Sunday June 20th 2010

Howdy! this week I have crossed the Yokshire border, and returned home like the prodigal son!

Watching?

This week I have gone back to a time of perfume, jewels, glamour and curlers. A time where a man was only as good as his moustache and paycheck and women were just plain B-E-A utiful! This is otherwise known as the fifties. Yes, I carried on my love of all things Marilyn Monroe, and thoroughly enjoyed ‘How to Marry a Millionaire’. This film is just a classic, and stars the delightful Betty Grable as Loco Dempsey, the beautiful Lauren Bacall as Schatze Page, and my hero Marilyn Monroe as Pola Debevoise. It was written by Nunnally Johnson and directed by the one and only Jean Negluscoe. The story follows the three women as they move into a New York Penthouse, on the hunt to marry millionaires. They meet millionaires who are either very old, very fake or very married. And when it seems that none of them will ever find love they all meet and marry their Mister Right! Loco, heads to Maine with an older married millionaire who she doesn’t like or fancy, and eneds up catching the measles, passing it to him and having an amazingly wonderful week with a very strapping forest rancher called Eben, played by Rory Calhoun. Pola gets engaged to a millionaire, with a fake eye patch, but as she never wears her glasses, gets the wrong flight to meet him and meets a glasses wearing hottie called Freddie Denmark, played by David Wayne, who is on the run from the IRS and is actually a millionaire, if he ever gets his money back. Pola ends up falling in love with him after he tells her she is beautiful in her glasses! And Schatze constantly turns down the handsome Tom Brookman, played by Cameron Mitchell, for dates over and over again as she assumes he is a poor man, even though she is secretly attracted to him. And after nearly marrying an old millionaire who she doesn’t love, decides she loves him regardless of his poor paycheck marries him instead, just to find out he is a millionaire!

All in all this film is charming, romantic, extremely funny in places, and as I am a Marilyn fan I must give it a very high score of 9/10

Reading?

This week I have been reading ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ by Sue Monk Kidd published in 2002. This story follows a young girl called Lilly who lives her life thinking she is responsible for the death of her mother who was shot when she was four. At fourteen she has a miserable life with her Father T.Ray who only cares about himself and the peach farm they live on, her only friend is a black servant called Rosaleen. One day as Rosaleen heads into town to register to vote, she is beaten by local men, and Lilly takes it upon herself to save Rosaleen, and follows a trail left by her mother, a picture of Black Madonna, the logo for a honey making company. The small company is run by three sistets, August, June and May who take them in, no questions asked. And the table is turned on Lilly as she becomes the only white person in a black home, and as she learns more about the mysteries of her mother’s life, she lives and works with August and her sisters, no thought for her father and the angry men folk of her home town who are on their trail!

This book is brilliantly written, hard to put down, and extremely packed full of American history. It’s a compelling story which can at times however be a bit slow. Therefore The Secret Life of Bees gets a 7/10

Wearing?

This week I went to visit a very good friend of mine from school in Liverpool! And as it was a celebration of an end of degrees and such and a going out on the town night, I couldn’t think what to wear! I ended up buying a new dress off ASOS.com. Now I’ve used ASOS before, and although you can get some amazing clothes for a cheap price you can also end up waiting around for the package so I recommend you order in advance of the occasion. The great thing about ASOS is the amount of clothing there is to look at and purchase. They have designer clothing, looks based on those of celebrities so you can look like you’re favourite star, and the quality isn’t too bad. I got a new dress with a black top which had a sweetheart neckline, and an oyster pink skirt just above my knee. It was slightly ‘boobish’ at times, but two girls in a club thought it looked nice and asked me where I’d got it. So all in all it was a good buy, the price wasn’t too bad either as it was £35.00 which for a dress like that is quite good.

My final score for ASOS is a 6/10, as the amount of clothing is good, and the quality is good but the delivery is a bit nerve wracking. But I would recommend it to those of you in a tight fix and need a quick outfit for an occasion.


Listening?

