My first hospital experience!

Now, I'm not a clumsy person. I take care not to take very potentially-dangerous risks and I don't put myself in situations where I'm likely to get hurt. I've never broken a bone. Never had any deep cuts/injuries. 

Yesterday was a very normal, boring day at school. I had 3 hours of English in the morning (yawn!) and was tucking into a laaaavely slice of pizza at lunch with two of my best friends at my side. A few seconds after I swallowed the last piece of pizza, however, I felt like I'd got something stuck in my throat. Not in my airways, thank god, but in my oesophagus. My friends started laughing at me as I tried to cough whatever was in my throat out while I laughed as well, but I had to run downstairs to the water fountain to try and wash it away. It didn't work, so they took me to the school nurse (I felt like a little year 7 again!). She was so baffled when I came in and didn't really know what to do. She suggested I try to eat more, so I went and bought a second lunch, but it didn't work. 

I returned to the nurse, who suggested, as a last resort, I try and make myself vomit. Embarassingly enough, I had to go into the gents toilet (to avoid the other girls in my school thinking I were bullimic!) and I had random male teachers ask why I was in there when I came out. 

That didn't work though.

Then, cue my horrible anxiety problems, I started getting panicy and scared and randomly crying for no reason. I started to go bright red, blotches and sores all over my body.  

My mum was called and I started getting faint and dizzy and was sent in a taxi home. When I got home, I changed into some tracksuit bottoms 'cause my whole body was getting itchy and awful, but I almost fainted at the top of the stairs. My mum had to guide me to the car once I'd gained a bit more consciousness, and she drove me to the local hospital. 

So I spent 2 hours in a hospital bed being seen to by a hilarious doctor who kept cracking jokes and making me feel a little less embarassed. I have an awwwwwful phobia of needles, but I was forced to get my finger pricked for a blood test, and an injection in my butt to stop me feeling so sick. Oh dear. 

Turns out I had a severe allergic reaction (to something unknown they'd accidently put into the school pizza!), tonsilitis (hence the feeling of something stuck in my throat), and severe dehydration (the reason why I kept fainting, feeling dizzy, and feeling unable to sit up for longer than 20 seconds without wanting to puke). 

So, this was my exciting hospital trip that I thought I'd share with you :) 

I got the day off school today and spent it drinking these vile sachet things with electrolytes and whatever else in them, having tomato juice and worcester sauce (YUM) and sleeping. 

Other than this 'traumatic experience' my life has been quite exciting! This weekend was a lot of fun - I went to my first university open day on Saturday morning, making me feel so unbelievably old! Then in the evening, I went to the joint birthday party of two of my good friends and got very drunk. 

My final exams are loooooooming. We're already getting notices from teachers about revising for them and preparing, I'm terrified! 

Goals & Ambitions

I love setting myself goals. I love giving purpose to the amount of effort I put into things, in hope that it will all pay off. It makes the work and time I spend on whatever it is I'm doing more worthwhile, and it also motivates me to work harder in the future.

I have a fair amount of ambitions/goals/things I want to do before I die, and with 2013 just around the corner, I’ve been thinking about the resolutions I’m going to make for the upcoming year…

♛   Stop biting my nails

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had this nasty habit and every year I’ve vowed to stop, but alas no success. However this year, with such a massive selection of nail polishes and techniques to decorate our ‘claws’ everywhere, I’m desperate to grow them long enough for me to actually paint!

*image from weheartit.com*

♛  Exercise more/eat healthier food

In short, I'm a lazy arse. I've never found that inner sporty passion and I'm more likely to be found sitting in front of the TV with a jar of peanut butter/crate of chocolate that working up a sweat in the gym. I envy the people that enjoy waking up early on a Saturday morning to go jogging for an hour, and those who actually want to go to the gym. But I'm determined to make 2013 the year that I become this person! 

I also have a deadly sweet tooth - I really think I could live on chocolate for the rest of my life. Another resolution of mine is to cut down on the sweets and junk food and stock up on the dreaded fruit + veg (although it doesn't help that I've just recieved a pile of sweet treats for Christmas!) 

♛  Stop stressing

I'm naturally an extremely nervous person and I tend to stress about the smallest thing - I'm convinced I'm going to die early from a heart attack! My friends and family are constantly telling me to relax and not freak out about so much about everything, but I put it down to my genes - my mother's just as nervous. I'm going to try much harder next year to 'chill out' and not overexaggerate situations in my head so much. I'm also going to try and think a lot more positively as well (I'm way too pessimistic most of the time...)

