Spotify's Playlists are a Beautiful Thing

I have this annoying problem, it's a highly important, life ruining problem. 
I always get bored of playlists on my Spotify so quickly. Yeah, I lied, not life ruining, but it is a consistent annoyance that I run into pretty often.
It took me ages to clock on to the fact that they actually have playlists that get updated regularly. Yes, I know, you all knew that ages ago. 

Seriously though, that is amazing, sorted my laziness right out, I don't even have to bother faffing about with it anymore.

So, I thought I would give you a little peek at my favourite Spotify playlists. Some of them are pretty weird, not going to lie. Just remember, I like weird things, you don't have to agree with me, that's just the way I am, no apologies here! ;)

I will attach a link to the title, so you can fly straight to them. In no particular order, here you go..

Spotlight on New Music - This play list is great for finding new music, hence the name. Granted, it has some weird crap on it, but it has some gems on there that I definitely wouldn't have found if I didn't have it playing away in the background. I always have new music playlists playing in the background when I am doing something mindless like cooking or housework. If something is good enough to grab your attention when you aren't paying it full attention, it is worth taking a note of. That's how I assess music I jot down to listen properly to later. I found Ibeyi on this playlist, who I now can't go a day without listening to.

This is... The Year of House Take Over - I don't need to say much about this. People who know me will know, I am a House head.  This has some bangers on it, it also has a few questionable ones, but perfection is hard to find.

Zane Lowe's Hottest Records (BBC Radio 1) - Everyone loves Zane Lowe, everyone also knows he has possibly the most varied music taste. Which is why this playlist is awesome, it's got a little bit of everything, so it would be pretty hard for someone objecting to this playing in the background. If they do, tell them to get out. Problem solved.

Topsify UK Rock Top 40 - It is pretty important to me to stay on top of different genres, my two primary genres have always been Rock and House. At first I guess they are pretty opposite ends of the spectrum, but if you think about it, they are both very bass heavy and are very rhythmic. I think that is what draws me in, I definitely have a habit of leaning toward that when I am writing my own material as well. Anyway, I side tracked again, this playlist is quite self explanatory. Lots of Rock, lots of good stuff.

Annie Mac's Musical Hot Water Bottle (BBC Radio 1) - The title of this describes it quite nicely. It really is like a little hot water bottle. All cozy, easy to listen to and my go to when I get in from a long day at uni. I do love Annie Mac, I think she is yet to recommend a track that I have questioned her reasoning. This playlist isn't just a load of thumping dance tracks, she actually has quite an array of different tracks on there!

topsify - I saved this one for last because, lets be honest, if you use Spotify, you probably know about topsify. It's a definite go to, topsify is not a single playlist, they have a selection of playlists, with the current top tracks in genres from indie, to dance, to what is brand new. Obviously I am loving the dance one..



To be honest, just have a gander on the 'Browse' section of spotify, if you search around for long enough, you will stumble on a playlist which will keep your attention for a long time, especially if they are updated often. Not all of the ones I put up above are updated regularly, but they are still worth a listen. Obviously the 'Top Tracks' ones are, so keep them saved!!

So that is a few for you, honestly, I partially posted this so I could steal some of your playlist suggestions, ulterior motive, sorry. Spotify could definitely work on getting a few more House playlists on there that I don't have to skip multiple tracks in-between every good one.

Get a Tough Love playlist on there, go on Spotify, you know you wanna...

Suggestions? Fire away, I'd appreciate ;)

Much Love

Chloë

XO

Third Year Degree Students: The Fear Settling In...

I can literally smell it. I can definitely feel it. I can't hear it though...The fear and panic. I can't hear it because everyone has locked themselves away or are silently panicking and coping in their own weird little ways.

Welcome to third year of a degree.

Past students will brush it off, "Man up, we had to do it, just don't talk to anyone for a while". Future third years don't get it at all, "Why are you being such a melt for? Just come out, one night isn't going to make a difference". YES IT IS. You will find out when you get here!!

These are a few ways of coping, not dealing, with the panic I have seen and my suggestions to help:

