Hello there strangers...

Well hello there,

Firstly I must apologise for my extended and unintended absence life of late has been a little hectic to say the least. What with an unplanned moving house, coursework deadlines, exams and blogger events I've barely had time to study and sadly my little ol' blog has suffered as a consequence.

Anyways I'm halfway through my exams now, just my journalism practical exam and then my marketing exam next week, phew! And we've fully moved into our new flat though not quite fully unpacked yet, I'm looking forward to doing a room tour post over summer once my room is finished :) we had our last ever 'march out' earlier today from our last ever Army quarter, it's crazy as apart from Australia and boarding school I've only ever lived in army-houses (that I can remember anyway.)

I thought I'd pop up a few wee pictures to fill you in a little on what I've been up to;

Sadly we had to say goodbye to our little bunnies, as we don't have room for them at the new flat :(  I miss fluffy cuddles with Fily and Kily, they are now settled in with a lovely family with a big garden.

:( sad goodbyes

Meet Gladys the hamster, the newest addition to our family, Finlay's hamster.

Finally tried Pinto and boy it was good!

Gave out copies of The Reader for World Book Day which also happened to be the day everything got rather hectic and we discovered we were moving, hence sadly I have few copies left... Any #scottishbloggers who I might see at any events soon let me know and I can bring a copy for you!

Learnt a valuable life skill from my Granny; wallpapering! Behold my new bedroom feature wall!

Studied... not as much as I hoped to fit in though :/

A brief snippet of my latest goings on; I've purposefully not included any recent blog events as they'll be blogged about over the next few days :)

Till next time lovelies,

Iona

The joys of being busy!

Life is a little crazy at the moment back soon I promise!

In the mean time listen to this it is simply amazing!

Iona x

"Wake me up before you go go..." NOTD

This week's nails are bright and beautiful, a little in your face but I love them, Kelly and I decided on neon late 80s/early 90s themed nails to match my new Accessorize necklace.

Neon-sparation...
Necklace: Accessorize £25

A slightly blurry picture as it's straight from my instagram but I love this necklace, yes it's a little out-there but it's my new favourite statement necklace. The wonderful Kelly then created some incredible nail art to go with them, it you're ever in or live near Stirling, Pinky's Stirling is a must visit for all you nail-art needs! link

I love these nails and they certainly brighten up the drearier days, my favourite is definitely the MTV nail ;) 

I scheduled this post as today I'm working all day, the joys of working weekends! Alas I hope you've  all had/are having a lovely weekend as always. I'm looking forward to another week of college coursework, revision and eating healthily, oh and starting the 30 Day Shred! (wish me luck, I'll definitely need it)

Till next time lovelies,

Iona

Life in Pictures... It's been a while.

It's always nicer when it's sunny, I was glad today that the incessant rain we've been experiencing this week in Scotland had decided to quite simply 'dae one' and the sunshine showed its face. This week signalled the end of my Easter holidays and back to getting ready for second year exams, sigh, alas it must be done. I've also been powering on with a new health-kick, I try as much as possible to avoid the word diet, but inevitably that's what it is. Lots of fruit and veggies, protein and only complex carbohydrates, in fact I've only had one slice of bread all week! Tonight I impressed myself by refusing a family chippy and instead making myself a healthy dinner (I did treat myself with a peach and apricot Rekorderlig though.)

I thought I'd do a wee Instagram post as I haven't done one in months, so here's some pictures from the last few weeks; I apologise for being rather quiet on the ol' blog recently but what with coming towards exams and coursework deadlines time is a little tight at the moment... Fun times.

Warning there's lots of pictures ahead... (oldest first)

Finishing off the last of my Easter chocolate...
My youngest brother treated me to a Karl Lagerpug tote, such a cool kid.

Enjoying my holidays with tea and cake with friends.
Sporting dungarees long before the 2013 comeback!

A much needed 'morning after' fried egg sandwich and massive cup of tea.
Bleach-ing time

Reaping the benefits of my Waitrose card; free coffee!
Dirty Dozen; Dad brought home Krispy Kreme!

Bargains from the new TK Maxx
£10 free voucher! :D

Amazing neon nails from Pinky's Stirling!
Bring on Summer.

Classy as always; Elderflower and lime Kopparberg in my sippy cup ;)

Another 21st! Pick 'n' Mix at Ashley's 21st!
Ashley's 21st :D

Last treat days, a cheeky Greggs doughnut and a mango and raspberry Rekorderlig pizza feast! 

3 months free National Art Pass :) excited to visit all the galleries and museums!
First healthy meal of the week,

Screenshotting; My Sassy Girl for my college project.
Eating meals in reverse, breakfast for lunch :)

Accessorize neon statement necklace, loving some cheeky bling.
Big healthy food shop :)

Trying out a new type of coconut water and a bargain at Waitrose.
Revising in my PR class.

Loving this month's GlossyBox
The new scenic route on my bus journey is rather pretty early in the morning :)

Knocking down a family take-away in favour of a healthy dinner :)
Making smoothies for lunch.

So there we have it hunners' eh' pictures... This weekend I'll mostly be working and heading out on Saturday for another 21st, I've already made my lunches and breakfasts for the weekend so I'm all prepped for a busy one. I hope you all have the loveliest of weekends and here's hoping the sunshine continues. 

