20 FACTS ABOUT ME

Wednesday

Since I have been blogging regularly and putting a lot more effort into my blog, I have gotten a lot of new readers. A lot of these readers might not actually know a lot about me, aside from what's on my social media accounts, so I thought it would be a good idea to share some facts about me. This way, you can get to know me a little better and I would love to get to know you guys better too!

Girl sat on Stonehenge chair

1. I am studying BA Communication and Media at Bournemouth University. I will start my third year in September (and I still have no idea what I want to do when I graduate).

2. Since last August, I have been working as a marketing intern for an organisation that provides foster care, homes for children, specialist education, therapy, and more to children. Our university course allowed for a placement year, so this is what I chose to do and I will be finishing this internship in early August.

3. I was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire. I have lived around Salisbury for all of my life, apart from when I'm living at university. Fun fact - I live within walking distance of Stonehenge. If you are ever planning to visit the Salisbury area, check out my favourite places to eat in and around Salisbury before you go.

4. This blog is actually 4 years old! Wool of the King turned 4 in May. It was mainly an on and off thing until I decided to make regular posts a few months ago.

5. I have a pet Shih Tzu called Hollie. She's 11 and is the best dog in the world, I love her the most!

6. I worked at Pret a Manger for 4 years while at college and university. I didn't have the best time working there, it was just more to get money while studying.

7. I have a boyfriend called Joe. We have been together for just over 2 years now and we will be living together in September along with some friends when we move back to university.

8. I am really interested in World War II history and the Holocaust, just because it's so shocking and so many awful things happened. I have been to Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Anne Frank House so far and both were unforgettable experiences.

9. I am also really interested in Philosophy. I studied philosophy at A level and actually wanted to do a degree in philosophy too. However, I decided to study communication and media as I saw more job opportunities at the end of it.

10. I am a huge fan of Lana Del Rey. Lana Del Rey actually means wool of the king in Spanish, hence the name of my blog. (I made it over 4 years ago and can't be bothered to change my domain name). Other artists I love include, Kehlani, Jhene Aiko, Beyonce, Arctic Monkeys, Ariana Grande ... There are too many to name!

11. I have been lucky enough to visit 17 different countries across 3 different continents. There are still so many places on my travel bucket list though.

12. Anywhere I go I always have to take lip balm with me and I can't go 20 minutes without putting it on. I am addicted!

13. RuPaul's Drag Race is my favourite thing on TV, I am obsessed and would definitely recommend watching it! Definitely season 4 onward though. Here's what else I'm watching.

14. When I was 8/9 I broke my arm so badly that I had to have a metal bar inside it for 6 months to straighten it out.

15. Last year, I adopted a panda through WWF and have been loving getting postcards of her through my letterbox.

16. A lot of people know me as quite the cheese connoisseur. I am forever getting tagged in those cheese memes on Facebook where people grate it directly into their mouth (just to confirm, I have never actually done that).

17.  I can't ride a bike. Yes, I'm 21 and can't ride a bike but I've never really had the desire to learn. Also, I can drive a car now and that is way cooler!

18. I really love Disney - all of the films are just so good and I hope I can go to Disneyworld Florida one day in the not too distant future. I have been to Disneyland Paris and loved it.

19. I am a really fussy eater.

20. My top 3 cocktails are Brambles, Aperol Spritz and Porntar Martinis. See how to make them here.

Let me know in the comments one fact about you that you think is interesting. I would love to get to know my readers more! Thank you to everyone who reads my blogs or has subscribed.

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Wool of the King



THROWING A FESTIVAL LOCKDOWN PARTY

Saturday


Our Bournemouth 7s Themed Party

Last weekend, I was supposed to be at Bournemouth 7s Festival. Like all other festivals, this had been cancelled due to coronavirus. Instead of moping around and being sad that I couldn't attend, I decided to throw a festival party in my garden with just my parents. They love it when I force my party ideas upon them!

Girl in festival outfit

The day was filled with games, food and music, without queuing an hour for the toilet or paying £5 per pint. We were deciding for ages what sort of food to have, and in the end we decided to do homemade pizzas that we all decorated ourselves. We had prosciutto, mozzarella, and pepperoni on them - deeelish!

Homemade Pizza

In preparation for the faux festival, I made some dodgy wristbands out of card. You can actually get custom festival wristbands printed too on various websites. I will definitely be trying this for another party!

We decorated the garden with bunting and decorated our bar with signs saying "Beer and Prosecco Bar". I also made signs to go on the bar that pointed to the VIP area, sports area and toilets. 

