The Second City

10 December 2013


A city break to Birmingham this weekend was exactly what the doctor ordered. Stressed out of my mind over lack of funds for the festive period, it was a complete treat to be whisked away to a new city and spoilt like a princess. Best first date ever.

Motivation Zero

3 December 2013


Working a mindless office job in your early twenties is not for the faint of heart. Not because it is in any way taxing or difficult, but because the sensation of all future prospects of the dream career you had your heart set on during university slipping through your fingers is pretty bleak. With the new letters in your name still glistening like brand new, wet paint, the nine-to-five (or six-to-two, sigh) is the anti-award for all of the effort you put into that dissertation. Remember the late nights, the last minute panic attacks? Remember how it would all be worth it, just as soon as you finished the course and dived straight into the arms of your first choice vocation? At which point did I sign up for the unspecified number of months in a crap job which just about covers my extortionate rent?


Today has been a bit of a break down in terms of my plans for the future. I work with some of the most brilliant, inspiring and motivational girls that I've ever met, but occasionally their productivity has the complete adverse affect on me and brings me down. They all have grand ideas in motion for their careers and dreams while I seem to be stuck at square one, applying for internships & work experience in a field that is seemingly impossible to wedge your foot into the door of. After hours of moping, a little playing with my brand new baby bunny and a mug of mulled wine with my muses I have decided to get stuck into getting one of my many projects back in action. Classy Girls is a blogzine ran by myself and two of my best friends Sophie Gallagher and Amy Jayne Chessman (of disguisedbyzebras) which we set up around a year ago but had to put to one side due to university commitments. Now we've all settled into our terribly boring jobs-for-the-sake-of-money we have plenty of time and energy to invest into it, so check it out and keep an eye out for the updates, changes and new posts that will be flooding in, in the near future. Also check out the stuff we put up last year, there are a couple of decent reads there too.

This evening I'll be polishing up the article which I've sampled here to get the ball rolling. Welcome back to the internet Natasha.


Official graduate

23 November 2013


After a short period of more blog neglect I have come back as an official by-the-book English graduate. On the 15th November 2013, my fellow classmates and I braved the stage for all of about 4 seconds to shake a couple of hands and enjoy a short round of applause in celebration of passing our degrees. The whole day was a ridiculous concept of spending outrageous amounts of money on a silly costume and having ten thousand of exactly the same photograph taken, but I had so much fun.

My parents came up late morning with a classy bottle of champagne which we opened once we were all dolled up. After finally being given the perfect excuse to spend money on new foundation, good tights and one hell of a beautiful pair of shoes, I transformed myself into the perfect young lady complete with well painted nails and false eyelashes. I'm not exactly the most girly girl in the whole world, but when the mood strikes, it's nice to act like a princess. Once we'd arrived in town we found Sophie and our families were introduced for the first time, which was pretty adorable. Mr & Mrs Franek meet Mr & Mrs Gallagher. One step closer to our big day. We then started on the queueing to get our robes et al. It was crazy bumping into people that I'd met over the past three years, from new friends that I only met this year, to people I'd come across in my first couple of weeks then barely seen over the rest of the course.

The ceremony itself took place in Sheffield City Hall, which is quite beautiful inside. I've been once before for a Joan Baez show, but it wasn't how I remembered. A string quartet played as we entered and formalities were made, before the parade of Humanities graduates began their route across the stage. Again, it was really strange watching people graduate, thosee I had made friends with, met on the odd night out, work with now and even a girl who had hated me briefly over an ex. It wasn't particularly exciting, but still a pretty big occasion. Whether I do another degree in the future or not, this will always be my first. Flicking through the program sent a little shiver down my spine as I glanced over names of those who didn't come along. A shame, but perhaps for the best, the day was emotional and nostalgic enough without being further reminded how much my life has changed in the past month or so.


A meal at Cafe Rouge with my family, followed more photographs, catch ups and cuddles with my friends. We got another bottle of champagne and ate like royalty before hitting The Frog and Parrot for more post graduation fun. Sophie came along to join the family, and I introduced them all to Jack, a new friend. Everybody got along swimmingly and I really had a moment of, my life is pretty damn fantastic. After I'd returned my parents back to the flat and they headed home, I re-joined Sophie, Jack and Liam and we all drank a little too much at the Great Gatsby. Lots of dancing and giggles masked the very small amount of drama and I had the most wonderful evening with my closest friends and family.

