Adam Richman Appreciation Post.

Hello again, Blogger. I've decided to resurface today in order to show my appreciation for the American TV personality Adam Richman. 

If you have ever taken the time to watch Man vs. Food -or watched this year's Soccer Aid match- you'll know the man I'm talking about. Although if you've not seen both, you many not believe I'm talking about the same person at first. That is because he has gone through what I have dubbed a 'Josh Peck transformation' -any Drake and Josh fans reading this will get what I mean.

The man, the myth, the legend.
(Not my image)

Now, I'm not writing this post to talk about his weight loss. Yes, it's a good thing that he's happy and living a healthy lifestyle, but that's not the sole reason I appreciate and admire him. In fact it's only a tiny factor in my opinion, as I was a huge fan of his long before he decided to shed some weight.

I'm writing this post because I think he's an unbelievable person. He just comes across as so lovely and genuine. He's always appeared so friendly and happy-go-lucky. And yes, I know that many people put on an act that portrays them in such a light when they're being filmed; but I genuinely believe Adam Richman is very much that way in person and off camera.

(Again, not my image)

What prompted me to write this post are the Instagram events of yesterday. Many people leave comments on Adam Richman's Instagram photos referring to him as their 'thinspiration'. Adam thinking this was just a clever shorthand used by people to express that he is their motivation to shed some extra pounds and live a healthier life, and not knowing the negative connotations the term actually holds, hashtagged one of his picture with the term. People went crazy and fiercely attacked him in the comments for hashtagging the term. Once he learnt of the true nature of the term posted a video on Instagram where he very sincerely apologised for his slip up.

It is this video and how obviously he truly meant his apology that lead me to write this. I know this post is not eloquent or brilliantly written; but it's a quick overview as to why I think Adam Richman is such a great guy.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Film.

I have briefly come out of my blogging retirement in order to prompt anyone who stumbles across this post to go and watch the new Captain America film. It is outstanding; gripping from start to finish; and just simply amazing.

It's my new favourite film -and yes that is based on one viewing alone, because it really is that good- and I cannot wait until it is released on DVD. Being the impatient person that I am, I may end up going to the cinema at least one more time to watch it before the DVD comes out.

Second Thoughts & Rethinking Things.

I know at the start of the month I created a post suggesting a possible monthly post structure for my blog. I thought having five posts every month, and four out of those five posts having the same theme each month, would really benefit my blog and maybe attract a few more people, as my blog would have a regular, flowing structure to it -unlike now where it's all over the place in terms of content, and a bit hit or miss in terms of how frequently I post things. 

However I'm now having second thoughts. And those second thoughts aren't about my proposed structure -in fact I quite like it. My second thoughts are about my blog in general. I know people look at my posts -that I can tell from my page views, obviously- but there has never been any input or feedback from anyone. It didn't really get to me at first as I was obviously just starting up and those sort of things don't exactly happen over night. But I've been writing this blog now for almost six months, and the lack of interaction is getting a little disheartening -not to mention the embarrassing fact that my follower count is still at zero. It's starting to feel like I'm just talking to myself. Which is why I'm now considering stopping my blog instead of putting more into it. I just feel that at this rate any more effort I put into this blog will be wasted.

So from this point on it is very likely that my posts will become much less frequent than they are now -bet you didn't think that was possible, eh? I can only really picture myself coming on here in future to document memories I want to make permanent, sort of like treating this mass of html and pixels as a collective journal of all my holidays, road trips, parties and little successes in life etc. I may also log on to recommend a new band I've discovered/rediscovered to anyone who happens to stumble across this little blog I've got.

To anyone who did regularly check my blog: thank you; sorry for not being the blogger I originally thought I was cut out to be; and if you bother to look at my blog in the future -which I doubt you will- then I look forward to sharing some of my life's highlights with you. 
-Hannah. :)

More Structure?

Ever since starting up this blog I've be very aware of the fact that there is no real structure to my blog, both in terms of what I post and how frequently I post it. I've also been aware of the fact that a lot of bloggers -all much better and more experienced at this than me- have certain days they upload posts, and in some cases certain days they upload a certain type of post.