♛  Do more photography

When I realised that I actually enjoying snapping photos and wasn't just 'following the indie crowd', I became a lot more interested in the art of photography. Earlier this year, I used my money (that I'd saved for over a year, may I add!) on a wonderful Canon EOS 1100D, but if I'm completely honest, I don't feel like I've really embraced this passion as much as I could have and don't think I've got as much use out of the camera as I had first intended. 2013 will be the year I become that annoying girl at the party whose constantly in people's faces with a big camera lense, asking for poses and cheesy smiles, and taking those embarassing-moment shots! 

*image from weheartit.com*

♛   Have more confidence/self-belief

I have a tendency to put myself down a lot of the time and it's getting to the point where people are actually getting irritated about how negative I am about myself and what I do. I'm a pessimist in every sense of the word - I always expecting the worst-case scenario but I use it as preparation in case it does actually happen! However, next year I'm going to try a lot harder to have a bit more confidence in the things I do and have more self-belief, especially with my AS Level exams coming up in May - hopefully this confidence will lead to more positivity, resulting in better exam results! It's worth a try...

What are some of your resolutions?

Lots of love,

Ellay xxx

Christmas Time!

Hello lovely people,

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas/holiday with lots of happiness and celebration!

I thought I'd share with you little snippets from my great day! 

My brother and I were up at the crack-of-dawn (well... 9:30am) ready to open our presents! After an hour or so, we drove down to my granny's, who lives about an hour away from us and opened yet more presents and had an AMAZING Christmas lunch :D

Then we spent the afternoon watching movies and playing with our gifts.

Overall, it was a brilliant day and I thought I'd show you some of the snaps...

 My lovely doggy snuggled on my brother's lap in the car

 That was good grub... (the turkey's hidden!)

 Chocolate tart... heaven.

And the presents...

I'm honestly so so cherished to have such an amazing family. 

 Chiffon top from New Look, black velvet shorts from Topshop

 Some art books I've been desperate for, Submarine (one of my all time favourite movies!) and The Perks of Being A Wallflower book (another of my absolute favourite movies - I had to get the book to go with it)

 Some beauty gifts! 

Soap&Glory products, Umberto Giannini hair products (came in a gorgeous wash bag), bath fizzers, Moroccan oil shampoo and conditioner and some Lush goodies

 2 sets of 'Sneezums' earrings from my lovely Grandma and an ear cuff from Topshop

 bareMinerals primer and eyeshadows in Rapture, Tiger's Eye and Cream Soda, and 'Studio' smokey eye make up set

 Fairy Dust candle (www.lily-flame.co.uk) that smells incredible, and Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck perfume and handcream that I've been lusting after for so long

 Some amazing food!!! Is it bad that I've already eaten half of the sea salt caramels, marshmallows and Terry's chocolate orange? Oops :D

And my shoes from www.boohoo.com! My mum gave me them early for a dinner I went to at the beginning of December and they're so comfortable! 

I also got a couple of other goodies and some money and vouchers. I'm so grateful for all the wonderful gifts I recieved, I've been so lucky!

I'd love to know what you all got for Christmas! 

Lots of love,

Ellay xxx

Ugly Days

I’m pretty sure nearly every girl will agree when I say 'ugly days' are the worst. Most of us, if not all, have them now and again. We’re girls, we’re not always going to be completely satisfied with how we look 24/7! But they’re annoying as hell, and typically, for me anyway, whenever I have them I just happen to have something planned that day for me to do, or people to see or impress. 

A lot of things contribute to the whole day becoming ‘ugly’ for me...

♛ Spots – I’m a typical teenage girl and just as I get rid of one, another three appear! I’m yet to find a miracle cream or gel that gets rid of them within a couple of hours (if anyone knows of any though, let me know! Haha J), and until I do, I’ll be a part of this constant battle against my skin.

♛My hair – sometimes I can leave my hair for days without washing it and my curls will stay intact and it won’t get greasy at all, but then there are other times when I’ll wash my hair and hours later, it’ll be like a mass of rats tails, or completely the opposite, and just a frizzy mess! Once again, a constant battle.

♛My body – I have many a ‘fat day’, especially recently with all this delicious Christmas grub everywhere! I always gain weight around this time of year and it really bugs me, but I have the worst willpower and can’t resist those extra roast potatoes for dinner, or hog roast baps at the Christmas fairs!

♛Friends and people in general – even a silly tiff with a mate or an argument with my brother before school can put a downer on the day and make me feel really self-pitiful and ugly.

♛In general, nothing going right.

When I have an ‘ugly day’, I act completely different to how I normally am. I’m quiet and reserved and feel unsociable and lazy. It’s crazy how much it can affect my self-confidence and today, typically the day when me and a few friends had a night out at the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park planned, I feel as vile as ever. I had to stop myself cancelling on them and spending all evening in bed with Eastenders and a big mug of hot chocolate.