This week as I have previously mentioned, and which is turning into a common theme in this blog, is that I went to Liverpool. I had to get the train as I can’t stand driving into unknown city centres and finding places to park, it can be a nightmare. While I was on the train I put on my ipod and the first album that it chose to play was Beyonce ‘I Am...Sasha Fierce’. I love this album, there are two CDS the first one which is ‘I am’ and is full of beautiful, slow gorgeous songs such as ‘If I were a Boy’ and ‘Halo’. Which lulled me into a dreamy state on the horrible train, but it was then transferred to the second section, ‘Sasha Fierce’ which has belters on it like ‘Sweet Dreams’, ‘Diva’, ‘Single Ladies’ and ‘Radio’, which got me ready for the night ahead. This CD is great for all kinds of people and suits whichever mood you’re in. Beyonce is a talented and beautiful singer, and her music is just brilliant and ahead of it’s time. I love this Cd and it is a must for all Beyonce fans!

Beyonce you get a bootilicious 8/10 mwah

Eating?

This week I have eaten at Scream Bar in Liverpool (of course). I was starving after my long journey and just wanted some nice and easy food. Scream Bar is a student hot spot and has some really cool music, sofas, pool table and interesting people. The food was delicious and the staff were lovely! We ordered Cheeseburgers which were served with delicious chips and onion rings and arrived really quickly. It’s no aute cuisine but it is delicious pub grub and is a nice bargain bucket too. The atmosphere was excellent too until the football came on which was horrendously boring. Another downfall was the toilet which was upstairs which after two bottles of Brother’s pear cider is hard work and it wasn’t the cleanest of loos either!

Scream Bar receieves a delightful 7/10

Using?

This week I have used First Transpennine Trains to order my train ticket to Liverpool from Stalybridge. I booked it three days ahead and thought it would be very expensive, but after doing a little testing, I got an open return to and from Liverpool for only £9.30! if I had got a return on a certain day on certain train it would have been £16.00 which is a huge saving!It got me there in an hour and ten too which is really quick as the trains don’t stop at every stop possible like others do. I really like First Transpennine trains they’re really quick and smooth, and the seats are comfy. They come frequently and until later and I’m really pleased with their service.

First Transpennine you get a 8/10 because your food trolley knocked my arm and I have a bruise

Purchasing?

This week I have purchased a new foundation for myself, as I was sick of my other one always wearing off after a few hours. So I got Maybelline New York Dream Satin Liquid in Sand. I really like it it covers really well and blends easily but it doesn’t feel like you have much make up on at all. It says on the back that it is an air whipped formula and is like a light mousse in a liquid designed to cover every pore. Now I don’t think it covers every pore but it does feel very light which is good for the summer months. It also gives a slight luminosity to the skin, but sadly doesn’t last as long as I’d hoped for, I have to set it with a bit of powder after application but all in all it is a good foundation that doesn’t smell too bad and is a good price.

Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid receives a 6/10

Doing?

This week I have been celebrating the end of my university days by getting utterly wasted in Liverpool with my best mate. We went to Cava a very awesome Tequila bar which was amazing, the amount of different flavoured tequila and for only a pound a shot! (the chilli shot however was awful and very spicy!). We also went to Popworld which was really cheesy and we had an amazing pitcher of cocktails which were served in a giant cocktail glass which I want for my house. The music however was good but the DJ extremely annoying and most of the time we wanted to punch him in the back of the head. The third place we ventured was Krazy House, which is a large club with three different floor each with different types of music, the first heavy metal music, the second floor was punky/rock music and the top floor was indie and pop music. This club is really cool with the different floors and it had a different atmosphere on each floor with different decor too. It was slightly empty but that was because most of the students had already left for home for the summer.

Liverpool night life gets a huge 9/10, it gets a slight knock down because of the annoying DJ at Popworld and the lack of people in some places. But is a fantastic night out I would recommend to anyone.

Well tarra and tallyhoe for this week! See you soon!


Roadie Love XXX

Sunday June 13th 2010

Hi there folks I'm back again with some more products and 'stuf' I've been Road Testing!!

Watching?

This week, the 2009 film ‘Dorian Gray’ based on Oscar Wilde’s 1891 genius. I read the book in college and when I say read I meant I was forced to study every single sentence until I thought I was going to pass out from boredom. So I was slightly dubious to how great the film would be. I was very surprised to find that the film was fantastic! If you don’t the story I shall give you a small synopsis; Dorian is very good looking (fit!), and on inheriting his Grandfather’s estate he moves to London and meets Basil Hallwood, an artist who wants to capture his ultimate beauty on canvas. Basil introduces Dorian to a gentleman called Lord Henry Wotton, who prizes beauty and youth above all things, and sets out to mould Dorian into technically a ‘player’. When Dorian sees the painting, he feels jealousy that the figure in the painting will be young forever, while he will grow old, he sells his soul to the devil and its all downhill from there for Dorian, who commits mortal and inhumane sins, but never grows old or ugly. The painting which holds his soul changes into a monster.

