Compliment a stranger...

Have you ever had a stranger compliment you, and it just kind of made your day?

The fact that someone you have never met in your life, and most likely never will, took time out of their day to make you feel special.


It's always an ego boost.

One day, I received a comment on a picture of mine on Instagram and the stranger called me beautiful. (not the picture, but I lost a lot of my early Instagram posts!)
At that time, I was probably in the worst place with my self esteem than I have ever been, and just reading this comment from an onlooker who doesn't know the slightest thing about me; well she made my day, week, month, heck even my year. I saved a screen capture with her comment (but unfortunately lost it because of crappy iPhone!) because it made me feel special. Up until that point the only people who had called me beautiful were my mum and James Blunt.

Why do compliments from strangers make you feel so good? I mean, when people that you know compliment you, it's just not the same. Compliments from strangers stick, linger, even alter our self-perceptions. Mine certainly lingered! I also admire people who compliment strangers. It takes a lot of guts, even if they only do it online. 

Around the same time as the Instagram comment, a guy came up to me and said "there's just something about you that I find to be memorising" and then he was promptly shooed away by a friend. But still, his little compliment, on my first night out for around 6 months made me feel incredible and for the rest of the night, I was confident and really enjoyed myself, and I don't think I would have if it wasn't for him.

Whenever I am feeling a little down, it's always nice to look back at that Insta picture, or remember that night out, because it's the little things that make you smile. 

What I'm getting at is, compliment strangers. Because you never know who's shitty day you might transform. In my opinion a compliment is a gift, so don't go throwing them around, and only say it when you mean it.

See a guy on the bus who's shirt you really like? Tell him. He might be on his way to a blind date set up by a mate and is really nervous, but you've just made him feel 10x more confident about it. Or you might just get his number. Result.

At the end of the day, what is there to lose?

Browse a random hashtag, compliment someone hair.
See someone looking a little sad, compliment them on their shoes. always a good one.

I have a habit of when I'm saying hi to someone, I always compliment them. If it's the first thing they hear from you, they wont be expecting it and they will enjoy it even more.

"Hi! Oh I love how you've done your hair today!"
"Hey! your skin looks incredible. It's flawless!"

So I challenge you to compliment a stranger.

Becky xo

Girl Envy...

We've all been there. Whether it is a celebrity or your best mate, at some point you have been jealous of another girl for all the wrong reasons.

I struggle with envy all the time, as I'm an extremely insecure person, and this is how I have chosen to cope.

Tink gets it!!

Not so long ago, I had a couple of girls wanting to start a fight with me because of the way I was looking at one of them. Having to explain to her that it was actually because I loved the colour of her hair and the shoes she was wearing was a little weird. So do be careful with your girl creeping.

But you know you have done it. Have you ever gone out shopping and thought

"what would so-and-so wear?"

That's girl envy. You wish you had their style, their hair, their confidence, or whatever it is about them that you just can't resist wishing was an aspect of you. Now, I've looked back at some of the things I bought because a friend at college wore it and now I think what the fuck was going through my brain, this looks stupid and isn't me. But unfortunately, it's unavoidable.

But then, you can also be jealous of someone for the things they have. I remember a friend at school, she had loads of money, an older boyfriend and I dreamed for her life. She just looked like she had all her shit together. Now, she looks unhappy and lonely. But at the time, being like her was just at the utmost importance to me, although I knew that I never could because I never had any money or the confidence to talk to a boy even the same age as me.

As much as none of us like to admit it, we do get jealous and envy the people we meet. Sometimes it can be for the silliest of reasons, like they have smaller feet and you would dream of having size 4's (genuinely a reason why someone I knew didn't like me. crazy right?).

I've done it. There's a girl in one of my classes at uni that I've decided I don't like, without ever having spoken to her, purely on the fact that her makeup always looks perfect and her dress sense is amazing.

Jealousy is something that happens, and as much as some people claim they don't envy people, they are lying. I bet they are the first to go into the hair dressers with a celebs picture and ask for it. It's just something you have to embrace.

Take those jealous feelings and turn them into a positive improvement.

You envy that girls bum? Start up at the gym, do those squats!!

You wish you had hair like hers? ask her how she does it, get her to show you or recommend her hairdressers.

You wish you had boobs that big? Not much you can do there. Just convince yourself they are fake.

