December Haul

So as Carrie Bradshaw once said "Shopping is my cardio." she was not wrong...today shopping became my cardio (well that is until I did the hardest, most vile LBT workout of my life). I've never really been into fashion, I've obsessed over shows like Sex and the City and Gossip Girl which circulate around fashion and I've always admired the outfits and dreamed of the day I could be a writer like Carrie in a New York apartment wearing all her glorious gear but in all honesty I just have no clue about fashion. I'm more the kinda gal to be seen trying new workouts or trying new recipes- getting excited over a new work-out outfit is probably the best you'll get. However I do love a crazy clothes shop once in a while. We all see and hear about those mad hens at 5am Boxing day bursting through the doors of Next into the sales and coming out with a thousand bags, blue in the face with veins popping out of their arms but that would never be me. Today however, I thought as I'm going to New York in less than a week, I wanted to look like a snazzy pants and get some new things in my wardrobe! I've seen a lot of Bloggers and Vloggers do clothes hauls and I know you get some really odd people that hide where they've bought something from or how much it was etc but I'm so excited about the beautiful bargains I got today that I had to share!

Some of these things have either been bought today or were given to me for Christmas, also the lighting in my room is bloody awful so the pics aren't going to appear on the cover of Vogue any time soon- but that's the part that's me.

This was my "OOTD" as they call it or for all you uncool folk like myself-my outfit of the day. This is a combination of presents that were bought for me for Christmas because I'm a lucky little bean. The jumper & scarf are from New Look, the jeans are from the petite section of Next and the brown knee-high boots are also from New look-because New Look is bae. This jumper is just the cosiest thing in the world, its kind of a mustard colour- probably more for an Autumn style but it's snug enough for Winter in my opinion. It has a small split either side and its cuffed at the wrists, its also a low neck jumper so I matched it with the scarf also from New look which is in different shades of black and brown. I just love outfits like this that you can feel good in but that also make you feel really snug and warm.

This was a present that was bought for me which is from Avon, I absolutely love bracelets like this that are really quirky with different symbols on. This is completely my kinda style, I love wearing things that have a nice meaning behind them. All four of these bands are joint together to create one bracelet, the first band has the Infinity symbol on, the second states 'Love', the third is plain which I like because it doesn't create too much fuss and the last is a wish tree- it brings peace, wishes and offerings. I just think it's really cute and it's my favourite piece of jewellry at the moment.

So this is what happens when you go to buy a coat....

Sole Trader

So first I will start with these AMAZING shoes from Sole Trader. I saw these as soon as I walked in and I had to grab them immediately. They were 30% off the usual price and I got them for a huge bargain of 29.99!!! They are black suede so although I chose them to wear in NYC for any evening outings (because I am not chancing freezing my tootsies off in heels) I will have to be extra careful in rain or snow so I don't ruin the material. These could be matched with a shirt tucked into a skirt with tights or even a pair of skinny jeans and a nice top. You could even wear them naked because they're so beautiful.

Ann Summers

For anyone that turns their nose up at this, everybody loves a beautiful lingerie set so hush up and embrace it! I am usually the one that runs out of Ann Summers cackling at the prices that my poor student life could only dream of affording but on this beautiful day luck was on my side and I got this gorgeous set. I love lacy underwear, I think it just makes you feel good and whether someone else thinks you're sexy or not, it's how you feel in yourself that matters and lacy underwear makes me feel like a secret Beyonce underneath my clothes. The bra was reduced from £20 to £8!!! And the thong was reduced from £12 to £7, which is a bloody good deal from Ann Summers- the little hun!

Ark

I am an absolute sucker for a Slogan Tee and this seemed the most applicable top of all time for me. You're lucky if I've brushed my hair most days because if I do brush it it looks like a fluffy beaver has invaded my scalp. I have naturally wavy hair so its hard to tame and usually I give up after five minutes of trying to style it so this t-shirt described my life. It was from Ark- one of my favourite shops EVER! And it only cost me £7!

This dress is a trial and error piece for me. I'm going to wear it out once and if I hate all pictures of myself in it then it is going straight into the bin. This is a tan colour (my lighting doesn't help!!!) and it has little gaps in the sides so you can see a small part of my Hamsa hand tattoo! It finishes just above the knee and it is quite figure-hugging in places so if you have big thighs and booty like me, prepare to embrace them! This is also suede which is a bit of an odd material for me to pick on a dress but I really fancied it and at a measly SIX POUNDS, yes you heard me- how could I say no?!

I absolutely love this skirt because I love tartan things and I thought this would be great for winter paired with tights, ankle boots and a black long-sleeved top. This was a nice bargain too at 13 pounds which is 7 pound off the original price!

