WHAT I'M LISTENING TO

Sunday


"Alexa. Play my summer playlist."
I have downloaded a lot of new music lately so I thought I would share this with you. I haven't done a post like this in a while so here's your chance to keep up with the music I have been listening to recently.

Holding phone playing music playlist

SUMMER PLAYLIST
Eviction notice - Kojaque (feat. Kean Kavanagh)
Last pint - Kojaque
Flu shot - Kojaque
Losing you - Boy Pablo
Here Comes The Cowboy (album) - Mac Demarco
Gone - Charli XCX & Christine and the Queens
Can I - Kiana Lede
LOVE AGAIN - Daniel Caeser & Brandy
Just us - DJ Khaled (feat. SZA)
Triggered (freestyle) - Jhene Aiko
BMO - Ari Lennox
Ride it - Tink (feat. DeJ Loaf)
Borderline - Tame Impala
Doin' Time - Lana Del Rey
Loose Ends - Loyle Carner
Choose sides - M.O & AJ Tracey
Television / so Far so Good - Rex Orange County
You - Jacquees
Who's - Jaquees
Shot clock - Ella Mai
Racks - H.E.R (feat. YBN Cordae)
Jade - Lolo Zouai (feat. Blood Orange)

My Top 3 from the playlist
1. Doin' Time - Lana Del Rey
Obviously Lana is my favourite artist of all time and this is a cover of the 1996 Doin' Time by Sublime. I would recommend Lana's version of the song, even to people who don't usually like Lana Del Rey's style of music.

2. Television / so Far so Good - Rex Orange County
A new favourite artist of mine. This song is my favourite by Rex Orange County, it's just so catchy and very summer.

3. Choose sides - M.O & AJ Tracey
This song is the type of song you want to listen to when you're getting ready for a night out, that's all I'm going to say.

Let me know what your favourite songs of the summer are in the comments!

Previous blog post: Dublin 2019 and seeing Lana Del Rey

Social Media 
Twitter - @_laurenken
Personal Instagram - @_laurenken
Blog Instagram - @wooloftheking1

Wool of the King



LAUREN ON BEAUTY PROJECT

Thursday

Here is a link to my university blog project if anyone would like to read it. There are 5 different posts with the theme digital impact upon the beauty industry.

LINK: http://www.blogs2018.buprojects.uk/laurenkenny/

EXPLORING DUBLIN AND SEEING LANA DEL REY

Sunday


Exploring Dublin

Lana Del Rey singing live







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If you have seen my posts on Instagram, you will know that I travelled to Dublin last week, primarily to see Lana Del Rey. Yes. It was as good as I expected!

My friend Robyn and I travelled to Dublin last Thursday evening, but the concert wasn't until Saturday.

On Friday, we just walked around Dublin and did touristy things. We walked around the shops on Grafton Street, visited Trinity College, sat in St. Stephen's park then had dinner at Zizzi, followed by a drink at Bad Bobs in Temple Bar.







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Be warned, the Centre of Dublin is quite an expensive place to visit, especially for drinks. We didn't take that much money to use for tourist activities but if we did I definitely would have visited the Leprechaun Museum and would have gone on an open top tour bus.

Seeing Lana Del Rey Live 
Gates to the concert opened at 4pm but they let us in at 3:30pm. It was in Malahide Castle & Gardens which was stunning and not like any other concert I'd been to before.


After arriving at the stage, second row from the front at 3:30pm, we soon realised that nothing was starting on the stage until 6:30pm. We didn't leave for food, drinks or anything because we had such a good spot and as people piled in behind us, we wouldn't have got back to our spot.







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After waiting for around 3 hours, the first support artist, Kojaque performed. He brought Luka Palm and Kean Kavanagh from Soft Boy Records on stage with him. There were rumours around the audience that Lana Del Rey asked them to join her performing that night literally two days before the event. If you haven't heard of these guys, which I hadn't until they performed, then go check them out!

The second support artist was called Tamino, who I also hadn't heard of prior to the concert. He had an amazing voice but his songs weren't really for me.

