Monday 28 July 2014

What To Take on Holiday: Holiday Tips & Checklist

I am going on holiday soon, so I thought I'd help those of you stuck on what to pack or how to pack for their adventure! Enjoy!


Top Tips:

  • Always bring extra underwear, around half the amount of your holiday more. So if you are going for 9 days bring around 16 pairs. This is because, if you are sweating and thus have a shower both in the morning and night or if you go to the beach, you may end up changing your underwear twice in one day, so it's safer to have extra!
  • I always take a different shirt for everyday but only a couple of skirts and shorts. This way you can mix and match different outfits. Don't forget to include a nice dress and a couple of nice tops for formal wear.

  • Bring colours that go together well. This way you will find it easy to pick out an outfit everyday. Also this means everything can be mix and matched so you don't need to pack a lots of things. Everything I am taking on holiday is in blue, black white or Red. 
  • Wear your heavier garments to the airport. So, if like me you are going to a hot country, then you probably won't need many heavy items. I like to wear a pair of patterned leggings with a pretty plain shirt and a thick cardigan. Don't ever forget your cardigan, you will most likely need one on a cool evening. This will leave you comfy on the plane and as you are wearing your heaviest items, you will save so much luggage space! If you really want to bring heels, wear them to the airport and take them off on the plane. I like to bring a pair of fluffy slippers for the journey that fit into my bag.
  • Bring a few plastic bags that you can use to put your dirty laundry in while on holiday. This is just in case there aren't any washing facilities available, as you can then separate your dirties from your cleans.
  • When it comes to actually packing I like to roll my shirts and put them to one side of the suitcase and fold my shorts, skirts and dresses normally and keep them to the other side, as I have done below. My suitcase has pockets on the inside part that opens. This is where I put all my underwear.


Have you double checked you have packed everything right? No? Well, you can check now with this nifty checklist I made!


Holiday Checklist: 


  Holiday insurance 
 Visa
 Passport 
 Flight Tickets 
 Money in correct currency
 Credit cards 
 Holiday Insurance documentation 
 Holiday home and personal keys 
 Mobile Phone – camera phone is preferable
Charger for electronics with adapter 
 Driving Licence 
 Photocopies of Passport/Insurance 
 Holiday Address and Itinerary 
 Watch 
 Glasses and sunglasses
 Medication 
 Shorts 
  Shirts/ Shirts/Tops 
 Trousers 
 Skirts 
 Dresses 
 Jumpers 
 Underwear 
 Socks 
 Tights 
 Swimwear other beach garments
 Beach towels 
 Floats
 Flip flops and sandals
 Nightwear 
 Slippers 
 Shoes 
 Wedding garments if needed 
 Suit 
 Trainers 
 Coats/Jacket 
 Waterproofs 
 Hat 
 Belt 
 Handbags 
 Jewellery 
 If you have a baby then things to cater their needs eg nappies, changing mat and bottles. 
 Suntan and after sun lotion 
 Lip balm 
 Hair products 
 Bath/shower products although most hotels provide this.
 Razor 
 Shaving cream 
 Aftershave (for men)
 Antiperspirant 
 Dental products 
 Moisturiser 
 Beauty products 
 Female hygiene products/tampons 
 Wet wipes 
 Hairbrush/ Comb
 Hairdryer and other hair products
 Nail File/Emery board 
 Tweezers 
 Umbrella 

Friday 25 July 2014

OOTD, Sunshine & Frozen Yoghurt

Today I had the day off work, so I met up with my friend from uni Lena, in Richmond. I had such an enjoyable day so I thought I'd share it with you! :)

As it's so sunny over here at the moment- apparently record braking hot for britain- I wore a loose romper and these cute floral sandals which I love!They go with everything as they are nude and have a lovely and subtle, silver detailing which looks like chains connecting the daisies to make a daisy chain! Cute right!?  I used an L.A Colours nail varnish in silver on my toes and Revlon in Siren on my nails which I have been loving lately. To accessorize, I wore many (fake) pearl bracelets on arm and a few silver rings, including my beloved mood ring that I have somehow managed to keep from the age of around 7!

