PZ.

I am lucky enough to have friends an family in the beautiful area of Penzance, right down at Lands End. It is pretty much home to me now as I come here ever summer and live with my bestie Kaye and work crazy hectic but usually very memorable summer jobs. 

There is a very different way of life here and it suits me perfectly. 

I have some of the greatest friends here and some of my favourite memories. I'm off job hunting tomorrow and will try and keep up with my blog as well as possible while I'm here but I have to say that it may not be as organised and frequent as I'd like. But hey, quality not quantity right?:) 

Here are a few picture from the last two days..

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.."

Dan Brown - Inferno

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am such a bookworm, it is bordering ridiculous how much I read. Once I get my head in a book, that's it, I'm in a whole different world. Having just finished an English degree, I am far too excited to be able to read for pleasure again. Cool, I know. Reading has always been my main form of escape and it probably always will be. Some authors just amaze me, I'll give you some of my favourite's later. Back to Inferno. I have read all of Dan Brown's books more than once and I find him to have become a bit of a disappointment lately. I know many people will disagree but to me, he's lost that wow factor he had with The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. After his last Robert Langdon novel, I was left feeling a bit cheated, it felt like he had sold out and written a screenplay to sell rather than a story for the reader to lose themselves in. The only incredibly imaginative and striking aspect being the tattooed villain Malloch. I have been proved right as well as it was recently announced that it was going to be made into a film. Considering that, I was a bit apprehensive when it came to Inferno. Another Langdon novel but this time inspired by the epic poem by Dante Alligheri. The history and culture in Brown's latest race against the clock does not disappoint, it is the excitement of a gripping storyline that falls short. Nothing seems original or passionate anymore. Even the twists towards the end failed to draw a gasp from my lungs. I won't say anymore because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who has yet to read it and I hope that you may finish it feeling less deflated than I did. Other than making me want to return to Italy again and perhaps take on the task of reading Dante's work, I took very little from this book. 

If any of you need any recommendations for your summer holidays, here are a few I would majorly recommend: if you're a crime fan, Karen Rose is the way foward, her mix of brutal incidents and beautiful characters is beyond addictive. Her sub plots of love and humanity are incredible and just as amazing to me as the incredible detail in which she portrays psycho's and socipaths. I love her. 

If you go more for adventure with a bit of history; Matthew Reilly's Seven Ancient Wonders trilogy is one of my favourites of recent years. Again, amazing characters in some truly great storylines woven with history and mythology that has you hooked from the very beginning. James Rollins also writes some really good adventure tales, I strongly recommend the Judas Strain followed by The Last Oracle. 

If you're more of a romantic, Victoria Hislop's The Island is where you need to go. Based on the true history of the leper colony that used to inhabit the small venetian fortress on an island just off crete, Spinalonga. A truly magical tale of one family's plight in an unimaginably difficult situation but a truly beautiful place. It had me crying way more than once. 

Finally, a trilogy that is difficult to place in a genre. Justin Cronin's The Passage. The third book is yet to be released but the first two are something else. Composed of a view different forms of emails, diaries and prose much like Bram Stoker's Dracula, Cronin weaves one of the greatest post apocalyptic tales I have ever read. I don't know what else to say other than you should read it if you want something that will blow your mind a little bit. Twisted, haunting and yet almost romantic at times, it has you hooked from the very beginning.

Let me know if you've read any of these and what you think! 

And recommendations are always welcomed!:) 

Becca.

"Waitin' on a Sunny Day.."

I am having no luck with camera's at the moment so here are just a few Bruce photos I took on my phone.. 

He was amazing as usual. This being the fourth time I have been lucky enough to see him live and he never fails to blow the audience away. This show was dedicated to James Gandalfino who unfortunately passed away on Thursday and was a long time friend of guitarist Steve Van Zandt's from the Sopranos. But the most touching part of this show for me was during Tenth Avenue Freeze out: I had been told about the tribute the The Big Man, Clarence Clemmons last year but missed it due to Bruce being cut off at Hard Rock Calling in July. Following the line "and we made that change in town, and the Big Man joined the band" a montage of photos of the two band members showed on the screen whilst the band played on. It was lovely, and yes, I shed a tear cause I'm that pathetic. It is great to see that Clarence will never be forgotten, not that I can ever imagine that happening. His nephew Jake now fills in playing sax which is awesome, Jake manages to fill his uncle's huge shoes without taking his place and the crowd loves him. One girl being lucky enough to be pulled from the audience by the Boss so that she could "dance in the dark with Jake" as her sign requested. I am still so jealous. In fact, Bruce got a number of lucky people on stage with him this time, making peoples lives complete I imagine. 

My love of this 63 year old legend has often caused people to laugh and question my taste but I have given up trying to argue my point. His music is just something I don't think I could live without and that's that. You don't have to like him, but if you do, I'll probably love you a little bit more:) 

I just hope the "heart breakin', viagra takin', history makin'" E Street Band has at least one more tour left in them:) 

Anyone who follows me on instagram will have seen that this is what I wore..

