Life: Update

001. Things have been changing in my life right now but they are all good. My boyfriend Danny got a job last week after not being in employment for nearly a year which I am super proud of him for and it's doing something he really enjoys yet the hours aren't really 'sociable' from around 4am-11am in the morning so it means some days I won't see him as he'll be sleeping the day away. Things are looking up right now and in the new year there might be a few BIG changes if this job becomes really serious and he gets the hours required. So fingers crossed.

002. University is back and I'm slowly settling back into a routine and the thought of a dissertation frightens me more than anything. I know the subject area I want to do, it's just all the work that goes into it that scares me I think. So if anyone has any advice then please leave it in the comments below, this would be much appreciated. I'll try and do some posts about my progress giving those who are in the same position advice for the future or for right now. I'm managing my work really well right now, ask me at the end of the semester and see what my answer is.

003. I have a few new favourite products that I'm incorporating into my skincare routine and everyday make up so keep an eye out for them posts. I need to try and take advantage of the 3 for 2 that's happening in Boots right now. I also have alot of other non beauty favourites and I need to do a few posts about them. I have a list as long as my arm for all the posts I need to do and I will definately get round to doing them.

004. I am so enjoying upgrading my winter wardrobe right now, I love Autumn/ Winter with the snuggly knits, scarves, gloves, mittens, hats, Bonfire night, onesies! There's so much more I could list but I won't bore you all. Lots of places have some lovely pieces, even just talking about them makes me excited. I'll be making lots of wishlists so keep an eye out!

I hope your all good right now and I'm in a really good, happy place right now.

ox

Surviving A Level Results Day

For many of you tomorrow may be a very important day and you might be nervously awaiting your A Level results. If you are good luck :) 
I remember this day very well 2/3 years ago and I kind of knew I already had a place at university as I did 3 years at college which gave me more points for my course.

This year I'm working clearing at university and thought that I'd try and give some of my reader a few tips for how to survive results day and what to do if you don't get the results that you need/ want.

- Believe in yourself - Even though you can't change anything that you did in your exams, there is no point stressing about it. Try and be positive, I know that I doubt myself ALOT and that I surprise myself and end up doing better than I thought.

- UCAS will probably crash - Yes.. This isn't something that you want to hear but it happens. This is because there are 1000s of people who are wanting to see if they have been successful or unsuccessful. I remember checking from 7am and I didn't get on til around 9am which was quite annoying. You may get on it earlier and if you do well done. However some of you may want to wait to get your results from college/ sixth form to see if you have been successful.

- Clearing is always an option - If you don't get the grades you need for your firm choice or insurance then you always have clearing as a back up. Clearing this year might not be as competitive as it has been previously with fees rising and universities may have more places because of this. Check the UCAS website or the university that you are interested in and they will have a list of courses and the institutions with places. Make sure that you are interested in the course and that you don't pick something just for the sake of doing to university. Also try and call the unis as soon as possible to be in with the best chance of getting a place, phone lines will also get busier as the day goes by.

- Choices are important - Try to remember that you are going to be at the university for three years and will spend alot of time in the city. Make some lists of unis that you would definately like to go to and a list of no's, this is just incase you need to go through clearing.

- Make sure that you're contactable and can find information easily, have your UCAS number and an email address close by and try to stay close to a computer and a phone.

- Despite what happens try and stay calm. Results day and clearing can be daunting, especially if you've suffered disappointment with grades. Ringing up universities for a place through clearing might be the last thing you feel like doing but there will be 1000s of other students in the UK in the same position and unis deal with clearing every year. You may not end up going to the university you'd planned but it could end up being the best thing thats ever happened to you.

And most of all good luck! I hope that you all get the results that you need to get onto the course you want to do.

University is the start of a new beginning, so forget what has gone before and know that many others aren't as lucky as yourself.

ox

Happy List

ten things that have been making me happy this week:
1. girls night out
2. kisses and cuddles
3. finishing university assignments
4. Britain's Got Talent
5. Ben Howard's Radio 1 Live Lounge version of Call Me Maybe
6. baking cakes
7. music - I'm loving the new music that's being released lately
8. getting surprise money!
9. new copy of Cosmo and finding out Glamour has Benefit freebies this month
10. no added sugar Vimto


what's been making you happy this week?

Bloggin'

I began blogging in order to be more creative and as an outlet to express my opinions on products I enjoy and just life in general. Beyond blogging, I spend my time eating, seeing my family, friends and my boyfriend and trying to find a job, internship or whatever is out there. But I'm guessing this is the life of a student eh?

I haven't blogged in over 3 weeks because of life basically, having other things to focus on and not having time to photograph products, or just sit down and have a moment with my thoughts and express them online. But now and then I think I need to realise I can't do everything at once, I'm not superman and just need to sit down and type and express my thoughts. This is where blogging is great for myself, its a little place online where I can sit and do this, talk about the things I enjoy and interact with others aswell as letting people read my own rants which my boyfriend or friends might not be interested in!
The direction of my blog is going to change, it seems to just be reviews which is something that I didn't want when I began blogging as I knew this would become a little boring for myself even though from the stats they seem popular but I've decided to try and become a little more personal. Whether this be personal posts with me ranting, make-up reviews, about the music I enjoy or just summing up my week. I also love photography so will try and post more of my own photos which I have taken in the past. Today is the day where change happens! I'm free from university now so can blog more and have more free time. I'm really excited about this and can't wait to try and build more relationships with other bloggers.

I'm making a pledge to blog as myself and about things that I enjoy.

ox
p.s. does anyone remember Raggy Dolls? One of my all time favourite programmes from when I was younger!

Uni: Being an Undergraduate 002

The previous post of this series seemed popular so I thought I would carry on! Lately we've been made to think more about dissertations/ applied projects for our final year, work experience and placements for now and in the summer and more importantly this has led to what we want to do in the future.

I have this all sorted out as I know in my own mind what I plan to do when I've finished university and everything I want to do in the lead up to this, I just need a 'proper plan' and then to put this plan into action. There's two words social media. I spend half of my day checking Facebook, Tweeting, going on Tumblr and checking blogs so I don't think theres a better career that would suit me. I'm not very good at 'thinking' so corporate PR or crisis management would be a suitable career me for, I prefer being more creative and too be honest this has been shown through my marks in my modules in the last two years.

I'm currently on the path of sorting myself out either some volunteering work, a placement or a job where I would learn about the role that I want to be in eventually. This excites me being able to be out there and do things that will allow me to better myself but then the other half of me is scared, scared of rejection and the fear of actually doing a job or a placement where I'd know no one, wouldn't no what on earth I was doing. But this is part of the excitement in a way, I like to learn really, yes weird but I've been in education all my life, never had a break so whats the point in stopping.

I get so down when I get rejected or get told that I'm not very good at something but I need to learn how to deal with this myself and how to put up with this. I've been rejected many times by jobs, even part time jobs so in a way I'm used to it now. Even though I've not had an interview in about a year, quite annoying really the amount of CVs and emails I send out and then I get no responses.

Are you in your 2nd year and feeling the pressures of dissertations? or even in your final year and in the final stages of putting it together? Do you have any tips to help me manage the stress next year?

Thanks for reading! Hope your all having a great weekend!

ox

Uni: Being an Undergraduate

I wanted to blog today but really didn't know what to blog about.. I thought instead of doing a review of a product or a wish-list, I'd write about my university life and my course. Some of you may find this quite boring but I really just wanted to write and to 'chat' today.

Well I'm a Public Relations and Media student at Sheffield Hallam University. I'm also from Sheffield and decided when I was applying for my courses that it was between staying at home or going to Newcastle, where the course didn't really interest me that much and I was worried about leaving home, knowing it would cost more money, I'd lose contact with my friends and family as I'm a very family/ friends orientated person and one of the other important things was my boyfriend, he would have understood my decision to leave Sheffield and I'm sure we would have tried to make it work some way, as other people manage to do this! I also had a great life in Sheffield so why leave all this behind?

Many people sometimes wonder why I chose to stay at home and live at home, the simple reasons are because it saves me money in the long run and I didn't want to be in more debt than I will be anyway and it just suited my lifestyle more. I'm not a typical 20 year old as I don't really enjoy going out and drinking 3-4 times a week like some university students do. I prefer odd nights as it won't get boring and in my eyes they just seem to be much more fun.

I'm currently in the second semester of my second year and the stress levels are starting to increase even though I'm only a week into the semester. It just feels like there is so much pressure as we have to start thinking about our dissertations now and I'd rather not think about that yet tbh. I love my course public relations is definately the route for me, the media part I don't really enjoy but I'd being doing this since secondary school so it only made sense to take a degree which included this in. 

So back to my second year, this is the year that begins to count and parts of the marks which you achieve go towards your degree (for my course anyway). For some reason I struggle to write essays, I really have to put alot of effort and hard-work into writing a good essay and getting a good mark for it, in my first year I'd been getting 50s-60s which yes is good but I wanted to push myself and get the better grades that I could be properly proud of and be like yes that shows how much work I've put into this essay.

 In the last few weeks I have shown my potential and have realised that I can do good essays as I've been getting mid 60's and 2:1's which is what I eventually want to graduate with. Yes it takes me 24252 hours to do an essay, reading books, internet journals etc and then hours of reading through and correcting essays to get good marks but I wouldn't change any of this because I want something to come of my degree and I will continue to pushing myself to get the degree I know that I can achieve in the long run. 

I'm at the stage where I'm sorting out my career and life plan, but then part of my worries about this, when I graduate in a year and 4 months time, will I enter the working world and never be able to get a job in the PR industry? I'm currently looking for interns and work placements that I can do over the summer in order to get myself some experience and in order to bulk up my CV and to be able to stand out from the rest that might apply for the same position. I've been in education for 10 years (2002 I started secondary school) and that is a scary thought, what if this doesn't pay off and I'm stuck doing something I don't enjoy. At the moment I'm also looking for volunteering opportunities as I don't want my summer to be boring when I could be helping better myself and my CV.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this, I know it all seems a little bit disjointed but this is what was in my head and I'm wanting to become more personal with some of my blog posts so expect alot more of this!

Thank you for reading, I hope your all having a great week so far! If you have any questions about anything I've mentioned either comment below or don't hesitate to send me an email :)

ox