New Beginnings.

I start my second year of Uni on the 29th September, but a lot of people are beginning a new chapter of their lives and starting their first year of University! I'm in no way an expert but I thought it would be useful for some people to share some pointers and advice for the next year of Freshers!

1. You don't have to go out all the time

Before I got to Uni, I had never been clubbing or had many drinks, unlike most of the people I met! It got really tiring trying to go out every day for two weeks straight so I decided to go out a few days a week during freshers and nobody minded! It slows down a lot as you get into the year and start having more work so don't worry about keeping up with the insane pace of the first part of the year. However, although there is a lot of clubbing, there are also plenty of societies and activities for non-drinkers - at my Uni there is a society for non drinkers and movie nights are organised by others!

2. It's okay if you don't make friends with everyone

I tried to be friendly to everybody I met last year in an attempt to make new friends but the reality is that you won't get along with everyone and that's perfectly okay. There are so many people at university that you'll rarely have to see them anyway, even if you live in the same building!

3. Be open minded

University is a huge clash of cultures and backgrounds so it's a great time to learn and try new things, but to also be open minded and do things in a different way to you're used to. It's a great time to reinvent yourself or just shape who you are already. You could join a society that is different to what you would usually go for or choose a module you think sounds interesting but challenging. 

4. If you need to, ask for help

There are plenty of people at University to give you support and advice so if you need them, don't be afraid to ask for help or advice, it's what they do best and they'll do it sensitively and confidentially.

5. Make sure you meet your tutor

They're there to help you throughout the three years you're at University so start off with a good relationship and meet with them soon after you arrive - they're there to help you with academic and personal matters so being able to feel like you can trust them is important!

6. Everyone takes their own time to settle

Don't worry if you get homesick when others seem perfectly fine, people adapt to new situations at their own pace. New situations can be scary but eventually it'll become the new normal and I'm sure you'll love it!

I hope those of you moving back to Uni soon (be it your first or third year) enjoy it and make the most of it!

Jess xx

This week.

I've been on Easter holiday for the last week which only means one thing for people in my age group: exams are just around the corner. 

As well as revising, I've actually been giving myself little breaks and have managed to meet up with friends! 

On Wednesday, I went to my friend Rob's for a movie night which was awesome fun! We ended up playing a lot of cards, eating pizza then watching Lord Of the Rings at about 12.30am! I've never actually seen it and it was good when I was actually paying attention! We also watched part of the second one on Thursday morning too before leaving and that was also good - Gollum made me laugh quite a lot! My boyfriend also cooked us all bacon so I was pretty happy when I woke up! I had to drive there by myself which was actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be - I can drive surprising well considering I didn't know the area! I also drove to Waitrose with Rob to get some snacks before the party started and I managed to park which is a feat too! I haven't been to many parties with college people but they're a lot of fun and not as alcohol filled as I would expect - people just got happy instead of completely incoherent which lead to a really nice atmosphere and I ended up having a lot of fun, it was a nice break from revision!

Today, me and my family also went to the cinema to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier! I've been wanting to see it pretty much since it came out so I was really excited and I was right to be! It might actually be one of my favourite Marvel films so far, each character was brilliant and the whole thing was interesting, it didn't take too long for the action to get going which was great! I also loved the end of credits scene as per usual, they always make me so excited for the next Marvel film! If you haven't seen it yet I really recommend it, it'll make you feel pretty much every emotion available on the human spectrum which is pretty impressive for a film that's just over 2 hours long! 

The next week will be pretty much solid revision which may be a bit dull, but hopefully it pays off in the end! 

Jess xx

Hopeless.

Sorry that I haven't been blogging lots recently, I've had so much work to do and I just haven't had any motivation! I have a few things in the works over the next week or so though so I should get some posts out soon!

It's my birthday on Thursday and I'm honestly so excited! I'm turning 18 which in reality isn't much of a big thing but it feels huge! I know that I won't suddenly turn into a responsible adult and know where my life is heading but it'll be nice to actually be an adult officially! 

