Top 44 Shows & Movies To Watch This Upcoming Winter! | SimplyJessyTee

November 19, 2017 0 Comments A+ a-


Hi guys! Its been a while but I've just had photography issues. Hopefully once I travel, I shall have some new photos to share with you all for the blog. Today I just wanted to let you guys know that there’s tonnes of movies and shows to watch this upcoming winter which I hope some of you will watch with me. This is not a Christmas special or anything - this is for anyone looking to watch any new series (that's not so Christmassy) this upcoming Chirtsmas/Winter break. This is also to write down the shows that I’m mentally TRYING to keep tabs on!

Some of these (particularly movies) I have already seen before but I figured it would be great to watch again!
(If you have any suggestions of movies or shows, pleeeease let me know!).

Series:

1. Empire (Have to keep up with this one)
2. The 100 (Season 4 looks a lil boring but I’ve only watched 2 episodes)
3. Married to medicine (Seems very intriguing)
4. Love and hip hop (Hollywood)
5. Love and hip hop (Atlanta)
6. WAGS (LA)
7. WAGS (Miami)
8. EastEnders (A british soap)
9. Gossip girl (Downloading this one to watch when I travel)
10. Hit the floor (*face palm* watched every episode of the last season except the last one)
11. Orphan black (a MUST- I finished it. Can't remember if I was emotional or nah)
12. Pretty Little liars (smh- I finished it. Lets just say I'm happy it's over)
13. Ackley Bridge (If this is like Waterloo Road then I’m down for it- I might even watch Waterloo road again because I loved it but I watched only the last season. Veeery late)
14. Scandal (Can’t wait to see the hype)
15. Growing up hip hop (might give this a pass, not sure)
19. Star (didn’t get to finish)
20. Fashion Bloggers (hopefully that’s the correct name)
21. Rich Kids of Beverly Hills

Movies:

1. The divergent series
2. Fast and furious (fun fact: never watched it until now. I watched number 1,2 and 5. The third wasn't up my street and I'm trying to finish the fourth one)
3. White chicks
4. Moana (I’m a child)
5. Suicide squad (Yes. I know.)
6. The Pianist
7. Odd one out (all about bullying, similar to 13 reasons why)
8. Wild child (don't know why I didn't see this)
9. Easy A
10. John Tucker must die
11. She’s all that
12. Legally blonde
13. Friends with benefits
14. Not easily broken
15. Good deeds
16. Soul food
17. College hill
18. Stuck on you
19. This means war
20. The devil wears Prada
21. Meet the brows
22. Bridemaids (I cant waaaaiiiiit)
23. 21 (and 22) Jump Street

Of course if there’s any more then I’ll just watch it off the bat but that’s most of what I could think of/wrote down.
Like I said, if there’s any movie/series suggestions you have, please comment and make a girl’s Winter x
Thanks for reading! Have a great day <3
“Nobody Cares, work harder.”-An Instagram Post Somewhere :)

Simply, Jessy Tee

Models Own Review: Colour Chrome / Metallic Range Collection + Swatches

October 22, 2017 1 Comments A+ a-


Hey guysss!! It feels like so long since I've sat down to write a post but I'm back! I'm still working on my organisation and learning how to fit in a-levels, have my blog, take care of me, chill with the fam, doing a part-job etc. But I feel like I haven't done a beauty post in a while so today I will be doing a quick review on the models own metallic range because you guys know I go hard for models own!

Now I love models own. Their shop, their page and the range of polishes they have is crazy. Plus if you go to their shop in Stratford, Westfield; you can definitely try out some polishes before you purchase which is great and avoids any surprises. So I’m rooting for models own on their polishes.

Now I’ve used all of the metallic polishes that I will be reviewing in this post. So I can conclude that they’re all roughly the same in texture, application and appearance (obviously omitting the colour). However you can check for this in the pictures down below.

General Observations:

One thing I like about the metallic range is the colour selection. There’s rose gold, silver, a nice pink that's named 'cerise', and various other colours which I personally didn’t have before so they’re definitely an addition and unique among my current nail polish collection. The packaging is ON POINT in terms of the bottles but understandably not many would be too fussed about that and that’s okay. After multiple applications of the polish, it looks decent and nice in photos. Another great thing is that they dry quickly. They don’t tend to take forever like some nail polishes would. So I've gots to give models own credit for all those things because essentially, that's what I look for in polishes.

Now… I’m a big fan of Models own, especially their ‘normal’ nail polishes. However I’m not feeling their colour chrome range. Personally, I believe that it’s because I had a very high expectation of what was going to be applied onto my nail bed, this was simply because of the way the bottles look like. What needs to be understood is that what you see on the exterior is not always what you're going to find on the interior. When I saw the bottles, I believed that the polish would have a glossy, mirror effect. Similar to the photo HERE. Overall, the way the bottle looks, that’s the way I thought the nail polish would be like once it was on my nail plate.
These polishes do not give you that effect. Which is not a negative thing for those that like the outcome. But in MY opinion, it’s not ideal for ME due to the expectations I had. But all the same, I did warm to the overall look in the end.

When you apply the polish once, you still have gaps/streaks because the polish is manufactured in a certain way to give a somewhat metallic effect which means one application ain’t gone do nothing boo. Therefore you have to go over it again, and again, and probably again before the whole nail is covered evenly and has no weird lines/streaks as if you haven’t shaken the bottle properly.
On a bad day the coating may not be entirely even. Probably due to my application, I previously experienced a few air bubbles which is not great :)

Another thing! I really don't recommend using nail tape with the polish for designs. If you want to do stripes and you put a base colour and then a metallic colour from this range on top, it will peel the whole thing off and ruin the nail design. I tried and I failed. Of course this is merely from my own experience but if you do decide to do nail art with these polishes - proceed with caution. ._.

SWATCHES:


1. Gold
2. Olive
3. Rose
4. Silver
5. Green
6. Pink
7. Mauve
8. Cerise
9. Indigo
10. Blue

Edited

No edit

Q & A:

How many coats would you normally apply?

3-4. I usually apply 2-3 for a standard nail polish.

What’s the overall look of the polish once done?

In all honesty it looks like a normal polish but just a bit shiny.

Does it chip easily/how long does it last?

This will vary depending if you used a topcoat or not or if you do a lot of activities which will cause it to chip such as sports/cleaning dishes. For me personally, some of my nails were fine, others chipped. This is most likely because I did my hair the next day which requires a lot of shampooing, moisturising and other things that could cause the chipping.

What designs can I do with this if I don’t want to use it for a normal coat of polish?

I'm not even gone lie – the only design I’ve tried using these polishes was the nail tape to create stripes and that flopped. Hopefully this can be used to create dots for a design using a dotting tool.


