Merry Christmas!

Hey everyone!
So Christmas Day finally came and it was lovely! The food was amazing, my all time favourites are pigs in blankets! Change of tone but I read a post recently which talked about how some people didn't really feel like it was Christmas and then in response someone said that's because you're getting older and I just thought it was so true! Don't get me wrong I'm still obsessed with Christmas and the whole Christmas period but it just feels different when you get older, does anyone else agree?

This year I got lots of little presents instead of one big one as last year I got a DSLR camera which was my main present. So this time, I got chocolates, lush stuff, money, Red's Untold Tale book which is based on Red from Once Upon A Time (which I frequently mention), pearl earrings and New Girl season 4 (another tv series I recommend). I also got the We Love Disney album with singers like Jessie J & Ariana Grande who sing covers of Disney songs and then of course I had to get the original Now That's What I Call Disney album. So I'm really happy with what I got and I hope you all love the presents you got too!

So from today my contract from Next has ended..I've officially finished work! This makes me so happy because I've been working the whole of this week and every weekend from November so I am so glad to finally have a break. Now the realisation kicks in that it means I have to do my school work..damn it (take me back to work pls;) I am so excited to see my payroll, I checked a few days ago and my summary was £175 which makes me incredibly happy! It means I will be debt free as my mum had to pay for both concerts. First Christmas thing I have to show you is a wreath we have hung up but it's lit up with pink lights making it look really pretty so I wanted to show you guys: (could've cropped the photo but I just closed down Photoshop and I'm in a really lazy mood so I can't be bothered, not even sorry about it ha..

Guess what..
I had to get up at 5 on Boxing Day because I started work at 6 in the morning, it was a painful experience waking up that early! Me and early mornings are never put in the same sentence, I just don't get people who want to shop that early and especially in the sale because to me it's so stressful and hectic it would put me off. Why do those people do it, they are definitely the worst types of people so if you're one you can quietly leave now;)

Random thought but I commute to school every day from Leeds to Harrogate and I do the same for work as I also work in Harrogate (yes I have tried to get a job in Leeds..I failed). Some people don't like getting on a bus on their own as they always want a friend with them. Personally I love it, I just find it relaxing as it means I get to listen to my music and catch up on my podcasts. Cut to segway of promoting Not Too Deep podcast by Grace Helbig and Psychobabble by Tyler Oakley. I'm not just saying it but these podcasts are the best ones you can get, they're both youtubers who just chat about random stuff and I just love it! But anyway, back to the main point..does anyone else not mind/like travelling by themselves..(it can't just be me?!)

I'm excited for tomorrow though as I am meeting up with a friend I haven't seen since she left sixthform and another friend who I go to sixthform with. It will be a good break from work and then we can exchange Christmas presents as well, I obviously love receiving Christmas presents but I love giving them just as much as it is the best thing seeing someone else's reaction..especially if they love what you got! I pride myself in being able to get really good presents for all my friends and family so if you want a good present then just become my friend and wait until next Christmas (nah of course I'm joking..who do you take me for? As if I'd have the money to do that)

Ooh how could I forget..I have to show you my Christmas tree in my room which of course is pink. I hung some of the decorations I got from York I showed you last week on it and laid out silver and red apples which reminds me of OUAT (sorry one day I'll stop talking about the program..just not today;)
 
 I made a chocolate yule log again this year as it is becoming a tradition now to make one as I don't like christmas cake and of course I can't go without one so this happened. Look at the picture below: tadahhh *jazz hands*

This year I decided to have Christmas nails so I thought I found an easy snowflake pattern to do but after the first nail I realised this clearly wasn't working. But I had to carry on as I didn't have time to change it up, I mean they looked alright they just weren't the best looking Christmas nails you'd seen. So after Christmas Day, I went in search of an easier pattern (ooh don't I sound adventurous) and found a candy cane nail one. Annoyingly I didn't have the colour green as it was a red base covered with green & white stripes so instead I just went for white stripes and they looked way better.

Here is a picture of the comparison, I  would honestly laugh if any of you preferred the snowflake nails (I just know you won't):







Enjoy the last week of Christmas holidays!! (quietly sobs with how fast the week has gone)
Sophie
♥♥

Let The Christmas Holidays Begin

Hey guys!
NO MORE SCHOOL FOR 2 WEEKS!!
I've wanted to say that for so long and now I finally can, even though I'm working most of next week but the second week I'm not so I can mostly relax. Luckily I didn't get that much homework set only English coursework, photography and psychology to do early revision for. The only daunting thing I've just been told is that we have to finish our photography coursework booklet in 1 month but as long as I do some work over the holidays then I'll be fine.

One main aim of this holiday is to make sure I watch loads of Christmas films, watch The Grinch with my family because that's become a tradition now and love actually because I haven't seen that in ages! If you have any Christmas films you wanna recommend then comment down below, thanks if you do!

Last year I made a chocolate Yule log because me or my dad don't like Christmas cake and I wanna make that again because it tasted delicious. Guess what guys..Season 6 of The Vampire Diaries is finally on Netflix in the UK so I've started that again. I watched the last episode of season 5 again to recap and of course I cried my eyes out, such a sad episode. Especially when you ship Delena (Damon and Elena) as much as I do so when you watch them get separated a tiny piece of you dies inside as if you knew them both personally. You get me??

Now I've got 2 concerts planned for next year, Adele's concert in 82 days (definitely don't have a countdown that I watch everyday..) and it took me 2 goes to get the tickets because the first time they sold out in about 3 minutes but I managed to get a few when she released some more which I'm so thankful for. My second concert is this guy called Troye Sivan who is a singer, songwriter, YouTuber and actor so yeah he has a lot of titles to his name. If you haven't heard of him then please listen to blue neighbourhood because that is his latest album which is lyrically perfect and his voice just tops it off. So yeah you can tell I love Troye but also Adele so I can't wait for that, I just love having events to look forward too! It's a good way to get past work or school work so a tip for you..book a concert and everyday you do revision just think it's 1 day closer until you'll be watching them perform!

