Sum Up Sunday: Christmas 2015

It's been two whole months since I wrote a Sum Up Sunday post, but what better time to restart then New Years? So I thought in my first post back this year I should probably cover what I got up to in the Christmas period.

To kick off my Christmas, Tim and I visited Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park for the first time ever, and it really got me in the mood for Christmas! We went to the Magical Ice Kingdom, which was full of beautiful ice sculptures, then to the Ice Bar which resulted in me having a very wet bottom, and ended our visit by going to the Circus! If you want to read more about our trip then I wrote about it on the blog here.

To get further into the Christmas Spirit Tim and bought some new bed sheets from Primark, which have reindeer on them, so that every time we went to sleep we could dream of Christmas... Cheesy right? Last Christmas was also the first that I made Christmas cake for my family and they turned out really well. The one above features a rather famous snowman from a certain Disney film, do you recognise him?

Christmas day itself was spent with my family, and was spent doing music quiz's, playing games, and eating way too much food. At one point we even decided to have a Mario Kart tournament, but that didn't last very long because my family have the attention span of a bowl of goldfish...

Then Boxing Day was spent with Tim's family, and this year was extra special as there are now three children in our life that we get to share Christmas with. It was so fun watching them open their presents. For two of them it was their first Christmas and they are still far too young to really know what is going on. My nephew Connor was far more interested in the bows that I put on the gifts than the gifts themselves, hilarious. My eldest niece Olivia was so infatuated with Connor, she kept cuddling him and watching him crawl around, it was so cute. Honestly my best boxing day ever, and it will only get better each year as they begin to understand Christmas and present giving...

Finally came New Years which Tim and I spent watching Harry Potter, and having a quiet night in. Even so we didn't end up going to bed until 3am and didn't get up until 1pm the next day! Something I haven't done since living at Uni. Considering that we had wasted most of the day we decided to head out to my mums to visit the dogs, and ended up having a new years day roast at my mum's. The highlight of my new years day had to be giving my dog Maizey her new bed. Normally she's a bit funny about getting new things, but she jumped straight into her new bed, and made me super happy! She's such a sweetheart honestly, I hate the fact that I only get to see her every few weeks...

Let me know in the comments what your favourite moment from your Christmas was!

Currently I'm:
Reading: The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman
Listening To: 00's Music
Playing: Star Stable, and trying to complete all the Christmas quests
Feeling: Excited for the new year ahead
Looking Forward To: A fresh start

Sum Up Sunday #28

This week has been yet another busy one in my schedule. On Monday it was my Nan's birthday, and I was commissioned to make her birthday cake, and it was no easy task! Mum told me that she likes lemon drizzle cake, and seeing as I had some left over lemon curd from the eclairs I made a few weeks ago, I decided to go with that. I ended up making three cakes in total, because the second one ended up as soup... Tim's parent's oven is super old, and as such its not the most reliable. Thankfully the third cake turned out fine, and I managed to cover the cake with fondant and get it pretty smooth, which considering it was only my second time, I was really pleased with. All in all I was very happy with the final result and everyone at the meal was very impressed with it, I'm always glad to receive good feedback!

Then on Wednesday Tim and I finally got around to going to Thorpe Park Fright Night, something which is very important to us, as because the day we got together we went to fright night. This year was even better, we actually went a little bit later in the day so that we could experience some of the rides at night, something I had never done before. I was honestly surprised at how different the rides feel in the dark. Then of course there were the horror mazes, having seen that the queues were 2 hours for each we decided to pick the three that we most wanted to do, and buy fast track passes. This proved to be one of the best decisions that we could have made, as we ended up not queuing at all! Honestly I have to admit that the horror mazes weren't all that scary this year, except Big Top, there's just something about clowns that are super scary. To top off an amazing day we decided to buy yearly passes, all we had to do was pay an additional £20 on top of our ticket prices for the day, and we can go as many times as we like for the year. I'm honestly already planning our next visit...

Finally yesterday to celebrate Halloween, Tim and I decided to have a horror film marathon. I was working until 7pm, but as soon as I got home I made some yummy treats for us to have during the films. Including rice krispie treats, chocolate covered apple slices, and chocolate covered strawberries. All of which were absolutely delicious! We settled on watching the Scream Trilogy which has been sitting in my DVD collection unwatched for a long time. Of course I had seen the first Scream plenty of times, almost to the point of being able to quote it. However I had never seen the 2nd or 3rd movie, so it was nice to watch something new, but at the same time familiar.

Now for my weigh in results:

Start Weight: 16st 6Ibs

Target Weight: 11st

Weight this Week: 16st 0.8Ibs

Weight loss this Week: 0 Ibs

Total Weight Loss: -5.2Ibs

Weight Left to Lose: 5st 0.8Ibs

Unfortunately I didn't lose any weight this week, but considering I had a couple of nights out, and a movie night, I am impressed that I didn't put any weight on!

Currently I'm:

Reading: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (still...)

