summer

Treasured in: July 2021

2021, books, Favourites

Hello!

The time has come to once again wrap up the month with a list of things I’ve enjoyed or have made me happy! Is this a glorified favourites post? Absolutely, but I’d be lying about who I really am if I didn’t come up with pretentious names for things!

(I’m knackered and I’m losing it a bit, can you tell?)

Without further ado – the things I treasured in July:

What I Bought

I really struggled to think of something I bought in July (except books, I can’t stop buying books…) but I actually jumped on the Glossier hype a little bit – I’d seen the Anna Edit talking about the beauty bag which was marketed as the bag that fit everything in it. It has pockets, it actually holds all my make-up (like all of it, I don’t have a lot) and I’m really pleased with it.

And that order came with a free sample of their perfume ‘You’ – I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Glossier perfume but I wasn’t going to spent £45 on something I hadn’t even smelled. But then I got the free sample and I literally couldn’t stop thinking about it. I can’t describe it, but it smells grown up without smelling floral or fake – it just smells really good and it’s probably the most I’ve spent on a beauty product ever but I don’t regret a single penny. It’s actually amazing.

What I Cooked

Last month I mentioned that I’d just got my first box of HelloFresh meals and I can’t lie, I continue to be moderately obsessed – we’re on our third or fourth box now and the meals are just brilliant and I love not having to think too hard about what we’re eating, buying the ingredients or finding recipes – the recipe cards are really easy to follow, the food is always good and then I just chuck everything in the dishwasher and it’s all ready for the next day.

Some of my personal favourites are the mushroom risotto, chicken korma style curry and cheesy oven baked risotto.

What I Ate

I’m really craving cake at the moment and Sainsburys do these wonderful little Victoria Sponge cupcakes and they’re delicious. That’s all I have to say.

What I listened to

I’m still listening to Bo Burnham’s ‘Inside’. This is the one I probably listened to the most:

What I Watched Online

I’ve not watched much YouTube this month either, but here are a selection from my history that I enjoyed:

What I Watched on TV

This month, I could have watched Loki on Disney+ with my partner once he returned from a long work trip to Italy.

What we did was start watching Pokémon Journeys on Netflix because sure it’s a kids TV show but it’s only 20 minutes long, it’s easy to watch and it’s not emotionally taxing so it’s perfect to watch with dinner and it makes my nerdy Pokémon boi very happy when we confidently shout the wrong Pokémon in the ‘who’s that Pokémon’ section.

It’s the little things.

What I Read

I have absolutely adored reading this month. I’ve finished three books and I reckon I’ll finish my current read before August too! I’ve read:

  • Remnants: The Mayflower Project, K. A. Applegate – a book from my teenage years that I couldn’t remember much about, so I kept it to reread to figure out if it was worth pursuing and reading the 14 sequels (I’m not exaggerating). It was an okay concept but it was all a bit disjointed and I didn’t love it so it’s going to the charity shop.
  • Perfect, Cecelia Ahern – I didn’t love Flawed, but it had such a non-ending that I had to buy the sequel to find out what happened. It was a very stereotypical political riot Hunger Games Mockingjay ‘I’m the girl that’s different that can save the world’ YA that was 3 stars at best? It all felt very holocaust but not done very respectfully, it was weird.
  • Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie – I don’t have many classics on my shelf because I prefer the modern style of writing, but Peter Pan is my favourite Disney movie and it was short so one step closer to my GoodReads goal for the year. Wow the book is quite different to the film! Peter is a cocky little so and so, the Lost Boys are all murderers and I kid you not, there was a line about fairy orgies.

And I’m currently reading ‘Adrenaline’ by Jeff Abbott – I’ve had the sequel book on my shelf, ‘The Last Minute’, for literally years so last payday I bought a couple of prequels I was needing. It’s a 500 page book about spies and espionage and it’s not YA! I’ve read one Jeff Abbott book before and I really enjoyed it and I’m approximately 83% through and this one is brilliant too. I’ll be posting the review on my bookstagram when I’ve finished reading it.