The cause of this spontaneous ‘ugly day’ is mainly down to the massive swell that appeared on my top lip this morning. Yesterday afternoon, whilst playing with my ridiculously hyper doggy, he accidently bit my face when jumping up at me. I thought it was okay, until I woke up this morning with a swelled up lip with a red spot in the middle of it. Vile. With a crazy amount of concealer, I thought I’d be able to hide it and get away without anybody noticing. Alas no, over the course of the night, it eventually reared its ugly head and I basically ended up looking like I had three lips, which is just lavely.

So since I’ve been home, all I’ve been able to do is constantly check in the mirror at the disgusting mass on my face and wallow in self-pity. Ugh.

Whether we like it or not, we’re going to have these days once in a while and I suppose all we can do to help ourselves is prepare for them. So I recommend massive, share-sized bags of crisps, chocolate and a good romantic movie, and you should be feeling better in no time J

I also find that a nice long chat over the phone with a funny mate also helps cheer me up as well!  

Love and hugs,

Ellay xxx

Christmas time!

December is probably my favourite month of the year. There is this constant anticipation for the 25^th, lots of planning, decorations everywhere, and cheesy Christmas music blaring out of the speakers in every shop. It’s so festive and everyone’s generally in a much happier mood as well, which is a bonus :) 

Friday was the last day of term at school for me and it was completely holiday-orientated, it was great! We started off with a whole-school music competition, lots of different groups performing songs and ballads. Typically, my team, or ‘house’ as we call them, came last, but ‘it’s not the winning that matters, it’s the taking part!’ but I didn’t take part… so that mantra doesn’t apply. Then we had our annual Christmas pantomime done by the lower sixth (my year), which I again did not take part in, but I was secretly jealous of the amazing costumes and hairstyles involved!

Then I went out for a lovely lunch with four of my friends and we enjoyed some final jokes and banter before going our separate ways for a few weeks, travelling off to different parts of the world and doing different things.

I’ve been disappointed in myself this year though. Normally the excitement has started building up and the decorations are all over the walls and furniture by the end of November, but the tinsel box hasn’t been touched, nor have many cards been sent off and the Santa hat remains stuffed at the back of the cupboard. 

But despite my un-festive spirit this year, there are many, many things that I’m looking forward to doing now that it’s the Christmas holidays…

Christmas movie marathons

A bunch of mates, mugs of hot chocolate, blankets and a stack of Christmas-related movies – the majority of what I’ll be doing this holiday!
Movies in my pile include (and I’m all for cartoons and kiddy ones)…

♛The Polar Express

♛Elf

♛Love Actually

♛Shrek The Halls (so brilliant…)

♛Fred Claus

♛Home Alone

Wrapping up

Fashion-wise, winter is my favourite month. It’s all about the layers, the hats and scarves and gloves, the jumpers, the snuggly boots. I love wrapping up all cosy and warm and looking like I’ve stepped out of the house in half of my wardrobe.

Snow

I absolutely adore snow; I could spend all day in it if it wasn’t so cold :P And obviously, there’s only a possibility of waking up to a white blanket of the stuff in the dead of winter. A snowy Christmas day, for me, is like a dream come true. There’s just so many magical and fairytale qualities to snow, it’s just amazing and I think it really completes the ‘Christmas experience’.

My dog loves snow!

Christmas songs

A Christmas playlist full of cheesy, oldie songs is an important ingredient to the perfect Christmas.

Some of my favourite are…
♛  Fairytale of New York – The Pogues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9jbdgZidu8
♛ White Christmas – Michael Bublé

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OsgqpnuizY

♛  Shake Up Christmas – Train

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-8VCL4uSUc
♛  Christmas Lights – Coldplay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1rYmzQ8C9Q
♛   All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXQViqx6GMY

The food

I think most people can agree that the food around Christmas time is some of the best all year! I honestly look forward to the turkey, crispy roast potatoes, stuffing, ‘pigs in a blanket’, mulled wine, Christmas pudding and trifle for months! My family and I rarely eat meals together, so it’s a rare treat to have my parents, brother, grandmother and uncle huddled round the table in front of the fire with our little paper crowns on, pulling crackers and digging in to some delicious nosh.

The decorations

Who doesn’t love having their house covered in tinsel and paper chains, with a massive green tree in their front room? I also love going past houses covered in those pretty blue and white fairy lights with wreathes hanging on the doors and lit-up Father Christmas and Snowman faces in the windows!

And of course… the presents!

The exchanging of gifts on the 25^th is the perfect end to the Christmas period. As nice as it is receiving them, it’s also just as satisfying seeing someone’s face light up in joy when they open the present that you bought for them!

What do you enjoy about Christmas?

Lots of love and hugs,

Ellay xxx

(all photos are mine, taken last winter)