You want a Pizza me??

Dear Chummy,

Something a little different for you today, a recipe. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

For the base:

300g Plain Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

300g Natural Yoghurt

1/2 tsp Salt

For the sauce:

Tin of Tomato Passata 

1 Tsp Mixed Herbs

2 Pinches of Caster Sugar

1 Garlic Clove

Toppings:

Whatever you fancy

[I have red onion, cherry tomatoes, spinach, mozarella, ricotta, cheddar and sometimes parma ham]

Method:

• First things first (i'm the realest), preheat the oven to gas mark 7/220 degrees and place trays in there to heat.
• To make the sauce, grate the garlic and add that, the passata, herbs and sugar into a saucepan at a medium heat. Let this simmer for 10 minutes until it is thick and take it off of the heat, season with a sprinkling of salt and pepper and let it cool.
• To make the dough, sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and combine. Make a well in the middle and pour the yoghurt in and stir with a fork. The mixture will soon form a dough. Turn this out onto a floured surface and knead to form a ball. 
• Depending on how big you want the pizzas, divide the dough into equal pieces (the original recipe says 4, but for a fairly large pizza I split into 2). Roll these into circles, or whatever pizza shape you fancy. 
• Remove the hot baking trays from the the oven and place your pizza bases on top and bake each for 3-4 minutes until they begin to rise then take them out (don't burn yourself, I know what you're like).
• Turn your pizza bases over and top with the sauce.
• Now it's time to get creative, go crazy with your chosen toppings and make something that won't just taste delicious but will look it too.
• Once you're done channeling your inner italian pizzeria chef, pop those bad boys back in the oven and bake for a further 5 minutes until the bases are crisp and the cheese is melted and you're happy as larry.
• Now you're ready to taste the best homemade pizza you've ever had. You're welcome.

Caio,

Chelsea.

Feeling Inspired

Dear Chummy,

Reading through your last post has left me inspired; I really want to do more with my life too. I need to stop slouching around at home feeling so sorry for myself because frankly I have just about had enough of feeling so depressed and doing absolutely nothing about it. It's time to change. I'm not going to bore you with a list of things I should do this year because that would just be copying you, and its 2016 now I need to start standing on my own two feet and thinking solo, but I will say this; I do have a list, and I'm going to try and stick to it this time, like you should.

We have a lot to look forward to this year and even with college I have projects that excite me just a tiny bit… We're making music video's next. Originally I had planned to film one for Out Of The Woods however Taylor has beat me to it, I'll let her off though, I mean it is her song. And its ok because I have new ideas for a different song from the album; I want to film a really deep video for Clean because lately that song has been a real eye opener to me. The song is so special to me for different reasons and I think if I chose a song that has meaning to me then it will be easier to create a better music video don't you think? Anyway I'm just happy that I have that horrendous sustainable packaging project out of the way, well nearly, I just needed to add a few changes to get it to a distinction -  Im extremely proud of that grade actually considering I fell so far behind everyone with this work that I didn't think a pass was possible.

I need to start thinking about getting ready for uni, I really want to go to one in London. I have looked into it and I need to come out of college with DDM to get in so I'm going to work extra hard to achieve that. I feel like this course is so much better suited to me than photography, I'm glad something in my head changed and I decided to go back to college. Also the uni wants to see that you do filming outside of college and stuff so in summer Ellis and I are going to crack on with making music videos and short films, I think we should make a travel one when we go away too. I'm going to set up a Youtube which should be cool (I don't want to be on camera though, I'm far too awkward)

Oh my god, I just looked over your post again about wanting to be well-read. A few days ago I joined a new website, Good Reads, I think you should sign up (add me). It's really cool you can add books you want to read and keep track of books you have already read. I think you'll really like this website, I know I do and I'm going to try my best to keep up to date with it too. Talking about books and being well-read and you wanting to write more reminded me that I really want to get into poetry, I absolutely love reading poetry and I wish I could write it. It think in the summer we should take a short class on it or something like that, I don't know, maybe. Or a short course on learning a language, another skill I've wanted to have for a while.

I do indeed think we should change our blog up a bit. Maybe we should research into how to make it look cool and fresh so that other people would be just as interested in it as we are. Can you imagine if this blog ever became popular and people loved the idea of it and started doing the same thing? Or that we got noticed by a Tv show like Ellen that wanted us to talk about it - now I'm being too ambitious haha! Anyway I think we should definitely talk about it more when we see each other next, it's easier that way.

And on that note; I am so excited to see you again soon!!! You don't understand how much I actually need you here with me right now (It's a lot) so hurry up and get here, I miss you so much!

See you later, alligator
Georgia xxxx

Mid-January Realisations.