Bonus shoutout for StoryGraph – it’s an alternative reading tracking app to goodreads and it does everything that goodreads does as well as more interesting statistics on what you’re reading (including genre, pages and pace which consequently gives you better recommendations) and it’s not affiliated with Amazon, so win win all round!

What I Planned for the Wedding!

This month was a sort of catch up month – I finally got wedding insurance, I spoke to the flower lady who makes silk flowers and I’ve got a consultation with her next month and I even found a sash and some Bride Squad pins on Facebook Marketplace for free so thought that would be a good one to pick up!

It still doesn’t quite feel real yet – I feel like I’m too calm about it but also there’s so much to do and it’s going to cost so much money, but I’m focusing on the short term for the moment, tackling my to do list one task at a time.

Every month I think these posts might be a bit too old school but then I write them and every month I feel positive and excited about the month ahead! Especially with what I’m reading. My bookshelves are looking really pretty and my database is looking really… unbalanced, so hopefully lots of reading in the sunshine in August!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

things that make me happy

2021, lifestyle

Hello!

Life is a lot at the moment isn’t it? I know lockdown has been lifting for a while but it feels like I’ve spent six months in restrictions, the weather’s been nice but I live quite far away from any friends or family now so haven’t been able to see many people and my work life has been very hectic… So spending a little bit of time making a list of things that make me happy is going to be a good therapeutic exercise and a nice thing to look back on!

In no particular order:

  • the smell of grass after it rains in the summer
  • reading in the garden on my new sun lounger
  • lighting a candle I’ve been saving for special occasions
  • dance parties to Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat with my boy
  • my house plants
  • the light in our living room first thing in the morning
  • redesigning my island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
  • binging all the YouTube videos on my Watch Later playlist
  • picnics with friends on sunny days
  • game nights with friends on rainy nights
  • knitting my ‘scarf’ which is just lots of rows of the same stitch over and over again
  • watching tiktoks and not minding losing 1-3 hours of my life
  • reading in bed while the sun is still up
  • playing ‘ready, steady, cook’ with whatever food we have and accidentally making something really delicious
  • keeping my bullet journal up to date
  • when I’m in such a good writing flow that I feel like the story is writing itself
  • sewing a cross stitch kit
  • talking to my mum
  • reading whilst cuddling with my boy
  • bubbles
  • ordering spontaneous take out
  • trips to The Range, B&M and/or Wilkos
  • 2am giggles with the person I want to spend forever with
  • music by All Time Low
  • buttered toast
  • rewatching every film in the MCU… again
  • rewatching the entire Harry Potter franchise
  • live music
  • going for long walks (and playing Pokemon Go… I know)
  • an empty laundry basket
  • reading a book so good that you can’t put it down
  • having at home spa nights with face masks, foot masks and properly moisturising
  • using my sewing machines to make face masks
  • buying myself flowers
  • chocolate
  • fidget toys
  • my bear factory bear (yeah, pre-Build a Bear)
  • coloured pens
  • stickers!
  • lying on my bed and listening to music
  • giving my loved ones surprises
  • picking pictures for my photo wall
  • scrapbooking
  • decluttering the house
  • fairy lights
  • Lucas, my fiancé person
  • the music in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
  • space and galaxy themed things
  • a Tescos meal deal (chicken salad sandwich, a kinder bueno and Ribena)
  • tap dancing
  • sitting down after a busy day having ticked off everything on my to do list
  • the opening notes of Les Miserables in the theatre
  • doing paper crafts in my bullet journal at the start of each month
  • potatoes
  • summer evenings – the cooler air, the colours of the sky when the sun sets, BBQs and fire pits with friends – just the best

Many of these things are summer themed because that’s what’s making me happy right now, but I’m sure I could do a cosy winter version too!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

being a fat person in summer

2019, fashion, lifestyle

Hello!

Now the main reason I wanted to use a word like ‘fat’ in the title of this post is because so many people have negative associations with it when it’s actually just a description – it’s just a kind of cell that is in every single person’s body and it shouldn’t be detrimental!

