Sunday 6 March 2016

Dear Mum...

Dear Mum, 

Happy Mother's Day. I love you. I know I say it a lot and it's absolutely true. You are by far the best mum I could ask for - you're there for me to rant to when i'm angry, hold my hand when we're watching a scary film, and comfort me when I cry. You're the first person I want to tell about my day and I miss you when you're not around. 



I am so grateful to be part of a family, your family, that is so supportive of me, in the good times and the bad. Not everyone gets to celebrate Mother's Day, so for being such a great person, I truly thank you. 

I told you I would have bought you more for Mother's Day if I had more money. If I could afford it Mum, I would buy you the world, because you completely deserve it. You deserve it for being the mother you are to Chris, Jamie and I. You deserve it for being the strong, brave person that I look up to. 



I'm sorry for being a pain in the ass. I'm sorry that I can't help you pay rent at the moment, I'm sorry that I don't bring down my laundry straight away, and I'm sorry that I block the plug hole with all my hair and thick conditioners. I'm sorry I'm not the fit, healthy teenager you would have liked. I'm sorry I couldn't stay at college. You put up with so much, and I know I make you angry sometimes. I don't mean to. 

You're my counsellor, my guardian, my mother, and my best friend. 



I promise I'll always be there for you, as you have been for me. 

Happy Mother's Day, Mum.

Katie xo

Saturday 5 March 2016

Deliciousness

So I think this is probably the first proper restaurant review I've ever done! That's cool. 

So, anyway, my ever-so-kind father decided to treat my two brothers and I to a meal out yesterday. All dad said was "You guys have never been there, but I have, and it's really nice" or something to that effect. In any case, he wouldn't tell us where we were going so us children were quite excited. Because surprises are cool.
My brothers and I were pleasantly surprised to turn up at Gwel an Mor, a 5 star resort in Portreath (in Cornwall...where I live...). Super fancy shmancy. 



The restaurant is called The Terrace. It's quite a small little place, with perhaps 20 tables or so, and it's decorated with warm fairy lights, large windows, and modern decor - quite impressive for a first date perhaps? The whole set up was really cosy, totally my type of place. 



We were greeted by a very welcoming waiter, who just so happened to be the waiter at my dad's wedding in 2014, which was really awesome because we all got long over the course of wedding plans, rehearsals, and the actual doo dah! So just a little shoutout to Anthony for being an awesome waiter and just an awesome person to talk to. We also had a waitress for the evening too, and oh my god, SHE WAS SO LOVELY!

Anyway, I'm rambling.

We sit down, I take a look at the menu, and huzzah! Fancy deliciousness! There were many starters to choose from, with myself and my brother Chris opting for the Game Salad with Venison, Rabbit, and Pigeon (with walnuts, celeriac roulade and pear shavings...fancy!). My other brother, Jamie, had bread with olive oil and olives, even though he didn't eat the olives, and my dad had some sort of bread with chicken pate and chutney concoction. I do believe everyone was thoroughly impressed. 

See, they're so happy!

The meal was absolutely delicious, really gorgeous flavours. I had never had pigeon or rabbit before, but I'll damn sure have it again after that enormous taste explosion. Everything just tasted so nice together. Unfortunately, I had to leave the walnuts because braces make eating hard. 



For the main course, I was tossed up between the Gnocci and the Piri Piri Chicken. Both just sounded so mouth-wateringly good! I ended up choosing the Piri Piri Chicken with frites and coleslaw (with an extra side salad because I like salad), simply because I have Gnocci a lot at home. But I was certainly not disappointed. The frites were perfectly golden and crispy, the chicken was tender and juicy, packed full of delicious piri piri flavour. MMM. 



For dessert I had the Chocolate Marquise with a Espresso Creme Anglaise with Mint Crisp sauce. Oh my god. So damn creamy! Definitely a comfort dessert, the marquise itself was very rich and smooth, and having mint and espresso felt very grown up. Oo arr. 



All in all, the food was phenomenal and I will definitely be going back. I loved everything about The Terrace; the decor, the food, the waiters, even the super soft marshmallows they put in my hot chocolate! 

I hope you enjoyed this little review and I'll see you soon!

Katie xo

Thursday 3 March 2016

My Current Playlist

I always love seeing what kind of music people are loving, as everyone has such varied tastes. I've been listening to music a lot recently, especially while my family are all gathered in the kitchen and we can all sing along to an old fave.
Below are some of my most loved songs and why I love them! Let me know your favourite song at the moment in the comments, and I'll check them out.

Twenty One Pilots - Car Radio


'Stressed Out' has been on the tv a lot recently (another favourite of mine), which resparked my love for the band, leading me to rediscover my love for this song. For some reason, I just kind of connect with it. 

