Film Review: Joy

When I saw that there was a new film starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, made by the same people who brought us Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, I was pretty much sold already, without knowing too much about the plot.

Inspired by true events, Joy follows the story of the eponymous character which is told from her grandmother's point of view, which I personally found to be a really interesting perspective on the story. 

Joy is a single mother living in an overcrowded home: she lives with her grandmother and daughter, her mother who won't leave her room and constantly watches TV, her ex-husband lives in the basement and her father is forced to move in after his latest relationship breaks down. 

The story is that of the underdog - Joy lives a pretty miserable life and then comes up with an invention which she hopes will see her out of poverty. Overseen by her new boss, played by Bradley Cooper (it was interesting to see the pair playing colleagues instead of lovers and both gave a very convincing performance) Joy must overcome many hurdles to reach success. 

Spoiler alert: it doesn't end with Joy meeting the love of her life, she neither reunites with her ex-husband nor falls in love with Cooper's character. She loves her daughter unconditionally and relies on the advice of her childhood friend. It's a story about an inspirational woman who achieves ultimate success by herself. 

I loved it. 

Joy is out in cinemas now. 

Hello November

November is here, which means that winter is just around the corner and I simply cannot believe how quickly 2015 has gone!

Here is everything I have to anticipate this month. 

• My first assessment for my second year is due this month, which is a little unnerving as I know that this year my work actually counts and I need to do well. I think there will be a few cramming sessions in the library over the coming weeks. 
• Being at university means that me and my house mates have to start planning for Christmas early as everyone heads home around mid-December. This means that we can start decorating the flat and organising Secret Santa - I love Christmas! 
• I turn 20 at the end of the month, and I am a little sad about the fact that I will no longer be a teenager. 
• To celebrate my birthday me and my mum are going down to Bristol to see our all time favourite musical, Mary Poppins. It seems an apt way to end my teenage years by going to see something that was so important to me during my childhood. 
• One of my best friends is going to France for five months at the end of November to work at a ski resort for the whole season. It's such a fantastic opportunity but I can't deny how much I'm going to miss her, especially as she only lives around the corner from me! She is having a party before she leaves to say goodbye to everyone which I know will be a great send off. 
• I can start to look at booking flights and getting some of the logisitics organised for Camp Thailand this month - I don't leave until the end of June but I'm still so excited!

A lot of people think of November as a sort of bleak month, but I think I've got enough to keep me happy until December and the true planning for Christmas begins!

What are you looking forward to this month?

Halloween 2015: Chucky

This year for Halloween I decided to work with the fact that I'm a baby-faced ginger and went as Chucky. 

For my make up I followed this incredible tutorial by MissJessicaHarlow. The only changes I made were using red lipstick around my eye as I couldn't find any bright red eye shadow (does anyone know where I might be able to get some next year?) and I cheated with the stitches by using black liquid eye liner instead of gluing on actual thread. The video was really informative and easy to follow without going on for ages and I will definitely be using her tutorials again! 

There are proper Chucky costumes available for around £30 on Amazon but being a student I couldn't face spending that kind of money on something I will only wear once. I dug out my dungaree shorts from summer and bought a cheap striped vest in the Topshop sale. I paired the look with red Converse trainers as there is no obligation to wear heels when going out at uni - which I love.

For my hair I roughly curled it in sections using my curling wand, backcombed and used a lot of hairspray. Although Chucky has straight hair in the movies I thought this look was a little more 'wild' and my hair never stays straight anyway!

What do you guys think of my costume and what did you go as for Halloween this year?

Comment below!

OOTD: Getting Organised

Top - Dorothy Perkins

Pinny Dress - Dorothy Perkins

Coat - Ark

Bag - Debenhams

Shoes - Office 

You might remember this pinny and turtleneck combination from a recent shopping haul post, well today I got an opportunity to wear it!

I've moved back to university and this week is a busy one of settling back in, reuniting with people I haven't seen since June and getting everything lined up for the next year. I'm lucky because I was able to keep the job that I did last year, but this year I also want to get more in to sports (I'm even considering joining a sports society) and get some much needed work experience to get me ahead of the game when it comes to graduate jobs. If the next two years go even half as quickly as the first one, it's going to get around to graduation really quickly and I want to have the best CV possible!

These shoes were an absolute bargain in the Office sale at only £32 - I've been wanting something like this for a while and was evening considering splashing out £90 on the Dr Martens version, but these came along just in time. They're really wearable and the thick sole makes them practical and helps to avoid the primary school look.

