COMING SOON...

I'll be back on the 21st May (at the latest)

I finish Uni (forever!) on the 18th May - Then, of course, I'll need a couple of days to kick back and celebrate (and catch up from all of the sleep I will have missed out on during the exam period). But, after all of that, I'll be back!

See you soon!

Hiatus

I know I made a promise that I'd be so committed to my blog this time around. Sadly Uni work is killing me at the moment. So unless you want to hear about Henry III's piety as revealed by the Liberate Rolls (my dissertation title), you're going to wait until my exams are over :-( But I will be back!! I've entered myself into a half-marathon, so i'll definitely have a lot more to write about. With my ankle being pretty much out of action for this past month and the sheer amount of work that I have to wade through on a daily basis, my posts would've been a little dull.

But fear not!! I should be finished with Uni come May. Which, if i'm honest, completely terrifies me! I'll be a graduate *gulp*. However, I am SO looking forward to summer. Perhaps my last summer break! :( Well, we'll see about that I suppose. I still haven't completely decided what I'm going to do with my life. I've got a place at Law School, but now I'm just interviewing at law firms in the hopes of getting a training contract and sponsorship. Because without the moolah, there is no way I can afford to go. Hmmm...Although, to be honest, it wouldn't be completely disastrous were I to have a gap year. I think I could do with a bit of a break to 'find myself'. I'm still weighing up my options. And I have an AMAZING job to return to over the summer, which I LOVE - so at least I have SOME employment!

Anyway, we'll see what the future holds. I just need to get this University thing finished first.

I WILL be back! I have BIG plans for this little blog. Be excited!!

- B
xxxx

Sports Injury

I, my friends, have a sports injury. Yep, you heard it. A sports injury.
At first I pitied myself:

"Gosh darn it, I must be super unfit if I'm getting a crummy sports injury. Who the heck gets a sprained ankle after running only 4 miles 4 times a week!?"

But, then I realised. I'm not crummy. I'm legit. This makes me a legit sportswoman. Heck, I'm right up there with Paula Radcliffe and Usian Bolt.

Yep, that's me.

So that's settled. Don't pity the fact that my half-marathon training won't be going anywhere for the next week (at least) and the fact that I now hobble along like an OAP. Oh no, don't fear, I'm legit and basically like Paula Radcliffe. 

- B

xxx

Undercover Cop

I am so grateful for the police force in England, I really am. They get a lot of bad press, but really they are pretty amazing and I don't think that they get enough recognition for what they do.

Why this sudden outpouring of police love? Well, let me explain....

I was travelling on train yesterday, as you do, when a man came through to the carriage that I was sitting in. Now, I have to explain that it was about 1pm at the time, so there were a few lunchtime passengers, but it was by no means as busy as rush hour. This man goes to the top of the carriage and beginning to shout out:

'Sorry Ladies and Gents, I hate to do this and I know it annoys a lot of people, but I'm looking for any change people have got going spare. I'm really sorry. But my friend is ill, he has got emphysema and we are so hungry. My friend hasn't got long left ladies and gents. We've sold all our copies of the Big Issue, but they don't give us any credit.....etc. etc.'

As such, I'm in my seat dreading this man approaching me and asking me for my money. I definitely think that this form of begging is completely unfair, its intimidating and a bit scary.

Anyway, a man from behind me gets up and approaches this man in the carriage. At which point i'm getting a little nervous, I don't want the situation to escalate into anything dreadful, so I begin to peer out of the window, assessing when I can make a swift exit from the train.

Well, then, quite by surprise this other passenger pulls out a badge and says,

'Transport police. Sorry mate you're going to have to get off the train at the next stop.'

To which the other guy argues.

'Listen, i'm really sorry, i don't want to do this. It is my friend. He's ill. People think he is drunk, but its the valium for his emphysema, he's only got a few months left. We're hungry. I'm really sorry.'

At which point we pull into the next station, and both the man and his friend with emphysema, who is apparently on the train too, are booted off.

Now, I don't want to get into whether I believed this man's story was true or not. It might have been, it might not have been. But to be honest, the way they were going about their begging was completely wrong.

However, more to the point, I'm so glad that the transport policeman was there. Luckily I don't think that this particular man was any threat at all. He was quite polite and obliged when the policeman told him to get off the train. However, regardless, it could have been much worse and it is comforting to know that policemen are there protecting public safety.

What was particularly cool was that I would have had NO idea that this particular policeman was a police officer at all. He was dressed casually with a satchel and his headphones in, he easily passed as commuter.

In my summer job last year I worked alongside some policemen and really got to know about them and their work. I am really and truly proud and grateful for what they do. They work long hours, have to do a lot of paperwork (which they'd rather be without), but they do a great job.

Anyway, Policeman Pride!

-B
xxxx

Let's try this again...

Ok, ok, I got all excitable about my third post that I never made it back for a fourth. I'm sorry!!
Time to start again. It's a new year, so this blog is getting dusted off and is going to be used and abused to full capacity.

Talking of it being a New Year, I think that it is time that I made myself some New Year's resolutions. I know that it is now the 8th January, but i'm late for everything, I pretty sure i'll be late for my own funeral. So I beg your forgiveness.

