Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
* Drinking Game: Take a drink every time I use the world 'goal/s or 'year/s'. Take a shot for every run-on sentence.
Ignore the Goodreads Challenge.
I've been setting Goodreads goals for about five years, and every year I have set that challenge somewhere between 40-60 books, depending on the kind of place I was in with my reading, and what the next year was likely to bring.This year I've done something a little different. I've set my goal to...one book, and have already surpassed that. I've been reading with a number at the back of my mind for so long now that it feels strange to be planning, and thinking about, a year of reading without that goal to aim for.
The reason I made this decision is because I feel that reading to a quota is definitely something that has shaped me as a reader and influences my decisions when choosing a book, and I've noticed a quantity over quality mindset creeping in. If I'm falling behind, I pick up a few graphic novels to get myself back up to speed, and fly through them without really paying attention. I've been put off bigger books because they take a long time, or denser classics and nonfiction because they require a slower, more thoughtful approach and it's a lot of investment for just one more book towards my goal. This really isn't how I want to read.
I want to choose books purely because I'm excited about or interested in them, regardless of page count or content. I've put off reading the second and third in Robin Hobb's 'The Liveship Trader's' series because the first took me so long to read and I didn't want to waste time when I could be racking up the 'books read' count with graphic novels and novellas. I've also noticed that every year, I more or less meet my goal. Perhaps a few over or just missing it by one or two but the number I set is always close to the number I read, and I feel that this just shows how far my reading habits rely on having that goal. If I'm far ahead I see it as a reason not to read, and if I fall behind I force myself to read just so I can get back on track. I'm not saying the Goodreads Challenge is the devil, far from it, I just want to have a more organic reading experience this year, and read for the sake of it, not because I've got a schedule to keep.
Maybe this is just wanky navel gazing and no1 curr, but I'm looking forward to a year of reading without feeling like I'm working to a quota. A year in which I can read at my own pace and rediscover what that pace actually is, and of reading just to be entertained, or informed. Just because I enjoy reading.
Read it or Give it away
This one is fairly straightforward. I own a shit tonne of unread books, (in the seventies at last count) and for me, that's bordering on madness. This year I want to get my bookshelves boiled down to 'I've read this' and 'I just bought this and will get to it in a week or so'. Anything I own now that I know I won't read, or have read but don't feel has value to me any more I'm going to donate. I've already cleansed my shelves of about twenty books, and the local Blue Cross have some nice new additions to their books section which will hopefully be perfect for someone else and do a little good in the world if they buy it.
This particular resolution ties in nicely with some personal goals I have this year regarding ethical living and minimalist values. I have prided myself for so many years on having this big sprawling personal library full of books, but as my views are shifting I feel like it's just silly to hold onto things I've either read but didn't enjoy/find valuable, or books that I bought on a whim and am not really that interested in reading. So I've giving myself an ultimatum. If I really want to read it that badly, I'll read it by the end of the year, and if I haven't it's going where it can make someone else happy. Which ties in nicely to my last goal
Read new books within six weeks of buying them
I've always hoarded books a little bit, but the biggest turn in my book buying habits came when I started at Waterstones. I suddenly found myself exposed to new releases the second they entered the store, access to proofs and constant micro browses while walking out for lunch or tidying the shelves, all the while having access to the very dangerous staff discount card. The volume of books that I bought in the first few months working there is actually beyond comprehension. Since then I've become a lot more savvy with my spending, but I still want to improve and make sure I'm only spending money on things that I want and will get use from. When I buy books they will be books that I've been thinking about for a while, rather than just passing fancies and impulse buys like before. Hopefully this new approach will mean that I not only save money, but that I'm more likely to buy and read books that I love, because I've really considered them.
The only exception to this is the books I get from Mothbox. I'm going to do a full post about Mothbox but, in a nutshell, it's a new book postal service put together by Mercedes over at Mercy' Bookish Musings championing books published by smaller and independent presses. Each box comes with two books and I've decided that during the months that I purchase a Mothbox, I will leave room for one more book to be bought. Mothbox is fairly new and it's definitely something I want to support next year. It's a way to support indie presses, a new business venture and someone that I really admire and respect all in one go! Plus it means I'm going to discover books I never would have found otherwise.
This is a long-ass post. Have a cat.
So those are my reading goals for 2017. I'm hoping I will get to 2018 with a smaller, more curated bookshelf, a slightly less depressing savings account and knowing I've done a bit of good in the world at the same time.
Let me know if you've made any reading resolutions this year!
Am I blogging twice in a week? What is this??
* It's been quite a long time since I've blogged and a lot has happened. I've moved to a new town and am officially a grown-ass adult living by herself in her own little place! It's a teeny tiny studio flat and the blinds don't quite reach the bottom of the window and one of the hobs doesn't work but it's mine! I pay to live there all by myself and everything in it is mine and put there and organised by me, which really is quite a feeling! The best part of the flat is my bookshelves, (3.) they actually came with the flat and were part of the reason I took it. I've never had somewhere that could house all of my books in one place before. I'll always have fun memories of my uni rooms where all my books sat in stacks on my desk and on the carpet and lined up on the head of my bed, but having a proper, organised bookshelf? It's glorious.
* I've really loved having my own space to organise and the flat is now an adorable little pink paradise full of plants and Polaroids and fairy lights and all the general disgustingly girly shit I'm into. (4.) The only downside of living alone is that I'm no longer living with my best friends. It's been quite hard suddenly not having conversation and cuddles on tap and, though I really like my work friends, there's nobody in the area that I'm close enough with to automatically go to when I just need some human contact. But fortunately me and my friends have done plenty on the days we've been able to be together.
* Before we all moved out we had a big outing to Brighton and had the best day ever. (5) We didn't do much more than wander round, go on a few rides and eat junk food but when you're with your best friends and surrogate family you don't really need to do anything specific to have a great time.
