Beads, chiffon & daisy chains.

Just thought i'd blog a quick outfit post from the other night! I went out to a friends 'moving to a new flat' party and seeing as it's still winter which means its wet i opted for my new Monki beaded blouse and chiffon daisy print shorts from Primark! I thought it looked dressy enough for a night out but i'm kept warm by covering up. I bought the shirt when i went to London over the Christmas holidays, i've been looking for a smart blouse that had an interesting collar because i wear so many jumpers over shirts so the collar is the only detail you can see. I love the chiffon shorts and can't believe how good the print quality and fit is, the best thing is, they cost £5! Amazing! 

Hope you enjoyed my tiny little outfit post back and i'd love to hear how you would style the shirt and shorts with different things.

Love Madison
 ♥

Be right back.

Hello! I know it has been stupidly long hasn't it?

I probably would still be blogging and getting better at it if it weren't for my phone and method of taking photo's wasn't stolen from me. It's made me sad because i really wanted to capture the start of uni life, it's been wonderful meeting so many creative and lovely people. This post is going to be short and sweet, it's just to say keep an eye on this space. Come January when i get a new phone (yay finally) i will bombarding you all with everyday ramblings and thrown together outfit posts. I really do admire the bloggers like can post everyday, that hold down 5 jobs, family, friends etc because it is hard to put together a post after a long day. A lot of my friends don't really get the attraction of blogging but to me it's just like social networking, it's just like Facebook and Instagram, seeing and reading about other people's lives right?

I do hope i get reconnect with this all again and start reading all your lovely posts properly!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and an even better new year!

Love Madison
♥

My wonderful trip to Mexico! Part one!

Hello my lovelies! I've been back from my amazing holiday just over a two weeks now and safe to say i had a hell of a lot of washing to do and errands to run before i could sit down and go through my photographs and think about writing a post about it. Saying this i am now ready. Hooray! I don't really even know where to start there's just so much!

The journey to the airport is always quite fun and the excitement of the holiday is enough to keep you awake, erm well some people, i slept on the way down to London, only because it was 3am and i was shattered from running round packing the day before. Once we got to Gatwick we headed to McDonald's, so whilst i was eating my bagel i looked up to see Tim Westwood chatting a bunch of young girls on their way to Malia. It set the tone for the holiday tbh. UNBELIEVABLE. So once we checked in we looked round the absolute HUGE duty free. I couldn't decide on anything i wanted so i just bought a really pretty bronzer from Monsoon. I did make a stupid error though, i thought we'd be coming through the same duty free on the way back until my boyfriend informed me otherwise. Gutted. So the flight was pretty uneventful until we thought we'd mix things up by ordering mini bottles of sparkling wine! Made me a bit giddy when we eventually landed. Stepping out the front of Cancun airport we were all greeted by a wall of pure heat. We had to get a transfer to the hotel and it had the most beautiful white stone entrance,  it had individual stone letters spelling out 'Sirenis'. Once we got checked in and seen our amazing room we headed to the pool and all had at drink at the swim up pool bar to toast to the start of out holiday! For the first week we kept it pretty tame, we ate at the buffet at night which had an incredible selection of everything, we sun bathed in the day, visited the local beach which also had a bar & buffet station. We watched the on-site entertainment which is always a cheese fest, we even visited the on-site 'disco-tech'. That just turned out to be an amazing night out because it was so bad that we all just got so drunk to enjoy it. After settling in it got to mid week and we decided to try the hotels alacarte restaurants, everyone got to have 3 alacarte meals a week, we chose Cajun, the Steak house (i obviously had the fish option that night) and Italian. The Cajun was okay, and the steak, well, terrible but the Italian was really nice. We didn't just eat in the hotel though, we ventured to the local town Playa Del Carmen and had real Mexican food in this little restaurant that had mariachi men performing! After visiting the town we decided to go out at night and visit a few bars, it was an amazing night, we got in to this tiny place and got all our drinks free! We moved onto a bar that was on the beach with a huge open air dance floor. 5am soon came around and we headed back to the hotel. After lazing (with an almighty hangover) round the pool the next day we booked our excursions out of the hotel. As a group we booked, Coco-bongos  a huge club that puts on an amazing celebrity themed show and a boat trip with snorkeling. Me and Joe booked to see the Mayan ruins by ourselves and to repel down into a fresh water Cenote.

