resolutions.

as it is new year's eve, i decided to share the few resolutions i have decided to challenge myself to complete in 2013.

love what i have. there is no denying that as soon as payday rolls around, the things i 'need' come to my mind within minutes. over the past few years, i have acquired quite of lot of things that have been used once and then put in a corner or at the back of the cupboard. books, perfumes, films, you name it. i've seen a project called 'love what you have' floating around and i thought it would be a perfect resolution.

read 20 new books. and by 'new' i mean new to me. as i mentioned in my last resolution, i have so many books sat on the shelf that haven't been picked up. i'm not going to force myself to read the whole  book if i don't like it, but after every couple of books, i will do a overview and let you know some brief thoughts and my favourite of the bunch. i used to go through books like it was going out of fashion until i took english lit for a level and it really sucked the life out of reading for me. i want to fall in love with it again.

use only film for a month. i've had my konica for a few months now. i've had my instax for a few years, and in that time, they've never been my first selection. i go for the easiest, fastest method and like it. but not knowing what you've captured until you've used a roll of film and waited for it to develop is so exciting and rewarding. and there's something you get with using film that you just can't replicate with digital.

blog for a whole year. i've only been at this for a few months, but i love it. i love being creative and thinking about my life and not only sharing it, but being able to have somewhere to store the good stuff so when i'm old and grey, i can come back to therosyfreckle and read all the things i did as a young adult. seeing people enjoy the things you put out is also pretty awesome.

give. i'm definitely not an attention seeker. i like attention to be on everyone apart from me. i like doing things for others, being selfless and making people happy. my mum pointed out recently that the majority of the things on my bucket list were about helping people and making people happy. i hadn't even realised nor done it intentionally, i just automatically think of other people before myself. in 2013 i really want to help in a soup kitchen, maybe give up my christmas day to serve the homeless a christmas meal. i also want to help an old person to carry their shopping home and buy a homeless person a meal - not mcdonalds or something cheap and crappy, but an actual meal.

meet new people and learn things about them. a lot of the time, i find myself alone, cutting myself off from people. maybe that's the reason i'm not great at keeping friends. i assume they don't need to talk to me everyday or that they care about what's going on inside my head - not in a nasty way, i just don't think i'm important enough. but i really need to stop being so reclusive and actually talk to people and make conversation. i hate small talk when meeting new people, i like learning about other people and listening and helping, so when i meet new people in 2013, i want to learn things about them, from their favourite colour to their worst fear, or their starbucks order or what their handwriting looks like.

let go and be me. as i said before, i don't think i'm important to people, and as i've got older, i've stopped telling people things. not because i don't trust them, but because i don't think it's important. my mind is constantly racing with a million thoughts and i know that 99% of them are worthless, but it's figuring out the 1% that is. i also said that i'm not great at keeping friends. i know it's a problem of mine, and it can upset me when i think about it too much, but i want to learn to let go of little things. the million thoughts racing around my mind, i want to come to terms with the fact that every second is passing by and what's in the past is in the past, i am changing and the world is changing and i want 2013 to be the year that i let go of things that sometimes drag me down and start being myself. and maybe that doesn't mean blurting out every thought i have - scratch that, it definitely doesn't - but maybe it means writing them down, or telling someone something that is on my mind. i can't be anyone more that i can be me, and i will learn to be the best at it.

put it in a jar. i want to get a jar and keep it in my room. i want to collect a jar of memories from 2013 and read them out on january 1st 2014. no matter how big or small, i will scribble it down and put it in my jar and get to remember the small things that made me happy that would normally be forgotten.

what are your new years resolutions? have a great new year's eve, everyone! 

♡ 

testing.. testing.

you can now follow therosyfreckle on bloglovin'! i've decided to link my blog up with bloglovin as it's what i use to make sure i don't miss a post from my favourite blogs. it's so much easier to keep track of the blogs that are using different hosts and i really just find it so much easier. so i'm giving you the option to follow my blog on bloglovin if you're not really the gfc/rss kinda person!

happy new year's eve! i'll be sharing my resolutions later on today.

