My 2017 Reading List

Ah, reading. I have such a complicated relationship with you. On the one hand, I love books, I see tremendous value in reading, I love book shops and I always have a never ending list of titles on my to-read list. On the other hand, I am quite possibly the slowest reader of all time, which makes it very difficult for me to make a dent in even the smallest portion of my list. You may have seen in my 2017 resolutions post that one of my goals for the coming year is to start waking up much earlier, which got me thinking about how I might spend my extra hours in the day. Reading was one of the first things that sprung to my mind. I always seem to have some sort of reading goal on my resolutions list which normally goes something like "read X amount of books this year". And I fail every. single. time. This year, I'm scrapping the number and just focusing on making more time to read. On my 2017 reading list I have quite a range, from design, to health and nutrition, to beauty, fashion and more...

5 Things To Do Alone In NYC

There's no doubt about it, New York is an amazing place to explore with friends and family. I mean, doesn't everybody dream of having their Carry Bradshaw moment, swanning around the streets on Manhattan, hand in hand with their girlfriends? But New York is just as great when explored solo. Having moved to London and then New York City, I've gained some experience (and a soft spot) for getting to know a city companionless! And though of course I've met some wonderful people along the way who I have shared some amazing experiences with, I still enjoy taking the time to enjoy my own company in the city. So here are my favourite things to do alone in NYC...

10 Things I Learnt In My First Year At University

So I found this post while browsing through my drafts. I had almost finished it but clearly forgot all about it and it never got published. Though it's been about four months since I finished my first year at university, I thought it might be nice to put this post out anyway since there's a lot of people just beginning their time at university around about now. So, here's the post that got lost...

7 Things I Learnt In My First 7 Days In NYC

Just less than a year ago, I was sat at my laptop writing this very same post about London. I'm no stranger to moving to a new city, and unlike my best friend Hannaah, whom I am on this great New York City adventure with, I'm no stranger to the USA either. But each city I visit, move to or live in has a very unique dynamic and with that comes an adjustment period. Sure, most big cities have some things in common - noise, lack of personal space and an abundance of McDonalds, but there's always new customs, etiquette and lessons to learn along the way. One year ago I began my post by saying "So here they are, the musings of a northerner stuck down south, week one", so without further ado - here they are, the musings of an english girl stuck in the Big Apple, week one.

33 Things I Want To Do While Living In New York

It feels strange to think that exactly this time last year, I was writing this very same post about moving to London. I wanted to make a sort of 'bucket list' before moving to the Big Smoke, so that I always had something to do and so that I remembered all the great things I had been looking forward to. The list served me very well in my first year living in London, so I thought I'd write a new one for my four months living in the Big Apple! You might notice that a few of the 'big ones' such as the Empire State aren't on my list - that's because I did many of them on my first visit to New York City last summer. That's not to say that I won't be doing them again this time, but I thought I'd save my list mostly for new adventures! So with less than a week to go before I fly away from England, here's what's going to keep me busy until Christmas...

My BIG News: New York, New York

I have some pretty big news to finally spill in this post. It's been in the making for a while now but it hasn't felt like the right time to blog about it since I wanted it to be 100% official before announcing it here (I feel a bit self obsessed using the word "announcing" by the way). But now my flights are booked, I have accommodation and my visa has been approved, I have come to realise that this is actually happening. So, here goes... I'm going to live in New York City!

April As Told By Instagram

Do you ever get those times where you're just feeling your own Instagram? Like you have a good run of photos and you think to yourself "damn girl, I would follow me!". No? Is that just me? Maybe it's because I'm gradually edging closer to the 1000 follower mark, but I've been putting quite a bit of effort into my Instagram lately so I thought I'd tie that in with a little life update for April! Here's what I got up to last month...

My 10 Favourite Instagram Accounts

Instagram is by far my favourite social media platform. It's the one I use the most, the one I put most time into and honestly it's the one that I take way too seriously! I'm very guilty of considering how 'Instagramable' my day/meal/holiday is going to be and I drive my boyfriend nuts with trying to get that perfect little square to share. Today I'm going to share my favourite accounts that I follow, and the ones that I'm sure will be popping straight to the top of my feed when these changes everyone is freaking out about come into effect!

How To Deal With The Death Of A Pet

Last October, our family dog passed away. Losing a pet is always hard, particularly when you've grown up with that animal (I was 7 when we got Tara and almost 20 when she died). It was incredibly upsetting and every pet owner will understand how tough it can be. Since it's been about 6 months now, today I thought I'd write a little post about 'pet grief' and how to deal with it.

Current Library Loans #1

As I have mentioned before on this blog, I am pretty much a library fanatic. I think libraries are such an undervalued resource today and something we should all make more use of if we can. I'm very lucky to have access to no less than 6 libraries, and I'm constantly checking books in and out and discovering something new. Looking through my library borrowing history is like looking through an archive of my past thoughts and interests, what I was working on at the time and the things that were important to me at some stage. That's why I thought it'd be nice to set up a little series where I share what I currently have loaned out! Maybe you might see something that catches your interest to check out next time you visit your library/Amazon basket! Here's what has a temporary home on my bookshelf right now...

