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Affordable Gifting Guide: For Her

Affordable Gifting Guide: For Her

Well after this absolutely bizarre year who can believe that Christmas is just around the corner?! And while we are all hoping and wishing just to get our lives back, sadly that is not a present any of us can give (however much we would all love nothing more than to make that wish come true.) But in the spirit of all things festive, I thought I would put together some gifting guide posts to; one…

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An Autumn/Winter Lookbook: Lockdown Depending

An Autumn/Winter Lookbook: Lockdown Depending

Back to lockdown and back to regular blog posts. Love pretending it’s something I can regularly do, yet once the pubs open I am nowhere to be seen… However, it’s good looking back now that I made the use of our short lived ‘Summer’ and opportunity to be ‘social’ now that we are back in a UK lockdown. In a spirit of keeping things positive and hoping that we will be back out and living our best…

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Lockdown, A Time For Reflection?

Lockdown, A Time For Reflection?

Back at it again in the pm of the last day of the month…

With this whole pandemic thing hopefully coming to an end some time soon, (I say that like it already hasn’t in some peoples minds, but anyway!), I’ve been thinking about how much learning has happened in the past few months, and how going ‘back to normal’ probably isn’t the best option.

Yes you’ll be able to go to the pub and the…

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All Lives Don't Matter Until Black Lives Matter

All Lives Don’t Matter Until Black Lives Matter

So it got to that time of the month again when I thought, oh shit, only a few days left and I am yet to get my blog post of the month out. I started drafting a few about lockdown cooking and quarantine etc. etc. but nothing was really flowing.

And then this happened.

My blog always seems to be a place where I voice my opinions on controversial topics as I can fully get all of my thoughts…

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The Perks Of Being In Isolation Back at it again with a waffley lockdown blog post. But let's be honest, there's not much else going on really is there??

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In this time of uncertainty, the one thing we are certain of, is that we are better off staying inside for as much time as possible. Any time outside should be spent in clear distance of others. With that in mind, I couldn’t help but think wow w t f am I going to do with all of this time, and with a lot of this time being spent only in my own company.

My mind keeps flicking back to think of Rapunzel. However many years spent in that big tower with her pottery and ventriloquy and candle-making, and so on and so forth – you know the song… (and if you don’t please educate yourself with Tangled ASAP as no1 on your isolation to-do list!) Anyway it made me realise we all need to be our own version of Rapunzel. Tick things off your to-do list. Watch shows you have been meaning to watch forever. Re-watch your favourite shows you haven’t had the time to. Read new books. Re-read your favourite books. There is PLENTY we can be doing to make the time pass faster and put a little positive spin on this situation. I LOVE a list, makes me feel much more organised – especially a fun kind of list like this one. I’ve been trying to make a list of all the things I want to have got through before this is over, so I thought I would help others compile their own list, along with a few helpful suggestions of my favourite things! Either that or just provide some inspiration for things I’ve seen floating around to help in this far-from ideal time we are living in.

So far my to do list looks like the above, still plenty of room for additions but just a starting point to get the ideas flowing. Below I’m going to keep updated my Netflix/Series suggestions, Book Recommendations, Home Workouts I am using and loving, any other fun hobbies I pick up on alongside any Happy News Stories, anything from Influencers/Social Media to help with Kids and Learning while they’re off school etc. etc. I want to build up a go-to of things to keep us all sane while everything seems like it is very much not. Also let me know if you would like separate posts on work out plans/recipes I am loving and learning/anything at all – keeps up my sudden need to blog!

Things To Watch:

One Tree Hill – my favourite series ever, currently on Amazon Prime. Nine whole series well worth your isolation hours. If you like American-Teen School life dramas then this one’s for you.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine – Lighthearted comedy for times when you’re needing an easy watch and a laugh.

On My Block – very entertaining series, slightly dark with storylines on gangs etc. however very good and Jamal is enough to put a smile on anyone’s face.

Dynasty – easy watch but great gripping story lines, re-make on the original with slight switch ups and the iconic Liz Gilles starring.

Jane The Virgin – just an all round 10/10 feel good series with great storylines and plot twists. Will leave you wishing you were Latin tbh.

Gilmore Girls – easy watching chick flick series with everything you could ever want from that genre.

The Stranger – if you haven’t binge-watched this in a day yet, now is your chance! Such a gripping drama/mystery and set where I live so was great to play spot the location. But definitely worth the watch.

