Sunday 31 May 2015

ANNOUNCEMENT: Jamie Sowden Is Changing For The Better...

Meow! This is going to be a short post but I hope you enjoy it!

http://pixshark.com/pictures-of-balloons-in-the-sky.htm

So, basically this blog post is to celebrate the birth of http://www.jamiesowden.com/. The only difference between this and my old address is basically what it says on the address bar but it means more to do with blogging stuff...

The birth of this website basically means that I am going to be doing a lot more things that I have been wanting to do for a while. This may include the beginning of a cooking series that I've been planning and thinking about for a while, an interview series with bloggers, more posts with some amazing brands and other things...

I am just so proud that I have done this but the only way I have done this is via knowing that people actually read my blog so I am so thankful that you all read this little rambly blog from time to time and I hope that great things happen within the future of this blog.

I hope that you stay with me for this journey and that you carry on reading my posts and everything along those lines. I hope to see you next time! I am sorry that this is a short post but I just wanted to make sure everyone knew!

Meow!
Jamie x

Friday 29 May 2015

MIM: So What If I'm A Bitch?!


Meow, so today's MIM post is going to be a sort of lifestyle rant post. I am going to talk about a personal sort of thing but it is slightly explanatory from the blog post... I hope that you enjoy it and I hope that you comment as O would like to know what you think...

So, lately, I have been going through some personal things as I have had MIM, exams, friends and other things to juggle but I got called a bitch as I push certain people or things away when I am busy and submerge myself into something as it is the easiest thing to do but I want to talk about if it's okay to be a bitch... I am not going to do a video with this post but I hope that is fine as I just wanted to get this off my chest in non personal way.

I am a massive fan of Mean Girls and everyone knows that the plot of the story is that a innocent girl gets turned into a bitch/mean girl via the elite clique 'The Plastics' which believe that being a bitch is the way to life eg the burn book where they insult everyone within their school and other bitchy things. Now I am quite the bitchy person who will vent when needed but is that bad? We all need to vent now and again and get things off our chests as life isn't perfect and friends can be class a bitches sometimes...

Are The Plastics bitches?


I think that being a 'bitch' is needed in life as it shows that you are confident and determined within life as you won't let things get in the way and it shows that you're a real human being who isn't happy all the time and let's face it, it is perfect when you have food, drink and a friend to bitch and let out all of your problems to...

Sorry that this has been really short but what do you think? Is it really bad to be a 'bitch' or do you think it works when stuff has to be done? Comment down below! I shall see you tomorrow for another MIM post which shall be finishing on Sunday!

Meow!
Jamie x

Thursday 28 May 2015

MIM: LETS GO SHOPPING! | (Offers) | Vlog Blog Post

Meow so this is going to be a MIM post that goes along with the video... I tried to vlog whilst out in Leeds but as it is the school holidays, it kind of got a bit busy and I tried  to vlog but I am going to talk about all of the stores that I went to and some of their offers and everything so I hope that you enjoy this post!

I arrived in Leeds and instantly went to Primark as I had very ripped jeans and I needed some new ones as the rips weren't 'trendy' but looked more hobo inspired... I ran into primark, frantically searched for my jean size and tried them on as I felt like my weight had changed... Once I had done that, I felt better...

Once, I had left Primark, I went to Burton as I saw that they had an offer on certain items of clothing for 2 for £35... They now also have a 30% discount offer on so if you like to shop at Burton or want some good menswear then go and have a look and see what's on offer... If you have a NUS card then you can get 10% off anything...

Once I had exited Burton, I went into H&M. I have never really been in H&M before so I felt like I should so I did... H&M had a sale on quite a lot of clothes and had discounts on many things... I still don't understand why the one in Trinity doesn't have a mens section but the one in the city centre does...

I then went into Topman... I don't really go into Topman often but I felt like they may have had a sale... They had a discount rack but that was about it so instead I got some socks that were on offer for 3 for £7. The NUS offer also applies here...

Once I had been to Topman, I went to Lush... There was no offer on there but they have some fabulous things in Lush such as the new May Day bath bomb...

I then went to Whittards which may sound a bit boring to some as it is a drinks shop (tea, coffee, hot chocolate etc) but as Luke loves the shop I have slowly started to love it as well. I went in and saw that my friend Sarah was working at the time so we chatted and she suggested some things to try... We talked about everything including Comic Con as she runs a stand there, YouTubers, gigs and other things... I decided to get some things and then Sarah let me use her staff discount so everything was slightly cheaper as a birthday gift which I thought was amazing...

I then decided to go to Barburrito as I was absolutely starving... I decided to get a meal as it would work out cheaper and better for me... I then remembered that I had a 10% discount via NUS and also a 30% discount on alcohol as well which is pretty great for friends etc...

I then went to Boots. At the minute, they have a 3 for 2 offer on most things... I nearly decided to partake in this offer but instead I got something from Schwarzkopf as their got2b range are a third off...

I stopped off at Yorkshire Soap Company... They didn't have any offers on but its a new store so I wanted to check it out... This also happened with the last place that I went as it was a new store... I saw via Twitter that Bubbleology had finally opened a store within Trinity Leeds and I wanted to try it so I thought that it would be the perfect time to do so... ( I'll probably do a full on review within the next week or so as it may interest some of you?)

So that is the whole of where I went but I am planning/sorting out a haul of what I bought so I hope that you look out for that when it goes up... I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post and I hope that you have found some offers and save some money along the way! I hope that you've enjoyed this and I shall see you tomorrow for another MIM post!

Today's Video: https://youtu.be/P-6-lwCKeHE

Meow!
Jamie x

Wednesday 27 May 2015

Happy Birthday To Me & Let's Thank You!

