Here's To The Future

Once I make resolutions at the beginning of the year I tend to forget all about them. It's only now - that I wrote them on my blog last year - that I can look back on them and see what I have achieved subconsciously.

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2015 Resolutions

+1 year later

Number 1. I would like to increase my blog posts per week, or at least keep to the once a week I had originally planned. Whether this will happen or not until the final term of university is out of the way I don't know. I would also like to link my posts with my social media accounts, make the layout more professional and interact more with other bloggers.

1 year later. I guess I got it mostly right in the fact that my posting didn't really take off again until after uni finished. I'm managing to stick to at least once a week, sometimes twice. I decided earlier on that I wouldn't link all my accounts in the end purely because I'm not that fussed about generating page views! I did change my layout (was actually linked with a project at uni!), but I haven't interacted really, with any bloggers. Something to improve upon.

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Number 2. To finish editing the rest of my novel and hopefully find an agent/publisher by the end of the year. This may be a tad bit ambitious, but I love writing it!

1 year later. I hate to say it, but I barely edited anything this year. I'm so disappointed in myself. So I definitely haven't found a publisher or agent, although I work for a publishing company now! I just seemed to have lost all my flow with it and keep doing anything and everything to put it off. Will need to find some new motivation.

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Number 3. To continue learning Spanish on duolingo. I used to hate learning languages in school, but this app is a Godsend, it's amazing and I've really learnt a lot.

1 year later. I am still learning and have, in fact, increased my daily routine - yay!

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Number 4. I am adamant to go abroad this year, whether it be to Dubai to see my step-dad (and hopefully the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix if I'm lucky!) or to Paris to celebrate my upcoming 21st in March!

1 year later. I managed to achieve all three and am so happy that I did. Paris was the first time without any adults at all (although I am an adult now, still doesn't count, aha) so it was a bit of a hit and miss, but it was a stepping stone nevertheless. Dubai, on the other hand, was really what I needed to relax otherwise I may have exploded given the house I live in currently.

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Number 5. Number 4 would also cover the basis that I would like to overcome my fear of flying once and for all. In fact, I would like to keep getting better at facing any of my fears. 2014 was a huge step in conquering one of my main phobias and I hope to keep improving in 2015.

1 year later. I thought this would be impossible when I wrote it but after being on two seven hour flights, I can happily say I no longer have a fear of flying. The phobia is also getting better to handle, so let's hope 2016 is even better.

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Number 6. I would like to enjoy the rest of my time at university as it's my final couple of months and I would love to get a first in my degree! (That may be a bit ambitious).

1 year later. Unfortunately, I don't think I did enjoy my last few months at uni, purely because I was so stressed out with getting it all done and having two shows to help with that I really didn't want to do. It's a shame because my love for photography has been ruined by studying it for five years. Hopefully, having a blog and my own time now to do what I like will help me back into the rhythm of it again. Also, I got a 2:1, but I'm still very happy with that!

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Number 7. To be more grateful for everything I have/to stop taking things for granted/to sit back and appreciate small moments in my life that are making me happy. I don't do this often enough and I really need to, it would probably make me relax a bit more!

1 year later. I genuinely think I have started to do this a bit more.

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Number 8. I've seen this one a lot on other peoples blogs, but I couldn't agree more with it: to say yes more. I need to stop worrying about what could go wrong and just enjoy everything!

1 year later. I think I'm about halfway there, I'm saying yes more, just not all the time!

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Number 9. To stop complaining about everything. Even if I could improve on this a little bit I'm sure I would be a lot happier! Which also goes with: to stop living in the past. I am terrible at this. I have recently been thinking of the future though and I am so excited and love planning for it.

1 year later. This is one I have definitely improved on, even my boyfriend has noticed which is good. No more Miss Grumpy-pants! Well, not all of the time anyway...

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Number 10. To get back into exercising, even if it is just once or twice a week. I don't even want to lose weight, I just want to tone up and work on my abs! This also goes hand in hand with continuing to eat healthier. I definitely improved last year (although not necessarily decreasing the amount of chocolate I ate) and felt a big difference.

1 year later. This one is definitely a bit hit and miss. I start up randomly and then a few weeks later I will stop again. But it's definitely come to a standstill since I got a full-time job. This is something I need to get a better hold of in the future, a balance between having a job and time for me. Eating healthier, though, is on the up with 2/3 pieces of fruit a day and lots of veggies with dinner most nights!

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I also did manage to do the Jar Project - filling it with pieces of coloured, torn paper after having written good memories on them that happened throughout the year. I think next year I will do it again but more similar to the #100HappyDaysChallenge I took part in, for a univeristy project, where I have to think of what made me happy each day, even if it's something as simple as having pancakes for breakfast! Except I will do this every day for the entire year - 366HappyDaysChallenge!

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Thanks for reading this year, I hope to bring you a more regular amount of content in the next one -- Happy New Year!

