35 things that happened in 2014...

2014 has been a strange year for me. It's been mixed with the joy of returning to Greece and meeting Paul Wesley again with the horror that was my A levels. Although, this year has been 100% better than 2013 and I already have plans to make 2015 a good year. I seem to be terrible at making lists although wanted to share 35 memorable things I did this year; I felt listing the memories that revolve around me and my friends being weird probably wouldn't fit very well here. Here's to 2015, wish me luck. 

1. Dyed my hair blonde. 

2. Returned to Greece
3. Finished my A levels, thank god. 
4. Started an art foundation. 
5. Joined a gym. 
6. Went to a Drake concert. 
7. Created this blog. 
8. Went to my third Vampire Diaries convention. 
9. Purchased One Direction tickets. 
10. Lost a lot of weight. 
11. Finally saw Ed Sheeran live
12. Read a lot more. 
13. Dyed my hair purple / blue.
14. Convinced myself Paul Wesley and Steven R McQueen were in love with me after meeting them again. 
15. Realised I wanted to do ceramics at uni. 
16. Acted like a 6 year old by getting a braid that I kept in for way too long. 

17. Went to Free Radio live aka the best / funniest concert of my life. 
18. Became obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer
19. Finally visited London after living in England for almost 19 years. 
20. Become a better roller skater, this needs to be improved further next year. 
21. Worked out everyday for 7 months. 
22. Had art work shown in an exhibition. 
23. Went to Disney on Ice. 
24. Was proud of my A level results. 
25. Became addicted to spin classes. 
26. Went to prom. 
27. Fell in love with 5SOS, I think I might regret sharing this one. 
28. Went to an ice bar. 
29. Became patriotic over the World Cup even though we were terrible as per. 
30. Gave / threw away half of my possessions.  
31. Grew my eyebrows back. 
32. Explored Greece 
33. Turned 19. 
34. Saw the poppies at the Tower of London. 
35. Took my Beyonce obsession to the next level. 

Merry Christmas Eve, Ya Filthy Animals

I don't think I can actually believe it's christmas tomorrow. It seems like only yesterday I was celebrating my birthday or sitting on that Greek beach enjoying the summer. I have spent the day with my family and the evening will be me watching Love Actually; my excitement to watch this movie is getting out of hand. I've still got to wrap the majority of my presents that I left way too late to purchase. Each year I say I will start Christmas shopping earlier and each year I leave it later and later. Well, there's always next year. I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!    

Christmas Songs

I feel the best way to get excited for christmas is to listen to christmas songs. However, 19 years on this earth christmas songs seem to be turning into more of an effort than when I was younger but I think I have found the answer to my problems. To begin with I would listen to people covering the classics and then realised, each year you need to find that certain one to obsess over. 2011 for me was Step into Christmas by Elton John; 2012 was any version of The Power of Love, last year I settled with A Spaceman Came Travelling but this year All Alone on Christmas by Darlene Love is my obsession. Maybe its a combination of my new found connection to the Home Alone movies or the fact I believe when it comes to christmas songs no woman does it better than Darlene Love. Of course I still love the classics like Band Aid and Mariah and will listen to them hundreds of times before the 25th arrives but just incase you're feeling fed up with festive songs I hope this helps. 

Christmas Movie Marathon

Now my Christmas holiday has officially begun I feel it's the right time to start watching all of my favourite christmas films. Although Home Alone has already been watched twice there are still plenty of movies left for me to watch. I feel like no film can get me into the christmas spirit like The Polar Express; there is something about this movie that will always have my love. For some reason watching Narnia has become a tradition with my family although films like Christmas with the Kranks and The Holiday aren't loved by them leaving me to watch them alone, this is probably why I don't get round to watching them each year. For my final two movies one of them is a low budget film found on Christmas 24 called Love at the Parade while the other is my ultimate favourite, Love Actually. Love at the Parade makes me want to experience an American christmas while Love Actually is the combination of a wonderful cast, amazing storyline and my favourite kind of movie layout. This year I am certain I will watch all of them even though my area in England doesn't seem to be filled with festive cheer just yet, wish me luck. 

Countdown to Christmas

On Saturday I unexpectedly ended up in Lincoln to see their Christmas market. With One Direction tickets finally purchased and a Christmas jumper as the key feature of my outfit I was ready to be festive. Maybe because I'm from Birmingham I was disappointed; in comparison to our German Market it lacked christmas and was a third of the size. All that aside I thought Lincoln was a lovely place that I would want to return to it in the summer so it wasn't as cold and would be a whole lot quieter. Lincoln Cathedral is one of the prettiest buildings I have ever seen, I would recommend anyone going to look inside at it's  beautiful windows. I still need to become a lot more festive and watch a great amount of christmas movies starting with Home Alone and finishing with Love Actually on Christmas Eve, wish me luck. 

