Top 10 Songs this month

I do love listening to music. It's always in the background to my life. Except in class, teachers don't like that...

This month I have been obsessed with these songs...

1. The Pogues - Fairytale of New York (ultimate Christmas song, lets be honest)

2. London Grammar - If You Wait

3. Ms Mr - Hurricane

4. Alt-j - Left hand free

5. You Me At Six - Room to Breathe

6. Muse - Madness

7. Zhu - Faded

8. Coldplay - A Sky full of Stars

9. You Me At Six - Underdog

10. All time low - Guts

Maybe you want to listen? They're all pretty good, I promise.

Liv

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That Christmasy Feeling

I went to the Christmas Markets in Manchester today and ohhhhhh I am excited for Christmas now!

Disclaimer: image not mine

If Christmas isn't one of your favourite time of the year then your doing Christmas wrong! I love buying presents for people! It's so much fun thinking of presents for people and watching them open them! Ohhhhhhh I can't wait!

I think that Primark is one of the best places to get presents. I absolutely love the pyjamas in Primark! They're so cute and have they have shirts with minions and various other Despicable Me characters on. 

Disclaimer :Still not my image

I even love that it gets dark early too. It makes me feel so much more productive! And the Christmas lights are up and Christmas coffees are being sold and there's the rush of everyone going to eat presents. 

WHO DOESN'T LOVE IT? 

I SURE AS HELL DO!

Liv

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High School Reunion? Awks.

So, I went to my high school to pick up my GCSE Certificates tonight. And to be honest I was really excited to go back and see everyone. It's been a while since we've all been together, and I wanted to talk to the people I've lost contact with.

Upon arrival I am ushered into the assembly hall I've sat in for 5 years and things are all ready awkward. I'm just on time, so most of my classmates are already sat down...in exactly the same places they always sat. With the same people, probably talking about the same things. 

Not much changes around here. 

Well, I never felt like I really fit in at high school, don't get me wrong I had friends, I still have high school friends, but I was part of a large group of girls, around 12. Considering my year group was made up of 120 students, that's 10% of the year. Most of these girls I never got along with. They weren't mean, we just had different interests. 

Ok, so now I'm stood in front of my old year group, with anyone I want to sit with already with the people I don't want to see. So I sit on the front row (lol nerd) and wait for the 'ceremony' to start.

It's alright, we're called up name by name and shake hands with the head teacher and collect our certificates and sit back down.

Then its 'social' time, and I wanted to go and see some of the people I've been dying to talk to. But when we go into the main hall, the dinner tables are still set up and everyone goes and sits on their old tables. Me included it was surreal to be back there. 

I'd waited so long to leave high school, that being back was strange, not somewhere I wanted to be. So at our tables we sit, in the same seats, because we planned where we sat during our years there. 

This is when I realise. I AM back in high school.

I'm acting like I was back then, quiet, not making eye contact, feeling awkward, out of place. 

But that's not me anymore, I'm confident at college, I know lots of people, I smile as I pass them in the corridors. 

Now all I want to do is go home, because there I am the new me. High school was, as it is for many, tough for me. Going back tonight reminded me of how far I've come in the past few months.

I love college, it's so much better than high school! Everything's just better, better atmosphere, better teachers (except chemistry -.-), more people.

I guess I just wanted to say, when you leave high school, you can leave who you were behind. I sure as hell did.

Liv

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Goodbye VGHS...LAW READY FOR THIS?

I waited, fingers poised on my keyboard for the final episode of Video Game High School to be released today. It was good, so good, the ending between Brian and Jenny wasn't clear but the premise of the final battle was AMAZING!

If you don't know, VGHS is a crowd funded web series created by RocketJump, which has run for 3 seasons. The first season took more of a theatrical approach to the story, but the second and third seasons are more like that of a TV show, with episodes being around 30 - 40 minutes.

It revolves around Brian D who manages to game his way into Video Game High School, the place dreams are made of. Gaming is all they do! If it were real I might cry. Play video games for classes? Hell yeah!!

Along with his friends, Brian D games his way through his first year at school.

Watch the trailer here!

Honestly, this series never fails to make me laugh! It's one of my favourite shows ever.

I would recommend this to anyone who's even the slightest bit of a nerd. Even those who aren't. Everyone! Everyone should watch it!

Liv

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"It's all about the game" - Sgt. Ernie Calhoun

NC...YES!

I know the title is cheesy - don't judge.

This summer, I participated in the NCS programme run by the government here in the UK. It's aim is to get teenagers involved in the world around them, whilst developing key life skills.

I originally signed up as I didn't want to spend my summer melting into my sofa, and Oh God did it stop that all right.

The first week was an outdoor adventure residential and probably my favourite week. You start by being thrown into a group of 12, and you better make friends quick, your going to be spending ALOT of time with them!

Then it's off on your adventure!

The garden from my first week!

There's 60 people to a 'Wave' and 5 groups of 12 within that. You split into your groups to do your activities.

My first week in the lake district saw me climb a rock face, hike  a mountain (in borrowed socks, forgot my own -.- ), camp over night and meet so many new people. The first week is all about over coming personal challenges, for me that was rock climbing, where I became stuck and had a break down whilst clinging to tiny ridges in a reallllllly big rock.

I shared a room with 11 other girls I didn't know, and from the first night we would talk until the early morning! Some of these people are my closest friends now. It forced me to get to know other people, something I love doing now!

The second week was spent at Uni dorms in Manchester. Cold, very cold Uni dorms. Honestly I rolled about the apartment in my duvet every morning. During this week you work on skills, such as public speaking, presenting and team work whilst helping out in the community through a certain medium.

Eg. sport, photography, music, enterprise, drama and media.  

View from the top of the mountain. Wouldn't say it was bad. Also was the only time I had signal in my first week.

The third week, that's all about making a change. You are given the tools to organise a campaign to do something good in your community. I'm not going to lie, it was difficult to organise, but events management is hard, however it looks GREAT on your CV.

NCS changed the way I think about others, I'm more accepting, more willing to participate and more sociable (still not that great though). It's an experience I wouldn't change for the world, and it has given me some of my best memories.

I only wish I took more pictures.

If you have the opportunity, all I can say is do it! 

Liv

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Pole Dancing Health Benefits!

It's not uncommon to associate pole dancing with, dingy nightclubs and strippers. But pole dancing is actually a very good was to keep in shape.

1. Muscle Building

The amount of effort it takes to keep yourself on the pole, and steady at that is immense. Regular pole dancing can lead to the development of muscle, and pretty fast. I have only done 3 weeks, of 1 hour sessions and I have noticed an improvement in my muscles, mainly the fact that I now have some. Supporting the body on one arm or leg helps to strengthen the body as well as holding your body in shape, which helps to tone the core.

2. Confidence

You don't have to be sexy to hang onto a pole. In fact when you first start, unless you came straight from gymnastics or another flexible sport, sexy is the last thing you'll be. But with any sport, it leads to endorphins being released. This in turn makes you feel happy, coupled with your changing body leads to HUGE confidence boosts!

3. Weight Loss

Similar to muscle building, the exercise clearly leads to weight loss. It may not be drastic, but with any sport, the more you do it the more you improve.

Pole dancing may be controversial.  Especially depending on what age to do it at, but its a lot of fun, and as long as its not your only career plan I would highly recommend starting it to anyone.

All you need to do is find a class in your local area, and get down there.

It's at least worth one shot, right?

Liv

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Apocalips Big Bang | Review

I have been looking for a red lipstick for what seems about FOREVER! And to be honest any I've tried have not be up to standard. If I put a coat on my lips, with in 5 minutes I end up with clown lips. You know what I mean, the lipstick slides off and I have a redish stain ringing lips. Not great.

Then I stumbled across Rimmel Londons Apocalips Lip Lacquer and my life has been saved!

Big Bang

This amazing little lacquer, has a well in the applicator. This means you can get plenty of the liquid on your lips with out having to gloop a lot onto it and then start to smudge. The well also allows the lacquer to concentrate on the middle of the lips, where it is most needed.

The pigments in this product are amazing! I wore it to a party and the colour didn't fade all night, I simply reapplied to bring back the shine once.

When it's first applied the lacquer has a fantastic shine, but it soon dries into a matt look, which I really liked.

BUT IT GETS BETTER!

IT DID NOT SMUDGE!

Not once, all night. Which is quite amazing considering I had a drink all night, and was constantly sipping away. 

Rating:

4/5 

Liv

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Boundaries

Where do we draw the line on how much we tell friends? What we share on line? When a joke starts to hurt someone?

I find that boundaries are often blurred as our own opinion on issues can usually be wildly different from others. I for one hate talking about sex! Just something about it makes me cringe. My friends on the other hand talk about it for hours. Yes, I understand that sex is a squeamish topic for lots of people, but I mean I hate talking about literally anything to do with sex!

Recently my friends have been making some bold statements and it got me wondering where the line actually was. Some of the things they have said and done make me wonder how some people can genuinely think doing some of these things is OK. 

I don't want to go into too much detail about what's happened, as again boundaries are different to everyone, and anyone reading this wont fully understand the situation. 

But I want to say be careful what you say, as cliche as it sounds. Words do hurt. 

A bit of a randomly inspired post, I dunno just something playing on my mind I thought I would share. 

Liv

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Beginnings

New beginnings.

They happen all the time. Our lives are constantly changing, each day is a new beginning and with that brings endless possibilities. 

I started college recently. I chose to go somewhere I didn't know a lot of people. And I did this on purpose. I wanted to reinvent myself. To get away from being me, and let people know me now. Not who I was.

See, for a long time I took myself far too seriously. Not the best idea. I ended up only talking to one person for 4 years, and constantly believing that I was too good for certain people.

But the minute I let go of that ridiculous idea, was the minute I stopped standing on the outskirts of life watching everybody, and I began dancing with them. (I know I'm sorry, disgusting cliche).

It lead me to become a much happier person. This is the person I want people at college to know. I'll admit that it is difficult to make friends instantly. To be honest I'm still looking for someone who I really connect with there. But I have been talking to people a lot. Whether it's the boy I sit next to in class or the  girl I met in the toilets, I'm staring to recognise lots of familiar faces in the sea of 1400 new ones. 

I'm glad I stopped looking down on people for laughing at themselves. In total honesty all I do now IS laugh at myself. I find life much more positive that way.

If your staring college, or anywhere new in fact, my advice to you would be to TALK! To everyone you come across, if your stood in a queue waiting for something, then talk to the people either side of you. Similarly, talk to others outside classes. Others will feel as scared and lonely as you, don't forget that.

Remember, don't take yourself too seriously,

Liv

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