30 Posts of Truth: Something you Love about yourself!

Wednesday 29 May 2013


'Something I love about myself ' is today's prompt. It took me a little while to have a think about what I love about me, seeing as there are SO MANY THINGS that I love about myself... (haha). Anyway I finally managed to pick one thing: My eyes.

I think that my eyes are by far my most beautiful feature, back in the day when I actually used to get male attention, I was constantly being told that I had beautiful eyes. And I do love them. I think they are an interesting colour, and in case you haven't noticed I have really big eyes!

From this post.

This picture really doesn't do them justice. Around the outside of my iris' there is a strong darker line which you can see in the picture, but around my pupil there is lighter blue, and green coming through. I really wish I could capture the colour properly as it looks rubbish in this photo.

So there you have it, that's what I love about myself. Let me know in the comments what you love about yourself!
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30 Posts of Truth: Something I Hate About Myself

Monday 27 May 2013


I saw this on another blog last night, and after looking at all the prompts I thought I would give it a go. I probably won't write one every day, I'll just write when I can. So expect this to go on for a long time!

Anyway the first prompt is something I hate about myself, and this one is so easy! It's my weight! I hate how my body looks! I've never exactly been a thin girl, I've always had massive hips and a big bum, but before I went to uni I at least looked a lot healthier than I do now. I used to be able to fit into a size 14 pair of jeans, now I'm lucky is I can fit into a size 18. I carry all of my weight around my thighs, hips and tummy. In fact apart from my arms, everything above the waist is fairly normal. So much so that I can fit into size 14 dresses, that are of a certain style. It's a constant source of embarrassment for me that I can buy a size 14 top but have to buy size 18 trousers. The worst part about this is, I try really hard to lose weight, and it doesn't seem to go anywhere. I hate that I've managed to let myself get this way and I don't seem to be able to do anything about it!

So there you have it, there is my biggest insecurity. Hopefully soon I'll start shifting some of this weight, until then I'll continue to loath the skin I am in...
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Rose Rambles: Nailing an interview!

Saturday 25 May 2013


I've agonised over the past week or so about writing this post. Mainly because I don't want people to think in any way that I am bragging, because I'm not trying to. Also because I don't want people to feel like I'm saying this is 100% what you should do, because I'm not. I'm just sharing how I go about interviews, which is why I also decided not to call this kind of post 'advice' because I don't do advice, that way I can't get in trouble!

So you may or may not know that I had a couple of interviews last week, and I didn't really post this anywhere, but I got offered all three jobs. A few weeks prior to my return home I did an online job search and applied for three jobs, one with VUE Cinema, one with Vodafone, and one with a Debt Management Company. Weirdly they all called me on the same night asking if I could come for interview. Technically Vodafone called me Wednesday (8th May) and scheduled a telephone interview for the Thursday (9th). The telephone interview was simple, it was mostly the lady from recruitment talking to me about my CV and the role that was on offer. So I guess that brings me to my first rule of interviewing:

1. Always know what you've written on your CV!

This may seem like a total no brainer, but they WILL ask you questions about your previous employment and about your CV. So if you've lied about something on your CV that in real life you know little about, you'd best start doing your research on it. Obviously I don't recommend you lie on your CV, nothing on my CV is a lie, and in fact my CV is rather bare, but I make sure I write a covering letter whenever I have the option to send one!

A quick note on covering letters: This is your opportunity to tell the employer why you want the job, and what experience you have that you think fits the role. So in the case of the office job I applied for, I have no experience. However I mentioned the skills I had gained in my years in retail, and talked about how I believed that they were transferable to the role which they were offering. So although I wasn't necessarily the perfect candidate for them, I showed that I had an interest, and managed to secure an interview!