Dear Chummy,

I have started and rewritten this post many times of the past few days and I feel like it is late. I'm not sure why I feel that way considering we haven't set any particular deadlines this year, but it is motivating me to just write and be done with it. I have done an awful lot of reflecting recently and I have realised that life has a tendency to throw all manner of struggles at us and that we just have to deal with them, and  it is usually how we deal with them that defines us. It makes us stronger, we learn and we grow and life just sort of goes on. Following this realisation I have been thinking about things I want to work on this year, and I know it's the 16th of January but  I don't think you need the first of a month to tell you when to make a change.

Mid-January Realisation #1: Put effort into my degree, stop pretending it doesn't exist.
Having had three examinations this week; definitely failing one, maybe scraping a pass in the second and not even turning up to the third has really thrown things into perspective for me. I am at a bloody good university, I have access to a top class education, and libraries and some of the greatest minds and do you know what? I haven't really appreciated it. Not one bit. I have been fighting to get through my degree, drowning in the work and not even attempting to swim. I have wanted it to be over since it started. Now I am half way through and I am fed up. I am fed up of feeling inadequate and defeated. I can do this. If I try, I can do this. I want a good mark. I want to succeed. I do not want to drown any more. So from this struggle and disappointment comes a new sense of purpose. Things need to change, I need to start putting the effort in - I've made it this far, I can make it the rest and I can make it count.

Mid-January Realisation #2: Become well-read, knowledgeable and cultured.
This new motivation has also given me a desire to become more well-read. I want to know about the world, and what's going on in it. I want to have opinions and intelligent discussions with people. I'm tired of sitting back and just listening. I am the biggest listener. I need to know about things and I want to write about them. I really really want to write more, and I want to get good at it. I want to become cultured too. I want to see things and learn, fuck I think I just want to be a sponge. A sponge with an opinion. I want to know more about politics too, people talk about it and I really cant comment because I don't understand it. I think it would be good to learn a language as well. Maybe I'm just being a bit ambitious now?

Mid-January Realisation #3: Let those creative juices flow.
With regards to the whole writing thing, I generally want to be more creative - I have always had a very scientific brain and feeling as though I'm not even good at that anymore is pushing me to become more acquainted with my creative side. I want to take more photographs and good ones too (I swear I say that in every post) and I just want to take full advantage of any shred of creativity I have ya know?

Now I have titled each paragraph, I feel pressured to write about more realisations I have had but I am afraid they are very generic and I really don't want to sound like every other person, so I'm going to be a button in a bag of zips (idk) and just end that segment right here.

On a completely unrelated note; I really enjoyed the chummy letters thing your mum said and I've been thinking about maybe updating the design of this blog - changing it up, making it more stylish, maybe trying to get a wider audience - changing it's name around. I'm going to brainstorm. but let me know whatcha think :). Also my next post will deffo include pictures, I promise.

Later Skater,
Chels.

Nuevos Comienzos

Dear Chummy,

Your letter was very exciting to read, I am definitely looking forward to this year with you it will be a good one. I know 2015 wasn't the best year for you but we had some amazing times and created some unforgettable memories that I will honestly cherish forever and ever. I really want to pay a tribute to that year in this post because to me it was one of the best years of my life. I finally did things that made me happy with the people that made me happy and although I lost and learnt along the way (yes, I'm talking about lending people you call your 'friend's money, and nearly a year later and still not getting it back) but I replaced those people with new friends that are amazing, I can't wait for you to meet them.

Happy things to remember about 2015;

• Trips to London, just the two of us was so much fun. Visiting and seeing a different side to the city - we still need to go back to that museum that was closed and the cat cafe
• Getting a tattoo, I know this seems like something we shouldn't be happy about however I have started to like it more now because people always ask me about it, why do you have a boat? why did you get this tattoo? what does it mean? - these questions always make me think of you and how we got them for friendship and whenever I catch it out of the corner of my eye I now smile because it represents us truly being best friends forever. 
• Trips to different cities in Europe, both Cologne and Amsterdam. These two places were so much fun, and more fun because I was there with you. Visiting the beautiful cathedral and art museums and eating the best chicken selection boxes at mcdonalds in Germany to the cute cat museum and art museums and walks around Amsterdam city. AND OF COURSE SEEING TAYLOR SWIFT!!!!
• Seeing Taylor with you 3 times was the highlight of my year, making the costumes and wearing them and all the lights and glitter and signs and everything was amazing! She really did know how to put on the best shows ever. I think I will always remember the clean performance and crying at it. Again I wouldn't have had so much fun looking like a fool dancing and singing my heart out if you weren't there to join me. - I also think if we had worn our outfits for the manchester show we definitely would have been meeting her, I saw mama swift look at us loads of times. (Theres always next time)
• Living and working with you in Bristol (I know it wasn't for long but) I had an awesome time experiencing life as a student for that time. I also loved watching movies/documentaries/tv shows with you and ordering food at 2 in the morning because thats what time we thought was appropriate to eat dinner. Maybe I can do the same again this summer.
• Random visits and sleepovers are always fun whatever year we have them but I thought I would mention them in this post.
• Going to the beach and being attacked by the sand, not fun that was actually really painful but I still enjoyed recreating our photos on the fair rides. 

Theres probably more but I stayed up late so many times in a row so far the past couple of weeks I think its finally hitting me. I might actually finish this post tomorrow…. (update: I went to sleep, and came back to it today)

Your letter arrived today, I loved it so much! Thank you for that, I really needed something to cheer me up, I'm going to keep it forever and the photo was the cutest - I put it on my wall already.

    Im looking forward to you visiting me soon so we can go for walks at like one in the morning in our pyjamas and take photos and genuinely catch up! We can watch a season of the vampire diaries if I buy it before you come (unless you already have it, then bring it with you, remember when I cried like a baby at the end of season 5. I was not ready for that emotion)! We can also go and see jess about the money if she's even there hmm.

I think you'll appreciate the fact that I'm listening to Justin while I type this post, getting me excited to see him. Do you think he'll perform songs from journals? I hope so, that album was so underrated. Im still annoyed you can't buy a physical cd copy of it, although we can get the vinyl thats cool. We will totally meet him on tour, omg remember when I told everyone he'd gone and they started shouting hate at me? lol

Small bucket list we can constantly add to,
2016:

• See Justin and meet him obviously 
• Travel to more places
• Visit more museums
• Take more photos (polaroid, film and digital)
• Make the most of life
• Be happy 
• See more of each other
• Get through education 
• Worry about money less 
• Keep up to date with this blog more
• Send more cards (getting post makes me happy)
• VIDEO MORE TO MAKE ONE AT THE END OF THE YEAR OF EVERYTHING WE DID IN 2016, - I think this is such a good idea to look back on in a few years. 

I don't really know what else to write about so I'll leave it here I'm sure you're getting bored of reading this now anyway. 

Love and miss you so so so so much

Georgia xx

Ps: the title means new beginnings in spanish, you should know that because you did that at school, I put it because Spain is one of the places we're seeing Justin

New Year, New Posts?

Dear Chummy,

Having both said that we miss keeping this blog up to date I have taken the responsibility of writing the first post. The first post in 7 months; the first post of the new year. I'm not going to bother with a catch up post, I'm not going to focus on the past. Instead I want to focus on the future because that's what gives me hope and I have high hopes for the next year. I want to actually sort my life out ya know (said every person ever), put effort in with my degree rather than pretend it doesn't exist, save money, sort out my love life and eat properly. I feel like 2016 is going to be the year that I actually grow up. I think it needs to be. I need to be happy. We have a few plans for the next year, and even though you don't seem excited yet, they're going to be great - and we're going to have more.

The most exciting plan is hands down going to be the Purpose Tour. I honestly can't wait to stand in that crowd in front of my idol, with my bestest friend. I can't wait to be singing our hearts out to songs that have helped me throughout basically all of my teen years, so cliche. Tour is going to be so much fun, posters and fairy lights. Imagine if we met him. After all this time. I say that like we haven't met him before but sometimes I don't really count that.

I can't wait to see some new cities with you. I've been looking into Madrid and there's mountains not far from the city and we can go on hikes, and it's a really historic city with heaps to do. I'm also thinking because it's still 11 months away, plenty of time to save money (don't worry just yet, and I got u anyway because I'm only excited about this because you're coming), Madrid is only £6 coach from Barcelona so it will be so easy to go there too for a couple of days - I mean we might as well. We can go to beaches too and definitely Justin's other spanish show ;). Oslo will be just as incredible, I'm excited to go in February so I can explore a bit and figure out where we need to stay and exciting things we can do - I bet there is some amazing hiking routes there too! And we can go sledging as well in knee deep snow and take LOADS of photos.

Here is a really good website I've found that looks useful: http://www.eurocheapo.com/blog/category/spain/madrid - this is the link for madrid, but they have stuff on other countries too.

I've decided that this year I actually do really want to get the purpose tattoo. 2015 was a tough year for me, and if all goes to plan I can turn that around this year, put things right, find my purpose. On top of this I have always wanted to get a Justin related tattoo, a subtle one, and this seems perfect. I think I'll get it when we see him in Oslo, fitting. 

I'm 21 this year. Scary. I don't really know what to say about that so I'm just going to end it here. Dramatic.

Love and miss you more than anything.

Chelsea xx