♡ 

p.s i am loving the bamboo paper app on my dad's phone, i'd love to be able to create my own font or something, just because i think it'd be a really personal touch, but hey ho, i can dream!

the lion king.

last night i went to see the lion king in manchester. i knew it was supposed to be amazing but was never overly interested in seeing it. but when it came to manchester, we booked tickets - it's here til april, apparently - and i decided to bring along my friend, beth, as it was her birthday on christmas eve.

it is honestly without a doubt the most beautiful musical i have ever seen. first off, the costumes and puppetry is outstanding - my personal favourites were the hyenas, giraffes, elephants and little simba and nala. and the thing that made me absolutely fall in love with it was the lighting. the colours were breathtaking and really made it. i couldn't stop looking at the backdrop - the blues and oranges couldn't have been more perfect.

i would seriously recommend going to see it if you can. i believe it's in manchester until april and is touring around the country. (please correct me if i'm wrong)

what's your favourite play/musical, do you go to the theatre often?

♡ 

p.s i know you're not supposed to take photographs but i just couldn't not capture something so beautiful. plus, beth's nan really wanted to see what it was like.

a trip to the sea.

today i went up to southport with my mum to take some photos on my konica of the beach - the ones above are just two i got on my phone. the tide was out and it was chilly and you could see blackpool tower and the pepsi max in the distance. we also popped into the town centre and got some things from boots and clinton cards - they had a 50% off sale on the winter/autumn yankee candles so get down to one if you fancy the deal. i wouldn't recommend the cards though, can anyone say cheap and tacky? 

do you live near to the coast? 

♡

a peek at my christmas.

just sharing a few photos from christmas today. we had a really quiet and chilled day this year, just me, mum and dad. and of course, jake. i wasn't feeling all that good in the morning so i was left in bed while my parents went to church.
when they returned, we started making lunch - with bucks fizz and garlic dough balls to munch on while we cooked. we had michael bublé on and sang away like no one could hear us. (they probably could, we had the back door open a jar). after we'd eaten, we played bananagrams and charades and humbugs - humming the tune of a song and having the others guess what it is  - gave my grandma a quick phone call (she normally comes to us for christmas, but this year went to my auntie's today) and then opened presents.
i got my mum an orla kiely pure dab radio which she loves so that made me super happy. and i got my dad a top gear dvd and a hmv gift card. the dog was treated to a rawhide bone (which he didn't realise was to eat), a teddy chicken and a ball type thing that you're supposed to put treats in and then they 'spend hours' trying to get it out. yep, didn't work with jake, he gave up after less than five minutes and was asking for it to be thrown. his favourite part of course was the wrapping paper. he even helped me unwrap some of my gifts.
this year, i mainly asked for books. i also asked for a jo totes camera bag - it is so beautiful!!! - and a diptique candle - i'm burning it right now and it smells so good! i will probably be doing book reviews of the books i got throughout the year, and maybe posting about some of the recipes from the rachel khoo book.

to those who celebrate it; i hope you had a very merry christmas, and to those who don't, i hope you had a lovely tuesday. what was your favourite present you gave/received this year?

♡

merry christmas!

happy 25th, everyone!! i hope you have had a fun filled day spent with people you love and are getting ready to enjoy the fabulous christmas tv.

♡

good news.

if you follow me on instagram or twitter, you will know that i got a conditional offer from college to study photography starting in january. a few weeks ago, i posted about getting a letter for an interview, and at that interview, i was asked if i wanted to take the place of someone who had dropped out in the course that leads onto the course i was applying for. as i wouldn't lose anything from doing it - i would actually be gaining a qualification - i was eager to take up the offer and the tutor let me decide when i wanted to start. i decided to begin in january because it would be the start of term and i wouldn't start and then have a two week break and then go back.

at the beginning of last week, i still hadn't heard anything and started to get rather worried, but on friday i got a letter in the post containing a conditional offer for the course.
the relief of knowing where my life is heading now is so nice. i had a smile on my face for the rest of the day, because to be honest, i've been feeling pretty down recently - stuck in a rut in some way - and a direction for my life is exactly what i need.
i'm looking forward to getting up in the morning and going somewhere and learning and socialising - however anxious it will make me - and putting things i've learnt into action at nurturing my skills in photography.

in all honesty, i have never believed i have a talent in photography. i have always enjoyed it, and i spend so much time seeing something and wishing i would be able to capture it - mainly when driving. i am so grateful to have to opportunity to gain knowledge in this field and maybe become good at photography and in the process finally figure out what i'd like to do with my life.

happy holidays to you all, whatever you may celebrate. 

