Choosing The Right Path?

Throughout your life you have to make some tough decisions involving around your personal life and professional life which never gets any easier. I thought as I grew up I thought I would have everything planned out knowing what career to choose, how many kids I wanted and so on, but now I have come to the end of my university course I need to start making some tough decisions. Why does growing up have to be so hard? Honestly as much as I hated school everything was so much simpler back then when you didn't need money to have the amenities in life.

I've always wanted to go into performing arts and everyone that knows me personally has always known it's my dream. However as a kid I didn't realise I picked the hardest career to go into, it is a constant competition on your technique, figure, look, style, all to get the job or gain fame. Obviously I have had my fair share of rejections at auditions and being the girl in the back row, so I guess I've started developing the tough skin you need for this business. I have been training since I was 3 years old and since going into full time training I have always had a part-time job on the side which never allowed me to have access to doing classes at the likes of Pineapple dance studios etc, as my spare time was being used up at my job.

So this is where majority of young adult's problems start to form....money. Since Leaving university I decided to take up a contract working full time in London for 3 months as my original plan was to do my last year starting in September. However plans have changed. I’ve been dragged into the money game and I love the freedom of actually having my own money which is a major issue if I decided to go back to university. So now it’s a choice of carrying on working full time or try and kick start my performing career?

Right now I have so many opportunities’ knocking at my door I have no clue what path I should take. I would love to be able to work in America for a year or even go touring over there but I think that dream isn’t going to be achieved any time soon unfortunately. I know I am only young but I feel like there is a lot of pressure to know what I want in life and if I do not take one of the opportunities will I regret it later on?

So if you are sitting at home in the same situation as me at least you know that you are not alone and I am sure there are dozens of people in the same situation. I know it will all fall into place one day but getting there will not be easy as I am sure everyone’s journey hasn’t been handed to them on a plate. Remember to always follow your dreams and do what makes you happy, thank you for reading 💛xx

Disney Free Dining Deal!

You might have seen recently Walt Disney World has now re-open the offer of the free Disney dining with 2018 bookings which I was fortune enough to get last year for my upcoming trip! If you have no idea what this deal is I will go into more detail but I feel that this is the best time to book your Florida trip as it can save you a lot of money and has some great perks! So really consider booking this deal whilst you can to make the most of your Walt Disney World holiday.

Firstly this offer (as I am aware) is only offered for UK and Ireland residents and can be done through the Walt Disney World travel site. Other Travel agents do offer the deal but I suggest booking straight through Disney to get the added perks. So what does this deal entitle? If you book through Disney to stay in a Disney hotel for 2018 you receive a free Disney dining package. There are different types of hotels and different dining packages they offer:

Disney Value Resorts:
*Affordable comfort and packed with Disney touches, ideal for families on the go.
Free breakfast at your resort.
Disney Moderate Resorts:
*Rich in Disney theming with larger rooms and additional dining and recreation options.
Free Quick Service Dining Plan-

2 self-service meals

2 selected snacks

Refillable mug

Disney Deluxe Resorts:
*Uniquely themed getaways offering the ultimate in quality, service and facilities.
Free Disney Dining Plan-

1 waiter service meal

1 self-service meal

2 selected snacks

Refillable mug

So with my latest trip George and I have booked into a Moderate resort and we upgraded our dining plan to the Disney Dining plan for £180 each, which normally cost over £1000 on its own. We will be able to save so much money on food when we get out there as the dining plan also works for the restaurants in the parks! Amazing! Also with this deal you get added extras:

- All 6 park tickets for 14 nights priced for 7 night tickets.
- $200 spending money
- Free Memory marker (includes all photos taken in the parks)
- 15% Disney store online
- 12 month subscription to DisneyLife
- Free Magical Express transfers from the airport/resort

I personally think this is a great deal and the best way to save money for a Florida holiday. I know Disney hotels are super expensive but this is the best way off booking and it is making me so excited for October! With the Disney Dining plan I get to make my restaurant reservations 180 days prior and next Monday is the day I can book them! I can't wait to experience some of the amazing restaurants and food when I get there and I hope this post has helped anyone looking to book a Disney World holiday! Thank you for reading and have a magical day xx   

Beauty and The Beast Review

So if anyone knows me personally they would know that beauty and the beast is my all time favourite film which I have been obsessed with since I was a little girl. The story means so much to me as I feel it carry's a great message of how you should never judge a book by its cover, but not only that the film is filled with beautiful musical scoring and breath taking animation. You can imagine when I heard the film was being made into a live-action movie I generally freaked out with excitement, but I honestly had quite a lot of doubts about it as well as it is a Disney classic and if it turned out awful it would have ruined my favourite film. I can honestly sit here now and say it exceeded my expectations by a million percent and I did have a good cry a few times throughout the film as it brought back so many memories of my childhood.

