Wardrobe Shopping Survival Guide

Trying to save some money? I know I am... With a year of being a student again staring me in the face, the need to spend sensibly is more apparent than ever.

You may thinking, Shopping Survival Guide?? If you're after constructive advice on how to avoid being eaten by your shopping basket or how to swerve falling makeup counters (I'd never had to imagine a shopping apocalypse until now) you will have to head elsewhere I am afraid... though it is an idea I may come back to...

But for questions that you should be bearing in mind when shopping with a budget, you may want to look this way.

1. How will this wash? Sometimes buying cheap basics is a false economy... You wash them once and they're good for nothing but a life as pyjamas; sometimes you're not actually saving anything at all. For me, it's meant that I've bid farewell to buying from Topshop and Forever 21, unless pieces are massively reduced in the sale.
2. Pale colours = high maintenance. I learnt this one the hard way last week; I bought a beautiful dove grey jacket from H&M and stained it on its first wear. Be careful; this one will lead you back to point 1...
3. Is this a staple or a statement piece? I tend to reserve my statement pieces for special occasions; a bold, unique piece will definitely be worn less, whereas staples should combine with one another and form the backbone of your wardrobe; less exciting, but a lot more useful.
4. Get savvy with separates. A few years ago, my wardrobe was full of garments that worked for one outfit but couldn't be combined across the board. I've since learnt my lesson and am a separates convert. I've never been so happy with the state of my wardrobe.
5. Read your labels. Dry clean only is my worst enemy.
6. Don't spend on a trend. A no-brainer here but a mistake lots of people seem to make; ripped jeans may be cool now, but they're not worth splashing out on if you're bothered about falling out of style. Especially important if you're keen on being first to try a trend: you may end up hating the look after a while.
7. What's already in your wardrobe? Will this combine well? Or are you making a mistake that I have committed many a time - am I buying a carbon copy of something I already own?

These are genuinely the questions I ask myself when buying and I find it super helpful to take a moment, in my changing room, and imagine myself walking out with what I have in my hands or with nothing and deciding which I am going to do today.

Have you got some wardrobe buying thoughts that you feel like sharing? I am all about hearing more!

Hangover Survival Guide

I've done a lot of preparation for this post - as in, I went out last night and consumed many spirits - so I feel extremely qualified for briefing you on how to survive what the French call a guele de bois; so elegant sounding in French, the literal translation for their word for hangover being "gob of wood" or something similar.

1. Get some aqua in ya. An ocean's worth if you can. Your body is mentally dehydrated and water is what it is needing my friend.
2. SHOWER. YOU SMELL DISGUSTING. EVERYTHING SMELLS DISGUSTING. WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO YOURSELF AGAIN?!
3. Relax. Deeeeep. You are not going to be productive today my friend. Anything you make yourself do, you'll probably have to redo the next day, or whenever it is you start feeling human again. So, get a box set, or some crappy films, your favourite comfy clothes (I, as your temporary advice giving sister, will let you have a pyjama day if this is what is needed. Just make sure they're clean ones.)
4. If you're feeling seriously rough, eat some bland food that you won't mind chucking back up again. We're talking bread, rice, paper... I am joshing about the paper but stick to all things dull and you will thank me from your slumped stance across the toilet bowl later.
5. Get enough sleep. For me, this is legit the only real cure. A lot of the reason you're feeling crappy is not because you stayed up drinking till 4am, it's simply because you stayed up till 4am. Get some rest my babe.
6. Put on your hangover jam. For me it's listening to the albums Jenny Llewellyn or Sophrosyne (all about 80s pop elements in my chill tunes) by WMD. So deliciously mellow. Bon Iver is also a nice shout.
7. Bond with whoever you were out with. Hangovers are best served with company and chances are you are all in a similar state of disrepair. Let your hangover gel you together, growing in experience but probably not in wisdom because your brain cells aren't capable of learning anything just yet.

And that's it my darlings. If you are after some product recommendations that I like for when I am a bit worse for wear, do shout and I'll pop them in a separate post for you. Excuse me while I lie down with Parks and Rec and down this litre of water.

Essay Survival Advice

Now I'm going to preface this by saying that, in all honesty, listening to my advice on essay writing is kind of like asking a walrus's advice for baking.

Essays and I do not get on, and this guidance really isn't focused on the academic side as I just don't have any kind of strategy when writing essays, but as for the keeping-going-and-doing-it I have learnt some things (I just suck at putting my own advice into practice).

That said, I have written a bloody load of essays so here is what I have learnt:

1. If you, like me, can't get off Facebook/Youtube/Tumblr/Instagram - I swear I'm obsessed with a different site every time - get ye some Self Control. Nope, not the mental kind, I'm talking about the Mac application that has changed my life. You have the option to write either a blacklist of all the sites you don't want to waste time on, or a whitelist of the only sites you want to use, and I use the blacklist to make sure I can still access all the online articles I need. Genius.
2. Find your bubble. By bubble I mean that world-excluding environment that means you are as focused and distraction free as possible. Personally mine involves being sat in the kitchen as for some reason kitchens really motivate me more than my bedroom - lying in my bed is just too tempting - and putting on my headphones and listening to either a song or a playlist over and over again at deafening volume. Not for everyone I know but this is my bubble and it keeps me awake, focused and on my game. Experiment a little - if your home is too distracting, a library may work better (I am not a library worker at all but I know plenty of people who are).
3. HYDRATE YOURSELF. I read somewhere that doing an exam is as physically demanding as going for a run and if this the case, essay writing for me is as draining as a two or three day long exam. This means your bod needs water, water, water. Obvious but easily forgotten when you're feeling sluggish mid afternoon.
4. If you're taking a break, don't take a break with a screen. It can take 15 minutes for your brain to return to work mode after even the briefest browse of your Facebook, and unless you're from the 1890's and your essays are for some reason needed to be handwritten, chances are you've been sat in front of a screen for at least an hour and your eyes and brain will be in need of a break. Make a snack, have a chat, go for a run or a walk, just don't chill on your phone's Instagram or watch an episode of Friends.
5. Get in some soup. I am pretty dependent on soup anyway, but it is especially useful when you are short on time and energy as it is super easy to chuck in the microwave and chow down on at  short notice. Ditto cereal. Also get some fruit in you.
6. If possible, get some cheerleaders. My bestest cheerleader is always my best bro and part time girlfriend Lizzie, who was wonderfully supportive and also doing a different course to me, meaning that our deadlines/essays were never the same and there was none of that Oh Shit You've Nearly Finished feeling you are at risk of with coursemates. Even now we're not living together, we are all over the Word Count Snapchat game and she is a great person to call when I need egging on. Find your Lizzie. (Good advice for life really but I won't bang on about that in this post). And, related to this,
7. Celebrate dem Word Count victories; let them motivate you, and even time yourself to see how quickly you can get your next 100 words/page done.
8. And this is my golden advice: DO NOT WAIT TILL YOU ARE IN THE MOOD. I am saying this to myself as much as you guys. You are never going to be in the mood to write 6000 words in French (what I am meant to have mostly done by now. Not going well.) The secret is to just get the ball rolling - close some unhelpful tabs, get your documents open, and write just a sentence, and just keep going. You will end up in the mood just by making yourself work. This will save you from having most of the work left at the last minute. Not that I know anyone that would do that. COUGH.

And that is all my advice for you angels. Above all else, keep going, you are going to get it done, and you are not alone. And if all else fails, just make a mahoosive mental list of all the things you are going to do to celebrate the fact the essay is done!