Making me happy this week.

This month has been a crazy turn of events, and so many things have happened that have made me grateful and happy so I wanted to note some of them down before I forget.

1. Having my sister come and stay - a perfect weekend of giggles, brunching, exploring and girly chats.

2. Taking a middle of the day break from uni work to walk up to the seafront, and eat lunch watching the waves. Sometimes it's nice to give yourself space to just be. It was sunny too.

3. Being busy. It's my favourite way to be.

4. Finding out that I got accepted onto my study abroad program, and telling my favourite that I will be joining him in the USA for a semester. It's so exciting (and a little scary) to know that in a month time I will be living in America in the mountains. Feeling ready for an adventure.

5. Underwater filming: one of my course friends hired out the local pool for a shoot, in which we had free reign of the water slides, swimming pools and hot tub. Was a lot of fun.

6. Knowing that December will be a month of seeing people I miss - particularly my favourite boy after 4 months away and also A, our favourite American, by the time she gets here, it will have been 4 and a half years since I saw her last. Crazy!

7. Feeling more confident in things.

8. Making stuffed peppers for the first time. So yummy!

9. Seeing lots of sunsets.

10. Having a visit from a family friend, and catching up over tea.

Making me happy this week.

Every so often, I look at this blog and feel bad for how unloved it is, and how I should probably use it more. But to be quite honest, I'm not a writer or a blogger, and it's not really my forte. Plus, the only sporadic reader I have is my sister, (hey Lu!) - so I guess this space is just gonna be used as a place to make little time capsules of the little things that I am grateful for on the day I write anything on here. Maybe it will start up again as the months go, as an exciting adventure is in the works, but who knows?

So for the happy list?

1. Tomato and Avocado on toast - with a dash of cornish sea salt and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. The best! So tasty, so quick to make and now I don't want to eat any other foods.

2. Getting out of my comfort zone and it paying off. I spent last weekend out on the depths of dartmoor with my university's climbing club, hiking, camping and of course climbing, made some lovely new friends, and tried slacklining. It was such a beautiful place, too.

3. Receiving post! Still never gets old.

4. Settling back into uni, going to workshops and realizing once again how cool it is to be studying something that I love so much.

5. Rainstorms and early mornings. Waking up early has become a habit, and as autumn has arrived, the dark stormy mornings have made me feel extra cozy knowing that I have another hour or two in bed.

6. Going on a late night adventure to attempt to see the Supermoon with one of my housemates! And finding out that it wasn't a supermoon in this area of the world.

7. Giggly skypes with my favourite. It's now been 2 months since we last saw each other so we're halfway through. It's so nice to hear all his stories and get to see each other now that we have consistent internet.

8. Showing my 'September' video on the Tv in the house with all my housemates watching, it was a cool way to show them it. Thanks J for the idea!

9. New music - the feel good kind that you want to listen to over and over

10. Planning travels. And hoping everything comes together.

11. The fact that I'm meeting my family in Bristol this weekend. Yay for reunions!

Making me happy this week.

Photo by my wonderful sister Lulu 

1. This song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Gteo080NI

2. being back in Plymouth - it feels like coming back to my second home.

3. The fact that my friends are visiting today! Haven't had friends from me here before, so I'm so excited to show them round, go to the sea and catch up and have a good time.

4. The fact that I live opposite a park now. It's like having a huge garden and it's so pretty.

5. The prospect of a very life changing adventure happening next year. Can't quite believe the turn of events the last few weeks but it's one of those opportunities that makes me really grateful.

6. Skyping/facebook calls with my favourite. Living on separate continents isn't too swell but speaking everyday makes it a lot easier. Also the fact that we are 1/4 of the way through until we see each other again. Bring on December.

7. Making tasty healthy yummy food. This week's new recipe was Quinoa wraps and was so good!

8. Sending letters. There's nothing like snail mail.

9. Our holiday last week, so many good memories, little adventures and family time.

10. Catching up with friends I haven't seen since last term. And getting hysterical after five minutes of being back together.

University: Things that I won't miss about living in halls!

Now that first year of university is over and moving out of halls has happened, I'm starting to get excited about moving into a house in September and the novelty of living among so many other people is starting to wear off. Though saying that, I am moving into a house of 9 people come September!

