February is quite a boring month in the world of me. I usually spend it drowning in university assignments, hibernating inside from the cold and wrapping up warm. But whilst waiting for the warmer months to arrive, I've found lots of bits and pieces that I've really loved.

Just a few bits and bobs that have made my February better!

Max Factor Face Finity All Day Flawless 3 in 1 Foundation
£9.99, Boots.
The start of February called for a new foundation, so I ambled into Boots and bought the first one I saw. I literally just looked at the price, picked up the right colour and decided to give it a go. This rash decision has changed my make up routine. Great coverage, hides horrible acne scares really well, and stays on for a whole day (8am-8pm). I don't think I'll be picking up another brand for a while!

Soap and Glory Archery Brow Tint and Pencil
£8, Boots
I've been using this pencil/felt tip pen concoction on my eyebrows for about 3 months now. At first I was quite bad at using it, but I've gotten more used to it and love the way it shapes my brows. I first apply the tint to the outline of my brows, and then colour in the main bulk of my brows with the pencil (which is more like a crayon.) As always, Soap and Glory make-up is great value for money, lasts a long time (i'm not even halfway through the stick), and creates a high end look. Plus, I've received loads of compliments about my brows this month - I have a feeling this may be why!

Wilko Premium Powder Brush
£4, Wilkinsons
I FOUND A POWDER BRUSH AS GOOD AS REAL TECHNIQUE BRUSHES FOR £4! £4!!! Don't get me wrong. I adore my Real Techniques Core Collection brushes, but spending £10 and upwards on a single brush doesn't quite sit right with the student bank balance. So I picked this powder brush up to see if I could cut some costs when it came to beauty. This brush is super super soft, holds powder really well, and provides a great even coat of powder. Honestly, this is the best powder brush out there!

Art Deco Statement Necklace
£4, Primark
I love statement necklaces, but I never go for the expensive ones. I tend to break them after a few months, so Primark is always the go to place for costume jewelry. I couldn't say no to this one. Art deco is one of my favorite design movements of all time, and like so many others, I've really jumped onto the rose-gold bandwagon... This is great to wear under the collar of blouses and with turtleneck jumpers. I love it!

Blanket Scarf
£6, New Look Sale
I completely and utterly stole this scarf from one of my best friends. I spent a whole afternoon lusting after it over christmas, so decided to pop into New Look to see if they had any left. They did and this is honestly the best clothing purchase I have made so far this year. It keeps me so warm and cosy during my early morning commutes and long walks across campus at 9am! Thank you Helena for showing me the benefits of a blanket scarf!

The Chaos and The Calm, James Bay
£6.99, Amazon
I bought this album way back when it first came out nearly a year ago, played it non stop for two or three months, then lost it when I moved home in the summer. After a frantic scramble under my bed a couple of weeks ago, I managed to retrieve it! I absolutely love James Bay and everything he stands for. He has a great public image, impressive stage presence, and most importantly a phenomenal first album. Best Fake Smile is my go to song whenever I need a pick me up.

I fell in love with Love...

Love, Netflix Original
I describe myself as a Netflix connoisseur. But sometimes I cannot find anything worthwhile to watch.  Love came up on my recommended feed, so I thought I would give it a go. Fast forward two days and I had watched the whole season. Love follows Mickey and Gus, two people who meet unexpectedly and start to date. But this story focuses a lot on the awkward first attempts at dating, and what happens when things dont always go your way. Sometimes its nice to watch a rom com that doesnt profess to show true love. I cannot wait for the second season!

Deadpool
I've already rambled about this film in my Deadpool review (check it out if you haven't already!) Ryan Reynolds really has made a fantastic movie, that doesn't take itself too seriously! If you havent seen it already I have to ask you why not! Just go. Now. Go on. Go...

Beth x

I'm not very well traveled. But then again I am 19, and ran straight into uni rather than taking a gap year. So I haven't really had a lot of time to travel the globe! But when I do finally get the time, here is where I would love to go...

Australia

Everything about this place fascinates me. Its huge, so much warmer than the UK, and its seasons are all topsy turvy. Ideally I would love to travel the whole length and breadth of Australia on one big trip, but I would settle with Sydney and the Gold Coast if money became an issue!

Bali

I've never been on a resort/hotel style holiday. To me, Bali seems like the perfect place to do such a thing. You can spend time on a resort by a pool, but there is also so much to see outside those gates. The beaches are beautiful, and the rain forests are something else. That is definitely something I want to see with my own eyes!

Canada

I want to see if it is really as cold as everyone says it is. I want to buy milk from a bag. I want to go and explore a society that in many respects is so similar to our own, but so different! I also have a friend from Canada, and his passion and love for his country has made me want to visit even more!