Listening To: Fall Out Boy - Irresistible 

Playing: Costume Quest 2

Feeling: Tired of Winter already

Looking Forward To: A couple of relaxing days away from work

Sum Up Sunday #27

It's been a busy few weeks, I'm still getting used to having a job, and fitting the rest of my hobbies into the short amount of time that I have. To top it all off I am getting serious with dieting as my weight has spiralled so out of control it's impacting on my health! So as well as my weekly round-up posts I am going to be adding my weight loss results and goals to help me keep on track and hold me accountable!

Let's start with what I have been up to! Last weekend was Tim and I's two year anniversary and he whisked me away for a weekend in Windsor. On Friday night we went to an amazing Italian restaurant, and I was so impressed that I wrote a very lengthy review on Trip Advisor for them, something which I very rarely do! Then on Saturday we visited Windsor Castle, which was ridiculously beautiful. Then on Sunday we travelled to Bracknell which was on our way home, and went to Go Ape! Which is a tree top adventure with zip wires, tarzan swings, and all manner of ladders and obstacles to cross. It was so much fun, but also at the same time scary, and really hard in places. When we finally got to the end we couldn't wait to have a sit down and relax with no more scary tree tops. Having said that I would love to go back there again, maybe when I am a little bit fitter, and less chunky...

This week I wasn't very well, which meant I spent much of the week in bed, and watching TV shows, and even playing some video games. The Walking Dead Season One was free with Xbox Live this month so I downloaded it and played it in a matter of days... It was so addictive, and now I am desperate to buy Season Two, but I already have so many games to play before then, not even including the ones that I have preordered at work...

Now for my weigh in results:

Start Weight: 16st 6Ibs

Target Weight: 11st

Weight this Week: 16st 0.8Ibs

Weight loss this Week: - 5.2Ibs

Total Weight Loss: -5.2Ibs

Weight Left to Lose: 5st 0.8Ibs

Currently I'm:

Reading: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (still...)

Listening To: Disney songs...

Playing: Elder Scrolls Online

Feeling: Excited for Halloween.

Looking Forward To: Going to Fright Night at Thorpe Park next week!

Sum Up Sunday #26

It has been over a month since I last did a Sum Up Sunday post, which I find completely crazy, but I guess I have just been super busy, and here is what I have been up to:

1. New baking posts every week following the Great British Bake Off
2. Visiting Family in Wakefield
3. Assisting in the Hair and Makeup Department at Goodwood Revival, a vintage 40's/50's/60's/70's festival.
4. Attempting to do some Halloween themed makeup tutorials for my Youtube channel
5. Starting a New Job at a video game retailer

Wow writing it down in a list really makes me realise just how much I have been doing, and it's tiring me out just thinking about all the amazing stuff I have done... but instead of going on and on about each individual thing, why I don't I just share all the photos with you?

Food is always a massive part of my instagram, if you follow me there then you will already know this. The first picture above is some mini-pancakes I had in Westfields when I went after SITC 2015. The rest of the pictures (apart from the last one) are of my bakes that I have been doing for the Bloggers Bake Along to GBBO, and as it stands I haven't missed baking a single week! The final picture was a treat I actually had last weekend when Tim and I found out that Koppaberg (my favourite cider company) does an alcohol-free cider, so even though I've given up alcohol, I don't have to give up cider! You have no idea how happy this makes me...

For some reason the past month or so both my makeup, and my selfie game have gone up, not that I am complaining because IMO I look damn good! When I was at Goodwood myself and they other assistants were allowed to get our hair and makeup done by the team because we were on site for a lot of the day, so this meant I got to live a vintage look for three days in a row! The first two days I was stuck in the 50's and then on the last day I asked for a 60's look, which ended up being my personal favourite, and I was so surprised to find that I can rock a beehive!

Other than that the biggest change in my life these past months is that I have a new part time job. I work for a video game retailer, as a customer service advisor in their call centre. I don't want to name them because I know sometimes companies aren't always comfortable with their employee's talking about them on social media outside of work, (even though I have been told it's perfectly fine by my company), so I won't be doing it. All I will say is that so far it is probably the best place I have ever worked at. The atmosphere is amazing, everyone is like minded and everyone plays video games. On game release days they have contests and raffles where you have chances to win consoles etc. which I think is amazing. There are consoles set up in all of the staff areas for you to play on your breaks... Oh AND there is an onsite shop where you can go and buy games etc. and get an automatic staff discount, and it is an exact copy of their actual retail outlets, and it's literally just in the middle of the office. It's so cool... I've currently only been there for two weeks, but it's probably the best two working weeks I have ever had... I am currently on a temporary contract to cover the peak period of the year, but I am hoping and praying that come January they will want to keep me on!

Currently I'm:

Reading: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (still...)

Listening To: Fall Out Boy!

Playing: Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer

Feeling: Tired after a long working week, but very content

Looking Forward To: Seeing Fall Out Boy next week!!!

Sum Up Monday #25

 Dying my hair blue, volunteering at Summer in the City, Travelling Selfie, Temporary Tattoos with meaning.

