My picture-heavy bullet journal set-up

A while ago I read a post from Lily Pebbles in which she said she had started a bullet journal, and since then I did a whole load of research on what it was and how to make one of your own, and for a while I didn't want to make one because I'm the sort of person who starts journals and planners and never carries on with them, but I think this time will be different..

The notebook I am using is an A5 squared Moleskine, which is was bloody expensive but I absolutely adore it and organising my life was something I wanted to invest in. I did have to research first whether Moleskine was vegan as I thought it was literally mole's skin, but I assure you it's not - I'm sure everyone else knew that but I'm stupid.

Firstly, I have an index - this is the core to the bullet journal, numbering your pages so you can refer back to them.

Following that, I have a key - again, another key (forgive the pun) to the bullet journal so you can clearly see what everything you've written means. I've also put a few post-it notes here so I can easily access some if I'm on the go and want to make a little note - I like using post-it notes to write little notes to myself that aren't important enough to make tasks out of but something I need to see.

After that, I have a page dedicated to questioning authority, the great thing about the bullet journal is you can be as creative as you want and just have filler pages like that where you can just do what you want, and I just happened to have some sheep stickers so it's nice to flick past that everyday and be reminded to question authority.

Then, I have a few lists I want to complete of 'albums to listen to before you die', 'books everyone should read', and 'greatest films of all time' because whilst I think I'm fairly cultural in terms of the art world, I definitely feel I should explore more and it's nice to have an easy to find list to refer to.

Next, I have about 30 pages with pictures of me and my friends, because I tend to forget I have friends and that people actually don't mind spending time with me sometimes, so I like having photos of me with them so if I do get into that bad headspace, I can try and dismiss it. Continuing with that theme, I have a page with a couple of photos of my family, and also a page dedicated to Owen Jones and when I met him, and when he tweeted me afterwards, because both of those events really made my life if not my 2016 at least.

After that is a double page spread dedicated to my favourite film of all time - Harold and Maude. There are so many amazing quotes in this film, and I'm not putting this at all lightly but this film has saved my life on multiple occasions. A lot of people put a page of inspirational quotes in their bullet journals, but I cringe when I see things like 'you can do it!' so I think this is as close as I'll ever get with that.

Finally, we get onto the actual organising kinda bit. So I've only been doing this since the beginning of March, but I have a rapid log page for March so I can put a few events and tasks in that need to get done that month, then I have daily spreads (at the moment, it seems to be 2/3 on a page because I keep migrating tasks - I am getting there with the organising promise!).

That is my bullet journal as it stands currently, I feel like this definitely won't last me the year but I'm loving doing it at the moment so I will probably continue it and buy another Moleskine once this one finishes! If you want to see more updates, I'm probably going to do these on my Tumblr which you can follow here.

Why Angela Davis is my political fave

For as long as I can remember, I have been proud to call myself a feminist. My Mum's a devout feminist and has never told me to afraid of the word 'feminism'. That being said, until the past year or two, I didn't feel wholeheartedly connected to the issues mainstream (white) feminism talks about.

Of course, I knew things like 'free the nipple' and letting girls wear short skirts and show their shoulders in school without being sexualised by male teachers were important issues, but I didn't feel like this mainstream feminism was particularly useful when it came to other forms of oppression. I didn't feel like this feminism was inclusive of other intersections, it became more and more obvious to me that this type of feminism didn't really fight for those who are oppressed because of their race or those who are oppressed because of their class. Becoming invested in 'SJW Twitter' definitely helped here and opened my eyes to the reality of white feminism and to the prospect of intersectional feminism. In short, white feminism is a branch of feminism focused on the struggles of primarily white and privileged women, this is basically liberal feminism which is centered around western ideals and liberalism doesn't really help the movement on a mass scale (but that's a topic for a different time). Intersectional feminism is a branch of feminism that encompasses all intersections because it claims that oppressive institutions are all intertwined, so the obvious one is sexism, but it also takes into account racism, classism, transphobia, homophobia, biphobia, ableism - you name an oppressive -ism and intersectional feminism is against that.

This is a picture of one of the walls in my Uni house - me and my housemate Megan adore Angela and wanted to order a poster of her, and then we received two in the post (at no extra charge) so we have two posters right next to each other, yep we cool.

So how does Angela Davis come into this? Angela Davis is one of the most famous intersectional feminists there are, just a month ago she said in an interview that feminism involves 'embracing but moving beyond gender'. In the 1960s, Angela Davis was a member of the Black Panthers, leader of the Communist Party in the USA, as well as being a member of the Che-Lumumba Club which was the all-black branch of the Communist Party. Being a part of groups like these meant she was not silent on classism or racism. She was (and still is) outspoken about classism and racism in the Suffrage movement, which we're told liberated all women when actually WOC were exploited by white women to push forward the movement. She's also spoken out about sexism in the Civil Rights movement and other socialist movements which resulted in the oppression of women being pushed to the sideline. Angela Davis also emphasizes the importance of women's rights being looked at globally in order for women to form 'a united, multiracial, antimonopoly women’s movement in order to aid oppressed women throughout the world'. 

I largely base my feminism on the likes of people like Angela Davis, people who are unapologetically anti-Capitalist (for a while, I was scared to say that I agreed with a lot of communist/anarchist ideals because you automatically get shunned as a fascist apologist - again, this is another topic for another blog post) and people who include POC, most importantly black people (again, colourism - different topic that I shan't go into detail about now), and encompass all of these issues into their feminism - this is the basis of my feminism, and as it is Women's History Month, I'd like to thank Angela Davis for being a big figure in helping me further my feminism, so thank you Angela - you tha real MVP.