Free Radio Live 2014

As one of my 19th Birthday presents I was given tickets to Free Radio live and the line up was insane. I was finally able to see my beloved Ed Sheeran along with all the other amazing acts. I had been to their show twice when they were BRMB although this year I felt it could now easily compete with shows taking place across the country. People queued for hours; luckily we managed to get to the third row even though we turned up at half four. Being so close to the front made the experience better along with the atmosphere and excitement making you instantly become a fan of each act. McBusted were amazing although I feel if I begin with my love for Ed Sheeran and his performance in general I will never stop; lets just say sing was more of a duet between me and Ed rather than a solo performance. I only hope I can see him again some day and I'm already 80% sure I will be buying tickets for free radio live 2015. 

Art is the elimination of the unnecessary

     

I thought I would share more of my art work although this time it would be focusing on my ceramic pieces. Apart from a rushed clay head I was forced to make in year 12 these are my first attempts at working with clay and I'm pretty proud of how they look. My project was 'Surfaces and Textures' so I looked into the different patterns, formations and colours that are present in a variety of fruit. 

Art is the lie that enables us to realise the truth

      

I realised I haven't made a blog post this week; November is becoming the busiest month of my life. I am going to make a post explaining everything I have been up to but for now I thought I would share some of my art work I recently went to pick up. I completed these paintings for my art and design A level at the start of this year although I haven't really shared my work like this before. I am now finished with my A Levels (thank god) and seeing these pieces that were such a big part of my life again is strange. I went through a period of time where my art work would be quite weird and somehow managed to work most of my pieces into the 'Distorted Figures' category. I hope you like them!

      

Weight loss motivation

This year I have really improved the amount of fitness in my life; starting in January I used the app called 'Seven' and did a 7 minute circuit everyday for 7 months. I was surprised how motivated I stayed although once completing the seven month goal I decided that I would repeat it again. Second time round my motivation seemed to have dropped dramatically, I felt that the excitement of reaching the goals had faded and needed to look for something else to do. Summer was over and I decided to have a go at the '30 day squat challenge'. I had heard a lot about this app and with the dream of having that Beyonce and Kardashian behind I began with JLo's 'Booty' playing on repeat (a bit much I know). With my legs turning less and less to jelly after each day I felt as though improvements were being made; until I reached day 18 where I need to do 125. A mix of not being bothered and tiredness resulted in my never achieving those 125 squats and finishing the challenge. I have decided that I need to start incorporating some serious fitness in my life and plan on joining the gym in January; from now till then I have created this collection of images showing the beautiful Shailene Woodley and my favourite celebrity of them all Miss Jennifer Lawrence to keep me motivated. I am just going to look at these images everyday and remember the goals that I will set for myself and the body I want to achieve. Wish me luck. 

Hello Purple

In my previous post I said goodbye to my blonde hair so I thought it was only fair to make one welcoming purple into my life. I love this colour but wow it is different! Walking into to the hair dressers blonde and leaving with dark brown and purple ombre is a change that will take a while for me to get used to. Once I had stopped making myself jump from catching my reflection I looked at my hair and although the majority is purple I couldn't be more pleased. I feel like I am wearing some kind of purple wig. I'm also having to get used to shorter hair again as well as the fact this colour makes me look seriously pale. I think that is the only thing I don't like about this hair colour although I am enjoying finding what make up looks work well with it. Wish me luck. 

Goodbye Blonde...

I started Sixth Form with long hair that was just a shade or two darker than my natural colour. If you had told me then two, nearly three, years from now you will have blonde hair I would never of believed you. I always thought I would have dark hair but in those two years of education my hair went on a journey like no other. Adding fringes and removing serious amounts of hair meant I looked different every month. I really enjoyed  my time being blonde and experimenting with different styles (apart from when I had an orange afro, that wasn't my finest moment) although I think it's time I return to the dark side. Being blonde is a lot more fun than my natural brown colour although with winter quickly approaching I feel there is no better time to make this change; my roots are also seriously out of control but I thank Beyonce for making them fashionable for a while. On Saturday I will have dark brown and purple ombre hair, I just hope I don't miss being blonde too much. Wish me luck.

White Whales and Blackfish

I have loved whales for as long as I can remember. I dreamt of going to America and visiting seasworld although for these animals it is pretty much their nightmare. Let me start by saying I'm not here to force my opinions onto anyone else I simply believe that a whale's place in this world is to swim the oceans and not a concrete tank. When I found out the movie Blackfish was being made I felt I couldn't wait any longer to see it. Although it's a hard film to watch it's one of those things that just need to be seen. I hope the word spreads wider encouraging the release of Oracs although I feel more also needs to be done for Beluga Whales as there free from captivity campaign seems to be at a much earlier stage. I have never seen a whale in the wild or captivity but I have seen dolphins. In the waters around Portugal there was not a better definition of happiness than a dolphin swimming in open waters and although it pains me to admit it I have seen dolphins in captivity. We are led to believe that these animals are living the best possible lives; free from predators, constant food supply and adoration from the crowds. These dolphins where not a flowing energy of happiness and I think as a society we are simply uneducated in the matter. 