Overall impression:

I love models own. But they’re fairly pricey. So I would have thought this would be amazing and produced the same results as seen on Pinterest. Nope.
Now I don’t want to say it’s completely TERRIBLE because it’s not. The colours and drying time is great. But the desired effect is just not doing it for me. So with that said, I would give it a 2.5/5.

If any of you have tried it and have any other views, feel free to comment. Just be careful, I would suggest trying it out in the shop before purchasing to understand what you’re getting. This is just my honest opinion. Of course opinions do vary so you can check for other reviews if you’re uncertain or need a second opinion. With that being said, have a great week guys!
“Great things happen to those who hustle” - unknown

Simply, Jessy Tee

My Biggest Insecurities | Height, Boobs, Skin & More!

October 01, 2017 0 Comments A+ a-


Hey guys! I definitely wanted to do a sit down/chit chatty post about something that affects not only myself but I think every human that has walked this Earth in some way or another. Looking back, there's a lot of things that I used to be uncomfortable about which contributed me to having low self-esteem and caused me to compare myself to others.
I went through the phase of admiring women who were years older than me/in their early twenties. I went through this phase when I was 13/14, wasted time wishing and hoping that one day I would like them. Unrealistically, I was comparing myself to people who were almost a decade older than me which is crazy. And being the portray-all-things-great platform that Instagram is, there was no pictures of these women at my age. If there was any #throwbackthursday photo posted - it would be from when they were cute babies/toddlers. I automatically assumed at the time that they never went through an 'ugly duckling' stage and they were 'swans' all their lives.

So after much crying and hating myself - I let time do its thing and began to care less about my appearance. I was forced to because I was not someone who could buy whatever clothes she wanted (with what money?), I couldn't sign up for the gym, I was not allowed to wear make up (heck, wearing nail polish was an everyday battle) - overall, there's a lot of restrictions when it comes to altering your appearance as a young teenager. I had to accept what I looked like by force.

As always I am grateful. I invested time not into my appearance - but into my personality and mentality. Into my studies, reading and other various hobbies I stumbled across during that time.
Plus the older I got, the more my appearance changed. I outgrew insecurities and discovered many more. It is what it is. I would also like to hint that around 15, many people began to do the "Glo up challenge" which basically showed people what they looked like during puberty and after puberty. And it's safe to say that appearances DO get better.
So why worry eh? :)

My Insecurities At Age 11-13:

1. My skin
Now my skin has always been a big one. Before starting secondary school, I considered myself to have the worst skin out of all my friends. I had pimples/spots ALL over my forehead which eventually began to be pigmented as I picked at them. This left my skin looking dark and discoloured. My smooth, pre-puberty soft, golden skin was flipping GONE.
I was now left with mottled, splotchy skin. I want to do a separate post for my skin because I believe I have come such a long way, its definitely not perfect but it's defo better. Overall it was terrible but it's funny because nobody used to tease me/bully me for my skin but it was obviously not the best. This was by far the down fall of my self esteem but after accepting the fact that this was just gonna be a problem for a while (hormones, menstrual cycle and all that jazz) I just stopped dealing with it. 
Over the years my skin has had its ups and downs but I do feel this will shortly fizzle out as my skin is much better now compared to how it was when I was 11-13

2. My natural hair
I was teased for my natural hair in primary school. I didn't have the same straight, curly or chemically pressed locks that most of the girls in my school had. Now my hair was NOT slayed then but the fact that I was targeted because I had something different really annoys me till today because I am not the first nor the last girl that is to be teased for something that naturally grows out of her own scalp! It frustrates me when young girls/boys are teased for things they cannot control: weight, the fact they have acne, for flip sake - something so common, for wearing glasses, HAIR! It upset me at the time but with everything I try to do when people come at me negatively, I change the negative into a positive. At 12, I invested time (like a good year) into just learning, researching and experimenting with my natural hair. After years at being stuck at shoulder length, I have bra-strap/midback length hair. A post might come up so watch this space!

My Insecurities At Age 14-15:

1. My facial features
This was the phase where I would look in the mirror and just wanted to break the mirror. My phenotype was just not appealing to me. I didn't see the beauty in myself. That was just it. Overall you can't change the way you look. No matter how much surgery you have - you will still resemble yourself. You cannot look like an exact replica of anyone but yourself.
But at the end of the day, there's a reason why two people can never look alike- not even twins. So no matter how much I dreamed I looked like someone else - it just was not happening. I had to swallow and keep down the fact that this my face and it was here until God calls me home.

2. My boobs
My boobs are very small in my opinion and its very annoying because I've always considered myself to have bigger cups - that's just the image I've always had of myself. But I wasn't blessed with a bigger bust and the majority of my friends have bigger sizes than me. There's legit nothing there for me lol. Its something that I'm slowly, veeeery, veeeery slowly accepting. It's hard because I honestly thought my chest would explode by 16 - my cups have not changed since I was like 8. And I guess that's alright. Obviously I'm relating this to myself; there's gorgeous, beautiful women with small cup sizes (they're even making me become more open to my own) this is relating to my own unrealistic image of myself which I need to begin to erase.

3. Wearing glasses
OMG! Guys I hated wearing glasses, now with all the dark circles I have - I couldn't be more appreciative of them. I hated the way they looked on me. I even did exercises such as the William Bates method in the hopes that my myopia could just disappear one day. This is an insecurity I've gotten over. I would definitely consider doing LASIK/LASEK eye surgery as I hate when I lose my glasses - I have honestly cried out of pure frustration that everything was blurry. But if I was to get 20/20 vision again, I would definitely get non-prescripted frames because I love glasses on me now.


My Insecurities Now:

1. My height
I find my height as a favourite and an insecurity. An insecurity because I honestly am the shortest amongst my girlfriends. The only time I can be a couple of millimetres above them is when I wore heels at prom. I find being short 'cute' but it's a pain sometimes when having to reach for things and also just being amongst people who are average height (not too tall or short) or tall. This became an insecurity when it was heavily pointed out by 90% of people that I came across. It wasn't an insecurity before because it wasn't as noticeable when I was younger. Now that everyone was having a growth spurt and surpassing me - all of a sudden it was: "OMG JESSICA YOU'RE LIKE SOOO SHORT!"
Deep down I love my height for the most part but it is something I am weary of and is made obvious when around people my age.

2. My teeth
I never had braces. The dentist I visited to see if I could get them under NHS stated that my teeth where not in that bad of a condition to get braces under NHS. Which in other words, I had to pay £600+ to get braces/get them done as opposed to getting them for free like many people my age - simply because my teeth were 'not that bad'...
My teeth are not straight/aligned. I've never had fillings or anything like that. They're OK but I hate them. If someone was to take a picture of me at the wrong angle, my teeth will ruin the photo. That's why I can't candidly laugh in pictures or basically smile with teeth in them. 
It is my biggest insecurity - I do plan to pay what I'm assuming will be a leg and an arm for them to be aligned, straightened and 'perfect'. It's just frustrating that I didn't get them but yh, it is what it is.

