Liebster Award #1

Hey guys! so a couple months back I was nominated for the Liebester Aard by the lovely Carolyn over at Carolyn's Simple Life. I know it's been a while since I should have posted this but I completely forgot about it till it came up in conversation over coffee while she was up visiting her sister. 

I wasn't 100% sure what to do, so with the help of Google, here we go!
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Before completing the award you must:

1. Thank the blogger who presented this award and link back to their blog.

2. Answer the questions posted by the presenter.
3. Nominate 11 bloggers who you feel deserve this award.
4. Ask your nominees 11 questions. 

As I already thanked Carolyn above, I've decided just to skip straight to the questions she asked:

1.  What inspired you to start blogging?

Some of the reasons why I started blogging was to improve my English writing skills (I'll let you be the judge of that!) and because I don't really have very many hobbies and often find myself bored with nothing to do. I was also inspired by fellow bloggers such as Zoella, Tanya Burr and Sprinkle of Glitter. 

2.  What is your favourite quote?

I have a few:
"Never let the fear of striking out, keep you from playing the game"
"A tiger never loses sleep over the opinion of sheep"
"Being yourself is the prettiest you can be"

3.  Favourite place to shop?

I don't really have a favourite place but I'm currently loving loads of things from New Look and H&M. Also you can never fault Primark to have something that you don't love with a cheap price tag!

4.  If you could live in any fictional world which would it be? And why?

As in book fictional or anything? I don't really read much but I wouldn't mind being a wizard for a day or to live in a sitcom such as Modern Family. Or even in the soap Hollyoaks. 

5.  What's your go to comfort food when you're ill?

It's bee a long time since I've been ill, but when I've felt a little under the weather I tend to make myself a fancy hot chocolate (marshmallows and everything) curl up under my duvet and watch a Zac Efron film.

6.  What are some of your favourite blogs to read?

The ones that inspired me to start blogging as well as Hannah, Niomi and Giovanna.

7.  If you could road trip around any country where would it be?

This is actually on my bucket list; to take a road trip of a country. I'd love to travel round countries such as Australia or even just the UK as there are loads of places I haven't been. But something I definitely want to do is take a road trip from one side of America to the other and have my photo taken underneath the state sign.

8.  If you could have a meal with anyone famous (dead or alive) who would it be and why?

I think I would have to choose the McFly family as Mcfly have been my favourite band since I was little and it would be a dream come true to meet them!

9.  Have you been to any concerts?  Which ones?  What concert would you love to go too?

Would you really like me to name them all? Maybe leave that to a future post!

10.  What is your musical guilty pleasure?

I don't really know what to class as my guilty pleasure, I guess recently I've gone through a stage of listening to hundreds of Disney songs. and I still really like Britney Spears' old stuff, I guess that could be a guilty pleasure.


I nominate:

The Minty Fox
As Cute As A Button
Adventures Of Wonderland
Tartan Fairytales
Oh So India Charlotte
That Miss Glabraith
Laura And Amelia
Chloe's Floral World
Hello Tashaa
Pretty Loved
Bold Frames
Cupcakes and Candyfloss
And anyone else who would like to do this :)

And here are your questions!

Why did you start blogging?
Weird celebrity crush?
if you could meet any blogger in real life who would it be and why?
whats currently on your nails?
what do you order from starbucks/costa etc?
share some of your favorite posts of yours
What song can't you stop singing right now?
Dream holiday destination?
where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

What little things make you happy?

Who would play you and a movie about your life?

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Hope you enjoyed this post! Can't wait to read the responses :)

Esmee x

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Hectic Week // Life Update

So this week has been pretty busy for me. 

On Sunday I spent 5 hours in a car driving down to my Grandparents house in Newcastle to be meet by my cousins too for a party tea (think little kids tea party) which was really sweet as I hadn't seen them in a while and they couldn't make it to the meal out. 

Monday was my 17th birthday. At breakfast while I was opening my presents (more of that next week probably) my Grandma told the story of how she came back from the shops on Monday 20th October 1997 to meet my Grandad in floods of tears about being given their first granddaughter, there were tears in her eyes repeating it. I spent the afternoon in the Metro Centre before going out for a Chinese for dinner (we always go there when I'm down in Gateshead, the food is just too good not to!).

