The Day I Met Joe Sugg!

Hello!

Last Saturday, the 24th October I finally met one of my all-time favourite YouTubers, Joe Sugg also known as Thatcher Joe. Joe has recently published his very first book Username: Evie and has embarked on a UK tour to promote it and meet some of his millions of subscribers in a range of cities up and down the country. Last month, I was one of the lucky few to fight my way through the mad internet rush in hope of getting tickets for my sister and I to meet Joe during his tour. Somehow, I managed to get on to Ticketmaster and before I knew it; I had received an email notification to confirm that I'd successfully managed to book tickets to meet Joe Sugg-brilliant!

The month flew in pretty quickly and before I know it the day had arrived! We were going to meet Joe Sugg! Despite it being the weekend, it was a fairly early morning for us so that we could pick up my Grandparents who were accompanying us on the journey to Glasgow and get there in time for the signing to begin as we didn't fancy being at the very end of it to be completely honest! So I flung a mug of chicken noodle soup down my throat, (strange breakfast, I know) got dressed, covered up my ghostly face with a layer of makeup before flinging on my Dr Martens and one of my many hats. And I was ready to rock and roll!

I've created a short vlog which I've posted on my YouTube channel which you can view via the link at the bottom of this page and see more of what happened, but I thought I'd give you a brief account of the event anyway. The video is nowhere near perfect as I have so much to learn but I certainly enjoyed creating it and I hope you enjoy watching it!

We arrived at the St. Enoch Centre where the signing was being held and already, there was a large queue of people waiting despite the fact that there was still around a hour and twenty minutes (something like that) until the event was due to begin. So we followed the line down the shopping centre until we reached the end which constantly seemed to be growing longer as more and more people joined it. Around ten or twenty minutes later, we were approached by a member of security who asked us to come with him. So we followed him to the very front of the queue where he opened up a separate area designated to people with mobility/or health problems and cannot stand for any length of time in a long queue.

As we stood waiting, I kept refreshing my social media pages in hope of any updates from Joe to pass time as we waited. After a while, my iPod decided that it no longer wanted to cooperate with me and that it didn't want to connect to the WiFi. Thanks mate! It was around this time that I heard people in front of me mention that Joe had just posted a video of the queue from the floor above us on Snapchat. Surprisingly, no one seemed to have spotted him but word spread like wildfire and it became a little trickier for Joe to film sneaky videos of the crowd.

Our tickets were soon scanned and each ticketholder was finally handed a pre-signed copy of Joe's book Username: Evie. Seconds later, one of the security guards began ushering some of us into a room which was set up for Joe's meet n' greet. This was probably the first Youtuber even that I've attended that actually went smoothly. On previous occassions, there was always a problem in some shape or form because of my wheelchair. So I was impressed with how this was handled at this particular event. Aproaching one o'clock, Joe showed face, again from the balcony vlogging everyone waiting downstairs. As you can imagine and will be able to hear in my video, the room was filled with loud screams of excitement. So, a word of warning to you in advance; don't put your volume up too high whilst watching the video!

Seconds later, a door on the left hand side of the room opened as a few people stepped out into the room followed by Joe Sugg with his camera in hand, vlogging us as he entered. I'm extremely excited to watch his Glasgow vlog in hope that I might be able to spot myself. I mean, how cool would that be?! As soon as everyone caught glimpse of Joe, the room erupted in excited screams-what a welcome!

No sooner than Joe was standing behind the screen, the first girl was called up to meet him followed by her friend and then me. I stood beside the screen waiting for my turn and was then waved over by one of the security guards to let me know that it was my turn to meet Joe. So I followed his lead and walked behind the screen where Joe was standing right there in front of me. It all happened pretty quickly as they was a thousand people waiting to meet Joe. I said hello to Joe, got a wee hug and one of the many security guards offered to take a photograph for me which made life so much easier for me as I have the world's shakiest hand thanks to my CRPS. So Joe and I posed for a photo which actually turned out pretty well I have to say and the security guard handed me iPod with an image of Joe and I showing on the screen. I thanked him for doing the honours and of course said thanks to Joe as well. Just as I was heading out to find my Mum, it hit me that I hadn't said goodbye. So quickly I turned round and said goodbye to Joe before making my way back over to Mum. And the moment was over. Obviously, I didn't get to chat with Joe for too long but he came across as very sweet and genuine person.

