Spectrum Binders - A Review

In May 2018, I bought a new binder from a UK-based binder company called Spectrum. Initially, I chose the medium size in white but this turned out to be too big for me when it arrived. Luckily, they have a free returns policy and I got a new one sent out in the next size down and this one fit perfectly. I bought the same size again one year later, except in a skin colour this time. The binder is fairly comfortable (well, for a binder it is! 😂) and it is quite effective at flattening my chest. The back and shoulder strap materials are breathable, which is a relief during summer. Here's a summary of the features:

• Made out of three materials: thick cotton on the front for binding; lycra on the back and shoulder straps to allow for your chest to expand as you breath; and a nylon mesh on the back which helps the cotton on the front to bind while still stretching to allow for breathing. 
• The materials are eco-friendly as they're made out of recycled material.
• The sewing is fairly good quality. I noticed the back-stitching starting to come undone on the front right shoulder strap a year into wearing my first binder (the white one), but this is probably because I'm not very careful with it when I take the binder off.  Besides that, the stitching has been rather reliable. Both binders are still in good condition after 1&2 years of use.
• The binders to begin to lose their binding ability after a year of constant use but they still flatten my chest to an acceptable level. 
• The price is similar to those of many other binders available. I'd say the price is fairly reasonable.
• Unfortunately they only currently have short binders. Personally, this doesn't affect me greatly but if you prefer full length binders then you're out of luck right now. 
• The binders come in a range of colours - the standard black, white, grey and 3 different skin colours. There's also a blue, a red and a lilac option. There has been a light green option in the past, however this is currently unavailable.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend Spectrum binders - especially if you live in the UK. Their binders are high-quality, well-made and effective. I'll definitely be buying a third one of their binders whenever I need a new one.

Thank you for reading and goodbye until next time! ~Jay

VOTE! (If you can!)

As you are most likely aware of, the UK is having a general election on the 12th of December. That's tomorrow! This is my first time ever voting, so I'm quite excited about this. I'll write a blog post about the experience tomorrow.

Here's a little checklist for before you vote tomorrow:

• Make sure you know where your polling station is. If you don't know where your polling station is, check your local council's website or click here
• Make sure you know who you're voting for!
• Plan what time you'll be going to the polling station. You have between 7am and 10pm to get there and vote
• If you were voting by post but forgot to send your it off, you can drop it off at your polling station.
• If you find yourself unable to vote, you can see if you're eligible for an emergency proxy vote. If you have a medical emergency or if work gets in your way, you can get someone else to vote for you. The deadline for applying for an emergency proxy vote is 5pm on the voting day. Here are the forms you need:
• Disability proxy vote
• Employment/occupation proxy vote

It's really important that you vote, even if you don't like any of the parties. If you're not going to vote, I urge that you watch this video on how crucial it is that you vote. If you can't vote for any reason then the video doesn't apply to you, but please make sure you encourage your family & friends to vote!

Thank you for reading and goodbye until next time! ~Jay

Positivity Post #2

Hello! It's been a while since my last positivity post. This time, I'd like to share a few words of wisdom that I personally find helpful when going through hard times. I hope that this brings some positivity into your life! :)

Always remember that you know who you are better than anyone else. Nobody can decide for you how you feel.

On dark, cloudy days, you can't see the sun because it's covered. That doesn't mean that the sun's no longer there. Eventually you'll see the sun again. Remember this when you feel hopeless. It may seem like things aren't going to get better and you'll never be happy again, but you will be. Just because you can't see a way for things to get better, that doesn't mean that there isn't a way for things to get better.

Do you feel broken? When you are 'broken' the parts of you can be put back together, in a different way than before. You are constantly changing and growing. When you feel broken, remember that this makes room for change and growth.

If you feel like a bad person and you don't like being this way, then you're probably not a bad person. A bad person wouldn't feel bad for not being a 'good' person.

You may feel weak, but considering all you've been through and survived, you're actually very strong!

That's all for this post, but there's more on the way soon. I'm going to make positivity posts regularly from now on, as I think these kinds of posts are important for those going through tough times. It makes me happy to know that this post could help someone feel a little better. Thank you for reading this post. Goodbye until next time! ~Jay

Rhubarb 5-Spice Chicken Recipe

Rhubarb is a wonderful and underrated plant with such a unique flavour. The past few years, my rhubarb plant has been growing progressively more out of control. It's so big this year that the leaves are all packed in together. I can't even see the stalks! Two of the stalks are as long as my legs and I don't even think they're the longest stalks!

If all I made with it was crumbles, pies and preserves, I'd get sick of rhubarb pretty quickly. Realising that I didn't actually know many uses for rhubarb besides desserts, I decided to research the savoury uses of rhubarb. It seems that rhubarb goes well with meats such as chicken and pork, so I decided to come up with this marinade for chicken. The tartness of the rhubarb, the sweetness of the spices and warmth from the ginger work perfectly together with the chicken.

Note: I haven't tried making a vegan version of this recipe yet, so if anyone does, please leave a comment to let me know how it turns out! I think this would complement tofu 'chicken' perfectly.