3. My weight
I've always been slim framed. Some of my friends have complimented my body type which I'm appreciative of but my weight is something I do want to alter because it's not where I want it to be. I want to obviously make sure that my body is healthy but I would want my legs to be more toned and my hips to be a bit wider. I would want to go to the gym. I don't see myself getting surgery or altering anything surgically because I don't see myself going through all that.
I feel comfortable in my body now - I just want to 'tweak' it/better it by going to the gym and just working out and getting it into better shape to how I want it to be. That's all.

And that's it guys. Obviously, some of these I will out grow and I will find new things I may not like about my physically appearance or even some characteristic flaws but that's a-okay.
If anything, I'm understanding that to feed the mind and spirit is just as vital as investing time into your looks. Of course it's great to slay and to steal the show but that's all without purpose if you don't cater to your mentality and spirit. Until the next post guys x
"All that glitters is not gold" - Proverb

Simply, Jessy Tee

Want A Job? The Chance To Go To An Elite University? Need Experience? Volunteer.

September 25, 2017 0 Comments A+ a-


Hey guys! It feels like it's been so long since I've last sat down and written. A-levels ... is a-levels innit? There's no other words than to say it's like going on a roller coaster which is about to pick up speed anytime from now & at this point in time, I just want to get off!
But I probably will talk about my A-levels at some other point in the future because this post is all to do with volunteering.

I haven't really been involved in charity (Yes, I donate clothes and various things I no longer use but giving a large sum of money, visiting hospitals - I haven't done charity to that extent before).
But something dawned on me recently - I've done VOLUNTEERING 💪💪

This summer didn't turn out the way I expected but I did gain volunteering experience which is CRUCIAL. When I used to do work experience for a law firm/business back in Year 10 - the lady who had been my supervisor had said the way she got her job and did what she loved was through building her CV. And the best way to build it is through volunteering😏
Again, when doing an interview with my principal for sixth form, he recommended volunteering, especially if I wanted to pursue medicine as that's what I mentioned I wanted to do as an idea (because I really don't know what to do with myself right now).

So with volunteering, you can pretty much do it anywhere - I chose my local charity shop which was like 5 minutes away if I was staying with my grandparents. And I had to sign some forms, my grandma did also because she was the adult that had to confirm I could work because I was underaged - after that the rest was history!

I did volunteering for 2 months and honestly it was great. To get up at 11am was a draaaaag but I was okay. I didn't exactly tell anyone because... I didn't feel the need to 😏 Only my family knew about it to be honest and like 2 friends - that was it. Volunteering for the summer may not be as exciting as going on holiday, going out with friends or *insert anything exciting to do for summer* but the I'm reaping the benefits from it now. I recommend that if you're still young, looking for a job, need to build your CV and don't know what to do - v.o.l.u.n.t.e.e.r❗❗
It's pretty much up to you - I did mine in a charity shop. And although I didn't know the value of giving up my time (because I had so much of it then), the people I work with constantly told me that I was doing something that was vital. So even though I'm not giving hundreds of pounds to a charity of my choice which is something I want to do in the future, at least I'm doing SOMETHING - you feel me, y'all feel me😂💖

The benefits:
-I got my first job. Volunteering is basically how I got it. After 4 months of searching, rejections, disappointments, fall-throughs and just genuine frustration - I got a well paid job, I'm working for a global brand and I actually like what I do. I don't think I even would have got if I didn't volunteer as I used my volunteering experience as retail experience.
-More universities, employers and apprentices value people who volunteer. To volunteer says a lot about your character and your skills. If you volunteer in a few charity shop compared to someone who didn't - that's you on a higher step already. Consider it.
-Ideas on your future. I'm still yet to volunteer in a hospital, office and other various places. But I have an insight into the legal sector and of course retail.
-You discover things. If someone had ask me before would I have gone in a a charity shop to purchase anything - I would have said 'Nope' because I would prefer to just buy whatever it was brand new. And I still stand by that when it comes to clothes, shoes and jewellery due to hygiene (just a personal preference, I ain't knocking anyone who chooses to purchase any of those items from a charity shop) but guys when it comes to books - I'm deffo going to have a field day when it comes to purchasing books. Books that are current such as 'Gone Girl' was in the charity shop I worked in and was being sold at a price of 50p-£2. BARGAIN!!
-You meet people. Even though I didn't meet anyone of my age, it was nice talking to people a bit older about deep, intellectual things as opposed to the daily 'Guuuuuurll you won't believe what he told me'.

So yasss! That's it for me. I didn't want this post to be too long but you get the general gist of what I'm saying. Please consider it, it will make an impact (I'm proof💁) but thank you so much for reading.
If you would like to get involved you can click on the link HERE! I love and appreciate all of you that support me with this, until next time 💗💗
"What you give, you shall receive" - CECE Winans


Simply, Jessy Tee


#FOMO – The Reason Why I Deleted My Snapchat This Summer.

September 17, 2017 2 Comments A+ a-


Hey guys. I wanted to talk about an issue which has been an issue since, I guess the beginning of year 10 (in year 10 you're 14-15). I’ve never really had this issue previously but it became set in stone once the issue was a re-occurring thing to the point where I searched on it and the issue actually had a name – FOMO.

So what is FOMO? 

Some of you may know this term, some of you might not know this term but there's a strong possibility that you're probably going through it.
FOMO is basically short for ‘fear of missing out’. That’s pretty much self-explanatory but to develop my point further, I personally feel that FOMO is a long-extended family member of anxiety. At least I believe it is the consequence of it. Now at the beginning of year 10, I would not say I had anxiety.

Not at all.

The beginning of year 11, yes! I had really bad anxiety up until December I would say. So for roughly 4 months I had really bad anxiety. However that’s a different story.
But coming back to FOMO, this got worse throughout my year 11 experience, especially when starting exam season. I deffo had it at the beginning of year 10, but it wasn’t as strong, repetitive or ‘deep’. Plus I didn’t have Snapchat in year 10.

I did in year 11.

I created the app in February this year because my prom was coming up and I wanted to see the snapchat stories and I also wanted to upload moments from my birthday which was in March (All this occurred this current year).
Overall I just wanted to share my birthday and experience prom from different people's perspectives however this eventually led to feeling obligated to snap things to PROVE I had a social life.
Not knowing that I would end up feeling hurt or offended when I saw friends who I considered close to me, do things without me.
Not knowing I would become quite petty, jealous and bitter. And best believe that is not who I am.

What fun is an app that is causing you to think, dream or imagine certain scenarios in your head (partying, going out, "turning up") that is anything but your life?

In other words, Snapchat messed up my mentality.

I was someone who had taken 2 steps forward, only to jump 5 steps back. Imagine having to watch people enjoy themselves without you. But you on the other end is doing nothing.