• Denial. Pretending you have enough time? If you don't look at it, it will go away? It won't, this is FINALS of a DEGREE. This is the one time, doing the bare minimum probably won't work for you! And to be honest, if you have scraped it through this far doing that, imagine what you could do if you actually put your mind to it? You'd finish with one hell of a bang.
• Isolation. Shutting yourself off and either manically preparing or telling yourself you are, when really you're watching episode after episode of Supernatural? Firstly, if you are manically preparing, CHILL OUT. You will only burn yourself out, we don't have long but it is long enough to over do it and crash and burn at the end. If you are subconsciously procrastinating, there is only one thing for it. Get off that illegal streaming website, it is just slowly your computer down for when you have to do real work. Go outside, take a walk, work out what you need to do, do it a bit at a time. Treat yourself to a cheeky episode at the end of the day if you have done all your work.
• Defeat. Telling yourself you can't do it, so you don't even try? I'll put my hands up, I'm guilty of this. How do you know you can't do it, if you haven't even tried? My Nanna, and now my boyfriend, always say to me "can't just isn't a thing" you CAN technically do anything you want to do. The only things that are really stopping you are fear, social acceptance and in some cases, the law...(but not for what i'm encouraging you to do, I hope..)
• Busying yourself. Busying may not be a word, I think it is... Anyway, filling your time with other things, distractions, it may even be things that are highly productive, just not for uni. For example, I am working and doing external writing and recording for other people and my own personal demos/portfolio. Yes, this is incredibly important and things I need to be doing. There is just one problem, balance is key. Work out what is actually the priority here, if you have to turn down shifts at work, do it. If you have to put your personal stuff on hold for a day or two, to finish a piece of work, do it. Okay, somethings may have deadlines, but everyone understands University doesn't just 'get put on hold' in your third year. If you have a deadline, speak to the person, they may just give you a bit of a break.

Writing all of those, I do feel like a bit of a hypocrite. My parents will be the first to say, I am notoriously bad for a few of those.

I had a little FaceTime date with my Mum yesterday and I actually got a lot out of it. It is good to sit with someone who knows you and can see what you are doing from the outside for advice.

I personally get quite bad anxieties when I am panicking, which I won't go into now, but it causes me a lot of quite detrimental problems, so I have to be extra careful to stay calm, plan ahead, keep a balance between work and play. Whether you get anxiety or not, these things are all very important for productivity.

I found this on Pinterest, it is pretty bang on! You may have to zoom in a little bit if you're as blind as me..

So here are some of my own few building blocks to help you out for these crazy few months we have voluntarily entered ourselves into:

• Get a calendar, write on it when all your deadlines are.
• Write a list of all the things you need to do for each deadline
• Draw a timeline (or use your calendar) and mark in when each of these things needs to be done by
• Make it reasonable, leave time to have chill out time with friends/family
• Make a to do list every week and tick the items off as you go
• HAVE ONE DAY OFF EVERY WEEK OR TWO WEEKS. I can't stress this one enough
• Stay healthy, go to the gym, eat well, sleep well, drink lots of water. It does effect how you perform.
• Take breaks during the day, read/watch the news, a short episode of something, paint your nails...whatever...
• If you don't get what you needed to do done, don't stress, just do it tomorrow. Give yourself a bit of leeway when writing your to do list (make it reasonable). Not so much that you take advantage and put things off though
• You have 5 months. 5 MONTHS of this. Then you have the whole of summer to chill out. 5 MONTHS. That's nothing, it's not even half a year, you'll smash it, just take it step at a time. Believe in yourself, I sure as hell believe in you.

I will leave you with this to think about,  hopefully inspire you to stay focused through these crazy few months! Powerful words!

Much Love and Good Luck!

Chloë

XO

I spent too much money on make up last week. Oops.

Just thought I would share a few of my new make up loves with you.
No fancy big post this time, just a cheeky little reminder that I own too much make up and could probably give you tips on most things, as I have probably tried them. Yes, my bank account hates me.

Anyway, so as everyone does when they get paid, they give themselves a little treat, I may have gone past the treat point...
These are the little gems I found this month, that were worthy of a mention.

I bought this from TK MAXX for £4.99 (RRP £6.99). Rimmel Scandal Eyes Retro Glam in Extreme Black

...and LOOK AT HOW AMAZING IT IS. I can't apologise enough for my eyebrows, who knew iPhone cameras were this good at close up...

MAC Lipsticks, of course. Left: Viva Glam II (£15.50) Right: Saigon Summer. (£15.50)Bottom: Rimmel Scandal Eyes Retro Glam Mascara in Extreme Black (As Before) 

Let me tell you about a little obsession I have. It has a name and it's name is M.A.C. Their Lipsticks. I own too many, I need to buy a box especially for them now, as I buy one a month, it's just something I have accepted that I MUST do now.

Their foundation, well it's the only foundation I have worn for at least 6 years. And don't even get me started on their pigments, I wish I owned one, they are just so beautiful. Next pay day? Yeah, I think so...

I'm sorry, I already used this when I took this photo. I'm terrible! But Topshop's Bronzer is so good! The only complaint I have is that it doesn't seem to be pressed enough, it goes very loose when you use it. For £9, compared to the usual £25 I would spend, it's pretty good though! It only comes in one shade, so no faffing, easy peasy :)

Just for good measure, this is how I spent my evening. FaceTiming my mother dearest and my baby boy, who I miss more than I thought possible!

 Much Love,

Chloë

XO

Finally - Album No.5

Firstly, I am going to apologise. SORRY SORRY SORRY.
This post is way beyond late, my bad.

So I'll just get down to it and not ramble...
This is the last album in my top 5 albums of last year. I probably didn't even really need to bother with this one, because it is a bit of an obvious one, but I keep my promises!
So enter, Royal Blood - Royal Blood. 

First observation, people seem to have given up on album titles. 'Just whack our name on it twice, it's cool, no one cares'. Well, that might get a bit confusing soon if you don't start naming your albums!

Anyway... Royal Blood are kind of 'one in a million' in the music world. They formed in 2013 and broke into the charts in 2014. What? Every musician reading this is now dying a bit inside. Does it make it hurt less if I say they definitely filled a little empty hole in the charts that needed filling with 'non-commercial' garbage? A bit...
They are a British two piece band, made up of a bass player/singer, Mike Kerr and a drummer, Ben Thatcher. Let that sink in for a second. That sound, with no lead guitar AT ALL. Just the two of them. Yeah.
Apart from being pretty tight with Arctic Monkey's, their success is definitely down to how ridiculously talented the two of them are, even Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin's guitarist said so, quoting Wikipedia (I know, Harvard Referencing wouldn't approve...) "I went to hear them in New York. They were fantastic. Absolutely riveting, they're such fine musicians.Their album has taken the genre up a serious few notches. It's so refreshing to hear, because they play with the spirit of the things that have preceded them, but you can hear they're going to take rock into a new realm – if they're not already doing that. It's music of tremendous quality."

I very highly doubt you have managed to get through last year without hearing at least one of their songs on the radio, but just incase, here is 'Out of the Black'. Enjoy the heavily distorted bass, clever lyrics and genius musicality...

I'll leave you with that, as not much more needs to be said!

Much Love,

Chloë

XO

Happy New Year!!!!

So, New Year, new start and all that, who's got New Years resolutions? And who is actually going to stick to them?

I am actually not setting myself one this year, because I feel last year was such a successful year for me in so many ways. This time last year, I would never think in a million years that I would be where I am now, only a year on.
So this year, my only resolution is to carry on the way I have been.
I find with resolutions, because you put so much expectation around it, it actually becomes harder to stick to and as soon as January is over, it goes way out the window. If there is something you really want to stick to, whether it be a diet, a promise to try harder to be productive or even just treat yourself a littler nicer, don't call it a resolution, call it a life change or something you think you will stick to and make it fun! Don't make it the be all and end all, if you slip up, that's fine, you don't even need to tell anyone, just pick up where you left off. After all, we are human, and we are allowed to not do everything the way we planned, otherwise we would be boring and just robots! We are allowed to have fun ;)

Back to New Years Eve though, what did you all do? I would love to know, might give me some ideas for things to do in future years!
I went to Troxy in London, Dollop (click for link to their Facebook) were holding an event there. MK, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Wilfred Giroux and others were playing. Pretty safe to say it was an amazing way to start the year. Great friends, old and new, ridiculous music and talks of an even better year than the last!
Dollop puts on a few events around the country through out the year, check them out. Definitely worth it! It was set to be the best NYE night in London, so it had a fair amount of hype around it, but my God, did it deliver! The venue itself was crazy, Troxy is actually a theatre, but it lends itself well to these type of events, having a lower section which gets pretty packed and sweaty and a higher section that is enormous and you can chill out a bit back there. It even has a balcony section, as most theatres do, but you were allowed to sit up there and watch it all going off on the lower level, it was a bit mesmerising!

I can't apologise enough for the state of me in some of these photos, but welcome to our messy little world on NYE 2014:

Sorry for the terrible iPhone front camera quality photos!

Yeah. I think I rocked those glasses...

Half of the team.

Before I go, I promise you the last post is coming soon about my Albums of last year, I have had a bit of a crazy week. I am sorry!!

Much Love & New Year good wishes,

Chloë XO

The Predictable Christmas Post

First things first, I hope you all had a MAGICAL Christmas!
I certainly did, I really thought this year was going to be the first year I was't going to see my family, due to many life obstacles, but we made it work. Which made it even better!

Christmas has a different meaning to everyone, throughout your life that meaning sometimes changes as your priorities change and you, in some cases, grow up. Christmas for me has always been about spending quality time with my family, the one day a year that nothing matters other than the people you are with and enjoying yourself on that day.
Every family has their own routine on Christmas day, how well that is kept to is hit and miss, but this year ours was slightly different to usual, we have never spent Christmas day at a friends house until this year, but it was one of the best Christmases yet!

My magical day in photos:

Wrapping Presents with 'A Christmas Carol' on TV. Of course.

My Mum always decorated my room for when I come home. Cutie.

The Before...

...And the after! Santa Stockings for 3, Bright and early Christmas Morning!

No Christmas is complete without this image <3

Parent selfie!

My one and only

Much Love,

Chloë XO