeast and salt. Make a well in the mixture and pour in 200ml of water and the tablespoon of olive oil. Bring together with a large wooden spoon until you have a fairly wet, soft dough. Now you need to flour a worktop/surface, put your dough on it and knead for 5 minutes. Once you've finished kneading, set the dough aside for an hour to rise. 

Step TWO

Once you've set the dough aside for an hour, you need to roll out the dough. Do this on a floured surface and use a rolling pin covered in flour to roll the dough into a round shape. The dough needs to be super thin as it will rise more in the oven. Then lift the dough onto a baking tray/pizza tray/tin-foil covered in oil. 

Step THREE

Now it's the fun part! You need to apply the tomato puree onto the top of your pizza. This is easily done by using a spoon to smooth it out over the top. Once you've put on as much puree as you like, you need to start putting on your chosen cheese. Make sure you fill the whole of the dough with the cheese! Once that's done it's time to put your toppings on! 

Step FOUR

Pop in the oven on gas mark 8/240C/220C fan, leave to cook for 10 - 15 minutes, but keep checking on it to make sure it doesn't overcook/undercook. Once you're happy with how it looks (usually the edges of the pizza will look golden, that's how you know it's done!) take the pizza out of the oven and eat! 

You can use this recipe to make one big pizza or you can halve it and make two (or three, or four smaller pizzas!) I have to say this is literally the best pizza I have ever made with this recipe. It's gorgeous!! 

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Coppertone - MAC Blush Review

As you already probably know, for my 22nd birthday (last Friday) I was lucky enough to become the owner of a few new Mac items. This for me was incredibly exciting because let's face it, I'm a cheap and cheerful drug-store make-up kind of girl, so owning anything from a brand that's not in Boots or Superdrug is insane to me. 

Today I'm going to be reviewing a Mac Blush called Coppertone. Coppertone is described as being a peach-brown matte finish, though personally I would say it is more of a burnt orange-brown. It's a gorgeous colour which shows on the skin like a matte bronzer, adding a slight bit of colour which makes your face look warmer. 

Coppertone has a smooth texture which when put on correctly applies evenly on the skin. In my oppinion to wear this blush you would need to start off light and slowly build up colour, it's extremely pigmented so overuse of product can make you look a little unwashed if applied incorrectly. It is extremely blendable but obviously if you are of a lighter complexion like myself, you may want to be careful with how much product you use. Another thing to watch out for is that this product looks darker on the skin than it does in the pan, so my advise would be to swatch it on yourself before buying this blush.

It is a stunning colour, one that I have been using every day since I bought it. It's really become a staple in my every day make-up routine. Coppertone has been labelled as a "must-have" blush for tanned skinned girls and I must say that I have to agree. This looks simply gorgeous when I have my false tan on and really adds a lovely, light bit of colour to my cheeks. This is also fantastic to contour with especially if you have fairer skin, so I would say overall Coppertone would be perfect any skin tone - it all just depends on how you plan on using it!

I have tried to swatch this, but the colour just won't take on my camera. At the moment I am a bit full of fake tan so it's only showing up as a tiny bit of colour but hey-ho, I'll put the swatch up anyway and you can see for yourself (even though it's an awful swatch, I'll definitely try again for you in another post). I'm laughing at how awful this photograph is and how big my arm looks!

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Reminiscing About Florida [Personal Post]

I have a lot of beauty posts lined up to write but to be honest, I'm just not in the mood. I feel incredibly down today and nothing is properly cheering me up. Today is the first anniversary of my Nana's death and I'm finding it really hard just to get out of bed without tears escaping my eyes. It's times like this when I just sit and look at old photos and try and think about happier times in my life. Time when things weren't so complicated or upsetting. 

I spent a while looking at photos of my Nana but it was just making me feel worse, so I thought to myself "what makes me happy no matter what?" - and the answer, Florida. I've been going to Florida since I was about 14 years old. I've been many, many times. Too many to count, sometimes twice a year. It all started when my sister moved out there to work at Disney World. I have never, ever been so jealous of someone in my life and my dream is still to work out there for a few months (although that dreams seems very far away from me right now and pretty much impossible to reach). That being said, any time spent in Florida to me has been amazing, it's literally become my second home and nothing makes me happier than thinking about how gorgeous Orlando is and how perfect I find it. So in an attempt to cheer myself up I have compiled a photographic list of things I love and times I have loved whilst in Florida. At least with this list I can look back on it to make myself happier at any time in my life. It's nice to have all of these photos from over the years all together in one post.

Some of these photographs are from 2004, so please excuse any photos of me looking like...well not me. I went through many phases through the years and that is evident in a few of these photos. These are also not in any order, although any were I have brown/black hair are quite obviously ones from much further back. 

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