Back To School Haul

Unfortunately it's that time of year again! Yes we've all returned to school :'( However one positive thing comes around about now, and that is of course stationary shopping!!! I'm one of those sad people that get far to excited about popping into WHSmith's to stock up of pens, pencils, folders etc. so I thought I'd share what I bought this year.

Now most schools went back a couple of weeks ago so chances are you've already purchased the contents of your pencil case, but I thought I'd share anyway!!

Probably my favourite purchase was these weekday magnets. They are really cute and as I'm trying to be super organised this year they are actually really useful. I've been using them to hold homework and divide up my whiteboard. That way I can decide what homework I need to do on what day so I stay on track of everything really easily.

Another fun item is the little post-it notes! they say 'ON TEST', 'STUDY' and 'TO DO'. I've been placing these in my folders on sheets I want to draw my attention to later on. I have a feeling as the year goes on I may forget to use them, but oh well! Either way I'm sure they come in hand for revision!

Obviously I had to stock up on the basics as well as the 'exciting' bits and bobs. I think the first thing I picked up was a packet of 9 HB pencils, they're just WHSmith's own brand and were really cheap. Who needs to invest in pencils- unless you are studying art ;)

I also bought some pink scissors (am I the only person who loses scissors really easily?), a pink sharpener and rubber combined and a folding 30cm ruler.

These BIC pens came in a packet of ten, with 4 blue, 2 black, 2 green and 2 red. I tend to write in blue pen so this was perfect for me!

Because I'll be doing most of my work in folders my mum insisted I get some hole re-inforcers. I'd actually never heard of these before and I'm not convinced I'm really going to end up using them, but I'll do anything to keep the mother happy ;)

The weekly planner notepad is already being put to good use. You may wonder why I need this and the day magnets but I feel like I can write everything going on in my life on here, not just homework (everything includes when I'm going to write blog posts!)

And to complete my pencil case I bought a packet of 5 mini highlighters as I always find myself highlighting key words and whole sections of work!

Like I've already said, this year most of my work will be done in folders which I haven't had before. therefore it was necessary for me to buy a new folder for each subject. There was a 3 for 2 on folders, which is soooo frustrating seeing as I take four subjects!

To fill up my folders I've got a A4 lined refill pad in each (again on 3 for 2), some dividers and some poly pockets.

At my new school I have to wear a blazer so I needed to get a slightly bigger coat to fit over the top of this. I LOVE my new coat!! I got it from Miss Selfridge for £69, available here. I do have to thank my parents for this as it was a little gift from them <3

 



So that's everything I bought before I went back to school. I didn't really need a new bag or pencil case because mine from last year are still in fairly good condition, and to be honest I think I spent plenty on the stationary alone! I hope you're all enjoying being back at school as much as you can, ad if you're not at school I hope you liked seeing my school goodies!

 

Thanks for reading xxx



My Summer Round Up...

 

So my summer holidays officially ended this week as I returned to school. Because I sat my GCSE's this year I had an amazing three months off school and they have been three months I will never forget. For those of you wondering I couldn't be happier with my GCSE results- 10 A's and 2 B's :)

Above is a collage of pictures I've taken over the summer, most of which you would have seen in previous blog posts. The reason I started my blog at the start of the summer, was so that I could look back on all of these memories. Reflecting now, I'm so glad I took the plunge and I'm going to continue using my little space to record more special moments.

If you asked me to choose a favourite memory from the summer I would really struggle to pick! NCS definitely has to be one of them as it was just a straight three weeks of fun and meeting new friends! Another would be prom, for obvious reasons, and of course typical 7 hour summer picnics! I'll tell you something, next summer has some serious competition ;)

I've now started my new school, new A Level subjects and met even more new people. My life is about to get extremely manic, but I've got plenty of blog posts planned so there's no way Just Jen will be neglected.

I want to thank anyone reading this for sharing in even the tiniest part of my summer holidays- you've helped to make it the incredible time it's been.

To end this post I just wanted to link a few of my favourite posts that I've written so you guys can look back to:

A Trip To Box Hill
My Leavers Day and Prom!
Party Fit For A Princess!
A Week By The Sea

Thanks for reading xxx

A Week By The Sea

I spent last week with my family in Bournemouth. This summer has been jam packed so this was my first opportunity for a holiday, even though my parents went to Spain without me- not that I'm complaining ;)

My family are lucky that we have a timeshare apartment literally opposite the beach, so we've visited Bournemouth every year for as long as I can remember. It's a home away from home.

We drove down Saturday afternoon and enjoyed fish and chips for dinner. Then myself and my friend Hannah wandered down to the beach for a photography session...

