Where have I been?

I did mention a couple of posts back that I was about to move house, and I have!


It has been a pretty manic couple of months that I have had away from this internet space, so much has happened I don't know where to begin really so a few pictures and a couple of bullet points seems like a good idea.

• I turned 26 last week, though it didn't really bother me it was very nice to receive some pretty flowers and a very cool cushion for our sofa.
• We lost a beloved canine friend suddenly in March, and I am even more grateful than ever that I took the photos on this walk because of that sad day as we all miss him so much. 
• We had the first anniversary of the loss of my Dad, and it wasn't great though not as bad as I thought it would be, hitting that milestone doesn't mean that it feels any different from the days and weeks previous. 
• I got fully on board with my new job and stuck in with making a difference and in the past week have finally had the rest of my team join me which is exciting and scary in equal measures. 
• I have spent a lot of stressful time dealing with the dreaded 'S' word (solicitors) fielding endless phone calls, but it was all made better when we got our hands on the keys. 
• I packed a mountain of boxes, and worried the whole journey from my Mum's to our new home about birds poo-ing on my mattress while it was on the back of a trailer. And the first thing we did once we were in was scrub until our hands were raw and slap a whole load of neutral paint on the walls, bye bye big blue wall!
• There have been multiple trips to Ikea, meatballs consumed, and visits to the Krispy Kreme nearby.
• My first VW show of the season has passed, a glorious day in the sunshine spent sipping cider and storing up on Vit D.
• I have gained green tips to my fingers growing plants to brighten our abode up a little bit, this weekend I will be giving tomatoes and strawberries a go.
• I have amassed a large number of food storage jars while I have been waiting for somewhere to store them, which arrived today in the form of the nice solid wood shelves for my kitchen walls that I pinned waaaaay back. Pin's do come true!

We are pretty much all moved in now, though there are a few lingering items at my mums and J hasn't even started on the garage (it is getting a make-over). We are experiencing life in our own space, and it really is beginning to feel like our space now. We are making changes, decorating and adding in furniture and I am sure I will be showing you projects we are working on along the way.

Currently I am oiling the shelving, and I can't wait to get creative in the kitchen trying a few more complex recipes and getting used to using both an electric and a fan oven! I have already been cracking on with trying a few recipes for meal times and yesterday whipped up home-made Naan to go with our curry, I was very proud. I may just have to turn that into a blog post in future.

I hope you are all keeping well and that you will enjoy this little home evolution journey we are going on :)

2013 ---> 2014

So this year has been one of mammoth highs and lows for me. I can't honestly say that I will be happy to see the back of it because it will forever be the last time I got to spend time with my Dad, but I will be happy to say bye bye to all of the negativity that has come with it.
I am not one for believing that 13 is an unlucky number, but it definitely hasn't been lucky for me and my friends and family.
Despite this, I thought I would look to a few positives for the year that has gone by, and share a few of my favourite pictures.



I read 66 books this year, I didn't reach my target by a long shot but I feel very accomplished at having managed to read so many.


I managed to review 32 books! That is a big achievement for me, I have been reading and reading and adding books to my list, but in the past couple of years I haven't really made such a huge effort to review those books, that I managed to review 32 books in one year feels like such an achievement, and I hope to continue with those reviews into 2014.


I made a real go of The Librarian. I loved having my old blogs, but if I am honest they never felt like they were really very me, my life isn't all about books, or all about beauty, and I think combining them into The Librarian was the best thing I have ever done. It has given me a new lease of life when it comes to blogging.


I learnt new skills. Part and parcel of changing my blog was also in learning how to make it look and feel how I wanted it to. I have recently taken on teaching myself how to use a camera properly, without the auto mode! And I learnt how to mow the lawn just like my Dad liked it. I found that being out of education for an extended period has made me appreciate learning so much more, and now I am a huge advocate of lifelong learning, I feel like I should say to my old lecturers "I GET IT!"


I got my almost dream job. I have been working towards being a real life librarian for many years, and this year I finally got a permanent position helping people with their quest for information. There is a lot of negative stuff going on with that right now, but I am choosing to look to the positive, I got there! A little later than planned, but I got there.




