Well to say that last week was busy is an understatement. In 4 days I spent over 17 hours in the car, 6 hours on a train, graduated, got a new puppy and went to see my sister for her birthday. Each day I spent in a different part of the country, Cheltenham, Southampton, Ipswich, Reading and London and by the end of it I was exhausted. However, it was so so worth it.
If you follow me on Twitter or Via this blog, you will know that on Thursday I Graduated University. This was a very proud day for me and I will shortly be doing a post on this with photos from the day. You may also know back at home my family were getting a new puppy and as I went home for my Graduation I was able to pick up the puppy with them.
We left to get Pepper (the name we finally decided on) at 6am as she was a very very long car journey away from my hometown. We actually got there so early to have first pick of the puppies as they were all going that day. However when we got there, having to choose was the most heartbreaking thing! They were all adorable and I wish we could have taken all of them home! We eventually settled on Pepper as she wasn't the boldest out of the pups but also wasn't the most shy, so we believed she was a good mix.
When we had seen the pups previously, they were only 4 weeks and barely moving, so at 8 weeks it was lovely to see them jumping around. During the car journey home, Pepper stayed in the back with me and was sick a few times, which is expected and similar to when we bought my other dog Daisy home for the first time. However, this time Pepper was sick over me, which was delightful. She was still very excited so didn't sleep very much. For the journey being as long as it was, she was very well behaved!
As we have another dog, Daisy, we hoped they would get on and take to each other, and they did which we were very happy with! Daisy is so lovely with Pepper, they are already playing together and we find them curled up together in the morning. Aww!
After the first day, Pepper became a lot more playful and her cheeky side is coming out. We have got her a LOT of toys and chew toys as she is already starting to nip a bit. She seems to love my slipper boots and the tassels! Unfortunately I do not live at home anymore, so I will not always see Pepper, but I am going home for Christmas so will make the most time I have with her and Daisy.
Pepper 8 weeks and Daisy 9 years old
Pepper is a Kerry Blue Terrier and they are known to grow very fast, so I'm sure she won't stay as little as she is for long! Do any of you have one? She is so perfect, so fluffy and so cute! She has the most beautiful eyes and is so dainty following you around everywhere. As she is jet black you can almost miss her on a black floor! She has learnt to sit and I even saw her watching TV the other day! I managed to catch a video of this the other day and put in some other clips too. See below for the video.
I have SO many video's of Pepper, but the two I will show you below are her of her in the car on the way and and when she was sat watching TV and then starts to play. She was obsessed with my graduation balloons! Enjoy!
Overall, we are VERY pleased with Pepper. She is so cute and anyone that see's her instantly falls in love with her! I will keep you updated on her progression.
Do any of you have a Kerry Blue Terrier? What do you think of Pepper?
I thought I would give you guys a few quick updates regarding my recent posts.
BaByliss Curl Secret
I'm so excited to say this has been bought! I got a phone call at the weekend to say it has been picked up and will be waiting under my tree when I go home for christmas. This is something I can't wait to try out, and I will definitely review it and let you know if it's worth it, which fingers crossed it will be. Check out my BaByliss Curl Secret post here.
Puppies Name
After a LOT of deliberation, me and my family think we have finally decided on a name for the puppy. We are going with Pepper. We all liked this name, and as she will start off as black colour, this name is quite fitting. I would love to know what you all think of the name, do you like it? If you would like to see the post regarding previous puppy names and photo's click here.
Christmas Advert
On Friday, I wrote a piece on the new John Lewis Christmas Advert before it's release on Saturday. Now you've hopefully all got a chance to see it, I would love to hear your thoughts on it. What did you think of it? Do you prefer any of their other Christmas adverts? If you still haven't seen the advert, click here for a full review and the advert itself.
Graduation
Now, this isn't regarding my old posts, but it will probably involve my new posts. At the end of November, I graduate University. This is a very scary thought as it is completely closing this chapter of my life and I am not ready to stop being a student yet. This will be a very special day and I will keep you updated on this and most probably blog my experience.
