Wanderlust

One of my dreams is to travel; to go to places where the sun barely leaves and when it does, the scene is just as beautiful; to go somewhere where the food is so precious to the country's culture; to visit a land where it's so welcoming that it's overwhelmingly sad to leave. I want to experience it all.

I looked up the definition for "wanderlust" and it was "a strong desire to travel" and beside it was a quote: "a man consumed by wanderlust". I believe I am one "consumed by wanderlust" because sometimes all I'll be doing is thinking about how amazing it must be to go to some beautiful places and how awesome it would be to learn and embrace different cultures. If I'm ever bored, I'll look longingly at photographs of Australia or reviews on gap years. How magical is must be to experience the world.

It's not that I don't like England and the lack of sunshine and its far from inventive food, (I actually am proud to be British!) it's just, I want to explore! Where I have a passion for writing, seeing new things and understanding the ways of those in other countries, it would be great to be able to write about different scenes and ways of life. I want to have such an awesome time that my family can recite my trip(s) word-for-word and have photos that trigger perfect and vivid memories of that time I went on an adventure.

I imagine travelling, despite the need of independence to act responsibly and arranging travel plans is freeing and relaxing: your only worry being what pair of sun-bleached shorts to wear the next day (if I were to travel, most places I go would have to be warm). It must be refreshing to have a day booked with activities that aren't overly family-orientated (not that I don't love family holidays!), a bit more creativity in plans or to just lie on the beach, the latest chick-flit in my hands.

In my eyes I'd travel to places with my best friend, enjoying the sites and eating food that would normally make our stomachs churn. Our friendship would be highlighted with the best trip ever, experiencing some of what will be the best moments of our lives with together. Yes, it's a little movie-like, but exploring the world as if I were Bilbo Baggins (you know, without the Mountain-Giants and Orcs) would be dream-like.

I hope that one day I'll stare in awe at the Northern Lights and ride a camel, lie on a beach surrounded in soft sand as night arrives and learn how to flamenco dance.

I hope to live the dream.

Beaches & Sun,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

IRON MAN THREE BABY!!!1!11!!

*MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF SPOILERS*

I went into Iron Man 3 expecting nothing but the best, and oh how Marvel delivered. Splendid, chaps, splendid! Ok, so I'm writing off of the adrenalin that Tony Stark fed me through the cinema screen and ASDFGHJKL: it was perfect.

As I walked to take my seat, - two ice-creams in hand, popcorn and four packets of sweets (yolo*) - I felt that feeling. You know, butterflies in the stomach, a slight excited smile on the lips and sweaty palms? I was about to witness something beautiful. Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to name this phenomenon: Robert Downey Jr.

The cinema was packed and I felt like I was in my element. Me, suited and booted in my Marvel gear, alike to everyone else. This was going to be perfect. I was in my natural habitat. Excitement was obviously present, waiting for Tony Stark to appear on the screen, waiting to see The Mandarin, waiting to feel the power of Iron Man. Oh, Iron Man.

So, the film. Iron Man Three. It was amazing, full of so much Stark-fuelled funniness causing me to hard-core belly-laugh. I felt the unity spread throughout the cinema as parts were particularly eye-watering and others were heart-stopping. Lemme tell you this: unless you've been searching up spoilers, there are parts of that awesome film that will surprise the hay out of you in that everything will suddenly make sense. Dammit, Iron Man, why are you so glorious?

There is something so special about Marvel and it cannot be pinpointed with a single thing, but it's definitely to do with the mixture of hilarity, the incredible actors and kick-butt-ness. When I see Marvel films at the cinema, they have me going through the motions: excitement as it starts, shaking as it makes my heart pump and tears of laughter and sadness. Kudos Marvel, kudos.

Thank you Tony. You have taught me so much.

Pick 'n' Mix & Popcorn,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

*This was used ironically. I offer my sincere apologies to anyone offended by such language.

