Hopes for 25

2021, lifestyle

Hello!

Today is my 25th birthday and I’ve had the loveliest day – very lazy morning, taking time to put on make-up and my favourite dress, a little video call with my mum and sibling and opening their very generous presents, then my fiancé took me to a local reservoir for a walk and some lunch, then a trip to Hobbycraft to buy supplies for my new toy (he bought me a cricut!) and an afternoon of playing with the new toy before dinner at the highest rated restaurant in Banbury, which was actually fantastic.

If you’ve ever read any of my posts before, you’ll know I’m a massive goal setter – I love New Years for setting new yearly goals, I love setting monthly mini goals and consistently evaluating my progress, adapting to fit my current desires and pushing myself to develop in the ways I care about most.

I thought about setting myself a few little goals for things I want to achieve before my 26th birthday next year, but if we’ve learnt anything from 18 months of pandemic is that life is unpredictable and sometimes we don’t have control over what we do and don’t achieve.

So rather than setting anything so rigid, I thought I’d set myself a little list of aspirations. Not 26 things I want to achieve in a year, not 3 huge life changes, just a few things I’d be pleased if they did happen!

Travel somewhere internationally – having worked in Italy for five weeks for the Euros, my fiancé has somewhat been bitten by the travel bug and we’d both love to go somewhere new and explore, but also to be somewhere hot near a pool and read. We went to Paris in 2019 and had so many ambitions to explore countries further afoot but that cheeky pandemic made it slightly more difficult, so it would be lovely to get away in the next year!
I’d love to feel more body confident – I think I’ve been at war with my body since I was about 12, always feeling too big compared to all my friends and just in the last couple of weeks, I’ve started dance classes again and it’s the closest to consistent exercise I’ve been since I was doing Couch to 5k last year. I’m hoping this can help me work towards a healthier lifestyle – losing weight would be optimal, but just feeling happier in my own skin would be lovely.
Go to the West End again – I love musical theatre with all my heart and soul. I took my fiancé to see ‘Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ over the summer and I’d love to be able to go more frequently but wow theatre tickets are expensive. I’d love to see the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ‘Cinderella’, I’ve heard amazing things about ‘Six’ and my favourite ‘Les Miserables’ is one I’d love to take my fiancé to see as I adore it so much, but there’s also ‘Frozen’, I’ve never seen ‘The Lion King’ and I really want to see ‘Come From Away’. Conclusion: more theatre required.
I want to be doing a job I really love – what I’ve learned from my current job is that even though I won’t always have the opportunity to work in my dream industry, I can grow to really love what I am working on, whatever that may be. I never thought I’d be so proud working on an inaugural tech festival this year but now I’m actually really disappointed to not be working on next year’s festival if it’s approved. So yeah, I’m still building up my career but to be doing something I actually enjoy is really important to me.
Do more little things that bring me joy – buying myself flowers, using nice products in the shower, wearing my favourite clothes even if it means I’m ‘too dressed up’ – life is short! Buying myself a bubble machine this summer to just sit and watch the bubbles in my garden was one of the best things I did because I didn’t let myself feel bound by ‘things for children’ and taking that mindset forward with me can only be good for my mental health, right?

Having had a wonderful birthday, I’m feeling incredibly content right now and I’m looking forward to continue making little tweaks to my day to day life to maintain that. Life is short, we’ve got to make what we want from it, and mine includes bubbles!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

Approaching 25 / Accepting Me

2021, lifestyle

Hello,

You know how on every birthday, everyone asks you ‘do you feel old?’ and the answer is usually no because it’s just another day that just happens to mark another year around the sun, right?

When I turned 20, I actually did feel older. It felt like a big step – finally shunning the teenage years and officially entering my twenties; the decade of potentially the biggest changes of my life. Graduating university, starting my career, getting married, buying a house, having a baby? I don’t know if I’ll do all those things but it’s a pretty monumental decade!

I feel like 25 is going to have the same impact, because I’m officially halfway through.

