Here's to 2015

With every single year that flashes past my eyes I always think that it cannot get better than the last. At this time of year I'm always sat reflecting on how happy and grateful I am for having such a lucky life. I am surrounded by friends and family I adore, and I'm healthy and happy and also had the most amazing memories. I couldn't ask for more.

It genuinely terrifies me every single year on what's going to happen next but now I'm not so scared. Last year it was the worries of exams and college but now I have achieved those goals I have experienced how much I am in control of my life however obvious that may sound to you. Life is easy if you don't complicate it. If you want good grades you go out there and revise. If you want closer friendship bonds you go out and make the effort. I understand it's not always as easy as that. Problems get in the way sometimes and we have all had more than our fair share. But that's life.

If you eliminate the bad things you can make your 2015 a year to remember and it's all in your control.

My 2014 new years resolution was to not drink Coca Cola for a year which I actually managed to achieve *round of applause*. This year I want to set a  few realistic goals:
♡  Firstly I want to at least write 2 blog posts a month (I feel super bad for the lack of posts recently) because I do really enjoy it but finding the time can sometimes be difficult.
♡ Another being closing my friendships because I realise how lucky I am to have such amazing people in my life and I don't want to take anything for granted.
♡ Thirdly I want to try and get healthier... I know what you're probably thinking "wow Sarah that's going to last long" but this year I really want to try and achieve this. It's not to do with wanting to lose weight as that's not what I necessarily think being healthy is about, I just want to feel energised and not so sluggish all of the time and when I do work out I always feel a difference.

I wish you all a healthy and happy 2015!

I will speak to you all soon,
Sarah x

What I Got For Christmas 2014

Firstly I am of course am going to put the disclaimer forward that this post is not me bragging what so ever! I feel so lucky to have been gifted these things and they are my favourite thing to read posts or watch videos about so I thought maybe some of you guys would want to see what I was given for Christmas this year. I'm just going to feature presents given to me by my family but my friends also got me so really lovely gifts but I was silly and forgot to take photos of them before I started using them but I am super grateful for those too. Secondly I'm sorry for being a bit a-wall from this blog at the minuet, I've been super busy but I'm planning to start posting here frequently again :). 

Yet again I want to mention how grateful I feel and I hope you all had the best Christmas ever!

I will speak to you all soon,

Sarah x

Gig review/ not really a review: Lewis Watson

I apologise for the awful quality of these pictures, phone camera's aren't the greatest at gigs...

On the 21st of September I made my way down to my second Lewis Watson gig (the first was in march last year) - this is a big deal because normally I'm quite content with seeing a performance just once but honestly you cannot beat his voice. It was in such an intimate venue of maybe about 200(?!) people which honestly I love because you get more of a connection and can share jokes an it's just my favourite thing. His group of friends were also there that night which meant the jokes between the audience and him kept going. There is nothing worse than going to see someone live and them not talking to you/ the audience at all but lewis does so amazingly in this department.

He has 2 support acts that night. One being Andreas Moe (second to left in the photographs) who was so amazing. Personally I would compare his voice to Passenger/ similar to Lewis in the earlier days but it is still very unique and I will definitely be buying his music in the future. I was also lucky enough to meet him after the show and he was so down to earth and friendly. The second support were Amber Run (second to right photograph) who are a 5 piece band which I would describe to play indie/ slightly rock music(?) Either way they too were incredible.

When Lewis came on stage his first song was 'stones around the sun' which is one of my favourites as if you really listen to the lyrics they are so meaningful so that instantly put me in a good mood. I honestly don't know what else to say. He was so amazing and I would 110% recommend you going to a gig of his if you have the chance, you wont regret it. There are still a few dates left on his UK tour and he is touring some parts of the rest of the world too so for dates go here: http://lewiswatsonmusic.com/gigs/

I'll speak to you all soon,
Sarah x

My Summer In Instagrams

Of course as many of you may know because it's all I seem to be talking about recently and I do apologise but I have just finished a stupidly long summer of 80 days.

In those days I decided upon taking a photo of something I did in each one so I would always have memories of the entire thing. These are just a few of my favourites and not all 80 of course. If you want to have a gander at them, head on over to my instagram page and you can have a little browse if you wish!

I'll speak to you all soon,

Sarah x

Every Flower Must Grow Through Dirt

Just a quick little life update for you all as I love reading these kind of things!

Last week I got my GCSE results back and I passed everything!!! (except French but shh lets not talk about that). I am so happy it's unbelievable. At times I truly found everything so difficult I just wanted to give up and sit in my room for the rest of my life, but all the hard work has paid off and you have to go through the downs to appreciate the positives! 

I hope those of you who received results over this summer are happy too.

I'll speak to you all soon,

Sarah x

OOTD: Prom! ♡

  

On Friday 18th June it was my schools prom so I thought I'd update you all with an 'outfit of the day' (or night in my case) as I love seeing what people wear to their prom's so I thought you might too?!