I had to buy myself a new leather jacket in order to force myself to throw my other one in the bin. I've always loved black leather jackets since I was a teenager and I love that they never seem to go out of style. This one zips on the left hand side and has a belt along the bottom, it's slightly cropped but because I'm so small it comes down to the bottom of my stomach, I love this paired with jeans and knee-high boots and it only cost me 13 pound so obviously I had to buy it!!!

Primark

I know people get a bit funny about Primark but let me tell you there is nothing more wonderful for a student and if you really take your time in there you'll pick up some really lovely bits and pieces. I bought quite a few things from Primark but I'm just going to post the highlights. As I said earlier I'm a sucker for a slogan tee and if it's a jumper- even better. This is quite thin material but it's a good jumper for lounging around in and nothing describes me better than this jumper.

I would love to know what possesses me to do these poses lol! I normally shy away from patterns like this but this skirt was all up in my face like "Hey Girl buy me!" and so I had to.. I really liked the outfit on the mannequin and thought I'd try it for myself! I think the skirt was £8 and the shirt was possibly a tenner or under- who knows- regardless it's a bargain outfit for sure!

Last but 100% not least is the most beautiful thing I've bought today and probably my life. This coat cost a teeny twenty pounds which is half the price of one I was looking at in Quiz for £40 which looked almost exactly the same but in black. I put this on and had to buy it immediately because I couldn't bare the thought of another human being wrapping themselves up in this snuggle rug. I'm so excited to wear this trotting around NYC and I had to do a close up of the fur collar because it was so cosy and warm. 

I hope you enjoyed my December Haul you little fashionistas. 

Han. X

IT'S CHRISTMAS!

Christmas is literally my most favourite time of year, in fact I wish it could be Christmas all year long. Maybe I should have been an Elf. For all you Scrooges out there this post is definitely not for you. 

I genuinely think that this is one of the best Christmases I've ever had which is why three days later I'm still struggling to realise that Christmas is in fact- over. *cries endlessly*

I think the whole build-up to the event makes it the most exciting time of year. The buying of the presents, the wrapping (although if you ask anyone that has had a gift from me they will tell you how truly bloody awful I am at it), watching Christmas films, decorating your house and Christmas tree, the food (oh lord the food!) and everything inbetween, it's all so wonderful, I think that's the only word I could use to describe it because Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year. 

Each year I realise more and more just how awful my wrapping skills are but with the help of endless cups of tea, Zoella and Niomi's vlogs and lots of Christmas songs I was good to go. I sat for hours at a time wrapping away and I could honestly do it for a living because I find it so much fun. I'd make absolutely NOTHING money-wise because my wrapping presentation is horrific at the best of times. Even my five year old sister said to me "Hannah, your wrapping is really hard"- a five year old's translation of "Hannah, your wrapping is quite frankly- a load of shite."

This year I found this super cute wrapping paper covered in Santas, little penguins, snowmen and reindeers. It was an absolute bargain from ASDA which was perfect for students like me and it lasted 35 presents!!!

Another of my favourite things about Christmas are the nights out. I work in a restaurant part-time and I'm in my third year at Uni and have consequently become incredibly boring. I've barely had any nights out so far this year but in the run up to Christmas they always seem more exciting- everyone is in the run up to finishing their work and everyone's spirits are high. On this particular night out we went into Fiction in Hanley at the end of our night and I stole my friend Soph a Santa hat. And of course alike to the end of every night out we went on the search for chicken. 

Christmas work-dress up! You just can't beat it! Especially when you work in a hot restaurant and have to wear nine thousand layers of clothing on a normal basis. This year I went as Santa's little helper and my manager was a Christmas tree! It's always fun for the children to see us wearing these outfits as it gets them even more excited for the big day.

Christmas Eve is even more magical- especially for kids because Santa's coming! Everything feels that little bit more magical. Christmas Eve always feels bitterly cold so you can wrap up in all your wintery goods or if you're staying in you can snuggle up in a heap of blankets and watch Christmas films. This year me and Ant watched 'It's a wonderful life' for the first time and if you haven't already seen it, you MUST. We spent our Christmas Eve seeing Ant's little girl Darcey- we took our bags of presents round and let her run wild with opening them and playing with her toys. She is the cutest, most hilarious little girl and made my morning running round the room giggling with her inflatable Olaf. It's always so exciting seeing children's faces at Christmastime.

