Recently Reading

One of my New Years resolutions for 2018 was to read a book per month and so far so good, I am succeeding.

Like many people I fell out of love with reading over the years but now I am getting back into it and really starting to appreciate the feeling of getting lost in a book once again.

I haven’t yet read as much as I would want too as I currently have a full shelf of unread books and more to get through but I am making a start.

Let’s start by discussing my most recent read and by far one of my favourite stories of all time.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 

This book just reminds me of high school in the most positive way possible. My drama class studied the play of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie for our higher exam and I can recall everyone in the class practically being able to quote the play word for word. The book is about an eccentric, romantic and free spirited Edinburgh teacher Jean Brodie and her special group of girls, the “creme de la creme”. Miss Brodie preaches “give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life.” it is this exact reason which brings her downfall in her school, Marcia Blane. This is one of my favourite stories and will stay this way for a very long time as it is close to my heart and reminds me of such happy times, as well as being an excellent and well-written read.

Girl Boss 

I was originally going to dedicate a whole blog post to discussing this book but I decided against it as I am probably one of the last people to get round to reading it. Overall, I did really enjoy reading the book as I found it fairly amusing and entertaining. However, as many people note I would not buy this book if you are looking into getting good advice and insight into starting a business. It is like half memoir and half business guide but without the good advice. Girlboss tells the story of Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso who went from making sandwiches at Subway, being a petty thief to selling vintage clothes on eBay and turning that into a $100 million business. Impressive, right? I LOVE the illustrations in this book and it is refreshingly honest and funny too about Amoruso’s journey to where she is today.

The Woman In Black 

This book was a birthday gift from my flat mate for my birthday. I’m not going to lie this was the first book I read this year and that was because it got right to the end of January and I hadn’t yet started another book, let alone finished one and I didn’t want to fail my New Years resolution in the first month. I saw the film for this already when it first came out so I went into this book knowing the storyline. The book is reasonably short but still manages to pack a punch with all the creepy details it entails. The book has all the elements of a perfect ghost story – tragic back story, ghost seeking revenge, bad stormy weather and a creepy old house.

The Sun and Her Flowers

I am probably going to write a more in depth review of this book later on as I did with Milk and Honey but I want to mention this in here anyway. I was such a big fan of Milk and Honey so naturally when this came out last year I was super excited, this was a birthday present from my mum. This book is a safe haven for those who are hurting and want to nurture themselves. The book has an enticing table of contents, like a flower cycle: wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. The Wilting section contains poetry relating to the early stages of a break up and how the person wants to get in touch with themselves again. Falling is the downfall containing poetry describing feelings of loneliness and depression. Rooting has poetry relating to the process of regaining strength and self love as the soul re-energizes itself. Rising details how the person rises from the ground and moves on and leaves toxicity behind. Blooming is the last chapter in which the person realises that they need to put themselves first and take care of their own happiness.

These are my four recent reads, as well as the pile of magazines I now have to get through. My gran has been posting magazines like Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire down to me in Glasgow as she knows I like them, how cute is that? Let me know what you’ve been reading and if you have any thoughts on the books I’ve mentioned. Hope you enjoyed reading,

Siobhan x

Advertisement

New Years Resolutions 2018

I make new years resolutions every year, most of the time they don’t stick but it’s worth a shot right?

I made another post about this last year for my 2017 resolutions which you can read here if you’re interested. I mentioned in this post that I wanted to be able to look back on this year and be proud of things I have accomplished and I really am proud of myself. Super cringey, I know.

I think this year I’ve really grown up a lot as a person and I’m a lot more sure of myself than I was at the beginning of 2017. I’m not gonna talk crap and say how I’m a totally different person because I’m not. I’m a lot more confident and happier with myself which is a good achievement.

Find a new hobby:

I know blogging counts as a hobby but I want to do something else with my time too. I’m leaning towards starting scrap booking or photography because I think I would have a lot of fun with that and be creative with it. I’m less inclined to attempt to take up a sport or musical instrument as a hobby because I just don’t think I will enjoy it a lot.

Travel as much as possible:

I think I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post about my trips to Bali and Sri Lanka this year so that is some pretty big travel plans. There are loads of little road trips I want to do at home in the Highlands as well, so when I say travel I don’t mean it necessarily has to be across the globe. I would like to explore my own country a bit more too.

Join the gym:

I think that is the famous last words of many people coming into the new year. I’ve been determined to join the gym at my uni but I was too poor for a good few months. When I did have the money, it was December and I was about to go on a 6 week holiday from the uni so it seemed pointless to start paying for it then. I really want to find a type of exercise I really enjoy and don’t totally hate. Also want to get into a better shape by the time my holidays come around.

