My Little Corner of the Internet

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

I know it's been forever since I have written here but I have just been so busy.
I am halfway through my second year of university and everything seems to be going by in a blur. Second year is a whole different ball game compared to first year. I feel like they were taking it easy on us last year to allow us to adjust to being in a new learning environment and now this year, they've decided you've adjusted enough to throw you into the deep end.
It's not necessarily a bad thing but it definitely has been keeping me on my toes.
So yes, I have been struggling a little bit but that's okay. I wouldn't say I'm drowning - not yet anyway. But I'm trying to remain hopeful haha.
Anyway, my main point of this blog post was to fill you in on where I have been the past few months. Since I've started university I haven't really been able to blog, make a YouTube video or even really update social media as much as I used to. I mean I have been trying to write this blog post for over a month so I think that's an indicator of how busy I've been.
It started off with moving.
This year I decided it would be best to live closer to the university, it's a lot handier because it means not having to travel everyday, it's cheaper and it's a lot easier to make it to last minute group meetings. So living away from home has been an adjustment.
I actually don't have that many complaints about living away from home. Mainly because it's not a permanent move and I go home every weekend haha. But I actually enjoy it. It's nice to have a place you can go away from home. While yes, I do live with roommates, we have different routines and so often I am sitting by myself in the living room. Which I realise sounds a bit sad but I like to be on my own so it's fine haha.
I like having a quiet place of my own to go to. And it's also nice to live with different people. I mean at first I was worried I was going to end up getting sick of seeing my roommates but honestly it's pretty great. I did have a situation a couple of months ago where my former roommate had decided to move out, which caused a bit of a hassle, but now everything is settled again.
I know everyone has a different experience with living with friends etc. when they go to uni so I wasn't sure what to expect with my situation. I currently live with a friend I made at uni who is in my course and a guy I used to go to secondary school with. Which seems like a weird combination but it works. We all get along well and there's not really any conflict about anything which is pretty positive.
Aside from the moving another big thing for me right now is job hunting. My degree requires me to take a year of placement work and so I have been applying and interviewing a lot recently. Two things that are new to me.
I have to admit it is something I was worried about because I haven't had any previous work experience so I thought it would mean no one would want to hire me. But I have heard back from some places I have applied to which makes me hopeful.
I was also worried about interviewing because I don't think it's something I have ever been good at. I don't consider myself a master at selling myself to people. Even when I make YouTube videos I don't do it to appeal to anyone other than myself really haha. So it was something new.
Each interview experience I have had has been different and I have learnt something new during each one so I'm glad I have been able to put myself out there. I think it helps to build confidence to do job interviews and it also does help you learn more. But I still always get nervous before I have to go to one. Sometimes you're just worried you'll say the wrong thing haha.
But again it's been a pretty positive thing. Even if I don't get the job at least I have the interview experience, so it's not really a bad situation.
And of course the main thing this year that has been keeping me busy is university itself. In this one semester I think I have done more work than I did in my entire first year. Which I think is crazy. Although it makes sense, last year I was completely new to coding and so we had to take everything slow.
This year, I am currently working on an android game project and there's nothing slow about it haha. It's definitely a learning curve. But I am up for the challenge. Even though I'm coding something completely different than I'm used to I find it interesting. I also think it's cool that we get to make our own game. Even if it doesn't turn out to be the most amazing quality I'll still be proud of it.
We are currently still in the early stages so we don't have much done right now but I'm excited to see what we achieve. Another positive thing is that I have a really good team for this project which is great. We all get along well and are determined to do well in the project which means there's not much conflict.
On the other side of that you can also end up in teams which aren't so great. Which I have also experienced this year. It's tough to work on something when you know the other people on your team aren't interested. So it's been a struggle but I am working through it. Slowly but surely.
Aside from group projects, there has been a lot of other work too. This year I am learning C++ which has some things that are similar to Java but also some things very different. I picked it up pretty easily which has been great. I'm so glad I enjoy coding haha. Otherwise I don't think I would have made it through my first year.
On the social side of things, it's been lacking recently. But I know it's because I am still adjusting to my new work load. But I also know my friends have been busy too. It's just a hard time of year to be seeing people. At least I will get to see them over the holidays.
I really can't wait for it to be Christmas haha. It'll be really great to spend some time relaxing and not having to think about uni work for a bit. I know it's not stressful all the time but it would be nice to feel as though everything wasn't going by so fast. I mean I can't believe it's almost 2017.
This year in general has just been so crazy. And if you had told me that when I left secondary school things would be this way now I wouldn't have believed you haha. It's definitely been a good year. But I'm getting ahead of myself, we still have a month of this year left so let's make the most of it.
I hope you enjoyed reading, and I hope to be posting a blog post again very soon. I can't make any promises but we'll see how it goes haha.
~ Courtney x

I've been meaning to make this blog post for a while now haha. It's been over a month since I've been to Rome but I still wanted to write about it. So here it is, my trip to Rome.
It started off as a random conversation between me and my boyfriend, we wanted to go on holiday somewhere and he had always wanted to go to Rome. It was just before summer and we hadn't been going out that long but we agreed we would go to Rome someday together.
Who knew that someday meant a few months from then?
It's kind of crazy to go on holiday with someone you haven't known for that long. Especially if you are in a relationship with them. This would be the first time we were ever fully alone together for five whole days, and it's not like one of us could just leave if we had a fight. So I was a little bit nervous about it.
But luckily I had nothing to worry about. Yes, we got annoyed at each other (mainly because all of the walking and the heat really got to me) but we're still together now and so I take that as a good sign haha. I mean every couple has their disagreements and get annoyed at each other at time to time, why would going on holiday be any different?
Anyway, moving on to the actual trip itself.
Rome is breathtaking. Everywhere you go in Rome there are beautiful buildings, fountains and all of the pizza/gelato places you can imagine. I honestly had never been in a place with so many restaurants around every corner. It was wonderful.
On the first day we arrived in the morning but didn't arrive to our hotel until the afternoon. We hadn't really arranged transport to the hotel from the airport but we decided to take the bus, and then a train rather than pay for a taxi.
Public transport in Rome is very cheap - well taxis can be expensive due to traffic and they run on meters - but the train we took everyday from where our hotel was to Rome was only 1 euro. I found it hard to believe the train cost so little, especially when the same length of journey here costs about £6. So if you are ever in Rome - take the train!
Once we had been to our hotel and showered - we used the rest of the day to go into Rome. We wanted to see something so that our first day there hadn't been wasted and so we went to the Trevi fountain. It took a little bit of navigation to get there from Rome Termini but we found it in record time thanks to Google Maps.

It was beautiful. And way bigger than I thought it was haha. There were people everywhere so it was hard to find a way to even get close to the fountain but we managed it. We only stayed for a little while but we said we would come back the next day to throw a coin in and make a wish - at first we weren't sure if we could do that since it seemed not a lot of people were making wishes but you can still do it!


We actually ended up at the Trevi fountain every night we were in Rome. I'm not even sure how but we did haha. Sometimes it was just because we knew there were lots of shops and restaurants around it because it's a tourist spot, other times it was a complete accident. But it is not the worst place in the world to end up at.

One night we were there and my boyfriend decided to get gelato. He had had some before and he wanted more so this time he ordered a large cone. The first one he had gotten was small and wasn't enough and thought the large would be more fitting. Little did he know the large cone was going to be bigger than his head haha.
But he accepted the challenge of eating all of it, cone and all. It was a struggle but he did it and vowed never to eat that much gelato/ice cream ever again. The people next to us cheered for him when he had finished and kindly gave him some wipes to clean the gelato from his hands. This was also the night a couple got engaged at the fountain, so it was a night to remember for us all.
The second day we were in Rome we headed to the Vatican. It was an all day affair but it was so amazing. I can't even really describe to you what it was like but I did take some pictures that I think you'll enjoy:











We also went to St Peter's Basilica that day and while we were resting I decided to play some Pokemon Go. And I know what you're thinking - how can you play a video game when you are in such a beautiful city? But I just had to see what kind of Pokemon I could catch in a new place haha. I was able to catch some great new Pokemon and even take some gyms too, all while enjoying the view of this great city.








After visting the Vatican and St Peter's we ventured back towards the Trevi fountain to make our wishes, and to find a restaurant to eat at. There were so many to choose from that it was so hard to find one but we finally found a nice one. I liked this one because of the umbrellas attached to the chairs, I thought it was really cute.


I felt like I was in a movie, sitting outside having dinner in Rome. It was so romantic. I was also just in shock that we were able to sit outside at night and eat at all. In the UK it's always too cold/raining so you can't do that haha. But outdoor restaurants are everywhere in Rome and I think they are really cute.
There were so many restaurants that looked so pretty that we wanted to go in but we definitely didn't have time to go to them all haha. Normally you see them in the side streets you walk down to go somewhere else and they just look so inviting...
On Wednesday we headed to the Colosseum - another classic tourist destination in Rome, and the number 1 place we had to go to on my boyfriend's list. Again, it was so much bigger than what I thought it would be. I mean seeing these places on TV and in movies is never anything like when you see them in real life.







When we went to all the these tourist places, we decided to go and see them at our own pace and so didn't have a tourguide, but I do regret that a little bit. Mainly because I feel like I would have been able to learn a lot more if through a tourguide. However it is nice not to have to follow on a schedule and explore these places in your own time.
After the Colosseum we walked up Palatine hill - this was not my favourite thing to do. Here's a tip - don't wear all black in the sun - it's not good. But the view was worth it. I'll admit we didn't spend as much time there as we should have but I definitely didn't have the right walking shoes for the occasion haha.







That night we headed to the Spanish steps - which were unfortunately closed at the time. But we still spent some time in the plaza, people watching and admiring all of the designer stores. I'm not really sure why but the plaza surrounding the Spanish steps is designer heaven. There are brand names everywhere and one day I hope to come back to Rome just so I can shop there. I feel like it's Rome's version of Fifth Avenue and it's wonderful.


