I'M BACK

So lately...

✱ EMPLOYMENT! I’m working in a photography studio designing wedding albums and it’s awesome - weddings are fascinating. I feel a real sense of duty working on something so significant. It’s really rewarding when the couple come to collect it and are delighted with the album. So thankful for a job doing something I actually like!

✱ I GRADUATED! First Class Honours. Three years at University of Ulster was worth it all in the end. I would do it alllll again, I loved it so much. Graduation day was probably one of my favourite days of my life. Thank you to my brilliant lecturers, tutors and wonderful classmates, I'll miss everyone so much.

✱ NEW YORK! In July our family went to America, and it was incredible! New York is just like how it looked in the movies. We saw all the sights then went on a Caribbean cruise too! It was UNREAL, I really want to go on another cruise. Food...good. Sun...good. Best holiday ever.

✱ WEDDING! Not me, ha, but one of my high school friends got married in August. She’s the same age as me! We are all getting so old. It was a brilliant day catching up with old friends. Congratulations to Noelle and David! 

✱ CONTAINER! All my friends came home from their studies abroad so we had a big reunion party, in the almighty container of course. I didn’t realise how much I missed their faces until we were all together again.

✱ QUEENS! I started a Masters in Msc Educational Multimedia at Queens University, Belfast. I’m only a few weeks in but I’m loving it already. The whole education theory is new to me (since I previously studied Media) but it’s interesting and definitely a worthwhile course. Our practical workshops focus on interactivity in design (like making apps and websites) so as you can imagine I’m super psyched for that already!

WOOP WOOP LIFE IS AWESOME.

In other news...

✱ NETFLIX! I watch far too much T.V normally but now that I’m subscribed and paying for it I feel obliged to watch even more. I heard others say about how Netflix was addictive but I didn’t believe them. I was wrong.

✱ IPAD! I never buy myself anything expensive but Amazon had a sale on and how could I resist...sadly it increases the Netflix watching experience.

✱ CRAPPY TV! Gossip Girl. Kardashians. Made in Chelsea. Anything on E! Devastated by the death of Joan Rivers - no more Fashion Police. :(

✱ DIET! Lol I know I’m always dieting, but my cousin’s wedding is next week and I don’t want to feel like a whale beside my relatives.

✱ AUTUMN! It’s getting colder and colder and I’M EXCITED FOR WINTER.

✱ CAPTAIN AMERICCAAA! My enthusiasm for The Winter Soldier intensified after I watched it TWICE on the plane going to America. Then it escalated again when I showed it to Emboot...whoops. *cough* Sebastian Stan *cough*

✱ HIMYM FINALE! No. No. NO. 

✱ GROBAN! Josh is dating KAT DENNINGS!! Two of my favourite celebrities are dating EACH OTHER. I cannot cope.

✱ BOOKS! I’m terrible and don’t read, so I made it my new month’s resolution in August to read more books! And since I have eBooks on my iPad I don’t have an excuse. I’m still on my first one though I’m a really slow reader. (Cure for the Common Life, Max Lucado - it’s great).

yoooooooo I’m sorry if you read all that crap but another resolution is to try and blog at least once a month...stay tuned kidos.

- Claudia XOXO (Gossip Girl)

JUNE

I had this post written but I forgot to post it. T_T

End of Year Show

So to explain the Harry Styles doll in my room...

I had to display my final University dissertation coursework as an installation piece in a gallery. This took place as a show called FIN. Family and friends were all invited for the opening night, which exhibited various work of all final year Media, Film and Journalism students. My dissertation was about Fan Culture (“The Transformation of Young People’s Identity through Popular Culture and Social Media” - to be exact) so I created an installation piece about how popular media texts can influence how a teenage girl can present themselves in offline spaces (their bedroom walls) and online spaces (their tumblr blog). I focused particularly on two popular fandoms of the present day - the Directioners and Wholock fans, and my goal was to compare and contrast how these fans behave through a case study and analyse the media's representation of the two groups. Basically my installation piece was the bedroom spaces of these two fans and the two computers represented their online presence, which demonstrated their behaviours (my findings) to others through visual arts practice.

