Why I Love Blogging

When I mention the fact that I have a blog, a common response is a confused and shocked expression, followed by, what? a blog? why? Some people who I have told, friends and family, have been supportive, and excited to read posts however others, I can tell, find it strange.

I started my blog a year or so ago, and it wasn't until the last few months that I decided to tell people about it. Occasionally posting it on social media, and dropping it into conversation. Before that, I was a little embarrassed. But I am not embarrassed anymore, in fact I would say I was proud of this little space I have which is part of the huge world wide web. Obviously my blog is no where near as successful or as big as other blogs. But none the less, I love it, it is just for me, to write about whatever I want, for me to use as a platform for my ideas, my interests.

Incase you didn't know, I want to work in the media industry. At the moment my direction is steering towards magazine journalism, but on my 3 year course at university I hope to explore: different types of journalism, TV, Radio, PR & Events Management in order to see what I am best at, and what I enjoy more to hopefully pursue a career in. Many media professionals broadcast their ideas and thoughts via an online platform such as blogger or wordpress. This blog acts as a platform for potential employees to see my writing skills, my hobbies, and a little bit more about me. The industry I am hoping to become a part of encourages online activities such as blogs and social media, so for me, having a blog is certainly not 'weird' in fact it is extremely common and very normal.

The blogs I tend to read and follow, are mostly lifestyle blogs, fashion and beauty blogs, travel blogs and blogs of people just like me, with not a huge readership, but the same content and the same aspirations. My readership is growing everyday, and I couldn't be more proud that people are continuing to come back and read my posts.

This was just a quick and simple post, mainly to explain the reasons behind blondiei for those of you who don't really understand the blogging world. Also I would like to thank each and every reader who has took the time to read my posts and I really hope you enjoy them as I really enjoy writing them.

<3

What's In My Bag?

My bag i've had for about a year now and it's the one I use everyday, it's fab because it's big enough to fit everything in and it's black and a traditional design so very classic, it goes with everything. 

So what do I keep in my bag? 

I always have my purse with me, regardless of where i'm going and what i'm doing. In my purse is obviously my money, my cards, my driving license which acts as ID, my student ID (with NUS you get discount at loads of places) and my train and bus pass. 

I also keep my keys with me at all times, my keys contain my car keys, house keys and some little accessories to make it look pretty. 

Another thing that comes with me in my bag always is my phone, I have an iPhone 5 (incase you care). If i'm going out for a few hours then I will take my portable phone charger with me which you can get of ebay! It is really good as if your phone is running low when out you don't have to panic as you can charge it as you go! But i'f I'm only popping out for an hour or so and my phone is fully charged then I probably wouldn't take it with me. 

A tiny umbrella and some sunglasses live in the bottom of my bag just incase there is a down poor or sunshine that I hadn't prepared for. Because (if you live in England you will know) the weather is just oh so unpredictable. 

I normally carry a bottle of water around with me because I like to drink at least 1 bottle(500ml) a day and if I can 2 bottles. I also normally have chewing gum and some paracetomol with me too, because I often get head aches and I like to be prepared aha! 

I keep my little calendar/diary and pen on me in my bag because I am a bit ocd when it comes to being organised, I really have to have every little thing noted and remembered and it just frustrates me if I don't know what I am doing haha. 

Depending where I am going and how long i'll be out, I will take my make-up bag/dry shampoo/hair brush just to touch up if I look a bit bleeh by the afternoon haha! But obviously if I'm not going out all day I won't take my whole make up bag, just my lippy and maybe some powder. Also I normally take some perfume or some nice smelling spray with me, just incase. 

If I am going to Uni then I will probably take a magazine or book to occupy me on the train (at the moment I am reading 'The Island' by Victoria Hislop). I will also be taking notepads/pens/highlighters etc to use during my lectures as well as my macbook to work on. 

Is there anything you always carry with you that I don't and you think I should?

Let me know! 

Induction Week @ University

w/c 22nd September 2014

Monday:

First day at Uni! Lots of induction talks / health & safety / student services etc. Lots of new faces, new places. All in all an exciting day, the course i'm doing is so interesting and cool that I cannot wait to get started. In the afternoon we were put into groups where we were to create a hashtag for twitter, and over the course of the week travel around the city in our groups and take selfies at good media spots where a media event could take place, so for example a photo-shoot, music festival or where a journalism story could come from. After taking the selfie, we have to upload the picture to twitter using the hashtag our group created and then explain why we chose this place and what media event could take place here. My groups hashtag is #ExploringBrum so if you wanted to check out our selfies then you can go ahead and look that up! 

