Florence Update | Lifestyle

So I guess a little Italy update is about due, if you have been following my little blog you'll know that in November I moved to Italy because I was offered a job out here.It has been the most crazy few months I'm not gonna lie and I must admit my blog has taken a bit of a back seat in the last couple of weeks! Sorry!!! I'll explain what's going on with my blog in the next post but in this one let's have a chat about all things Italian!!

I must admit I feel like I've settled in pretty well, almost too well! I haven't officially been homesick, well, not really! Like I haven't looked back and thought I wish I was back in England, Christmas aside, of course I miss my friends and family but I don't want to go back, I want them to come out here instead!! For me, the hardest thing has been remembering that my friends and family have their own schedules which means I can't always speak to them, since moving out here I have all this free time and not that many people to spend it with so it's odd for me!

I definitely feel like the language thing was holding me back, it's not like I have come out here with even a basic understanding, I literally knew nothing!!!! And that's pretty damn hard when you can't even say "can I have a coffee", it's pretty isolating because you can't even try and involve yourself I conversations happening around you because you just have no idea! I'm a loud person, I'm nosey and talkative and yet I found myself sitting silently at my desk whilst things were happening around me! Couple this with the fact I was a new girl and it's bloody flippin' hard I tell you, but I have never once thought that I want to go home, I'll just figure it out here! I start my classes really soon and I think that will make me feel a little more confident and I'll keep you guys posted on that part of my journey too!

The lifestyle out here, generally speaking, is so much more relaxed! Back in England and London I was in a tight routine which I absolutely loved but out here I literally don't have any routine, it's odd but it kinda suits the lifestyle! You eat dinner late, everyone looks at me odd when I eat my dinner at like 6:30pm!! I am missing going to the gym a little, I loved that routine but the thing is, I have am obsessive personality which means that I know what I would be like if I joined a gym out here, I would choose that over life experiences which just isn't ideal!

I am loving it out here and genuinely is one of the best decisions I have ever made and believe me, I have a track record for making some pretty dumb moves! I just thought I would share that little update with you guys!

5 Picture Post | Lifestyle

If you are following me on Instagram then you may have already seen these pictures but I just thought they were cute and had to throw in that little festive bike. I know adding a picture of my nails is a bit boring but I just really liked them this day and you know I love a bit of beauty so I thought you guys might like to see it too!

What are 5 things that make you smile?

Rivalta Café, Florence | Food

Who doesn’t love a burger? Regardless of whether you eat meat or not I know there are some pretty good vegetarian burgers too, or so I’ve been assured, I’m all about the meat anyway enough of that. In today’s post we’re gonna have a chat about this little burger place call Rivalta Café who specialise in burgers but only on a Sunday.

Me and my roommate Valeria had spent most of the day wandering around shops when we decided to stop for lunch, she literally knows all the best places so I just follower her lead. I have actually been to this place before but we came when it was the evening just for an aperitivo so it was nice to come during the day and have a look around. The location is pretty nice as it’s just by the river and I imagine in the summer the place is always busy because it’s a right little sun trap, that being said it’s December and chilly so we sat in doors.  The really quirky thing about this menu is that each burger is names after a star sign, but here’s where I have to be honest, real school boy error I didn’t take a picture of the inside of the menu which means I can remember what my burger was called or what was actually inside it other than chicken…! I know, I’m a right pleb.

I’m now going to try and explain this burger to you, As I mentioned above I actually went for a chicken burger, mainly because I wanted to be different as opposed to ordering just a standard cheeseburger but also because it just sounded really nice. This wasn’t like a chicken fillet it was more like a chicken mince which meant they added some herbs and spices. I do know that this one had some cinnamon, garlic and peppers mixed in with it, however that’s about as much as I remember from the menu. It also had a delicious gooey cheese melted on top which I loved. I have to mention the little roasted potatoes it came with, I bloody loved them I really like that the burgers didn’t come with chips the potatoes were far more enjoyable and how cute were the little condiments on the side, just tomato, mustard and mayo.