We took a trip to Beamish on Tuesday. It is an open air museum telling the story of life in the North East of England from the 1820s to 1940s. There is a school, church and mine in one area (as well as an old fashion fish and chip shop that is incredible!), an old fashioned farm in another and a town in the other corner. The 1900s town is built of bricks that came from houses just down the road from my grandparents house as my Grandad liked to remind my sisters. All the old shops were lined up and full of people dressed in clothes from that time on hand to answer questions and tell stories. First stop was, of course, the old fashioned sweet shop where in the kitchen at the back you could watch the men making the sweets. I love going to Beamish, even if it was full of school trips this time. Oh and the whole place is linked by trams, obviously.

Wednesday was a boring day, spending the 5 hours driving back home. Although I did finally get round to watching my McFly: 10 Years at the Royal Albert Hall DVD that my little sister got me for Christmas last year!
Thursday, Friday and Saturday we're spent at work, constantly answering "Yes we are closing down" (you would think the big read "CLOSING DOWN SALE" stickers covering the shop window would be obvious). I only have a few weeks left at this job so have been on the hunt for a new one but had no success as of yet.
On Saturday night, one of my closest friends, Paige, came over to celebrate my birthday. Diet on Monday I swear! After watching X Factor we decided to watch Insidious…I can't remember what people have said about it but to be honest I didn't think it was that scary and parts of it were so predictable, and the creature trying to take over Dalton's body is more comical than it is scary. The clocks also what back that night meaning an extra hour of Alan Carr Chatty Man. 

We went into town today to see Love, Rosie (more about that at a later date but I do highly reccomend it!). We had a quick nosy round the shop, including going into the Yankees Candle shop and smelling pretty much all of them, late lunch/early dinner at Yo Sushi (also one of my favourite places eat!) before the movie. The annoying thing was that I forgot to check the bus timetable so we had to hang around in Costa coffee for pretty much an hour and a half waiting for the 20:45 bus meaning I only got home about half an hour ago…hence why this post is going up so late/on Monday morning. 

So anyway, back to school tomorrow/today depending if blogger behaves and uploads this. The return of kilts and this time, a red tie. 

Esmee x

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October Book Haul/Recommendations/Wishlist

There seems to be a thing about October and books (Apparently it's a thing, I googled it. Here's the link: booktober). So many people have been doing book hauls recently and considering I spent the other day browsing the Amazon Kindle book store and purchasing a few. I thought I'd share those along with some of the books I read over the summer that I recommend to many and a few other ones that I really want to read.

So lets start with that haul first.

Love, Rosie by... - I saw the trailer for this before I knew it was a book, when I realised there was a novel version I decided to buy it before going to see the film which comes out 2 days after my birthday. It is about a guy and a girl, Alex and Rosie, who have been friends since they were little. The story follows them growing up and trying to maintain this friendship as well as dealing with other life issues such as marriage, divorce, unemployment, kids etc. It is written as letters and emails between the characters which makes it more interesting and different to read. (After writing this post I did actually read and finish it before the movie release date, 22nd if anyone is wondering!). I always prefer reading the books before seeing the films and now I can't wait to see it and how Lily Collins and Sam Calfin portray Rosie and Alex.
Daughterby Jane Shemilt - This book came up as a popular kindle book as well as one recommended to me. Since then I've seen a few people talk about it which has made me excited to read it when I have a spare minute. It follows Jenny Malcome, mother of missing girl Naomi. She is desperate to find out the truth of Naomi's disappearance as it's destroying her family, but like the blurb says; "Is finding the truth about Naomi the only way to put them back together? Or is the truth the thing that will finally tear them apart?" 
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - Another one that has been made into a film recently. But that wasn't the reason behind buying it. After watching Tanya Burr talk about the book it pretty much every single video when she vlogged through September, I was tempted on a number of occasions to purchase the book. Mixed opinions regarding the ending of the book were what were spoken about the most making me want to form my own opinion. (Apparently the ending of the film has been changed to possibly satisfy those who didn't like the way the book ended?)
A Groom With A View  but Sophie Ranald - The reason behind me buying this book, to be honest, was the cheap price tag. I read the blurb and thought it sounded quite interesting as it's about Nick, the groom, that takes over the wedding planning and Pippa's soon to be mother-in-law causing trouble between the couple.