Self-care, no cringe included

I usually take self-care tips with a pinch of salt, I know using a bath bomb isn't going to magically make me feel joyful and emerge with a newfound respect and appreciation for life. To me, at the core of it, self care is doing the stuff you should be doing anyway but you may have forgotten to do it while your mind is feeling dark and foggy. For me, this means taking a shower, taking the rubbish out of my room, changing my clothes, brushing my teeth, etc. etc. etc. - all very basic things, but when I'm in a dark spot these everyday, mundane tasks become near to impossible and it takes a lot of effort for me to do them.

The past couple of weeks for me have been quite focused on self-care, the past few weeks have been busy and eventful, and not necessarily stressful but they have left me feeling a bit overwhelmed and trapped. So I did a big tidy of my room, I changed my bed sheets, I've been trying to eat throughout the day, I've tried drinking more water, I've been more organised with my Uni work, and to top off everything I went for a long walk by myself with my music and The Hunger Games (finally finished reading it, found a really lovely spot overlooking Brighton with a pond and everythang), and I'm not feeling overwhelmed with everything anymore, I'm at a good point where everything's chilled and I feel in control.

I'm not sure what point I wanted to put across here, but I think self care is important and I hope you're all taking care of yourself. Whether it be the basic things that you may be finding difficult to do, or whether it be the cutesy Tumblr-esque self care things (which I appreciate too, I'm not at all dismissing those methods!). I know I've never made self-care a priority, but it has majorly improved my mental health recently taking myself more into consideration so I just wanted to remind you all to take good care of yourselves in a non-patronising, non-cringey kind of way. Take it easy, you've got this.

So I'm back on YouTube...

Sometime in December I decided to make all of the videos on my YouTube channel unlisted and take an official (I had been on an unofficial hiatus since about September) hiatus because I just wasn't enjoying it anymore, and I didn't really enjoy the content that I had previously put out there. I was also very aware of the fact that practically everyone I knew from my Sixth Form (including some teachers) knew about my YouTube channel, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I didn't really mind people I knew watching it because they were pretty nice and supportive about it. It was more that I felt like I had put a bigger filter on what I could say (like I went from talking openly and honestly about my anxiety in one vlog to more or less just talking about beauty because I didn't want to talk about anything like that with people who I knew might call me up on it) and all these filters left me feeling very boxed in, and like the ISFP I am, I don't like being boxed in.

So, I decided to create a new channel, a fresh start. A channel where I feel like I can just dump anything I like without feeling like I can only talk about a mascara that I'm liking at the minute. To get the channel up and running, I've decided to partake in VEDIF (which is 'vlog every day in February') - I don't think it's the most common daily vlogging thang but I wanted to just create lots of content to get back into filming, and I thought daily vlogging for a month would be the best way to do that.

Day 1 of VEDIF is a 25 Facts About Me video, if you feel like watching it, you can do so down below. If not, no worries, I'm not planning on leaving my blog anytime soon so there should still be fairly regular content up on here, I just missed YouTube is all.

Political baking with a meme-ingful message

Recently, I helped host a little shindig for my feminist friends (a.k.a the combabes) and I decided to get a little political for the vegan treats I made.

So I made some vegan shortbread and whilst I started off just writing 'I hate men', 'girls rock', 'NB people rock' etc. I ended up with a hammer and sickle and 'kill all men' - they went down pretty well!

I didn't intend the writing to look like blood, more like a happy accident...

On the 10th January, we were blessed with a new meme and that is the phrase 'Davey Cameron is a pie', so what better way to commemorate it than with a literal Davey Cameron pie? I went for apple, even though I'm sure Cameron would've preferred pork. There's nothing more liberating than stabbing a Davey Cameron pie, as I'm sure our party guests would've agreed with.

Whilst this may not have been the most interesting post, I make myself laugh and I want as many people to know as possible than I not only bake vegan treats but I also bake vegan treats with a political message - thank you and good night.

A week of Davids

This week has been quite surreal to me, I feel like so much happened in such a short space of time, and whilst I'd love to talk about them all, I think the events of the past week can be better summarised in 3 Davids.

DAVID CAMERON 
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn's Twitter was hacked resulting in, what I believe to be, the first meme of 2016 (correct me if I'm wrong, I'd hate to be misinformed on the world of memes) and that is the tweet 'davey cameron is a pie', alongside a couple of other ones, one of them being a topical 'f*ck trident' and the other one saying 'here we... here we... here we f*cking go!!!'. 'Davey Cameron is a pie' has quickly become one of my favourite phrases of all time, so we started off well...

DAVID BOWIE
... That was until I woke up on Monday morning at 9:00am, all set to go to my lectures and have a productive day, and I go onto my phone to check my Whatsapp and I have a message from my friend saying 'OMG BESS DAVID BOWIE DIED!!!!' and my immediate reaction was that it was a hoax, and I refused to believe it. That was until I read the articles and heard it was true, and proceeded to stare at the ceiling blankly for 2 hours (I missed my lecture.. not good). This is the first celebrity death to really affect me, of course there have been other celebrities who have died and it affected me but David Bowie was one of my favourite artists. He contributed so much to music and film, as well as bringing a lot of attention to gender identity and gender fluidity and sexuality and all that jazz which was quite unheard of at the time which shows how bold he was as a person. I'm still in disbelief, I won't lie - you could say 'the stars look very different today'...

DAVID MITCHELL
This was one of the highest points of the week. I went to a recording of The Unbelievable Truth with David Mitchell (as well as other comedians like David o'Doherty... hey that's another David!) which would've been cool enough, but to top it all off, we got to sit in the front row! I can't believe I was so close to David Mitchell, like it hasn't really processed, but it was amazing nonetheless.

A bunch of other cool things happened this week but they're not David related, so I'll just list 'em real quick:
- had a night of watching all the weirdest videos the internet has to offer with friends (as if I hadn't seen them before, but you can't go wrong with Shrek is Love, Salad Fingers, and Don't Hug Me I'm Scared)
- got tickets to see Marina & The Diamonds next month with a couple of friends, we've wanted to see Marina for so so long and it's finally happening so I'm super excited!
- found the house I'm moving to for my next year of University and it's 10 minutes away from the beach, pretty fab!
- got the module I wanted for next semester so I'm going to be learning about social welfare and slightly more political shiz

I usually hate resolutions but...