Meow, so this is technically a MIM post but the video to this got me annoyed so I am deciding not to upload it so I am just classing this as a normal post and videos and posts shall be going up from tomorrow till Sunday which will be the last MIM one even though a blog post and video a day hasn't really worked out...

Chocolate cake from GBBO because this would be a great birthday cake! 

So, from the title, today is my birthday... Not just any old birthday but my 18th where people class this as somewhat adulthood... Some class 21 as an adult etc.

I thought that I would just basically thank you guys for reading this... I would have never thought (this time last year) that I would set up a blog and talk about antything and everything such as mental health, food, beauty, personal things etc. I would never think that within a less than a year into blogging when I actually picked up the courage and started typing that 6000 (hopefully when this goes up as I'm on 5997 at this very minute...) would be reading me basically meowing and rambling about things on a weekly basis. I would never think that I would have worked with some of my favourite brands this time last year nor would I know that I would be invited to bloggers events where I am allowed to take pictures galore because honestly I'm not that good of a photographer... I wouldn't know this time last year that I would lose some very close friends but at the same time gain some amazing yet loyal friends via blogging who respect and acknowledge my opinion and accept me into the blogging community with open arms... I would never think that Leeds Student Magazine would want to know what I think is hot within fashion or anything like that...

Basically, this blog post has been created just to say thank you for everything... Thank you to all the amazing people I have met and I am now friends with including people like Kellie, Theresa, Olivia, Cat and so many more and I hope that I shall be able to do another post like this next year saying what has happened...

Thank you for reading and I hope you're having an amazing day!

Meow!
Jamie x

Sunday 24 May 2015

MIM: Predator Nutrition Bloggers Event

Meow, so today's blog post is going to be about the Predators Nutrition Bloggers Event that i went to via Joe Blogs. Now this may be a new sort of post as I haven't done a lot of posts regarding health/fitness so I hope that you enjoy it and such.



So, a while ago, Joe Blogs Network emailed me as I had asked about a bloggers event in Leeds and I had found out that it was an event hosted by Predator Nutrition and BSN (a supplement brand.) Now, as you all probably know, I'm not a health/fitness sort of person but I thought that I would go to it and find out what it was all about/why people use supplements and everything like that...

On the day, I went into Trinity Leeds and found a few bloggers (Caroline and Sarah) as they knew where to go compared to me. We chatted about our blogs and what we do in our spare time and what to expect of the event whilst we walked to the Predator Nutrition store.

Once we had got to the store, we were greeted by a lovely lady... I can't remember her name but as it was quiet, she ticked our names off the list to get in and talked to us about some of the new range. She also talked to us about the store and said that the store had gone for an open space sort of vibe to make it more welcoming as protein products, supplements etc sound scary to some which is pretty true. She talked to us about some of the products including some milkshake inspired shakes and chocolate protein bars and some other great protein/food products...

The lovely woman disappeared and then came back with a goodie bag containing some of the new protein shakes, earphones, vest and some other great gym inspired things which may motivate me a bit more to actually try and get fit instead of procrastinating and not doing anything...

We then talked to Carly Tierney who is a part of the BSN team and we talked to her about how she got into the career of body building and has been crowned Miss Bikini Tall... We found out that she doesn't want to conform to the norm of women being masculine within sports and that she had beaten an eating disorder and thats the reason of how she got into what she loves. Caroline and Sarah asked her a few more questions whilst I awkwardly stood there and took it all in...

After talking to Carly, we were offered a sample of the new protein shakes... I tried Dragonfruit which was slightly sweet and somehow reminded me of Calpol... It would go well if you love sweet things and need something to perk you up in the morning for a run/workout as I instantly felt like I had more energy within me...

All three of us then went up to meet Flex. Flex was the reason why this event had happened. He is Mr Olympia and a well known body builder that hails from Wales and he had got into body building via his old career of rugby. I talked to him for a few moments and he seemed lovely which shows that not everyone in the sporting industry is mean and only in it for themselves. We took a picture together and said bye...



We then decided to go as it was getting a bit hectic. We saw Carly outside. She offered us a Salted Caramel version of the drink that we had sampled. I liked this one a lot more as the caramel was sweet but the salt slightly cut through it making not so sweet and reminded me of a caramel latte or something of that kind. I feel like if I was going to buy any of the drinks then personally I would go for the Salted Caramel one but everyone has a different opinion and taste palate.

We went for a healthy juice drink to carry on our health kick. I ordered a green shake with avocado and a lot more of other tasty greens in with some added whey powder. You couldn't taste the whey and the drink was slightly sweet but the greens added such a fresh taste so I felt good for drinking it...

I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post. I can't thank the guys at Joe Blogs, Predator Nutrition and BSN UK enough for putting this event on. They have done their own blog post and video which I'll link below and I hope to see you tomorrow for another MIM post!

Predator Nutritions Blog Post
PN Video
Today's Video

Meow!
Jamie x

Saturday 23 May 2015

MIM: Alpro: Simply Mild Review

Meow! Welcome to another Meowing In May blog post! Today's post is going to be a food post about Alpro which is a lactose free/plant based food and drink brand. I hope that you enjoy this blog post. Don't forget to watch the video that will be at the bottom of the post which goes along with the post.



So, if you follow me on any social media site then you will know that I am lactose intolerant. I am pretty sure that I have told you about this before... So I was so happy when the guys at Alpro emailed me to say that they were going to send me some of their new Alpro: Simply Mild to try and review. Now the email said that they would send me a milk frother with the package as it was National Coffee Week at the time but by the time that the package had came there was only two days left of the week and I wouldn't have been able to do a blog post and a video and all the pictures for it then...