Lana Del Rey didn't come on stage until 9pm but she was definitely worth the wait. As we were near the front, we were surrounded by superfans who had travelled from all over Europe and the rest of the world to see her. She started with Born To Die and then went on to sing newer songs and old songs too. She sung her cover of Doin' Time for the first time that night. There were swings and palm trees giving it a California summer vibe.

The whole thing was amazing and Lana's voice was even better in person. Seeing as how Lana Del Rey hardly ever comes to the UK I had never seen her in concert before and have wanted to see her for around 7 years, it was a dream come true.

One downside though, is that so many people were shoving and becoming quite selfish with wanting to get to the front. As a result, lots of people started arguing and shouting at each other. I just concentrated on not falling over and tried to ignore all of that as I'd waited so long for this I wasn't going to let anything get in the way.

She walked off the stage down to the front of the audience, it was madness. I was about 5 metres from her! A lot of people got selfies with her and autographs, unfortunately I didn't but I was just grateful to attend one of her shows.

Make sure to check out my personal and blog Instagram accounts to see videos of the concert and more photos of my trip to Dublin.
Personal Insta: @_laurenken
Blog Insta: @wooloftheking1


Until next time x

TURNING 20

Tuesday

This post is just going to be a bit of a life update. At the beginning of this month I turned 20. If I'm honest, with my common sense I am shocked I've made it this far.

I'm going to use this time to talk about my mum's sausage rolls. A bit random I know, it's because I asked her to make sausage rolls for me instead of a cake as they are to die for! I won't even say how many I ate because it was just unholy. I don't know whether I should be proud or deeply ashamed of myself.

Brambles and pina colada cocktails at Be at One

The day before my birthday Joe and I stayed in a very nice hotel in Bath called Z Hotel as there was a very good deal on Booking.com. This hotel does complimentary cheese and wine from 5pm - 8pm in their lobby. Perfect. Obviously, I was all over that. Incidentally, they started playing Lana Del Rey when we were eating our cheese, it's like they knew it was my birthday.





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We then went to the Cosy Club in Bath for food and a cherry bake well cocktail, one of my favourites. After that, we went to Be At One and Turtle Bay for more cocktails. The next day, my actual birthday, we went shopping in Bath, which is one of my favourite places to shop. Then we drove back to Bournemouth, where we played minigolf at Mr Mulligans, then had our evening meal at Zizzi.





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If you head to my new blog Instagram page, @wooloftheking, you will be able to see more photos of the food and drinks I had over my birthday.

As if I hadn't had enough celebrations, I had invited all of my friends at uni for a night out. Before that, our pre drinks consisted of a pass the parcel with amazing prizes, made by Kitty. We also played pin the tail on the donkey, should have had some jelly and ice cream then it would have been a proper kids party. Following the pres, we went to the Lost Paradise in Bournemouth.


CONTRACEPTION: THE LOW DOWN

I asked on Instagram and Twitter for people's experiences with different types of contraception and I got more responses than expected. The amount of responses I got shows me that it is something a lot of people, mainly women do want to talk about as it affects people so differently and these affects can often be quite negative.

The contraceptive pill

Here are some examples of the responses I received from women currently using contraception, I won't be using names:

"The implant gave me a month long period."
"Mood swings on the first pill now I have changed I feel fine."
"Rigevidon made me feel really down and angry."
"The pill made me put on sooo much weight and became so spotty until I came off it."
"The pill made me feel depressed."
"The pill made me feel like I was so down and alone, I also gained weight, skin was horrible."
"The injection f*cked me up, I got super depressed. I stopped doing things and stopped going into college. Never again"
"I've had a bad experience on so many pills including Yasmin, Microgynon, Cerelle. Problems included weight gain, nausea, the worst skin and pain. I hate the pill."
"The pill is amazing for me but I had the worst mental health and doctors wouldn't take me off it because it was 'too soon', they told me to give it a chance."

The main purpose of this post is to make people think about how important it is to find the right contraception for you or your partner because there are so many horrible side affects as you can see from the responses above.