After my sister, Laurel had met with Joe we made our way out of the ST. Enoch Centre and met back up with my Grandparents. Mum and Laurel popped into Lush in Buchannan Street to pick up a few bits n' bobs whilst I waited outside with my Gran and Grandad trying to conncet to the city Wi-Fi to post up my photo. As I scrolled through my social media accounts I noticed that there was still wristbands left for another meet n greet with Joe and his friend, roommate and fellow YouTuber Caspar Lee in December when they are visiting Glasgow to sign copies of their new DVD "Joe and Caspar Hit The Road". Now, I don't have the world's best sense of direction but I was pretty sure that Argyle Street wasn't too far away and it turns out I was right. After asking my Gran where exactly it was, I realised it was literally just a little further down the path from where we were standing. 'Perfect!' I thought, that would make the perfect Christmas gift for Laurel. So after a bite to eat and a refreshment from Costa, Mum and Laurel popped round to HMV in hope that the wristbands wouldn't have sold out. During this time I sat in Costa with my Grandparents, constantly refreshing the HMV Argyle Street twitter feed keeping up to date with just how many were left. A little while later Mum and Laurel reappeared with the good news that they'd managed to get hold of two tickets/wristbands despite the fact that all of Joe and Caspar's fans were beginning to flock the store after Joe's signing. So we were pretty fortunate I must say! And of course, that's one Christmas gift off the list!

It was absolutely freezing in Glasgow and the sky was filled with icy rain so it was fair to say that we didn't hang around for too long. Instead, we headed back home to my Grandparent's house and tucked into some delicious Chinese takeout before we made our way back home to watch the X Factor on TV. I had a brilliant day and am very excited to meet Joe again and of course meet Caspar for the first time in December, perhaps I might even vlog the occasion again! But in the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this post and the vlog I filmed to go along with it. It is nowhere near perfect but I certainly had a lot of fun creating and will enjoy watching it in future!

 

I Have Finally Joined YouTube!

Hello Folks!

I just wanted to let you all know that I've finally created a YouTube channel and have posted my very first video! Please check it out, give the video a thumbs up if you enjoyed, subscribe to get notifications every time I post a video up on my channel and finally, make sure to share it with your lovely friends! Before I go I just wanted to tell you that I have something very exciting happening this coming week so make sure to pop back soon to hear all about it! 

A huge Thank-You to each and every one of you for all of the support! Words cannot describe just how much I appreciate it! 

Until next time i send you all my love and best wishes! 

The Hat Hippie xxx

Hospitals & A Bad CRPS Flare

Hello!

It's been an eventful few weeks since I last posted here on my blog and you may have noticed that I mentioned on my Facebook page that my knee has been playing up lately, causing me quite a bit of pain and discomfort. Despite giving it plenty of rest and keeping it elevated as much as I possibly could, it didn't seem to improve any. In fact, it probably got worse if anything.

So after feeling pretty miserable all weekend it was off to the doctors surgery on the Monday morning to see my GP. We are pretty fortunate when it comes to our doctors surgery as they'll always do their best to fit you in as soon as they possibly can and last Monday was no exception. They managed to fit me in that morning roughly just an hour and a half after Mum called that morning. That's almost unheard of in today's society!

So after a shorter than usual tutoring session that morning, my Mum and I made our way across town to the surgery listening to the radio as we went.  Listening to the radio is by far one of my favourite past times and is great when going to a medical appointment as it helps divert my mind from worrying about it. After attending so many hospital appointments throughout the years, you'd think it wouldn't bother me too much, but for whatever reason I still get quite worked up about going for one.

