June Playlist

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So recently I have been making a new playlist for my Tumblr blog each month to share with my followers. I try to incorporate into the mix some of my all time favourite songs along with some recently released ones. So this is my mix for June:

• Green Garden - Laura Mvula
• Get Lucky (Cover) - San Cisco
• Human - Daughter
• Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Rey
• King and Lionheart - Of Monsters and Men
• Renaissance Girls - Oh Land
• Cosmic Love - Florence and the Machine
• Crave You - Flight Facililties
• Escape - Asta

So now it's your turn to tell me you favourite tunes for June. - Zoe x

Books You Must Read

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Number One: The Fault in Our Stars - John Green
Oh wow, look another teenage girl who loves a John Green book, clichéd I know. But guess what, I do not give a damn! This is the only* book that I have gone back for seconds it was so good. Okay so I show about as much emotion as a rock (I'm not joking, it's true), I'm lucky to cry once a year. It is safe to say this book well and truly smashed the rock, even ground the rock to pieces. TFIOS is a what some might call a "cancer book" but I would say it's a book about people who happen to have cancer. You really learn a lot about all of the characters and feel like you're there right next to them the whole time. So if you're up for a few giggles and your heart to be wrenched out of your chest this is the perfect book for you. Also they are planning on making a movie adaptation, I am still unsure on how I feel about this (mainly because of the fact that I think it may tarnish the sex god image of Augustus that I have in my head but who knows). For those of you that may have already read it I advise you to head on over here.

Number Two: The Help - Kathryn Stockett
Regrettably I watched the movie before I managed to pick up this wonderful read. Skeeter, the main character in this book is an absolute champion and I love her to bits. Put basically The Help is set in 1962 Mississippi and black house maids rally together along with Skeeter to write a book  to expose how "the help" are treated by their white employers. The book is filled with wonderful laughs while at the same time being incredibly moving, I really recommend you read it quick smart!

Number Three: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
So Carroll was said to be off his nut while writing this classic story that we all think we know (thanks to Disney), and his nuttyness is pretty darn evident but who doesn't love a bit of madness? I am sure you know the story of Alice falling down the rabbit hole, yadda yadda, but have you actually read it? (I doubt it). For some weird reason I am obsessed with Alice in Wonderland, always have been, always will be. There's just something magical and dreamlike about it that just draws me straight in. What I really love about this book is all the gorgeous poems that are contained within it, some of them might not make any sense but that's okay because a lot of time in life nothing makes sense. I dare you to actually read the book, it is like ten times better than what you think it might be and it's actually different!

Number Four: The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
I ACTUALLY READ THIS AGES BEFORE THE MOVIE WAS RELEASED, and my god it's great! I devoured this read in under two days, I just seemed to get lost in it, unable to escape! I'm sure by now (unless you're living under a rock) you'd know what that general outline of the story is, Gatsby is constantly chasing his dreams that are never going to come true chuck in lots of metaphors, you get the gist. I really don't think I need to go into this one in much detail but just promise me you'll read it!

Well I don't really have the time to write to you about my other favourite books so I'll just chuck them in a list for you (I'mm 99% sure I'll forget half of them anyway):

• Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
• Paper Towns - John Green
• The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
• An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Steven Chbosky
• Looking for Alaska - John Green
• Saving Francesca -Melina Marchetta
• Butterfly - Sonya Hartnett
• Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
• Handle With Care - Jodi Picoult

Finally I would like to finish of with some very wise words of advice, go to your local library! You don't have to pay a cent to read a book that would cost you a bomb in the shops. If you really must buy a book go to The Book Depository, you can purchase books there for not even half the price with free shipping! Also, read the god damn book before the movie, it's a proven fact** that the books are always better than the movies.

Please if you have any book suggestions for me leave them in the comments below, I am forever after a good book to read! - Zoe x

*I lie, I have read all of the Harry Potters multiple times.

**Proven by me.

Teeny Tiny Little Succulents

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Okay so I won't lie to you, this post is firstly only to see how images appear on my new blog and secondly because I don't want to do any of my homework that I really ought to be doing. Because I am really proud of this photo I took on Instagram I thought I would share it with you all in greater detail!

So on February 21st  I rocked up to school in a pretty good mood because it was, well, my birthday. I got to my locker (remarkably at that point in time I was still using my locker, these days I just dump my shit in the art building and never leave but you probably don't care about that at all) and staring me right in the face was my wonderful best friend Kelly holding a suspicious looking JB-HI-FI bag. We went through all of the birthday greetings as you do and then finally she whipped one of the best birthday presents I have ever received out of the glaringly bright yellow bag. In a gorgeous teeny tiny little pink pot plant sat a teeny tiny little cactus along a teeny tiny little fluffy succulent which were both buried in teeny tiny little blue rocks. How fan-bloody-tastic! (There is no sarcasm in that statement even if it sounds like there is.)

What I love most about this present is that it will last forever and ever and the fact that Kelly "planted it all herself!". I did a bit of research for you scallywags if you're interested and I have found that you can buy a huge array of succulents from Bunnings for less than $5 (that's a pretty cheap if you ask me, and I am the queen of stingy). You can also get an array of coloured pots cheap from Bunnings too. What I think makes my pot plant super cute is the decorative pebbles that Kelly has placed on top of the potting mix (you can also get these from Bunnings too or you could just use the ones out of a fish tank). My wonderful present sits proudly on my bookshelf.

If you wish to make your own, putting it together is pretty darn straight forward: fill pot with some potting mix, plant succulents, cover the top with pebbles (it ain't no rocket science). And guess what, you hardly even have to water them! So if you're on the lookout for give to that friend that's impossible to buy for, I think I have found your answer (you're welcome).

Happy planting! - Zoe x

I Feel Like This is a Bad Idea (Oh Well)

Hello everyone (probably no one), I thought I'd give this a go because basically I needed something else to procrastinate with. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with this just yet but eventually I would love to get it to something pretty cool. Please let me know if there's anything you'd like me to post about! - Zoe x