In other news today I bought tickets to see Kings of Leon in August, I'm unbelievably excited as I've never managed to see them live! My 16 year old self is rejoicing and I literally can't wait, I missed seeing them when I lived in Melbs as I was working on a school camp in the wilderness, roll on August. So I'll leave you with a Kings of Leon classic ;)

Till next time lovelies,

Iona

Bargain Hunting... haul post.

Like many people, I love a good bargain, a rake around the charity shops and a rummage at vintage sales and I'm in my element. Last week I spent Tuesday doing both of these things; Afternoon Twee is a vintage fair which is held at Stirling Uni, generally once a month, I've been meaning to go for the last year, but usually can't due to college or work. Last week was the final week of my Easter break and so was the perfect excuse to finally go, there weren't as many stalls as I'd hoped there would be but it was good to have a wee look and make a few purchases.

I then headed back into Stirling were I wandered around our many charity shops picking up a few bargains, before coffee and cake with two of my lovely friends then a trip to the hairdressers. Topped off with a cheeky wee cheap Tuesday night out (I am a student after all) all in all last Tuesday was pretty perf' tomorrow in comparison, doesn't quite hold the same potential... Back to college, which isn't so bad but there are many things I'd rather be doing... I've just finished writing up a poster presentation comparing a Korean film to it's American remake (My Sassy Girl) if you're wondering and discussing the reasoning behind Hollywood remakes of films, etc. Pretty interesting as far as essays go :) so fairly cushty, but anyways here's a wee peek at my purchases from Tuesday.

Bargains!

Scarf £2 (Afternoon Twee- Vintage Stall)

Necklace 50p (Afternoon Twee-stall)

Necklace 50p (same stall as above)

Detailing on blouse; £1.99 Red Cross Charity Shop, Stirling.

Dorothy Pendant £4 (I also bought an I 'HEART' GIN one for my Mum)
the stall was called Bunny's Beads here's a link to their facebook page.

I also bought a forest green 100% wool coat from the Age Concern charity shop in Stirling for only £6, it most likely belonged to a wee old lady but I love it! I haven't got a picture yet but shall feature it in an OOTD post if it's cold again... fingers crossed you won't be seeing it till at least October, that's unlikely though. I bought a plain black pencil skirt from Primark too (top right corner of first picture) which was £5. Pretty bargainous day and I only spent £14 on my night out too! 

I'm now off to print off and cut out screen shots from the two versions of My Sassy Girl ready to hand in my presentation tomorrow and to do my final proofread of my essay, then make my packed lunch ready for tomorrow, such a glamorous life ;) hope you've all enjoyed Monday!

Till next time lovelies,

Iona

Thursday's spent in the sunshine; Zen.

Last Thursday saw the continuation of Spring finally showing it's bonny wee face, and with it a day spent in one of my favourite cities; Edinburgh. I spent the afternoon traipsing about the shops before meeting up with some of my favourite Scottish bloggers, they really are a lovely bunch!

We then headed to Zen Lifestyle on Teviot Place, for a bloggers and press networking evening, complete with mini treatments, plenty of bubbly and goody bags; perfect wee Thursday night huh?

Bright blue skies at 5.30pm, wonders will never cease!

The salon itself is gorgeous, from the personalised Zen towels to fresh flowers, nothing had been forgotten. We had tours of the newly renovated salon and learnt more about some of the exciting new treatments offered by Zen including the brand new Clear and Brilliant treatment, which is a facial involving lasers, very interesting.

My weakness...  :O

Loved the soft toned mood lighting and music playlists in all the treatment rooms.

Cheeky wee snap of the lovely Gillian, Chloe and Laura :)

Express Shellac in progress

Murad products

All in all I had a lovely evening at the newly renovated Zen Lifestyle, I'm looking forward to heading back next time I'm through in Edinburgh for a weekend, possibly for a cheeky wee facial. Thanks to the lovely ladies at Zen for having me and to the amazing team at AJC PR for inviting me, it was great to get a real insight into the workings of Zen which won Best UK Salon at the Beauty Professional Awards last year.

Definitely one to check out in Edinburgh; 

Zen Lifestyle 

Till next time lovelies, 

Iona

Pretty in Pastel...

Pastels are a key trend this Spring and what better way to tap into this trend than with some pretty pastel nail art! This weeks nails are again by the gorgeous Kelly at Pinky's in Stirling and are acrylics in the 'of the now' dagger shape, though my talons have taken a little getting used to I love them so much and have received so many compliments on them in just two days.

Polkadot nails are an easy to recreate nail art trend at home; either using a dotting tool (I buy mine from EBay) or a bent out of shape kirby grip, simple. 

I also love that my nails incorporate another of my favourites glitter! My ring finger has a glitter gradient and bow, pretty and girly; possibly my favourite nail ;)

Though my nails are acrylic and were done at Pinky's in Stirling (follow Pinky's on twitter @PinkysStirling) you can easily interpret pastel nail art trends at home too. Now that the weather is finally deciding to brighten up a little these nails have been the perfect partner, willing on sunshine, summer dresses and pink drinks in Pub beer gardens; I'm a classy gal ;). Bring on Summer! 

This week I've been listening to The 1975: Chocolate on repeat, it's such a catchy and summery song, my soundtrack to Summer even if it hasn't arrived yet, have a wee listen you know you want to...

                                    

Till next time lovelies,

Iona