Firstly, I need to emphasise that everyone is affected differently by different forms of contraception and by no means should anyone be scared off it by this post. I am just trying to educate people on possible side affects so that people make sure they get what is right for them. There are so many different types of contraception that I didn't even know about. Researching this has been a learning curve for me too.

I didn't really have sex education at my school after the age of 12, and then it was about periods and stuff rather than being safe with sex. When we did learn about it at school we just learnt about condoms which are obviously a good form of contraception as they also protect against STI's but they are not the only form of contraception out there.

If you are like me and the thought of an injection, implant or coil really cringes you out then there are lots of different types of pills that do different things to your hormones and have different amounts of hormones in them.

Due to the amount of negative responses about contraception side affects, it seems to me like women have to go through a trial and error process before they find a good contraceptive that suits them. In my opinion, doctors should be doing more to make sure pills and other contraceptives aren't harming people.

In my experience, they gave me 3 months worth of pills to start with before checking my blood pressure again and prescribing me another 3 months worth of pills at the end. Now, they give me 6 months worth at a time and will only give me a pill check every 12 months where they will check my blood pressure again. They have never once asked me about my mental health and the pill and other contraceptives have seemed to have affected the mental health of a number of women.

One of the responses above, refers to the implant and mental health. She said she had told the doctors she didn't want the implant anymore as she knew it affected her mental health in a negative way. The doctors thought it was too soon, seemingly ignoring her request and disregarding the severity of the effect it was having on her mental health.

People using words such as "depression" when it comes to contraception just goes to show the severity of the effect it can have on mental health. In extreme cases, it could possibly make girls and women feel suicidal. If there is a chance that this could happen, isn't asking how your mental health is in on a pill check the least doctors could do? I am not saying no doctors ask, I am just basing this on my own experience and those of my followers.

It is also important that men understand the possible side affects women could be facing just to sleep with them. It's important to spot differences in women's mental health and attitudes in case they are being affected by contraception. It's also important to support them through the decisions they make about contraception as these decisions often concern men too.

My advice would be make sure you research contraception before you decide what would be best for you. If you do hear bad things about certain types, remember that it might not be the same for you as all types of contraception affects people differently. It is all about what suits you. Finally, don't put sex before your mental health.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Friday

This month is Women's History Month and Friday is International Women's Day. To celebrate this day I will be sharing with you some of the most iconic, influential women to me. As a woman who studies gender inequality, this day holds significance for me. These women are in no particular order.

1. Jo Kenny (my mum). The most iconic woman by far, who always enjoys life while drinking a glass of prosecco or G&T. She cooks the best lasagne and roast dinners. She also managed to still be an amazing mum by herself when my dad had to go away with work (My dad is also iconic and fab).

2. Frida Kahlo. A Mexican artist, well-known for her self-portraits and exploring questions of gender, postcolonialism, class and race in her art.

Frida Kahlo self portrait

3. Emmeline Pankhurst. She led the suffragette movement for the women's right to vote and she played a big role of winning the vote for women in the UK.

4. Emily Davison. A suffragette who fought for women's right to vote in the UK. She went on hunger strike seven times and was force fed on forty-nine occasions. She was also arrested over ten times for her dedication to winning the vote for women.

5. Dolly Parton. Her song 9 to 5 for the movie 9 to 5 (1980) exposes the inequality women have faced in the workplace being secretaries, while only men have had power.

6. Jameela Jamil. A British actress and activist. She promotes body positivity for women on social media. She has started the I Weigh movement on Instagram for body positivity.


Image result for reese witherspoon legally blonde
7. Michelle Obama. As first lady of America, she was, and still is a role model for women. She has also worked as an advocate for poverty awareness, education and nutrition.

8. Cher. She has been an icon for females during her six decade career.

9. Reese Witherspoon. Not only did she play the iconic Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, a game changer for teenage girl movies, but she also won Glamour's woman of the year award in 2015. Her "What do we do now?" speech also changed the game for women in acting.

10. Beyoncé. One of the most influential female music artists for women to date.

11. Ariana Grande. God is a woman, and it is Ariana Grande. After everything that has happened to her in the last few years with the Manchester Attack and Mac Miller, she is still putting out chart-topping music and still continues to be one of the most influential women.

