Daisy Love

When I see a cluster of daisies adorning the grass around our driveway, I know that summer is on its way.

There is something so beautiful and so familiar in these humble little plants. They evoke so many happy memories of summer: weaving daisy-chains outside the high school in-between games of rounders, picnics in the park with friends as we wait for our buses after work, soaking up the sun in the breezy lush grass of our fields, lazy family strolls along the shore road with our dogs - the list goes on.

And there is further beauty to be found among the speckled spots of yellow and white. Though they are shadowed beneath the bold and bountiful summer produce blooming in our gardens at this time of year and though they are ruthlessly trampled underfoot like the dirt in which they grow, these little "weeds", as we call them, continue to blossom and thrive - embellishing everything with cheerful yellow spots on a soft white blanket.  Daisies do not care where they are planted and they do not care what bigger and better things they are planted with, they simply grow and grow and make everything they touch that little more beautiful.

I think I'd like to be a little more like a daisy.

Short & Sweet

So, not only have I given my wee blog a bit of an image change but I have given myself one too!

After a few years of having long/medium hair, I decided that I would go for something a bit different and get it much much shorter. There were several reasons: my hair was getting too long and thick to effectively manage and style, my ends were splitting due to the constant brushing as my hair would often tangle, it's been very warm recently and my hair was just too too warm and finally, I just felt like a change. 

There are going to be many changes happening in my life in the coming weeks as I head off to university, live on my own for the first time, meet new people, go to new places, learn new things etc. and so I thought, why not change my hair too?

Isn't it funny what a new haircut can do for your confidence and perspective? The cliche, "It's like a new me" is one that I am unashamedly embracing at the moment.

Change isn't so bad I guess - especially when it means you can save on a bucket load of shampoo.

When In Rome

Hello everyone.

Sorry for not blogging in such a long time, I really have no excuse... But I'm back with my post about my trip to Rome! Whilst there I took lots and lots of photos so trying to narrow down the amount I'm uploading has been very difficult.

So the journey began on Saturday evening when me and my dad drove the 4+ hour journey all the way down to Manchester where we were getting the flight. It may sound a long time however because we used to live there, we're used to the journey - it's still tedious though. When we finally got there, we checked straight into the Premier Inn we were staying in (I love that place. It has purple everywhere.) to get some sleep as the next morning we were waking up at 4am - that time exists? - to go to the airport. Now if you read my last post (link) on what I packed for this trip, you'll know that I had squeezed everything into a rucksack - my dad did the same with his luggage - as we were only taking hand luggage this time, so you can imagine we looked quite turtle-esque as we waddled through the airport to our gate. Then at 5:30am we hopped on the plane and jetted off to Rome. I love flying in the morning because you get such an amazing view of the sunrise. It's breathe-taking.

After we landed, we managed to find a taxi and set off for the Vatican which, in real-life, looks a little smaller than when you see it on TV. Don't get me wrong, it's still beautiful and impressive, but I found that with most places we visited-everything looked bigger on TV. It's strange. So after a quick photo in front of the Vatican, we set out to look for the tour bus my dad had arranged for us to go on so that we could have a look around Rome but without all of the traffic and people trying to sell you everything - there was a lot of both! Once we found and got on the open-top bus, we got a tour all around Rome! But just as we were coming to the end of the tour, it began to rain and I mean rain. It was coming in at the sides (we were on the open-top area which only had a flimsy roof) and within 20 minutes there was literally a pool forming at our feet which meant that everytime the bus stopped - and there were lots of stops - all of the water would come running forward like a mini tidal-wave and we'd have to lift our feet quickly or risk soggy socks. Luckily, we are a family with good humour and me and my dad found the whole thing hilarious. Not quite as hilarious as when we finally got off the bus for lunch near the hotel though and dad accidentally ordered a litre of beer - the glass was bigger than my face! - and I then proceeded to accidentally knock over some of the best orange juice I'd ever tasted all over my dad in front of the whole cafe and about 50 Popes in magnet-form which were on a stand beside us. We were in stitches. I think it was the lack of sleep finally taking it's toll which is why we then set off to find our hotel. It was a lovely hotel with an outdoor pool, gym and jacuzzi (which was always closed or busy when we went to use it). We then left our luggage in the room and headed out again to explore a bit more as the rain had died down. It was whilst exploring that we visited one of the most beautiful cathedrals I've ever seen. The detail in this place was just mind-blowing! After that, the rain began to fall heavy again so we decided to adjourn our exploring and head back to the hotel where we fell asleep at 5:30pm. We were knackered.

