Elsie_Anonymous: January 2017

Book Review: Fortune Cookie

Hello Internet!

It's time for my monthly book review! You may have noticed that I missed last month's review. If you want to know why, I did a post explaining myself here.

Even though I didn't actually do a book review, I did quite a lot of reading in December. For this month's review, though, I'm going to do the one which I read first.

Title:

Fortune Cookie (the sixth book of the Chocolate Box Girls series)

Author:

Cathy Cassidy

Genre:

Young Adult Fiction

Description:

The final book of the Chocolate Box Girls series follows Jake, the Tanberry sisters' newly discovered half-brother.

It comes to a shock to Jake when he receives a message saying that he actually has a much bigger family than what he originally thought. At first, he denies the message and ignores it but, when he finds himself in trouble and doesn't have anywhere to run to, his new family becomes his only option. But Jake doesn't know anything about the Tanberrys. Will he be welcome there? And, even if it is, can anyone really help him turn things around?

My Thoughts and Opinions:

I've read all of the other books in this series and this one was just as good as the rest. Even though the series seems to be aimed at a much younger audience, I really enjoy the stories. If I'm honest, I didn't really find this book as gripping as the previous five. I think the others seemed a bit more mature than this one. Maybe that's because I read them when I was a bit younger, I don't know. Anyway, if you're looking for a light and easy read and you enjoy reading books with happy endings, this one is for you.

Also, I don't think you need to read the whole series to read this book alone. It's really easy to follow and it mentions everything you need to know. However, I do recommend reading the others because, in my opinion, most of them are probably a bit better.

I hope you enjoyed the book review. If you do decide to read Fortune Cookie, let me know your opinions in the comments below.

Also, sorry I haven't posted much recently. I'm going to try harder to get more content on here from now on. There'll be a new post on Saturday, so stay tuned for that!

Thanks for Reading,

Elsie A x

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What I got for Christmas 2016

About Me 13:00

Hello Internet!

Due to my break, I'm a little late to the party but, today, I decided to share what I got for Christmas. I'm so lucky to have amazing family and friends who get me so many great presents!

I don't want it to seem like I'm trying to brag or anything - because I'm not. The reason I thought I'd do this post is because I always find it really interesting when I read other posts like this. Please don't get offended or anything.

- Boots

So, a couple of months ago I went on New Look and found some boots which I absolutely loved. However, when I tried to buy them, it turned out that they didn't have my size (this always happens to me). Naturally, I was really annoyed.

But, when I opened my presents on Christmas morning, I found a pair of boots practically identical to the ones which I had found a few weeks before. You have no idea how happy I was. I've worn them every time I've left the house since Christmas Day and they are so comfy! (These were from my mum).

- Calligraphy Pen

For my birthday - which was a few months ago - my mum bought me a calligraphy starter kit because I mentioned that I wanted to try something new. Since then, I've really enjoyed learning calligraphy and trying loads of different writing styles. So, for Christmas, my mum got me a new pen (only instead of having cartridges, it's a dip pen). I love it so much - it just looks amazing and it's also really light and easy to write with! I might actually do a few posts about Calligraphy in the future.

-Desk Organiser

I've always liked my desk to be organised because, otherwise, I just can't concentrate with whatever I'm doing. So, for Christmas I got a desk organiser! I did have a desk organiser before but it didn't really match anything in my room and it was getting a bit old. This organiser is really cool because it's rotatable so, when you turn it, there's more sections. (This is also from my mum.)

- Hair Accessories

I got two types of hair accessories for Christmas. One of them was a claw/butterfly clip. The other is a slidey-clip (I don't know the correct terminology for it, sorry), which is in the image shown. I really love them both. I wore the slidey one (again, sorry for the bad wording) on Christmas Day and it actually managed to hold my hair for a couple of hours - and my hair's really thick so it's hard to find something which can hold it. (Again, it's from my mum).

-Makeup brushes

I've been wanting some makeup brushes for a while now because I really want to be able to do my makeup properly. Before, I had to just use my fingers and it wasn't blending as well. They just make it so much easier! Of course, I'm still not quite ready to pursuit a career in makeup, but it's enough to make me look semi-alive in a morning.

It's a set of 24 and each brush is a different size. To be honest, I don't really know how to use a few of them but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. (These are also from my mum. Yeah, I got a lot from her.)

- The Cursed Child

From my best friend, I got a book that I've been wanting for a long time: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It was the first script I'd read (out of school) and it was so good that I read it in a day - so you can be expecting a book review soon! After reading it, I decided to go back and read the Harry Potter series again from the beginning. I'm currently part way through the second book.

- A4 Sketchbook

This time last year, I really enjoyed drawing and I used to do it pretty much whenever I had free time. Though, when I dropped Art in September, I ended up not having enough time to draw and my sketchbook slowly got pushed further and further away. However, when my cousin bought me a really nice sketchbook for Christmas, it made me remember how much I'd once enjoyed it and encouraged me to give it another go. I've done a few drawings already and, though I'm definitely not the best artist, I still enjoy it quite a bit.

These are just a few examples of all of the amazing presents which I received this Christmas. I'm really lucky to have such amazing friends hand family. A few of the other thing are got are things like: toiletries, chocolates/sweets, money and vouchers.

I hope you enjoyed this post! What did you get for Christmas? I'd love to see your replies in the comments!

Thanks For Reading,

Elsie A x

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Hello Internet (Again)

09:00

I'm back!

When I logged on to Blogger, I wasn't sure if there'd be anybody who still came on anymore but I saw that 2 people (one from France and one from the UK) had been on today. There may still be hope - so here goes!

Last year I attempted Blogmas but, as you probably noticed, I only got as far as day 11. If you don't have a blog then you'll most likely think that I just got bored with it and couldn't be bothered carrying on. However, those of you who do own a blog and have tried doing daily posts, you will probably understand how hard it can be to actually pull it off. This is especially true when you have loads of school work to do as well. Trust me, it's a lot of pressure and, before attempting Blogmas, I don't think I quite understood how much work it would take to do it.

I don't want it to seem like I'm just making excuses for myself - because that's not what I want to do. I'd just like to explain why I had to stop and why I haven't posted anything since. In the simplest form: I'd just had enough of everything and I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. 2016 hadn't been a particularly good year for me, especially towards the end. The pressure from school just seemed to reach its peak and I felt like I was just a poor excuse for a human being. To be honest, I couldn't really see what my purpose in life was and I felt hopeless. I went from having nights where I couldn't sleep at all and nights where I slept for 13 hours and didn't want to wake up. My appetite was just as irregular - varying from having days where I barely ate a thing and then days where I binged on every food I could find. I didn't want to talk to anybody about how I was feeling because I just felt like I was being stupid. I ended up just isolating myself.

Now, looking back, I was just a hormonal teenager feeling sorry for herself. But, back then, I didn't know what to do with myself and I felt like there was no point in continuing with Blogmas. My posts were getting shorter and vaguer. I didn't like the work which I was producing so I thought that there was no point in continuing. So I stopped.

After a few days of stopping posting, I began feeling a bit happier - like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. Naturally, I began to wonder whether having this blog was worth it after all. When I'd first started, writing had helped me with my confidence and taken my mind off school. But I began to wonder if, in fact, it had done the opposite and added to the pressure.

Luckily, however, all of this happened near a New Year. The time in the upcoming of a New Year is always full of optimistic people, people who are hopeful for the future (pretty much the opposite to me). Normally, I ignore all of this as I'm not really into celebrating the New Year and making New Year's Resolutions. This year, however, I began to really consider who I was as a person. I began to realise that, by being a pessimist and being negative about everything, I'm effecting other people as well as myself. By isolating myself, I've made my mum worry more. By being paranoid and touchy, I've probably made my friends' lives a lot harder at school. And I really don't want to be that person.

That's why I decided that, this year, I'm going to try and be happier. Instead of making life a dark pit of misery and paranoia, I'm going to stay positive as often as possible. I'm only 15 and I need to realise that I don't need to have my whole life mapped out in front of me.

As for the blogging, I'm going to carry on. I realised that the weight on my shoulder isn't my blog. The weight is me. The only reason I felt like blogging was ruining me was because of the pressure which I was putting on myself. I didn't know my limits and I now know that I shouldn't have taken on Blogmas. From now on, I'm going to post once a week (or maybe even once a fortnight). I'm not going to set a day; I'm just going to write when I want to because I don't want to make myself too much work. I hope you understand this and I'm sorry if this has disappointed anyone.

Sorry for the very long, wordy post. If you've gotten this far, congrats!
Also, I'd like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and I hope you all had a great Christmas if you celebrate it (and a great December, if you don't).
I'm actually really looking forward to 2017 and I really feel like it's going to be a good year. I hope so, anyway.

Thank you so much for reading,

Elsie A x

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Book Review: Fortune Cookie

What I got for Christmas 2016

- Boots

- Calligraphy Pen

-Desk Organiser

- Hair Accessories

-Makeup brushes

- The Cursed Child

- A4 Sketchbook

Hello Internet (Again)

About me

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