Servings: 2
Preparation: 25-40 mins, plus roughly 24 hours to marinate
Cooking: 45-60 mins

Equipment:

• Small saucepan
• Wooden spoon (or something to stir the sauce with)
• Glass dish

Ingredients:

• 1 stalk rhubarb (½ if the stalk is extra large like mine was) thinly sliced (between 1-2cm, roughly - this means that the rhubarb won't be stringy)
• ½ large red onion, diced
• 1 heaped tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
• 1½ tsp Chinese five spice
• 2 heaped tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp muscovado sugar
• 1 tsp butter (I used a dairy free butter)
• 2 cloves finely chopped garlic
• 2 medium sized chicken breasts

Method:

1. Add the butter to the saucepan on low-medium heat. Once it begins to melt, add the onion and sugar and carefully stir. Let the onion begin to caramelise.
2. Add the ginger, spices and garlic. Stir in then leave to further caramelise.
3. Put the rhubarb in the pan with just enough water to cover it. Simmer on medium heat until the rhubarb has fallen apart, stirring occasionally. The consistency should be thick but still easily pourable. If it's too watery, simply simmer for longer.
4. Place the chicken breasts in a glass dish. The chicken should fit fairly snugly, leaving enough space for the sauce of course. Don't worry about defrosting them first if they're frozen as they are going to be marinating overnight.
5. Let the marinade cool a little before pouring over the chicken. When completely cooled (as to not damage your refrigerator) cover the dish and place in the fridge for roughly 24 hours.
6. Preheat the oven to 165

   °C (Gas Mark 3/325

   °

   F)

7. Remove the covering, then place the dish in the oven for 45 mins to 1 hr, or until the chicken is cooked completely (you don't want to get food poisoning!)
8. Serve the chicken with a few spoonfuls of sauce, or alternatively pull the chicken apart with a fork and mix until thoroughly coated in marinade.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! If you make this recipe, please let me know in the comments or, alternatively, email me. If you post a picture on instagram make sure to tag me! Knowing that other people like my recipes fills me with joy. Thank you ever so much for reading and goodbye until next time :) ~Jay

Concerts I've Been To

In my life I've been to three concerts; I went to a McFly concert when I was very young, Summer's End Lincoln music festival in September 2016 and a Skillet concert in Camden, London in December 2016.

The first concert I went to was my sister's birthday present - a McFly concert. My Granddad bought three tickets to see them live at Lincoln Castle. I can't remember much of it, but I remember that my sister was very happy. My granddad got us both matching t-shirts and I think I may still have that t-shirt somewhere!

The second time I went to a concert, it was a music festival! My mum bought two tickets to go to Summer's End Lincoln 2016 as a 4-month-late birthday present for me. Some of the bands playing there included Shed Seven, Ocean Colour Scene and Dodgy. We got there fairly early, so we managed to get a front row view the entire 10 hours!

The latest concert I went to was Skillet on the 9th of December 2016. They were playing in Koko in Camden. We spent the day looking around Camden and found a delicious vegan buffet. None of us were vegan at the time, but it was the best priced food around and it tasted amazing! At the concert, the atmosphere was so positive. I had a brilliant time, despite being stuck behind a pillar at the back of the room! I'd definitely recommend seeing Skillet live.

I'm going to another concert soon, too. I have a ticket to see Bon Jovi and Manic Street Preachers play live in June this year. It will be amazing to see Manics live for the first time ever. They're my favourite band! My blog is even named after one of their songs. Seeing Bon Jovi will also be great.

Why Have I Been Away?

I haven't written on this blog in quite a few months now. I'm currently writing a post on what happened. I'd been in the middle of writing something in October 2018 but then I had a bit of an accident! Since then I've been recovering. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me (or comment below!) and I can answer them in my next post. I'm hoping to return to writing blog posts soon and hopefully will upload 1 to 3 posts per month!

Thank you for reading and goodbye until next time! ~Jay

Mind-blowing Thoughts

Content Warning: This post is designed to make you think about normal things in not-so-normal ways. It could bring about existential thoughts for some.

I've become quite interested in mind-blowing thoughts recently. I thought it would be fun to share some with you! These are all from the top of my head, but you will probably have seen a few around in some form.

1.  There's no reason the alphabet needs to be in the order it is. The order could have been B, K, S, P, M...etc. without making any difference to our spelling.                                                                              
2. One of my Chemistry teachers once told us; "There are more stars in our Universe than there are grains of sand in the whole world, but there are more atoms in one grain of sand than there are stars in our Universe."                                                                                                                                                    
3. You know how dogs can't see as many colours as we can? What if different shades of grey are just colours we can't see?                                                                                                                                                  
4. Following on from the last one, if greys are colours we can't see, we can't imagine what they'd look like. Try it for yourself.                                                                                                                                                                                    
5. Subatomic particles (what makes up atoms) technically can't be destroyed or created, so the subatomic particles making up the atoms that make up you have been part of something else before. You could even have particles within you that were part of famous historical figures or artefacts.                                                                                                                                                                                    
6. You'll never truly know when you do something, like seeing someone or going somewhere, for the last time.                                                                                                                                                                
7. You never remember falling asleep. You may remember trying to sleep (like laying in bed with your eyes closed) but you can't remember the change from consciousness to sleeping.                                  
8. If you believe that there's an infinite number of realities, then technically fiction doesn't exist seeing as fiction means something that's imaginary.                                                                       

That's all the ones I have for now! Did these blow your mind? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading and goodbye until next time :) ~Jay