Ramblings...

I love sleep, I honestly do. But I have a bad habit of telling myself "I will have an early night tonight" and then keeping myself awake with blogging, caffeine and over thinking, a fatal combination for me! So you better get used to these "after 10pm insights into Molly's mind" because if sleep doesn't seem like an option then I'll turn to the second best thing, writing, tea and He is We.

Writing though, it's heaven, literally. My head is constantly buzzing with ideas for characters and story lines. If you ever want to make me happy just ask me to tell you a story, I am never short of stories and I love telling them. I hope to be a published writer one day, but to be honest that is just one of many highly ambitious dreams. I would also love to make films, work on radio and act. But first things first I am going to write professionally, I have promised myself that. Soon I'll post some of my work up here, maybe..

I've had more than my fair share of trying to fit into my own skin and failing, and writing is like a therapy, if I don't understand me I just become someone else. It's crazy to think that my biggest hobby could one day be a career. I do sometimes sound like a huge nerd, I promise, I'm not! But saying that.... I do get excited shivers down my spine when I come up with a good idea for a story and I cherish my signed books as if they were children but I AM NOT A NERD, I'm just passionate.

Enough about writing, for the moment that is. Dreams, aspirations, that's what's on my mind right this minute. As I sip my cold tea, sitting in my bedroom in the dark on my laptop I'm wondering where life will take me. Where will I be in a couple of years? In the same position I am in now? Or will I be doing something amazing? A couple of years is a long time, I could be anywhere. One thing I know for sure, or I'd like to think I know, is that I will NOT be in Scotland drinking freezing tea! Bigger places are calling my name, I adore Italy, Milan, although not the prettiest city, would be a great place to live. Not forever, just for for a little while. And then there's France, I love the French language and can seriously see myself living there sometime, but I wouldn't want to bring up a family there. For one reason only, the schooling is so strict and far harder than here in Britain. If the day comes that I have kids, I want them to be brought up in England, but until then I would like to travel. I'd also be really interested in doing a degree in English and French, I really will never be able to kill my love of languages!

Adventure. That's one thing my life lacks at the moment. When you're little you make your own adventures, you life was always full of games, we all had that naughty imaginary best friend who was the one who spilled mummy's perfume, drew a dog on the living room wall and tripped up William. You were friends with everyone and Halloween was the most exciting night of the year along with Christmas Eve, you believed in everything and everyone believed you were going to grow up to be amazing. Life was one big adventure, you were fascinated that you could get green by mixing blue and yellow paint. There was always a bigger bed to crawl into if your dreams got creepy or your duvet fell off and you didn't have the strength to pull it back on. But suddenly you wake up and realise that one day you're going to have to take on the big bad world all on your own and that scares you. But these days I wish that it would come quicker, I would love to be dropped off in a city and told to fend for myself, it sounds silly but I have well and truly out grown this little town. I am hungry for adventure, no, I'm STARVING! Give me a suitcase and a train ticket and I'll go in search of my dreams. I feel just how I felt in P7, I could not wait to move up to secondary, I can't wait to start my life, it's so exciting.

I have so many feelings, actually let me reword that, I have too many feelings. I'm so easily hurt, I'm too easily exited, I'm too often let down, I'm more often than not anxious, I fall too fast and too hard, I love too openly, I dislike too strongly, I'm broken so quickly, I'm far too impatient yet scared of going too fast, I sometimes feel so lost in my own head, it's so deep and too full.

Sometimes I hate myself yet act superior.

Sometimes I love myself yet act inferior.

I know I'm right but when I'm asked I say I'm wrong.

I'm over confident so I act shy.

When I'm feeling shy I put on a confident front.

I hide my talents and flaunt my flaws.

I bury my weak spots and sensitivities so I can't get hurt.

I smile when I feel like crying.

When I want to smile I forget how to.

But you know what, I love my life the way it is (:

And this is why I should just sleep at night...  

Things That Make Me Smile

Everyone deserves happiness, everyone. But sometimes times I feel a little down, so I decided to make a list of all the things that never fail to make me smile.
My friend Eilidh is doing the same so go check out hers too!

The first thing on my list is Vince Kidd. If you don't know who Vince is a. I am shocked and b. I feel sorry for you. This man is my life, no one understands my love for him but it doesn't matter because I do. He was on the voice in 2012 and is now signed to Island Records and has released two EP's, a single and is to release his debut album this year. Without realising it, the moment Vince stepped on that stage on The BBC Voice he became a hero and role model for a lot of people, especially misfits. With his bleach blonde hair, leather jeans and baggy tie dye vest he wasn't exactly "bbc" but he was DEFINITELY perfect. His voice is to die for and his lyrics mean so much. He stands for all the right things but deffo ain't boring. This man is such a darling to all his fans, in fact once I had had an awful day so Vince took the time  to phone me and cheer me up, now you don't get that from just any signed singer! He seemed to understand me so well, told me to be proud of who I was and love the things and the people I love and not care what anyone else thinks. Just to have that advice from the one person you idolize most is almost life changing. So when ever I'm down I'll pop on some good old Vincey K and there will soon be a smile on my face! Check him out here.