Now in Bournemouth it's tradition to play at least one round of crazy golf. My family is super competitive so it's not exactly a relaxing experience! I'm not the best at crazy golf, my brother however excels at most sports and crazy golf isn't an exception. What was a nice surprise was that he came third, topped of with the fact that he was beaten by his girlfriend and Hannah!

Another tradition we love to follow is that we enjoy a drink and cake at the café opposite the golf course while the scores are being totted up! I went for the cream tea minus the tea, I opted for a Victorian Lemonade instead.

The week included a LOT of walking. What made all that walking more interesting was the new gym equipment dotted along the beach. Now I say new but I don't know how long it's actually been there, it's just new since I last visited. I gave all of it my best go however I found climbing all over it was more exciting!

For so many years now my parents have considered getting me and my brother surfing lessons but we've just never got round to it. Until this year! I'd love to say I'm the ultimate beach babe, but that would be an absolute lie. I did manage to stand up on my board for a brief second, however once again it was my brother who was most successful as you can see in the picture. I definitely plan to go surfing again because it was great fun even though I admittedly was pathetic!

The highlight of the week was the Bournemouth Air festival. Every year we are there for at least a couple of days of the festival and I adore it! Personally I don't think I can fully appreciate the actual plane displays, but the overall atmosphere is fab. The length of the beach is packed with various stalls and rides etc. In the picture below you can see how good the turn out is, and that's only a tiny section of the crowd!

The whole festival is very military focused, with a RAF, Navy and Army Village. My favourite land display was the Marines showing off their skills! My favourite air display could be controversial... The Black Cats. They are the Royal Navy Helicopter Display Team. I honestly don't know why I liked them so much but their synchronisation was spot on and I can only imagine how difficult that would be in a helicopter! A close second was of course The Red Arrows. Many of you will know The Red Arrows are the Royal Air Force Acrobatics Display Team. They are well known for their precise formations and red, white and blue smoke. Could you get anymore patriotic?!

The Red Arrows Phoenix Formation

I got up to so much other stuff during the week but here were just some of the highlights! Bournemouth is probably my favourite place ever and I love it so much! I'd recommend anyone to visit, particularly for the Air Festival. Let me know in the comments if you've ever been to
Bournemouth!

Thanks for reading xxx

NCS Part 2

Hello!! I do apologise for the lack of a post last week, I've actually just got back from holiday with my family in Bournemouth. Because of this I was unable to get a post up however you're in luck this week...two posts!!

Right so today I'm going to finish off talking about NCS, and this post is all about the final week. This week wasn't residential, so we were working in our local area. The aim of week three was to create a campaign that would benefit our community. We'd have to plan a campaign day and pitch this to a Dragon's Den style panel, who'd hopefully give us funding.

On Monday morning we met our community facilitator. He would help our group during the week making sure we completed all of our tasks and had everything we needed. We brainstormed a few ideas for our campaign inspiration, which was painfully difficult! Initially none of us were inspired, but I did learn that in general I really am happy with our local area. In the afternoon we jumped on a train and headed to visit a local charity. The charity we visited offered housing and support to homeless and vulnerable people. We spent an hour in their offices learning about what they do. Suddenly we were inspired. You see I live in quite a well off area, we were hearing about homeless people. We decided that people should be more appreciative of what they have and then the community might be happier. Alongside our campaign day we're also fundraising for the charity.

The following day we planned out the actual campaign now that we had an idea. Our biggest challenge was coming up with a name... There were so many options and ideas, but nothing was right for the campaign. Spread Our Smiles. We're a group of loud, bubbly teenagers that are pretty much always smiling, and we want to make people happier. I think it sums us up :) Once we'd finally picked our name we set up a Facebook account and campaign. The idea is you use the #iappreciate and post something you appreciate, then nominate other people to do the same. Everyone then gets the opportunity to identify something/someone that they appreciate. Mine's below. now at first I was going to say my family but most of my group said their family/friends/various pets, therefore I decided to shale things up a bit and go for chocolate ;)

#iappreciate

The next day our pitch was formed, which was particularly stressful! There were so many sections that had to be discussed and included, it had to sound professional but it had to be interesting. In my opinion the hardest thing was making sure all of our thirteen members had something to do/say in our pitch. But we did it! We visited a local business's office where we had a tour, however the main point of the visit was to present a practise pitch. They gave us some tips and advice which we took back and worked with.

Sabesan Girls!

 

The final day was pitch day! The morning was spent practising, perfecting and panicking... In the afternoon the 'Dragons' entered the auditorium, and each team took it in turns to deliver their pitch. We actually went first and I won't lie, it was terrifying. You wouldn't think so because we were stood up in front of our friends with our teams but we all really cared about what we were doing and no one wanted to mess up. Thankfully everything went to plan and we got all the funding we needed!

 

The pitch was over and so was NCS. The afternoon ended with the whole wave celebrating together! There were plenty of hugs, selfies and see you soons :') Our team said our final goodbyes over a celebratory dinner at Nandos. It was a lovely way to end our three weeks. I honestly can't believe I've known most of them just three weeks, it feels like years! In September we are reunited each weekend before we graduate, so we wont be without each other for long!

 

The last week of NCS definitely wasn't as fun as the first two but I still really enjoyed it. The main thing is we can actually make a difference in our community and we had one last week to spend together. I would recommend NCS to anyone and everyone who it is applicable to! If get the opportunity to do it don't think twice. it's been an amazing experience that I will never forget, easily the highlight of my summer.

 



 

 

Thanks for reading xxx

NCS Part 1

Last week I mentioned that I have been involved in something very exciting throughout the last couple of weeks. That something is actually NCS.

 

For those of you that don't know, (I feel like I use this saying WAY too much!) NCS stands for National Citizen Service. NCS teams up with different charities across the country to give young people aged 15-17 new opportunities and experiences while benefiting their local community. In my case, NCS was powered by The Challenge. Here's how my programme has worked so far...

 



 

The programme is split into three weeks, of which I have completed two so far. Throughout the three weeks you are split into teams of roughly 12, with an adult mentor. In week one all of the groups met and we talked for a little bit before jumping on a 5 hour coach journey to north Devon. Here we stayed in PGL style accommodation. After a rather awkward start, our team quickly bonded once we were thrown into activities such as kayaking, tunnelling, an assault course, rock climbing, high ropes and of course a 6 hour hike!

 

The aim of the first week was for us to get to know each other really well, (check!) and to challenge ourselves (check!). I personally found the tunnelling to be the biggest challenge. It involved crawling through narrow, pitch black tunnels when you had no clue where you were going. I was extremely proud of myself and the rest of my team for getting through, and we all worked amazingly together!

Unfortunately because the week was so fast paced I didn't actually take many pictures that I can share. But don't fret because week two was jam packed full of photography!

Week two was also residential, however this time we stayed in nearby university accommodation. You have no idea how much fun I had! Sitting alone in my bedroom right now I only just realise how much I enjoyed living with my girlies!!!

Sabesan Say What?!

We made our little flat home, topped off with fairy lights thanks to Juliet ;) Juliet also took responsibility to draw up a rota for cooking/washing up so our week thankfully ran very smoothly.

Some of our meals included spag bol, mac and cheese, chow mein and our favourite...PIZZA NIGHT!! And the dream team, Emma and Rashmi, also whipped up some pancakes.

Each night in both weeks we had a big 'wave' session and smaller team evening sessions. In one of our evening sessions the girls arranged face masks for everyone, as you can see the boys luuurved it! These sessions were actually really good fun as they were a good mix of games and DMC's. I could tell you so much more about our fun and banter, but some things have to be kept private ;)

When we signed up to the programme, we had to select skills that we'd like to take part in. Our team was the photography group. Our practitioner Paul was amazing. He had so much experience and you could tell that he was passionate about what he was teaching.

He did light painting with us as well as sun prints. And of course we learnt how to take better and more interesting pictures, so hopefully my blog pictures will improve in the near future!! We took hundreds of pictures but I've only included a few here...

Light Painting

 

As well as learning our skill we went on a community visit to incorporate our photography. Our team visited an elderly care home with patients suffering from various degrees of dementia. I personally really struggled with this. Fortunately I've never known anyone close to me with dementia, therefore I was extremely apprehensive about the visit. I got through the visit and did enjoy talking to the residents but I did get emotional. My team were all really supportive and I felt much more confident when we returned the following day. We even sang to the residents, and you could see just how much they appreciated us spending time with them.

 

Right now I'm home from the weekend and missing my team already. It's weird to think I've only known most of them for two weeks and we're already like a family, we've actually drawn up a family tree!! Anyway next week we are working together to create a campaign to benefit our community, so expect to hear more in my next post!

 

Thanks for reading xxx



This or That Tag

The very lovely Ellie Gracious tagged me to do the This or That Tag! Make sure you have a read of her blog, it's fab! Anyway straight onto the questions!

Makeup:

Blusher or bronzer?

Bronzer

 

Lipgloss or lipstick?

Lipstick

 

Eyeliner or mascara?

Mascara

 

Foundation or concealer?

Foundation

 

Neutral or colour eye shadow?

Neutral

 

Pressed or loose eye shadow?

