Pre-Camp

I arrived safely in Vermont after 15 hours of travel - a car ride to London Heathrow, an Airbus to Frankfurt, a Boeing to Boston, and a four hour van ride through Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont to camp. It was an incredibly long journey, but it was made easier by the two girls I met, Rianne (camp name: London) and Kirsty (camp name: Tink) - we quickly became friends and helped each other through the journey and the subsequent crushing despair on our first night. I also met two other English girls a couple of days later, Smiley and Starry, who are also good friends of mine here. My camp name is Pepper. I have since met loads of really nice, friendly people.

The weather here is ridiculously sunny and warm, but it's very humid and prone to storms. Predictably, I'm sunburnt already. As well as the beautiful weather, the food here is amazing - because we're not allowed artificial flavours or colours in England, all the synthetic goodness in America has been great!

Some highlights from pre-camp include:

• Random people in Walmart loving our accents
• Indi teaching us how to make ice cream from scratch
• Swimming in the lake
• Learning how to make friendship bracelets, and loads of camp songs
• Getting good at swiping spiders out of tents
• The staff overnight - we put up tents in a rainstorm, but made an excellent campfire under the unit shelter and cooked a really nice dinner on it. Sunny radioed the office saying, "A tree has fallen down, there's a fire in the unit shelter, and we've lost our Socks." ('socks' has grammatical status as she is in fact one of the other counsellors here). Later, when the rain was worse, Dappy used my phone torch, which has an SOS feature, to flash over to the unit shelter for the rest of the staff to save us. We soon splashed through the swamp that the campsite had become and curled up next to the fire for a while. Unfortunately Sunny got really sick, and we had to be rescued by Cookie in a pick-up truck. That was bizarre - sitting in the back of a pick-up truck in the middle of the night as the rain hammered down, driving up a huge hill with hairpin bends.
• Funfest - We had a few groups of Girl Scouts at camp for the night, and Tink, London and I organised a drama game activity for some of them to sign up to. We got a full class, and the kids were really into it and seemed to really enjoy themselves. We were so pleased with ourselves! Also, I got two gifts from two of the campers and that was a lovely ego boost.
• The staff having a movie night in the Ev (main building at camp). We watched Pitch Perfect and it was fun because we were all sprawled out with snacks and sleeping bags:

• Getting qualified in First Aid and CPR with the American Red Cross. I was so pleased with myself.
• I also became a member of the American Girl Scouts, which is bizarre.

For the next fortnight, I'm going to have a horse-riding program, and two travel programs. I'm pretty excited for it, but nervous. I am going to attempt to do weekly round ups of highlights, but I'm not making any promises as I am a shoddy, shoddy blogger. I'm also documenting funny quotes from people, and I might put them up at some point, if I can make a substantial post out of them. For now though, I'm going to go and be jittery about the girls arriving TOMORROW. Eeeeek!

London-Frankfurt-Boston-Vermont

I finally got my placement yesterday! I was contacted by Camp Farnsworth in Vermont, asking if I was available for a Skype interview, and they accepted me shortly after, asking if I was able to come to them on Thursday. I will be a 'unit leader' - looking after the girls at the camp and getting to experience all of the activities, instead of just specialising in one.

Since having my placement confirmed, I've just been in a mad dash trying to sort everything out, and I think I've done pretty well so far. I've sorted my flights - I fly from Heathrow at 8:30am on Thursday, which is gross, but I touch down for an hour and a half in Frankfurt before carrying on to Boston. YIS GERMANY. From the airport at Boston, I will be picked up by camp staff, as camp is about a three hour drive away. I've had a little look at where it is and it's literally in the middle of nowhere; it looks gorgeous and I'm so excited to get there and get stuck in!

I'm slowly but surely sorting everything out, but it still feels like I have a million other things that need to be done. I guess I'm just stressing because I've never travelled out of country on my own before. And it’s not like I'm just skipping across the English Channel to France - I'm going halfway around the world to work in the United States.

I am at camp in Vermont until August 20th, then I'm going on an adventure to New York until August 27th. I've already had a look at hotels and travel from Boston, and I'm compiling a list of things I want to pack into the six full days I'll be spending in NYC. Obviously nothing is set in stone until I know what my finances are like after camp. On August 27th, I fly back to Heathrow (hopefully from JFK airport!), again with a short stop in Frankfurt.

I am so ridiculously excited and nervous, and feeling ill over the fact I will have minimal/no internet for the next couple of months, but looking forward to all the fun and new experiences I will have. I can't believe I'm actually going to America in less than 48 hours, it's all happened so fast!

An Adventure to the US Embassy

Getting up was a trial today. I actually woke up in the morning, which always puts a huge strain on me. I had to be ready, out of the door, and in central London by 9:30am - even looking at that sentence now is making me ill. I also vastly misjudged the weather, putting on a hoodie as well as a leather jacket because in Hatfield it was grey and raining. However, London was bright and warm all day. It was really quite pleasant.

I got to Limkokwing University in the nick of time; it's a nice little uni on Piccadilly looking over Green Park. In there, I had my documents checked for the first of m-a-n-y times, and was handed the rest of the paperwork I needed to take to the embassy.

