Ten Random Facts about Me

Hi everyone out there!

It's after midnight as I write this and why am I still awake at such an unattractive hour you may ask? Firstly, it's pretty stormy outside and I cannot sleep with the ferocious howls of the wind as it hits against my bedroom window. I am most definitely not a fan of storms and unfortunately they hit Scotland fairly regularly.

Rather than tossing and turning in my duvet as I spend hours on end trying to drift off I thought “why not do something productive?”. I honestly believe that for whatever reason I am most creative at night, the words seem to flow effortlessly. So here I am writing this post for you my lovely readers to enjoy.
Before I go any further I want to let you all know that I have created a Facebook page and a Twitter account where you can find all of my latest news and keep up to date with my most recent blog posts. I want to say a huge thank-you to each of the lovely people who have liked/followed my pages so far-you have no idea just how much I appreciate it! So if you haven't already, please pop on over and click the all-important "like" and "follow" buttons on the following links https://www.facebook.com/thehathippieblog and www.twitter.com/thehathippie .
Now getting to the main point of this post; as you'll already know, I've written a bunch of posts here on this blog, but if I'm being completely honest I don't think that I have really told you a lot about myself. From what I can recall, I've only given away little dribs and drabs. Personally speaking, I feel that it's nice to know a bit about the person hidden behind each post. On that note, I've decided to share with you ten random facts about me.

Here it goes...............

1. I play bass guitar and have been learning to do so for the past year and half. During my primary school days I had weekly guitar lessons in school and privately every Friday evening. However, after undergoing knee surgery a few years ago I began to suffer from chronic pain which affected my right leg and eventually spread to my right hand. This caused difficulty when playing guitar so I decided to call it quits and hope that one day my condition would improve and I'd be able to play again.

Let's just say it's difficult to keep me separated from music and instruments for any length of time. I had the opportunity, as part of my home schooling, to work with a professional musician who for the past year and a half has taught me to play bass guitar. Although it can be sore and tiring, it doesn't take as much a toll on me as acoustic guitar did due to the different finger and plucking techniques I use when playing. I am so grateful to be able to play as for a while I thought it would never again be possible. Having been through that period of doubt, I've really learned to appreciate and make the most of every minute that my hand allows me to play.

2. My favourite refreshment is Starbucks’ strawberries and cream Frappuccinos! - Mmmm!

3. I am a major animal lover. My sister and I have two hamsters one named Floyd and the other Hope. They are such wonderful little creatures and have the most amazing personalities! I would also like to get a dog one day as they make such loyal friends and I enjoy spending time with them. More recently I've also decided that I'd quite like my own cat. I've always liked cats but, after reading the book "A Street Cat Named Bob" by James Bowen I realised just how incredible they are. If I am being completely honest I'd happily own a farm filled with animals!

4. My all-time favourite musical is Wicked which I've seen twice. The first occasion was in London's West End with the amazing Rachel Tucker playing the lead role of Elphaba. I saw the show for a second time last year in Glasgow during its tour of the UK. Hopefully, it won't be too long until I'll see it again! 

5. When I'm older I'd like to be a journalist as well as an author. Both careers will require a lot of hard work and effort but I'm doing my upmost to get the relevant experience such as writing these blogs which allow me to learn the necessary skills and techniques.

6. My favourite Disney film/fictional character is Peter Pan. Around a month or so ago I wrote a post about my fascination with Peter Pan, if you'd like to read it click here.

7. You may have already guessed thanks to my blog's name that I have a bit of an obsession with hats! Last time I counted, my collection believe it or not consisted of around twenty-four different hats. Perhaps I might even write about my hat collection in the not so distant future. 

8. One of my hobbies is photography. I love to take a varied range of photographs but, my favourite subject is flowers. After shooting my latest selection of photographs, I upload and edit them on my laptop's photo editing software. Although thanks to me being such a perfectionist, the editing process is often a lengthy one!

9. I am a terrible singer-but it doesn't stop me from "singing" along to songs on the radio at the top of my voice!

10. My favourite actress is the lovely Audrey Hepburn, who starred in some of the most iconic films to ever exist. My personal favourite would have to be "Funny Face" in which she stars alongside the actor Fred Astaire.

So there you have it; Ten Random Facts about Me.

Hopefully, you will have learned something new about me and the madness that it is my life. I should probably bid you all farewell for now and try and get some rest.

Lots of Love,
Robyn xx

Welcome to My Blog "The Hat Hippie"!

Hi there!

 My name is Robyn, I am sixteen years old and I wish you all a warm welcome to my blog "The Hat Hippie". It has taken a lot of deliberation to decide on the perfect name for my blog and I think I eventually have decided upon one. I wanted the name of my blog to depict me as a person and I feel that "The Hat Hippie" is the perfect candidate.

 As a teenager who has a physical disability and suffers from a condition name Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, I depend on my wheelchair to help me get around. Being a wheelchair user, I have noticed that people who don't really know me tend to treat me differently. Often people would stop and speak to whoever was with me asking my companion how I am doing etc. However it has always been frustrating when they do this as they speak as if I am invisible and not right in front of them. As strange as it sound I have used clothes and accessories as a way to help overcome this.

 I absolutely love clothes that are vintage, inspired by retro clothing or are very unusual. I am also inspired by the bohemian/hippie style and often incorporate this within my outfits. The real talking point for people when I wear one of my growing hat collection and of course I can't forget a pair of my trusty Dr Martens. Ever since I started wearing these a few years ago I've lost count on how many times that I have been stopped by people to admire either my boots or my hats. It has been unbelievable!

 Dr Martens seem to bring a lot of happy memories to the people I've spoken with over the years. I recall being in an elevator and the lady across from me smiling as she began to recall how she wore her Dr Martens when she passed her driving test. My absolute favourite was when we were popping into our local Sainsbury's store and an older man approached me and began reminisce about his younger days as punk and wearing a pair of the original Dr Martens prior to the range of many colours that they sell now. It is so lovely to see how something like that can brighten someone's day and I really enjoy hearing people's memories!

 With this in mind I began to brainstorm a few ideas for my blog, wondering what firstly, I should name it and what exactly I should also write about. I had a couple of names to choose from which I researched as I didn't want to pick a name that someone has already chosen. Eventually, I decided upon The Hat Hippie and here I am today writing this post.

 I had a rough idea on a topic to cover on my blog and have concluded that within this blog I shall write about my life as a teenager with a physical disability and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. The topic will help me keep my posts varied as there is so much to write about the experiences I've had over the years and of course the ones that are still to come.This will allow me to hopefully give a detailed insight into the positives and negatives of what I've been through, teach and give advice to others on how to help someone in a similar situation to myself and of course I would love to give others like me something to relate to.

 As someone who loves to write and dreams of have my writing published as a book one day, I feel that this will be a great way to learn and improve on my writing skills to enable myself to achieve my aspirations. My aim is to post something at least once a week. There might on some occasions be two depending on personal commitments.

 I must go for now however, I shall have new blog posts to share with you very soon! So please do pop back again in the near future!

Best Wishes to you all!

Robyn x