Budget Friendly Stationery

I'm a bit late for the back to school and back to college people, but this week I've been buying my guilty pleasure - Stationery. 

Here are a few of my favourite budget friendly stationery products!

(L-R) set of 2 storage boxes / set of 2 storage boxes / set of 2 storage boxes / index card box / box file / folder

(L-R) Set of owl food boxes / unicorn eraser / iwako kokeshi doll eraser / red satchel / pencil case

I have to say that I'm quite proud of how small my 'notes' section considering my 'notes' section in my desk is by far my biggest collection! (I have to buy all designs and sizes of any post-it notes I find) but my favourite items have got to be the pencil case tin which would be a great solution to the awkward moments I experiences last year at Uni where I opened my bag and didn't look in when I grabbed my pencil case and pull out my make-up instead (whoops!) and the index card box because I swear that using index cards to make revision cards has got to be a pre-exam lifesaver!

whats your favourite? 

Lots of Love

Tips for starting university.

As I flick though blogs I'm flooded with posts named "top tips for starting university!". I have to read every one of these posts just out of curiosity to see if the suggestions are as silly as the last post I read. 

For a start, if you're starting university this  month - do not take these posts to be like your new bible! Everyone is different and if something is definitely not your cup of tea don't feel like you have to. 

I'm going to list the most common "tips" and put my own spin on it.

1. Get involved with clubs and societies.

If there isn't a club or society that you're interested in - don't join one. You can join any time or at the beginning of next year. I didn't join any when I started last year and I don't feel like I missed out on much. Don't get me wrong if you're a massive fan of a sport or hobby and there's an appropriate club/society then join it - you'll meet loads of people who share your interest. 

2. Go to every freshers event. 

This is stupid. To go to every freshers event or even plan to is crazy. You will have a seen or received your freshers week calendar thing. Pick out your favourite ones and highlight them in a certain colour pen. Then, once you've got to university discuss with people in your halls of residence which events they'll be going to. If a lot of people in your block are going to an event and it doesn't sound completely nightmare-ish then give it a go if that many people in a small space are interested in it chances are a lot of people will go and you might meet some people from your course while you're there. But if there's an event you really wanted to go to and no one else in your block wants to go - still go you'll meet people who you are most likely to things in common with interest-wise. 

(For example my university does a board game night and a computer game night as well as all the alcohol related nights that are on.) 

3. When you move in - pack light. 

When you pack to move in DO NOT pack light. Pack everything you think you might need in a year. I had to do 2 trips in a Peugeot 306 to move my stuff in and I managed to fit everything into my room (just about (to takes a lot of planning to find a sensible place for everything)) but I'm so glad I took everything I did because I felt like I have everything I could possibly need and it saves the situation where you realise you need something and you didn't pack it and now you have to waste precious money on something you already own. You can always take things home when you visit home if you realise you definitely did not need to pack it. 

Also, make sure you pack home comforts. I didn't pack my stuffed toy from when I was born because I didn't really use it anymore but when I moved in and nipped back home for my 2nd load the whole idea that I was moving out was starting to dawn on me and I quickly grabbed my stuffed toy which I was go glad I did. It's nice to have something like that for when you feel homesick because for me just seeing the toy in my Uni room it made me feel so much more comfortable. 

4. Put up lots of photos and posters 

This is one tip I couldn't recommend more. Lots of websites give you 100 free prints of any photos you want and you just have to pay postage (such as boots and snapfish) when you sign up for them. Make the post of it I completely covered my room in photos, posters, tickets, pictures of my favourite bands etc and every single person in my block said my room was by far the most homely. 

5. Don't go home when you feel homesick.

I sort of agree with this. When I moved to Uni I only moved 2 bus rides away from home (25ish minutes in the car) and during my first week of Uni I had to go to inductions for my lectures and I was in campus accommodation which was about 10 minutes walk from campus still and it was absolutely pissing down with rain. I have naturally curly hair which I hate so I HATE rain because it makes my hair go curly so you can imagine my shit mood when on my first opportunity to meet people on my course I turn up looking like some weirdo. I was freezing cold and just wanted to go back home so when my lectures finishes I caught the bus home, had a shower and got ready and went back to Uni and this quick trip home did me the world of good it got rid of that bit of homesickness I had and I was completely ready to start again with Uni life after spending just an hour at home. 

Anyway the moral of the story is that if you feel really home sick, go home if you feel you really need to. Just try not to go too often - you'll also be surprised how your home sickness can go away when you speak to family or friends on Skype or if you invite people to visit you at Uni rather than going home to visit them because as much as going home can help, it can also make it so much worse if you go home too often and it will also mean you'll end up losing out on the university experience.

To top off the reasons why you shouldn't go home to often is that when you actually move home whether its for summer or permanently at the end of Uni, you will hate every minute of it you'll have to live by someone else's rules and you'll lose a portion of your freedom so make the most of your freedom! 