Here are my reasons of things I won't miss:

1. Noise - Thin walls, loud music, noisy voices. Not a fun combo, especially on nights with early starts. But I think our flat did contribute a fair bit to the noise pollution. Ooops.

2. So many doors - it's good for security but makes it very difficult to let someone in and just creates a lot of extra hassle. To get into my room from the entrance, I had to go through six doors in total. A bit excessive there maybe?

3. The Kitchen - In the beginning, the kitchen was so clean and tidy but as people get busy and stop doing their washing up, it just got worse and worse, it didn't help that 4/6 of the flat were very messy so it fell to me and one other to keep it clean. It was pretty frustrating when you've just cleaned the whole kitchen and come back an hour later to find it in the same state it was before. I think people don't really care about halls, cause it doesn't feel the same as a house to them.

4. Overpriced rent - the reason I chose halls was for the experience, for the people and cause it was the standard thing to do in first year. But the rent is sky high when compared to house living. Next year, I will be saving £30 a week on rent and could probably find somewhere even better than that pretty easily.

5. The bins. There was a corridor of bins out back and you had to walk through it to put your rubbish away but it was grim because there would be bags all over the floor and one time, I was wearing flats and my shoe filled up with bin juice. Not so bad though. One time, we also spotted a member of the public relieving his bladder there, classy!

6. Laundry - is expensive in halls. £2.70 for a wash and £1.20 for a dry. No thank you. Especially when clothes horses/drying clothes in rooms was banned. Not cool.

7. Strangers - One time, a strange girl from downstairs ran into our flat stark naked. Another time, the same girl threw a party in our flat and invited 30 strangers to surprise one of her friends, it was so odd. Maybe we just needed to stand our ground a bit better.

8. Fire alarms - We were actually pretty lucky in that our block only had 1 fire alarm the whole year (to my knowledge) but often you would hear grumbling outside and see that the block next door had been made to get out of bed at 3am cause someone had burnt their toast.

9. Everything Breaks! Or floods. My room flooded 4 times in 2nd term. And there was a leak outside my bedroom door too for the majority of the year. Ceiling tiles fell down. Skirting boards fell down. On the first day, we had a meeting with our RA, he sat on a stool and it broke, he sat on a 2nd one, it broke. He sat on a third one. It broke. Fourth time lucky. So we had to make do with two stools between six. Yay halls! One time, the whole courtyard flooded. And then it happened again.... See a pattern here?

                                  

10. Maintenance - The issues mentioned above wouldn't have been so bad if they were fixed quickly but it always took them a week to respond and then a few tries to get it right. Perfect!

Did you live in halls? Do you agree with this list? Have any additions?

Ellie

On staying positive.

Sometimes, as an anxiety sufferer, I find it difficult to stay positive and keep my mind away from the bad uncertain thoughts which make me anxious or sad. It is a hard cycle to break but here are some things that help me:

1. Keep Busy - there's nothing worse than being sat at home with nothing to do or no one to talk to. Meet a friend for coffee, go for a run, try something new, anything as it will distract you from those anxious feelings. 

2. Appreciate the day to day beauty and simplicities. Things like sunsets and little birds or your favourite song on the radio, or a text from a friend or the fact that you managed to make a smoothie for the first time. 

3. Plan exciting things. This way, you have lots to look forward to in your life.

4. Stay focused, set goals and try hard to achieve them, it gives you a much bigger sense of purpose and therefore drive in your life.

5. Talk to someone. If you are feeling anxious, it is good to share those worries so that they are not bottled up inside you. If you don't feel you can talk to anyone, then write it down along with a plan of how to combat these feelings or thoughts of anxiety. 

6. If a certain situation is making you anxious, then either take yourself out of it or imagine yourself somwhere else. Like walking beside the beach listening to the waves. 

7. Remember that other people are going through this too, maybe you could help them? Putting out positive vibes will help you feel good too. 

8. Stay healthy. Healthy body, healthy mind. Eat clean, exercise and stay active.

9. Do things you enjoy.

10. Cuddle a pet. 

Do you suffer from anxiety? What do you find helps you? Was this list of any use to you? 

Making me happy this week.

