HauteFuture's Final Post...

Hello there,

*One of my India pics, taken in Pushkar, the holiest city in the country*

I returned from India unscathed! Sadly, I wasn’t able to go to Thailand, for personal reasons totally out of my own control. However, I will go one day, so I have to turn my frown upside down and just save some more pennies.

So I’ve been thinking a lot recently… And I’ve made the decision to call an end to HauteFuture. I know this is probably quite surprising, as my blog is the thing I have been most passionate about since I started it a couple of years ago. However, I’ve found that I’ve basically outgrown it and that I’ve totally lost sight of why exactly I started HauteFuture in the first place!

*Photograph taken before a posh dinner out with all of my uni friends when we handed in out dissertations*

Two years ago, I set up HauteFuture because I wanted fiercely to become a women’s lifestyle journalist for some kind of top magazine like Marie Claire or Vogue. I am still really passionate about writing and have never been someone to turn away a good magazine. However, I’m not quite sure that having a blog like HauteFuture is what’s going to get me there, or help me further develop the skills I’ve learned in the process of blogging.

Blogging quickly became about celebritizing myself. I would panic if I hadn’t blogged in a week because how would my readers get by if they didn’t know about my terrible lipstick malfunction?! What if they went and bought that same lipstick and experienced the same disaster?! It was my responsibility, nay, my duty to TELL THEM THE TRUTH. The honest fact of it is, that there are about a hundred other girls in the UK who have written exactly the same review as I would have done, and guess what? No-one really cared! No-one got handed a top London magazine internship for publishing the same uninteresting twaddle that I was angsting about and yet I carried on doing it. For what?

*Just about to head out last year to scout bands for my dad's local music festival*

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE writing, more than the next person. I would love to be a novelist and between you and me, I have started writing up somewhat of an autobiographical novel just for the fun of it. Plus, I’ve written freelance pieces for my local newspaper in the past year or so which have felt like brilliant, albeit minor, achievements. But what made me think that reviewing moisturizer improved my writing skills in any way? How was I ever going to do what I ultimately want to do, and make money from my space of internet? I wasn’t. And before you ask, no, it isn’t all about the money. But realistically, I, like many bloggers out there, started my page because it was the easier alternative to breaking into the impenetrable career of magazine journalism. But what pays the bills?

Having had time to think, I cringe at how much I made blogging all about getting followers and building up my lists of ‘fans’. I have been known to spend HOURS at a time, desperately tweeting and facebook-statusing my link to people who quite frankly, couldn’t care less about what I thought of the latest mascara. If someone unfollowed my blog, I would automatically hate them, even though I didn’t know who they were! A friend of mine even showed me how to monitor my readers by locating them in the world, working out how they had found me and even how long they had spent on my page before getting bored. Now, I know that running a successful website and a blog in particular is all about maintaining a healthy amount of reader traffic, but when you are spending more time trying to hunt for new readers and constantly feeling like the things you write are worthless because you only got three comments per day, I think you’ve slightly lost sight of why you started the page to begin with.

*At my graduation*

For the past few months I haven’t liked the way the women's lifestyle blogging world is going and that’s the honest truth. Anyone who is anyone has a blog, and the majority of those in the UK are in the sectors of beauty and fashion. The lack of creativity with blog posts that have popped up on my blogger dash has made me think, ‘Why do I even bother writing original posts when there are bloggers out there doing nothing more than the generic Instagram, Glossybox and 20 Questions posts who are ranking more followers than me???’ And even after spending so long musing over it, I still don’t have an answer to that question.

Since realizing that I didn’t want to be ‘just another beauty blogger’ I started trying to veer away from beauty and branch out into other areas, like travel, food and film and I really enjoyed it! In fact, I enjoyed it more than I think I ever enjoyed beauty blogging and vlogging. I just assumed initially, that because I love beauty products I would love writing about them. But when you realize you’re not really fulfilling any kind of niche, and are just providing more noise in an already noisy environment, it makes you feel kind of redundant. There are girls out there who are great at beauty blogging or fashion blogging and I salute them. I am just not one of them.

*On the way to my first 'grown up' job since graduating*

HauteFuture has served me well. I practiced my writing in a safe place, set up a successful page with HTML that I never even knew existed and I made lots of friends in the process. This reminds me to say, that I have respect for every beauty blogger out there, even those who like posting Instagram, Glossybox and 20 Questions posts. I actually really enjoy reading posts like this, I just didn’t like being a part of the culture which made me feel like these kinds of posts are the only things that would define me as being a true part of the community.