I was so happy to have found out that Alan Menken (Disney legendary composer) had composed the remake as he also done the original film so as soon as the beginning iconic overture came on I welled up with tears. The music throughout the film is hair-raising with stunning musical numbers both from the original film and with some new added songs which are true classic Disney style. The singing is on point especially by Luke Evans (Gaston) who I think was perfectly casted and has a stunning voice. I also love Audra Mcdonald (Madame Garderobe) her voice is honestly stunning and her version of 'Beauty and the beast' had me in tears. The iconic songs have be done justice in the remake like 'Be Our Guest', it is a visual masterpiece with the vocals of Ewan McGregor (Lumiere) and also 'Beauty and the beast' with vocals by Emma Thompson (Mrs Potts) honestly was everything I wanted it to be. My favourite song (which is a bit controversial) was 'The mob song' were the villagers have just found out about the Beast and Gaston declares an attack on the castle. I felt it really built up to the climax of the film and made an impact on me as an audience member.

I genuinely hand on my heart think this film was perfectly cast! I was sceptical about Emma Watson playing Belle as we all know her as Hermione Granger but I think she did an amazing job filling her boots and I feel Emma resembles the quality's of Belle in her own personality. Her singing isn't up to the standard of Paige O'Hara (original voice of Belle) but apparently she spent half a year having singing lessons which I give her credit for. Dan Stevens as the Beast brings the character a more humanistic quality and shows a more deeper understand of the Beasts past- also I fancy him very much. Ewan McGregor as Lumiere does an fantastic French accent and has great banter with Ian Mckellen (Cogsworth) who is an legend in his own right. Emma Thompson as Mrs Potts reminded me of my nan as she brings a very loving nature to the character.... and how can we forget Chip he was adorable. Of course I've already expressed my love for Luke Evans he done a stand out job, but  so did Josh Glad (LeFou) who I give credit to for giving the first openly gay Disney character a really honest performance. There are new characters added in the remake like Maestro Cadenza played by Stanley Tucci who is one of my favourite actors so I was frilled to find out he had a part in this movie.

The film has many new sequences, characters and songs so I feel that you cannot go in there with the mind of comparing it to the original as it an amazing film. Just seeing the little girls in their Belle costumes really hit home for me as this is now going to be their film for their generation which I think couldn't have been done any better. Thank you for reading this very long review but as I said this means the world to me and I hope you get the same experience as I did! xx

Art of Belle Mug





Harry Potter Studios Review

If you are a major Harry Potter fan like me than my new post will definitely be up your street! I have loved and grown up with the Harry potter films and they are my go to film series to watch on sick days. Just the whole concept of the films/books transport you into a magical universe and allows you to be immersed into the wizarding world. Obviously being a Harry Potter fan the one place I had to go was The making of Harry Potter Studio tour in Leavesden and I have been lucky enough to visit their twice! Today I want to talk about my general experience there and give you some insight details if you are thinking about visiting there.

So the second time I went there I booked it for George's birthday weekend (it was more of a present for me than him!) for September on a Sunday. We didn't have any trouble getting there as it is pretty well signed and a lot of car parking spots. You have set times to go in and whilst your lining up there is plenty of props and pictures to look at which makes the time go a bit faster until you enter the cinema area. You have host members greet and have banter with the guests whilst everyone gets seated and unlucky George got picked on by a host which he wasn't to happy about but obviously I found it amusing! You then watch the cinema presentation to be transported into the magic. The screen goes up to reveal the great hall doors. They usually ask if it is someone birthday to allow them to open the doors and the first time I went there my friend stuck my hand up so I was lucky enough to open them!