Alpro is a company that have a vision. Their vision is that more of the food that the world eats come straights from plants... No additives or anything like that. Alpro do this amazing within all of their products. Alpro are well known for their lactose free drinks and food products such as custard, desserts and yoghurts. All of their products come from plant based products so they're suitable for vegans and vegetarians... They also do a range of milks now including hazelnut milk!

I was very intrigued when I opened the bottle as I found out that the drink is that fresh that it has a life of 5 days otherwise you can't drink it... Alpro have knocked one out of the ball park with this drink as it does what it exactly says. It's soy milk with a mild taste. I loved this as I am lactose intolerant but I feel that sometimes soy drinks can taste very strong whereas with this drink its not that strong but its still there. I feel that this one is great to add to drinks and cereal which means that I can have it 24/7 basically...



Out of ten, I would give this a 9.8 as it is mild and not too strong so I like it quite a bit and it's lactose free so it doesn't screw up my stomach but I would like to see a chocolate version of this maybe as that would be amazing but as I always say... Everywhere can always improve as a brand won't be the same now as it will be in 5 years time...

I would like to thank Alpro for sending this out as it did wonders for my skin as I didn't have lactose for a week so I could see the benefits of this and I love Alpro as a brand before this blog post so please don't even think that this blog post is biased because they sent me something out... I hope that you've enjoyed this blog post, don't forget to watch the video and comment down below if you would try any of Alpro's products if you haven't before!

Alpro's Website; http://www.alpro.com/uk
YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/k4wZ6F0QrII

Meow!
Jamie x

Friday 22 May 2015

MIM: Nation Of Shopkeepers Review

Meow, so today's MIM post is going to be a food post so it's going to contain a few food pictures so I am warning you in advance as you may get hungry throughout the post. I was invited by the lovely guys at Nation Of Shopkeepers to come and try their new menu so I thought that I would type about it so you guys could read it and such. I hope that you enjoy the post!


So a while ago, I got an email asking myself and Luke to try out the new brunch menu at Nation Of Shopkeepers and as I love food I thought that it would be a great idea to go and tell you guys what I think.

When we finally got to the restaurant after I rarely know where anything is within leeds unless it's in Trinity Leeds, we were greeted by such a lovely woman. She told us that the delivery for the brunch menu had not came in yet but we were available to have anything from the normal yet new menu... I thought that this was so great and I was so grateful for this...

I went up after finding a good window seat and trying to vlog in a echo like space and ordered two cokes as I rarely drink as it is and it was midday so it felt too early to even think of alcoholic beverages... The guy serving us took his time and apologised as he was new to the team but I didn't mind as he was so lovely/sweet whilst trying not to anxiously break down from not knowing what to do which is what I would have done... He also asked me if I wanted a medium or large drink and as it was quite warm I thought that a large would be a better option.





I read the menu whilst telling Luke the options within the menu and we finally decided on what to have! I decided to have a ribs and chicken combo which consisted of hot and kickin' chicken, half a rack of bourbon glazed ribs, coleslaw, fries and some other great sides where as Luke ordered a Rib and Pineapple slaw burger but the delivery meant that there was no ribs... I changed my decision and chose Mac & Cheese with Chorizo as I love Chorizo but I havent had Mac & Cheese/Macaroni Cheese in ages due to lactose intolerance. The lovely lady came back and said that they had ribs for me but not for Luke so instead she suggested that we shared a massive ribs and chicken combo with all the sides which she would bring out...







We chatted and sipped our drinks until the lovely woman (I keep referencing her as that as we didn't catch her name as it got really busy by the time we had finished eating) came over and served us a massive delicious looking platter... The platter contained 4 pieces of hot and kickin' chicken. The chicken was thigh and leg pieces which I like more than the breast of a chicken as the leg and thigh pieces normally have a lot more flavour to them. The chicken was coated in a thin yet crispy batter which was so delicious to eat but it was also popping with different spices which made it mouthwatering but not too spicy...


The platter also contained a rack of bourbon glazed ribs... Now if you know me at all then you will know that I will judge a food establishment on its ribs and oh my god these ribs were so good! The ribs were smothered in a sweet bourbon glaze. The glaze made the ribs so delicious and tender as the bourbon cut through the meat and just made it delicious to eat. I would warn that the ribs would instantly make an adult turn into a messy childlike eater. These ribs were some of the best that I have ever had and I've had quite a lot of ribs in my lifetime...


It also contained grilled pineapple... Grilled pineapple may sound like a weird thing to serve with meat but I loved it! I am such a lover of pineapple. I sometimes get a bit addicted to pineapple juice because I love it that much. Luke didn't like it but I think that was because it was grilled but it was such a great thing to cut through the spices of the Chicken... Mmm...

The next thing that I tried from the platter was the 'BBQ Pit Beans'. These were delicious! The baked beans were decadently drowning in bbq sauce but there was an element of surprise when I was about to take a bite and realised that there was bits of tender pulled pork hiding within the sauce... The surprise of the pork made it extra special and scrumptious to sample. It was divine. I'm such a sucker for bbq inspired meals and I could tell by this point that I would have to come here again soon...

We were given fries with all of this but one of the sides had fries included within it so we only had some but they were smothered in the bourbon glaze as the fries were underneath the ribs. The fries were crispy yet fluffy on the inside. They were something else!

 Now to the sides! All of the above was just on one platter. It was shared between me and Luke as it was a sharing platter but it could probably be divided more than two people. It could serve four but maybe not many more after that...

