My Little Corner of the Internet

Another exciting month of things. It's crazy how fast time passes. I feel like this month had a lot going on. :)

1. Made pancakes from scratch for the first time in my life. It went okay. Made them a few more times after that and am slowly getting better. I'll be a domestic goddess in no time lol.
2. Updated my dream suite on Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the first time in forever. When I updated my game for the amiibo update my dream address got removed. Had to create a new one and I wanted my town to look great. Come visit!
3. Became obsessed with the Hillywood Show's parody of Suicide Squad. I love all their parodies they are so amazing. I discovered them through their Twilight parodies. I definitely recommend you check them out.
4. Caught a Pikachu with a party hat on Pokemon Go. I love when they have themed Pikachus. They're really cute.
5. Cried at the Vampire Diaries finale. Hard. The show ending was something I was just not prepared for. It was everything I wanted it to be and more. I am still really sad that it's over but I am also really glad the ending was good. If the ending wasn't good then I feel like the last 8 years would have been wasted.
6. Got tickets to see Steps in November with my sisters. I used to love them when I was younger. Who didn't love them?
7. Had a week off from uni and spent a majority of it playing Sims and Animal Crossing. My two true loves. It was great.
8. Talked to an old Animal Crossing friend for the first time in a long time. We've known each other about 3 years. So weird. But also really great.
9. Caught up with my friend to talk about her ENGAGEMENT. I still feel too young for such a thing to happen but yes, that's happening. I am so happy for my friend, the wedding won't be for a few years yet there's still no time like the present to get excited!
10. Was surprised by my boyfriend as he came over to surprise me. It was just something simple as showing up at my house because I hadn't seen him in a while. It was a great surprise. We cuddled and watched TV and it was wonderful.
11. Rewatched my KCon videos for the 100th time. Sometimes I get sad or bored and I like to remember that time. It was such a fun time with one of my best friends. I hope we can go again.
12. Cried at Nashville because they know how to pull at the heart strings. Rayna passing away was so emotional but the way the show has been handling it has been great. Though part of me will always wish it hadn't happened.
13. Got excited that McDonald's Monopoly is back again. I have never won anything super fantastic from it but I still have fun. Plus, who doesn't love an excuse to go to McDonald's more than normal lol?
14. Made chocolate Rice Krispie buns on a whim with my boyfriend. My flatmates were appreciative of the treats. :P
15. Started watching Project Runway, I like it. I love fashion things and I know RuPaul's Drag Race was partly inspired by this show so I decided to give it a go. They only have two seasons on Netflix and I've watched them already so looking for something else to watch now.
16. Was outraged when Mondo didn't win Season 8 of Project Runway. Can you believe they chose Gretchen?
17. Started to struggle with Korean. It's a busy semester, I have a lot of uni work to be doing so I don't focus on Korean as much because I am not being graded on it. Definitely a step up from level 1. Don't know how well I will hold up as weeks go on but I am remaining hopeful.
18. Went to see Beauty and the Beast. It was a really great movie, I enjoyed it. Although I felt like Emma Watson was lacking something as Belle.
19. Studied a lot of one test. It was not the most fun thing in the world but I feel it took up a majority of my time this month, so there was that.
20. Spent St Patrick's Day sober, spent time playing Animal Crossing and Sims instead - the story of my life haha. Still a really great day though.
21. Spent the afternoon with The Sim Supply and Conflict Nerd at their impromptu Belfast Meetup. They are really nice guys. And they are the first YouTubers I have ever met so that's cool.
22. Finished my first ever essay for uni. As a computing student we don't tend to write essays, we write code. So to say it was a challenge was something else.
23. Filmed a video to go along with my essay. It was a group thing and I have never filmed something with other people in the room so it was kind of awkward but I made it through and we made a complete video so, that's an accomplishment.
24. Went shopping and actually got some cute dresses for work placement. You can never have too many dresses.
25. Enjoyed the little bit of sunny weather we had and went to play mini golf with my boyfriend. He likes to say he won but I think I did. We don't tend to keep score so who really knows...
26. Freaked out about who the returning drag queen would be on RuPaul's Drag Race. My heart will always hope for Shangela to come back. But I did love Cynthia, so it's good to see her again!
27. Built my own house on the Sims 4 because why not? I feel like everyone tries to make their own house at least one time playing the game.
28. Watched iJustine compete on Chopped. I discovered Chopped when flicking through channels one day, I got really into it even though cooking competitions aren't really my thing haha. But when I found out Justine was going to be on it I was super excited. It's sad she didn't make it past the appetiser round but I believe she will go one to cook some great things.
29. Decided to cancel my Glossybox subscription because I wasn't really using the products. It had been a great treat over the past year but sometimes you can have too many beauty products and it seems like a waste. Especially when you aren't using them.
30. Had a weird time adjusting to the clocks going forward. I was just playing my DS, looked at the clock on my wall that said 2, but my phone said 3, I was super confused for a minute lol.
31. Rewatched all of DaveDays old music videos about his Miley Cyrus cardboard cut out. These were some of the first videos I ever watched on YouTube and I loved them a lot. And DaveDays even got to meet Miley Cyrus because of the videos. So great.