I'm going out for lunch with my college friends on Wednesday and having my old friends over for a film day at the weekend so it'll be so much fun!

I shall do a post on Thursday/Friday about my day so look out for that! 

Jess xx

Parties and cookie dough.

It's half term this week which in A level terms equals crazy amounts of homework and essays. 

I did however get to go to a party with my college friends on Monday which was amazing. 

Yes, people got a bit drunk but it wasn't out of hand like I know some people can get - it was a more relaxed and happy atmosphere which was great. 

My friend Milly had it round her house and we stayed in her living room pretty much the whole night. She brought in a few mattresses and we put them on the floor so there was loads of space to just lounge about which was awesome! We watched Frozen which was AMAZING. I loved it so so much and I can't wait until I can get it on DVD so I can watch it lots. We also watched Tangled while eating Dominoes and pots of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (me and Chris shared a pot of Cookie Dough pretty much between us...perfect? I think so.) while a couple of people sang loudly and drunkenly along to the songs.

In the end, 6 of us stayed the night with a couple of people on the sofas and 4 of us sharing the two mattresses pushed together which was quite entertaining!

I've only been to one other party with college people and even then I only knew the host so this was really great - I got to spend time with my closest college friends and just have a laugh! Definitely one of my favourite parties so far - Disney, ice cream and laughs is always a good combination. 

Jess xx

Half way.

I'm 15 days into my little post challenge and with 15 days to go, I wanted to do a quick update on how it's going! This post will end up being my 16th post so I'm a day ahead of schedule which I'm really happy with because I didn't think I'd be able to keep up with the amount once college started, but it's been easier than I expected - it's a really good way to relax and wind down after college and lets me write without it having to be work related! I want to continue writing the equivalent of a post a day in the following months because it's fun having to come up with different post ideas! If it becomes too difficult, I can always do one every other day which would make it easier! 

I also went to my first of probably many 18th parties yesterday! It was one of my best friends from secondary school so I got to see pretty much everyone from my old school, and as per usual, it was great to catch up with them and it felt no different to when I used to see them every day! I also got to speak to some of my old closer friends that I hadn't spoken to for a while so I'm going to increase contact with them which will be really great! 

Jess xx

P.S. This is also my 200th post! Time flies by, doesn't it?!

Life is Art.

"I think everything in life is art. What you do. How you dress, how you love someone, and how you talk. Your smile and your personality. What you believe in, and all your dreams. The way you drink your tea. How you decorate your home. Or party. Your grocery list. The food you make. How your writing looks. And the way you feel. Life is art. - Anonymous.

A week in the life of Jess

Well this week has been rather hectic to say the least...I'm just glad to be back blogging again! I've missed it!
I've had a crazy amount of work, with exams looming, it's only destined to get worse sadly!
So...as I said on Monday, Friday and Saturday I actually went and did stuff!!
On Friday I went to the Classics open day at Oxford which was amazing! I met up with some friends by accident and ended up spending half of the day with them until I went for a quick tour around the Ashmolean museum. It was completely amazing!! The other people at the open day were so smart though, one guy read Ancient Greek backwards off a gem on display! It was amazing but scary that he could be a potential rival in getting a place at Oxford...
I lost my friends after the museum tour and I hung around with a girl that I met on the tour! Obviously being me, we ended up in the sweet shop!
I went to a lecture about Hercules and how he can be related to various colonies popping up and some events in history and stuff. It was actually pretty cool! And I felt quite proud that I recognised some of the authors of sources and knew something about them!
Oxford is absolutely breathtaking though, the buildings are gorgeous and they have all the shops anyone could ever need! The colleges are spread out over the whole city which is good because you have to actually walk to get to places so you get to see more of Oxford as you move around which is great!
It just looks crazily hard to get in to, and seeing the people I'm up against, it seems my chances of getting in there are dwindling by the second.
On Saturday I had a few girl friends round and I had a movie day/party for my birthday which is on Wednesday!! It was great seeing all of my old school friends again because it's been ages. I love how it always feels like it's only been a day or two since we last saw each other when we meet up, I love them so much! It was nice to see my college friend and outside any school friend got on with the others super well though! Always makes things easier! They got me some fantastic presents too, they know me so well!

