Everything is changing...

I'm so useless at this regular posting thing! It's not because I've forgotten, but simply because I haven't managed to find the time to sit down and write for a while. And not to mention the struggles of connecting my laptop to the wifi in my new house. New house, I hear you cry? Well I've made the big move, I've packed up my life in Weymouth from the last five months and returned to Winchester; and things here are looking fairly permanent. So I'm still getting my head around the fact that I've pretty much left my beautiful hometown for the foreseeable future, which is both heartbreaking and insane. My whole life (bar the eight crazy months at uni) has basically been in Weymouth, so knowing that those days have gone, is quite hard to accept. But still, everyone has to move on and accept change in their lives, and I'm looking forwards to whatever madness this academic year throws at me! (And trust me, if it's anything like last year, I'm in for one hell of a ride, but this time, you guys get to share in it with me.)

Leaving Weymouth meant a lot more than leaving my friends, family and dogs behind, I also had to leave my amazing job back in Weymouth. Hopefully it was more of a 'cya later', than a 'goodbye forever'. I'm like the bad smell that never goes away there. They're stuck with me for life. 

However, within 3 days of moving to Winchester permanently, I've managed to get a job in my favourite coffee shop here! I'm completely over the moon, so hopefully everything will be alright, and I could seriously use the money to save up for all my elaborate travelling plans. And drinking. And maybe food? And clothes, definitely clothes. 

I plan to do a huge over-the-top post all about my new room here, and how I've decorated it. I'm pretty proud of how everything is coming along, I'm a few photos and fairy lights away from the perfect décor. Not to mention bunting, lots and lots of bunting....

Expect a much more fulfilling post next week, I'm off to Belfast for a couple of days with Emily, because...well... I won't lie, Irish men. We may or may not have watched P.S I Love You and decided on a whim in May to book five days in Ireland. So please be patient, and I promise you all my crazy tales from across the Irish sea - unless of course I've met the man of my dreams and I've eloped.

Much love ♥

Totally Fetch Films...

I love a good movie. To me, there is nothing better than spending a day curled up in a duvet, watching films with endless supplies of tea and chocolate. Unfortunately, I rarely get days to do this, but when I do I make full advantage of it. I'm not usually a one-genre-film kinda girl, I'll sit through almost anything - within reason. I'm not a huge fan of gore or violence, and the film has to have a plot that I can follow that isn't too ridiculous or complicated.

So what are my favourite films? Prepare yourself for a lot of girl-power, soppy romance, and films that will have you wetting yourself with laughter (or shitting in the street....)

Bridesmaids - She's really doing it. She's shitting in the street. Bridesmaids is the best comedy with an all girl cast - fact. It will make you cry with laughter, with a plot that is in some cases so ridiculous, that it really could be true. The cast are purely brilliant, Kristen Wiig is just so naturally funny, as is Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy. Plus it has Chris O'Dowd in it, whom I adore. Every single part of the film is quotable, and I'm all for quotable films, especially when other people can quote it with you. This film will completely stand the test of time, I have no doubt that I'll still be crying with laughter at it in 40 years time.

Mean Girls - This. Is. A. Classic. Every single girl who grew up in my generation will have watched Mean Girls. I mean, that's just like the rules of feminism. I had high expectations that secondary school would be like Mean Girls, and in some ways it really was. Mean Girls was great at exploring all the strange little cliques of people, and how bitchy everyone really was. I guess you could say it prepared me for school, and that you shouldn't back stab or trust anyone. Or push them in front of a bus. Again, this film is ridiculously quotable, and I could recite the whole film to you if you asked me to. And the Kevin G rap. 

Chicago - Could this be the best musical of all time? It has all my favourite things. The Jazz Age in America? Check. Kick-ass female leads? Check. Songs with dance routines you wish you could do? Check check check check check. Half the time I torn between wanting to play the role of Roxie Hart, and the other half I'd kill to be Velma Kelly. Both have amazing songs, both have amazing costumes, and both are equally as bad as the other. One killed her lover, the other killed her sister and her husband. Chicago proves that murder really is an art, and that sometimes crime does pay if you want the spotlight. 

