I feel like we're just storming through this year already! I don't know about you but I'm actually having a lovely time. These past two months have bought with them some payoff for a lot of hard work (my autumn term essay results back: two 2:1s and a first so very happy with that.) I've been exercising discipline in terms of healthy eating and exercising and, as a result, have lost half a stone! A way to go before I'm in a healthy weight range but I'm very proud of my progress and am determined to keep being good to myself.
I've also been being a lot more social. Recently a group of people on my course, a few I was already friends with but most of whom I'd only vaguely known by sight/ name all went out for drinks together and we got on really well, we've since been out a few times and I'm having a really lovely time with them. I'd missed having a proper 'gang' of friends since being at university. I love the girls I live with but it's great to have other mates to go out and have fun with as well.
So since this year has started off so well, I'm really hoping to keep the momentum going through March and thought I'd set myself a few mini goals for the month to keep myself focused:
01. Work Hard and Ace my Assessed Essays.
I did pretty well with last term's essays so I want to keep the momentum going. I have three more essays and a creative writing piece (all of 1800 - 2000 words each. Eek!) in for the 21st of March so I need to get cracking with those. It's strange how it seems like I have ages and ages to get it all done, but when I think of the amount of research and reading needed for each essay I really don't have enough time at all!
02. Step up my Healthy Habits Routine.
My current routine amounts to one gym session a week, maybe two and sticking to sensible meals and snacking only on fruit. It's working well, but I'd like to take it up a notch. I want to make it to the gym twice a week regularly and maybe even get it to three times if I can. I know lots of people hate the gym but I love the feeling of having pushed myself in both body and mind and it really does make a difference in terms of seeing results. Food wise I just want to keep going, but maybe start to increase my vegetable portions and cut down a little bit on the carbohydrate front, particularly if I've got no evening plans and nowhere to use up the energy I'm taking in. Once I've reached my first stone goal I might do a post about enjoying the gym and sticking to a routine.
03. Sleep properly!
This made it to my New Years Resolutions post back in January. I'm a serious 'night person' to the point where my natural body rhythm would have me wake up at 11am and not sleep until 3am. I've actually been to see doctors who've told me that there's nothing actually wrong with me, I simply operate best at night. Unfortunately the rest of the world operates on a 9-5 schedule and I've found myself slipping and missing classes and doing things with friends simply because I've been asleep! It's ridiculous! So I'm trying to discipline myself to be in bed with the lights out at 12:30 every day that I don't go out for the whole of this month. (and with these essays due soon I won't be making going out a habit by any means.) Hopefully I'll be able to sort myself out and get back into a 'normal human being' sleeping pattern... rather than that of a cat!
So those are my mini goals for March 2014. They aren't very exciting or fancy but this month is about being productive and making the next 31 days ones to look back on and feel proud of myself.
Let me know what your plans are for March. What goals are you setting for yourself?
I don't really do individual book reviews, I tend to wait until I've read a selection and then choose a few that have covers that will look nice together in the photos. Here for example. The major issue with this is that at University I do so much 'required reading' for classes and researching essays that I don't get much of a chance to really read proper books... which to me seems like it defeats the object of an English degree if I'm completely honest, or is that just me?
This is actually a book I read last term for a Nineteenth Century Novel module which I enjoyed. I found that I liked a lot of the books but none of them quite touched my heart like this one, so I thought I'd share one of the few books I read on this course that I genuinely loved.
North and South is, in a nutshell, the story of Margaret Hale. She's a young middle class woman who moves with her parents from a very comfortable environment in the South of England to live in the industrial town of Milton where she develops a passionate sense of social justice and a complicated relationship with mill owner John Thornton.
For anyone interested in Classic Literature, or who likes reading but can't find a classic that they like I would highly recommend this, particularly if your usual lurking area of bookstores is the 'Chick-Lit' section. It's sweet and girly but with dramatic, heartbreaking moments, a wonderfully complex cast of characters and really powerful commentary on Victorian class culture. Margaret Hale in particular is a brilliant character. She's not perfect by any means, what interesting character is? She's haughty and proud but is at the same time incredibly kind hearted and refuses to back down from what she believes.
A lot of people shy away from classic literature because they worry that the language will be too complex and "ye olde" for them, but honestly I read this with little to no problems at all, there were moments where I didn't quite understand a bit of grammar or didn't understand a reference but I just glossed over them and at no point felt like I'd missed anything important.
The romantic thread that runs through the plot is often compared to that of Lizzie Bennet and Mr Darcy's story in Pride and Prejudice. I may be committing literary heresy to some of you, but I think this is actually better. Lizzie and Darcy jar simply because they don't like each other and are both too stubborn to back down. The romantic interests in North and South clash on important social issues and it's the passionate debates that the two engage in that create heat and tension between the couple as they try and push each other into their way of thinking. For me this is far more entertaining and makes the romance far more fiery and exciting.
I think I've gushed enough. Go read this book! Not only is it a beautiful story with strong characters and a breathtaking plot, but you can sit next to people who are reading Nicholas Sparks and whatever '50 Shades style garbage' has been churned out recently on the train, and feel smug that you're reading and enjoying a piece of fine English literature. No downside!
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Another LUSH review! (yay!) I'm back at uni now (boo! work!) and as such have had to give up my luxurious bubbly baths in favour of frugal, water saving quickie showers, which is what happens when you and 6 other people share a water bill. I knew this was coming, and that it would be another month at least until I got to visit home and pamper myself properly again. Therefore, the night before I left for uni, after I'd packed and gotten all my stuff sorted, I had the mother of all bubble baths with this baby.
The comforter bubble bar is one of my favourite LUSH products, definitely in my top five (Blog post idea anyone?) It smells like fruity, juicy berries and turns the water a luxurious magenta colour. It's also HUGE, meaning that it can easily be cut in half and used twice, with each half producing plenty of bubbles. While I do that most of the time, I decided to go all out and actually crumbled the whole thing into the tub before sinking into the mountainous peaks of pink foam. Heaven. I also really do feel that my skin benefits from this particular bubble bar, though that could just be because I enjoy using it so much, but I definitely find my skin feeling softer and moisturised which is great.
For me this is the perfect wind down after a string of stressful days, as the scent isn't too sugary or citrus based, it isn't 'energizing' (who on earth takes energizing baths I ask you?) and gets you all relaxed and ready to slip into your 'fresh from the tumble dryer' jammies and settle down to a good film or book for the evening. My overall impression of this product therefore: Buy it! Buy it now!
The comforter bubble bar is one of my favourite LUSH products, definitely in my top five (Blog post idea anyone?) It smells like fruity, juicy berries and turns the water a luxurious magenta colour. It's also HUGE, meaning that it can easily be cut in half and used twice, with each half producing plenty of bubbles. While I do that most of the time, I decided to go all out and actually crumbled the whole thing into the tub before sinking into the mountainous peaks of pink foam. Heaven. I also really do feel that my skin benefits from this particular bubble bar, though that could just be because I enjoy using it so much, but I definitely find my skin feeling softer and moisturised which is great.
For me this is the perfect wind down after a string of stressful days, as the scent isn't too sugary or citrus based, it isn't 'energizing' (who on earth takes energizing baths I ask you?) and gets you all relaxed and ready to slip into your 'fresh from the tumble dryer' jammies and settle down to a good film or book for the evening. My overall impression of this product therefore: Buy it! Buy it now!
Thankyou for reading!
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