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

:)