Back to the film, the film is dark and gothic, the painting is really creepy which I didn’t expect but liked about it, Colin Firth as Henry Wotton is fantastic, Ben Barnes is gorgeous and brilliantly dramatic as Dorian, and Ben Chaplin (relation to Charlie?) plays the tragic and desperate character of Basil Hallwood brilliantly. All in all it is a brilliant creepy and dark film, and a brilliant Ghost story.
Dorian Gray gets a 8/10


 Reading?
Right as I have not actually finished last week’s book, I will tell you about another book I read recently; ‘The Book Thief’ by Marcus Zusak. I borrowed this book from my Dad, as I needed a break from Uni work, and thought it would be an interesting read. And ‘my’ is it interesting.

The story is set in Nazi Germany in 1939, and it follows the miserable life of Liesel, a little girl taken away from her mother, and adopted by the Hubermans, who live on Himmel Street. She is taught to read by Mr Huberman and finds a way to escape from this misery of the war happening around her in books and the power of words. The first book she steals is the Grave Diggers Handbook, taken from the early graveside of her little brother, and throughout her life she takes more books and falls in love with the stories. The interesting aspect of this book is that it is told from the perspective of ‘Death’ itself, who is very busy of course during the years Liesel lives on Himmel Street. This book is a wonderful book, it’s brilliantly written, has an exciting and dramatic storyline, and deserves a read just for another perspective. Once I picked it up I didn’t put it down until I finished it and it is one of my all time favourite books.

The Book Thief has to get my highest score of 10/10

Wearing?

This week I have been wearing some new sandals from New Look. I bought them as they were the same metallic shade of gold as my favourite ones that snapped. They are described as the ‘Cage sandal’ and have lots of detail around the foot, and a zip at the back which helps keep my feet still and in check and were only a measly £16.00. I personally really like them, they have been described as slightly over the top by my friend but I don’t mind standing out a little bit sometimes. They’re really comfortable and don’t have a toe thong which is good as that can rub sometimes and come in two colours, gold and black. . They do have flaws but which shoes don’t? They can be very slippy when wet on the street, and on the shoe itself from your foot, and when I first wore them I felt a bit like I was Paddington Bear in his wellies!

All in all I shall give New Look a 9/10 for their shoe section as the prices and designs of the shoes are fantastic, and I give my new summer sandals a 7/10.

Listening?

This week I have been listening to the new album ‘Fleshtones’ by Kelis. I was surprised when I started listening to this album, as her first album wasn’t really my sort of thing. She’s completely changed her sound to incorporate the new trend for electronic dance pop music (don’t know how else to describe it). The album has her brilliant single ‘Acapella’ and in between each song there is a short piece of music which sets the mood for the next song. My two other fave songs are ‘The 4th of July’ and ‘Song for the Baby’. Its a really cool summer album and worth a second listen to ‘get it’.

Kelis gets a 8/10

Eating?

This week I went to ‘Slug and Lettuce’ with my housemate for lunch to celebrate the handing in of essays and dissertations. Slug and Lettuce is one of my favourite places to eat, the menu is always versatile and changes to suit the season. They make wraps and sandwiches, burger, grilled meats and steak, a delicious baked lasagne, and baked linguine cabonara. This time I had fish and chips which was gorgeous, and my housemate had a Mexican burger. They also have lots of deals and this time it was £10.90 for any bottle of wine, so we got the most expensive one we could but it only cost £10.90! perfect! They also have 2 for 1 desserts which we en joyed!

Slug and Lettuce receives 6/10

Using?

This week I’ve been using Shockwaves Boost it! Heat Defence Volumising Mousse. I’m so bored of my hair at the moment, as it’s inbetween cuts and dye, so I decided to go for a bigger volume look in my hair, also to ease back combing for nights out. First of all it smells gorgeous, and doesn’t leave a sticky mess in your hair like other products can, it adds volume to your hair really well and it lasts until the evening. It would be nice if it lasted longer instead of having to put more in and risk greasiness. Since using the product I have also noticed less split ends and so it does work for the heat defence part of it.

