How To Be Well Read ... A 2017 Goal

One of the first things I mentioned on my New Years Goals list was to stop buying so many books... so you may be surprised to find me only 25 days into the month, discussing what books I'm planning on buying.

Well, part of my plan for 2017 is to stop frivolously buying books. Which means, stop buying YA fantasy books when I already have a tonne to read. But, I am a self confessed book buying addict which means that going cold turkey is not going to happen. Especially now that I've bagged myself a job that is a mere stone's throw away from Waterstones. Instead, I am allowing myself a mere 12-15 books to buy this year. Yes. 12-15 for the entire year! 

Considering I could easily buy 10+ per shopping trip, this is a huge change to the usual for me and I for one am excited for it. The main thing for me however, is to change the type of books I'm reading. Christmas 2015 I was kindly brought "How to be Well Read" by John Sutherland, which is a list of 500 critically acclaimed (or controversial) books that you should aim to tick off if you want to become "Well Read" now whilst I find the idea of being Well Read or not rather pointless (why force yourself to read literature that you don't enjoy purely to say you've done so?) this book does highlight some key books that are not only acclaimed but important reads. This is something that I really wanted to include in my 2017 reading lists. 

Many of the books that I have shortlisted for this year are feminist or sociological critiques on society and I would really love to develop my understanding on these subject matters over the course of the year to not only make me a more well rounded reader, but also a well rounded human being. 

My 2017 list is as follows:

Lucius Apuleius - The Golden Ass (AD 160) 

Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale (1985)

Orson Scott Card - Enders Game (1985)

Angela Carter - Nights of the Circus (1984)

George Eliot - Middlemarch (1872)

Neil Gaiman - American Gods (2001)

Kazuo Ishiguro - The Remains of the Day (1989)

Haruki Murakami - IQ84 (2009-10)

George Orwell - 1984 (1942)

Sylvia Plath - The Bell Jar (1963)

Thomas Pynchan - Bleeding Edge (2013)

Jean Rhys - Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)

I'm really excited to get reading these 12. I'm aiming to read one a month and buy one a month... although I may have accidentally gone out and brought both The Handmaid's Tale and Nights of the Circus... yeah. In my defense I had a £10 off stamp card + about £10 on my points app so it had to happen really didn't it? 

The extra 3 books I'm accounting for are my most anticipated releases of 2017. Both the TOG and ACOTAR (Feyre's Arc) series by Sarah J Maas are coming to an end this year and there will be a new ADSOM book out by V.E Schwab. These books are must buys for me so they are OBVIOUSLY going to be brought. 

I would really love to know if you would be interested in reading full reviews for each of these books? I really enjoy analysing books and since leaving Uni I've not had much cause to, so if that would interest you then please let me know in the comments!

Embracing Hygge For The Winter

Hi-gge, Hoo-gar or however you're meant to pronounce it, has been somewhat of a buzz word in 2016, sweeping social media with a promise of that infamous Danish happiness. 

         But what really is hygge and how are we meant to achieve such an instagrammable 'high' in dreary ole' blighty?! 

Well, with the help of Meik Wiking's book "The little book of Hygge", I aim to give you a handy little list of ways to incorporate some Hyggestund (A moment of Hygge) into our daily lives this winter. 

          So the big question: 

What the hell is Hygge and why should I care? 

Meik writes that "Hygge is about an atmosphere and an experience, rather than about things. It is about being with the people we love. A feeling of home." 

Which all sounds pretty Disney in its idealistic notion that "home is where the heart is" and such other cliches. But it really seems like the Danish are perhaps on to something...

Denmark was awarded No 1: World Happiness in 2016 and was No 1: OECD Better Life Index. Life Satisfaction in 2015. YET, Denmark sees some of the highest levels of tax and weather wise it is rather grotty, to say the least. 

So why are they so happy? 

Meik suggests this is in part down to the importance of Hygge in Danish society. 

So how can we Brits, renowned for our general cynicism about pretty much everything (except tea and marmite), introduce some of this cuddly and borderline obnoxious happiness into our day-to-day lives? 

Well, I've got 10 tips on how to do just that: 

1. Candles, all the Candles. - Lighting is apparently quite a big deal to the Danes, probably because in the winter they have very few hours of sunlight. Candles are a pretty common way of injecting cosiness into our lives and I feel like this is already a pretty popular trend in the western world as it is. However, apparently, there is no need to splash out on some scented delight from Yankee to create your Hyggelig environment. Plain unscented candles are favoured by the danish as its all to do with the soft lighting and not so much about having your room smell like a victorian pantry.