12. Malala Yousafzai. An activist from Pakistan. The Taliban stopped girls from going to school and after fighting against this she was shot in the side of the head. After a miraculous recovery, and telling her story, she is now studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the university of Oxford, UK.

Adoah Aboah from Gurls Talk podcast13. Rosa Parks. In the 1950s in America, it was a rule that seats on buses would be given up for white people if the bus was full. Rosa Parks, a black woman, refused to give up her seat. Well-behaved women are not the ones who make history.


14. Audrey Hepburn. An actress who used her platform to become a humanitarian.

15. Katherine G Johnson. Her mathematical calculations of orbital mechanics allowed the first subsequent US manned spaceflights. You have probably heard of Neil Armstrong instead, the first man on the moon.

16. Sandra Bullock. American actress and philanthropist.

17. Jane Fonda. An American actress, also an activist for feminism and she campaigned against the Vietnamese War.

18. Kehlani. Despite attempting suicide, she continues to make music and promotes being a strong woman.

19. Adwoa Aboah. Activist and model who founded GURLS TALK, a website, Instagram page, and podcast for women. At the moment, she is campaigning against period poverty which is a huge problem in the world today. Some women across the world cannot afford their necessary sanitary products.

20. Marie Curie. She changed the world by founding radioactive science and launched effective cures for cancer. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and first female professor at the University of Paris.

25 NETFLIX SHOWS YOU MUST WATCH

Monday

If you love sitting in and watching Netflix but you can't always decide what to watch then keep reading. I have made a list of all the shows I have liked and would recommend in no particular order. It is a real struggle not being able to choose what to watch on Netflix.

1. Gossip Girl a lot of people have seen this but it is a good one to re-watch when you think you have watched everything. I know I always go back to it when I have nothing else to watch.

2. Pretty Little Liars another teen girl classic that lots have people have also seen but every time you watch it you find out more and more stuff that you probably missed first time.

3. Forensic Files everyone loves a good true crime documentary and the episodes are only 20 minutes long.

4. You it really makes you think about how easy it is to be stalked from your social media accounts. Also its just interesting and dramatic.

5. Full House a feel good 80s/90s sitcom.

6. Fuller House a reboot of the original (Full House) with the kids as parents.

7. Atypical easy to watch high school drama that also creates more autism awareness.

8. Insatiable another teen girl drama but it gets very dark at times.

9. Blue Planet Sir David Attenborough. Need I say more?

10. Planet Earth same reason as number 9 and animals.

11. RuPaul's Drag Race no tea no shade hunty.

12. Killer Kids the most messed up murder documentary there is. Each episode shows a different theme of killing and all the murders are done by children.

13. Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution because we should all be educated on the history of the holocaust, with Auschwitz being the most notorious concentration camp.

14. 13 Reasons Why very though provoking and controversial.

15. Gavin and Stacey a British comedy classic, a national treasure.

16. Luther Idris Elba is the protagonist and the crimes are more messed up than normal crime dramas which makes it more exciting and sometimes scary.

17. Friday Night Dinner another British comedy, Inbetweeners level funny (almost).

18. Skins good to watch and re-watch. Another classic British show but it is more of a drama.

19. Orange is the New Black comedic, dramatic and also represents many different types of women instead of a stereotype. It also gives us an insight to prison life that we wouldn't normally get.

20. Grace and Frankie highlights ageism as a social issue that people may not usually think about because it is typically young people that watch Netflix. Other than that it is easy to watch.

21. The Good Place this is like nothing I've ever watched before. Not only is it funny but it also contains lots of philosophical theory and the storyline is very fast-paced and exciting.

22. Big Mouth good to watch if you have a childish sense of humour like me.

23. Ted Bundy Tapes everyone is talking about this series and everyone likes murder documentaries for some odd reason. They are just so interesting.

24. Inside the World's Toughest Prisons this gives an insight into prisons around the world that is unlike that of Orange is the New Black as this is a non-fiction series.

25. Dogs a pure documentary about how dogs are the best and we don't deserve them. It might make you cry.

Thank you for reading! Let me know your favourite Netflix shows, especially if they aren't on here because I am always looking for new programmes to watch.