Two days after graduation I worked my last shift at The Punchbowl, my pub job that I've had through the last two years of university. I drank behind the bar, finally fulfilled my dream of jumping over the bar, and gave away free drinks - it was the perfect end to an excellent run at an excellent pub. I'll be having farewell drinks with the locals on the 30th so I didn't get too emotional, but the combination of these two major happenings really has sent me into an "end of an era" overdrive. I just have to try my very hardest to embrace it.

ps. Thank you to my new bloglovin followers - I'm back on the game now, I'm sure of it. 

Twenty-two in two

9 October 2013



My birthday has crept around again, which calls for another excuse to don our finest nineties attire and hit the town. Yes, I am perfectly aware we did the nineties last year but there is no better fancy dress theme in my opinion - it's basically just exaggerating my own style which is both super easy, and super fun.

Birthday celebrations start tomorrow with a family meal in Nottingham and will hopefully continue through to the following week. As well as the night out that I have planned with work, Sophie will be coming over from Whitby for the weekend which will make everything extra special. We're considering getting our first matching tattoo, in typical birthday fashion; I'm such a sucker for a tradition. I really didn't expect to get excited about turning 22 but this is turning out to be a lot of fun, and maybe even worth all of the money I've spent on accessories!

Stoptober

1 October 2013


I've never been a full time smoker but I am certainly partial to a menthol cigarette every now and again, whether that be to relax a little or for the social element, as many of my associates are smokers. I don't think I have ever been addicted, it's always just been because I quite like them, and much to the despair of PSHE teachers worldwide, it looks super cool. Never the less, I have decided to participate in "Stoptober" this month to save myself a little bit of money, encourage my health fix, and please my mother. This morning I handed my cigarettes over to a friend and told my colleges the good/bad news, dependant on their views.

I don't think it's going to be particularly difficult, unless it turns out that I've been lying to myself this whole time and I am, in fact addicted. Saying that, I did just scroll through a few pages of people smoking to look for a good photograph to borrow and I'm not ready to kill anybody just yet.  At the end of the month, if, or should I say when, I complete it, I'll buy myself a little present with the thirty odd quid I would have spent on cigarettes. I suppose there is a chance that I won't bother buying any more after that, as it does all seem a big waste of money and unnecessary upset to my lungs for something that I don't need, but I'm not going to make any promises just yet. 

Re-vamp

30 September 2013

I've decided to give the blog a well deserved clean-up and start to use it properly as a demonstration of my writing as well as being an on-off diary to keep people updated on my life as a graduate. Due to work/social life commitments there may be a bit of a back-log on making the older posts fit the new layout, so if you do happen to be checking through old posts, please don't be too offended by the scruffy over-sized photographs - I will get around to it soon.


I can hardly believe that September has already come to an end. I'm sure I'll continue to repeat how fast this year has flown by - flicking through my old posts has made me very nostalgic and envious of the wonderfully lazy student life I led at the beginning of the year. Although things have changed enormously, I am beginning not only to settle into my current life-style, but to start making serious plans for the future, which will potentially shift and shape my life towards the way that I'd love it to be.

From here forth expect a more attentive blogger, appreciative of all comments and queries, always interested in your stories and grateful to hear feedback on my own. I might even add a few more jokes.

Playsuit - Cow | Choker - Twirly Trinkets on Etsy | Lipstick - Rimmel Kate Moss #001

Let me know what you make of the new layout, and thank you very much to Maira Gall from Adorable Designs for the hard work creating it. For the next couple of weeks I'm sure things will continue to shift around a little, with new pages and features added, so keep your eyes on the updated look. Thank you for your patience ever faithful readers, peace and love.

23 September 2013

Beacons 2013

As this post has been so dramatically delayed I figured I'd just post you a few of my favourite photographs from the weekend and a link to the words I wrote about the festival for September's issue of Now Then magazine.

Check out the review here;
http://nowthenmagazine.com/issue-66/live/


There is a whole other disposable to develop but Sophie is such a busy woman these days I figured it would be best not to wait.