6. Get a TV and TV licence.

Don't. It a complete waste of money there's nothing you can't go on your computer/laptop as long as you've got Internet. Chances are you'll miss most programmes you like when they're actually on so you will have to watch them on on demand players online anyway and if you aren't going to miss a programme you're much better getting freewire anyway which has all the freeview channels on and runs off the Internet streaming tv programmes as they're being broadcast. 

Further if your parents have sky or virgin media TV get their username and password and you can watch sky/virgin channels online too and it's such a space saver in your room not having to have a TV and a computer/laptop. 

7. Share food shopping

I never did group food buying but I do know other accommodation blocks which did and it worked well for them but even if you don't group buy food (I can't see the practicality as everyone wants different things) I do recommend going in small groups to a local supermarket as you can divide a taxi fare between you to make it work out cheaper than if you'd caught the bus and catching a busy bus with food shopping is not pretty. 

I would like to add one recommendation which I haven't yet seen anywhere else. 

eBay eBay eBay! 

It's been a life save when preparing for both of my courses and its been great for feeding my shopping addiction at the lower cost as some clothes on there are great value. 

Anyone who is starting university this month - good luck and make the most of it! 

Much love 

xxx

A/W 2013 on the High Street

Hello :)

Just a quick post to show you all what I've seen on the high street ready for A/W 2013.

The post will be focusing on 4 looks: Punk, 1980's Club Kid, Classic Co-ordinates and Oversized Outerwear.

Redcrop top - River Island £10 / Tartanhair scrunchy - River Island £4 / FauxFur Collar Biker Jacket - River Island £60 / TartanCropped Skinny Trousers - Zara £29.99 £17.99  / LeatherSkinny Trousers - Topshop £32 / FauxFur Collar Waxed Jacket - River Island £60 / Blackand Gold snake nail ring - River Island £3 / DipDye Spike Collar - Topshop £10 / BlackChunky Buckle Cut out Ankle Boots - New look £29.99 / BlackLeather Look Collar Shirt - TK Maxx £16.99 / BlackLeather Cut out Ankle Boots - New look £59.99

Lilac Slingback flatform pumps – Topshop £25 / Neon greenmesh panel pencil skirt – Topshop £25 / Tie dye studded shorts – Topshop £50 / NeonLeopard print tassel dress – Topshop £32 / Florescent Boarder  flower Jogger trousers – Topshop £35 / Earrings– Topshop £32 / Colour block pencil skirt – river island £25 / Cosmic Cat printt-shirt – Topshop £25 / Neon halter neck wrapped cropped top – riverisland £28 / Embellished Tiger Cropped top – Topshop £24 / Black and blue Ankleboots – Topshop £80 / Eyes bodycon dress – Topshop £32 / Gold brogues – Riverisland £45 / Animal print bralet – topshop £26 / Jelly shoes – JuJu at Office£25 / Coin Bracelet – River island £20

Lace Panel shirt – topshop £36 / Colour block cami – topshop£38 / Pink and Gold rose bracelet – New Look £5.99 / Stone Flower Ropebracelet  - Topshop £10 / Pink and blackcolour block skirt £25 and top £22 £10 – river island / Blue mesh insertskirt – topshop £48 / Purple spotty crop shirt – Topshop £29 / Grey Textured Woolen Shorts – French Connection at TK Maxx £14.99 / Lilac floral a-line Skirt –topshop £60 £20 / Cream check velvet flocked skirt  £25  and top £28 - river island

Black Shearling Panel Waterfall Biker Jacket – River Island£75 / Long Black Jacket – TIBI at TK Maxx £129.99 / Black Long Line Biker -Miss selfridge £69 / Wide Collar Pea Coat – Topshop £75 / Brown 2 Tone WaterfallCoat – River Island £60 / Glittler and Black Blazer – Elizabeth and James at TKMaxx £119.99 / Wool Black Wrap Cape – Dsquared2 at TK Maxx £299.99 / BlueWoolen Coat – Far Fetch £830 / Faux Fur Collar Waterfall Jacket – New Look£39.99 

What are your favourite A/W 2013 styles?

Lots of Love 

xxx

In the summer time when the weather is high..

Sorry, I couldn't resist the temptation to use some mungo jerry lyrics as my title :).

We've all been enjoying some lovely weather lately and I'd say that this year we have definitely had a summer in Britain (which hopefully isn't going to end that soon.. Fingers crossed!) and this sunny weather just makes me want to go to somewhere beautiful and have a picnic.

Here's a few of my ideal picnic scenes: 

 

Yes, I've been sad enough to (sort of) plan my ideal picnic..

My ideal setting would be a beautiful gardens:

and some of the favourite picnic items would be like these..

  

What do you like to do in the sunny weather?

Happy Reading

xxxxxx

You're much too young, girl... aren't you?

Yes, I know after making yet another promise to post more I haven't.

I'm not going to bother giving you all another petty excuse! I'm just a bad blogger haha :( 

Anyway, I've got a planned topic for this post and it's teenage (and young) pregnancy.