DORTMUND CHRISTMAS MARKETS

Tuesday

In December, I had the pleasure of visiting Dortmund, Germany just before Christmas. I went with my family, boyfriend and family friends. My dad drove us there and we caught the Euro tunnel which was exciting because I hadn't done that before (I am rather easily pleased).

FIRST YEAR AT UNI: COMPLETE

Sunday

Summer ball at Bournemouth University

Most of you will know that I started a degree in Communication and Media in September, and now my first year of university has come to an end. It's safe to say, it was nothing like I expected to be. I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting but it was just an indescribable experience. From moving in university halls, to the last event which was the summer ball, everything just happened at a hundred miles per hour.

As soon as I'd moved in, there was a party at our flat for my flatmate Kitty, who has become one of my best friends, for her birthday. Straight away we were meeting so many new people and then after that we went clubbing as you do in fresher's week. My first year of university started as it meant to go on which was full on.

I have made so many new friends at university from all over the country, some from other countries and some friends that I didn't even expect to have. It's so different from being at home because I've lived in basically the same place my whole life where there isn't that many chances to make new friends as you kind of know everyone already. Obviously, I love my friends from home but it's nice to have made new ones as well.

Also, I got on with pretty much all of my flatmates in halls which was lucky and I know some people aren't that lucky, but no flat is perfect. There was sometimes fall outs about noise, the kitchen being messy, and food stealing but I think most flats have that. 90% of the time living there was such a laugh and I'll miss it but I'm looking forward to moving into a house with different people in September too because it will just be a different experience.

Living in university halls wasn't always easy, especially when you have to cook for yourself and are clueless in the kitchen like me. Even though a pasta sauce I made turned solid, I never got food poisoning so I see that as a success. All you need to know is how to cook noodles and pasta that is the ultimate student cuisine. My advice would just be to buy an already made pasta sauce that you just have to heat up or stir in.

Like any year, it has had lots of ups and downs. So many good things have happened like mainly getting the grades I want in my course. However, one very difficult thing to go through was one of my closest friends at university passing away. I have to say though, being surrounded by such good friends all the time made it a lot easier.

Overall, I would describe my experience of university so far as zero to a hundred. Not so much with coursework because I mainly did it before it was due and felt like I had all of my deadlines under control. However, with uni life, everything was just so full on which was a good thing for me because there was always something going on and something to do. That's probably why I didn't post on my blog as much.

I'd be interested to know about anyone else's experiences of university and I'm very happy with what I'm doing and can't wait for second year.

Bournemouth university students at Summer Ball



A WEEK IN SORRENTO

Beautiful Sorrento image

As some of you may know, last month I took a trip to Sorrento, Italy for a week. I'd like to start by saying I would fully recommend this to anyone who is looking for somewhere new to travel to. Our hotel wasn't actually in Sorrento itself, it was located just outside in a small town called Sant'Agnello which was about a 5 minute drive or a 45 minute walk to Sorrento.

Hotel in Sant Agnello Italy

The hotel we stayed in was very nice but I have to say it was quite outdated but this didn't matter much because most of the time we were out exploring. There was a swimming pool as shown but nobody really used this during our time there because it wasn't hot enough. The temperature while we were there ranged from around 14-18 degrees, which was perfect temperature to walk around in but it wasn't hot enough to sunbathe in (although, incidentally I did get sunburnt whilst the local Italians were wearing hats, scarves and gloves but I'll continue to forget about my unfortunate pale skin, and think about the highlights of my trip).

2017 BEST BITS

Tuesday

Happy new year everyone I hope you've all had the best Christmas and 2017. I know that 2017 was a huge year for me with so many changes and it was all very exciting so I thought I would share all of the excitement.

JANUARY:
- Passed my driving test on the 10th of January (after being terrible at it for 9 months).
-13th January: I got a car (Frankie the Ford Fiesta).
- On the 30th of January I went to the best concert I'd ever been to which was Drake.

Drake at the boy meets world tour

FEBRUARY:
- I saw Two Door Cinema Club live on the 7th.
- From the 13th of February until the 16th I went on a trip with college to Krakow, Poland. In this week I had the experience of going to Auschwitz, Birkenau concentration camp and Schindler's Factory.

Entrance to Auschwitz concentration camp

MARCH:
- In March I spent a lot of time with friends and did bits of photography for some A level coursework.
- Adam and I saw Circa Waves, one of my favourite bands in Bristol on the 27th.

Circa Waves band live in Bristol

APRIL:
- 3rd of April: MY 18TH BIRTHDAY - I had my first legal drink which was a cherry bakewell cocktail from the Cosy Club.
- 8th of April was my birthday party with all of my favourite people and my first night out.

Family photo for 18th Birthday

Best friends at 18th birthday

MAY:
- May mainly consisted of revision and also consisted of 2 different nights out.

Friends out night clubbing


JUNE:
- 1st of June, I went to Bristol zoo and then shopping in Bristol.
- Adam and I also went to Thorpe Park on the 22nd.
- 27th June: FINISHED COLLEGE/LAST EXAM
- 29th of June we went to bath.

Bristol Harbour


JULY:
-MORE COCKTAILS ON JULY 1ST.
-On the 7th of July I went to 2 parties in 1 day. The first was a pool party which was hilarious because the pool didn't actually get delivered on time, but we still had lots of fun with a home-made slip 'n' slide. The second was a royalty themed party in the evening where I wore a queen mask with very small eye holes so I was bumping into everything.
- 11th of July: AFTERNOON TEA (my first ever).
- July 20th was my favourite day out of the summer where we went to Cheddar Gorge. Those of you who know me know I love cheese! I was in my element seeing how it was made, tasting it and buying it.
-21st July: My second baby niece, Scarlett was born.
-24th of July I went to London for the day; went to the science museum and did some shopping.

Friends in beach fancy dress at pool party

Teenage girl holding baby niece

AUGUST:
- 7th of August I went on my family summer holiday to Cyprus where we stayed in a villa.
- 8th of August was karaoke night (me and mum sang No Scrubs by TLC).
- 11th of August was our night out in Ayia Napa.
- 12th of August we stayed in the villa and I organised a talent show which was one of the funniest things I'd seen.
- 14th of August we had a birthday and an anniversary to celebrate so we had nice tea and nice drinks.
- 17th of August: A LEVEL RESULTS DAY! I got BCC and went on a night out in Southampton on the night of results day.
Protaras Beach Cyprus

SEPTEMBER:
- Cocktails in Bath on 3rd of September
- 16th September: Moving in day at uni and first night out of fresher's week.
- 17th September: Lethal Bizzle in Bournemouth.
- 23rd September: Fresher's Fayre.
- 25th September: The official start of university.

3 university freshers in student halls


OCTOBER:
- More nights out and getting settled into uni.
- Big Halloween night out.

Night out at Aruba Bournemouth



NOVEMBER:
- Christmas shopping at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth on the 4th.
- 12th November: Meal at Casa Brasil.
- Ice skating in Bournemouth on the 21st (I cannot ice skate for my life I don't even know why I wanted to go but I'm glad I did it was so hilarious).
-25th November: More Christmas shopping in Southampton
-26th November: Mulled wine at the German Christmas market in Southampton
-27th November: Went to a care home with friends from my uni course to interview the residents for an assignment.

DECEMBER:
-10th December: Flat Christmas party in the day followed by a work Christmas party in the evening.
-14th December: Last uni night out of the year before the Christmas holidays.
-22nd December: Drinks with my friends from home then we somehow ended up on a weird night out in my home town.
-25th December: CHRISTMAS DAY (I had too much to eat/drink so I fell asleep on the sofa at 8pm AKA spending Christmas the right way).
-29th December: Day out in London and Winter Wonderland.
-31st December: NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY.

university friends at a party

university students at a party

friends out for drinks at the pub

mum and daughter at winter wonderland in London

I have had the most amazing year thanks to everyone who was a part of it. I will hopefully do a post like this at the end of this year too. I would love to hear about the best parts of your year and your plans/goals for next year.

Thank you so much for reading :) x