White Collar – easy watching cop/detective vibes with some great eye candy. Always forget how much I love this but such an underrated top tier series.

A list of PLENTY of chick flicks & co via twitter here

Also worth keeping in mind that Disney+ is incoming this week!! My list of Disney recommendations however would be a whoooooole other story and we could go on forever.

Just a few of my faves with more pending…

Things To Read:

I Heart New York & Series – this book series takes place around the world (a little inspiration with all the travelling we can(t) currently do!) A fun, love-driven, girly, all round fab series that you won’t regret reading. Recommended by my cousin 10/10. Here’s to hoping we still make it to New York in August to relive it.

My Life Next Door and What I Thought Was True – A lot of my favourite books appear to be Summer-Adventure books, I think its because I do a lot of my reading usually in the Summer… but again hopefully feel-good vibes for the Summer we are all hoping to see. Both Books are by the same author so lumping them together.

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour – another Summer adventure.

We Were Liars – Gripping mystery book I was absolutely hooked and read in a day! Well worth the read.

A Stranger In The House – my new starter for this week but I am hooked into the mystery already only 10 chapters in. Heard great things about the author and her other books including ‘The Couple Next Door’ too.

Where Rainbows End – Book version that created the iconic film Love, Rosie (also one to add to the watch list). Book is just as incredible and one of the first books I ever remember falling in love with.

The Hunger Games Series – if the films are 10/10 the books are an 11.

Things To Do:

Colouring – is a de-stress I’ve been trying to get back into for a while. I downloaded the app Happy Colour a couple of months ago and it has done wonders for a distraction from social media and other things going on when I need to just take a minute. I have ordered a physical colouring book to help me move away from my phone and have a break from screens when I need it – with working from home now too the screens seem to be everywhere!

Home Workouts! – With the gyms closed and my regular routine being 2 classes a week I am going to try and up my game and do a little bit every day and just keep fit. After all, once this is over we are all going to want to be looking our best out and in the pubs more than the gyms! Many fitness influencers are making home work outs more accessible during this time with Grace Fit’s Shreddy scheme making a free 14 day challenge plan available from tomorrow (23rd) to Alexandra Crane’s Happy Body Plan also providing something similar via Instagram Live’s. There is plenty to keep busy with!

Cooking and Baking – overall I am looking to improve my skills. As you can see from my list my sister and I baked some cookies today! I want to be more economically skilled by the end of this, be able to make more things from scratch (provided I can buy the bloody ingredients in the shops) and make some tasty treats to keep my belly happy and full in this time too.

Things For The Kids:

The Phonics website PhonicsPlay have given out their login details to parents for free to help children in reception-year 2 to learn! Username: march20  Password:home.

Twinkl are also providing free working from home resources for families!

BBC Bitesize have hundreds of resources available for children of many ages!

Youtuber Joe Wicks is doing live PE 9am every morning from tomorrow from his Youtube account The Body Coach TV,

Creator and Artist Shan Royal has also made her Disney artwork available as printable colouring in pages for children – see tweet here with link here

Similarly some ‘Study Tubers’ have come together to create @TheStudyTube – definitely one to keep an eye on for GCSE/A-Level/Uni Content!

Again I will continue to update this as I have more!

Things To Make You Smile:

The Happy Newspaper – I mentioned this in my last post but it is a lovely instagram account full of heartwarming notes at this time as well as a physical paper delivered quarterly if you would like to subscribe too!

It is being noticed that we are making many improvements to the environment across the globe with pollution down in China and Italy, the water the clearest it’s been in over 60 years in Italy, and much more to come with less people outside – hopefully at the very least we set climate devastation back a few years!

Just some links to some nice uplifting tweets I have seen on social media over the last week or so, that again I will continue to update to put a smile on people’s faces:

Real life hungry hippos – https://twitter.com/CatrinNye/status/1241015429482582016

Quarantine doesn’t mean being alone – https://twitter.com/miabongo/status/1240632652161593345

So that’s all for now. Hope this helps to keep you occupied in the strangest of times! And as mentioned I will be trying to update the lists as best I can!

Remember: Stay Safe, Stay Home, Check Up On Your Friends, Wash Your Hands, Tell The People In Your Life You Love Them and Try Your Best To Keep Smiling.

We can do this x

  Be Your Best Rapunzel-Self In this time of uncertainty, the one thing we are certain of, is that we are better off staying inside for as much time as possible.

