January Favourites

Holy shit, it's that time again, if you can believe it.
Here's a few things I've been loving this month.

- Bend It Like Beckham the musical
Anyone that knows the tiniest bit about me will be aware of my love for musical theatre and it's definitely a love I share with my friend/wife Sophie.
We both have an appreciation for shows especially when they are performed in London, feel good and based on a film that we adore.
We weren't sure if we'd get tickets to this show when we arrived that day but we were lucky enough to get some half price and we then got upgraded from circle to stall seats ..... absolutely no complaints! If you enjoy going to the theatre I can't praise this production enough, it's colourful, funny and heart-warming. Everything a good show should be and I love it so much.

- Gel nails
For Christmas I bought my sister some diy gel polishes and dryer. When she visited for dinner one evening recently she decided to have a go at mine and my mums and used the colour changing polish!
I decided to buy this one as it looked kind of fabulous - it changes colour with temperature from blue to purple and when you're somewhere in between you end up with what looks like galaxies festooning your nails and who wouldn't want that?
It worked surprisingly well, they changed colour quickly and easily plus as they are gel they didn't chip like the normal stuff.
The only negative I would mention is that it doesn't feel great taking it off, you have to soak you're nails in acetone and scrub a little too. After that my nails were very dry so I would suggest getting nail moisturiser to help too.

- Warner Brothers Studio Tour: The Making Of Harry Potter
Yes it might have been my 4th visit and yes the only difference was that they showed us how they make fake snow and do the invisible foot prints.... so was it worth it?
ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY!!
Everytime I've gone has been just as magical as the last and I can't think of a single person that wouldn't smile when they walk into Diagon Alley. Oh also evey 5 minutes they make it snow in the courtyard too!

- Hooker boots
These were called such after my Grandad in the past commented on my cousins that were similar... he loved them by the way.
These had been sat in my amazon wishlist for weeks but I finally clicked the buy button and haven't regretted it one tiny bit. They are comfy and what I like to call "power shoes" because when I wear them I feel like I can take on the world.

- Binge by Tyler Oakley
I've been meaning to read this one since I received the pre-order but it just seemed to stay sat on my shelf (I have no bookcase so when I say "shelf" I mean floor by my bed").
Eventually I got round to it, read half and then stopped. I don't know why but I took a break, when I picked it up again I finished it in about 3 sittings. I enjoyed his writing style, the chapters didn't really follow any chronological (or other kind of) order but I quite liked that, it felt more like he was sat with me in a coffee shop regaling stories rather than meticulously planning, writing and editing a book. It was very personal and we are now best friends. Obviously.

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Now You See Me.

So I looked up some blogging prompts after a bit of a dry spell and one suggestion was"Now you see me" and I know the point was to write a blog post but for some reason this is what I made of it.....
I've never really written anything or released anything to the public like this before but 2016 is about taking risks and doing new things so here it is. Now I shall go run and hide. K thanks bye.


I am weak
I am scarred
I am insecure
I am broken

Now you see me

I should be positive
I should be smart
I should be confident
I should be strong

Now you see me

I want to be optimistic
I want to be creative
I want to be free
I want to be happy

Now you see me

I can be brave
I can be smart
I can be confidant
I can be at peace

Now you see me

I will be passionate
I will be motivated
I will be important
I will become whole

Now I see me.

Death and Losing People We've Never Met.

Last week was a big one in celebrity deaths. Bowie and Alan Rickman being the most discussed.

It's nothing new that people in their thousands take to the internet to show their appreciation and fondness of the famous faces that pass away.
For me I only recently experienced truly being affected by this, being younger most of my heroes are still doing pretty good thankfully but when we lost Robin Williams it did move me. He was a huge part of my childhood and it was very strange to feel loss over someone I'd never met. The same thing happened last week with Alan Rickman and to an extent David Bowie (Labyrinth is easily in my top favourite films of all time!).

But what makes us feel so intensely about these individuals, almost as if they were family?