And I could write about ’25 Things I’ve Done by 25′ or ’30 Things I Want To Do By 30′ but life is simultaneously short and long – things I’ve done are for me to celebrate with my friends and family. If I’d made a 30 by 30 list when I was 20, half the things I wanted then wouldn’t be relevant now. I’m five years older, on the brink of a neurodiversity diagnosis and I’m starting to understand that wanting a routine and to be in bed by 10pm isn’t a ‘flaw’ I need to push myself out of, but what my mind and body needs and works best with.

I wouldn’t say I’m a completely different person, but I’ve grown in the best way. I took a phone call last week where someone I’d never spoken to before described me as ‘confident’ – that whole sentence was a ride from ‘phone call’ to ‘confident’; look at any of my school reports and I don’t think a single one of them will praise my confidence because I didn’t have any. I’ve really grown and though I’m not ‘there’ yet (wherever ‘there’ is), I think I’m really starting to accept myself and I feel like that’s what, subconsciously at least, I’ve really struggled to do so far.

I’ve always thought of myself as weird or wrong; not quite fitting in, always looking like the odd one out in everything from my height and weight to my interests and the way I think and talk.

But I can’t hold myself to other people’s standards – to neurotypical standards if I’m not, to looking like a 5’7 size 8 model on tiktok when I’m not, to being a ‘night owl’ who doesn’t sleep till 3am when I love falling asleep at 11 and getting eight hours sleep.

I spent so long desperate to be something I wasn’t – naturally skinny, naturally musical, naturally social etc etc – when actually, if I can spend the rest of my life accepting myself and not sacrificing my boundaries for the sake of others; doing what I feel comfortable doing, then I think I’ll be doing okay.

Here’s to my last week of 24, and to not squeezing myself into spaces I don’t naturally fit.

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

there’s no songs about turning 24

2020, lifestyle

Hello!

Two years ago, it was 22 by Taylor Swift, one year ago it was What’s My Age Again by Blink-182 as I was reminded that no one likes you when you’re 23 (I beg to differ) – what’s meant to be my anthem this year? Have I officially entered the realm of boring ages because I’m too old to have a song?

(Have I spent too long on tiktok and now I’m writing in a really melodramatic storytelling method with a fancy accent in my head?)

It was my birthday! 24 years ago today the traumatic event that was my birth (emergency C-section crew, always a drama queen) happened to my parents and nothing has been the same ever since.

And my birthday is September 11th… 9/11… Take from that what you will.

In the past I’ve made videos and written posts about things I’ve achieved in my years and what I hope to achieve in my next rotation around the sun but this year, I don’t really have anything to add – 23 has been a weird one, because I don’t feel like I’ve achieved anything particularly significant but it’s definitely been a year of change.

My friendships has definitely been the thing that stands out to me – just a week after my birthday in 2019 I met four girls on my masters course that made me feel like I was in an American high school romcom and I had the ride or die friends that I could turn to for literally anything. The worst thing about lockdown was not being able to see them multiple times a week. Then during lockdown I got to meet some of the people my boyfriend works with and now I actually have friends in the town I live in! They’re the sweetest people I’ve ever met, I don’t know if it’s lockdown or if we just get on really really well but I feel like I’ve known them so much longer than just a couple of months and I’m so grateful for them. I actually have people that I love and I know that they love me too and I can rely on them and trust them. And I don’t mean to say I didn’t have friends that I love, rely on and trust before I turned 23, but this was the year of meeting a surprising amount of amazing people – I feel like I have the best support network with everything from my oldest childhood friend from when we were 6, from my undergraduate degree to the family I grew up with – I feel more supported and loved that I ever have before and I’m incredibly grateful.

I have no idea what 24 will bring – I thought 22 would be the beginning of my career and that didn’t happen so I’m trying not to have too many expectations from this year.

When you’re a kid, I think you think that by 24 you’ll know what you’re doing – you’ll have a place, maybe with friends, maybe with a partner, a job, a car, maybe a pet, the freedom of socialising whenever you want, money, travelling! The future seemed so open and freeing, things like school and exams and fake friends and having to spend at least 30 minutes on public transport to get anywhere are the things I longed to get away from.