"The Most Enormous Gay Rainbow Across My Electorate"

My latest hero is Maurice Williamson, a politician from New Zealand. I find myself, sat staring at that bloomin' brilliant youtube video over and over again, nodding and grinning at everything that awesome man said. Yes, it was pure genius and seriously hilarious, but it was touching. It really was moving.

The speech had me laughing at his incredible way of putting things; showing how ludicrous (supposed) arguments opposing the bill and gay marriage are. It was refreshing. I found myself also having a deep ache, due to my complete inability to understand as to how people oppose gay marriage. His passion left tears in my eyes and a fire in my belly! The later and later countries leave passing gay marriage, the more and more shame and embarrassment countries will feel in the future.

It allows "two people who love each other to have that recognised".

As if Maurice's incredible speech wasn't heart-warming enough, before being followed by the passing of the legalisation of same sex marriage, a song was shared between lawmakers as they sang "Pokarekare Ana", a particularly eye-filling moment for me. Despite those who may have opposed the legalisation, the unity that was created must have been felt by everyone in that room.

To me "the most enormous gay rainbow" is that light at the end of this gloomy and ignorant tunnel: another law being passed for the benefit of gay people, another justice served to those who haven't done anything wrong. It shouldn't be something that should be debated, but it is. For this reason, I must salute Maurice Williamson and anyone else who speaks up and campaigns for gay marriage. I am so happy that New Zealand have passed legislation for same sex marriage. April 17th 2013.

A mistake I hear people often say is that "you have to be gay to care". No. No you don't. You're allowed to care no matter what. This is something that I feel incredibly passionate about, as you can read HERE.

This man and speech are fantastic.

Justice & Enormous Gay Rainbows,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

Meaning: The Girl in the Moonlight

The Girl in the Moonlight. When I was working out the name for my Tumblr and blog, it was me just sitting and thinking, without any help, as to me, it was important that it was my idea and imagery that created something specific for me. The Girl in the Moonlight.

To me, the name creates quite an isolated image, quite lonely and in a way this is what it is to me, not because I'm sad or lonely, but because my dreams are very quiet and unknown to everyone in my life. I feel that the lonely image created is more nervousness and fear, but yet that the girl is comforted by the moon's presence. It's very important to me that my dream is personal to me; my own thing. "The Girl in the Moonlight", in my eyes, presents the image of a girl with the secret of a dream and the moon is that dream.

The name, I think, is also quite hopeful. I see the image of a girl watching the moonlight, the moonlight being beautiful and exciting, the night's sky holding everlasting possibility for her dreams to come true. It shows the hopefulness that's in her heart despite the reality of everything. It portrays that anything is possible, and that even though hard work is crucial, sitting back and relaxing - watching the moon - is needed. It'll keep you grounded and your dreams in perspective.

People say "I'll get you the moon", right? That's what the girl wants: everything she dreams of.

The image also shows the girl to be nervous, a little unsure and slightly misunderstood. I hear how deep I'm getting, but the representation, I'm sure, is relatable and not just for me. I'm often thinking: why should we be scared to reach our dream?. Although I can think of reasons, I can think of more to just reach...reach for the moon. Misunderstood? I feel like the girl is quite thoughtful, thinking about the future, her life and meanings a lot, sort of as though she thinks of things that others may not and that she's deeper and more meaningful than people would expect.

The Girl in the Moonlight. Everyone has dreams. Everyone has possible outcomes. Reach for your moon. The Girl in the Moonlight.

Melon & Grapes,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

Harry and His Merry Men

Harry Judd, Ben Crowder, Stuart Peters, Nick Thorley and Bob Bennett-Baggs are raising money for Teenage Cancer Trust and Eyes Alight. Both charities are absolutely brilliant: Teenage Cancer Trust being incredible in helping teenagers with cancer keep on living their lives like they should and Eyes Alight is a fantastic, fantastic charity that I've written about HERE before and so you should DONATE HERE or text "Harry" to 70300 to donate £3. Do you want to know why you should donate?