The Dan & Phil top is amazing; Katie, you're fantastic!
The Colin the Caterpillar and Percy Pig sweets are from my friend Phoebe,
a reminder of our awesome GCSE Geography lessons!
The Exploding TARDIS mug, mini malteaster bunnies and stickers are from Julia
 who definitely summed me up in 3 presents!!
I love these girls!

My mum's dog walking friends also got me a gorgeous Roman bird pendant and it's just amazing and beautiful and I love it!

How gorgeous is this?!

I got a free today instead of Extended project and my presentation (YAY!) so I went to Boots and took advantage of their 'Buy 2 Barry m nail polishes, get £1 off' deal and bought these beauties! I ended up spending £10.96 which isn't a lot for 4 nail polishes for a fairly decent brand! I'm currently wearing the Gelly nail paint (far right on the pic) and its super shiny and it's gone on pretty well! They're all great colours for when Spring/Summer finally show up so I feel super prepared for then with regards to my nail colours!

I love these, from left to right: Berry, Mint Green, Blue Moon, Prickly Pear

I'm beyond excited that it's my birthday in 2 days, this week feels like it's going to be good; I've already got an A on my last Ancient History essay which I'm super proud of! I think I'm getting the hang of my subjects now!

Anyway, I'm tired so I'm off! Hopefully I'll blog again soon, I've missed this crazy amounts!
Jess xx

My weekend!

First off, sorry I haven't been blogging for a little while, life and homework took over for once!
I finally met Kate (http://smilingismyfavourite.blogspot.co.uk) on Saturday which was awesome. We started talking on BlogSpot in September ish, then twitter and finally Facebook around October time. We went for a shopping trip around Guildford with the limited money we both had and it ended up being a great day of laughing at horrible clothes and buying some amazing stuff!
Being me, and it being Guildford, I obviously bought some American sweets (who would have guessed?!) for about £8! I was quite proud, I was expecting to buy so much more because I've recently been having withdrawal symptoms and cravings for American sweets which isn't good!


There were a few sweets that didn't make it home for the picture...
all very yummy though!

Only 2 packs of Swedish fish, most of the Nerds, 2 Laffy Taffy strips, the can of Mello Yello and half a bottle of Pineapple Fanta left now! I go through sweets so fast despite being diabetic! (My blood sugar is still under pretty good control though which is awesome!) I also originally had another can of Mello Yello and a pack of berry Starburst (SO GOOD.)

I also bought a gorgeous dress from New Look for £13, because of my Student Card I got it for £11! I'm still not completely sure about what I'm going to wear with it but I'll find something eventually, it's gorgeous!




Thankfully changing rooms have good lighting so I could get a decent picture of an outfit for once!

How cute is the pattern on the dress?! I just fell in love with it!

I love the navy and bows, 2 of my favourite things when it comes to clothing! It's so cute with the white collar as well, I love it!

I also went to a party with my old school friends Saturday night which was a lot of fun! I do love how I can go back to them and it will always feel the same being back with them! Annoyingly because of my horrible cold and sore throat, I had to leave early, but when I was there, it was awesome!

On the Friday, I went to the Crew warehouse sale at Ascot Racecourse with my parents and I got some super pretty stuff - it's all been taken and hidden away until my birthday so you'll have to wait until then to see any of it! I can say that I've found a new love in the form of a dress that I tried on though, it's perfect and I'm in love with it!

I spent quite a lot of Sunday doing homework but I also went to John Lewis and also found such a pretty purse from Radley but that is also being saved for my birthday! It's adorable though!
I did find some Kate Spade mugs when I was looking around and they were super cute - £20 for a mug though! It's a shame because if they were cheaper, I would have probably got one! They also had some really nice paperweights and keyrings too - why does Kate Spade all have to be so pretty and stylish and expensive?! Why why why?!

Hopefully I'll be more up to date with my blogging now though! I miss it so much when I don't blog - even for a day or two!
Jess xx

And toes!

So this is my last instalment in my little series of four posts! I hope you guys have enjoyed! I'm actually so surprised at how many pairs of shoes I have! However, a girl can never have too many shoes!

Boots
Due to the colder weather, I've practically been living in boots since about November. They're great for keeping your legs warm and they look great!

From left to right: Brown suede calf length boots from Next
Sheep wool boots (NOT UGGS) from Celtic
Brown snow boots from Snow and Rock
Brown suede calf length high heeled boots from Next

From left to right: Black biker style boots from H&M
Brown ankle boots from Johnnie B
Brown wool lined ankle boots from Johnnie B
Blue high heeled ankle boots from Marks and Spencer

These brown suede boots are some of my favourites ever. Before they decided to die on me, they were the most comfortable things alive and I would wear them everywhere. Unfortunately they've worn out quite a lot and the backs are shredded inside, producing quite evil blisters!
My parents bought me these as either a Christmas or Birthday present a few years ago and I loved them. I also take pride in the fact that they aren't Ugg boots so they're good quality with a decent tread so they can actually be used for walking as well as looking great!
My snow boots have literally been life savers during the snow and ice in the last month. They're warm and furry inside so they keep me snug whilst stopping me from falling flat on my bum! Most snow boots look like something out of a cheaply made Sci-fi film from the 70's, mine just look like regular boots which is great!
These heeled boots are the replacement pair for the other brown boots and boy do they fill in! Despite having quite a bit heel for an every day shoe, they're really comfortable! Plus they make your legs look longer and better!
My black boots have come in very handy at gigs! They're light and don't make your feet sweat and they have pretty big treads so you can stand on the feet of the annoying idiots that push against your back trying to get closer to the stage! The toe is also quite tough so if people tread on your feet, it doesn't hurt as much!
These are some of my favourite ankle boots to wear casually with a dress or skirt because they give a cute western-style look. They're super comfy but it takes a few tries to get the fastening straps done up right!
My fluffy ankle boots are great. The wool only surrounds the top so they keep your ankles warm which is always good!
My blue heeled boots are so cute because they're quite dark blue so they go with a lot of things! They also have zips up the side instead of having to use the laces which is always handy!

Pumps
I'm starting to fall in love with pumps. I didn't really used to wear them but I really like the cute and casual look they have and I just wish I had more pairs!

From left to right: Navy boat shoes from Crew
Blue pumps from New Look
Red pumps from New Look
Black star canvas pumps from New Look

I love to wear the boat shoes with my pink 3/4 length jeans I showed yesterday, they look so cute and nice together and they're perfect for a summer day!
These blue pumps are gorgeous and the little black bow just tops them off. They go so nicely with most things because of the black detailing. I love them!
The red pumps can be such a great splash of colour in a boring and dull outfit. The thin soles means that they're easy to fit in to a handbag if I need a pair of emergency flats at a party!
The black canvas pumps were such a bargain! I got them for £5 a few years ago and they're still going strong! Proof that you don't need expensive stuff to find quality (Although it is nice to be able to say you own something of a top-end brand, am I right?!) that lasts a long while!

Summer shoes
I love having a few pairs of shoes that are specifically for Summer, just like my snow boots are just for Winter! It's great being able to have a change from the enclosed shoes to opened toed and light shoes.

From left to right: Floral wedges from New Look
Gold sandals from Marks and Spencer
Brown leather high heels from H by Henry Holland at Debenhams

I don't usually like wedges but I saw these floral ones in the New Look sale last year and I HAD to have them. Only £5 as well! New Look do some amazing bargains on shoes! I love the way the floral pattern is on the whole of wedge instead of being the usual rope effect on them.
I don't normally wear sandals but I really like these because they have a back which means that my heel isn't flopping about all over the place and the shoes don't fall off! absolutely perfect!
I actually bought these for a Valentine's date last year but I still love them! They're comfy but not good for walking a lot in! I love that they're leather because they have such a nice worn look which makes them look natural. It also means that they soften when you wear them so they aren't all stiff like other shoes tend to be.

