Welcome to August...

Hey everyone,

We are now in the centre of summer and in less than a month it draws to a close with the start of school and university, sad times. However that gives everyone the opportunity to make the most of this last month of summer and here is what I am looking forward to this month.

(Image from Pinterest)

Movies:
This month see's the release of some really great looking films. One of these is Fantastic Four, the latest Marvel release which is a re-vamp of the 2005 film. If you haven't seen the older film it is about 4 young scientists travel to an alternate universe and upon their return their bodies have been altered to give them super human powers. This becomes a challenge as they have to harness their abilities to help save the world from the evil Dr. Doom. Another film I am looking forward to this month is Trainwreck. This is all about a career woman who has always believed that monogamy doesn't exist which gets put to the test when she finally meets a decent guy. I am looking forward to seeing this as it hopefully will be the breath of fresh air very much needed in the romcom genre. It is also from the guy who did Bridesmaids, so hopefully it will be just as hilarious.

(Preview into my trip to see the dinosaurs)

In regards to my blog this month I will be telling you all about my spontaneous trip to visit some dinosaurs, a tour of fun things to do around my home town and I will also be giving you some summer cocktail recipes so you can make the most of what is left of your summer. I will also be doing a back to school/uni post full of the best things to kit yourself out with ready for September. I am hoping as well for a few more spontaneous trips this month, all things for you to keep up to date with on my Twitter and Instagram.

Are you looking forward to anything this month? Let me know on Twitter or Instagram.
See you Sunday,

Love Katie x

Hey July...

Hey Everyone,

It's July and this year really is zooming by. July is by far my favourite month of the year for many reasons so this blog post is all about what I am looking forward to this month and there is a lot.

(Image from Pinterest)

Movies

(Image from Pinterest)

This month I am super excited for the release of two films. One being Magic Mike XXL. As a girl of course I am going to be excited to see Channing Tatum getting his kit off for a second time. This time around Mike is coming back to the stripping world for one last show, I'll be straight in the cold shower after seeing this one. Another film I am looking forward to is Ant-Man, Marvels latest hero to be shown to the world. I am also excited to see Paul Rudd in a more serious role, although Marvel films have comical moments I think Paul Rudd will do it justice.

Celebrations

(Image from Pinterest)

This month has lots of celebrations, I will be blogging about my recent trip to Cardiff for S from Eleven oh Sevens birthday. I also have my graduation and birthday coming up which calls for lots of drinks and celebrating. I will be doing posts of my party planning and lots of Instagram posts of me at my graduation, so I will apologise for the spam now.

Trips

(Image from Pinterest)

This July I will be welcoming Eleven Oh Seven and TurnerTurner to my home town and will be doing a post on my fabulous home town and how cute it is. I am also heading to London to see Bend it Like Beckham in the theatre and I am sure that will be a great trip. July also means the end of school so I will hopefully make a few spontaneous trips around my town and maybe a far.

All these things I will hopefully be writing exciting blog posts on so you will have a lot to read this July. Keep an eye out for the things I'm doing on Instagram and Twitter.

See you Tuesday,

Love Katie x

Flashback Friday...

Hey Everyone,

This weeks post I am going to give you an insight into 3 months that changed my life. Why now? Why bother? Well I am addicted to the Timehop app and it recently reminded me (I didn't need too much reminding) it has been a year since I spent 3 months stateside. It really was the best experience and I wouldn't change a single moment.

(In New York living my American dream)

It all started in September 2013 when out of boredom I started researching into summers in America because I couldn't bare a summer sat at home doing nothing. So after hours of searching I decided I wanted to try the summer camp experience. There are many companies out there that help you with this experience so you can shop around. I went through a company called Camp Leaders. For me, personally, they were so helpful and tried their absolute hardest to get you hired and on your way to America and I loved that. One of the things they do to be super helpful and get you to America is that they organise job fairs for people to get hired by camps.

(Left: The camps bus, Right: My smore making wasn't too bad)

It was at one of these job fairs that I got hired by the best camp in the world (I'm serious, there is no better camp) Tamarack Camps. While I was queueing I got to talk to some previous international staff who were sussing you out to see if you were right for the job. When you got hired they got you in a circle and shouted welcome home. After that it was a long wait until I could finally get on my way 'home'. Like anyone would be, I was terrified to go. Travelling half way across the world on my own it was scary. I met two others going to my camp at Heathrow and we had our last bacon sarnie (Jewish camp problems) and got on the plane to Detroit. After a long flight we landed and after meeting more people from camp we were on our way. We left the airport on a Forrest Gump style bus. I was sold. American life would be easy and it only got better.

