FOUR Deluxe Edition Review

I don't quite understand how we're already on the fourth One Direction album but I am so so happy about it. I love getting new music anyway but when it's One Direction and they've written it all themselves it makes it even better. I've decided to review the album track by track because I love it so much and I want to convert everyone to loving it, like I already have with some of my friends (Greenie)!

1. Steal My Girl  
Well this was the first single released (apart from Fireproof) and I love it because it's such a fun song. It;s perfect to dance around your room to or sing in the shower (I of course have done both). I LOVE the video purely for the complete randomness of it and how  different it is to their other videos

2. Ready to Run
 This was one of the tracks released in the week leading up to the album release and it's one of my favourites (I have many). I really like the guitar all the way through and how the song really picks up in the chorus with Harry's beautiful vocals. I love the lyrics too 'wherever you are is the place I belong'. I'm a soppy one I know!

3. Where Do Broken Hearts Go 
Also an early release which is also one of my favourites. It's a song that makes me want to dance and I think all of the vocals are so so good on it. It was written by Harry and none of  the other boys and I know it's one of their favourite tracks which demonstrates Harry's  writing talent (if you haven't heard Ariana Grande's 'Just a Little Bit of Your Heart' listen  to it asap because it is so beautiful and written by Harry).

4. 18 
Written by the wonderful and insanely talented Ed Sheeran I am deeply in love with this song. I think the lyrics are perfect, their vocals are so strong and it's just a perfect song. Good job Ed. This is the kind of song with lyrics that I wish applied to my life if that makes any sense? I listen to it and think 'I want this to happen to me' because it really is a beautiful love song. 

5. Girl Almighty 
I'll admit this isn't one of my top favourites but it is such a fun song to dance to. It's definitely a song that would cheer you up on a bad day. Liam's voice is pretty flawless on this track. 

6. Fool's Gold 
Okay this song is definitely a favourite. It's so calming, especially Niall's voice at the beginning, followed by Harry's as it goes into the chorus. When I first heard it when it was pre-released I listened to it on repeat, non-stop because it is just so pretty. All 5 boys contributed to writing this song which makes it quite special, especially as it is already one of my favourites. 'I'm not done yet, falling for you'

7. Night Changes
WORDS CANNOT EXPLAIN MY LOVE FOR THIS SONG. It's piano, their smooth voices, the beautiful lyrics written by all 5 boys (do you see a trend occurring?), it's just PERFECT. I'm unbelievably excited for the video, as I'm writing this they've released 2 teasers, one of Zayn and another of Louis and the audience is taken on a 'date' by the boys which kind of makes my heart melt a bit (and i haven't even seen Harry's part yet. God help me when I do!). 'It'll never change me and you' 

8. No Control 
Now, just like Girl Almighty I don't know how much I like this one. It's definitely a fun song and I can imagine on the tour that it'll be amazing but there's just something that keeps  making me skip it! It's still a really good song but I think because the others are SO SO  good I like this one a little less. Is that bad? 

9. Fireproof  
This one was released free when the album was announced and I immediately fell in love with it. The guitar really surprised me as there wasn't a great deal of this much guitar on 'Midnight Memories'. The harmonies on this are quite special!

10. Spaces
Yet another beautiful, slow song that I could so easily fall asleep to it's so calming. Like 'Fireproof' the harmonies on this are beautiful (I really need to expand my vocabulary!). The lyrics, written by Louis and Liam, are simply stunning. There are quite a few instances on the album when all the boys are singing and they are sounding so so good together I love it. Bring on the tour!