"The sea is to dolphins much as the air is to birds—it is a three-dimensional environment, where they can move up and down and side to side. But dolphins don’t stop to perch. They never come to shore. Dolphins are always swimming, even when they "sleep." They are always aware, and always moving. Understanding this, it is difficult to imagine the tragedy of life in captivity for these ocean creatures.” - HSUS. 

I hope one day tanks will be free of black fish and the white whales will follow. And we will live in a world where we admire these beautiful ocean creatures in their natural habitats; that I will have played a part in it even if it is smaller than I would like and last, but not least, find a way to pay back to those dolphins who I hope will find their happiness in the waves of open waters. Wish me luck. 

Book Review ... The Help

I watched the film when it first came out and then about 7 time more before I finally purchased the book that inspired it. Sometimes I don't bother reading the book once I have watched the film but I was so glad I did. The film followed the story well but the book made it more personal and emotional. I wish that I hadn't watched the film before just because of the plot that involved Minnie Jackson and her pie. With the spoiler known to me the clues throughout the book where made funnier until it was eventually revealed. Honestly, I never wanted it to end. I want to know what happened to Skeeter's life in New York, Minnie's after becoming an even greater independent woman and Abilene's future that was unsure of what path it would take. Although this book brought joy to my life the realisation came hand in hand that Mississippi in this era was just wrong in all meanings of the word. The maids allowed you to see how life was like for these woman; how unfair and soul destroying it could become. From the first line to the last this book was filled with memorable quotes; I haven't read a book with quotes on this level since reading Life of Pi. You know, the quotes you read and you get this 'wow...that's going to stick with me for the rest of my life' feeling. Maybe I was just being slightly dramatic but this book means so much to me. My love for Celia Foote is unreal along with the pain and sorrow I feel for the fictional maids and the real life woman they represent. I recommend this book like no other; you will love it and if you don't I would be shocked. Just clear everything you have to do because once you start you won't be able to stop. I wish you luck.

My life in ruins ...

'Happy is the man I thought, who, before dying, has the good fortune to sail the Aegean sea.' 

I plan on buying myself a yacht when I'm older and sailing from one Greek island to the next, that would be my dream come true. Greece has to be my favourite place on earth, I have been there about 5 times now and leaving that Mediterranean sun and laid back way is getting harder each time. I will be visiting again this year and saying I am excited is an understatement. If you ever get the chance to go, take it. I have never heard anyone say that they didn't enjoy it as their holiday destination but just incase you need convincing here are some photos from my past experiences with my beloved Greece. I have a strong feeling this won't be my last Greek related blog post. You won't need to wish me luck for this one. 

The world is calling and I must go ...

In my time on Earth I have been lucky enough to visit several parts of it. The streets of New York City, the food of my beloved Italy and the culture of Cairo are far from my English upbringing. Don't get me wrong I love England but there is something about traveling and exploring new things that make you realise the world is much bigger than you ever thought it was. The thought of never leaving England would upset me greatly although never returning to the motherland would upset me much more. It may surprise you that I have lived in England for 18 years and 11 months and never visited London. Well, next month I will be visiting it for the first time and then again two days after. Maybe me and London have a relationship like buses, you wait forever and then several come along at once. Wish me luck. 

The bucket list of my 15 year old self

This is going to be embarrassing ...

When I was 15 years old I became some what of a trend setter when I decided that I wanted to create a bucket list. Some of the things I included were never going to happen, I don't know what I was thinking. Others are still relevant to my life and what I want to do with it. You can tell I was obsessed with everything American when I was 15; the list is basically me wanting to experience everything that is seen in movies. Since I am an 18 year old girl living in England and in the middle of education I think them particular ones are going to have to wait a while longer. My 19th birthday is fast approaching and I want to document accomplishing elements of this list on my blog to celebrate my final teenage year. Wish me luck.

Book Review ... The Scorpio Races

Two times I read the first chapter of The Scorpio races and both times I never bothered to read any further. My previous bad reading habits were stopping me from reading this wonderful book. Luckily for me the third time was the charm.

Magie Stiefvater created a book that once you were hooked you just could not stop. No spoilers will be given although I need to make it clear that I have never cried this much over a book like I did on this emotional ride. Augustus Waters once said “I'm on a roller coaster that only goes up". Well, Augustus this book made me feel completely the opposite. 

I had previously read some of Stiefvater's work and was pleased to see the writing style remained the same with the story being told from two different characters allowing the reader to become attached to the main characters and understand them in a greater depth. As the main plot behind this book is the final 'Scorpio race' having this attachment created a stronger ending as you're unsure who needs to win more knowing what is at stake for both riders. Basically, it ruined my life but you should let it ruin your life too.