Anyway, after my initial phone interview with Vodafone, the recruitment lady confirmed that I had passed it, and asked me to come to interview on the Tuesday (14th). So I was pretty excited to have one interview, especially with the job market the way it currently is! Then I got another phone call from a gent at the Debt Management place asking if I could go for an interview on Monday (13th), which of course I said yes to. At this point I was a little shocked, two interview offers in one night, that's pretty epic! THEN 30 minutes later the cinema called me asking if I could come for an interview on Monday too! At this point I was just totally in a state of shock, as were my friends and mum. This was all before moving home, in fact, I moved back on the Sunday and had interviews Monday and Tuesday. It all moved very quickly. So Monday came around and my first interview was with the cinema. This brings me to rule #2!

2. Dress Smartly

This is again an obvious one, but I've seen people turn up to interviews in jeans and it shocks me. Basically white shirt, black trousers and a blazer. It's not hard. Even if the interview is for a cleaning job, you want to look smart, and serious about the job. Which brings me to the next rule!

3. Research the role/company!

If the role you are going for is in a Cinema, obviously they are going to ask you questions related to films. Such as, what are you favourite films? What is the last film you saw at the cinema? Obviously I had a bit of an advantage with this interview, seeing as my degree subject is in film, I had a fair bit to talk about! Even if you don't know a lot, a little bit of research can get you a long way. In the case of my Vodafone interview, I was actually told there would be a section of the interview where I was asked about my knowledge of the company. So I spent a little bit of time looking into the company, their history, and what they do outside of the general business! I even took 5 pages of notes with me to peruse on the way into town! I even managed to drop in a few facts that the assistant manager had never heard, which the manager confirmed. It was a little different with the Debt Management job, mainly because I have NO idea what they do. I did a little research but it's all a little difficult to understand, so instead of pretend to know anything, I simply admitted that I didn't know a lot about the company. Which thankfully didn't earn me any bad points!  

4. Act confidentially, even if you are nervous as hell!

This is probably the most important rule! You need to be confident (not cocky), you need to ask questions and show an interest in the company/role. If you have no idea about an answer, then own up, and they will fill you in. Funnily enough they don't expect you to know everything before you start the job, they give you training 9 times out of 10. I'm going to give you a bit of TMI here, but I was SOOO nervous during my cinema interview, that when I stood up the chair was soaked in my sweat, but I managed to disguise it pretty well! Did the manager think I was nervous? Nope. The best thing I did for my confidence was taking Drama at secondary school, it means I can hide most of my nerves 80% of the time! When I don't know something, I laugh it off, having a bit of a laugh in the interview, and smiling a lot shows you to be a positive person! The interview I was the most nervous about was the Debt Management one, seeing as it was the only role in which I didn't have any direct experience. However my interviewer even commented on how confident I seemed, which of course I laughed at, because inside I was a nervous wreck! So it's all about keeping the outside cool, calm and confident! This also helped me for one part of my Vodafone interview that was a little new to me!

During my Vodafone interview I was put on the shop floor, and paired with several members of staff, and all the time I was being watched by my interviewer. They were basically looking to see how I interacted with staff and customers to see how I would fit in the store if I got the job. So instead of standing there and feeling awkward (although I did), I asked questions, to the staff, and the customers. Of course when interacting with customers you need to make sure you are always polite, and if asking them questions make sure they don't mind being pestered by you! At one point I was placed at the front of store with the greeter, who basically sees what customers need and books them in with an adviser. I was told that if two customers came in at once I would have to deal with one, so I made sure I watched him carefully, and when two customers did come in at the same time, I was able to serve one, with confidence, despite not knowing 100% what I was doing. I think it was the way I dealt with that situation that ultimately bagged me the role with them! My next rule kind of fits in with all this confidence stuff.

5. Ask Questions!

Always ask questions! Especially if there is something that you don't understand, they won't think you are stupid, they'll be glad that you are asking. Asking questions also shows that you are interested in the role! At the end of every interview they normally always ask if you have any questions, and this is your chance to ask about pay/hours/holidays etc. Also if you have any dates you are unavailable then this is the time to give them to the interviewer! I took a notebook to all of my interviews and when it came to the questions section of my interview I made sure I got it out and wrote down any information that they gave me. As well as meaning I had everything in one place, it makes you look professional!

