Hey there! I feel like I have a huge amount of explaining to do...recently, I've been spending a large amount of time away from the deep, dark depths of the Internet. I realised my constant blogging updates and brainstorm sessions beforehand were taking up precious family time and those around me drifted away. The majority of this year, as a result of this, has been catching up with old chums and embracing the positive energy around me! This year has already brought new challenges, even bigger achievements, new people, lasting memories and a playlist full of motivational tunes to get me back on track! A special event that I celebrated with my partner this month included our 1 year anniversary- not a massive deal to some, but nonetheless a very special moment for the both of us! I simply can't wait to share with you everything I've been getting up to in the past 6 months of 2016 - so many blog posts lined up and plenty of new content! Let's not forget my YouTube channel that I neglected for a whole entire month - I deserve a right telling off! Follow the link below to check out a HUGE throwback to my summer last year - I had so much fun making this video and cannot wait to update my channel with yet another trip to sunny Spain!
Look out for yet another video soon for my upcoming holiday to Barcelona with my other half - I'm excited to film it and can't to share it all with you!
Hey there, Being a writer, it can be hard to stay completely motivated all of the time. Often, I find myself staring blank faced at my screen for hours on end, struggling to put pen to paper. Coming up with a constant source of inspiration can be quite overwhelming and extremely tiring - I usually end up spending what are supposed to be productive days, scrolling endlessly through my social networking accounts. Countless nights I have fallen asleep on my keyboard, shattered from a busy night brainstorming!
Overworking and striving to provide good quality content, without any successful blog content, can leave you in a state of panic! You're left at the end of a productive day, feeling down in the dumps, second guessing everything you've ever produced, wondering if there is even a point to it anymore. This is where the switching off comes in: time to relax, invest in some me-time, but don't forget to keep your mind active, constantly seeking new ideas! Top tips to help switch off: Literally switch off - the most crucial part of unplugging from the Internet is to physically turn everything off - your phone, laptop, iPod, whatever....It helps to leave everything switched off and hidden away in a different room. Social media has a way of messing with our minds - meddling with our self-confidence, eating away what's left of your self-esteem. Leave it all behind and take a break from the online world! Focus on YOU - it's not often I have the time to treat myself to a lazy day. I find that resting the mind is the best way to help recharge. I love to spend an evening reading from the glow of my lava lamp - it's my favourite method of inspiration and helps spark new ideas for my little slice of the Internet. If you're nosey like me then you can read more about how I like to spend my me-time here!
I strongly advise taking a step away from the Internet from time to time. There's no need to feel guilty for abandoning your blog for a while. Make a habit of it - inspiration will surely strike again! Bye for now! Xxx
Hey there! If you're a regular reader of my little slice of the Internet, you may have noticed that recently I've been making a huge effort writing content for my blog - I've even managed to upload at least one post every day since Monday, meaning that I spend an awful lot of time on the Internet. I've never frowned upon unplugging yourself away from the WWW, but over the Christmas holidays, I felt like something was missing. It just didn't seem natural to be seated round the dinner table, socialising and playing charades, without once checking my emails or drafting a new blog post - I started having withdrawal symptoms!
The WWW has become such a significant part of my life now that I've found myself creating separate new year's resolutions that I wish to achieve with my blog. Whilst I'm not the most organised of bloggers, I do believe setting some time to plan ahead will help to achieve certain goals and of course, I just have to share them with you!
What I Wish To Do Online In 2015
Engage more: It's important to communicate with fellow bloggers online whether that be writing comments or participating in blogger chats via Twitter. In the past year through my little slice of the Internet, I've met some wonderful girls, who I consider now to be great friends! My aim this year is to make time to participate in as many blogger chats on Twitter as possible. I think it will really help to maintain the traffic on my blog and gain new followers.