I’m fat! Am I okay with being fat? Not really! Am I promoting being overweight? Of course not! But should we be afraid of the word fat? Most definitely not.

And back onto the topic of the post! Being a fat person in summer has it’s own set of challenges – the biggest is chub rub, the second I think is feeling hot and sweaty all the bloody time and then third it’s definitely how every gosh darn person will judge you whatever you’re wearing. Something with sleeves? Why are you wearing so much?! Something without sleeves? Wow, it’s so brave of you to where clothes like that! Daring to wear a crop top? ‘I don’t think that’s very flattering for someone with your figure’. There’s no winning!

There’s so much pressure on women at this time of year anyway between ‘bikini bodies’ and celebrities getting shamed on the front of magazines for having the most natural belly rolls and thighs that actually touch, but there is something about summer that is extra difficult for those of that carry a little bit more insulation.

As well as getting judged for everything we wear, it is physically uncomfortable – it’s not just chub rub when you walk, it’s becoming so much more aware of your body and everywhere skin touches. I’d offer tips and tricks but anyone who’s experienced any of these problems knows the best way to handle it, but I’d recommending watching Hannah Witton’s video trying out lots of chub rub products and not wearing clothes that are too baggy because there can be a lot going on under there.

I wanted today’s post to be an outfit post but I didn’t have time to take photos – I love wearing summer clothes and experimenting with fashion and whilst figuring out new ways to wear my snuggliest jumpers is a thrill, figuring out how to love my body in nearly cropped tees and outfits that aren’t as floaty or flattering is a challenge that I’ve willingly embraced this year rather than hiding behind the one outfit that I could bare to look at myself in.

This post was more of a ramble than a point with a conclusion and I think sometimes those are the best posts because we can all vent and unite about how crap it is being sweaty in summer! Under boob sweat is the only reason I bother with a bra anymore! Tell me about your least favourite thing about summer and how you cope with it in the comments!

Don’t get me wrong – I love when it’s warm, when you go outside and it actually feels warm on your skin. My favourite ever time of day is summer evenings when there’s a chill in the air but it’s comfortable and it’s light but it’s getting dark and you’re in the garden with an ice cold drink and good company (and preferably a fire pit) and I wouldn’t get that without a bit of heat and uncomfortable sweat.

Thank you so much for reading,

Sophie xx

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June Goals

2019, goals

Hello!

How is it June?? By the end of the month we’ll be halfway through this year and that really baffles me, however stupid that sounds? But it does mean there’ll be a check in on my New Year’s Resolutions and we all know how much I love tracking goals.

May was busier than I anticipated and I didn’t get the time to work on my goals as much as I’d hoped, but I’ve adapted this months goals and my time management accordingly. So this is where I’m going to focus this month!

  • take my driving test – this one isn’t much of a ‘goal’ to be honest, because my test is booked for the end of the month, but I didn’t want to set myself the challenge of definitely passing my test because if it doesn’t happen I don’t need that extra pressure. I just want to take the test, I need to make sure I’m ready and if I pass? That’s fabulous, if not? It’s not the end of the world. Just want to take the test.
  • keep up with my uni course – I started a Post Graduate Certificate in Professional Development Planning last month and the first two weeks of the course have been a bit manic in juggling and balancing it with work and pre-booked commitments. I really want to do well in this and make it worth the effort so I need to put the time in!
  • run 3x a week – how many times have I mentioned it? Approximately three million times, but I’m doing this Couch to 5k app and I’ve been running for about five weeks now and that’s really huge progress for me. I’ve had to repeat Week 4 because I needed more time to adjust to it but I’m actually not hating it – it’s a challenge, in the best way. I can now run for 4, nearly 5 minutes straight and I’m running and walking for about 3k. I really want to keep it up and three times a week isn’t actually as difficult to commit to as I thought! So maintenance and progress is my goal this month.
  • find some local photography work – I loved taking dance photos the other month and I really want to do more and develop that. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it yet, maybe I need to just go to local sports matches and email every local dance school, competition and sports team I can think of, maybe I just need to work on networking and building up contacts. The one thing I know for sure is that I need to get my camera out more.
  • spend less and save more – May was an expensive month, but I’d worked hard and saved and bought myself a Nintendo Switch, don’t regret it at all, but want to be more mindful this month – put more into savings if I can. I’ve been using this savings plan so far this year and I love it. To be honest, I’m planning to upgrade my car this month, so I’ve not quite figured out where that fits in but I’ll figure that out at some point…

