Update time: ice hockey, cake and more cake

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well! :) 

Today has been a bit of a rubbish day because I woke up with a really sore throat, a cough and a massive headache, which meant that I had to cancel going to a football match that I had tickets for. So I thought I'd cheer myself up by writing a short blog post. I hope you enjoy :)

DISCLAIMER: this post is once again going to be an update post. I have another post planned on how to turn bad days into good ones, so stay tuned for that! 

there was a proper lighting show going on
right before the match. Doesn't it look cool?!

The past weeks have been exciting, eventful, exhausting, stressful, amazing, incredible - all at once. Here are some of my highlights:

1) Seeing an ice hockey match - last Friday, I went to see an ice hockey match with my flatmates and some friends I've made at uni. The tickets were free for students and it was so much fun. To be honest, I don't know anything about ice hockey and half of the time I had absolutely no idea what was going on (apart from the fact that it's quite violent), but I loved the atmosphere. 

2) Seeing The Maze Runner 2 with my flatmates - I've heard a lot of people say that the second film isn't as good as the first one. I can't comment on that because I haven't seen the first one, but I enjoyed all the action going on! 

3) Cake - Since moving in, there hasn't been a single day that I haven't had cake. For some reason, there is ALWAYS cake in the kitchen. Yesterday, we decided to be "healthy" and have fruit instead, when one of our neighbors asked for a measuring jug and - as a thank you - gave us some cake she just baked. She needed her plate back, so obviously we couldn't not eat it. Then today, a giant parcel arrived filled with chocolate, honey, cookies...and - who would have guessed - an entire cake that my mum had baked. 

I'm not complaining. 

But seriously, this flat is turning into cake central. 


I've also been clubbing and actually really enjoyed myself (although I still prefer being able to talk to people as opposed to shouting at them). 

What have you been up to? Let me know in the comments. 

Have a lovely weekend xx

Hello Cologne :)

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well :)

Sorry that I haven't been posting much lately (I've missed this space), but I moved to Cologne into uni accommodation last week, so I've been pretty busy packing/moving in/settling in. Today's post is going to be a recap/update of what has been going on and how Cologne uni life is treating me so far. Hope you enjoy.

My parents helped me move, so on Saturday evening we had dinner
in this lovely restaurant right by the river Rhein. 

1. Flatmates

Since it's student accommodation, I had no idea who I was going to live with before moving in. I was really really nervous, actually, and opening the flat door for the very first time was probably the most terrifying thing I'd done all summer, but I really shouldn't have worried that much. I'm living with two guys and one girl (who is moving in later today), and the past week living with the guys was probably the best first week I could have ever wished for. One of them is really into shopping, baking, drinking tea (perfect, if you ask me), and the other one loves football and swimming (awesome as well), so for me, being quite girly but loving football and formula 1, it's the best mix! We cooked together, spent hours chatting in the kitchen, eating cake and chocolate, so what more is there to ask for, really?

2. My room

Compared to my room in London, this one is absolutely massive. It has a tiny balcony (by tiny I do mean tiny - just about enough space to stand, but I love being able to step outside first thing in the morning), and it faces some trees and grass, so there's even wild rabbits hopping around. (yay nature)

3. University

There wasn't too much going on last week in terms of uni apart from two introduction days. I've met some nice people, but I think it will just take more time to make proper friends. Next week is going to be the first full week - introduction lectures mainly - and then proper lectures and tutorials start the week after. What I will have to get used to is how big the uni is. I know where the main building is, but that's pretty much it, so I'll have to work on that a bit haha.

4. Going out

The first few days in a new environment were quite overwhelming, so I decided that I would explore the city and university during the day, and then come back to the flat at about 7/8pm just to settle in first. I then went to a student bar opening on Thursday with one of my flatmates and this guy I met at uni, and it was pretty fun. 

Overall, I've been so so lucky with my flat. It's the university and people on my course that are still quite unfamiliar, but uni hasn't even properly started yet, so that'll be fine. 

Hope you have had a lovely week, do let me know in the comments what you've been up to xx

Autumn Outfit of the Day

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well :)

Autumn has officially arrived - I can confirm this since I spent a good few hours stacking wood for our fireplace the other day. So colder days are definitely on the horizon.

I like this time of year for many reasons: I absolutely love being all snuggled up and cosy, with a hot drink and some chocolate chip cookies, when it's truly grey and gloomy outside. But there's also something very special about autumn in terms of fashion. It's cold enough for you to put on a nice coat and a jumper, but you won't have to worry about it being absolutely freezing just yet. 

So today I have something a little bit different for you: an outfit of the day - autumn edition. 

