March Favourites 2015 ~ Pen and Key

Yet another favourites post. And again, it's a short one, because I'm rubbish.

Haven't got any makeup favourites this month, haven't really worn any.

Reader Inserts

I have pretty much spent the last month scrolling through DeviantArt for reader insert stories. It began with Merlin, I think, then progressed to Sherlock, then Peter Parker, Steve Rogers and Tony Stark (I'm not even in the Avengers fandom as of yet, but I'm on the internet, they are everywhere), yesterday and this morning was spent on Once Upon a Time, and now I'm onto Hiccup from How to Train your Dragon. I may need help.

Merlin Guitar Medley ~ biglouie369

I found this whilst scrolling and literally had to have it. It's now my official hype song, which seriously makes me want to watch Merlin to death, but I have this week's OUAT to watch, and Grimm season 1 to finish. It's a good job I'm on holiday.

Go Ahead Yoghurt Breaks

I don't know about you, but among my friends, I'm considered a scrounger. In my honest opinion, it's a waste when one of my friends doesn't eat their food, so I'll have it. So of course, my friends complain I need to bring more for lunch. I honestly bring enough for myself for lunch, it's not like I need more necessarily, it just feels like a waste if someone doesn't eat it. However, now I've gotten into taking in these yoghurt bars. They're gorgeous, brilliant for hungry break times, or just stuffing into your mouth if you haven't got much time (happens so often with music), and kind of makes me feel like I'm making an effort to be healthy, which is a bonus.

The Scorch Trials ~ James Dashner

It's taken me a while (about 2 months), but I finally finished the Scorch Trials on Thursday. All I can honestly say is that I'm confused; is WICKED good, is it bad? Is Teresa really as bitchy as I think, or was that just WICKED? Do I even make an opinion about Aris? What happened to the original Creators? Who the f*** are the emails between in the Epilogues?

I'm already 2 chapters into the Death Cure thanks to the preview in the back, and I'm slightly more confused than I was before I finished it. Joys of bookworms!

I honestly can't think of anymore favourites to write, so that'll have to be it for now!

Eve Attempts NaNoWriMo ~ Take 2

If you haven't already guessed by the title, or the massive banner right here, I am taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo this year, and with more resolve and determination than I had back in November.

My Camp profile can be found here

I've tried to get a widget for my blog that reads how many words have been written, but I couldn't find one for Camp, only for the actual NaNo in November.

I'll talk more about what my novel is actually about later, so I'll just leave you with what I have on my Novels Page.

It's called Returned, by the way.

*

Catie and Thomas are best friends. They've known each other for the entirety of their lives, and wouldn't go a day without each other, if that were an option. Thomas is Catie's own 'dream boy', literally. No night has gone by since she was born that she didn't see her Thomas. What will ensue when Thomas disappears from her dreams, only to appear in her classroom?

*

Like a forgotten dream, the hours of the night they spent in their paradise disappeared in minutes, leaving him reaching for her hand with a smile, bringing her to her feet. In her peripheral, the glade began to fade into nothing, disappearing so quickly that it was almost like it had never been there. “You’re waking up, dearie,” he pointed out with a wistful sigh.

* * *

“Have fun waiting.”

“Have fun living.” He encircled her waist in a hug, resting his chin on her shoulder for a moment longer than he usually did.

“I’ll see you tonight, Tom.” All that was left of her dream was him, slowly getting more distant from her.

“Good morning, Catherine.” She didn’t notice the small change from ‘have a good day’ to ‘good morning’; she had already woken up.

*

The synopsis makes it sound like some sort of crappy love story, I know, but hopefully it'll pack a bit more punch than that. 

So wish me luck, there'll probably be a blog post in the next couple of weeks complaining about it :)

Writing Wednesday #9 ~ Poor

So, seeing as next week is entitled 'rich', I'm going to make this a 2-parter, a 'Prince and the Pauper' style, really. So look forward to that next week!

* * * * *

In a world where there is no middle, you are caught at an impasse. Either Rich or Poor, you are one or the other.

We didn't want to be in this situation, no one in our district did, but that was our lot. We all looked to the district wall wishing we could be on the other side, but that's not how it works, you see. You don't get to work towards the wall, that would be too easy. Instead you must be chosen for your place on the other side. Once that happens, you don't return to the side from whence you came, only if you are chosen once again in the exchange.

That's what they call it. The Exchange. Sounds harmless, right? Each year, the Exchange occurs, one 'rich' for a 'poor' as we're all called.

Me, I'm a Poor. Compared to statistics of the old world, we aren't actually poor, but in today's money, we ourselves are impoverished.

