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Blogmas Day 11: Q & A with Vikki & Zoe

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For my second Q & A post to show you all the blogging community at Christmas Vikki & Zoe answering questions about what Christmas means to them! Don’t forget to go and check out their blogs too!

Vikki
Zoe

 

What are you most excited about this Christmas?

Zoe: This Christmas I’m most excited about being with family and giving the presents I have bought, I absolutely love buying things for other people especially if its something they will love!

Vikki: I am excited about spending Christmas with friends and my partners family, in comparison to last year I am also looking forward to not being stuck in Heathrow airport due to a delayed flight for 14 hours!

What’s at the top of your wish list?

Zoe: The top of my Wishlist is probably new makeup/clothes, or even a HP sprocket! To be honest I will be happy with anything that my friends/family get me!

Vikki:  I don’t really have a wish list, my wish would be that ASOS has a massive sale so I can stock up on British brands. If I am being soppy I would also wish that all of my friends and family here in Australia and in Scotland have a safe enjoyable Christmas with hangovers they can cope with.

 

Favourite Christmas movie?

Zoe: I’ve haven’t actually seen many Christmas films but I will be watching loads this year to make up for it haha! So I’m looking forward to seeing what others say for this so I know which ones are worth the watch!

Vikki:  My favourite Christmas movie is probably Home Alone, although I love the Wizard of Oz and they always tend to show that movie at Christmas too!

 

Favourite Christmas song? 

Zoe: There are loads!! I honestly am a HUGE lover of Christmas music and I have a whole playlist dedicated to it! For answering this I will put my top 3 because I honestly can’t pick just one favourite:

Merry Xmas Everyone – Slade

Stop the cavalry – Bona Lewie

Do they know its Christmas? – Band Aid

Vikki:  Fairytale of New York without a shadow of a doubt, I love the music, I love the lyrics and it’s also my mums favorite Christmas song so it has a  sentimental value for me.  

Favourite Christmas food? 

Zoe: Favourite Christmas food is 100% Turkey, my absolute favourite food at Christmas time!

Vikki:  Can I say all of it? I love how there are 65 versions of potatoes but also pigs in blankets are YUM


Your perfect Christmas in 3 words.

Zoe: Family, Friends, Love.

Vikki: Snow Family alcohol

Thanks so much to Vikki and Zoe for sharing their answers! Make sure to go and check out their wonderful blogs. And stay turned for more Blogmas posts to come!

Blogmas Day 1: Welcome to Blogmas!

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Hello, hello, hello lovely readers!

This year I wanted to set myself a challenge because, apparently, I don’t know the meaning of the word relaxation. I absolutely love Christmas, it makes me feel so happy. The thought of love, sharing, giving and family puts a big smile on my face.

But, why Blogmas? I’ve read Blogmas and watched Vlogmas for the past few years and I thought this year why not give it a go myself? Sharing joy, my own insights into Christmas and the festive season and I definitely have some treats in store for you such as:

My Christmas Playlist

My Favourite Christmas Films

Christmas Throwbacks

How to Stay on Budget

And that’s just a few of the posts me and the elves have been putting together for you.

Remember Gals and Guys, only 24 sleeps until the big day!

September Favourites!

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I don’t quite know how it’s October tomorrow. This month I’ve had a very quiet one, Ali went off on tour on the 3rd, so I’ve spent a lot of time chilling at home and reading. So, this might not be the busiest favourites month but here they are!

Birthday! 

This month I turned 23! I went out a few days before with a few of my closest friends for dinner and drinks (more than a few drinks) before spending the actual day with my family and having the surprise of a Bose speaker delivered from Ali!

Books 

When it’s just me I read a lot. And I mean a lot a lot. I’ve read 8 books this month, around 2 a week! This month I’ve started getting back into reading fiction slowly. There were some really great reads and some I felt were a little disappointing. Making Faces and Fully Functioning Human  were two of my favourites and reviews this month!

 

General

And down to my general choices. I’ve spent the month trying to meet up with friends or seeing family, so that I don’t spend all my time alone! This included friends from my time at uni, my godchildren and family. It’s also been a good month for deliveries including a haul from Typo and my Ginny Weasley Barnes and Noble exclusive Pop Vinyl, as well as my first Wizard World Loot Crate! I think the best part has to have been getting a visit from Ali, even if it was only for 28 hours  and baking for the guys on tour.

My Favourite Posts: 

Long Distance Love

23 Things I’ve Learned in 23 Years 

How Is My Mental Health Right Now?

