Sunday 10 April 2016

Favourite Radio 1 Covers.


Since I've previously written a blog post of music, I thought that I might make this a regular thing as I listen to a lot of music and it means a lot to me so I thought it would be a good idea. Lately I've been listening to many covers on Radio One so I thought that it would be a good idea to show you some of my favourites, so that you can get an insight into the music that I like. I hope you enjoy and the covers that I recommend are not in any specific order as I love them all equally no matter how cringy that sounds. 


Craig David covering Justin Bieber's Love Yourself
This cover is personally one of my favourites especially with the amount of times that I've listened to it. Craig David's voice works perfectly with this upbeat Bieber song and even adds a new twist to it. 


 Taylor Swift covering Vance Joy's Riptide
When Riptide came out as a single it honestly became one of my favourite songs and I honestly had high hopes that Taylor was going to give it justice and that was exactly what she did. She covered the song perfectly and kept it pretty close to the original. 



Miley Cyrus covering Lana Del Rey's Summertime Sadness
When I first heard this cover I honestly wasn't expecting much as I knew that it was certainly going to be hard for anyone to cover a song by Lana Del Rey. However Miley's cover definitely did succeed my expectations and I enjoyed it quite a bit. 



Bastille covering Miley Cyrus' We Can't Stop
Now Bastille have always been one of my favourite bands and even to this day they are up there. I really loved their cover of this song and found their incorporation of Billy Rae Cryus' song with it too greatly amusing. 


Rizzle Kicks covering Lana Del Rey's Summertime Sadness
This is the second time a cover of this song has appeared within the list however I absolutely love this cover as Rizzle Kicks certainly make the song sound a lot more upbeat.



Sigala & Craig David covering See You Again
Oddly I wasn't too sure whether I was going to like this cover or not even though Craig David featured on it yet after listening to it I must admit I really liked it. This previously melancholy song had been given an upbeat summer vibe which was perfect. It also included a cheeky cover of Little Mix's Black Magic which worked really well with it.  

-Natalie. 

Friday 8 April 2016

Insecurities.


Ever since I turned 11(seems like many years ago now) I started becoming very insecure about how I looked especially when I started secondary school. Before then I didn't have to worry about how my appearance looked 24/7 or if I fit within society's expectations of what was considered 'good-looking' or 'beautiful'. I miss being that innocent, naive child who hadn't been destroyed by society's expectations. Secondary school changed everything for me and I'm not too sure whether I'm grateful for that or not. 

When I first started secondary school, I never expected the girls to be so bitchy about everyone else's appearances and I'm not just picking girls out for doing this because I know that boys do it too but in my case I witnessed mostly girls. Many of the 'popular' girls within my year often tore everyone else apart if they didn't live up to their expectations of how everyone should look and this happened to me. This is quite personal but for many years at secondary school I was a victim to bullying because of how I looked and this honestly destroyed me apart. I spent every day wondering how I could change myself so that I could fit in more. Their thoughts and opinions caused me to change how I looked and dressed throughout my time there and they made me recognize how important your appearance actually is to the outside world. 

During my younger teenage years up to the age of about 18, I'd honestly say that I was a bit of an 'ugly-duckling' as I didn't meet society's expectations of what was classed as pretty or beautiful. However as I begun to alter my appearance through losing a little bit of weight, and changing my taste in clothes I felt a lot more happy with my appearance. This was when I begun to take a lot more selfies and put them all over social media as it was a way for me to gain more confidence with how I looked. It's actually quite sad that many of us feel the need that we want the approval of everyone that we have on social media on how we look but that's how we've grown up. 