I learnt to appreciate the little things. Part of turning this online space into a "lifestyle" blog, was because I wanted to showcase experiences as well as things. The loss of my Dad earlier this year made me realise that I wish I had more memories, more snapshots, and more appreciation for everything I have, so this year I have tried to go on more days out, walks through the countryside, and general life living. I have also a huge appreciation for my family and friends, our extended family has become much closer this past year, and I genuinely feel like I have a great support network that I maybe hadn't realised I had before.

And lastly, this is a terribly materialistic one, but I finally own a Mulberry bag! I am planning on doing a post about this going into greater detail, but I have lusted after one ever since an old friend walked into our uni class with one and I saw the little tree 7 years ago. I always told myself I would get one when I earn more in a month than it costs to buy one, so I did. I am probably far too proud of it!




So what about 2014?

Well I am going to do a few things differently, I am not going to set myself a reading challenge goal, and instead simply read books that I want to read, when I want to read them. I don't want to be thinking about how many I have read as a target, but rather as an accomplishment, so my Goodreads target for 2014 will be 1 book, which I am pretty sure I will manage.

I am hoping to make an effort to take a lot more photographs this year documenting my adventures, I have taken some pictures that I truly love in the past year and hope to add to my collection in the next, especially as I have just received a new camera!

My main goal for 2014 though is to stress less. This year has been hard, emotionally I have been through the wringer, but I want to try and get back to enjoying life and making the most of it without worrying what if. Life is for living, and then for blogging, of course!

Have a very Happy New Year everyone! Lets make it a great one :)

TAG: What's in my Focco!?

So Lurra of Editor-in-chic (click here, she has good reblog stuffs!) asked me what the hell I have in those super dooper organised pouches in my Focco post, and so I thought ya know what! I shall talk about them!!

Now let me preface this by saying that I am one of those people who has to plan for every eventuality, just in case something happens. I travel to and from uni via train so if anything were to leave me stranded in Sheffield I like to know I have some things to hand. I also am just a bit of a loon and like to have my things!

So I shall just say what is in the picture/bag from left to right, top to bottom, and then say what is in each pouch when I get to it, here goes:

Marks and Spencer Green Bag (perfect handy mini size).

Paperchase Glasses Case, with lens cleaner inside.

Purse (Radley in case you are wondering).

Accessorize flip flops for in case my feet hurt/are hot (I repurchase these every couple of years because they are my faveeee ones, I hope they still do them as I need a new pair!)

Filofax (Finsbury Personal in Raspberry).

Cath Kidston makeup bag (Contents: Shu Uemura eyelash curler, Maybelline The Falsies mascara, MAC Mineralised Skin-finish Natural, Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer, MAC Chromographic Pencil, MAC Coffee Eye Pencil, Topshop Cream Blush, MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner, Topshop Show Off lipstick, Elf Kabuki brush)

Random stuff that I don’t need but it is nice to have bag (Contents: Mirror, gum, Burts Bees lip balm (my back-up one), rail card, mints, headphones, Soap and Glory Hand Food, hairbrush, Batiste Dry Shampoo, OPI Avoplex cuticle oil, sunglasses, Avene water in a can stuff, various hair clips and bands, iPhone screen cloth)

Easiyo yoghurt pot containing dried fruit and some nuts, for snacking.

Paperchase water bottle.

Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief (May be a kids book, but it’s quite good!)

iPhone in my Hello Kitty bow case.

Camera in Cath Kidston case.

Chanel COCO Mademoiselle perfume in handy handbag atomiser that has seen far better days!

Everything I ever need, should have been a girl guide pack (Contents: Spare change, Colgate Wisps, Optrex eye spray, Nivea SOS lipbalm, mini tooth floss, Hollywood fashion tape, tampons, tweezers, hair bobble, mini scissors, hand sanitiser, tissues, vaseline, nail file/buffer, various plasters and blister plasters, hair grips, stain remover wipes, nail polish remover wipe, antacids and various medications including pain killers and allergy meds, currently missing which I want to add to this are those sheet soap thingies and a pair of knickers, as if i ever get stranded they would come in rather handy!)

So there you go, everything I cart around with me on a daily basis. I take some things out if I don’t need them obviously, but the whole idea of the pouches is so that I don’t have things just rolling around in my bags and getting lost. I find it works a treat!

