Wednesday 22 October 2014

Aloha!

So, it once again has been a while since I posted on here!

Well, what's happened the past 3 months?

I started at college which is amazing! I love it!
My driving is going great!
I got a job which I really like!
I'm still watching Numb3rs! (On season 6!)
I turned 18!

Yeah, that's about it.

I've been really debating with myself about wether or not to start doing youtube again. A part of me wants to, but the other part knows I just don't have the time. I did contemplate maybe just doing some daily vlogs (just not every single day) but since I got a Macbook I don't have any editing software and I don't want to spend £10 on iMovie if I only end up using it for a month or so especially right now since I haven't been paid yet at all since starting work.. We'll see what happens though; I may give it another shot!

I think I'll be doing a blog post on my birthday trip to London last week so keep an eye out for that!
In an attempt to blog more, I'm going to make this like a bit of a journal. So I'll write down what happened in college and work and just life in general, that sort of thing.. In fact it'll be like this probably. A post so you know I'm here but not really about anything at all hahah.

So, yeah, mmhhmm, yup, Okay..
I'm gonna go now. Bye! :)


                          -Emma x


Monday 28 July 2014

Broom Broom!

Ahhhhhh

So a week ago today on July 21st 2014...

I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST!!

This was my first time and I only got 3 minors! Still over the moon about it, already bought my car, named her Elphie..I get her tomorrow and I'm already insured!

I am however a little bit wary about the company I went with as I hadn't heard of them prior to seeing them on a comparison site and I googled them after purchasing my insurance and there seems to be an awful lot of negative things and warnings, however I haven't read the posts so hopefully it's just over reactions!

I am now currently lying in my bed about to continue watching Numb3rs on netflix (my new obsession) and I'm waiting for the Sims 2 Deluxe Edition to download on my old windows laptop.. I have a feeling I'll be here a while as it has been downloading for about half an hour and hasn't even made it to 5%..

Oh well!
Speak to ya soon!




                                        - Emma x

Thursday 3 July 2014

New Beginnings

Hello, Lovelies!

.....


Ok, I'm sorry!! It's been 5 months since I last posted! I know, I know, please don't kill me!
In my defense, it has been a very hectic five months with so many different, scary yet exciting things happening! For a start, I finished up my sixth year at high school and was studying for my (hopefully) final ever academic exams! I then had prom and prizegiving and that was High School over with forever!

I also have some rather exciting news! If you read my last posts waaaaaaaay back in February, you will know I was having a mental breakdown over my future and what I want to do with my life.
Well, in April, the MGA Academy of Performing Arts held a 'Taster Week' which was essentially a week long workshop in which attendees followed the full-time 3 year HND course in either dance or musical theatre. I bit the bullet and decided to go along for the musical theatre week just to get an idea of what it was like.. and LOVED IT. I had the most enjoyable and insightful week I could have ever imagined for and by the end of the five days I had applied to the full time academy and received an audition!

I had my audition on Sunday, May 4th and on the Thursday I received an offer of a place on the Pre-Vocational Musical theatre course! This course is a foundation course and only lasts for a year, and although I attended a recall audition last week to see if I could go into the three year course, I believe I will stay in the Pre-Voc as it is, in my opinion, the better option for me due to my lack of dance skills and experience. I also believe I was - by my own fault - very under prepared for the audition so it didn't go as well as I would have liked so I highly doubt I showed them I was good enough for the HND course.

(I had about a weeks notice to prepare a monologue and a song in between prize-giving and working etc. I learnt a new monologue but I chose to do the same song as I felt comfortable with it, had the sheet music and I didn't want to quickly learn a song and forget it or screw it up in the audition.. What I didn't factor in was that I wouldn't be able to explain all this to the panel who (at least seemed) were more than pissed off at me singing the same song they'd heard me sing since the taster week in April four months ago.. whoops)

However, none of that matters as come September I will be doing what I love in a place I love with great people! And six months today, I will be near enough out of Europe for the first time to go to New York with MGA to go to Broadway, see a show and take class in the musical theatre capital of the world! I could not be more excited!!

I also got myself a job in a local fish and chip shop which I really enjoy actually, however my boss does have a fair few complaints about my speed and my terrible memory for remembering orders and I haven't had a shift in a while so I don't know if I'll have this job much longer....

