New Room- Part 2

Over the past couple of week i've been working on a little project to re-style my room. As you are all aware from my previous blog my inspiration for the design was chalet meets the contemporary minamilist style. After a trip to Ikea, and the purchase of a variety of other products from various  stores, I am slowly getting there. 

So far.. 

1) IKEA

2) IKEA

3) HOMEBASE

4) HOMEBASE

5) ZARA

6) IKEA

I'm so happy with what i've brought so far. Together they all look really good, and my rooms slowly starting to look like how I pictured it would.   

What's next?  I've still got a way to go until I'm completely finished and happy with it. However like my dad keeps on telling me "you can't design a room overnight, it takes time to develop" (wise words). 

The other bits I need to get:

-Curtains

-Decorative pillows for my bed

-A variety of different size posters to go up on my wall in frames

-Desk chair 

-Fur stool

-Bedside lamp

-Desk Accessories 

- and anything else that grabs my eye! 

Hopefully I can get some more bits this week as I am back to uni on saturday. I can't wait to come back at Easter and finish the final bits off that need doing. I've thoroughly enjoyed this project and I can't wait to show you it all once its all done. 

Enjoy! 

The average brown eyed girl x

A Green Morning

After eating way to much over christmas its time to get back into healthy eating. This year it seems to be all be about the Juices. Every magazine i've been reading has featured an array of different styles of juices/smoothies that you can try at home. With that in mind i decided to try it out for myself.

I went out and bought a smoothie/juice maker. The one i purchased was called: Breville blend active. Its easy, simple and cheap (£20 from Currys).

It is also designed so that you can easily take your juices to the gym, for a run, or just outdoors. The bottles are versatile you can even just use them to put water in if you want. Its also so easy to clean, so there is no chance of you spending hours trying to get all the juice out. Overall I would definitely recommend it.

The first juice that I decided to try was the well known green smoothie. It's full of nutrients and is a great healthy alternative in the morning.

Ingredients:
1  green apple- I peeled the skin off which i found made the consistency less thick
1 lime- roll it before squeezing it, as this will enable you to get most of the juice out
Handful of spinach
Mint - a small bunch of leaves
Small cucumber- I cut off the skin on this too
Small segment of diced Ginger
I also put around 150ml of cold water in, in order to make it more of a juice than a smoothie. However if you have a juicer then there is no need for this.

If you want to make it a bit sweeter you could put in some
-kiwi
-pineapple
-banana
but it's up to you!

Once they are all in the juicer, blend away! If the consistency is too thick for you and you've blended it enough, you can just strain it using a strainer but this will take some of the nutrients out. But it's up to you!

The end result is a green looking juice. Believe me it tastes better than it looks. They are easy and simple to make, but it is a bit of trial and error in finding your perfect recipe.

Enjoy!
love
the average brown eyed girl
x

New year, New room.

January is a month that can only be described as bleak, dull and downright depressing. With that in mind, I thought I would set my mind on a little project which involves doing up my room at home. I am fully aware that i will be back to uni in 2-3 weeks and you'll probably all be thinking whats the point.

However when I came home for Christmas my room didn't feel like it used to, and quite frankly I didn't really like it anymore.  So I thought why not take the opportunity and it give it a new years refurbishment/re-style, whatever you want to call it. I have such long holidays at uni anyway, so in my opinion its so worth it.

I have a love for the rustic chalet style look. I think it can look so effortlessly stylish especially with the combination of old wood and more contemporary furniture. With that in mind I've decided to try and convey that style into my own room. 

The inspiration....

The real dream, that will remain a dream...

With ideas buzzing around in my mind i can wait to start buying pieces and sharing this mini project with you all.

Keep tuned in,

love 

the average brown eyed girl. 

Happy New Year!

2014 has been a good year. I'm sure like everyone its had its ups and downs, but either way I hope everyone came into 2015 either thoroughly intoxicated or just downright happy! 

The start of the new year is always highly predictable,

1. New years resolutions are often made but never stuck with

2. Diet plans are put into force to burn off the mountains of food that was consumed over christmas 

3. ...and finally the sales start where you find all the gifts you brought for people at half the price, alongside an extreme dent in your bank account.

However instead of drowning in the January blues, I thought I would just reminisce and share little snippets of my christmas with you. 

1. Just before all the christmas events started it was my dads birthday so we had a day out in London. It included a tapas lunch at Polpo, a spot of shopping, afternoon tea and an evening watching the Jersey Boys.

2. Christmas Eve consisted of cocktails with the girls. 

3. Christmas day. The day consisted of opening presents, eating way to much food and playing games with all the family. 

and even Alf got into the christmas spirit.....

4. Boxing Day included more eating and the annual dog walk across the hills. 

5. Finally after all the christmas shinanigans were over the final event of 2014 was upon us and we entered the new year in style. 

I can safely say its been a good christmas, and with the new year upon us its time i hit the gym and got back to eating healthy. Christmas has definitely taken its toll on me! 

Love

the average brown eyed girl x

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