        

Tuesday: 

Today was the first dreaded 9am lecture! After dragging myself out of bed at 6am, I had a cup of tea and perked up. The lecture was an introduction to the outline of the course, what's expected of us etc etc. After this I had to wait around for an hour and then meet the rest of my group who I was put into yesterday in order to look around the city for media hot spots and places where the media events or something could take place. To kill time until 2 o clock which was when the next lecture type intro thing was me and the rest of my group went for a cheeky maccies (although I promised myself to eat healthy this week, damn). After the IT talk had finished I had to kill another couple of hours (annoying, I know) so me and some of the friends I had made just went on a little explore of the Uni and went to see the Radio studios where the Student Radio Station is held as a lot of us were interested in joining that, after that we sat on the grass in the sun until each of our personal tutor sessions. Mine wasn't until 4 o clock. It lasted under 10 minutes and was a little pointless, which was annoying considering I waited around to go to it. 

   

                                


Wednesday:

Today was the 'Freshers Fayre' at Uni, I got there about half 1 and was straight away bombarded with information leaflets, tickets, and free pens! We walked around the different stall type things and weren't really interested in much. As I am commuting into Uni I don't really fancy joining a sports team as the training is like twice a week and normally at night time. The only society/group I was keen to look at was the Media groups, I signed up to the Student TV and Radio stations as well as the Student magazine. After that, we went outside and were looking at all the fun stuff going on, there was bubble football, bouncy castles, mini-golf and loads more of fun activities. There was also dominos there doing pizza's for £1! The que was absolutely huge and there was no way I was going to stand in it, but everyone else seemed to want to haha! I'm really excited to get involved in the student magazine as that's ultimately what I want to do when I leave Uni!

Thursday:

Today I had to go into Uni to enrol, I had to take with me my passport as well as my GCSE certificates & A-level certificates (in the end they didn't even need to look at these haha annoying as I spent ages looking for the and carried them round). I was a little early, well an hour early actually, I still haven't got this whole commuting time schedule right, as I was early I went to Starbucks and had a hot chocolate then met my friend and we went in early anyway in the hope they'd see us so we could go home. We were allowed to go in early, which meant i'd spent an hour travelling in order to be in Uni for a whole 5 minutes haha fab. Oh well, I am now officially a student and I have my card to prove it and also to let me in to the toilets (important) haha ! This is the end of my induction week and teaching starts on Monday, and i'm really looking forward to it. This week has been exciting but also a little tedious as there was a lot of waiting around and a lot of information to attempt to remember. But I have enjoyed it and am keen to get stuck into the course now!

                      

Hope you've liked reading about my first week and if you'd like more lifestyle posts like this then let me know and i'll try and do some more lifestyle/weekly posts ! 

Autumn/Winter Make-up Transition!

With the weather changing over the next few weeks I have re-introduced last years winter favourites into my make-up bag. In the colder weather I like to have more coverage on my face and a more fuller face of make-up. In the summer it's nice to be natural but in the winter I like the smokey eye, medium coverage kind-of look.

Rimmel London 25 Hour Lasting Finish Foundation
This foundation lasts (supposedly) 25 hours, which is amazing for me as for Uni I am up early in the morning and sometimes back later on at night. Then I also go to work some nights, so long lasting foundation is a must for me as it saves me reapplying! The colour I use is 'Soft Beige' which isn't as light as the foundation I use in the summer months, as in the winter I like to look like I'm wearing make-up whereas in the summer I just like a kind-of sunny glow. I would definitely recommend this foundation this Autumn/Winter time.

Rimmel London Stay Matte Powder Long Lasting Pressed Powder

This powder I use over the top of my foundation to set it in place and take away the shine. The powder is also part of the long lasting range so it is supposed to last all day too! By using the powder it also helps stop the foundation from wearing away, and is easier to apply throughout the day for a top-up rather than re-applying your whole face of foundation.

I am continuing to use my bronzer from No 7 and my Illegal Length Mascara. I have also began using more autumnal colours on my eyes, such as browns, purples etc. I am still using my every day Mac Lipstick in Creme Cup, but am currently on the look out for a darker more wintery lipstick (Any suggestions would be welcomed) as the pinky lip I am wearing is more summery. 

