IMPORTANT NEWS - PLEASE READ! :)

Hello Muggles,

I moved! Not in real life, but in Blogger-World. :)

I wasn't that happy with my blog-name and everything surrounded by that so I went crazy, created a new account and a new Blog. 

I am the same and my blog will be the same, as well... same but different! 

Please go to:

http://beckythewallflower.blogspot.com  

This is were to find me now. I will leave everything as it is on here, except for the comment section because I will "block" it, so that there will no more comments on here, but a link to the new blog on every post! :)

I hope that my followers will stick with me!

I'm thankful to everyone, who subsribed to this old blog and left a comment and I would LOVE you to come to my new one - following and leaving comments there as well! :) :)

Lots of love and see you later (HOPEFULLY!),

Hermione      

The Furry Friend TAG

 Hello Muggles,

today I would like to do the Furry Friend TAG because I saw it on Anna's Blog And This Little Piggy and it's a very cute TAG to do.
 
 Because I can't use my camera at the moment I'm not able to do the "Pink Box" blogpost now, as I actually planned it, because last month it was one of the most read posts on my blog. I promise to do it right after I found my camera-battery-charger. -.-  :)

I hope you have fun reading about my little dog Baylie anyway! :)

***

1. What is your pets name?

My dog is called Baylie

2. What kind of pet is it and what breed?

As you might have already guessed it's a dog - a Jack Russel Terrier

3. How long have you had your pet friend?

I have had Baylie for more than 8 years now! That's longer than it feels like!

4. How did you get your pet?

I really wanted a dog and one of our neighbours dog just got puppies so I asked my Mom and she said no. One day our neighbour went past our house with her three puppies in a basket and I told my Mom to get outside with me, so that we can talk to our neighbour... just because puppies are cute. :D My Mom than hold the one I wanted (which was Baylie) in her arms and she didn't want to let her go anymore. :) They were very tiny then; about 5 weeks and after that we didn't really talk about it anymore because I didn't want to urge my Mom. 
When I came home on some day 2 weeks later my parents looked at me very weirdly and I was wondering what was going on. My Mom than said there is something for me in the living room and tiny little Baylie-Baby was laying there. :) :)  She was only 7 weeks old but her mother didn't want her and her siblings anymore. She bit them and so they had to give them away.

5. How old is your pet?

Baylie is now 8 years old aready. :)

6. What are some quirky things about your pets personality?

Ohhh... here we go. :D  Baylie is quite strange - like me probably.^^ She actually is VERY quiet! That's not at all typical for a Jack Russel Terrier but she really isn't that lively - except for when she sees another dog. I don't know why but she starts to get quite aggressive when seeing dogs she doesn't know but if they come near her she gets all nice and cute again. xD
She also goes CRAZY when somebody comes home.

7. What does your relationship with your pet mean to you?

Everything! I live with my boyfriend and my dog for almost 4 months now and moving into your first own flat was another big step that brought me closer to my two loves of life. :) My boyfriend and her just mean everything to me - I love them soooo much!

8. What are some of your favourite past times with your pet?

Of course my favourite memory is the day I got my dog. I was so excited and wanted to take her out all the time and I slept on the floor with her... it was just so amazing!
Then I loved the times when my boyfriend, Baylie and me were taking loooong walks in the forrest because I could let her run around having fun without having to watch out for dangers or other dogs. 
And I also had SO much fun when we and a friend drove to a river and Baylie just wanted to play there all the time although she ususally never goes into water. :)

9. What are nicknames that you call your pet?

Mostyl I call her Baylie-Baby or Bayling (which is her asian name obviously^^) :D 

***

So, this was the Furry Friend TAG. I hope you enjoyed it and I tag EVERYONE, WHO HAS A PET and would like to do the TAG as well. :D

Feel free to leave a comment and have a nice day!