♡ 

beer.

credit: weheartit

i want to start this post with a little disclaimer: i am not a regular drinker. i only drink when i'm going out, and even then, not overly excessively. i will only drink if i like the taste, i don't do it to get drunk. 

for a long time, i've wanted to try beer. i've tried the normal stella artois and never liked it, but i've always been intrigued by the different beers in the spirits & wine aisle at the shop. today, i was in waitrose with my mum, and i told her about my interest in trying some different types of beers. she helped me pick out a few and as they went through the till, i thought i could turn it into a little series on therosyfreckle - giving my thoughts, telling you a bit about the beers and so on.

obviously if this sort of thing is hated i won't do it again, but since i am a southern comfort sort-a girl, i have no clue about beer at all, other than that men (and probably women?) get beer bellies from the stuff and sometimes hobos stink like they've been marinated in it. what a lovely picture i'm painting ;)

so, these are the ones i picked up. i know there are some largers and ciders in there, but as i don't know the full definition of 'beer', i thought i'd pick them up too.

what are your thoughts on a 'beer' series? 

♡

red.

i have been loving this red for over two months now. whenever i try to change it up a bit and go for something different, within a few days, this is back on my nails. i love the brush and formula of this 'top speed' range from revlon, it's different to their normal ones.

forbidden by revlon. 

♡

a peek at my room.

just thought i'd share some pictures of my room. i love interior design and love seeing pictures of rooms in people's houses.


♡ 

all i want for christmas is

ipad. // herstyler baby curls 13mm curling iron. // le cruset casserole dish. // moleskine. // leica x2 compact camera. // eames rocker in ocean. // black wire basket. // badger cushion. // fox cushion. // newgate brixton clock. // geometry cup. // beatles cushion. // naughty alice. // jumpers one, two, three & four. // hat & scarf. // nail varnish. // boots.

if santa had a gazillion pounds, of course.

what would you ask for if there was an unlimited budget?

♡ 

instagram.

today, there has been a lot of talk about the new instagram tos and i know i, along with the majority of the world, am reconsidering my usage of the app.

i have had instagram for around two years, back to when it was a secret app and people wanted to know how to get the filters. it has only been in the past year, though, that i have started to utilize it to the best it can be. i started following people who aren't celebrities or friends - people who have real talent and are creative with their pictures. in all honesty, it has made me more creative and think more about what i was taking a picture of. 

i know some people use it for art, some for sharing pictures of their nights out, their food (harhar) and so on, and there are many different circles within the instagram app. i have loved seeing people enjoying my images and can honestly say that instagram is my most used app. 

when they release the new tos, i briefly scanned them, not thinking about them too much, thinking it was just a rerelease of their current tos with a few minor changes, but when i read the new york times article about it, i was shocked. i was never a fan of the facebook takeover, i resisted updating when they  made changes until my app was so slow and shut down multiple times per use that i had to update - which we all know app makers do on purpose - and it took me a long time to get used to the 'new instagram'.

over the past few months, everyone has noticed the instagram spammers, and i have only dealt with a couple, thankfully, but still find them annoying when reading the comments on a picture i like. but spam accounts a long with instagram profitting from users photos is downright awful. having my images taken and used in an ad with the profits going to instagram is a huge no no to me, but i imagine so much worse for people who share their work which is their livelihood. 

this blog is here to share my thoughts and a place for me to be creative. a perfect feature for that is photos i would have posted to instagram. bearing that in mind, from 16th january - if instagram doesn't change their new tos - i will be shutting down my instagram account and sharing all the photos i would have uploaded to instagram here. 

what are your views on the instagram situation; keep or delete?

♡ 

p.s the new tos doesn't go into action until january 16th and all photos uploaded before that won't be affected, just incase you didn't know. 

p.p.s here is an article that gives you a step-by-step guide to saving all your instagram photos and deleting your account.

edit: instagram released this blog post tonight explaining a lot of things that have been interpreted from their wording (their words, not mine) of the new terms of service. make sure you read it! 

bits i've been loving this month.

ok, so i know it's not exactly the end of the month, but really, as soon as christmas eve rolls around, time just melts into one big christmas fest with films, food, board games and music thrown in. so, i thought now would be a great time to share some things i've been loving for the past month or so.

treacle moon warm cinnamon nights shower creme.
this stuff smells so good, perfect for a winter evening bath and it's super cheap too; £2.99 for 500ml. the only downside is that it's limited edition (which makes you want it more). honestly the only thing i will happily buy from tesco (don't get me started).