Honestly the feeling of walking into the great hall is amazing getting to see all the real props and costumes is a surreal feeling. After going through the great hall you then go into a big sound stage that is filled with props, costumes and sets including Dumbledore office, Hagrid's hut, Professor Snapes classroom and many more with added magical touches. In this part you can also take part in learning how to use a wand and also have an experience off flying on a broomstick which really was a favourite moment of mine and would recommend everyone to do it. After you have finished with this section you then walk into platform 9 3/4 to be wowed at the sight of the Hogwarts express. It truly is magnificent to see and there are many photo opportunity's as well.

After experiencing all that magic you might be a bit peckish so midway through there is a café to give you a chance to relax and try some butter beer- which I actually really liked but gets sickly after a while would recommend the ice cream instead. Once your ready to get back to the experience you go outside to witness the bigger sets including the purple night bus and privet drive. After this you entre the last sound stage to walk down Diagon Alley which is a lot smaller in real life but still amazing to see. You then get to see more of the special affects side of the films which is really interesting and I suggest taking some time to read and watch the videos in the area. Then you hit the grand finale..... seeing the massive full model of the Hogwarts Castle. This was my favourite part of the tour as it allows you to take time to really appreciate how much hard work that went into the films and the detail is amazing! At the end of the tour you go through the gift shop so don't forget to pick up a chocolate frog!

That was just a snippet of my experience at the studio tour and I can honestly say it is a great day out and allows you to appreciate the films more. I cannot wait to go to the Wizarding world in Universal studios to actually experience being in Hogsmead and Diagon Alley instead of looking at the props. I will definitely be returning to the studios tour to see the new expansion for the forbidden forest! I hope this post has help everyone to know what to expected when going there and I hope you have enjoyed reading thank you xx

Suffer With Anxiety?

Today I wanted to talk about a very serious subject that affects hundreds of people every day. Imagine a sudden rush of feeling uneasy and fear going through you which is uncontrollable and you have no idea how to calm yourself down. Anxiety is a serious disorder and many people are too scared to seek out help. Everyone experiences anxiety in their lives if it appears before going in for a test or a job interview, it's a natural human emotion. However anxiety may be more severe for certain people and can seriously impact their life.

I created this blog to talk about my own personal experiences which hopefully may help a few people who have or are going through the same things I have been through. I feel like by talking about these subjects I have opened myself up for the world to see and many people wouldn't have known a lot of this about me. I do suffer quite badly with anxiety which I do not know if it came from having cancer at a young age or If I generally developed it over time. Many people do not know this about me as I genuinely hardly speak about it and when people meet me they wouldn't even think I suffered as majority of the time I think I am an upbeat person.

As I've grown up I feel that it effects me more as I go to more crowded areas and have a lot more adult responsibilities in my life. One example was at New years eve standing in a small room in a club which was so packed I couldn't move, literally. I wasn't near my friends as there was too many people in the way and I could feel an attack coming on. I got pulled out of the crowd into a more quiet area and had to go home as I couldn't get myself to calm down. As a young lady I do not want to experience this every time I go out with my friends as I want to be able to dance and have a laugh but this is uncontrollable and can happen at any point.  The only way I know to deal with this properly is to seek help from a therapist but I am not ready to sit down and discuss this with a professional yet.  

I understand this post hasn't been exactly cheerful but I really felt passionate talking about this subject as I feel that people need to understand what it is like to live with this. On a lighter note to finish I have started to find better ways to calm myself down and I am also lucky to have family and friends that know I suffer with this so they take time to look after me and support me which is amazing and I am very grateful for. I hope if you also suffer with this you can find the courage to talk to someone about your feelings and get support as it genuinely helps out a lot! Thank you for taking the time out to read this post xx

Close Your Eyes Make A Wish

So today I wanted to talk about the amazing charity Make A Wish Foundation. You may already know about them but for everyone who doesn't the aim of this charity is to grant extremely ill children with a wish. They work extremely hard to make their wish come true from meeting their hero to going on their dream holiday. They also hold events for the children as well which is a great day out and also a good chance to meet other children going through the same illness.

How the charity works is you have to nominate a child to make a wish and the child gets to make 3 wishes and one of them will come true. Luckily when I was under treatment someone kindly nominated me and I was allowed to make 3 wishes. I was sent through a sheet of paper and had to write down my wishes (at the time I was about 6 years old). So at that age I was obsessed with Jamie Oliver... I have no idea why... but my first wish was to meet him and cook with him. My second wish was to become a zoo keeper for the day as I absolutely loved animals and wanted to feed penguins. Lastly my third wish was to go on a shopping spree... not asking for much was I! Trust me if I got to make those wishes again I'd probably want to meet Zak Efron, who wouldn't!

