Hong Kong

When I was 12 years old I visited Hong Kong with my family. I travelled upper class there and back which is definitely an advantage when it's 12 hours flying time. 

I enjoy flying upper because it reduces my jetlag as I'm able to sleep well on the plane. I also like the luxury of choosing a nice meal from a menu and eating lot of Hagan Diaz ice cream! 

When we arrived in Hong Kong, we got a taxi straight to a 5* hotel called 'The Majestic'. We stayed there for 2 days before jetting off to Thailand.

Hong Kong was an amazing place and I would most definitely visit again. I loved the hustle and bustle of the city and I felt culturally enriched by the surroundings. 

Browsing the ladies market was one of my favourite memories from Hong Kong. I remember being so overwhelmed at the long stretch of market stalls which sold all sorts of fake designer goods for a very small price.

I remember my parents wanting to go up the peak - which is a vertical train that takes you to the highest point. We had an amazing view of the city but I remember being so bored, hot and wishing we had stayed at the ladies market for longer.

I remember Hong Kongs underground tubes being absolutely immaculate and so much safer than the UK. There were glass panels which opened and closed when the train arrived - preventing people from falling onto the tracks. The trains had TV's onboard, as well as refreshing air con - keeping passengers nice and cool. 

Hong Kong was an amazing city and I can't wait to visit again! 

Me, myself and I

Me, Me, Me 

I am 20 years old and if I were to describe myself in one word, it would be ‘spontaneous!’

I chose to go to Southampton Solent University after I finished my A levels but I had no idea what I should do my degree in, I knew I enjoyed writing and I.T so I decided on Magazine Journalism because it blended the two of my passions together really well.

I cannot believe that I have almost completed my degree! Hooray! It’s gone so quick, but at the same time, so slow. This time next year i’ll be working full time and the luxury of long lay ins and big nights out will be something of the past. Instead I’ll be faced with 9 am starts and a busy life in the world of Journalism and honestly, I cannot wait!

My Life so far

1st year – Revisiting my FRESHER year ..  :)  

My first year at university was scary, in fact it was absolutely terrifying. I am the eldest in my family and the first person to go to Uni, so I had no idea what to expect.

I wasn’t granted Halls of residence because it was my second choice uni, therefore I had to find 4 students (strangers) and arrange to move into a house with them all in a matter of hours, how daunting does that sound …

Everything happens for a reason and my housemates turned out to be amazing people and great company! I lived with 3 boys and 1 girl.

As you can only expect from a FRESHER, I was out clubbing 24/7; making the most of Southampton’s nightlife and overall just settling in and making new friends with like minded people.

In April 2012, I met the love of my life, my first TRUE love, my best friend, my boyfriend! He made me feel complete and my first year ended very happily.

2nd Year – Living with my boyfriend! YAY

After meeting Lloyd in April we spend a lot of time together and even jetted off to Barbados in August!

After our romantic get away, he invited me to live with him in his family home. I was so happy at the prospect of moving in with him and jumped on the opportunity.  His family were so kind and welcoming which made me feel at home right away!

Living with Lloyd was great, we used to do lots of couple things like going on ‘date night’ every Wednesday when it’s 241 on cinema tickets and we also used to sing our hearts out to Kanye West on road trips. We used to go surfing most weekends, play basketball on Sundays and visit fish shops frequently because we had an awesome marine fish tank in our room.

When I first met Lloyd, the first gift I ever bought him was a baby Nemo fish which we both loved before it got sucked up in a tube and we later found its skeleton. Poor fishy. But on a happier note, I loved my life, but more importantly, I loved the person who was making me feel so complete.

 3rd Year – Taking things further 

Well, after roughly 7 months of living with Lloyd in his family home, we decided to take the plunge and get our own place together! Aggghhhhh…. I was SO EXCITED! I mean, what girl wouldn’t be?! It was an absolute dream come true, it was everything I had ever wanted and with the man of my dreams!

I’ve always been interested in interior design through my mums influence, but having a place of my own just took it to a whole new level! I was able to decorate and buy home things for MY VERY OWN HOME, I cant begin to tell you how excited this was for me.

Living independently with my boyfriend proved challenging, we faced many obstacles along the way and it was a new experience and concept for both of us. We had our ups and downs – like most couples who live together.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom, we did have some truly AMAZING times and we loved each other so much. No matter what our ridiculously petty argument were about, we were always able to just have a cuddle and forget about it because we got on so well that there was never anything big to fight about.

After our tenancy ended in September 2013, we didn't renew our contract again because Lloyd broke up with me. 

Right now, I’m blogging from my bedroom in shared student accommodation. I was lucky to find students who are as clean and tidy as me. The house I’m living in has recently undergone major refurbishment, so everything is brand spanking new. I live on the very top floor with my lovely housemate, Daisy. We call each other ‘Princess Barbie Daisy’ and ‘Princess Barbie Amy’ because we are both blonde and live on the 3rd floor of what we like to call ‘our castle’

Me

Hello lovely readers,

I’ve finally decided to start blogging again and this time, I’m not going to give up or keep swapping from WordPress to Blogger, this time I’m here to stay!