The wonderful woman came back halfway through the platter and put down a side of corn on the cob with garlic butter to start with. Now I have a thing for sweetcorn/corn on the cob so I couldn't wait to try this... Just from looking at it, I could tell that it was going to be good as some bits were burnished and some bits were eye poppingly yellow... I took one bite and garlic butter oozed from the corn and dripped a bit... Was it food porn at its best? Yes. The garlic butter added a slight bit of bitterness to the sweet corn which made it extremely amazing. Am I weird for loving corn?


The next thing that was placed on the table was a mixture of tempura fried vegetables and onion rings with chipotle jam. The batter was so crispy and light. It was just delectable. The vegetables inside tasted fresh and delicious so you could tell that they were made on site. You could tell what veg was inside due to the freshness and the contrast between the vegetables/onions and the batter. The chipotle jam went along with it as it added a spicy kick to the veg without smothering them in heat. It was sweet and spicy at the same time and worked so well with the crispy bites of heaven.

The last side that the Nation Of Shopkeepers served to us was 'poutine'. Poutine is basically chips in a pool of rich delicious gravy baked with cheese on the top. Sounds so fattening but worth it. This is the main reason why I only had a few of the chips from the platter. Luke doesn't like the smell of certain/most cheeses so the only way to get it out of the way is if I ate all of it and moved it away. Any excuse is a good excuse, The chips were crispy yet slightly damp from the gravy and then the cheese on top of it made it an ultimate part of Yorkshire inspired comfort food. The gravy could do with something if you're not keen on onions but I love them so I didn't mind the strongness of it. The only problem for me was the cheese due to me and lactose.

We waited a while after demolishing most of the menu. The lovely woman came and took our plates away and told us to go and order desserts if wanted when the food had calmed down a bit. We waited quite a bit as it had felt like I was having a food baby. Once some time had passed, I went up and ordered our desserts as I'm one of those people that can eat loads and then still have room for dessert somehow...

Luke had ordered a cherry pie with ice cream so I can't really say much of his opinion of that but I tried a tiny bit as I am a bit weird when it comes to cherry influenced things. I didn't mind it but it was quite strong but Luke seemed to love it.


I went for the Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Cookie Tower. Yes that was a lot to say when I was ordering it. I was curious to what it meant by a tower. I'm not a massive lover of peanut butter but I do like it so I was waiting to find out as all it said on the menu was the title and then with chocolate sauce and whiskey ice cream which made me want it more to see how strong the whiskey would be and if it would work in an ice cream as alcohol never freezes within ice cream so it keeps it a lovely smooth texture.

When it arrived, I was pretty surprised as it consisted of freshly made chocolate chip cookies sandwiched together with slightly salted peanut butter as the flavour was so bold then drizzled generously with a rich chocolate sauce and then on top of this tower there was a massive scoop of whiskey ice cream which was strong but not too over the top. The peanut butter was nice but I could only manage three quarters of it. The ice cream was really nice thus not what I was expecting. It was such a good dessert but not the best dessert to go to after eating around half of the menu but is any dessert a good dessert for after the platter and sides?

So, I'm going to wrap it all up here... I'm going to rate the restaurant on the whole and give it a 9.9/10 as I never give anywhere a 10 as everywhere has the room for improvement. The delivery fiasco put a bit of a dampener at the beginning of the day but otherwise it was all amazing. I am definitely going there again and again and I can't wait to go back! I recommend that you go as soon as you can! I hope that you've enjoyed the blog post and if you live anywhere near Leeds then go to Nation Of Shopkeepers on Cookridge Road near O2 Academy and check out their new menu!

The Video To Go Along With This:
Nation Of Shopkeepers Website: http://www.anationofshopkeepers.com/

Meow!
Jamie x

MIM: #TBT Lady Gaga artRAVE Sheffield Review

Meow! I was surprised by my good friend a while ago. This surprise was to go see Lady Gaga live and I did plan to do a blog post and a video about it at the time but I got a bit annoyed and such with it and deleted it so I thought I would tell you about it... Im also going to talk a bit about why I love Lady Gaga as well but I hope you enjoy the post! (This is going to be a lifestyle post... It will only go into my lifestyle folder if I mention the word of the folder within the post... It's weird like that at the minute...)



So as I said, within November, my friend Abby surprised me at the last minute by taking me to see lady gaga. It was such a spur of the moment thing but it was to celebrate us being friends for such a long while and to have fun as we both love Gaga. 

We met up after college and went on the train to Leeds which included us catching up on things. We arrived in Leeds, grabbed something to eat and grabbed the second train which took us to Sheffield. We talked more and wondered what it was going to be like.

After a long task of finding the tram to venue, we finally arrived! We walked in once our tickets had been scanned and tried to weave in and out of the masses of 'little monsters'. We slowly entered he standing area after skipping the merchandise and food stands as the queues were that long. 

The stage was made out of lucite glass so we tried walking under it to see what happened and you could see through it. We waited after the slightly eccentric support acts did their thing and heard an announcement stating that it was time for artRAVE... We waited patiently and then different coloured lights flickered through the venue whilst upbeat dance music echoed. 

Gaga eventually came on the stage and performed her first song 'Artpop' the title track of her third album (fourth if you include the LP which was The Fame Monster...) This song on its own contained bubbles, big blue balls which I tried to hit at one point as I had no clue what they were for) and a glittery dress with wings attached.




I'm now going to talk about why I love gaga as if I talked about the gig in detail then I would be here forever. 

She's just an amazing artist. It took her quite a while to get where she is today and didn't get to the top via a talent show or anything like that. She changes so much with every album this you remember certain outfits such as the meat dress or the seashell bikini with a certain album which makes her memorable. She may be different and crazy but that makes her an amazing artist and I love her music as she includes a lot of influences within each album... 

I hope that you've enjoyed me rambling about Lady Gaga! Don't forget to comment with what your favourite Lady Gaga song is and  I shall see you tomorrow for another MIM post!