Both the grey jumper dress and the coat are from boohoo, and the shoes are from a brand called Sioux, but I bought them in TK Maxx, which means that I got them for a lot cheaper than they originally were! 

What I love most about this outfit is how comfy it is. Neither the dress nor the coat are a tight fit (in fact they are both a bit oversized, and the coat has this gorgeous O-shape which makes it just that little bit cooler). It feels very casual and perfect for taking long autumn walks! 

In terms of shoes, I was torn between these and plain black Chelsea boots. Both would go, but for me, the Sioux shoes just break it up a little bit more. I feel like the purple shoe laces and stitching really add to the entire outfit and make it more fun, and I just love the colour combination of grey, black, dark red and purple! 

I usually pair this outfit with black leggings or thick black tights, but you could definitely go for a nice grey as well, or even for something more colourful if you're feeling adventurous :)

Let me know what you think of this slightly different post, and whether you'd like to see more OOTDs in the future (as I would for sure love to do more of them!). Leave your thoughts down in the comments. 

Other than that, have a lovely week and I'll speak to you soon xx

So you're feeling homesick…?

Hey everyone, I hope you're doing well :) 

We're almost halfway through September (only 3,5 months until Christmas…there, I said it), which also means that a lot of people are about to start or go back to university. Now - there are SO many things to talk about and I could very easily write the longest blog post on that topic, but instead, I thought I would focus on what is quite close to my heart: how to cope with feeling homesick.

Any guesses on where this was taken? 100 points if you guess it ;) 

1. Keep yourself busy: Especially when you've just moved in and everything is unfamiliar to you, it's best not to sit in your room by yourself thinking about how much nicer it would be at home. However, 'keeping yourself busy' doesn't necessarily have to mean going out clubbing all night - I'm the kind of person who always needs to feel comfortable and somewhat settled first, so for me, going out with a bunch of people I don't really know yet would just make me feel more homesick. 
You might be completely different, but certainly don't worry if you do feel like simply staying in, chatting to people in the kitchen and getting to know them. That's fine, too.

2. Make yourself feel 'at home': This can mean SO many things - from decorating your room nicely to having a cup of tea every evening. When you feel overwhelmed by everything, then never feel like you shouldn't do something just because of what other people may think. If you feel like being on the phone to your mum for an hour, then go for it. If it helps you to cuddle your stuffed animal - absolutely nothing wrong with that either. Do whatever makes you feel more at ease.

3. Don't be afraid to talk about it: Especially when you've only just started to get to know people, it can be really hard to be yourself sometimes. But don't pretend. If you are feeling homesick and someone asks how you are, don't tell him/her that you've never felt better. Be honest - say that you are missing home. Chances are they will or have gone through the same thing and if they do judge you, then they aren't worth your time. 

4. Feeling homesick isn't just something you 'grow out' of: And I mean that in a good way. I've heard so many people say that once you hit a certain age, you won't feel homesick anymore. If you then still do, then that can make you feel like you're not normal, and that there's something wrong with you. 
Feeling homesick is normal, no matter how old you are. This will be the fourth year in a row that I'll be leaving home again after the summer and I know that I will probably feel homesick at some point. Especially after spending a long time at home, or even in the middle of term when you're ill or stressed, it's normal to miss your family. Every time I call my mum saying that I miss home, she tells me that it simply shows how much home means to me. Her saying that always really helps me - it makes me realise that there's a silver lining in most things. 

Remember that feeling homesick isn't like learning how to cycle. You don't just learn it one day and are fine ever after. Instead, you slowly learn how to cope with it - a little bit better every single time. 


Let me know if you found this post helpful and if you have any other tips about moving away from home and coping with feeling homesick. xx

Small things in life appreciation post #2

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well :)

Before I start, I just want to say that I've had a lovely few days off the Internet (the weather has now started to feel quite autumnal so I feel like I've truly made the most of the last days of sun and summer). Thank you SO much to everyone who has commented on and read my blog posts whilst I was away - it was so nice to log onto blogger again and read your thoughts and feedback! 

A few months ago, when I was right in the middle of taking my university exams, I posted about appreciating the small things in life. I was honestly blown away by the lovely response - it got so many page views and lovely comments and also made my blog gain quite a lot of new followers. It is a post that I re read regularly because it never fails to put me straight back into that appreciative and happy mindset that I was in that evening. 

So since I loved writing that post and you seemed to have liked reading it, why not have a small things in life appreciation post #2 :)

1. The sea - I could very easily spend hours and hours watching the waves crash and seagulls fly around trying to steal some poor person's food. What I appreciate even more about the sea though is that most people you see are happy. Truly refreshing actually when usually, everyone is rushing past, shoving others out of the way just to get that earlier train. 

