reading – that lemon life

London haul

Hola everyone.

I know, I don’t have anything to explain, you already read the title. Welcome to another haul (yeeeeey). Actually, I’m pretty excited – probably even more than you guys – because I can talk some more about some of my favorite topics. Shopping, books and fashion. And London. I mean, it was pretty obvious that I would be going shopping in London. I tried to stop myself from walking into every single store before this trip, to stop myself from buying stuff, as I needed my money for this holiday and my planned shopping there. That’s what I call dedication.

Clothing

Okay, so clothing-wise I didn’t really plan on buying something, I just knew the shops I wanted to visit ASAP. And one of those was Lazy Oaf. Some of you might know this super crazy clothing label, but if you don’t know, you need to check it out now. Like, seriously, right now. Here’s the link to their website: lazyoaf.com

I personally have a special relationship with this label. I got to know it through two of my favorite YouTubers – Marzia and Arden. They both love the label and wear it pretty often in their videos and pictures and one day I was looking at them and thinking “oh my god, I need to know what they are wearing”. And since then I’ve been checking out the Lazy Oaf website every once in a while, mostly once a week, looking for their newest pieces. I just love their clothing with all of my heart. It’s fun and colorful and literally so out of my comfort zone, it just draws me to it. And it’s based in London, my favorite city ever. So yeah, the label has a lot of pros, but the only con are their prices. I’m usually not the person to spend too much money on clothes, so I mostly just admire Lazy Oaf from afar.

But guys, the wait is now over. I officially own a piece of Lazy Oaf clothing and I’m loving it. I have to say, their store in London is freaking amazing. It’s situated in a small house in Soho and just screams cool. It’s colorful and freaky and weird. I loved it. I don’t know how long we actually stayed in there, but in like the last few minutes me and my mum found this supercool jumper and what can I say, it was love at first sight. And now it’s the moment I have to thank my mum, because as soon as I tried it on, I didn’t want to leave without it and I think she saw that in my eyes and decided to buy it for me. How nice is that? You’re the best, mum. So yeah, I now have this supercool, weird and unique jumper and I can’t wait to wear it. I would have never guessed that I would once own a Lazy Oaf piece, but now I do and I seriously couldn’t be happier.

The second piece of clothing I brought home from London is this amazing vintage blouse. I mean, look at it. I don’t even know what to say. I’ve been wearing it the past days and I just fall for it even more and more, day by day, minute by minute. I found it at this amazing vintage market we came across in Shoreditch. If any of you are into vintage clothing, I can guarantee that you would have loved this market. It was so cool. There were so many different blouses to choose from, I seriously could have bought every single one. But I’m really deeply in love with this one, I think it looks super unique and special. My first vintage piece.

Books

You guys know how much I love books and reading. So books were that part that I had planned to buy in London, as I only read books in English and were do I find more English books than in the UK (duh)? So I dragged my parents into Waterstones at Piccadilly Circus and I don’t know how long we stayed there, but I can tell you, it was pretty long. When I had finally worked my way through the young adult fiction section, I had twelve books resting in my arms. Did you ever have to choose your favorites from a huge collection of already favorites? It’s freaking hard. Not to be dramatic, but it’s nearly impossible. I was standing there, completely alone in the YA section, starring at a stack of books, debating which ones I wanted to keep and which ones I was willing to leave behind. That makes it official – I’m literally the biggest bookworm. But in the end I managed to pick my favorite favorites and here they are:

My Secret Rockstar Boyfriend – by Eleanor Wood
Sunflowers in February – by Phyllida Shrimpton
Truly Madly Awkward – by Beth Garrod
The Book of Loud – by Marshall
Finding Audrey – by Sophie Kinsella
Words in Deep Blue – by Cath Crowley

I’m seriously more than excited to read every single one of these books. If any of you have read any of them, please let me know what you think about them and whether you like them or not. I’ll of course add them to the book club and keep you up-to-date.

This and that

Okay, and here comes the last part – everything that doesn’t fit into clothing or books. And that brings me to one of my favorite moments of the trip – the moment we visited platform 9 3/4. My potter-heart is already going crazy thinking about it. Some of you may know that I’m overly in love with the whole Harry Potter / Hogwarts universe, ever since I grew up with the whole story. So visiting the platform at Kings Cross was a must for me.

