Things That Make You Go Oooooo (October 2015)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! It's the most wonderful night of the year candy, movies and costumes, fun, fun, fun! I have to admit I've spent the majority of this month planning out my adventures in Japan so that's left little time for anything else but tonight I plan to take a break, treat myself and catch up on all the TV that I have missed over the past few weeks so I hope you all have a really great Halloween.

♥ These fashion sketches of Tim Burton characters are gorgeous, I would wear any of these in a heartbeat!

♥ 19 Simple Daily Habits for a Happier Life

♥ Nothing makes me happier than Tom Hardy and his love of dogs, it's so damn cute I can't even...

♥ Don't be a pushover here are 20 Things to Stop Letting People Do to You

♥ 100 Ways To Show Yourself Love If You Hate Pink And Bubble Baths

♥ Having trouble sleeping? Here are some interesting tips to help you get a good night's sleep

♥ The Life-Changing Power of Books

♥ The Real Secret to Loving Your Body and Yourself

♥ Supernatural is back y'all and if you've not joined the family yet then check out the awesome guide dePepi wrote

♥ Remind me to check out these tasty looking Vegan restaurants the next time I'm in Manchester!

♥ Break the routine: 3 ways to get inspiration back into your everyday life

♥ This is just the perfect list on how to make your days that much better, trust me it works!

♥ I always think I'm a much better version of myself on holiday so these tips on How to Use Holiday Habits in Your Daily Life are perfect!

♥ Letting Go of Guilt About What You “Should” Be Doing

♥ 23 Very Famous Quotes You Probably Have Wrong

♥ How to Become a Full Time Blogger

♥ This is an interesting read about "friendship" and The Beauty YouTuber Economy

♥ This is why kids scare the crap out of me at times!

♥ 9 Female-Authored Comic Books You Need To Read

♥ Your Job Doesn't Define You

Love & Pumpkins

Cate

xoxo

5 Fandom Friday: Favourite Halloween Episodes of TV Shows

Halloween is tomorrow and I'm so excited I love this holiday so much! I always watch so much TV during this time of year and the Halloween specials are my absolute favourite thing whether they be creepy as heck or humorous. Growning up in the U.K. Halloween wasn't really celebrated so I always loved watching American Shows and seeing how they did Halloween and I know it's probably not really like that but I'm still a little bit envious because I would love to see houses all decked out in spooky decorations and costumed kids running around everywhere having fun, so as usual I will celebrate the season by watching copious amounts of TV and eating far too much candy, HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

The Simpson's Treehouse of Horror

I love The Simpson's and the Halloween episodes are so much fun, I always like seeing their humorous takes on popular TV shows and movies and I love the credits to, the Halloween names are a great touch and I definitely need to think of a cool Halloween name for myself.

Supernatural

"It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester" is one of those classic SPN episodes you've got the humour, the mythology, angels, demons and the real punch in the feels at the end. This is one of my fave "Winchester" episodes as Dean is at his comedic best and Sam.... whoa, you'll just have to watch and find out...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

There's been a few Halloween episodes of Buffy but "Fear Itself" is my fave because Anya in a bunny costume is the cutest thing ever! Seriously though I love this one for much the same reasons as Supernatural it's got humour, lot's of spooky stuff and The Scoobies all really shine in this episode, also I love the twist at the end to SO GOOD!

American Horror Story

So I kinda have a love hate relationship with this show I loved Murder House, Asylum was so weird but OMG Zac Quinto was awesome, I loved all the characters in Coven but the story not so much and Freakshow.... meh but the Halloween episodes were some of the best in the entire series so I will be watching yet again this year.... Goddamnit I wish I knew how to quit you!

Modern Family

If I ever decide to become I mother I was to be just like Claire I love how obsessive she is over Halloween. Modern Family makes me laugh so much and Gloria reminds me so much of my mum it's ridiculous, I think I've seen this episode a million times but it always makes me giggle and it's so warm and loving to they are the best family.

