down in the dumps

photo credit

Hello lovelies.

I'm sorry to say this is a bit of a moody post. The work load has hit me, hard. I'm trying my best to revise with the help of numerous tv shows but I lack focus, can't concentrate for more than an hour and just want to crawl back into bed whenever biology is mentioned. Actually, I've been feeling like that a lot lately. My bed has never felt so comfortable but my body also feels weak, literally like I cannot do anything.

I've been fighting swollen glands lately.. They got pretty bad and I resembled a hamster. The annoying thing is that I felt absolutely fine in myself, I wasn't actually ill or anything but my face was in agony. I couldn't eat, and for once didn't even feel like eating, but still managed to stuff my face every day! But as I was told I was probably fighting infection, I had to stay away from the gym for a few days, no fun. I finally went to the docs and was given antibiotics, which definitely helped but it is still uncomfortable to chew. Since when did that stop me though, aye?

I suppose I better give you a diet update aswell. It has not been good lately! Before Easter I managed to put on 4 pounds in a week (!) which we thought wasn't accurate but then when I came back to uni after 3 weeks off everything, I had put on a total 8 pounds, meaning I was practically back where I started. Not good. In my defence, I did hurt my foot so was out of action. Anyway, I am in the process of rectifying this.. in the first week back I shifted 3 pounds, meaning in reality I only have another 5 to go before I'm back at my lowest. However, today's weigh in saw me lose.. nothing. NOTHING? I've barely eaten all week! Both my girlies lost 3 pounds each, and whilst I'm so happy for them it doesn't half make me feel shit. I thought, maybe I won't have lost 3 pounds again but was hoping for 2! or 1?! Merrrr. It just means I have to try harder next week but it's so disheartening. I just want a sexy beach bod :(

Anyway, I'm seeing Matthew tonight so hopefully that will cheer me up. If not, I don't know what will! I should be better soon, at the very latest 1st June 'cos all my exams are over yay!

Love love love xxx

get to know me :)

I think I look like my sister here!

Hello lovelies! I haven't actually properly introduced myself, and most bloggers seem to do it so thought I'd let you all know a little bit about me :)

My name is Chloe Jane Lavington (hence the blog title) and I'm 19. I'm from Southampton, England but am currently based in Cardiff for uni. I study Psychology and am coming towards the end of my first year, shock! It has flown by. I have met some of the best people ever and it's cute that we have a little uni family who I'm looking forward to living with next year. As for the actual degree part, well that isn't so fun but it's something to power through because I will be so proud of myself at the end when I have a 2:1!

I have longish brown hair that is getting the chop in a couple of days, fairly drastic as I'm then going back to the trusty red. I've gotten bored of my hair lately, and ombreing it only lasted a month or two before that got boring too. I want it to be short enough to have to bother to do something with it; these days it just gets put up in a pony or bun and I'm fed up! I usually wear contacts on nights out but glasses the rest of the time - I like the change they make and can't be bothered with faffing around putting contacts in every single day, I'd much prefer the extra half hour in bed!

I have recently started wearing a bit more make up. Before now, I have barely dabbled a toe in the world of make up, only wearing eye liner, mascara and a bit of blush. I guess with growing up, I am trying to make a bit more effort with my appearance, but more to enhance my features than change them. Sometimes, I'll post makeup stuff but not often!

I have a boyfriend, Matthew, who I've been with for a mighty 4 years. At 19, it's one of the longest relationships of anyone I know my age, but I couldn't imagine a life without him. We've been through a lot but are currently very happy and looking forward to our holiday in summer to Faliraki!

My goal in life is literally to have a happy family, be married to a man I love and bring up children I adore into beautiful adults. I want a pretty house somewhere nice that I can tend to and look after, make cakes in and my kid's packed lunches. I definitely want pets ASAP, especially a dog. The simple things in life definitely make me happiest. I want to have money, but I don't care to be rich! A holiday once a year is plenty to look forward to ;)

I mainly post about uni shenanigans, food, my life in general and my weight loss. It's not going so well at the moment after a bit of a bip (10 pounds worth) over Easter but I'm back on track now and am extra determined not to slip up when I go home for Summer. I love all things cookery and charity shops help to satisfy my cookery book obsession. I don't know what else to say really, I don't have many followers at all but my blog is more for me, to look back on.