I'm not suggesting that I'm going to start posting on three certain days a week. That would be nice, but I'm a terrible blogger, who lacks frequent inspiration for posts. So instead I am proposing a loose, monthly schedule. 

My proposal is that every month I post a:

1. Run down of my favourite things from the previous month,
2. Music/band recommendation,
3. Post focussing on some aspect of university life,
4. Random recommendation/review (be it a book, film, beauty product, meal, restaurant, item of clothing, shop or YouTube channel etc.),
5. Unspecified post. This could be a post on absolutely anything as a little unpredictable surprise for you.

The posts may not necessarily be posted in the above order though. And for the time being it's just an idea; although I am thinking of trial running it next month.

I'd love to hear any thoughts you have on this!

-Hannah. :)

February Favourites.

>Instagram 'Photo a Day' Challenges (#fmsphotoaday): This month was the third time I decided to attempt a 'photo a day' challenge on Instagram, and it was the first one I managed to complete -bar one day but that was due to a personal thing. I really enjoyed doing it! It was a lot of fun thinking outside of the box and trying to come up with different takes on the daily prompts and trying to take creative pictures. If I find another one that has a good set of prompts I'll definitely be taking part again! 

Day 19: Feet, the challenge prompt image, and Day 16: Create.

>Galaxy, more specifically, Honeycomb Crisp and Cookie Crumble: One day after uni I decided to treat myself and Brandon to yumyums and lots of chocolate. I chose the Honeycomb Crisp bar for myself and the Cookie Crumble one to share -if I'd remembered how delicious it is I would have kept that one to myself as well!

>Revlon Colour Burst Lip Butter in 'Sugar Frosting' and 'Crème Brulee': These are two lipsticks I brought not too long ago. When purchasing them I wasn't too sure how much I was going to like them because they have a bit of a shimmer to them and I've never really gone for pale pink or nude lips before. I really like them though, despite all my earlier doubts. The only negative I have with them is that with both I usually have to put quite a bit on, compared to my other lipsticks and the like, in order for the colour to look somewhat noticeable.

This one isn't part of my photo challenge, I just really liked it and wanted to include it; Day 13: Perfect; and Day 16: Create (Yes I did two in one day).

>Rimmel London 'Space Dust' Nail Varnish in 'Moon Walking': Although it's a pain in the backside to get off I absolutely adore this nail varnish! It just looks so pretty and different. My nail varnish collection is a fair size now, so I don't know about buying any more of this range, but I'll definitely be wearing this one a lot!

>Rimmel London 'I Lasting Finish' Nail Varnish in 'Loafer Love For Your': More nail varnish, woo! This is one of my February favourites purely because of it's colour. It is just a stunning blue and it just so happens to be my second favourite shade of blue, so naturally I 'needed' it as soon as I spotted it in Boots. This nail varnish will definitely become one of my staples in no time!

Day 18: Magic (also the one on the right is the Space Dust nail varnish I just spoke about), 'Loafer Love For You', and my Primark scented candle.

>Sweet Vanilla & Coconut Scented Candle From Primark: This candle smells so good that on a number of occasions since purchasing it I have contemplated going back to Primark and stocking up with enough to last me 20 years. All I can say about this candle is: if you haven't already smelt it, go to your nearest Primark right now and sniff away to your heart's content!

So those have been my favourite things this month. What have some of yours been?
-Hannah. :)

My Training Programme | Update.

I'm now just about two thirds of the way through the six week training programme I'm taking part in for Brandon's degree. I thought now would be a good time to do an update on how things are going before doing a 'Before and After' post on it.

Balance & Core Stability:
So far so good on both counts, although my balance does seem to be a little hit or miss at times in my opinion. That being said I do think that it's improving and Brandon has noted the same. 

My core stability has gotten sooo much better! On my first day I managed to plank for 42 seconds and on Tuesday I was able to plank to a whole minute after completing the whole session! *pats self on the back* And because that was after just over an hour of exercise Brandon reckons that I could probably last around a minute and a half at the start of a session. So that is a pretty big improvement for four sessions of work!

