Visiting 2 Universities

Hey guys!
Hope you're all loving life as you should be.

So I only really had a 3 day week this week because on Monday I only went in for last lesson then oh yeah my teacher decides not to show up?! I was so annoyed, normally she emails us but she didn't this time and I came from Leeds all the way to Harrogate so I just went straight back home..such a wasted journey.

Then on Wednesday I had a York applicant day. This meant a lie in which, not going to lie, was one of the things I was most excited about. I knew York was a lovely place as I go regularly go with my mum for days out and I went to the university open day previously. There is a beautiful lake in the centre of the campus which I love and they have a college system meaning each student is assigned to a different college. If you have received an offer from York then have a cheeky look back at the pictures in one of my previous posts (honestly I don't know why it's cheeky..what has English evolved into I don't know) We had an introductory lecture at the beginning and then we were separated from our parents for a lecture and a seminar. The first one was about biology so involved lots of graphs and I was pretty tired so I did nearly fall asleep in that: I quickly shot up when everybody started clapping. The talk after about the dialects of English was more interesting, like do you pronounce 'poor' and 'pour' the same?! (Cut to everyone sounding out both words to the point they've forgotten how they actually say it..same) I did meet 2 lovely girls which restored my faith in me making friendships easily. The accommodation was nice but I think you just have to accept accommodation is always gonna be pricy.

(Fast forward to this today) I'm just on the way back home from Sheffield uni's applicant day which was good. I already went to the open day where I looked around accommodation so I didn't need to do that again. This time I visited both libraries where (unfortunately) I'll be spending most of my time. The first one was much older and was nice but I way preferred the newer one as there was secluded really comfy chair areas to work around which I prefer than open desks (yep I'm an introvert okay) Before all that we had an introductory lecture by the head of English and the admissions tutor (props to him he was funny but only funny on a scale of exhaling much heavier than normal, he needs to up his game to get me to physically laugh) Next we had a seminar from 2 of the linguistic professors who were both American and I recognised the woman because I asked her about accepting people with lower than the asked for entry grades (I did get an offer I wasn't just trying to push my luck) They said as long as I put them as my first choice then they still consider applicants like me (required entry grades are AAB and my predicted grades are ABB)

After visiting 4/5 uni's in total, I reckon I'm gonna put Sheffield as my firm and Newcastle as my insurance choice (even though it's just my predicted grades)

^(Thanks past Sophie now into present day Sophie..don't ask me what weird TV presenter I've turned into because even I don't know the answer)

I read this comment a student said (from one of the handouts we were given) about how they used to be shy and now they are much more of a confident speaker now.. I really hope this happens to me! I know uni isn't technically for shy kids but hopefully I won't be one by the time I am finished YAY (here's hoping anyway) I'm not saying it exclusively isn't for less confident people like me, I'm just saying the majority of people do tend to be way more confident. It's like when I'm anxious sometimes, I get so anxious my anxiety is anxious (it really isn't good but I am working on it)

Also since I got my eyeliner gel pen from benefit I have been finding it so much easier to do my eyeliner! So if you're struggling and looking for a good one then I'd highly recommend that one, it goes on so smoothly I love it. Compared to my previous body shop one which just stuck and was so impossible to put on, especially for someone who struggles with doing makeup normally, I only really wear makeup when I go out for special occasions (I'm too lazy to wear it 24/7) I get way too annoyed with how long it takes to take all my makeup off even when I have minimal makeup on so you can imagine how I'd be if I went all out. Props to those people who wear makeup everyday, I can almost sense your daily struggle..but damn you look good;)

It isn't one of my blog posts if there isnt some pictures I show you, so without further ado (I feel like a magician..they say thar right?!) here are some of the pictures I took for my exam work under the theme of dramatic images:

I especially love this one because I'm obsessed with anything abstract and it makes me laugh just how easy it was to achieve this effect (there really is no techinal way to say this) you just have to shake the camera infront of the tv to draw the colours out.

My next image is another of my personal favourites because:
1- it involves my cat
2- it's trippy
3- it's just cool alright
4- I don't know my logic behind making a list
5- stop reading this and look below oh my god..

 Even if you aren't a cat person you still must admit she is so adorable, also a weird thing I've realised is that cat owners obviously prefer cats but still love dogs whereas all dog owners tend to be completely hate cats like dog ownes need to take a chill pill (I need to go back to 2012 with that reference I'm sorry..)

Omg so after I post this, I'm going to watch 2 episodes of new girl season 4 and begin season 5 and I can't wait because (SPOILER ALERT) Cici admitted she loves Schmidt (I mean did she ever stop) and turned down a hook up because of it and now I'm hoping Schmidt breaks up with Fawn so I need to go because I'm too excited to stay writing.
Have a good week!
Talk really soon
Sophie 
♥♥

Newcastle Uni Applicant Day

Hey everyone
Hope you're all well!

So as I've been calling it I had a Miranda moment at the gym last week. I know what you're thinking me..going to the gym..what happened there. Well my mum happened and she forced me to go, so again I'll set the scene. I wanted to go on the stair machines and after waiting a while for people to get off them, finally it was my chance (little did I know it would cause extreme embarrassment) I started walking on it but I wanted to jog/run so I increased the speed on the touch screen monitor to about 70. Then I continued to run, not realising that you can adjust the speed by using the buttons on the handles; you can guess what happened next. I rapidly increased the speed to about 120 and of course my little legs couldn't cope and I fell and swung into the side. Of course my mum was there shouting are you okay are you alright!! Yes mum I'm fine just shush!! (Pretty accurate dialect between me & my mum aka the usual conversation when my mum makes a fuss over anything) Luckily, I didn't knock myself out or hurt myself really badly (I bruised myself but that isn't too bad) so I see it as an achievement really..even if I totally failed at using the machine. After that, I quickly moved on with my head down in case anyone did see..

I was able to exercise for a longer length of time than I could do before and that was just by doing my mini workout everyday. If anyone's curious this is the workout I follow:

 As you can see I obviously crossed out the running part (who wants to do that..no one BUT I haven't even been having a rest day so that makes up for it I think)

Obviously feel free to adjust the number of times I do the exercises as often if I don't get too tired doing it (very rarely) I'll just hold the plank for longer than 30 seconds and push myself. As well as doing this I wanna exercise my arms beause I have the arm strength of a (insert an animal with weak arms idek) So I'll do another sheet like this, I'll keep you updated if you're interested.


If anyone wants to gradually get into exercise this is definitely the best way, it may feel tough at first but after a while you get less tired by it all and you can even challenge yourself. Another tip I couldn't have done without is printing off a calendar and circling the day once I've done my exercises which really motivated me to continue (especially once I'd done at least a week my calendar looked pretty full) I am nearly halfway through the second month in this time, whereas last time I don't think I made it past 2/3 weeks before I stopped, to my defence I was ill but then after that I just couldn't get back into it no matter what I tried. So using the circling off on a calendar technique has helped motivate me so much and don't worry if you forget to complete the exercises 1 day, I just manage it by doing 2 sets of exercises the next day (usually 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening to spread it out) and then you can get back on track the next day! Good luck to anyone who starts, personally it's better than the gym because it doesn't take as long to do/less effort and I know I just wouldn't go to the gym everyday (also it's free exercising at home..amazing right?!)

On Wednesday I visited Newcastle for my university applicant day. I honestly loved it, was definitely my favourite uni I've been too so far (except from Sheffield) So I have a feeling (oooh oooh) (black eyed peas pls say you sang that too) that it's gonna be choosing between whether to put Newcastle or Sheffield as my firm choice. For once I didn't take any pictures I'm sorry but tbf if you applied I'm sure you're going to an applicant day anyway! But I did get some pictures of the prettiest sunset, I saw some girls taking a picture and in my head I was like ugh what are they doing (pretty much my everyday thoughts about everyone oops) but then I saw the sunset and forgave them (yep I forgave them in my head, I'm such a cool kid..)

It's nearly the end of half term now..well it practically is and I'm so sad. Although Monday's are one of my favourite days as I only have a lesson last so all I need to do is get my mum to ring up and say I'm ill and get a lie in. I also do work (I don't just skive just so you know) Sometimes I do more work at home because there are less distractions. Often I do photography so it's more convenient to do it at home and I wanna finish my coursework tomorrow so I can concentrate only on my exam. Then at least start some exam stuff so it looks like I've actually done some work over the holidays, all I've done so far is the moodboard and they obviously aren't even my pictures they're just from Google (that is the idea but obviously we were asked to do more over half term)

So the return of my unicorn onesie happened about a month ago I think (I lose track of time easily) and I just thought this was a pretty cool picture which you all must see.

Hope you all had a good half term and managed to relax! (Even with I'm sure shitty teachers who gave you loads of work..I feel for you because I'm in the same position)
Talk again next week!
Sophie 
♥♥

Ps I just got a reminder (on my countdown..I'm very keen) that sixthform finishes in less than 3 months so if you're in the same position as me then use that to motivate you, not long left we can stick it out!

Days With Family

Hey guys!
So it's finally half term! I'm so excited for a week off school!