Going back even 10 years, I don’t know what my 14 year old self would think of me. With mental health problems and generally just being a bit weird, I’ve never been able to picture myself growing older – not in a job, with a person, even things like wanting kids but I just can’t imagine what my life would be like with them – I don’t know if I ever really thought I’d get this far. I still can’t picture the future – turning 30 or 40 or having children or taking them to school or being employed all feel so far from my reach; even getting married and wearing the white dress and walking down the aisle doesn’t feel real, and that’s one I’m actually planning!

Life is weird, the future is weird, time flies and age is just a number. Everyone’s journey is different and we all get there at different times – 14 year old me never would have thought I’d have (nearly) three degrees, a nearly 5-year relationship (with someone who is significantly taller than me!) and be brave enough to shave my head, but she’d also wonder how I let myself put on so much weight, why I haven’t started a career yet and how my mental health could be so much worse.

But I’m working on not being disappointed in where I am – everyone has good days and bad days; some days I’m so proud of how far I’ve come and what I’ve achieved and other days I I’m getting cross because finishing my masters is becoming a daily battle with my own brain and productivity.

Conclusion? I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. But what getting older has taught me so far is that no one does! And accepting what I don’t know and being prepared to learn is always going to be one of the greatest assets I have.

24 is going to be interesting. But for now, I’ve got a whole weekend off with the love of my life and I’m going to let myself relax and be spoiled. I’ll save the existentialism for another day!

Thank you for reading – I hope you and your loved ones are happy, healthy and staying safe!

Sophie xx

YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

the eve of 23

2019, lifestyle

Hello!

It’s my birthday tomorrow – normally I spend the few weeks leading up to my birthday getting excited and looking forward to it, but this year it’s really snuck up on me. My boyfriend and I are moving to our new flat in Reading this weekend and that is most definitely taking priority but that doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about it.

slight update: between drafting and publishing this blog post, our estate agents (with three days to go) have pushed our move in date until September 28th so, all round very emotional and frustrated tbh

I’m a very reflective person – New Year is my best and worst time of year for that very reason – and my birthday always has me looking back on the year that’s gone passed. And 22 was an… interesting year.

It was the most challenging year of my life so far – having been home for a couple of months after graduating, having no luck in getting a job in any way shape or form, spending the next few months in denial that I couldn’t get a job and feeling particularly inadequate in every way, shape and form. 22 will always be the year that the only thing that mattered to me was being able to get a job and starting my career and, to be honest, that still stands now even though I’m less than a week from starting a masters degree in Digital Media Production.

Whilst this thought that I wasn’t good enough still lingers in my mind today, 2019 picked up a lot after realising that things weren’t going to get better if I didn’t try. I took a more permanent role working at my mum’s business as an office assistant and consequently worked enough hours to be able to consistently add to my savings account, upgrade my car and pay the deposit on our new flat (lol), as well as taking on a post-graduate certificate course in Professional Development Planning and decided to apply for a MSc in Digital Media Production. As well as getting my driving licence, a first aid qualification, doing lots of volunteering and making lots of self-development progress.

So 22 was up and down – I accidentally took a ‘year off’ though my mum doesn’t like me calling it that. My career isn’t where I want it to be, but I can’t change it and I can only make 23 better than 22 was. There’s no point dwelling on a past you can’t change! At least that’s what I’m trying to remind myself.

23 holds a lot of hope – having a place with my boyfriend, starting a new course in a new place, having a list of professional and career related things I want to achieve and knowing what I did wrong in my undergrad that I can amend in my post-grad hopefully will mean I can get this career off the ground (and maybe I’ll fish my self esteem out from the bottom of the ocean too!).

I’m hoping to go on a holiday abroad again, I’m planning to go to a festival with my mum next summer and I want to do everything I can to make 23 better than 22.

