my little kikki-k collection

It's not unknown that I like to buy stationery. In fact, besides buying normal things like food and clothing, I'd say it's what I buy most of. In that light, I like to buy planners, too. It started off with buying a Filofax so I could keep track of things like work and money and slowly turned into a hobby of buying more and more. I eventually found other brands to work into this hobby, the main one being Kikki.K, an absolute stationery collectors dream store. Unluckily for me is that I've only ever been able to purchase from them online, as the closest store to me is London, unless I fancy an overnight trip to Australia. (I actually really fancy that!)

My first Kikki.K planners were the mint ones with gold dots. I was originally after the medium personal sized one, but due to them no longer being in production I could only get my hands on whichever size was cropping up on ebay at the time. It took two weeks to arrive from a lovely girl in Australia and when I got it, I was absolutely smitten. I then went on a hunt for the medium size and found a woman on Instagram who was selling hers.

From there I have been adding more Kikki.K planners to my collection. Whenever they release a new planner that I like the look of, I order it straight away as I know once they stop making a certain planner and it's discontinued they eventually sell for crazy prices online and are almost impossible to get a hold of. I have nine in my collection so far and have seen from their snapchat that they'll soon be releasing a rose gold planner which I will absolutely be buying as soon as it hits the UK store! Rose gold! *heavy breathing

Apart from the polka dot and textured black planner pictured above, all other planners here have been discontinued. If you did want to get one in this style you would need to hunt online for one. Ebay is generally good for finding them, but usually come with quite a high price!

You'll have to excuse the dim light in these photos, living in Scotland generally means living in cloudy overcast, hence the lack of brightness! If anyone has any questions on Kikki.K or would be interested in talking more about planners and such, I would love that!

written by Kirsty - thank you for reading! ♥

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time for a catch up

I think it's about time I sat down and had a catch up with this blog. I've posted a few times over the last month or two but nothing substantial or personal. I've not really felt like I've wanted to spill anything personal on here because I'd sort of fallen into the trap of thinking that no one wants to read that type of post. Then I realised that that's exactly the reason I started this blog, so I'd have somewhere to write all the shit that goes through my head on a daily basis. So here's a quick catch up!

Left my job - I've had to leave my job and find something more permanent. I wasn't too keen on leaving because I was comfortable in that type of environment, however the role was only temporary and I was getting paid weekly, which is a nightmare. I've found something permanent, but I'm not sure if I can do the role. I'll give it a go, anyway.

Money problems - Actually, I wouldn't say problems. I'd say worries. The worries have come from getting paid weekly, which has made it hard to keep track of my money this way. I can't remember when any of my direct debits come out now and I accidentally missed a credit card payment which has dipped my credit score slightly. Nothing drastic, I'm just annoyed I let it slip.

I stopped straightening my hair - I've actually been doing this for a while now, but it's helped my hair grow loads. It's super obvious that I need a hair cut though as there's loads of scraggly wee ends, but I'll get them chopped soon. It's also helped my natural curl/wave come back, although it's hidden under a head full of frizz and split ends.

I went vegetarian - I decided to take part in national vegetarian week and haven't eaten meat since. It's been eleven days since then and I haven't had the urge to eat anything with meat in it. I've found it quite easy so far, so I'm hoping I can actually stick to it. The thought of eating meat now makes me feel horrible because I know it was an animal. I wonder if that will ever go away.

I have a new baby brother - My dad as his partner had another baby, a beautiful little boy born on the 21st of May, just one week before my baby sister turns one! They haven't picked a name yet, but I think they're settling on one, just need to see how it feels probably. He's so cute. I need to get down and see them, but my dad's house is tiny and there literally isn't any room with the two of them plus two baby's and a dog. I've been moaning for him to find a new place quickly so I can book a trip down for a few days!

I discovered Teasers chocolate bars - This isn't so much a major thing, but I've honestly been craving this so much over the last few weeks. It's so so good.

It's only five weeks until our cabin holiday - Craig and I are going away to a cabin for five nights with friends to Loch Lomond. The cabins are right on the water too, it's so beautiful. There are twelve of us going in total so we've split the group up between two cabins and it's going to be five days of barbeque's, drinks and lazing around by the water. I honestly cannot wait. I'm hoping the weather will be decent, too.

I'm hoping with going back to a Monday-Friday work gig that I'll get a bit more time to blog and feel less like a potato when I get in from work. That's obviously as long as I last at this new job. If you've read this far, thanks for sticking around, too!

written by Kirsty - thank you for reading! ♥

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pampering is always a good idea

I think everybody loves a pamper session, especially me. Most of my girl friends have a weekly or bi-weekly pamper as well, but it's only recently that I've gotten properly into it. I used to enjoy a long bath but generally I'd just end up watching a film and then falling asleep (dangerous, I know, Craig moans at me for this all the time!). Now, I actually enjoy using treatments on my hair and skin, bath bombs and bubble bars, exfoliating every inch of me and even enjoy a little glass of vodka while relaxing.

