Birthday Celebrations

As the title suggests, this post is all about my birthday...

I turned 17 this Tuesday, and to celebrate, I decided to throw a BBQ the Sunday before and invite some of my closest friends. I knew that I wanted to have some kind of party rather than just going out for a meal or the cinema, and considering my birthday is in July, a BBQ seemed like a great idea!

Now, as anybody who lives in the UK knows, the weather can be extremely unpredictable. In fact, as I'm writing this, it was chucking it down with rain yesterday, but today I'm sat in the garden wearing nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of shorts... The weather was absolutely glorious during the weeks leading up to my birthday, up until about three days before my party... Just my luck... (I blame the fact I broke a mirror about three weeks ago). It was cold, it was raining, and I was devastated... But then things started to change. I was constantly checking weather reports from various sources, one of which claimed it was supposed to turn lovely again on the Sunday, and thank the heavens because the weather couldn't have been more gorgeous! *breathes a sigh of relief*

I'd invited 11 of my friends, however a few couldn't make it, so I was left with only 8 friends but over a dozen burgers... A solution to my problem? Invite the grandparents...

(Shoutout to my friends who made my party so amazing - Alex, Amy, Becky, Cat, Connor, Emma, Emma and Grace)

The disadvantage of going to an all-girls school, is not having many male friends, so the majority of the people at my party were girls... All except one... Connor. You may remember Connor from my previous posts "Sleepovers, Skype and Flower Crowns" and "Sunday", so somehow he always manages to make an appearance in my posts... 

I was slightly worried that Connor might feel uncomfortable being the only guy at my party, but in reality he actually loved it (I should have known). 

Becky, Emma, Amy & Me

The night before my party, I'd invited my best friend (well, one of them) Amy to sleep over, and we had a great time! We had a good old catch up, and as we weren't prepared to break our tradition, we also Skyped Connor. We spent the evening pretty much laughing so hard our sides ached, and also decorating my house and garden with bunting, balloons and banners for the BBQ. 

The following morning we got up super early, decorated some more, and helped my Mum prepare the food and set up the BBQ. At 2pm, the party had officially started! We all sat in the garden and ate, socialised and acted like children with footballs, badminton kits and frisbee's on the field behind my house, where I'd just like to add; Connor did the most epic fail ever and fell over the football as he went to kick it! (sorry Connor, you didn't think I wouldn't mention it did you?)

We also played Just Dance on the Wii for a little while, which was absolutely hilarious, and also acted like children some more by bouncing on the trampoline (which is now broken by the way, thanks Emma and Connor)...

I'm glad to say that everybody had a great time, in fact, everyone left between 8pm and 9pm, despite the fact it was supposed to end at 7:00... I also had an amazing time, the banter was flowing, and it was definitely the best birthday I've had by far! 

Me, Amy & Connor

Chloe

Book Review... Thirteen Reasons Why

For the past few weeks while I've been on study leave, I decided to start reading Thirteen Reasons Why. Now, this book has been on my shelf for the past year, and I'm kind of kicking myself for not reading it earlier...

Thirteen Reasons Why, written by Jay Asher, is a 2007 New York Times best-selling young-adult fiction novel, and Goodreads gives it an overall rating of 4.1/5 (yes, I did my research on this).
As a brief, no-spoilers summary, the book is basically about Clay Jensen, who receives a package with 7 cassette tapes in it, 7 cassette tapes which were recorded by his former classmate Hannah Baker. Why former classmate you ask? Well, Hannah committed suicide just two weeks earlier. Pretty depressing, I know... The tapes that Clay received explain each of the 13 reasons why Hannah decided to take her own life, and each person who receives them is one of those reasons *gasps*. I know that sounds harsh and heartless, and I'd agree with you, I mean, who sends tapes to somebody, telling them that they are a reason for their death?...

Don't be discouraged about the book, the whole story may sound slightly depressing, but there are so many valuable lessons to be learned from it. One of them being that every single person on this earth is going through their own problems, and although you may not know it, what you say or do to someone could be the push for a downhill roll that cannot be stopped.
Suicide is an increasing issue, in teenagers especially who face difficulties every day, such as peer pressure and the hell that is high school, and it's not a thing to be taken lightly. 

The main themes of the book, are also, yes you guessed it, a little on the dark side, such as death, guilt, blame, betrayal and choices. Although it doesn't sound it, it's an amazing book, and one of the most realistic and hard-hitting books I've read in a long time. One of my friends, Holly, has also read it, and she described it as "possibly one of the best books I've ever read, definitely the most haunting, I'll never forget it."

Now, I'm trying so hard not to give spoilers here - but there were some flaws to the book. I wanted to sympathise with Hannah, I really did, but there were some occasions where I couldn't... Again, trying not to give spoilers, but there were times when I thought that Hannah blamed everyone for her suicide except herself. 

One of the best parts of the book, is that it makes you think. It made me feel guilty if I'm being honest. Guilty of what I may have done, intentionally or unintentionally, to people I've crossed paths with. The sudden realisation that it's possible you may have been one of somebody's "reasons". I'm not saying I've done anything terrible in my life, because that would be a lie, but there are things I wish I could take back, and Thirteen Reasons Why made me realise that no matter how much I want to, I can't do that. Once you say something or do something, it's done, and you can never take that back. No amount of apologies or tears can change it.

The book is also written in a brilliant way *applauses Jay Asher*, in the way it continuously switches from Clay's thoughts and what he's doing, to Hannah's tapes. Although I must say, at some points I was more interested in what was being said on the tapes than Clay wandering around town, and often found myself skipping some of Clay's sections to get back to Hannah.

Overall, I think Thirteen Reasons Why is a great book, and touches on so many important issues in today's society. It left me feeling both hopeless, but hopeful at the same time. If you've read the book then leave a comment below telling me what you thought of it, and I'd also be interested in any book suggestions you may have.

Chloe