twenty fourteen on a clipboard // april.

it seems very strange posting on this blog now. i don't know why, and i'm not going to apologise for it. nor am i going to make promises to blog three times a week or even three times a month. the one place i doubt i will ever stop posting on is instagram. if you're remotely interested in my life/photography, then head on over there. i also have a photography blog now, considering i'm studying the thing. 

anyway, april was pretty good, i went to wales for the day with a couple of friends & i took some polaroids. i also went to see 'let it be' which was actually really good. it was basically a beatles tribute band but they were pretty good. 

april was also easter, probably my favourite religious holiday, you know, celebrating jesus and having eternal life and all that. nbd

may has already been a pretty great month for me, i hope that now we're heading into summer (ha) that i will finally get into the swing of 2014. 

life is outside your door.

last tuesday, i saw city & colour live. it's something i've wanted for years, but for some reason, i've always been too late to buy tickets. as soon as his uk/europe 2014 tour was announced, i bought tickets, i didn't ask who wanted to come, i just bought two and decided to figure it out later.
it was magical. it was everything i wanted it to be and more. he may have outgrown a small academy venue, but he still had the ability to silence a room with his voice.
2010-2012 were the hardest years of my short life and while it was happening, i felt like the whole world was crashing on top of me and i'd never be able to get out. looking back on it i never really understood how bad my anxiety & paranoia were. i'd ignore attacks as me being stupid. i'd constantly be worried and reverted back to being a five year old, not being able to go anywhere without someone.
thankfully, i'm so much better now. my anxiety is still there, but it's nowhere near as severe as it was. i'm hardly having panic attacks anymore, in the past few months i've had under five. i hate talking about it & i'm so glad i'm not riddled with anxiety when i'm about to go somewhere; i still get a bit nervous and my stomach is full of butterflies, but it doesn't stop me from doing most things.
this year, i want to do more. i want to go to places and see things and be with people (but not for too long at one time). this summer i want to go to a couple of places and hopefully i'll be able to save up to go. i'm excited for 2014, the year i'm going to ignore my anxiety and walk out of the door.

winter cold in my bones.

last year i created a couple of playlists on 8tracks, then completely forgot about it half way through summer. i love having playlists on spotify, but wanted another way to share music i've been loving;

stuck on the puzzle // alex turner
bird on the buffalo // angus stone
shake // the head and the heart
everything's gonna be undone // band of horses
no. 1 party anthem // arctic monkeys
fare thee well // oscar isaac & marcus mumford
cigarettes, wedding bands // band of horses
of time and space // city & colour
favourite day // bombay bicycle club
white teeth teens // lorde
knee socks // arctic monkeys
learn me right // mumford & sons + birdy
what makes a man // city & colour
try // david ramirez
beautiful mess // hudson taylor
team // bon iver

i hope you enjoy this over the weekend.

acoustic.

i took some photos of st james' acoustic night last night. it was the first time i've been asked to photograph an event and i think they turned out alright, the light was either super harsh or really dim so that made it hard. but i enjoyed it and definitely appreciate being able to practice shooting people. 

breathe.

yep, it's another double post day because ever since i discovered 8tracks (the best website ever, especially as you can't get things such as pandora in england) i have been going mixtape crazy. and i'm glad, because it's made me listen to all my music, not just the stuff i downloaded last week. it's good.

anyway, the reason for this post is because last night/this morning, i posted a mix that is over an hour long and full of songs that make you feel happy and dreamy and relaxed. so here's a mix for your weekend, and maybe the weekend after that, who knows.

a short mix.

this post is by no means targeted at all of you, as i know not everyone will be interested in it, but i have shared some of my favourite christian songs on 8tracks. if you haven't read my about page, you may not know that i am a christian, as i don't like shoving it down everyone's throat. but, i am, and if you would like to listen to this mix, you can do so by going here.

♡ 

▲ happy new year!! ▲

here are a few tracks i've been loving that i've complied into a short mixtape. some are old, some are new. if you like this idea, i will maybe do a volume two - i'm a poet and i just don't know it, wicka wicka waaaa, ok sorry, back to the mixtape - later on in the year. the track listing is;

1. ho hey - the lumineers.
2. long vows - band of horses.
3. heart full of wine - angus and julia stone.
4. scarborough fair - simon and garfunkel.
5. piledriver waltz - alex turner.
6. atlas hands - benjamin francis leftwich.
7. god only knows - the beach boys.
8. all the young dudes - mott the hoople.
9. blackbird - the beatles.

and you can listen to it here.

i have decided to start off 2013 on therosyfreckle with a new blog design. i am really happy with it - it was between this one and one more suited to a photography blog. i hope you all had a wonderful night last night, whatever you did. i ended up staying in as i was exhausted from work, but i rang in 2013 drinking mulled cider and eating almond m&m's (thanks for letting me discover these, harvey nicks!) with my mum - who says mum's aren't cool?! - wearing our bobble hats. 

