28 Hours In Cardiff (Seeing All Time Low)

Saturday 11th March

This past weekend me and my best friend travelled to Cardiff to see the band All Time Low. We had already seen them the night before but have always wanted to travel for a concert, and Cardiff was one of the only dates at the weekend so we thought why not.

We met at Victoria station at about 10.15 which was later than we had planned but there were several delays on the trains so we were lucky to make it on time at all!

However this did mean that we couldn't sit together on the coach but as it was almost a 4 hour journey anyway that didn't matter too much because we just listened to our music. 

We arrived in Cardiff at around 2pm and walked around for an hour or so because we couldn't check in to our Travelodge until 3pm. We had a little look at Bute Park and I took some photos of Cardiff Castle which is also in the park. 

 

The Travelodge we stayed in was about a 20 minute walk from the city centre and 5 minutes from Cardiff Bay. For anyone interested it was the Cardiff Atlantic Wharf one. We dropped off our stuff and then headed to the venue, Cardiff University student union. We originally planned to walk but we wanted to get there as early as possible to try and be near the front so we got the train. We had to first get on this one carriage train that only went one stop, and I just can't get over how little it was, you would never get anything like that in London!

We were a bit confused as to where the entrance was but through looking for food we managed to locate the queue! 

We got fish and chips to eat in the queue, which still wasn't that long. After queuing for 2 hours we entered the venue and the concert began! 

All Time Low were really good, although it was so hot in the venue and I was so squashed!

 

 

After the concert we headed back into the town and went to McDonalds and then walked back to the Travelodge. By the time we went to bed it was about 1.15am.

Sunday 12th March

Even though I hadn't had much sleep the night before I still woke up about 7.30am. We got ready and left our room ready to explore Cardiff. 

We headed down to the Bay to try and find somewhere to have breakfast and we ended up going to Greggs. 

After breakfast we walked along Cardiff Bay Barrage which was really pretty, but it's a shame that it was a cloudy day because I feel like we didn't see it at it's best. We also went on a boat from one side of the Bay to another, sort of like a river bus, which was only £2 for one way so definitely worth the money! 

 

 

 

We also had a wander around the city centre, seeing the Principality Stadium as well as the shopping centre and some of the Arcades. I wish I'd taken more pictures of the city centre to look back on. 

 

 

The afternoon was spent taking a walk through Bute Park which was absolutely massive. It was so lovely and green and I wish we could've spent longer there but we had to turn around as it wasn't long until our coach. I definitely want to return to Cardiff at some point and walk all the way around the park, as well as visiting the castle. 

 

 

 

Our coach home was at 6.15pm so we sadly had to make our way to the coach station after that but we had a brilliant time in Cardiff and I will definitely be coming back in the future! 

I feel like going to a concert in another city is a good excuse to make lots of little trips around the country and it also gives the visit some purpose too. 

Hopefully you enjoyed this post and maybe it's even made you want to visit Cardiff!

Thanks for reading!

Daniella x 

Reviewing ÷ by Ed Sheeran

It's finally here, the album everyone has been waiting for, '÷' by Ed Sheeran. 
Having listened to it all the time that I could over the past few days, I thought I'd do a blog post reviewing it and talking about my favourite songs so far. Enjoy!

 
Eraser
This is definitely one of my favourites, I love the rap part of it and how upbeat it is, whilst at the same time talking about the struggles of the industry and taking a more serious turn. Also the guitar riff is so catchy- an overall great song!

Castle On The Hill
This song was in the first couple of songs that Ed released from this new era of music, and I feel like everyone knows it by now but it never gets old!
I love the nostalgia in this song and the video, it makes me think about my life growing up in my town. The video makes me quite emotional! My favourite part of the song is where Ed is talking about what all the people he grew up with are doing now and the struggles that they face, I feel like a lot of people can relate.

Dive
A more chilled song but still really good! I feel like this is the most laid back song on the album, perfect for a relaxing evening or a roadtrip.

Shape Of You
Another song that everyone knows! It's so upbeat and catchy that I can't help but want to dance every time I hear it! 
Personally I prefer this to Castle On The Hill and my favourite lyric has to be 'Your love was handmade for somebody like me'. 

Perfect
The lyrics in this song are so lovely, I feel like a lot of people will use this as their wedding song. A classic Ed Sheeran song, and yet again he does it justice and it really shines through in the lyrics.

Galway Girl
Let's just talk about this song for a minute. It's so DAMN GOOD!
My personal favourite off of the album, I feel like I need to get up and dance whenever it plays! 
I love how Ed can make his music sound exactly like the music from the place his song is about whilst still having that Ed Sheeran stamp on it. This song sounds like Irish folk music and it fits so nicely with the lyrics and the rapping, I can't stop obsessing over it!

