On July 25th I jet off to America for a month of travelling.

GUYS I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW EXCITED I AM.

I've never been to America before and have always said, 'One day I'll go to all the places' knowing full well I'd probably never have the balls or the money or the right someone to do it with.

How things change.

I seem to have grown a pair of some serious metaphorical balls over the past couple of months and have decided: If I want to achieve something, then what's stopping me? I have the ability to make this life the one I've always wanted. So that's what I'm going to do.

I guess I kind of believe in myself, now.

And with that being said, my good friend Nicola and I booked our trip of a lifetime and I'm so ready for it.

We met up one evening after work and made our own itinerary, a list of our dream destinations. We did a little bit of research on booking it independently, but quickly made the decision to drop in at a travel shop, just to see what they could offer.
We were prepared for our ultimate trip to be way out of budget, but surprisingly, it came in under what we'd both allowed for. Yeah, I nearly wet myself right there and then.

So where are we going, you ask?

Booking it through the meant we could tailor our package to include for exactly what we wanted. I know a lot of people book on to a coach or camping tour through somewhere like STA travel, which is amazing - but Nic and I felt that we wanted to do this particular trip just the two of us, go with the flow, experience it in our own way.
Holiday Hypermarket arranged our trip through a company called Hayes & Jarvis and the package we created cost just over £3,000 each and included, flights, internal flights to each destination, transfers and hotels. It's a lot of money, but actually a lot less than what I thought it would cost to do all of the above!

So, now we just need to book our excursions for all of the places we're visiting. Having never been to America before, I'm going in a little blind. If any of you have any tips on what to do, who to book excursions through and any good places to eat etc. that would be amazing :-)

The countdown is ON.

Saying I feel happy right now doesn't quite cut it.

I frickin' LOVE the second half of 2015.

My go-to make-up at the moment is super simplistic and natural. Made up of four favourites from my beauty stash, together these products create an effortless, simplistic look that’s suitable for daily wear.

Kicking it off with the YSL Touché éclat foundation, it gives the most natural, healthy glow with a smooth and even finish – think your skin but better. It’s so beautiful to apply that it’s even okay to pop it on with your fingers, it just melts in to the skin and leaves you looking glowing and fresh faced. The Charlotte Tilbury Colour Chameleon eye crayon hasn’t left my eyes since I purchased it. The creamy pigmented texture glides over my lids like a dream and the staying power is incredible. For my lips I’ve been reaching for Charlotte Tilbury’s Pillow Talk Lip Cheat; it’s meant to be a lip liner but I use it all over the lips as it gives such a natural finish and stays put all day. It can be a little drying so I’ll pop a little lip balm over the top throughout the day to keep my lips hydrated. Lastly and the newest addition to my beauty bag, is the 1-DAY ACUVUE® DEFINE™, beauty enhancing contact lenses. And I could almost explode with excitement, because basically I have found true love.

Yes, in the form of contact lenses.

Honestly? I’ve always quite liked wearing my glasses and haven’t explored the option of contact lenses until now. But Acuvue have created something so magical that I can simply slip in to my daily routine with no fuss but that has a huge impact on my overall look.

In short, these lenses have been created to enhance the natural beauty of your eyes. They’re designed to provide a more defined limbal ring (the edge around the coloured part of the eye) which will create a stronger contrast to the white part. This will ultimately result in fresher looking eyes that look more awake, but that also give the illusion of your iris looking bigger.

You might be able to see from the picture above that the lens also has an iris-inspired pattern which works to blend with your naked eye, not masking it like other contact lenses can do. Now of course, every eye is different and completely unique, so individually we will all have a different experience and look.

Above is a before and after, using the Natural Shimmer lenses - I mean, need I say more? HOW MUCH BETTER DO MY EYES LOOK GUYS? It just brings my whole face to life, my eyes look so much more intense, bigger and brighter. BASICALLY THIS IS REAL LOVE.

The best part of these lenses is that it's not just purely aesthetic benefits you're getting. They're prescription too, so not only are they enhancing your eyes but they're doing the job they need to help you see at the same time. You can get them in two designs, Natural Shimmer (which I personally love for darker eye colours) and Natural Sparkle (which helps to brighten, and looks mega on blue eyes in my opinion). You can pick whichever one takes your fancy though and if you’re green eyed like me you can certainly pull off both for two totally different looks.
Here's a snap of the finished look, with me be all posy.

NEW 1-DAY JOHNSON & JOHNSON ACUVUE® DEFINE™ to enhance the natural beauty of your eyes.

Inspired by the beauty of the natural eye, the lens combines a dark ring around the coloured portion of your eye with a luminous-effect pattern, resulting in a brighter, more memorable you. Choose from one of two designs to suit your eye colour. NATURAL SHIMMER™ for more depth and intensity or NATURAL SPARKLE™ to add a luminous brightening effect.

If you like the look of these and want to give them a whirl then you’re in luck guys, because Acuvue are currently offering a . Just to get started. If you pick some up, make sure you share any snaps using the hashtag #AcuvueDefineBeauty.

What are your thoughts? I mean, the love for me is real - I’m still looking at myself in the mirror…(#sorrynotsorry).

Dungarees Missguided. Glasses: Topshop. Boots: Daniel Footwear. Top: River Island (similar here). Watch: Daniel Wellington. Rings: Jana Reinhardt. Belt & Necklace: Vintage. Photos by .

Missguided keep pulling out the stops for our wardrobes this summer and dungarees aren't an exception.

WHAT EVEN ARE THESE?

Perfection that's what.

Monochrome, soft as silk and high-waisted.

I don't have anything else to say. They are just too good.

Shop the look here:

Denim Jacket: Urban Outfitters. Obey T-Shirt: Urban Outfitters. Jeans: Oasis. Boots: Daniel Footwear. Bracelet: Azuni London. Necklace: Jana Reinhardt. Bag: Urban Outfitters (similar here in sale). Belt: Vintage. Earrings: . Camera: Olympus PEN. Wing Ring: Jana Reinhardt. Aqua ring: Nikki Stark. Watch: Daniel Wellington.

Casual outfit days are my favourite kind. Of late, I’ve found myself buying more elaborate pieces to add to my wardrobe, rather than investing in basics like I usually would. Then I fell in to Urban Outfitters and fell back out with a bag full of casual goodness.

This obey t-shirt, is currently in the sale and basically makes all my dreams come true. It’s £30 which isn’t cheap for a basic top, but guys, it’s the best t-shirt I’ve ever bought – hands down. It’s made with the softest fabric and if you’re familiar with Obey clothing, you’ll know the quality is super high. Basically I just love it, a lot. I've teamed it with my vintage Levi's denim jacket, new backpack and some Oasis skinny jeans that are my go-to items for lazy days.

My favourites at Jana Reinhardt have also recently launched some new pieces to update their beautiful collection of jewellery. And this little hedgehog necklace is new to the crew (we like to call him Nufnuf - which is German for Hedgehog). It's the perfect addition to any jewellery stash - super simplistic but quirky, meaning it will go with anything but still stands out in the most adorable way.
Not forgetting some serious arm candy from the babes at Azuni London. I love how unique this piece is - it has a soft leather cuff with hand crafted beads/crystals and a snap button fasten making the awful task of clasping a bracelet together and looking ridiculous in the process, redundant.

I shot these snaps on the latest addition to my photography stash – the Olympus PEN E-PL7. After seeing it on blogging babe and Instagram, I immediately fell in love and saved my pennies (and sold an older camera) so that I could get my mitts on it in time for my America trip. Like, I know this baby has been hyped to high hell by every man and his dog (aka. blogger) but seriously, IT IS SO GOOD. The quality of the photographs it produces are up there with my DSLR and at half the size, it’s much easier for outfit shooting on the go. If you’d like a more detailed review on it or have any questions you’d like answering regarding it, just let me know! I could talk about it all day (clearly).

In the meantime, you can shop the camera and the rest of my look here:

Photos by