I have made some resolutions. These are things I've been thinking about doing for a while and things I had started incorporating into my life towards the end of 2015, but I haven't really voiced them and I feel like if I do I'll be more likely to stick to them.

I know this photo is blurry but it's kinda cute and candid if you feel me, plus it was taken on New Years Eve so I feel it's appropriate for a New Years Resolutions post..

MAKE THE CONTENT I WANT TO MAKE - I said in my last post that I created a new channel on YouTube so I could start fresh and make the sort of content I really enjoy, but I want to apply that to my blog as well. I've become really b(l)ogged down with the sort of content I do and I feel like my content has become quite contrived, so for this reason, taking effect immediately, I'm stopping any 'series' I have on my blog until I feel like I want to do them again because it's making me feel forced to post content that I don't care about, which in turn is making me care less about my blog. So, I'm just gonna post when and what I feel like posting.

READ MORE BOOKS - If you remember, in this post I said I wanted to read 50 books in 2015 and follow a very challenging regime, which killed my love of reading. I'm serious, like I've been a bookworm since I learned to read but this year I just didn't feel like reading according to this schedule, so I'm setting my reading challenge to 15 books and I'm going to read the books I like.

GET BACK INTO MUSIC - This is quite specific in terms of singing. I have kept up with playing guitar and ukulele since being at University, and the times I've visited home I've had a whack at the piano, but in terms of singing I've completely let go. I had vocal lessons for 4 years, and I feel like since then my voice and slowly deteriorated and I've only realised how dramatically it has recently (my range has decreased significantly) so I'm going to try and work on it everyday to try and get it back to where it was. I used to be able to hit an A5 and I was really proud of that but I can't really do it anymore which is sucky. Plus, I want to do music on my new YouTube channel (which will be properly up in February) so I feel like I should do some sort of preparation for that..

GET A JOB - This isn't a goal I'm expecting to fulfil until the summer, but I have never had a proper job. I've had about 4 days of work experience before, but other than that, zilch. I would really like to get a job for the summer so I can stay down in Brighton for a bit and get a bit of job experience, failing getting a job in Brighton, I might try and get one in London and stay there for the summer. Part of the reason I want to get a job, of course, is so I can sing 'I was looking for a job and then I found a job, and heaven knows I'm miserable now' and have it be somewhat relatable.

Have you set yourself any resolutions?

A review of 2015

2015 has, by far, been one of the biggest years of my life so far. I feel like a lot of things changed for me, and after reading and taking inspiration from Maddie's post, I thought I would do an extremely similar thing and do a lil summary of the past year.

COMPLETED GRADE 8 PIANO - I started playing piano when I was 4 years old and I did my Grade 1 in about 2005, and doing Grade 8 was one of my goals for quite a long time so to do it was one of the most surreal things because I no longer had anything to work for. It also felt like quite an accomplishment for myself and my teacher who took me from grade 3 onwards because she had said since about Grade 5 that she couldn't teach me any further but we kept tackling the next grade up, and I became her first student to ever do Grade 8 which is pretty rad.

GOT OUT OF A TOXIC FRIENDSHIP (frigging finally, lemme tell you) - This is something I had been trying to do for years and years, essentially the entirety of my high school life. Without going into too much detail, I was 'friends' with a very manipulative girl and I had had issues with this friendship for a long time but was always manipulated into maintaining the friendship, and then other people had a similar situation but we didn't manage to sort it out until this year, and it was possibly the most drama our sixth form has ever seen, but I'm glad that me and my friends got out of it and we became closer than ever as a result of it.

FINISHED MY A LEVELS - A Levels were probably the most stressful exams of my life, it was such a relief to have them over and done with. I do miss my sixth form though, we were so close and then all of a sudden we went our separate ways, but that's life I s'pose.

PLANNED AND PARTOOK IN A HOLIDAY - I used to find travelling quite anxiety-inducing if it hadn't been planned for me or I didn't know the area or if I thought I might be late, but when me and my friends decided we wanted to do something to celebrate the end of sixth form, and after we failed to plan a trip to Alton Towers, I suggested renting out a cottage/holiday home for a week, and it seemed to be a perfect idea. After losing a couple of houses, we managed to find one that could cater such a big group and one that was close to the beach, as well as being in our budget. It felt like such a massive accomplishment because we planned it all ourselves with a limited budget and so it fit in with all of our schedules (believe me, it was frigging hard as we only really had one week where everyone was free and our group was massive). It was such an awesome holiday and I have really fond memories of those 5 days in Lytham (probably not the biggest tourist area, but the weather was amazing and we had the beach to ourselves for most of the days).

BECAME A TREE HUGGING HIPPY (a.k.a I became vegan) - I went vegan for a month in the summer just to give it a go and I absolutely loved it, I felt so much healthier and energised and happier, and it was pretty awesome. Then I went back to being a meat-eater (for the Lytham holiday really) for a few weeks and was really unhappy, so eventually I went vegan again and I've been vegan since about mid-August, and it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made. I've tried hard not to be a preachy, militant vegan, but it feels good to have my ethics aligned with my nutritional lifestyle. Plus, being a vegan gave me a fun fact to say at those goddamn awful University icebreakers.

GOT INTO UNIVERSITY - This is a pretty big'un for me as well. The first University I looked at in Year 12 was Brighton and I immediately knew it would be a great area for me, outside of London so I'd get some independence and grow up a bit, but also close enough to home that I could visit pretty easily. It was my first choice when I sent off my UCAS form in Year 13 and I got a conditional offer. Although, me being pessimistic as always, after my exam results I was convinced I wouldn't get in and I had already looked at a bunch of Universities and different courses to apply to on Results Day. Then, interestingly enough, I actually got into Brighton onto the course I wanted (Psychology, if you're interested) and it's been one of the best things to happen to me this year. I adore my house mates, I love the big activist presence in Brighton, I love the town centre, and I love how popular veganism is there too!