Last night, while trying to sleep I had this idea of making a monthly blog post letting you know about things I did within the last month. It's kind of inspired by Tyler Oakley's YouTube video "100 things we did in [insert year here]". I thought it would be something to help keep me blogging throughout the year and also something cute to look back on and remember.
I was going to try and think of one thing I did for each day of the month but that's not always possible. So basically, I'm just going to list 30/31/28 things I did in the month, depending on how many days there are in that month.
So without further ado, here are 31 things I did in January:

1. Celebrated the new year with my boyfriend and his friends. I finally had someone to kiss on New Year's. :P
2. Shared a montage video of my 2016 on YouTube. It was a really fun year for me. I also made a blog post about it.
3. Made four New Years' Resolutions hoping that I would stick to them. So far, so good!
4. Shared my winter makeup look in a YouTube video. I hardly do makeup tutorial type things but when I do, it's usually at the start of the year haha.
5. Played Pokemon Moon for about an hour and decided I didn't like it. The storyline is too different from other Pokemon games and I'm not a fan.
6. Started watching How To Get Away With Murder and fell in love.
7. Made two videos talking about How To Get Away With Murder and fangirling/freaking out about it.
8. Started posting YouTube videos on my Sims channel again after a long hiatus.
9. Went shopping in the new year's sales hoping to find clothes for work placement but was unsuccessful.
10. Went to see Marvel Live: Superheros Assemble.
11. Revised C++ and was surprised to find I didn't forget how to code over Christmas break. You never know, it could happen.
12. Suffered in the cold for a week because the boiler in my house broke and it needed to be replaced. It was not pleasant.
13. Cleared out my pyjama drawer and found out just how many pairs of pyjamas I own. (It's a lot)
14. Stayed in a beautiful apartment for two days with my boyfriend for his birthday.
15. Took a day trip to Dublin.
16. Played lots and lots of Sims. They gave us toddlers and vampires in the same week. I had lots of free time to explore.
17. Watched my TV shows return and reacted to them on Twitter. I love my TV shows and I love using Twitter to share my thoughts. Someone on Twitter can always relate.
18. Started to work on my Android group project again and encountered some problems with Git. When you have to merge your branch into master and have a load of conflicts - it's not great.
19. Filmed a YouTube video in the middle of my kitchen/living room in my uni flat and it felt super awkward while doing so. One of my flatmates could have walked in at any minute. It would have been awful.
20. Had a lazy day where all I did was read Buzzfeed articles. It was a very productive day.
21. Attended a gaming event with my friend where we quickly realised that we did not belong. The event was clearly for established game developers, which we are not.
22. Tried to fix my sleeping pattern multiple times and failed.
23. Started rewatching Pretty Little Liars and remembering all the things that I had forgotten over the years. How did we not know CeCe was A, season 4 practically shows you she's part of it lol.
24. Caught up with a friend I hadn't seen in three months. It was nice. Uni has made me realise how hard is to keep in contact with people when you don't see each other at school everyday.
25. Started a Gossip Girl inspired Sims story thing on my Sims 4 blog. I created the characters of Gossip Girl on the Sims 4 a while ago and so decided to start some Sims gameplay as the Blair Waldorf sim, she was my favourite character on the show.
26. Reread the first Pretty Little Liars book with the intention of reading the whole series. I bought the first book on my Kindle a couple of years ago and read it, didn't think about getting the rest of the books until now because with the TV show ending I need some more PLL in my life.
27. Listened to one of my best friends tell the story of her first date with a guy through voice notes on Whatsapp. I loved it.
28. Came back to my uni house after being away for a month and a half. It felt weird to be back there but also kind of nice at the same time.
29. Reminisced about the time my boyfriend and I were at the same club one time and he saw me but I didn't see him. We weren't together at this stage, we were just friends. He jokes that I saw him and ignored him but I swear I didn't.
30. Started to get back into using Instagram. It kind of became my least used social media for a while because I used to never be good at keeping up with my timeline but now I check it almost every day.
31. Bought a scrapbook with the intention of properly scrapbooking. I was going to start one a few years ago but never did but now I am determined to do it.

