Life. How Should We Live It?

As you can probably tell, my lack of posting has been as a result of a serious motivational problem that I have been feeling for the last couple of months. I've been up to various things, one of which packing up my first year of University (physically and metaphorically) which has taken SO much of my time. Now, I am back and settled in Bristol again; it really does feel good to be home. However, over this short period of time that I have been here, spending days at home on my own, really gives your brain the good opportunity to think like you've never thought before!

Personally, I have no idea how I am right now in terms of living. Yes, sure, my heart is beating pretty hard out of my chest, and my breathing is of a consistent rate. But am I really, living? Being a young twenty year old girl, a somewhat shining pearl in this big oyster of a world, it can be quite daunting thinking about life choices and how successfully I am doing right now, for me. I have numerous amounts of aspirations in life, dreams that I want to make a reality. It is my mission to be who and what I want to be, and live my life exactly how I think I should live it. Sometimes though, it can be hard to find the get up and go, as well as the right route, in order to achieve these things.

We are presented with a perfect world left right and centre; celebrities posting videos on endless amounts of social media of their practically perfect lifestyle. But that being precisely the point...Nobody is perfect in this world; we only see what those people want us to see. Why do I sit and scroll on my phone, admiring an unrealistic, picturesque perspective of the world, watching people live their life when I should be living my own? The majority of the time, these people don't make me feel good about myself. They just make me feel like a considerably dim pearl in our oyster of a world, without the pretty clothes and makeup and beautiful holidays and settings around me.

Are these people really, REAL people? They come from completely different backgrounds, lifestyles, families, and riches beyond the mind's imagination. Sure, its exciting to watch their experiences because it opens up our eyes to a completely different world out there. But don't forget who YOU are, and how incredible your life and experiences are right now. Most importantly, how incredible it could be in years to come if you work hard and put in the effort to be a bright shiny pearl. Do you want to be there in the future, gazing out the window contemplating the things you could have done, thinking "what if?". Look at yourself now, and be the person you want to be. You might not even know who that is yet, and that isn't a bad thing at all! There is no right or wrong in this world, the only person who can make a decision for yourself is YOU. Never let anyone prevent you from being the best you can be. If you have crazy, exciting, wild dreams for your future,  I SAY YOU GO FOR IT!! There is nothing, or no one, stopping you. Don't be afraid to take risks, be bold and be all you can be in this world.

The things I want to do are hard to reach, and I have been told so by countless amounts of people. But who are they to say what I can and can't achieve? Even if your goals are somewhat unrealistic, they are YOUR goals and the only person stopping you from reaching them is you. We have all had our knock backs in life, be it big or small, but it's what we do after these knock backs that really make the difference. It doesn't matter how quickly we get back up...It's the fact that we DO.

 But most of all? Believe in yourself. "Promise me you'll always remember: You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and more loved than you'll ever know."
(A.A Milne)

 And I really do stand by that!

Soph x

Moving To Brighton!

Dear all my readers (if there are any left!),

MAN has it been a long time?! I can only apologise profusely; I couldn't get my laptop set up in my new place so its been a very stressful time. However, here I am with the biggest news ever. I have moved to Brighton!! I have never even visited Brighton before I moved here, only read other blogs about people who live here and watched vlogs of fellow residents. I thought I would write a blog post about my recent shenanigans and introduce you all to my new life here.

First of all, here is my humble abode! It's not bad for a student kind of ting, and personally I think it's rather cosy!! If you ever feel like making something a lot cosier than it is, just plaster the room in fairy lights and bobs your uncle!

Secondly, my flatmates. We actually don't even have a group photo yet, but here are a selection from night's out and a cute little collage of us wearing cool sunglasses...

I have been blessed with these bunch of crazies who make me laugh, smile, and have already helped me create a handful of lifelong memories. If it weren't for this lot, I don't think I would have settled in half as well as I have.  I have met such different and exciting people who I think will be in my life for a very very long time. I was always so scared to come to University after taking my year out purely because I think I forgot how to socialise. However, coming here and meeting all these people has made me realise its okay to feel scared and actually people really won't be that scary towards you! Being here, I feel somewhat at home. In fact, I don't think I've been this happy for a very long time, and its the most amazing feeling ever!

So, what have I been up to since being here might you ask? Well, I've had a lot of late nights (all nighters in fact), a lot of alcohol (sorry Mum!), parties and most importantly the studying of course...

Brighton is SO beautiful as a place; it's a 'feel good' town with interesting people, lovely little quirky shops and markets and the coolest pier I think I've ever been on. Here are a few pictures I've taken along my little trips to town. I recommend to anyone if they ever come here to go to the Laines, which might I add is absolutely beautiful at Christmas!

I love my somewhat new life here in Brighton. I was apprehensive at first, but I am genuinely having the time of my life and cannot wait for the new year here, and the years to come too.

Peace and love, and apologies again for my lack of uploading especially to those who have been messaging me wondering where I had got to! I am back though, I promise.

Have a good rest of your week,

Soph x

Summer Reading Lists!

With Summer here *jumps with joy* and last minute holidays around every corner *jumps higher with a squeal* I thought I would give you a list of books to read on your travels. Or, if you want to cram in a good read before you go back to work/school then these are perfect short and sweet novels you can enjoy! If like me you enjoy nothing more than sitting by a swimming pool or beach with your nose stuck in a good book (not literally, that would be slightly uncomfortable) then you will definitely want to read this post. If you are one of those people who wish you could read but can never sit there and have the patience to do so, I am going to convert you and give you my word that at least one of these books you will absolutely love!! 

These books I have read religiously over the years and I still don't get bored reading them. Some of these books I have read recently and cant wait to read them again, they are that good! The majority of these are chick flick/romance/comedy/adventure/mystery as those are the kind of books that have me gripped straight away and guarantee a light-hearted summer read. Excuse how long this post is going to be.. I mean, it may as well be a book itself!


1. Twenties Girl; Sophie Kinsella

OPINION:
Of course Sophie Kinsella is going to pop up here!! This book at first I wasn't too sure about. When I first read it, I assumed it was going to be another sort of chick flick kind of book, but I was wrong. It is a more mystery/ghost story with quirky twists and turns and of course an unexpected love story. 

BLURB:

Lara has always had an overactive imagination. Now she wonders if she is losing her mind. Normal twenty-something girls just don’t get visited by ghosts! But inexplicably, the spirit of Lara’s great Aunt Sadie – in the form of a bold, demanding Charleston-dancing girl – has appeared to make one last request: Lara must track down a missing necklace Sadie simply can’t rest without. Lara’s got enough problems of her own. Her start-up company is floundering, her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, and she’s just been dumped by the love of her life. But as Lara spends time with Sadie, life becomes more glamorous and their treasure hunt turns into something intriguing and romantic. Could Sadie’s ghost be the answer to Lara’s problems and can two girls from different times end up learning something special from each other?

FAVE QUOTE:
“Honestly, it’s so easy to get what you want from people if they think you’re a psycho.”


2. The Fill In Boyfriend; Kasie West

OPINION:
This book is SO brilliant.  The feels from this book are REAL. You will fall in love with the 'fill in boyfriend' and all the scandals that go on throughout. There are so many beautiful quotes and it is one of those books I could see as a chick flick high school rom-com film one day!

 BLURB: 
When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend—two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley. The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favour and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party—three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.

FAVE QUOTE:
“We rarely find a depth by looking inside of ourselves for it. Depth is found in what we can learn from the people and things around us. Everyone, everything, has a story, Gia. When you learn those stories, you learn experiences that fill you up, that expand your understanding. You add layers to your soul.” 

3. Looking For Alaska; John Green

OPINION: 
John Green I feel is an absolute hero in the world of literature. He entices his readers with his thoughtful metaphors and brings his characters to life with their realistic and relatable characteristics. This book was emotional, thought provoking and somewhat beautiful. 

BLURB:
Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words–and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.” Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy. Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

FAVE QUOTE:
“So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.”


4. Finding Audrey Sophie Kinsella 

OPINION: 
Sophie Kinsella is just so good! A somewhat different approach with a more deep and meaningful message. It is such a positive book, that touches on serious issues of mental health and the beautiful journey of overcoming it. If you suffer with anxiety this book will have you relating to the character Audrey in more ways than one. 

BLURB:
"Audrey can't leave the house. She can't even take off her dark glasses inside the house. Then her brother's friend Linus stumbles into her life. With his friendly, orange-slice smile and his funny notes, he starts to entice Audrey out again - well, Starbucks is a start. And with Linus at her side, Audrey feels like she can do the things she'd thought were too scary. Suddenly, finding her way back to the real world seems achievable. Be prepared to laugh, dream and hope with Audrey as she learns that even when you feel like you have lost yourself, love can still find you.."

FAVE QUOTE:
“Most people underestimate eyes. They're infinite. You look someone straight in the eye and your whole soul can be sucked out in a nanosecond. Other people's eyes are limitless and that's what scares me.” 


5. Boys of Summer (Book One in the Series); C J Duggan

OPINION: 
The best thing about this book is you get so sucked in to the storyline, yet it isn't the end! This fabulous story comes in several books, each with a different narrator from the group. I can't tell which is my favourite yet, but they were each all funny, relatable, exciting and will guarantee you wanting to find a job in a pub in hope of finding your own version of the Onslow Boys. I have included the blurb of the first book. Each of the books has a completely different storyline! They are just one of those books that has you wanting to stay up all night to finish it, even if it means you'll be a complete zombie the next day because it is SO worth it.

BLURB:
Quiet seventeen-year-old Tess doesn’t relish the thought of a summertime job. She wants nothing more than to forget the past haunts of high school and have fun with her best friends before the dreaded Year Twelve begins. To Tess, summer is when everything happens: riding bikes down to the lake, watching the fireworks at the Onslow Show and water bomb fights at the sweltering Sunday markets. How did she let her friends talk her into working?After first-shift disasters, rude, wealthy tourists and a taunting ex-boyfriend, Tess is convinced nothing good can come of working her summer away. However, Tess finds unlikely allies in a group of locals dubbed ‘The Onslow Boys’, who are old enough to drive cars, drink beer and not worry about curfews. Tess’s summer of working expands her world with a series of first times with new friends, forbidden love and heartbreaking chaos. All with the one boy she has never been able to forget. It will be a summer she will always remember

FAVE QUOTE:
“Love is not necessary to life, but it is what makes life worth living.”


