Places To Visit: Rome, Italy

I finally got to live my dream this summer and go to Rome. I've wanted to go ever since I was little. The apartment we rented was right next to the Coliseum - the first time I saw it was an amazing moment.

Here's a list of things to do if you ever visit the Eternal City:

1) Enjoy the local cuisine. There was a quaint little restaurant near our apartment - the spaghetti I had there was probably the best food I've ever tasted in my life. The ice cream is good, too, but be warned - it's expensive!

2) See the Trevi Fountain. The best time to go is at night, because the water is illuminated with little lights. It's so beautiful! Whenever you go, it'll be packed. Don't forget to make a wish - use your right hand to throw the coin over your left shoulder for it to come true.

3) Visit the Villa Borghese - the park is the perfect place to take pictures, and you can rent a boat in the lake. Very romantic!

4) Visit the Coliseum. The queues are very long, but it's definitely worth it! The Roman amphitheatre is an amazing sight. You can just imagine what it was like all those thousands of years ago.

5) See the Vatican. Again, expect long queues, but how else are you going to see the Sistine Chapel, with Michelangelo's intricate paintings all over it? Definitely worth a visit.

Of course, there's much more! Have you ever been to Rome? Or would you like to go? Tell me in the comments.

My favourite TV programmes

1) Pretty Little Liars - I love the suspense. Is he/she A, or are the producers lying to us (again)? Only time will tell.

2) The Vampire Diaries. Oh, Damon, how amazing you are! I loved you from the very first episode. But Stefan is getting better, now that he's slightly badass! Nina Dobrev has her hands full though - two main characters (and maybe more...)

Enjoy this... Sit back and enjoy.

3) Criminal Minds. Okay, MAYBE I've only watched the first episode, but it was AMAZING. And since I wanna be a forensic psychologist when I'm older, it's the perfect show for me.

4) Teen Wolf. I love Colton Haynes!

5) Awkward. Jenna, I totally understand your problems. Well, some of them.

Photo-a-day

I just found this photo on fatmumslim.com.au - I thought it was such a great idea! Taking a photo every day in January would be a perfect way to remember 2014 in years to come.

Got a blog/Facebook/Instagram? Why don't you do it, too?

What I would tell a 7 year old me

Dear 7 year old me,

Hey there! I'm from the future. Yes, really. Don't freak out, it's okay. I'm here to give you some advice that I hope will help you.

1) Make an attempt to learn your mother tongue. Arabic is a beautiful language, and you won't really know it in 10 years time unless you do.

2) Pester Mum and Dad to get you piano lessons. Or guitar lessons, so 10 years from now, you'll be a master at said instrument.

3) Enjoy life. Keep dressing up in cute princess dresses and dancing around the house in the middle of the night (which is probably around 10pm...) You're only young once, mini me.

4) Stop trying so hard to get people to like you. You're amazing just as you are. Don't change for anyone.

With love,
You, in 10 years time

What would you tell yourself? 

The worst movie I've ever seen

Let's see if you can guess. Stars Kate Winslet, Anna Faris, Kieran Culkin, Emma Stone, Gerard Butler (as a leprechaun), and many more. According to Rotten Tomatoes, only 4% of critics liked it.

Do you know it?

ANSWER: Movie 43.

Why? The humour was... how to put it? NOT FUNNY. Intentionally offensive and provocative at many points, downright bizarre at others. With a cast like that, and Elizabeth Banks as the director, you'd think it would be better. It had the potential to be an amazing film, but it fell short. Like, a few hundred meters short. Some sketches were funny, albeit not many.

MY RATING: 1/10
VERDICT: If you haven't already seen it, don't ever watch it. For your own good...

Fact Of Life #1: Ultimate mind block

Whenever someone asks you to say three facts about yourself - on the first day of school or a new job, etc - it's harder than you imagine. Your mind just goes totally blank, as you think, "Who am I? What is my life?" You cannot remember anything about yourself, never mind anything  remotely interesting.

Normally results in momentary embarrassment, which subsides after a few minutes of red cheeked self-annoyance. Which is usually when you think of something you could have said.

My Top 4 Christmas Movies

Merry Christmas everyone. What better way to spread the festive cheer than to list my favourite Christmas movies of all time? What are yours? Tell me in the comments.

4) Home Alone. Kevin is so clever. If criminals tried to invade my house, I would hide out in my room clutching a baseball bat. I wouldn't know how to set up perfectly timed booby traps. Go Kevin!

3) The Polar Express - with amazing animations and lifelike characters, this film has it all!

2) The Grinch. Jim Carrey was AMAZING as the Christmas-loathing yet somewhat endearing Grinch.

1) Elf. I love this movie! The best part was definitely when Zooey Deschanel led the crowd in a rendition of 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town'. Look how happy Buddy is!

What I want for Christmas

Dear Santa,

I know it's totally last minute and that Christmas is in just over 3 hours, but I thought better late than never, right?

I'll keep this short and sweet because I'm sure you're sick of reading letters by now.

1) I want to do well in my exams so that
2) I meet my offer to get into my chosen uni
3) Chocolate. Lots of chocolate.
4) I want 2014 to be an even better year than this one.

Please get me what I want, Santa. I even left you some mince pies, which you can eat if you're not already full from visiting every house in the world and eating. Not judging or anything. That's totally cool. I would do that if I could!

Also, I left some carrots for the reindeer. Except, they're kind of frozen. Hope they don't mind.

Merry Christmas!
- D

Quote of the day

"Enjoy the little things in life, because one day, you will look back and realise that they were big things."

You need to watch this!

(did I trick you?)

How would you spend your last day on Earth?

If you knew that you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today?

My answer:

First, do all the boring/necessary things. Go around and say goodbye to everyone, and tell them how much they mean to me. Make amends with any enemies.

Then, I'd eat. A lot. Chocolate, chips, ice cream... all of the most wonderful foods on the planet. You know, so I have reserves...

I would then try to really LIVE. Maybe go skydiving, or bungee jumping. Do something really exciting so that I'd go out with a bang. (Hopefully not literally, you know... if the bungee cord breaks. Which is perfectly viable.)

That would totally exhaust me, so I'd eat again... ;D

Then, as I'm lying on my death bed surrounded by my loved ones, I would say, "I left one million pounds in the..."

*dies*

Way to leave behind a legacy.

Look out world...

Hey there!

Whilst procrastinating from revision, I had an idea - why not share my inner musings with the world? So, here I am, on what is officially my first blog post.

Right now, it's Christmas Eve. My street is relatively boring; only a couple of houses have lights up. Jeez. You'd think there'd be more, right? People spend the whole year looking forwards to Christmas, counting down to the big December 2-5 from Boxing Day.

Anyway. I hope you enjoy my velvet memoir.

- D