red.

As it's 2017 soon (about an hour and a half away where I am) I of course have to repaint my nails and start the year with a new colour.

I asked my mum what colour she thought I should go into 2017 with and she said a positive colour. I added it should be powerful and passionate to represent giving 2017 our all to make it good after 2016. So we both immediately agreed on red, it just seemed like the perfect colour to enter the new year with.

So I've decided to make the colour of 2017 red. To me, it just perfectly sums up what I want to be in 2017. People are saying we should be hopeful for this year and whilst I agree that we need to be positive and have hope, we also need to take action and make 2017 amazing.

I hope 2017 is gentle and kind to you to make it just that bit easier on you. Now, let's do this. Let's give 2017 our all. Bring it the fuck on.

Goodbye

:)

Also note to self: don't write blog posts this late at night listening to EXO. You're too distracted and tired to make a proper coherent point.

summer holidays : a reflection

At the start of the summer holidays I wrote this post about how I really didn't want to waste this summer and listed some things I wanted to do throughout my time off. So I'm going to reflect on that post and write about what I did end up doing!

• Relax and watch some TV - I definitely did this one. I didn't actually watch quite as many shows as I was expecting but it was still a fair amount.

• Tidy my room. Like REALLY tidy it. - Oh hey look I actually did this one! I can't say my brother was too pleased about me forcing him to move his boxes out of my room but I'm certainly happy with the outcome. Having floor space is really nice 10/10 would recommend.

• Write more blog posts. - 31 blog posts in August. I think I can safely say I did this one and I am so happy that I did.

• Write more fanfiction. - I unfortunately did not do this one. I do miss the community though.

• Buy some more plants. - I can happily say that I am one miniature cactus and one succulent better off now! I did also get rid of an old plant that was completely dead when I cleared out my room. House plants are so great. Although I think I may have accidentally got a bit overenthusiastic with my current ones and waterlogged them. Fingers crossed that they pull through!

• Listen to more music. - I think I did this. Maybe not to the extent I was thinking when I first wrote the blog post but I did listen to more stuff from artists that I already knew I enjoyed; not quite so much listening to new artists but I did kinda do this one.

• Learn stuff! - Whilst I never got around to watching those Crash Course series I did learn how to knit! I've really been enjoying knitting although I do need to do it again as I haven't for a little while. Whoops! I have also been researching more stuff about cruelty free brands and the supplements I need being the fussy vegetarian I am.

• Volunteer!!! - That's another one I can check off! I volunteered twice a week at a charity shop throughout July and August and whilst it wasn't always the most interesting of things and there was someone there I wasn't a massive fan of, I'm still glad I got that experience and also helped charity at the same time. I'd definitely recommend doing some volunteering if you can! After volunteering in one, I have realised that charity shops really do need all the help they can get. I want to write a whole blog post about this so this is all I'll say for now.

• Play some more Animal Crossing New Leaf - I never got around to playing ACNL exactly but I did finally start Pokemon Alpha Sapphire so I guess that's something?

So I think I can conclude that I did get off my lazy ass and did some of the things I wanted to! And I'm glad I did. It's nice to reflect on that summer and think of the things I did, the times I went out with my family and friends, my volunteering and of course all the amazing TV shows I watched and not just sadly think about the fact that I did nothing.

As well as that, I actually got my life organised and did all my school work that I was supposed to, started making lists and just basically got my life in order which, trust me when I say, this has made school 3000x easier and it's only been a week. I want to buy some folders and things too tomorrow which will also hopefully help some more but honestly it's so amazing to feel organised and productive and it wasn't easy for me to start so I'm sure you can do it too!

That was my summer holiday! Feel free to tell me all about yours if you like! I have come to the conclusion that if I act like I'm just talking to myself in these posts then nobody will ever interact with me so please do feel free to tell me about it, even if you think it's the most boring thing ever.

Goodbye

:)

august favourites!

HAPPY SEPTEMBER EVERYONE!!!

I am SO excited for autumn! And very happy that summer is ending and it's finally cooling down a bit. I'm already wearing thick tights, dresses and cardigans and you can't stop me! I normally go by astronomical seasons meaning autumn begins for me on September 22nd this year but meteorological seasons say autumn has already begun so might as well make the most of it.

September has come very quickly this year and I'm kind of scared that it's coming up rapidly towards the end of 2016 but I'm just going to try and enjoy the build up to October when it really gets autumn-y.

I haven't really done a proper monthly favourites post in ages and I want to try and make them an actual monthly thing as they're some of my favourite youtube videos and they're lots of fun to write as I enjoy rambling about things I like.

ALSO I went over 900 pageviews??? That is crazy I seriously still don't really believe people read my posts.

TV

Skins - My brother convinced me to watch this with him because he loves it and now I love it. It's essentially a drama about kids during their 2 years doing A-Levels so every 2 seasons new characters are introduced. It's a really interesting layout but we're only on season 2 so I don't really know if I like it or not! It's also quite a strange show at points and most episodes I find myself thinking "what on earth" at least once.
My favourite characters are (of course) Sid and Cassie and I also adore Chris, Maxxie and Posh Kenneth is just brilliant. And I love Peter Capaldi, Danny Dyer and Shane Richie so I loved them all in it! I thought what they did with Danny Dyer was hilarious as he's normally a "big, hard man" so having him in the role he was in was too funny to me.

Bojack Horseman - I am a broken girl after watching this show. I'd already seen the last episode of season 3 when my brother had it on but it hit me just as hard this time. I was just covered in goosebumps.
It's a strange show and I'm not sure how to describe the premise but it's basically an anthropomorphic horse actor who was on a big show in the 90s is now struggling to get back on his feet. I'm still baffled by how incredible it was and its ability to go from hilarious to leaving me on the verge of tears in just a few minutes. For example, season 2 episode 8 is pure hilarity but season 2 episode 10 just hits you.
I love all the characters so much, they're each unique, hilarious and brilliant in their own ways.
It deals with some really difficult and hard topics whilst still leaving you laughing your head off and I couldn't recommend it highly enough.
I'm already watching it again with my mum this time as she wanted to watch it and I still love it just as much!

Films

Zootopia/Zootropolis - I don't watch films a whole lot but I still can't get over how amazing this film was. It's about a rabbit called Judy Hopps who becomes the first rabbit police officer and has to prove herself but holy crap it's so good! My mum doesn't normally like animated films but even she adored it.
I'm not even sure what to say about it apart from: go and watch it please! I don't want to set your expectations too high but I did love it and would 100% recommend it, it's quickly become one of my favourite Disney films.
I've wanted a tsum tsum for so long and I finally got one and it was Bellwether and I love it SO MUCH.
This is kind of a spoiler so if you haven't seen it maybe don't read this but I LOVED the scene with the sloths in the DMV it was so hilarious and I was laughing my head off.

Finding Dory - I wrote a whole blog post on this so I won't go into it too much but I thought they did a great job with this sequel and to sum it up it felt nostalgic of the first film but it still felt new and like its own film and I really did love it.

Paranorman - this was on E4 or something the other day and since I've been meaning to watch it for a while I decided to and I was not disappointed. There were a few times where I got a bit distracted but overall I just enjoyed it a lot. If you're like me and love films like Coraline I don't really doubt that you'll love this film too. It's funny and clever and entertaining and definitely got me into a Halloween mood too early and I just loved it.

Music

Hunky Dory by David Bowie - I don't really know how to talk about music but this one's definitely a good album. I'm a big fan of David Bowie's slightly strange sound so I loved this. And I'd have to say my favourite songs are probably of course Life on Mars?, Kooks and Oh! You Pretty Things.

Folie a Deux by Fall Out Boy - Have you seen that Tumblr post that says "true love is the album you played on repeat for a month"? Well that was Folie a Deux. I don't think I've ever played an album so much in a short space of time ever in my entire life and even especially asked for this particular CD for my birthday (as I normally just write a massive list and my mum will just buy some things from it). I don't think I could choose a definitive favourite song but currently I'm loving She's My Winona, Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet and 20 Dollar Nose Bleed (thanks for the really long song names, Fall Out Boy).

YouTubers

Mimei Land - I love Mimei and her other channel too but I've just especially just been loving her more vloggy videos recently. They're so pretty and interesting and beautifully edited and I couldn't recommend them highly enough. They're also really nice and relaxing to watch and put me in such a good mood.

ITheMasterOfDooMI - If you've seen Akidearest's Q&A videos then you may recognise Doom's amazing voice. He basically just makes hilarious short lil' gaming videos and has a very nice voice so if you like funny gaming videos commentated by a person with a nice voice then subscribe to Doom! (Or Cryaotic y'know I'm not your mother although I do love Cry a lot too)

simply_kenna - I'm pretty sure she popped up in my recommended and the pretty thumbnail drew me in. Her videos are so beautiful and aesthetic-y and if you love autumn then I have little doubt you won't enjoy her channel. She's so relaxing to watch and I would be lying if I said I haven't been binge watching her videos throughout August.

Other

Rookie - Rookie is an online magazine that writes about a whole load of stuff including loads of things about growing up with advice and things like that. I always forget about the existence of Rookie but every few months will come back to it and binge read it like there's no tomorrow. It just really helps with not feeling alone and is very nice to read.

Button - This is a strange one but for my birthday I got this Attack on Titan themed alpaca on amazon and it is so adorable. I named it "Button" and I love him so much I take him everywhere with me and he's just SO CUTE! I got a blue one but they don't seem to have the blue ones anymore? But the other colours look really nice too so it's cool. But you have no idea how tempted I am to buy them all in all the different colours they have because they're just my favourite things.

Barry M Showgirl Extra Lengthening Mascara - I've been wanting a new mascara for a while and this one is both cruelty free and affordable so of course I bought it! It just makes my lashes look really nice and I'm normally awful with mascara but I've been finding the wand on this one so easy to use. I just think it's amazing and for £4.99 I am very happy with this purchase.


And that's everything! Thank you for reading this blog post and I'll see you in the next one.

Goodbye :)

a BEDA reflection

As you probably know, throughout August I posted a blog post every single day (aside from my birthday but I posted 2 the day after to make up for that). It was a goal I set myself and I'm so happy that I managed to see it through!

There were days when I really just didn't want to write a blog post and those ones aren't very good but I still wrote something 31 times in August and I'm so proud of myself for that.

I'd been feeling uninspired for writing blog posts beforehand and just didn't really want to but on August 31st I was thinking to myself how much I was gonna miss writing every day! I know I won't be able to keep it up when school starts again in a few days so I'll quit when I'm ahead.

The aim of BEDA was to get me inspired to write more blog posts and bring my love for it back and it's definitely done that. I now find myself thinking "oooh that would make a great blog post!" at least once a day and I have some ideas for upcoming posts! I don't really have enough time to write all the posts I want to now! When I was away visiting my aunt I had to stop myself from writing blog posts as I was itching too but wanted to spend at least a few days away from it.

So yeah, I got a lot out of BEDA and I'm very happy I did it. I can look back on August and not just think "oh I did nothing" because I did something I enjoy every day (also I did some volunteering in a charity shop which I also want to write about). I'm also now close to 900 blog views which is crazy-I still hardly believe people actually read my posts? Are you real? Are people actually reading this? I also had hardly any blog posts up but now I'm proud that I have almost 50. Because I had so little before I felt stressed writing them and that they all had to be perfect and original and interesting but I'm more relaxed now.

I'm not as stressed about writing amazing blog posts with a solid idea and feel like I can post a lot more than previously where I wanted all my blog posts to be like my early ones. The thing is that's just not sustainable for me and there are so many more things I want to and can write about post-BEDA. As well as that I now how documentation of some amazing days I had in August and wrote some blog posts that I'd wanted to write for a while too!

Whilst I look at individual blog posts and can pick them apart or know that if it weren't BEDA I wouldn't have posted them, that doesn't really matter and I'm pleased with what I did.

Overall, I'm so happy I did BEDA and I would say to you to try and challenge yourself to do something every single day for a month. Maybe when you have holiday time or whatever but just setting yourself that goal could make you so much more motivated to do that thing and you'll be happier because you're doing something that you love!

Oh, and happy September everyone! I'm so hyped for it to be autumn - I've already got out the thick tights and dresses!

Goodbye

:)

my pets are competing

If you read my post on my cats then you'll know Tango has kidney problems and has had teeth problems and has basically cost us lots at the vets this year. As well as that, if you read my post on my rabbit then you'll know Maisie recently fell ill and also cost lots of money (I'm very happy to say she is much better now though). Well my other cat Rory has been perfect so far aside from his arthritis acting up a little bit once or twice and it seems he was upset he hadn't got any attention since he is now sleeping next to me with an infected cut and one of those cones on his head.

Yesterday whilst me, my mum and brother were out bowling for my birthday, my dad (who had to go to work) called us to say he was limping again. We thought it might be his arthritis and he would be better by the next day.

When we got home we found he was limping worse that he ever had before and seemed to be in a lot of pain. But since he can be a little bitch it was very hard to look at him to check what's up. We eventually found what looked like a cut on his biggest paw pad so today he went to the vets and they said that it looked infected.

There was a choice of either putting the cone collar thing on him to stop him licking it (because his rough tongue was making it worse) or bandaging it up but we expecting he'd get the bandage off and it's good to let the cut breathe. So he now has a cone around his head and he is not a happy bunny (or cat I suppose) and keeps trying to get it off (it's quite heartbreaking to watch but it's best for him). It looked like he was getting stressed so I put him on my bed to try and calm him and he seems much happier now which is very good. He even dozed off for a while!

So he has to go back to the vets on Monday and might have to have a little stitch in his paw if it doesn't heal itself. We also have to try and get medicine down him which is always fun (especially as he is a bugger and it look me, my mum and brother 10 minutes to get him in the pet carrier earlier). He has an injured paw and has been limping loads but when it came to then he had no problem running off!

So now all of the family pets have cost plenty of money this year at the vets! I'm sure Tango is still winning (seriously teeth surgery costs so fucking much. I guess it depends how many they have out but it was triple digits), she is a sickly cat (British blues are apparently known for that which we probably should have known before we got her but oh well she's worth it) but the other pets seem to be pretty determined to have loads spent on them too so who knows (please don't make us spend any more pets).

Me, my mum and brother were actually meant to be going to visit my aunt from today but we've had to postpone that until tomorrow! My dad's gonna have fun trying to get the medicine down Rory by himself until we get back(!)

Goodbye

:)

me at 16

(This was meant to go up yesterday on my actual birthday so I know I've kind of failed BEDA but I let myself off because it was my birthday and I'll try and put 2 posts up today!)