Happier
This is my favourite slow song off of the album, the lyrics and the music go so well together, and the build up to the chorus makes the song even better. 

New Man
My main question for this song is 'who is about?'. So many specific details in the lyrics that I can't help but have an image in my head of this situation! 

Hearts Don't Break Around Here
Another slow one, I feel like this is another classic Ed song and this really shines through in the lyrics.

What Do I Know?
For some reason I can really imagine a choir singing this song! The message Ed is giving off in the lyrics is so true and I feel like the world would be a much better place if it had a little more love in it.

How Would You Feel (Paean)
Another of my favourite slow songs, and also my favourite love song on the album. This is another song that I could see being played at a wedding and some of the lyrics even sound like they could be wedding vows. 

Supermarket Flowers
This song is really sad, and the chorus especially makes me emotional. Before I heard it I thought it was going to be a love song about when they were young and brought cheap flowers from the supermarket. How wrong was I. I was so unprepared for this song, and I know if I ever hear it live I'm going to be an absolute mess.

Barcelona
My second favourite song from the album, another really upbeat one. It makes me want to visit Barcelona so badly, and spend long evenings at the beach dancing!
I also love how Ed sings in Spanish during parts of it, it really adds to the feel of the song. Songs that reference cities are my favourite so that's another point for this song!

Bibia Be Ye Ye
After hearing this song I can't wait for summer! It kind of sounds like a song you'd hear at a carnival, super catchy!

Nancy Mulligan
Yet another one of my favourites! Ed Sheeran has done the story telling through the lyrics in the song perfectly and honestly I feel so connected to this story because of this. I can imagine hearing this played at an Irish pub with everyone dancing around!

Save Myself
A nice song to end on, I feel like this song has the strongest message on the album, that it's important to look after yourself before you try to help others. I know I can definitely relate to the lyrics and I feel like a lot of others can too.  

I can say that this is definitely an album worth listening to! I feel like there's a song on there for everyone. My personal favourites at the moment are 'Galway Girl', 'Barcelona', 'Eraser', 'Nancy Mulligan' and 'Happier'. Now all I need to do is try and find tickets for his tour!

Thanks for reading!

Daniella x

I Love London

I know so many people say this, but I love London. Everything about it, from the size of it and knowing that there's always something to do, to the tourist attractions that never get boring and the hidden gems that the locals know about. I'm lucky enough to live in South London so Central London is only a short train journey away, and I'm so thankful that I get to live in such an amazing city.

I visited Central London yesterday for my birthday and went on a surprise trip to the London Dungeons and also, on a very different spectrum, the Shrek experience. I highly recommend both of these, although the faint-hearted may want to reconsider the dungeons! 

Whilst walking along the Southbank I took a few photos, even though the weather was very cold, wet and grey (like every time I seem to visit Central London!) I thought I'd share some in a blog post because there's way too many for Instagram!

                             Along Southbank 

 

                        A grey day in London

                                  Southbank

                            

 

                           Near the OXO Tower

  

                                 London Eye

 

                          The lights inside the O2

I can't wait until it's warm and sunny in London so I can get much better pictures, I feel like the grey doesn't do it justice! 

Thanks for reading,

Daniella x

It's not a phase!!

So last night I was thinking about how I was 20 in a week's time and even though I've grown up so much since I was 14, I still love my bands. Most people would assume that it would just be a phase that lasted a few years, but no, not me! I thought I'd use this post to share some of the stories behind how I discovered some of these bands, because I find it so interesting hearing about other people's experiences!

Age 12/13, JLS

Now I don't count liking JLS as part of my band phase because this was before I became in deep for bands, and I was just a fan of their music. This was the first time I can remember actually thinking 'I have a favourite band' and I guess it was the start of things to come! 

 

Favourite Album: Jukebox

Age 14, The Wanted

I was 14 when I discovered The Wanted. They had their singles 'All Time Low' and 'Heart Vacancy' out on the radio and although I liked these songs I never really paid much attention to the artist behind them. My sister decided to buy their album one day, and whilst on a family holiday to France, when we couldn't access the radio in our car, we listened to their album on repeat. From that moment I was hooked. That same month both my sister and one of my friends developed crushes on two of the band members and so all talk turned to The Wanted. I remember sitting in the park during the summer holidays, buying the latest teen magazines just because there were posters and articles about them in there. Those were the days!! 

Anyway, I'd like to say that I managed to resist the band members, but no, instead I also developed a crush on one of them! 

