Edin-BRU

Our University's Harry Potter society (lovingly named Potter's army) organised a trip to Edinburgh for the Edinburgh Snow Ball - an event featuring lots of Wizard Rock bands including Harry and the Potters! 

After a ridiculously long over-night coach trip in which none of us got any sleep and I ate a super sugary doughnut as a 3am snack, we arrived in sunny Scotland... 

No, that wasn't a joke. Scotland was sunny in the middle of winter and it wasn't even as cold as London had been!

Yes, we were shocked too. 

We spent the morning and early afternoon browsing the cute little Christmas market, exploring the streets (and the excess of kilt shops) and taking photos. 

I managed to sneak myself into a lot of the photos. I'm sure they were bored of my smiling face by the end of the day... 

We headed to the Elephant Cafe mid-afternoon, which calls itself the 'birth-place of Harry Potter' and is where J.K. Rowling started writing the famous series. They had lovely cakes - but the best part about the little cafe was its bathroom! 

As you can see, it was full of heart-felt messages from fans of Harry Potter to J.K. Rowling, quotes from the books, drawings, greetings and jokes (like someone writing 'this way to the ministry and a big arrow down to the toilet). It was almost like seeing just how much Harry Potter has affected people all over the world! The magic definitely still lives on... 

We even added our own messages (the hello from the University of Hertfordshire!)

It was during the break at the hostel that we realised that the Australian friends who were with us had never heard of Irn Bru! After us demanding that they try it because it's the Scottish drink, it was soon remedied and they all tried some. 

After a much-needed stop off at the hostel, we headed out to the Snow ball! 

This is what I wore:

That shoulder wrap was a nightmare... but it didn't stop me from enjoying the awesome music of Siriusly Hazza P, RiddleTM, Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons, Bradley Mehlenbacher and the awesome Harry and the Potters! 

They really knew how to get the audience involved and everyone LOVED their performance. Even though I don't really listen to WRock, they definitely made me want to look into it more with their high energy rock songs. 'Hagrid is fun to hug... Hagrid is full of love... just don't get stuck in Hagrid's beard... AHHHHH. Snow Ball Ohhhh yeeeeaaahhhh'

We'd already decided to try and come back and visit Edinburgh again by the time we'd got to the coach station to leave! 

Edinburgh rocks! Now look with awe upon my glow-stick halo...

Thanksgiving.

So it's Thanksgiving in America and although I am not American (in case you couldn't tell) I do have things I am thankful for, so I thought I'd share some of them to join in with the appreciative spirit of the holiday.




I'm thankful that I'm doing well (so far!) at University, have amazing friends there and feel happy to go there and learn new things!

I'm thankful that my boyfriend, family and friends are currently in good health. (I think that we can often forget these things are precious and when someone suddenly becomes ill you realise you have taken it for granted a little).

I'm thankful for the little things people do to support me and the love they show me, they don't go un-noticed!

I'm thankful for the inspiring things I have seen this year, especially online whether it be celebrities raising money for charity or little craft ideas on Pinterest!



Yeah, so, this has been a bit of a cheesy post. I just wanted to ponder a while on things I am thankful for. I have been spending a lot of time recently mithering over things I am not thankful for, such as having two presentations, a play scene to write and a 2,000 word essay all due in on the same day!

Sometimes that sort of thing makes you forget what you are thankful for, so it has been nice to just take a minute to remember that I'm not unlucky and that I have so much to be thankful for!

This is just like magic!

Last week I went with two of my school friends to the Harry Potter Studio tour in Leavesden.

It's a great day out for any Harry Potter or film fan. Being a bit of a Potter geek myself, I really enjoyed seeing all the props, sets, costumes and techniques behind the movies.

Without giving too much away for anyone who has not yet been, one of my favourite parts of the day was the surprise at the end of the 15 minute cinema showing. It really felt like you were a part of the magical world in J.K. Rowling's novels.

Another part of the tour which I found interesting was the concept art and models (of things from the werewolf to Grawp's head and even life-size models of some of the actors like Daniel Radcliffe - who, by the way, is extremely short!) It was brilliant to see how the artists' visions of certain scenes were replicated exactly like their art.

Then of course there was the full model of Hogwarts!

Georgina, myself and Kelly in front of Hogwarts!

To the event I wore a dress I picked up from H&M in Stratford and a light blue cardigan I got from a shop in town. Next time I will definitely dress in full Gryffindor attire!

Here is my outfit in bigger detail and the Knight Bus (because the Knight Bus is rock n roll).

Getting run over by the Knight Bus.

Hair bear

I recently got my hair cut at Stonehills. It's not an unusual thing for me to decide to get my hair chopped off but this is probably the shortest hair I've had!

My hairdresser was amazing and did just what I asked. I recommend principal stylists at Stonehills!

Short hair (well this short) looks better on me than I thought it would since I have a roundish/heart shaped face. Although it isn't styled so well here, I can style it nicely into a messy punk type style or even sleek. When I wake up and haven't styled it or don't have any makeup on I look so boyish!

I also wanted to mention the earrings shown in this picture! I love these, they are an unusual design and only cost £2.00 from Miss Selfridge!

Here is another picture showing the gold earrings more clearly:

No serenade, no fire brigade, just pyromania!

Last month I went to see the amazing musical 'Rock of Ages' for the second time at Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End and thought this the best first post for letting my blog set sail.

Featuring kick-ass classic rock songs from the 80s, 'Rock of Ages' is definitely my favourite musical of 2012 which is why I went to see it for a second time. The singers are incredibly talented and as I've heard one of the cast say, it really is more of a rock concert than a musical! It has everything from camp humour to mind blowing rock anthems, making it a must-see spectacle for everyone.

Thinking it was one of the show's new 'dress up Fridays', we went in casual rock(y) type outfits and I even bought new shoes especially for the occasion. Despite it not actually being one of those dress up days, I had fun trying to apply as much glitter to my make-up as possible.

Here's what I wore on the day (along with my hair and make-up):

[Please excuse the excessive pink-ness of this picture; the only room with enough light in happened to belong to my sister.]



















Overall, the night was incredible once again and I recommend 'Rock of Ages' to any fan of 80s rock music.