It was such a warm muggy day that shorts were the only option and I went for my trusty Levis. Teamed with one of my favourite Urban Outfitters tee's, I can't get enough of their simple tops. Finally, I threw on my vintage denim jacket (denim on denim, oh yeah, I went there) and my shop dixi necklace, check out their online store www.shopdixi.com for some awesome pieces. And I was good to go! 

Becca. 

BA Hons

Pretty big day today, got the results for my degree!! Eek!! I am usually terrible for putting things off but I somehow managed to have the guts to check last night on the way home from Bruce Springsteen. Maybe I was still on a high from him being sucha legend, once again. (More on that in my next post when I have uploaded my photos:) Back to that minor life topic, my degree. After doing a year of science, I realised I missed English too much and changed, hence the four years a uni. I loved it (some of it anyway; scary lecturers and group work aside) But finally breaking down and realising I desperately needed help, my second year of English became much more difficult. Weekly counselling sessions seriously took their toll. Panic attacks ruled quite a few aspects of my life, socially and academically. And there were many times that dropping out seemed like the best thing to do. I definitely wouldn't be sat here writing this post if it wasn't for Soph, Mel, Annie, Kaye and Mitch. Five amazing people that in their own way have got me here today. And of course my mum, there are just no words for how supportive she has been. Depression is such a difficult thing to deal with because it is so personal, I barely understand why I feel how I feel and so it seems totally unfair to expect anyone else to. But these guys tried, whether it was taking my mind off things, spooning me when I panicked and cried, refusing to let me listen to all the horrible things in my head and shut down. Yeah, regularly the darkness would win and things would get pretty bleak, but they didn't run away, they fought for me and made me realise maybe I did have something to fight for. I will never be able to thank them enough for that. And as for Mitch, he's put up with many snotty crying cuddles, fed me when i was too exhausted by life to feed myself, made me smile when I never thought I would and making me feel stronger in a way he will never know. As for Kaye, that little "long distance legend", her texts full of nothing but positive thoughts and ability to make me talk when I would rather hide under a duvet. She is one of the most beautiful people I could have in my life. So, back to my degree, many people think anything below a 2:1 just isn't worth it and so my 49.3% (that I am hoping to get rounded up to a 2:2) may not be as exciting to anyone else. But for me, it is a victory. I bloody well did it. I needed a lot of help and it has been pretty grim at times but I did it. 

I know it may be years before I can beat this horrible little imbalance in my head, but I'm lucky enough to not be going through it on my own. And doing this makes me realise, maybe I'm not totally worthless. 

So thank you, to anyone who has helped me get this little grade on a computer screen:) 

Becca.

Barry M Gelly

I thought I would make my first review of one of my favourite new high street finds. Barry M Gelly nail varnish. I am really weird with nails because the though of long or false nails reeeally creep me out so you will always see me with mine clipped short, but hopefully still nice. I usually go for pretty boring dark nail varnishes but as it's summer, I wanted a bit of a pop of pastels and brights so I opted for shades Lychee, Grapefruit and Greenberry. Lychee has easily become one of my new favourites, it is the perfect nude colour. Now, as for the 'gelly' aspect of the product, it is genius. I am usually wandering round with chipped nail varnish for a week because I'm too lazy to paint them regularly. However, this product has real staying power, I have had it on for up to a week and it's barely any different from when first applied. Perfect for girls like me who like to be a bit girly but are no good at maintenance. 

I have also noticed that Maybelline have brought out a similar looking formula with waaay more colours so I am definitely thinking of investing in a few of theirs. 

Have any of you tried the Gelly polishes? What did you think? 

Becca.

Well, hello there!

I figured now would be the perfect time to start a blog; having just finished four years at Nottingham Trent University, I have the world at my feet and no idea where it will take me. So, here's your invitation into my odd little existence. The concept of focusing on myself is a little odd to me but I'll try my best because I have recently starting following some awesome bloggers and want to have a go!! There will be no particular theme to my blog, I am no expert on anything, but am interested in many things. There are some amazing fashion and beauty bloggers I have discovered lately and I'm not even gonna try and be as good as them, but I will let you know of any good finds and what not along the way. Music, films and books are also huge aspects of my life so you can expect plenty of favourites and reviews along the way too.
Mainly, I'm just quite intrigued to see where life takes me and if writing it down works well. I'm going to make this as honest as I can in the hopes that that will make my blog more interesting for anyone who comes across it. I've been battling severe depression and anxiety for 18 months and I can't deny that that has a huge impact on my life. However, I am truly grateful for all the opportunities that I have and I know that this is just the beginning and it will not be easy but I have no choice but to make the best of it, and that starts with being honest. I feel like I'm at one of those AA meetings you see on films, "Hi, I'm Becca and I'm depressed." So there it is.
Moving on to lighter topics and life in general, I'll be flattered if even one person reads my blog! Can't guarantee what you're going to get from it but hopefully it will make a good read!

Becca.