Saturday 7 November 2015

Great National Park Tour

Along with America's great attractions, landmarks, open roads and fun foods it's the great national parks that have always interested me most. Seeing those iconic photographs in the here and now that you only ever see through computer screen savers has always been a dream of mine. I have upcoming American plans and visiting at least one national park is an absolute must! In the hope that I may come across more I've planned a dream route around some of the most recognisable and visually stunning national parks. First stop..

Crater Lake, Oregon 
source

Death Valley, Nevada 
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Yosemite, California
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Grand Canyon, Arizona 
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Arches, Utah
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Rocky Mountain, Colorado 
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Yellowstone, Wyoming 
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That's my wee round trip for now, I would obviously love to visit them all but I think they are the most recognisable north west national parks of America. Seeing them in real life would be indescribable!

BeyondBally




Saturday 10 October 2015

Scandinavia Dreaming

There is nothing I want to do more in my 20s than travel around Scandinavia's awe inspiring countries. This includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Google images are great and all but you can just tell that they don't do these places justice. Great scenery is a must on any trip, I feel so emotional when I see a vast landscape full of the worlds beauty, I love taking it all in. Scandinavia also contains some of the happiest countries in the world which is why it would be great to take a long road trip round and really immerse myself in the counties cultures and their people's way of life. Let's take a look at these stunning countries and you'll see why I'm so eager to start exploring!  

 DENMARK  



FINLAND



NORWAY



SWEDEN



Absolutely stunning. Anyone want to join me on my Scandinavian adventure?

BeyondBally








Monday 28 September 2015

#MCM Olly Alexander




Thought I'd start a wee series on this blog of #MCM and #WCW where ever so often I would show my appreciation of the beautiful people in the world. First post in the series had to be about the one and only Olly Alexander. Is he not just the coolest cat at the bar? Cutie with a bootie! 

source 


He's my all time fave to follow on twitter and like can I just be his best friend, he seems very tumblr, like he gets it. Very cool, very hip, very swag, I like it. 

BeyondBally

Thursday 24 September 2015

New Tattoos #2 & #3


This month me and my friend Joe got matching tattoos while he was over visiting from England. It was my second tattoo and I got my third on the same day. I've wanted both for a long time and I have many more ideas lined up.

#2 Equality Symbol
I've wanted this tattoo for ages and I'm so happy I got it with my best friend. The meaning is exactly what you would expect, I'm a big advocate for equality and thought it was a great tattoo idea.


#3 Comma
I wanted to get this to remind me of my time at university and to always be open. It's also inspired by Coldplay's lyrics "I'd rather be a comma than a full stop," which is the song in the last scene of my first year in uni video as I seen them live that summer with Joe so they were both very fitting to get them while he was with me.


I'm so so happy with the both of them and will defiantly be booking my next one soon!

BeyondBally 

Sunday 20 September 2015

Creative Writing Prompts


I came across this list of words that are meant to inspire you to write about that subject by interrupting them any way you want. I immediately thought of blog post ideas for each one which is great when you are feeling demotivated and uninspired which can happen from time to time with your blog, hence my last post being published almost a month ago but that's OK! I always have the best intentions for my blog and want it to be perfect for me and my readers although it can be easily neglected when you have a full time job and a busy social life. Last year I attempted to blog everyday in October because it's always my most exciting month so this October I will attempt the same with help from these prompts. 