I created two flash based mock-ups of Tumblr profiles for guests of FIN to interact with, shown above. There’s so, so much more I could talk about regarding the project, but that’s the basic outline so you have a general idea. I had a blast collecting objects to decorate my installation with, and it turned out sooo much better than I was expected. A lot of people complimented it, so I’m really happy! It was a great evening and worth every second of the hard work!

Comic-Con Belfast

Wayhey MCM Comic Con FINALLY made a stop in Belfast this year. And it was awesome. There was so much merchandise, but I’m afraid to say I bought very little - a Loki helmet shaped ring and a Thor keyring. I didn’t cosplay but I got quite a few photographs with others. All the cosplayers there were really nice, even when we felt so silly asking to get a photo taken with them! I spent the large majority of the afternoon hunting down a Doctor cosplayer who wasn’t 12 years old. (I found one, he was cute and from Australia!)  It was a super fun day out with Emma and Jared. Roll on next year!!

Dublin

To celebrate our results, Emma, Rebecca, Paige and I headed down to Dublin on the train for a spot of retail therapy and sight-seeing! Well, mainly shopping. Dublin seems so cultured and it was marvellous going somewhere new that we weren’t familiar with. Emma’s friend Rosa took us to a delish pizza place and secret cocktail bar - both places we would never have found on our own. It was actually class. We had so much fun!

LIFE UPDATE: SEPT/OCT

Hey - I’m writing this post in Starbucks in Belfast. To be honest I feel a bit of a prat sitting in by the window with my Macbook on my knee, sipping my Caramel Creme Blend. (Yum!)

Quick life update. I fear now that I’m in final year I won’t have any time to blog due to coursework/dissertation so I’m making most of this opportunity. I apologise in advance if I don’t post anything.

Final Year

Dun dun dun! My university course is coming to an end. I can’t believe I’ve just started my third and final year - honestly, I would want to do it all again. I really don’t want to leave! No plans as yet as to what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. Right now, I’m just taking it a day at a time. Back into halls this year and loving it. It’s so handy living on campus and my flatmates are lovely. I think it’s going to be a great year. 

Obsessions

I have fallen back in love with Fall Out Boy. The new album ‘Save Rock and Roll’, is okay I guess, but they’ve changed a lot over hiatus and I prefer their older work. Infinity on High is my all-time favourite album and it constantly plays in my car.

Also have got hooked on watching Youtube videos - completely adore Crabstickz, Danisnotonfire and Amazing Phil. I’ve been watching them everyday, so funny! Reminds me of when I was 16 and constantly watched Shane Dawson and Charlieissocoollike. The good old days.

Fashion

Hoorah! It’s finally Autumn! The weather is getting colder which means jumpers, boots, coats, HATS! I don’t really like summer weather (too warm so I die) so I get really excited because it’s coming into my favourite time of year. Was walking through Debenhams last month and a brand caught my eye called ‘H! by Henry Holland’ I’ve heard of him before but since that day I’ve fallen in love with his clothes. I’ve got my eyes on this green coat, it really is beautiful - I’ve tried it on like 4 times now, haha. The t-shirts and jumpers are also very cute and reasonable, I’m bound to buy one soon! It’s hard to save money. ~_~

Life of Claudia

I’m very excited to announce that i’m ~hopefully~ going on holidays next year. Woo! Instead of having a 21st party, Mum said I can go anywhere in the world for a family holiday. My first choice was Japan/Korea but she wormed her way out of that...hmm.. so the second choice was NEW YORK!! Nothing planned or sorted yet but I’m very excited for next summer! :D

Enjoy your weekend everyone!!

- Claudia

SUMMER-ARY (JULY/AUGUST)

I’m actually dying of the cold right now and have been up for 3 hours feeling restless. I feel disgusting but since I’ve been a slob all summer, I might as well write a blog post.

Usually I would write posts late at night but to be honest I haven’t been staying up as late as I used to, I’ve also been busy during the day and kept putting it off. So here you go...a SUMMER-ARY of my holidays. 

