My First Time

Hello Everyone!

Although some may click this in the hope of discovering some very juicy sex gossip, that's not actually what this is. My chummy Louise made this video tag about all her "Firsts" of things. (i.e. First crush, First Kiss etc) and I wanted to jump on the bandwagon and fill you in on my many embarrassing stories surrounding boys from my childhood and disasters on the motorway!

Although I know a lot of you like to watch videos about beauty, but I also know that some of you prefer the more "lifey/vloggy" type of videos, so grab yourself a cuppa (or a cool beverage if you prefer), a few cheeky biscuits and enjoy!

♥

YouTube | Twitter | Facebook | Bloglovin' | Pinterest | Tumblr | Instagram

Life Update & Bloggers Block

Back in January, I wrote about 2012 and how it wasn’t such a great year for me, I also wrote about all the things I wanted to achieve in 2013 and life changes I wanted to make. So far this year, I’ve done so many amazing things and reached some personal goals too. Let’s consider this my 6 month review as I fill you all in and reflect on the first half of the year.

The biggest of my achievements so far this year has got to be hitting 1 million subscribers on my YouTube Channel. On December 24th 2012, I remember hitting 400,000 subscribers and trying desperately to screenshot it as it hit that exact number and failing miserably but feeling so excited and happy that SO many of you had chosen to subscribe to my YouTube channel. On the 20th April, I hit 1 million subscribers. I’m not sure what happened in those 4 months for my channel to grow so quickly, but I think it was by far one of the best days of the year so far. I felt so emotional with everyone congratulating me and saying how proud they were. In all honesty, it never really sunk in how many of you that was, and with 1,600,000 of you now, it still hasn’t. I can’t quite comprehend HOW there are that many people watching me rambling on, but it’s so incredibly amazing and i’m so humbled by all your support. 

The other thing I wanted to do this year was travel more, and I think i’ve succeeded very well with that. I did my first flight after 7 years going to Florida for playlist live, which was so incredible. Getting to meet lot’s of you and also meeting other YouTubers was so much fun. You can view each day I visited Florida in video diary form on my second channel here. Once i’d conquered that plane I felt like nothing was holding me back anymore. The plane journey was my nemesis, and after confronting it through an 8 hour flight, I felt like quite possibly...maybe I’d be able to travel a bit more. I then went to Paris, Mykonos & have LA next week for Vidcon, which i’m really looking forward to, and hopefully my optimistic attitude towards travel and flying will continue, because i’m really enjoying making up for all the years I shied away from visiting other countries due to anxiety. 

This also brings me onto not “sweating the small stuff”. I agreed that this year I wouldn’t stress over the small things because life was too short. I’ve had a few stressful encounters so far this year, but I chose not to let them effect me as negatively as they may have done previously, and seen things in a much more positive light, however hard that may be sometimes. I’ve also tried to encourage a lot of my friends to stop sweating the small stuff too, because if we spend too long stressing over the smaller things, they then become bigger things, and it gets a lot more messy and hard to let go. If there is something currently bugging you, let it go, smile, every day is precious. 

I’ve enjoyed hanging out with friends new and old, and watching Darcy grow into a little lady. I have such amazing people around me, most of whom you may also watch on YouTube. I know you only get to see the videos they film, edit and upload of themselves in 3-10 minutes on the internet, but behind that, they really are AMAZING people with such huge influences on my life and happiness. 

I have also enjoyed spending quality time with my family and friends at home. Although this year is quite a whirlwind, and I have managed to travel a lot. It’s also important to spend days at home chilling, relaxing...shooting some b ball..ha! No, in all seriousness, with this beautiful weather I have been out in my garden at one with nature. I have even made friends with a hedgehog family.

There are also a few things i’ve not done very well so far and i’m going to tackle these things now, so that i have 6 months to rectify this. Drinking more water? yeh...i’ve not done that very well. I told myself I would drink from a two litre bottle every single day, but I definitely have not stuck to that (I can’t lie to you guys). I think setting myself the goal of drinking two litres every day was pushing it a bit, I may have been a little too optimistic when I decided that, but i’m definitely going to make more of a conscious effort to hydrate myself more. I’m one of these odd people that never feel thirsty and can go a whole day forgetting to drink something. NOT GOOD.

I also decided I would be a bit more organised. Organisation, requires time management and time itself to get organised, and time isn’t something I’ve had a lot of recently. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE being busy, and I love having so many things to keep track on and keep up with, but it does stress me out to think that a lot of things don’t have their place and I can’t do all the things i’d like to be doing when I want to do them. I have managed to organise my calendar from now until December though, which is an improvement from not keeping a diary at all, and i’ve only turned up 30 minutes late to ONE doctors appointment! haha

This also then brings me on to my blog. I told myself I would blog more (good going Zoe, 1 or 2 posts a month isn’t that great). I’m not quite sure why I can’t sit down and write about all the products I love, or the makeup i’m wearing, or new collections, or my day out with Louise & Darcy. I think I have become a bit overwhelmed with the amount of you that read these ramblings, even when i’m not posting anything new! And it’s got to the point where I honestly don’t know how or where to start. I have all these blog post ideas swimming around in my head and in about 5 different note books. I have hundreds of blog pictures of products that I want to share with you. I will always see my blog as my little place to escape, to keep you up to date, to ramble on about everything and nothing and to share things with you, that’s how this all started, and that’s what it will continue to be. The second half of this year, i’m going to try REALLY hard to get my blogging back on track. I know I say this all the time, but it’s honestly something I think about a lot of the time. It doesn’t help that life has got a lot more busy, and i’ve decided to really push myself to do more and try new things, which takes up more time than I initially realised haha. Thank you so much to those of you who have stuck by me through my desert phases (This is what I shall call them as they are dry spells with...nothingness), also, hello to any new readers who might be here too. I appreciate that not all of you want to see me gassing on in a video about products, and secretly read about them during work hours, (or just don’t really like my voice haha), so i’m really going to try and make a conscious effort to get more content on here. I’m not saying after this i’ll bosh a post out every single day, it might take me a while to get back into the swing of it, but i’m going to put on my blogging cap and get blogging. 

This is also where i’d like your input. I already have a huge list of ideas and blog posts that I’d like to do at some point (I even have 3 giveaways that i’ve had planned for months and months that I went out and purchased and have just left lying around) but i’d like to hear any ideas you might have. I’d also like to know, if you have a blog yourself, do you ever get “bloggers block?”

So that’s it for now folks! My little life update and 6 month review of the things I wanted to achieve this year. So far it’s about 50/50 so I still have time to sort that out. What things are you going to try and achieve by the time the year is up? Let me know!

♥

YouTube | Twitter | Facebook | Bloglovin' | Pinterest | Tumblr | Instagram

Beauty Vloggers On A Roof

Yesterday, I ventured into London to meet Louise for a YouTube party/gathering on the roof of the offices. It was a hoot! Being a somewhat anxious person, as you know "venturing into London" isn't the easiest of tasks for me, but I was as cool as a cucumber which as sad as it may be, was a really refreshing thing for me. At the party, we met Fleur (It was her Birthday), Patricia, Shirley, Sammi and Lex (who I didn't get a photo of dammit) but be sure to click all the names to go to their youtube accounts and subscribe if you haven't already. They are all such lovely girls, and it was so nice being able to spend time with them as living in different areas of the UK, that doesn't happen all too often.  As you can see, Louise being ever so creative, came up with the game "How many beauty vloggers can you get on one deck chair". We managed all of us for a VERY short time, before we all collapsed sideways! Before hopping over to the party, we decided to have a little look through Oxford Street Topshop, where we were greeted by two viewers! HELLO TO YOU BOTH! Thank you for coming to say hello :) and also a hello to the girls who we sat with on the train on the way home and shared many a fantastic quiz with. My favourite being the "How do you smell to Edward Cullen" quiz. Yes, that does exist. 

♥

YouTube | Twitter | Facebook | Bloglovin' | Hellocotton

Did You Know....?

Aloha Zoe-arinos,

As you may have guessed by my oh-so-cheesy greeting, this isn't Zoe. Hello, it's Louise here!

Zoe is having quite a challenging time at the moment, being poorly and just having a lot on her plate. Whilst on the phone earlier, she said that she was worrying about keeping her blog updated and talking to you lovely ladies (and men if you are reading).



I said, 'Zoe you ninconpoop! You just put fresh PJ's on, grab a hot chocolate and focus on feeling better, I will take care of Zoella". So here I am, hijacking her little slice of the web for a while- I do hope you don't mind.

I thought that since reviews are written from a personal perspective, and you have come here for Zoe's highly regarded opinions, that perhaps it might be better for me to do more of a fun post. I have decided to go wild, and share with you some fun memories that I have with my chummy and hope also that when Zoe reads them, she will chuckle to herself.



Did You Know.....?

That about 6 months ago, on the way back from an event, Zoe and I got the giggles on a late train so badly that we were given some killer evils from other (rather unfriendly) passengers? You know when you just want to explode with laughter but you cant, so instead you just go puce in colour, shake and make weird squeaks? Well imagine that, times ten, on a busy train of tired commuters. Eep!

That once whilst taking a big batch of OOTD pictures in the countryside together, Zoe decided I needed a belt to compliment my orange dress? I didn't have one so she offered me a lovely black number with gold horse embellishments. Well I don't know if you have noticed (if you have eyeballs then you will have), there is quite a size difference between Zoe and I. Somehow, managed to squeeze myself in to it, felt proud (and breathless), started climbing over a fence to reach a tractor (as you do) and PING! the belt literally burst off! There I was, in the middle of a field, straddling a fence, whilst Zoe scrabbled around the foliage trying to find her belt. It. Was. Hilarious!!

That on nights out with Zoe I loose all conversational skills? For my birthday this year we popped into town with Fleur for a few celebratory drinks. Naturally, as the birthday girl, I had let my hair down and was 'merry, so to speak. As we were leaving the bar, my friend Mark (from my Alton Towers vlog) walked in with some friends. He introduced them and said one of them was South African. I don't know what possessed me to do this, but VERY loudly I said, "Oh wow! You're South African?! Zoe's satnav has the same accent!" and smiled like an absolute loon. He was less than impressed, Zoe looked uncomfortable and I felt pprreeeeeeetttttyyyy stupid! Needless to say, we quickly skiddaddled home!


