September Favourites ❤

I can't believe it's the end of September already, 

time has flown by really quickly. 

I've really enjoyed this month especially 

since it was my 19th birthday on the 20th.

Anyway, here's what I've been loving this month.

Bridget Jones's Baby

I first watched Bridget Jones's Diary about four years ago and I loved it. It was, by far, one of the best romantic comedies I'd ever watch, mainly because of the title character and how relatable she was. I was one of the very few who actually enjoyed the first sequel, The Edge Of Reason. Now, 12 years after The Edge Of Reason, Renee Zellweger is back as Bridget and this time she's pregnant but the question is: who's the father? Is it Mark Darcy's? Or newcomer Jack Quant's? Most sequels don't tend to be as good as its predecessor but I can definitely say that Bridget Jones's Baby is just as funny as its two previous predecessors. There are plenty of mishaps to keep it entertaining and even a very funny cameo from Ed Sheeran. If you'd like to read my review, click here. 

Still Falling For You - Ellie Goulding

Ellie Goulding is one of my favourite singers and I loved seeing her on her tour earlier this year. She has one of the most beautiful voices so I was so happy when she announced that she was going to be singing and releasing the leading single from the Bridget Jones's Baby soundtrack, Still Falling For You. Last year, she released Love Me Like You Do from the Fifty Shades Of Grey soundtrack and it went on to spend four weeks at number one in the UK Official Singles Chart. This song is very similar to Love Me Like You Do in terms of sound and theme (both songs are about being in love). Still Falling For You appears towards the end of Bridget Jones's Baby.

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

Although it was published at the beginning of last year, I've only just read this global bestseller by Paula Hawkins as the film version is just about to be released next month. This is definitely one of the best thriller books I've ever read and it is really gripping. The story focuses on three different women. The main character is Rachel, who takes the same train every morning and every evening and on that journey she passes by her old home which she used to share with Tom who is now her ex-husband. On the same train journey, she begins compulsively watching a couple, Megan and Scott, who live a few houses down from Tom. Rachel begins fantasising about this 'perfect' couple. Rachel is also struggling to come to terms with the end of her marriage to Tom, his new wife, Anna and their baby daughter and becomes addicted to drinking which leads to various blackouts and memory loss. Things take a drastic turn when Rachel, on her usual train journey, looks out at Megan and Scott's house and is shocked when she sees something she wasn't expecting to see. Suddenly, Megan has disappeared and Rachel becomes even more obsessed about finding out what happened to her. 

This book is full of shocking twists and turns. It's told in the first person from each of the main women (Rachel, Megan and Anna) which makes us learn more about each character. I wasn't expecting the book to end the way that it did. I'm so happy that a film adaptation is being released and I think that Emily Blunt will give a great portrayal of Rachel. I really hope that the film will be just as good and remain faithful to the book as it's a really interesting read. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy mystery and thrillers.

Highlights of this month

My 19th Birthday (20/09/2016)

Most 19 year olds spend their 19th birthday having a massive party and getting drunk with their friends but since I don't have any friends, I decided to spend the day with my family. My Mum and I went to watch Bridget Jones's Baby in the afternoon and then, in the evening, my family and I had dinner at Zizzi before going back to my house to open more presents and blow the candles out on my cake, which was amazing as you can tell by the above picture. It was a white chocolate and raspberry cake and it's definitely the best cake I've ever had. I mainly got money for my birthday but I did get a lot of lovely presents too including clothes, Lush bath bombs, shower creams and body washes, series nine of The Big Bang Theory and lots of chocolate. I had an amazing day, I really can't believe I'm 19 now.

Meeting Carrie Hope Fletcher - (12/09/2016)

I loved meeting Carrie Hope Fletcher on her All I Know Now book tour in Manchester in May last year, she was so bubbly and down to earth, just like in her YouTube videos. I was gutted when Carrie announced another book tour and I found out she wasn't coming to Manchester. However, I noticed she was doing a talk and Q&A with the audience event in Birmingham just like the event in Manchester last year. I bought myself a ticket to her Birmingham event and train tickets from Manchester to Birmingham. When the 12th came, I was so excited, I couldn't believe I was seeing Carrie again. The event was at the Glee Club where many famous comedians (including Michael McIntyre, Alan Carr and Jack Whitehall) had performed. I arrived at the venue at about 5:15pm expecting there to be a huge queue but there was only about 10 people waiting. I thought I'd be stuck in the queue waiting ages but, fortunately, three other girls in the queue (Eleanor, Robyn and Mia) asked me if I wanted to play the Disney version of Heads Up so we spent about half an hour playing that which I enjoyed. At about 6-ish, we entered the Glee Club and took our seats (I was sat second row from the stage which I was very happy about). At about 6:55pm, I caught a glance of Carrie walking behind the curtain towards the stage and at 7pm, she appeared on the stage waving and filming the audience. She spent about half an hour talking about her latest book, On The Other Side, before answering questions from the audience. Then, after a five minute break, she sat at a desk and began meeting the audience and signing books. When it came to me meeting her, I was so starstruck and overwhelmed that I didn't get to talk to her much. And the picture didn't come out great as I'd left the flash on my phone and the picture didn't come out great which I was a bit gutted about but I was just happy to have met and hugged Carrie. You can see the pictures I got on my blog here. However, I was very happy when Carrie uploaded her vlog from Birmingham and included my video footage! Overall, I had the best time seeing Carrie and hopefully I'll see her again soon and get a better picture.

So those were my highlights from September.

I hoped you enjoyed reading this blogpost.

Every view means a lot to me so thanks for reading.

❤

Meeting Carrie Hope Fletcher ❤

As some of you who are reading this will know, I consider

Carrie Hope Fletcher to be one of my inspirations and I was lucky enough to see her at her Manchester book event for 'All I Know Now' in May last year where she talked about her latest book, did a Q&A with the audience, performed two songs on a acoustic guitar (her original song, 'Boys In Books' and a cover of Taylor Swift's 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together') and did a book signing and met fans afterwards. I had an amazing time and I wondered if I would ever meet Carrie again.

When Carrie announced she was doing a book tour with her latest book 'On The Other Side', I wondered if she would visit Manchester. Unfortunately, she was only doing signings in places where she was performing in 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and since it's not in Manchester until the end of the year and because Carrie finishes touring with CCBB on October 2nd, she wasn't visiting Manchester. However, I noticed that she was coming to Birmingham and doing a book event similar to the one I attended last year. I bought myself a ticket to the events and booked train tickets to Birmingham. I was so happy I was seeing Carrie at last. 

The event was taking place at the 'Glee Club' which is a small venue where many famous comedians, such as Lee Evans,  Michael McIntyre, Alan Carr ect, have all performed. It has a small stage where the main event takes place and hundreds of seats surrounding the stage. I arrived at the Glee Club at the queuing time of 5pm and I was surprised to discover only a small amount of people were waiting because I thought that there would be a huge queue. However, by 5:30pm, a very long queue had formed. At about 6pm, the doors opened and I walked upstairs to grab a seat. I was very happy with where I was sat as I was on the second row and had a great view of the stage. Since the book event was due to start at 7pm, I waited patiently and, at about 6:55pm, I spotted Carrie walking behind a curtain towards the stage and, at 7pm, she appeared on the stage looking beautiful with a smile on her face as she filmed her audience.

When Carrie sat down, she started off by saying that she was nervous but excited to be at the Glee Club. She then began to talk about 'On The Other Side' which is her first fiction book. Without spoiling it for the people in the audience who hadn't read it, she talked about the plot and the main characters. She said that the main character, Evie Snow, is based on herself in both appearance and personality. She said that the story came to her in a dream but forgot about it until a week later when the thought returned to her mind. She then proceeded to make notes of this idea of not being able to get through to heaven as their soul is too heavy and filled with secrets which is this book's main plot. When asked which part of the book was her favourite to write she answered that it was the part of the book where (*SPOILER ALERT*) Vincent Winter's friend, Sonny, turns up at a school concert drunk and gets into a fight with one of the teachers (*END OF SPOILER*). Carrie said that this was her favourite part to write as she thought it was one of the funniest parts of the book. She also said that Sonny is her favourite character in 'On The Other Side'. 

