'You Are A Badass' by Jen Sincero Book Review

I always feel a bit deflated after Christmas. It's my favourite time of year and I build up to it from October, so it all seems to go by in a flash and come Boxing Day normality slaps me in the face like a big dry turkey. 

I'm never quite sure what to do with myself in the days between Christmas and New Year and I'm definitely not someone who gets hyped up about Hogmanay (what's the big deal?) BUT there is something extremely inspiring and energising about the first of January. I always reflect back on what I've done in the previous year and plan out what I want the coming year to have in store.

It seems like the stars aligned because I stumbled upon the perfect new year book. I had wanted to read 'You Are a Badass' by Jen Sincero for a while but I didn't want to pay full price from Waterstones because I'm trying to restrict my spending so you can imagine my delight when I found a copy in a charity shop for £1.50.

You Are a Badass has the subtitle 'How to stop doubting your greatness and start living an awesome life'. While there is a tiny part of me that felt a bit cringe reading this i.e. with people on the train looking over and thinking 'Woah she must think a lot of herself reading a book like that'... I also can't help but think its exactly what our generation of over-thinking, self-conscious social media addicts need - a bit of positive affirmation. And let's face it, besides everything else it's a pretty attention grabbing title.

I'm Back/ Catch up!

Hey Everyone!
Remember me? I can't quite believe I have left it this long since my last post: one week turned into two and four months later here I am- eek. You may be wondering what has been keeping me so busy, but in fact, other than the usual school demands and my weird craving for constant sleep, nothing has stopped me- I've just not been making the time to blog. I've been on Blogger almost everyday- flicking through my reading list and keeping myself (kind of) in the loop. At the same time though, I've been watching my follower count slowly drop and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I cry inside at the thought of even one person clicking unfollow. I left it and left it because I felt like there is pressure after such a lengthy period of absence to come back with a ground breaking post, but let's face it, none of my posts have ever been astoundingly excellent: they're mostly pretty chatty and based on whatever takes my fancy. So, after weeks of telling myself to snap back into it, today I have bitten the bullet and started typing. 

Ok, so this picture has no relation to what I'm talking about but anything to pop in one of my 'I am basically a professional photographer' attempts Is it too late to tell you about my new years resolutions? I'm going to anyhoo. It just proves that I haven't forgotten them- which is a record for me seeing as its the middle of February. 

You will see, unlike last year, blogging isn't on my resolutions, but I figured that if I wanted to, I would. Some are more important/ realistic/ specific than others. "Study", "Do more good deeds" and "Be more organised" are pretty vague, and though they're well-intended, I haven't been placing as much emphasis on them as the others. Lateness is one of my big flaws (did I mention my love of sleep?) so I've been making a huge effort this year to be on time for everything. So far it's been mediocre. What I've surprised myself with was the "Exercise" one. My original draft of resolutions- written at about 10pm on Dec 31st, said 'Exercise- but I'm never going to' which isn't the most optimistic start. But, I have a holiday booked in August with my friends and the thought of wearing a bikini has been quite the motivation. I've been doing this 30 Day Challenge and although I know alone it won't be turning me into a beach goddess, its a start. I also bought a really really cute diary in Ryman and I've been using each day for to do lists and for writing the highlight of the day. Considering the fact that I gave up with my 'happy thought in a jar' resolution around the beginning of February last year, this has been going pretty well.

I realise this post is becoming quite lengthy, so I'm going to condense the rest of my catch-uppy news into bullet points because let's fact it, not many people will be interested in the screeds and screeds of ramble. (Screeds is a good word isn't it? My English teacher uses it a lot to describe my work lol)
▪I got into my first choice university to do English Literature woohoo- I start in September ▪I still have my job (I'm not sure if I mentioned it) and that's time-consuming and tiring but I'm still enjoying it. ▪I bought my first 'ladies handbag' from Zara and its so amazing and I love it- it deserves a whole post of its own so look out for that soon. ▪My mum bought me my first bunch of flowers! Not really that big a deal for most people but I'm so happy. They brighten my whole room and I just can't stop taking pictures of them. ▪I got new furniture! My old drawers and wardrobe were totally falling to pieces so it was due. The new ones are so sophisticated and chic. ▪I'm definitely not as focused in school this year but I'm trying to pull my socks up in time for the final exams in May. ▪I'm still watching my favourite tv shows: The Carrie Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, KUWTK and Doctor Who. Let me know if you like any of them because NO ONE I know (really) does. ▪I read Jane Eyre and it now holds 2nd place on my favourite books of all time (Gatsby still has 1st and deserves it considering how obsessed I was last year). ▪My blog's two year anniversary was a few days ago. Remember last year I had a knitted cake and collage of posts to celebrate- no such luck this year! But it is still a pretty big deal and even more of a reason to get me back into posting.   {Edit: I forgot one of my biggest bits of news- I'm so silly! I got a full fringe ooit}
So, I think I've pretty much covered the last four months. Now, would you look at that, I've just written a whole post and it was easy peasy!
So, what have you been doing? Anything exciting? Did you have a good Halloween/ Christmas/ New Year? 

Instagram | The Last Few Weeks In Pictures #15

Hey Everyone!

In all honesty, I somehow cannot grasp the basic principles of instagram. Instead of taking a picture, adding cool effects and sharing it on the spot, I save 2/3 weeks worth of pictures and post them all in an enormous bundle late on a Saturday night (ready to post the next day.) This takes heaps of time, and I imagine my followers are a bit disheartened when 324837832 of my pictures come up in their timeline/ newsfeed (instagram equivalent?)

Therefore, over the next two weeks I aim to post pictures as I take them, which will make things a lot easier and ensure I use the app as its meant to be used.

Little rant over, onto the actual post! I have been so, so busy over Christmas and New Year; the homework I was given was off the scale which really sucks since Christmas is the time of year you have the least motivation to work. I planned to write heaps of blog posts and film videos etc but none of that happened. Its a shame that my blog gets pushed aside so readily as it really is something I enjoy, but I suppose its ultimately a hobby, and school is more important.

Ok I'm just going to stop myself rambling right there so this post doesn't turn into a novel (as my late night drafts so frequently do!)

Left to right and down:

Christmas decorations- all gone now! | shower time! | I'm so mature on trains | glitter gold tips | chocolate cake yum | Christmas eve | love this so much right now | MUA Christmas goodies | candle lantern | sleeper train cabin | almost Julz- woop | pretty papers | floral | BBC television centre | iconic | LONDON BABY | very healthy snack of course | new years resolution

How has your last few weeks been? Normal, non rambly posts will return soon I promise!