Fairly recently Savannah Brown did this video which was a small collection of things she is/enjoys today so I thought since I turned 16 yesterday I'd do something like that too so I can look back on it and see how much I change.

Favourite colour: Yellow

Pokemon GO team (important right now): Instinct

Pokemon GO level: 11

Favourite TV show: Community

Other TV shows I'm enjoying as of late: Gravity Falls, RuPaul's Drag Race, Bojack Horseman, Veep, Skins and the ones in this post

Anime/manga I'm enjoying: Attack on Titan, No Game No Life, Food Wars season 2 and the ones in this post also

Game I'm currently playing: (finally) Pokemon Alpha Sapphire

Current make-up I use: Barry M foundation*, concealer* and mascara*, Avon powder and Superdrug lipbalm* or Natural Collections bright red lipstick in shade "crimson" (trying to go cruelty free, the cruelty free products here are marked with *)

Current favourite clothing items: Any oversized top, jeans, a hoodie and high tops to sum it up but I especially love my David Bowie and Community Time tops.

Last film I watched: Zootopia (which I LOVED)

Bands/Artists I'm enjoying: Fall Out Boy, David Bowie, Panic! at the Disco, Muse, Paramore, EXO, BTS, HEIZE, Childish Gambino, Hayley Kiyoko, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Songs I'm enjoying: I tried to compile it into a Spotify playlist but there are so many more songs

Hobbies: I'm really lame so knitting, watching shows, listening to music and reading manga is all that comes to mind

Favourite food: This is so hard but I might have to say just plain cheese pizza and garlic bread. Also really loving pringles.

Relationship status (oooooooh): Single All I need is my pets

Favourite animals: Dragons, cats, rabbits, dinosaurs, pugs and so many more I love animals

Food eating status (I can't think of how to phrase this): Vegetarian

Favourite films: Zootopia, Mean Girls, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Howl's Moving Castle, The Incredibles, Bridge to Terabithia, Wreck-It-Ralph, Ratatouille, Whiplash, Big Hero 6, 21/22 Jump Street

Piercings/tattoos: No tattoos, only earlobe piercings but I really want a cartilage piercing

I might add more to this if I think of any but only soon after this as I want it to capture who I am right now.

Goodbye

:)

getting "old"

Tomorrow is my 16th birthday and since I've never been too great with growing up (I cried at midnight on  my 15th birthday) I'm kind of not excited.

But at the same time I am. Honestly I kind of love getting presents (and giving them but it's just nice to get things you've really wanted sometimes - I'm obviously extremely grateful for all of this) and we're going bowling and I adore bowling.

So yeah I am pretty excited but at the same time I'm just dreading growing up. The thought of having to go out and work almost every single day of my life in a job I possibly hate terrifies me and I don't know how so many adults do it every day. I also feel like I'm suddenly more responsible even though I'll still only be 16 which isn't very old (I can apparently pilot a para-glider though!). Also I'm not really looking forward to going back to school. I've been doing the summer work I got set for A-Levels and it's already stressing me out so I'm not sure how I'll deal with it for 2 years.

I just want to be young. I'd like to have the brain I have now as I like being able to learn and understand more things than I did when I was younger but I just want to be 5 and be able to run around with a bubble wand without people secretly judging me and I don't want to have to be scared about my future and what the fuck I'm gonna do.

I know people older than me are probably thinking "you have nothing to worry about" but that's not going to stop me worrying. I know I'll likely look back on this and think that I was just being silly but that doesn't make it any less scary. Because I am really scared.

So yeah, tomorrow I'm gonna smile and eat pancakes and pizza and enjoy bowling with my family and try and forget the fact that I'm just edging closer to working every day of my life until I inevitably die.

Goodbye

:)

my (cruelty free, affordable) basic make-up

This is sort of a follow up post to going cruelty free. Basically I'm just going to take you through my 5 basic make-up "essentials" I suppose you could say and they are all affordable (in my opinion for make-up they are, although it was still kind of hard for me to buy some of them as I don't really like spending lots of money, I'm quite stingy!) and cruelty free (my two favourite things)! Please note that I am no make-up expert and am actually still pretty new to the whole thing! I haven't had a lot of experience so can't really compare any of these products to anything else. Also I'm not amazing at describing things but I've tried my hardest!

First we'll start with the base. I use the Barry M Flawless Matte Finish foundation in I think shade 1. It's £5.99 which is cheaper than a hell of a lot of foundations on the market! It's what I'd call light coverage (doesn't cover my freckles or anything) and just evens out my skin tone and gives me a little bit of coverage. I don't tend to get bad spots so I can't really judge anything there but I'd say it also helps blend the little spots I mostly into my normal skin tone. I like that I definitely don't feel like I'm wearing any foundation and doesn't change my skin too much because I'd say I'm overall pretty confident in that department.

Next is concealer and I use the Barry M Flawless Light Reflecting concealer in I think also shade 1. This one is £4.49. My first concealer was the Collection one everyone still raves about (which isn't cruelty free!) but I felt that just always looked cakey and unnatural on me whilst this one just brightens areas like under my eyes and my nose and stuff without looking thick or cakey. If you can tell I really just like light coverage just to even things out a little! 

Next is mascara! This is a very new addition to my collection (as in I literally bought it today!) and I already love it. It's the Barry M Showgirl Extra Lengthening Mascara and is £4.99. Previously I had some random volumising mascara from another company that tests and I just didn't like the way it made made my eyelashes look clumpy and spidery as I just want a more natural, fluttery look I guess you could say. So I came home and put this on and I just really like the fact that it just lengthens and flutters my eyelashes in a natural way. I'm normally really bad at mascara but I definitely found the wand on this one easier to use.

Next up the essential of all essentials: lip balm. I just use this Superdrug's own one (all of Superdrug's own products are cruelty free!) and it works well for 99p! I used to use a Nivea one I think which isn't cruelty free and I swear this one is exactly the same and isn't tested on animals so you can't really go wrong!

And last but not least, I don't actually have any cruelty free coloured lip products at this moment in time aside from the Zoella tinted lip balms. I think these may have been Christmas exclusives though so this probably isn't very useful but I do really like them! I'm not sure how much they were as they were a Christmas present but this Sweet Mint one just gives my lips a really nice pink colour that's very natural on me. I'm pretty sure these are cruelty free but I can't find anything about them online. It says they are on the back and as they're made under Superdrug whose products are cruelty free I can only assume these are too!

Okay so those are my 5 basic, cruelty free make-up products! I promise this wasn't sponsored by Barry M (as much as I'd loved it to have been) they just make great and affordable products that haven't been shoved in bunny's eyes! I'd definitely recommend checking them out if you haven't already. Also I currently only have an animal tested powder that I'm working my way through before I can buy another one so that's why powder wasn't included on this list.

Goodbye

:)

favourite summer pictures

I wanted the title of this post to be "my favourite pictures i've taken over the summer holidays" but that felt very long winded. I mainly wanted that title because some of these pictures look quite Autumn-y. We're nearly at Autumn though and I am hyped. Anyways these are just some pictures that I've taken over the summer holidays that I really like and am proud of! I actually took a lot of them whilst out hunting Pokemon so I'm definitely not one of those people that thinks Pokemon Go is the biggest evil this world has ever seen!

