IN THE WORDS OF ABBA....

So here we are, we’re almost at the end of another year and as 2016 draws to a close I always look at this time as a time of reflection. This year has created a lot of milestones, both personally and publically, along with both good and bad. However, whether it be good or bad things have changed and hopefully for the better.

I’m currently sat in my Sixth Form Common Room listening to Sinéad O’Connor’s version of Silent Night as I write this opening paragraph for my last blog post of 2016 for you all and I’ve realised just how far I’ve come as a person. A lot of things have changed since I wrote a similar blog post to this last year and I’m really grateful for those things. I went to a Fake Festival and absolutely loved it, I was introduced to the weird world of Rocky Horror and realised my inner freak, I finished my GCSEs, I passed my GCSEs, I went to school without makeup on for the first time in four years, I moved schools, I started A Levels, I made a whole new group of friends, I went to my first party, I went to my second party, my love for Leonardo DiCaprio grew, I started looking at universities and found what I really love to do, and I genuinely think I found myself which is cliché but extremely true.

As I do every year I like to think of and find out about all the positive things that have happened throughout the year so I can leave the year on the highest of highs possible. I’ve realised that over the years that I’ve been doing these yearly summaries that I really loved them, I feel as if the media really highlights everything bad happening in the world today and I really think we need to celebrate all the good things happening. I think the world needs a bit more positivity in it, don’t you think? So here we go, 2016’s highlights…

• The tiger, manatee and panda population has increased
• After a 1.7 billion-mile, five-year journey NASA's Juno spacecraft entered Jupiter's orbit on July 4th
• Two years after millions of people dumped ice water on their heads to raise money, the gene that's linked to ALS was found meaning we're one step closer to eliminating it
• The football team Leicester City shocked everyone by winning the Premier League for the first time ever
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil became the first South American country to host the Olympic Games since its beginnings in 1896
• After the tragic Orlando Pulse shooting, The Orlando Shakespeare Festival showed up with angel wings to block funeral-goers view from anti-gay protests
• An Afghan teacher delivered books via bicycle to villages that lack schools
• The first woman was placed on an American bill, Harriet Tubman
• 200 strangers attended the funeral of a homeless WWII veteran with no family
• New chemotherapy breakthroughs have increased the five-year survival for pancreatic cancer from 16% to 27%, and it's getting better
• Child mortality has decreased everywhere
• Pakistan has made progress in outlawing honour killings
• Volunteers in India planted fifty-million trees in 24 hours
• Five-hundred elephants were relocated to a better, safer and bigger home
• Massive strides have been made in Alzheimer's prevention
• The ozone layer is repairing itself and all the work we've done to get rid of aerosol chemicals has actually been worth it
• We may have cured MS
• Two brothers saw colour for the first time thanks to specially-designed glasses
• A bank firm paid tuition for the children of employees who died in the 9/11 attacks
• A four-year-old befriended a lonely man and helped him heal after losing his wife
• MY BABY, LEONARDO DICAPRIO, FINALLY WON A MASSIVELY WELL DESERVED OSCAR AND I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER
• A father gave out candy on a flight so his little girl could a Trick or a Treat on Halloween
• After an extremely long wait, Finding Dory was FINALLY released and it was amazing

We did a lot as a population in 2016, didn't we? There were setbacks this year, I know that as much as the next person. There may be a racist, sexist, bigoted idiot about to step up to take charge of America. We lost a lot of amazing, influential people such as David Bowie, Gene Wilder, Carrie Fisher, Anton Yelchin, Muhammad Ali, Prince, George Michael, Victoria Wood, Christina Grimmie, Liz Smith, Ronnie Corbett, Sir Terry Wogan and Alan Rickman, along with a long list of others. The LGBTQ+ Community and the world was shaken after the Orlando Pulse shooting. Britain left the EU. There were and are too many shocking events to list in one blog post. However, no matter how many shocking, unbelievable, negative events happen it doesn't change all the amazing, spectacular things that we're able to do. No matter how bad everything seems I'm always amazed to see what we as humans have done, that's why I love to come back to these posts every year because it reminds me of just how mind blowing the human race is.

As this year draws to a close I've realised just how grateful I am for this year as a whole, I've had personal trials and tribulations to deal with along with the trials and tribulations that the public have had to face together but I've also made a lot of great memories and had some amazing experiences that I genuinely don't think I'd change for the world. I feel as if this year has really taught me that no matter how bad things get that there is always, ALWAYS something happening that makes everything seem a lot better no matter how little that good thing is.

I want to wish you all a Happy New Year, I hope that this year has brought you all you wanted and that the year to come will be bring you everything you hope because you are all absolutely amazing and deserve it. I want to thank you all also for sticking with my blog, I know that this year - especially towards the end of the year - my blog hasn't been what it used to but I promise that within this next year I really want to achieve something with my blog and I hope that all I want to happen with it will happen. Without you reading and commenting I really wouldn't have had my confidence reinstalled to believe that my blog can become what it used to but better. Just a massive thank you to every single one of you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

♥

A WALK INTO WINTER.

