November.

November had the perfect start - I went to see Bastille in Leeds First Direct Arena. Last time I saw them was when they supported Two Door Cinema Club in 2013 (and I bumped into Dan in Baa Bar next door, feeling pretty smug). The gig was awesome. For the encore, Dan miraculously appeared right next to us on the tier 2 balcony and sang Two Evils and we pretty much just died right then.

Dan & Will on the balcony during the encore.

The night after I went out with my housemates for a few drinks. As i'm sure a lot of students understand, a few drinks never usually stays "just a few drinks". I went into town around midnight to meet up with a few friends from school, and we went to Key Club for a few hours. I ended up bumping into my cousin who I spent the rest of the night with. We then wandered down to Stone Roses where we danced until around 6am (I was wearing heeled boots and my feet started to hurt so I took them off at this point. My feet were soaked with what I can only assume was a cocktail of drugs, alcohol and piss. Bit of advice: don't do that). Needless to say those socks went in the bin and it took me over a day to recover from that night.

Me and my cousin Harriet stumbling home at 6:30am, lipstick half gone.

I had also been editing the annual backstage video for Showgroup. I think it's a great way to showcase all of the hard work that goes into the shows and it's a nice way to thank all of the helpers for everything they do. If you want to give it a watch, here it is!

We also started rehearsals for our annual Christmas Show, in which i'm going to sing The Power Of Love (not technically a Christmas song but it was on a Christmas advert) and my sister is going to dance to it. I'm also choreographing a routine to 'Carol Of The Bells' by Metallica (bet you weren't expecting that), so i'm hoping it will be an excellent start to the holiday period.

Towards the end of November, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them was finally released, and of course, myself, Emma, Viv and Nathan went to see the midnight showing - we weren't going to wait any longer! The film was awesome and Eddie Redmayne was the perfect choice. 

Then on the Sunday, Emma finally got her 16th birthday present from me (11 months later), we went to the Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour in London. Although we had to get the Megabus at 6am, we had an amazing day and even got to squeeze in a quick visit to Madame Tussauds. I promised Emma i'd buy her a wand, so she chose Newt Scamander's from Fantastic Beasts, then we made the long journey back to Leeds.

Chilling on the Hogwarts bridge.

And of course, to finish the month off, there was lots of alcohol. I went out with my cousins for lots of shots and cocktails, then on the last night of November I went out for my housemates birthday, we had a great night but in true Annabel style I crashed and burned way too early.

Me and the cousins; Josh, Jordan, Sam, Chaz, Haz and Me.

Sian, Ellie and I in Canal Mills. I really need to get a longer lasting lipstick.

I wasn't going to write about this, but I always try to be honest when i'm writing my posts and one of the reasons I write this blog in the first place is for me to look back on everything in the years to come. Last week, I joined Slimming World, and to be honest, i've found it a lot easier than I thought it would be. it's a fantastic way to lose weight but still have little treats to enjoy! So after my first week weigh in, i've lost 4 and a half pounds and i'm on cloud 9 right now. Next month I may start a little weight loss counter on my round ups!

On a final note, it's Christmas in 24 days!

Annabel

May Bank Holiday!

So us lucky Brits had a second Bank Holiday back in May. This time I kicked it off by having a FRIENDS night with one of my best friends from work, Sarah. We're both a little obsessed with the series so we watched all of our favourite episodes and ordered a Domino's.

We then made our merry way to work together on Saturday morning, and when I finished, my other best pal Tom came to my house for my family's Eurovision party. Every year we do a sweepstake (£1 a country) and whoever wins gets the pot of £1 coins and hosts next year's party. Unfortunately, my sister, Emma won, and won't stop playing the winning Swedish song full blast around the house.

Early Sunday morning Tom and I then went to work again, and when I finished at half past 3, I went to catch a train to Scarborough where I would be meeting my Mum, Dad and sister, Emma. (The first time I had ever caught a train completely on my own!).

When I was 16, my family and I came to Scarborough and we stayed at The Crown Spa hotel. Me and Emma just fell in love. Our favourite part (aside from the free spa, swimming pool, free hot chocolate and cookies, king sized beds and the fact we had our own room) was the luggage trolley they had in the hotel lobby. We felt like we were on Suite Life of Zack & Cody. Naturally, I took Emma for a ride on it and soon after we were told to put it back.

Anyway, after years of nagging Mum and Dad to go back to this magnificent hotel, they finally caved, and there we were.

The view from our hotel room!

The Crown Spa hotel in all its glory, ft. my Mum

This was a mighty fine ice cream.

In the lift with Emma.

On the day we were due to go home, we packed up our things, checked out of our beaut hotel, and made our way down to the sea-front to get my first open-top bus to the Sealife Centre.

Emma on the open top bus!

Going to the centre wasn't another first for me, but my Emma had never been and I got to use my Merlin Pass for the first time. It wasn't anything special but the Penguins and Otters were super cute! We also pretty much saw the whole cast of Finding Nemo too.

Nemo and Marlin just hanging out.

Crush was there too!

On the way back from our trip we visited some family that we don't see a lot and were fed scones and tea. Me and Em played with their adorable sausage dog Flynn and soon after it was time for us to go home.

Post holiday blues.

I had such an amazing week in Mallorca. It was the first time I had been away with my boyfriend and my family together so it was quite exciting!

We stay in the same villa every year and it feels like home every time we go back. My mum, dad, sister Emma, Gramps John, Auntie Alex, Uncle Simon, and cousins Anya, Natasha and Katrina left a week before me and my boyfriend James joined them.

During their first week they went on a yacht trip that went into the evening and they told us all about how they saw the sunset over the horizon.

A week after they left, it was mine and James' turn. When we arrived at the villa, only my Dad was aware that we had arrived (we had told everyone else our flight was delayed). Whilst my Dad took our shoes and suitcases inside, James and I ran around the side of the villa, shouted 'HI GUYS!' and jumped in the pool fully clothed.

We got an amazing reaction and it was so great to see everyone.

One night I was walking back to the villa with my cousin and it was dark. There were few street lamps so it was difficult to see, and for some reason I had completely forgotten about the bright light on my iPhone. But whilst we were speed walking (we were late), my hand hit a cactus that was sticking out of someone's front garden. 

My hand ended up like this;

Natasha had to get a pair of tweezers to pry them from my fingers!

We visited the Cala Egos market which arrives every thursday evening on the main street of Cala Egos. It's perfect because our favourite restaurant is just at the bottom of the street so on our way back to the villa from the meal, we'll mooch our way up slowly looking at all the cute little trinkets and gifts.

It was so cute.

Meet Gary.

He came to say hello one evening whilst my cousins and I were making our way up to bed.

He was tiny!

Halfway through our week, we met our family friends Sharon, Scott and their kids Hannah and Luke at Cala d'Or beach and went on the pedalos. Our mob of 14 people took over the Mediterranean. Needless to say, it was a bit frantic. At one point I ended up underneath a pedalo, fell off another and almost caught my foot in the wheel that powers the boat underneath. The rest of our rabble enjoyed diving off the top of the ladders on the slides, swimming through the fish, bombing off the boats and belly-flopping their way into the crystal blue sea.

One evening whilst making the most of the limited Wifi in a restaurant, I logged on to Facebook and after looking at my notifications I regretted this instantly.

I had been nominated for an ALS ice bucket challenge.

My first thoughts; 'aw crap'.

Second thoughts; 'make the most of the 30 degree heat!'

So here is a screen shot of James pouring icy water over my head.

I nominated James and Emma, so later that after noon they completed their challenges. Emma nominated Katrina, who nominated my Mum, who nominated my Auntie and Uncle. Natasha had also been nominated by one of her friends back home so it was a holiday full of ice buckets!

My favourite point of the holiday, the absolute cherry on the cake, was successfully smack-camming my sister with shaving foam. Here's the video for your enjoyment;

Now I can't wait to see what next year brings.

Officially old.

It's official, I am no longer a teenager!
Despite leaving my teenage years behind and having to cope with the social expectation of becoming more mature (pfft) my birthday is still my favourite day of the year.
To kick start my 20th birthday and 21st year on this planet, my sister and I made buns for me to take into work the next day.
My Dad's a Postman, which means he doesn't get back from work until about 1pm. So I waited til he got back before I opened anything.

I love the way Mum wraps presents. So pretty.

BEFORE

AFTER

DVD's, Pandora charms, TV, a cup with Squirt on from Finding Nemo, jewellery, sweets and choc, LOTS OF WINE and other bits an bobs.

And of course, lots of lovely cards. Here is a compilation of my favourite;

My younger cousin made the LEGO one (because I just got a job there), I got the Simple Simon one off my best friend, my auntie and uncle gave me the Wine Flu card, obviously the Disney Princess one is from Mum and Dad (it came with princess cut outs and stickers inside OMG), and the belated card is from another best friend.

So all in all, a very lucky girl.

After opening my prezzies, we then went to Franco's; a restaurant that one of my Uncles owns and where I had my first job. It's always lovely to see everyone again and they always make a fuss which is nice. We had a few drinks with my Auntie Yats and cousins Harriet and Tom, and then my Uncle (the one that owns the restaurant), Auntie and cousins came to give me some prezzies! They then left and it was just me, Mum, Dad, Emma, Auntie Yats, Harriet and Tom that went through to the restaurant for our food. As always, I had Bruschetta Duck to start, and went for a chicken pizza (it had some other stuff on it but I can't remember what they were called!)

Family selfie!

We then went to Hollywood Bowl and picked up my boyfriend on the way. I'm very competitive, so I was determined to win.
This did not happen.
We had 2 lanes booked; 1 for girls and 1 for the boys. Here's  the score of the girls in the first game.

(At least I beat my Mum).

And as for the night out, I went to my other ex place of work - Propaganda! I love going back to see everyone. Plus I got free entry and 2 bottles of champagne that went down very quickly. The DJ played my birthday song (Not Nineteen Forever by The Courteeners), which made my night. I also caught a t-shirt that they were throwing out. Another girl caught it but I was showing no mercy.

Me and my friend Kelsey in Propaganda.

So all in all, as depressing as turning 20 is, I had a brilliant birthday and spent it with the best people. Despite the 2 day hangover!

Shoutout to mini me.

This is my sister's blog, she's only just got it so follow and be patient - she'll post soon!

http://emma-riley.blogspot.co.uk/

She's super cool.

Here is possibly the only nice photo we have together (We pull silly faces a lot)

(She's the one on the right)