La De Dah travel journal

an over view of where I'm going

Along with basically everyone and their dog I love travelling and to remember everything I've done I love taking photo's ,which you should already know from an earlier post ;), but instead of putting them in a bogstandered and boring photo album and doing the hole scrap booking thing (because to be honest that's way to much effort for me) I put them in my La De Dah travel journal which has the storage of a photo album  and the uniqueness of a scrapbook with more colour and half as much work and as I said in a past post (summer) I'm going to do a week in pictures using my journal. 

the two opening pages for my trip

So if you don't know what a La De Dah travel journal is it's a smaller version of a scrapbook but with colourful pages and inserts created by the company which you can buy at most craft and hobby shops as well as online ( as my link shows). Personally I buy my supplies from my local hobbycraft where I also pick up other supplies for my journal from other companies. One I like to buy from is Santoro Gorjuss which is a company I love and also recommend you check out because as well as making craft supplies they make bags and notebooks, pens and other accessories or I just get the hobbycraft  craft packs full of stuff for only £15  which are perfect for the journal. The journal's come' in a large range of styles from: Indie to pretty to baby for their first holiday. Made for travel they have pages for all your holiday adventures but can be used for just your everyday adventures and memories.

the cover of my journal

As I'm journalling my holiday this year and have already made my title page I thought I would show you how I personally use the journal and which one I use with which inserts.

Aimee
xoxo



   

Summer

So summer is here with it's blue Sky's, sunny days, warm weather... well only if you live somewhere hot and not in the UK like my self or if you're going away to some where hot and tropical, not like my self. But instead of going away somewhere hot I'm going up to Scotland to see my family and go back to where my family is from just like I do every year. This year I'm going up for 4 weeks to catch up on everything I've missed over the year as well as Scotland being my favorite place so I love going up and to be honest 4 weeks still isn't long enough.
But to keep you updated on all my adventures and everything I'm doing I'll do a weekly round up of everything I've done through out that week; my week in photos as well as pictures of my La De Dah journal which I'm going to make over the summer. So to stay up dated on my trips to Loch Ness, the beach and Bijou by the sea make sure to visit my blog and read all about it.

Aimee
xoxo

Coconut oil

In my monthly must haves I talked about coconut oil and briefly explained the uses and places you can buy it and the brand I use and how I use virgin coconut oil but being as I did go into it briefly I thought I would go in to it in a bit more detail.  

As I said before I use the brand coconoil which is "certified virgin coconut oil organic" so means it's totally pure having had nothing added to it and so is better for you and your skin than say a moisturiser that has had chemicals, scents and colours added to it and could be doing more damage than good! As well as being organic which means that when it was grown it had nothing added to it like chemicals again meaning it's a lot better for you than some thing that isn't organic. 

Although being rather expensive being £20 for 460g it lasts a long time being quite a big pot it is grown in Sir Lanka and is: 

• cold pressed 
• rich in lauric acid 
• cholesterol free 
• naturally  sugar free
• rich in medium chain triglycerides (MCT) 
• energy boosting 
• flavour enhancing 
• no additives 
• no preservatives       

which is a lot of benefits for a pot of 460g making it defiantly worth £20. As well as having a lot of benefits it also has a lot of uses again making it worth £20 some of which are: 

• cooking - instead of fattening oils as well as being flavour and energy boosting. 
• as a moisturiser - as a body and face moisturiser although at first feeling oily on the skin after a few minutes of letting it sink in it makes your skin feel soft and refreshed weather you use it on your face or body. Although I tend to only use it on my face at night as make up tends to slip of my face due to the oil creating a barrier. 
• hair mask - I use the coconut oil as a hair mask; around 20 minutes before I go into the shower (I recommend only use it when your having a shower)I use the mask in two ways: if I feel the ends of my hair are getting damaged or just need a bit of help I will concentrate the oil on the ends of my hair, I work the oil up from the bottom of my hair up to the nape of my neck and then put my hair up in a clip or in a top not letting the oil sit in the hair. Then just before I go into the shower I shampoo the ends because if you don't the oil creates a barrier stopping the oil from being washed out properly. And if I feel my scalp is dry or damaged it will do the same process but work the oil from my hair line just to the nape of my neck and pin my hair up and then shampoo my hair and then wash it out.  

Although I know some things about coconut oil and how to use it but I'm defiantly not an expert and a lot of people know a lot more than I do and one person who knows a lot more than I do is the owner of the blog Wellness mama  who has a post about 101 ways to use coconut oil which I think you should check out if you want some more information on it!  

I hope you enjoyed a little bit more information on coconut oil and I hope that it was a help! 

Talk to you soon 

Aimee 

xoxox

Monthly Must Haves!

I can't believe that already May is coming to an end, the months just seem to be flying past and soon I will be at the end of the school year as well as my birthday! Although it seems this month has just flashed before my eyes I have got some favourites or: my monthly must haves!

Makeup

Miracle skin cream

Firstly my favourite makeup and skin care product is a 2 or 3 in one, the Garnier Miracle skin cream, a mix of a BB cream/foundation and moisturiser it's the perfect speed product in a morning especially for me as I am defiantly not a morning person and like to sleep in for as long as possible! It makes your skin glow and look dewy with out looking oily as well as having beautiful light coverage that lets your own skin and imperfections shine through making it look like you having nothing on your skin! Because it's also a moisturiser it feels like you have a moisturiser on your skin, it doesn't block your pores and because of this my skin with out makeup just keeps getting better and better so I agree with the name and would say that it is defiantly a miracle skin cream and defiantly some thing that I will love for months to come. Although I would say the only problem is that it goes on one colour which is a very medium beige so if you are fair or dark skinned this may not be the product for you but being as its such an amazing product I think garnier should bring it out in different shades!


Beauty

 

My beauty must have this month is: coconut oil , coconut oil,is the best natural beauty product I have tried with hundreds of different ways to use it! I choose to use it as a hair mask as well as a face and body moisturiser but you could use it as a healthier option to cooking oil and so much more.I uses the brand coconoil which is the brand in the picture above which I purchase from the little barn gift shop a small little gift and craft shop which sells natural remedies, skin and health care as well as little bits and pieces and gifts. Being next to a bus cafe, farm shop and family fun farm it's the  perfect place for a family day out with something for all the family which I would defiantly recommend going to especially in the summer!  

My favourite artist of the month is Shawn Mendes who I recently discovered when it came up in my suggested section on You tube. I love how he does a lot of acoustic music showing he has real talent as well as having a range of other songs but my favourite has to be life of the party which I think you should defiantly check out! 

My author of the month is Barbara Erskine  the best selling author of Lady of hay. My favourite book of hers is Warrior Princess; a book about a girl called Jess who has a terrible crime commuted to her so goes a way to her sisters house in Wales where she discovers a ghost called Egion and her brother and sister in the forest around the house. She connects with Egion as she had the same terrible thing happen to her and she travels to Rome to follow Egion's Story! It's an amazing book which I couldn't put down, at the start it makes you think one person did it but then changes half way through and the story is forever evolving and there's never a boring moment, as every chapters is a cliff hanger! I think everyone no matter your genre of book should read it! 

My you tuber of the month is Jessieidk being one of my best friends in real life she is also a very talented youtuber who's channel I love. She only recently joined youtube so doesn't have many subscribers but she defiantly deserves more and I'm going to be in an upcoming video so make sure to check that out!     


And finally my favourite shop of the month is Shopebbo which is an online jewelry shop which sells bracelets, necklaces, rings, watches and more. I love this shop because of all their beautiful  jewelry which is defiantly my style which I love and I can't wait to buy some more! 

So that's all my favourite things for this month or my monthly must haves! 
Hope to talk to you soon
Aimee
xoxo 

Birthday Wishlist !!!

Bucket list book rom etsy

So very soon it's my birthday (the 4th of June) and it's an understatement to say I'm very excited since we're keeping up the family tradition of going to London every year but being as it's less than a month till my birthday my family and friends start asking me about what I want so I thought to make it easier and I would just write it all down.....


sun flower vans

Book mark from etsy

Mac Cinderella lip stick in free as butterfly

Anastasia dip brown pomade in blonde

Jack wills flats

So the first thing I would like are the sun flower vans from schuh; my favourite shoes at the minute are my American flag vans which I got for Christmas which are all ready falling apart  since I wear them everyday because they are literally the comfiest shoes I've ever had hence the reason I won't another pair as well as the fact that their really cute!

 

The second thing I would like is a Bucket list book from estsy as this year I'm doing lots of cool and exciting things like sleeping under the stars or just exploring London as well as spending several weeks in Scotland with my family so I would just like to note down and write about everything I'm doing and have done.

 

The 3rd thing I would love to get is the Mac lipstick in "free as a butterfly" from the cinderella collection the Cinderella collection is so so beautiful as well as my love for nude lipsticks (my ever growing collection)  so this absolutely beautiful lipstick would just be the icing on the cake to my lipstick collection.

 

The fourth thing I would like to get is the dip brow pomade in blonde from Anastasia Beverly hills because I'm naturally blonde and so naturally have invisible eyebrows so this product will help me to "up my brow game" as well as making sure that at the end of a school day my eyebrows haven't worn off.

 

The fifth thing I would like is a book mark from etsy   being as I'm a big reader I don't actually have any nice (or actually any) book marks so I thought if I got a really nice one which I can use for a really long time!

 

And the last but most certainly not the least thing I would like are Jack Wills flats  in a size five but as well as being the most lovely thing they are  also the most expensive thing on my list but defiantly amazing quality  so will last me a really long time so I will most certainly (make sure!) I will get ALL of my bang for my buck!

 

So this is my birthday list and this is in no way trying to make you feel you have to buy my something but just to give people who I actually know who WANT to buy me something an idea about what I like.

