Yesterday, I got my first Smile photo for my project :) Number 96: Tea from a Cup & Saucer. AND it was Valentine themed.



Today the project continued... I could have ticked lots of the list:
13. Wandering with my camera ~ 23. Pizza Express ~ 40. Amelie & Ciel-Ciel outings ~ 49. Central London ~ 80. my best friend because I spent the day with TT in Chelsea, wandering up and down the King's Road and pretending we were going home to our beautiful white town house with steps up to the front door. The Pizza Express is so nice, it looks so formal and posh from the outside, and it's an old ballet school, so upstairs in the restaurant there's still a mirror and a barre on one wall.


But I decided against all of these possibilities, saving them for later smile photos and decided on 116. Going to art galleries. I went to the Saatchi gallery for the first time today. I just love wandering around galleries. Maybe partly because it feels so nostalgic. I miss carrying my big, black A3 artbook around, and lying face down in London art galleries trying to draw incredibly ridiculous sculptures. It was another wonderful day.

Thanks TT ~ and thank you for all my amazing presents!

----
The List (61- 90)
Going somewhere in Central London with someone who's never been ~ Finding a vintage key/tin ~ Getting off the train or the ferry with someone waiting for you ~ Wearing massive bows in my hair ~ glitter ~ playing a good song really, really loud ~ waking up to a snow day ~ walking with my iPod on and being in a film ~ neverending summer evenings ~ finding a penny in the street ~ cutting up old magazines to collage ~ new notebooks and pen sets ~ reliving past giggling fits ~ 17 Again buses ~ "Richmond Road, take me home" the song ~ waiting for a play to start at the theatre ~ exceeding expectations ~ Slava's Snowshow ~ the gherkin ~ my best friend ~ the beach scene at the end of Atonement ~ dressing up ~ Hustle ~ blue slush ~ toasted marshmallows on the beach ~ going to Knightsbridge ~ watching horses charging about in their field ~ the sun shining through trees ~ Christmas ~ when "Oh my GOSH! Our song!!" comes on

Things that will always make me smile... (no.s 30-60)

The red starbucks cups ~ pretending to be in a film ~ dancing through the credits in the cinema ~ walking barefoot in grass ~ sitting on the top deck in the IOW with a Malibu, music and family ~ going to the theatre ~ sitting on the top of the 65 with my ipod ~ "dreams can come true" by Gabrielle ~ keeping the H/R faith ~ Amelie & Ciel-Ciel outings ~ caramel cream frappucinos ~ the Christmassy London scenes in Love Actually ~ the last scene of High School Musical 3 (and the tree bit...well all of it really!) ~ "Everything" (Michael Buble) & "Nolita Fairytale" (Vanessa Carlton) on summer afternoons ~ vinegary chips by the seaside ~ Cesaria Evora...the SOUND of summer ~ shopping in the lanes in Richmond ~ waffles on Oxford Street ~ playing Guitar Hero in Hamleys, walking across Waterloo Bridge ~ Getting a letter or a note ~ 'feeling alive' or overly happy ~ waking up to a free day and breathing in fresh air from the window ~ staring at the stars with music on ~ going out for full english breakfast and hash browns ~ Cinder's tea shop, Shanklin ~ running my fingers along books/independant bookshops ~ wearing a new outfit that feels really good ~ quotations ~ photographs in boxes ~ a new Accessorize collection


I love this for so many reasons ~ Joe Wright, Keira Knightley, the perfume, the editing, the cinematography, the setting, the clothes ~ beautiful.

Things that will always make me smile

Welcome to my new postive blog :)

Reasons to be happy...
I have a list I started yesterday that currently stands at 108 things. They range from silly and superficial, to moments in time I'd like to capture forever. Think what you like about any of them.

They're not in any kind of order, the first ones came off a drawing I did on my wall last year called "these are a few of my favourite things"...just the random order they popped into my head.

I'm going to find a way, from now until the end of 2010, to capture each of these moments in a photo or a drawing or a collage of collected images...or maybe even a few written lines or a short video. If I manage that...200+ memoirs of smiles, I must be able to say that 2010 was, overall, a very very happy year in the life of Amelia-May. Here, I'll share the list. On Flickr, I'll share the photos :)
Enjoy.
Smile.