Also whilst I've been a little absent from the blog I've hit 10,000 page views. Loads of love and kisses to all of my nearest and dearest who check up on this all of the time, and to the readers I might not know so well. I hope this is as mildly entertaining for you as it is for me.

5 September 2013


Thank god for tomorrow. Back to Nottingham for one night only, to eat Thai food with my favourite London lady and our mothers, then get very drunk on whatever I can get my hands on. I can't wait for hugs and kisses from my friends and family, it's been a very lonely week.

If anybody caught the overtly emotional writing I posted earlier in the week, I apologise. I'm not much of a poet, and drowning in sorrow quite clearly doesn't get you anywhere.

1 September 2013

My Tattoos


I have been meaning to show off my selection of body art for ages, every time I see a post about tattoos I'm reminded but I've finally managed to brave the awkward angles and share them with you. I have no doubts that I'll get more in the (hopefully near) future, but this is all I have managed to afford so far.

None of my tattoos have a great, deep meaning behind them, nor did I spend a long time planning them. But they all have some kind of story, just like anything else that belongs to you. The countless times that people will ask "What does that mean?" It's a peace sign, you work it out. People seem to have this pre-conception that all tattoos have to have to represent a difficulty that you've overcome, or some kind of tear jerking story that would earn you the right to be tattooed on Miami Ink. In my humble opinion you find the stories just come with the art.

I was eighteen when I got my first tattoo, in the summer before I went to university. I had been let loose on my savings account and I figured it was finally my chance to get a little something etched onto my skin. I decided what I wanted the night before and warned my parents in advance but I think they just assumed I wouldn't go through with it. When Mum got home from school the next day I threw my forearm, now decorated with a dove inside a peace sign, in her face to which she responded, "Please tell me that's not real". The dove was a little heavily shaded which has since given it its nickname of the Peace Pigeon, and sometimes I think maybe it was a little bit of a silly place for a first tattoo, but I don't regret it in the slightest and still love it now. My parents, in particular my Mum, don't see the appeal of tattoos at all, Mum insists that she sees it as self-harm and defacing her work of art. We've had the conversation so many times, where I tell her I just want her to understand that I'm not doing it in spite of her, I just think its an improvement on myself, just like losing weight or dying your hair. I don't think we will ever see eye to eye on it, but gradually she comes to terms with the fact that she can't change my mind.


The owl on my bicep was a Valentine's present from Nathan, impressive right? He wrote me an IOU in my card while I decided what I wanted then gave me the money when the big day arrived. It's my largest one and took a couple of hours. I don't believe anybody who says that they don't hurt, because they do, but its pretty bearable and completely worthwhile. I remember it being particularly painful close to my armpit on this one, but it numbed out for a while in the middle of the session. I chose the owl because I like owls. Deep, I know. I got the artist to redraw him a couple of times because I wanted the eyes to be the focus, and I chose them to be blue as it was really piercing and both my brother and ex (who paid for it) have bright blue eyes. Although I felt like a pain asking for him to re-draw it, I'm glad I did cause this is what I wanted, and I think he did a fantastic job in the end. I let him make all of the decisions about the shading and putting in the third eye, because he's the artist and I trusted him to make it look right. 

The Libra sign on my foot actually needs touching up as its faded a little where I have dry skin on my feet. I think zodiac is brilliant, I'm not sure whether I believe it or not but I think the traits of a Libra fit my personality and the scales are cute. I like tattoos to look a bit henna-esque and love the free hand swirls around this one. The writing just above my ankles is another Nathan related piece of work, this time because he actually tattooed it. By no means is he a tattoo artist, his dad just bought him a tattoo gun from eBay a while back. We weren't together when he tattooed, "Baby Doll" on me, a nickname that he used to call me, and I have no resentment towards it. Even if we weren't on speaking terms any more, he was still a huge part of my life that I won't forget, so I think its nice that I have that part of my life in art on my body. Even if it is a bit crap. He also did the faded little dagger that you can just about see below the wine glasses but that didn't take very well. 


The two wine glasses I got as a matching tattoo with one of my very best friends Christie. We had been saying we would do it since we were fifteen year old rebels, who were certain we'd get some kind of super cool lyrics. We finally settled on two little glasses of wine, as we're both wine drinkers and they look adorable. We considered getting it coloured to match our wine of choice, she rose, I red, but didn't want to spoil it. We had it done at the sketchiest looking little tattoo parlour for too much money really, but it was fun and it's without a doubt one of my most meaningful tattoos. Hers is on her wrist, but to be honest, its very rare that mine isn't on show anyway!

