Casual Winter Outfit

Most of my cold weather clothes have remained firmly in my wardrobe for nearly all of December - looks like Britain forgot how to winter! Finally the Weather is turning colder and I can dig out all of my winter woolies again. Though saying that, when these pictures were taken it was still fairly warm, but I could have done with a scarf! I've finally convinced Mark that he does want to spend afternoons taking photos of me at the top of a hill as the rain is coming in..

I've been wearing this coat from h&m since the Autumn, it's the perfect substitute until I can fulfill my Barbour dreams.

The hat is also h&m, which I got for £1 in June! I bought it just before my "Summer" holiday to Orkney, where I wore it all day, every day. Similar here.

The New Look cardigan is something I've rediscovered in my wardrobe (similar here) . I LOVE the shade of purple, and I think it shows off nicely against the grey. The T-shirt is old, from Warehouse, and is one of the most worn items in my wardrobe!

The boots are also New Look, from their 915 range... like the coat, they're filling in until I can afford Timberlands. They are really comfy though! I've sprayed them with a waterproofing spray so I don't need to worry about wearing them in the rain.

What do you think? I'm hoping do a lot more outfit posts this year! Not long til the summer now, when that car park & beach will be packed!

What I'm listening to:  (playlist!) 

Make a Man  - Estrons

NYE - Missy Higgins

Last Words - Isaac Gracie

Welcome To New York - Ryan Adams

Direction

I am not the best blogger. I struggle to post once a month. Or I'll post 5 times one month and not at the next. THIS YEAR THOUGH I will change this. Recently I've been reading blogs a lot more, which has inspired me to majorly up my blogging game.

Misty Welsh mountains, May '15

I've got a few aims with what I want to do and feature more of on Hannah Sundae.

1. Improve my photography. In all aspects. Whether its landscapes or photos of food or lipstick, I want my photographs to be aesthetically pleasing.
2. Adventures. I want to explore more and I want to document it here. Last summer I spent 10 days in Scotland and this poor old blog didn't hear a peep about it. This will change!
3. Style. I want to put more effort into what I wear, and again, document it here.
4. Fitness. Aaah the cliched January wish  - to get fitter and lose weight blah blah blah. You've heard it all before. Now you're hearing it again. Seriously though, I need to become healthier. Recipes and exercise will be heading this way!
5. Books. Read more. Write more. Read more. Write more. Read more. Write more. Read more. Write more. You get the gist?
6. Music. I want to add a "what I'm listening to" at the end of each post :)

I hope you're happy to join me on this blogging journey - any hints and tips and recommendations along the way will be more than welcome! You can always tweet me @HannahSundae.

LET'S GO 2016!!

Plymouth Barbican

Mark came down to Plymouth the other day, and it was a great chance to explore the city I now call home. Unfortunately I was working and in lectures most of the time, so I only had a couple of free days to explore, but we fitted in quite a lot in a short space of time. My phone was being repaired so I had to borrow Mark's phone for the photos!

We went for a meal to The Stable, on the Barbican. We went on a Tuesday evening because they have Tuck In Tuesday offers. I did take pictures of our food but they didn't turn out great, I'll have to go again in daylight! I highly recommend The Stable, they have branches across the South West and they're opening new restaurants fairly frequently - great for pizza, pies and cider (aaall the cider!)

The next day we headed back to the Barbican to nosy round the National Aquarium and the Hoe. It wasn't great weather - grey and murky! This area of Plymouth is stunning on a sunny day.

These are the Mayflower Steps - where the pilgrims left on the Mayflower to head to America.

The Aquarium was quite good. I wasn't blown away by it. I was expecting big things considering its the National Aquarium, but I personally prefer Blue Planet near Chester. This Turtle was quite a character - he was swimming round his tank and kept swimming into rocks and things. We later found out he was rescued from the sea as he was blind and epileptic, poor thing. I do like the fact that you can use your ticket to go back as many times as you like within a year. It was interesting to learn about the marine life in Britain's waters, and the rockpool area was quite cool. I did hear a child complaining that there weren't enough Sharks!

The Barbican is the nicest bit of Plymouth by far, I recommend visiting if you're in the area.

Book Review: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffeneggger

I was drawn to this in a charity shop a) because I remember really enjoying The Time Traveler's Wife about 6 years ago, and b) because it was in near-new condition and only about £2.

Elspeth lives in a flat in a big old Victorian house in London that backs onto Highgate Cemetery. Her lover/long-term partner, Robert, lives in the flat downstairs and Martin,  a man with severe OCD, lives upstairs.
Near the beginning of the story Elspeth dies, and leaves the flat in her will to her twin nieces who currently live in America, and they move to London.

This is a ghost story - but it doesn't really get creepy until about two thirds of the way in. I did enjoy the story as you get to know the characters and how their lives intertwine.
The insights into the lives of identical twins and the life of someone with severe OCD were really interesting, and they added to the story. I know they are fictional but Niffenegger did do a lot of research!

This is a great read for the lead up for Hallowe'en to get you in the mood - its mainly set in a cemetery, for goodness' sake! Although I admit I started reading this in August and had a break of about 3-4 weeks in the middle where I forgot all the characters' names.

