2015 in lists

My favourite pop songs of the year (in no particular order)
1. Drake - Hotline Bling
2. Justin Bieber - What Do You Mean?
3. The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face
4. Major Lazer - Lean On
5. David Guetta - Hey Mama
6. Jack U - Where Are U Now?
7. Taylor Swift - Style
8. The Weeknd - The Hills
9. Calvin Harris - How Deep Is Your Love?
10. Justin Bieber - Sorry
11. The 1975 - Love Me
12. Taylor Swift - Bad Blood
13. Little Mix - Black Magic
14. Fetty Wap - Trap Queen
15. Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk
16. Disclosure - Magnets
17. Hozier - Take Me To Church
18. Ariana Grande - Focus
19. Lana Del Rey - High By The Beach
20. Chvrches - Leave A Trace
21. Kendrick Lamar - Alright
22. Diplo - Be Right There
23. Rihanna - Bitch Better Have My Money
24. Omi - Cheerleader
25. One Direction - Perfect
26. Rihanna, Kanye West, Paul McCartney - FourFiveSeconds
27. Years & Years - King
28. Lost Frequencies - Are You With Me
29. Pvris - St Patrick
30. Ariana Grande - Love Me Harder
31. Avicii - Waiting For Love
32. Brand New - Mene
33. Young Guns - Daylight
34. WSTRN - In2
35. Iggy Azalea - Trouble
36. Phillip George - Alone No More
37. Taylor Swift - Blank Space
38. Glowbug - The Night My Heart Stopped
39. Beyoncé - Crazy In Love (Fifty Shades Of Grey Version)
40. Young Guns - Speaking In Tongues

The best movies I saw for the first time this year:
1. The Place Beyond The Pines
2. What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
3. The Punk Singer
4. Big Eyes
5. Birdman
6. Big Hero 6
7. Amélie
8. Me Without You
9. Drive
10. Chappie
11. Inside Out
12. Trainwreck
13. The Theory Of Everything
14. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2

Bands I saw live this year: 
1. Die Antwoord
2. The Blackout at Takedown Festival and four times on their farewell tour
3. The Swellers, on their farewell tour
4. Young Guns, twice
5. Brand New

Cool things I did this year:
1. Got a job and made a whole lot of new friends
2. Went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival twice and saw 11 events
3. Went to the Kerrang Awards and met Patty Walters
4. Followed the whole of The Blackout's last tour with my friends, then survived the next nine months without them around
5. Started my blog and kept it going until the end of the year

Bands I loved most this year:
1. Die Antwoord
2. The Blackout
3. Glassjaw
4. Kids In Glass Houses
5. As It Is
6. PVRIS
7. Taking Back Sunday
8. Dear Boy
9. AFI
10. Young Guns

Favourite books I read this year:
1. Letters Home by Sylvia Plath
2. Not That Kind Of Girl by Lena Dunham
3. How To Build A Girl by Caitlin Moran
4. An Abundance Of Katherines by John Green

The 10 songs I've listened to most this year (according to last.fm):
1. Die Antwoord - Cookie Thumper!
2. Justin Bieber - What Do You Mean?
3. Drake - Hotline Bling
4. Die Antwoord - Happy Go Sucky Fucky
5. Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk
6. PVRIS - My House
7. Die Antwoord - Fok Julle Naaiers
8. PVRIS - St Patrick
9. Culture Beat - Anything
10. The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face

Favourite fashion/beauty purchases this year:
1. Leather jacket
2. Lush Silky Underwear dusting powder
3. Thick black platform boots
4. Lace blouse with a Peter Pan collar for work
5. FSHNCNCS t-shirt and jumper
6. Varsity jacket
7. Choker necklaces
8. Mavala Mavadry fast drying topcoat nail polish
9. The black lace dress I wore to the work Christmas ball
10. Sequined Christmas jumper

New Years Resolutions:
1. Keep my blog going all year
2. Remain employed
3. Keep a diary
4. Drink more water and wash my hands more
5. Decide what I want to do next

#NOTD: Festive sparkle

It's almost Christmas and there are few things that make me feel less festive than glitter, so this month I've been covering my nails with seasonal sparkle. 

