Rest in Peace, Chester

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I had a whole other blog planned tonight, but as I switched on my laptop I saw the news and posting a happy and fun book review just seemed wrong. Chester Bennington, singer of Linkin Park has killed himself. It’s genuinely shocked me. Even though I haven’t listened to Linkin Park in a really long time, it was such an integral part of my teenage years and getting me through some of the darkest periods. The fact that he’s gone, someone who’s voice and work has helped so many to be gone.

How can a voice that helped me get through my darkest days have died in such an awful way?  I’m not claiming I was a huge fan but Minutes to Midnight was an album I listened to on repeat because it just reflected how I felt. It was a time where I was lonely, depressed and just had this darkness inside me. When I couldn’t sleep I’d listen to it, along with others, when my mind was going at 100 miles per hour. It was more than just an album to me.

I’m listening to Minutes to Midnight as I write this, feeling so damn emotional. Hell, I don’t even know if this post will make sense. There are so many of us out there with physical, emotional and mental scars. Music was one of the things that saved me, I listen to this album and remember the strength I got from it and the thought that Chester was so low when he helped so many of us just breaks my heart. For his family, his band mates, his fans and the rock community it’s a terrible day.

When things like this happen we need to reach out to those who are struggling or who have struggled in the past. We need to listen to each other, love each other and make it ok for anyone to talk when they’re struggling. I’m not talking about waiting lists and doctors, I’m talking about and every one of us having empathy and openness for those around us.

If you’re reading this and struggling, it’s ok. You’re allowed to feel that way. If this news has knocked you for six, that’s okay too. There’s no clear guidelines or way to have a mental illness, you never know what is going to bring you to your knees. You’re allowed to feel and hurt. Remember you are valuable, you are loved and you are worth it. Reach out to people who love you, practice self-care and speak to someone.

Rest in Peace Chester, thank you so much. 

 

If you need to speak to someone please contact the Samaritans, don’t suffer in silence.

OMG! My baby sister is 16!

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16 years ago, I woke up to the news that I had a baby sister. I danced around her kitchen, before asking if I could go to school just to tell my teacher, then go meet her. Instead, I went to meet this teeny tiny baby that was going to change my life. Now she’s sunning herself in Cyprus at the age of 16. I watched her first steps, walked her to her first day of school and saw her on her last. This isn’t going to be a long post but just to acknowledge the most amazing, kick ass, funny, loving and smart person my baby sister is growing to be. She makes me want to be better, be brave and be more like her. I can’t wait to see where this crazy little one goes next and what we’ll be doing in another 16 years!

I love you, Squidge.

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Taking chances and making calls

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Hello, hello, hello!

As many of you know, back in April I lost my job which sucked and majorly damaged my confidence. BUT! I managed to find myself some temp work between jobs, where I gained some of my confidence back. As my three-month contract was in its final month I really upped my permanent job search.

I was put through for a job by a recruitment agency at a top PR firm. I went to the interview and thought it went well, I genuinely thought I would get a second interview. Unfortunately, I didn’t get it. I’d applied for job after job all through websites, which meant recruitment agencies. Something just wasn’t working. I wasn’t getting jobs and I knew I wanted to work in an agency.

After that rejection, I decided to do something. I looked up agencies local to me and wrote them all down. I went through websites, made a short list and called to ask if there were any jobs available on my lunch break. I called a company called HCT Creative and was told there a be a position, send my CV within the hour. Later that evening I had a chat, the next day I had an interview and was offered the job after 2 hours of chatting with the two directors.

The thing is, we were never told that was an option at uni, it wasn’t encouraged. We were to apply for grad schemes, to go through assessment centres, to use our networking. I know that for a lot of companies you can’t just call up and see if there are jobs, but what if I hadn’t done that? I’m a week in and I can see so much opportunity that I haven’t had before with genuinely nice people.

I’m so excited about my new job, I get up every day and look forward to it. I can’t wait to get more stuck in, to learn and grow because I really think I can. All of that was just by taking a chance.

