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Five Good Things From The Week #11

Friday 27 April 2018



Yet again we've had a week that's been kind of difficult to find five good things about, but I tried my best!!


01 // I'm at home once more for a few days. I know that I ALWAYS write about it whenever I'm at home but home is just home, you know? I feel right here, and extremely at peace, and after an exhausting and emotional week it's been needed.

02 // Today marks the day that three out of four of my deadlines are completed! One more to go on the 4th May and then we're done with first year - finally.

03 // I got another job this week with an events catering place near me, meaning your gal will be working two jobs this summer, so it'll exhaust me more than my first year at uni did but I'll be rolling in it for second year which will be lovely.

04 // I made a media kit this week, sent off my first collaboration pitch to a brand ever and locked down another vlogging collaboration with Campus Life UK, so needless to say I'm super excited about the business side of my life at the moment!

05 // This happened a while ago but I never talked about it so I'll shove it in here - I hit 800 instagram followers!! Yeah, it'll be back down and still take me ages to get to 900 but you know, if you fancy giving me a bit of support (and don't play the follow/unfollow game) then hit me up.


What are five good things from your week?

Em xx


Books I Read In April

Thursday 26 April 2018


Hi friends!! I thought I'd start a new monthly series about books on this blog!! Because I don't already talk about enough stuff on here!! Yes, you may well ask what I am on. But books are a big part of my life, being an English student and all, so I thought I might just talk about it a bit more. I also want to talk a little more about poetry and my love for it too so if you have any ideas on literature based posts you want to see please let me know!! But for now, I'm just going to talk you through six of the books that I've read and loved this month...



Maurice by E.M. Forster

This is a book I actually picked up in order to analyse it for my English essay on queer theory and queer/gender identity (sounds boring but definitely isn't, I'm so proud of that essay, took me long enough!) and I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I'd seen the film before I read the book which I always find helps a lot with classics since they're much easier to follow that way, but actually this wasn't so bad! It's set in 1913 and is based on the struggle of a young man, Maurice, on his path to discovering and accepting his homosexuality. Given that homosexuality was obviously illegal in England at that point (crazy) it's super interesting to see how much queer narratives have changed since then. Well worth a read if that's your sort of thing.

Trumpet by Jackie Kay

Another one I read for my essay, another queer narrative that focuses much more on gender identity. I LOVE THIS BOOK. It's the only one of my course books that I've actually categorically enjoyed this year, and that I actually wanted to keep reading. It focuses on the wife of a deceased famous trumpet player, Millie, who is keeping her husband's secret (won't tell you what it is though) but her son Colman is conspiring with a journalist in order to release the secret to the world. Everything about this book, from the way that gender and racial identities are discussed, to the changing points of view, is perfect and I love it.

1984 by George Orwell

Not another classic!! BUT it's the classic that founded dystopian fiction. A tough, tough read I'll grant you that, I haven't actually finished it yet because it's taking me so long to get through it but I'm really enjoying it. I love dystopian fiction so much, I think it's definitely up there with one of my favourite genres, and this just does it so so perfectly (as you'd expect from the book that made dystopia into a thing, right) and I'm really loving it so far.

Paris For One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes

Anyone who knows me will tell you what a huge fan of Jojo Moyes I am, I adored Me Before You and I've read several of her other books since that one and loved them all. I won't lie, I was never a fan of short stories, I didn't really get the point of them and I felt I was always left wanting more, but with this, Moyes nails the genre so well. She ties up all the knots and into a beautiful little parcel at the end of each story and it leaves you not wanting more, but feeling fulfilled and happy because they're all such perfect stories. I love the beauty she writes romance, and the twists she always puts in her stories, and if you've read The Girl You Left Behind then you'll want to read one of the stories in this book as it's a little prequel and it's just so perfect.

The Beach House by Jane Green

Jane Green is another author who I've begun to get really into. I've read one of her other books, Falling and loved it, so when I was given this one for Christmas I was sure I'd love it equally as much. And it's not that I don't love it, but I don't love it as much. It's got that multiple narration thing going on in it, the same sort of thing we see in Love Actually, lots of different stories going on at the same time, and generally that's a really cool idea, I just felt that in The Beach House, there were almost too many narrations going on and I felt it was kind of easy to get lost in that, and forget which storylines belonged to which characters and so on, and lose the plot a little bit. That being said though, the actual way Jane Green writes is amazing, her detailed descriptions really draw you into the novel and she has this amazing ability to feed the reader information bit by bit and it does keep you hooked. I felt the twist at the end was a tad implausible, but then again, that's going to happen in every book we read!!

Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding

What a classic. More of a modern classic though, I'd say. I love Bridget Jones. I've seen all the films and adored them and most of all I just love the character of Bridget Jones so much. She's that character that everyone can relate to in some way, no matter if you're in exactly the same situations as her or just see your life playing out in the same way, there's going to be something that happens to Bridget or something that Bridget does that you'll be able to relate to. I also love diary narratives, I think they're such an immersive way of reading literature, they really make the reader feel like they're living the life of that character and I think it's so cool that a simple technique like a diary format can do that. Even just for a light read this is such a good book, I think everyone should read this at some point or anything because it's just fantastic.


