Keep calm and...

In my opinion one of the biggest crazes around at the minute is with the keep calm and carry on posters that have suddenly become iconic throughout the country (and abroad!) and used in so many forms of advertising, promoting and marketing! I love the original KC&CO poster and how is was used in 1939 at the beginning of world war II to strengthen morale and give people courage in the face of a war-threatened country. When it was first released it didn't get much publication as it was only distributed in limited numbers, but it resurfaced again in 2000 and now it is everywhere! The sad thing is that no one knows who the original designer of the poster was!

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I know that John Lewis have taken this iconic poster and used it for their summer merchandising. Their window display in the John Lewis store in my city has a big summer scene set out with the KC&CO style printed on mugs, bags, notebooks and even plasters!

The craze isn't just for the keep calm and carry on wording on the poster but all the word-substitution posters in a similar style. Below are some of my favourites:

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I like this design craze. Yes, it may be a little bit overdone now and is losing it's uniqueness but there is something so fresh, quirky and very British about it. I feel that the history associated with it's design only heightens peoples' love of it! Let us all keep calm and carry on no matter what may come our way!

(via pinterest)

Contemplation.

This is another music post. For some reason, I always get lots of positive comments whenever I do this type of blog post, so maybe I should do more of them? Anyway, I'm glad you like checking out what songs I like at the minute....and you've probably sussed out my music taste by now, so if you've got any good tunes on the go - let me know! I'm always wanting to expand my music collection!

The theme of my choice of songs for you today is romance. (1) Awwwwwww. (2) Blahhhhh. Which one are you? Hopefully you're number (1) and will like these songs as much as I do at the minute!

1. Train - Marry Me.
Which girl would not love this song? The beginning of the video is dead cute too. If you don't find the title appealing because you're against marriage or love at the minute, just watch it for the beginning!
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghZt2cILcCU

2. Disney's Tangled - I See The Light
I'm obsessed with the Disney movie Tangled at the minute. Just ask my fiancé, I made him watch it with me the other night! This is the best scene in the movie, so romantic and stunning animation!
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9NMjh4BJA0

3. Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are
It may be a tad overplayed, but in my opinion that isn't a bad thing. Some one (who I can't remember, sorry!) once said that if you want to know how boys really feel about girls then you should listen to the songs they write about them. So, if a man wrote this song, then I like it even more!
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5lO4hEAJHU

4. Matt Nathanson - Come On Get Higher
This song always reminds me of my amazing trip to America and being with my two best friends in the world....and my future fiancé....even though we weren't dating then! It fills me with love for the friendship and fun times that were shared. Good memories all round!
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHx4BlF6V2o

5. Sinead O'Connor - Only You (from The Young Victoria)
This song was definitely a grower. The first time I heard it I didn't really like it, but now I love it! I think I did have some biased-tendencies with the song since it's from my favourite film and also since my favourite film was filmed where my boyfriend proposed. So yeah, I love this song now!
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_GsqjuVCv8

There you go. Five romantic songs to make you feel happy and loved! (Well, they do for me)!
Also, if you want to check out my other music posts; just click the music label below and it will load up all the posts!

Cake.

For my birthday my sister bought me a cake book.
I did not appreciate the book as a birthday gift initially, this made my sister sad.
She therefore baked the cakes in the book and presented me with them.
When I exclaimed "What heavenly delight is this?" she then presented me with my cake book.
This cake book is the best book ever: the hummingbird bakery cookbook.

This week I met up with some girl friends and we baked some cupcakes from the said book. We chatted, ate icing and cake mixture and got covered in icing sugar. It was great fun.

(humming bird bakery blueberry cake)

Now, I think it will be pretty hard to top the hummingbird bakery cakes...everyone who has ever tried one has vowed that they are the most delicious of all the cakes (especially the strawberry cheesecake ones, yum yum) but I really like these unusual cupcakes. I haven't made any yet but I will definitely do it sometime! These wedding cakes are also pretty amazing, I can't believe you can eat them!

I want to have a new goal: to become good at baking and making delicious treats for me and my future husband - but not all the time, so we don't get fat and become fat, cake-eating mommas. So, cake within reason? Yeah...

New noises.

1. Parachute - She Is Love (Acoustic)
I found this song all by myself! (I am usually a rubbish music-hunter, so I am quite proud that I introduced myself to this song!) This is definitely my music-love at the minute.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjh9LLy4nf8

2. Christina Perri - Jar Of Hearts
This is so raw, I love it.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH7WXlf9WLk

3. Panic! At The Disco - Mona Lisa
My BF fiancé showed me this song. The melody is great.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6coqkaaQYG8

4. Lady Antebellum - Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Yes, I admit it. I'm a complete romantic with some songs. All girls love songs like this though, it's not just me!
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXwWT2Chx64

5. Two Steps From Hell - Heart Of Courage
Yes, I know, the title isn't that appealing...very emo/depressing. BUT, this is a classical piece of music and is so emotive that it makes you feel like you are invincible. So don't judge a piece of music by its cover. (Well, you should if the title is just full of swearing or inappropriate innuendos....but not in this case!)
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRLdhFVzqt4

Being grateful is great.

Yesterday a good friend gave a lesson about being grateful. Sometimes we can get so wrapped up and consumed in our own thoughts that we let them swallow us up and let them become mountains in our mind. We had to write little things we were grateful for onto some sticky notes and then put them in an envelope which we could keep to look at when we have a particularly bad day.

On my list I wrote a few things like 'I am grateful for my eyes/ the smell of my perfume/ galaxy chocolate/ the glee version of Friday...' but then I started to think a bit more seriously, and not-so-seriously, and realised how much I had to be thankful for in my life. I'm not a pessimistic person or even a self-indulgent person (well, I hope I'm not!) but I realised that I do take an awful lot of my life and blessings for granted and this little simple exercise started a snowball effect inside me which made me stop and think about different things that I'm grateful for and really how I am so lucky and privileged.

It seems to becoming increasingly common that the norm is to complain. I see enough of it on my Facebook wall to just give an estimate statistic that about 80% of people's statuses are about complaints, moans and general sadness. Being sad just makes other people sad. I think everyone should do this little experiment and think properly about all the things in their lives they are grateful for.

From that one simple lesson I have learned that there are so many things to be grateful for in our lives. I have to admit I do whinge a fair bit, but this is a characteristic of mine that I want to change. I want to be a grateful person and appreciate every little drop of life. Starting from now.

Oh, and if you haven't heard the glee version of Friday...here it is: