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Treat Yo' Self Gift Guide

My saved baskets and bookmarked list of things to buy has been growing increasingly bigger in the past few weeks as I'm DYING to start dressing for more spring-appropriate weather - not that it's coming anytime soon. With Valentine's day looming, it seems like as good a time as any to splash the cash and indulge in some shiny new pieces for my wardrobe. I put together a list of things I've been lusting after recently. I never need an excuse to treat myself but I'm taking full advantage of this time of year and waiting in optimistic anticipation for my fave brands to help a gal out by dropping an extremely generous promo-code...

I've been dreaming about owning this & Other Stories striped jumper, priced at a v reasonable £25. The only problem is deciding which colour to choose because it comes in eight different variations and I'm obsessed with every single one. I really don't need another striped jumper - or any kind of jumper at all, come to think of it - but & Other Stories is one of those irresistible brands which I'm always so impressed by and I just don't think I'm strong enough to resist. I think I've narrowed it down to this green and pink number so I may have to visit the new store in Leeds Victoria Gate centre to make a purchase closer to pay day. 

I've also been obsessed with this asymmetrical midi skirt from Topshop which I think would look so cute with an oversized jumper or a slogan-tee and high-top converse. Given my limited student budget, it's a bit pricey at £39 but it's not often I find something in Topshop that I absolutely MUST have so I reckon I'd regret it if I missed out. It's not often that I wear red and I've never owned anything in such a statement print so I need to see this purchase as more of an investment in a unique but extremely transitional piece rather than an unnecessary splurge. For the sake of 'treating myself', it will be mine.

The next item on my 'treat yo' self' gift guide is 100% aspirational and completely inaccessible but one day I hope I'll have the necessary funds to be Shrimps' number one customer. While I'm in a constant state of grief over my lack of statement faux-fur Shrimps coat, I've also found myself hopelessly wishing for the new-in Mary jumper. I'm still unwaveringly committed to the ruffle/frill trend and recently picked up a grey long-sleeved jumper from Primark in a similar style to this, which I suppose will have to do for now.

I'm off on my hols at the end of April to soak up some much needed sunshine. Huddersfield is potentially the least sunny town in the whole of England and I'm desperate for some vitamin D. The weather lately has only been pushing me to start preparing sooner - at this rate, I'll be packed and ready to go to the airport with passport in hand by the end of this month. I was on the hunt for the perfect pair of espadrille-style sandals last year but I think I left my search a little too late. I love this ASOS pair because the wedge is the perfect height to wear during the day and in the evenings and I expect they'll be quite practical to wear when the weather (hopefully) warms up here in the UK too. Also over on ASOS, I've found this extremely cool ban.do beach towel which is just so me - definitely not something I've ever said about a towel before. Inspired by Megan and Faye, the ridiculously cool Mellaby sisters, on their recent trip to Miami, I've decided that it's about time I invest in a pair of statement sunglasses. I LOVE everything by Quay Australia, including this gorge Quay x Chrissy-Jetlag pair in black and rose-gold... my only issue is that I'm short-sighted, so I'm having a serious internal struggle over whether I can pay so much money for a pair of sunglasses that I can't really see out of. First world problems, I know.

I also decided to show myself some non-materialistic love this week by ordering myself a bunch of Bloom & Wild flowers which are just starting to blossom in time for Valentine's day! I think buying yourself a bunch of flowers is a seriously underestimated act of self-care; so whether you're single or not right now, go buy yourself some flowers and treat yourself to something in your much neglected saved basket this Valentine's day. 

6 Reasons to Interrail

January 2017 marks twelve months since I jetted off across the Atlantic for a short New York city break and six months since I set off on an incredible solo Interrail adventure of a lifetime, so naturally, I'm feeling all kinds of nostalgia and wanderlust and just plain sadness that I'm currently a bit stuck in the dreary routine of university, work, cold weather and dark evenings. Despite how much time has now passed since I arrived back at home, I still have so much left to say about what proved itself to be such a valuable and enriching experience out in Europe over summer. 

I present you with a basic list of reasons why you ABSOLUTELY should take the plunge and book yourself an Interrail ticket straight away. This is a blog post for anyone who is tempted to fill their summer with long train journeys and new places but just needs an extra push, or for anyone who would NEVER DREAM of setting off with just one bag of belongings and no fixed abode for such a long period of time - because there's absolutely no reason why you can't do it too. Let's get stuck in...


You'll be out of your comfort zone the entire time
I never truly knew how much I was capable of until I went interrailing and I can't even begin to describe how much confidence its given me in my everyday life now. I don't even know what a comfort zone is anymore! I definitely don't live in it these days. It literally did change my life to make such a bold and brave decision, and then to put that decision into action for everyday that I spent abroad. If you're looking to do something totally 'unlike you' or try something new that you've never done before, I just can't recommend this enough as a way to finally push yourself into doing something a bit more daring.