Bridget Jones: Edge Of Reason - My flatmates are convinced that I'm really Bridget Jones, with a hopeless love life and with ridiculous things always happening to me. At first I was slightly offended, then I realised that the comparison was actually quite uncanny, and that it made a whole load of sense. So why do I love the sequel over the original? It's simple really. The whole scene in the prison in Thailand. Every time I watch this film, I am in stitches over a bunch of women trying to sing 'Like A Virgin', whilst wearing bras outside of their clothes. I've included it below for your viewing pleasure. 

Friends With Benefits - Justin Timberlake. God dammit he is one fine specimen of man, isn't he? Plus we get to see a whole lot of him in this film, if you know what I mean. He's not the only reason I love Friends With Benefits though. It shows how love isn't always where you expect it, that it's not all tacky and clichéd, and that sometimes, just sometimes, you can fall in love with your best friend. It's a thoroughly modern love story, and gives me hope that maybe one day I'll actually find a decent guy in this world.  

The Avengers - Okay so this is cheating a little bit, because I love all the Marvel films, and this was just a way to express my admiration for most of the characters in one film. I love Thor. I love Captain America. I love Iron Man. Hell, I love them all. I completely 'nerd out' when I watch Marvel films, I like to research all the characters and how they interlink, and yes, I'm one of those people who ALWAYS stay for the mid-credit and end-credit scenes. Because they are important. I wish I was Black Widow (and not just because Scarlett Johansson is my girl crush), and all of the guys are damn good looking. The Avengers is everything you could possible want in a kick-ass action movie. 

Elf - Christmas means awkward family reunions, too much food, and Elf. Undoubtedly the best Christmas film, because 'The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear." Will Ferrell is probably the only actor who could be capable of playing such a role, and he does it perfectly. It's funny, heart-warming, and plain bonkers in some parts (it has a talking narwhal, need I say more?). To me, I don't feel in the Christmas spirit until I've watched Elf, it's as essential to the holiday as having a Christmas tree. 

Legally Blonde - Now, I'm all for a bit of girl-power, after all I did grow up under the influence of the Spice Girls. I'm also a feminist, and a sucker for people who break the boundaries they are confined to by society and surprise everyone. Legally Blonde is a totally awesome film following Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon), who gets into Harvard to win back her boyfriend, only to discover a new passion for the study and practise of law. She's the complete polar opposite of everything you'd imagine a law student to be, and I adore that. It shows anyone that they can be anything they want to be, and that there are no limits. Elle Woods is a complete hero, and I love her to bits, plus I always get a strange burst of motivation to do something with my life whenever I watch this film. 

Much love ♥

August addictions...

Firstly I'm going to apologise for the serious blog neglect in the last two weeks, I'm not kidding when I say I've not even had the time to go on my laptop and draft this. I've been working an awful lot, and in my spare time I've been too exhausted to even procrastinate. Yes, it's gotten that bad.

Secondly, keeping with the tradition I've seemed to have created, I think it's about time I unveil my August addictions. This has been somewhat of a challenge to compose, as not only have I not had the time to blog, but I've barely had the time to procrastinate and watch tv shows or discover new music. I'll do my best!

Twin Atlantic - I've been a bit of a fan of this Glaswegian band for a while, but not an avid fan to say the least. But thanks to Em, I've completely fallen in love with them, and their new album, which both amazes and amuses me. They're so Scottish it's brilliant, I adore the way he says "brothers and sisters", it's a bit like "brothas and sisTAHS", and the ways he says memories with complete charm. This obsession has even stretched to going as far as buying a ticket to seeing them in November, with Em, her workmates and my workmate Keira. Seriously cannot wait. 

Celebrity Big Brother - This fills me with so much shame and disgust. I vowed I would never watch this show as long as I lived, but it seems I've succumbed to the need to fill my evenings with this complete trash. Admittedly, the lineup is somewhat amazing, with the likes of James Jordan of Strictly (I'm a huge Strictly Come Dancing fan), Edele from B*Witched (c'est la vie was a classic), and George from Gogglebox (I bloody love gogglebox so much). I feel like I'm living and breathing everything happening in the show and just want to gossip about it to anyone who understands. Just don't ask me who I want to win, because I'm far too emotionally invested into the show to give a straight answer. I know who I love to pieces, and who I detest. I feel like I need rehab to because I know how toxic this show is, it's like I'm slowly poisoning myself to death. I'm so disgusted with myself. 

