21 Things That I've Learnt In 21 Years

With it being my 21st birthday next week (god, I'm getting old!,) I wanted to post something a little different here on my blog. Of course, you are used to seeing the more superficial side of me - what with this being a predominantly beauty & fashion site - but I wanted to write something just a little more personal than usual. In my 21 years of my life so far, I have learnt a lot of valuable lessons that I think maybe rather helpful or relatable to some of you. So today, I decided to jot them down. I hope you enjoy them!

1. Good friends will always stick around. Even when you are all busy living your lives and growing up, you will come back together again and it will be as if nothing has changed.

2. Not everybody is going to like or understand you but it's okay because as long as you and your loved ones have accepted you, nobody else matters.

3. Do not follow the crowd or give in to peer pressure. Just because it seems like everybody else is doing something, it doesn't mean that you have to as well!

4. Being in love for the first time is worth waiting for. Don't worry if all of your friends have had boyfriends and have experienced those things before you. Your time will come and it will be worth waiting for!

5. Having an anxiety disorder does not mean that your life is over. You will still smile, be happy and have fun. The down days are only temporary and things will get better! 

6. Enjoy the little things! Sometimes we get so distracted by the bigger things going on that we forget to appreciate the simpler joys in life.

7. You can say 'no' to something if you want to! Sometimes its okay to be a little selfish and put what you want to do first.

8. When you're young and people tell you that school will be the best years of your life, they are right (regardless of how awful it seems at the time.) 

9. Your parents will always be your number one supporters, no matter how much your argue and disagree with each other!

10. Comparing yourself to others is never a healthy thing. It will only ever bring you down and damage your self-confidence and self-worth.

11. When something occurs that feels like its going to be the end of the world, it's not. In a few years time, you will look back on that situation and probably laugh about it. 

12. Do not put so much pressure on yourself. We are only human and we shouldn't be so quick to beat ourselves up.

13. Ask for help when you need it. Do not feel embarrass if you cannot accomplish something on your own, you don't need to be independent all of the time.

14. Put down your phone every now and again. Switching off and connecting with who you're with and your surroundings is such a lovely thing to do.

15. Having money is not the be all and end all. In the long run love, family & friends are way more valuable than the pennies in your pocket!

16. Success isn't necessarily determined by whether you are rich or have a good career. Success comes in many different forms.

17. What you may see as a flaw, others around you might find rather endearing. Embrace your uniqueness!

18. Change is inevitable, no matter how much you try and fight it. All you can do is try to adapt to a new situation the best that you can.

19. Compliments really can make somebody's entire day!

20. Be kind and respectful at all times. You never know what somebody is going through behind closed doors.

21. And lastly, BE YOURSELF!

I hope you all enjoyed reading about the 21 things that I have learnt so far before hitting the big 21 next Thursday! I know that this was a different post to the ones that you are used to from me but I really enjoyed being a little more creative and mixing it up a little! Please let me know if you think that I should create some more content like this in the future by leaving a comment down below. Also, don't forget to share some of the life lessons that you have learnt too!

The Christmas Tag

Hi guys. Today I thought that I would do a Christmas tag after seeing so many bloggers do one. I thought that it would be nice to share with you some of my family's traditions and see how they differ from everybody elses. Let's get started!

Do you prefer a real Christmas tree or a synthetic one?
My Mum is quite fussy and always demands that we get a real tree as they look much nicer. I always tag along with my parents to our local Christmas tree farm each year and help them pick out a tree. This year, my Dad accidentally knocked over a bunch of trees whilst we were there and I literally could not stop laughing. I cannot take him anywhere!

You're in a coffee shop, it's December, what do you pick up?
I have become addicted to Costa's Honeycomb & Cream Hot Chocolate this year. I definitely recommend it!

What's your favourite colour scheme for decorating the tree?
As our living room is quite neutral in colour with a few green pillows and so on, (I promise it looks nicer than it sounds,) we tend to match our decorations to that. So our colour scheme is gold, browns and greens. It looks really elegant and classy I think!

Giving or receiving?
Definitely giving. I get really into buying presents and I get so much excitement out of doing so. I always really try and make my gifts personal whenever I can, especially when it comes to my closest friends.

To mince pie or not to?
Unfortunately, I do not like mince pies.

What's your traditional Sunday lunch?
On an average Sunday we will have some form of meat with roast potatoes, an assortment of vegetables that Mum honey glazes and cooks in the oven (yum!) and Yorkshire puddings. However, at Christmas, there are obviously plenty of trimmings such as chipolatas and sausage meat.

