Feeling Festive

Christmas is finally upon us! People have been going on about Christmas for what feels like months but now that it is officially December I feel that it is acceptable to actually get excited about it! This year I have already been to my fair share of Christmas markets. Over the past few weeks I have ventured to Leeds Christkindelmarkt and enjoyed yummy chocolate marshmallows, sugar cinnamon pancakes and of course beer whilst getting cosy in the beer tent listening to the band Mundy and friends, visited the Manchester Christmas markets twice and enjoyed a much needed catch up with some uni friends and devoured garlic potatoes, macarons and delicious strudel! I have also wandered past the Liverpool markets whilst on a quick shopping trip and last week me and Jamie went to York for the day to visit the St Nicholas Fayre, where we had a lovely day wandering around York and seeing the markets and the Shambles. We ate yummy pancakes and drank a ridiculous amount of free tea before heading to a veggie cafe for some dinner. 

We also watched my all time favourite film this weekend, Elf. I cannot believe that it is 10 years old! I can remember going to see it when it first came out and love it a little bit more each time I watch it! When I got home on Monday morning my dad and brother had put up the tree and decorations which made the house look nice and festive. Even though there is still 3 weeks to go I'm so excited and can't wait to give everybody their presents!
I think that working within retail can put a bit of a downer on Christmas sometimes as we have long busy days trying to help customers shop and have the decorations and Christmas songs on months in advance, which gets tedious and annoying. We also have to stay happy, cheerful and helpful when all we really want to do is go home and watch a Christmas film! This year I'm not going to let it spoil Christmas, even if I still have to get up ridiculously early on Boxing day for the sale...

Bonfire Night

Bonfire night is one of my favourite night's of the year. I just love wrapping up warm and snug to go and stand near a bonfire to keep toasty and light sparklers and watch fireworks. This year I went to a local cricket club to celebrate, it was such a good evening and I bumped into some old friends which was really nice as we got to catch up! Of course bonfire toffee and beer was involved.. :D

Halloween!

This is the first year that I haven't had any plans on Halloween night!! I think having graduated from university this past summer and moving home has had an effect on my lack of plans! I love Halloween and I'm always amazed at how creative people get with their fancy dress and pumpkins. My brother has been carving pumpkins all day and has done a Mickey Mouse one and a Puss in Boots one, (not very scary I know) and they are amazing! One of my best friends birthday is Halloween but we are celebrating tomorrow instead so tonight my plan is to sit on the sofa eating sweets and answering the door to trick or treaters! I thought I'd share some fun memories from the past few years which include a lot of fancy dress, pumpkins and alcohol...

                                                     Happy Halloween!!

Tom Odell

Last night me and Jamie went to Manchester to see the wonderful Tom Odell. I bought the tickets ages ago when browsing who was playing the academy and as they were really cheap I thought why not, even though I only knew a couple of his songs. We then got to see him during the summer at boardmasters festival and he was incredible and since then I had been looking forward to the gig so much! We headed to Manchester during a very scary thunder and lightening storm but luckily we made it in one piece. We first went for a few cocktails (mocktails for designated driver J) before going to the venue. Supporting him were a cool band called Wildflowers and a guy called George Ezra and they were both extremely good and got the crowd going. It has been a while since I've actually enjoyed a support act let alone like two support acts so that was a nice surprise! Tom was absolutely amazing and I definitely want to go and see him live again very soon! On the way home I googled/wiki'd him and was very surprised to find out that NME gave him a terrible review and his album a 0/10!! He is such a talented singer, songwriter and pianist so if you have read that review and decided not to buy his album then I suggest you wipe it from your memory and listen to him, he's really good! :)

Imogen Heap - Speeding Cars

I've recently been re-watching the oc and this song was on the season 3 finale 'the graduates' episode and I think it's a really great song :)

Wedding!

An old friend from school got married yesterday and I was lucky enough to be invited to celebrate with them! She looked absolutely beautiful and you could tell that they were very much in love! They had an amazing chocolate fountain, cupcakes and a sweetie stall which I obviously took full advantage of.. The evening had such a brilliant atmosphere and everyone was dancing which was fun! 

Haydock Races take two

Last weekend a big group of us went to Haydock Races to celebrate Emily's 21st birthday. It was a surprisingly hot day which made it even better as we got to watch the races on the grass rather than inside! It was so much fun getting all dressed up and I even managed to win some money! :D If you have never been to the races before I would definitely recommend going.

Do Or Die

Life life no matter what
Provehito In Altum

Switzerland

My final trip of this summer was a long weekend away in Givisiez, Switzerland, watching my brother and cousin play roller hockey at a senior European tournament. After an exhausting 20 hour coach journey we made it to our hotel and went straight to the rink for the opening ceremony, I was still in my jammies from the journey which was slightly embarrassing! We then headed out to find a place to eat and had an amazing view of the Swiss Alps! It was very surreal eating tea with the view that we had! The weekend consisted of early mornings and a lot of hockey but me and Jamie managed to sneak away for a bit and have a wander into a tiny village and found Chateau D'Affry which was really nice from being stuck inside for the majority of the day! The boys ended up coming 6th, having been knocked out in the quarter finals by the eventual winners of the tournament. This was quite disappointing at first but they later realised that they had done really well as our team is extremely small compared to the others and the standard of hockey was very high! The trip was a lot of fun and Switzerland was beautiful, I'd definitely go back again!

Run River North - Growing Up

I first heard this song on the TV show Catfish and instantly loved it! I really like the lyric 'growing old feels like your giving up your soul'

The Royalty- I want you

                                    Nice song that makes me want to dance :)

Newquay

I've just got back from an amazing two weeks spent with my boyfriend Jamie and my Dad in Newquay in Cornwall. I love Newquay so much and it brings back so many childhood memories from all of our family camping holidays. Having had two years away from the place I couldn't wait to get there and was excited about the holiday for months! Jamie was excited too as he had never been to Cornwall before and I was looking forward to showing him loads of places! This year didn't fail to impress and surprise me and we had a fun filled (and exhausting) holiday! The main reason for going was to go to the boardmasters surf, skate, bmx and music festival. We got to spend a whole weekend chilling and relaxing in the sunshine watching the surf competition and listening to some really cool bands, it was perfect! 
During our second week we decided to book a surf lesson, something that I've always wanted to do. It was so much fun and our instructor said that we picked it up really quickly, managing to ride a few waves each! We went on a 11 mile bike ride along the camel trail, a disused railway line, from Padstow to Wadebridge, went to the Healey's Cyder farm where they make the famous rattler cyder and went skatboarding, allowing Jamie to be reunited with his teenage hobby and for me to attempt to stay on the skateboard for more than five seconds!
The whole vibe of Newquay is chilled and relaxing and I love all of the little shops that sell little trinkets and the cool cafes hidden away down tiny streets that do tonnes of veggie and gluten free food! A particular favourite of mine is Cafe Irie with its mix matched furniture, funky decorations, retro magazines, chilled out atmosphere and amazing food!

The two weeks went way too quickly and I cannot wait to go back again. Cornwall is such a beautiful place and theres just something about it that makes me feel feel at home. Hopefully one day I'll get to live there, wishful thinking...