Get your ass into gear

This year is the year that I will finally start driving lessons. 

I am fed up of my local Trent Barton buses never being on time and always charging ridiculously high fares, I am fed up of not being able to just get up and go wherever I fancy going and I am fed up of feeling awful when I ask my parents or friends for a lift somewhere....and I have put off driving lessons for more than long enough.

Okay - so I'm 18, it's not like I'm almost 90 and only now learning to drive, but I feel old before my time because everyone else my age or a year below is already bombing around in their cars. 

I say 'start' driving lessons because there is no guarantee that I will be driving around by the time 2015 rolls in... that isn't because I don't think I can do it, I have a dad who had aims of me learning to drive a car or motorbike before I could even talk - I know more than most. My anxiety levels are at the most stable level they have ever been and I am determined enough to get it done. I say that because no matter how much I earn, I will always think 'I don't have the money'. 

Which is stupid. 

I do have the money, not necessarily enough for a car and insurance outright, but I certainly earn enough to pay for the lessons I will need and my theory and practical. I'm on pretty much twice what I used to earn in my old job and I managed to fork out for a ludicrous £500+ a year bus fare then. 

I am determined to pay for every single lesson I take, both tests, the car, the insurance, the tax, the petrol, the MOT's, everything - MYSELF. 

I think it's lovely that some people are given a car for their birthday by their parents, or get everything paid for, but that's just not me - I personally don't wish for my parents to pay for ANYTHING for me any more. I'm 18, I'm working, there is no excuse or reason for me not to be giving them full board each and every month and paying for everything I want or need with no help. They have given me more than enough for the last 18 years and I could not be more grateful - hence the fact I now wish to fund the thing's in my life on my own.

So now is the time to really buckle down and save, save, save. 

But there's just a few things standing in my way: my own impatience and the car I have set my heart on....

A Nissan Figaro. 

Any guys reading this post (I would be seriously surprised if you are) will currently be clicking the exit button in disgust, my boyfriend will more than likely point blank refuse to get in the passenger seat... 

But any girls - you have to agree, it's a stunner. 

I have loved this car since the moment my mum first brought her's home when I was 10. Our Minty Monty. It was an absolute dream.

But we had to sell him on to what I hope is a good owner after my brother thought it would be a good idea to grow to a whopping 6'2 and no longer fit without being folded like a beach chair...

That day my heart broke as much as my mum's did, and I vowed one day I would get my own. 

But they are rare, expensive and the parts if a repair is needed are nearly impossible to obtain......meaning my saving my need to take itself up a gear or two before I have even a chance.... 

And that's before I have even passed or decided on the colour.... ;)

Watch this space, keep off the roads once I set off and actually keep off the pavements too....if I manage to reach the pedals on my driving instructors car - then you all better be careful in the surrounding area for a few months! 

Lots of love, Emily-Rose xoxo 

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Chop Chop

So after years and years of having the same long-ish, lank, boring hairstyle.... I recently took the plunge and lopped a good 6-8 inches of dead (and I mean split ends galore dead) hair off of my head!

And let me tell you, it felt gooooooood.

I hadn't realised, but I had been using my hair as some sort of wispy shield to hide behind, often taking that to the next level by being stupid enough to get a thick blunt fringe put in just as I had managed to grow my other fringe back out again. (DON'T GET OFFENDED - I love thick full fringes - I just love them on anyone but me!!) meaning that I literally had a massive piece of hair directly covering the majority of my face. I would be constantly faffing around with it, trying to tame it, trying to bring it forward so it looked longer or covered a spot on my chin. 

I once got so self conscious about the fact I thought I had a massive five-head (that's a very large forehead...get the joke?) that I even..... used a mixture of bronzer and brown eyeshadow to make my hair line seem lower. The shame. 

But, in reality, I really didn't suit it. My hair was always too naturally thick, dry and frizzy to pull any long style off, it looked lank after a few hours and trying to put it up was a nightmare because really, when you try a youtube tutorial out on yourself it doesn't magically give you the model's face too as I found out....therefore it looks like a pile of poop plopped on your noggin. But still, I soldiered on for a good 8 years trying to grow it as long as I possibly could and spent every day envious of anyone with longer hair, more interesting styles etc etc 

Apart from the fact that my hair seemed to know it's true destiny and would therefore never grow any longer than a good boob-grazing, not quite mermaid hair length. The ends would split just below my shoulders no matter how much care I took to avoid it and it would never do what it was told.

Then I went and damaged it even more by having a dip-dye done. Let's all be honest, it looked ridiculous, my hair does not take well to being dyed lighter and will immediately aim to go as putrid orange/yellow as it can (old friends from school may remember that one fateful day I arrived through those gates with a highlighter orange barnett after thinking it would be a good idea to go blonde.... it didn't last any more than that one horrible day) 

Anyway, after having a rubbish start to this year - I, very unlike me, went a bit wild. I went to a new hair dressers, I sat down and told her to take off as much as she wanted as long as it looked good and all the split ends were gone. Girls everywhere are reading this and are open mouthed with horror I can imagine, and I

was too on the inside and I think the hairdresser, who had gorgeous long hair (which suited her...darn it) nearly threw up at the thought of being the one to put her scissors into action.

But she did....and I LOVED it.

I didn't realise how liberating it would feel to no longer have hair to hide behind. It had life. It was shiny, bouncy and not a ruddy split end in sight. It was me - short and bubbly! Now a few weeks on from that glorious day, I already feel desperate to get it cut again - its now grazing my shoulders!!!!!! 

So if you're teetering on the scissor edge trying to make up your mind whether or not to take the risk and have it cut - do it. It's amazing. And if you don't like it, magically - it will grow back!! :)

Lots of love, Emily-Rose xoxo

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CoppaFeel

Cancer sucks ass, you know it, I know it, the world and its dog should know it.

It has affected the lives of many of my family and close friends and their family and close friends...and that just wont do.

I have just got home from putting an over time shift in at work, and I honestly enjoyed it, there were 4 of us girls in the office (including my moooomar) and we had such a laugh. The scary thing about that statement however, is that if the statistics were applied - 1 of us in that room will get cancer in our life. Again, that is if the statistics are applied, I sincerely wish that never becomes the case.

I didn't sit there working away thinking that however, I'm an odd one, but not that odd. I simply make that statement to you now after watching a truly inspirational documentary called 'Kris: Dying to Live' on a stunning young woman called Kris, who along with her equally brave and supportive twin sister Maren, has set up the bloody fantastic charity 'CoppaFeel'.

Kris was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer just a few months after her 23rd birthday, and set up the charity just 2 months after that. It's a world away from many of the charities that are around today, as it focuses entirely, around something that is seen as a bit of a taboo subject: BOOBS.

And why not?

Boobs, love bags, chesticles, lovely lady lumps, whatever you want to call them, male or female you gotta love them. They are often seen as a defining feature of a woman, and a key element in the natural feeding of a child, quite frankly, they're fabulous, but they can also be deadly.

1 in 8 women will experience breast cancer in their life, and 400 MEN are diagnosed with breast cancer every single year. So it affects us all, no matter whether you think so or not.

And that's where CoppaFeel comes in to play. As their webpage states:

'CoppaFeel! ® exists to educate and remind every young person in the UK that checking their boobs isn’t only fun, it could save their life. We are the first breast cancer charity in the UK to create awareness amongst young people, with the aim of instilling a new healthy habit that could one day save their life.'

Kris is an all round awesome person, as you can see from her blog, labelled 'How to glitter a turd' which you can find rightttttt here.

And she is on a mission, to educate young women (and men) how serious and important it is to check yourself, get to know your bodies, and don't allow doctors to dismiss your symptoms just because you are young. It's your body, it's your life and it's your prerogative. Don't take their crap.

I urge you all to have a look at CoppaFeel and I also urge you all to genuinely copp a feel of those bad boys. Educate yourself in what to look out for and lose the whole embarrassment that comes with talking about it. Your health is way more important than other people's opinions.

Thank you Kris, you are a truly inspirational woman and I for one will do all I can to promote the wonderful charity you have created.

Oh and..... BOOBIES.

Lots of love, Emily-Rose xoxo

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Mollie Makes – Handmade Wedding

The magazine that made my wildest wedding dreams come true.

It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I have a severely unhealthy obsession with weddings. With many guys, if their girlfriend admitted that, they would give Usain Bolt a run for his money (no pun intended….well…maybe) but I am lucky enough to have a long-suffering angel who doesn’t seem to mind. Either that, or he is so petrified that he daren’t even say ;). I’m hoping it’s not the latter and that he simply breathes a sigh of relief knowing that if/when (hopefully less ‘if’ than ‘when’) it comes to our wedding, he won’t be dragged in to help plan ANYTHING, he can just sit back with a pint in hand until the day arrives, where he can again, sit back with a pint in hand.

Quite frankly, I don’t disagree with anyone who thinks it’s totally weird. I’m 18 years of age, if I had stayed on at college like many of the friends I have – I would be preparing for my first year of University to get well and truly gazeboed every night, not planning my wedding and saving for a house deposit. But not many people have had the example I have had in life – my parents.

Engaged on my mum’s 18^th birthday after just under a year together, my parents were married before they both turned 20 and this year will celebrate their 25^th wedding anniversary in blissful happiness as always.  I know what you may be thinking – ‘surely there must be a reason they got married so early’ – and you are right – they were desperate to be together. There was no other reason for it than that. They waited for almost 6 years until they had me, and another 2 and a half before my ‘little’ brother came along. To everyone who meets them, they are a complete anomaly in modern life and funnily enough, they have been through more heartbreak and difficulty in their married years than a million couples put together – each event bringing them closer together.

How very very soppy.

ANYWAY…..moving onnnnnn

 ‘Mollie Makes’ is a fabulous magazine that usually focuses on handmade items, crafting and all things adorable. Being a keen crafter myself alongside my mum, this magazine is one of our top go-to’s for any new projects and we treat each other to a new issue whenever we see one. I say ‘treat’, because at a fiver a pop, with me being such a tight arse with money, it’s a treat!

So when my eagle-eyed momma spotted a special wedding edition of it, we went into a geeky excitement meltdown!!!

It is chockablock full of incredible real-life weddings, ideas for handmade invites, decorations and includes links to find literally anything you see on each page – a complete dream.

Just look at this one particular featured wedding below….just look at it.

 

Beyond stunning. And every detail is hand made, even down to the hundreds of individual delicate sugar hydrangeas on their cake which they made together (am I the only one who swoons at that?!) I for one know how painstaking those ruddy sugar hydrangeas are to make and set on a cake.... *multiple curse words*

Anyway - to anyone who loves weddings, to anyone who is due to get married or to anyone who appreciates beautiful handmade items - go and get Mollie Makes in your life!!!!!

Even a cute little old guy on my bus was reading it the other day - I felt we had a real friendship bond when I geekily got my copy out of my bag too!!

Haha....apologies that my second blog post is so girly and soppy, but thats me! 

Lots of love, Emily-Rose xoxo

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Rain drops on roses...

It's a rainy day here where I am, no wonder they call it 'April Showers'!

I'm pretty new to the idea of 'blogging'...

I have all of the other social media channels you can imagine; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Pinterest, Tumblr... you name it, I probably have the sickeningly addictive app for it.

But a blog? Totally unheard of for me!!

Any-hoo, I usually keep alot of my life under firm lock and key from everyone, I don't rate my own opinions or reviews on things and find what I have to say quite boring. However now I feel different;

 this year so far has been a flurry of emotions, new beginnings and excitement, so what better time to start a blog - for once in my life genuinely brilliant and comical things are happening and I would quite like to share them with you all!

So let's start by filling you all in on who I am, if you have managed to read this far without errupting into snores, you may aswell carry on;

My name is Emily-Rose, many know me as Em and most know me simply as 'that small weird one that sings' (no comment.) I'm 18 years young, mind of an 80 year old, soul of a 3 year old and the size of a 10 year old, but who's counting. I'm a winter baby through and through, with a love for all things pretty and handmade and I am obsessed with vintage and floral details (queue rolling of eyes thinking I am just like every other teenage girl - HOLD UP - give a girl a chance!) My guilty obsessions include motorbikes, weddings, food and Aerosmith. Not necessarily in that order.

Now that you all want to be my best friend, I will post for you as much as I possibly can and hopefully make you giggle from time to time!

Lots of love, Emily-Rose xoxo

 

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