Gift Guide for Dad's

Last time, I did a gift guide for mum's and now it's the gift guide for dad's.

Honestly, because I am only 14 I don't buy my mum or dad much for Christmas but as I get older I probably will buy more for them. Still, I find it very hard to shop for my dad. I never know what to get him and well in general, shopping for men I find hard.

I will do my best though to give you gift ideas to buy your dad's.

A massager

If you decide to get a massager you will probably have a choice of a plastic massager or an electric one. Honestly, I have no idea which is better, so, you will have to decide that for yourself I'm afraid. My dad is always grumpy and moaning that his back hurts, I'm sure most of your dad's are like this too. If this is the case, then a plastic or an electric massager would be a great gift for him.

Toiletries gift set
A toiletries gift set is a pretty standard and obvious Christmas present for your dad. Every Christmas it is most likely that pretty much every member of your family will receive a toiletries gift set. It's nice and simple and easy to get hold of, most toiletries gift sets aren't that expensive unless you go for the more high end sets. Lynx is a very popular, cheap set to get, even I love the scent of the men's lynx deodorant and I'm a girl. Me and my brother receive a lynx set pretty much every Christmas, he usually gets the men's Africa one, which is my favourite and I usually get the girl one which is also quite nice.


Man Fragrance
All men should smell good, including dad's. Personally I think manly perfume isn't really something that men would go out and buy themselves. Usually it's the wife or girlfriend that does it for them or gets it as a gift for them. At least the benefits of buying men's perfume for your dad means that you can guarantee he will smell socially acceptable, it really is a gift for both of you.

An Electric shaver
I have so also chosen to add an electric shaved to the gift guide for dad's. I chose to add this to the list because I think an electric shaver is an ideal gift for dad's as you know it will get regularly used. Well, unless your dad doesn't shave but the majority of dad's do shave. No one wants a stubbly dad, so do both you and him a favour and allow him to be cleanly shaven this Christmas.

I hope I did ok with this and helped you guys pick a present for you dad's.
Emily xx

Gift Guide for Mums

As you probably know, Christmas is about only 4 weeks away and I thought I would do some gift guides. Today's gift guide is, a gift guide for mum's.

Fancy chocolates 
You just can't go wrong with chocolates, especially when there fancy looking. Thorntons do a great range of different chocolates in all different fancy looking boxes. I know if I got my mum some fancy looking chocolates she definitely wouldn't be sharing them with anyone

A photo album.
One or two years ago my cousin got her mum an electronic photo album, (a normal photo album would be great too) and she's loves it, my auntie always puts it on, especially at Christmas when the family goes round. This is such a great thoughtful gift for a mum. You can fill it up with pictures or leave it empty and let your mum put her own pictures in. My cousin filled the electronic photo album with pictures old and new, from pictures when her and her siblings were young and silly memorable pictures to very recent ones. This is very thoughtful and I can tell if I gave mum this she would get all emotional and think the world of it.

Spa day voucher
You have to admit all mothers need a day or a weekend off from cleaning the house, doing chores and looking after there children. A nice relaxing weekend off to go to the spa will do your mother good and will be very grateful for it.

High end perfume
Quite an obvious present choice for woman and generally one that can't wrong, all woman love to smell good! Usually high end perfumes are slightly more expensive but don't you worry once you give your mum her favourite gorgeous smelling perfume it will be worth it. Or you can even get a cheaper perfume that your mum likes, if this is your/your mum's preference and more in your budget then go for it.

Bath products
All woman, all ages love to have a relaxing bath in the evening, I'm 14 and I absolutely love having baths. So, your just can't go wrong with bath products. Perhaps some bath bombs, LUSH do amazing, massive range of bath bombs and at the moment they have their Christmas range out which is gorgeous. Also, soap and glory (found at boots and other drugstores) have a great range of bath products that smell gorgeous however, you will either love the scents or hate them, their range includes body wash, body butters, and more!

I hope these ideas for Christmas presents for mum's really helped you choose what to get you mum.

Ps. I'm sorry that I'm publishing this post today and not yesterday. I started the post last night and ran out of time before I could finish and publish it. So, you are going to get two blog posts from me today. My usual Thursday post will be up this evening.