Goodbye 22 – Looking Back on a Weird Year

Feminist Friday: 10 Things You Can Still Do & Still Be A Feminist 

Using Food as a Crutch

 

Vogue’s 73 Questions Tag

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1. What’s your favourite movie?Love Actually, so many great people in it. 

Love Actually, so many great people in it.
2. Favorite movie in the past five years?

That’s so hard! Star Wars, The Force Awakens

3. Favorite Hitchcock film?

Haven’t watched enough to have a favourite
4. A book you plan on reading?

What happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton
5. A book that you read in school that positively shaped you?

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee, made me think about race issues.
6. Favorite TV show that’s currently on?

None, Game of Thrones is over.
7. On a scale of one to ten how excited are you about life right now?

About a 7, could be more exciting!
8. iPhone or Android?

iPhone, always.
9. Twitter or Instagram?

Twitter.
10. Who should EVERYONE be following right now?

Me 😛
11. What’s your favourite food?

Pasta, all the pasta.
12. Least favourite food?

Watermelon. Gross beyond gross.
13. What do you love on your pizza?

Meat, lots of meat! Or different cheeses.
14. Favorite drink?

Coke
15. Favorite dessert?

Chocolate Sundae with warm Brownie chunks!
16. Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?

Milk chocolate on its own, Dark chocolate if there’s flavourings in it.
17. Coffee or tea?

Tea, always.
18. What’s the hardest part about being a mum?

I’m not a Mum! Well only to a Hamster.
19. What’s your favourite band?

Paramore.
20. Favorite solo artist?

Ohh that’s tough right now it’s Ed Sheeran
21. Favorite song?

Changes week to week!
22. If you could sing a duet with anyone, who would it be?

Either Hayley Williams or Lady Gaga
23. If you could master one instrument, what would it be?

Guitar
24. If you had a tattoo, where would it be?

I have two but I think my third will be on my shoulder.
25. To be or not to be?

To be
26. Dogs or cats?

Dogs
27. Bird-watching or whale-watching?

Bird-watching
28. Best gift you’ve ever received?

Handmade Harry Potter gifts
29. Best gift you’ve ever given?

Tickets to shows.
30. Last gift you gave a friend?

Chocolate 🙂
31. What’s your favourite board game?

Monopoly
32. What’s your favourite country to visit?

Hmm probably Greece.
33. What’s the last country you visited?

Majorca
34. What country do you wish to visit?

I want to go back to Italy!
35. What’s your favourite colour?

Baby Blue
36. Least favourite colour?

There’s very few I don’t like.
37. Diamonds or pearls?

Diamonds are a girls best friend
38. Heels or flats?

Flats.
39. Pilates or yoga?

Yoga?
40. Jogging or swimming?

Swimming every time.
41. Best way to de-stress?

A long, Lush bath.
42. If you had one superpower, what would it be?

Mind Reading
43. What’s the weirdest word in the English language?

I have no idea.
44. What’s your favourite flower?

Roses
45. When was the last time you cried?

A few days ago, Chronic Pain sucks
46. Do you like your handwriting?

When I have time to write nicely
47. Do you bake?

I do indeed!
48. What is your least favourite thing about yourself?

The amount I over think
49. What is your most favourite thing about yourself?

My perseverance.
50. Who do you miss most?

Ali.
51. What are you listening to right now?

Netflix, The People vs OJ Simpson
52. Favorite smell?

Chocolate
53. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?

My Mum
54. Who was the last person you sent a text to?

Ali
55. A sport you wish you could play?

Football.
56. Hair color?

Redhead
57. Eye colour?

Blue
58. Scary film or happy endings?

Happy Endings
59. Favorite season?

Autumn 🙂
60. Three people alive or dead that you would like to have dinner with?

Sylvia Plath

Ellen Degeneres

J.K Rowling
61. Hugs or kisses?

Hugs
62. Rolling Stones or the Beatles?

The Beatles
63. Where were you born?

Basingstoke
64. What is the farthest you have been from home?

America
65. Sweet or savoury?

Sweet
66. Lipstick or lip gloss?

Lipstick
67. What book have you read again and again?

Nineteen Minutes – Jodi Picoult
68. Favorite bedtime story?

None!
69. What would be the title of your autobiography?

Just Keep Going
70. Favorite sound?

Happy Hamster Noises
71. Favorite animal?

Dwarf Hamster
72. Who is your girl crush?

I have many
73. Last photograph you took?

Stuff I’m selling online

Book Review: Big Little Lies – Liane Moriarty

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“Mothers took their mothering so seriously now. Their frantic little faces…Ponytails swinging. Eyes fixed on the mobile phones held in the palms of their hands like compasses.”