1. Summer evenings - so much more potential than the winter, a bike ride or a long walk have been our activities of choice recently.

2. Hanging out the washing, something I have always found comforting and not something that is usually possible at uni, but thanks to my favourite boy, I now do my washing for free at his, and it smells so good when it has been hanging outside in the breeze. 

3. Listening to old music: James Blunt and Busted have been our nostalgia of choice this week. 

4. Excitement for a trip home next week, and seeing the family which I cannot wait for! It's been far too long and I have missed them all so much, can't wait for sister catch ups and kitty cuddles. 

5. Pretty skies at night. Something that will never get old. 

6. Adventures that are yet to happen - also getting excited for all of Lulu's upcoming travels. 

7. Wearing dresses without tights and dipping toes in the sea.

8. Feeling grateful for people coming into your life at the right time. And appreciative of the friendship shared.

9. Dodgems: a small part of the summer ball but definetely one of the main highlights.

10. Yummy healthy meals making us feel good. 

A little happy list!

1. Making Guacamole - this used to be a tradition when I lived in Italy and since summer weather has arrived, the time has come to make this delicious dip once again - so tasty and easy to make! All you need is some avocado, a tomato or two, some red onion, lemon or lime juice and a dash of salt - mix together for the yummiest dip of all the dips!

2. Sunny days: they have so much more potential than rainy ones, many days have been spent lazing about in parks, dipping our toes in the sparkling sea and exploring new places by bike.

3. Making the most of everyone still being around before they go home for summer next week. It will be strange when it's empty here next week, with only four of us around!

4. Holding hands with the boy as we wander through town.

5. Waking up early. I've never been a morning person but recently my body has been waking me up at 8.30am which is nice rather than having to set an alarm to get up.

6. Little adventures - going to Cornwall for the day was fun, finding our way to beach by clambering over the dunes and trekking to a far away to find food on a Sunday night.

7. Girls nights with next year's housemates, excited to live with them all next year, and for more funny movie nights and dinner parties.

8. The Summer Ball on Saturday - excited to dress up for a change and see everyone in suits and dresses!

9. Getting to know Plymouth like the back of my hand, lots of bike exploring is being done on bikes and on foot, finding little harbours and viewpoints that no one else knows about, and are always empty and so beautiful.

10. Cats! On our many walks, we have found lots of cats who seem friendly, I've been missing mine so it's nice to have some feline company!

Making me happy this week.

Hello there,

I haven't used this space in a very long time but decided to give the happy list another go, after reading a few different blogs with similar lists! It's always good to appreciate what you've got right?

1. Falling asleep to the sound of rain. Living in the 2nd wettest city in the UK, rain is an hourly occurance and I've grown accustomed to listening to it, as it now helps me relax and drift off!

2. Going on long evening walks, the last one ended up being a 5 mile round trip cause we may have got a bit lost! 

3. Finishing first year! And getting a first in my final presentation as well as having a big turn out for the end of year exhibition, it's so exciting/scary to be at the end of the year cause now I have four months of summer stretching ahead!

4. Getting into good books! Reading has taken a backseat in recent months so it has been nice to get back into it this week and spend many evenings with my head in a book.

5. Living without sugar during the week! If you know me, then you know that chocolate and I have a very close relationship that should never be messed with, but the past few weeks, I have decided to give it up on everyday but Sunday, and it actually feels really good to not eat it and then treat myself on the Sunday! 

6. Climbing! Last week, me and 2 friends started climbing, our uni offers free starter courses where they teach you all you need to know! It's really good fun, and although I've climbed before, I've never felt quite so confident as I do now, I even managed to reach the top of one of the tallest walls in the south west, I love it, feel right in my element when I'm climbing! 

7. Making little videos of adventures that S and I go on, love that he's so into video too :) 

8. Getting excited for the ball coming up at the end of May! 

9. Listening to really good music! 

10. My favourite boy! 

Kinda wanna do these more often, we shall see if I stick to that promise! 

What has made you happy this week? 

Love Ellie 

Kayaking for the weekend.

Last month, as part of my university's canoe club, a couple of friends and I went on a bit of an adventure covering Exeter, Dartmoor and Cardiff.

Do you think we had enough food? (FYI - we didn't actually end up taking this much stuff!

