Spontaneity over Plans

Spontaneity is the key to having a happy and fulfilled life. It seems that no matter how much planning you put into something, it’s always so much more satisfying when you do something spontaneous - it’s like living on the edge but a lot less dangerous sounding.

After arriving at university with a friend for a lecture that didn’t actually happen, we decided to pop into town (Southampton) to do a bit of window shopping before a long afternoon of coursework. What we actually ended up doing was jumping on a train to London for an afternoon of shopping on Oxford Street. 

I haven’t been into our thriving capital socially for a good few years, so I felt it was well overdue. All I can say is, I forgot how big Topshop is?! This shop was actually made for me. Everything from their accessories through to their shoes and clothing, I absolutely adore. We spent what felt like forever in there, browsing through their three huge floors, taking in everything. As expected, we both came away with a couple of items after promising to be good with our money. 

We went on to browse in Urban Outfitters, where I had to resist buying a lilac and mint green colour block blouse, Forever 21 and the usual high-street stores such as River Island and Accessorize.

Before leaving, I had to return to Topshop to purchase the cutest cupcake. It seems cupcakes are becoming a slight obsession for me, but what isn’t to love about how scrumptious they taste and how pretty the coloured icing looks?

Begrudgingly, we headed back to Southampton, feeling very tired after hours of pushing our way through the packed streets of London.

I was wined and dined that evening however, as I was booked in to eat at The Rockstone after my previous work placement Listed, asked me to go there and review the food. A complimentary three-course meal for myself and my boyfriend left us feeling very much relaxed and ready for bed!

All in all, a busy day but a good one at that!

Determination is Key

Yesterday, I completed my work placement at Listed magazine. I've been there for the last 7 weeks and I have loved every minute of it.


It seems I landed myself a brilliant placement with this, as after hearing horror stories of friends work placements at various magazines, I did have my doubts. Would I be filing, cleaning and making cups of coffee for the whole day? The answer would be no.

Right from day one, it was all go go go, with numerous tasks to do including writing news and feature stories, editing and uploading online content, tweeting upcoming events and interviewing exciting music artists. I couldn't have asked for better. The three people I was working alongside in the office were all lovely and made me feel very welcome, which instantly put me at ease and made the placement even more enjoyable. 


Thanks to Listed, I now have many published articles to add to my portfolio, demonstrating my writing style and skills.


To top off the placement, I was delighted to hear that they would like me to continue writing for their shopping section. I love shopping so this is pretty ideal!


The experience was invaluable and has given me a brilliant insight into the ins and outs of the magazine process from start to finish. It has also reinforced how much I love writing and has made me even more determined to become a fashion writer.  


Thank you Listed!

New Forest Fun

Today I decided to get out of Southampton and visit the New Forest with a friend. Why I've only just got round to doing this when I've been in Southampton for almost three years I don't know, but it was so much fun.

We started off by doing a quick photo shoot, (my friend studies Photography and needed to get some shoots for her portfolio) which was quickly replaced by searching for ponies. Whilst doing this, we found a little group of donkeys. Cute, adorable, you name it and these donkeys fit the bill. The baby one had to be my favorite though, it was so fluffy and loving and I was very tempted to 'borrow' it for a while...but soon realised it would be difficult to fit it in the car. Hmph.

After finally tearing ourselves away from them, we went in search of some friendly horses, as many of them were quick to bite. We found a few, and would willingly have taken them home with us, but they did seem quite content in their surroundings so we chose to leave them be. The fact that cars were driving through the middle of their home didn't bother them in the slightest; they happily just walked into the road and stopped as if to say 'I was here first, you can wait'. So very amusing to watch.

After discovering just how fun the New Forest is, I have decided to go camping there at some point over the next few months. Maybe the horses will take to me better if I sleep there too...

Anti-Social Networking

After watching last nights documentary 'Anti-Social Networking', I feel disgusted at the human race. The lengths that some people will go to in order to make someone else's life miserable is awful.