So after all three interviews, I was feeling pretty confident that I might at least get one of the jobs, but imagine my complete shock when I got offers from all three! I immediately turned down the cinema job, but I agonised over the other two jobs for an entire week! Finally settling on the office job, mainly because I don't have to work weekends and bank holidays!

So there you have it! The five rules that I follow when going to an interview! As I said, these aren't necessarily what I think everyone should do, and I am in no way trying to brag about my situation! If anything the situation was very stressful for me, particularly when it came down to choosing between the Vodafone and office job! I hope this helps someone out there, and I'd love to hear from anyone that has had an interview recently/has one coming up!
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Getting Personal: Collaboration with Sponsors!

Thursday 23 May 2013

Today I want to talk to you about collaborating with sponsors. A lot of bloggers do it, and we don't even notice. I know there can be a lot of anger from other bloggers, and readers towards bloggers who accepts sponsorship, particularly those who accept sponsorship that is unrelated to their blog. However I think, 'Why Not?'. Yes I love blogging, it is my hobby, and it keeps me sane, but if I can get sponsored content on top of writing about whatever I like then of course I want to do that!

For the past month or so I have been collaborating a lot with Total Media. In exchange for putting links on my posts I can get vouchers, or even product from the company. I have a contact who sends me the latest collaborations and I can simply say 'Yes', or 'No' depending on whether I want what the company is offering, or whether I think they fit my blog etc. Now I know there are going to be some of you out there that will criticise my decision to take part in this kind of collaboration, but it's my decision. I don't see anything wrong with it, and I think more bloggers should be doing it! As long as it doesn't become massively obvious, or makes you write posts that are completely unrelated to your blogs content.

So in short I will continue to put sponsored content on my blog, shamelessly, and I implore other bloggers to follow my lead! I know our blogs are our babies, but why not get a little something every now and again for something that you work so hard on!

If you want to check out Total Media, click through to their Media Planning. Don't forget! Do not be ashamed to take sponsored content!
*This post is sponsored by Natural Balance Foods, check out their Natural Bars here.
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Try a Tutorial Tuesday: Nautical Nails!

Tuesday 21 May 2013


You may or may not have seen me announcing that I was going to stop writing my Nail Blog! However I still love nail polish, and own over 100, (I know it's insane)! Today I bring you my first nail post on this blog, the first of many (I hope). So I bought this book a while ago, it featured in another post on my other blog, the tutorials in this book are really easy to follow. Instead of looking through the book and choosing which tutorial to do, I just opened it on a random page and this is what I came up with.



As you can see, there are plenty of photos detailing each and every step, along with text explaining each step thoroughly! This book is so good for beginners like me, I recommend that you go out and get it if you are interested in Nail Art. You can check it out on Amazon here.

These are the polishes I used: Saffron #11, Saffron #21, Sally Hansen Navy Baby.


Here is the final Manicure! I wish that I had better brush painting skills. It might be something to do with the fact my brush was very stiff. I'm ashamed of how my other hand turned out but this one wasn't too bad. In the original tutorial one of the nails had a golden anchor on it, but I got a little excited with the white polish and forgot to leave a nail free! I'm pretty happy with how these turned out to be honest.

Let me know what you think! If you want to see more Nail posts then please let me know!
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Giveaway Featuring The Mighty Macaron!

Monday 20 May 2013


Today I am really excited to be bringing you an amazing giveaway thanks to the lovely Anyonita at The Mighty Macaron! I actually saw The Mighty Macaron on another blog and being a lover of all things sweet and colourful I knew I had to check it out! The Mighty Macaron makes Mail order macarons, and ships them all over the UK, I knew I had to order some! I got talking to Anyonita and asked her about doing a giveaway and thankfully she accepted and even sent me some cheeky samples!



I was seriously excited when my package arrived in the post yesterday and I immediately opened it, and wasn't disappointed! Anyonita sent me 4 flavours to try, and they are all seriously cute!

 Pistachio
Almond macarons with an indulgent vanilla buttercream filling; topped with fresh pistachio pieces.