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Changing the Narrative

Recently I’ve really been thinking about the negative outlook of the press and social media, and in the wake of the news last night about Caroline Flack, I’ve never felt a more perfect time to write.

The controversy surrounding Caroline Flack and her various actions was ever present, her name had probably been among the headlines more times than she could count in her career, and not in a…

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20 Things I've Learnt By 20

20 Things I’ve Learnt By 20

With my birthday around the corner, and a sudden urge to write a blog post (wow, who IS she???) I had the basic bitch idea to be all inspirational and write about some life lessons I’ve learned in my apparent big struggle 20 years on planet earth. But, being serious for a sec, I like to think sometimes I know what I’m talking about, and I’m not too bad at giving basic advice. I also think that…

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Well, looks like it’s that time of year again where I pretend to be a consistent blogger. I’m really hoping I’ve got my shit together enough to actually write regularly next year, but don’t go holding your breath – I say the same every bloody year. (Cut to the final paragraph of my 2017 post where I remind myself to write before 30/12/2018… To be fair I have done, one..) The only thing I seem to be consistent at is posting a yearly update exactly 365 days later, is that some sort of schedule? Unlikely.

Anyways, here I am right on cue to waffle endlessly about the things I’ve enjoyed in this particular whirlwind of a year. Anyone who knows me will know that music plays a huge part in my life, and if you read the title of this post you may realise that it has been a huge part of my year. As I began writing this post I came to realise that a lot of my favourite things about this year were music related (that and the fact that anyone I’ve listened to ever decided to release an album this year), so it looks like we’ve come to some sort of theme. Niamh’s Blog: The Musical?

I’ve had a few amazing live music experiences once again this year, no surprises there. One of my top moments of the year would without a doubt be when I travelled to London for the weekend to finally go and see The Vamps with some of my best friends I have made on Twitter because of them. It was such a surreal weekend, to finally be with the friends you’ve known for so long in the happiest place you all know watching the people who brought you together, perform. And I can’t wait to do it all again in 2019, hopefully in more places than just London. A few of us also went to see a Summer show The Vamps did in Leeds Millenium Square which was so so much fun. I may be almost 20 and seeing a band 3 times+ a year, which would seem silly to many people, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. When you know you know. I also finally saw Demi Lovato live which was an incredible experience, she is such an amazingly talented and inspirational woman. I attended Fusion Festival at the beginning of September too, which gave me a chance to see some artists I had seen before again including Shawn Mendes, Years & Years and James Arthur (and The Vamps were there too of course…) Concerts are my favourite place in the world, and a year without them would be a sad year for me, and I can’t wait to fill 2019 with so many more.

Keeping to the music theme, obviously I was on top of all the new album releases this year, and boy was there a lot of them, where to start? I can’t go without saying that The Vamps released the Day Edition of their two-part album in July this year, which as always did not disappoint. They’re such hard-working boys, constantly writing and performing, and this album did not fail to show that. Little Mix also released the incredibly empowering LM5 which was such a step in the music industry in my opinion. They really took women empowerment to the next level with a message in every single song. Again, they never disappoint! 5 Seconds of Summer, The 1975, Sabrina Carpenter, Jorja Smith, James Bay, the list could go on forever of how many amazing albums I listened to in the last 365 days. It seemed like everybody certainly upped their game and poured their heart and soul into their craft.

In terms of the silver screen – again it was definitely the year of the musicals in my opinion. I began the year by seeing The Greatest Showman, of which songs are still in the charts today, almost a year after its release! Speaks for itself really. If you didn’t enjoy this film then I wouldn’t quite know what to say to you about that! The Mamma Mia sequel also premiered at the box office this year which I was quite skeptic of at first, I’m always worried a great film will be ruined by its sequel, however Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again definitely outdid itself, and I was sobbing like there was no tomorrow at the ending. Got to love a film that makes you cry. On a related note another iconic musical this year was A Star Is Born which again was incredible, and also left me in tears, no shocker there I’m definitely emotionally unstable. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper made this film everything, without them I think the remake could have fallen flat on its arse, but their passion and stardom in themselves set the film up for every award it deserves to win. It still upsets me that Hugh Jackman didn’t win 385202 awards for the same passion he showed The Greatest Showman. The songs and casting in these films were done perfectly, and I think everyone will take away a special song in their heart from viewing one of these.