The Exchange is tomorrow morning. We all wait for our chances, and yet we don't want to be chose. A rich and lavish life against leaving all we have behind weighs upon each of our shoulders. We feel guilty for wanting to move on to something better, as that means we can't return to our families.

And yet, the thrill of the Exchange grips us in its claws, and we sit in anticipation, wasting the night away, dreaming that it is our name that is called, and it is our life that is changed by crossing the wall.

When morning arrives, we line up, scrambling to see the Mediator. The Mediator is required to call our names from their prestigious place on the wall.

When my name is called, the entire district turns to me, waiting for me to say something, do something. Most shout, some cry, whereas I stand numb. Shoves come from every side. urging me towards the wall, towards my fate.

Taking my place before the wall, I wait for the doors to open. When they do, I take a final glance towards my family behind me, who watch me with both joy and fear; they are losing their only daughter after all. I catch my mother's whisper of 'be safe' before the familiar crunching of gears alerts me to the opening of the door before me.

As I take my first steps towards the Rich, I can't help but look to the girl I am replacing. Her eyes convey her utter disdain for me, envy rolling off of her in waves. Looking towards my future, I take my place on the side of the Rich.

Rejections

Rejections, you'd think they got easier to take. Between Saturday and Monday, I had five for work experience, and I still have two potential ones yet to come in. Before that, a position on a programme I applied to rejected me (my sister reckoned I wasn't close enough location-wise for them); then a week or two later, an opportunity with school came up to spend a few days of the Easter holidays at a local university to get a feel for uni life. again, I was rejected, as was everyone else who applied from my school, because the university had to go off the school's exam scores to decide who got places.

Yeah, you'd think they'd be easier, you'd think you'd grow a harder skin. I don't know if it's just because I've literally had less than ten rejections, or if it's just because I kind of expect them, but they still hit pretty hard.

I don't know. If you felt like criticising me, you could blame it on my first world privileges, and say I grew up never hearing the word no, and I'll admit, I grew up in a life where yes was the usual answer, but there were plenty of nos mixed in too. However, there's a difference between a 'no, you can't have another biscuit' and a 'no, you can't have a place at our paper'.

I just want to say, it may take a while, it may take 50 different rejections to feel like they don't upset you any more. They may not have a big impact when you're looking at the entire picture, but each little rejection, each no, that hardens your skin. It may not be metres thick like you want, but every centimetre adds up.

I want you to remember that. Love, Eve <3

Pen and Key Rants ~ Body Types

After Maya's recent 'Disgusting Topic' video, I decided instead of leaving a long comment, I'd just write my own opinions here.

Maya talked about glorifying curvy body types, a very valid point, especially in recent body positivity movements. However, because I personally have a completely different body type to Maya, I have a different view on this. Although I think everybody should be glorified whatever, I'm going to talk about glorifying skinny people.

I've mentioned before, back in primary, I was on the bigger side of the class size average. All the girls in my class were dance girls, and athletic girls from the age of four or whatever. I myself didn't start playing badminton until I was 8, and because my friends were there, I didn't actually start getting that much exercise from it until a few years ago.

To me, skinny girls were everywhere, and they were the good things. As I mentioned the other week, body negativity never seriously hit me until I was 11 or so, yet I still knew something about it. In primary, they were sure to tell you that magazine pictures are airbrushed, but in a spur of the moment negativity, you can forget that.

Honestly, society's a bitch, and a contagious one at that. If it weren't for the media showing off skinny bodies as the models for everything, we wouldn't be thinking that skinny is best, and we wouldn't be putting those thoughts into our everyday.

Another thing that annoys me is clothes sizing. I personally love shopping at TK Maxx, but it annoys me so much that my size (14, UK sizes) is labelled a large. Because I'm tall and *shock horror* have a bit of fat on my chest, I'm labelled a large.

It also ticks me off that there have to be specific clothing lines for different body types, like plus sizes and petite. It doesn't annoy me that they exist, it annoys me that mainstream clothing brands feel they can't just make a larger range of sizes rather than having specific clothing ranges. What is the actual point?

I don't know about you, but topics like these really get me riled. I'd like to just say, I may not have met you, but through correspondence through my blog, I respect you, and that isn't going to change if I ever meet you, no matter your body.

Your body, big, small, wide, slim, tall or short, it's gorgeous on you, and you make it gorgeous.

Procrastination Strikes

I really wish I were talking about homework right now (though I do have two pieces due tomorrow morning that I haven't touched) but I'm really talking about something maybe a bit more consequential than a sloppy PEE paragraph.

You see, I'm on the school's work experience programme for year tens this July. We were given the placement in February, and our deadline was this Friday.

I, being me, put it off, thinking it would be easy to find a placement.

Tell that to the four rejections I've gotten in the last two days.