What I am wearing:
♡ Dress - True Decadence (sold at House of Fraser) you see it online here
♡ Necklace - Topshop (no longer available)
♡ Nail Varnish - Sally Hansen Arm Candy - I couldn't recommend this stuff enough it's so amazing and you can get it here
♡ Shoes - Dorothy Perkins - These shoes KILLED my feet and I got blisters in places I didn't even know you could get blisters but if you don't plan to be dancing or on your feet a lot (unlike me) you can get them here

I have previously made a post of the make-up I wore to prom here, my prom hair here, and also a 'what's in my bag' here if you want to check them out to find out the full details!

I'll speak to you all soon,
Sarah x

What's In My Prom Bag!

I though I'd just upload a super quick blog post for you! So this is my 'what's in my bag: prom edition post' but lets all be honest I should have really called it 'what's in my purse' as it's tiny.

The clutch bag I had for the night was from Japsar Conran and was around £25(?) and I love it so much. It has a nude patent lining and the main fabric is a nude snake skin effect with little bits of gold shimmer (I don't usually go for snakeskin but I thought this looked so classy). It hasn't got tonnes of room inside so I opted to put my essentials in the bag which were:

♡ My prom ticket - Kind of important if I actually want to get into prom

♡ My phone - Of course only for photo's and if I need to contact my parents

♡ And my lip products - This is because this is always the first part of my makeup to move itself around and look funky so it often needs retouching! If you were wondering the lip products are a Mac lipstick in 'Politely Pink' and a Rimmel London vinyl gloss in 'Take A Chance'

I am planning to upload a few more prom posts in the not so distant future.

I'll speak to you all soon,

Sarah x

Class of 2009 - 2014 ♡

I would like to firstly like to mention this will probably be a deep and soppy post, you have been warned...
So on Friday 13th June 2014 (lucky date I know) I LEFT SECONDARY SCHOOL!

I cropped the other people out of the photo - not to be obnoxious and be like 'LOOK AT ME ON MY LAST DAY AT SCHOOL!! but I wasn't sure if they would be ok with being on my blog, sorry! I just had to mention that ♡

The idea of leaving school is still completely overwhelming to me since I had been there from 11 - 16 years old, and I don't even know where to begin with this blog post there are so many things I want to say. 

Ok, so after pondering a little bit the first thing I wanted to discuss is the incredible friendships I have formed and I am so so grateful for having such amazing people in my life right now. I'm not going to lie, year 7 was the worst year of my schooling life. Despite having a small close group of friends (of which some are still my very bestest friends) I was bullied for no reason at all (not that bulling should require a reason, it shouldn't happen at all) which I wont go into, but this resulted in me going into a shell and feeling like I couldn't be myself around most people, even my friends. But then a year or so later I decided standing up for myself and not being afraid to be the person I actually am is the only way forward if I wanted to be happy - and I have not looked back in regret since making that decision. From the end of year 8 and onwards I have stuck with the most amazing friends anyone could ever ask for and I love absolutely every single one of them with all my heart and I hope we never lose contact (being cheesy is what I do best). They have helped me through some of the toughest times in my life that no one should ever experience and we have all shared hilarious and happy memories. My friends are the reason I will miss school insane amounts because not seeing them every day is already so difficult! Trust me there have been many tears shed.

And this may come as a bit of a shock but some of the teachers at my school is a main factor as to why I will miss it so much. I went through about 4 years of school having a few 'nice' teachers and a few I didn't particularly like. But when I came to the end of my time there I realised a most of them were some of the kindest/ most inspiring people I have ever met which completely shocked me. I would have lessons where teachers would moan and complain in the class, even occasional making seating plans and handing out detentions (not so fun, fun fact - I went through school getting a total of 0 detentions and I don't know if that makes me  'bad-ass' or just a bit boring?!). But I realised for the most part they only do this because they want you to do well  because they are responsible for your future and they want to make it the best they can for everyone. Although contraindicating myself here there were one or two teachers that definitely didn't care and I will not miss ;) From my experience if you genuinely think a teacher is doing something wrong you go out there and tell them, You cannot be or at least shouldn't get in trouble for standing up for yourself if you truly believe you are right. 'pick your battles' is a key thing I learnt.
Of course recently I have finished my GCSE's. I have no idea how I have done which is the scariest part but the most important thing you can think (and I also think this could apply to lots of different situations) is that even if you have or have not done the best you can in the build up. as long as in the moment you try the best you can  that is all that matters and you should be proud regardless.

At school I got involved in quite a few things but the main thing that I feel like has shaped my future in some way was becoming a 'student supporter' which basically means sitting down with students to talk about their problems and help make them feel better. The training I had by the Samaritans to help me be able to take part in this role made me realise I am so passionate about wanting the help people which could potentially be a career option?!? But the point I am trying to get across is take all the opportunities you can because it could inspire you to find out where you want your future to go. 

When people say 'your school years are the best years of your life' for me I can luckily completely agree, despite the low points I would never change anything because it has all made me the person I am today. I've learnt that it is ok to make the same mistakes over and over, as longs as you stay grounded and try the best you can. I wish everyone who is soon to be leaving school the best luck ever!

I'll speak to you all soon,
Sarah x