Anyway, we arrived in the surgery car park just as they were playing the new ELO song which actually reminded me a little of another song. We were a little early so we sat in the car for a further ten minutes or so, which was much better than sitting in a waiting room, whilst I sat there deliberating what song it reminded me of. Then it hit me! It sounded like Golden Slumbers by The Beatles (my favourite band-in case you didn't know!) I quickly pulled out my iPod and started playing Golden Slumbers to compare the two songs. My poor Mum must get sick and tired of me having mad, geeky moments about music-she has the patience of a saint to listen to me rambling on all day long! But in all seriousness, go look up the two songs and have a listen! I mean it might just be me, but that's exactly what it reminded me of. Oops, I've just realised that I went off track enthusing about music (again!) Sorry folks!

Inside the surgery we spent a further twenty minutes or so waiting to be seen as it was extremely busy and they were running a little late. There really wasn't a need to complain though, as these things happen and they were good enough to actually fit me in at the last minute. After twenty minutes of watching I don't know how many different faces come and go and for me, counting the faded outlines of squares on the carpet (the things you do to past time), my name was finally called.

After explaining to the doctor what was going on with my knee, he gave it an examination, asking me questions about my most recent visit to hospital and what motions they used when examining my knee as that was really when my knee began flaring up. Apparently, the motion they used in hospital, which almost looked like they were popping my knee out of place and back in again, was actually to test the ligaments that had been created during my knee surgery back in 2011. I was told to rest my leg just like I had been doing and was prescribed yet more pain killers.

By Wednesday, my pain levels had grown worse and I spent the day in bed and for a little while in the afternoon curled up on the sofa feeling absolutely miserable. This was probably the worse my pain had been for a while. It was at the point that it had me in tears so that said a lot. My Mum decided to get in contact with the hospital and managed to get in contact with my pain management consultant's secretary who arranged for me to see both my pain management consultant and my othopedic consultant the following day which we were so grateful for them arranging.

So the next morning it was a 6:30am rise for us in order to get there in time. Quickly, we ate a spot of breakfast, got dressed and were out of the door before we knew it. On route to hospital, we picked up my Grandparents and hit the motorway in the morning rush. Fortunately, we managed to make it in time for my appointment.

After finding out where exactly to go for my appointment, (no one seems to know where exactly anything is in the new hospital) we were then told by a receptionist that my consultants had been called to theatre and they had no idea how long they'd be. Mum and I decided that we'd go get a coffee from the hospital coffee shop when we bumped into my orthopedic consultant on route. It turns out that he hadn't been called to theatre afterall, so we followed him to the plaster room where he had a look at my knee and decided to send me for an X-ray. It had been a good two or three years since I last had one actually. We were sent through what was like a secret corridor which led to X-ray department and let the receptionist know that I was there. After a fairly short wait, I was escorted through to the X-Ray room by a student radiographer who said that I'd been the most stylish person to step through their doors that week if not ever. Yes, even on a hospital visit, I still manage to wear one of my hats and a pair of Dr Marten boots because let's face it; it just wouldn't be me without them! But anyway, it was a nice compliment!

The radiographers who  took care of me that day were extremely lovely which makes a  huge difference! Some of my last X-rays were taken at an adult's hospitals and they barely uttered a single word to me and didn't even bothered to crack a smile-is it really that much to ask?! I mean, I was only about 13 or 14 at the time!

After being made to bend my knee in a variety of awkward positions, standing as still as I possibly could, the radiographers were satisfied with the images and sent me back through to the plaster room to find my pain management consultant dressed in his blue theatre gowns. He had to take a quick phone call, so my orthopedic consultant had a look at my X-Rays which thankfully looked normal. Although when it comes to my leg "normal"  is completely different to the average person's leg.

The long and the short of it was that last time I saw my consultant, which was around a month or so ago, whilst he was examining my knee, my fibula may have knocked against one of my nerves and upset things after it being moved around as much. There isn't much holding my knee together meaning that everything is kind of floating around, hence why my fibula could have hit against one of the nerves. There's isn't anything that they can really do to fix this so he suggested that I keep my leg well rested and that I wear a splint as much as I can over the next few weeks to keep things secure. So as one of his fellows ordered the splint, he popped out to go collect it.