2. Fluffy Socks. - Cosiness is paramount to hygge and nothing screams comfort quite like a super fluffy, soft pair of socks. 

3.Put down the phone & pick up a book. - You've got a candle burning and your feet are resembling a Yeti. Put down your phone and live in the moment, Social media can often be overwhelming and is definitely not conducive to a hyggelig evening. I like to switch off from the internet & media and spend a couple of hours reading with Dan at night. It's so relaxing and it's much easier to put down a book to chat than it is a laptop/phone. 

4. Wrap up warm & go for a winter walk. - I did this the other weekend with Dan and my family, it was so lovely to walk down to the seaside and see the sunset over the sea (you could make a tongue twister out of that!). It felt truly hygge as it was a moment of family & togetherness totally forgetting about the outside world and focusing on the beauty of the moment. Best of all... it was totally free! 

5. Comfort Food. - This isn't so much about ordering in a takeaway but more about taking the care and time to create something comforting. For me, that is definitely my Butternut Squash & Halloumi Fajitas with Homemade Guacamole. This is my go-to comfort meal and my whole family love it as well. The ingredients are fairly inexpensive and it's super easy to cook, but it's such a warming meal and really makes me feel soothed and comforted inside. 

6. Movie/ TV night in. - If you're not bookish and don't fancy leaving the house anytime soon, you can always snuggle down for a few hours in front of the box. Put on a favourite film or watch a TV series you love. Just make sure there is plenty of cushions, a snuggly throw to hand and of course warm popcorn waiting to be devoured. 

7. Hot Drinks. - Be it Tea or Coffee, this is something us Brits will have no problem in achieving. We as a nation are infamous for our love of Tea and it just so happens to be one of the most important aspects of Hygge. If I'm out and about, I will always opt for an Eggnog Latte from Starbucks (if the season permits!) However, for a Hygge evening at home nothing beats M&S Rooibos, Cocoa Nib & Vanilla tea. It's a Hygge hug in a cup. 

8. Create a Hygge work environment. - This may not always be possible depending on where you work, but trying to add some hygge into your work day can really help to make you feel calm and happy(er). Be it a plant on your desk and your favourite tea to drink. Or even just a hyggelig playlist to listen to on your way to and from work, there are always ways to inject that sense of comfort into your day to day life. 

I've recently hygge'd my workspace at home by adding fairy lights, plants, candles and generally decluttering the area. I've noticed my productivity go up and I'm feeling more motivated than ever to get writing!

9. Hyggelig Fashion. - According to Meik, there are some unspoken rules when it comes to Hygge fashion. The basis seems to be: Scarfs, Comfy Jumpers & Cardigans + all the black and white clothing that you can possibly get your hands on. 

Hygge fashion seems to be minimalist comfort through and through and I am totally down with that!

10. Allow time for Hygge. - Finally, the most important aspect of Hygge is to slow down. Make time to experience hygge. Even if you're only able to indulge yourself at the weekend, or maybe just an hour on Sunday, make sure you do so. To me, Hygge is more than beautiful aesthetics and Disney-esqe levels of happiness, it's instead like another form of self-care. It's giving yourself time to assess your needs and comfort yourself. So when you strip back the pinterest worthy look and social media frenzy, what you really get is the age-old notion of simply and unapologetically allowing yourself time just to be. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it.  

I hope you have a hyggelig evening! 

How I Edit My Instagram Photos

I'm not going to pretend that I'm some big shot know-it-all about Instagram because I have 470ish followers and get on average about 50-60 likes per photo. I am not a profesh. However, I like the way I edit my photos and I think that sharing that process is going to be not only helpful to you dear reader, but also to me - when you invariably tell me what I'm doing wrong (all criticisms are more than welcomed in the comments below!). 

I am definitely one of those people that has a theme and tries to stick to it as much as possible. However, I do still post pretty much whatever I like, I just try to keep at least one aspect of the photo similar to the one previous. Does that make sense? One of my main things you will see in almost all my photos is either plants or coffee, or if I'm feeling particularly frisky you will get both.  If you look at the sample photo you will see that even though it's clearly a picture of my nails, there are flowers in the background and a cheeky Starbucks cup. 

