Flashback Friday Vol #4: Smells Like Teen Spirit

A few days ago me and my sister were discussing 'what we'd say to our 14 year old selves' if we could go back. Its an interesting conundrum and one I've pondered on many occasions. Not necessarily always on the age of 14, but those definitive teenage years play a major part in the person you become.

I found the picture above on my old MySpace account, remember those? Don't ask me how I could remember my username, but in many ways I wish I hadn't been able to see it again! So. Much. Embarrassment.

Despite the fact that I look like a ridiculous poser in the picture, I figured it captured that MySpace era perfectly, complete with the posed arm. What. A. Twat. Haha Please say you have these embarrassing photos too!? Anyway I thought I'd share with you a little list of the things I would say if I could go back and steer my little 14 year old self in the right direction.

PUT YOUR ARM DOWN. And stop taking embarrassing photos of your self. 

Put the eyeliner down - you have enough on already. 

Stop stressing that you don't have a boyfriend! It really doesn't matter.

Stop writing 'teehee' after every "funny" thing you write on MySpace/Bebo

Put the Nike Drawstring bag down and walk away.

Don't wear pigtail plaits with ribbons - you're not a five year old. 

And lastly:

It Gets Better.

Did any of these strike a chord with you? Any embarrassing MySpace photos lurking? Let me know what you'd tell your 14 year old self, I'd be really interested to know :)

Flashback Friday Vol #3: Dublin

Flashback Friday Vol #2: Class of 2012.

Flashback Friday Vol #1: An American Adventure...

Aimée

Xxxx

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Flashback Friday Vol #3: Dublin

Ahh Dublin - the land of Guinness, the largest park in Europe and beautiful Irish men. Oh yes, I have a lot of love for Dublin! In two weeks time I'm off on holiday to New York with my boyfriend, and its had me thinking about past holidays I've been on. So what better topic for a Flashback Friday post, then a holiday I took in 2011.

2011 was the year that I went to America on my summer work trip, it was also the year that I lost my plane virginity. Growing up I'd always been on camping holidays with my family around the UK so I'd never been on a plane. I wouldn't say I was scared of flying, but I was definitely apprehensive about it and nervous for the flight to America. I was worried about taking such a long flight alone, when I'd never experienced a flight before. Here's where Dublin came in! I'm not sure how we decided on the location or who suggested it, but in the Easter before I went to America myself and my sister went on a mini-holiday to Dublin via plane so I could see what it was all about. (It was also just an excuse for a holiday!)

We went for about 4 days (if my memory serves me correctly) and had glorious weather! We got to Dublin super early in the morning, and settled in to a cafe after purchasing a map so we could investigate where to go. We hit the main tourist spots like the Guinness Factory (where I got a certificate for pulling the perfect pint!), Phoenix Park (where we rode a tandem bike around the park - ensuing A LOT of laughter and definitely worked off the calories for our ice cream reward!) and the main shopping streets.

But we also went slightly further afield, getting a train to a lovely town called Howth on the outskirts of Dublin. It was actually so nice to get out and see the non-touristy side of Dublin and it was such a pretty place. We climbed to the top of what I think is called Howth Head, and we ate a seriously tasty pizza off of a street vendor!

One thing I really loved about Dublin was the atmosphere in the pubs. Aside from the astronomical prices (15 Euros for 2 ciders!!), the beautiful Irish singers blasting out from every pub was amazing. They were also all decorated in a sort of 'cluttered' way, with bric a brac and Irish paraphernalia hanging haphazardly everywhere. I love a pub like this, a bit more rustic with all the more charm. It made every evening really enjoyable!

We actually stayed in a hostel while we were there, the Hi Hostel if you're interested, as we wanted to save on costs - good thing with those expensive ciders! It was actually really nice, we shared a room with four other girls, although there was never four girls all in at the same time so it worked out well. Breakfast was also included, and was really substantial for the price we paid. Overall, I'd definitely say its worth looking into a hostel, as with the money you save you can spend it on much more fun things for the holiday!