Salt spray - Recently I made the bold move and had an astonishing 7 inches of hair cut off. It was actually quite liberating, and I must admit, I love it. Having shorter hair has many advantages. Being the lazy girl I am, it suits me just fine that my hair routine takes significantly less time now, especially as I can pretty much leave it to do whatever it wants and pass it off as a 'messy indie' look.The only product I've invested in is the got2b salt spray, which helps to make my hair go naturally wavy without being too messy. And it smells pretty wonderful. Delightful. 

Muller light cappuccino yogurt - This is completely bizarre, but I have eaten so much yogurt this summer. Not liking fruit much at all, this does limit which yogurts I'll actually eat, so I was thrilled when I found this cappuccino yogurt in ASDA. Okay, so it doesn't taste that much like coffee (thank God, I am definitely a tea-over-coffee kinda girl), but it's pretty damn yummy. I may or may not have 6 pots of this currently sitting in my fridge.

So there we go, I hope this short but sweet post is satisfactory enough for now, I'm planning a post which should be up in a few days. I'll try not to abandon you again!

Much love ♥

"Oh just lighten up a bit..."

I'm going to apologise now in advance for the seriousness of this post, it's a far cry from my regular posts of holidays musings, fluffy dogs and being drunk. But it's something which recently has been gaining a lot of media attention due to the heartbreaking loss of the amazing talent which is Robin Williams, and I feel as if I just need to have my say on the matter. 

Depression. 

Even the term itself oozes doom and gloom. I get so worked up every time I see that word, I have this weird mixture of emotions such as sympathy, rage, and complete and utter heartbreak going on inside of me. 

It's not really a secret, however it's not something I openly discuss, but I myself have battled with this old foe for years. Personally, and I cannot stress enough that everyone goes through depression differently, depression comes and goes in waves of intensity for me. Currently, I'm thrilled to say that I have my demons pushed to the back of my mind, and that I'm okay just going with the flow of my life at the moment. However, I have had moments of complete chaos where I cannot face the world, and I genuinely feel as if I just can't cope with anything. It took me a long time to realise what was wrong with me, it took a few long years of suffering in silence, hiding all my feelings away even from my mum, before I broke out of myself and got some help. 

But what does get to me, is the way people don't get that depression is a serious mental illness. It's completely misunderstood by anyone who is lucky enough to not come across it, but sometimes I feel this verges on ignorance. I've been a little bit wary about opening up with people about depression, because in the past I've been told "I have nothing to be sad about", and to "just lighten up a bit", because they just don't understand how depression works. It's not caused by any particular reason, you could have everything you ever wanted in life but still have depression, and there's no switch to miraculously turn it off and be happy again. It just doesn't work like that.

The lack of education and information available about depression is shocking, especially as more people than you may think do suffer from it. Because it's such an unknown to many, there's a lot of unwillingness to talk about it, to the extent that for many it becomes like 'the elephant in the room', which never gets discussed or mentioned, but is obviously there. Then there's the polar opposite, the part which really annoys me, is people throwing the term about because they don't understand how serious it is. Just the other day I was on the bus when I heard a girl saying to her friend that she was so 'depressed' because her hair wasn't styled the way she wanted it. It's just as bad as when people used to call things 'gay' instead of 'lame', it has just as much power behind it than people realise. And it's pure ignorance. I don't blame these people though, I just get upset that they obviously have never been taught how serious depression really is, so they genuinely do not know what they are saying. 

Sadly, it's taken the death of one of the most beloved actors of our time for this subject to finally be getting the recognition it's been needing for years. Robin Williams bought a lot of laughter and joy to all who watched films such as Mrs. Doubtfire, Hook, and Flubber, and captivated audiences with roles such as in one of my favourites, Good Will Hunting. It's just such a shame that he couldn't find the happiness he bought to others within himself. I hope that people see him as the person he was, and not the demons he was fighting, and that the positive we can take from his death is that other people may find the courage to seek help and receive it. 

I found a comment online which really made me think about all this, and it's what really sparked this whole rant/post. It said, "When somebody dies of cancer, they blame the cancer. If somebody dies because of depression, they blame the person. It's an illness too, and claims just as many lives."

