Boys Have Got It Easy

Boys lives are so much easier than girls whether they are teenagers or adults. This is because....

Girls Have To (and boys don't)
Have periods (and act as though everythings normal)
Give birth if they want children
Carry a child for 9 months if they want children
Wear Bras
Remove hair
Wear skirts (if they go to my school)
Cope with gender inequality
Prove they can do some things as well as boys (jobs, sport etc)

Friends

Yesterday, I watched the last ever episode of friends. I have seen the whole series over the past year. My mum was so obsessed with it at the time that she taped the entire series as they were shown over the years. I love it too! My favourite character is Pheobe because she is so crazy. I think I am a little bit like her! I really liked the ending, especially because of the twins and the Ross and Rachel story. They should have been together ages ago. I think my favourite moment from the episode was when Ross is listening to Rachel's phone message. He was so funny.

While I have been watching it, I have noticed that there are many similarities between Friends and the Big Bang Theory. Here are some. There are many more than this.

They are both filmed in front of a studio audience.
They are both set in an apartment building where several of the main characters live across the hall from each other.
They're both about people in their late twenties.
They both have an on going, on/off relationship.
They have geeks Ross and most of the Big Bang gang.
They have OCD Monica and Sheldon.
They have not so clever actors Joey and Penny.
They have a funny guy Chandler and Howard.

Are these coincidences, or did the writers do it on purpose? Both of these shows have been a big success in England and America.  Is this because they are so similar, or is it something else that has made these two shows so popular? What do you think?

The General Election

With the general election just around the corner, it is all they are talking about on the news. It can be very annoying, especially as it seems that it is not important to us teens. However, if you are 13 or older now, you will be old enough in five years time to vote when they have the next general election. It can be difficult to know what party is the best one to vote for so if you start paying attention now, next time you will already have some background knowledge. It will be very useful if you take note now of who has good ideas, who keeps their promises and who doesn't deliver what they say they will deliver in the next few years.

Many people in the age group 18 to 25 do not vote. I think it is especially important to vote at this age as you will have to live with the changes for the rest of your life. Also, lots of the issues such as university fees, house prices, housing availability and jobs are especially important at this age. If we get involved now, the more informed our decision will be when we are 18.

Eye Shadow

Eye shadow was one of the first forms of make up I ever wore and I still love it now. I have noticed that quite a lot of people wear neutral colours but I prefer bright colours and soft pastels. Often I match them to the colour of my clothes. However, if you wear too much of these colours it doesn't look good, so you have to be a bit careful.

Day Time

For light to medium colours: Cover whole area with a pale pastel shade and sweep your chosen colour over your lid Add a little of a darker shade at the outer edge for extra definition.

For medium to dark colours: Cover whole area with a pale pastel shade then add some of your chosen colour on the outer side of your lid. Add a small amount of a darker shade at the outer edge for extra definition. This allows you to wear strong colours without it looking too heavy for daytime.

Finish both with a little crayon style eye liner and black mascara. Don't wear strong lipstick colours as this could over do it.

Night Time

This is what I wore to the evening of my cousin's wedding!
Cover whole area with a pastel shade then sweep a strong colour across the lid. Add a darker shade at the outer edge. Fully line your upper lash line and finish with a small flick. Use a crayon style eye liner along the outer side of the bottom lash line and bring it up to the flick. Finish with plenty of mascara!

If you haven't got the exact shade you want, you can easily mix two colours. Put your applicator in two eye shadows, one after another. It should blend naturally as you put it on your face.

The Black Reckoning

A few years ago, I read the Emerald Atlas, which is the first book in the Books of Beginning Series. The trilogy is about 3 children who are part of a prophecy to find 3 magical books that have immense power. The children were taken from their home in the middle of the night and have grown up in a series of terrible orphanages.Ten years on, they search for these books. However, they must find them before The Dire Magnus gets his hand on them. If he does, certain destruction will follow.

From reading that, I think you will understand why I love those books. The problem was, I read this book when it came out so I had to wait for the next one. The Fire Chronicle came out within a reasonable amount of time and I read that one too. The third book, The Black Reckoning was initially scheduled to come out on my birthday last year but publishing was delayed. This happened multiple times. Finally, the book has actually come out but it was from a different publisher.