It's been a busy few weeks for me, what with a long weekend up and London for Summer in the City, and then a trip up to Wakefield this past weekend, I am seriously tired out!

Let's start with Summer and the City, this year Tish and I decided to volunteer this year, which meant we got to spend time with lots of awesome people who are just like us! We travelled up on the Thursday so that we would be nice and rested for Creator Day on the Friday. Creator Day was our only day to ourselves so we made the most of it and went to some panels, including 'Self Shooting' and 'Production on a Shoestring'. These were both run by people from the Youtube London space, and were really informative. There were also a tonne of booths there from charities to universities, and there was masses of merch, and even a craft fair! I picked up some awesome Harry Potter themed badges, and a ceramic Jack Russell necklace which was too cute to pass up, and of course I couldn't leave without getting an official SITC shirt!

Then on Saturday and Sunday Tish and I were volunteering for 8 hours a day, which turned out to be both amazing, and amazing tiring. I was a 'directional/roaming' volunteer which basically means I was wondering around the open areas, and managing any impromptu meetup lines that formed. Which was both very stressful and fulfilling, considering there was a serious issue on the Saturday with a panel that Dan and Phil were involved in. Then on Sunday I was lucky enough to have a FOUR HOUR free period, so I got to attend a lot of awesome panels, including watching some of my favourite 'tubers play Mario Kart 8 and get all competitive with each other. I honestly couldn't be happier that I met some amazing people that I am definitely keeping in touch with!

Spending time with Jade, Living in a Castle, A sandy beach, You're never too old to wear a tiara.

Then this weekend Tim and I made the long trip up to Wakefield to see Jade and her boy Jared, and they had a whole weekend of fun planned for us! On Saturday we travelled up to York, and wandered around the shops, bought some expensive fudge, and just generally had a good old wander. We also went into the Disney store and I found some Tiara's that I am desperate to own. Then on Sunday we went all the way to Bridlington to spend a day at the Seaside. We went to a Shell shop and Jade and I picked up matching bracelets (you know because we are besties!). Then we saw some little boats that you could drive around, and decided to go on them, and I made Tim agree to let me drive of course! In the evening we went to Taybarns, an all you can eat restaurant that had BBQ, a Cavery and a spice food section, and I ate SO MUCH that I could barely move afterwards... all in all a top weekend all round!

Currently I'm:

Reading: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Listening To: Disney Songs

Playing: Star Stable again 

Feeling: Happy to be sleeping in my own bed.

Looking Forward To: A long weekend alone with my man next week...

Sum Up Sunday #24

From Top to Bottom: My Nephew is cuter than yours!, Black Forest Birthday Cake, Inflatable Cone of Shame, Summer Mocktails, Breaking Makeup Rules, Cleaning a Million Brushes.

This week has all in all been a pretty boring one for me, well right up until the weekend that is! This week I started something that I have wanted to do for the longest time, Daily Vlogs! I haven't managed to do one every single day just yet as I am still getting used to doing it, but you can see the ones that I have made over on my Youtube channel here. Ever since I first started watching Youtube videos back when I was 13/14 I wanted to make vlogs, but I never really had the confidence, but now I seem to have got my Youtube channel onto some thought of track, I thought it was about time I gave it a go!

This week also saw the return of the Great British Bake Off, which you should all know by now, is one of my all time favourite TV shows! That means it was the first official week of the #Bloggersbakealong that I took part in, and Tim wanted me to make him a Black Forest Gateau for his birthday BBQ. Thankfully having bought the new GBBO book the week before I found a recipe immediately, and on Friday I went over to my Nan's house (where I would be storing the cake until the BBQ) and made it. It turned out pretty amazing, and I have had nothing but compliments from everyone who has seen/eaten the cake, which I am very pleased about. Considering that making the thing really REALLY tired me out! You can check out how I made it here. 

Then yesterday it was time for Tim's birthday BBQ. Even though his birthday isn't until next weekend, we decided to celebrate it with family this weekend, as I will be away in London next weekend for Summer in the City! When planning the BBQ I had the idea that we could have mocktails, and then I found these cute Jar glasses in Tesco, and I just knew we had to make them... We found a tonne of recipes online that we liked, but ultimately settled on two different cocktails, a sparkling cranberry punch and a citrus cooler that we added grenadine to, which made the perfect sunset cocktails! There were a hit with everyone that attended, well that was until they began attracting the wasps who seemed to enjoy them as much as we did! I was very lucky that Tim's sister brought her son out to see us so there were plenty of cuddles had, and we discovered that he quite likes taking selfies!

What have you been up to this week?

Currently I'm:

Reading: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Listening To: Oldschool Eminem

Playing: Star Stable again (now that my subscription has been renewed)

Feeling: Tired after a long weekend

Looking Forward To: Summer in the City!! (still)

Sum Up Monday #23

From Top Left to Bottom Right: Comfortable Cat, New Running Shoes, Cinema Selfie #1, Inside Out Sippy Cups, Baking again, Sven and Olaf, Cinema Selfie #2, GBBO New Book, Walking Maizey.