It feels as if you're behind. As if you're missing out on life. As if you're not part of this big trend and you're just isolated. As if you're not good enough because you're not travelling and being successful like every blogger/YouTuber you see.
I am a sensitive person. So often to protect myself from feeling unbreakable, I give off a careless facade. And sometimes I don't care or feel anything when watching others go out and have fun. But sometimes I do care and that's the kind of thing that will make me over-think.

I began to feel distant and just pissed off.

It was annoying because I felt like most people were just not being 100% with me.
Of course that might not be the case, but that’s just how I felt. I couldn’t help it. I recently had a chat with one of my closest friends about this (if she’s reading- shout out to you girl!) And we were basically talking about the issue and I poured out most of how I felt because I hate feeling confused and out of control – like it will frustrate me to the point that's all I can talk or think about.
Now if I didn’t have Snapchat, 9/10 I wouldn’t be as affected as I am. Simply because I wouldn’t have to see that. What you don’t know, cannot hurt you. But I do have Snapchat which means I am able to watch everyone else have a great time whilst I am currently at home – watching them have a great time.

Now it’s time for Jessy to become all realistic.

I know Snapchat is legit a collection of mini clips that the person looks amazing in, they’re looking all happy and just enjoying themselves. I am wise enough to know that doesn’t represent the whole picture, it doesn’t represent the person. (The history student side of me is coming out now.) Overall, to put it simply – Snapchat is a bit joke.
It’s funny because it reveals a lot of truths. Snapchat is a platform that a person can cleverly carve and design an image of themselves for you to see. I have definitely gone through that stage.
From the party addict, to the shopper, to the ‘I’ve got loads of friends’ to the ‘I be getting money’. But what I’ve had to actually deep is that Snapchat is not all black and white. People are just showing that they have a life and what they do. That’s it.

They’re not going to show me the negatives. They’re not going to show me their boring day to day routine. They’re not going to show me the whole thing. They’re going to show me things to make me believe that they’re lives are ‘lit’ or exciting. When God knows: they could just be lounging at home in sweats watching flipping ‘Location, location, location’.
I knew it was time to delete when I was letting little things get to me. Since when did I get all salty because someone didn’t reply to my message (although that is muggy behaviour – don’t do it!)? I have never felt before having the app that I was obligated to prove that I had a life. Now all of a sudden – I couldn’t go somewhere fun without trying to catch a Snapchat. I couldn’t just LIVE in the moment. All of a sudden I’m with a group of friends – let me snap it!
Nah – that’s just not letting things take it's natural course if I feel like I have to do it to prove something.
Please do not get me wrong, Snapchat is a great app. To record snippets of your life as stories that can be watched later on, that’s great; plus the filters are just 100%. In the future, I may get it back for the long haul.

But when does getting offended, hurt, rejected or upset when witnessing somebody’s actions on Snapchat become normal?

To anyone going through this, understand that it’s not always what it looks like. From watching my prom snaps, one can believe it was honestly the best day ever. But there was a lot of things not documented. A video/image can be twisted to suit somebody’s ideal image for their own perspective/satisfaction or even insecurity. Please don’t be fooled. Understand that not everyone is what they ‘post to be’! I could write an essay on this topic because it has given me a serious 'wake the hell up' call.
Grow your mind organically by indulging in real life. As fun as Snapchat can be, it's not your life and that's where I went wrong. Of course the person could have had a great time but always remember – there’s more to the story… No pun intended *wink wink*
Until next time my lovelies xx
"Sometimes you have to lose the battle to win the war" - Lord of The Rings (I think Return of the King somewhere).

Simply, Jessy Tee


Why I Will Not Study For My A-levels The Same Way I Did For My GCSEs

September 03, 2017 2 Comments A+ a-


Hey pretties, I wanted to throw it back a lil’ to a stressful moment in my life which is called: GCSEs. However, with the upcoming war (A-levels) approaching, I will not be using the same battle techniques. 😜

To put it plain and simply, I took my GCSEs VERY seriously. But it got to a point where I had to ask myself “When is too much, tooooo much?” Now going back to year 10, my GCSE experience was calm (the same cannot be said for my year group but that shall all be explained in good timing - but I was okay). I didn’t have a breakdown every two weeks, I was still able to do the things that I wanted to do without feeling like I’ve wasted a lot of time. I did work experience which was a funny plus great experience.

But ya girl was only doing 3 exams that year and was to only gain one GCSE.

The following year (this year) I was to complete 19 exams which will therefore complete the remaining 8 GCSEs I had left…

To say the least, it was difficult. I started from September thinking that if I start as early as possible then it will be perfectly fine. Hell to the naw it was not!! From January onwards, I kid you not, I was doing 4+ hours a night.

Within those four or more hours, I would be writing notes, re-typing them, going over endless sites that could help me with it. I did everything and anything but my mind was telling me that it wasn’t enough. I could not just open one site, I had to open another 5 more.
Imagine coming home from 6 hours of school. Spending 1 hour of free time which would likely go to chores and eating something so I don’t collapse; then going upstairs to revise for the remainder of the evening.
I couldn’t even remember the last time I went to bed at 9 o’clock. The new time was 12am. This period was hard for me because looking back, I felt like I over-exerted myself because I didn’t want to fail, I didn’t want to do ‘okay’. If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it properly.

Social outcome:

To put it simply, I outgrew a lot of things. All of a sudden, standing outside of school for an hour was not ideal. Going out on the weekends wasn’t that appealing? Forcing meaningless friendships for the sake of friendships or people liking me was just tedious and not worth it.

All of sudden that changed because I had a goal that could actually shape my future for the better. So of course I over-exerted myself as much as I could because I didn’t want that to be taken away from me. I was hurt when people stopped talking to me, I would be thinking ‘what’s wrong with me’, and I was often called negative or moody by those around me because I was just so tired and not in the mood. Sometimes I felt really alone but I’m grateful as I had a some amazing friends who helped me through these times and they know who they are.

But as time grew – I had to kick that mentality away. Of course it didn’t just disappear. But I just stopped caring about other people’s opinion/perception of me was. They aren’t the ones writing my exams.

I know myself better than anyone. Of course I’m still growing up and finding my route and pathway, but I’ve always been real to me. If that makes others uncomfortable because I don’t want to filter how I feel for the sake of their own feeling,s without them considering mine – so be it.

Next step?

But back to my main point – studying the way I did caused me to lose weight, often have crying episodes, fits of pure anger/resentment (which some were ridiculously funny because of how petty I was being and others just awful).
Overall it really impacted the way I think now. I always say this: GCSEs are not the same as they was 10 years ago – they possess a lot of similar traits to A-levels which is just a nightmare. Especially with the new reforms we had this year, I didn’t have a balance and that’s what caused me to stop and rethink for what I am yet to do in the future.