2. The moon - this will sounds very very cheesy, but staring into the sky and seeing the moon always feels very calming to me. It makes me realise how massive the universe is, and any worries I might have suddenly seem insignificant. It has always been this way, ever since I was little - there is this homemade video of me (aged about 2) accidentally head butting the sofa (clumsy since Day 1 hahah). Naturally, I started crying - my mum then picked me up and walked over to the window. As soon as I saw the moon, I pointed at it, whispered 'moon' and started smiling again. 

3. Falling into bed after a long day - I've kind of touched on this in my last appreciation post, but there is honestly nothing better than falling into bed after a day of walking, with a cup of tea on the bedside table (ginger tea, preferably - anyone else obsessed with ginger tea at the moment?) and falling asleep with a smile on your face because you've had a good day. 


Is there anything you've really appreciated recently (or maybe ever since you were little)? Feel free to leave a comment below, and also let me know if you'd like these appreciation posts to be a more regular feature on my blog. I'd love to know what you guys think.

Have a lovely day xx

A little bit of a room tour...

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well!

Recently, I've been really getting into room decorating. I'm not even too sure why, but there is something really fulfilling about adding a few new things here and there or even just moving stuff around a bit! 

So today I thought I would share a little bit of my room and show you the bits and pieces that I'm proudest of :)

I got the little Arsenal pin when I went to see Arsenal vs Everton in March. It was the first ever football match I went to and such a special day for me since I've loved watching football with my dad ever since I was tiny. 

The music metal sign is from Covent Garden - when I saw it, I just had to get it. I listen to music pretty much 24/7 and the little quotes really speak to me. 

And another metal sign - clearly, I have a bit of an obsession haha. This is actually a calendar (which I always forget to keep up to date) and I bought it in a random German shop. The mirror is from a small homeware shop somewhere near Bath and I painted it grey myself because I preferred it that way. The little plant pots that I'm using to keep some of my make up in are from IKEA, I believe. 

I fell in love with this clock the moment I saw it. Again, it's from a random German shop, but I've seen very similar ones pretty much everywhere - both in Germany and in England. I love the old fashioned, used look and of course the fact that it says 'London' on it ;)

Is there anything in your room that you are particularly proud of? Let me know what you think down in the comments xx

Styling grass & short update

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well :)

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will know that I recently purchased a DIY grass head called Mr Sprout (thanks again to Rainbow for coming up with that lovely name). 

Today the grass had finally grown long enough to do some cutting and styling so here's how that went... 

as you can see, there was even some nose hair going on
(which I did trim)

I was pretty impressed with my hair styling skills at this point

and here we go! hairstyle complete

I have to say that I'm pretty happy with the result. It literally took no time at all (about 5 minutes max) and was surprisingly easy. 

UPDATE TIME

1) I have FINALLY found a place to live! I got the news yesterday and was so so relieved. I will be living in a 4 people flat in student accommodation, so keep your fingers crossed for nice flatmates :) 

2) From tomorrow until next Wednesday, I will be taking a break from the Internet. This is because one of my best friends from uni is coming to visit me, which I'm so excited about. We won't see each other much next year because she'll be at uni in Paris and I'll be in Cologne, so I can't wait to properly hang out with her before we're both going off to new places! 

I will however try to schedule a post to go up this weekend, but I've never done this before, so it may or may not happen depending on how tech savvy I turn out to be haha. 

I hope you have a lovely week and as always, feel free to leave a comment down below xx

The story of how a mint plant survived a plane journey

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well! :)

This post is a bit different to my usual ones. It was written a few weeks ago at about 2am in the morning (so clearly I was feeling creative haha) and I only just found it again. I hope you enjoy, and as always feel free to leave a comment below :)

the mint plant at the airport waiting for boarding - as you
can probably tell, it was going through a hard time 

Once upon a time, a girl (for no apparent reason, may I add) was given a mint plant two days before she was meant to catch a plane to Germany. Since there would have been no one to water it, she decided to take it with her. 

First hurdle: the London tube. Not that easy with a heavy suitcase and hand luggage as it is, but even more difficult during rush hour, at a station with no lifts and a mint plant to carry. In a moment of error, the decision was made to squeeze the plant inside the handbag which, unfortunately, resulted in squished mint plant leaves and thus a cloud of mint surrounding the girl for the rest of the tube journey. 

Next up: airport security. First security person was unsure whether the plant would be allowed onto the plane. All good in the end though - second security person even told his colleague to be careful when pushing the trays through the scanner. 
One might have to add here, for the sake of the complete picture, that the mint plant did not look its best at this point. The entrapment in the girl's handbag hadn't been very pleasant, nor did it help that the bag's zip had violently removed some of its leaves. 
Nevertheless, an end was in sight as boarding was complete, the girl was seated with the dreaded handbag stored away under the seat in front and the mint plant rested firmly on her lap. 