I'm surprised with what I have managed to get done last week to be honest. I've been to the cinema twice, starting running, done some baking for the first time in seven months, and managed to take my dog for a stunning country walk!

Let's start with the cinema. Tim and I both get the Meerkat Movies 2 for 1 cinema tickets, so we decided to go to the cinema twice last week! Firstly we went to see Inside Out which I have been dying to see since I first saw the trailer... When we got to the concessions we saw they had these sippy cups with the characters on top, and I knew I had to have one. I went for Sadness and Tim opted for Anger, which is funny because they both turned out to be our favourite characters in the entire movie! I don't want to give too much away but it was such a good film, and was very true to the Pixar aesthetic, and there were even a few tear jerker moments included. There was also a really cool Pixar short shown at the beginning about two volcanoes that was super cute!

Then the next night we opted for something the complete opposite and went to see a new horror film, The Gallows. I don't know what we really expected with this but honestly Tim and I were both pretty on edge watching this. Although I was disappointed to see it followed the whole 'hand-held' camera trend that has become super popular among horror films ever since Paranormal Activity was released, I was actually pleasantly surprised. If there is one thing that this film has in spades, it is suspense... There were points in the film where I was literally holding my breathe because it was so tense. I was surprised that there was actually a pretty good twist at the end that I personally didn't see coming, although Tim claims he knew pretty early on in the film. Either way this one is definitely worth a watch!

Last week also saw the first time in SEVEN MONTHS that I have baked anything. I literally cannot fathom how it has been that long since I last baked something... Anyway, as you may know if you read my blog I am taking part in a Bake Along with GBBO challenge and myself and the other bloggers were far too excited to wait until GBBO started (this wednesday) and so we set ourselves the challenge of making something from one of the Ex-Contestants. I made myself some Pain au chocolat blanc made by the one and only Louis from last season. You can check out how they turned out here

Finally yesterday Tim and I went over to see Maizey and decided to take her for a long summer walk. It was a good opportunity for me to show Tim some of my Village that he has never seen, and also to take Maizey on a walk that she had never done before! We managed to find a random pile of logs on our trial and decided to used them as a photo opportunity, and it actually turned out pretty well!

What have you been up to the past week?

Currently I'm:

Reading: I've literally just finished Evil in Return by Elena Forbes

Listening To: Oldschool Eminem

Playing: Flash games online

Feeling: Excited for GBBO on Wednesday

Looking Forward To: Summer in the City!! (still)

Sum Up Sunday #22

Top left to bottom right: Tapir makeup, Mermaid Shirt, Falsies, Sunshine Selfie, Pictures from little ones, Brighton Pier, Organising my Lush stuff, A lovely Lush bath, Car Journey selfie.

A few weeks have passed since my last Sum Up Sunday, and they have certainly been interesting ones!

If you read this blog often then you will know that Tim and I went to Brighton last Sunday, and had an amazing day. We had a look round the shops... went to the beach... had fun on the pier... and ended up having a lovely meal at Smokey's. If you want to see more about our trip then you can check it out here.

Other than that I have been working hard trying to get my website up and running so that I can FINALLY launch my career as a self-employed makeup artist... I am applying for jobs in the mean time, but will start properly advertising my services once my website is up!

Also in the last few weeks I got the news that my sister and I have been accepted as volunteers at Summer in the City, the London based Youtube gathering, that we have attended for the past few years. This year was the first year we applied to volunteer and we couldn't be more excited for it to be honest! I vlogged last years event if you want to take a look at it, but it's essentially a gathering for fans and creators, and there are meetups, panels and even performances from some Youtube musicians! I'm mostly excited to meet like minded people that are as obsessed with Youtube as I am! If you are going to SITC then please let me know in the comments as I would love to meet up!

Reading: Evil in Return by Elena Forbes

Listening To: Summer playlists on Spotify

Playing: Star Stable (another obsession has returned)

Feeling: Excited for all I have planned in August

Looking Forward To: Summer in the City!!

Sum Up Sunday #21

Top left to bottom right: Back to work selfie, Gourmet Burger Kitchen Treat, Walks with Maizey, Filming a video for Tuesday...

Once again this week has been pretty quiet for me. I returned to work on the Benefit counter on Monday, only to decide once I was there, that it really wasn't what I wanted to be doing. So after consulting with the boyfriend for a few days, I decided to quit, I am going to be doing something else, but there will be more on that soon!

Saturday I had a job doing Wedding hair and makeup for a bride and makeup for one bridesmaid and I was so happy with the result. The bride wanted turquoise liner top and bottom, and it looked so stunning on her, and her bridesmaid wanted a look that would enhance her eyes, so I used my new favourite Urban Decay palette on her. Both of them were happy with the results, and I am getting more and more confident with hair the more I do it!

Today has probably been the busiest day of my whole week as Tim and I went shopping, Sunday is our treat day on our diet so we ended up going to Gourmet Burger Kitchen, I had an amazing Chicken, Camembert and Cranberry burger, and of course sweet potato fries, but I also tried one of their Honeycomb milkshakes for the first time ever and I was not disappointed.

