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

Christmas - 2013

Hello there!

So long time no blog, hey? Well MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone (for last Wednesday)! I hope you all had the best Christmas of your life, or at least so far. Personally I had an amazing Christmas at home with my family. The weather was beautiful and the day couldn't have gone anymore perfect. Now I sit here wishing to document it for you readers, all 9 of you! I'm not the greatest writer as you can probably tell from previous post's so instead of rambling on here is a load of photos! Including some explanations, aha. Enjoy~

Of course the day started with the usual present opening ceremony - where my dad decides to bring out his 20 year old video (tape) recorder, and films everyone but himself.  It's tradition and just telling you about it makes me smile! It has been done every Christmas (and birthday) of my life. This year I received from 'Santa' a keyboard! I cannot wait to learn how to play the piano; I've wanted to learn for years. This year I was very spoilt and I am super grateful. Along with the keyboard I received some jewellery, Katy Perry CD and One Direction, This Is Us. (If you want reviews, just ask!). Also my gifts to others were greatly received - especially my dad, he loves the shirts I bought him. Yippee!

Just a few snaps to show you what I wore. and my smile for proof I enjoyed the day. 

The whole day, from start to finish was just amazing! I thoroughly enjoyed every second. I won't go into every single detail - but I have lots of special memories from this Christmas. Oh and not to mention we had a traditional turkey dinner like always.

Bye guys - Merry Christmas and a happy new year to everyone reading this!!

Love Dani. x

It's the Season

Hello!

It is that wonderful time of the year. Christmas time! I absolutely adore Christmas, the lead up to it, the decorations, just every single detail. As well as the food. It all makes me so happy to be alive. Here in New Zealand (as well as the whole Southern hemisphere!) Christmas is a bit different. Guess what, it's also summer time. Generally Christmas is spent in the sunshine. A stark contrast to other countries in the world - after all Christmas is associated with snow, warm snugly clothes, hot drinks and infamous fireplaces. But no here it has to be 25 degree's out. Oh I'd love a winter Christmas, much more 'traditional', maybe someday, UK are you ready?

 Over anything though I love my summer Christmas's. After all it is what I've come to know my whole life. It makes me feel special and privileged. Which I am extremely thankful for. I'll hopefully do some Christmas posts in the next few weeks because why not! There will also be some exciting summer post's too. I can't wait to share my summer holiday experiences with you.

Dani. x