My parents mum has always told me not to get pregnant until I'm 30 something like she did with me because it was the best thing she ever did she was able to go and live her life, live away from home on her own, go on holiday with her friends and make mistakes and enjoy herself before she had the responsibility of children.

I know I won't be following in her footsteps because I've been in a long term relationship since I was 14 and I've been broody for about a year now- I don't plan on getting pregnant while I'm in my teens and I have the implant so I know I won't be getting pregnant any time soon. But, honestly, I think if I hadn't had a plan for life and I hadn't gone to university I probably would be considering having a baby now because I think that being a parent is going to be a big part of my life. 

On the other hand, my sister is 4 years older than me and I know she probably won't have children until she's in or at least near her 30's. I suppose my mum's words of wisdom worked on one of us, eh? 

Focusing more on what I wanted to post about.. this year the US government have tried a few different techniques to try and 'combat' teenage pregnancy. I'll show you a few ad's in their campaign...

So, in March there was a few ads circulating stereotyping teenage mothers and how poor their child's lives would be. 

Even Carly Rae Jepson decided to have a pop at teenage mothers along with Hillary Duff suggesting that every teenager should be 'changing the world' (doubtful) rather than mothering a child. 

Frankly, if it wasn't for a teenage pregnancy she wouldn't even be bloody famous! (Justin Bieber is a product of teen pregnancy for those of you who don't know what I'm on about).

The newest campaign, showing pregnant boys, it my least favourite. This ad is supposed to make boys take more responsibility for teen pregnancy rather than just blaming the girls who are living with the consequences (and if you take notice of the first ad, theses boys should have buggered off living their life to the full while the girls look after their child!).  

It's a good job I don't live in america because the pictures of pregnant boys make me feel sick and a think seeing them frequently would give me nightmares! hahaha

So the point of this post isn't to jump on the bandwagon slating teenage parents and saying how much they've screwed up their lives - it's to say that I want to take back all of the stereotypical comments I've made in the past about teenage parents. Although I do not want to be a teenage parent and I have made sure that I won't have any 'surprises' while I'm in my teens and  I still can't understand how teenagers are 'accidentally' getting pregnant because you're either being safe or your not (we wouldn't get this many teen pregnancy from the 0.1% of times that condoms don't work) and if you missed your pill, or have been sick maybe you should've thought to control your urges or even put a condom on, I do have to say that I have seen a few young people get pregnant recently (and yes when I found out I had my doubts and made comments saying 'their boyfriend will leave', 'they can't even look after themselves' and that their parents will have to do it all for them) I have to admit they're all doing pretty good jobs at being parents and I would like to eat my hat. 

I don't think that it's necessarily the age that a mother conceives her baby that predicts whether they'd do well at school and in life or whether their child will end up in prison or even whether the parents will stay together, I think its about the situation in which the baby is conceived. 

On my 16th birthday I had a pregnancy scare, I realised I had missed 4 periods and I had a freaking heart attack. If I'd have been pregnant it would have completely disappointed my parents and I think a lot of my 'friends' would have decided that they weren't my friends anymore, frankly if I'd have been pregnant my whole life would've changed. I wouldn't be at university, I wouldn't have got my a-levels when I did, I wouldn't have become friends with the people I'm friends with now and I wouldn't have had a plan for what I wanted to do with life anymore. Purely because I've known I want to go to university since I started high school and I didn't have a backup plan so to not go to university would have thrown my life off track. However, I don't think I would've been a bad parent. I was responsible and stable enough that if I had been pregnant and I would have stood up to my responsibility and changed my life plan to fit a child that I was my responsibility. 

As well, there's people I know that have got pregnant during a levels and even during university and have continued to go onto university and are doing really well in their lives they've kept their life plan on track and they are also amazing parents.

Yet, nobody can deny there are some cases of teenage parents who a completely shit. they can't care for a baby and they don't want to care for a baby. They want to live the life that childless people their age are living and they leave it all to their parents (which I think is reasonably good of them because they've at least admitted they can't parent the child) or they just resent the child and bring up a complete yob. it's these cases that put a bad name of young and teenage parents but it's not that they're a teenage that makes them shit parents, its their attitude and frame of mind. I know 30 and 40 year old parents who are bring up yobs because they haven't got the right attitude to parenthood and I know yobs who are the children of both teenage and middle ages parents. 

This isn't a new things and there will always been people who don't bring up their children how we would bring up our own and there will always be people who don't know how to live in society, don't blame teenagers for an inevitable fact. Maybe the best thing to do with teenage parents is help them? offer the support they need to keep their own life on track so they can still finish education and get a decent job and offer the support they need to bring up their child if they don't stay with their partner. don't just put money in their bank every week and expect them to do an amazing job (while slating them for living on benefits) teach and help teenage parents how to further their lives and help them progress so they can provide their child with a good upbringing and put them on track to having a good life them self! 

Speak to you all soon

xx