Day 26 - My Week, In Great Detail

I'll start at last week and work my way towards today. Assume that I also painted my nails each day!

Wednesday 11th August
I was on a camping holday in West Wales with my family and we went in search of a beach called Freshwater West to do some surfing. My dad was confident he knew how to get there but we'd been in the car almost 1 hour when I typed it into the sat-nav on my phone (Nokia ftw) the only result was Freshwater East so we headed there figuring it wouldn't be far from Freshwater West or we could at least find some pointers.
When we got to Freshwater East, we asked some people for directions to West but no-one seemed to know where it was - they had all heard of it but noone knew how to get there! At this point, I was convinced it was a mythical place.
We eventually got there. It was a beautiful beach, but parking was a nightmare and the walk to the beach was treacherous so we just headed back to our tents. Later, we heard from the people we were camping with, who'd made the trip down to the sea, that the waves were amazing and it was the best surf they'd seen all holiday. BUMMER!

This was my Dad's birthday so instead of the requisite fried camping food we had a chinese takeaway and cake for dessert :D
My mum, who was not with us on the trip, drove down to surprise him - I knew she was coming but managed to keep it a secret all day. Amazingly, she got there just as it was time to carry in the cake so I gave it to her to surprise Dad. After that we just chatted, played games then went to bed.

Thursday 12th August
I've written about this day in full here as part of the 30 Day Challenge. But in summary, it was the day I returned from the camping trip. We left the campsite about 2pm and got home at 5. In the evening, I mostly sat at the computer catching up on blogs and writing some of my own posts as well as doing my nails!

Friday 13th August
I was supposed to spend this day revising for an upcoming exam but I mostly lazed around doing not much at all. I was mostly tidying up and packing away everything from the camping trip. I think I popped to the Supermarket for some bits and bobs but that was about it.

Saturday 14th August
Not much toreport here, this was such a boring day. I did nothing other than revise all day for the exam.

Sunday 15th August
I was supposed to spend Sunday revising for my exam which I did for most of the day until I found out my auntie has a new Old English Sheepdog puppy called Bowie due to his different coloured eyes! So I went with the rest of my family to see him for a bit in the evening.
When I got home I stayed up reading for my exam until 2.30am.

Monday 16th August
This was the day of my resit exam for 'Principles of Business Managment' which I failed in January. I woke at 6am after 3.5 hours sleep and left the house about an hour later to drive to Cardiff, where I go to University. I read in the car until I went into my exam near 9.00.
After the 2 hour exam, my friend, and future roommate, Sam (as well) and I went to the shops just across the road. I bought some nail polishes - all bargains of course - to cheer myself up after the dreadful exam, and some sandals from primark that were reduced to £1 a pair. Such a bargain - I already had one pair and I love them - I should have bought more!!



I got back home at about 3.30 and had to blog about my new buys! I thought I would blog and watch Mad Men then go to bed, but I ended up staying at the computer until near 7pm when I had a quick nap before we had to go out for a meal. To celebrate my Dad's birthday, we went to Preview in Bristol - an all you can eat with all types of food! We ate a lot, as my little brother will show you...

Tuesday 17th August
Today I got up to go and see Toy Story 3 but that was postponed so I spent the morning blogging and watching Mad Men. The goodies from my nail swap arrived today so I spent some time playing with them too. We saw the 4.00 showing and it was sooo good! But if you haven't seen it yet, take tissues because I cried at the end! After that we got a McDonalds and came home where I am sitting writing this.

Day 25 - My Day, In Great Detail

12 August

This post was supposed to be the 10th in great detail, but I got mixed up and thought it should be the 12th so I made notes all day. That day was the last day of my camping holiday in West Wales.

I woke up at about 7 o' clock and went to the bathroom then sat in the tent andspoke to my auntie for about 10 minutes then decided to go back to bed.

I woke up again at 9.00 and went back up to the bathroom to queue for a shower.

I packed up all my stuff and lazed around for a bit. Before breakfast I picked balckberries with a 3 year old girl called Carys from one of the families we were camping with.

After breakfast we al started packing up the tents - taking the insides out and getting everything in the car.

We left the campsite at qabout 2 o' clock and stopped at Mcdonalds on the way home for a Mcflurry - I had Crunchie :D

We finally got home at 5.00 because there was some bad traffic on the motorway so we took the scenic route for the last part of the trip.

When I got home I had a letter waiting for me about my car tax so I renewed that online for £125!!! :o Extortionate!

Then I did my nails nice! But then the dog stole a big lump of chocolate cake and I had to try and pry it out of her mouth and ruined my nails :( So I just did them again.... and then again!

At 8.30 I had to drive the 'Bus' (we have a people carrier which we use for camping and moving around big items and such which we call the Bus) to my Dad's workplace because he shares it with his friend who needed it to buy some building materials. On the way home we got a takeaway - Kebab, yum.

Then I sat at my computer for most of the evening, catching up on blogs, watching Mad Men and writing my own posts.

Thanks for reading and I hope this wasn't too boring for you.

Day 24 - Some Photos from my Camping Trip (Whatever Tickles My Fancy)

Day 23 - A YouTube Video

Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind)

I don't know if you've seen this but it's epic. I live very close to Newport so it's extra great for me! It has over 2 million views now! I hope you like it.

I'm going camping this week so the remaing days of my 30 Day Challenge will be posted when I get back!

EDIT: Argh, they've removed it due to some objections by the original songwriters! But you can watch this response by Goldie Lookin' Chain who you may know of if you're from the UK. They even mention my home town in this one!



Just a random bit of information - I saw one of the guys from GLC in the Tesco Extra car park in Newport a few months back. He just walked past my car and I just thought to myslef - 'Oh, that's the guy from Goldie Lookin' Chain'!

Day 22 - A Website

Todays Big Thing

This is an absolutely amazing website. Every day, there is a funny/cool video posted in each category:
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Music
Funny Videos
Cute Animals
And a picture in Pictures!

If I haven't checked the site for a while, it can occupy me for hours! I recommend you take a look :D

Day 21 - A Recipe

Hair Protein Treatment

2 eggs and the juice of a lemon

I used to dye my hair on a very regular basis - sometimes up to three times a month. I've had it blonde(ish), black, red, orange and all shades of brown. All this processing made my hair weak, dry and basically ruined.

After some research, I came to the conclusion that my hair was over porous which means all the cuticles are raised so moisture escapes very quickly.

In order to solve this problem, or if you just want some extra conditioning and lift, you can make a home remedy consisting of ingredients that will replenish the protein in your hair and seal it in.

There are varied opinions all over the internet about what you should use but I just use 2 eggs for protein and the juice of a Lemon to really cleanse the hair and scalp. You can also add a bit of oil like lavender or coconut for a nice scent.

I mix it up in a mug then use a funnel to get it in to an old shampoo bottle.

I shampoo my hair then apply the mixture and wrap it in cling film (saran wrap) for about 30 minutes.

I just rinse the mix off but you can finish it off with a bit of conditioner.

This immediately gives my hair more body and shine and keeps it free from grease for a longer period between washes.

Day 20 - A Hobby of Mine (other than everything nail related!)

Hula Hooping

I recently got in to Hula Hooping. My mum somehow found out about it and got interested so I went to one of the classes she found that a lady called Emma Kerr runs. She's amazing and you can watch her on her YouTube Channel. She runs classes in Bristol and Cardiff if you are interested yourself - check out her Facebook.

I went to an all day workshop which, amazingly, she ran just up the road from my house. There, I made and decorated my own Hula Hoop and now practice a lot in the garden. I can do plenty of tricks and am getting better every week. It's so much fun but also great exercise at the same - sooo good for your abdominals!

Day 19 - A Talent

A Talent...

That's a toughy...

I'm good at Sports and Singing.

I would say those are the only things I am naturally good at, which would make them talents I suppose.

What are your talents?

Day 18 - This Week's Man Crush (Whatever I Fancy)

Ryan Reynolds

Need I say more?

Day 17 - An Art Piece (painting, drawing, sculpture etc.)

Banksy

I'm not a very arty person. I like taking photographs and enjoy the occasional exhibition but nothing has ever stuck out for me so I will tell you about the first 'artist' that comes to my mind.

Banksy is a notorious graffiti artist from Bristol, the city where I was born ☺. You might have heard of him but no-one knows his true identity. What he does is essentially vandalism and against the law but people love it.
Although I've never lived in Bristol, I still live really close so I visit the city all the time and have seen a few original Banksy's and was lucky enough to go to his exhibition at Bristol Museum.

The piece below is the one I've seen the most and you can see it from Park Street. He put it up in 2006 and the council put to a vote whether it should stay up or be cleaned off. 97% of people voted that it should be kept.

Click the picture to go to his website

Ironically, this was defaced last year (like a lot of his paintings are) and the council have cleaned of the graffiti that was done over this graffiti.

Have you heard of Banksy or seen any of his work?

Day 16 - A song that makes me cry (or nearly)

Craig Armstrong - Finding Beauty

This doesn't make me cry everytime. But I find it's great to listen to if you want to let out some emotion!

Day 15 - A Fanfic

Sorry to disappoint on this one, but I've never read a fanfic in my life. But here is a link to a fanfic website that I am definitely going check out this week.

Harry Potter Fanfiction

Day 14 - A Non-Fictional Book

1 Dough, 50 Cookies

I found this in a seconds book store called the works. Reader's from the UK might know it.

I love baking and I love cookies so I had to have it.

It has some amazing recipes which are all based on one simple cookie dough mixture. You can see my first attempt at the first recipe in the book here.

Day 13 - A Fictional Book

Northern Lights

/The Golden Compass

This is the book that the film, The Golden Compass, was based on. I first read it when I was 13 and then once again before the film was released. It's from a trilogy called 'His Dark Materials' and they are an amazing series of books.

Day 12 - Today's Pet Peeve (Whatever Tickles My Fancy)

Cosmetics Advertising

I really hate it when companies advertise beauty products with what can only be described as fake representations. 

Stuff like mascara and hair products are the worst.

They put false eyelashes and hair extensions on the models than draw in even more length and volume in post-production until we are basically looking ata cartoon made out to be a realistic image and I think the Advertising Standards Agency needs to put some rules in place that prevent this.

Hopefully, most people will realise that you will not get eyelashes like Penelope Cruz's false ones just by using L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara.
I'm far more likely to be persuaded by adverts like this one which don't use trickery to get you to buy their stuff!

It just winds me up that these companies are allowed to use these tricks to get people to buy their products, especially when there are so many easy influenced young people being exposed to these advertisements.

Does anyone else get annoyed by this?

Day 11 - A photo of me taken recently

Longleat Park - July 2010

This was taken at Longleat Park a few weeks ago. I've got this thing at the moment about editing all my photos to look like they're oversaturated, kind of like from old SLR cameras. I can't find the tutorial I used now, but this is quite a good one if you want to give it a go.

Day 10 - A photo of me taken over ten years ago

Tea Party - Circa 95

 I'm going to guess that I was about 4 years old here. I can remember the original photo - I was sat around the 'Kiddies Table' with my Brother and Cousin where everything was plastic - including the table and chairs.I actually this tucked away in my Photobucket albums and can't remember how it got there or why I cropped it.

Day 09 - A Picture That I Took

This is one from another Sunday afternoon walk. I just think it's really serene. There's no editing here, the sky really was those colours.

Day 08 - A Photo That Makes Me Angry/Sad

The Ringling Brothers' Elephants

The saddest show on earth

These pictures make me angry and sad. I actually cry when I see pictures like this...

Elephants are one of my favourite animals on the planet.

In the circus, they are broken down with beatings and what is essentially torture, from a very young age until they are nothing but a performing shell of an animal. And it's not just elephants, most circus animals are 'trained' in cruel and degrading ways which would break your heart if you knew.

If you do want to know more, click on the picture above. (Beware: it's not for the faint hearted)

Would you go to an animal circus knowing what you do now?

(if you looked at the website)

I don't think I ever will.

Day 07 - A Photo That Makes You Happy

Me and my Brothers, September 2009

In the middle is my youngest brother, he's 8 years younger than me. The one on the left is 2 years younger. We took this last year on a Sunday walk.

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