So a couple of weeks ago, my little sister and I walked down to the local park, which isn’t too far away from us, to just go on a little walk and just have a general chit chat. However, my little sister has started her Art GCSE so she took her camera and our walk kind of turned into a little blog photoshoot. I thought that today I’d share with you a couple of the photos because my little sister’s photography skills are insane and I think that they need to be shown somewhere.

♥

My High School Experience.

Five years. 247 weeks. 1,726 days.

That's it. That was high school. In the past couple of months I've really been able to reflect on high school and my experience of the whole ordeal. I thought today I'd create a very large blog post instead of lots of little ones of advice, tips, experiences etc. about high school in order to try and depart some wisdom on all of you whether you're in high school or are starting high school. So let's together dive into five years of trials, tribulations and triumphs of high school.

My high school experience was definitely no walk in the park. It definitely wasn't anything like High School Musical or The Breakfast Club, I mean there definitely were not any Zac Efron's or Judd Nelson's. I've split my high school experience advice into three topics; love, friendship and education because I feel as if they were the three topics that popped into my head whilst thinking about high school.

Learning About Love.
Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love. If you know where that quotes from 10 Blogging Points to you haha. Anyway, I'm not claiming to be an expert on love but during my five years at high school I have been in two official relationships, one for six months in Year & and one in Year 8 & 9 (yes, I dated the same guy twice). Technically I was almost in three relationships but that's a very confusing thing to get into. So I remember thinking that the first guy I dated I loved and was going to marry him, it was far from it. I think the reason I thought this was because I'd really liked him since he'd come to my primary school in Year 3 and it was just an inevitable thing that we were going to date. What I think everyone should learn from their first relationship really is that you're probably not madly in love with the person you're dating, you just think you are because it's your first relationship. I also think that I've learnt that you shouldn't enter a relationship because everyone else thinks you should but because you want to otherwise you're just lying to the person you're with about liking them. My final piece of advice about love is that don't think that because you're not in a relationship and your friends are don't think you're not worth it because you are, lots of people aren't in relationship in high school so don't think you're alone in it. Boys really aren't worth it at the end of the day to be honest.

Friend Or Foe?
Making the leap from primary school to high school can really teach you about who your real friends are. Personally friendship for me was a real issue throughout high school. In Year 7, 8 and 9 I was in a different form to my main friendship group and I genuinely found it extremely hard to adjust to not being with them every single hour of the school day. I found it that hard that difficult that I tried to fit in with a group of girls that were in my form. It was awful. All I can say about that is that if you want to be friends with people who aren't really in your form or classes then make the effort because it'll be worth it. Towards the end of my school experience so from the middle of Year 10 until the middle of Year 11 I was quite badly injured with ligament damage in my ankle; I was on crutches, I couldn't get up to our science building, I had to go to numerous physio sessions and nothing was getting better. It got to the point where people who I thought were my friends were apparently talking badly about me behind my back. This was really hard for me to deal with if I'm all that honest, I was sad all the time and most days I'd come home from school and cry about it. Whether the things said were true or not it really taught me something, be careful who you share private information and secrets with because if I the things that were said about me were true I wouldn't have told some people the things I did. 

Party Animal Or GCSE Extraordinaire?
So the final element of advice that I'm going to give you is actually what we go to school for; the education. Over the past five years I feel as if I've really found the correct balance between having a social life and a good education. I wasn't the most popular person in school but there were always extracurricular events that I wanted to be involved in which definitely ate into revision time like the school musical. I really had to home in on what I felt was most important which sometimes meant not being able to do things that I really wanted to do. One thing that I found not from personal experience but from over hearing it was that partying and GCSE's do not mix well. There were people in my year who's grades would suffer because they went to too many parties. I guess my advice here is to really take into account just how important your grades are, I mean thy'll probably be plenty of parties during the Summer so why take the chance with your grades? I'm not saying that you can't go to parties but definitely prioritise. It's all about what your main priority is.

I think that's about it to be completely honest. What are your pieces of high school advice? Let's start a discussion; leave your most important piece of advice that you'd give to high school you now if you had the chance.

♥

Summer Reading List.

I love reading. It's a real passion of mine and from a young age I've always had my nose stuck in a book. Seeing as I have so much time to do nothing this Summer because I've had more time off due to my exams. I've put together a list of books that I'd really love to read before the Summer is up and today I thought I'd share my list with you, maybe to give you inspiration on what to read or just so you can know what I'm going to be reading this Summer. What I want to know from you though is when you finished school for the Summer and when you go back, I always find it really interesting that everyone finishes and starts school at different times. Anyway, enough with my rambling, let's get into this!