 In total, there were 17 of us on the trip, with many of the older members being very experienced in their kayaks, while us newbies had not been in kayaks for months if that.

After oversleeping, and eating a pot of porridge while running up to uni with M, we met up with everyone else at 9am on campus and after throwing all our sleeping bags and rucksacks in the van, we hopped aboard the minibus, (with T, S and I claiming the back row) and headed off to the other side of Plymouth bay where the watersports centre is located. Our driver was the president of the club who started playing lots of tunes and getting increasingly excited every time she got to use a bus lane, she even did an extra lap or two of a certain part of the city that was highly populated with bus routes.

We arrived at the centre pretty quickly and got everything together for the trip - boats, paddles, wetsuits, cags, helmets, buoncy aids, spraydecks and all of our other stuff and then attempted the Tetris style challenge of fitting it all in the van! For 17 people; I can assure you it was quite the task!

It was a beautiful sunny day at this point and the centre is in the position where you can look back over Plymouth and see all the sights from afar, I hadn't been that far round the bay before so it was really cool to see everything from a new perspective.

Once, everything was loaded up, we hit the road again and headed to Exeter which was about an hours drive! Once we found our way down to the canal, we all quickly got everything together and got changed and all got on the water! It was a beautiful place to start the days journey, on a little canal, you could see some of the city's church spires in the distance and green hills and fields all around. Unfortunately, due to my lack of planning - I didn't hire out a waterproof camera from uni so there are no pictures of us out on the water or of any of the surroundings which on one hand, was a blessing in disguise - as sometimes, I feel you spend too much time trying to capture what is going on rather than actually experiencing it. I definetely threw myself whole-heartedly into the weekend. 

The president of the club had planned a circular route so off we went....

It started sunny but soon got very cold, and was definetely a test of stamina for the less-experienced of us, we were very lucky in that all of the others were very patient and helpful to us, without making us feel we were inadequate. 

Unfortunately, just after we had got into the river, my dear friend M, capsized and was under for a good 20/30 seconds which really shook her for the rest of the day, and made her very cold :( 

We paddled for 7 hours in total, until darkness fell, memorable moments  included:

One of the boys kicking another one of the boys straight into the lock for a video and it happening multiple times. B was definitely a good sport for that.

The part of the paddle where the river pulled us along in its current allowing us to spin and chat and not worry too much about technique :)

Pretty kayaks!

My run-in with a bridge, luckily after crashing into it twice, I was rescued by a more experienced member of the club! 

The weir - a terrifying prospect that ended up being really fun! Like a slide for

your kayak!

The point in the day when we had to get out of the river and drag our kayaks 10 minutes down stream to avoid some rapids, freezing cold and walking through muddy sinking sand, S and I looked at each other and said 'We chose to be here, why did we choose to be here, what were we thinking?' and then we burst out laughing. 

A capsize - right at the end of the day which resulted in hysteria and giggles with the clubs president who was with me at the time! 

We eventually made it close enough to our destination to stop and pull out the kayaks as it was getting dark, we all felt at risk of hypothermia and ended up pulling off our wet kit in a pub car park, if I had any problems with nudity before, those are definitely no more I must say! 

Still a bit chilly, we packed up and all jumped on the minibus for a quick stop in asda for food and a look at the map before driving up onto Dartmoor to find our bunkhouse! It was a dark and treacherous drive as the wind blew and the rain fell down!

We arrived after much struggle with the dark winding roads, to find that it was colder inside the house than outside despite the rain and wind - the central heating did not appear to be working! So we put on more layers, made some food and all huddled together in the living room, spreading the warmth and all chatting, the house had no phone signal which I really loved cause we were actually able to talk to people rather than people being distracted by their phones.

T's happy face once we were finally warm and indoors!

The only other downside was the fact that there was only 1 shower and no hot water, we all decided not to risk it, after all we had finally got warm! Then, after a few hours hanging out, we decided to head to bed. T, S and I shared a room and that was nice and we all know each well, though I did worry I was gonna fall off my top bunk in the night.

