Saturday

Sponsor Shoutout: August


Let's take a look at the lovely blogs that have been keeping my sidebar occupied this month. They're very varied and all very interesting, so I hope you're going to love them! 

The What Now Blog
The What Now Blog doesn't just look beautiful, it's filled with practical careers advice too. Everything is geared towards making your work, and your blog, a better place. Whether that's advice on creating unique photos, tips for working on the move, or why to take risks, the blog is overflowing with inspiring and motivating advice. It's becoming a firm favourite of mine and always seems to know what I need when I need. 

Wheeling Along 24
I've spent many a Twitter chat talking to Yorkshire lass Sally, so I can personally tell you that she's awesome! Her blog, Wheeling Along 24, is very different to your standard fashion and beauty blog. Sally suffers from ME, which is a condition that causes severe exhaustion both mentally and physically. However, Sally does not let this hold her back. She is dedicated to showing that she can use a wheelchair and still look stylish. Not only does she post gorgeous OOTDs (by the way, I totally have those sunglasses up there. Sunglass twins!), she also writes great beauty posts and has really interesting days out too. Hello lavender fields

Remember, if you would like to see your blog on these here pages, you can find all the information on my sponsorship page. There's now a fancy new media pack for you to download too. How organised am I? 

Friday

FF CIV


Get ready for the biggest Friday Favourites ever! Since I knew I wouldn't get much chance to post when I was in Florida, I've just been saving up my favourite posts from the past 3 weeks to post at once. 
Kailey's new blog design is gorgeous! 
I shouldn't laugh, but Amber's recount of going on the London Eye with a fear of heights is so funny because I can totally relate! 

I love Annika's retro Mickey outfit (I also love her outtakes post
Megan's post on young marriage is so informative. 
Kathryn has moved to Tokyo and I'm not jealous. Not at all. Not even a little bit... 
Jamie's strawberry shorts are the cutest! 
Chloe's travel journal is amazing! 
Midge's living in sin (housewarming) party looks so much fun! 

Other Favourites
Confused by media packs or blogger press kits? Six Out of Ten mag has the answers! 
Near New York? Want to model for ModCloth
This story of a couple who died hours apart after 63 years of marriage is beautifully moving. 
On a happier note, this couple have just celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary

Book review: The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl


The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl- Belle de Jour
Now, I usually write book reviews the day after I've finished the book. Perhaps two days at the most. The problem I have here is that I finished this book on my way to the airport before Florida and now, 3 weeks later, I'm settling down to write the review and hoping I can remember it well enough! 

Back when Billie Piper was getting her kit off in Secret Diary of a Call Girl, I watched the whole series (although it was a little awkward watching it in Rich's mum's house- I promise it's an ITV drama!). I really enjoyed it so I was interested to read the book from which it originated. Unfortunately, it was not what I was expecting.
First of all, for a book called The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl, there isn't a whole lot of intimacy. I know I'm reading a sensationalised, dramatised account of Belle's life so I'm unlikely to get all the gory details but I expected at least a fair amount of spilling the beans about her career. I'm not saying I want warts-and-all erotica, but it would be interesting to read about the business as it actually is. Instead, I got a long, fairly whingy account of her boyfriend, male friends and the odd spiteful fellow escort. That's not what I signed up to read!

This also ended up giving the same effect as I found when reading Rae Earl's My Mad Fat Diary which is a lot of surplus information that doesn't add anything to the book. Everything becomes a bit samey after a while and just ends up reading as filler.
Another issue I had was the initialising of everybody's names. I know that the real people could obviously not be identified, and I understand that initialising names adds to the height of mystery but when there are 4 As, it gets very confusing. I could not tell the difference between A1, A2, A3 and A4. Give them names, for goodness sake! How hard is it to say Adam, Andrew, Anthony and Alan? That would make it much easier!

Ultimately, I found it a frustrating and banal book with very little justification for the title. I bought a book about the confessions of a high-class London escort. I ended up reading the monologues of a posh graduate in London. Not really my thing! 

Wednesday

Reading Festival 2014: Friday

Do you know what the best thing to do 23 hours after you landed in England from Florida is? Go to Reading Festival! There was a very good reason though: Gerard Way was making his global debut (but not actually debut) on the NME/Radio 1 Stage. 

My love for My Chemical Romance has been well documented, and Gerard Way has been my idol for 10 years now. Before he came on stage, I was nervous. Really, really nervous. What if it wasn't the same without the band? He hadn't yet released his album- What if I didn't like it? How was I going to enjoy a set where I knew none of the songs?

Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. Seeing him walk on that stage after 3 years was hugely emotional. The crowd- which was pretty substantial for an opening act- went crazy and Gerard was noticeably moved by it. He's always been very vocal about his love for Britpop, and his tracks certainly make that passion clear. Although it's still very Gerard in sound, it has a more radio-friendly, pop sound that I can totally get on board with. I'm very much looking forward to hearing the album and catching some more of his shows soon.

We didn't stay long after Gerard's set. I was incredibly jetlagged, and Christie had to get back to Essex, so we didn't feel like hanging around for hours, especially as there weren't many other bands we were into playing on Friday.

Of course, I stopped for the obligatory Aero Mint milkshake. I looked everywhere for the Dough Ball Deli that treated me so well at 2000Trees but, alas, it was nowhere to be seen! 

After a quick mooch around the stalls, which seem to become fewer and fewer each year, we bailed out and headed home. Although the festival itself was pretty rubbish (seriously, Festival Republic, every year the tickets get more expensive and every year the festival itself gets worse), it was worth it just to see Gerard again. I love that man! 

Tuesday

365 217-237


As it was so difficult to find the time to edit photos and schedule posts while in Florida, I haven't been able to post a 365 post for three weeks now. I haven't been slacking though, and I've still been taking my photos. Now I've got the chance, I'm going to post them all at once. 

217 Obligatory plane wing shot
218 Picking up our marriage license. 
219 The electrical parade at Magic Kingdom
220 Chilling out at Blizzard Beach
221 Making my wedding flowers. 

222 The detail in Diagon Alley is amazing! 

223 The Hulk is such a fun ride! 

224 Wedding rings on our wedding day!
225 Lizard at Typhoon Lagoon

226 Can you spot the tiger? 

227 The German part in Epcot was my favourite. 
228
I love this photo because, if you look closely, all four of us are in it. 


229 Erm, ok...? 

230 Ariel's castle at Magic Kingdom is so pretty! 

231 Snacks on a plane. 

232 Home, and not at all happy about it! 

233 Hands in the air for Gerard Way at Reading. 

234 Sun at the Edinburgh Book Festival. 

235 Yep, that is a man using a selfie pole to take photos of himself in a graveyard. Not cool, dude.

236 ...and a lady eating her lunch on a tombstone.

237 A whopping 25 hour journey home from Edinburgh, which involved staying in a Premier Inn in Doncaster overnight. 

Phew! What a crazy few weeks. Take me back? 

Monday

Florida: Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Day 13


The final day in Florida always needs to be spent at Magic Kingdom, trying (and failing) not to cry. Our tradition is to always go on Pirates of the Caribbean as our first and last ride on the trip, and this time we decided to stay until closing time. The fireworks display was so beautiful that I teared up! Don't judge me! 

Somehow, on the first two days, we totally missed the new Little Mermaid area of Fantasyland. I'm so glad we stumbled upon it on our last day, as it's gorgeous and the new ride, Under the Sea, is one of my new favourites. 


We also had a peek at Belle's house but decided against meeting her and Lumiere. As much as I love Disneyworld, I'm not one for queuing up for hours to meet a student in fancy dress! 

While waiting for the Festival of Fantasy Parade in Frontierland, there was a trio of musicians playing country renditions of Disney tracks. It was such a great way to keep us entertained.

 When we went to Tom Sawyer Island, we got on the Becky raft! Yay!

 Magic Kingdom is so beautiful at night!

And, with that, it was time to head back to England. See you soon, Florida! 

Florida Walt Disney World: Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney


Let me give you a little hint about Walt Disney World: Hollywood Studios is rubbish! Ok, it's worth it for Tower of Terror (one of the very best Disney rides), and the Star Wars ride, Star Tours, is great for fans but, other than that, it's pretty boring. There's really just a lot of shows. Although I appreciate theatre, I don't go to Disney World to sit down for 45 minutes watching actors. I'll always visit, but it really only takes out a couple of hours of your day, especially if you get Fast Pass and don't need to queue. 

The transportation at Disney is pretty annoying. From the Transportation Centre, we had to get to Magic Kingdom (we chose to use the ferryboat) and then catch a bus to Hollywood Studios. Way to make it easy, Disney! 

Everyone should ride Tower of Terror. It's the best drop ride I've ever been on, and I've been on a few! I love me some drop rides! 

Since Hollywood Studios is so small and, to be honest, a bit dull, we bailed out early and headed over to Downtown Disney for some shopping and dinner. 
My favourite was the art shop. Look at this gorgeous painting of Beauty and the Beast. It was huge and I'm absolutely in love with it, but it was about $500 too much for me! I did end up buying some art (and it was big I had to have it shipped over) but you'll have to wait to see that!
This is pretty much the only photo I got of all four of us together: Me and Rich with Laura and her fiancé Matt. Oh, and happy holidays! 
Laura and I have been eager to eat at T-Rex ever since our first visit to Disney, as she nicknames me T-Bex due to my disproportionately short arms. Unfortunately, although the food was good and the dinosaur decor was awesome, the service was shockingly bad. Our server got our order wrong, asked us if we wanted sauce- then forgot to bring it over and even declared Rich had to sort out the card machine when it wouldn't work. She actually suggested that maybe it didn't work because we'd been using the card too much. Funnily enough, it worked as soon as Rich was at her shoulder. A real shame as I'd been looking forward to that meal for 3 years!

Both Downtown Disney and Hollywood Studios are fairly mediocre experiences that you need to get done. It's best to get them both done and over with in one day.

Blog Design by Get Polished | Copyright Becky Craggs 2017