Even now that I'm at university I still care about my appearance quite a lot however I'm never going to be that girl that uses make up to alter her appearance because that just isn't me. I make sure that I attempt to attend university looking nice even if I'm a tiny bit hungover, and on nights out I go all out to make sure that I look decent. On the outside I attempt to make it look like I have no insecurities and that I'm happy with how I look but on the inside I'm still that insecure girl at the age of 11 who had only just begun hating herself. Even to this day there's many things I'm very insecure about appearance wise but I do my best not to let them affect me because honestly it isn't worth it. You should never let someone else's expectations and thoughts on appearance affect you as beauty is objective and what you don't find as beautiful someone else might. So make use of what you've got and be happy being you because you're the only version of yourself out there! Self love is greatly important. 

-Natalie.

Thursday 7 April 2016

Music during pres.


Now this is slightly different than my usual blog posts however I personally thought that it would be nice to give some recommendations. This post contains some recommendations on what me and my flat mates listen to during pres, and they are honestly songs that we have all come to love a great deal. Each song on this list is either there just because we have a great deal of love for it or due to it having memories related to it. 


Intoxicated by Martin Solveig
"Song of Freshers 2015"


Chunky by Format:B

Delirious (Boneless) by Steve Aoki


The Renegade by Friend Within


Levels by Avicii

Show Me Love (EDX Remix) by Sam Feldt

These are only a few of the many songs that we sit through during pres but they are perfect examples of the many songs that we get great enjoyment out of. Even though we spend most of pres having a laugh and creating moments that we are never going to forget. 

Saturday 2 April 2016

Change.

The above quote honestly has a great deal of meaning to me lately, and only as my first year of university begins to draw to a close have I had time to reflect on everything that has happened. Ever since starting university I personally believe and stand by the fact that as a person I've certainly changed and I know this sounds very cliché but I'm proud of who I've became. It's taken a great deal of experiences whether good or bad, socializing with new and different people and taking that big step into adulthood and independence for this to happen but it's perfectly molded me into who I am today. This is why I thought that this would be the perfect chance to reflect upon this change because I know that as university goes on, I'm going to continue to change and grow as a person.

When starting university in September, I was a shy, awkward and quiet person who never used to drink and hated social situations. Who I was back then perfectly helps me understand why I struggled a great deal with settling in when I first started, even to the extent of wanting to drop out straight away. During this time I was pretty homesick and honestly didn't live freshers up as much as I now wish I did (second chance for that in September though) however I managed to pull through this with the help of my super supportive flat mates and friends back at home.

As time went by, I begun to enjoy myself much more and even participated more with the social aspects especially drinking. I must admit my first experience being drunk is not one I'm going to forget as it was pretty funny. The socializing helped me become more outgoing as a person and made me more willing to make new friends (which I certainly have done luckily). Here's a top tip too: It's always much easier to make new friends when you are drunk, I know this from experience! From about October I begun to go out on nights out much more regularly and through this I did begin to realize that I was changing from who I was originally however I just wasn't too sure if this was a change for the better or not. Yet I'd personally say that this helped me become more confident and I know that seems silly just from going out a lot but it honestly brought me out of my comfort zone. 

Not only did going out help change me as a person but also the people that I have been luckily enough to be surrounded by every day. When I first when to university I was so worried that I wasn't actually going to get along with the people that they had chose for me to live with however luckily I got along with them really well and still do. I honestly don't know what I would do without certain people that I live with especially since we've had so many amazing experiences and memories with each other. 

Becoming independent was also an important factor in my change, as it has helped me become my own person. Growing up I had been quite lucky with my parents as they often treated me like a pampered only child and still do to this day however this didn't exactly help when I had to fend for myself at uni. It's took me many attempts at managing my finances and not wasting it all on pointless things, cooking for myself even though I've still managed to burn many a microwaveable meal, and just looking after myself in general. Yet this independence that I have gained as helped me grow into an adult even though it's a hard life! 

Therefore over the last year I have changed a great deal but I'm rather happy and proud of how far I've managed to come especially with everything else going on at the same time. It's easy to forget how much we actually change because we don't get much chance to reflect upon it, but honestly you should and actually congratulate yourself for it. 


Change can be both negative and positive but it is what you learn from it is what matters.