Oops, Accidentally Went AWOL

Wow, it's been nearly a month since my last post, oops... I've been so busy that I haven't had any free time to post at all (total lie, I had a lot of naps :P). I have really missed posting things on here, and hopefully now I'll have more free time. Second year has suddenly gone up a notch and I'm up to my ears in coursework at the moment, but I finally have a plan and am working through it methodically.

Soooooo, what have I been up to since last I posted?
I've had two exams, one better than the other.
I've had my best friend from home visit twice (with a week gap between each visit).
I've started kayaking again after a short winter break (when it was just too cold to even think about getting in a river!)
I've had a tonne of coursework, and my first official all nighter since I started uni!
I've started pole dancing club, and my arms are killing me because of it.
And finally and most excitingly (and also what has been taking up most of my time) I've been accepted into the study abroad programme for Korea University next year! This involved a really long application process, a scary interview, incredibly happy acceptance email, and a 'pre-departure orientation day'. Now I just have to fill out a million bits of paperwork and wait for September!

I've also been really getting into natural skincare and eating and being healthy, so hopefully I should be posting some things about that soon :) Oh and I've bought things, many things, I'll have a collective haul shortly too ;)

Here's a picture of me when I was in Korea because I'm so very excited to go again!

Sunny xxxxx

Korea Giveaway!

I am so ridiculously excited to do this post! As you've probably guessed it's my Korea giveaway, which was originally supposed to be celebrating my reaching 100 followers, now I've gotten almost up to 140 > . < So I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who has been following and reading my blog! I still can't believe anyone would be interested enough to read it :P But apparently I'm wrong, and I'm very happy that I'm wrong ^ - ^

So now, onto the rather more exciting part : the prizes! These are all items I purchased during my stay in Korea.

Firstly, everything will come in this cute pink bag (because everything in Korea is OTT cute :P).

Inside there are...

Two sheet masks, one Red Ginseng, one Pearl, and a packet of Baking powder face wipes.

A Tony Moly Petite Bunny Gloss Bar (SO ADORABLE, the colour is 01, which is the same colour pink as the packaging, very sheer and light, more a lip balm than a gloss really).

Etude House Juicy Cocktail graduation nails set in purple, and silver butterfly nail stickers.

Missha Signature Glam Art Rouge Mini 5 colour lip palette, and an Etude House LuciDarling Fantastic Gradiation Eyes in #3 Caramel Sepia.

And finally a lotttttt of samples :P I've been drowning in all the free samples I've been given, so I'm being a little cheeky and giving some in the giveaway. But I thought that samples are a great way to try out new products so everybody wins! :P

To enter simply comment below telling me where your ideal holiday would be :) The winner will be chosen at random after the closing date.

Extra entries :
1 entry - follow me on twitter (leave your name)
2 entries - tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post (tell me you've done this)
3 entries - write a blog post about this giveaway linking back to this page (tell me you've done this)

Rules:
1) You must be a follower of my blog (new followers welcome).
2) You must leave a contact email address.
3) One comment per person.
4) If you are under 18 you MUST have your parents permission.
5) I am not responsible for your country's shipping and postal laws.
6) I will email the winner after they have been chosen, if they do not reply within 48 hours another winner will be selected.
7) If you don't follow these rules you won't be included in the giveaway.

This giveaway will end on the 30th April at midnight GMT.
This giveaway is international.

Good luck and thank you all so much! <3

Sunny xxxxx

Korea Diary 6 : Insadong and Home Again

It feels like forever and ever ago that I was last home (during the Christmas hols) but I'm finally back! My time in Korea flew by, and though I'm sad I couldn't have stayed any longer I am enjoying the feeling of being at home (having dinner made for me, fluffy animals everywhere and not having to pay to do my laundry :P).

On Sunday I had my last big spending day and bought quite a lot...I seriously need to curb my spending now I'm home :P Three of us went to Insadong which is a famous (very touristy :P) shopping street in Seoul. It is packed with traditional craft shops, gift stores and restaurants. When we went we saw a street performance with traditional Korean dancers (and some of the crowd joining in :P). If you want to go to Korea for a shopping holiday (or just fancy a nice day out) I really recommend checking out Insadong.

