Things I wish I knew at 15...

 

This was me on my 15th birthday, and to be honest this isn't anywhere near as embarrassing as some of the other pictures I found whilst trawling through the depths of my Facebook page. Why am I wearing a strange headband? Who knows. All I remember is that it was my 15th birthday, and after school all my friends and I went to Costa, then on to the cinema to watch whatever was on at the time. (But can we please talk about how long my hair is? I miss having long hair..)

 

Recently I've been thinking, what advice would I give to my 15 year old self, knowing everything that I know now. She looks pretty happy, but the girl in the above picture is far from having her life together. Like most teenagers nowadays, she was rushing to grow up, and keep up with all her friends and everyone around her. That's pretty rubbish really. But a lot has changed in the last 5 years of my life, and I feel as if I'm in a better position to advise silly little 15 year old me. So if I had the chance, what would I say?

1. You have all the time in the world to get into relationships, just enjoy being young without trying to have all that 'grown-up' drama.
2. Your size doesn't define you. Size 10 is definitely not fat, and there will be a point when you'll be larger than a size 10, so don't try to diet. Your weight will fluctuate throughout your life.
3. Pay attention in school, because you won't get the opportunity to learn all of this again, and in the grand scheme of things, GCSE's are much more straightforward than doing a degree.
4. On that note, don't stress out over exams, there's only so much you can do, and a bad GCSE in Geography won't determine the rest of your life.
5. Make the most of getting away with being innocent, once you leave school it's all downhill from there on, and people will always assume the worst.
6. Remember those who used to be little shits in class, because in years to come you'll see them in the court summons in the paper.
7. Lay off the energy drinks. Red Bull doesn't give you wings, it gives you a weird heartbeat and the need to piss every 5 minutes.
8. The odds that you and your friends will be 'Best Friends Forever' are ridiculously slim. Everyone has different paths in life, and often it means being apart from friends. It's okay, you'll make new wonderful friends along the way.
9. Don't panic because you haven't got your life figured out, because in 5 years time you still won't, and everything will be okay.
10. Go to every party and make stupid mistakes, because how else are you going to discover what's right, what's wrong, meet new people and just have fun. There's so many responsibilities that come with age, so be a bit reckless while you can.
11. If you enjoy it, do it! And don't answer to anyone. Sure people think it's pointless doing a GCSE in dance, but one day you'll be doing a degree in American Studies, and people will think it's even more pointless. Screw what they think. Do it for you.
12. Money will come and go, so while you've got no major responsibilities, enjoy spending your money on the things you want, even if that is a whole load of tacky jewellery from Claire's Accessories.
13. Dye your hair blonde. It will look so much better than your natural colour. Just don't dye it dark brown in Sixth Form, because it will go wrong and you will look like a Malteser (Brown on the outside, blonde on the underside).
14. Enjoy spending time with your family, because soon your family will split and spending time together will be impossible.
15. Take as many opportunities as you can. Who says you can't go on the New York trip? You can save up for it all by yourself and prove to everyone you deserve to go. If you really want to do something you can make it happen. There are no limits.

It's a bit of a paradox, I wouldn't be in a position to say all these things had I not lived my life exactly as I have in the last few years. Sure I've gone through some bad things in life, who hasn't, but the last 5 years have been pretty exciting as well. I've achieved so much more than I thought possible when I was 15, and I hope 15 year old me would look at me now and be proud.

 

Much love ♥

I'll be there for you...

There is no doubt that Friends is my all time favourite programme, even though it's been over for 10 years now, it will always be a relatable classic. Within its 10 series run, we saw the characters grow up, fall in love, end up with some pretty awesome jobs, and become closer than ever. I've always been pretty jealous and wanted a friendship group like in Friends, and in some ways at uni, I have. I've met all kinds of crazy people trying to carve out their own lives in the world, and even though we are all different, somehow it works.

 

My favourite character? This depends. I love Chandlers sarcasm, Rachel's wit, Joey's relaxed attitude to everything, and Phoebe being every bit as crazy as she is. I wish I was as organised as Monica, or as intelligent as Ross (although he's probably my least favourite of the six, I'm team Rachel in the whole 'break' thing) But either way, my point is that at some point or another, we have all been able to relate to all of the characters in some way, because even though it is an exaggerated comedy, the things we see are very much echoed in our lives. From relationship problems, to falling out with our friends, issues with work, and even just getting your own place, it happens to all of us.

 

Friends has bought us so many iconic and hilarious moments, so I thought I'd share with you some of my all-time favourite and most quotable moments within the 10 seasons.

She's your lobster! - Ross/Rachel were the ultimately will-they won't-they of the whole series run, spanning from back in the day when Ross had a crush on Rachel at school, to them finally getting together, having 'a break', actually breaking up, having a child together, and Rachel getting off the plane to be with him. There was just so much drama surrounding this couple, and we the audience were always having to second guess whether they would actually end up together. When they do eventually get together to begin with, Phoebe says they are like lobsters, because when a lobster falls in love, they hold claws for the rest of their lives.

 

 

Pivot - Sometimes the funniest moments in Friends are the most simple. Take for example, the simple action of trying to get a sofa up to an apartment, but it won't fit round the stairs. There we have the hilarious 'pivot' moment, where with the help of Rachel and Chandler, Ross tries to get his new sofa up the stairs. Just watch, it's brilliant.

 

 

Ichiban - Joey's acting career is a bit of a running joke throughout the series, with his biggest role playing Dr Drake Ramoray in Days Of Our Lives, a character who dies, but is then revealed to be in a coma, and bought back after a brain transplant. In his acting 'career', Joey also does a few adverts, including an absolutely brilliant one for a brand called Ichiban. What is Ichiban I hear you cry? Well, it's lipstick for men. That's right. And the advert for it is every bit as wonderful as you'd hope.

 

Confessions - One Thanksgiving, Monica and Ross' parents come over for dinner, and Chandler spends the entire time trying to win them over now that he is dating Monica. However, it is revealed that the reason they don't like him, is because in college, they walked into Ross' room and smelt pot, and he quickly blamed it on Chandler. At the same time, Monica has trusted Rachel to make dessert, but she has confused two recipes, one for a trifle, the other for a pie. Phoebe has developed a weird crush on Monica's dad, and Joey really wants to leave. This prompts a long string of confessions from everyone, which is just absolutely hilarious.

 

 

 When everyone finds out - To begin with, Monica and Chandler kept their relationship a secret, however slowly one by one the others began to find out. When Joey, Rachel and Phoebe found out, they decided to play a trick on them, by getting Phoebe to seduce Chandler, until they revealed their relationship. But remember, they don't know that we know that they know...

 

 

Holiday Armadillo - Ross wants to dress up as Santa for his son Ben at Christmas, however the costume shop is out of Santa costumes. He does manage to get hold of an armadillo costume instead, and tries to tell his son all about Hanukkah, and his Jewish heritage. However, there are a few unexpected visitors...

 

 

Phoebe's songs - Without Phoebe, we wouldn't have the classic which is Smelly Cat. But that isn't the only song she's written, oh no. She has others such as papier-mache man, grandma, ode to a pubic hair, and my favourite, the holiday song.

 

 

So there we go, some of my favourite moments in Friends. There is so much more I could include, but we'd be here all night, and I'd probably end up putting pretty much everything that happens in all 10 series.

 

Until next time,

 

Much love ♥