Back to Nature

Sometimes, when essays take over your life and you have nothing to help you through them except the roar of traffic outside of your window, it's nice to go somewhere completely different and forget about it all. 


So walking through the trees in the afternoon sun at Forêt Grimbosq was the perfect break from work. Hunting for chestnuts in the crisp leaves reminded me that the simplest things in life can bring so much pleasure, and it does you good to get away from the hustle and bustle of the (admittedly very small) city and get back to nature.

Fairytale Sunset

My New City: Caen

While the thought of moving to a new place is completely daunting, I relish the fact that I have been given a new place to explore. Moving away from everything and everyone you're comfortable with is a really strange feeling, but I find if I have to find my way around somewhere new, I like to do it on my own.

3 days ago I arrived in Caen, France. Totally alone, with only the basic possessions to keep me going, I had to find my way to my new home and around this new city. Here are some of the things that I found. 

I think I'm going to like it here. 

Silk Scarves

I'm not very good at shopping in charity shops. I find it difficult to find things that look good, and difficult to imagine things looking any different, so never really succeed in finding anything I like.


One shop at home, however, often has a lovely selection of scarves, which I seem to be able to manage, and am now building up a small collection of them. Scarves are such a simple way of adding colour or texture to an otherwise boring outfit (as most of my clothes are back, they come in very useful). 

Blue scarves, make unknown, via local charity shop 


I like the dark blue scarf as the paisley pattern really stands out in the yellow. The green, red, yellow and blue mean that it goes with lots of outfits, too!

 Pink and green scarves, by Jacqmar London, via local charity shop


I love the pastel colours of these two. While I like them on their own, I think they go beautifully together, and being completely plain means that they are easy to put with any outfit.

Proper shoes

Despite owning about 40 pairs of shoes, I don't appear to have any for every day wear. They're all high heeled, or let water in, or highly impractical in any way possible.

So I have finally bought a proper pair of shoes. They are flat, and made of real leather so will definitely keep my feet dry as the summer sunshine turns to an autumnal drizzle. The colour is slightly more subtle than some of the more brash brown brogues I have seen, and will easily go with skirts and trousers, black or brown. I'm very happy that I finally have a pair of stylish and sensible shoes!

Brogues from Office

The Picture of Dorian Gray

After two years of doing an English literature degree I was tired of being told which books to read. So this holiday I decided I would read books that I had chosen. I started off with ones that could possibly be useful for my degree (Charles Dickens and Martin Amis) but did not enjoy them, so I went back to a trusted favourite of mine: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

I first read this book when I was in sixth form and immediately fell in love with Wilde's writing style. He manages to combine wit with beautiful prose to create such a brilliant novel which questions beauty, vanity and morals.

My tattered copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray

Matthew Bourne's ballet is a fantastic representation of Wilde's novel

"Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things 

are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.

Those who fine beautiful meanings in beautiful things

 are the cultivated. For these there is hope."

Oscar Wilde 

The September Issue

It's grim up North

I hate this labeling of 'The North', and its often misconceived image of a dark and dreary place. However, the grey skies of Glasgow on a recent trip to visit my brother did not do much to challenge the concept that the sun never shines north of London.

Glasgow from The Lighthouse

Sky High

For a very long time I have been on the hunt for some wedge sandals, but couldn't find any I liked. I came across these a while ago, on the Urban Outfitter's website, and while they weren't exactly what I was looking for, for some reason I really, really wanted them. At £85, however, they were way out of my student price range so I left them and continued the search.


So when I saw these shoes had gone down to £20, I knew I had to buy them. I have had them for about a week now, and am yet to wear them outside. This is possibly due to the lack of sunny weather we're having at the moment, but also due to the fact that they are really quite high.


I hadn't really noticed the hight of the wedge until I tried to walk in them (and promptly toppled on my ankle). To me, they look rather like Birkenstocks, which are quite possibly some of the comfiest shoes I own, so I couldn't imagine they wouldn't feel like Birkenstocks. However, the downward pressure from the angle of the foot is really quite painful, and I haven't quite managed to perfect how to walk gracefully in them, rather than clomping around like a child in her mother's shoes.