Aaron and Diane’s Wedding

Highlight of my summer was of course, Diane’s wedding. Diane is like a family friend/sister to me since we were both young, and I was privileged to be asked to be her bridesmaid back in July. This past year and a half, you’d soon see the wedding was all I talked about - it was fun having days out for bridesmaid dress shopping and the like. The wedding itself was superb - it was wonderful to see so much planning come together so beautifully. 

The couple got married at our church, a lovely service complete with flowers which coordinated with our dresses and a pretty little bicycle outside.

The weather was perfect, probably the warmest day of the summer. We went to the Silent Valley and took photographs there. Then we headed to the reception in a LIMO! (One of my favourite parts) And enjoyed a delicious meal after more photographs at Canal Court Hotel in Newry. After a video and slideshow, we danced the night away. I can’t seem to put into words how perfect the day was. Many congratulations to Aaron and Diane!

Fused

I took part in Fused Summer Scheme again in Newcastle this year. This is the 3rd year I’ve been a leader and I was involved working with P.4 - P.7 age group. It was different than previous years due to having no American team from Lexington, Kentucky, so it was originally meant to be made up of Northern Irish leaders. However God provided us with a team of 11 Americans from Washington and Oregon. It was really fun to work with different people, plus a bonus was that some were Doctor Who and Sherlock fans! As usual it was wonderful working with the children, some familiar faces, and also some new people too. A great way to spend two weeks of my summer.

Art

Remember last year I worked on a mural in my local village? Well this year I helped create a big fish at our Village Fete. Ashley and Susan created the structure beforehand and during the fete, we encouraged children to glue tissue paper and get a photograph of themselves taken to stick inside the fish. We only had a few hours to decorate this one, so it was rewarding to see the fish ascend down the steps and around the fete. It was so much fun, I love working on creative projects like this!

Friends

I’ve had a number of awesome days spent with some incredible people. Rebecca and Emma came to my house for a sleepover and tour of Mourne. A group of us also celebrated Hannah’s 21st birthday on Cranfield beach with a BBQ and singalong. I met with Seb, Dave and Becca in Belfast for a catch-up and Cosmo. I had a housemate meet-up and saw Uncle Gordon a few times too. I also caught up with James last week and had many, many Container Parties.

It’s been excellent, however I’m losing three of incredible people - Kerri, Rebecca and Emma! Kerri and Rebecca have headed to U.S A to study for the year and Emma is leaving for Spain in a few weeks! I shall miss you all dearly but good luck and have a wonderful time. :D

- Claudia x

LIAM DAY

Hello!

Another quick update on my celebrity watching! Last Monday (28th January) famous actor Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List 1993, Batman Begins 2005 and Taken 2008 to name a few) took a trip back to his home town of Ballymena, County Down - which so happens to an hour away from where we study at University! Not wanting to miss the opportunity to see someone so famous (and Hannah to meet the man of her dreams), Rebecca, Emma, Hannah and myself travelled early Monday morning to see if we could catch a glimpse of the movie star.

Although we arrived in Ballymena at the ridiculous hour of 8am, after a yummy McDonalds breakfast and a few hours of retail therapy, we were excited to see Liam at the Town Hall. It rained horribly for the majority of the day but that didn’t put off a crowd of over one hundred people gathering.

Our early start did not go to waste! The four of us found a place at the front of the barrier which gave us a perfect view of everything that was happening. However it also appeared to be an opportunity for the local news too! We got interviewed four different times and posed for endless photos. Although it felt really awkward at first, it was a good laugh.

The weather magically cleared up and just after lunchtime Liam appeared! The camera men went crazy trying to get photographs and we were also snapping away, praying he’d do a round of the barrier. Unfortunately we didn’t get to shake his hand, never-mind get a photo with him! However it was very exciting and I took some photos with my new camera.

When we arrived home, we made sure to catch all the news and by 7pm my Facebook newsfeed was filled with notifications that I was on television!! I’m very awkward on camera but thankfully, they cut the majority of the interview out. We appeared on UTV (below), BBC Newsline and RTE and also some photos appeared in a local newspaper and the BBC website. Here's the clip from UTV - I am on at 0:28 seconds! 

All in all, it was a excellent day and a great way to start Semester 2! Many thanks to Rebecca, Emma and Hannah for making it so much fun!

Lots of Love for Liam,

Claudia

HIDDEN AWAY

Hello,

Just a quick update to show I am still alive. I would apologise that I have got out of my habit of my weekly update but my hands are quite full with stuff at the minute, so really it couldn’t be helped. 

University

So yes, I have returned to the North and am currently habituating in a beautiful rented house in Portstewart with five other girls. I really like it, though I don’t know if I love it yet to be honest. Like second year is rather average compared to first year - where everything is new and exciting. Last year was all about making new friends, this year I think it’s more about maintaining the friendships that matter. This is an odd adjustment to get used to, it’s more settled and in some ways, less exciting.

Although I’m definitely enjoying myself, I’ve had many hilarious moments and terrific memories so far, and quite a few pictures to prove it too.

The work load for my course is quite noticeably heavier than last year and it takes a lot of effort to stay on top of it. Lots of reading, writing and practical work. I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep track of it which could bring my mark down. I’m trying my best though, I don’t want to to start getting stressed out. Like I’m only here for another year (my course is a 3 year course) then I’ll be graduating, it’s really flying in, so I want to enjoy every minute!

Life

My life seems to be revolving around two things at the minute: university and my own life. That may sound incredibly selfish, but I’m trying to get my life into order. I’ve been spending a lot of time by myself praying and pondering, because I feel there’s so much I want to do, but I don’t know where to begin.

After working and socialising, I just want to sleep. It sucks. Any other spare time I have, I put into over-analysing everything and it’s actually cracking me up because my brain doesn’t have enough power left to THINK that much. It’s preventing me from enjoying the moment and loving life. Aragh! It’s so hard to explain. When I make more sense I shall return to this confusing topic.


Things That Aren’t Nice:
I shall start with the bad list then we can end the post positively. 

• Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s make-up in Looper - NOO he doesn’t LOOK right, why mess up his beautiful face? 
• Confliction - Although we have great times together, a six person house can be... let’s say...tense. Especially with girls . Sometimes I feel a negative aura, where people are just in a mood for a good complain and I hate it! It brings me down. Also unnecessary shouting and noise in general within the house is unpleasant.
• Posters falling - My Portstewart bedroom is exposed to various temperatures throughout the day - from ice-cold in the early afternoon to moderate heat from 7:30pm-8:30pm. This has a horrible effect on the blue-tac which holds my posters in my room up. At least one poster a day has fallen off my wall since term started. The slight dent in the Inception one breaks my heart.

Things I Like:

When I’m not being crazy, sad or self-reflective, I do like some things. Recently I like:

• Josh Groban - I started listening to Josh Groban’s albums on Spotify and now I am totally hooked! Yes, I have a free month subscription to Spotify and now have realised I cannot live without it.
• Tumblr - Eugh why is this website so addictive. I have 17 posts of Joseph Gordon-Levitt queued from now to Sunday - that’s not normal behaviour, Claudia.
• Weather - it's now my favourite time of year again! It's dark and cold, it makes me happy, despite the lack of heating in the house. Hat season has begun!
• New Friends - I’ve built relationships with people that I’ve realised I no longer can live without. I look at them and think, wow, you are SO amazing - I actually love you! (In a friendly way of course, haha)

Yay I feel better after blogging!

Night night,
Claudia

TIMING

Right, it’s time for another catch-up post. 

Fused:

Team Adventurers!

I was reading old posts of mine and saw how I was unsure if I was going to do Fused, the Summer Bible Club which runs for two weeks at the end of July in Newcastle. Now, I am SO GLAD I did! It was absolutely marvelous! I met lots of cool people on the team and felt I fitted in so much better than last year. I even used my talents to help Jo to make t-shirts for our team, the Adventurers. (left) They look so class, is it weird I feel proud? Also the fortnight helped my walk with God; which I was worried about before I left because I felt I wouldn’t be able to teach others if I was neglecting my own faith.
The kids were little sweethearts, we helped with the Primary 4-7s, so they were old enough to listen and behave but still were young and easy to talk to. The girls loved my jewelry and wanted to try on my rings - it was so cute. I had my own Small Group this year - a group of round 7 or 8 girls. This really boosted my confidence because I usually turn into a big, nervous mess when I have to lead anything. By the end of the two weeks, three of the girls gave their life to Christ, two of them which I prayed with. I was so emotional when I came home I sobbed - it’s such an extraordinary thing to witness and share in someone’s life. Other kids made professions too, please keep these kids in your prayers.

With some of my Small Group

If that wasn’t enough for my brain to handle - I SPOKE at the front during the two Josh’s talk...VOLUNTARILY. If you know me at all, there’s no flipping way I would want to speak in front of a crowd unless I had to - but I just felt the timing was right, or else I was losing my mind.
Jeremy, Jo and myself were asked to speak about how God transformed our lives.
Even as I was standing up, I was still unsure what I was going to say, and as I look back on it, I hardly remember what I DID say - basically I spoke about settling into university - having to make new friends and rely on God when alone. I couldn’t have possibly constructed all those sentences in my head logically and articulate them clearly without the power of the Holy Spirit. God is so good. 

So glad I filled in that form back in May time - or else I wouldn’t have be involved in two of the most wonderful weeks of my summer! Time well spent!

The Dark Knight Rises:
Haha I’m very late with this one! I am a massive fan of great GREAT films - like blockbuster films - I guess most people are but it seems to be that most of my favourite films are legendary ones (the other genres would include Classics, Disney or Asian cinema) So naturally The Dark Knight trilogy is included in this legendary list. (Other films include Inception, The Social Network, Slumdog Millionaire and Harry Potter.)
I was very, very excited about this one from geeking out so much in 2008 after seeing the second of the series. It was later I also realised that Batman Begins was the first of the trilogy - not sure how I didn’t realise that before, whoops! 

It was outstanding as expected - it was like a big yummy sandwich with all my favourite actors - Christian Bale (with his amazing sexy mouth) Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Michael Caine. Then to top it all off with a small cameo of the wonderful Cillian Murphy as Dr. Crane. (I actually love that man - he’s very charismatic and so striking, could watch him for hours.) So yeah, amazing. I hope to see it again before I go back to university - so if anybody wants to go... hit me up.


The Amazing Andrew Garfield:
Let’s put it this way - it was a mistake seeing The Dark Knight Rises before The Amazing Spiderman. I was very excited because I am a long time Andrew Garfield fan and have waited two years after hearing he was cast as the lead. I really did enjoy this though, it was better than I was expecting... but maybe I’m just being biased. No seriously, it’s worth a watch.

Granny Gordon:
Unfortunately I have even more bad news since my last update. My Great Granny, Ethel (also known as The Granulator!) passed away at the grand age of 93 on the 11th August 2012. The pain was pretty raw since Granny Green’s death so it was horrible that we had to go through it all again. She had fell and broke her hip a few days before, but wasn’t well enough for an operation so she was in hospital. She also suffered from dementia and other health issues, so it appeared she was getting worse each day.
Thankfully I took up the opportunity of visiting her in hospital the day before she died. Even though her condition was deteriorating, I wanted to see her, I was kinda scared though. Astonishing to us all, she was her usual witty, humourous and slightly forgetful self! It was a joy to see her like that, and being able to remember her that way is something I’m incredibly thankful for. She will be sorely missed. 

Family:
Despite losing two members of my family this summer, I feel like I’ve built many new relationships with other family members. Here the impact of death has brought the Green family/McCullough family closer. To be honest, before I wouldn’t really have called my relatives family - because I never saw them and they knew very little about me, same vice-versa. Poor Granny Green would have done anything for the four of us to socialise with the others, but it was only through her death did that become possible. Same with the McCullough family - it was through Granny Gordon’s death brought us altogether as one. Hopefully these relationships will last. It was God’s perfect timing that Charles (my cousin), his wife Kate and 1 year old Stanley arrived from England and were able to see Granny Gordon for the last time, the weekend before she died. It was also my first time meeting Stanley, this was exciting because we haven’t had a baby in the family since Jared was born. My other cousins Gregor and Gareth and their ladies, Sharon and Kirsty also arrived down that weekend too so it was a big get-together for all of us. Above is a photo of us all that weekend, hoorah.

Titanic:

I visited the Titanic Belfast last week with my Parents and Jared. This is a new building opened this year to mark the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the world’s biggest ship. This is situated in the Titanic Quarter, beside where the Titanic’s was built. The building has 6 floors of galleries containing a variety of interactive media including CGI, film, audio, artifacts and replicas. This was interesting for me. Each gallery was well designed and used varied ways to display the historical details of the ship’s construction, launch, maiden voyage and tragic end.
It certainly was a visitor experience - the whole place was packed too. It was a great day out, but wouldn’t be something you’d return to for a few years at least. I think if you’re really interested in history it’ll be very enjoyable to read everything (like my dad), otherwise it’s a great day out - recommended!

Yay,

- Claudia

SUNNY APRIL

Helloooo,

I can’t believe I only have TWO weeks at uni left! Where has the year gone? It makes me sad - wish it could go on until June like school - I find summer long, tiresome and boring. Hopefully I’ll get a job sorted or else it’s going to be as unproductive as last year’s. Yes it’s lovely to have a break - but I like having a focus on something too, and I desperately need money.

Titanic Sounds

This month marks the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic - as you all should know, the Titanic was built in Belfast and the anniversary being marked as an opportunity to celebrate. I think the reason as to why it is being celebrated was because it was a magnificent and beautiful ship that Belfast men built, not the thousands of lives which were lost in it’s sinking. 

Belfast and MTV organised a small concert for the opening of the Titanic Quarter. This was called MTV Titanic Sounds and was held on the 13th April. Pixie Lott, Rizzle Kicks, Katy B, Sean Paul and Olly Murs performed. 

It was a great night and the atmosphere was fantastic. MTV were there recording the show because it is going to be featured on MTV World Stage later in the year.

Coleraine Holiday

I was back at university last week, but I didn’t mind because I had guests! From Wednesday - Friday, Emma, Kerri, Elizabeth and Amy stayed over - it was lovely to see them since we didn’t see each other much over Easter due to work, study and other commitments. 

When they arrived around 2pm, I gave them a tour of the campus and we went for a walk to the Daffodil Gardens. (I honestly didn’t know the place existed?!) They called the campus numerous names, including a train station, hospital and mental institute - but they admitted they liked the place. (Queens students...*rolls eyes*)

Elizabeth made the best spag bol ever and then we went to C.U.

After my seminar on Thursday, we took the taxi to the Strand in Portstewart. The weather was beautiful and we took some photographs. 

We walked to Morelli’s and got ice cream - yummy! 

That evening we went to the Jet Center and had a go at bowling - I didn’t do as well as I hoped. We had a wee meal after that but we were stuffed. However everywhere we went, even on campus, was incredibly empty - where was everyone?

It was like a holiday for me too despite being back at work - I hoped they enjoyed it as much as I did - Thank you for visiting! I’m glad you came do do do doo doo do do... ♫

DON'T STOP THE RAIN!

Updates with pictures:

TokyoFashion.com

Most of my evenings have been spent on a website called Tokyo Fashion. This site updates regularly with photographs of the most original and bizarre fashion clothing shown in different areas of Japan. I’m fascinated with the street photos of Harajuku especially. I would spend hours analysing these outfits. It’s incredible that some people are able to devote themselves to customising themselves in such a way. Few are gorgeous, some are pretty rotten. It is inspiring though.

Papa Rain

Oh RAIN. The other night I downloaded (legally of course) all of his CDs: Rain’s World, Rainism, Back to the Basic...etc. Oh I do adore!! What a perfect man! His music is so gorgeous, especially Move On, Love Song and With U. I am truly in love!

Just remembered, so was Megan Fox. LOL. We have so much in common.

Why does he bother wearing clothes...I mean shirts.

Free Time
I still cannot get my head around all the free time I now have since my exams finished last Monday. It hasn’t properly kicked in that I actually will have nothing to do for four months and that I have finished high school education forever. It’s strange, I have so much on my To-Do list but it hasn’t been started yet. I thought I’d dive straight into it, I’m afraid I will become lazy and not do anything at all. On another note, I booked my accommodation for next year, and according to my loan, I will only be living on £2.50 a week. Dreadful!! I suppose I should be getting a job?