They 'only take people over 18', or their 'office is too small'. The only work experience I'm getting at the moment is how crappily hard it is to find a job.

I mean, seriously, all you have to do is accomodate a 15 year old for a week.

If it weren't for other situations, I'd just say 'f*** it, I'll work for mum/dad', but I can't exactly do that in July, but I want to do something that relates to what I want to do, and working for mum's going to be out of the question in July, anyway (more on that in about a month)

Just somebody give me a job!

I'm now plotting what to say to the teacher in charge of the programme so I don't sound like a child whilst complaining to him about it.

Joys of this whole 'becoming an adult' thing, eh?

Give me back marble runs and old BBC series.

Hope you've all had a nice weekend,

Eve <3

Pen and Key Cooks - Egg Fried Rice

So, I may have mentioned this a couple of times, but I love to cook. There is just such satisfaction for me to work on a good meal for myself and for it to turn out well. My mum's even started asking me to cook her and dad's tea if she's busy, seeing as I made it my goal of 2015 to learn to cook more things. Last week I made them spaghetti bolognese, and I got some left overs the night after, it tasted exactly the same as my mum's.

I'm into trying out new things, food-wise, learning  new skills and dishes. This week's experiment was my very own Egg Fried Rice with some twists. I've written down the recipe with some improvements so that you can try it out for yourself:

Eve’s Egg Fried Rice

Ingredients: (Serves 1 with a large appetite)

• ½ Cup Rice
• ½ Onion, chopped
• ¾ Cup Peas/Sweetcorn
• 200g Chicken, defrosted
• 2 Eggs, beaten (seasoned as you wish)

Directions:

1. Ensure chicken is defrosted. If using defrost function on microwave, make sure it doesn't begin to cook the chicken.
2. Set water for rice away to boil
3. Slice chicken into thin strips and onions into small pieces
4. When rice is at least halfway cooked, fry chicken. Add any herbs or spices.
5. Remove chicken from frying pan, then fry onions.
6. Add in peas/sweetcorn
7. Mix rice in with peas and onions in the pan
8. Move your rice mix to the sides, leaving a well in the middle
9. Pour egg mixture into the well and cook (attempt to scramble)
10. Mix scrambled egg into rice mix
11. Mix in chicken
12. Cook until satisfied

As you can see, I'm not the most articulate when it comes to writing recipes, seeing as this is my first one. Feel free to leave a comment if you're confused by anything! And if you do try it, send me a picture or tell me how it tasted for you!
Love Eve <3

Why Do I Shy From Compliments?

I've noticed recently that I have a habit of shying away from compliments whenever I get them.

For example, this week, whilst rehearsing for Joseph, our teacher complimented the soprano harmony, saying it sounded good, and a sixth former beside me turned to me and went 'That's you, you're really good!' I then proceeded to try and sink beneath the piano where I stood, even though the person complimenting me was stood right next to me.

Another example can be found a few weeks ago when I was working for my mum, and a customer walked in. She asked if I was mum's daughter, then called me gorgeous. At this point, I tried to hide beneath the counter.

Why do I do this? Is it really so ingrained into my being to immediately hide from compliments?

Even compliments from my friends, I'll just pass compliments off unless they're on something I'm proud of, say my hair.

This would be the point where  I go into my tragic backstory. This isn't X Factor, however. I don't have anybody to win over and put me through to the next round. Therefore, I'm going to keep this brief.

Basically, I was a chubby kid. Between the ages of 5 and 10, I was so chunky. I literally have a picture of myself aged 10 to a. Remind me to never get a bobbed haircut again, and b. To show that I may not be happy with the way my stomach sticks out a bit now, but at least my shirt is tight in the right places.

As well as this, I got the spectacular joy of hitting puberty early, in year 5. Even though I have two older sisters, I didn't dare talk to anyone about the way my body was changing, because it wasn't happening to anyone else in my class.

The one thing that always stuck with me was when, at a swimming class in year 5, I had three of the popular girls come over to me and tell me to show them my arms. I say tell; these were the popular girls in our class, they didn't ask for things from you, they told you what they wanted. So they told me to show them my arms, because, shock horror, I had hair under my arms.

That just feels like the turning point for me. That's when I really started getting insecure about my body. I was still 100% confident in my academic abilities, but my body became a weakness I suppose.

I realise that's a lot longer than 'brief'. I'm sorry

Nowadays, I wouldn't say I'm happy with my body, there are still things I'd change if I could. but I'm content with my lot.

But now I also shy away from compliments aimed at my abilities. I don't understand why, but I do.

I'll say again though, I'm content with what I have, and what I don't, I'm going to either try and improve myself to acquire them, or do without. That's just how it goes.