To flip slightly from music to another thing I love, my makeup collection seems to have multiplied by four this year and I’m running out of storage room despite buying a new dressing table for it all just at the start of this year… oops. Makeup Revolution have definitely upped their game this year, from dupes of high-end products to fabulous influencer collabs and pigmented eyeshadow, their affordable range is never one to miss out on. If you’re looking to purchase anything of theirs, their Conceal & Define Foundation and Concealer have completely changed my makeup game this year, and at £9 and £4 you can’t complain at all! The Stila Liquid Eyeshadows have also changed my makeup life these last few months. I love a cut crease eyeshadow, and these make it so so easy to do. I’ve also loved the Milani blush and the Anastasia Beverly Hills Sugar Glow Kit – both have been staples in many influencers kits for years, and I can see why, perfect for any day and any look, and not breaking the bank for what they are. I also finally received the James Charles Morphe Palette for Christmas which I am beyond excited to have a play around with and write a post on at New Year!

Clearly it’s been a fun and particularly musical year, and continuing to write is an actual new years resolution this time, so watch this space!

Here’s to more waffly blogging, more music, and more fun in 2019!

Here are my thoughts on a page. Until next time.

    2018: A Year In Music Well, looks like it's that time of year again where I pretend to be a consistent blogger.

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Results Day: The Be All and End All?

Results Day: The Be All and End All?

So I’ve broken my blogging silence (and general laziness) because this is something I’ve really wanted to talk about for a while, and is a topic I am passionate about.

That dreaded day slap bang in the middle of summer. A cloud of anxiety ready to bubble over at any given day in August when you realise it’s just round the corner. A day you wait for to see whether all the hard work was worth it,…

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Oh, so this thing does still exist? Yes I’m as shocked as you are…

Well, to give myself some credit, this isn’t the longest break I’ve taken from writing. Two months is probably some form of achievement considering my levels of procrastination. And in fairness, I do sit on a computer all day at work, so try to take some space at home (and by space I mean I use it only for Netflix and online shopping, so realistically I’m a big fat liar.) But on a more positive note, I am filled with some relative aspirations to fill this blog up a little more in 2018 — Yes we heard this in my end of 2016 posts but I’m TRYING I promise *sniffles*

So where were we, ah yeah a blog post. This year has been a bit of a weird one, I have had some of the best and worst times, and ended it in a much different place to the one I imagined when this year began. But that’s life at the end of the day, learning curves and everything being how it is meant to, and not exactly how you wanted it. I started this year with hopes to make my life a lot more exciting – turn 18, go out all the time, maybe fall in love, go on adventures and holidays, go to uni and just enjoy everything life threw at me. And a lot of that happened, and I have enjoyed this year a lot, and made so many unreal memories that I would never wish to forget.

One of the hardest moments of my year was not getting into the university I wanted, and in a weird way, I was sort of expecting it. It’s not that I didn’t work hard or any of my exams went particularly awfully, I think I just had a feeling. Whenever people asked me if I was excited for Uni, or my mum wanted to make plans for my money and living situations, I’d just shun it off and say “I don’t want to talk about it until we know I’ve got in”, and so we never did. I’ve always been a very academic person, playing by the rules in school, predicted high grades etc etc. So it is a slight kick in the stomach when you work so hard for so long, only to not get to somewhere you had aspired to be. I am proud of how I did in my A-Levels, considering how hard I found them, I got ABC and (once I’d gotten over the initial panic of not getting into Uni and having no idea what to do) I was proud of that, I had smashed it. It’s not that I didn’t get into every single Uni in the country, but once you have your hopes high it’s hard to settle, and I’ve never been a person to do something just because I felt like I had to, without my whole heart being in it. And so I didn’t go. I spent what was a rough month and a half looking for jobs and apprenticeships, filling in countless applications, I think in the end I’d probably been in at least 10 interview processes, and it all feels a lot like someones kicking you while you’re down. But, I haven’t written all this just to dwell on the negative – it was definitely the biggest learning experience of my life. It made me realise just how supportive my family and friends are, and how much they care for me, it made me realise how strong I am and how much I can fight for what I want. And it taught me that I never have to settle for anything less than I deserve. I have an amazing apprenticeship at the moment with so many lovely people who are teaching me so much about an industry I can really see myself setting up a career in, and I am so happy and thankful for that.