Finally we have my finger tattoos. The heart is probably my favourite of all my tattoos just because its so dainty and it makes all of my rings look way cooler. The unicorns were a silly idea that Sophie and I came up with on my 21st birthday, whilst sat in town killing some time before I went home and found the house kitted out with adorable banners and treats. We popped into the closest tattoo parlour and I asked what the chances were of getting a couple of unicorns on my thumbs and we went from there! I decided half way through the tattoo that one was going to be a boy and one a girl and so Rich, the artist, put eyelashes on the girly looking one. Their names are Walter (given by the receptionists husband) and Tallulah Una Uma Glitter Baby. The easiest way to explain that one is I'm really weird.


So that pretty much ties it all up. I have so many plans for more, but we will just have to wait and see when that becomes possible! Do let me know your opinions on tattoos, and whether you have any too? I think its really interesting the mixture of views that people have on them.

Got a set of disposables developed which went as far back as the Graduation ball, I really need to keep on top of my photographs. These snaps came from a lovely day spent at Sparth reservoir with Nathan and his friends in the height of the glorious weather we had this summer. We did some swimming, climbing and drank pear ciders, it was lots of fun and great to catch up. After living together for almost three years it's quite strange how little I see and speak to Nathan now, but I'm really glad that we're still in touch and try to arrange a fun day out when we have the time.

Today is my first day off in about a fortnight and although I have a hundred things to do, I'm enjoying a little R&R before the early morning starts resume tomorrow.
I may even squeeze in a couple of catch-up posts as I've been MIA from the online-sphere all summer.

27 August 2013


I can barely believe it's been a week since I got back from Beacons.
Once the disposables have been developed I'll go into detail about how incredible it was.
Take me back.

25 August 2013


No rest for the wicked over bank holiday weekend, so far I've racked up 30 hours with another 10 at least tomorrow. I'm being paid overtime for working at the Home Office over the weekend though, so my pay cheque will be pretty healthy in a couple of weeks. I've been celebrating in advance/rewarding myself a little though - last night called for a handful of drinks with the wonderful Amy Newton in our favourite establishment for a jive; The Great Gastsby. My poor throat has taken a complete bashing from my over-enthusiastic singing which is proving really fun whilst I interview all day at work.

I've also treated myself to a new velvet choker and a Nick Cave bootleg cassette from Ebay. My CD & Cassette player is all set up now so I feel I will quickly become obsessed with collecting music again. The choker is super cute, I'll snap a picture of it when it arrives in the post. I don't think the novelty of receiving gifts in the post will ever wear off, even if I have bought them for myself.

The transformation of the flat slowly continues, adding personal touches here and there. I have these super cute alcove corners in my front room which are great for interior decor accessories - the photo frame and little bird are only a taste of how adorable it all looks/will look. With the prospect of having more visitors soon, I'm sure that I'll hurry up and get it looking perfect. My friend Ruth from Nottingham came up on Thursday and I had the most wonderful time, I really do miss having all of my besties around me. I hope that I'll get more chance to travel around and visit people soon, I don't do a good job of keeping in touch but I do love you all dearly.

21 August 2013


Hello. It's been an awful while since I last blogged. I'm aware I may have lost all readership by now but I've made the decision to continue blogging for my sanity as a writer, even if it's just for my close friends who I don't spend enough time catching up with to read. I'm making no false promises about regular posts or what is to come for kindlytreasures, I'll just decide as I go along.

Since I last posted my life has changed significantly. I've stepped into the real grown up world of juggling full time work, relationships, house keeping and trying to hold onto my passions. After a complete disaster of planning to move in with my best friend, I now rent my own flat in Sheffield. I'm slowly piecing things together to make it feel like home and now that I've finally installed the internet and re-joined the twenty-first century I can share my progress with anybody who cares to read. My new job requires a 4.30 AM alarm call which is a bit of a shock to the system but I enjoy it and I'm very grateful to all my wonderful new work friends who've welcomed me into their little family. Tired is certainly a feeling that I'm growing accustomed to. Everything seems a little unfamiliar and new right now, but it all seems to be falling into place and so far I think I've made the best decisions that I could have. There are definitely still huge aspects of my life that need sorting out, I have no concept of what the future holds right now, but I think that will come in time, once I've become completely comfortable with the right now.

