So I've been AWOL for quite some time again. I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted but here I am, once more explaining my absence. Sean and I went travelling. Not for very long, and probably not the usual way either but honestly it was fantastic.
We saved up for a while, and when I say saved, I mean we took the money out of our moving out fund to pay for our extravagant obsession. So we saved and planned, and planned, and planned. And then planned a hell of a lot more and off we flew to central Europe. Now I'll probably talk about all of that at some point but right now I want to talk about how it honestly changed the way I see my life and helped my mental health.
So before I start, I just want to put out a little disclaimer. I know travelling is a privilege that not everyone has access to. Although I slave away stocking shelves to pay for my travels I still understand how lucky I am to take these trips. I also just want to say that as amazing as they are, trips around the world cannot cure metal health problems, although I do believe they can give you a short break from having to deal with them.
So lets get to it; why was this trip so life changing? And why was it different from any of the other trips I've taken in the past? Well to start with it was the longest I've ever been away from home. We were gone for 18 days. This might not seem much to veteran travellers but to someone who suffers with anxiety, this is a long time believe me. I worried a lot about having enough money, catching the right trains at the right time, and, you know, silly things like getting mugged or losing my passport. Well we did have enough money, we made it on time to all of our trains, and we got to where we needed to be, even if things didn't always go right. Although I couldn't stop myself from worrying every now and then, I got though it, and I handled any problems we came across pretty well too. Although travelling is my passion and I love every second of it, by going on an experience like this I came home feeling like there's nothing I now couldn't do. For someone who is constantly drowning under self doubt and worry, thats a pretty nice feeling.
Like I said we had everything planned down to the tiniest detail which did make me feel a lot better, but there's no way we could plan for everything, that's just not how life works. We were bound to come across problems at some point and we did, but we managed them well and continued on our journey. I didn't have any major freak outs while we were away and that has given me a boost in confidence.
As well as helping me to overcome my anxiety by forcing me to confront situations head on, travelling for such a long period of time allowed me to take a nice break from everything that worries me at home. For 18 whole days I didn't have to worry about finding a new job, saving to move out, my parents' business closing down, and all the things that keep me up at night. The only thing I needed to think about was what I planned to do the next day. I know that isn't reality but to have such a long period of time without my everyday concerns was so refreshing. Although I came back home to my worries they weren't as built up in my head as they were before I left. I think I needed that break to reset my mind, give it a good cleanse, and come back to things when I could think more clearly.
By the end of our trip I came home with a new outlook on life. I realised there was more to it than working a shitey job to pay for a little relief every few months. I don't want to be another person living just for the weekends, especially when I have to work them. I want a good job, a well paying job, a job I like, a job that can allow me to afford these sorts of trips more often. I want to wake up everyday feeling like I did the morning after I got home, knowing that we overcame any problems that stood in our way. I want to be able to face situations that terrify me - like being in crowds, learning to drive, and going places on my own. I want to live a care free life like the one I had just a few weeks ago. This trip has given me the drive to push myself to be the best I can be. It made me confront situations that I would completely avoid here at home and it has given me the inspiration to try new things which is something I will always be grateful for.
Thanks for reading!
x
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So a few weeks back Sean and I went to see Dinosaurs in the Wild at the NEC. I've been fascinated by dinosaurs since I was tiny so when I heard there was a dino related experience coming to Birmingham I knew I had to get tickets.
I decided not to do too much research into the experience as I really didn't want to ruin anything for myself. As I'd never seen anything like this before I wanted the whole thing to be a surprise so I really didn't have any idea what I was paying for.
As you can still go to see Dinosuars in the Wild I'm going to avoid spoiling it for anyone by talking about it in too much detail in this post, I will however give you a little run down of what I thought. I know I've shared a few photographs here but there are several little surprises that I just could not adequately capture on camera.