 Vanilla
Vanilla-infused macarons with an indulgent vanilla buttercream filling; polished with edible glitter.

 Lavender
Cotswold lavender-infused macarons with an indulgent vanilla buttercream filling.

Strawberry
Almond macarons with a sweet strawberry  jam filling.

The Mighty Macaron currently sells 12 flavours in all; Candied Bacon, Chocolate, Chocolate Hazelnut, Chocolate and Orange, Lavender, Lemon, Pistachio, Saffron, Sea Salted Caramel, Strawberry, Tiramisu, and Vanilla!

As you may be able to tell from the picture above my Strawberry Macarons got a little bit smooshed in the post! However I know that this is something that doesn't happen with Anyonita's macarons normally as they are packed in their own little sandwich boxes, you can see them here. 

They are all so cute and tasty! Crunchy and chewy at the same time, they are my new favourite treat! I think my overall favourite had to be the Pistachio, the chocolate centre is so yummy. Needless to say I will be ordering some more very, VERY soon! Until then though I actually have three wonderful prizes to Giveaway to you lovely readers!

  • 1st Place - 12 Macarons of your choice
  • 2nd Place - 6 Macarons of your choice
  • 3rd Place - 15% off voucher for The Mighty Macaron
All you have to do is complete some of the Rafflecopter entries for a chance to win. I wish you all the best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Blogger Meetup and Benefit Makeover!

Friday 17 May 2013


So yesterday I met up once more with the lovely Kerrie of Pish Posh and Polish, and we went and had our makeup done at the Benefit counter in Debenhams! I also brought my sister Tish along who writes Hello Old Friends.
 Tish looking beautiful with zero makeup!
 The lovely Kerrie!
 First off we had a sneaky McDonalds, and Kerrie gave me some beautiful nail polishes that she had cleared out of her collection (she has around 500 I think)! Then we headed off to Benefit to have our Makeover! I'm only going to include pics of my makeover, mainly because Tish and Kerrie will probably blog about their own over on their blogs!

First off here are some horrific pictures of me with NO makeup! FYI I am pulling a horrible face in these pics because I was facing into the sun:


I know what you are thinking. 'DAMN she looks bad without makeup', and my reply is... I know! So I was super excited for my makeover, and in particular to try out the 'Fake Up' under eye concealer! Let's just say I wasn't disappointed! Here are some pictures of my transformation:


 She did one half of my face first to show me the difference then did the other side!
 She was teaching me how to do my eyebrows!
 I wasn't too sure about the eyebrows to be honest..
 This is me blending out the brows!

So here are the final pictures of my transformation! FYI I think the eyebrows are TOTALLY wrong for me, but at least now I know how to do them, and I bought myself a blonde eyebrow pencil so they'll look more natural!


Here's a list of everything she used on my face (obviously they are all Benefit Products):
Triple Performing Facial Emulsion
It's Potent Eye Cream
The POREfessional
Hello Flawless Foundation in Ivory
Browzings in Light
They're Real Mascara
Dandelion Blusher
Fake up in Light
Neutrals Eye Pallete in Easiest Nudes

Us with the lovely ladies that did our makeup!

So I know you are all dying to know what I actually bought! I wish I could say my purse came away unscathed, but it did not. I bought a Fake Up concealer in Light, and a Primping with the Stars kit! I have the foundation in my sights, the POREfessional is definitely up there, and there was a lip product that both me and my sister loved that I'm also hoping to snatch up before it is discontinued!

All in all it was an awesome day, and it was actually the first time I had worn Benefit products! It was lovely to see Kerrie and I hope that we can meet up a lot more now I have moved back to Berkshire! Also I'm hoping to attend a few more blogger meetups now I am available!
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Wishlist Wednesday #2 and An Announcement!

Wednesday 15 May 2013


So I want to kick off this weeks Wednesday Wishlist post with a bit of a sad announcement. After a lot of careful thought and consideration, I have decided to stop writing my Nail Blog: Rose Tint My Nails. Unfortunately I just have the time to write both my Nail Blog and my personal blog, so I had to make a tough decision. I just think that writing my personal blog gives me a lot more scope to talk about ALL the things I like, rather than being specified to one.