Sunday Seven: My Favourite Disney/ Pixar Movies

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I spent the majority of my childhood watching Disney films. I can still remember the exact covers of the VHS tapes as I rewound them and watched again and again. It’s something that hasn’t changed as I’ve grown up, I’ve fallen in love with some of the newest films too. There are SO many that I love, choosing just 7 was so hard but these are films that I ever watched constantly as a child or that I’ve found as an adult and LOVED.

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Zootopia

Let’s start with the newest of the bunch. I was well into trying to adult when this film came out and I fell in LOVE with it. I loved Judy and Nick, the way that it actually represents bigger issues in the world. Judy is definitely in my to-cosplay list too!

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Tangled 

The music, the kick ass princess, the animals. What is not to LOVE about Tangled? I thought it was absolutely incredible and she’s one of my favourite Disney Princesses of all time just because she’s not a made and ready princess she has to learn.

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Peter Pan 

You can fly, you can fly, you can flyyyyyyy! I loved this movie so, so much. Once it was announced our school play was Peter Pan I was on it. I did manage to bag the part of Wendy and it was amazing. I knew all of the songs, loved the story as well as Tinkerbell being her sassy self.

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The Little Mermaid 

So my nickname growing up was The Little Mermaid. I loved this film and just sang part of your world constantly, even now I’ll have a sing song to myself. Ariel was just such a cool princess she kicked ass, had a cool voice and I think she was the start of my love for red hair too. I also loved the second movie, and the third. Just anything mermaid related was fine with me.

 

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The Jungle Book

Between the ages of 6 months and 2 and a half I had to watch this of 101 Dalmations every night. Every single damn night so I’d eat my dinner. My poor Mum and Grandparents know them both word for word. But didn’t we all love Baloo? Wasn’t he just the best?!

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101 Dalmatians 

As I said above. That and I love dogs, I have to stop for every dog I see and I definitely think that was the start of it. They’re just all so adorable and I’m totally in love with the new Cath Kidston Disney range too.

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Toy Story 2 

Ok, ok hold fire I know that this is a sequel but hear me out. I went to see this in the cinema just before my 5th birthday and I thought Jessie was amazing. I loved her, she was fun and while I’d already loved Toy Story the second one made me so happy to have a real COWGIRL. I had the outfit for my fifth birthday…

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What are your favourite Disney movies? Let me know in the comments below!

 

Winter is here…

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The time has come and Winter is here! Tomorrow the eagerly anticipated 7th season on Game of Thrones starts and I could not be more excited, even though I only started watching this year. I know, I know! I’m so late to the party! I only started watching early in the year and watched about 2 seasons a month for 3 months…Oops.

There’s something about Game of Thrones, although I have tried to read the book and found it a little challenging just because it is so long and so dense. That said I want to give it a go again because it’s an incredible world to have fallen in love with and it’s so rich in imagination. Just like my love for Harry Potter and Star Wars, Game of Thrones has become an addiction. I want to know as much information as possible about the character, I think about it so much before the next installment it drives me insane.

My predicted deaths for this season are; Cersei Lannister – at the hands of one of her brothers, Little Finger – although I think this is more wishful thinking on my part and many others and finally I have a horrible feeling that Gilly isn’t going to make it but I’m really, really hoping that I’m wrong on this one.

What are your predictions for this season? Let me know in the comments below!

Feminist Friday: Blac Chyna and revenge porn.

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All over social media for the past week, the latest feud between Blac Chyna and Rob Kardashian has been appearing. This time, however, it’s taken a nasty and illegal turn. Rob Kardashian has posted explicit photos of his ex and mother of his child all over the internet, while also posting her phone number. The reason? Not that it’s at all an excuse, Kardashian claims that she sent these images to make him jealous and show that she was with someone else. Yep.

As this story unfolded I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Now, I’ll admit that watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians is one of my guilty pleasures and quite a few times their relationship has been shown to be problematic. What disturbed me, however, was the response online after this. People were jeering at Chyna, judging and laughing at the pictures as well as sharing them. Many didn’t see them for what they were, revenge in one of the worst way.