Well for one they have played a part in our lives even if we haven't in theirs, through film, music and TV. People can be moved by characters they connect with, story lines that relate to them and often just pure talent. When we lose these it can hit hard.
I also think sympathy gets involved, we think about how their friends and family are feeling and how we'd handle losing someone close to us.
Finally it forces us to consider our own mortality especially if these celebs are close to our own age. No one enjoys thinking about the finite time we have so the emotions flow freely when the thought enters our mind. It makes us wonder about our future, what we have done and will do with our lives. Have we done all we wanted? Are we satisfied with our accomplishments? Often sadly the answer is "not yet" and the idea of death wakes us up to that fact that we have limited time to do all the things we want and that's hard to take in and can be upsetting. But truth is we can do these things and a lot of the time it's only us that's stopping ourselves.

This topic always brings up a bit of controversy and many people have opinions on what is an acceptable way to react and this comes down to the fact that everyone grieves and is effected by death in completely different ways.
With the use of social media and the internet allowing us to share our every thought and feeling a lot of people will open up about how big events change them. This opportunity to share can also lead to judgment and negativity. Many will judge anyone that acts in a way that is different to them and now they have the ability to tell that person they're wrong. Which is bullshit.

To whatever extent you choose to show your emotions, it's all good. If you cried on reading that Alan Rickman had passed and chose to post memes or photos to show your appreciation and heartbreak or if you felt nothing and don't really understand why others have reacted so violently, it's all good. Differences in opinion is what makes life exciting.... just don't be a dick about it. Have your own and allow other to have theirs. Acceptance doesn't require understanding.


Final thought - cancer is a fucktard, I ran a race for cancer research last year and if you feel like making a difference please visit here and donate if and what you can.

Be awesome to each other.

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TFT | Cars and Girls by Prefab Sprout.

This song is one that we used to play in the car all the time when I was young. The whole family would sing along and it's just really nostalgic for me. This band will always hold a little place in my heart.

It came on the radio the other day an I had the urge to share it here. Hope you love this 80's classic as much as I do.... oh that hair.

Also if you enjoy this give "King of Rock and Roll" a try, it's just as wonderful.




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December Favourites.

So it's been a while and I'm sorry.
Christmas kind of took it out of me and I feel a bit flat and deflated at the moment so my apologies for that but I am going to try and get back into the swing of actually doing things.

Here is my very belated December favourites!

- Starting Youtube (again!) -
I have done a few YouTube videos in the past but never genuinely liked them. I wrote a whole post on it over here but if you fancy watching them (can't promise how regular they will be) head over to my page.

- Booking Holidays -
In one month I managed to book two holidays for 2016. One with my friends to Tenerife and one with my sister, a cruise round the med, I can't wait as I seriously need to get away soon! Bring on the cocktails.

- AHS Coven -
I've already done a post about this show so of course it was going to be in my favourites. Honestly this show is the best thing I have watched in  a very long time.

- Longleat Light Festival -
This happens every year at Longleat Safari Park, I was lucky enough to go last year and we decided to go again this time around. Longleat is an amazing place to go on a normal day, zoos and wildlife parks are essential for conservation and education but Longleat is a safari park and every single animal has ample space and appears to be cared for in the best possible way. Let's be honest we've all been to zoos that leave us feeling a little sad..... Longleat also has beautiful gardens and a stunning house you can look round.
Each winter Longleat adds a Chinese light show to all this and is really is quite a spectacle. Large, life size animals are glowing all around the grounds as well as flowers that tower over your heads and huge dragons that breath steam. If you get the chance to go I highly recommend it.

- Christmas -
Although a somewhat obvious choice for December it's got to be put in the list!
I love Christmas, it's always been my favourite holiday and although this year it took me a little while to actually feel festive the 4 days over which we celebrated with family were amazing. Being cosy inside  with your loved ones, drinking a little too much and eating your body weight in cheese is always a great way to end the year.

So here's to a adventurous 2016!

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Let's Talk About AHS.

I know I have been quiet here on my blog for a while but my life has just been a little insane - Christmas is a busy time, who knew?

One thing I have found time for is American Horror Story Coven. Me and my friend watched it in 3 sittings and holy mother of goddess is this a show you need to see!

By now there's no way you won't have heard about this series, it's EVERYWHERE and there's a reason for this. I've watched the first season, Murder House, most of season 2, Asylum (which I wasn't quite as fussed by), a few episodes of Freak Show (which seems like it will be amazing but my friend has already watched this one so I may have to catch up on  my own) and now Hotel has begun which I have seen nothing of, but Lady Gaga is in it so you know it's gonna be good.

So far Coven is easily my favourite by a million miles. I think what made me adore Coven is that I was so interested in the characters and this was true of each one, there wasn't a single person that didn't intrigue me.
Plus now I'm utterly obsessed with witches.
It's a bunch of badass ladies with magical powers trying to save their race whilst finding the next supreme which is basically the queen witch. Yeah it's awesome.

You can correctly assume from the title of this series that it's a little gory and scary at times but as someone who doesn't overly like horror films I still think these are wonderful. They are dark but more macabre than scary so you don't have to worry about too many sleepless nights.... although I didn't enjoy the drive home on my own after watching them.....

I don't know why I decided to write about this show but I think it's mainly just to tell as many people as possible to watch it because it is SO worth your time and effort. Not only are the storylines fascinating but because each season follows a new plot with different characters there is no possible chance for you to become bored, or if you aren't getting into one of the seasons as much as the others you can skip it because you won't miss anything for the next one!

Have you seen any of American Horror Story? Which season is your favourite so far?

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Colour My World on YouTube.

I have made a few videos in the past for YouTube which really I'm not all that pleased about....
When I watch them back they make me cringe and I realised it's because I wasn't being myself, I was being what I thought YouTube wanted me to be.
Let's be honest those videos aren't what anyone wants! I have privated a couple and was tempted to private them all and effectively start over but then does that totally go against the message of the video I just made?
I think once I've made a few more that I'm happy with I might remove the others but for now they're staying.

But I like making videos and to an extent the point of the video I made is true to this blog as well. Hobbies are for you to enjoy so we should be able to do them without conditions or pressure.

This latest video is just me, natural and true so I actually like this one and hope any future ones follow the same vein.

Feel free to watch/comment/subscribe all opinions welcome!

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My Make Up.

I've never had a great relationship with make-up, eye shadow will always end up on my cheeks, foundation is never pale enough - I guess they don't do the "I never go out in the sun because my skin hates it and so I'm as pale as an 80 year old" colour, my lips are too big for anything brighter than slightly pinker than my natural tone and I only learned make up has an expiry date when I was 21..... so that's what the little 3M meant on my 4 year old concealer....

Having said that I have started to ease the strain between us a little. I wear make up pretty much every day after seeing a photo of me without it and deciding that it wasn't for human viewing, my attempt basically just consists of eyeliner on top and mascara. That's it.

I do try and use a cruelty free range that I found called NYX which you can find online and at Boots stores - it's all reasonably priced compared to a lot of other ranges that claim to be cruelty free. Whenever a product is a specialty it unfortunately allows companies to charge more because they know people will pay if it's the only option. Bastards.

I have tried a few of their things as although I only wear limited make up on a normal day I do try a little harder for special occasions. I'll use foundation sometimes because, incredibly NYX have one that's light enough for me - now my skin isn't bad in the way of spots and blemishes (not that there's anything wrong with them and they certainly don't need covering) but it does have this rather lovely habit of glowing bright red whenever I have a drop of alcohol. So to cover that up a little I use the foundation.

I also have one of the eye shadow pallets which I haven't quite come to grips with yet as I really don't understand how the whole "blending" thing works but I have faith that with time I might learn.

So that's it. I don't have skills or any understanding of make-up, I just sometimes like to pretend I do.... a bit like when you get hold of your mums lipstick for the first time.

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November Favourites

It's that time again where I tell you about all the best parts of my month.

1. Seeing friends:

I spent the night at my friends, we had cocktails and went dancing (briefly) but the best bit was easily our trip to the Krispy Kreme cafe - doughnuts and coffee? Yes please. She is fabulous, plus who doesn't love a friend that won't judge a vegetarian that drunkenly eats KFC?

2. Volunteering:

I have recently done a small bit of voluntary work with an environmental consultancy to learn more about ecology as it's a possible career option I'm looking into.
I'll probably do a longer post discussing it at some point to let you know exactly what I got up to but I have loved it and it's been incredible to change things up and have a break from my current job for a few days.

3. Bath Christmas market:

This month I met up with my uni family for the first time in FOREVER, one of my boys I hadn't seen since my 21st which was 2 and a half years ago! We went to Bath where we first met and studied for 3 years to enjoy the somewhat famous market with all it's smells, colours and mulled wine.

4. Deciding to start playing piano again:

I haven't touched a piano for around 8 years but used to have lessons with my Mum and am starting to miss it. I'm someone that adores music and wants nothing more than to be talented in it someway..... but I'm not. I don't have a musical bone in my body, am tone deaf and also extremely impatient with myself so never allow the time to learn anything. As I was taught by a skilled pianist this became a hobby that I could actually do! Sadly I was fickle and gave it up to do another passion I'd had since childhood which was horse riding. Recently I have had real motivation to try and play again so have bought myself a load of different books that have songs I know in but that are super easy for beginners.

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Also for anyone that read my last post I am so happy to say that I've found a new home for my last rattie D'artagnan and although I will be a little heart broken to say goodbye I know he's going to someone who will give him the life he deserves and he will be part of a new group which hopefully he'll settle into quickly.

Saying goodbye.

Today I had the second of my three pet rats put to sleep. That's two within 3 weeks. We also had to have our cat Harry put to sleep less than two months ago.
When you become a pet owner you know it's not forever, you understand that you will out live these animals most of the time by many years but it doesn't make it easier when letting them go.

As I have been left with a solitary rat, D'artagnan, I have decided to try and re-home him with another owner who has multiple rats already. Rats are group animals and require constant support and interaction with others. Had he been old I may have considered keeping him alone but he could live another year and a half and it's just not fair to make him spend that time on his own.

I do have the option to get other rats to keep him company but I'm not sure I'm in the right position in my life to get more. They are an expense, if I'm being honest I didn't spend enough time with the rats I had and it would be wrong to get more, plus I'm hoping to move out of my parents house sometime in the future and rental properties rarely allow pets and I wouldn't want to give up multiple rats just to move. So I'm going to try and find him somewhere to live that will mean he gets a nice, clean home, an owner that handles him regularly and lots of other rats to keep him company.

I never expected to go from 7 pets to 3 in such a short amount of time .... it's been pretty heart breaking and all around shit. But that's the deal you make when adopting pets, it's your responsibility to do your best by them and accept the pain of letting them go.

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Children and Nature.

The Wildlife Trust have started an initiative called Every Child Wild and it's based on a concept that I have a lot of feelings about.

I am a huge supporter of protecting our environment which is why I've studied it and I also stand by my opinion that humans are the worst thing to have happened to this planet. We have done an incomprehensible amount of damage to the earth in the short time we as a species have inhabited it. Before I get too deep into the negative I promise I'm not all doom and gloom, there is hope people! That hope lies with kids.

The idea that today's kids don't go outside very often is nothing new, but it's something I feel needs to change. And soon. With so much technology at our finger tips it's often considered the only way to entertain children. All this has led to a severe lack of understanding and appreciation for the environment right outside our doors.
Of course I love having the internet, TV, film and music readily available but when I was young these were luxuries not something I was constantly glued to (obviously now I'm a grown up I'm allowed to have an unhealthy, extremely dependent relationship with my phone and laptop....).

Some of my best memories from childhood are the ones where I was outside and in nature. Most days I would be out of the house and my parents would take us on walks to the parks and woods nearly every weekend - TV was only really there for when the whether wouldn't allow us to be outside. (FYI the picture in the title image is of one of my favourite places, the woods near my house has for as long as I can remember had this "dragon" log. I used to sit on it and was convinced it was once a real flying dragon and had been turned into wood by magic.)

These kids are the ones who will soon be in control of the future of the earth and the idea that they could go into that future completely blind to the needs of nature is terrifying. Knowledge is key and let's be honest kids will only learn if they are interested and they are fully immersed so we need to make it fun and engaging! Sitting them down and droning on about how shit the current state of the planet is isn't going to enthuse them to take action, in fact it's pretty damn depressing.
Get them out there, let them experience all the beauty that the earth has to offer, only then will children realise what we stand to lose.... and actually care about it. Even if it encourages them to make the simplest changes like recycling more or planting vegetables in the garden when they're older it matters. The smallest changes can have the biggest impacts.

I stand by this campaign to get the young'uns out and about. Get excited, get muddy, get dirty and get MAD about the environment.

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My Favourite Meat Alternatives.

I've been a vegetarian for almost a year now and when I was a meat eater I was always a little confused about vegetarians eating vegetarian products that are made to look and (almost) taste like actual meat. If you don't like the idea of eating an animal why buy something that's made to be the same as it?
It didn't take long to realise why so many vegetarians go down this route. Sometimes it's hard to think of a  replacement for meat in a meal- it's often the main component and to find an alternative can mean extra thought and work which sometimes I'm just not okay with! Also although I have chosen not to eat meat, I used to and still do enjoy the flavours of it so I occasionally fancy something meaty tasting.

I have fallen a little in love with the company Quorn, who have made pretty much every conceivable meat commodity available for vegetarians. They are the kings of vegetarian alternatives.
Here are a few of my favourites that I recommend to every veggie, partly because they are about as similar to the meat original as you could get but mostly because they're freaking delicious!

- Scotch eggs                                                                      - Sausage roll

- Turkey slices                                                                   - Mince

- Tikka slices                                                               - Pies

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Why Comic Con?

I've been to the London MCM Comic Con three times and each of them has been heaving with thousands of fans which got me thinking - what is it that makes this event so popular?

1. You get to spend the day walking around stalls bursting with unimaginable amounts of merchandise from your favourite fandoms. The variety is endless, it's one of those times when spending money is just a little bit too easy but dear lord does it feel good at the time.

2. There's always a whole troupe of talented people more than happy to share their abilities. It's a perfect chance to admire (and purchase) others craftsmanship, find inspiration and become sick with jealousy at all the things you'll never be able to do..... Just me?

3. You get the opportunity to meet some of the stars of stage, screen and game. If like me you tend to place those in the spotlight on a bit of a pedestal and so enjoy meeting them - even if  on doing so you internally (and on occasion externally) become reduced to what can only be described as an incoherent marshmallow - this is your universe my friend.

I personally adore listening to people talk about their passions and seeing there eyes light up with childish excitement. It saddens me that it seems less and less common place for people to let go and show their joy but in today's society it's almost frowned upon to be enthusiastic.
To counter this all you really have to do is talk long enough to someone and you'll find that one thing that makes someone regress and it's the best. That's what's at the heart of Comic Con, the idea that no matter what you're interest might be to be welcomed all you need is to unapologetic ally love something.

So I have come to the conclusion that that's what makes Comic Con so special and that's what keeps people coming back time and time again. A feeling of being yourself and thus belonging, safety and at home-ness (yep that's 100% a word).

Have you ever been? What was your experience?

Side note: This is my 100th post awoo hoo.









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TFT | Imagine

This is all I will post about recent events.
In light of everything that has happened all around the world, not just on Friday 13th but this whole year, I want to share this video. If you want to, maybe take these 2 minutes to think about the hearts that have been lost and broken because of these horrendous acts of violence and consider all the wonderful things in your life you have to be grateful for.

Love - It's free and the only thing you can never give too much of so spread that shit like butter.

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The Easy Way.

Sometimes making your life easier is just a necessity.

For me driving has always been an issue, every time I knew I had a driving lesson I would feel sick all day and think of any reason not to do it. I hate using this as an excuse but I was in a fairly serious car accident before I started learning (I wasn't driving just to clarify), thankfully it's the only one I've been in to date. I won't divulge all the details but we did end up on the roof and had to crawl out the broken windows so it did make me worry a bit when in the driver seat myself.
I also think that my anaemia has played a part as it leaves me dizzy and struggling to concentrate which is just a bit important when driving.

I had a lot of lessons, with different instructors and at various times and all of them felt the same. I could drive fine, all the teachers said I was safe and never really did anything majorly wrong but it was me holding myself back. I felt like I would never be confident enough to do a test, I could barely get through a lesson let alone adding the pressure of being examined!

That's when I decided to go automatic. A few people thought this might limit me a bit as in England if you do a test in an automatic car you can't then drive manuals. Although it might lower my choices of car, there are still so many options, plus I really needed to get my license since I live in the arse end of nowhere.

After a few automatic lessons I knew this was the only way I was going to pass my test in the near future, so I continued learning and eventually passed my test a few months ago - first time and all!

When making this decision I almost felt like I was being lazy and it was taking the easy way out (title reference hey ooooh!) but the closer I got to booking a test I realised it really was the best thing for me to do, also it meant being able to drive sooner and open up all manner of new possibilities.
I still don't enjoy driving, in fact I actively dislike it but it's an integral part of adult life and allows me to do all the things I want to without relying on others.

I don't think you should ever feel guilt for making tasks simpler or quicker for yourself, it's your life and you only have so much spare time. Why make things more arduous than they need to be?

Taking the easy way out isn't always a negative concept.

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