Monday 30 June 2014

Sunny Sunday: Picnic and OOTD

Last Sunday, it turned out to be a really nice, sunny day (which is completely to be expected in the North East of England!) so Ant and I decided to take an obscene amount of pork pies and root vegetable crisps down to Saltwell Park near Gateshead and have a little picnic. We sat in the part next to Saltwell Towers, which I presume used to be a stately home, but now it houses the café and some conference rooms. After enjoying our food and soaking up some of the English sun, we explored the park a little bit. I've never been there, but I thought it was beautiful, especially the lake. The winding, flower-lined paths and streams reminded me of Middle Earth (I'm a massive Lord of the Rings fan), which I really appreciated. I've always wanted to be an elf.


Friday 20 June 2014

Nars Blush International Giveaway // Concurrence Internationale pour gagner un Fard à Joues de Nars

Elsa Pell is one today! I can't believe I've been doing this for a year - I've never been able to keep up a single hobby before! I'd like to thank all of my lovely followers and all of the people who have said a kind word or two about my blog. It really is appreciated, and it has kept me going during the times where I've wanted to pack it all in.

Elsa Pell a un an aujourd'hui! J'arrive pas à croire que je suis blogueuse depuis un an - j'ai jamais continué un passe-temps pendant un an! J'aimerais remercie tous mes suiveurs et tous les gens qui a dit des mots aimables concernant mon blog. Je suis très reconnaissante, ils m'ont aidée a continué quand je voulais l'abandonner.



Wednesday 18 June 2014

Half Marathon Training for Dummies

In 2012, I ran my first ever half marathon - the Great North Run to be exact. I enjoyed the event so much, I signed up for two more half marathons in 2013 and after nursing a knee injury, I have signed up for my 4th half marathon this year. If we rewind to my school days, you will see a chubby, bookish child who hated P.E. I was terrible at sports, always picked last for teams, picked on for throwing like a girl and despised by my sports teachers. I hated hockey because my gum guard made me retch, I hated netball because I was put on the E Team (not the B Team....the E Team...) and one time, I was made to do the High Jump at sports day. I'm 5 foot 5....it all ended in tears and with a large bruise on my bottom. Most of all, I hated running. It made me feel sick, and it was so tiring. I was considerably slower than everyone else in my class, and I didn't like the way it made my chest burn on a cold day.

The point I'm trying to make is, I am not a good runner. I don't always enjoy my training runs, and I spend more time putting off going on a run than I do running, but something keeps me signing up for these events. If you're a novice runner who's looking to enter your first event, it doesn't have to be a half marathon - it could be a 5k, a 10k....anything, you might appreciate some advice from someone who is far from superhuman!

Source: greatrun.org

L'Entraînement Demi-Marathon Pour Les Nuls

En 2012 j'ai fait un demi-marathon pour la première fois, pour être précis The Great North Run à Newcastle. J'ai apprécié tellement l'expérience que je me suis inscrite pour deux autres demi-marathons en 2013 et après avoir soigné une blessure au genou, je suis inscrite pour mon quatrième demi-marathon cette année. Si on rembobine à mon enfance, on verra une fille rondelette et livresque qui détestais l'EPS. J'étais nul en EPS, toujours la dernière choix pour les équipes de sport, toujours moquée parce que je lançais une balle comme une fille et méprisée par les profs de sport. Je détestée l'hockey parce que le protège-dents m'a fait avoir les hauts-de-cœur, j'avais horreur du netball car on m'a mise sur l'équipe pour les nuls et il y avait une fois que je devais faire le saut en hauteur pour la fête des sports. Je suis 165 cm d'hauteur...Il a fini en larmes et avec un joli bleu sur mes fesses. Par-dessus tout, je répugnais le cours à pied. Il m'a donné mal au cœur et il était tellement fatiguant. J'étais beaucoup plus lente que mes copains et je n'aimais pas le fait qu'il m'a donné mal au poumons quand il faisait froid.


Source: greatrun.org

Monday 16 June 2014

Year Abroad #5

This is my final instalment in my Year Abroad series. My time in France is officially over! I am actually back in England at the moment, and have been for about a week. I actually cut my Year Abroad short by a couple of weeks to go to Parklife. I had already finished uni and was just chilling out and enjoying France, but I hadn't planned to come back to England until the end of June. After my exams, I made sure that I really made the most of the time that I had left, and luckily, the weather was pretty amazing, so I got to have a couple of days out, and spent most of my free time in Place Plumereau drinking lager with peach syrup in it (It's actually really nice, you should definitely order a demi-pêche next time you're in France!). You can have different flavour syrups - strawberry is popular - but peach is the best.


Mon Année à l'Etranger #5

Donc, voici la dernière installation à propos de mon année à l'étranger. Mon séjour en France est fini! Je suis en Angleterre depuis une semaine. J'ai terminé mon année à l'étranger un peu plus tôt que j'ai pensé parce que je voulais aller à un festival à Manchester. J'avais déjà fini à la fac, et j'étais en train de me détendre et j'ai pensé que je revendrais en Angleterre à la fin de juin. Après mes examens, j'ai assuré que je profitais bien de mon séjour, et j'avais la chance parce que le temps était parfait, donc je pourrais faire des excursions et passer des soirées en Place Plumereau.