       

  Me by the Vatican.                                                          Dad with his huge beer and my orange juice prior to spillage. 

Gorgeous designs in the cathedral.

 Our swanky hotel.

Day 2 consisted mostly of me lazying around the hotel and watching films as dad was of course working during the day and it wasn't safe to explore Rome on my own. But by 4pm he had finished and so we decided we would set off to the Trevi Fountain on foot, but not before a quick stop at an ice-cream place - you've got to try Italian ice-cream whilst in Rome, right? It's basically law. I had mixed fruit and strawberry and dad had cherry. They were delicious.Then, with our sugar high, we continued on towards the fountain as dad navigated us through street after street with our little map. We even stopped to see Vittorio Emmanuel II Monument which was beautiful as was the Trevi Fountain when we finally reached it. We managed to get right next to it - so  close that I touched the water. We then threw our coins in and made a wish. After that we wandered around a little and saw an amazing street artist who worked with spray paint and yet another beautiful cathedral before heading to McDonald's for dinner. Yup, even in Italy we went to McDonald's but I mean, we live on an Island, you've got to grab your chance when you can.

Vittorio Emmanuel II Monument 

Me and dad in front of the Trevi Fountain.

By the third day, my dad was still busy working all day so he arranged for two of his colleagues' partners, Naomi and Corkie, to come and explore Rome a little with me. They were both American so had amazing accents (they found mine cool too) and they were really nice. We decided to go and visit the Museum of Borghese as I had told them I was interested in art. As it was quite far away, we chose to take the metro which was an interesting experience as we had absolutely no idea where we were going! We managed to find the right place though and were soon on our way however, when we left the metro and came into the light of day, we had no idea where we were. We were in some sort of side road with no signs or anything, luckily for us Naomi was good at reading maps though so we weren't lost for long. On the way to the Museum we had to walk through some sort of park area which was so peaceful and beautiful with a little fountain; It was a nice change from the busyness of the city. Something we weren't expecting to see walking to the museum though was an older lady brushing a stray cat after tempting it to her with food...it was an interesting sight to see. Unfortunately though, that was the only sight we were to see on that trip because after arriving at the museum, we were told that there were no tickets available for 2 days so we went and got some lunch and then headed back to the hotel.
I then chilled by the pool for the afternoon before dad finished work and we went out with Corkie and her husband, Bruce (my dad's colleague) to do some more sight-seeing (which including visiting the Coliseum and the Spanish steps!) before heading back to the hotel and packing for us leaving the next day.

The woman brushing a cat.

Me with Bruce and Corkie.

Then on Wednesday morning we began our looooooong journey home. And that was my trip to Rome in a nutshell. It was amazing to visit and every morning we woke up, I couldn't quite believe I was in Italy; it's somewhere I've always wanted to visit and i'm so grateful I got the chance to! Though Rome is in many places very beautiful, it is also quite dirty and full of graffiti like most cities which surprised me and my dad as we were picturing everything almost glistening white. Also, the traffic was horrendous. You didn't know when you took your foot off the curb if you'd make it to the other side of the road alive sometimes because nobody really likes using their brakes there. You just kind of had to run across and hope for the best. But other than those things, Rome is very beautiful with some amazing architecture and I'd definitely recommend it but especially to those of you who are interested in art and design because there is so much of both to inspire you in Rome! Something that really stood out to me whilst being there was the incredible amount of intricate detail and pattern that adorned everything from statues to bricks on walls. It almost makes me want to go and sculpt something.
 Going to Rome was an amazing experience and I'm so happy I had the opportunity to see so many of the sights whilst there. We even bought a Pope pen! You know, when in Rome...

Until next time (which will be soon, I promise),


Mollie♥

Happy-Sad

Hello everyone.