Weight

I’ve set myself an ultimate goal of losing 1 stone, 7lbs. I also worked out to obtain this goal by September I need to lose 1.5lbs in Slimming World per week. That’s not going to happen, but I shall try and shall report on my progress. (Because, you know, it’s such an interesting thing to blog about.)

Tumblr

Shhh, I know I’m not allowed to mention Tumblr, but I’m going to anyway. I do have a Tumblr page, linked here. It’s been incredibly addictive ever since I’ve finished studying. Please follow me if you use it too, and I will certainly follow you all back.

Park Bom: (yes I love celebrities)

Oh beautiful lady! Yes, I do believe my female K-Pop bias at the moment is Park Bom from 2NE1. Move over CL, you will have to share your place with this gorgeous girl! Seriously, don’t understand why I didn’t like Bom before: honestly I thought she was very boring compared to the other three. HOWEVER ever since I’ve seen her new music video ‘Don’t Cry’ I’ve fallen for her.

Y’know a while ago I posted about that romantic ‘sweet sharing’ scene in IRIS which I got mixed responses from? I had a similar emotional breakdown when I watched this M.V!! I don’t know what did it, perhaps the cool guy in it, I don’t know... (unable to explain what on earth I am talking about) Anyway, I think the point is, he dies..even though they were engaged..and their hug *cries* I love them. Shut up Claudia, go to bed.

What am I saying? I never need to sleep again.

Or remove nail polish for school on Monday mornings. Woohoo!

CASAMANIA

Hello fellow friends and followers of Claudblog,

It seems like a lifetime since my last post, it’s cliche but I’ve been so busy, and this week has gone super slow.

Another boring thing to add is, my portfolio is ALMOST COMPLETE!!! I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. Don’t get me wrong, I loved making it all, it’s totally my thing, but now I just can’t wait until it’s all done and out of the way.

My birthday/birthday party’s next week so I’m looking forward to that too. I don’t know if I wrote about this before but Mum granted me permission to have a proper 18th, with friends and family down.

Our house is too small so I’m having it at my Granny and Granda’s, who lives directly in front of our house. So I’m going into super-party-planning mode, a mode I have not been in since my 16th. I’m currently researching party games. Decorations were bought today and music was sorted last night. (BTW, guests, if you would like any songs in particular in the ‘Party Playlist,’ please let me know.)

I’m playing a Find the Badge game, self explanatory really, so I ordered all 20 badges on ebay. The first batch arrived yesterday, and they looked so cool! People chose really good images: they were meant to pick something that would relate to them. So yeah, portfolio work and party time, I love this!

If I wasn’t going into graphic design, I so would be a party/wedding planner. I totally could own that job.

BUT look!

4th February- James’ Birthday Party

5th February- My Birthday Party

6th February- 18th Birthday, woo

7th February- MOCK ENGLISH EXAM

8th February- INTERVIEW!!!

See that! See! How horrible of silly school to give me that in between the two most important days of my life! And no, I’m not being overdramatic!

And alas, I found out something else! About the precious bum chair.

It’s only £228.00!

A little bit out of my price range! However I found out it was called a Casamania.

Yay,

- Claudia

PAINT PAINT

Quick post.

Heya, I’ve been busy lately, and ironically to my last post, Blogging hasn’t even crossed my mind.

I’ve got an AS English resit a week and a day away, and I haven’t even started revision on it. I’m so engrossed in art, which isn’t a bad thing, but because it’s taking away from precious revision time it’s more of a burden lately.

Thankfully we are off on Study Leave until Thursday, so I hope I’ll get some crammed in this week. Also on Thursday is the Belfast UU Art Open Day, so our art class is going to it. Should be good craic as well as interesting and useful, because art is good fun recently. The other day Gareth sketched me, due to the challenge request of Mary-Jane to draw me in 15 mins. It turned out really well. It scared me though when he was sketching because he kept looking directly at me and made me feel uncomfortable. I meant to have the photo up here (much to his dismay) but I think it’s in the house. I’m in the container taking a break from painting.

