Uni project - Inkling

So, I rarely post things on here during term time because I have so much to do and now have even more to do because it's scary third year time. 

For one of my uni group projects we have made a website/blog about books so a lot of my writing is going on there at the moment, rather than on here. 

If you want to check it out click here, it's called Inkling.

We do podcasts too where we talk about books and anything else that comes up in conversation, we also write reviews and other things about books.

Anyway.. back to uni work I go..

Sophie x

Where has the motivation gone

So, for the first time in months, I'm back on the blog. Mainly because working on all these billions of assignments all at the same time is too much, and my motivation has died out a little bit. (Who knew third year would be this awful??)

But to be honest, if I'd started my work a bit earlier instead of watching four season of American Horror Story, I might not have so much to do at this point, so let that be a lesson to you. On another note American Horror Story is great and can't believe it took me so long to start watching it. 

Anyway, my point is, how do you find motivation? 

Here are a couple things I tend to do....

Usually, I go into the library, even if just for a few hours. Surrounding yourself with other people working can be really motivational. Also, there are pretty much no distractions in the library, so you're almost forced into doing work.

Another thing that helps me to feel more motivated is to shower, get dressed etc even if I'm not going anywhere. I find that trying to get work done in pyjamas sounds like a lovely comfy idea but in reality it just makes me more tired and less likely to do work.

Take a quick break. As before mentioned, it would not be helpful to start binge watching tv in the middle of doing work because that never ends well. I always think it's better, even though it's hard to not just run to Netflix, to do something more active in breaks. For example you could take a walk, even if it's to buy motivational snacks. Talk to someone or read a book for a bit, just to keep the brain awake. 

Work whenever you feel most comfortable. Some people just don't work well in the mornings, I definitely don't. I would much rather stay up until 2am writing an essay than try and motivate myself at 9am. So listen to your body and if you get a surge of motivation at 2am, just go with it.

Clearly I sound like a lazy person who sits a my desk all day in pyjamas trying to write essays but really just watching things on Netflix. 

How do you guys find motivation for things? Let me know in the comments! 

(because it's clearly something that I'm struggling to find!)

Sophie x

Everyday things you didn’t realise were difficult until leaving home

(First post in forever! I've been busy with life and revision etc. Also I've started writing for Pretty52!) 

Moving away from home is a really exciting time, until you realise all the new and scary things you are going to have to do by yourself. Some of these things may have looked easy when your parents were doing them, but realistically we have all made that awkward phone call to them when we forgot how to cook an egg. And even though I've lived at uni for nearly two years now, I still get confused.

Washing up

If you leave the washing up for just a few hours it seems to multiply. How can a simple pasta bake create seven different pans, a chopping board and three plates? And how can washing up take longer than the actual cooking and eating?

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has the right idea.

Paying bills

It turns out money does not just disappear out of your bank account for bills and rent, you have to actually do it yourself. You have to go into the bank and talk to people about money or (even more confusing) set up online banking.

Buying cleaning products

Why did no one ever teach us what different cleaning products do? Usually just go for the bleach everywhere method and hope it makes the dirt go away.

Money management

When you’re buying things like cleaning products and toilet roll, money finds ways of just leaking out of your bank account. And you often end up thinking you have a lot more money than you actually do.

Laundry

Apparently doing laundry isn’t just shoving things into a washing machine. You have to do it all separately, but which bits do we separate? Does pale pink count as whites and how do we know which clothes are delicates? (Speaking of laundry, that's something I need to do today).

Fending for yourself if you’re ill

When you get ill you can’t just stay in bed. You have to go outside and buy the drugs to make you feel better, unless you’re sensible and are prepared for these occasions in advance.

Deciding when to eat

Working out when to eat is harder than it seems. If I’m going out at 7pm should I eat at 6pm or will I feel too full but I may be hungry if I don’t eat… You see the dilemma? And I'm not even going to go into my attempts to eat healthily.

Ultimately, we owe a lot to our parents for doing all of these things that we didn’t realise we would actually have to do one day ourselves.

Sophie x

ps. I might have only just worked out how to put GIFs into blog posts, hence all the GIFs.

Lincoln Christmas Market 2015

I'm sure that most cities now get involved in the whole German Christmas market thing, I know Nottingham does and I can't wait to get back home to see it!

But last weekend (December 3-6) Lincoln's Christmas market came to town, with stalls from as far as Neustadt in Germany. (It was the first German Christmas market to come to the UK!)

I went to the market on Saturday evening and it was so chaotic I could hardly see anything. As you can see from the pictures above, it was difficult to even get close to some of the stalls! 

It was just like any other Christmas with German sausages, lots of candles, handmade jewellery, cheese and other overpriced gift-y things. but with over 250 stalls of it.

I don't want to sound overly critical, I would definitely go again because it's only a 10 minute walk for me, but it's just a very overwhelming experience with a bit too much to look at and too many people and too much of the same thing.

However, it's a nice way to start of the festive season and even if the gifts are too over priced for you (like they were for me) you can still have a wander round and look at all the interesting things the stalls have to offer, or you can get some mulled wine or hot chocolate or a hot dog.

The market was voted Best UK Market by The Daily Mail, but do you know of any better UK markets?

Sophie x

Lincoln Sausage Festival

(literally just a festival for sausages, don't get any weird ideas)

Every year at Lincoln Castle there is a festival known as the sausage festival, which showcases all of the amazing and unique food that originates in Lincolnshire such as the famous sausages, poacher cheese, plum bread, chutneys and wines.