The morning of the boat trip came around and we were all pretty excited to get out onto the clear blue sea and to drink some beers! We drove down to the harbor where we'd be sailing from and realized it was also a dolphin sanctuary! So whilst we were waiting for our boat we got to watch the dolphins leaping around and loving all of the attention. Once we got on the boat we sailed out into the middle of the Caribbean sea, we sailed for about an hour then they turned slightly inwards to a private beach near a reef. We donned our snorkels and flippers and got in the water. It was incredible being taken to see turtles, stingrays and starfish as well as all the beautiful coral reefs. After we were finished snorkeling we got back on the boat and headed further out to where fresh water meets sea water, in the middle of nowhere! We all dived back out again and were floating with life jackets on whilst the crew threw cans of beer at us for us to drink in the water. It was easily the best experience I've had on a boat and i got the best tan being out in the seawater.

Cocobongo's was insane. We got VIP tickets so we had our own private table that had a bottle of vodka and mixers waiting for us so we could help ourselves, we had our own barmen that came round and offered tequila shots straight from the bottle into our mouths, i sadly have not got the stomach for that. It was situated on a high balcony so we could see the stage and all of the show. The show was basically the dancers dressing up as different celebrities and performing their songs and dance routines for us to enjoy. As well as giant balloons, confetti canons and acrobats dangling from the ceiling. Because we were so close to the stage and as a group of 13 we attracted attention. All the girls got taken up on stage and given these long balloons to wave around and dance with whilst the dancers performed in front of us. When we were allowed to return to our seats we were asked if we wanted to dance on the stages podium in between acts. We were all pretty drunk at this stage so we agreed. The 4 of us went up onto the podium and danced in front of around 1000 people (felt like more). They had two big screens either side that showed us in high definition to everyone. It was an amazing experience but i really hate attention especially because i dance like a fish out of water. It was easily the best club i have ever been too, it was like Broadway meets Reading festival. Was just incredible!

Well that's just part one of this story, because it's a lot to fit in, in just one post. Hope you enjoyed part one of my Mexican adventure.

Thanks for reading!

Love Madison

   ♥    

So my adventure begins in September...

After what seems like an absolute eternity, i finally did it, i applied to university (technically for the second time) and i got it. I got in. I know right, I'm in shock too, so much so when the confirmation email came through i got both my housemate and my boyfriend to read it out loud to me. I cannot believe it! I screamed, i laughed and i rang my mom straight away.

Come September i will be a 'Fashion Buying with Design' student. 

Got a nice ring to it i think.

Just before Christmas last year i decided i wanted to try again, i wanted to do my time at university. As a slight recap on my life, i applied when i was 18 to a few different uni's, got in to Derby and Lincoln, then when it came to it, I didn't wanna go. My mom and dad were both suffering from illness's still and I found that spending majority of my time in Leicester seemed a better idea than moving away from everything i knew. Daft it may have been but there's not one bit of me that regrets that decision, especially now. So after deciding i was gonna go for it, i set about applying through UCAS, writing a personal statement (with A LOT of help from everyone, thank you) and getting an amazing reference from my boss. After doing all of this it dawned on me that i was gonna have to pull a portfolio together. For a course like this i will definitely need a kick ass portfolio. So with the very few days i had off i set about photographing old art pieces, clothes i made and print screened images of my blog. I then emailed the creative department at DMU and asked their advice on portfolios and the best way to get it to them. After a few emails back and forth the lovely lady on the other end asked me to send her a short online portfolio that she would then pass on to the tutors. So after much debating what to include and what not i sent it off.

It had been 3 weeks. Not a single response from DMU and i was beginning to see that they must of viewed my portfolio and were deciding of a nice way to put me down. I'd check the UCAS site everyday for any sign of progress and nothing. I started researching other courses and i came across this really good university level course at Leicester College for basically the same thing, i decided what harm would it do to apply, if i got it at least I'd be doing something productive this year? So i applied and the next day i got an interview date, so in high spirits of this new encouragement i got my portfolio printed and bound and i was all ready with my interview outfit hanging up on the back of my door. 

Tuesday 18th came around, the day of the interview. I woke up at 9am and started feeling ridiculously nervous, excited but nervous. Ate breakfast, drank coffee and was just pottering around the house. Beep beep went my phone. Emails again! Probably spam i thought, i'll check it later i thought. But what if its the college sending me some last minute requests? I checked my emails and my jaw dropped.

'Dear Madison, thank you for your application for Fashion Buying with Design at DeMontfort University. We are very pleased to make you an unconditional offer of a place on the course. The details of your offer will be available on UCAS shortly.'

So the morning of my interview for another course i had been accepted onto my dream course with an UNCONDITIONAL offer.

I have never been so bloody happy about something in all of my life. Well maybe the exception of a few festival memories and special dates with Joe but it was up there with all of that.

So this is it. I am going to be a full time fashion student come September.

I am bricking it.

I can't wait to spend summer getting ready for it all. What do i wear on my first day? Will i have a ridiculous freshers experience or will it be tame? Will i start eating 10p noodles coz that's what students do? Who knows. 

But i know one thing for sure is that i couldn't do it without the loving support of my boyfriend Joe, my wonderful family, my amazing friends (in and outside of work) and my incredible bosses who are letting me leave their nest to run after my dreams.

Thank you everyone who has helped me get this, and if i manage to come out the other side in 3 years with a decent grade you wanna get your party frocks on coz it will be one hell of a night.

Also after finding all of this out my wonderful friends bought me tokens of congratulations! SO sweet of them.


Leah bought me a fashion colouring book with a beautiful note tucked in with it.

And the lovely Saskia bought me a massive bag of chocolate buttons and a lovely card!

Thanks for reading about my acceptance day!

Would love to hear everyone else's experiences on getting onto their dream courses or results day!

Madison

I received some wonderful news!

So about a week ago i had the delightful news that i was nominated for the 'Leibster blog award'. It thrilled me that people are actually reading my blog let alone giving me kudos about it. Chuffed isn't enough of a word to describe it. I then got given 11 questions to answer about my blog and my life. I want to thank Heidi for the chance to do this!
What a wonderful girl :)

'If you've not heard of the Leibster Award, I know what you're thinking, what on earth is a 'Leibster'? Leibster is a German word meaning; sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. Cute hey? Blogging is all about building a community & its an amazing way to connect with other bloggers & spread the word about new blogs.'

Here are the rules:

• Each nominee should answer 11 questions from the person who nominated them
• Choose 11 bloggers with under 200 followers to pass the award to and link them in your post
• Tell them about their nomination. No tag backs

Whats your guilty pleasure?

Starting off with a tough one i see. Well a guilty pleasure of mine, its gonna sound gross so be prepared, i love clicking my toes on everything. The wall, my bed post and more often then not, my boyfriends leg in bed when he's asleep. Sorry about that Joe.

What do you love to do when you're not blogging?

I love to walk, i walk everywhere with my headphones in too. It's like having a personal soundtrack to your day. I love catching up on 'Mad Men', the characters costumes inspire me so much. I love writing blog post ideas in my notebook, or painting. I try to fit a lot into my life around my full time supervisor job. My days off are precious to me.

What inspires your blog?

Anything i write here will be deemed cliche but life inspires my blog. Seriously, it sounds like I'm trying out for Miss World but honestly it does. It's somewhere i can put my creative thoughts in order and on screen. Where i can vent, i can create and join in with something so huge. I originally wanted my blog to be fashion based but life and fashion intertwine so romantically that i can't resist spilling my heart out whilst writing outfit posts.

Who do you look up to the most for your beauty and fashion choices?

I look for the chance to be part of a variety. I love that one day i wake up thinking i want to be purely 40's inspired with my hair, makeup and clothes. So pinned and curled hair, a very fitted pencil skirt with a tucked in blouse and a vintage scarf. For this i look right at Christina Hedgewick from Mad Men. She has an incredible wardrobe!

Then the next day i could be down right grungy (this is usually an off day after a week if work) or dress to what's current trends like a chunky gold necklace, a cropped tee and cigarette 'pants' with some flat=forms. For my more casual style i look towards Alexa Chung.

What do you love most about blogging?

I love that i feel apart of this huge life sharing community. Soppy but true. I've met some wonderful people! I love reading about other bloggers lives and i love everyone's pictures! It's so inspiring.

Whats your ultimate way to chill out?

Cliche but watching films, reading blog's and the pub with my friends. Though that does end up being messy majority of the time.

Where do you feel most at home? 

My bedroom, I've made it my perfect sanctuary. 

What are your staple beauty products that you just couldn't be without?

Oh this is a good one, i'm gonna say Moroccan oil, Maxfactor foundation and liquid eyeliner. Seriously could not bear to be without these things.

Where would you most like to travel to and why?

New York. It's been a dream to go since i could remember, i'd like to stay in the hotel from 'Home Alone'

and have cocktails down town. Honeymoon there perhaps.

Do you have any really bad, embarrassing habits?

I want to say no but like everyone i probably do.

Early Bird or Night Owl?

Could i say both? I go bed late then wake up early, perhaps it explains why in so tired all the time. I do prefer early mornings because it feels the right thing to do you know?

