New Edition

Meet my first ever nephew! 

Born: 27th February 2014

Time: 4:47AM

Weight: 6lbs 2oz!

I love him!

xxx

Throwback Thursday #16

And it's baaaaack. It's been a long while since I did a Throwback Thursday and that's because all around this house we have loads of photos but they are dotted all around and the ones I can get my hand on, I've shared the ones I have wanted to share with you. But the other day, my Mum was cleaning the house and I found some more that I wanted to share. These all have a story and I hope you enjoy the photos as much as my memories. 

This picture comes from when we went to Africa, Gambia when I was only 8 years old or so. Mum and Dad took a massive risk going to Africa with six small children, especially given the fact there were 5 girls under the age of 15. There were many of times when we were all a little bit separated with Mum and Dad only having four hands to keep hold of us all. They made great friends with a couple of people who helped keep an eye on us all. That didn't stop plenty of the locals asking to marry us, even though we were only 10 or so and Mum and Dad having to pull us away before they did anything with us. It was quite scary but such an amazing experience.

All the people there were lovely and the hotel staff became our friends. In fact, for a year after we went on holiday, we kept in touch with one of the hotel staff and he had come to our last meal in Gambia to say goodbye. We even sent him a Christmas card and I think, if my memory serves me rightly, he sent us one back from Gambia.

Whilst we were there, I went on my very first camel ride. In the picture I am on the second camel on the left. Look how tiny I looked with it. Unfortunately, I hated the camel ride. I didn't like the camel going up and down and I also don't think I liked being suspended above the camel. It was a very weird feeling and although the camels were lovely and well trained, it still scared me. At one point, I was crying too much that one of the men from the trips had to walk with me because I wanted to get off the camel so much. It was lovely to walk along the beach on the camels, we then had a BBQ on the beach, fed the camels some watermelon and then travelled back on them.

Africa was such an amazing experience and even now, I still remember loads from the holiday. Probably one of the most memorable ones even though I was only 8 years old. It was such an eye-opener seeing how different they lived and how poor they all were. Poor to the extent that the children couldn't go to school because they couldn't afford a single pen or a piece of paper. It was seriously heartbreaking and I hope that The Gambia is now a little bit wealthier and that they have so much better lifestyles. We can hope that one day, poverty won't exist and people will have much more to their lives than they do now.

Now, this picture is a little bit off topic in terms of my two previous pictures, but it would have been my Grandad's birthday tomorrow or the day after (his birthday was on 29th Feb and so some of us celebrated it on 28th Feb and some 1st March because otherwise he didn't have a birthday) and I miss him terribly. It's also nearly a year since he died and I found this picture the other day and it made me smile. I never knew my Grandad in this way because by the time I was born, he had had his strokes and was a completely different man but this is a picture from my Mum's wedding day. It makes me so happy to see this picture of my Mum and my Nan and Grandad. They all look so happy and well. It makes me hope that somewhere up in Heaven, my Nan and Grandad are back to their best selves. Back to being happy and healthy.

I miss them everyday and the markers of them not being here are so prominent in life and I just wish they were here again. My life isn't' complete without them.

I hope you have enjoyed the return of Throwback Thursday. If you did, let me know in the comments. I love you all

xxx

Grey's Anatomy

I have a love affair with Grey's Anatomy and have been waiting patiently for two months for its return to find out the result of the massive cliffhanger that they left me with. I always end up crying at Grey's Anatomy for many reasons and the finales have always such a profound amount on me.

One of my worst finales was with Lexie and Mark. That was heartbreaking and I hated Shonda for all the devastating storylines that she creates! They were my favourite characters at the time and I couldn't believe it at the time! Terrible terrible storyline BUT so good at the same time. You sneaky bean, Shonda. You get it so right every single time!

Now, back to the current storyline, I won't tell you what happens on the cliffhanger because I know that some of you might not have watched it and I would HATE to ruin anything for you. But I can't wait to find out what happens and the biggest excitement of this week is that I am going to be able to watch the next episode on Friday after having waiting for it for ages!