The first part of the documentary showed the family of a schoolboy who had hung himself after school bullies left nasty  comments on his Facebook page leaving him feeling too scared to go to school. The children are young, yes, but they no the difference between right and wrong, and I hope that they never get over how cruel they were.

As if this wasn't bad enough, a webpage was then set up by the boys brother for people to leave loving messages and their condolences. Instead, people left vicious comments about how he deserved to die and concocted mocking pictures of the boy hanging. These are known as 'trolls'; the people that search the news and internet for people (children in particular) that have died, and then they go about leaving horrible messages.

So where have the days gone when social networking was just that, social networking? The sites were set up to allow friends to communicate easily, for people to add photographs and share their life with the cyber-world. Now, it seems its primary use is for people to make sarcastic, childish and unnecessary comments aimed at people they don't like, and it's absolutely ridiculous.

It's the little things..

The idea of happiness is something that changes for every single individual on this planet.

For some, it involves extravagant lifestyles which involves living in a posh house, with the floor to ceiling glass windows, a beautiful view and a pool. Add in a couple of expensive cars, the perfect job and a lot of money and you're probably about there; life heaven. 

For others, it is having a home, a family and living comfortably in the knowledge that you have a life partner and somebody that you can grow old with.

For me, it's the little things.

It's amazing how many ways there are of creating happiness, and the extent that some people have to go to in order to be happy. 

The tiniest of things can leave me smiling all day. Ok, I'm not going to be walking around with a constant grin across my face, that would be weird...but the warm fuzzy feeling you get inside when you no you're happy? That's what I'm talking about.

Earlier today, I had a really positive tutorial with my university lecturer. Hearing somebody else say that your writing is really good is the best feeling, especially when writing is what I want to do with my life. 

Then, I had the most amazing cupcake from Dream Cupcakes. All I can say is wow...if you haven't tried one of these before then you are massively missing out. Heaven in cupcake form is the only way to describe it.

I personally feel that you don't need grand gestures, expensive things or the perfect life to experience happiness. It's all about the little things. As long as I have ambitions, dreams and an end goal, then it is that and those little happy moments that you experience that will have me looking back in 50 years, content with my life and satisfied that I did everything I could to be happy.

Why are girls in such a hurry to grow up?

When I think back to my childhood, I have memories of me running around dressed like a boy and doing things that boys do. This involved climbing trees, rolling around in the mud and genuinely not giving a damn about what I looked like. I'd come home with twigs stuck in my hair, grass stains on the knees of my trousers and looking rather worse for ware. If I compare this to the childhoods of young girls today, oh how so much has changed.

Walking through the town centre of Southampton, I have to look twice at some of the girls that walk past me. One girl is wearing high waisted denim hot-pants with over the knee socks and vans. Then there is the massive back combed hair that's going on and of course the extensions (what girl doesn't have extensions nowadays?). This along with the plastered on makeup and bright pink lips, you'd expect her to be at least 18, wouldn't you? Wrong. A second glance makes me realise she can't be any older than about 13. So why are girls so quick to grow up and look older than what they are?

Some of you might think that's normal for a 13-year-old girl, but where you like that at 13? I doubt it. Maybe it's just how things are now; as the years pass by things become more socially acceptable and not so shocking.

Celebrities obviously have a big impact on young girls. The amount of media attention that they gain concerning their appearance is ridiculous; is there not anything more important to report on? Or is it that girls are just very competitive? It's sad that young girls feel the need to dress and present themselves to be older than what they are; a childhood should be cherished, not wished away. I don't even think I knew what fashion was at 13? As long as I was comfortable and able to run around doing whatever I was doing, then I was happy.

Observing some of the teenagers of today, I can't imagine any of them acting how I did as a child; they'd be to concerned about breaking a nail or getting a speck of dirt on them. I wish that they could know just how quickly the time will go until they become adults, with responsibilities and a job...then they'll soon wish they could be innocent children again with not a care in the world.