And we're finally at the end of my rambling on about books!! Let me know if you like this and want to see more, or just in general if you want to see more literature based posts!

What books have you been reading recently?

Em xx

A Salad For People Who Don't Like Salad

Saturday 21 April 2018


Yep, believe me, those people do actually exist!! I was one of them, and to a certain extent I kind of still am one, but when I decided to do something salady with some chicken and halloumi I was kind of impressed, I have to say. I found a recipe for a pea-shoot salad on the Good Food website (okay but does BBC Good Food save the life of every student or what) and adapted it a little bit for me and here's what we came up with...


Look, I promise there's salad among the pile of chicken and halloumi and croutons. This is such a perfect one for the warm weather we've been having recently so hopefully you'll like the recipe and will try it yourselves, make sure to let me know if you do!!! Like in my other recipe post, the prices here are based on Lidl as it's my nearest supermarket and the cheapest, most student friendly, but mysupermarket.com makes it really easy to compare the prices from your local supermarket. There also aren't many specific quantities here because I feel like salad is a really personal thing, you can have as much or as little as you want so it's really up to you!

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Ingredients

Mixed leaf salad (200g bag 95p) (it's also really nice with peashoots but I couldn't get any in Lidl or even my Tesco so if you can find them go for it)

Frozen peas (1kg bag £1.05)

1 chicken breast (590g pack £3.15) (or you can use pre-cooked chicken breast but it is more expensive, but can work better if you won't use the other breasts in an uncooked pack)

Half a block of halloumi cheese (1 225g block £1.39)

Croutons (100g bag 89p) (or I'll tell you how to make your own later)

Olive oil (1 litre bottle £2.99 or you can nick your flatmate's which is what I do) (but make sure you ask first lol some flatmates can be VERY possessive over their food)

Lemon juice (200ml 27p or if you prefer fresh a pack of 3 lemons is 99p)

Oregano (7.5g 29p)

Salt & pepper optional but come on everyone has those already (surely)

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Recipe!!

1. Cut up the halloumi into slices and dry fry them over a medium heat. There's a lot of water in halloumi so no oil is needed and dry frying makes a really nice crispy golden crust on the outside of the cheese. Put aside.

2. Cut up the chicken breast into small chunks and fry it in the same pan (this gets all the leftover halloumi stuff on it and makes it taste sooo good) until it's cooked all the way through. Please make sure it's cooked all the way through, raw chicken is a bitch. Put aside.

3. Rip up the salad leaves or peashoots into smaller pieces and put in your serving bowl at the bottom, and use as much or as little as you like - I like quite a lot of salad so go for whatever you're happy with.

4. Meanwhile, pop on a pan of boiling water and cook the peas for 2 minutes. Again, use as many or as little as you'd like for this. Once they're cooked, drain away the water and pop them on top of the salad leaves in your bowl.

5. Cut up the halloumi into little bitesize chunks (it works better if you fry it as slices and then chop it up later, and using scissors tends to work best) and pop into your bowl. Do the same with the chicken and croutons.

If you want to make your own croutons (it's cheaper and a really good way of using up stale bread) just cut the crusts off three slices of white bread (or brown if you're feeling healthy) (or whatever you have), brush both sides of each piece with a little melted butter, cut into similar sized cubes and bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees. Works perfectly.

6. Once all your dry ingredients are in the bowl, drizzle over some olive oil and lemon juice, and add oregano and salt and pepper to your own taste.

And voila, a lovely summery salad that isn't too heavy, super healthy and v v yummy.

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Hope you enjoyed this recipe and let me know if you make it for yourself, and even adapt it to suit your own taste!! Also do let me know if there are any other recipes you'd be keen on seeing on this ol' here blog and I'll be sure to try my best. I'm not the best or most creative person when it comes to food, I'm quite a fussy eater so I tend to stick to simple food that I know I like, so hopefully it won't be too boring and you can get some ideas for some super easy and cheap student-friendly recipes!!

What sort of things do/did you cook at university?

Em xx

Five (?) Good Things From The Week #10

Friday 6 April 2018


another cool balcony photo but I kinda hate my hair in this lol idk why am i so CRITICAL

01 // Another amazing ski trip came to an end today but the weather is also BEAUTIFUL and while I'm exhausted I feel exhausted in an extremely good way and very well-rested. It's been lovely to take a break, and vlogs (in two parts lol) will be up in the coming week (the content creator finally created some content wowww)

02 // Strangely I'm really looking forward to heading back to uni on Wednesday, I have a lot of deadlines so it'll be nice to be able to properly focus and get my head down in the library for a few days, I might even do some study vlogs and how I write essay things if anyone would be interested? I'm not the best at studying but I've felt so motivated after watching loads of UnJaded Jade and Jack Edwards and Luke Birch haha

03 // I've hit 650 followers on my Instagram! Honestly, after being so disillusioned with Instagram it feels so good to finally be getting somewhere with my growth. Spending some time every day to engage with other bloggers and updating my stories and taking some good photos has been a game changer. I also surpassed engagement on my most recent post, hitting over 1000, and my average is around 300 ☺️ if you fancy no feed aesthetic and fun makeup looks the link is in the sidebar to your right!


