2017 on my Blog

Well right back at the start of 2017 it was one of my New Year Resolutions to try and blog more. I think I managed that pretty well this year. As we say goodbye to 2017 and hello to 2018 I thought it would be interesting to look back at this year on my blog.

I have chosen my favourite post from each month of the year to look back on. These might not have been the most popular post for that month, they might not be relating to the most significant thing that happened to me in that month, but they are what I consider the best of the month.

January

Wait, that actually happens in real life?

The post written the day after I bumped into a couple of friends in a coffee shop has some interesting musings on friendship as a student in the 21th Century.

February

Doll Collecting, I know it’s a bit weird.

I like collecting dolls. One year after I bought my first doll I wrote this post that is honest, geeky, personal and about collecting. I think this post just about sums up everything that I try to make my blog about.

March

Disney Live-Action Remakes – My Thoughts

An interesting post were I consider what I think of the Disney Live-Action Remakes so far and then suggest what I’d like to see. It’s also interesting as I wrote this post before Beauty and the Beast came out.

April

Doctor Who – Thin Ice Review

If you were following my blog between April and July you probably saw my Doctor Who reviews so I thought I should include one on this list. I think this review of Thin Ice was one of the best ones I wrote.

May

Lois Lane YA Novels – Review

The only book review I have written on this blog! I started reading the YA series of Lois Lane novels and very quickly got hooked on them, in this review I think I did a good job at writing about the trilogy.

June

Back from Uni

After finishing second year I wrote a brief post about being back from uni for summer break. In this post I was looking forward to what was going to happen so it’s interesting to read now that has happened.

July

Bargirl’s Batcave – A Doll Room Craft

Another doll post but a crafty one this time. In this post I shared how I made a Batcave for my Batgirl DC Superhero Girls doll. This project was more labour intensive than I’d anticipated but I was really pleased with the end result.

August

The Sarah Jane Adventures Appreciation

This post is a thoughtful and insightful review of a series that I sort of grew up with. The Sarah Jane Adventures meant a lot to me when I was younger and I would like to think that this post gave it the respect it deserves.

September

The Pep Rally and Other New Experiences in Canada

After my first full week in Canada I wrote a post summarising what I had been doing, including the Pep Rally. This post perfectly sums up that feeling of absolutely everything being new and exciting as I started my study abroad adventure.

October

Thanksgiving Weekend

This year I had my first ever Thanksgiving and I had a great time with my friends. I really enjoyed it and I shared that experience on my blog.

November

Image © BBC

New Doctor New Look

A very balanced and fair consideration of Jodie Whitaker as the first female Doctor and what that could mean for the future of the show.

December

Toronto in the run up to Christmas

I have really enjoyed going into Toronto whilst I have been living and studying in Canada. The trip at the start of December was another good one and I think the blog post about it was the best.

So that was my favourite blog post of the month for each month in 2017. I am really proud of what I have done with the blog this year and I hope that I can continue to update it as regularly as I have done with similarly interesting content in the New Year.

2017 has been a pretty great year, I have done lots of really interesting and fun stuff. I’m looking forward to discovering what fresh new adventures 2018 has in store for me.

Thank you for reading my blog and Happy New Year!

August Life Update

It’s a week into August and I’ve been neglecting this blog a little bit recently. I don’t really have an excuse, it’s just kept slipping my mind and I’ve not been particularly inspired to write much recently. However as I’ve accidentally dropped it a little I thought it was time to do another life update.

·         At the end of this month I go out to Canada for my year of studying abroad. I shared how I’m currently feeling about this in my post on Studying Abroad – A Month To Go.

·         It’s strange to think that I’m now quite well over half way through my summer break. As always it feels like it has flown by.

·         I live in a small town when I’m not at uni and so there’s not a lot for me to do over summer break, however I have been keeping myself busy.

·         I’ve been doing a lot of sewing over the course of this summer break. I often tend to do a lot of sewing whilst I’m away from university.

So that’s a brief update on what’s happening in my life right now. I have some stuff planned to go up later on this week.

Back from Uni

So it’s now a week since I came back home from Uni for the Summer Break. Compared to my average week at uni this past week has been rather quiet for me.