The first Saturday of the month happened to be my work Christmas party which was a great night, I'm so glad to have met such a lovely bunch of people to hang out with both inside the office and out. I put on my pretty lace dress and wore my favourite glitter to fit in with the party theme of red and white.

The polish in question is Barry M's Red Glitter shade which I bought a few years ago and have never grown tired of. It doesn't matter what time of year I wear it, it always feels like Christmas when I see it twinkling on my fingertips. It's a really thick glitter which doesn't need a basecoat underneath to hide the gaps the sparkles don't fill; the above is just two coats of glitter with fast drying topcoat on top to make my nails shiny and smooth. It's one of my favourite looks and also the source of lots of compliments - one friend even asked where I'd had them done! Of all the glitter polishes I've tried, Barry M's is the sparkliest and most satisfying and although it chips quickly because of its thickness I don't mind because it looks so amazing.

This week I've gone for the opposite in Christmas colours with a shiny green glitter instead. The photo above doesn't quite do it justice, for some reason the glitter looks much more sparse there as it does in real life but I can assure you it is very sparkly. 

This glitter is not the Barry M green that I probably should have bought, but rather a cheap bottle I found in a bargain store. It's not nearly as dense and as you can probably tell from the above I had to use a couple of coats of colour under the glitter. I chose Pacific from the Barry M Aquarium collection as my base here which has given the look a turquoise hue in some lights rather than the pure emerald colour of the glitter itself. Actually, it was lucky that this manicure happened as I also bought this same glitter in purple and when I tried to use it a few months ago I found that it had solidified. I don't know exactly why the green stayed in such good condition when I bought them at the same time but I'm glad it did so I can walk around like a Christmassy Sally Bowles for the next few days. No word yet on how soon this will chip as it has remained pristine since yesterday morning but as there are two coats of blue, two of glitter and one or two of top coat, I don't expect this look to make it to Christmas, which means I have time to dream up one last festive manicure before 2015 is out!

Polishes used: Barry M Aquarium Collection Nail Paint in Pacific; w7 nail polish in Green Glitter

(Previous look: Barry M Nail Paint in Red Glitter)

101 goals in 1001 days, December 2015 update

I've now been keeping this blog going for a few months and I've written a couple of updates about my progress in achieving my Day Zero list of goals. Not only is it now almost the end of 2015 but with 532 days remaining, I'm almost halfway to the deadline with almost half of my goals either completed or in progress. (Note: goals listed in grey are detailed in previous blog entries)

Now completed: 

2. Dress up for Halloween
Halloween fell on a Saturday this year and I was working in the Shelter shop so we put in a little effort to make the store spooky. My manager got into it the most with a witch costume and cauldron of sweets for customers, while I wore my favourite black velvet dress with thick boots and goth jewellery, inspired by the Addams Family, the coven from American Horror Story, and the girls from The Craft.

4. Attend my 100th concert
10. Meet up with my old high school friends
15. Visit Edinburgh in Fringe season
23. See a comedy show
29. Go on a road trip

31. See a musical

49. Visit London

51. Photograph a concert

51. Help sort through Granny's things

55. Go to the beach
A few months ago I went on a spontaneous day trip with my parents and my gran to the nearby seaside towns of Dunbar, St Abbs and Eyemouth. We saw the seal who hangs out in the Dunbar harbour, I dipped my toes in the sea, collected shells and walked in the sand at St Abbs, and we had a fish supper and amazing ice cream at Giacopazzi's restaurant in Eyemouth.

65. Volunteer for a charity

71. Get paid

I started my job as a tech support agent in October and since then I've received my first few paychecks - it feels great to finally have money coming in to the bank!

75. Buy a dress

80. Watch every season of a TV show
I spent the Summer watching Arrested Development and I also finally managed to finish Gilmore Girls earlier in the year. My current TV projects are The Office (US) and the various Kardashian shows.

81. Read 10 library books

92. Visit Wales

93. Visit five tourist spots in Edinburgh

94. Write a letter to someone who has inspired me

95. Meet an online friend in person

100. See The Blackout for the 50th time