Then Tim and I headed out to visit my family, and dogs, mainly because my nan got me a dress and I needed to check whether it fitted me... but it's always a bonus to get to see everyone, especially Maizey. As predicted she was super excited to see me, and Tim and I decided to take both the dog for a run in the field near my house, and we were all having a lovely time until it started pouring down! I was wearing a summer dress and shawl, so needless to say I got pretty soaked, but the dogs seemed pretty excited about the whole thing. Then I came home and filmed a video ready for Tuesday, the result of which you can see above... all will be revealed soon!

Have you had a good week?

Reading: Still have yet to pick something.. feel free to recommend to me!

Listening To: Michael Jackson and being digusted with my boyfriends lack of MJ knowledge

Playing: Hidden Object Games (my obsession is back)

Feeling: Calm... 

Looking Forward To: My secret project...

Sum Up Sunday #20

Couple's Selfie, Iron Man Makeup, New Youtube Video, A giant fan in our room, Playing with table confetti, New jelly sandals.

This week has been all about getting my life back on track. I had a doctors appointment, and an appointment with the HR department at work discuss me coming back. I've also spent the week being back on a diet, which has been surprisingly easy to follow. I am back on the Weight Watchers diet and this time I am doing the pro-points diet instead of filling and healthy meaning it is much harder for me to have a sneak snack and justify it as I have to write EVERYTHING down. Thankfully there is an iPhone app making it so much easier for me to make sure that I am on track. So much so that I managed to lose weight on my first week, yay!

This week I did my first proper makeup tutorial on my Youtube channel, and it was an Iron Man look, and it turned out way better than expected, if you want to see that you can check it out here.

Finally today I attended the Christening of my newest cousin, Eve. She is six months old and is seriously one of the cutest babies I have ever seen. Plus it was nice to see another family member being Christened in our family church, where we have ALL been Christened, and where hopefully one day my children will be Christened too!

Let me know what you have been up to this week in the comments below...

Reading: Nothing, I am picking my next read as I type

Listening To: Taylor Swift - Bad Blood

Playing: Games on my iPhone

Feeling: Nervous and excited

Looking Forward To: Going back to my job

Sum Up Sunday #19

From top left to bottom right: Gerbils enjoying a treat, Baby Bunny Rescue, Youtube Video Aftermath, My Buddy Iron Man, Maizey being crazy, new phone case, Fun at the fair, Jurassic sippy cup, Pink hair.

It's been over a month since my last Sum up Sunday post which just seems crazy to me, but a lot has been going on in my little old life! 

First off I have something personal to admit. I have been suffering really badly from depression once again which has derailed my life a little bit, hence why my blog began to suffer. It go so bad that mum made me move home with her for a while so she could keep an eye on me and to give Tim a bit of a break from me. It;s been a few weeks now and I am beginning to feel better, and I am planning to move back in with Tim, get on a diet, keep my blog going, and get back to work. I'm not 100% OK, but I am in such a better place now than I was a few weeks ago, and I'm glad to know my family supports me.

The first day I was back at mum's she was on her way to work and came across a baby bunny that was just sitting in the middle of the road not moving at all. She scooped him up and brought him home with the idea of taking him to the vets when she got back from work. So me and my brother were assigned baby sitting duty. However after doing some research online I found out the best place for the bunny was right back where mum found him so that his mummy could find him. So we went and put him back, and I hope that all went well, but if not... circle of life and all that, right?

Surprisingly although my blog seems to have suffered whilst I have been unwell my Youtube channel has flourished with at least one new video every week (soon to be two a week hopefully), I seem to have finally gotten into my Youtube stride, and I hope you guys have been enjoying my videos as much as I have enjoyed making them, here are ones I've made since my last Sum Up, you can check them all out at my Youtube Channel.

Also since I have been living at home I have got to spend a lot more time with my wonderful doggy Maizey! She still loves curling up in my lap like she used to when she was a puppy, even though there isn't as much room for her now she is fully grown. I know how much I love her, but it never really dawned on me how much she loves me until a few nights ago. She was just curled up on my lap and my nan said, 'You know what Alyssia, that little dog bloody loves you', and that's the moment it kind of hit me how much of a special bond me and Maizey have together. Even whilst I was at uni whenever I came back for the holidays she would go absolutely crazy at my return! I cannot wait until Tim and I get our own place with a garden so I can finally live with her again.

Seeing as I have been under the weather, Tim has been doing a huge range of things to keep me occupied. From coming up to London with me to see the short film I worked on, to taking me to the cinema every week, and even going to a fun fair with me and my sister despite the fact he hates rides. One of the favourite things I have done has definitely been regular cinema trips. We both signed up for Meerkat Movies due to buying our car insurance through Compare the Market (not sponsored it's just an awesome scheme). Basically every week you get a code for 2 for 1 tickets, meaning the price of the cinema trip is cut in half, and the best thing is, most cinema's accept them! This week we went to see Jurassic World which I have been dying to see ever since the trailer came out, and I wasn't disappointed, it was amazing. I also couldn't resist buying this dinosaur sippy cup with the figurine on top, and have been using it every day since going to see the movie! Honestly if you are a fan of the original films then you need to go and see it, I won't go into too much detail as I want to dedicate a whole blog post just to that movie!