Let me know if there's anything you'd like me to post about, anyway :)

Love love love xxx

Beauty buys

Hello lovelies (all 3 of you)

I've been pondering for a long time on whether to officially dip my toe in the make up world. For a few years I have stuck to the trusty maybelline mascara, a cheap mua black eyeliner and a mua blusher. Inventive, huh. This has been my go to look whenever I wear make up, whether its during the day or for a night out. It doesn't ever change!

More recently, I started wearing lipstick but after looking back at photos it's not a good look for me when drunk, it literally gets smudged all round my mouth and is not attractive.

Anyway, I treated myself to some actual beauty bits!

I have read lots of amazing reviews on the mua heaven and earth palette, and the undressed palette too. I didn't really want to buy two just yet as they are really similar, so went with the first as it has more neutral shades. The quality seems pretty decent for £4, although I do need a proper eye shadow brush and someone to come teach me!

I also wanted to try a couple of skin products. My skin is actually okay and I didn't want to start wearing foundation and giving myself spots so I opted for a BB cream, which should hopefully even my skin tone without clogging it up. It will hopefully make a nice difference on a night out but I won't be wearing it every day. I bought the 17 Bb cream after reading a lot of reviews!

I decided for those days where I get the dreaded spots I would invest in a concealer, and landed on the collection lasting perfection concealer, which seemed impressive for the price. I'm hoping it will get rid of my tired eye circles!

The final purchase was a brow pencil. I have a love hate thing going on with my eyebrows. I have never had anything done to them and don't pluck them or anything. Most of the time I don't even notice then but sometimes they really irritate me, so for some reason I thought buying a brow pencil would fix this! I'm debating whether to get them threaded, as it would give me a decent shape which I could then maintain... I can't decide!!





Anyway, that was my latest purchases. Im quite excited to try them out. I booked a haircut too, be prepared for a change...

Love love love xxx

bargains to be had...

hello :)

One of my favourite things to do in the holidays is have a good mooch around the charity shops. My local high street has a fairly good selection, and is just under 10 minutes away. There are better ones further afield obviously, but I can usually find a thing or two in these ones. I've found a fair few bargains over the years - my guilty pleasure is definitely a good cook book! I find them hard to resist...

nigella express and apples for jam are two of the gorgeous books i've lugged home from charity books in the past. i simply cannot leave them there, especially when they are under £4!

Anyway, more recently I have picked up a couple lovely things. I found a beaut asos blouse for just £4 the other day - it was a size 8 but designed to be baggy so it fits even me. I wasn't leaving it there regardless, planning to give it to my skinnier sister if it didn't fit. I regret not buying some Monsoon tops for my mum when I was there, but just wasn't sure if they would be right for her. Turns out she did want them but by the time we returned it was too late!

Anyway, not sure how much this would have been new, but I'm sure it would have been more than a pretty penny!

Today, I was on the hunt for a photo frame for our photobooth snaps we got in Brighton the other day. I was searching for a silver, jewelled one but knew chances were slim. They have lovely ones in Tesco but are a bit pricey at around £8 so I wanted just a cheapy one. Didn't quite find what I was looking for, but managed to get one anyway!

Oxfam were having a flash sale of old christmas gifts. They were ridiculously marked down - this photo frame was only £1.99 and it is hand embroidered, originally £12 i think. I also had to buy this eye mask, only 99p! It will be useful to keep at home so I don't forget my fancy one again, and I can take it on holiday too for the plane! I also picked up this cute purple tin, because I thought it would fit in nicely with my indian inspired room next year. Think it will become my sugar jar for now though! These 3 bits cost me £4.50, which I thought was quite good really!

Love love love xxx

our early anniversary

Hiya!

I'm feeling very lonely since Matthew left. It's been amazing; we've really enjoyed eachothers company. He arrived late Friday night so we just chilled and caught up with our tv for the week.

On Saturday morning, I treated him to the best waffles ever, if I say so myself. We didn't think we'd have enough time to fit in a trip to sprinkles, especially with my poorly foot, so I brought sprinkles home!