Shockwaves Mousse gets an exciting 7/10

Purchasing?

This week I went for a different magazine than usual, and went for Glamour, not because I need to be more glamorous or anything like that, but because they had free Benefit makeup! Now that’s a bit mean to Glamour magazine, but this month they have either a ‘Badgal Eyeliner’, ‘Eye Bright’ eye pencil and the ‘It stick concealer’. On the website these products are all worth £14.00 each, but Glamour magazine is letting it go to the public for just a measly £2.00. I’m going to get all three! However the magazine itself is ok, it’s a slightly awkward shape and I’m not sure whether it s supposed to be a book or a magazine, and there are adverts inbetween each page which is not good.

Glamour magazine get 5/10 but the fact that it’s letting us get Benefit makeup for £2.00! puts its score up to 6/10

Doing?

This week I’ve been counting down the last three days of my degree, and its now all over, so to pass the bordom I’ve been playing lots of online arcade pc games. I downloaded a Hp Games add on ‘Wild Tangeant Orb’ which allows you to play and download free trials of some arcade games. My favourites are Farm Frenzy, Super Granny, and Build a lot. They all involve doing lots of different tasks at once, by looking after animals, children etc etc. They’re really fun and really addictive, and you get a free trial to play twice before you have the option to pay for the download of the game, or buy wild coins to play the full version and own it. I prefer the free option to just play a game twice, so it doesn’t get too boring and you can have lots of different games.

Wild Tangeant Orb games gets 7/10.

Overall this week has been a bit slow, but I have managed some road testing and trying out of new things for you! Now I’m off to handle the M62 back to Manchester! Next week here I come!

Sunday 6th June 2010

Well hello there few readers of mine, I'm back for another week of roadtesting! last week has been my last full week as University of York student, and I have managed to road test lots of nice things for you!! here goes.

1) Watching?

This week I paid a pilgrimage, like all females all over the world, to see the wondrous Carrie Bradshaw (SJP), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrell), Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) and Miranda Hobbs (Cynthia Nixon), in their new film 'Sex and the City 2!' It's a return for the girls who first starred in an epic telvision series which inspired single women all over the world and who filmed their first film in 2008. This second movie is based around marriage and moving on with life without losing its sparkle. The girls fly to the colourful and rich Abu Dhabi and has some hilarious comedic scenes, and emotinal turmoil. Samantha has a hilarious role this time as someone trying to fight the menapause. Carrie has been married to Big for two years and feels her marriage is losing its sparkle and drive, and meets a long lost boyfriend who nearly costs her the love of her life. Miranda quits her top power job as she is not respected and has no voice, and Charlotte struggles with the responsibility of two small children.

The film itself is very pleasing, it's quite cheesy, very romantic, the costumes are beautiful and the locations they filmed are spectacular. The only negative is that it seems slightly over the top at times but is a film for women all over the world who have a voice!

 As a die hard SATC fan, I have to give it 9/10! I am Woman!

2) Reading?

This week I have been reading The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. This book is set in Barcelona post the Spanish Civil War. It follows the lives of Daniel and his father, who own a book shop. When Daniel is very small his father takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, and asks Daniel to pick one book that calls out to him. He picks a book by a man called The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. This is when the book gets truly interesting, the author Carax is missing and presume murdered and there are no other copied of Julian Carax’s novels. There is a strange man with a burnt face called Lain Coubert, named after one of the characters in Daniel’s book, this man starts following Daniel and demands every copy of every book Julian Carax has ever written. While this is happening the police in Spain start arresting people close to Daniel and there becomes rumours of intrigue, lust, murder and mystery.

It truly is an excellent read, but I haven’t finished it yet so I shant tell you the ending. I shall recommend it to you and it gets a wondrous thumbs up and receives a nice rounded 8/10

3) Wearing?