During this time, my pain management consultant returned and asked me about what had happened over the past few weeks with my knee. I explained the situation to him and he also suggested me wearing splint on my knee. So everyone had a wee laugh about how two great minds think alike when my other consultant returned. I had to sit on one of the hospital beds as they fitted the splint which is extremely heavy and makes me feel like a robot, but I'll ride the storm and put up with it in hope that it'll help. Since I was there my pain management consultant also gave me a course of acupuncture in hope that it would help with my pain. Obviously, I wasn't able to see what he was doing as I had to lie on my side, but apparently my consultant used a lot more needles than he'd previously used when I had acupuncture.

So I was eventually sent home to rest my knee and to try out the knee splint for the next few weeks. I am most definitely not a fan of it as it's so heavy, however Ive got to do what I've got to do.

Anyway, I shall go for now but until next time I send you all lots of love and best wishes!

-The Hat Hippie xx

My Advice to CRPS Sufferers

Today, I thought I'd share my advice for other people out there who, like me suffer from CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome). As you probably know already from reading my previous posts, I've suffered from this condition since undergoing knee pioneering surgery back in 2011 and was finally diagnosed with the condition in early 2013 by which point it was too late to actually attempt to cure the condition. 

I was just 12 years old when I had my knee surgery and at just 14 years old  I was diagnosed with CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) so I guess I was pretty young and I still am in many respects. As I write this I sit cuddled up on my bed with my hot water bottle on my knee due to my pain flaring. Not much fun! This got me thinking and I thought I'd write my advice for other people in similar situations to myself. There is very little information out there for CRPS suffers particularly by people who suffer from it themselves and by someone of my age. So I thought I'd share the little knowledge I have and I'm sure there's plenty more for even me to learn over time. I am no expert! I don't think anyone really is to be completely honest which leads me onto my first piece of advice.

1. Don't be afraid to be honest with your consultants as no one knows you better than you! Whilst doctors, consultants and specialists are counted as "professionals" even they don't always know what the perfect cure or solution is for you. CRPS or even chronic pain in general is something that needs to be investigated in a lot more detail than it already has. I personally, under hospital guidance havd tried numerous treatments such as using a TENs machine, anti-epileptic medications which have apparently shown effective results in people suffering from nerve pain and even acupuncture. Some of which have helped to some degree but alongside any relief that I did experience came other problems. I still haven't found a solution and instead have to manage my pain levels to the best of my ability. People in the medical profession are just human and are still learning just like you and I so don't be afraid to let them know that something isn't working for you or if you don't want to go through with a treatment because "the doctor knows best and I can't question them". Don't worry, you can because ultimately they're not the one going through everything that you are. And let's face it; no one knows you better than you!

2. Never give up hope! You never know what tomorrow might bring, it might just be the day they find a cure or a way to relieve your pain levels! New cures and treatments are being discovered each and everyday for a large number of things. Tomorrow might just be the day that they'll find the one to change your life!

3. Play close attention to what triggers or increases your pain flares and look at ways in which you can minimize these triggers or perhaps get rid of them altogether. For me things such as stress and upset play a big part in triggering off a pain flare so over time I've had to step back and take a look at what I can do in order to prevent myself from becoming stressed, anxious or upset to avoid my pain levels becoming any worse than they are. Another personal pain trigger is cold and damp weather which living in Scotland is pretty difficult to avoid I must admit. It's actually something that I'm currently struggling with quite a bit due to the fact it's approaching the colder months in the year. And I'm currently having to use techniques and coping mechanisms that I've learnt over the past couple of years such as carrying a hot water bottle wherever I go and the simplest of things such as wearing warmer clothes, resting my leg and using art and music to take my mind off of it. It doesn't take the pain away, but it certainly helps me to cope with it and prevent it from getting any worse. There will be many different ways of dealing with pain triggers and not everything will work for you, but my advice is to try things out and over time you'll discover what works for you.

4. Don't be afraid to say no and make people aware of your capabilities! Perhaps you may have heard of the spoon theory and for those of you who haven't, I suggest looking it up! It explains the daily capabilities of a chronic pain sufferer perfectly. Pain is such a debilitating thing and sometime makes enduring the simplest of tasks a real challenge. You're only human and can only do what you can do! It doesn't make you a failure to say 'no, I can't manage to do that today'. Sometimes people won't always be as supportive or as understanding as you'd hoped they would be but, you know what?! It could easily be them in your situation and they don't know what might happen tomorrow so always be proud of yourself for what you can do because you're doing good! It's the scenario of whether the glass is half empty or half full and sometimes the most difficult of situations bring you to facing that scenario face on. And trust me, it hasn't always been easy to be positive in past, but I can finally say I think i've finally got there!

5. Never compare yourself to what you once were or even the people round about you. This isn't an easy thing to do, I must confess, it's something I'm still learning not to do. It's so easy to look back at a time when you didn't suffer from CRPS and feel absolutely crap that you can't live the life that you once used to lead and do things that you once used to do. Always, focus on the positives, be proud of what you CAN do and the person that you've become because of all that life has thrown in your direction.

My 17th Birthday!

Last Tuesday, the 15th of September just so happened to be 17th birthday! To be honest, it only feels like yesterday since I turned 16-this past year has seriously flown in! So I thought in my next blog post I'd write about what I got up to for my birthday last week. So here it goes.......

Like every weekday morning I got up at around 7:30am (or thereabouts) to open my presents and cards with my family before my Dad went to work and my sister went to school. I was a bit sleepy headed I must admit, I am by far more of a night owl rather than a morning person. However, I received some lovely cards and presents including a Beatles t-shirt, hoodie, purse and lanyard that I'd picked out in Liverpool back in May, jewellery, Cathy Cassidy's Looking-Glass Girl book, a new hat (of course!), chocolates and some money from my family and close family friends which I'm going to put towards purchasing a new camera that I've been saving up for. So a huge thank-you to everyone for their kind gifts of money! I am extremely excited to buy my new camera which I'll be able to use to take photos for my blog, for personal photography and I also hope to experiment with the film features in order to create a YouTube channel. I received some truly lovely gifts and my Mum even managed to find wrapping paper with my all-time favourite fictional character Peter Pan printed on it! How cool was that!? Yes, I get excited about the simplest of things in life!

After Mum and I dropped my sister Laurel off at school that morning, my Grandparents came down to visit with my birthday card/present. I had music tutoring in the afternoon meaning that time would be too tight if we decided to go out for lunch so instead we went out for a birthday breakfast, which was lovely! My music tutor arrived at around 2pm like he does every Tuesday afternoon for my bass lessons. I know not everyone would be too chuffed about having education of any sort on their birthday but I for one was actually quite happy! My music tuition is never something I dread as I enjoy it so much and like I said before I am now learning to play songs rather than learning the basics like I started off with. Now, if I remember right last week I was learning to play the bass line to Band on the Run by Wings which was great! As you all know by now, I am a huge Paul McCartney fan so actually learning to play one of his songs is absolutely amazing! All I'm waiting for now is that all-important phone call from Paul himself inviting me to come perform live on stage with him! One can dream right?!

Anyway, after Mum and I picked my sister Laurel up from school, it was a mad rush back home to make dinner because just a short while later I would be heading out to The Gaiety Theatre to see a Beatles tribute band. For dinner, Mum made me probably one of my very favourite meals; roast chicken, mashed potatoes and vegtables-mmmmm! It makes me seriously hungry even just to think about it!


Me and my birthday cake (please excuse the bad lighting!)

And of course it wouldn't be a real birthday without a cake; or at least not in my world! Ever since I was little I have always had a major obsession with birthday cake. As weird as it may sound to some, I think that there's something really exciting about birthday cake; always have and probably always will! So of course everyone sang Happy Birthday to me, took a few photographs (which I'll try and add to this post in the editing stages), made a wish and then I attempted to blow the candles out but there's always that one that chooses to be difficult and takes a couple of attempts to finally blow out! But we always catch it out in the end!

After blowing out the candles, we soon realised that time was ticking on and that I needed to leave the house soon or I'd be late! So it was kind of rush round the house as I flung everything I needed into my bag, popped on a coat and hat and tied up the laces to my Dr Marten boots. Thankfully, we made it to the Gaiety Theatre in time for 7pm for me to meet my friend Heather. Once we met up, Heather and I went inside out of the cold (typical Scottish weather!). Thankfully, the doors to the actual theatre itself were soon opened meaning that we were able to find our seats in plenty of time before the show began at 7:30pm. It looked like the theatre was almost a full house so fortunately, when Mum and I had booked the just tickets a few weeks earlier there were a couple of seats remaining in the second row which of course we snaffled up meaning that we had a great view of the stage! The show itself was absolutely brilliant! Both Heather and I couldn't get over how a like the gentleman playing John Lennon looked in comparison to the real thing-it was unbelievable! If you closed your eyes, it could easily have been the real band performing right there in front of you. Overall, both Heather and I really enjoyed the show and would definitely go again if they were to come back in future! If you'd like to read more about the Cavern Beatles show click here to be directed to the review link on my music blog.

 

After the show, Mum picked us up and gave Heather a lift back home on route to our house. Heather had surprised me with a lovely card and gift which I opened when I arrived home. I don't know how she managed it but a few weeks ago when we went shopping together and popped into the town's new record shop, I'd been eyeing up a Beatles record and unbeknown to me as I later discovered Heather bought it for me as surprise for my birthday! I was absolutely delighted about that! Thank-you so much Heather! To finish off my special day I tucked into a delicious slice of birthday cake before heading to bed just a short while later.

Before I go I just want to say a huge thank-you to all my friends and family for the lovely cards and kind presents that you kindly gave me for my birthday! I really appreciate it! I also want to say a huge thank-you to everyone for the sweet birthday wishes you sent me across my social media sites; it was so lovely to read them all! Here's to a great year as a 17 year old-I wonder what adventures it'll bring!?

Anyway, I shall love you and leave you all for now!

Sending you love, peace & Best Wishes,

Rob, The Hat Hippie xxx

 

Hello September!

Hello World! 

I thought it was about time I wrote an update for my blog seeing as it's been a few weeks since my last post. During that time the schools here in Scotland have returned following summer break and I believe that the schools down south have also followed suit during the past two weeks. With that being the case, I have been extremely busy throughout the past few weeks and haven't found the time or the inspiration if I'm being honest to sit down and write a new post. It's quite late right now and I'm a little tired however I don't feel ready enough to fall asleep just yet so thought I'd make use of my time to write a quick post for you lovely people!

Like I said above the schools have resumed following summer break and so has my home tutoring. This year I'm going to be focusing on art, music as well as working on the John Muir award which focuses on the natural environment and conservation. I have tutoring five days a week and oh my goodness is it going to take a while to get into the routine of having tutors at random times each day. But we'll get there eventually (I hope!).

As some of you may already know I play bass guitar and have been doing so for the past two years or so. I absolutely love playing bass particularly now that I'm at the stage where I hear a song by my favourite band and am able to pick up my bass and learn to play it almost immediately which is extremely exciting! So I'll be continuing to learn bass for the next year as part of my schooling which I couldn't been any happier about!

 During my art sessions which I only started a few weeks ago, I have already produced a bunch of art work using a range of materials and of course doing a little experimenting with Photoshop as well. Since the new term started I've produced a range of drawings/paintings of natural objects such as shells and flowers and in that short period of time have developed particular love of watercolour and line drawing. So I thought from time to time I might take a few photographs of my artwork and post them up here on my blog and share them with you lovely people as well as keeping track of it for my own future reference.

As we all know it's now September and summer is unfortunately behind us for another year much to my dismay. Without a doubt, autumn and winter are beautiful months for the scenery and the colours in the trees however I am not a fan of the cold weather that goes alongside that. As you'll have read in my previous blog posts I suffer from CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) which is affected and aggravated majorly by the cold and damp weather. It's only been September for just a few days and the weather is already reminding us that summer is now over. And with that has come an increase in my pain levels which has not been fun at all! So my trusty companion; my hot water bottle has shown face once again for yet another year. To whoever invented the hot water bottle; I thank you! I seriously don't know what I'd do without one nowadays.

Just as I was saying above we are now in the grand old month of September and despite my moans of September signifying the start of the colder weather, it also has its good points. September is my birth month and on the fifteenth of the month, I turn seventeen years old which is an extremely scary thought! It doesn't feel that long ago since it was my sixteenth last year. My goodness, the past the year has flown in so quickly!

So anyway, I just wanted to share this brief post to keep you all update to with all that's been going on in my life throughout the past couple of weeks. I am now going to edit and publish the post before making a start on another of my future blog posts so do keep an eye out for that; it should be up in the not so distant future! If you haven't already make sure to click here and give my Facebook page a like to keep up to date with all of my latest news!

Sending you all lots of love, peace and best wishes,

Robyn xxx

 

The Final Week of the Summer Holidays 2015

 

Me in Castle Douglas

Last week was the final full week of the Summer holidays here in Scotland and I can't help but wonder where on earth have the Summer holidays gone!? They've seriously flown by this year! Although I think I say that every year! You blink suddenly it's all over and it's back to business; back to school!

Anyway, my final week of the Summer Holidays was certainly nothing short of crazy; I've quite literally been here, there and everywhere and could do with a wee lie down to be completely honest! Seeing as I count myself as a lifestyle blogger, I thought I'd share what I've been up to with you lovely people! So sit back and relax with a cup of tea (or a nice glass of lemonade!) and enjoy reading about my busy week!

To start last week off I met up with a lovely friend of mine, Daisy who I've known since we were around five/six years old. I lost touch with Daisy when I moved house as well as school when I was in Primary three and bumped into her once every now and then after moving. As I grew older

I decided to join Facebook and managed to get back in contact with Daisy, discovering that we share a lot of similar interests (particularly in music). So it was really lovely to finally meet up with Daisy after such a long period of time and spent a few hours chatting and catching up in Costa-it is however, a wonder that the staff didn't shoo us off as we were in there for hours! Hopefully, it won't be too long until we meet up again!

On Tuesday, we visited my Grandparents and as it was such a lovely day I was able to spend some time wandering round their garden with my iPod taking photographs of all the lovely flowers my Granddad grows there. Stupidly, I'd ignored the fact that it was a nice day; the perfect day for taking photos and didn't bother to bring my camera with me to get capture my surroundings. I was however, pleasantly surprised with the picture quality that my iPod produced and successfully managed to take a handful of decent photos.

 

My lovely Mum and I at the theatre

 We then enjoyed some yummy Chinese takeaway for dinner from one of the local takeaway's, before Mum, Gran, my sister Laurel and I travelled to Glasgow to catch the opening night of "Dreamboats and Miniskirts" at The Kings Theatre. I am huge fan of the musicals and love going to the theatre so without a doubt I had a great night! I'd previously seen "Dreamboats and Petticoats" back in 2012 which was set in the 1950s but if I'm being completely honest I preferred the sequel as I was more familiar with the music, fashion and the era in general. However, I must admit the highlight of the show for me, was the scene set in The Cavern Club in Liverpool where the actors took on the role of John, Paul, Ringo and George as they performed Twist and Shout. As you'll probably have worked out by now, I'm a huge fan of The Beatles so this particular scene really made my night! And of course I had to sing along although I'm surprised I didn't clear the theatre as I'm such a terrible singer!

The following day my Mum, Laurel and I took my Grandparents on a trip to a lovely town here in Scotland named Castle Douglas. We visit Castle Douglas at least once every year, sometimes more frequently than that depending upon just how busy we are. The drive there is lovely as there's so much beautiful scenery to take in along the way! It is in my opinion Scotland at some of it's very best!(providing that it's a nice day of course!)

Castle Douglas itself is a lovely, quaint, little town with some fabulous little shops and cafes for a much needed snack or even a spot of lunch. As we arrived, lunchtime was quickly approaching and we all felt a little bit peckish and in need of a bite to eat. With that in mind we made our way to the Designs Café which we only discovered a few years ago after a family friend recommended it to us. Designs Café sell a range of delicious sandwiches, toasties, soup, daily specials and even home baking. For lunch, I decided upon the chicken fajita featured on the daily specials menu which came accompanied by a lovely salad, all of which tasted great and could easily have fed a small army!