It gives you an incentive to save
I can't think of anything more satisfying than saving up for an Interrail holiday because you're literally saving up for the experience of a lifetime which (in my opinion) beats a package holiday hands down - mainly because it gives you so much more freedom to personalise your experience in every possible way. A great thing about Interrail is the fact that anybody can afford it and you can make it exactly the type of getaway you want based on the type of accommodation you stay in and the type of food you eat - be it mixed communal hostels and packed lunches consisting of supermarket-bought ingredients, or fancy apartments and expensive restaurants. I think I found a comfortable middle ground: my hostels cost on average about €12 per night but they were all very safe and clean and I cut down the cost of food by utilising the hostel's all-you-can-eat breakfast buffets where possible (and sneaking out a sandwich for lunch too) as well as packing plenty of cereal bars to snack on throughout the month.

Without sounding cliché, you'll learn a lot about yourself
I learnt that I can cope really well in quite bizarre situations and even when faced with challenging language barriers, I can muddle through alright. I spent 75% of my time completely lost but I'd estimate that I was only ever genuinely concerned about it maybe 2% of the time. I also learnt, reeeaally surprisingly, that I love being active and walking non-stop. I know right, crazy. I always knew that I would love travelling. It had held my attention for so many years and it still does today. Actually doing it for real just reaffirmed it all for me. It's given my life another layer of purpose and meaning that I'd probably be quite lost without, ironically.

You'll make friends all over the world
I snapchat girls from the Netherlands and I keep up with others from Taiwan on Instagram. I went to a bar in Prague with some girls from Iceland and spent a day at the beach with another group in Barcelona. In just a few short weeks, I met people from different parts of Australia, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, South Africa and so much more. I even had a brief argument with one Spanish girl who WRONGLY accused me (quite aggressively) of moving her things - haha! One of the many benefits of interrailing alone is definitely how much more approachable it makes you to other solo travellers or small groups. OBVIOUSLY safety comes first so I was always cautious and never 100% trusting of anyone - but I still find it cool that I had so many conversations with countless different people from all over the world.

Getting there is half the fun
I visited nine cities over the course of the month but I also saw so many hours of gorgeous countryside and European towns across the continent from my train carriages! My train from Berlin to Prague followed alongside the most beautiful Bavarian-style village nestled by a river in between mountains and it was just so lovely. I spent a maximum of four days in every city I visited and during that time I did and saw everything I possibly could, but the few hours that I spent watching the world go by during the train journeys was the most welcome respite both mentally and physically. 

It gives you a powerful voice
I looked to the internet to provide me with other people's accounts of their experiences, so it excites me that I could be a contributing factor behind someone else's travel inspiration. The Interrail website itself provides an absolute wealth of information about train times and tickets, routes, packing essentials, insurance etc. etc. etc. and this is the first place I'd direct anybody to as they start to put their plans together. Getting to hear personally about other people's trips does make your own plans feel all the more real, however, and it's always useful to get an insider's view about hidden gems and cheap eats! 

The 2017 Mindset

It's at this time of the year that everyone seems to get super reflective about the passing twelve months and all that they hope for in the coming year. I for one, am totally up for jumping on that bandwagon. No doubt about it, 2017 is going to be a big year. I'm putting my education on hold for a year - the first in SIXTEEN years!!! - to start learning firsthand what it's like to work in the fashion industry. I'll be taking a huge leap into the unknown and the thought of it makes me such a mixed bag of excitement and nerves! I reckon it's going to be the best year of my life so far. It's often said that we're living in a generation of narcissists - and yeah, I can see that. However, I've decided that it's about time I turn my low-key narcissism up a notch and start to really unashamedly shout from the rooftops just how much I absolutely-positively-totally adore myself - because no one else is going to do that for me. I want this to be the most selfish year of my life, for all of the right reasons.

Step number one in my mission of ultimate selfishness: Creating a stress-free environment in which to live my best life. Whether it's been positive or negative, the past year has been particularly emotional and I've been much more aware of my emotional state, particularly in the last half of the year. The most recurring and common emotion I've felt all year has absolutely been one of awe and inspiration, and I've experienced a brand new, overwhelming sense of freedom which I've never felt before. My summer abroad was the perfect selfish indulgence and I am constantly empowered by the thought that I alone made that dream become a reality. I want to keep the spirit of summer alive by enforcing this mindset for the duration of 2017. Adventure is always possible, simplicity is vital to happiness, the only control I have over life's events is how I chose to respond to them. Having had a bit of a tricky year in terms of maintaining relationships, this year I'll be much more wary about giving too much of myself away to other people while getting very little back in return. I'm happy to be selective about the number of people I let into my life because I know the emotional damage that betrayal can cause and I know the importance of having a strong and concentrated support system to keep me sane. In 2017, if drama finds a way of snaking into my life, it won't be self-inflicted and I will respond with absolute dignity and perspective... woo! 