1. Happiness
2. Beauty
3. Sleep
4. Garden
5. Imagination
6. Secret
7. Give
8. Thankful
9. Kindness
10. Inside
11. Outside
12. Jump
13. Friendship
14. Love
15. Fire
13. Light
14. Darkness
15. Dream
16. Believe
17. Hope
18. Faith
19. Focus
20. Clean
21. Angry
22. Work
23. Music
24. Stars
25. Mystery
26. Envelope
27. Book
28. Dare
29. Choose
30. Beach
31. Forgiveness
32. Disaster
33. Dance
34. Mistake
35. New
36. Yes
37. Path
38. Horizon
39. Mountain
40. River
41. Open
42. Heart
43. Soul
44. Tear
45. Spiral
46. Up
47. Go
48. Be
49. Seek
50. Learn
51. Balance
52. Grow
53. Strength
54. Seek
55. Passion
56. Move
57. Today
58. Awaken
59. Angels
60. Laughter
61. Listening
62. Pause
63. Peace
64. Relax
65. Space
66. Wisdom
67. Difference
68. Begin
69. Time
70. Brave
71. Breathe
72. Childhood
73. Discovery
74. Mind
75. Energy
76. Flower
77. Health
78. Harmony
79. Recovery
80. Stand
81. Nowhere
82. Soar
82. Skip
83. Fresh
84. Delicious
85. Power
86. Complete
87. Grace
88. Legend
89. Ecstasy
90. Hug
91. Proud
92. Simple
93. Machine
94. Victory
95. Vibrancy
96. Leadership
97. Alive
98. Bloom
99. Fame
100. Enormous
101. Independent
102. Unique
103. Metamorphosis
104. Silence
105. Tranquility
106. Project
107. Smile
108. Miracle
109. Amazing
110. Game
111. Connected
112. Muse
113. Dazzle
114. Determination
115. Free
116. Help
117. Intuition
118. Smart
119. Sweet
120. Honesty
121. Useful
122. Safety
123. Ready
124. Vision
125. Cycle
126. Discipline
127. Promise
128. Patience
129. Destiny
130. Rejuvenate
131. Shine
132. Talk
133. Stress
134. Missing
135. Age
136. Success
137. Motivation
138. Family
139. Loneliness
140. Experience
141. Future
142. Vintage
143. Wings
144. Letter
145. Wandering
146. Factory
147. Rainbow
148. Ask
149. Self
150. Locket
151. Home
152. Cloud
153. Hunger
154. Possibilities
155. Boredom
156. Innocence
157. Charge
158. Rhythm
159. Date
160. Consequence
161. Prescription
162. Goals
163. Lost
164. Found
165. Cry
166. Parade
167. Party
168. Ice
169. Dragon
170. Alarm
171. Understanding
172. Uncomfortable
173. Serious
174. Opposites
175. Playful
176. Attention
177. Caring
178. Hero
179. Lace
180. Clue
181. Ideas
182. Junk
183. Collection
184. Radio
185. Interview
186. Zoom
187. Puzzle
188. Landscape
189. Advice
190. Memories
191. Communication
192. Compassion
193. Universe
194. Loyalty
195. Sharing
196. Travel
197. Voices
198. Sidewalk
199. Tree
200. Story
201. Why
202. Maybe
203. Antique
204. Action
205. Culture
206. Fuel
207. Desire
208. Weather
209. Directions
210. List
211. Ride
212. Wish
213. Breakfast
214. Touch
214. Sadness
215. Comfort
216. Circle
217. Reflection
218. Optimism
219. Anxiety
220. Shadow
221. Spirit
222. Stretch
223. Challenge
224. Five
225. Messy
226. Adventure
227. Fun
228. Surprise
229. Illusion
230. Mischief
231. Shy
232. Lesson
233. Whisper
234. Fight
235. Castle
236. Protect
237. Shop
238. Wheel
239. Pieces
240. Leaves
241. Fool
242. Productivity
243. Overcome
244. Encouragement
245. Watch
246. Lighthouse
247. Mild
248. Mouth
249. Rare
250. Target
251. Boat
252. Box
253. Grief
254. Heavy
255. Zeal
256. Color
257. Brilliance
258. Enthusiastic
259. Approval
260. Enchanting
261. Attraction
262. Photograph
263. Waterfall
264. Moment
265. Paradise
266. Parachute
267. Social
268. Zingy
269. Number
270. Little
271. Sound
272. Reach
273. Money
274. Staircase
275. Lemon
276. Wood
277. Try
278. You
279. Quote
280. Weakness
281. Bridge
282. Building
283. Clothes
284. Prepare
285. Teach
286. Window
287. Drive
288. Middle
289. Microphone
290. Definition
291. Shout
292. Catch
293. Release
294. Balloons
295. Sharp
296. Crowd
297. Cute
298. Cheery
299. Glow
300. Reflection
301. Pictures
302. Swing
303. Wave
304. Joke
305. Cope
306. Accomplish
307. Special
308. Neighborhood
309. Wonderful
310. Service
311. Calling
312. Magic
313. Spontaneous
314. Fluffy
315. Organic
316. Silly
317. Thunderstorm
318. Mountain
319. Butterfly
320. Buzz
321. Vine
322. Shock
323. Enjoy
324. Craving
325. Respect
326. Abstract
327. Rainbow
328. Train
329. Invention
330. Perspective
331. Genius
332. Circus
333. Ball
335. Crystal
336. Fairy
337. Grey
338. Reality
339. Forget
340. Priorities
341. Journey
342. Hands
343. Shoes
344. Television
345. Newspaper
346. Radiance
347. Hidden
348. Fright
349. Climb
350. Guess
351. Pretend
352. Turn
353. Shatter
354. Together
355. Adapt
356. Keep
357. Closed
358. Embrace
359. Blessing
360. Block
361. Universe 
362. Breakthrough
363. Curiosity
364. Distance
365. Zen

BeyondBally



Friday 7 August 2015

Blogging on a Budget?