* More recently I met up with Tom and my old Waterstones buddy Kieran and spent the day in Bristol. (1) We had lunch at Ironworks, a little independent bar and restaurant that has become a cult classic, does amazing food and drink AND has a little pet dog called Tinka that lives there! We also shamelessly Pokemon Go'd (Pokemon Went?) and accidentally wandered into a lure party and reaped the benefits (and scoped out really cute guys in cargo shorts... I disgust myself.)
* The other trip I took recently was to Ireland, where I met up with a lot of my relatives for a big family reunion. (6) My family comes from Roscommon, a really rural place in ROI with very little in it other than farms, some family houses and the surrounding land and big-ass Churches. We only stayed for two days but it was great to catch up with family that I hadn't seen in years... even if that did involve them asking about the boyfriend I split up with over three years ago. Awks.
* The last update I need to give is about my writing! I'm currently working on a manuscript given the working title 'The Maiden and The Muses', I've been tinkering with it since the start of the year but have recently found myself really getting into the swing of writing it. (2) I think much of my inspiration came from the fact that large chunks of the book deal with the female protagonist giving zero fucks about boys and in the last month my love life has involved events that, to give just an idea, led to a group chat explaining the situation, in which 'Jesus what a dick' and similar sentiments were expressed by everyone involved, several times throughout. So at least boys being stupid has led to me being really spurred on with writing, and while I don't care too much about the events that sparked it anymore, the motivation to write has stuck around which is awesome. I have just broken the ten thousand word milestone, which is more than I've ever written of one single thing before. I'm really proud of myself for working so hard and getting this far. There's a long way to go and lot of work to be done, but hitting this milestone makes it feel like the reality of being an author is that bit more believable.
So that's a quick update, that's where I've been and what I've been up to. I'm hoping to be blogging regularly again and rejoining this awesome little community.
I can't believe it's March already! And yet so much has happened in the first two months of the year I'm almost surprised that we're only just at March. I started seeing a guy called Luke at the beginning of January and had my first Valentines for about three years (in which I got this adorable handmade door sign!(1)) and have generally had a wonderful few months with him. He flies to Canada tomorrow, and we knew that when we were setting out so though I'm going to miss him the goodbyes weren't too melodramatic.
We also had pancake day (3) in which my own apron was entirely for aesthetic effect as my kitchen-savvy housemates were in charge of the batter and the flipping, while I was in charge of the application of delicious toppings and of course the very important eating process.
The lovely Coralie Bickford Smith (illustrator of Penguins clothbound classics and writer of the Fox and the Star) came to do a signing with designer Paul Barnes at my branch of Waterstones. They were both lovely and Coralie spent a lot of time talking to guests and signing books and I had a great time putting together the displays (4).
The lovely Coralie Bickford Smith (illustrator of Penguins clothbound classics and writer of the Fox and the Star) came to do a signing with designer Paul Barnes at my branch of Waterstones. They were both lovely and Coralie spent a lot of time talking to guests and signing books and I had a great time putting together the displays (4).
The last few days of February were intense! I had a job interview for a new, more senior role at a different Waterstones, and got the job!! So I'm really sad to be leaving my current friends at Waterstones, but excited to go on to new challenges, more hours (and better pay... ahem.) And I really shouldn't only work part time... I end up sitting around derping with Tom all day, which leads to pictures like (2). After my job interview I worked a NINE HOUR SHIFT HOLY HELL and then got home and into pyjamas just in time for Luke to come over and stay for a few nights before he leaves the country. We had a lot of fun, we went to London Zoo and made friends with some teeny tiny monkeys (5), got attacked by an escaping parrot, saw baby gorillas with their mama and generally had an awesome time.Then on the last night we had a house party and bought all of our various nerdy weird-ass friends together (6). It was a really good night and lovely to hang out with my work friends somewhere that doesn't involve a rota.
So February has been jam-packed and lots of fun. March is going to involve considerably more hard work and challenges, but after two months of essentially bumming about it's something I've been craving.
Let me know how your month has been and what you've got on the cards for March!
Isabelle
xox
Ok, so you see this falling apart, disgusting, might be moulding or maybe that's just a stain, not sure where page 118-19's actually gotten to, scuffed and creased to shit book? This is one of my most prized possessions. Like most kids my age I went through the Harry Potters and loved them, I had other series I became heavily invested in and wolfed Jacqueline Wilson books one after the other. I read plenty as a child and have plenty of books saved from my younger years.
The thing about this book though, is that nobody else has read it. It's a translation from a little known German author and was bought for me by my mother in a Borders about 5 months before the company closed it's stores. Whereas most of my childhood reading experiences are shared and loved by many, Mimus is all my own. I've never known anyone else who's even heard of it before I've told them, and yet it's one of my favourite books. Mimus was my first experience as an individual reader, to read and experience a book all by myself, not just another Jacqueline Wilson read at the same time as all my friends. I also read this book to my younger brother when I was a teenager, doing all the silly voices. For years I read this book over and over again, sometimes cover to cover but often just picking out my favourite passages and plot points and revisiting them. My point being that this book is well loved, and in becoming well loved, it has also gotten battered to within an inch of it's life.
It's easy, when you keep up with book-tube and book blogging to fall into the trap of seeing books as aesthetic objects. The 'dream' is usually peddled as rows and rows of white shelves lined with pristine books, clothbound editions and series with matching covers, and for a few years I bought into that. I was obsessed with keeping my books like new, I didn't want to bend the spines or write in the pages, I only wanted to buy books in the prettiest editions available, or, if the only covers I could find were ugly, I was sometimes completely put off buying the book! I barely even read the books I bought. I realise that for a little while I stopped actually being a reader and just became a collector.
It was Mimus that got me to come to my senses. I found it in an old schoolbag tucked away in a drawer as I was moving out of my parents house, and when I first saw how creased and stained it was, how the pages were coming loose and the spine was cracked to shit, my first thought was "Oh God I used to love this book, but this is ugly, I'm going to need a new copy." But then I remembered sitting on the floor of my messy bedroom with my brother doing the stupid voices while he laughed. And of sitting in bed on cold evenings flicking through to find my favourite bits and reading them again and again, getting food on the pages and bending the cover as I rolled over in the blankets. I sat down and started reading Mimus and suddenly books were books again. The rows of beautiful, pristine, unread books on my shelves seemed soulless and stupid.