It definitely took the course of 2016's events to produce a solid mindset which will hopefully carry me through 2017. It often felt this past year as though I'd been cursed - I seemed to struggle with an influx of difficult situations all at once and I seriously started to wonder what I'd done wrong to have so much go wrong for me on such a personal level. Fear not - my 2017 mindset is a lot less 'woe is me' and I'm back on fighting-form. I'm continuing with the determination that's guided me through the last year and I'm approaching everything like the empoweredbadassgoddess woman that I am!!! I can say from experience, however, that trying to maintain an unwavering determination and positive outlook is incredibly tiring, so a big priority of mine this year will be about taking more moments to consciously relax and unwind. I'm a big believer in the power of 'treating yourself' but one aim for the next year is to find much more cost effective ways in which to do so! My skin seems to have gone crazy in the last few weeks and I've started having clusters of break-outs on my face that I've never really suffered with before, so I've already instigated a (long-overdue) skin routine which I've done a really good job of sticking to for the last couple of weeks of 2016. I'll be seeing that through for the duration of the year and hopefully I'll figure out what works best for me - recommendations would be much appreciated.

So there's nothing really too momentous about my plans for tackling 2017. I don't have any huge resolutions that I feel massively pressured to achieve. I do have a lot of personal goals I intend to reach but I always prefer to stay quiet about them and meet my own expectations first, over other people's! It's all quite simple really: I'm going to be happy - happier than I've ever been - and it's the mindset I'll maintain that I'll owe my happiness to. 2017 has the potential to be the most unpredictable year ever, so all I really know for sure is that I'll be spending it entirely out of my comfort zone and as my most unapologetic self. 

Capturing 2016

2016 has been a bloody whirlwind... wait no, not a whirlwind - a monstrous hurricane, with an off-the-scale earthquake and a lil tsunami thrown in on the side. This year it seems like the whole world has had to take a necessary step back to reflect on the huge events that have taken place. It's hard to overlook the political turmoil and humanitarian crises which have dominated the year, but I'm a newly converted believer in silver linings and the importance of finding inner peace - so I'm here to reflect on the highlights of the year and give myself praise where praise is due for making it such a memorable one. Please, don't roll your eyes at me as I fall victim to that cliché saying: 

"it's been a year of highs and lows..." 

...and blah, blah, blah - because it really has been and I think I need a hug. I've packed a lot of special moments into the past 347 days (and counting) and I thought it would be a nice idea to compile them into a blog post to celebrate the end of what has been the most challenging, exciting, terrifying, sad and happy year of my life. 

JANUARY - NEW YORK

The year got off to a good start as I jetted across the world to New York for four days at the beginning of January. The whole trip was put together quite last-minute by my university and with a few spare places available, I made the spontaneous decision to go and explore a city I've long dreamed of visiting. I ate an authentic New York salmon and cream cheese bagel, mastered the art of the pedestrian crossing/traffic light system, got caught in a blizzard at the top of the Empire State building and basically just fell more and more in love with every passing minute. I've never felt more instantly 'at home' in a new place than I did in New York and I really hope next year brings me back for another adventure. I've felt the city's magnetic force and now I can feel it pulling me back everyday.

JULY - INTERRAIL TRIP AROUND EUROPE

It wasn't easy to choose just one particular moment from my month abroad in July because every moment makes my heart so happy, but I think I've made a good choice with this snap during my time in Budapest of what felt like the most special place in the entire city. I visited the Fisherman's Bastion everyday, watching the world go by and feeling SO happy to be doing something I'd dreamed about doing for most of my teenage years. In the beginning, starting off in Berlin, everything felt like a bit of a mission. I was enjoying myself - obviously - but I was also super cautious, worrying about x, y and z and all of the potential hazards of being young, female and alone. It was at this point in my trip that I started to get really confident with my travels. I was staying out later in the evenings to explore in the dark and spending time much more comfortably with the people I met in my hostels along the way.

AUGUST - LEEDS FESTIVALIt was during this brief period of the year where I consumed copious amounts of alcohol and cried a lot, although I'm glad it looks like I'm having fun in this photo. Truth be told, I actually was having fun! It was my first evening at Leeds Festival towards the end of August. I was sporting blue eyeliner and greasy fishtail plaits, covered in glitter, freezing cold and wet, and running mostly on adrenaline. I volunteered with Oxfam at the festival this year and wrote a post about my experience which you can view here! It was a really good experience to be part of a friendly little community and to actually be fundraising money for really important causes through the work I did. It also got me a free ticket into the festival, access to semi-decent toilets, a few free meals and a nice, clean campsite. It was an especially challenging time, but I'm so glad I spent that week disconnected from the rest of the world and powering through.