So I thought because obviously I don't have an opinion on these books yet I'd just give you the synopsis of each book so it's easy for you to kind of decide whether you want to read any of these books as well as me.

The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

Meet Carrie Bradshaw before 'Sex and the City!' The Carrie Diaries is the coming-of-age story of one of the most iconic characters of our generation. Before Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw was a small town girl who knew she wanted more. She's ready for real life to start, but first she must navigate her senior year of high school. Up until now, Carrie and her friends have been inseparable. Then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture, and a friend's betrayal makes her question everything. With an unforgettable cast of characters, The Carrie Diaries is the story of how a regular girl learns to think for herself, and evolves into a sharp, insightful writer. Readers will learn about her family background, how she found her writing voice, and the indelible impression her early friendships and relationships left on her. Through adventures both audacious and poignant, we'll see what brings Carrie to her beloved New York City, where her new life begins.

The Heir by Kiera Cass

Kiera Cass's Number 1 New York Times bestselling Selection series has enchanted readers from the very first page. In this fourth romantic novel, follow Illea's royal family into a whole new Selection - and find out what happens after happily ever after. Kiera Cass's #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series has enchanted readers from the very first page. In this fourth romantic novel, follow Illea's royal family into a whole new Selection-and find out what happens after happily ever after. Eighteen years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon's heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn't expect her Selection to be anything like her parents' fairy-tale love story...but as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought. A new generation of swoonworthy characters and captivating romance awaits in the fourth book of the Selection series!

The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Magic is dangerous – but love is more dangerous still... 

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray arrives in England during the reign of Queen Victoria, something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural fold stalk the gaslit streets. Friendless and hunted, Tessa seeks refuge with the Shadowhunters, a band of warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons. Drawn ever deeper into their world, she finds herself fascinated by – and torn between – two best friends and quickly realizes that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Love and lies can corrupt even the purest heart... 

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, while her desire for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will – the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do? As their dangerous search for the truth leads the three friends into peril, Tessa's heart is ever more torn, especially when one of their own betrays them...

The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Danger and betrayal, love and loss, secrets and enchantment are woven together in the breathtaking finale to the #1 New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices Trilogy, prequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series.
THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING
A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray. Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever. As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army? Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment, and the tangled threads of love and loss intertwine as the Shadowhunters are pushed to the very brink of destruction in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior—to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.
Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.
This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

The Dark Artifices: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word.
A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabatai is your best friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other—but they can never fall in love.
Emma Carstairs is a warrior, a Shadowhunter, and the best in her generation. She lives for battle. Shoulder to shoulder with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, she patrols the streets of Los Angeles, where vampires party on the Sunset Strip, and faeries—the most powerful of supernatural creatures—teeter on the edge of open war with Shadowhunters. When the bodies of humans and faeries turn up murdered in the same way Emma’s parents were when she was a child, an uneasy alliance is formed. This is Emma’s chance for revenge—and Julian’s chance to get back his brother Mark, who is being held prisoner by the faerie Courts. All Emma, Mark, and Julian have to do is solve the murders within two weeks…and before the murderer targets them. Their search takes Emma from sea caves full of sorcery to a dark lottery where death is dispensed. And each clue she unravels uncovers more secrets. What has Julian been hiding from her all these years? Why does Shadowhunter Law forbid parabatai to fall in love? Who really killed her parents—and can she bear to know the truth?
The darkly magical world of Shadowhunters has captured the imaginations of millions of readers across the globe. Join the adventure in Lady Midnight, the long-awaited first volume of a new trilogy from Cassandra Clare.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

THE GREAT GATSBY, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. This exemplary novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,” it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.
The Great Gatsby is one of the great classics of twentieth-century literature.

So there you go, they're all the books that I shall be reading over this Summer. What books are you going to be reading? I'd love to know!

♥

Get To Know Me | The Beauty Blogger Tag

Back with my first catch-up blog post for y’all. I’ve recently been obsessed with Jess from JDRMakeUp and came across her YouTube and then her blog. One of her most recent blog posts was a ‘Get To Know Me – Beauty Blogger Tag’ so I thought that today for you all I’d let you have a very wordy blog post to read. So let’s cut the intro short and get on with this blog post.

Is your hair naturally curly or straight?
It’s kind of in that really annoying in between stage where it’s trying to be a bit of both so it’s a bit frizzy – it’s highly annoying. I can straighten it but my hair will not hold a curl for the life of it so I have to sleep with my hair in a particular way to make it curly.

Do you dye it yourself or go to the salon?

Interesting fact about me; I’ve never dyed my hair or stepped foot in a salon. I’ve always had at home hairdressers who come to my house and cut my hair for me. However, I feel as if my current hairdresser who happens to be my best friend’s mum would kill me if I asked her to dye my hair and plus my mum won’t let me either. Issues of being a sixteen year old with no say.