6.  To Marry A Prince; Sophie Page

OPINION: 
This book is so magical it makes you believe you can be a princess! (Because why shouldn't we dream?! I mean, Prince Harry is still single?). It will make your heart skip a beat and your adrenaline rush as you take the journey with Bella in her unexpected love story!

BLURB:
It tells the story of an ordinary, unlucky and clumsy girl Bella Greenwood who gets herself in all sorts of situations, one of which being tangled up in a bush of ivy at a charity event full of celebrities, resulting in a mystery man in the dark having to come out and rescue her. It isn't till she leaves her phone at the event and this mystery man calls her that she has to embarrassingly show her face to him again after the incident the night before. As the tale unfolds, we learn that this mystery man isn't just any young man, but the world's most eligible bachelor—Prince Richard, heir to the throne. As they get to know each other properly, their love story begins and Richard sweeps her off her feet. In an attempt to keep their love affair hidden from the Prince super fans, the media, Bella's family and even the Royal Family themselves, they realise it is a somewhat impossible task and their love story becomes public property. Can Bella keep up with the curtsying, negotiating the etiquette of how to address her future mother-in-law, Richard travelling without her and a national scandal caused by an evil blogger?

FAVE QUOTE:
“God, this is why I can never live with women. They go off into corners and think, maybe it’s this, maybe it’s that. Ask, woman. Ask.” 



7. Can You Keep A Secret; Sophie Kinsella.

OPINION: 
Sophie Kinsella has got to be one of my all time favourite writers. Any book of hers that I have read I think I genuinely cried when I got to the end of the book. This book certainly was the case when I first read it, because it is my ALL time favourite book, EVER. I have read this millions of times and each time it never fails to actually make me laugh out loud! Warning; it is so gripping it may make you become rather unsociable. I promise that this book will make your tummy hurt from laughter, will leave you feeling uplifted and definitely teach you to trust who you tell your secrets to! It is one of those books that I could imagine being an amazing rom-com film. HINT HINT FILM PRODUCERS OUT THERE, HINT HINT. 

BLURB: 
We all have our secrets, don't we? Some are big, some are small. Well, Emma has hundreds. A huge list of little white lies that she told and little secrets stored away in her little head. 
Emma is a nervous flyer, so on her way back from her first ever business deal (which of course she managed to screw up by throwing fizzy drink down the boss) the plane hitting some bad turbulence was the worst thing that could happen to someone as nervous as Emma. She really thinks this could be her last moments, so naturally begins telling the dishy American man next to her all the secrets and lies that she had stored away, without even noticing. Things like, how she scans the backs of intellectual books and pretends she has read them. Or, how she's not sure if she's found her G spot and whether her boyfriend could find it anyway. And how she does her hair up like Princess Leia in her bedroom. How everyone at her work uses the word 'operational' and she really has no idea what it means, and how the coffee machine there tastes horrible. Even how she pours orange juice in her colleagues plant at work when she's not looking because she annoys her. 
Emma survives the flight of course, and the next morning she finds herself in work with everyone frantic as the famous founding boss of the whole mega corporation is coming to look at the UK branch. Its then Emma looks up from her desk and realises this mega boss is the man she told all her secrets to on the plane. What will he do with her secrets? He knows them all, but she doesn't know a single one of his. Or..does she?

FAVE QUOTE:
“I feel all agitated, like one of those snow globes you see resting peacefully on shop counters. I was perfectly happy being an ordinary, dull little Swiss village. But now Jack Harper’s come and shaken me up, and there are snowflakes all over the place, whirling around until I don’t know what I think anymore. And bits of glitter, too. Tiny bits of shiny, secret excitement.” 


Let me know your favourite books in the comments below! I have a whole other list to go up of more books I have enjoyed reading recently. These are just a handful of summer reads!! 

Happy Reading and Happy Summer! 

Soph x

My First Time At Wimbledon!

This year I was lucky enough to attend one of the most famous sporting events, Wimbledon! Tennis I have always loved; I'm probably not the best at playing tennis (I mean, I could give you a run for your money on table tennis) but watching it is one of the most adrenaline pumping, competitive and tense sports you could watch on television. So for me, watching it in real life in front of me was one of the most exciting things I could ever do.

My sister and I travelled to London nice and early amidst all the train and tube strikes, and arrived at the venue. It was bustling with all kinds of people, we could feel the buzzing atmosphere as soon as we set foot inside. Here are the pictures from the day!

 

We were even lucky enough to watch Andy Murray training/warming up! I screen shot this from a video so the quality isn't great, sorry!

I had an unforgettable day! Thank you to my sister for accompanying me and well done to all the players!


Soph x