The Life Post | Back to School Advice With Teami 'Focus' Tea

As September is looming ever closer, with that means that the new college or school year is right around the corner. While some may already be back, us more fortunate ones still have another week or so to prepare, but in the end the same fate awaits us. So when I was introduced to Teami's new tea blend 'Teami Focus', a tea that aims to boost productivity by increasing mental clarity and alertness, I was inspired to make a post with advice for everyone heading back to school, college and whatever else it is that you do, to help this academic year be your best one yet. 

Whether it is school or college you are heading back to, it can be hard getting back into the swing of things having had the whole summer off. I know first hand as a college student that having a lot of time off for the Summer is both a blessing and a curse, although it means I get to do a lot of what I want over the break, it also makes it a million times harder to go back at the end of it. With less than two weeks until I am back it is about time that I start to prepare myself, and if like me you would like to ease yourself back into the college year you might want to continue reading. 

Establish a Routine

As fun as it is to stay up late doing what you want and lying in until the afternoon the following day, this is probably the worst thing you could do to yourself. A week or so before you head back to school or college, it might be in your best interests to try and establish a routine. Attempt to be asleep by a reasonable time so you can get up early the next morning. Not only will you make it easier on yourself to go back to school, you will also have more time to make the most of the remaining days you have left of the Summer. 

Set Goals

Before you start the new academic year set yourself some personal goals that you can work towards during the year. You don't have to tell anybody or write them down, it could be something as simple as wanting to get a 5% higher mark in some subjects when it comes to the end of the year. Make it simple and this will keep you on the ball throughout the year. 

Start As You Mean To Go On 

This is something I definitely have to work on this year. I personally want to have better attendance this college year, not that last year was terrible, I just know that this is something I could work on. I want to try and put my all into my work right from the start and hopefully this will motivate me to continue on for the rest of the year. It is easy to get side tracked, especially in college when you have a little more freedom so this is when being strict on yourself and beginning the new year off on the right foot is important. If you start off well you will more than likely continue that way.

Eat Well 

I'm not sure if I am the only person that this happens to but almost every year without fail I come down with a horrible cold or flu the first few weeks into the school or college year, which kind of makes the whole starting as you mean to go on thing difficult. So this year in an attempt to avoid that I am trying to eat better, eating more fruit and vegetables and taking daily vitamin tablets to try and boost my immune system and fight off any germs I might pick up in and on my way to college. 

Teami 'Focus' Blend 

The last advice I have to give to all you education huns is to pick yourself up a bag of Teami's Focus blend and give it a try. The aim is to replace your coffee and unhealthy energy drinks with this peppermint flavoured tea that helps you stay mentally alert, productive and focused throughout the day. I have been testing it out since it has arrived and I can honestly say that I can feel the results almost straight away. I get a slow releasing rush of energy without that jittery feeling that most energy drinks can give you. Containing vitamins, calcium and iron it also gives your immune system and metabolism a boost while making you more productive at the same time, ensuring that you stay on top of everything without eventually crashing. 

Again I would just like to point out that this post is not sponsored, I was kindly sent out the tea to try for myself but all opinions are honest and my own and I really can't get enough of Teami's teas, on top of that they have a lot of other blends to offer if this doesn't sound like the one for you. 

If you would like to pick up a tea for yourself you can use my discount code 'ADELE' to save yo'self some dolla.

I hope you are all having a lovely week and if you are heading back to school or college soon I wish you the very best of luck with the new term!

Adele x

Instagram Roundup | August

It has been a while since I did an instagram roundup, because I was travelling for most of last month I threw together a roundup which I wasn't happy with and ended up deleting shortly after publishing, so technically there wasn't really a July roundup.

This month started off in Budapest in the sunshine and is ending back in Ireland in the rain. With the evenings already getting darker earlier and college starting back again in a mere couple weeks I am already longing for a summer holiday to look forward to. Does anyone know where you can get one of those lifestyles that involves going on holiday all year round and having a constant tan? Because I would like one of those. 

What did you get up to this Summer?