The ORIGINAL

This is the original unedited version. I usually take my photos with my iPhone camera (it's a 5S so not great quality) or if I'm feeling fancy and ahead of my game I will use my Canon EOS 1200D and then transfer to my phone using drop box. I always keep my feed as square photos. I just prefer the way this looks on my feed. If I have taken the photos on my DSLR then I will use Facetune to crop my image into a square. 

STEP 1: FACETUNE

I know a lot of people have a love/hate relationship with Facetune but I actually love it. I don't use it to touch up selfies as I'm pretty comfortable sharing my gross skin and chubby features (I don't often take selfies mind you). But what I do love it for is the colour correction features.

Facetune has some awesome features that allow you to manipulate the colour of certain things really easily. 

In the photo above I have used the "Whiten" feature - you will be able to see this the most on the rose, but it's also used on the wall, coffee cup and jumper. 

Often in photos of my desk or on wooden surfaces I will have used the BW Silver Filter and applied it specifically to the wooden surface to make it look greyer and more aesthetically pleasing. This is a time consuming painful task that sees me painting the filter carefully onto any unsightly wood. My nice orange pine desk is not great for aesthetics and this way, I can create photos on my desk that still fit into my theme without having to spend a fortune on a new desk or the time of staining it. 

STEP 2: AFTERLIGHT

This is the main editing process. I have a lot of edits that I make on Afterlight and they are the exact same every single time so I'm going to list them below.

Brightness - adjust to +100

Contrast - adjust to +10-20 depending on image

Saturation - adjust to +10-20 depending on image

Temperature - adjust to around -50 but this is highly dependant on the lighting. I like the photo to have a cool tone most of the time. 

Filters

Guest - Russ - adjust to about 10-20 

Seasons - Row - adjust to about 10-20

I then add a plain white frame of 25 to the image - this is obviously a personal preference of mine and is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. I just think it makes my feed look cleaner and less cluttered somehow. 

STEP 3: VSCO

I don't actually use VSCO that much but I do really like one of the filters and so I apply it to every image at the very end as I just feel like it adds a certain quality to the image that I really like. 

So the filter I use is T1/Moody and is adjusted to about a 5-6 depending on the image. 

That's it! I don't know if this seems a lot or not much but this is what I do every day to every photo that I take for Instagram! 

I'd really love to know what you do for your Instagram photos and if you have and critiques of my process, or ways I could improve! 

Guide To Glitter Nails

It's getting to that time of the year when you're dying to crack out the glitter nail polish. I mean who doesn't want glittering nails at Christmas time?! But if you've ever worn glitter nail polish before you know that it can be the devil. I mean it can seriously be a massive pain in the arse to get your glitter polish looking flawless and then once you've eventually managed to get it looking acceptable, trying to get the stuff off again is a bloody nightmare. 

I've managed to hone my glitter polish skills over the past few months and I decided to share what I've learnt and right in time for the festive glitter filled season! 

The Application

Firstly, let's start with the glitter types. You will usually find glitter polishes in 2 main formulas, densely packed or loosely packed. The difference is pretty self-explanatory and the way that you should treat them is basically the same.  

If we start with the densely packed glitter (Nicole by OPI in ), you can see that one coat of polish gives a nice relatively even covering of glitter over the nail, it could definitely be worn like that if you wanted to and it would still look nice. However, what happens if you want a really densely packed glitter effect? Do you keep applying it with the brush in the hopes that it will eventually dry? 

Nah, grab yourself some cheap make-up sponges, paint the polish onto the sponge and dab it onto the nail. The sponge absorbs all the clear polish and leaves the glitter behind meaning you can easily dab on the glitter and get the effect you want without all the ridiculous hassle of doing it with the brush. 

Loosely packed polish is much the same, apart from it's even harder to get a good finish out of it. There is nothing worse than applying a glitter that takes about 50 layers to look even and well covered. This is where that magic little trick with the sponge comes into play once again. Just brush it onto the sponge, dab away and look at that final result! Super messy but the coverage is amazing and takes much less time, polish and effort to get it looking good. 

The Clean-up

Once you've perfected your nails the worse thing is trying to get rid of it. Glitter is notoriously difficult to get rid of and leaves you feeling like your only options are to pick it off or soak your fingertips in nail varnish remover - which is not fun kids. However, there are alternatives. 

Peel off base coats - These are big in America but not so easy to get hold of in the UK. However, Maybelline makes a peel-off base coat that works fairly well. You are meant to use these as you would a normal base coat, however, I've had a varying success that way. Instead, I've found that using it right before you apply the glitter works best. In the above photos I have applied the colour as normal, applying a normal base coat, two coats of nail polish and a top coat. I then applied the peel-off base coat allowed it to set and then applied the glitter in the process explained above. As you can see it neatly takes off all the glitter and leaves you with the normal polish underneath that is a doddle to take off. 

Acetone and a small brush - I've found that when removing glitter polish normal nail polish remover just doesn't cut it. Instead, I use a pure acetone (actually meant for removing artificial nails!), and a cheap eyeliner brush that works perfectly for getting around the edges of your nails and doesn't matter if it gets ruined by the acetone. You can bypass the peel-off base coat and just use pure acetone to take off glitter polish, and that does work but I wouldn't recommend it, as acetone strips all the natural oils out of your nails and leaves them brittle. 

Instead, I like to use this purely for clean-up. The sponging technique tends to leave a bit of a mess as you can see above, so by just dipping a brush into acetone and cleaning the edges you can get a really neat effect in no time at all! 

If you have any tips for glitter polish then please leave them in the comments! 

How To Relax

It sounds like something that anyone can do, right? Wrong. Many of us (myself included), that suffer from anxiety or other mental health problems, find it really difficult to just switch off and relax. 

So to get you in the mood for relaxation, go grab yourself a beverage of your choice (hot drinks advisable), put on some really comfy socks because who doesn't love that?  and get yourself warm and cosy or as I like to say, snug as a bug in a rug. 

1. Plan to relax - That's a bit of an oxymoron I know, but sometimes it is essential to physically plan out a block of time to just relax and de-stress for the day. I personally, will keep on working and doing things until I basically fall asleep at my desk, so I force myself leave the laptop at 5-6pm and call it a day. However, if I didn't force this into my schedule, you can bet that I would be sitting at my laptop from 9am - 11pm working on blog posts, scheduling tweets and applying for jobs - this is not healthy. 

2. Create a relaxing environment - If your surrounding environment is stressful then you're not going to be able to relax that is just common sense. I find that creating a calm relaxing environment is key here. I personally like to have plants, candles and fairy lights as well as lots of soft furnishings to keep my environment relaxing and peaceful. As I'm living at home and my bedroom also doubles up as my office, I like to only use my laptop and do work at my desk, whilst I relax and read on my bed. It's always good to keep your working place and resting place as separate as possible. 

3. Find a past-time that relaxes you - Find something you can do that puts you in a relaxed state. For me, it's reading or drawing, but for you, it could be anything. Find out what makes you feel serene and allow yourself a couple hours a day to enjoy it.

4. Get enough sleep -  It's very difficult to relax your mind if you're sleep deprived, if you can, try to aim for 8 hours sleep a night to give your brain a rest. If you have difficulties sleeping then try to spend those hours when you should be asleep resting, stay in bed, keep the lights off and try to give your eyes and brain as much of a rest as possible. I found when I was suffering from insomnia, that if I got stressed about not sleeping it only made the whole thing worse! Instead, I learnt to accept my insomnia and eventually it went away as quickly as it came.

5. Laugh - Whether it takes being with friends & family, or being alone and watching a comedy. Laughter really can be the best medicine. That feeling when you've laughed so much you've had tears streaming down your face is pure contentment and if you can do something to include laughter into your life then you're on the right road for relaxation.

Anxiety + Education - How To Cope.

Mental illness and Education are two things that often go hand-in-hand. The stress and pressure of the education system are like a fuel to mental health issues, and the stigma attached to the two is something that needs to be seriously looked at because I know I'm not alone in my experiences. 

My anxiety reared it's ugly head for the first time at the end of my first year of college. But I didn't really understand what was going on. I felt trapped, my chest felt like someone had wrapped a belt around it and was slowly tightening and I was petrified that I would bugger everything up and my family would be disappointed in me. This gradually got worse over the years and by my first year of uni I was a total mess. I was having anxiety attacks almost daily on the way to uni and my best friend was seriously concerned. So much so that she repeatedly nagged me to go to the doctors and seek help. So I did. A couple of courses of Citalopram and a round of CBT later and here I am. I graduated University with a 2:1 in English Literature almost a month ago and I'm pretty stable nowadays. 

But here are a few tips that I accumulated throughout my time at education with how to deal with anxiety.