The newest TV show in my life.
I know I have already made 2 videos in January talking about this show but is it really an official love if I don't also make a blog post about it?
I didn't really know what to expect when I first started to watch it, although from the first five minutes I was hooked. And I don't remember the last time it took five minutes for me to be hooked on a show. Normally it takes an episode or two but this was from the get-go. I needed to know why/how these 5 students committed murder and I needed to know now.
Luckily for me, the first two seasons are on Netflix which meant I got to binge-watch and learn about everything that happened.
And just when you thought things were going to calm down after season one, season two gets even crazier. The way they lay out the show is amazing. They show you just enough of that "one night" to make you want to know what happened. And it's just so good.
I have to admit, I did find the whole Rebecca/Sam murder thing way more interesting than the Hapstall murders. But I think it's because Rebecca and Sam had more to do with the main characters. That being said though, that Hapstall case escalated quickly.
And don't even get me started on finding out about what happened to Wes's mother and finding out about Frank killing Annalise's baby and also killing Lilia which started this whole thing.
Like what the hell Frank?!
Technically everything that happened is his fault. But at the same time I don't want to see him be punished? Like I don't know guys. It's weird.
I actually really like Frank as a character, he started off as being so mysterious and the one to just "take care" of problems but we've also seen him break down and go off the grid. It's so crazy.
Not to mention he recently just confessed to Wes's murder which he didn't actually do so now you can't help but be like "wtf Frank?!". I know he's doing it to make things right with Annalise and everyone else but at the same time I don't want him to go down for this because it's not his fault.
Gosh this show.
Plus, the fact they decided that Wes was going to be the next to die - OF ALL PEOPLE. Like why him? Why not someone else? I had this spoiled for me when I was doing a Google search of the show and I was not pleased. I just kept waiting to see how it had happened and I'm just not okay.
I have also been so used to not having to wait to see what happens that waiting is killing me inside slightly. I need to know who killed Wes and how. In my latest video talking about the show I went through the main characters and I don't think there's any of them that could have done this.
Which makes me think about if it was someone outside of the main cast, but who?! I really don't know.
Not to mention they had those flashbacks of Wes with all the characters in the last episode and none of us were prepared for that. Like that's not okay to play with our emotions like that.
And also Annalise is in jail, which everyone on the internet can't believe because she is literally the only person on the show to not have committed murder so it's like - what? Haha. Although Annalise is strong so I believe she will make it through prison.
I also believe that it is Bonnie's time to step up and be a lawyer. I know she's not that confident but if Annalise believes in her then so do I. She can do this.
But I guess we don't really know what happens until we see what they do about Frank admitting to the murder...
Gah!
I'm just so excited for the new episode. I need all the answers.
I'm sure people online have lots of good theories so I might see what there is out there. I just need to know what happens. And I also hope that the rest of the cast stay alive because I am not about shows who think it's cool to kill off the main cast members. That sounds weird to say but there are a lot of shows that do that.
Anyway, I think that's all I have to say on the show right now. I'll probably have loads more thoughts as we continue through this season so expect more tweets/YouTube videos/blog posts - whatever way I can use to get my thoughts out about this show. I just have to share.
I hope you enjoyed reading, if you have any theories or suggestions for who might have killed Wes/how let me know, it would be great to know what you think and hopefully I'm back with a new blog post soon. :P
~ Courtney x

I know a lot of people would say that 2016 was a terrible year, and for a lot of reasons it was. But for me? 2016 has been a pretty amazing year. I think it's easy to get caught up in the negative of things but I think going into 2017 we should focus on the positive. And so that's what I'm going to do.
In this recap of my 2016 I am only going to focus on the positive. This year has been an amazing year for me and I want to share all of the good things that have happened with you today.
Just like last year, I am going to talk about things in chronological order since that makes the most sense. It's hard to think back to the start of the year but luckily for me, I like to document things. Whether that's online, or writing a journal, I always have the memories somewhere.
One of the first big things that happened in 2016 for me was meeting Bianca Del Rio. She is the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race season 6 and one of my favourite drag queens. The night I got to meet her was definitely an unforgettable one. Mainly because I was asked to come on stage and lip sync for my life in front of her. Talk about pressure. And of course, plenty of my friends were there and recorded the whole thing, so I think I'm going to be remembering that for a long, long time.

A quick look back on my Twitter, and the rest of January consisted of me playing Sims, and not having very much sleep. Something I think I need to work on this year. Sleep is precious, make sure to get enough of it.
In February I started dating my boyfriend. We've been together almost a year now which is crazy to think about. I don't want to say too much about it but we've had a good relationship over the past year, and I'm hoping 2017 will be a good year for us too. I never thought love would be in the cards for me last year. As my first long-term relationship it was an adjustment but I think I've adjusted quite well.
Then in March, I began house hunting with my two friends. We were looking for somewhere to live during our second year at university and that was an experience. Student houses are not the most glamorous of accommodation but they are something.
During this time I was also starting Mandarin classes for the first time. Definitely not an easy language to learn. Let's just say I didn't make it far in those classes. However later in the year, I ended up enrolling in a Korean class and I find that language much easier to learn. So I think I'm going to be sticking with Korean for now.
April was spent watching a lot of TV shows, I watched Suits, RuPaul's Drag Race and Nashville. I also got addicted to Neko Atsume which is an app about cats. I thought it was really adorable and so I posted lots of photos about it on Twitter. I still play the game to this day so there's no regrets.


In May I was starting summer holidays after finishing my first year at university. It felt good to be done with university for a while. I felt like I had a much needed break. This is when I started to make more YouTube videos again and decided to make my second YouTube channel.
I think that it was a good idea to start another channel just for Sims content. I just find that my Sims content doesn't fit into the rest of the channel which are all videos of me. Plus it means I don't feel bad for posting so many Sims videos. It also helped to keep me productive over the summer months because it meant I always had something to do.
In June I celebrated my 19th birthday by going ice skating with my friends. I also put together party bags which I think went down really well. I swear that young adults appreciate party bags more than little kids haha. At least my friends loved them. Who knew all you needed was mini water pistols and party poppers to have fun? That and sugar, sugar is a must.
Also in June, I left the country for the first time to go to New York. Talk about a holiday to remember. I went with my best friend Jasmine for KCon and it was the most amazing experience. I won't talk too much about it now since all I did when I got back from New York was talk about the fact I went to New York.
I just had such an amazing time and to be able to share that experience with one of my close friends was even better. I am also so glad that I was with Jasmine when she went to see her KPop idols in person. I hope that in the future there will be more opportunities for her to be able to meet them. Seeing KPop idols perform in person is an incredible experience. And if you get the chance to experience it, I definitely recommend it.
And of course I would love to go back to New York one day. It's an amazing city and I wish I had gotten to see more of it when I was away. But I guess it just gives me an excuse to go back.