Emily xx

Paranoia (being paranoid)

I am a very paranoid person. It has become a big issue recently because two of my friends keep going off and having 'secret' conversations. When my friends do that it massively pee's me off. Also, this paranoia causes me to panic and it really stresses me out. Whenever I go over to them during one of these 'secret' conversations they always shout at me saying "go away" or "fuck off" and this really offends whether their joking or not or being sarcastic or not. I take offence really easily which is sometimes a problem as I can get upset over something that somebody said which was meant to be a joke.

What is paranoia (being paranoid)
Paranoia is a symptom in which an individual feels as if the world is 'out to get' him or her. When people are paranoid, they feel as if others are always talking behind their backs. Paranoia causes intense feelings of distrust, and can sometimes lead to overt or covert hostility. An individual suffering from paranoia, feels suspicious, and has a sense that other people may want to harm him or her. As a result, the paranoid individual changes his or her actions in response to a world that is perceived as personally threatening. Objective observers may be quite clear on the fact that no one's words or actions are actually threatening the paranoid individual.

Note: Researchers do not fully understand what chemical or physical changes in the brain cause paranoia.

Treatments

It can be quite challenging to get an individual who is suffering from paranoia to accept treatment. Their paranoid condition makes them distrustful of people's motivation towards them, So that even the medical doctor appears to be a suspicious party. Medications that may be offered are usually looked at with great distrust, and efforts at psychotherapy are considered 'mind control' by a profoundly paranoid individual.
The first step to be taken when someone is suffering from paranoia is that of determining whether an easily reversible situation (such as an adverse reaction to a medication) might be causing the paranoia. If so, discontinuing the drug (either immediately or by gradually weaning the dose might end the symptoms of paranoia.

Tip on how to stop paranoia
This tip is my favourite and most helpful for me because it relates to me a lot. Hopefully this will help you too.

 Learn to reign your negative thoughts.
One of the reasons you're paranoid is probably that you tend to assume the worst in any situation, and focus on the worst thing that can happen instead of being realistic about the possible outcome (this is definitely what I do). You may think that everyone hates you or is talking about you, however it's very likely that none of this is true. 

The next time you have a very negative thought, stop and do the following:

-> Ask yourself how likely is it that the negative thought your having is actually likely to come true.

-> When your expecting the worst, consider all the possible outcomes of a situation, not just the negative ones. Then you'll see that there are many other possibilities other than the worst one.

-> Try to combat each negative thought with two positive thoughts. For example, if your worried that you think everyone thinks your new shoes look terrible, just think how good your hair and outfit look.

Autumn/Winter Essentials

Just to let you know, in case your a bit confused. I have decided that every Monday, Wednesday and Friday is just the smaller posts, the blog post topics for these days will be a range of different things but it will mainly be, updates, Question and Answers/tag questions and season related topics. On Tuesday's and Thursday's these will be the bigger and hopefully more beneficial posts and topics.

Today is Monday which means today is going to be a slightly smaller post. 

Autumn/Winter Essentials

I expect you have noticed if you live in the UK, that it is much colder now and it gets darker between 3:30 and 4:00 too and this means one thing. It is Autumn and Winter is coming! Which is why I am bringing to you my Autumn/Winter essentials.

Socks

Whatever the weather my feet always get extremely cold, and Winter is the worst time of the year to have cold feet which is why I always have to wear some thick, comfy, fluffy and soft socks to keep my little toes warm. 

Pj bottoms/Joggers 

Don't pretend you don't do this but you will spend the majority of your spare time in some comfy pj bottoms or joggers. This just makes me feel all chilled out and more feel more comfortable of I don't need to go anywhere I will chuck some on with a cosy jumper. Which brings me to my next one.

Jumpers

Everyone, especially in winter loves to just chuck on an amazing cosy jumper just to lounge around in and feel all snug, I know I do. Again, like I said in the previous one I usually do this if I'm not going anywhere. Even if I am going out I will still wear a warm, cosy jumper.

Make up

Honestly, I don't wear much make up but if someone were to ask me what colours I would wear in winter, I would instantly say cranberry shades. I think this mainly implies to lipsticks, nail varnishes and blusher. When it comes to wearing make up in winter I always think of cranberry and dark red shades, these are very pretty shades but very dark and daring colours to wear. 