I now want to nominate a few bloggers of my own that i love to follow and read. 

Truly inspirational.

Tori

Vanessa

Elle May
Kerry Brown
Kelsey McCann

I would love to nominate more newbies but everyone i follow atm has LOADS of followers! So don't wanna break the rules :P

Here are your questions!

1) What is your favorite possession?
2) What do you enjoy about blogging?
3) Where was your last wonderful holiday?
4) What do you get up to when your not blogging?
5) What is your worst pet peeve?
6) Where would you like to travel to and why?
7) What would you do if you had an unlimited amount of money?
8) What year would you go to if you could time travel, past or future?
9) What is your beauty regime in the morning?
10) Who are your style icons?

11) And finally, favorite month and why?

Hope these questions aren't too boring and pass along the happy thoughts!
Can't wait to see your answers!

The adventure to Birmingham to meet some lovely bloggers.

Since starting up this blogging adventure i have met so many lovely people along the way that i speak to on a daily basis. Three in particular. We then decided that we should meet in April in person. (I am a bit behind at the minute so bear with me)

 Originally it was me, Tori, Chloe and Paige that was going to travel to Birmingham and stay for two days but sadly because of uni commitments Paige couldn't come, which if she's reading this, was totally understandable! We booked a hotel and our trains for the 23rd, we literally booked all of this months before hand. The day finally arrived with my bag packed i headed to Leicester train station. Now i may be the only person to ever say this but i love travelling on trains, i genuinely love it. It's so exciting to see the world fly past, and all the rolling hills through the window.

I found Tori first. She was so easy to talk to in person, cliche as it is, it was like we had known each-other for years! When Chloe arrived it was exactly the same, we just chatted for ages about our journey and what we should do. The weather was gorgeous so it was on our side. We went and put our bags in the hotel then headed towards the Bullring. The Bullring can be terrifying at the weekends but midweek its pretty easy to get around. Its home to Selfridges, Forever 21 and a huge Topshop. I bought a lovely tote bag from Forever 21 that has a giant decorative 'M' print on it, so excited this was my first bloggers meet up purchase! After much pondering round for the day in the city centre we went back to the hotel and got ready to go out for the night. Poor Tori ended up bashing her toe, which then ended up with free breakfast the next day (thanks babe).

We decided to go the Mailbox for food and drinks, It's lovely there because its right next to the canal and was buzzing with atmosphere. We settled on going Pizza Express but had to wait for a table so after walking further down the canal we found a quaint bar. Books and fairy lights adorned the walls, we sat on rickety chairs and had a drink. Over dinner we managed to cram in everything about our lives, ups & downs and all the hilarious things that have happened over the years. We also demolished a whole bottle of wine.

Feeling fuzzy headed we went to Broad Street which is basically a row of bars and clubs. We got enticed into one place with a free bottle of bubbly rose, couldn't say it was that busy but enough that we danced around and unfortunately drank sambuca at the bar. Deciding to try somewhere else we went to a retro themed club. It was here we met a boy standing at the bar alone just carrying a book, it was confusing to say the least, we didn't really get why he was alone with a book at a bar in the middle of Birmingham. Walking back to the hotel when the night ended we walked past the Mailbox security and cleaners, now in my drunk state deciding that jumping onto the mechanical street cleaning device was a great idea, i started cleaning the pavement, to say the least we all thought it was hilarious.

The next day feeling slightly groggy we traveled down to the vintage shop COW and the Custard factory. Its an amazing place for clothes, art and cake. Chloe found some rings for a shoot in Cow, we then got hungry for coffee and cake. I had red velvet cake for the first time and it was amazing! I bought coffee and some 'curiosity cola' as well. Wondering around we found a vintage style salon with a girl who looked like Bettie Paige styling hair, i got my hair victory rolled and bought an amazing black block eyeliner and brush.

It was nearing the end of our trip together, after i was getting so used to being around these lovely girls i realized i had to go home soon. We looked round Selfridges and had some urban pie lunch then headed to the station. My train was due first. I said goodbye and it was really sad because they are such lovely people to be around. Boarded my train and headed home. My boyfriend picked me up from the station and i didn't stop talking about how funny and wonderful my trip was. It didn't matter how nervous i was beforehand as soon as i met them i had the most amazing time and have made some serious friends for life.

Thank you Chloe & Tori for being so lovely.

 Hope we do it all again soon.
♥


P.S I have been super bad recently and not posted for ages! I really need to write while I'm out and about then edit after. Please have patience with me, i'll get into the swing of it eventually!