Then followed a walk over to Grosvenor Square; it was really nice, there were no crowds in the little back streets I took, and the sun was shining. About halfway to the square, I peeled off my jackets. I knew when I'd gotten there because, well, it isn't difficult to miss the gigantic eagle on top of the building.

Outside was a queue stretching all the way down one side of the square, mostly people my age getting their visas for camp. Here our paperwork and IDs were checked over by a whopping three different people, and there were guards with guns. Massive guns. Have you noticed, whenever there are armed guards, or a police car cruises past, you always get this really inexplicable feeling of guilt? Even if you have literally nothing to feel guilty about. This always perplexes me, and I spent my time in the queue worried that I would suddenly be shot because of an insane crime I'd forgotten about committing.

The queue led to a small building where we had to put our things through an X-ray machine and walk through a metal detector. Here I was ridiculously pleased and surprised because I didn't set off the metal detector - it's become a bit of a running joke in my family that my bones must be made of metal because every time I go through security at airports I manage to set the metal detector off for no discernible reason.

Inside, we each got given ticket numbers and sat in a big room with counters down one side. I felt like I was waiting to pick up an item in Argos. The wait wasn't ridiculously long though, even considering the fact that there were about 70 people to process before my ticket number. I don't think I was even there for 20 minutes, it was very efficient, and the staff there were really quick and competent.

When my number was called I went to the counter and the woman checked my paperwork, asked a couple of questions, and then scanned my fingerprints, which I found incredibly cool. It's like a little green screen and you press your fingers on it and it beeps! I internally pretended that I was a spy getting into a top secret location because I am sad. There was another desk I had to go to after I was done at the counter, where my fingerprints were taken again (only my left hand this time), and the woman was actually American. She approved my visa in about 30 seconds flat, and then I was out. The whole process took about an hour and a half, if that - amazing!

I sat in Grosvenor Square opposite a statue of Franklin D Roosevelt for a bit and called Mutti to let her know how it went - the sun was still shining, so I took the time to sit for a while and photosynthesise. I felt a lot better having finally sorted out the embassy thing; it's so daunting thinking about it, but while you're there, it's really not difficult or as terrifying as you build it up to be. As usual, I kick myself for making a mountain out of a molehill.

I then went over to Trafalgar Square to go to the Wetherspoons there. In Oxford Street, I had a terrifying moment with my rogue knee. A bit of backstory: Last time I got drunk, my knee - out of nowhere - buckled under me and spilled me onto the floor. It's been painful ever since and had been slowly getting better. I was briskly walking towards Oxford Circus tube station and my knee did a threatening quiver like it was about to give up the ghost again. And because I denied it the satisfaction of planting me on my face in the middle of London, it is now in agony again. Thanks.

In Wetherspoons, I had a cheeseburger and some chips with a glass of cold Pepsi with a lime in it - it made quite a tasty little victory lunch. I love eating on my own sometimes - I was tucked away on a little table with my food and drink, texting Caz, looking out of the window at the sun, and it was wonderfully peaceful. I often find it's better to eat alone because a) the sound of people eating is not something I love and b) I like to focus on my food.

After lunch, I had a gentle meander back over to Kings Cross. The tube wasn't much of a nightmare today; it was only really packed this morning on my way to Piccadilly. However, I think - having cancelled the planned strike (which was a relief, I must say) - the tube drivers of London are now protesting by operating the trains as anarchically as they possibly can! It was very funny to watch people flying around like loose cargo as the trains careered arounds corners and bumped about on the tracks. Once I'd piled onto the train heading back to Hatfield, I had to change to a different carriage because an old couple had cracked open a bottle of wine and were pouring it into plastic champagne flutes. It was too much for my sun-drunk brain; I couldn't stop laughing at them, so I moved to a different carriage in order to openly snigger about it.

So yes, my embassy interview was successful, and I will be getting my passport back with my shiny new visa in it in the next week or so. I'm happy, even if it was really breezy today and - as a result - my hair now looks like Einstein's. Watch out America, I'm coming to get ya!

8 Days Till Final Exam

Here I am, back at uni again - I've been back for just under a fortnight now. I ended up locking myself in my room for days to get my assignments done, but they're finally finished and that's all that matters. They're out of my hands now. I've already received marks back for two of the three pieces I had to finish - 2:2 for both, not bad considering I did them in a matter of days.. Kids, never grow up to be like me. DO UR WERK.

Anyway, the night I was finally free of my work, which was Friday 25th, I decided to get absolutely blotto to celebrate. I haven't been properly drunk for a very long time, probably not since the ending-up-in-Manchester fiasco, and it was a very amusing night. It started with Jas, Sophie and I popping over to Club de Hav to have a few jars while they played a few rounds of pool and were crap at it. It was nice to sit in the bar and put my feet up though, without the thought of all the work I had to do weighing on my mind. I was quite content with my pint of dark cider and glass of whiskey and coke (yes I had two drinks at once), watching Sophie and Jas.

We returned to the flat, where we were joined by James, Anand and Jake. I got my water speakers and laptop, and the whole night consisted of Spotify playlists and random requests from all of us. I can't remember much of the night, but I think it can be summed up in its entirety by the most beautiful photo I have ever taken:

For my America trip, I have everything sorted apart from my visa - this will be sorted very soon though, as my appointment at the US Embassy is on Tuesday! I'm still waiting to be placed, but there's still plenty of time for that. I'm getting a bit antsy, just because I want to know where I'm going! I'm so excited and scared. It's gonna be such a big adventure, I can't wait!