Scarfs

Personally, I don't really wear scarfs that often, only if I'm out and I am massively freezing. But definitely in Autumn and Winter I think everyone should own a tartan scarf! This sort of pattern if perfect for this sort of year. If you don't know what a tartan scarf looks like, it is a checked patterned scarf usually it's red but it can come in all different colours.

Well, these are my winter essentials. Sorry if I missed anything out.

Please leave your winter essentials in the comments.

Emily xx

Boundaries and Saying NO!

Just a quick first thing I have to say. I know I said I will publish this post yesterday but I decided I will post Tuesday's and Thursday's each week instead of Tuesday's and Wednesday's .

Everyone has our own boundaries that we don't want people to cross. Usually this occurs in relationships a lot. In some relationships one person could be rushing things too much and the other may want to take it slow, a partner hugging you, kissing you, holding your hand and doing other sexual actions when you don't want them too, this is known as 'crossing the boundaries'. If your thinking "I don't want to do this, I'm not ready" or "I'm not sure", you have full rights to confront them and say "NO". If they say "Come on, there's nothing to worry about, it's fine" then you know a boundary has been crossed, then you are well within rights to say "NO, you are crossing my personal boundaries, I don't concent this and I don't want this".

 I know that some people may find it difficult to say no because you may just think it's too rude or your someone who doesn't like taking control and confronting someone but a lot of the time it's because you don't really realise it's happening until afterwards. But don't worry just be rude to them! If you say NO and just be rude and just confront them, if they have common sense they will realise that their wrong and your right. Hopefully they will back down and stop rushing things and let you do things you want and that your comfortable with. They should realise that they have crossed your person boundaries and that it's making you feel uncomfortable.

When your in this position where some is or has crossed/crossing your boundaries it's not a very nice position to be in. They try to force you into things that you don't want to do. This is called manipulation, well there are more names for it such as persuasion and encouragement etc. Afterwards you instantly think "wait that wasn't right and what that person did wasn't right". I think this is a really common thing, you can put all your trust in someone then they force and manipulate you into something that you feel uncomfortable with, then you instantly think "Can I ever put my trust in that person ever again" you know that your trust has been abused here and that is definitely something that you should address.

Now that we have addressed this, what do you think girls or boys should do if they find themselves in this situation where their limit have been pushed and they have been put in a difficult position they don't want to be in. Then the time has gone on and its like the next day or whatever, think...What should I do?

You can always address the situation but I think the person who put you in that situation may not be willing to talk.

I really hope this post has been very beneficial for you
Please leave the situations you have been in regarding this topic and I promise I will read them.

Emily xx

Just Say Yes!

"Just Say Yes, just say there's nothing holding you back"

How often do you turn things down or shy away from doing things that are just a little bit out of your comfort zone. How often do you say NO? For me I say No a whole lot more than I say yes.

Being a naturally very shy and anxious person, for me, saying no I often think is the only option. My mind would usually take control and makes me think that I will be safe doing the things that are within my comfort zone, things that don't scare me. I don't want to live my life like that, no one does. Do I want to live my life turning things down, and miss out on so many opportunities?, no, no I don't. I want to be able to say yes to more things and that is exactly what I will try to do.

Personally, sometimes I panic over things like homework or being picked on to answer a question in class but my main fear is having to talk in front of a group of people, this is because I have massive stage fright!. Some people may think "hey, that's no biggy" but honestly I really envy those people who have full confidence and can do these sort of things no problem. Last year we had to do a speech in pairs for English class and we had to perform the speech in front on the whole of our year (year 9). I had a massive panic attack, I was terrified. I bravely said that I didn't want to take part in it and I backed down, I was so glad my teacher understood (this relates to tomorrows blog post topic 'Boundaries and saying no'), I will probably go into more detail in another post.

There are very rarely times in my life, where there are not anxious thoughts that are floating around in my head. If you suffer with anxiety, panic attacks, depression etc. You get stuck in this NO mood, you don't want to do anything, you don't want to talk to anyone, you don't want to meet up with friends or family or even you may not want to leave your house. Whenever these things kick in just bat it away and say "NO, THIS IS MY LIFE, I'M NOT LETTING YOU TAKE OVER" this would be one of the best things to do. Soon as you let just a tiny bit of panic in, it will try to take over and stop you from doing things you actually want to do.

