Saturday 31 December 2011

2011

the year is drawing to a close and i took a bit of time to reflect on what's happened this year. it's been a pretty eventful year for me, and probably loads of other's.

personal highlights:

photo from google images

queen
hard to believe that this time last year, i barely even knew who freddie mercury was. i only really got into queen around exam season, in july. queen had been following me around for a while, actually, because they're such a huge deal that they're generally always in the background, even if that means sofa adverts and bad karaoke, but i remember the exact day that i got into queen. i'd had an re exam that morning, and me and katie had gone to mcdonalds for lunch and then i had gone home. ryan dunn had recently died and that hit me quite hard that day. i'd been listening to 'under pressure' (it's been on my ipod since i heard my chemical romance had covered it when i was about twelve) and just randomly decided to visit freddie's wikipedia page. i read how he died and my whole world rocked. i sat on my floor and cried for the longest time i've ever cried. 'queen: the days of our lives' was on our sky planner and i went to watch it. it blew me away. i cried so much that week over freddie but i'd found something amazing. now i can't think of a world without these guys.
since 2011 marked the fortieth anniversary of queen, it's been a good year for queen fans. they were all over the place and brian and roger accepted loads of awards and appeared on several tv shows, including glimpses of brian may in the audience at strictly come dancing because his lovely wife anita dobson was dancing. we just couldn't get enough of them this year.

photo from google images

exams / gcses
those of you who sat your gcse exams this year, this one's for you. 2011 marked the end of my compulsary education.
this isn't really a highlight as i was so stressed and it was horrible, but it took up a good, maybe, quarter of the year, so i have to include it.
exams are always really stressful for me, even mocks or practise papers, because the setting of an exam (extreme silence, not being allowed to leave, the whole year in one room ready to judge you if they need to) makes me panic. i had a full-blown panic attack during one of my two-hour english exams and it was awful. i thought i'd fail because i couldn't finish the exam but somehow i got a B, which is amazing compared to the C i got in my mock exam when i was perfectly calm.
i managed to pull some good grades out of those months, but i know now that the stress i felt then is going to be nothing compared the stress of alevel exam season. something to look forward to, eh? ha.


my super sweet sixteen
this picture wasn't really taken on my sixteenth birthday. i took this when i was trying on prom dresses, but i needed a picture and i thought this would do.
my sixteenth was amazing, way better than anything mtv could throw together. i didn't get a car, i didn't have a party, i didn't even have a cake, but it was perfect.
tenth of january 2011. i had chocolate covered strawberries for breakfast and got some money and some laffy taffy from my parents, and then i went to school. we had maths exams coming up so we had to do a two-hour maths revision lesson. i was working with bradley and keiran and we had to answer lots of maths questions. they did all the work for me and we won a bag of mars planets each because our group got the most questions right. free chocolate!
then i had break and my lovely, lovely friends gave me some presents, including a cath kidston bag, lush goodies, glee nail polishes and keyrings and posters, and cute socks. sophie and liam had somehow managed to track down a speaking busted birthday card in a charity shop for me. then i finished school as normal and nobody sang happy birthday and made me feel awkward.
after school, me and my mum went to white rose and i bought the high-waisted topshop jeans that i'd been lusting after for months. when i got home, i had takeaway pizza for tea (my favourite, that nobody else in my family likes), watched the scott pilgrim vs. the world dvd that lauren had lent me, and then watched the first episode of the new season of glee.
it was just perfect.

photo from google images - all my photos from the weekend are on paper as i only took disposable cameras so they're not on my computer

bingley live music festival
this year i went to my first festival, and that also meant going camping for the first time. i'd always avoided going camping when i was a girl guide because i'm a fussy eater and i was scared that i'd have to eat things i didn't like, but i bit the bullet and decided to go.
the tickets were only around £30 so i thought this'd be a good way to test whether or not i was a festival kind of girl before buying a £200 leeds fest ticket. turns out, i'm not the biggest fan of camping. after falling out with one of the girls because i had a bit of a diva fit when there was a huge daddy long legs in our side of the tent, the weekend went a bit shit. i don't like being at one with the bugs but other than that, i had a really good weekend and i loved the festival side of things. plus, it makes you really appreciate how comfy car seats are compared to sitting on your friends rain poncho on the hard floor for three days.








my friends
me and liam at sophie's sixteenth, me and liam and katie at sophie's sixteenth, ellie mae and leanne and katie and megan and me (crazy hair oh my god) and sophie on the last day of year eleven, megan and ellie mae and katie and sophie and me and leanne before prom, sophie and ellie and me at prom, me and megan at alton towers, me and lauren at we will rock you.
this isn't really a higlihght, more of a series of good times. i love my friends to death and they made this year, and last year, pretty amazing. it's a shame that i don't see them as much now because we're all scattered at different colleges and sixth forms, but it was lovely when they were there every day. they made everything interesting. if i'd have gone to alton towers with my family, i'd have had a shit time. but i spent most of the day with megan and it was bloody amazing (the 'CHOO CHOO!' lady on the runaway mind train ride, oh good lord, hilarious).

other highlights:

film highlights of 2011:
the inbetweeners movie: this film is hilarious. it really is. i don't think i can say much more about it, really. i went to see this with my friends in the summer holidays and we were rolling around in the aisles laughing. if you haven't seen it, you should definitely buy the dvd. (just as a warning: it would probably be a bit awkward to watch with your parents. it may only be a 15 but there's a lot of sex scenes and genitals on display).
bridesmaids: again, i went to see this with my friends in the summer holidays, and, again, it is hilarious. when i saw the advert, i didn't really think it'd be good, but i bloody love it. me and my friends quote it all the time; "are you an appliance?" definitely worth a watch.
lost christmas: i actually only watched this a few hours ago, and already it's in my top films of the year. it stars eddie izzard (who i'm madly in love with) and is a cute christmas tale about doing good and being given a second chance. it's quite confusing at first but it all comes together in the end and has a really lovely feel-good finish, although there are some sad bits along the way. i hope this comes out on dvd because i want to be able to watch it every christmas.
final destination 5: now, i haven't seen this film yet. i didn't get a chance to go to the cinema to see it so i'm waiting for it to come onto sky movies. it's in the list because all final destination films are the same. they all have the same plot, and if i love all the others, then i'm bound to love this one.
mercury: this film hasn't come out yet, but i'm including it in this list, as i've been looking forward to it all year. filming has only just begun, i believe, but if you're a queen fan then you need to mark it in your diaries. this is a biopic about the life of freddie mercury and it will start with the success of bohemian rhapsody (i think - either that or his beginnings in zanzibar) and will cover everything all the way up to the world-famous wembley gig in the eighties. sacha baron cohen has been cast to play freddie (an excellent choice, i think) and i cannot wait for it to come out.

musical highlights of 2011:
lady gaga - born this way: i'm not the biggest lady gaga fan in the world, but her music is a guilty pleasure of mine. i think this album is really good, and was definitely worth £10. you know an album's good when i actually buy the cd, because usually i'll just download it.
ed sheeran - +: i haven't had a chance to listen to this album yet as our copy belongs to my sister and she hasn't put it down since she got it, but the things i've heard are amazing. although i think he's overrated, there's no denying that 'the a team' and 'lego house' are perfect songs.
lmfao - party rock anthem: another guilty pleasure. this was the soundtrack to my summer and i love it.
foster the people - pumped up kicks: i've only just downloaded this song, and i actually think it's been around since 2008 (i might be wrong), so it's not really a new release, but i've heard it around everywhere. it's been on loads of tv shows and it's been constantly on the radio.
maroon 5 feat. christina aguileria - moves like jagger: this song has been following me around since it came out and i bloody love it. maybe a little overplayed but i'm not complaining.
the re-issues of queen's entire discography: not that i have the money to go out and buy fifteen brand-new cd's, but it's quite nice to listen to queen in the best quality possible. plus, it meant that queen were in the album charts again and getting a lot more radio-time, and you can never have too much queen.

my favourite blogs of 2011:
zoe / schoee: ah, i love zoe! her posts are always professional and lovely to read, and her personality comes through everything she writes.
jessica / little henry lee: jessica's blog is full of stunning photographs from a variety of amazing cameras. they're mostly of cute events she's been to or amazing things she's purchased and her pictures are so inspiring.
zoe / romeo and the lonely girl: zoe's a music blogger and always knows about the best new music before anyone else, so she's a must-follow for people who like unsigned bands.
amie / heartbeats, intimidation: amie is a gorgeous australian blogger and i love her. she makes her own clothes (which are so good!) and has a really unique taste in music, and she's just so different from other bloggers.
ella / partytights: ella posts tonnes of stunning, inspiring cute images on her tumblr and is one of the most popular blogs around. she's so lovely and humble and down-to-earth.
abby / don'tbeblah: one of the best artists i've ever seen. she's not the most regular poster but it doesn't bother me, because she's always worth the wait, and her sketches are extraordinary.

my favourite youtubers of 2011:
rhiannon / fashionrocksmysocks: i recently only found rhiannon on youtube but she's already one of my favourites. she's so lovely and gorgeous and her style is amazing. her ootd's are always perfect and she does some really good diy's too.
zoe / zoella280390: featured in both my bloggers and youtubers of 2011, her videos are mostly hauls or vlogs but i still love every video she's ever done. they're always hilarious (with cameo's from her brother joe and her friend louise) and you should all subscribe to her.
barbara / thepersianbabe: barbara is so lovely! she's so interesting and not really like everyone else on youtube. her style is so unique and fresh and her voice is so nice, i just love listening to her talk.
bethany / macbarbie07: bethany is just so cute! she spends so much time on her videos and they're always so professional and she really gives a lot to her followers. she does tonnes of diys (including cooking videos which i love!) and ootd's and she makes really useful videos, too. her latest one is 'five ways to style your lbd for new year', which will definitely come in handy.
jess / jingleheartart: jess is amazing! she has the most insane, beautiful hair and she's so funny. her personality is insane and lovely and she's a really talented singer too. her videos are so hilarious and i love every single one of them.

2011 has been a really good year for me and i hope 2012 is even better, and i wish you all the best for the new year as well. happy new years eve evertibe :-) x

3 comments:

  1. aww, thank you for listing me as one of your favourite blogs for the year, that's so sweet! :) x

    ReplyDelete
  2. It sounds like a lovely year, despite GCSEs, but well done for getting through them! I would love to be 16 again! Hope you have a fantastic 2012 :) xxx

    ReplyDelete