So I'm not too sure what to do with myself today. There have been lots of different emotions - both happy and sad - and it's only 11:11. (Make a wish!) Today is the day that Kirsty (my bestfriend) is leaving to move into her accommodation in time to begin university. So this morning I got up bright and early to meet her at the ferry terminal so that I could see her before she goes. I'm glad I did have a reason to get up so early because it was such a beautiful sunny morning with one of those really Autumn-y orange sunrises.

So after a lovely short walk down to the bus stop at 8:30 in the warm sunshine I was on my way to see Kirsty. During the bus journey there I told myself "Right, pull it together. Don't start crying and being all pathetic." and I was all ready. That was until Kirsty came to meet me at the terminal and within 2 seconds of her sitting next to me, we were both blubbering and hugging and laughing at how pathetic we were being and then hugging again. We must have looked like a couple of loonys. I then gave Kirsty some little presents: A friendship bracelet of which I made a matching one for myself and another one of our bestfriends (so mainstream, i know), a card with a Smurf, naturally, on the front as Kirsty loves a good smurf and a letter which I told her she wasn't allowed to open until she had got on the ferry.

The beautiful sunrise.

 After that, it was time for Kirsty to go back to her car with her parents and get on the ferry so after another hug and some more tears off she went. I stood in the carpark and we waved to each other until she got on the ferry and then again as the ferry left. *sigh* I'm so happy for her to be beginning such a big step in her life and I know that she will have a fabulous time! I'm also excited to visit her and see her accommodation in a week or so when her course starts.

I will miss her lots and lots though.

It's not all sad today though! Now I'm back home and packing the last bits a pieces into my suitcase in time for travelling to Rome tomorrow! Ahh. So excited. Though trying to squeeze everything into a bag that cannot exceed 10kg is a bit of a strain for someone who packs about that much just to stay one night at a friends...
I am planning to blog about what I'm packing either later today or tomorrow once I'm in Rome. Either way there will be a few bonus posts up this week! Until then my lovelies,


Mollie♥

My Week In A Nutshell

Hello my lovely ladies and gentlemen.

Sorry I’m late with this post but my internet’s been down since Thursday (when I usually upload) so I shall upload Thursday’s post today. Here it is…

***

I'm feeling a little drained today so I don't have a big exciting post lined up - though I hope to have some later in the week. So today shall be another lifestyle post about what I've got up to this week.

On Saturday my grandparents arrived from England for their holiday here on Arran. They'd began their journey at half four in the morning I believe, when they were driven to the train station. (Does that time even exist? It's so early!) This was so that they could arrive on Arran during the afternoon and it was a great time to arrive as it was a beautiful sunny day as it has been for a long time! I can't believe how fabulous the weather has been this year!

Sunday was the "weird day". That is quoting one of my bestfriends, Iona who I might add, began her day by trying to hitchhike the 8 1/2 miles home at 8:30 in the morning because she forgot the buses were different on a Sunday and needed to go home from a friend's before work. One of the many reasons we love her.

The reason it ended up being a "weird day" however, was mainly because of the evening. This is when me, Iona and Chummy (her real name is Kirsty but as we have two bestfriends called Kirsty so we call this one chummy to make life easier) met up after work as usual whilst we waited for our bus. During this time, Chummy wanted to look around one of the shops in the village - where she later purchased another one of at least ten trinket boxes for her room's storage - but me and Iona had ice-creams so we waited outside. After about 10 minutes we began to get a little bored and decided we'd run and hide for chummy to find us once she'd finished shopping. So off we toddled with our ice-creams like little kids to hide near the bank - convenient as I needed to get some money out. This was when I told Iona that I sometimes pay money to my parents for my living costs as I now work and earn enough to do so to which she replied, "What? You pay rent to live in your parents' house?" and I told her "No, I contribute to the house for how much I cost. I cost a lot you know.". We then finished our ice-creams and decided to pop into the co-op because chummy still hadn't made an appearance out of the shop.