When I came back from New York I threw myself back into playing Sims. I had went a whole 4 days in New York without it and I was missing it dearly haha. I also began to play a lot of Pokemon Go. I was obsessed with Pokemon Go for a long time when it first came out. I had spent so long waiting for it to be released in the UK that when it finally came out I couldn't get enough of it. I even played in when I went to Rome in September.
Rome was another amazing experience that I got to have in 2016. I went from never having left the country to going on two holidays in a year. That's a big deal. Again, I won't say much about my trip to Rome since I already made a blog post talking about it. But I had a great time there. And I think it was the perfect way to end the summer before I headed back to uni. Everyone says that when you are young you should travel and I think 2016 was just the beginning for me.


After Rome came the hard work of starting university again. Second year so far has been so much more work than first year. So it was a big adjustment for me. That and moving into my student house was a lot to take in for the first month or so. But soon enough I settled into a new routine. There are still flaws in this routine but I know things will work out in the end.
Obviously moving out wasn't the smoothest of transitions. We went without wifi in our student house for a month and it was a whole new world having to pay for food and bills on your own. But I think it went pretty well. We also had a roommate situation but luckily we were able to deal with that as soon as possible and everything worked out for the best.
On top of starting university I was also looking for a job for my placement year. I was completely new to the process of applying for jobs and going to interviews so it was a learn as you go type of thing but everything worked out well in the end. I got offered a job in the middle of December and I start in July which is wonderful. Something less to think about for now.
And to end the year I was able to spend lots of time with friends and family over Christmas which was really great. Ever since going to university I don't get to see all my friends as much as I used to and so I think that it was good that I got to see them when they came home for the holidays.
I was always worried about keeping in touch with friends after we left secondary school. It's a lot harder when you don't see each other everyday but when you do get to hang out again it's really fun. And I hope that I can continue to keep in touch with my friends no matter where we go and what we do in life. It's definitely something that takes work but when you have really good friends, it's worth it.
I am now currently enjoying my time off from university and preparing for another crazy year ahead. I have no idea what exactly 2017 holds for me, but if it's anything like 2016, then I welcome it with open arms. If you had told me this time last year that this was how my year was going to turn out I wouldn't have believed you. It's been so amazing. And I'm glad that I got to share it with such amazing people.
So do I have any expectations for 2017? Not really. I'm not expecting this year to be like the last one, maybe it'll be better, maybe it'll be worse. Who knows? I just know that I am going to continue doing my best and see where it takes me. I'm definitely going into this year with a positive attitude, and I hope everyone else does too.
I hope you all had a good 2016, despite all of the bad things that happened. And I hope 2017 is a great year for you. I feel like the whole world is hoping 2017 is a great year. So let's see if we can make it one.
~ Courtney x

It has been a while since my last book review. I have been really bad at reading lately but I want to get back to it.
So Grace & Style. I was really happy to find out Grace was writing a second book. I really enjoyed her first one. And after she gave us such great advice on how to be an adult I was super excited to see what style tips Grace would have for us.

Truth be told I did not buy this for the style advice. Although that being said Grace does give some great advice within the book. She shares helpful tips about what to do on bad hair days, how to cover up fashion faux pas and how to make plain t shirts more fashionable. And if that wasn't enough there are also some great DIYs on her YouTube channel.
But anyway, I bought this book to see how it would compare with her first book. And also because I knew I was going to get some great stories in this book. It helped me learn more about Grace and how her own personal style came to be.
I thought it was really interesting for her to open up with something super personal from the get go. I had no idea Grace went through such a hard time growing up. Although I really admire YouTubers who are able to share their stories like that in order to help others. I also think it allows people to connect to YouTubers on a more personal level. Especially since some of them are not very open and personal online.
Aside from her personal introduction to the book the rest of it is a lot of light and fun. I enjoyed reading about Grace's take on style advice. She definitely took her advice to the next level in this book. Even creating some very interesting scenarios for her Miss Mess column. She even gives us a flowchart to help us decide if we should really buy an item of clothing. The book came with everything.


One thing I didn't expect in this book were the Sweatpants diaries. I honestly didn't enjoy this part of the book as much as the rest of it. At the beginning I found it hard to follow and was just confused. As I read more throughout the book I began to understand a bit more. Long story short it is about a pair of sweatpants who attends school in the Mall of America and is about to bring back the Black Friday revolution. It's insane. But very Grace.
If anything I think if Grace really wanted to, she really could release a fictional book series called the Sweatpants diaries. I feel like that could be something a lot of people could be into. I unfortunately am not a big fan. Although it definitely added something different to the book.