Whilst the tube passengers had seemed irritated by the plant's presence so far removed from a windowsill or garden, the plane crew was amused. Numerous comments were made such as whether there was a shortage of mint plants in Germany or whether the girl had brought her own mojito ingredients with her. (The latter comment probably resulted from the fact that the girl had started watering the plant to better its chances of survival)

Eventually, the plane landed and was, in retrospect, probably a much mint plant friendlier place than the handbag. 

And this is the story of how a mint plant survived a plane journey. It would even feature on the girl's blog one day, so I am told. 

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day/evening/whatever time zone you may be in :) xx

Grass head update: THERE'S HAIR. one of my next blog posts will contain the hairdressing experience ;) 

'Flat auditions'

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well! 

I'm currently very busy flat hunting because as you may know, I'll be going to university in Cologne in October. Back in London, I lived in student accommodation because it was affordable, close by and filled with loads of other students (so pretty much exactly what I wanted). Sadly, getting student accommodation is very difficult in Cologne, so I've been busy going through tons and tons of ads, contacting tons and tons of people and getting very few replies. (Honestly - if an ad has been up for longer than an hour, you can pretty much forget about it already, it's that crazy). 

I thought I would counteract the craziness of flat hunting a little bit ;)

One thing that was completely new to me was the concept of 'flat auditions'. Because there are so many people looking for a place to live, it's no longer enough to simply browse through ads, contact the person and view the flat. It's no longer about being asked questions about who you are in order to find out whether a flatshare would work. No, it's going far beyond that point.

As an example, I came across an ad yesterday where two guys were looking for a third person to live with. In the ad itself, they had already included a proper questionnaire for people to fill in when contacting them. Some questions were pretty normal (what kind of music do you like, how old are you etc.), but some were actual CHALLENGES.

'Think of something to put in the flat. Get creative.'

And then, my personal 'favourite':

'Tell us a joke'.

Now I guess that due to the number of people looking for something having 'flat auditions' is probably the only possible way of going about finding flatmates. Yet, I find the concept really awkward. As much as I want to get to know my future flatmates, I'm not sure if I like to be judged purely based on my flat decorating originality and joke telling ability. 


Have you ever come across the concept of 'flat auditions'? Do you find it as strange as I do?

Have a lovely day xx

Current Favourites

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well :)

You know that feeling when there are so many ideas floating around in your head, and they all seem kind of interesting, but you cannot really catch a single one? That's pretty much how I feel right now. There are so many ideas and thoughts I have for blog posts, but then again I don't feel like they are 100% coherent and ready to go onto my blog yet, so bear with me :) 

So I thought that instead of writing about one specific thought or idea, I would share a bit of everything with you today - my current favourites. (I'm pretty proud of that transition - can you tell? haha) 

1. Paper Towns by John Green

A few days ago, I bought the book 'Paper Towns' by John Green, the plan being to finish reading it before seeing the film. Turns out that the plan didn't completely work out (I'm still on page 153 and saw the film earlier today), yet I still feel like the book will hold a lot of surprises and detail for me. 

I can definitely say that 'Paper Towns' is highly enjoyable in both book and film form. John Green is a great author who can really bring the characters and story line to life with his thoughtful, yet lively and gripping style of writing, and the film adaptation truly manages to reflect this. I have genuinely enjoyed every minute of the film and every page of the book so far. If you are looking for something that will make you think, but also smile, then definitely give 'Paper Towns' a try. 


2. Stripes

I have always liked striped clothes, but at the moment, I'm particularly loving high neck striped tops or jumpers. The ones in the picture are (left to right) from Urban Outfitters, Hollister and boohoo and I could not be happier with them. They are all different sleeve lengths as well (which you cannot see very well at all, sorry), but what I love is that they are so easy to throw on and perfect for this time of the year, where the temperatures can range from almost autumnal to absolutely boiling. 

3. 'Sugar' by Robin Schulz

My last favourite is Robin Schulz' Remix 'Sugar'. I've had it stuck in my head for ages now and it puts me in a very happy summery mood. So definitely check it out if you are looking for something relaxed, upbeat and easy to listen to. 