Converse
I have an unreal love for Converse. They're the only trainer type shoe I will wear and I have so many pretty colours; I almost own the rainbow in converse!!

From left to right: Purple high tops, Black pattern high tops,
Teal low tops, Green low tops, Red heart pattern low tops

I got the purple high tops as an early Christmas present when my black patterned pair gave up and died after ages of constant wearing. I love both pairs of high tops and they're awesome because they give the ankle a bit more support than the low tops.
I got both the teal and green pair of low tops in a sale at Office in Windsor. I decided it would be fun to wear one of each colour on each foot and it looked really awesome! Sadly, it ended up that one pair looked dirtier than the other so it looked silly to mx and match the pairs.
My family found the coolest website where you can make your own converse about 2 years ago, so each of us made ourselves a pair and I created a pair of red low tops with little white hearts all over them! My mum made the cutest pair with cupcakes on them...I still have to steal them off her sometime because we're the same size in shoe!

Party shoes!
There are some shoes that you just can't wear unless you're at a party. Luckily, I have a few pairs that are awesome just for this purpose! This is one reason where I find it perfectly acceptable to splurge on a really nice, comfy pair of heels just perfect for parties and similar gatherings.

From left to right: Black leather Lita boots from Jeffrey Campbell
Platform heels from Lipsy
Peep toe lace bow heels from Ted Baker

My Jeffrey Campbell's, as sad as it sounds, are ones of my prized possessions. Mum bought them for me after I pestered her for a pair for about a week before I tried them on in the shop and declared that they were perfection!! These boots have the biggest platform I've ever seen on them!! The boots make me about 6"0 compared to my usual 5"7 and they're the most comfortable heels I've ever bought. I can usually last an hour and a half in heels before they hurt my feet; I can last at least 3 hours in my Jeffrey Campbell's.
I originally bought the Lipsy shoes for Prom, but I found I couldn't wear them for long enough to be able to be comfortable the whole night. Luckily, they were good enough to become great party shoes because they look fantastic with some of my dresses I own!
The Ted Baker shoes were my Prom shoes in the end. The peep toe meant that essentially standing on my tip toes for hours on end wasn't as painful as it may have been. The lace bow is the cutest thing on the top and I love them because they aren't too high either, but they're high enough.

So that's the end of it! I hope you guys have enjoyed reading and looking through my wardrobe (or some of it anyway...) and hopefully I can come up with something vaguely similar to do in the future because it's been great knowing what to write for the last five days!
Jess xx

6 months!

So I've been running this blog for 6 months now! How crazy is that?! I can't believe it, it feels so much longer than that!
Sorry I haven't been blogging a lot recently, I've had rather a lot of work so it's been quite hectic! Sadly, it's now half term and I have a lot of work to do still so I won't be able to post very often, maybe every other day if I'm lucky.
Yesterday night I went to an end of exams party with my friends from my secondary school, held by their sixth form. It was amazing!! I got to spend time with my old friends, and people that had moved to my old school that I'd known before which was amazing to see so many familiar faces! I love my college and my friends there, but I'll always be a part of my friend group from secondary school, we just work together. I also get to see them on Tuesday because my half term is the week before theirs so I'm visiting them when they're still in school! I'm so excited!
I also saw the Autumn line for Kate Spade on instagram earlier, their clothes are so beautiful! I just wish their clothes were cheaper and more readily available in the UK instead of having to go all the way to London to get them! I'm actually in love with some of the pieces being released! It looks like they've made a yellow ballet shoe that has a taxi sign on it, they're adorable! I need more money desperately!
I have to read Jane Eyre for English lit, it's such a good book! It's taking me a while to get through it but I've read over 100 pages today which I'm pretty happy with! I need to read it by the end of half term so hopefully I'll get it done.
Hopefully I'll write again soon!
Jess xx