Birthday Haul

Hello everyone.

If you saw my last post you will know that I recently had my 17th birthday. This post is going to walk you through some of the amazing presents I received. Just in case you think I am doing this to brag, I assure you that I'm not! I am completely grateful for every gift I received. This is purely so that my readers can see what I'm into, and to share some gift ideas for anyone who wants them. 

Firstly my day was literally perfect. I have so many amazing people in my life who made me feel so lucky. You know who you are. I arrived at form time to a huge cake and presents from my beautiful friends Livi and Shannon. So unexpected but it was really nice. Thank you!

After wanting a iPhone for a million years I finally have one! It's an iPhone 4s (which I paid over half for). It was definitely worth it, I love it so much! I would definitely recommend to anyone who is unsure about getting one. 

My super amazing chummy spoilt me with this cute notebook which reminds both of us of the Carrie Diaries which I love right now!! It's so me. I'm going to be using it for inspiration and blog post ideas.  

My chummy also gave me a bathbomb which  I've already used and this sweet mug. 

She really knows me that one xx

My sister Victoria bought me a revlon lip butter which I have wanted for ages. Here comes a mini review - the colour is juicy papaya which is a beautiful coral. I absolutely love wearing it! It's creamy and has a shine like a lipgloss but not to shiny. It lasts for a while, and is much easier to apply than a regular lipstick. 

My mum gave me a cute three set wall decor. The one above is my favourite. It matches well with my room colour (mint green). It really changes a feel if the room for the better when the walls arn't bare!

Anyway that's all for now! There's some exciting posts coming up. 

Before I end this I wanted to say big thank you to everyone that gave me a gift or even just wished me. I appreciated it so much!

Love Dani. Xx

Life updates

I know there's only a few of you readers, some of you may not care at all. But I feel like it's an important step into achieving something with this blog to keep you keen and avid followers up to date. So here it goes;

My 2014 so far

I cannot fathom that it's April already. It does not make sense. Time is flying by so quickly and I hardly have time to catch my breath; let alone blog. So as usual I apologise to anyone who cares.

So far this year has had its ups and downs. It started mid summer holiday which was perfect, then came the start of a brand new school year. Utterly terrifying. After adjusting to the new year I have found my feet. Life has been the usual but with a change as I am feeling more confident and happy within myself. As my chummy says, it's my year. I'd like too think so. Besides the casual "how's school conversation" I just answered for you, life outside of school has been good too. 

Citizenship

A big part of my life has changed because I gained New Zealand citizenship. It feels nice to say that I now officially belong in the country that I live. It's very important to me. Although it is bitter sweet, having to say goodbye to my birth country was harder than I thought it would be. You have to make sacrifices, though I'll always be South African at heart.

Birthday celebrations

Just the other day (not saying when because of those creepers) it was my 17th birthday. I don't feel any different except that I understand a lot more. I had a perfect day - my friends and family spoiled me with lots of presents and cake. I am so thankful for them everyday. There will hopefully be a post very soon on a little birthday haul because I think it'd be cute. Some may find it interesting and who knows it might just spark some gift giving ideas. 

Hope everyone is doing well and having the best year of their life. I'm in my lucky last school year, thank goodness for year 13 privileges! 

Love Dani xx

Ps now that I'm 17 I've got a bit of a dilemma! Do I change my blog to danidarling17. For now I might just leave it because I like the number 16 anyway.   Xx

Oh Dear

What should I blog about? When should I do it?

Easy questions, hard to answer. This is my struggle. I want to make something out of this blog but the pressure sometimes overwhelms me. In all honesty I feel like giving up.. But, I owe it to myself, the past self who put the effort into creating this 'thing' to try a bit harder. So, new motto, forgot the planning for ages on a post idea and 'embrace the here and now'. Often I think (no seriously, everyone thinks about those bigger things to do with the universe and stuff once in a while) and I wish I could record those thoughts to read over. Well, that's exactly what I am going to do with Dani Darling. Oh boy, I am becoming way to excited! Embrace the here and now, I repeat. When I think and what I feel, my trusty yet annoyingly slow laptop in front of me, I will type. Type everything, simply my stream of consciousness. Why not? Welcome to my mind. 

Embrace, embrace, embrace my Cheerios. 

Dani. x

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