LONDON HAUL: ZARA, PRIMARK, FOREVER 21, SUPERDRUG, BOOTS, SELFRIDGES

Hi everyone! Today I'm (finally) coming to you with my long overdue London haul! I've been wanting to put this post together basically since I bought these things, but I didn't have a decent place to take pictures while I was in England! (no, your boyfriend's flat at university is not ideal for blogging as the lighting is terrible and both of your stuff is strewn everywhere because the room is WAY too small for two human beings to share...in case you were wondering) Mike and I ventured to Oxford Street to do some shopping (i was shopping, mike was a great boyfriend and held my coat and bag while i tried things on) and we hit up Zara, Forever 21, Selfridges, and Bershka (cheaper version of Zara) All of the stores were an absolute zoo, but we braved the crowds and I found some great pieces!

I cannot even begin to tell how you how excited I was to go to Zara! I've heard so much about it and have seen people haul clothes from Zara, but I've never actually been to Zara before! I don't have one anywhere near me so naturally I had to have a look around. They had a sale on but their clothes are still on the pricey side (as i'm sure most of you know) so I stayed on the more casual side with my purchases. The first thing I picked up was this really comfy white graphic tee and I'm so in love!

It has an outline of the London skyline and at the bottom it has some cute phrases like "crazy shopping" and "never ending coffee" (sounds like shopping on oxford street to me...am i right, uk people?) I got a small at first, but after I tried it on I decided on a medium because I wanted it to be more loose fitting.

The second piece I got from Zara is this basic white flowy top. Okay, at first I thought the cut on this was standard, but the more I wore it I started to realize that it is asymmetrical, which is really unique! It is shorter at the bottom on one side than the other (as you can see in the picture) which makes this basic top different from anything else I have in my wardrobe. I bought this to wear with leggings (which i have already done on multiple occasions because leggings are my fashion obsession...no shame) but I plan on styling it with jeans as well!

Mike and I went into Bershka next, which I had never heard of but I quickly fell in love with these leggings and I had to have them!

Actually, I would say these are more like trousers than leggings because they are quite thick. I said to the girl at the till that they reminded me quite a bit of the riding pants-style leggings from Zara, and she told me that Bershka is owned by the same company as Zara! So, it made sense that the two leggings are so similar...but these ones were much cheaper than the Zara ones ;) I bought them in black and olive green and I see myself getting a lot of wear out of them! I'm going to call them my fancy leggings from now on...!

Forever 21 time! I went in with a mission: to find a dress for New Year's Eve. I had this idea in my mind that I was going to find the perfect sparkly dress...and that didn't happen. But I did find this hunter green skater dress which I love! Probably a better buy anyways, I'll get much more wear out of this than a sequined number. It doesn't look like anything spectacular on the hanger, but let me tell you it flatters my figure like no other!

Believe it or not, Mike actually picked out this crop top for me! At the moment it seemed like a strange purchase (it is really cold at home right now) but as I'm packing for Florida now it seems pretty much perfect! And, it's Minnie Mouse colors so perfect for Disney World! Mike did a good job :')

Primark...oh Primark, how I've missed you. A couple days before I left (while Mike was at college...hey, i had to occupy myself somehow!) I went shopping in Winchester and of course I had to take a trip to Primark! This shirt has a little story behind it...A couple months ago I was perusing the Shop Jeen website (everything on that website is perfection and i want it all) and I saw a shirt...or was it a skirt? Anyways, it was a clothing piece with basically the same print on it and I wanted it so badly! But it was pretty pricey, so I decided against buying it. So, when I walked into Primark and I saw this shirt, I couldn't resist!

I'm a tad bit obsessed with emojiis so naturally I had to have it. *insert sassy girl emojii here*

I also got a new wallet at Primark! I've been desperately needing a new one for a while and I waited until I went to Primark to get one because they are cute and inexpensive! This one was only five pounds, and it's adorable!

still have pounds and such that i didn't spend...oh well, i'll save them for next time ;)

And of course, I had to pick up a few beauty items when I was in England! Mike and I went into Selfridge's because I wanted to see what was in there and we ended up at the MAC counter. I've been wanting the Nightmoth lip pencil for ages, so per Mike's suggestion I decided to treat myself and get it! I haven't actually worn it yet, but here is a swatch for you!

nightmoth is a purple color, almost black! comment down below if you want a picture of it on and i'll put it on twitter!

