The return of Peep Show, my 19th birthday, and seeing Russell Howard

one.
I've listened to loads of Desert Island Discs recently, mostly because of the fact that I've been travelling to and from London and trains get cancelled and delayed and tingz, but also because it is one of my favourite radio shows. Listening to the David Mitchell and Morrissey ones had me laughing out loud at the station - probably not the most socially acceptable thing to do.

two.
As per usual, I made my own birthday cake (I don't mean this to sound at all bitter, I love baking!) but it was the first year I had to make a vegan cake! I think it actually turned out rather well, who needs eggs when you have vegetable oil and orange juice? (Yes, orange juice)

three.
I had a really nice birthday, I went out to a vegetarian restaurant (with a lot of vegan options) with the family and received a lot of lovely gifts (I did pick a lot of them out on a shopping trip with Mum a couple of days prior, but the thought was still there), the best present I received was probably a Gryffindor jumper - yes, I know I'm 19 now but I'd still like to delude myself into thinking I'm a student at Hogwarts and I'm bezzies with Ginny.

four.
Something that probably excited me more than the prospect of my birthday was the return of Peep Show! If you remember some of my vlogs (oh yeah, because I used to do YouTube before I started being unproductive and stopped uploading things) from earlier in the year, you may remember that I was obsessed with Peep Show and the new series has started off being just as funny as the last.

five.
For my assignment for Uni, I have to read some rather old articles on race and sexuality - it's strange how racist and homophobic they are like I've been reading them and almost thinking they're a joke because of how ridiculous they are. I find it really sad that despite the fact they're quite old, in the grand scheme of things it's all too recent and I do worry that there are still an alarming number of people who still think in the way the people who wrote the articles did.

six.
I went out with my friends to the same vegetarian restaurant I went to on my birthday and received some really lovely presents, one of which being a super cute photo in a frame of me and my friends from when they came down to Brighton to visit me, and another one being a Harry Potter Adult Colouring Book - just to mention a few.

seven.
I had quite possibly the most horrendous train journey of all time on my way back to Brighton - loads of cancellations, delays, and I ended up having to get a cab home because I couldn't get one of my trains due to it being super late (because of all the cancellations and delays). I'm certain I did something really bad to the trains in a past life because I have the worst luck with trains!

eight.
Dodie Clark from the YouTube Channel Doddleoddle (one of my favourites!) uploaded a cover of Happy Ending by Mika which is one of my favourite songs, she and two other girls did a beautiful rendition of it with lovely harmonies - well worth a listen!!




nine.
I went to a recording of Russell Howard's Good News and would you believe I got to sit in the front row like right in front of him (check the picture above and try and spot us)!! Me and my friends were in confusion for the first 20 minutes of sitting there thinking someone was going to ask us to move - it was such a surreal, amazing experience, I love Russell Howard and I like very happy knowing that I've been 2m-3m away from him ;-)

ten.
I brought my guitar back with me when I came back from London and it's been sorely missed, I've been spending a lot more time in my room getting reacquainted.

How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

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Primark haul

Have you come here searching for the most mundane Primark haul imaginable? Well, you've come to the right place - we have monochrome and basic tees, it's a world of boring clothes. If you just click on the video below, you'll get to see this array of monochromatics (okay, there's a Star Wars tee and some Harry Potter PJs too, couldn't go completely dull) and one lil purchase from H&M. Also, I'm trying to stop with the rambly videos so this video is under 10 minutes long - hurrah for short, snappy videos!

What are your favourite Autumn clothing pieces?

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Primark and H&M haul

This post could also be called 'the haul that was supposed to be summery but resulted in all black clothes' but it doesn't have the same ring to it. Anyway, I hadn't been shopping in a couple of months so I decided to go out with my friends and pick up a few bits (big beauty haul coming soon), without further ado, let's see how I've been funding the capitalist system.

Ribbed Crop Top - £3
Primark

Fine Knit Jumper - £7.99
H&M

Circular Skirt - £12.99
H&M

What fashion bits have you been eyeing up recently?

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Ten things and ten blogs #2

one.

The 1st of February can only mean one thing - it's time to change the month on my calendar - y'know it's going to be a good year when you have a Beatles calendar.

Try and spot baby Bess.

two.
It was my Dad's birthday on the 2nd February, we had a nice quiet day in and watched 'the Buddy Holly story', it's not strictly historically accurate but I enjoyed it nonetheless (I do enjoy me a bit of Buddy Holly). It was also my Mum's birthday on the 5th February, unfortunately I had parent's evening on the same day but we managed to make it home with enough time to eat a meal and have some cake, and watch this show called 'the Tomorrow people' which is a show from from the 70s - full of bad acting and terrible special effects, but it was pretty funny because of that.

three.
My piano teacher passed an analogy onto me during my lesson, to put it into context I was finding it difficult to play triplet semiquaver chords in the tempo I had to play it in (bloody Oscar Peterson, he's brilliant, but he sure didn't think about incompetent grade 8 students when writing 'Hallelujah Time') so she said 'it's like running a race where both of your shoes are tied together, so you have to cut the laces [so cut out some of the notes in the chords], you've ruined a perfectly nice set of laces but at least then you can finish the race' which I thought was a good analogy for toxic relationships and is quite a relevant theme in my life at the moment, you may feel worse in the short term for cutting people off but at least then you can continue on with your life and move on, etcetera etcetera* (a bit cringe, but I enjoyed it nonetheless).
Whilst on the topic of my piano lessons, my grade 8 piano exam date has been confirmed - 18th March, so I have just about a month, which is crazy because ever since I started playing the piano at age 4 I always wanted to complete grade 8 and here I am potentially doing that, absolutely bizarre.

four.
I finished reading Howl's Moving Castle (which you can see a review of here) and it was so so good, now I really want to rewatch the film as it's one of my all-time faves.

five.
I think I've made it clear to you all that Harry Potter has a special place in my heart, but in case I hadn't made it clear enough, I did a Harry Potter tag on my YouTube channel (yes, you may not care about my favourite Harry Potter books and films, but there's an entire montage of creepy tweets I sent to Tom Felton in 2013 and a badly photoshopped picture of me with Tom Felton, so y'know y'all gotta check that out)

six.

Call me crazy if you wish (most people do) but I never played Pokemon as a child. I used to like the show but I was a Digimon girl at heart, but my parents gifted me Pokemon White for DS because I wanted it for Christmas and didn't get it for me so they gave it to me on their birthdays (me and my brother usually get one present on other people's birthday to avoid negative feelings) and I have been obsessed. I know I'm sort of a noob but I'm honestly loving it, my Oshawott evolved into a Dewott and I found it very emotional - I'm sure you'll understand.

seven.

Hank Green uploaded a video talking about the common fear of being forgotten which I think, especially if you're stuck in a permanent state of existential crisis and constantly wondering why we exist and what the point is if we're all going to be forgotten anyway like me, is a pretty good video to watch. It may be things you know already but it's nice to have a reminder, plus from Hank Green - it's sort of a double whammy y'know.

eight.
Y'know how I said in my last 'ten things and ten blogs' post that binge watching generation 1 of Skins in the space of a week was bad.. try binge watching generation 2, series 4, in the space of a couple of days - generation 2 is my favourite generation as well. I then went on to binge watch the whole of generation 3 in the space of a few days, my heart is so broken right now it may as well be non-existent.

nine.
Kanye West's video for Only One is one of the cutest things I have watched in a long time, I already liked the song (not just because it's Paul McCartney and Kanye West a.k.a modern deities) but the song's actually really sweet, I think North is one of the most adorable babies I've ever seen in my life, and that's probably one of the most generic things I've ever said in my life but I'm 'totes hipster' the rest of the time so it's okay.

ten.

I literally started cry laughing at this short clip of Wallace and Gromit. I haven't the faintest idea why I found it so funny, but I was in hysterics (so I recommend you watch it too, y'know if you want something to brighten up your day)

blogs.
Little Fickle (in particular this post)
 Magpie Jasmine
Keep dreaming
Sailboat
Porcelainbeautyx
Stephanie's look
Aspiring London
Robowecop
Ellalogy
The beauty ideal

What's been the best thing you've done in the past couple of weeks?