This was followed by Saints v Chelsea! We all had tickets so went to St Marys to (hopefully) see them slaughter Chelsea! It was actually a really good game, and we won 2-1. I was super glad Matthew got to see them win, would have been a bit poo if they had lost. We got dominos after and watched Doctor who. Personally, I thought the episode was a bit crap. Nothing really happened and there was no real villain or action or anything. Hope next week's is better.

On Sunday we chilled, ate a big fat roast and ended up going to the hospital. I'm not sure how but I injured my foot and it had been hurting for a couple weeks, but not bad enough for me to consider it broken. It was getting worse, though and I couldnt move my toes or anything so thought it was best to get it looked at. Turns out it was just a pulled tendon so nothing major :) I've been on a bit of a bread making hype lately so I made ham cheese and chive bread, which was yummy.

On Monday, we didn't do much except go out for dinner with another Toby couple. We went to The Cowherds on Southampton Common, never eaten there but looked nice. It was actually really lovely, and we were sat with the sun shining in on our table which was a rare treat. After, we went round the fair a little and Matthew won me another teddy! It was a lovely evening and after we played monopoly and I beat everyone, of course.

Tuesday was the best day. We went to Brighton to celebrate being together 4 years. In the past, we have done quite extravagant things... Our first anniversary was a trip to thorpe park and an overnight stay in a luxury cabin. For our 2 year we had a weekend in London, and last year I was treated to a night in the grand harbour hotel - SO posh! But this year, things are different as we live in the same city, we see eachother a lot and him coming down felt special enough without needing to go on a fancy weekend away. Brighton seemed perfect, and it was.

We spent the day wandering around Brighton lanes, popping in the cute little shops and looking at things we would never buy but would love to own. The weather couldn't have been better considering what it's been like lately, and we had so much fun walking down along the pier, in the arcade and sat in the deckchairs in the sunshine :)

It was a lovely way to celebrate being with this one for 4 years. It feels like it has flown by, yet at the same time I can't really remember my life without him. I've grown up with him, and he has with me. We've changed each other, for the good. We've made eachother into better people. It's been far from easy, at times, and things have pushed us to the edge, like with any couple, but we are strong and have come through them all. I wouldn't want a life without him in it, he is too entwined in mine now and so basically he is stuck with me. And I am with him, although there are worse people to be stuck with. I'm actually finding it really hard to put into words how I feel about him. But these past few days have made me fall in love all over again, and realise that what we have is special, and definitely worth fighting for.

Love love love, xxx

I've been awful...

... at updating this blog of late.

Life has swept me up lately. The week before I came home I was swamped with nights out and assignments. It involved a full day from 9-6 in the computer room botching an essay and prac assignment, whilst still trying to make them half decent. Turns out I got a high 2:1 for the prac which I'm happy with! :)
We went out for Cam's birthday on the Thursday night to celebrate. It was nice 'cos we didn't go out till super late, so we stayed out pretty much till the end. In typical fashion, I found £20 - my first one on a night out, haha. It was a perfect night out with my favourites, no drama or anything just really really drunk and dancing :) Our course friend Dom came out too and had a really nice night with him as we haven't been out together before.

ANYWAY, I had a killer hangover on the Friday which was not ideal as I had to pack! Me and Matthew went out for a nice meal at Carluccios, he was hoping for a job there but we heard nothing back. Not surprising though, considering I read in the news that there were 1,700 applicants  for 7 jobs at costa!! So he will have to put up with Toby for now..

I've been home for nearly 2 weeks now. The first week went by in a bit of a blur, lots of sleeping and watching TV! I went out with Mimi on the Tuesday and had such a good night, although she was sick all over my bed. It was a mission changing the sheets with Mimi falling over everywhere and having to change her too and being half drunk myself at 2.30am! We spent the day in bed the next day, lush hangover day.

Matthew's just gone to Yeovil after being down since Friday. We've had such a lovely time. I think I will write about what we got up to in a separate post, as we crammed a lot in! I miss him already.

That brings us up to speed, just about. I'm only home for another week and a half, and my days will be full of reading, meh.

Love love love xxx