Sounds completely unrelated but hang with me – my boyfriend loves singing badly to songs and making up his own lyrics and the other day he came up with ‘dancing queen, young and sweet only twenty three’ and you know what? I’ll take that!

Thank you so much for reading,

Sophie xx

YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

October photo diary

2018, lifestyle, photography

Hello!

I mean, we all know I’m a big fan of capturing memories, documenting things and taking photos, so is this post a surprise to anyone? Probably not!

I’ve always liked having printed photos – I’ve just finished an album of some of my uni photos and I’ve got a couple of other photo albums and scrapbooks on the go. I’ve recently started making the most of getting 50 free 6×4 from Snapfish each month and I love choosing which ones I want to print to capture my month.

So I thought I’d do a more digital scrapbook, photo album thing and make a little snapshot of my month so far! Not sure if this is something I’ll do regularly, because I’m really enjoying making physical photo albums and I don’t think a blog post of 50 photos to summarise my month will have the same long term impact (nor do I think anyone is really that interested) but for the moment, I’m sticking with it and this last week has been pretty manic so it’s a good time to share!

[ o c t o b e r ]

I actually really love Sainsburys TU clothing, but I can’t justifying buying any part of this outfit at the moment (though after payday is a different matter entirely)

the first crunchy leaves feet picture of the year!

I wasn’t joking when I said I got loads of photos printed – there’s 140+ in this batch

Sainsburys released these collectable Lego cards for children. My 22 year old boyfriend is obsessed and very disappointed that it’s now ended and he didn’t complete his collection!

Oops it fell into my basket? (I really like the sunlight in this photo)

and here, three thousand years late, the girl discovers Huji – the photo app that says you’re living in 1998

when the boy takes outfit photos and then asks you to take a photo of him

I love cooking so much – this is the stuffing mixture I make usually for putting inside roasted peppers, but recently we’ve been putting them in wraps and making enchiladas with them and it’s been a big success (would anyone care about a blog post recipe?)

a photo of my granddad 1954 (left) – he just looks like such a ladies man and this is why I love printed photos!

my boy and I on our way to London!

Nick was our housemate for two years and one of our best mates at uni for all three years, this was the first time we’d seen him since graduation in July – three months!

Huji returns 4 The Circle Final – hosts Alice Levine and Maya Jama on the right and all the contestants are on the sofa on the left but it’s not very clear in this photo

We got moved to the other side of the studio and for a while we had a much better view (until some rude boys pushed in front of us) but I love this photo of all the finalists!

the view from our hotel was actually really cute

Really felt my make-up – I often avoid looking at myself at any opportunity but I didn’t hate myself on this day lol

underground signs aesthetically make me happy

the Natural History Museum is actually stunning

my tol boy with real tol boiz

I’m now obsessed with Dinosaurs and skeletons are proper cool

I thought this photo was proper artsy when I took it but it was mostly so I could read about the dinosaurs

trying to be creative but I wasn’t quite tall enough for this cool granite stone wheel thing to be a cool background and the lighting was rubbish but STILL

Huji photos and lens flares? CUTE

weekly card game night with le fam (minus my sister, who’s at uni)

RIGHT let’s talk about this – we’re quite competitive so we’re keeping track of overarching scores and somehow I’m OVER SIX HUNDRED POINTS BEHIND? Raging m8

even more Autumn-y leafy feet photos

the amazing cupcakes I made for my sister’s birthday (I wrote an insta post all about them which you can see here!)

family squeeze themselves into a car for a long ass drive to Bournemouth

Le Birthday Girl!

Bournemouth beach outfit shoot – I wrote a whole blog post about it which you can read here!

my sister in her funky new coat / the outfit she would wear if she was the Doctor

family birthday dinner at TGI Fridays

the birthday hat

I FINALLY GOT THE BIRTHDAY GIRL TO WEAR THE BIRTHDAY HAT!

nobody gets left behind… (he did though, reluctantly)

the drive home was SO PRETTY and all the trees were full of Autumnal colours but I couldn’t properly pick it up on camera

and my phone is mostly full of very exciting screenshots like these! Where are my Arrowverse fans at?

