Monday 25 June 2012

A hole in my soul

Don't worry about the dramatic post title - it's from one of my current favourite songs. My friend Maria sent it to me via Spotify and I've listened to it non-stop ever since. It's called Flaws by Bastille and I can't get enough of it right now. It does seem to suit my mood too actually. If the lead singer could just sing this to me then I think I would die a little. I'm an absolute sucker for a man with a beautiful voice.



I'm actually considering a summer full of festivals. Well, three to be exact. I'm volunteering at Strawberry Fields Festival and then I'm off to V the week after. I'm also considering going to Y Not in Matlock because the line up looks brilliant and I'm really keen to have a fun packed summer time.

Here's what is filling my headspace at the moment...







Sunday 24 June 2012

One More Time With Feeling

I've spent the first half of today moaning about the lack of roast dinner delivery services. I know Toby Carvery do a take away one but that's not good enough when I want to stay in my pyjamas and have good food delivered to me! Surely I'm not the only person that has had this thought?! Anyway, all has been resolved as I found a cottage pie in my freezer and I'm now a happy girl again.

I thought I'd get in on the Instagram blog post thing just to share some personal things without being too personal. So here are some snippets from my fairly mundane and unglamorous life:
1. Skinny spaghetti disguised as real pasta. It's actually white cabbage but tastes exactly the same as tagliatelle when mixed with the bolognese style sauce. I've been eating lots of this recently in a bid to shape up and avoid real pasta. The recipe can be found on The Londoner's blog post here.


2. My running shoes. In a further attempt to get fit I've decided to take up jogging and long walks. I have a dodgy knee so I'm not doing full on running yet, but I hope to get there eventually! I've done two jogs and a 5k walk this week. Hoping I can keep it up and develop a habit.


3. Mini cream cake which was a little treat. I actually had it ready for a friend to visit but seeing as I was cancelled on twice, I decided I'd eat the food myself. Silver linings eh?


4. I got a package of three moisturisers from a lovely lady on twitter. She was giving them away for free and only asked for postage. She even included a really sweet note with it. It has restored my faith in human kindness.

5.The standard tea picture. I also made sure to get my coaster in there as it was a present from my best friend and cheers me up every time I look at it. 


6. I went for a meal with Emma a few weekends ago and the pub had giant shelves of books and big mahogany furniture. I had to take a picture!


7. New jewellery which I got for £1 each in the sale. I can never have too many rings.


8. American Hot Leggera from Pizza Express. We went out for a big meal and I was in desperate need of some salad after my time in London for the Jubilee. This was just the right amount of pizza and greens. 


9. This is actually a photo from quite a while ago when I went to see Incubus. The venue was actually pretty quiet in comparison to past years but that didn't take away from the performance; it definitely took me back to my teenage years.

Time to get back to reality and sit down with some marking. The last couple of weeks have been exhausting and I still don't feel caught up or prepared. Not long now until the summer holidays when I have plenty of fun things planned. My birthday is happening next month (no matter how much I try to ignore it) and so I'm off to see some of my friends and then pay a visit to the parents just to remind them how amazing their first born is!
 
What do you think of the Instagram post? Should I continue with them?
 
 


Monday 18 June 2012

Promise less or do more

It's about time I started taking a little more care of myself. I always try to look my best but it's easy to let exercise slip when you have other things to do. I'm guilty of getting home after work, doing some more work and then sitting infront of the tv for the rest of the night. I don't eat particularly badly but I certainly don't exercise enough. I avoid carbs as much as I can, mostly because wheat and gluten don't agree with me. You wouldn't believe how many things have gluten in them! I normally eat fruit, vegetables and plenty of meat and have been at the same weight for years but I want to get fit. I want to be able to run a few miles without feeling like I'm about to die. I'll admit that I may have been spurred on by the fact that someone recently decided to tell me I am 'wide'. I haven't been called anything like that since I was a teenager and I'm damned if that's the way I'm going to be viewed. Pretty sure that a size 10/12 isn't wide! Don't get me started on the way that the idea of 'beauty' is constructed by the media. Anyway, I'm more interested in being fit and healthy so that's my plan!

Tonight I'm going to start running. Even if it rains. The reason I'm writing this on my blog is because once you have said something publicly, you have to do it. As always, Pinterest has helped motivate me with some brilliantly cheesy slogans. Here's what's going to get me through my run/jog/breakdown later tonight:







Off I go. Wish me luck.

Saturday 16 June 2012

Style/Blog Crush #17: Ashley Madekwe

Since Desperate Housewives finished (small sob) I've been looking for a new TV series to love. I found my new obsession with Revenge and I can't wait for each new installment. If you haven't seen it then get yourself to 4OD quickly and catch up! It is pretty close to 90210 but it still has plenty of backstabbing and murderous intentions to keep you hooked. My favourite character by far is Ashley who is played by Ashley Madekwe. You might recognise her from Secret Diary of a Call Girl (another of my guilty pleasures). Not only do I get to swoon over her clothes in the programme but I recently discovered that she writes a fashion blog! I spent ages scrolling through it the other day and I thought it was only fair to share. If there was ever a reason for me to get fitter then this is it; the girl has incredible legs.

