Thoroughly modern millennial

Tag: 2013

  • Travels | LeakyCon 2013 Round Up | Part 1

    LeakyCon-sign
    In case you’ve not been keeping up with goings on here are Wishing For Chanel, you would’ve noticed I was absent last week and had some guest bloggers taking the reigns (thanks to Erin, Laura, Anjali and Becky btw!)
    The reason? I was away in London town for LeakyCon! 
    What is LeakyCon I hear you cry? Well it’s a four day Harry Potter Convention, celebration of popular culture and general geek out. Originally set up as a Harry Potter Convention – and in many ways it still is very much grounded in Harry Potter and the values it promotes – LeakyCon has expanded out to cover all aspects of fan culture, including Doctor Who, Nerdfighters, The Hunger Games and so much more. 
    In the past it’s been held only in the US, but this year, author, journalist and LeakyNews webmistress Melissa Anelli decided to take the conference back to Harry’s homeland in a celebration they coined ‘The 15 Year Reunion’ (as it’s been 15 years since the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts), and held the Con at the majestic Grand Connaught Rooms in London.

    The-Leaky-Cauldron

    Hogwarts-sign Hogwarts-Castle
    – entrance to the Great Hall – The Leaky Cauldron…& we’re at LeakyCon har de har – This way to Hogwarts – replica of the entire Hogwarts Castle set – 

    The Convention technically started last Thursday (8th August) but this year Leaky attendees had the opportunity to begin the magical weekend at the Warner Brother’s Harry Potter Leavesden Studio Tour. Having gone once already I was keen to go again to spot anything I missed the first time!
    After arriving at our hotel, me and my best friend made the journey up to Watford Junction – where we made friends with a couple of attendees on the way! The atmosphere this time round was completely different than the last time I went to the tour. The room buzzed with excitement with this being the first time I had been in a room with so many Harry Potter fans at one time. 
    We also had a special guest ushering in us in…the lovely Scarlet Byrne who plays Pansy Parkinson in the films! The tour felt even better the second time round, I spotted more and was actually able to see the sets up close without other tourists getting in the way! Plus there was the added perk of free Butterbeer and souvenir mug – the mug was nice…the Butterbeer was a little questionable but hey that’s my taste I guess. After a pretty awesome trip round we headed back home for some R&R before launching ourselves into Leaky properly.
    LeakyCon-GCR Welcoming-Ceremony
    – the Grand Connaught Rooms ‘Great Hall’ – Evannah Lynch & Scarlet Byrne – Hank Green – Lauren Fairweather & Matt Maggiacomo (from The Whomping Willows) – Alfie Enoch & Robbie Jarvis – Team Starkid – 
    Day 1 started off slower with something that would become incredibly present at LeakyCon…queuing! The registration queue stretched around the whole of the Grand Connaught and lasted over two hours! But once we were in we got our swag bags and headed off for the first Meet Ups of the day. Queues started building again after that for the Welcoming Ceremony of the Convention, which was being held in what ended up being nicknamed the Great Hall. Chandeliered and full of beautiful classical motifs it was quite a sight to behold. The opening itself was just as awesome, with Melissa introducing the convention and appearances from Evannah Lynch, Scarlet Byrne, Alfie Enoch, Robbie Jarvis, Wizard Rockers, Hank Green and Team Starkid. 
    Wrock-night-1
    Alex-Carpenter-Starkids-Melissa-Anelli
    – Siriusly Hazza P & Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons – Solitary Snape – Alex Carpenter – Alex and members of Team Starkid (Joe Walker, Dylan Saunders and Jamie-Lynn Beatty) and Melissa
    With Get Back To Hogwarts buzzing around in our heads I barely had time to think before gearing up for my first Wizard Rock concert…yep you read that right! As a Potter fan I was definitely aware of Wrock, but had only listened to a few songs. I needed have worried, the bands there were amazing and so entertaining! As well as the Wrock bands, YouTuber Alex Carpenter and Hank Green himself also performed. Just like coming back from any gig I went back to bed with ears ringing, gearing up for Day 2!
    Keep an eye out for my next LeakyCon round up, coming soon!

    R.xoxo
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  • Four Travel Tips | Guest post by Anjali

