Cupcakes

I made 170 cupcakes and sold the majority for charity.

It was a lot more tiring than I thought it'd be. 

2012 Recap

I just really like this song.

Things that happened in 2012:

• New Year with Anabelle, Jennifer and Scott
• Airport party with Anabelle and Scott. Scott met someone he knows at Edinburgh airport at 6am. Anabelle bought tea and Scott spilled hot chocolate everywhere
• The whole writing lyrics on train tickets and leaving them places thing started
• The Fault in our Stars
• I gained a Fosters pint glass
• Thursday Things! We had Immunology for 2 hours on a Thursday morning then we’d go do something fun afterwards
• My cousin had an engagement party
• I saw Panic! At the Disco, Justice, The Blackout, General Fiasco x2, Sarah Millican, You Me At Six, Mayday Parade x2, Kids in Glass Houses, McFly, Example, Avenue Q, Blood Brothers, Chris Ramsey, Chicago, Little Comets, The Vaccines
• Ate pizza in Scott’s car on Valentine’s day (which was actually a really nice day so shh)
• Went bowling with the work people, which was definitely an experience
• Got a signed Olly Murs picture
• Went out for Farrelly’s 21st, without Farrelly (he cancelled)
• My parents went on holiday for the 50th birthday and I FILLED the house with balloons
• Went on an adventure on the way to uni and got lost. It was such a bumper car kind of day
• Free spa day for Kirstie’s 21st
• I was NOT okay for the first ~half of the year and finally got fixed at the hospital. I didn’t let on to anybody how bad I really was so people didn’t understand and got mad at me for not being able to do anything/go anywhere. Scott included. It was a horrible time. I proper hated life.
• Missed Greg Holden cause my mate cancelled on me
• Firewater
• Cody’s Funeral :(
• Newcastle!!! Where I got completely steamin’ for free. 
• Race for Life for which we raised over £200 :)
• I finally passed Immunology
• That last minute Alton Towers trip
• The completely free Coca-Cola Olympic Torch Relay Celebration at George Square with General Fiasco, Emeli Sandé and Eliza Doolittle andgetting to hold the Olympic Torch, twice
• Intimate times with Julie continued 
• Got locked inside Pizza Hut twice in one week
• Lord of the Rings movie marathon at Kirsten’s house
• Scott and I had our one year anniversary
• He came home early from a Scout/work week away and surprised me and it was GREAT
• I got half my hair cut off
• Saw Sesame Street Live and the Circus with Jayne at the Fringe
• Had a brilliant day in Edinburgh at the zoo with Scott and I injured my knee off of a wall. Still got the mark. 
• Lanzarote! 
• Rode a camel
• My dad bought me a sombrero
• Scott’s 21st!
• I gained this picture from B&M
• My 21st and a week of celebration!
• Started back uni full time
• Basically lived in the cinema right up until I started back uni
• Susan’s leaving do
• Various other nights out

This has been a pretty great year (except for the whole being really ill part for the first bit) but as I got better, the fun times increased. so YAY. Here's hoping 2013 is even better. 

You

The 1975 are a band that's been around for a while under a variety of different names and they are wonderful. I first saw then when I was in 6th year at school when they were playing King Tut's supporting another band (might have been General Fiasco?) and I have been searching for them ever since. It was quite a pain that they kept changing their name and deleting their accounts on every website they were on. They were one of those support bands that despite the fact nobody had heard of them, the crowd were going mental for. Finally they are getting some recognition and airplay on Radio 1. Their new EP, Sex was released on Monday and you should definitely check it out. :)

Happy Birthday To Me!

I had my check up at the hospital a couple of weeks ago now. Turns out I haven't gained any of the weight I lost when I was ill but my weight is steady so that's good. The doctor told me to reduce the stress in my life and eat small portions of food but often. My portions are already small so to prevent myself from feeling sick, they have to be tiny pretty much. 

I baked some lemonade cupcakes before starting back uni. For the first time ever, they actually looked decent. They always taste nice, but the frosting bit always makes them look a little bit crap. I'm getting there, slowly but surely. (Hence the picture, they looked too good not to show you.)

I started back uni on the 10th which was nice. I like being back to the routine of lectures and seeing people everyday. What I'm not enjoying is how freaking cold it is in the mornings. Good thing Kirsten got me a travel mug for my birthday. I'll be drinking tea in the mornings to heat up whilst on the bus for over an hour. :)

I turned 21 on the 16th on September. I celebrating by partying from Thursday night until Sunday night. And last night. I went to Helen's 21st in The Garage on Thursday, Allyson's ceilidh for her 21st on the Friday and Flat 0/1 for my birthday on the Saturday. It was nice. I had never been there before so I didn't quite know what to expect but it was very relaxed and very comfortable. Loads of sofas around and we had a bed too, which Declan, Dawn and Steve completely covered with balloons. 

I went bowling with Jayne and Scott on Sunday night which was fun! I suck so bad at bowling but Jayne and Scott are really competitive so it makes me look even worse. 