Twenty One Pilots - Tear In My Heart


(Can you tell I like TOP?) This song is sooo catchy! I'm sat here bobbing along to it right now. For me this is quite a feel good song, something I'm going to scream in the car. TAKE ME HIGHER THAN I'VE EVER BEEN!

The Beautiful South - Rotterdam


Now this is just in my favourites purely because, this is the song that we'll put on full volume and myself, both of my brothers, and my mum will just sing the entire thing. We're cute like that.

Tom Odell - Heal


Ah, my "cry your eyes out at whatever is bothering you that day" song. I found this song when I first watched If I Stay (excellent film, go see) and heard this in the credits. I just instantly fell in love with it and it's one of my emotional songs.

Jonas Blue - Fast Car


Another song that is currently in the music charts, I absolutely love the modern remix of one of my most loved classic songs. Plus the music video is pretty cool, loving that girls sense of style!

You Me At Six - No One Does It Better


This was the first song by You Me At Six that I had ever heard, and also the first song that ever gave me goosebumps. YMAS has been one of my favourite bands ever since and Sinners Never Sleep (the album) was the first ever CD I bought! The more you know.

The Pussycat Dolls - Hush Hush; Hush Hush


This song is my mother and I's 'belt out when nobody is around' song. It's just so fun to sing. Like, you know some songs you just sing along to because you know the words, and other songs you sing along to because it's so fun? It's one of those songs. Kinda empowering too.

Coldplay - Yellow


This song will be played at some point during my wedding. That is all there is to say.

Little Mix ft Jason Derulo - Secret Love Song


This is such a fun song to just really dramatise. Go all out, serenade that poster Harry Styles. After hearing this song, I definitely want to go back and listen to all of Little Mix's stuff.

Justin Bieber - Sorry


Admittedly, the majority of the reason that I love this song is because I AM IN LOVE with the video! These girls! Damn. But it's still an awesome, feel good song. I may or may not have tried to copy the dancing and fallen on my ass...

So there we go, just a small sample of some of my favourite songs. I do apologise if some of the videos aren't right or don't work, the sound doesn't work on my computer :( 
Don't forget to comment with your favourite song!

See you soon,
Katie xo

Monday 29 February 2016

Get To Know Me Tag!

Oh my god guys, I am just having the time of my life!
I'm completely joking, everything is a bit of a mess right now, but who cares! I have to stay positive and do things that make me happy, such as blogging. I know I say I need to blog more a lot but in all honestly, I think I've finally found the motivation to get things moving again. 

So, I thought I'd return to blogging with something a bit simple, a get to know me tag! I absolutely love reading these and I don't think I've ever done one before. They are one of my favourite things to read so I may as well give it a go at writing them too! 

So, here goes...

1. What is your middle name?
My middle name is Emma, not as terrible as some people's names, but i'm not that keen on it.

2. What was your favourite subject at school?
That's a toughie, I liked a lot of different subjects for different reasons. I was always excited for History, mostly because I had the most incredible teacher (shoutout to Miss Johnson!), and I also really liked drama. I always wanted to be an actress when I was younger. At college my favourite subject was definitely media!

3. What is your favourite drink?.
I never keep a favourite for long, sometimes nothing will be acceptable except a good cup of tea in an old chipped mug, sometimes all I need in a creamy hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows, and sometimes I'm scrambling up 60p in order to buy a diet coke from the shop. I recently (I say recently, more like months ago) went to Hubbox with my mum and had the most incredible chocolate maltshake, I think I could have that everyday.

4. What is your favourite song at the moment?
Twenty One Pilots - Stressed Out, Lady Leshurr - Queen's Speech 4, Sam Smith - Stay With Me, Sigala - Sweet Lovin', oh lord there's too many! 


5. What is your favourite food?
Love me a good old packet of magic stars.

6. What is the last thing you bought?
Depends on what sort of things you're after, today I signed up to Apple Music, yesterday I bought a cinema ticket, some popcorn, some magic stars and some mozzarella sticks (so not worth it) and the day before that I bought some socks for moisturising your feet overnight and a facemask from Lush. Ooh, and a starbucks.

7. Favourite book of all time?
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han. I love this book so much, as soon as I finished it I ordered the sequel and read it in one night. It's the perfect easy read to make you feel summery and ugh, its just my fave.

8. Favourite colour?
I like every colour. 

9. Do you have any pets?
I have two gorgeous furry friends. Jack, my 13 year old springer spaniel lives with my dad. He's very hyper and ridiculous and we love him to absolute pieces. Unfortunately he has cancer and is quite old, so not as energetic as he once was. I also have a 7 month old kitten called Kiisu who is just the most elegant, gorgeous little girl ever. She loves to lick my nose and chew the corner of my phone a lot.




10. Favourite perfume?
Sweetheart by Ghost. My brother got it for me for my birthday years ago, and I've since repurchased it.