I was luckily enough to see them live back in 2012, which was my first proper concert and it was amazing!

Sadly they're currently on a break and working on solo projects which aren't all in music, but I'm still holding out hope that they return! 

 

Favourite Album: The Wanted

Favourite Member: Nathan 

Age 16, One Direction

One Direction, where do I start?

I'd liked their music since their 'Up All Night' album was released, and I decided one day to put my sister's album onto my iPod to give it a listen. I remember cleaning my room whilst listening to it and instantly thinking how good it was! 

The 'Take Me Home' album was even better, and was the soundtrack to Year 11 and my last year at high school. However it wasn't until late 2013 that I starting getting into the band members and wanting to find out more about them. I desperately wanted to go to their 'Where We Are' tour but I just couldn't afford it. Two years passed and I had finished 6th form and compulsory education forever. I spent several months looking for jobs and during this free time I turned to Tumblr and YouTube where I spent my days watching 1D videos and I fell down the rabbit hole, I was obsessed! 

I got to see them on their 'On The Road Again' tour in 2015 and it was the best concert I had ever been too!

Again they are currently on a hiatus and I really miss them! 

 

Favourite Album: Midnight Memories

Favourite Song: Little White Lies

Favourite Member: Harry (but back in the day it was Zayn) 

Age 17, The Vamps

I don't exactly remember how I got into The Vamps, all I know is that I had the biggest crush on one of them and I became obsessed with their first album 'Meet The Vamps'. It was the soundtrack to my summer in 2014 and I played it on repeat! 

I've been lucky enough to see them live five times so far and I've even very briefly met them at their book signing. I'm still determined to meet them properly one day though! 

I'm actually seeing them in May on their tour and this time we have Wow Pit which I'm so excited for! 

 

Favourite Album: Meet The Vamps

Favourite Song: Wild Heart

Favourite Member: Connor

Age 19, The Tide

Through The Vamps, I discovered The Tide. The Tide are The Vamps' first signing to their record label and have supported The Vamps on their past couple of tours. I properly got into them last year after meeting them at The Vamps' last tour and realising how nice they were! 

Since then I've met them once more, and seen them four times! 

They don't actually have an album out yet, but I think that's on the cards for this year which I'm really excited about! 

 

Favourite Song: Naked

Favourite Member: Levi

Age 19, 5 Seconds Of Summer

I've liked 5SOS' music now for a couple of years but since they've recently released their B-sides and rarities, I've been listening to them a lot more because these songs are so good! In my opinion, these are some of their best songs and they were my soundtrack for on the way to work back in December and January! 

It's also made me pay more attention to the band members, and I've watched several interviews with them. I'm really hoping that they tour some of these songs because I desperately need to hear them live! 

 

Favourite Album: The B-sides and Rarities

Favourite Song: The Space Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Favourite Member: Ashton

I realise this post is pretty long but as you can see I'm pretty passionate about music! 

Thanks for reading!

Daniella x

Things I Love!

I feel like I've never really done a post on the things that I'm passionate about, the things that sum me up as a person. I thought this would be a good post to do to get to know me better, and to give a feel for the things that I hope to be blogging about! So without further ado, here's some of the things that I love!

1) Music
Anyone who knows me well (or just at all) will know that music is my main love. Not performing music- I'm not that talented! Just music in general. The way it makes me feel. The way I can connect with an artist through their lyrics. The way my memories and moments in my life can live on through a certain song. I honestly love it so much and spend nearly all of my free time plugged in to Spotify.

                                                           Last month's Spotify playlist

2) Concerts
Hand in hand with music, are concerts. It's fair to say that concerts are definitely my happy places, somewhere that I can just forget about the world and all my problems, and just live there in the moment with some of my favourite bands/artists.

                                                   The Vamps 2016 'Wake Up' world tour


3) Meeting band members/YouTubers
I've been lucky enough to have met several of my favourite band members and YouTubers over the years, and honestly they were so lovely. The feeling that I had after meeting them is one of the best feelings ever, especially when you see them in concert after and feel like you have a special connection even though you only met for a few seconds.

                                                           Meeting Austin from The Tide

                                                       Meeting Brendan from HomeTown

4) YouTube
I've been watching YouTube religiously now for 4 years and still love it as much as ever. I feel like I can connect with the YouTubers as they have a lot in common with me and just come across as genuinely nice people. My favourite types of video are vlogs as I find it so interesting seeing what other people do in their lives, and quite often I take it as inspiration for things I can do in my own!

