School Leavers & A trip to Brighton

So last Thursday (21nd May) was my official last day of school, and it was oddly satisfying to walk out of the school gates for the last time however, exams are fast approaching meaning I've got a few more weeks till the real end of school (forever! weird hu?!) 

On Friday we had a Leavers Tea, it was such an amazing day with cringey (but cute) speeches, embarrassing picture slideshows including pictures from year 7 that will always haunt us and a chance to get our prom tickets and leavers hoodies. Of course there was celebrations after including a (short) pub crawl, which was a bit problematic due to us all wearing our old school uniform, but it was fun all the less. I'm now looking forward to exams being over and celebrating the end of school with prom and a trip to Crete with my friends after.

This week is half term which unfortunately at this time of year means that it is full of revision however, as a little break my mum and I took a short trip to Brighton. We had a nice little lunch in Jamie's Italian and had a wander around the lanes with many a trips into each cake shop for baking inspiration as well as a well needed trip into a kitchen ware shop (sad I know) where we definitely made many excuses to buy things we didn't really need, but the little old fashioned milk bottle and paper straws did make use feel very Pintrest!

Cupcakes- Raspberry & chocolate, chocolate rolo, caramel, victoria sponge, red velvet and Oreo

Harry Potter 'Sorting hat' cake and 'Drive me wild' wildlife cake

Flower wedding cake

'Catwalk Cakes' shop in Brighton

 Thanks for reading!

Stereotypes

I have loved baking and cooking ever since I was a little girl when my mum used to show us how to make cupcakes and cookies, and it has now grown into a huge passion of mine. Baking is something I do as a stress relief, to take my mind of things be it revision or a hard day. When I got the opportunity to study Food Technology at school I was so excited to actually take my passion and put it to use in what I think of as an academic subject. However, I was not ready for the ever growing stereotypes of studying this subject.

I am now nearing the end of my ALevel Food Technology course and although it has been stressful I have loved every minute of it. However, I still get friends and other people at school asking me what I'm cooking 24/7 or whether my exam involves describing how to make a cake, and although they may see this as showing interest it does get very irritating after a while. 

The stereotypes of subjects similar to this of being just 'cooking' or non academic is extremely outdated and fails to represent the hard work that people like me put into it. Not only does this subject involve the practical skills that go far beyond cakes but also a very detailed nutritional knowledge base. To be good at cooking you have to know the science behind nutrients and their interaction, and this is something that many people do not understand. Alike subjects such as drama, art, dance and creative writing the subject is pushed under the carpet and not recognised enough as academic and something that requires a lot of skill. I've not only noticed this from speaking to people but also through the lack of schools that offer this subject, as well as the constant battle at school to keep the subject going even though the results are far better than some so called 'academic' subjects....and this is definitely not at all because it is easier because trust me its not!

The food industry fuels our economy and without people studying in this area we would not have the developing range of products that are available today. From viewing university courses within this area the low numbers of graduates of this subject has shocked me, with those with a food degree having a quick rate of employment because of their high demand.

Additionally, the amount of people that think that if you study this subject you want to be a chef is quite unbelievable, again showing how little they think of the subject. The likes of chefs such as Heston Blumathal has raised the scientific profile of cooking and has begun to show the vast knowledge that some chefs possess.

Sorry this post has turned into a little bit of a rant, but I hope that in the future these subject will get a little more credit, because without the opportunity to study this at school I don't think I would have found something that I am as passionate about. 

AS prototype- Savoury bread snack product- Inspired by turkey, stuffing and cranberry Chelsea buns.

A2 prototype- Luxury dessert product- Inspired by Gatau de L'Opera cake 

Revision playlist

Its that time of year again when exams are looming and the hearts of all students are racing with nervous energy, as well as excitement for the summer ahead. For me this year this feeling is much more intense with the great pressure of wanting to get into the university of my choice. However, with a few social sacrifices and a lot of hard work hopefully the huge amount of time and effort that has been put in will pay off! 

I thought I'd share with you a few of the songs I've been loving to get me through the long revision filled days. 

'The One' is Kodaline's latest release from their second album 'Coming up for air', originally written for a friends wedding. This song has a great feel good vibe and is quite a calming song to listen to while doing hard core revision. 

'Hold Back The River' is from James Bay's début album 'Chaos and the calm' which has become a huge hit in the UK. The soft tone of James Bay's voice provides an upbeat feeling.

'Man On A Wire' is The Script's third single from their fourth multi platinum album 'No Sound Without Silence' inspired by the film 'Man On Wire' about the French man Philippe Petit who strung a wire between the two World Trade Centres and walked across it. Now you can probably guess why I love this song..................

Currently I am loving Colton Avery's cover of 'Human Nature' originally by Michael Jackson. Colton Avery supported The Script on their 2015 UK & Europe tour and is defiantly going to be one to watch for the future with his amazing voice and humble character.

Finally, 'Youth' by Foxes is another of my favourite tracks to keep me motivated during revision. I have recently really loved listening to Foxes and you should defiantly check her out if you haven't heard any of her songs yet.

A few more favourites are.........

- Love Runs Out- One Republic 

- Superheroes- The Script 

- In The Long Run- Port Isla 

- Volcano- Port Isla 

- Goodbye Friend- David Guetta ft The Script 

- High Hopes- Kodaline 

- Maps- Marone 5 

- Take Me To Church- Hozier 

- From Eden- Hozier 

- Icarus- Bastille 

- Unclear- Kodaline 

-The One- Colton Avery 

Thank you for reading and good luck with your revision and exams!!!

The Script.......again!

The last of my planned gigs for this year has come and gone ever so quickly as always! As the inevitable PCD (Post Concert Depression) sets in I thought I'd write a little review.

Last weekend I visited the London O2 arena twice.....yes twice, to see The Script, which consisted of one very relaxed evening on Friday, and a very hectic 10 hour wait in the freezing O2 on Saturday. Although, it was an amazing experience I don't think I'll be in a rush to queue all day again any time soon! Especially not at this time of year. However, the kindness of the people around me in the queue in the effort to keep everyone warm, was in fact something that is very rare to find these days! 

The Script as always bought a huge amount of energy to the O2 starting off with their new song from their fourth album, 'Paint The Town Green', being paraded in by 40 lucky fans holding green lit up flags, that lets be honest looked a little like lightsabers! They proceeded to then perform another new song, which featured in the Mrs Brown's Boys movie last year, 'Hail, rain or sunshine' which I did not expect to be on the set list, but we were not disappointed with the positive energy that it bought to the crowd, providing a promising tone for the evening ahead. The Script being crowd pleaser's meant that as always their most famous songs 'Breakeven', 'For the first time' and 'The man who can't be moved' were played in the mix of new songs, which took all us older fans back to the 'Good ol' days' (excuse the pun!). 

However, many times I see The Script the face of true disbelief on their faces after 'The man who can't be moved' never gets old, showing how grateful they are to everyone who listens to their music, or goes to see them live, for enabling them to do something they love everyday.

Friday- 'Paint the town green' parade

Friday- 'No good in goodbye' lasers

Friday- 'Hall of fame'

Every tour The Script discuss in interviews how this tour is going to be even better than the last, which gets fans thinking how could it?? But as promised they, yet again, came back with a bigger show. This included stunning lasers in 'No Good in goodbye' and 'Man on a wire', as well as a second stage, which enabled the fans at the back of the arena to get involved in the show. But lets not forget their classic 'Nothing' call, the banter they share on stage, Danny's run through the crowd in 'You won't feel a thing', and of course their drink off's! 

The addition of 'It's not right for you' to the set, another of their uplifting anthems proved to be a hit, with the song being many peoples reason for following their dreams, and on multiple occasions an excuse to get out of something because 'It's not right for you'!

I  could go on all night about the two amazing nights that I had, but I cannot wait for the next time I get to see this amazing band again, and make many more amazing memories.

Saturday- Danny

Saturday- 'Nothing'

Saturday- Glen

Saturday- Danny

Saturday- 'The energy never dies'

Saturday- 'No good in goodbye'

Saturday- 'Paint the town green'

Saturday- bow

I had amazing time both nights to say the least, along with being able to share the experience with my mum and my best friend.....who put up with my major fangirling every time I see The Script.

I'll be uploading some videos from both nights onto my YouTube channel, so feel free to check them out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeqDJKFHdzQ (Paint the town green- Friday) 

Kodaline!

The last few months I've gotten into many more artists, of which one is Kodaline. I am always looking for new artists to discover and to see live, and I was determined to get tickets to see Kodaline in London. After weeks of searching I finally managed to get a pair off Twickets, which at first I was slightly sceptical about having to meet a stranger to collect tickets, but I will defiantly be using the service again.

The gig started with two of the most amazing support acts I've seen, The Mispers and Port Isla, who defiantly got the crowd going! I'd wanted to buy tickets to see Port Isla again after Kodaline, because they were so good however, they're now sold out, which shows how popular they were!

Kodaline played sixteen songs from their latest album 'Coming up for air', and their first album 'In a perfect world', in which all sounded absolutely perfect live. 

Here are a few photos I took that you may enjoy.

 (sorry about the rubbish phone quality)

Port Isla

Kodaline- YouTube & Twitter

Port Isla- YouTube & Twitter

The Mispers- YouTube & Twitter

I'll be posting a few videos on my YouTube channel from the gig soon :)