Our lovely lunch was followed by a browse round all of the lovely independent shops in the area. There was an amazing bohemian shop selling goods such as clothes, jewellery and house accessories which I thoroughly enjoyed wandering round and raking through the clothing rails. I couldn't leave this fab shop empty handed and instead left with two boho cushions and a gorgeous throw for my bed. Amongst the other shops we visited my sister and I couldn't help but pop into a little toy shop that we loved as young children named "Jenny Wren". Despite the fact that we're a lot older now it's still good fun to look around and reminisce about all the toys and cute little bits n' bobs we used to play with when we were little. And of course a visit to Castle Douglas is most certainly not complete without a visit to the ice cream shop next door! The only problem was that there were so many different flavours to choose from leaving in deep deliberation over what to pick. Eventually, I decided to be boring and completely unadventurous and opted for chocolate ice-cream. But oh my goodness was it absolutely delicious!

On our way home from Castle Douglas, Mum pulled into a little lay by beside Loch Ken so that I could take full advantage of the beautiful scenery and the unusually lovely weather (for Scotland that is!) and take a few photographs. So I spent a good half hour or so snapping photographs of the loch which I'll eventually get round to editing. I think that'll be a job for when the weather's bad and I have nothing to do! 



The sunset over Dunure

Needless to say I was exhausted by the time we arrived back home but still to accompany my Mum on a trip down to one of our very favourite places, the small fishing village of Dunure. My sister was invited to a movie night at a friend's house so we decided to take a short drive there and enjoy the stunning scenery on offer! I somehow managed in the short time between arriving home from Castle Douglas and popping back out again removed my camera from my bag meaning that yet again I missed out on a photography opportunity! Typical!

The following day was of course Thursday which meant I had my radio show at 3TFM from 1-3pm. Every week during my show I pick a "Dream Theme" which helps me plan out my playlist for the show and gives my lovely listeners the chance to request the songs they want to hear during the show. Last week's theme was a follow up to a show I hosted a few weeks a few weeks ago named "Girl Power" which celebrated the best female artists to brace the music industry. So as you've probably guessed by now last week's "Dream Theme" was of course "The Best of the Boys". So in the space of just two hours I attempted to squeeze in as many of the best male bands/singers into my show as I possibly could. That particular theme could easily have gone on for hours as there are so many amazing bands/singers that deserved to be included on the list!

Colourful beach huts in Kirkcudbright

 On Friday my parents, my sister and I decided to pay Kirkcudbright a visit. Kirkcudbright's yearly art trail happened to be on so we managed to visit a few of the stops and have a look around the artwork. Up until then I'd never been to Kirkcudbright before which is a little strange I suppose. Following a mooch round Kirkcudbright we also visited a place named Gatehouse of Fleet which has an old mill situated directly beside the river with a cute little café and tourist information centre hidden inside. We decided it was the perfect time to take a break and enjoy a much needed refreshment from the café. As we sat outside in the cafe's patio which looked onto the river we spotted a heron in the distance closely studying the water surrounding it for fish. Unfortunately, it was too far in the distance from where we happened to be seated for me to actually get a decent photo of it-next time perhaps! The peaceful surroundings was the perfect place for a café and I for one could have easily sat there for hours enjoying the sweet sounds of nature-pure bliss if you ask me!

To finish off our busy week my Grandparents treated us to dinner at The Stage Door our favourite restaurant in Ayr on Saturday. The Stage Door is an extremely popular restaurant inside The Gaiety Theatre located in the town of Ayr. I've been lucky enough to have dined there with my family on numerous occasions since it first opened a couple of years ago and not once have I ever been disappointed! The menu has something to suit everyone; the prices are great and the portions are huge! My Mum, my friend Heather and I had breakfast there one morning and couldn't believe just how big the small breakfast was! It was seriously unbelievable! The food itself tastes and looks absolutely amazing which is all the more reason to dine there! And of course my diner there last Saturday lived up to my previous expectations and was just as good as I remembered it to be! So if you're ever in Ayr and looking for somewhere to eat; The Stage Door is definitely worth a visit!

Last week was indeed a busy but great week however all good things must come to an end and so do the Summer holidays. Today, the schools here where I live have now returned which for so many means early morning rises, homework and wearing a uniform. So to all my lovely readers who've already returned or are due to go back to school in the not so distant future; I send you all my best wishes for the coming school year!

Lots of Love, Peace and Best Wishes from,

Rob (The Hat Hippie) xxx