What did you guys wear today? 

Real Student Food: Sweet Chilli Wraps

This is the first post in what I'm hoping will be a new feature on this blog: Real Student Food.

As a university student, I have the sometimes difficult task of cooking for one person a lot of the time, and when I've looked to student cookbooks or online recipes, they often don't cater for just one person, and the portions can be difficult to size down (seriously, what am I supposed to do with the other seven eighths of a bell pepper?) so I've found myself improvising.

I'll be posting my meals with the prices of the ingredients and the price per portion, as sticking to a budget is a key part of student food.

A lot of the food I make is incredibly simple, I try to be healthy where I can, the so called 'Freshers 15' is a real issue for students and one that I hope to avoid.

Today's recipe: Sweet Chilli Wraps with chips and salad.

Price of ingredients:

Salad leaves £1

Chicken Goujons £2

Tortillas £1

Chips £2 

Sweet Chilli Sauce £1.50 

Total: £7.50

Price per portion:

Salad leaves 30p

Chicken Goujons £1

Tortillas 25p

Chips 25p

Sweet Chilli Sauce 10p

Total: £1.90

Simply cook the goujons and chips according to the packet instructions, wrap up the chicken with the sauce and salad leaves and serve with chips and salad leaves. 

This recipe does leave about half the pack of goujons, these can be covered over with foil and put back in the fridge for a couple of days or frozen so that they last longer. The remaining tortillas can also be frozen for use at a later date. The salad will go off quickly, so I'll try to incorporate that into my meals as a side for the next couple of days. 

Room Tour

Inspired by the lovely Amy over at The Creative Outlook, when I moved in to my new university flat I took some pictures to show to you all.

Student accommodation has a bit of a bad reputation, and it is partly deserved, as the rooms do look slightly prison cell-like when you first walk in. However, some pretty bedding, a few posters and putting things on the shelves really do make all the difference. 

Here is my room this year. 

Various posters. I adore my Alice in Wonderland Spineless Classic, which is the entire book printed on to one page in a gorgeous design! They are available in lots of titles so you can view the full collection here. 

Shelving. Full of stationary (I have a slight obsession with Paperchase) boring theory books which I'll actually have to study very soon and photos that I got printed using Snapfish. I was very impressed by the price and speedy delivery of my photos. 

My bed. The bedding and fairy lights are from Wilko and the blanket was made by my aunty as a moving in present last year.

Let me know what you think in the comments! 

New Buys

I'm now pretty certain that we have reached autumn, and for me that means lots of chunky knit jumpers, scarves and being able to wear all the black I want without looking quite so strange.

I went for a different approach to taking my photos today, using my brother's very plain bedroom wall as a background. As much as I love my own bedroom, my covered walls don't lend themselves quite so well to product photos. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Here are my most recent purchases. 

Scarf - New Look

I am a huge fan of tartan and this scarf is a fantastic way to incorporate it in to my daily look. The rich shades of purple, orange and navy also look great for autumn. It is also incredibly soft and will be lovely to snuggle in to as the weather turns colder. 

Jumper Dress - Next

Also available in cream, this jumper is one of the most comfortable things I've ever owned and I can't wait for the depths of winter to come just so that I can wear this! Teamed with either tights and Converse or leggings and Doc Marts, this jumper makes January 9am lectures seem almost bearable. 

Blanket Wrap - Boohoo

You may remember my recent post on blanket wraps, where I was searching the internet in search of the one. Well, I finally decided on Boohoo's version of the trend. The black and white check pattern means that it will be very wearable. It's also incredibly warm and will almost feel like I'm still in bed during bleak November mornings. 

Top - Dorothy Perkins

I rarely seem to return from a shopping trip these days without having bought some kind of black top and this outing was no exception. This style is all over the high street at the moment, but the one in Dorothy Perkins really took my fancy. A very wearable piece that will see me through a lot of "what should I wear?" stresses. 

Jumper - Primark

I am a huge fan of the turtle neck trend that seems to have taken the high street by storm. A lot of people slate Primark but I think that it cannot be beaten when it comes to basic pieces like this that might only be on trend for one season. As the jumper is quite thin it will be great for layering during this changeable time. 

Bag - Primark

This bag was an absolute steal - it was only £7 and look how much detail is on the flap! With a magnetic flap closing, adjustable strap and inside zip pocket, this is a perfect bag to carry essentials in when I feel like mixing it up from wearing black all the time. 

What were your favourite pieces?

Are there any trends you are loving this season?