I tend to mainly use Lush products when it comes to pampering. I'm trying to steer away from products that have pointless chemicals in them or things that cause more damage than good in the long term. Lush are always open and honest about what's in their products so I feel happy slathering myself head to toe in their stuff. I splurged a little in the Edinburgh branch a few weeks ago and spent a while in the store talking to one of the girls for a long time about what things I would like and discussing my hair and skin type so she could recommend the right things. I went in with an idea of what I wanted but she really did help.

I ended up buying a shampoo and conditioner - Curly Wurly and American Cream, a hair mask - H'sua Wen Hua, a facemask - Cupcake and a facial scrub - Herbalism. I knew I already wanted Cupcake because I'd been told it smells like mint chocolate and helped get rid of blemishes so that was a no brainer. I also knew I wanted H'sua Wen Hua (how do you even pronounce that?!) because of Megan's hair, I remember she mentioned using this mask over and over again and she has beautiful long hair, so it must help.

I wanted some things that would compliment the stuff I had already picked up so the lovely sales assistant recommended Curly Wurly shampoo and American Cream conditioner. Curly Wurly is designed for curly hair to help define the curls and keep frizz away and American Cream is a rich, thick conditioner that doesn't leave any residue behind and smells absolutely delicious! I got caught standing smelling my hair in work just because it smelled so good. 

She also recommended Herbalism because of my skin type. I have really bad combination skin, really oily around the bridge of my nose, chin and forehead but extremely dry around my nostrils and the sides of my face. It makes buying facial products a nightmare. Herbalism is perfect for combination skin because it's not too greasy on oily skin thanks to the rosemary and chamomile but also works well on dry skin because of the ground almonds through it. It feels like a facial scrub but also soft against the skin. I have noticed a few more spots coming to the surface since using it, but she told me this would happen. Apparently it brings out any dirt or bacteria buried in the skin to the surface, so essentially my skin will get worse before it gets a lot better. I don't mind, because it looks nicer already anyway!

I tend to always use a bubble bar or bath bombs when I'm pampering myself as well. I've really been enjoying rose scents recently so have been using the Rose Jam Bubbleroon, which smells divine. It makes the bath a lovely dusky pink too! This combined with a little sprinkle of bath salts and I'll happily lie in the bath for a solid hour without moving. Add a glass of vodka and cranberry with ice and I'm good to go.

I'll be having a little pamper on my next day off, which isn't until next Tuesday. I'm on a seven day stretch at work just now due to being short staffed, which sucks! How do you enjoy a pamper?

love,

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New stationery finds - Sainsbury's

I love buying stationery, I always have. I love it even more when my closest shop sells super cute stationery including washi tape! I was in Sainsbury's a few days ago, probably buying cat litter or something and casually took a wander down the stationery aisle. I tend not to buy stationery from supermarkets as I find the quality to be a little lacking and it's more than likely quite tacky. That was until I spotted these cute little items! They must change the collections they have on display fairly frequently as I'd never seen them before.

I bought two packs of the washi tape, because why not. They are so lovely, especially the gold glitter one! I go through huge amounts of washi tape and I have no idea how so I tend to buy in bulk. I probably should have bought a few more but I'm sure I can nip back down and get some. I also bought a little jar full of little gold clips. They are similar to bulldog clips but the handle bits don't bend down, they just sort of stick up at the top, which does actually look cute! I picked up the cute little sticky note set as well, mainly for the floral stickies. I might not be the most girliest of girls but when it comes to stationery, I crumble next to girly florals and pinks.

If you're into stationery then definitely have a look in your nearest Sainsbury's for this collection! They have loads of matching notebooks and pencil cases, too!

love,

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life recently

1. I straightened my hair for the first time in around two weeks. I've been trying to avoid heat on it for as long as possible because it's very dry and damaged. I'm hoping for long beachy locks by the summer!

2. Craig and I took a trip through to Glasgow last weekend to visit some friends. One of our closest friends has recently purchased a house so we went to visit him and see his new home. It's scary that he's now a homeowner, long gone are the days of sitting in the union until 4am every week. Now we have to be responsible and buy houses and stuff. It's weird. We went out for food and drinks after, then went bowling and then drank a lot more. The morning after I took a photo of the amazing tiger painted down by the river, it's so cool!

3. Although it was a beautifully sunny day, I could not get a decent photo of the river, I'll put it down to my shit photography skills.

4. Edinburgh Castle looking lovely in the sunshine. I took a wander through the gardens after work the other day with Craig and sat on the benches in the sunshine until heading home. It was a nice little welcome treat after the weird weather we've been having recently. All four seasons in a day has been annoying to dress for!

5. Biking every other day has mostly led to us cycling to the shore and back as the route is really nice. It's around eleven miles in total, which isn't too bad. We've gotten into the habit of sitting by the water for a short break before heading back.

6. I had to wear summer stuff into work the other day, I'm not entirely sure why. We were told to wear beach stuff for the day and come in dressed for summer. It felt silly as I work in a shopping centre that doesn't get any natural sunlight and is always freezing, yet I'm standing around in a dress. It's the first time I've worn a dress this year though, so there's an upside.

love,

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