At the end of the day, without meaning to sound arrogant, I feel like I’ve gotten everything that I can from HauteFuture and to carry on would be denial.

*In San Francisco last summer*

So, what’s next? Am I going to stop blogging entirely? Of course I won’t, I’m not sure if I will ever stop blogging! After all, in spite of feeling like it is time to move on, having HauteFuture as a record of my past couple of years is a great memento! So if not here, where will I be blogging, I hear you ask, and why am I moving, what will be different?

Well, my latest venture is going to be called The NW Midlander and will be another Blogger-hosted page. The NW Midlander will be all about what the North West and the Midlands have to offer, as I have noticed that there are so many blogs out there about how great living in London is but none about how great the North West and Midlands are! And they are, trust me. Sure, there will be foreign travel updates,  book and movie reviews and social networking tutorials (and maybe even the odd women's lifestyle posts...), but mostly you will be able to find beautiful photography, food posts which will make you drool and stay-cation reviews which will make you consider the North West and Midlands for your summer holiday needs.

*The sun setting on Tordi Sagar's sand dunes in India*

And as for my beauty habit, don’t think I’m going cold turkey! Actually, quite the opposite! I’m even considering going on a makeup application course, amongst other ideas rushing around my messy-unemployed-graduate head.

Once The NW Midlander is available to view I will pop the link on here, but until then this is goodbye! Thank you to everyone who has stood by me and supported me in my blogging. I really appreciate your loyalty, but now, onto new horizons!

Lots of love

GabriellaSofia

My December Planned...

Hello lovelies,

So I know I haven't been as devoted to my lovely blog as much as I should have been over the past few months, but that would be primarily because I have been so busy with work, my boyfriend and my family that I've barely found a moment to breath! However, my temporary contract as a Recruitment Consultant at Phones 4u finishes on the 21st of December and as I've saved most of my holidays for the end of my contract, I only actually have four full days in the office before I finish for good. This, combined with the face the it is December and there are tons of fun bloggables coming up, means that you will be seeing many more posts within the next month or so. I just wanted to let you know what to expect so here my December plan...

1st December - I'm going to Brighton with my parents, sister and boyfriend for the day. I've never been before, but I hear the shopping is pretty awesome down there in terms of kitschy one-offs so I'm hoping to get quite a bit of Christmas shopping done... I've never been to the coast in winter, so that should be fun.

*Brighton at Christmas*

2nd December - My family, boyfriend and I will be in London for the day, so I'm hoping to have a mooch around Carnaby Street and Harrods as I'm sure the Christmas decorations will be beautiful...

*Carnaby Street at Christmas*

5th December - The annual Bullring Selfridges Christmas Bloggers Event will be taking place in Birmingham. So I've booked off work from about 12.45pm and I'm hoping to nip into Tony and Guy or Umberto Giannini for a trim and blow dry in preparation.

*Me at last year's Selfridges bloggers event*

7th December - I've booked this off work as I will be going to my graduation at the University of Birmingham. After I've graduated, my family and I are all going to eat some place lovely in Birmingham. Nom gobble.

*The University of Birmingham in the snow...*

8th December - The Clothes Show Live have kindly offered me a press pass for the event, so I will be taking the train to the NEC in Birmingham and watching the fashion shows and (hopefully) purchasing a lot of beauty bits... expect a haul video!

*Eeeeeeeep... can't wait for the Barry M stall!*

9th December - I'll be taking the train down to London as I'm going to be spending three days working in the Phones 4u Tottenham Court Road store so that I can get a feel for the field that I have been recruiting for. I'll be checking into my hotel and grabbing some dinner before settling down for an early night in preparation for my three hard-working days in a bustling retail store at the busiest time of year.

*I haven't worked in retail for ages... I can't wait for my Phones 4u store experience!*

10th December - Working at Phones 4u and maybe hooking up for some dinner and drinks with my friend Louise.

11th December - Working at Phones 4u and maybe hooking up for some dinner and drinks with my friend Jayne.

12th December - Working at Phones 4u and going for a mooch around the shops at night before returning to my hotel for the a good night's sleep so that I'm not TOTALLY exhausted for my trek back to Stoke-on-Trent the following morning.

13th December - I will be journeying back to Stoke-on-Trent. I'll be back in the office for a couple of hours before leaving at 3.15pm as I've booked the rest of that afternoon off as holiday.

17th December - The Phones 4u Recruitment and Development Christmas Conference will be held from 9.30am at some swanky Carden Park in Chester. The evening will be full of dinner, drinks and merriment.