What do you wear on Christmas day?
I try to dress nicely on Christmas day in a dress and tights but this year, I think we are all wearing Christmas jumpers for fun. Also, even though we spend Christmas day at home and do not leave the house, I still like to make an effort with my hair and make-up.

What's your favourite Christmas song?
I'm not a huge fan of Christmas songs because when I worked in retail, they were all I heard for about three months on a loop. If I had to choose it would probably be 'Last Christmas' or 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday.'

What's your favourite Christmas film?
Elf without a doubt and I'm sure most people will say the same! It's so funny and I can quote so much of it.

Do you open presents before or after lunch?
We normally open them around mid-morning once my Nan has arrived. We usually all take it in turns to open one present each and go around in a circle.

I hope you enjoyed reading this fun, little tag and please feel free to link me if you have done this tag or a similar one, as I would love to read them and see the similarities and the differences between everybody's Christmases! Also I would like to tag my best friend, Laura, to do this tag too. She has a great blog called 'Just A Random Rambler,' which I recommend you take a little peek at. Thank you :)

Living And Dealing With Anxiety

It seems that many bloggers have come forward and spoken about their anxiety lately, which is amazing and incredibly brave of them to do so and now, I feel ready to do the same. Even though I have touched base with this subject before in my 'Saying Yes And Overcoming Your Fears' post, I have never gone into as much detail as I am going to today. Obviously this post is incredibly personal to me, as I am talking about something that affects me every single day to people that I do not even know in real life - yet somehow, this make it slightly easier. My main aim with this post is to share my experience with you all and hopefully, I might also be able to help some other people in similar situations along the way. Although writing this is rather daunting, inspiring others to not be ashamed of their anxiety will make it all worth while!

I have been suffering from anxiety and panic attacks for ten years now and until recently, I did absolutely nothing about it. However, last year really was the tip of the iceberg for me and I was in such a horrible place. I had a job I hated which made me ill and therefore, I became very reserved and reclusive. It got to the point where if I would have a panic attack in a particular place or situation, I would do everything in my power to never return to that place again through pure fear of the same thing happening again. Whenever my friends would invite me out, I would nine times of ten say no because I had some sort of irrational fear that something bad would happen to me. I would often become so distressed that I would violently shake, feel sick and be in tears. Plus, on the odd occasion when I did build up the courage to go out, I never fully enjoyed myself. It used to only cause me stress and unhappiness and let’s face it, that’s no way to live your life!

At this point, I knew that something had to change because my anxiety was starting to affect my daily life to the point where I couldn’t even hold down a job or career. This, consequently, controlled a lot of the choices that I made and it has stopped me from doing absolutely anything that is even slightly out of my comfort zone. It even hindered me in embracing certain opportunities that came my way that in hindsight would have benefited me a great deal. I regret saying no to certain things even to this day.

I still find it incredibly hard to really open up to my friends and family about my anxiety problem, even when the majority of them know about it. I tend to worry that they will judge me if I go into detail about how I feel in case they end up thinking that I am some kind of nutcase and no longer want to be around me. Where as in reality, it turns out that so many people suffer with similar problems to me. I worry that they may also think that I use my anxiety as an excuse for certain things or that I am being a nuisance, though I am slowly learning that this is not the case at all. I am very lucky in the fact that I have some really supportive people in my life who I know I can always turn to. However, this is not the case for all people. Though, with that being said, there are so many good mental health programmes out there, (Mind and Anxiety UK being two of these,) that offer anxiety sufferers help and guidance if they do feel alone or unable to talk to a relative or friend about their issues. There are also many routes that you can take to help ease your anxiety and panic attacks; medication, stress management classes and counselling etc.

For the past six months or so, I have been attending counselling sessions every Tuesday afternoon. I definitely feel that this is the best option for me after having tried medication around this time last year, as it didn't agree with me and it actually made me more ill in terms of feeling nauseous and getting regular migraines. However, the one struggle I have with counselling is that I do want to go but I dread it at the same time. It’s not a nice feeling having to talk to somebody who is essentially a stranger about really deep and personal things every single week, even when you know it will be beneficial in the long run. Most of us, including myself at times, would much rather block it out or deal with our emotions privately rather than share them (though I have come to learn that bottling emotions up is unhealthy.)