(Also I didn't write this post to promo my instagram but since loads of these pictures are on instagram I thought it to be an appropriate time. Also some are on my aesthetic tumblr too ;))

These three are from when I went out Pokemon hunting by myself (which was quite daunting). I also apparently really like taking pictures of my feet in different settings. I'm not sure why I just think they look cute and are a nice way to say "hey I'm in a cool place!"

These next 5 are from a lovely day out with my family. The strange looking bug on a bike to the right was actually a Pokemon gym that I managed to take (but lost not too long after)! I just really like the colours in all of these and especially like the one of my feet as it looks very Autumnal which makes me happy (I promise I have other shoes I just happened to be wearing those ones again).

These two are from my picnic in the park with my friends and I love the one on the right. They also just remind me of that really nice day!

These last ones are miscellaneous. The one on the left is once again from a Pokemon hunting trip with my mum and I just really liked the way the water was glistening.






And this last one was a really really pretty sunset and I can't get over how much I love the colours in this sunset. I wish they would look like this every day.

There were a few more but it's quite a pain to get all these pictures in the places I want them so I decided to stop here (although they are on my instagram ;) - I really need to stop the promo sorry). But yeah, I really like taking pictures of just things I think look pretty. It's just something that makes me happy and I find it nice to be able to look back on pictures from nice days. People say to not live your life through a camera and as much as I agree, I still love capturing lovely pictures and moments. Just be sure to actually look at what's right in front of you sometimes!

Goodbye

:)

i will not fail BEDA

So I was looking through my YouTube subscription box and some people's VEDA videos popped up. As it is currently gone 11pm I immediately thought "OH SHIT BEDA what do I do" and in all honesty I still have no idea what to do. I have no idea where this post is going.

Today me and my family went out and I of course used this opportunity to stare at a screen and catch Pokemon and I caught a Lapras which is pretty cool! It literally took about 30 Pokeballs but it was worth it. Also got a white chocolate Magnum and damn it was nice.

I also took over a gym but by the time we walked back to the car it had been taken over by someone else. Seriously.

I also brought my bubble wand with me and of course played with it like the 5 year old I truly am.

I'm really tired and don't know what else to write so I'm sorry but there was no way I was failing this.

Goodbye

:)

my GCSE results 2016!!!

I did not get a wink of sleep last night and am currently running on coffee and honestly I'm not quite sure what else so if any of this doesn't make sense that's why. At first I actually tried to get to sleep, then I tried distracting myself and by 4am I just accepted the challenge to stay up all night really.

I got my GCSE results today and I am a happy bunny. Overall if you don't care about my rambles and the actual lessons I got: 2 A*'s, 5 A's, 2 B's and a C (and a free ice-cream - thanks school for getting an ice-cream van every year).

(Also I don't really mind making this public because 1. I'm excited and proud 2. If potential employers are reading this it's going to be the exact same on my CV so I don't have anything to hide and 3. If I ever lose the piece of paper I have this too-I don't think that'll happen but you can never be too safe)

And if you care in more detail here are my results (lowest to highest):

Art and Design - C
Mathematics - B
Computing - B
Core Science (took in year 10) - A
Additional Science - A
Business Studies - A
Media Studies - A
English Language - A
Religious Studies - A*
English Literature - A*

Honestly I never would have guessed I would get an A* in English Literature. Even my teacher came up to me and said it's difficult to get an A* in Lit so I'm quite excited about that! And I was quite honestly expecting a C in Maths at best so when I saw that B I was definitely ecstatic.

And for A-Levels next year I'm (hopefully) taking:
English Language (which was always the one I was better at too until this exam apparently!)
Media Studies
Business Studies
Sociology
(spare option Government and Politics)
And the 3 of those which I took at GCSE I got A's in meaning I'm going into 3 with A's which I'm obviously very excited and happy about.

So yes, two years of stress and work went towards a piece of paper. But I'm glad I can say that I'm proud of what's on it!

I really hope you got the results you wanted today! If not remember that you are worth more than that piece of paper and as long as you tried your hardest what more can you really do? There are plenty of paths for you to take out there.
And if you did get the results you were hoping for, don't be afraid to be proud of yourself, even if other people are saying how you could have "done better" or whatever. You worked for this and you deserve it.

Goodbye

:)

pre-GCSE result nerves

If you've been on twitter at all today you'll probably know that across the country, we're getting our GCSE results tomorrow. And if you look through the hashtag you'll see just how nervous everyone is.

Honestly, I've been kind of excited up until just now when I've suddenly become very nervous and scared for the results. Especially after hearing that the maths grade boundaries are high because I'm not amazing at maths.

One thing I do want to talk about is that not everyone is going to be expecting the same grades as you. I see tweets like "if anyone complains about getting an A instead of an A* tomorrow I will scream" but that's by your standards. Honestly there are some lessons that I will be quite disappointed if I don't get an A* because it's what I've been getting regularly throughout my two years of doing them at GCSE level and want to take them at A-Level (not that you need A*'s to do them at A-Level I'd just like those grades for myself). And I know some people will be overjoyed tomorrow if they get A's (trust me I will too) and I'm not trying to take anything away from you by wanting to have got a higher grade because I know that everyone works differently and at different levels naturally, I just have a few quite high expectations of myself.

I know friends who are expecting higher grades than I am and I also know they're not trying to take anything away from me by wanting these higher grades. They're just better at maths and science than I am. They'll likely be upset with B's in maths whilst I'll probably cry with joy if I get a B in maths. And that's not them looking down on me for my grades it's just that we work at different levels.

It kind of pisses me off honestly because of course someone is going to get a higher grade than you at something and it's not a reflection of you, it's a reflection of them. And if anyone looks down at you for your grades then fuck them honestly. Hold yourself to your own standards and if you're proud of yourself then fuck what anyone else thinks.

I'm not sure if this has made much sense but please let people be happy/sad for their results no matter how you would feel if you got those grades because at the end of the day they are their grades and their expectations and a B to you probably doesn't mean the same as a B to the person next to you.

But at the same time please do remember that there are other paths you can take no matter what you see when you open that envelope tomorrow. You can do college courses and apprenticeships and even some A-Levels no matter what you get. There is something for you, I promise. It's not just going to A-Levels then off to University for everyone, as much as school does seem to make you think that it's the only path. As long as you did as well as you could at that moment in time with the resources you had then, in my eyes, that is the most important thing.

And yeah, I'll be disappointed with a B in Media Studies/Business Studies tomorrow but that doesn't take away the fact that I worked my butt off and I know I did fucking everything I could. I tried and what else can I do?

So tonight, I know it's easier said than done but please try to distract yourself. Watch your favourite movie/show. Listen to some music. Take a bath. Eat your favourite food. Read. Draw. Scroll through Tumblr. Do whatever. Just relax yourself and I'd definitely try to avoid the hashtag on twitter because seeing other people be nervous will only make you more nervous.

And if your school is like mine and gets an ice-cream van each results day where you can get free ice-cream then call it "free ice-cream day" and not "results day" because I can assure you that's what I've been doing.

Also don't forget that it is okay to be happy and proud of your results. Just because the people around you may be upset with what they got, that shouldn't take away from your happiness. Don't be afraid to be a little selfish tomorrow.

I wish you the best of luck and remember that you are a human being with so much potential and value beyond the piece of paper you'll receive tomorrow.