Start writing book reviews: Ever since a young age, I have always been an avid bookworm! Reading is something I'm extremely passionate about, but recently I've had trouble finding the time to relax with a good book. One of my new year's resolutions this year is to embrace my passion for reading and I'm excited to share my progress online with recommendations and a list of my favourites. Grow my blog as much as possible: This time last year, my little slice of the Internet was open to just a few nosy people - mainly my close friends and family. As I grew to love my blog, I started publicising it and sharing it around on my social media accounts. I aim to grow my followers as much as possible during the year. I believe if I follow my first 2 goals, it will really help to widen my audience and boost traffic. Stay tuned for a huge turn around this year - I know I'm excited!
On rainy afternoons, during the cold winter months, I love to spend time scrolling through my blog, reading and cringing at some of my very first posts, watching how my writing has progressed after starting my little slice of the Internet.
Blogging was something I had always been inspired to do. From a young age, writing and reading were my favourite hobbies and there was never a moment where my head wasn't sunk into a good novel. Growing up, my lifelong career was to be an author - just as successful as JK Rowling and Jacqueline Wilson. My mind was constantly filled with new and exciting ideas, which would flow out onto the pages of my beloved notebooks. As the years went by, I had a collection of short stories, which I was almost certain would get published. However, these ideas were soon abandoned and the idea of blogging seemed alien to me. Nevertheless, it was a hurdle I was determined to cross and after some encouragement from my friends, I attempted to draft my first ever blog post - and here I am today! Before I started my little slice of the Internet, I was a shy, timid young teen - lacking immensely in self-esteem and rarely had the confidence to even express my opinion. I never had many close friends I could rely on and had nowhere to display my feelings without being judged - but let's not allow this to become too deep! Blogging has had many benefits for me and I definitely do not regret allowing this to become my hobby. I've made many close blogging friends through a number of platforms including Twitter and emails and value them immensely! One thing I have learnt from my blogging experience is that it's extremely easy to get carried away when sharing a rant or expressing an opinion. It's seriously important that you refrain yourself from doing this, as you don't want to offend your readers.
I never expected to see my blog grow this much, but as I've blossomed as a writer, the views have increased. I truly am proud of my efforts to continue with this and appreciate the time taken to read my posts. Thanks to every single one of you who supports my writing habits - it really does mean a lot to me and I'm lucky to be rewarded for doing what I love! Bye for now! Xxx
The days are drawing in, the evenings are becoming frighteningly cold and winter is slowly approaching us. During these chilly months, I like to spend my free time snuggled on the sofa with a cuppa, surfing the Internet - researching new content for my blog posts, responding to emails, catching up with my friends and watching back-to-back vlogs and sketches created by my favourite YouTubers, (which you can read all about here.) In-fact, the majority of my Internet history is filled with endless lists of vlogs, sketches, songs and much more... I can assure you that just by simply scrolling through the first pages of my Internet history, it's clearly evident that above everyone in the blogging and vlogging community, my most watched YouTuber is Zoe aka Zoella - the queen of all things beauty, hairstyles and life lessons!
Zoe is a fun-loving, bubbly, young woman and portrays this well to her subscribers through her well thought out YouTube videos and vlogs! She dedicates numerous hours in her days specifically for filming, editing and uploading her YouTube content. It's obvious that she puts an immense amount of effort into her channel - perfecting her videos simply to please her audience and to produce something she is proud of. Only recently a very poorly written article was published and spread viral to the Internet, attacking the poor YouTuber. Chloe Hamilton, (a 'journalist' for the Independant,) definitely went a step too far with her opinions and enraged bloggers everywhere in seconds! As mentioned above, Zoe has always been one of my biggest inspirations for many years now and she's impacted my life on so many levels. However, after finding this pasted all over the Internet, I was absolutely fuming and this was definitely something that could not be left unsaid, but I couldn't possibly fit all this into 140 characters on Twitter.
However, despite all of this, like most young women, she also suffers with insecurities of her own. As mentioned in previous videos she suffers with anxiety and panic attacks, but doesn't let that spoil her fun! In fact, she's even created inspiring videos, offering support and useful info about how to cope during this traumatic time. Being an anxiety sufferer, I can totally relate with her experiences and traumatic times that she shares, which only makes me admire her even more! It's extremely difficult to cope with certain situations when feeling anxious. However, I think Zoe handles them well and still manages to upload videos on schedule, which I highly respect. She knows the daily struggles that normal people have and isn't afraid to be open about them!
I was fuming that the main focus of the article was that Zoe portrays a bad image for young girls everywhere, due to the amount of make-up she wears! She never once stated that young girls have to wear make-up to look good. Her whole life she's had to deal with her own insecurities and found make-up to be her passion! Zoe simply explores different hairstyles and beauty techniques for fun, testing and reviewing different brands of make-up for anyone who shares the same hobby. If you're an avid Zoella subscriber like me, you'll realise that the past couple of months she's learnt to accept herself and be comfortable in her own skin, without having to disguise herself in make-up, which you can watch below!
From what started as a young teen speaking out to her camera in a corner of her bedroom led to an Internet sensation, reaching out to over 6.2 millions subscribers - what an achievement! Through her YouTube channel, she has become extremely successful - with her very own sweet smelling beauty products launched only last month and a new book, soon to be displayed on bookshelves everywhere - demonstrating you can become successful doing what you love.
Zoe has impacted my life massively and I especially love how much I can relate to her. Simply watching her videos makes me realise that I'm not alone and if you put the effort in, you can achieve your dreams!
Following up from my last post on mental health, I thought it would be a good idea to write a blog post about one of the less-spoken about issues - panic attacks! Due to the lack of information and advertisements on this subject, many people are oblivious about this aspect of mental health. However, panic attacks affect a large majority of people and fall under one of the most common types of disorders, closely linked with anxiety. As an anxiety sufferer myself, this is a difficult subject to talk about and it frustrates me that even after hours of explaining, I'll never truly be able to make someone understand my emotions. Therefore, I feel it's my duty to write and inform others of the effects of anxiety, to help give you a better understanding and display ways in which you can show support. I dedicate this blog post specifically to my boyfriend as I've noticed in previous situations, he's had little idea how to diffuse the situation and sat helplessly, worrying on my behalf. Although recently I have seen an improvement, I still feel this would be a useful post - not only for him, but for many others having to deal with similar cases.
Anxiety is an awful feeling, which can be extremely difficult to control and is often triggered unexpectedly - whether that be through fear or stress. In brief, anxiety is a sudden feeling of dread, a rush of intense psychological and physical symptoms. The individual often feels alone, trapped and unable to escape - most often, fearing their life. Side effects include feeling nauseous, light-headed, headaches, blurry vision and/or general feelings of disorientation. Everyone in their lifetime suffer with different levels of this, ranging from a small worry about facing school tomorrow to a major event such as using public transport. However, stress isn't always a bad thing - if you were always calm and collected, homework tasks and mundane chores would never get completed. Only extreme cases of anxiety can lead to panic attacks, which feel scary and life threatening to the individual. As mentioned above, it's not always easy to understand how to deal with an anxiety sufferer in their time of need if you've never experienced a panic attack before. Therefore, I have listed some simple steps below to help diffuse a panicky situation:
Step 1: if someone looks uncomfortable in a situation, offer some support - whether it be a smile or a gentle hug Step 2: once involved, ensure that the sufferer is in a safe environment and protected from any potential harm Step 3: try to understand how they're feeling and put yourself in their position Step 4: remember that you are now in control of the situation, remain calm and maintain a soft tone of voice Step 5: remind your friend/relative that they're not alone and that you're going to help them get through this Step 6: ensure you have good eye contact at all times and encourage the sufferer to slow their breathing by focusing their concentration on your breathing pattern Step 7: play some gentle music and remain close until they feel at ease again
For a noticeable amount of weeks, I have been lacking in uploading content to my blog - choosing to live an unplugged lifestyle for a while. Although, I feel this break away from my computer was well-deserved, I was itching to start typing away at my keyboard, bursting with new ideas to update my little slice of the Internet.
From the content that I've read from other bloggers, I found that those which have planned posts for the entire month, week by week, are always those which turn out to be the most successful. I've never been one to plan my posts and just write whenever I have spare time, (which isn't often,) meaning my plans for posts are never on time or are rarely ever written! So, to solve this problem, I've decided to invest in a planner - bit late in the year I know, but if it's going to keep me organised and prevent me from skipping out long weeks with no posts, then that's what I'll do! As you can see from my most recent posts, writing has always been something I've been passionate about and if I could make a living out of my hobby, that would be just perfect! Sharing my life with all of you is something I never thought I'd be doing this time last year! I had always considered starting a blog, but didn't feel my life would draw much attention and would just get wasted. I had no inner drive to create one and my organisation was extremely poor! I am extremely glad that I did pluck up the courage to make my own page and am proud of how far it has come - winning awards and gaining hits every single day! If you haven't already, I would definitely recommend that you start your own. Some days may be a struggle, with a lack of inspiration, but the rewards you earn from writing are so worth it! Bye for now! Xxx
Hey there! It's that time of year again - time to get out those warm, fluffy jumpers, woolly socks, burning scented candles, drinking creamy hot chocolates. Time to say goodbye to those dusk evenings and long, summer days and welcome in the cool, moonlit nights and cosy snuggles by the fire, tucked up underneath a bunch of blankets.
It's safe to say this month for me started as a special one! For so long, I'd spent my whole time longing and dreaming for this moment - the transition from a passionate teen with big dreams to a young adult ready to embrace the real world and finally, last Friday was when all the celebrations began! This year, I was lucky enough to celebrate this special occasion with all of my family and friends. Early morning snuggles with my boyfriend on this cold, autumnal day was definitely the best way to begin my 18TH, playing some old classics from my childhood CD's. Followed by a chilled evening at my favourite restaurant with my family, drinking my first legal alcoholic drink and munching on birthday cake. The following evening's celebrations, my boyfriend and I took a trip down to the local pub, because you can't celebrate your 18TH properly without a good few cocktails. It's safe to say that night will be a memory, never to be forgotten! So, to wrap up my busy weekend, I couldn't resist, but to spend my final birthday evening with a bunch of my close friends and a Chinese buffet - yummy!
Becoming an adult comes with adult responsibilities, stresses and a heavy workload! I'm now fully legal of age, responsible for my actions, that I can no longer blame on a younger sibling or pass onto another family member! I'll miss my childish sense of humour, the pranks I used to get away with and most of all, being able to borrow some small change from my parents or expecting to find my bedroom spotless! However, I'll no longer do I need to suffer the deep, penetrating fear of being sent away empty handed from shops with no proof of ID. No longer will I have to rely on my parents permission to go out for a good night!
But as the title of this post suggests, I am determined to be that exception - the girl who'll settle comfortably by the fire in her Bambi pyjama's, watching back-to-back Disney films, hoping for her fairytale to come true. Let's see how long this lasts for! Bye for now! Xxx
Apologies for taking so long to write this post, but I've just been super busy with a whole bunch of things for the past few weeks, that I have barely had any time for myself! I'm sure you all know, after reading my many blog posts and watching my YouTube channel that I have a huge obsession with the shop LUSH - known for their amazing 'fresh handmade' bath products. As an avid blogger, I jumped at the opportunity when I was informed of an announcement on their social media page. So you can imagine how excited I was to finally be selected to take part in the first ever Bloggers Event in Bluewater at LUSH. Infact, we were all looking forward to it, especially the staff, who were eager to meet us and hold their first event!
WARNING: we were encouraged to take as many pictures as possible during the event, so this may become a picture heavy post!
I was lucky enough to be accompanied by one of my friends, who's post can be found here! We were treated to some refreshing cocktails to welcome us into the event, along with a tray of tropical fruits, which tasted sensational.
As an icebreaker, the staff encouraged us to mingle together, allowing us to discuss blogging styles, before introducing us to the agenda, sharing with us some secrets about the tasty drinks we'd been given on our arrival. The previous evening, we were sent a sneak peek video hinting at the hands-on activities we were getting involved in, which started the hype! I was thrilled when the ingredients were set in-front of us, ready for bath bomb making - the smells overwhelmed us all, filling the shop with sensational scents. This was what I had been excited for the previous evening, so I couldn't wait to get my hands stuck in! It was a great experience and my bath bomb turned out amazing!
We were introduced to the new range of sunblock products, which smelt incredible! The girls briefly talked about each one, offering us tips and a demonstration on how to use them. We were then given the opportunity to take turns massaging the products into our friend's arm. This was a fun task, which left our arms feeling smooth and protected from the sun. Not only had I walked into the event dazzled by the scents of LUSH, but I left smelling of it too!
We were lucky enough after this fun-filled event, to be handed a free goodie bag on the way out, full of a whole range of products from the LUSH store - my favourite being the Grass shower gel. This product has such a strong, autumnal scent - perfect for these couple of months. I love how it feels on the skin and I would strongly recommend it! Finally, for all my avid followers, you should know how hard it is for me to walk away from the store without any purchases. So. in addition to all of my other lovely free samples, I also treated myself to 'The Godmother' soap - a sweet, smelling, heavenly LUSH soap!
If you would like to see what we got up to, you can find a link to my video here:
Over the next couple of months, I will be updating my blog with a bunch of reviews on these products so make sure you keep your eyes pealed. So if you're a blogger and live local then keep looking out for the next one - I would totally recommend it!
Disclaimer: all pictures and footage for the vlog were taken by myself. However, I am not part of the company and am not helping promote it, just simply showing you clips of the event.
Hey there! I'll admit now, when it comes to parting with my money, I am very stingy about it! I mean, we'd all be shopping on a daily basis, without a care in the world, throwing anything and everything into our shopping baskets - back breaking amounts even, if we could still keep everything in our bank! As a result of this, I rarely ever spend my money on anything other than necessities during the exam period. So I thought it was time to browse the Internet for some goodies and treat myself as I was due a much needed spend up!
Starting with these lovely lip products! Over the past couple of months, I have been browsing the shops, online and off-line, for some new beauty items to replace my old ones - as a result of a good clear-out. Recently, my lips have been under the weather and severely dry, so were in need of some attention. No amount of Vaseline could save my poor, chapped lips! I'm not one to jump the bandwagon and follow the hype. I like to explore new and upcoming brands or quite often, stick to my old favourites! However, I do regret not giving in to these beauties. I was seriously in love with both of these products! They apply smoothly, hydrate my lips really well and last throughout the day, with minimal top-ups. I'm especially pleased with the Baby Lips balm: not only does it give a slight tint to your lips, it also keeps you well protected from the sun - bonus!
I'll admit, these past couple of months I haven't been all that interested in reading. I've been so desperately wanting to get into the habit of finishing an evening with a good book, but the half term and busy exam period has kept me so busy, I just haven't found the time! Recently, I've been talking to my lovely blogger friend, Eleanor, who I've become extremely close with. Luckily for me, she is an avid bookworm and has a great taste in books! She made me realise that my break from reading had to stop, so I picked up an old favourite of mine from the shelf, 'One Day by David Nicholls,' (for anyone that's interested,) and I was absolutely hooked and could not put it down. I feel like I couldn't have picked a better novel to spark my love for reading again - it was so light hearted and just so intriguing! Browsing through my abandoned bookshelf, I noticed the majority of my collection was either outdated or well read - so it was definitely time for a make-over! The Book Thief was a no-brainer - a book I'd been lusting over for a long while and a strong recommendation by Eleanor. The Rosie Project was an easy pick too and decided this time the hype was not worth missing out on!