This in no way means that I am going to give up my obsession with Nail polish, and I wont stop painting my nails, and creating nail art, and I certainly won't stop buying polish, but I will just be posting it on this blog instead, and it won't be as often. I started Rose Tint My Nails back in November when I discovered my passion for nail polish and nail art, it grew to have 75 GFC followers, which was something I was very proud of. This was the first blog that I ever gained followers on and it was nice to know that there were people reading and appreciating my writing for the first time! I also met some wonderful people through various groups on Facebook, including the lovely Kerrie of Pish, Posh and Polish who has become one of my best blogging buddies! So although I won't be posting on Rose Tint My Nails anymore, I will still be posting my Nail Art here! So watch this space for a regular polish feature coming soon!

Now that's out of the way, on with the Wish List! Seeing as I had a job interview at an office this week, which I am going in for a trial on Friday! I have been looking into smart and fashionable blouses/shirts.
1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8

The top four blouses are all from New Look, and the bottom four are all from Matalan! I didn't mean to pick everything from just those two stores, oh well. Out of all the picks, the New Look ones are definitely my favourite of them all. One of the biggest problems I face when buying shirts and blouses is that it's hard to find one that fits me right. The main reason is that I have very thick arms, but a small waist, and big hips. So my strange shape and size doesn't fit the cut of shirts or the material that they are made from means that I have to buy them extra big and wear them baggy! Hopefully when I tone up a bit I wont have to worry about that anymore! Some of these may make there way into my wardrobe if I decide to take the office job I have been offered, if not, I won't have to worry about office clothing!

I'm so glad to be back and blogging, I've had a very busy few weeks, and I'm going through a massive change in my life right now, I expect it to be very difficult, and I'm sure my blog will suffer my busy schedule, but I'm hoping I'll come out of the other side of it!

This post is sponsored by Strutt and Parker, check out estate agents uk here.
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Slimpod Week #3

Wednesday 15 May 2013

I have been SO busy the past week it is unbelievable. If you know me then you'll know I hate being rushed off of my feet, and not having time to sit down and just think about life and chill out. Anyway, I didn't write a week #2 post for Slimpod due to having to finish all of my University assignments, I am also aware that this one is late, but hey, better late than never!

Anyway, Sandra (the founder of Slimpod) actually reminded me that I didn't write my goals down on the blog. When you start Slimpod you are supposed to set three attainable goals, and although I did, I didn't realise that I hadn't actually shared them so here they are:

  1. Lose an inch off of all my measurements by my graduation (12th July 2013)
  2. Continue to listen to my Slimpod every day
  3. Begin to exercise 
So all these three goals may seem pretty easy to a lot of you reading this, but it is very hard for me to maintain a healthy lifestyle, I tend to give up easily, so I simply have to start small!

So I have gone beyond my 21 days of listening to Slimpod and I am actually pretty happy with how it is going. I'll admit last week I had a bit of an unhealthy week, I was eating out a lot, and drinking most nights, but it was my last week at university, so I wanted to have fun and not have to think about my weight. So what changes have I noticed since the last time I blogged?
  1. I'm still rarely properly hungry, although I still find myself eating at regular intervals, I never really feel hungry like I used to.
  2. I find it hard to finish a plate of food. This one was frustrating me last week! Particularly when I went out for my last meal with my University friends, I could barely eat my main course. I left most of it on the plate. In fact last week I found that if I tried to force myself to finish a plate I would feel horribly sick for a while after. So now instead of fighting it, I have only been eating what I feel I can fit in my stomach, if I leave something on the plate, I'm not so bothered about it anymore.
  3. I've been wanting to do exercise. Although the past week I have found no time to fit in some exercise, due to the constant packing, and assignments, and then interviews earlier this week. Today I finally went on a run with my sister, it was hard! I had to switch between running and walking, as I couldn't cope. However, as I'm sitting here writing this I feel happy that I went out and exercised! We are planning to do it every day, so I'm hoping by this time next month, I'll be able to run with a lot less walking breaks!
So there you have it! Those are the changes that I have noticed in week 2/3 of my Slimpod journey. I am still listening to my Slimpod every day, but I have switched to listening to it when I wake up in the morning, so that I don't wake my sister when I go to bed. Overall I'm pretty happy with how my journey is going, although I'm pretty sure I haven't lost any weight yet, I know my journey to a healthier lifestyle is just beginning and the weight-loss will come after these changes become more prominent in my life!

