Month: January 2016

ZBox Review #1

I received a ZBox subscription from my brother for Christmas and it is great! The first box I received was this one, which is the Star Wars box – completely full of Star Wars related goodies!

So I opened up my box and this is what I saw so far..
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I had a R2-D2 Desktop Vacuum which will come in handy with my desk as I’m forever munching away whilst trying to be productive!IMG_6508
I then received some Gadget Decals that we sell in work, I thought that these were all going to be huge and mainly for a MacBook (that I don’t stick anything to) but luckily there were about 3/4 sheets of all different size decals! So now my hard drives are all funky Star Wars chic (whatever that means..), at least I can tell the difference between mine and my mothers now as we ended up with the same hard drive and colour!IMG_6519
I then saw an original film cell from The Empire Strikes Back which is so, so cool! I absolutely love this!
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Moving on, there was a bunch of stuff at the bottom including my film cell – I had ‘The Force – The Zbox Magazine’ which has all previews of new stuff, all the latest Star Wars gadgets coming out and had previews of the new comics coming out!
I also received a Force Awakens poster, which is so cool!
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You can’t have a Star Wars related box around the new hype, without BB-8 now can you..
I love BB-8, ‘he’ is such a lad with sass! So I was chuffed when I saw this, this can go with my other BB-8 t-shirt that I have – it’s time that I start thinking of a BB-8 tattoo next!IMG_6512
So that’s it for my very brief details on the ZBox that I received! I do have another box, also but I will write about that one in a separate post to save confusion!

You can order ZBox from Zavvi from this link – BOOSH.
It is £19.49 per month, when you have a 3 month subscription so it’s well worth it. So go and have a little look at that if you’re interested as they are having some cool new boxes coming out like Deadpool, sometimes they have Animation, Back to The Future..

May The Force Be With You,
Zoe
xx

Xbox 360: Disneyland Adventures (Kinect)

Can I point out how much of an underrated game this is? This is one of my all time favourite games for the Xbox 360 and I always highly recommend it to families that love Disney.
If you’re a huge Disney parks and film freak like me, then this is the ultimate video game for you. No joke.
You use to Kinect (which is a camera for your Xbox 360 that detects your body, so you can control the game by using your hands, arms, jumping, dancing, ducking down..)
You get to walk/run around Disneyland, hug the characters, collect autographs from all of them, ride the rides (most of them have a level built into these, so you have to jump over obstacles, duck under things, move left and right to avoid stuff) and you can do whatever you like! Not to mention, that there’s also Hidden Mickeys in this game. Snap the camera out and away you go!

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I really have no idea how this game wasn’t more popular? I have had this game for 3/4 years now and I still absolutely love it. There’s so much to the game and I have only completed about 50% of the achievements and I have been on here for hours!

My only problem that yes, it’s a Kinect game but I get so addicted to playing this game that my arms are in agony from all of the hours that I am playing it! You need to lift your arm and move it left and right to walk, and I am aching the next day but really feel the need and addiction to carry on collecting autographs and hidden mickeys! That is a sacrifice I am willing to take!

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Have you played this? I’m so sad that this isn’t going to be reverse compatible with the new Kinect for the Xbox One but this is a game that makes me want to keep my Xbox 360 in the works!
Zoe
xx

Want more Disney related posts?

Christmas at Walt Disney World

How I do Walt Disney World on a Budget

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Review

My Disney Jewellery Collection

VLOG: I Surprised my mother at Walt Disney World!

VLOG: Walt Disney World

Tips on visiting the Disney and Universal parks!

A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond Review

Title: A Bear Called Paddington

Author: Michael Bond

Purchase: Available in the UK

Overall Rating: 5/5

Great For: Children, Families, Rekindling Childhood Memories

Themes: Adventures, Family, Values

Review: I absolutely adored this book when I was younger and have always been a Paddington Bear fan. I thought that I would pick up this book again on Amazon for £3.49 Kindle Edition and give it a good, nostalgic read!

If you do not know who Paddington Bear is, he is a bar from Peru that travelled to London, United Kingdom. He was found at Paddington Station and that was where he got his name from. In this book, you will follow him on his adventures of finding a family, discovering new experiences and many more..

It didn’t disappoint. I still had the same warm feeling that I had when I was younger reading this. The familiarity is great and it has made me realise how well the recent film was made too – they stuck to some of the exact stories and it just worked so well!
This book is great for all ages, especially kids as it isn’t one whole story in itself. It is a compilation of short stories featuring Paddington and the Brown family.

I feel like I cannot say any additional information on this, it really is a ‘you have to read it’ kind of book and most of you have probably read this throughout your childhood.

Did you use to read this when you were younger?
Would you give them another read now?
How did you feel about the film?

Check out my other book reviews:

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

The Trap by Alan Gibbons

Girl Online: Going Solo by Zoe Sugg (Zoella)

A Quiet Kind Of Thunder by Sara Barnard

The Movie Version by Emma Wunsch

 

Blogging Targets 2016

I have been thinking of what I need to really give my blog that extra little boost. For me personally, I am not in it for the amount of views or anything but I just have a passion for writing about whatever I want to – whether it’s about Beauty, Video Games, having an Anxiety moment or anything random at all.