One thing Harry is doing is the London Marathon, an over 26 mile course (that's a proper marathon!) and in the training for all of this incredible hard work, Harry has managed to injure himself. You can't say he isn't working for the money, eh? It takes place this Sunday and with Harry officially on tour, it really shows the amount of work they are putting in to achieve their target which is £25,000.

Another event that Harry is going to be doing is the Tough Mudder. This is a 12 mile obstacle course which will test any participant to the maximum, with the course being designed by the Special Forces. It's incredible testing and for this reason, the guys are awesome! The course will test their "all around strength, stamina, mental grit" and the image of Harry doing so (cough...phwoar!) aside, I think what the guys are doing is incredible and I've donated!

Please remember that Harry has been putting himself through this pain and will prolong it further by completing both as well as training and competing during McFly's "Memory Lane: Best Of McFly" tour. He's so dedicated so if you can, please donate!

So far they have raised an absolutely awesome amount and I know they're doing everyone so proud.

Good luck Harry and His Merry Men,

Bubblegum & Popcorn,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

YouTubers: ItsWayPastMyBedTime

Carrie Hope Fletcher, ItsWayPastMyBedTime is a singer/actress and is very much so responsible for my extreme talent of procrastinating.

Not only do I want to look like her but her talent is one that is too much to just "have on in the background". While I'm supposed to be revising, I often end up staring at my laptop screen, the rest of my family also mesmerised by The Girl With The Beautiful Hair. I feel like I share some similarities with Carrie: her love of Disney, musicals and books and that although in this way, she is relatable, her awesomeness is often too magical for this muggle world.

Oh, and she doesn't just sing: she vlogs and makes videos that make me think, like really think. Her videos are interesting and can leave me thinking about a subject that I might not have before or giving me a fresh outlook on life, encouraging me to do something differently (more on this here and here). I love watching her videos about her life, how far she has come and how her career is expanding; it is refreshing and I'll always be along for the journey. Also, I'm a huge fan of Christmas and Carrie was responsible for me not having post Christmas sadness because of her Twelve Days of Christmas. So, thank you Carrie!

Carrie's original songs are too incredible and never fail to make me happy. Every song has such meaning behind it and I often belt them out, pretending that I can sing because they're such powerful, awesome songs with lyrics that tell stories.

"These boys in books are better, 'cos they'll be here forever."

  

Yes, ok, I found Carrie through Tom, but I stayed because of her. I feel like this should be known because Carrie's talent is exactly that: her talent! She's living off of her own success and she's making it a success because she has an incredible talent and portrays herself wonderfully! Her talent is captured in the video of her Cup Song Mash Up. It's seriously insane.

Favourite three covers: When Will My Life Begin, Defying Gravity, Just Like A Pill.
I cannot choose a favourite original so here is the one that portrays ultimate girl power.
Favourite non-singing video.

Hopefuls & Pinky Promises,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

P.s. Raise your pinkies to the sky!

Rapunzel

Verse 1
Rapunzel, lay your hair down,
Let yourself be free,
We’ve all read it in the fairytale,
Seen it in the movies,
Stop dreaming: make reality,
Take a breath and step outside,
Dreaming a dream is useless,
Unless you give it a try,

 
Chorus
There may be dragons and potions and talking frogs,

But promise me one thing,

Despite the dragons and potions and talking frogs,

You’ll never ever forget him,

Verse 2

Don’t cry, don’t fade away,

The distance is more than close,

Dry your eyes, forget your secrets,

Your fairytale beats most,

Rapunzel, look outside,

They’re singing their song for you,

It’s time to escape your tower,

It’s time to enjoy the view,

Chorus

There may be dragons and potions and talking frogs,

But promise me one thing,

Despite the dragons and potions and talking frogs,

You’ll never ever forget him,

 

Middle 8

The clock strikes twelve, all light has gone,

And so has the Princess,

Despite the rain, a light shone,

She finally escapes the mess,

Adjusted Chorus

She battled dragons and potions and talking frogs,

But there is one thing she’ll never forget,

And that’s the dragons and potions and talking frogs,

And her sad secrets,

End

Once upon a time lived a Princess,

When she escaped her Prince was waiting for her,

Rapunzel married the Prince,

Queue “Happy Ever After”.
 

