New year, new chances, new beginnings

Hello! I hope you all had a great ending to 2014 and a fabulous beginning of 2015. I can't believe that it's 2015 already, I have read somewhere on the Internet that 2030 is as far away as 2000 and it had me thinking, some of my friends who I have gone to secondary school with are going to turn 18 this year. I swear I still remember my first day in year 7 when I was something like 11/12, majority of us were quiet scared and kept close to friends they had in primary schools and look at us all now! We have all made new friends, chose new schools to go to and are almost adults. The time is literally flying past and I'm not sure how I feel about that. This year I will be turning 17, hopefully doing my driving license which means I will hopefully start driving and it's just... wow. I have been waiting for this for ages and now that it's here, I'm not sure what to do with all this!

Anyway, new year means a chance for new beginning. It is a good time to start doing things you always wanted to do, or possibly stop things you always wanted to stop. I think it is absolutely impossible not to have a new years resolution. It doesn't have to be a literal change in your life. You don't have to change everything and become a completely different person so that nobody can recognise you. That is not the point of this. If you can't think of something you want to change in your life, maybe there was something you always wanted to do or learn, or maybe go somewhere. Also the goals don't have to be anything too complicated, it can be something really simple, as long as it's realistic. Having a goal for a new year will give you something to head for and work towards. I have already set some up for myself and here they are:

1. Firstly, getting healthy and into shape is my priority. I know loads of people set this as their goal and then given up after a month (I was one of them) but this year I am really determined. This year I am not really doing it for anybody else, I am doing it for myself. It will really help with keeping my skin clear and generally help me make myself feel better with well...myself I guess. 

2. I want to save up money this year. Finally this is possible because since about May/June time I have a job, only weekends and school holidays but it's always something, plus I have opened my own bank account. Putting money in a bank account means less temptation to spend it on things I don't actually need or will never actually use. I have set myself a target of saving £300 by August as I am planning on buying a tablet, but if I exceed it, I will be more than happy and will not stop saving until January. Fingers crossed I will actually do it. 

3. This one is regarding the blog itself. I want it to become something you as readers want to read and enjoy. I also want to become more systematic in posting. I will try my hardest to deliver weekly posts every Sunday afternoon, and unless something happens that will stop me, I will try and let you know. But I would really like your opinions on what you think I could add, change and generally your opinion. You can leave it in the comments or you can e-mail me if you prefer to talk to me privately. I promise to get back to you as soon as possible. 

I have not decided on a goal to travel anywhere because I won't have time for this, this year anyway, I will have to see and find something for next year. I have also not planned to learn anything new e.g. a language because I know I will not do it. I have enough revision for my 3 AS subjects and a language would be too much. Plus I have already studied French in school for almost 3 years and did not learn that much, I probably would not be able to do anything in France without looking like a typical tourist with my broken French. Anyway, as you can see a resolution can be really simple but it gives you something to work towards in a new, fantastic year. And trust me, if it is something you wanted for a long time, you will feel absolutely amazing upon achieving it eventually. 

Boxing day dissapointments

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and got what you really wanted. But what comes after Christmas? Boxing day of course! This is the day where supposedly shops have big discounts on clothes and this is also a really busy day where majority of people go out shopping. I was no exception of course. 

We are finally moving house in not even a month and I am finally getting my own room. I have been waiting for this for eight years now, and finally I will have my own space. I hope a new house will mean a bit of a new start. I will finally be able to make it personal and decorate it how I want it. But this also means I want new furniture. We decided that boxing day would be a good opportunity to go look in Ikea as they may have some good deals in there. So on Friday the 26th of December at 8am, me, my younger sister, my parents and my boyfriend got into our little Corsa and set out on a 2 hour journey to go to Ikea. It was one of the most disappointing things I came across. Yes they did have a lot of furniture and some sale going on, but this was not what I saw on their website. An amazing example is a wardrobe which I saw online, it looked quiet good, had 3 doors. When I actually looked at it in the shop it was not much taller than me, the shelves in it were OK but I would not fit much into it either. A small sofa, the quality of it was not breathtaking either. I would probably use it for 3 months before the foam in it started to deform and I would have to change the mattress which costs almost as much as the sofa itself. The only thing I found that caught my eye was like a bookshelf and a desk. 

My mum saw a Next store so of course we went in there as well. Right, here I have a bit of mixed views on this store. I have to give them one huge plus, they did have a lot of stuff on sale. Almost every item in store was on sale. I got a pair of shoes that were 50% off. The store was absolutely packed with people shopping. One minus goes for a staff member. I say a staff member because only one caught my eye in particular. I am not sure whether they have volunteers in the store to help out during this day as it seems there was unusually high number of staff, one of them I believe may have had some mental problems. Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against people with mental disability. In fact I am quiet happy for this guy for trying to live a normal life. But he was walking around with a hanger in his mouth, mouth open and really licking it, while a coat was still on it. He was really sweating as well. Is a clothes store really the best place for such a person? He did not particularly give the best impression, especially by licking the hangers. 

