What's the best Christmas ad?

So as you all will know Christmas is around the corner meaning that the adverts are spamming our TV's in attempt to grab us in their stores for the festive season. But like every other year, there's the small selection of Chirstmas heart-warmers, 'The holidays are coming', John Lewis and there story-like sequence and this year making it new to the scene is Sainsburys which have chosen to support The Royal British Legion.

I always have to choose a favourite, and it's usually discussed in the family too, John Lewis always does a great job at catching my heart strings, especially when it's loaded with cute snowmen or penguins. They centre around family life and that's something of which I can relate too. 

'Holidays are Coming' is THE best advert to see when you're cautiously waiting around for Christmas to 'officially' begin. I chant it round the house, I shout everyone into the room when I first see it and it generally puts a smile on my face. However, I don't actually feel it changes my buying habits of coca-cola. This year I'm making the effort to go and see the coca-cola truck as it nearby. You can type in your postcode online to find if it will be visiting near you. I'll definatley be grabbing some pictures so don't worry too much if you miss out!

Finally, Sainsburys, such a good attempt at the Christmas advert this year and I like how it appears as more of a feature rather than a classic ad. The involvement of the chocolate is particularly clever in my opinion, I like how you can buy the exact same product in store, however this is nothing new with Monty the penguin printed on duvets, pj's and everything else possible in the John Lewis selection. I do find it great how they have chosen to support a Charity, especially at Christmas time. It's nice to think that people get together to support others, so hi5 to Sainsburys for not considering only themselves this Christmas. 

But my favourite is still John Lewis and #MontyThePenguin, it's just so cute!!
PS- a Monty is on my Christmas List!

What's your favourite ad this year?

Rach x

New Camera!

My parents always struggle around Christmas time about what to buy for us all. This year they are taking us to Disney Land Paris!!! They told me a few months ago about the surprise that they were planning for myself and my two little brothers. The boys don't know that we are going, they find out on Christmas day, I'm so excited to see their reaction.
For the trip I bought a new nikon d3200, such a great camera for everyday photography. I would recommend it to anyone. I purchased it a few weeks ago, I had read some good online reviews and they are quite accurate!
It has built in features such as a fish eye editor meaning you wouldn't have to buy a separate lense for particular shots. It's lightweight and the clarity of the photos are amazing! The camera comes in red or black, I did prefer the red one as it is quite unique, however they had non left in stock so I settled for black.

After visiting Disneyland there will definitely be a post and photos spamming my blog and I'm planning to make a video diary as a thank-you to my parents.

If you've been to the resort before it would be great to hear what you thought about it  :)

PS- On a completely random note, I hope you've remembered to book your tickets for the Hunger Games, I'M SO EXCITED!

Rach x

What every student needs!

 16-25 Railcard

My railcard is definitely my most essential card in my purse. I use it religiously when travelling around. Being nearly 200 miles away from home this little card comes in very handy. When I first applied for the card I was very reluctant to pay out £30 for the year. However, I am so happy that I did, it's saved me nearly £300 over the course of the year and as a student, there is nothing you need more than money! This is one of my favourite investments since starting university and I would recommend it to anyone who is living away from home or who likes to travel. If you are travelling regularly,  I would also suggest something to kill time, my DS is perfect for long journeys no matter how old they may seem, I take it everywhere with me - a perfect companion for a lengthy trip. 

Netflix

Netflix is another small investment that I use all the time - its slightly worrying. I originally had Lovefilm but when it changed over to Amazon Prime I thought it really went down hill and my rating towards it is very poor.  There was limited selection of things to watch and series which I originally had access too such a Skins I was expected to pay for - that's on top of my subscription! Since getting Netflix I have never looked back, for £5.99 their range of films and series is brilliant compared to those of lovefilm and I am now officially counting down the days for the release of season 3 of #OITNB. Netflix also announced recently that they are making the f.r.i.e.n.d.s series available from January 2015 - I am sold!  

Photographs! 

I have a keen interest in photography so this may be why it has ended up in my top 5, but I do think photographs help so much in not feeling homesick. Since starting uni, I have had my walls crammed with photos of friends and family, its not only comforting, they look awesome if they are arranged correctly. My ladybird pins are one of my favourite purchases - they're so cute! Every student accomedation has pin boards so you can never have too many pins, I've seen little ducks and bunnies too. If you visit money saving websites there are loads of codes to get 100 photos for free. I managed to grab 100 photos from Jessops and I only had to pay £2.25 postage. 

Skype

Another fantastic online app that saves me so much money. My constant calls home was taken over when I finally taught my parents how to use Skype. Its one of my favourite things in the world, I love seeing my family and I always come offline with a huge smile on my face. My friends rarely use it which is quite disappointing but I value it so much. I still can't get my head round the fact that its free! Below is my little brothers pretending they are cute haha! 

A Good Cook Book 

Cook Books are something I welcome at Christmas, I think they are awesome presents for students. My personal favourite is Goks Wok, which my Mam got me last Christmas. When first starting uni I lived off chips and freezer food and it can be so good cooking something from scratch on a free day - it usually works out cheaper too. If you have no cook books currently, use BBC Good Food, that's an awesome website and you can create an online scrapbook which I find quite handy.