Goodbye

:)

going cruelty free (is hard)

I've been trying to go cruelty free for a while now and it's not been easy. But it's something I really want to do so I'm still going at it.

The reason I personally want to go cruelty free is because I just don't like the way they treat animals. I'm vegetarian and the reason for that is because I don't want animals to die for my benefit and they can die while being tested on so in my eyes the two things just go hand in hand.

As a little disclaimer: as much as I would encourage vegetarianism/veganism/going cruelty free/eating veggie one day a week etc. I do not care what you choose to do. If you want to eat meat that is 100% fine by me. It's your life and if you let me make my own decisions about my life then I'm completely happy to let you get on with yours however you choose.

I know quite a lot about animal testing and alternatives (in vitro and in silico methods are a good thing to look up if you don't believe there are any alternatives) as I did my GCSE English Language speaking and listening exam on animal testing. I've been trying to be cruelty free since even before then and I'm still not quite there. It's quite frustrating actually.

The things I use most regularly on my face are all cruelty free. I use Barry M foundation and concealer and Superdrug's own skincare stuff because all of these products are affordable and 100% cruelty free. Also my shampoo and conditioner, nail polish remover and heat protect spray are all Superdrug's own (I would definitely recommend checking out their own stuff as it's cheap and it works). However, my mum likes to put little make-up products like nail polishes, eye shadows etc. in my Christmas sack each year from Avon - a brand that does indeed test on animals. And because I don't actually use these things incredibly often, it's gonna take a while to get through them (although I am of course grateful for the fact that I get anything and am not just going to waste the products).

Also, a lot of cruelty free products are out of my price range. I can't afford to regularly shop at Lush, it's more like a once a year thing maximum for me. And I can't afford too much make-up. Even Barry M nail polishes are something I'd have to splash out on. I don't even own any to my name at this point in time because 1. I have so many nail polishes and 2. I just can't really afford them as a regular thing.

I try to focus on the fact that at least I'm trying but I still slip up. I'll still be shopping with my friends and I'll buy a lipstick from a brand that's not cruelty free because it's cheap and in front of me.

So for right now I'm going to focus on one thing at a time because I think it's overwhelming me to think about using everything up, researching affordable brands that I can access and then actually buying them and not getting distracted by cheaper brands. So first things first I'm going to try to use everything up (which could take a while, especially the nail polishes) and not just mindlessly repurchase the same products.

I'm going to use this list to help me find brands which I can buy in my local Boots and Superdrug and not just mindlessly buy the cheaper, easier to access make-up that all my friends are buying (not that you can't find affordable cruelty free products, it just takes a little more work).

I'm not going to choose the easy option any more. I want to do this. I am going to commit. I'm going to educate myself and I am going to really fucking try.

Goodbye

:)

whoops (almost)

It's 11pm, I saved Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and went "oh shit blog post". I'm not sure what happened today I just completely forgot about BEDA and haven't given it a single thought so now I'm left completely stuck on what to write and also very tired (once again, I really don't know why I've been getting a good 8-9 hours sleep every night). So I almost missed one day but I caught it at just the right time!

Since I'm not sure what to talk about and almost forgot about today, I'll just talk about random things.

On the topic of memory, I fairly often forget things. Friends will say "oh do you remember this thing" or "haha do you remember when -blank- said -blank-" and everyone seems to remember apart from me? Maybe I don't pay enough attention or I just don't have an amazing memory. Maybe it's both. I kind of wish my memory was better though since I can remember random facts but not really specific events or things happening or things for school. But oh well I work with what I've got.

I really love nail polish. I own so many and bought another one today. I'm planning on doing a post on my favourite nail polishes but who knows when that'll come honestly.

Maisie (my rabbit) went for her check-up after she got ill (as you can read in previous blog posts that I can't be bothered to link sorry) and she's just seem to have got completely better! Which is lovely as we were 100% prepared for the worst. I'm so happy my little bunny is back to her greedy, bitchy, adorable self.

That's all the random things I can think of today-sorry posts have been a tad lacklustre recently. I need to try to write a better one soon.

Goodbye

:)

ugh

I do not want to write a blog post today but since I said I would every day in August here's this basically just to say I'm tired and don't really want to do anything.

Also "ugh" is just a really great term like it sounds weird when I say it in real life in my voice but here on the internet it is just a perfect expression of how I'm feeling right now.

While we're on the topic, "yikes" is also great and would definitely sign a petition for it to be used more if such a thing did exist. Which it doesn't because that's dumb.

Okay that's all I can force myself to write today.

Goodbye

:)

cactus spines + rabbit updates

Yesterday I wrote about my rabbit and how she got ill yesterday but this morning we got a call from the vets saying she'd eaten, was drinking and going to the toilet, seemed brighter and could probably be picked up at the end of the day! Since we were prepared for the worst, this was very welcome news and I think it goes without saying that I was overjoyed (and still am).

Later in the afternoon we went and got her. I kept her in my room for a little while but she went back to her normal hutch and dug into her food which was a great sight. I'm not sure she's still quite herself but she has had medicine and is still on it so we're not expecting her to be 100% yet. She has another appointment on Monday but if she goes rapidly downhill we'll have to ring the emergency vet thing tomorrow as they're closed on Sundays.

So yeah, today has been very happy compared to all the bad news we got yesterday! Although it's cost money that we don't really have (it's been one of those months where it's my birthday and everything breaks and you just end up kinda broke but we'll pull through) it's worth it to have my little Maisie back safely at home.

Now as for cactus spines, I managed to brush my hand against my mini cactus thing (here's a picture of it from my instagram if you want to see) and got three little spines in my thumb. I got one out with tweezers no problem but the other two have kind of lodged themselves under a bit of skin so I can't get them out. I'm just gonna have to leave them and hope they work their own ways out soon. They've really been interrupting my Pokemon playing! (I finally got around to playing Alpha Sapphire and I LOVE it!) But if you know how to get them from under a layer of skin then I'll happily accept all advice (please nothing involving needles the thought makes me feel funny)!

I think that's all I had to write about today.

Goodbye

:)

my rabbit

I've wanted to write this post since the one on my cats and today is the day. It's not the day for nice, happy reasons unfortunately (which I'll go into) but it's the day.

First of all, this is my rabbit, Maisie:

She's a grey and white mini lop (but she's not very mini) and she's around 5 years and a quarter. We rehomed her in 2011 when she was 6 months old from a family who were moving and couldn't take her with them.


She is the cutest little creature on the planet. But she's also very lazy. Like, lazy to the point where she doesn't even clean herself and we have to clean her bum for her (is that tmi? Oh well). She also eats a lot. She actually got a little overweight at one point (whoops-make sure you know what you're feeding your pets!) and we were told by the vets to change her food and diet and then she's been a perfectly healthy weight ever since.

She's been ill a few times. Once she had walking dandruff (which was not a fun experience for anyone) and I can't remember what she was ill with in this picture but I remember a few years ago we had her inside overnight (she's an outdoor rabbit as we don't have the space or anything inside but have space in the garden where she lives in her hutch with a run attachment that my dad built quite some time ago) and my cat, Tango, got up onto the settee with her and even licked her like she was her own kitten to make her better! It was the cutest thing ever. Her eyes also look a little bit weird in this picture as they were originally bright red in it so I did a red eye corrector thing and this was the outcome:

Apart from that she's been fine! She loves cuddles and her favourite treats are these banana bit things which are like dried banana coated in caramel (I think) that we give her as a special treat sometimes. She has even climbed onto my lap and stuck her head in the bag to try and eat them straight from there, that's how much she loves them. She also loves dandelion leaves which we get a lot of in the summer so she's been enjoying have a few of them recently.

