Mother's Day

Mummy

Happy Mother's day to my mum/best friend/rock/advisor/taxi driver/cleaner/chef/reminder.

Thank you for encouraging me to be who I want to be, do what I want to do, go where I want to go.

 You have never held me back and have supported whatever decisions I make. 

You tell me that you should have listened to your mum's advice, because in the end she was always right - as are you.

You know me better than anybody else and have done more for me than anyone else could.

Sorry for scarring you for life!

Love you.

Mentioning only my mum would have taken less time, but there are more women - who are mothers themselves - that have inspired me, influenced my decisions and had a huge impact on my life.

Nanna

Knowing you for only 2 and half years of my life could make me sad, but I'm extremely grateful that I had at least that time with you.

Hearing stories about you is one of my favourite things; I realise how alike we are and how much we would have enjoyed each other's company as I got older. Yet I feel like I do know you like I would if you were here now: Putting salt in your brother-in-law's tea instead of sugar/dunking him under water/carrying my mum by her legs into the sea - it's clear where I get the whole laughing at other people's expense thing from, along with my dry sense of humour.

Yet you had your sensitive side. I know you were a great wife to my grandad (and I quote, his "head gardener"), mother, nanna, foster mother and dog carer.

Hearing your voice and watching you on family videos is something I could never get bored of.

You will always be a part of my life, and mean as much to me as everyone that is still around now does. You're with me everywhere I go.

Love you.

Nanna Barbara

You are one of the bravest, kindest, funniest women I have ever come across.

Not many women would move from Greece to England, or any country for that matter, alone.

Your short-term memory might be lacking these days, but hearing you tell stories from years and years ago like they were last week fills me with so much happiness. 

I love the fact that you moved to England over 60 years ago yet you sound like you moved here yesterday. Especially since you make up words (just a few examples):

The Pickles = The Beatles

Knackers = Knackered

Forest putt one = Forest scored a goal

Blummy thing = Bloody thing

Motorbike = Wheelchair

The thing I regret the most in life is not being interested when you tried to teach me Greek. I would love to be able to have a conversation in your native language now.

And to anyone that has seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding: it's funny because it's true. You can't go round to a Greek woman's household and not be offered a stupid amount of food - I actually feel bad when I say no!

Thank you for being completely selfless and being a great mammy to my dad.

Love you.

Auntie Jackie

I wanted to thank you for being around so much when I was a child.

Your house was pretty much my second home - I slept over, my friends came round, I had a rabbit at your house etc.

Spending time with you was, and still is, always entertaining - for example, me doing your hair... Can't really believe you let me do that over and over again. I can actually hear you now saying 'wowww' as you looked in the mirror, obviously dead impressed with my styling techniques (essentially just tying bobbles round and putting clips in, until your head was covered).

Just for the record, your children aren't coming anywhere near my hair.

It's weird to think Aimee is now the age I was when she was born! But I had to pass the 'witch' title onto someone, and she's doing a damn good job.

I would love to spend more time with you and the girls over Summer. So if you ever need a break, I'll happily babysit (if I can keep the witches in separate rooms).

Also, thanks for my dog.

Love you.

xxx

Bear With Me

You may have noticed there has been an extreme lack of blog postage in the past two months (it's more probable that you haven't realised or don't care) - but here's my excuse:

In a previous post I mentioned that I hadn't been sleeping well, which I put down to a mental disorder. I'd love to tell you that this isn't an issue any longer but it is quite the opposite - lying in bed with the annoyance of pounding and aching in your forehead and cheeks is far from the relaxing state of sleep.

This has been ongoing and pretty much continuous for two months now, so one day I decided enough was enough. After calling 111, I was told that I needed to see a doctor within 24 hours or sooner. Five hours later I received a call to tell me I had an appointment at the hospital at 10:30pm. 

As if a further hour in the hospital waiting room wasn't frustrating enough, the supposed 'doctor' informed me she wasn't a doctor at all, and wasn't allowed to diagnose anything. My blood pressure and temperature were checked, along with her prodding at my face to check my sinuses.

"Does this feel uncomfortable at all?"

Obviously. You're poking me in the face.

So all this lady told me to do was to book an appointment with my GP on Monday.

Mate, did I really need to come to the hospital at 10:30pm for you to tell me to phone my doctor?

I was told that I need to see a doctor within 24 hours, so I get an appointment with someone who isn't a doctor?

Good one.

All-in-all that was a massive waste of my time, except non-doctor-lady suspected that I have chronic sinusitis and will probably have to have a CT scan on my head.

Woo.

For now blog posts wont be as frequent as usual (not that they were anyway), as my days currently consist of me lying in a dark room wanting to rip my face off. 

Hope you're all well anyway!

Cya 

xxx 

Waist Training - Month 1

Alright lads!

This is me jumping on the waist training band-wagon.

There have been various negative comments about what essentially is a corset, such as: 

'They don't work'

They clearly do. Waist training has been practiced for hundreds of years and gradually reduces the size of your waist (corsets were a staple of the Victorian era). Not only do waist trainers instantly re-shape your figure and enhance the hour-glass shape - whilst it is on obviously - the compression also encourages you to eat smaller meals as you tend to feel full up quicker. Personally, I have found that wearing my waist cincher for 8-10 hours a day has already improved my posture too - I have a really arched back but have noticed the waist cincher has helped to lessen this arch and therefore has straightened my back a little.

But obviously waist training will be most effective when practiced with dedication, alongside healthy eating and exercise.

'They damage your organs'

Organs can move around the body over time in order to gradually adapt to different situations - for example organs are more squashed during pregnancy, it is not unnatural.

In terms of the lungs and breathing, waist trainers are fine for normal breathing. However, I personally do not wear my waist trainer when exercising or when doing anything that requires deep or heavy breathing (keep your minds clean). 

'You don't need to wear one'

I am happy with how my body looks from the side, but felt that from the front I looked a tad wider and wanted my waist to be cinched in a little. So back off.

However, there have also been a lot of positive comments and questions:

  

What make?
The waist trainer I own is by Ann Michell.

Where from?

I bought mine from eBay (specific seller and item linked).

How much?

It was £25.42/$38.99 not including postage and packaging and £43.49/$63.74 including. If you do not live in America then you will probably also have to pay a customs charge before you can pick your package up (I paid £13.01).

How often?
I wear mine everyday for 8-10 hours and have already noticed a difference. I could probably wear it on the second hooks already but I don't want to rush anything and want to waist train in a safe manner. 

Would I recommend?
Yes! Wearing this underneath my clothes gives me the confidence to wear bodycon skirts and dresses; it creates the hourglass silhouette I wanted. The fat that was on my waist appears to be moved to my hips, I wouldn't mind this but I can't do my jeans up when wearing the waist trainer! So I've been making sure to up the cardio workouts.

I'll probably update you on how this is all going once a month, or whenever I remember!

Charlotte 

x

My 20th Birthday!

This weekend I 'celebrated' my 20th birthday. I say 'celebrated' because I didn't want to be 20 and still don't want to be 20. I still look and feel about 15!

The first 'birthday surprise' I received was after pottering through the door when getting back to Canterbury, after the Christmas holidays. The photo says it all.

Saturday 24th January 2015

My dad and his girlfriend (Lorraine) came to visit me at uni in Canterbury and stayed over Saturday night. But they were late picking me up and I ended up being zipped into a suitcase, being dragged down the corridor, took a trip down in the lift and a lovely ride in the boot of a car. My flatmates are lovely, lovely people.

When I escaped the suitcase and my dad turned up, we obviously started as we meant to go on, by heading straight to the pub. We ate at a lovely Italian restaurant called 'Pinocchio's', and then headed to a bar called 'The Loft'. Wouldn't recommend going to a bar full of students with your dad; a guy sat down next to me and started hitting on me. The random guy was in one of my ears asking for my number, and my dad was in the other, telling me to inform said random guy that he's a black belt in Judo. If you didn't guess, random guy was not successful. 

Sunday 25th January 2015 

The following day, we surprisingly started off in the pub. Had some good pub grub and browsed in a couple of shops. Whilst we were getting ready, walking round, eating and drinking, my mum and her boyfriend (Matt) were driving down to Canterbury. I met these two after having lunch and then said bye to my dad and Lorraine as they were leaving that afternoon. We then drove back to my uni campus as my mum had brought me a load of clothes etc. down from home, along with my gorgeoussss birthday cake and 11 portions of chilli and rice...