Recently I've been feeling a little demotivated about blogging and I've realised that it's because of lack of resources. I don't like that that's the reason because I know you don't need fancy lights or a super expensive camera to make really great content but it's just they way I'm feeling at the minute. I think it started when I lost my iPhone back in March to be honest as my new phone doesn't have half the apps that I use for blogging. It just makes it a lot more work so maybe I'm just being lazy. I have to be on my laptop if I want to blog, comment or read other blogs so it's not travel friendly. Taking photos that I'm happy with isn't really an option because my camera is actually that bad. I can't participate in twitter chats any more unless I'm at home which I rarely am now. So this post isn't a how to sorry it's asking how you blog on a budget? I can't get my head in the game without all the gadgets that make it so much easier to connect!




Friday 31 July 2015

AMSTERDAM 2015


Oh my gosh this city. How pretty and how pretty chilled it is. I would move in a heartbeat yano. Just stepping out of Centraal Station and seeing the immediate gorgeous buildings I knew I was going to fall in love. I've been wanting to visit Amsterdam the whole way through university. It seemed like everyone had been but me and it had always been on my list. I know many people see it as just a place to smoke weed and maybe that's why my friends shied away from going but it is so much more than that, so much more. I didn't even smoke a cigarette never mind anything else and it was still an amazing experience. The opportunity came up because my friend is currently inter-railing around Europe and I thought it would be nice to meet him out there for a few days. My friend from home Michaela came with me which made all the travelling a lot easier.

We met Gareth in Durty Nelly's, an Irish pub/hostel which would be our home for the next two nights. It's perfect location, rooms are a bit small but it didn't bother us as we only used it to sleep. If there was a bigger group of us and we were there for longer I would opt for an apartment.

We tried to do as much touristy stuff as we could, sex museum, I Amsterdam sign, canal ride which all lived up to my expectations. My favourite had to be the canal boat ride, it was our last day so it was super nice to relax on the boat for an hour and be told snippets of cities history. The first night we arrived we participated in the red light district pub crawl which started right outside our hostel. It took us to different bars with free drinks on entry. We met people from all over the world, particularly a girl from San Francisco and a boy from Perth, who we stayed with towards the end of the night and became Facebook friends, how cute.

We didn't eat much while we were there, it was mostly liquid meals but we did try Holland's best fries and had dinner at the Hard Rock Café, both were delish! I'd advise buying alcohol in the duty free because we could only find one off-licence that only Gareth knew about because he had been there twice already.

We spent quite a bit to be fair, I think all in all the trip cost £400-450 but it could defiantly be done for cheaper if you book well in advance and just watch what you spend. I would budget £400-500 for a weekend away anyway just to be safe. A weekend in England cost just as much so might as well spend it on a country in Europe I've never been to.

I will take away such great memories of Amsterdam and I am so positive that I will be back. Maybe for longer this time so I can have chilled days just living in the city.




Tuesday 21 July 2015

Top Ten | Albums


Another in the Top Ten series. Albums.


I think my cousin introduced me to this album, it was so different to the pop I was listening to at the time and probably opened my mind up to different genres.


This was our family car album. I feel like every family has one of these. It was always on, we never changed it and everyone knew every lyric to every song. Made for really great long drives.


This could be my favourite album, ever. Big statement to make, hence why I said maybe, I just can't commit! Every song is beaut and reminds me of being the age I am now if that makes sense. It makes me nostalgic for now, yeah that doesn't make sense.


Soulful, haunting, mesmerizing voice. I just love her and this album.


They had a bumpy ride but I was a fan right from the start 'brother'.


I was given this album as a present when I spent my first Christmas in Australia. Had no idea who she was or what kind of songs she sang but I now enjoy every song on the album still after however many years it's been.


I saw these guys support Florence and The Machine before The Horrors not knowing who they were. As soon as I got home I done my research, they had made such an impression on me. Ended up loving them and this album.


The most heaviest album on the list and some people would still call it pretty light. I became obsessed with their song Jeremy and the story behind it that I naturally started listening to the album that it was on and loved it.


Summer, summer, summer, is what it reminds me of especially 'Young Blood'. My friend has it on vinyl and we would listen to it and it would take me back to just being outside with my friends in the summer time. We don't really do that anymore, just chill outside.


Me and my friend Katrina's favourite band, we seen them play in our local student's union and it was one of the best night's of our lives. I remember buying this album rushing hoe, putting it into the CD player and just lying on my bed listening to it in full for the first time. Magic.



Friday 17 July 2015

Top Ten | Lipsticks


MAC - Heroine
Rimmel - Pink Champagne 
Rimmel - Coffee Shimmer
NYC - Blue Rose
Kate Moss - 04
Rimmel - Amethyst Shimmer
Maybelline - Hot Plum
MUA - 11
Kate Moss - 107
Bourjois - Fraise Remix





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