1. Listening to a really good director's audio commentary. I really do love them.
2. Spring rain on the window (www.rainymood.com)
3. Discovering a new favourite book I can't bear to shut
4. Remembering GCSE English lessons and smirking to myself
5. Christmas shopping ~ the lights, the crowds, the excitement!
6. Cantering along the beach
7. Finishing a drawing I'm really proud of
8. Just being giggly and hysterical over nothing at all. Just nothing.
9. Elderflower juice in summer
10. Mr Whippy's on the beach with the wind, sand (and ice cream) in my hair
11. Long, summer evenings in the garden
12. Finding a dead firework
13. Wandering aimlessly with my camera on the hunt for films and photos
14. Buttons. Polka Dots. Bows. Tiaras. Being a girl.
15. Ginger beer lying on my front on the grass
16. Lunch by the Thames
17. A new Joules catalogue!
18. Sitting in the middle of Richmond Green with TT
19. Plaiting a pony
20. Ingo & the song Peggy Gordon
21. Getting an email or comment that makes me sigh or smile
22. Spooks season beginning *squeee!*
23. Pizza Express. LOVE.
24. A big bag of floral gums...
25. Watching something I love; Atonement, the Notebook, the Soloist, Parent Trap, Spirit
26. Zac Efron and High School Musical 3
27. Wagamama's on the Southbank with TT
28. The train coming into Waterloo Station from the Isle of Wight ~ hello Vauxhall and the MI6 building, hello London Eye...
29. Reminiscing over old photos
30. Summer in Hyde Park

30 enough to get on with? I'll post the next lot soon, and start hunting for photos!
x

twothousandandnine

twothousandandnine
Originally uploaded by ameliedreamsagain

January ~ I turned eighteen. I retook my Chemistry unit and managed to get an unnaturally high UMS. How I do not know. But at least it was an improvement from my D! Jumped Dougal for the first time.
February ~ I moved to Kingston Riding Centre, and rode Jemima. Before my first group lesson I was terrified, and if wasn't for Amber I wouldn't have gone. And I would never be where I am now with my riding.
March ~ The Zac Era...17 Again premiere, craziest and wonderfulest night in Leicester Square EVER. This entire month was filled with watching the trailer, sighing over pictures of Zac and of course...a lot of upset and awkwardness and bother which resulted in me and my BFF becoming more inseperable than ever <3
April ~ The beginning of the end of school. Holiday to Sussex avec ma famille...
May ~ I officially finished school, we had a bouncy castle in the sixth form centre. Study leave for A-Levels. Not much study, but a lot of leave :)
June ~ Went to the Isle of Wight for my cousins' first wedding anniversary. Was pretty much a Malibu-drinking-fest, with a lot of happyyy times. Also prom me thinks? The less said about that the better ;P
July ~ Introduced my sister to the fun world of premieres. Except the Harry Potter one was not so fun seeing as though it was the most rain seen in years, all in about 4 hours. Soaked. Freezing. And screaming at Daniel Radcliffe. NOT my finest moment. He is a freak. Admit it, TT.
August ~ Cantering on the beach...one amazing end to the summer :)
September ~ The Month of Fun. Best month of the year wandering the Southbank, lunching in Hyde Park, eating noodles by the Thames, shopping in Oxford Street, watching Wicked, sitting by Buckinham Palace and generally having wonderful outings!
October ~ TT came back from Warwick and we celebrated in Starbucks. I went to the Isle of Wight again with my newly bought Nikon.
November ~ Went to see the Christmas lights in Oxford street and stood in the cold (gloveless *cough cough*) eating waffless...mmm
December ~ Christmas. MAOW in Kensington High Street avec snow. Christmas dinner @ Frankie and Benny's in a BOOTH. :D

All in all...this year has been amazing. My riding has improved. I have spent so many wonderful hours on Amelie & Ciel-Ciel outings. True friends made. Not so true friends...not so missed :L Roll on 2010 and all the new and great things to come! Happy new year everyone online who makes me so happy with their comments, good luck :) I'm sure all your dreams are just around the corner.

Song of the year:
It's all good, alright,
See ya later doesn't mean goodbye,
It ain't over, there's time to fly,
And we're just getting started,
Just getting started.
It's all good, alright,
The world is changing that is no surprise,
But that can't stop us, just let it fly,
'Cause we're just getting started.


Sorry for the length of this!
xxxxx

One book at a time... (or ten?)

"I'm conquering the world...one book at a time." I don't know if that is a quotation, but it sounds like one ;)
I decided this summer I was going to read 365 books in 365 days...it sounded nice saying it, but not long after I realised I was clearly insane. It is IMPOSSIBLE for me to read 365 books in 365 days. Sadly I reduced the number to 250... thinking about this would still mean I have to read more than book every two days. Possible, perhaps, but not for me right now...unless I never want to leave the house or turn on my computer or TV (just not possible when a new season of Spooks is airing I'm afraid...) So I'm going to get as near to 100 as I can. I'm not fussy about what type of book it is, I hope to read a mixture of children, teen and adult fiction and non-fiction. Sometimes I think "children's fiction" is far better than adult fiction.

Books about London. Books about Venice. Books about horses. Books about water. Books about books.

Some books I give up and cross off the list. Some I think look exciting, but then they lose their charm by the end of the first chapter (or page). Some books disappear down the side of my bed, unfinished and return months later!

Yes I was the kind of 10 year old who squidged into a corner of the school library instead of going out to play. And taught myself to read novels upside down :P
xxxxxx