Here's the ones I recommend!

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - I would class myself as a Fangirl sometimes but the complete opposite to Cath. She's wrapped up in her own little world writing incredibly popular fanfiction yet is lost without her sister. How does Cath cope with Wren decides she wants to do her own thing at uni? 
You're The One That I Want by Giovanna Fletcher- I cannot fault this woman's work! Growing up, Maddy had three options for finding love; Ben, the hopeless romantic who has always been there and loved her since she was little, Robert, cheeky and ever so cocky- the complete ladies man, or someone new. You're The One That I Want follows the lives of three characters; Maddy, Ben and Robert, starting from when they were little all the way up to Maddy and Robert's wedding day and what happens after. The chapters are written in Ben and Maddy's point of view with sections of Robert's wedding speech at the start of every chapter which I think is very clever twist on the story. I highly recommend this novel along with Giovanna's debut novel Billy & Me. 
Serial Hottie by Kelly Oram - This was another one that I bought because it cost little and I thought it would be an easy going read. How wrong I was, it had me hooked the whole way through!  New boy Seth moves in across the road to Ellie just as a girl who looks identical to Ellie is bruteily murdered. As more almost identical girls are murdered, Seth tries to get closer to Ellie which only put ideas into her and her sister's head about this new mysterious boy. Is Seth the killer or not?
Ooh! What A Lovely Pair by Ant & Dec - I love diving into the lives of celebrities and what's better than their autobiography? There are so many laugh-out-loud moments in this book and I love the way they add sarcastic comments into each other's stories! 
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - Like I said earlier I always prefer reading the book before seeing the film so I set myself the task of finishing this before the movie came out…and guess what? I succeeded! 

My current wish list. 

Girl Online by Zoe Sugg - Who doesn't want to read the debut novel by one of the biggest internet celebrities (that one or two of you may never of heard of)? Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella, is a British blogger and vlogger with a fan base of over 6 million 'Sugglets'. After recently launching her own range of bath products, in late November she is releasing her debut novel, Girl Online. Although it is not an autobiography, it contains lots of features about her own life for example; leading lady Penny writes a blog and suffers from panic attacks just like Zoe, because of this Zoe will be able to effectively portray what it's like to suffer from them and make it feel real. 
If I Stay by Gayle Forman - There was so much talk about this novel a few months back but I decided to wait until everything calmed down a bit before reading it. Now that it has though, this book has gone from my "definitely" to my "maybe" list so I don't know if I will be buying this very soon. 
Christmas With Billy & Me by Giovanna Fletcher - In fact I have already pre-ordered this! How could I not, I adored Billy & Me. It made me smile, it made me angry, it made me laugh and it made me cry. I'm excited to be going back to visit one of my favourite "book couples" especially for Christmas!
Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard - This one I'm debating actually buying the book or just waiting till I go to uni and get the entire boxset!

Have you read any of the books I want to? What do you think? Any books your would recommend? 

Esmee x

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Perks of Working in a Sports Shop

Handbags? Meh. Jewellery? No thanks. Shoes?...YES PLEASE!!!

I get jealous about two random possessions...cameras and shoes - especially trainers (weird I know right? Of all things :P).
I fact I recently I recently told a guy I know that I wanted his trainers (red Adidas trainers with white stripes on) and his reply wasn't a comment about me being creepy or weird but that we would have to plan not to wear them on the same day. Of course, I'm not going to go out and buy the exact same shoes as his...especially not now I have these new beauties in my life!

These trainers are part of the Adidas NEO range and cost around £50. Some people would say this is too much for a pair of trainers but trust me their worth it! They are the comfiest thing I've bought in a long time and haven't left my feet sore after wearing them at work all day. The only problem with them is that I had to get a size bigger as they're made quite small but to be honest that's not really a problem.

Esmee x

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Just thought I'd give you a little life update too...since buying these shoes and writing this post I've found out I only have about 6 weeks left working there as it's closing down :( I know it's odd to be sad about not having to work but I really enjoy working there and I'm gonna miss it when it's gone :(