Book Review: Sophie Kinsella

I'm the kind of girl who loves a quick, easy, summer read whilst sunbathing all day on holiday. Sophie Kinsella's books are the perfect girly holiday reads. There not too big, the plots aren't too complicated and they don't take forever to finish. 

Whilst away I read 'The Wedding Girl' and 'Cocktails For Three' both of which took me a few days each. Don't get me wrong, there not like the huge, really deep meaningful novels, like the kind you study in English Literature. There just fun and quick reads for those of us that just want something simple. 

The Wedding Girl 

At 18 years old, Milly was ditzy, excited and naive. In her first summer in Oxford, she married her American friend Allan in order to keep him in the country with his lover Rupert. Thinking nothing of it, she wore a big glam dress, posed for photos and was spoilt for the day. Ten years on and she's getting married for real, to wealthy and serious Simon. The wedding is a huge deal, and everything is planned to the absolute finest little detail. With four days to go, her past catches up with her, and she has just four days to stop her whole world from crashing down around her. This book is perfect for people who can remember a mistake in the past thats crept up on them and jeopardized their future! Or people who love weddings and stories about love and relationships. 

Cocktails For Three 

Roxanne, Maggie & Candice all meet up once a month for cocktails, and have done for years. There are three story lines running alongside each other within this book, which sounds complicated but its not, they all blend together well and each character is involved in each others story line. Typically, each character has a common problem, Roxanne - Men problems, Candice - Friendship problems, her character is too nice to realise whats happening, and Maggie is struggling with the challenges of motherhood. The book demonstrates how important friendship is in each of the girls lives, without their friends they wouldn't be able to get through the problems they each face. This is a perfect book for any girl who has a few close friends and enjoys the occasional cocktail! 

Sophie Kinsella's way of writing keeps you reading, and allows you to get through the books quickly. Perfect for holiday reading, reading on the bus/train, or a bit of relaxation reading before going to sleep. I highly recommend them and will definitely be reading more of her books whilst I commute to Uni in a couple of weeks. 

You may have heard of Sophie Kinsella by the book (and now film) 'Confessions of a Shopaholic', there is a whole series of books stemmed from the original book such as 'Mini Shopaholic', 'Shopaholic Ties The Knot', 'Shopaholic abroad' and more - definitely good reads for girls who, well love shopping! Haha! 

Check out more here 

Thoughts On A Thursday #5 - Combating Nerves

Many of us are facing new challenges in the coming weeks, whether it's moving away from home for University, starting a new school, starting college or beginning an apprenticeship.

Nerves may be beginning to kick in right now, and even though we're all excited and happy to be moving on with our lives doing something we'll enjoy (hopefully) it still is a big scary thing, no matter what you're doing, travelling the world on a gap year or starting an apprenticeship down the road from where you live. Everybody's challenge is different and personal, and whether small or big, important to each of us.

Nerves are a common part of life, everybody gets nervous, even old people, even people who seem to have it all figured out. Nerves are an emotion which makes us human, and you shouldn't be embarrassed for being nervous or scared.

Accepting your nervous or scared and talking about it with someone close to you is a good thing to do, this way you're sharing the problem, and receiving advice of someone who wants to help you and cares about you. Another thing is thinking of all the positive things about what you're doing, not the negatives. Don't think about what could go wrong, or what you haven't prepared for. Think positive thoughts, at the end of the day you are going to go, you are starting a new job or you are moving away from home, so worrying about it isn't going to change the fact that it is going to happen. The energy you waste on being nervous could be channelled into excitement. Another thing i'd suggest is taking a deep breath and relaxing, don't stress out about it. Just chill out and go with it, whatever you're doing is something you've chosen to do, it's a stepping stone to wherever you want to to go in life, and this feeling of nerves will soon feel a million years ago. Life goes very, very fast and we should learn to embrace every moment, as every moment goes extremely quick. My final thought to share with you is the quote 'Great things never come from comfort zones' which, recently i've found to be very true. In order to achieve something wonderful, sometimes you need to be out of your comfort zone completely as it will open your mind to many new things, new opportunities, new ways of living, new people. Change isn't always a bad thing, it can be refreshing and eye-opening, and ultimately make you a better person.

Wishing everybody reading this good luck in whatever future plans you have, if you are nervous then don't worry as we all are and it is very common. As soon as you're emerged into your new routine and your new life, your old life and old routine will seem strange and weird and again, feel a million years ago!