Finally I made a snap decision to dye my hair a crazy colour and settled on pink. I think it looks pretty awesome, and I think dying my hair different colours is going to become a regular occurrence for me now, but what do you think?

This Week I'm...

Reading: The Curvy Girls Club by Michele Gorman

Listening To: ALL the Fall Out Boy Songs

Playing: Super Mario Galaxy

Feeling: Like I still have a long way to go

Looking Forward To: Being back home with Tim!

May Roundup!

My finals photos, Decoration at my training, new watch, Snapple my favourite drink, Cuddles with the nephew, barn owl handling, Lush Oxford Street, Pamper evening face and foot mask, White chocolate waffle.

May has been quite a weird month for me, and a lot has happened this month. I started a new job, went to London for training, met another owl, and had some pampering and baby cuddles...

As so much has happened I thought that it was only right that I talked about some of the highlights of the month for me!

I went to a chocolate making evening in Reading, and got to make some yummy treats. As soon as I walked through the door I was hit by the smell of chocolate. That was due to the three huge vats of chocolate in the back of the room, one white, one milk and one dark... It was amazing... On the table in front of us was a huge selection of sweets to use on our chocolate, although most of them made it into our mouths before it did our chocolate...

We got to select our favourite flavour of chocolate to be the base of our bars, and we could even swirl them with other chocolates, which I attempted to do... badly I might add! Then we got to stuff our bars full of sweets. Once they were done we moved onto making a chocolate lollipop, and three truffles. By then end of the evening I felt sick with the amount of sweets and chocolate that I had eaten but I still had an amazing time!

The day before I went off to do my training Tim and I decided to go and spend the day in London hunting down some of the Shaun the Sheep sculptures that are currently all over London. They are all based on different themes and sponsored by different companies, and the idea is that you try and find as many as you possibly can. There are free maps you can get and specific trials you can follow, but honestly the maps were so confusing that Tim and I gave up after finding a mere eight Shaun's. That was about the time we headed to Lush Oxford street which you've already heard a tonne about.

I hope you've all had a good May, I know I have, and I hope that my year continues to be full and interesting!

This Week I'm...

Reading: Lots and lots of blogs

Listening To: A 90's Playlist on Spotify

Playing: CSI on Xbox 360

Feeling: Lost at the moment to be honest

Looking Forward To: Getting better

Sum Up Sunday #18

The last few weeks have been interesting for me, I got back from my film shoot and had an interview for a makeup counter job, which I am pleased to say I got!

After it was confirmed that I got the job I was sent off to London for three days to train for my new role, which I actually started yesterday. I honestly love my new job despite only having done it for a day, I really feel at home with what I am doing. If any of you bloggers are from the same area as me you can come and visit me in Camp Hopson's in Newbury.

So what else have I been up to?

Well I went to a chocolate making evening near Reading with my social group, and we got to make 3 chocolate bars, truffles and even a chocolate lollipop. It was honestly really fun, although I did go home feeling a little sick after eating so much chocolate!

I also had a massive clear out of my makeup and ended up throwing it pretty much all away, apart from what I use on a daily basis. Which of course we all know means I can go and buy new makeup, right?

I also had my first Creams whilst I was in London. They make crepe's, waffles and also ice cream, I know there is one in Reading so the next time I am there I will be popping in. I was recommended a White Chocolate waffle, which had banana and strawberries on it, and it was honestly unbelievably yummy... I am going to be sad when I am on my diet next week and have to give up all the naughty things...

This Week I'm...

Reading: The Curvy Girls Club by Michele Gorman

Listening To: Heart Radio, loving my club classics

Playing: Mario Kart with Tim on our 3DS'

Feeling: Excited to be getting back into a routine

Looking Forward To: Getting into the swing of being on a makeup counter

Sum Up Monday?

Hello. hello everyone! I hope you have had a wonderful week. I myself have been a busy bee on the set of a short film shoot (more to come on that in a separate post), so have barely had time to glance at a computer screen!

Last Saturday I headed off to London with Tim for the United Makeup Artists Expo at the Business Design Centre, with a list of things I needed to buy, and a boyfriend for support. There were some amazing stands their full of makeup, and also some stands showcasing makeup artists. In the back there were also talks going on, but sadly I did not have time for these due to needing to be elsewhere in London by 6pm. I was able to get everything on my list (and more) on our target budget, and I even managed to pick up something I have been lusting after ever since completing my course!

These Rose Gold Zoeva brush sets have been in my sights for a long time, and when I found out I had a little left over in my budget on Saturday I just knew I had to pick them up! They are so soft, and beautiful, and I cannot wait to use them!