Adele x

The Fashion Post | Asos Wishlist

As a part of my birthday present last month I received a 40 pound Asos voucher and, because I have zero self control to wait, I took to Asos straight away and started to look through some pieces I might like to get with my voucher. While I was saving things to my wishlist I realized that everything I have on my list might make a good blog post. I rarely make wishlists for the sheer fact that majority of the time I am broke and so I try to avoid online shopping as much as possible, because I really don't want to end up crying over clothes I can't buy or more broke because I bought clothes. But if you guys like them then I can bite the bullet and make more. 

Yellow Skirt  | Sun Dress  | Heeled Sandals  | Stripe Pencil Skirt  

Button Down Midi Skirt | Boyfriend Jeans | Tailored Trouser | Check Pencil Skirt

As much as I would like to convince myself that Summer will never come to an end, the reality of it is that it will, and pretty soon at that (cries). So I tried to be responsible and pick out items that are appropriate for both now and the colder seasons. So that kind of overruled the mini skirt and sun dress, I think I just added them to my list in the hopes that if I do the gods will hear me and extend Summer.

Lately I am starting to see the sense in investing in one solid item, such as a skirt or trousers, to add to your wardrobe rather than buying a few cheap dresses and tops that I will wear once and probably never again. So I tried to use my voucher as wisely as possible and in the end I went for the stripe pencil skirt that I am hoping will see me through the Winter months and into next year.

Have you bought anything recently?
Adele x

The Life Post | Travel Diary Part Two - Austria, Hungary, Croatia.

I am back with part two of my European adventure. Again I do apologize for the not so great quality of my pictures, I am aware that some of them are very pixelated but that is out of my control.

 The fourth country we visited was Austria. The train journey from Switzerland to Austria for me, was one of the highlights of the trip, the view from the train was ridiculously incredible and I pretty much spent 7 hours staring out of the window in awe. When we got to Vienna we checked into the Azimut Hotel, which was a short metro journey into the city centre. The city of Vienna itself is gorgeous and I only wish we did a little more 'touristy' things while we were there. With just two full days to explore  we walked around the city a little, ate, drank and tried to discover what Vienna had to offer in the limited amount of time we had. 

From Austria we moved onto Budapest in Hungary. Which was both mine and my boyfriends favourite city of our trip. We stayed in a quaint airbnb very close to the town, which was perfect as everything we needed was within walking distance of our apartment. Between the sunshine, the baths, pretty architecture and the ruin bars it was hard not to enjoy ourselves. On top of that the food was good and the drink was cheap so overall we were happy campers and I definitely hope to visit this quirky city again soon. 

Our final stop on the three week adventure was Pula in Croatia. We chose Croatia as our final stop as it was coastal and we would enjoy spending our last few days travelling relaxing by the sea. Again we stayed in an Airbnb which was a short walk from the beach and about twenty minutes from the town. Being brutally honest the area itself was okay, nothing amazing and the food wasn't great, I would definitely advise trying to cook yourself if you are visiting on a budget and you want to enjoy your meals. But the beach was beautiful and being able to unwind by it while catching a tan was I feel the perfect way to end our trip. 

And that concludes my travel diary. 

If you would like to see another post just on Interrailing or travelling in general, do let me know in the comments and leave questions of anything you would like me to include within it, I would be happy to do so.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. 

Adele x

The Fashion Post | Vintage One Shoulder Top And Denim Mini Skirt

Top: Vintage 

Skirt: Asos

Heels: Penneys / Primark 

Socks: Penneys / Primark 

So, after looking at these pictures I have decided that it is time for me to get a new camera. Not that I don't love the camera I have (Nikon coolpix l820), it does the job quite nicely but I feel that it is time to up my photography game. Since my blog is growing I feel I owe it not only to myself but to my readers that my pictures are of the best quality. My budget isn't huge and I won't be spending a grand on a camera but after turning 21 last month I thought it was about time I treated myself to one. So watch this space, hopefully my outfit pictures will soon be looking a lot better than this!