 

Talk to you soon

Aimee

xoxo

 

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Beautiful Places!

One of the things I love doing is traveling;
Seeing new things, tasting new food, learning about cutlers and beliefs and most of all learning about the history of the country, town or city. Finding the hidden stories of the people who lived their, discovering a new world, finding how they lived, what they did, what they believed and so much more. It's like an unopened book just begging to be read. It broadens your mind and makes you think how different thing were and even now how different that new place is. Because all these places are so different they are also so beautiful too some of my favourite places are:


Belgium


Ghent

A roof top view

 One very beautiful place I love a lot is Ghent in Belgium, as well as a lot of other places in Belgium but my favourite is Ghent, with its ancient architecture being full of beautiful grand buildings and a beautiful bell tower I would recommend it to everyone to go and visit and I wish I had spent longer there and discovered more. The people are very kind and welcoming as well as a large number of the population speaking English ,the second most common language in the city,it has a lot of places to spend the day in adorable river side cafes, under a sheltered bridge listening to the amazing music of the buskers or just in the shadow of the bell tower of cathedral defiantly enough to do to spend two weeks exploring as well as having the best frozen yogurt I have ever had I recommend just natural with raspberries and water melon!B and B's in Ghent

   

The cathedral in Ghent 

 
 











Ypres

My second beautiful place is still in Belgium but has a deeply darker history

4 soldiers in a Germany Cemetery

#photo bomb

than Ghent, a place where battles were fought and won and lives lost and saved a place defiantly filled with unread stories and dark secrets taken to the grave. Ypres Belgium is home to the thousands of graves of the world war one solders, host to many battles and home to many deaths. It is filled with beautiful trees, houses and buildings as well as beautiful cemeteries ( you will defiantly notice the difference between German and British graves) it is the perfect tourist destination and defiantly has amazing chocolate and chips. I spent a day their with Anglian tours and it was one of the most insightful and emotional days of my life we learned a lot, eating "trench food", learning how to sign up, seeing the uniforms, looking at rebuilt trenches as well as watching a day in the trenches and finally singing silent night just like they did on Christmas day all those years ago. Ypres is a truly beautiful city I instantly fell in love with, suited and very welcoming to tourists and just like Ghent I defiantly recommend you visiting and learning about all the history of the Great War! B and B's in Ypres


 A British Cemetery

 Btw sorry for all the pictures I had a lot to choose from.


Germany



Another beautiful place not so far from Belgium although having a large part in the dark history of the country is Germany with it's rolling hills and beautiful river side banks it is defiantly easy on the eyes, I went on holiday there for a week, site seeing , going over cable cars, searching through shops and best of all going to fantasia land a huge theme park a lot like Thorpe park of or Alton towers. I love the country seeing it from the river on the cruise and from the sky on the cable car defiantly helped to revile some of its secrets, as well as being beautiful it had some lovely food and ice cream (a lot like all the other countries). I would defiantly visit again and recommend as well as having a lot to see it was a good place to unwind with beautiful towns perfect for a photograph keen to widen their collection!B and B's in Germany


Scotland


Last but certainly not least and any less beautiful is Scotland full of tall mountains, hills, lakes/loch's and castles and a lot of history is the perfect place for me and defiantly my favourite out of the four. With my family originally being from the Isle Of Lewis I have spent a lot of time there especially in Buckie; an ancient fishing village, with a large harbour full of big beautiful boats, stunning coastlines and beach's with little caves ready to discover and  gorgeous B and B's on the coat it has everything to offer a tourist. My favourite place to eat there is Bejou by the sea a café with sea views, amazing food, lovely ice cream and a sister shop in a near by town and not too expensive you could eat a lot of meals there especially if your staying in the caravan and trailer park across the road. Scotland and Buckie has a lot to offer like loch ness, the Edinburgh volts and distilleries and if any of you have the chance to go and explore the beautiful country you should grasp it with two hands!











So I hope you enjoyed all the beautiful places I have been and hope to add to!
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Talk to you soon
Aimee
xoxo



  

Photography

One of my favourite hobbies and past times is photography,
I love just walking around the country side and down country lanes seeing all the natural beauty around me: all the flowers, trees and animals so simple but still so perfect. Taking out my camera, finding the perfect angle to pick up all the colour and beauty while adding shadows and depth and finally creating a picture your proud of and getting ready to share. Walking round pushing out all the stresses and problems in the world and just letting your mind wonder as you become addicted to the natural world, the soothing sound of bird song or Sam Smith through your head phones and cool air blowing through your hair and across your face. Looking deeply and clearly into the trees and flowers seeing things you usually miss in your daily lives rushing, stressed you wont make the train or buss. Reminding you not to take everything for granted and to love the world you live in, taking the photo and holding on to the memory of what you saw creating a piece of your history that you will never forget. Because you pressed a small button and created a click. 

 Lot's of Love
Aimee
xoxo