Friday Favourites: Sharing the Blog Love

Welcome one and all to Friday Favourites, every week I'm going to be showing you some things online that I have enjoyed that week. Each week will also have a different theme, so that you don't all see the same things all the time!

If you read my New Years Blog Resolutions then you will know that one of them is to Network more, and one of the ways which I wanted to do this was by commenting on other blogs more, and spreading some love. What better way to do that, then to dedicate a whole post to other bloggers, and with it being the beginning of the year, I thought I should share my favourite bloggers of 2014!

I have been reading Becky's blog pretty much as long as I have been blogging.What initially drew me in was her awesome blog design, I mean just LOOK at it *drools everywhere*... Then when I read her posts I was just hooked. I think the thing I love the most about reading Becky's blog is that it's like sitting down with a friend and having a chat. I myself have been lucky enough to meet Becky, twice, and she is just as lovely and approachable in real life, as she is in her blog. If you've never come across her before then I must insist that you go to her blog now...

I hadn't come across Leona's blog before I actually met her. I went to a Bloggers Halloween party hosted by Becky, and there I met Leona. She's bright, and funny, and you can tell she's a great laugh. One of the first things I did after getting back from that party was check out her blog. I was delighted to find that she has a Jack Russell called Rex, who actually looks scarily like my Jack Russell, Maizey. I love reading about Rex and Leona's adventures together, and I will continue to read them for as long as I can!

I honestly don't remember how I stumbled upon Victoria's Vintage, but boy am I glad I did. Victoria's vintage inspired post always brighten up my day (and make me insanely jealous of her home decor). She has the home and style that I aspire to, and she's loves baking, just like me!

Charl(otte)'s blog is another one that I have been reading pretty much since I started up this blog. Her blog is a mixture of all of her thoughts on Beauty, Fashion, and just general life. I think the best think about her blog is her style, it's very up front, and sassy, and perfect for me to be honest. In real life I've very much like Charl is on her blog, so I think that may be why I relate to her so much.

Sophia's blog is just beautiful... She's my go to for reviews on the latest and greatest beauty items being talked about on the blogosphere. She really knows her stuff, and for that reason she's brilliant for people like me, who don't really know a hell of a lot about beauty...

There you are folks, five of my favourite blogs from 2014! Please click the photos to check out the blogs directly and show these ladies some love, and I hope you enjoy their blogs as much as I do every day.

OBC #15: Link Love

Today's prompt is all about celebrating things that I love on the internet, in the hope that maybe some of you will love them too!

I saw this video on Tumblr AGES ago, and I completely forgot about it until I was searching for links to this post, it will make you smile, I guarentee.

This master post on 'How To' Fashion that I found on Tumblr is seriously helpful for people like me who have little to no fashion sense. It also covers how to wear Scarves, T-shirts and even shopping the Menswear section. Seriously helpful...

I love reading Kayleigh's Disney World Diary posts, although I have to admit they make me a tad bit jealous, I do love seeing all of her colourful photos!

I always enjoy reading Leona's Wednesday Love posts, as they always contain things that make me smile, plus Leona is an awesome blogger so get on over there!

I really like this idea for Halloween, we all know I love all things horror and gory, and I'm definitely considering trying to recreate this look for one of the several Halloween partied I have this year.

October Blogging Challenge #4: My Blog Name...

I'm sure that I have mentioned this a million times before in other blogging challenges, but the reason behind my blog name is reality, pretty boring.

My full name is Alyssia Rose Marie Slade. Not Rosemary, Rose Marie. For some reason my doctors surgery has me down as Rose Maria, I really should get that sorted out...

So I guess I could explain my name a little more fully, that might be interesting right?

Slade is a pretty straight forward surname, which according to a couple of websites comes from the Old English Slaed - a valley. Which I didn't know until right now...

My first name was chosen by my mum, so I've been told. According to her, at the time of her pregnancy, my uncle had a girlfriend called Alicia. Mum decided she liked it, but decided to spell my name Alyssia, the slightly less common version of the name. In case you are wondering how to pronounce my name (I get this a lot), it's pronounced 'ah-liss-ee-ah'. Looking on a baby names website, my name is derived from an old German word for 'Noble'. Not sure how far I'd agree with that for myself...

Rose was my grandmother's middle name, so it's nice to know I'm keeping a name in the family. I could have ended up with her first name 'cecily' which my sister ended up with as a middle name!

Similarly to Rose, my other middle name Marie is also a family name. This however is my mothers middle name, which I think is such a nice thing to share with my mother. On the baby name's website Marie apparently means 'Star of the sea', which I am most certainly not. In fact I have a phobia of swimming in the sea...

So why did I decide to name my blog, Alyssiarose? Well to be honest, I wanted my blog to be somewhere that I could write about anything to do with me and my life, so why not name it after myself. Alyssiarose is somewhat of an alter-ego for me, someone confident and beautiful that I strive to be. OK, that sounds kind of dumb...

Getting Personal: Why I started/Why I love blogging!

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During the #lbloggers chat this week the girls were all talking about the reasons behind their blogging, and I realised that I've never really talked about why I blog. I have written a short post about it before, but I didn't really go in depth. 

When I first started Univeristy back in 2010, it was the first time I had been away from my home by myself. Granted I had my boyfriend at the time, but he wasn't there all the time, in fact he was pretty terrible at being there for me those first few weeks. I began to feel horribly alone, although I had friends, as soon as I was alone in my room I felt panicky and horrible. I took comfort in the internet. Youtube became my biggest retreat, and I desperately wanted to make videos and share my experiences with others. At the time I didn't have a decent camera available to me so instead I started a blog (alyssiarose.wordpress.com). Looking back at this blog I can see that I was probably writing it for all the wrong reasons. I wrote VERY personal posts, some were targeted at certain people, and yes, they were written to hurt them. Looking back I was just very upset at the time, and was hurting greatly from my break-up and being alone at Uni. 

Thankfully I met some brilliant friends, mainly Ellie and Elliot, and they made me a lot happier. So I started blogging about other things, like gaming, and makeup. I stopped writing overly personal posts, and trying to upset people and just started writing because I enjoyed it. In November last year I stumbled across Nail Art blogs, I began obsessively reading them and collecting Nail polish. Finally I took the plunge and started Rose Tint My Nails. I found a community of wonderful women who all had Nail blogs and I made some friends. After about a month of writing Rose Tint My Nails, I decided that I wanted to revamp my personal blog, mainly so that I could write about a lot of different things. I moved my blog from Wordpress to Blogger and started taking my blog more seriously! I was so glad when I started gaining followers, although my blog is primarily written for myself I really love knowing that people out there are reading this. 

Since January I've bought my own domain, and had a redesign! I write at least 2 posts a week, have regular features, started a group for Berkshire Bloggers, and have a MILLION plans with what I want to do on this blog! This is a very exciting time for me, my life is about to change in a BIG way. I'm about to graduate and be throw into the adult world. I guess the question is, Will I grow up? We'll see!

I think one of the best things about blogging has to be the community. I love being able to chat to all the other lovely bloggers, and get advice with anything I am struggling with! I'm desperate to go to a blogger meetup, maybe someday soon!

Leave your blog URL's in the comments and let me know what made you start blogging!

31 Day Challenge! Day 23! My Hobbies!

My most obvious hobby is watching film and TV shows! I watch something every day, and I literally can't go a day without watching something or other, but a hobby that I've only recently began to properly enjoy is blogging! I currently run two blogs, this one here and my Nail Blog. Although I haven't posted on my Nail blog for a few weeks it is in no way dead, I am just waiting for my schedule to lighten so I can paint my nails more. Plus I was waiting for my nails to grow out! Incase you haven't seen my nail blog yet here are a few examples of things I have posted in the past:

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Then I just recently started up this blog! I'm going to be getting a bit more serious with my blogging in the coming months, especially when I have graduated. I'm going to be launching my own domain next week, and in preparation my blog will be having a redesign over the coming days. I'm so excited for everything that is to come on this blog and I hope that you guys continue to read and enjoy my blog!

If you want to check out my other challenge days then please click the links below:

• Day 1 - Self Portrait and 5 random facts

• Day 2 - Favourite Quotes

• Day 3 - What makes you happy?