STARTED FRESH ON YOUTUBE - This is the most recent one, yup my YouTube channel is no longer. All of my videos are unlisted (I left them unlisted as I didn't want to leave the vlogs I made and I didn't want to abandon a channel I worked hard on) but this isn't the end of YouTube for me, but rather a new beginning (ew, cringe). I've made a new channel, and I'm planning to upload the sorts of videos I really want to make. So there will still be beauty videos, but I want to do music and talk about the sorts of things that I'm really interested in. I know I'm going to have to start again subscriber wise because rebranding and all that jazz, but I'm really excited.

How was 2015 for you guys?

Exams, Star Wars, and Christ-Marx

one.
I went to a Poetry club with one of my house mates at this quirky coffee shop, the focus was on Sylvia Plath which was awesome. I had only previously read the Bell Jar and the night before read through some of her poetry with my house mate but her poetry is so well written, and it really interesting to hear it analysed by so many people.

two.
I did a couple of exams before breaking up for Christmas which, I think, went well. Funny story, I didn't know I had one of these exams (they were online ones we could do at any time in that week but yes) so I ended up doing one very last minute, it was weird because had I not checked my e-mail on that day, I would've failed that exam and about 15% of that module - cray.. Always check your emails kids.

three.
I did a movie marathon with a few of my housemates. We watched Star Wars: A New Hope (my fave Star Wars film), The 400 Blows, and then The Parent Trap - possibly the oddest selection, but it was nice all the same.

four.
Me and my housemates did our own Christmas activities before we all broke up and went home and all that jazz. We put our secret Santa presents underneath Margaret (look in this post to get what I'm referencing) and my housemate made us a chickpea curry, and we also got out all of our remaining alcohol to finish it up before we left.

five.
I went back to London with no delays or cancellations or anything which was big, I feel after my horrendous train journey where I was basically delayed for 3 hours in getting home and I ended up getting a cab (which I have been refunded for now, thank you delay repay), I appreciate when the trains function like they're supposed to..

six.
I met up with a couple of my friends to have a catch up and a coffee which was really nice, it had been ages since just us three had been together so it was good to have a proper catchup.

seven.
I visited my old high school/sixth form with most of my old Philosophy class to say hello to our old teacher which was really nice, he's probably the best teacher I've ever had so it was lovely to see him again. It was also strange seeing the school again, so much has changed, and it was just generally weird being there and thinking the school has continued functioning without me - this sounds really egotistical but it's weird to think the school is carrying on and me and the people I knew there are no longer a part of it, it was also weird hearing school bells again, made me jump every time they went off.

eight.
I went to see the new Star Wars film (on the day it came out, #nerd) with my brother and it was absolutely amazing. I literally cried in the cinema - if you've seen the film, you'll probably know which bit I'm talking about, but for those who haven't seen it I shan't talk about it. I thought it was so well made and had loads of links to the original trilogy (in retrospect, it was extremely similar to A New Hope and even Revenge of the Sith, but I don't think this was bad, I liked how it had a mix of the old films with a slightly new storyline and characters). It also felt like a big event for me seeing a Star Wars film in the cinema because that's something I've never done before, and for a long time I thought I'd never be able to do, at least not for a new film, and I did get a bit tearful just at the opening credits because of how much it meant to me to be seeing a Star Wars film in the cinema.

nine.
The last ever episode of Peep Show happened, that was a thing - I actually missed it when it was on because I took a nap (exciting stuff..) but I watched it the next day with my family and I thought it was a good end to the show, it is one of my top five TV shows so if you haven't watched it I definitely recommend it.

ten.
Nothing says Christmas like a picture of Karl Marx on top of the Christmas tree (or Christ-Marx..)

How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram

The beginnings of Christmas and activism

one.
We ordered an ironic Margaret Thatcher cardboard cutout for our Uni house Christmas tree and decorated her with tinsel and a hat that says 'Bah Humbug' on it - it's quite terrifying when you walk in the room and you just see Margaret grinning but it does add something to the room.

two.
I went out with a couple of my housemates to buy some Christmassy things for the house and we stopped by Brighton Pavilion for a little meal, and it was really cute - definitely started feeling a lot more like Christmas.

three.
I ended up watching Home Alone twice on two consecutive days because we watched it together and all fell asleep, so then we tried again the next day (and still fell asleep) - funnily enough, we didn't try a third time...

four.
I had my first tofu experience at a Japanese restaurant and it was really nice - veganism level up!

five.
I went ice skating with a couple of my housemates at Brighton Pavilion and then we got mulled wine/cider - I am not any good at ice skating, I never have been, but I had improved slightly since the last time I went (although that's not saying much)

six.
I went to a local protest against tuition fees and it was really nice to see so much solidarity between students and lecturers, nothing like a good protest!

seven.
Me and my housemates decided to binge watch Friends on the projector which was really cute, we did The One with Ross' Sandwich and The One with All the Thanksgivings which are two of my personal faves.

eight.
A couple of days later I went to Reclaim Brighton which was a march against sexual harassment and violence which was good, I'd never been on a march for anything that wasn't a direct screw you to the government so it was good to broaden my protesting horizons.

nine.
I've been able to finally open my Makeup Revolution Advent Calendar which my friends bought me for my birthday (which was last month) so that's been really exciting. I keep forgetting that it's there so when I remember I can have a new makeup bit everyday, it's always really nice.

ten.
I've come down with a cold and am hating life just a little bit (I rarely get sick, but when I do I literally hate everything and become the worst person to be with - even worse than usual believe it or not)