Although, I feel like my blog could do much more if I put my head down and understood the complete ins and outs of blogging. I have always just thought that it is ‘Write a post. Post it. Promote it on twitter, if you want. There are your views.’
But I am forever getting emails saying that I don’t get a lot of traffic and that there’s other ways to improve this. I just feel like I might as well look into this, it doesn’t make any difference to me personally as I’m still writing my posts but I might as well let more people see them?

So that’s what I am going to do, I am going to try look into traffic and all of that blogging background jargon!

Do any of you have any advice on this at all?
Let me know!
Zoe
xx

Review: The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

Title: The Girl on the Train

Author: Paula Hawkins

Purchase: Available in the UK and US

Overall Rating: 5/5

Great For: People that love Mystery and Crime novels

Themes: Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Murder

Review: I had no idea what this book was about when I picked it up and started reading it. I assumed that it had something to do with a killer, and maybe some creepy girl that stalked someone on the train every single day. I literally thought it was going to be a thriller book, with a possible zombie, creepy girl on the train.

It wasn’t. It was similar along those lines though..
It is basically about a girl that sits on the same train, at the same time every morning, in the same seat. She looks out of the window at the same house, every single day and sees it’s occupants. She decides to use her imagination to create a life for this couple, but boy, her imagination was completely wrong compared to the reality.
It turns out that this woman has gone missing, and that’s where the story mainly starts from.

It is a really great book, full of turns and twists throughout the book and it was just so capturing.
I had no idea who the killer was, right up until the end where they revealed it. No idea.

I have read that they are making this book into a film adaptation too, next year? (Or possibly now even this year?) and I think that this is such a great idea! Emma Blunt is going to be starring in this and I think that it all seems the perfect fit, so far.

I would highly recommend this book and I can see why there was loads of hype around it. I’m not sure if I would hype about it as much as others have, but it was still a really great book with similarities to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

If you want a gripping, chilling but interesting read then definitely go for this!
Have you read this book? Are you looking forward to the film adaptation?
Let me know.


Check out my other book reviews:

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

The Trap by Alan Gibbons

Girl Online: Going Solo by Zoe Sugg (Zoella)

A Quiet Kind Of Thunder by Sara Barnard

The Movie Version by Emma Wunsch

 

YouTube: Disastrous Kayaking in Franz Josef!

This was one of my favourite days in New Zealand – I loved every minute of it!
I say that it is ‘disastrous’ but just in the fact that we all kept sabotaging each other and rowing into trees and verges..
But as you can see, I am finally getting through my footage very slowly but surely! Lots more videos to come up, so keep your eyes peeled!

Do you want to go kayaking or have you been? Was it as disastrous as ours?
Zoe
xx

Apple Watch Review

For christmas, I jumped on the technology trending bandwagon and I received an Apple Watch. I have been eyeing one up for quite some time now, although when they first came out I thought that it was going to be something that I wouldn’t use really.
I have a Stainless Steel Apple Watch which came with a white strap, that I have now changed to a dusty lilac colour for the time being! I like to mix things up every now and then!

So I charged it up on christmas day, plopped it on and it hasn’t really come off since (obviously for charging and sleeping – duh!) but it has become really handy! The ease of checking my messages and emails quickly and not having to go get my phone. Or even when I’m in work and I’ll get a message from my mother to pick something up on the way home (as I don’t usually check my phone until I get home and miss the texts!) it’s just much easier to quickly browse at this and be kept up to date!

The software is fast, no glitches for me yet, no problems at all. I even have some KitSound Outrun bluetooth, wireless earphones to go with my Apple Watch and these work perfectly and connect quickly! Great add on!

Although I think that this is a really handy gadget, the only downsides are that there’s no actual apps for WhatsApp, Snapchat and Spotify. This is fine, but I have had to turn off my notifications for Snapchat as I won’t be able to see the images on my watch anyway!
Although I thought this was a downside, I think that I am just going to switch from Spotify to Apple Music for the time being (Sorry, my beloved Spotify). It’s just easier to keep everything in sync and for everything to work perfectly fine!

It is very handy for if I’m driving, I can just tap the answer button and I don’t have to do anything else – especially when it connects to my bluetooth system automatically in the car too! Speak away or throw those tunes on and get singing!

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I just really like the feel of having all of my calendars up to date, so I can just check up on anything with a blink of an eye and it’s as simple as that! No need to faff about on my phone, trying to find my calendar! Also, the fact that you can switch around all of the straps, hits a soft spot with me. I love that it is customisable as I like to change things around and keep them fresh every now and then – so this is such a great hit with me!

So far, I haven’t got any games on it and am not sure on how I feel about that, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll update you on all that next time!

I do understand that the Apple Watch might not be for everyone but for people like me, who are in the Design/Tech Industry this becomes very handy to keep everything in sync – I would highly recommend it!

Have any of you got an Apple Watch? Do you like it? Love it? Hate it?
I want to know your opinions!
Zoe
xx

LINKS:
Apple Watch: JOHN LEWIS
(John Lewis include a free 2 Year Guarantee with their Apple Products, for the same price as other stores and also Price Match).
KS Outrun Earphones: CURRYS