*Inspired by the lovely Carrie Hope Fletcher

Things I Need To Do

1. Every day I'm going to try and make at least one person smile. Some people don't like receiving compliments and sometimes that might not be the best option but I want to do something each day to hopefully make someone's day better. This may be by giving someone a compliment, buying my mum a little something or surprising my best friend. “The day is worthwhile, when you’ve made someone smile."

2. I need to take more pictures. I love looking back at pictures when I've got a spare moment but in order to do this more I need to take them! I need to take a moment with my friends and capture the day or take a quick snap with my family. I don't want to look back in a few years - or many years - and regret not having captured something: a perfect day; a friendship; happiness. “What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.”

3. I'm aware of how important my exams are and so I know that I need to revise more. I find it - like most people - so difficult to sit down and revise without procrastinating on youtube or something else, but I'm aware that I'm being silly doing so. I have come to the conclusion that I need to have breaks in between bursts of revision and so I will do this and hopefully not waste valuable time. "A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work."

4. It's so easy to get caught up in working hard and forget about making time for things you enjoy. I need to make more time; I need to make more time to see my awesome friends and play piano and doing things I enjoy! "Friendship isn't a big thing, it's a million little things."

5. I need to be happy. What would be the point of all of this hard work, stressing myself out without a few smiles throughout? I know that now more than ever, I need to knuckle down and work so hard, but I need to smile. I need to be happy because of all of the cliché quotes that you've heard a million times before: "life's too short" and all that.

Photographs & Memories,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

*Not my quotes.

Where's My Sweep-Off-The-Feet Moment?

What happened to old-fashioned romance? Yes, I'm a pessimist and I don't believe in love and I can't help but think it's because of my lack of hope in boys of the 21st Century. Where's the big gestures because a boy is head-over-heals for a girl? Why is there no asking the girl's father for permission to take her out (I'm not sure I'd enjoy this)? Where's the dancing? Where's the secret smiles? Where's the loveliness that is depicted in romantic classics?

I feel like these days there's one boy in about a hundred that would, due to their own idea, write a letter to a girl; I believe that there are few boys who would name a girl "beautiful" rather some derogatory term; that, no matter how much we can dream, boys lack initiative and creativity.

Maybe I read too many Nicholas Sparks books and watch too many films with Zac Efron in, but I don't doubt that things should be different. Perhaps, girls are lacking something too and this means boys have become too comfortable in relying on other ways to charm a girl. I don't know, I just think we've lost parts of romance that should not have been lost.

 

“Romance is thinking about your significant other, when you are supposed to be thinking about something else.” - Nicholas Sparks.

 

Maybe I'm being a naïve teenage girl, but am I wrong to think that it's sad that boys seem not to have deep thoughts like Nicholas Sparks portrays so perfectly? I would agree that girls are at fault too. If times are moving forward and there's no longer a chance of a sweep-off-the-feet moment  or even a letter, what should we be doing? Maybe we should stop complaining and reduce our expectations!

It sucks that letters have been replaced by Facebook, emotions have been replaced by Twitter and that speaking has been replaced by text.

Oh well, we've always got boys in bands!

Chocolate buttons & Cherry Cola,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

P.s. I've complained before about people automatically picturing a boy and a girl when they think of a love story, (which I will always believe is completely wrong) I was just talking about my life!

Alone But Not Lonely

I have always been content with being by myself. By this I mean, sitting in my room in silence or with music keeps me sane, spending a day doing absolutely nothing all by myself is most likely what I need after weeks of stress and wanting to be anywhere but where I am and going for long walks by myself is one of the best things for me. I like to be alone.

Although at times my mind is like a fairground on a Friday evening in August, I'm not someone who, if alone overthinks and stresses and I could not be more thankful for this. For me, being alone can sometimes be a relief. I'll sit in my room and read a book, or I'll sit at my keyboard or I'll just sit in silence. Now, I see I'm creating a really unsociable image of myself, but at times it really is who I need to be. It produces a clean, white canvas for a while where I can rethink my values and check I'm the person I want to be. I also see that I'm creating a really spiritual image of myself, (I'm really not spiritual!) but for me a silent room and a silent or a busy mind is incredibly relaxing and reassuring.

Life can be stressful and complicated and full of unwanted feelings and thoughts but, for me, being alone reinforces that life is a beautiful thing, despite sometimes losing this outlook on for a while. I need to remind myself of my goals and dreams; I need to realise where I'm going wrong and who I should be spending more time with; I need to think. It's easy to lose yourself in this - as Ronan Keating would call - rollercoaster of life, but you should consider losing yourself (although if you can avoid losing yourself, this would probably be better!) a good exercise of teaching yourself to get right back on track!

All people want from life is happiness. Forget success and money, happiness is the key to a smile. It's easy to go through life in the search of happiness, waiting for everything to slot right into place, but sometimes, happiness can be there if you just open your eyes. Sitting by myself is where I remember this, where I remind myself that happiness doesn't have to be a destination a journey away and that I've got all of the tools in the world to just smile.

For the simple reason of enjoying my own company as I avoid overly scrutinising myself, (scrutiny would definitely not be healthy for me!) occasional - or whenever I need it - loneliness is the reason for my happiness.

Candyfloss & Ice cream,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

5 Things I Miss About Primary School

To be honest I would go back to primary school without a second thought if I could, but here are the 5 things I miss most about being chaperoned by my mum and being in constant fear of getting my "name put on the board" (I was never actually rebellious enough to even have this threatened, but the idea was exciting).

1. Now, at the time, Sport's Day was a horrific day that made my tummy perform a routine of butterflies all day long, - I've never been good with nerves - but looking back I really did enjoy it and the feeling afterwards was always the best. I've always enjoyed running and so I loved the races and the sense of accomplishment afterwards. It was such a nice, family event where we had lunch with our families and it was a lovely thing to look forward to towards the end of the year.

2. End of terms, I do not doubt for a minute that I was with every other kid enjoying the endless word searches, films and happiness that finished off a term. There was no worry involved with primary school and this was highlighted with the joy of end of terms. With a beautiful sea of days off ahead of us, every kid and teacher was excited and thus, the occasion was a joyous time.

3. Ok, so I understand why I'm so lame as I say the next thing that I miss about primary school: spelling tests. I loved 'em. I'd sit at my table, and tried and failed to hide my grin at the excitement of it all. It was like Christmas Eve to me - well, not quite - and I wish that college set spelling tests.

4. I genuinely liked parent's evening at primary school. Yeah. I enjoyed school, I liked my teachers and well, they presented me well to my parents and who doesn't like a bit of ego-building every now and then, eh? I definitely didn't feel unhappy to accept the chocolate bar that awaited afterwards. Back in the day, parent's evenings really were the bomb.

5. Singing assembly was one of those activities that all kids hated...or supposedly. I always pretended that it was "dumb" and "lame", but deep down I couldn't wait for me to bring out my inner Beyoncé. I'd sit, legs crossed, waiting eagerly for the projector to reveal the first song we were to sing while everyone mocked the event. I can only hope that I wasn't alone in the excitement I felt for these afternoons. Thinking back, I can't imagine how shocking a hall of 300 kids screaming the words - probably not even the words that were on the screen - sounded, but an excited me was singing about school dinners with all of my might.

Paper & Crayons,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

"If You Do What You've Always Done, You'll Get Where You've Always Got"

The inspirational words of Louise (Sprinkle of Glitter) and her father "If you do what you've always done, you'll get where you've always got" have stuck with me for the last few days, getting away at me bit by bit until I finally came to the conclusion my heart has been trying to tell me: you need to jump more kiddo.
Now, when I say "jump", I'm personally not the type - thankfully - to do overly daring things that could cause harm to myself or others, I mean that I'm just not daring enough when it comes to my dreams, my goals and ambitions that, to myself seem farfetched. Well, they are farfetched but you don't get anywhere by standing still, eh?

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure what my exact dream is and, yes, whatever that dream is, really is unreachable but I'm going to plan to do everything, while I can to keep my passion for writing, the one thing I believe to be my net when I'm falling, alight.

Regrets have always been one of those themes that is portrayed in TV programmes, books and music as something that sticks with people when there is no way of changing it and this is why I feel I should stop sitting and complaining and change what I've "always done". The only way I can think of doing this is to have a designated time in a day to sit and just write, write whatever I feel I need to. Now, when things are too planned, too choreographed, things stop being a hobby, a love, and most importantly they stop being creative. So, when I sit down at my "designated time", I'm not going to force myself to write so many words before I move onto something else, I just want to chill and do what I like to do.

"If you do what you've always done, you'll get where you've always got." Again, I repeat that I'm not sure of the specifics of my ambitions, but I need to remind myself that my blog is for me; I want to write about things that I want to write about for 500 or so words. I'm going to work harder to tick off all of those aims that are written in dust inside my mind. That way, I won't have any regrets.

No one wants to get to their rocking chair and be forced to think of all of the "could have been"s and as McFly say, "the end is where you hope you never say, 'I coulda done it better'" and I don't know how many times I can type this in alternative ways so I better stop typing and just go for it.

Hopes & Wishes,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

YouTubers: zeldaxlove64

Christina Grimmie, zeldaxlove64 is the first youtuber I followed and became...obsessed with, causing me to fall head first into the youtube community.

The hours, resulting in days that I have spent watching Christina's videos is unable to be calculated. I remember finding her cover of Catch Me by Demi Lovato three years ago and that was me, already in Team Grimmie before the name was even conjured up. I cannot explain how proud I am of how far she has come. That Girl From Youtube is now making music for a living; her dream is finally reality and that's incredible. She's incredibly talented, covering songs with piano that she works out herself and writing and producing music that is insanely awesome. Not only this, but she seems down to earth and portrays herself very well and this makes her a brilliant role model. Christina Grimmie, you are awesome and I love watching your youtube journey as well as your fantastic experiences.

Christina uploading a video is always one of the most exciting things for me, causing me to go on about it to my friends and family until it is uploaded and I sit in silence, wanting her talent for myself, but happy that such a great person possesses it. I'm always captivated by her talent, her quirkiness and the love she has for her music and fans. I can't tell you how many times I have watched her Stuff You Don't See videos because they make me laugh so much.

The thought of ALBUM TWO OH MY GAWSH reminds me of the awesomeness of Find Me, Christina's debut album. I remember the release of the album was on the day of an exam and I woke up at four (I live in the UK!) in the morning to make sure that I had the album on my iPod as soon as I possibly could. I love the album so much. You should check it out here: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZ...

  "I'm living in an empty house of cards."

Watching Christina on Ellen and hosting the American Idol Live Tour makes and her other 2,000,000 members of Team Grimmie incredibly proud. I wish I could look like her, have the Grimime Hair and her incredible talent.

 

Favourite medley.
One of my favourite covers.
Favourite Adele cover.
Favourite Above All That Is Random.

 

Christina, yu RAWWK my frand.

 

Team Grimmie forever,

 

The Grl in the Moonlight.