OCTOBER - BACK AT UNIVERSITY

This photo was taken during Leeds Light Night in October which was a cool way to see a different side of a city that I've been getting to know much better this year, as I now commute to and from to work part-time there. I felt so relieved at this point in the year to be getting stuck back into university and enjoying having a solid routine and something worthwhile to concentrate on again. With hindsight, having just completed the first term of my second year, I think perhaps I was a bit naive! I'm feeling quite wiped out from the all of the stress, long days and late nights but I'm hopeful that it'll all have been worth it when I get the marks on my latest assignments back in January.

NOVEMBER - TURNING TWENTY

I'd spent a huge amount of time thinking about my birthday this year. The big two-oh was a daunting prospect and I'm still not totally comfortable with saying it when someone asks my age! Here I am cutting my (very adult-appropriate) rainbow sprinkle cake which I was really excited about. I really enjoyed my birthday and it felt good to spend it with friends, even if the night didn't exactly go to plan - hasn't that been the story of my life this year, anyway? It's strange that the idea of being an adult was so different in my mind as a child/teenager than it is in reality. I think about life back in 2008 and it feels like it was only a few years ago, as though time has barely even passed during all of those years. I expect it'll feel the same when I think about 2016 in a decade's time. 

 It's a sad truth that a lot of 2016's moments have been stored in some distant, detached part of my brain which I can't really bare to revisit yet, but I have huge amounts of hope and determination that this time next year, I'll be sat here typing away with total positivity about the way that 2017 unfolded. I hope that things will be going spectacularly on the career-front and that I'll have bagged the internship of my dreams. I hope that I'll feel at peace with my own personal conflicts and that the world will be a less hostile place. In particular, I hope I'll be able to say that my health, wellbeing and happiness remained the priority in every decision I made. 
No distractions and no precious moments wasted.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

I'm currently writing this from the dark depths of the library on a Saturday evening, with nothing but a 3000 word report and a portfolio of CV/intern development standing in the way of me, my happiness and all of the Christmas festivities that await me. To take a break from the sheer agony of yet another SWOT analysis or inDesign layout, I thought I'd take myself back to (slightly) more chilled out days and reminisce on my latest trip to Manchester. I had a bit of an impromptu outing last month with the uni gals to visit the Fashion on the Ration exhibition at the Imperial War Museum. I made the most of the rare opportunity to visit one of my fave cities by bringing out my brand new and beautiful Zara coat which I got for my birthday and (keep it on the down-low) may have opened a bit early. I literally can't stop looking at it. I didn't realise it was possible to adore an item of clothing so much until now. I think it's love. The mix of colours in it are so beautiful and like nothing I've ever owned before. I feel like it'll translate well into my wardrobe during all seasons - the plum tones are v autumnal but I'll appreciate the pops of pink and red when spring eventually rolls around. I teamed my dreamy coat with a basic black turtle neck jumper from Primark, my beloved M&S Archive by Alexa skirt, a pair of fishnets and some western-style River Island boots. Also, when fur collars are no longer a thing (although I hope they stay forever) I can detach it - but why would I ever wanna?! I always find it so amazing what a good piece of expensive and much-loved clothing can do for your mood. It was a bitter, drizzly day out on the grimy streets of Manchester but I felt blummin' marvellous. 

On the topic of moods and feeling marvellous, I thought I'd take this opportunity - given my current, unfortunate location in the library right now - to talk about how utterly UNmarvellous I am currently feeling. From an outsider's perspective, my day has been pretty hard going. I haven't really had a 'proper' lie-in in weeks and sadly, despite it being the weekend, today has been no exception. I battled a million and one Christmas shoppers onto a lunchtime train to get to work where we were packed in shoulder-to-shoulder. From work, I came straight here - I picked up a McDonald's for tea (my second in a week) and now I inevitably feel like shit. I'm catching up on all the vlogmas videos that I've been falling behind with although my battery is seriously starting to dwindle and literally all I want is to be wearing my pyjamas and drinking wine from the bottle. Despite it all, I'm trying to be optimistic. I didn't meet my personal targets for the evening (I had planned to finish a project) but then again, my expectations of myself are always too high. And although everything always takes so much longer than I expect it to, I'm finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. All I need is some cheery Christmas songs to help me through my long walk home and the promise of hot chocolate and much Nutella once I make it back. Time to wrap up in my bloody beautiful coat and face the cold wind and rain. I'll be back here in twelve hours time. Christmas holidays - Please. Come. Quick.