Thank you for reading, and leave your thoughts down below! I would love to know what your current favourites are, whether you have read or watched 'Paper Towns' and if you are as obsessed with striped high neck tops as I am :) xx

N.B. The grass head (now named Mr Sprout - thank you Rainbow for the suggestion) is still bold. But I'm sure we're getting there eventually :) 

DIY: A (so far anonymous) Grass Head

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well! :)

As you may have noticed, I haven't blogged in a while. Now I don't really have a good reason for that - I've simply been feeling a bit down lately. I want my blog to be a happy place: for anyone who reads it, but also for myself so that I can look back and remember how much fun I had typing each and every blog post. That's why I took a little break. 

But now I'm back and ready to roll! :)

So this morning, I bought this little fellow called a grass head. I had never seen any of these before, but they looked so fun that I just had to buy one of them. From what I've figured so far, you water the head until grass starts growing out of it. Once it's long enough, you can style it any way you like. I'm getting far too excited already. 

I thought that this would be a really fun thing to do and to update you on regularly. I will start watering it later tonight and then document every step. So if you feel like coming along with me on this journey to a (hopefully) brilliantly styled grass head, then watch this space! Also please leave any thoughts and suggestions (or maybe tips, if you've done this before) down below!

I feel like we should first of all decide on a name to save it from an identity crisis, so get creative down in the comments :)

Other than that, I hope you are as curious as I am to see how this will all turn out - have a lovely day and I will speak to you soon xx

Looking back on: Things I want to do this summer

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well!

Back in May, I posted my list of things I want to do this summer. I guess it's safe to say that we're currently halfway through summer (already - where has time gone, seriously), so I figured that I should look back at that list and see how I'm getting on :)

And as today's (only ever so slightly related) picture have …A DUCK :)

You can find the whole blog post here, but in short I wanted to do 5 things this summer: go outside more, do some DIY, do some exercise, eat ice cream and go on picnics. 

So here we go…

1. Go outside more: I have definitely made an effort to do this and I think it is going quite well so far. 

2. Do some DIY: I have done one DIY project. One. Well, that is better than none, but not quite at the 'some DIY' level yet…

3. Do some exercise: I never thought I would be able to say this, but YES, I am in fact doing some exercise. I've really been enjoying Lucy Wyndham-Read's youtube channel recently, where she posts a lot of short, fun fitness videos. In particular, I'm loving her 100 reps workouts which I've been trying to do every day. They are super quick to do, yet really make you feel like you've done some exercise! So definitely check her out :) 

4. Eat ice cream: Again, not something I ever thought I would say, but I have been slacking a bit on the ice cream front. There's still some summer left for that though ;)

5.) Picnics: I wouldn't say that I've had a 'traditional' picnic, but I have been going to the beach quite a lot, with some cookies and cake, so I will let that count.


So it turns out that I've actually done quite well! 

Have you achieved your summer goals so far? Let me know in the comments xx

TAG: I'm the kind of girl...

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well!

wagamama's chocolate cake..mmhh… 

I was tagged by the lovely Catherine (smiley central) to do the 'I'm the kind of girl tag' which sounds like a lot of fun, so thank you for tagging me :)

These are the rules:

- thank the person who tagged you

- include a link to their blog

- write five statements beginning with 'I'm the kind of girl'

- tag five or more people

So here we go:

I'm the kind of girl… who really disliked the colour pink growing up. (that has changed 

                                  now)

I'm the kind of girl… who cannot say no to chocolate cake. (or chocolate ice cream)

I'm the kind of girl… who loves watching random documentaries. (deep sea fish     

                                  documentaries, anyone?)

I'm the kind of girl… who loves beach walks.

I'm the kind of girl… whose favourite food is pan fried salmon.

Instead of tagging 5 specific people, I would like to tag everyone who would like to participate :) 

I hope you have a wonderful day and as always, feel free to leave a comment below :) xx

Decisions

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well :)

Voltaire once said that 'the most important decision you make is to be in a good mood'. This quote really speaks to me because I've made a lot of 'big' decisions over the past few years such as going to university and it's ever so easy to just be a bit worried sometimes - about whether I've made the right decisions and whether everything will turn out okay. 
So I would love to share some of my thoughts with you. 

If found this little flower in the garden the other day and it was so tiny that
I almost stepped on it! I just thought it was too shiny not to share :) 

There are loads of decisions that need to be made, by all of us, pretty much every day. They can be small, or big, but what they all have in common is that they will have some sort of impact on our lives. That is without doubt exciting and fascinating, but it can also be a little bit overwhelming at times. 

I quite like to imagine that every time I make a big decision, I step onto a new path that goes in a slightly new direction, so that I'm constantly moving but never ever stopping or going backwards. I also believe that everything happens for a reason. If I make a decision now, and it turns out to be a not so good one, then that isn't necessarily something to regret but more something to learn from. 
Life isn't like a video game, where we can save our progress and then, if we don't like how something turned out, start all over from the last save. Instead we learn. And every path will lead to new paths. 

