What I Got For My Birthday 2018

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22...actually I think I am just feeling old! Clearly 22 is not old, it's just that I feel (and look) about 17, but suddenly I am a graduate and a proper adult! My birthday was on Friday and I had a lovely day with family, mostly chatting and eating. I was also lucky enough to receive some beautiful gifts so I thought I would share them with you. The one thing I have left out of this post is a special gift which I chose from my parents that I am going to write a separate post about. Hint: it's something I need to style up.

The first thing I opened was this beautiful jewellery stand from Oliver Bonas that has been on my wishlist for a very long time. It's gold, marble and a minimal style, meaning it is right up my street. I love how it looks next to my Roberts Radio which also picks up the gold, and I have already hung some of my new and favourite jewellery on it.

Unfortunately this seems to have sold out online, however, a similar style can be found here.

As you may know from previous post or my Instagram I have recently been on a family holiday to Naxos and Paros. We wondered around a lot of beautiful shops and I loved all of the "evil eye" pieces that despite their legend have become a trend, particularly on jewellery. This is a beautiful little bracelet that my brother picked up for me, that happens to go really well with my gold watch shown below.

I love The Body Shop products and this hand cream is divine. It smells lovely and isn't at all sticky so will be perfect when the weather gets a bit colder and I am reaching for my hand cream more and more often.

Almond Hand and Nail Cream

Some beautiful faux pearls from my auntie. I love the irregular shape of the pearls and think these will go with so many outfits.

Before I went to university I couldn't boil an egg! These days I love cooking and trying out new recipes and this Rustic cookbook looks right up my street. Also, it's going to look beautiful on display in a kitchen!

Some more jewellery from our holiday! I spotted these in a beautiful little shop in a village in the mountains of Naxos. I like how they are a bit of a statement earring, but can still be described as delicate, and selfishly because I found them on holiday it is very unlikely anyone else will have them!

I hope that you have enjoyed having a little preview at what I got for my birthday this year. Speak soon, xx

My Top 5 Holiday Essentials

I got back from my two week holiday to Greek islands Naxos and Paros a few days ago and am still trying to adjust to the fact that it is no longer appropriate to wear a bikini instead of underwear. But just in case anyone else is lucky enough to still have some Summer holidays planned I thought I would share my top 5 holiday essentials.

The Linen Shirt 
I remember reading somewhere that instead of a beach coverup Lucy Williams (ultimate style icon) wears a linen shirt. I am obsessed with how effortless yet chic this looks over a bikini or swimsuit. But I also found that a linen shirt looks great with a pair or shorts or more practically as an extra layer when it gets a bit colder in the evenings. I think I am going to have to say that this is the most essential of all my holiday essentials!

The Large Beach Bag 
I like to pack for the beach like I pack for everything, I overpack. I'll take my camera, phone, hat, sunglasses, an array of different suncreams, a book, an extra bikini, a leat one change of clothes...you get the idea. In my opinion a beach bag should be large enough to fit a beach towel in and still allow plenty of room for all the other beach side essentials listed above.

Eyelash Curlers 
I packed a ridiculous amount of makeup for my holiday only to find that 95% of the time I wasn't wearing any makeup. It was so hot that I would have just sweat it off, but really I just like swimming too much to be faffing with all that. Plus as soon as you get a bit of colour on your cheeks and cute freckles start to appear on your nose, who needs makeup anyway? The one think I did reach for though was my eyelash curlers just to open up my eyes and make it look as though I didn't drink two glasses of wine the night before!

Podcasts 
This holiday I absolutely fell in love with podcasts, and in particular The Food Medic podcast by Dr Hazel Wallace. Don't get me wrong, I do still love books on holiday too, but trying to read in the sunshine is not always easy. Plus it's nice to be able to put some headphones in and shut your eyes. I'm really into health and wellness podcasts at the moment so send me your recommendations!

Insect Repellent 
I learnt my lesson the hard way with this one, as every time that we went out and I forgot to apply my insect repellent I would get eaten alive. It doesn't look great when you have build up a nice even tan, only to then be covered in red lumps and bumps. That's not to mention how itchy and painful some of my bites were, which sometimes lead to awful nights sleep. Yes, applying insect repellent is a pain and stinks, but seriously just do it, and thank me later.

So there you have it, my top 5 holiday essentials and a real mix of style, beauty and life things. I've still got loads of pictures from holidays that I can't wait to share with you, but I'm just unsure of the content that I want to go with them. But if you want to see holiday pictures now then head over to my Instagram at kpenney17 as I have been uploading while I've been away.

Speak soon, xx