Mackintosh selfie - looking swell ;)

After a couple of hours sleep, T woke up and told us it 5am, which was when we were told was going to be our wake up call anyway, so she said 'just wait for it' and soon enough, our bedroom door was slammed open with a chorus of singing and shouting from a couple of the boys telling to wake up. Now, if you know me, you know that morning aren't my thing, so when another of the boys came round offering us 'Cake or Death', I think you may guess what I quite drastically chose!

The day consisted of a drive to Cardiff where the more experienced members of the club battled the river rapids before driving home and arriving in Plymouth for a long overdue shower and sleep, it was such a fun weekend though, despite the cold, I really enjoyed myself, and hope to go again soon when its sunny!

tired boys on day 2!

Ever been kayaking? 

Thoughts in the middle of the night.

It's one of those nights where I can't sleep. It's very late, I have an early start and my mind is buzzing for whatever reason.

Remedies I have tried:

-going for a run at 4am: definetely a moment of sleep deprived insanity but fun all the same - ran a mile at least!

-counting sheep

-having a nice warm shower 

-drinking milk 

But none seem to work, any fellow insomniacs - feel free to share tips in the comments! 

I have taken to reminiscing about how much has changed in the last year of my life, and how long it has been now since I moved back from Italy - nearly a year! It's crazy how this life I used to live over there is now just memories and snapshots and faces and journal entries full of excitement of all these new experiences. 

I miss that life, the way we used to cycle everywhere and buy the special bread each morning, the funny games the kids and I would play in the park, the little mannerisms and traditions I had with the people I would meet on the street - the nuns at the school, the woman in the bakery, the mums in the school playground, the man in the bookshop, the way I used to wear flowers in my hair everyday, the friends I made who all came from different nations, the little parks on street corners, all these little details that I desperately try to hold on to wishing to go back in time and relive them.

I think I will always love the little Italian city I once called home.

Sorry for a rambly weird old post - that's just how it is though!

Nostalgia.

Lately, I've been thinking about my time living in a little Italian city, if you're new here, I spent 9 months (or so), working as an au pair in a small city in Northern Italy as part of my gap year.

Sometimes, on rainy days when there appears to be nothing to do and no one is up before 1, I find myself looking back at old photos and wishing I was back there. I thought I'd share a few with a bit of nostalgic rambling to go with it as well as some anecdotes of things that only happen in Italy/Cremona. Hope you don't mind! 

Something that always used to confuse me was the signs telling you that you were no longer in a place. 

So, I know I'm not in Cremona, but where am I? Logical, right?

Horses in the park, one Sunday morning, the type of random activity that is unique to Cremona, along with 

the promise of Water Polo flash mobs and pop-up Lego exhibitions.  

One of the highlights of my stay was meeting a life-long friend in a bookshop who I miss so much but

until we can afford to see each other again, we will have to stick to skyping and letters!

The spiral staircase in my host family's apartment, I loved it throughout the seasons, it was always so picturesque and pretty. 

I miss making elaborate meals with my two american friends, incorporating foods that we all missed - the evening pictured above was mac 'n' cheese, homemade chicken nuggets and roasted veg - so good!

Looking out over the city on my penultimate morning.

Oh how I miss the Italian Gelato - but it never made sense that we ate it when the temperature was -9 outside. 

My favourite tea shop, which was always our meeting place for catch ups and tea that I cannot find anywhere else - Blueberry Cherry.

Tisneria - our favourite bar where D + Me always got catcalled at for our funny accents. So happy that D lives in London now!  

Seeing the Torazzo (the tower in the city) poking out above the buildings and using it as a guide to find my way around the city. 

The sporadic antiques market which sold so many old cool cameras that I wish I had bought!

Finding contraptions such as a pringles vending machines and M trying to work them out. 

The funny little things my kids used to do like kissing windows on the way home from school cause he could see his own reflection in it. Think we might have a future heart-breaker on our hands now. 

River trips and having fun with C. I do miss those friends of mine! 

Ellie x

A Snapshot: Sunny Sunday.

This weekend, the sun has finally re-appeared in the West Country after the storms that have been happening all week. I had a glorious lie-in which I really appreciated cause sleep is always good especially when we stay up until the early hours talking.

