5 Series I'm Binge Watching this Autumn

Hello there on this lovely Saturday morning, I hope you're waking up with the full opportunity of the weekend stretched out before you. Now you probably aren't wondering 'where oh where have I been?' but I'll answer it anyway. America, University, in bed ill.

I haven't posted since May(!) and I feel like that's a recurring them that happened after last summer too. I don't know what happens, I think once I'm out of the routine I find it hard to slot myself back in where I left off. But to be honest I've been kind of crappy at the whole blogging thing since the summer before last, so I have a lot of slack to be picking up! But this time for real I want to get myself back into the routine of blogging. I miss this creative outlet and basically I just miss writing.

So I thought I'd catch you up with some things that I have been doing lately as to ease myself back in. And as most people when it gets to this time of year I've been binge watching tv shows, thank you to that borrowed Netflix password.

• Teen Wolf. Now I'm know I'm soo late to the bandwagon with this one but it's been on my netflix list for so long, I just haven't got around to watching it. As much as I think that some of the 'werewolf' things are a bit silly, (seriously have you seen them run on all fours?) I'm so invested now. The finale of the final season has just aired so I'm racing to not have anything spoiled for me.
• The Confessions Tapes. This is a new one for me but also one that's been waiting on my List. I'm two episodes in and I'm already trying to find ways to watch it instead of doing uni work. This true crime drama is right up my street and definitely one for you if you loved Making A Murderer.
• The Ranch. This is a project by Ashton Kutcher and it's so country and wholesome and simple that it's just feel good tv. You get invested with the characters and it gives you a good laugh.
• Love. This is on the second season now and it's not your average love story to say the least. It follows an ex-addict and her geeky new love interest as they try to navigate a normal relationship, well, as normal as it can be in LA.
• White Gold. Now this is some good old British humour, its got Ed Westwick (two mins while I just swoon) and James Buckley and Joe Thomas from The Inbetweeners. It's funny and crass but it's a good pick me up for when these other dramas pull a bit too much on the old heartstrings.  

So there you go, the 5 series' I am and will continue binge watching this Autumn/Winter time. I hope you enjoy them as much as I've been.

Love, Beth xo

4 Place I'd Rather Be

Right now this is the last thing I should be doing, but in the midst of writing (or should I say procrastinating) I found that all I really wanted to do was write here.

I go through ebbs and flows with this blog and there are day where i couldn't feel more inspired to just type my life away. Unfortunately, I have a lot more things to juggle since being at uni and I haven'y been able to find my balance. Meaning that although I love it, my blog has been very neglected! And that makes me so sad, but I will get there. Life is manic at the moment and I'm hoping that my second year of uni will allow me some more stability.

Anyway, what I'm really here to share is my desire for a holiday! Not unexpected considering deadlines are looming and summer is a matter of weeks away. So the obvious thing for me to be doing is looking up idyllic holiday locations, right?!

Now that I'm thoroughly pining for some sun and beautiful scenery, back to essay writing I go. I hope this has satisfied your wanderlust for now!

Love, Beth xo 

Time Flies...

It's April. 

This may be obvious to you lot who actually keep track of your calendars and probably read blog posts on a daily basis.

I haven't posted since February. 
This hasn't been a conscious decision. In fact I don't really know why I haven't written. Maybe I've been uninspired, maybe I've been busy, maybe I've been distracted. Maybe it's a bit of all of those.

It doesn't dawn on you how quickly time passes until you look back and realise you don't know where that time went. What did I do with the last 2 months? I'm unsure to be honest.

And in another 2(ish) months I'll be jetting back to the US for another incredible summer at camp. And then it will be September again! It's all a lot and not enough time isn't it?

I do want to start writing posts again because I hate that I can't keep this blog regular. I do love it and I do love writing, so I don't know where I'm going wrong. Maybe it's my lack of organisation and my major case of procrastination. I'm not going to lie I have become mega lazy and am prone to just putting things off. But how have I done that with something I love and for 2 MONTHS?! 

Anyway, onwards and upwards.

I have a week and a half left of easter holidays, uni work to do, money to earn, flights to book and 4 summative essays to write before 15th May. So wish me luck that I don't lose my head in the process. 

I hope you see you here again very soon!

Love, Beth xo

Why I Like Reading

Considering I am doing an English Literature degree it is evident that I am a fan of reading. But some of the main questions I have been asked since starting this degree are:

How do you read so much? Don't you get bored? I can barely finish a book, how do you read so read so many? 

And I have to reply by saying, 'because I enjoy it' or some other generic answer because it would take too long to explain why or how I read so much and why I enjoy it. And in all honesty I doubt the person asking is actually asking, if you know what I mean.

But I do think it is an interesting question, why do I read so much? Why do I love it? Because reading is such a personal and individual experience. Everyone gets something different from it and no two people will read the same book and have an identical experience. And that is just one thing I love about reading! 

How interesting is it that two people can read the exact same words in the exact same order and not read the same thing? Isn't it incredible that books can impact people so deeply and in so many different ways?

I love reading because you can go months unsatisfied by everything you read because it just doesn't quite hit that spot, and then you can read something and it's like a light goes on. I find that when I read, I get these little epiphanies. Random moments when what I'm reading just clicks and I'm like 'yes I get that' or 'I totally agree' and it's a brilliant feeling. Somehow by reading things you can connect with people you've never met and probably will never meet on this level that is unlike any other. It's this mutual agreement and satisfaction that you're not alone in what you think.

Books can make you laugh, cry, get angry, feel, understand. Texts can teach you things, make you ask questions. Reading is so provocative. It makes you think and interact.

What an incredible device reading is when it can do all that and more. It actually makes me sad to think that people don't read, or can't read! There is so much that is being missed.

If I had the power to advocate anything, it would be to get more people interested in reading things, whether that's novels or reports or articles. Just go for it, you never know you might just enjoy it!

Love, Beth xo 

It is true that we get nothing whatsoever except pleasure from reading; it is true that the wisest of us is unable to say what that pleasure may be. But that pleasure – mysterious, unknown, useless as it is - is enough. That pleasure is so curious, so complex, so immensely fertilizing to the mind of anyone who enjoys it, and so wide in its effects, that it would not be in the least surprising to discover, on the day of judgement when secrets are revealed and the obscure is made plain, that the reason why we have grown from pigs to men and women, and come out from our caves, and dropped our bows and arrows, and sat round the fire and talked and drunk and made merry and given to the poor and helped the sick and made pavements and houses and erected some sort of shelter and society on the waste of the world, is nothing but this: we have loved reading. -Virginia Woolf

They're Back!

I posted about these trousers a while back in this post, but I wanted to share them again because I really loved this outfit.

I love the contrast between the pin striped bodysuit and the bold floral print of the trousers. I added the belt last minute to define my waist more and to break the outfit up a bit. I paired it with some high top white Converse to keep it more casual and comfortable.

Overall I loved wearing this and am a bit annoyed I didn't manage to take any better pictures of it.

Have you got a statement piece in your wardrobe that you love to wear?

Love, Beth xo

New Year New Hair

At the end of 2016 I was very unsatisfied with my hair. The blue was fading and a constant effort to keep blue and I was bored with the style. I knew I wanted to grow my hair to getting rid of the blue would have been on my agenda at some point anyway. 

So at the beginning of January I decided to cut my hair up to the length of the dye and also get a middle part and a short fringe cut in as well. It's taken a while to get used to styling it but I actually really love the fringe, although it is a lot more effort than before. One thing I do miss is being able to scrape all my hair back out if my face every now and then, but I can get around that with a clip. There are pros and cons, but overall I'm very happy with the change.

Love, Beth xo

We Will Walk

It's important to show up ✨✌🏼#womensmarch #womensmarchlondon ❤#useyourvoice @womensmarchlon 💪🏼 https://t.co/kN5qyBNBOz pic.twitter.com/YJXoWCgWuL

— Estée Lalonde (@EsteeLalonde) January 21, 2017

Pre-march photo! #womensMarchAntarctica ❤️🐧 pic.twitter.com/NaRyZaIvsM

— linda zunas (@lindazunas) January 21, 2017

(All pictures sourced from New York Times website)
I know there has been a lot of talk about the Women's March on Saturday 21st Jan, I even witnessed it first hand in London, which I am overjoyed to say. I did not personally take part as I am not great with crowds and London is not a familiar place to me, this feeling was also shared by the friends I was with. But I was wholeheartedly taking part in spirit, you can believe that without question. 