Finally, I added my bold blue Juicy Couture bag which my boyfriend gave to me amongst many other anniversary presents. If you want to read all about that day, which was a while back now, then check out the post he wrote about it here. I adore everything about the bag, from the material and the colour to the shape and size of it! It compliments nearly every outfit I wear, as I wear a lot of blue, black, white and grey.

As for my face, I left it all pretty natural. I applied a very small amount of BB cream on my problem areas, a sweep of shimmer and a flick of eyeliner on my eyes (for once I didn't do a cat eye!), lipbalm on my lips and some light contouring with my bronzer. I straightened my hair for work yesterday, so today I just brushed through it when I woke up.

All ready to go out, I then proceeded to get the train for Richmond. Lena and I, met up for lunch time having planned to have cocktails and a light lunch. Our plans swiftly changed when we passed a beautiful little shop called The Farmery which sell all sorts of frozen yoghurts! Being lactose intolerant this was a real treat as the bacteria in yoghurt eats the lactose (or something like that), so I can eat it sans probleme!

Lena got the healthier plain yoghurt option with exotic fruit and brownies on top... Myself on the other hand, had A strawberry and caramel yoghurt mix, with mini eggs (chocolate) and white chocolate on top, topped off with caramel sauce. It was simply divine! I have never really caught onto the frozen yoghurt trend, but now that I have tried it out I will probably be obsessed with it. Aside from its' food, the place was really nice, so we stayed there for a good hour chatting away. The atmosphere is really calming as they played background music while we ate on the comfy sofas facing the door- we got a lovely breeze over here while we enjoyed our desserts.  They also sell many other desserts but we were so full we couldn't even eat a proper lunch after this let alone another dessert!

Check out the rest of my photos below.. And remember I'm changing my blog domain to oriannasoracle.blogspot.com from 03/08/14 which is next week!!

Love O
x








Monday 21 July 2014

My Interview Tips





Heya guys!

Last week I had a job interview with Debenhams- which if you're not from the UK, is a big, upmarket department store that sells everything from clothes to home furniture- and I got the job. I am so excited to start earning a bit of money, even if it's not much, so I can go out more often and not have to say no to friends because I'm broke all the time!

Anyhoo, seeing as it is now the summer and many of you will probably be looking to get part time and summer jobs, I thought that I'd share with you my tips on how to ace your interview!



I hope it is super helpful. Just remember, be yourself but also be confident in yourself and you will be fine.:)

Thanks for watching, remember to like and share it!



Love O

x



P.s. I am changing my blog domain from oriannarosa to oriannasoracle.blogspot.com after the 3rd of August!


Tuesday 15 July 2014

REVIEW: Kim Kardashian's Hollywood Game

Kim Kardashian has taken over not only our T.V but also our mobile phones in the form of her new game "Kim Kardashian: Hollywood". 
The aim of the game is simple; to become a celebrity. To make the journey from an E to an A lister you need to complete challenges such as photo shoots, using energy. These challenges vary in time from 1 hour to 24. The more time you have, the harder the challenge is to complete and the more energy you have to use. You receive 1 energy point every 5 minutes, so unless you want to wait for your energy to fill up (which is what I did), then you have to pay for more energy with your own money. 
I downloaded the surprisingly high rated game, to test it out little over a week ago. My first impression was- what is this rubbish? I found the game superficial and boring-why do I want to waste my time completing photo shoots to become famous in a virtual word? 
However, after a few days the game became surprisingly addictive, where it became like a sort of competition of who could become an A-lister first. After a week of completing challenges I quickly became an A-lister. Now all I have left to do is stay at the top, which is somehow even more boring than the boring challenges I needed to complete to get to the top. Unlike The Sims games, where you can be interactive and choose your actions and thus your avatars destiny, this game leaves little to the imagination and leaves you feeling like a passive player. 
To top it off, the game is ridden with annoying adverts which pop up ALL the time at every opportunity!! 
This game is definitely just a craze ,which will go out of style sooner than Crocs did and will surely be deleted from my phone.
PS Don't forget that I'm officially changing my blog domain to oriannasoracle.blogspot.com on the 3rd of August! 

Love O
x





Monday 14 July 2014

My Summer Mood Board

My Summer Mood Board


Here's a little moodboard on how I'm hoping my summer will be this year and to inspire me to spend my summer living healthily; playing outside in the sun, socializing with friends and taking in lots of vitamins. I love summer so much because it means I can wear little dresses and cute outfits, that are otherwise impossible to wear in the UK because the weather is so dull. It also means I have an excuse to eat lots of lovely fresh fruits and salads! Yummmy.

Anyways, school terms are almost over so get outside and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts. And for those who work, come home to enjoy a lovely sangria and a fresh home made dinner outside.

PS Don't forget that I'm officially changing my blog domain to oriannasoracle.blogspot.com on the 3rd of August! 

Love O
x

Tuesday 8 July 2014

COLLABORATION: Girly Day Out - Makeup, Picnic and Nails

Hey!

So, this is my first ever collab post (ohhh yeahhh)! I met up with my friend Corran who is the lovely blogger from Corrange and we had a picnic in Richmond on the green (which for you non-Londoners is basically a big, random patch of grass). 




The first thing I did before meeting Corran was my makeup- obviously! As it is so sunny at the moment and I didn't want to have sweaty make-up running down my face, I only used 5 products.


On my face I used:

~Rimmel Foundation in soft beige
~ MAC black kohl eyeliner
~Sunkissed bronzer in medium bronze
~Rimmel Scadaleyes mascara
~ Cherub's Blush, cheek and lip tint
How I achieved this look:

~ Apply your foundation evenly all over all your skin, making sure to blend it well. I use my fingers, but you can use a brush too if you like.
~ Apply the bronzer using a slanted brush whilst sucking in the hollows of your cheeks to really define your cheek bones. Using a larger kabuki style brush, lightly blend the bronzer and dust it up along your temple and down to your jaw line, in the shape 3.
~ Using the same bronzer take a small eyeshadow brush and apply the bronzer to your lash line and outer corners/crease of your eye. Do this until the colour is quite dark and the outline looks really harsh.Now take any small, clean blending brush and blend it in, making sure to concentrate keeping the colour darker on the outer corner of your eyes for a winged effect. Once you've finished blending, using the colour left on your brush, take it underneath your eye- just under your bottom lash line.
~ Now take your eyeliner and apply it along your lashline. Using a blending brush blend it into your eyeshadow.
~ Apply your mascara as usual on both your upper and bottom lashes.
~ Finish by applying one coat of the tint, on your lips. You could also apply this to your cheeks however, I used a lot of bronzer and I liked the look without any blush.

Ta-Da! You're all ready to go out!

 
For our picnic I made a lovely Caesar Salad with sausages instead of chicken which was delicious! Corran brought some Cool Doritos, Coca Cola and Jaffa cakes. Which Melted...  It was so hot and we didn't eat any breakfast so we guzzled down the coke and ate all the salad in no time! I made such a big salad portion that we were pretty full by the time we had finished it, so we lay on the picnic cloth and gossiped while munching on the odd Doritos. We chatted so much that we forgot to take loads of photos. Apologies for the really rubbish picnic photo with my grubby shoes in the background!
 To make my Sausage Caesar Salad:

~Put your sausages in a tray with chopped onions, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on top and put it in the oven; Check the packet of sausages for time and oven settings!

~ Cut up small pieces of bread for croutons and drizzle with oil and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Don't put this in the oven until the sausages are almost ready.

~ Now cut up your choice of raw vegetables for your salad. I included a variety of lettuce, freshly cut from my garden, 3 tomatoes and an avocado.

...Around 15 minutes later...

~Check on your sausages and turn them.

~Put your croutons in the oven.

...Around another 7 minutes later...

~Take your sausages and croutons out of the oven and put them into your salad.