2 Lessons In 2 Decades

So today, I turn 20 years old! A month ago I probably would have begun this post by telling you that I don't feel ready not to be a teenager anymore, that 20 seems old and I need one more guilt free reckless year. But something my tutor said changed my perspective. He reminded me of the fact that I've only NOT been a child for about 4 years of my life. I look like an adult but I don't have the full experience, he on the other hand has spent the majority of his life in an adult mind and body. This got me thinking, I may have lived on this earth for 2 decades now (phrasing it like that is pretty scary don't you think?), but I'm only just beginning as an 'adult'. I'm now thinking of myself as a 4 year old adult rather than a 20 year old person, so instead of listing 20 things my short stint of life has taught me, I thought I'd narrow it down to just 2!

The Good And Bad Of Moving To London

As you may know, last September I moved to London, so I've been living in the Big Smoke for about five months now - where on Earth has that time gone?! Moving away from everything and everyone I know has been the biggest change of my life and there's been a lot of settling in to do! I know there's a lot of people out there considering making the same move, be it for university, a job or just a change. Today I thought I'd discuss how I've found the move with a few pros and cons of upping sticks to England's big city.

12 Health Goals For The 12 Months Of 2016

As I mentioned in my 2016 new years resolution post, one of my aims for this year is to look after myself more. I received some difficult heath news towards the end of last year (which I will be talking about in a guest post soon) and so I really want to do all I can to make positive changes for my body. Instead of loading it on myself all at once, I've set out 12 goals for me to work through in the 12 months of 2016. As we all know, as humans it takes us time to form a habit, so I'm hoping that introducing these things gradually throughout the course of 2016 will make me more likely to achieve them and maybe even sustain them for longer.

How To Survive Blue Monday

So tomorrow is 'Blue Monday', supposedly the most miserable day of the entire year. How uplifting! With the holidays out of the way and the consequent lack of cash, short daylight hours, cold weather and failed resolutions, it's not hard to see why the third Monday in January has built itself such a bad reputation. Here are a few ways to make the whole ordeal a bit more bearable...

My 2016 Resolutions

Happy New Year lovely people! I found myself in two minds about whether to write this post or not. Maybe it's because every man and their dog blog writes a resolution post, or maybe it's because there's so much cynicism surrounding the whole idea of new years resolutions. However, when I thought back to my 2015 resolutions post, I realised that the very act of publishing my intentions for the year ahead for all to see was the thing that motivated me the most to complete them. In committing my goals to (virtual) paper, I managed to successfully achieve 5 of the 6 goals I set myself last January (sorry art skills - drawing more fell by the wayside a bit!).  So with that in mind, I've decided to go ahead and set myself some new goals for 2016, these will be my personal resolutions and blogging based ones will come in the next post...

My 2015 Highlights

As the year is rapidly drawing to a close, I thought I'd end 2015 with a roundup of all my favourite moments from the past 12 months. I realise I've been a bit absent blog wise for the past month, in honesty I have had a lot going on in my life, some good and some not so good. Anyway, looking back, life has changed at lightning speed for me this year and some pretty significant milestones have happened. The end of the year and the start of a new one is a wonderful time to reflect so here are my highlights of 2015.

University Room Tour

Two months ago I up sticks to London for my first year of university and my little room in the big city is starting to feel much more homely now. In fact, I often find myself getting told off by my mum for referring to London as "home" when I go back to visit (even though when I'm down here I always refer to Manchester as home)! Now that I'm settled in I thought it would be nice to share a few pictures of how I've made my room in student halls my own.

Top Tips For A Medium Distance Romance

So, you're medium distance. You and your significant other don't live in the same city. You may have to travel a couple of hours to see each other, but there isn't seas and deserts between you. In some ways you feel lucky - it could be worse right? At least you're in the same country and all. But it's still difficult. There are times when you just want a cuddle and you know you have to wait, or times when you need someone to rant to and things just aren't the same over the phone or a pixilated phone screen.

My Favourite Documentaries

Who doesn't love a good documentary? For a while I thought my addiction to factual programs was fairly unique, but then came Netflix and Twitter and I soon realised that I'm far from alone in my love of all things crime, nature and history. Today I thought I'd share a list of some of my all time favourite documentaries. There's everything from design, murder, feminism, nature and more covered so hopefully you'll find something new to catch your interest for next time you're stuck on what to watch!

7 Things I Learnt In My First 7 Days In London

So, I moved to the Big Smoke. That actually happened. So far it's been a whirlwind, a culture shock and a blast all rolled into one and I've only been here for a few weeks! During my first week I learnt a lot of lessons, some useful and some perhaps not so much. Today I thought I'd record 7 of them here - hopefully in a few years time I'll be able to look back and see how far I've come with fitting in down south! So here they are, the musings of a northerner stuck down south, week 1...