I walked through the entrance of Portsmouth's Kings Theatre with an adrenaline and thirst for the entertainment that was set to fulfil me that evening. There were steep steps just as you entered, and a lady stood waving programs above her head. I fumbled for my purse and treated myself to a program which only cost me £4. Our seats were in the dress circle. As we walked further into the theatre I was taken aback by its beauty.

Our seats were velvet red and we were lucky enough to get seats right in the centre and on the front row of the dress circle. It was the perfect view. Now inside I was astonished at how wonderful it all looked. The curtains were already drawn back and on the stage were a few wooden chairs and a woven basket. The simplicity had me captivated before it had even begun. The rustling of sweet wrappers and the gentle mumbling of the busy audience gave me a nostalgic feeling from visiting the theatre as a child. I couldn't wait for it to start.





At 7:30pm sharp the lights went down. It began.

The Woman in Black, Susan Hill,  was everything you could look for in a good dramatic play. It had humour, shocks, surprises, and drama. And it definitely wasn't short of giving the audience a good scare when a sudden ghostly scream filled the auditorium.

The acting was sensational, Malcolm James and Matt Connor gave outstanding, believable performances of Arthur Kipps and The Actor. Having only seen the film of The Woman In Black, it was fantastic to witness the play and compare their differences. The talent that was displayed by these two actors was blatant when both kept swapping roles and taking on new ones. Not once did the play become confusing or less realistic. I was completely unaware that James and Connor would be the only two actors in the play- besides the mysterious Woman in Black herself! And despite having no other actors to work off, the pair did an excellent job and had me memorized in the wonder that was the theatre that night.

The atmosphere was greatly created by sound, much like a horror film. To portray scene changes, a simple background noise would fill the stage and the lighting represented the mood. This was pulled of easily, and had the whole audience engaged.

My experience was one of the best. I thoroughly enjoyed watching The Woman in Black and would recommend it to all who aren't too scared. An outstanding play, outstanding performances, and an outstanding night!

Being healthy is something I've always enjoyed. I love buying healthy ingredients and making new foods/meals. I just have one issue- I love food. And I mean the bad stuff. I know I'm not the only one, but I am a sucker for a takeaway. Guilty. In fact as I type this I have a large Domino's pizza sat next to me. Oh how it taunts me,

'Psst. Pssst Laura, are you going to just stare at me? Eat me bitch!'

Yeah that's what it'd say if it could talk. But it can't. It's pizza.

But anyway, I love salads and vegetables and I really do enjoy getting exercise. I do a fair bit of walking and I jog/ do exercise videos from time to time, but I'm never going to be one of those fitness freaks. It's all very good being completely in control of every pound and eating anything green. But sometimes, and I'm going to say it, sometimes it is okay to eat unhealthily. The way I see it is we only get this chance at life *insert some idiot shouting YOLO*. And of course I'm not suggesting we all go out and eat McDonald's until we puke, but all in moderation. I'd much prefer to have a few extra pounds because I've thoroughly enjoyed a burger, than be so self conscious about my body that I fear anything that has more than 30 calories and not enjoy my life.



Live a little. Fast food is not our enemies, it's just not our best friend. I think bad food is just an acquaintance whom we must say hello to every now and again, but not always and that's okay!

Now I don't want people to think I'm supporting eating badly, like I said, all in moderation and with balance. I just feel like life is too short to worry too much about our weight. Everyone is beautiful.

And I love burgers so...

Hello bloggerees and bloggeroos, today I wanted to talk to you all about the sun. Ah the sun, yes that big ball of gas in the sky that we sometimes, but rarely come into contact with. Not direct contact, no we'd be dead, but we see it enough to feel confident saying good morning to it.



The past few weeks have been miserable, stressful, dull, rainy, grey and miserable a few more times. Sometimes it feels like all the bad things come at once. Often I think it's down to our moods. If we are in a bad mood, everything then becomes negative. For the past few weeks I've been in the worst mood, I don't know how I've put up with myself, let alone others putting up with me. I've felt constantly angry, moody, and have felt like giving up or throwing things in the air and running away. And literally, no exaggerations here, everything seems to go wrong, it was like someone piled bad luck on top of me until you could only see my toes sticking out. I felt like breaking down in a pathetic mess of a ball.