This was the first Christmas me and Ant have spent together, last year he was working in Stoke and I was with my family in Manchester. After we had seen Darcey on Christmas Eve we got the train to Manchester, got ourselves a Christmas Starbucks to keep us warm and then went home to my family. I love going to my mom's house at Christmas, I love all the decorations being out because a lot of them we've had since I was a little girl and it brings back a lot of lovely memories.  

For the last few years we've had an annual Christmas Eve meal at Frankie and Benny's, this is because whilst living in Manchester I would work on Christmas Eve and it would be their way of getting to see me. For the last couple of years I've been able to join them for the meal and It's made Christmas Eve much more exciting.

We are so lucky that my mom and stepdad always make sure our living room is filled with sacks of presents for us every Christmas morning.

On Christmas Day we usually wake up between eight and nine and go downstairs, make a brew and then open our presents. Because we open presents individually so we can all have a nosey it takes quite a long time so we usually have a break inbetween and have a bacon butty, yummy!

Mine and Ant's joint present. I couldn't have put it better myself.

After we've opened our presents we all go put on our Christmas Day outfits, this year I made a little more effort and attempted winged eyeliner again! This time it didn't go as terribly and I also wore my 'GOSH' lipstick- this shade is called 'Night kiss' and you can buy it from Superdrug, it was a bit of a panic buy a while back because I'm so unsure on make-up. It's quite a dark purpley-red colour but it really stands out and was perfect for winter make-up.

 After we've put on our Christmas Day outfits my Nan usually visits for present exchanges and a natter and then later my stepbrother Kieran joins us. My Nanna and Grandad come about 4ish and give us more presents (we are incredibly lucky!) and then we eat. THE FOOD. Let me tell you- there is nothing more tough to beat than a plate piled high with meats, carbs and a mountain of gravy (if you're like me) but I will not admit defeat on Christmas Day and I always end up looking like I'm nine months pregnant with a food baby.

I am so glad Ant joined my family this year for Christmas, it made it all the more exciting and he bought me the most thoughtful gifts. I am so blessed to have him.

I've been begging my mom and boyfriend to get me a pug for god knows how long now and of course they tell me no. Which is a bit mean but pugs aren't the cheapest thing to ask for...so instead of this my mom bought me these pug PJ's this year because who doesn't like getting pyjamas at Christmas? These are part of Primark's new nightwear collection and if you're one of those people that looks down their nose at Primark then you need to get yourself back in there and grab yourself a pair of these bad boys. I never want to wear another pair of pyjamas again. 

My mom took these photos of me and Ant at the table on Christmas day and I absolutely love them. 

My Grandad Jim looks so grumpy on this! He turned up on Christmas Day in a bright Christmas jumper and I've never seen him wear anything like it so it really made my day.

On Christmas Day we have country vegetable soup and warm bread rolls for starter, the traditional Christmas Dinner for main and then for dessert we can choose from my Nanna's homemade syrup sponge with custard or Christmas pud. I obviously opted for my Nanna's homemade syrup sponge because no dessert on earth can beat it. My Nanna is the most amazing cake maker and it does no favours for someone with a sweet tooth like me! YUMMY.

After eating on Christmas Day we roll ourselves into the living room for all the Christmas specials in our Christmas PJ's with Christmas chocolates. We also have a family tradition called 'Fairy on the Christmas tree' where we get out a teeny Christmas tree with a fairy on top and we hold hands and sing our song round it and each time the song ends whoever is stood in front of the fairy can take their present and sit down. I was mortified to show Ant this Christmas tradition but it's hilarious and really cute too. How many times can I write Christmas in this blog? 

Boxing Day- this year we had my stepdad's family round for a buffet (yes more food) and I had to take a sterotypical photo of the Prosecco bottle because who doesn't love a glass of Prosecco at Christmastime?

Sadly the day after boxing day it was time to head home, we packed up my stepdad's car and drove back to Stoke ready for work. I was a sad little Elf.

Now that Christmas is over I don't really know what to do until I go to NYC in a week's time so until then I will light this Wax Lyrical 'Mince Pies' scented candle that someone got me for Christmas and I will continue to live in daydream Elf land. Do not disturb. 

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

50 facts about me

I saw this '50 facts about me' on a blog I'm obsessed with- www.throughemseyes.com, I love reading things like this because I'm a right nosey bugger. So I thought I'd do it even though my facts are probably going to be incredibly boring but I know my fellow nosey buggers will appreciate a post like this.

I'm literally doing this as I go along so everything will be totally random. I'll probably go into a panic mid-way through and not know what to write anymore and give up and cry about how boring I am but it's worth a try!

1. My full name is Hannah Laura MacDonald- ha ha yes MacDonald.

2, I am from Manchester.