11. Stockholm Syndrome Written by the wonderful and perfect Mr Styles, I'm 99% sure this is my favourite track of the whole album. The lyrics, their voices, the tune, the guitar, the drums, literally everything I LOVE. This is definitely going to be amazing live, I can already see Harry on stage 'dancing' (or should I say prancing?) around the stage to it. There's little I can say about this other than how much I'm in love with it. 'I fear I'm getting used to being held by you' 

12. Clouds 
I wasn't sure about this one at first but I'm definitely growing to like it more. The chorus is my ultimate favourite part of this one. It's quite a shouty kind of chorus which is probably the best for me as I cannot sing at all, completely tone deaf (honestly ask anyone who knows me!) 'We're never coming back down, Yeah we're looking down on the clouds' 

13.Change Your Ticket 
My first thought was 'OH MY GOD THIS IS LIKE THE 1975'  and I love the 1975. My second thought was 'HARRY PLEASE STOP SINGING ABOUT ME GETTING BACK INTO BED WITH YOU BECAUSE I CANNOT COPE'. Along with Stockholm Syndrome,  Fool's Gold and Night Changes this is one of my top favourites. It was, again, written by all  5 of the boys (definitely a theme here) and I love driving home to it. I don't really know why but it is the perfect song to put on full volume and sing along, having a little dance (driving safely of course). 

14.Illusion 
Ah yes, Illusion, another one of my favourites (I have many okay please don't judge me). The chorus, again!, is so good and (of course) I love the lyrics. It's another one of those songs I want to happen to me. 'I promise falling for me won't be a mistake'

15. Once in a Lifetime 
This album is crammed full of soft, guitar love songs and I'm not complaining. This isn't my favourite out of all of them (shocked? so am I!). But, of course, their harmonies on the chorus are glorious and the lyrics (again I want them to happen to me!) are so pretty, good job Payno. 

16. Act My Age
 I feel I'm in the complete minority when I say I FREAKING LOVE THIS SONG. It's fun, I love the lyrics because it makes me think of Harry with kids (and how could that not make anyone happy?!) and I just want to dance when I hear it. The whistle at the end, which I'm  98% sure is Harry, makes me laugh and I don't even know why. I JUST LOVE IT. 'When  I’m fat and old and my kids think I’m a joke, Cause the stories that I told, I tell again and again, I can count on you after all we got up to. Cause I know that you truly understand' (This needed a lot of lyrics because I couldn't chose my favourites!)

Help pls

Then is the beautiful video of the Behind the Scenes of the photoshoot. Highlights include:

• Harry's appalling basketball 
• Liam getting the basketball in from sitting on a car
• Harry's abundance of hats that make him look glorious
• Narry photos
• The Narry hug 
• Their wonderful outfits 

F L A W L E S S

I realise now this is an extremely long, wordy post but I have a lot to say and nowhere and no one to say it to! 

I really hope you all love the album as much as I do! It's already number 1 in 100 which is actually insane and I'm so so proud of the boys!

Which is your favourite track? Let me know in the comments please!!!! 

Much Love

Charlotte 

XO

Rowing Update!

Hi everyone! Thought I'd fill you in with a little rowing update! As I mentioned in my 'Life of a Rower' post I trialled for Wales in April and I've got a seat in the Women's junior coxed four and the eight for Home International Regatta this weekend! The four is my old J16 four and it feels so good to be back together! We've been training so hard and had a few wobbles and disappointing sessions but we're all so happy with how the boat is moving now. 

The eight, however, is a completely different crew comprised of girls from Kings School, Chester. Two weeks ago I went to Chester to meet them and bond with them and to try and gel as a crew. Being the only new girl in the boat was quite daunting when I arrived but thankfully a cox from my club accompanied me which made me feel a little less awkward! I was put at three but as the boat is tandem rigged I was on stroke side, opposite to my usual bow side! For the first session I was fine, we did eyes closed/eyes open and some high rate exercises e.g. half slide for 10 strokes then keep the rate up and go to full slide for 10. The next day we did more of the same, gelling as a crew and enjoying being back in an 8. However, my hands began to not enjoy the outing as much as I was and soon enough I had a large blood blister (the most unattractive thing I've ever seen) on my right hand. As I'm accustomed to bow side, altering my hands was challenging, instead of using the outside (left) hand to pull the blade in I was using my inside hand as on bow side that is my outside hand. The result of this was numerous open, painful blisters that made squaring/feathering rather difficult. 

