Lorna Cole

Firstly, Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great Christmas, holiday or just a nice time if you don't celebrate anything! I know these posts aren't everyone's cup of tea but, I'm very grateful for everything and am not bragging at all, I just think it's interesting to see what people received. Also, I like to be able to document all the gifts I was given this year as something to look back on.    My main present this year was a Fujifilm Camera which I was so excited to open, I've been interested in photography for as long as I can remember and plan to start a Creative Arts Degree which will help me to develop my photography skills. It's also going to come in really handy for blogging too and I can't wait to start taking better photos for my posts! I've been meaning to get a new pair of shoes for a while now so this year I asked for some Nike trainers.  I wanted black ones since they go with pretty much anything and have a feeling this w

I just recently came back from spending a week in Belgium with my family. I'd only visited Belgium on a school trip before so was really looking forward to exploring it a bit more. We stayed in a cottage on the Flemish Coast - in between Middelkerke and Westende. Our accommodation was lovely, especially the garden and I also had a cute little bedroom in the roof! The first few days were fairly relaxed and spent exploring the area, It was lovely to be only a 5-minute walk from the beach and to be walking distance from the two towns. I really enjoyed spending lots of time outside and just appreciating the views of the beach, especially in the evening as I took some gorgeous photos! We also went swimming in the pool, it was freezing but very refreshing and definitely made me want to swim more regularly. I wasn't expecting the weather to be amazing but it was fairly sunny and warm for most of the week, however, we actually went bowling and played crazy golf when the weat

I did it, a whole year of blogging! I'm so glad that I stuck at it because I enjoy it so much and can't believe how much progress I've made with it all. Not only that, but I've connected to so many people all around the world which is just amazing, I can't wait to see what the next year working on my blog brings! Anyway, here is a sum up of my blogging journey so far. What I've achieved - Just over 50 posts which is equal to roughly 1 per week, and I'm definitely pleased with that! I started off slow and could have probably done a lot more but at least I've got something to work towards! - Hit 1.5k+ followers on my blog Twitter account and also had 30.5k impressions in my best month - Reached 200+ followers on my blog Instagram account after starting to properly use it in May - Had 2562 viewers on Pinterest in one day and an average of around 1000 - Over 9000 pageviews, the fact that I'm on the way to 10,000 blows my mind! -

Since we're halfway through the year I thought I'd do some reflecting and wanted to refocus on some goals to work towards for the rest of 2018. I like having something to work towards whether it's more short-term or something that I'd like to improve over time. I've tried to include a range of things so I can target different aspects of my life! Blogging Goals Hit 2000 followers on Twitter - I just hit 1.5k so 2000 is my next goal! I'm really pleased with how my Twitter following is growing as it's my favourite social media and way to connect! Hit 500 followers on Instagram - My blog account is pretty new & I'm still learning to use it for blogging but I hope to reach at least 500 followers. Work with more companies - It's so rewarding when brands contact and want to work with you so I'd love to work with more companies, I've not had much experience of it but have done a couple of reviews! Schedule more posts - It&

Isn't it mad that we're halfway through 2018 already, or as I like to think - halfway to Christmas again, haha! I'm sure I always say this, but it really feels like this year has gone by so quickly! May was a pretty good month, we had some gorgeous weather which always puts me in a great mood but I also find that when the sun is out, blogging tends to take a backseat which I really want to improve on over June! Anyway, here are my favourites for May! Lifestyle In my last favourites, I touched upon how I wanted to keep up with my Spring photography and like I just mentioned, we've been pretty lucky with the weather in May so that's something I've enjoyed doing a lot! It's been really lovely being able to spend more time outside and I've made the most of it by going on regular walks, it's a great way to relax and clear your mind and I've been able to take some great photos too! Beauty There isn't really any new makeup I've