As for Spain, I just need to tweak the Powerpoint I was required to make, then I can send that off and that's it - it's entirely up to them after that. I hope I get the internship, it'll be so awesome! One of my bucket list items is to teach English in a foreign country, and Spain is such a beautiful place. I am also incredibly excited that I will be learning a new language when I go over there, and experiencing a different culture for around 8 months. Plus Spain will be warmer over the winter than horrible England, which is always a bonus.

Also in September, between coming back from America and (hopefully) heading off to Spain, I have two exciting things. The first is going to London with Caz to see Kate Bush! I'm really looking forward to it, and I'm amazed that Caz managed to get tickets. The other exciting event, which is coming up a mere four days after the Kate Bush gig, is Arron and Kim's wedding. It's gonna be lovely, I adore weddings! So, by the look of things, the rest of this year is going to be a busy one, considering I also have my graduation ceremony in November (more on that later).

As the title suggests, I only have a Clinical Linguistics exam on the 12th, and then I am completely done with university. All the blood, sweat and tears (not to mention the mountain of cash) that I've put into this will have finally paid off, and my police certificate will no longer be the most expensive piece of paper that I own. I can't believe uni is pretty much over already; at times it felt like it was dragging out forever, but now... I feel like I've only been here for five minutes. Funny how time goes. I have to spend this next week revising my backside off for the exam, but that's no real hardship because Clinical Linguistics really interests me and I had the best lecturer ever for it as well.

I was looking up my graduation the other day, eeeek! I know a bit more about it now - it's going to be on November 20th. I will be there in a gown and one of those stupid hats, and it's going to be brill. The students at my uni get to graduate from this absolutely beautiful place (St. Alban's Cathedral):

I am so excited to graduate. That'll be the final closure of my university career; it'll also mark the last bit of education ever ever (unless I decide to do post-grad someday).

If I get the Spain job, my German friend Sou and I have hatched a diabolical plan to visit the Berlinale Film Festival in February. We're going to go there to try to catch a glimpse of August Diehl, and I am also excited to go because a) Berlin is a city I've wanted to visit forever and b) finally meeting Sou in 'real life'! I hope this all works out. We also have a not-quite-normal plan to scale the Brandenburg Tor, something Sou claims she's always wished she could do. Either way, it'll be hilarious and I'll get to spend time in a beautiful city, with a fantastic person (and hopefully see August Diehl too lol).

Today, it's Caz's birthday. Being the best friend that anyone could hope for in the whole bloody world, I sent her a card with dead flowers on it, and told her to die :)

Final Sprint

I'm so close to finishing university forever. Good lawd. It's been simultaneously the most fun and most stressful experience of my life. I've met many people, had many experiences, and grown so much as a person. I'm incredibly glad I took the plunge and came to uni; it was a massively scary decision, but it was necessary. Without university, I wouldn't have become an adult. I wouldn't know how to pay bills and support myself, how to get through the day with a raging hangover, how to take a deep breath and dive head-first into anything that takes my fancy, and believing in myself enough to know that I can go places and do things. In extension to that last point, I wouldn't be going to work in America this summer or potentially teaching in Spain in October for a year, if it wasn't for getting through assignment deadlines and the university environment itself without giving up, despite wanting to a few times. I did this with the added burden of my continuously fluctuating mental health, and it hasn't been easy. So I'm allowing myself to feel a bit of pride that I've come this far and gotten to the other side - scratched, scared and £20,000+ in debt, but still standing and ready to get out there and see the world.

This month and a bit is the last push. I have around 40 hours of lectures, 5 assignments and an exam left, and that's it. It's terrifying and exhilarating and unbelievably surreal.

I'm currently looking forward to going home for the Easter holidays, though! I have a multitude of to do lists, right up until April 2nd (I go home on April 3rd), in order to keep myself as busy as possible and to get as much work as I can out of the way so I can recuperate and enjoy the break. This week involves making my video and submitting my Wordpress design for Online Journalism; 4 remaining hours of lectures; sending Mothers Day cards for Mutti and Kath; starting on my History of English and Communication & Cultures assignments; getting my prescription; sending off the forms for my police certificate for the States; and going swimming for the last time this term. Next week will be a little less hectic, with only 10 hours of lectures and hopefully I will have finished all the pre-Easter assignments I have due by then.

I'm giving blood again too! I was feeling crap because I haven't done it since my first time in July, so I was browsing to see if there would be any sessions at home while I was there. No go, but I stumbled on a session at a hotel five minutes away from me here in Hatfield on Monday, so I'm going to go to that one. It'll be good to give blood again, as I felt so pleased with myself last time, and it really is such a great way to be charitable if you're a pauper like me!

Oh, and it is 13 days until I turn 22. I cannot believe how fast that's come around. My flatmates won't stop laughing at me because I'm 'so old'. Well, except for James - he turns 22 in May so he feels all my pain!