New York City

This wouldn't be my travel wishlist if I didn't include New York City. I love watching NYC based shows such as Gossip Girl, Friends and How I Met Your Mother, so to see where they were based upon and filmed would be awesome. Plus I would absolutely love to go and see a show at Madison Square Gardens, it's been a dream of mine ever since I first heard of the likes of Green Day and Muse.

I'm sure this list will grow and grow the older I get and the more I travel. Its great on rainy cold days in February to fantasize about travelling around the globe. Someday this will happen, and I simply cannot wait!

Beth x

Reading week is now upon me. I am staring straight down the barrel of a 4,700 word loaded gun. But hopefully after one and a half years of uni I know how to get through the next seven days! Here are a few of the things I do to make deadline weeks a little bit easier...

Wake up at a decent time!
Its really easy to take reading week as time off. Which technically it is. But I find that if I want to be at my most productive, I need to get up around 9am. This way, after having a decent breakfast (usually breakfast biscuits and/or yoghurt), I can start working around 11am. By lunchtime I feel like I've already achieved something and want to continue in the afternoon. Plus, starting to work in the morning means that you have more hours in the day to get an assignment done. They will ultimately be better for it!

Waking up during reading week is hard, but it is worth it!

Create a to do list
Every morning write a small list of tasks you need to get done that day. If like me, you've got essays to write, set yourself a reasonable amount of work that you know you can get done. Spread your work over a number of days so that you don't get overwhelmed. I found this great post about different kinds of to do lists over at Sheknows.

Ticking something off of your to do list is a really great motivator.

Always have a drink by your side
If I'm working on my laptop, I find myself spending a lot of time spinning around on my chair and looking for things to distract myself with. If I have a bottle of water by my side, I tend to take a drink whenever I get distracted. I end up hydrated, and spend less time distracted.

I wish this was my desk...Deadline week for me usually means working under a pile of hefty textbooks, with water balanced on the edge...

Stock up on treats
I bribe myself to do work. It just works. Every 500 words/paragraph (whichever comes sooner) I reward myself with a treat. Recently I've been trying to eat more healthily so I'll probably opt for some of my favourite fruit instead of chocolate. But we all know when times get tough, the sugary goods will come into play!

Trying to be healthy? This is the deadline reality...

Use Netflix and Youtube whenever you want to
Chances are if you're bored and trying to work, you won't get anywhere. So if I feel like taking a break, I take it. Spending half an hour on Netflix or Youtube calms me down and clears my head. I then go back to my work motivated and happier.

By far the best remedy for writers block!

Make time for blogging/vlogging etc
Don't let your blog go to the wayside during a difficult study week. Keeping my blog going when I have loads to do gives me a well deserved break. So keep going, it will make you feel like you have achieved something out of your day if you've had a particularly bad study day!

Blogception!! This blog post was definitely a way to relax in between writing sessions!

Hopefully these tips will be of some use to you guys! I'm off now to go tackle a 3,000 word early modern history essay... Wish me luck!

Beth x

Not your conventional superhero...

Myself and my sister love a superhero movie. Except for Ant Man, she has a thing against Ant Man... But apart from that, they really are our bag. As you can probably imagine, excited didn't even go halfway to describing our excitement when Deadpool was announced!

A film I certainly wouldn't like to watch with my nan, Deadpool was everything we wanted and more. Its witty, very inappropriate and so against the tide of current superhero franchises. From the title sequence onwards, it was easy to tell that this film was going to push boundaries and not take itself to seriously, all at the same time.

Ryan Reynolds' anti-hero doesn't want to avenge the world, nor does he want to take down an army. Hes not a billionaire like Iron Man, a war hero like Captain America, or a leader of a gang of human mutants like Wolverine. Hes a man trying to pull his life back together after some pretty horrific experiences.

Thumbs up for a refreshing take on the superhero genre

Despite its charm and hilarity, Deadpool does explore some of life's tougher issues. What would you do if you were told some life-changing bad news? How far would you go to preserve your life? It is rare for a film to have an entire cinema screening crying laughing one minute, and close to tears the next.

And yes, this was the first film I had seen that made the WHOLE cinema screening laugh, shout, jump and cringe at the same time. Deadpool really is a film to be loved by everyone, especially if you love a good sexual innuendo followed by a gory beheading...

Beth x

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

H&M Pony T-Shirt, £7.99

I like ponies, I needed a new t-shirt. I was drawn to the autumnal colours, and the unusually long, short-but-not-cropped sleeves. Enough said really. Oh, and it's really soft.