I'll leave it there for now, with a short update post and a few photographs of my tired face. And don't worry, I haven't turned to heroin however much it may look like it.

18 June 2013

Snippets of Instagram Doc/Fest love in no coherent order.

What a blast. I am genuinely blown away by how much I've enjoyed working Doc/Fest this year. Perfect timing to coincide with my frets about which direction my life was heading in, this is the field that I have fallen for. After I've fixed the whole housing situation the plan is to apply like crazy for as many internships as I can get my claws into. Before I get too carried away, here is a little more of a round-up of the rest of my Doc/Fest week:

#daythree
Friday was the first day that I started to feel like part of the furniture, my fantastic little crucible team and I pretty much had the mornings down. I got the absolutely wonderful experience of sitting in on the Channel 4 First Cut Pitch, where five finalists each showed a three minute doc and had a short Q&A with the panel to try to win an array of excellent prizes, including channel 4 commissioning their very own hour slot. Each one of the finalists were incredible, and I'm super excited to see what the joint winners, Clare and Jamie end up directing! Later on that evening I reviewed Peaks, Heart-Ships and Holy Esque for Now Then Mag, which you'll be able to read online next month, so although I didn't get a chance to catch any more events, I did have loads of fun partying at The Bowery.

#dayfour
The day when I met the almighty Walter Murch, who for any of you who don't know has an incredible editing repertoire including The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. I chatted to his wife for a little while and gave her some of the adorable personalised cakes that Fancie supplied to the festival, as you can see above. Walter's had his face on them, his wife thought it was quite hilarious. I also later on met Larry Lamb, who is an absolute sweetheart as well as a bit of a silver fox! If only his son had have been there too, swoon. Again I only really got a chance to sit in the sessions that I was stewarding, but they were all so brilliant that I didn't mind at all. 

#dayfive
Sunday, being the final day, was much more quiet as many of the delegates had headed home. It was also quite sad as we had come to the end! I finally got a chance to catch a documentary, and chose to see Basically Johnny Moped, directed by Fred Burns, the son of Captain Sensible. The drummer from the band Dave Berk was there too (fourth photo).  Always exciting to see somebody who has lived the punk dream. Although there were a couple of other documentaries I could have caught I rushed back to doll myself up for the grand finale of the festival - the infamous Volunteers party. Free wine, live music, and loads of chatting to faces you'd seen running about the place all week was the perfect end to a fantastic event. I got totally hammered and ended the evening hanging out with the two guys I'd been working with all week, and my dream boat of a stage manager. 

God, I can't wait for Doc/Fest 21!

13 June 2013

Many apologies for the terrifically pixelated and exhausted face

Doc/Fest is well under way now and I'm having so much fun being a part of it, regardless of how shattered I am already. Waking up at 7am this morning with a splitting head ache was a bit of a shock to the system but it does feel quite nice to be doing something productive. Not only have I managed to catch some incredible sessions but I've been speaking to a lot of people in the media field - it's been a fabulous excuse to network and let people know that I'm looking for both job and freelance writing opportunities. Here's a little run down of my first couple of days;

#day1
Although I had every intention of blogging when I got home from my first shift yesterday I really was too tired - the opening events I worked on were absolutely mental and packed out, so I didn't get a chance to see lovely Jarvis, nor catch Pussy Riot. That being said, I could hear the music from The Big Melt and it sounded fantastic. 

#day2
Today has been much more organised and now I actually know what I'm doing it was easy enough to run about and flit between jobs, I've done everything from running mics in Q&As to herding delegates in and out of the theatres. This also meant I got a chance to sit in the sessions and hear some great things about the industry. My favourite session of the day was The Art of The Interview which was all about journalism documentaries - something that is pretty much my life dream. I can't wait to catch up on all of the docs that we got to see snippets of in that class.

Once I'd finished working I also had the pleasure of actually attending The Best of BUG: The Evolution of Music Video which was presented by comedian, radio presenter, and all round genius Adam Buxton. It was absolutely fantastic, I literally cried my eyes out laughing the whole way through, alongside appreciating some really great music videos that were shows, my favourite being the flick for Bonobo - Cirrus created by the brilliant mind of Cyriak, which I'll post below. Its very MC Escher. Anyway, if you get a chance to see this guy, I strongly urge you do, he was brilliant.


Keep your eyes peeled for my posts on the days to come! Probably won't be tomorrow as I have a live review for Now Then to get to after work, but soon my friends, soon.

12 June 2013

Doc/Fest

 
Today I start my five day stint of volunteering for the fantastic annual Sheffield Doc/Fest, a celebration of the arts here in the Steel City. This year is set to be absolutely brilliant with a tonne of exciting new films, documentaries and sessions filled with all of the up-and-coming important names in the industry. We're lucky enough to use the volunteer passes to our full advantage and catch as many of the showings as we'd like once we're off shift, so this evening I'll hopefully catch Pussy Riot - A Punk's Prayer after working a very exciting live event, The Big Melt directed by Martin Wallace and Sheffield super star Jarvis Cocker.

Look how exciting it is!



There is so much going on I'm going to spend the rest of my evening drawing up a schedule of what I want to catch for the rest of the week. The media partners this year are the absolutely brilliant Now Then Magazine (not biased, I swear) who have put together a great selection of what they reckon is worth catching:
http://nowthenmagazine.com/issue-63/filmreel/

And of course all of the details and full listings are on the official website:
http://sheffdocfest.com/


I'll keep you up to date with what has been good and bad, and of course the intricate details of the love affair that Jarvis and I will inevitably begin.

3 June 2013


I am fighting a post-university melancholia with all of the cherry coke and menthol cigarettes that I can afford in my current monetary predicament. This is the part where things can only get better I believe. Life has certainly taken a sharp turn in an unknown direction and there doesn't seem to be a beginners guide for what-to-do-next in sight. After a couple of days of indulging in self-pity I think its time to give myself a shake and get my act together, starting with tidying this shit-tip of a bedroom that I practically live in. One month until I have to part ways with my adorable little cave, I may as well give it a little spruce and enjoy my luxurious living quarters. I've also decided to teach myself yoga in efforts to fill my wild little mind full of peace, and regain my flexibility. Tidy room, tidy mind - perhaps this evening won't be so bad after all.

31 May 2013

May 2013


1| Already sick of my fringe, trying out 90s boy-band curtains.
2| Hard at work struggling through my final 3500 word assignment on Existentialism.
3| Celebrating three hard years at Sheffield Hallam with pink bubbly wine, at our Graduation Ball.

Can't quite believe a whole month has passed since I last blogged, it's completely insane how quickly time seems to be flying by at the minute. I have officially finished my undergrad degree, so long as I've managed to pass everything! It definitely doesn't feel like it has hit me yet that I'm done with over fifteen years of education and am now loose in the big wide world. The final chapter has been pretty emotional but lovely; I'm sure as hell going to miss the fairly care-free lifestyle that university has prompted me to lead and the lovely people I've met here that are moving out of Sheffield. I'm now in the process of applying for tonnes of jobs and looking at houses all over Sheffield. Although moving back to Nottingham isn't off of the cards, it does feel a little bit like I'd be taking two steps back moving back in with my parents. We'll see what happens. Either way, I should have lots of extra time to blog and write and keep myself busy with projects. The big scary world is my oyster.

Tomorrow morning Nathan leaves Sheffield for good, so we spent most of the day burning at Bole Hills park and have bought a load of treats for the evening to sugar coat a pretty damn emotional goodbye. I'm really glad we've managed to end things on a high and fingers crossed we'll keep in touch. A big thank you to Mr. Page for some brilliant memories and all the best to you in the future.

30 April 2013

April 2013



1| Tyneham beach in the Sunshine on Easter Monday
2| Becki and I having lots of fun and being drunk on wine at her brother's wedding
3| One of the many procrastination treats that Sophie and I have spoilt ourselves with, at the beautiful Cocoa Wonderland

I am once again up to my eyes in end-of-term related stress, so apologies for the blogging lull as standard. Tomorrow I hand in my penultimate assignment, which I have barely started so will probably be up all night having a panic attack over. By the time I do my round-up of next month I will have officially finished uni, how dreadfully frightening.

