A - Z Of Little Old Me*
Heading out to my happy place: The Isle Of Wight.
*Not so little and really not all that old.
Ok you got me - another blogger trend I couldn't NOT join in with. I have seen the A - Z of me tag floating around for ages and bloggers taking part and I actually genuinely think it's a really fun way of getting to know the blogger behind the blog. As they say.
So hopefully you're not too bored of these tags already and uhhh if you are, probs best just check back in tomorrow boo.
A - Alcohol. I mentioned this in a post briefly but I don't drink and I never really have. I've tried it don't get me wrong but I just never had an interest in it so I never bothered to carry on. Legit can't remember the last time I even had a sip of alcohol but it's coo, it's not a big deal to me.
B - Brother. I only have one sibling and that is my little brother who is now working in a full time job with a flat and a fiancé and a daughter and making me feel a little bit like I need to get my shit together. We are only 20 months apart in age so we were a year apart in school and can essentially get away as twins - something we have done successfully. I loved being a similar age because we always wanted to do the same things, always went to the same school and actually ended up being really close and I've always thought I'd do the same when I have kids.
C - Cash. Bit of a cheat one but I'd already filled J & W by the time I wrote this. My favourite every film is Walk The Line about the life of singer Johnny Cash. My Dad was watching it a few years back and I happened to be in the room when it started and I just ended up watching the whole thing. I've probably watched it every year since and I can never get enough - I have no idea why it grabbed me so much.
D - Driving. I didn't learn to drive when I was 17 other than a few goes in my Dad's car on my Uncle's land and then did a summer of lessons when I was 18 only to never book a test. I finally decided to actually try and learn to drive when I was the ripe old age of 23, last November. I did an intensive course, learnt in 3 weeks and passed my test first time with 5 minors, bought my baby blue Citroen C1 Noelle (yes it's named) in December and basically haven't stopped driving since.
E - Eating. A hobby I'm sure a lot of you can relate to. Like a lot of twenty something girls can relate to I'm sure, I'm not always happy with my weight or the way I look all the time but I like food too much to do anything about it. I am actually one of those annoying people who would prefer to eat a shed load of fruit rather than like a burger and I also have a nut allergy meaning I can't eat a lot of things so my eating habits are VERY picky. My absolute favourite food is chips in any form, greasy from the chippy, homemade by Mum, wedges made by me, McCains...the list goes on and on.
F - Family. Up until October last year me and my family lived under one roof (minus the 3 years me and my brother were at uni). My Mum and Dad have been married for 25 years and outside the house of us 4, I spose I have a pretty big family when I start counting. We had a pretty traditional upbringing and we had the importance of our family ingrained into our mentality since, well, forever.
G - Gwennan. Oh hey that's me! My full name is Gwennan Elizabeth Rees and I run this little blog! Gwennan is a Welsh name, there aren't a lot of us about and most people have generally never heard it, much less know how to pronounce it. FYI it depends how you prefer it/how your parents pronounce it but mine is GWEN-UN, not Gwen-ann despite popular belief. It means 'Blessed' and I actually really like having such an unusual name.
H - Hair. My hair is one thing that makes people recognise me in a crowd. It's one of them styles that you won't find in a lineup of hair dye, it's ginger, it's auburn, it's blonde, it's a bit gold. It changes in the seasons and goes shades lighter in the summer and I love it. I don't *think* I'd ever change it but let's never say never right? My hair is currently the longest it's ever been, FINALLY past my boobs and it's pretty straight, has a couple of waves at the bottom where my layers are growing out but is SUPER fine and has no volume. Such is life. I dyed the bottom half bright pink in 2014 and as I type this I'm sat waiting for my hairdresser to come and dye it again cos I missed it too much.
I - Illustration. I studied illustration, children's publishing and graphic novels at university and now I am a self employed, freelance illustrator. Illustration if you don't know is drawn interpretation of text (loose explanation) so can be in books, posters, graphics, products, whatever. I do a bit of everything and I run an illustration website for my work separate to blogging and I have an Etsy shop too.
J - Joss. Joss (Joseph) is my boyfriend of 6 and a half years whom I live with and have mentioned a few times here and there in my blog (this one and this one are my particular two fav posts he makes an appearance in.)
K - Kardashians. Like many shite tv programmes I now watch (looking at you Hollyoaks, Made In Chelsea, Real Housewives, Peter Andre and many more), I used to scorn about people who enjoyed them. Cue university and Freshers and now I have an addiction to reality TV I can't break - my absolute favourite of which is Keeping Up With The Kardashians. I think everyone who hates the living bones off them needs to watch a few episodes because the entire family is fucking hilarious and I think you'll get a better insight into some of the things they do. If nothing else they are fabulous businesswomen - they know EXACTLY what they're doing. Also definitely read this post by my gorgeous pal Hailey for all the KUWTK love.
L - Languages. I was always pretty decent at learning languages. I did Welsh, German and French at school and I was on track for an A* at GCSE French till I knobbed it up with my reading exam. Lol. I did Welsh a year early so I sat my GCSE when I was 15 and did my A Level at 16 and then promptly forgot everything I learnt. It's one of my NYE resolutions to learn more Welsh and 8 months into the year I have done.....nada.
