A Weekend away

Ahh half term. The week where we all want to relax but instead we're sat at our desks constantly trying to catch up on school work. Yup that pretty much sums up how I'll be spending the rest of my week! However it is time I began working as for the past few days I've been away and enjoying myself in the beautiful city of Edinburgh. We didn't quite enjoy sunshine, but we are in Scotland in the middle of February so what more could we have expected than rain,snow and gloomy overcast but that didn't stop from our little adventures around the city.

Weekends away are so lovely and I really wish I had the opportunity to them more because we crammed in so much! Friday I saw Fatherson play live at one of the best gigs ever. The atmosphere was incredible and  the smile on the band members faces were so heartwarming to know they were enjoying it just as much as us.

Saturday involved a lot of walking around. We visited The Elephant House which if you don't know, was where J.K.Rowling wrote some of Harry Potter so I managed to snap my own picture of the famous graffiti in the toilets which was so cool to look at in person.We also spent a couple of hours in one of the museums. I love that Scotland allows free access to their museums because it's not something I get to do a lot living in a rural area, but when I get the chance to, museums are one of my favorite places to visit. Of course I squeezed in some time to do shopping, you can't go to a capital city and buy nothing! Camera Obscura also found it's way into the day which was really interesting and it's where I was when I took that beautiful shot of the city itself. What better way to end off the day than to go and see a film. It wasn't just any film though, it was Deadpool. If you've seen it already you'll understand the hype of it but if you haven't, I promise you you will be laughing at every moment its one of the best films I've seen in a long time. 10/10 would recommend!

Sunday was probably my favorite day of the lot because we went to the zoo! My favorite part has always, and always will be the penguins because I just think they're great. I adore watching them swim underwater they look so graceful. The monkeys were another favorite they practically fly about and they make it look so easy ( also like something from a spy movie with the way they slide down ropes).  It was a lovely day which transitioned into a lovely evening where we went out for an Italian. This was just my 2nd time going to this restaurant but I decided to try out one of the desserts and oh. my. gosh. I want to go again just for the desserts. That's all I'm saying before my mouth starts to water.

Sadly all good things must come to an end at some point and Monday morning saw us packing up and heading home. It felt so good to just been away some were different for a few days and I definatly makes me want to travel more places in the future, maybe even abroad sometimes! Here's hoping I do.

So I Got an Unconditional

How crazy is that?! Out of everyone who applied to uni this year I was one of the lucky ones and have a definite destination to go to in September! I can honestly say that when I read the e-mail I didn't believe it. Me? Unconditional? It really took me by surprise and it has helped me de-stress because it's the best safety net I could have.

However it has now set me back on where I actually want to go come September...

I'm sure I'll figure out where I want to go. I'm even visiting both the universities and I suppose I will base my decision off what feels right for me!  Just need to do a lot of thinking and research into the course. I always had my heart set on a particular university, but now I'm not so sure. Time will only tell...

January Favorites

It's the start of a new month and one thing I would like to do on this blog is have a post to look back on some things I've been enjoying over January! I've even split everything into little categories for you because I'm super excited to get this started. So with out further ado, here's my most liked things from the first month of 2016!

BOOKS

5 Year Diary
Before the year began, I ordered this little fella so I could record my life for the next 5 years. Being someone who has kept a diary since I was 14, this is a product I have wanted for a long time. I have never recorded every day of my life, probably cause my other diaries go into a lot of detail, but I've found this one really easy to keep up with because it's just a couple of lines a day. I love writing down my sentence at the end of the day and with the way it is laid out, I'll be able to see what I did on the same day over the years! So it's basically a Timehop hard copy.

    
A Song of Ice and Fire Series
This month I read one book and that book was the third installment (part 2) of the Game of Thrones Series. I've been reading this series a while and have been enjoying it so much. It's odd how used to I am with all the character deaths because there are so many I can barely keep up. With each book being so massive though, I tend to take a break between books so I might not read the other for a while. This doesn't mean I enjoyed it any less though. I think the third book has most defiantly been my favorite so far as so much is going on with all the characters and so much death and drama! Don't be surprised if the next book in the series appears in another monthly favorite.

FASHION & BEAUTY

Pink Friday | Nicki Minaj
LOOK. AT. THIS. BOTTLE. I cannot get over how in love I am with the design of this perfume bottle it's the best looking one I have. Oh, and it smells good too - obviously. I'm really bad at describing smells. It's not too strong and I've worn it to 6th form, and when I've been out day and night I can't get enough. It's one of them smells you can wear for any occasion. Also it looks super pretty on my shelf.

Pink Champagne Clutch | NEXT
I recently set it upon myself to expand my 'going out' clutch collection and this is the latest purchase towards that. I don't have a big collection but it is definitely my favorite so far. I think it's the sparkles. It's so eye-catching when wearing a more plain outfit and for someone who has way to many black dresses, it goes perfectly with them all. A few weeks ago I even put aside a new pair of shoes because they don't go with the bag, and I wanted to use the bag more.












Heart Necklace | Pears for Girls
Forever and always have I wanted a piece of jewelry I can wear all the time, and after a dearly beloved got me this necklace I've been doing just that. I've just became accustomed to wearing it with just about everything. The only times I don't wear it is when I'm showering, sleeping and occasionally when I'm partying (It depends on the outfit you see). Hands down one of my favorite gifts ever.

FILMS/ TV SHOWS

Her
Why haven't I watched this film until now!?!? I get emotionally invested into films a lot, but this one has me tearing up and I felt such a sense of sadness for quite a while after the film ended. If you have not seen it yet- go do it! It's set in what I believe to be a very realistic future and the colours and overall look of the production is beautiful. Good job Spike Jonze.

Mr Robot
This show. THIS SHOW. I never thought a show about hacking would have me so hooked! It's thrilling and brilliantly done and the characters are crazy and delusional but fantastic. Don't even get me started on the plot twists. I don't know how I can wait for series 2.

MUSIC

Sound & colour- Alabama Shakes
This favorite is a sort of follow on from Mr Robot as this song is played in the final episode. It been on repeat a lot. It also feels way too short so I feel like I've been listening to it way to much. It's addictive though.

Heroes- David Bowie
This month we sadly lost one of the greatest musicians. While I have been listening to all of his music an incredible amount lately, I didn't want to make this list super long with all my favorite songs by Bowie so I picked out Heroes. A song I can listen to repeatedly and not feel tired of.


Quite a big list of things I've been liking this month! I look forward to what February brings and what favorites it gives me!

The Adventure of an Interview

Interview are scary. Performing in shows I am no stranger to getting nervous but at my audition last Friday I was completely taken over by the nerves. It was crazy from the moment I woke up, I was anxious and just wanted to get it out of the way I’ve never been so worried. I guess it just proved how much I wanted the day to go well.

I had nothing to be nervous of, everyone was super lovely and I honestly wouldn’t have minded if everyone who was in my workshop was in my class next year. The workshop was defiantly my favourite bit. It felt so relaxed and I completely forgot that there was a woman in the corner assessing us. I’d never of thought that an interview could be fun! We were working together and doing exercises which I enjoyed so much I could have easily done another hour or so on them.

You know when you hope for something, but you just know that isn’t going to be the outcome? Well I had that when it was time to sit down and wait to be called on. I hoped and wished all day that I would be the first called so I could get it done, spend some time in Starbucks ( I discovered one close to the campus ) before catching an early train home. But no, I was LAST. So that meant 2 hours of waiting and going through the monologue in my head. I wasn’t sitting alone at least and made friends with one girl who might I say had the greatest hair. (I’m jealous of her hair alright). After what felt like forever it was finally time for me to be interviewed and looking back on it, what was I so scared of? I did my monologue, sat down for questions and it went absolutely fine! In the end I got my Starbucks and even got the train back with a friend who was travelling home from college. To make it even nicer, she received an unconditional offer! But I have a whole other post to write on unconditional offers…

New Year.New Goals.

Hello and happy new year! I hope you've had a wonderful festive period and a break from everyday life, I know I have, but holiday's don't last forever and it's time to kick into the swing of things once again.

It's been a couple weeks since my last appearance on here and I've received some exciting news!
I currently have TWO interviews planned out which I'm excited, but also pretty nervous for. I know what I need to do, I've just had trouble picking a monologue to prepare for one of the interviews and have only decided today that I'm going to go for a contemporary piece I've studied in Performing Arts and Literature over the past year and a bit so I have plenty of knowledge and opinions on the text which makes me feel more ready for it so it's not as horrifically terrifying.

Hopefully the interviews go well and fingers crossed I'll hear back from more Universities soon. Now that I'm back in school though, I've started thinking about e-mails again which, like any one else applying, becomes obsessed with ( there's a whole other post on that though). For now though, I need to stick to my main resolution for this year which is to get to uni, and get my head down and do some work. My teacher came around to us today and gave us the knowledge that it's only 14 school weeks until our exams..oh dear. But I've started the term off well and have already almost completed a unit of work, and I will make sure the motivation stays.

E-mail Infatuation

I stayed true to my promise of getting my university application away before the week was up and I did just that on Tuesday!

If you imagine it being a dull,cloudy day, then all of a sudden the clouds part from the skies and a big ray of light shines down on you- this is how I describe the moment my teacher said I was ready to send my personal statement away. It felt like Christmas I was so excited to now relax and not worry about university for a while.

I was wrong.

Now that my application is away, I've been more anxious and nervous than ever and far from relaxed. I've been checking my e-mails several times the past couple days despite the fact I get notifications on my phone, but you know,just in case.

I know it's early days, it's barely been 48 hours but I can't help it. So far I have heard back from 3 universities saying they have my application which is very, very exciting but also nerve racking. It's a strange experience applying for your future.

Personal Hatement

So for the past 2 months I have been filling out UCAS which for those who don't know is the way us folks in the UK apply to universities.

It has been stressful.

My whole time in high school and year 12, I have heard chattering of older years complain, seen the angry and stressed tweets of those applying to university; and they all cry over the same thing-Personal Statements. This is the part of the application process where you have to write how fantastic you are and why you should go to uni. After hearing all these horror stories from older years, I was reluctant and a bit worried when it came to starting my own this September and I remember my first draft was complete rubbish. How was I suppose to write about myself and make me sound good? What had I even done which can account for the reasons I want to study Performance? Loads of questions ran through my mind when I was starting out, but the more drafts I got back with scribbles of notes all over them, the closer I felt to writing something good.

I've actually lost count the draft number I am on now (6?) but what I do know is that I'm nearing the end, as in, I aim to get this sent off by next Friday, which I am really striving towards. I can honestly say there has not been a single day go by where I don't think and worry over university and whether my application is good enough and if I will even get any offers ( after much reassurance I have came to the conclusion,yes, I will get offers). So to be so close to the end and letting the rest decide my fate, I can almost taste the less amount of stress I am going to have to carry around and I cannot wait.

The only problem I have left with my statement is the end. Why does this feel like the hardest part? I have drafted so many times on why I am right for this university and why they should choose me. The other day I looked at my final sentence for a solid hour trying to come up with a way to conclude before closing my laptop in a fit of anger and despair. I have since come up with what I believe is something better, I only hope my form teacher thinks the same when I give her my draft on Monday morning.