This is 'the plank', just in case any of you were thinking that Brandon had me planking on gym equipment.
(Not my image)

What I really like about my balance and core stability day is that although I'm working really hard it doesn't feel like it during the sessions. I mean yes I can feel 'the burn' and certain muscles being activated by certain exercises and movements; but I'm not going red in the face, sweating buckets and pulling faces that make it look like I have constipation. 

Strength & Toning:
This day is proving to be incredibly challenging. Getting the form right for 'cleans' and the like is something that I end up working on every week, and it gets really, really frustrating. But I haven't given up or called it quits, so that's got to count for something, right?

Miraculously, I am showing some improvements though in terms of my strength. I went from lifting 12kg to lifting 30kg. Now I know that that is barely even a fraction of what some people can lift, and I know I'm not exactly lifting 30kg with the greatest of ease -with no ease at all when it comes to lifting it above my head- but I'm a tiny female who has only been lifting once a week for the past three weeks -I haven't had my strength training yet this week- so I'm entitled to be pleased with myself.

This is one of the moves I do within a strength session. The weights on my bar are a lot smaller than these; I have 5kg on each end, which equates to 30kg when you factor in the 20kg bar.
(Again, not my image)

I haven't really noticed any changes in my body -if anything I think my stomach has gotten flabbier- but according to Brandon there are a few visible changes from the sessions so far.

So there's a quick little update for anyone who is interested.
To any Sprinklerinos out there who are also taking part in 'Glitter Gets Fitter' I hope you're having as much success as me -if not more!
-Hannah. :)

We Are The In Crowd | Music Recommendation.

My post encouraging you to check out the band Deaf Havana seemed to go down pretty well, in terms of views at least seeing as I have no way of knowing of anyone then went on to give the band a listen. I hope some of you did though! And that is for two reasons: 1) Their music is amazing, and 2) I'm about to repeat the process with another amazing band.

The band pictured above are We Are The In Crowd, who come from the state of New York. They are signed with Hopeless Records and have recently released -literally a few days ago- their third full length album -if you include Guaranteed to Disagree as an album instead of an EP- entitled Weird Kids.

I first discovered We Are The In Crowd at Slam Dunk South Festival in 2011. This was the year that I went with my friend Ella. Prior to the event I had looked up the line up for each stage and what times each band were due to come on; and on the day planned to travel around watching the bands I wanted to see and then catch a few songs by bands I'd never listen to or heard of before between sets. However, Ella pointed out to me that one of the stages had a far better overall line up than all the other stages and suggested we just stayed put there for the day. After listening to her words of wisdom and accepting the fact it would mean missing bands such as Zebrahead and Less Than Jake, I agreed that staying at that stage all day sounded like a good plan.

We Are The In Crowd just so happened to be one of the many bands lined up to play that stage -bet you didn't see that one coming, huh? Prior to them coming on stage I had only heard of them and after their set I sorely regretted not listening to them sooner. They completely blew me away and I've been a massive fan of theirs ever since! I'm really hoping they have the same effect on some of you guys!

We Are The In Crowd often get compared to Paramore. I personally think they sound absolutely nothing alike. The one and only thing they have in common is the fact that both their lead vocalists are females. And We Are The In Crowd aren't the only band to be compared to Paramore within this genre of music purely because they have a female vocalist and that really, really annoys me. Just because a band has a female lead vocalist does not mean they're going to be or sound like the most popular band with a female vocalist within that genre. So if you do go ahead and listen to We Are The In Crowd once you've finished reading this, please go in with an open mind and don't expect them to be a Paramore rip off. They are their own band and put in far too much effort to be considered a copy of a more famous band instead of a band in their own right.

Songs I would suggest listening to:

Never Be What You Want

Both Sides Of The Story

Both Sides Of The Story (Acoustic)

Rumour Mill

Kiss Me Again

Exits and Entrances

The Best Thing (That Never Happened)

Let me know what you think of WATIC in the comments!
-Hannah. :)

Italiano!