And I love her to pieces. I love having rabbits, they're definitely one of my favourite animals and I've had one since my childhood (Sam was my first rabbit).

She's been 100% fine, normal and happy recently, eating and drinking just as usual. That is, until this morning. Now the post is probably gonna get quite sad here and I'm probably gonna cry writing this (I'm welling up already). But don't fear, however, as she's not dead quite yet! I woke up this morning to my mum telling me that Maisie wasn't eating or drinking. And if you know anything about rabbits you will know that if they don't eat/drink then after 24 hours their guts will shut down and they will die.

Maisie's had this happen before. She won't eat or drink but sometimes we can get her back to normal ourselves and sometimes she's fine after a trip to the vets where she either stays and gets put on a drip to give her liquids or we take her home with some medicine. She always turns out fine by the end of the day.

We kept her at home for the morning. We got a big, shallow box, lined it with newspaper and hay and put some food and water in there then put it in my room so I could keep an eye on her. We tried to get her to eat (even her favourite treats) and syringed some water into her mouth (with a special clean bunny syringe we had from giving her medicine previously). But when she still wasn't eating at lunch we rang the vets.

We took her in and the lovely vet checked her over and everything and told us she was going to have to stay in and have some liquids and make sure she starts eating and drinking again. She'd had this before so we were expecting a call meaning we could come and get her before they close later on in the evening. But the call we actually did get was quite different news.

Maisie has to stay in overnight now. And apparently there's a lump in her stomach which could just be food that got stuck but could also be...well you can put the pieces together. Apparently her back teeth aren't looking too hot either. So there have been some tears since that news came. I don't think I really need to say that I'm sad but I am very upset.

But even though Maisie may not live much longer and I'm close to crying again, I'm content with the fact that she's had 5 happy years of life and we've given her the best, happiest and most love filled life we could. And to quote The Lion King, "IT'S THE CIIIIIIIIIIRCLE OF LIIIIIIIFE".

So yeah. This is Maisie. My beautiful, lovely, greedy, lazy, happy, adorable bunny who I wouldn't trade for the world.

Goodbye

:)

UPDATE: It's the next morning and the vets rang to say that she's eaten, is looking brighter and we might be able to go and get her at the end of the day! They want to keep her in for now but Maisie's not being defeated yet :D

showering (and the important of hygiene)

I'm not a massive fan of showers. I know lots of people say things like "oh I love showers they're so relaxing and I get so much inspiration in them!" but really I just see them as a chore and never really think about anything in there.

I'm definitely an evening showers person. Mainly because the thought of having to wake up super early to shower makes me shudder. Also I don't get why anyone would face towards the shower. I get enough water and shampoo in my eyes with my back to the shower how do you do it??? I don't tend to sing in the shower but I think that's partially because I know my entire family can hear me and I'm not really about that life.

I like to take as short a shower as possible (which isn't easy when you have to wash your hair) and I just find it so difficult to get in the shower. I find myself just lying on my bed and thinking "I really don't want to shower" longer than I'm actually in the shower for.

The part of showering I really enjoy is all the self-care stuff I get to do afterwards. I love doing my nails (not always a thing I do after showers but still) and I love doing my big, full on skin care routine (face mask, spot scrub etc.) 1-2 times a week. I also just love feeling clean and smelling nice really.

This is where I talk about something that I think isn't talked about enough but is really important: hygiene and just generally taking care of yourself.

It is so important to clean yourself and keep yourself fresh, whether you're out and about all day or in bed all day. Also, in the least offensive way possible, it's just nicer for the people around you if you don't smell awful.

Skincare is so important! I do the basic cleanse and moisturise daily (more cleansing if you're taking make-up off! Your skin will love you!) and like I said before, more so a few times a week. No matter who you are, what gender you are, what you put on your face I stand by my opinion that you need to take care of your skin. Also Superdrug's own cleanser and moisturiser are really good, cheap and 100% cruelty free would recommend.

As well as that, keeping yourself clean just makes you feel so much better (well, it makes me feel a lot better, I can't really speak for you). I was in quite a shitty mood today but after having a little cry (to quote Baymax: "It is alright to cry. Crying is a natural response to pain"), randomly deciding to try out space buns (which I quite liked on me and my family approved of) then showering and doing my big skincare routine I felt 1000x better. I am in such a good mood right now (listening to Vessel is also helping tbh).

So, moral of this blog post: go take a shower. Or a bath if you're a bath person.

(The amount of times I typed "smeel" instead of smell while writing this blog post is ridiculous)

Goodbye

:)

social media phases

I go through phases which which social medias I predominantly use. It largely depends on my mood I think. I find myself using Tumblr more when I'm not in as good a mood as you don't really have to do anything aside from scroll, occasionally reblog and like but when I'm in better moods I use Twitter more as I think I want to talk about my life more.

Currently I'm going through a Tumblr phase (I definitely haven't been on it most of today what no way). I've even tried to organise my Tumblrs, making my main one the place to go for just general Tumblr shitposting and memes with the occasional fandom post/cat video. I've then restarted my original Tumblr as a place to mainly dump fandom stuff as I'm following a lot of fandom blogs on there already so thought it easier to just put it largely on there. I've then made a new Tumblr as a place to put my nice aesthetic-y posts as I felt I wasn't doing them justice burying them in memes.

I'd say Pinterest is a constant as there is no effort involved. I also like to go on it in school as my irl friends know about it and I feel it's probably the safest social media. Although I have been using it less as the app I use for it on Windows phone suddenly stopped working so I tried deleting it but it now won't redownload so I'm not sure what's happened there. I find it quite annoying to use on desktop/on the family tablet so I hope I can get it back on my phone soon.

I've also been using Instagram more recently as I'm enjoying posting and looking at pretty pictures. It's just nice to look at really.

I realise this post just kind of turned into me promoting my social medias but oh well I'm certainly not complaining. And I'm pretty sure there was a point to this post...somewhere.

Goodbye

:)

i love ratatouille

I should first of all clarify that I'm talking about the film Ratatouille not the meal. Honestly I've never eaten it so I have no opinions on it.

Ratatouille is a film that will always make me feel better. I can always put it on. I wasn't feeling amazing today (still not 100% honestly but no-one feels great all the time) but Ratatouille just made me smile and feel a bit better.

I'm not even sure what I love about it so much. Just the characters and the story and the friendships between characters and just everything it just makes me happy. I never really knew anyone who loved Ratatouille like me until the internet because I've seen so many people online say they love it but many people I know in real life either quite like it, are indifferent or don't like it so I was very excited to see other people who loved it too.

Yeah. I'm not really sure what the point of this post is other than to say that the film Ratatouille just makes me really happy and if you're not feeling amazing I'd definitely recommend putting on your favourite film/TV show. Even if it doesn't 100% cure your mood it might still make you smile.

Goodbye

:)

picnic in the park with friends!