But I absolutely love these sandals, and will be keeping them until either the sun comes out again or I learn to walk in them, painlessly and effortlessly. (Even more incentive to keep them is the fact that, the day after I bought them, they went up to £40!). For now, however, I will just keep looking at them, wishfully.

Wedges, Deena & Ozzy from Urban Outfitters

This Week

I wore

Carvela at Kurt Geiger

I bought

Deena & Ozzy at Urban Outfitters

I worked 

Work experience at The Hexham Courant

I saw

Vinyl Jacket at The Cluny 2, Newcaslte

I read

One Day by David Nicholls. 

Really interesting book looking at how life can develop and change. However it's also very sad. It taught me life is short, and you should never hesitate to do or say anything you want to.

I watched

Bridesmaids. 

Really funny film if slightly ridiculous at times. Cinema was full of high pitched girly giggles.

That is my week. What have you done this week?

Wonderful World

Throughout my childhood I was told I lived in one of the country's most beautiful counties, but I took it all for granted because I saw it everyday. If you see rolling hills on the valley when you look out of the window, it becomes commonplace and less special.

However, since I moved to Birmingham for university, I now appreciate the beauty of where I live. Walks along the river and trips up to the Roman wall have shown me the amazing views that can be reached from my doorstep.

Tyne Green, Hexham

Cawfields, Hadrian's Wall

Work Experience

Today I finally began something which will hopefully really help me when it comes to finishing university and joining life in the real world. With dreams of being a magazine journalist I really need some sort of experience that helps me say this is what I want to do and this is why.

So today I started work experience at my local newspaper. While possibly not where I envisage working as a career, my first day has proved to be fun and interesting, and really encouraging for the future. A lot of advisers say that your local paper is a good place to start is your looking for a career in journalism. Being a weekly, the pace is not so rushed and hectic as a daily paper might be, which provides more time for writing practice and really getting to grip with how a newspaper works. 

Today I went along on an interview with some women from the local dramatics society to talk about what goes into putting on a play and how much it all costs. It was a really interesting interview and it was fascinating to see the reporter jotting everything down in shorthand symbols. In a world of technology it was quite humbling to simply sit with a pen and paper and just talk to people about their work.

So while we might all dream of hitting the big time in some high flying job in London, it seems like home is a good place to start. And it can prove far more interesting and worthwhile than you might imagine. 

Home Coming

This weekend I moved home after finishing my second year at university. While the realisation that I won't be returning there for a very long time (after studying in France for a year) stays put at the back of my mind, I can really enjoy being home.

Naturally one of the best things about being at home is being surrounded by family again, and seeing the friends that you missed during those busy semesters. But one of my favourite things about moving home is being back in my own bedroom, surrounded by everything I have ever owned, all the books I could ever want to read, and sleeping on what has been labelled as the comfiest bed in the world by many friends.

While I try to make space in an already crowded room for the carload that I brought back from uni with me, I'm attempting to make my bedroom more of a 20 year old university student's rather than an 18 year school student's, taking inspiration from blogs like A girl, A style on how to store things in a small space. In making my room more homely I realise that there are things I've really missed while being away, and now I can fully appreciate how they help to turn a bedroom into a home.

My collection of old Vogues and fashion books is too large to take to uni with me, so I enjoy flicking through them when I'm at home.

Whenever we did a theatre performance at school we were given a red rose. I dried them all and think they look lovely amongst scented candles.

I love having these old bags all stacked up together. They're also great for keeping old junk hidden away!

Red Suitcase from Cow Vintage, Demob Case from Urban Vintage, Leather Bag form a local charity shop, Snakeskin Bag from Cow Vintage.

One of my friends said she wants to live in a house where they had fireplaces in the bedrooms and I realised how lucky I am to have this. While the pink might look a bit strange, the colour adds warmth to an otherwise cold and pale room. The mirror behind the candles reflects their light for a brighter room.

What do you have in your bedroom that you miss while you're away? Do you have any tips for making a room look welcoming and homely?