Hello & welcome back!April always holds a special little place in my heart as it was the month I started my blog. Happy 6 Year Blogaversary for VioletDaffodils! Yep on the 14th of this month, my blog got another year older. It's crazy to think this blog has been going (on and off) for so long. Where does the time go?! Although I had wrote it down in my planner, I didn't realize until the day after that it had been and gone without any acknowledgement or celebrating. However coincidentally I had had my boyfriend and group of friend's over my house for a pizza and Xbox night on the day of, so in a way I technically celebrated it without realising right? ;)To be honest I didn't realize how busy April had been for me until I sat down to reflect for this blog post. It's been a strange combination of feeling slow paced some weeks and fast paced for others (this week is another slow one). But as this month has finally started to come to a close, I thought it would be a good time to look back on the best moments of the month:
You can honestly not fathom how much I am excited that this has become a reality! I'd always hoped that one day they would remaster the games and bring them out again. The original Spyro games are one of my absolute favorite game franchises I've ever played. I also loved Enter The Dragonfly too which is what the graphics remind me of slightly. But the Dawn Of The Dragon was the absolute WORST game. I'm thrilled they are bringing the originals back later this year combined in the Spyro Reignited Trilogy*. The release date is also my Grandad's birthday which I felt was almost a sign I had to buy it haha!
2. Starting my new job role with TNB and launching my first blog posts for the TNB Blog.
I've been at TNB for over 2 years now and the start of this month has brought great excitement as my job role has had a bit of a revamp. Whilst I still do some of my original job roles, I have also taken on new ones. I am now the main writer for their blog and newsletter. Whilst also involved with the backend of the website too. I'm really excited about this and can't wait to see how it goes. I've written a few posts already and had great feedback so far which has been amazing. Here's a list of the ones so far, if you'd like to read them:
*Introducing The Northern Block 2.0
*The Designer Behind The Type: An Interview With Sofie Beier
*The Designer Behind The Type: An Interview With Ksenia Belobrova
*The Designer Behind The Type: An Interview With Aoife Mooney
*Nowhere Exhibition X The Northern Block
I'm enjoying the difference in writing style to the way I would write for this blog and I'm looking forward to seeing how it progresses and hopefully improves throughout the year.
3. Beginning my journey with Invisalign. Currently on my 2nd lot of aligners.
After years of putting it off, I finally took the plunge back in February to have a consultation about possibly getting Invisalign done to my teeth, which went really well and I finally started my treatment this month. I'll be writing a post or two in more detail on my experiences with it as it may be helpful to others inquiring about it. I know personally it has been helpful to me reading blogs and articles on people's experiences so maybe I can be that for someone else. I'm currently on my second week of aligners at the moment and I have my first dentist appointment since starting the treatment, in a few days to see how my teeth are progressing. Fingers crossed they are right on schedule!
4. Watching The Band at the Theatre Royal.
I was very fortunate to have been given the tickets off my boyfriend's Mam to see The Band theater show. To cut a long story short, they had got the tickets and then for Christmas had been given tickets for somewhere else which fell on the same night. Knowing that I was a Take That fan, she asked if I'd like to go instead which I was thrilled to do so. I invited my friend Amelia along, another Take That fan and we had a great night. The Band were the group that won on the TV show 'Let It Shine' which I had enjoyed watching when it was on, so I was looking forward to seeing how the were in the show. I'd never been to the Theatre Royal before but really liked the venue. The show itself was an emotional rollercoaster! One minute you were laughing, crying the next and so on. It was a story about the friendship of 4 girls who adored The Band and after a tragedy they all go their different ways. Then they come together again when the main character Rachel wins tickets to see The Band's reunion tour and chaos ensures. It was a great show and I'd definitely recommend it. I personally enjoyed how they incorporated The Band into the different scenes, such as coming out of school lockers, appearing in the main character's bedroom and disguised as statues of a fountain in Prague. I want to say Kohl's fountain? but I'm not 100%. Either way, very amusing! And it made me nostalgic to my days as a kid being obsessed with the likes of the Backstreet Boys (AJ will always hold a special place in my heart, haha!), Westlife, Boyzone, Nsync etc. and old friendships which gave you that warm fuzzy feeling. And of course, the music was fantastic!
5. Having the gang round mine for a gaming night. Playing COD, Fortnite and Overcooked.
There was one particular weekend where my family were all on holiday so I'd had the place to myself. I decided to invite my boyfriend and our group of friends over for a pizza and gaming night. It was hilariously intense when one of our friends got to the last 2 standing on Fortnite. You can imagine what it was like! Funnily enough I didn't really play much, I was more happy watching everyone else. Although I attempted Fortnite once and was hilariously bad at it but it's all in good fun :D
A very rare occurrence in the North East, that is for sure! The sun instantly puts me in a much brighter, better, happier mood.