I do love the setting. Niffenegger has obviously undergone in-depth research into Highgate Cemetery, and reading this book has definitely made me want to visit! If you want a little look round the cemetery from a blogger's perspective, read about Becky Bedbug's visit here.

I don't think I've done this book justice in this review - I never really know what to write! The story does stay with you and makes you wander what you would have done in each character's situation.

If you get a chance to read it, do!

First Plymouth Haul

You know when you only pop into boots for something small and end up spending forty quid? That happened. And Primark happened. And Tiger. This is only a little shop today, other shopping has occurred since I've been here but this is the first I've blogged :) Apologies for the picture quality - these were (very gratefully) taken on Mark's phone as mine is still being repaired!!

I bloody love Tiger. I've not been in one before moving to Plymouth, and the best way I can describe it is all the fun bits of IKEA but better. The stripy lanyard is from there, which I got to replace the free Magners one from my last post - this is a bit more me!

I really wanted a furry jumper thing to wear in bed when I'm on my laptop so I don't have to wear a full onesie or a dressing gown. I couldn't find just a jumper that I liked so I had to get the fluffy bottoms too as part of this Hogwarts set! I do love all Primark's Hogwarts & Disney stuff. The sports bra is also Primark, I bought one a couple of weeks ago but its so comfy and only £4 so I bought another one! 

Aahhh the Boots haul. I've been after a Primer for a while -  and Smashbox's Photo Finish came up again and again with good reviews so that's what I went for. And the other cosmetics were on 3 for 2. A while ago I asked Katie what mascara she uses as her eyes always look fabulous - check out her insta! I had to get the same one in an attempt to have lashes at least half as fabulous as hers! As it was 3 for 2 I picked up some eyeliner and a brow kit. I really want to up my eyeliner and brow game - at the moment I only use eyebrow pencil so I want to experiment with this Soap & Glory kit.

Has anyone else been to Tiger? New favourite non-clothes shop - even overtaking Paperchase!

First weeks of uni (again)

So much for getting my blogging mojo back.. September was going well until I went to uni! Anyways I thought I'd update you on what's been keeping my occupied since the 20th of September.

I moved in to my room in halls... why would I go back to halls!? Its not actually tooo bad..... We have a few loud boys downstairs but its not been too bad during the week since fresher's fortnight has finished.
Here's my room!

I got the bedding in the H&M sale a few months ago, and the throw on top is ikea, as is the cactus pot (blogger standard). The fairy lights are Urban Outfitters, they're on copper wire so I could bend them into different shapes if I wanted. 

I was pleasantly surprised with my room, its in the corner of the flat so its slightly bigger than some of the others, mainly meaning I have more floor space. No excuse not to to yoga/workouts now! There's quite a lot of wardrobe space which is good though I feel like I've got barely any clothes with me! My window looks out over the tennis courts :)

In Fresher's week some of my flatmates and I went to a cake decorating event which we all enjoyed so much we set up a baking society there and then! I need to get down to poundland to get some piping bags so I can recreate these!

This is a selection of my favourite bits from my freshers fayre haul.. the t-shirt and the Ben & Jerry's shovel came from the Domino's stand - along with free pizza of course! The lanyard was from Wetherspoons stand along with a hat and I've been keeping my keys on it. I love the biscuit beer mat! The glow in the dark sperm keyring was from the NHS clinic stand but I gave it to my flatmate because she missed the fayre.

I've just finished my second week of lectures now and I'm realising I know very little biology - my main reading has been enormous anatomy & physiology books! I'm currently having my phone repaired and I've been given a replacement brick and I'm really missing instagram and having a camera! I might get my parents to bring my actual camera down when they come at half term.

Hope you enjoyed reading - I won't leave it as long next time.


 

She's leaving home..

So here goes, tomorrow I will be moving in to my new flat in halls at uni! Call me mad (I do myself) but I am going to university again to study another undergraduate degree. I will finally be studying Speech & Language Therapy, something I've thought about doing since I was about 15!

I am moving from my home in mid Wales to Plymouth, over 6 hours drive away! I never lived so far from home and I've never lived in England! The road signs will only be in one language!

I'm so excited to live in the South West. Watching programmes like Poldark, Jamaica Inn and Doc Martin, who could say no to living in that part of the world? Fairplay, I'm moving from Snowdonia, and nothing's going to beat that, but I think Dartmoor, Devon and Cornwall will come a close second.

I am going to be a mature student (I KNOW!) and I think most of the girls in my flat are around 18/19 - proper freshers! I think there's quite a few more mature students on my course though, but a lot of them seem to be local and living in Plymouth itself rather than on Campus.

I've also got a job in the city centre, I've managed to get a transfer from the store where I work to their Plymouth branch which will mean I have a little bit of income on top of my student loan.

I'm still debating whether or not to take my bike and/or my car. I'll probably leave my car at home, because I won't really need it (being a city with actual public transport and all). I'm still in two minds about taking my bike - I don't cycle a lot and I don't know Plymouth at all, but I know I'll regret not having it even if it's just for popping to the shops. I need to invest in a good bike lock though! Has anyone got any tips for city cycling and getting around?

I'm really looking forward to uni the second time round - I'll keep you updated on how its all going!

And now... FRESHERS! (help)