So...onto my slightly naughty buys...

I had to get this classic tourist 'I <3...' t-shirt, it's a bit big, so it'll probably turn into one of my many sleepy tees. The panda was just TOO CUTE to say no to :P I have issues with cute things...

Onto cleansers, I've heard good things about this Laneige cleanser (it was Bubzbeauty's favourite a while ago) so I thought I'd give it a go. I also bought this baking powder cleanser because it claims to be deep pore cleansing (and specialises in removing make up hence the 'BB' at the top). I'll do reviews on both of these once I've used them long enough :)

This Skin Food Rice Mask is another product recommended by Bubzbeauty (I generally get most of my Asian product knowledge from her and Miss Glamorazzi).

I bought sooo many nail polishes > . < From left to right : Skin Food (BL004), Innisfree (7 and 8), The Face Shop ( GR502, WH002, RD302 and BK901). These all have names, but they're in Korean > . <

I love the packaging for this Peripera tint. It's by the same artist who did 2NE1's Hate You music video (which I LOVE) Mari Kim. The tint is in shade 2 Pink Juice.

Finally I got this cute pink eyeshadow palette from Aritaum. I thought the colours were really cute for girly spring looks :)

So that's the last of my Korea hauls! The next day I popped on a 10 hour flight (urggggh), waited in Abu Dhabi for 3 hours, then got on a 7 hour flight back to England. I died several times > . < I also got bad baby karma from having such luck on my flight there (see Korea Diary 1 ). On the 7 hour flight this little kid screamed constantly... But I managed to fit in 5 films (War Horse : Crying like a madwoman on the plane, Breaking Dawn : Surprisingly enjoyable for a Twilight film, New Years Eve : Basically the exact same film as Valentine's Day but enjoyable nonetheless, The Iron Lady : Quite emotional and showing a softer side of Maggie T I hadn't imagined (still a Tory though...), and Sherlock Holmes 2 : So boring and such a disappointment after loving the first one).

Now I'm back home with EASTER EGGGSSSS :D (Green and Black's ftw). I have oh so many blog posts I need to write (including my giveaway!) but those will have to wait until I get back to uni :) I'm about to have an incredibly busy few days popping around the country visiting family and friends before going back to uni on Sunday, so blog posts will be on a hold for a few days (which feels like ages to me because I must admit I've become a little addicted to this blogging business!).

See you soon lovelies :) Enjoy the rest of the hols <3

Sunny xxxxx

- Naughty Tolly isn't allowed upstairs, but he has found a loophole by sitting on the staircase :P

Korea Diary 5 : Hwaseong Fortress, Seoul Zoo and Palaces

My legs are aching from a lot of walking over the past few days. I feel so lazy because I've become so tired from daily activities! I should not be this sleepy. I've also been eating atrociously for the past two weeks (expect a healthy eating fad once I'm home :P ) so that may account for some of the sluggish feelings.

Three days ago we headed over to Hwaseong Fortress to have a look and a walk. It's very large and has a VERY steep hill (which we only climbed half of :P). There were so many different parts and sections to it, we got lost a few times :P Also it was where the drama Daejanggum was filmed, I haven't seen it, but it's a pretty cool fact I think :P

View of the Fortress and city from the hill

Yesterday we went to the ZOO! I feel bad about getting more excited about a zoo than about cultural things...but zoos are full of fluffy animals! I also saw my first ever hippo, and my goodness those things are big! They terrified me, despite being behind a large iron fence and a ditch :P My favourite was the Fennec foxes though, I wanted to steal one!!!

Today was a long day. A really long day. We went to see two palaces, Changdeokgung in the morning and Gyeonghokgung in the afternoon. And these palaces are big. Big and spread out. But they are incredibly beautiful, I think I preferred the gardens and outdoor areas of Changdeokgung, and the buildings of Gyeonghokgung (although we didn't go into the Secret Garden as it was expensive and we didn't want to spend the money when the blossoms weren't out yet). Both of these palaces were so much fun to explore (despite lots of no entry signs meaning we had to go back).

Changdeokgung (and me :P)

Changdeokgung

Gyeonghokgung

Gyeonghokgung

Tomorrow is a full day of shopping (more money wasted > . <) and then on Monday I fly back to England! I can't believe my holiday is nearly up! It feels like just a couple of days since I arrived and now I have to leave again :(

(P.s. Spring is here!)

Sunny xxxxx

Korea Diary 4 : Lazy Day and Nail Stickers

Tomorrow my friend has a mini test, so she's revising today. Which means I have a lazy day to get some sleeps and some rests! We went to the Hwaseong Fortress yesterday, but I think I'll write about that in my next Korea Diary :P Because today all I want to do is show you my prettyful nails :)

I got these white flower nail stickers from Etude House, along with the baby pink nail polish. I've never worn nail stickers before, but I wanted to get into all the cuteness of Korea :P I definitely want to buy more though (maybe a little less cutesy :P). They're really adorable and I can't stop looking at my nails!

Just a mini post today, because I'm going to go buy a heap of chocolate now and start writing my report! (yay...).

Sunny xxxxx

Korea Diary 3 : Hello Kitty Cafe and Fishies!

Ahhh, walking around all day has killed my poor little feet > . < I've been going to bed so much earlier since I've been in Korea! It's all these activities (and an awful lot of shopping :P) making me tired and making me go to bed so much earlier! Last night I went to bed at 10...10! Being a normal late night living student that I am my usual bedtime is more around 5am :P I'm not sure if I like this change or not...:P

So yesterday was pouring it down, literally chucking buckets. We'd decided to go to the Hello Kitty cafe, but it was SO HARD TO FIND! After 2 1/2 hours of walking through the rain (my darling grey Zara pumps got soaked) we finally found it. If any of you guys are ever in Seoul looking for it ignore ALL the directions given on the internet. They all say 'get off at exit 5' for the train. They LIED, it's exit NINE!

The Hello Kitty Cafe was worth it though, it was brimming with cuteness, the only things on the menu were filled with sugar and fat :D Perfect for munching on after a long hard walk in the rain :P Everything was Hello Kitty themed, the chairs, the food, the tables (the emergency exit signs :P), even the bathrooms! I loved it :P A bit childish maybe, but it's my idea of heaven :P Hot pink heaven :P

We also visited Artbox, which may just be my favourite shop in the entire world! I got nearly all of my
friends pressies from there, and also got myself these goodies :D

As you can probably tell the cute clothes were my favourite part :P I got a tank top with tiny cats all over it and jammie shorts with elephants on them! I also got these three pairs of ankle socks for only 50p each! My favourite thing though was the adorable camera case with a grumpy looking cat on it. My old case was boring and bulky and plain, this one makes me so happy everytime I see it!

Today me and my friend visited the enormous COEX mall to go to the aquarium. I love aquariums (good really seeing as I'm studying marine biology :P), so I really wanted to go to this one. It was enormous, it just kept going and going and going. It had an amazing array of animals in brilliant unique tanks, (and some random animals like hedgehogs and fruitbats too for some reason :P).

Seahorses!

The most exciting part of the aquarium for me was the manatee tank, I've never seen a manatee in real life before and I've always been fascinated by them. It was so amazing to watch them swimming around their exhibit! It really makes me want to study them more > . < They looked like huge adorable cuddly toys!

There was also an underwater tunnel through the shark exhibit. I love sharks so much (they had about 4 different species in that tank) but the speakers were playing the Jaws theme through the tunnel. It was so creepy! The tunnel was also really long, and quite dark, so I'd just be walking along watching the fish when suddenly dun dun dun dun dun dun duh duh duhhh! :P A little bit of a tense atmosphere really :P

I had to have this fluffy turtle, I'm a sucker for cuddly toys in giftshops :P

On the way back from the aquarium to the train station we had to walk through the whole mall, and as I have no willpower at all I of course bought some things. I saw the Jimmy Choo perfume that I had wanted ever since I smelled a sample in a magazine agesss ago (you can read the post here ) and had to buy it :P Probably a little silly, but I thought whilst I was on a spending spree I may as well. I also got an adorable sample size version of the Swarovski Aura perfume, which is a really nice flowery fragrance.