I don't think I've made it common knowledge on my blog that I have a 'little' obsession with Italy. It is the one place I am desperate to visit, explore and immerse myself in.

If I ever got the chance to travel across Italy there is so much I would want to do. I'd want to devour all the signature foods of Italy, walk along the beautiful beaches, go to galleries, spend hours walking around museums, visit all the historic landmarks Italy has to offer, walk around admiring the architecture and just completely lose myself every town, village and city I visited along my journey.

In preparation for all of my future visits to Italy -I'm hoping of going to Rome next summer for a few days with Brandon- I've decided that I'm going to learn Italian. I've made small efforts since the summer, but I'm now really going to try. I've even brought myself two books from the book shop affiliated with my university to hopefully help teach myself, along with the two apps I downloaded onto my phone over the summer. 

As, like French, it is a language derived from Latin I'm hoping I'll be able to find some similarities between Italian and French. I studied French for five years at school, so any knowledge I can apply from that to Italian will be a godsend and hopefully make my mission a little bit easier.

Is there anyone else out there who has a mild obsession with another country?
Has anyone else tried to teach themselves a new language? I could do with some pointers, so if you have leave me a comment below with any advice you have on how to tackle learning a new language.
-Hannah :)

The Fault in Our Stars.

After watching the trailer for what must be the 20,000th time since it was released I decided that writing a quick post about how excited I am for the film would be a really good idea, although it doesn't appear to be quite as prolific on here -from what I have seen anyway- as it is on Tubmlr.

Now I know I've never expressed my love for this book or its author John Green so it may seem like I'm sort of jumping on the bandwagon to any die hard nerd fighters out there who happen to stumble upon my post, but I'm not. I've loved John's work ever since I first read Looking For Alaska -which FYI is still my favourite book after the God knows how many books I've read since. 

What I love about John Green's written work is that there is always a perfect mix of deep, thought provoking moments and fictional moments of comedy gold. I also love that you can see his progression as an author with each book you read. The more books he writes the more amazing and beautifully written they get.

But getting back to the more specific topic of The Fault in Our Stars, I honestly cannot wait until the film is released in UK cinemas! The book is his best piece of work to date; it's a beautifully, gut-wrenching emotional rollercoaster of a novel. If you haven't read it already 1) have you only recently moved out of the space under the rock you were residing under?! and 2) go and read it immediately! 

I do however have one concern about the film and that is the typical almost-fact that when a book is turned into a film it's never as good as the book.

DFTBA!
-Hannah :)

January Favourites.

Sorry for my absence as of late! I'm very aware that we're already over a week into February and this is my first post of the month; so much for being a better blogger in 2014! Anyway, my failure aside, the start of the month means a new list of my favourite things from the previous month! I can't see this one being too long, as although I've splashed out with all my Christmas gift cards I haven't really tried anything new. 

So out of the existing things in my life and a few new things these are my favourite things from January:

>My Primark hoodies: One cold and windy Monday in January I went into uni with an ineffective number of layers on. By the time I got to my first lecture I felt like a mobile icicle! Knowing it would be much colder in the evening when I began my commute home I decided that in one of my three hour breaks I would pop into Primark in the shopping centre and purchase a cheap hoodie that I could stick under my leather jacket and keep scrunched up at the bottom of my rucksack when I wasn't wearing it. 

And that is sort of what I did. What actually happened was I couldn't find a dark grey/charcoally hoodie -which was for some reason the specific colour I had in mind- so I found two other colours that I couldn't bring myself to choose between -burgundy and a really nice dark green- and a Ramones t-shirt to wear to the gym that was the same shade of green as one of the hoodies.

All three are super comfortable and that is why they're one of my January favourites. Sorry about the super long back story! 

>My leather jacket: That badboy is still one of my favourite things, especially now I've got three hoodies to pair it with for a bit of extra warmth!

>Juicy Water - Lemons & Limes: I've always wanted to try Juice Water but I've never been able to pick between the flavours they offer. The choice always came down to either Lemons and Limes or Raspberries and Lemons. One day in Tesco I found myself once again trying to decide between the two when my friend came up to me and recommended the Lemons and Limes one. Following her recommendation that's the one I brought and I've been hooked ever since!