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Brunches Galore

A popular outing in Dubai is to go for brunch (not the kind of brunch we think of in the UK, but more of a buffet). They generally offer a whole variety of cuisines, ranging from Chinese to a roast dinner, to a selection of fish and a spread of breads and cheeses, topped off by the magnificent dessert section where there is literally so much to choose from that you end up piling your plate high with an assortment of cakes and cookies and ice cream even though you're stuffed from all the savoury items you've eaten(!)

Unlike some restaurants where you feel a certain pressure to not outstay your welcome, at a brunch you can book a four hour time slot in which you can slowly nibble your way through different stations. There are lunch time slots and dinner time slots to book, but both times I went, we opted for the lunch time option.

Bread Street Kitchen

Gordon Ramsay's new restaurant in Atlantis, The Palm.

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 Sophisticated, amazing food, excellent location and cracking live music. I managed to try oysters and lobster here which was definitely interesting - not sure I'm a fan! But the whole spread of food was beautiful, although I didn't get to try it all considering the amount. Here they let you pick at the different stations as "starters" and then they bring out all the options on their main course menu for your group to share (don't worry, the menu only has a few options) and then you dig into dessert afterwards! It was such a relaxed atmosphere and they really try to take care of your every need, constantly topping up drinks (which I believe is included in the price package).

Atlantis hotel, The Palm

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Bamboo Lagoon

JW Marriott Hotel, Dubai

Marriott Hotel, Dubai

This one had an even larger selection of cuisines to pick from that were spread out over what felt like different parts of the entire hotel; it was massive. It had a much more oriental theme to it which was quite relaxing in a different way to the other one. Also, their live entertainment was something else. They were a band of four, two women, two men and they were very energetic and brought a sense of the Australian culture to it - very strange mix but interesting! This one I feel would be more suited to an evening option though.

I preferred Bread Street, but that's probably because I wasn't nervous for a flight for the following day!

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What else is there to do in Dubai?

I've heard two things about Dubai. It's either an action-filled adventure or there isn't anything to do. 

So, what's my opinion? 

I think it's like anywhere, if you do your research or you have someone to give you advice on places to go then you're sorted. It all depends on what you want out of your holiday. I wanted to relax as I hadn't had a break for nearly 2 years.

Here's an outline of what I did over the two weeks:

*Dubai Emirates Mall - they have a snow dome/ski slope inside the mall

*The Dubai Mall - they have an aquarium and ice rink inside this one, plus it's probably, at least, 5x bigger than Westfield Stratford

*Walked around the Marina and to the beach

*Brunch at Atlantis and then onto The Fairmont for shisha and relaxing

*Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - entire weekend of sun, greasy food and very, very, loud cars (obviously this isn't for everyone, this was a belated 21st birthday present because I love it)

*Desert offroading - always go with someone else so that if either you or they get stuck you can pull each other out! Was so much fun though, me and my boyfriend got to drive around the dunes!!

*Lunch/dinner at loads of new places - a Brazilian restaurant in particular stands out because they come to your table to carve your meat and they have Brazilian dancers, plus the whole restaurant is on the top floor so the views are spectacular

*Old Dubai - we got to see traditional markets and went on a quick river trip

That sums up my holiday. I wish I'd taken more photos to post (see this post for lots of photos of my trip!) but I was so absorbed by my surroundings that I thought it'd be a shame to be superglued to my camera/phone the whole time. 

Maybe next time...

Classy Emirates

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When you spend seven hours in the air you know you don't want it to be on some cheap flight with tasteless food and seats that are so close together you feel like you're in a tin of sardines. Especially if it's your first flight in around ten years and you're absolutely bricking it.

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Emirates are definitely the one. Even in economy you have a reasonable amount of leg room, great food and an endless choice of films you could only dream of. The plane is well air-conditioned and they provide blankets if you do get cold, with little stickers to alert staff of whether you want to be disturbed or not. Even bad turbulence wasn't so bad (who'd of thought I would ever say that?), with the pilot downplaying it as 'a patch of rough air'.

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The staff are polite and immaculately dressed in uniforms that are both unique and stunning. The seats are clean and, most interesting of all, the plane has cameras placed at different angles in order for you to watch the whole flight from various perspectives!

Coming in to land

I would have to say though, the only bad thing I found was that the seats reclined. In economy I don't think this is right because once people do recline, space becomes limited for those behind, leaving them with their screens two inches from their faces and their dinner in their laps.

Somewhere over Turkey

Other than that though, brilliant.

I am officially cured of my fear of flying!

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p.s. Have a very Merry Christmas :)

The Passage

By Justin Cronin.

[Amy Harper Bellafonte is six years old

and her mother thinks she's the most

important person in the whole world.

She is. Anthony Carter doesn't think he

could ever be in a worse place than

Death Row. He's wrong. FBI agent Brad

Wolgast thinks something beyond

imagination is coming. It is.

Unaware of each other's existence but 

bound together in ways none of them 

could have imagined, they are about

to embark on a journey. An epic

journey that will take them through

a world transformed by man's darkest

dreams, to the very heart of what it 

means to be human. And beyond.

Because something is coming.

A tidal wave of darkness ready to

engulf the world. And Amy is the

only person who can stop it.]

Wow. This novel is phen.om.en.al.

