100th Post - Appreciation and Thanks

Hi everybody!

Image from google

I hope you're all doing well today and making the most of your Monday. So today's post is my 100th post on this blog! It seems to have gone by so quickly and I've had the best time so far writing posts and putting out content for you guys. When I decided to shift the purpose of this blog up a little I knew I would be keeping up the lifestyle aspects and some other aspects of the blog previously but it would be more heavily intertwined with raising awareness for POMC as you all know. Since that shift the reception of this blog, the support I've received from all of my amazing readers has been amazing and I've been able to make some lovely new friends from all around the world!!
I was terrified of the reception I would get by telling my story but I knew how important it would be for all of the other people out there who are either struggling with their weight, long-term condition of genetic obesity conditions, and I am astounded everyday of love love and support given, I've been able to help many people, my email has been relatively non stop since last year! Please keep them coming if you have any questions or want more information please ask, as I always say every little helps in the way of raising awareness for so many misunderstood, heavily stigmatised and awful genetic obesity disorders. 
I thought I thought I would share with you some of the amazing things I have had the opportunity to get involved in thanks to this blog and so many supportive people around the world!

My Invisible Disabilities and Disorders
Community as UoS!

• Took part in an interview with a journalist from the University of Sunderland - nothing came of said interview which was hurtful but still it was a great experience to take part in that I am glad I agreed to.
• Met with the, then, president of the Student's Union to help set pans into motion of a day of rooting awareness for genetic obesity conditions as the University of Sunderland. 
• Got to talk with numerous people from around the world about their experiences of living with and parenting one with a genetic obesity condition. 
• Conversed with numerous people working for awareness organisations and pharmaceutical companies aiming to develop treatments and awareness for genetic obesity conditions!
• Set up a community (a mini society) at the University of Sunderland for individuals living with invisible disabilities while studying at University of Sunderland, at the beginning of the next academic year we will be discussing some changes that we wish to make at the University.
• Become a health champion at a local wellbeing centre, helping to improve the lives of people around me, currently trained  in promoting Emotional Resilience!

Thank you all!

All of the amazing stuff I've been able to do is because of the confidence that my readers give me to keep promoting for these horrible conditions, conditions that impact families, friends, colleagues and most importantly the individual diagnosed with it. If at least 1  of my, almost, 10,000 readers has taken something from my blog then I am doing something right! Thank you so much for being there for me, continuously reading my blog, giving me motivation and support and I can only say that I am SO excited to continue this blogging journey with you as there are lots of exciting things going on at the moment that I will HAVE to tell you all about at some point ;) 

Lovs of love,

Katherine xx

Short Breaks and Blog Scheduling

Hi Everybody!

I hope everyone's weekend is going fabulously, yes? Great! This post is just going to be really brief, so not too much reading involved. 

I would like to let you all know that I'm taking a short break from blogging for a few days, 5 days possible a week, this is just because as some of you have probably noticed, I've been having some issues with the consistency of my posts... they're not basically. I have no blogging schedule which means my ideas are pretty much all over the place and my posting times really aren't up to scratch. This is mainly because I'm snowed under with college work and have been for about 3 weeks now, so I'm taking a week out from blogging in order to devise some sort of writing and posting schedule around my timetable for the moment and get as much college work done in this week as possible to make sure I do have time spare to blog! Hopefully I will get some sort of blogging schedule made by the end of the weekend and I'll spend a few days next week writing up some of the content I have stored in my brain. I shall miss blogging while I'm away but I'll still be active on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, so you won't get rid of me that easily. 

Well, that's that post wrapped up for the moment, see everybody in 5-7 days! Enjoy your week!

Love Katherine. X 

The TMI Tag!

Hey Everyone!

As you all know I really enjoy doing tags and seeing the reaction of some of you when I answer the questions, so I though I would do the TMI tag! TMI stands for Too Much Information and I will answer all of these questions as honestly as I can, I hope you all enjoy it!