Do you know something? I can't actually think of two more separate good things about this week. Those three are the standout ones but in general, this entire week has just been really positive. There's something to be said for going on a big holiday with people you've known your entire life, it's been so good for a bit more mental clarity and a positive mindset. Feeling extremely lucky and I have a very full heart.

How have your weeks been?

Em xx

How To Study On Holiday

Wednesday 4 April 2018



Okay but before we get into this post I just want to say how proud I am of this shot!! I took it using my little Sony point and shoot because guess who left their big girl camera charger in England (yes good it was me) and it turned out so much better than I expected! I also used Lily's handy post on tips for taking travel photos on your own, and while this isn't exactly a travel photo it still helped out a lot. Although, if you're supposed to be studying, taking photos of yourself standing pensively at a french door probably isn't going to help, so there's tip #1 for you! 

ANYway, I thought for today's post I'd share some of the things I've learned over the past years having to study on our annual family ski trips, and how you can still be productive and have a holiday at the same time. I've done a ski trip the year of my GCSEs, my AS Levels, my A Levels and this year with four coursework deadlines over the next three weeks. I'm not saying I'm an expert or anything on what good studying practice is but I'd say I've at least learned something, so here we go.


Put the phone down

I know, I know. Groundbreaking. But this is a basic study tip. And I also know that in today's smartphone generation (believe me, my little sister is one of them so I've got the firsthand experience) it can be an extremely difficult concept to just leave the phone alone for however long but what I used consistently through all my big blocks of exams was an app called Cold Turkey, which completely locks your phone for the amount of time you set it to. Like, completely locks it. And yes, it's scary, but my productivity pretty much triples if I don't have constant access to my phone.

A good balance of carrot and stick

For some reason this is one of my dad's favourite phrases. Essentially, carrot = play and stick = work. A holiday can't be all stick and no carrot but it also can't be all carrot and no stick. Ski holidays especially are a toughie because when you're in a ski resort and have a clear view of a lush looking ski slope in front of you, it can be so hard to say no, I need to study today. But, what I like to do is schedule in my carrot-heavy days. We go skiing for 6 days, so out of those 6, this year I've skied three and stayed home and worked 3. What makes it easier is scheduling your stick days for the days when the weather is going to be terrible, but obviously that doesn't apply to every holiday. In previous years, I've skied every day but done half a day's skiing and gone down after lunch to work for the afternoon.

Don't overestimate what you can do

At the end of the day, you are on holiday. That means it's going to be hard to do a full 7 hours a day studying like you might do at home (before you come at me, I'm not saying this is essential AT ALL - we all remember that Guardian article) especially if you do what we do and go on big holidays with family friends. So, before you go, plan the amount of time you'll have each evening or each day and take enough work with you to fill that time. Use the time you do have productively, but also don't be too hard on yourself if you don't quite do what you thought you would, or if you have an evening off to enjoy being with your family.


Work to goals, not time

That being said, it's also extremely useful to stop focusing on the amount of time you have, and focus more on the amount of study you have. This applies much more to GCSE exams or A Level exams where you might have set chapters of notes to do, or sets of exercises, so rather than sitting down and saying "I'm going to do forty mintues of studying" sit down and say "I'm going to do this chapter of notes/this number of maths problems and then give myself a twenty minute break". This helps you focus more on productivity as well. I'm as guilty as the next person for sitting down for a forty minute session and spending twenty of those minutes writing pretty titles and then getting up and thinking I've been much more productive than I have. This way you actually use your time much more efficiently and you're actually able to cross those things off your to-do list. If you cross as many things off in a day you'll really feel like you've earned the next day's fun.


Remember you are on holiday!

I've tried to reiterate through this whole post that you don't have to study all day every day. You're on holiday for a reason, and that's to have a break and relax and escape everyday life for a bit. It's okay to have an evening off to relax with your family and friends, and if you've done enough studying before your holiday or you know you'll do enough afterwards, you can really enjoy the break knowing that you've done enough. It's a tough balance to strike, but with a good work ethic and discipline, studying on holiday isn't actually all that bad. Plus, you get pretty views and good food while you work, so silver linings!


I hope this post may have helped a couple of you at least, like I said before, I'm in no way an expert on the best study methods, this is just what I've found has worked for me from my experience, so it might work for you too! Now, back to my essay...

What are your tips for studying on holiday?

Em xx 
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