A Night To Remember

Hi!

I was lucky enough to get to go and see The Script at The Capital FM Arena in Nottingham a few weeks ago, thanks to a very lovely friend who got me tickets for Christmas. Personally, I've never been to a bad concert or gig (whatever you call them) and The Script is definitely up there in my top three... It might even just be a war between them and McBusted for top spot because they were just awesome.

The one thing I really loved about this concert, aside from the fact that it was The Script, obviously, was that it was a really down-to-earth show, there wasn't a load of unnecessary props or staging, it was just them and a stage and a whole load of amazing lighting effects going on. 

I don't think this spoils anything... It's pretty obvious as soon as you get in the main part of the venue because you see it straight away but if you're worried this is a spoiler, jump straight to the next paragraph now. There is a little stage a little bit further back than the middle of the floor where they disappear to part way through the show and they play a beautiful piano version of The Man Who Can't Be Moved after saying how much the song changed their lives, and it was one of the most beautiful things ever. I didn't want to move after it, it was so stunning. Also the fact that they did this so that everyone, even the fans that were stood at the back of the venue or had seats back there, could get a chance to see them properly and they wouldn't just be little pin-pricks in the distance was such a lovely thing to think about.

The whole show was all about the fans and you could tell that, from their energy on stage, their banter with each other, the dedications of their songs, their enthusiasm, the way they got the crowd involved. At one point a fan standing even fainted and they made sure that security got to her and helped her before they continued with the show, which I thought was lovely, not many bands/singers would have that kind of concern for their fans. It was all pretty amazing. 

One thing they'd stopped doing for a while in this tour but did was the 'phone an ex' game. I'd heard of this but I wasn't sure they ever actually did it but, apparently, on their previous tours they would get a member of the audience to phone an ex and they would then sing to them down the phone - it was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time and definitely added something a bit different and unique to their show!

I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this concert at all, it was one of the best I've been to and my feet were killing me afterwards but I guess that just means I had one hell of a good time!

Katie x

A Day of Little Ones: Part 1

Hello!

Last Thursday I had another lovely day with Daisy and then took Megan and Sophie out in the afternoon. 

It was awesome to get to spend the afternoon with the Megs and Soph actually because, as you can tell by the many posts about her, I get to spend quite a lot of days out with Dais but not so many with her big sisters, because they're in school during the day. So I loved getting to spend time with them, even if it did result in me having to push a broken bike all the way back to their home!

We decided to have a change and go to a different park after we'd been to soft play for the morning, so Bitts Park is where we ended up! I think, I'm not sure though but I think, it might be one of the biggest parks in the city and it has a massive adventure-climbing-frame-thing... I don't know what you call them but children that use them have to wear helmets and harnesses and stuff. So yeah, it's a pretty amazing park.

We didn't do any of the big adventure stuff though, due to Daisy being too little and me not wanting the heart failure of seeing her suspended up that high!

Rather than bombard you with pictures because, trust me, there are a lot of them, I'm going to do this blog post in two parts: The morning with my Little One and then the afternoon with my Bigger Little Ones!

I'm loving this nice weather, it's perfect for these kind of days!

Katie x

Cup-Coordination-Genius!

Hello!

Last night, on my midnight internet browse, I found this amazing cover of Lorde's Royals!

I'm not the biggest fan of Lorde or her music - no particular reason, I just never really caught onto her music like most people - however, this girl, Sarah Stone, has done an absolutely, freaking amazing version of the song.

Want to know what makes it so unique? She does the backing music with a cup! It's basically her own rendition of Royals by using a cup and, I have to say, it's genius!

I have no idea how long it took her to perfect this but I'm guessing it wasn't an easy task that she did in a day - I still struggle with just the simple cup song (I have zero coordination... it sucks), never mind this!

Honestly, I don't even have words to describe how awesome this cover is. You're just going to have to watch it and see for yourself!

On a scale of 1 to freaking genius - how incredible is this?!

Katie x

A Lovely Few Weeks!

Hello!

I'm back!

Sorry for my notably long absence but, as I'm sure any frequent readers know, I've been on my holidays and to say the wi-fi there was awful would be an understatement - they may as well have not had any, it was that bad. My brother also got married this week so when we came back off holiday a lot of my time was thrown into helping them get organised for the big day.

I'm back now though, so you can expect a lot more blog posts to be coming your way!

I figured since it's been a while since I've blogged I'd ease myself back into it with a general little chat and life update for y'all.