3. I have lived in Stoke for the last three years studying Drama and Theatre at Staffs Uni and I am now in my final year aaaaaaaaaah.

4. I have been with my boyfriend Ant for just over a year now. 

LOOK AT HIS FACE. I love the pants off this beautiful, bearded man.

5. I have worked at Frankie and Benny's for just over four and a half years.

6. I have recently become obsessed with watching vloggers- mainly the ones that talk about food.

Why do I never look this good eating a salad?

7. I don't know a bloody thing about make-up. I tried winged eyeliner the other day and ended up looking like a drag queen.

8. Instagram is like cocaine to me.

9. I have three sisters- Olivia, Sophie and Ruby.

10. Me and my mom cannot be left together for more than two days without bickering but she is the first person I call when I need a little cry. 

11. I am a massive foodie. I just love food. Almost too much. Blame my Dad.

12. I have recently applied for an MA in Playwriting which is scary because I've always wanted to act and now I want to do both!

13. My boyfriend moans every time we go food shopping because I like us to eat as healthy as possible but he insists on bacon bagels and pie and mash so we always have to compromise.

14. Costa's sticky toffee lattes are currently what I dream about. WHY IS EVERYTHING SO BAD FOR YOU?????

15. Whilst on the subject of naughty things- Bacon & maple syrup flavoured kettle chips are my most favourite thing in the world right now and I can't let myself buy them because I'll happily demolish half a bag and call it one of my three meals. 

16. I am an incredibly insecure person. I always worry that people are talking/thinking badly of me and it makes it very hard for me to do certain things because I feel really anxious. 

17. I have to have a cup of coffee every morning before I do anything else. Black, one sugar. It gives me life. Don't even look at me before I've taken a sip.

18. I get incredibly irritated by things not being put back in the right place. That's probably OCD of some kind. I blame my mom.

19. I recently can't stop calling people 'babby'. Not baby. Babby. 

20. I spent three months this summer as an Au pair in Italy for a baby called Riccardo and he was my bestest friend. I also learnt Italian (well some.)

21. I live in a student house with my best friend Macauley, my boyfriend and my friend Sam. I've lived with Macauley the whole time I've been at Uni and I know we are going to be bestest buds for life. He is the true definition of a homie, we always fist-pump when we agree on something, we share a love for food and he is my personal taxi driver. We fight like brother and sister but he's been one of the best things about my Uni experience!

See how good he is to me? He's holding me up because I'm too drunk.

22. I ramble a lot. lol.

23. If I could be anyone for a day, it would definitely be Khloe K or Chrissy Teigen. I LOVE THEM.

24. I absolutely LOVE Christmas. It is literally the bestest time of year, I'd sooner have two Christmases then have my birthday (I'm aware that's impossible).

25. I love to dance, I've danced since I was three years old.

26. I'm President of the dance club at Uni.

27. Exercise is the one thing that I've found that sorts my mood swings out. I have to go to the gym or do a home workout at least 4-5 times a week just to keep myself sane. 

28. I was bulimic in year ten and eleven. Finding a love for exercise genuinely helped me to come out of that phase, which is why I panic so much now if I've not worked out.

29. I have never been 100% happy with my body or looks but I want all young girls out there to know that your looks or body have absolutely no reflection on the type of person you are. Those things really don't matter, just unfortunately for me I can't take my own advice.

30. I take a bottle of water with me everywhere I go, it's usually the same one for about three months and then I realise how much of a hobo I am and change it.

31. I hate going to sleep without having Ant there. I find it SO hard.

32. I get really attached to people. I've had a lot of people walk out of my life and I find it incredibly hard to trust so I become quite clingy with people because I'm afraid they'll leave.

33. I get jealous really easily. ^same reasons as above, I'm worried that I'll become less important to someone.

34. I have a personal trainer. (trying to live that Kardashian lifestyle without the money part)

35. I like having baths so hot that I look like a lobster when I get out.

36. My nickname is 'Han' and I get really excited when people call it me (DON'T ASK.)

37. I am a big believer in love. Love makes the world go round and don't tell me different.

38. I love a good cup of tea. I have them strong with a tiny bit of milk and one sugar NOT STIRRED. I like the surprise at the end. Again don't ask....

39. I love fluffy blankets.

40. I find it really hard to cry at reality. I can cry at programmes and films easily but I struggle to cry in real life. I get frustrated and shout when I want to cry and if I do cry it's like one tear so when I properly cry IT'S BAD. 

41. I love giving. If I see anything that I think someone will like I have to buy it them.

42. If someone tells me they're sad or fed up i have to do something about it, it usually involves handing them food or a hot beverage or a cuddle but all the same I have to do something.