Now, it’s a year on and I am slowly feeling the way I want to. Although to some it may seem like I am moving at a snail’s pace and have not done an awful lot this year, I know in my mind that I have come on leaps and bounds in this time. I love going out now, in fact I thrive off of it, which is something I never would have imagined myself saying twelve months ago! I’m not going to lie and say that everything is a walk in the park; I still have a long way to go to. To this day, my comfort zone is very restrictive and small but I am working on expanding it at a pace that suits me. I always want to do something reckless like drive to a random destination but then I get disheartened by the fact that I will probably get half way there, freak out and come home. 

I still have a mixture of good days and bad days but I believe that is all the about taking little steps to eventually get me to where I want to be. Of course, I don’t know how long this will take. I often put pressure on myself by trying to put a time limit on things, convincing myself that I am not progressing fast enough. However, I have come to realise that as long as I know I am trying as hard as I possibly can, that’s all that counts. Overall, I am incredibly hopeful for what may happen over the next few months and I am optimistic that by this time next year, I will have come on leaps and bounds yet again.

I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to read about my personal experience with anxiety. I really hope that sharing my story has inspired at least one of you to start fighting your anxiety in the same way that I am. Remember that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and although you may be going through a tough time right now, things WILL get better! 

The Next Chapter Of My Life

This year I have really struggled with picking a potential career and I came to a dead end. However, after seeing my good friend Sydney complete the same course this time last year, I decided to partake in a three day intensive nail course. I agree that on the surface this may seem like a rather superficial and shallow career to pursue, what with it being part of the health & beauty career field, but there is a method to my madness. I have simply decided to do something that I enjoy, as I am very girly and love all things beauty-related. I have been that person who has been stuck in a dead end job that made me miserable and I do not want to go back there again. 

Some people have said to me that they think that I can do better career wise because I was always quite bright and studious at school, however, I am a firm believer that we can all express our intelligence in different ways. We do not necessarily have to have fantastic, high-paid jobs to be deemed as intelligent. For instance, I like to write and I get great satisfaction out of that, which is why I have my own blog where I can express myself and showcase my passion for writing etc. So, in my eyes, I do not need to be some fancy lawyer or a doctor to be successful in life. 

The skills I learnt on the course include manicures, pedicures and acrylic nails. I also learnt a lot about nail preparation, hand & foot massage, as well as how to use all the relevant tools in my kit. This may not sound like a lot to some but the techniques and stages in completing this course were extremely complex. As you can imagine, I am not a fully fledged nail technician after a mere three days of education. It is going to take me a long time to perfect all of these skills and the only way I will be able to do that is by practicing on my friends and family (which I am sure they will enjoy as they will be getting it all for free to start with!)

Although it may not sound like a big deal to some, I am extremely proud of my achievement over the past three days. It actually took me a lot of guts and courage to go after something that I really wanted because I was so scared of doing so, due to the fact  that I do not have a lot of confidence in myself and I am incredibly scared of failing. The course was far from what I expected but in a good way. Now, I am really looking forward to building up my knowledge and potentially making this into a career for myself. I really feel like this is the next chapter for me. After being out of work for quite a while now, I finally feel like I am slowly but surely getting back on track. In a nutshell, I am just hoping that this course will enable me to start a fresh and to give me something to be proud of doing in during 2013.

My Month Via Instagram - August 2013

Hi guys, I literally cannot believe that August is over already. it only feels like yesterday that I was sitting at my desk writing about what I was up to during July! Knowing that we are now nine months into 2013 is crazy, the next thing we know it will be Christmas! This month hasn't really been too busy or interesting for me in terms of activities, my life is a little samey at the moment but I still wanted to write this post regardless, as I have been doing so every month since I first started this blog and I can't go breaking tradition now can I?! So,without any further ado, here is what I have been up to throughout the month of August.

1. This is a little bit of a random post but I am proud to say that I have finally found all three variations of Coke bottles with my name on them. When Coca Cola first started doing this advertising technique, they only release the top 100 most popular names in the UK, and my name sadly didn't make the cut as it isn't that popular here. However, they have recently added over 100 more new names and mine was luckily included. Have any of you guys found your names yet? Let me know :)

2. Secondly this month, I went to one of my favourite nightclubs with my friend Sarah. I think it's safe to say that we had a really good time and had a good drink (or several drinks!) Apart from the actual night out itself, one of my favourite things is the process getting ready beforehand. I really loved my outfit this night (I borrowed the bralet from my friend Laura,) as it made me feel really confident. I am definitely an extreme girly-girl who loves spending their time doing their make-up and so on for a night on the town!