On a much lighter note I did have some of the best experiences this year that I definitely wanted recording on my blog. From my 18th Birthday, which made me feel so special and loved and is truly a highlight of your life; to my family trip to New York, which was unreal and unlike anything I ever could have imagined; to my first girls holiday, which holds some of my favourite memories and funniest life experiences with some of my favourite people; to the endless nights out and first festivals and drinking and laughing and concerts and quiet nights in. It has been quite the year. So here are a few quick pictures, congratulations if you made the cut;

And obviously I can’t do an end of year blog post without discussing some of my other favourite things this year; music, tv, film, make up etc.

In terms of music some incredible albums have been released by so many of my favourite artists. The Vamps released Night & Day (Night Edition) back in July which in my opinion contains some of their best music so far. Arguably not just my opinion however as they smashed it and got their first number one album with this. Cody Simpson used his record label to create music the was finally incredibly happy with, and created a band in the process; he now goes by ‘Cody Simpson and The Tide’, a new trio featuring Reef and Adrian. His story is incredible and he inspires me daily, and I know I am incredibly bias but the EP Wave One that they brought out in September this year is so so good. If you’re reading this and thinking ‘Niamh you’re still a 12-year-old fan girl in your brain and no one else will like it’ give it a listen and I’ll promise it will prove you wrong. He has so much more of an old school rock and roll vibe now that is something he has always aspired to attain and now finally can. Another lifelong favourite of mine Demi Lovato released a new album this year (alongside a YouTube documentary that I will link here because if you haven’t watched it you really need to I LOVE her) that if you missed it, where on earth have you been. I think it has to be up there with one of my all time favourite albums, every song is an absolute anthem, trust me.

To follow on from music releases, as always, I went to some incredible concerts this year. Is it really me if I haven’t? I think I’d cry if I had to sit through a year without concerts. ANYWAY. I finally got to witness Shawn Mendes live and I can safely say, if you ever get the chance to see him do not even hesitate. He is one of the most incredibly talented live artists. He makes every song sound even better than the recorded version and at such a young age, he has so so so much success ahead of him. Same goes for Zara Larsson, I took my best friend to see her for her birthday and had such a good time. Her stage presence is bloody amazing. She was slut dropping and hitting high notes and she’s literally a year older than me. So jealous of her life wow someone make me famous and fit. Obviously I can’t go a year without seeing The Vamps and do they ever disappoint? Course not. This was the first year I could afford ‘Wow Pit’ which is a standing pit they put in front of the stage with a walkway around it and I have never loved life more. Honestly worth every penny and had such an amazing time with so many amazing people and I can’t wait to travel to London to do it all again in April with alllllll of my internet friends pretty much.

For TV I literally spend my life on Netflix, so get some popcorn. Many of my favourite shows are just a continuing to be as great as I said in my 2016 Favourites. Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder have all left 2017 on an absolute cliffhanger of mid-season finales, continuing to be incredible in every way. Designated Survivor (always incredible), Dynasty (definitely recommend) and Riverdale are all good watches for me, when they all update on a Thursday, I can get a good binge on and love my life. Can’t say I’m thoroughly in love with Riverdale like I don’t really know where they’re trying to go but as always, I’m in too deep. Stranger Things season 2 well and truly smashed it out of the park in terms of TV this year. I was never very sure they could pull it off but they proved me so wrong. Oh and if you’re not in love with Steve Harrington, you’re lying to yourself. Obviously I have to mention PLL and it’s safe to say they let me down a little in their final hours. I just wish they could have lived up to their Season 3 and 4 prime as by the end of it, everyone had guessed the direction the storyline was going in and knew what was coming. I had read so many incredible theories (like seriously if anyone working in TV needs scriptwriters get on Tumblr) so I think my expectations were too high, but of course it still holds a special place in my heart. Another two of my favourite programmes ended this year; Teen Wolf and The Vampire Diaries. I would say these two did better in ending the shows. I was finding it a little hard to keep up with TW but the ending was so nostalgic it was great to watch (even though Dylan O’Brien was barely in the last season, miss u boo). TVD smashed it with their finale, I was an emotional wreck, full on ugly crying (it didn’t help that I also had an eye infection), they really perfected the ending and left no stone unturned and no one unhappy. I think that left me with too high hopes for PLL but, we move on. To all my current favourites; take note from TVD when you end on me. Criminal Minds is set to end in 2018 and that breaks my heart a bit so I shall leave that for next years post.