While I didn't enjoy this part of the book I did like the rest of it. As I said before I really enjoyed learning about how Grace's own style came to be through her stories and past experiences. I also enjoyed how she took famous quotes about style and made them her own. I feel like I related a lot more to Grace's quotes than the others. I think celebrities/designers/models have a different view of fashion because they can 1. afford couture and 2. are around it all the time. The rest of us are trying to afford cute everyday fashion.
Another thing I enjoyed in Grace's book were the photos. Just like her previous book this book was beautifully illustrated with photos of Grace rocking some interesting styles. Here are some of my favourites:





Overall I think this book was a really fun read. Although I think I preferred Grace's first book over this one. Especially on the advice front. I feel like I need advice on how to be an adult more than I need style advice haha. I don't regret buying this book though as it did allow me to learn more things about Grace. It also gave me a really helpful flowchart on how to decide how to clean out my closet. I wish I had seen that a few weeks ago when I was cleaning out my room.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this book review. I don't even know if these book reviews are that helpful or useful haha. I just like sharing my thoughts on some YouTuber books. I promise I will have some reviews of some non-YouTuber books sometime soon but for right now, this is what I'm into. I have some more YouTuber books preordered for later in the year so I am excited to get them. But for right now, the next book on my list is It Gets Worse by Shane Dawson and I can't wait to get into that. Look out for that book review (hopefully) coming soon!
~ Courtney x

Wow is all I can say.
So a few months ago I agreed to go to New York for KCon with my friend Jasmine. I didn't really know what to expect. Jasmine is really the one that is a huge fan of KPop and so I knew she would probably appreciate the experience more than me. Especially since her favourite band Seventeen was going to be there.
I'm not saying I'm not a fan of KPop though. I got into KPop around 2013 with Girls' Generation however I never really listened to anything other than SNSD, so you can imagine how upset I was to find out this was going to be the first year Girls' Generation was not going to be at KCon NY. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the people who were attending KCon NY this year. It's just that I didn't know a lot about the artists that were attending. But I did my research.
Anyway, fast forward to June and soon enough I was on a plane for the first time on the way to New York.
I couldn't believe this was happening. Until this trip I had never left the country, never been on a plane, never even been to a concert. And so, to say this experience was a life changing one is very much true.
As soon as we got to New York, we passed out. It was only around 9 p.m but we were exhausted. A lot of travelling will do that to you, so we called it an early night and woke up super early the next day. We arrived into New York a day early which gave us an opportunity to explore the city and see the sights.
I was super excited about this because I have always wanted to go to New York. It's one of those places you have to go to because you see it so much on TV and in movies. And in particular for me, I wanted to go to New York because it's where the TV show Gossip Girl is set. All I ever wanted on a trip to New York was to be like Blair Waldorf and sit on the steps of the MET. And I got to do just that.

Of course we got to see a lot of other great sights when we were in New York. We got to see Times Square, Central Park, 5th Avenue and so many more things. However since we were only there for one day we didn't really get to explore any of these places. We sort of just whizzed passed them on a tour bus. But I hope that one day I get to go back to New York and experience everything properly. I did however get some nice photos that day.






Later on in the day, Jasmine and I headed to the Prudential Center in Newark to check in to KCon and also attend Klub KCon. Which was a show the day before the convention started where one of the performing artists would make an appearance. We had no idea who was going to be showing up there but Jasmine had hoped it would be Seventeen. And as luck would have it, it was SEVENTEEN.
I had looked them up once I had found out they were going to be at KCon and that Jasmine was in love with them and I can completely understand why she loves them. Their music is catchy, they are good looking and there are thirteen of them. What's not to love?
So it's safe to say the fangirling started early with us haha.

Seventeen!

After Klub KCon we met up with some friends Jasmine had made online and hung out with them. They were all super nice and of course, huge KPop fans. One of them actually makes KPop reaction videos on YouTube and so we actually filmed a couple of reaction videos for his channel which was really cool. We also found out that some of the artists were staying at his hotel and he ended up sharing an elevator with some of them which was crazy. I don't know how he stayed so calm in that situation as I know most people wouldn't haha.



After the Seventeen fan engagement, I got to go to the Ailee hi touch event which was amazing. Ailee is one of the artists that I had known about before attending KCon and I really loved her music so it was really exciting to get to meet her. She's so pretty in person and is also super charming and funny. I just love her so much. And so to be able to meet her was amazing. I have no words to describe it.
The hi touch experience was pretty crazy too. It went by so fast. It was literally just a second because I couldn't think of anything to say to Ailee when I approached her. I just grabbed her hands and then just like that it was over. I know that at these events you don't get long with the artist and if you do spend too long with them security do tend to move you along but still I wish I had thought of something to say to her haha. Other than that it was a pretty amazing experience.

Ailee!

 After the fan engagements came the first concert. The concert was incredible. I'm sure everyone says the same thing about watching their favourite artists perform live but this concert was insanely good. And even the artists we didn't know that well, such as Crush and Dynamic Duo we ended up loving. There are no real words to describe it, it was just an unforgettable experience.
And during Ailee's performance there was a technical malfunction and her backing track disappeared yet she still kept singing and she was FLAWLESS. I mean she sounded so good live without the backing track. It was insane. Luckily they were able to recover from the technical fault but no one was complaining about Ailee singing acapella.
Then Seventeen performed two stages and Jasmine was not prepared for that. I got really excited during their second stage when they did a cover of Balloons by TVXQ because that was one of the first KPop songs I ever really really loved. So that was also amazing.
Like I said, Crush and Dynamic Duo were insane - we didn't know them before going into the concert but seeing them perform it was easy to see why so many people do love them and so we are definitely going to have to look into them more because their performance was so good.
We also really loved BTOB's performance even though there's was more like ballads compared to everyone else's which were more upbeat and poppy. But still - it was incredible. I loved every single second and it was just a great show. Jasmine even lost her voice a little bit because of all the screaming haha.