essie where's my chauffer.
i'm a sucker for teal/aqua/blue nail varnish. always have been, always will be. normally, this sort of colour is saved for summer, but as it was released in the 2012 winter collection, i allowed myself to wear it with glee. it's more of a blue toned mint(?) which makes it icy and perfect for winter tips.

white lights.
everywhere. the tree, around the room, above my bed. i love white lights at christmas. i'm not a coloured lights fan. well, i like them, i just don't like them in my house. ;)

blankets and throws.
i have an obsession. with cushions too. i just love them. so warm and snuggly and perfect for keeping your toes warm in the cold weather. i have one on the end of my bed, two in the living room, and the rest sorted to the side waiting for me to get my mitts on them. i have too many to use, but i just can't stop myself from buying them. i probably need help.

nutella cinnamon hot chocolate.
this is a drink sent from heaven. i've grown up drinking powdered chocolate with hot water and a little bit of milk. i always found it weird that people used hot milk in their hot chocolates, but when i tried it, i realised why. ok, it isn't as healthy, but it's winter for pete's sake. i normally fill my mug with milk, leaving some room at the top, then pour that into a pan, but it on a low heat, add two dollops of nutella, constantly whisk & turn the hob up a bit - because i'm impatient - add cinnamon when the nutella's pretty much melted, then just keep whisking until there's steam coming off it, then take it off the heat, pour it into my mug then top it off with some whipped cream. nom.

revlon lip butter in raspberry pie.
i bought like five lip butters when i was in florida in february as they hadn't come out over here yet. raspberry pie was one i loved but had been in the drawer since i got home. then a few weeks ago, i was having a sort out and came across this again. i put it on and thought it was perfect for the colder months. i love the way it wears off too, it stains the lips and subtly fades away throughout the day.

revlon colorstay in ivory.
i waited so long to try out this foundation, fearing it was too much coverage for me, but hecky thump, it's perfect! i don't need concealer and it lasts all day. literally, i'll put it on at nine am and it will still be there at nine pm. it mattifies my skin perfectly (i've recently become more oily than dry/normal) and makes my skin tone all one colour. i will be repurchasing this foundation forever. my only wish is that it had a pump, seriously so annoying that you can't control how much product comes out.

palmolive milk and honey shower milk.
i actually think this is my favourite shower gel ever. i use it every single day and it makes my skin so soft and moisturised and smells so good. i love that it's not flowery or minty etc because that way it doesn't contrast my perfumes.

converse.
my first pair of converse were red, orange and pink hi-tops i bought in new york when i was nine. after two months, i hated them. the colours weren't anything like what i wore (grey lover for life) and i just wanted my mum to replace them with black ones. she wouldn't so i put them away and forgot about converse until i was 13. i still didn't learn and went out and bought red hi-tops. those lasted longer, about two years longer. it was then i bought black low-tops. i wore them constantly until i went to an outlet with my mum and first discovered the vans shop (bear in mind this is about three/four years before everyone started wearing vans) and bought a pair of black and white slip ons. i was a vans person from then on. i still am. except i'm trying to vary what shoes i wear - seriously i need to stop wearing my vans every time i leave the house. i pulled out my converse from the back of my wardrobe and i've been making a conscious effort to wear them - and other types of shoes - more often.

frank hamilton.
ok, i know i'm way way late on the frank hamilton bandwagon. but sheesh, he is good. i got tired of the stuff i'd been listening to for most of the year and wanted some new stuff. my first place to look was the new & noteworthy on itunes - i never look at the charts - and found frank hamilton's #onesongaweek album. honestly beautiful. i suggest you all go check it out.



hey, it's christmas.
favourite christmas album of the year, of course you all know this is you've seen my favourite christmas music post. plus, you can buy it for as much or little as you'd like (that includes £0).

lianne la havas.
another new discovery. not something i'd necessarily go for every day of the week, but her music is beautiful.

the lumineers.
the self-titled album is just a pure joy to listen to. so chill.

m.r. smith.
i checked out this artist after he followed me on twitter, and i genuinely enjoyed his music. think the head and the heart, iron and wine and mumford & sons.

the hobbit.
by far my favourite movie of december, if not the year. i had the book as a child but never got around to reading it and i'm not the biggest fan of the lotr franchise but i really wanted to see the hobbit. i thought it was really really good. i thought the acting was superb and it was such a great film in general. it did drag in some places, but for the majority of the time, i didn't even realise how long it was on for. i thought martin freeman was the perfect bilbo and loved that frodo got a little part in it too.


what are some of your favourite things from this month? 

♡