The next thing on my list has to be books. I really can't help the fact that I am a MASSIVE book worm, writing and reading go hand in hand I guess. Books are just great, if ever I need to escape from my hectic life a book is the best way to do it, I find it so easy just to slip into a book and forget the outside world completely, I love it. Not just that but I am always looking for inspo on things to write about and books help loads. I know people who have never read a whole series of books, I even had a couple of friends who suddenly announced to me that they had never finished reading a single book, WHAT?! I'm sorry to say but those friendships did not last long! Just everything about books, book shops and libraries excites me, I don't even care how sad that sounds, it's true. Honestly, if you are well read there is far more chance of us becoming friends and if you work in a book shop, can we be bestos? *puppy eyes*

Music. Sorry to have such a broad category but I just adore music in general. I don't have a music taste. I love everything, well almost everything apart from the generic music Xfactor churns out, like Cher Lloyd and One Direction *waits for a whole lot of abuse from directioners*

I'm not one of those people who like any music that's in the charts at the moment nor do I limit myself to one genre, I just love music, I don't know where I would be if I couldn't hear. I can't help but grin from ear to ear when ever I hear a song I like!

Manchester. I'm not crazy I promise, but that city makes me smile! It's so diverse and exciting. I love the fact that you will be walking down a really shady looking alley way and suddenly you'll come across a super cool cafe with graffitied walls or bowler hat lamp shades! I also have an obsession for designer toys (like Ugly Doll, Blythe and Mind Style) and there are some great independent stockists in Manchester. They also have some of my favourite chains like Pylones and Wagamama. But the cherry on the cake for Manchester is deffo "Afflecks" a crazy multiple story indoor market place (Like ASOS market place but crammed into one building!!!!) for anything from beads to bralets, from vintage to velvet, from perfume to piercings, from top hats to tattoos. You haven't lived unless you've been to Afflecks! Find them here.

There are a lot more things that make me smile, but I think that's a good starting point!

  

A Sunshiney Breakfast

I have a love for baking, it's almost as big as my love for writing! (but not quite)
The other week I was in a lovely vintage style tearoom called Small Talk with my dear friend Eilidh having tea and cake and I tried a treacle scone for the first time. I honestly don't know how I avoided these angels for so long! But after finding my true love of the scone world I decided I would have a go at making them myself, and seeing as it's cold and wet this morning I felt scones would be a great way to start the day!




You will need:
225g Plain Flour   1/2 tsp Salt
25g Butter            1/2 tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda
25g Caster Sugar   1/2 tsp Ginger (ground)
120ml Milk           1 tsp Cream of Tartar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon  1 tbsp Black Treacle

First things first, make sure you remember to preheat the oven to 230 degrees C. If you are anything like me you will ALWAYS be forgetting to preheat your oven and then having to wait ages to put your baking in, fun.

1. Find a BIG bowl (okay well it doesn't need to be huge, but large) and sift your flour,cinnamon, ginger, salt, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar and mix them all together.

2. Rub your butter into the mix of dry ingredients until it looks a little like bread crumbs (watch out, the birds might try and eat them)

3. In a little saucepan mix the milk, sugar and treacle on a low heat until the sugar has dissolved and the treacle has melted.

4. Once dissolved remove from the heat and allow to cool, them pour into your BIG bowl with your dry ingredients and butter and mix until it turns into a soft dough.

5. Flour a surface and knead your dough until it is nice and smooth.

6. Roll your dough with a rolling pin (or a wine bottle if you so wish) until it is about 2-3cm thick.

7. Cut out scone shapes with a cutter of your choice and re-roll your extra dough and repeat.

8. Grease or flour a baking tray and place your scones on, spacing them out evenly as you go.

9. Cook in the oven for about 12-15 minutes.

10. Et Voila you have scones!

11. EAT!

Ticking Boxes

The thing I can not stand about society these days is the whole "ticking boxes" aspect of life. It's as if you have to fit into a questionnaire to fit in. You have to be left or right handed. You are born male or female and that's your gender. You have to be gay, bisexual, lesbian or straight. You can't be in between and that I really can't put up with. Why do people have to be labeled? What is the need? "Hello I'm a blonde, right handed, heterosexual female!" "Hi, you know what? I don't really care."

In my opinion I honestly think in a couple of years gender and sexuality is going to be no big deal. Just because you are born with certain features I don't think you should have to be branded as a certain gender, I know it may sound crazy because it goes against everything biologically correct but that's just how I feel.

I think if you are born "female" and feel "female" then great. If you are born "male" and feel "male" then great. But if you're not it shouldn't be the huge affair it is these days. I just don't think gender should be such a huge label, people shouldn't have to fit into these "male" and "female" boxes. I put the words in inverted commas because to be perfectly honest I am not very fond of them. People should be who they are and not who society thinks they should be, people should just be people. If this was the case it wouldn't matter who you fell in love with because people are people and love is love.