Then at 6pm I went to meet the parents of the Director of a short film I was selected to be the Hair and Makeup Artist for, we stayed the night in London then travelled all the way up to Sunderland. I was there a whole week doing the hair and makeup on several artists. It was a lot of hard work and was very tiring, but honestly so much fun!

The main setting of the short was the beautiful Allerton Castle we were there for 3 1/2 days, I mean just look how stunning it is. Although it was a nightmare 1h 40m drive from where we were staying, and doing that every morning and evening and working super hard was pretty difficult.

There were also beautiful costumes, and I couldn't resist trying on this bonnet in between takes, I think it really suits me to be honest!

We shot at many beautiful locations throughout the week and above are some of them. My particular favourite is the room in the top right of this picture. That is the drawing room in Allerton castle, and the walls are blue silk!

Everyone was amazing and we all had a great time, it was nice staying in the family home of the director, and her mum was amazing at looking after us all and even got us a cake.

Sunday I simply spent travelling home and catching up on sleep. I don't want to give too much away about the shoot and my time in Sunderland because I am planning a bigger post once I receive the photos from the Director.

This Week I'm...

Reading: The Curvy Girls Club by Michele Gorman

Listening To: Disney songs on the way to locations

Playing: Honestly haven't had time this week, not even for Star Stable!

Feeling: Happy to be back home with Tim

Looking Forward To: An interview that I have on Thursday!

Sum Up Sunday #17

It's been a busy and also at the same time not busy few weeks for me! I've finally stumbled out as a Make Up Artist and have started taking jobs. Then in other news I managed to become an Aunty again! I can't even remember if I mentioned it on the blog, but Tim's sister went into labour five weeks early and a beautiful (and very tiny) baby boy was the result! Babies will never cease to bring me great amounts of joy, and to be able to call myself an aunty to two beautiful babies (soon to be three), I honestly couldn't be happier. 

As mentioned above I am finally stumbling into the world of Make Up Artistry. I have booked a few jobs so far, and am going on my first film shoot on location next week for a period short film. So if you want to follow all the action on that then make sure you follow my MUA instagram (@alyssiarosemua).

The above shoot was one I did with a photography student for his finaly project, in which he is focusing on the Seven Deadly Sins. The above makeup is one I did for Vanity/Pride, and was certainly bold!

I have also managed to book my first Wedding of the year! It's all very exciting for me at the moment, and it seems as though it is going to continue to be so... I couldn't be any more happy with the leap of faith that I have taken if I tried...

This Week I'm...

Reading: The Curvy Girls Club by Michele Gorman

Listening To: My Chemical Romance and becoming an angsty teen again!

Playing: Mario Kart Seven with Tim! He finally picked up a 3DS and we've been enjoying playing together

Feeling: Happy about having my dream job

Looking Forward To: A week away up north filming on location!

Sum Up Sunday #16

This week was once again spent in London, as I undertook a 4 day Bridal Hair course. Whilst we did cover some hair techniques on my makeup course with DFMA I used to tremble when I was doing hair because I was so unconfident with it. So I decided that before I took on any wedding bookings for this summer that I should probably get more confident with hair so that I can offer both hair and makeup!

After four days I can honestly say that I can't believe I created all these styles! I now have a good idea of how to create a look, and cannot wait to get stuck in offering bridal hair and makeup.

Needless to say as I have been so busy this week, everything else has suffered, I haven't blogged pretty much all week, I haven't even had any time to play Star Stable! Next week I have a bit more time to myself, so it should be back to normal for me.

This Week I'm...

Reading: Stolen Night by Rebecca Maizel

Listening To: Disney songs after taking my mum to see Beauty and the Beast

Playing: Star Stable... when I get a chance to anyway!

Feeling: Tired after a long week

Looking Forward To: My first makeup job, which is on the 30th!!!

Sum Up Sunday #15

Lush Eggception Bath Bomb, Makeup for my night out, Taking mum out, Cuddles with someone who's missed me

This week has been so much more chilled out than the last four weeks, I've had a lot more time to myself, and I have been trying to get into some sort of a routine.

Last Sunday I attended an event at the Lush store in Reading, which was seriously fun! It's always a pleasure to spend time with the staff in the Reading store as they are all really bubbly and lovely, and you can tell that they really enjoy their jobs, which makes you feel much more welcome. If you want to read about the even then you can do so here.

Since moving to Basingstoke, and having more time to myself, I have been looking into becoming more social, and meeting new people. For this I have joined a website called Meetup, on this you can search for social groups in your local area, you can join in activities run by these groups and meet new people. On Thursday night I went out for a Curry with one of these social groups for Basingstoke women, and met 4 lovely ladies, I felt at ease straight away, and it was nice to be able to chat with other women that weren't my mum or my sister! Then yesterday I attended another meetup for a brand new group in Basingstoke of people who enjoy watching films. I decided to drag Tim along to this meetup, though he was glad I did, as we met such interesting and new people that we wouldn't have met otherwise, and have already joined the next meetup for the group! Honestly if you are looking to meet new people then you should definitely get the Meetup app, it's been worth it for me so far!

