Saturday 31 March 2012

Blogging A-Z Challenge Day 1: April

Today, the first of April, marks three important occasions: the start of April (go figure), April Fool's Day and my best friend's birthday.

When I woke up this morning and checked my phone, I caught a glimpse of the date and it made me realise something. This year is going by so quickly! It really doesn't feel like we are a third of the way through 2012.

April Fool's Day is always a bit of fun, even though I totally suck at it. At my primary school, everyone used to always try and prank each other but it never really seemed to work. I have tried a few things here and there but none have ever been as successful as I had hoped. I have always wondered how someone even dreamt up such an idea, too. Call me crazy, but I bet it was a teenager.

The most significant event on this day is my beautiful best friend Mel's birthday! Today she turns sweet sixteen. Happy birthday Mel 

And there you have it, Day 1 of my Blogging A-Z Challenge is complete!





Wednesday 28 March 2012

thelifeandtimesofphoebe is back in action!

Hello my Angels! I'm sorry I've been MIA as of late but I promise I will be back to my frequent blogging from now on!

I have basically been offline recently because I am in my exam week now. I have the day off today so I thought it would be a good time to update my blog and say a big hello to all my lovely followers/readers!

I never really get stressed during my exam periods but for some reason this time I have been stressed beyond belief! I feel like I am struggling to hold it together. I have never felt so out of control before so I am freaking out, which isn't really helping me at all!

Yesterday I had my English exam which consisted of an essay on Shakespeare's Othello. I can't exactly say that essay writing is my forte; I prefer my more relaxed and personal blogging style, so I am thinking that I have most likely failed that exam. My second exam was French Oral, which always freaks me out! I just get really nervous and ramble on to the point where what I am saying no longer makes sense to me. My teacher also looked completely daunting and didn't smile at all the whole time which threw me off a bit.

This Sunday marks the start of the Blogging A-Z Challenge, so look out for my first post! I am so excited to be doing this, and I hope you guys will like my posts!

I hope your week has been going well!

All the best,


Monday 19 March 2012

Phoebe's perspective on being a girl.

Being a girl is a tough job, but someone has to do it. In my opinion, I much prefer being a girl rather than a boy, for the following reasons. They are pretty obvious reasons, but with my own personal opinion.

Fashion is what I love more than anything else in the world! It is so emotive and expressive and individual. Fashion can tell you a lot about a person, as well as reveal your personality and true self to others. Like loads of teenage girls all over the world, my life revolves around fashion. I love it, live it and breathe it. Girls have so much more variety when it comes to our fashion. We have two separate wardrobes; one for summer and one for winter. We also have so much more variety when it comes to the garments themselves. Tops, skirts, pants, dresses etc make choosing an outfit more enjoyable, but also relatively stressful. Do not even get me started on accessories, hair and make up possibilities! My personal favourite item of clothing would be a flowing, floor length ball gown with diamonds to accessorise. Not that I've ever worn that before, but one day I will. And it will be awesome.

I love the whole fangirl part of being a girl too. People call us crazy, but I much prefer the term dedicated. Only yesterday, I plastered my bedroom wall in photos of One Direction in order to win a competition. I swear I get more obsessed with them when I look at it! In true dedicated fangirl style, I have left it all on my walls. I regret nothing.

The whole aspect of being a housewife-slash-mom makes me love being a girl even more! I go to an elite all-girls private school in Sydney's eastern suburbs and they are constantly encouraging us to be our best, and to excel in our fields and all that jazz. In fact, I was once told that my school doesn't offer Food Tech is because, and I quote "Sceggs girls don't grow up to be housewives." I personally have very old fashioned values, and all I really want to do is become a housewife and a mom. Don't get me wrong, I am all for women in the workforce and all that, but it's not really something I desperately want for myself. I do aspire to go to university and graduate and get a good job that I love, but once I get married I want to settle down to raise my children.
I'm not a feminist and to quote the amazing Marilyn Monroe, "I don't mind living in a man's world, as long as I can be a woman in it." I don't really care if I am considered inferior to men, as long as people realise what I am capable of and don't treat me like women in the 1950's were treated, which was like complete idiots, then I'm happy.

The average life of a teenage girl is similar to an episode of Pretty Little Liars, well, minus the everyday murder and blackmail. Keeping secrets from those closest to us is almost second nature. I would be lying if I told you that I tell people everything going on in my life. There are even things I keep from my twin, who is the closest person in the world to me.

Just some general facts about us girls..

1. Opening up to people can be really hard for us, so if a girl ever pours her heart out to you, make sure you listen. It shows that she trusts you, and you shouldn't betray that trust.

2. Don't ever tell a girl that she is ugly or fat when you don't really mean it. Ever. I mean, it is probably the worst thing you can do to a girl. It is something that we may carry for a lifetime and can even lead to self harm and starvation. Think before you open your mouth.

3. Treat us right, or don't be surprised if one day we get up and leave you. A girl's heart is not a simple toy. You can't just break it and expect it to be put back together again overnight. It can take weeks, months, even years, for a girl's broken heart to heal.