Do you wear the same style everyday or do you change it?

I go through stages with my hairstyles. What normally happens is that I’ll find a hairstyle that I absolutely love and wear it for like a month straight until I’m sick of it and try a new one. I normally go for down and straight, down and wavy/curly or this really causal updo that I’m loving at the moment.

How long does it take for you to put on makeup?

That all depends on what time I wake up and the occasion. School? I take as little time as possible to do my makeup but taking time not to look awful you know because of all those people I want to impress haha. Parties or meals out? Half an hour to forty five minutes. I like to look my absolute best when going out, makeup is a real passion of mine obviously so I always like to do really extravagant things with my makeup when I get to. Whether that be a bold lip or a smoky eye I love to try different things out!

What do you do first, face or eyes?
Again, it depends. If I’m going out for a nice meal or I want to do a bit of a fancier eye look with more pigmented shades I’ll go for the eyes first just do it’s easier to get rid of any fallout from brushes or if the shadow doesn’t completely stay on my lid. However, if I’m just going very basic, with my everyday makeup I’ll do face first seeing as I never go very heavy with my eyeshadow on an everyday basis.

Do you collect makeup or just buy what you need when you need it?
I’d love to say that I collect makeup but with a sixteen year olds budget I don’t have the money to collect money so I kind of just buy things whenever I need to. I’m hoping to get a job soon so maybe I can up a few more things with a bit of extra money coming in but who knows?

How often do you wear false eyelashes?

Spoiler alert but I’ve never worn false eyelashes. I have quite long, natural eyelashes. They’re perfectly fine with the right mascara, they’re not too bothersome either but I feel that if I tried to wear false eyelashes I would literally look like I was wearing spiders on my eyes which freaks me out seeing as I hate spiders. Maybe one day I’ll find a pair of false eyelashes that won’t look like spiders and wear them. Who knows?

What are your current every day makeup staples?

I don’t really have any makeup staples at the moment. I use the same thing every day because I always have so I always buy the same products. I might start branching out soon though because I can’t use the same thing every day. What are your everyday makeup staples? I’d really love to know! Maybe I’ll be able to pick some up in the near future.

Do you wear makeup if you’re home alone or with your family?

Not really no. I’m one of those people who if I don’t really have to do something then I won’t so unless I’m going out I kind of just go bare faced. I think it’s because I wear makeup all day at school so I like to let my skin breathe when I’m around a group of people that I feel comfortable with.

How many high end products do you have?

I have a few mini’s from Benefit, like they’re Porefessional and they’re Hello Flawless Oxygen Foundation along with a few other minis. I got them as gifts last Christmas. I don’t use them a lot because I don’t want to waste any of them so I use them very sparingly.

Do you plan your OOTD every night or decide in the morning when you’re getting dressed?

Seeing as five out of the seven days of the week I wear a school uniform no because I literally wear the same thing everyday. The weekends? No, unless I’m going out somewhere really nice I won’t plan my outfit. I kind of where the same thing all the time but switch in a different shirt or jeans or a skirt depending on the weather. Sometimes I spend the whole weekend in pyjamas if I’m not doing .anything at all. It’s just so much simpler haha.

How often do you change your handbag?

I don’t use handbags very often and when I do I just use my cheapy Primark one that I’ve had for a couple of years. It’s practical, it fits quite a lot in so I don’t see the point in changing my bag seeing I really don’t use it a lot.

How often or when do you work out?

Do compulsory P.E. lessons count? I’m going to say they do. Twice a week is when I technically work out. The reason why I don’t work out outside of school at the moment is because I have prom in less than two months and I don’t want to gain or lose any weight because otherwise I’m going to have to have alterations done to my dress again. This summer though I’m going to boss it, I have lots of time to do exercise so I’m going to go swimming, run, I might even go to a spin class with my friends.

Left or right handed?

Right handed.

How tall are you?

Short. That’s all I know. I used to know how tall I was because I used to be measured when I went to the hospital but then I go discharged so I don’t keep track of it anymore.

Do you speak any foreign languages?

Currently yes. By this time next year? Not a chance. I’m currently doing a GCSE in French and as much as I love knowing how to speak a foreign language I’m not carrying it on for an A Level or planning on remembering it. Learning how to speak a foreign language is great but it’s also extremely stressful! In the future I’d love to learn a foreign language like Italian or maybe even take up French again. We’ll see.

Sweet or savoury?

You cannot ask me that question! There’s just too much choice. I mean I love crisps, I could eat them all day but I also love to eat a cupcake, a doughnut or pack of sweets. There’s just too much choice of the two. I can’t chose, I physically refuse to choose sweet or savoury.

What’s your favourite perfume?