Nails
This is also an upcoming post update. I recently wrote a post regarding halloween nails and showed you quickly my penguin nails that I had previously done. This was requested and I have been asked to show you how I did them, so nearer to Christmas I will be taking you through the stages of completing this look. If you would like to see the penguin nails click here for the previous post.
So that's it for all the updates! There is a lot going on at the moment, so my blog is swaying a lot more to lifestyle around Christmas. I will be keeping you up to date and on the eye out for all the amazing Christmas adverts and will share the best ones with you!
(WARNING: Gushy part coming up)
I also just want to say a massive THANK YOU for all the support I have currently received regarding this Blog. I started this mid September and am astonished by how well everyone has taken to it. The support I get on my Blog Twitter is overwhelming, and you all tell me how much you love reading my posts which is so lovely and I am very grateful for that. There are now over 600 of you lovely people following Char's Insights and over 7000 page views, which is surreal to think about. I love hearing what you think and if you would like a specific post on something please do let me know and I'll happily do it.
If you don't already follow me on my blog twitter, I'm at Char's Insights and I post about updates regarding my blog, as well as interacting with you guys. I also love checking out other people's blog's so please feel free to send me yours and I'll take a look. Love you all and thank you again.
Quick little post today, I just had to share something with you.
My last post was about the new John Lewis Christmas Advert. If you haven't seen yet yet, WHY NOT. Take a look at my last blog post and you can see it there. Well anyway, a video has come out about the making of the advert and it is astonishing!
I cannot believe the amount of effort that went it to it, no wonder it cost 7 million! Each take a different movement and each piece of the set has been designed individually and from scratch. I thought it was computer animated, so seeing this has totally shocked me. The amount of time and effort put into this is incredible and they should be very proud of the result.
I want to share this with you all so click the link below and see the video of how this amazing, tearjerking advert was made. Enjoy!
So, the wait is over. The John Lewis Christmas advert is here.
I wait all year for the Christmas adverts, it is the one time of year that retailers know they have to get right and pull out all the stops to outdo their competitors. John Lewis have held the top spot for a while in the UK, and their adverts have now become almost iconic with people waiting all year for them and waiting to see what emotive advert they produce. I am one of these people. I have loved John Lewis' adverts from the start and throughout the year, not even around christmas time, I find myself searching for all of the adverts on YouTube and watching them from beginning.
So, if you are wondering why I am writing this blog post when it isn't even Christmas yet, it is because John Lewis have released their christmas advert. Yes people, it's been released!! It is due to be released on TV during the X Factor on Saturday night, however it has been released online for all of us searching for it prior. John Lewis have actually bought out the entire advert break during X Factor, which the agreement of Simon Cowell, to make sure their advert is memorable and everyone is talking about. Which I'm sure they will. Watch the new 2013 John Lewis Christmas advert below:
The advert tells the story of a bear and a hare around Christmas time. The advert is animated so is quite different to anything they have done before. It shows the bear not in the Christmas spirit, whereas his best friend the hare is trying his very hardest to get his best friend in the spirit so they can enjoy it together. The advert shows all the other animals enjoying decorating the tree etc but the bear yawning. It is soon clear the bear is going into hibernation, and will always miss christmas due to his sleeping patterns and is therefore not aware of how enjoyable christmas can be.
The advert really pulls on your heartstrings when the hare is looking at all the other animals enjoying christmas day and he is so upset his best friend can't be there. The next thing, the bear comes along with a huge smile on his face after receiving the hare's present of an alarm clock to wake him up just in time for Christmas. And they all live happily ever after. Of course.
The advert cost a whopping 7 million so I do hope they sell a lot of those alarm clocks!
Something I think John Lewis do perfectly with their adverts is the music choices, this again is a perfect choice and I'm sure this cover of Keane's 'Somewhere Only We know' by Lily Allen will be a hit, as all the other iconic, slowed down, covers are. The music is so emotive and beautifully fits with the story. The music for last year's snowman advert particularly stood out to me because it was so entrancing, it made the advert.