You can study 4-5 hours straight, but whether the outcome is effective or not depends on the how you use your time effectively. I will be re-evaluating more effective methods to study for my A-levels without feeling like I have to spend every ounce of my time on them because now I have a job, two hobbies and a lot more. My time IS more valuable than it was doing my GCSEs and I just need to organise it better without pouring it ALL into A-levels because it didn't help me PERSONALLY all the time.

My main point is... to all my girls and guys starting a-levels – put yourself first along with your grades. Make time for both. Not one or the other. Because not having a balance will cause more pressure and stress in the long run – which is why I’ll be studying for my a-levels a lot differently.
Thanks for reading, until next time💖💖
"In order to love who you are, you cannot hate the experiences that shaped you" - Andrea Dykstra 
*Image from Pexels*

Simply, Jessy Tee


My GCSE Results 2017 | My Subjects, Grades + What I'm Studying For A-Levels!

August 27, 2017 4 Comments A+ a-


Before I start, I just want to congratulate everybody who sat the new GCSEs because God knows that it wasn't easy and cannot even be compared to previous GCSEs. There was some A-level maths in the higher paper, not to mention that time management was key in the English exams to actually doing well in it.
Whatever you got, I can only advise you use it to push you to wanting to do better for yourself. There's still A-levels and getting a degree to go - depending on which path you decide to take. This is only a crumb of a cake compared to what we have yet to go through. Good or bad - continue to work and hustle! Because eventually, if not now then later - it WILL pay off!

So hi guys 👋👋! On the 24th of August - I had to collect my GCSE results, enroll at my chosen college/sixth form and basically decide the next stepping stone which will impact the rest of my educational path. I just want to say I actually thought year 11 was the HARDEST year of secondary school which is to be expected but I didn't expect it to be as hard as what I went through personally.

There were times where I felt completely alone because everybody had priorities to attend to. I remember balling my eyes out because the pressure to succeed and wanting to do well was mounting on me. I felt really somehow when it came to my group of friends, I just didn't feel completely happy. It was a year where I had to learn to let go people's opinions of me - good or bad. (It's secondary school, it's a stressful year - everybody wants to act bitchy, it happens.) I lost a lot of friends, I constantly worried and feared a lot - I had to deal with feeling left out etc etc etc.

It was just a really tough two years; with year 11 being the hardest of the two.

With that being said - to have gotten what I got was crazy. I'm EXTREMELY grateful because the hard work paid off. No one will really know the extent of what I had to do to get the grades I did. Some will assume it was luck, genetics and probably the receiving of a lot of help. But I know what it took for me to get what I got. The prayers, late nights, the cramming it took. And I am someone who has VERY high expectations, I will always think I could have done more when I did all that I could have. Sometimes I will feel a nag of annoyance/upset if I wanted to get a higher grade when the grade I got is amazing but that's just me.

BUT I DID IT. Through every wrong and every setback - I finished strong. So with that said...
Here's what I got.

Maths - 7 (A)
English Language - 8 (A*)
English Literature - 6 (B)
Art & Design - A
French - A
History - A*
Physics - A*
Chemistry - A*
Biology - A (I took this last year)
And I got a Distinction in English language for my speaking assesment (you had to write and present a speech).

Overall I got 4 A*s, 4 As and 1 B. 9 A*-B grades. 

I couldn't have asked for anything more. I'm so thankful to God, my teachers, my close friends and my family members. What surprised me was English lit, physics, maths and french. I was expecting an A or even an A* in literature and I got a B. I remember shedding tears because honestly when I first saw my grades - that's all I could fix my eyes on, the 6. My other grades hadn't even sunk in yet. I felt even more like shite when I saw other people getting 7s, 8s and 9s. I really thought 'what the hell did I write?'. I don't even know the breakdown so I don't even know if I'm close to the grade boundary or not.

But after being extremely stupid and feeling silly/upset after comparing my grades to everyone else's, the reality sunk in that I did very well. An A* in physics??!! I remember telling my friend about a dream I had of failing it. Maths - I'm honestly happy with an A !! Anything higher I would have not thought it was my paper. AND FRENCH!! A?!!! I used to get Us. In all the classes I've attended in my LIFE, I've never been at the bottom of the class except for french. And I left with an A.
Wow.

Physics (P7) grade before exam

So here's the breakdown:
(for English and maths - I can't even speak on it because AQA and Edexcel decided to be a pain and not post the marks or the breakdown of MY OWN grade 😶

French - I got an A in the listening (that was where I was getting the Us in french) and I got an A* in the reading. I got a B in the french speaking and an A in french writing.

Art & Design - I THINK I got an A* in my coursework and an A in my final piece. Either that or it's the other way round.

History - In my first exam (All about the Cold War) I got an A*. In my second exam (all about Nazi Germany) I got an A*. In my third exam (all about Britain) - I got an A. And in my coursework I got an A.

Chemistry - The first exam (C123) I got an A*, the second exam (C456) I got an A*, the third exam because I took triple science (C7) I got an A*. And in my coursework, I got an A*. If someone said I would have got that in year 9, I would have actually wet myself crying because I HATED chemistry in year 9.

Physics - The first exam (P123) I got an A*, the second exam (P456) I got an A*, the third exam (P7) I got an A and in my coursework I got an A*.

Biology - This I took last year: in the first exam (B123)  I got an A, in the second exam, (B456) I got an A*, in the third exam (B7) I got a B and in my coursework I got an A*.

Chemistry (C7) grade before exams

Overall some of the grades for certain subject I just was not expecting. Things I thought I did really well in, I got a lower grade compared to subjects I thought I didn't do really good in - only to end up with a higher grade.
My advice to anyone who is not happy with your grade is to get it re-marked/reviewed and look at the possibilities of doing an early re-sit. Considering the new grading system, it has already been highlighted that there will be some errors which is to be expected. Don't take this lightly - if you feel that you have nothing to lose or that you felt that you did a lot better than the grade given to you -- get it re-marked.
Plus use this time from now until we go back to school wisely, it may seem like it's easy for me to say but it really isn't. I still need research and prepare myself for my a-levels because I'm still unsure on what I'm doing and that's another pressure point for me.

So far I've chosen to study Biology, Chemistry, English literature and economics. However this might change as my views on English literature is wavering and I might change economics with history. I'm really not sure. With that being said, thank you so much for reading. I hope you got what you wanted and more! There's no guarantee that what you get in GCSEs will reciprocate once you take your A-levels. Some people forget that, believe they don't need to revise and get lower grades. I can only say use whatever you got to motivate you to work harder and smarter for a mega comeback !


Have a great week guys! Until next time...💖

Simply, Jessy Tee


Prom 2K17: Awards, Turn Up, The After Party | Part 2

August 13, 2017 0 Comments A+ a-


Hey guys! This post is a continuation from my first prom post where I talked about the moments leading to the actual prom. In this post I'll be continuing from that post so if you want to have a read of part 1 of my prom, just click HERE!
Now onto the prom itself.