Any perfume that Katy Perry has brought out from her original Killer Queen bottle. I seriously love her perfumes and could go through them like wild fire spreading. I just love the fruity but floral scent of them all. I’ve actually just ran out of the original Killer Queen perfume so I’m going to have to buy a replacement for it very, very soon.

How many pets do you have?
I don’t have any pets. We used to have a rabbit but that’s a very sore subject for some of my family members so we don’t really talk about it anymore.

Do you read comments posted on blogs?                           
On my own blog? Yes, all the time. I love seeing the feedback that I get from all you lovely people. It really brightens my day reading your comments. On other peoples blogs? Not so much. If they’re on peoples blogs that I read religiously or that I’ve commented on I like to take a sneaky peak at what everyone else is thinking but apart from that not really. I think I might start having a read of other people’s blog posts. I might find some good advice and help from reading comments.

Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts?

I do and it’s an ever growing list. It’s probably a very bad thing to have because it just means I’m tempted to spend all the money that I have in my bank account. There’s lots of things on there from foundations, to eyeshadow palettes, to lipsticks. Have you got any recommendations to what I should put on this list? Let me know.

How did you come up with your blog name?

My original blog name if you look up at my hyperlink is ‘My Crazy Beauty Journey.’ The reason why I named my blog this is because when I first started this blog I was just starting out with beauty and was really getting into it. However, I’ve now changed it to ‘Chloe Marie’ because that’s my name and it makes me feel a lot more open to all you lovely readers. I’m hoping to change my hyperlink name to ‘Chloe Marie’ to make it a lot more consistent.

What sort of camera do you use for your photographs?

At the moment I use my phone which is a Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 but something might be changing very soon. I don’t want to let the secret go so that’s all I’m going to be saying about that.

What’s your favourite colour?

Purple. Ever since I was little I’ve loved purple. Simple as. They’re other colours that I do love but purple most definitely is my favourite colour.

Do you swear?

I’d love to say that I’m an angel and don’t but in all honesty I do. I don’t have the mouth of a sailor but if I’m annoyed with someone or shocked I’ll let a word or two slip. We’re all human anyway so it’s not like it’s a crazy thing to do.

What are you doing with the rest of your day?

Sit in my living room or upstairs in my bedroom and plan lots of future blog posts which I’m going to upload throughout the Summer after exams are over. What are your plans for the rest of the day?

So there you go. I hope you’re all still here and haven’t aged thirty years due to the length of this blog post. I tag and challenge all of you bloggers to answers all these questions. Until next time, which should be very soon if I’m going to catch-up with these blog posts.

♥

The Spring Tag.

Happy Easter everyone, I hope you're having a fabulous day and you've eaten your body weight in chocolate. I thought to celebrate Easter on my blog I thought I'd do the Spring Tag which I was recently tagged in by Marianna from Crazy In Life. Thank you for the tag Marianna, let's get on with this!

Favourite spring nail polish?
Up until last year the only colour I would wear on my nails was black, yes I went through that stage as a teenager. Anyway, I made a promise to myself at the start of 2015 that I would hardly ever wear black nail polish and no word of a lie I haven't worn black nail polish since. I much prefer the bright colours to pastel colours in Spring. I always find that pastel nail polish colours make my hands look blue, weird I know. Anyway, I love wearing bright pinks or blues or purples throughout Spring and very much into Summer.

What is your must-have lip colour this spring?
I've got no clue what it's called because it came in a Soap & Glory makeup set for my birthday two years ago. I literally love the colour. It's kind of a mix between a pink and nude colour, it's definitely a your lips but better sort of shade. It's gorgeous and extremely easy to wear with any outfit, to any occasion - I sometimes even wear it to school! I definitely recommend that you check out any of the Soap & Glory makeup products because they're all amazing!

Show us your favourite spring dress!
Funny story, I don't own a single casual dress for Spring. Crazy right? I should probably pick one up if I'm all that honest. Do any of you have any recommendations for stores that do nice casual Spring dresses? Let me know in the comments below!

What's your favourite flower?
Peonies, babies breath and roses. I just think that they're so beautiful and gahh just thinking about them makes me want to go and buy them. They're just so beautiful, simple as.

Favourite spring scarf/accessory?
I'm not an accessories gal if I'm all that honest. I do however love wearing earrings but not overly massive ones. My mum bought me a pair of earrings for my birthday which I love and haven't stopped wearing them. I'm not quite sure where they were from but they're just so gorgeous. 

Favourite spring candle?
I never get to pick candles in my house but I love the candles that my mum chooses to burn. She always picks floral ones to burn in the Spring and they always smell amazing! I never know which scents she burns but she always chooses Yankee Candle candles any time of the year really, they're very strong in scent and make the whole house smell delicious!

Favourite body spray/perfume for spring?
I recently received a Victoria Secret spray for my birthday in the scent 'Love Spell.' It smells so fruity and sweet, I'm almost afraid that I'm going to use it up so quickly that it won't last me very long at all.