It has taken a whole lot of courage for me but because it is nearing 2014, for the new year I am going to make a new years resolution of trying to say YES to more things. Once you start saying yes, it will open a whole new world of new opportunities and you should gradually become a more confident person. If your nervous or scared at first like me, try to take it in baby steps first. Start to try and say yes to one thing each week and when you get more confident start saying yes to more things. Just push yourself! You never know what will come out of saying YES to things but you do know what will come out of saying NO to things you will feel like you can't do anything, you will start feeling even more crap about yourself, feeling like your not normal. At least if you push yourself you will experience new things but even if you fail sometimes at least your trying. Whatever is holding you back will determine how easy for you.

Just remember to push yourself, Just take baby steps at first, Just Say there's nothing holding you back, Just Say Yes!

This post was inspired by a blogger and youtuber called Zoella (aka Zoe Sugg). Zoe is a huge inspiration for me. She has done a blog post and a YouTube video called Just Say Yes and it was wonderfully written and a great message to put across. This inspired me to do a Just Say Yes post but in my opinion.

I really hope this was beneficial for you guys and could really relate to this post.
Please go check out Zoella on YouTube and check out her blog too, she is amazing.

Please say if and how this helped you in the comments.

Emily xx

Monday Insights #5 Ending

So, here it is again Monday Insights number 5. I'm thinking this may be the last of the series. Sorry about that. I may do another Monday series, I may not, I honestly don't know yet. But I can tell you one thing. I will be posting more often on my blog, hippee!

Well I will try to. I am aiming to be posting around 2-3 times a week instead of once a week. I am thinking the days will be Tuesday's, possibly Wednesday's and I'm not sure about the other day. But I will definitely be posting tomorrow and every Tuesday. My other posts will be a little different. Let's just say it's the type of posts that will be beneficial in some way (hopefully).

Anyway, I don't know if you will like today's topic or not but I'm sure you will all relate to it. My Obsessions. Yes, I know you all have at least one thing your obsessed with, or even more than one. Don't deny it. We all have something. Well, that's me, I definitely have more than one obsession. 

Recently, I have become massively obsessed with a TV show called Supernatural. You might have heard of it but for those who haven't I will try to briefly explain it whilst not giving too much away. Two brothers named Sam and Dean Winchester need to 'carry on where their dad left off, saving people hunting things, the family business'  they hunt ghosts, shape shifters, demons and many, many more terrifying creatures in order to fight, destry and kill the yellow eyed demon. During their time hunting they have to make some very life changing decisions, and many tragedies happen. I had heard a lot about supernatural from one of my friends and had always wanted to watch an episode or two. My dad had series 2 and 3 on DVD (shame not series one though) so I was planning to start watching them at sometime. A couple weeks ago I eventually watched season 2 episode 1 and I was hooked from the very beginning. It may sound sad but I haven't stopped watching if since. Everyday after school I watched episode after episode (obviously I had breaks for dinner, homework etc.) up until last night. I had finished both series. But I am still rewatching some of the episodes. I have asked for all the other series for Christmas so I can be all caught up. By the way there are 8 series. Even though Supernatural is supposed to be a horror series, it does contain some humour too but I have cried quite a lot, about 7 times so far. My dad said to me he has never heard of someone to cry at Supernatural. I highly recommended Supernatural!!

Anyway sorry about that big, old ramble about Supernatural, I told you I was obsessed with it.

My next obsession and I promise it won't be as long as the previous one. Is making lists. For some reason I love making lists about random things. For example a few of the lists I currently have are, my favourite quotes, my favourite blogs, my favourite boys names, my favourite youtubers, my favourite girls names and I have more. I don't know if anyone else likes doing this but I do. 

Leave your obsessions below in the comments.

What are your obsessions?

Emily

Monday Insights #4

Yes, for once I am posting in the day on a Monday. I usually post on a Monday evening because I am at school in the day. But, today we were at school for only an hour and a half. This is because we had no power in the whole school and according to the head teacher it wasn't save to keep the students in the school. Which means we got to go home!!!!! That made my day haha. 

That was just a brief, little update for you.

I am doing the 13 personal questions tag today. Yep, yet another tag. Sorry about that. To be honest, I didn't know what to do on today's post but I found another tag. So I hope you enjoy it and not find too boring.

13 Personal Questions Tag.

1) What do you order at Starbucks?

