It's (almost) Christmas!!!!!!

If your not a fan of Christmas then I suggest you stop reading this post, for me it is one of the best holidays of the year. Weirdly I enjoy the build up to Christmas day itself more than the actual day, visiting the Christmas markets, buying the presents, seeing friends etc.

This year I've been fortunate to visit two Christmas markets, Winter Wonderland and the Bath Christmas market which for anyone who has been following me on here or on Twitter for a while will know that Bath is one of my favourite places. Many reasons why but too many to go into now. Bath Christmas market offers a whole collection of I believe about 100 stalls throughout the lower end of the city as well as a very busy and bustling crowd. My two favourite stalls are the Macaroon stall, which always offers about 15 different flavours of Macaroon to choose from with my favourite being the Salted Caramel. The other being a stall by a company called Pollyfields, a company that this year also opened a permanent store in the city. They sell dried oranges and cinnamon stick decorations, candles, wreaths, pouperi etc and you can smell them from a mile off!

The build up to the day as everyone knows includes buying presents for people, for some this feels like a chore and believe me I know the feeling when you've searched high and low but still can't find a gift for that one person. However for me this is one of the things that I enjoy doing the most, individuals such as my best friend or my sister are the best people to shop for and if anything I get carried away - especially with my sister who's Birthday is also at the end of November. I love going the extra mile to ensure I get that perfect present for someone because it makes it all worthwhile when they open it. Last year I took a risk and brought a Tassimo coffee machine for my parents not knowing how into it they would get and I feel that they now couldn't imagine life without it. The next step is the wrapping of the presents which for me requires a good week of evenings on Pinterest coming up with some inventive ideas on how to make them look great. Adding tree decorations, string and stacking them in a pile was just a few things I did last year. This year I have just gone for a very basic and traditional plain brown wrapping with snowmen printed all over because lack of time was a thing. I still searched around online though for the best Christmas labels which I purchased from Typo.

This year we are having a small Christmas and so each member of my family has been assigned a course of the meal to organize.

 I'm in charge of dessert so of course back to Pinterest I go and I have decided to go ahead with making a vanilla cheesecake which could include some fruit on top and some Pinterest inspired Strawberry Christmas trees (If successful there will be a how-to blog post going up).

There’s a tradition in my town that on Christmas day everyone heads down to the harbour for the annual Christmas day harbour swim. I can confirm that I attend each year as a spectator as oppose to a participator but if its not already obvious enough then on average around 300-400 people, some in crazy costumes, swim from one side of the harbour to the other side. Its all for fun because the water is ice cold however they have a competitors round where you can race against each other.

(So I forgot to post this...its been sat in my phone for a while and I didn't just want to waste it so...heres to 363 days until Christmas 2017!! 

Oh and the Cheesecake and Strawberry Christmas trees shall not be going up as they were slightly disastrous)

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Harry Potter and The Cursed Child Brief Review - book (spoilers)

So what did everyone think of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (book/script)? I have heard many mixed reviews and feelings - I personally started off a bit sceptical because I wasn't sure how I was going to find the script style or if I was going to even be able to get into it because it was different characters. However it actually turned out to be ok, the one thing I really had an issue with to a point where I almost put the book down was when it time travelled three years in the space of like 2 or 3 pages. I can appreciate that it was written for the stage and so it could look quite affective with a rotating stage divided up into three sections but from a readers perspective it really threw me. After being introduced to Scorpius Malfoy did anyone else google what they all looked like in 19yrs later scene from the last film in order to truly visualise the characters in their head?

I half suspected something was suspicious about Delphi when we first met her at the top of the stairs in the Potters house however I never would have said she was Voldemort's daughter. I loved the plot of the play I just wish it could have been longer and...well to be blunt...a book in the same style as JK's previous Harry Potter's. I just missed the descriptive pieces and I feel that it lost a large part of the magical feeling. My favourite scene, that I have heard others call to be too cliche was the scene where Harry is at Godricks Hollow again where he witnesses his parents death...I don't get emotional over books but I couldn't stop my emotions on this one. It was the one scene where I felt it did still carry enough description in the stage directions that I really felt for Harry and could visualise the scene really clearly in my head.

So to summarise it there, I really enjoyed the book to a point where I read the entire thing in a week - sounds like a long time in comparison to some but this is baring in mind I work 8 - 10 hours a day because of 2 jobs whilst trying to re-decorate/organise my room. And although I went into reading it with low expectations I was pleasantly surprised yet I just wish it could have been longer! Even my sister who doesn't enjoy reading at all started to read it, got to page 43 to then decide she really liked it so I would definitely recommend it to anyone that has read/seen the previous Harry Potter stories.

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Sims Transgender Option

So I logged onto my Sims 4 today after a long time of not playing it, I sat and installed the updates and when I went to create a new set of Sims I noticed something new... You can now choose to not give your Sim a gender, by doing this you are faced with four options; Physical frame (Masculine or Feminine), Clothing preference (Masculine or Feminine), whether the sim is capable of becoming pregnant or impregnating others and the ability to use the toilet standing up.

This is really different to my normal blog post but I just wanted to address this briefly and comment on how great it is that this has finally become an option within the game. Allowing the diversity and accepting that some people choose not to define themselves as male or female or perhaps as transgender demonstrates how more accepting society is becoming of this. Of course if you were to read the news then you might disagree with this after the attacks at the gay clubs in Orlando. Or from the drama that was caused by parents when it was revealed that you saw a lesbian couple for a couple of seconds in Finding Dory - like do they not realise who plays Dory? Its Ellen freaking Degeneres people and this is 2016, get a grip with yourself and become more open to accepting different sexuality's and identities. Although I consider myself to be straight, it really bothers me that people can't just be accepting and treat those that aren't like they have a disease.

Hopefully with The Sims being such a popular game among the younger generation, it will help to change the way that society views sexuality and identity regardless of their parents views. Weird comparison to make but if Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty can affect a child's behaviour then surely something like this could have an impact in a positive way as well.

Does anyone else view the world in the same way as I do - that no one can give themselves a label as far as their sexuality goes because we are all attracted to both men and women just some towards one or the other more than others?

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Social Anxiety

So this blog post is more of a serious topic, I am quite a shy person and just over a year ago I was diagnosed with social anxiety. This is something I have had to deal with all my life along with many other people, it made school life really hard as I found it hard to talk to new people and when I did make friends, after a while I would become very paranoid which made me feel like they didn't really want to be my friends and that they were simply putting up with me. When I got to college life didn't become any easier as I was placed into a class of just guys and then little old me and considering I only had one friend whom went to a different college I became very lonely.

During this time at college I quit my job working at a hotel because my boss was a terrifying person, which again made my life easier as she accused me of being rude and various other things simply because I didn't say hi to her each day. So I left my hotel job to work in a cafe that was just starting up, everyone that worked there turned out to be lovely and 3 years down the line I am still working there between my studies at university.

Ok so that was a lovely story but what was your point Sammy? I am saying that as terrifying as getting a job, one of which consistently required endless amounts of socialisation with the customers each and every day it was one of the best things I could have possibly done. My confidence improved and I soon found that my day was basically scripted, greeting each customer with the same "Hello how are you today?" taking their order and then saying goodbye. Because of working at this cafe in such a friendly environment I gained the confidence to go to university, even though I panicked several times during the summer period before leaving home and cried on the first night after being dropped off by my parents because of how terrified I was about doing the whole social, club nights, drinking thing. The fact that I didn't drink and had never been to a party/club didn't help but I can honestly say, being sat here now 3 years down the line and about to graduate I am so proud of myself for doing it. I have a great group of friends who are in the complete know about my paranoia and will listen to me and re-assure me that I am crazy when I do freak out.

So for anyone who is in a similar situation to what I was 3 years ago I advise you to make the jump and to get a job and go to university as you will find people that understand you and how you feel. I don't feel like I am in a situation of telling people what to do I just remember feeling so crappy and scared about things and so I'm simply saying that life can get better.

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Can we talk about... Pretty Little Liars S6 E11

Are you watching Pretty Little Liars???? If your answer is no then why not? Stop reading this post and go and watch the past 6 seasons on Netflix then come back and continue reading. I feel that most people are watching it however none of my housemates are so I am going to use this space on my blog to post about each episode every Wednesday. I have been so excited waiting for this season to start so hopefully we aren't all let down... SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED IT YET

Okay so firstly...how do we all feel about the girls new looks? I love Spencers fringe but I can't get over how Alison looks slightly pregnant from a certain angle...does anyone else feel this or is this all in my head?!?! I am so happy to see that Hanna and her mum are basically rich now considering all the financial crisis' they have been going through in previous seasons. I felt a tear form in my eye when I put two and two together about Emily and her dad tell me if I'm wrong but he died at war right? I never felt close to her dad but Emily is almost definately my favourite character from the show, at the same time I couldn't decide how to feel when Sara Harvey (the bitch) turned up at Charlotte's funeral. On that note, how can Alison forgive Charlotte for everything that she put her and her friends through?! I get that she is her sister and I understand her story but I didn't just watch the girls go through hell for the past 5/6 years to stand and lie by telling the court that they felt safe and that they forgave her! I was so glad when Aria was honest and upfront about her feelings. The moment Aria and Ezra saw each other in the brew I just wanted Ezra to break down over loosing Nicole so that Aria could comfort him, then this 'Liam' guy that she is currently with can turn out to be the new 'A' and Ezria can be a thing again because they were so god damn cute as a couple!!!! Yes I am a little bit mad that none of the girls are still with the guys they were with before they left for college and Hanna is engaged like WHAT?! Who else suspects that Spencer and Caleb could become a thing before the end of this series? I mean he's been in contact with her a lot by the sounds of it and he is staying in her barn...did no one else see the look they gave each other?!?! In other news, Toby is building a house for that implied 'someone' I'd like to think he was still in love with Spencer and was going to make some big surprise proposal with it but I think we are going to have to let that one go.

I am a little bit worried about where the writers plan on taking this series, I felt that the ending last season would have worked nicely even though I'm not prepared to let it end just yet. I'm not sure I can deal with another 3 months watching the girls getting chased by the new 'A' all over again as it is starting to get a little bit too repetitive but what are your feelings on it? I would love to know! Comment them down below and maybe we could turn this into a little blog/conversation piece which would be great! 

- Sammy 

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