So, be happy with your lot, it's all you have at the moment. If you want more, you've got to work for it. And compliments? They're a beautiful little boost of sunshine, that, even though you're hiding from them, you still think about them, and you still sometimes think, 'you know what, I deserve that compliment', and those are the thoughts you need to listen to!

That's my little slice of Pen and Key Life & Advice for the week. Stay amazing everybody, and as a very great man said, Keep Moving Forward!

Eve <3

Writing Wednesday #8 ~ Race

Just Another Race

It's just another race, I remind myself, feet slapping against the floor as I continue to run, hardly daring to look back, just in case I don't like what I see. Some days I wonder just when my stupidly stubborn head will actually get me killed. A low, rumbling growl sounds behind me, sending a tremor  through the ground. By the looks of it, that day might not be that far away.


It wasn't supposed to go like this, this was not made to kill. We were just playing, another game that had a cool prize at the end. That prize seemed so far away now.

We were together at first, the sinister being who had set the lot of us off, his resounding countdown reverberating through the clearing in which we stood. He gave us 2 minutes' head start, 2 minutes to run before he began the hunt.

We thought it was a game. We think we're all grown up, but like children, we were too transfixed by the end to consider the complications of the middle.

The growl is louder now, gaining on me rapidly. I'm next, I realise. There's no point in ignoring it. I'm going to die, another casualty of the game.

All fight dissipated from my being, slowing my legs to a stop, allowing me to look to the sky as the growling stalks closer. Here's hoping somebody wins this in my place.

* * * * *

This one is actually alright for once! It's kind of a Hunger Games hybrid, I know, but it's a random thing! Hop you enjoyed this week's theme of Race. It's still Wednesday (It's 11:42 pm). I'm actually doing better at getting these up each week, I'm quite proud of myself :)

Love, Eve <3

Writing Wednesday #7 ~ Fish

Something in the Water

You wouldn't be able to tell what's wrong with us, not from the outside. Even some people on the inside don't understand.

There's something in the water, you see.

Not the water we drink, nor the water we bathe in. It's in our rivers, and in the ocean that boxes us in, keeping us here.

The fish don't swim beneath the waves as they would in your world, but rather, they glide along the ripples, leering over the water, waiting to strike. Our fish can fly, can yours?

It's not just that, though. Our fish, though not sharks or any other type of predator species, are carnivorous. However, only do they show this vindictive trait when the moon shines its light upon their scales. Only in the twilight can they reveal their fangs. Only in darkness can they show appear in their true light.
* * * * *
I'm going to stop that there, otherwise, it'll end up too much like my original Writing Wednesday, Shark Woods.
So, yet another disappointingly short Writing Wednesday, I'll just let myself out now.
Eve <3

February Favourites 2015 ~ Pen and Key

Again, this is only going to be a few items long, because I'm rubbish at thinking of favourites, I need to start taking note of them.

Lynx Attract for Her ~ Bodyspray and Body Wash Set

This was a Christmas present, which, you can never go wrong with body spray or shower gel with me, really. I love the smell of it, and that's really all I can say. It smells nice, and works? *shrugs*

Barry M ~ Matte Top Coat

Over half term, I got to wear a couple of nail designs, which I was very happy with, as during a school week, I don't get the chance to do my nails up. So, I've been wearing french tips with a matte finish, which looks brilliant to me.

The first was worn over half term, using Ciate polishes, and the second was worn on Friday to school for the heck of it using an Avon French Tip duo.

Hollister ~ Solana Beach ~ Hand and Body Cream

I bought this last year when on exchange in Zaragoza, Spain. It was literally the cheapest thing in the shop, which isn't exactly surprising. However, I think I paid 7 euros for this, I mean, seriously? It smells gorgeous, though. I've been using it as a hand cream lately, because my hands need some maintenance!

w7 ~ Eye Lust Mascara

This was a Christmas present from my sister, alongside some other subtle makeup items (she's my older sister, so she's not too keen on me making myself up too much). This mascara has a lovely wand (I prefer the types that are bristles over plastic, as they hurt less when they go into your eyes!), great coverage, and makes my eyes look really wide, which, as I've mentioned before, I like my eyes to be the focal point of my look.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Bit of an odd favourite, I know, but this month I went to see my friend Emily in her school's production of Sweeney Todd. She may have not had a big role, but I was so proud of her, simply seeing he on that stage and knowing she'd worked so hard to be there.

Also, the music of Sweeney Todd has a haunting beauty that is so enchanting. The story may be creepy, but with good acting, it was pulled off spectacularly, and I ended up with shivers whenever they sang the Ballad of Sweeney Todd.

So those are some of my favourites for February! I've got to go work on tomorrow's Writing Wednesday now, which, spoiler alert, is FISH! I can barely contain myself!

Eve <3