M - Mildred. Mildred is the family tortoise shell cat who came to us as a stray 6 years ago. She waltzed in and lorded about the place and basically never left. Until the real baby came along (more on her next), she is the baby of the family and is hideously spoilt, she essentially owns the place and we're her mere slaves.
N - Niece. I mention this little girl probably at least weekly in my blog but for those of you who somehow missed it, I have a niece (currently 1) who is basically the love of my life. She's my little brother's baby gal who was born last year and tipped our world upside down with her manic ways. I look after her at least twice a week and we do a lot of fun stuff together.
O - Organised. I cannot stand not being organised. Filing is life. I am one of these people that has a mini meltdown if someone asks me to do something or go somewhere like the day before. I have my plans organised in advance, off the cuff is not my forte. I need spreadsheets, I need lists, I need diaries. And it funds my need for stationery so that's not so bad either.
P - Phobias. Phobias is probs the wrong world but I didn't know what other category to put this in. There are certain things that go right through me and make me feel genuinely ill, like sick to my stomach and the biggest of this is polystyrene. I cannot STAND it. If something comes in the post wrapped in it I have to get my Mum to sort it. If I have chips in it from the chippy I have to hold my breath, idk, I can't stand the stuff.
Q - Queen. Cheating cheating cheating. When I went to Reading Festival in 2011 I watched the headliners and one of my favourite bands My Chemical Romance on the Friday night and when they finished their set and came on for the encore they started playing the beat to We Will Rock You before them came on stage. They made it last ages, they played it over and over again and all over the crowd was whispers of 'is that We Will Rock You?'. People started clapping alone (picture that scene in A Knight's Tale) and then out came Gerard Way with Bryan May and it was INSANE. They also played Welcome To The Black Parade together and it was honestly one of the coolest things I have ever seen, the place was jumping.
R - Remember. My memory is impeccable for remembering past events, for remembering birthdays, for remembering things you've said in an argument and bringing it back up (I love me too). My first memory is from when I was 2 and whilst not all that happy a memory, it still impresses me I can recollect it so well from such a young age. My memory for little things however is awful. Day to day tasks will fall by the wayside, I'll remember 2 out of 10 items on a shopping list......I need to write everything down or I'll never get anything done.
S - Shoes. My one true love. I tend not to count how many pairs of shoes I have but to give you an example, I have a rack which houses my 'most worn' shoes that I grab quickly when I'm running out of the door and it's 12 pairs of boots. Just boots. I would hazard a guess that I have around 30 pairs of shoes and that's after having a clear out when I moved. They are however 90% Primark so I probably haven't spent that much in total.....right?
T - Twenties. Hence the name of my blog, I am in my twenties and it's basically 99% of my material. As I type this I am 23 but lord know when you'll be reading this so I'm probs still in my twenties anyway. My birthday is 17th of October if you want to buy me a little summin summin FYI.
U - University. As previously mentioned I did a BA undergrad degree in Illustration, Children's Publishing and Graphic Novels and I studied in Wrexham in North Wales. In hindsight maybe I've started thinking is university for everyone and maybe it would be better to get on the career ladder at 18 not spend 30,000 quid on studying but hey - I'd still do it all over again. I loved my time at uni, I loved living away and finding out I wasn't actually homesick, I loved my independence, I loved my little house, I loved Wrexham and I loved the memories I made there - it'll always feel like going home.
V - Vale Cider. Vale Cider is the name of my boyfriend's parents business. I live with them on their farm with all the dogs and animals and all the family (they are loads of us) and on their land they grow apples in their orchards and make them into cider! We all work for them throughout the year at markets and events and all have a apple green (naturally) uniform too. I mentioned in this post a job I worked on with them before Christmas.
W - Wales. Yes with a name like mine, I think you might have already realised I am Welsh. I have lived in South Wales all my life and I even stayed for university - albeit at the other end of the country. I can't speak Welsh much to my eternal shame but I am hideously proud of my country and of my long line of Welsh ancestors. Cymru am byth.
X - Xmas. Lol all the cheat letters. Every year I start tweeting and writing about summer and how much I love the late nights and the drives and the sunglasses and not having to go out with a coat and then every year summer comes and I'm like meh not that bothered, get me in boots and a tartan scarf stat. My absolute favourite time of year is Christmas. I start planning it in about October after my birthday, I start buying weeks in advance, I start wrapping and sending cards on December 1st.....all to make it go on for as long as possible. Let me work in one of them all year round Christmas shops and I'd be happy.
Y - Ych Y Fi. If you've ever heard a Welsh person utter these words you might be a bit like wtf language are you speaking. It basically means ugh, yuck and we say it A LOT. We say it when we don't like something, we say it when something is gross, we say it to describe a person and we say it when we're teaching kids something is dirty. It's something my grandmother used to say to me when I was little if I'd pick up like some rubbish or a stone or a bug or something and it stuck so much I say it to my niece to explain she shouldn't do something. She now says yuck because we all say it so much.
Z - Zodiac. Cos of my birthday I am a Libra and when I Googled to see what that supposedly meant it said Libra's ruling planet (idk) is Venus who is the lover of beautiful things meaning Libra's are often surrounded by art, music and beautiful places which I think is a pretty good fit for me. It did also say they find it hard to make a decision and carry a grudge which is also true of me so lol can't have it all I spose.