Snippets of Life: June/July

Hello guys, I feel like I've been so disorganised with my blog over the last month or so because I was planning to post this towards the end of June and now it's the start of August, I'm such a mess at the moment! (I will be posting why that is in a few days) I do like to post some photographs to do with my life every month and I usually have many photos to choose from, however all of the images below have been taken during June and July and I feel like there's not many; I've definitely had a bit of a dip in creativity in the last month or so. That said, I've been enjoying watching and taking things in outside of a camera; watching the sun rise and set, going for walks along the riverside and just generally living my life outside of a lens. I guess I'm enjoying life for what it is and watching the long summer days before they disappear. Looking through the photos that I've chosen to post, I'm definitely feeling a bit of wanderlust right now, I'm in the mood to see things, absorb knowledge and explore the world, but obviously that needs money so I'll settle for exploring London for now. I had a lovely June and good July, so hopefully August will be even better. I want to focus on my blog mor ethics month, so I'll see you very soon. Take care, love Rachel :)

 

 

July Playlist

1. Speakerphone - Rixton

2. Malibu - Miley Cyrus

3. Still Into You - Paramore

4. Don't Look Down - Martin Garrix (feat. Usher)

5. No More Sad Songs - Little Mix

6. Animals - Maroon 5

7. The Greatest - Sia

8. Despacito - Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee (feat. Justin Bieber)

9. Heart Skips a Beat - Olly Murs (feat. Rizzle Kicks)

10. Learn To Love Again - Lawson

11. City of Angels - 30 Seconds ToMars

12. Counting Stars - OneRepublic

13. Stitches - Shawn Mendes

14. Payphone - Maroon 5 (feat. Wiz Khalifa)

15. Disturbia - Rihanna

Book Review: I See You

As the second novel written by Clare Mackintosh, I feel like there has been either a lot of hype, or a lot of hate surrounding this novel. The danger is, I suppose, to compare two completely different novels. I began reading this novel at the suggestion of my mother, who has excellent taste in books. Having not read her debut, I wasn't sure what to expect from her as a writer; the first thing that struck me was that it was told from such a modern perspective on life. Featuring social media and other forms of 'journey tracking', it was amazing how much it struck me, being a born and bred Londoner reading familiar commuting routes and different London Underground lines. This novel was so gripping as it was such a look into the future; a glimpse of how simple it can be stalk people, to literally affect daily lives through social media, mobile phones and other online activities. One thing that was particularly awful to imagine is the unfortunate truth that we are living in a society where we are not truly in control of ourselves; the government and various others have hidden cameras and surveillance anywhere and everywhere, not only watching, but quite literally analysing day to day life.

As a woman, it was pretty horrific to imagine being in the position of Zoe, one of the main characters. She found a picture of herself in a free newspaper and each day noticed a different woman featured in the same advertisement. You could be forgiven for thinking that she's overreacting, stressing about why it's her photograph and how it got there, particularly when her family insist that it's not her and she shouldn't worry. However PC Kelly takes her claim very seriously, especially as she's based on the tube network. Both Zoe and Kelly have their own issues, but I preferred Kelly as a character overall as I found her input, her perspective and her drive to be not only incredibly interesting, but also a key feature to some of the major issues drawn out throughout the novel. The main plot is about an investigation into a website directing paying clients to rape and kill women using the transport network, which is not a joke if you're a regular on public transport. I definitely found myself looking over my shoulder far more than necessary whilst reading this novel. It had a great pace; super fast all the while staying to the point and fairly detailed, particularly when the narrative voice was through Kelly (in third person), although Zoe's narrative (in first person) was also interesting as she was constantly doubting herself and looking around corners. Out of the two women, Zoe was definitely less focussed on the heart of the mystery; much of her input was about her everyday life, her family and her job.

An unknown narrator (using the first person) is also highlighted throughout; the words of the stalker. Only on the last few pages is this narrator identified; however I found this narrator to be massively creepy and incredibly unnerving. These little snippets into the sociopaths mind were italicised, making it easy to identify where the narrative changed over into the unknown. As many would argue, the worst part of this narration was the lack of knowing who was behind it, as well as getting a glimpse into just how simple it is to manipulate technology to wrongdoing. This novel dealt with feelings of anxiety and isolation well and clearly displayed them through the various characters presented throughout, regardless of whether they were a key or a background character. The investigation shown from an officers point of view was fantastic, easily the most fascinating part of the narration as it was in great contrast to both the regular view and the sociopathic viewpoint. There were parts where it was slower as through the first person narrative of Zoe, there were many deliberately overanalysed tangents and thoughts being played out.

Overall, I literally could not put this novel down. I was hooked; I'm so frustrated that I never successfully worked out 'whodunnit', the twist at the end is completely worth the wait for me and blew my mind! With hindsight, there were many untrustworthy people and characters spread across the novel so it was difficult to assertain who was who and what the purpose of them was within the plot. The last hundred pages or so flew by for me, I wanted to finish it but also read forever as it was so thrilling. I liked the mix of action and adventure alongside the waiting and mind games, the atmospheric description of what it's like to commute, how you feel hugely claustrophobic and nauseous when someone makes too much physical contact with you. Zoe as a character wasn't the most interesting, but she did work well in comparison to Kelly, who I found not only interesting, but also very engaging and dynamic. The inside information from the police investigation fed through Kelly was a great way to see the crimes from all angles and an unusual style. The big reveal was not only a shock, but also a bizarre and fascinating twist that conveyed that quite literally anyone in this novel could be either a victim, suspect or killer. The writing style was gripping, constantly making me think and I loved that.