Also, The Vampire Diaries, another love of mine, went on about a 2 week break and I miss being able to watch a new episode each week BUT there is a God because that is also back tomorrow and so Friday is going to be a good day.

Not only is Friday going to be great because it's the end of the week and therefore it is time for the weekend with two days off, but it also gives me two new episodes of two of my favourite shows ever. It's the little things in life that I love.

They make me happy!

xxx

Lacking Creativity

These two weeks at school are about making resources for the school according to their need. My school is doing a play for Henry VIII and so I am making resources and props for their play to aid their learning. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that I need to make and I have such big ideas but the ideas never really translate to actual making. I have started today and at the moment, all I have are some initials to go on necklaces for the six wives. But I'm not convinced this is going to look good at all.

I need to make:

7 x cardboard frames for the main characters to stand behind to pretend to be living portraits.

1 x large cardboard frame that is big enough to fit 10 children inside.

6 x necklaces with their initials on it

6 x signs for what happened to the wives

1 x cardboard sword

10 x sailor hats for the Mary Rose crew...

AND costumes for the main characters... Oh dear.

What have I put on myself?

Does anyone want to help me?

xxx

Motivational Monday #40

This week is going to be a pretty hard week for me for various reasons and so I just wanted to spread the motivational word of solidarity. Some people have to go through terrible things and whilst we may feel alone in our devastating sadness, we aren't.

Behind all of our smiles, there is a little bit of a tragedy. Whether that is tragedy on a large or small scale. Offer someone a smile or a few happy words because you never know what they are dealing with.

I'm here for anyone that has a burden that is getting too heavy so don't hestitate to ask if you need some help!!

xxx

Strawberries and Cream; Christmas Jumper and Esaays

It's the day before the day everyone dreads. I've just spent a good 30 minutes on maintaining my nails and that's just shaping my nails, cutting my cuticles and moisturising.. total girl! I have a love hate relationship with my nails. If they aren't moisturised, I start picking the dry skin around my nails and make them bleed.. it's a terrible habit.

Yesterday, I went out for dinner with my family (there was 13 of us) to the Harvester and it was nice to have all of us together and in a happy moment. It really does make me feel blessed to have them all around and know I'm lucky to have them!!

Today has been a day when I haven't wanted to do anything but kind of had to. I decided to wear my Christmas jumper because it's something that I won't wear out the house for months. Why not wear it to lounge around? It's warm!!

I ate strawberries and cream thanks to my sister bringing them round. I'm not that big of a fan of cream but I LOVE strawberries! It was definitely a summer snack and although the weather outside is dreary and cloudy, it brought me a little bit of sunshine. Especially considering I have been trying to write and edit my essays!

Tomorrow, it is my first day at my placement school but thankfully, the next two weeks I'm not teaching yet, I'm just planning and making resources for the school for one of my modules.

But I'm not creative at all... Oh dear!!

These are my rough Sunday scribblings for today. Just some random update of my life.

I love you
xxx

500 Blog Posts

I've made it. I have written a total of 500 blogs since I started this crazy journey, which absolutely astounds me. I have no idea what I have written about in all of my blogs but I'm so glad that you've come along with the ride!

I thought reaching this marker, I'd take you on a little bit of a history of my blog and hope that you enjoy this!

1. First ever blog: 

♥ Imperfections

http://nicolespearlsofwisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/imperfections.html

2. Some of the most popular blogs with you guys are:

♥ Introducing 

http://nicolespearlsofwisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/introducing.html

♥ Talking Apes

http://nicolespearlsofwisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/talking-apes.html

♥ Obsessions

http://nicolespearlsofwisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/obsessions.html

3. My favourite blog:

Motivational Mondays! All of them. I really love giving advice and I feel like this is one of the blogs that helps myself but everyone else who reads them too. I've always been complimented on giving good advice and I think that being able to share this with you guys makes my blog all that more enjoyable. I hope that I motivate and inspire my readers. That's what keeps me blogging.

4. My least viewed blog: 

This blog only has 1 view and this was my sixth blog to have ever been written and for some reason it makes me smile a little to see just 1 by the side of it. Bless its little heart. It's the blog that got forgotten about!

