Seven Questions With My Mum

Happy Mother's Day!

For the occasion I put together seven cheesy questions and set up a mini interview with my mum. Here are her answers.

1. What is the best thing about being a mummy?
"If there is only one thing, it's to have those most incredible, kind and intelligent girls that I have."

Me: Oh stahp it you.

2. In what ways do you think I'm like you and not like you?
"We both have a big, big heart and we feel for others. We're unlike each other because you have more guts than I did at your age however I can stay calmer than you can."

3. How did having children change your life?
"It gave me power and it gave life to my heart by giving and receiving love and recognition."

4. Which of us kiddies did/do you like the best?
"There is no way that I like one more than the other."

At this point I attempted to persuade her that she liked me the most by reminding her that I set the table everyday. Haha.

"No there isn't a 'kiddy' of mine that I love more than the other."

5. What has been your most memorable moment through motherhood?
"Well, I guess it's when each of you were born. It was such a great moment because I felt like I already knew you."

6. What is the best thing I can do for you right now?
"Give me smiles, gentleness and love."

7. What words of wisdom do you have on parenting?
"Trust your children because they are really worth it. Know that they are responsible. Also, bring them painting materials so that they can express themselves freely with visuals  and their hands because as they create, they feel and they release tension or whatever it is that they need to release. At the same time it allows them to enrich themselves by the glitter of creation."

 

Thank you so much mummy for allowing me to have a little Q&A with you. I hope you enjoyed today's post and have good mother's day with your own mums.

 

Sharleen x

March Photo Favourites

Heyo!
 

Today I'm uploading on a Saturday as tomorrow I have a special mother's day post featuring (wait for it), my mummy! Stay tuned (wink, wink).
Since we're approaching April I wanted to show you guys a few of my March photo favourites. Enjoy!

 

 

My friends and our school's  Japanese Exchange students: It's a
Japanese thing, you know,  the peace sign thing.

 

 

Sh-amazing sweets from Japan

 

 

 

 

 

 

See you tomorrow!

 

Sharleen x

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Heyo!

Mother's Day (UK) is only a week away so I decided to share some gift ideas that don't require spending any (or much) money that you may want to use for yourselves.



1) Decorate a jam jar and then fill it with lots of little pieces of papers saying the things you love about your mum.

2)Buy a plain notebook, print some photos of the two of you and create a scrap book!

3)Make her a breakfast in bed.

4) Create a mini spa in your house for the two of you.

5)Bake her a cake or host a mini tea party for the two of you.

6) Have a movie night together. Make sure to have plenty of snacks and drinks and even create a cinema ticket.

7) Simply write her a letter saying a heartfelt (and super cheesy) thank you.

8) Instead of making a traditional card on paper, get a plain helium balloon and write on that!

9) Make dinner and fill the room with candles.

10) Make a mock tail for both you and her and enjoy it in the garden.


I hope you found this useful and you spend a lovely jubbly day with your mums.

Sharleen x

My Top 15 "Chick Flicks"

Hello!
 
This week I wanted to write about my top 15 "Chick Flicks" as being a teenage girl, I've watched MANY (emphasis intended) of them. Righty roo, let's get started!

 

 

1. About Time ~ (2013) I saw this movie at the cinema last summer with my friends and it was really fantastic and carries a lovely message.

 

2. New Year's Eve  ~ (2007)  Such a cute story with so many famous actors such as Lea Michele, Zac Efron, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Biel, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jake T. Austin (that kid from Wizards of Waverly Place).

 

3. The Last Song ~ (2010) This is very sad but incredibly sweet. I'm not a Miley Cyrus fan but I really think this film is very worthwhile.

 

4. Knocked Up ~ (2007) This is pretty inappropriate but as long as you can bare that and don't get offended, it's hilarious!

 

5. The Princess Diaries 1 and 2 ~ (2001) & (2004) Both are excellent girly movies that I first watched when I was very little but it just gets better every time.

 

6. Confessions of a teenage drama queen ~ (2004) A film starring Lindsay Lohan which I loved when I was younger and still do. VERY chick flicky (even though that's not a word).

 

7. Wild child ~ (2008) I've watched this film SO MANY times but it never gets old! Very fun!

 

8. Juno ~ (2007) This has a real mix of slight sadness and comedy. Love Ellen Page!

 

9. Mean Girls ~ (2004) Not much to say! It's just super funny!

 

10. A Cinderella Story ~ (2004) Aww. I first watched this movie when I was something like six years old and it's still super cringy but super cute.

 

11. Ella Enchanted ~ (2004) A modern fairy-tale with Anne Hathaway.

 

12. The Devil Wears Prada ~ (2006) Another Anne Hathaway movie also with Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt. I have a fun fact for anyone who's seen the film or who's about to: The book was based on the famous fashion journalist, Anna Wintour!

 

13.  White Chicks ~ (2004) Hilarious movie with a very simple story line.

 

14. Titanic ~ (1997) Not much explanation is needed. Most people have seen this one. A tragic love story but what a genius piece of work.

 

15. Monster In Law ~ (2005) Nothing to do with monsters! It's very funny and not particularly girly so if you're not into those typical chick flick movies I would say this one is probably right for you (although it does have quite a predictable ending).

 

 

So there we go! I hope this has been an interesting blog post and I shall see you next week!

 

 Cheerio!

 



We Day UK 2014

Hello! Happy Sunday!

Well this week has been so busy! Pancake day, International Women's day, my GCSE option deadline and WE DAY!

What is this 'We day' you speak of? We Day is a concert/show that is designed specially for students ranging from primary schools all the way to universities. You have dancers and singers who perform but also motivational speakers and celebrities who tell their stories and inspire you to help change the world. It originates from Canada but this year they did the first ever We Day UK!
 It's a lot more than what I just said but I didn't want to write too much on what it actually is so click HERE to go to the website and it will give a much better explanation in the video.

So for about five months I've been working consistently to raise money for a charity called Free the Children. In order to receive tickets to the We Day concert, schools had to do at least one global and one local action. Roughly 15 students in the group worked on the local action by organising a food drive for a local homeless shelter nearby our school. Myself and about 10 other students in the group were in charge of the global action by raising money to build a school in Haiti.

Creating our concert banner after school


 

 On Friday was the We Day concert. I woke up extremely early at 5:20am and left the house to head to the tube station at 6:30am to meet everyone. If anyone knows me, they'll know that more often than not, I'm late to meet-ups so I was surprised to find that I actually made it on time! Woohoo! Be proud of me!


 I then travelled by bus to Wembley Arena and despite being allocated a seat on our tickets, everyone moved and swapped around to sit with their friends. Oh aren't we dare devils?

Ellie Goulding Performing

The show then opened with DIVERSITY's performance. It was absolutely "wowza". Unbelievably better than on your TV screen. So amazing that it sent shivers down my spine. So unbelievably, fantastically crazy that I can't even explain. The show had so many inspiring and talented people such as Martine Wright (Paralympiam who lost both her legs in the 7/7 bombings, Ellie Goulding, Richard Branson, Malala, Molly Burke and Spencer West (motivational speakers), Jacob Artist (actor from Glee), Shay Mitchell (actress from Pretty Little Liars), Evanna Lynch (actress from Harry Potter), Jennifer Hudson, Prince Harry and so so so many more however I won't bore you. If you'd like to see the whole list then click HERE. My favourite speaker was Martine Wright. Her attitude and the way she spoke didn't sound rehearsed or fake and she never once said anything that gave you the feeling of her saying "Hey everybody, look at how awful my life has been! Feel sorry for me", which she could  well have done considering how atrocious what happened to her is. Overall, the concert was such an amazing day and the flashing wrist bands that every audience member received created an unforgettable sea of lights.

 I will for sure carry on doing charity work regardless whether there are tickets to compete for or not. At the end of the day it's all about your intentions and what role you want to play in this world.

 

 

Thank you to my friends Adreil and Avishka for the photos.

Until next week! Ta-ta!

Sharleen x

Product Review: John Lewis Icing Bottles

Heyo!
So last week I wrote about a sh-amazing lemon cupcake recipe that I found and made. Making buttercream icing was involved in the recipe (something I had never done before) which of course either required icing bags or piping bottles. I wanted to review the bottles that I used for this recipe. (To view the bottles online click HERE).





The one remaining bottle. He's a survivor that one. Haha



Roughly three years ago my mum noticed my love for baking and bought me a set of three icing bottles from John Lewis. I've never been bothered to make buttercream icing thus I'd never used the bottles until last week. A few weeks ago however, I was tidying up one of the kitchen baking drawers and I found one of the bottles was rusty and dirty (even though I'd never used it before). I of course immediately threw it away. The other two were fine however. Last week I found yet another one that also became rusty and extremely dirty within only a few weeks! Luckily the third one was fine which allowed me to go ahead with my design.

The next disaster was putting the icing into the bottle. The top was far too narrow. A teaspoon didn't even fit in it! It took a long while to fill the bottle up and when it was finally ready to go, my hands were full of icing and so was the bottle. A very messy job.

After having spent what felt like an eternity simply putting the icing into the bottle it was time to decorate my cupcakes at last. Instead of the icing gracefully swirling on the cupcake, the lid fell off... I then had to re-attach it which was an even messier job and of course caused my first cupcake to look like a pile of dog poop. Not exactly what I'd call appetizing.

The bottles were also far too small and couldn't hold much icing which meant that after every two to three cupcakes I had to do the extremely frustrating job of re-filling the bottle which evidently made the icing process much slower.

 For the rest I'll let the reviews on the John Lewis website speak for themselves, however, I'm shocked that so many people were pleased with these bottles. I certainly am not and I'm surprised that these were recommended to my mum by a customer in the shop!

So now I'm here to warn you my friends, to make sure to not completely base your purchase decisions on price. After all, by looking at the cheapest options, you might end up with something very useless. Also, be aware that online reviews aren't always 100% accurate for everyone. The icing bottles are rated 5 stars on the John Lewis website whereas I would for sure rate it a generous 2. I rest my case.

 

I hope that I have helped at least one of you to avoid being mislead.

Until next week!

 

Sharleen x

(If you're interested, instead of these bottles, icing bags are so much better! They work well and are very cheap!)