>Maybelline Baby Lips - Cherry: During the Christmas holidays my sister brought three of the Baby Lips range with some of her Christmas money. I noticed she left the orange one on the table and me being the odd ball I am picked it up and sniffed it -I find that the smell of a lip balm is a very important deciding factor on whether I like it or not. It smelt amazing! And for that reason alone when I found myself in Superdrug looking to spend my gift card I popped one into my basket.

So there's a quick-ish run through of my January favourites. What were some of your favourite things over the course of January?
-Hannah :)

My Training Programme | Day 1.

Today marked the start of my 6 week training programme. I was both excited and nervous about it. One part of me was looking forward to taking the first steps towards becoming a fitter and healthier me, but there was another part of me that was freaking out at the prospect of entering a gym. That part of me kept telling me that I was completely out of my depth and that I'd look like a fool doing all these beginners things in a room with regular gym-goers dotted about the place.

Thankfully once I was there it wasn't too bad. There were a group of students waiting around by the main doors to the building and I'll admit I felt very self conscious walking past them, but once I was in the actual gym section and having a go on the rowing machine I felt a lot more relaxed and at ease -even with three people on the treadmills facing me!

Sorry about my awful posture. I didn't feel brave enough to take a picture in the mirrors lining the gym so resorted to taking one in my bedroom instead and the mirror in my room is quite low down.

The things I said I wanted to work on were: my strength -mainly core and upper body-, core stability and balance. Tuesdays are the days I'll be working on my balance and core stability and Fridays will be when I work on my strength.

As it was my first day and my first workout we didn't do anything too intense; it was more just getting me used to things and learning the ropes. And as today was Tuesday it meant the exercises I was doing were focussing on my core stability and balance. My routine today was:

• Warm up: 5 minutes on the rowing machine,
• A few stretches that targeted my core muscles,
• Evaluating my balance,
• Balancing exercises,
• Planking for as long as I could manage,
• Balancing on the Swiss ball (core stability work),
• Side planks
• Cool down: 5 minutes on the stationary bike.

I was pleased with the session and my performance overall. Although I wasn't great at everything I put in all my effort and I'm proud of myself for that. A good example would be all the side planks I did. The longer I did them the more my body would shake because my muscles were under a lot more pressure than they've ever experienced. But instead of collapsing onto the mat before x amount of seconds were up, I forced myself to keep at it until I heard Brandon say "Zero," which is when I would happily drop onto the mat.

I know that over the next two weeks it's going to get a lot tougher than today was, especially my strength days, but I'm looking forward to it for the most part. I can't quite get rid of that little bit of dread and self-doubt, but hopefully as I progress they'll disappear.

A #GlitterGetsFitter Late Arrival.

As some of you may be aware, the blogger/YouTuber Sprinkle of Glitter decided that this year she wanted to get fitter and healthier. To help stay on track and motivate herself -and others who had similar New Years Resolutions- she started the 'GlitterGetsFitter' tag on Instagram.

There's a long road ahead.
Photo credit for this image and all others featured in this post goes to Louise, a.k.a. Sprinkle of Glitter.

I thought it was a really good idea and I'm really pleased with how responsive people/Sprinklerinos were to it. What made me pretty excited about this tag was knowing that I'd be able to join in, all be it a bit later than everyone else.

As part of my boyfriend's university course he has to personal train someone for six weeks. I decided to volunteer as his participant for this assignment for two reasons,

1. I always want to improve my fitness and physical appearance but never get motivated enough to do so. So this seemed like a good way to get my 'bum in gear' and make a start on bettering myself; especially as he's a qualified personal trainer now, so he'll know what exercises are best for the goals I have, unlike me who is totally clueless when it comes to exercise.
2. My 'before' and 'after' stats, measurements, appearance and God knows whatever else may be recorded will probably get him full marks as I'm tremendously out of shape -although I admit my physical appearance doesn't reflect it too much- and I know he'll make me work hard throughout the six weeks.

We're starting on Tuesday and so far the plan is: I'll be going to the university gym with him on Tuesdays and Fridays; one day we'll work on improving my overall strength, with a focus on core and upper body; and on the other day we'll be focussing on my core stability and balance, with a bit of cardio thrown in for good measure.

I'm pretty excited to start although Brandon did make me a little apprehensive when he said not to pay attention to the other people working out in the gym and to not feel intimidated by any of them as I'm a newbie and everyone else there will be more experienced and doing more than me, e.g. lifting heavier weights and have a better lifting 'form'. Now I hadn't actually thought about that before he mentioned it. I just pictured it being the two of us as I didn't know how many people used the uni's gym; so when he said that I started to feel a little apprehensive and intimidated, just like he told me not too. He also said he'll probably act differently than usual as he wants this to be as professional as possible, which is fair enough and I totally understand, but it might take a little getting used to at first as I've had over two years of acting unprofessionally with him.

But going back to the Glitter Gets Fitter aspect of this post, I'm really looking forward to documenting any improvements I make! Whether it's a tweet outlining what I got up to in the gym or the dire amount of pain I'm in the next day, or Instagram pictures of my hopefully improving figure, gym equipment or a sneaky caramel protein shake if Brandon lets me have some, I'm looking forward to joining in with the rest of the Sprinklerino community.

Depending on how well it goes I may even do a before and after post once my six weeks are up. I'm really hoping I see the improvements I want and get a figure that I'm not only happy with, but proud of. If all goes well and that happens I will definitely start seriously considering joining a gym in order to maintain it all. I've just got to keep my fingers crossed that if that does happen I can actually financially afford to join a gym.

Are any of you guys Sprinklerinos taking part in Glitter Gets Fitter? I'd love to hear how you're getting on so far!
-Hannah.

Deaf Havana.

Not my image.

Whenever a Deaf Havana song comes up on shuffle I always find myself thinking, "Wow, I'd forgotten how much I love these guys! Their music is so underrated!" And quite often it has led to me abandoning my iTunes library shuffle session to listen to purely all of their songs -which is currently happening. So I decided I would act on these thoughts and write a short, little post encouraging you to go away and give these guys a listen.

Now I'm no music critic or journalist, so I can't promise the most eloquent review, nor the most analytical and jargon filled. But I'm pretty passionate about this band, and music in general, so what I can do is give you a post detailing simplistically why I enjoy Deaf Havana's music and why I strongly advice you listen to them if you haven't already and if you have a similar taste in music to me.

I first discovered Deaf Havana in 2010 when the music channels I watch began playing their video for 'Nicotine and Alcohol Saved My Life'. Soon after that I saw their video for 'Friends Like These' on another of the music channels; and those first two songs were all it took to get me hooked.

Since then I've downloaded the majority of their music -all legally I might add!- and seen them perform a number of times, either as supporting acts at concerts or at Slam Dunk South, and they have yet to disappoint me. 

So far I've been able to 'connect' with all their music. Now I know that sounds a little odd, and I can't really explain it all that well, but what I mean is that when I hear their music -as well as other bands, some I may recommend to you in the future- something in me sort of lights up/comes to life, all of a sudden all I want to do is sing along loudly, while jumping and dancing around the place. There's just something about their sound and their lyrics that makes me want to come out of my shell and express myself through them. I guess you could say that I connect with a lot of their songs on an emotional level, or something else that sounds just as cliché. 

I'll leave it there, as I feel that I'm starting to ramble. I hope some of you do go and check out Deaf Havana if you're not already fans. If you do, I would suggest giving the following songs a listen:

Nicotine and Alcohol Saved My Life

Friends Like These

In Desperate Need of Adventure

I'm a Bore, Mostly

Leeches

Filthy Rotten Scoundrel 

The Past Six Years

Boston Square

Lights

Night Drives

Kings Road Ghosts

Review: Penelope | Film.

Released: 2006
Watched: 04/01/14, E4.