6pm-7pm:

This was the greeting hour. Everyone was saying hi and just taking selfies. People were posting on their Snapchat stories, complimenting each other, getting into the moment. Plus it’s that stage in a party/event where everyone is coming out of their shell. It wasn't until 6:30 that we actually boarded the boat. The boat was really nice, it didn't look quite like the way it did in pictures but it looked nice all the same.

7pm-8pm:

Lord Jesus kept me alive guys. Now I never thought I could be bored at prom – but I got bored. I kid you not guys, there was a group of us females and males just sitting down and glancing at either the floor or outside the boat. The DJ kept playing the same songs over and over again and was playing songs that were not ‘in’ I guess. It made me laugh a couple of times because of the reality of the situation but for the most part I was ready for the boat to just pull up and let me go home.
In this hour we had food which was O.K. Burger, wedges, chicken etc. I sat with different people that I spent the night with so that was great as it meant experiencing the evening with different people. (Even though Year 11 – the last year of secondary school, wasn’t my most social year to say the least).

8pm-9:45pm

Thank you Lord because it was turnt during this period. The DJ started to play more modern/recent music. Everyone was on the floor – for those who it wasn’t were thing were outside or upstairs. But this point was where the teachers and students came and did their thang. It was great fun. The girls were in their group, the guys were in their group. Due to the small floor, we were still together and it didn’t feel segregated. The boat was at one point swaying because at one point everyone was leaning back and forth. I danced with my girl (we’ll call her G) in the middle and my other friends too. And they played my song! (Mr Eazi-Leg over). But honestly guys, my head of year was just on another mission. Every time it got lit – the music would stop. I think it happened like 3 times so at that point I was like – allllrrriiiightyyy then!! And I think they played one song which we all thought that greater music would follow and it will continue getting better – NOPE! 9:45 had arrived and the boat was at the pier waiting for us to get off.

The awards:

The awards came and they did prom king and queen, silliest voice, worst uniform etc. It was just all banter and silly awards. I won the one for the uniform. I received big hoop earrings and stick on nail whatever it’s called. When it came to uniform, I wasn’t 100% AKA I often wore nail polish, big earrings etc (don’t do it guys- not worth the stress). But it was funny to gain an award for that so that was a cute touch.

More pictures:

We took pictures throughout and we took a big one as a whole year. (The WHOLE year did not attend prom for various reasons so there was like 130 who came out of 180).

Home time… or is it?

So we got off the boat. The night was sooooooooo young. But it is what it is. Honestly it was a great evening overall. A funny/lit ending to say the least. Now me and my friend who I came with were waiting for our mums to pick us – to go to an after party. So after about 20 minutes of taking more photos at night; we’re both ready to go to our friend’s after party. So can someone explain to me why our mums said no even though it was already agreed.
They arrived at 10:30 and we didn’t leave central London till 10:50 to say roughly. So we clocked up at our friend’s house at 11:15 (no traffic, no rush hour so the journey was quicker than before). Previously my mum said she will pick me at 12:30.
She picked me and my friend at 11:50.


I know my time will come where I can stay out late until the cows come home but until then – my butt had to leave. The after party was alright – we danced, drunk coke, chatted about prom and just various other things. My friend ‘G’ also came with me and my friend home and we all had to walk, roughly 15 mins. And let’s just say 3 girls, walking in prom dresses, late at night can attract a lot of attention AKA a lot of horn honking, questions of there being a wedding from strangers, and a lot of staring.

And that was prom! This is probably my longest post – I sincerely apologise. I will not do this length of post again but so much happened and I just wanted to capture it all! I know it sounds like I was complaining a lot in this post so I apologise if it came across that way but I wanted to keep it 100, not sugar coat anything and overall the night was amazing. Let me just stop writing before I write a novel :)

Simply, Jessy Tee

Prom 2K17: The Dress, Central London, Erasmus | Part 1

August 06, 2017 2 Comments A+ a-


Hi guys! Welcome back to my blog and today I’m going to be posting about my prom. This post is long overdue but I really wanted to upload it because I’m pretty sure that I will not have another prom again and plus this is something that is a bit more personal and I feel as though it would be great to share, so although it’s late -  it’s here! (My Nails were done the night before and excuse my crusty hands :P I cleaned the dishes before taking the photo).


The morning/afternoon: 

From what I can remember, I basically did hardly anything in the morning (I apologise for the bad English right there). In the morning I texted/called one of my friends and we were just talking about the day and what’s to come. I also remember viewing my Snapchat and watching everybody’s story which was actually funny because on everyone’s story, it was legit – the date of the day, a picture of nails or a ‘sneak peek’/preview of hair or people getting ready. So as the afternoon approaches, everything is going a bit slow from what I can retrieve.
But sooner or later everything began to speed up funny enough. My grandma came to see me, I applied my contacts (which at first felt like I had a pebble in my eye), then it was down to make up. My mum did my make up for me which was a dark lip and a pink eyeshadow as my dress was pink but she suggested that I go for something dark on my lips so it's a contrast from all the pink.
So after makeup comes hair. My mum styled the hair for me (shout out to her!!). She blow dried and straightened it and did all that stuff. I didn’t want to wear my hair in its natural state due to heat and I’ve already straightened it once this year so I didn’t want to add anymore wahala to it.
(The concept of hair might be confusing to some when it comes to a black woman's hair so I’ll just move on :D )


Putting everything on and of course pictures:

Now that hair and make-up was done – it was time to put on accessories. I put on the earrings, I didn’t wear a necklace because my dress was high neck, I also wore my watch/bracelet and shoes. And finally the dress.
My dress was custom made because there is like one area where they sell prom dresses where I live and I just wasn’t willing to risk having the same dress as someone, plus it’s all fridging expensive. My dress was a decent price but the alterations made it shoot up (it was too big). So the day before, the dress was done and all was sorted. I was nervous at this point because the moment that I, along with the rest of my year group, had been waiting for was actually here and it was just a bit nerve-racking.
So of course my mum took pictures, my grandma took pictures with me and my brothers were somewhere in the house that day- and the moment had arrived to leave.


Walking:

So my mum’s car was out of bounds that day as it needed repairing so I had to walk to my friend’s house who lived like a 5 minute walk away. It was a struggle because the dress was ‘poofy’ at the bottom but the walk was practise anyway because I would be walking regardless at the venue. But once I got there and saw her, the nerves were gone. She looked amazing and it was again, pictures and videos. So after we called the Uber – we made our way downstairs to get to the destination. At this point it was 4:40 – and we had to board the boat at 6…
Veeeery early. But nobody wanted to risk it. Plus the standard drive to the venue, with traffic and rush hour, it would take about 40 minutes to get there.