*Doesn't Carden Park just look lovely?*

24th December - I will be going to church with my lovely boyfriend and my family if they wish to come, followed by eating a delicious meal at home of ham and pork and potato salad and all kinds of yumminess! Before going to bed I will be allowed to open one present which Santa Claus has dropped off a day early. It will be pyjamas. Without fail.

25th December - Christmas Day is always my favourite day of the year. It is the one day out of the whole year where calories really don't count. We are having my Grandma and Grandad round for Christmas this year, so it should be a right jolly old feast. NOM.

*Me last year on Christmas Day*

So those are the major plans I have so far... However, I've also booked the 14th, 19th, 20th and 21st off work and would ideally like to take those days to go to the Birmingham Christmas market, the Trafford Centre and Trentham Gardens. Plus, I haven't been clubbing in months and even though I don't usually enjoy it that much, I feel like I miss it a little, so I'm going to try and get a night out in before Christmas and maybe even one on New Year's Eve if my boyfriend, sister and friends fancy it...

As you can see, I will be a busy bee. However, I fully expect to have enough time and content to blog throughout December...

What are your plans for the festive season? Have you done all of your Christmas shopping yet? Is your Christmas wardrobe planned? I'm having a nightmare trying to think of what to wear for all of these busy busy days!

Love and snuggles
GabriellaSofia
x

Quick Update... Succeeding in my University Degree and Travelling Across the Globe...

Hi there!

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I have a pretty good reason.... I've been so busy accepting my 2.1 degree (!!!) from the University of Birmingham and packing for my USA adventure that I really haven't had much time to write which has made me very sad. HOWEVER, I'm now sat on the top bunk at my West Hollywood hostel, Banana Bungalow, filling you in on my most recent goings-on.

*This is what a 2.1 student looks like when she's going out for lunch...*

That's right readers, in spite of my 2.2 from my second year of university (which carried over as 25% of my overall degree classification) I managed SOMEHOW through hard work, determination, and enduring a soul-less existence for a year, to achieve a 2.1. I was absolutely gob-smacked with my success as I had really lost all hope of getting a good grade, purely because I found final year to be nothing but incapacitating pressure. But I guess the pressure must have worked for me for some reason as I magically managed to get a degree classification which reflects my abilities and the hard work I have put in. My parents were very happy for me, and we're all very proud. And surprised, and thankful to whatever greater being allowed this to be. Thanks readers once and for all for being here for me and waiting for me while I had to take that long blog-break all those months ago. I guess it paid off!

As I say, I'm now in West Hollywood and I've been awake for just over 26 hours so far as today was my travel day. I'm going to grab me some shut eye in a minute as I'm absolutely exhausted and I'd like to get up tomorrow morning to take the fantastic *sarcastic eyebrow raise* Los Angeles public transport system to Venice Beach. Haha, not looking forward to navigating the buses but the beach should be incredible.

I was really nervous about coming here last night when I was packing in Stoke-on-Trent. However, now I'm here I can see I really had nothing to be frightened about. I've always loved my own company and meeting new people and roaming around, so I feel a bit like this trip is going to be one of the best things I've ever done in my life. Of course, I've only just got here and my positivity may be something to do with the Taco Bell induced euphoria I'm enjoying at the moment... But watch this space!

Over the next few days I'd like to post up a few different items on my To-Do List. But I'm not sure if I'll have time/energy when there's so much else to do... Forgive me if I'm a naughty blogger while I'm away. I absolutely promise *pinky swear* that if I forget to post or don't have chance to do so as frequently as I would like, I will make a note every time I have a post idea and  get them all typed up for you when I'm back. Expect shopping hauls, backpacking-inspired beauty tutorials, travel reviews and more.

Love and snuggles
gabriellasofia
x

University of Birmingham Graduation Ball 2012

You may have spotted from my Twitter account that I have recently finished my degree this year, and the University of Birmingham decided to throw together an event for us to celebrate the end of university which was very nice of them! 

The event was called 'Grad Ball' which was a bit misleading to be honest as when I imagine a ball, I imagine something a bit like prom but even classier. I'd imagine a ball to take place perhaps in our university's Great Hall with all the ladies sporting floor length gowns, perhaps there'd be a band playing, a very nice sit down dinner with a pianist playing background music, a few ball dances and that would be it. Maybe my expectations were far too high for the event. Nonetheless, me and my friends did have a nice night, it was just a lot less formal than I would have liked...