‘I can’t share a post with 50 photos in, that’s too many!’ she thought, then not being able to cut her photos from 17 days to less than 30.

Ah well, who doesn’t love a long post every now and then! It’s a bit like scrolling through Instagram but it’s just me, bit vain. Maybe I take too many selfies, maybe that’s not the worst thing in the world, but I’m getting better and taking family photos and documenting the everyday and I’m really happy with my mentality towards preserving memories – I’m going to have rooms full of photo albums and scrapbooks at this rate!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Happy Birthday Lucas!

2017, lifestyle, student

Hello!

My favourite person in the entire world turns 21 today and this blog marks the first of the little surprises I have in store for him.

My boyfriend, Lucas, has his birthday tomorrow and I apparently have a thing about writing people blog posts for their birthdays, so obviously Lucas could be no exception (side note: this isn’t his present, I have got him other presents but because his birthday is tomorrow I’ve not given them to him yet so I can’t say what they are!).

Lucas is the most kind hearted and loving person I know – yes, sometimes he comes up with some really in-depth ways to get rid of people he doesn’t like and yes, sometimes he says some very controversial and borderline offensive things but the way he treats our friends and the people he loves is beautiful. He’d give them the world if he could and god knows he wants to.

He’s so talented and (mostly) hardworking – in the last year alone he’s worked at Glastonbury festival, BBC Children in Need and been unit manager for a TedX talk which is a lot of amazing work experience (I’m definitely not jealous at all). He’s also just got a part-time job at the football stadium and I know he’s so happy with it and he’s achieved so much this year.

We’ve been through a lot – our relationship has had so many ups but it’s had it’s downs too and I’m so proud to say we got through it. Lucas is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and I’m so proud of everything he does. I can’t wait to see what he achieves next.

I love you Lucas, hippy bathday.

(That was deliberate, just for context – I meant to write hippy bathday)

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

Happy Birthday Dad!

2016, Uncategorized

Hello!

Today is my Dad’s birthday, he is turning an age today… He’s 69, he doesn’t use the internet so he probably won’t see that I’ve just written how old he is… Sorry anyway, Dad.

My dad has been through a lot in the past couple of years, my whole family have, but he’s such a strong, independent man and I am inspired by him every day.

I’ve always been fairly close with my dad, I have vivid memories of picking tomatoes from his plants in the garden and him teaching me to ride a bike. He was so enthusiastic about me learning music and there was always music in my house – he used to play piano all the time and hearing all his stories about when he was in the police band are wonderful.

I didn’t realise what a big part of my life my dad was until I moved to uni – when getting to know people, film is a topic that crops up a lot so when making friends when I moved to uni there was a lot of talk about films and it really made me realise how many movies I share with my dad and I have such fond memories of us watching together.

Sprit: Stallion of the Cimarron, The Jungle Book, 39 Steps, even Shrek. And I can’t forget our shared distaste for Avatar after my sister made us all watch it seventeen times.

I’m not even exaggerating.

I love my dad unconditionally – he’s so clever and loving and, for me, as someone who takes a long time to be comfortable with people, he’s one of my favourite people to sit in complete silence with and it’s completely okay.

Spending time with him when he comes to visit makes me feel so much more relaxed, even when I’m super busy with uni and I’m behind and I feel like I’m going to fail.

(Six of nine assignments handed in, three to go in less than two weeks)

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophiecountsclouds/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-3CmMYbZuSV5eSvGgkW5Cg
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiealuckett
Instagram: http://instagram.com/sophiealuckett
Snapchat: @SophieALuckett
Uni blog: http://sophieannblogs.blogspot.co.uk/
The Student Seat: https://thestudentseat.wordpress.com/

September Favourites

2016

Hello!

This post was actually scheduled to go up on Friday but with the MAC event I went to being on Thursday, I figured I’d write that post on Friday and give you a bonus Sunday post too!