• Day 4 - Best Childhood Memories

• Day 5 - Movies I never get sick of.

• Day 6 - My Last Random Act of Kindness.
• Day 7 - My Dream Job
• Day 8 - My Pet Peeve's
• Day 9 - What is on my Life/Bucket List
• Day 10 - Daily Routine
• Day 11 - The Last Book I Read
• Day 12 - Something I Miss
• Day 13 - Do You Have any Regrets?
• Day 14 - Whats on my iPod?
• Day 15 - What makes me Awesome?
• Day 16 - My Biggest Accomplishment!
• Day 17 - When and Why I started Blogging!
• Day 18 - Where am I happiest?
• Day 19 - 5 Blogs I Read on a Regular Basis
• Day 20 - What do you collect?
• Day 21 - My Biggest Fears...
• Day 22 - What do I do when I am Home Alone?

31 Day Challenge! Day 17! When and Why Did I Start Blogging?

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According to my old blog, my first post was published on the 17th of November 2010. I'm fairly sure I wrote a few posts before then but deleted the blog that they were on, so I have no idea of when I genuinely started blogging. I started blogging properly in my first year of uni, and I kind of used my blog as a diary of sorts. When I first came to university I wasn't adjusting well at all, yes I made friends but I was terribly homesick and really wasn't enjoying the independence that came with being at uni! 

My blog became my place to vent, although looking back on it now, that wasn't a very good idea. Anyway I don't think I started blogging properly until November 2012 when I launched my Nail Blog. Basically I had been watching a tonne of Nail Art tutorials on Youtube, and reading a LOT of Nail blogs and I finally decided to start my own. I had a fairly good polish collection anyway but since then it has grown to well over 100 polishes... Then I joined the British Nail Bloggers Group and met a wonderful group of women, and I realised that there is such an amazing community for bloggers and my blog is now my favourite hobby!

At the end of January I made the decision to move my personal blog from Wordpress to Blogger, and to take it more seriously. I couldn't have made a better decision. My personal blog went from 0 followers to 44 followers on both GFC and Bloglovin. I am so proud of this. I am grateful for every single one of my followers, so thank you, from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog and giving me an audience to my ramblings! 

I hope to reach 100 followers by the end of the year, and to have regular blog features for you all! Thanks again, I love you guys! If you want to check out my other challenges then please click the links below:

• Day 1 - Self Portrait and 5 random facts

• Day 2 - Favourite Quotes

• Day 3 - What makes you happy?

• Day 4 - Best Childhood Memories

• Day 5 - Movies I never get sick of.

• Day 6 - My Last Random Act of Kindness.
• Day 7 - My Dream Job
• Day 8 - My Pet Peeve's
• Day 9 - What is on my Life/Bucket List
• Day 10 - Daily Routine
• Day 11 - The Last Book I Read
• Day 12 - Something I Miss
• Day 13 - Do You Have any Regrets?
• Day 14 - Whats on my iPod?
• Day 15 - What makes me Awesome?
• Day 16 - My Biggest Accomplishment!

Friday Letters!

Dear Blog Followers, You are growing in number every day and I am so humbled by the amount of you that read my blog. May this blog continue to go from strength to strength!

Dear Film Project Group, I know I can be bossy, but I am the director! Sometimes you guys are completely indecisive and on a shoot I need you to just get on with it. I love you guys, but I need you to help me!

Dear Mum, I'm sorry I'm missing another Mother's Day because I'm at Uni. This shall be the last year that I ever miss I promise. Sorry I only got you a card, but I couldn't find a good present in time, and I didn't just want to get you flowers, or chocolates as is expected on Mother's Day.

Dear Sister, I'm sorry that your exam results didn't go as you had hoped, but you are the master of your own future, and if you really HATE sixth-form that much then you should quit and pursue something you love!

Dear new boy in my life, Although we haven't technically met yet, I know we are going to hit it off as soon as we do. We have so much in common, and you are the sweetest guy to come into my life for a LONG time. I hope that you don't mind that I'm a little strange, because I believe that strange is good!

Dear diet, I will get back to not eating junk food, when it has all disappeared from the house!