Ali

Image Credit: Disney

Wow. Breathtaking. Perfection.

In three words that is how I would describe this movie. I had such high expectations for it and it lived up to every expectation I had. So let's talk Beauty and the Beast, the live action.

Emma Watson was/is the perfect actor choice for Belle, come to think of it I have no idea who else could have played Belle she did it so well. Now I may be biased, I love Emma Watson, as a massive Harry Potter fan how could I not love her? But she truly did this role justice.

The scene I highly anticipated was the Be Our Guest scene, and boy did it deliver. I sat in the cinemas silently singing along trying not to cry at how perfect it was. It was my favourite song form the original, so I only prayed I would love it as much in this movie, and I did - if not more! The colours, the singing, man just the entire scene, words can't explain.

And I can't forget the ballroom scene, as pictured above, that was just breathtakingly beautiful. Whereas Be Our Guest was upbeat, funny and made you want to dance, The ballroom scene made you really fall in love with Belle and the Beast, if you didn't love them already. And her dress! Gosh, if only I could wear a dress like that one day to waltz in, absolutely stunning!

Josh Gad as Lafou...brilliant. I didn't take much notice of Lafou in the animation, he was there but he wasn't a big part of the film for me. In this movie, Lafou was everything. Hell, I loved Lafou more than I loved the Beast. His one liners had you in fits of laughter and just the way he held himself, man I just loved Lafou. Thank you Josh.

In the animation I hated Gaston, he was boring, up himself and I couldn't care less about him. But in the live action, I loved Gaston. He was hilarious, still up himself as you expect from Gaston, but man he was just on point. Another brilliant casting.

Lumiere was always my favourite between himself and Cogsworth in the animation, but in the live action Cogsworth stepped up. Many of his lines had me in fits of laughter, and I can't deny that Sir Ian McKellen is one of the greatest actors ever - so of course he played the part perfectly.

Overall it was a brilliant film with dazzling effects and amazing cinematography paired with an excellent cast - if you haven't seen it, what are doing? Watch it now!

Let me know in the comments below your thoughts on the movie, I'd love to know!

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Meet Celaena Sardothien. Beautiful. Deadly. Destined For Greatness.

In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake. She got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament - fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin's heart by mended?

This book was recommended to me ages ago by a friend, so I made sure I added it to my ever growing To Read book list. I was excited to read it as my friend, and other people (YouTubers/Bloggers), loved this book so much. I was even more excited to pick it up after reading A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, it was in that book series (man I can't wait for the third book!) that I really enjoyed her writing style and decided what the hell so bought the entire Throne of Glass series, well what was published anyway.

I dove into this series having so much hope for it, and then couldn't get through more than a few chapters at a time. The first 100 pages took me over 5 months to get through! I just couldn't get into it, but I kept reading, praying it would get better as everyone said it was amazing. This is always my biggest problem, I always give a book at least the first 100 pages to excite me, if it doesn't I don't read it anymore.

Thankfully it was around the 100 page mark this booked really picked up, and then I wasn't able to put it down and literally read the rest of it within 24 hours. Now if I can read a book (or at least the majority of it) in that short amount of time, it's a great book in my eyes. Sure I struggled through the first 100 pages not being able to get into it, but I can assure you if you have the same problem - keep reading!

This book had mystery, magic, humour and love all thrown into one. Celaena is such a badass warrior who has clearly gone through some terrible stuff in her life time, I love her attitude and love that she isn't just some young girl who wants to be saved, she knows what she wants and she goes for it. So if you're a lover of Fantasy/Young Adult fiction with a very strong female lead - read it!! I'm currently reading the second book and it's even better, plus no slow start.

If you've read the book let me know your thoughts in the comments below, I'd love to know what other people think about it.

I've left the link to Book Depository below so you can find the book, and no I'm not paid by them or anything, it's just the website I use to buy all my books. I've also left my Goodreads account link so we can be friends!

You can find Throne of Glass on Book Depository
My Goodreads account

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In January of 2016 I went on a 5 week holiday to America, okay so it was mainly all Disney...but we went to New York a couple of days before going on our Disney Cruise.

For travelling Australian's this is how long it takes you (roughly, depends where you leave from) to get to New York. For me my travel day consisted of:

Townsville - Brisbane = 2 hours

Brisbane - Los Angeles = 13 hours

Los Angeles - New York = 5.5 hours

Yes, that's roughly 20.5 hours of flying time...not including all the time spent sitting at airports between flights, going through customs etc. It is a big day!

Tip: Try and find a flight that leaves Australia in the morning - this means you will get to America on the same day. For example I left Brisbane at around 11am and got into Los Angeles at 6am. It then meant my flight to New York was all during the day and by the time I arrived in New York it was 8pm and time for bed. I found I didn't suffer much jet lag and found it very easy to get accustomed to the time change.