The morning was spent with my flat as one of my flatmate's parents have been visiting and they very generously decided to cook a roast for us which was delicious and so lovely to have a home cooked meal that I didn't make. Once we were suitably stuffed and had given some roses to the parents as a thank you, we had fun listening to old songs and catching up with a friend we don't see too often. 

After that, I met up with one of my best friends who lives next door to go for a photography walk, we walked about 4 miles in total and ended up right at the edge of Plymouth where the ferry leaves for Cornwall, we even found a welcome to Plymouth sign to pose by and even though we got a bit lost and didn't actually find the place that she was looking for, we had a great time along the way chatting, talking photographs and watching the sunset.

It was a really lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and afterwards, we headed home for a bit of BAFTA watching, a quiz with all of the flat and a bit of socialising. The night ended with me falling asleep on the sofa at 3am and being rudely awoken by my flatmate throwing water at me, which escalated pretty quickly into a full blown water fight. Oh dear. But somehow, I still love 'em.

How was your Sunday?

A fun little weekend.

Since leaving school a couple of years ago, I have found that weekends are not always what they were built up to be....

Sometimes, here at university, you have no plans or nobody materialises from their room until late in the day or everyone is visiting home or doing other things. 

But, this weekend, we have been making the most of having some much needed time off after a busy week and it has been lovely so thought I would share.

On Friday, we had a five hour lecture session of assessed group presentations where my friend and I accidentally wore matching outfits, which amused our coursemates greatly. Once the session ended, the weekend began :) 

Since it was one of my flatmate's birthdays and also valentine's day, we all dressed up and made ourselves look presentable, and headed out for dinner. On the way there, we were nearly blown away by the gale force winds that are so normal in this part of the country, at one point, my friend Jack had to hold on to me and anchor me down as we thought the wind might drag me away. We eventually arrived safe and sound and had a wonderful dinner with lots of yummy food and much dessert :) that makes me a happy girl! We kept joking that it looked like the 8 of us were on some sort of quadruple date as the restaurant was filled with couples out for valentines meals. We also managed to tag down a waiter to take a photo of us all, only after we had taught him how to use it did we realise that it was still set on self timer from some of our previous attempts - at least that awkward ten seconds made us laugh for the photo! 

We also sang Happy Birthday to my housemate, took silly photos of each other, attempted to use a chocolate fountain with class and laughed at each other a lot - I really do have a lot of love for these flatmates of mine :) 

Favourite boys right there -----^ love their silliness - it definitely helps to keep things light hearted around here :) 

-----^ this last photo of us makes me giggle, I think it shows all of our personalities really clearly :) it makes me smile about these people I have come to know :) 

After dinner, we headed home, en route, we passed a gig in a record store, played hopscotch and us, girls had to hold onto our skirts for fear of the strong winds getting the better of us! 

Later on, we ran into some other friends of mine, did a little bit of dancing and I ended the night with a catch up with a housemate across the hall :) 

Saturday was a busy day! It was my first day volunteering for my course and chatting to prospective students about it and the university. It was a strange position to be in, as I was in their shoes not so long ago, feeling apprehensive and confused about the prospect of university. I was really against university and hated the idea of moving so far away and continuing to study, but after taking a gap year and doing some thinking, I decided to go because I found a course I believed I would like and luckily I do. My course is so brilliant for what I want to do and I actually really enjoy most parts of it. It was cool to get to tell other young people about it and also offer a bit of 

reassurance that university shouldn't be this terrifying thing that is full of unknown - it's actually pretty great :) 

I also witnessed a showdown from two of my lecturers who were fighting about which one of them was more of a man because one of them goes to sewing class, so they started limbering up and pretending to fight. It was very strange - arts lecturers are definitely unique you could say ;) 

After my stint was over, I met up with 3 of the guys who I'm friends with on my course for a debrief of the morning and a really funny walk around campus, I do love their craziness - it keeps things interesting - including one of them shouting about not wanting a free bag, and the other two trying to steal my lunch - how lovely :) 

I then headed back to my flat, which was clean for once thanks to the kindness of one of my flatmates parents, have spent the afternoon chilling out, doing a bit of work and headed into town as well! 

Tomorrow will involve a long photography walk with E, a roast dinner, a trip to the pub and a bit of organisation for the week :) 

Hope you are having a great weekend - how do you like to spend them?