The other day me and two of my friends decided that we wanted to go to the park and have a picnic so that's what we did today! We met up, went around a few shops (I bought a bubble wand because I am a child) and then went to set up our picnic. It wasn't healthy as you can see by this picture:

But it was delicious! Also if you're wondering why there is a GIGANTIC box of caramel freddos my friend bought them back for us from Cadbury's world to eat (we didn't eat them all I promise).



It was a lovely, sunny day (although it was quite chilly) and it was just so nice to snack and chat with my friends. We had a rather in-depth conversation on Doctor Who. It was nice.

I'd definitely recommend just going on a little picnic with a few friends/family (although maybe try and bring some healthier food unlike us) as it's just a nice way to get outside AND you get to eat, what are the negatives? Just remember to put on sun cream!

Also since there's a kids park right next to the field we then got to go in there and swing and play like the little children we truly are.

Goodbye

:)

file not found

I have no clue what to write about today because I haven't done anything interesting/thought of anything interesting I want to write about so here's a picture of my cat Rory being an adorable little dork:

I've noticed him lying in this position a fair amount recently and he looks happy, comfortable and cute so I have no problem with it.

(also please ignore my carpet it was like that when we moved here years ago and who has the money for changing carpets?)

Goodbye

:)

dragons

Dragons are my favourite animal.

"But they don't exist????" shhhhhh let me enjoy myself.

I also own quite a few things with dragons on/about dragons including a book on dragonology that I found in a book shop a few years ago.

So, as you can probably guess, I got quite excited the other day when my dad brought this little one home from work:

He asked me if I liked it to which I replied of course I do and told me there were 2 more in the car as someone at work's son didn't want them anymore. So, long story short I now have 3 amazing dragon statue things.

They must have cost a fair amount of money but they all have tiny little things wrong with them (missing teeth etc. which I don't mind at all) so they probably couldn't have been sold on for much as I assume collectors would want them in perfect condition. And by the size and weight of them (I genuinely find it hard to lift the yellow one) it probably would have cost a small fortune to ship them anywhere.

I was so happy when I got them that I almost started crying happy tears and, whilst they don't actually have proper homes yet as I'm in the middle of reorganising my shelves, I am still very with them just residing on my chest of drawers.

(also promo time I posted the pictures of these on my instagram (cupcakexcaitlin) earlier on today so you should totally follow me on there for pictures and stuff okay shameless self-promo over now)

I love them.

Goodbye

:)

pokemon hunting with my mum (aka the nicest day ever)

Today has been SUCH a good day! Me and my mum decided we'd go on a little drive and stop at some places to do some Pokemon hunting on Pokemon Go. She was so excited for it and even woke me up by coming into my room singing the original Pokemon theme song!

I caught a fair amount in the car but when we stopped at our first place I used some incense and caught so many cool Pokemon (dragonite, nidoran, growlithe). I also managed to drop my phone and thought it would be fine because I've dropped it plenty of times before and it's a windows phone which are quite hard to break, but when I picked it up I discovered that there was a small crack in the top corner - whoops! But it's still working fine so I don't mind. I just say it gives my phone "character"!

At our next stop I didn't catch a lot but it was right down by the sea and it looked so gorgeous! It was such a nice day out today and the sun was glistening on the water on a way that didn't even look real!

We then stopped at McDonalds (as you do) and I got my favourite drink which is also the most "typical white girl" thing I have ever heard of in my life: an iced mocha frappe (yes, really) which I've only had once before but they are SO GOOD!

We then tried to go somewhere else but there was nowhere to park. But I was fine as I still caught loads of Pokemon (including a psyduck which I am way too excited about) and managed to get loads of Pokestops on the way (so many that I ended up filling my bag, a thing I didn't even know you could do).

It was at this point the servers went a bit funny but we were on our way home so I wasn't really bothered. But they did manage to fix themselves in time for me to stop and take a gym! My mum literally paid to park so she could get a pasty and I could take a gym. It ended up being taken back by two young boys just as we left. I'm still very excited that I managed to take the gym in the first place since I've never had a gym before but I don't have very high CP Pokemon and it's a gym that constantly changes hands so I'm not surprised it was taken back so quickly.

All in all I had such a nice day. I'm so glad I have this blog where I can just ramble about my day and keep it documented forever. I hope you had a nice day too!

Goodbye

:)

august is dragging

I'm not sure what I'm about to attempt to write will make much sense but hey ho I'm gonna try anyways.

2016 has been going so quickly. I'm still shocked we're actually in August already and my birthday is so soon and it's getting kinda close to Halloween and Christmas already even though Christmas genuinely does feel like it was last week.

But, despite how fast time has been seemingly going, I'm just finding that August is dragging. I think it's because I'm on the super long summer holidays between GCSEs and A-Levels so I've just been on holiday for so long now that time is slowing down as I'm running out of new things to do. Honestly, I'm pretty bored.

I just keep looking at the date and going, "is it really only the 11th?" Especially as I've been writing blog posts each day-it just feels like I've written so many more than 10 and yet here we are, only on number 11. I'm really running out of ideas. Or even if I do have an idea I'm just never in the right mood to actually write about that thing. So I'm sorry if blog posts over the next few days seem to be a bit lacking.

Like I said, I'm not sure how much this post made sense or if there was even really a single, main point? But here it is either way.

Goodbye

:)

finding dory ramble

I will be talking about things that happened in the movie so you have officially been spoiler warned but just know that I very very much enjoyed it and would definitely recommend seeing it if you were a fan of Finding Nemo!

I saw Finding Dory with my mum and brother today and, as I just said, I really enjoyed it. I wouldn't say it's my favourite Pixar film but I loved it nonetheless.

I almost cried in the first scene where there was little Dory and her parents showing her everything but she kept forgetting and looking so upset about forgetting. I also almost cried in the whole reunion scene and at one random point in the film from just thinking about how life is moving so quickly and I'm getting older - I think it was when they were bringing back some of the characters from the first film.

Speaking of them bringing in a few of the side characters from the first film, I really liked the fact that they did that. I liked the fact that they did it towards the start to still give it a familiar feel and so we could see all these other characters we loved as we were younger but then sort of left that all and began introducing new characters to us to really make Finding Dory its own film. I loved the whales, especially Bailey, me and my brother thought he was hilarious. In fact, I'm pretty sure me and my brother laughed more than any of the kids in the cinema and enjoyed it more too. It was just so much fun and had some really funny scenes (I was almost cry laughing at the bit where they drove the truck into the ocean and it all just went into slow motion). My mum loved the sea lions. She said they were "like naughty old men in a retirement home" and I did think their parts were hilarious too.

Overall, I just really enjoyed and loved this film and am excited to buy it and watch it again when it's out on DVD. I described it to my brother as "nostalgic but new" which I think sums it up well as I think it perfectly brought back things from the first film and gave it loads of new things and a new feel to just reiterate that it is still its own film. I was scared they would ruin the franchise but I personally am very happy with what they did with it. I also thought all the voice acting was amazing too and Ellen did such a great job once again, perfectly embodying Dory.

Also just a random thing, during the little short they play before all Pixar films, my mum asked "so where's Dory?" and me and my brother were laughing our heads off.

Goodbye

:)

listening to albums

Recently I've been trying to listen to more whole albums instead of just constantly listening to random singles. As much as it's completely fine to only listen to singles and I do still really enjoy doing that, I just really want to get the full album experience and get to know more songs by artists.