My name is Amy Danielle French, I’m 20 years old and I am currently blogging from my Uni bedroom with a big tub of delicious Ben & Jerrys Cookie Dough ice cream. 

I’m a 3rd year Magazine Journalism student with a passion for Beauty, Makeup, romance and everything that sparkles! I also LOVE Interior design, cake baking & chick flicks.

My dreams of becoming a professional writer will soon be reality for me come May 2014! I am so excited about my future in this industry and I want to share all my experiences with you along the way, so wish me luck!

Mwaaaah xxx

French music

When I was 9 years old, my parents moved to France. I was consequently in an all French speaking school for several months, therefore I can speak French quite well this is always a plus but my parents unfortunately divorced and we had to move back to the UK. However, I love French music and ‘Pas besoin de toi’ by Joyce Jonanthan is one of my favourite songs. 

Lincoln

I’m in LINCOLN! Yep, that’s right. Today I traveled all the way from Southampton to Lincoln to see my sister at University and it took me 7 hours by train -It was the longest journey of my life but I’m staying here for 5 whole days so it was definitely worth it and I’m so excited to be here. Plus I’ve never been before and she is now in her 2nd year so I thought it was about time I made the effort to visit her.

After all the stress that I have had to deal with recently, I thought a mini break away to see my lovely little sister would be the perfect solution and already I feel tons better. My head feels clearer and I’ve only been here for a few hours so by the end of this 5 day break I can see that I’ll be feeling on top of the world again and that is exactly how I need to start feeling to pull myself out of this horrid depressed state of mind and be me again!

When my sister came to get me from the station, I got a little glimpse of Lincoln and it was truly overwhelming because its such an amazingly beautiful city!!!  I can definitely see why my sister chose to live and study here. I never thought places this picturesque even existed, I cant wait to explore what Lincoln has to offer tomorrow!

A few of my favourite films

My favourite film is ‘How to lose a guy in 10 days’ It’s about a Journalist who has to find a guy and do all the things that guys hate in a relationship, from calling and leaving 1000′s of messages to being over cute, clingy and extremely needy.  With cuddly toys and a furn that she calls the ‘baby of our relationship’ this film is a MUST SEE for anyone needing some advice on what not to do!

Bridget Jones Diaries is just a classic and is definitely one of my very favourites! If you’re single or in a relationship, this feel good film makes you realise what love and heartache is all about.

Get him to the Greek is just hilarious! I absolutely Love Russell Brand and this film really captures his comedian talents. From start till finish, I am literally on the edge of my seat laughing uncontrollably! If you haven’t watched this already, then it’s a must see if you enjoy the weird and wonderful antics of what singers get up to on tour….

View from the Top is a hilarious comedy about a girl trying to achieve her lifelong dream of becoming a flight attendant. She gets everything that shes ever wanted in the end, ‘Paris, first class, international’ but she realises that she misses her boyfriend to much and soon returns back to Clevelandland and be with him.

The Proposal is a light hearted comedy, starring Sandra Bullock who is my favourite actress. The film is about a woman who tricks her employee to marry her so that she can extend her visa, she then ends up falling madly in love with him and the film ends with a very happy ending.

The Notebook is a romantic film about young love from different social classes. They get separated from each other when the summer is up because her parents find out that she has been dating someone from a lower class and are not happy with her decision. This film shows that true love never dies and in the end, they find each other and grow old and die in each others arms.

Harry Potter is an all time classic, which is suitable for the whole family. I love every single film and think J.K Rowling deserves an absolute medal for her imagination!

I love the Twilight series because it takes you to a different world where romance holds a young teenage girl to her vampire crush! From the first film to the last, I was kept very entertained and intensely gripped!

The Devil wears Prada is a great film and is about a young woman in New York that lands herself a job as an assistant for an editor in one of the city’s biggest magazines. The cast stars Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, etc. I love this film so much because its a girly chick flick centered around a stylish career in journalism that I will hopefully go into.

Titanic is a romantic classic that makes me cry everytime, even though I’ve watched it about a 100000x

Cakes

I love baking cakes and the cake below was what I made for Lloyd’s 24th Birthday! I was so chuffed with how pretty it looked and tasted!

How I made this yummy cake:
Victoria sponge with lots of Dairy milk chocolate powder to make it chocolaty
Decoration: Chocolate fudge butter icing which tasted amazing!
A big bag of magic stars, along with smarties and chocolate buttons with sprinkles on them to brighten the cake up and give it some colour!
I got the ‘Happy Birthday’ sign along with the colourful candles from pound-land believe it or not, they do some really nice decorations in there for cakes so have a little look when you’re next shopping.