Towards the end of May, I think I was setting myself too much to do and expecting too much of myself so I want to focus on putting less value on productivity. I need to learn how to relax and spend more time doing the things I enjoy – video games, watching YouTube, cooking, family time.

Any tips? Because I don’t think I’ve really relaxed for about four years now!

Thank you so much for reading,

Sophie xx

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playlist: Summer ’18

2018, music

Hello!

With the amount of new music that’s been released by a bunch of artists I really like this summer, I’ve been slowly adding to my Summer ’18 playlist for a couple of months now.

And I’m a huge music geek – I love how the algorithms work on Spotify, I love following music people on Instagram, my whole final uni project centred around music, I’m just obsessed. But building playlists is something I’ve seen a lot of people on twitter talking about but I’ve never really ‘designed’ playlists in the same way – I just chuck a bunch of songs that I enjoy belting when I’m home alone in one place!

Some may argue that those are the same things, but I thought I’d have a little chat about the new releases I was really excited about this summer and the playlist I’ve had on for the last couple of months.

Watching the Sky – Sheppard

Sheppard are an Australian band that my boyfriend found on Spotify through their song ‘Geronimo’ because it was inspired by Doctor Who. Since then, we’ve been eagerly anticipating every one of their releases and Watching The Sky is actually one of my favourite albums of this summer – it’s light and fun and the songs are catchy and ‘We Belong’ had us dancing around the kitchen whilst we cook dinner. Such a fun album.

Everything Is Fine – All Time Low

I mean, the band teased this song for maybe 24 hours before it was released and I was on holiday and I wasn’t ready and I love it. All Time Low are my absolute without a shadow of a doubt favourite band and have been for like 10 ish years so I was very excited when I saw this song had come out and I love it. I love the vibe, I love the sentiment behind it and Alex Gaskarth’s vocals are just stunning. I’m excited for the album that is likely to follow, though I don’t think anything has been announced yet.

Youngblood – 5 Seconds of Summer

I’ve got a funny relationship with 5SOS – I used to be a huge fan, had a tumblr blog that reached nearly 30k followers and built this amazing little community but then there was an article published that showed a side of the band that hadn’t really been exposed before and I’d just started studying journalism and a lot of people blamed the publication ‘for making them look so bad’ but reading into it I could tell that the writer was just working with what they had and my opinion of the band lowered so much. Saying that, I’d listened to a couple of the singles they released before the album came out and I was so frustrated by how much I liked it?

To be honest, Youngblood has been my most played album of this summer – the last five or six songs on the album are absolutely bangers and I really do love them! I think the way I’m settling it in my head is that I like the music but I’m not big fans of the people in the band and I don’t feel too bad supporting them because they weren’t doing terrible horrible things, they just aren’t the nicest people. I hope that’s okay?

Sunnyland – Mayday Parade

This album I added to my playlist on a bit of a whim – I loaded up Spotify one day and it popped up that Mayday Parade had released a new album. I’m not a huge fan of the band but I know I like a few of their tracks and their vibe is very me so I just dropped it in and I actually really like it! It’s a bit heavier than the other albums on the list but I really like that because the slightly heavier, more guitar based sounds are my absolutely favourite. I was pleasantly surprised but really enjoyed Sunnyland!

