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 
♥♥