:)

xo

A-Z of Moi!

Age: 23

Bed Size: Double

Chore you Hate: Ironing, so much so that I don’t do it, I hang my clothes and then fold them very neatly lol!

Dogs: I don’t have one but have always wanted a Beagle who i would name Bramble, or Bram for short (I actually always wanted to call the dog just Bram after Bram Stoker, but then I figured the dog would have to be big and black a la Dracula, Bramble is more beagle-y)

Essential start of your day: A cuppa tea and my email.

Favourite Colour: Either pink or purple, I love both equally.

Gold or Silver: Silver, or white gold, I very rarely ever wear yellow gold, I think I only own one piece.

Height: 5ft 6 3/4 inches

Instruments I play: I used to be able to play recorder and I could play a little bit of piano, but I haven’t in aaaages.

Job Title: Student/Children’s Shoe Fitting specialist.

Kids: None.

Live: In the room in the attic in my parents house in rural Lincolnshire.

Mum’s name: Sharon

Nickname: Georgie, George, rarely Gina. Used to be Aggie after my love for Agatha Christie novels.

One wish: A nice proper job which actually requires using the qualifications I have paid through the nose for.

Pet Peeve: Mouth noises, people who walk too slow, people who don’t indicate, people who don’t stop at zebra crossings (i nearly got run over once!) People who can’t take a hint and shut up…lots more probably!

Quote from a movie: “No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, a dream that you wish will come true” - Cinderella

Right or left handed: Right.

Siblings: 1 Younger sister.

Time you wake up: Completely depends, but anything from 6am to 11am

Underwear: Proper knickers, no bum floss please. I am majorly restricted on bra’s though as many places don’t carry my size.

Vegetables you dislike: Cauliflower. Ew.

What makes you run late: Not waking up! I can be ready in 30mins if i need to, but it is no good if I don’t wake up!

X-rays you’ve had done: Foot, when I smacked it on a paving slab as a kid, thumb, when it had an infection and I had to have surgery, and teeth, when we discovered I have no adult back teeth, after my dentist had already pulled out a little one.

Yummy food you make: I love cooking, but my favourite dessert I make is a chocolate fudge cake which was once described by an ex-boyfriend as a heart attack in a bowl, but is bloody delicious!

Zoo animal: Tiger’s! There is one at London Zoo that ALWAYS used to act up for the visitors, plus they so cool!

(Not the) End of an Era

So today I saw the last Harry Potter film, and I cried, clapped, whooped, cheered and enjoyed every minute of it.

I think the only time I didn’t have a hugeeeee grin on my face was when my mouth was all funny shaped from the crying and the trying to breathe.

It was great, but it isn’t the end, it never will be. My life would be so much different today if I had never read those books, I wouldn’t be on the career path I am for a start. Although I was always a big reader, it was seeing the power those books had on other children and adults, encouraging them to read and increase their literacy that made me want to be a part of that for the future.

Summer Besties TAG

So I did the summer besties tag video.

The questions were:
Favourite...
1) Lip product?
2) Blush?
3) Nail polish/product?
4) Liquid face product?
5) Powder face product?
6) Hair product?
7) Eye product?
8) Tanning product?
9) Accessory?
10) Clothing?

Click the play button to see what I chose :)
xo

VLOG: Rain

It was raining!!

Me being me had to go out and splash around in it. Just wait until it snows, I am insane when it snows :D

xo

TAG: 13 Personal Questions

13 personal questions tag:
1. What do you order at starbucks?
2. What is one thing in your closet that you cannot live without?
3. What is one thing most people probably wouldn't know about you?
4. Name one thing you want to do before you die?
5. What is one food you cannot live without?
6. What quote or phrase do you live by?
7. What do you like and dislike about teh youtube community?
8. What is your number one most listened to song on itunes?
9. What kind of style would you define yourself as having?
10. What is your favourite number?
11. What are two of your hobbies?
12. What are your two pet peeves?
13. What is your guilty pleasure?


xo

TAG: What's In My Bag

For the nosy people out there (don't worry, I am one of them too) here is what I cart around with me in my handbag every day!

xo

TAG: This or That?

I made a few tag videos last weekend and have finally gotten round to uploading them, here is the first, the this or that tag. 

Would love to see some responses :)