As well as selling food, most of the stalls offer free samples so you can try the fancy cheese before you decide whether or not to spend £5 on it (surprisingly I didn't get tempted, but it was good cheese).

As you can see above, some stalls have demonstrations and little workshops where you can learn how to make sausages which looked very complicated.

I remember from last year there were performers for children such as clowns and musicians, but we got there at 4pm so it was probably too late to see.

Sorry about the quality of the photos, it was rainy and muddy all day.

Have any of you been to the Lincoln Sausage Festival?

Sophie x

Sheringham, Norfolk - things to do

Last week me and my family spent a week in a village in Norfolk called Holt. It was a bit rainy, so my photos didn't turn out that great, but in typical British style we still forced ourselves out of the cottage to go experience things, in the rain.

Here are some of the things we did!

Priory Maze and Gardens

Just outside Sheringham, you will find Priory Maze and Gardens, it is called this because slightly in the distance you can see ruins of a priory, but unfortunately you can't actually get to it (as far as I know). But the view is still lovely.

As you enter the gardens there is a large maze that we actually got lost in for about 10 minutes. From the maze there are lots of different gardens, filled with colourful flowers and some weird looking Alice in Wonderland like trees.

There is also a cafe which sells sandwiches and cake and tea and all the usual cafe stuff.

It costs £5.50 for an adult ticket and is open from 10am-5pm everyday. We only stayed for the morning because of the weather but if you get some lunch and take a slow wander around, you could probably stay a bit longer and turn it into a whole day thing.

The maze

The old priory in the distance

North Norfolk Railway

Between Holt, Weybourne and Sheringham runs a steam railway, completely ran by volunteers who replicate how the railway would have been in the 1900s. They play the parts of conductors, train drivers and ticket officers, which makes the experience very surreal as you wander around the museum and see photos of how the railway used to be.

We first stopped in Weybourne, which was just a station where we had a cup of tea and wandered around. Then we caught the next train into Sheringham, where we looked at the souvenir shops and had lunch at a cafe near the station.

I think the best part of the day was that we got to sit in one of the booths on the train, which sort of felt like being on the Hogwarts Express. The views were amazing, everything was green fields and in the distance you could see the sea, which is always nice when you live somewhere built up like Nottingham.

 An all day ticket costs £12 for an adult and you can travel as much as you want between Holt, Weybourne and Sheringham, so it's definitely worth it.

View from the train

Ticket office

I'm going to do another post when I get my Diana Mini photos developed, so there's more photos of the town and stuff on the way.

Have any of you ever been to Sheringham? Let me know what you thought!

Sophie x

6 Netflix shows to binge on this summer

I've been running out of things to watch on Netflix recently (I definitely need to go outside more), and I thought other people might be too, so here's a list of the things I thought were worth watching in case you've got nothing to do on a rainy day.

Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad was the first thing I watched when I first subscribed to Netflix. If you didn't already know, the show is about a chemistry teacher called Walter White who decides to start making and selling crystal meth to fund his cancer treatment. Jesse Pinkman, his old student joins him, even though they don't really get on and kind of hate each other most of the time. There are 5 seasons that get progressively darker as they go on, but there are some happy scenes too. I'm definitely considering watching it again.

Orange is the New Black

Orange is the New Black is another one that most of you have probably already heard of. Based on the book by Piper Kerman (you can read my review here), Piper Chapman is serving a 15 month sentence for transporting drug money for her girlfriend, Alex Vause, but she's now in her thirties and the crime was committed over 10 years ago. The show is about more than just Piper however, it is about lots of different women in the prison from all different backgrounds and different ages. I think it's amazing how some of the stories are true and it deals with important isssues. There are currently 3 season, with another one coming out next June.

90210

90210 is my easy watching show, you don't have to think much when you watch it. It follows a group of Beverly Hills teenagers from high school to college, it's all about relationships, family life and over dramatized teenage life like teen pregnancies and car accidents. It's all very glamorous and the outfits in the show are amazing. There are currently 4 seasons on Netflix so I'm hoping they add the final one soon.

Pretty Little Liars

Pretty Little Liars is my latest addiction, I started watching it last week then realised that there's over 100 episodes, and they're still being made, so this could take a while. It's basically a cheesy American high school show, but a girl is murdered and her four best friends are trying to find out what happened, whilst being blackmailed by a mysterious person called 'A'. It's another one that's easy to watch but it can get a bit creepy with all the murder stuff going on.

Better Call Saul

Once you've watched Breaking Bad, you have to watch Better Call Saul. It's basically the back story of two characters from Breaking Bad, Saul and Mike. I haven't actually finished this series but so far it's a lot funnier than Breaking Bad and not as dark, I think I might prefer it! I think it would be good even if you haven't watched Breaking Bad because they don't directly link together.

Life Unexpected

Life Unexpected is a bit of a strange concept, a girl called Lux has been in care all her life, then finds her biological parents who are given temporary custody of her. Cate Cassidy, her mother, is a radio dj and her father, Nate "Baze" Bazile owns a bar, they haven't spoke in 16 years but now have to take care of a teenager. It's really easy to watch and it's full of happy endings so it's a nice show to cheer you up. There are two season but Netflix only has the first one, I hope they put the next one on soon!

I just realised all of these shows are American, probably because Netflix doesn't really have a lot of British TV stuff, or maybe it's because I prefer cheesy American stuff.

Sophie x