So last minute I decided to go to my friends boyfriend's 18th birthday party which was fun. He hired out a room upstairs from the pub which closed at 11 but then the pub didn't close to midnight so we didn't leave until then. I attempted to play pool which didn't go well because I can't play, but I can cheat because my friend was too drunk to notice;) Or just make up my own rules aka cheating. As I'm still 17 (not 18 until 17th July which sucks) I couldn't stay out but luckily I wasn't the only one as I got the 36 back home with my friend. Did you know that they've now started doing late night buses all the way up to about 3:15 in the morning I think. How amazing is that, especially as I go to school in Harrogate so most of my nights out will be in Harrogate and I feel so bad asking my parents to pick me up at like 1/2/3 in the morning. This guy was getting of the bus and he was so grateful to the bus driver and he thanked him so much because otherwise he would have to drive home; I thought that was super sweet.

This pun I made at the party last night deserves it's own paragraph because right hmm (let me set the scene) The pub owners had this ridiculously cute dog called Lucy which of course I obsessed over and my friend who I was with at the time. We were both stroking it and chatting to the owners (that's how carried away we got we legit followed it around the pub..) Anyway so then I said to my friend, she's just do adogable haha still cracks me up now oh god. My friend laughed but I'll never know if it was because she genuinely found it funny, for sympathy or if it was the alcohol inside her, but she was the type of person to laugh at that completely sober so I'm gonna pretend she genuinely found it funny. On a serious level (well as serious as it can get talking about puns), aren't they just so funny, unintentional puns are probably the best though. (Another example ofc) In photography my friend was sticking photos onto wood for this 3D effect and she said I don't know if this would work..get it 'would sounds like wood' yep I'm that person that explains the joke (sorry you had to be there okay..)

I have my Newcastle applicant day on Wednesday which hopefully will be good (fingers crossed I like the place) I haven't been there before but one of my friends recently went and he said it was really nice there. So I'll update you on how that goes next Sunday! Oh and typical me but I went into waterstones today and noticed Grace Helbig's (youtuber) books along with information on a book signing. That was the first I'd heard as I've been struggling to keep up with everything online but when I checked she only announced it a day ago so I wasn't that behind, but guess what day it's on...the same day as my applicant day. Luckily it's in the morning at 11 so if I go really early then I should be gone by 11:30/12 as you don't have to register until 1:50-2 which gives us enough time to get there. Although, apparently the accommodation is only available to view in the morning so I'm gonna miss that because of Grace..I mean priorities right?! Again sorry I promo so many youtubers but if I had to just recommend 1 video to watch of hers it would be 'reading mean comments w/ James Corden' as they make for such a hilarious pairing! So give that a watch and I guarantee you'll be laughing in a matter of minutes; that's a promise (as long as you have a sense of humour ofc)

Also so it's snowing again?! I have actually given up on snow, I do love it but not when it just snows for 10 minutes then turns into slush. I'm not asking for much, just for it to settle to a decent amount on the ground, we haven't had good snow in ages (in West Yorkshire anyway) because I know Scotland have had loads which yes I'm super jealous of. Part of me feels bad wanting snow because I heard how bad it got in some parts of America, I wouldn't wish that on anyone obviously and I just hope you're all safe now!

Yesterday I went to town (aka Leeds even though it's a city I still call it a town okay shush) with my mum because the last time we made an appointment to both have our makeup done by Benefits (expensive brand but high quality make up) So if you don't have much money I suggest you save up for their foundation or mascara etc because it'll last so much longer than if you have to keep buying cheap ones that don't last. Or you can continue buying cheap products I don't judge because I do as well (half of the time anyway) My mum got her makeup done by this really nice woman we spoke to about booking an appointment and I had this lovely funny girl who did my makeup so well. She did this lovely gold eye look with perfect eyeliner which I need to keep practising at because mine is no way near perfection (don't think it ever will be but aim high and all that shit) We even booked another appointment for the Easter holidays; we're too keen.. So I had my makeup done for when I went to the party, I mean why do your own makeup when you can get someone else to do it for free?!

We got free makeup bags, free makeup samples and free umbrellas so that was pretty good. Look how cute the umbrella was, I mean benefits had so much self promo on it but I still love it (yes me & my mum both posed with the umbrella when it wasn't even raining) Look how gorgeous my berry lip colour is, altough it still doesn't beat my bobbie brown crushed plum colour one because ugh that is just gorgeous!

(Yes the sun relfecting off of the umbrella does bug me but also I'm wearing my go to winter coat (from ark in leeds), my adorable read to me bag (from waterstones) and my new flowery vans (from office I think), oh and my denim dungarees (from topshop) which you can't really see but yeah I loved my outfit choice for once.

Have an awesome week off school & remember to make the most of it!
Talk soon
Sophie 
♥♥

I'm Ready For A Break

Hey everyone!

So I feel like this week has just gone by in a bit of a blur. I'm not complaining though because now it means only 1 more week to go until half term. We can all do this, not long to go until a week's break!