However on Saturday it all changed. Well not all, I mean the issues may still be there but other than that it ALL changed. I woke up and got ready for work and... the sun was out. Let's take a few moments to get to grips with that as it's not a regular occurrence. But yes it was indeed out and I'm sure most of you were able to enjoy it. I wasn't as I had to work, but I did get the pleasure of walking to work in the loveliness that was Saturday. And it honestly changed my mood, I felt so much happier, it was as if a weight had been lifted. I faced the rest of the day with positivity, I didn't feel ill at work for one of the first times, I managed to get home admin and work done afterwards and didn't feel too stressed AND my good mood carried through until Sunday. Sunday is usually a tough day, I work all day and have to be up at 6am. Not even smashing my saucepan lid and having glass go everywhere could ruin my mood. Normally I would have wanted to have a strop there and then and shout 'WHY ME? WHYYY?', but I just did not feel anger, or annoyance or irritation whatsoever. I just rolled my eyes, swept it up and got on with life.



It was strange. I even got time to write this blog post, finish some coursework and do a bit of sports journalism.


I truly believe that this good mood was caused by the sun. It gives out so much goodness and vitamins (obviously it has it's bad points but I won't insult your intelligence by pointing them out) that it makes you feel so much better. After months of cold, gloomy, wintry weather, a bit of sunshine  is the best medicine to shake of the blues.

I cannot wait for more days like this, if we get them. Oh I pray we get some!

X

So the past few days have been very hectic, well the past few weeks have. But I'm not complaining as I have some really good stuff in the pipeline, which I'll either blog about soon or maybe even a vlog. Who knows!
     But basically it's gotten to the stage in this semester where all assignments are due and I've been working so hard for so long to try and get these assignments perfect- which still probably hasn't happened. Also I've only handed in 2/6 so far (AH!). So there is a lot more effort left to go- sad times.
     So today I managed to have a lie in until 10:30 which was lush but I still didn't want to get out of bed. When I was ready I got on the bus and headed to hand in my assignment. It's due on the 4th but I'm an organised weirdo and I always have to hand everything in the day before it's due in case of some sort of  assignment emergency. So I handed it in, although I'm a little bit worried as the lady who took it in didn't seem sure of what she was doing! Hopefully it'll get marked okay!
      So then I headed to my seminar, luckily I had prepared a flask of coffee in my new, cute little flask. I met my friend and we caught up which was lovely, and we both waited for our seminar to start. We realised we were the only two people sat in class, this would normally be considered strange but it often happens. Unfortunately the lecturer didn't turn up, so there must be something we didn't know about. Annoying. So I had to head back home.
     I got home and played Call of Duty Zombies with my housemate then for the next few hours whilst I waited for my ASDA shopping to be delivered- hoorah for food and zombies! It came eventually although they almost cancelled my order as they could find my house!!
    I then went to get some keys cut, which was a boring job but had to be done. Got to listen to some tunes on the way so not all bad.
    Later on in the day we had to go for a house viewing as we are currently looking for a house for  next year- exciting. Unfortunately it wasn't the house for us, but it was still lovely.
    Then I made a very kid-like meal of fish fingers, potato waffles and beans-yummy! And finished writing an article for something I am very excited about and looked over my film script.
    Now I am sat in bed, with a cuppa and some skittles and biscuits, blogging. I don't know what it is tonight but I have so much energy and it all seems to be coming out in writing. Oh and I also wrote another article for something else- craziness!

I should probably go to bed as I have to be up at 8am tomorrow for a lecture. It's just lovely to be blogging again and talking to you all!

Much Love X

Laura

Being a first year at Uni can be fun, but being a second can also be very challenging, and we are pre-warned about this. However despite this, there are always those things we say we'll do, that we don't.

1.) I'm gunna keep my house so clean. It'll be different this year because it'll be my house. No more mess...

2.) I'm gunna be super good with my money this year. I'm going to properly manage it- £30 a week budget...

3.) I'm totally not gunna get drunk as much as last year. No, I'm all about nights in...

4.) Who needs Dominoes? I'm so not gunna waste my money on that. I don't need one...

5.) I'm going to plan my time wisely. No more leaving my work til the night before the deadline. I'll be organised from now on.

6.) I'm going to get a job this year...

7.) Thanks, I totally didn't make an effort. And I definitely did not spend three hours getting ready. I basically woke up like this...

8.) To be fair, I never really treat myself...

9.) You're never going to see me this year- I'll be spending all my time in the library...

10.) Honestly sir, I wasn't sleeping, I was just listening with my eyes closed...


There are so many things we second years say and try to believe...

There are so many cruel things happening in the world, and one thing that really gets to me in animal cruelty. Being someone who has constantly been around animals and pets and who has been brought up living beside them, I cannot imagine or comprehend a reason for anyone wanting to harm an animal. I makes me feel physically sick.