Crush

The next day during KCon Day 2, Jasmine and I spent more time looking around the convention stands and also attended the Mamamoo fan event. Jasmine was able to get a Mamamoo hi touch and so was super excited about that.

Mamamoo!

It is officially the start of the summer holidays for me and I could not be more excited!

I think I might be a little bit late with this but I thought I would share my favourites from last month with you guys anyway. Normally I make a YouTube video talking about my monthly favourites but this month when I sat down to make the video I didn't like how it turned out and so I thought a blog post might be more fitting. Plus it doesn't hurt to mix things up every once in a while. So without further ado, here were some of my favourite things from last month.

I always end up with TV shows in my favourites, this month being no exception. Suits is the newest TV show to enter my life and I am obsessed. At first, I wasn't sure what to make of it. The TV show was suggested to me by a friend, and I'm one of those people that doesn't usually take TV show suggestions from people. It sounds weird but I just don't do it, I'd rather find TV shows on my own. But I'm really glad I decided to take my friend's suggestion on this one.
I am currently two episodes away from the end of season 5 and I am dying to know what happens next. My friend says that I'll be crying by the end of the season and so I'm partially dreading finding out what happens but I think I'm willing to risk the heartbreak rather than not knowing at all.

Another TV show that I have been loving in April has been the Amazing Race. This season in particular is a favourite of mine because it had two of my favourite YouTubers in it: Tyler Oakley and Blair Fowler. They were not in the same team, however I still enjoyed watching both of them on the show. I was really sad to see Blair and her dad eliminated early on in the race, however I have confidence that Tyler and Korey are going to win the 1 million dollars.
We are only one episode away from the final of the Amazing Race now, it's kind of crazy to think how much time has passed but I have loved every second of this season. Especially Tyler and Korey, they are just really fun to watch. And even if you didn't know who Tyler was before starting the season, I'm sure you'd end up loving him by the end as well.
As for the other two teams in the final I like them a lot too. Although I'm still #TeamTylerAndKorey all the way.
If you are interested in knowing more about my thoughts on the teams in this season of the Amazing Race, I actually made a blog post talking about them a couple of months ago. So feel free to check that out.

Yet another TV show that I hold near and dear to my heart. I discovered Nashville about a year and a half ago and have been in love ever since. Surprisingly, it was another recommendation from a friend.
I have just really been loving this whole season of Nashville because it has been super dramatic. There is never a dull moment and since the show came back after Christmas I have been dying every episode.
I'm also really loving the show because Juliette has returned and I could not be happier. Juliette is my favourite character on the show and so when she was absent for a few weeks I really missed her. So I'm glad she's back again. I also have found the storyline between Maddie and Rayna really heartbreaking. And don't even get me started on the whole Will thing...If you guys follow me on Twitter then you know all about my feelings towards this show.



Finally, a favourite that's not a TV show! So I have seen photos of Neko Astume on the Internet before. The first time I saw it was on Twitter and I wanted to know what it was about. I resisted getting the app for ages because it didn't seem worth the time but now that I've downloaded it I am obsessed.
If you don't know what the game is, it's a Japanese game, Neko Atsume translates to Kitty Collector. And that's essentially all that you do. You buy toys/food and set them in a garden to lure cats in and then you check back in the game every so often to see if there are any cats there. You can't do anything with the cats other than click on them to find out information about them and take photos of them but that's all you need the app to do.
I know it doesn't sound like much, but I find myself checking this game at least 50 times a day. And if you follow me on Twitter then I'm pretty sure you have seen my many photos of the game throughout the last month.


So technically I would list Animal Crossing as an all-time favourite of mine. I have loved Animal Crossing since I played my first AC game for the DS when I was about 7/8. But in April I found myself playing more Animal Crossing than usual.
This is because I finally went out of my way to purchase a GameCube controller and Animal Crossing for the GameCube. (I didn't need to buy a GameCube because you can play GameCube games on the Wii.) I have played the GameCube version of Animal Crossing on an emulator before but it definitely doesn't compare to having the actual game.
Plus, it was the only Animal Crossing came (apart from Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival) that I didn't have a physical copy of and so I needed it in my life.
On top of playing Animal Crossing for the GameCube, I have also just been playing a lot of my other Animal Crossing games in general. I don't know what it is about the games I love so much I just love every part of it. And so I'm super excited for Nintendo to release it's next Animal Crossing game.
Also, if you're wondering why I haven't gotten Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival, it's because it's for the Wii U and I don't have a Wii U. And also because it's a spin off game and therefore I don't feel like I can justify buying a new console for a spin off game. I also don't have money for the Amiibo Figures although I think they are really cute.

