Escaping Home for Christmas

I have been home for the Christmas holidays these past couple of weeks, enjoying my mum's cooking and a chance to relax. Despite the break from university work it has been quite hectic, visiting people and trying to dodge relatives questions about what I plan to do with my future (answer: nope no clue, freaking out, thank you for the reminder...).  The weather has been pretty grim here recently, but the other day I managed to get out for a walk with my mum and brother whilst the sun shone. Here are some pictures of the beautiful place I grew up in:

The River Waveney

Floodwater on marshland 

I will definitely be sad to leave at the end of this week, but I have a dissertation to finish and a future to plan. It is just nice sometimes to have somewhere to escape to. 

Right, now time to finish planning my New Years Eve outfit for this evening and then go and see my friends, another perk of being home!

Motivation

Today I have spent my entire day inside in my comfy leggings, chain drinking green tea, trying to write. I have reached the stage in my education where noone is standing over me telling me to work, and whilst I really enjoy the responsibility, it can be hard to stay on track when you are all cosy at home and twitter is but a click away. I got thinking today, how do I motivate myself?
Obviously there is the 'imagine when you graduate, it will be all worth it' approach, and in the long term this does help. But lets be honest, that seems a far away goal at the moment and an extra hour in bed is right now. And my bed is so comfy.

Basically me right now

Eating is great for my motivation (although it might partly be that the making of the food allows me to take a break). Right now I am baking brownies for me and my friend to eat tomorrow when we are trying to write.Basically, any form of healthy eating has pretty much gone out the window at the moment, and it is not going to end well (especially with Christmas round the corner...)

I also think that getting away from work is helpful. I have decided to keep at least one of my days degree free, meaning I can have a lie in, go for a walk, meander round the shops, whatever. At least I have that one day to chill out so I don't loose the will to live.

Friends are also important. I have three really good friends who are also all stressing out over their dissertations, and there is no greater therapy than all sitting together at lunch moaning about a graph that won't do what you want it to. Trust me.

So whilst I am enjoying slowly becoming a hermit, tomorrow I am going to go and sit in a computor room without the distraction of food, twitter and facebook, and write. Wish me luck.

Dying my hair

Today I decided to dye my hair. I have been wanting to do it for a while, especially since the light brown lightened hair colour was starting to grow out. I wanted to change it up a bit and make it a bit more interesting for winter, especially since I just got a new haircut which I love (undercuts make me so happy). This is the first time I have dyed my hair and I didn't want to bleach it, so I decided to choose a dye that I could put straight over my brown hair. I decided I wanted to dye it an orange colour (although not too bright as I also have a bright orange coat and that would be a mistake).

I used the L'Oreal Paris Feria mango intense copper hair dye (no.74). I considered using the paprika power (no 78) colour instead, which is a shade brighter, but decided that for the first time dying I would stick to this slightly more subtle colour. My hair was probably a mix of very dark to light brown, so I expected it to come out a similar shade to the two shades on the right hand side of the photo above. 

This is the colour my hair was before. It was much darker brown underneath, the top part was lightened with sun-in a while ago.

 I followed the instructions exactly (with the help of a couple of friends!) and below are the after pictures: 

After! Without flash.

After, with flash

As you can see the dye is nowhere near as bright on my hair as it claims to be, but I actually really like the effect it gives my hair I think next time I dye it I will experiment for the 'paprika' colour to see how that turns out, but I am so glad I took the plunge! As for the dye itself, it smelt rather strong and we did have to open a window, but it was really to use and didn't stain anything. Also my hair feels really lovely and soft now, so I think it was a good choice. Yay for dyed hair!

A Weekend Away

Last weekend I decided to take a break from all my uni work (yes I know, its made me rubbish at updating this, sorry!), and travel to York to visit my family. It was so nice to get away from all the stress and just have some time relaxing, even if the journey was horrific (never trust trains). And of course it was amazing to see the family after over two months away from them.

Walking the walls around the city was lovely, although it was wet and slippy. Notice that there is no barrier to stop you playing a spontaneous game of rolly polly...

The Shambles is a cute little street of really old houses that overhang the street. 

York Minster is rather impressive

I loved these cute signposts

York itself is a lovely city, even in the rain. Everyone is really friendly, which surprised me (I live in Scotland. It has its own charms, but shop assistants having a chat with you isn't one of them..). Its also really pretty, and there is so much to do. I loved the fact that there were plenty of cute little boutique shops selling pretty things (and an Urban Outfitters, which I managed to go in twice in two days!). There are loads of museums and old buildings and ruins as well, so there was loads for us to do as a family.

So overall I had a lovely weekend, and it only took me seven hours to get home! Now I am back in the lab working on my dissertation, it all seems a distant memory already. Probably because I have had a really productive week, the break definitely helped me. Now I just need to remember to update here more regularly, I will I promise!

A Catch up With Friends

This week has been a busy one for me, in the nicest possible way. I finally started working on my dissertation in the lab which was really exciting, and managed to get all the uni organisation stuff out of the way. But, I also had time to hang out with some of my lovely friends and have a proper catch up.

Me and a couple of friends decided to meet up for lunch at a cafe they have just discovered in Aberdeen, called Cup. If you live in Aberdeen I completely recommend it. The decor is insanely cute, the food is yummy and the loos are Alice in wonderland themed! We all had iced tea which came in glass teapots with ice underneath to pour the tea on when it had brewed. I had a goats cheese and roasted vegetable panini which was yummy, and came with a gorgeous salad full of fruit and a tiny cup of soup. And we managed to have a well deserved gossip as well!