After we sent the paper back in the post we got invited to an event held at the rainforest café in London where I would find out what wish had come true. It was amazing event, we got to eat in there and watch all the animals come to life. The event was hosted by a presenter of blue peter (and for the life of me I can not remember his name) and he called every child up one by one to announce what wish they'd been given. So my wish I was granted was going to meet Jamie Oliver and cooking with him! At the time I was so excited and it was featured in the newspaper that I got this opportunity to do this.

Unfortunately Jamie Oliver was on holiday at the time I was supposed to meet him... Lets not go into detail still a sore subject! However the lovely people at make a wish made different arrangements and sorted out for me to be a zoo keeper for the day at London zoo. I was greeted by a lady who worked for make a wish and spent the day with me, I was taken behind the scenes, got to meet some of the animals in person and also was allowed into the penguin enclosure to feed them.

Honestly for such an ill child being allowed to do something that you would never normally be allowed to do is amazing and the experience will last with them forever. This charity creates great memories for families and allows a child to get out of the same hospital walls they see everyday. If you get a chance please donate to this charity or nominate a child you think deserves to make one of their wishes come true! Thank you for reading xx       

Nominate a child? 

Branded a fighter?

Once people found out about everything I went through as a child automatically I get the response 'You're such a fighter'. However I do not think of myself as a fighter, I think the real fighter is my mum. If I didn't have her by my side then I wouldn't of had any fight in me. I couldn't imagine what life was like for her to watch her first born, at such a young age, go through this horrible disease. She was like a rock.

Then again I did do a lot of fighting with the doctors, resulting in many of them getting a kick in the face...not lying. Obviously back then I didn't understand they was only there to help me. Screaming and kicking you can imagine the looks I used to get bet they thought 'Oh god here she comes'. But luckily my body did fight the disease so I can re-tell my story to help people today.

I remember in my last year of college I had no clue what route I wanted to go down either carry on the dancing or give it all up and get a full time job. My teacher said to me 'Abi out of everyone I really believe you can carry on because you're a fighter'. For the industry I want to go into I think you have to be a fighter after facing rejection upon rejection you need true passion to stick with it. There has been many times were I want to give it all up but I remember that little girl, with no hair, wanting to fit in and take ballet lessons and this gives me the push to carry on dancing. In a way my illness gave me a completely different outlook on life and I believe you should do whatever you out your mind to.

In all fairness the real fighters today are the children/adults still fighting this disease going through hours of chemo or radiotherapy. Honestly no one understands how horrible it is to experience chemo being constantly sick and bedbound when all a child wants to do is to get out of bed and go to the play room to socialise or play with their favourite toy. These guys all fighting for their lives which truly deserves recognition and they are all individually amazing. Let's not forget the doctors who do incredible work every day trying to save lives and trying to find a cure for cancer, they truly are hero's.

From my previous blog post I mentioned I have a extremely bad phobia of needles. I am pleased to tell you I am getting better when having blood tests. No longer kicking doctors in the face! The fear is still vibrant but from seeing younger people being able to do it with no tears I decided I needed to man up and control it. So if you find yourself also battling a phobia with needles, trust me, one day it will become better.

So I guess I can be branded as a fighter but everyone is fighting something new everyday which means we all are truly amazing. I'd like to remind everyone to keep on fighting and pushing on! Also like to thank my rock of a mum for being by my side everyday and keeping that fighting spirit in me. Thank you for reading xx

I'm going to Disney World!!

So last year George and I set our minds on booking Florida for our holiday this year as it will be our last big holiday before we start saving up for our first house together. I honestly cannot say how beyond excited I am, this is literally my dream holiday. I went once when I was younger with my family but so many things have changed over the years and I feel that this time round I will appreciate the experience more. We booked to go on 7th October-21st October which means we still have a lot of waiting to do, but I thought it would be an good idea to help you guys out if your looking to book in the future or interested in going to explain our booking process. 

