sparkles & sounds

I finally took the plunge and converted from Android to Apple, which means I get to buy new cases, and I have choice!

I chose this Skinny Dip one as it was £6 in the Topshop sale and its quite snazzy! Its not my first choice but as it was at least £10 cheaper than other cases I settled for it, beggars can't be choosers, ey?











I didn't need new earphones until a couple of days ago. I've got my Skullcandy headphones and I'd been quite happily using the earphones that came with my Samsung if I needed something more compact. That was til the other day when I went to Bristol with 2 silicon ear bud thingies and only came back with one. Bummer. I popped into HMV on my flatmate's recommendation and bought these Smile Jamaica Chant earphones.

I like the wooden design and the fabric(?) cable. The company, House of Marley is all about eco-friendliness and charitable causes so that's a bonus too! And of course, the sound quality is really good and they also have a microphone so I can wander around in public looking like I'm talking to myself if I'm on the phone.

You might also be able to tell I've got a screen protector on my phone. Its a tempered glass one (apparently) that I got off Amazon for a couple of quid. My cousin has just managed to smash her screen and I know how often that happens so I didn't want to take any risks!

Where's your favourite place to get a phone case?

What I'm listening to: playlist

Jonah - Calan

Off to the Races - Lana Del Rey

Stay Out - Nina Nesbitt

The Stairs - Family of the Year

Softly in the dusk a woman is singing to me

The other day I went out with my family for a meal to celebrate my Mum and Granny's birthdays (they're a week apart). We went to a lovely pub/restaurant by the River Avon. I took the opportunity to grab my cousin to take a few photos of my outfit - they're not perfect as they were quite rushed (I didn't even shut the clasp on my bag!) but I wanted to be able to show off what I was wearing here.

I love this top but if it rides up it doesn't hang right and makes me look twice the size I am! The colour is great though, nice and bright, which is what we need at this time of year, and the material is soft (though not warm at all!).

The trousers are my favourite purchase of 2016 (so far). They can be worn more casually, like today as I'm writing I'm wearing them with tan flats and an oatmeal jumper, but they also are a really comfy way of being a bit smarter!

These shoes were a bargain (£15!) find at the end of the summer but I haven't had much occasion to wear them, they normally come out on occasions like these if I'm going out for dinner. They're not really a heel to wear on a night out, but they'd be ideal for work if that was your dress code. They are seriously comfy - I wore them for hours and my feet didn't hurt!

What do you think? I'm happy its getting sunnier (even if it isn't getting warmer).

Top & Trousers - H&M  Shoes - Clarks  Bag - Animal

What I'm listening to: playlist

The Story - Brandi Carlile

Breathe (2 AM) - Anna Nalick

Shout Out - Kizzy Crawford

New November - Pure Youth

January & February

Yet again I've left it far too long between posts. Its nothing personal, I also haven't been for a run for weeks! I thought I'd give you a whistle stop tour of what I've been up to since I last updated this 'ere blog.

I GOT MY HAIR CHOPPED! Its so so soooo much better than it was, I'm much happier with it this length.

Mark and I went on a little jaunt to Caerphilly Castle, it was freezing, but definitely worth going to. As it was the end of of the (very cold) day, there was barely anyone around so we pretty much had the whole castle to ourselves... now there's something I could get used to! 

Mark excelled himself with my Christmas presents this year - amongst some Lush goodies and some cosy slippers were also a pair of tickets to the Harry Potter Studio Tour!!!  We went to London in the middle of January, had a quick whiz round being tourists and of course the studios in Watford. (Apologies for the picture quality - I only had my phone and it was fairly dark!)

For Christmas 2010 my Mum knitted me a Weasley jumper, needless to say I wore it! I hadn't realised the studios would be set out for Christmas at Hogwarts, which meant  Gryffindor common room was all Christmassy - exactly how it was when Harry opened his jumper from Mrs Weasley.

We went a couple of days after Alan Rickman sadly died, and I must admit I got a bit choked up at this poignant tribute:

It may not be widely known around here, but I do have a thing for steam engines, so when I walked into this room I did go a little bit nuts. I was jumping around and grinning like the Cheshire Cat.. Mark just pretended he wasn't with me (I don't blame him!) 

Before catching our train home I insisted we went to the bloggers' mothership - Lush Oxford Street. I bought a cheeky little Unicorn Horn (of course!).

I've not walked so far so quickly for a long time! We managed to tick off a lot of the sights and squeeze in some shopping, so we were both happy. We had lunch at Franco Manco Pizza in Covent Garden, which I'll review next week.

Hope you liked this quick run-down, who knows, I might blog a bit more regularly in the coming weeks and months! 

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!