Update: 04/02/13

Hello lovelies! 

I've been neglecting this blog quite a bit recently and I feel utterly guilty, but to be honest, I haven't felt enourmously inspired to write any posts. 

My life hasn't been majorly interesting since new year, but nevertheless, it's been quite fun...


1. I went to my first rugby match ever with one of my best friends! We caught the train to High Wycombe and watched the London Wasps VS Rugby Mogliano game at Adams Park. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit, the only downer was when my friend, Em, knocked a cup of hot coffee all over this old farmer guy when we were trying to get to our seats and he went absolutely mental, and worse, we had to sit next to him and his equally-fuming farmer friend for the next hour and a half. Oh well.


2. It snowed! There was almost 7 inches in my area and I spent days taking pictures of the gorgeous white blanket! Kind of annoying though... the first day it started snowing happened to be an inset day sort-of-thing because of these 11+ examinations taking place there (exams for the 10/11 year olds that are applying to get into Year 7 at my school). However, my year had to go in and sort everything out and organise them and get them into their exam rooms while everyone else from my school enjoyed the day off, playing and sledging in the snow. But it snowed constantly all weekend and on my way to school on Monday, I slipped over and messed up my back, so got the day off to sit at home and rest! :) 

my pink snowboots! 

Alfie got a snow beard!

3. On the 23rd of Jan, I went to the birthday party of one of my close friends! It was at an amazing, trendy restaurant called Nobu in London, and we were sat in the 'VIP Corner'. And guess which incredibly famous star happened to be on the table next to us that evening? Only Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas! He sung happy birthday to my friend (along with the rest of the restaurant), he bought us dessert, then just as he was about to leave, he decided to sit down at our table and talk to us for the next hour about why we should study and appreciate our parents, and how technology is advancing so rapidly! It was crazy, I practically fainted when I first saw him, and almost died when he started talking to us and agreed to have a photo taken with us. He was the nicest, funniest (if not slightly tipsy) guy! 

I look like a complete idiot, but aaaaah (here's proof! :) ) 

my friend's absolutely amazing, yummy birthday cake 

I really liked my hair that night :P 

4. I had a little group of friends round for dinner on Saturday night. I nicely forced Em into helping me cook (pasta and meatballs for main course, Oreo cheesecake for dessert). However, we ended up cooking the meatballs while we were half-drunk, so most of it ended up splashed all over the wall, or on the floor for my dog to lick up! When we'd finally cooked it and poured it onto the plates, it sort of resembled a pile of meaty-tomato sick, so the running joke all night was 'I really hope we don't get food poisoning tomorrow morning!'. But despite this, it went down well and everyone enjoyed it, and the Oreo cheesecake was the cherry on top! It was amaaazing. I used this fab recipe from Lottieslittlekitchen and it went down a treat. 

5. Next Saturday evening, Em's having a little Chinese New Year party with a couple of our friends and her older brother and some of his friends and I'm already excited! An endless supply of margaritas, strawberry daiquiris, gin and tonics, tequilas and mojitos has been guaranteed! 

Lots of love, 

Ellay xxx 

Spontaneity + travelling

Do you ever feel like packing up your camera, a notebook and some tasty snacks and escaping for the day? Or dragging a friend along with you to a remote beach in a not-too-near place, or a forest, or empty field, just to get away from the normal routine of life?

I love spontaneity with all my heart. I’m all for impulsiveness and sudden plans. As much as I love the anticipation of an exciting event, or to buy something, or see someone, etc. I’m an extremely impatient person and I much prefer doing things then and there. Recently, with school looming in the not-so-distant/not-distant-enough future and the thought of the boring repetitiveness of life in the New Year, I’ve had a craving to travel,  go somewhere new or do something unpredictable. I live in the south of England and with easy access to many different trains and buses, I find it quite difficult to resist hopping on one and getting off somewhere I’ve never been and exploring. However, despite this strong hunger for ‘newness’ and exploration, I don’t think I’m brave enough just yet to face the world (or rather, a little city/village nearby) on my own. And annoyingly, with this fear of independence, comes having to make plans with a friend that I’ve managed to convince to join me, meaning that I have to wait.
I don’t like waiting.

Brighton and Paris have been on my mind a lot recently. I would happily call them two of my favourite cities (is Brighton a city?) that I’ve visited and I’ve been longing for the touristy, beachy, fish-and-chippy feel of Brighton, and the elegant and classy atmosphere of Paris for a while now.

I’ve only been to Brighton twice and Paris once, but I knew instantly when I visited them that they were going to be places that I repetitively return to during my life, and of which lots of memories will be created around. I would say I have quite a reliable gut-feeling, in that when I feel like something is a bit dodgy/something bad is going to happen/something amazing is going to happen/etc., it usually does. I had a really strong gut-feeling when I visited both of these places that I was going to fall in love with them, and I have. 

the rather beautiful ruins of an old pier that burnt down years ago in Brighton 

 birdies on Brighton pier!

the pier - it's sooo beautiful. 

France...

 Pariiiiiiiiiis

 a view from one of the tall buildings in Paris :P (can't quite remember which - probably the Eiffel Tower)

 another stunning view

I also have an unbelievable amount of love for Iceland. It's probably one of the most stunning countries that I have ever visited, and I’ve been incredibly lucky enough to have travelled quite a lot with my family and seen many cities and sites. But Iceland was one of the countries that completely took my breath away, literally. It is visually beautiful, the people are so kind and the general ambiance of the country is just so peaceful and serene.

I went with my school on a geography trip to Iceland last October (2011) and some of the scenery that I saw will be some that I will remember for the rest of my life. 

Strokkur Geysir

lava field covered in mossy plants (it's bouncy when you walk on it!)

Glymur waterfall

Svartifoss waterfall - my favourite

a glacier and some snow-topped mountains

we saw so many vibrant rainbows!

(If anyone would like to see more pictures or know anything more about my trip/recommendations for places to go for any reason, let me know! :) ) 

Have you visited anywhere that you felt a special connection to and felt inspired by?

Lotsa love,

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)