I am really excited to have finally got this book and am reading it already. I am annoyed that it took so long though. I know publishers have to be sure a book will sell before they publish but it is very annoying when you are a fan of the series. Have you read any of these books?

Graphics CD Project

As one of my options (that weren't options), I picked graphics. This term, graphics is one of the topics we can pick to do on Wednesday morning. Our latest project is to design a cover for a CD. We get to make up a band name and  choose a genre. Also, we have to pick a theme to base the cover design on. Mine is water based as the album is going to be called H2O. I was going to have a picture of a whirlpool or waterfall on the front. What do you think? I love this project because it is about music which I love. I also love most things to do with design. I enjoyed making up the band name. It is quite hard to come up with a good band name. I thought of something good for my project, but what would you pick?

My Killer Cat

You may of noticed that on my profile I mentioned that I have a cat. What I didn't say is that he is a massive tom who thinks he is in charge and has serious cattitude. Every morning, he wakes my parents up when he wants breakfast. Sometimes he just meaows loudly at the bottom of the stairs until my dad wakes up and goes down. Mostly, he uses a different tactic. He jumps up onto my parents bed next to my mum and pushes back the quilt with his head so he can sit down. This wakes her up. Then, in an attempt to stop her going back to sleep, he purrs very loudly. If she tells him it is too early, he sits in front of the clock. When she doesn't get up, he repeatedly claws her skin and bashes her on the top of his head with his paw. She hides under the duvet but he wiggles underneath.

So as you can see, he is not your standard cat. If he wants food, you will know about it. He often sits on top of the TV and rips the wallpaper in the lounge if he thinks he hasn't had what he wants. You are not allowed to pick him up. He won't let you make a sandwich without giving him some. However, when he wants to be he is lovely. He is a beautiful brown mackerel tipped tabby and his fur is really silky. Here are some photos of him.

Bumble on the fireplace

Bumble on his windowsill

Bumble in his terratory

Bumble flopped

Spy cat!



Bumble in cute sleepy mode

Unfair Punishments

At my school, teachers are very inconsistent with punishments. They never follow the school policies and sometimes treat some students differently to others. Most of the time it suits me that the teachers don't hand out as many detentions as they should, but when you have done all your homework and the people who haven't aren't getting punished, it can be very annoying.

Also, I have noticed that a few of the teachers favour certain pupils and give the ones they do not like harsher punishments. Sometimes, this is because the pupil has broken the rules lots of times. However, I have known of several situations where this has happened for no good reason. There is one particular teacher who searches for things to complain about whenever she sees one of her least favourite students.

Recently, in PSHE, we were asked what we thought of the system and we told them what had been happening. However, previously there have been changes and we were told that the rules would be followed to the letter. it didn't happen. Does this happen at your school to, or are we particularly  unlucky?

1500 Page Views

First day back at school today. Boo! I hate going to bed knowing I will have to get up in the morning and that instead of doing what I want I will have to put on uniform. The day is never as bad as I expect it to be though. I am usually quite happy when I actually get ready and I like seeing everybody. When I got off the bus, I saw my friends crowded round a table and one of them came running up. Another good thing about the first day back is that they very rarely give you homework, giving me more time to write this.

Some of you may have seen I have a pageview counter. For some reason it does not come up on phones but those of you who read this on computers will know I now have over 1500 page views! I am really pleased as ever since I hit the 1000 pageview mark it seems to have gone up really quickly. Thank you to all who read this. Please tell your friends so this figure can keep going up.

Fun Fairs

As well as going shopping yesterday, I went to a fun fair. It was a travelling fair in Walpole park in Gosport called the John Wallace and sons fun fair. It comes a few times a year but it is not advertised much so you have to watch out for it. We went on a few rides which were the dodgems, the waltzers and a flying ride called the frogget. Fun fairs are perfect for teenagers. They are a good place to hang out with friends and I had a great time. This one was particularly good because it was not just kids stuff, there were quite a lot of grown up and scary rides. There was one that spun you upside down while you were high in the air that I would not go on (I don't do upside down). Although you had to pay £1.50 per ride, they were fairly long so it felt like it was worth the money. Do you like going to funfairs?