I'm so happy with all of my purchases and would recommend these to everyone - so worth it and cheap too!
Wow, my blog has been busy this last couple of months! I never thought I'd be announcing that my blog has won an award, let alone 2 in the past 2 months. Thanks to Anna I've been nominated for the Liebster Award. Such a great girl and I've been luck to have the privilege of talking with her - so you should all go check her out!
The Rules
Thank the blogger who has nominated you for the award
Answer the 11 questions that they have written for you
Give 11 random facts about yourself
Nominate other bloggers with less than 200 followers who you believe deserve the award
Post 11 questions for your nominees to answer and be sure to let them know they've been selected!
Anna's Questions
What's the best gift you'd love to receive? - I know this is a bit lame, but I'd love a year's supply of Starbucks coffee - I live for it!
What's your biggest dream? - I've mentioned this before in one of my first posts, but I adore travelling and exploring new places so my biggest dream is to experience the Northern Lights
Any hobbies? - I am a filmaholic - I love everything from horror to comedy, I love to read, swim and sing, especially in the shower. I have also been intrigued in vlogging and started my channel, which you can see here!
Favourite artists? - I'm not a massive fan of artwork, so not too familiar with artists. I guess my favourite would be Picasso, I love his work - just so quirky!
What movie would you watch over and over? - I would have to say the Inbetweener's or Insidious movie, I'm sure there are plenty more, but these are definitely my most watched ones in my DVD collection!
If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go? - This may be cheesy, but I'd probably go straight to Barcelona - to enjoy the beautiful sunshine, explore the country, admire the people, but more importantly to say thank you to Anna!
Have you got anything you're looking forward to this year? - Nothing strikes me as exciting at the moment. I guess I'm looking forward to introducing my boyfriend to my family, seeing my cousin get christened, meeting my new baby cousin, family BBQ's and embracing the summer weather!
Meaning behind your blog name? - Nothing too exciting, my name is Vanessa and I blog here - wow, original.
If you could have 3 wishes, what would you wish for? - I would wish for world peace, a plane ticket for absolutely anywhere and everywhere in the world and a life supply of hugs for when I'm not feeling my best.
If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who would you meet? - I know this sounds silly, but I would love to have met my younger self, to prevent her from making the mistakes she did and to prepare her for the future.
Do you have a celebrity icon? (If so, who?) - I think Demi Lovato is my favourite, she's been through so much in her years and is just so inspirational!
11 Random Facts
I have a huge passion for travelling and have started my journey with Italy, Belgium and France.
I am extremely lazy and procrastinate to the max - sometimes I forget to take my make-up off before I sleep, but shh!
I am extremely inspired by Zoella and her fellow YouTube friends.
I gave up a while, but I can honestly say that I am now obsessed with reading and spend every spare moment doing it!
I fall in love so quickly and become so easily attached....oops!
I've always been a natrually anxious person and am nervous about too many things to list. I am also extremely shy, especially around new people.
I cannot live without music - it just isn't possible! I'm so passionate about it and you'll never catch me without my earphones in!
I was bullied for a total of 5 years when I was younger, which shattered my confidence.
I love to take touristy photographs wherever I go - especially in London!
I've been vegetarian for 2 months now.
I used to know how to play the trumpet, but I've always wanted to learn how to play the guitar!
Questions for Nominees
Who's your biggest inspiration - celebrity or not?
What animal best resembles you?
Which is your most loved outfit in your wardrobe?
Any phobias?
What was your favourite hobby as a child?
Where would you like to see yourself in 10 years time?
Meaning behind your blog name?
If you could swap bodies with anyone in the world, who would it be?