I couldn’t help but think about their daughter, less than a year old. She’s going to grow up knowing that her Dad publicly humiliated her Mother. Let’s call it what it is, she’s been slut-shamed. She has been publicly humiliated by someone by showing her body. Whether or not you like her, this is disgusting on Kardashian’s part. This is a woman he claimed to love, a businesswoman, a mother how or why he got those images isn’t the point. This is a blatant misogynistic attack. The fact that this was shared by him after his own sister had an intimate tape leaked is beyond me.

When these sorts of cases come to light it’s easy to ignore and to judge based on the past. A lot of people are justifying this because Chyna was previously a stripper, which is just wrong. Even the law see’s this as wrong, Kardashian now has a restraining order against him for the time being while the investigation continues. Some may

Some may wonder why I’m even looking at that this on my blog. Why the lives of some super rich reality stars and what does that have to do with feminism? Because she’s a woman that has been shamed for her sexuality due to jealousy. This happens to so many women and it doesn’t make the news because they’re not famous. It’s an issue for women and this has brought it into the spotlight again. Revenge porn and slut shaming are a problem. But we can fight against it. We can report these images, we can give support to women who are the victims and demand harsher penalties for those who post them.

We can stand with women and not against them.

Book Review: Dreadnought – April Daniels

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After witnessing a superhero fight between the ultimate hero, Dreadnought and a new unknown villain, Danny’s life is going to change forever. As Dreadnought dies he gives Danny a gift like no other, his powers and the body he’s always longed for. Daniel, becomes Danielle.

Yes everyone, we have a transgender superhero and about time too! I heard about this book from CeCe at Problemsofabooknerd over on Booktube and immediately went and put in a request to Netgalley,which I was lucky enough to be granted. I wanted to read this on holiday and did so in less than 24 hours. If that’s not enough to get you excited for this book, then I don’t know what is.

Daniels is a brilliant writer, she doesn’t make this a disney-type happy story. Danny has to deal with a lot through the novel and her transition. She deals with transphobia, an abusive parent and sexism after transitioning, all of that on top of getting some of the most powerful super powers ever known. Just what a 15-year old needs to deal with while going to High School.

One of the best things about this novel, which has been mentioned before, is that this sets out to show that superheroes aren’t instantly good and uncomplicated people. Within the novel Danny does struggle with the judgements of others because of their own prejudices because her transformation includes a transition of gender. This was really interesting as it challenges the idea that superheroes all being instantly accepting. On the other hand, Daniels also explores that not everyone with powers wants to be a well known super-hero, something that not many of us would have considered.

I have so much love for Danny and another character, Calamity, although I won’t spoil too much other than she’s an amazing character and persona, I could see her in my head so clearly. The relationship that evolves between them is just something that the novel needed. I cannot love it any more than I already do.

If you love superheroes, action and diversity then Dreadnought is one for you. I gave this wonderful novel five stars, a rare score but it truly deserves it. So much has been packed into this book to set up a series and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next in the series, Sovereign which is released THIS MONTH. I honestly can’t contain my excitement to see what’s going to happen next to Danny after that ending.

As always thank you to the publisher and April Daniels for this copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Relaxation, Sunshine and Cocktails – Welcome to Majorca

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Hello, hello, hello!

On Saturday I got back from a wonderful week long stay in Alcudia, Majorca. Ali and I booked this about a year ago and seeing as we hadn’t had a holiday since 2015 (!!), so it was well deserved and well needed. We booked our holiday through TUI (Thomson) to fly from London to Palma, staying at the Platja D’Or hotel in Alcudia.

Now, this might not be your typical hotel for a twenty-something couple, as it was generally an older crowd (by about 25 years) BUT it’s exactly the kind of holiday we wanted, a chilled out all inclusive with a nice pool and a beach. We could see the beach from our room, being hotel guests meant we had a cut through to the beach itsself. We were also able to eat 3 top class meals a day, although I have to admit my favourite part was the desert, come to mama. Each night it was something different and you could watch as the chefs cooked your food, or you could simply pick something up from the buffet.

The hotel itself was pretty far out. We could walk for about 30 minutes before we were in the main area for hotels and shops a 15-minute bus ride to old Alcudia and 1 hour away from Palma. In that respect, it wasn’t the easiest place to explore if you didn’t want to have to travel, but it is wonderful for some peace and quiet.

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We did do a little bit of exploring on our travels to the main cities near us. First off was Old Alcudia (on the left). This was really strange because there are houses, shops and restaurants in the middle of Arabic ruins which you can simply walk on and look for miles out at the beautiful scenery. Around the back of these, there were also  Roman ruins, although we couldn’t go through at that time. It was incredible to walk through and just see these huge walls that protected the city and to stand at the top was magnificent.

Later in the week we also took a trip into Palma, the main city. We were able to have a guided tour of the Cathedral before having free time to explore. Ali and I decided to hit up the Hard Rock Cafe and tick another location off of our list. It was exactly the right mix of beauty and culture in the Cathedral (definitely worth a visit) and fun for us in Hard Rock. That said, it was so hot the day we went if you decide to go then make sure you take a LOT of water with you, I suffered from quite a headache after!

The other days were mainly spent with Ali and I visiting the beach or the pool and just spending time together before he has an incredibly busy summer. All in all, it was the relaxing break that I needed before starting my new job (more on that later!). Where are you all off to this summer? Let me know in the comments below!

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Sunday Seven: Tips for Flying Alone!

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Last week I took my first flight alone from Palma, Majorca to London Gatwick. I had an amazing holiday (although more on that tomorrow) but on the last day I had a knot in my stomach for the afternoon. I’ve never had to fly on my own and although I’ve flow so, so many times the thought of going it alone was really nerve wracking. That said, once I’d done it I really enjoyed it and feel like I’ve opened so many more doors for myself. So, what are my tips for flying alone?

Make sure you are at the airport nice and early 

There’s nothing that stresses you out more than being late, you may be waiting around but at least you’ll be relaxed and ready to fly.

Tell family or friends important details 

Let people know what’s going on, especially when you’re travelling alone. That way other people know that you’re safe too.

If you need any assistance, book it in advance 

I’ve needed assistance in the past and it’s always fine if you book in advance. When you’re at the airport it can take longer or you might not be able to get it at the last minute.

Have a good playlist 

I don’t like landing and take off when I have to listen to the engines, this time I plugged in my headphones and had pumping music and it was awesome! Totally difference experience, make sure you’re on Airplane mode though!

Take something to do on the flight 

A book, a notebook, tablet something to keep you entertained because everyone knows that plane journeys can be so boring.

Make this your time, away from distractions 

The great thing is that there’s no internet (well not on any flight I’ve ever been on), you can take some time for yourself to just think or sleep, sleeps good.

Enjoy the views! 

I flew at 2 in the morning, seeing all the lights of the towns and cities we flew over was beautiful.

 

What are your tips for flying alone? Let me know in the comments below!

Feminist Friday: Summer Reading List

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It’s been a few year since I embarked on my own summer of Feminist books. That said, I wanted to share with you some great reads for the summer if you want to get started or just find some new reads.

 

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If you haven’t started reading Holly Bourne’s incredible Spinster Club trilogy this is where to start. Novels about friendship, love and feminism, there’s nothing better! Review here.

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Personally, I see this as a classic for modern feminists. Caitlin is funny, loud but gives a great view on feminism today. This was what I started with and I read it within 24 hours. Caitlin also has a range of other books about feminism too so you’re sure to find something you like. Review here.

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Have you ever felt pressured by magazines or the media? What about the whole ‘beach body’ thing? Then you’ve found the book for you. A fresh look at women, the media and how we react to it. Review here.

 

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You might have already read Laura’s first book Everday Sexism, this is her second and my favourite so far. There’s more intelligent thought and there’s also dancing vaginas, you’re welcome. Read my review here.

What would you add to this list? Let me know in the comments below!