The tickets were around £30 each (or £25 with a little discount super savvy me found online) which I thought was pretty pricey if I'm honest. The whole 'show' lasted just 90 minutes and although I enjoyed every second of it, I don't think it was the most affordable thing to do. That being said, it really was one of the most unique things I've experienced and I would happily pay the same price for something similar in the future.
So what did I think of the show itself? Honestly I loved it. Without giving too much away, each section of the tour had a lot of thought go into it and the attention to detail was pretty incredible too. I also thought our guides were pretty good although one of ours had a very strong accent that could be hard to understand occasionally. The technology side of things was also quite exciting and I really hope more shows like this pop up in the future.
Although I thought the experience was amazing for adults, I can't even begin to imagine what the children thought of it. Not only was it pretty educational, but a lot of it was incredibly realistic and I have no doubt that many of the kids on our tour genuinely believed they were surrounded by living breathing dinosaurs.
Would I go again? Although I've seen it now, so nothing would be a surprise for me, I would go back for the tour again. I did however receive a voucher for a half price return ticket so I do think that would influence my decision to return. It's probably not a show for everyone but I would highly recommend it if you were looking for something unusual to experience and as I said previously I wouldn't hesitate to purchase tickets for something similar in the future!
Have you been to see Dinosaurs in the Wild? What did you think?
Thanks for reading!
x
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A few weeks back I decided to book myself in for a personal shopper appointment at the Birmingham Bullring Topshop store. I really wanted some new pieces for my birthday and I loved the idea of having a stylist pick out things just for me!
I booked in with Charlotte who is the bubbliest friendliest girl you could ever hope to be styled by. We exchanged a few emails the week before the appointment in which I told her my dress size, what kind of things I wanted to try, and who my style inspiration was. Sometimes there is space for you to drop in for an appointment on the day but I think I much prefer talking to the stylist beforehand as is allows them to get a feel for the kind of clothes you like. It also means when you arrive for your appointment there is a rack full of clothes, shoes and accessories already waiting for you to try on!
When I arrived Charlotte firstly talked me through the pieces, many of which had arrived new in that morning. She showed me how she would style them with other pieces on the rack and suggested how I could style them with pieces I already owned.
I then began to try things on. There were quite a few things on the rack that I would never ever pick out myself. I've become quite stuck in my ways and tend not to veer too far away from what I'm comfortable in, however I absolutely fell in love with some of the pieces and next time I go shopping I will definitely try on things I wouldn't usually.
After trying on a few bits, swapping up sizes, and trying on some other pieces Charlotte suggested we take a walk around the shop together. I picked anything and everything that took my fancy and Charlotte also picked up some things she thought I might like. One thing I will mention at this point was that as I'm a bit larger (I range from a size 14 - 18 in Topshop sizes) there wasn't really much on the racks that fit me. I could order things online but that unfortunatly meant I couldn't try them on for the appointment. I really hope Topshop looks into stocking bigger sizes in the future as us chunky girlies want to look fab too!
Once I had finished trying things on, an hour and a half had passed and I was ready to pay for my purchases. As I said in the video, I didn't feel pressured at all to buy anything which is something a lot of people have asked me. I did end up spending more than I normally would on a shopping trip but I set myself a budget for the day and I didn't even get close to that.
So would I book in for another appointment in the future? 100% yes! The whole experience made me feel like a VIP and did I mention it was free?! I'm not sure where else you would get to spend a few hours with a stylist and pay absolutely nothing! I came away with some gorgeous new pieces for my wardrobe and a new perspective on what suits my body type.
Have you had a personal shopper appointment at Topshop before?
Thanks for reading!
x
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For a long time I've really stuggled with my weight. Its not until quite recently that I've learnt to love my body but I do still have off days which I talked about in this post earlier in the year. Sometimes I just need to look at some other curvy ladies to remind myself that its okay to be chunky. Here are some of my all time favourite body positive Instagram accounts..