See you next time,
Hermione

Follow me on Twitter: @HermioneG7

My favourite (Youtubers) Halloween-Tips

Hello Muggles,

so Halloween is coming nearer and nearer and although I'm a huuuuge scaredy-cat I quite enjoy it... mainly because of "The Nightmare Before Christmas"! :D

I have to admit that I'm not good at giving advices when it comes to Halloween dresses, makeup etc., so I thought I'd show you some of my favourite Youtubers and their Halloween-related clips. :)

1) MAKE UP

Urrrgh, horrible thumbnail, Tanya (pixi2woo)! But this is what a good Zombie makeup should look like. :)

If you want to look even more unattractive, try out Nicola Haste's (pixiwoo) very impressive but complex Frankenstein-look. :D

One of my absolute favourites is "Miss Argentina" from "Beetlejuice" by Samantha Chapman (pixiwoo) - this is my personal taste of a reeeeeally cool Halloween costume / makeup! :)

If you're looking for a last minute thing, you should definitely check out Sam's (beautycrush) interpretation of Batman's Poison Ivy.

And here we go with another pixiwoo video. I said this in my "Why I wear make up"-TAG but one reason why I "love" makeup is the fact that you can be an artist and turn it into something beautiful and exciting - just like Nic did it with the Emily-look of Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride" (which is one of my favourite films by the way)! :)

If you don't like dressing up but still want to look a little bit more "special" on Halloween, have a look at the "Glamourous Party Make Up"... by pixiwoomadness (too much pixiwoo over here^^). 

2) COSTUME

No comment. xD

3) DECORATION ETC.

Although this is in German, I would like to show you because you can understand the very cute and creepy ideas of spooky food / snacks without knowing the language. There is some VERY cool stuff in it, so make sure you watch it! :)

Here you have hilarious Jim Chapman (yes, another Chapman^^) making the greatest pumpkin ever! Long live Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king! :D

***

That's it from my Halloween-Tips... which weren't actually mine. :D

I will now go and make my own Jack Skellington pumpkin - see how it turned out here:
https://twitter.com/HermioneG7/status/263013891469090816

I hope you found that helpful and entertaining and I wish you a spectacular Halloween-feast!

Please let me know how you are celebrating Halloween and as what / whom you will dress up in the comment section! :)

Have a lovely day and see you next time,

Hermione

Why do you wear makeup - TAG

Hello Muggles,

a few days ago the beautiful Megan from Wonderful You  did the "Why do you wear makeup"-TAG and I thought it was interesting, so here we go...

 
1. When did you begin to love makeup? 

This is actually not that easy to answer. When I was about 12 I really loved clear lipgloss - and I wore like the whole content of one lipgloss tupe on my lips every day. xD

With about 14/15 I went through quite a bad "emo" phase (but fortunately it was new to everyone, so I was the only person to look like this... people didn't make fun of me then because they we're probably scared, which would have been a whole different thing if I started 1 / 2 year(s) later xD) and I used to wear red lipstick and a lot of black liner around my eyes... yes, you read right: lipstick around the eyes. This and black liner were actually the only two make-up items I owned. This is embarassing? Why do I even tell you? :'D

Since December 2011 I'm discovering the make up world again and from a very different point. I started to watch Youtube videos and think more about what make up is really about. I'm not super into it but I'm interested and yeah... so long story short: I'm not immensly in love with make up but interested.

2. How do you feel without makeup?

I'm glad to say that I'm fine without makeup! :)

3. What do you like about makeup? 

I like the fact that makeup can underline your natural beauty. Most women probably don't wear makeup to do this but to make themselves look totally different - however in my opinion this is not the point.

I also really enjoy makeup as being a form of art. Take the girls from "pixiwoo" for example; they do the greatest things with makeup and this could definitely be considered as art.

4. Three 'Holy Grail' Items: 

1) Mascara - the classic.