Pressed

 

Brushes or sponges?

Brushes

Nails:

OPI or China Glaze?

OPI, I've never actually tried a China Glaze polish.

 

Long or short?

Long if I can grow them! My nails aren't very strong :(

 

Acrylic or natural?

Natural

 

Bright or darks?

I tend to go through phases, but at the moment it definitely has to be bright.

Body:

Perfume or body splash?

Body splash
 

Lotion or body butter?

Body butter
 

Body wash or soap?

Body wash
 

Lush or any other bath company?

Lush

Fashion:

Jeans or sweat pants?

Jeans
 

Long sleeve or short?

Short sleeve
 

Stripes or plaid?

Stripes
 

Flip flops of sandals?

Sandals
 

Scarves or hats?

Scarves
 

Studs or dangly earrings?

Studs
 

Necklaces or bracelets?

Bracelets, but I wear both most of the time.
 

Heels or flats?

Flats, but being so short I often need a good heel!!
 

Cowboy boots or riding boots?

Riding boots
 

Jacket or hoodie?

Jacket
 

Forever 21 or Charlotte Russe?

Forever 21
 

Abercrombie or Hollister?

Hollister

Hair:

Curly or straight?

I have naturally curly hair, but I almost always have it straightened sooo... straight!
 

Bun or ponytail?

Ponytail
 

Bobby pins or butterfly clips?

Bobby pins
 

Hair spray or gel?

Hair spray
 

Long or short?

Long
 

Light or dark?

Light
 

Side sweep bangs or full bangs?

Side sweep
 

Up or down?

Down

Random:

Rain or shine?

SHINE!!!!

 

Summer or winter?

Summer

 

Autumn or spring?

Autumn

 

Chocolate or vanilla?

Chocolate

 

East or west coast?

I must agree with Ellie on this one, South coast of England!

 

This tag was really fun to do! I tag Paragon Daisies and AlainaTBF to do this as well as anyone reading who wants to give it a go!

This is a little different to my normal posts. I've been up to something really exciting this week that is continuing for the next couple of weeks, meaning I haven't been able to get a post about it ready for today!! Hopefully you'll here more in my next post ;)

Thanks for reading xx

London Scavenger Hunt

Tomorrow is one of my oldest and best friend's, Hannah, 16th birthday. Because of this my friend Molly and I decided we'd surprise her with a trip out! After a lot umming and erring we came up with a scavenger hunt around London. We don't live far out of London so it was fairly easy to arrange but so much fun! Unfortunately Molly wasn't very well so it was left up to me to escort Hannah on her challenge!

 

I handed her a list of 16 things she had to find when we arrived at the station- 16 things for her 16th birthday ;) The list consisted of...

• Big Ben
• Buckingham Palace
• Trafalgar Square
• Pineapple Dance Studios
• Selfridges
• Hyde Park
• The Science Museum
• A Pigeon
• A Black Cab
• A Street Performer
• A Boris Bike
• I Heart London
• Rowers on the Thames
• A Red Post box
• Keep Calm and Carry On
• Lunch :)

First stop was Big Ben. It was quite an easy start, as you can't really miss it and we'd both visited here many times before!

 





 

Next up was Buckingham Palace...

  

 

Then we headed to Trafalgar Square. We weren't aware that the Eid Festival was happening today in Trafalgar so that was really exciting! However we had lots to see so we didn't get a chance to look around but I would have loved to.

 

 



 

We were struggling to make our way through Covent Garden to reach Pineapple dance studios so we stooped off in Costa for some lunch. While we ate we regrouped to work out where we needed to head to find Pineapple.

 



 

Once we opted against the tube to reach Oxford street, we discovered it was a longer walk than expected! On Oxford Street we popped in and out of shops and stopped for an ice cream before locating Selfridges.

 

 

 

We took the tube to Hyde Park, where we walked around and sat down at the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. I'd never been before and it was gorgeous! It's so simple but everyone is able to enjoy it. There were children playing in the water while couples and families were enjoying picnics. I definitely plan to return!

 



 

Our final stop was The Science Museum. Again we didn't get to spend as much time as we'd like to have done here so we plan to go again for an afternoon perhaps.

 

Hannah successfully found everything apart from the 'Keep Calm and Carry On' (we also cheated for the rowers on the Thames!). We had great fun despite missing Molly :( We've agreed to go back to almost every place again separately so we can spend longer looking and enjoying. I'll be honest, today we've really improved our map reading skills once deciding Google maps, frustratingly, are not accurate enough!!

 

 

I'd like to finish by saying a big happy birthday to Hannah for tomorrow!! I'm now going to put my very tired feet to bed :)