Who Are You Again?

Why hello there!

Who are you again, you ask?

I've been asking myself that same question lately!

I apologise profusely for my lack of existence on here in a loooooong time. I honestly just haven't felt like blogging for a long time. A lot has been happening in my personal life as well as uni kicking my ass - they weren't lying when they said third year was going to be a testing year! I also got a new job a few months ago, so juggling that and my uni work is proving to be... a little challenging to say the least.

It's nearly Christmas though! Woop woop!

And we all know I have a deep love for Christmas. I've been to the Nottingham Christmas Light Switch-On (again), and then of course I've been around the Winter Wonderland market here (obviously).                                

I also went to meet my bestest girl in Manchester so that we could catch-up whilst drinking mulled wine and touring the huge Christmas Market there - it was incredible (again, obviously).     

I officially finished all of my uni deadlines for this term on last Friday too, which means I've finished all my deadlines for this year! How freakin' crazy is that?! It does mean I could relax a little bit more though for my final week of uni before I go home and get all the baby cuddles and snuggles. Then again, a lot of said babies are getting older now and try to wriggle away when I finally catch them to steal a cuddle *insert my sad, pouty face*.

I guess I have a hell of a lot to catch you up on then, considering the last time I blogged was in June - I'm a bad person (and blogger), I know.

So what's there to tell you?

Well, I spent most of my summer working and going around lots of UK beaches with my grandparents in their caravan (I made a nearby beach be the specification to whichever campsite they looked at).

And of course I spent a hell of a lot of time with all my little ones. I took Daisy to Edinburgh for the day with my friend and we went to the zoo during my summer break as a late Christmas present/early birthday present for her. The week before we went and all of the day we went she was singing "We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo" which is apparently a nursery rhyme she sings in nursery now, or so she told me. Whatever the case, it was the frickin' cutest thing you've ever seen!

Talking of my little munchkins, it was three of their birthdays and two in the same week during summer and they had an adorable little, frozen-themed, joint birthday party, which I was chief photographer for because I am the queen of taking too many pictures...

I also took way too many pictures a few months ago when we all went away for a little camping holiday which provided a well-needed break from uni as well as smiles and cuddles from a huge amount of cuteness!

My mama and I had a lovely little break away for a week in Glasgow. It was so relaxing and we got to catch up with some old friends too whilst we were there. My mum even let me drag her around the shops for the day, and anyone who knows my mum will know that this is a BIG deal because she hates shopping. And when I say 'hate' I mean hates shopping. So thanks for grinning and bearing it for me, mama.

I moved into a house with some of my uni girls, and my room is the best and the homiest ever (once again, thanks mama Fi *mwah*). I have a picture wall in the form of wardrobe doors this year, just to mix it up a bit. 

I was also lucky enough to get to go and see Imagine Dragons whilst they were in Nottingham on tour and it was, without doubt, one of the best concerts I've ever been to (although I feel like I say that about all of the concerts I go to).

I'm struggling to think of anything else worth telling you now... I've been so lucky to do so many lovely things lately that I just can't think of them all at once. That always happens, I sit down to write, thinking I've got so much to say, then realise, actually, I have nothing. Nada. Zero. Noth-ing.

Oh well. I hope you've enjoyed this little catch-up and, who knows, maybe I won't leave it six months before I blog again. Then again, maybe I will. Guess you'll just have to watch and see!

Katie x

(If you haven't already, please read my last blog post, it's an important one about the suffering my little hometown is going through at the moment. Just click HERE).

5 Things I Love About Home

 I'm home!

Which I already told you, I think, but, well, I'm telling you again! It feels so good to know that I'm home and I don't have to worry about all the things I should be doing back at uni, because there isn't anything! Now I have the whole summer to relax a bit and slowly start working on my dissertation. It's an incredible feeling to not have to worry about deadlines!

In honour of being home for the next few months, I thought I'd list a few things I love about home, because we all know how I love a good list.

1.

Family.

An obvious one, really. But no matter how often I try to make a journey home, I always miss my family the most. Especially my last month or so in Nottingham I started to get really homesick, and there are only so many Skype conversations you can have before you realise it's just making you miss your family that much more. So I can't wait to spend the whole summer with my family and going on adventures with the little ones.

2.

Baths.

From family to baths. Yep. That's how I roll! When people tell me they don't like baths, I actually question that person's sanity because, honestly, how can you not love baths?! Light a few candles, grab a book, make sure there's loads of bubbles and climb into that lovely hot water and life is brilliant!

3.

Cheese.

Shallow, I know. Seriously though, that stuff is freakin' expensive, and I'm a cheese addict! At uni I have to make a conscious effort to cut down on the amount of cheese I eat and try and make it last me. Therefore, when I'm home, I do the exact opposite; I eat as much cheese as humanly possibly and annoy my mum when she comes home and realises I've eaten all the cheese that she only bought a few days ago - sorry mum...

4.

My House.

Before you start thinking I live in this huge mansion, I don't. I live in a normal little house but it's home, and I love it. My mum has cute pictures of the little ones all around (as well as a few embarrassing ones of me and my brother when we were younger), and it just feels home-y. And it always smells nice; I never need to worry about walking into the hallway... not that we have one of those at home but if we did I wouldn't have to worry about it smelling like sweaty feet or whatever other kinds of smells there were at uni.

5.

The Countryside.

I don't actually live in the countryside, not properly anyway. However, my grandparents live in a little village surrounded by fields and gorgeous views and I live with them part of the time; it's one of my favourite things to be able to go and run outdoors in some place quiet and calm with just me and my iPod, and occasionally a dog or two as well if I'm at my grandparents. Something as simple as a lovely, peaceful view can make me the happiest person for a few hours. I'm going to blame it on the creative writer in me; it helps me to think better.

There are plenty of other things I love about being home but those are the five that come straight to my mind. Of course, there are things I miss about being at uni too, like all of my friends and my flatmates and I love living in a big city too, but it's nice to have a change and a little break from all that busy-ness.

Katie x

The Best Jobs

Hello!

I officially have a job! Hallelujah! I was definitely in desperate need of one; the small remainder of my student finance (all £30 of it) was quickly dwindling away!

Just like nearly every person in the world, there were a lot of different vocations - if that's what you can call them - that I wanted to take up when I was younger! So, here are five of them:

1.

A writer!

The first thing I wanted to do was the thing I still want to do now, so I guess I never really changed my mind. The only difference is, I no longer think every story has to start with "Once upon a time"... Not going to lie though, still holding out for this one!

2.

An astronaut...

What can I say, I liked to dream big... Just for the record though, I still think I could be an awesome astronaut! So if all else fails, you'll find me on the moon!

3.

A Disney princess <3

I'm sure every little girl had this dream! I used to have all of the different outfits of each princess and I'd dress up and pretend to be them. I still have the same problem now as I had then though - I can't walk in heels to save my life. Not the best start to a Disney princess life *sad face*.

4.

The classic hairdresser.

Not going to lie, I really did like that dream, until I realised that not every hairdresser got to do the hair of princesses. Needless to say, that revelation shattered my dream.

5.

A sandwich filler...

Don't ask me where this one came from because I have no idea. I just... I can't even... I was a weird child. (I do make one mean sandwich though - maybe this is my true-calling!)

If this has made me realise anything, it's that my dreams just got smaller and smaller as I got older. I went from wanting to be an astronaut to a sandwich filler - I don't even know what to say. I'm lost for words. Bye.

Katie x 

Just Another Little Shopping Spree

Hello!

If you read THIS post, from yesterday, you will know that my best friend and I took a day out for a shopping trip in Newcastle!

I didn't go crazy (although I really wanted to), due to the whole summer-means-no-student-finance-which-means-no-money situation, but I thought I would share the things I did buy with you!

(Like last time, I'll add a little collage at the end of the clothes being worn because I know how different things can look until you see them on someone).

An essential to any students shopping trip is Primark, of course.

Primark - £8.00

I used to have a bag extremely similar to this which was also from Primark but the clasp finally broke a few months ago, probably because of my extreme over-usage of it... Anyway, I saw this one and thought it was similar, just a different colour, and thought it would do as a good replacement for the one that's gone to handbag heaven (R.I.P. little bow bag). 

I really like this bag and, as you can see, I've already started using it. The only thing is, it's a little bit of a tight squeeze to fit a lot in and I always like to stuff useless and pointless things in my bag, but maybe it will teach me to be more ruthless!

Top - Primark - £3.50
Shorts - Primark - £4.00

How cute are these pj's?!

I have a pajama obsession. I definitely have more sets of pajama's than necessary BUT I only have one set of short pj's, so these were a necessity! Or at least that's what I'm going to tell myself. I know there's not much need for short pajamas in England but we're having a particularly hot spell of weather at the moment (or hot for us English people, anyway) and I can't stand being too hot on a night. So, I bought these. Don't judge. I need pajamas.