We then took a wander down the high street, went to a few pubs and had a meal at a Mexican place. I tried drinking but it really wasn't working out for me - I was knackered and just wanted a cup of tea. What a bore. 

Somehow though, I managed to make it to midnight and was greeted by Daisy and Anna serenading me and delivering my presents.

Monday 26th January 2015

My 20th Birthday

Mother turned up at about 11am to force me to wake up and open cards and presents. Anna (my flatmate) then made me breakfast - as usual - whilst my mum and Matt went to pick my brother up from the train station. Weirdly, we decided to drive to the beach. In January. Mum's bright idea, not mine. So we ended up in Margate, so Ange could eat fish and chips - which then ended up being thrown to the seagulls. I hate birds as it is, never mind a crap tonne of the bellends swarming me.

After being attacked by birds, we took a walk down the beach where my mum and Matt looked for shells - he also found and chucked a crab at us. Plus, Jack and I got our own back on the birds - we ran through and chased a load of stationary seagulls, like the mature adults that we are.

Like true British seaside tradition, we then made use of the arcades and 2p machines. Along with a shooting game, which Jack won and a game of air hockey, which Jack also won. Jammy git.

We then drove back to Canterbury so the fam and flat could sing Happy Birthday to me and more importantly, so we could eat the amazing cake that my mum baked. Cheers Mav!

I then said bye to Mother, Matt and Jack so I could start getting ready for my birthday night out with the flat. Long story short, prinks happened, we went to 'The Cuban' and then went home - which is where the funny stories mainly happened. 

Story 1: 

Our friend Dominic was extremely drunk and proceeded to tell us everything that happened in every Harry Potter film - well he called them episodes - after somehow associating Daisy's plain black bag with the Gryffindor house badge. He also reviewed and expressed his opinion on every character going. Just to let you know... 'there's nothing wrong with Dumbledore, he's sick', his Filtch impression sounded more like an Indian accent and Voldemort 'walked up to Harry Potter's house and was like "you know what yeah? I don't like your son" and killed Harry Potter's mum for no fucking reason whatsoever'. So that's story number 1.

Story 2: 

After he was finished narrating and reviewing Harry Potter, Dominic disappeared. He then came back around 10 minutes later and told us he went to the toilet. Only, he decided to use Anna's toilet. Anna, by the way, was asleep as she didn't come out, and was woken by Dominic bursting through the door and turning on her light. After, ordering him to get out, he apologised and shut the door. Anna thought he had left, until she heard him pissing in her toilet. Eventually he returned back to the kitchen, after leaving Anna's light on, pissing all over her floor and using her dental floss.

Absolute leg end.

If you actually read all that - props to you. I'd have just browsed through the photos.

Thank you to everyone who came to see me, gave me gifts and wished me a happy birthday. It was actually a great day. Even if I am old now.

Ciao 

x

Eyebrow Routine

'Ello

After getting compliments and comments on my eyebrows, I thought I'd put up a step-by-step post. So this is exactly how I groom and fill in my eyebrows. 

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for the shite quality of the photos. Being a student, I can't afford a snazzy camera so just pretend they're really high quality. 

Step 1:

This is how my eyebrows look before I touch them. I tend to deal with them after I've completed my 'base' makeup (foundation, concealer, power etc.) but before I do my eye makeup - aside from a little eyeliner. 

The lovely Imogen Brown shapes (waxes) and tints my eyebrows (click her name to check her facebook page out) roughly every 4 weeks when I'm back from uni.

Step 2:

I got this spoolie/angled brush with a random set, probably a brow set. I thought about buying a decent one but I like it being short - as I have a lot of control over it. 

Every month or so - or whenever I notice my brows getting out of hand - I groom them by trimming them. I have really thick, dark hair so my brows tend to get long and straggly, if that's a word...

Anyway, I brush the whole eyebrow upwards with a spoolie so I can see which wanderers need to be tamed. 