Carrie also talked about her inspirations and said that the only role model she looked up to was her brother, Tom, who, when she was a child growing up, was 1/4 of the boyband McFly. She stated that she couldn't think of anyone that she was passionately inspired by in the media when she was a teenager. After talking with the presenter for about twenty minutes, Carrie answered questions from the audience.

One of the first questions Carrie was asked was about the writing process behind both of her books, 'All I Know Now' and 'On The Other Side' and if the ideas came in to her mind instantly or if it was a long time. Carrie said that it differs and that the main story for her fiction novel came to her in a dream and she just wrote story as she went along. There were certain parts of the story that she struggled with and parts that she wasn't sure would work in the book but, a few months later, she re-read her notes and decided that it would actually work. However, Carrie said that 'All I Know Now', which is a lifestyle guide created to help others, was difficult to write as it included anecdotes and personal events in her life when she was growing up but she knew she needed to write about those things in order for the book to be complete.

When asked which part in 'On The Other Side' was hardest to write, Carrie answered that it was the part of the book where (*SPOILER ALERT*) Evie's drawings shatter because it was a pivotal part of the book and captured all of Evie's emotions. She said that Evie feeling heartbroken wasn't enough so used magic realism to show her being heartbroken by having her drawings shatter like glass as the drawings meant so much to Evie and having the drawings shatter was very similar to having her heartbroken (*SPOILER OVER*). Carrie also explained why she chose to write the story in third person rather than first person from Evie's perspective and she replied saying it was so readers could see things from other character's point of view instead of sharing the thoughts of just one character. After being asked, if 'On The Other Side' was to be made into a film, who would she like to see perform as Vincent, she replied saying Colin O'Donoghue, who is best known for playing Hook in the current TV series 'Once Upon A Time'.

Carrie wasn't just asked about 'On The Other Side'. An audience member, knowing about Carrie's love of Doctor Who, asked her which Doctor she would like to be a companion of and she said that she loved Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor because he was very much the mad man in a box but she said she would love to be, the current Doctor, Peter Capaldi's companion as she was fortunate enough to visit the set in Cardiff and watch Peter filming and even got to meet him afterwards. 

Carrie is also well known for being a huge fan of Harry Potter so when she was asked which spell from the Wizarding World she would use, she answered with 'Alohomora' which opens locked objects because there have been a lot of times when she has forgotten her key to her 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' dressing room.

Carrie also gave tips to anyone trying to make it as an actress and, one of them included making sure you have a CV, a cover letter and a headshot which doesn't have to be professional because Carrie said that her earlier headshots as a child were taken by her mother. She also explained that just because a director or filmmaker isn't interested now, they'll keep your details and, maybe in a few months, they'll come back to you. 

After someone asked Carrie what her favourite musical was, she jokingly replied saying that it was like having to 'pick one of my favourite children', however, she decided on Les Miserables as it was the very first show she watched when she was three years old and a few years later she got the part as Young Eponine which lead to her having a very successful career in musicals. She also stated that being a part of the 30th anniversary of the musical was her career highlight as she got to perform on stage with the original Jean Valjean, Colm Wilkinson, and admits she couldn't finish the final high note as she was taken aback by his presence and said that she cried when he told her that she was excellent.

After the Q&A with the audience, the time finally came for Carrie to do her book signing. I loved meeting Carrie, she asked me if I was having a great day and I said that I was and I was looking forward to today and she was like 'aw that's very sweet of you!'. We then got a picture together on my phone but, unfortunately, I left the flash on and it caught both of our eyes and isn't a very good picture. However, I was very happy to have met Carrie and hugged her twice and, overall, had an amazing day that I'll never forget.

Read my review of 'On The Other Side' here.

Thank you for reading my blogpost, I hope you enjoyed it.

❤