It was Mimus that got me to come to my senses. I found it in an old schoolbag tucked away in a drawer as I was moving out of my parents house, and when I first saw how creased and stained it was, how the pages were coming loose and the spine was cracked to shit, my first thought was "Oh God I used to love this book, but this is ugly, I'm going to need a new copy." But then I remembered sitting on the floor of my messy bedroom with my brother doing the stupid voices while he laughed. And of sitting in bed on cold evenings flicking through to find my favourite bits and reading them again and again, getting food on the pages and bending the cover as I rolled over in the blankets. I sat down and started reading Mimus and suddenly books were books again. The rows of beautiful, pristine, unread books on my shelves seemed soulless and stupid.
In the last three years I have grown up, stopped being a tool, and am now financially responsible for myself. Second hand bookshops are my best friends, I love highlighting and scribbling in all my books and I enjoy a certain satisfaction looking at the creased spines on my bookshelf. I recently discovered The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison in a charity shop for £1.20, with two different sets of scrawls and underlining already in the pages. I love the idea that two people have already owned my book and I get to see how they felt about the same story as I was reading through. I'll probably donate it again at some point, to pass it on to someone else, so they can have the same experience I did.
Let me know how you feel about this? Are you happy to let your books get ugly? Or do you prefer to keep them in good condition?
Thank you for reading!
Thank you for reading!
Isabelle
xox
A little something different today. I saw Loreal's top ten Disney crushes from her childhood and could instantly relate. Fictional crushes are something you think are ridiculous... until they happen to you. This is just a funny and slightly embarrassing little trip down memory lane, recounting five of the top fictional gentlemen that have occupied my daydreams throughout my childhood... bleeding into my teens... and present day.... shh. So hopefully you enjoy and can let me know some of your childhood fictional crushes.
01. Prince Philip - Probably my very first childhood crush. Sleeping Beauty was my favourite film as a child, my Dad still knows all the words to 'Once Upon a Dream' because of how often he watched it with me. A lot of people aren't fans because of what a wet heroine Aurora was, (she did spend half the movie asleep.) But what I loved about it what the Gothic art style, the bad ass villain Maleficent and the dashing hero. All he had to do to win my heart was defy his father, fight his way through a cursed castle and defeat an evil magic dragon. Even at five years old I knew my standards.
02. Batman - No live action, Nolan-verse batman for me. My love affair with the masked vigilante started when I used to sneak down at about four in the morning to watch Justice League on Toonami when I was about ten-eleven. There was something about his stoic, brooding, bad ass nature that I just adored. Batman will always be my favourite male superhero and I always love the various reincarnations that people create.
03. Roronora Zoro - I'm well aware that most people reading this will have no idea who the hell this is, but know that if you do recognise this guy, I unconditionally love you. This guy is from an anime called One Piece. It's still going strong in Japan, but an English version was aired in about 2005 and I watched it devotedly until it stopped being shown. Zoro is the first mate in the pirate crew that makes up the main cast of characters. Like Batman he's the bad, brooding type and is a master swordsman.
04. Maximus Decimus Meridius - I think it reflects my growing maturity levels that at some point I moved from animated men to live action ones. I first saw Gladiator in about 2008 and it was the first really epic adult movie I had seen. I became instantly infatuated with the idea of a snarling, brooding Roman General turned Gladiator and began an unwavering crush on Russell Crowe that survives to this day. So far it seems that my 'type' is a solemn bad-boy type with a heart of gold... in a costume. Some form of fancy weaponry wouldn't go amiss either. Make of that what you will.
05. Jon Snow - Having said that here's my last and most recent fictional crush. Jon Snow from Game of Thrones is such a cutie pie. To be fair he is rather dark and brooding, wears a fancy costume and has a sword so he ticks all my boxes, but he's actually really quite sweet and innocent, particularly in the first three books in which he's completely naive to the political scheming of the rest of the characters and incredibly innocent when it comes to women and war. Though to be completely honest the real deal clincher for me is just how incredibly gorgeous Kit Harington who plays him in the HBO series. Just... NOM.
So that's my own slightly cringey list of fictional crushes I've had over the years, which I've realised I've put pretty much in perfect chronological order so that's nice! Let me know what your most intense (or most embarrassing) fictional crushes have been, the more hilarious the better, and we can all have a good laugh at how sad we are.
Thanks for reading!
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?
It's 2014! I hope you all had an absolutely lovely New Years and are ready for a fresh start. I certainly am. 2013's been okay, but I feel like I've found myself a little stagnant and am ready to move up to a new level in life. I know some people are against making resolutions but I personally love the feeling of goals to accomplish and the opportunity to reevaluate what I think is truly important in life. 2013 for me was a year of self discovery, very much an introspective year in which I re-considered a lot about my life and decided who I want to be and what I want to do with my life. 2014, I hope, is the year that I begin to put these things into practice...
Read 52 Books - I know averaging a book a week is going to be difficult but I really want to get ahead on my reading this year. I explained in this post how since starting University my reading-for-pleasure has taken a nose dive and shared a few books I plan to get through this year.
More 'Creative Time' - All I want to do for a living is to be a writer, preferably of novels and possibly screenplays. Ultimately I want to be able to support myself doing what I love, and I want to start doing that as soon as possible. I watched a great talk by John Cleese on YouTube about creativity and putting yourself in the best possible environment to let it flourish. Part of his talk was about regularly scheduling time for yourself to seclude yourself and just play around with ideas in your mind relating to whatever project you're working on, creativity breeds creativity, I find often once I start thinking of a few ideas the ball gets rolling and after half an hour I have pages of scribbled notes and doodles ready to be turned into something useful, which leads me onto my next point.