I went into the Superdrug in Winchester on a hunt for Makeup Revolution products and thankfully they had them in the shop! I only ended up getting one item, The Matte Effect Foundation, per my friend Stephanie's request. The selection was not as great as I would have hoped, which is why I didn't buy more! I've tried out the foundation a few times and I really like it :)

My mission in Boots was to find a new moisturizer (i'm running low on my first aid beauty ultra repair cream) and some makeup remover wipes, and I gravitated towards the Soap and Glory display for both of these items! In the United States, Soap and Glory are not the kind of brand that you can find in the drugstore (sadly) However, Boots has basically any Soap and Glory product you could ever want so whenever I go there I tend to buy their products simply because I don't see them as often at home! I tried their Off Your Face makeup remover wipes when I was in England the first time, so I repurchased of course. They smell like heaven and they make my skin look nice and refreshed. I've never tried a moisturizer from Soap and Glory before, but I decided on The Fab Pore Daily Micro Smoothing Lotion and so far I'm loving it!

Wow, that was a long post but I hope you enjoyed! If you love hauls as much as I do, I'm sure you didn't mind ;)

https://twitter.com/essentiallyshan

until next time,

AMERENGLISH?

Hi everyone! I'm back in the U.S. (boo) but my trip to the UK and beyond has caused me to ponder a bit about myself. (don't worry, this post wont be nearly as existential as it sounds...maybe!)

I took a class at my university in the fall entitled Global Literature (it sounds really easy, but actually it kicked my butt) and we talked in great detail about where people are from and how that influences their life experiences and in turn their writing. Almost all of the authors we studied were born in one country and lived in countless others for a multiplicity of reasons. My newfound knowledge regarding cultural identity and how it affects basically everything about an individual combined with my recent travels (in this context, primarily my UK travels) has sparked my curiosity about how I define myself and the way I talk/think/eat (yes eat, sounds weird but it will make sense soon)

My passport says I'm American.

My heart says I'm British. Despite the fact that I don't have an accent.

My parents tell me I'm French Canadian and Native American.

My name denotes that I'm Irish (Shannon) and Welsh (Griffiths).

My brain informs me (and then everyone else that asks) that I live in New Hampshire but I'm originally from California.

When I went to England the first time to study for 3 months, I felt awkward and out of place among the Brits. (well, I still feel that sometimes even now...but definitely less so than before) Despite the fact that we speak the same language, the language barrier is still a thing between Americans and Brits. It took time for myself and my American friends to feel truly comfortable in conversation with our British peers, and personally I occasionally still feel self-conscious about my "accent" when I speak around Mike/his family and friends.

However, this trip to England was different. I was fully immersed as I spent three weeks with Mike and his family/friends, the American influence that previously had acted as a sort of comfortable counterbalance for the newness of British culture and lingo vanished. However, I felt confident in my ability to discuss football (not soccer) on a very basic level with Mike's dad, order food and pay for it without feeling like an idiot and having to rummage through my purse for ages wondering which coins I should use (that's wallet for all the Americans reading this), and eat food in public without putting down my knife and fork every five seconds (in the UK and Europe the norm is to hold your knife and fork the entire time while you're eating, unlike in the U.S. where we pick our knife up to cut our food and then put it down again and so on) 

*cue existential questions about identity now*

I know I don't have a British accent and I wasn't born in a borough of London like Mike was, but I've spent enough time in England now that I feel like I belong there. I want to belong there. Perhaps it is my Irish and Welsh heritage that contributes to the strong magnetic pull that I feel towards England. Or, possibly my obsession with Harry Potter. Maybe it's both. I know that the connection that I feel is strong, but is it enough to say that I'm British because I feel British? Because I lived there for 3 months? Because I adore their way of life and their food? Because the person that I love is British?