So there you go, that was a bit of a change from my usual somewhat lighter posts, but it's just something I felt had to be said. If anyone reading this is currently being affected by depression, don't suffer in silence. There are people who can and will help you, and you're not a burden or troubling them at all. I've included a few links below to help you, or for anyone who is after a bit more information on the subject.

The Depression Alliance - http://www.depressionalliance.org/

Young Minds - http://www.youngminds.org.uk/

Depression UK - http://www.depressionuk.org/

The Samaritans - http://www.samaritans.org/ 

Much love ♥

Update - The new dog

Now anyone who knows me will know I'm definitely a dog person. Don't get me wrong, cats are cute, but I find them selfish and boring. Dogs are much more sassy and playful, and asdfghjkl; I just love them.

If you know me, you'll also know I currently have a dog, a King Charles Cavalier called Lucy, who will be 10 this week. I love her to bits, she's so placid and friendly, and oh so adorable. She's got these gorgeous soppy brown eyes and I adore her so much. One of the hardest things for me about going to uni, was leaving the dog. You can call your family up when you miss them, but nothing can replace snuggles with the dog. I even joked about how I wasn't homesick, but rather 'dogsick', because I was missing her so much. There was one incident where I was on the way back from a shopping trip with Em, and I saw this really cute dog and started crying, and had to go over to the dog to stroke it. Very awkward, very embarrassing, but I was a mess.

I'm a bit like this lady - only with dogs.

So imagine my reaction when I got told we were getting another dog! It was all a little bit hush-hush until we actually had him, just in case the whole thing fell through, but he's here and officially ours! (Well when I say ours, I mean my mum and her partners, but he's adorable so I'm totally claiming part ownership.)

Meet Nelson!

Okay, first things first - I had absolutely no say in naming him. My mums partner did, and I won't lie to you, I think it's a ridiculous name. It's slightly embarrassing. Yes I understand that because of his links to the navy, calling him Nelson after Admiral Nelson is quite clever, but to me, Nelson reminds me of Nelson Muntz from the Simpsons. I felt incredibly judged when I had to call his name on a walk the other day, because there I was on the local trail wearing a nice dress with a dog called Nelson. I looked like a crazy stuck-up lady with a posh named dog. Little did they know I'm pretty averagely common and the dog is a little shit. 

He's a Yorkshire Terrier, and he's a really sweet little dog, a bit clingy, but sweet. He's constantly following people and getting under their feet, because he loves the attention so much. You can't go over and stroke Lucy without him suddenly appearing and trying to wedge himself between you and her to steal her spotlight. I think she gets a bit fed up of him, it's hilarious. Only problem we've found is he's quite over friendly with the biting. He likes to greet you with a firm chomp on your hand, leg, thigh, or whatever he can get. He's also into the whole 'humping everything he can get hold of' phase, which includes all dog toys, pillows, shoes, or even a lampost. (Again, this was a very awkward walk.) But he is learning to behave himself, slowly but surely. He's definitely grasped the concept of the word 'NO!', but I think half the time he chooses to ignore it to humour us. 

He also like to bury things. Typical terrier, but so far we've lost two rubber balls and a squeeky bone. I watched him bury something up the garden, and it was hilarious. He has this little technique, where he digs the hole, places the item in it, uses his nose to fill the hole in again, then pats down the soil with his paws so the ground is flat again! Very sneaky. No wonder we can't find anything he's buried, because there aren't any suspicious mounds of dirt anywhere. 

I've also sussed that now I've got 2 dogs, I can totally train them to do stuff like this...

And...

He's definitely a character, but you can't help but love the skinny little thing. He's a keeper.

Much love ♥

What I can't live without at Uni...

When I first started packing a year ago to move into halls, I had absolutely no idea what I'd need or want to take with me. I searched all over the Internet for recommended packing lists to get ideas, and thankfully a few did come in handy. Looking back, I took far too much stuff to halls, so much in fact I had to do a trip to IKEA to buy another set of draws. Did I use everything I took with me? Hell no. I always fall into the trap of "I'll take this in case I need it", knowing damn well that'll never happen. It's probably because I'm a hoarder and just love being surrounded by all my things. So what is it I couldn't live without at uni?