I think the nice thing about mascara is that it really just underlines or highlights what you've already got. Everyone has lashes but some people (like me -.-) don't like their own lashes to be short, straight and light but a little bit more "out there". What I personally love about mascara is that it always makes you look a little bit more feminine, which I go for because I'm almost a little tomboy otherwise. :D

The one I use at the moment is the ASTOR Volume Artist Modelling Mousse in Waterproof - 800 Black. 

If you know any black, waterproof drugstore mascara, which gives you lots of volume: let me know, please! :)

2) Lipstick  / Lipbalms

I love red-, berry- and plum-toned lipsticks and tinted lipbalms.

The Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Hibiscus is a perfect "your lips but better" product for me. It just highlights my natural lip colour, which I love, plus it is super nurturing!

3) Brow Pencil

My brows are not very full and defined, so I help along with a eyebrow pencil.

Currently I'm using the Catrice Eye Brow Stylist in 020 Date With Ashton, which is a very affordable pencil in the perfect shade for my eyebrows.

I did a whole eyebrow related post some time ago, which you can check out here .

***

That was it for the "Why do you wear Makeup" TAG.

If you want to do this TAG on your blog as well, feel free to do so and leave me a comment, so I can read it. :)

However, I would also like to tag some people:

        Lauren from "A Lauren to Herself"

Anna from "And This Little Piggy"

Amie from "Belle-amie"

Amy from "Brighter Shade of Pale"

Megan from "British Beauty Geek"

Hannah Justyne

Becky from "Rose Petals"

Sophie from "Sophie Rose Hearts"

Hayley from "Water Painted Dreams"

Have a lovely day and see you next time,

Hermione

Giveaways & UPDATE

Hello Muggles,

first I would like to draw the attention to some amazing giveaways from other people. :)

1) And This Little Piggy 

Anna from "And this little piggy" does an international giveaway at the moment (IT ENDS TOMORROW!).

You can win the Korres Lip Butter in Jasmine and the Soap and Glory Handfood, which are two products I would absolutely LOVE to finally try out!

Click on Anna's blog name to get to the giveaway-post and good luck to you all! :)

 2) Milk Bubble Tea

Next, there is a big giveaway on Becky's blog. It is international as well and you can win

 a vanilla creme brûlée body wash, dairy milk oreo, two essie luxe polishes, soap & glory mini hand food and mini body scrub. 

How cool is that? :)  Click on Becky's blog name and enter! :)

3) Hannah Justyne 

Here comes another suuuper amazing giveaway. You can win a MAC LIPSTICK OF YOUR CHOICE, which is just the perfect idea for a giveaway, I think!

Click on Hannah Justyne's blog name to get to her side and make sure you enter as it is international again! :)

4) the lovecats inc 

And here we go with the biggest giveaway! You can win 30 beauty products in all shapes and sizes. Definitely check out Hannah's blog if you're interested in a huuuge international giveaway! :)

Okay, that's it for the giveaways.

If you know any other international ones, you can let us all know in the comment-section down below! :)

***

Now, here comes the little update on a more personal basis.

I started University about 3 weeks ago and I really didn't expect it to be soo busy and stressful.

I don't really have that many hours of actual classes but getting to Cologne (where I study) and back takes a lot of time and I'm also working. This is why I might be a little more absent but I try to write as many blogposts as possible in advance if I have some time!

 So, now I need your help! I would REALLY LOVE to hear something from you - what would you like to read about / what should I write about? I always enjoy TAGs, so if you do one you can always tag me. :) I also tried out to film a Youtube-Video yesterday and it worked quite well, so I hope that I can do videos, as well, soon.

Have a lovely day and don't forget to leave a comment.

If you're reading this without being a subscriber than make sure you click on the little "Join this site" button on the right, IF you enjoyed my blog. It is totally free and just tells you when I uploaded something new. :) :)

See you next time,

Hermione 

Follow me on Twitter: @HermioneG7 

            

 

"The Casual Vacancy" by J.K. Rowling - REVIEW

Hello Muggles,

today I would like to give you my thoughts on J.K. Rowlings current novel "The Casual Vacancy", which is her first book for adults after writing so many Harry Potter related things.

