It's hard to believe how quickly 2013 has flown by. Although there are a lot of things that I have done and achieved this year, I still want to make the most of the rest of the year. I thought that I would share some of the things that I want to do between now and the end of 2013.
1. Visit Madame Tussauds in London
Out of all the tourist attractions in London, one that I've never had the chance to visit is Madame Tussauds. It's always been something that I have wanted to do and see all of the waxworks there. The main reason why I want to visit before the end of 2013 is because a waxwork of triple F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel is currently being displayed. It is only there for a few months so I would love to go down there before it leaves.
2. Go Shopping at Westfield Stratford City, London
As I live in a small town the shopping options aren't amazing. Even the next town from me which is bigger isn't that much better and so I love it when I get to go shopping in bigger places such as Norwich and Cambridge. However, I really love shopping in London and the new-ish shopping centre in Stratford is amazing! Everything you need is all in one place and it is so easy to get to on the train and the weather doesn't even need to be that nice as you are indoors!
3. The Clothes Show Live, Birmingham
Since I studied textiles and product design as part of both my GCSE's and A Level's, I have been going to The Clothes Show Live in Birmingham almost every year for the past 7 years. It is seriously an amazing day out, and there are so many stalls there selling everything from fashion items to makeup to tarot card readings. Many beauty and fashion brands are there and offer either discount on their products or you can buy goodie bags full of their products for a really good price. Last year when I went, I bought a Rimmel Goodie bag for a £5 and it had in it a scandal eyes mascara and a 1000 kisses lip tint amongst other things such as an eyeshadow palette and nail polishes. Usually the mascara itself would be over £5 so it was a real bargain and this is just a sample of what you can get there. As I have now finished Sixth Form I won't be able to go with the school but I'm hoping I can get down there myself. Oh, and as well as all these stalls, your ticket gives you access to the catwalk show, which is always brilliant and there are usually some semi-naked men!
4. Visit friends at university
In September, some of my friends moved away from our hometown to go to University. Obviously because some now live the best part of 4 hours away I don't get to see them everyday like I was used to so it would be amazing if I had the opportunity to visit them someday. This also would tie in with number 5 on this list, an added bonus!
5. Travel to different parts of the UK
Travelling and seeing the world has always interested me. I live in a small town and so it intrigues me to think about what else is out there in the world and how other people live. Although I've already been to other countries, there are many places in the UK which I have yet to visit and so I would like to try and visit new towns and counties before 2014 is here.
6. Save money for 2014
I'm not very good at saving money. I don't have any form of a savings account and so one of my goals for between now and the end of the year is to try and save as much as possible. It may be difficult with Christmas and birthdays coming up but I want to set myself a target saving amount and see if I can reach it.
7. Visit Colchester Zoo
This last one is one of my summer plans which never happened. I love going to the zoo and seeing all the animals and the one at Colchester is the closest to where I live. Although I've been there numerous times I really enjoy it and it is a great day out. I also always try to take my camera as you can get some beautiful pictures there.
These are just a few of the things that I would love to be able to achieve and do before the end of the year. At the beginning of 2014 I will look back and see which ones came to fruition and I will probably also set some more goals for 2014!
It had been coming for some time. Prior to today, Sebastian Vettel had won 5 races in a row and was looking for his 10th victory of the season. More importantly, he was aiming to secure his fourth successive championship, and Red Bull were also looking to secure their fourth consecutive Constructor's title. To do this, Vettel would only have to finish 5th or higher if Alonso won the race, but it turns out Vettel planned to do it in style.
After qualifying on pole on Saturday, Vettel's main threat was believed to be team-mate Mark Webber. Webber had qualified in 4th, but on the medium tyres and these were the tyres to be on in the race because of the low degradation. Vettel had qualified on the soft tyres, meaning that he would be making an early stop and then working his way back through the field.
When the lights went out and the race started, Vettel maintained his record of being the only person to see the first corner of the Indian GP first, no other driver has ever lead the Indian GP going into the first corner. There were also excellent starts from Lewis Hamilton, with aside from some wheel spin could have seriously challenged Vettel for the lead at beginning of the race. However, the excitement of the thought of Webber challenging for the win today was affected when the driver made contact firstly with Raikkonen and then with Alonso during the first few corners. In addition to this, any doubts that Vettel wouldn't secure his championship were reduced when because of the contact between Webber and Alonso, Alonso was forced to pit for a new nose cone. After this the Spaniard had a rather quiet afternoon, eventually finishing in 11th place, but pulling a spectacular move on Gutierrez during lap 22, but he never looked to challenge the top 10.