I started this blog over two years ago, and sporadically posted when I had the time. My vision when I began was to blog solely about history. But as I've got older, experienced new things, and started to post regularly,  I feel I have more than just history to talk about. Books, beauty, TV, fashion, history, general day to day life. The title Thoroughly Modern History no longer reflects the lifestyle blog that my blog has become...

From today (10th February 2016), Thoroughly Modern History will cease to exist.

I have changed the name to thecatsouthebag.

Why?
I no longer fit the genre of a history blog.

I feel this name encompasses the theme of a lifestyle blog. Its unique, quirky and easy to remember/recognise.

Both my Instagram and my Twitter go by the same name, so it does make sense to match all my social media platforms together. There will hopefully be no more confusion as to who I am!

My posting schedule isn't changing, nor is what I write about in general! Breaking out of the solely history blogging genre means I can do more of what I love, whilst still going back to my roots when I want to.

I'm so excited for the future of this site. I've got so many great ideas lined up and some great collaborations in the pipeline!

Remember to give both my Instagram and Twitter a follow if you want to keep update with what I do throughout the weeks, and want to be the first to know when I've posted something!

Instagram: @thecatsouthebag
Twitter: @thecatsouthebag

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14700749/?claim=n354zaptka9">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Beth x

War and Peace finished on Sunday. 99% of the British population is still getting over it. So sorry if this post brings back any repressed memories... Whilst watching the show, I became mesmerized by the beautiful costumes. Everything was as it should have been back in the early 1800's. The uniforms were very accurate representations of both French and Russian uniforms.  The big earrings, the chunky necklaces, the opulent evening gowns and the understated day dresses of the Russian women transported us into another world. Here are some of the costumes that truly caught my eye. 

Natasha and Andrei's ball costumes truly showcased the opulence of Russian aristocratic life.

Napoleon's uniform was a complete replica of his famous portraits

Helene's wedding dress was totally over the top beautiful, but showcased the wealth of the Russian aristocracy perfectly.

The origins of the milkmaid braid were explored on Princess Marya.

The show shed light on the simple nature of Russian day wear. There are so many more photos and costumes I would love to share with you all, but if I did this post would contain about 50 pictures. I thought I'd stop here before I got carried away!  The BBC blogger Caroline McCourt has written an article all about the Russian fashion represented in War and Peace, and ways in which we can translate it into our modern style today. Its a really great read, full of interesting ideas and tips.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/entries/4ac5a723-5c93-4ea2-aec1-3bf0a57a035d  All photo credit goes to the BBC; they have a beautiful photo collection over at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p039wcdk/galleries Side note: Who likes the new look? I've spent ages trawling through online templates, looking for something that caught my eye! Let me know what you think!  Beth x

I am a child of You Tube. Well not literally, but I spent an awful lot of my time during GCSEs and A Levels watching internet personalities. I can confidently say that You Tube was my Netflix. I still love watching some channels now, despite being more wise to the business and promotional aspects of You Tube. From accusations that Zoella ghost-wrote her first novel, to arguments that these young internet personalities are simply too young to write revealing and worthwhile autobiographies, it is clear that there has been a lot of controversy surrounding You Tubers and their growing collection of books. But some books really are great reads. I wanted to share with you my top three.

1. Binge by Tyler Oakley



Tyler Oakley has always made me laugh. On more than one occasion he has made me cry with laughter. But prior to this book he was a little bit of an enigma. I knew he was gay, lived in LA and did a lot of charity work with the Trevor Project. After reading this book I really felt like I knew more about him and understood his personality and videos better. I have to say, this is not a book for children, despite bookstore advertising! There is quite a bit of adult humor that perhaps you wouldn't even be comfortable with your Nan reading... For me, Tyler's readiness to tell his most embarrassing stories, and also some of his most personal struggles was really inspiring. Surely if he can publish them in a book, we should all be able to make peace with our own by ourselves? I would really recommend this read if you want to laugh, a lot, gain a greater appreciation for life, and most importantly learn what Michelle Obama smells like!

2. Grace's Guide: The Art of Pretending to Be a Grown Up by Grace Helbig

I'm going to keep this one short. 1932 saw the advent of the Australian Emu War. Yes, I really did mean to type Emu War. I've had a bit of a google, and this event really did take place! When drafting this post I was planning on giving a brief history of it myself, but after bumbling around on Tumblr I found these cartoons instead. Enjoy...




So there you have it. A funny take on arguably one of the most bizarre moments in Australian history...

(Photo credits; http://www.funnyjunk.com/Scenes+from+the+emu+war/funny-pictures/5681560)

Beth x