Favourite Instagrammers #12

Hello again guys; for the past couple of months I haven't been loving instagram as much as I did before, I feel like that's because I decided to have a bit of a break from it. I wanted to have a break because as a blogger, I like using social media as a way to interact with other people (bloggers or not) and gaining inspiration, which I felt instagram was lacking for me. I started using Twitter and Pinterest a lot more, and I found that was the perfect mix; Twitter is fantastic for interacting with other people, making friends and supporting each other. Similarly, Pinterest is great for inspiration, but I love instagram again now too. I feel like after having a break, I've realised why I liked it. I just really enjoy scrolling through and seeing people's lives and loves. So, this month I've decided to have a look at some of the Instagrammers who I've been following for a couple of years as there must be a reason why I've followed them for so long... (hint: the feeds are lovely!)

 

sirenandrose

I've been following Megan on social media since she was more commonly known as TheBriarRoseBlog and I've always loved her girly, whimsical and quirky sense of style. Over the years she has definitely changed, mostly because when I first followed her she had vibrant, waist length red hair and now her hair is (just as stunning) still long, but curly and bronde ombré. However much her hair has changed, her beautiful photography hasn't and nor has her sense of style; whenever I see a floral dress on Megan I instantly think that she looks like a fairy! It's hardly surprising that she has so many followers because of the mix of the lovely coastal Cornwall views and pastel, girly and Disney inspired homeward splashed all over her feed.

 

justmolly

I have no clue when it was that I followed Molly, but I'm going to assume it was a while ago, as I found her feed through her YouTube video 'the piercing tag' and she had only one tattoo then. She's definitely a bit of a geeky, girly girl with a love for Harry Potter, Doctor Who and many more. She takes some beautiful photographs of nature, friends, pets and architecture and often dabbles in cosplay and writes interesting little captions to match the images. Recently she's been working in a bullet journal and I'm enjoying seeing the updates of where she's at with that, her drawings and collages.

 

rosietheginger

Rosie has the loveliest instagram feed; full of selfies, various outfit of the day posts, travel and her art. I've followed for a couple of years and she honestly comes across as so mature, much older than she is with her incredible sense of style. I like how she fully embraces her pale skin tone and often posts make up looks that suit pale skin. I tend to prefer feeds that don't have a theme, (at least, not an obvious one) and I like how Rosie posts about food, nature and many other things as you see snippets of her real life that way, rather than a fake reality. 

 

itslittlelauren

Lauren's feed is a foodies dream! Honestly I feel like whenever she posts I'm ready for whatever fantastic treats she has laid out; whether it's chocolate, milkshakes, cupcakes, fruit, macaroons or many more she always manages to make me crave the naughtiest things! However alongside her foodie posts there are many just as lovely outfit posts, room displays and photos of her out and about. I like the mix of different interests and you get a snippet of all the parts to her life; I just feel like she's keeping it real whilst being super girly and having the most beautiful decor for photo backgrounds I've ever seen.

 

emmablockillustration

Naturally, Emma's instagram feed is an array of her illustrations and I've been following her since before I finished university (which is a few years ago now!) and I love to see her beautifully hand drawn images pop on my homepage. There's some quirky and slightly whimsical about her watercolour painted illustrations; however the main reason that I love her feed so much is that I like getting a glimpse into the different creative steps and stages she passes through before finishing a product. Likewise, recently there's been more selfies and nature appreciation posts and that also nice as it's mixed things up a bit; now I see the person behind the drawings which is really nice, particularly as I've followed her for so long!

Happy Things #30

1. So this weekend I spent some with my best friend and I feel so much better about so many of the things that have been stressing me out recently. It's always good to get out of work and the house, switch up a routine and just allow yourself to relax. Seeing her has really cheered me up and has made me ready to face the week.

2. I've got a long week this week, I'm working six days but I'm feeling quite strong after having quite a bad week last week. I can do this and I'm ready for it; somehow I've rediscovered my positive frame of mind and I'm loving it.

3. Later on this week I'm going out with some work friends for the first time and I'm really looking forward to it; I'm actually proud of how well I've managed to start a new job and keep positive to the point that I've actually forged some good friendships. I'm so excited to get to know them better and actually spend some time with them outside of work.

4. I'm so happy with how my blog is going right now, I feel like I've started to understand what I want to get from blogging and the kind of posts that I love to read from others and create myself. I've started to join a lot more conversations within the blogging community and I'm really loving getting to know other bloggers and getting inspiration from them.

5. Today I reached 1,000 followers and I'm super excited by that; I've also got over 1k on instagram so I feel like I'm starting to see some results for my blogging efforts. I've never blogged for a career or money, I blog for myself so I'm ecstatic to have reached a goal that I made for myself at the very start of my blog around a year ago, much sooner than I expected!