Moving onto the actual taste, it was good, I will be honest is wasn’t mind blowing and wasn’t the best burger I’ve ever eaten, but it was good. I really liked that it wasn’t too heavy, sometimes when you get a burger it can fill you up so much you can’t walk around after or you just want to take a nap. I felt like that even though it was a burger it still felt like quite a light lunch, we also shared a bottle of fizzy water and a glass of wine and the meal came to 20EUR each which I don’t think is bad at all.

Where is your favourite burger place?

Clinique Nude Pop Lipstick | Beauty

Well here is something a little familiar, a Clinique lipstick. You've probably seen 100 review already and most people will already know that this was a freebie when purchased with Glamour mag which had the lovely Tanya Burr on the cover. In true Honeypot style, I was a little late to the party and bought this magazine very late when I was just about to fly out to Italy. 

Of course it's nude, it always nude but ya know, I like it. I must admit, I never ever think of Clinique when I think of make up, always skincare, not that I ever buy much but never make up. I tend to think that some brand don't quite get it right when they venture into other areas, for example if they are a skincare brand then the make up isn't always that great or vice versa. I must admit, I did really like this little freebie, it's cute but a fair sizes little thing to at least try out. This one is the Nude Pop though I know you could get it in another colour, I noticed that is a little dark for me based on the outer case but it's always worth a go. 

Went I first tried it I must admit I wasn't that thrilled, when I applied it I noticed it had slight orange undertones which don't actually work that well with my complexion, if this had pink undertones I think I would like it a lot better. This being said I know that you can also use this colour as a primer which I think would work much better for me. As a lipstick it doesn't wear very well and just found it really did nothing to my lips, if I used it underneath one of my favourite nudes I think it could be much better. However I still don't know how I feel about primers, like I get them, I often use them on my face, but on my lips I'm not so sure, sometimes I just use a bit of lip balms just to have the moisturised barrier between my lips and the lipstick and it leaves a finish on my lips that I prefer but I don't know if i would actively go out an buy a coloured lip primer like this for a nude shade anyway. I can understand a red lip primer, I imagine that would work really well, but this nude one just isn't for me. 

What are your favourite Clinique Makeup products? 

The New Year Post | Lifestyle

My goodness, 2015 has just been totally mental hasn't it? There almost aren't any words I can use that would be good enough to explain just how surreal this year has been, but I'll try and get something down. 

In January 2015, I went to New York with work for just 11 days, which at the time was mind blowing to think, I was sent to New York to work, how amazing was that? I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Now it just feels so long ago that it doesn't even feel like it ever happened. I think 2015 was a real turning point in my life, I really started to work out where I wanted to be and what I wanted to be doing in terms of work and life. I completely changed my lifestyle, I lost a bunch of weight and I felt amazing, I really wanted to be able to be someone I was proud of and I definitely know that I made the right positive changes in my life. These were things I could control though, I could control my diet, I could control my exercise regime a created a whole new routine and thrived on it. 

However there is always something completely unexpected that happens, like getting an offer to work in a country you've never even visited for the brand of your dreams...I mean, really? Does that shit (first swear?) really happen? Yes it bloody does. I can't get my head around the fact I am sitting in a new country the I currently call home, if you had told me in September of last year that I would be living in another country I would have laughed and yet here I am. So many people have told me I'm brave for just up and leaving without even knowing the language but for me, I never even felt scared. Through out the whole move and the lead up to it I remained completely calm, a part of me thinks it's because It never quite felt real and the other part was, it just felt right, the timing felt right. 

I came to realise that 2015 was my year to just make it happen, I wanted to lose weight, I did it, I wanted to eat less processed foods, I did it, I wanted to progress my career, I did it. I didn't go into 2015 thinking that I have all these goals that I must achieve, instead I went into the year with an open mind to think roughly where I'd like to go and what I'd like to do but nothing was ever set in stone, because sometimes when you focus on that one specific goal you miss a thousand other opportunities that are standing right next to you. I can't even begin to think about what 2016 has in store for me the one thing I will be learning is a new language, Italian of course, but still no better way than to actually live in the country at learn it. Other than that, I have no idea, I'm not too fussed either. My little blog will carry on as it did last year with just more variety of posts which I'm really happy about because it'll keep things interesting. 

Enough with the new year, new me crap. How about a new year, the same me, just slightly better or different which ever way you want to be. 

Have you made any New Year's resolutions or are you even gonna bother?