1. Ever been in love? I have not but I look forward to being in love at some point in my life. 
2. Ever had a terrible break I've had one break up that upset me quite a lot but I don't let things like that keep me down. Also it was his loss because I'm awesome. 
3. How tall are you? 5 foot 4 I believe, I may be smaller.
4. How much do you weigh? Hand on heart I genuinely have no idea, I don't weigh myself nor do I get weighed at hospitals either. That's purely because I tend to dwell on things and from experience I'm more productive when I'm focusing on what I have to do rather than how much I weigh. 
5. Any tattoos? No. I wanted a tattoo up until a few weeks ago when I realised that it would be there forever... like FOREVER! I could never rub it off. Nah I'll stick to being plain thank you very much.
6. Any piercings? I have one set of earlobe piercings, I did have my nose pierced and the whole of my left ear pierced until I got bored of them all and took them out. 
7. OTP? Valduggery (Skulduggery and Valkyrie - non romantically) from the Skulduggery Pleasant series.
8. Favoutrite show? Family Guy at the moment although it does change.
9. Favourite bands? The Beatles, Queen and McFly are my all time favourite bands.
10. Favourite song? Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back in Town. No Question.
11. Something you miss? I miss my dog Dodger. He was knocked over on Demember 1st 2009.
12. How old are you? I'm 19 years and 2 months old exactly come tomorrow. 
13. Zodiac Sign? Sagittarius.
14. Quality you look for in a partner? Kindness is top.
15. Favourite quote? "You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me" C.S. Lewis.
16. Favourite  actor? Benedict Cumberbatch, watching him in Hawking cemented my opinion of his skills. 
17. Favourite colour? Silver is my fave!
18. Loud music or soft? Soft mainly but I sometimes have it loud if I'm feeling particularly angry.
19. Where do you go when you're sad? Nowhere in particular but I like to get lost in a book.
20. How long does it take you to shower? 20 minutes usually, 30 if I'm not going anywhere. I love long showers. 
21. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? If my hair is wet 35 minutes, if not 15-20 usually. 
22. Ever been in a physical fight? No however I have accidentally broken my Mam's ribs and nose when I was a year and a half old, and I also broke 2 other people's nose accidentally when I was 14.
23. Turn on? When people smell really nice.
24. Turn off? Nastiness. 
25. Reason you started blogging? It was just a way to vent really, if I was stressed I'd write a blog post or two. 
26. Fears? Losing my family, being alone forever spiders and the sea. 
27. Last thing that made you cry? Today when I wasn't able to move a table, I get really sever muscle aches around "that time of the month" and I couldn't move a coffee table today because of the pain.
28. Last time you said you loved someone? My Mam earlier on tonight. 
29. Meaning behind your blog name? It's my name.
30. Last book you read? Pamela Evans - Close to Home.
31. Book you're currently reading? Skulduggery Pleasant Death Bringer.
32. Last show you watched? Family Guy season 13 - Farmer Guy.
33. Last person you talked to? My grandma.
34. Relationship between you and the last person you text? A good friend from college.
35. Favourite food? Stir fry FTW!
36. Place you want to visit? I'm desperate to go to Ireland at some point or the Scottish Highlands. 
37. Last place you visited? Does college count? I haven't visited anywhere in ages, the last proper trip I went on was in 2009 when I went to Edinburgh.
38. Do you have a crush? Yes, yes I do. I shall keep my mouth firmly closed on that one though. :)
39. Last time you kissed someone? My birthday last year so December 14th 2014. 
40. Last time you were insulted? Early December last year by a guy at college who thought he was clever but really looked like a donkey in a tracksuit. 
41. Favourite favour of sweet? Anything Lemon or Apple, like sour apple balls or lemon drops. 
42. What instruments do you play? I play piano at grade 8 but I've only done the grade 3 exams, clarinet, I sing so I guess vocals count and I can also play the spoons! Those are a recent addition to my skills and I love the spoons!
43. Favourite piece of jewellery? My gold and topaz ring I got for my 18th birthday tied with my charm bracelet that has got one charm for every year I've been alive on it. :)
44. Last sport you played? I don't really play sports although I went swimming on Tuesday.
45. Last song you sang? Carrie Underwood's All American Girl about 5 minutes ago.
46. Favourite chat up line? It doesn't technically count but I love "Why would I ever need to know about the solar system? My world revolves around you" I think that's so cute.
47. Have you ever used it? Absolutely not.
48. Last time you hung out with anyone? Wednesday I hung out with a friend from college... in college. 
49. Last movie you watched? Beauty and the Beast <3 DISNEY!
50. Who should answer these questions next? I'm not going to tag anyone so if you want answer the questions yourself then let me know your answers!

Love Katherine. X

Plus Size "High Street" Fashion Wishlist

Hi All!

I'm a plus size lady and I'm pretty damned sure I rock it! However, recently I've been looking at my wardrobe with a rather forlorn expression on my face, I think I'm due a wardrobe spring clean and a shopping spree to follow it up. Now, because I'm a plus size lady I tend to find the type of clothes I like usually aren't in my size and if they are they're definitely not in my price range, I usually stick to online shopping these days because I'm often pushed to find a date to go out shopping,  but I absolutely love actually going into shops and trying the clothes on. I often stick to sites such as Simply Be, ASOS Curve&Plus Size section, Yours Clothing, Debenhams and so on so I've made myself a little wishlist of all the things I'd like to see in my wardrobe in the next few weeks from some of the above websites. I think it's important to note that when it comes to Simply Be it's extremely overpriced in my opinion, there's just no need to pay £40 or near enough for a t-shirt so that site won't be a big player in this wishlist. Let's get this thing started then.

The first item on my wish list is the Black and Pink Check Skirt Jersey Skater Dress from Yours Clothing. I absolutely love the skater dress style and I'm wanting to get more skater dresses for spring and summer. I find that on the curvier shape skater dresses sit really well on the majority of body types so it will flatter and look great on anybody. Tartan is one of my favourite fashion trends and although red tartan is best for my look pink tartan is so cute and perfect for any time of the year. I personally would style this dress with a wrap type cardigan, some chancy jewellery or long necklace, opaque tights and my chancy heeled boots. 

Second on my wish list is the Ridley Super Soft Skinny Jeans from ASOS Curve. You don't have to be stick thin to wear skinny jeans, in fact I prefer the look of skinny jeans on a plus size woman but that's my opinion. Anyway, I love skinny jeans and I find as a general jean style they're very versatile and can be styles with anything. These jeans are just the right waist height and I don't like jeans that rest on the hip or too hight on the waist, super soft jeans tend to be much easier to put on and take off, nobody wants to get stuck getting their jeans on or off and doing the "jeans too tight" routine by lying on the bed or jumping up and down. Personally I'd style these jeans with my converse and a longline T-shirt and leather jacket. I'm more for comfort than looking glam. 

Thirdly, I would absolutely love to get my hands on this little number. The Bonnie A-line Tunic in teal from Pink Clove is absolutely lovely and just the type of thing i love because I like clothes that you can slouch about in all day or go outing an look really gorgeous. Knowing me I'd wear this to college with leggings and boots and my jacket, the style is really flattering for curvy figure and it comes in loads of colours, for me though teal is too pretty to resist. The style of this dress is really similar to the skater dress above and it can be styled plain as it's pictured, or you could embellish it with a belt, jewellery cardigans or whatever you like. 

Finally on my wish list is one of my all time favourite designers from Simply Be, Joe Browns 50's style garden dress is the cutest dress I've ver seen and I think I might actually order this dress once I've posted this. I love this style of dress because it's so feminine and honestly I believe that anybody can look beautiful in this style dress. I love roses and red is a favourite colour of mine so obviously I'm totally in love with this dress and this with some cute ballet flats of chancy kitten heels with subtle jewellery would look gorgeous! 

I hope everyone has enjoyed reading my high-street fashion wish list! Let me know what your favourite style is or what you're really fancying seeing in your wardrobe!


Love Katherine. X

Maya Angelou 'Letter To My Daughter' Book Review

Hello everyone! 

Today's second post is going to be the first of many book reviews that I'm planning on writing on this blog, I'm extremely excited about these posts as I grab any chance I have to post about books. As I'm an avid reader I doubt I'll be running short of books to review, some of the books I'll be reviewing in the future will be rather old and some relatively new, this is because I believe that somewhere, someone will read my blog and might just want to read one of the books that have been reviewed and I honestly can't think of a better way to use this blog than giving someone a bloody good book to read! I'll be reviewing each and every one in my own words and not all of the books I'll be reviewing will be good or booth that I've really enjoyed. As this is my first book review post I'm doing it on a Tuesday because I'm so excited to get it out and finished, however, from now on I'll be posting these reviews either every Sunday or every other Sunday depending on how much time I get to read because of college. 

This week's book is by the late, very great Maya Angelou and it's her book 'Letter To My Daughter' that I'll be looking at this week. I received this book for Christmas from my Mam and I was overjoyed when I unwrapped it; Angelou is one of my favourite writers, one of which I've only recently gotten into, I've some of her other work and I find her writing truly mesmerising, and her writing style a joy to read. This book is a collection of brief essays in an autobiographical form in which Angelou recounts lessons she's learned throughout her life;  she addresses this book to her daughters. Angelou gave birth only once to a son but in her book entitled 'Letter To My Daughter' she speaks to the millions of women around the world, in her introduction she states this as follows "fat and thin, pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered. I am talking to you all". Throughout the book Angelou provides each brief chapter or essay with her usual passion and delivers it with her usual, beautifully poetic style, in fact some chapters are pure poetry, literally.
When I was reading this book I was given the sense that I was being spoken to by a gentle and caring relative grandmother figure, if you will. Chapters addressing issues from rape, vulgarity and finding love at a mature age, each gives a fantastically powerful message to end with and it was truly a joy to read, some things in this book I believe I will kep with me for the rest of my life, for example, Angelou speaks of being charitable simply by giving others your smile, of turning your music down if it's overly loud and she speaks of being brutally honest when people ask "how are you?". I will cherish and treasure this book always, I'd highly recommend it to anyone.


Love Katherine. X

The Liebster Award

I wasn't sure of what exactly the Liebster Award was although I'd heard several bloggers discuss it and it had piqued my interest although I'd not planned on doing it until I was tagged by Aymie Louise yesterday. Ta for the nomination my dear! 

I've nabbed the rules from Aymie's blog:

• Thank and Link the person who nominated you -Check
• Answer the nominators questions - Find my answers below
• Nominate 11 small blogs with under 200 followers who you believe deserve this award
• Create 11 new question for your nominees to answer
• Notify those nominees via social media/blogs

What type of music do you listen to? Include examples

I've said in a few previous posts that I tend to listen to a mix of music but some of my favourites and most listened to include Queen, McBusted, The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato and  Dolly Parton and so on. I guess my music taste is pretty varied. 

