Out with the old and in with the new

So it has been 18 days since I last uploaded a post. 18 days that have been unashamedly spent with endless Mulled Wine, Mince pies (I'm currently on a strict diet of at least two a day) and Movies. 

Christmas is one of my favourite times of year, but as we go through the confusing days between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve (don't ask me what day it is) I always start to think about what my goals for next year are. I have never really been one for sticking to New Year's Resolutions, mainly because they tend to be slightly far fetched or unrealistic. I don't write New Year's Resolutions because I intend on becoming a brand new human being as soon as the clock strikes midnight on December 31st each year, but because I like to look back on them at the end of the year to see whether I managed to reach my personal goals. I would even recommend doing them purely for the sake of the future you who will get to look back on them in 10 years time and laugh at what you considered to be a problem in your life and how insignificant it feels now. Take it from me, it can be very entertaining.

Yesterday I was given a piece of advice that I can only imagine will stick with me for many years to come. It was that we need to remember that the biggest investment we can make in our lives to ensure future success looks back at us every time we look in a mirror. With this in mind I know that I need to put in hard work within my life now, to helpfully make my life a lot easier in the future.

The most immediate way of investing in my future that I can think of is ensuring that I do well in my degree. It is so strange to think that as I write this post I am already half way through my degree and only 18 months away from being 'set free' into the real world of work and I need to do as much now to try and make that transition as 'easy' as possible. I know that I need to work hard in terms of my academic studies, but I also need to work hard at gaining work experience and I need to work hard at filling my summer doing constructive things to help towards my future career goals of working in the media. 

I just hope that 2015 will bring happiness and most importantly will begin the countdown to the end of  this country being run by the  Cameron and the Conservatives but with Ed Miliband as the alternative I'm not sure how likely that will be.

What are your New Year's Resolutions? Do you bother with them? Let me know in the comments!

Dealing with Embarassment

Embarrassment is something that we all have to deal with, some people more than others.I seem to always pull the short straw. I spend a disproportionate time of my life cringing, it's like I am a magnet for awkward situations.

Just today I had a missed call from an unknown number which I assumed was my Mum from her work phone. My Mum has this annoying habit of having a very good ‘phone voice’ and also saying ‘Hello?’ loads of times just to wind me up. So when the woman on the other end of the phone met both of these criteria I instantly assumed it was my mum and half seriously asked ‘WHAT DO YOU WANT!?’ after having said ‘Hello’ for the fifth time.

It turns out that it wasn’t my mum.

It was actually a woman from McDonald’s.

Where I used to work.

Asking me if I was going to return to work over Christmas.

In that moment, my brain and I fell out.

I don’t know why it decided to betray me.

My response was ‘I’m sorry I thought it was my Mum’. In hindsight I doubt that made me look any better. She was probably thinking ‘This girl is a horrible person, why would she talk to her mum like that?’ or ‘This girl is an idiot’.

I only found solace in the fact that knowing that I quit my job means that I will probably never come into contact with her again.

I am not that lucky in the majority of my awkward encounters.  Most of them tend to be face to face which means I’m stuck with the mental images of people’s faces. I tend to talk quite quickly which means I’m often misunderstood and confronted with blank faces on an almost daily basis.

So anyway, I’ve tried to come up with a few foolproof ways to prevent myself from digging a hole and never resurfacing.

1.       Just pretend that it never happened- easier said than done but it is a possible option

2.       Learn to laugh at yourself and see the funny side- Instead of cringing on the outside as well as on the inside after the phone call ended I just laughed non-stop for a few minutes

3.       Talk slower- this is especially for those, like me, who talk at 100mph

4.       Say sorry-If you genuinely did something wrong or can see you upset someone just say sorry. (note I said nothing about actually meaning it)

5.       Avoid the person for as long as possible- with McDonald’s this is an approach that I have very much welcomed

Ten important life lessons I learnt in the week beginning 1st December 2014

1. Healthy eating can be a lot of fun

2.Some people think it appropriate to drink this in a study room

3. Pixie Lott is fab

4.This image will always make me incredibly happy mainly because of the Pizza but also because it's when I first realised the annoying black dot that's been on my iPhone camera for months has disappeared!

5.George the Gingerbread man is adorable

6.Secret Santa present shopping is stressful, but great when you know they like your present.

7.You're never too old for one of these (Yes that is Cara D's Tom Ford ad in the background, I'm so obsessed with that pic)

8.Gingerbread men on Christmas jumpers is almost too much cute to deal with

9.My work know how to throw a fab Christmas party

10.Teenage girls go crazy for MIC guys, a day at the Clothes Show taught me that!

Facebook and FOMO

I love social networks as much as the next person, I love them so much that I'm scared that I'm genuinely addicted to it. I doubt I'd be able to go more than a few hours without the endless scrolling that has become part of my life. I honestly don't know how I lived for 13  years without Facebook.









My life on social media began about 8 (!!!) years ago when my school friends and I used to make endless websites on the now defunct Piczo.com when I was in year 6 at school. Then I went to secondary school and moved on to the also now defunct Bebo and spent hours and hours organizing who my 'best friends' and posting on my friend's walls.

Then life as I know it was changed in 2008 when I finally joined the biggest social network of them all. Facebook. Facebook formed a key part of my school years as everyone was on it. If you weren't on  Facebook it was like you didn't really exist outside of school hours. I love Facebook as I get to catch up/keep up with old school friends but there are some things that I massively dislike. Not including the embarrassing photos that exist of me, namely between the years 2008-2011. While it's nice to see that my friends are enjoying themselves, its almost impossible not to compare my lives to theirs, which more often than not makes me feel like I'm missing out. Especially since moving away for university I always see posts from old friends at their unis loving life and seemingly going out every night which makes me feel like I'm doing something massively wrong because there are not 1026561 photos of me in clubs or out drinking with my friends. I know that everyone uses social media to portray their 'best self' but it doesn't change the inevitable FOMO ( Fear of missing out) I experience every time I log in. 

I'd love to know what your thoughts on this are!