***

What is it about?

And here starts the difficulty. If you're interested in the book and look online for some content or storyline summaries you know that they're not that easy to find and there's a simple reason for that: It's almost not possible to write about "The Casual Vacancy" without revealing too much. But I will try my best:

The whole story takes place in a very small town in south-west England (am I right, here?) and begins with Barry Fairbrother's sudden death. He is a member of Parish Council and after he dies there are some people, who are quite eager to get his place. There's a voting going on and everything but the main focus lays on the many, many different characters story. There are about 34 characters, who are mostly related to someone else from the town due to family background, friendships or just loose contacts.

The plot goes through all kinds of social origins (mostly English working and middle class) without avoiding the ugly sides of each.

Basically it's about people's behaviour in very stressed situations, I think.

What do I think about it?

Okay, as many people probably I bought the book because I love J.K. Rowling for Harry Potter and her way of writing and creating new worlds through words. Because of my very high image I have of Mrs Rowling in my head starting to read "The Casual Vacancy" was quite hard. I didn't really know what to think about the whole thing until I got to page 150 / 200... so quite a while! I had some problems with remembering all the different characters and their relation to each other and sometimes I struggled with vocabulary because I read in English and those Parish Council vocab is totally new to me and I'm not sure if I got everything right.

What I found extremely difficult is that there are 34 characters but I didn't like one of them very much... I felt more dislike and disrelished most of them (which is far too much real life for me xD There are enough people to dislike in life and this is why I would like to have at least one character in a book that I find super sympathetic) - the only one, who I felt slight sympathy for was Kay Walden maybe but... uhm, not enough actually.

So, after the first 200 pages I got used to it and started to feel some interest in the characters. I especially "enjoyed" reading about Krystal Weedon, who represented the people from very, very difficult social backgrounds (I don't know the exact term for it - in German it is "sozialer Brennpunkt", which would be something like "social hotspot" but with a very negative meaning). I didn't like what I read but I just felt moved by her story and found it incredibly sad to see what's going on there.

While reading I didn't expect the end to be that tragic actually. I don't want to spoiler, so I can't tell you too much only that I didn't expect it and it really left me there being confused and sad and feeling miserable... which I don't consider as bad after reading a book. I like books that make me think a lot afterwards and "The Casual Vacancy" definitely made that but nevertheless it wasn't strong / convincing for the first half. :/

What I really didn't like that much was the language. I know it's supposed to be real but do people really swear this much? I think J.K. Rowling just put that many slang words and curses and raw language in it to clearly distance from Harry Potter - which I don't think is the cleverest thing to do.

Would I recommend it?

Hm... all in all I probably would. 

I would recommend it if you're interested in a good, real-life based novel and if you're not struggling with having many characters and a lot to remember (I know my Mom does have huuuge problems with remembering names and stuff and she literally reads one book every other day, so I don't think she would be able to keep a proper view^^) AND if you have strong nerves. There are some very intense moments, whether it is a very harsh (verbal) fight, someone gets battered or is just being a little too vulgar. There are SO many swear words that I sometimes was glad my English isn't perfect and I didn't know their meaning.

The point that lets me recommend it anyway is the thing that happens in the 2nd half. You just feel a tiny connection with the characters and your interest gets aroused. In the end it leaves you speechless, no matter if you think that's fine or bad - I think this is what a book is supposed to do.

Definitely give it a go and read through it because there's no sense in putting it away after a few pages; it gets better!

***

Okay, this was my review for J.K. Rowlings first adult novel "The Casual Vacancy" - I hope you liked it and are more / less determined to get and read it now. 

If you have any suggestions or questions feel free to leave a comment or write me a private message! 

I would love to know what you think about it if you have already read it, so please write a comment if you did so! :)

See you next time,

Hermione

Follow me on Twitter: @HermioneG7