  I have never been to Starbucks so I am changing it to 'What do you order at Costa?' At Costa I always order a Sticky Toffee Creamy Cooler, mmmm.

2) What is one thing in your closet you cannot live without?

I absolutely love leggings. I never wear jeans, always leggings. So, my leggings is my answer.

3) What is one thing that probably most people wouldn't know about you?

I think most people won't know that I am a very anxious person, I panic so much about the simplest things.

4) Name one thing you want to do before you die?

Most people have already been here probably but I desperately want to visit New York. I have heard it's really nice.

5) What is one food you cannot live without?

I know it sounds really fatty of me but crisps. I always eat crisps yet somehow I'm not fat. I don't know how that is possible considering how much I eat haha.

6) What quote/phrase do you live your life by?

'Everything happens for a reason' I really think this is true.

7) What do you like and dislike about the Youtube community?

I like how YouTube gives people a chance to be free and be heard for once. However I dislike all the haters. People on your youtube give so much hate to certain youtubers when they haven't done anything wrong. This people are inconsiderate arseholes. These type people annoy me so much.

8) What is your number one most listened to song on iTunes?

I don't go on iTunes that often but on my phone I always listen to David Guetta Titanium, love that song!

9) What kind of style do you define yourself as having?

Honestly I have no idea, I am mixed really. I have days where I wear blouses with cute collars but I mostly wear hoodies, leggings and converse.

10) Favourite number?

For some reason my favourite number is 22. I don't know why.

11) Two hobbies?

I'm not sure if this is a hobbie but I always make lists, just about random things really. My other hobbie is drawing, even though I'm not the best, I still like to draw in my spare time.

12) Two pet peeves?
My first one is people who talk loudly in public, either when their on the phone or generally.

13) Guilty pleasure?
My guilty pleasure I'd crisps

Well, that was the 13 personal questions tag, hopes you enjoyed reading my responses to the questions. Why don't you do the tag yourselves?

Emily xx

TMI tag

Yep, for once I am doing a blog post on a Sunday. I don't really know why this is, I just felt like doing a post on a Sunday for a change. Anyway back to the actual blog post. From the title you can probably guess what I'm going to do. I am doing the TMI tag. I have seen this tag floating around the world of YouTube and I just thought I would give it a go.

TMI Tag!

1) What are you wearing?
At the moment I am wearing a burgundy hoodie, a grey New York t-shirt with dark blue and red writing with leggings.

2) Ever been in love?

To be honest I have never had a proper boyfriend :/ so I guess not

3) Ever had a terrible breakup?
As I said before, I have never had a boyfriend so I have never had a breakup

4) How tall are you?
I am 5ft 2

5) How much do you weigh?
I weigh 6: 12

6) Any tattoos?
Nope

7) Any piercings?
None, not even my ears

8) OTP?
Zalfie (pointlessblog (Alfie) and Zoella (Zoe)), but their dating now :)

9) Favourite show?
Celebrity Juice and I'm a celebrity get me out of here

10) Favourite bands?
I have 3, Linkin Park, The Script and The vamps

11) Something you miss?
My friend Sian, she still hangs out with me and my other friends at school but she doesn't talk to me anymore and I have no idea why. Also, she has changed massively and I miss the old her.

12) Favourite song?
My favourite song at the moment, I hate One Direction but I absolutely love their new song called Story of my life. But, my favourite song ever is The Script, Man Who Can't be Moved


13) How old are who?
I am 14 years old

14) Zodiac sign?
I am Taurus

15) Quality you look for in a partner?
Mainly sense of humour

16) Favourite quote?
'Everything happens for a reason' I think this is true.

17) Favourite actor?
I have 2 favourites, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost

18) Favourite colour?
Teal

19) Loud music or soft?
Depends what mood I'm in. Usually soft I think.

20) Where do you go when your sad?
The internet

21) How long does it take you to shower?
Usually about 20 minutes

22) How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?
About an hour

23) Ever been in a physical fight?
Nope

24) Turn on?
When a boy smells good. I automatically become more attractive to them.

25) Turn off?
Body odour, Someone who is rude and annoying too

26) The reason I joined YouTube?
I made a YouTube channel just so I could subscribe to my favourite youtubers.