Check out #Fandom5 creators The Nerdy Girlie & Super Space Chick & join in on the Fandom Friday fun!

Tricks & Treats

Cate

xoxo

#OOTD: Season of the Witch

Although it is freezing outside I thought I would share one of my favourite "Summer Goth" outfits from my trip to Palermo because tis' the season to be spoopy! I adore this outfit it's super comfy although I'm kinda kicking myself for not wearing my big floppy black hat that day because that would have been the perfect finishing touch to this outfit.

♥ Dress - H&M  ♥ Shoes - Topshop  ♥ Bag - Cambridge Satchel Company ♥ Sunglasses - Chanel ♥

What are your favourite seasonal spooky looks?

Love & Witchcraft

Cate

xoxo

5 Fandom Friday: Characters I Want to Dress Up as for Halloween

When I first started joining in on Fandom 5 this topic was the one I was the most excited about and it's still one of my favourite ever posts I've done so I was super excited to see it again on the topics list for this month. As Halloween is just 1 week away I thought I would keep things simple and share a few simple tutorials and closet cosplays that are easy and quick to do should I decide to actually leave the Batcave and cause some mayhem this year. 

♥ Jumpsuit ♥ Converse ♥ Facehugger Harness ♥

Ellen Ripley

Ever since I found this Facehugger dog lead on Etsy I've been thinking about dressing up as Ripley and taking my pooch out for a walk with it, yes I have reached the ultimate crazy level of dog ownership where I want to cosplay with my dog...

The Hannistag

Hannibal is gone but not forgotten and I will take any excuse I can to wear my floral antlers. These antlers are really simple to make to should you want to dress up as a Wendigo or a fawn or even a Moose the possibilities are endless.

♥ Shirt ♥ Jacket ♥ Skirt ♥ Tie ♥ Shoes ♥ Raincoat ♥

Patrick Bateman

Speaking of sharp suited serial killers I had to mention Patrick Bateman. American Psycho is one of my all time favourite movies and I've wanted to cosplay as him for ages I mean I even bought a clear raincoat earlier this year in his (and Hannibal's) honour.

Daryl Dixon

One of my most popular tutorials is for Daryl's angel wing vest and it gets a lot of hits during this time of year because who doesn't want to be a badass like Daryl? As the main focus of his outfit is his vest this is a simple one to do should you need to put together an outfit super quick.

♥ Vest ♥ Shirt ♥ Trousers ♥ Shoes ♥ Belt ♥ Dog Raptor Costume ♥

Owen Grady

Speaking of bad ass boys in vests I had to end on this one. I call my dog Russ-a-raptor quite often because he likes to pounce and play bite me and as we started this post with dog costumes I thought I would present to you the most humiliating awesome dog costume there is, yep I'm definitely dressing up as a Raptor Wrangler this year!

Check out #Fandom5 creators The Nerdy Girlie & Super Space Chick & join in on the Fandom Friday fun!

Love & Apple Tea

Cate

xoxo

A Crazy Fandom Idea That Became a Reality...

I was once again nominated by dePepi for the Free Spirit Award and the topic she gave was one that I've been meaning to write about for the longest time and as Winter is Coming it's the perfect time to discuss one of my most proudest creations my Direwolf Scarves.

Believe it or not there was a brief moment in time where Game of Thrones wasn't really heard of and during that time there was absolutely no merchandise available to buy aside from T-shirts with the logo on a Stark contrast to what it is today. I had been making these fox scarves for a while and one cold night I thought to myself why not make a Direwolf scarf so I asked my Nan who is the master knitter if she could help me make one and a couple weeks later Ghost was born...

The response to this silly little idea was overwhelming, I had never initially planned on making them to sell (as with most of my crafts) but I got so many requests that I had to call up Old Nan again to help me make a bunch more to sell. It was such an amazing time I was so happy when one of the crew that worked on Game of Thrones bought one and when none other than Syrio Forel sent me a DM on Twitter telling me he loved my scarves I was over the damn moon.