The next day we headed on a boat ride - not really sure where our destination was supposed to be or if it was some kind of tour haha - my boyfriend bought all of the tickets for touristy things. But all I remember was that we got off the boat and made our way to the Pantheon.
Again, another gorgeous place to visit. We walked around the area and found a plaza with the most beuatiful toy shop I have ever seen. I wanted to buy all of their dolls. It looked like something out of a fairytale.





That night we walked around town and noted a lot of shops and we agreed that we would come back into town on our final day and do some shopping. However when it came to finding the shops the next day we were out of luck. We couldn't remember the name of the plaza we were on and spent a lot of the day walking in a circle. It was maybe not the best last day to have in Rome.
Not to mention the traffic on the way to the airport! We had arranged transport with the hotel to take us to the airport. Luckily it was at a fixed price otherwise we would have been paying so much more money for the taxi. But we did make it to the airport with time to spare.
We were a bit worried our flight might be delayed or cancelled because at the time, it seemed a lot of earlier flights had been delayed but luckily we were able to get on our flight with no problems.
The trip home seemed to happen in a blur. I was so tired that I lost perception of time and everything seemed to take longer than usual. By this time I just wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep forever.
And at 2 a.m I was granted my wish haha. The next day I spent catching up on social media and uploading photos of my trip to Facebook. It feels weird to look at holiday photos after you come home. It's almost as if you can't believe you were there even though you have photographic evidence.
But it was an amazing trip, and I am really glad that I went with my boyfriend. I think it was a great bonding experience for us and has brought us even closer. It was also great to be able to explore somewhere new.
And as someone who went from never having left the country to going to New York and Rome in a matter of months, I can say I finally understand why people like to travel. It really does give the word holiday a real meaning to me. You separate yourself from your world and everything you know and are put into a different environment. A fresh start where no one knows you and a place you've never been to. It's intoxicating.
But at the same time I was glad to be home and sleep in my own bed. There's nothing like coming back to your home after being somewhere far. And I guess that's why I know I could never move away from here. I would miss it too much. Even though I do hate it sometimes, it's my home.
And so, that concludes my blog post about Rome! I'm sorry it took me so long to write but when I came home from Rome I honestly had no real words to describe it. Even now I don't think what I have written does the city justice but I still hope you enjoyed. And maybe next time when I go on holiday I'll post about it sooner haha.
~ Courtney x

I just finished watching the first episode of All Stars 2 and I am dying. This season is such a step up from the first All Stars season and I love it.To me, All Stars 1 was really just there so we could see Chad Michaels win. I didn't really like the team thing and wasn't a huge fan of some of the queens that season. I just felt like it was kind of all over the place with challenges etc.
So when All Stars 2 was announced I was excited to see what would happen. Especially since this round, there isn't a clear queen that stands out above the rest. Not to mention RuPaul has gotten rid of the teams and is now adding more plot twists than I can handle.
First of all, the top 2 girls will lip sync for their legacy rather than having the bottom 2 lip sync to stay in the competition. And not only that but if they win the lip sync they will win $10,000 and the chance to eliminate one of the other queens in the bottom 3.
Like...are you serious?
$10,000 for winning a lip sync? No one is messing around this season. And on top of that, eliminating one of your friends from the competition? That's tough and very emotional. These girls are sisters and to pit them against each other is pure evil. And makes for great television.
Not to mention they decided to bring back the most dramatic queens from previous seasons. Didn't we all get a little bit excited when we heard Coco Montrese and Alyssa Edwards were coming back for round 2? And who doesn't love a Rol-aska-tox reunion?
So maybe this season of All Stars should have really been called the season 5 reunion. I feel like the other seasons aren't as fairly represented because of all the season 5 queens but that's okay. I hope this means in All Stars 3 some more past queens will have their time to shine. Especially if Tatianna from season 2 can make her way in with all the newer queens.
Anyway, time to talk about the contestants of this season of All Stars. I think I will list them in order of what season they were in. It seems like the most logical way to do this thing.

Tatianna. Girl. Season 2. I was not expecting that. My whole thought process for them choosing contestants for All Stars 2 is that they would pick queens from season 4-8. Mainly because the last All Stars was just after season four, so if All Stars is every 4 seasons then shouldn't the contestants be from the last 4 seasons? If that makes sense...
Either way, it doesn't seem to be the case with Tatianna on the scene.
I honestly am not a big fan of her. She doesn't seem to stand out among the other queens in my opinion. She doesn't have as big of a personality as the queens around her so to me she'll just fade into the background.
That being said, she did make an impression on me when she was one of the top 2 in the first episode. I liked her spoken word piece at the talent show. It was something new for me that I have never seen before, and never expected from Tatianna. So I applaud her for being out of the box with her style.
One thing I really want to know is who she would have eliminated if she had won the lip sync. She wasn't having as hard a time as Roxy was when it came to deciding which queen to send home. So I am interested to know who she thought wasn't worthy of the competition. Especially since everyone underestimated her, being the girl from season 2.