Today's Video: https://youtu.be/_imU478zJDs
Meow!
Jamie x

Tuesday 19 May 2015

MIM: Hotel Chocolat Chocolate Penne & Lush May Day Review

Meow, so today's post is going to be a review sort of post, Chocolate pasta may sound weird but I hope that it interests you enough to keep reading on... I hope that you enjoy this blog post!


I went to Leeds the other day and got some pasta as you could tell from my vlog post and I thought that I would taste it so I could review it so you guys would be able to know if it's good or not.

I went into roast + conch and saw that the store was filled with amazing decadent delights. I wandered around and found things such as dipping sets, Mojito truffles, things with nuts in and many more. I found out that they give out samples. I tried out a chocolate brownie within a chocolate piece that was on offer in the store. I wandered around after trying it and decided to buy a packet of chocolate pasta and then I went on my way. 
 
The chocolate pasta came in a packet which contained a recipe which I thought was very cute. It took ten minutes to cook but you could smell the strong rich chocolate when it was cooking. When eating it the smell calmed down but you got a hint of nuttiness which made it great for sweet/savoury dishes. I would give this a 8.5 mainly because of the price and the fact most of the flavour went into the cooking water.



 
 
I also went to Lush which is a normal thing for me. I went in and was served by the lovely Holly. I wandered around and smelt the wonderful brightside and then decided on whether or not to buy the sex bomb or the May Day and then I decided to buy the May Day Bomb.
 
The May Day design was the same as last years which was a badger. I felt that this was really cute but a bit weird as it would feel slightly like you're dissolving a cute badger. The smell of the May Day ballistic is sweet yet musky. When you drop it into water it doesn't do colours or anything but fizzes up which amplifies the scent and then a slip of paper comes out which makes it all worthwhile. I would give this product a 9.5 as there's always room for improvement especially with what it does but it's a lovely bath product with the profits going to charity. 

I hope that you've enjoyed this little review and I hope to see you tomorrow for another MIM post! 
Meow!
Jamie x

Monday 18 May 2015

MIM: Leeds Vlog

Meow, I went around Leeds and vlogged about it... I didn't do much on the day but I felt that it would be a lot better if I described it to you... I would have taken pictures on the day but it was very busy!

I arrived in Leeds and went straight to Trintiy Leeds... When I had arrived within TL, I decided to go to the seating area outside Caffe Nero as it is normally quiet therefore I can normally vlog and not feel too awkward/weird. When I had vlogged, I logged into TL The Cloud wifi and as it knows me that well it remembered my details which meant all I needed to do was click twice and I was connected!

I decided to walk to the Apple Store as I wanted to look at the Apple Watches and get my sim changed... If you have an iPhone then you know how hard it is to change the sim... You need a little pin and everything! I arrived in the store and I instantly realised how packed it was... I wandered over to the Apple Watches and looked at them... If I could afford the one that I want then I would snap it up instantly/I would have pre-ordered it but I am a student so I can't really afford one... A member of staff came up to me and talked to me about the smartwatches and even said that if I wanted to then I could try one on but that would just be taunting me even more or I'd run off with it and be in heaps of trouble... The member of staff then proceeded to find a pin to change my sim card which took several minutes as he couldn't find one which meant I had to awkwardly wait whilst teenagers/adults glared at me which was fun...  He then found one and changed my sim card... He was a lovely member of staff which is great as I can cope with lovely members of staff but not packed out stores...

I then went to my favourite place in the world which is located just outside TL... You all know where I'm going with this one... I went to Lush! I walked in and weirdly it wasn't packed and it was mainly full of women and not teenage girls which meant that I could freely walk around and sniff whatever I wanted to... I know all the staff members at my local one (I don't have a problem/obsession/addiction before you start) which meant that I got a warm friendly hi again every so often! I finally decided on getting a May Day bath bomb... Why? It's May and it's a bath bomb just for this month so it felt like it would go in well with the whole I'm doing everything in May ethos that I have at the minute. The money made from this bath bomb also goes to help a cause called Votes For Animals which is about giving animals a voice within the General Election... I got one of these ballistics last year and I fell in love with it so I knew that I had to get another when I heard that they had been re-released... Costs £2.95

I then went to Humpit from what I remember! Humpit is a vegetarian restaurant within the Corn Exchange... I had been meaning to try their food for ages...  I went into the cute little restaurant and was served by a lovely lad.I decided to get a Falafel in pitta with salad and olive oil. He then asked me for my name and said that it would be a few minutes so I decided to sit down. A lovely staff member was cleaning the table and I chatted briefly to the kind waitress. My name was called,  I went over and they passed me a folded bag and a few napkins. I felt like I had ordered something so spectacular!

The next place that I went to was Boots! I could hear something going on before I had entered and realised that there was a Live At Leeds set going on within the Trinity Kitchen. I listened for around 30 seconds and then went into Boots. I browsed and slowly ended up at the Barry M stand. I thought about getting two nail polishes as I have been lusting over one of them for a while but I decided to get them the next time I was in as it was very busy... (I ended up walking into/kicking a few people because it was that busy!) I decided to get two drinks as they are always 2 for £2 there which is amazing as nowadays a 500ml drink is £1.30+. I paid and left.

I wandered around TL until I reached some seats, I decided to vlog a bit more and then decided to eat my falafel... Oh my god, it was amazing but that's for an another blog post...

I then exited TL and made my way to the train station until Roast +  Conch caught my eye. I had saw a few bloggers tweet about their new cocktails this week and I decided to go in as I have never been in there before and it was amazing. I entered and realised the amount of chocolate... It's a Hotel Chocolat store on one level and restaurant with dishes such as white chocolate mash on another level... I wandered and glanced and then found my ultimate favourite thing! One of the first times I went to Leeds I stumbled and tried Mojito Truffles and fell in love with them... I had found them again... I decided to buy them when I'm next in Leeds if I am feeling like buying a naughty treat... I sampled a Brownie chocolate which was nutty but deliciously rich at the same time. I decided on buying Chocolate Pasta as I am obsessed with Nigella and saw her make a recipe with them on Nigellissima so I knew that I had to have some... I am going to do another blog post on them...

I went to the train station and then went home...

I hope that you have enjoyed this post and I hope to see you next time for another MIM post. Have you tried Chocolate Pasta? If so then comment down below with your thoughts on it...

Today's Post: http://youtu.be/qcufzquiaQs

Meow!
Jamie x

Saturday 16 May 2015

MIM: JuiceBurst Unboxing & Review

Meow so the lovely guys at Juiceburst sent me a box full of wonderful things as I have been loving Juiceburst for the past few months so I thought that it would be a good idea that todays MIM blog post would be about Juiceburst.

So, if you know me then you will have realised via social media that I have stopped drinking caffeine as it offsets my anxiety so instead I have started to drink fruit juice. When going to college, I have realised that the stores near me don't sell a lot of fruit juices but I did find JuiceBurst carrot and orange juice which is brighr and zingy and the perfect drink to help you wake up in a morning.

So basically, I'm going to talk about one of the flavours and review them and put a picture within the review bit... This sums up the unboxing and review bit as the unboxing is mainly through the video but it may not be the same way as the video...
The full burst of the juice!



Apple:

The bottle and flavour basically sum up what it says. The apple juice was 100% apple juice which added to the flavour because sometimes you can tell when there is things added to it via the taste but you could tell that this is pure juice. The sweet tang of the apples were perfect for a weirdly summery/bright british day. I loved this and was glad that they had sent two of these out as I love apple juice. If you love apple juice then I urge you to buy one and drink it cold because oh my god... It is so good when it is served cold! I would give this a 9.8 as that .2 is for improvement as everything can always do with a bit of tweaking...

Orange:
 
As I had said earlier, I have had orange before within orange and carrot and I had loved it so I wanted to see the difference and see if carrot actually made any difference taste wise. I found out that it did, Orange was also 100 percent pure and I could tell this as it wasn't like the carton stuff but it was slightly a little bit more sweet yet a little bit more sour... It makes no sense but the after taste was slightly sour but I loved it. I should have served it cold but I can now tell that carrot adds that little bit of sweetness so it depends how sweet you like your fruit juices. I would give it a 9.7 mainly because the first bit of sourness was a surprise but it would be a great mixer and I would have it again.

Tropical:
 
Tropical had a weird sort of thing going on... It contains apple, orange, mango, passion fruit, papaya and banana... Is banana a tropical fruit... Is apple a tropical fruit? I think the reasons they have those fruits in this drink is to add sweetness and such... It reminds me more of a smoothie than a juice mainly because of bananas adding creaminess to drinks. It was a good drink but it could do with a little bit more of mango and passionfruit but I love them two fruits so...  It's a great quick alternative to a smoothie and cheaper than a bottled smoothie but its a great tropical juice. I would give this a 9.7 mainly because of the smoothie sort of texture but its a great drink on the whole and it's great for when you want something summery when its raining outside or for on the go within the sun!

Blackcurrant:



Now this one is a slightly weird one... I know blackcurrants as the older sibling of apple with a slight bit of regret in their lives... (The jealous older brother...) So when I tried blackcurrant on its own, I didn't know what to think... It's quite tart but then the sweetness comes in once you start to take a sip... I feel like it is a great drink to wake up to or when you need a drink to cure that hangover... The rich purple black colour makes it such a pretty juice to stare at whilst procrastinating doing work so I urge you to buy this and try it out! I give this a 9.8 because the tartness actually works in its favour and it is such a pretty colour!

Skinny Range:


Juiceburst do two ranges. A normal range and a skinny range. The difference between the two is like your younger sibling, smaller and thinner in size with a crazier personality than you because they're living life to the fullest. The skinny range is only 99 calories per bottle and is a slightly smaller (400ml) size compared to the normal (500ml) bottle

Mango & Lime:


The first combination is mango and lime. I love mangos and I love limes so I knew that this was going to be a perfect drink for me. The mango was exotic and gave a good amount of freshness and sweetness to the drink then the hint of lime perked and added a boost to the mango which made it such a refreshing drink. Citrus adds amazing things to anything! I would give this a 9.85. I would give it a 10 if they did massive 1ltr bottles of it but it's such a great drink!

Peach & Passionfruit:



This summery flavour hits you in the right places. The sweetness of the peach combines with the boldness of the passionfruit so its a great flavour... It reminds me of the good old classic mango and passionfruit combination but a little bit more sweeter... I loved this one as I have a thing for passionfruit but it is pretty sweet so if you don't like sweet drinks then go for the next one that I am going to talk about. I would give it a 9.8 as I loved it but I would prefer a bigger size but overall it was a pretty good drink!

Cherry & Lime:



These two fruits are pretty bold so you may think that they would clash but they actually work really well together... The cherries added that sweet kick where as the lime didn't take the limelight away from the cherry but instead did its own thing and made the drink very tasty. I'm not normally a big fan of cherries. I would give this a 9.8 mainly because I'm not a big fan of cherries but I did like the little hint of sourness that it gave... It could do with a little extra fruit just to make the relationship between cherry and lime perfect but it's a great drink and such a nice colour which sounds weird for a fruit juice but ah well...

So I hope you have enjoyed this blog post... I know it was a weird blog post but it's always good to read something different every once in a while... If you're like me and you don't drink caffeine then tell me why in the comments and tell me if you love the sound of the Juiceburst flavours! I shall see you tomorrow for another MIM post!

Links:
YouTube Video (YouTube decided to be difficult so I've had to reupload it... I'll edit the post and put the link in when it goes up...)

Juiceburst Website: http://www.juiceburst.com/
Check your nearest supermarket to see if it is stocked there.

Meow!
Jamie x

Friday 15 May 2015

MIM: Mike Lucas (Nukemz)

Meow!

So this is going to be a really quick and a really short blog post.

My really good friend Mike has taken over my channel today and has talked about his favourite things on a video...

I have known Mike for a while and he has been an amazing friend to me. He copes with my ramblings a lot and talks to me about all sorts. He makes awful puns to the point that they are funny and has an addiction/a strong love for burritos and subways.

We met in London for the first time then we met again in London when I went down for SITC. I basically spent all of the weekend with him as I had no clue how to get to places in London and ended up calling him several times so I didn't end up screaming in the middle of London.

Basically, what I am trying to say is go subscribe to Mike as he has an amazing channel contained full of funny and interesting videos! I shall see you tomorrow for another MIM post!

YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAjIFbBDxcE&feature=youtu.be&a
Mike's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Nukemz/

Meow!
Jamie x

Thursday 14 May 2015

MIM: Is It Wrong For Guys To Wear Makeup?

Meow, today's post is slightly controversial I suppose but I hope that you enjoy it. It's literally going to be about what the title says. I would really love to know your comments on this post and would you like to see me wearing makeup?

So, society basically deems that makeup is for women seeing as most makeup adverts have women on the front of them but what if they had men and women on the advert?

A while ago, the birth and uproar for guyliner, man-scara and other male based makeup's came out which was an amazing thing in my eyes and slowly some men starting wear it including well known faces such as Russell Brand and that made the products sell more but what about just taking the man bit out and just letting both men and women wear makeup without being judged about it... Why do we need to judge someone by what they have on their face? The funny fact is that most men wear makeup if they have a job within TV and some YouTubers do but why don't they really talk about... I've only seen one video from a male youtuber which was about wearing makeup... If we put men and women on makeup advertisement then do you think that the sales of makeup to men will increase because I do as this will change societies perception on the matter...

I'm going to leave this post short and let you comment about the topic so I can see what your opinions are... I hope that you've enjoyed this post and I shall see you tomorrow for another MIM post.

Today's Video: https://youtu.be/Rn3BD-rBj_g

Meow!
Jamie x

Wednesday 13 May 2015

MIM: Why Do I Prefer To Be Called Jamie? (Androgyny)

Meow, today's post is going to be a little ramble one... I am going to talk to you about why I prefer to be called Jamie...

As you have probably noticed, my name is actually James via the blog link being TheJamesSowden and not Jamie Sowden... I hate James and decided that a while ago I would be preferred to be called Jamie...

If you're a friend of mine then I will expect you to call me Jamie...  It makes things easier within my mind and it makes me love you as a friend a little bit more as you are respecting my choices instead of going with what it actually is correct thing... If you're a family member then I don't mind being called James as they are my family and they were there when my mum named me James so it would be confusing for them if I asked to be called Jamie by them.... I also expect tutors to call me James as that is my name on forms etc and it is easier to do that... If you're a friend and you call me James then there is a good chance that I will have a go at you and I will expect you to understand why...

Another reason to why I prefer to be called Jamie is because Jamie is technically a unisex name as there is women called Jamie and men called Jamie therefore I feel a lot more comfortable with Jamie. I am androgynous which basically means I feel that I have female and male traits about me therefore I feel that Jamie suits me a lot more and if I'm feeling cute and slightly more feminine one day then being called Jamie isn't going to make me feel upset where as James would as I probably wouldn't feel as cute etc. I know it's a slightly weird thing to explain and grasp but I hope that you understand...

Don'r forget to comment with your opinion on this post and do you have a preferred name as well as your actual name? I hope that you have enjoyed this post and I shall see you tomorrow for another Meowing In May post!

Today's Video: https://youtu.be/7aF5FynsSeg

Meow!
Jamie x

Tuesday 12 May 2015

MIM: Jealousy

Meow, so today's post is going to be just a read... It's not going to be a fashion/beauty/whatever post... I suppose that it's going to be a rant post but its going to be one of those posts that you kind of just have to read and then comment or not so yeah...

This post is going to be about jealousy which is quite self explanatory from the title but I'm going to focus on my jealousy... That may sound slightly selfish to you readers but I've been meaning to make a blog post about it for a while and I thought this series would be the best time to post it...

So, if you know me at all then at the moment you will have realised that I've slightly been a bit emotional about things and that's not a bad thing but I feel a bit bad to talk/share about it but I've talked about it on Twitter at 2am in the morning for some reason... The main reason to this is because I've been pretty jealous of everyone around me/within the blogging community and that probably sounds so stupid/pathetic but I shall explain what I mean...

I'm sorry that this blog post has been short but I hope you've enjoyed me rambling.

I'll see you tomorrow for another MIM post 


Meow! 
Jamie x

Monday 11 May 2015

MIM: Piercings

Meow, so todays post is going to be a simple one. This post is quite explanatory from the title. I am going to talk to you about my piercings but in particular why I got them.

So, without going into too much detail, I did some stupid things a while ago but stopped after 2 years doing it from what I remember and I thought that to celebrate that I decided to get piercings. I had been clean from doing this thing for two years so I felt that it was the perfect time to get them.

