A Young But Sophisticated Present

Now that i'm 20 I should really be giving gifts like this with darker shades and which come under the category of home wear...I'm not sure if that will ever happen haha, but because this was a muted gift compared to the others I delayed posting about it. That was until my friend personally asked if I had uploaded a post and I reconsidered, it has been hard to upload blog posts of gifts while a) I have been trying to save while being a poor university student b) I have been trying to focus on study while being a poor university student and c) it has not been christmas time which = waiting on birthdays to give presents.
These two cushions were $15 each from a shop called Red Current and I found the card around my house. I was originally going to get her only 1 but then I thought it would be better to have two matching ones, as it is unlikely she will find the exact pattern to match on other items, and also, she will be able to put these on couches, and her bed, or wherever she wants when she moves out of home and has to suddenly spend most of her money on things like cutlery and clothes pegs.

University Orientation Mardi Gras

My friends and I went to an event for the first week back at university, which was in the theme of 'Mardi Gras'. On the website it said 'dress in crazy colours (purple green and gold)' which I found humorous because those are some of the least bright colours I know. It was a cold day, but I ended up wearing a bohemian-esque crop top from an op shop, a black body-con skirt which was a gift from my granny from England (haha), purple Dr Martens, a string with purple flower things on it (which I found around my house), and a bag which was also given to me by my Aunty. My friend Kirsten's outfit was my absolute favourite, her gold shorts are the cutest, and we helped her choose her sweater which is from Cotton On. Her outfit is also very her with the cat ears and jelly shoes haha. One of my friends wore purple, green and yellow instead of gold, and I almost sang her that song by Hilary duff that goes 'you always dress in yellow when you wanna dress in gold,' haha.

In the days leading up to the event we spent them sending each other pictures of on-theme nail polish, realized how many things in our room that were not clothes, were purple, green and gold, and  every time we looked at clothes in our wardrobe that would be good for dancing would go 'oh I could wear this to Mardi Gras!' then would realize it was red. 

 In the end a band which I didn't know played with cool pictures in the background like cats and Beyoncé, we got very squished in a crowd, got three strings of beads, tried to find our crushes, and got photobombed.

Present odds n ends

From left: Maybelline Baby Lips in Smoothing Cherry, The Body Shop 50ml  strawberry body butter, Country Road Love Heart Sock, Licorice soap from a local gift shop, and The Body Shop 250ml blueberry shower gel (special edition).

These are some of my favourites in which I haven't given away, and may keep majority for myself.....

New Zealand batch

A few weeks ago some members of my family and I travelled to my grandparent's 'fishing hut' to say one last farewell before it is sold to new owners. I felt it was important to take photos and bid it farewell as my granny designed the house and some of the details and patterns are what I would to call grannilicious. Unfortunately some of the wall fixtures were taken down before I took these photos, but I tried to still express as much of a holiday house vibe as I could.

Attempt at a Laid-back Gift..

This is a present for one of my first friends that I made while living away from home. She said that if any of us were going to get her a present, she wanted to have a collection of jelly shoes, because she thinks they're running out. When she came down to visit me and some of our other friends, she pointed out that she liked these blue heels, however they didn't have her size. Luckily, I found her size in Auckland for only $10! I also got her some matching socks from one of my favourite gift shops, and because she is always busy, a 'safe keeper' in which is 'perfect for coins, jewellery, earphones or any loose items in your handbag.' 

What's in my bag!? University/College edition

These are my fave bag essentials - especially when I have work and university!

• Black bag from Volcom, I got this bag from my best friend a few years ago and it is big and versatile, and also has a small flock of stars as a keychain.
• Purple dip dye wallet from Equip, I bought this when I first moved out and went to university, as I started getting more cards and needed something to accommodate them all. 
• IPhone 5 and it's headphones, & Macbook Air with a Hello Kitty sticker, the laptop in particular  is perfect for carrying to university to type up notes or using for work in the library. 
• Leopard notebook and 2014 diary from Typo, these got color-ordinated somehow! I always buy my uni books for notes from Typo because they're around $8, and have 4 sections, perfect for when you are taking 4 papers.  
• Sunglasses with a green tint from Glassons, a cute alternative to classic black sunglasses.
• Clean & Clear essentials SPF15 moisturizer, when i'm in a rush this is sometimes the only thing I wear on my face. 
• Maybelline Dream Fresh BB creme in light, Maybelline The Collosal Volum' Express Mascara, Maybelline Baby Lips Pink Glow, and Maybelline Baby Lips Anti-Oxidant Berry. I love these all, but in particular am a huge fan of taking two Baby Lips with me at all times, one for when I want my lips to have a bit of colour and gloss, and something for when I want something that has a SPF for when I'm outside. 
• Strawberry small body butter, whenever people buy gifts for others from The Body Shop, they tend to go for the strawberry flavor, but no matter what, I still love this scent the best! Perfect for a bit of a fruity smell, which is a bit more relaxed then taking a perfume. 
• H2go Drink bottle, but I really love anything you can drink out of with a screw top! 
• Finally, the scrunchy was a gift from Japan, which I use when my hair is in my face!

Girly Gift for $10!!

One of my friends came to visit me these holidays, and since we hadn't really seen each other over Christmas, we both gave each other small presents. She has similar interests to me than some of my friends, so I got her the ultimate girly gift with some of my favourites, costing $10 with: 

Sex and the City Essentials Fashion DVD (3 episodes) $2.50, Peter Alexander Sleep mask $4, and Licorice soap $3.50. The gift she gave me will be in the next post!!