One of the most noticeable things that a changed in this past week is the weather. I don’t entirely mind this. Just before I left my uni city it was getting a little bit too hot. I usually think I’m pretty good in the heat however I don’t think anyone is very good when it’s that type of heat that just doesn’t cool down and all the buildings keep holding in the heat. But this sudden spell of bad weather began more or less as soon as I returned home. If this lasts for another couple of weeks I am sure I will be fed up of it but for now it’s a welcome change.

I live in a small town and go to uni in a reasonably large city. There’s quite a contrast between the two of them for me. Generally things are much quieter for me in my small town. I know my summer break is going to be much quieter than my time at uni has been but that’s just what I expect. I grew up in a small town and so this is what I have known for most of my life. When I first went to uni I noticed (and still notice) that there’s a definite contrast between those of us who are from small town backgrounds and those who are from big cities. There’s various things such as how people from small towns tend to be more forgiving when a bus is running a little late because we grew up having to put up with really unreliable bus services!

However I’ve been trying to keep busy over the past week or so. I’m back into sewing again, which is a hobby I tend not to do as much when I’m at uni. I’ve also been having to do a lot of unpacking, I know I’m a collector but I still find it amazing just how much stuff I have! There’s also been general stuff around the house that needs sorting out from how things were when I left them at spring break so that has all been taking up a significant chunk of my past week.

I will keep running this blog throughout summer break. Obviously my weekly Doctor Who reviews will be coming to an end this Saturday however I plan to watch some Classic Doctor Who over the summer and so I might review a few stories. As I live in a small town I won’t be able to keep doing my Saturday shops so My Haul posts will not be up anywhere near as regularly, however I hope to do a few hauls when I go out shopping. I have several new doll rooms planned and it’s likely that I am going to write a post about how I make them when I get around to making them. Also as I mentioned in my post about finishing second year I will be writing about going out to Canada.

Even if it is a quiet summer I know that at the end of it my year of Study Abroad in Canada begins! In some ways it’s good to have a calm and familiar summer before the excitement of what is undoubtedly going to be the biggest adventure of my life so far.

My Haul – In Summer!

It was a fairly modest amount of stuff in this week’s haul but I thought it was too fun not to share!

First up is this book of wood print scrapbook papers. As you may remember from my doll room posts (Disneyland Paris and the Superhero Hang Out) I like to use scrapbook paper as wallpaper for a doll room. There’s various types of rooms that wood prints are useful for and it can also be used for furniture. Wood printed paper is usually really difficult to find but at £3 for a book AND 10% Student discount this was a really good find!

This fabric was just too fabulous not to buy. I have literally no idea what I want to do with it but it was just far too good not to purchase!

And finally is my fourth Olaf plushie! I still love Frozen, I’m not going to Let It Go. This Olaf is wearing the hat and holding the walking stick from his song In Summer. I found him in the clearance section of Sainsbury’s and paid just £6.50 for him which is a good price, especially given how soft he is! As I was walking around Sainsbury’s doing my weekly grocery shop I had my favourite snowman sat in the bottom of my trolley!

March is Speeding By

I know it’s not quite the end of the month yet but March feels like it’s going by really fast. I had intended to update my blog several times this month but I’ve just sort let it go a little over the past few weeks. Last time I posted was just before my birthday and this time I’m just sharing what’s generally been going on in my life since then.

• I had a really nice birthday. It wasn’t exactly crazy busy or anything but that’s not my style. I just had a fun but relaxed day which was full of stuff that I like.

• I saw Mamma Mia at the theatre the day before my birthday, which was wonderful.

• I don’t have any full on essays due until after Spring Break but there’s been quite a bit of uni work keeping me busy recently. I always like to try to stay on top of my work and get stuff done in advance, in the long run its definitely good to be prepared but the process of being prepared can become quite time consuming!

• I’ve finally got further along with my Study Abroad application and have selected the modules that I am going to be doing during my first semester whilst I’m in Canada. The process of applying is quite strange and longwinded; I initially applied within my home uni to go on a Year Abroad, I then had to confirm that I was certain I wanted to go once I got assigned my place and most recently I’ve had to apply again to the Canadian university which will be hosting me whilst I’m abroad.

• Yesterday I went to see the new live action Beauty and the Beast with a couple of my friends. I really enjoyed it and I definitely would recommend it. Afterwards we went out for dinner at Five Guys. We had a really great time together yesterday.

• Perhaps most excitingly though, is that in a week’s time I’m going to Disneyland Paris with my friends! This will be my fourth visit and we are going to be there for the 25th Anniversary celebrations.