♥ Happy New Year

http://nicolespearlsofwisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/happy-new-year.html

5. My bravest blog:

This was one of the very first blogs that I wrote- in the first 20, I think and this was the moment when I felt that I was safe enough that nobody was reading my blog to share a part of my life that I had never shared with anyone. It was the blog where I shared my writing. It was scary and it still is but I think this highlighted a point in my life when I was ready to share my life with people.

♥ The Colossal Misreckoning...

http://nicolespearlsofwisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-colossal-misreckoning.html

What is your favourite post of my blog? If you can think about all the different blogposts that I have posted. It's crazy to think of 500 blogs. Imagine if they were pieces of paper and lined up. Woah.

Anyway, if you're enjoying my blog, give me a little cheeky comment below to let me know. I want to hear from you guys. You're so quiet!!!!

Here's to the next 500?

xxx

Essay Drama

I've been putting them off for about a week now. Ever since I knew that I didn't have uni for a whole week, I've been relaxing and making the most of the time off. I have been putting the fact I have essays to the back of my mind because I can. It's easy to delude yourself into thinking that you don't have to do anything. I just don't feel very engaged with the topics and feel like they're just a way of making the course legit. But today, it's Friday and it is officially the last weekday I have off before I start going into schools and my workload increased by five times. And so instead of working my butt off now, I will be putting my work off until I have no time to sleep to try and finish it.

Although, having said this, I haven't done too badly with completing parts of my essays during the time I've been at uni.

I managed to write:

Ref Prof: 2,160/2,500 due in 14/03/2014

Core: 1,077/2,500 due in 14/03/2014

RICL: 144/4,000 due in sometime in April!

But I haven't done much else. The problem is that there is still 3 more weeks before the deadline and so to everyone else at uni, I have plenty of time and am well ahead of the game. But considering the amount of work I do at school, there isn't much free time to complete it the night before.

Thankfully, as long as I get a good draft down, I have a week off in 2 weeks for self-directed study to tighten up any parts that I feel make me sound like a three year old.

Today, is the day to finish the first two essays (Ref Prof and Core).

I can do it?

xxx

Endless Love Film Review

If you're looking for a sickly sweet romance film to go and watch, Endless Love is definitely for you. I am a hopeless romantic and love everything and anything that is around love. So, this film was a definite go see film for me. Although, I did have my reservations about the film at the start realising that I knew it might completely suck as many predictable romance films do! One of the main reasons I wanted to go see the film was the fact that Alex Pettyfer starred in it. And if you haven't seen him, he is pretty darn fine!

The storyline is the most common Romeo and Juliet type plots whereby a boy and girl fall in love only to have obstacles put in their way and in this film, this came in the form of her overprotective father. He came from a not so affluent family whereas she was the epitome of riches - you can just imagine where this is going. Now, the thing is the storyline lacks originality. Like most romance films, it is predictable and completely cheesy to the point where you might actually want to stop watching but there's something endearing about the acting. 

It wasn't just a story based on two beautiful actors portraying the struggles of love but it was a story that tackled loss and fear. It dug a little into the way grief and loss of a loved one affects the lives of those that still remain. It shows how a family can be pushed to a limit and how slowly but surely, happiness can return after such a tragedy.

It made me laugh with the carefully placed jokes and it made me sad at times. It made me think about my own life and how much things change and how much you can lose yourself after a death of a loved one. It just takes one person to bring you back and out of your shell- that's what I really loved about the film. And that person doesn't need to be a boyfriend but just a friend willing to take the time to see you through everything.

Let me be honest with you: it's not the best film out there and it's definitely not the deepest film that will give you food for thought but it's one of those films that you can laugh and smile at and it makes you feel happy. It's a lighthearted romance and it does give you a sense of uplifting by the end of the film. Depending on your outlook on romance films, you'll either love it or hate it. It'll be one of the cutest films you'll see or it will be the cheesiest film that makes you want to vomit. But if you are the type of person to love romance, you've probably already put this film on the list of films you want to see and I think it's alright.

Verdict: It's an alright film. Not the best film I've ever seen but not the worst... And that's all I can say about it. So it's up to you, I wouldn't rant and rave about how you HAVE to see it but it's not a bad film to see.

Take this review as you want, I didn't really feel completely taken in by the film that I would actively recommend it but don't let my review put you off if you wanted to see it before you read this review.

I realise how much this review sucked! SORRYYY
xxx

Picture Diary

Pretty good Tuesday, if you ask me!

And then, this happened today...

Real pretty, right?

xxx

Day Two: Best Friend Date

1. It's the second day of my half term and I have attempted to do some of my essay but realise that I sound like a three year old that should go back to school rather than pursuing a career in teaching. The trouble is that the essay guidance wasn't clear to us OR the lecturers that set it for us and so now we're all unclear about how we should be going about it... I need to get a move on doing more!

2. I look so rough today. You know those days when even make up doesn't cover up how bad you look? That's my day today. I put make up on but I just looked orange so I took it all off again and settled for the minimal look of concealer just underneath my eyes. I apologise everyone that has to look at me- this is what I currently look like.

3. I don't really get a lot of spare time when I'm at uni and when I do, I'm too tired to even move so today, I am making the most of being off and I am going on a best friend date with Gerri! We are going to the cinema to see Endless Love (check out the review that is sure to come this week) and then we are going to a Tapas restaurant for some dinner. I'm not sure if I'll like it but I'll give it a go and perhaps I'll find something that I do love! 

I love spending time with my friends and it makes me realise how lucky I am to have them. My friends and I are the type of people where we don't need to be living out of one another's pockets. We don't always have to be texting or on the phone, or even seeing each other every week. It's lovely when we do but we can go days, or even weeks without spending time with one another and we still know that we're really good friends. 

You realise as you get older than keeping in touch with friends changes a little. It's no longer having to keep talking every night or always seeing each other, it turns into a deeper friendship when you know that even if you haven't spoken for a couple of days, you're always there for that person no matter what. It's those friends that survive the transition that are your very best friends. And I'm so happy to say that I have some of the best friends out there. I love them all and I'm looking forward to spending the day with Gerri!

Have a brilliant, albeit rainy, Tuesday and hope you all aren't working too hard!

My sister is going on maternity leave today, which means that baby Ryan/Walker is coming soon and I can't wait!

EXCITING!

xxx

Oops.

As some of you regular readers might have noticed, yesterday I forgot to blog. And when I say forgot, I mean, I did realise that I needed to blog but I didn't have anything to blog about and I made a conscious decision to not blog. Yesterday wasn't exactly a good day for my family and in turn I had no motivation or inspiration to create a blog and knew that if I put a blog out, it would have been another one of my "sorry, this is lame" blogs and I didn't want to. I weighed up the pros and cons in my head and when I was sat there thinking about what to do, the cons kind of won.

A couple weeks ago, I had the thought about quitting blogging everyday and I decided against it because it makes me happy and I know that I missed yesterday but for blogging everyday for a year and 2 and a half months, I'd say that was pretty darn good! I even put out a poll (which none of you filled out :P) because I was serious about stopping the blogging everyday adventure. I managed 442 consecutive blogs. And now sat here, I do feel a little sad that number won't increase...

I don't know whether I will continue doing blogs everyday but I know now that I won't stop blogging even if I do miss a day. It's not necessarily about blogging every single day, it's about giving blogs that I'm happy to share. If that makes sense. It does make me feel like I'm cheating you guys when I churn out below average blogs and I don't want to do that now. I want to be able to say I'm proud of the blog that I've written. That may well be that I do blog everyday or that might mean I blog every other day, or 3 times a week. I just don't know. But I do know that even though I missed yesterday, I'm not giving up completely. I'm just taking a step back and thinking about how to make sure that I give the best blogs to my readers, to you guys because I wouldn't have made it here without you.

If you hit a wall with whatever you're doing, don't just turn around and give up. Fight through the wall and keep going.