Pray For The Wicked – Panic! At The Disco

So, Panic! are up there as one of my favourite bands (after ATL in a Solid First Place, I have a group of joint second favourite bands which also includes S Club 7, ngl) and I was so pumped for this album. I preordered the vinyl as my post-FMP-hand-in-present-to-myself and I’m obsessed – the vinyl itself is actually stunning but the album is just so great. Death of a Bachelor was always going to be a difficult album to follow (and I think I do still prefer it) but Brendon Urie’s voice is just absolutely astonishing. Saturday Night, The Overpass and Hey Look Ma, I Made It are for sure going to become some of Panic!’s new anthems. Thoroughly recommend, it’s been on loop in the car for a while now.

Birthday – All Time Low

Two new tracks was very overwhelming and exciting? I’ll be perfectly honest, I prefer the first single out of these two but I stand by that All Time Low have never released a song that I don’t like and I do still enjoy and listen to this song (hence why it’s on the playlist!) – it’s fun and I can imagine it being played at a lot of birthday parties, for sure. Two new songs released so close together hopefully means a new album maybe by the end of this year, but it’s only just been a year since All Time Low’s last album came out, so I’ll be eagerly anticipating news that’s for sure!

Six – We The Kings

Like Mayday Parade, this is another one that Spotify popped up and told me had been released and I’ve liked a fair few of We The Kings songs in the past and I follow the band quite closely on social media, especially as their bassist Charles Trippy is King of the Daily Vloggers and he documents a bunch of behind the scenes music stuff which is 100% my jam, so I added the album to my playlist. It took me a few weeks to actually get round to listening to it and I really enjoyed it! It’s a great pop sound with some really fun riffs and catchy tunes, perfect for a summer party!

‘Lie To Me’ Spotify Sessions – 5 Seconds of Summer

Back to 5SOS again! I saw on Instagram that they’d done another version of ‘Lie To Me’ at their Spotify Sessions recording and I absolutely adore it – it’s not quite acoustic but it’s very stripped back, I love the indie tones in the lead vocals and the harmonies are just magical. I’m very much enjoying belting it at the top of my lungs when I’m home alone.

The playlist is linked down below and if you do want to follow me on Spotify, then you’ll never miss how often I’m listening to Youngblood!

I definitely need to get into making more playlists and writing more posts like these because I love finding new artists and writing about the music I’m loving! If you have any recommendations please, please leave them in the comments below!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

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Summer goals!

2018, lifestyle, photography, travel

Hello!

I’ve only mentioned it approximately seven thousand times but I’ve finished uni, I’m graduating next week (terrifying), so this summer’s a bit different – it’s not got an end date like every other summer, I’m not going back to education in September. But there’s a whole summer ahead of me so I thought I’d share some of my goals and plans!

  1. Go to the Harry Potter Studio Tour – I’ve been twice and loved it but I want to take my boyfriend as he’s never been! There’s a chance we might be moving to a flat that’s only really not too far from the tour so if I can save up a little bit, I’d love to treat him.
  2. Lots of walking – I’ve been trying to get out the house and go for a walk every day but I want to walk more, it’s helping me loose weight at the moment and I want to make the most of it! There’s some lovely walks in the woods that I really want to take my boyfriend on and I especially want to make the most of being at home where there’s lots of nice places to walk.
  3. Go on a holiday – Paris? Maybe I mention my boyfriend too much, but for his birthday in January I promised him a Paris holiday. Now I have significantly less money and he still hasn’t got his passport so we might not get to do it before the end of the summer but I would really like to go as I’ve never been!
  4. Not spending every day inside, make the most of the weather – this sounds so silly but between writing posts, making and editing videos and trying to find a job, it doesn’t leave a lot of scope for activities to do outside but I just need to figure out a way to spend more time in this glorious sunshine we’re having in the UK at the moment!
  5. London museum date day – I love the idea of spending a day in a museum and there’s so many that you don’t have to pay to get into and I think it’ll be a lovely date day! Just got to find the time and the money for a train ticket… Maybe I need to think of some free activities that are closer to home!
  6. Take loads of photos – make the most of being home – there are some really beautiful towns around the one I live in and I want to take the opportunity to take lots of photos of them! I love making memories and whilst I don’t have a job or any commitments, I want to work on my photography skills and add to my portfolio – I’ve still got a lot to learn.
  7. Go to the West End! I wrote this goal before my sister surprised me by taking me to see Heathers, but I’d love to go down to London and just buy tickets on the day. That sounds like expensive fun!
  8. Make the most of my creativity whilst I’m home – I find that I feel the most creative and I come up with the best ideas when I’m in my mum’s house. I grew up here, I made some of my best videos here in 2014/2015 and I want to get back to that! YouTube means a lot to me and I want to put all the work into it I can!
  9. Day out in Brighton – Whilst going to Paris and travelling everywhere sounds incredible, there’s also lots of corners of the country I live in that I haven’t visited yet! My sister took my mum to Brighton three years ago and I’ve seen a lot of the city in YouTube videos, so I want to go see it myself.
  10. Find a balance between busy and relaxed / productive and chilled – I’m someone who always makes sure they’re busy, I like finding projects and giving myself lots to do and in a way, I wish I wasn’t because I should be taking this time to make the most of not having any commitments but here we are! I need to make sure I can find a balance between taking time off and relaxing and keeping myself busy.

Also I need to get a job lol.

So I’m now realising that maybe ticking off a bunch of these things might actually be quite expensive, but you know what? Even if I don’t tick them all off it’ll be pretty fun and hopefully I’ll have lots of photos to share and memories to cherish, how pretentious.

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

 

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May favourites

2017, lifestyle, music, photography, student

Hello!

Another favourites post! I’ve done this one a little differently and separated it into different categories, but I’ve been loving a lot of things this month so let’s crack right on!

beauty

Highlighters are my new guilty pleasure and for the first time in my life I don’t mean the florescent stationery kind. My ‘go to’ every day make up is eyebrows, mascara, lipstick and highlighter because it just makes me feel cute because I have glittery cheeks. I picked up these beauties while I was home last week in the shades Iridescent Gold and Pink Shimmer from MUA and they were only £3 each! They’re super pigmented and the colour is really clear – it’s not very subtle but I like to go a bit overboard on the highlighter so if that’s what you’re into I’d definitely recommend them!

organisation

As I’m lacking in the florescent stationery highlighters, I need a new way to organise! Not really – I love my bullet journal and it’s good for organising the finer details of things but for an overview of what my month looks like in a more general way then I like putting everything into Apple Calendars. I like being able to have different categories and I can sync with my other Apple-product-using friends and I like having it on my computer where everything else is in my journal. I like the combination of the two.

food

I think it was April when my mum and sister came to visit and we drove to the beach and had ice cream but this New Forest Toffee Crunch Ice Cream was beautiful and I can buy it in big tubs at Asda but they’re £3 a pot and somehow a highlighter feels like a better way to spend my money. If you’re on the South Coast of the UK at any point over the summer I thoroughly recommend it! I might have to treat myself.

watching

Fairytale – my boyfriend is really into anime and he’s been asking if I want to watch this one for a while. He gave me no context of what it was about but the other day he said to me “I just want to show you the title sequences!” and then proceeded to show me all of episode one. Whilst I wasn’t too pleased to be manipulated into watching his show (when he outright refuses to watch anything I suggest even when he watched a couple of episodes and enjoyed it… not that I’m salty) it is actually really good – I often find animes to be too melodramatic and serious (which I don’t mind, like I still enjoy them but it’s a tiny grievance of mine) but this one is really funny and the title sequence song from the first arc is amazing, I thoroughly recommend putting this cover by NateWantsToBattle on repeat for a while.

Doctor Who – I’m one of those Doctor Who fans. I’ve been watching the series since Freema Agyeman was David Tennant’s assistant in 2007 and I’ve watched every episode since and this season is really close to being one of my favourites (but nothing will ever beat Matt Smith and Karen Gillan’s series 5) – I wish this was what Capaldi’s first season as the doctor had been like because I feel like fans would have liked that so much more (though I have a lot of opinions on Series 8/9 Doctor/Clara Who). It’s something I could write a whole blog post about so let me know if you want that!

