THE PAST FEW MONTHS HAVE BEEN BUSY!

Hi all,

Apologies for the lack of blog posts recently. I know I said I'd be blogging more now that I work in London. The title to this blog explains why. It's been so busy! My financial situation, although it wasn't great to begin with, definitely isn't good right now. But, it's Summer and us Brits have to make the most of being able to go outside whilst we can.

So here's some of the stuff I've been doing...

Sunny Afternoon
I went to London with my mum and a friend to see Sunny Afternoon (The Kinks Musical). It was amazing! Unfortunately their Upper Dress Circle wasn't too complimentary to my ridiculously long legs. My knees were wedged into the back of the person in front, but nevertheless, we sang and laughed and enjoyed it thoroughly.

The photo below is of my mum and I before our meal at Bubba Gumps (what a place!) Yes, I know we look alike, thank you very much. On the way to Bubba's we walked passed a dude holding a handful of balloons with my name on them. I know, weird right? So like the child I am, I asked for a couple and that made me pretty happy.

The Book Of Mormon

Words. cannot. describe. Like seriously, this show is incredible in every way possible. It's hilarious and stunning and I've honestly never seen anything quite like it. I would happily see it again, maybe even a few times.

Download Festival

Please ignore my fuzzy hair in the photo below. It rained pretty much the entire weekend and that revealed my frizzy, curly locks to the world. Bravo, rain. Bravo!

What an incredible weekend though. I saw some amazzzzzzzing bands and met some great people. I think I've only just managed to overcome the post-Download blues.

British Summer Time

The boyfriend and I went to see Blur at British Summer Time - Hyde Park. Such a well thought out event. It was such a shame it rained. The rain and I don't seem to be getting along recently. Glorious weather all week at work and as soon as I go to a festival, the rain decides to make an appearance. God dammit.

Blur were incredible and I'll definitely be up for going to British Summer Time again in the future.

ACDC

I went with my Dad to see ACDC at Wembley Stadium. They were incredible. We sang and head banged to pretty much every single song. This was Dads first proper concert and now he's already looking into other shows to go to. Bless him!

Pretty Muddy

Aww, what a great day this was! I took part in the 5k Pretty Muddy run, in aid of Cancer Research UK, with four of my best friends. We all had such a laugh. And yes, we got 'pretty muddy'! Below is a before and after photo of the race so you can see how muddy we got. Jade, who is next to me in the 2nd photo (2nd to right) got the most covered after she slipped over in a huge pile of mud (LOL). 

As a team we raised just shy of £700.00.

Jason Byrne @ The Udderbelly

I went to see Jason Byrne with two of my besties at the Uddebelly on Friday. It's so nice to sit outside (if you can get a seat) with a glass of Pimms. Jason Byrne was absolutely hilarious. I think he's now become one of my favourite comedians.

So there's that. I hope you'll forgive me for the lack of posts. As proven, I've been here, there and everywhere and this is just some of the stuff I've been up to! You can see more photos of my shenanigans on my Instagram @melkcx, if you're interested.

I'll be posting more now, I promise :)

Best wishes,

Mel x

SOCIAL MEDIA - THE DEVIL IN DISGUISE

Has anybody else noticed how we don't miss people unless we fell out with them for a good reason? I've had a couple of friends go travelling for a few months in the past and I didn't miss them at all. This isn't a bad thing, as I still spoke to them every day. I could see the photos they posted on Facebook and Instagram. Social media kept us connected, but do you know what? I hate that. I hate that we don't have to make an effort to meet up with people any more. Social media is the reason that coffee shops and bars are struggling financially.

One of my best friend's Bex I speak to every day, but we can go months without actually meeting up with each other. The reason why is because that's cheaper than going for an overpriced glass of wine or coffee. Prices are shooting up everywhere, because these places are having to compete with the internet.

Mobile phone companies killed the coffee shops. Internet is killing the mobile phone service providers. It's the evolution of the internet. But where is it going? Are we going to have virtual friends? Will we stop leaving the house and just work from home? Buy our weeks food shopping online and have it delivered to our door? Talk to our family and friends via instant messaging from our sofas? We're becoming robots and it's terrifying. 

Don't get me wrong. The internet does bring people together and keep us connected. My aunt was adopted at a young age and through Facebook she's been able to find her family and has spent the past three Christmas' with them. I have friends who have found love on the internet and some have even married because of it. But is the internet taking away our confidence?

Gone are the days where you would be asked for your number in a bar. Now, a guy would just ask for your name, go home, search for you on Facebook and then maybe ask you out. People are starting to use their computer screens as a shield. 

We need to remember that we aren't machines, we are humans. Whilst it's great chatting to your friends on Facebook and Whatsapp (and I do it too) make sure you meet up with them regularly too. If someone takes your fancy when you're at the pub, buy them a drink there and then. If you've spoken to your mum every day on the phone, make sure you still visit her at the weekend. If you watch all your films and TV on Netflix, still make the effort to get the gang together and go to see a film at the cinema. 

Let's not let the internet and our computers destroy us. I hate to sound like a complete hippy, but we're letting that happen. 

Thanks for reading!

Mel x