After that I decided I had to make the rest of the pack to so spent all my time seeking out the perfect yarn for each of them as I wanted to make each one unique so then came Shaggydog, Grey Wind, Summer, Nymeria and finally Lady.

Then SDCC happened! My sole mission for that con was to get to the Game of Thrones signing and give Kit Harrington and Richard Madden one of my scarves and I still can't actually believe how goddamn lucky I was to actually do that because it wasn't even a certainty that I'd get a wristband and as I was lining up to go pick my token out of that bag and seeing the disappointed people walk away without their wristbands I was sure I'd meet the same fate but the gods were in my favour that day as I got one of the last wristbands they had.

Seeing the happy faces of all the Game of Thrones cast and GEORGE R.R. MARTIN put me on a high I still feel now, it was like the ultimate seal of approval. Then came London Comic Con and meeting Isaac Hempstead-Wright who was announced the night before I left for the con so I had no time to make a scarf and as awesome as my Nan is she wouldn't be able to knit one for me in a few hours so I instead gave him mine and to cut a long story short I woke up one morning to find my inbox full and this photo the top trending topic on Reddit!

A couple months after that I visited Belfast Comic Con and met the littlest Stark and of course gifted him with a scarf to which he (and his mum) seemed to really like, there is no better feeling that seeing their happy faces. The only people I have left to give scarves to are Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams so I hope I'm lucky enough to meet them someday. I have to admit since finishing my "Direscarf" collection I feel a bit lost on what to make next, I had so much fun making these and they've brought me so much happiness and confidence maybe I'll have to start work on some dragons scarves next...

Love & Knitting

Cate

xoxo

The Free Spirit Award was created by UNOTAKU and Marvelously Mismatched

• Write about the topic your nominator gave you
• Place the Free Spirit Award button somewhere in your post
• Nominate bloggers (no requirements or limitations, so you can nominate just one or 10, or millions)
• Give your nominees a new topic to post about
• Have loads of fun!!!

Once again I'm breaking the rules because I'm lame and can't think of a good topic but I will open up the tag all of you so feel free to discuss your thoughts on this topic or the other topic and pass the tag on or even tag me again because I really enjoy doing these kinda personal posts xoxo

5 Fandom Friday: Top 5 Halloween Traditions

Halloween has never really been as big of a holiday as it should be here although ever since I was a little kid I have always done something to celebrate the occassion, I've always been interested in the supernatural and Halloween is the time I like to celebrate my geekiness plus it's a good excuse to dress up and I love dressing up whatever the occasion, thanks to Sylvanfire who suggested the topic this week so here are some of the ways I like to celebrate the awesomeness of Halloween.

Baking

Baking is my favourite hobby at this time of year and I love making Halloween treats like cookies and cakes to share with family and friends

Dressing Up

Cosplay is one of my favourite hobbies and although I don't really go out for Halloween I always like to dress up even if I'm stay in the house, it's something I've done since I was a little kid and I've always loved it.

Crafts

I love making stuff and I get so inspired around Halloween time that my Etsy Shop takes on a spooky theme, my favourite thing to make is though is definitely my Zombie Frankenkitty scarves

Movies

My biggest Halloween tradition which has and will always be is to watch a bunch of spooky movies, when I was younger I would go to the cinema with friends (sometimes dressed up) but now we prefer to stay in and watch movies, last year I did an Alfred Hitchcock marathon but this year I'm open to suggestions so leave me some recommendations in the comments

Halloween Sales

My favourite time of the year is just after Halloween when all the awesome spooky merch goes on sale it's better than Christmas to me, I have so many sparkly skulls decorating the batcave and I always stock up on Halloween tights, Halloween is more than a day to me it's a lifestyle!

Check out #Fandom5 creators The Nerdy Girlie & Super Space Chick & join in on the Fandom Friday fun!

Love & Apple Tea

Cate

xoxo

Inspirational Quotes #67

"I’m a big believer of accepting yourself and not really worrying about it."
- Jennifer Lawrence

I'M GOING ON AN ADVENTURE!!!

