2016 IN CONCERTS.

I've always loved taking photos at gigs. I used to sneak my DSLR into venues - sometimes even with my giant zoom lens - and never once got caught. One time I was fifth row at the Radio 1 Teen Awards and ended up with some great photos of One Direction and Taylor Swift. It seems funny now, because multiple times this year venue staff during bag-check have told me that my little Olympus E-PL7 isn't allowed because it has a detachable lens and that deems it 'professional'. (What does that even mean, anyway?) Nonetheless, because I am me, and am remarkably persuasive when I want to be, on every one of these occasions I managed to convince each staff member to let me bring the camera in regardless (mostly I exasperate them and they just give up, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do). With that, allow me to present to you some of my favourite photos from the various gigs I attended this year (fifteen in total, but only nine of them feature in this post), taken with the aforementioned ~forbidden camera~.

DOUBLE DARE REVIEW.

I haven't posted in a while but alas, I am here with an album review! Recently I've been really into the band Waterparks, who, after a few EPs, released their debut album Double Dare about a month ago. If you're unfamiliar with Waterparks I'll give you a quick rundown; they're made up of Awsten on guitar and vocals, Geoff (guitar) and Otto (drums), they originate from Houston, and they are wonderfully ambiguous in their interpretation of pop punk. Double Dare features a wide range of takes on pop punk and pop rock, infused with electronic elements and really cool lyrics. Let's just get to my track-by-track review, shall we?

USA & CANADA 2016: PART V.

Here we are - the final photos of my summer trip! After Chicago I flew to Florida, where I stayed with Marisa and her family (including three adorable dogs, one of whom is featured). Most of the photos I took in Florida are at the same beach, including a photo shoot that Marisa and I had on said beach, because what else do you do when it's raining a little and you're right next to the ocean? If you're curious, I captured the photoshoot images by setting my camera on a signpost and using my phone as a remote control. Ah, technology. After Florida I flew back to Hamilton, NJ and the very next day Steph and I took a train to Obamatown Washington D.C. We met up with our friend Jelena, who I hadn't seen since early January 2014. Jelena studied abroad at King's in my first semester of university (as did Steph) and it was so much fun to be able to hang out with her again, even if only for a weekend. We stayed with Jelena's sister and fiancé and they showed us the sights, amidst an unfortunate 100-degree (PLUS) heat. Anyway, let's hit it.

Redington Shores, FL - 02.08.16 - 12.08.16:

USA & CANADA 2016: PART IV.

My penultimate summer photos post is going to feature all of my favourite pictures from Chicago! I arrived in Chicago on the 25th July and met up with my friend Libby and we both left on the 2nd August, with one day within that spent in Milwaukee (which I posted two photos of in Part III) and one evening in Tinley Park, which is about forty-five minutes outside of the city. We stayed in a hostel in a really cute part of the city and it wasn't as bad as the previous hostel experience we had shared (I don't wanna talk about it) - in fact, I'd maybe go so far as to say I'd stay there again if I ever returned. (Maybe I'd get a private room though.) (I just really like my own space.) Contrary to what you might believe from these photos, the weather wasn't actually too great, and it rained pretty much non-stop for a few days, but hey, you get to see the nice sunny sparkly side of my trip, so enjoy it. What you don't see is the hours we spent in this one particular Dunkin' Donuts that somehow became our sheltering-from-the-rain place. (I'm not complaining, we loved our special Dunkin'.) Prepare yourself for a lot of skyscraper photos. LET'S GO.

Chicago, IL - 25.07.16 - 02.08.16:

USA AND CANADA 2016: PART III

Here I am with the third part of my USA and Canada photo series. In this post you'll see my favourite photos from Syracuse, NYC, Milwaukee and a few spots in New Jersey. I also went to Philly at the end of this section of my trip but if I'm honest, for some reason all of my photos from Philadelphia are really bad, so you won't be seeing any of my pictures from there. (I posted a few of them on Instagram if you're desperate to see, but you probably aren't.)

Syracuse, NY - 14.07.16 & 15.07.16:

USA & CANADA 2016: PART II.

Today's post will feature a few pictures from when we visited a small, unknown waterfall called Niagara Falls, and a whole load of photos from My New Favourite Place, Toronto. O CANADA! For just under a week this summer I was in Canada and I had such an amazing time there. I don't know if it was their funky money, the polite people or the snazzy apartment we stayed in, but it stole my heart. Let me tell you RIGHT NOW that I love skylines, and I took a ridiculous amount of photos of the view from our Toronto apartment balcony and I'm including a lot of them right at the end of this post. I hope you like them, even though they're all quite literally of exactly the same thing.

Niagara, ON - 09.07.16 & 10.07.16:

USA & CANADA 2016: PART I.

Around two years ago I decided that in the summer I turned twenty-one I would go on a trip to America. I'm happy to say that I followed through on this promise to myself, and it was better than I could have ever imagined. Between the 3rd of July and the 16th of August this year I spent time all over the east coast of the US, and then also a little bit of the midwest and Canada. For the most part I stayed with friends; friends I'd made at uni, in high school, on the Internet and through bands - it was really cool. I had never planned such a big (and fairly ambitious) trip alone, so it was definitely a big thing for me, but I really did have the best time. Instead of rambling away at you with ridiculously long descriptions of the places I visited and the things that I saw, I'm going to show you some of my favourite photos from the trip.

FOR FRESHERS: STUFF TO BRING TO UNI.

I'm a few weeks away from starting my fourth year as a university student. I went off to uni fresh-faced, just-turned-eighteen, and fairly clueless. I am now twenty-one, and like, really wise. As a seasoned student I figured I'd give you freshers a list of things to buy for uni. I know it can get pretty overwhelming moving away from home for the first time and having to think about all of the things you might possibly need to do/bring/sort, so in order to try and help out, I've created a list of stuff you might need to bring with you/buy. A lot of it is fairly common sense, but some of the things you may not have thought of yourself, so let's HIT IT.

STUDY ABROAD TIPS AND RESOURCES.

I realise this is possibly a little bit late, as most people have either already started their time abroad or are just about to, but maybe you'll be able to get at least something from it. I recently returned from a year studying at Université Paris-Sorbonne IV, and I have some tips and resources that will hopefully make your time abroad a little bit easier, less stressful, and less expensive.

LOOKING BACK AT MY STUDY ABROAD BUCKET LIST.

Ah, Paris. The City of Love. During my ten months there I fell in love with the pastries, the crêpes, and temporarily (but on a thrice-daily basis, at minimum), the beautiful men on the Métro. I admit that falling deeply in this transient love with men using public transport is not specific to Paris for me, but I was definitely doing it with alarming frequency while I was there. I've left France now (currently in Geneva, almost back in London) and I have decided to go back to my initial "Year Abroad Bucket List" post and talk you through what I did and didn't do, and give some little anecdotes about the points. My original goal was to tick off at least 25 out of the 35 goals, so hopefully I succeeded. Allons-y!

GUYS, YOU CAN STOP CRYING NOW. I'M BACK.

Yikes. It's been a while, hasn't it? I've done a lot of stuff since I last wrote on here, and I think it's time I get you up to speed. In April I went back to the UK for about a week and saw a bunch of pals and attended a few gigs (5SOS and Troye Sivan, if you're interested), in May I had exams and deadlines and visitors and some more gigs (more 5SOS, plus Panic! at the Disco), and then in June I left Paris. Yep, my year abroad is officially over! My next post is going to be about my study abroad experience, but let me update you on what I did after that.

"2 TBSP." BROWNIE IN A MUG.

I call this the "2 tbsp." brownie because you put 2 tablespoons of all the main ingredients in, and also I always use 2 different tablespoons while making it. Wildly imaginative name, I know. What I don't know is why I haven't made this post before, because I make these bad boyz really often (more often than I should, probably) and have all but perfected the recipe. Thus, I present to you my mug brownie recipe. Don't worry, it's fudgy and definitely not cakey.

MONTHLY FAVOURITES: MARCH 2016.

Hello. These posts probably aren't interesting for you but they at least force me to write something, which then occasionally inspires me to write more actual interesting content afterwards. Here we go.

MONTHLY FAVOURITES: FEBRUARY 2016.

I have officially done twelve monthly favourites posts! I HAVE SUCCEEDED IN DOING AT LEAST ONE POST A MONTH FOR A YEAR! I'm not going to pretend I'm going to stick to a super strict, regular uploading schedule from now on but at least I've managed this. Small victories. Without further delay, here are some things I've been vibin' in February. P.S.: I'm writing this on the 29th February and I just wanted to let you all know that, because this date is CRAZY.

DEATH OF A BACHELOR REVIEW.

Hello I'm Georgia and I have had this post in the making since January. Better late than never though, eh? (I feel like I say that far too often to actually believe it when I say it.) Panic! at the Disco released Death of a Bachelor on the fifteenth of January and here I am offering my unsolicited opinions on it. I'm a big Panic! fan so I was super excited and intrigued to see how the album would sound with Mr. Urie being the only original Panic! member left, and the sole commander for the first time.

MONTHLY FAVOURITES: JANUARY 2016.

Hello! I thought I'd drop by and give you an update about what I loved last month.

YOU WERE DANCING TO YOUR FAVOURITE SONG.

Summary: a much longer post than really necessary about seeing The Maine in concert and getting to meet (4/5 of) them after the show. Also, hi, welcome to my first post of 2016.

A few weeks ago I got an email from Eurostar saying there was a sale on for travel up until the end of January. Within ten minutes I’d used my Christmas money to book a train and had planned a weekend trip to England at the end of the month. I’d been pretty sad about the fact that I couldn’t go and see The Maine while they were touring the UK but with this trip booked it meant I could finally go and see them live. I was PUMPED.