If you have recently made a big decision and are about to start something new, let that be going to university, going to a new university, starting a new job or even a new school year, then try not to be too worried and doubtful of the decision you have made. Fact is that you have made that decision and you are yet to find out what exactly will result from it. That's something exciting. 

Instead of worrying, try to make that one decision that will for sure make you feel more positive: to be in a good mood. 

Let me know your thoughts in the comments, I would love to read them xx

A bit of DIY: Inspirational Quote on Canvas

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well!

Although I've never been the greatest at Art, I've always loved painting and doing some DIY. So a few months ago, I got lost in the depths of the Internet (probably during a revision break) and found this really cute idea of Quotes on Canvas. To find out exactly what you will need, a detailed description of all the steps and what the optimal outcome looks like, definitely check out this blog post on it. 

Put very briefly, you choose any old canvas you might have lying around (mine had a very abstract looking red rabbit on it - probably stemming from my 'books about rabbits are the best thing ever' phase). You then glue pieces of newspaper all over the canvas, stick your letters on it and paint all over it. Once the paint has dried, all you have to do is peel off the letters and you should be left with a quote on a canvas. 

A few weeks ago, I decided to give it a shot myself and this is what my attempt turned out to look like:

it's definitely not the most perfect looking one, but, hey - DIY hahah

Although it doesn't look nearly as incredible as the one in the blog post, I'm still very happy with it. It took me a lot longer than expected, mainly because I really wanted to be careful when doing it and made sure to follow all the steps. 

The hardest part - by far - was actually choosing the quote - I had so many floating around in my head that it was super difficult to pick just one. In the end, I went for 'Let songs be the bodyguards of your dreams' - In May, I watched the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend live stream (sadly, I couldn't go to the actual thing because I had a uni exam the following Monday), and in the middle of their set, Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy said that he hopes that their songs will be the bodyguards of our dreams. I thought that that was an absolutely beautiful thing to say, so I modified it a little bit (just to make it more quote like) and decided to use it as my inspirational quote :) 
But of course, you can choose anything you like, which I think is the best thing about this kind of DIY.

Things I learned in the process:

1) It's not a very good idea to start painting when it's 30+ degrees out there. The paint will dry a lot quicker than you will want it to, and this might lead to cracks.

2) It's an even worse idea to try and stick bits of newspaper on a canvas when it's very windy. I spent A LOT of time chasing rampaging pieces of paper and whilst it had the nice side effect of making me exercise, it probably wasn't ideal.

3) On the subject of newspaper, try and rip it into smaller bits to stick onto your canvas. That way, you will have more exciting looking letters. 

4) Make sure to get those self sticking letters, if you can get hold of them. I couldn't find them anywhere, so I cut my letters out of an old wall sticker (which wasn't actually the worst idea since the letters were sticky enough not to move when I painted over them, but not too sticky that they would rip off the newspaper when peeling them off the canvas.) However, it took a very long time, and let to some of the letters turning out a bit wonky. 

5) MIND THE INSECTS. I had to rescue a lot of flies that had decided to land on the freshly painted canvas. 

Let me know what you think! And definitely try it out if you feel like you would enjoy doing this kind of DIY :) xx

The Versatile Blogger Award!

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well :)

I woke up this morning to find out that I have been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award by the lovely Rainbow from Rainbow-Rose Blossom which is so so exciting! Thank you so much for the nomination :) Definitely check her out, she spreads so much positivity which is just awesome.

I got this button from the versatile blogger award blog :) 

The Rules:

1) Thank the person who gave you this award.
2) Include a link to their blog.
3) Select 15 blogs that you've recently discovered or follow regularly.
4) Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.
5) Tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

Who I'm nominating: (just like Rainbow, I'm not going to nominate 15 blogs. Instead, these are the 8 blogs that I've discovered recently and have been loving!)

1) Aubrey from Girl Meets Blog - apart from her blog looking super pretty, I love the way she writes and how versatile her blog topics are!

2) Iris from Get Up And Out - Iris only started her blog very recently and she has such an awesome concept. Every week, she wants to try out something completely new and share her experience which I think is incredible.

3) Daniela from Honey Just For Me - I love Daniela's blog because she takes the most incredible pictures. She also posts about so many different things including family, traveling and how she is going to get married (exciting!)

4) Charlotte from Life Begins Now - Charlotte recently blogged about confidence and it was an amazing post. I love the way she writes!

5) Bobo from Meet Me in Melford - Bobo blogs about beauty, lifestyle, her favorite songs and so many other things and I love how bubbly and positive her posts are!

6) Paige from Paige Elizabeth - I love Paige's blog because she has amazing pictures on there and because her style of writing is so genuine and positive.

7) Jessica from Perfect Fixations - Jessica mainly blogs about beauty and I absolutely love her reviews. They are always helpful and honest and so lovely to read. 

8) Jade from Accidentally Jade - Jade's blog is exactly what she describes it as: energetic. It cannot not put you in a good mood!  


7 things about me:

1) I'm very clumsy. I constantly walk into things, trip, fall over or scratch myself when getting my phone out of my bag. (seriously, how.) Once, I wanted to go and leave the house to go food shopping (I'm not even kidding, my laptop auto corrected this to 'woodchopping', go me proof reading what would have been a slightly different fact hahah!), grabbed my shoes, walked towards the door, opened it, then tripped and fell right out of the door (and people walking past saw.) Go clumsiness. 

2) I love music. Everything music any time of the day everywhere.

3) My favorite animals are sheep because we had to paint an animal in Year 11 and it got me my first ever A in Art.

4) I would always choose a night in playing monopoly or just chatting over going out to clubs or bars. I'm yet to find a group of friends who feel the same though, but I'm sure I'll get there eventually :)

5) I'm afraid of dogs (of them barking, specifically) because a dog barked at me when I was very little and daydreaming and it must have scared me a lot. 

6) I speak both German and English fluently. 

7) I'm not very sporty. However, I absolutely love watching sports: any big sporting event, football, formula 1 - I'm there. No one ever believes me when I tell them that though and the most common reaction seems to be 'Really?! I thought you would be a ballet dancer or something' which COULD NOT be further from the truth. I can't even touch my toes let alone do an elegant twirl. I would probably step on everyone's toes or accidentally punch other ballerinas in the face if I were required to dance ballet. 

Wow, that was a long post. But here we go. I hope you enjoyed it and have a lovely day xx 

The 'A GLIMPSE OF YOU' tag

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well :)

The other day, I found my friendship book from when I was about seven, and apart from seeing a photo of myself in a lion costume (I have no recollection of this whatsoever), I also discovered that the 'best things ever' for little me were - apparently:
- rabbits
- all book about rabbits
- pancakes.
(that pancakes are pretty much the best thing ever is still very accurate, not too sure about the rabbit books though)

I found it so fascinating to have that little glimpse of me saved to look back at now, in a decade or when I'm eighty. And this is exactly what this tag is about. It's designed to capture what makes you smile, a 'glimpse of you' right now, so that in a week, a month, a year or a decade you can look back at what you wrote and hopefully smile at what the past you loved doing. 

'A GLIMPSE OF YOU' tag Questions

1) Post and explain a picture that makes you remember a happy memory.

A few months back, I got to see my first ever football match live. This was a big big moment for as I've always loved watching football and it was made even more special by this mini rainbow in the middle of the stadium! This photo just captures a very special and happy day and I want to treasure that memory forever. 

2) Who makes you smile?
There are a lot of people out there who make me smile, including my friends and family of course, but I have to pick the youtuber amazingphil for this one. There's not a single video of his that does not leave me with the biggest smile on my face, no matter how down I was feeling before.

3) What song makes you want to sing along and dance?
It's really hard to pick just one, but right now it will probably have to be be 'Shut Up and Dance' by Walk the Moon. I find it insanely catchy and it does make me dance (although not shut up because I will sing along to it). 

4) What joke makes you chuckle?
I'm very lame when it comes to jokes. VERY lame. The one that has recently made me laugh is this one:

'The past, present and future walk into a bar.

It was tense.' 

(yep, okay, I'll leave)

5) What do you want to ask your future self?
Are you still as clumsy as you used to be? If yes, has it EVER come in handy?

6) Finally: What is the BEST THING EVER?
For me, the best thing ever is the feeling you get when you've worked very hard for something and it turns out just like you wanted it to. (Pancakes are pretty cool, too, though)


I TAG EVERYONE WHO READS THIS. Feel free to take these exact questions, or maybe modify or add to them a bit. The goal is to spread a bit of happiness and a big smile because that would just be awesome. Also let me know what you think in the comments xx


(I thought of all the questions and the name of the tag myself. If a tag like this already exists then I'm very sorry but that was not intentional)

Dear London.

Regents Park yet again

I can picture exactly what you must look like right now. One of those cities that never sleep, your lights will only yield to the eventual sunrise tomorrow morning.

You are busy. Ridiculously so. I cannot even recall the amount of times that I had wished for more space to walk down your busy streets, without some person in front of me deciding to stop to take a selfie. 