Finish A First Draft - One of my worst problems is my tendency to get easily distracted. I'll be merrily working away on a fantasy novel draft and then one day my mind will wander and I'll decide I want to try out writing a sitcom script instead. Que aforementioned novel slung to the side and a whole new notebook being filled up with new ideas. The issue is that this happens all the time, so I have a pile of notebooks and folders on my computer full of a few chapters/scenes/outline points from at least ten different ideas. I love having the ideas, and the excitement of working on a new project but I am far too easily distracted. I have decided I will put all other projects aside (only allowing myself to scribble down any sudden inspiration by hand to be put aside for another day) and work solely on finishing one thing. I've never finished anything longer than a short story, and they were for creative writing deadlines! This will be the year folks!
Keep up with Regular Gym Visits - For the last few months of 2013 I actually signed up for a gym membership and was doing really well, going at least twice a week. It fell by the wayside for the last two weeks of term when I was forgoing sleep to write essays and I'm only enrolled at my local gym at Uni so having come home I haven't been able to pick it back up but I'm still proud of the effort I put in during those months and I definitely want to keep up the good work into the new year.
Develop a Better Sleeping Pattern - 3am to 11pm is not a good habit to be in. Enough said really.
Stick to a Cleaning Schedule - Instead of having to physically and mentally force myself to do any type of cleaning and tidying at all, and only when it direly needs doing, I want to start sticking to a routine, that will hopefully turn into a habit. If regular household maintenance is just part of an everyday routine I can just do it on autopilot, allowing me to focus my brainpower on other things! Also noone calls me messy - Win Win!
Be More Grateful - I take a lot of things for granted and I find that not noticing the little things in life is leading me to become quite negative and I don't want a life of unpleasant thoughts. Therefore I'm going to make the effort to realise what a lucky person I am. To have such amazing opportunities, a loving family, good friends, to live in the area I do, to have access to fresh water, food, shelter... the internet. Just to be alive at all, and to stop feeling upset about things that don't actually matter.
Do More for Others - Similar to the last one. I resolve, this year, to do more to make other people happy, whether it's giving my spare change to a charity collector, offering to lend a hand to someone with a heavy case or just telling my friend when I think they look particularly fine-as-hell one day. I'm very introverted and often don't do nice things, simply because I'm too shy to reach out to others. But I shall be brave, and in doing so hopefully make the world a better place.
Keep on Top of Work - I promised myself I wasn't going to let myself fall behind last term, and to be fair I did okay, I my research reading well in advance and stuck (mostly) to a good work schedule. I was still up at 2am finishing my last essay the day before they were all due in however. I'm hoping this year I can do better and actually have all my work finished the day before they have to be handed in. That would be nice.
Ace my 2nd Year of University - I am aiming for a first. This will be a challenge. I am cursed in that I am pretty clever and perfectly capable, but also appallingly lazy. With my resolve to keep on top of my work however I'm pretty confident I can do well this year. Wish me luck!
Blog more Regularly and be a More Active Part of the Community - With all my above resolutions to take time to be creative, take time to go to the gym, take time to read and of course work hard at University, one thing I am probably going to be short on is time. However I am really really going to make an effort to keep up blogging when I go back to university in a week or so. I miss being part of the community and I feel like whenever I take a break I get left behind a little and have to play catch up again. I can't make any major commitments, but I want to try and average once a week during term time and to take a few hours maybe twice a week to read, comment and find new blogs, just to keep me in the loop, more when I'm on holiday and have free time.
So that's it, those are my resolutions for 2014. I know there are a lot but I honestly feel ready to meet this challenge and am actually quite excited for it! I feel like it'd be fun to keep maybe a monthly log just to see how I'm doing with all of these. Things like cleaning may get a little mundane, but I reckon my artistic struggle for the elusive first draft could make for fun reading.
Anyway I have rambled away at you for long enough, if you made it this far well done you trooper!
Thankyou for reading!
Hello all! It's been a little while since I've shown myself round these parts but part of my routine, compulsory News Year's resolutions is to be a little more regular with blogging. I've really missed being part of this community and I hate leaving my little blog neglected. So to make some time for blogging I'll need to start keeping myself organised, and what better way to do it than in style with the coveted Frankie Diary 2014 edition! I wanted one of these last year but they had sold out by the time I got round to it. I wasn't having any of that this year, I bought it myself at the beginning of December and had Mama pay me back for it and put it in my Christmas box for when I came home from Uni.
It is absolutely gorgeous, all floral prints and soft watercolour palettes and it's really well put together. It begins with a 'calendar' style layout page for each month and then a few pages giving a little space dedicated to every day, with each month getting an individual design. Then there are pages for birthdays, budgeting, extra notes and a few pages of stickers and lists and other fun bits and pieces so I'm really really happy with it. It retails at about £20 including shipping from it's native Australia.
I've already started to fill mine in, too impatient to wait for the New Year to kick in! I'm hoping to use it as a planner and organiser, as opposed to filling it in retrospectively, diary style. I could use my phone, but there's something so satisfying about having plans and deadlines written down by hand, I'm far more likely to remember them too! So if part of your New Years resolutions include being more organised definitely consider nabbing one of these for yourself.
.JPG)
.JPG)
You can buy them here at the Frankie Press website. They were still in stock but selling fast when I last checked so get yourself one if you don't want to miss out!
I'm hopefully going to be much more organised with my time in 2014 which will mean better blogging! Though of course a return for me means a return for Cat photo-bombing my pictures while she whines meows for food/cuddles/food. The joys of pet ownership eh?
Thankyou for reading and I will hopefully talk to you again soon.
Thankyou for reading and I will hopefully talk to you again soon.
It's that time of year again isn't it? The time when some of us pack off to university, to live in accommodation all on our onesies, often for the first time! That was me last year and I remember struggling quite a lot with homesickness. I'm very shy, very introverted and find meeting new people and establishing myself in a social dynamic very difficult so I spent a lot of time hiding in my new room, missing mummy cuddles and all my friends I'd known for years and my then boyfriend. The whole environment was so different and knowing that I had to stay there for ten weeks before I could really go home was very painful. The bed wasn't squishy like mine, I hated the orange curtains and they didn't allow fairy lights or posters and pictures attached to the walls so I was sat on my bed staring at bare white walls and just feeling the worst.
What I'm saying here is I know how it feels, quite a few people get a bit down in the second or third weeks and I thought I'd compile a quick post with a few tips and ideas for curing homesickness, so if you're really struggling with the blues being away from home hopefully this may help.
My first point is don't beat yourself up about it. University is a massive change, new surroundings, sudden independence and a lack of obvious figures of care like parents or guardians is very daunting but don't do anything rash, quitting, deciding to live at home or removing yourself from the university experience without giving it a good fair chance would be doing yourself a disservice. Definitely give it a term, make a real effort and see how you go. Chances are come the holidays you'll be sad to be leaving it all behind for a month! And if it transpires that uni life just isn't for you then at least you know for sure and you can move on with no regrets.
The first thing to do, and it's a doozy, get busy! The more things you have to do, the less time you have to be moping around focusing on how you're not at home. It also gets you having fun and seeing your new home as somewhere you enjoy being and that you belong. Join societies you're interested in and throw yourself into it. This is especially important if you consider yourself particularly shy or nervous with new people. I know it's hard, I felt psychically sick as I walked to my first English society meeting last year, but as the weeks went on it really became one of my favourite things and I made a lot of friends! This year I'm bumping it up a notch and joining the drama society which is much more intimidating but I just think of all the fun I'll have if I brave the initial nerves!
Secondly, explore! If your knowledge of your new surroundings is from your room to your lectures round the library and back again you're probably missing out on all it has to offer! Spend a bit of your free time wandering around the campus and the surrounding town/city either on a relaxing stroll by yourself or a little adventure with friends, you never know what you might come across, a cute little lake with ducks to feed, a dusty old book shop full of bargains, a little public garden full of beautiful flowers and a little bush maze (!!) or a market stall, open on Sundays, that sells little parcels with all different flavours of fudge wrapped up in ribbon. Or at least that's a few of the things I discovered on my adventures. Having knowledge of where you live, the little haunts and discoveries, stops your new home feeling big and alien, and instead it becomes cozy and familiar and most importantly yours.
Thirdly, friends, the backbone of your time at uni (your education aside of course. Ahem) Definitely make a real effort to get on with your flatmates or whomever you're living with, you'll probably be spending a lot of time around them and this is much easier if you're at least comfortable around each other. Even if they're not the sort of people you would normally gravitate towards, make an effort to find out about them and have some shared experiences under your belt, going out for a drink as a group, playing a few rounds of articulate or sharing a flat meal. Don't just limit yourself to the people you live with either. There are so many ways to make friends, joining societies is the big one, but also consider arranging study (or often 'study') groups with people in your classes. There's nothing like a confusing lecture to bring people together and often these little get togethers start in the library and finish up in a Starbucks or pub somewhere and they're a great way to meet new friends, who will then often invite you along on other outings where you'll meet more people. Again it's hard if you're shy or find meeting people draining but just be brave and take it steady, even if you go to one social on a semi regular basis and attend study groups a few times a month you're getting to know people and making friends that like to spend time the same way you do. Then get really brave and arrange something yourself, a pizza and movie night, a go at that new karaoke bar that's just opened up, whatever takes your fancy. I guarantee you'll have fun, even if you then need to hide in your room for a few days to catch your breath.
My last piece of advice is possibly the hardest and one that may need a little explaining, and that is to limit your contact with home, at least between the second and maybe sixth week as you settle in. One girl in my flat was constantly locked in her room, on skype to her parents or boyfriend and never really settled. She always complained of being homesick and had a hard time clicking with the rest of our flat. I strongly believe that depending too much on contact from home in the first few weeks can really hinder your settling in. It's an excuse to stay in your safety zone and also keeps your attention focused on home and how much you miss it instead of taking the opportunity to have the time of your life. Of course keep photos of your family and friends around and little reminders of home, but let them be reminders of how much you love them, and how lovely it will be to see them again and tell them about what a lovely time you're having rather than wallowing in the fact that you're far away from them. Remember that they love you and want you to enjoy this part of your life.
I do hope those little pieces of advice help anyone who feels they might need it. I know it's scary being away from home but these are the years in which you become the person you will be for the rest of your life. You probably don't want to be that loud, brash party animal who's always the centre of attention, but it's great to know that we are brave and have faith in ourselves and can step up to the plate when necessary and even have a really nice time doing it.
Do remember though, if you are really struggling with homesickness and you believe it is affecting your studies or your mental health there are people there to help. Talk to your personal tutor or an on site councilling service who will be loaded with advice. Around 70% of students report feeling homesick within the first two months of university so they'll have heard it all before and know just how to help you.
Right, that's quite enough from me, I'm going to go make a warm cup of tea and snuggle up in bed with the cat and the next few episodes of Free! an anime I've been really loving recently. Feel free to share any homesickness advice or experience below, you lot always have such good things to say!
Autumn is here! Although it's still surprisingly warm... *suspicious* and I though it would be fun to try out the Autumn Tag that I've seen floating around. It was created by Georgina of Makeup Pixi3 and I first came across it on Water Painted Dreams, by the lovely Hayley, she said that anyone who fancied doing it could consider themselves tagged so I'm not cheating, hopefully you enjoy this and although I'm not going to tag anyone in particular, definitely have a go if you want to.
01. Favourite Thing About it: My birthday! (30.09) Always fun but there's a lot of other things, jumping in leaves, Halloween, back to school stationary shopping, and getting to wear chunky cardis and hiding unshaved legs under tights for a few months.
02. Favourite Drink: I really don't do hot drinks (I know, shocking) but I would maybe go for a hot chocolate. Other than that I love a good iced mocha or caramel frappucino from Starbucks or anywhere similar. I love walking around the high street and having people look at me like I'm crazy drinking an iced drink while wearing gloves and a scarf!
03. Favourite Scent/Candle: At the moment I've got a Salted Caramel yankee candle waiting to be burned. I think it's a bit sickly at the moment but of a really chilly evening I think it'll be lovely and warm and yummy.
04. Best Lipstick: Berry tones ftw, I like Topshop's Wicked which I feature in a post here. It's a vampy lip, but very sheer and wearable for wimps like me but can be built up or blotted into a stain. Perfection!