Basic Storyline: After her daughter's unfortunate death a witch curses the 'blue-blooded' Wilhern family. The curse states that the next female born into the family will have a face that resembles a pig's face, and the curse will only be lifted -to give her a normal, human face- once she has been fully accepted by "one of her own kind." 

After numerous generations of only male offspring, Penelope is born. True to the curse she is born with the ears and nose of a pig, making her parents -particularly her mother- keen to protect her from the outside world and the media desperate to get a picture of Penelope. It is these two things that lead on to the two main storylines within the film.

Penelope, played by Christina Ricci.

The first is Mrs. Wilhern's quest to find her daughter a 'blue-blooded' husband in order to break the curse and give her daughter a more human face. Although Penelope's mother means well, she often comes across as quite harsh and selfish, and a lot of the time it seems like she cares more about lifting the curse than she does about her daughter.

The second main storyline revolves around a reporter (Lemon) and an ex-suitor's (Edward Vanderman) mission to obtain a picture of Penelope to show the world. It is an unlikely pairing and they both have very different reasons for having their hearts set on obtaining Penelope's photograph. 

Lemon wants the photograph to heal his bruised ego and make up for the loss of his eye; both of which were a result of being attacked by Mrs. Wilhern, when he was found hiding in the Wilhern household trying to get a picture of Penelope after she was born. Alternately, Edward wants to get and publish a picture of Penelope in order to restore his reputation, after he was deemed to be crazy when he ran to the police after first seeing Penelope face-to-face and claimed he had just seen a fanged and pig-faced monster.

Johnny (a.k.a. Max impersonator), played by James McAvoy.

The two storeylines are intertwined with the arrival of Max, a 'blue-blood' who had gambled away most of his inheritance and was hired by Lemon and Edward to act as a potential suitor and in the process of courting Penelope get a picture of her for them to publish. What they didn't know however is that they had actually hired a man named Johnny that they had accidentally assumed was Max, even though at first Johnny even told them they had the wrong man.

After a few twists and turns in the plot Penelope decides that she needs to see the outside world and as a result runs away into the city disguising herself by wrapping a scarf around the lower half of her face (pictured nearer the beginning of this post). She appears to thoroughly enjoy her time in the city -keeping her parents up to date on her adventures by sending them postcards- and befriends a woman named Annie, who for the most part acts as her tour guide. 

There's more to the story but I feel like this is a good place to leave it as I don't want to ruin the ending for any of you that decide to go away and watch it. :)

Annie, played by Reece Witherspoon.

My Thoughts/Opinions: I personally really enjoyed the film overall -Penelope's mother did annoy me a little from time to time- and would definitely watch it again. I particularly liked the fact the Penelope had the bravery to run away and experience the outside world for herself. I also liked how accepting the friends she made were when they discovered what she really looked like under the scarf; and of course I loved the happy ending -particularly the scene towards the end were Penelope goes to find Johnny and they are reunited.

Lemon, played by Peter Dinklage.

If you've not seen this film before I suggest you watch it at some point in the future. When the film first came out I saw the trailer for it a few times and it didn't really appeal to me. But I'm glad that one day, years later, I was feeling too lazy to change the channel and ended up watching it.

If you have seen this film before, what are your thoughts on it?

-Hannah.

December Favourites.

>Hot Chocolate - In my opinion hot chocolate is a great drink all year round, but it is absolutely perfect during the winter months. This year I've been rather adventurous with my hot chocolate. It goes without saying that my Twinings hot chocolate powder is still my staple, but I've also developed a fondness for hazelnut hot chocolate and orange hot chocolate -both supplied to me by the wonderful Starbucks.

>My Boyfriend - I could honestly write an essay on this man. I love him so much; it's practically impossible to surmise just how much in words. Not only is he one of my December favourites, he is one of my all-year-round favourites too and I'm incredibly thankful and grateful for having him in my life.

>My Leather Jacket -  This is one of the gifts Brandon gave me for Christmas and I absolutely adore it! I've wanted a leather jacket for so, so long and now I finally own one! I'll definitely be proudly walking around in it like a badass whenever possible until the weather gets too hot for it!