Next we went to a Totoro shop. I squealed when I saw it. Literally stood there squealing in public... But it was a Totoro shop!!! Sadly everything was ridiculously expensive in there :( So I only bought two little things, I got a teeny weeny Totoro for myself and a little set of Totoro figures for my boyfriend (because he loves Totoro too, but isn't into cute cuddly toys like I am :P).

I totally accidentally went into another Artbox. That shop is just too incredible for words!! I want EVERYTHING. But I restrained myself (a bit :P) and only bought a few things. I got two pretty notebooks, because I'm always writing lists, or notes, or doodling so I run through notebooks at a ridiculous rate (and because they were too pretty to say no to :P). I also got a headband with sequined detailing because I've gotten really into hair accessories lately (I just need to master the cute hairstyles to go with them! :P).

Phew, no wonder I'm so tired out! Tomorrow we're going to go to the Hwaseong Fortress, which is quite near where I'm currently staying (near as in a bus journey not a train journey away :P). So we won't have any long journeys tomorrow. Just relaxed sightseeing and NO SHOPPING! :P I've seriously overspent so am trying to cool it for a few days :P We'll see how long that lasts... :P

Sunny xxxxx

p.s. I may have been eaten by a shark today...

Korea Diary 1 : Arriving and Shopping Haul

It feels like forever ago that I last posted, but it's only been a few days! As you can probably guess from the name of this post I have arrived safely in Korea :) Despite my deep deep hatred of long haul flights (I die of boredom and discomfort) the two flights (7 and 8 hours) weren't too bad. I actually managed to sleep for 6 hours during the last one! Although I did wake up with neck cramp due to my weird plane seat position. On the second flight there was a young toddler in front of me, I was about to give up on my sanity because in all my experience babies cry on planes, no exceptions, but this little toddler fell right to sleep for 8 hours and woke up just before landing. It was incredible!

Yesterday I had a lazy day (still being jet lagged) I met my friends friends and we went out for an evening meal and then some drinks (although the bar only had beer, which I hate > . <). So far the food in Korea has been SO YUMMY, I'm never entirely sure what I'm ordering, but it's always nice. Before I arrived I had awful visions of still squirming squid and unidentifiable deep sea fishes. But so far everything has been gorgeous *getting hungry whilst thinking of food*.

Today was meant to be a quiet shopping day/explore of the streets around my hotel. Instead it turned into a crazy shopping spree during which I spent nearly all of the money I exchanged at the airport and had to get more out... :S But at least I can justify it by remembering that I haven't shopped properly in months because I've been saving so I can go a bit crazy whilst I'm here :P

Be prepared for a rather long haul...

This bag is sooooo cute! I've been wanting a satchel for ages to carry my uni work in :)

My one true love, in necklace form, I adore the turquoise and gold combination.

I needed a new eyeshadow brush as mine are old and a bit skanky, and this Missha one was just to cute to say no to!

Sheet masks, 5 aloe vera, 5 green tea and one rice :)

Prettiest lipstick packaging ever.

Pretty packaging for a pretty coral!

Everything in the Skin Food shop was too pretty for words.

So very in love with these colours! I can hardly bear to use them and ruin them though!

I chose this after trying every single BB cream in Tony Moly, the salesgirl was following me round with loads of make up remover > . < I felt so bad!

Cupcakes and tea cups!

I've needed a good brow set for ages, and this one looked cute :)

Ah! I can't believe how much stuff I bought! Everything is so cheap over here, but it all adds up in the end :P I also bought some of my friends some presents and I've started gathering a few things for my Korea giveaway ;) But I'm going to keep those a surprise for now.

(Also, I have SO MANY free samples now, I think I'll throw some in as an extra for the giveaway, because I have gazillions!)



Tomorrow the official touristy sight seeing part of my holiday starts, we'll start off with Hwaseong Fortress tomorrow, which I will take lots of pictures of :D But don't worry, the shopping part has not ended yet! Next week we're heading to Seoul for the markets and hopefully some new clothes (and in the meantime I'll be adding to the giveaway :P ).

Sunny xxxxx