3. I recently bought this stunning dress from H&M and I had to share it with you all, as I love it so much. Not only is the dress a bargain, coming in at £14.99, but it's cut-out details are so gorgeous. The cut-outs are both at the side of the dress and atthe front at the top of the stomach area, as you can see in the photo above. It is an extremely flattering dress. They also do the dress in a lovely green colour if that's more up you're alley! 

4. I posted this photo on Instagram last weekend as a throwback from 2010 when me and my friend Laura went to Reading Festival for a day. We saw acts such as the likes of Blink 182, Paramore, You Me At Six and many more. Seeing a lot of my friends go to the festival this year made me definitely want to go next year. I spent a lot of my weekend watching the live streams and wishing I was there, sad I know! I hope that I can save up some money and go next year, otherwise I will be very upset! (P.S - I cannot believe how bright and red my hair was back in the day!)

5. This is just a picture I took on a day that me and my Mum went on a girly day out shopping. We spent some mother and daughter time browsing through all of our favourite shops and we found some lovely bits and bobs! We don't often get manyopportunities to spend the whole day together due to my Mums's strange working hours and so I was really happy to spend such a lovely day with her.

6. Last but not least, I spent a really nice day at my friend Sydney's house. As she completed a nail course last year, whenever we hang out she tends to do my nails for me. This time around I went for a gold, glittery Shellac polish and I love it. I hate how often normal nail varnish chips and so Shellac is perfect for me. I haven't posted a picture of my nails to Instagram yet but I am sure I will, so keep your eyes peeled! Afterwards, seeing as it was beautiful sunshine, we decided to do a spot of sunbathing in Sydney's garden. I also think that I made a new friend in her gorgeous dog, Ossie. Isn't he just adorable! 

I hope that you have enjoyed reading about what I have been up to this month. Please stay tuned to my blog as I have a lot of content ready to post in the next few weeks. Thank you :) 

My Month Via Instagram - July 2013

Hi guys, I cannot believe that another month has flown by already - 2013 is going so quickly! This month has been particularly lovely due to England finally getting some hot and sunny weather, which means that I have been out enjoying the sunshine whilst it lasts! This month has also been pretty exciting as yet again I have had quite a few nights out. So, without anymore rambling, let's begin talking about what I have been up to all throughout July.

1. First of all this month, to kick off our spell of nice weather, me and my friend Sarah spent an entire weekend together laying in the sun and eating a ton of yummy barbecue food. One Saturday afternoon, we decided to drive to one of our local parks for a change of scenery as opposed to my back garden. Little did we know that there was a huge event going on in the park and the entrance to the park had this really cute rainbow inflatable and I just had to get a photograph! Inside the event was a charity stall for Lukemia & Lymphoma, which me and Sarah both donated money to and got a free key-ring - that was our good deed for the day complete :)

2. My friend Sydney completed a nail course last year and recently she has been doing my nails for me. This time around, I decided to go for a natural polish as opposed to Shellac or acrylics as my nails are quite weak and damaged at the moment. I chose a lovely aqua blue colour and then went on to pick one of OPI's limited edition James Bond glitter polishes for an accent on my ring fingers. The combination of these two polishes really reminded me of mermaids on the ocean, the end result was so pretty!

3. My friends Danielle, Sarah and I were invited to a house party and this is a photograph that we took before we went. We all decided to get ready together at Sarah's house and do a little bit of pre-drinking too. The outfit I chose to wear was a denim Topshop bralet, which you can kind of see in the photo, teamed with a plain black skater skirt and sandals to keep me cool in the hot weather (it was even too hot to bother wearing heels!) The night was so much fun and I don't think that I stopped laughing all night!

4. This photo is from a a day where I simply stayed at home all day and worked on my tan. As you can see, this year I have tanned pretty well (especially for a fair-skinned blonde, blue eyed girl,) however, I accidentally chose an Instagram filter that made my skin look incredibly orange - oops! I took this quick snap because I thought it was really cute how my dog Sasha decided to come and lie right by me and enjoy the sun too!

