Thursday, June 30, 2011

Day 7

Things I Am Looking Forward To

Summer road trips with Paul


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2



Breaking Dawn Part 1


The Hunger Games Movie


Holiday in Edinburgh


My 20th Birthday


Starting university *fingers crossed*


Love, Hazel

Awesome Sauce

Every now and again there are movies released that just look awesome. The new Harry Potter movie for example. But today I found a gem of a movie that just looks magical and I can't wait to see it. It's as if the movie was made just for me.


Next, here's a advert that I can't help but laugh at every time I see it. It's just so bizarre! Let me know if you found it as funny as I did!



Love, Hazel

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

I ♥ Egypt

Another great country I hope to visit someday and here's why...

Egypt


The Pyramids


The Sphinx


Ancient Temples


Nile Cruises


Desert Safari's


Camel Rides


Museums

Love, Hazel

Wednesday Want



I think it looks awesome!

Love, Hazel

Day 6

My Blog Goals
  1. To create a layout I like
  2. To create a colour scheme I like
  3. To write from the heart
  4. To always reply to every comment I receive
  5. To make meaningful comments on other bloggers posts
  6. To blog daily if possible
  7. To not stress out if daily blogging isn't possible
  8. To get to know and possibly develop friendships with my followers
  9. To have weekly features
  10. To blog for fun
  11. To include pictures whenever possible to break up blocks of writing
  12. To write both fun and serious posts in equal measure
  13. To reach my one year blogging anniversary
  14. To not "beg" for followers
Love, Hazel

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Student Life: The Hazel I Can Never Be...

A few weeks ago I talked about Carl Rogers and his theory that everyone has a Real Self and an Ideal Self. Some of you were kind enough to talk about your Ideal Selves so I think its time that I shared mine too.

My Ideal Self has very sophisticated tastes. She wants to read classic literature and be able to discuss their authors as well as be able to identify composers from a single note. She is also the one who dreams of playing the violin to rival Vanessa Mae.

Appearance wise, her Real Self enjoys her petite stature but deep down she'd love to be a few inches taller. Plus, her actual size three feet makes shopping for shoes more difficult than it ought to be. She likes her long hair but wishes it was more voluminous and luxurious as well as wishing it was black like the midnight sky. She doesn't mind wearing glasses but would have preferred green pupils than common grey.

My Ideal Self would love to go on shopping sprees in the fanciest stores but the fact that her Real Self has an aversion to shopping, that doesn't happen that much. If at all. She longs to wear outfits that make her look smart like a young adult instead of wearing outfits involving converse and jeans all the time. Though when wearing jeans and converse she would at least like to look like Bella Swan instead of a fat frump.

She would also like to be more independent such as having her own place as well as a job. A job that she actually enjoys were her colleagues respect her and don't treat her like shit. She'd love to be able to cook for her loved ones as well as spoil them rotten with unexpected gifts or little gestures. My Real Self already has the pleasure of owning her own car but my Ideal Self would love to have the freedom to drive it without first consulting my mother on where I'm going, why I'm going and when I'll be back. Always having to ease her worries takes the freedom away from driving.

Finally, my Ideal Self would also like to have a few close girlfriends that I can always rely on for a good giggle and a gossip. She imagines having them round her house drinking wine and enjoying themselves but her Real Self knows this will never happen as she doesn't like alcohol and is socially retarded.


Sunday, June 26, 2011

Day 5

Lessons Learned

Although enjoyable, reading constantly for a week will result in killer migraines. I must not read that much at one time again.

Changing bed covers is a lot harder than it looks. I must give myself longer than five minutes.

Love, Hazel

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Migraines Suck

After three years of successful evasion, the dreaded migraine has finally caught up with me. I used to suffer from them a lot when I was studying for my GCSE's in high school but they left me alone when I went to college. Which pretty much tells you guys that I didn't do much studying in college...

Now though, it's because I read too much. I know my dear fellow bookworms, how can you possibly read too much? But alas, reading is now temporally off limits as well as my time online being seriously cut down too. I probably shouldn't even be writing this but... I'm bored. Though saying that, I think I'm gonna go rest my eyes for a bit. The screen just looks too bright.

Love, Hazel

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Wednesday Want



Like a moth to the flame, I get all in a tizzy around pretty dresses...

Love, Hazel

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

I ♥ Prague

Another Life Ambition of mine is to visit and explore the beautiful city of Prague. It's always been a dream of mine to visit this fairytale landscape and here are a few reasons why...

Prague


The Beautiful Scenery


The Gothic Architecture - Prague Castle


The Medieval Old Town


Magical Horse Drawn Carriage Rides


Amazing Christmas Markets


The Gorgeous Charles Bridge


 Incredible Night Time Views...


And Picturesque Winter Scenes

Love, Hazel

Day 4

Things To Do This Summer

Go on a picnic


Take lots of pictures


Visit Belfast Zoo


Read at least five books


Sort out my wardrobe/buy new clothes


Relax at the beach


Love, Hazel

Sunday, June 19, 2011

One Frog, One Quest, One Destiny...

Is it just me or does this frog look slightly bored? 

Almost as if he's well used to being cradled by humans. Then again, maybe he is! Maybe this is some ancient king cursed by a malevolent witch to roam the land in frog form searching for his one true love!

Therefore countless maidens must have held him close in order to kiss him, hoping to break the cruel witch's curse. Unfortunately, many centuries have passed and he has yet to find his soulmate....

Maybe the look I mistook as boredom is actually a look of resignation. Maybe he believes his quest will prove fruitless as he's yet to find the one destined to free him and love him for eternity... 

I hope he continues searching as no one should ever give up on love...

But then again, it could just be a frog. But where would the fun be in that?

Love, Hazel

Day 3

These are just a few, no doubt when I visit my local bookstore I'll be wanting to add to this list!

Books I'd Like To Read

The Spook's Apprentice: Spook's Destiny by Joseph Delaney


The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank


The Life of Pi by Yann Martel


The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Trilogy by Stieg Larsson


Inheritance by Christopher Paolini


The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R Tolkien


The Perks of being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky


The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett


100 Characters from Classical Mythology by Malcolm Day


Love, Hazel

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Day 2

Okay so continuing with the word theme...

My Least Favourite Words

  • poo
  • poignant
  • lol
  • twihards
  • bazaar
  • pungent
  • snob
  • geronimo
  • disco
  • nice
  • stuff

 Love, Hazel

Friday, June 17, 2011

Day 1

So I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and do a 30 Day Challenge thingy. I won't be doing it everyday, I'll space them out to make it last longer. Plus that way I can write normal posts with these thrown in just for fun. I'm starting today because I can't think of anything else to write about. So sue me.

Words That Are Hard To Spell
  • manoeuvre
  • initiative
  • amiable
  • necessarily
  • tragedy
  • embarrassment
  • disease
  • cease
  • differentiated
  • traveling
  • anonymous
  • massacre 
I'm sure there are lots more but that's all I could think of right now!

Love, Hazel

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Song of the Week #2

Adele - Set Fire to the Rain


I can't get enough of her voice...

Love, Hazel

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Wednesday Want

Bacon Bagel

Nom nom nom...

Believe it or not, I tried a bagel for the first time last weekend and it was gorgeous! I'm a plain Jane when it comes to food so it was just a simple bacon bagel but I'd love to be eating it again right now!

Love, Hazel

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

I ♥ Japan

So if you've checked out my Life Ambitions page at the top of my blog, you will have noticed that many of them are centered around my wish to travel the world and see as many gorgeous places as I can. I therefore thought it would be a nice idea to share with you the various reasons as to why I love these particular places so much.

Japan


I adore cherry blossoms, they're just so beautiful. I love them so much that I christened my car "Sakura" as it means cherry blossom in Japanese.


The traditional architecture and scenery which is both beautiful and serene.

 

Japan is renowned for its anime/manga and I will probably go mental if I find memorabilia of my favourites such as Escaflowne. I'm not joking.


  I adore Japanese culture, what with the traditional kimonos, geisha's and even just how friendly they are to everyone.


Samurai's and Martial Arts are just too epic not to love

Love, Hazel

Monday, June 13, 2011

Student Life: Perceptions...

According to the psychologist Carl Rogers, every single one of us has an "Ideal Self" and a "Real Self". Now our Ideal Self is what we wish we could be like. For example, some people may see their Ideal Self as taller, thinner, smarter, prettier, having a decent job, having a dream guy/girl etc. Whereas our Real Self is what we actually are in reality and unfortunately the two selves rarely match. Due to this, many people suffer from depression as sometimes it just isn't possible for people to achieve their Ideal Self. For example, people can't change how tall they are or change their body type. It just can't be done.

Throughout life we are constantly striving to achieve this Ideal Self that we've conjured up for ourselves. For example, in order for us to have that dream job we go to college to get the required qualifications. Or we watch what we eat and exercise in order to live a healthier lifestyle. Rogers also says that the gap between our two selves is known as our "Self-Esteem". The larger the gap, the lower our Self-Esteem is and the smaller the gap, the higher our Self-Esteem is. 

As an avid fan of psychology I've always found things like this fascinating. When I learned this, it just made sense. Of course our self-esteem is going to be low if we aren't measuring up to what our minds wish we were like. It's practically common sense yet I still find it amazing. My Ideal Self consists of the usual things, being smarter, prettier, thinner but also being more independent and having friends. I'm sure independence will come with age but I'm not so sure about the friends part. I think that I've gone so long without them that I will seriously struggle opening myself up emotionally in order to make any lasting friendships. I hope that I will be proved wrong someday.



Sunday, June 12, 2011

Pretty Little Lyre...

I think we can all agree that Nature is both beautiful and truly remarkable. Yet knowing this, I was still utterly amazed when I discovered this...


I had no idea they could imitate this good!

Love, Hazel

Tommy Tiernan LIVE!

Beware of the Dee-vil!
Hey guys... I'm back! Where have I been? I hear you ask. Well... I've been away in Belfast completing a Life Ambition of mine which was to see the fantastic Mr Tommy Tiernan LIVE! And let me tell you, he was hilarious!

As he's an Irish comedian I don't expect many of you to know who he is, unless you come from Ireland of course, and that's grand. Just trust me when I say that he's side-splittingly good. Now, he was always slightly quirky but his Thursday night performance was nothing short of eccentric genius! I love that he is completely mental - it makes him even funnier in my eyes. Only he could get away with pretending to play an invisible fiddle in the dark...

I know this probably makes no sense as ya had to be there to experience the magic he weaved that night. I guess I'm just trying to say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I would love to see him again.

Plus! We were in the second row which was just awesome!

Love, Hazel

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

A bit of fun...

Inspired by Pandora. (Apologies, I didn't know how to do the upside down A's)

"Fill in 12 likes, 1 love and 8 hates. The bold things are what you must include. Tag three people and link back to them, as well as link back to me"

  • I like boys with good manners and girls who like to read books, not magazines.
  • I like daydreaming.
  • I like the smell of petrol.
  • I like being pale-skinned.
  • I like it when two people are being confrontational and the tension is so great that I get a fit of giggles.
  • I like keeping a memory box of treasured mementos and souvenirs.
  • I like laughing til I can't breathe.
  • I like letting my eyes adjust to the dark.
  • I like romance.
  • I like it when the sky turns pink.
  • I like sudden adrenaline rushes.
  • I like hot baths. 
  • I love spending time with Paul. Nothing beats it.
  • I hate sneezing. Especially in public. 
  • I hate my social awkwardness.
  • I hate needing to feel accepted by others.
  • I hate when people call those who like to stay in or those who are quiet "boring".
  • I hate feminists.
  • I hate waiting.
  • I hate daytime tv but in a way, it passes the time.
  • I hate the smell of bleach.
  • I hate Facebook.
I tag anyone reading this!

Love, Hazel

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Shop til I drop? No thanks...

There's one thing that sets me apart from normal teenage girls.... Actually, there's probably quite a few things but we won't get into them right now. No, what I'm talking about is that I don't really enjoy shopping. Don't get me wrong, I like window shopping. I'm a damn good window shopper. My problem is when it comes to spending money. For some reason, I feel incredibly guilty about doing it and I have no idea why. Maybe it's because I don't have a huge income?

What's strange is that it only affects me when shopping for clothes. I have no problem buying books upon books but when it comes to clothes I'm like, "nah I'll leave it". I also have this weird notion that I'm not "cool" enough to shop in certain stores. For example, I feel fine browsing through the likes of Primark and Peacocks but when it comes to the likes of Miss Selfridge I can't wait to leave. I've never even stepped foot in a River Island.

However I have no problem spending money on the people I love. I will happily splash the cash buying them things that I know they will love and cherish and that makes me feel incredibly happy. So why do I feel guilty spending money on myself? Will I grow out of this? I hope so. I really want to enjoy a good shopping spree someday...

Love, Hazel

Monday, June 6, 2011

At long last...

Okay, okay I know that not everyone is a fan. Especially Lexie... but I am and seeing this made my morning!


Love, Hazel

Sunday, June 5, 2011

The Hangover Part II

I saw this at the weekend and surprise surprise... it was exactly like the original. With a few minor changes of course such as it was Stu's wedding this time, it was based in Thailand and instead of a baby they had a monkey.

Not that it made the movie any less enjoyable, it was just slightly disappointing. I know the writers didn't deviate from the original plot too much as the original was so successful but I think that if they had taken just a few more risks then it could have been even better.

So my advice would be to not expect too much from this story wise, especially if you've already seen the first one but it's still fun.

Rating: *** stars

Love, Hazel

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Where did the time go?

Ever have one of those days when you don't know where the time has gone? When you check the time after five minutes and you realise two hours have passed? I'm having one of those days today...

I'm all out of sorts because when Paul was here this morning the time flew in. Literally five minutes passed between us waking up and him taking the train home. And now that he's gone, seconds feel like minutes and minutes feel like hours. It sucks royally. 

I'm not depressed or lonely or anything like that. What I'm feeling can only be described as withdrawal symptoms as I know I won't be seeing him again until next week and that is always torture. I guess I just hate going cold turkey...

Love, Hazel

Friday, June 3, 2011

Song of the Week #1

Getter Jaani - Rockefeller Street


I don't care that it was on Eurovision - I like it

Love, Hazel

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

New Beginnings

In case anyone is wondering, this blog is relatively new as I have been on a very extended hiatus and have only recently started up again. But I'm back and I intend to blog for the sheer enjoyment of it as well as to possibly, albeit unlikely, improve my writing capabilities. 

Yeah. I'm not expecting much on that front.

Anyway...
As an introduction of sorts, I am pinching an idea from Forever Twenty Two with an ABC of Hazel

AGE: Nineteen
BIRTHDAY: 3rd October
CAR: Ford Ka - christened "Sakura"
DAD: Gordon
ESSENTIAL START TO MY DAY: Breakfast. Checking my emails.
FAVOURITE COLOUR: Black. Purple
GOLD OR SILVER: Silver.
HEIGHT: 5' 3. A short arse.
INSTRUMENTS I WISH I COULD PLAY: Violin.
JOB: Full-time daydreamer.
KIDS: Sometime in the future
LIVES: Londonderry, NI
MUM: Pamela
NICKNAME: Haze. Hazy.
OTHER HALF: Paul
PETS: Penny the Jack Russel. Cally the Labrador.
QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: Gladiator - "What we do in life, echos in eternity..."
RIGHT-HANDED OR LEFT-HANDED: Right
SISTER: Lorna
TIME I WAKE UP: Since finishing college, anytime I fancy.
UNIVERSITY: Hopefully starting a Psychology course in Sept.
VEGETABLE I DISLIKE: Brussel Sprouts
WEATHER I LIKE MOST: Thunderstorms
X-RAYS: Teeth. Ankle
YOUNG: My surname
ZOO ANIMAL: Cheetah. Kookaburra.


Love, Hazel

Wednesday Want