So as I'm not sure what to write today and I'm too tired to properly think up an idea here's some albums I've been enjoying recently:

• Folie à Deux - Fall Out Boy (what I'm listening to right now)
• Cry Baby - Melanie Martinez (I wasn't actually a massive fan of this when I first heard it but grew fonder the more I listened to it)
• I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning - Bright Eyes
• This Unruly Mess I've Made - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
• Vessel - Twenty One Pilots
• EX'ACT - EXO
• Blur - Blur
• Hunky Dory - David Bowie
• Enema Of The State - Blink-182

And there are loads of other albums I love but these are the albums I've been mainly listening to as of late!

Goodbye 

:)

my cats (and the importance of adopting)

I was going to write a completely different post but after seeing that it's International Cat Day on twitter I couldn't possibly write about anything else!

I have two cats that I'll introduce you to in a second but first I would just feel wrong if I wrote this blog post without talking about the importance of adopting and re-homing cats. There are so many lovely cats out there who really need homes and I don't mean to sound preachy but if you're thinking of getting a cat please at least consider re-homing because the thought of these lovely floofs not being adopted into loving families with a stable and safe place to stay breaks my heart (I may or may not have just broken down into tears thinking about all the cats that don't get re-homed). If you have the time and resources to handle a cat with behavioural problems or that haven't been socialised when young or have been abused and aren't amazing around people, I encourage you to adopt because these cats often get overlooked and can stay in the shelters much longer than others. If you can't adopt and you have a spare £3 a month you could even sponsor a cat!

Here's some sites to get you started:
https://www.battersea.org.uk/cats
http://www.cats.org.uk/
http://www.gablesfarm.org.uk/catalogue/
https://www.bluecross.org.uk/rehome/cat
http://www.rspca.org.uk/findapet/rehomeapet

(Obviously it's important to re-home other animals too but this is a post about cats so I'll try not to go off topic)

As well as all that, please make sure you are 150% prepared to take on the responsibility of having a cat and you have everything it needs. Don't just impulse get one as this can be dangerous and would likely lead to it needing to be re-homed which no-one wants.

That little ramble went on for longer that I thought it would but it's a very important topic so I'm okay with that. Now onto introducing my lovely cats to you and the stories of where/when we got them!

First up we have Tango, a (presumed) British Blue who loves sleeping, sitting on your lap when you're about to do something and sometimes being a bit of a bitch (but an adorable one).

Where we got her is actually a little confusing. My mum has re-homed cats her entire life so you'll notice all our cats have been re-homed; mostly from the Cat Protection League but Tango was half from the Cat Protection League and half from a vets as before we got her this couple kept adopting her and then taking her back to the vets when it was time for her injections. They did this multiple times until the vets said no (which in my eyes was 100% the right thing to do) which is when we found her at the vets.

The reason I say presumed British Blue is because there's no way we could actually know her breed as she was rescued from a place that was using her for breeding from a young age. We got her at (once again presumed as there's no way to know for sure) 2 years 10 months and it was clear she hadn't had the chance to be a kitten. We got her in October 2011 so now she's a bit older she does like to sleep and relax a bit more. Although her maternal instincts from being used for breeding did really show through one time when my rabbit (Maisie) was ill so we kept her inside all night and Tango snuggled up next to her and even licked her at one point like she was her own kitten (the cutest thing I have ever seen happen in my life I swear). She is such a mum's girl and follows my mum around like a little shadow.
We didn't actually name Tango. She had been called that by the people who had used her for breeding and it would have been to late into her life and frankly unfair to try and change her name. Whilst we were a bit unsure of it at first I now think it suits her perfectly (although people do always expect her to be ginger because of the drink).
She has had a few health problems and teeth problems (and has cost us a fair amount of money but it's worth it) and right now she has something wrong with one of her kidneys. She has had scans and tests but they just don't know what it is. The only thing left would be to take her to a specialist but that would cost more than we can afford right now (especially after paying for all the tests and for her to go on a drip at one point) but she is doing completely fine right now and has even put back on a fair amount of the weight she lost when we noticed there was a problem. She has also become much happier since she went on the drip for a weekend so the vets agree that we just need to keep an eye on her and only take more actions if we see alarming changes.


Our other cat is a more recent addition. His name is Rory and I'm not sure what breed he is but some kind of black shorthair. He is the most adorable little thing with stunning green eyes (but he never stays still long enough for me to get a good picture).
We once again got him from the Cat Protection League last September after deciding that we really wanted another cat (me and my mum are slightly crazy cat ladies). He had been found and rescued after having been hit by a car. He was never reclaimed by his previous owners but now he is very happily hunting outside in our back garden or lazing under my bed. We know nothing about his past but from how he acted when he first went outside and how he can get overstimulated and violent

sometimes when we try to stroke him as well as his terrified reactions to aerosols and plastic bags we can only guess it wasn't amazing.
Because of his car accident he suffers with a little bit of arthritis but we've only noticed it twice when he's come in limping after a day out hunting. But we keep a close eye on him and he's always been fine by the next day. We are not looking forward to taking him for his first trip to the vets however as he can be a bit of a pain in the ass when he wants to be.
He has also managed to make an enemy of another cat down our streets but as Rory is a bit of a wimp he'll always come running back inside whenever he sees this other cat. More often that not it's actually Tango who will end up seeing him off instead of Rory!
He's a pain with hunting, fairly frequently bringing us "presents" but we understand it's just all part of his nature and never punish him for it.
Unlike Tango, we're the ones who named Rory as there was no way for us to know his actual name and we weren't big fans of the name they gave him temporarily at the shelter (Jet). We went through so many different names until one day my brother just randomly came into my room and jokingly said, "we should name him after the best male Doctor Who companion: Rory" to which I replied that it actually really suited him. So we now have a cat named after a Doctor Who character.
As I previously said he can get a little arsey sometimes if you try and love him but when he's in the right mood he will let you pick him up and will nuzzle your face and is just the absolute cutest! He doesn't purr easily (another reason we think his past wasn't amazing) and we only recently found out the one thing that makes him purr: when he's in his lovely mood, tickle his tummy and he will let out a quiet little purr. He's the complete opposite to Tango who will purr the second she even jumps on your bed!
Back onto the topic of my rabbit Maisie, Rory seems very unsure and in fact even a little scared of her! It's quite funny to watch actually as she's a tubby little floof who couldn't hurt a fly if she wanted to but Rory is just so unsure of what she is! He has settled down quite a bit around her now but if she goes bounding up to him to sniff him he does jump a bit.

Complete honesty: Tango and Rory don't get along amazingly. We weren't sure how Tango would react to us bringing another cat into the house and it did take a few weeks for them to settle down around each other with us having to separate them for a little while but we did think this would happen and whilst they will still occasionally chase each other, it never seems truly malicious and more like playing if anything (although we will stop it) and they have shown no signs of discomfort/distress from living with each other else we would have (very reluctantly as we all quickly fell in love with him) taken Rory back as we just want what's best for these cats. But they honestly are fine living with each other by this point.

I realise this post was just me having a very long ramble about my cats but I really do adore cats and love mine to pieces so if you did read all of this then thank you! I can only assume you also have a love for cats else I'm not quite sure why you would have read all this! I hope you enjoyed finding out about my amazing loves. As for right now Tango is in with my mum (I can hear my mum talking to her - like I said we're crazy cat ladies) and Rory is sprawled out under my bed, enjoying some head scratches from me.

Goodbye!

:)