This was my first time on a plane, and my first holiday without my parents! We both had such a brilliant time and I have so many happy memories from the holiday. I definitely want to go back to Dublin again! It was really lovely to spend my first holiday alone with my sister Katie too, we definitely need to find the money for more in the future! I will leave you with one more picture of my favourite day there, when we cycled round Phoenix Park on a tandem bike! A hella lot of fun, but being the hottest day we were there, perhaps not the wisest idea? ;)

Have you been to Dublin before? What did you get up to? Let me know :)

Flashback Friday Vol #2: Class of 2012.

Flashback Friday Vol #1: An American Adventure...

Aimée
Xxxx

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Flashback Friday Vol #2: Class of 2012.

The Family, Some Friends and The Boy <3

University is one of those places that you've either always dreamed of going to or couldn't think of anything worse. In my mind, University was always going to be a part of my academic life. I went to Bangor University in North Wales, 283 miles away from my London home and had the best three years of my life.

I'm not going to go into detail about my University experience (as I'm saving that for another Flashback Friday post) but on the 18th July 2012 I graduated with a BA Music (hons). To people who haven't been to University, donning a cap and gown for a day may not seem like a big deal - but in the midst of stressful dissertation writing it was quite literally the only thing that got me through. Okay, apart from copious amounts of chocolate. And cake. And ice cream. Ahem..

A lot of people say that Graduation is over-priced for what is essentially a handshake and a well done. But, to me its so much more than that! Its recognition with all your fellow students, that you made it through! All those all-nighters where you were killing yourself for not starting sooner, the mad runs down university halls to give in essays minutes before the deadline and living off super noodles - were all worth it! Because you now officially have letters after your name and you can throw your cap in the air and say AYYYO. (Please tell me you got that!)

Being at a Welsh University, my ceremony was a little different to most, with half of the ceremony spoken in the welsh language. Very confusing for all the non-welsh families sitting in the room, but pretty commonplace for us students! I must say - for anyone contemplating going to a University in Wales, don't let the bi-lingual side put you off! Its fun to learn a little welsh while you're there, and you feel like you're experiencing a different culture - even if it is just a long train ride away!

Essentially, I loved my graduation. I got to spend it with everyone I loved - my family, friends and boyfriend. There was also a lot of yummy food involved, and because my University looks a bit like Hogwarts I felt like a wizard with my gown on. Gryffindor House to be exact, as my University colours are red and gold. Winning I know. :)

Let me know if you've graduated and what your take on it was! It'd be really interesting to see :)

If you want to look at my last Flashback Friday post all about my American Adventure, you can see it HERE.

Aimée
Xxxx

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Flashback Friday Vol #1: An American Adventure...

Happy Friday to you all! Every now and then I enjoy writing a post that's more on the lifestyle blogging side than beauty and as such I've decided to create a new little segment entitled 'Flashback Friday'. I will post either weekly or fortnightly on a Friday with a look back into things I've done in my life. Essentially this is just a trip down memory lane for me. I'm one of those people who loves looking through old photos, and can literally do so for hours on end.

I hope this proves an interesting read for you all - I'm going to try and make each post quite different so hopefully you'll like it. :)

This week is all about my American Adventure. In my second year of University I decided that I wanted to spend my summer doing something a bit more interesting so I googled summer trips away and stumbled upon the CCUSA website. Now I'm sure most of you have heard of people spending their summer as a camp counsellor on an American kids camp, but I didn't want to do that. What I found on the CCUSA website is that they also offered a program called WEUSA whereby you could work in a seriously wide variety of jobs and live like a citizen of the USA- this sounded completely awesome! So I applied - and after a really lengthy process of forms, visa applications and more forms I was told I'd be working as a Front Gate Photographer at Cedar Point Amusement Park  in Sandusky, Ohio.

Through the program I got in touch with a girl called Charlotte who'd been given the same job as me, we got talking and booked our flight together for the 8th June 2011. This made the whole experience so much less scary, and luckily for me Charlotte was the loveliest person ever and is now one of my very best friends.

We then embarked on a crazy 3 month adventure of working, exploring and a hella lot of eating! The job turned out to be quite fun, although really hard and boring at times. Looking back I think I thought it was harder than it was and really - standing in the boiling sun all day can't be that bad right? Although, the dodgy tan lines were seriously not cool.