27) Fears?
Small enclosed spaces, creepy dolls, spiders

28) Last thing that made you cry?
I have no idea why but a dream made me cry, I woke up crying.

29) Last time you said you loved someone?
To be honest I have no idea. I probably said it to my cat yesterday or something haha. Does my cat count.

30) Meaning behind your youtube name?
Well, the name is Emzcat1999, so it's the same name as my blogspot name. Doesn't really have a meaning. My nickname is Em or Emz, I like cats and I was born in 1999. So, there.

31) Last book you read?
A book called Anna Dressed In Blood, by Kendare Blake

32) The book your currently reading?
Not reading any book at the moment

33) Last show you watched?
I'm a celebrity get me out of here golden moments

34) Last person you talked to?
My mum

35) The relationship between you and the last person you texted?
The last person I text was a girl called Anais, she's my best friend

36) Favourite food?
I know it's a bit plain but pasta

37) Place you want to visit?
I would love to visit New York!

38) Last place you were?
My bed (I'm there now)

39) Do you have a crush?
Umm ok yeah I do

40) Last time you kissed someone?
I'm not sure

41) Last time you were insulted?
I'm not sure. I get offended very easily. For example I always take things way to seriously like jokes and sarcasm

42) Favourite flavour of sweet?
Red

43) What instruments do you play?
I don't play any instruments. But I would like to know how to play the piano

44) Favourite piece of jewellery?
I honestly don't wear any jewellery at all

45) Last sport you played?
Badminton, I played it in PE on Friday

46) Last song you sang? 
One Direction Story of my life

47) What is your favourite chat up line?
Honestly I think chat up lines are a bit cheesy so I don't gave a favourite, haha sorry

48) Have you ever used it?
Like I said, I don't use them, So, no

49) Last time you hung out with someone?
Well, I see all my friends everyday at school, so if that counts my answer is Friday

50) Who should answer these questions next?
I am going to say everyone who read every single question and answer on this blog post

Wow, now that took a while. Now you know way too much information about me. Please leave a comment if you actually read all that and feel free to do the tag yourselves.
I actually really like doing these tags as you can probably tell because I've done a few already on the 'Monday Insights' series. I might to a tag on tomorrows Monday Insights but I'm not sure yet. If I find a good one, I will.

Do you like me doing these tags?
Emily xx

Monday Insights #3

So here it is, the next instalment of Monday Insights. The first thing I would love to do is congratulate a couple people. You may not know who these people are if you don't watch their videos but just to let you know these people are very talented youtubers who do brilliant, entertaining videos that I enjoy very much. I don't know these people personally but it just feels like I do because I love them and I have watched all their videos.

 The first person is Jim Chapman, Jim reached 1,000,000 subscribers yesterday which is a huge achievement for him so a big congratulations to Jim Chapman, for those you don't know Jim is youtuber who does lots of fun, hilarious vlog style videos if you don't already watch him, you should he seems like a very lovely, hilarious guy. Let's get them subscribers growing higher for Jim. Good job Jim get them brilliant, hilarious videos coming, love you keep it up :) Congratulations on the 1 million subscribers, good luck on trying to get to 2 million.

The next person I would like to say a massive congratulations to is one of my absolute favourite youtubers. This person is the gorgeous Zoe Sugg, also known as Zoella on YouTube. Last night was the Teen Awards some of you may be aware of this, you may have listened to it live on radio 1 or watched it on the radio 1 website. If you did, you probably know what I am about to say. So, back to Zoe, she was nominated and won the Best British vlogger Award. I was so relieved she won. Zoe has worked so hard on her youtube channel. With over 2 million subscribers who love and support everything she does including me. I love every single one of her videos. She is a gorgeous, talented, amazing youtuber. For those who don't watch her, Zoe mainly does beauty and fashion videos for example hauls and her favourite products etc. But she also does fun videos too involving tags and collaborations with other youtubers. So I would like to say a massive congratulations to Zoe for winning the Best British vlogger Award. I love you, your amazing.

Both those people deserved their rewards so again, a big congratulations to Zoe and Jim. Well done guys, I love both of all your videos. Please go check out Zoella and Jim Chapman's youtube channels if you haven't already. 

So, this post was just really about congratulating Zoe and Jim on their recent achievements and I hope that the post was long enough.
Check out Zoe's YouTube channel here
Check out Jim's YouTube channel here