I actually think I’ve got better at painting. In the past 24 hours I’ve done 2 A3 paintings: one of Jaejoong and one of Jared. I’m painting one of Jared at the moment. It’s my new craze, I’ll just keep going until I simply can’t do anymore then pick the best for the portfolio. Yeah, no wonder English isn’t done. Boo. Give me ideas of who to paint next.

I’ll leave the best news to last. I’m having an 18th Birthday party! Like a proper one, with many friends and relatives. Mum granted permission for it today, thankfully I had a guest written already. ;) But she was being silly and saying how I don’t talk to a lot of these people- how does SHE know who I talk to during school?

So I’m very excited about this now: the party, interview and the *BIG* surprise which I still don’t know about yet is all ahead of me. And that’s just February.

I’ve decided what I want for my Birthday. A bum chair!!

Cheeky. And disturbing, eh?

I can't stop watching it.

Love u all.

KISS THE BABY SKY

Hey applebody,

I guess I did do a post before Christmas after all. The alphabet posts will likely continue in the new year.

Wow, it’s actually Christmas Eve, that’s just not sinking into my head today. I don’t think the day could go any slower either, not that I really mind. Christmas will come and go, and to be honest no-one seems ready or excited for it. I’m trying super hard to be excited, but I don’t know if it’s working.

I spent today working on my Countries book. People who see me round school may have seen me running about and working on this, it’s just a little side project for the portfolio. It’s really fun to focus on, but it’s just taking so much time. I’ve also started on another thing, a CD book. Dad drilled holes in the CDs which was interesting to watch, then I tied it with string and made it into a book. Now I’m just drawing my favourite bands and sticking them in.

I’ll show you SHINee’s page (page? cd, whatever) because it’s the most respectable and the best one. Also have done BIGBANG and Super Junior. Suju’s looks vile, kinda makes me want to cry: they don’t even look like themselves.

I might post a picture when the whole book is completely done.

Don't I look so happy? What a state.

I don’t know, I think these past days are just full of exciting surprises, it’s so nice, it’s making me smile like something silly. First, it was the wee meet up with friends and we randomly went to Newry (oh no, I’m blogging about stuff I do...I hate that), then I found out I got a interview: probably the happiest I’ve ever been, now I’m working on portfolio work about stuff I love which is heaven. Masa released a remix last night: unexpectedly, I had forgotten he was making one. He probably doesn’t mean anything to anyone who doesn’t llisten to Kpop, but I adore him, and his new song was unreal. Then James wrote a blog, which was so nice. And now it’s Christmas. Ah!

I guess I’m much happier than I thought!

UPDATES

HELLO

I haven't blogged for a while. I've actually forgotten about it because I've been so so busy.

Updates...

TUESDAY: I went to Slimming World, which I had wrote about in my last entry. My diet is going really well. Oh! I also watched GLEE for the first time. I'm still not a fan yet. I don't see what's all the fuss about.

WEDNESDAY: I borrowed a Vibroplate from one of my Mum's friends. All you do is stand on it and it basically shakes your fat about. It helps you to lose weight the lazy way.

THURSDAY: I got my R.E results. I done really badly and was quite annoyed. Only got 50% in my exam. Aw well. It's only mocks. Jared didn't do so great either. Mum wasn't impressed.

FRIDAY: I went on an English trip after school to Belfast til late. Jordan, Kerri, Emma, Laura, Mary Jane and I went to Blue Pizza Co for our tea. (diet ruined) Then we went to the Lyric Theatre (which is across from Queen's University) and saw the worst play in the world. It was called The Caretaker by Harold Pinter. Lethal.

SATURDAY: I cleaned all day. ALL DAY. My container has never looked so good. I woke up at 10am and cleaned constantly til 6pm. I was exhausted. That night I went to Rachel's 17th Birthday party and we just caught up on the craic and watched "Legally Blonde." Seen it about a dozen times, but still really funny.

TODAY: Church as usual. Then after Sunday Dins I went out driving round the yard in Mar's car. It was awful. I HATE DRIVING.

Blast this entry. Time for a new one.