During my New York stay I stayed at the Row NYC. This hotel, although not entirely the cheapest but not overly expensive, was so close to Times Square I loved it! Being so close to Times Square meant we were close to shops, restaurants...everything! Or it at least felt that way.

It's a very modern hotel and the room we stayed in was a Superior room with two double beds. I was with my parents and my sister and yes it felt small, but this was New York. We only used our room to sleep in and get ready for the new day. Plus for us it was still bigger than a cruise room and we are very used to cruising together in the same room. The beds were comfortable, we got free wifi and the entire room was very clean. I would definitely stay here again if I go back to NY some day.

I had 3 full days in New York which felt like enough time as a first timer to the city. In this time I was able to tick off so many tourist attractions I wanted to see, some I definitely would go back to do again. My family and I were a bit worried on how we'd do it all but after recommendations from friends we bought The New York Pass.

This pass gives you entry into many of the attractions around New York including tour buses. We figured out before hand that with this pass we'd save money on all the attractions we wanted to fit in our 3 days in NY - so definitely check it out. Have some sort of plan though on what you want to see. If you don't plan to do many attractions this might not be for you.

What my family and I loved about this though was the hop on - hop off bus tours we had access to. We could travel around New York and when they mentioned particular attractions we'd hop off check it out and then hop on another bus later and keep moving along.

During my 3 day stay in New York I visited the:

9/11 Memorial & Museum

A must see if you're in New York! Obviously it can be quite a sad experience but it's part of New York's history and it truly is interesting to see everything and hear some of the stories from the people who lived through it.

Ferry - Statue of Liberty

I didn't go to the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island, instead we caught a ferry that took us right past it. It even slowed down and allowed us to take some happy snaps. This was so easy and I would recommend everyone doing this. Plus our ferry did have a guide who pointed out many different things along the way.

Top of the Rock - Rockefeller Centre

I loved this experience! I'd say do this over the Empire State Building. For one, you actually get to go to the very top and stand outside with no cage surrounding you - just unlimited views. Plus the elevator ride up is awesome. If you do this and Empire State, do one in the day and the other at night. I did this at night and loved it - I actually think it worked better to do this a night. Also, from this you get a pretty good view of the Empire State Building, so something to think about.

Empire State Building

I felt like this was a must do of New York, but I actually liked the Rockefeller Centre better. Sure the Empire State Building was beautiful, and I can now say I've been there because I feel like most people want to go there, but to me it felt overcrowded. I don't even think I went on a busy day and it felt crowded, maybe going in the morning isn't the best time, I'm not sure. But is the view worth it? Yes it is. Make sure you visit either this building or the Rockefeller Centre because seeing New York from that high up in the sky is pure magic.

The Highline

My sister actually found this and I'm glad she did. The Highline is a walkway, or park, built in Manhattan on an elevated section of a disused railroad. It was so nice to walk above all the streets and just go on a stroll through New York. It surely would be far more vibrant and beautiful in Spring when all the trees and plants and alive and blooming, but I still really enjoyed it.

Wicked on Broadway
My #1 goal in New York, see a Broadway show - and if that was Wicked even better. I'd been wanting to see Wicked for the longest time and I'm so happy I finally did, such an amazing show! We ended up buying tickets off some people selling them in the street, not sure if this is the best way but it was easy and I think we saved money. If you love theatre or musicals this is a must do, not just Wicked but going to Broadway in general.

Central Park
Another must do of New York. The day I went was my coldest day there so I felt like I didn't enjoy it as much as a should've. It was pretty cool to see the pond frozen over and snow covering parts of the grass, and to be honest I liked how the trees had no leaves, it was different. Once again it'd be far better to go in Spring or Summer so you can actually enjoy the park and it's entirety. I'd definitely go back there to explore more.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met)
I'm a massive Gossip Girl fan, so naturally I had to go here just to sit on the steps (you'll understand if you watch Gossip Girl). I then spent only an hour or so, which was not long enough, exploring the different exhibitions. I'm a big ancient history nerd so I was freaking out a little at all the different displays you find in there.

American Museum of Natural History
So it was mainly my sister that wanted to go here, and I'm glad we did, such a neat museum. And if you're wondering, yes this is the museum of Night at the Museum (well based off it, I think they only used external shots in the movie) so if you love that movie, go here. This museum is a more modern museum in my opinion. Where The Met is all beautiful floors, things hung on walls and statues, this museum felt more interactive and more up with the times if that makes sense, as much as I love ancient history, I think I actually preferred this museum.

Grand Central Station
My family and I just walked through here just to see it. It's in so many movies and tv shows, I'm glad I did. Such a majestic building and it really is a quick and easy sight to see. If you're a lover of architecture, you'll love it.