The town of Sandusky itself, is pretty much non-descript but us English folk, and all the other friends we made from around the world made it fun. That's what I really loved about working at the amusement park - meeting people from countries I'd never even thought about before and learning about their culture. A lovely girl called Elena from Macedonia worked with us on the front gate and while we were there she taught us quite a few lovely Macedonian phrases. Te Sakam = I love you. :)

While we were there we went on two trips to Chicago, Illinois. Which I have to say is now one of my favourite cities in the world. It holds such brilliant memories for me, and is also just so damn cool. I'd love to live there one day, I love everything about it. The Bean and the Sears Tower being particular highlights.

I also went to a football game in Cleveland, Ohio which was...an experience. I'm not sure what I expected from the match, but the actual game is so damn boring! Constant stop/starts, nothing like our football. But, the atmosphere was really cool and I'm so glad I experienced it.

We lived in dormitories whilst we were there, sharing an 'apartment' with 16 other girls. This was such a brilliant way to get to know people, and in particular we made really good friends with Kasey and Sam both from Michigan. Michigan is a state that to be honest I'd never really heard much about, aside from Detroit being a scary place to be. This is another reason why I loved 'living' in America so much, seeing the states that aren't a tourist hot spot and really feeling like you've experienced America. Me and Charlotte went to stay with Sam for a few days towards the end of the summer, she lives in Grand Rapids in a lovely house with a veranda and rocking chair outside. My idea of the typical American house was completely realised. We had a wonderful few days and went on a road trip to Mackinac Island which was just amazing. Also had the best fudge in the world from there.

Another highlight where I feel like we experienced the 'real' America happened completely by chance. On one of our first weeks in America we were shopping in Target when a lovely lady called Donna approached us after hearing our English accents, she said that she always welcomed her home to foreigners working at the point and invited us over to dinner. She could tell we were a little wary, so gave us her number and left it at that. On any usual day I would neverr go to a strangers house for dinner (opening of a horror film or what?!), but we were in America, feeling impulsive and she'd seemed so lovely, so we did! And it was the best idea ever. Donna and her husband Dave were the loveliest of people and cooked us such a lovely meal. They had so many interesting stories, and introduced us to a younger friend called GinaMarie who then took us on shopping trips and invited us to her home for a bonfire in the woods. Its given such great memories from simply taking a chance. :)

Aside from the constant rain on our days off (hence sad faces above!), the lack of cheap healthy food and the occasional rude customer - it really was one amazing summer and if I could go back and do it again I definitely would. Although this time I think I would try and enjoy the moment more rather than stressing about tiny things.

By the 10th September, my contract had finished at the park and I was ready to start a new mini adventure with my sister. She flew out to Ohio and met me at the park before we moved on to Niagara Falls, New York City, Washington D.C before ending at Harry Potter World in Orlando.

Niagara Falls was breathtaking as expected. You can't imagine the thundering noise of the water and the constant moisture in the air until you're there. Its definitely something I think everyone should see in their lifetime. Whilst we were there we popped over to Canada as well which was really exciting!

New York was amazing on all types of levels. We went to the top of the Rockefeller Centre, walked through Central Park, saw two shows on Broadway, pretended to be cultured folk in art galleries and museums and ate beyond yummy things at the Magnolia Bakery. We stayed on Long Island, at 21st Street Queensbridge, which was really handy and meant we had to get the Metro which was fun! Although, so confusing. Our tube is wayyy better.

Our final stop was Washington D.C. which was such a beautiful city and then Harry Potter World where we nearly died from the heat. It was magical though and completely surpassed my expectations. We ate chocolate frogs, drank butterbeer and tried on robes - it was amazing.

So there we have it, 3 months and two weeks and I returned home to London - very tanned, very tired but ultimately revelling in what an amazing summer I'd had. Whilst I was out there I wrote a blog diary, so if you're interested you can check it out HERE.

I hope you found this little flashback into my life interesting - have any of you done this sort of thing aswell?

Aimée
Xxxx

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P.S. I realise I am now posting this on Saturday (defeating the object of Flashback Friday), but I was really busy and as its only 12:18 I think I'm allowed ;)

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