Although I am still wrapped up in essays and revision currently, I have an absolute tonne of exciting things to look forward to which are getting me through - this summer is going to be so much fun. Also I parted with thirty pounds in order to buy a ticket for my graduation ball today, which is on the 13th I believe. I have my eye on a beautiful full-length black number which I will try to persuade my Mother to contribute to when she comes over to visit at the weekend. I tried it on yesterday and felt so glamorous, I really hope that I manage to work out a way to fund it and turn a few heads before I wave goodbye to Sheffield Hallam, glass of champagne in hand. Having never been to black-tie event before, I'm really excited to twirl the night away with my partner-in-crime surrounded by handsome gentlemen in suits. We may even fork out for a room in the hotel afterwards so we can continue to pretend that we are made of money, with cheap fizzy wine and room-service breakfast. It's what me and my bestie do best.

23 April 2013


My dissertation is all done and dusted, how utterly and completely bizarre. It actually went rather swimmingly; I've definitely never been so proud of a piece of work before, nor put in so much effort on everything, down to the presentation. Fingers crossed tightly that the grade will reflect how pleased I was with it. It's a litter frightening actually being proud of a piece of work as I'll be really gutted if I haven't done very well!

Also, one month today will be my very last exam and I will wave goodbye to university forever. I'm terrified but at the same time very excited to see what the future has in store for me. I still have around 5000 words of assignments plus two exams to go, so I still need to knuckle down but this really is the home straight now. It's mad to think that in a month I will have completed a three year degree. Now my big portfolio is all handed in I can also put loads of effort into finding a job and looking for a flat here in Sheffield for next year. I'm not ready to wave goodbye just yet.

Alabama Arkansas I do love my Ma and Pa
Moats and boats and waterfalls,
Alleyways and payphone calls

Home is when I'm alone with you.
Home - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
 
This song/video combination is adorable, prepare for goosebumps.

16 April 2013


One week to go until hand-in day for my dissertation/portfolio. It's mad how much I still have left to do in such a short amount of time, I quite clearly will never learn from my bad decisions. Speaking of which, my head is still all in a big muddled up cloud currently, but I'm attempting to throw myself into my writing etc, rather than get tangled up down-in-the-dumps of my poor quality character judgement. But enough of all that sad stuff.

This week is shaping up to be crazy busy, squeezing a social-life into the large quantities of panic writing with a couple of shifts thrown in, to keep me on the right side of poverty for another week. Tomorrow calls for a staff night out to West Street Live, which will be hilariously rubbish, but gives me a great excuse to put productivity on hold for a little while longer. I will always favour dancing at a seedy late bar to doing anything that I should be doing.

Good luck to all of you other poor souls suffering through the trauma of a dissertation.

13 April 2013

 Calling all tea lovers

I was recently contacted by Matt and Sarah, the genius minds behind the up-and-coming LoveTea delivery service. Not dissimilar to the very popular LOVEFiLM and graze, LoveTea is a pay-monthly and receive a delicious treat in the post kind of deal. As a big tea drinker with an open mind to all sorts of new and exotic gourmet teas, I was super excited to try my first batch. The tea arrived very quickly in the post and comes with everything you need for the perfect tea experience.

This month's hand selected tea is Wild Excelsior, an Oolong tea from Paksong in Laos, and boy is it good. I drank mine black with one sugar as I always feel that a little sweetener helps to bring the flavours out of exciting teas. Along with your tea and DIY teabags, you're given a little bit of background to your treat, and how long to brew it for to get the best taste. I think I may have been a little impatient with mine, but I also piled more into the teabag than was actually needed so it worked out okay! There is more than I thought there would be in the sample packet too, I might even be kind enough to let my housemates try a little and get them on board with the tea-lovin.


I'm super excited to inform you all that LoveTea have been kind enough to offer my beautiful readers a brilliant  40% off your first month. If that isn't a good enough excuse to treat yourself with super tasty tea then I don't know what is! Hop on over to their website right away: http://www.lovetea.co/ and when you get to the checkout put KINDLYT40 into the Promo Code box. It'll work with any of the packages, so it's totally up to you how much you want to indulge. 

In other particularly exciting news, this is my 100th blog post! Thank you again to all of my friends and followers, it's a really great feeling to know that I've attracted a little interest! It's always lovely to hear from you.