Also yesterday I took my mum to see a Youth performance of Beauty and The Beast, her favourite Disney film. It was interesting to say the least, with forgotten lines, mic volumes that were all over the place, and flat singing... Me and mum had a great time though, we found some of it halarious, and to be honest it wasn't the worst youth performance I have ever seen!

Today I am at my mum's and I am having cuddles with my lovely dog Maizey, and chilling out, waiting to start cooking a roast for my mummy!

This Week I'm...

Reading: Makeup books, looking for inspiration for my next look!

Listening To: Fall Out Boy - Irresistible 

Playing: Star Stable (STILL not bored of it)

Feeling: Excited about starting my new life!

Looking Forward To: My first makeup job, whenever that will be!

Sum Up Sunday #14: DFMA Week 4 (my final week!)

I can't believe that it has been a whole month since I embarked on one of the scariest, yet most exciting times of my life. It's been a crazy, tiring, and emotional four weeks, but I've reached the end, and I am ready to start my new career as a makeup artist!

On Monday we got to do an ice queen look. We were asked to go online a research photos of other ice queen looks, and then to come up with our take on an ice queen. I combined about four different images for my final look, but I think it turned out quite well!

Tuesday was all about the gore as we had our final special effects day with my favourite tutor! We got to do a slit wrist, a stitched up wound, a bullet wound to the head, and track marks. Special effects is by far my favourite area, just as I thought it would be, and it is ultimately what I would like to go into!

Wednesday was all about practice for our finals, so I got to play around with a few of my ideas, and ultimately got to decide what I did, and didn't want to do for my final piece. I wonder if you can guess what I chose to do by the above photos?

Thursday was bald caps, and I am honestly not a fan of this look, and I almost didn't put a picture up of this. I don't know why but everything seemed to go kind of wrong for me on this day. I didn't really feel as though I knew what I was doing, and ultimately was really unhappy with my look, but I took pictures anyway!

Then came our final day! This day was all about showcasing out skills and we got to do whatever makeup that we wanted. Also for this day we had real models, which we were all terrified about to be honest! I had nothing to be afraid of though because my model Natalie was absolutely lovely, and we got on right away. It turned out she went to Aberystwyth Uni, and was in the year below me, in the same department! How weird is that right? She also blogs and makes Youtube videos, meaning we had plenty in common, and lots to talk about. You can check out her blog here. She was really brilliant about the makeup I was doing too, and she loved the special effects I did. Initially I was really worried that I would have a model that hated SFX, so I'm glad she enjoyed herself. We also got to work with a photographer on this day and we are going to get four professional shots to go in our portfolio, but we wont get those for a few weeks yet. I am honestly itching to see those pictures because they looked so amazing just on his camera screen! If you hadn't already guessed, I went for a frost bitten Elsa from Frozen... I know I'm a bit frozen obsessed, but I wanted to do a look that incorporated both beauty and special effects, and I think I did that quite effectively here.

After the photos were all done with and the models had left, we got to sit around and chill out for a bit. The other girls I met on the course are some of the nicest people I have ever met, and we all really want to stay in touch. I can't wait to follow their careers and see what they get up to as they are all amazing makeup artists!

Please let me know in the comments what you thought about my final piece, I would love some feedback!

Sum Up Sunday #13: DFMA Week 3

This week kicked off with the 1930's, which meant blocking out eyebrows!  Honestly one of the funniest experiences of the whole course so far. We also did a cheat version of finger waves. I really feel like I look like Betty Boop in this picture!

Before Makeup Application

 Eyebrows Blocked Out

 Finished Look

 Finished Look from the side

My model really wasn't a fan of having her eyebrows blocked out, but I was really pleased with the overall result, especially as her eyebrows were a lot darker than mine.

On the Tuesday we did do a session on continuity, in which we had to create a look on each other, and then in the afternoon we swapped partners, and had to follow a face chart to recreate someone else's look. For the life of me I can't seem to find the photos from that, but it was honestly pretty difficult to get everything exactly the same.

Next we moved on to the 1920's, this time doing finger waving the right way, and it was seriously difficult... Instead of doing an historically correct makeup, we brought the 1920's into the future.

I loved this makeup, and I felt like it was easily the best one I had done so far, especially the lips, which I had been really struggling with.

On the Thursday we did Victorian/Edwardian, which was actually a very plain makeup, more like a 'no makeup' look, but actually there is a surprising amount of makeup on my model in the above photo!

Friday was my favourite day ever, we did burns SFX makeup. It involved Liquid Latex, and Gelatine to get the end result, which I honestly am so happy with! This is the kind of makeup that I want to do, and it really makes me happy when I get it right!

In the afternoon we also had some male models so that we could practice our male makeup. Which again is very much a 'no makeup' look. You may be surprised to learn that my model even has eyeliner, and mascara on in this picture!

Another amazing week at the DFMA Academy, and honestly it has flown by. Next week is my final week on the course, and so this time next week I will become a qualified makeup artist!