I had a family dinner at Table Table last night which was lovely. Family dinners can be a disaster but it was quite calm last night. It was great having a catch up with some people I hadn't seen in a while. 

I'm off to see what I can spend my birthday money on. :)

Meow

(I tried to add the player for this song, but it kept saying "player too small" so click and enjoy, unfortunately, separately.)

I've been doing a lot of tidying and cleaning the past few days. I don't know if I'm bored or just sick of the mess. All this tidying has been accompanied by my marvellous playlist called "Songs to bake or tidy to". 

It's pretty much heavily influenced by too much listening to Smooth Radio and some cheesy pop (either present day or from the 90's) which makes me want to dance (oh, and a few Disney songs thrown in for good measure!) 

My skin has been such a mess recently. No matter what I do it's been breaking out. I don't know if the heat in work is making it worse or what. Going to make an attempt at running on a regular basis since my dad thinks my skin cleared up a bit when I was exercising daily. 

On Friday I made an attempt at Lemon Meringue Cupcakes. The meringue didn't turn out too brilliantly, but it still tasted great. The recipe said if you don't have a cooks blowtorch, you should use your grill at a high temperature for a few seconds. As soon as I told my dad, he ran out to the garage and brought in a normal blowtorch. I wasn't for trying to brown the meringues with that, so I told him  that he could do it. He set the cupcake cases on fire. But we had it all under control so it was okay! No cakes were harmed. They turned out quite nicely.  

I finally finished reading Bridget Jones's Diary last night. I'm not very good at this whole "read-as-many-books-as-possible" thing. I've started The Virgin Suicides now. Really going to try and read this one within a month.

Jayne is working at a charity thing on Friday face-paining. She asked me tonight if she could practise on me so she turned me into a cat. Although, once she'd finished and I asked if I could paint her face, she said no and ran off. 

♥

White Noise

I really like Lauren O'Connell's music.You should check it out.I also particularly like the song "The Same Things"
♥

Cupcakes!

Ohh I really do love baking cakes.

Today I made some Lemonade Cupcakes. :)

Next time, it'll be Cola Cupcakes.

I really want to make Strawberry Daiquiri and Mojito cupcakes too. 

♥

Dear Sixteen Year Old Me

Things I wish I knew when I was sixteen.

It's okay to ask for help, with anything. People don't see you as a weaker person and the majority of people are happy to give you a hand.

Don't waste your time on people. If it's obvious that they would much rather hang about with others don't take it personally. If you make an effort with them and it's not returned, you don't need them in your life.

Get higher English. You might need it some day.

It's okay to have different opinions on subjects from your friends. Don't be shy in voicing them.

Read as much as possible.

Stop worrying about everyone judging you for every little thing. Your hair, clothes, things you say. No one is judging you. In a few years time you'll never need to see the ones that do.

Be confident in yourself and everything you do.

Talk to the people in your classes that you don't know. You'll bump into them later in life.

Wear your hair down - literally. Stop worrying about it being frizzy or a mess. It's not! Wear it curly too, you suit it, it requires less effort and doesn't damage your hair.

That YouTube lot are important. Keep them around.

Stick at it with Guides - You'll miss it when it stops.

You'll meet boys who are actually worth your time.

Eat lunch. And breakfast.

Your health is incredibly important. Stop putting off going to the doctors.

Start watching Doctor Who.

Go to bed early sometimes. Staying up 'til 3 every night is not good for you. You'll feel better after a good night of sleep.

Don't worry. Everything will turn out okay. :)

 ♥

Recommendations

She's my absolute favourite on The Voice UK.I you haven't heard Ruth Brown sing before, I highly recommend you check out this video of her first live show performance. Wow.
Also!

After a recommendation from Julie, I bought tickets to go and see Avenue Q at the King's Theatre for tonight. Oh man, I have been missing out! It's brilliant! That's another thing you should check out if you haven't already. 
♥

Everything Has It's Way

I really do adore Katie Costello's music. I think The City In Me is my favourite EP from her.
She recently released a new EP which I haven't purchased yet, but it's probably brilliant so you should go and listen to it. It's called "Follow Your Every Beat" and everything I've heard from it so far has been quality. The song in the video above, Everything Has It's Way, is from the new EP.

I recently went on a nice wee trip to Newcastle with some people from uni. It was only for 3 days but it was lovely to get away and not have to even think about work or other issues back home. We met super early so that none of us would be late and miss the train, so we were pretty tired by late afternoon. The girls and I were lame and sat in out pyjamas and watched Countdown and Deal or No Deal drinking tea and didn't go out on the first night unlike the guys. We spent the entire next day in the Metrocentre, which is enormous by the way, before going out to some bars and clubs at night. On our final day, we went to the science centre and spent as long as possibly in there before having to head back to the train station to go home. It was a nice few days and I really hope we do it again. Either back to Newcastle or elsewhere. :) You can see a few pictures from the trip on my 365 project here.

I've been in such a cleaning mood today. I've changed my bedsheets, hoovered, done some washing and hung up and took down clothes from the clothes horses. My desk and chest of drawers are even being cleared! Next, it's the wardrobe. What a mess. Throw some stuff out hopefully.

Sorry I've been a bit crap with blogging recently. I should hopefully be posting more recently now.

Mince and tatties for dinner tonight. Yum!

Oh! I'm running Race for Life in a couple of weeks and I'd greatly appreciate it if you could sponsor me, even the smallest amount. Thank you!


♥

Page 7, This is a Test of Endurance

"Hold "This Is Not A Book" above your head of as long as possible."

I only managed a pathetic 125 minutes. You can watch my progress here. 

Rest in peace Cody Mac. Such a brave boy. <3 

I want to do something very Bumper Car-like. Getting bored of this Dodgem lifestyle.
I want to get away from everything here. I'd like to live in another country. The thought of leaving everyone behind is horrible. Right now, there's only a select few I'd like to actually keep in my life. Anyone else is a bonus, kind of thing.
Maybe I'm just bored of studying.
Maybe I'm just wanting away from the constant drama surrounding my life.
Maybe just a change of scenery for a couple of weeks would be fine.
Who knows.

It'll all be better after 11.30am on Monday. Hopefully.

This Is Not A Book

Page 126, This is an underground organisation.

Mission: "Your mission is to photograph yourself with your copy of "This Is Not A Book" in a secret undisclosed location."

P.S I'm going to start posting my Mess and This Is Not  A Book stuff on here along with the associated flickr links.  I considered having a separate blog, but I then I'd have three and a tumblr, so I think it'll be just fine on here. :) 

Balloons

The past few days have been so productive, you wouldn't believe. 

Heartbeat

Cannot stop listening.
It's been a while, sorry. I made a new video not too long ago, if you want to check it out.
My parents are away on holiday this week celebrating their 50th birthday, which is great. They never do stuff just the two of them leaving me and Jayne behind. But I don't know what to get them for their birthday and I'm FREAKING OUT. They come back in Monday, so I don't have long. I bought them some stuff already but it's not much. :/ I was at the hospital yesterday too, about the whole not being able to eat thing. I got some bloods taken and have a letter to hand to my doctor so I can get a prescription for some stuff. Back soon for further tests and again in 6 months to monitor my weight and all that. So glad something is finally being done. :)

♥

Oh, Be My Valentine

I wanna kiss you every minute every hour every daaaaaaaaay. You got me in a spin but everything is a-okaaay.

That's not actually the song linked in the video.

.My love, sent to you in HD.

Have a good day, you sexy people!

♥

I'm not dead

I post over at my 365 project every day. :)

I was reading through this month's new look Company magazine and read this:

"Is there any way back to a best friendship gone wrong? I hope so. Because even if you've become completely different in adulthood, nothing can replicate how precious that special friendship is. You need someone who remembers the same stories as you, who'll get the giggles at there mere mention of a name or a place. To be best friends with the girl who knew you, and still loved you back when you got it all wrong and said things like "safe" and "totally ridic" - it's a privilege."

So true. Unfortunately I cannot say that I am still best friends will all the same people I was when I was 13. I wish I was but I've lost and gained throughout the years and Kirstie is the one that's stuck around since the beginning pretty much and I really do appreciate that. The friends I have now are so much better than the ones I had when I was 13 anyway. :)

But I wasn't planning on writing a blog post about the friendships of the 13 year old me, I actually came to share some more music. I do love a bit of KT Tunstall and I'm so glad I went to see her at T in the Park.

♥

Because We're Dead

Loving a bit of Slow Club.
♥

2011

It's December 28th and what have I got to show for the past year? Not much, to be honest. 2011 was not one of my favourite years, but many good things did happen.

• Went to pretty much as many gigs as I could
• Failed immunology by 1% so no uni since April
• Completed 5K Race for Life in Edinburgh
• Raised £190 for Cancer Research UK
• Summer in the City, where I met some awesome people and Anabelle turned 18 <3
• T in the Park
• Alton Towers, where I went on as many rides as possible and discovered my love for Oblivion
• Wales, which was gorgeous
• Started work as a support worker and stopped working in the laundry
• Turned 20 and got the best cake ever
• My papa was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and was told he had about 3 months left
• That was in April, he is still with us. 
• Started a Bucket List
• Yule Ball!
• Became the snakes and ladders champion  in my house
• Became ill. A few months later and they think I may have an inflamed stomach. Still can't properly eat food without feeling sick
• Started a 365 project

Plans for 2012

• Pass Immunology
• Stand up for myself more
• Try more new foods & activities
• Apply for Summer Camp USA for summer 2013
• Early mornings and nights! Stop sleeping through most of the day. 
• Read 50 books! (I failed miserably this year)
• Travel
• Make videos more often? 
• Finally learn to drive
• Race for Life. 10K this time? Who knows
• See the creeps from school more often than once every 3 months

I hope you all had a brilliant Christmas and have wonderful New Year! Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you'll stick around for the next year and the adventures it holds. :)

I wish you all the best for 2012. ♥