    photo fourtraveltips_zps8ec5bf75.jpg


    Hello lovely readers of Ria’s amazing blog! Anjali here, from over at From L&P toEnglish Tea, and today I’m taking over Ria’s blog! When she asked me if I’d like to guest post, I wasn’t quite sure what I would post on. I thought I could write about something fashion related…but then I remembered I don’t have much fashion sense at all. So I was off to a bad start. My next option was something book related…but I wasn’t feeling it when I started writing it. Strike two. (Side bar: You can always read books reviews on Blogger’s Bookshelf! Check it out!) So pretty much my only other option was travel. So I’m going with that.
    Today I have decided to share four things, or tips, that I have learnt from travelling this year. But first! Back story. I’m a New Zealander, and last year I moved over here to England, where I’ve been working and also travelling. I’m blessed with a great job, and part of my contract is that I get all school holidays off. Fantastic! It’s meant that I’ve been able to travel around Europe a bit, and see more of this side of the world. I’ve been lucky enough to have been to four countries this year (not including England and Wales…), and I’ve learnt a lot from travelling. Sharing time!
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    Story: My family and I went on holiday in the south of Portugal for a week back in March/April. Travelling with my family meant I didn’t really have to deal with anything. I just had to pack, and then follow my dad to the right places. Easy peasy.
    Tip: Don’t travel with Ryanair, if you can help it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cheap and the people are super friendly. But it was a bit stressful, to be honest, because they don’t assign you a seat. Once you get in the aircraft, it’s every man for himself (or every woman for herself…). There’s no guarantee that you’ll be sitting with the people you are travelling with, and although it’s mostly clean and you end up getting to your destination…it’s not as fun.

    Story: My dad had to go to Sweden for a work thing (he’s a University lecturer), and so I tagged along. We spent a few days in Orebro, and then a day in Stockholm, which is a great city, by the way.
    Tip: Most people in Europe, I’m discovering, speak at least a little English, so you can get away with not knowing any Swedish. But we found it was helpful to have friends around who knew the language and could do all the communicating for us. It was faster and easier. However, if you don’t know people where you’re going, knowing a few words is always helpful, and I think it’s polite and a good thing to do. The word I most used overseas is ‘thank you’ and ‘hello’, so I reckon try to learn at least those two.

    Story: Again, my dad had to go for a conference, in The Netherlands, specifically Amsterdam, so I went too. This time was just a super short trip; we only stayed one night, but had two full days.
    Tip: If you’re travelling on a budget, check out the Youth Hostels. We stayed in a Christian youth Hostel and it was really great. It was right in the heart of Amsterdam, so it was easy to get everywhere. You by no means have to be a youth to stay there, nor do you have to be a Christian to stay there, it’s just run by Christians and has things like optional Bible studies etc in the mornings. If you’re not a Christian, please don’t let that put you off. The people were super friendly and the food was great. Breakfast was included, and I also had the opportunity to go on a city walking tour with some of the other people staying in the hostel. Hostels are great because they draw in people from all over the world. I talked to people from Canada, from Cyprus, from Malaysia, to name a few, but I was one from the furthest away (surprise surprise). Hostels are cheap, but clean and friendly, and I recommend them.

    Story: My friend is over at the moment from New Zealand for a few months, and ever since we were 16 and took Classics at school we have wanted to go to Greece. This seemed like the perfect time, so we went to Athens for 5 nights.
    Tip: Take a friend. This trip was the first time I had really gone overseas by myself, without a member of my family who knew what they were dong. It was also the first country my friend had been too, other than NZ and the UK. Because I was a bit nervous about the travelling and going to the right places etc, I had planned everything and knew exactly where we should be and when. But I can’t stress enough how awesome it was to have Roz with me the whole way. Yes, I could have done it myself, but it wouldn’t have been as calm and smooth. Having someone with you when you’re travelling is not only great company, but it’s someone to talk things through if something goes wrong, to have your back in busy streets, and to know that if you really get stuck, you’ll be stuck together.
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    So there we have it. Four things I have learnt from travelling around Europe. Most of them probably seem obvious, but I guess I didn’t really think about them until afterwards. If you have travelled around Europe before (or anywhere, really) I’m sure you’ll have tips of your own…and I know that there are so many more. But if you haven’t, I hope that maybe my travel experiences have a) taught you something, b) made you want to travel and c) made you realise it’s not that hard.
    Thank you, Ria, for having me! If you guys think I’m cool enough to hang out with (ha!), then you can find me all around the internet. Come and introduce yourself; let’s be friends.

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    R.xoxo
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  • Nail art dots | Guest Post by Laura

    Hello Wishing For Chanel readers, I’m Laura and I’m so pleased to be guest posting for Ria this week! I quit my blog last year but get that blogging bite every now and then so this is perfect to tame that craving for a while. 

    I decided to do a nail art post as now it’s the summer holidays I get to paint my nails and have time to change the designs every day if I want to (I don’t but that’s beside the point). So I thought I’d share with you a nice easy designs which didn’t take very long and actually lasted for a whole week before it started chipping. (That included a week of spring summer cleaning my entire flat!) 


    Barry M – Torquoise 295
    Models own – nail art pen – white 
    Sally Hansen – Hard as nails (used a top and base coat)

    I adore this Barry M polish, I only got it last week because Superdrug were doing a 3 for 2 offer so how could I resist? The colour is really summer and even though I’ve just taken this design off I’m tempted to repaint them the same colour again. 

    I hope you liked this post, you can find my over at Blogger bookshelf as a regular reviewer or on twitter if you want to read more of my ramblings.

    Thanks again Ria for asking me to guest post!

    Laura