2 hours later, me and my boyfriend got dropped off at a shopping centre where we met up with out friend to do some more shopping. Unfortunately I wasn't that well prepared financially this year so my shopping was not, or rather could not, be as big as I may wish it to be. We started off with Primark. My boyfriend wanted some jeans so we started off with the men's section. On the way to the jeans there was some tops and jumpers of course so we had a quick look. Quiet a lot of them were still Christmas jumpers, some normal looking tops and some simple hoodies. Nothing too eye catching. Jeans were not so exciting either. Most looked the same and they didn't really have many 'skinny' types. I'm not sure if people buy so many of them that they ran out or they simply don't stock that many. Anyway, after that we went downstairs to the women's section. Lots of jumpers, I have been given ban on wool jumpers because I have so many apparently, some tops and of course jeans and leggings. I have decided I am not buying leggings from Primark again because I have worn them once and they started to rip and they became really see through after about a week. The jeans were not that bad quality I have to say but they stretch really easily. I don't know if this is the case just for me or others have the same problems? After not being able to find anything for myself and paying for the jeans that we did find, we set out to H&M.

Right, so H&M. I really like this shop as they have some really nice things, but not this time. They had loads of wool jumpers and cardigans, but like I said, I got banned from buying anymore as I already have quiet a lot of them. And apart from them, I really didn't find anything that would stand out from the rest. The sales were really bad as well. As for the women's section, we barley had any. Apparently the men's section didn't have anything either. They left a basket with some stuff in there that was 'on sale' but the rest was normal price. Come on H&M, you can do better. But I did end up getting a really nice bag for £19.99 and a pair of jeans for £7.99. As for the quality of them both, we will have to see. 
My mum and sister went to Matalan and apparently there was barley anything on sales and the fitting rooms were closed. How can you close fitting rooms on a day like this when the shop would be overflowing with customers. I understand the security reasons but how are we, as customers, supposed to buy things such as trousers without trying them on? I don't got to a shop to buy something and then come back the next day to exchange it for another size. 

I can easily conclude that Next had the best sales as basically the whole shop as on sale, with almost everything 50% off. Other shops will have to try a bit more as they could really gain a lot of money from sales on a day like this. And what about you, how did you spend your boxing day? Was is a success or a disappointment? Let me know in the comments. 

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Christmas celebrations

Hello there, how has your week been? Mine has been quiet busy I must say. It has been the last week of school before we broke up for the winter break, this means I finally have time to get enough sleep (yay!). 

Anyway, on the topic of Christmas, depending on your culture and religion you probably celebrate it in many different ways, or you possibly don't celebrate it at all. I think it is fascinating. Before I came to live in England, I thought that all Christians celebrate it in the same way. Well let me tell you that it certainly is not the case. 

Let's start with the date. I know most British people celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December. This is when they have their Christmas dinner and open presents and everything. We, at least majority of citizens in Poland which means roman Catholics, celebrate it on the 24th of December. We have more of a supper than a dinner as we start eating in late evening. Then, after we have eaten we open our presents. 

Oh, and there is a date on the 6th of December when we also give each other presents, not the main present of course, kind of smaller things. So yes, technically we get presents twice. 

As for the Christmas tree, I think it varies depending on the household. With my grand parents, we sometimes decorated the tree earlier but now, since we usually celebrate just the 4 of us we decorate it on the 24th and it's usually up to me and my sister to do that while my mum and dad do all the preparations in the kitchen. They usually complain about where we put the decorations anyway, but theoretically it's up to us. The decorations are ordinary, some chains, baubles and some DIY stuff to add a personal touch. When I was younger, my grandmother used to hang some sweets on the Christmas tree and I would play something along the lines of secret agent and sneak and eat them anyway, leaving just the wrapper hanging and then blame it on my grandfather. Nobody ever believed me but it was worth a try.  

Food. As you get older, you probably start looking more to eating at the Christmas table than you did when you were a child. I remember when I was younger, before opening any of the presents everyone at the table had to finish eating and there has always been somebody who ate either slowly or ate a lot. So sitting at a Christmas table has been a bit of a torture for a child who wanted to open the presents as quickly as possible. Anyway, traditionally we have 12 dishes. We eat no meat, only fish. The main...thing is the carp. Without the carp Christmas is not really Christmas (at least for me). I haven't seen in England yet, but in Poland when I was younger and we spent the Christmas with my grandparents we would buy live carp (like 3 of them) and put them in the bath and they swam there until it was time to kill them, usually that's what my grandfather did, and fry it. Once they let me catch one of the carps from the bath and I picked it up and it would look at me and move it's mouth and it scared me but made me laugh at the same time. 

Another food that we have are dumplings. They are not like big dumplings, they are quiet small. There is some other types of fish done in different ways and we have beetroot soup. 