How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram

The return of Peep Show, my 19th birthday, and seeing Russell Howard

one.
I've listened to loads of Desert Island Discs recently, mostly because of the fact that I've been travelling to and from London and trains get cancelled and delayed and tingz, but also because it is one of my favourite radio shows. Listening to the David Mitchell and Morrissey ones had me laughing out loud at the station - probably not the most socially acceptable thing to do.

two.
As per usual, I made my own birthday cake (I don't mean this to sound at all bitter, I love baking!) but it was the first year I had to make a vegan cake! I think it actually turned out rather well, who needs eggs when you have vegetable oil and orange juice? (Yes, orange juice)

three.
I had a really nice birthday, I went out to a vegetarian restaurant (with a lot of vegan options) with the family and received a lot of lovely gifts (I did pick a lot of them out on a shopping trip with Mum a couple of days prior, but the thought was still there), the best present I received was probably a Gryffindor jumper - yes, I know I'm 19 now but I'd still like to delude myself into thinking I'm a student at Hogwarts and I'm bezzies with Ginny.

four.
Something that probably excited me more than the prospect of my birthday was the return of Peep Show! If you remember some of my vlogs (oh yeah, because I used to do YouTube before I started being unproductive and stopped uploading things) from earlier in the year, you may remember that I was obsessed with Peep Show and the new series has started off being just as funny as the last.

five.
For my assignment for Uni, I have to read some rather old articles on race and sexuality - it's strange how racist and homophobic they are like I've been reading them and almost thinking they're a joke because of how ridiculous they are. I find it really sad that despite the fact they're quite old, in the grand scheme of things it's all too recent and I do worry that there are still an alarming number of people who still think in the way the people who wrote the articles did.

six.
I went out with my friends to the same vegetarian restaurant I went to on my birthday and received some really lovely presents, one of which being a super cute photo in a frame of me and my friends from when they came down to Brighton to visit me, and another one being a Harry Potter Adult Colouring Book - just to mention a few.

seven.
I had quite possibly the most horrendous train journey of all time on my way back to Brighton - loads of cancellations, delays, and I ended up having to get a cab home because I couldn't get one of my trains due to it being super late (because of all the cancellations and delays). I'm certain I did something really bad to the trains in a past life because I have the worst luck with trains!

eight.
Dodie Clark from the YouTube Channel Doddleoddle (one of my favourites!) uploaded a cover of Happy Ending by Mika which is one of my favourite songs, she and two other girls did a beautiful rendition of it with lovely harmonies - well worth a listen!!




nine.
I went to a recording of Russell Howard's Good News and would you believe I got to sit in the front row like right in front of him (check the picture above and try and spot us)!! Me and my friends were in confusion for the first 20 minutes of sitting there thinking someone was going to ask us to move - it was such a surreal, amazing experience, I love Russell Howard and I like very happy knowing that I've been 2m-3m away from him ;-)

ten.
I brought my guitar back with me when I came back from London and it's been sorely missed, I've been spending a lot more time in my room getting reacquainted.

How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram

Return of the Trews, the squad reassembles, and protesting

one.
Maddie from Dinner with Maddie launched her new Podcast series and from the first episode, I'm already loving it - talking about feminism, beauty and even Kim Kardashian? You can't really go wrong - listen to it here! :-)

two.
I watched Bridget Jones' Diary with a couple of my house mates and I just wanted to turn to you guys and ask, out of Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, who do you think is more attractive? We were all quite divided, whilst I love Colin Firth, I'm definitely more of a Hugh Grant girl (especially in the first film with his floppy hair)

three.
Very happy to hear that Russell Brand's Trews are returning to YouTube. Whilst I don't agree with everything he says or does, I do really enjoy the Trews and I've really missed watching them.



four.
Doctors has been so good at the moment! If you don't know what it is, it's a daytime soap on BBC about Doctors - it's the only soap I can tolerate, but it's been so juicy right now, in the saddest way but it's been so so good.

five.
My friends from home came to Brighton to visit me and it was so much fun - one thing I learned, do not buy £3 rosé, you can get a lot of alcohol on the cheap but don't skimp on the rosé.

six.
I've been doing more vegan baking and I made some cookies (which I thought were rather nice and so did my house mates) so I shall hopefully get a recipe up for them on the blog soon!

seven.
I went to the demo in London against tuition fees and actually made it into the Guardian, excitedly told everyone, then I was removed from the article just a few hours later (just my luck) but I did manage to screenshot it - my glorious 2 hours of fame.

eight.
I've become really obsessed with the band Screaming Peaches - I think I discovered the song Sad Kid on a Spotify playlist and proceeded to listen to basically everything they've done, really top notch. Sort of The 1975/Arctic Monkeys kinda vibe?

nine.
Speaking of being obsessed with music, I've been really into Elvis Costello & The Attractions too - I literally listened to Oliver's Army for about 3 hours on repeat!

ten.
I've come back to London for my reading week to spend time with the family and for birthday celebrations (yet to come, it's on the 10th if you want to give me virtual gifts) - quite the journey to get here though, my trains kept getting cancelled so I was about an hour and a half later than I originally was meant to be!

How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram

Back to the Future Day, vegan baking, and trashy TV

one.
I upgraded to Amazon student (y'know because student life) and I now have Amazon Prime, and I just don't know what my life was before. I think when the 6 month trial runs out I may need to keep it just because it's so great having so many movies and TV shows at my disposal and it's all legal. Especially as I don't have a TV license so I can't watch live TV, so any other form of entertainment is a yes.

two.
I tried my hand at some vegan baking, which is something I've been a bit fearful of doing in case it goes horribly wrong (y'know like GBBO when they're working with alternatives), and I made some vegan pancakes - they actually turned out really well!! Expect a recipe up on the blog soon . . .

three.
I've discovered just how amazing Aldi is, I don't know whether that sounds strange or boring but if you're a vegan on a budget, you've got to get down to Aldi - it's so inexpensive and there are so many vegan foods there (including dark chocolate digestive biscuits, like I've never found any other digestive biscuits that are vegan let alone chocolate ones)

four.
I went to the Feminist Society Mixer at my University and met a bunch of great people - it was really cool to meet some like minded people, and it was also great to go to the pub, it's always great to go to the pub . . .