7. Beach day with Luna and my Dad. Watching her plunge into the sea.
We made the most of the glorious weather with a 2 hour trip to the beach. Watching Luna frolic around in the water was the highlight of this particular day. I made a little video that I put up on my Youtube channel of her playing in the sea. You can watch it here. Ended the trip with a basket of chips and sipping strawberry milkshakes. Wonderful!
8. Finally getting back into reading again.
I spent one of the sunnier weekends sitting outside reading for the first time in a good few years. I've tried reading whilst abroad and all sorts but could concentrate enough, so I decided this time to start with something more lighthearted and can easily delve in and out of. I chose The Amazing Book Is Not On Fire* by Youtubers, Dan & Phil. I surprised myself at how much I enjoyed this and found it inspiring for my blog. The content of the book had a lot of nostalgic references that really resonated with me of back to the days MSN chatlogs, funny school stories, university, diary entries, old photographs and more. As well as useful tips and tricks too. I was originally going to read it and then pass it on or sell it but after reading it, I think I'd like to keep it to refer back to for inspiring ideas. I have quite a few books by Youtubers that I still haven't read through yet, so these may be the next ones I make my way through before I delve into others.
9. Avengers Infinity War with the gang.
O.M.G. is all I'm going to say about it. The best film I've seen in a really long time. It has ruined other films coming out this year for me now because it was that brilliant. 2019 can't come quick enough!
10. Catching up with friends.
I go through phases where I'm this super social butterfly one minute and then the next I'm so worn out from being sociable that I need a good week or so to chill out doing sweet nothing and recharge my batteries. Does anyone else do this? It's not anything to do with the people I'm friends with. I find that I like to have a good balance of time with friends and loved ones and time to myself in order to keep myself sane. This month brought the more sociable side out with meeting friends for pizza and cocktails and other meals out, the gaming night, cinema trip and the theater trip as previously mentioned and being round friend's houses to catch up or for a birthday girls night in playing super competitive party games and an intense game of processo pong, haha!
And as I read my planner for the month ahead, it turns out May is already shaping up to be a busy one too with days out planned, another theater trip, spa trips, bank holidays and a few birthdays coming up all at once, including my brother turning the big 3-0!
What an incredible night! I was completely blown away by how good it really was. At the time of planning out this post, I had planned to summarise the whole gig but after going last night and from all the photographs I took, I feel it deserves it's own blog post so I'll get that wrote out as soon as I can.
12. My blog turned 6 years old!
Yes, as I previously mentioned, my little corner of the internet turned 6 years old this month. It is technically child in human terms now, how crazy!
13. Playing 'A Way Out' with my brother and having all the laughs.
About a month ago I had mentioned to my brother about the game after seeing the trailer for it and really liked the concept of playing completely co-op all the way through and having to work together in order to progress through the game. He was immediately on board and decided to buy the game for us to play as a present which was very kind. It's been years since we played co-op on a games console, made me feel all nostalgic to the days of playing WWF wrestling and all sorts. The game itself has a great storyline, that I eagerly read about and regretted spoiling it for myself afterwards. Lesson learned! Again, I'll elaborate more in another gaming post but it is safe to say we've had so much fun playing it. We played a good portion of the game on Sunday and we just laughed all the way through, especially when one of us messed up and got caught. All I'll say is the River Run section was a personal highlight. I'm looking forward to next weekend where we can hopefully finish the rest of it.
14. I was asked to feature in LOOK magazine.
A very surreal moment for me. I was recently contacted asking if they could feature one of my blog photos from this post in their latest issue of the magazine. I was honoured as someone who has read LOOK for years to be considered for this opportunity. I admit I was slightly hesitant and anxious at the thought of having a photo I'd taken included in such a well known magazine and exposed to such a large audience. I know my face isn't in it or anything and I know this blog is out on the internet for anyone to see which you would think something like this wouldn't be a problem for me but I still felt very nervous about the idea. Has anyone else felt that way? I can't really explain it very eloquently here, but maybe you understand what I mean. Anyway I mulled it over that weekend and when I really thought about properly I knew deep down that opportunities like that don't come around often and how I'd regret it if I didn't go for it. And it would be one of those things that when I'm an old woman, I could look back on one day and think 'wow I can't believe I had that opportunity' or tell my future children one day. That put everything in perspective for me. My feelings of regret would have been stronger than my initial feelings of anxiousness which confirmed my decision. Can you tell I'm an incredibly deep thinker? Haha! I also remember in sixth form on our lunch breaks, my friends and I would walk to the local shops and I'd always grab a copy of LOOK and More magazine to read whilst chowing down on some not so healthy grub. A part of me was sat thinking I owe it to that daft teenager reading through the pages of the magazine on the school field with her friends, whilst stuffing her face with sugar strand donuts to do it. I'm not sure what issue it will be out in, but as soon as I find it I will let you know :)
All in all a bit of a whirlwind month from April. I'm looking forward to seeing what May has in store (it's gonna be May ;) sorry I couldn't resist!). Thank you for reading! What was a highlight from your April?