What is spring like where you live?
Spring in England can vary a lot. I mean one minute it can be bright sunshine then the next it can be pouring it down. As I write this the weather isn't too bad, it's not the sunniest of days but it isn't tipping it down with rain. The weather can be very temperamental in Britain especially in England. What's the weather like in other places in the world?

What's your favourite thing about spring?
Most definitely the flowers. I seriously love them so much as you can probably tell from my lack of words to the what's your favourite flower question. I love the colours and the brightness of them all. 

Are you a spring cleaner?
Actually I'm not, I'm more of a winter cleaner. Is that even a thing? I always prefer to have a good tidy before Christmas to make room for presents so there's never really a reason for me to do a big clean in spring as well. Are you a spring cleaner or a winter cleaner like me? I'd really love to know!

Any plans for spring break or an upcoming vacation?
No. Instead I have a serious pile of revision to do. I start my exams in just under two months and they'll last for a month so for the next three months I will basically have no social life at all. I'm sure that all of you who are currently in Year 11 are stressing about exams feel the same way as I do but I know that doing nothing social now will pay off in a few months.

So that's that, all my Spring related questions and answers. Thank you again Marianna for tagging me in this again. I've decided to tag all of you reading this with a blog to answer these questions, I'd love to know the answers! So go, go, go and don't forget to tweet me with your answers!

♥

Collabro | One Of The Best Nights Ever

On Friday night I did one of the best things ever to date. If you remember my 'What I Got For My 16th Birthday' I received one of the best birthday presents ever and that was a ticket to go and watch Collabro in concert on Friday in Stoke. Collabro won Britain's Got Talent two years ago and sing musical theatre songs. They're one of my favourite boy bands and I cried when I received this present. Anyway, on Friday I went on my way to Stoke singing songs from their albums as loud as I could along with one of my best friends and her mum. Anyway I thought I do a quick blog post to sum up the night and share a few photos. These photos aren't all mine I'd just like to say, they're people's photo who shared the amazing night.

I didn't actually watch the series of Britain's Got Talent when Collabro won because it's not my favourite show but when the best friend I went with showed me some of their performances of YouTube as the show was on and I became hooked. They were just so different and something that was out of the ordinary. I have a real love for musicals so Collabro were kind of perfect for me. I just love listening to their music. I didn't get the chance to go to their first tour and to be honest I didn't think I was going to have the chance to go this tour so when I got the tickets I was literally so happy and was counting down the days until I went and saw them.

The Act Two album is my favourite album to date out of the two albums Collabro have brought out and the tour really exceeded my expectations. The way the stage was and the way the songs were performed were just astounding! Also, I really liked that Collabro did songs that weren't on any of their albums; I don't want to spoil these songs for anyone going to watch the boys but all I will say is that a particular Mumford & Sons song was a particular favourite of mine - I hope they put it on a future album.

Whenever I've been to a concert the support acts have always been a bit iffy but the support acts at the Collabro concert were freaking amazing! AJ Brown came on before Collabro came onto the stage and I have officially become obsessed with him, I've actually become so obsessed with him that I've order his EP with the songs he performed in his set. Catriona Murray was the other support act, she's an opera singer who came onto stage and sang some songs by herself but also joined in on The Phantom of the Opera songs - literally The Phantom of the Opera that she sang with Collabro sent chills down my spine, it was amazing!

I really had an amazing time and am now kind of obsessed with the idea of going to all of Collabro's concerts; they're just so friendly in concert and seem to connect with their audience so well. The photo below is their classic selfie that the boys take on stage. Me, my friend and her mum sat on the upper level where the lights are in the middle and to be honest the seats were freaking amazing - it doesn't look like it in the further away photos but the seats were really great.

So there's a rambly blog post that doesn't really make any sense but I really just wanted to express my gratitude and talk about one of the best nights of my life. Please if only once listen to Collabro's songs - I've been listening to them non-stop all week and now cannot stop. I hope you enjoyed this blog post, until next time!

♥

16 Things I've Learnt In 16 Years.

Over my sixteen years on earth I have learnt many pieces of advice; from family, friends, social media and even through my own personal experience. I thought that today I'd be extremely philosophical and pass on my words of wisdom with you all. Some of these you might have heard of before but you can never hear these pieces of advice enough so let's get into the 16 Things I've Learnt In 16 years.

Fail To Prepare. Prepare To Fail.
Something that teachers have told you and I hundreds upon thousands of times but this piece of advice has really stuck with me especially because I've witnessed it first hand. I didn't believe that revision was a thing I needed to do because, not to toot my own horn, I'm quite an intellectual person but boy was I wrong! Preparing for exams and even things such as being ready to go away are really important. Preparation is something we should all not try but most definitely need to do otherwise you're basically throwing in the towel. Revise. Prepare. Do things that make you ready for what's coming up because it'll help.