Sunglasses

Today I went shopping with my best friend. One of the things I bought was a pair of sunglasses. I haven't had a pair for a long time, not since I was very little. I wanted to try some but I didn't know if they would suit me. When I tried them on, I was surprised by how much I liked them, even though they are quite big. The pair I bought were a bargain. They do say that they have UV protection and even if they aren't that good quality, they're better than nothing. Also, it seemed silly to spend a lot as I wasn't sure how much I would like them. Do you wear sunglasses? What do yours look like?
These are all the things I chose:

Sunglasses, from New Look for £3.99.

A Choker Neclace from New Look for £1.99

T-Shirt from Peacocks for £4
This is the same top as featured on my
"Summer Gear" post a couple of weeks ago.

Rescue Remedy

I went shopping today and one of the things my Mum bought was Rescue Remedy (decorating my bedroom has not gone smoothly). It is a herbal mixture that relieves stress and makes you more relaxed. A long time ago my Mum took it before her driving test (and passed that time). For us teenagers, it can be useful if you are stressed about exams or something else at school. We have exams all the time at my school but I am lucky enough not to get too panicky. However, my friend uses it for our end of year tests as she gets quite worried about them. I have a feeling I might need it in year 11 though. The idea of sitting exams that will effect the rest of my life is not one I look forward to. I had never had it before but today I had a couple of drops to try. It tastes sweet but very alcoholic! Have you ever tried Rescue Remedy?

Tanya's Tutorials

As you all know, I like to post my make-up and style tips on this blog. Tanya Burr does similar on her You Tube channel, although unlike me she is a bit of an expert. Many of her videos offer advice and tutorials on make-up, often including party looks for nights out. She also does other videos about her life so her channel can be watched for entertainment too. I first found out about her from a Shout magazine last Christmas. I really like Shout, they have a good mix of celebs, fashion, beauty and random stuff. Here is the link to her channel.

https://www.youtube.com/user/pixi2woo/featured

Did you see her smoky eye video? It was easier than I had expected and the end result looked cool. What do you think of Tanya?

Braces Off!

The summer weather is definitely here! I have shorts on today as it was 21 degrees where I live (south of England). I also noticed that leaves were appearing on trees. Did you have nice weather where you are?

On Monday, my braces came off. I hated having them taken off as it hurts when they take the brackets off and they stick drills in your mouth to remove the glue. They then took impressions to make retainers and a mouth guard. I HATE having impressions as it makes me gag and choke. It felt a bit weird at first having no brace but I had got used to it after an hour or so.

Today, I went back to collect my retainers. They are small and lightweight pieces of plastic which are moulded to your teeth. You wear them in the evenings and at night to stop your teeth moving. What surprised me was that you are supposed to wear them every night until you are 20. I think it seems a little harsh that you will still be wearing them when you are an adult. I am going to try and wear mine as much as I can but I now understand why some people don't wear them as much as they should. Do you have a brace? What do you think about retainers?

New Nail Looks

As it is the school holidays, it is the perfect time to paint our nails. My nails are painted in a clear sparkly varnish but normally I am not that subtle. I have been looking through the Avon book and have discovered some new on trend nail looks.

1. The Matt Look. Personally, I like the shine that normal nail varnish gives to your nails but apparently matt varnishes are becoming more popular.

2. The gel Look. These gel nail vanishes often come in bright colours and have a salon finish without a UV lamp. I want to try these!

3. Fan Nail Art. Avon do a special nail brush in the shape of a fan. Paint your nails in a pale colour then use the brush to create random horizontal lines in several darker shades.

Have you painted your nails this holiday yet? Have you tried any of the above looks or did you go for a different style. Put a picture of your nails on your comment.

Dogs Have Got Talent

Britain's Got Talent started again last Saturday. As well as the rollerskating siblings and the freaky contortionists, there were several animal acts, including the first singing dog. Marc Métral brought his talking dog Wendy to the show and using ventriloquism she talked, meowed and sung to the judges. You can see Wendy's performance in the clip below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1inR2b7PS5M

Another dog had a different type of talent. He seemed to have very good judgement of people. Every time this tiny dog saw Ant, it ran off stage and tried to attack him. It was really funny because this dog was so tiny and cute when it wasn't attacking Ant. The clip below shows you what happened:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pJrO0H9Qmc

Later on, David Walliams decided he wanted to prove his canine talents. In Britain's Got More Talent, he dresses up as a dog for his own hilarious challenges:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l07fsh6_y4

The BGT auditions are on every Saturday for the next few weeks. Do you watch it?