five.
My friends from sixth form have all bought train tickets to come visit me around Halloween and I'm really excited to see everyone again, basically gonna be top notch #bantz.

six.
I'm very happy that George Harrison's solo stuff has been added to Spotify - out of all The Beatles' solo stuff (even Ringo's) I listen to George's the least because it's not on Spotify and I don't think Dad has any on solo, so it's nice that I finally give that a proper listen.

seven.
I've been watching loads of old episodes of Keeping Up With the Kardashians and I feel so trashy because reality TV *shudders* but there's some addictive quality with the Kardashians - I don't really get it.

eight.
The new Don't Hug Me I'm Scared video is out and as per usual it's wonderfully weird and strange.



nine.
I did a marathon of the Back to the Future films the day after Back to the Future day (annoying, wanted to do it on the day but I was exhausted and I couldn't really stay up all night when I had lectures the next day) - I love these films so much! I had a massive phase with Michael J. Fox when I first watched the films, like I went and watched all of his other less good films and got obsessed with Family Ties, he's just pretty dang amazing.

ten.
I watched Mean Girls with a couple of my house mates which was 'so fetch' - I'm probably the most annoying person to watch this film with because I've seen it so many times and I have a tendency to say the line before the character, whoops (but yeah that was awesome)

How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram

First fortnight at Uni, film themed freshers, and freshers flu

one.
I've moved into my house for uni now and the way I've decorated my room makes it quite difficult to see whether I'm a student in 2015 or 1965 - #Beatlemaniac.

two.
I feel like I've become extremely corporate with the amount of Starbucks I've been having - you see there's a Starbucks on campus that my new #squad like to go to so to be sociable and not at all awkward I have to sit in there but I'm also like this is the most capitalist place to be in, what would Marx say??? (A question we all must ask in our day to day lives)

three.
I'm finding it strange having talks about my modules for my course because it feels like it's been a lifetime since I was doing education, I went onto study leave in about May so to suddenly be thrown back into this world where I have to read things and make notes about stuff feels a little bit strange.

four.
I'm really happy to say I'm getting along with my housemates really well (I already knew Meera, and you may know her from some of my vlogs, i.e this one) but my other housemates are really cool too - we're planning on getting an ironic Margaret Thatcher poster or cardboard cutout for our living room, I had to clarify it with them that it was ironic but it is indeed.

five.
Me and my housemates haven't really been out clubbing much (I say much, a couple of us haven't been at all y'know not about that life) but we have been watching quite a few films - we watched Amelie, Lost in Translation, Howl's Moving Castle (may have had a bit of input on this choice), and Jules et Jim and I'm generally really glad I'm living with people who would prefer a film to a club.

six.
Freshers Fair was quite the experience, I signed up to loads of societies (feminist society, music society, film society, literature society, anime and manga society, drama society and the Uni newspaper). I'm looking forward to going to some of the society meets, I feel like you're a lot more likely to meet like minded people through a society than going to a club where the music is frustratingly loud and you can't hear what anyone's saying.

seven.
I've been living solely on pasta-based foods since I got here, I feel like I really need to branch out and find some other things to cook but pasta is just so easy . . .

eight.
We threw a little house parties with all the hipsters and it was so much fun, it was a really nice housewarming sort of thing, and it's where our first house selfie was taken, although it probably wasn't the best photo because everyone was a little bit not sober.

nine.
I'm really enjoying my course so far, I'm doing Applied Psychology if you're interested. There's a lot more Philosophy in it than I thought there'd be and there's a whole unit on social inequalities and prejudice in society and all that jazz so I'm really looking forward to the year (famous last words I'll bet)

ten.
Inevitably, I ended up getting a cold and I actually ended up losing my voice (I've had laryngitis before so I knew what to do to sort it out, but it was a bit of a pain - fellow singers, you'll be familiar with the warm salt water trick, right?) so I've been a bit pooey on the whole blogging/uploading videos regularly thing, but hopefully things should resume to normal soon enough.

How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram

Cacti naming, loving Lana, and the last supper

one.
I popped into my high school/sixth form for an awards evening that a few of my friends were invited to (me and a few other friends sat in the audience cheering them on - #squadgoals) and got to say a final goodbye to my favourite teachers, who were obviously my Philosophy teachers, which was nice - I still haven't quite realised that I'm probably not going to go back to that school.

two.
I went to Ikea with my friend Ma'Suma to buy some cacti for my Uni room (very important) but I'm having a bit of trouble naming them - at the moment I'm thinking Rob, Barry and Dick like in High Fidelity (which is my favourite book and one of my favourite films) but I'm also in two minds as to whether it's a good idea to name a cactus Dick.

three.
I went to Brighton to go drop off some stuff in my new house and I got to pick my room (pretty happy with my selection which is good), only downside would be that the wifi wasn't working - y'know what it's like being in a place without a TV and no wifi . . . I know that sounds very 21st century, but if I can't go on Tumblr to reblog gifs I die (seriously though, why does Tumblr eat up so much data? One of life's many questions)

four.
I'm loving Lana Del Rey's new album - think I might prefer it to Ultraviolence, it's really nice to hear some new material from her!

five.
I went to get my meningitis jab which I've been putting off since about Results day,  I'm really scared of needles and making phone calls so calling up to make an appointment was really daunting, but I've done it now so that's a small battle out of the way.

six.
I decided to do the most depressing movie night ever and watch Control and Kurt Cobain: About a Son. Watching Control has majorly gotten me back into Joy Division again which is cool because I've liked them for quite a long time but I've been listening to them pretty much non-stop since watching the film.