I did actually see a few great films this year. The new Beauty and the Beast adaptation is up there with one of my all time favourite films. I have the soundtrack on my phone because the music is so incredible and Alan Menken is a genius in every way. The production was flawless and they did the original so much justice it was brilliant. Moana came out last year but I only saw it this year so that is up as another Disney and 2017 favourite for me. I saw American Assassin this year which was amazing and Dylan O’Brien was incredible in (no bias at all). I love a good action film and for me that ticked all the boxes. I am still yet to see Dunkirk and I am so disappointed in myself but I will let you know as soon as I get on that.

Finally I shall end with beauty products. As I am aware this is currently my 1882 word and I have never written a longer post. If you’re still with me, much love! I really upped my game in terms of make up skills (if I do say so myself), products and skin care this year, growing my collection so drastically I don’t know where to put it all. Owning a good collection of high-end palettes I cannot pick a favourite, I love them all as if they were children. So if you’re considering purchasing either the Modern Renaissance, Violet Voss Holy Grail, Morphe 35O2 or Morphe Jaclyn Hill Palettes I would highly recommend as these are probably my ride or dies. I recently purchased the Fenty Beauty foundation and have been complimented every time I have worn it so if you’re considering a purchase then definitely do it, £26 for a high end foundation is such a bargain. Morphe eyelashes and Real Techniques brushes are also worth every penny. For skin care I have been using the Mario Badescu Acne Facial Cleanser and it has helped my skin so much. It’s still nowhere near perfect but I can definitely see a difference.

And on that note I shall love and leave this blog post in 2017. With hopes and prayers that I am back to writing a lot sooner than 30/12/2018. It has been such an incredible year with so many incredible people and I spend every day so greateful for everything and everyone I have. There has been so much sadness throughout this year, but all that has come from sadness is strength and strength is something we all hold inside ourselves and should never forget.

Wishing you all an incredible 2018. Thank you so much for reading.

Here are my thoughts on a page. Until next time.

  My year in writing, the only way I know how... Oh, so this thing does still exist? Yes I'm as shocked as you are... Well, to give myself some credit, this isn't the longest break I've taken from writing.

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‪Sharing a short story I wrote for #MentalHealthAwarenessDay // The Mask.✨‬

‪niamhcaitlin.wordpress.com/2017/10/11/men...‬

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Let’s Talk About: Teens and Social Media Type teens and social media into your browser and you're struck with words like 'addicted' and 'negative' and 'low self esteem' and quite frankly, I'm sick of it.

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So last weekend I went to V Festival with my best friend Fern and her sister Lana (peep the shoutout gals, you’re famous). And it was such a good weekend I thought, let’s have a waffle about it on the old blog and let the world hear it. So here we are.

~ The Travelling ~

The festival was at Weston Park in Staffordshire from Friday the 18th to Sunday the 20th of August, coming home obviously on the Monday because camping is the life. We drove down at about 10AM on the Friday which was such a good idea as we seemed to miss all the traffic and the queues. After an absolute mare trying to lug all of our stuff from the car to the space we eventually found for our tent, we managed to get ourselves all set up and settled in by about 2PM. By ‘get ourselves set up’ I mean Lana mostly put up the entire tent with me and Fern hopelessly helping, or mainly watching. But we were chilled out in camp chairs, snacking and drinking the day away until the acts began on the Friday night.

~ The Music ~

The weekend began at the Radio One stage on Friday night. There were a few DJs lined up to kick the weekend off, alongside a lovely splashing of rain to really put the festival mood in full swing. We saw Disciples, Duke Dumont and Chase and Status, who were good from what I can remember, for the songs that I actually knew anyway. House DJs aren’t majorly our style of music, although we enjoyed what we could along with our bottles of rose until we called it a night. But its not like going to bed was a normal end of the evening kind of story. Our nights usually entailed a struggle to get warm, falling asleep to the not so distant and not so funny calls of ‘Alan!’ and a 3AM wake up call by either music or a Welsh scrap, but that was Saturday nights story.

The days started early, after a capri-sun and lucozade wake up and a queue for the portaloos it was usually about 9.30. On the topic of portaloos, V festival was probably the cleanest I’d seen. Obviously you’d pick a real toilet any day and they were smelly, but in comparison to ones at festivals before, V had definitely kept it clean. I give a big thanks for that. We then spent the morning dosing ourselves in glitter and enough alcohol and snacks to get us through the morning. On the Saturday I wore a cute sequin top and some denim shorts from Missguided matched with a black rain mac and some wellies. I shall insert pictures at the bottom of the post. We hit a massive queue to get into the festival and almost missed the whole of Scouting for Girls set, but managed to make it for the last few songs, including She’s So Lovely which gave me all the Georgia Nichols feels. Then we saw RAYE who was insane. For a small artist I wasn’t expecting much but she was stunning and an amazing performer with great vocals. We spent the rest of the day watching Jason Derulo, Clean Bandit, Stormzy and Dizzee Rascal, before the day’s headliner of Jay Z. Stormzy definitely had the best atmosphere of the day, he’s an artist who you can tell thoroughly appreciates their success and position and I really admire that about certain celebs. Jay Z was possibly a bit of a let down. As an artist where not many people may know a lot of the words to his songs, he cut probably the more popular ones short, so for the rest of the time you were just watching. Obviously it was amazing to say you’ve seen such a huge name live, but I wouldn’t massively rate his performance.

Sunday started pretty similarly, only filled with a lot more giggling as just hours before we had been woken up by a random fight, where, from what we could here, a man was being held on the ground by a woman right on the back of our tent. We relived the memory as we got ready as we didn’t want to miss Busted like we had with Scouting for Girls the day before. On the Sunday I wore a bralet from Missguided matched with a black and white checkered shirt and some black denim shorts, both from Primark. Of course we ended up getting in the slowest moving queue that morning and reaching the Busted stage just in time for their last song, Year 3000. At least we were making it in time for the classics. Glitter taking priority of course. The sun was out in the morning and Ella Eyre shone just the same. I love her and she absolutely smashed it. We then sat and ate some lunch while we watched James Arthur who I had forgotten how much I loved. The girls were shocked I knew so many of his songs, as I was practically the only one singing around us. Oops. The dilemma of the day was the fact that my favourite band The Vamps clashed with Madness, who we wanted to go and see as our parents have some crazy dances to their songs and wanted to see us doing the same. You know, family stuff. So we split our time half and half and managed to see a good set from both, making it to Madness just as the songs we actually knew began, making fools of ourselves around the 40 year old die hard fans. A contrasting setting to the one minutes before when I was the diehard fan in front of The Vamps. Shock. By this point it started to rain and as we watched Jonas Blue, George Ezra and Jess Glynne we got more and more soaked. By the time Craig David hit the stage I was wet to the skin, my waterproof mac had definitely lied to me and I was going numb. Nevertheless we enjoyed every performance, it was part of the festival experience after all. As the headliner Pink came on, we were immune to the weather and almost forgot about it, as her performance was incredible. She really knows how to put on a show, I’ve never heard live vocals like it, she was stunning. And to end with her flying over the crowd put an amazing finish to an amazing weekend.

~Pictures~

Overall it was such an amazing weekend and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It’s been a tough week since getting my A-Level results and not getting into Uni, but whatever will be will be, and it’s nice to have some happy treasured memories to break it all up. V Festival was clearly the nicer end of the festival scale, cleaner and felt safer, I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn’t think they’d like a festival, it would definitely change your mind. It was my first time at a camping festival and made for a great experience so get it on your 2018 bucket list!

Here are my thoughts on a page. Until next time.

My Weekend at V Festival! So last weekend I went to V Festival with my best friend Fern and her sister Lana (peep the shoutout gals, you're famous).

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Life Lately.

At the start of Summer I told myself I’d blog regularly, much like I did at the start of the year but let’s not focus on that. And shock, my laziness got in the way. However recently I’ve noticed how regularly my posts were this time last year, and how much I miss writing. This blog is an outlet, for anyone who’s bored enough to read it, but mostly for me. However the past few months I’ve been…

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Well last night was the Pretty Little Liars episode we’ve all been waiting for; the ending. Considering the last two seasons we’ve suffered, I was content with the reveal of A.D as it became obvious it was only relevant to this season. Putting that into consideration, Alex was the perfect ending to someone avenging the death of Charlotte. Every other aspect of the show and episode and ending however, had me pretty disappointed.

I had unrealistically high hopes, to no fault but my own, which I am now very much regretting, but I was HOPING PLL would take a risk and shock us all, but considering another twin theory was expected by many, elements of shock were minor. I think my high hopes came from the promo and my own theories (Caleb, Ezra or Ali were my DREAM A’s), but also other TV show finales, such as the recent ending to ‘The Vampire Diaries’, which was perfect in every aspect and had me crying for hours like a little baby. And I was hoping for some form of content closure after 7 years of my life wrapped up in a mystery show with so many questions, not more questions and sentences without full stops

Of course there is positives, without a doubt. I’ve loved the programme and I don’t want to slate it to the ground when there are good (although minor) aspects. The acting within the show is incredible along with the directing etc. Troian Bellisario was outstandingly amazing, as was Janel Parrish, not to mention every other character on their usual standards. Just for me, since season 4 the show has been lacking a concentrated story line and full element of mystery, especially these past two seasons which have just been completely lost on me.