~ For the dressing, mix 3 tablespoons of Hellmann's mayonnaise, a few drops of lemon, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard. Top it off with a sprinkle of salt, pepper and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Corran and I loved the salad so so much!! It was so tasty- if I do say so myself!

After our picnic we went back to my house where nails enthusiast Corran did my nails for me! We chose a lovely pink shade with a single aztec pattern on my ring fingers in white. If you want to see how she did it- which you should because this photo doesn't do it justice and I love them then check out here blog here and she should have a post up on how to do it!

And if you do try any of these out leave me a comment down below because I love reading them!

Don't forget that I'm officially changing my blog domain to oriannasoracle.blogspot.com on the 3rd of August!

Love O
x







Thursday 3 July 2014

No More Orianna Rosa

Hey Guys,

I am going to jump straight in the deep end and tell you my news...

I am changing my blog name, mainly because I feel like I've changed from back when I first started this blog (at just turned 17) where my posts where only really personal ones. Of course, I will still post personal diary-like entries, as I still do but that won't be my blog sole focus.

My new blog name and DOMAIN will be Orianna's Oracle! So note down my new blog name if you want to search for my post's on google as from 03/08/2014, as you won't be able to find them under Orianna Rosa anymore!!

But, don't you worry because you have a month to remember and I will remind you on every blog post I write up until then.

I am so excited as a new name calls for a revamp! Super excited! So, I will get started on re-imaging my blog today with the lovely british blogger Corran who is obsessed with nail art-who isn't? So get on that link and check her blog out! We will also be doing a collab post- I am almost peeing myself with excitement!

Anyways, please leave me a comment telling me what you guys think about my new name and about my blog's new look which will be finished a few hours after posting this- I just wanted to give you readers a head start so you can brace yourself for change!

And the one month countdown starts to when I officially change my domain!

Love O
x

Tuesday 1 July 2014

The Health Benefits of Parsley

Julys top ingredient, that I have been loving, is parsley! So, my aim for you guys this month is to eat as much of it as possible, as I have been doing.

The Benefits of Parsley

Parsley is the most popular and widely used herb in the world! This doesn't come as a surprise, once you realise how truly amazing it is. 

The vitamins packed in these small green leaves include: Vitamins K, C, A, B1 and B3, iron, copper, potassium, calcium, fibre, magnesium, zinc and many, many more. Not too mention it is also, low in saturated fat, very low in cholesterol and a good source of protein! Studies have also shown the herb to protect against and prevent: heart disease, cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. As well as to help digestion, menstrual flow, as an aphrodisiac, and as a breath freshener.

To top that off, it is great if you are keeping an eye on your waistline, as it contains only 22 calories per 60g portion! 

3 Ways To Eat It


  • In a lovely salad. I had this for lunch today and it was so yummy and filling. It is so quick and easy to make and low in calories but because you are not constricting the size of your meal it doesn't feel like a 'diet'. It is also so good and healthy, as combined with the other vegetables, you are feeding your body such a variety of nutrients. 
You don't have to follow my recipe, but it was so delicious I simply had to share it with you guys!
Ingredients: 

A cup of parsley
2 tomatoes
1/4 of a green pepper
1 avocado
1/2 a carrot

and vinegar, oil and salt for the dressing.

All you do is finely chop all your ingredients, toss them in a bowl and add your dressing how you like. And there you have it! I told you it's quick! In this one dish you are almost getting your five a day already, and the day has only just begun! 

  • As a garnish. Just sprinkle a few leaves over your cooked meat, potatoes, pasta... literally anything to add a little bit of interest and flavour to your dish. I love it with grilled pork or steak.

  • To make a sauce. You can use parsley to make a variety of sauces and chutneys for various dishes. I like to use it to make pesto by blending the parsley leaves with oil, garlic, pine nuts and even a tiny bit of basil. Once made you can serve it straight away. What's even greater about a pesto pasta is that you can eat it cold for lunch or a picnik which just makes it a really lovely and refreshing summer dish!

Enjoy reaping the benefits of parsley and share this with all your friends so that they can too!

Love O
x