I'm interrupting your normal programming because I'm ridiculously excited to announce I'M GOING TO JAPAN, this is a lifelong dream come true and even more awesome I'm going for 6 weeks, I'll be in Tokyo for Christmas and New Year, I'm also visiting Seoul and I'm going with one of the most awesome friends I've ever made online Violet.

I'm so happy to be going on another nerdy adventure with Violet after our trip to SDCC in 2013 it was just the best time ever, in fact the whole reason and crazy idea for this trip came after our unsuccessful attempts to get tickets to go to SDCC this year....

It's just so crazy to think that after that it's actually happening and it's happening so soon! SDCC was a dream come true and this THIS is even bigger, Japan is a place I've wanted to visit since I was a little girl. Nearly a decade ago I tried to apply for the JET program but I ended up graduating a little later than expected and events happened which meant my life had to be put on hold for a while but now this is my time to do all the awesome things!

The universe has been sending me some very strong signs this year that it's time so start making those dreams a reality and put plans into action, big things are happening and it's not just this trip to Japan. I'm nervous and scared and happy and excited all at the same time, it's a very exciting time for me!

And finally as I'll most likely be too busy to blog whilst I'm away I will be looking for some guest bloggers to do some posts over December and January so if that's something you're interested in please do get in touch I'm open to any and all ideas you may have.

Be sure to leave me your recommendations for Japan & Seoul in the comments!

Love & Sushi

Cate

xoxo

Inside the Memory Palace of Hannibal Lecter (Capella Palatina)

Believe it or not I had already planned out our vacation to Palermo before Season 3 of Hannibal had aired so when I saw the Cappella Palatina featured so heavily throughout the season as the "Memory Palace" of Dr. Lecter I put this at the the top of my list of the places I just had to visit, it would seem that eventually all of my holidays take on some element of my nerdiness...

There are so many beautiful churches throughout Palermo but the Cappella Palatina although one of the smallest was my favourite (and not just for Fannibal related reasons) the richness of the colours was amazing and the amount of details in the mosaics astounding, I had never seen anything like this in a church before and I was in awe.

Palermo is such a chilled out place I honestly felt I could have chilled out here and on the balconies all day. I really enjoyed working out where parts of Hannibal were filmed and it totally makes sense that such a visually rich show would feature such a visually stunning place, I even found myself dreaming about it the night after my visit.

What is the most beautiful place you've ever visited?

Love & Roses

Cate

xoxo

5 Fandom Friday: People You Want on Your Side During an Apocalypse

Is it weird that I think about this topic a lot? I blame the ridiculous amount of post-apocalyptic TV shows and movies there are out there because there are oh so many and most of them funnily enough are my fave to watch. Big guns and swords to Kendall Ashley who suggested the topic this week it was tough to think of just 5 but I tried not to over think it too much and went with the first people that popped into my brain.

Buffy

So if anyone can kick the apocalypse in the butt it's Buffy and she's mighty witty about it to, kicking ass with Buffy would be so much fun and failing that at least she would keep you safe!

The Winchesters

Speaking of kicking the apocalypse in the butt I couldn't not mention The Winchester boys and yes Cas to because he is essentially one of the boys because family don't end with blood yo!

Daryl & Michonne

So failing becoming queen of the zombies I would join forces with these two beautiful people who are not only my favourite characters from TWD but quite possibly the ones who do the most amount of zombie damage and even goddamn better than that Michonne brought Carl comics I mean anyone who risks their life to bring me comics during the zombie apocalypse is somebody I want on my team.

Steve & Peggy

I love these two so much and they both fight for everything that is good and true and that is a team I want to be on forever and always until the end of the line.

Friends & Family

A bit of a sappy one because after a recent brush with death I have realised that the only people I would really want by my side during the end of the world is the people I love the most, my awesome friends (yes internet friends count), my family and of course my pooch.

Check out #Fandom5 creators The Nerdy Girlie & Super Space Chick & join in on the Fandom Friday fun!

Love & Doggie Cuddles

Cate

xoxo