The first thing on my favourites this month is an app that me and Lucas have been playing for a while now – it’s called Mystic Words and we’re obsessed. You get seven word clues and then tiles with combinations of 2, 3 and 4 letters and you have to figure out the words. We’re on the 6th pack, Level 26 and that means we’ve done a lot of levels… like maybe a couple of hundred levels… maybe… I mean, at least it’s not something mindless like flappy bird.

We mostly enjoy making silly words out of the word tiles. Envelope was not envelope.

I loved the Jungle Book before September – the animated film was a massive part of my childhood and the new ‘live-action’ film is absolutely astonishing, I adore it. So when Lucas bought me this set for my birthday, I was very excited. I’ve since watched it twice. I might watch it again tomorrow now that I’m reminding myself how good it is.

And this is the first DVD in my collection of Disney DVDs! I’ve decided I’m starting my own collection so now it’s officially been started.

I really love the new flat I’m living in… over the summer, my boyfriend and I had a separate contract with the same company so we only moved into our flat for the year at the beginning of the month. Would you like a full flat tour with lots of pictures? Leave a comment if that’s something you’re interested in!

Another birthday present! This one came from my friend Nikki and it’s this gorgeous candle holder – it came with all these wax melts that you put in the little dish on top and they all melt together and smell amazing. I’m obsessed with it and I’m glad to have an excuse to be burning candles again! I just love candles. A lot.

Now this is one of my favourite favourites – NYX lip colours. I’ve seen a lot of amazing things about NYX products and particularly the matte liquid lip colours and I was so impressed – they’re so easy to apply, they last so well and they were so reasonably priced…

So I bought four? I just… I love red and dark purple lip colours but also nudes and I got all of these for less than £25! That’s cheaper than the MAC lipstick and pencil I bought!

I have NYX Lingerie in Bedtime Flirt, two NYX Liquid Suedes in Cherry Skies and Kitten Heels and a NYX Matte Lipstick in Siren. I’m obsessed with all of the above.

This one is more of a birthday present to myself… let me explain; I’ve wanted some decent over-ear headphones for a while, I bought a cheap pair but they weren’t the size I wanted so I sent them back. I saw these Ted Baker headphones and I was in love – they looked beautiful, they looked the size I wanted and yes, the £47 which was cheap compared to the ones that were hundreds of pounds but it was too much for me to spend on one thing.

Then my birthday came around. I got Amazon vouchers for my birthday. I used about £2 of my own money in the end and oh my goodness, they’re absolutely beautiful. I wear them all the time – to the gym, when I’m editing, when I just want to mask in their beauty.

This photo album I’ve been excited about for a long time – I’ve wanted this ever since I did my first shift at Paperchase and since being fired for no valid reason, I obviously don’t want to go back to the Southampton store, so I waited until I was home for my birthday and my Dad offered to buy it for me!

I got a bunch of my favourite photos from my first year of university printed out in the style of polaroids and I stuck them all in the scrapbook and I really do love it. I’m now someone who’s going to make photo albums for everything because I love the idea of being able to look back on all of these photos when I’m old, maybe with children and grandchildren and telling them the story of when my flatmate Nick wore a Chewbacca onesie and said ‘Chewwie got dollaaaaa’.

Another delayed Paperchase purchase – I was thinking about if I wanted a new bag for uni this year and I came to the conclusion that I only every take my laptop to uni so I only really need a laptop bag and this one is beautiful.

It’s a black padded material, pretty bog standing doesn’t draw too much attention but it’s the rose gold detailing I like – all of the metallic elements, including the zip, are a beautiful rose gold colour and I feel like it’s a perfect bag for me. I love it.

This was another birthday present to myself – I’ve wanted a Nintendo DS for a while. Since being with my boyfriend I feel like I’ve been reintroduced to the gaming world and with Pokemon Go coming out and my consequent new obsession with that and the new Sun and Moon games coming out in November, I wanted my own console.

