Holding Up The Universe

Once in a blue moon, I will choose a book to read, and read it from start to finish! I read this book in the Easter holidays, and, I have got to say I LOVED it! I don't usually like reading books (not a good thing if I want to study English at Uni), but I don't, and that's the truth. However, this book is something else and I honestly couldn't put it down. The bad thing was I wanted to savour this book, but the fact that I couldn't put it down really says a lot! 

I first heard about this book when Zoe tweeted about it on her Twitter last year. And since I had read another Jenifer Niven book called All The Bright Places, I decided to give this a go, because I absolutely adored All The Bright Places. I fell in love with the character Finch, and I absolutely loved the plot and I wanted to see if this book Holding Up The Universe would hold a place in my heart!  

The first thing that attracted me to the book was the front cover, yes, I went there, I judged the book by its cover! It's really simplistic and doesn't really reveal anything about the book at all, which I really loved! Another thing I loved, was the fact that Zoe was the one to recommend it, and if Zoe recommended it, it had to be good! (All The Bright Places was one of her picks in her 2016 book club). I knew I had to pick this book because I loved the way that Niven wrote; I felt all the emotions coming from the pages and was very attached to the characters of the book. I longed for another Jenifer Niven book to read since I loved All The Bright Places so much; so, when Zoe tweeted that Niven was coming out with another book, I knew I had to purchase this book! 

In early 2017, I purchased the book and received it from Waterstones. I decided to read this book in the Easter holidays, as I was still in school and just wanted to read this book when I didn't have as much work to do. I read the synopsis first, and I knew this book was the one  because I got into the synopsis straight away. I started reading and after a week, (yes I know I'm a slow reader) I finished the book! 

The book was INCREDIBLE!! Niven's plot, characters and the way she flips between storylines was absolutely amazing; she is such a skilled writer, and one of my favourites because this book was just ,  superb! The book is set in America, and focuses on Jack Masselin who has prosopagnosia (inability to recognise people's faces) and Libby Strout (branded the 'fattest teen' in America) she put on weight due to her mothers death. The story flits between both characters storylines, until they meet in school due to an unfortunate event, when a love story commences. Niven beautifully moulds both storylines together and the way she digs deep into the  issues of Libby's story is just fantastic and how Libby deals with her issues is wonderful!  Niven brings up real-life issues and, because of this, readers are able to deal with these issues because of how Niven writes about how to deal with them. This book is full of twists and turns, and will make you laugh and cry! 

If you want to read romance novel which deals with issues that can help you fit in with society, this is the book for you!   Niven writes this book with so much enthusiasm that you will become attached to each characters and their families, that you won't know what to do after you've finished this book! This book is just magnificent!  I have heard that a film version of All The Bright Places is being made, if that is true, I can't wait to see it! It would be even better if a film version of Holding Up The Universe Came Out; I would be the first person to see it! 

Now that I have finished this book, I am reading one of Zoe's other Book Club Books from her 2017 range called GirlHood by Cat Clarke. Comment down below and let me know how you found it. 

I hope you enjoyed this 

xNx

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Not Your Original Pair Of RayBans

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You may be wondering why the title of this post reads as 'not your original pair'.  The answer is that they aren't an original pair of RayBan glasses, they are my own customised version. I decided to get these specs purely because I needed a new pair of sunglasses. I know what you may be thinking, I should've bought makeup, shoes or even a vintage backpack, but, how often do girls think to themselves 'I need a new pair of sunglasses?' I don't think I've ever even questioned it myself up until now! 

While on holiday in Budapest, (see my previous post) I was staying at the Stacio Hotel & Spa Resort with my mum and my mind started wondering on what to buy. Prior to this, my mum had already told me 'don't spend this money on makeup' (because I  had lots of makeup already); instead, I picked up my phone and  scoured the web to find  the most popular sunglasses sites.  

My first search was actually Quay Australia, but, alas, they did not have the sunglasses that I liked. Sadly the sunglasses I wanted were out of stock.

 Straightaway I opened another tab, and before I knew it, I was on the RayBans website!  I immediately went to the Aviator style sunglasses because I knew they were the most popular (thanks to Top Gun), and  was actually going to get this pair of customised Aviators  https://www.ray-ban.com/uk/customise/rb-3025-aviator-large-metal-sunglasses (I even tried them on with the help of a  a virtual model. This is done by showing you how the glasses will look like on your face; and  is easy if you let the computer have access to your camera.) This tool is extremely helpful if you want to try the glasses first before you purchase them. I definitely recommend doing this, because you don't want to purchase something that you think is perfect on the website, but might not suit you when they're on your face. 

However, something stopped me. I knew I didn't want to follow the crowd by purchasing the Aviator style glasses, so, I decided against them and picked the Ja-Jo REMIX style glasses; a rounded style (think John Lennon) https://www.ray-ban.com/uk/customise/rb-3592-ja-jo-sunglasses?token=7018F0E4-7AD2-4B3F-956E-E7179CD72BC8.

 I FINALLY picked the  style of glasses I wanted and when customising them, I decided on a gunmetal frame, pink lenses and light blue tips! ( I wanted something unique and classic to fit my own individual style, and of course my love of pink and pastel colours.)

With that, there was only one thing I had left to do! That was picking the glasses case, so, I decided to pick the leather grey one because I thought it was the perfect colour scheme, matching the glasses. I also had the case engraved with my name on the centre of the case (which is extra cost). When engraving your case, you can fill 2 lines with 18 characters (like Twitter minus the 122 characters) and emojis. You could pick a heart, musical note/s, sun or a smiley face. Mine has a heart and a smiley face. 

However, I couldn't purchase them until after the trip, so I kept the tab open. When me and mum eventually came back,  I couldn't wait, so I bought them as soon as we entered the house. We came back on the 22nd, and the glasses arrived on the 26th. They arrived pretty quickly,  considering they came from Italy!!! 

As soon as I received them, I fell in love with them straightaway! The glasses were exactly as I customised them, and look so pretty and vintage. I loved the RayBans box it came in, and the case was everything I dreamed of, it suited my aesthetic so well! I especially loved the blue tips; I think it really adds that little bit of uniqueness to the glasses, which contrasts with the pink lenses. I love, love, love the little RayBans trademark sign over on the left-hand side of the glasses, which makes me want to treasure these forever!!! I can also mix and match them with different outfits, neutrals or bright colours.

However, despite everything which is so perfect with these glasses, I have to say, I struggled with the sizing of them. One, because I didn't want to pick the wrong size (if I did purchase them in the wrong size, I would then have to pay more money to get it measured to fit my small head) and two, because I had never experienced sizing before; due to the fact that these are the first real sunglasses I have ever  purchased. The ones I had before were from NastyGal, and don't get me wrong I love them, but they came in one size that fitted all. On RayBans there are two sizes standard size, and large size. (I picked standard because RayBans states 'they are the most widespread' size). Fortunately, when they came, they fitted me like a glove!!!

Despite the cold weather, I will wear these glasses on  future holidays,  in the hot weather or if I need an accessory to spice my outfit up, these glasses can be worn whenever (well, not if it's cloudy) haha. 

Thank you for reading this post, and taking time out from whatever your doing. 

xNx 

From Brussels to Budapest

Flight from Brussels to Hungary 

Flight from Britain to Brussels

Hi, thanks for reading this post about my trip to Hungary. This is my first ever blog post on this site, so thank you for taking time out to read this article.

 From the 18th -22nd July, I went to Budapest (for the first time) with my friends family, and I'll tell you now, BUDAPEST WAS THE PRETTIEST CITY I HAVE EVER BEEN TO!! *insert excited emojis*

Despite the delayed flights, lost luggage (don't worry it was flown over shortly after) and my anxieties over flying, this trip was exceptionally fabulous! 

 Over the 5 days we were there, we went to lots of touristy places and ate lots of traditional Hungarian food (Goulash overload)! One of the many relaxing things we did was visit the Hungarian Mineral Baths. 

