Quick note first: Just wanted to thank every one of my readers from every country for all your support!The blog is one year old this month and recently, the views have been going out of the roof and I feel so blessed that you are taking the time to read my blog. I know sometimes it can become a bit jumbled because I'm a goth blogger who blogs about almost everything but I love how accepting you guys are. Also thank you for all your follows on Instagram, Twitter and Youtube. It means so much!

This one is a short and sweet blog post about the things I'd really like to do/ buy this month! 

(Photos from AttitudeClothing)

I was thinking the other day about my goth clothes and realised I don't actually have any goth 'lounging around' clothes! I really want to be able to look goth, feel goth but be comfortable haha!

I am OBSESSED with Killstar clothing anyway so the fact that this sweater is from Killstar makes it even better. The only thing that makes me sad is the price. Being a broke student often means I can't afford new clothing and I have to rely on vouchers and sales to get me through. This sweater costs £44.99 so looks like this is going to have to wait awhile.... I can dream....

Pictures from: shop.jeffreestarcosmetics.com

Again, I am obsessed with Jeffree Star and his incredible cosmetics company. His creativity and skill level is beyond belief. When I first heard of his Velour Liquid Line I immediately wanted to check it out but unfortunately two of my favourite shades are out of stock and have been out of stock for ages (sad sad sad sad face). The two shades above are Drug Lord (White: Out of Stock) and Weirdo (Black: Out of Stock). They are by far my favourite shades and my wish for February is that they come back in stock so that I can buy them!

I am absolutely dying to see this film! After seeing the trailer, I fell completely in love with the concept and story line as it is based on two completely real people and I was intrigued to see into the mind of Lili Elbe. People should be accepted for who they are and who they want to be and this film looks like it will bring the power and emotion that so many people can connect to. I have many friends who identify as a different sex to the one they were born with and hope that this film brings more recognition to these feelings and help them to be accepted.

Goal: Add a Song to my Soundcloud!

Me performing at a gig with my old band

Lots of things to do in February!!!!! Let me know what you are up to on twitter!

OUTFIT OF THE DAY

Dress: Attitude Clothing - £44.99
Bandana: Best Days Vintage - £4.00

SONG OF THE DAY

SEE YA NEXT TIME GUYS!

I used to sleep in silence but the insomnia started to happen more regularly and I was getting a lot of nasty flashbacks to being attacked so I started to think about how I could distract my brain from these thoughts. My solution? I started putting background noise on. This can literally be anything from putting something on Iplayer on quiet volume or going onto Youtube to find a 10 hour long rain noises video (yes they do exist). Having this background noise seemed to really help me start to fall asleep. Don't have it on too loud though. Sounds stupid but if it's at the wrong volume by even one setting it can become more irritating than helpful.

2) Convince Yourself You Want to Stay Up

OKAY I KNOW THIS SOUNDS REALLY STUPID AS YOU WANT TO GO TO SLEEP!!!!!! 

If your brain is anything like mine (a little, annoying rebel), as soon as you start to tell it you want to stay up, it will start to crash, rebel and try to send you to sleep. Put something on TV/ your laptop at a quiet volume (not something too gripping as then you really won't sleep) and slowly drift off. Not the most reliable one of the lot but it sometimes works for me!

Quite a new one for me but it is actually so good! I was given some pillow mist by my mother for Christmas (thank you ma) and I was intrigued to find out how good it is. All you do is spray it a few times around your pillow (I sometimes add some to the top of my quilt as well) and it gives you light scents that help to switch your brain off. I usually use this when I can feel that I'm really close to sleep and just need that extra push. The one I have is from Avon; it's the Planet Spa Sleep Serenity Pillow Mist which has light chamomile and lavender scents in it and it's only £4.50. This is the only one I've used and it is gorgeous so I really would recommend it. I might start trying some others out and I'll let you guys know what I think of them!

Another new one! As well as the pillow mist, my mother also got me the Avon Planet Spa Sleep Serenity Balm which is also in chamomile and lavender. Unlike pillow mist, this is something I have come across before and I know you can get them from companies such as Anatomicals, Badger etc. This particular one isn't too overpowering which is brilliant and I just apply a small amount to my temples and wrists. Along with the pillow mist, this goes down a treat and I recommend you give it a try! The Avon one is only £4.99!

A couple of years ago I didn't drink a lot of tea but as I've got older and after I moved to London, I started to drink more of it ( I have no idea why). I was speaking to my singing teacher about my lack of sleep and he told me about a couple of things that can help and one of those was valerian root. When talking to my Ma about it (she has been drinking night time tea for a long time) she mentioned that there is Valerian Root in some night time teas so I thought I would give these teas a shot. I was sent a selection of them from my Ma and my favourite one is the Pukka Night Time Tea (costs £3.29 per box of 20 teabags) which is a blend of organic oat flower, lavender, lime-flower and valerian. It tastes okay which is good (some of them taste so strange and weird which puts me off) and I also enjoy (this is going to sound weird) breathing in the steam from the cup as it helps to clear my sinuses and soothe my throat if it has been under a lot of strain in either singing or acting class. If you are a tea- drinking insomniac, try this out! 