Despite the lack of decent wi-fi, our holiday was still incredible. In fact, maybe the lack of wi-fi made it better, it meant you weren't stressing so much about what was happening at home. It definitely made it more relaxing.

We went to this quaint little hotel in Ovacik, Turkey, called Hotel Leytur and it was positively adorable.

This is the second time we've been to this particular hotel and I just love how quiet and relaxed it is. It's not right in the middle of an enormous, lively city but it's not far away from a little bustling one known as Hisaronu (there's supposed to be some accent-y things over certain letters in 'Hisaronu' too but that's just too complicated to try and add). If you wanted to go out for a night or have a change of scenery it's easy to just jump on a doormush (minibus) and it's only five minutes away. We went there a couple of times and I can definitely see why people describe it as the 'Turkish Blackpool' because that's exactly what it reminds me of. It has all of the lights and activity that Blackpool has - it even has a miniature fun fair!

There was a Turkish Night whilst we were staying there too, where they had a BBQ Grill type-thing outside - there was sooooo much yummy food, I was completely and utterly stuffed! They had a belly dancer too after all of the food, who was not only an amazing dancer but she was hilarious too! She got loads of the people staying at the hotel up to dance with her and it's safe to say that a lot of them had the dancing abilities of an awkward giraffe!

It was a fantastic little get away for my mama and I and I'd recommend it to anyone, especially if you like to just sunbathe by the cleanest pool you've ever seen and relax for the duration. It's perfect.

We only arrived back two days before the wedding so there wasn't much time to do anything else, although I did manage to squeeze in an afternoon with Daisy, which was just super cute, as always!

Then it was the wedding my whole family had been waiting for! 

My big brother finally tied the knot! It was something that, although him and his partner had been together for over ten years, we never actually thought would happen. I always remember when I was little and I'd play with my dress up dolls and read books about Cinderella getting married to her Prince Charming, my brother would tell me he didn't see the point in marriage, it was just a posh piece of paper after all. None of us ever thought someone would manage to change his stubborn mind but they did and I couldn't be happier for them! 

It was a truly wonderful and stunning day and the weather managed to stay amazing for the whole day, too! I would say welcome to the family to his new wife but she's always really been part of the family to me, so there's not much point!

And that's everything. That has been my life up to now... Aside from the part where I left my kindle in Starbucks on Friday - that wasn't fun. I'm pretty sure my heart still hasn't returned to the correct rhythm after that wee heart attack. Don't worry, my kindle and I have been reunited and we've been spending a lot of time together in our attempt to put the mistake behind us and continue with our relationship...

Katie x

A Mid Week Pick-Me-Up #2

Hello!

I did a post like this last week and I really enjoyed it, so I thought why not do it again!

(If you missed last weeks then click HERE to give it a quick read).

When it gets to the middle of the week, I always feel like I'm need of a good pick-me-up or something to simply spur me on.

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." - Vivian Greene

This is just an amazing quote, in my opinion! 

This, to me, just means don't let anything hold you back. If you have to do something new to get you to where you need to be then go for it, dance in the rain! I can't dance to save my life, I just look like a really awkward... I don't know... giraffe. I look like a really awkward giraffe. Yep. That about sums me up. It doesn't stop me from dancing though! In fact, I probably dance way more than any person with my coordination should...

I hear dancing in the rain can be pretty amazing too, although it probably results in one hell of a cold afterwards but it would be worth it! Don't let something as meager as a storm hold you back when it's something that you can make the most of and fight through, you just have to be willing to try.

Katie x 

Best Concert EVER!

Hello!

I think I mentioned in THIS post that I was going to see McBusted last week. Well, I did and they were fantastic!

(Don't worry, I don't plan on writing about any spoilers or anything if you're planning on going - I'm just going to say how amazing it was!)

I had such an amazing time and it was, without doubt, the best concert I've ever been to! I just wish I wasn't a poor student and could afford to go again... And again... And again... You get how much I loved it, right?

Here's a few pictures that I took, I didn't take many but here they are!

Once the concert was over (*sad face*), my friend and I spent most of the next few days trying to figure out what it was that made it so much better than any other concert we'd been to. At first, we thought it was maybe because it was like reliving our childhood getting to see Busted again and we've always loved McFly anyway, but it seemed too amazing to just be that. Although it was amazing getting to see Busted on stage again (or two thirds of Busted). Dream. Come. True!

