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

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

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.

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

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

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