*For reference, check out Sweet and Tender Hooligan by The Smiths

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Primark haul

I did a wee bit o' spending at the end of November in Primark so I thought I'd present you with a blog post and video showing you what I got. I must warn you, there is quite the Harry Potter theme.

Collared jumper - £10
Cable knit jumper - £12

Shirts - £6 each

Pyjama bottoms - £8

Sweatshirt - £10

Chequered shirt - £8

Cosy socks - £2

Are there are pieces you want to pick up from Primark at the moment?

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18 things I learned by 18

1. Always bring your iPhone charger with you, where ever you're going. You never want to be in a situation where your battery is too low to listen to You're Gonna Lose That Girl or Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now for the thousandth time. 

2. Never leave the house without a book. A bus journey without reading material is a bus journey not worth taking.

3. Don't forget that your journal is there for when you're feeling the bitter winds of teenage angst.

4. Saying 'I'm not a feminist, I believe in equality' is the most stupid thing a person can say. Embrace your feminism, educate the ignorant and don't stop complaining until things change.

5. Your parents were right about Morrissey and The Smiths. The years of denying yourself the pleasure of The Headmaster Ritual, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, and How Soon Is Now? are years you will never get back, so face facts and accept that when it comes to music your parents know what they're talking about - it will save you a lot of time.

6. Don't be ashamed of still not being over High School Musical, anyone who doesn't like it is a dirty, rotten liar and they need to get their head in the game. Also don't be ashamed of the fact that you still watch Disney channel and get excited when they show Hannah Montana.

7. Foundation and concealer do not make you look cakey and orange if applied in the right shade and with the right amount, you can cover up those dark circles that you hate oh so much.

8. Biology A Level was never going to be your thing, you knew that from the first week of sixth form and just because you got a B at GCSE in a ridiculously hard Biology curriculum (Cambridge iGCSE is no joke people) it doesn't mean you're going to become an expert in phospholipid membranes and tertiary structures, so don't stress yourself out about it too much.

9. Try not to let your anxiety control you, say yes to more opportunities, but don't feel bad and beat yourself up if you're not up to meeting up with friends once in a while, it's all about baby steps.

10. Doctor Who is worth the hype. Give it another go, start from Christopher Eccleston - enjoy.

11. Don't upload photos of yourself on Facebook at least until age 15/16, seriously anything before then is not a pretty sight and by the time you discover this there will be hundreds to go through and make private or delete - save yourself this time.

12. You don't need to buy every Beatles band shirt you find, if you have nearly twenty, you have a problem and an empty purse.

13. As much as you want to date Tom Felton/Draco Malfoy (in the movies of course because Draco in the books is an arse wipe) you are not a Slytherin, as you find out at age 17, you are a gryffindor (and it's great - go go gryffindor!)

14. Answer your phone. Seriously. People know you're scared of picking up the phone, and they're generally sympathetic, which is why if they're calling you it is important - so pick up your damn phone once in a while.

15. Reading reader insert fanfictions probably isn't the best use of your time, but if it helps you forget about the inevitability of you being forever alone, go right ahead and do it.

16. That existential crisis you've been having since you were 12? Yeah, that's not going anywhere any time soon. Just try not to bum everyone else out by talking about the inevitability of death and the insignificance of humankind because it's not the greatest conversation starter.

17. One Direction are not that bad. Perhaps pop music is all manufactured and a disgrace to the greats like The Beatles, The Smiths, Ben Folds Five, Arctic Monkeys (and so on) but they are catchy and can be quite fun. However, you can maintain that pretentious façade and claim you only listen to 'I want' because it's written by Tom Fletcher and because it sounds exactly like a McFly song if it makes you feel better.

18. You don't need to have your entire life plan figured out by age 18. Very few people do, enjoy the next few years and get some life experience (preferably experience that doesn't require a wifi connection, yes Tumblr I'm looking at you)

What wisdom can you pass on from your life experience?

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