I'll make sure that I measure myself next week to see if there have been any changes, we'll have to wait and see if I make any progress.
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My Instaweek #5

Sunday 12 May 2013


As you may or may not know I have been SUPER busy this week. Hence why my blog and general online presence has been seriously quiet. I finished my final university assignments at the beginning of the week, and then spent the rest of week packing and then hanging out with my friends before moving home. I moved back today, and I've spent pretty much all day attempting to find space for my stuff! I have a couple of job interviews in the next few days so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Also normal blogging schedule should resume this week!

ALSO I am aware I started Blog Everyday in May, but as soon as I started it I realised that I really don't have the time to commit to it, so therefore I won't be doing it anymore.. (I know, I suck)

  1. BBMPC #6: My Home: This is my local pub, which is actually currently closed down! (Sad times)
  2. Flowers: These beautiful flowers were on the main street in Aberystwyth on a really sunny day and they made me smile, and had to share them.
  3. Icecream: As it was super sunny me and Ellie decided to grab Thorntons icecream! I had Mint Choc Chip, Honeycomb, and Raspberry Sorbet. It was super yum!
  4. May Ball Wristband: These were the wristbands we were given for May Ball this year, it was really uncomfortable and tacky.
  5. BBMPC #7: Handwriting: I found this shirt from a white t-shirt social with Bay Radio. It is adorned with hilarious phrases.
  6. Photo opportunity: We found this photo stand near the Pier on the day when we went to the beach, and had to give it a go!
  7. SANDALS: I finally got to crack out my sandals on a sunny day, it was thrilling!
  8. Photo opportunity #2: Me and Ellie of course also had to have a go at the photo stand too!
  9. Standard BBQ supplies: Lots of Cider, to get drunk with. 
  10. BBMPC #8: Snacktime: I was going to take a photo of my lunch, however I forgot, so I took a picture of this snickers icecream instead.
  11. BBMPC #9: What I Wore: My favourite t-shirt, yes it's My Little Pony. #YOLO
  12. BBMPC #10: Pet: My little Maizey Moo, the love of my life <3
  13. Shiny new 3DS XL: It's so beautiful! This definitely cheered me up today when I was getting emotional whilst unpacking my things!
  14. Tomb Raider: This has been waiting for me for WEEKS! It's the special edition and I bought it second hand, and I was delighted when I opened it to find that it wasn't actually taken out of the packaging, so it is actually new!
Hopefully I'll be back to normal blogging this week! Thanks for bearing with me guys, love you all lots!

This post is sponsored by CNMarinas, check out their marina berths here.
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Blog Every Day in May #3

Monday 6 May 2013


Apologies for not posting yesterday's prompt! This week is all a bit up in the air for me, mainly because I am rushing to finish my final assignments, and packing all my stuff before I move at the weekend. As well as spending time with my friends in between all of that. It's going to be a very busy week, as such, I probably won't be able to write out all the prompts this week, but I'll do my best!

So today's prompt is all about Bank Holidays! To be honest I have never really been massively fussed about Bank Holiday's, I don't think I've ever actually used one in a useful way. However I thought I'd give you a list of things that I like to do at the weekends anyway!


  1. Go shopping
  2. Go to the cinema
  3. Walk the dogs
  4. Go out with friends
  5. Play video games
There are my top five things that I mainly like to do on the weekends! Mostly though as long as I am spending time with my friends or family then you can guarantee I am happy.

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