11. Favourite holiday?
I always loved visiting Brighton. I think it's a gorgeous, diverse city which basically has everything I'd ever need. I can't wait to go back and visit one day.

12. Are you married?
I don't think my parents would be overly happy with me getting married at 17 years old! 

13. Have you ever been out of the country?
I have indeed! I went on a school trip to Paris when I was 13, and a school trip to Poland when I was 16. I've also been to Scotland and Wales, but they don't count.

14. Do you speak any other languages?
I don't, but I have been using Duolingo to learn French and Dutch! If you haven't heard of Duolingo, it's a fantastic app, completely free, that teaches you different languages. You can set goals of how much you want to learn per day. I'm 2% fluent in French, apparently.

15. How many siblings do you have?
I have two awful smelly big brothers who I love with every fibre of my being. Chris is the oldest, he's 24 this year, and Jamie has not long turned 21! We're all growing up and becoming grumpy adults, fun times. We all live together with my mum and we're a happy little bunch. I also have a step brother and two step sisters.

16. What is your favourite shop?
Boots and Superdrug are awesome, and I quite like Accessorize too.

17. Favourite restaurant?
The Shire, it's a lovely pub/restaurant that does the most incredible carvery ever. We used to go multiple times a year for everyone's birthday.

18. When was the last time you cried?
Yesterday! I wasn't having the brightest of days, unfortunately.

19. Favourite blog?
I love absolutely loads of blogs, but the ones I always come back to are Zoella, Milk Bubble Tea, Ruby Red Roses and Emily Bashforth. All such gorgeous, wonderful girls!

20. Favourite movie?
I've been watching If I Stay a lot over the past few months, it's my comfort movie for when I'm feeling down. Of course, Marley and Me will forever be a staple favourite, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, I have a feeling that I'm really going to enjoy How To Be Single when I go to see it.

21. Favourite TV shows?
I've watched every episode of Friends at least 30 times. That's not even an exaggeration. I'm completely up to date with Pretty Little Liars, and I absolutely LOVED Desperate Housewives. It's so scandalous. 

22. PC or Mac?
Maaaaac. I have a laptop at the moment but I really want to save up for a Mac, I just think they're much better and easier to use. Plus, they're pretty.

23. What phone do you have?
I have a space grey iPhone 6.

24.How tall are you?
I am 5'7. Kind of average for a girl I suppose. I'm taller than my mum!

25.Can you cook?
I won't starve, let's just say that. I enjoy baking more than cooking, so I don't tend to cook much.

So that's it! I'd love to know your answers to the questions so make sure you comment or let me know if you write a post like this!
I'll see you all very soon!

Katie xo

Friday 1 January 2016

Bring on 2016!

A massive Happy New Year to everyone!

2015 for me was a hard year, and I went through a lot of things that were very new to me. I was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety, I struggled through college, my partner and I split up, and I ended up dropping out of college, to name just a few of things that made 2015 for me a bit crap, and to top it all off, I was alone on New Year's Eve, went to bed early and woke up this morning feeling like I had failed 2016 already. 
So what did I do? I got out of bed, I spring cleaned my room and I had a refreshing shower. 

Now, I'm ready for the year ahead. The next 365 days are going to be amazing and I will achieve something everyday.

I'd like to share a few resolutions with you:

Be healthier
In case you didn't know, I am quite badly overweight, and although that takes a toll on my physical health and could lead to problems in the future, it seriously affects my mental health now. Everyone struggles with self confidence from time to time, but for me, it is a 24/7 thing. I'm confident in my personality and my beliefs, but the way I look is a problem for me, and is one of the root things that caused my depression and anxiety. I was bullied quite a lot during school and it really took its toll on me, and this year, I plan to lose some of the main chunk of weight I want to be rid of. Of course I don't expect myself to be healthy and be a healthy size by this time next year, my plan is to make a start and keep it steady. 

Be happier
This year I want to get rid of my depression for good. I've come a long way from when I got diagnosed, but I'm still not close to relieving myself of depression, so I'm going to do things that make me happy. Believe it or not, staying in bed all day and eating chocolate doesn't make me happy, so it's my goal to find hobbies to keep me content with everyday life. Blogging being one of them, which leads me to my next resolution...

Blog more!
When 2015 got tough for me, I neglected my blog, (I'm sorry blog, I love you). Blogging does make me happy - I love reading comments, and designing my posts, and tweeting and trying to new things to blog about. Everything about blogging, I love. So I'm just going to do it, no ifs, ands or buts. 

Save some money
Now that I'm not at college, I finally have some money coming in from working, and it gives me the opportunity to go on holiday, learn to drive etc. More often than not, I spend my money on crap that I don't need, and that's going to stop this year. 


I really don't want this year to just be another bookmark in my life, 2016 needs to be a milestone for me. My days of wasting time are over. Bring on the next year!

What are your resolutions for this year?

See you soon!
Katie xo