I'm not a British citizen, but I might be in the future. wink wink Either way, my experiences in England have shaped the way that I view myself in a way that wasn't possible before. When Mike and I went to New York City last summer, we went into H&M and I spotted the most perfect shirt: a flag, half American and half Union Jack. I persuaded Mike to buy it, mostly because it was sweltering outside and he needed something cooler to wear but also because it was so fitting for us. Now that I think about that shirt, it not only represents Mike and I's relationship, but my relationship with England. My heart is there in more ways than one, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

until next time,

CHRISTMAS SHENANIGANS

Hi everyone! The holidays have passed now, but I was so busy at the time I never got to blog about what I did on Christmas and beyond! As you know, I spent this Christmas with my boyfriend Mike and his family in England. The whole clan ventured to a place called Warmwell, which is about 2 and a half hours south of London on the coast. We stayed in cabins at a holiday park (hard to explain to someone who has never been to one before, if i had to compare it to something in america i would say it's like a campground but with cheesy entertainment, games, and a bar) for 5 days and we all had a lovely time! Mike's mum and her sisters cooked Christmas dinner for all 15 of us and it was absolutely delicious. We had turkey (strange for Christmas as I'm used to turkey on Thanksgiving but I was more than happy to eat it again), gammon (ham), chicken, stuffing, potatoes, carrots, peas, and of course Yorkshire puddings! Yum :)

i don't know what the face is for, everything tasted amazing :)

We ate our lovely meal and pulled open our Christmas crackers which is where we got our fashionable crowns from ;) Oh, and in case you were wondering I ended up wearing the black and green dress that I bought from Francesca's!

sunset over the lake near our cabin

We went to Weymouth a few times, which is a nearby city that is right on the sea. Mike and I had a nice cream tea (a pot of really nice tea, a scone, and some clotted cream and jam to go with it) at a little shop on the high street.

And then we headed to the beach!

After our trip to Warmwell, Mike and I went out one night to a pub with about 10 of his best friends! Some of them he hadn't seen in a long time and some of them I had never met before, so it was fun for both of us :)

this is mike's best friend's girlfriend, her name is shannon too!

Mike and I also went ice skating at Hampton Court Palace and it was so much fun! Well, I may have enjoyed myself a bit more than Mike did because I actually like ice skating ;) The rink was small and there were loads of people but somehow we managed to maneuver our way through them and not fall!

my favorite picture of mike and i so far :)

until next time,

#STUDYABROADSUNDAY: LONDON, ENGLAND

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been MIA the last few days, I've been super busy with school and work! But I'm back today with #StudyAbroadSunday: London Edition! One of the best things about studying in Winchester is that it's only about an hour away from London. So, obviously I seized every opportunity I had to explore this wonderful city! I probably journeyed to London about ten times in the span of three months, whether it was a day trip or the beginning of a longer trip (my friends and i flew out of gatwick a few times going to dublin and paris!) Since I made so many trips to London, this post will be a collection of photos that I took over the course of my three month stint in England :) And for all my fellow Harry Potter lovers, this post will also include my trip to Leavesden Studios, aka the studio that Harry Potter was filmed at! Let's jump right in!

Let's face it...Big Ben is essentially London's mascot. However, Big Ben is the bell inside the tower and not the clock ;)

Cue cliche picture with telephone booth because why not

My lovely buds and I in front of THE Buckingham Palace *dies*

Ah the London Eye...you are lovely to look at but WAY too expensive to ride...sigh

A beautiful view of Big Ben from Trafalgar Square...pic credit to Rachel <3

Cause you're gonna hear me roarrrrrrrrr ;)

Tower Bridge aka not London Bridge but way cooler

I found a cute little door so naturally I had to take a picture with it

I was chosen to open the doors to the Great Hall so basically the best day of my life

Ravenclaw representttttt wut wut

Password?

Bae's classroom <3

The humble Weasley abode :)

Umbridge *cringes*

Number Four Privet Drive

This Hogwarts diorama takes up an entire room!

Hope you enjoyed this installment of #StudyAbroadSunday! Comment down below and tell me if you've ever been to London/if you want to visit someday! Also let me know if you want to see more pictures from the Harry Potter studio tour, as there are more where that came from!

until next time,