The City:

So we got to the pier/Central London for 5. A whole hour early. My school is a VERY FUNNY school and decided that we should be the first year that doesn’t have an assembly before going to the venue. Now if we had had an assembly, we would have been on time. But the reasoning for our earliness was down to the pressure of not missing the boat which wouldn’t have been an issue if we would have simply had our prom on land/if our school provided transportation which they had done so every year.

But as the saying goes ‘you can’t have everything’
But either way we were early, we said hi to some friends, more pictures from my mum and my friend’s mum. Then before you knew it, everyone started to arrive. (To think that our head of year said if you didn’t come at 6 the boat will leave, BUUUUTTT NOOOOO, the boat left at 6:30, (what a FUNNY SCHOOL!!) The frustration is real but by the time we said good bye, hello and took pictures, and actually boarded the boat – things were okay.

The boat - Erasmus:

The boat was great but I would have preferred if prom was on land. It was a beautiful experience with many scenery and insta worthy pictures. But having prom on the boat means the venue is quite small – although there’s other places to go on the boat, the main dance floor area is quite narrow compared to a standard ballroom/hotel venue. It meant pressure on time and people not being able to come due to lateness. Plus we were told that our prom would last for 4 hours, from 6-10.
Guys…
We boarded that boat at 6:30 and left the boat at 9:45. So if my mathematical skills are still in check that was only 3 hours and 15 minutes we had. That remaining 45 minutes will be missed dearly. There was already complaints at the fact prom was finishing at 10 (too early for some).

Overall the boat was okay. It had its great side and it had its not so great side.
Due to not wanting this post to be too long, I will be doing a part 2 where I will explain what happened during and after prom! Thank you guys for reading!
"The night is still young and so are we." - Nicki Minaj


Bag: Dorothy Perkins
Shoes: New Look
Watch: Guess
Dress: Custom made

Simply, Jessy Tee

So It Has Been A Year! | My One Year Blog Anniversary + (Why I Love It, Regrets, Advice etc.)

August 02, 2017 6 Comments A+ a-


So - I guess it's now my turn to announce that it's my blogging anniversary. This post was supposed to be up since last Sunday but I wasn't feeling 100 and I didn't want to mess this particular post up! Around this time last year - I started this lil space. I've laughed, cried, been frustrated and lost with this blog. I created this from scratch, template and all which is mad because if you had told me I was going to start another blog from the beginning of 2016 - I would have just rolled my eyes and pretend I didn't hear you. BUT HERE WE ARE!
Let me just unravel the truth of the whys and whats behind the blog along with some facts.

Why I started the blog?

So summers are always a confusing one for me. I don't really have much to look forward to and the summer of 2016 was no different. I didn't want to be bored and lets say my summers don't consist of pool parties, red cups of alcohol, road trips, festivals, sleepovers or travelling the city - not under my parents roof. So I must have (this is gonna sound so sad but I'll keep it 100) been searching for things to do this summer because I full on wanted to be prepared and sorted. And I came across an article that listed various things to do. So after scrolling endlessly, the one thing that kept popping up was 'make a blog'.
However I dismissed the idea of doing one because I didn't see myself having one. The last blog I had was when I was like 10 and I had a good 4. So to get back into blogging would be weird because it's been so long. But no matter how many things I came across, the blogging idea stayed stuck inside my head - so with searching for teenage bloggers on google and just reading the 'About Me' section as knowledge for what having a blog would be like, I created one!

So the short simple answer was, I created my blog in the summer of 2016, from July-beginning of September so that I would not be bored!

Why I almost stopped blogging before I even started?

So although it's been a year, there's so much more to blogging than I've experienced yet. So why did I almost stop just before I got started? The short answer is commitment. Fear. And change.

That's what almost stopped me.

I wanted to create a blog so bad but I didn't want it to be like the blogs I had before (for insight, I had a collaborative blog where me and my former best-friend owned it, a nail blog and two MovieStarPlanet blogs- if you remember those days comment below LOL). Therefore I wanted to make sure my template was different to having the traditional blogger templates. Plus I wanted my blog to have logos and just be completely different from what I had before.
The fear in things going wrong which at times it did was the main reason why I had really bad anxiety. The overwhelming feeling of starting year 11 along with trying to start a completely different blog which I felt was a mile out of my comfort zone produced huge feelings of fear.

Like I never had those feelings before. From September to December, I had a really bad fear of blogging. The fear of it going wrong, the fear of potentially losing the blog, the fear of change because I would now need to commit to something (& whoever read my FIRST  blogpost will know that I find it challenging to commit to things). It was difficult for me and it was something that I overthought about a lot. I would make up scenarios of things that could go wrong. Seriously, if you have ever been through core-shaking, plain FEAR, then you know what I'm talking about.

That went on for four months but I got over it. I prayed about it, I calmed my butt down, I re-evaluated the situation and realised I needn't put myself through no stress. And since the new year, I've been taking it one day at a time.

What is my regret?

I don't really have any regrets when it comes to blogging. I just wish I had done the appropriate research beforehand. There's a lot of things that would have saved me a lot of time, frustration and anger if I had simply just researched it prior to doing it.

Why I love blogging?

Because it's mine. I have complete control of what I post, what I put out there. I have the access to take the blog in whatever direction as I see fit. As the years progress in my blogging journey, I have different plans for it at different stages. I see myself developing each 'sector' of my blog further in it's own individual way. I see myself slowly investing money and more time into it. I have goals for it. I have stated that this is something I would prefer as my main hobby as opposed to a career/profession.

My advice to any new bloggers:

Do it and get better. Do your research and understand what you're getting into. Blogging has many rewards - much I am yet to receive. But like all things like that, it comes with an investment of either hard work, time or money. But you can do it!
Don't compare yourself to other bloggers. I still do this myself but the more you invest into yourself and focus on your own lane - you will soon so how incredibly amazing you are and how much potential you have.
Don't let something fun be the stress of you like I did. Just remember it's a hobby, not a business...yet. Just learn to take it easy, one day at a time and take the breaks you need/deserve.
Engage with others! Only recently I've done this and I'm really glad I did: you feel less alone and understand that many are in your exact position.
DREAM BIG! Don't let anyone say you can't go places with a blog because there's so many out there! Not so many blogs out there are gonna bring what you have to offer. Be unique, be you and never think you can't achieve what the big bloggers are achieving.

Goals for this year:

-Improve my photo quality (it's all over the place at the moment).
-Develop each category of my blog further: nail art, drawings (watch out) beauty, genuine lifestyle posts etc.

So with that done thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who's supported me. The close friends, the friendly people who blog and have been with me at different stages. The likes, the re-tweets, the comments - IT IS APPRECIATED SO FRICKING MUCH!! Thanks for sticking with me guys! Cheers to another year, many more to come!

Simply, Jessy Tee


4 Books That I'm Going To Be Reading This Summer

July 23, 2017 2 Comments A+ a-


Hey guys. Fingers crossed that this is going to be a short and sweet post but all I’m going to be writing about in this blog post (whilst I paint my nails) is about the books I am going to be reading this summer. Considering that the majority of you guys reading this blog post are either bloggers, general writers, amazing close friends of mine or people who love to read - most of you will know or understand how reading is great in general.