4. It's not enough to just tell a girl that you love her. If you truly love her, prove it. Show her how much you love her and how much she truly means to you.

Through all of the bitching and the boy dramas, I still love being a girl and I wouldn't change it for the world!

Speaking from the heart,

Monday 12 March 2012

My weekend away.

Hello my angels! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend, I sure did!

My weekend started on Friday afternoon when I went roadtrippin' (as I like to call it) with my mom and Emma. Three and a bit hours later we arrived at our destination: Bathurst. Well, O'Connell to be exact. My mom's really close friend who she met on the first day of college owns a guest property up there called 'Yarrabin' were you can horse ride, bush walk, feed the many animals, swim in the freezing pool and relax in the lovely spa, among other things.

Once a year for the past seven years, a bunch of girls from my primary school have been going up for an annual 'Mother/Daughter Weekend'. It doubles as a bonding experience as well as a fun weekend away. I love it because I get to catch up with girls I only see once a year and also because I love to horse ride.

I have been horse riding for as long as I can remember. I can't remember the exact age I was when I got on a horse, but I was quite young, four or five maybe. Not many people know that I can ride, but I absolutely love it. It is so relaxing and the perfect way to de-stress and clear your head. My mind goes a million miles an hour but when I get on a horse it literally slows down to a crawl. I feel so calm and peaceful when I ride. I don't own my own horse or ride competitively.

The trails at Yarrabin are very quiet and after all these years I know them off by heart. The majority of the trails we ride on go through the extensive forests on the property. For those of you who have never been to Australia, our idea of a forest is made up of gum trees, stringybark, eucalyptus and lots of native shrubs. The main colour palette in the forest consists of greys, browns and dark greens, with a hint of yellow. We often see kangaroos too, but they can be hard to spot as their fur is the same colour as the grass and tree trunks.

I love coming up to the country. It is so nice to get away from the city and forget about everything, even if it is only for a few days. The best thing, besides the riding, is catching up with my amazing friends Courtney, Addie, Mel and Winnie. And Emma, but she's my twin (or Twindizzle, as I like to call her) so I see her everyday. The six of us get on so well and we always have so much fun when we catch up.

Our weekend consisted of riding, deep conversations in the spa, eating oreos with peanut butter, sherbert straws and loads of lollies, staying up all night, taking about two hundred photobooth pictures on my Mac alone, feeding the pigs, rolling down the hill, Singstar, attempting to play darts, numerous Polariods, dancing, making our tiny cabin as messy as possible, watching cheesy TV shows like Big Time Rush, lying under the stars and screaming What Makes You Beautiful at the top of our lungs at least fifteen times a day. All in all, an amazing weekend!

These three pictures are my favourites! I think they represent us really well; fun-loving and totally crazy!

From L-R: Courtney, Me, Mel, Winnie, Emma and Addie. 




Of course, there are always downsides to any upside, and this weekend was no exception. I won't go into detail, but all I will say is this. People are completely unexpected. You may think you know a person but then they do something that completely changes your view of them. Sometimes you may have to secretly listen in on a conversation to find out how certain people really feel about you. But you can't let the haters get you down. As long as you have fabulous friends in your life, who needs people who don't need to be there?! Send your time with people who deserve your attention. People who matter to you.

To quote my beautiful mother: Friendships are finite, they won't last forever. Some may last until death and others may only last a few weeks.

All I can say is that I hope this one lasts.

Monday 5 March 2012

Growing up.

I have often been told that I look much older than I am. Sometimes people don't believe me when I tell them how old I actually am. Just today, some guy told me that I looked at least 20.

More than once, someone out of my ideal dating age range has hit on me. I will admit that it is flattering, but I would much prefer it if they were my age or just slightly older, not early 20s and rather seedy looking. When I sense that someone is hitting on me and they fit the latter description, I actually say to them that I am only 16 and the look on their face is priceless! It is a mixture of disbelief and WTF. Oh, how I love tripping people out! It happened a fair bit when I went Europe in 2009. When we went out, more often than not the waiter would set a wine glass in front of me. I would never say anything as I thought they weren't actually being serious, but when they started pouring the wine, I had to kindly let them know that I was in fact, only 14.

Sure, I do look older than my actual age, which is sixteen, but I only look it. I don't necessarily act it. While I do have more maturity than most people my age, I still love doing crazy and stupid things. I love being childish too.

I still love to run around in the rain.
I still laugh until I cry.
I still occasionally act like an idiot.
I still talk way too loudly in public.
I still act completely irrational.
I still occasionally cry when I don't get my way, but not as often as I did when I was 3.
I still get over excited about small things.
I still love to roll down grassy hills.
And I still love jumping castles.

These are things I may never grow out of. And I couldn't care less. What is life without having fun and taking risks? I may as well screw up now, while I'm young and it isn't too much of a big deal.

Growing up doesn't necessarily freak me out, what freaks me out is the fact that I could potentially lose my identity in the process. I don't want to be perfect, and I certainly won't conform to someone else's ideas of perfection either. In the meantime, I'm still going to act like a little kid while I can.

You only live once and I'm going to live my life for me, and no one else.