The Hungarian Mineral Baths are situated in the centre of Hungary. Inside there were many different pools with different temperatures  (one pool had warmer water than the other) and different saunas as well as Turkish Baths.

The building, *insert heart eye emojis* was perfect with an ancient 'Roman' feel to it, large, spacious and opulent. The mineral elements of the water was so beneficial for the skin as it felt so soft and it's reported to be good for the bones too!

The Hungarian Mineral Baths

 The building was a pastel yellow and looked somewhat dainty behind the busy city centre backdrop, which perfectly contributed to the softness of the setting. It was something of artwork, and I can honestly say, the pool was the best experience ever! I would recommend anybody to go there for some relaxation as you forget you're even in the city centre, an entrance fee applies.  I wish I got the chance to take some pictures of the interior, but sadly I didn't have chance to because I didn't want to lose my phone in the baths, or get it wet so make sure you get a phone cover before you go as you can great pics such as under the waterfall area and of the jet streams massaging your back! It's a day of fun and relaxation whether you go with family or friends. 

I loved going to St Stephens Basilica and the Castle District! The Basilica was situated in the centre of everything, shops, restaurants and this was also one of the stops on the Red Tourist Bus Tour, which we used quite a bit as it was useful to hop on and off whenever we wanted to discover a place in more detail!

St Stephens Basilica 

St Stephens Basilica

Castle District

 The architecture at Castle Hill was AMAZING, with everything white and regal. The pureness of the buildings paralleled with the weather. The weather was spectacular, 28-34 degrees almost EVERYDAY, which when you think about it, sounds too hot to walk around in but, I KID YOU NOT, was a dream to walk in as it wasn't too hot. Considering the perfect architecture and the history of these buildings, you couldn't ask for anything less really, the weather, tourist experiences and landscape was truly PERFECT! We also got to see the Changing of the Guards, which was truly an amazing thing to experience, this happened in the Castle District and is open for the public to see and showcased what happened during this time!

Castle District

St Stephens Basilica 

I also enjoyed the River Danube Cruise experience, well, I think I enjoyed it a little bit too much, because with the calmness of the Danube, (the river splitting Buda and Pest) and the calmness of the tour-guides voice, I actually fell asleep! Yes, I know, it's quite embarrassing to admit, but I did fall asleep because it was so relaxing. However, when I wasn't resting my eyes, I did take some pictures of the beautiful buildings. One of the beautiful buildings I did take a picture of was Budapest's Parliamentary building! This building was one of the most amazing I have ever seen as it blends in with the city perfectly.

Budapest's Parliament 

Finally, food-wise,  we ate and drank at many different places (as you do). But, my favourite place by far was Gelarto Rosa. I first saw this ice-cream trend on Facebook, as I am not on Instagram. The ice cream trend is basically a rose shaped ice-cream in a cone. And I swear, when i saw this I immediately messaged my friend and she told me that her mum knew of a place that sold these ice-creams. I was delighted and couldn't wait to go! When we got there, we were instantly hit with the ice-cream board with all the flavours you could have. Flavours such as peach, raspberry, coffee, cinnamon, white chocolate and lavender and many more!
We chose two flavours, one for the centre of the rose, the other for the outer of the rose, and I chose raspberry for the centre and peach for the outer. OMG IT WAS THE BEST ICE-CREAM EVER!! IF YOU EVER GO TO BUDAPEST YOU DEFINITELY NEED TO GO THERE! The flavours were amazing and the ice-cream/sorbet  itself was so refreshing to eat, one because one of the flavours (raspberry) was a sorbet, two because it complimented the hot weather nicely!

To the side (passionfruit, banana and mango)

Passionfruit, banana and mango 

One on the inside ~ peach and raspberry 

Thank you for reading my article, I hope you enjoyed it and be ready for more blog-posts to come!!

 If I had to recommend things to see or do, I would recommend for you to go to the Basilica, the Castle District and to DEFINITELY  GO TO THE GELARTO ROSA (if you want to have a refreshing ice-cream in the hot weather).  

I highly recommend going to Budapest as it is the most prettiest cities I have ever been to as well as being a warm friendly and interesting place!

xNx