And so, those are all my favourites for the month of April. I was about to type my usual YouTube outro here but I realise that doesn't make sense in a blog post haha. But I hope you guys enjoyed reading about my favourites, let me know in the comments what your favourites were for last month and I should be back with a monthly favourites video (hopefully) next month!
~ Courtney x

The Amazing Race season 28. The social media themed season, where all teams are made up of Internet stars. It's safe to say I was really excited.
I actually started to watch the Amazing Race because YouTubers Joey Graceffa and Meghan Camerena competed in season 22 and then later in season 24. It was the first time I had ever watched the show and I really liked it. Which I was surprised about because I don't usually watch this type of show but I find that if you find one team per season that you really like you can really get into it.
And as soon as I found out that Tyler Oakley was going to be on this season of the Amazing Race I had already decided which team was going to be my favourite. Tyler Oakley is one of my favourite YouTubers. And so of course I am rooting for him 100%.
There is another YouTuber that I watch competing on this season too, Blair Fowler. She's a beauty guru that I like to watch and I also watch her sister Elle's videos too. I am rooting for her to go far in the race too however I am supporting Tyler a tiny bit more.
Aside from those two YouTubers and their partners, I don't recognise anyone else on this season of the Amazing Race. Oh - apart from Joslyn from Clevver TV. I used to watch Clevver TV's videos. But everyone else was completely new to me. I know it is a social media themed season so all these people are known on social media platforms but definitely not ones that I use. Like Vine stars are completely lost on me.
Anyway, I want to talk about each team individually to let you guys know how I feel about this season of the Amazing Race so far. As of now we are 3 episodes into the season and so I have gotten to learn a little bit more about each team.

Erin White Robinson and Joslyn Davis
Like I said before, I recognise Joslyn from Clevver TV on YouTube. Her voice is very memorable.
Anyway I like Erin and Joslyn. So far I don't have a lot to say about them. All I really remember is that Erin got really claustrophobic in the last episode which can be a problem. Especially if there are any more challenges that require them to be in small spaces.
I also think it was great how they work together with Blair and Scott. Although I can see them throwing them under the bus if they need to which could cause drama.

Darius and Cameron Benson
Vine stars. Never heard of them but they seem like cool guys. They seem to lack the competitiveness and drive that the other teams do though which has been shown on a few occasions. Which I guess ultimately lead to their elimination.
I mean I don't doubt that they are smart guys but if you aren't in it to win it as much as the other teams you will get lost in the dust.





Zach and Rachel King
More vine stars haha. Honestly, I don't really think they stand out in the competition for me yet. I don't know enough about them to really make a judgement. I think they came first in the first episode but I honestly don't remember.






Dana Borriello and Matt Steffanina
Dancers. Recently engaged.
I always worry for couples on this TV show because sometimes I think it could make or break them. And with these two...it seems like it could break them.
They are both very strong-headed when it comes to competition and they have been fighting a lot.
I wasn't expecting that because if they have a business together you'd think they'd work a lot better together but I guess we see as the race goes on.
I know sometimes couples fight on the race and it only makes them stronger. So let's hope it's the case with these two.




Marty Cobb and Hagan Parkman
I thought they were cute. Although one mistake caused them to be eliminated early on in the race.
One thing I will say about that is, after watching this show for a long time I know never to leave your taxi anywhere/make sure the taxi is going to stay there while you do the challenge. Because taxis are usually your downfall on the race.
Also they got really annoying towards the end when they just sort of gave up. So...yeah I don't have much else to say about them.

Anyway, what really surprised me about them is that they are really good at these challenges. I mean I know they are really good friends and have worked together since graduating but I had no idea how good a team they were until now.
They are just so efficient and take no crap haha. I'm sure they will have their bumps on the road as they continue on the race but so far they seem to be plain sailing. And yes, they are the team I want to win. Just saying.

Jessica Versteeg and Brittany Oldehoff
Instagram models. Because that's a thing now.
I like them. They only really stand out because they are pretty. Like that's all I can say about them so far. They are pretty.
Again they are in the middle of the pack right now in the race so who knows how well they will actually do. Although being in the middle of the race is not neccessarily a bad thing, it could be the reason you end up in the final four.

Burnie Jones and Ashley Jenkins
YouTube gamers. And a super cute couple.
These two work well together too. I remember how they were in the last episode and they seem to have a really good relationship.
I can see them going far in the race.

Scott and Blair Fowler
Like I said before I watch Blair's videos and so I am biased towards her in this race as well. So I do hope she makes it far in the race.
Although part of me wishes that Blair was doing the race with her sister Elle because they both make videos, however I'm pretty sure Elle couldn't do the race because of when she injured her back.
Still I like this father daughter team. I think it's sweet that they help people when they can and I just hope that doesn't come back to bite them if someone decides to take advantage of that.
Also I'm pretty sure that if you were to remember anything about this season it's Blair's voice. She definitely has one of those voices that's very memorable.


Sheri and Cole LaBrant
Another vine star.
I think this mother and son team is also very cute. I also like that other teams are nice and help them out when they can although I know it won't last. As the competition gets smaller and smaller people will be less likely to help out teams like Sheri and Cole and so I wonder how they will do without any help later in the race.




And so those are my first impressions of all the Amazing Race teams on season 28! So far it's been a very entertaining season with all of my favourite one liners coming from Tyler and Korey.
If you guys are watching the Amazing Race this season then let me know your predictions, who do you think will win? As I've been saying the whole way through this blog post I hope Tyler and Korey win. And if not them then someone else who deserves to win. I mean it doesn't really matter. I always end up feeling like the people who win the race were the ones that deserved to win, even if I wasn't really rooting for them to begin with.
I will be sure to let you guys know my thoughts as the season progresses. I don't know if I will make another blog post like this but I always tweet about the episodes when I watch them. So if you are interested in knowing my thoughts on the race or any other TV show I am currently watching then feel free to follow me on Twitter. Or don't. I tend to tweet a lot haha.
~ Courtney x

My 7th blog post this month and my second 2nd book review. I'd say I'm on a roll.
Today I am reviewing Girl Online On Tour by Zoe Sugg. I wasn't really sure if I was going to get this book because when I read the first one I was convinced that it was aimed at a younger audience and I didn't enjoy the story. However, I decided to give it a chance Zoe had released a number of signed books you could preorder online and so...I gave in. I might have only done it for the signed Zoella book but I knew I couldn't leave it unread. Especially when I know Zoe has so many fans and someone else would have appreciated the book a whole lot more. So I decided to see where Penny and Noah were headed and honestly, I really enjoyed it.