Before we booked we both had to look at suitable times we could take of work, once we found out the best months we had to choose from were May or October. To legally drink in America you have to be the age of 21 which neither of us are until George turns 21 in September- this led us agreeing on going in October. This also proved to be a very good time to go as you have the Halloween decorations out, Mickey's not so scary Halloween party and Food and wine festival at Epcot. 

Now we moved on to looking at who to book our holiday with. I'd must admit this part took a lot of time and we couldn't make a straight decision. We was looking at booking through the Disney travel company or Virgin holidays. At the time we was booking Disney was promoting a free Disney dining plan offer with free memory maker with all bookings and also park tickets for 14 nights at the price of 7. Virgin was also promoting this but Disney came up cheaper and I felt that it would be easier in the long run to go through Disney. Perfect! We definitely got a great deal and will recommend everyone waiting for Disney to bring promotions out! After agreeing to go through Disney it was now time to choose the hotel! Disney categories their hotels into Value, Moderate and Deluxe. We decided to go for a moderate resort and chose Caribbean Beach resort as we both thought it looked beautiful. We got a standard room and upgraded our free dining plan for the Disney Dining plan that allows us 1 quick service meal, 1 table service meal, 2 snacks and a refillable mug a day. Sorted!

Now we haven't booked our flights yet as we are waiting to find the best price for them but we will 100% be flying with Virgin. We also do not need to worry about transfers as we are staying with Disney so we can get the magical express free. So that's accommodation, food, transfers, tickets, photo passes and almost flights taken care off! 

Obviously we have decided to go to Universal Studios for a few days and also would like to visit Discovery Cove to swim with the dolphins. We booked both those tickets from Attraction tickets who send you an actual ticket not a token and other free goodies. 

We still have a lot to do including making dining reservations, fast passes, plan of every day and actually pay everything off. I will update everyone nearer the time once all of things are done and will give you instructions on how to do so! But I hope this was interesting for yous to read on how we booked our holiday and will join us on this exciting trip! Thank you for reading xx  

P.S If you're looking for personalized Minnie ears I would 100% recommend MainStreet Ears her designs are beautiful! 

Why I started dancing?

The earliest memory I have of dancing is my first dance show, I was roughly 4 years old and was dancing to snow whites dwarfs 'High Ho' song and I was the smallest person on stage. I started dancing whilst I was still in treatment doing baby ballet and tap which started of my love for dance. However like every child something new will pop up which you automatically want to try so I soon gave it up to do other activities like horse riding and gymnastics.

I was bullied quite badly throughout primary school resulting in being pushed into a wall twice in two separate occasions. I lacked in confidence and found it hard to talk to new people, but I attended a workshop in the school holidays at a drama school to perform in Grease and this sparked my interest again and had to audition for the school.

Once I got in to Paul's theatre school my mum and my grandparents had to try and fund my new hobby which did not come cheap.... I cannot thank them enough for everything they did for me (one day when I am famous I will pay you back mum). Every Saturday I would go there to learn how to sing, act and dance. I studied ISTD dance exams in ballet, modern and tap which allowed me to get technique training at a young age. I always believed if it wasn't for my teacher Miss Elizabeth I wouldn't be able to do half the technical stuff I can do now if she didn't teach me. So from going there every Saturday it grew my confidence to talk to new people and become a more out going person.

It soon became obvious that dance was my strongest subject (even though I would have liked to be a triple threat) so I decided to take it as a GCSE. I loved my dance class at school we all grew really close and it was nice to be in an environment where people actually wanted to be there and it was a good creative atmosphere. I came out with a double distinction* which is equivalent to A*. At that time I knew I wanted to go into this as a career and decided to study it at college.

There I learnt more styles of dance a developed a love for commercial dance and contemporary. I gained good relationships with my teachers and really pushed me to become an even greater performer. However not everything went right in my way to becoming a dancer, I remember my first audition for a professional college and I became such a little fish in a big pond which completely made me self doubt myself and for once made me wonder if this was the right industry to go into.

But dance too me takes my breath away, literally. I always get shouted at as I don't breathe whilst I dance but I just get to involved in the movement I don't think about breathing. Dance has allowed me to express myself and is an escape from the normal world. I know I want to choreograph emotional pieces and I know dance can really touch people in different ways. So if you ever feel stupid when you're dancing or want to take the plunge to start a dance class just remember... dance is an expression of who we are and everyone should experience the feeling of getting lost in movement! Thank you for reading xx