Finding Neverland on Broadway
We picked this show randomly, I'd heard of it and never seen the movie so we thought why not. Plus we had the pleasure of seeing Matthew Morrison and Kelsey Grammer perform. This show was brilliant, really sad and I bawled my eyes out, but beautiful. I loved the set and I loved how certain scenes came to life on the stage, it really was magical to see.

Times Square
Finally, Times Square. Go be one of those people that stands on those steps and takes a picture from the top - trust me it's worth it.

And that was my time in New York done. A busy 3 full days, but I got to see so much and I'm so glad I did. Next time I definitely will not go in winter, I like the cold but not that much. Also I vlogged my holiday, the first video is below if you want to check it out.

And now I leave you with a heap of happy snaps - enjoy!

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I first found out about Hello Fresh while watching one of my favourite YouTubers, The Tim Tracker. At the time I thought, wow, wouldn't it be cool if they came to Australia, I checked online and couldn't see anything so forgot about it.

A couple of months later something appeared in my letterbox, a Hello Fresh brochure! This was in 2016 and I kept mentioning it to my family but we never got it. So, after moving houses and since we are all over grocery shopping we decided to give it a go.

We ordered 1x Classic Box for 4 people for 5 nights and we also ordered a small fruit box to try. When our Hello Fresh box arrived (which I forgot to grab a photo of as we were too excited and starting unpacking it, sorry) we were all so happy with the quality of the food. All the vegetables and fruit they gave you were ripe and to be honest looked too perfect. I loved how the rice, spices etc were all in individual little packets so you always use the right amount for the meal. When you unpack the box the recipes tell you which meals to eat first otherwise we just figured out what meat was expiring first to sort out in what order we should eat the meals.

Something to note, you do need pantry items. These are generally all things you can find in your house already such as oil, butter, water, soy sauce etc. Now onto the yummy meals we got to try!

Garlic & Rosemary Crumbed Lamb with a Warm Broccoli Salad

The lamb was delicious! So tender and yummy. I wasn't too fussed on the salad, mainly because I didn't like the dressing all that much, however my family loved it - so really that's just individual taste. My sister cooked the meal, it was a Level 1 meal and was estimated to take 40 minutes, she said it was rather easy, the hardest or most time consuming part was cutting all the vegetables.

Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Salad with Roasted Cashews

Firstly, sorry there is no photo of all the ingredients, forgot to take a picture. This meal was yummy, it just wasn't my favourite. I liked the flavours, we didn't add chilli as I can't eat really spicy food - my dad did add chilli to his because he loves it. We all thought there was far too much noodles. I'm not sure if we added too many or what, but it was probably my least favourite meal of the week. This was another Level 1 meal and estimated 30 minutes to cook.

Steak with Potato Medallions & Mustard Sauce

This was the first dish I cooked, it was a Level 2 meal and estimated at 45 minutes to cook. I did screw up the potatoes, I cut them too fine and therefore they burned a bit in the oven but still tasted delicious. The steak was amazing! I love a good steak with potato so perhaps I'm a little biased, but I really enjoyed this meal. The mustard sauce on top was really good too and this was my favourite until I had the next dish.

Chermoula Spiced Chicken with Zucchini Pilaf

To start with, this was a Level 1 dish and estimated 50 minutes to cook. I cooked this meal and found it quite easy compared to the steak the night before. Now I thought I wouldn't like this meal, but I loved it so much! The flavours were so good and the dish was incredibly filling, plus we even had leftovers for the next day. The entire family loved this one.

Fetta Stuffed Meatballs with Olive & Cucumber Salad

Start off by putting it out there, I hate fetta, so I definitely did not have any fetta in my meatballs. This was another Level 1 meal that was estimated 40 minutes to cook. So even though I had no fetta in my meatballs, they were still amazing and so yummy. I was also incredibly happy to get some sweet potato, I love it so much. And I thought the cucumber salad was really refreshing, so overall quite a yummy meal.

Overall this was a success. I got to try meals I'd never even think of cooking at home and best of all it's healthy, and made with fresh and local products. The recipes are easy to follow and the estimated cooking times are pretty spot on. I'd recommend everyone giving it a try, especially if you're like me and can't think of new meals to cook for dinner and really hate grocery shopping.

FYI I'm not getting paid or anything to promote Hello Fresh, my family and I just decided to try it and I thought I'd share my first week of meals with you all. If you are interested in trying Hello Fresh you can use THIS LINK - and get $30 off your first box!

If you do order Hello Fresh using this link you do give me $30 off my next box also. Once you start using Hello Fresh everyone is given a link they can send to people to get $30 off their next box.

So go out and give it a try! I did and so far I'm loving it.

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You know how some people get excited for their birthday? I've never been one of those people. I don't know why, it's just never phased me.

Now you're probably wondering why my cake above doesn't have Happy Birthday Ali on it, well...a couple of years ago my work colleague knew my birthday was coming up but noticed I didn't make a big deal of letting everyone know. So the day of my birthday she bought in a cake that just said 'Ali Is Awesome' which I liked far better than the standard Happy Birthday. It was only fitting that this year my cake read '25 Still Awesome'.

So I'm 25, a quarter of a century. When you're younger you think by the time you reach 25 you'll be married, have a full time job and a house. I have none of those things and still fumble my way around, which I'm not mad about in any way it's just funny that when you're young you build this perception of what life will be when you're older and the only thing I'm really nailing at 25 is travel, which I am definitely not complaining about.

So for my 25th birthday I thought I'd answer 25 questions, mainly just to capture my thoughts and how I felt at this particular time, like a time capsule, only online. I found other blogs where people answered a heap of questions so I've picked questions from all over the place to answer. So without further ado, 25 Questions on my 25th Birthday.

1. What is the date and time?

Tuesday 21 February 2017, 9:09pm.

2. What is the weather like?

Hot! I currently live in Townsville, North Queensland and it's never not hot. Plus it's been raining on and off so the humidity is ridiculous. I prefer colder climates.

3. What's the last movie you saw?

The Blind Side. I was flicking through the channels the other night and noticed it had just started - such a brilliant movie.

4. What was the last song you listened to?

Rey's Theme - John Williams from the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Soundtrack. I love movie scores, and I'd like to let you finish but John Williams is the best composer of movie scores of all time! No seriously though, John Williams music is amazing.

5. What do you do for living?

Well currently I'm on contract and work with websites and social media. And in my spare time I like to work on websites (such as my blog) and social media (YouTube, Twitter, Instagram). So my life revolves around the internet.

6. Do you want children?

Yes, eventually. Just need to find a partner first...

7. What do you see yourself doing in the next year?

Working and saving money to travel. Lot's of travelling will happen in the next year.

8. How do you feel at this moment?

Tired, yet epic. Only epic because I'm listening to movie scores and the song I just listened to was really dramatic.

9. How often do you laugh?

Every day. I make myself laugh, the people I work with make me laugh and my dogs are ridiculous and make me laugh.

10. Do you have siblings? How many?

I technically have 2 brothers and 2 sisters. I say technically because my oldest sister is my half sister and I don't see her much. My 2 brothers are only half brothers but I don't think of them like that, they are just my brothers who I see all the time and love dearly. And then there is my little sister, she is the only sibling where we have the same mum and dad.

11. When was the last time you cried?

The other day while watching the Blind Side. A tear always rolls down my cheek when Michael is so happy because he has his own bed.

12. What do you do in your spare time?

Uh, what everyone else does? I catch up on tv shows, watch movies, read a book or if I'm behind on my blog posts or YouTube videos I work on those.

13. Picture yourself in 5 years from now.

Married, maybe with a kid on the way. If not I'll most likely be looking forward to my next holiday.

14. What's the first thing you do in the morning?

Drink water, before I die. Seriously that's how I feel in the morning if I don't get water ASAP.

15. What are you thinking just before you go to bed?

If I go to sleep now, how many hours of sleep will I get before I have to wake up...seriously, every night I ask myself this question.

16. How do you travel to work?

With my dad :) Car pooling is great, and I don't have to pay for parking.

17. Name the thing that annoys you the most.

It really annoys me that because I live in Australia I can't get things posted to me or delivery is through the roof expensive. I swear just because I live I Australia I pay more for everything. Well that's how I feel anyway.

18. Do you regret anything?

#NORAGRETS

19. What is your favourite meal?

Asian food. Any sort of Asian food, just not Sushi.

20. What is your favourite movie?

Well staying away from movie series or trilogies - it's Twister, hand's down.

21. Do you drink alcohol?

Nope. Just don't like the taste.

22. What are you proud of?

I struggled with this question. What am I proud of? I'm pretty proud that at the age of 25 I can say I've travelled to a heap of countries and been on over 12 cruises...I think it's 12, I've lost count. I've also been been to 3 Disney parks and only have 3 more to get to and then I can say I've been to them all, that's something to be proud of right?

23. If there is one thing in your life you'd want to change right now, what is it?

My damn neck/shoulder/upper back problem! I don't think a 25 year old should have so many problems but here I am.

24. What are your thoughts about turning 25 today?

I can now hire a car without paying a fortune, and my insurance company trusts me more now. That's pretty damn exciting.

25. Sum up your life in one sentence.

Eat, sleep, travel, repeat.

Happy Birthday to me!

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