1. Netflix - After about two weeks of living away from home, I realised I suddenly had more free time than I've ever had before in my life. It didn't help that I was determined to survive the year without a job, which often meant I'd spent entire weekends on my own in the flat, with nothing but Netflix for company. I didn't need to get out of bed or anything, it was bliss. I found new TV series to get hooked on, like RuPaul (I know, I don't ever shut up about RuPaul!) and watched endless films until I got fed up of them (Ella Enchanted, anyone?). Life without Netflix in halls, to me, is unimaginable. It certainly filled a lot of my spare time, and the time I was meant to be working... 
   
2. My F.R.I.E.N.D.S boxset - A gift from my ex on my birthday last year, but similarly to Netflix, this one was handy at filling up all the free time and late nights I had nothing better to do with. However, the boxset also provided me with a challenge. I aimed to watch every single episode before moving out of halls, meaning I had to spam watch it until I'd completed the challenge. I did, by the way. F.R.I.E.N.D.S is easily my favourite show of all time, but at uni it seemed even more relevant; a bunch of young people trying to make their way in live on their own, exactly the same as what we were trying to do. 
   
3. My iPad Mini - Easily one of the best purchases I've ever made. When I got into uni, I just knew that my poor old laptop, as faithful as it is, would have no chance of surviving being lugged around to lectures. So I decided to splash out on an iPad. Not only did it come in handy for watching Netflix on the go, but it was also pretty useful for scrolling through Facebook in lectures when I was bored, and talking to all my friends in the room. But seriously, it was really useful for taking notes, especially after downloading 'Pages' for £6.99, and when my dad bought me a detachable keyboard for it for my birthday. It's definitely worth considering getting a decent laptop or tablet for lectures, especially for finding all the reading material and powerpoints online. 
   
4. Super Noodles - Ah, the staple diet of the uni student. Cheap and cheerful, plus you can get them in loads of flavours. (Bacon is lush.) I ate far too many packets of these, and their counterparts, the pasta sachets, to the point that I thought I might turn into a noodle. Money is always pretty tight at uni, especially when there's drinking and shopping to factor into your expenses, so we're always looking for ways to eat well for less. I'm not too sure super noodles serve as 'eating well', but I survived a year eating them a good 5 times a week. (I'm definitely cutting down on the noodles this year.) 
   
5. Antibacterial wipes - These are a god send. Not only are they easy to use, but they're pretty cheap as well. They will come in handy, especially in the kitchen, because I can guarantee you will end up living with some messy people. I definitely did, from meat packets being left on the side, to random sauce stains everywhere. We had sauce up the fridges, down the wall, on the windows, I swear to god, you name it, there was sauce on it. And let's not even talk about whatever was crusted onto the inside of the microwave. I very rarely used the microwave at uni, out of fear of what the hell had previously gone in it. Antibacterial wipes will make using the kitchen much less of a stomach churning adventure. 
   
6. Photos - When I first moved into my little uni room, it felt a little bit like a prison cell. Because all the rooms are so uniformed and plain, I had to make the room feel homely to help me settle in. I'd bought with me pictures of family and friends from home, and blue-tacked them all over the noticeboard next to my bed. Next to that I had my poster of Florence Welch, and by the end of the year, I'd added more recent uni photos too. I also used bunting and loads of pillows to make the room feel snug, and well, mine. (This is my room last year, I loved how I decorated it so much, it was so cosy.)
   
7. My 'Blates' - I bought quite possibly the worlds flattest plates with me to uni, so I couldn't have any meal which involved sauce because it just poured straight onto the table. So after another trip to IKEA, I came back with deep plates, which looked like the love-child of a bowl and a plate. I affectionately called them 'blates' all year, and were perfect for pretty much every single meal. (And yes, I did go on the IKEA website to find exactly the same one I have to use the picture...)
   
8. My fan heater - I was unlucky when I first moved into halls, because my room was the most freezing cold room in the entire flat. I spent the first week avoiding my room, and shivering my way through the night, because my heating was completely broken. I was semi-convinced I was living in an igloo. Thankfully, my mum bought me a really cheap little fan heater, which warmed the room up really quickly. I had it on literally all the time, I'm a sucker for a warm room, and it helped me to to survive a pretty damn cold winter in Winchester. 
   

So there it is, my little words of wisdom and advice for anyone starting uni this year. I took so much more to uni than that with me, and as I said, I definitely did not use it all. But these things helped me to survive my first year, and are partly why I enjoyed it so much.