So during the last week I turned into a stereotypical white girl by ordering a Costa hot chocolate in one of their famous Christmas cups. So of course to keep in with the trend I took a picture for you all to see (yep that makes me less sad right?!)

You have to admit they are really cute and festive though and the hot chocolate was amazing. Made me miss my bus tonight well part of the reason as I read Monday to Friday's times instead of Sunday's times which messed me up so I grabbed a Costa thinking I had time. It would have been alright if Costa wasn't in the totally opposite direction from the bus station but it was cold and I was that desperate.

To keep the festive blog post, here is a picture of me with our Christmas tree just before we bought it and yes of course it's real the smell was heavenly and you just don't get that with fake trees. The only thing issue is not with the tree but with my cat thinking it's a huge toy inside because every minute she knocks another bauble off the tree or wacks the tinsel, fellow cat owners you'll understand.  

Hope you are enjoying the start of your Christmas holidays! Make the most of it because I guarantee the 2 weeks will go fast (not to put a negative spin on it or anything..)
Talk very soon!
Sophie
♥♥

Christmas Shopping In York

Hey everyone!
Me posting late is probably gonna become a thing now because of working until late so sorry in advance..

Speaking of work, I had a 6 and a half hour shift on Sunday (30 minute break of course) and wow I feel like I have so much respect for people who do this 24/7 for their job! Like I'm always that person who is constantly forgiving if people on the till are slow and now even more now because for example when that person maybe gets stuck trying to do a transaction and you got stressy with them you don't realise the impact it has! Like I'm sure you've been in their shoes once and it was the nice and patient customers who helped the till people learn. I'm happy to say I've progressed so much with working in the till as I used to be terrified of it but now I can do normal sales, retail returns, directory returns, putting money on gift cards and ordering from the store. Also checking if an item has any more sizes in stock and now I feel much better and definitely more confident. I usually am on ladieswear which does get a bit hectic but normally people are very understanding. So yeah..if you wanna buy something in Next then come to the one in Harrogate and I'll serve you! (Even if Harrogate is like 10 hours away I mean come on guys that's nothing;)

As I had a day off on Saturday me and my mum decided to go Christmas shopping in York as we haven't been for about 2 years. It probably was the worst day to go as York was flooded and it was constantly raining throughout the day (it didn't even stop for 1 minute..whoever controls the weather needs to sort their life out). After claiming my free chocolate coins from M&S as they are doing this competition where you get 5 tries at unwrapping a present and you can win stuff ranging from a bag of Percy pigs to £100 so it is pretty good. I won some chocolate coins which were worth £1 so I'm pretty happy with that, chocolate is just so damn good, don't you agree?!

Anyway, back to York! I want to show you some of the decorations I bought. I've been to York several times now and I love this glass shop selling baubles and glass jewellery. Let me tell you a story about the pink Christmas tree though! The woman dropped it and I was devastated, clearly I get too attached to Christmas decorations but let's move past that..luckily there was 1 left in the back but imagine if there wasn't I would have been gutted. For lunch, we went to Little Betty's as a treat as you will all know (if you don't then it's just a super expensive cafe with lots of history) that the food there is extortionate. I got the nicest hot chocolate, still trying to decide whether it beats the Costa fudge hot chocolate that I got on Friday because that was amazing too! (Another thing I highly recommend!) Then I got a smoked salmon sandwich because it's fair to say I'm obsessed with smoked salmon and I needed to crave my addiction. (I sound like I take drugs but nope rest assured I don't & never will). To finish off the already amazing meal I got a vanilla slice with berries and a berry sauce, I was incredibly stuffed after as of course I ate some of my mum's caramelised onion roste with chicken & cheese.

To the left is the cutest Christmas tree decoration just to stand on its own on my desk by my fake pink christmas tree, see I've already got it planned out where it'll go!

To the right I got a pink Christmas tree with a gold star on top which as pink is my favourite colour I thought that was a must have buy.

These are 2 angels that I just loved!

Of course the one with gold polka dots on is my favourite, I also love the gold heart as well. They were fairly cheap well I mean they were good for their price, about £4.50 each so I guess it depends if you think they're worth it or not.. (they are)

This is another glass bauble( you can see my theme now) although this was from the German Market in Leeds. It's absolutely huge and more pricy because it is glass but you fill it with oil so it makes the room smell amazing!

Above is a snowman I got a couple of years ago from the same glass shop in York when I last went, isn't it just the cutest.

I just thought I'd show you the ice sculptures I took pictures of as there were loads but I only took a picture of two as by the time I'd taken the picture my hands had started to freeze again..yes it was that cold. The first one is this cute dog ice sculpture:

So I had a teapot ice sculpture as well but the picture is just blurry so I can't upload that so have an angel one instead.

Also bought the most amazing dried orange smelling bauble which is what scent I want to fill my huge glass bauble because that will just be amazing (it's heart shaped as well what a bonus)..I'm all about that heart shaped aesthetic;)


So overall I had a good day in York but when I got home I had lots of photography to do which I needed to finish as last weekends main focus was photography as we had a group crit yesterday. I do look forward to them (ok I'm toning down my sarcasm I promise) but it is awful because you don't just have to show it in front of your teacher you also have to show and describe what/why you've done it to my other class mates. So you can see why I have a strong dislike for them..so I'm trying to prepare myself for it!Although I had it today and sir was happy with all our work which was a big shock to all of us, we were all prepared for the worst. Saying that I was so happy he liked my work because on the Monday night I stayed up until 2 in the morning to finish it (quick story for you...fell asleep for the first time on the bus so missed my stop and ended going all the way to the centre of Leeds from Harrogate..)

On Friday I finally went to see Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 2 with my friend and I don't even have enough words to express how amazing it was. There were a few sad moment in it, not gonna spoil anything in case any of you haven't seen it yet but also I was so happy with the ending it was just perfect! A perfect ending to the best film series which I'm seriously gonna miss. I also need to recommend toffee bonbons to you guys because I've only just recently been introduced to them and now I'm obsessed so yeah go to your local poundworld and grab a bag! Another thing I had while watching the film was the new tango ice blast which had bubbles at the bottom filled with the juice which was a strange experience but definitely enjoyable.

So now it's only 1 week left until freedom! (no exaggeration here)
I am so excited it is unbelievable, it's gonna be so good to get a 2 week rest from school even with work and school work but in between all that I'll get lie ins which I never get at school and just get to laze around in onesies all the time which is one of my favourite hobbies! So good luck with the final week but hopefully it'll be easier as teachers are normally more lenient.
Talk soon!
Sophie
♥♥
(PS sorry I didn't post last sunday but lets just pretend I planned to do a mid week blog post..yep)
(PPS I swear it'll be back to normal this week)
(PPPS I like you guys a lot) 

Day Out In London

Hey everyone!
Hope you're all okay, so this week was pretty good well no that's a lie it was alright but it was Friday that was really good! As for the second time in my life I went to London but this time with my school for a photography/art trip. I haven't been for over 5 years so was exciting to go again, don't think it's changed that much although I can't exactly remember much from the last time I went. It took us ages to get permission from our head teacher to even go though as originally we were planning to stay over which would've been cool but we were only just allowed to go for a day so that wouldn't have been happening anytime soon. We arranged to go to the Tate Modern and the National Portrait gallery however for us photographers that didn't really relate to what we were doing as it was just paintings. So we with some other people went to the National Gallery instead but ended up resting for a bit because we'd already done so much walking and then watching this guy outside of Trafalgar Square take hours in his run up to limbo under a bar with nails lit on fire below. Then as soon as we had to go we missed him actually do it, we just heard the clapping as we were leaving, how typical we saw the run up to it but not the actual thing..

Here are some pictures of the cutest christmas decorations which of course I had to take a picture of as you can tell I am pretty obsessed by Christmas. It's just the best time of year isn't it?!

We went to Leicester Square where all the film premieres are held it was so cool, it was advertising mockingjay part 2 which made me sad because I wanna see that so bad but I've already tried arranging it twice with friends then plans have failed, why do I even try?! I got the nicest savoury crepe (would've gotten a sweet one if it wasn't lunch time) but first time having savoury crepes and I got mozzarella, tomato and basil leaves which was actually really nice! Even though our purpose was going to several galleries in hope of being inspired I ended up taking more pictures just walking around in London than I did in both galleries. I guess I did expect that at the start as the artwork that was there just didn't relate to my nature theme. So now I have loads of photos and no photographer to say I was inspired by as of course you can't just take pictures because you wanna you always have to get some photographer/artist that really inspired you (can't wait to do research to find one..)

So I was at work both days this weekend so I'm shattered and actually too tired to revise because I don't seem to be remembering much and I have my sixth form's mock week next week which is just perfect timing. I ended up working on the tills over on kidswear even though on my shift I was meant to be assigned to ladieswear but that just stressed me out and surprisingly the kids section is nice and calm, probably because there's only 2 tills and a smaller section so yeah..I worked there instead, see sometimes you can get what you want in life..even if it's just the little things;) Dreading next week though as I have 3 mocks with my first one Tuesday, second Wednesday and then last Friday so you can see why I'm looking forward to the end of next week.

To make up for the lack of well any pictures last week, here are some of the ones I took in London on Friday!

AMAZING NEWS!! So since last Friday when I sent off my application, I received an offer from Chester University and Newcastle University, that's 2 out of my 5 I'm so happy, I didn't expect to get them so fast I just checked my emails and saw that some changes had been made to my application and turns out it was my offers. Still not wanting to favouritise which uni's I want to go to as if I don't get offers from my favourite ones I'll be gutted so just waiting to hopefully *fingers crossed/touch wood/all the usual superstitious ways to give myself luck you know* (I try to say I'm not superstitious..even though I say these phrases way too often) get offers from them all or at least most to then decide which ones I want to put as my first choice then my second choice. After that I'm gonna go to all the applicant days to see which uni's I prefer;pretty exiting stuff now.

GUESS WHAT..
We bought a Christmas tree on Saturday straight after I finished work at 12:30 and I helped choose the best one of course. As I live in a Victorian house where the rooms are like 8/9 foot high this becomes amazingly useful when buying a Christmas tree as it means you can buy practically the biggest ones there. We haven't put it up yet tho but hopefully before my next post it'll be up and I can at least take a picture to show you but may not have done decorations but will at least have put it up (always one step at a time)

You know me with my random funny pictures and these are my personal favourites:

 (Yes..I'm gutted I couldn't get a shot of the floating santa from the front)

Oh yeah so if you didn't notice the reason why I love them because both are just floating I mean why not! Also the silver guy on the right as I call him reminds me of the tin can man in the wizard of oz..is that just me?!



(Sorry about the awkward space just keep scrolling..)

Enjoy next week and remember that every day is a day closer to Christmas;) also there's only 2 Sunday's left until Christmas, I absolutely love facts like these as it makes it seem so much quicker until the Christmas holidays. Christmas is honestly my favourite time of the year and I just can't wait until we break up for 2 weeks, will definitely need the rest (even though I'm working on Christmas Eve and then Boxing Day at 6:30 like oh the joys of working..it should be illegal to get up at 5 which is what I'm gonna have to do ughhhh < I feel like there's still not enough 'h's to represent how much I'm dreading getting up that early)
Until next week, byeeeee!
Sophie 
♥♥

I finally did it!

Hey guys!
GUESS WHAT (it isn't really that much of a surprise) but I've sent off my UCAS application! (hence the title I did it if you didn't know what I was on about. I only sent it off on Friday as first my English teachers needed to write more on my reference as apparently my psychology teachers wrote more than my English ones even though I'm applying for an English degree not a psychology one.. Anyway, then it took me practically the whole of Friday to get it done as my head of sixth form helped me pick universities with lower entry grades because if you haven't noticed, most of the good ones are ridiculously high which is just unfair. Typical me but I also completely forgot about my science and art gcse, probably because I blocked out the art one as I was so close to a B and for the amount of effort/work I put in it still annoys me even today. Luckily your teacher can send back the application to you as many times as you need which in my case was about 5 because oh yeah I also didn't realise you had to put your AS grades in. But like I'm sorry does anyone actually know what advanced subsidiary means (now that I say it it's obvious that it's short for AS) but we weren't explained properly about the application so yeah let's not blame me, life lesson for you: don't blame yourself..always blame the school;)

In the end I applied for York, York St Johns, Chester, Sheffield and Newcastle Uni. My target grade is ABB so in the unis I chose I have some AAB but they accept ABB and some below like BBC or 300 UCAS points as backups. Honestly I do have favourites but I'm just gonna wait to see which ones I get offers from..if any (you wouldn't think I was an optimist reading this but I am honestly) and then go visit the places again as some unis I haven't even been to I've just read/heard about them oops.

So if any of you haven't sent off your application yet then take it from me who procrastinated ever since I finished my personal statement and just avoided my teachers for a bit. The longer you wait to send it off, the more stress it'll cause you because you will constantly get reminded to send it off so basically do it to shut up all your teachers who harass you to do it. Also congrats to anyone who has got offers already, you smart piece of shit;) my compliments get less complimenty every day (it's a word okay..)

So honestly I haven't done much apart from UCAS and rushing work in my private studies because sending off my application has always been in the back of my mind and it's been stressing the hell out of me.

(IT'S DONE, IT'S LIKE THE BIGGEST WEIGHT HAS BEEN LIFTED OFF MY SHOULDERS YASS) side note one of the reasons I love the word 'yaass' now is because of this video I saw on facebook of a clip from the lion king of them saying yass but in different pitches it is the best thing ever! (it isn't actually from the Lion King but I wish it was) Google or Facebook it now!! I'm waiting...
let me know what you think, if you don't love it then I'll be disappointed in you (only for a bit then I'll get over it ha)

Just had to get my excitement out but quickly moving on. The reason it's posted later is I've just finished my first proper 6 hour shift at Next and then been doing school work. What a fun life I live..but the reason I say proper isn't because I haven't done a shift before because I've done 7 hours before but on sale week where all you do is tidy, organise and basically pick up clothes off the floor as well as helping customers. Today I did my till training and wow I sympathise with people who work there full time because damn the tills are so complicated nowadays and especially with it recently being updated to touch screen it literally take decades to register once you've tapped it and then actually load (no exaggeration or sarcasm here;)

Anyone been watching I'm a celebrity or strictly (my mum's got me into strictly) but Lady C is so irritating as she thinks she is so above everyone else when in fact the only reason she is a lady is because she married a Lord?! The insults she uses just shows she never was and never we will be a lady though, ugh she just goes too far like saying how Tony Hadley doesn't even have a good voice..I mean he's a legend I always have gold stuck in my head (don't know if that's a good thing though) On Strictly, Jay is my favourite because he used to be a member of one of my best friend's favourite band (and he's really cute) and then Helen as I love watching her on call the midwife she is such an amazing actor and now an amazing dancer..so jealous of her looks though.

Hope you're surviving school/uni/work! Remember to always enjoy yourself and don't put so much pressure on yourself (if only I'd listen to myself more..)
Byeee (until next week)
Sophie
♥♥

Sending Off UCAS Application!

Hey guys!
This is gonna be a short one as I'm not feeling good (girls you'll understand why..also sorry probably tmi)

So I finally know which uni's I want to put down for my 5 choices (in order of preference): York, Sheffield, Chester, Lancaster and Leeds (Leeds is my backup because I don't really wanna go there). I know it's a good uni but for me it's just too close since I live there. Later today I'm going to fill in my application because lord/e knows I haven't done it yet (I think I listen to Tyler Oakley too much oops..if you're really confused then go listen to his psychobabble podcast on iTunes, always slipping in that promo for my fave). So tomorrow I can get my psychology predicted grade changed to a B and get my teacher to check my application and send it off. This is exciting yet also extremely scary at the same time. Good luck to those sending yours off too and if you've already done it then damn why you so organised?! I'm a real bad procrastinator so that sorta got in the way like I've had my personal statement done but nothing done for UCAS online yet. I feel like once it's sent off a huge weight will be lifted off my shoulders!

So I had my 3 hours induction at Next and it went alright. We got payed for it so that was the only thing motivating me to get up yesterday at 7:30 to get the bus to Harrogate. As usually that's the day I look forward to my lie in's..even Next offered me a shift to work today but nothing was getting between me and my lie in's on the Sunday instead of yesterday. Nah I'm joking (sort of) but also I hadn't done any work yet so I just told them I had lots of a level work to do but hopefully they'll ring up next time when I can do extra shifts because I definitely need the extra money! So we had to learn how to make staff announcements on the phone and she was like so who wants to go first, I ended up volunteering to go first..which is not like me at all. Mostly I did it to get it out of the way and not be constantly dreading doing it and yes it was weird having to sound so professional on the phone to other staff but I did it, that was a proud moment for me haha.

After school on Friday I went to the Christmas market in Harrogate with my friends to see what it was like. We had a good time and ended up standing opposite from this really cute guy who was at the stall for ages..typical teenage thing to do haha oops, my friend ended up apologising for our "behaviour";) Anyway enough about cute guys, I could talk about them all day but the market was cute too, I took a picture but it just doesn't do it justice so go see for yourself if you live nearby! But if you don't then I'm sure your local Christmas market will be just as good; if not better as Harrogate is a small town. I will be off to the Leeds German market but not just yet. Anyway before I go off topic, we came across this guy who makes the most amazing fuffles which is a combination of fudge and truffles making the coolest name ever. So after work yesterday I got Christmas presents for family and friends as they keep for ages. So for the first year ever I'm feeling super prepared for Christmas! One of the flavours is called kerfuffle I mean why not, if I had the chance to name things I would definitely choose names like that. (Side note but it's really annoying me as autocorrect keeps trying to correct my spelling to the American English version like yes there isn't anything wrong spelling it like that if you're American but I aint..clearly so that was rude aha)

So as long as everything goes to plan then my UCAS application will be sent off and I'll have joined everyone else in the horrible torment of waiting to receive offers. I know people who have already got unconditional offers and man am I jealous, especially for your first or second choice that would be amazing! Enjoy next week and remember only about 3/4 weeks until Christmas holidays, I couldn't be more excited! So now I'm going to curl up in a ball and watch tv..erm I mean do work obviously;)
Byeee!
Sophie  
♥♥
(omg just remembered I still haven't used the rest of my sparklers to actually write my name properly this time, hopefully I'll have done that by next week woo)

Temporary Jobs Are The One

Hey people!
Hope you're all well and had a good week even with it being school. So this is gonna be a bit random jumping from topic to topic but I mainly wanted to talk about part time jobs.

So if any of you have read my previous posts (hi five to you awesome humans) then you'll know I've previously got part time jobs working for Next last Christmas & last Summer. So again I've applied for their annual Christmas job where they always need more staff to cope with the huge sales they aim to make. Firstly..I GOT THE JOB! I mean I was kind of guaranteed it as they already sent me a £10 Next gift card and said hope to see you next time at Christmas; so that was the sneakiest bribe ever. Although it was different this time as I had a team assessment which meant they looked at how I coped on the shop floor speaking to customers and putting out stock if necessary. So that went well, the only feedback she said was to always make sure you say hi to customers and ask if they need any help; I know it's not an excuse but the reason I was resistant too was that I wasn't that familiar with the shop layout so if they asked me a question they'd have a better chance at finding the item than me. Plus I didn't wanna become those annoying staff members who constantly approach every customer saying do you want any help because that can get annoying and I know as I'm usually on the customer's side. Guess what..we got payed a tenner for travel to get there & I got another £10 gift card and I haven't spent my other one so now I have £20 to spend which is good. Next Saturday I have the actual induction from 9am (so early ugh) and she said it'd last for about 3 hours but we get payed for our time so I'm pretty happy!

Momental pause from talking about jobs because I went to the Christmas lights switch on in Leeds on Thursday with my friend. We got there when it had already started, not realising how extremely busy it was! They had to close down the roads as the number of people there was crazy. People sung Christmas songs of course and Collabro who won Britain's Got Talent last year sang and they were really good, even singing let it go at the end; never gets old! Before they turned on the lights it started pouring it down which was great...but all the lights did look so pretty! I only had my phone so the quality of pictures won't look the best but now I've given you a heads up I'm gonna post them anyway:

Like I said please don't zoom in, really not the best quality but at first glance from the distance it looks alright..my photography teacher would kill me (not literally gosh) if he heard me say that though oops.





So guys now moving on to something very important in my life and I don't know if I've expressed my love about this before so please respect me when I show you this picture..

Bet I got you all well scared...sorry for being over dramatic but yes you are looking at the right picture, it's one of my favourite emojis: 😍 (heart eyes one if you can't see) but come to life. Of course we didn't ask for a picture with it/he/she because I'm way too socially awkward for that so if you meet me, just be prepared for a whole lot of socially awkward moments haha.







So back to temporary jobs, I wanna rant but I want it to look like a more structured, organised rant so here's a list of 5 main reasons why to go for temporary jobs! (Can be aimed at anyone but yes teenagers are probably most suited with going to school as well).

1- If you're afraid of committing to a full time job then that's what part time jobs are there for! It allows you to still have a social life and earn some money as well.

2- If you have other commitments such as school/college/uni then they are perfect as you can still socialise but maybe on a couple of days a week you can go earn some money but it won't feel like the job's taking over your life.

3- One of the best things I personally think is you don't get tired of working until pretty much the end of your contract as it isn't an everyday routine so you look forward to your job as it means getting the dollar (yep that's my attempt of fitting in with y'all Americans;)

4- I know there's negatives to part time jobs but like with everything in life as long as you focus on the positives, you'll love it! (Squeezed a generic life tip in there..you're welcome)

5- Last but not least, you form a relationship with the staff, especially if you annually keep returning at sales times. So if you do wanna make that scary jump to a full time job then it's always more of a possibility as the staff know you well and would most certainly rank you higher than other people who haven't worked there before!

So hope you like my more organised ranting, I just don't want you to get sick of me talking as you can't really avoid it being a 1 way communication system but feel free to talk in the comment below, I'll always jump in at the most unexpected moment.
Enjoy life basically & remember it's only 4 weeks until most of us break up for Christmas holidays! (Yep, I'm counting already what do you expect..)
Talk later guys, byeeee
Sophie
♡♡
(Change of hearts now bet that made you stop and think...or you didn't even notice and just want me to go so yeah ok bye)

Fireworks & Bonfire Night

Hey people!
So last week was actually alright considering I had a criminal psychology mock (yes another..) on Thursday but I was pretty happy with it as for once the stuff I revised for came up! However I realised I clearly can't judge how well I do on my mocks as the one I wasn't sure on I got a B and the one I thought I did well on I got an E..oh well lets just block out that grade

On the Thursday night I went to Roundhay Park (in Leeds) to watch the fireworks as it was bonfire night and I didn't take any pictures this year as it wasn't the best weather (just a polite way of saying it was shitty weather). But I realised I haven't shown you guys yet the photos I took last year of fireworks which I was proud I managed to capture, I had to bring a tripod so that year I was fully prepared (partly because we were asked to take pictures for photography). On Thursday, there were gold sparkly fireworks which were me in a nutshell (I'd like to think anyway). There was such a cool firework that twirled in the air and if you watch the apprentice you'll get this reference.. it was swishing and swooshing and tumbling and turning, my favourite quote by far;)

I realised I never have shown you my fireworks pictures as last year I wasn't yet blogging so here's my favourite picture I took and yes the fact the pictures cropped like that annoys me too..
Yesterday I went to Leeds (town as I call it..even though it's a city) as I booked a teenage makeup tutorial with Bobbi Brown. The woman who did my makeup was so lovely and I ended up getting extra light BB cream which is so good coverage I can use as foundation and a creamy matte colour it calls it and in the shade crushed plum. Berry/plum colours have been such a popular autumnal lipstick colour to use and continuing through to winter so at last I'm hopping on the trends. So like a true beauty guru (I wish) I took pictures of you of both makeup products:

(excuse my awful chipped nails)

This BB cream was pricy (about £29) but it's so worth it as for me it'll last ages and often when I use this I won't need to use concealer or foundation. As for the lipstick that was about £20 so still expensive but all good lipstick companies are like the famous brand MAC are just as expensive. So I'd highly recommend Bobbi Brown as a good makeup brand if you're wanting to change or just in need of makeup.










So last night I attempted to draw my name and do hearts with the sparklers but none of them turned out that good so I'm gonna try again tonight now I know how to improve as my camera technique was fine it was just how I used the sparklers. Here are some of my failed attempts as every good photographer has loads (I have probably way more though as I'm only an amateur). Can anyone see sophie in the first one..sorta?!

So if I get some good shots I'll show you all next week so I don't post late, have a good week!
Talk soon!
Sophie
♥♥ 

Carving Pumpkins

Hey everyone!
This week has gone so fast I hate it..can't believe it's already November

I've been very busy with meeting youtubers and then revision (priorities to meet youtubers first ofc) and you know the old saying don't meet your idols as they won't be like you think they are. Well stuff that saying because everyone I've met has lived up to their high expectations of them in my mind. So I met Joe first and wow I don't know how it's possible but he looks more attractive in real life (crazy right) and got lots of pictures with him, I gave him my phone and then he just spammed it with photos, he clearly gets it. Some of the pictures with him are below so you can drool over him like I did;)

It's hard for us the way the book signings are organised now as a lot of them are presigned which is better as you get more time but they have backgrounds so you only get to see them the second before you meet them. Throwback to with Marcus because I was not emotionally prepared for 1-him to be that tall 2-for him to be even more attractive and 3-just in general I had no time to process his amazing presence. If you're a fangirl like me that'll sound super normal but if you aren't then it'll sound like I'm exaggerating well trust me I'm not at all. So if there's one thing I want you to learn from this is to always meet your idols if you get the chance to! (and become a fangirl, it's the best way to live)

On the day of Joe's signing, in the evening I went to Union J's concert at 'The Wardrobe' in Leeds so that was definitely the best day I've had in a long time. Union J are honestly the most underrated boyband out there, they are genuinely so talented and I know I'm bias because I'm a fan but I'd like to hope you'd know I wouldn't listen to crappy music. They've always performed live and have never lip sung throughout their career and I know you'd think that's a given but for a lot of artists it isn't. I couldn't get tickets to Zoe's signing on Friday which sucks but nobody got pictures so secretly that made me very happy, but Joe and Zoe are seriously sibling goals (yes I know the words goals is overused but who cares, it's the truth). Then yesterday was Tyler Oakley's signing and he was quite small so I felt at home (sad ik but it's the truth as other youtubers I've met have been surprisingly tall). We got 3 selfies together which I couldn't love more, my favourite one is shown below:

Onto Halloween..well I'm not a big fan as ever since I've grown up I've stopped trick or treating but a tradition I've always done is to carve pumpkins. So of course this year I continued that tradition, I carved mine inspired by the devil emoji (and what was meant to be a random spider web to the right). I'm pretty happy with it, also featuring cute halloween lights because my mum's obsessed and I wanted the perfect instagram picture (yep I'm that person..)
Hope you all had an awesome half term and good luck for starting school again!
Talk next week
Sophie
♥♥

Half Term & Feminists or Idiots

Hey everybody,

Half term has finally started..hallelujah! (I just realised that's a religious word but I still use it as an atheist, oh well freedom of speech and all that)

Recently one of my favourite people who I'm about to meet (the one and only Tyler Oakley ofc) and he like so many other people brought up the topic of feminism. I agreed with him 100% and I just wanted to rant about it because I feel like so many people misunderstand what feminism is really all about.

In simple terms, if you say you're a feminist it just means you want females to be seen as equal to men and to have equality in the world. However the way it's promoted a lot of people tend to see it meaning women wanting the female race to be superior than men and that's just wrong! Don't get me wrong some people might believe in that but the word originated from empowering woman so men aren't seen as so superior, for example it's all about making sure that men and women who are doing the same jobs get payed equally as in some countries men get payed more than women for doing the same job, now how is that fair?!

So yeah I'm a feminist not an idiot as my title suggests you're either or (credit to Tyler's tweet for that) so I hope I've explained myself alright. Moving on as I'm just so excited to have a well deserved break from school even if it it's only for 1 week, I'm gonna take than and run with it..(not literally though you know how I feel about exercise;) Like I explained last week I do have several plans which I'm looking forward too, starting Monday but obviously I have homework and revision because god help us if we actually relax for too long..we might actually you know not permanently feel stress..I wonder what that feels like?!

For me and I presume many of you, it was recently parents evening last Thursday which I always dread and especially this time as I completed a criminal psychology mock exam paper which our teacher perfectly timed for parents evening (great right). Although saying that my teachers showed my parents my grade first but they didn't give away too much with their reaction but guess what..I got a B!! I revised and worked hard for that so I'm super happy, which involved talking to myself a lot when I was testing myself on my flashcards, hopefully I'm not the only one who learns better by repeatedly saying everything out loud.

Since the pressure of UCAS still looms over all our shoulders (if you're 17/18 like me), I wanted to find more universities as you have to pick at least 3 and the more the better as the more uni's you have the better odds you have for at least getting an offer from one of them. York has always been a favorite ever since the open day and then just Leeds as a backup although I 100% would rather go somewhere else than sticking to my hometown; especially as it pretty much is in the center of Leeds which doesn't appeal to me. My other choice is Sheffield and I went to a open day yesterday and I was nicely surprised with Sheffield as I had created a vision of Sheffield being an unattractive place but where the student accommodation is, it's actually a super cute area near the woodlands.

These two pictures are of the Ranmoor accommodation which is the smallest student area, still holding 1,500 people but compared to the other one it's smaller. Sorry about the quality of the pictures but I used my Lumix camera instead of my DSLR as it's more portable.

Above is the Endcliffe student accommodation which holds over 3,000 students but this one has catered which would suit me so much better as can you imagine me trying to cook decent meals..hmm good joke. I also feel like yes self-catered is better however I would end up paying more because I wouldn't be able to stop myself; I have no self-control oops.

I came across the university of Chester when I was scrolling through the list of the top uni's for the English language & Linguistics course. Apparently it's a small city just like York which immediately appeals to me and the entry requirements is 300 UCAS points meaning typically they except 3 B's which is very reasonable. Very typically, I've missed their open day but they do campus tours on specific days so if any of you are interested I'll keep you updated on when I go visit Chester. One thing I am happy and reasonably up to date with is my personal statement as after 4 drafts, once I've cut it down just a bit to reduce the characters (clearly I got a bit too keen) I will hand it to my head of sixthform to mark to make sure it's ready when I'm ready to send off my application..which will probably still be a while yet (as long as I do it before Christmas I'm fine so if you're in the same position as me then don't worry). 

(Quick rant on entry requirements for University) it really bugs me when most good universities have the same ridiculously high entry grades of AAB or even higher. I know some people are perfectly capable but others aren't and sometimes it's those students that deserve a place who work their butts of to get a decent grade but aren't allowed in because they didn't meet the grades (I'm basically describing me). I'm just so worried I won't get offers as my target grades for the end of next year is ABB and all the courses apart from 1, their entry grades are higher than what I'm predicted; ugh education is pretty tough.

So talk again next Sunday at the end of half term, ugh sad times but just gonna make the most of this week and get as much sleep as humanly possible, enjoy your break guys!
Sophie
♥♥

Are you a cat/dog person?

Hey guys, hope you're all alright!

So today I wanted to encourage you to be more interactive in the comments (you don't have to just a suggestion you know) and I was taking pictures of my cat and well I thought about this ages ago but judging by the fact I own a cat..yes I'm a cat person (such a shock ik;) I have always thought the dogs are the cutest as well but not to own them like I find my friends' dogs really cute but I couldn't imagine having to actually look after one. So yeah I'm gonna be totally bias and if any of you don't have a pet yet, persuade you to buy a cat by listing all the advantages of having a cat:

1- Especially if you get a cat when it's only a kitten they'll become so attached to you and want cuddles and you to play with them all the time

2- You don't have to pick up it's shit like a dog owner does, the cats hide it in the litter try anyway then you just empty that out

3- If you're lazy like me then (surprise surprise) but you don't have to walk cats every day, you just open the door for them or get a cat flap 

4- When you're feeling lonely they'll cuddle you and make you feel wanted

5- Playing with their toys with them is the cutest & funniest thing when they shake their bum before they're about to pounce and arch themselves up high when they're scared

6- When you get a cat, before you know it you'll find everything they do just the cutest in the world (hence why I have way too many pictures of my cat on my phone)

So yeah cats are the one but I guess if you really want a dog then go for it, I just don't think I could handle the crazy energy all the time haha. Another reminder if you aren't already to keep updated with watching season 5 of once upon a time because I've got so many amazing theories to share but don't wanna spoil anything if you haven't caught up. *SPOILER ALERT TO OUAT* I couldn't resist but you know the Excalibur well that has Killian's name on it and ofc the dagger has Emma's name on it now so basically way before captain swan was a ship, destiny had already planned them to get together like how perfect is that. Seriously though the writers are so incredibly talented like the amount of plot twists they fit in is crazy but in a good way.

1 MORE WEEK OF SCHOOL!! If you can't already tell then yeah I'm ridiculous excited for a break and I've got so many events planned. Ok even though you might not care, I'm just gonna say: Tyler Oakley's Binge book signing, Joe Sugg's Username Evie graphic novel signing, a sixthform party and Union J's concert. I would've also had Zoe's Girl on Tour signing but Leeds tickets sold out like crazy and me and my friends missed out *cries inside..wait who am I kidding I cried on the outside too*

Started revision already as I've got a criminal psychology mock next Thursday just in time for parents evening (great timing right..). It just makes me feel so drained out of energy, why can't the weekend be longer so I can have a YouTube/Netflix day and not feel bad about it?! Ugh the most important questions of life..if only we could freeze time and relax for 5 hours but it's actually only an hour, sorry if I'm going off on a tangent I better stop. I swear my mind goes crazy when I've been doing work, anything to distract myself from the mind numbing torture of revision.

To end this on a cute note, here's a picture I took of Smudge when she was following me outside while I was taking pictures, clearly she wanted in on some of the limelight;) 

Hang on in there, not long now until a break from hell aka school as it's most formally known. Talk next Sunday!

Sophie

♥♥

Exploring Leeds

Hey everyone! 
Friendly remember that it's less than 2 weeks until we break up for October half term or as I prefer to say only 1 more week until we only have a week left at school;) sounds so much better doesn't it. Also I feel like my title suggests I'm a tourist but nope I do live in Leeds, just have only begun to go to events like you'll hear about below.

So straight away I have to tell you about something that happened to me and my friends when we were on the 36 to Leeds. So I read my friends message about this guy that had randomly started talking to my friend and I just laughed not properly thinking it over. So I went to the back of the bus where my friends were and almost immediately this guy was like moving up to make sure I had room to sit next to him. He just kept talking to us non-stop as according to him he just likes to make people laugh. I mean if I'm being honest I was more laughing at him than with him, he was just so creepy and (goes into sassy mode) let me tell you he has no clue of the concept of personal space! Every time he said a joke or a story (every 2 mins) he leaned on me and looked at me as if he was waiting for me to laugh and being the only seat on the bus upstairs I had no choice but to endure the awkwardness/creepiness. That was the longest bus ride of my life..I was so happy to get off the bus you have no idea. Side note..he took a picture of us which we were forced into and he was like now you're gonna be famous. Very worried/creeped about but luckily his phone looked like a Nokia from the 90s and he admitted he didn't know how to use it so hoping he accidentally deletes it.

So to give some context to the bus story, it was on Friday when me and my friends had arranged to go to Leeds Light Night. It was actually a really cool event but as lots of the events were scattered around Leeds it meant it took ages to get from one activity to the next and we knew there were free buses to get but typical we only ended up seeing one when we arrived at our destination (wow I sound a bit like a satnav). We saw a fire show, a circus with a variety of different acts, a wave garden which is explained best using a picture, the photographer Michael Bosanko where he paints light and a spoken word performance at the playhouse. We planned to go to even more, some that I'm gutted about as we missed the one where apparently it's like you are walking through a rainbow and the other one where you could make your own t shirts and paint on them. The ones we went too were cool though, here are some pictures which I'm quite proud of, the first one is using fast shutter speed (if you don't know it freezes the picture) and the other ones are using a slower shutter speed (which captures some of the movement in the picture). Let me know what you think:

This still relates to Friday but advice if you go to Leeds and haven't been before or just aren't familiar with good places to go. I highly recommend trinity kitchen and going to the Chicago rib shack and (wait for it) getting a kids meal (yep you did read that right) obviously you have to look like a student but it's so much cheaper and you get a decent amount. I'm talking about for lunch not for eating out for tea but if you want to save money and get a good amount then definitely go there! They also have cool buzzers which go off when your food is ready (how to make waiting for food fun...sorta)

As part of my photography A level our class (only 5 people..small class ik) we are going to be doing some dark room work. I have been given the film camera for this weekend to take exactly 12 pictures of something relating to my project (so around nature if you forgot). Well if I'm being honest I've only just gotten the hang of my DSLR because I feel like there's still so much to learn especially if you buy new stuff to add on. So I must have taken the same picture like 5 times before realising I needed to wind the film on to actually take a picture, the next time I heard the click so I knew it definitely worked hahah.. I just assumed it was already done idek, it shows how little I know (I'm still learning so shush).  

Don't know if you'll even be interested but it's kinda a one way communication when I'm writing this so I'm just gonna hope & continue writing. I found this photographer who compares nature and architecture and I really liked that idea as it fits in with my project. Linking on with that I wanna merge faces into nature inspired by the green man (it's a statue with a face in it) and do something physical like pressing flowers/sowing stuff I'm not sure yet all I know is that I wanna get physical physical (apology for breaking into song, just can't help it;)

So hope you're surviving school and if not.. it's LESS THAN 2 WEEKS until we all break up. Have a good week, talk soon.

Sophie
♥♥

October Already?!

Hey people! Hope you're all well:)

I can't believe how fast the months have gone and it's already October which means nearly Christmas;) (joke I'm not that person even I know it's still too early to countdown) I mean we have to wait until at least after Halloween am I right?! Although saying that I've been hearing Christmas songs all week played by sixthformers at my school (not me I'll just point out) but clearly everyone just gets so excited this time of year.

I'm not really a big fan of Halloween like loads of people get so hyped up about it but ever since I stopped trick or treating as a kid I haven't ever done anything as I've gotten older. Partly because on the day it's my dad's birthday so I'd always feel bad if I did but I think I'm way more of a Christmas person. I'm really hoping this year we get some proper snow as last year we didn't even have a snow day off school..now that's just so wrong! So I'm praying to the 'weather gods' that we have a proper White Christmas this year I would be so happy. If that happens I will be that person who stays at home singing white Christmas while it's snowing outside ha..but of course I'll go sledging first. 

Just realised I haven't told you guys a painful story that happened lets just say more than a few years ago (I'm not good at tracking time/dates) so I was out sledging with my family at the local park and I was on one of the plastic colourful sledges where you sit on it and pretty sure there's some string to hold on too. Well I was going pretty fast (I thought anyway) and there was a big bump and when I landed I fell straight into my coccyx bone...it was too painful for words but I'm not one of those people who is over dramatic or wants to make a fuss so I held it in. Even worse at the time I saw some people I knew from school and I was thinking shit I can't cry in front of them so I like hid behind my parents and the pain slowly eased internally (still trying to hold in my tears) but honestly it was excruciatingly painful. Looking back I was a tough kid not in the sense of I'd go off doing daring things but I'm the sort of people who holds in my pain so much & it takes a lot to full on cry out of pain because I'm very self conscious of what people around me think. I know that's a very bad habit but I'm slowly getting better with age, I mean my anxiety doesn't help but I'm learning to manage it.

So for my photography this year my work is all themed around nature like I've said so I've been doing some macro shots using lighting to illuminate the subjects. However ironically I wasn't actually using my macro lenses in this photo I'm about to show you..I didn't even have a decent excuse I was just feeling very lazy & thought my normal lense will do. So you can see for yourself what you think, the first one is the normal shot and the second one I named magic mushroom because I mean just look at it, after editing it it's pretty cool & magical (not intentionally named after drugs it just sorta happened as I don't do anything of the sort).

If any of you have listened to my recommendations and caught up with the 4 seasons of once upon a time then you'll know that the first episode of season 5 got released last Wednesday for the UK! Which is so amazing as Americans got to watch it Sunday (lucky buggers haha) but for a lot of programmes I'd have to wait a lot longer to watch it so I'm pretty happy. So without spoiling it too much, how amazing is the first episode!! One of my favourite things about OUAT is all the plot twists and it definitely had a lot even in the first episode but now we have to wait until next Wednesday to watch the next episode. Anyone just not used to being restricted that much?? I'm not used to having to wait that long, I normally find series after they've been released so I end up binge-watching them which is not of my favourite hobbies to do (yes that is a hobby;)

But I'll talk more next Sunday!

Have an awesome week
Sophie

♥♥