#BLAUGUST - Day 5 - Hilton Head

Hello dear readers,

Today my day mainly consisted of a lunch at Wagamamas (amazing), seeing one of my bestest pals in the world (perfect) and buying far too many things - most of which I will never actually need (but of course). 

However, this post is focused on chapter two of my recent fortnight-long trip to America - when we went to an island resort called Hilton Head for three nights. It was so beautiful and relaxing, and I have a few photos which I think sum it up pretty well: 

Necessary filter on this photo as I am v pale (although I did eventually tan, but only after I'd got horrifically burnt in many places). Also, necessary book, as how can one cope without one?!

I quote my aunt: "you were obviously enjoying the beach cocktails when you took this picture" - and maybe the one below!

Exciting giant chess board at the hotel (again, wonky, sorry - an abundance of Starbucks drinks clearly made me a little topsy-turvy... not cocktails, so don't worry kids, I'm not underage drinking or any silly nonsense like that ... Many dot dot dots)

bLuRreeeee

what awful spelling. Honestly, Matilda - and you call yourself a girl whose favourite subject is English 

Our last night, at a cute seafood restaurant where I think I had fried shrimps (prawns in British English).

Hope you enjoyed that selection of photos! I know there aren't as many as before, or as in the next two upcoming chapters (mwhahaha they shall arrive soon) as we didn't really do much whilst on the island! We played tennis one day, and went out for dinner every night, but that's about the extent of our pro-activity as - well - this was the relaxation bit of the trip. And it certainly was relaxing! The beaches and pools were beautiful, despite being slightly windy (going to blame my many burns on that). 

Thanks for reading,

The very (chuffed that she's not burnt anymore but maybe... Maybe... SLIGHTLY tanned - just slightly - and) happy blogger 🌴

#BLAUGUST - Day 4 - Remembrance

Hello dear readers,

If you didn't know, World War 1 started exactly 100 years ago today, and I'm going to try and join in as soon as possible the national way of remembrance today - turning off lights until 11pm (I'm writing this just after 10pm). So this is just a note to say well done and I salute you to all the brave troops who fought in the Great War from all countries: as no matter what their nationality was, none of them needed to die, or suffer from war. And the same applies to now - we see pictures and video from war zones around the world at the moment on the news - children, adults, animals injured by essentially pointless wars. Events in Gaza, for example, are constantly being broadcasted on screens and papers to millions of people, but we can't really feel what those involved are feeling; we haven't gone through what they have. I just wish that none of it actually happened, so none of us would have to feel so helpless. My only hope is that every person in the world will eventually realise that these wars are only caused by differences between people, and the negative side effects caused by these. We should all be able to embrace each others' differences, not disagree over them. Religion, race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation - mostly things we cannot help, and others which we choose because we have the choice; yet it's a flaw in the human character to dispute these things of other people. 

I just feel that if I didn't have to say this, and if all people were just kind and cooperative to each other, we could actually focus on the real problems in the world: disease, preventing natural disasters, the extinction of animals; I could go on.

So in this sombre moment, I ask you to just remember those who have fought, died, or are still fighting for what they believe in, and hope that the world will eventually recover. But never forget, as that should stop it all happening again. 

Thank you for reading.

#BLAUGUST - Day 3 - Savannah

Hello dear readers, 

So, as promised, today's post is documenting my recent holiday/vacation to America. Without further ado (what a spiffing phrase that is!) I therefore present to you some of my favourite photos: 

Our gorgeous, old hotel 

The most exciting bathroom wallpaper ever

Our hotel room had lovely, traditional furnishing 

Spanish moss - which apparently is neither Spanish nor moss (but apart from that!) I picked some up - which apparently you're not supposed to do because of the things/bugs that live inside it but ah well - and it actually feels more like string

The beautiful park which our hotel looked out on - the shade was much appreciated due to the boiling heat!

Hallo pretty fountain

THE MOST EXCITING MOMENT EVER I FOUND IT AND I DRANK IT AND IT WAS SO GOOD

There were so many shaded squares as you walked around the city (America's most haunted!) and this was one of the largest, which my mum was particularly interested in as she's writing an article connected to it, and I was interested as this is the square (Chippewa Square) where Forest Gump made his famous "life is a box of chocolates" speech!

The view from the hotel's wonderfully old-fashioned porch 

Home-made breadsticks and Oscar Wilde on the porch 

A very omnom sweet shop we found - these fruit slices genuinely tasted like their respective fruits

What an interesting name 

Gorgeous sunsets 

On our last wander around Savannah I took so many photos of its beautiful architecture (here's an example!)

Overall, Savannah was so picturesque and historical, as well as being full of absolutely lovely people. 

I'll document the next chapter of the holiday tomorrow! 

Thanks for reading, 

The very (nostalgic and) happy blogger 🇺🇸

Ps: well done England in the commonwealth games! 

#BLAUGUST - Day 2 - Chichester Cheer

Hello dear readers,

As part of my great aunt's 80th birthday celebration, we booked her tickets to see the penultimate performance of the play Amadeus, starring Rupert Everett and Joshua McGuire (he was in About Time - refer back a few posts for my review on that one!) It was playing at the newly re-opened Chichester Festival Theatre (hence blog title.. Heh heh). So after a lazy morning (teenager over here), we made the brief, 45 minute journey to the lovely city of Chichester, West Sussex. 

The play was basically about the long-held dispute over whether the genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's death was of natural causes or whether he was murdered (by the character played by Everett). Largely based on the true story, the play's script was incredibly fast-paced and clever, complete with so many twists and turns, plotting successes (and failures) and, of course, many a mad composer and musical manuscript! 

Overall, it was the perfect mix of tragedy, comedy and suspense; including quite a few dirty references and jokes - much to the horror of my great aunt! The set was simple but so impressive - they captured the baroque style so well and it's all made a lot better as the theatre is round, so you really feel a part of it, no matter where you sit. 

We finished the day by eating a great pub dinner and returning home in time to watch the Commonwealth Games highlights (ps Tom D and Usain I adore you both). All in all, quite a successful day!

Hope you enjoyed this slightly different sort of post - I'm hoping to start uploading the photos from America tomorrow, when I have more time. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday nights/ whatever the time may be where you are - I'm going for the really wild approach: finishing my current chapter of Jane Eyre in bed! #can'tholdmedown

The very (thespian-feeling and) happy blogger🎭

#BLAUGUST - Day 1 (sort of)

Hello dear readers,

So I'm sure you can tell from the title of this post that something...different is going on here. What is #BLAUGUST, I hear you asking? Well, BLAUGUST (necessary capitals here/me lacking energy to retaliate against autocorrect) is BLOG + AUGUST (plus fundamental hashtag ###). And there you have it. My master plan to commit to the creation of a new blog post EVERY DAY - yes, you heard me right - EVERY DAY (so many capitals gosh!) this month. 

I meant to 'launch' this commitment on the 1st August, but I suppose that it's so late here in England that it's officially the 2nd... This unplanned lack of punctuality is mainly due to the fact that I just spent half an hour chasing a crane fly around my room, and had to finally end the duel by throwing my copy of Jane Eyre across my room to squash it. I actually feel very guilty now. Sorry, crane fly. And sorry Jane. I'm sure that respectable nineteenth century ladies like you are not accustomed to skydiving. 

On a lighter note, I really intend to pursue this challenge for once; so let's see how it goes. 

The very (confused where her "oh she wouldn't hurt a fly" status now stands and) happy blogger 🌾

I Want to go to Hogwarts

Hello dear readers, 

Having returned from America last Friday and finally recovered from the jet lag, on Tuesday morning (I know, morning is a dedicated time for us teens to be awake and ready) a couple of friends and I began the daunting challenge of a Harry Potter marathon: i.e., watching every single film, back-to-back. It started well, but with our numbers dwindling from three to two by half way through the third film and the time already being 7:30, we knew that this was going to be difficult. However, we dutifully stayed up until some unnatural time in the morning, and I finally decided we'd had enough by the end of the fifth film - by which time I had been kicked off the sofa by both friend and dog, who were both snoring whilst I sat, thoroughly uncomfortable, but solely immersed in the wonderful wizarding world of Hogwarts. 

That was a very dramatic way of beginning a post, because I have a very dramatic announcement to make: tomorrow, I am leaving this muggle life to join Harry, Ron and Hermione in their magic-filled lives and I shall be starting at Hogwarts this September. 

I wish.

Basically, the point of this post is to share with you all my sadness and regret about the fact that I am not enrolled in the best school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world and thereby asking/demanding of whoever is its current head teacher (bc no more Dumbledore *cry face*) is as to why this is. Honestly, someone must have sent a very old and slightly decrepit owl to deliver my Hogwarts letter, as I'm still waiting for its arrival, five years later. 

I remember being secretly devastated at the end of the summer, 2009, when little 11-year-old me had not received said letter, after having already read all HP books and consequently had life changed (obviously). I just kept asking myself: why? Why am I not good enough? Do I not possess any magical ability at all? *cue sad piano music* Why did JK Rowling create such a truly amazing series of books, only to disappoint millions of children by sending incredibly ineffectual and lazy post owls? Gosh. 

On that subject, it is in fact the genius/queen/wonder herself's birthday today. Hope you had a fab day, JK (no rhyming pun intended). 

Returning back to my rant, you have to admit, wouldn't it just be special? Crashing successfully through the gap between platforms 9 and 10 before boarding the red choo choo as it chug chugs (pls don't scoff at vocab here) along towards the most amazing and beautiful and colossal and great and awe-inspiring (I could go on) castle in the world and spending your educational years by casting charms, getting lost amongst the moving staircases, and conversing with nearly headless ghosts? (eg, "we're here for you Nick; maybe the headless hunt isn't so great anyway")

Therefore, I conclude this post with a final statement: I believe we've all been invited, but the letters just haven't turned up yet... So keep wishing and swishing that chopstick (makeshift wand - please tell me I'm not the only one - ps not a euphemism) and dream of magical places and moments still to come. 

Thanks for reading my little wish list, 

The very (dreamy and) happy blogger xxxxxxxx

Spanish Moss and American Dreams

Hello dear readers, 

So that daily work experience post thing didn't really work out did it?! My only explanation is that I was still recovering from the dreaded GCSEs at that point and found work experience really tiring on top of that... So I apologise (again). 

But anyway, currently I'm writing this post  at 6am - jetlag has made me abandon my usual teenage ways - in bed, in Savannah, in America *many excited noises*. 

Basically, we're holidaying (note to self: need to say 'vacation' to sound more American) in the state of Georgia, and a bit of South Carolina for two weeks.

It's so beautiful here, and everyone is incredibly friendly and welcoming, as well as having fabulous accents. We flew in to Atlanta two days ago, then yesterday we (my mum) drove (us) to Savannah. We're staying in a gorgeous old 19th Century house, which has been converted into a small hotel. If you've seen Gone with the Wind, I'm feeling quite Scarlett O'Hara-esque at the moment (minus the cute grin - few can pull that off). 

If you're wondering about the title of this post, it's due to the beautiful Spanish moss on all the trees outside, and the second bit (I've dreamt of it for so long) is due to the fact that yesterday... *drum roll pls* I FOUND IT: Arizona green tea *much clapping and applause*. I even got the classic Tumblr shot with it, but I don't think I'll post that until I do a round-up photo post of the whole holiday/ vacation *much suspense*... 

It's just started to rain, and when we talked to our Atlanta friends (we're going to stay with them at the end of the trip) they told us that "when it rains in the South, it really rains" and I think they might be right! But it only really rains in the morning, and hasn't disrupted us apart from the bumpy plane ride in, which my mum didn't appreciate much...! 

Some, however, haven't been so fortunate and the weather is really bad and non-summery in some areas in America so all I can say is that I hope it cheers up for them soon. 

On a lighter note, if you'd like to see a photo of Savannah, I posted one on Instagram (link at the top). 

Having said that it's 6am (in Savannah time), this probably won't post for a while due to dodgy WiFi... Oh the woes!! 

I've decided that I probably won't be able to go to sleep, so I think I'll carry on next with my on-going chore of deleting old photos from my very over-crowded phone. Naturally, I thought you'd want to know that!! 

Thanks for reading, 

The very (confused about her body clock and) happy blogger :)

Ps: I also posted a doodle (finally, a new post!!) on my arty Instagram, @matidraws if you want to see it!