John Lewis Clearance Haul Summer 2014

At the end of July, I had a quick look on JohnLewis.com at the stuff they had in Clearance. I ended up finding a good bargain quite quickly – a £39 swimming costume for £11.90! I clicked on it and found that they only had a few left but my size was one of them! I thought this was a good omen so continued to look around the website and found 5 items in total that I thought were great bargains but even better clothes.

Thought of the Week

I am a very thoughtful person in my day-to-day life and recently I have been thinking about my future and what I wish to accomplish with my life.

My family say that they are always proud of me, regardless of what I do. While I don't disagree with this, I can't say that I am proud of where I am. I have got Project Confidence to work on my confidence and making sure that I am proud of who I am but I can't say that I have anything to work on my life accomplishments. Sure, I have some little accomplishments. I donated blood a few weeks ago without actually passing out (which is an accomplishment for me!). I have written a few novels in my lifetime, which I hope to one day get published (finger's crossed!). And, of course, I am completely self-sufficient, having moved out with my boyfriend 5 months ago and having learnt to cook, clean and do laundry.

But is that enough?

For me, the answer is no.

Body Shop/Boots Haul 22/8/2014

For the past few weeks, I have been seeing The Body Shop's Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter online quite a lot. Since my makeup-remover is quickly running out, I figured I would try some of this cleansing butter. It has probably been over a year since I last went to the Body Shop but I find that whenever I do, I always spend a lot...

1. The Body Shop Sensual Massage Oil - £10
2. Quick Fix Brightening Peel Mask from Boots - £4.99
3. The Body Shop Silky Cleansing Oil - £10
4. The Body Shop Vitamin E Cream Cleanser - £8.50
5. The Body Shop Monoi Miracle Oil - £10
6. The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter for all skin types - £12

So far I have only used the Massage Oil and Monoi Miracle Oil but I am impressed by both. While they're not the cheapest items, they were on a Buy One Get One Half Price offer and since they're oils, I know they will last a long time. Even though it's not been a week since I left the Body Shop, I've already got my eye on some more items I want to buy ASAP...

Peace, love and happiness

- Taisie ♥

Frying pans, who knew, right?

Book Review: A Clash of Kings

Entertainment: 9/10

Predictability: 2/10

Density/weight of story: 10/10

Quality of writing: 7/10

Inspires reader: 4/10

Characters: 9/10

Overall rating: 8/10

I started reading A Game of Thrones when the fourth season aired on TV. My boyfriend had started watching the series when it first aired in 2011 and when the fourth season aired, he pestered me to watch the show with him. I declined, stating that I would rather read the books first so I purchased the first few books and began my (incredibly long!) Game of Thrones journey.

Usually I can read a 300 page book in 1 day if I sit down to it, but that usually extends to about 3 or 4 days if I am busy with work or family life. A Game of Thrones took me 19 days to read which, considering its 819 pages are packed full of character development, description and plot, I didn’t think was a bad time scale.

However, a Clash of Kings was a very different story. It took me 70 days to read. 70. Over 2 months. It took a lot longer than I would have liked but alas, I finished it and here are my two cents on the book.

Project Confidence: Why I Need It

First of all, I cannot believe that my first Project Confidence post was 3 weeks ago! I honestly have no idea where all of that time as disappeared to, it's a bit scary actually.

That being said, today I was struck with a pretty hefty job that made me wish I had started Project Confidence months ago. A few weeks ago, my boss arranged for me to be in today's management meeting to discuss something I have been working on recently. I had completely forgotten about it until he reminded me a few hours beforehand. Since I knew what I was going to be discussing fairly well, I decided not to practise, instead deciding I would 'wing it'. Ultimately, if someone asks you to speak about something you have created then you usually feel confident to do so, which is how I was feeling before the meeting.

My heart stuttered slightly when I set foot in the meeting room and I saw that instead of there being five managers (which is how many I had been led to believe would be attending), I was greeted by 9 managers. I was a little taken aback at first but as the meeting began, I relaxed and found that I wasn't actually nervous. After all, I was just sitting with people.

And then the coordinator passed the meeting over to me.

Robin Williams Didn't Die of Suicide

With the news of Robin Williams’ death circulating around social media platforms, I felt compelled to write an article about my views on his passing.

So many people on my newsfeed specified that he committed or died of suicide and to each and every one of them I want to write “he died of DEPRESSION”.

If an individual with lung cancer suffers a fatality from an infected collapsed lung, people say he or she died of cancer. At most, they specify that it is lung cancer, but hardly ever an infected collapsed lung. People who die from cancer almost never die from the cancer symptoms, such as stroke or seizure. So why have people been specifying that Robin Williams has died of suicide?

One of the last photos taken of Robin Williams, posted to his Instagram page on 22nd July, 1 day after his 63rd Birthday

Passing Out While Sitting Down... Who Knew?!

A few weeks ago, I looked on the NHS website and found the next available date to give blood, which I promptly put in the calendar on my phone. For some reason, the alarm didn't go off to remind me when the day rolled around and I missed it. The next available Donor Day I couldn't make as I was at work and so I put the third available Donor Day in my calendar: today. I noticed the event early this morning and thus had it in my mind all day that I was going to give blood, as it is something that has been on my bucket list for some time. But why?

When I told my grandparents and my mum, they all asked me why I wanted to, as did my boyfriend when I said I'd meet him after work and he could accompany me. Honestly, I couldn't think of an answer. Because I want to. My motivations are completely selfish if you ask me: I did it to feel good about myself, to know that I could have possibly helped save someone's life. But whether they are selfish or not, it is a good deed. And this is how my ordeal went.

Best Present Ever!

A few months ago (if not a year ago now) I let my friend read one of the books I have written. As a result, he bought me a present: a Segway experience. Due to a series of reasons, I was unable to use the experience before it expired so a couple of days ago my incredibly sweet friend replaced it for me with something else. I hadn't been expecting anything from him as it was primarily my fault for not using the experience before it expired but I was so incredibly excited to receive the new present from him as it is completely fitting for my personality.

Project Confidence: Being a Lady in a "Man's" Job

I don’t know what I would class myself as; I wouldn’t say I’m a feminine girl but I also wouldn’t say I’m a tomboy. I’m not gawky but then I’m not dainty. I’m not refined but I’m not impolite. I am ME. And at the moment, I’m not OK with that.

As part of Project Confidence, I have been thinking a lot lately about who I am and who I want to be. While I have a rough idea of some of the characteristics that I want to display and some of the characteristics that I possess but want to abolish, I don’t have a clear idea in my head about who I want to be: I think that may come later as I learn more about myself. That being said, I definitely want to express my feminine side. However I face one major problem:

MY JOB.