This is a New 3DS XL in Metallic Black. I picked it up from CEX because it was about £35 cheaper than buying it brand new and it still works like new. Lucas has leant me his copy of Pokemon Y so I can familiarise myself with the game before the new ones come out and I’m really excited about it.

I blame Lucas.

(Also I know I’m about 15 years late with the Pokemon thing but I never watched it or played it as a kid… I’m having a good time so it’s okay)

The last thing in my favourites this month is the Collection ‘Lasting Perfection’ Concealer. Any beauty bloggers out there would be screaming at me – yes, I know I’m a million years late to the party but holy smokes this concealer! It blends absolutely beautifully, the first time I used it I was surprised that it took so little effort to blend it in to my foundation.

I’m obsessed and I’ve already bought a second one for when my first one runs out because I adore this concealer to try and cover my awful eye bags.

So there are my 10 favourites for this month! I really like writing these posts – would you like them to be a regular feature? If you enjoyed this post please do leave a comment because I’d love the feedback!

It wouldn’t always be 10 things and it wouldn’t all be beauty or a particular genre of items, it would just be a nice round up of things I’ve loved in the month!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

2054th Birthday Gathering! | Turning 20

2016

Hello!

This weekend I went home for a little family event gathering occasion thing for my mum and my birthdays – the number in the title is our combined ages, combined in what way I shall not reveal. Though it’s not too difficult to figure out. Sorry mum?

There are always family photos at gatherings like that, especially in my family but I really love this one. My sister’s hair looks incredible right now, my mum is actually smiling and laughing and (aside from my brown/black/green hair, I’m getting it fixed soon I promise) I’m really pleased with the shirt I got, I think it’s really cute and it was only £10 from Primark!

The thing I really love it the bread roll in my hand. If any photo really sums me up it’s this one.

It was a really lovely weekend filled with people I love and appreciate all in one place – I got to see my not-really-Aunty Heather, my aunt, uncle and cousins, my nan and another uncle and even one of my friends from uni managed to make it to my family home too, it was so nice to be surrounded by such important people for the weekend. It was a really nice way to bring my family together for one occasion with lots of cake, food and barbecue!

Some of my most favourite people, so much love for them all right now.

Being 20 is something I’ve been thinking about for a long while – I feel like it’s a big change mentally going from 19 to 20; am I an adult now? Do I have to be responsible now? The joke that people always ask if you feel older on your birthday every year kind of resonates with me right now because I feel like I’m really starting the next chapter of my life – my 20s begin now, my second year of uni is about to start and everything just feels that little bit more serious right now.

Of course, I’m not quite an adult yet but I am getting there in feeling more independent and self sufficient, which is something I’m aiming towards, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still enjoy birthday parties and presents and cake!

I’ll still go home to my mum and my parents still give me money to go to Asda and book dentist appointments for me but I have to remember to schedule uni, assignments and personal projects for myself, make sure I’ve got eggs in the fridge and I don’t spend all my money on random Amazon purchases and caramel doughnuts.

Thank you, Birthday 2016.

And thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

Happy Birthday Mum!

2016

Hello!

I wrote a post like this last year, but that time of year has rolled around again and my wonderful mother’s birthday is today!

Maybe I write too many birthday blog posts but I don’t think that’s a bad thing!

My mum is one of the most inspirational woman I know – she’s motivated and strong, so hard-working and driven, funny, beautiful and the best friend I ever could have asked for.

She’s incredible and she’s been through so much, to see her come out the other side even stronger and happier is amazing to witness; seeing my mum happy is, like, the ultimate life goal.

She inspires me to work towards my dreams and to work for what I want – she makes me believe that nothing is out of my reach and strive for the best that I can be. She encourages me to see my own self worth and see myself the way she see’s me and sometimes I wish she’d see herself the way I see her.

A lot of what I do is for my mum in the long run, I want to be able to repay her for everything she’s done for me (except buying her a beetle with eyelashes, I want no part of that).

I made a move towards that today with giving her a record player and seeing how happy it made her really has inspired me to continue – live my dreams so I can help her achieve hers.

HIPPY BATHDAY MUM!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx