Personality

I'm a bit of a sucker for personality quizzes. I like to see how close they get to the truth. I found one the other day that asks you questions and gets you to answer by choosing a picture. I was really interesting because the result at the end was the most accurate and detailed result that I've ever had.

"You're a culture vulture - Sophisticated and inquisitive, you have a real passion for art and culture. You pride yourself on being in the know when it comes to the latest music and films and you always like to have a good book on the go. You believe in immersing yourself in interesting experiences that make you look at people, places and opportunities from now angles, Being sensitive and creative you want to feel connected to the world around you and seek out opportunities to explore it. It's all about broadening your horizons and living life to the full. Anything else would not fulfil your curious nature. 

Open minded and inquisitive, you're the sort of person that likes to tackle problems head on, and you are not afraid to get your hands dirty in the process. You enjoy being really involved from the ground up, and love the sense of satisfaction that you get from seeing something through to completion. 

Asking about the latest book you've got on the go is probably the best way to get you talking. You like to lose yourself in another world or lifetime, as each page is turned you become more involved with the plot and characters and increasingly enjoy the sensation of fuelling your imagination and knowledge. 

You love the fast-paced city life. You are open to be inspired by vibrant urban culture so when you have some spare time on holiday, the lure of the bright lights is irresistible. You love to try new things. After all, holiday time is precious, so it's important not to waste too much time just lounging around! 

When all is said and done, you are a true optimist at heart. You like to laugh at all life's little calamities. Better to see the funny side and ride the ups and downs with a smile on your face."

Annoyingly, I can't find the link for the quiz but it was so good! I remember it was an advert but that's about it!
Jess xx

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.

Pages and Ink

I do A2 English Lit and for my coursework, I have to do at least 1 self-taught book. My teachers gave me a huge list of books they suggested would be good for me to read and possibly use so me & mum ordered them the other day. They arrived a couple of days ago and its so nice to have a pile of unread books with unread stories in them! Even though they're potentially for a subject, I'm really excited to read them because I've wanted to read most of them for a while.

Top to Bottom: The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway, David Golder, Jezebel and Suite Francaise all by Irene Nemirovsky, The Sunday Philosophy Club - Alexander McCall Smith, The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood, Dubliners - James Joyce, The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath and The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

After reading The Paris Wife last month, I've been wanting to see what Hemingway's writing was like. After reading the first chapter and a half, I really like it so far! It also makes it interesting because this book was based around his friends and a trip to Spain, written about in The Paris Wife. I feel like I already know some of the back story which makes it fun to guess which character is supposed to be which person I have read about previously. I can't wait to read more of it!

I'd never heard of Irene Nemirovsky but my teacher suggested the books to me as she is her favourite author. I read the blurbs and some back story of Nemirovsky and all three look interesting! I'm looking forward to reading them! 

I bought the next two in the series of The Sunday Philosophy Club, not realising that there was one before them so I've actually almost finished the second one which I've completely loved! I really love McCall Smith's style of writing so I can't wait to read this one! 

I've heard good things about Margaret Atwood and the book, even though it doesn't seem to be my usual thing to read, sounds interesting and exciting. A friend is also reading this for English and she says it's really good so I'm hoping I like it!

Dubliners is a text we are going to study in class so I have to read this but I've been meaning to read some Joyce for a while now so I'm excited! We're also not looking at the entire book so I look forward to reading the rest of it if I get the chance!

I've heard a lot about Sylvia Plath, both good and bad, so I've been wanting to read The Bell Jar to gain my own opinion of her writing! As it's one of her most well known books, it should be a good indication hopefully! I'm excited to read it because from the blurb it seems to be exciting and a really interesting book! 

Due to only being 17 pages long, I read The Yellow Wallpaper in about 20 minutes. It's about a woman who descends into madness. It's written as diary entries which gives it a more personal view. The story starts off fairly normal, only getting slight hints of her illness and descends into descriptions of the wallpaper and very little about anything else. It also shows people's attitudes to mentally ill people of that time which I find interesting. Even though it's only short, it's quite a strange book but interesting at the same time! I'm not sure if I would read it again because it's clever but also quite uncomfortable because of it being a personal, and in this case, secret diary. I also find it interesting how you never find out her name from her or any of the other characters mentioned in the book. It's creepy so if you like that sort of thing then read it! 

I'm so excited to read the rest of the books and I hope they're all good because they seem to be from what I've read and been told so far!

Jess xx

Sweet obsession

As I'm diabetic, it's probably not so good that I have a major sweet obsession. We went to John Lewis today and me and my brother were let loose in the sweet section...it was a really bad idea because we got quite a few!

Big bag of 'retro' sweets! 

Jelly beans! 

These are only a few of the sweets we got but they're probably my favourites.
I haven't had any of the sweets in the bag for ages but love hearts and candy necklaces are the best sweets ever so this pack makes me happy!
I also haven't had proper jelly beans for a really long time so this makes me very happy. I love the booklet you get with it because it gives you really cool combinations and flavours to make! My favourite flavours are probably lemon, orange, cherry, blueberry, lemon & lime and grape!
Jess xx

Raspberry fields!

Me, my brother and my Mum went Strawberry picking today! We intended to anyway. When we got to the field, most of the strawberries had gone so we went searching to see if there were any more somewhere else and we stumbled across rows and rows of raspberries instead!
It was warm but cloudy for the most part which was so nice because it meant I could enjoy myself without feeling like I was going to melt into a puddle! Trying to avoid bees and spiders was also fun...especially for everyone else - they got to laugh at me when I felt something on my leg/arm/wherever else and slapped it while shouting/screaming...gotta love hating bugs, right?
We ended up picking about half a basket of raspberries then we also bought some already picked strawberries at the counter so the trip wasn't a waste (in strawberry terms anyway...)! I think mum is going to turn them into Strawberry ice cream which is awesome! Don't know what will happen with the raspberries though...all I know is that they taste really good!

So many raspberries!

Lots and lots of raspberries, yum! 

We found a row with loads just the first bit!!! 

Fruit picking is so much fun to do with the family in summer, and it's better for the local people! Try it out, you'll enjoy yourself!
Jess xx

Kate Spade

As I said in a previous blog, I've had a bit of an obsession with Kate Spade for just under a year or so. I find their designs so cute and quirky but still sophisticated which I completely love. The bright colours and pretty designs and patterns for their clothes, bags and accessories are just amazing!
I've been wanting to see one of their shops since I saw pictures on The College Prepster's blog and I finally got to! It was only a little shop in Covent Garden, London but it was so amazing and lived up to the expectations that the American shops set!
The layout and displays reflected the brand's cute quirkiness perfectly, I wish I could have bought the whole shop!

I really want something similar in my house/apartment when I move out!

The window displays were amazing! I love all of the outfits! 

The light of the camera actually flashes!

The little popcorn tub is actually a bag!! I love the movies so this is an amazing line at the moment! 

I love the bird cages!

Book stacking always looks so awesome and the colour of the bag is my favourite! 

This is just by the stairs and the changing rooms, so simple but so cute! 

I will definitely be revisiting this shop when I have more money so I can buy some of their amazing stuff!
Jess xx

TED talks

My Ancient History teacher shows my class a TED talk about the Cyrus cylinder about a month ago and ever since I've been meaning to search for more on YouTube as I found it really interesting and entertaining. I'd also heard other bloggers mention them before so I thought it would be good to have a look at some when I had the chance. 

I finally got some spare time to search for them today and boy, was it a good decision. 

I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of videos that I came across just on the main TEDtalks channel an I finally came across one that peaked my curiosity enough to click on the link. 

The first video I watched was called 'Peter Attia: What if we're wrong about diabetes?'. 

As someone who has diabetes, naturally, this was going to grab my attention and it was a really interesting talk about the link between diabetes and obesity. This led me to search through the suggested videos bar at the side of my current video to find the next talk that peaked my interest. 

I ended up watching 9 other TED talks, including these: 

• Cameron Russell: Looks aren't everything, believe me, I'm a model
• Amanda Palmer: The art of asking
• Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are
• Julian Treasure: 5 ways to listen better
• Joshua Walters: On being just crazy enough
• Daniel Tammet: Different ways of knowing

It's evident just from the 7 talks I've suggested here that there is a huge variety of different talks that will interest most people. Just take some time to scroll through the videos on the channel and click on the first one that catches your eye, you might be surprised!

Jess xx