I have had the pleasure of owning two dogs. Both golden retrievers and both beautiful and lovely dogs. Anyone who has dogs or cats or any kind of pet for that matter, will understand the bond that forms between our species. I always get the heart wrenching pain when ever I read or see something that highly suggests animal cruelty. Not only is this because I think of my own dog and think about the pain I would go through if he were to go missing or someone steal him, but also because I cannot understand how anybody could be so evil to something so innocent. Dogs are wonderful creatures who will love their owners' unconditionally (something WE could learn from), so it is inexcusable for anyone to dismiss cruelty to animals of any kind- using dogs as my example.

I recently read an article through Facebook about a dog who was abandoned at a train station and tied up with a suitcase full of his belongings. And I wanted to cry. He had a suitcase! If that doesn't upset you I don't know what will. Animals may not be human, but they certainly are people- in my opinion. Just because they don't speak our language does not mean they are less important to our world or have less worth.

It needs to be sorted out. People who abandon or hurt poor defenseless animals need to be found and prosecuted.

So originally I was going to blog about Christmas, and I do still plan on doing that, but a recent thought has gotten me thinking and thus me wanting to write about it.

So, it's occurred to me lately just how much I think about others. And I'm not calling myself a saint, nor am I saying that by thinking of others I am never thinking about myself. Of course it is good to think of others- more people should do so. It's just sometimes, along the way, some of us get so caught up in other people's lives or problems or needs, that we forget to stop and take care of our own. Sometimes we run from the things we know we have to do by using other people's issues as diversions from our own.

I, myself, tend to focus greatly on what others are doing and how it effects me. Or planning my life around other people. This often includes waiting around for people, and listening out for answers from them. In the process of constantly waiting, I could have done several things- but because my mind is focused purely on them, I feel like I cannot possibly get on with my life, until they have arrived, or answered for example. Does this make sense?

So I thought about my own life. My goals, my ambitions and my feelings. And although I love thinking about others and putting their needs before my own, I rarely get time to think about myself and plan what I do. My life is constantly controlled by other people, whether they know it or not. My actions are always influenced my other people and when I am by myself I often find myself thinking about what others would think or how they perceive me, or even what they may be up to. And although it is a very tricky habit to shake, I think it is important sometimes to be a bit selfish- not in a nasty way, but by loving ourselves and giving ourselves attention, we should begin to feel more at peace with our lives.

We shouldn't have to worry or plan our lives solely on other people. Having people in our lives should be seen as a gift, not a burden on our lives. We should care for others for sure, but sometimes it is acceptable to put ourselves first. To be able to forget all our queries and worries or stresses about family or friends, even for just a few hours to focus on ourselves, would truly be refreshing. So many people spend their lives looking after others, when really they should be looking after themselves.

So from now on, always remember to take time to treat yourself, pamper, or spend some time just being you. And if you are the type of person who always seems to be being looked after- maybe take some time to think about the people looking after you and thank them for being so selfless and loving.

Okay so as well as battling with Uni deadlines, I've taken it upon myself to write a little post for all you beauty lovers out there. Now I'm not promising a break through of the century or anything grand, but I did buy some new make-upy things the other week so I thought I would share my thoughts to all.

SO the story goes, I ran out of powder (oo so interesting). I know right, this sounds like such a first world problem- and it is! But anyway, I work weekends, and I like my make-up to be as hard wearing as possible. This usually means wearing powder. Now I don't know whether it's just my face or not, but make up never stays on well, even ones that promise they will. Maybe I touch my face far too often I don't know. The point is... I needed/wanted a new powder.

Now I'm a student, so I was never planning on splurging on something like Maybelline or Rimmel. I wanted something that was cheap, easy and did it's job and would perhaps last until I could afford a better one etc.

So I took an early morning, brisk walk to big ASDA (saying that, I've never really seen a small one). I didn't find anything there, although we did buy some vinegar (exciting). So next I went to Superdrug, and I was superhappy (see what I did there? Terrible I know) as I didn't realise there was a Superdrug near ASDA. I went in there and I discovered a brand which I think I'd only ever come across once before and had totally forgotten about. MUA.

This brand was so cheap AND they were doing a 3 for 2 deal which is great. I didn't really need 3 things but I thought 'what the hell'- naughty I know. But it all came to less than £10 so it wasn't bad at all!

Here are my purchases:

Mua- Make Up Academy- Pressed Powder- Colour: Natural

https://www.youtube.com/user/Crunchlins