Hollie, our gorgeous pet Shih Tzu, worked very hard being a sniffer dog. By that, I mean we hid her treats on one of us and she had to sniff out who had the treat. I think she loved the attention but probably wouldn't hire her as an actual sniffer dog unless there was food involved

One thing I always try to do is make sure I have something to look forward to, but this can get hard with all the restrictions that we have going on at the moment. Planning things to do at home is one way I'm getting round that and how I am trying to stay positive. Read how else I am keeping busy whilst there are still coronavirus restrictions.

Other ideas on planning a festival party in your garden

All festivals need some headliners so it could be lots of fun to do karaoke. Or even more fun to laugh at your family members or friends doing karaoke. It could also be fun to do cocktail making, although I've never had a cocktail at a festival before, just VK's or something that I could actually afford. This could be a fun idea if you want to be a VIP.

Something we found it hard to think of was festival themed games. I'm sure there are some you can do that are to do with finding friends or searching people but we really struggled with this at our festival party. We ended up playing beer pong and a game where you blindfold each other and make the blindfolded person guess what they're tasting - we promised not to make it too gross.

I'd love to know your lockdown party ideas or anything else you have planned whilst at home. It would be good to get some inspo!

Festival Party Pin

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Wool of the King



BEING A FUSSY EATER: THE LOW DOWN

A while ago I started a series called, The Low Down, where I will just talk about certain topics, giving you 'The Low Down'.


Mussels in garlic sauce with caption

Since I can remember, I have always been a really fussy eater. Quite a lot of kids can be but I never seemed to grow out of it. It would probably be easier to tell you the foods I do like than listing the ones I don't. I basically don't like ANYTHING spicy, I also don't like tea or coffee (big shock alert).

People regularly laugh at my 'boring' taste in food, and I do too, but it is the bane of my life. Something that stands out to me is that I used to avoid going to Nando's because I got plain when everyone else got medium and someone always had something to say about it. "Sorry guys, I can't come tonight, um, I need to wash my hair." I don't really care about things like that anymore it just seems bizarre to me that people have such opinions on food tastes. Incidentally, I have recently graduated to lemon and herb!

I really wish I liked a lot more foods than I do because then I wouldn't have to worry about what we're having for dinner if I go to someone's house, or worry that I'm being really annoying if I say I don't like something. Luckily now, everyone I know knows that I'm a fussy eater so if I go to theirs for dinner, they will make sure it's something I like (love those kinds of people). 

It wasn't always that easy when I was growing up though. It was the absolute WORST when I would go to friends houses for dinner and their mum had made something I didn't like. Because I felt so bad, I would try my hardest to eat it even if I didn't like it. But when it's spicy food, I literally can't even force myself to eat it! Once I remember going to someone's and their parents had made a chilli con carne (one of my top WORST dishes) and I did try to eat it. In the end, I just had to say I'm so sorry, this is too spicy for me. Then, I remember the parents kind of getting slightly annoyed even though they tried not to show it.

I still love food though. Even though I'm quite fussy, I do love the foods that I will eat and I do try new foods to see if I'll like them. What kind of eater are you? Are you fussy or will you eat most things? Everyone has their own preferences, I just wish I liked more things but it's probably good that I don't because I love food too much now anyway.

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Wool of the King



20 SONGS TO CHILL OUT TO


Alexa, play my Chilled Playlist.
There have been lots of new songs out that I have been loving lately so I thought I'd share my new playlist with you. I always think it is great to share artists and songs with people that they could love but they haven't heard yet. These songs are good to chill out to, especially when you might be feeling stressed by the current state of the world.

Pink headphones on pink and blue background

Here is my latest favourite music:

1. Every song from the new It Was Good Until It Wasn't album by Kehlani. Kehlani is one of my favourite artists and her new album is the best one yet!
2. Hello? feat. Rejjie Snow - by Clairo
3. Too Late - by the Weeknd
4. Summer 2020 (interlude) - by Jhene Aiko
5. Playing Games - by Summer Walker
6. Eleven - by Khalid
7. Dive - by Victoria Monet
8. I want war (BUT I NEED PEACE) - by Kali Uchis
9. Cancelled. - by Kiana Lede
10. Chocolate. feat. Ari Lennox - by Kiana Lede
11. CYANIDE REMIX feat. Koffee - by Daniel Caeser
12. Up All Night - by Khalid
13. Drunk Dialing...LODT - by Summer Walker
14. Session 32 - by Summer Walker
15. You Know Wassup - by Kehlani
16. Tryna Smoke - by Jhene Aiko
17. I want you around (remix) feat. 6LACK - by Snoh Aalegra
18. Norman F*****g Rockwell - by Lana Del Rey
19. Cinnamon Girl - by Lana Del Rey
20. Hourglass - Catfish and the Bottlemen

I’d love to know your favourite chilled out songs! 

Related Read: What to Watch on Netflix and Disney+

Wool of the King