Anyway, about the outfit. I found this top in my mam's wardrobe a while ago and I had to keep it. It is quite hard to style, as you have to keep the bottom simple so as not to draw attention away from the top so I am making the most of the warm (ish) weather we have here in Dublin and wearing my mini skirt. Along with this top I found some other bits in her wardrobe too so be prepared for a lot more posts featuring her clothes.

Do you ever find clothes in your mam or grandmother's wardrobe?

Adele x

The Life Post | Travel Diary Part One - Holland, Belgium, Switzerland.

After almost a year of planning, saving and prepping for going Interrailing it is now all over. My tan is already fading and my suitcase is in my bedroom waiting to be unpacked, I think it's safe to say my holiday blues are at an all time high. During the course of three weeks myself and my boyfriend visited 6 countries and 7 cities across central Europe.

Beginning in Amsterdam, we spent roughly 3 days and nights in each country. Having already been to Amsterdam before I had an idea in my head of what to expect but I have to be honest it exceeded my expectations. The weather was amazing for the few days that we were there so it was hard not to enjoy ourselves. We stayed in Hotel Omega which was a short tram journey outside of the city centre but had everything we needed. The city is filled with restaurants and bars and generally is very tourist friendly with lots of things to do. One thing I would definitely recommend doing while you are in Amsterdam is visiting the Museum of Prostitution located in The Red Light District. I know it might sound a little weird and you may have preconceptions of it being something seedy but it really is not that at all, we went on our last full day and I am so glad we did. It was actually very informative and I walked out with entirely different view on the girls working in the district.

When our time in Amsterdam had come to an end we then made a short 3 or 4 hour train journey to Brussels in Belgium. Being honest, this for me was my least favourite city of the trip for a number of reasons. We stayed in an airbnb in a town outside of the city centre where we found some of the locals to be quite rude which put us a little off of wanting to go out to restaurants etc. As the city is unfortunately on high alert with terrorist attacks there are many army men around the town which for me just served as a constant reminder of what 'could' happen which made me feel a little on edge for my entire stay. We did take a day trip to Brugge while we were there however and absolutely fell in love with the fairy tale town. I only wish we decided to stay in Brugge for our time in Belgium instead. For anyone thinking of visiting Brugge I would 100% recommend it, the food was amazing, the drink was cheap and scenery was breathtaking. 

From there on we made a grueling 20 hour journey from Belgium to Zurich in Switzerland and eventually arrived in one piece. We stayed in Swiss Star City Apartment, where we had some trouble getting our key when we first arrived through no fault of our own and the apartments are placed on a somewhat dodgey street. But other than that our room was perfect and had the facilities we needed. A short walk from bars and restaurants, I really enjoyed our stay in Zurich. Although if you are planning on visiting Switzerland be prepared that is it quite pricey, the most expensive of our trip, but it is easy to find ways to save money. We spent one of our days swimming in crystal clear lakes and taking in all of the sights for free.

Part two of my interrail adventure will be up soon.

Have a lovely Sunday!

Adele x
  

The Beauty Post | L'oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil

     For the past couple of months the L'oreal Elvive 'extraordinary oil' has been a clear favourite of mine in my haircare routine. Having blonde hair can mean that your ends can be left looking and feeling a little dry a lot of the time. This for me, is a huge problem. I find it almost impossible to keep it looking healthy, no matter how many treatments and oils I use. Tired of dealing with this problem I decided to give this much hyped product a go. 

   

   

          For all hair types, the oil can be used as both a heat protectant and a serum. With flower extracts, it smells amazing, this is one of the reasons why I fell in love with this product. Just one or two pumps of oil is enough to leave your hair smelling great while giving it some shine and protection. I use this product after I get out of the shower before I style it and usually again a couple of times in the week when I want to give my locks a little life. The oil instantly adds shine while getting rid of any knots and tangles, making it easy to brush through. 

   

So if like me you're looking to add a little shine to your hair or just wanting to try out a new heat protectant I would recommend giving this a go, without a doubt. 

              Have you heard of or tried this 

          product before?

          Adele x