♡ 

bits i've been loving this month.

ok, so i know it's not exactly the end of the month, but really, as soon as christmas eve rolls around, time just melts into one big christmas fest with films, food, board games and music thrown in. so, i thought now would be a great time to share some things i've been loving for the past month or so.

treacle moon warm cinnamon nights shower creme.
this stuff smells so good, perfect for a winter evening bath and it's super cheap too; £2.99 for 500ml. the only downside is that it's limited edition (which makes you want it more). honestly the only thing i will happily buy from tesco (don't get me started).

essie where's my chauffer.
i'm a sucker for teal/aqua/blue nail varnish. always have been, always will be. normally, this sort of colour is saved for summer, but as it was released in the 2012 winter collection, i allowed myself to wear it with glee. it's more of a blue toned mint(?) which makes it icy and perfect for winter tips.

white lights.
everywhere. the tree, around the room, above my bed. i love white lights at christmas. i'm not a coloured lights fan. well, i like them, i just don't like them in my house. ;)

blankets and throws.
i have an obsession. with cushions too. i just love them. so warm and snuggly and perfect for keeping your toes warm in the cold weather. i have one on the end of my bed, two in the living room, and the rest sorted to the side waiting for me to get my mitts on them. i have too many to use, but i just can't stop myself from buying them. i probably need help.

nutella cinnamon hot chocolate.
this is a drink sent from heaven. i've grown up drinking powdered chocolate with hot water and a little bit of milk. i always found it weird that people used hot milk in their hot chocolates, but when i tried it, i realised why. ok, it isn't as healthy, but it's winter for pete's sake. i normally fill my mug with milk, leaving some room at the top, then pour that into a pan, but it on a low heat, add two dollops of nutella, constantly whisk & turn the hob up a bit - because i'm impatient - add cinnamon when the nutella's pretty much melted, then just keep whisking until there's steam coming off it, then take it off the heat, pour it into my mug then top it off with some whipped cream. nom.

revlon lip butter in raspberry pie.
i bought like five lip butters when i was in florida in february as they hadn't come out over here yet. raspberry pie was one i loved but had been in the drawer since i got home. then a few weeks ago, i was having a sort out and came across this again. i put it on and thought it was perfect for the colder months. i love the way it wears off too, it stains the lips and subtly fades away throughout the day.

revlon colorstay in ivory.
i waited so long to try out this foundation, fearing it was too much coverage for me, but hecky thump, it's perfect! i don't need concealer and it lasts all day. literally, i'll put it on at nine am and it will still be there at nine pm. it mattifies my skin perfectly (i've recently become more oily than dry/normal) and makes my skin tone all one colour. i will be repurchasing this foundation forever. my only wish is that it had a pump, seriously so annoying that you can't control how much product comes out.

palmolive milk and honey shower milk.
i actually think this is my favourite shower gel ever. i use it every single day and it makes my skin so soft and moisturised and smells so good. i love that it's not flowery or minty etc because that way it doesn't contrast my perfumes.

converse.
my first pair of converse were red, orange and pink hi-tops i bought in new york when i was nine. after two months, i hated them. the colours weren't anything like what i wore (grey lover for life) and i just wanted my mum to replace them with black ones. she wouldn't so i put them away and forgot about converse until i was 13. i still didn't learn and went out and bought red hi-tops. those lasted longer, about two years longer. it was then i bought black low-tops. i wore them constantly until i went to an outlet with my mum and first discovered the vans shop (bear in mind this is about three/four years before everyone started wearing vans) and bought a pair of black and white slip ons. i was a vans person from then on. i still am. except i'm trying to vary what shoes i wear - seriously i need to stop wearing my vans every time i leave the house. i pulled out my converse from the back of my wardrobe and i've been making a conscious effort to wear them - and other types of shoes - more often.

frank hamilton.
ok, i know i'm way way late on the frank hamilton bandwagon. but sheesh, he is good. i got tired of the stuff i'd been listening to for most of the year and wanted some new stuff. my first place to look was the new & noteworthy on itunes - i never look at the charts - and found frank hamilton's #onesongaweek album. honestly beautiful. i suggest you all go check it out.



hey, it's christmas.
favourite christmas album of the year, of course you all know this is you've seen my favourite christmas music post. plus, you can buy it for as much or little as you'd like (that includes £0).

lianne la havas.
another new discovery. not something i'd necessarily go for every day of the week, but her music is beautiful.

the lumineers.
the self-titled album is just a pure joy to listen to. so chill.

m.r. smith.
i checked out this artist after he followed me on twitter, and i genuinely enjoyed his music. think the head and the heart, iron and wine and mumford & sons.

the hobbit.
by far my favourite movie of december, if not the year. i had the book as a child but never got around to reading it and i'm not the biggest fan of the lotr franchise but i really wanted to see the hobbit. i thought it was really really good. i thought the acting was superb and it was such a great film in general. it did drag in some places, but for the majority of the time, i didn't even realise how long it was on for. i thought martin freeman was the perfect bilbo and loved that frodo got a little part in it too.


what are some of your favourite things from this month? 

♡