My getaway ~

Hello ladies and gentlemen!

Firstly, my apologies for the lack of posts recently, but in true Dani Darling form there is an excuse. I've been away, soaking up the sun and spending some good old quality time with my family. Here’s to 2014 starting perfectly! With a trip away from the norm. I feel so fortunate to have been able to go away this summer holiday. It was such a relaxing place and we did heaps in a short amount of time. I’ve decided that it’s best to share it with you, or at least the best parts. 'Well where?' you must be thinking. We went to a little place on the West coast called New Plymouth. It was lovely!

Imagine the sun beaming, warm to the touch on your skin. Although every now and then a strong breeze cools you down. Well that was exactly what it was like. The weather was pleasant; not too hot and not too cold. Just right! My sister Victoria and I swam at the beach there, down the road from where we were staying. The waves were strong and bitterly cold but we dived in anyway. It took some courage, but once we settled to the waters temperature it was so much fun. Definitely one of the highlights. Obviously what would a post be without some photos, so enjoy my awkward beach selfies from the day! Also like my new hat?

SUMMAAAA

Another amazing highlight was that we attended 'The Festival of lights'. It was so beautiful. For those of you wondering what that is, it's effectively a park and you visit it at night when it's all lit up. I do have some photos but I think google has better ones so if you want to see what it was like click here. We also went to the same park but during the day which was just as nice. There was a cute lake with plenty of ducks and a fountain!  

We also did a lot more! My sister and I really took advantage of the time we had by using the pool at the place we were staying at as much as we could. A few other things we did was that we went to a local museum, the shopping centre, walked along the foreshore and visited a cool bridge. It was so nice to be somewhere new and hopefully I'll visit there again someday. 

My dad took a photo of me taking a photo of my sister on this bridge. Apologies because I've forgotten what it was called!

Well that is all. I'm starting back at school tomorrow, so my summer holiday is over. Wish me luck! It's my last school year. Until next time...

Love Dani. xx

Here is to 2014

Happy New Year everyone! I'm wishing you a fantastic year and hoping that you succeed, and smile loads. Here's to 2014! Just typing out '2014' makes my heart flutter a bit. Like OMG. Now that I'm a little bit older expectantly I am more conscious of time. And it is going very quickly. 2013 was a wonderful year for me, and my golly it went fast. With that here is why my 2013 was so good ~

Firstly 2013 started on a lovely little note with a family trip to Castel Point. It was a calm and positive place to be after what I would refer to 2012 being, a bad year. It was such a beautiful place. Other than that, you can gather the idea that it wasn't an automatic switch from bad year to good year overnight. I had to work hard to make 2013 good. This trip was just a nice way to enjoy the calm after the storm. So I really enjoyed it!! It lifted my spirits significantly and flowed onto greater things. Just look at that view, striking!

View walking up to lighthouse. #1

View walking up to lighthouse. #2

Feel so grateful for the country which I live in.

Then in February my beautiful grandparents visited. They'll truly never know how much it meant to me. I hadn't seen them in 7 years. that's nearly half my life, so of course it was really special of them to have come here. I could ramble on about them visiting but I feel those memories are private family memories and shouldn't be shared on the Internet. Sorry!

I was definitely a lucky ducky and attended three concerts in 2013. This constantly gave me something to look forward - they were all sooooo good! My first ever concert, starting off with Ed Sheeran; he was brilliant. One of the most talented people out there. I have great memories from that concert, the fact that he was AMAZING. I wish I could relive it all over again. Later in the year as you should know (see here) I attended a One Direction concert after waiting 535 days. Now if that isn't patience I don't know what is. Of course it was worth the wait (and tears, and nasty boat ride, and money, aha, sorry I'm writing this quite late and feeling a bit tired). Anyway, to put it briefly the 10th of October 2013 was the best night of my life. Finally I've come to the last concert Passenger (who was also the opening act at Ed). This was the most recent one, which was perfectly timed after my exams. It was a nice way of ending of the school year. He was also incredible and I loved it! 

One Direction - top moment of 2013.

I am so grateful for the amazing opportunities I had in 2013. Bring on 2014! With that I leave you with a selfie; welcoming the new year with a change. A fringe!!

How was your 2013? Happy new year.

Love Dani. x