Bonus photo of Lana and I:

She came over on March 14th, for the weekend. On the Friday night, we went on a dinner date to Frankie & Benny's as we'd never gone out for proper dinner before, and on the Saturday, we went to Camden and spent hours exploring the Stables Market. It was an all-round great weekend (obviously interspersed with boozing with the flatmates), and definitely stopped me going round the twist from being cooped up on my own, beating myself up over my lack of productivity.

Misogyny at the Pool

I was at the pool today, and I'd stopped swimming to have a breather, when I overheard a guy and a girl near me. This guy was telling the girl that she had 'put on a bunch of weight' this year, and how she needed to stop treating herself and exercise more. Bear in mind, this was in the pool where she'd been swimming for longer than I'd been in there. There was literally nothing wrong with this girl's figure - she looked perfectly healthy! Further to this, the guy berating her was legitimately very overweight, and a lot of what he told her about protein and carbs was completely wrong (I may not know tonnes, but I actually read up on things before I started trying to be healthy).

It's just pure misogyny. He had absolutely no right to make her feel like shit for putting on a couple of pounds when he clearly wasn't athletic himself. It came across like it was totally ok for him to be overweight, but if a woman dares to put on weight, it's the end of the world. It just really riled me because it was completely unfair, and I imagine it was pretty humiliating for the girl. Even if she was overweight, it doesn't matter! She's obviously trying to stay fit and healthy by going swimming, which is the most important thing.

Aside from actual, medical opinions on people whose weight (overweight or underweight) is significantly affecting their health, or a personal trainer who knows what they're talking about and has been employed by somebody to tell them what they need to work on, nobody has the right to dictate to other people what they 'should' be doing with their bodies.

Why do people still think it's ok to act like this? I bet if she'd said something about his weight, he would have been pissed off. It's completely ridiculous. And for the record, I'm not a """Feminazi""" (I hate that expression - fighting for equal rights is actually the complete opposite of the Nazi system, please go to a history lesson) - even if it was two girls, or two guys, or whatever, I would have still been pretty disgusted just because of the sheer hypocrisy of it.

Sorry about this rant, just needed to get this out because seeing people treat their so-called friends like shit makes me cross.

A New Semester

I said I wanted to blog more here. It is now the early hours of January 22nd - so much for that resolution! I have accumulated several things to talk about, so here goes...

I have started the utterly terrifying process of looking for and applying for jobs, internships, etc. I've found several media companies that sound promising, and I'm going to see one of the Careers Advisers at uni to talk about whether there's more I can do to find graduate positions. One internship I'm especially excited about is a travel writing one! Obviously, that's the area I want to work in, so that's a good start, but it's also good because it's online/home-based so I can start immediately and fit it around my university work. I applied last week, and received an email yesterday saying that somebody would be in touch with me. So, fingers crossed that that works out! In the meantime though, I'm going to continue poking around and seeing what I can find in the way of other opportunities.

I've also started the ball rolling on going over to the USA in the summer to be a camp counsellor! I had my first interview via phone yesterday, and I've been filling out the application today. It's quite daunting, there are a lot of things I need to think about (renewing my passport, going to the US Embassy to apply for my visa, medical and police checks, etc), plus it's quite a bit of money that I'll have to part with to make it happen, but I am determined! The camps run for around 9 weeks, so I'll spend that time helping the kids with activities and games etc. Then afterwards, I'll have a chance to travel to some places in the States with my little wage packet that I'll earn at camp - I haven't decided exactly where I'm going to go yet, but my top 5 currently stands at: New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, maybe venturing to Canada or Mexico. So, watch out America (more like, watch out Kayleigh you are a pasty English girl and you will melt in the unforgiving sun)!

Second semester started this week. I had two classes on Monday - History of the English Language and Online Journalism. History of English was so interesting, and I'm really excited about the module, plus the lecturer is really nice. It'll be good to know more about where my language originated and what changes it's gone through.

Online Journalism is also a great module that I'm really excited about. Basically, we all have to set up a site about a topic that will be relevant to the sort of career we want. Of course, I immediately decided that mine should be about travelling! I'm going to review places I go to (places of historical interest/natural beauty, museums, landmarks, etc), and talk about lesser-known destinations in order to clue people in to places that are a little different to the usual holiday locations. I'm really excited to start working on it - I already have a page set up, but I'm looking forward to actually writing on it.

I am starting to swim in earnest now, as part of my 'get fit or die tryin' lifestyle kick. Yesterday I did 30 laps of the pool and felt great when I was done. I'm really enjoying the swimming now I've realised I'm not as unfit as I feared. I'm going again tomorrow, and then next week I'm going to up the ante and go swimming three times a week, like I originally wanted to.

Therapy is also going well; my counsellor is a really nice guy, and we get along well, so I find it quite easy to speak to him about any difficulties I have. I'm going to be seeing him more or less once a week right up until I finish uni, in the hopes of giving me a bit more peace of mind. I must say, having a neutral space to fight out all of the conflicting thoughts and negative feelings is a good thing. When I saw Richard on Monday, I came out of the session feeling incredibly light and less downtrodden than I had before I'd gone in.

