Dear Belle Deux...

Dear Belle...

So here are a few things I just have to tell you about my last week!

• I sat next to 'Karen Brady' on the train - she does look like Karen Brady and it amazes me how she does not get cold wearing the thinnest coat - oh and she really cant walk in her nude heels
• All the trains I have caught have actually been on time - Northern Rail have really pulled out all the stops for me!!!
• I had my first Starbucks red cup and it was goooooodd!!
• I have worked far too many hours at Sainsburys and my biggest shopper was £350
• I spent 6 hours making my sisters birthday cake - now that is one lot of dedicated cake baking - watch out GBBO!!!
• We studied a case about the Spice Girls in Contract Law and I may have mentioned our one time spice girls tribute act!! Woop woop Ginger and Sporty! Definitely going to have to dig out the video for that one!
• Oh and on that performance front...I heard Poison the other day - oh those were were the days!!!
• Since it was your birthday, I can now tell you something dreadful that my darling dog did...for your 22nd birthday I bought you a very appropriate present - see if you can guess - \it was bingo themed and related to 22...Anyway Archie decided he loved it, just like he loved the 'peas in the pod'! And he somehow managed to get his paws on it and destroyed it! The little monster, pulled the piece of paper it was sat on, off the table and shredded it! Your poor present didn't stand a chance against Devil Jaws! He was in BIG TROUBLE!
• I watched love actually for the second time this festive season! Richard Curtis has got a lot to answer for - I expect my life to pan out just like one of his plots! Just as we said when we were walking along the Palma Boulevard!
• From now on...my posts are going to be inspired by the 'letters' between Tom, Carrie and Giovanna Fletcher - check them out, I am sure you'll love them as much as I do!

All My Love

Ariel

xxx

Dear Belle...Un...

Hey My Bod Pea in a Pod

Sorry this is late but Better Late than Never!

Can you tell what this post is about Yet?!?!?!

I had planned to post this on Saturday but after a long shift at Sainsburys where I had queues of up to 5 people...I really wasn't fit for doing much!

So this post is again dedicated to Kirsty!

For those that know Kirsty, they will know how much this girl loves clothes and more particularly SHOES! And what girl doesnt?!

So when Kirsty landed a job at New Look, it was no surprise that she became a footwear specialist! And like everything, Kirsty flung herself wholeheartedly into the job...her perfectionist attitude and ability to remember the finest details meant she ensured all the shoes were neat and could pluck the names of the all the shoes off the top of her brain! It still amazes me how good her memory is...Ross's states challenge in Friends would never beat this girl - she can name them all!!!

On Saturday, I visited Kirsty's Old Place of Work just for a little browse and so I could reassure her that her shoe zone was still neat and tidy and the shop was still carrying on without her...

So here you go Kirsty...Proof that New Look is so far surviving without you!

And talking of New Look...

Thank You to all the girls who signed messages for Kirsty's bon voyage gift!

Lots of Love

Your Best Friend

Always Look on the (Mr.) Bright-side of Life...

Hey My Bod Pea in a Pod

So My Best Friend has only gone and landed the dream job of every single little girl. She has been fortunate to get the job of her dreams and has traveled to Disneyland Paris today to become Belle.

This girl has been by my side in the role of Best Friend for the past 8 years (I've known her for 10 years) and she's been like a Sister to me. When we said goodbye there were tears and a very long hug...since I won't be there to reassure her in person I thought Id dedicate a blog post to her once a week.

The aim of each post is to make her laugh and fill her in on my life back home while she lives in the magical kingdom. Every week, I will be doing something; it might be silly, funny, an ode to a memory or just something related to home or me!

Hope Everyone enjoys as much as I hope Belle will!

Look out for my first post on Saturday!

Clue: "How will they cope?!?"

All My Love & Luck

Your Fellow Disney Lover & Best Friend

Ariel

I'm Back Baby& I'm Better than Ever!

After 6 months of not blogging, I have finally decided to return to the Blog-e-sphere! If that is such a word! There are 2 people who've encouraged my return; Vlogger Zoella and my Friend Katie from "It's Always Tea Time". Over the past 6 months I have done ALOT of things! But the reason I stopped blogging was due to my Mental Health. Zoella recently launched her campaign of wearing a red button to signify you suffer from Mental Health problems such as anxiety and this has helped me believe that I am not alone, again. 

So I thought I would fill you in on the past 6 months...

Here are 10 things that have changed my life since April:

1. I went travelling round Europe with my Best Friend Kirsty
2. I went to New York (finally!) with another Best Friend, Charlotte
3. I Graduated with a 2:1 in Philosophy & Politics from the University of Leeds
4. I left Leeds and My dear Uni-Fam
5. I moved back to my Hometown and am now living with my Family again
6. I began the Guiding Leadership Qualification
7. I got my own Car and she's called Maud!
8. I got a job as a Teaching Assistant
9. I started the Graduate Diploma in Law & met so many new & lovely people
10. I got my Old Job at Sainsburys back

As you can see, I have had a busy few months. So many happy and exciting things have happened to me. Seeing this list, you may question, why I wasn't blogging and sharing all that I have done. You may also ask, how can someone be miserable when they have so much to live for?!

But Anxiety, Depression, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and IBS are all conditions which aren't that simple. 

When you look at me, I don't look ill.

Most days are good days at the minute and you might think I am as normal as anyone else.

But underneath the mirage I create for the outside world, I felt like I was slowly sinking.

I was like a duck - up top I was giving the impression of being normal and down below I was paddling away trying to keep my head above the water.

However, since September, I have been so much better. Better than I have been in years.

My Medication changed

I got new jobs

I made new friends and started a Uni course that I loved

I was living in the comfortable surroundings of home and having TLC lavished on me

and I am much happier, eating more, suffering less and am healthy.

I feel like I am myself again...Although some days I feel like I am back to my 16 year old self.

But Life is going well.

And I feel I want to begin sharing things again.

X

A Day on the Corrie Cobbles...

Last week the family and I headed across the Pennines to explore the lovely but seemingly always rainy city of Manchester and then strut down Corrie Cobbles! We were one of the first families to bag tickets to the tour of the old Granada studios and look round the Corrie set and being big Corrie Fans we booked them for sooner rather than later as we were excited to follow the path of Ena Sharples, Karen McDonald and good ol' Tracey Barlow!

After touring the dressing rooms, green room, costume department (I actually touched Carla Conner's Wedding Dress made by Hayley Cropper!) we were able to see inside some of the internal sets that were used for filming corrie! We were able to see Carla's Flat, The Platt's House, The Factory, The Rovers (I even had the chance of Pulling a Pint!), the Barge (from Ken's Lover) and the Duckworths back room (which now belongs to Ty & Fizz!) We also saw the standard coffin with a number of plaques, Becky McDonald's Jordan-style Wedding Dress and many other famous artefacts and props from the Soap! 

Then we were allowed onto the street, onto those famous cobbles! Where we could explore the Kabin, Nick's Bistro, the Alahans Corner Shop, Websters Garage and all the houses that littler the street and provide homes for our much-loved Corrie Characters!

After peering through the windows and posing outside the doors of all the houses, we were able to strut down the street a la Kylie Platt and mock a cat fight a la Gail and Eileen!

Surprisingly, the Set's seemed rather shabby and it was weird to think that behind those doors were empty rooms of nothingness - not the rooms we have an insight into on the soap usually!

What surprised me the most, was the fact that the view under the bridge was merely a canvas print giving an illusion of continuing streets!

Its safe to say we had a fab time on Coronation Street, it was fascinating to see the street up close and personal and I will never watch Corrie in the same way again! Whether you are a Corrie fan or not, it is well worth the visit, if you can get tickets before the exhibition closes!

2 pints of Guinness and a packet of Mini Cheddars Please...

Apologies for my delay in the final blogging of the rest of my trip to Dublin but I have been away for a while to Leeds - both to gather more blogging material and to get a bit more completed on my Dissertation! (Only 8 days to go until its due!)

So on the final day in Dublin, we went to the Prison which was used to film scenes in the Italian Job - cue plenty of quoting "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" 

The Kilmainham Gaol was an intriguing and moving place. I was fascinated by the guides speech about the history of the Gaol and it has spurred me on to read further into the Rebellions in Dublin and the politically turbulent times. I was particularly fascinated by the story of Constance Markievicz who eventually became the first ever female MP and served time at the Gaol during the uprisings...This photo is a view through the spy-hole of her cell.

After a long walk back into the centre of town (as the Gaol is quite far out from the centre of town where we were staying - worth the walk though!) we settled down to a hearty italian lunch at a small bistro just off the main shopping street. Then we ventured up O'Connell street to see the Spire of Dubline, the Bullet Holes on the Old General Post Office, the Parnell Monument and the Memorial Garden.

I'd like to Thank my Lovely Housemates for accompanying me on my Birthday trip as I forged lasting happy memories and thoroughly enjoyed celebrating my 21st Birthday!

Where the Girls are so Pretty...I first set my Eyes on Sweet Molly Malone...

Day 2 in Dublin

The weather wasn't so great on our second day in Dublin. The rain didn't deter our tourist spirit and we set off to explore Trinity College. Along the way we passed the Molly Malone Statue and I insisted on having a photo with dear old Molly because of the ol' Irish tune which I am naming my Dublin Blog posts after! 

So Trinity College reminded me a little of the Oxford and Cambridge Universities with the large, imposing and grand buildings littering the campus - inset with a few vile 70's additions! After wandering round taking in the sights we followed a route straight through the campus to exit at the east end and venture to Merrion Square and the Oscar Wilde Monument.

 The Oscar Wilde statue is located on the west corner of Merrion Square which is surrounded by gorgeous georgian terrace houses and is next to the large old buildings that make up many of Dublin's free Museums - the National Gallery was straight opposite dear Oscar and so that became our next location in order to shelter from the rain! Purely because we were beginning to look like drowned rats and my glasses don't yet have windscreen wipers attached!

In the National Gallery we had a wander round one part of the collection and I overheard a few art historians giving groups talks about specific paintings which was very interesting. 

My favourite paintings in the rooms we perused were a Van Gogh which features rooftops in paris and a Picasso.

 In one part of the Gallery was a children's area providing paper, clipboards and colours. Like any students we are still all kids at heart and set about creating our own masterpieces. Dec drew Hannah, Ashley drew a car, carrot and dog, Hanna drew an eye and I drew a cartoon of the 4 of us!

In the afternoon, we headed to Jameson's Distillery to learn about the distillation process required to make whiskey before sampling a dram of the Irish tipple! I was one of the lucky few selected to complete a taste test comparing Jameson's to a scottish whiskey and then to Jack Daniels - I have to say Jameson's was probably my favourite! I recieved a certificate to recognise my new taste testing abilities and then settled to a long drink of Jameson's with Ginger Ale and Lime - which is one of my favourite drinks!

Since we were in the Smithfield area we decided to head further West along the Liffey to visit the war memorial at Phoenix Park.