It was so heartwarming and reassuring to see such a widespread support for this cause. To see that real people, on such a scale, think and believe in the same ideals is me is honestly relieving, because for a second there I thought I was going mad. To see how much progress has been made in recent history and then for it to be snatched away so abruptly has been truly exasperating. However if anything, I think it was eye-opening to see how many people have not followed this trend of evolution in society.

It is evident that we are not where we thought we were in terms of how we think things should be in 'the 21st century'. People say but 'it's 2017' and I think we have to realise that no matter how far we think we may have come from the days of women not having the vote or being able to work, we still have to fight just as hard now, as they did then. These demonstrations and their reactions show how little has changed in the perceptions of people as a collective. 

It is easy to be blinded by what we think and what those around us believe. We attract those who are like-minded to us and through this become unaware of those who do not comply to our standards. It is a dangerous slope to assume that just because we think a certain way, others do also.

I also think that is easy to isolate this within America, after all this has stemmed from the election and the ideals that Trump upholds and stands for. However I think it would be ignorant of us to view it that way. This affects and impacts further than that.
This is not a fight for just America, this is bigger than one country, this is bigger than Trump. This is a stand for what is right, for what is and should be, equal. I was overwhelmed when I saw how many countries, far and wide, marched on Saturday. I saw a boat in Antarctica who marched. The sheer volume of support for this cause gives me hope and for now that is enough. Hope is the catalyst that keeps the movement going.

I read an incredible post shared on my facebook that you can read here, which inspired the title of this post. I think what is said is so important and reaffirming, that no matter the obstacles, no matter the consequences, people are prepared to fight for what they deserve. People are prepared to fight and they will.

This will go down in history and I want to be able to say that took part, that I fought for what I believed in. I will not sit aside and be silenced because others do not want to hear what I have to say. No matter how small your contribution, it has an impact. Whether you walked in the march or you shared a post about it. Spreading this message is key to breaking down the barriers. 

This is important and it will not just go away.

We will walk.

Beth

The Rain Won't Stop Us

A couple of days ago Molly came down to stay. It was such a lovely weekend, any time spent with her is guaranteed to be filled with laughter. I decided to take her to have a look around he north coast of Cornwall, so we visited Godrevy Lighthouse and St. Ives.

We got soaking wet at Godrevy because the wind made the drizzle 100x worse but that didn't stop us. We walked as far as we could without getting lost in the fog and then tuned back to dry off in hr car.

With hopes of the weather clearing up a bit we heading further west to St. Ives, without much luck. We took shelter in an adorable, cosy pub and had the most incredible lunch! I would definitely recommend The Queens Hotel pub, it was dead quiet while we were there but I think that was mainly due to the weather. We were probably thought crazy by the people who lived there. 

But the weather did clear and it actually left us a lovely day to explore the harbour. It was like a ghost town, but that only meant that we could enjoy it for ourselves. I took my camera along to capture some of our day, I want to do this more as I think it is so lovely to be able to look back on what I've done. Pictures are great but there's something a little more personal about a video. It was really fun to make, so maybe you'll see a few more of these.

Enjoy, Beth xo

 

New Year, New Products

Testers are the best way to figure out whether you like a product or not before you shell out the money on the full size product. However it's not always that easy to get testers of products you're interested in, unless you go to a counter. 

That was until I came across a blog post saying how Feel Unique now allows you to order 5 free samples every month, all you have to do is cover the p+p fee of £3.95, however you don't lose this money! They will email you a code that you can use on your next purchase on their site for a discount of £3.95.

I think this is such a great way to try out new and potentially expensive products without having to fork over the money beforehand!

I chose to try the Nars Languna Bronzer because it is a cult product that I've actually never tried, so I'm really excited about this. I picked the Emma Hardy Moringa Cleansing Balm because I've only heard rave reviews about it and let's be honest the little pot it adorable. Marc Jacobs make the most incredible perfumes so I couldn't resist trying their newest addition, and I will say I'm now very tempted to buy a much bigger one. It's amazing. 

Have a look at the products they offer samples of here.

Love, Beth xo