1. Create a watertight plan and stick to it - Having a plan is one of the main things that helped me in my most anxious moments. Some people may find planning out your day and workload to the last minute a tiring task. But for me, it was a comfort blanket. In the morning I would wake up and plan out everything I had to do that day, including meals, snacks and 'me' time. I would then stick to this like it was the law. I found this really helped to manage my fear of not getting enough work done, and it helped me stick to tight deadlines without being stretched. 
2. Try to do any work that you can in advance - This links to number 1, but I found getting ahead of the work calmed me down massively. Even if it's just requesting the reading lists ahead of time and working them down before the term starts or in the reading weeks/holidays. It definitely helps. 
3. Remember that it's all about balance, include some 'you' time - Make sure to look after yourself. It's not all work, work, work. You need to remember to give yourself some down time. Spend times with your friends, go out for a meal, take a bath or practise some mindfulness. Self-care is really important when you're in a high-stress environment. The last thing you want to do is to burn out.
4. Find an outlet for stress - Often times stress builds up and makes the symptoms of anxiety build up and feel worse. Do something that calms you down. Work out, take a walk, cook a meal or have a cheeky glass of wine with your friends. Do whatever you need to, to blow off steam. Don't let the stress build up and hurt you. 
5. If it gets too much seek help - If you are struggling, remember that you don't need to go through this alone. Tell a friend or family member, a lecturer or teacher you trust or go to your local GP. They won't judge you and they can help. I told my lecturers when I was feeling overwhelmed and they gave me advice and reassurance. My friends all knew of my anxiety and could pretty easily judge when I was having a bad day and knew when I needed a pep talk or just an ear to bend; whilst my GP was great and got me in contact with the charity Health in Mind who offered me an online CBT course, with regular phone calls to assess my progress. This really helped me to learn coping mechanisms and didn't push me out of my comfort zone as I was able to take this therapy at home or at uni, without having to leave and stress myself out. 

I hope this has helped if any of you are suffering from Anxiety whilst in Education. It's a real struggle and it makes you feel as though you are completely malfunctioning, especially when you're living away from home at university. Just remember that you are not weird, you are not alone and you can get through this. 

If you ever need someone to chat to about this please feel free to drop me an email or a DM on twitter. I'm always happy to have a natter and offer some advice as someone that's been there and made it out with a 2:1, even though it seemed impossible. 

How To Break A Reading Slump

The reading slump. Every bookworm's worst nightmare.

You sit in front of your bookcase and feel slowly suffocated by the pristine spines and untouched pages. No matter how hard you try every time you pick up a book you just can't read. You're not invested, you aren't enjoying the story or you just can't sit down and concentrate for long enough to read. 

We've all been there! 

So hang on in and read my top tips to break a reading slump! 

1. Write yourself a list of reading goals - 

Sometimes you need a list of goals to get you feeling motivated and ready to take on reading again. This can often help you decide what you actually want out of reading as well and help you to look at it with a fresh head. I like setting goals on the amount of books, genre, and readathons to keep me interested! 

2. Switch up your genres - 

Perhaps you've been reading YA for a solid year and you're just not feeling it, or maybe you've been reading a tonne of classics for School/College/Uni and you're struggling to find the will to live let alone read! Sometimes switching up genres is all you need to do to regain some motivation!

3. Set yourself a TBR list - 

I like to set myself a TBR list at the beginning of the month to keep me on target with my reading. Sometimes it can be a hindrance but if I'm not feeling one of the books that I've chosen at the beginning of the month then I will try something else. I use it as a guideline rather than a strict rule to adhere to. (My September TBR is here)

4. Take a break - 

Occasionally the best way to deal with a reading slump is to just ignore it altogether. Take some time out from reading. Do something else you enjoy whether it be writing, drawing, painting, binge watching telly or playing the sims. Once you start to miss reading go back to it and see if you can get into it again! 

5. Choose by chance - 

One of my favourite options when I've hit a slump. Quite often once I've finished a book I find it really difficult to choose another to read and I sometimes pick up a book and feel almost guilty for not picking up something that's been sitting on my shelf longer. This is entirely my fault as I have about 70-80 unread books on my shelves at the moment and I keep prioritising new releases because I'm a slave to the hype. So what I like to do, when I can't choose a book, I have a mug filled with the names of each unread novel folded onto an individual piece of paper. That way I can choose a piece of paper at random, totally blind, and pick my next read! This totally eliminates the guilt factor and adds an element of surprise! I also find I get to read books I probably would have otherwise ignored. 

I hope these tips have helped you if you're in a reading slump! Sometimes all it takes is a good book but often you need to implement some strategies to break that unproductive cycle!