I was hesitant at first considering the length of the book and the reading stump I had found myself in, but now I'm more eager than ever to pick up the next one: The Twelve.

It does take a long time to really get into the action as there are a lot of characters and a lot of setting up to do of plot. It's also split into two major parts (other mini parts within each), but even this setting up, of characterisation and background and scenery, is brilliant. You can come to a new section that connects to something you might've read a few chapters back and it all begins to slot perfectly into place.

Cronin is simply amazing. His character development is beautiful - he really draws you in to each character, giving them each unique details to identify them with. This also makes the impact of each death much harder as you grow so attached to quite a few people!

The plot is superb - it definitely kept me hooked and on the edge of my seat. There are so many twists and turns, that I honestly didn't see coming, that quite a few times I had to physically put the book down just to let it all sink in. The imagery and creativeness was flawless; I really felt this place was real and that I was a part of their long and unyielding journey.

I would definitely recommend this to any lovers of vampires, suspense or shocking outcomes!

A Step In The Right Direction

So this post was meant to be posted a few weeks ago about my birthday trip to Paris in March. But then the attacks happened and I didn't feel right about posting it after that. It sounds strange, but maybe I'll post it at a later time. So this post will now be about Dubai.

I suffer from severe anxiety - but going to Dubai has actually helped me in ways I can't even explain. Both flights went well, I explored the city and most of all I enjoyed myself, instead of constantly thinking about getting back to the apartment.

I will do little reviews on things like the airline and places we ate at in the next few weeks, but for now I'll just give a little overview. 

The whole experience was pretty amazing, not somewhere I would've thought to go on holiday if my parents hadn't of moved there recently. And because they were at work a lot of the two weeks I got to go exploring by myself, in the first week, before my boyfriend arrived in the second. Pretty scary, but it was beautiful - especially at night!

The temperatures were actually alright, mainly staying around 30 degrees, and not the sticky, humid type we get in England either - so it was bearable! Also, with it being a Muslim country I was a little worried about how strict they'd be considering all the different things I'd heard, but it was actually alright because of all the expats that live over there.

Anyways, I'll stop rambling on for now and give you some photos from my trip:

#UELGrad2015

Selfieeeeee

Just wanted to quickly share with you all that I graduated on November 19th at the O2 with my family and boyfriend. It was such a great day and a long one at that, but I couldn't have asked for better company or surroundings - although the weather could have perked up a bit!

So happy with myself for reaching this milestone in my life and can easily say I am one very happy girlie.

I am currently sat in the dark, happily mesmerised by the twinkling cityscape of Dubai having landed here 48 hours ago, so may not post again until I return in 2 weeks!

I hope everyone is having a good start to the week :)

With my boyfriend, Adeel

With my step-dad, Neil

With Dad

With my sister, Niamh

With Mum

x

Nowhere Boy

This is amazing! 

It's touching and funny and heartbreaking all in under 2 hours. Aaron Taylor-Johnson was actually incredible as John Lennon. I thought he would be terrible for some reason, but it's his best performance I've seen. The film was also one of the best I've seen in a long while.

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Kristin Scott Thomas and Anne-Marie Duff were also equally excellent in their supporting roles. Scott Thomas nailed the strict, snotty guardian whereas Duff perfected the scatty, eccentric mother. Thomas Brodie Sangster was also adorable as Paul McCartney.

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I can't believe that this is based on John Lennon's life - so much happened to him before The Beatles! It's almost unbelievable. He's portrayed as such an arrogant, well, ass really. I always thought he was just a musical legend, that his life before it was, well, that his life had always just been The Beatles.

Sam Taylor-Johnson's directing was brilliant. The cinematography, authenticity and the musical numbers throughout were astounding. I felt like I was really in that era. The cinematography in particular though was beautiful. There's a particular scene where John's mother is hit by a car and I just think it's done in such a tasteful way - it's truly beautiful.

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If you like Aaron Taylor-Johnson or The Beatles, I would definitely recommend this. It exceeded all my expectations and I know it's been a long time coming considering it's been out for 6 years!

Elena-less Vampire Diaries

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Well, I'm happy to say that The Vampire Diaries is up to its usual high-intensity drama standards by kicking off the series with a definite bang.

Elena may be gone, but in her place are five incredibly cruel and vicious witch-vampires wreaking havoc in any and every way possible. They may even be more malicious than Klaus himself, and that's saying something.

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Damon was as amusing as ever - ripping out peoples hearts and glaring at anyone who pissed him off, whilst Lily upped her game in handing out her cruel punishments. It was also nice to see Caroline and Stefan's relationship bloom a little amongst all the mourning and drama, as well as Matt achieve his Deputy role.

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The bunch may be grieving - Alaric obviously most of all - but that sure as hell didn't stop them from getting on with the action. With a newly evacuated Mystic Falls, Bonnie and Damon definitely seem like they're going to be stirring up trouble among the ranks who have agreed on a truce they don't want to be a part of and the jump 3 years ahead is very intriguing to say the least!

But, the question is, will Alaric bring back Jo?

And who is this mysterious figure branding and chasing the two brothers 3 years on?

I can't wait to see how this series continues to unfold!!