Hello there!
A few days ago I finally had my 21st Birthday party back home. Yes, I celebrated thoroughly back in Van but it was lovely to see my friends (both from home and uni) and I had such a lovely time. I'll post a few photos but I do not look very sober what-so-ever (but considering it was my 21st I think that's allowed right?)

This is more a post about my birthday cake! My mum decorates cakes and she really outdid herself this time. We had a LOT of disagreements over me wanting buttercream and she hates buttercream so I ended up with a fondant cake but it still looked gorgeous. I even put my Royal Albert tea cup and saucer* on top for the finishing touch.

BEAUTY // Elizabeth and James: Nirvana

Season's greetings!
I'm one of those people who finds a perfume they like and rarely gets anything else. I like having a signature scent that I wear every day. It's just the finishing touch. Unfortunately, I ran out of my favourite Lacoste Touch of Pink whilst in Van and to get a bottle of that in Canada costs an absolute fortune! I decided, upon the suggestion of one of the lovely girls in Sephora, to try a perfume I could only get out there. I ended up settling on the Nirvana fragrances and I am in love.

BEAUTY // Stocking fillers: Bath & Body Works Hand Cream

Hello there!
Bath & Body Works is my new favourite place at Christmas. With more amazing smelling candles than could fit in my entire house, it is definitely the place to go if you just want to spend an afternoon squealing over how gorgeous a cinnamon roll candle would smell. I wanted to pick up a little something for my friends back home (and myself - duh) and I ended up picking up some of their hand creams. They are, do doubt, the most amazing smelling hand creams I have ever smelt. I could seriously eat them out of the tube!

LIFESTYLE // Hey, it’s okay (at Christmas...)

Hello there! 

I have decided that I like to write lists and where better to start than with a Christmas list? I hope you enjoy!

LIFESTYLE // The Christmas Tag

Hey there!
I have seen this tag floating about and couldn't help doing it! It has definitely helped me get into the Christmas spirit (she says whilst watching a ridiculously corny Christmas film!)

TRAVEL // Capilano Suspension Bridge

Hello there!
I finished exams last Thursday, flew back on Monday and of course that meant that I had to do some exploring of Van before I left for Christmas. I ended up popping up to Capilano Suspension Bridge with some friends to go see their Christmas lights which are just beautiful! It may have been below freezing but with a ski jacket, beanie and mittens it's all okay.

LIFESTYLE // The Factory on Granville

Hello there lovelies!
I have found my new favourite place in Downtown Van and it is in the form of The Factory. Situated right in the middle of Granville, it offers plenty of good food with an even better price. I popped in over the weekend for a meal before a lot of us left for Christmas and I am definitely 100% going back!

STUDY // Semester 1 is over

Hello there!
Yes, I know it has been a little while since I have last posted. I have sat at my laptop thinking 'I want to blog but I have finals' and yes - finals happened and were a thing. I have half of my marks back and  they aren't too bad considering I had a grand total of about 4 days to prepare for a full semester's worth of work. I still cannot get over that. I know if I was given the three months I'd usually have to prepare for finals I'd ace them but instead I had three days so I am super impressed to get 84% overall for Materials (if anyone needs a materials chemist just look this way!)

Anyway, I thought I'd just do a post showing a timeline of my first semester here at UBC. It has been the craziest past three months and I cannot believe I am flying home for Christmas on Monday. It's going to be so nice to go home and see everyone and see my cat in her Santa suit and at all of the cheddar cheese in the world because Canadian cheese is bloody awful (#realtalks).

So here we go!

STUDY // Study Abroad: two weeks left

Hello my lovelies!
I cannot believe finals are upon us. This morning I had my first final and it feels so good to have finally finished a module. Sure, it was the hardest module of the lot and I am super, duper worried that I haven't even passed (seriously - it was that bad! We'll have to see what happens!), but it's nice to feel like I accomplished something. I have had nothing but trouble with it and I 100% didn't have the pre-requisites and no matter how much work I did I just couldn't get anything.

Pro-tip: if you are going abroad and are choosing modules make sure you know exactly what is being covered. The websites can often be quite vague and that definitely made things 77 times harder for me than it should have been.

Anyway, it has been a super hectic past few weeks due to it being my birthday and Liv's birthday. There have been more house parties than I can count. I have had assessments due in and spent all day in The Beanery working on ridiculous questions that I cannot do. I have managed to do my first presentation (and it went pretty well!) and to top it all off I have now come to the conclusion that I actually love it here and could not even think about going back home. It's crazy how just a few weeks can completely change how you feel.