05. Go-to Moisturiser: My poor dry cheeks need some serious loving in the winter so I've been enjoying the Miracle Mattifier from Good Things, which really hydrates without any greasiness or clogging during the day and then soothing my skin with Aloe Vera Gel during the night.
06. Go-to Colour for the Eyes: I don't wear a lot of eyeshadow any more, but I don't think you can beat a good metallic bronze during the Autumn, either dusted on lids by itself with a flick of mascara or deepened up with browns in the crease for some serious glamour.
07. Favourite Music or Band/Singer to Listen to: Oh gawd, I have such sporadic music taste, my spotify reads like that of someone with MPD, but in the Autumn I definitely lean towards rock/indie music a lot. A few of my faves in those genres are R.E.M, Seether, Nirvana, The Killers, Kiss, Misfits and Stone Sour. To name but a minute proportion of my favourites...
08. Favourite Outfit to Wear: I love cracking out the dresses layered with snuggly chunky cardigans, tights and ankle boots. Throw hair into a half-arsed bun and I'm ready to take on the world.
09. Autumn Treat: I always buy more ankle boots than is strictly necessary in the winter. I also tend to stock up on books and lots of LUSH Christmas bath treats as well.
Let me know your own favourite things about Autumn, until next time!
.JPG)
Well where have the years gone? Or at least that's what all of my various relatives have enjoyed asking all day. Honestly I don't have an answer, aside from maybe 'wasted on Tumblr'.
Although I'm writing this today, on the 30th, I imagine it will not go up until tomorrow, which means that yesterday was my birthday! (I feel like a very confused Time Lord) I turned the big two-one, which is weird age, because I feel like it's the last milestone age for a long time, next time my age is a big deal I'll be forty! Isn't that terrifying? Regardless I had an absolutely lovely day and was spoiled rotten by my lovely family and friends and wanted to share my day with you.
I knew me, my parents and brother were going out for lunch the afternoon of my birthday. What I did not know was that a big cluster of relatives had come a long way to surprise me! It was lovely, we went to The Marchmont Arms, which does sort of posh pub food, you know the type, and as we were guided to our table I couldn't help noticing the big pink monstrosity hovering over our table, like a girly Nativity Star. When we got closer all my relatives cheered and started singing Happy Birthday in tones typical of my Irish-Mancunian heritage... It was a case of grinning and bearing. The table also bore a huge bucket of treats, seen above, featuring possibly the most mentally unstable looking gingerbread man I've ever clapped eyes on. Luckily I turned him to face my brother so I didn't have to look into those eyes. Also a round of applause goes to my Dad for managing to Photo-bomb every decent shot I got of the gingerbread psycho.
There were many ultra fancy schmancy options on the menu featuring names of seafood I couldn't pronounce and phrases like 'laid tenderly on a bed of basil leaves.' But in the end I went for a burger. It was pretty impressive when it turned up I think you'll agree. Nothing says fancy establishment like eating off a chopping board and having your chips in a bucket. It was absolutely delicious and of course I couldn't pass up the opportunity to enjoy chocolate and vanilla gelato, topped with a homemade (still warm! Ahhhh!) cookie. It's definitely one of the nicest meals I've had in a long time, and being in the company of my wonderfully rowdy and hilarious (and slightly drunk) relatives just made the day even more special.
After the lunch and a quick disco nap I was given my main presents: The two Folio Society Editions of classic books and the amazing perfume Sartorial by Penhaligon's, all of which are pictured at the top of this post. In a fun twist, mum's first inkling of my interest in the perfume, came from her reading this wishlist post. So now I know how to hint! I also got plenty of cash from people, which, unfortunately will mostly go towards boring things like rent, and being able to eat. Afterwards I was whisked off for a little shopping spree with some of my most loved friends and I was so busy having a great time that I forgot to take any pictures! But I was treated to a few beauty bits, a nice LUSH selection and a few books so I consider myself a very very lucky girl indeed. I'm actually having a bit of a quiet night in now, as I don't think I could handle three big social things in one day, I'm already exhausted! But it was a lovely day and I do consider myself so very fortunate to be surrounded by such wonderful people.
I hope you had a lovely weekend, let me know what you got up to!
• 21
01. Using the phrase "when I grow up" at nearly twenty-one years old, makes people look at you funny...
02. People have an average tolerance of 3 photos of your cat before the "aww!"s stop being genuine.
02. People have an average tolerance of 3 photos of your cat before the "aww!"s stop being genuine.
03. Life is improved dramatically by a clutter free room.
04. Kindles will never replace real books. But they're still very handy if you can't be without a story.
05. Anyone who saw the original Pokemon series first will be eternally disappointed by those that came after.
06. Learning to accept an apology you never got is a step towards a high level of being.
07. Someone walking in on you dancing in your room with headphones in will never ever not be embarrassing...
08. Take photographs. You will only regret that you didn't later.
09. No matter what the world tells you, you get further in life being nice to people than you do being a dick.
08. Take photographs. You will only regret that you didn't later.
09. No matter what the world tells you, you get further in life being nice to people than you do being a dick.
10. Putting on a funny accent when you talk to strangers is just hilarious.
11. Just because you're sorry doesn't mean you deserve to be forgiven.
12. A long lovely bubble bath solves many problems.
13. The people who talk the most often have very little to say.
14. Conversely, the quietest people often have the loudest minds.
14. Conversely, the quietest people often have the loudest minds.
15. People think it's weird to get crushes on fictional characters... until it happens to them.
I haven't done any sort of little personal posts in ages! This is actually an update of something I posted a while ago on here, but since got deleted along with all the other posts pre my long hiatus. I'd really love to do some more of these lists so let me know if you enjoyed, and of course let me know any little life lessons you've learned!
I haven't done any sort of little personal posts in ages! This is actually an update of something I posted a while ago on here, but since got deleted along with all the other posts pre my long hiatus. I'd really love to do some more of these lists so let me know if you enjoyed, and of course let me know any little life lessons you've learned!
*Just to clarify that this post is not sponsored and I was not asked to do it.