 I'm excited today because Lana is coming over on Friday for the weekend! I'm really looking forward to seeing her as it's been a good long while since the last time, and Friday is the day after her birthday! So this weekend will be a kind of birthday celebration too; I have posh scotch for the special occasion. On Saturday, we're going to go to the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum in London - I've never been before, so it's going to be a lot of fun and really interesting. Plus I'm going with one of my favourite people in the whole world, which makes it a thousand times cooler. A feature/review on the Grand Museum Outing will quite possibly be my first post on the aforementioned travel site for Online Journalism.

I also get to show Lana The Counterfeiters, a new favourite film of mine (and not just because it contains my favourite German actor - and possibly favourite man - August Diehl); I'm looking forward to that because I know she enjoys World War 2 stories. The Counterfeiters is based on a true story from the war, and it's an absolutely great film. Also, August Diehl.

I will attempt to blog more. Note that I say attempt. I'm hoping there will be enough going on in the coming weeks to be able to have plenty to talk about, but I can't make any promises.

NYE - A Look Back At 2013 & Onward To 2014

Highlights of 2013

• The introduction of my new furry friend, Jackson! After the immense sadness at the beginning of the year when my dearest Scrabble died, having another little hamster to dote on eased the pain a bit. Jackson is no longer little now, but big and fat and playful, and he's been a great addition to the family.
• On March 17th, Norman Reedus (e.g. Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead and all round sweetheart and sex god) followed me on twitter, and still follows me to this day!
• I turned 21, a milestone age!
• This year in May was the first time I attended Comic Con at London; it was blogged about extensively on here, and was so much fun! I definitely want to go again some time soon!
• I also gave blood for the first time, and still get a little rush of pride when I think about it.
• Ashleigh's hen party - also blogged about here, the whole night was so much fun and cemented my belief that my brother chose the right lady to marry.
• I sold my soul to Apple and got an iPhone, and it may as well be surgically attached to my hand now.
• My darling brother Liam got married to Ashleigh, on the 15th August. I wrote about it here, and it's one of my fondest memories - not just of this year, but of my life. It was the most beautiful, happy day, and I got to be a bridesmaid for the third time in my whole life, but the first time as an adult!
• I began my final year of university; I will soon be spat out of academia and into the world of being a real adult! In addition to this, an honorary mention of my flat this year has to be made. I'm so happy with the people I live with, they're brilliant! I'm glad this wasn't a repeat of where I lived in my first year. My flatmates have made uni fun again for me, and I thank them so much for that!
• I visited Caz in Manchester for the first time, and that was a lot of fun - even though I was sickened at how inexpensive some absolutely beautiful flats are there!
• Getting Lana drunk for the first time was a highlight; I was very proud of how well she holds her drink! I'm glad I could get her out and having a laugh with me and my wonderful flatmates, and I'm happy that she enjoyed herself so much!
• My health kick and general life upheaval beginning to take form (more on this when I talk about my goals for 2014).
• The Flat 1 London outing and Christmas party - two very enjoyable days with my flatmates before leaving for the Christmas holidays! We ate and drank and shopped and had lots of fun; it was great as a last hurrah!
• I wrote a dissertation for the first time ever. I have written about language and communication difficulties faced by people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders, and I am so proud of how it's come out, and the fact that I've actually finished it! I enjoyed myself writing it, but it was easily the hardest piece of academic work I've ever done.
• The Christmas holiday has been one of my best yet. Seeing all of my family and being back at home is wonderful, I've been able to annoy the hamster every day and eaten far more than I should have. Christmas Day was spent at my Mutti's with her, Martin, Ryan, Nan and Dave. Later, we were joined by Liam & Ashleigh; Arron, Kim & Harvey; Paula, Steven & Ellie; and David! So I got to see all the siblings on Mutti and Martin's side. Boxing Day Liam, Ashleigh and I went over to Vati's, where we and Kath were joined by Nan, Uncle Paul and great Uncle George. More food and presents occurred! And yesterday, I went for dinner with Mutti, Ryan, Liam, Ashleigh, Gramps and Maggie, as well as my Uncle Adrian who has come over from Australia, and his girlfriend Jacqui! It was bloody delicious, and I think I have put on about a tonne of weight, but it's been such a happy time!

Photo Collages

I made some collages of a few of my favourite photos from this year! It was hard to narrow them down, because I take so many photos and there were so many great ones, but here's the collages I ended up with:

Goals for 2014

• Finish my degree and graduate from university.
• Continuation of the aforementioned health/life kick: Swim lots more and get fitter, watch my eating habits and be more healthy, keep up with counselling and my journal.
• Get a job - the thing I'm most interested in at the moment is teaching English in Germany. Liam's friend Colin is doing a similar thing in China, and he doesn't have to know Mandarin because the kids are only allowed to speak English in his class; I want to see if there is something similar in Germany as I would like that experience, and also to work on my German so I can speak it better! That's only one possible avenue though, of course.
• Save up some money and get an apartment (either somewhere in England or in Berlin)
• Have a holiday - I'm hoping Rome will be a possibility!
• Do all of the London museums that I haven't seen - Natural History, Imperial War, Science and the Tower of London.
• Blog more here, and blog properly!

This evening, Caz and I are going to have a feast of mainly tequila and whiskey and it's going to be a bloodbath. Happy New Year to you all, and I hope 2014 is everything you hope for!

"The Blood Is The Life!"

Trust me to use a quote from Dracula about today's experience! I went to donate blood for the first time in my life this evening; it was definitely exciting and interesting. Because I've had so many blood tests, the needles didn't bother me, and all of the staff were clear and instructive, and made me feel at ease. I would occasionally peer over at the blood bag to see the blood, as it comes out of the body so dark it fascinates me. It was amazing to think all of that came from this little needle in my arm!

Afterwards I felt a little bit wobbly, like when a baby antelope has just learned to walk. I soon perked up after a big glass of orange squash and a Penguin bar. I also took two stickers to wear proudly on my way home! Here they are:

(the top one says 'Be nice to me' on it - I accidentally cut it off)

I'm glad I went to do it, as it didn't affect me badly, and I was thrilled when I was told I am able to give blood while on my medication; it's something I've been interested in doing for a long time, and I think I will make this a regular thing. Just knowing that that bag of blood, which wasn't a huge loss to me, may save someone's life one day is an amazing feeling. My little brother Ryan (who came with me to keep me company) seemed both fascinated and slightly revolted, but maintained afterwards that giving blood is something he really wants to do when he's old enough, which he is in just under a year!

I just wanted to make a blog about this because it's a new experience, and I would like to say that it's not at all scary or uncomfortable; once you have that initial needle scratch, it's plain sailing! As long as you follow the staff's instructions, you'll be fine afterwards. I would recommend people go to donate if they are able to and if they meet the criteria for healthy blood giving; blood is always needed in the medical world, and even one donation of just under a pint could potentially keep somebody alive and fighting for longer. 

Because I don't have much money, giving blood is kind of like charity to me (like filling the donation bags that get posted to our house with items I don't want/need any more); it's free to do and makes you feel really good about potentially helping others. Here's a photo of me looking pleased with myself to finish off this entry:

London Comic Con 2013 - Day 3

We went forth to the third and final day of Comic Con yesterday. The day was much the same, with many fantastic (and horrible) costumes, browsing the cute merchandise, and getting annoyed at the many fools who couldn't seem to get out of people's way. It was a very plushie-themed day, with me buying myself a pastel green-and-purple Gloomy Bear (I've wanted one for years) and Caz buying herself a hilariously squishy ghost plush, a Domo-kun dressed like a rabbit and a small Domo-kun dressed as a panda for me. She also treated me to a cute steampunk octopus necklace that I adore!

After Caz and I had met the loveliest Lara Croft cosplayer (who was incredibly tall), I was loitering by the Batman figurines and spotted Drew and Shane! This was lovely as I haven't seen them in over a year and I've missed them quite a lot. Lots of hugs and catching up ensued, and the three of us were smiling way more than normal for us sad goths. It was great to see them and they seemed to enjoy my Gloomy Bear - "Does it have pink blood coming out of his mouth?" Shane asked with some disgust.

We took advantage of our last chance to get hold of some Japanese snacks minus excessive shipping costs, said hello to Jack and Dean again, and sat outside in the shade watching lots of amazing cosplayers going by. I asked a Squall Leonhart how he wasn't boiling to death in his leather jacket and trousers, to which he replied, "I am boiling to death." He looked absolutely awesome though, so his suffering paid off. A lot of the time outside was spent just looking around at everyone because there were so many different costumes - a personal highlight was when the entire Fellowship from Lord of the Rings trooped past us.

It was another lovely day with absolutely glorious weather, and the reason I'm writing this blog now is because yesterday involved getting back home from Judith's. Lugging many heavy bags, and my heavy heart at saying goodbye to Comic Con and Caz, I had to get the Tube to King's Cross and then barrel onto the nearest train that would take me to Hatfield.

By the time I got to Hatfield, I had missed a bus by two minutes and had to sit there for half an hour waiting for the next one. I didn't mind much because it was wonderfully cool and fresh outside and I could rest my aching feet for a while. When I got home, I was so exhausted that I just dumped my things in my room, ate some dinner, then went to bed. So here I am! I will be reviewing the videos tomorrow to see if there's enough decent footage to make a vlog out of - if not, I'll post a few separate clips.

My verdict on Comic Con? It's absolutely packed and hectic, but so much fun. Definitely worth going, and I'd like to thank Caz for getting me a weekend ticket as my 21st birthday present! I had a great time, but now I have to face reality and look for a summer job to make rent money - boooooo.

London Comic Con 2013 - Day 2

The weather was much nicer today, so I got a chance to debut my new (very awesome) sunglasses, and we didn't have to scuttle quickly to places in the rain. I am ridiculously glad Caz and I went to the previews yesterday because today it was absolutely packed. We could barely move most of the time because there were so many people and we didn't get as much of a chance to look around, so it's good we got to do that yesterday and not miss out on anything. 

I hugged three Slendermen in total (there is a video of one of these instances, which will be on the vlog!) and have renamed him 'Frienderman'. I bought Caz the One Ring as a birthday present, and got myself a Rilakkuma skin for my Oyster card and a pink Super Mario mushroom plush (I guess you could say it's a... PLUSHroom - YEAAAAAAAAAAAH), which is now hanging on my handbag. We also did プリクラ ('purikura', look it up!) and this is the result:

When the con got too warm and too annoying for us to deal with any more, we skedaddled over to Camden because no trip to the city is complete without going there. We spent ages looking at all the wonderful, beautiful things in Cyberdog - I got a Guardian Angel t-shirt in black and silver, which means that my entire ensemble tomorrow (except for my shoes) will be Cyberdog! 

