Sunday 30 November 2014

The Sunday Playlist #5


The Sunday Playlist #5
The photo above was taken yesterday in my beloved Manchester (I've fallen head over heels in love for this city and continually seem to do so whenever I see it), which I ambled my way into yesterday afternoon for a bit of browsing around the fabulous Northern Quarter. I think it's the perfect for this post, because this last week I've been constantly reminded how amazing and incredible this city and my university are, and how lucky I am to be here embedded with the two. Obviously one of the opportunities I've had is getting my radio show, something else I'm so lucky to have and hope to continue doing in the new year. Today was my fifth show and not even gonna lie, I really loved today's playlist and creating it was such a real joy to do, as was playing it out across the airwaves. Before my show I got chatting to the lovely guys in before me, and we had a right laugh (mostly at the fact that I'd just realised that you can actually turn the light on in the studio) and a did a bit of fangirling over my music choices, Darlia in particular, which was awesome and reminded me again how much I adore doing my radio show on Fuse FM. It's one of the highlights of my week, and because I loved today's show so much, I would absolutely love to share my fifth playlist with you
You can also listen to my show here.

1
RADIOACTIVE
Kings of Leon

2
FIRST DAY OF MY LIFE
Bright Eyes

3
SUNNY
Bryan Adams

4
STARS ARE ALIGNED
Darlia

5
YOU CAN BELIEVE
Superfood

6
GIVE ME LOVE
Ed Sheeran

7
MARDY BUM
Arctic Monkeys

8
FEELS LIKE WE ONLY GO BACKWARDS
Tame Impala

9
HOLD ON
Idris Elba ft. Thabo & George The Poet

10
CITY WITH NO CHILDREN
Arcade Fire

11
RIGHT NOW
Mary J Blige

12
GROW OLD WITH ME
Tom Odell

13
LIVIN' ON A PRAYER
Bon Jovi

<3

Saturday 29 November 2014

Be Fearless


BE FEARLESS
For near enough all my life I've been someone who is governed by fear. Since I was a little girl I always had this underlying fear of things, of people, of the unknown, of what might happen if I did or said something, no matter if it was right or wrong. If I was happy with the way things were, I didn't want to do something to askew the balance. If I wasn't happy meanwhile, or I had dreams regarding how to make my life even better, I didn't always feel I had the courage and fearlessness to change things or act upon those dreams. I'm not saying I lived in some peculiar state of paralysis, because of course I went out there and lived my life regardless, but these feelings were always underlying everything I did. This fear of the unknown, and what could happen after it had been greeted, has stayed with me even to this day. When I look back on my life, I see a lot of what-might-have-been's, those moments and things that I never carried through. I see a lot of instances of trying to please everybody (I'm your number one compulsive people pleaser) out of fear that I could lose them. I see a few missed chances and opportunities that I was too afraid to take, I see moments where I should have said or done something, moments where I wish I'd bit the bullet and graciously done the very thing I'd been afraid of doing... It goes on and on, but I learnt not to regret these things because it can drive you insane, so I try to be nice to myself and although I get frustrated at myself for letting fear govern me, I rise above it, cut myself some slack and think about how I'm going to change things in future. What's the issue this time and how am I going to overcome it, learn from it, grow into a better person, the person I'd like to be.

I'm sharing this little insight with you, because over the last few years I've steadily been getting better at overcoming my fears and acting fearlessly. I never thought I'd see the day, but they come, and they get more numerous, whilst the missed opportunities and 'wish I'd done that's decrease. It's still an ongoing process, because despite my assumptions that being a more fearless person can occur at the snap of a finger, the evolving that needs to occur in order to get to that place takes time. It doesn't happen overnight, and so you still see a string of regrets being produced, and you still throw your hands up in frustration from time to time, but the important thing is that despite that, those important changes really do happen. And they can be big things or little things, it doesn't really matter. All that does matter is when you're facing something that scares the crap out of you, you take a deep breath, look it in the eye, push that fear as far down as you can, remember that you can do this, that you can overcome this fear, and you go out there like a little soldier and bite that bullet. You'd be surprised at what you can actually achieve, and what can happen, when you do. 