I know my blog is generally a rather generic stream of nail polish and book recommendations, but today I wanted to address a cause that I feel very strongly about: The campaign to put an end to the Page 3 feature in the Sun newspaper. You will probably know that this particular feature is essentially a photo of a young woman, all glammed up in nothing but her pants, posing provocatively to the camera.
I believe this is wrong... and stupid and I have signed this petition here to add my own little drop of support to the 100,000 + strong network already and suggest you do the same. However if for any reason you are having reservations about doing so, allow me to present to you a few arguments against Page 3 and hopefully change your perspective.
01. It's Porn: It just is. I don't actually have any real issue with porn - on the internet, or top shelf magazines, where it can be accessed by people actively looking for it and where it is quite difficult for anyone who might feel very uncomfortable with it, to come across it unwittingly. Porn should not be featured in nationwide 'family' newspapers. It should not be allowed to be left on buses, looked at in the workplace or picked up off the stands by children. It just shouldn't, I don't really feel I need to get much deeper into that (and if you giggled at that last bit you naughty naughty thing :p)
02. It's Embarrassing: It can't just be me that finds the whole thing massively awkward. I don't want to sit next to a man staring at the page, eyes glazed over, for over five minutes on the tube. Ugh. Furthermore, again I'd like to stress that the Sun considers itself a 'family' newspaper, and it's a pretty grim thought that young girls have to deal with their older male relatives perving over pictures of women not that much older than they are.
03. It's Toxic: This is my biggest gripe. I will attempt for it to not turn into a feminist rant. I am worth more than my body. I am worth more than how sexually appealing I am to men in general. I am my achievements and my character and my ambitions and the thought that there might be young girls who see their older brothers, or friends at school looking at these pictures and talking about them and become convinced that her worth lies only in her sexual appeal is utterly appalling. Just a few weeks ago there was a feature about One Direction published on page 3 right next to the usual topless randomer. Bearing in mind young, impressionable and very devoted 1D fans eat up any and all news about the band, was it not the most tasteless thing in the world to do? It affects boys too, instead of praising female politicians and scientists, the Sun is promoting the idea that a woman's looks are all she has to contribute. She's young and pretty and has hot tits so she deserves to have a big picture in a newspaper. This was most clear during the Olympics, when despite these fantastic female role models everywhere you look, the biggest picture was still some random naked woman. When politician Clare Short took a stand against the feature, the Sun called her "fat and jealous." Again, nothing to do with her moral standing or political career, just her appearance. This is rampant across the media, all female public figures have their looks commented upon constantly. They are too thin, too fat, getting old, their new hairstyle doesn't suit them. It's bollocks. Adele is an incredible singer, but the thing most commented on is her weight. Even if it's dressed up in "It's great that she's a bigger girl who's successful" WHY DOES IT MATTER!? ... I may have failed on the feminist rant thing... sorry.
My point is that the Page 3 feature being readily available is harmful for everyone. It conditions young people of both sexes to believe that a woman's worth equates to some arbitrary standard of sexual appeal. The media stinks with this whole issue in general, but getting rid of Page 3 would be a huge statement and step in the right direction.
My point is that the Page 3 feature being readily available is harmful for everyone. It conditions young people of both sexes to believe that a woman's worth equates to some arbitrary standard of sexual appeal. The media stinks with this whole issue in general, but getting rid of Page 3 would be a huge statement and step in the right direction.
04. Boobs aren't news: Let's not pretend here, the Sun is hardly a fountain of hard hitting truth and insight. It's a bit shit as a newspaper anyway, but this feature is only here to rack up sales from leering perverts and giggling teenage boys. I get that some people want to read poop (why else would Hello do so well?) but can we at least try to go about things with some class and publish things with some depth of value? Some tiny educational factor? Please? Boobs aren't a talking point, about 50% of the population have them. We know the lads love them, but they aren't a relevant news topic and anyone who would genuinely lament it's no longer being included would be a very sad individual I think you'd agree.
05. One for the boys: Now it's highly unlikely that many boys will end up here, and hopefully those who do will not be the sort who would support Page 3, however if you are I would just like you, for a moment, to put yourself in the position of brother, son or father or in fact anyone with a young woman that they love and care for and respect. Now imagine that that young woman was in a Page 3 feature with her breasts exposed for any old creep to leer over, for snide 15 year old boys to snigger over in the locker room at school. Being judged not because she has a wicked sense of humour or is on her way to becoming head chef at a hotel or she can't walk past someone collecting for charity on the high street without reaching for her purse, but because of her body. The skin that encases the person that you love. Is that ok with you? Is that all she's worth?
If that still doesn't have you convinced, may I propose a compromise, you can have bare tits on Page three, so long as we get bare dicks on page 4. Sound good? No?
I'd like to just state here that I don't really have any judgement about the women who take part. I think it's pretty unclassy but people can do what they want with their own bodies. Sometimes they are the very products of the culture that tells them they are only worth their bodies, others just do it because they're students or in low paying jobs and need the cash. I also don't object to nudity. There are tasteful ways to celebrate female beauty and sexuality, but this isn't it. My objections come from these pictures praising women for appearing sexually available and 'easy' without any thought to who she is as a human being. It's an incredibly damaging thing and apparently it's just allowed to happen. There's an article by a former topless model here that explains this beautifully.
I'd like to just state here that I don't really have any judgement about the women who take part. I think it's pretty unclassy but people can do what they want with their own bodies. Sometimes they are the very products of the culture that tells them they are only worth their bodies, others just do it because they're students or in low paying jobs and need the cash. I also don't object to nudity. There are tasteful ways to celebrate female beauty and sexuality, but this isn't it. My objections come from these pictures praising women for appearing sexually available and 'easy' without any thought to who she is as a human being. It's an incredibly damaging thing and apparently it's just allowed to happen. There's an article by a former topless model here that explains this beautifully.
If you believe that Page 3 needs to become a thing of the past I urge you to sign this petition. It takes about a minute... or more if you spend a long time ranting in the optional comments section... ahem. Also definitely take a few moments to look at some of the comments made by others signers. I got a lot of inspiration for this post from the people there and it's great to see so many men showing their support, and often very passionately! If you'd like more info definitely check out the website. There's a lot of great stuff on there and it's regularly updated.