                                          Nothing better than catching up on YouTube

5) Travelling
By travelling I don't necessarily mean leaving the country, I just mean exploring new places. I've been lucky enough to travel to new cities in the UK these past few years as before that I'd never really been up North. I love the feeling of experiencing this new place, and feeling like you've left your troubles behind, even if it's just for a night. In 2016 I got to visit Bristol and Birmingham, with even more adventures to come this year as I'm going to Cardiff, Dublin, Mallorca and possibly even Oslo!

                                             Off to Birmingham for The Vamps' book signing

6) Taking Photos
Now I'm not the best at photography, in fact my camera is just the one on my iPhone, but I love it nonetheless. I just love catching a memory and knowing that it has been preserved forever. I especially enjoy taking photos of landscapes, cities and sunsets. This past year I've been obsessed with printing my photos off as polaroids and sticking them on my wall. I just like having physical copies and knowing that I have them safe to look back on at any time. I'm currently saving up to buy myself a proper camera so I can improve my pictures even more!

                                                  Sunset over Greenwich a few weeks ago

                                                      A little side street near Oxford Street

There you go! As you can probably tell I'm quite the fangirl! I hope you learnt a bit more about me in this post, and as I said before I hope to blog more about these things!

Thanks for reading!

Daniella x

Perfect summer reads- Morgan Matson

Since I've been on holiday from work this past week it's given me some time to read, and what better books to read than ones with a summery theme. No better books fit this more than the ones by Morgan Matson; Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, Since You've Been Gone, Second Chance Summer and The Unexpected Everything. 

 

(I currently don't have Since You've Been Gone as a family friend has borrowed it) 

Since You've Been Gone was the first Morgan Matson book that I ever read- it was given to me as a Christmas present, and at that time I had no idea who this author was. However the minute I started reading the book I was hooked, the characters, plot, and summery feel made this a great read. The book is all about discovering yourself and doing things that take you out of your comfort zone- something that we should all do more often. I love this book, and it's made me want to write my own bucket list of things to achieve this summer! 

After loving that book so much, I immediately had to read the others by Morgan Matson so I brought Second Chance Summer- probably my favourite of the lot. 

 

This book is about taking that second chance with the people you love and that it's never too late to turn things around. One of my favourite things about this book is the fact that it's set on a family holiday- I have so many memories of these myself and it just makes the book that extra bit summery! 

As well as being my favourite Morgan Matson book, this book is probably one of my favourites that I've ever read, definitely worth a read, however make sure you have some tissues near as this is a sad one!

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour is about a road trip across America which involves breaking off of the path set and finding adventure. 

 

One of the things on my bucket list is doing a road trip across America so this one definitely interested me! I love how there were playlists and pictures at the start of the chapters- it really made you feel a part of things and made the book that extra bit special. Yet again, this is another great read! 

The final Morgan Matson book, which I've just finished reading on holiday, is The Unexpected Everything. 

 

This was the only book that at first I couldn't get in to, but perhaps that was because I could only read a few chapters at a time due to work, but I'm so glad that I persevered because it was yet again another good read! 

This one's about how sometimes life is better without a plan and that you may miss some of the moments that you wouldn't otherwise have when life is all mapped out for you. I fear that I may have missed some moments on holiday because I was so busy reading this book! 

The only criticism I have is that I wish one part of the ending was in more depth, but still, I really liked this book! 

I generally love how all of these books are set in the same town, with the character's all at the same school- it really helps you create an image in your head. 

All in all, I would definitely recommend Morgan Matson books as a great summer read, especially if you're also a big fan of romance! 

                                      --------

I hope to do more reviews like this soon, whether that be books, music or even films, and I promise to be way more active on here now, hopefully I post once a week! 

Thanks for reading, 

Daniella xx 

Summer 2015- Pevensey Bay/Eastbourne

Remember at the start of the year when I said that I was going to post on here every week? Well clearly that didn't happen oops. In fact I haven't actually made a post on here since then 😳

It's summer now though and I've finished 6th form and full-time education FOREVER!

Anyway, this summer I've been on a lot of trips and thought that I'd blog about them, mainly because I can't be bothered to physically write down my memories in a diary, and also so that I can look back on my memories in the future! 😄

Our family friends (my Mum's best friend and her 2 kids) know someone who owns at caravan down at a private holiday park in Pevensey Bay, and lets us stay there for free. So on 1st August me, my sister and my Mum drove down there as for the first night it would just be us 3 due to the fact that my brother and the other 2 kids were camping, and their Mum had to stay home and go to a Christening, so they'd all be joining us the next day/2 days after. When we got there it was about 3pm and we hadn't had lunch yet, so we drove to Asda (which was about 5 minutes away from the site) and brought sandwiches, which we then ate in the car in the Asda car park because we were that hungry we couldn't wait! 

After lunch we returned to the caravan site and just relaxed outside on the decking of the caravan, where we all read our books in the sunshine. Us 3 would happily spend the whole afternoon sitting there reading, however the others would not so we had to make the most of it whilst we could! 

I read one of my sisters library books- Bursting Bubbles, by Dyan Sheldon and I guess it was okay, not the best book but also not the worst either. 

That evening, we drove into Eastbourne town (which is about 20 minutes away) where we went to Pizza Express for dinner. We all had a chicken leggera pizza which had the salad in the middle and was delicious! 

Once we'd finished eating we went for a drive in a direction we haven't ever been to before and ended up at Beachy Head. By that time the sun was setting so we stopped to take some photos because everything looked so pretty and I'm in love with sunsets! 

On the drive back we stopped off at Fusciardi ice-cream parlour, (which is on the sea-front and a few minutes drive from the pier) where me and my sister got ice-cream to eat in the car. 

Day 2:

The next day we drove into Eastbourne town centre again so that we could visit the Arndale shopping centre. I brought a black & white stripey top in New Look, 'What If' on DVD from HMV and Marcus Butler's book 'Hello Life' in Waterstones. We got sandwiches to eat on the beach, but we had to keep these hidden from the very tame seagulls, as last time we were there they took my brother's whole chicken burger out his hands! 

It would have been nice to stay on the beach in Eastbourne for longer but by that time my brother and one of our family friends were ready to be dropped off at the caravan site so we had to head back. This didn't really affect us though as back at the caravan I just sat on the decking and read again. 

We cooked a pizza for dinner and watched Divergent, and then me and my sister headed to the beach for a bit which  leads off from the caravan site and we even had a little paddle in the sea! 

Day 3:

Everybody had arrived (all 7 of us) by this point and we spent the day in the caravan and also went swimming in the pool. 😄

We had fajitas for dinner and then headed over to the ClubHouse for pudding- this delicious ice-cream sundae!

We packed up and left as soon as we were ready the next morning, but it was a great trip and I can't wait for the next one! 

My top albums of 2014

I was going to do this blog post a while back, at the start of 2015 but I just haven't had time & kept thinking of other ideas that I preferred.

So today I'm going to share with you 5 of my favourite albums of 2014:

1) X - Ed Sheeran

I was obsessed with this album at the start of last summer, for a while it was literally all that I listened to!

I loved his first album & this follow up album definitely didn't disappoint!

There wasn't (and still isn't) a song that I don't like on X, the lyrics are great and the songs tell a story which I think is what makes his music draw in the listener, and you really feel like you connect with the lyrics. 

Favourite song back then- Afire Love

Favourite song now- Thinking Out Loud

2) In The Lonely Hour - Sam Smith

I'd never really heard that much about Sam Smith before listening to his album- so I just assumed that I wasn't gonna like his stuff. I knew he'd been on some other songs like 'Latch' and 'La La La' and I liked both of these songs but I really had no idea what his own album would sound like. I'd heard great stuff about it though so I decided to give it a listen- and it was amazing!

He has one of those voices that is amazing on it's own- he doesn't need backing singers or even backing music, just his voice. I would definitely recommend 'In The Lonely Hour' as it has great songs and deep lyrics to it. 

Favourite song back then- Latch Acoustic

Favourite song now- Latch Acoustic (it's stayed the same!) 

3- Meet The Vamps - The Vamps

This was the year that I fell in love with The Vamps- and I was lucky enough to see them in concert in October and I'm going again in May this year! :D

I can say that this was probably my 2nd favourite album of the whole year, I dread to think how many times I've listened to each song! 

Favourite song back then- Oh Cecilia

Favourite song now- Somebody To You

4 - TRXYE - Troye Sivan

For anyone who may not know, Troye Sivan is a YouTuber, and I watch his videos all the time. This is his debut EP and I love every song off of it! 

Favourite song back then - Happy Little Pill

Favourite song now - Happy Little Pill (no change)

5 - Midnight Memories - One Direction

I know this album came out at the end of 2013 but I was most obsessed with this in 2014. One Direction are my favourite band and every single album is perfect. All the songs on this album are so catchy and I love all of the lyrics! 

Favourite song back then- Strong

Favourite song now - Don't Forget Where You Belong

These albums are in no particular order btw, I love them all and they all remind me of a certain time in 2014. That's what I love about music, when you listen to it all the memories come flooding back :) 

Okay I'm gonna go now, see you soon! :)