Another driver that suffered from early problems was Jenson Button. He suffered a puncture to his medium tyres in the early part of the race and so this massively affected his strategy for the entire race, as he had to put on the soft tyre for a short amount of time before going back to the mediums. This resulted in a disappointing 14th place, especially when you compare the result to that of Perez. The Mexican had a supreme drive today, battling from 9th to finish in 5th, equalling McLaren's best finish of the season. Considering this, I think that if Button didn't have the problems from the first lap, McLaren could have left India today with a decent haul of points.
Although he may be driving a multiple championship car, Mark Webber has had more than his fair share of reliability problems in his Red Bull. Today we saw yet another problem which forced him to retire around lap 40, because of an alternator problem. Any hope of breaking down Vettel's 12 second lead at that time was destroyed, and it left a very nervous Red Bull pit wall. For the remainder of the race the team carefully managed Seb's car, ensuring that they were able to nurse it home. Luckily with the advantage that Vettel had, they made it look very easy indeed. When Vettel saw the chequered flag 29 seconds before his nearest competitor Nico Rosberg, it confirmed that both Red Bull and Vettel had won their fourth consecutive Constructor's and Driver's titles, and that mathematically the season was over. All the hard work and the dominance finally paid off and it was lovely for fans to see the raw emotion from Vettel in the room post race before the podium. For the fans at home we could see what it meant to the young 26 year old, as his success was slowly sinking in. Whether or not you like the driver, support the team or the dominance that he has brought, you cannot help acknowledge that he is now considered one of the greats of the sport and an ambassador and role model for younger fans watching and trying to get involved with the sport. You do not become a multiple champion by accident, but it is important to remember that without the hard work from the entire team alongside the people we see on our tv screens such as Vettel, Horner and Newey, none of these championships would have been possible.
The driver of the day for me was Romain Grosjean. After a mistake in qualifying yesterday leaving him starting 17th on the grid, it was interesting to see where he ended up. If this time last year you told someone within the F1 world that this driver would make up 14 places and finish on the podium, you wouldn't believe them. He is a completely different driver from the one we saw last season, especially in Belgium and now we are really beginning to appreciate his speed and talent. He stayed out of trouble today and has left me wondering what he could have done if he had qualified within the top 10 like his team-mate did.
With the world of Formula One not returning to India next season, what better way to say goodbye to the track than to watch newly crowned four times world champion Sebastian Vettel perform donuts and bow to his car after winning supremely his 10th win of the season.
It's fair to say that Mercedes have been less than impressive since their return to F1 in 2010. Their history to say the least is complicated, yet they built a team which saw Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher take the two racing seats from 2010 to 2012.
However, this season has proved different, with pole positions and race wins as well as a new driver in the form of Lewis Hamilton.
Between the 2010 and 2011 seasons the team finished without a single pole position or win, and a number of retirements due to technical problems. Things seemed to have improved in 2012, with Rosberg taking pole at the Chinese GP and subsequently winning the race as well. Although some expected for this form to continue into the 2012 season, Mercedes suffered from multiple technical issues and retirements which lead them to finish 5th in the Constructor's Championship with 142 points.
With the arrival of Lewis Hamilton for the 2013 season and the departure of Michael Schumacher, the team was expected to deliver a competitive car. There was a lot of pressure on the team to perform and questions as to why Hamilton had decided to join them.
Mercedes are now enjoying what is their best season in the sport since returning in 2010. So far after 11 races they have achieved 3 wins and 8 pole positions, a radical improvement from 2012. They still have areas to improve in order to be able to convert each pole into a race win, but the races they have won, they've done rather dominantly.
Mercedes have suffered with a number of tyre problems throughout the season, suffering from blow-outs at the British GP with Lewis Hamilton and extreme degradation in races which have seen them slide down the order. However, they arguably have the fastest car in qualifying trim, which is illustrated by the amount of pole positions which they have achieved so far.
At recent races we have also seen an improvement with the Mercedes' tyre degradation, whether this be because they understand how to manage the tyres more effectively or because the change in the Pirelli tyres have suited them.