We also had a KFC that tasted 1000% better due to how starving we were - it had been a while since my breakfast of frosted Shreddies and my stomach was disgruntled. I posed in KFC with Caz's new Minecraft pickaxe:

We stopped at a shisha bar for a while (opting for the cherry flavour) and took a seat next to a man who looked like he could have been Christian Bale's nomadic brother. He turned out to be an American named John who was something of an art buff - he taught us the concept of 'sword placement', in which artists always make sculptures of people holding their swords near their hip, which - when viewed at the right angle - looks like a dick. Caz and I found this deliciously funny and dubbed John 'the penis guy of Camden', a title that he took without question or protest. He also had a gigantic cup of tea and asked if he could squeeze the pink mushroom on my bag - I spluttered because he said, "Can I squeeze your mushroom?" and I thought it was some kind of horrifying euphemism. I'm not sure I can sum up how chill and hilarious he was, so I won't try. We felt like we'd met some kind of cryptid.

At the station near Judith's place, we saw a discarded cap on the floor. Caz flipped it over with her foot to get a proper look. It said BAYWATCH on it; we promptly collapsed laughing because of all the things in the whole world, I wouldn't have guessed that in a million tries. I'm not even sure why we laughed until we were choking, but have a photo of Caz wearing the best hat in the world:

We stopped at Tops Pizza, which is literally next door to Judith's flat, then went back to Judith's and got into pyjamas before eating pizza and watching Markiplier's new videos! The pizza was delicious and so was Markiplier. It was a beautiful end to another hilarious and bizarre day. Now it's 3:20am and I really need to go to bed if I'm going to get up anywhere near a reasonable time tomorrow for the third and final day of London Comic Con 2013!

London Comic Con 2013 - Day 1

After only two hours of sleep, Caz and I braved the journey to London Town. We arrived at Judith's on time and with no trouble, only to find a host of post-it notes scattered around her flat, telling us where we were sleeping and other essential details. We found this on the sofa:

Which was incredibly helpful and informative. There was also a note on a pack of cookies, inviting us to help ourselves. Judith, it seems, is the perfect hostess. We got over the horror of travelling and walking to her place in the pouring rain and then set off to ExCel!

It was fun to see lots of cosplayers milling around and chatter excitedly about what was to come. After a gigantic queue in what appeared to be an SCP containment hangar (complete with people cosplaying SCP employees), we were given our wristbands and let loose upon the many stalls and attractions waiting for us. It was magical - we really didn't know where to look first! Here is a photo of us looking rather overwhelmed and shell-shocked:

We mostly spent the day getting to grips with the new environment and browsing the many wonderful stalls set up in the area. Obviously, money was spent straight off, mostly on edibles from Cybercandy and Tofu Cute; I finally found some Panda Pocky, so I was happy! I also got a t-shirt with Daryl Dixon on, saying 'Sorry Brother' (the bit just before he shoots Dale in season 2) and it's fab. Caz got an OMFGItsJackAndDean shirt that says 'It's pronounced Fac-e-book' on it - this was amusing as she bought it from Jack and Dean themselves, after much coaxing from me to go over and say hello (she loves their videos and was excited/nervous about approaching). They were really sweet guys and laughed when Caz told me to "OH, FUCK OFF." after I looked at her standing silent and scared and said "You are shitting yourself, aren't you?" We got a big hug each from both of them too, which was a nice thing and also they are shorter in real life.

A terrifying but fulfilling moment in my life came after Caz and I had eaten a delicious burger called 'The Guv'nor' and witnessed Master Chief from Halo hugging The Mask. We saw a Slenderman standing eerily to one side and I said, "Slendy! Hey Caz!" Caz tried to get away, but I nudged her towards him saying "Say hello to Slenderman, you love him!" At this point, Slenderman began to follow Caz without her realising, gliding along in a terrifying manner. We both screamed Markiplier-style when we noticed him, and then I asked him for a hug. That was the terrifying but fulfilling thing. I hugged a Slenderman. I fear the nightmares will never end.

There was so much to look at in the con that I couldn't possibly list it all, but I've spied several interesting objects that may or may not become mine within the next two days. I want to take some photos of the amazing costumes I see, and there may be a vlog in the pipeline for after the weekend, including as many fun clips as I can get on my camera. It was a really, really fun day, we didn't stop until we got back to Jude's this evening, where she presented us with dinner she'd prepared - a sausage and apple plait with potato wedges. Delicious!

I'm in such a good mood - it's great to see Caz again, and today was so much fun. Tomorrow, if the weather is nice, we will have a small outing to Camden at some point - if not, there is still the wonderful con to spend the day at again.



P.S. Also, we tried some shaved ice in mango and strawberry and it was so tasty!

