August in Instagram |Dreams That Glitter

It doesn’t really seem like a whole month has passed since I did my last month in instagram post, wow time flies. I’ll try and keep this up if nothing else and in a month’s time you will have September in Instagram!

 

So August has been a lot of dance again, practising with Maisie in the studio, and a lot of book purchases which I am slowly making my way through! You may have noticed I have a bit of an iced coffee addiction too, my top three favourites are Costa Coffee Coolers, McDonalds Mocha Frappucino and Starbucks Triple Caramel Frappucino… I’m craving one right now. I’ve got myself a Costa coffee reward card and then realised that 90% of the time I get my Costa coffee from one of the franchises which you can’t use the cards in…. boo.

Where did summer go? |Dreams That Glitter

Well, I seemed to have taken an unintentional break from blogging for the past week or so, I really didn’t mean to, I thought I was back on track with getting those stats up, but clearly not. This is actually what happened last year too, I blogged a lot in July/August time and slowly drifted back out of the loop… this time I blame the fact that I had to delete the WordPress app on my iPod because I didn’t have any space for it to stay. 

I’d say I’ve been busy, but I’m not really sure I have to be honest… I guess I have sort of. Last Monday I went on a boat trip with my family, we got up a bit too early for my liking and spent the whole day on a boat (don’t ask my what kind of boat it was, all I can tell you is that it had an engine and went about 4mph) so that was quite fun. We just sat in the sun, occasionally getting up to change the locks. 

I’ve been working a few shifts in the library volunteering too (I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before but you’re going to hear it again). Basically I had to sit behind a desk with a bright green lanyard round my neck while children came up to the desk and told me about all the books they’ve read, and in return I gave them stamps and rewards. Oh and at the end of it (I did about 20 hours over the six weeks I think) I got a little goody bag which included a couple of books, chocolate, a pen, and a voucher to get out a dvd/audio book from the library for free. 

On Friday I went shopping in Milton Keynes with my friends and had a lovely day, I can’t wait to do something like that again soon. We’re planning a mass sleepover with all our internet friends soon, it’ll be epic… 

 

Friday’s only purchase (other than coffee)… can’t wait to start reading this, I’ve heard it’s the best one in the series

 

New schools shoes I got today… I also managed to find some leggings for dance that aren’t completely see through too, which is quite an achievement

 

On Saturday after I went to a step class I worked in the Coffee Pot from 1-5, my friend worked there for work experience and got a saturday job there, and they needed extra help so she called on me. £20 later, I’m hoping they’ll call on me again some time. 

I’ll admit first of all that I’m a real wimp when it comes to theme parks, and on Sunday I went to Thorpe Park with my family. It was an ok day, I mean considering I didn’t go on much it wasn’t that bad (I may or may not have spent a few hours reading fanfiction whilst the others went on big roller coasters, sshhh). The biggest thing I went on was the log flume, because I don’t mind water rides… I would feel guilty if mum had paid for me to go in because it’s like £30+ entry, but luckily I have a blue peter badge which means I get in free so that’s not an issue! Otherwise I’d probably have stayed at home. 

I can’t believe it’s September already, I go back to school on Thursday, boo! Still haven’t touched my homework, oops… I only have dance and there’s a competition in textiles I was planning on entering but I haven’t done any work on it so… (I just want to go to the clothes show). I should probably learn some spanish vocab as well but I don’t have the concentration for that. Oh and I’ve got to read Jekyll and Hyde for english, oh the joys… Speaking of reading, I finally finished Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix yesterday, I only started it in like January… I just kept getting distracted and reading other books instead – shameful I know. So I‘m aiming to finish the series by the end of the year at least. I think I’m gonna read Looking For Alaska next though. 

I guess I’ll try and blog at least once or twice a week from now on, I don’t think I’ll have enough to blog about to make it every day, let alone the time when school starts back, and I might actually have to revise and stuff this year as it’s my GCSE year, I probably should stop winging it and put in a little more effort. I should get my ballet exam results back next week too, eeeek! I’m kinda nervous, I’m not sure if I even want to know what I got oh god. Ok that’s it for now, you’re all updated with my post of excuses for lack of blogging. 

 

The Beauty Behind Books |Dreams That Glitter

I can’t be the only person who still loves to just pick up a good book and read. I don’t like the idea of kindles or reading online or on iPads or iPods etc, as handy as those can be for travelling.

Part of the greatness of reading is actually having the book in your hands, getting stuck right into it, the excitement of the turn of each page, being careful not to bend it back too far so you don’t crack the spine. The greatest feeling of all is when you finish that last page and close the book, being able to say you’ve read it cover to cover. Reading is a wonderful thing that a lot of people these days are loosing interest in and I think that’s really sad.

I nearly did myself. As a child I used to read all the time, I’d always be stuck into a book when I was at home, I used to have weekly trips to library and I’d spend ages, over an hour sometimes, picking the right books. When I got into social networking like twitter, facebook and tumblr, those things ate up what time I’d usually spend reading and I gradually fell out of the loop and stopped reading altogether for two, maybe even three years.

I started reading again earlier this year and realised how much I’d missed it. It’s an escape from the real world, from any kind of problems or stress, it takes your mind off everything except what’s happening in the book. You can get stuck into the fictional worlds and attached to the characters, and feel like you belong in the book or as if the characters are your friends. And then you can go to places like tumblr or twitter and find people who feel the same way as you about a particular book or series, and that’s also part of the fun (although sometimes you find a book with no fandom and it’s just you and your feelings).

What I’m saying is, if you don’t read, why don’t you? Even just a little bit a day would ta

ke your mind off everything else for a while, and books can affect people in different ways. Some are inspiring, some influence lifestyle changes, for example. There’s so many books out there, there is absolutely something for everyone so there is no excuse. Whether it be a biography, a fictional or factual book there’s got to be something you’ll enjoy, but for me a fictional book with a made up world is always the best.

If you are a reader, add me on Goodreads! http://www.goodreads.com/sk8tinggleek

Book Haul|Dreams That Glitter

Today I went to the cinema to see The Lone Ranger (it was quite good, a little confusing in the middle but over all pretty good, even if my nana did fall asleep for over an hour of it, but ssh don’t tell anyone about that ;)) and afterwards we popped into town and went to The Works and WHSmiths, where I bought Wicked, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, City of Bones, City of Ashes, The Fault In Our Stars, Looking For Alaska and The Devil Wears Prada. If you haven’t seen or read Perks, then I suggest you do, right now. If you’ve never read a John Green book I suggest you do that too (I’ve only read TFIOS so far but it’s amazing so). And if you’ve never even seen The Devil Wears Prada (Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep are fabulous) you need to go watch that. Meanwhile, I have enough reading material to last me a couple of months! Put your book recommendations below please…

Shopping Haul|Dreams That Glitter

On Monday I went shopping with my nana and her sister to Bury St Edmunds, I love shopping there when I come here. There always seems to be some kind of sales on when I go too which is always a bonus… Now miraculously I managed an entire day of shopping and didn’t buy any make up, what happened there?! Here’s what I did buy:

Sequin denim shorts – New Look – £10.00 reduced from £20.00 

I’ve been looking for some denim shorts for so long, I’ve not had any that fit nicely for about two years so I’m happy to have found these I love them! And half price too, you can’t go wrong! Although there’s not really much of summer left, I’m sure they can easily be teamed with leggings or tights when it gets a bit cooler.

Black blazer style jacket – New Look – £12.00 reduced from £24.00

I’ve been wanting one of these jackets for a while too, they go with absolutely anything and I think they can be worn on any occasion really. Again half price, bargain!

Floral pyjamas – New Look – £7.99

I thought I’d treat myself to some pyjamas because I think I have about one pair that actually match and other than that I wear whatever old t-shirts or leggings I can find, so it’s nice to have matching sleepwear for once!

Moulin Rouge – HMV – £4.99

I really love my musicals at the moment, I spent about 20 minutes in HMV deciding which ones to get, and that’s not even what I went in for. I actually went to go see if they had anything I could get my dad for his birthday, and while looking I found a whole section full of musicals… I got my dad a ‘rare and unseen’ Kylie dvd, which I think he’ll appreciate. As well as Moulin Rouge which I love and have seen twice in the past week, I got Rent (which I watched earlier and loved) and Midnight Tango which is a dance show featuring Flavia Cacace and Vincent Simone, stars of BBC Strictly Come Dancing. I have to admit I’m sort of regretting buying that one, I watched it last night and yes the dancing is absolutely amazing and I wouldn’t doubt that for a second, I think it’s more of a thing you see once, live, not a dvd that you watch over and over.

I also bought some new pointe shoes and a L’Oreal Wild Ombre Hair Dying Kit which I’ll do separate posts on… We’re going back to Bury tomorrow to the cinema (Lone Ranger – has anyone seen it?) and I’m really tempted to go back and get another musical, or go back to The Works and get the books I forgot to go back for… I picked up the City of Bones and the novel of Wicked, they were on a 2 for £5 offer, and forgot to go back, boo.

Happy Hump Day! X