Working Weekends.

I have been in full time employment for 6 years. For 5 of those, I've worked Monday to Friday (albeit not 9-5, that would be a total dream. More like 7-4 or 6-3 or overnight or....... The glamorous life of a Visual Merchandiser). I love my weekends. I love being able to wake up of my own accord on Saturdays and Sundays and think, should I spend my day at a museum/gallery/park/market? If so, which one?! Or, should I just stay in bed watching Netflix and drinking tea. I like to be able to make that choice.

The only time I enjoy working weekends is when I get a call much like the following..."Elouise, what's your availability for next weekend? You're needed in our *insert new city here* store."

This is exactly what happened a couple of weeks ago when I got to work in our Nuremberg store. I've been to Germany a fair few times, I love Berlin and have friends there which always makes visiting fun, I've gone on day trips to the Christmas market in Aachen a few times which just adds to the magical feeling of my favourite season and I did a store opening in Munich which wasn't my favourite place I've visited (read: I didn't enjoy it there at all!) but a pal who moved there is very determined to change my mind with a return visit.

However, back to Nuremberg. I totally loved it there! This was largely due to fantastic weather and working late shifts which meant we were able to have a wonder round the city during the day. I rarity while working away.

There were churches everywhere. And they were huge! You literally couldn't walk down a street without a vast, Gothic piece of architecture looming. The city is also all within castle walls which gave the city an almost toy town feel. The castle itself is at the top of the hill and you can wonder round the grounds. The castle isn't like English castles, ruins amid plush greenery. Think Game of Thrones. I was in my element. The proportions of the castle were crazy, huge doors, tiny windows. This all added to the feeling that you weren't in a real place, more like walking round a film set.

All in all, a wonderful weekend spent exploring a new city. Definitely somewhere I want to return to.

By Elouise Wolf

Long Weekends.

I was mega happy to see the back of last year. It was, quite frankly, shit. 2015 was going to be my year, it was going to be excellent. And then February came with the news of possible redundancy and the fact that my house was being knocked down. Both these pieces of news came in the same week, thanks for that world!

Anyway, happy to say that things have turned out for the better. I kept my job which was a huge weight off my shoulders and my housemates and I found the most beautiful flat that I never want to leave. So while everything turned out ok, it was a very testing couple of months. Luckily, everything was sorted before my long weekend in Copenhagen over the Easter weekend, I used this as an excuse to celebrate.

I absolutely love Copenhagen. I nearly moved there a few years ago for work but it fell through due to not being able to find anywhere to live. It's been 2 years since I've been! Time flies. 

It was a total perfect weekend of just walking, drinking coffee, drinking a lot of beer (a whole lot!), catching up with some very dear friends, lying on the harbour, photographs, dancing in Jolene  in the meat packing district until the small hours of the morning and eating the most delicious pizza. I gave it up for Lent, words can't describe how happy I was.

In Copenhagen, like a lot of similar cities, nothing opens on a Sunday and I mean nothing! So don't go thinking you'll have a full weekend of shopping or anything like that. Be prepared for a lot of walking. The city is pretty much flat though and so beautiful that you'll soon forget that everything is closed due to the amount of photography opportunities you'll have.

Have you been on any good trips recently?

The Naked Palette.

I am literally the worst person ever when it comes to make up. After spending years having to apply it with a trowel for dance shows, I feel I look either too natural (read: bare faced) or in drag. There's no happy medium. I've also worn pretty much the same make up since I was about 14, black eye-liner, mascara and the palest powder going. (When I was about 16 I started to experiment with red eye shadow. I thought I looked super cool until a friend from college asked if I'd developed a crack habit over the summer holidays. I still have the offending eye shadow but it's now saved for Halloween and Halloween only!)

Then for Christmas last year, my dear uncle bought me a gift that has changed my make up bag for the better!

The Naked Palette from Urban Decay has become something I can't live without. 12 gorgeous shades going from a nude to a glittery black, there's something for everyone in this palette. There's also a difference in finishes with matte, shimmer and glitter shadows. It's safe to say I've fallen in love with it. For during the day, putting one of the nudes on before my eye-liner just makes me feel a lot more 'done.' And with the fantastic brush that comes with it, creating a superb smokey eye for an evening out is easy as pie.

I still may not be a make up master, but with this palette, as least I can fake it.

New Year.

So 2015 is upon us, something which makes me incredibly happy. 2014 wasn't the best for a number of reasons and come December, I was counting down the days for the year to be over. I really don't like wishing time away.

Like most people, I have been thinking about resolutions and what I want to achieve/experience this year. While this is nothing new, I feel like I've literally hit the ground running.

G E T  F I T - when I lived in Leeds, I was at the gym around 4 times a week. I loved it. Since moving to London, I've indulged too much in my other love. Pizza. It doesn't help that to move gyms, my membership would increase to £125 per month! So I thought, I can sit around eating pizza or I can get moving. I've since signed up to do a 10K in a couple of weeks and the Hackney Half in May. Fingers crossed I'll complete it this time in under 2 hours!

T R A V E L - To be fair, I don't do too badly for travelling but I feel there is always room for improvement. I have flights booked for the Easter weekend to visit friends in Copenhagen and then possible trips to Vienna and Berlin and that's before a summer holiday and anything work throws my way!

E X P E R I E N C E - Again, not doing too badly with this one. I have tickets for 4 pretty big gigs coming up, an evening at the theatre booked and plans in motion for a festival in the summer. I feel like this is the easiest one as I do a lot in my spare time but sometimes, it feels a bit same old same old. I'm going to make a point of looking for events that are happening in places I wouldn't usually venture too and make sure I take full advantage of everything London has to offer, especially in the summer.

B E  H A P P Y - I feel like this one is massively generic but a lot of last year I was doing things that I felt I should be doing rather than doing things because I wanted to. This will not be happening anymore. If I don't like something or it doesn't do it for me, it can do one.

B L O G - This is the only one I feel I have been slacking on so far. Seeing as it's already the 14th and I'm writing a new year blog post. Ooops. I WILL BE MORE 'ON IT' THIS YEAR. I promise.

What are your new year resolutions and aims?