These posts are one of my favourites to read so I thought it was time to do another! Here are my answers to the Throwback Tag questions! 1) What year were you born? 1999 2) What did you look like when you were younger? (share a picture!) Here are a few of me when I was little, I have to admit, I was a fan of the camera! 3) What TV shows did you watch when you were young? When I was really young I loved Bob The Builder and Bear in the Big Blue House & then when I was a bit older I was obsessed with Disney Channel - my favourite was probably Wizards of Waverly Place! 4) What toys did you play with and what was the name of your favourite toy? I liked playing with Polly Pocket a lot, and Tamagotchi's oh my, they were great! When I was a little older I loved playing on my Nintendo DS mostly! One of my favourite toys was a bear called Picnic!  5) What songs did you love when you were young? I was obsessed with the song 'The Tide is Hig

I honestly can't believe it is May already! It does not feel like it has been a year since my starting the exam season for my A Levels, good luck to everyone starting any exams by the way! Anyway, April went by pretty quickly and the weather was all over the place, however like always there were definitely some things I enjoyed through the month! Spring Photography - The weather has certainly been all over the place however we had some really lovely days at the end of April and I managed to get out and about to enjoy it! I love taking photos and my hometown has some gorgeous spots so I couldn't resist going on an evening walk, I really hope I can build up a nice collection of photos in the coming months! Fashion - Anyone that knows me will tell you that I have a large collection of striped tops in my wardrobe. At this time of the year when the weather is a bit warmer, a striped t-shirt is a staple for me, they're so simple but can add a bit of interest to a pl

I was recently contacted by Philex Electronic Ltd, a leading brand that produces a range of different electronic equipment. They have branched out to create an online presence called 'Purfect Soluxions' which involves exclusive content being sold directly through Amazon and a platform in which they can share and create content with a number of influencers. I am a huge lover of technology and love trying new bits out. You can find a number of different products that I've talked about in my posts so I was really excited about this collaboration opportunity!  I have two products to review today, however, first I would just like to commend the company itself. The efficient and informative emails, as well as the super quick arrival of the products, made it a pleasure to work with them!  Lexi 4k Action Camera I've always enjoyed experimenting with different cameras and elements of photography and an action camera is something I've not prop

Last Saturday I turned 19 and to celebrate, my boyfriend kindly paid for a trip to London. So on the Friday we morning, we made the journey from our little town to the busy streets of city life. The journey actually went really quickly, (around 2 hours) though we were both very hungry when we got there! We stayed in The Grange St. Pauls hotel which was absolutely gorgeous and I would 100% recommend it to anyone. The room itself was a perfect size - spacious but still felt cosy and the bed was super comfortable, something I was very appreciative after the long day! However my favourite part and one of the reasons I chose this hotel were the leisure facilities. The pool itself was amazing and it was so nice to be able to use it on the Friday afternoon and again on the Saturday morning before we checked out. There was also a jacuzzi, sauna, steam room and a gym, as well as a spa, which you could book various treatments at. Unfortunately we didn't really use too many of these

Each and everyone has a different opinion of New Year's resolutions, personally I don't think you should put too much pressure on them, as you can't always achieve them! However I do think setting yourself some sort of goal to help better yourself and to open up new opportunities is a great thing to do! Here are 10 resolutions or goals I have set myself for 2018! Be healthier A fairly common one here and one of the hardest to stick to I'd say! I really want to start being healthier in general, for instance I'm planning to make smoothies as a replacement for breakfast or lunch on some occasions, as well as making sure I drink enough water. One of my biggest downfalls is snacking so that is also something I want to work on! I've recently made a Pinterest board with some ideas for smoothies, you can find it  here ! Start exercising more I definitely want to start being more active again, I used to love sport so this is something I hope to get b

I recently visited Bristol Zoo and thought I'd post a few shots I managed to capture whilst I was there! Normally when I go to the zoo the lions always seem to be out of sight somewhere but we were really lucky as they came right up to the glass - my first shot shows just how close we were! Now the flamingos always make me feel pretty nostalgic, as a 5 year old little girl and lover of pink, these birds were fascinating to me. I had a number of flamingo toys so whenever I see them I always think back to how much I loved them! The butterfly photo was captured in the walk through butterfly garden, if you haven't been to Bristol Zoo it is essentially a small jungle for butterflies and the occasional bird. It's getting a lot less common to see butterflies in the wild nowadays so to be amongst them flying around was really interesting and there were so many different species. We were really lucky with the weather and it was a beautiful sunny day, you know the kind where