5. I took this photo to show my outfit before an impromptu night out with my friend Charlotte. I managed to convince her to come out on a bit of a whim and I put this outfit together last minute. It's pretty simple, seeing as it just a black crop top and some high-waisted denim shorts, but I threw on some accessories and some fake eyelashes and I was ready to go. We went to a a club in my hometown that plays rock and alternative music, which is right up my alley! I love spontaneous nights out as they always turn out to be much better than planned ones and this night was definitely a random and eventful one!

6. Last but not least, and probably my favourite part of the month, is the fact that my best friend and fellow blogger Laura finally came home from Germany. She had been over in Dusseldorf for four months as part of an Erasmus for her university course and obviously, I miss her terribly. To surprise Laura upon her return, me and a few others decorated the front of Laura's house with lots of welcome home banners and balloons. We also wrote her a card and got her a few little gifts too. When Laura turned up and we welcomed her on her door step, it was really funny because me and Laura were wearing the same exact dress from H&M and so we decided to take a picture! I'm so happy that my best friend is home and I am excited for all of the fun we will have for the rest of the summer! 

That's all for this months update! I hope that you have enjoyed reading about my antics all throughout out July. Please stay tuned to my blog as I have lots of posts planned over the next few weeks. Thank you :) 

My Month Via Instagram - June 2013

Hi guys! It's come to that time of the month again where I share what I have been up to during the month of June with all of you. This month has been pretty mellow for me as I am focusing on getting my life together and consequently, I have signed up to do some voluntary work at a local ante-natal clinic. With that being said, whilst being busy going through that process, I have had a pretty busy month when it comes to nights out. So, without further a do, here's what I have been up to!

1. My first night out of the month was with my friend Lucy. We decided to go to a nightclub in our hometown that plays alternative music (which is right up my alley as rock is my favourite genre of music.) I was also excited to wear my new dress as pictured above. This really cute tie-dye cut-out dress is from a range in New Look called Cameo Rose and I am obsessed with it. When I wear it, I feel really confident and that is always a good thing! To view the dress on New Look's website, click here.

2. Shortly after, I went on another night out with my friend Danielle. We went to a club about a twenty minutes drive away from where I live which requires you to be a little more dressed up. Danielle came round mine for a few pre-drinks and I ended up doing her entire make-up look complete with some lovely false eyelashes. We both had a really great night and danced the night away, despite the fact that my feet were killing me in my heels. The sacrifices us girls make for fashion, eh?

3. This is just a little snap I took of my gorgeous dog, Sasha. She is a labrador-husky cross and I swear that 50% of my Instagram photos are just of her looking adorable. In this particular shot, she was begging me for food (as per usual) in my kitchen. 

4. This month, my parents went away to Suffolk for the week and so I was left in charge of the house. I am normally quite lazy when it comes to tidying up after myself but I turned into a bit of a domestic goddess throughout the week. Cleaning, cooking, hoovering - you name it, I did it. On one particular afternoon I was feeling a little creative and I ended up making some delicious Devil's Food cupcakes. As you can see from the picture above, they turned out pretty well. I especially love the leopard print cases which I bought in Tesco's, I am a sucker for leopard print items! They tasted divine and I ended up scoffing the whole lot - oops!

5. This is a little bit of a random photo to include but whilst in town on a sunny afternoon the other week, I decided to nip in to Costa and buy a drink to cool me down. I ordered a cranberry & raspberry iced lemonade and it's safe to say, I'm now addicted. Since that day, I have bought another two and they are so good. I highly recommend that you get one if you are passing by!

6. Last but not least is my final night out for this month with my friends Lucy, Harriet and Charlotte (from left to right.) Again, we gathered at my house for some pre-drinks and a gossip before heading out. We also had a bit of a 'glamming up' session where I curled the girls' hair and so on. As you can see, I wore my trusty tie-dye dress once again as I literally cannot get enough of it. This was my favourite night out of the month as me and the girls are rarely all free at the same time to go clubbing all together, especially as Harriet is usually away at university. However, I paid the price for the extremely drunken night the following day, where I was very ill and hungover which was not very pleasant at all!

So, that's it for this month! I hope you all enjoyed reading about what I have gotten up to over the past four weeks. As always, I always appreciate and love reading your comments so please do not hesitate to leave your thoughts below. 

The Future

At the moment, there are so many things that I need to decide upon. Most people say that you should ‘live for the moment,’ however, I have always been the type of person who likes to plan things in advance. I like structure, I am very meticulous in that way. I am always thinking about the future, which often means that I am oblivious and am not fully present in certain situations. I can rarely switch off my thoughts and feelings and simply enjoy myself, there’s always a little voice in the back of my head. I worry about the repercussions of my actions way too much and I care way too much about what others think of me.

It always upsets me when people ask me about what I do for a living or my life goals, because I honestly don’t have any. My belief is why set yourself up to just be disappointed? I am a pessimist and I always expect the worst, which I suppose is a bad trait to possess. But hey, you could also say that I’m just realistic! I guess for now I just need to focus on what my strengths are and then try to build a career around that. Maybe that will be something to do with writing, seeing as I love blogging so much! In the mean time, I am in the process of signing up for some voluntary work at my local ante-natal clinic as a receptionist. This will be for a few hours a week for starters - just to get me out of the house and to get myself back into a routine. Plus, I would love to gain a little bit of self confidence.

Overall, I know that I am still young and that I have plenty of time to figure out which path I want to take in life, but I just wish that I could make my mind up a little bit faster. I want to be able to do something that I am proud of and make other people proud of me too. Who knows what the future will bring, I just hope that I enjoy it! 

Saying Yes And Overcoming Your Fears

Hi guys! So, my favourite YouTuber Zoe Sugg (Zoella) uploaded a video today about saying ‘yes’ to new opportunities and pushing yourself. A few months ago when I first started watching Zoe, she released a video about anxiety and panic attacks which received an astonishing amount of feedback – which is why she has made a follow-up video. As a sufferer of anxiety and panic attacks myself, I have found these videos to be both extremely helpful and inspiring. I must say that I have always been one to avoid situations that make me worry or on edge if at all possible, which I know deep down is the worst thing that I could possibly do but it is just a pattern that I have never been able to break out of (yet!) However, I am determined that this is going to change.

Like Zoe mentioned in today’s video, nothing can be fixed overnight. Conquering your fears and anxieties is a slow process and I think that it is important to not expect miracles. For example, setting yourself a series of small tasks that will gradually increase your confidence is a much better way of overcoming things. In psychology, pushing yourself to your limit straight away is known the ‘boom-bust’ pattern – which is something that I used to do a lot.

The past few months for me have been pretty hard anxiety wise; however, I am slowly starting to say yes to more things. For instance, the other day I was thinking about how I still do not feel ready to go back to full-time work, so I have decided to apply to a charity in my hometown that enable you to do charity work. There are many different vacancies available from working with children or the elderly, to doing some administration work for our local chairman. Although neither of these tasks sound particularly thrilling, I think it will just be good for me to have something to do during the week rather than moping around indoors and making myself feel even worse. I really want to get back in to some sort of routine and get some normality back in to my life. I feel that volunteering will also make feel good about myself as I know I will be helping others in the community, which is always rewarding.

Zoe also mentions in the video that when you suffer with anxiety, you lose interest in a lot of activities that you used to enjoy and you subsequently become a ‘shell’ of your former self. I can honestly say that this is one of the things that I am most guilty of. If somebody invited me out, for example if my friends asked me to go clubbing, I would constantly say no in fear of having a panic attack or feeling overwhelmed whilst I was out. A big thing for me is the fear of not being able to escape from a situation easily, which is why I sometimes feel claustrophobic in big crowds. Another one of my worries is having a panic attack in a public place, as I hate feeling embarrassed or under scrutiny from others. Saying this, over the past few months, these two fears have dramatically decreased and I feel a lot more comfortable in these situations and happier about going out clubbing and other social places now.

Overall, the message that I am trying to put across in this post is that it is important to take little steps to build up your self-esteem and confidence. Doing so will allow you to gradually break out of your comfort zone and start to enjoy life again. As always, I would love to hear about your experiences with this topic – whether it be yourself, a friend/family member that suffers with anxiety or even if you do not have any links with anxiety at all – please do not hesitate to leave a comment below. I hope that this post inspires others to say yes to more things, in the same way that Zoe’s video inspired me.

Below is a list of Zoe's social media platforms in case you haven't checked her out already:
YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Twitter - Instagram - Tumblr - Bloglovin'

My Current Ambition

My current ambition, and my top priority at the moment, is to figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life. With everything that has been going on with me over the past year or so, I feel extremely lost and confused. I have no idea what I want to do in the future - especially job wise. I have no clue which career path I want to follow, as when I think of my strengths, I cannot really think of one thing that I am talented at in particular. I would love to do something based around writing, but I feel that I do not have the knowledge or determination to do so. One of my major problems is that I lack drive and I am often very lazy, which is a problem that I desperately need to fix. I think that my vocabulary and knowledge of the English language is quite limited, however, I really do not want to go back to studying. Back in the day, college made me miserable and I have never wanted to go to university, so have already ruled these options out. 

At times, I really wish I was more like my brother. He knew what he wanted to do even when he was in secondary school. His passion is sport and he has stuck with that for almost ten years now. I’m going off on a bit of a tangent here now, but I do compare myself to my brother an awful lot. He is confident, loud and self-assured; I am shy, quiet and insecure. I find it so bewildering how different we are, especially since we have been raised in the exact same way. I think I often see myself as the ‘failure’ of the family, and this includes all of my cousins also. All of them have had many achievements between them - honours at university, city jobs and amazing GCSE results to name a few. When I look back on what I have done, not one achievement springs to mind and this upsets me a great deal. I wish I could be proud of myself but I’m just not. Maybe that will change in the future, if I ever figure out what I want to do… I guess only time will tell.

Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World

I just finished watching ‘Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World’ and I can honestly say that I loved it. I found the film to be really thought-provoking and moving. It made me think about what we would do if the world was coming to an end three weeks from now… What would we do? Where would we go? Who would we spend our final hours with? I wonder if we would all lose all of our inhibitions and do things that we would usually be afraid or wary of doing. Some people may want to travel, some may want to break laws, and others may want to party non-stop.

The answer that everybody normally comes up with is that they would spend time with family and friends, enjoying each others company and trying to have fun. I also think that a lot of us would want to tell people how we feel about them, laying all of our cards out on the table that we may have kept close to our chest beforehand. Knowing that it’s nearing the end of the world would probably give us a lot of courage to say things without worrying about the repercussions. The clock would be ticking and every moment would be deemed as ‘precious,’ so we would embrace it.  

Overall, the film taught me that we should spend more time with the people we love, because we never know what’s around the corner. We will never know when our last day is actually our last, so we should live for the moment and never hold back.

My Month Via Instagram - April 2013

Hi guys! Seeing as it is pretty much the end of the month now, I thought I would do a little post showing what I have been up to all throughout April.

1. This month, I have decided to go on a major health kick. I made a super healthy Caesar salad and it was amazing! I have a really terrible immune system and am constantly ill, so I feel like changing my diet may help me a great deal. Plus, now we are approaching the summer months, it cannot hurt to tone up a little bit too. I have started doing aerobics and Pilates a few days a week too. Sometimes I fall off of the wagon and eat junk or get a little lazy, but overall I am quite happy with my progress.

2. This month, I finally had to say goodbye to my first car (who I named Clive the Clio.) There was no way that it would have passed it's MOT at the end of the month, so sadly I had to say au revoir! I part-exchanged this car with my new car (see below.) It was really strange because on my last drive in Clive, I felt incredibly sad. Sure it had a lot of problems, but it was my first car so I will always love it!

3. Even with what I said above, I absolutely love my new car! Of course, I have carried on  the tradition by naming my new car Clifford. I decided upon this name purely because of it's colour, and yes, I am referencing Clifford The Big Red Dog. Some people think that naming your car is silly, and I guess in a way it is, but it's a tradition that I will probably continue throughout my life!

4. As mentioned in a previous post, I finally purchased John Green's book 'Looking For Alaska.' after hearing many rave reviews from friends and seeing a lot of quotations from it on Tumblr, I thought I must read it. I can happily say that it lived up to my expectations and I read the entire book in under 48 hours. I think it's safe to say that I was hooked!

5. In a nutshell, my Mum has been very stressed out lately and has been working a lot over the past couple of weeks. So, on my way home from visiting a friend one day, I decided to pop in to the florist and buy her some flowers to cheer her up a little :) I picked up this particular bouquet because the colours were extremely vibrant and I thought that they would brighten up our living room.

6. These past few days have felt a lot more like spring/summer. Whenever the sun rears its head in rainy England, everybody makes the most of it. As I haven't had a lot on over the past few days, I took the opportunity to do a bit of sunbathing. With just two afternoons in my garden, I actually have a nice little tan developing. As you can see in the photo above, I was wearing these cute little shorts from Primark. They only cost £4 and are part of their beachwear range. I absolutely love the floral and butterfly print, plus they were an absolute bargain!

I hope you have enjoyed this post and please let me know if you think I should make this a monthly thing, explaining what I have been up to and so on :)