The day our mums came to visit..

This weekend me and my two best friends were visited by our delightful mums. Despite our raging hangovers from the night before, and a cheeky tactical chunder outside the German market we had a great day. Even if at times it was like taking 3 kids out (our mums). 

The day began with no lie in, and instead all three of us woke up with a hangover.  After numerous moans we all made it out and met in city, and from there we headed towards the German Market. 

The German Market is a little festive cove full of christmassy gifts (some of it is tack), and lots of food. It doesn't take long to go around it all, but you definitely need to go there just to check it out. 

 From here we went and got some lunch. We had lovely table booked at The Crafthouse in the trinity centre which I would definitely recommend.  We all had a roast which helped cure our hangovers, while our mums also got rather merry on prosecco.  After sitting and chatting for god knows how long we decided it was time to move on.

The next destination was Primark to get the annual grim Christmas jumper that will probably only get worn once and will then end up in the back of my closet. In all honesty though Primark do have a pretty big selection, however they don't seem to have any smaller sizes in the ones that look vaguely nice. However we all found one, despite looking a bit baggy! 

The best place to shop or just walk around in Leeds is the arcades. I love the Victorian Quarter especially now its looking so festive. With that in my mind our last stop was here.

After a browse in the Victorian Quarter we started to head home, and once we had said our goodbyes they were gone, and we back to the reality of being a student.

This weekend has flown by but its been a good one; full of drunken antics with my favourite people, as well as a lovely day with our mums. 

Next week brings a Christmas ball and numerous Christmas lunches as the end of term draws near. 

The reality that in a couple of weeks I'll be going home is slightly depressing, but I'm looking forward to Christmas and seeing what the new year brings.

Have a good week, 

love 

the average brown eyed girl x

 

A festive home

Seeing as though many of this years christmas adverts have already been released, I thought it would only be appropriate to do a blog all about decorating your home at christmas. Every year people seem to put their decorations up earlier and earlier, so with that in mind I thought I would give you some inspiration on how you can make your house that little bit more festive this year. 

Decorating your home at christmas should not be a chore! 

It should be an exciting activity that  brings the whole family together. I don't know about you but in my family we have a specific routine that we do each year. Me and my dad often go and get the tree while my mums on her way home from work. This normally takes a lot longer than expected as my dads always moaning and worrying about where we're going to put it, and that its too big! 

Once the tree is in its prime position in our living room my dad normally gets the hoover out to clear up all the mess the tree has caused, during its pursuit from the car into the living room. This is then followed by an annual trip into the loft to get down all the boxes filled with decorations. 

While my dads faffing around clearing up, me and my mum begin the work on the christmas tree, as well as putting up all the christmas ornaments.  Eventually my dad will start putting the lights up around the house, to which every year he realises that some don't work anymore! Meanwhile Alfie (the dog) will have his head in a box no doubt chewing one of the ornaments that is meant to be going on the tree.  

You would have thought that seeing as though there is only four of us (I include the dog) it would be a lot less manic and way more calm, but how wrong can you be!

Below are a few items that I love and think are a must when decorating your home this christmas.  

 1. Candles are an essential at christmas time. They don't just provide a warmth atmosphere, but they make your house smell lovely, especially if you've got lots of guests over.  This candle holder is from Homebase. It gives off a  rustic, Scandinavian feel, that will work well in anyones home. A combination of 3 of these would work beautifully on top of the fire place.

2. Wreaths are one of the many christmas traditions that never grow old. Whether they appear on your front door, or as a table decoration, they still bring a festive feel in to your home. This wreath is from Zara and I have fallen in love with it. Its so simple and looks so elegant.

3. No matter what age you are advent calendars will bring you that little bit of happiness, as it gives you an excuse to have a piece of chocolate every morning. This contemporary calendar is from Zara. The little buckets for each day are unique and add an element of personalisation, to which you can decide what to put inside. 

 4. With the usual predictions that the coldest winter ever is on its way, and with the cliche image of christmas and snow. Theres no better way to spend an evening snuggled up on the sofa with a fur blanket,  the fire on, and a christmas movie on TV.
This fur blanket is from Zara.














These four christmas essentials will add a little warmth and character into your home this year.

Enjoy,
The Average Brown Eyed Girl x

A Weekend at home

For the first time in what seems like forever I went home for the weekend. It felt strange but rather nice to be reunited with my family, especially my dog!
My weekend consisted of:
1. A day out in London shopping with my dad....

So I took full advantage of being at home and headed straight for London to do a spot of shopping. I made a few purchases that I felt were of course necessities! These included the number 1 essential this season - the cape. Capes are everywhere this season so be sure to add them to your basket when you're doing some online shopping! This beauty though is from Zara. Zara always manages to  create effortlessly stunning products at a good quality and reasonable price.

 My next purchase was some new boots. So, boots can be expensive and I think every girl believes and knows that boots are an investment. Although their costly, with the amount you end up wearing them you definitely get your moneys worth.  However, I was browsing around Zara and spotted these little gems, tried them on and thought "love them", looked at the price and thought "love that". These boots cost me £20, a lil bargain one would say.

My third and final purchase included a trip to the lovely Harrods. This was  due to the majority of my make-up running out, which is extremely annoying and costly.  With this in mind I decided to spend some of my Harrods voucher on some new make up. This ended up with me losing my MAC Virginity.
My purchases included: The MAC Prep and Primer, the Pro Longwear Concealer, the Studio Fix Foundation and the Cheeky Bronze Mineralize Skinfinish.  So far I love the products and I have the lovely staff at MAC to thank for this.

All in all London was a success!

2. I attempted but failed at getting the new iPhone. Unfortunately the shop didn't have them in stock which was extremely inconvenient, so instead I shall have to wait till I'm next home, which will probably be Christmas.

3. Me and Ross went on a well earned lunch date to The Hermitage. I had king prawns and Ross has mussels, which went down a treat! A little glimpse of our food.....

The weekend also involved a load of alcohol, a farewell party for one of my friends who is leaving to go to Australia, and a much needed Sunday roast.
And after all that the weekend was over and Leeds was calling me back!

Enjoy! 

Love The Average Brown Eyed Girl x

Re-live but change nothing.

It's been one of them weekends that you want to look back on and re-live, but change nothing. Life in Leeds gets better everyday, and things are slowly beginning to workout to the point where I've finally,  (well almost) got into a routine. This weekend I was blessed with the presence of my parents. It's so nice when you haven't seen people in ages and you finally get to see them (face time doesn't count). Being away from home has also made me more appreciative of my parents.

My Saturday with my parents consisted of shopping, food, shopping, food. A few cheeky purchases were brought for me but nothing major. The best bit though was a late afternoon pit stop to recharge the batteries at Filmore and Union in the Victoria Quarter.

This is a place I've never been to before, but I will definitely be going back. Like most people I love a good bit of cake, and from the minute we arrived I was presented with a display of mouth-watering cakes.

The vast array of cakes made my choice even harder. After turning the waiter away numerous times I finally decided to go for a Raspberry and Polenta muffin.  My parents on the other hand went for a banana and pecan loaf, and a scone and jam. Unfortunately I couldn't resist and tucked straight in before realising I should have taken a picture, apologies. Even this photo doesn't do it justice, it was that good!

The deli itself is placed in the heart of the Victorian Quarter with a cosy, stylish and relaxing atmosphere. For those who feel the cold there was even blankets on offer to wrap yourself up in. Filmore and Union is not only a deli, but also a restaurant, offering fresh, seasonal and healthy food in a contemporary atmosphere. Their ethos is all about creating delicious recipes with clean and healthy produce. If the cakes are anything to go by then I'm sure I won't be disappointed with the food. 

For all those who love good quality, healthy food and cakes, be sure to check it out.

Love 

The Average Brown Eyed Girl x

The October Wishlist

The end of the month is drawing near and I'm currently sitting in my "palace" trying my hardest to block out the voice that I should be reading. Instead I'm browsing the web looking at clothes. As I am now a student I actually have to budget my money. This is one of them words my parents constantly used to go on about, but it happened to be one of them things I never really did. The reality has hit though, and I am starting to realise that my credit card doesn't contain an endless supply of money, and if I think it does I'm going to end up in serious debt.
So instead of showing you the hoards amount of stuff I've purchased this month, I shall be showing you 5 pieces that I never got, and I wish I had.

  1. Miss Selfridge J'adore Clutch Bag- £16

2. & Other Stores- Leather Ankle Boots £145

3. & Other Stories- Wool Scarf £45

4. Warehouse- Turtle Neck Side Split Jumper £38

5. Zara- Red Jumpsuit £59.99

TOP TIP: For all those short people out there (i.e me) a jumpsuit can help make your legs looks longer, so make sure you have one!

These key pieces mark this seasons trends. 

The Autumn-Winter 2014 trend is all about being a lady who wears red,  piling on the layers and wearing the ultimate polo neck. 

With winter on its way be sure to accessorise your items with a big knitted or maybe even cashmere scarf,  a fedora hat, and the one and only blanket cape. With all these elements you'll be sure to stay stylish and warm this Autumn-Winter. 

Love

The Brown Eyed Girl x

The Average Brown Eyed Girl is officially a university student

Its been 3 weeks since the nerve-racking day where I left behind my beloved dog, parents and friends to begin the journey as a Leeds University Student.  The car was full to the brim, to the point where I couldn't put my feet on the floor, and my head was squashed up against the window (no word of a lie).

Up until leaving for university I had been having the usual pre-uni anxieties; where you start to question do you even want to go! Even in my first few days I occasionally asked myself what am I doing here! but my parents repeatedly reminded me that "everyone will be feeling the same." You get the occasional person though, who somehow manages to make their "best friend" in the first few days, but they are in the minority.

It wasn't until recently though that I realised I do have quite a bit of spare time, and its very easy to spend a lot of it in bed claiming your "reading", when in reality your napping.
From my sheer boredom I decided to create a blog, and from that The Average Brown Eyed Girl was born.

A little glimpse into my palace...

Enjoy!

Love The Brown Eyed Girl x