This week I have been wearing a fantastic birthday present I received for my twenty first birthday from my lovely friends at University. I always a charm bracelet and so five of them decided to get me one. It’s a Thomas Sabo bracelet, and on it I was given four charms, a lovely green emerald for my birth stone, a shiny four leaf clover for luck, A ‘G’ for my first name and a tiny Eiffel tower as I’ve always wanted to go to Paris. I also brought myself a tiny silver diamante cross to go on it aswell. It’s a really nice idea for someones birthday because now i can get charms for other important events in my life and it will always remind me of my friends at Uni who I am leaving soon. It also looks beautiful and Thomas Sabo has lots of different charms to add to bracelets, necklaces and even watches and rings. If you’re looking for a special present for someone this is a brilliant way of showing a little bit of sentimentality.

For that reason it gets a sparkly 10/10

4)Listening?

This week I have been listening to a really great band called ‘Yeasayer’ and their album ‘Odd Blood’. This band from Brooklyn have a unique sound, with a mix of pop, rock and electro with some eastern influences and brilliant vocals. The lyrics are very poetic and it’s a really cool album to just chill out with, dance to and drive with in the car. The band is made up of the vocalist/keyboardist Chris Keating, the vocalist/guitarist Anand Wilder, basist Ira Wolf Tuton and the drummer Luke Fasano. My favourite song has got to be the single they released O.N.E and the song Mondegreen. Really brilliant music.

They get a very jazzy 8/10

5) Eating

This week as my Cupboards were bare, my and the fella sent out for some delicious pizze cheesy goodness from Dominos. I love dominos I love the variety of flavours especially Texas BBQ and the Mighty Meaty. As it was Tuesday we also got two for one on medium or large pizzas. They were delicious, my mouth is watering just thinking about them, and that garlic and herb dip. However they did take an hour to arrive, which is very bad considering it was a Tuesday and I orded them a5:30.

So for that Dominos you get 7/10 you would have got a 9/10 but I don’t wait around for anyone.

6) Using?

This week as it became marginally sunny and summery it was time to get the pins out so I needed to be nice and tanned. As I am an all year gradual tanner, I wanted to have a bit extra this time and I started using Garnier Ambre Solaire No-Streaks Bronzer. This product is a gel, it smells lovely you don't get any bad after smell of biscuits like you do from other tan products, and the colour was lovely. However it it is a bit sticky it takes a while to dry and it did leave tell tale tide marks around my fingers and feet which is  no no. Therefore this product gets a sticky 6/10



7) Purchasing?

This is a new topic this week, which is there to look at what I’ve purchased recently. So as I’m finish university very very soon, I’m going to the Graduate Summer Ball. I needed a dress! I’ve been everywhere trying on dresses, looking online and looking at what I already have, but found nothing. So I rallied the troops (i.e. my mother, shopper extraordinaire) and headed up to Coast. Now I’d been in Coast before but had found nothing! Zero. Zilch. However this time lurking behind some of the other dresses was a very beautiful green little number. Which is perfect, and although was a £75 worth of perfect, I just had to have it! Now I’m not going to show you a picture of my dress until I’ve been to the ball so you’ll have to wait a few weeks. But Coast is a really nice shop for prom dresses, ball dresses and outfits for weddings and races, and it’s worth looking around and trying on lots of different ones first, so you can figure out what suits you.

Coast has a massive range and they get a glorious 8/10.

8) Doing?

Finally this week in a bid to look gorgeous for the summer, I’ve taken up the dreaded evil exercise. As I will never set foot in a gym and felt a bit embarrassed I’ve gone down the route of the home exercise video. I plumped (get it plump!) for ‘Davina Fit’ Featuring Davina ‘This is Davina’ McCall. It’s a really good DVD, she works with two other instructors and divides all the exercises into five key stages, so you can pick what you want to do. The first stage is Aerobics Fit, which is really fats paced and eek sweaty, the second is Top Fit which is loads of exercises designed to keep your upper body toned, then there is bottom fit, for your legs and bum and Kick Fit, which is loads of Kick Boxing moves designed to strengthen your core. As well as this there is a really good cool down with Yoga Stretch which helps elongate your muscles and relax you totally. I’m not saying its a miracle or that I’ve been converted to eugh sport, but it does make you feel good and see results. The negatives is that it can be a bit tiring, and I hate the bottom fit as it hurts like hell! And Davina and the banter gets slightly irritating.

All in all it gets a pleasing ( and because I’m in a good mood) 7/10- But I do recommend you stretch properly before and after the workout and invest in some weights to see the full effect.

So thats all this week, I’ve been very generous and I hope you enjoy reading this week and tuning in next week. Much Roadie Love XX