Finally, I tell you what I was planning on telling you at the start of this post! Tonight I am getting a Macbook!! It's nothing new, it's 4 years old so who knows how good it'll be, but I'm hoping that it will be good enough for me to get back to youtube, making videos again and getting back to blogging! I had to stop not only for my school commitments etc but due to the fact my laptop was just dying and now it barely turns on! I'm currently using my mums laptop but haven't been able to upload photo's and videos to it to be able to post good quality blog posts or to make youtube videos - especially since she only has windows movie maker which is horrendous! ROLL ON iMOVIE. hahha

Sorry for the ramble,
speak to ya soon!

                                                             ~Emma x

Saturday 28 June 2014

The Adventures of a Bad Blogger

What's that I hear you asking? What have I been up to since I last put up a blog post? Well...

In the whole year I haven't posted anything I've done not an awful lot but enough to share.

Firstly, I experienced my first job at The Open Championship golf tournament. That was one of the best weeks of my life. I got to meet one of my sporting heroes, Rickie Fowler. The week gave me great experience with customers and how to manage with the working life.

Then at the end of July/August I went on a family holiday to Italy. We arrived in Rome and then drove 2 hours down to where my family originates from and explored the surrounding areas which I must say were beautiful. The village my family come from is up a small, lets say mountain and the surrounding areas are in valleys. My mum didn't enjoy the views from up above as the rest of us. We ended the trip in Rome which as always was as beautiful as ever.
Trevi Fountain

Colosseum
After Italy I then entered my final year of formal schooling. Safe to say it was a scary year filled with many regrets but the memories and friends created outweigh that. Senior year was a very scary thought process and even scarier when you actually arrive at that point. Most of the year was filled with "banter" and that is what everyone seemed to say they would miss. 

With not having the best of grades I then had to decide what I was going to go forward and do with my life. I am currently working in a nursery and studying for a qualification in childcare, hopefully this will open a variety of exciting opportunities in the future.

Prom is also on the list of exciting adventures. A year to plan one whole night. The planning was stressful as no one really turned up to meetings or paid their money but in the end we had a fantastic final night as a year group. Thank you to the lovely ladies at Smashbox for doing my make-up!

And that really sums up my year break from blogging! I recently ordered a Birchbox to I am planning a post on that and hopefully a few tutorials but baby steps and the minute!

xo
Katy

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Future/Life Planning!

Aaaahh!

So.. I officially have past the 10 week countdown until school is OVER FOREVER!! (excluding exams)
And I have realised.. shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. I NEED to decide what I am doing with my life!! Last week, as those of you who are subscribed to my YouTube channel will know, I was in London and saw Wicked for the first time! It was absolutely breathtaking and I utterly adored it. It did make me cry.. and not when you'd expect.

I was enjoying the show, as you do, then: BAM. I was in floods of tears? In that moment, my heart leapt up and was doing everything in its power to tell me that all I ever want in life is to perform.. preferably on a West End stage but just performing in general.
I've known I've wanted this for years, but lately I've been telling myself that I don't desperately want it, nor will it ever happen; but after this teeny tiny breakdown at one of the happiest parts of the show, I can't deny it anymore.

But..

I'm shit scared.
I have a pathetic amount of experience for a start. I have only done theatre for about two or three years, and because of a medical condition when I was younger, I was unable to take dance, and to this day I still, technically, shouldn't do ballet and some other styles. I don't think I can sing.. at least not to an amazing standard which could compensate for my lack of dance skills and acting.. well I honestly don't know anything about my acting skills.
Whilst, originally, I wanted to go to Arts Educational, I for no way can afford £13,000 a year! FOR THREE YEARS! and moving to London! So I've set my sights to somewhere closer to home. The MGA Academy in Edinburgh. It still costs but it's so much more affordable and I already know it from using their studios with my previous theatre group.
In all honesty, I'm mostly concerned about the audition process; which for MGA, I actually don't know what this is, but I hate the idea of auditions where you have to choreograph your own dance and perform it with all the other auditionees watching. I'd much prefer a dance workshop where they teach you a dance and you perform in groups of 4 or so.. In my opinion that's a better way to do it, as you can judge how fast people pick up a dance, how they work with you and your teaching and not everybody is a dancer, so in a way it's perhaps fairer for them.. I don't particularly have experience with doing singing and acting/monologue auditions but I think (hope) I can cope with those... so I suppose I'm mostly worried about dancing..

This post has basically turned into more of a diary/rant but it's made me feel better and who knows, maybe it will help somebody else? I don't even know haha anyway!

See ya later!
~Emma x

Monday 10 February 2014

Little Life Update

Hey guys!

I've been extremely busy the past week with Preliminary Examinations at school which has meant I haven't had much time at all to film a video to upload tomorrow!

I did have a "How To Celebrate Valentines Day Alone" video planned but unfortunately, as aforementioned, I didn't have time to film. 

I considered filming it tonight and spending tomorrow editing and uploading but there were a few issues encountered when I tried to do this and also, tomorrow will be spent packing!

I'm going to London, just for the night with my friend Aaron on Wednesday-Thursday! I'll hopefully vlog whilst I'm there so you can look forward to that! We haven't actually got anything planned except going to the Leicester Square ticket hut and seeing a random show since we are both passionate about musical theatre and can't pick a show haha!

Hope you're all well!

~Emma xx

Saturday 25 January 2014

Blogging Failure!

Let's be honest, people..

I think I'm going to bail on my "one post a week" aim due to the fact that I am struggling to find the time to think of a good post along with writing it up, adding photos as well as filming/editing a video each week without including school and homework.

I have my Prelim exams starting this week so I'm currently super busy studying and I just feel that in order to make this blog worthwhile, I should just post when I have an idea or feel like updating you, rather than making a crappy, boring post every week?
Quality over quantity, as they say!

I don't intend to take months at a time between posts but maybe every couple of weeks rather than every week..
I still hope to upload to YouTube every Tuesday though.

See ya at some point!


~ Emma xx

Tuesday 21 January 2014

This or That Beauty Tag!!

Hey guys! Todays post is going to be a fairly simple "This or That" tag, found here.
Please leave your answers below if you feel like it! :)

Makeup:
blush or bronzer - Blush
lip gloss or lipstick - Lipstick
eye liner or mascara - Mascara
foundation or concealer - Concealer
neutral or colour eye shadow - Neutral
pressed or loose eye shadows - Pressed
brushes or sponges -Brushes

Nails:
OPI or china glaze - OPI
 Long or short - Mid-length
Acrylic or natural - Natural
Brights or darks - Brights
Flower or no flower - I have no idea what this means, please enlighten me!

Body:
perfume or body splash - Either
lotion or body butter - Lotion
body wash or soap - Body wash
lush or other bath company - Lush

Fashion:
jeans or sweat pants - Sweatpants
long sleeve of short - Short
dresses or skirts - Dresses
stripes or plaid - Stripes
flip flops or sandals - Sandals
scarves or hats - Hats
studs or dangly earrings - Studs
necklaces or bracelets - Bracelets
heels or flats - Flats
cowboy boots or riding boots - COMBATS
jacket or hoodie - Hoodie
forever 21 or charlotte russe - Forever 21
abercombie or Hollister - Hollister
saks 5th or nordstrom - /

Hair:
curly or straight - Curly
bun or ponytail - Ponytail
bobby pins or butterfly clips - Bobby pins
hair spray or gel - Spray
long or short - Loooooooooooooong
light or dark - weeeeelllllll
side sweep bangs or full bangs - Side fringe
up or down - Down!!

Random:
Rain or shine - Rain
Summer or winter - Both!
Fall or spring - Autumn
Chocolate or vanilla - Vanilla
East coast or west coast - Yeah, I live in Scotland and have never left Europe.....

 
****

Sorry this weeks post was a fairly boring one! I've been super busy and barely had time to do anything so when I had spare time I made editing this weeks video my priority. Speaking of which, this weeks video can be found here: http://youtu.be/x7IZmYXYHtM

 
~Emma x

                                                            

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Study, Study, Study!

Hi everyone!

School's been back for over a week now and Christmas officially feels over for another year!
We got our timetable this week for "prelims" (a mock exam which you use to see how well you are doing, predict the grade you will get in the final exam and also for any appeals in case you fail due to extreme reasons or can't sit the exam) and I have realised just how much work I really need to do!

I have found myself becoming very stressed out the past couple of weeks and I do believe that school has a part to play in that. I got that wound up I ended up rather unwell, and so today (Monday) I have had to give myself a "time out" from school and lie in bed. I was awake the whole night - no exaggeration. I have had no sleep and been awake for almost 24 hours. Not good. So I am exhausted. Currently, I'm laying in bed with a homemade hot cinnamon-chocolate (basically just a hot chocolate but with a spoonful of cinnamon too!) uploading a video and writing this post!

However, as grand as that may seem, I am going to do some school work as my "time out" is from the school building and environment, not my education!

I am so unorganised when it comes to studying! I can tell you that my prelims start the week after next and that I think I have on February 6th, but ask me what subject, room and time, I do not have a CLUE! If I can't even organise that, who knows how I organise my studying!

Truth is, I don't really study. I don't feel that looking over notes or rewriting them in different formats (bullet points, mind maps, flashcards etc.) help me - although they probably do. I feel that I get taught something in class, or write up notes I missed if I'm absent, and I just have to hope I remember it. There's nothing that feels right. You'd think after three years of exams I'd have found something.

nope

But it doesn't matter. It's honestly not worth the stress.

If you're like me, and you are worried about exams, studying and how this affects your future, I beg you; please don't panic. Whilst right now it may feel like these exams determine your future, I promise you, in the long run, it doesn't matter. So, a couple of employers may say "hmm you don't really have as high a qualification as this other candidate", if you show capability to do the job - or whatever it is - they will higher you. Chances are, like myself, your school will be a major factor as to why you are feeling this way. My school prides itself upon having one of the highest percentages of pupils going to university straight from school, and so they practically take the two senior years (5th and 6th) and try to force them into uni.

I for one, do not know what I am going to do come August, when summer is over and I don't have a career in mind. All I know is uni and college are not for me. Because of this, my own guidance teacher (you know? the teacher that you are meant to tell all your problems to, the teacher that is trained to deal with pupils respectfully and help them with basic problems such as deciding a career path all the way up to having learning/medical difficulties) basically said I am going to sit on the couch living off benefits in front of my whole class once. And be it as a joke or completely not meant that way, it wasn't something I appreciated. Just like the time I told her I wanted to do musical theatre and she brushed it off as a stupid idea by saying "my niece tried to do that and failed so if she can't do it then what's the point in you trying?"
 
Sorry, I'm going off track.
 
If we want to be honest with ourselves, just how good are current exams at determining our intelligence? Take higher English for example. There are two papers to sit:
Critical Essays
Close Reading
For me, in the critical essays paper, I need to answer a question on a poem I have studied and a question on a play. To pass, I need to have a good structure (introduction, organised paragraphs and a conclusion) have detailed analysis and most importantly: QUOTES
I'm sorry, but I need to memorise a bunch of quotes and analyse what they mean in an organised way to get an English qualification?
It's all a memory test.
Close Reading isn't much better
Read two passages, answer questions about imagery and word choices and describe how that makes you know what the writer thinks about a specific subject.
The only time I need to know how to do that is if I
A) want to become a journalist/author with decent writing ability
or B) an English teacher
 
I guess the point I am trying to make is that, while qualifications are important, they don't determine 99% of your life. Who you marry or become friends with isn't affected due to you passing your exams. and exams don't test your intelligence. They test your ability to memorise things and write it down in a certain amount of time when you are under pressure. So don't worry about them. Work hard and study if you want, but in 5-10 years time, will your qualifications mean anything?
Without including the fact you'll have life and job experience, if you look at me, the exams I sat in 2012 have already been abolished - nobody sits "standard grades" anymore.
 
Sorry for the long winded post. I think I've gone delusional/lost my mind from the lack of sleep!
 
See you next week!
~Emma xx
 
Ps. New video! Friend Challenge featuring http://rebeccasramblingrants.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Saturday 11 January 2014

Cosy Weekends and Dreadful Weekdays!

Hey Guys!
 
I'm going to apologise now for the lack of enthusiasm this post will contain and how short it will be. I'm currently feeling a little poopy. I sat down to write this post and the migraine train stopped off at station: ME.
 
yay.
 
I did plan a nice little update on my cosy weekend, consisting of me, laying in bed with Netflix - The only exception to this was Saturday night which consisted of me, laying on my friends couch with DVDs.. and far too much food for me to even think about (aka I feel like throwing up) haha.
We had an awesome night! I got her to watch Supernatural (Jensen Ackles eeeeeek!) and she got me nicely into The Vampire Diaries.
 
We watched two episodes and I am now sitting typing this post with only one other tab open; you guessed it, Netflix! and it is sitting waiting for me to press play on episode 6 :)
 
School has started back this week which, so far, has involved me skipping a class (Don't do this guys, education c'est trés imporante), heckling a senior member of staff in the corridor about me dropping a class (as in the one I skipped), being told "no", continuing to skip it and then going to my other classes and realising I reaaalllly need to revise for them since I have "pre-exams" coming up in like, literally two weeks!!!!

I hope you all are having fun at school or college or wherever you are and are feeling well! I'm off to lie in bed, watching vampire diaries and having an early night. Hopefully this little migraine of mine will disappear in the morning! I struggle to get up for school the best of days without being ill also!
 
See ya next week!
~Emma x

Ps. Mini Vlog & Haul from moi can be seen here :)  http://youtu.be/Lp64jOYi09s