Whilst in there, we went to the alcohol section for a while as Iona is now 18 and we felt that it was almost mandatory to do so. In this time chummy had still not turned up and just before we were about to go and rescue her from buying anymore trinket boxes we bumped into a lovely regular from our work who is notorious for hugging everyone who works there whenever she sees us. So after a cuddle we had a bit of a chat with her during which Iona, of course, became distracted and walked away only to return a few moments later with a chocolate cake to show me. After agreeing how nice it looked the ‘hugging lady’ said she was going to buy it for us and before we could say no she had put it through the till and handed it to us whilst we stood there motionless not sure how to cope with this sudden awkward but pleasant position we had just found ourselves in. Our way of coping seemed to be one of a hasty "thankyou" and exit as this is what we did. So out we walked back to pick up chummy and her new trinket box with our gift of a chocolate cake and a few funny looks from the people around us who must have thought that was our only intention of visiting the co - to get cake from nice, hug-giving old ladies.

Tuesday had a similar feel of weirdness as it was the first day in a long time that it properly rained. And I mean rained. I was working that day and within seconds of me arriving the lights in the cafe were flickering and the deep rumble of thunder was echoing. And then the rain started; the kind of rain that if you stood out in it for even a second you'd be drenched. It was so heavy and loud! The building I work in has a metal roof as well so it sounded quite scary. 

Not as scary however, as the sight of 18 damp lady golfers arriving for coffee to escape the rain all at the same time. I'll tell you now, trying to ask who's coffee it was in your hand with the rain hitting off the metal roof and 18 poshly dressed ladies shouting across to one another is not for the faint hearted. "Who's is the white coff- THE WHITE COFFEE!!"

Wednesday, I'm glad to say, was a much quieter day as it was my day off. It began with a much needed lie-in before my grandparents arrived to take me and my sisters out for the day. We had a stroll down to the village and had lunch at a cafe before getting some ice-cream from my mum's shop which is also in the village. (I had the lemon cheesecake ice-cream which was better than my words can express.) After that, we went to the apartment my grandparents are staying at to chill for a while before visiting the beach beside it.

Here me and my sisters worked together - for a change - to create a big heart of sand and some little masterpieces of our own.

My grandparents.

Today was my second and last day off until next week and so my initial plan was to just sit and do nothing. I had forgotten thought that I was meeting with an art gallery owner from the island to get some feedback and advice on my paintings from my Advanced Higher concerning how to go about selling them. It was very useful and he told me that my art, being abstract, may be quite difficult to sell which was a little disheartening but he then said that some of my biro work might be better suited to interior design. In other words having my floral designs on lamps and things. This was really exciting for me to hear as a goal of mine since about half-way through doing my art course was to one day make a business of my own where I sell cushions, aprons, curtains, mugs, you name it, with my art on them. This is why instead of selling my paintings on there own I am going to look into finding some way of getting my art onto the latter list of items beginning with cards. This I hope to do very soon and I will of course share these with you on a future post.

Another exciting thing that happened today (well, for a quiet day anyway) is that I have now ordered a decent camera for my film-making since I have saved up some money to do so! There are so many different budget cameras on the market these days which did not make mine and my dad's job easy as we searched through page after page of "the best budget cameras". I have found one I like though and cannot wait for it to arrive so I can try it out. I think I'll post a review on it as well once I've got a handle of it so that'll be coming up in the next few weeks as well as lots of videos hopefully! Yay!

That's pretty much everything of interest that happened this week. Not one to blow your socks off but still a good week. I have also decided this week that I will definitely be posting more than once a week so prepare to see me more than just every Thursday. *distant scream*.

So until my next post, I hope you have a lovely couple of days and make many happy memories, 

Mollie

♥

P.S. I almost forgot. Me and my mum have also spent today setting up and starting her new blog and I know she would love it if you would check it out HERE. Thanks <3

7 Things I Love About Summer

Hello everyone.

I hope you've had a lovely, sunny week! I also hope you had the chance to read my first post in the Mollie'sThoughts series (if you missed it then there is a link HERE) and enjoyed it. If you don't know what this series is, it is (going to be) a collection of posts where I talk about issues that I feel very strongly towards for example yesturday's was about being your own bestfriend. If you'd like to follow these posts, look for the titles containing "Mollie'sThoughts".

Now, back to this post. 7 Things I love about Summer. There are  of course lots more than just 7 things I love about summer but I don't want to keep you here all day so here are some of my favourite things about summer- in no particular order.

1. Summer clothing - namely dresses and playsuits.

(Clockwise: George at Asda, Primark, Ebay but maker is "Influence", George at Asda...cheap and cheerful. My kinda thing.)

I love that in the warm weather, dresses and playsuits become a practical item of clothing because I just love them! They keep you cooler whilst still looking stylish. I'm always on the look-out for new summer dresses and playsuits as I think they look cute and girly and can be dressed down for daytime and glammed-up for evenings. I am particularly fond of ones with prints on mine (if you can't already tell...).

2. Summer music

 I find that in the Summer months I tend to listen to music a lot more. I think it's because my taste in music is very swingy and summer-y anyway so the songs seem to fit the surroundings better in the summer. For me, there's nothing like listening to a bit of Eliza Doolittle whilst walking down the sun-streamed beach!

My personal favourite artists/songs include:
-Eliza Doolittle (all of her songs)
-Corinne Bailey Rae (all of her songs)
-Nicki Minaj: Starships
-Caro Emerald: Riviera Life
-A Fine Frenzy: What I Wouldn't Do
-Ariana Grande: The Way
- Taio Cruz: There She Goes
...to name but a few.

3. All the beautiful colours

I love seeing the grass look greener, the sky and sea looking bluer and the flowers looking brighter. It's a beautiful sight to behold and I can't resist taking a few snaps of the beautiful views and sights around Arran. Well, I say a few, but I often see something that catches my eye and end up taking about thirty photos of it - no exaggeration. Everything's just so gorgeous!

4. Waking up and going to bed with the sun still shining

I'm not one of these people who want to block out the light in the morning when I'm trying to have a lie-in or who curse the sun's brightness when trying to get to sleep. In fact, I'm quite the opposite! I love getting up early to watch the sun rise and I will happily have my curtains wide open whilst I'm trying to sleep. You see living in Scotland, we don't always get much sun so I always make sure to make the most of it. Also, there's nothing like waking up with the warmth of the suns rays tickling your nose.

5. Bright and pastel summer nail colours

Clockwise in top photo. MUA in Bold Blue, Coral colour from a Boots "Colour Unlimited" boxset, MUA in Ameretto Crush, Rimmel Lasting Finish in Pear Drop and OPI Nail Laquer from a special Spiderman edition boxset.

There's something about having coral, powder blue, mermaid green and peachy pink nails that just makes me so happy. I love Spring/Summer because the pastels and neons come out to play and though I'm a sucker for deep reds and auburns in the Autumn/Winter months, there's nothing like having a pop of colour on your pinkies. Unfortunately for me, we are not allowed to wear nail varnish where I work and so on my days off I make the most of it by throwing on some bold beauties.
My personal favourite look from the colours above is painting my ring finger nails in the Bold Blue by MUA and painting the rest of my nails in the coral colour from the Colour Unlimited set from Boots.

6. Beach days

There's nothing like kicking of your flip-flops and walking bare foot along the beach with the sand between your toes and the sea washing over your tired, warm feet. Or building sandcastles (you're never to old for a good sandcastle) and sand sculptures and burying your feet in the warm sand just to have your toes peep out whenever you wriggle them. Bliss. It's also great fun to swim in the sea in the summer because despite the often freezing temperatures of the water, it is often a refreshing and welcomed relief from the heat. But see if that seaweed comes anywhere near me...

7. Spending time with friends

Last, but definitely not least. I don't know about you but I always seem to be much more sociable during the summer months. I'm like a hedgehog who's come out of hibernation and is ready to mingle with my prickly friends though, I'm glad to say my friends are much smoother than your average hedgehog.
Wow. That got weird fast.
Anyway, my point is, there always seems to be so much more to do in summer and with the days getting longer there's all the more time to do these things. I'm privileged to have made some really great memories already this summer and I am treasuring every moment of them. My time with my friends is all the more important to me just now because pretty soon they'll be leaving the island and going off to do their own thing whether that be uni, college, a job etc. whilst I'm staying put - or at least that's the plan just now.
I've been blessed with some truly amazing friends and I cannot express how much I love and cherish them being in my life.

***

So that's everything I love about summer in a nutshell! Well, my main favorites anyway! I'd love to hear your top 7 favourite things about summer too! Feel free to leave a comment telling me yours.
Until next week, I hope you have a great couple of days and make many happy memories.

Mollie

♥