Northern Adventure.

Last week I again made my way up North to visit one of my housemates who was home for the summer. Two of the other girls arrived at the weekend and, along with her friends from home, we went out to celebrate her turning twenty. Though the night didn't stick to the original plan, we still had a great time: an amazing dinner, even more amazing cocktails, good wine, tottering around the city in new shoes that hadn't quite been broken in yet (that was just me in all honesty) and tequila shots in the kitchen. Definitely worth the trip!

Burrito! This dinner was delicious...
This cocktail was absolutely incredible! Tequila based, with raspberry and apple (I believe), it was called a Ruby Rod and went down an absolute treat. It was closely followed by the best Pina Colada I have ever had.

Also, while visiting my friend, her and her mum introduced me to the most beautiful nail polish that I have ever used. Already obsessed by reds, this is now the top of my wish list:

OPI's "I'm Not Really A Waitress."

Dark Times.

"These are dark times, there is no denying." - Rufus Scrimgoer, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1. (2010)

Image from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14450248


Over the past few days, the country has gone into meltdown and riots have broken out in cities across England. The images are horrible; as the news keeps coming it gets more and more shocking and my heart is breaking for the people have lost their homes and everything they own due to the lack of concern by those causing the problems. Hopefully the violence is going to die down, rather than get worse, and the good people who are working to clean up the streets and show that the affected areas are not just full of criminals will get the recognition they deserve.


"War is what happens when language fails."
- Margaret Atwood.

"The pursuit of truth does not permit violence against one's opponent."- Gandhi.

"The main goal of the future is to stop violence. The world is addicted to it." - Bill Cosby.

"Violence isn't always evil. What's evil is the infatuation with violence."- Jim Morrison.

And to remember, until things get better:"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean is not dirty."- Gandhi.

Wise Words.

Date A Girl Who Reads by Rosemarie Urquico
In response to Charles Warnke's 'You Should Date An Illiterate Girl'.

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.
Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.
She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.
Buy her another cup of coffee.
Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.
It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.
She has to give it a shot somehow.
Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.
Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.
Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilightseries.
If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.
You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.
You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.
Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.
Or better yet, date a girl who writes.

Add To List.

Despite not being as good as I wanted to be, I rather miss playing sometimes.When I moved away, this is one of the things I lost and one of the things I wish I had found a way to stick to. When I am home, as much as I can, I will teach myself. I haven't held a violin for almost two years. Hopefully I will still be able to play something.

Add to list: save for music lessons.

Life In Black and White.

When I was younger, I hated old films, especially black and white ones. They seemed to be all about a times that was irrelevant and of no interest to me. Then, when I was about thirteen, I was flicking through the tv channels one day and stumbled across a showing of You Were Never Lovelier. The title intrigued me, so I settled in to watch and pretty soon fell in love with old films, films that weren't bothered about extravagant tricks, explosions, obvious sex and, particularly nowadays, 3D. I love the clothes (even when the movie was in black and white), the dancing and songs (when they are there) and the uncomplicated, slapstick humour. More than this though, I love the actresses, the women who were beautiful in subtle and classy ways. This afternoon, I curled up with a large cup of tea and watched How To Marry A Millionaire which stars two of my absolute favourites, and then spent a long time Googling all of my favourite old Hollywood actresses, finding out all kind of interesting facts and beautiful pictures.

Lauren Bacall: You can't start worrying about what's going to happen. You get spastic enough worrying about what's happening now.

Rita Hayworth: All I wanted was just what everybody else wants, you know, to be loved.

Audrey Hepburn: If I'm honest I have to tell you I still read fairy-tales and I like them best of all.

Marilyn Monroe: No one ever told me I was pretty when I was a little girl. All little girls should be told they're pretty, even if they aren't.

Grace Kelly: I would like to be remembered as someone who accomplished useful deeds, and who was a kind and loving person. I would like to leave the memory of a human being with a correct attitude and who did her best to help others.

Starting New.

Most people make the decision to make a change in their life at the beginning of the year. I've always made New Year's Resolutions, and I always have the best intentions to stick to them, and every year I fail. I think that's because deep down I am very much of the belief that you have to truly want to give something up or make a change, and a date isn't always a good enough reason to do that. An event, life changing, or even just something small enough to trigger an emotion and make you step back and think is what it takes and yesterday I got that emotion that has made me decide to make a change. It has been a long time coming, and there has been many failed attempts, but this time I am determined to sort myself out. Turning 21 in just under a year's time means it is time for me to stop acting the way I have been and make the hard decisions. I don't know how well this plan is going to pan out, but I am going to try my very very best to do everything right. My strategy is organisation and distraction. Wish me luck.

{Image from weheartit.com}

Summer To Do List:

- Read ten books.

- Do some volunteer work.

- Learn to cook something new.

- Write 3 chapters of my now neglected attempt at a novel.

- Reorganise bedroom.

(More to be added soon, no doubt.)

Happy Smiley Things.

I do love looking up pictures on the internet, particularly browsing the many pages of weheartit.com, and so here are some of my favourite pictures of the past few days. :)



[A dream.]

[One of my favourite books...]

[I really want some floral patterned shoes!]
[More ideas for my room next year..]

[And my favourite.. :D]