But holy moly, I wasn’t the only one. I can’t remember if I’ve ever been into such a packed store, it was literally stuffed with customers. We even had to wait in a line outside. But at least for me it was totally worth it. I got to see all the different wands up close and there was the typical Hogwarts music playing in the background. I don’t know, apart from the people, it just felt like home. And I’m so happy with the stuff I got from there – a Hogwarts pin badge and a ticket for the Hogwarts Express. I know, some of you might say “isn’t she a bit too old for this?”, but all I can say is “silencio”. But all jokes aside, I really love this whole universe. I grew up with it, I pretty much know all the movies by heart and I read all the books. It’s a part of me. And I’m not afraid to show my love for it, no matter how old I am.

Besides that, the other stuff I got were just basic things like newspapers and magazines, but hey, they are from London, so I just had to take them home with me. Oh and I got this supercute “I love London” sign, which was the last sign missing in my collection on my wall and I’m so happy that I finally got to fill the empty spot.

And there you go guys, that’s my London haul. I can just say that I freaking love this city and everything I got and brought home with me. All the pieces mean a lot to me and I’m so proud to own them. But guys, I’m really excited to hear what you think about all the pieces, so please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts down below. Oh, and I hope you’re all doing good and I wish you an amazing week. And, as always, thanks for reading. x

Ps: If some of you may have noticed, yes I indeed did color and cut my hair. It’s now shoulder-length and a rusty-reddish-brown color and I freaking love it. I used Henna again to color it and I’ve always wanted to cut my hair and I finally did it and I couldn’t be happier.

The Results Are Here

Hola everyone.

I can’t believe I’m really telling you guys this. Guess what? The results of my IELTS exam came and I’m not joking if I say that I cried when I first saw them.

But, first things first. As you all probably know, on the 25th of November, I finally took my IELTS exam. It’s the test that determines your language level in English, which you have to take in order to be able to apply for a university in the UK. And as this is my plan and dream, the exam was a must for me. Generally you need to achieve an overall level of 6.5 or 6 with at least 6 in every single band – listening, reading, writing and speaking. And as I seriously had no idea how strict they would grade the exam, I really did try my best and prepare and study for it. Also, I have to thank IELTS and the British Council for providing such an awesome online learning platform, it really helped me with preparing for the test and I’d recommend it over and over again.

But now the most important part. For me, personally, the exam wasn’t exactly that hard. But also surely because I really did prepare for it. I had the speaking part one day before the written exam and I actually really enjoyed it. It was cool to chat for a few minutes, but of course I was nervous too.

I’d say that the writing part was the hardest one for me. Mainly because I’m just not used to writing in such a business-like style, interpreting graphs and so on. But apart from that it was pretty cool. I mean, I think I never took an exam that was planned to such a detail. I mean, there weren’t even bottles of juice allowed, because there could maybe be something in the bottle. How crazy is that?

But, enough of that. Without further ado, here are my results:

Overall: 8.0

Writing: 7.5

Reading: 9.0

Listening: 8.0

Speaking: 8.0

Guys, I seriously can’t believe it. I can’t even describe how happy I am. I mean, this means that I am now able to apply for university. And this feels so honest and real now and on the one side I’m actually so scared, but on the other side I could cry for hours because I’m so happy. This really means the world to me. And I’m really proud of myself, for achieving those results. Seriously. I’m so happy, oh my god.

So yeah guys, there you go. Here are my results. I’m so happy that I get to share them with you. I can’t wait to apply for university. I hope you enjoyed this post guys and I wish you all an amazing week. And, as always, thanks for reading. x

UK haul

Hola everyone.

I love going shopping. And I love the UK. So I thought in connection to my last post (link) about my trip to the UK I’d present you guys all the things I brought home with me – books, clothes and other stuff. Please enjoy.

Books

First and most important, books. I love reading with every single fibre of my body. Funny thing that about 3 years ago I wasn’t even that interested in books. I mean, of course I was reading, but I wasn’t like obsessed with it like I am today. Since January I think I read about eight books or so, which is really quite a lot for me. And as I only read English books, going to the UK meant that I’d come back with some books from the first second on. I even always have a list of books I’d like to read saved and ready on my phone. So let’s just say that I spent quite some time in different book stores and got back with no less than five awesome books.
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Remix by Non Pratt
THUG (The Hate U Give) by Angie Thomas
Freshers by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison
Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Some of you may already know all or some of the books, especially THUG or A Monster Calls. I think they are pretty popular right now, A Monster Calls even being an amazing movie. While being on my way to Liverpool I started reading Remix, actually having no idea what it is about. There’s literally no short description in the book. Just to give you guys a little insight, it’s about two bfs going to a festival called Remix and their ex-boyfriends, who crazily also attend the event. Chaos is predestined, of course. Honestly, I’m now over the half of this book and I freaking love it. It’s something I’ve never read before. The POVs change between the two girls, Ruby and Kaz, even in between the chapters, so you experience the whole story from both of their perspectives, which is so damn cool. I can just really recommend you guys giving this a go. And I’ll definitively go and check out the other books by Non Pratt, I really love her writing style.

Clothes

I don’t need to tell you guys how much I love clothes and dressing up and experimenting with outfits and planning them for the week. And as I waited quite a while to go shopping again, I had the plan of spending some money while being on the trip. Buying something in Manchester for example is always cooler than buying it at home or online. And you can’t deny it, that’s true. So, my mum and me went on a little shopping trip. I mean I didn’t buy that much, but I love every single item, so I’m more than happy. And I like to wear all the pieces together, I love how English it looks. So, I bought:

the coolest socks ever from Topshop
a supercute blouse also by Topshop
black dungarees I’ve been looking for forever from Primark

Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Like I said, it’s not much, but I love everything. Apart from the things we bought, mum and me also fell in love with another cool blouse and an amazing jumpsuit, all from Topshop. I can’t tell you why we didn’t just buy them, but anyways, we now bought them online and I can’t wait for the pieces to finally get here so I can wear my beautiful jumpsuit – the weather is perfect for that right now. I’ll just tell myself that I got it in Manchester.

Ed-related and other stuff

You know, the UK isn’t just great for buying English books, but also for getting stuff you’d never get here in Austria. Which for example is the magazine I got called Q. It’s a music magazine and features an amazing article about Ed. Altogether the article is 12 pages long and one of the truest things I’ve ever read in my life. I know that in the past weeks, there has been a lot of hate swirling around Ed and his music, which I don’t get at all, but I’m a massive fan, so yeah. No comment on that. But seriously, I love the article. Because it really just tells the truth. Ed explains why he works the way he does, how he deals with all the hate, his future plans – which are big and crazy – and his life overall. He now seems to be in a really good, happy place and I’m really glad. I know that before going on his break, Ed went through a rough time and I’m more than happy that he managed to wrote through that. I don’t think he deserves any of the hate he gets, as he’s such a genuine, honest person with such a great talent. And he works hard for what he does. He wouldn’t be where he is now without that. Personally, for me, Ed is one of the most inspiring people on this planet. In the article it says that before even being signed, before being anything near to popular, he had this huge masterplan. Five EPs, five albums with mathematical titles, another row of five albums after that. Can you believe that? He had this plan, from the first second on. At times when none but his dad truly believed in his work. And now look at him. He all made it real. And for me, that’s just so incredible and inspiring. Because I’m the same. I have this huge plan of moving to London and maybe even starting my own magazine and so on. But it’s going to be hard and it may sound impossible to other people. But like Ed I’ll work hard for that dream and then, maybe if I work hard enough, I’ll achieve all of the things I’m dreaming about. Ed showed me the way, so I’ll try my best.

And speaking of that, I also bought all of his five EPs. I just had to. They are all so amazing and from 2011, that’s crazy. I’m so happy that I chose Ed as the one guy I’ll stand with forever. You know, I know I’ll grow older and maybe forget about all my fangirl moments. But being a fangirl is different to this. I love Ed for his music. And that kind of love is something you can hardly ever leave behind. And I don’t want to, not for a slightest bit.

Oh and apart from that I also got two pins, something that’s a must for me. I’m kind of a collector of pins, I always put them on my bag. And when I saw them, I just had to get them. Especially the “I like big books and I cannot lie” one. That’s so funny.

So yeah, there you go guys. Those are all the things I got on my trip. I really hope you like this post and my pictures. And if you have any other questions or want to say something, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment. And until then I wish you all an amazing start of the week and, as always, thanks for reading. x

Reading festival – Day 3

Hola everyone.

And welcome back. Today is the day I’ll be talking about the last and probably most exciting day of the super amazing and perfect Reading festival. And about the end of one of the best weekends ever. So, let’s go.

The third and last day started with another again little shopping trip. After leaving our money in Readings best stores, mum and I got ready for our last day at the festival. And I can tell you, I was soooooo damn excited. Because today would be the day I’d finally see Fall Out Boy after waiting for that moment for years. I couldn’t believe it and actually can’t until now. It’s just too crazy.

The first band we went to was Clean Cut Kid. A cool indie band I had known from my Spotify playlists. So I really wanted to listen to them live. I thought they were pretty cool, but unfortunately my mum didn’t enjoy them as much as me. Right after they ended their set, we ran over to the main stage to try and get a great spot for Fall Out Boy, of course. This was, unfortunately, really really hard. We got there pretty early but it was so packed already. Although there was one band scheduled even before FOB, there were so many people there already waiting for them. Like us, they just got there to have a good spot. Mum and I were quite close to the front of the second barrier, but I wanted – needed – to get a spot right at the barrier. Those are just the best spots, because you’re not pressed into a group of people and there’s nobody in front of you who can block your view. So this was really really important to me. When the next band, The Vaccines, got on stage we were in the second row, but with a huuuuge woman in front of us, so we couldn’t see much, especially my mum. I even asked her to swap places with me and do you know what, she plainly said no. I thought she was joking. She was there alone, had the best spot ever and didn’t even stand there to see FOB. She just said that she didn’t want to be in the middle because of moshpits or so. ONE FREAKING METER IS NOT IN THE MIDDLE. WHAT THE HELL.

I was soooo freaking mad. And so close to giving up. It was just all too much. The Vaccines were playing one bad song after another, mainly because the lead singer was for sure drunk or high or both, I had this super tall woman right in front of me and people were pushing me from behind. That was really rough. And then we had to wait another 30 minutes for FOB to come on stage and then I realized something. I would be seeing FOB in a few minutes. I had waited for this moment for years. And NOBODY and NOTHING would ruin this moment for me. So I let all the worries slip off me and got so damn excited.

And then it happened. Freaking Fall Out Boy got on stage and started playing. And then the best thing ever happened. There was a family right in front of us with a small girl who was a total fan, so when they got on stage, one girl of the family and my friend, the tall woman, held her on her shoulders. To do that, they had to get closer together which just caused enough space for me right at the barrier to slip in. I was finally in the front row. Exactly when they music started.

And then I just had one of the best one and a half hours of my life. I cried immediately when I saw them and heard them. And I think I’ve never cried this much at a concert. I was so overwhelmed. I for real had to calm myself down to not start bawling right there. I was so happy, oh my god. And they were so damn perfect, holy moly. Patrick, their lead singer, sounded like an angel, even better than on their albums – and I thought that this wasn’t even possible. And Pete said so many nice things, totally inspiring. And how they loved to be here. And I can tell you, I loved it too. I wanted them to go on forever and never ever stop.

I remember looking back at my mum, tears streaming down my cheeks and having the biggest smile on my face. And her reaction. I could see how happy she was for me. And I can’t even describe how much I love her for doing that and attending this festival with me.

After FOB, screaming out lyric like never before, crying like crazy and loving every second of my life, mum and I got back to another stage to get a glimpse of The Wombats and to get a good spot for The 1975. Which we luckily did. Oh and The Wombats were freaking amazing. Their music is really special, it gets you in a good mood after seconds. And I really love that. Like I said, The 1975 rocked the stage afterwards. Like some of you will probably know, I already saw them this year, but hey, you can never go to enough concerts and see them too many times. And yes, they freaking slayed again. Matty is just such an awesome singer and special person. And I loved the whole atmosphere. Everyone was just so happy, screaming out lyrics with an amazing band playing for them. I loooooved it. And after that, mum and I got some fish and chips and then went home.

And I couldn’t have been any happier. I had just seen so many of my favorite bands in a matter of three days, which is breathtaking, actually. I can’t even tell you how happy I still am that I got to experience this together with my mum. A perfect holiday, a perfect weekend, a perfect festival. And the happiest I could ever be. This is one of those things I’ll tell my children – which I will hopefully have – when I’m older. And hopefully I’ll be able to go to festivals and concert with them, like my mum and I. So I can make them as happy as I am right now.

So yeah, there you go. This was the last of a perfect weekend. I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. If any of you want to chat, I’m here. Fell free to talk to me, I’d be happy to hear from you and talk about Fall Out Boy, maybe. And until then, as always, thanks for reading. x