It is so easy to become absorbed into things that are completely irrelevant in making you happy or enabling you to grow physically, mentally and spiritually. I honestly challenge some of you guys to let go of things that are not contributing growth whatsoever.
Whether it be certain apps, music, TV shows or even a bad habit, this can be replaced with something that will actually help you. For example, reading :-)
Honestly, it’s a must I get into reading this summer and not just reading books on my phone but paperback books. I feel that I am spiritually down because I’ve invested a lot of time and emotions into things that are not relevant instead of using that time to get to know myself, my goals and God. Personally, I think reading is a hobby that will definitely force you to be away from technology and put you in a position to be alone and spend time genuinely by yourself as opposed to spending time alone but with 100 other people through a screen.
You eventually realise it becomes unhealthy and eventually, spiritually draining. But onto the books!

1. Playing Hard

Now actually this is a book that I’m reading online (the irony and juxtaposition, shout out to my English squad who’s doing English next year). But this book is actually alright, it kinda drags but I’m still yet to finish the book. (UPDATE: I've finished the book and I would recommend it to anyone who loves the movie 'Love and Basketball'.)
It’s basically a typical romance which is about a boy and girl who are different and cannot be together because of their difference and end up catching feelings for each other. It can be found on Wattpad where all the remaining information on the novel can be found.

2. Keysha’s Drama: A Kimani Tru Novel

Now – any Kimani Tru book, ANY book from the collection I always love. The love is reaaaaal out here for Kimani Tru books because they’re interesting, relatable, funny and enlightening (in terms of life over the pond). I would recommend this to anyone of ethnic minority and anyone interested in drama in within books.

3. The Boy Free Zone

There is a crazy reason why I’m reading this. I must have been with some friends in my school library doing things you shouldn’t be doing in a library (talking loudly and laughing but it’s always loud in the library). So I was bored and picked up the nearest book that caught my eye and the title hooked me. I got the book, well temporarily borrowed it without signing it out, and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since.
To be honest I have to read this book this summer because I have to return this back to school on results day because that is the biggest chance I’ll get to put it back (if I don't end up going to my school's sixth form). So wish me luck! Plus the book, from what I can remember because I’m too lazy to get up and get it, is about a girl that’s bored in a town and a hot guy comes and she’s mesmerised. If that’s not the plot, I’m so soooorrryyyyy guys but I'm lazy as anything rn.

4. Drama high: Frenemies

 I think I’ve read this book previously but I’m not 100% sure but I’ve definitely come into contact with the series and for the most part it’s okay. I’ve actually started this book but I stopped due to exams but this book was actually interesting up until the part I stopped so I’m definitely going to be catching up with it!

Thank you guys for reading! I honestly challenge you guys to spend some genuine time by yourself. It doesn’t have to be reading. Take the time to understand your purpose and don’t let anything consume your mind that does not aid your personal growth! You’re amazing and you need to start to feed your spirit.
“Show me your friends and I’ll tell you your character” – An African proverb

Simply, Jessy Tee


What They Never Told Me About Blogging | SimplyJessyTee

July 18, 2017 2 Comments A+ a-


Hi guys and welcome back to my blog! Recently getting back into blogging, I’ve realised a few things that before starting this journey I was not quite aware of because nobody TOLD MEH. In this post I wanted to share 5 things that nobody tells you before you start blogging and hopefully to anyone who does not have a blog, it will give you a more personal insight of what goes on behind the scenes. And for those that do have a blog, I hope you find this relatable as I wouldn’t want to be the only one who goes/went through this.

1. You are forced to learn HTML.

This has to be the worst one for me. A quick confession: I HATED designing the template/layout for my blog and vowed I would NEVER do it again. From the widgets, to the favicon and back to the sidebar – it was genuinely an awful experience for me. Things that went wrong would be the end of the world. There was one time I risked deleting everything from my blog when I was designing it. Honestly I would rather buy another template in the future than re-design my blog all by myself, I kid you not. I didn’t mind making the logo, header and icon designs but that was a grain of salt compared to what I did overall. For some they love HTML, for me – just no.

2. Using a camera becomes rocket science

Now, to take the photo – 50/50. Upload the photos – fine. Selecting the right photo to use in a post – great. BUT! To create the layout, to find useful things to take for the blog post itself, to edit the photo using a website (especially when your wifi is slow), to buy another SD card because the one you have won’t format which means on top of that you cannot access the photos on the card - I caaaan’t deal you guys. Its legit the one thing that I was not informed of, legit. For some, this is their favourite part of blogging but for me it's the most tedious and sometimes the most boring part. (I prefer to write.)

3. You’re more socially involved.

Before the blog, I never had an instagram account. My twitter was pretty much inactive, I never perceived Pinterest to be a place to attract potential readers and I didn’t even know that Bloglovin existed. Well now I have an instagram which I really like, I’m more active on my twitter, Pinterest is forever my favourite app and now Bloglovin allows me to read other great blog posts! I'm not the biggest lover of social media at times but due to blogging I've become more involved and when it comes to the blog, I actually enjoy using social medias.

4. You become more passionate

I feel I’ve become more passionate about it. I don’t see it as my career or lifelong dream but I do see me blogging in the long haul as something I like to do on the side and possibly going further in terms of going self-hosted and even investing more into it. But we'll see!

5. You either make it easier or harder for yourself.

One thing that I was told before blogging was that it is hard work and requires a lot of time, effort and other essential stuff. I shrugged that off and did it anyway because I didn’t want to be bored in summer 2k16.
In the beginning, it was hard for me because I put so much pressure and expectation on something that had been live for about 2-4 months which is hardly anything compared to those that have been doing it for 4-6 years. But as I had to weigh my priorities, I’ve realised, blogging is what you make it. If you can post 10 times a week, promote everything on everything along with taking a million perfect photos. Then you know what? Kudos to you and those that can do it because you make it look easy and amazing. But for me personally, doing that is begging for a breakdown. So instead, if I can’t do it, then I won’t do it. If I can, then I will.
At the end of the day, blogging is about being realistic and doing it because you're passionate about it and have a lot to bring to the table. You are in complete control so I would say that nobody told me that I don't need to pressure myself because I won't lie. Some bloggers make it seem like you have to love EVERY single second of blogging. And that's just not the case for me when I feel pressured to be perfect at it. One day at a time *claps, bows, and struts off her imaginary stage*

But that’s about it guys, This is one of those posts where I’m going to be annoyed later because I’ll feel like I’ve missed something out but it’s all good. Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you have a restful day. God bless x
“If it’s meant to be, it will happen. If not then God will provide something better” – from a friend of mine.
Image source: Pexels

Simply, Jessy Tee