Just a few of my favourite things: my leather jacket, my newly dyed brown hair, my awesome Vans iPhone case, my super cosy snood, one of my two red lipsticks and my gel eyeliner done almost perfectly.

>Brown Hair - I dyed my hair on Christmas Eve. It was meant to be a dark brown -Bitter Sweet Chocolate to be precise. I wasn't sure I was going to like it as I didn't actually want to dye my hair brown -I just wanted to try and get the red out somehow, and purple wasn't working- but I actually really, really like it! One good thing about it is that I think it makes my red lipsticks look better on me. Before they never looked quite right in my opinion because of the coppery colour of my hair contrasting against them. So it was well worth taking the plunge and going brown again.

>Candles - I'm not sure how much I've advertised my love of scented candles in my previous posts, but I absolutely adore them. I usually go for different vanilla scents, my favourite being the 'Vanilla Cupcake' scented Yankee Candle. It smells delicious; if it were possible to eat it I would! My boyfriend's mum brought me a honeysuckle scented candle for Christmas that smells amazing! There's also a scented candle in my living room that we usually light on winter nights and that's a pomegranate scent, which smells lovely!

>My Friends - This month sees my friends on my favourites list because this month I've actually seen and spoken to a lot more of them than usual. I don't usually go out much in the holidays but that all changed this Christmas break. I've still not gone out loads, just because I find going out day after day really wears me out. I'm very introverted so I like to regularly have my fair share of 'me time'. I've been to a number of pubs with a variation of chums, I had a lovely meal and catch up session in Nando's -Dappy made an appearance- and I spent a day snooping around the stalls in Camden.

>Wrapping Presents - wrapping presents is without a doubt my favourite thing about Christmas. I'm not sure why that is, all I know is that I will happily wrap anything for anyone!

>Fishtail Braids - Now that I've got the hang of them I am loving fishtail braids. Whenever my hair looks a complete mess this is my new go-to hair style. It may take longer than a ponytail, but it looks prettier which makes up for the added time taken, in my opinion at least.

So those are my December favourite. What have been some of yours?
-Hannah.

NYE

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL THE LOVELY PEOPLE READING THIS! I HOPE 2014 IS A GREAT YEAR FOR YOU ALL!

Greetings and good wishes aside, I hope you all enjoyed your New Year's Eve however you chose to celebrate it.

Personally, I was a little apprehensive about my plans. Originally I was meant to go to a friend's house for pre-drinks and a big group of us were going to go down to a pub/restaurant for a buffet and for the countdown. That changed two or three days before to going to a different pub for the whole evening/night. Now I don't really have a problem with pubs, but this one in particular isn't great. There isn't ever much of an atmosphere and the crowd is usually small and not very diverse; to add to the list by midnight they'd run out of at least three types of beer.

My dress.

My night wasn't too bad though. I felt quite overdressed as I went in what I had planned to wear for our original NYE's plans. I decided to go with my original outfit, even though I felt it was a bit too dressy for this particular pub, partly because I love the dress, partly because I think it looks good on me and wanted to feel good about myself, and also partly because I hadn't actually worn it since I brought it back in the summer apart from when I tried it on. 

The company was good. I was sat at a table with the younger of the two Lark generations present. We were in a blocked off little part of the pub which was nice in terms of privacy, but it was a right pain trying to all fit around the table and getting out to go to the bar was nearly impossible. I learnt a new game over the course of the evening, which I would explain if it wasn't so hard to. I think it's called 'Cowboy', there's definitely the work cowboy in the name of it anyway.

Dodgy pub lighting.

Then of course there was the countdown, or lack of one. It got to 11:59pm and there were choruses of, "One minute!" Yet the next thing we all knew it was bang on midnight. Everyone started making their way around the group of tables we had claimed over the course of the night. I was trapped in the corner and couldn't get out very easily so I had to awkwardly lean over the table in order to hug people and wish them a happy new year. After many hugs, good wishes, and kisses on the cheek everyone returned to their previous state of chatting and drinking until people slowly started to head off home.

My first picture of 2014.