There was actually a dinner on offer, but the tickets would have cost over £70 to go to the meal and considering the terrible reviews we'd heard from previous years me and my friends decided to give the dinner a miss. Instead we went to Jamie's Italian at the Bullring for a nice lunch and spent the early part of the evening getting ready and drinking wine. 

The weather was terrible and we were all having a nightmare because most of us were in floor length dresses or suede shoes, and we'd heard the event was to be held outside. This put a bit of a downer on the getting ready process as we were worrying that all the time we were spending on our hair would be a waste because of the rain, plus I was a bit concerned that all my mascara would get rained on so I'd be panda-eyed all evening. Regardless, I did my face as nice as I possibly could and hoped for the best...

*I used my Guerlain Lingerie de Peau foundation, shaded in my eyebrows as usual, used my Nars blusher in Orgasm with a coating of the Orgasm Illuminator over the top, created a basic smoky eye with my Urban Decay Naked palette and used my Topshop lipstick in Vamp with a No7 clear gloss over the top*

My friends all looked lovely, and some lads from over the road came round for some pre-drinks so it was a great opportunity to grab lots of awesome photos...

*You may recognize the red dress I have on as being my sister's prom dress... It was just too pretty to never be worn again, so I nicked it for the night! So sweet of her for letting me borrow it :)*

After rather classily strapping our vodka bottles to our legs with surgical tape so we could smuggle them in, we hopped into our taxi protected by our Poundland umbrellas, before walking the red carpet right outside the sky-scraping clock tower for which our university is famous.

*Red carpet looks nice, but the reflective jacket in the background lowers the tone somewhat...*

We headed straight into the bar marquee, holding our dresses up so they wouldn't brush the wet floor. The bar marquee was full to the brim of people I know from my course, from my work and from my past three years of accommodation. It was the perfect place to catch up with everyone and my friends all looked so brilliant. 

By this point we were all dying for the toilet, so we put up our umbrellas once again and headed over to the portaloos (yes, portaloos, at a 'ball'). Once we'd finished up, we spotted a photography tent, so went and had a couple of 'professional' photos snapped. Not sure how they'll turn out to be honest because the whole thing seemed a bit chaotic! After having our pictures taken we headed back to the bar tent, where the queue was about ten people deep just to get a drink. It was at this point when we realized Maverick Sabre was playing on the stage outside, but because of the rain (and the fact that there was now a queue to get back into the bar tent) we decided we'd have to give it a miss. Sadly, because of the weather (AGAIN) we didn't get a chance to have a go on the funfair rides, which was gutting as I love thrill rides!

*Wish I'd gone on this*

*And this...*

*And this. Stupid weather.*

After a little while, I heard Skepta performing so I headed over to the main stage with my umbrella and got a few pictures. The sound and lighting guys kindly let me hang out under their marquee for a little bit which was nice as them as the rain was torrentially pouring by now and although the staff were handing out free plastic ponchos they weren't long enough to protect my floor-length dress.

*Skepta IS IT???*

*There's too many men too many many men...*

I was a bit disappointed with the performers to be honest as in past years they've been much better known. For example, they had Ellie Goulding once! But Skepta gave a good show so I can't complain much. After watching Skepta I went to the Bandaoke tent which I thought was a great idea. Basically, there is a band and they know a set bunch of songs for the ball-goers to get up and sing. Me and my friends spent the rest of the night in Bandaoke and had a fantastic time dancing along to cheesy (and terribly sung) Eye of the Tiger, I Will Survive and more 80's tunes. It was a brilliant way to spend the last couple of hours to the night!

There was also a Silent Disco, but I gave this a miss as I was having too much fun in Bandaoke and I didn't want to brave the rain again, so stayed in the tent where I was. 

The night was a lot of fun and my friends and I really enjoyed it. Plus, the decoration and lights were beautiful. However, there wasn't enough planning regarding the weather and because of how bad the rain was there should have been gazebos marking the paths from tent to tent as the rain hindered us from making the most of our £45 tickets.

*Look at how pretty the building was lit up! I wish the ball had been in there instead of in the cold and wet outdoors...*

It was a great way to have our final hoorah before finishing uni for good. Results day is next Thursday and I think it was a good idea to have the 'ball' (which should have been a 'fest' instead as it would have been way more accurate) before our results come out because everyone was feeling pretty carefree. 

Have you had an end of year or graduation ball? How do you think they could have planned for the weather so that we didn't feel ripped off? How can I make my face not be shiny??? No matter how much powder I use I still shine a bunch! Grrr.

Love and snuggles

gabriellasofia

x