I've always hated the adrenaline surge that occurs in those milliseconds right before you conquer a fear, and although sometimes things still may not work out how you wanted them to, it's still the most incredible feeling to know you did it. That you did the very thing that scared you most, and what's even better is what can happen when things go right, and when doing the thing that scares you leads to wonderful and amazing results. As I sit here writing this I can think of so many things I've done or experienced over the last couple of years or so, that have only happened because I encouraged myself to be fearless. I got my first job, I partied the night away with lots of lovely Brazilians, I actually went to university, I've made so many new friends and met new people, I got my radio show, I set up my art and design shop and actually told people, I learnt how to dance, I did some amazing volunteer work, I finally found what I want to do with my life, I met someone special and although I lost them, it taught me so many things, and the plus side is that I know exactly what I'm looking for now. There's just so many things that only happened because I had the courage to make and let them happen

So if you're reading this, and you can identify with what I've written, I want you to know that you are so amazing, and that you really do have the strength, courage and ability to be fearless, to do the things that scare you most, to make those changes, and make those dreams of yours a reality. You don't realise that you have such beautiful, strong courage embedded within you until you finally decide to use it, tap into it, and let it fuel you as you set about bettering your life. You might not believe me when I say these things, but you should because it's true. You can do it. I never thought I could call myself fearless, and I still have a little way to go, but if I'm not fearless then I'm definitely a lot more braver than I used to be. I used to be obsessed with Taylor Swift's 'Fearless' album when I was 15, and I thought I understood what fearless meat, but in retrospect I don't think I did. But I really think I do now, because when I look back, I realise I have those memories, actions, moments, where I know I was fearless right then and right there to confirm it, prove it. Things can change and it's amazing. So please just say yes, do the thing that scares you most, take the jump into the unknown, don't let things hold you back any longer that you have to, take your life into your hands and launch yourself like a glorious shooting star into the beautiful, mysterious unknown that awaits you. 

<3

Tuesday 25 November 2014

The City


THE CITY
This evening I bowed down to the almighty exercise gods and did my weekly exercise like a good girl should. Having gone to 'Gelato Passion' for my friend's 20th birthday yesterday, and having had a rather passionate moment indeed with my gelato, which came served on a waffle that was literally covered in melted Nutella, cream, chocolate sauce and banana, I knew I had to go do my weekly exercise whether I wanted to or not. My weekly exercise, in case you were wondering, consists of running with a running club at uni, and they push us to zee max, so every week I basically do a 5k, although tonight it was 6.5k (cheeky buggers didn't tell us that though till we were half way through) and surprisingly I didn't die, although I feel really tired now. Plus I came back to find my flatmates knitting, which was an added bonus. But anyhow, even though it was a rather strenuous route, they took us running through the centre of Manchester, which in case you've never seen it before, is out of this world amaaaaaazing at Christmas time. All the beautiful lights adorn the buildings and the trees, there's Christmas markets everywhere you go, lots of people walking around, and there's a magical, electric quality in the air. And the thing I keep finding with Manchester is that every time I think it just can't get any more amazing, it does. It's just an incredible city, and I know that there's some bad things that happen, as happens in every major city, but despite all that Manchester is really just incredible, and I constantly find myself thanking my lucky stars that fate took me here. 

So basically, this rather long winded and mostly irrelevantly filled post, is to celebrate the beauty of cities around the world, just like Manchester, because love them or hate them, you can't deny that there's just something so captivating, amazing and electric about the buzz of a big, beating, beautiful city. There's just something about them that makes you yearn to be encapsulated within the heart of it, even if it's just for a day, not to mention that vivacious, unapologetic spark of life, like pulsating electricity poised to explode at any moment. And so on that wonderful note, I really hope you enjoy these gorgeous photos as I catch up on my weekly fix of Gotham... (#noregrets)

























And just to see us out, it's the inevitable song choice that this post simply demanded,
it's... THE 1975, THE CITY

Monday 24 November 2014

The Sunday Playlist #4


THE SUNDAY PLAYLIST #4
I originally began writing this post yesterday evening, but I got sidetracked and accidentally spent two and a half hours talking to my mum and sister on Skype. Therefore it is now Monday morning, wahey, and I really ought to go to bed but yanoe, priorities and all that... So it was yesterday that I did my fourth radio show, and I had a wonderful time in the Fuse FM studio playing some of my favourite songs to the masses (aka. my loyal audience comprising of Mum and Dad.). Despite a few technical hitches, a touch of rambling and some excessive gushing over The Killers in particular, my show went really well, though I still dream of the day when I do a show that would be worthy of spot on Radio One *sigh sigh sigh*. Anyhow, I was lucky enough again to be in the position of giving airplay to some really deserving artists, as well as playing some insanely awesome classics which are always guaranteed feel good numbers. So as happens every week, I would love to share the contents of this week's Sunday Playlist with you lovely people, and I really hope you like it. And if you want to listen back to my show, click here, and if you want to help choose the song to end next week's show, just click here.

-The Sunday Playlist will be back on Fuse FM next Sunday 1-2pm-

1
CHEVY THUNDER
Spector

2
I'M MOVIN' ON
Johnny Cash & Waylon Jennings

3
RUNAWAYS
The Killers

4
ALWAYS
Jake McMullen
-song available here-

5
ALIVE
Gabrielle Aplin

6
BLAME IT ON THE BOOGIE
The Jacksons

7
THE BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO
The Beatles

8
RADIO NOWHERE
Bruce Springsteen

9
A COLD LONG NIGHT
Northern National

10
PUMPED UP KICKS
Foster The People

11
REAL LOVE
Clean Bandit ft Jess Glynne

12
I'M A BELIEVER
The Monkees

13
THE CAVE
Mumford and Sons

HAVE AN AMAZING WEEK EVERYBODY :)

Saturday 22 November 2014

Noisetrade Faves


NOISETRADE FAVES
When I began doing my radio show a month ago, I was faced with the momentous task of finding lots of new music that I could play on my show, alongside the classics that everyone knows and loves. However being a student who's gotta be careful with her dollar, I couldn't really afford to keep buying lots of new music week after week, no matter how much I really wanted to, so I looked around for some sites that had free music which was legal to download. The majority of sites I went on were right duds, but the music gods must've been sympathetic with my struggle because after a long, fruitless search, amongst all the duds I eventually found the most fantastic little gem of a site called Noisetrade, and upon finding this site my life has changed for the better.
Lemme explain.

Noisetrade is a nifty little website that unites musicians and music lovers together and engages them in a mutually beneficial deal that is a win-win situation for both musician and music lover. Musicians and artists put a selection of their work on Noisetrade, which can be anything from 2-3 songs to a whole album worth of material. As a music lover in pursuit of awesome free new music, you can then search through the Noisetrade archives, which are presented in a really beautiful, clear, modern easy to navigate fashion. On each artists profile is listed other more mainstream artists that sound similar to them, so you can quickly deduce which artists you might like the sound of based on your existing musical preferences, as well as other ways to find out more about the artist. When you find an artist that you like the sound of, you can download their music on Noisetrade for free, in exchange for providing your email address so that the artist can send you promotional information every now and then (don't worry it's not a lot). 

Personally I've found Noisetrade to literally be a lifesaver, because as a student and a DJ it allows me to find and access so much amazing new music for free, that I can then play on my show. I get to flesh out my show with some really great, undiscovered finds, thus providing myself and my listeners  (all five of them) with some fantastic new artists to look into, as well as giving these up and coming artists the exposure that they deserve and currently may not be getting, So to celebrate the really ingenious, brilliant, wonderful idea that is Noisetrade, here are some of my favourite finds that I've played or am going to be playing on my show, and which I would looooooooove to share with you!


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1
LILY AND MADELEINE

RABBIT

YOU GOT OUT

THE WOLF IS FREE

Music available at:

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2
BEAR'S DEN

ABOVE THE CLOUDS OF POMPEII

ELYSIUM

AGAPE

Music available at:
http://noisetrade.com/bearsden

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3
THE NATIVE SIBLING

HERE WITH ME

CARRY YOU

LET THE WATER RISE

Music available at:

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4
NORTHERN NATIONAL

SHE

YOU'RE THE ONE

A COLD LONG NIGHT

Music available at:

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5

JAKE MCMULLEN

JUST ACROSS THE POND

Music available from:

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6
BAHAMAS

ALL THE TIME

STRONGER THAN THAT

I GOT YOU BABE

Music available from:

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As always my show is on Fuse FM, Sundays 1-2pm so tune in to hear some more amazing new music :)

Thursday 20 November 2014

Orla Kieley, Clarks AW 14


Clarks womens - Orla Kiely

ORLA KIELEY, CLARKS AW 14
I came across Orla Kieley's Autumn/ Winter 2014 shoe collection for Clarks after a nice little spot of Instagram hopping earlier, where I saw some shoes from her 2015 collection, and fell just a tiny bit in love. The 2014 collection is out in Clarks stores now and is full of the most gorgeous autumnal primary shades, adorned with little polka dots and artfully crafted with beautiful matte and shiny leather. They're wonderfully quirky with a quintessentially British theme and I can't even deny it, I want to own every single pair because I adore shoes to a ridiculously infinite degree, as every girl should. So to celebrate this sublime little shoe collection, here are some of my favourites...

-You can check out the collection in store here-

Clarks womens - Orla Kiely - Orla Dora
Clarks womens orla kiely

<3
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