43. I REALLY WANT A PUG. I JUST LOVE THEM.

This one wasn't so keen on me.

44. My favourite shop in the world right now is Charms & Chains- it's in Hanley and there aren't many little gems like this place in Stoke but it is the best and you have to go if you haven't been already.

45. I was engaged at the age of 17. 

46. I love travelling.

47. I love massages, I beg everyone to give me a massage almost every day. It's usually a no.

48. When I was three I almost drowned. Thanks Dad for keeping me livin'.

49. My favourite actresses are Kate Hudson and Rachel McAdams.

50. My favourite thing about myself is that I'm thoughtful.

So....there you have it- FIFTY THINGS ABOUT MYSELF.

As you can see I love a good ramble and I would love to see lots of other people write fifty things about themselves and then I'll read yours and want to re-write mine!!!

I hope your cups of tea were big enough to get you through this one.

Hannah xoxoxo

Life after Uni

AAAAAAAAAAAAH. Don't say it. Don't even think it.

Post-graduation is something that makes me want to hide in a bin and dream of the days where my worries lay in learning lines and reading plays. Thinking about life after Uni has become an absolutely terrifying thought for me, so much so that I had a meeting with one of my tutors at Uni because I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do following the daunting graduation day which may still seem months and months away but it is actually so close that if I got pregnant now it would take longer to produce a human inside my body than it would be to graduate. Yes I do weird maths to prove lengths of time. 

Part of me wants to move into my Nanna's house following graduation and read endless piles of books and raid her biscuit tin every day and have her make her famous meat pie with mash and gravy every night for tea. But unfortunately that's not really an appropriate life plan...so I've been told anyway. 

I went into the room with my tutor for this life meeting and discovered that there were in fact a couple of things that had taken my interest for post-graduation but I had just shoved them to the back of my mind in an attempt to disguise the fact that my life has to continue after University. Everyone always said to me when I came to Uni "It goes so fast...." those people were not lying!!! I remember being a measly little first year thinking how ace it was that I could bowl into health and safety theatre workshops 9am hungover and then going home eating leftover dominoes and having a nap. We take these things for granted!!! Of course that's not all I've done at Uni, I have actually been productive and learnt so so much from my time at Uni. The thing is the things we learn in our billion years of education may teach us a lot but it never teaches us about mortgages, looking for houses, where to buy your bed from, how to finance yourself, how to find a job. All the things that are in fact crucial to us when we are cruelly stripped of lesson timetables and student loans (fuck all of you that got a big pile of money sent your way) we have no idea how to do them because we haven't been taught. 

I went to my friend's house not long ago and she had a plan, a full blown written PLAN on what her and her boyfriend were going to spend their pennies on. Granted they have a baby but they are both in the same year as me at Uni and they were so bloody organised. It terrified me. I thought Wow, how great you are at being an adult. I'm shite. 

I took the plunge this morning and sent an email about a Masters I'm interested in doing but then I have to find funding because unfortunately student finance suck at giving you money forever. Then me and Ant have to find ourselves a place to live and we will then have to find jobs and do crazy adult things that I'm too terrified to even think about. 

I just think how bloody terrible it is that nobody ever tells you how to be an adult. 

Except maybe my friend Beyonce.... aka www.breakingadult.wordpress.com

She graduated last year and is doing absolutely amazing things now and has created this beautiful little blog to help scared little beans like myself and many of my uni pals to march into the big outside world in our sassy pants. 

I also just read another blog post that said we are all so busy thinking about our futures that we forget to appreciate the now which I think I need to remember to keep sight of. Appreciating the fact that I have had the opportunity to come to Uni and make amazing friends. Although this blog isn't helping anyone it's just expressing how daunting I find the whole post-grad concept I just wanted to let all those billions of third year students in this position that you're not alone and being scared is totally OK. My tutor did in fact give me some great advice which was that it's silly that we have to think in our young twenties what we want to do for the rest of our lives. He said to just take the plunge and if I want to do a course or do something right now then I should do it, I may not like it once I've tried it but it's better to try something than to regret not having gone for it. This is the exact reason why I registered my interest in a Masters this morning because life is too short to wonder if I might not have liked it so I'm going for it and then after that I'll go for something else and then hopefully on the way I'll find that I have built myself a life without having realised it. I advise all you beautiful people to do the same.

But for now CHRISTMAS IS IN 34 DAYS

Buddy has the best life plan. Maybe I'll follow in his footsteps.

Now go make yourselves a brew before you get into a post-grad panic.

Lots of love,

Hannah xoxoxo