In my case of the girl at uni

I have since sparked up a convo with her, asking where she gets bits from (mainly Topshop, surprise surprise!).

And as silly as it sounds, I may have stared one seminar and tried out her makeup look at home.

Envy doesn't always have to lead to you hating yourself, use it to improve and be happy!

I do like getting all personal, don't I?

Becky xo

Skort Mania...

Holy shit. All I see everywhere are skorts!

I have just ordered a lovely pair from BooHoo but couldn't wait for it to arrive to make this post.

When I first read about skorts in Company Magazine, I thought

"isn't that those gross skirts they use to make us wear for netball?"

Well, they have come a long way since then, I can assure you.

Here are some of my favourite picks online.

ASOS:  £35

BooHoo: £15

(the one I have ordered!)

BooHoo: £15

Matalan: £5

(yes, £5)

Topshop: £32

The floral patterns and asymmetric shaping will make them perfect for a spring/summer night out with a crop and giant heels, as well as being toned down in a more casual outfit with a baggy tee and chain necklace.

Once my one arrives I will show you how I style it!

Becky xo

Dan's 30th Birthday Fun and OOTN...

The event of the year happened! It was Dan's 30th birthday, and his soiree's are always a big deal. So, as I had my outfit planned two moths ahead of time, I was super excited when  the day finally rolled round. The plan was, to spend the evening going around, getting pictures of peoples outfits and asking where they got it from. Unfortunately, Chrissy was taking them all and they didn't save to memory correctly and we lost them all :'( 

Dan and his family created the perfect party atmosphere. As you walked through the entrance you stepped onto a red carpet with it's own paparazzi.

There was so much food I simply couldn't fit enough pizza slices in my clutch bag.

There was an AWESOME photo booth where you can put on wacky props and take 4 photo booth pictures which then printed out two copy's, one for you, and one for Dan's photo book!. Awesome idea! Felt sorry for the photo attendant that had to watch a million drunk girls duck face all night. (including myself!).
Such a wicked night, and I'm so glad Dan had such a fantastic night celebrating his birthday!

Here's my OOTN for you guys ;)

Dress: Zara £19.99

Handbag: River Island (unknown)

Heels: Primark £6

(went into the sale. Snapped them up before they left the sales advisor's hands)

Necklace: Primark £3

I went for voluminous curly hair, airbrushed skin, a subtle brown smoky eye with a bright pink lip and nails. Had so much fun getting ready!

Here's some of the shenanigans we got up to in the photo booth.

Thank you for such an incredible night Dan!

THIRTY, FLIRTY AND THRIVING <3

Becky xo

Photo Display...

So I'm training and studying  to become a teacher. One of my favourite parts of when I'm doing work experience in schools is them always getting me to create the children's artwork displays, and that's what inspired me for this.

A very simple photo display, inspired by a school display.

My desk backs onto the side of my wardrobe. I use to have a pin board on it, but pin boards get so messy and I just clutter them with useless scraps of paper. The pin board was also the first thing you would look at as you walk in the room, so it's not exactly pleasant.

This is also a great idea for a dorm room if you are not allowed to put things on the wall. Once you remove the wallpaper, the pva glue washes straight off. Or you could line your pin board with the wallpaper and open up your stapler like a gun and staple your pictures to the board in a cleaner, fancier way than messy push pins.

As you can see, I lined the side of my wardrobe with leftover wallpaper from when I was decorating last year. You don't need wallpaper paste, just mix some pva glue with water and you're good to go.

(if you haven't got any left over wallpaper, measure your wardrobe and head down to B&Q or somewhere similar, and take a sample piece of wallpaper long enough to fit. shhhh).

Select your best photos. I chose a mixture of my friends, family, memorable days and motivational sayings (as it is right next to my desk!). Print them in various sizes, but try to keep them regular. Most of mine are square as I got them off my Instagram, and square photos are easy to organize. 

Find some coloured paper that matches the theme of your room. You could choose various colours or stick to one complimentary colour like I have here, and stick your photos to the card, then using a guillotine cutter, trim with a nice boarder with clean straight lines. (You could use scissors, but make sure your straight line cutting skills are up to scratch!!).

Next, simply Blu Tack them up!

It's so simple. Yet it looks super organised and aesthetically pleasing.

What do you think?

Becky xo