I hope you all stay with me with these changes in my blog and don't just leave me! I love you all and I hope to write many more blogs for you.

xxx

Half Term, Shopping, Record Book

Today was the first official day of my half term. 9 days off with limited things that I need to do. If I forget about the essays I need to write then I can say that I am a free woman. Unfortunately, this morning my body didn't get the memo of my half term and ability to sleep in because I woke up at 8AM... But I managed to stay and in bed and that was fantastic. When I woke up, Dad made me a fry up and it was magical! I've come to the time in my life when I realise it is too short to worry about everything I eat. I used to calorie count and try to be under 9 stone but now I know there's more to life!!

Then, I went shopping with my sister and we browsed some of the shops. I found a really cute kimono in H&M and I loved it but it was a little too long and so I had to lovingly put it back. If it were shorter, I would have snagged it. It was lovely! Now, I'm determined to find a pretty kimono that I can buy. I want one. I also need to shop for some more teacher clothes because I'm going to be on placement for 10 weeks and I think I need more variety.

Speaking of placement, I've been placed in a year 5 class. I'm a little scared. Not just of teaching but the amount and depth of marking I'm going to be doing. It'll be fun though.

When I found out my first sister was pregnant, I came across a cute baby record book that I couldn't leave in a shop and had to buy it. That very day, my other sister told me she was pregnant and ever since I've been trying to find a different but just aa cute book for her to fill in for her baby. Today, whilst I was shopping, I took a quick look in Mothercare to see if on the off chance it had one and there it was. I found this cute little book and once again, I couldn't put it back.

Also, on the subject of babies, we bought a pink and blue hat for my sister due in March because she decided to not find out the baby's sex. She had this idea that she would put the coloured hat on the baby when it is born showing the gender and send us a picture to reveal the baby's gender. I thought it was a cute idea and given I might be on placement during that time, I thought it would be great to see a picture if I couldn't make it to the hospital straightaway!!

And now, I have nothing else to share. I had a good day and seeing all different baby clothes and items, I can't wait got my nieces/nephews to arrive. It's annoying not to know what they are. But we'll find out sooooooon!!

xxx

Happy Valentine's Day

May all you lucky people in loving relationships have a lot of fun on your day and make sure that you cherish the times that you have with your loved ones. Make sure you appreciate each other and remember why you fell in love!

May all you lucky single people cherish those people in your life that you love and make them know how much you love them. Make sure that you love yourself and are positive about who you are. Make sure that you have fun and don't wallow in self pity about being alone- you're just waiting for the person that will add to your happiness, not making you reliant on them for your happiness!

I hope you all have a day of love and happiness.

Plus, it's Friday and I have a week off for reading week so I'm a happy bugger today.

Cheerio, my love!

Love you,

Nicole

xxx

Valentine's Day for Single People

Tomorrow, I'm not going to be celebrating Valentine's Day because like many of us, I don't have a partner, but that's okay. Valentine's Day doesn't necessarily mean that you need a boyfriend or a girlfriend. It doesn't necessarily mean that you need to go out on a date to save yourself from being alone on that day because although Valentine's Day is a holiday that centres around love. It's a socially constructed holiday that we have developed and over-commercialised for monetary gain.

Now, I'm not against Valentine's Day, I think it's cute for couples to spend the day/night being able to remember why they fell in love and to make sure that they do something romantic. It's good because it makes people stop and cherish the things that on normal days, they don't.

But I've thought of some ideas for single people and what to do on Valentine's Day:

♥ Spend the night with your family.

If you aren't dating someone and your family don't have any plans; who says it's not socially acceptable to spend Valentine's Day with your family. It's a day about love and love isn't always romantic love- it's about love in all shapes and forms. Love for a parent, love for a sibling and if you're at that age, love for a child. Love isn't just one dimensional. Spend the day with those you love, that's the whole point of the day!

♥ Go out and have fun!

Just because you're single on Valentine's Day, it doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of other single people of the opposite (or same) sex that are just waiting to find someone that they might be able to love. Instead of moping around that you're single feeling sorry for yourself, if you really want someone then go out, have fun and get mingling with all those lovely eligible people! It's more fun when you can flirt with strangers!