Awesome Blogger Tag

Hello again guys, I found this tag through the lovely youcancallmecaz - I love finding little posts like these through other bloggers as I enjoy getting to know other bloggers a bit more. I really enjoy doing this tags too, I feel like it's nice to let you know a little more about me too.

1. What is the biggest beauty mistake you’ve ever made?

Definitely the years where I either massively overplucked my eyebrows to the point where I had the biggest forehead ever, or where I had the biggest, bushiest uni brow ever... Both of these looks weren't the best. I also regret the foundation over my eyebrows phase, that was definitely the worst idea ever; the rest of my make up during sixth form was ok, apart from my brows!

2. Have you ever ended a friendship or relationship and regretted it?
 So many times; I hate reminiscing about old memories or people that I was super close to in the past because it always makes me miss them, but ultimately most of my friendships or relationships have ended because people stopped bothering to contact me, for example not replying to my texts or cancelling on plans, so ultimately I know I tried my best... So I think the phrase everything happens for a reason is definitely applicable to this question and life in general, I suppose.

3. How would you describe your style?
To be honest, it really depends on my mood; I'm either a jeans and t-shirt girl, or a full on girly girl with 50s style dresses, lots of jewellery and red lipstick with a bit of vintage and embroidery. I'd say it's a little quirky, with cardigans and cutesy shoes, I guess some people would probably say that my style is a bit twee, haha.

4. A guest is coming round your house for dinner, what would you make?
 I'm not the best cook in the world, but I'd make a chorizo salad with a side of baby roasted potatoes. For desert, an apple and raspberry crumble with vanilla ice cream... Actually that sounds so so inviting right now, I'm hungry ahaha!

5. How would you define success?
Success is one of those things that's in the eye of the beholder. In theory, I've had a lot of successes in my life so far; I've finished my studies at degree level, I'm working in a salaried job now and I think I've finally found what I want to do with my life in terms of work. However, on a serious note, I feel like success should be measured by your personal fulfilment; I have a fantastic boyfriend and good friends so I feel like I'm achieving a lot of good things in my twenties, so I'm looking forward to see where life is going to take me in the next few years. 

6. Where would you like to be in 5 years time?
Ideally I would like to be in the same stable and enjoyable job and still living with my boyfriend, hopefully with enough of a deposit to start the process of buying a house (that's a big dream ahahaha). I'd like to be blogging still and hopefully have kept my mental health in check; it's hard to keep positive but I've got a lot to be happy about, so in 5 years time I should be super happy with how my life is. I'd like to have travelled a bit more, seen some of the world and enjoyed myself a lot more by that time too.

7. Name 3 biggest pieces of advice you could ever give:

- - Never look back on the bad times, focus on the good times; that applies for the past, the present and the future. Looking back doesn't help you move on and stay strong.

- - Don't be afraid to be different, no two people are ever same. 

- - Be true to yourself is so important in every aspect of life; be honest about how you feel because you only live once.

8. Old Hollywood Beauty or modern?
Definitely Old Hollywood... There are so many beautiful looks that are just so classic and timeless at the same time.

9. What makes you follow a blog or social media account?
This will be probably sound strange but a mixture of things; for example, generally I love to follow new or working bloggers, those who have a lot of personality and clearly blog because they love it. I enjoy the interaction that comes from these kinds of bloggers as it's so nice get to know them and what they love. It's a very authentic feel. But that said, I do like to follow people who have thousands of followers too, but obviously there's minimal interaction because of so many followers. I think social media is a very powerful thing right now and overall those who use it are preferrring the authenticity of the people they follow over anything else. (That's true for me, at least). I prefer to follow people who don't have a strict theme, I like to see some reality in the world.

10. If you relive any day from your life, what day would you choose and why?
 A bit cliché, but probably the first time I spent time with my boyfriend; like we weren't even dating really then but it was just a lovely day... Getting to know each other, no pressure, just enjoying wasting time in each other's company. It was the start of me feeling happy again, so I really cherish that day.

Happy Things #29 // Honesty

Hello again, it's already Monday.

I share so much of my life, my opinions with you... Whoever you are, wherever you are in the world. Every Monday I post five happy things that will happen sometime during the week as a way of keeping my mental health on the positive side of life. However, the truth about having high functioning anxiety is that on the surface you look like you're coping when it reality you're breaking down inside.

Over the course of the last weekend I had one of the worst weekends in terms of my mental health for a long time. 

I couldn't sleep, purged on food... Cried constantly and spent hours looking at old friends online, missing them... Struggling to accept change. It's so incredibly difficult sometimes to be positive, regardless of how many lists of positivity you make. It's important to be honest, to be real about how you feel.

After a seriously bad weekend, I've woken up on Monday and survived Monday. I'm feeling much better, I'm ok. The reason behind this post that it's ok to slip up, to have a bad day, or week. But it's important to talk to someone, let anyone know how you feel. Try to move on. Life is hard, the path to happiness is never easy and it's something you have to constantly work at. This week I'm not writing a list, I want to live my life without sticking to a routine. Just for a week.