When a parent’s night at the local school ends in death questions need to be asked, was it an accident? Was it murder? The masks of perfection that parents have been wearing all year are starting to slip, but it all started long before.

Now, this isn’t my normal read, I’ll put that out there to start. I was part of a book club and this was the book of choice. I’d tried another Liane Moriarty book in the past and struggled with the characters, so I was a little apprehensive when starting but hearing everyone rave about it, I gave it a go.

This is very much a book about the wars Mums have in the playground, the stuff that is in my nightmares. The novel focuses on three women, each very different. Madeleine is battling with bringing up her teenage daughter, her son and the fact that her daughter is in the same class with her ex-husband’s new daughter. Celeste has a life that seems perfect with her twin boys and charming husband, but demons are lurking beneath the surface. And finally, we have Jane, a young mother who has moved to town with her son Ziggy to start a new life. All three become friends and help each other get through the school year.

Now I know, I know so many people loved this novel but the unnecessary drama drove me absolutely mad. This Mum was bickering with this one and this child was accused of this. I think if it wasn’t for knowing someone was going to be murdered I would have stopped and put the book down a few chapters in. While I was intrigued by the trio, in particular, I found them all to be quite stereotypical. It might be because I haven’t experienced it myself but I just struggled to care about the whole ‘he said, she said’  situations within in novel.

That said, I will admit that the mystery of the death drew me in. Moriarty uses twists throughout to keep your attention, which is something I personally needed. While some, I worked out quite early on others, such as the big twist toward the end really threw me (so much so my best friend took a picture of me at that moment). So, in that respect there is a reason to read.

Overall, I think that there is reason to read the novel but I give fair warning that if you don’t want to read about unnecessary drama, this isn’t the novel for you. There are some serious themes touched on throughout, but for me personally, it took too long to get to those.

I gave this novel 3 stars. Admittedly, it did engage me eventually but I just felt it took a little too long and if I had just picked it up from the library I would have probably not gotten to the end! That said, I would quite like to watch the television series as I feel this would play out much better on screen rather than in a novel!

Goodbye 22 – Looking Back on a Weird Year

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As I write this it’s my last day of being 22 and in the words of Hayley Williams of Paramore ’22 is like the worst idea that I have ever had’, I’m not sad to be turning 23, not at all. I’m pretty happy that I’m walking away from a very, very weird year.

There’ve been so many ups and downs to this year, going to see Britney (a dream since I was a little kid) and spending quality time with my Mum was a great way to start 22 but then I lost my hamster, Noodle a few days later. That set the tone for the rest of the year I think.

I had three jobs, in a year which makes me CRINGE so much! The first had to let go of the marketing department (they were a startup and the money needed to go elsewhere), the second I was incredibly unhappy and being let go was one of the best things that could have happened to me, the third was a temp job for 3 months which made me get enough to gain the confidence I needed to get the role I’m in now, which I love.

Ali and I have had a big year too, we moved into our first flat dealing with everything ourselves, we lost two of our beautiful hamsters, Hamski and Noodle and ended up getting our third, Wickett. We’ve both dealt with making big career decisions and have spent a fair amount of time apart.

So, I guess in this big ramble I’m calling a post I’ll say that 22 was really, really, tough. There was a lot of stress, pain and growing up but coming into 23 I feel like I’m going to have a good year, I’ve gotten through a lot and I just want to get the next part started.

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.

My Blogging Journey in 10 questions

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I get asked a lot about blogging once people find out about my website, so I thought I’d share my journey in 10 questions for my lovely readers. So, here we go.

Why did you start blogging?

My very first blog was to review my bookcase, as a reason to keep all my books. For this blog, I wanted to document my uni experience and it’s become so much more!

How has blogging changed for you?

My confidence, people read what I write. It’s made me realise I can write and it’s good enough for people to read.

What’s the BEST part of blogging?

Being able to connect with people, exchanging stories!

What’s the worst part of blogging?

Comparing yourself to others. It’s so easy to look and go why aren’t I at their level? It’s often a case of right place, right time added to hard work.

How do you schedule?

I used to be SO good at scheduling. Now if I can I try and schedule a week in advance but it doesn’t always go to plan…

Do you keep track of stats?

I have a spreadsheet (because I’m a total spreadsheet geek) to keep an eye on how I’m doing, what’s working and what’s not.

What makes you keep blogging?

Every now and again, I’ll get a message for a comment from someone about how my blog has been positive for them or helped in some way. It makes me feel good. That and I enjoy it!

What are your blogging goals?