(This was after the belt up fence saga! Haha)

As you can see, we have an absolute hoot and these are just a couple of our funny little tales.

I really do hope that Zoe sees some sunnier days in the near future and that we can split our sides laughing again very, very soon.

If you have any well wishes or uplifting words for ZoeChummy, please do leave them in the comments, I am sure she'd be glad to read them. I know from personal experience what a wonderful and supportive community this can be and know you will all understand Zoe's absence today.

To Zoe :: You are very much loved and tomorrow will be better then yesterday. ♥ Also, don't be mad at me if I didn't format this the way you normally do! Hahaha ;)

Toodlepip!

xx

Mykonos | The Holiday of Dreams

The last time I went on any sort of relaxing holiday was when I was 16 and I joined my friend and her family for a week in Portugal. Since then, there has been Playlist in Florida, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but it wasn't the sort of holiday where you lie by the pool, listen to music and take afternoon naps on the sun beds. Over the last couple of days, I joined a group of friends on a trip to Mykonos in Greece. I'd been to Greece before, Rhodes to be exact when I was 13, so I knew it was a beautiful country, but I had no idea how utterly breath taking Mykonos would be.

Bikini: Asos - Top: Zara - Shorts: Zara - Sandals: Primark

We stayed at a boutique suite hotel called "Bill & Coo" which, depending on the time of year you visit and the sort of room you require can be in budget or very expensive, so if you're looking into a holiday there, check the prices online with the different seasons and months. 

I can safely say that this is the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in abroad. I had a suite with a hot tub on the balcony and private sun beds (perfect if you are one of those sorts of people who prefer a little *ehem* naked *cough* private tanning (trust me, some people did do this). The rooms were so clean and modern and had everything you could ever need. I was like a child on Christmas Day entering the room. 

Dress: River Island - Bag: Zara - Lipstick : Rimmel Kate Moss 107

Here's a familiar face, it's my gorgeous friend Tanya, and here we are all glammed up for a meal out in the town of Mykonos which was only a 5 minute walk from the hotel. We are also seen here, pretending to drive one of these bad-ass quad bikes. I don't quite think we fit the "bad-ass-quad-bikers" category. 

This is by the port where a lot of the restaurants and bars are situated. It looked so beautiful as the sun was setting and with all the little (and large) boats bobbing on the water.

Dress: Ted Baker

Here we are again on our last night heading out for dinner in Mykonos. There are so many cute and quaint little restaurants there, it's a shame we didn't stay longer than 4 days as it would have been amazing to have been to many more.

There were lot's and lots's of stray kitty cats in Mykonos that would just sit elegantly on stairs and shop doorways as people passed through the town.

The restaurant we visited on the last night was called "Interni" (pictures below) and it was honestly one of the nicest places i've ever eaten. I ordered a cherry tomato and basil pasta and it was the best pasta i've ever had my life, alongside a delicious virgin mojito (my current go-to beverage)

Here's a snap of me on a wall at sunset with the sea and beach behind me and another shot of Tanya and I on the stairs that led down into the Interni garden restaurant. 

Just generally walking through the town was one of my favourite parts of the holiday, besides great food, sun and amazing company, the streets were so clean, white and fresh and everything looks so idyllic and beautiful (especially at night). 

This is the section that could quite possibly make your mouth water. We found a cute little ice cream and crepe shop called "Trio Bambini" and they had the most amazing selection of ice creams and crepes. I am a HUGE sucker for crepes, they are my absolute favourite, and there was a crepe shop round every corner in Mykonos. (This is one of my many reasons for wanting to live there haha)

 

The hotel pool at night was one of the many highlights of staying at "Bill and Coo". It always looked amazing. There were little twinkling lights at the bottom of the pool making it look so magical, and then candle lit lanters surrounding it. It was nice to lie out after being out for dinner by the bar and just gaze at the stars on the sun beds and chill out by the pool.

 Top: Zara - Shorts: River Island - Blazer: New Look - Sunnies: Ray Ban

On one of the days we were there, we popped to Nammos beach which was incredible. The beach was so pretty and the water was so clear. The only thing I will say, is that it's not really somewhere to go and relax (unless you pick a sun bed towards the right of the beach) as there is quite loud music and cocktails being poured and served every 3 seconds. It's a very glamorous place to go with your girly friends to get quite tipsy, but not so much for a relaxing afternoon. We still made the most of it and dipped our toes in the sea :)

The hotel was the nicest place i've ever stayed, all the staff were so polite, accommodating and friendly and the food and service were both impeccable. There was not one thing I would have changed about my stay there. The views were incredible, the rooms were amazing and the Island itself was so pretty. I would definitely go back. I am now writing this blog post with post-holiday blues and wish I could live there forever and ever. I can't wait to start planning my next visit. I had the best 5 days ever!

♥

YouTube | Twitter | Facebook | Bloglovin' | Pinterest | Tumblr