Paint Colours

Today I have been thinking about choosing paint colours for my bedroom. I am going for a mix of pastels to create a light but colourful feel. I am having 2 walls pale yellow and 2 walls a light, bright blue. I will keep my aqua curtains and pink and purple accessories. This is the first time we have re-decorated my room since I was born so I am quite excited about being able to choose things myself. It can be hard because I am trying to make it look fairly grown up while keeping it fun. What colours do you have in your bedroom? I have also been filling up my new wardrobe. I like having all the space and it is a very good way to remind myself of all the clothes I have!

Ikea Wardrobes

Yesterday, I went to Ikea to buy a new wardrobe. Recently, I have had a bit of a disaster with my bedroom ceiling (it's a long story) and we are re-decorating my room. We needed to replace the old, built in wardrobe that I have at the moment. Ikea was great, I love going there and looking at all the clever and colourful designs. As I have mentioned on a previous post, they have lots of modern pieces perfect for teenagers. We bought a customised wardrobe from a range where you buy all the pieces separate so you can choose the size, doors, handles etc. Because the handles you choose from are all different sizes, you have to make the holes to attach them yourself (preferably without cracking the outer coating, getting them in the wrong place or having a nervous breakdown). This is what my parents are trying to do as we speak and I am starting to wonder if I will have a wardrobe before bedtime. Normally, we have little or no trouble putting together Ikea furniture, but wardrobes are definitely much harder. Here is some of their current (and non self assembly!) stuff that I particularly like. What do you think of them?

BRUNKRISSLA
Cool geometric bed set.

SOMMAR 2015
A sesonal summerary bed set

TÅSTRUP
An unusuall and colourful rug

HYLKJE
My favorite of the mirrors. it comes in range of colours.

Changing Rooms

Today, I went to try on my schools new uniform in John Lewis. Even though they are selling uniform for up to 16 year olds, I quickly realised the changing rooms were definitely designed for younger children. On the wall, there were pictures of coloured pencils and there were massive wooden numbers on the doors. The hooks were part of a multi coloured, cat themed wooden puzzle. The seat was tiny and very low. The only good thing was that they were very large, presumably so the parents can be in the room. Not everyone who buys uniform is 6. Also, I have noticed that they have made our summer skirts longer. We are teenage girls and most of us want to be able to show a bit of leg. They are trying to make our uniform more frumpy. I know that they don't want us walking around with our underwear showing but what is wrong with it being a bit above the knee?

The Wedding

Yesterday I went to the wedding. The night before we had arrived at the hotel (I had the biggest room) and went to a local pub for dinner. The original pub my dad had checked out on Trip Adviser (he is obsessed with TA) had stopped doing food and turned out to be a (with country accent) "oh, you car's broken down has it, the nearest garage is miles away. You need to stay here and never be seen again" type of pub. However, a little way down the road, there was a second pub that was much nicer. It was a small, traditional country pub by a farm. It even had two cats milling around the seating area and served huge portions of scampi. The next day, I had a three course hotel breakfast and got ready. In the day, I wore this:

 

The ceremony was in the grounds of a manor house in a purpose built building called the barn (although it didn't look much like a barn). The setting was really beautiful, especially the gardens where we had the photos. We then ate in a restaurant. There was a gap before the evening party so I went and got changed into this:

 

I wasn't planning to change my shoes as I really like the white ones but they gave me blisters. The after party was fun. We had a buffet, an ice cream station ( with 7 flavours and toppings), a sweetie buffet and a massive chocolate wedding cake with strawberries cascading down the sides. Overall, it was a fantastic day. Have you been to any weddings lately?

Wedding Tomorrow

My cousin's wedding is tomorrow! It will be the first wedding where I have stayed for the whole day. Before, I have only been an evening guest or sat at the back of the church as an extra. We are travelling up to Yeovil this afternoon, where we will stay in a hotel for the next couple of nights. This does mean I won't be able to blog tomorrow, but I will update you when I get home Thursday evening. I am excited and am looking forward to both the day and wearing my new outfit. See you on Thursday!

Summer Clothes

It feels like summer is here today! It has got up to 19 degrees where I am. Have you had nice weather? I have put together a collection of some of my favourite spring/ summer gear out now.