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – I saw this film right at the beginning of the month so I couldn’t write a full on review for it, but all I can say is if you like comedy go see this film, even if you’re not into action superheroes and even if you’ve not seen the first film it’s absolutely brilliant. Personally I think it matched the first one in the perfect way without overshadowing it – the special effects were absolutely astonishing, the action moments were incredible, it was hilarious, surprisingly heartwarming and I wish I could afford to go and see it again!

Also Baby Groot – I’ll say nothing more.

things I’ve created

I wasn’t so sure of this as a segment but I’m really proud of this content and why not a favourites post to be able to share what I’m proud of?

2017 beginner’s bullet journal flip through – this whole video was really last minute and took me a surprisingly long time to edit but I’m really proud of it and the comments are so positive! I’m can’t wait to do another flip through in a few months or when I finish the book! I got to nerd out about organisation and stationery and I loved it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUxDHOLg6lB/?taken-by=ahealthiersophie

New instagram – ahealthiersophie – I started this because I watched John Green’s series ‘100 Days‘ and he said he found it was much easier to control his diet when he made himself document it all and that’s what sprouted the idea. But I didn’t want the account to be 100% food so I post twice a day to break it up a bit. The intent was to post lots of workout photos and show how I was being healthy in that aspect but that only really started in June when I started this 30 Day Ab Challenge but it’s been an outlet for me to talk a lot about my mental health. May has been a really tough month and I’ve multiple people message me like ‘u okai??!11!’ and I’ve had some amazing conversations with my friend Sarah about a potential diagnosis (obvs not going to say anything ‘official’ (???) until I’ve been to the doctors but I’m working on the courage for that) and it’s been very therapeutic. It’s also highlighted a lot of scary things that go on in my brain but I think that’s a good thing.

Lupton and Luckett – new YouTube channel with Alice! My friend Alice and I kinda joked in Instagram comments about starting a channel now here we are – Video 1 live, Video 2 filmed (it’s a baking video, I thoroughly recommend subscribing for that going live next Thursday!) and videos planed all summer. I love Alice and I’m so ridiculously excited to create with her. She’s so little and cute (and I look like a mouldy purple potato next to her) but I love this girl and I think you’ll love her too.

my ‘no spend’ month – the blog post I wrote literally two days ago! In May I found out that I had a savings account that I’d completely forgotten about and I closed it and withdrew the cash (which was vewy nice) but it’s going straight into my other savings account for my travel funds but on a similar note, I’m trying to really save my money and get out of my overdraft right now so I cut back a lot in May and I wrote a whole post about it which I’m really excited about because I tried a new kind of format and style and I’m really excited about it.

These posts always end up being really long and I don’t think I mind, because it’s nice to share things I like and just type and type and type and suddenly there’s a thousand words. Blogging is really therapeutic for me and I’m very excited about not having uni distract from it for a few months.

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

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summer travel plans!

2017, photography, student, travel

Hello!

I wrote this post out on my train journeys to and from London this week and somehow it has completely evaporated without being sent anywhere, so here I am – rewriting it a couple of days late. This is all completely irrelevant information because not everyone will read this on the day it goes up but I just needed to say it; I’m very frustrated.

It’s not a surprise that I want to travel as much as I can – I’ve talked about it enough – but over the summer my boyfriend and I can’t afford to go on holiday so we’re planning to have a few days out just to break up the summer and to compensate a little, so I thought I’d write about the places we’re thinking (or I’m thinking!) of going!

London – I love London and in the past few months I’ve really been craving a trip to one of the museums. I’m a nerd, I love learning and history and science and I love taking pictures and I think I could take some really pretty pictures of everything that’s there. I want to visit the Natural History museum and I’ve love to go back to the V&A because I haven’t been there since I went on a school trip like six years ago. I just think it would be fun, I’m very excited by the thought of an educational trip to London because I’m a huge dork.