What is your favourite movie?

No question, Disney's Mulan is my favourite. I remember watching it for the first time when I was much younger, I absolutely adored it and nearly 15 years later I still adore the movie. I also know every word to every song in it. 

What three places would you put at the top of your travel bucket list?

Oh good question... I think Ireland would be right at the top of my list, I'd love to go to a cosy little cottage in the Irish country, I love rain and typically "bad" weather so Ireland would be great for me. Next would be Hawaii, I'm Disney crazy and I've always wanted to go to the place where Lilo and Stitch lived when I was a little kid, now I'd love to go to Hawaii because  most of the views look amazing! Finally I would love to go to America and do a road trip and go to every state, there's loads of history and culture in America so I think hat would be a really fun trip to go on. 

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I have rather bad eyesight so I'd love to change that, it would be fab to take my glasses off and be able to see perfectly for once. Also I'd be spending less on frames and lenses haha. 

What's your dream job?

My dream job would definitely be owning my own bookshop, that would be like a dream come true having a quaint and cosy little bookshop in Whitby. At least that way I can make a living with my favourite things, books.

Who is your hero/inspiration?

I have two, it's a tie between my mother and my grandmother. They are the strongest women I know and they've both been through so much in their lives yet they've managed to raise children and keep a wonderful home as well as teaching me some of the most important lessons that I've learned so far. 

What's your biggest fear?

Spiders. 

What's your favourite season?

Winter is my favourite seasons because of Christmas, my birthday, the weather and general loveliness during that time. 

Sweet or Savoury?

I'm a total carnivore, I love meat so I'm definitely a savoury person. I have to really fancy sweet things to eat them. 

Are you an introvert of an extrovert?

I'm rather introverted, I prefer to listen that to talk and I'm usually the wallflower at parties or gatherings. Although I do have extrovert tendencies when I'm with good friends. 

Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging as a way to jut vent, I find writing really relaxing so whats a better way to relax than write about things I love on my own blog?! :)

I'm going to nominate the blogs I love most:

http://dibdabdebs.blogspot.co.uk

http://diapersandtutus.wordpress.com/

http://maddykake.blogspot.co.uk

http://www.tartanmouth.blogspot.com

http://www.pastelskies.co.uk

http://www.aliceswonderemporium.com

http://www.fineanddandyblog.co.uk

Sorry that I couldn't think of 11 but these are my favourite small blogs.

My Questions:

What's your favourite topic to blog about? E.G. lifestyle, fashion, beauty etc.

How long have you been blogging?

What's your favourite type weather?

Are you a laid back or highly strung person?

You can move anywhere in the world, where would you most like to live?

Who is your favourite singer/band?

What's your favourite TV show?

What's your favourite book?

What's your favourite childhood memory?

Who is your blogging/vlogging inspiration?

Vintage or contemporary music?

The Book Tag! A.K.A The Ultimate Book Tag!

Hi All!

I found this tag on books with bite and because, as many of you already know, I am a MASSIVE bookworm I jumped at the chance to have a go at this myself, I've always loved books and I adore blogging about books so I hope reading this post will be as fun for you as writing it was for me! 

Do you get sick while reading in the car?

No not at all, in fact if I'm not driving and I have even a short journey I will definitely take a book and read it for as long as I possibly can. That's one of the worst things about being able to drive yourself, you don't get the pleasure of reading in a car any more. 

Which Authors writing styles completely unique to you and why?

Regardless of the fact that I adore the series I do have to say Derek Landy, there is something about his writing that can build up tension exactly when it's needed, he can make me cry and laugh out loud no matter how many times I've read his books. I've literally been in public and laughed out loud at the sarcastic witticism his characters come out with. Plus his characters are utterly loveable, even the villains have something appealing about them. 

Harry Potter series or Twilight Saga? Give three Points to support your answer!

Harry Potter series... Always. 

1) J.K. Rowling is really detailed with her descriptions so I can see everything really clearly in my mind's eye.

2) Peeves! 

3) Snape and Lilly, need I say more?

Do you carry a book bag, if so what's in it? Excluding books

Currently my book bag is a cream canvas book bag that says 'I bloody love books' which is so true! It currently has in it the books I'm reading, those being Skulduggery Pleasant Kingdom of the Wicked, my headphones and iPod, some feminine necessities, my inhaler and my purse. That's about it, I only take what I absolutely need in my bags.

Do you smell your books?

Of course! One of my favourite smells in the world is a book, old or new the smell is just so comforting and homely and I love it. That and Prada candy perfume are my two favourite smells. 

Books with or without little illustrations?

I can read books with or without little illustrations but I tend to think if they do have little illustrations that they give the book a bit more character. I like the illustrations and revel in them when I find a book that has them in. 

What book did you love while reading but later discovered it wasn't quality writing?

For me it had to be Fifty Shades of Grey, I read all three books within 5 days and honestly whilst I was reading them I thought "wow yeah! That's some quality writing, the plot is great!"... That was when the first books came out, since then I've read many other books such as The Fault in Our Stars (John Green), The Mall (S.L. Grey and Letter To My Daughter (Maya Angelou) and I've realised how wrong I was, the writing is shoddy, tacky and the whole plot seems like a bored housewife's boring daydream. Sometimes I think I could have written a better book with more passion and fire that that and as I've mentioned before I'm not a good writer. 

Do you have any funny stories involving books from your childhood?

I don't have any funny stories from my childhood although about 6 months ago I went into Waterstones in Durham city and bought a few books including a couple of Stephen King books and John Green books and a cute guy commented on my good purchases and I ended up attempting to flirt outrageously with him until I dropped all my books on my toe and swore rather loudly, thankfully he flashed me a gorgeous grin and helped pick up the books he was only a couple years older than me but I swear my heart skipped a beat once I'd gotten over the initial mortification. 

What is the thinnest book on your shelf?

The thinnest book on my chef by far is Maya Angelou's Letters To My Daughter, this book is absolutely wonderful and warms my heart every time I read it. 

What is the thickest book on your shelf?

The thickest book on my shelf is probably The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. I only read these books in 2014 and I've never gotten into book so quickly as I got into those, Doyle was a fab writer with an eye for deduction and logic. 

Do you write as well as read? Do you see yourself as being an author in the future?

I would LOVE to be a writer but I'm honestly not very good at it, I'm quite good at writing short stories and I do that occasionally but I'm much more of a reader than a writer, there's nothing better than getting lost in a good book. 

When did you get into reading?

When I was round about 3 I started to read fluently, I remember when I was at nursery I hated reading because I got so upset that everyone else was reading but I felt like I was getting nowhere so I came home one day and just cried to my grandma because I couldn't read and I really wanted to. I was such a cute child. Who am I kidding, I'm still cute. :)

What is your favourite classic book?

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is one of my absolute favourites without a doubt! I first read this in year 10 and usually when I'm told to read a book, like for a book report or something, I struggle to get into it as I like to find my own books to read but this book just grabbed me right away. I have no idea why as it was't particularly fast paced or action packed but it's a very good book that I'd recommend to anyone. 

In school was your best subject English?

English wasn't actually, I hated English language but that's all we id up until year 10 when we finally started English literature which obviously I loved! We were made to read To Kill a Mockingbird, Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde and another book I can't remember, it was a really good lesson. 

If you were given a book as a gift that you'd read and hated what would you do?

Personally I always believe that if I'm given a book I don't like there will always be someone out there who will appreciate it or enjoy it therefore I will give them to whomever I think the book suits. 

What's a lesser known series that you know of that's similar to Harry Potter/Hunger Games?

The only series I can think of is the Percy Jackson series! I adore those and I've even gotten my mother into reading them to ha! I love anything like Harry Potter although I have to admit I simply can't get into the Hunger Games, maybe I'll try again later this year.

Are you a nerd, dork or dweeb?
All of the above... or so I've been called numerous times. I like to think of myself as a nerd. 

What's your favourite word?

Scintillating. I love that word and I have no idea why, it's just fun to say and fun to read. I will provide you with scintillating conversation... most times anyway.

Vampires or fairies? Why?
As a main character I like vampires, mainly because I find they're more versatile characters to work with and read about but in general I like fairies... because they're cute.

Shapeshifters or angles? Why?
I think shapeshifters are really cool and in a book my attention is immediately grabbed by a shapeshifter, one example of that is the aminagi in the Harry Potter books. Not sure if I've spelled that correctly but whatever. 

Spirits or werewolves? Why?
Werewolves definitely. I've always been intrigued by werewolves, they're pretty damn cool.

Zombies or vampires?
I like zombies, I love zombie books and I'll always go for a zombie movie or book if I'm looking for a scare, mainly because I have a terrible and irrational fear of zombies...

Love triangle or forbidden love?

Never forbidden love for me, usually with forbidden love I find that the books are very brooding or sullen and I can't stand reading books like that, I'm not keen on love triangles but as long as there is a happy ending or there is romance of some sort in a book, even if that love never comes to fruition, that's a good romance story for me. 

Full on romance books or action packed with a few love scenes mixed in?
Personally I like a mix, if a book has too much romance going on it can take away from the initial plot line itself but if a writer is leaving their readers hanging when they want to see some romance going on their readers can get frustrated with too much action. I think you've got to find a book with the right balance and it's important to note that just because there isn't romance in a book doesn't mean it can't be jam packed with love.

A few books I got for Christmas

Love Katherine. X

My iTunes Purchases

Hey everyone!

Today has been a very, very long day and I'm still ill so I thought I would treat myself to a bit or retail therapy and bought a few things. I bought myself season 14 of Family Guy and the complete box set of Miranda, so far today I have managed to blast through 21 episodes of Family Guy and I'll be starting my Miranda box set later on. Other than my fabulous DVDs I bought myself some new albums from iTunes that I've been after for a very long time. I was given £25 worth of vouchers for iTunes for Christmas and I was initially struggling to think of albums I wanted until I had a look through my iPod and remembered all those I really fancied. This post is just going to be about what I bought from iTunes earlier today. 

Firstly, I bought myself Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. This album was the only album of The Beatles that I didn't have, so I thought it was about time that I got it. I first heard The Beatles when I was about 4 or 5, or at least that's the first time I remember hearing them, myself and my grandparents were on the way to Whitby, a lovely North Yorkshire seaside town, and I just instantly fell in love with their sound. It was when i got oder that I heard this album and although it was totally different to their usual stuff I still loved it so I was determined to have all of The Beatles albums and now I finally do!

The second album I bought was The Very Best of Dolly Parton. I love this woman and I think she is the definition of fabulous, her and Elton John were two of my favourite artists when i was younger, admittedly, although it may be cliched, my favourite song of Dolly's is 9 to 5. I'm a damn good country singer too if I may say so myself so I think that definitely adds to the peal of her music for me personally. I'm really looking forward to listening to this album.

I also bought Anne Murray The Best...So Far. I've only recently discovered the music of Anne Murray and Oh My Days. This woman has a beautiful voice and I completely relax whenever I hear her sing, I'm really drawn in by the songs she sings too. Some of my favourite songs of hers include Snowbird (obviously), You Needed Me and Just Another Woman In Love. I actually discovered her through Family Guy, most of my favourite songs I find on TV shows or movies now I come to think of it...

I'm not one for listening to modern artists predominantly but there are a few I like such as McFly/McBusted, Taylor Swift, One Direction, The 1975 and Ed Sheeran being a few. Ed Sheeran is one of my favourites and I have the rest of his albums so when I saw 'X' on iTunes I bought it right away, I love Tenerife Sea and Thinking out Loud, they are (in my mothers and my own words) MINT!


The fifth album I got was blink-182: Greatest Hits. Come on! Who doesn't love Blink?! If I'm doing a spending spree on iTunes I just can't resist getting Blink or My Chem songs or albums but I've got all the albums for my Chemical Romance so Blink it was. For a really long time I went through a phase of just ignoring my Blink 182 albums but in the last year or so I've really gotten back into them and I don't regret it one bit. 

Finally I got The 1975 by The 1975... Who else really? I've really liked these guys since I heard Chocolate in 2013 I think it was, funny story, that song actually helped me with my driving lessons because when I was learning I would never use gas when going up an incline but whenever I would see one I'd always sing "we're building our speed as we're approaching a hill" which helped me remember what to do haha. Technically I bought this album a few months ago but I got halfway through downloading and had some issues downloading the rest so I took the opportunity to download the rest today. 

So that was my iTunes spending spree for today. My music taste, as mentioned in another previous post is pretty eclectic as you can see from this post and my older What's On My iPod? Top 25! post from last week. 


Love Katherine. X

52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge!

Hi All!

Today's post is just going to be really quick and concise because I'm still feeling under the weather and  what with being off college I have episodes of Family Guy to watch and relax with. Anyway, I've been wanting to do a few more "challenge" type posts so I decided to do a little research last night and found something that suits me down to the ground. 

The 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge!

Basically, this is a challenge in which you've got to set yourself a goal of reading at the very least one book per week, which for me should be a doodle. Also I will be recording all of the books that I've read on here and reviewing that as I finish each one, this isn't a necessary part of the challenge however I think it'll be a good way to hold myself accountable and also to keep up with a my weekly book review post that I've been aiming to do for quite a while now. 

I'm extremely excited about doing this challenge and writing up my book reviews, I've mentioned before that I love to read so it should be a lot of fun. 

Just before New Year I started re-reading my Skulduggery Pleasant series, this week so far I've managed to get through the 4th and 5th book and I'm going to start the 6th book - Skulduggery Pleasant Death Bringer. However, I will not be reviewing these books now as I have a Skulduggery Pleasant series book review coming up later on in the week which should be really, really fun to write about considering how much I love those books. 

Anywa, thank you all very much for reading and I hope you'll be looking forward to seeing some of the boo reviews. Let me know if you're getting involved with this challenge, I'd love to see what everyone else has been reading. 

Love Katherine. X

50 "Interesting" Facts About Me Tag!

Very bad picture... but it's Me!

Hi All! 

Right now I'm sitting at home, feeling less than my usual self as I've got some sort of bad cold so I came home from college earlier. I'm only really doing this post because I was chatting to another blogger who isn't active any longer, unfortunately; she was telling me that she enjoyed writing this post and it might be worth me having a go, so here I am giving it a good go. I'm jut going to be posting 50 facts about me that seem interesting, it's going to be kind of difficult because I'm not THE most interesting person to ever live... then again who is? Right, let's get down to it!

1. My full name is Katherine Hayley Jazz Savage Simpson - kind of a mouthful but I love my name. 
2. I'm naturally a lightish blonde however I dye my hair dark chocolate because I always loved brunettes. 
3. I LOVE Christmas.
4. I study Health and Social Care.
5. I hope to be a university lecturer (of either health and social care or social work) in the future.
6. I am a total bookworm, I read like 40-50 books a year. 
7. I'm obsessed with Harry Potter.
8. My favourite book series is Skulduggery Pleasant - I've read them all (including novellas) at least 10 times. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm reading them all again right now, currently on the 5th book (Mortal Coil)
9. I am seriously obsessive compulsive. 
10. I choose not to label my style, some people find that rather odd.
11. Spiders are my worst nightmare, I have a meltdown if I see even a money spider.
12. I started blogging as a way of venting any stress I had after college or whatever. It genuinely helps me wind down.
13. Sarah Millican is my idol, that woman is fabulous. 
14. I'm a nail polish addict.
15.  have a really, really rare genetic mutation that affects my DNA and certain receptors in my brain. As far as we know only myself and my father has this  exact condition in the Europe.
16. I have a teddy bear in my room that's been passed from child to child in your family for 60 years. That's pretty cool if you ask me. 
17. I live in converses.
18. I have to hamsters called Hamish (as in McBeth) and Molly (as in Hooper from Sherlock)
19. I'm an only child.
20. I'm atrocious at mathematics.
21. My favourite writer is Danielle Steel (other than Derek Landy obviously)
22. I don't drink.
23. I'm an ex-smoker now. 
24. I'm 5 foot 4 inches.
25. I have green and yellow eyes.
26. I play piano extremely well. 
27. My favourite thing to play on piano is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. 
28. I play Clarinet.
29. I also sing, my preferred singing style is opera. 
30. I have a MacBook Pro that I haven't worked how to use yet.
31. I have 9 piercings all in all. 
32. I proudly identify as a feminist!
33. I'd love to be a hippie.
34. Whitby is my favourite place on earth. 
35. I have a Peugeot 3008 13 reg car.
36. I passed my driving test first go, both theory and practical.
37. I'm allergic to lavender.
38. I once took part in a singing contest and won against professionals. 
39. I can speak German and a bit of French.
40. My favourite part of my body is my bosom area, TMI but it is. :)
41. I once had a Bearded Dragon I had to give up called Shelley.
42. Silver is my favourite colour.
43. I have PCO/S. Not interesting but I'm struggling for facts now ha. 
44. Despite this post I don't like talking about myself.
45. I have a rescue bullmastiff named Bella.
46. I live with my Mam.
47. I'm from the Newcastle area.
48. I hate shopping, with the exception of stationary shopping.
49. I love jewellery, especially rings but I can't wear fake stuff because of allergies. 
50. My Mam and Grandma are THE two most important women in my life. 

I hope you all enjoyed reading this because I really struggled to find all of those facts! The picture at the beginning of this post is of my beautiful mug, in case you hadn't gotten that before... ;) 

Love Katherine. X

My Weekend and Next Weekend Plans!

Hi guys! 

As you all know tomorrow it's back to the daily grind so it's highly likely that I won't be posting every day, or at least not twice a day as it has been recently. Anyway, I did a post similar to this one about a week ago, have a look at that here if you fancy a peek, and it was good fun to write particularly as a great deal of writing wasn't really needed. So, I decided to do another and add on a few of my plans for next weekend, I hope you all enjoy it. 

This weekend has been really slow for me and I haven't been up to much as all, the majority of my family came down with some sort of cold this weekend so I was in charge of looking after them, I was planning to go shopping with my friend Aymie however that was put on hold because of my carer duties. So when I wasn't busy with the family I did some online shopping and bought a ton of clothes from  ASOS, Yours Clothing, Debenhams, Simply Be and Schuh which hopefully I'll be scheduling a blog post on at some point in the near future. I've spent a lot of my time reading some of the many books I got for my birthday and Christmas which again I hope to review a few of. Yesterday I was given a bit of time to relax and decided I should take my Christmas decorations down, that was a painful experience given how much I love Christmas. I swear they're going up in October this year. 

Also because I'm getting into blogging much more I had the pleasure of meting and speaking to a few really, really lovely bloggers who I plan on mentioning at the end of this post. 

Today has been a little bit boring, so far I've done some housework, blogged a little and done some reading, I suffer from PCO/S and I have good days and bad days, to day is a bad day, it often drains me of energy much quicker than on a good day and the pain definitely isn't a bonus of the condition so I've decided that tonight is going to be full of relaxing and pampering before I'm back at college tomorrow. Face masks, hot bath, gallons of tea and my favourite book series is what's needed for tonight methinks. 

So thats it for what I've been up to this weekend, pretty dull I know but I'm hoping next week will be much better. I'm planning on going to IKEA, LUSH Cosmetics and the metro centre for bait of retail therapy with a friend, I'm also planning on going to Waterstones and getting myself to many books that I won't be able to fit them all in my car! That's if my bank account allows ha. Anyway, thank you all for reading and I hope everyone has a lovely night and a better week! Below you'll find a list of the wonderful bloggers mentioned earlier in the post. :)

- http://www.underlandtowonderland.com This blog is absolutely wonderful and it's quickly become one of my favourites, Danielle is also a lovely person and she recently mentioned this blog in a post of her own, thanks again for that!

- http://mejusttalkingtoyou.wordpress.com Again this is another fabulous blog run by a fabulous lady, Tamara is so nice and she's also helping myself and Aymie organise a bloggers meet up in Newcastle round February time - more info on that soon by the way. 

- Finally I couldn't mention some of my favourite bloggers without including Aymie Louise http://aymielouise.blogspot.co.uk  Aymie is a natural at blogging and her blog is varied and diverse, she's also really easy to talk to and welcomes interaction with other bloggers as I do. 

Each blog mentioned above is brilliant and more than worth a look, I'd recommend reading these blogs to anyone!

Love Katherine. X

My All Time Favourite TV Shows

I'm more of a bookworm that I am a TV or movie buff however I do have several favourite TV shows that I don't think I'd be able to live without! i really like doing posts such as "my favourites" and "top 10" just because it gives me a change to really think through what I like and enjoy. So for any of those interested here is my top 19 favourite TV shows of all time, in no particular order. 

American Horror Story - Murder House up to Freak Show

I LOVE this show! I actually only started watching it early last year and it took me a while to get into it, mainly because I started with Murder House and I honestly thought that was the most boring season of AHS. I actually caught about 10 minutes of the final episode of season 2 Asylum when it first premiered int the UK and I instantly knew that show wasn't for me... oh how wrong I was! This show throws so many curve balls that you never know where the plot will go next, it's so twisted and dark it's unlike any other show out there. Plus Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson are gorgeous! Jessica Lange is amazing and the cast very rarely changes. i actually enjoy this show so much I've gotten a "Normal People Scare Me" T-shirt for christmas. 

Sherlock

Sherlock is probably one of the best TV shows of the 21st Century. The way Arthur Conan Doyle's original work has been brought into this day and age is really ingenious and I can honestly say there are never any holes in the plot that you can see. Benedict Cumberbatch's performance as the sociopathic detective is flawless and completely loveable, Martin Freeman is adept at making the audience feel John Watson's emotions the way any good actor should. Neither actor are bad to look at either. I also own an "I am Sher-locked" hoodie.

Doctor Who
Doctor Who? If you've never seen it you really really need to! Everyone has heard of the travelling, lovely time lord from Gallifrey and I'm sure those of you who watch it have your own personal favourite Doctor out of them all. Sometimes this show can get a little bit confusing with the plot lines thanks to Moffat's writing, unfortunately I am neither a fan or even interested in the episodes written my Stephen Moffat and the show in my opinion is slowly disintegrating. However it will always be open of my all time favourite TV shows regardless of writing. I have several TARDIS relaxed merchandise and even a sonic screwdriver. David Tennant's Doctor of course. 

South Park

This show is extremely funny to me, partly because of the songs the show puts out, like "Taco Flavoured Kisses" and "Kyle's Mom", and also because it's so outrageous and offensive that I just can't find it unfunny. There have been countless times where the show could've offended me but they do it in such a way that they're making it obvious that offending you is their goal. I love this show and the characters are fab!

Family Guy

Family Guy is one of my favourites purely because of Stewie, the baby is hilarious and obviously doesn't give a money's what people think, despite his vanity and plans for world domination. The characters in this show are really diverse and each one has their own back story that you learn in various episodes; again this programme can be really offensive but it's too funny and stupid to be taken seriously. 

Friends

Friends is on this list because it's a classic and it never ever fails to make me laugh, regardless of how bad a day I've had. The humour is just in plain sight and everyone can find one character they relate to quite obviously. I'm Monica because of my little OCD things i do every now and again. I also grew up watching this programme and that makes it that little bit more special if you've watched it from being young up until they day it ended. 

Vicar of Dibley

Finally, The Vicar of Dibley is my all time favourite TV show. My religion is a big part of my life and Dawn French is one of my biggest role models, I love everything she's done, her books are wonderful and her acting in the show is just outstanding. She plays the role of the dry humoured, confident vicar perfectly and many of the jokes are relatable. For once a programme featuring religion that doesn't present it in a negative light, just another bonus.

Let me know some of your favourite TV shows in the comments section below.


Love Katherine. X