Their adverts are so iconic, and are always known for being a tearjerking and emotional. They could be criticised for being very repetitive and following the same story, which is some cases they do. A lot of John Lewis christmas adverts follow the same story for finding the perfect christmas gift for your love ones, which this new advert follows too. However, John Lewis know if they feature products in their adverts, people will buy them, which is exactly what happens. This alarm clock will now be on everyones Christmas list.
As much as I do love this advert, and think the animation and disney like style really sets it apart from anything they have done before, I do prefer some of their other christmas adverts. My all time favourite one (and this is a hard choice) is 'The Long Wait' and I know this is a similar view of many others. The advert shows the boy impatiently waiting for Christmas and when the day is finally here, he cannot wait a minute longer. You assume he is waiting for Christmas all the time, but in fact he is waiting to give his parents the present he has bought him. It is such an emotive advert I do remember I did actually shed a tear at this one, because it is unexpected. Watch it below:
There have been many other brilliant John Lewis Christmas adverts and another favourite of mine is the Sweet Child Of Mine 2009 advert, I absolutely love the transition at the end, it works perfectly. Here are their 2008, 2010 and 2012 adverts for you to have a look, and probably cry at.
I'm sure there will be many more Christmas adverts I will love and I'll make sure to share the best ones with you! So that's it, another long year of waiting for the John Lewis Christmas advert is upon us.
And remember, give someone a Christmas present they'll never forget!
Haircare blog post today! If you don't know, I have very long hair, like really long hair. I usually straighten my hair and that itself takes a good half hour to do well. On the odd occasion I curl it, it will take over an hour, as well as how long hair my hair is, it is also very thick so curling it is a huge amount of effort. I don't own tongs or anything, I just use my straighteners as I rarely curl my hair, but on the odd occasion I do it looks lovely.
I also have dip dyed hair, and the effects of dip dye often look nicer curled than straight. If you curl the ends of your dip dyed hair, the blonde will really stand out. As my hair is so long the dip dye now reached my hips so the ends curled would look lovely. The only issue is time, so I really want to invest in a good pair of curlers, that take minimal time and effort.
Bang. Enter Curl Secret.
BaByliss Curl Secret is a curler like no other. This device is like a magic wand and I am so excited to try it out. The curler sucks up your hair automatically and without any effort or time you have a perfect curl. Before I go into more detail about it, watch the video below showing it in action.
How amazing does that look!
It sucks up your hair, so you don't have to physically wrap it round, it heats up your hair depending on the softness of the curl and you have a curl in 10 seconds. This will take much less time to curl my hair and I think it will be very handy indeed in the morning! The one thing I was worrying about was it zapping up your hair and getting tangled but I have done A LOT of research on this and it is clear this is not an issue although everyone initially thought it would be.
What my hair is currently like- Dip Dye
Something else I am worrying about is the length of my hair and how this will effect the mechanism, as I have said it's super long, way past my hips now so I'm not sure how this will be in the curler and I might have to start quite far down. If you have the same problem or really long hair I would love to know your thoughts on this and if this issue has effected you?
The product is quite expensive and sits at roughly £120 which for a curler is a lot of money, however, I think with the amount of time and effort you will be saving, this will be worth it. I have asked for this as my christmas present to justify the price and I am sure I will love it.
I have read some reviews of this on other blogs and watched many videos and the response all seems very positive so far which is great. I would love to hear your thoughts on this and if you have it, what it's like? Would you recommend it? Or if you don't have it, would you buy it?
My hair is something which is very important to me, I take care of it and like to look after it. It is a big feature for me because of it's length and thickness and is something which many people comment on, even strangers. Personally I think it is a bit too long now, I'm close to being able to sit on it and it is a lot of effort to maintain, but I just can't seem to part with it, and I am not ready to cut off the dip dye just yet as it has faded to a lovely colour. As I am so precious about my hair I need to make sure this product is the right one for me so I would love some of your feedback on this.
If I do get this BaByliss Curl Secret, I will do a tutorial and review on the product for you. Hopefully I will be amazed and it will be a good as everybody says it is!
.PNG)