So as you can see, there is a bit of a difference from eating turkey. Oh, and I almost forgot. Just before we sit down and get down do eating, we share a piece of Christmas wafer (I'm sorry if that's not what it's called. I tried translating it and that's what it came up with). So, every person present has a piece of it and we go around and share it with each other, wising the person something, it can be work, money, good grades. Kind of like you wish somebody something on their birthday. 

I don't know about you, but these traditions are quiet important to me. This is how I have always celebrated Christmas and I plan on continuing to do so even when I have my own family. It just makes me feel closer to my family, all the preparations, and that there is more to Christmas than just presents. These traditions kind of keep the magic in this season. As I got older and stopped believing in santa and choosing my own presents, the magic died a little. I don't really have anything to look forward to, no surprises. 

It is a bit early, but I would like to say Merry Christmas to everyone!

Ideal Christmas presents

First of all I would like to apologise for not posting anything for so long. I have been really busy with catching up with school work after spending a week in bed ill and doing some Christmas shopping. This post has been almost finished for a while and I have been working on adding a few bits and editing it. And on the topic of Christmas shopping, if you didn't go out and buy any presents or even thought about it, it's probably the last minute to do so. But how to buy a gift that the person will like? 

Think how much you are willing to spend on each person. A budget plan can be really helpful in planning gift ideas. It doesn't mean you have to spend equal amounts on everyone, on some you may be able to spend more than on others, plus you are the only person who knows about it. 

Think hard, has the person been talking about wanting something in particular? Or maybe there is something they need?  They have probably dropped some hints on you without you noticing. If you can't think of anything, look through their social media profiles. They may have mentioned something on Facebook, Twitter or maybe created a wishlist somewhere? Maybe Pinterest? If not, you could try your luck talking to people who are close to them as well.

You may need to play detective for a bit but it will be worth it. 

A present should come from the heart. Maybe a touch of something personal? An inside joke? You could make something yourself! It doesn't have to be anything hard, you could buy something really cheap and plain and transform it into something beautiful and personal. 

Buying clothes can be quiet risky, if you buy a size too small, it could make the person feel bad about themselves by making them feel too big. Buying an item too big can also make them feel bad as they could think that you see them as quiet large. So unless you are 100% sure what size they wear, I would probably buy a voucher instead of an item of clothing. 

Finally,please, please, please don't buy pets for anybody unless you know that:

a) They want that particular pet

b) They will be able to care for it

Pets are not toys, if they are not wanted they will be either given away or even worse, abandoned. Do you really want that for a pet? 

Keep in mind that Christmas is a time of year to celebrate with your loved ones. It's not about the expensive presents, it's about showing that you care. You don't have to go overboard and spend a fortune, all you have to do is show that you know that person, that you care and show a little humour. 

Skin care during winter

Winter is finally here and what does that mean? Christmas, possible snow and half term. But it also means cold weather and dry skin. It is especially important to care for our skin during this season. So how do we do it effectively? 

Keeping your skin and lips hydrated is the key to healthy skin. Lets begin with lips. Vaseline is amazing. You can get little tubs of it for about £3 if not less in Superdrug or Boots. So it's not very expensive and lasts long so it's really worth having in your make up bag. It is colourless so you can wear it as lip gloss and it will match your outfit. If you want to add a little colour, put lipstick over it and it will make your lips that little bit more glossy. I have tried this and it looks great especially with lipsticks that look 'flat' on your lips. 

As for your skin, there is a lot of lotions out there. All you need to do is simply find the one that will match your skin type. Personally, I really like Nivea products. For my hands, I use the Nivea hand cream, the small travel sized tubs are about £2 and fit easily in your bag so you can carry it everywhere with you. They smell really good and most importantly, they do work. You get a wide range depending on your needs.

As for the rest of my body, I use the Nivea body moisture but the one you use under the shower because I don't like the feel of body moisture after the shower on dry skin. It is also very good and costs around £5. You can use it while taking a bath or a shower. The way to do it is you simply apply it to your whole body and then wash it off gently with water. For me, my skin feel softer immediately so it should not take too long to see any effects. And it's for both, males and females! If you prefer, you can get the same product but as a normal body lotion that you apply after the shower. 

I have also noticed that products containing Argan oil and quiet good. It is an oil, as the name suggests, that comes from Morocco. It makes the skin softer and healthier looking. When buying it you have to make sure it is 100% what you want it to be. There are many 'Argan oils' out there that are mixed with other things to fill the bottle up and make it cheaper. They don't give the same as the 100% one. That is also a disadvantage of pure Argan oil, it can be quiet expensive. How to recognise it if it is real? An indication is a nutty smell and golden in colour, it should have an oily texture and not watery. 

You can find many body lotions that contain Argan oil and pure Argan oil in shops such as The Body Shop or simply by looking on-line.

My final tip is, try not to expose your hands to too much extreme weather and don't go out in the cold with wet hands. Wear gloves, they can really help to protect your hands from going red, dry and hurting.