You have many faces, many places. The tube map sits like a spider, reaching out its arms all across you. Taxis and busses stuck in traffic, people crossing streets with no green lights, cyclists speeding past as if they were riding something bigger and much more protective. 

Your streets can be scary. Your anonymity can give way to loneliness. With business turning into nightlife, into pretty sunrises and early risers, joggers and dog walkers, you are never truly quiet. People, drills, ambulances, cars. Walking down the same street every day, yet never recognizing a familiar face. 

You are not always pretty, not always glamorous. Grey at times, rainy and cold. Yet never boring. There's your music, your fashion, business and art. Your buildings, history, your Queen. Your people. 

And then there's the constant change. That what it takes to keep that spark and buzz surrounding you alive. You never sleep, so you can never stop. And don't stop. Don't stop changing.

You have a special place in my heart, London.

And when the street lights turn off to welcome the next day, when lonely stations become platforms during rush hour, when your people write the history of another day, you will still be special to me. 

There you have it. Something you cannot change.

xx

Glittery sandals and I'm melting

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well!

ahhh the glitter (also just imagine what they look like in the sunlight
- it's like having a mini disco ball on my feet hahah)

I guess it's safe to say that summer has finally arrived. And I'm melting, so I'm giving myself a bit of a break from the sun to type a short summery post. 

Whilst I love shopping and trying out new styles, I do tend to stick with the same colors that I love - i.e. whites and blacks, cream, navy, stripes and pastels. Anything too bright just doesn't really find its way into my wardrobe. Looking for sandals was going to go along the same lines; I wanted to find a nice pair that would go with everything and was pretty, but not too exciting. And then boohoo happened.

As soon as I saw these sandals on the website, I was drawn to them (most likely due to the sparkliness of them even online) and although they are very out there and not exactly what I had expected, I just had to order them. At the time, I didn't have the biggest expectations, just because sandals rarely fit me (thanks, narrow feet), so I was surprised when they finally arrived and turned out to fit perfectly. They are also quite soft which again, I didn't expect from the look of them and are definitely, as with most boohoo things, very good value for money! 

I've fallen in love with them. They are something I never thought I would wear and that's what makes them so awesome and cool to me. I know that they probably aren't up everyone's street, but I love how happy and special I feel when I put them on. That's why I love clothes and shoes and shopping: finding something, however small it might be, that makes you feel confident and happy. 

Also, they do actually go with pretty much any outfit and make everything you wear so much more interesting, glittery and summery!

Have you bought anything recently that makes you feel special when wearing it? Let me know in the comments! 

Have a lovely time in the sun (if it's shining where you live!) and stay hydrated xx

Home alone

Hey everyone! I hope you are doing well :)

This lonely squirrel was the only somewhat fitting picture
I could find - GUESS WHERE IT WAS TAKEN

A lot of people dislike being home alone. I'm definitely not one of them - as long as it's during the day and not for too long, I actually quite enjoy being by myself as opposed to constantly being surrounded by others. 

Yet, when I'm home alone, I tend to do certain things that I would NEVER do otherwise. Here are two of them: 

(N.B. By the end of this post, feel free to find me #relatable or strange. Or a bit of both)

1) Dancing

As soon as I say 'bye' to parents/friends/the postman, I immediately seem to lose the ability to walk normally and instead proceed to skip or jump around the house and do a twirl when loading the dishwasher. Walking past a mirror without trying out 'cool' dance moves becomes unthinkable, so does waiting for the microwave to beep without pretending to be a K-pop dancer or, at the very least, a ballerina. 

What even is the gym compared to being home alone, seriously.

2) Singing

In Year 6, I was in the school choir and absolutely loved everything about it - from rehearsals to performances. In Year 9, the teacher who organized the choir left, and instead, a new 'musical group' was created, by students for students. A girl in my class was one of the proud founders and when she announced the new group in front of everyone, she made it clear that this was not just your 'usual choir', but that there would be 'proper auditions….you actually have to be able to sing, you know.'

Well, that was that, then.

(N.B. the musical group didn't last for very long as it turned out to be so picky when deciding who to include, that it ended up being more of a musical trio.)

When I'm home alone, I'm not auditioning to become part of a musical group. Therefore, I sing. A lot. In fact, I seem to turn anything I do into a song - there is a 'going up the stairs' rap, a 'brushing my teeth' melody, a breakfast making song (opera style), and, most importantly, a mash-up of all the songs currently stuck in my head. I sing 'good morning' to the kitchen, 'we are the champions' to the toaster when it has toasted my bread and 'ah, ah, ah, ah, staying alive' to the laptop when it's on 1% charge. 

Am I the only one who does this? What (somewhat strange) things do you do when you're home alone? Please let me know in the comments xx