They have worked extremely hard over the winter to develop a competitive car and this is shown by the fact that they stand 2nd in the Constructor's Championship and are Red Bull's nearest rival with 235 points. The two drivers have been extremely consistent as well, with Hamilton finishing in the points in 10 of the 11 races with 1 win and 4 podium finishes. Nico Rosberg also has finished in the points in 8 of the 11 races, but also has 2 race wins included. The big question now surrounding Mercedes is can they continue to develop their car which will be able to challenge Red Bull for the titles? With big regulation changes coming in 2014, it is natural to think that the team will be dedicating more time and effort towards their 2014 car, but all the great teams are able to balance their developments between the two cars. If Mercedes can continue a decent rate of development for their 2013 car, I believe they have a good chance of securing 2nd in the constructors championship and may even be able to chase Red Bull down even to the last race in Brazil.
When Lewis Hamilton joined the team at the beginning of the season, many people doubted that he would be able to win races with the team because of how uncompetitive their 2012 car was. Admittedly, I didn't think that considering the form of the team since 2010, that Rosberg let alone Hamilton would be winning races this season. Its astonishing how far the team have come in this season and they've proved a lot of people wrong. It is almost as though Hamilton knew the car would be competitive when he joined.
For these reasons, so far this season Mercedes have been the team of the season for me. In order to call this season a real success I believe they should still be trying to challenge for the titles as much as possible and I think even if they don't win these, if they get a few more race wins this season, they can call 2013 a real success.
After Summer, the festive season is one of my favourite times of the year. Although I'm not a huge fan of the cold weather and the evenings getting dark really early I love that at this time of year get into the spirit, whether that be by organising secret santa at work or just by decorating their houses, it is a special time of year. 
One of my highlights of Christmas is putting up our tree in the living room. Although it is artificial me and my sister have lots of fun putting on the lights and decorations. It is one of those times that you can put aside our busy lives and spend some family time together. However I seem to always get stuck with the job of putting the lights on which is a task and a half as I either run out of lights half way down and have to start again or I have loads of lights leftover and so I desperately try and bunch them all together at the bottom. My sister then gets the nice job of putting on the tinsel and other decorations before putting the angel on the top. 
For our decorations we never used to have much of a theme. It tended to be to just chuck whatever was in the box onto the tree and hope for the best which often resulted in a huge array of colours and it was a little overwhelming. However in 2012 we bought new lights and decorations and we love them. We went for a blue and white theme because it represented the colder weather yet still looked festive. The lights are a mixture of blue LED and white LEd and I thought that they worked together really well. They also look gorgeous when all the main house lights are out and they are flashing away. The tinsel also helped to reflect the light and make it seem bigger and brighter. 
My sister gets a bit OCD when decorating the Christmas tree and her ballerina decorations get pride of place near the top of the tree and must always be on the tree. They do add a nice touch but when you have about 5 of them it can be a bit too much. The rest of our tree is filled usually with loads of white, silver and blue baubles which all are reflective. The tree itself is also quite unique because my dad decided to go against getting a traditional green tree and get a chocolate brown one instead. Although at first I wasn't sure about this when it is decorated it actually looks lovely.
All of these pictures were taken back at Christmas 2013 and I was experimenting with a technique called zoom bursts on the DSLR at the time. It is achieved by starting with the lens zoomed either all the way in or out and increasing the exposure time to a few seconds. Then whilst you are taking the picture you zoom the opposite way and you are left with this beautiful flashed effect. Although it isn't a traditional technique, it creates some beautiful abstract images especially when light is involved.
I found that last Christmas suddenly snuck up on me and I was not organised at all. I know that I was still frantically buying and wrapping up Christmas presents on Christmas Eve and this was mainly down to the fact that I had been so busy in the days and weeks leading up to Christmas Day that I hardly had time to think. 
I spent the 15th of December driving from my hometown to Nottingham for a work course which lasted two days. I remember spending the second night in my hotel room ordering Christmas presents for my sister to be delivered whilst I was away and also to try and find a dress for the upcoming work Christmas do. 
When Christmas day finally rolled around a few days later I was so excited. I had managed to get everything done and sorted and was looking forward to spending the next few days with my family. On Christmas morning my sister and I went round to my mum and stepdad's house to spend the morning with them before my sister, dad and I went round to my nan's with my aunt and cousin to enjoy our delicious roast dinner and to finish off the day. 
I was very spoilt this Christmas and I am very lucky to have such a loving and wonderful family and it was nice to have a few days off work to just relax and enjoy the company of others. I can't believe that in less than 6 months we will have the chance to celebrate all over again and it has been good to look back at my last Christmas to remember what a lovely time I had. 