That's it folks, thankyou for reading, and let me know what you think. It's not often I speak this frankly about things but I'd love to know your opinions on this!
That's it folks, thankyou for reading, and let me know what you think. It's not often I speak this frankly about things but I'd love to know your opinions on this!
.Finding that dress, you know, that one that is just the length, colour and cut you were looking for that fits you like a glove and makes you look staggeringly good.
.Being better than your siblings at their favourite video game (See little brother and Mass Effect 3)
.Stalking through the internet for pictures of Norman Reedus, Kit Harington, Douglas Booth or some other gorgeous human being... I would make so many sandwiches for those three #fangirl
.Playlists of songs from your youth. Just whack on B*Witched, Vengaboys or Busted and watch mecrack out the moves make a royal tit of myself.
.When your interest in video games/ good music and TV/ sport/ garners you more attention from the males than the tiny lacy bralet being worn by the obnoxious airhead across the room.
.Making just the tiniest positive change in someone's life. I visited the old people's care home that Mama manages and painted a few of the ladies' nails. They really liked it and it gave me the warmest fuzzies ^_^
.The realisation that you understand certain looks and sounds that your pet makes. E.g. Cat's neck stretched as far as possible with wide eyes staring at me = that thing your sitting on/ using? I quite fancy a nap on that... moveplz.
apologies for the less than in-depth post today, I'm not feeling hugely inspired but I thought it'd be nice to just share a few things that have made me happy recently, we spend far too much time focusing on the bits of our lives that aren't perfect when there's so much to be happy about, even just the little things.
What's been making you happy recently?
.Being better than your siblings at their favourite video game (See little brother and Mass Effect 3)
.Stalking through the internet for pictures of Norman Reedus, Kit Harington, Douglas Booth or some other gorgeous human being... I would make so many sandwiches for those three #fangirl
.Playlists of songs from your youth. Just whack on B*Witched, Vengaboys or Busted and watch me
.When your interest in video games/ good music and TV/ sport/ garners you more attention from the males than the tiny lacy bralet being worn by the obnoxious airhead across the room.
.Making just the tiniest positive change in someone's life. I visited the old people's care home that Mama manages and painted a few of the ladies' nails. They really liked it and it gave me the warmest fuzzies ^_^
.The realisation that you understand certain looks and sounds that your pet makes. E.g. Cat's neck stretched as far as possible with wide eyes staring at me = that thing your sitting on/ using? I quite fancy a nap on that... moveplz.
apologies for the less than in-depth post today, I'm not feeling hugely inspired but I thought it'd be nice to just share a few things that have made me happy recently, we spend far too much time focusing on the bits of our lives that aren't perfect when there's so much to be happy about, even just the little things.
What's been making you happy recently?
Coke float! | Being a tit | I just like staring into the windows!
Some doodling | Monsters Inc jammies! | Kitty napping in the sun
Cheeky Starbucks et bagel | Lounging in the garden | How I spend far too much of my time.
It's been forever since I had any kind of catch up post so I thought it was high time. Has everyone been enjoying the sunshine? I love it during the day but my bedroom window doesn't open all the way so at night I have to swelter in my baking room with the cat trying to snuggle up to me. I've finished my first year of university! I passed (just but I'm still pleased considering I did roughly zero work.) I'm really excited for next year though I've chosen all my English modules and they're perfect for my literature-nerd self! (Seriously I've got Shakespeare, the Bronte's, Oscar Wilde, Gothic Novels the whole she-bang coming next year..... sorry I'll stop.) But for now it's just enjoying the summer, flexing my artistic muscles, catching up with old school friends and trying to finally finish Pokemon Emerald! I've been at it for almost six months!
How are you enjoying the summer?
How are you enjoying the summer?
Hi team! It's definitely been a while hasn't it.... yeah... sorry about that. But Easter break is here and, while I do have a crap-tonne of revision and essays to get done, I'm really looking forward to posting on here again. I've got a few posts planned with subjects like SS13 makeup, pampering skincare, tasty baking and a few personal-type-posty-things, so if you're interested definitely keep an eye out.
I go back to Uni on the 22nd of April and then exam season starts so I can't promise much will happen in the way of posting there, however after that I have three lovely free months before second year starts and I'll definitely get myself back into the blogging scene then. For now I'm really grateful to those of you who have stuck around and hope this next month I can get some good stuff on here for you.
Meanwhile have some pictures! >>>>
I didn't end 2012 in a very happy place. Not at all. But I'm determined to leave that behind, and use 2013 to do a lot of the things I've wanted to do for a long time. I think a lot of people want to see new years and fresh starts as a chance to find themselves. But I think I'd rather think of it as a chance to create myself.
Thing is, I don't think we are anything other than who we choose to be. I think sometimes it can be an excuse for someones bad qualities or undermining to someone's good qualities. People use "That's just who I am" to justify being rude or unkind. At the same time sometimes we don't appreciate when someone does something good for others. Just because that's who they are, of course they would do that.
I think it's so important to be conscious of our own behaviour so I want to give myself the next year to develop attributes I want and to improve myself. I want to improve my organisation, be more giving and more creative. I also want to be free in the way that I think and approach things. I want to be more appreciative of the little things and I want to make other people happier. I want to be silly, honest and kind.
I haven't really made any solid new years resolutions but I'm simply opening my mind to new things and hoping to discover and create and generally reach 2014 a little prouder to be me. I want to get into crafts, learn to cook properly for myself, find a form or exercise I enjoy and finally finish a draft of a novel! I don't care if noone reads it, I've wanted to write a book since I could first read and I just want to finish one!
I'm planning on having a weekly inspiration board such as the one above to help me get inspired. Feel free to use it to inspire you too! Or better yet create your own and link it below. I'd love to be see what inspires you. Every week I'll be talking about life and thoughts and just general things that wouldn't really fit in a normal post.
Thankyou for reading.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.JPG)
