I have been pretty terrible in recent weeks at keeping up with my Sunday Rundown blog posts, so this will be a three week catch up post, without the usual day by day format! As so much time has gone by, I thought it best to just outline the most interesting things that have happened!
At the time of my last blog post, I had just boarded my cruise and I was on my way to the Caribbean! I did make it there, to both Roatan in Honduras and Harvest Caye in Belize and they were both beautiful!
However, our cruise then got caught in the path of Hurricane Irma, so we had to head back to Miami two days early to get off the ship and go to Orlando. It was such a shame as I was having an amazing time and had met some great people, but it was the safest option at the time!
After we got off the cruise, we went to the house in Orlando but didn’t feel safe staying there as we’d never experienced a storm like that before in the UK. We checked into one of the Universal hotels and were basically trapped inside for two days on Sunday and Monday, but before the storm hit we went in the theme parks on the Saturday. That was so fun as they were so empty that we literally walked straight onto every ride! After the hurricane, we went back to the house and had one final day in the sun before we flew home! I even made a little turtle friend!
When I got home it was my birthday! I turned 24 and had all my friends come out to celebrate and it was a great night! I also started college for music production, which should be a great thing moving forward as I will have more flexibility in creating new music!
The final thing I want to mention is my performance on Tuesday! I was performing during the University of Salford’s Freshers’ Week at an event for the Eco Africa society. It was a great night with tonnes of other talented artists who were also performing. My friend, Geena, was there and she took some videos of my performance, including one of ‘Solo’. Solo is my favourite track from my upcoming album, and although it won’t be out for months, I do gig the track a lot, so check out the video and come down to a gig if you like the vibe!
Thank you for reading and catching up on all I’ve been doing. I promise I’ll be back to normal with the blog posts again next week, it’s just been a manic time!
This week has been half hard work and half holiday, but with many exciting developments! Both at home and in America I had some amazing weather and took some beautiful photos, which I have included in the blog, along with details on what I’ve been up to!
Monday: On Monday, me and my awesome videographer (and friend), Geena headed to Flamborough in the East Riding of Yorkshire for our first day of filming the video for my song ‘Alive’. We got some beautiful shots of the amazing scenery around there and some performance shots. We got lucky with the weather as it was 26 degrees Celsius and wall to wall sunshine! So excited to finish filming and share this video!
Tuesday: Tuesday was spent practising piano, packing and generally getting ready to go away!
Wednesday: On Wednesday I flew to Florida for the start of my two week holiday in America and the Caribbean. The best part of long haul travel for me is that I have so many uninterrupted hours at my disposal, which I can use to catch up on work! I managed to respond to three sets of interview questions, write all my notes on the mixes for my upcoming album and read and write notes on my book on music marketing. Very productive and relaxing times for me!
Thursday: I had a lovely morning walk to start off the day and then I went to the mall. I’m ashamed to say that a big shopping spree always makes me feel good, and this was definitely one of best shopping trips I’ve ever had! So I left feeling very happy, especially after a great Chinese meal!
I also made my Thursday Twenty playlist and it’s even more varied than usual!
Boots by Kesha – Definitely my favourite track on Kesha’s new album.. really fun and catchy!
Painkiller by Liv Dawson – I really wanted to include this in the playlist last week but I didn’t have room. It’s such an touching pop song with great sweeping production and really relatable lyrics.
Make It Up To You by Julia Michaels – I’m fast becoming a Julia Michaels fan as I think her brand of cool, edgy pop is the future of the genre. I also really admire her roots as a songwriter.
Safe Place by Jazz Morley
Borrowed Time by Falcon Punch & Alexanderson
Give It Up (feat. Salt Ashes) by Cruels
Tennis Shoes by Lennon & Maisy – I always love the soundtrack to Nashville and this my favourite song from the current season!
Take Shelter by Years & Years
Dead End Love by XYLO
Alexis Texas by Cruel Youth
You’re Mine by Phantogram – Phantogram have only been on my radar for a few months due to hearing them on a TV show, but I really love their dark vibe and edgy production!
Think Before I Talk – Astrid S
Madness by Ruelle – I came across Ruelle as one of her songs was used as a reference file for a sync placement I applied for and I really like her music! It has a slight vibe of Banks, which is something I always enjoy!
C O O L (Radio Edit) by Le Youth – The ultimate holiday party song; just so so catchy and happy!
What Lovers Do (feat. SZA) by Maroon 5
If I’m Lucky by Jason Derulo – Jason Derulo is one of my guilty pleasures and I’ve just bought tickets to see him perform in May so I’m super excited! This new track is very different but I actually really like it!
Girls On Boys by Galantis & ROZES
Bad At Love by Halsey
Cross My Mind Pt. 2 (feat. Kiiara) by A R I Z O N A
Know U Anymore (feat Sarah Hyland) by Bo Talks – Another that almost made it on last week… great track, super catchy and loving Sarah Hyland’s voice… I usually just know her as Haley from Modern Family.
Also, ‘Music, Musings and Such’ did an interview feature on me, which was awesome, so have a read if you are interested in my inspirations, my ambitions and my favourite musicians!
Friday: On Friday I went for another amazing walk, this time along the boardwalks to the lake, which was so relaxing and pretty! I took some gorgeous pictures 🙂 After that I spent the day by the pool reading and catching up on emails, as well as submitting songs for sync placement consideration.
Saturday: After a four hour drive first thing, we made it to Miami around midday to board a cruise bound for the Caribbean! I didn’t get much work done this day as I was too busy drinking cocktails and dancing at the sail away party!
I did upload a teaser video for the live acoustic session of ‘Lead Me Down’ to my YouTube channel though, which I’m really excited about! Check it out below!
I was also featured on the ‘Readers Recommend’s ‘Sounds on Sunday’, playlist, which was lovely!
Sunday: The first day at sea on the cruise so I spent the day exploring the ship, drinking more cocktails and having a lovely massage! Very relaxing times… managed to get some work done too which was nice!
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading and enjoyed seeing some holiday pictures! I will no doubt have many more next week!
sally caitlin 