So........

2011 New Year's Resolutions

1. Write in this blog more frequently - Now, I can't necessarily promise daily blogs, I am far too behind on my dissertation to promise that level of commitment, but I do intend on doing a plural number of posts a week (i.e. more than 1) and you never know, if I get really into it you might get more out of me. 
2. Take more pictures - This goes hand-in-hand with my new blogging hobby. Blogs need pictures, life needs pictures, I need more pictures in my blog and life. I need to sort this out. Pronto. 
3. Graduate - Yep, it has finally hit me, i'm graduating this year. How the heck did this happen!? I don't really know. I don't feel old enough and I definitely do not feel ready. I, of course, will be graduating come July, however, I want to graduate with a grade that I am proud of. This doesn't necessarily mean a first (although that would be nice), but I do want to obtain that proves that I tried my absolute best. 
4. Run a half-marathon - This is a pretty big one for me. I definitely am not naturally athletic. But my Dad has always run a few full marathons and i've always said that i'll get around to doing it some day. Though I don't think I have the time this year for a full marathon commitment, I hope to have completed a half marathon come October. 
5. Be a better friend - Right, this is your typical resolution, but a goody nonetheless. I simply want to be a better friend. I can get so wrapped up in uni work that i'm not always so swift with replying to facebook messages or sending text replies. This is an easy thing to improve. I also need to make more time for my friends. It is easy to make accuses, but I truly believe that if you want to do something enough you'll make time for it. I want my friendships enough, I WILL make time for them. 

Well, there you go. There are my New Year's Resolutions for 2011. This year is going to be a big year for me. This is the year of graduation and this is the year that all my yet-made life plans come to an end. I always knew that I would go to school and university, but what next??

That, my friends is a BIG question and one that I have been constantly worrying about. But that is something for another blog post. 

-B 

xxxx

Three is a Magic Number: A Landmark

Well, would you look at this!!! A third post! I officially made it everyone.

And to mark the occasion, now that I can officially call myself 'a blogger', I thought I'd show you all my ugly mug. Now that is showing commitment to the blog, none of my previous blogs were so scarred privileged!

So here is the girl behind the blog:

Now don't be fooled by my baby face, I am officially 20 years old, 21 in February. I just happen to look about 14. But that's cool, I can work with it. 

First things first, I must apologise for how long it has taken me to get around to this third blog entry. I started off so well, 2 posts on 2 consecutive days. But then Uni got in the way, with a big essay due for Friday. But that is all done and dusted now, so i'm back in the game!! 

I will start 'proper' blog posts soon. I just need to sort my camera out. But, to tide you over until then, I thought I'd reveal my current 'Gym Jams'. At the moment 'All Day' by Girl Talk is my current album of choice. 

It looks kinda scary...

It is a mashup of loads of songs, old and new and it definitely keeps boredom at bay as evolves from song to song. And guess what!? You too could have this in your life!! (I definitely sound like a cheesy teleshopping commercial) For FREE!! Just download it here. Now, I'm aware that it is called 'Illegal-Art' but, as far as i'm aware, it is, in fact, all kosher and above board. So download away my friends!! 

Speak to you soon!! 

Thanksgiving Envy

Hello!!!
Well look at this, two posts in two days. I definitely think that I am starting off on the right foot with this blog!!

Now there is something you need to know about me, I am a complete Yankophile. I am pretty much obsessed with everything American. I love to go into Selfridges and look at all the heavily marked up American foods, my guilty pleasure is watching the host chats of Regis and Kelly each day and I definitely feel as though New York is my spiritual home. My love for all things American is ridiculous and, quite frankly, a little bit creepy.

Of late, however, reading through some of my favourite blogs, I've contracted an extreme case of Thanksgiving envy. Now, I've always had a creepy obsession with thanksgiving, in my formative years I would scour the internet looking for ways to watch the Macy's thanksgiving day parade. Failing to find any decent stream of the event, I would watch the grainy images on Earth Cam (I think we can all tell that I am the epitome of cool).

But I just love the whole idea of the holiday. A day dedicated to being thankful and eating. Maybe I have a romanticised view of it all, but it sounds pretty much amazing. Turkey, potatoes, stuffing and, most fascinatingly (for me at least), pumpkin pie....



Definitely intriguing to me. Pumpkin pie isn't readily available here, definitely not in the supermarkets anyway. The only places that I have seen it is in some of my favourite bakeries, Konditor and Cook and the Hummingbird Bakery. Pumpkin isn't really readily eaten over here and the only time you'll really see is in the fortnight leading up to Halloween, after that it is quickly whipped off of the shelves again. And, to be honest, from my pumpkin carving experience, i've always considered the humble pumpkin to be a bit of a stinky vegetable.

Have a judged the sweet little squash too harshly? I think it is about time I tried to get my hands on some famed American Pumpkin Pie.

If anyone is out there reading this, I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving. Consider yourself  lucky, this girl wants in on that holiday.

Speak to you later (hopefully for my FIRST EVER third blog post!!)