(a view of the lake from the flag poles)

Tamarack Camps is a large Jewish camp in Ortonville, Michigan with campers ranging from 5-16. The campers I worked with were special need adults (18+) in the Avodah programme. They never failed to keep a smile on my face and keep us all laughing for hours and hours. Being around your campers pretty much all day everyday was tiring and got to much, but camp knew this and gave us lots of opportunities to burn off steam or chill. Whether it was organising days off for the international staff, fun activities for us all to try like roller disco, or letting you have a period off if you were really struggling. I got the opportunity to go on a camping trip in Mio where we canoed and swam in the massive lake there. It was incredible. Everyday was different but so much fun. Towards the end of camp you forgot you were working as everyday was just so great. However you slowly came to terms with the fact you were leaving and soon travelling. I had made a little (or not so little) family with all the people there from fellow brits to Americans and Israeli's. I was devastated to leave them but I knew that I had 3 weeks of travelling that would be just as fun as camp and I would see some of them again soon.

(Left: the Chicago theatre, Right: Me on the SkyDeck, I was terrified)

In my 3 weeks of travelling I visited Chicago, Indianapolis, Washington D.C, and New York. Every town and city brought its own memories and adventures. Chicago there was a big group of us staying in hostels and we all met up again, which settled all our post camp blues. I also got to conquer my fear of being by glass at height (its odd, I know) on the Sky Deck. I was so nervous but after crawling onto the edge I sat there for a few minutes and managed to stand. I was so proud. I also ate at my first Man V Food featured restaurant, Giordano's, true Chicago style deep dish pizza. True heaven. Indianapolis had the best hotel of my travels by far. A massive bed, free cupcakes, and a bath. Something I had been craving for a long time. However, there wasn't too much to do in Indianapolis, we shopped, biked, and worked on our tans but that is all we could do really.

(Left: New Yorks number 1 tourist attraction, the Naked Cowboy, Right: the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry.)

I had a quick pitstop in New York for a week but only after a 20 hour Greyhound bus journey. Loads of people were warning me about Greyhound busses but they worked for me and I didn't have a bad experience on any of the ones I went on and would recommend them to anyone. While in New York I did all the usual touristy stuff. Times square every night, shopping, and the Empire State Building. It also brought some drama as the girl I was travelling with twisted her knee. Finding an emergency room in Brooklyn that would take her was so tricky. After all that drama I was glad to be escaping the hustle of New York to meet some of the boys from camp in D.C. I loved Washington, seeing the monuments all lit up at night was magical. It was so calm and I felt so safe (maybe because I was with 3 boys). We spent hours and hours walking and exploring the city and checking out the museums, I learnt lots about planes... fun? maybe. However I got to see a space shuttle, that was very cool. After that it was back to NYC to discover more of the city. We had all been before so wanted to see different things. This lead us to going on to Intrepid's Hangar Deck. It was more planes but also more space shuttles that made me very happy.

(Left: Monuments at night in D.C, Right: The White House, Hello Mr. President.)

It was super sad to be leaving America when September came around. I made so many memories I will hold dear to forever. If you are deciding whether to do Camp Leaders or a Camp America programme I would highly recommended it. Every camp is different, my camp was quite laid back and chilled, they also organised a lot for us at and away from camp. This isn't the same everywhere but from what I have heard, they are just as fun. Its not all like Beaver Fall's so don't go out just expecting to shack up with an American, its way more than that. Also if you cant see yourself in the camp way of life, I would highly recommend travelling America. It is stressful at times but it is so different everywhere you go. I definitely will head back someday, to camp to visit or to travel more. Michigan will always have a place in my heart and I will never forget those Ortonville sunsets.

(Left: the start of an Ortonville sunset, Right: The sun setting from the Empire State Building)

Stay tuned to things I am up to by checking out my Twitter and Instagram, see you Monday.

Love Katie x

My Northern Adventure...

Hey Everyone,

So last week was half term which for me meant a week off. For christmas my mum planned a trip to Liverpool for me and my brother during this week to see Maroon 5. It was a rocky two day trip but it was lots of fun.

(Barburrito standard burrito pic, The docks outside the hotel, the little brother trying on jackets in Topman)

We started nice and early on our way up to the 'pool to attempt to avoid traffic but sadly it was everywhere we went. After 4 hours and getting lost around the city we arrived at our travelodge hotel on the Strand. The hotel looked out onto the Albert Docks and was simply stunning. After travelling over lunch time we both had worked up a bit of an appetite. Liverpool has lots and lots of options for food, obviously. We decided to settle for something we knew we would enjoy and would be quick (as I needed to get looking around the shops), Barburrito. This amazing burrito place is the number 1 burrito place I have ever been to. Mission Burrito does not even come close, I'm serious. They have lots of options meat/veg wise and serve Lipton's Peach Ice Tea (ultimate winner in my eyes). I went for a chargrilled chicken burrito, with lots of peppers, onions, Mexican rice and of course, GUAC! My brother got a steak burrito with very similar fillings, he also got a side order of tortilla chips. It is such a good price and they offer student discount, mine came to £8.

(Cool boats in the dock, excited before we found out Maroon 5 cancelled, the docks in the sunshine)

After our meal we did a spot of shopping, I was particularly excited as Liverpool has a Forever 21 and I love that brand. I had scouted the website the night before and had my heart set on a beautiful pair of mom jeans. Unfortunately, after dragging my brother high and low I could not find them anywhere but I did find lots of things I cant wait to buy next payday (hopefully). I also helped my brother pick out a new jacket and some stuff for his interailing trip this summer. My shopping wasn't too successful but I got a water bottle for work and a black mini skirt. My brother was a lot more successful. After heading to the hotel and spending time getting ready we walked over to the Echo Arena. We were greeted by men in high vis jackets handing out paper. After grabbing a bit of paper and being held up in the fuss, we unfortunately heard that Maroon 5 had cancelled due to Adam being to ill to sing. We were gutted but fully understand and we are just glad Adam is fine now and not in a pickle like Sam Smith.

(by Liverpool One shopping centre, Candid shot of my brother at mini golf, another dock pic)

This meant we had to make new plans. Being in a big city we had never been to before we were getting a little stuck. Luckily my brother remembered we saw a mini golf bar on our way to Barburrito earlier that day. We decided to give that a go and then head to the cinema. The mini golf was amazing, Jungle Rumble mini golf is a must for anyone in/near Liverpool looking for something to do thats cute and fun. It was £6.50 each for us to go which wasn't too bad. There is also a bar there (if you fancy a drink or two). We did the easy course as we didn't want to be too long and I won. It was very surprising but I feel the Jungle feel gave me winning energy, or it put my brother off. After that we went to the Odeon up the stairs and saw Mad Max: Fury Road. It was an incredible film, I will admit I was a little worried as action films aren't normally my thing. I won't ruin things for you but it was brilliant, Rosie Huntington-Whitley was looking beautiful and had some balls too. So impressed. There was moments of giggles as I kind of want a war pack lead by some man playing electric guitar, he seemed pretty cool. I would highly recommended this film to anyone though, truly expanded my list of favourite films.

(the heavenly cinnamon swirl with white chocolate, the cake counter at east avenue bakehouse, my beautiful lemon drizzle cake)

The next morning after a slight lay in we headed to a little bakery/restaurant my mums been banging on about for ages, The East Avenue Bakehouse. Situated up a side street with lots of other cafes and bars, it looked beautifully quaint even from the outside. The tall glass window full of freshly baked bread made me so excited to go in. There was a long wait to sit in the restaurant but we needed to hit the road so after staring at the beautiful display of cakes we opted for two to take away. I went for a slice of lemon drizzle cake and my brother went for a cinnamon swirl with white chocolate. I could have got a lot more, they had brownies and peanut butter cake all freshly baked. Our choices were definitely good ones we both are still going on about it even now. The interior was super stunning and one day I am sure I will come back and try more than just a cake, I promise. Their Instagram has me drooling, so go check it out. If you are lucky enough to be close to this establishment, become a regular, seriously, Its beautiful.

Despite Maroon 5 cancelling on us we still had a wonderful time in Liverpool and its such an incredible city. Would highly recommend it to people who want to explore Britain a little more. Stay tuned for more posts including festival guides. Also keep an eye on my Twitter and Instagram to see what I am up to.

Love Katie x