It's Always Sunny in Freshers Week

This is what I was told when I first arrived at Aberdeen University, and this year is no different. On Saturday all of the new students arrived for a week of bonding and partying before they start their degrees, and the weather could not be better. Seriously, yesterday I went out in a crop top without a jumper. In Aberdeen. Insane. (I should point out that all the poor freshers are in for a shock when the weather changes and we are plunged into a cold rainy hell).

I decided to take advantage of the sun and so took a walk down to the beach. Here are some photos I took, because it was just so gorgeous.

I hope this weather sticks around for a bit longer, I need to soak up as much vitamin D as possible before I go into hibernation. 

University Life

I mentioned in my last blog that I had left home for the wilderness of Scotland, to return to university. I am now a fourth year student, which brings with it new challenges (Yes yes, I am freaking out about my dissertation already, please don't remind me), but also means that I have settled into university life. I know a lot of people are just starting university this year (including my brother. God I feel so old), so I thought I would share what I have learnt these past few years:

1.  You will get massively homesick. I still miss home loads, especially my family and my hilarious friends. I try to keep in contact with them as much as possible, and I try to make my uni home as homely as possible. My favourite thing about my room is my photo wall, full of pictures of all the people I love.

   

   I love photos and this wall just makes me smile. I have added to it over the years to include all of my family and friends from different parts of my life.

2. You will make friends. I was sure I was going to become a social outcast and nobody would like me, but everyone is thinking the same thing so you all kind of bond over mutual terrifidness.                        
3. Doing things that terrify you is a good idea (unless its like, walking somewhere dodgey alone at night. Don't do that.) I went to Madagascar for a month with a bunch of people I hadn't met before and it was the best thing I have ever done. University is such a good time to do something crazy like that, and you will remember it for the rest of your life even if your bank account hates you at the time. Do it.

   

   Me with a baobab tree in Madagascar

4. You probably shouldn't be allowed full responsibility of your life. The other day I realised I still didn't really know how to use washing powder and I have been washing my own clothes for THREE YEARS. (I am actually pretty certain that this feeling of not knowing how the hell to be an adult will always be there. I have realised now that everyone else is just winging it).

   

   Seriously, what are all the different draws for? I hate washing.

5. Going to university feels like the most daunting part of your life when you do it. Then you get to your last year and you realise that deciding what to do afterwards is about a million times worse.

Summer Memories

I have arrived back home in Aberdeen after a summer in Norfolk with my family. I had such a lovely relaxing summer, which already seems to be fading into a distant memory now that it is time to start university again. I thought I would share some lovely sunny pictures of some of the things I got up to while I was at home to try to keep the summer alive for just a little longer.

Framlingham Castle is a lovely place to visit with a picnic in the sun. 

I loved Somerlayton Hall, especially the maze.

Southwold is my favourite place to go in the sun. The town looks so pretty from the pier.

I am definitely sad that summer is over, especially after looking at those pictures. I have also left friends and family behind in Norfolk whose company I am already missing. But now I am in Aberdeen, and am excited to catch up with friends here that I haven't seen all summer. I am also really looking forward to pretty autumn leaves and crisp weather, and to the academic challenges ahead of me.

Updating Old Tins

I am not the most crafty of people, I tend to have ideas and then never manage to actually get round to putting them into practice. But I was watching an old room tour on youtube by Zoella (watch it here, its really pretty, and makes me feel guilty for being untidy), and I was inspired by her idea to use old tins as dressing table storage. I finally picked one up at a carboot and my Dad gave me another, but I didn't want to put my jewelry in them because they were a bit rusty inside, so I decided to line them.  

This is everything you need: PVA glue, olive oil, a small container, scissors, felt, a gluestick, a pencil and your tins.

The blue floral tin was three pounds from a car boot.
Felt was two pounds for two sheets from a local haberdashery shop, I am sure John Lewis or somewhere similar would sell it if you can't find any in independent shops.
I think you can get the glue from somewhere like hobbycraft but I have a massive tub which I am pretty certain has kept me going in craft projects for my entire life (not even exaggerating).

Remember to cover your surface with newspaper so you don't glue anything to the table.

If any of the tins have hinges, rub a little bit of olive oil over them to loosen them. 

draw round the base of the tin onto the felt and cut out the shape.

spread glue thinly on one side of the felt and then carefully lower it into the tin, pushing down any creases.

The base finished. Make sure the felt completely covers the base.

Next trace a strip that is the height of the sides. Once again spread the glue thinly on one side and carefully push the felt all around the sides of the tin.

The finished inside. I overlapped the edges of the felt to make sure the tin was completely covered.

I also lined this tin in the same way. I left the inside of the lids unfelted because they will not touch the jewellery inside and I think it looked nice without.

After updating the tins I decided that my dressing table needed a bit of a makeover if they were going to have a proper effect. As you can see below, it is extremely messy! Because I live away at university most of the year my bedroom at home is mainly full of rubbish from when I was younger. So after clearing out the drawers and sorting what to keep, throw out and try to car boot, my dressing table looked much more sophisticated.

My dressing table was just covered in makeup and jewellery, making me appear the least organised person ever.

Ta dah!

I'm using this tin to store my jewellery in

I even plugged in my old fairy lights, its so pretty now! 

 I'm really happy with the tins, I managed to find them fairly cheap (I would recommend car boots, because vintage shops tend to overprice things in my opinion. Also I love a bargain...). Overall the whole project cost me under five pounds! This has definitely inspired me to get crafty more often, and maybe to make my room a bit more stylish and organised. We can but hope.