  • To raise awareness of Mental Health
  • To work with some brands to promote something I love
  • To reach 5K Twitter followers
  • To use my blogging experience to write my own book

What do you want your blog to achieve if anything?

To raise awareness of Mental Health first and foremost.

What’s your top tip for new bloggers?

Keep going! Talk to other bloggers and push on through any writer’s block!

 

If you’d like to use these questions too then make sure to let me know! Leave links in the comments below 🙂

Book Review: The New Girl: A Trans Girl Tells It How It Is – Rhyannon Styles

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Imagine feeling lost in your own body. Imagine spending years living a lie, denying what makes you ‘you’. This was Ryan’s reality. He had to choose: die as a man or live as a woman.

Rhyannon is brilliant, to put it simply. Throughout her life she has been a light in what sounds like quite a bland place to live for someone so fabulous. After being assigned male and named Ryan at birth, Rhyannon knew she was different. From her earliest memories she wanted to be a girl. At the age of 30 her dream finally came through, this is her story.

I’m a huge fan of reading about people’s journeys and how they have faced adversity. I listened as Rhyannon narrated her story, the highs and the lows and what it was like growing up in a small town and labelled ‘gay’ to living in the city and realising who she really was.

What makes this stand out for me is how Rhyannon adresses her family and their reaction to her transition. I appreciate the honesty that she has about how she and her family differed about her being Trans, how families can struggle and feel the need to grieve the person they thought they knew. I feel this could really help young people who go through a similar experience not feel so alone.

The only issue I had with this book is that it seems to be divided in two, but not in an obvious way. Rhyannon has decided that she would first tell her story in relation to happiness and light-heartedness but later reveal her ‘b-side’ as she calls it. With this there was a bit of a risk that people would give up before that point, I know I wondered if the story was sugar coated until I got to this point. It’s not a case of wanting misery, rather I wanted to know more about how Rhyannon felt prior to transition.

I gave this 4 stars. I found Rhyannon to be intelligent, insightful and show her feelings well throughout the book. There is also humour in the book as Rhyannon looks back and considers both the good and the bad in relation to her experience. I’d definitely recommend for an informative read.

My Holiday Essentials!

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It’s gotten to that time of year again where many of us are packing our bags to jet off to somewhere and enjoy the sunshine (although make sure you keep your skin safe in the meantime). So, what about the essentials I pack in my suitcase? Let’s take a look.IMG_4582.JPG

Suncream and Aftersun

Looking after my skin is one of the most important things to me. Keeping it burn free and healthy in the heat can be a pain but it’s much better than the alternative.

Bikini’s with good support

I have curves, which means I need support when I’m frolicking around in a bikini. I started shopping around over a month ago to make sure I got a bikini with good support! Most recently, I picked up the beauty at the top of this post from Sainsbury’s Gok Wan range!

Books, all of the books

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When I’m on holiday I can read a book a day. I like to sit by a pool with a cold drink and read to my hearts content. That is what a good holiday is to me. This year I’ve stocked up my Kindle for space saving, although I’ll probably still end up picking something up at the airport.

Three good pairs of shoes

One pair that are good for walking and seeing the sights, one for the pool and one for the evening. Sorted.

Lipstick

I don’t really wear makeup on holiday because I just want to chill, but applying a little lipstick can transform my look from day to day beach casual to going for dinner, I’m usually a little cheeky and buy a few in duty-free at the airport before I fly.

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Sunglasses

They look cool, help you see, why not.

Camera

Whether this is just my iPhone or a nice camera I need to capture the moments so that I can see the memories! I’ve always been like this, especially back in the day when my family first had a digital camera!

Chilled outfits

I’m a firm lover of a pool side chilled shorts and vest top, flip flops you know the drill. I often stock up in Primark for vests before I go, cheap and cheerful!

Summer dresses

Something chilled out, not too much fuss to throw on. Holidays for me are all about being casual and chilled out.

Sun hat! 

I resisted it when I was younger but now I know I need a good sunhat to keep myself covered. I’m not ashamed of getting a big hat, like this beauty I picked up in Athens a few years ago.

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Nail Varnish and pads

Some fun summer colours to embrace the holiday spirit! Although Ali HATES the smell so I have to sit on the balcony while painting and repainting.

Notebooks and pens

For as long as I can remember I’ve taken pens and notebooks so that I can write down whatever I feel like. Now I’m actually trying to be a writer I always have to have some way to write. Who know the relaxation might just help the book along!

Travel documents and insurance wallet! 

So, damn important. I like having a place where important documents go because I get super anxious about all that kind of stuff.

What are your holiday essentials? Let me know in the comments below!