I have an ear piercing and a lip piercing and I have wanted them both for quite a while but every time that I decided to get them done, I chickened out until my friend took me in December. I felt that this was the perfect time to get them so I did and I haven't looked back.  I am slowly changing both piercings and soon I will have a lip ring instead of what I have at the minute...

As I said, I was going to keep this short but I think that if you want piercings/tattoos/body modification etc then you should get them and not let anyone stop you from getting them.

I hope that you have enjoyed this post and I shall see you tomorrow for another MIM post.

Today's Video: https://youtu.be/fVbdVPqmhtE

Meow!
Jamie x

Sunday 10 May 2015

MIM: Anxiety

Meow, so this post is going to be a different sort of blog post. This may be slightly triggering for some people. This blog post is going to be about anxiety. I was going to call it my anxiety story but I am going to try and keep it more to a general post... If you're slightly triggered from anxiety, anxiety attacks/the effects of anxiety then this blog post might not be for you.

So, for a long while now, I have realised that I have anxiety and yes it is self diagnosed but theres a reason as my anxiety offsets when im in certain places which includes the doctors therefore I have put it off in my mind as no one would come with me and I couldn't do it. I went in once and ended up running straight out and had to rest at the side as I literally couldn't breathe from being there...

So basically, anxiety affects a lot of people in very different ways and I'm going to try and talk about it in a normal way but it will probably sound awkward... Anxiety is the word that we use to describe feelings of unease/fear etc. We may all experience anxiety when we're nervous about something. This could be a job interview or a big presentation or exams or anything like that...

We usually relate anxiety and anxiety attacks to the flight/fight response... The fight/flight response links to evolution When you feel under threat, your body releases hormones such as adrenaline. The hormones can help prepare you to either fight the situation or fly away from it. When the danger has stopped your body releases other hormones to help you calm down which can cause shakiness... Our bodies naturally do this and we can't help it...

Anxiety for me is a weird thing... I literally worry about everything. I worry about getting on the wrong train even though im on the right one but the conductor hasn't announced the stops, i'm worried that my friends don't actually like me, I worry that people are judging me when I eat so sometimes I zone out and imagine that theyre not there or I move to an isolated corner and eat there... I have panic attacks and I'm worried that I'm going to have a panic attack in the middle of a public place or that I wont even get the job at an interview before they've interviewed me. I can't go to a gig/event/outing with friends without knowing at least 2 weeks to a month in advance so I could be ready for everything within my head. I literally am worried about everything unless I have someone that I trust with me which is difficult because I worry about everyone screwing me over so I rarely trust people...

I'm going to talk about panic/anxiety attacks next so if you find it a bit distressing then you can finish reading here or scroll past or whatever suits you the best.  A panic attack is an exaggeration of your body's responses to fear/stress etc. It's the build up of physical sensations. This could include pounding heartbeat, sweating, nausea, chest pains, shakiness, unable to breathe etc. When I have had a panic attack, I have definitely felt a lot of these and this could be anywhere. I have had a panic attack in college, in the middle of Leeds, in the middle of Alexandra Palace in the midst of 7000+ people and so forth. I just feel that the best way to help someone that is having a panic attack is to tell them everything is going to be okay and hug them instead of telling them to breathe as it feels a bit stupid as if we could breathe then we wouldn't be having a panic attack...

So I'm going to leave this at here and I hope that you have enjoyed the blog post. I shall see you tomorrow for another MIM post. I hope that you watch the rambly video that goes along with this post. I shall see you tomorrow for another Meowing In May post!

Today's Video: https://youtu.be/6-RVOHYJ4m8

Meow!
Jamie x

Friday 8 May 2015

MIM: Fashion Advice!

Meow, welcome to another MIM post. Today's post is going to be about fashion! I asked you guys on Facebook to ask me some fashion problems that you have and I tried to answer them! Answers may differ from the video!

Q1:  I have to buy mens clothes in extremely big sizes because even the normal sized mens clothes end up looking like female clothes on me! What can I do?
A1: I would try to bulk it out if possible as you can now get padding... It sounds stupid but also try and buy thick shirts such as a flannel shirt. I would also recommend doing what you're already doing as the bigger sizes will be baggy which means that they won't really stick to your silhouette. Sorry that I can't help much more on this question...

Q2: What can I do about being different sizes within two different stores?
A2: I can't really help that because of the stores but your best answer is to decide on which stores you want to shop at before you go out and check the size guiding on their website which means that you will already know which size you fit into and you don't have to try masses of clothes on and then end up feeling disappointed at the end of the day.

Q3: What can I do about my shirt showing my bra/breasts within the gap between the buttons?
A3: It's going to sound a little bit plain and stupid but the best thing to do is to wear a lightweight vest over it therefore if anything does get revealed then it will be the vest and not your bra/breasts.

Q4: I'm a male and when I go to buy jeans, I realise that I am an awkward size which means a regular leg is too short but a large is too big... What can I do?
A4: Your best bet is to buy a large and cut it where you need it to be. This seems wasteful but if you recycle the offcuts then they can be used for other things. You can always get tailored jeans which fit to your leg which would also solve this problem.

Q5: I have legs so skinny that even super spray on jeans are baggy on me. What can I do?
A5:  Sadly, not a lot can be done. As I suggested in the last question, you could always get tailored jeans or a belt can stop the sagging of the jeans to the point that they're baggy. I'm sorry that I can't help much with this one...

Thanks to the people that sent the questions in! I hope that you've enjoyed this little question and answer post and I hope to see you tomorrow for another MIM post. Don't forget to leave your fashion problems in the comment section below. Don't forget to watch the video version as well!

Today's Video: http://youtu.be/ksdNkYmnjJs

Meow!
Jamie x