I am nearly 20!

It’s my birthday very soon and I turn 20! It still doesn’t feel real that I should be turning 20. I’m not exactly worried about getting older, it’s what happens, isn’t it. Though it is strange to be thinking that I am no longer going to be a teenager. 20 is the start of becoming an adult!

Usually for my birthday I tend not to do big exciting parties, I prefer a good celebratory meal out. This year I am seeing Mamma Mia at the theatre the day before and I’ll be eating out on my actual birthday and we’re going to be watching Frozen (my favourite Disney movie and one of my all-time favourite films) at Disney Soc. This birthday is also a little different from usual in that I am not going to be spending the day with my parents like I usually do. I don’t mind this too much and after all it’s not like I can fly back home just for my birthday whilst I’m in Canada next year!

When I think back to where I was in my life a year ago and compare it to where I am right now quite a lot has changed.

 I think now I have more self-confidence than I have at any other point in my life. I still have moments of self-doubt but I’ve got to a point that I’m pretty assured in who I am and I don’t care what other people may think of me.

I have gained a hobby over the past year which I did not see coming but I really love, doll collecting! I previously talked about doll collecting but it really has become a massive hobby that I love. And it’s not just collecting dolls of my favourite character. It’s also making rooms, accessories and outfits for them.

In terms of friendship things have changed massively, I’ve talked before about how I struggled with friends in first year. But now I have friends! I meet up with my friends regularly, I’m even going to Disneyland Paris over spring break with my friends and I’m not trying to be friends with people who make me unhappy anymore.

In conclusion, it has been great being 19. The biggest challenge that being 20 is going to bring is my year abroad. I’m going out to Canada in September for an academic year. I’m a little nervous but I am mainly excited about going over there and trying out something completely new. I am actually genuinely happy with where I am in my life right now and I’m excited to keep seeing where my path is going to lead me.

Wait, that actually happens in real life?

So yesterday afternoon took an unexpected turn for the better when I just bumped into a couple of friends in a coffee shop.

Honestly before yesterday I probably would have laughed at the idea that people just happened to meet their friends unexpectedly in coffee shops. It just sounds so cliché! But then yesterday afternoon I’d just been checking out what one of my local charity shops had in, I walked past the coffee shop next door and saw a couple of my friends sat in the window. I popped in to say hi and we ended up chatting for quite a while.

This has got me thinking about how the way that we interact with each other as students is in a lot of ways very strange.

As student’s people rarely seem to go round to each other’s flats or house, why is that? It’s not like we have to ask our parents’ permission to invite a friend over anymore! But even someone like me who’s always struggled a bit socially seemed to have friends over and go over to friends’ houses more often back when we had to ask our parents.

I also think its interesting (and slightly worrying) how so much of our contact and interaction with each other is digital. So often it seems that you only really know what someone has been up to through what they’ve been posting on Facebook.

Another thing that I find quite isolating is that most people seem to mainly socialise on nights out involving drinking. Nothing wrong with enjoying that but it does mean that people (like me) who don’t like alcohol seem to be left out a lot of the time.

That’s just my opinion and experience. Maybe it’s completely different to the general story. But I personally want more meetings in coffee shops with my friends.

My Haul – First Saturday of 2017

‘My Haul’ videos seem to be pretty popular and so I thought I’d give it a go here on my blog.

Since the first weekend of my first semester of my first year at uni I have gone out at 9AM (when the shops open) to walk around the city centre. Each week I buy an interesting assortment of stuff - sometimes things I’ve been looking for, sometimes things in a store’s sale and sometimes new arrivals in store - this Saturday’s haul is certainly an interesting mix of stuff.

Since I started to collect dolls I’ve been keeping an eye out for mini items that can be used in scale with a doll. This suitcase I got from Tiger is one of those mini items. I think it fits quite well with Pocahontas.

I wanted to get this Doctor Who figure set when it first came out but for one reason or another I never actually got round to buying it. This morning I found it on sale for £4.99 so I finally bought it.

I’ve got a new Itty Bitty! Itty Bitty’s are these fun little plushies of pop culture characters from Hallmark, there are tons of characters available internationally (I love the one of Princess Tiana) but there’s still not been very many of them released in the UK. Iron Man joins the Flash, Captain America and Wonder Woman in my collection.

Finally the 2017 Red Noses are now available! I’ve been collecting the Red Noses for a decade now and I’ve started off my 2017 collection today with the Viking nose and the Dragon nose. There’s definitely going to be more of these over the coming weeks!

If people seem to be interested in my haul then I might make this a weekly blog feature.

Being Back at Uni after Christmas

I have started my Second Semester of my Second Year. In my last post I wrote about my thoughts and feelings to be going back to uni after Christmas, this time I’m writing about my thoughts and feelings now that I’m back.

We broke up for Christmas quite late this year which meant that we returned to Uni midway into January. I’ve found – and sparking to my friends I’m not the only one feeling like this – that coming back after Christmas break when Christmas was so long ago feels very strange.  There’s no Fresher’s Week for second semester and so it’s straight back into seminars and reading. I don’t mind this but it’s certainly disorientating after a four week Christmas break.

One of my favourite parts of starting a new semester is going on a Book Hunt! I enjoy having a list of books that I need to read that semester and walking around the bookshops in the city to buy them all. I know I could just download them all on Kindle but I much prefer having a paper copy to put on my shelf (and I know my mum is strongly agreeing with that sentiment as she’s reading this blog post!)

For some reason it always surprises me just how much I need to buy over the first week. I don’t know why given I’ve come back to uni after a break five times. But every day since I got back on Saturday I have had to go out to get something I need – from another carton of orange juice to shaving cream to pasta. Do any other students find that they’re constantly restocking on stuff when they get back, even if they did a shop on their way back?

On the whole I feel happy to be back and I’ve enjoyed my first few days of my first week of my second semester. It just does feel a little strange to be back!

Back to Uni after Christmas-Break

This is just a quick post to discuss how strange it feels to be going back to Uni after Christmas-Break and another attempt to force myself to blog more regularly. It’s certainly a memorable day to be the last day of the break given we had snow for once this morning…

But these last few days before going back always just feel strange. In some ways it feels like this break has flown by but at the same time it feels like it’s been absolutely ages since I was last at Uni. Christmas alone feels like a long time ago now, doesn’t it?

Writing this post I’m taking a break from packing my bags to go back. I have quite a lot of stuff going back with me but I absolutely need even more cooking utensils, a glue gun and a sewing kit at uni! I do have a tendency to over pack, which makes me slightly nervous about packing for my year abroad in Canada later this year.

But overall going back I feel ready to get back and embrace whatever challenges and surprises are waiting for me over the next few months.

Aladdin – Disney Movie of the Month

Starting off a new regular feature on the blog with Aladdin.

So it’s a new year and for this year I am planning on having a Disney Movie of the Month for every month of the year on this blog. I will watch a Disney movie at the start of each month, then I will post a review/opinion/thoughts piece and then I shall aim to follow up on that with other posts about that movie later on in the month. The first Disney Movie of the Month is Aladdin.

I used to watch Aladdin a lot when I was a kid but then I lost my copy of it on DVD and until recently I hadn’t seen it for about a decade. So when I watched it for the first time in years back in December I was worried that I was going to be disappointed, however I was pleased to find that it’s actually still a really enjoyable movie.

On paper the story might not be the most original, as a Disney fan Aladdin definitely feels like it’s got a lot of familiar moments, but it’s the characters and the sense of humour that runs throughout which really makes this movie work.

Obviously everyone knows the Genie but he really is a funny and likeable character. Robin Williams’ performance is just as enjoyable in 2017 as it was when I watched the movie as a kid.

Jafar might be a villain in the typical ‘mad, bad and evil’ mould but sometimes villains like that are just fun. As people who know me can tell you I think Maleficent is awesome, partially because of the 2014 live action movie but also because all out evil villains are just fun to watch sometimes. And that is certainly the case with Jafar.

Jasmine is also interesting. She might not be as powerful as Elsa, as brave as Merida or as determined as Tiana, but Jasmine is certainly not a passive princess. She’s way more interesting than the likes of Snow White and Cinderella. Also it’s worth pointing out that the fictional kingdom of Agrabah is a Muslim country, thus meaning that Jasmine is a Muslim Disney Princess making her a more progressive character for Disney than she may initially seem.

In conclusions, sometimes I’ve found that Disney movies which everyone seems to love but I’ve not seen in ages/never seemed don’t live up to the hype – like The Little Mermaid for example. However Aladdin did not disappoint me.