You Can Do Anything You Set Your Mind To.
I have made endless tasks for myself throughout my life some of them much harder than others but if I've really felt strongly about said task I'll get it done even if it takes forever. I think I've always had that mindset of breaking boundaries and societies rules; I mean I'm a girl who used to freaking play rugby!! I think that my latest task is something that goes along with this piece of advice quite well. I want to be a writer, it's all I've ever wanted to do and for years I've said that I'm going to write a book and never have done but this is Summer will be different. As soon as I've gotten exams and prom out of the way I'm going to write a book - how good it will be is a different story but it's something I've wanted to do for a long time and I'm going to do it.

Don't Be A Home Bird. Explore. Get Lost. Do Something.
This piece of advice is coming from the girl who hates planes but would love to travel just about everywhere. Don't let small spaces confine you, push the boundaries. Buy spur of the moment plane tickets or train tickets or just get in the car and go. Explore somewhere new, get lost doing it - just don't sit round all your life and then one day when you're in your mid-40's realise you haven't done anything. Even if you just go down the road to a town you've never been to before you're an explorer of a different place and even culture. Just get up and go.

A Writer Writes. If You Want To Be A Writer, Write.
Writing has always been a passion of mine since I was little and it's what I want to do with my life; write. I was told this piece of advice by an English teacher who I had a real love for, no not in that way - he was always very supportive of my writing and would mark all my silly pieces of writing I'd give to him and write in the back of my English book after finishing a task. Over the past two years since he's left the school I haven't written as much as I'd like to have done because no one's seemed to have cared about it but I've decided that as soon as my exams have finished I'm going to write a book ; I've had the idea for years and haven't written it. I came back to this piece of advice and realised that I really do want to be a writer so I'm going to put my foot down and do it. If you want to be a writer then just write, write about the silliest of things and trust me it'll get the ball rolling.

Laughter Really Is The Best Medicine.

I can't tell you how many times that I've sat at a table in the back of the music room at my school surrounded by my four best friends and laughed my head of until my stomach hurts. These moments are the moments I've really started to treasure especially since I know in a few months I won't always be able to make more memories like that seeing as we're all parting ways to go to different sixth forms etc. I also love it when on a Friday night me and my mum sit in the living room laughing so much that we're crying. These moments really turn my day around when I'm feeling down proving that laughter really is the best medicine. If you're feeling down surround yourself with good people and just laugh your ass off.

Throw Kindness Around Like Confetti.
Kindness; the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.
I feel as if this is a piece of advice that more people need to be living by because I feel as if both on the Internet and in reality lots of people have become extremely negative and it's not a place I sometimes want to be in. I think the Internet has a lot to do with that. I love the Internet but I feel as if that sometime's there is so much negativity on it that it bleeds into reality and affects what we do there. I think that as a community that we should try to at least to one act of kindness every day; give money to a homeless person, let your little sister wear your favourite shirt or even lend someone a pen and don't care if they don't give it back - you've supplied someone with a pen for a good few weeks. I mean it's not that hard so let's all do random acts of kindness and not let the negative vibes stop us from throwing our kindness around like confetti.

Enjoy Today, You Won't Get Another Chance At It.
Make the most of things; bad situations, good situations, mediocre situations - make the most of them because today is a day that is going to be a day that you'll never get back so make the most of it. Make stupid decisions, make amazing decisions just enjoy what you're doing because if you don't you're going to go through your life wishing you'd done things but you'll never do them because you didn't do them the day before.

Regret Nothing.
I've made many decision in my short lived life as many others before me have done. Some of these decisions being to not be friends with particular people, embarrass myself by falling over on a wooden floor and end up being on crutches for near to 9 months and even choose to get laughed at by people in my year because I decided to play Woman 6 in the school musical. But do you know what? I don't regret a single decision I have made in my life. Those stupid and sometimes reckless decisions I've made have made me the person I am today and I'm pretty freaking pleased with the person I am. At the time I made these decisions I regretted some of them but came to realise those decisions made were definitely for the best and I most definitely would never go back. I've made some great memories and friends by doing stupid, reckless things and that I don't regret at all.

Stop Waiting & Just Do.

Do you think Martin Luther King managed to make such an impact on racism by sitting on his sofa? Do you think that Malala Yousafzai thought that she'd give up on all the girls fighting for an education? No I didn't think so. So what's stopping you from getting off the sofa and fighting for women's rights? To try and stop climate change? For your school to let you wear more than one stud earring? Yourself. That's the answer. No one is stopping you from trying to change the world but yourself and you need to stop doing that. People didn't die for us so we could give up and say what's the point, they died so we had a voice to speak out with. We all need to join together and tackle world issues for our children and our children's children. So let's stop sitting and fight for the right to be free. Let's do something that will change the world. Together.

Guys Aren't Worth It.
Now I'm not saying that I've had a long list of boyfriends - I've had two, almost three but that's a complicated story however, it is the story in which I got this advice from mainly. I went through a two year period where a lot of crap happened in my personal life and I managed to find someone who I could confine in. However, over those two years my friends and family also realised a massive change in me and not in a positive way - I always seemed upset. Soon I started to realise this and I knew why I seemed this way - the guy I'd been talking to. I felt like I'd tried to mature earlier than I had to all to keep up with a guy. It affected my grades, my friendships, everything. Don't think I'm blaming the guy because I'm not - I'm blaming myself. Girls, don't let yourself or think you have you have to changed for a guy because you don't - they seriously aren't worth it. Focus on your education, hanging out with your friends and making amazing memories. If a guy happens to fall in place somewhere along the road that's great but you seriously don't need a guy in order to make your life complete.

Stop Worrying About What Others Will Think.
How many times have I heard this? About a billion times and every time I hear it I agree with it more and more. I used to be so worried about what other people would think if I did something a bit crazy but I went past the point of caring when I first turned 15. My blog plays a very big part in this advice, I was so worried that people at my school would laugh at me because I wrote a blog but when I started sharing my posts on Twitter and a lot of people found out they were all really supportive - I've had full blown conversations with people about my blog in general or particular blog posts that I've written. So if you want to share blog posts on Twitter, wear a yellow dress or even stand up for someone's new hair colour then do it and don't have a single worry in the world.

DON'T Take Family, Friends Or Time For Granted.
This piece of advice is something that I realised just before I turned 14 and has come to mind a lot over the past two years. Over my short life I've lost people that I shouldn't have lost at the age they were and it made me realise that you should never ever take things for granted especially family, friends or time. This is actually probably one of the most important things I've ever learnt and will forever be. Something that I've taken from this piece of advice is hang out with your friends and family as much as possible because making memories is so important and you'll be pleased you made them if something ever happens.

Life Isn't Fair, But It's Good.
No one gets what they want in life, there's always going to be something better and most of the time that better is unreachable. I was told as a little girl that when I couldn't have something and I asked why that life wasn't fair so I couldn't have everything I wanted and it's true - life really isn't fair. However, if you let go of the better thing you want you'll actually come to realise that what you have is really freaking good and makes that unfair life that you think you wanted seem insignificant.

It's Okay If You Don't Know What You Want To Do With Your Life.
I wrote a blog post kind of related to this topic a few weeks back called 'Do I Really Need To Know Right Now?' and I just want you all to know that you don't need to know what you want to do with your life. I'm sixteen and am still trying to figure my life out, I think my mum still is to be honest. Don't think that your life is going to end because you don't know what you want to do and teachers are telling you that you have to know because in reality you really don't - I can assure you that said teachers didn't know what they wanted to be at our age. Don't panic, just live a little and if you find out what you want to do that's great but it's not going to define you if you've got no clue.

Just Say…YES!

Scared of doing something out of your comfort zone? Well girl it's time to break down the walls of said comfort zone and look at the world in a completely different perspective. I learnt this piece of advice from the YouTuber, Zoella or Zoe Sugg whichever way you want to put it. I'd always been scared to do things like perform in front of other people but after watching a video of Zoe's, here's the link. I went through a stage of my life where - I don't want to say I was depressed because I don't think I was - I was in this mood where I didn't want to go anywhere or do anything, I just wanted to lie in bed all the time. I stumbled across this video and realised that I had to do things that I wanted to do because otherwise I would've carried on the way I was and I didn't want to. I started hanging out with more people, I auditioned for school musicals and made friends through that all because I said to myself 'YES, you can do this!' I think that if you kind of feel like I feel you need to push yourself to do things you wouldn't normally do because sometimes they can be the thing that makes you realise why you're on this planet. 

BE BRAVE. BE BADASS. BE BEAUTIFUL.
This is the most recent advice that I have both learnt from others and from my own personal experience. Since I started high school, even though I'm almost ending now - scary, I became much more aware of the way I looked especially when standing next to girls I believed to be 10x better than me because they were slim and had perfect skin blah, blah, blah. However, I've come to realise especially over the past half a year that I'm beautiful in my own way because of my curves. Everyone is beautiful and everyone should be brave enough to stand against societies stupid idea of the "perfect" woman. We're all badass in our own way as well as brave and beautiful - don't let anyone tell you any different.

A very long, wordy blog post finished at last. I hope you enjoyed this blog post - it was interesting for me to write, it kind of felt like I was shedding another one of those layers between myself and you, the readers. I feel like this has kind of helped you learn more about me. Anyway, have you got any pieces of advice worth sharing? Do you follow some of the advice that I do? Let me know in the comments!

♥