Save as much money as possible:

Not gonna lie I have been pretty careless with my money at uni – always spending too much on going out for food and doing far too much shopping. I’m gonna create a budget plan for myself to try and stick to and also hopefully find a job down in Glasgow too. Nobody likes being skint so I’m going to try and be a bit more sensible this year.

Read a book per month:

Towards the end of 2017 I was getting into a better habit of this by reading a little bit of one of my books every day. I have shelves full of unread books in my room and I want to start making my way through them. I think setting myself this target of one book per month will be a really helpful way of getting back into reading and enjoying it more. I feel like when you get reading that you hate at uni it really puts you off reading for fun too.

Eat my 5 a day:

I used to be really good at this and eating super healthy. However now I’m definitely not. This year I really want to take better care of myself through exercising and eating better. Having 5 different fruits/veggies a day is a good little goal to encourage myself to eat better.

So these are my new year resolutions for 2018 and I hope I can stick to them. I’ve tried to keep them quite basic and vague so they are achievable rather than have some ridiculous goal. What’s your new years resolutions? Hope you enjoyed reading this post.

Siobhan x

What I’m Looking Forward To In 2018

So as each day is approaching closer to the new year, I find myself looking back on the highs and lows of this year. I am going to write a post about the most memorable moments from 2017 however it seems much more fun to write about what I am looking forward to.

There are so many exciting things going on next year that are already planned, and I’m sure there will be just as many amazing unplanned surprises as well. I’m gonna try and keep this list in the order as it is going to happen throughout the year.

Let’s start with one of my oldest friends and her boyfriend are having a baby due at the beginning of February next year. I’m so excited and happy for them and no doubt I will get crazy broody after seeing their cute baby.

It will be Luna’s second birthday at the beginning of March and then in May it will be marking two years since we got our little ball of fluff. I never imagined how much of a positive impact a dog would have on my life but now I can’t imagine life without little Luna.

Finley turns 20 next March so we will be doing something together to celebrate that. I love buying presents, especially for him, so I will be looking out for something special. I still can’t believe we are both turning 20 next year. We started speaking when we were both 16 and it just seems crazy.

My mum and her partner Brian are getting married next April so I’m obviously looking forward to that. I love weddings so much and it just makes it so much better that I get to be there on my mums special day and see how happy she is.

I finish my first year at uni at the end of April which is super exciting. I’m absolutely loving university which totally reassures me that I’m in the right course. I feel more motivated than ever to do well since moving to Glasgow.

On the 2nd of June it will be mine and Finley’s three year anniversary which I am super excited about. At the moment we are planning to go abroad on holiday to celebrate but we haven’t made any immediate plans for this. So if anyone knows any sunny, reasonably cheap but nice places to go on holiday hmu.

Last thing I’m gonna mention in this post are my two trips to Bali and Sri Lanka next summer. I am spending one month in each place and doing some kind of animal conservation volunteering as well as travelling in each country too.  I am so looking forward to travelling again. It was such a highlight of this year I bet it will be next years highlight too.

So, this is all the big events I’m majorly looking forward to for the first 8 months of 2018. I think it’s lined up to be a pretty good year and I can’t wait to see what the future will bring. Hope you enjoyed reading.

Siobhan x

 

Time for a catch up..

Hi everyone, it has been over a month since I wrote my last blog post which is crazy considering in the summer I had finally gotten into a good habit of posting weekly-ish. Who knew I’d have more free time working two jobs than I would as a student with no job? Since I haven’t been posting much this post is basically to explain why and give a little insight on what I have been up too.

So, I have just started my 5th week in university which is crazy because now all those deadlines are starting to seem close instead of a million miles away. Overall, since starting university there isn’t any words for how much happier I am than I was before. It’s amazing seeing such a positive difference in myself, going from a job I hated to a studying a course that I love surrounded by the best people. I do hate the 9am lectures and what feels like endless hours of practising shorthand but in general I really do love it.

I thought I would struggle with moving to Glasgow since it is such a big difference from living in the Highlands but I am totally loving it. City life is so different to living in the Highlands but I’m definitely used to it.  I’m not homesick yet but that’s probably because I’ve been home twice and had my boyfriend and my parents visiting me here on separate occasions too. This weekend I was home for just under a week and it was because my Dad was getting married. How exciting is that?? It was literally the nicest ceremony surrounded by all our close family and friends which is lovely.

I’m determined to get more organised with how I spend my time because I really want to get back into blogging and start going to the gym. I really miss having proper hobbies and things I enjoy doing. I think I’m either going to make Wednesday’s or Sunday’s my blogging days as at the moment I have nothing on on those days. When I get my next SAAS payment, I’m gonna get my gym membership and force my butt to the treadmill and some metafit classes.

There isn’t a huge amount going on in my life right now, but I’m really really happy with the way everything seems to be going and that is the most important thing.

Siobhan x