So I just wanted to address that fact that I've picked all curvy girls for this list. As I'm a bigger girl myself it isn't always productive for me to look at slimmer ladies as I find it all too easy to compare myself to them. I'm a big advocate for all bodies being beautiful no matter the shape or size and I do understand that slimmer girls are starting to be shamed the way bigger girls are. Its not my intention to single out one body shape, I just wanted to share the girls that help me to feel good about my own body.
As you may know if you follow me on pretty much any social media, Sean and I recently spent just shy of a week in Disneyland Paris. We had the most incredible time and I still have the post holiday blues now. To break the trip up a bit (not that we could ever get bored of Disney) we hopped on the train and spent a few hours in the city of love.
As usual we hadn't really planned what we wanted to do too much, however Sean really wanted to visit the islands where Paris was originally founded and so we headed that way. Out first stop was at The Conciergerie when Marie Antionette was held before her execution in 1793. There was a lot of information about the French Revolution, however there was not so much about Marie Antionette herself which I found quite surprising. The Conciergerie is free for European citizens under 26 and can be more or less done in around an hour so I would recommend a visit if you get chance.
After our short visit there we stopped for a little snack break. Walking around all day really does take its toll on you so we like to have regular munchies. We then headed towards Notre Dame which I had never seen up close despite being to Paris twice before. The structure really is something else. It's bigger and more beautiful than I have ever seen in pictures an I'm really glad we got to spend a lot of time just soaking it all in. We did consider going in but the queues were really quite long and we didn't want to spend the day standing still.
Once we had taken more photos than any tourist should we moved to towards the Centre Pompidou but not before stopping off at Sephora for some treats. Sean actually tracked it down as he knew how keen I was to pick up some goodies you just can't get here in the UK. We grabbed a few bits and carried on.
We arrived at the Centre Pompidou just as it started pouring it down. Like every other tourist in the vicinity we ran towards the entrance, however we went in through the library instead of the main doors and beat the ridiculous queues to get in. Like the Conciergerie, The Centre Pompidou museum is free for Europeans under 26 however exhibitions needs to be paid for. The Centre holds many works of modern art including 'Fountain' which I was over the moon to see as it was one of the works I think really started modern art. We also had a wander around the top level which gives you absolutely gorgeous views over Paris and I would say is a must see while you are visiting.
Once we had pretty much exhausted the Centre Pompidou we took the Metro over to The Bataclan Theatre. To my surprise there were no flowers, no cards, and only a tiny plaque to commemorate the lives lost there back in 2015. Considering the size of the atrocity that took place I thought there would be more but I guess now it's just turned into the site of yet another terrorist attack. Despite there not actually being that much "to see" there were still several tourists posing for selfies in front of the plaque which I really didn't think was appropriate at all.
By now it was getting quite late and our tummies were rumbling. Not wanting to go too far we headed into a pretty Parisian café on our way back to the Metro. It was the least touristy place we'd eaten in for a while and that was exactly what we wanted. We had a long look at the menu before deciding we were actually rubbish at decoding French and we both ordered safe options. I picked a delicious four cheese pizza which could have probably fed a family of 12 and Sean went for a Caesar salad after enjoying one earlier in the week. We could have stayed there all night people watching and soaking up the atmosphere but we wanted to get back to enjoy a few hours in the Disneyland Park.
Last time I went to Paris I didn't really enjoy it much. We didn't plan a lot and I just didn't fall in love with the city like I usually do when travelling. Although I still wouldn't rank Paris in my top 5, we did manage to tick off a few things from my 'to do list' and I had a much more enjoyable time. I'm sure we will be back to explore more of this beautiful city and hopefully then I will finally feel the way most people do as they wander around the pretty Parisian streets.
Thanks for reading!
x
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So I've been AWOL for a while now. I've not published anything on here and I haven't even looked at Twitter for weeks. I've managed to post a little on Instagram but for the most part my social media has been quiet. Well I'm back now so I thought I should explain what I've been up to in my absence.
End of year exhibition
While I was still rushing around like mad to complete any left over work I also had to concentrate on our end of year exhibition which our uni hosts ever year for the creative students like myself. Opening night was just fantastic if not a little emotional. I made a couple of decent contacts through the exhibition, and even though I didn't really agree which how the whole thing was run I definitely learned a lot.
I finished uni!
I finally handed all my overdue work in and I've now completed my course. For those of you who didn't know I've been working towards my HND in photography for the last two years and honestly its not always been easy. I've had my ups and downs while at uni and I even considered not going back for my last year but now its done and I'm just waiting for my graduation in October! Oh and I can now proudly say I earned a distinction which is the top grade you can get and not one I thought I would ever be able to achieve!
Disneyland & Paris
You might have seen on Instagram that me and Sean went to Disneyland Paris for 6 days at the end of June. We'd had it booked for quite a while but the timing worked out perfectly - we went just two days after I handed all of my final work in. Having so much time to explore our favourite place was just incredible. It was tiring I'm not going to lie, but even with my aching legs and blistered feet I enjoyed every second of my trip. I actually managed to vlog the whole week which is something I've wanted to do for a very long time now and I'm really happy with how the footage turned out. Keep a look out for that over on Youtube in the coming weeks!
Cornwall
Just as I was arriving back into the UK from my amazing Disneyland break my parents told me they were planning a trip down to Cornwall. I'm not one to ever turn down a holiday so just one week after my last trip I was back on another. We stayed in Northern Cornwall in the Tintagel area which is notorious for its rain. We did have a few showers but we also got a fair bit of sunshine too and we all come home with sunburn!
So that's what the last couple of months have been like for me. Honestly its been completely hectic but in a good kind of way. It's been none stop for months but now everything is back to normal and I'm feeling kind of empty. Now its time to be an adult and get a proper job but I will make sure I find time to blog in the future!
I hope you've all had a fantastic few months and I look forward to catching up with you all!
I'd not eaten Spanish food since I went to Barcelona last April and honestly I was desperate to get my fill of some tasty Paella. I've not found many places in Birmingham that specialise in Spanish food but I did know of at least one; Tapas Revolution.
Me and Sean had walked past Tapas Revolution a hundred times coming and going in Grand Central but we'd never really had the time to stop and eat there. We had tried the takeaway Chocolate Churros before and were pleasantly surprised so one Sunday we decided to grab a table and sit down for a proper meal.
Now I will admit at this point that I had read the menu wrong and I thought I could order a full plate of Paella from the set menu. Turns out you can only order a small Tapas sized bowl, who would have thought? Disappointed but determined to eat something other than a burger for once we ordered the cheaper set menu for two people. For £20 we got one Pan con alioli, one Croquetas de jamón, one Tortilla de patatas, one Chorizo a la sidra, and one Paella Valenciana. The 5 plates were easily enough for two people. As well as this we were given a small dish of pork belly to try, it was nice but it was a bit too rich for me.
The food was pretty nice. I was happy to finally have Paella, even if it was just a small bowl and Sean was happy to eat a plate of Chorizo Sausage as it was a bit too strong for me. I would say the tastiest dish was the Croquestas de Jamon which seemed to be fried battered potato balls athough I wouldn't bet my life on it.
As well as our Tapas dishes we each had spanish drinks. I opted for a few glasses of grape juice which were honestly delicious and Sean chose a pint of Estrella. I thought the drinks were pretty pricey, a pint of draught beer coming in at £5.25, but I guess this isn't a place you'd eat at all that often.
Overall I really enjoyed my meal. Although I'm probably not used to some of the strong tastes in Spanish food, I'd definitely like to try Tapas again as I love the idea of picking at a few bowls of food while you drink and chat away. I thought the service as Tapas Revolution was also pretty good, our server was lovely and if he hadn't have gone off shift I doubt we would have waited over 20 minutes to pay the bill. That was the only downside to the evening really, but apart from that I enjoyed my night.
Have you ate at Tapas Revolution before?
Thanks for reading!
x
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