Ashley's blog is called Ring My Bell and features her daily outfits, make up snippets, giveaways and tips on where to buy other versions of her clothes. She's shot straight to the top of my favourite bloggers list! Here are some of her looks:








I had better stop there or I'll end up posting all of her pictures! She has the most incredible collections of shoes and handbags. Go and look at the studded leopard print heels - my absolute favourite.

Have a look at her blog here - Ring My Bell - and share in my new style crush.


Wednesday 13 June 2012

Little Secrets

Every now and again I get bored with my blog. It's superficial and I don't have much to say because I choose to limit pictures and information. I am well aware that once it's on the internet you can't take it back and so I don't want to fill my blog with images of me or words that could be misconstrued. I don't tend to say offensive things or anything that would get me into trouble but I think it's probably better to be cautious rather than go all in and reveal everything to the world (or the five people that read this). I want to keep blogging because a) It's a hobby and I enjoy it most of the time, b) I like to look back and see how I was feeling on a particular date/time and c) I read tons of blogs and I think I'd be painfully jealous if I didn't have a way to express my own thoughts and feelings!

However, every few months I become completely disenchanted with my blog and how vacuous it might make me sound. I know that friends and people I work with read this and I'm sure it doesn't give the impression that I'm a highly intelligent individual who sits at home contemplating the meaning of life. The truth is, I like writing in such a simplistic, informal style. I am perfectly capable of writing (and marking) academic essays but that doesn't mean I need to write a blog which showcases my writing ability. The best part of writing this is that I realise that, even when I question myself, I know that I don't actually care what people think of me. Even if I come across as a puerile, trivial and totally depthless invididual, I don't care. I know what and who I am.

I work extremely hard and I deserve the good things that happen to me.
I'm a loyal friend and hopeless romantic.
I like to dream impossible dreams.
I'm incredibly proud of what I have achieved without the privileges that many others have had.
I love to learn new things and have to learn something new every day, even if it's total rubbish.
Music is really important to me.
I love my job and can't imagine doing anything else.
Most of the time I need a plan but I actually love being spontaneous.
I don't give up on anything.

And that's all I need. I would love to write a fashion blog full of pictures and information about my latest purchases but it's just not possible. I don't have the money to go out and buy new things all of the time. I also don't think I'd be brave enough to put photos out there for people to judge. I'd rather be judged on my personality than my looks.

I've managed to reason with myself while writing this; it really is true that writing helps you figure things out more clearly. I do want to keep blogging. I do want to share things (but not everything) and I definitely want to stick to what I know. I don't have a glamorous life or lots of money but that's ok. I'll continue to share snippets about me, things I like and what I've been doing recently.

On that note, I'm off to listen to some music, paint my nails a nice lilac colour and get comfy with a book. That's enough for me.





Tuesday 12 June 2012

Not Nineteen Forever

I can spend a long time scrolling through Pinterest after a long day as it seems to wake me up and make me feel inspired again. I have pinned SO many things but here are just a few things I thought I'd share today. If you want to see the rest then click here to go to my pinterest page. If you want to know more about Pinterest as a site then here is an article you to tell you. None of these images are mine, they are just taken from the site. If one of them is yours then let me know and I will credit you.

One day I will swim in a sea this clear


Perfect summer hair



Love this makeup style

Stuffed portobello mushrooms. nomnomnom
The eyelashes I wish I had




Does she ever get it wrong?






Monday 11 June 2012

Bookworm #7: Once in a house on fire

"At school, I couldn't help but grin. At home, something ripped under my skin when I smiled, trying to pretend that everything was fine. Deadly moods lurked in a purple-white haze, smoke clinging to the curtains, turning stale overnight.” 

Thought I'd blog about one of my latest reads today as I've been rubbish at keeping up the bookworm feature despite the fact that I've been reading non-stop recently! I actually read Once in a house on fire a while ago but totally forgot to write about it.

Ashworth writes a memoir of her harrowing childhood as she grows up in 1970s Manchester. Written from her own point of view, she explores her struggle for identity as she is faced with violence, poverty and racism as a young girl. Although the subject matter is extremely dark, Ashworth's poetic style makes this a hard to put down book. I read it almost from cover to cover and I began to feel for this vulnerable child floating in a world of apparent hopelessness and cruelty. She describes how her love for literature got her through the hard times and made 'miserable things seem sublime.' I can't even begin to describe how beautifully written this book is; it actually makes me feel a little envious. Ultimately this is a book about strength and survival and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone.


“A poem was a box for your soul. That was the point. It was the place where you could save bits of yourself, and shake out your darkest feelings, without worrying that people would think you were strange. While I was writing, I would forget myself and everyone else; poetry made me feel part of something noble and beautiful and bigger than me.” 
 
 


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