Brighton – I’ve never been to Brighton before but I’ve seen so much of it through YouTube videos and Instagram and fiction that I really would love to see it for myself – I’d love to see the Lanes and all the quirky places to see and the beach. I love seaside towns – where I live is a port town so I’m near a river that leads to the sea but it’s not like the sea, I can go sit by the docks but I can’t go to a beach and I just love them, so I want to take lots of Instagram photos.

Bournemouth – we’ve already been to Bournemouth and I really love it, for the same reason of beaches and pretty Instagrams but there’s an awesome arcade called Funzone and it’s right next to an old theatre converted into an Odeon cinema and it’s like two seconds away from Harry Ramsden’s fish and chips and I’d love to go for a sit down meal looking out to sea. I love the seaside and I love Bournemouth. I’m desperately trying not to make this post really repetitive but I really love the sea and taking photos.

Weymouth – my boyfriend and I went to Weymouth for New Years and I know I wrote a blog post about it (read it here, if you like) and again; Sophie wants to visit a seaside town wow, omg. But I don’t think Weymouth is as big as the cities of Bournemouth and Brighton but Weymouth is a bit like my hometown but like four times the size and near the sea. I just want to see more of Weymouth and with two of my closest uni friends living there it’s a pretty good excuse to see them too.

The New Forrest – an area I know very little about, to be honest, I’m imagining it’s a bit like the Peak District or the Lake District and I’ve been to both of those places. I just feel like it’ll be a fun place to go for a long walk adventure with a picnic on a pretty summer day.

Edinburgh – less of a ‘cheap day trip’ and more like a little holiday but I went on a family holiday to Edinburgh and one of my best friends lives there and I’m considering doing my masters there and I’ve seen a few YouTubers go on holiday there and everyone talks about it being such a beautiful city and I want to see it! Flights from Southampton Airport and an AirBnB could be quite reasonably priced I think, so might be something I can look into!

I know I talk about travelling a lot – it’s something I really want to do but it’s not something I can afford to do in the way I want to just yet, but travelling isn’t just about going to one city in a country and saying you’ve seen everything that country has to offer, so why don’t I spend some time exploring my own country first?

I’m sorry my content has been so disrupted this week – I didn’t realise how much commuting would take it out of me but I’m trying my best to manage my time a little bit better before doing it all again next week. I’m going to be taking my laptop on the train so hopefully I’ll be a bit more productive than last week.

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

 

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British Summer

2016

Hello!

This week in Britain has been ridiculously hot – it’s been hitting 30 degrees every day and it’s likely that everyone in the world knows about it because as a nation we may be small, but as a people we can complain like no one else.

The British are losing it, essentially.

We’re not designed for heat – we melt, we don’t have air con in our houses (I had to go and spend £20 on a fan and that’s money I really can’t be affording to spend!), we’re getting very hot and sweaty and yesterday, I went to the toilet and came back to find my boyfriend curled up in a ball with the fridge door open.

If that doesn’t summarise Britain right now I don’t know what does.

But as a British person, I’m entitled to say that we’re awful – we’ll complain about the heat but the second it gets cloudy or overcast we’ll complain that British weather is awful and we with we could be somewhere warmer.

Realistically, no one really wants Britain to be warmer because we burn very easily. See Example A.

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There’s even a mark where my necklace was. Also, the freckles are very real in this photo and I only just noticed wow.

On a genuine note – I know there are a lot of people that are struggling to function in this heat. I and everyone I know have been getting very overheated and dehydrated and it’s difficult to find the motivation to actually get anything done. But I’m also 100% done with all the articles that say ‘Britain was hotter than all of these places today’.

It’s not like anyone in those places would be saying ‘damn, I wish I was in Britain today’. It’s a really stupid attitude.

But there are pros and cons to the weather – I like the sun in some respects, it’s a nice bit of relief from our awful political situation as a country and personally it makes a difficult economic situation easier to handle but it’s much more pleasant to get out of bed in the morning when it’s sunny day.

And when it’s so painfully hot, getting out of bed is the only option anyway.

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

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