I'm still debating this idea! Like I said before, ideally I'd like to do a monthly round up post but I think I'd end up with far too many photos. Likewise, some weeks I end up with none at all! We'll see...
Cakes & Flowers for the wedding - Mamaw outdone herself I think! / Listening to The Maine / Pretty manicure / My lovely & amazing hair for the wedding! / A hilarious photo of a young Mamaw I found in my sister's study / Caught out dancing at the wedding / Myself and a friend / Me at the wedding / Another band following me on Twitter!
This week I've been -
Watching...Supernatural & In The Flesh Reading...The Fault In Our Stars by John Green Listening to...The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Playing...Restaurant Story Smelling of...Valentino - Rock & Rose
Perving on...Landon Pigg
Happy about...the great opportunities I have coming up!
Most of this week has been spent working and getting ready for my uncle's wedding which was Saturday! He only really told us in February he was getting married so it's been a bit of a rush getting things ready, especially for my mum who made the cake/cupcakes and did the flowers. I think she managed pretty well though! It was a lovely day - it was nice seeing all the family together and just having a generally really nice celebration. My sister did my hair amazing which I loved, I didn't want to take it out when I got home. I actually didn't because I decided to head out with a couple of friends afterwards anyway which was fun.
This week I managed to bag myself the opportunity to interview one of my favourite bands! The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus have been a favourite band of mine for years and years now and they'll be playing a local gig next week - and I get to interview them! I will do a proper post about this, but basically I've been getting involved with a really great new project which allows me to get local music more well known and hopefully will lead onto some more awesome opportunities. The band also followed me on Twitter too which is great! If you haven't heard of them (where have you been?!) then check them out ASAP!
I'm really sad that the weather has been horrible this week but I'm hoping it will improve next week. I'm off work until Wednesday so I'll be using that time to brainstorm some ideas for this great project I'm being a part of.
So I've been debating about this for ages and ages now if I'm honest! I loved updating you all about my personal life, not just to add a personal touch to the blog but also because it was nice to me to look back on and have a reminder of what I've done. I strongly believe that most of my favourite blogs are my favourite because they are very professional but add just enough personal things to make the blogs that little bit more relaxed and friendly. However, I've also seen blogs that post TOO much personal stuff, and in the past I've definitely had to stop and think about how much I was posting on here. Although it's nice letting you all know what I've been doing with my life, there were points where I thought I was being just a little bit too open - I know people from my past subscribe to my blog and when people are no longer in my life I'd rather they weren't updated about my life. Likewise, if you post up too much information about yourself online - not just on a blog but on Facebook, Twitter etc, what's left for people to get to know in real life?
It's a debatable subject - do let me know what you think and if you personally do or do not enjoy my personal posts - but certainly something I've missed doing. I've considered perhaps doing this monthly or fortnightly instead of weekly (which had such a corny name too!) but we'll see. This might be a one off or I might just post updates when I feel like it. Anyway, we'll see.
Feeding the ducks at the canal / Missing Bruges this week / Accompanying my friend to get her first tattoo / One of my favourite pieces from 'Exhalation' / Stealing someone's glasses last night / Stealing a trolley last night / Little Rudy! / Reading on a Sunday afternoon / Playing on my Dad's old Vectrex which he found in the attic - very retro!
This week I've been -
Watching...Lightfields Reading...The Fault In Our Stars by John Green Listening to...Imagine Dragons - Radioactive
Playing...the retro Vectrex! Smelling of...Harajuki Lovers Fragrance - Lil' Angel Happy about...the many great books I've been reading lately
Perving on...Landon Pigg
The weather was actually a little nice this week, so when I wasn't working I tried to make the most of it by taking Jasper out for a walk or by going for a jog/run. Maybe once or twice this week I got a little excited about summer and the idea of sunshine, BBQ's and drives up the downs again...until the weather went back to it's cold and dreary normal self :( I really miss wearing skirts and dresses as well! Although I did finally treat myself to an expensive but genuinely good quality and long lasting pair of jeans (which actually means it's a pair of jeans that makes my ass look good!), since all of mine are old/baggy. I also finished reading Stephenie Meyer's The Host this week at last, and have to say, I really, really loved it. I think it's a shame she gets so much negativity surrounding the Twilight films because the books were actually quite good. I loved The Host, some parts droned on a bit but overall it was a great storyline and I can't wait to see the film. I actually only picked up the book a couple of weeks ago after seeing the trailer which I also loved because a) it stars the very gorgeous Max Irons and b) it had a great soundtrack/background song which I now cannot stop listening too. This weekend was fairly fun too, myself and my friend Amy decided kind of last minute to head out last night (I'd just finished stuffing a takeaway curry!) but I find the unplanned nights always tend to be the best. It was a fun night, we met some great people which resulted in us all in McDonald's at 3am chatting away and laughing before finally getting home at about 7am. I do love middle of the night conversations like that! It's Mothers Day today of course and I bought Mamaw some flowers and a box of Krispy Kremes, but me and my sister are going halfs to take her away on a overnight spa stay as her actual main present. I'm looking forward to it!
Loving...we're over halfway through the year so I'm allowed to get excited about Christmas now!
I did say I wouldn't have many pictures this week! I've spent most of this week working (including the Next sale which was...fun!) and watching TV/spending time with my family. I've been making an active effort to kind of deal with blogging/business stuff no later then 6ish, switching off my laptop and spending my evenings relaxing or reading or just spending time with my family. It's been a long week and I'm back in work again tomorrow, so since I walked through the door from work last night I immediately changed into my sweats and have stayed in them since! I'm gonna have a relaxing bath later and probably watch another movie tonight.
One of my best friends from uni graduated this week too (we went to uni together but she studied in France for a year) so this had me feeling quite nostalgic. Only this time last year I was graduating from the same uni, and it's hard to believe a whole year has passed since then. Also, it reminded me very much of my student days and how many great memories I had with her and another close uni friend. It really reminded me of how much I miss the north too, being that I lived there for three years. I've decided I'd like to go back and visit, though I don't know when.
South Shields beach is once place I really regret not visiting when I popped back up in February, and this beach is still one of my favourite places in the whole world. I took the photo above the very first time I visited it and it's home to so many great memories. I love this photo and want to frame it in my room. I can't wait to go back to the beach and buy some delicious chips from South Shields too - yummy!
1. Archers & Indiana Jones The perfect way to pre drink before a night out, especially as I was so geared up to watch it last weekend and was gutted when it was cancelled for Wimbledon
2. Jasper looking really spooky
3. Claim to fame! Remember when this amazing band who I love to pieces tweeted me? Well now they follow me on Instagram too! I'm not quite sure why, but I'm sticking with the reason being that the lead singer Cameron Leahy (oh yes, him again!) is clearly in love with me!
4. Today's outfit
5. The girls last night These three girls have been pretty bloody amazing lately, love them loads!
6. Posing last night Loving my outfit (and my legs!) here
7. A picture I loved I don't know why but I had to take a picture of this in one of the clubs last night
This week I've been -
Watching...Teen Wolf
Reading...Christmas at Tiffany's by Karen Swan
Playing Raising...Roger, my tamagotchi (yes I have a tamagotchi on my phone and yes, he's named after Roger from American Dad. I'd also forgotten how responsible tamagotchi's are, it really is like looking after a child as it wakes me up all bloody night after it poo's!)
This week I've been out spending money I really don't have - whoops, naughty Louise! However, the nights out have been more than worth it so it's okay! On Monday we went to Watford and considering I'd never been before, I really enjoyed it. We met some lovely people and also some dodgy people. One lad was so out of it chatting us all up, flashing us and everything - so my oh so lovely friends told him to specifically flash me as 'I was the single one!'. I LOVE being single, but I can't say I loved being single when I had this boy not only flashing me but also practically swinging his willy in my face. Not fun!
I started work in the new Next store this week and love it already! Even though I've been working for Next for well over a month now, it's so nice to be in the store finally and from the day it's actually opened. Everyone is lovely, it's nice because it's permanent (I was only training at the last store to come to this one, so everyone I met I only knew for a few weeks) and the shop is gorgeous! It's so shiny and new, plus the staff room is extra cute.
I spent the whole weekend with Jade, a few of us went out again last night and today we dropped our friend Holly off at the airport and had to say goodbye :( Holly went to high school with us but moved away to Australia, but was back visiting for 10 days. Even though I was never particularly close with her, it was a bit sad saying goodbye this evening. She was a bit sad that most of her close friends didn't make any effort to see her at all when back in the UK, which is something I can definitely sympathize with, as I went to uni I went through the same thing. I had some really close friends and even though I spoke to them on a regular basis, once I was home for good I'd found that things had definitely changed and I'd grown apart from them. That's really made me appreciate my close friends now a lot more though, and it's taught me that a friend isn't always someone you've known the longest or who you're closest to, it's the person or people who are always there for you no matter what or in spite of how much time has passed.
Anyway, I've tried not to plan much this week coming up as I've spent far too much money this week, so I'm afraid I won't be up to anything interesting!
1. Nan's beautiful garden! The weather was gorgeous this week so we popped down my Nan's and helped her with cutting her hedges out the front and that. This is her beautiful back garden, isn't it amazing?! I used to spend many a summer playing in this garden when I was younger, and I especially remembered curling up with a book and the radio on in the little hut thing at the top of her garden. It used to be so relaxing when it rained.
2. Octopus for sale Urgh!
3. Me & Jasper This is me trying to get a photo with Jasper, for some reason he hates having his picture taken..
4. Me & Bex I popped into St Albans to go to a blogging event with Bex this week and it was really nice - I'll do a full post about it once my amazing bracelet that I bought there arrives. Sorry the photo is bad quality, Bex also took a few but this one was from a polaroid photo they took and gave me which I thought was nice!
5. Beautiful sunset I took this on the way home from a jog/walk with Jasper as it's just too pretty. When the weather is like this I just want to be out of the house constantly.
6. Jam for sale! How cute! Jam, books and even lucky stones for sale in the village outside of someone's house. She even had an 'honesty box' where you could leave money for the items when she wasn't there - so sweet!
This week I've been -
Watching...Teen Wolf & Nearly Famous
Reading...Butterfly by Kathryn Harvey
Listening to...The Downtown Fiction (still! Just discovered another EP of theirs!)
Perving on...Cameron Leahy, STILL! (This must be the 5th week in the row...) & Aaron Johnson
Loving...the fact that London.com is ready to launch next week if all goes to plan!
I've taken any excuse to get out of the house this week as the weather has been so pretty! Even though that meant doing things like going to help out with gardening at my Nan's..I've had some pretty interesting chats with my Nan this week. First of all, she thinks I'm single and my ex is now with someone else because I never cooked for him LOL. Second of all, she thinks, and I quote, 'she done her back in coz she had a sneezing attack from all that stuff that came over from the Sahara' (which she pronounced Saarah). Just, what?! Lol, my nan is bonkers! Thirdly, this isn't actually bonkers, I think it's quite nice, but both my Mum and my Nan have noticed my Papa Roy sending us a few messages this week :) Ever since my Papa Roy passed away a few years ago, we've constantly noticed my Nan's doorbell going off repeatedly for minutes on end, despite no one being at the door. I know it sounds pretty standard, but this door bell was bought brand new when my Papa Roy was dying, and it always goes of at significant times like when he passed away and whenever my Nan tends to get herself a bit stressed out and worked up. It's hard to explain, but it really does only go off when no one is there and at specific times. This is our Papa Roy telling her to calm down!
We actually had loads of other spooky stuff go on but that's another blog post for another time!
Other than taking Jasper out loads this week, I've also just spent the weekend with my sister who has just moved into her new house. It's so gorgeous and feels so homely. To get to it you have to drive down a little court yard thing in this quiet secluded area and it's really, really nice. We also met her new boyfriend this weekend who treated us to a lush lunch!
I'm so excited to be able to reveal that the London tourist website I've been helping to relaunch should be ready to launch next week, providing if everyone goes to plan! I've already seen the test website and I've got to say it's a little overwhelming to see the words 'Editor's pick...by Louise Joy' on the website, as well as my written content! It's definitely a lovely feeling.
I've been totally addicted to the so so corny Teen Wolf & Nearly Famous this week, but to be fair Teen Wolf has a pretty awesome sound track (including music from The Downtown Fiction - I'm an addict, I know...) so can I be blamed?!
Perving on...Cameron Leahy, STILL! (He's just too gorgeous) and Gerard Way AND Frank Iero (shame the second two are married!)
Loving...all my freebies this week and catching up with the girls
As always, I've forgotten to take many pictures this week! Friday was really the highlight as my friend has recently moved into a new house so she had a house warming party/sleepover which was really fun. I'd kind of forgotten how crazy my friends were and in the end none of the pictures I took were, um, appropriate enough to be shown here - in fact they've not even gone on Facebook! Embarrassingly enough I ended up partaking in a LOT of drunk dialing and texting, but this actually worked out in my favour in the long run! I spent all of Saturday hungover due to this but it's okay because I start my new fitness regime tomorrow, which I'll probably blog about in a few weeks time.
Aside from The Downtown Fiction, I've also been listening non stop to My Chemical Romance this week, especially their old stuff. I'm slowly catching up to their more recent stuff, but I'll never forget what it was like when 'I'm Not Okay' first came out back in 2004. I remember immediately thinking that someone finally got me if that makes sense. I was 14 and in high school and to me the song just seemed like an anthem that reached out to people like me. I never, ever fit in at high school. I didn't care that I never got on with the 'popular' people, I wasn't a loner, I had a close knit really amazing group of friends who are still good friends now but there's no denying I thought I was a bit different (though to be fair who doesn't feel like that at 14?!). Whilst most girls I went to school with were obsessing over make up and dating boys, I was more concerned with going to gigs, listening to alternative music and only fancying boys from afar, always being too cripplingly shy to do anything about it. When we had a supply teacher in lessons, I wouldn't sit and flirt with the opposite sex like everyone else, instead you'd find me reading a magazine about ghosts or playing scary games on the computers! And to be fair, although it's now 8 years later and I love girly things now like experimenting with make up and constantly gossiping about dates with my friends, I am still without a doubt that same person deep down who would pick going to a rock gig over going clubbing any day. I don't mean to come across all deep but it still amazes me what music can do to you and how as an awkward 14 year old, a song like 'I'm Not Okay' can just reassure you that it's alright to stand out and most importantly it's alright to admit that things can get tough. And oddly enough, so many people feel like they don't fit in anywhere, so whilst this song was an anthem to me, it was an anthem to everyone else too. I genuinely can't believe that it's been 8 years since that song was released, and even then I loved bands like Bowling For Soup, Good Charlotte (I also considered their other song 'The Anthem' to be a bit of an anthem for me as well! I loved the lyrics about stepping out of line whilst everyone got in line and how you shouldn't want to be part of another trend and 'in' crowd!) and Blink 182. However I have always had a soft spot for this song - I'd completely forgotten how good it was!
That right there is why music is such a big part of my life.
What were things like when you were 14? Did you ever find it hard to fit in? Do you have one song that you always considered to be 'your anthem'?
This post is dedicated to a very special man on a very special weekend. It was my Dad's birthday yesterday and obviously it's Father's day today.
Me and my Dad haven't always got on ; even though I was definitely a Daddy's girl when I was little. We're not as close as we could be, and there have been times in the past where things have been tough between us but more than ever I now know that he loves me, showing me in his own special way. Even though he'll probably never see this, this is just a big thank you for always being there for me. This is a thank you for times you've taught me how to barter at bootsales and markets, the times you've brought me a Maccy D's without me having to ask, the many lifts you've given me and the times you always make sure to sound extremely enthusiastic and give me loads of compliments in the few times that I have cooked. A massive thank you for giving me such great taste in music and movies!
This is to you Dad - thank you for everything, and love you always xxx
1. ZombieLife My new obsession. I love how my zombie is just walking around wearing a bucket as an outfit.
2. Crispy Chicken with Creamy Italian Sauce For someone who never cooks - I'm quite proud of this! I forgot to take a picture before I started eating but it was delicious and is definitely my new speciality food!
3. Liquid Lunch! I went to The Only Way Is Blogging on Saturday (I'll do a proper blog post on this) and had such a lovely day - me and the girls couldn't resist a cheeky cocktail at lunch!
4. Only one of my new favourite bands tweeting me! I don't want to come across as all fan girl but this made me very very happy :)
5. Princess Cake My Mum is flipping amazing at making cakes and made this for her friends daughter, for her birthday. It's so good isn't it?
6. Looking stylish Lisa, Bex, myself & Kirstie at TOWIB, shortly before we decided to descend upon and have a mooch around M&M world. It was my idea and I don't even like M&Ms... 7. The Yellow M&M I went into tourist mode by this point 8. The M&M bus! Love it!
This week I've been -
Watching...Supernatural
Reading...nothing, I need some new reading material!
This week I got to meet the lovely Bex, Lisa and Kirstie at The Only Way Is Blogging. I've been speaking to Bex and Lisa for a while now so as soon as we met it was already like we were old friends and I loved meeting Kirstie too. TOWIB was really fun, it was nice to have a girly day out in London and I enjoyed having a chat with other like minded bloggers. None of my friends are particularly into blogging so it was nice to meet people who just enjoyed blogging as much as I do. It was a really good opportunity to meet some new people, make contacts and just generally network a bit too.
My sister moved into her new house this week but unfortunately I haven't had the chance to pop round and see it yet. I'm really happy she's moved in now and that things are going well for her, I can't wait to go over and check it out and hopefully spend the night there soon.
This week I've regressed back to realizing the issues you get when living at home! I'd forgotten how hard it is to have a lack of privacy and me and my Mum are definitely on different ends of the spectrum on this issue. I'm trying to vouch for getting a lock on my door so that my Mum can't come in tidy my room when I'm out, as her idea of tidying is literally sorting out my whole room, moving everything around and throwing out things she thinks are too old for me to own! Not happy that she decided to throw out some of my favourite really expensive underwear when I was in Egypt! Grr!
The highlight of the week was definitely our little mooch to London on Saturday though :)
1. Beautiful sky at 4am I couldn't sleep last night (I lie - I was actually watching The Walking Dead & 28 Weeks Later) and saw the sky looking beautiful when I headed up to bed.
2. I dyed my hair! Not really...but I did download this ace app that you can use to see what your hair would look like as another colour. Purple has been a colour I've been thinking about for ages now and after seeing that picture, I think it suits me! If work allows it, I'm gonna dye it ASAP.
3. Live long and prosper! Me and my parents watched Star Trek yesterday and I had to laugh at when Spock did the 'Live long and prosper' with the salute and all three of us did it in return...we're such geeks! I pretty much grew up watching Star Trek thanks to my Dad but never liked it, yet I love the movie. It just goes to show how much difference an awesome director (J. J. Abrams) and amazing/hot actors (Chris Pine, Anton Yelchin and of course Simon Pegg!) makes!
4. Rocking the curtain outfit look since '84! My brother nicked loads of family photos for some project he's doing and returned them today so we all sat around and had a good laugh at them. What my Mum used to dress me in was ridiculous! And that's not even mentioning the boy haircuts with the uneven fringes...
5. Wasn't I adorable?!
6. Yummy roast dinner I haven't had a roast dinner in weeks so it's safe to say I pretty much ate all of this
I started my new job this week! It's pretty cool, I'm quite pleased to know I've got loads of responsibility and everyone is nice and friendly. On Thursday we had our uniform evening - Next are quite strict about what you wear as it can't be too casual or too over the top. As well as that, everything you wear has to be from Next's current season, so they gave us a budget and as long as we stuck within this budget we could by whatever for 75% off! I'm training at the moment but things are going to be pretty busy next month, as that's when the new store opens. So we've got that opening AND we've got another uniform day to buy more uniform as it'll be the new season stock coming in. This also means there will be a big sale not long after the shop opens so it's going to be quite busy. I had the girls round for a movie night as well this week but unfortunately I've been too skint to do much else. I've not yet been paid from my other job as the lady I worked for isn't very well, and obviously I wont get my first pay check until next month. It's just as well really as the weather has been horrible this week, I did go out shopping with my Mum and Nan but I only bought a book and of course we got caught in the rain. Mum's got the week off next week though so hopefully the weather will be nice! It's my Dad's birthday next weekend and Father's Day so we're going to take him out on the Sunday. On Saturday I'm off to The Only Way is Blogging event in London which also means I'll finally get to meet the lovely Bex and Lisa which I'm really looking forward to - they live so local that hopefully this will be the first meeting of many!
Finally I'll leave you to a song I can't stop listening to. This is Cameron Leahy from The Downtown Fiction (their EP has been on repeat ALL week) but I've particularly taken a liking to him, he's so good looking and his voice is just purely amazing. I adore this cute video of him!
Lately I've felt incredibly out of sync with my blogging. Although in the past I have gone for much longer than a week without posting, it's always been because I had nothing to post about and didn't want to just blog for the sake of it. This week I really have literally been SO busy! I've just bagged myself a third job so I have to remember to schedule a few posts in advance and be a bit better with dividing my time. You can read all about my many jobs on my latest post on my personal blog here.
However other than working, I've been up to all sorts this week. I had a little shopping spree in the week and treated myself to a few dresses, some earrings and a gorgeous pair of pastel purple trousers which I'll blog about soon.
I had a really lovely weekend too - Saturday I just chilled out and Sunday my sister, two of her friends and myself headed into London for a girly day out. We went to the first ever farmers market at Soho which everyone was talking about. I just wanted to have a look at all the quirky stalls and perv on all the band members (Soho is filled with rockstars and the such). The farmers market was a lot smaller than we expected but there were lovely stalls. I also picked up some business cards and got chatting to loads of people in preparation of my big upcoming project, getting the word out!
After that we decided to head onto another market and ended up going to Spitalfields market which was amazing. It was filled with so many different unique different shops, stalls and places to eat. I really loved it, it was right up my street with gorgeous day dresses, funky plaques and much more. I wanted to buy everything but decided on a beautiful heart bracelet and some really sweet tags to put on presents or cards or whatever.
We stopped off for a drink in the Ten Bells pub too which - I didn't realize at the time - is actually known as the 'Jack the Ripper pub'. It was really funny because at the time I recognized the name and could of sworn it had something to do with history or ghosts or murderers or something then I found out when I got home. Also turns out I didn't even notice the gigantic sign on one of the walls listing all of Jack The Ripper's victims...:/ Anyway it's a big tourist spot with loads of people visiting there of their own accord or at the end of the Jack The Ripper tours as apparently he and two of his victims used to drink there. Stuff like that really interests me so that was quite cool (when I realized anyway!).
Once home me and my sister made homemade pizza from scratch and garlic doughballs and settled down to watch a movie. Today I was working again but just around the corner from my sister's house so obviously I stayed there last night and walked round there this morning.
Clockwise from left - 1. Someone had written this on the back of one of the chair's on the tube, I thought it was pretty sweet! 2. Food and a movie after a lovely day in London 3. A well deserved (ridiculously big may I add) ice cream today. Yes I know my nails need doing. That ice cream was almost as big as my head and took literally a full 20 minutes to eat! 4. The view from my 'office' today
Anyway that's why I've been so out of sync with blogging this past week and hopefully this post has explained why and has made up for no pictures post I usually do on a Sunday. I've got some great reviews coming up and some really great ideas to put in motion for this blog too so keep your eyes peeled!
1. A little present from me to me After discovering my phone contract was up and realizing I could get the iPhone 4S for free I decided to treat myself! I am an Apple girl all over, being a journalist, Apple products are practically my religion. I just love how sophisticated their products are. And I love this phone. A lot.
2. My little office More work! I just wish Mamaw would let me stick a mood board or something on the wall...
3. Watching Jeremy Kyle in bed on my phone Really I just wanted to brag a bit more about how awesome this phone is and how I now finally have instragram!
4. Zombies! Been pretty addicted to this game this week. Also, zombies are just too awesome.
This week has been fairly boring as I've been feeling pretty off this week :( I don't know why, I guess everyone has a few off days now and again. However I did cheer up immensely when my iPhone arrived and I've been spending the majority of the week playing with that and working. Really nothing else to talk about I'm afraid!