This one is my favourite and by FAR the thing that helps me the most. I came across ASMR a couple of years ago when a friend from college said, 'Hey, look at these videos my friend makes. She's really popular on Youtube.' I had a look and I thought her videos were so relaxing and soothing. I let it go for a while but when I started to struggle to sleep, I remembered how relaxing ASMR was and thought I'd start watching ASMR videos again. 

What is ASMR I hear you ask? Well, ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response and it refers to the tingling sensations you get in either your scalp, back, muscles, neck etc. which are triggered after certain sounds, visuals or action stimuli are presented. It can help to put the brain in a state of relaxed euphoria and is said to help with insomnia, anxiety and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (all things I have/ are experiencing) as well as many other disorders. It is completely different for everyone and everyone will be triggered by different things. The most common triggers are soft spoken words/ whispering (I personally love this and prefer videos all done in whispering), tapping, scratching, crinkling materials, hair brushing and role-plays. I know that this must seem so crazy to some of you but trust me, it is a world worth exploring and I've become so much calmer since watching the videos. I've also spoken to my counsellor about ASMR and the effects of it are visibly positive. 

There are some really brilliant ASMRtists on Youtube and here I will tell you my personal favourites! My very favourite artist (Small Wonders) unfortunately removed her official channel after inappropriate comments were left on her videos which I think is a real shame. Her videos are still on Youtube under the channel 'Small Wonders Reuploads' and I watch these regularly, in particular the Make-Up Role-play, Nose Examination Role-play and Get Ready for Sleep videos. My other favourite artists are 'asmrbebexo', 'EarthlyASMR', 'Comic Tingles ASMR', 'Ava Elizabeth ASMR', 'TingleBelleASMR' and 'Ellie Alien ASMR.' Ellie Alien is a particularly interesting one for me as she doesn't do her videos in English. This sometimes helps me because I don't want to concentrate on what people are saying sometimes so by having light whispers in a different language that I don't understand helps me to relax.

Sometimes having a warm bath before sleeping helps. I can't do this anymore because my flat in London doesn't have a bath but every time I return to my hometown to see my parents and boyfriend, I ALWAYS have a bath because it is so relaxing.

Clean linen/ bedsheets/ PJs can also help. Obviously, this can't happen every night because washing is expensive (especially where I live) and you shouldn't have to wash your bed sheets every day! 

Don't listen to any music that is too upbeat. If I get distracted and start listening to my normal music I won't be able to sleep at night because I become too awake!

I hope these tips work! Let me know how you get on on either:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Mooseinthehuuse

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Mooseinthehuuse

or in the comments section below!

OUTFIT OF THE DAY

I didn't really plan an outfit for this one so it's only one picture and you can't even see the whole thing but because we are on a sleepy post, I thought I'd wear my sleepy batman onesie!

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and New Year! Sorry I haven't been more active this month but I decided to take the time to relax with my family and boyfriend over the holiday's and get back to blogging in this new semester! Starting off with my last week at uni before the holidays, here's what I've been up to:

LAST WEEK AT UNI

Sleepover in the Hub

Monday 14th December was pretty average in the day. Had a uni class then came back to my student halls thinking I was in for a boring night. However, I was invited down to the hub to see some new friends but I ended up staying down there a LOOOOTTTTT longer than I had expected. I had an assessment the next day and was aiming to get an early night (by early I mean in bed by 3am at least) but Lewis had the idea of actually sleeping in the hub and I agreed to stay down there!!!! We pushed all of the orange sofas together and decided on a movie (Pitch Perfect of course! Most if not all of them were musical theatre students). We had a lot of us down there and for some reason started pretending our student halls was 'Big Brother' and acted out nominating and evicting people (we are performing arts students, don't judge). We started with 10 people but only the hardcore three stuck it out and actually slept in the hub! These three were me, Lewis and Will - I've mentioned Will before and he has a facebook blog which you should follow here:

Photo Cred: Will

Christmas Dinner

After a stressful exam day, my lovely friends decided that we would have a group Christmas dinner. I can't cook because I am a failure of a woman (not that women should be expected to cook) so my friends cooked the stressful stuff and I stirred a pot here and there when they needed some extra hands. The food was delicious and I was so grateful that I had such amazing friends that can cook all this food! Fair to say, by the end I was very full and we ended up saving the left over gammon for sandwiches the next day! One of my besties also has a blog and it is amazing! She is my make-up and life-style guru! Go check out her blog here:

Look at my friends being all on fleek..... then there's me on the left looking confused

In typical Emily fashion I got distracted! Saturday evening there was an end of semester party at my student halls and originally I was like, 'Nahh, I'm gunna be a good student and do my work and blah blah BLLAAAHHHH' but then I saw all the people, I heard the music and I just thought WHY NOT!

It was actually a really good evening (apart from throwing up all over one of the blocks) and I collapsed into my bed at about 4:30am. Woke up with a stinking headache the next day but that is the sign of a good night!!!!

Again, I forgot to take a picture of the bottom half so scroll down to the last post I did to see my tights and shoes!

Dress: Bat Royalty/ Iron Fist - £35.00

Beanie: Grindstore - £3.99

Choker: Claire's - £5.50

A song that has never been more appropriate for me.