I’m so happy also with how Alex was revealed and what a character she was. A stone cold sociopath craving no sympathy, just thriving in her actions. Her mirroring reveal was SO much better than when Cece just turned around in a hoodie. This along with Troian’s acting made the episode somewhat worth it.

And then Mona. Oh my favourite, what a character. She won the game and that makes me so happy. ‘A’ really came round full circle in such a subtle but instinctive manner that did Mona so well. Her fake police man boyfriend and using everyone around her for her own motive gave me the vibes of when I loved the show when she owned the game, back when things made more sense.

So now we’re onto the ranting and the ramblings, as I can safely say my two paragraphs of happiness will be deeply outweighed by my never-ending questions and somewhat faults with this ending. Let’s start with the actual ending. Like please, can they just leave it with Mona doing us all proud winning the twisted life she created and NOT making it seem like Alison disappearing and causing it all was normal and trying take two with the IRRELEVANT Addison who nobody would even bat an eyelid at. I think everyone’s eyes rolled when they were just waiting for the “I think I heard her scream.”

There’s also the fact that the way it began holds no relevance whatsoever. Like in reality, this was a show about an iconic bitch who went missing. Alison then turned into a middle-aged housewife and A.D quite frankly had nothing to do with her and no care for her. Like ???? HOW. Alison was such a minor role in these seasons and they could have done it so much better. Too much from the early seasons has been forgotten, lost and unanswered and that’s the most annoying part. From the five-year time jump, PLL has basically been a completely different show with new motives and a new family focus of the Hastings.

Then there’s Wren. Shady Wren. Who has been done so dirty. I did not spend my years analysing this man’s shady behaviour for him to become a fake Spencer’s lap dog and then DIE. So many parts of his story and time on the show doesn’t make sense, he could have had a better link to the plot, along with Melissa, if the story had taken a partially different route they could have been done better. Wren has been a predicted A since the Charles reveal, and for him to just die barely even helping Alex just wasn’t enough for me.

I was also lost on the need for a one year time jump. Like why did Alex take a whole year off just to come back and try to be Spencer again? It made no sense to me whatsoever. Much like the fact that JENNA and a HORSE solved who A.D was. How have these girls spent seven seasons hiding from anonymous murdering stalkers to reveal one in half an hour with the help of their biggest enemy and a horse? Like come on. It was so rushed in that the finale spent an hour focusing on the romances, which although they’re cute and everyone got their happy ending, have always been a side plot, or supposedly, to what the show really is, a MYSTERY, a concept which the writers lost and upsets me a lot. So an hour on romance and then 40 mins on A.D? Just shows the lack of relevance to the entire thing really doesn’t it.

 I feel like I have so many more questions and annoyances about this ending, and I really didn’t want to feel this way about the end so I need to stop talking about it. In reality, this is the direction it took, and it’s over. I don’t want to sound entirely negative as I love the show and in consideration of how boring and lost I’ve found the last season and a half, the last five episodes were majorly good in comparison. I just wanted more. I feel like to introduce a new and complex character like Alex and expect it all to be over was a stretch and was bound to leave people with more questions, which isn’t really fair. Although her story and flashbacks made sense so much more than Charlotte’s which did make me very happy, I don’t feel like it’s over. The final scene of the girls made me cry (right up until they ruined it with Addison) so I feel like that’s a happy note of closure.

Overall it’s safe to say I’m glad it’s over and I don’t have to focus apparently more time and energy than the writers into theorising who A is, even though I will miss it, and I am planning on rewatching the whole thing just to piece it back together. Hope you’ve enjoyed this rambled mess of thoughts on the finale, please comment your own as I’d love to read them.

Hopefully I’m back to regular posts as it’s summer so.

Thanks for reading. Until next time.

  PLL GAME OVER: Reaction. Well last night was the Pretty Little Liars episode we've all been waiting for; the ending. Considering the last two seasons we've suffered, I was content with the reveal of A.D as it became obvious it was only relevant to this season.

[whataprettylilmess]

gonna blog my finale thoughts cos i am fucking screaming i'm livid