Calamity Jayne Designs

Today, I received my third purchase from the wonderful Jayne! She's a London girl who makes jewellery and sells it on her Etsy store - she mostly specialises in cameo necklaces, but also makes rings, earrings, phone cases, bracelets and other, non-cameo necklaces. I first bought from her when I found a beautiful Edgar Allan Poe cameo on her store; after checking the feedback and finding a 99% positive rate, I decided to buy from her. I received the necklace mere days later:

It's absolutely beautiful, no? To make this successful gamble even better, her cameo necklaces are only £4.99 each! For such a low price, the items are such wonderful quality and look fantastic with my admittedly dark style. I ordered again from her in March, this time after spying a Vincent Price necklace in her store. Once again, Jayne herself was friendly and approachable, and was incredibly quick with delivering the item, which again turned up within days:

Now, when this beauty came through the post, I decided that I was going to be loyal to this store! Again the quality was great, and this time I had a different coloured chain from Edgar's antique one.

This time, I decided to put Jayne's custom designs to the test; she mentions on her store that she is willing to make custom jewellery for people who tell her what they'd like. I messaged her asking if she could make me a necklace featuring Bela Lugosi as Dracula. She responded very quickly and was enthusiastic about the idea (turns out she's a Dracula fan too!); the necklace itself was made within two days. I was impressed! She also sent me a photo of the finished product to make sure I liked it, and hell yes I did! The listing was put up and I bought it straight away. Today, it arrived:

It's absolutely top notch. I was so excited when I came downstairs to find the little package waiting for me, and it was definitely worth it! So, not only are her pre-made designs cute as hell, she really comes through with her customs as well.

The best part is that she doesn't just make necklaces featuring batshit insane writers and horror icons, no. The designs range from all kinds of interests, featuring things like Disney and Adventure Time, not to mention 'classic' style cameo designs, quotes and classic artwork. So you have a massive choice, even without the custom design option!

I'm making this blog post because I think Jayne and her lovely shop deserves to have a blog entry dedicated to them! The store is now my go to place for cameo necklaces; the items are pretty and reasonably-priced, and the owner is helpful, friendly and grateful!

Click here to visit her store! I highly recommend it!

A Brush With Summer

Pictured: Every English person's reaction to sunshine.

For once in our lives, us Englanders got a bit of sunshine today. I always love it when the sun comes out because it's like everybody wakes up; everyone laughs more and there are more people outside walking, doing the garden, kicking a ball about, etc. It's just nice to stroll around without needing a jacket and feel the cool breeze and photosynthesise a bit (please don't ask - I've been telling people that I photosynthesise for years.. I promise I'm not just a giant, sentient piece of plant life). Not to mention everything looks so much brighter when the sun shines - colours stand out more vividly and everyone looks just that bit nicer.

I sound overly sappy and pretentious, I know, but it's bloody rare to see the sun around here! It felt nice to get out of the house and get some air in my lungs. Plus I am cold-blooded like a serpent so the warmth was wonderful for me. I get disproportionately angry when I'm too cold.

Just a short one, but I think this plus my introductory post will suffice.

It Begins

Well hey, good looking! How the devil are you? 

First entry of a new blog is always a bugger to write; I never know whether to put down some basic information or write my life story or just say a big hello to anyone that may be having a peek.

Really, it should come easily to me, seeing as I started blogging in May 2007, having barely turned 15. I didn't really get 'into' it until later that same year, when my posts became less empty and sporadic and more full of anecdotes from school (and later, college), stupid things my friends/family said and did, photos from life, opinions and rants, and shameless plugging of other weblings that I loved. This continued for a good few years, and started to fizzle out around the beginning of 2011. Thus, by May 2011, four years after I started my blog ('shygirlslose', affectionately known by regular readers as 'SGL'), I decided to stop the detailed posts.

This was for a number of reasons, the first being that - around the time I closed SGL down - I was in the midst of applying for university, and preparing myself for moving to a different town over 90 miles away from home. It was a giant and terrifying hurdle, and I found that the blog was too much to keep up with on top of everything else. I was also disheartened at the lack of feedback I got on the blog; I had a few readers who read every post and commented on most, but I felt that I was making a hell of a lot of effort for a blog that was hardly read. Being rather foolish at the time, I didn't bother keeping an eye on my analytics, which would've told me that many people were in fact looking at my blog. I seemed to count popularity in comments, which is both sad and shameful. I kick my younger self for this.

So, I left Blogspot. I moved my primary blogging over to my tumblr account here. This was easier to keep track of because the site generally isn't a 'write reams and reams' kind of place; it was more for pictures and quick, snappy updates from my life. This suited me as I was busy with lots of new and exciting things, and has suited me for the past few years.

Now, however, I feel like I'm missing something again. Tumblr is a great site, and I do love my blog on there, but it's not really what I'd call a 'blog' - it's more short text posts about stuff that's going on in my life, photos of me/from my life, and then many reblogs of things that I find around tumblr that I like or that interest me. It's a lot of fun, but it's become something that isn't as open and personal as SGL was, and I miss having that creative outlet. Plus there's quite a mean streak on tumblr, especially when people express an opinion that doesn't jive with what everyone else is saying. I'm not a fan of censoring myself, so I guess that comes into it too. So here I am, creating this new blog - for me, for the dedicated SGL readers that have never left me (even when I was an awful person and stopped blogging there), and for anybody else that decides they want to read it!

~ Kayleigh