If you read my book review of Girl Online then you know it was probably the only YouTuber book I didn't like so I wasn't sure what to expect with the sequel. But Zoe definitely stepped up the game with this one. I tried not to have high expectations after the first one and I didn't even really know much about the story. I hadn't really thought much about what Girl Online On Tour actually meant. But it literally meant Penny was going on tour with Noah.
And I think that's one of the things that really changed this book from the last one. Because life on a rock tour is so fast-paced and crazy the story had to reflect that. Which meant the pace of the book was a lot faster than the first one. There were things going on all the time and I just felt like I had to keep reading because I wanted to know what happened with all these things.
I feel like with Girl Online, Zoe was just testing the waters with her writing. And now, she knows what she can do and she wanted to showcase that. I could tell her writing had improved, which I was really glad to see. It still has the same style and tone as before but there was just something a little bit different. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's because there has been no ghost writer scandal with this one. Not that I was ever mad about that. Or I'm just getting used to the style of Zoe's writing. Either way, I am glad to see Zoe is improving her writing skills. Because she can only get better from here and I love seeing that.
Okay moving to the actual story. So many things. Lots of spoilers ahead.
First of all, I totally related to Penny when she had to stop publishing her blog. Last year I had a similar thing go down where I basically had to stop something I was doing and it was awful. It feels like you are being told you aren't allowed to express yourself like you're being censored. And it's not good.
You should always be allowed to express yourself as long as it isn't offensive or hurtful to others. Although I know that can be hard now because people can get offended quite easily. But if you're doing something you enjoy and you don't intend for it to be offensive or to hurt people then you should do it. Although you should be careful if it's personal or involves friends and family.
That's what I have learnt about the whole thing and in this book Penny learns a similar thing so I think that made the book more enjoyable.
If you can relate to the character of the book it's so much easier to read. At least, I feel that. Or if you have a connection with them.
Something else that kept me reading was the mystery. Who was sending all those messages to Penny? I have to admit I had my suspicions about Megan and Pegasus Girl. I would have loved if it was Pegasus Girl. Only because people online can't always be trusted. That really would have been a twist.
However, that was a bit of a letdown. The reveal was still shocking because I never expected it but...then when it was revealed and the reasons behind it I kind of felt like it was cliche movie. I should have seen it coming. I think I'm more mad at myself for not figuring it out than the actual outcome haha.
Also, I'd really love a friend like Leah Brown. She really surprised me by being really nice. I think I've been watching too much Pretty Little Liars because I have to stop jumping to the conclusion that every girl character is secretly a bitch. I mean a girl should be able to take another girl shopping and give her a glam makeover without there being an ulterior motive right? At least, I'd like to think so.
As for Penny and Noah...well I actually liked how they ended. I think it was the right decision and I love that they are able to both pursue their passions. I thought that was a really great theme to the book. That you should pursue your passions because you could just end up living the dream.
It really inspired me. I remember being like Penny and not knowing what I was going to do with my life. I still haven't got it quite figured out but I am piecing together things I want to do and going for it. One of them being my blog. I identify a lot with Penny and her blog, I've been blogging on and off since I was about 11 and I know how it feels to have a place to vent. It's great.
Something else I loved about the book was Alexiot. I loved the ship name, I loved the big romantic gesture...I loved the whole thing. That was a love story I could totally get behind. It was so cute.
Another big thing in the book was the progression of Penny's anxiety. Just like Zoe, Penny suffers from anxiety attacks and I really appreciate that Zoe was able to incorporate that into her book. I think it helps a lot of people who don't have anxiety get an idea of what it feels like sometimes. It also helps a lot of people who do have anxiety and how to deal with it.
In the end, I'm so glad there was a happy ending. I feel like after everything that happened in what felt like a short amount of time everyone deserved the ending they got. I also couldn't imagine a novel written by Zoella ending sadly.
I'm really glad I gave this book a chance because I ended up loving it a lot. And while yes, it's a little cliche and predictable it's a good read. I learnt I was way more attached to the characters than I thought I was too. I was happy, sad, and I even think I yelled at my book a few times.
I would definitely recommend this book to you if you loved the first Girl Online book. And even if you weren't a fan of the first book, you should give this book a chance because you might end up liking it. I still think it is aimed at a younger audience than some of the other YouTuber books but that's okay. I think if she did something for an older audience it would be very off-brand.
And so, those were all my thoughts on Girl Online On Tour! I hope that you guys enjoyed reading. Let me know what you guys thought of Zoe's books in the comments below. I think the next book I am going to read will be Username: Evie. So look out for that book review coming soon (I hope. Depending how fast I read and if I actually have enough to say on it to write a book review.)
~ Courtney x