I was filling out a questionnaire the other week and it came to a section on sexuality, I was going to tick a box rather than kicking up a fuss but the woman whom I was filling it in for turns to me and says "Please don't fill that part in, personally I hate it. Why should people have to fit into boxes?" so I know I'm not the only one who feels like this!

Another think that annoys me is male and female sections in clothes shops. I love fashion but that doesn't limit me to the female section in any way, sometimes a male T-shirt or jacket will catch my eye and I won't think twice about buying it. But honestly sometimes the looks I get are shocking, you can always tell what they are thinking "Oh look at her buying male clothing with her short hair, how gay!" STEREOTYPES. I HATE THEM. If I like an item of male clothing that's my choice and has nothing to do with you. Why can male and female clothing just be mixed so people can make their own minds up about what "sex" it is for.

People should not need to be embarrassed about what clothes they wear. People should not be discriminated against for their sexuality. People should be happy in their own skin.

Now, enough ranting for one day I think! On a more positive note I'd like to point out how the gender boundaries in modeling are being blurred quite considerably, possibly a step towards the future I would like!  

Look at Andrej Pejic, a twenty two year old Bosnian male model who, not to put it bluntly but, looks like a woman. At the age of nineteen Pejic was in the Marc by Marc Jacobs advertising campaign, he was part of a movement to try and blur the gender lines in modeling.

Picture from the Telegraph

And then there's Lea T, a beautiful Brazilian transgender model  born in 1981. In March 2012 Lea T went under surgery to change her gender. In an interview with the New York Times Lea said  "When you are a transsexual, you look for your future, and you can't see it, I thought this would be a nice message for another tranny: 'Look, we can be the same as other girls and boys.' It's small, but it makes you feel like you have a little chance. Maybe a transsexual will open a magazine and think: 'That's cool. We can be whatever we want.' That's why I did the Givenchy campaign."
 


So for me this acceptance of Transgender Models seems like a step in the right direction!

Although quite old I found this article very interesting. http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG8214923/Fashion-blurs-gender-boundaries.html

A Trip To The City

I do love a good city, Milan, Paris, Barcelona, London, Manchester, love them all! But living in Scotland I have one problem, the lack of REAL cities. Now don't get me wrong I love Edinburgh and Glasgow but they aren't exactly huge, are they?
Anyway, a couple of days ago me and my lovely friend Hannah were feeling rather city deprived so decided to go on a little day trip to Glasgow.
We set off in the car and for once it was a beautiful day! The sun was shining and the sky blue, we were quite excited. We were hoping to visit the degree show at the art school (which is well worth a visit, a LOVELY Charles Rennie Mackintosh building) but once we arrived in Glasgow we decided what we truly needed was some well deserved retail therapy! So we scrapped the plan of an art filled day and headed off to Wagamama to grab a quick lunch before we hit the shops.
I always find it funny taking people to Wagamama for the first time as more often than not they are awfully confused by the names and the menus, I am a sucker for habit and almost always have the same thing "A mini chicken ramen, side of chilli squid and and apple, celery, mint and lime juice for me please!"
The food was delicious and if you have never been there before I suggest you pay them a visit as not only is the food great but the staff are always lovely and very happy to chat. Thumbs up for Wagamama Glasgow!

After a wonderful lunch we set off in search of the new forever 21, which believe me wasn't hard to find, it's giant! Having been a huge Forever 21 fan ever since Eilidh introduced me to the one in London, which I must say is beautiful shop, I always hoped we would get one in sunny Scotland. But I never thought we actually would, but good old Forever 21 seem to have read the minds of me and many others living in Scotland and we FINALLY have one in Glasgow! Me and Hannah were in awe at just how perfect they have made it, it's so shiny and feels so clean. It seems so sophisticated but the prices won't break your bank, win win situation! 

Really though, we maybe got a little too excited at the decor...

After searching EVERY shop on Buchanan Street for a pair of disco shorts (YES, DISCO PANTS BUT SHORT!) I finally found the PERFECT pair in American Apparel, oh how I worship that shop!

Whilst in there I also found an adorable lacy cropped tee, and of course I couldn't resist!

Goes in to American Apparel looking for one thing, comes out with a whole outfit, situation sound familiar?

Yes?

I thought that may be the case!

But you have to agree these are just gorgeous.

There was just time for a quick Starbucks before we ran to Boots for new lipsticks and mascaras, we were sticking to the essentials for once!

In Starbucks I am as bad as I am in Wagamama, for ever ordering the same thing, on cold days it'll be a medium caramel latte with whipped cream, but if we are blessed with the sun it is not a rare sight to see me with a caramel frappachino in one hand and a camera in the other. 

And it was muffins all round, how do Starbucks do such perfect muffins??

After picking up only the essentials from Boots (Okay maybe it was a little more than just the essentials..) we decided to grab a snack for the way home. If you have never had a sweet pretzel before you need to head to Mr Pretzels, NOW. They are heaven in a bag!

All in all it was a very enjoyable day!

Skirt: Top Shop

Top: Top Shop (last year)

Sweater: American Apparel

Coat: Jack Wills(last year)

Boots: Dr Martens