Becoming real life friends, meeting Jamie (,Dave and Pepper)...

Last weekend I got to spend the weekend with one of my best friends Jamie (is it weird to class her as my best friend? Even though I haven't known her long) :/. I don't know exactly when we started talking, or even how we started talking to be fair. I'm guessing it was probably on blog comments, then twitter, twitter then turns to text, text turns to phone calls, phone calls lead to Skype and well Skype leads to meeting up.

We talk literally every day now, some days it will be more than others but without a doubt, we will speak every day. I don't even want to think of life without Jamie in it. Yes she swears, yes shes feisty, yes she doesn't give a crap what people think but she is one of the nicest people I've ever met. We are so similar in some ways but then completely different in others which is great cos we've got a nice mix.

Meeting Jamie for the first time was so exciting but so nerve wracking at the same time. In some ways she was still a stranger because I'd never spent any time with her in real life, what if we didn't get along. What if I liked Jamie but she didn't like me? I had a fair few what ifs floating around my head during the run up to Jamie coming to visit. To the older generation us meeting up was slightly crackers and I'm pretty sure they thought we were crazy. It didn't help matters when my dad was making remarks along the lines of 'Annas got some friends coming to visit for the weekend who shes never met'. That makes it sound like just some randomers I've found online who I've not spoke to or skyped, this isn't an episode of Catfish. I bloomin' love that programme though!

My what ifs were made to look very small after the weekend, infact on our first day together they were made to look tiny. We got along like a house on fire, there was no awkward silences. Even Jamie's boyfriend (Dave) said it's like we've known each other for ages, it's like when you haven't seen someone for a while and things don't change. It's the same like you saw them yesterday or the day before.

Jamie, Dave and Pepper (their dog) easily fitted into our little world, in the countryside compared to their life in London. My parents had already spoke to Jamie and Dave in passing on Skype or Facetime so for them it wasn't strange neither because it was like they already knew them and what they were like.

I've got loads of photos to add on here and share so I'm going to try and give a little run down of how the weekend went. Jamie, Dave and Pepper traveled on Friday night around 8.15 and arrived at around 1am, a lonnng ass journey! I'm so grateful and feel so lucky and loved that they made so much effort to come spend the weekend with me. Thank you both soooo much!

Saturday morning, I felt so anxious. I felt so so so sick, I didn't tell anyone because I knew the ways to control it a little. That feeling eventually simmered down into the back of my mind so I could enjoy the day. Firstly we all jumped into my car and drove to town. I showed them round a little bit, it is a completely different pace of life compared to London so I'm hoping it made a nice change for them. Jamie absolutely loved how many dogs were about (yes, she is a crazy dog lady without a doubt), shrieking everytime we drove past a dog! Dave loved how many independent stores we have too.

Once we'd finished having a wander, we had a little pitt stop to have a drink before we decided what to do next. Go for a picnic or have some lunch in town. Picnic was the winner....WOOHOO! I love a good picnic, picnics for me usually are me sat on the living room floor on a blanket eating a sandwich with crisps and a drink (yes I've just admitted to being a real cool bean).

Jamie and Dave brought their own snazzy picnic basket, I mean check out this beauty...

Oh, and don't forget these two beauties ;)

I took Jamie, Dave and Pepper to a National Trust Park not far from me so we could enjoy peace, quiet and the outdoors...oh and each others company too of course. We sat and ate our picnic near the lake which obviously made for perfect photo opportunities of the wildlife.

All the ducks, geese and swans (babies & parents) were far too cute.

We unfortunately couldn't snap any photos of any squirrels because someone liked to show an interest in them...

'come on, let me at em'...

Pepper was so well behaved all weekend, she was such a pleasure. She even got in on the photo action...

Once we'd finished our picnic we went over to the other side of the lake to see more of what the park has to offer.

The reality behind Jamie and Daves selfies...

After we'd finished in the park all together we made our way out.

The park is such a beautiful place to spend time in. You get very little signal so it is like an escape from everything. 

On our way out we got out of the car to take some more photos and Pepper spent her time like this...

'don't worry mum, I'm watching you'...

Next thing to do? Get some more food in our bellies...Ok, first...more photos! To narrow it down I've just chose my favourite one of about ten.

'life's too short to take boring photos'

Next stop was foooood, we opted for KFC then we headed back home. To make the most of the day and our time together, we went for a walk then just chilled at mine for the rest of the night. We all ended up falling to sleep and I remember waking up to the sound of Pepper about to throw up. No mess, but she was poorly :(.

Sunday came around and Pep seemed better. We got ready and I took them to the next town for us to nip to New Look, Matalan and JD Sports. I'm going to have to share the little funny story behind our trip to Matalan. Jamie wanted a wee, she opened the toiler door, that was unlocked and sat on the loo was a man having a poo...reading the paper! Poor Jamie was so shocked and I bet the poor guy didn't hang around, in fear of bumping into her in the store.

Shopping done, on to dinner (or lunch as Jamie insists on calling it ;) ). We met my parents at the local golf course and had a delicious carvery. Dinner (sorry, Jamie lunch :P ) was delicious. Next stop was to town again and for a walk through the park.

Seriously, how photogenic can one dog be?!

Whilst walking through the park Jamie spotted this tree...I see a tree, what do you see?

Admittedly in the end I did see what she spotted. I can spot it even more looking at this photo too.

After we'd walked through the park we decided to go to the sweetie shop because we are real grown ups... Just when I thought these pair were behaving themselves, this happened...

Next stop, McDonalds for a nice drink. We'd thought about going to a pub but it was abit windy and cold so we opted for McDonalds car park (yeahhhh, we know how to partayyyy)! After that we went for a spin (spin sounds better than drive around). I showed them around a little and Dave was clearly so on edge with my driving and holding on for dear life this happened...

Once Dave had woke up from his snooze, we got home and packed their suitcase ready because they had to go back at some point. Not impressed :( 

Suitcase packed but it wasn't time to go home, nooooo! Looking at the size of Jamie's case she clearly wanted to stay longer. A weekend bag seriously wouldn't of done this girl any good.

Time for another walk...

Walkies done, it was time for lots of photos and chill time.

A little note to you, Jamie...

Thank you so much for coming in to my life. Thank you for being there for me. For making me realize the shit in life, seeing the true colours in characters. Thank you for coming to spend the weekend with me. I will come to visit you too I promise, I just can't say when...I'll work on it though, in the meantime if you every fancy a getaway into the countryside, you know where I am! :) Oh and I'm really missing talking to you through the window in the morning...AND having a conversation that isn't interrupted with poor connection or reconnecting.

p.s. thanks to Dave too for driving all that way here and back. Plus thanks for being a part of our weekend too :)

Well if anyone actually manages to read all of this they deserve a massive pat on the back.

If you've happened to get this far, let me know? Have you ever met anyone who came into your life online?

Oh and a little note to Tom from Skype too, heyyy and thank you for getting in touch too! :) (this is to check if you read this post haha!)

'online friends' become 'real life friends'...the build up!

I'm not one of those people who feels you can't become or build a friendship online. In my opinion, you totally can. Obviously you have to be really careful and if you have a gut feeling something or someone isn't quite right then listen to your gut.

A few years after leaving school was when I became more active in the cyber world. I used to have facebook through school and you know the likes of bebo...oh yes, who remembers bebo? can I have your love for the day? (if you didn't have bebo you clearly won't understand that).

I deactivated my facebook account because it was not worth the hassle that came along with it and I feel so much better for getting rid. Twitter in my opinion is so much better. Facebook is for the people who you know and wish you didn't, Twitter is filled with people who you don't know but wish you did. Anyone else heard that quote?

I originally joined twitter for something to do I guess, to follow the celebs (I was originally one of them annoying tweeters trying to get noticed by one direction...it didn't happen, have no fear I've moved wayyyy on from that stage. You live, you learn). But now for me twitter is so much more than just following the celebs, I use it to connect with other people all over the country. It is great!

I've wrote 3 paragraphs so far and I've not actually mentioned what I'm wanting to actually talk about today. I've never come close to meeting anyone from the internet. It is a pretty scary step to meet someone who you've met online. This weekend I'll be doing just that, I'm a mixture of emotions. I'm extremely excited but I'm scared too. Since Sunday I've been feeling really anxious and now the week of the weekend has arrived I'm guessing those levels might slightly rise even more but distraction is key...hence why I'm blogging about it.

This weekend will see Jamie, her boyfriend Dave and their dog Pep come to stay for a few nights. It is so crazy to think I only started blogging as an escape now I've actually got a very good friendship out of it. I know I shouldn't be scared because yes technically they are 'strangers' because I haven't met them in person but I mean I've skyped them enough to know they aren't crazy loons...well, actually they are crazy loons but in the greatest way possible. I just keep reminding myself that the feelings I'm feeling are completely normal and the best way to do this is, feel the fear and do it anyway!

It is crazy to think in three days, three whole days I will be able to see this lovely little lady in real life. I can feel a photo filled blog post coming up next week, unless Jamie can't stand me and they end up leaving after a few hours...I'm sure she wont...if it is anything like Skype/phone/text we will get on like a house on fire. I actually feel sorry for Dave, he is going to get ganged up on soooo much...pre warning for you there Dave! :) See you guys soon! X

my latest love, Seventeen Gel Colour.

Recently I've not really been feeling the blogging love, I haven't felt the feeling of wanting to blog. I've been kind of busy in 'the real world', you know cos blogging is just an illusion, it's a made up world. I'm totally kidding by the way. Blogging is a part of my life. Admittedly I do slack sometimes but the beauty with blogging is there are no rules, blog when you want, where you want, about what you want.

Ok, now that I've got that little bit out of my head I'll talk about what I came here to talk about and that is SEVENTEEN GEL COLOUR ...oh my, without a doubt my latest love.

Seventeen is a range exclusive to Boots and they currently have an offer on. 2 for £6 on Gel Colour, thanks for a fab offer Seventeen and Boots but I think you've got some explaining to do to my bank balance.

When I first spotted these polishes in Boots thankfully my local store only had a small selection. A small selection means less time spent oohing and awwing over which polish I want to add to my collection. I picked up 4 colours first time around, but now my Seventeen Gel Colour collection has doubled. My local boots now stock the whole collection, so I'm currently trying my best to avoid it (you know after already purchasing 4 more since I couldn't decide on just 2).

I've been wanting to share all the colours on here but reality is right now I can't. I don't want to paint my nails, take a photo straight away then paint another colour. Admittedly I tried that last week but the lighting was all wrong and it just ended terribly so I'm going to paint my nails as usual and just snap photos and throw them all in one post, eventually.

But I couldn't create a post without adding pictures though so the colour Razberrito is going to be the main feature for today. I'm seriously in love with the colour and the polish as a whole. Let me tell you why...

The formula, impressive. The only other gel look shine polish I've tried is Barry Ms and I don't rate them one bit. This formula is just right in my eyes. Each time I've painted my nails I've literally got just the right amount of polish on my brush, making painting my nails fun and enjoyable. If you've used any of Barry M's gelly shine polish you will know exactly what I mean by their formula, their formula is so thick and blobby (farrrrr too thick). If you hate that as much as I do, I think you will be seriously impressed with Seventeens new range too.

The coverage...I advice using either 2 or 3 coats. 2 coats are usually fine but depending if it's a glitter one maybe 3.

The wear, mind blowing? Maybe my mind is easily blown but how can Seventeen create a polish that lasts so long without signs of wear. On the bottle cap it states to have upto 8 days wear. I've tried 3 different polishes and each time I made a note in my diary so I could work out how many days they lasted. On average it was around 4 to 5 days which in my eyes is pretty impressive. But as I'm typing this and looking down at my nails they are only just starting to chip slightly and it has been 1 week. 1 whole week, I'm on to a winner here in my eyes! *pppsssssttt* I didn't even use a top coat to protect them either so it is all the polishes work alone.

The colour match... I don't know how some makes manage this but I've bought polishes before and they come out a wishy washy version of what is in the bottle...meaning they require alot of coats to match, therefore it's time consuming and a little boring. Seventeens Gel Colour on the other hand is on point with the match! What you see in the bottle is exactly how it'll be on your nails.


WOW, did I just write a review? Without actually calling it a 'review' and freaking out a little inside...yes, yes I bloomin well did. Woo hoo, I'm impressed with myself.

Have you tried any of Seventeens Gel Colour polishes? If your answer was no, what are you playing at? Girl, you are seriously missing out.

here we go again...a little (or large depending how you look at it) life update.

Sometimes 'real life' gets in the way of blogging and we just have to accept that, go with the flow and know that eventually we'll get back into the swing of things...hopefully!

I feel like I've been lacking in both motivation and energy (they are the same thing, right?) recently but I'm going to try to pick myself up, brush off the cobwebs and get the ball rolling. By ball I mean the ball of life, plus the ball of blogging.

Sitting down and writing about whatever I want to write about is certainly one of my favourite ways to spend my time. I was just about to say that you can type away and nobody will judge you or say mean things...but actually they could quite easily, thankfully I've never received anything nasty so we shall keep it that way lovely, lovely people. (If you don't have nothing nice to say, don't say nothing at all).

Sometimes I like to look back over old posts and reread what I was thinking about back then. Whether it be days ago, weeks ago, months ago or even years ago. It usually tends to make for an interesting read. I've watched myself grow a lot, change a lot and I can see myself shaping more into the kind of person I want to be.

Ok, now I'm rambling and actually haven't even got round to any kind of update. You know, other than stating that I've been lacking in motivation and energy. Maybe now would be the time to share my latest life updates (I say updates, there is only one main one, I'll throw another few in).

A blog post doesn't seem right without a photo, this one is pretty fitting since we are almost in May!

So, what's new with me?

I've got another job...yes, another one. I kind of feel funny telling people about it because I'm thinking they'll judge me since I didn't stay at my last one. But I'm going to give it a go and fingers crossed all will work out well. I'm really looking forward to it since it is office based and that was what I had originally wanted to do when I left school so everything crossed it all works out well.

I think I'm falling in love...I've found a new love...oh no, not a boy...oh no... my new love is for Seventeen gel colour nail varnish, watch this space! I'm planning a post about that now, it'll be a 'review'...yeah, still feel a little awkward calling it a review, I have no idea even why. I'm weird, what else can I say?

Ok, pretty sure that is all the updates for now, told you there wouldn't be many.

Now it's time for me to go and just flop on the sofa, I've eaten a little far too much food, I'm feeling stuffed and look like I've got a food baby.

What's new with you? Tell me, tell me, tell me...we're all friends around here! :)

anxiety, a love/hate relationship?

I keep sitting down to write this post and then something else comes up but today I've decided to sit down and not move until I've said what I've got to say. My feelings towards anxiety, my anxiety is a serious mixture of love and hate. I love it in many ways but I hate it with a passion in others too.

Originally I was going to create two posts covering the love and the hate but I've opted for just one post. Since I can't actually decide which way round I'm going to talk about them, I'll start of with the negatives and end on the positives. Bad stuff first then hopefully the good stuff will make us forget about the badness.

Anxiety, I hate you for stealing my late teens/early twenties. The time I should of probably been discovering myself and not been robbed by you, in a little way though I do still feel like I've found myself so that isn't totally bad I guess. I hate how you are always in the back of my mind and can creep in at any minute, any second, I really wish you wouldn't. I hate how you make people tell me it is all in my head, as if I'm not already aware. I hate how you make people say stuff like 'oh but you don't look ill', 'there is nothing wrong with you'. Believe you me, my mind and body inside beg to differ. I hate how you've made me more sensitive to situations. I hate how you've made me more cautious when it comes to doing different things. I hate how people can't understand you unless they experience you first hand.

Anxiety, I love you. I wouldn't say it is a full on love, love. I'd be quite happy if you left my life, that would be lovely so I don't want you getting the wrong impression and thinking you're welcome around here. You really aren't, I'm just putting up with you to make things a little easier. Anxiety I love how you've made me open my eyes to the world and be more understanding to others. I love how you've brought me together with so many incredible people. I love how you've made me a stronger person than I was before. I love how you've made me learn how to live in the moment, day by day. I love how you've made me start to realize the true meaning of life. I love how you are behaving even more now, you are well and truly on your best behaviour...keep it up!


Anxiety can be a royal pain the bum but you know what, it has shaped me into the person I am today and I wouldn't change any of it (ok, tell a lie...maybe I'd change a few little bits here and there). My journey has got me where I am today and I know there is even more to come in this journey. A journey I enjoy documenting.

I saw Olly Murs live...

I'm going to start of by sounding really old here but where on earth do the weeks go? It is crazy to think I saw Olly, one whole week ago. That week has flown by crazily fast, weeks slow down will ya! Time moving so fast makes me just want to live in the moment even more every day, live for the day. You never know what is around the corner.

The days before the concert I'd had the idea of a blog post floating around in my head to share my tips on how I cope, the post ended up turning into how I coped really. I know concerts aren't exactly an every day event but they are super fun to go to and be a part of.  So I ended up sharing my tips after the concert but better late than never, it's up now and it can hopefully help someone. Want a quick link to it? Sure thing, click here. 

I'm an absolute sucker for a photo filled blog post so let's start like we mean to go on shall we? This my 'ARRGGGHHHH, I SAW OLLY MURS LIVE, GOT A TSHIRT AND KEPT THE STREAMER THAT I CAUGHT FROM THE SHOW FACE'.

I'll explain the story behind going to see Olly. Surely it is as simple as I like him, I like his music, I like him as an artist and the person he comes across as. Well yes it is I suppose in a way. I originally bought tickets for my mum for her 60th birthday (yeah, my mum is cool and loving Olly). Absolutely gutted that my mum had actually already seen him live and loved it. I remember blogging about it actually, she went with my dad and I spent the night at home pretty gutted about it. This time round my dad didn't want to go because in his words, 'there is too many screaming girls and kids'. Well when you are one of the screamers you can't really hear the rest of them so much.

So the plan was it would be the two of us going. My mum wouldn't let me drive, yes I'm 23 and still need my mums approval. So she wanted us to get the train, I'm not a fan of trains. Plus it wouldn't just be a train ride it would be a train then a tram. Ooh, too much for one day in my eyes. A few friends had offered to take us in their cars if not. I was all up for that but then I really wanted my friend to come with us, she obviously didn't have tickets but on our local radio station there was to be a competition. A competition called Olly-oke, the clue is in the name...yes it involved singing. Can I sing? along to the radio of course, in the shower yes. Live on the radio, it seems not so much. A song was played, I had to continue singing when the song stopped. Alot harder than it sounds, completely lost the words...I managed to forget an Olly Murs song, top fan points? haha! 5 people entered the competition too, we was entered into a draw to win 2 tickets to see Olly. Long story short, I bloomin won them and since I was the one who sang I got the better tickets of them all, woohoo!

I took my older camera, the quality wasn't very good at all. I ended up using my phone so the quality isn't as good but just to show how close we were to the stage. There was two stages, this was the main stage...

Another stage to our right, we was literally bang in the middle of the two almost. So far through the show a bridge came down and Olly changed stages...

When I've previously been to concerts I've taken alot of photos and videos, have I looked back at them? Only a few. So instead of viewing the concert through my screen I lived in the moment and experienced it with my own two eyes, I absolutely loved it! The photo below was taken over the weekend after the show on the Wednesday. I was still so happy about it! My face was like this for a long time, especially after I won the tickets to see Olly. Genuinely keep smiling like this now!

Ok, on to the concert? Oh my goodness, see what I did there? ;)

I'd go as far as to say that it was without a doubt the best concert I've ever been to so far. I was anxious on the day, you'd think I was performing...it wasn't have no fear about that. I tried my best to do everything I could to feel better so I took myself on an hour long walk during the day to get lots of fresh air to my head, I had a nice soak in the bath and painted my nails. I did everything I could to make sure I wasn't rushing around. Plus in my bag I took lots of ginger biscuits (I always have a packet in my bag for sickness feelings...yuck) and some mints too, both of them always tend to help. Safety behavior? Maybe so, but atleast I'm going out and doing things now.

Car journey went really well, we went in my friends car since now her and her daughter were coming with us (they had our original tickets). Ginger biscuits were slowly nibbled on, all was good! Arrived at the arena a little bit later than planned, we got into the arena and did the usual pre show stuff. You know have a wee, get a drink, buy some merchandise and then make your way to your seat. By the time we got to our seat, Ella Eyre (she was the support act) sung one more song then went. Fast forward maybe twenty, thirty minutes...

Olly Murs put on an absolutely incredible show. I'm extremely impressed. The next night I wanted to go again and relive it all, it was just so good. He is an absolute entertainer and an all round cheeky chappy. Half way through the show I was debating whether I'd still have a voice left in the morning, I was singing along to every single song so loud. The night was the best night I've had in a very long time. It was spent being entertained, singing, dancing, clapping, swaying and taking it all in.

One thing I don't like at the beginning of a concert is when you first get there and the sound affects your whole body as such. Do you know what I mean? When it vibrates your chest and just feels so strong.

I'm thinking maybe now I better put an end to this post because man, I'm waffling on!

One more thing before you go? Just for the LOLs, I decided to recreate the look on the tshirt. I still keep giggling at it, yes I'm really that weird but hey, who wants to be normal? NOT ME!

All in all it is safe to say my time at the Olly Murs concert is an experience I certainly won't be forgetting in a hurry. Another tour Olly? I'm there!

Have you been to any concerts recently?

I'd love to hear about it, let's be friends and tell me more!

♥

Attending a concert? anxiety + concerts, my top tips!

This week I went to a concert...Olly Murs's, Never Been Better Tour. I had a mixture of emotions on the day, I was super excited but super nervous too. Anxiety levels were pretty high but I think that was also a mix of mother nature on her way, too much info? Nooo, it's a natural thing.

I used to shy away from events but I didn't really feel any better for it, I was just feeding anxiety. Feeding it only made it grow bigger and stronger. But over the past years now I've managed to get a better understanding of anxiety as a whole, get it under control and I'm able to get an even balance, a healthy balance of anxiety. I prefer concerts outdoors more than I do indoor concerts but in this weather I'm all up for an indoor concert. So this time round it was time for me to try and attend a indoor concert. Last time I went to this arena was in 2010 (I think) so 5 years ago now, anxiety was at its early unknown stage then. In all honesty the build up, concert and way home was an absolute blur. A few days before and the day of the concert I had been making a list in my head of what I'd do to manage this concert and I'm now going to share them with you, hopefully it will help atleast one person...if it does, then well that's a job well done!

Relax, take it easy and prepare...
I know for one if I'm running late and start rushing around I get in a flap and panic, that is not cool and that isn't what you want on the night of a concert. So I'd definitely recommend taking it easy and prepare yourself, maybe the night before or even the morning of. When I say prepare I mean like pick out your outfit ready (I admittedly sometimes do this and still change my mind but atleast it gives you a rough idea), get your bag ready that you're taking with you, make sure your camera is fully charged and has a SD card in it (nothing more gutting than going to take a photo then realizing you have no memory), make sure your phone is fully charged too and make sure you know what is happening on the night. Structure and planning is key to little stress and anxiety. I did also take a few of my little bits and bobs that I have in my handbag every day but I'm considering doing a different post on that so I'll not explain that now.

Breathe...
Sounds obvious? We are always breathing, that's how we are still alive but I mean focus on your breathing. If you feel yourself starting to panic just breathe, focus on your breathing. Ok, that was pretty simple...just breathe. Inhale and exhale, really focus on correcting your breathing.

Stay in the moment...
When panic kicks in what is your automatic response? run? run for the nearest exit? yes, I've been there. Luckily now I've managed to train my brain to not run for the nearest exit, I managed to train myself before that every time I felt a slight hint of panic or anxiety that I had to go home but now I've managed to alter that and I stay in the moment. I know it is easier said than done but honestly stay in the moment, look around you, focus on the little things.

Accept the feelings, don't run from them...
Tell yourself it is ok to feel anxious, you might even mix the feeling of anxiety with the feeling of excitement but whatever you feel know that it is ok to feel that way. Allowing the feelings to be there gives it less power and it will gradually ease off and you'll forget about them.

Focus...
If you can feel your mind running away with itself then try to focus on something else. Pay attention to how many screens there is, try to guess where the act will appear from, make small talk with whoever you're sat with and focus on that conversation. Have a little drink, focus on that drink. Have something to eat, focus on the taste, the texture, the smell.

♥