Primark - £6.00 each

Two cardigans, one in black and one in navy blue. A bit boring but they were needed - even though it's kind of hot in England at the moment, you still need to take some sort of cardigan or cover-up; the weather can change quicker than you can click your fingers here!

Primark - £6.00

Oh hai there, little bag!

Okay, so I didn't really need another bag. It's cute though, right? I already found a use for it when I went out the other night (also explained in yesterday's blog post, *hint* *hint*). It's actually a really good size. I managed to fit my purse, phone, a small amount of make-up (mascara, lipstick, etc.) a little tin with hair grips and hair ties in it and something else that I can't even remember now in it. So it's perfect if you're trying to be concise and limit what you take out with you.

Primark - £4.00

This one was actually from when I went on a day out with my brother a few weeks ago (I blogged about the day HERE, if you're interested) but I thought I'd just add it to this post, considering it was the only thing I bought that day.

It's definitely not something I would normally pick up, never mind buy, but I was obviously feeling extra brave that day and went for it. It's super pretty actually! The colour and the pattern just scream spring/summer to me. I just need to get used to the round neck, I don't normally wear anything with a high neck but I think the top is lovely. It's a little bit on the big side for me but I don't think it looks bad being a tad too big because it's made of a meshy kind of material. I would wear a vest top under it seeing as it's see-through, but the light material makes it cool for a warmer climate!

Dorothy Perkins - Wallis - £12.75 (with student discount)

Now this was from Dorothy Perkins, or Wallis in Dorothy Perkins, to be exact. The colour is what caught my attention - it's sooooo bright! It's definitely something new for me; I don't normally go for colours this bright but I do love pink so I had to buy it. Once again, it's something good for the warm weather because it's a sheer kind of material and light and airy.

Boots - Benefit - £15.50

Alas, the £15 eyebrow pencil I told you about yesterday (it was actually £15.50). It's by Benefit so obviously it was going to be expensive but Benefit are normally a great brand so I splashed out. 

I really didn't want to use it once I bought it - all I could think was "don't ruin this, Katie. You paid £15 for it - don't be your usual clumsy self with it!". I did finally bring myself to use it though and it's amazing. It's the best eyebrow pencil I have ever used. I'm not much of a make-up person but, if I'm going out somewhere, I'll always at least use concealer, mascara and an eyebrow pencil (there's my little tip of the day!). It's the perfect colour for my eyebrows, stays on incredibly well and it has a little spooly thing (is that what you call it?) on the other end to tidy them up! As my friend said when she convinced me to buy it - it will last at least twice as long as any cheap one you would buy because you don't have to top it up and it's amazing quality.

And that's everything!

It was a lovely little day out and who doesn't love a bit of relaxed retail therapy?!

I hope you liked this little shopping insight, let me know what you thought or if you've bought any pretty summer-y things lately!

A candid moment of me falling over mid-twirl to end - I'm so graceful - thank god the bed was there, or that could have been more painful than it actually was!

Katie x

To Love Or Not To Love?

Hello!

You would think, as a Literature student, I should love all Literature and should especially have an appreciation for Shakespeare, buuuut I don't.

In fact, I have more of a hatred for Shakespeare than a love for him.

I have read a large majority of his work, having studied it since I was about thirteen, including: 

Much Ado About Nothing

Othello

Macbeth

As You Like It

A Midsummer's Night Dream

Hamlet

And, of course, Romeo and Juliet (who hasn't read that? Or at least watched the movie? Not many I bet) 

There are plenty more I've read too but this list is getting too long already.

 I can tell you which ones of those is a tragedy, which a comedy, or which is a mixture of both but I can't say I genuinely enjoyed any of them.

The fact that it takes me longer to decipher what he's actually trying to say than it does to read the whole play from back to front is probably a big reason for my disliking of his work. 

When I've seen performances of the play, although they're still not the best thing I've ever seen, I haven't minded them so much but I feel like all I do when I'm studying the book is try to get my head around the words used and then I end up not knowing what's going on because I've spent too long on translating the language!

Don't get me wrong, Shakespeare sounds like he was an awesome dude and he definitely had a lot of imaginative, creative ideas, for his time, but I don't get why he's still considered to be so great and why his writing is so prestigious... Just my opinion though.

I'd love to know what you think?

Katie x