Cropped Jeans, £19.99 in New Look

Bright summer T-shirt, £4.00 in Peacocks

Bright Summer T-Shirt, £5.00 in Peacocks

Blue Skater Skirt, £12.99 in New Look

Yellow Floral Skater Dress, £14.99 in New Look

    














           

Family Parties!

Hello, chocolate Sunday today! As well as a large pile of chocolate, I got a more unusual egg from lush from my dad. It is a special bath bomb that you can crack open to reveal a chick or a rabbit inside. This is what it looks like before you break it open. It is called the Immaculate Eggception bath bomb.

 Anyway, yesterday I went to a family party because my great uncle was 80. Normally, family parties can be a bit dull for teenagers. They are usually full of older relatives who are ok at first, but pretty soon you can run out of things to talk about with them. Normally, I talk to my distance cousin but he was glued to his phone, nothing unusual there. However, last night I was lucky. I met a girl there who is about my age and once we got talking we realised that we actually have a lot in common. She likes blogging too and we ended up having a good time. That is generally the best way to survive these events, find someone your age and hang out with them. Or, failing that, eat as much buffet as humanly possible! (I did that as well.)

Daisy Headbands

As most of you already know, I am going to a wedding on Wednesday. I have my outfit sorted, so now I am thinking about hair. Yesterday, I bought a daisy head band. They are everywhere at the moment and the yellow and white will go really well with my outfit. Also, it looks like I have made an effort but I don't have to fuss around with hats or fascinaters. It looks like this:

I am planning to wear my hair down with a couple of tiny plaits in it,secured with yellow loom bands. What do you think?

Minecraft

On one of my earlier posts, I mentioned that I like playing Minecraft. I know that some of the people at my school play it and wondered if you did too. It is a good game for our age group. It is fairly grown up as there are some monsters if you play in survival mode or travel to the Nether. At the same time, the killing is not graphic so it does not have a high age rating. I play in creative mode as I like how many things you can build with it and how all the materials are just their for you to use. I did try survival once, but I fell down into a cave in search of coal and couldn't get back out! Survival does not suit me well. One of the things that made me want to buy the game was watching You tube videos of the amazing houses people had built. Click below to see what you can do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9lLSUq1_Xg

If you like Minecraft too, please comment to say what you like to build.

Crazy Teen Diets.

Most of the girls in my year have gone on some sort of diet in the time we have been at senior school. None of those girls needed to lose weight. The media make people our age very self conscious about our figure and promote fad diets that do not work. These can actually be quite dangerous because they make you eat so few calories. Once, we had to research one for a biology project and I was shocked and horrified at some of them, particularly the Mars bar diet. It tells you to eat only 3 Mars bars a day to lose weight. How is that going to help? Okay, it would be less that your recommended 2000 calories but they are full of fat and sugar and have no nutrition. Anyway, if you eat that little food, your body panics and retains every bit of food it can as fat, so you will not lose weight effectively.

The world needs to stop putting this pressure on people, especially young girls. Recently, France has made a start on this. They have proposed a law saying that fashion designers and model agencies that persisted in using dangerously thin young girls could end up in prison.Also, I think we should be taught about healthy dieting at school. We are taught how to eat healthy if we want to stay the same weight, but not how to lose weight effectively. I know they do not want to encourage dieting but at least that way girls would do it safely instead of starving themselves all the time. Please comment if you feel as passionately about this as I do.

Easter Eggs

Hello all. I'm off school! Freedom for 2 and a bit weeks. In the last couple of days, we have been swapping Easter eggs and other chocolatey gifts. I was a bit surprised when I discovered that I am the only one that actually saves their eggs til Easter. One of my friends did, but only because she has given up chocolate for lent. Everyone else started eating theirs immediately. I knew some people did this, but I never realised I am the only one who doesn't. I think Easter loses it's point if we scoff everything before Sunday. You don't come back to school 3 days early just because you felt like it, you wait for the agreed date. Does anyone else do this, or am I the only teenager who waits?

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, the internet died. Apparently, there was a nationwide virgin problem. While I was offline, some of you may have seen my new poll. I would love it if you all voted. There is one problem though. It does not come up on the mobile view, so you may need to use a computer or switch your phone to desktop view.