♥ Have a girlie night in.

If you and your friends are all single, why not make the day about your friendship? Why not celebrate the fact that you are all together and are such good friends. There's nothing better than putting on a film and eating take-away food on Valentine's Day. My housemate, Charlotte and I used to go to the cinema every Valentine's Day in Cardiff because we were both single and we didn't have any other plans. I loved it because it was like a little friendship date. It was fun! I'm going to miss doing that this year.

♥ Be happy.

You shouldn't be jealous or bitter about the fact you are alone because as long as you're happy, that's the main thing. I know there are a lot of people out there that are not happy and are in a relationship because they feel they need that other person to make them happy. But you don't. I'd rather be alone on Valentine's Day and happy than to have someone to spend it with but to not be able to be happy on my own. If you're happy with yourself when you're alone, then anyone who dates you in the future is a very lucky person.

♥ Make the day about yourself.

A lot of people are incredibly negative on themselves and find themselves hating themselves. Instead of making this day about loving someone else, make the day dedicated to loving yourself. Make the promise to yourself that you won't think anything negative about yourself and that you will always try and see the good things in life and situations. Make sure that you don't put yourself down but instead give yourself compliments and in the evening, make the night about pampering yourself. You are the most important person in your life so why wouldn't you want to love yourself?

♥ See it as any other Friday.

Valentine's Day doesn't need to be a huge deal. It doesn't need to be made out to be a fantastic day where you're missing out if you don't have a partner. It is just another ordinary Friday with a name. It doesn't have to be a day out of the ordinary. Go to work, come home, maybe have a glass of wine and enjoy the fact that it's Friday and the weekend is finally here. Don't stress about making it a different day to any other one. It doesn't need to be!

My one wish for this Valentine's Day is that all the single people in the world don't feel bad. I wish that everyone without a boyfriend/girlfriend feels empowered by their ability to live their life alone and be happy for the time being- don't see it as a negative to not have a date this Valentine's Day. There are plenty of other things in life to think about rather being in love- like a good job or making sure that you have a strong self-esteem in yourself/loving who you are before you find someone else to love.

Just be happy, okay?!

Lots of love,

Nicole

xxx

Gift Ideas For Valentine's Day

"Love is in the air, everywhere I look around!"

It's nearing Valentine's Day and although I don't believe in the whole silly holiday, lots of people do and they need some good ideas for what to do for their loved ones on the day of love. I don't have a Valentine for this day and I'm fine with that. I spend every other day alone and so one day prescribed as the day of love is just a normal day for me. If you're like me and are not spending Valentine's Day with anyone, don't make yourself unhappy. It takes a stronger person to be alone and happy than to be happy with someone else. I think as long as you're happy in yourself, there's nothing wrong with being single and you should be proud of that. I am!

Okay, so now onto the gift ideas which is why you came here:

1. Roses and Chocolates.

These are the traditional gifts of Valentine's Day and although you may think it is a little cheesy and it's not very imaginative, it still works well as a gift. Especially if you don't get your partner flowers often, this makes it even more special; and every girl loves chocolates so why wouldn't they love this present?

2. Dinner at a restaurant.

This doesn't need to be a really expensive restaurant where you need to dress up. It could just be a restaurant that you went to on your first day or the first time you realised you loved your partner. This coupled with the story of why you brought her to the restaurant; it will make it so much more romantic. Sometimes, less is more. And in fact, dinner doesn't need to be at a restaurant, perhaps you could cook dinner at home or drive her to a special place to have a picnic type dinner. The more imaginative you can get according to your little love story will make it more romantic and the more thought = the more she'll love it.

3. Scrapbook of your love story.

Now this is probably a little too late of a gift idea for you to achieve in 2 days but it would be nice if you were a little arty to take a scrapbook and fill it in with some of your best pictures and memories together. It would make you look like a fantastic boyfriend/girlfriend for you to have remembered all the different occasions and even better if you were to put in some of the smaller memories that she/he might have forgotten. I think that sometimes the more personal the gift is, and the more thought about it is, the better it is and it turns what is quite a commercial holiday into a true day about love.

4. Do the chores.

This sounds like a really silly and really cheap idea of a Valentine's Day gift but if you have a busy household, those that have busy jobs and children will find this one more manageable and probably will be best received. But if you find that your partner is always doing the chores and never gets a rest; take on the role and do everything that they do for them. Make them put their feet up and rest for the day whilst you treat him/her like the queen. It's thoughtful, budget and it also shows how much you really care about them other than just buying something for them. Also, maybe buy some flowers and chocolates if you're feeling super romantic.

5. Standard jewellery.

It's a little self explanatory and a little cliché, but they don't call them clichés for any old reason. Clichés are there because they work and every girl will love jewellery for a gift. My only hesitation for this is that if you always buy jewellery, I would steer clear of it for this year and change it up a little with one of my other gift ideas so that it's not just a chore- you want a surprise.

6. Trip to Paris.

 Paris is one of the love cities of the world apparently and if you have some spare money around then perhaps a day trip or a weekend trip to Paris would top off her Valentine's Day. It might be nice for you to plan this without him/her knowing and to surprise him/her more than he/she could even imagine. I think that it would be fab to find out that you were going to Paris on the morning that you were and he/she would surely love you for that gift! 

7. Tell him/her you love him/her.

With all relationships, sometimes they get a little stale after a while and the routine sets in where you get up, kiss him/her goodbye in the morning, go to work, come home, eat dinner and go to bed. After the honeymoon phase has gone, you're left with reality of life and the demands of other things and so if you have found yourself in a rut where you don't always put romance at the forefront, just do something you would have done when you first met. Call him/her up during the middle of the day to tell them you love them etc. Or leave little notes in her bag so that she can look at them during the day. Remind one another of the reason you fell in love.

8. Pay to see his/her favourite band/musical/gig etc.

If you know your loved one well, you will know exactly what they would love to see- whether that's their favourite artist/band or to go see a play/musical. It would be a lovely surprise if you gave her tickets to see something he/she loves. It shows that you know what they like and even if you don't like whatever it is he/she would love to see, you have spent the time and effort to get tickets and to go and see them with him/her.

Now, I don't know about you but those are some pretty nifty ideas if you ask me. Some are easier than others and you've probably thought of them all but there's not much else I can suggest without knowing exactly who you are buying for. So take these ideas, ditch them or tweak them to your own liking. I hope I've helped those of you that might be struggling.

Ta'ra my beautiful swans!

xxx

Taylor Swift Red Tour Review

"I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22..."

Last night, I had the absolute pleasure to attend Taylor Swift's Red tour concert with two of my best friends. Taylor Swift to many people is an artist that is mainly for teenage girls to love and whilst this is true given the general age range of the audience last night; there's something in her music that speaks to all of us. Her songs are categorised as being about love and heartbreak but that's something we all go through. And despite what people say, she really can sing and she does put on quite a good show.

She came on stage and sang her first song before saying "hello London" to an eruption of screams from the fans. Now, this may be a silly comment but I didn't quite realise how American she was until she started speaking. Everything about her talking throughout the songs was well choreographed and she didn't disappoint.

Although I didn't know all the words, I didn't need to because the atmosphere was electric and thousands of fans were more than willing to sing along. She responded so well to everyone and it may sound strange but I actually felt like her thank yous' were humble and honest. It felt like she knew the reason she was on the stage was because of her fans, which a lot of celebrities and singers forget about.

Her mum even came out to interact with people and select those that had made an effort to dress up and hold signs to meet Taylor after the show. Some of the fans there were crazy. One boy had travelled from USA to go and see her- that's dedication. Emeli Sande was one of the special guests and she sung "Next to me" which was awesome. I love her singing and think that she has raw talent. But not as good as Taylor!

Overall, her show was 100% worth going to see and I would go see her again. She is a little show woman and she knows exactly how to get the crowd going from her sly looks in the song to the sincerity in her pre-song talks.

It was quite sensational. She was quite spectacular!

And the company wasn't too bad, I guess ;)

xxx