Much love ♥

'Homesick' for uni...

After spending 9 months living away from home in halls, coming back 'home' has felt seriously strange. It looks like my house, but it's not my house anymore. I'm as good as gone in the eyes of my mother, so imagine her surprise to have to put up with me again for 3 months before I inevitably have to go back to Winchester. It's been a complete shock to the system, having to fit back into my family home after having so long of my own freedom, and there's an awful lot I miss about being in Winchester. There's certainly a lot I love about being home though, but that's a whole other post.

So what is it about uni I'm missing so much?

1. My friends - Okay, sorry for sounding really lame here, but I miss all my friends so much. Being back home has made it pretty obvious who really matters, because only a few friends here have bothered to get back in touch and arranged to meet up again. Everyone else has moved on,so it just shows who truly are good friends. It gets pretty sad when you start counting the people you work with as being among your closest friends... 
   
2. Drinking - The downside of having no friends in Weymouth? No one to go drinking with. I'm certainly not going to go and sit in a pub by myself, nor am I sad enough yet to sit and drink in my room. Without running the risk of sounding like a massive alcoholic (but if you've read some of my previous posts, you probably have already concluded that I am), I do enjoy going out and having a drink and a laugh. Here, my Saturday nights consist of napping after work, and watching Game Of Thrones. Definitely missing my social life. 
   
3. Random walks - This is a strange one, but I miss being able to go out for a random walk alone or with friends in the middle of the night. For one, I have no one to go with here, and I also don't think my mother would be too thrilled about me just going out at 1am for a stroll. Weymouth isn't exactly rough, but I'm sure she'd be convinced I'd get kidnapped and forced into an arranged marriage or something completely ridiculous. I just miss the freedom to do whatever I want, whenever I want, without having to explain or justify it to my mother. 
   
4. Never being alone - At home, often I find I'm the only person in my house. With having barely any friends to meet up with, or being too tired after work to go out with, I find I'm stuck in my house, on my own, with nothing but Netflix, my dog and my own thoughts for company.At uni, there's always someone around to go and hang out with, even if you're both just scrolling through your phones, or cooking. You're never alone, there's always someone to have a laugh or a chat with whatever time of day. 
   
5. Lie-ins and laziness - With having to go to work, and only getting a few days off, I feel as if my rare days to myself shouldn't be wasted. So I'm finding that I'm getting up at a decent time and actually doing things. Gone are the days I used to predominantly spend in bed watching FRIENDS, and I miss them. I can't get away with lying-in and doing nothing anymore.  
   
6. Always having something to do - There's always people around, or work to be done, or parties and nights out to be had. There is literally always something to do, so you are never bored. I've never been so bored in my whole life this summer, I have to schedule these things around my jobs, and then I'm too tired, and whenever I'm free, there's never anything to do. At uni, go out on a Wednesday night and it's amazing. Here, go out on a Wednesday and it's atrocious. But unfortunately for me, my days off never seem to coincide with the weekend, so I never get the chance to go out. I miss being able to do whatever, whenever, because at uni you're surrounded by so many other people who are doing whatever they like whenever as well. 
   
7. Lectures - I genuinely miss lectures and my course. I really enjoy my subject, and it feels weird not sitting through 3 hours of someone attempting to teach me something. I feel like without learning at the moment, my brain is dying from all the TV I'm watching to fill my spare time. Definitely need to read more. 
   
8. How close everything is - Last year, my flat was about 3 minutes away from all of my lecture rooms, which was awesome. I had, quite possibly, the worlds shortest commute, which was great because for lazy little me, it meant more time in bed. If you wanted to go into town, no problem, it was probably only a 10 minute walk, which was always really nice especially if you went with friends so you could chat along the way. At home, I don't live that far away from town, but it's certainly a much longer walk, and I have to leave my house a good 45 minutes before I'm needed in work. Not fun. It means less sleep. I hate having to fork out for bus fare to get everywhere quicker and easier. Living on a campus where everything is within reach suits my laziness just fine. 
   

I miss so much about being at uni, but it won't be long until I'm back in September and missing home all over again. It's definitely really strange getting used to having 'homes' in two different places, and having to split your time and affections between them both. But I guess, now that I've been at uni for a year, I wouldn't change it for the world.

Much love ♥