With copious amounts of electrical tape I contiued to train with the girls. We managed to fit in some sightseeing (Chester is such a pretty place) and a lovely picnic by the river on the last day. Our last outing was going to be 500m pieces to practice the 2k. However an invisible log in the water had other ideas and decided to remove our fin before we had finished our warm up. This meant a 30 minute spin bike, 3mins @ steady state followed by 1min @ a higher gear and faster pace. It was a dramatic way to end the trip!

Now with four days to go until race day it's safe to say I'm getting nervous. We have no idea how good the competition are going to be and how we compare. I think we can be sure that we'll have a fight on our hands. I'm fed up of not getting a medal despite training so hard so fingers crossed this additional hard work will pay off! 

Thank you for reading this week's post. I'll update you on how we get on sometime next week after a day or two of continuous sleep as I know i'm going to be shattered! 

Much Love

Charlotte

xo

Hello! Bonjour! Guten Tag! Aloha! Shalom! Namaste! Hola!

Hello! Firstly, let me introduce myself my name is Charlotte, I'm 17 years old, 6ft1 tall and currently studying for my A-levels at an all girls school. In one sense I'm a typical girly girl. I LOVE shopping, clothes, makeup, beauty, boys *harry styles* and spending time with my best friends. I have a major weakness for One Direction, I've seen them live twice and I'm seeing them at Wembley on the 7th June with one of my best friends!  However, I'm also obsessed, and I mean OBSESSED with rowing. Last year I won a silver medal at the National Schools Regatta in the championship girls 8. Since experiencing the exhilarating feeling of success I have been motivated to better myself in every aspect of life. That summer I also went on a month long World Challenge trip to Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Hands down one of the most valuable experiences of my life (I may write a whole blog post on this in the future).  

On World Challege

Additionally to rowing, I'm really starting to enjoy running. I've got my first 5km run in August. I am also taking part in the Press Up Challenge (created by Olympic gold medalist Pete Reed). For each day of the year I have to do that amount of press-ups, today is day 153!  Recently I have started the Squat Challenge and Ab Challenge to add on to my core workout I do every night. Living at home it is quite difficult to eat as healthily and clean as I would like but with summer on it's way I'm hoping to get cooking more! 

Now onto the blog. I've wanted to start this for a while but I've never known what to say.... I still don't really! However, I've been inspired by the likes of Zoella, Louise (sprinkleofglitter), Tanya Burr and Pete Reed and I thought I would give it a go! I'm planning on posting fitness, lifestyle, photography, fashion and beauty (the little I know) and life in general. There will be ramblings of my time with some of the best people in the world and of my journey to university, advancing in rowing and the continual strive for happiness! 

As inspired by http://www.essena.com.au/  I am going to do a 'Currently':

Currently:
Saying cute. It is probably my most spoken word....so typically girly!
Eating houmous, carrots, breadsticks and HALLOUMI! so in love with that squeaky cheese!
Listening to One Direction 'Midnight Memories' album but also 5 Seconds of Summer... I like my boybands!
Watching Made in Chelsea and Hollyoaks are my go to shows but I watch more youtube videos... I love Alfie (pointlessblog), Zoella, Louise, Louis Cole (Fun for Louis), Marcus, Jim Chapman, Joe Sugg, Troye Sivan  and many others!  
Reading The Fault in Our Stars- John Green....the best book I've EVER read, preparing myself for the movie now!


 I hope you all enjoy! Feel free to follow my tumblr or my twitter! 
Suggestions for future post would be much appreciated! Please let me know in the comments below what you think of this post, I'll be eternally grateful!

Much love!

Charlotte

p.s. if you got this far THANK YOU.