In photography, we have moved on from our coursework to the exam. Sir has been a bit of a legend by extending our coursework deadline until after the half term which is amazing. Especially since the art class had to hand their coursework in at the normal deadline and their teacher even had the cheek to be like I'll be really nice to you and instead of you handing it in on Thursday I'll give you until Friday. (just a head up yeah it bugs me I started the sentence with an and..) And that kids is the difference between a decent teacher and a strict teacher (I feel like a weird kids host to a game show or something, I don't actually think you're as young as kids just to clarify)..but if you are then hey you're pretty awesome! It isn't as if sir is breaking the rules because the coursework is only officially handed to the examiner in May so you see why I'm glad I have a good teacher who actually can adapt to suit the different situations.

Anyway back to what I was going to talk about, we were given the exam titles to choose from. Compared to last year, there was nothing that immediately grabbed me or even after googling it online. I prefer to go down a more abstract and exciting route (if that even makes sense) rather than a monotonous route (pretty standard you know) There was a topic called dramatic images and at first I thought bit vague/bit too specific at the same time. Now after talking to my dad I've been thinking I can do a time lapse of the sun setting or the sun rising which would be cool as I haven't done timelapses before. Professionals will probably using really expensive technical equipment then there's me like I'm just planning on filming it and using Photoshop to speed it up (pretty simple) Although given the lazy kind of person I am I'm probably going to capture the sun setting because me getting up early on a weekend is just not happening (unless I'm getting payed which I'm not so yeah) Someone said recently that "Sunsets are better than sunrises because you don't have to wake up early for them." I mean they just speak the truth don't they?! I was also thinking I could do silhouettes as well, I remember making a note last year how to do them (I just need to find the note, wish me luck because my room is a mess) Then silhouettes could lead into experimenting with double exposures on photoshop. As it's to do with available light, I thought if I bought some filters for my camera that would work well and it would be fun to try them out. Yess already I'm feeling so much more inspired/happy about this theme compared to journey which just bores me if I'm honest. The only thing I'm not sure about is under the heading dramatic images it talks about using 'available light' and it repeats this phrase twice so I'm wondering maybe that means only using natural light and I can't use set up lights like in a studio? I'm not sure, I would love to know all your opinions on it?

Oh and if you wanna know the other themes to choose from, they are: pattern, water, performing arts, the journey, issues and observations, mixed media, people and posessions and dramatic images. Just a quick side note but for photography it would be pretty pointless picking mixed media because no doubt I'll end up doing that in any theme I'd pick and pattern and water are too similar to what I've done already. Sir was suggesting things to do for water and I had a mental checklist being like yep I've done that and that..oh and that too; so that theme is a definite no.

Yesterday I woke up thinking it was Sunday and after realising it was Saturday it just made my day (just an example of the casual thoughts I have) Isn't it so much better than waking up on a Friday thinking it's Saturday when you still have 1 school day to go because in your mind you plan what you're gonna do and then you're like wait shit..I actually have to go to school (worst feeling ever)

I go on about my favourite tv shows maybe a bit too much but I just can't keep this in..you know Orange is the new black, well the show has been confirmed for 3 more seasons! I am so excited, it was a huge hit so some of you must like it. I definitely did, I wasn't sure at first but (cut to me singing the theme song in my head) you know a programme is good when you know all the words to the theme song and don't even have to hear the music to sing it!

Cutting to another random note because why not, my cat was sleeping on my lap as per usual and just how can you not love cats when mine looks so adorable

(incase you're wondering, yep my reality on a friday/saturday night is my cat sleeping on me while I watch tv) I'm just living the dream lifestyle..

Anyone else just find getting up as they get older so much more difficult?! Like I wanna get up reasonably early so I don't waste the day/start school work straight away but when you're at the point where you feel your eyes start to close you know you just gotta let sleep take over.

Oh guess what, I've been reading a book called Red's Untold Tale and it's based on Red, specifically the character from once upon a time (the show that I adore) It is so damn good, apart from the fact I have to google what words mean every couple of pages but tbf I'm an English nerd so I like learning new words anyway, the plot is so good and I love how I can picture the scenes in my head from OUAT. Even if you haven't seen the series (which you must do) you can read the book first and fall in love with it because technically it's an independent book, you don't have to know what's happened. Also I must say, it's one of the most stylish books I've read in a long time as the cover sleeve on the book is black but laced with shiny darker black and the edges of the pages are died in black. Ok so this description doesn't sound too amazing, just google it and you'll understand.

I'm actually posting early today, what an achievement (no matter how small celebrate the little things; just a motto I love) It's all thanks to my retro alarm clock I got for Christmas which let me tell you..if you have trouble with sleeping through alarms then they will do the trick. Maybe a bit more than what you want though because I woke up so fast my heart was racing and I was still half asleep so finding how to turn off the alarm was a fun experience (I should just start putting (S) in brackets so you know when I'm being sarcastic and not, it has gotten to the confusing stage now I'm sorry;)

Enjoy next week, I hope it isn't as shitty as you think it'll be!

Sophie 
♥♥