seven.
I met up with my friend Ma'Suma for a little Cafe Nero meetup which was nice, I'm still finding it strange adjusting to asking for soya milk in my coffee. I know it's just one extra step but I get worried I'm going to forget - #veganprobz.

eight.
I've been obsessively borrowing CDs from Dad's music collection before I go so I can rip as much as I can (like I know a lot of it is on Spotify, but I'm not paying for Spotify premium I need this shiz on my phone) so I've been constantly in and out of the music room with about 10 CDs at a time - my Dad's an avid CD collector, it's pretty fortunate that we like a lot of the same music.

nine.
I've been so obsessed with Bob's Burgers at the moment. I watched series 1 a while ago and I really loved it but I started watching other shows when I finished it, but now I'm back on it and it's literally all I can watch. I hate to sound really cliche but I am Tina, like I am Tina.

ten.
I met up with some friends for a cheeky nandos (the last supper) before I go off to University. Probably one of the best nights I've had in a long time, I was cry laughing the whole time (probably not a great idea when you're wearing quite a dark smoky eye). It still hasn't quite sunk in that I'm not going to be living in the same city as them for the next few years (they're all staying in London) but maybe that's good, means fewer tears I suppose . . .

How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram

New album releases, the final meetups, and #JezWeDidIt

one.
It was my friend's 19th birthday so we all met up for some drinks and some bantz, it was really nice to see some people from my sixth form who I hadn't really met up with this summer (and obviously we'll all be separating very soon) - it was my first time playing Kings, if you haven't played it, you really should, it's a heck of a lot of fun.

two.
My friend Isabella was the first to go off to University so she threw a little leavers afternoon tea kinda dealy at her house before she left which was really cute, still hasn't quite sunk in that everyone's leaving and moving on!!

three.
Ben Folds' new album was put online and I think it's so so good, the album is split into two parts so you have like ordinary songs and then the second half is all instrumental with an orchestra. It makes me wonder why more musicians don't use orchestras. Ben Folds is one of my favourite musicians ever so I do pretty much love everything he does anyway, but I'm generally just a big fan of a lot of instrumentation in music so this album is a winner for me.

four.
Troye's new album's come out as well and I like it so much, it's got that same Troye music aesthetic chilled vibe kinda thing he had going on in the last album but it's all new songs so it's not like he's doing the same thing again . . . if that makes sense. Basically, he's done some really catchy shiz, and I love Troye's music - I like that his music is good in its own right and not just popular because he's a big YouTuber, and I'm not trying to throw shade at any body but I think it's good when a person's work can to an extent be separated from the celebrity around them.

five.
I met up with a few friends for a sleepover which was really cute, I'm really enjoying meeting up with groups of people before we all split off because you don't know when it's going to be possible again. We watched the One Direction This is Us film which was surprisingly pretty good (okay, lowkey I'm 1D af but let's pretend I had to be forced into this one), 10 Things I Hate About You (which is a classic) and lots of episodes of Friends - I'm pretty certain the only reason anyone hangs out with me is because I have a Friends DVD box set.

six.
I've finally gathered the motivation to start filming videos again, I'm not sure if anyone noticed but I haven't uploaded in a month because I just haven't been in the right mindset, but I filmed a few in a day and I'm starting to feel it again which is good.

seven.
It was my friend's 19th birthday so we went out for a meal at a pub which was fun - it was nice to hang out with a bunch of people who I might not see again at least for a while.

eight.
Okay, vegan discovery - vegetable and houmous sandwiches are the bomb diggity. I haven't tried any vegan butter alternatives so I don't really have sandwiches anymore, but my Mum picked me up one while we were out and yes, they were very good, 11/10 would recommend.

nine.
I'm overjoyed at the fact that Jeremy Corbyn won the leadership election, and with nearly 60% of the vote! This is the most optimistic I've been about politics since before the general election - bring on 2020!

ten.
Laci Green uploaded this video to the MTV Braless YouTube channel about celebrities being problematic and it got me thinking about how problematic everyone was, I knew before that no one was perfect but I think it's important to remember this when criticising others and it's probably something that I needed reminding of.



How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram

Visiting Brighton, self-care, and being the annoying vegan friend

one.
After getting my results and finding out I'm getting into my first university choice in Brighton, me and my family decided to go away for a few days to check out the area a bit more and look at the accommodation sites (as they didn't come with me on the open day, although I ended up rejecting the accommodation I was offered) and I'm really looking forward to living there now, not that I wasn't before like I knew Brighton was a lovely place hence why it was my first choice but visiting it again knowing that I'm definitely going there sort of reinforced that. Also, there were quite a few record shops (#hipster) and a mahoosive guitar shop which me and my Dad spent a rather lengthy amount of time in.

two.
I went round to a friend's house to watch American Horror Story (although we watched one episode and then ended up watching Orange is the New Black because I still hadn't finished it, but I finished it now!!) and I established that I am crap with directions. Literally it took me an hour and a half bus journey to do a trip that should've been less than half that time, I knew I wasn't so good in directions on foot but I've honestly hit a new low . . . (Damon Albarn voice: this is a looooooooooow)

three.
I went to go see the Bad Education movie with a few friends and it was so funny, if you like the series you're going to love the movie and it's really nice way to end the series. We also went to Costa afterwards - I've gone vegan again so it took me a while to order (I had to go online and check what was vegan on the menu, yes I'm becoming the annoying vegan friend . . . )

four.
I was feeling really down so I decided to ignore my phone most of the day and play piano all day, I find it so therapeutic and ever since finishing grade 8 I've been majorly neglecting the piano, but it has such a positive effect on my mood I really should find more time for it - I feel like I'm being productive by learning new pieces and I just generally like playing the piano, so it's definitely one of my favourite forms of self care.

five.
I decided to watch Harold and Maude again as it's been a few years since I first watched it, and whilst I really enjoyed it the first time, I really really loved it the second time round. The whole film is about control and enjoying life, but not it's not at all cheesy like how you would expect a film which essentially expresses #YOLO to be. Definitely one of my favourite films and an exquisite, cult classic.

six.
I'm not sure if I've vocalised this many times but I am a massive Saved by the Bell fan. I used to watch it a lot when I was younger (I must've been really young and they must've been re-runs, but I do remember watching them with my older half-sister) and then I found them all online a while ago and watched the series a few times, then I was given the box set for Christmas one year and I return to them a couple of times a year and it's time - I've been speeding through it, I've watched quite a couple of series in a matter of days. I'm enjoying myself profusely, but it means Breaking Bad has taken a backseat once again.

seven.
I went to go visit my future home in Brighton and I'm looking forward to moving in now, it's nothing special like it is your average student house, but I really like Brighton and I think the change would be good for me.

eight.
I've become re-obsessed with Everybody Loves Raymond. This used to be one of my favourite shows when I was in primary school, right up there with Friends, because it used to be on about 7:30am and in primary school it didn't take so long to get ready in the morning so I had time to watch it, and I do actually own a series on DVD that I revisit quite a lot, but it had been a while I had watched it on TV and I've actually been recording them (TiVo wishlists are a Godsend), so I've been watching series 9 and it's become one of my favourite things to do everyday. Nothing better than starting your day with some porridge, a cup of tea, and a couple of episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond - I'm pretty certain I am Robert, like I'd love to think I'm Ray, but if I'm honest I'm Robert.

nine.
I got round to voting in the Labour Leadership election (as well as the one for mayor and a bunch of other ones that I didn't know I had to vote for) and I'm sure it's no surprise to you that I voted Jeremy Corbyn as leader - I've said it once and I'll say it again but Jeremy Corbyn has been the only thing keeping me optimistic regarding politics since the election, I'm really hoping he wins.

ten.
I went round to my friend Ma'Suma's house with Isabella for one last sleepover before we go off to University (well I don't really leave for another few weeks but Isabella leaves in a few days, she's a big leaver) which was cute. We watched a lot of Friends and A Hard Day's Night, if you haven't watched any of The Beatles' movies you really need to, even if you don't like The Beatles' music they're such funny boys with a dry sense of humour. I personally think Help! is their best film but I do love A Hard Day's Night, just avoid Magical Mystery Tour at all costs . . .

How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram

Co-washing, results day, and the Spice Girls

one.
I went round to my friend Tejal's house for a sleepover with Khushboo and Girthiga (I mention their names only because you may know them from the holiday vlogs I did) and we had a lot of fun, we watched the classic Brat Pack films (y'know The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, my faves) and played Never Have I Ever - for someone who's done very little in their life, I'm not sure how I finished my drink first. I discovered quite how unsociable I am, Tejal put on the TV for background noise but there was a thing on ITV about Queen's top 50 songs and how could I not pay attention? So for about 2 hours I didn't look or talk to any of them really (I disagreed with the order of practically everything except Bohemian Rhapsody, that had to be first like come on). The next day, Joey came round as well and we went out for a walk in the park (with the world's sh*ttest fountain) which was nice too as the weather was pretty darn great.

two.
I went out to play golf with a bunch of friends (not proper serious golf, but not mini golf, sort of an in between if you feel me) and it was a lot of fun! Got to admit I'm not great, but I came 3rd in the second game we played so not too shabby eh? It was basically lad central though so there was a lot of talk of banter, so much so that one of the people who worked there stood behind us and said '#banter' into his microphone which was a lil strange.

three.
I recently watched White Teeth with my parents and I really recommend it! It's a bit like Small Island meets Anita and Me, I thought the sections of society they focused on were really interesting and I really want to read the book now (especially as I'm sure they cut out a lot, as the ending of the series was a bit rushed although it was still overall really good)

four.
My hair life has changed all because of co-washing, which is essentially cutting out shampoo. My hair has never been in better condition and its curls/waves/kinky-shiznitz stay in for much longer - result!

five.
Tom Fletcher's videos with Buzz always make my day and he did one with Buzz singing - many cry.

six.
As a bit of a pre-results-day-out, me and my friends decided to abuse the Oyster Card system in London by taking random buses (free travel until next month) and just exploring wherever we ended up. We started off by heading to Highgate Cemetery to have a look at Karl Marx's tomb, perhaps a little bit of an odd choice for most 18 year olds but hey, me and my friends aren't orthodox - I found it quite strange that you had to pay to get in, essentially capitalising on a communist's grave? Then we went around the Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square sort of vicinity. I wholeheartedly recommend doing the whole random-bus-journey-dealio if you live in London (maybe not if you're a tourist, you may end up a bit lost and it may get a bit pricey), it's a lot of fun!

seven.
I actually got into my first choice of university (I did meet the requirements I'm just a little bit baffled, in all honesty I was expecting to fail) which means I'm moving to Brighton next month if all goes to plan - feel I should clarify, I'm not being a stereotypical YouTuber in moving there, that totally wasn't the reason I chose it (maybe just an influential factor . . . I joke I joke, but I'm looking forward to it!)

eight.
FKA Twigs brought out some new music on M3LL155X and I'm loving it, FKA Twigs has such a unique style of music and her new songs are just as good as her other ones - you'll probably like her if you're into ambient, alternative sort of music (she's just pretty rad okay)

nine.
I'm loving the return of Great British Bake Off, it's definitely been a television highlight!

ten.
I'm having a major Spice Girls moment, like don't get me wrong I've loved them for a long time (despite the fact they are a bit before my time given they started the year I was born) but I've been staying up every night binge watching Spice Girls documentaries, interviews and I even braved Spice World even though I had heard how bad it was (I know I know, how had I not seen it? And it was actually a lot better than I thought it would be!). I actually did a Buzzfeed Quiz to find out what Spice Girl I'd be and I got Ginger Spice, not sure whether I agree with that, but do the quiz and comment down below your result!

How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram