A few weeks before Valentine's Day I signed up for the Valentine Blogger Swap and last week I received my little parcel in the post!

My package was sent from Yuna, the writer of TechBunny lots of little bits and bobs! 

Sinful Colors Nail Polish in Pink Fever- I'm not much of a pink fan but this pink is so pretty! I can't wait to try and use this soon.

Bunny Purse- I've seen this purse in Primark and floating around on a few blogs, and it is sooo cute! I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to use it for yet but I've been thinking about using it for keeping little bits and pops in for when I got down to London in April. 

Rose Compact Mirror- This is so adorable and so handy! I've been needing a second compact mirror for taking to work with me and this is great for just keeping in my work back. 

Strawberry Milkshake Bubble Bath- This smells sooo nice! I've not used it in a bath yet but can't wait to. 

Strawberry Face Mask- I've never used this brand of face masks before but can't wait to use it. I'll probably wait till I use my bubble bath and have a luxurious pamper night!

Strawberry Lip Balm- I've used this a few times and it tastes so nice. The only problem with it is that it's quite hard and doesn't come out very easy. 

Sephera Pink Lip Tint Palette- These are such beautiful colours! I'm not really one to use these types of things but I'm sure they'll look great. 

I enjoyed the Blogger Swap a lot and I can't wait to do another one! If you hear about any blogger swaps let me know below as I'm sure I would be interested in it!

Welcome to the first edition of a little new series on the blog! Every month or so I'm going to share the music that has been thoroughly replayed constantly on my iPod! This first edition is a little special as it's also a bit of a review of You Me At Six's new album- Cavalier Youth.

Last Friday was obviously Valentine's Day so that means the blogging world has been taken over by everything lovely recently- and that's not going to stop here either!

Since being together from May 2010, Darren and I have celebrated Valentine's Day every year, even if we have been a bit short for cash. Every year we get each other a few cheesy gifts and go out for tea at Frankie and Benny's. This year wasn't any different but for the first year we actually got to stay together for the night! I also surprisingly had something different from Frankie and Benny's for tea!

For this years little Valentine's gift for Darren I decided to go on a bit of a 'movie' themed hamper by buying and making little things that related with films and tv that Darren loves. I did slightly over do it but that was kind of because I didn't spend too much on his birthday and decided to put in a little extra for this instead.

After the great reaction my truffles got from Darren on his birthday I decided to make him some more, hoping they would last a little longer. Evidently they didn't last as long as that! I made the truffles with the same recipe as before but used the heart tray I got from the Something Sweet magazine to mould them into heart shapes. I also made a lot of standard circular ones as I made way to much mixture! I then popped all the heart truffles into a glass jar I had.

For the truffles I decided to make a little label for the jar which I will release as a downloadable soon! As well as making a label for the truffles, I made one for the popcorn I bought too. With the popcorn I continued on the 'cheesy' word play jokes that I had done with the truffles too. I also designed a little Movie ticket to pop in with his card.

This year from Darren, I was given the stereotypical Valentine's gifts from Darren which he's never done before. If you don't get what I mean then this includes flowers, chocolates and a little teady. He also gave me a little puzzle and a artificial rose like he has done every other year. Sorry for the really bad pictures, I only had mine/Darren's phone.

I hope everybody had a great Valentine's Day no matter what you were doing!
Sorry for this being a long post but I suppose it makes up for the lack of posts this week.

So this is a bit of a late Pinterest Favourites but I have to admit I've done the most of my pinning tonight as I've been so busy doing other things over the past week. But I hope you like what I have came across recently! 

Don't forget you can follow me on Pinterest over @LaurenGemmaHay for when I do actually going pinning mad! 

This week I've been pretty busy with college and uni and valentine stuff! I had a bit of a Primark haul last week and bought this necklace for 50p! Last week that I had started organising my digital portfolio for Grays, and on Tuesday this week I finally managed to sort my life drawing stuff out. Just ignore the fact that most are from the back/side, it's a much easier part of the body to draw! I also heard back from Abertay University and have received a conditional offer from them- so I would need to get an A in my graded unit to go there. I also bought a few little postcard prints from Paperchase while out getting things for Valentines Day on Thursday. On the day of love I walked into Darren's bedroom with roses and my presents all laid out saying "I <3 U". We went out for tea later that night and I actually had something different to my usual pasta and butter and had Chicken Parmigina which was lovely! I also got a little tipsy of some proseco. Today I had a bit of a 'mother/daughter' bonding session as we went to the Cinema to see Endless Love and went to the bingo together.

Highlights

Finishing life drawing! 

Getting a conditional offer from Abertay

Trying something new in Frankie and Benny's and liking it!

Working with good colleagues 

Lowlights

Being soaked by rain/snow

Looking at my shifts for next week and seeing I'm on from 7-4.30 kill me!

This week on OhHay! there have been several posts...

Next week on OhHay!, will feature Darren's valentine's present and another book review! 

My first book I read this year as part of my To-Read book challenge was Fallen In Love by Lauren Kate. 

This book is part of the Series called Fallen by Lauren Kate. Even though this particular book doesn't add to the plot. However, this book isn't one you want to miss out from the series. The book is set out as several short stories all set on Valentine's Day but all join together to create a complete story. 

I really enjoyed this one from Lauren Kate as even though it didn't explain anything it did give you a better insight to the characters. It also let you understand why some of the characters act like the way they do. Kate really out did her self with this edition and it is a key piece to the series that any fan of the series needs to read. The only problem I had with this book was the fact that I felt it ended quite abruptly and after reading it after Rapture I felt like I didn't finish the Series well. 

Please let me know if you have read this and what you think of it too! 

I never tasted the cake my mum made for my Nannie

Bank Account feeling empty after paying for the London Trip

This week on OhHay!...

Pinterest Favourites #8- Another entry to my little favourites!

January In Review- I shared what I had been doing, reading and watching throughout January

Pinspiration: Valentine's Day- An inspiration board that was very loooovely 

The Blogger Made Me Buy It- An insight into the things bloggers have made me buy and want!

Boots Haul- The latest of my spending sprees!

Next week I will be sharing some cute Valentine's Inspired Crafts, A Review on 'Fallen In Love' and possibly some other little extras

So a few weeks ago I bought a fair few things from Boots after getting my Boots Advantage card and being persuaded by Clare a lot! I thought I would share what I bought and my initial reactions are to them are.

Boots Botanics Shine Away Inoic Clay Mask- I've used this a few times since buying it and I am pretty please to say that it is great! However, the one problem I had with it was that it was very very watery to start with. 

Real Techniques Blush Brush- Ok so this is my first ever Real Techniques buy and I am so happy with it! It's a great brush plus it's sooo soft!
Maybelline Baby Skin- Once again I bought another product because of Clare- surprise, surprise! But I have to admit I really like it! It makes my skin feel really smooth, literally like baby skin! 

Simple Kind To Eyes Eye Make Up Remover- I bought a travel sized version of this a while back but only properly started using it as of late. But I love it! It definitely helps and removes my make up from my eyes. I do need to use a few cotton pads though. 

Maybelline Colour Show in Maybe Blue- I mainly bought this colour and brand due to the fact it went with what I was wearing for Darren's birthday meal. But the colour is beautiful and I wish I didn't have to have taken it of due to work!

Batiste Dry Shampoo- This wasn't a new buy or anything but I just need to restock on it as I was all out! As you can tell I bought the massive can! 

Natural Collections Blush in Pink Cloud- I really only bought this as I was needing a quick blush fix. I've never really been one to use Blushers but thought it was about time to actually use them! I decided to start of with this as it was a really sweet and good colour for using day to day.

Nivea Lip Butter Raspberry Rose- OMG! I am in love with this! I bought this after Clare let me borrow hers as my lips were cracked and this is what she had! It smells and tastes amazing- literally like millions!

Let me know below if you have bought any of these products as well and what you've thought of them!

4- What is your least favourite item that you have ever bought as a consequence of blogs?

hmm... I can’t actually think of anything...

Actually meant to add this section onto my 'Hello February' post but I forgot about it at the time- oops! 

Anyway, throughout January I've been...

Reading- Rapture by Lauren Kate, Fallen In Love by Fallen Kate, Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Watching- Revenge, The Tomorrow People, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Devils Due, Up, Tangled, Chenobyl (not quite finished yet), Saw 2 (first Saw film I've ever watched) 

Buying- Merry Marshmallow Candles, Mangajo drink, Vivid Please Stationary, beauty and make up supplies, Chicken Burgers (nomnomnom!)

Doing- Passed my Web Design & New Media Unit, crafty things (making badges and up cycling jars) painting my nails (first time in years), applying for Uni, dying my hair, celebrating Darren's 21st, sleeping in lots, eating out lots.

Looking forward to- Valentines Day! Harry Potter Studio Tour, College Trip to London, Re-doing my bedroom. 

I did feel like I should upload the Valentines pinspiration post today but I'm really enjoying sharing my favourites so that post will come later in the week. 

Collection of prints Wow these prints are beautiful! I think my favourite is the top right! I wish my prints and postcards stayed up so well with washi tape though!

This week I officially started the #100HappyDays challenge and so far I have been keeping to uploading a photo a day so far! Overall this past week has been pretty low key with some good highlights! 

The week started of to some horrible weather which ended up in me capturing a photograph of a rainbow and make some hot coco! The day after I finished Fallen In Love by Lauren Kate so I'm officially finished the 'Fallen' series- as long as there is no other extra books taken out. I received my Avon orders which meant I have my four bottles of the Chocolate Body Scrub. On Thursday I met up with a few friends before work and had a great meal of breaded brie and chicken goujons! Friday I showed of the new book I picked from my jar. Yesterday had my grandparents coming down on an impromptu visit due to there being a problem with our roof and my Granda was going to help fix it. In the afternoon, my mum, nannie, Darren and I decided to take a trip to Portlethen and I ended up getting a new lampshade. Darren also bought my a cute little lion teddy who I've called Lionel. My new game obsession is Flabby Birds and my top score at the moment is 22! 

To keep up with my #100HappyDays challenge you can follow my on instagram @LaurenGemmaHay. You can also find my messages at #OhHayAdventures

I think I'm going to start making monthly mini goals to try and get myself organised better!

February Goals

• Get into my sleeping routine more.
  The past few weeks since I've been of from college I have been going to bed late and waking up about 12. I need to start getting into a better routine as I'm seriously going to be exhausted 24/7!
  
• Save money.
  I really need to start saving more! I have to make the final payment for my college trip to London in April so I need to make sure I have enough for that plus spending money. I also need to have some spending money since I'm getting to go to the Harry Potter Studios!! aaaaah!!! I also really want to save up and buy myself an iPod as my iPod at the moment is becoming a bit old and breaking. So it might be worth replacing it soonish.
  
• Do more for OhHay! 
  I'm meaning this for both my blog and my shop. I've been wanting to properly redesign this blog so that it has a more consistent 'brand' feel and so it has a bit more of a design. I really want to have a blog design like Being Little and A Little Birdy Blog. As I've said, I also want to add stuff to my shop. I originally really wanted to create some stuff for Valentiens Day but I think I need to focus on just designing basic all-year round things first then focus on the holidays.
  
• Do more to my room.
  My room really needs a freshing up so I've slightly started that today! I bought a new lampshade today and some fairy lights so that's a start! I really want to repaint and rearrange my room, however that might be something that needs to wait till the Summer Holidays though. In the mean time I might just add a few more features like new lamps and possibly a desk. 

I'll recap at March how I've done with my goals for this month and write up next months ones as well!