Step 3:

 With a pair of nail scissors (because I'm a tramp) I cut along the top line of my brow. You can use any scissors you want, but obviously I'd advise a pair of small ones. 

This is what they look like after I've trimmed them both.

Step 4: 

Luckily because I have really dark hair, I can get away with using just any black eyeshadow to fill my brows in. Most people will have lighter hair than myself so just try a few colours out until you find a good match for you.

Using an angled brush, I start filling my brows in from the arch, so around the middle of the brow - because this is where you want the darkest colour. I draw an outline over the top of the brow to shape them and then do the same with the bottom. So, you should have two lines that create the outline of the arch.

Step 5:

Next, I fill in the space between the outline. So, half of the brow is filled in.

Step 6:

DO NOT ADD MORE EYESHADOW TO YOUR BRUSH.

I like my brows to be lighter towards the start of them - so nearer the nose. So, without adding more eyeshadow (there will still be enough on the brush), draw a faint line along the bottom half of the brow that you haven't filled in.

Step 7:

Then, with upward strokes (still not adding more eyeshadow), fill in the rest of the brow. I start from the point nearer the arch then work in towards the start of the brow so they continue to get lighter. 

Step 8:

Finally, to make them look a tad more 'square' I just press the brush vertically against my skin at the point where I want my brow to end - or start, whatever. But do not add more eyeshadow to the brush, or you'll have a stupid-looking dark line at the start of your brow. 

I then obviously do the same to the other brow. 

Here's what they look like finished.

Try it out and send me some photos via twitter or instagram with #charlottesbrows in the description. 

Twitter - @charl0ttehoward

Instagram - @charlottehoward

Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions!

x

New Year - Jan 2015

2015

Year of the green wooden sheep/goat.

Whatever that means. 

Being honest, I'm not one to make new year resolutions; they're never fulfilled and you can set goals at any time of the year. So the answer is 'no'. I don't have any.

What I do want from this year however is to be happier than the last. Last year was a bit up and down for me; this year seems appropriate to promise myself to create my own happiness, rather than relying on someone else to make me happy. 

Instead of creating goals for myself that I definitely wont keep, I thought a better idea would be to think about positive events I have to anticipate in 2015.

Here's what I came up with:

1. My 20th birthday on 26th Jan.

2. Being reunited with my Flat18 bellends at the end of Jan.

3. Finishing 2nd year of uni, hopefully with at least a 2:1.

4. Summer - no stress of exams or coursework; actually having time to work to save money; fingers crossed travelling somewhere to get my tan on.

5. Starting my 3rd and final year of university. Hopefully at the same place this time. 

6. Moving into a house with my top two bitches in Canterbury - more of Anna's delish cooking.

7. Thinking about what I'm doing with my life after uni: Where the shit am I going to live? Do I get a job or apply for a masters course???

8. Not being fully skint from spending all my dolla on student accommodation. 

9. Driving more often when I'm back home in Nottingham.

10. Obviously, coming home for Christmas again. 

Wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2015. All t' best.

x

New Year's Eve 2014

HELLO 2015,
and erm you...

Here's a late NYE post for your eyes to enjoy. 

New Year's Eve is always expected to be a big night, yet always ends up being shite. Spending last New Year's Eve behind a bar wasn't one of my favourite things to do, so I promised myself I wouldn't work this time around; this time I would be at the better side of the bar. 

All of my lot from school decided we would do the Sawley shuffle again, like we did on Christmas Eve. Pretty self-explanatory really but for those of you who are a bit dim - we basically shuffle/stumble round the pubs of Sawley. 

But since we're students and we like to skimp and save however we can, it was only appropriate to drink a bottle of Pimm's and a bottle of wine before we stepped foot in a pub. 

Downing a load of alcohol to old school tunes

('Dancing in the Dark' by DJ Cammy

and a shit load of Neyo, Mario and R. Kelly):

Apparently we required a family photo:

Pub #1

This is Mark.

I have no idea who Mark is.

Mark took a liking to me and followed me round.

I spent a lot of the night hiding:

Actually really enjoyed this New Year's Eve! Got to spend it with all my school friends and my best friend of 16 years, or something ridic, was my midnight kiss.

Hope you all had a smile on your faces entering 2015!

x