We also came up with the idea that it was because we were so close to the stage - I could see every feature on Tom's face, it was incredible. I think our great seats had a lot to do with it but they weren't the main reason for the concert being as great as it was. I'm sure if I'd been sat up at the back I would have had just as much of an awesome time.

I think the reason for it being the best concert I've ever been too was how funny they were. It was like being at a stand-up comedy gig at the same time! Just the way they were constantly laughing with (and at) each other made you laugh and the constant jokes they made, often at another band member's expense, changed a concert-music atmosphere into a hilarious-concert-that-we-didn't-want-to-leave atmosphere.

Also, this maybe isn't to everyone's taste but I enjoyed that they didn't hold back. By that I mean they were completely themselves on the stage and looked really at home. There were a lot of innuendos made and they didn't use the 'clean' versions of their songs and I personally loved that because it made it seem so much more real. I don't know of a single time where Busted ever held back when they were a band and it seems fitting that they don't now either. Obviously, a band like One Direction know they have a much higher percentage of younger followers and couldn't get away with that kind of thing, whereas, if you're going to see McBusted, chances are you're going to be over the age of 18, unless you've gone with a parent or sibling who once loved Busted because they only performed their old songs which most young people wouldn't know.

I can't wait for them to tour again, I'll definitely be making sure I grab tickets! In fact, it was that good, that I would even invest in OMFG! tickets next time, or whatever their VIP equivalent is in the future!

My friend and I also did a little shopping whilst we were in Glasgow so I might do a post on what I bought at some point because I found some lovely summer clothes on my venture! :)

Katie x 

Review: The Divergent Trilogy

Hello!

If the fact that I'm studying a whole lot of English at university doesn't tell you that I love to read, then here's me telling you: I love to read.

This means that I have a massive bundle of books that I'm dying to tell people about and I can't wait to share them with you!

The first book review is going to the amazing trilogy that is Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant, by Veronica Roth. 

Get ready to fall in love, and I don't just mean with Four.

Chances are, you will have at least heard of Divergent, if not the rest of the series, because it was recently in cinemas worldwide and, from what I've heard, the movie was a massive hit. Theo James was exactly how I imagined Four, so ten million points to the casting peoples for getting him.

For those of you who haven't heard of the series, or don't know what it's about, first of all, where have you been?! Secondly, it's a story set in a dystopian world where there are five factions: 

Abnegation (the selfless), 

Dauntless (the brave),

Candor (the honest), 

Amity (the peaceful), 

and Erudite (the intelligent). 

Every year, a choosing ceremony takes place where all sixteen year-old's must choose which faction they want to be a part of. However, before this, they have undergone an aptitude test that tells them which faction they are best-suited to.

It tells the story of how Tris, the main character, leaves Abnegation and joins Dauntless, leaving her family behind. Here she meets Four, her instructor during the difficult initiation process and they instantly have a connection. However, when she learns something dangerous about herself, something she has been told to keep hidden, she realises that something bigger is happening within the factions and that she might be able to do something about it.

I don't think I can even explain to you how much I absolutely adore Divergent. It's amazing. It's written beautifully for a start but it's just so easy to get into, it flows so well, and you quickly become attached to characters (although you'll later learn your lesson for doing that). I love the dystopian, futuristic world too, it's so different from anything you would think of in life yet it completely absorbs you into their way of thinking.

I also love the strength that Tris's character has, she's self-reliant and doesn't need anyone else to fight her battles for her but I think it's great that Veronica Roth made her character so selfless and brave, too.

I don't think I need to say much about Four. If you read the book, you will know exactly how much I love him and why, because you will too. He comes across as a really masculine and mysterious character however, as the book, and the whole series, goes on, you slowly start to find out who he is and how much depth there is to his character, you start to see the softness inside him that just makes my heart melt. As a little side-note, I believe there are more short stories, being released on Kindle, from Four's point of view, for us Four addicts - Eeeek! 

I think the subtlety of the relationship between Tris and Four was done perfectly. It wasn't the main focus of the book and it didn't take away from, or take over, the story line. The gradual build-up to their relationship worked perfectly as a break from the action going on throughout the book.

I don't really want to say much about the second and third books because I feel you wouldn't necessarily understand what I was talking about if you hadn't read the first but they were both amazing too (obviously). 

I whizzed through the series in just one weekend, and they're not particularly short books either, but I just couldn't put them down. So make sure you have nothing planned when you start reading these because you won't want to stop!

Five out of five stars from me, I love these books soooo much! 

Go read them, I promise you won't regret it!

Katie x