PROM 2016

Hiya!

I've been waiting to write this post for months and the time has finally come and I'm so excited! I'm going to explain everything about the process of getting ready for my prom, as well as including lots of photos for you to see! I was also a member of the prom committee so I've been involved in the whole process so I'm super proud to show off the committee's hard work (in the photos)!

I decided to get my hair and makeup done professionally as I believed that it was definitely worth the money as they were able to do a MUCH better job than anything that I would have been able to do! I wanted my hair to be down as I didn't feel that an updo would suit me as I always have my hair down, and I wanted to look as natural as possible. Similarly, while I wore a lot of makeup, I was still aiming for a natural look that simply enhanced my features (without making me look like I've been caked in makeup!). I had a trial for both the hair and the makeup which I would highly recommend as it allowed me to decide exactly what I liked (and what I didn't) and gave me a general idea of what the finished look would be like.

For my dress, I didn't want to spend a huge amount of an outfit that I would more than likely only wear once. Because of this, I made sure I shopped around to find the nicest, yet most reasonably priced dress possible. In the end, I got my dress from 'T K Maxx' which, like ASOS, stocks a variety of different brands, but at discounted prices. My dress originally comes from a brand called 'XSCAPE', and while this particular dress isn't available anymore, they have plenty of other beautiful dresses to choose from so go check them out! The dress itself cost £59.99 which I thought was very reasonable considering the price of some of the dresses out there!

My shoes came from ASOS but were originally from New Look. They matched my dress perfectly and I couldn't believe my luck when I first saw them! They only have a small heel on them as I'm quite tall anyway, but the dress definitely required a bit of height. They cost me £24.99 which was okay, but I was gutted to see that they went on sale for £13 a couple of weeks after I'd purchased them! They were super comfortable and were easy to dance in, so I would highly recommend them!

The prom itself was absolutely amazing and everyone looked phenomenal! I enjoyed myself so much, the whole night was incredible, from start to finish - we didn't fall into bed until 5am Sunday morning! The school hall was completely transformed and everyone was super impressed which I was really happy about as people were quite skeptical about the location at first; we proved them wrong thank goodness!

I've included plenty of photos below of the night and I hope you enjoy having a look at them, and you can feel even a small amount of the magic that was in the room! I really hope you've enjoyed this post - it's definitely been one of my favourite posts to write!

See you soon,
Charlotte x

BOOK REVIEW: 'Songs About a Girl' by Chris Russell

Hiya!

"Charlie Bloom never wanted to be 'with the band'. She's happiest out of the spotlight, behind her camera, unseen and unnoticed. But when she's asked to take backstage photos for hot new boy band, Fire&Lights, she can't pass up the chance. Catapulted into a world of paparazzi and backstage bickering, Charlie soon becomes caught between gorgeous but damaged frontman Gabriel West and his boy-next-door bandmate, Olly Samson. Then, as the boys' rivalry threatens to tear the band apart, Charlie stumbles upon a mindblowing secret, hidden in the lyrics of their songs ..."

If you've been reading my posts for a while now, I'm sure you'll be aware of my obsession with celebrity culture and my love for novels based around this crazy world that surrounds famous people. So, as you can imagine, 'Songs About a Girl' was right up my street! I have to admit, I was also intrigued by this book as the main character and I have very similar names - coincidence or what?!

My initial thoughts of the novel were very different to my final opinion and I was very happy that I persevered with the story. At first, I thought the plot had a 'too-good-to-be-true' feel to it, as it seemed highly unlikely that a very famous pop star would have been keeping tabs on a student two years younger than him from his old school. However, once I'd got my head around that part of the story, I began to engage with Charlie's experience a lot more and I generally enjoyed the book more!

In general, I felt that the novel was very well written and contained a well balanced mixture of humorous, funny scenes, as well as the more serious, hard-hitting stuff . This made the book more readable and believable and added an almost 'down to earth' quality to the plot. Sometimes, I felt that Gabriel's story became too 'heavy' but apart from that I thought that it was amazing to see a novel address such dark, yet realistic troubles that some teenagers experience.

I truly can't decide whether I'm team Olly or team Gabriel... there's definitely more to the story, so I'm hoping to see a sequel soon! This brings me onto the ending of the novel, and what an ending it was! I have so so so many questions that I cannot wait to find out the answers to, as the story ended on a major cliff hanger that will leave you absolutely desperate for information!

Overall, I would definitely recommend 'Songs About a Girl' to anyone who fancying an insight into what life on the road is really like, and how different dynamics between members can completely change a band, and the disastrous consequences this can have on the whole band. Also, there's plenty of romance within the novel between a certain band member and a school girl photographer (I won't say anymore as I don't want to ruin anything!).

I hope you've enjoyed the review and make sure to grab a copy of 'Songs About a Girl' by Chris Russell (out on 28th July in the UK)!

See you soon,

Charlotte x 

Exams are Over!

Hiya!

Summer is here! Okay, well not weather-wise, but it is the official start of my summer holidays, which is super exciting. The exams were spread out over 5 weeks and it felt like they were lasting forever, but I knew how important they were so I put all my efforts into them! Also, I was always thinking about the fun things I was going to be doing once they were over, so that helped too!

Now, I've got so many exciting things and events coming up, my favourite one being prom! It feels like the prep for prom has been going on forever, especially because I'm a member of the prom committee so I've been attending weekly meetings for months. I bought my dress in around April and the shoes followed not long after, so I had finished the physical shopping before my exams started. Last week, I had a makeup trial which was amazing, and I'm looking forward to prom even more now! I'm definitely going to upload a blog post later on in the month, detailing everything about prom - look out for that!

Another thing that I've got coming up is HOLIDAY! At the end of July, I'm going to Jersey with my family, which is an island near the coast of France and the weather is always great which is a change from the drizzly, rainy English weather that we're experiencing at the moment! I'm also going on holiday in England with my friends at the end of August which I'm also super excited about - it will definitely take our minds off of results day!

Finally, in a couple of weeks time, I'm doing a week of work experience at a local primary school which will definitely be a unique experience - I'm hoping to gain a better idea of what a primary school teacher consists of and whether I would like to do that for a living! I also think that it will be a really nice opportunity!

I hope you've enjoyed this ramble, I just thought I'd update you all on what's happening in my life at the moment :). Expect many more blogposts over the summer as I'll have all the time in the world to chat about my experiences so look out for those!

See you soon,

Charlotte x

BOOK REVIEW: The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone

Hiya!

I was so motivated to write this review that I hopped straight on the computer... and here I am - that's how good 'The Loose Ends List' was! 

Maddie O'Neill Levine is caught up a the maddest, most ludicrous adventure that her beloved grandmother, Astrid, has ever come up with: a secret 'death with dignity' trip, in which the dying take their families on a cruise around the world, until the time comes that the patients feel they are ready to die and are put to sleep and laid to rest at sea.

At first, I thought this novel was a little to crazy for me and I didn't know if I'd be able to finish it because, in general, I don't enjoy stories when the main focus is death. However, I'm so glad that I continued reading as the book was magical, enchanting, and just all round amazing. It made me think about a lot of things, especially the fact that many people can't choose how they die, and it really had a lasting impact on me.

While Maddie is seen as the main character in the novel, I feel like there are so many other great characters that latch onto your heart and never let go! One of my personal favourites was Rachel, Maddie's childhood best friend, who Maddie still confides in regularly, despite the girls growing apart. She was so down to earth and completely understood and supported Maddie, even though she had not experienced anything like what Maddie was going through.

The bond of family in the novel was super cute - I loved how the whole family joined together to celebrate their relative's life, and completely put their lives on hold, just so they could be with Astrid. They seemed very accepting of each other and anyone they came across, regardless of their 'judging' nature (which provided a lot of laughs in the story!). Maddie's family had so many minor plot lines intertwined with the main story  which made the book even more enjoyable as it was almost like reading several books at once!

Finally, Maddie and Enzo's relationship was almost law-defying - she had embarked on a trip to honour her grandmother and spend time with her family, yet Maddie manages to jump into a relationship with the boat owner's son! Their story was portrayed in a wonderful way and I loved the dynamic that their relationship added to the novel. I don't want to include any spoilers so I won't say anymore!

Overall, this is honestly one of the best books I've read in a long, long time so I would highly recommend you nab a copy when it comes out in a couple of days time! I hope you've enjoyed the review - if you read 'The Loose Ends List', leave a comment below or tweet me, letting me know what you think. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

See you soon,

Charlotte x

Meeting Tom and Giovanna Fletcher!

Hiya!

Super excited to write this post because it was such a random, last minute thing that turned into a really enjoyable, fun day! It all started when I was checking the 'Loose Women' website to see which celebrities were appearing in the next couple of weeks as I watch the show quite regularly. I then saw that Tom and Giovanna Fletcher were making a joint appearance on 1st June which was only a couple of days away! Quickly, I applied for tickets to be in the audience on that day and I was lucky enough to nab two tickets!

My friend and I arrived in plenty of time to ensure that we got seats as they oversubscribe the tickets to ensure that the audience is full, even if some people don't turn up. However when we reached the entrance, we were told that the audience had been filled up by those with priority tickets - so upsetting! So, we stopped off at a nearby cafe and chatted somewhat dishearteningly. We then decided that we would wait at the back exit of the building to see if we could catch a glimpse of Tom and Gi when they left.

We waited for around half an hour, despite the miserable weather (we had to buy an emergency umbrella!) and it was nice to see that others had come to show their support as well, including the paparazzi! All of a sudden, Tom and Giovanna came out of the studios and began posing for pap photos. They were so kind and sociable and they were happy to interact with everyone that was waiting to meet them! We spoke to Tom about the McFly tour and he apologised for the delay (it's been postponed as the drummer, Harry Judd, has injured his neck), which we thought was really nice of him! The pair then hopped in their waiting car and drove off, leaving my friend and I in a very excited and happy mood :)

Afterwards, we decided to wait for a while longer to see if we could see anyone else as we wanted to make the most of our day. To our surprise, we also managed to meet 'Loose Women' star, Coleen Nolan, who also happens to be the mum of Jake Roche, frontman of Rixton! She was also very, very friendly and was happy to take a photo with us and have a quick chat. All in all, the day was very exciting, despite not actually getting to see the recording - at least I could watch it on catch up at home!

I hope you've enjoyed this week's post and I love to hear about any TV audience experiences that you've had! Comment below or tweet them to me at @charlyblogs.

See you soon,
Charlotte x