28th October til the 17th November

Hello lovely supportive people.

Here we are, again, I said I wouldn’t abandon  you, but I did. Whatcha gonna do hey??

Anyway, back to the real world. And the world of my project.

28/10/13 til 3/11/13

READING WEEK. I just worked my butt off. I went home and cuddled my cats. And mother. But mostly the cats.

4/11/13 til 10/11/13

This week I was furiously typing up my OP assignment. Which I honestly don’t know how it went but I will let you know in due course… ARGGHH, but nothing to do with my project here either.

11/11/13 til 17/11/13

Really not a lot has been happening, I had a deadline to make. Which I did! But not for my project.

There has been more tweaking of ethics bits and bobs, the parts that allow you to do your study. Without the approval of the ethics board you have no study. It’s one of the most important elements of your project. So this week I have been fine tuning my ethics submission. And I think it is nearly done.

BUT guess what did happen this week…..? Oh only that the marks for the proposals were given back… and guess what?! I GOT AN A!!!! AN A!!!

Yes, for my proposal I got an A. (75%) which is really high at university.

Here is the proof!

Anyway, that was that week, on the Friday I went to see my tutor, and we made a game plan for this week to battle through the final snags in my ethics form!

Excellent!

Thank you all for being patient with me. I really appreciate having you to talk to J

Take care kittens

All the best

Claire xx

The Cohesive capabilities of Coffee and other Hot Beverages

Hello Beautiful People. 

Yeah you, there at your end of the internet connection! I know you’re gorgeous!

Anyway,

A nearly empty Caramel Latte mmm....

I sit here, sipping slowly at my currently too hot caramel latte, in a coffee shop, you know what I mean every coffee shop is the same. It’s a place where you either sit alone, or are fully engaged in conversation.

You can see all types of relationships around you in one place. The very beginning of a brand new relationship, ones just starting. A typical cute scene, two people, smiling at one another at first, cheeky glances over a book or laptop. Finally one is brave enough to go over. The "Are you on your own?” the “I haven’t seen you in here before" or the "what are you working on?" or the simple "can I join you?”. And soon enough smiles and laughter soon spill over their coffee cups. It’s sweet, it’s new, and it’s innocent.

Then there are friendships, a few types are seen like old and informal, usually the loudest in the shop, their solid friendship only bound tighter by the shared glue that is caffeine. They will talk about everything and anything for as long as one will let the other.

There are the busy “business meeting over coffee”. Two birds, one stone. Caffeine and a meeting. Boom. Done. But don’t be fooled if you are invited for a coffee with a potential employer, they don’t want to talk about your dogs or family, they are there on business and this is an interview. And it’s formal. It’s ON right now.

There are the people who haven’t seen each other for years, decades even and the coffee shop is mutual territory, nowhere too scary, nowhere too personal. It’s not too loud, but a place you can talk and splurt your life story since you last met. You know you have pre-rehearsed what you’re going to say and also what you’re not. Everyone who you meet you tell an altered version of what’s happened to you and your life. Not lying, just not telling everything. Jesus did it, you know those years that cannot be accounted for in his life? Yeah those are his "I aint gonna tell you that" moments. *if he’s real that is.

There are colleagues becoming friends, sharing more than just an office together but sharing their lunch and downtime with one another, this making their relationship stronger over the shared fix of coffee.

There are the groups of friends, the last nights story tellers, the "you-won’t-believe-what happened"ers and the "I-have-so much-to-do-right-now"ers.

There are the people sharing secrets, whose tears, in both laughter and sadness run into their cups. And obviously there are their audiences. The friends, the best friends, the “I couldn’t live a day without you” friends, the “NOWAYS” sayers, the motivators, and the “Of course I will always be here” friends.

Sometimes there are the break ups, there are the breakdowns, there are the awkward meetings to return your exes scarf that you knew looked better on you anyway but now you’re going to sit here and drink your coffee alone... without their scarf.

Then there are the goodbyes.

the walkouts, the storming aways, the “I am so upset right now I’m going to leave without drinking or even taking my coffee with me”. But there’s also the "this was great" the "I’ve got to go now" the "I’ve got a meeting in in an hour"

There is the "we should do this again sometime" the "same place same time?" and the “we need to do this more often". Friendly, not committing to too much and easy to reschedule.

And finally there’s the "I hope I’ll see you again in here" or maybe, just maybe the "here's my number.... call me?"

Coffee shops across the world are more than a place to drink an admittedly overpriced hot beverage that burns you at first and then starts to taste good only once you have lost sensation in your mouth. Coffee shops, your Starbucks, Costa, café Nero and other large brands or the little ones one few know of, they are all the same, they are a hub of communication and relationship formation.

Maybe next time you’re sat in a coffee shop, anywhere in the world, you may notice these relationships around you or you may just be one of them. Whether you have a spiced pumpkin latte or English breakfast tea, the power of a hot beverage is wonderful. They make both good and bad times just a little bit better, just a little easier to comprehend. So if you have good news or bad news, grab a coffee, think it through, and it won’t seem quite so overwhelming.

Take care kitten, and Thank you for reading this enormous post! As a thank you, we should share a coffee together, sometime?

Claire xx

Project update (Monday 7th October to Sunday 27th October)

Hello lovely lovely readers,

I feel so bad for leaving you for three weeks.

That is honestly because I feel that I have done anything in the past few weeks. Well I have but i just don’t feel like it.

The week commencing Monday 7^th October, I pretty much just finished my proposal, adding theory context and more grounding to the evidence for my rationale. Which I really enjoyed to be honest, I’m really lucky that I get to study something I find really really really interesting. There are many who are not so lucky. So I am very grateful for that. Admittedly my topic is not rock and roll but I, hand on heart, feel it is important and could help someone somewhere someday, I have no clue who where or when, but I believe and  feel it could.

I handed in my proposal draft to my supervisor on Monday 14^th October and had it back on my birthday (16^th October) and was told that it was really well written and a joy to read, which is always encouraging. It made my birthday amazing, one of the best things on that day. On the Thursday 17^th I edited the draft in keeping with the recommended alterations, all of which were grammatical.

And for some reason I then did nothing, also because I had an amazing party in Wolverhampton on the weekend. So that is my reason for doing nothing.

Then on the 21^st of October, I sat in uni and worked on my proposal a little bit, and put in a little section on pilot study. 22^nd of October, hand in day, done. Sorted. Lovely. Great.

Then on the 23^rd I attended a workshop that I will write extensively about and then that pretty much took up the rest of my time until Thursday night. Late Thursday night.

Friday was full of me going to an open day for occupational therapy, and then singing in a choral choir for the best part of 8 hours. It was intense but I loved it. When I finally got the songs right.

Anyway that was a very brief breakdown of what I’ve been up to.

I hope any of that has not caused you to pass judgement on me. But of course you are allowed.

Take care kittens

Claire xx

Birthday Synopsis (written on my birthday!)

So today is my 21st Birthday. I am 21 years old as of 12:48pm today. I am 21. Number of years old: 21. 

This.

Is.

TERRIFYING!

Today is a day that I have eagerly awaited and while anticipating it with dread. Why? I honestly have no idea. 

21. Saying feels wrong, uncommon, and incorrect. I cannot be 21. It’s the wrong number there must be some mistake. It’s true; someone somewhere must have gotten the date wrong, I can’t be 21. there’s no way I can be 21 because 21 is an age where you become a grown up, you learn to live in a real world, with real world problems, and you live in a real house, not student accommodation, or student digs, you're meant to be all these things that I just don't know if I am or even can be.

Strong

Fierce

Independent

Mature

Did I strong already?

These are traits I can only have when others are watching, on my own I'm scared useless and a little bit of pansy. Okay, a lot of pansy.

21, not a chance. I’ve always been a teenager with the sense and worldly knowledge of a little old biddy and that’s how I like it. And it works for me, staying in, drinking tea, having my cats, I like it. And it’s ironic until you reach a certain age, and for me that age is 21. I don't know why. But I've felt as if there is some big change, obviously not physically but in terms of how I act and who I act. And I hate change. Seriously, I hate it. I do little changes, like wearing make up a bit better, looking after my mop of hair, and dressing nicely on a day to day basis.

Maybe I am changing now that I am 21. Maybe it’s already happening and I knew nothing about it.  I spent my first hours of 21 the same way I wish to carry on, helping someone to feel a little better just by talking things through with me. or anyone really but it is a nice feeling when you help a friend/relative through something, just by sitting on the other side of the screen, letting them throw their feelings and thoughts through the internet to me and for me to just read listen and be there. I am always there for those I care about, and I'm normally there for those who I don't even know. I think that says something about me, I have no idea what mind you. 

21. Its growing on me. Still weird though. Maybe I won’t get used to it until I'm 22. Now there’s an age I'm looking forward too. It sounds fun! I think maybe there is just such a social thing about 21 and that is what is freaking me out. there’s an expectation for you to party and to drink and to be wild and adventurous then to be mature and settled at the same time, mature and settled I can do have done forever!

So lets see what it will be like, come on then you cheeky age you! Let's rock this world! 

Take care kittens 

Claire

Proposal Update! (Monday 30/9 to Sunday 6/10)

Hello lovely supportive readers,

Last week (Monday 30/9 to Sunday 6/10) I actually got about starting AND completing my method section (375 words... Woohoooo!) and making a good start of my introduction (728 words down people!!) for my proposal. I didn’t get a chance to meet with my supervisor, who as I have said is lovely. And so so so supportive. Which is amazing, it’s like having a cheerleader that actually likes someone…

My method section consists of the standard methods layout.

Design- this being what type of study is it.

Sample- who will be taking part as a participant (being tested or interviewed).

Procedure- what you will actually do.

Method of Analysis- how you will analyse the data.

This is normally the easiest part to do, as its all pretty straight forward. So here is a very simplified version of my method section:

Design

This study will be 5-6 single semi-structured interviews with a prewritten interview schedule (list of questions that you don’t have to stick to)

Sample

The criteria to be a participant in this study are:

A) The participant must have spent most of their life farming

B) Be willing to be interviewed,

C) Aged 55 or over

D) Runs or has run a pastoral farm.

Procedure

Essentially it’s just:

Find participants that are willing, interview them with the schedule at their choice of place and time. Their own homes probably and sometime over Christmas, as that will be when we are all free.

Method of analysis

This is hard because I don’t know yet what type of data I’m going to get if it’s a lot of experiential (experience based) data then I should use IPA (interpretive Phenomenological analysis) but if I get a lot of attitudes and perception based data I will use Thematic analysis.

So that’s a quick run-down of what I've done, I've read a few articles on farming and retirement.

Here are their references:

• Farming Futures Group, November 2001. Farming for the future: A new direction for farming in Wales. The Government of The National Assembly for Wales
• Errington, A.J., 1999. The intergenerational transfer of the farm family business: A comparative study of England, France and Canada. Paper to the Canadian Young Farmers Forum Annual Meeting, Regina, Canada.
• Errington, A.J. and Lobley, M., 2002. Handing over the reigns: a comparative study of inter generational farm transfers in England, France, Canada and the USA. Paper presented to Agricultural Economics Society Annual Conference, Aberystwyth.
• Ward, N. and Lowe, P., 1994. Shifting values in agriculture: the family farm and pollution regulation. Journal of Rural Studies, 10(2), 173-184.
• Whitehead, I., Errington, A., Millard, N. and Felton, T., 2002. An Economic Evaluation of The Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995. Newton Abbot: The University of Plymouth.
• Whitehead, I.R.G., 1996. Farm Business Tenancy Survey 1996. London: Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
• Potter, C. and Lobley, M., 1996b. Unbroken threads? Succession and its effects on family farms in Britain. Sociologia Ruralis 36 (3), 286-306.
• Office for National Statistics, 2003. Social Trends
• Office for National Statistics, 2004. Regional Trends

I hope you don’t die from boredom but if you wanted to see them there they are…

That’s it for last week folks,

Take care now

Claire xx

I Like to Hide

Right this very second I am sitting in an empty stairwell at university. Alone. Typing this.

I find solitude in quiet places, I love quiet places. I like to come here, away from people, away from too much noise and just take time to think.

Sure this is a good thing I hear you say... Ahh and yes, which it would be... if I also didn’t come here to "hide". And by hide I don’t mean trying to stay away from a person I don’t want to see, I mean hide away from the world.

This is how I ended up here (a chronological recall of events this morning that lead me to a quiet stairwell, NOT a metaphorical journey of sorrow that leads to me being a wimp and sitting on my own.)

I got to uni, got off the bus with a plan to go see my supervisor, simple. She wasn’t there, I start to have a mini flap because I feel I know look like I’m just wandering about the psychology block aimlessly with no friends. So I decided to head to Starbucks and get a coffee, which I did, however it was so hot in there I had to get out, I hate feeling too hot. Really hate it. The next plan was to go and sit in the seating area near where y next lecture is but there were some people, and I didn’t want to sit there, and I felt myself say "Where can I go hide for a while before class?" so I came here, to a very quiet stairwell that no one uses, I’m pretty sure it’s only here as a fire safety requirement, in the time it’s taken me to write all this, admittedly not that long, not one person has opened a single door to any of the flights of stairs.

What bothered me the most was not that I wanted to be away from the world to have peace and quiet to sit alone in my thoughts, I wanted to hide, and I called it hiding. I must admit this worries me a little. I know why I do it, I just feel so awkward and out of place in a conversation, if I talk I get told I talk too much, and if I don’t talk everyone asks me what is wrong, so I just feel it’s easier to come sit alone and write something, a song, a little letter to no one, a poem or now, a blog entry. It is so quiet I love this feeling, only hearing the builders on the other side of campus, and my keyboard keys clicking away.

I have to kick this habit of hiding and running away to a safe stairwell, but not today....

Take care

Claire xx

Living in a bubble: as romantic as it sounds?

So essentially I walk about all the time and I don’t know what I'm doing or really where I'm going, I have all these dreams and aspirations that I don’t really know what to do with myself. I live much of my life in one of two types of bubble. 

The first type of bubble: the one with a few people in....

This is what I call my social bubble, as I have stated before I have few but amazing friends, which is great and amazing until they are unable to be in the immediate vicinity. Like France or Portugal or even Gloucester. I know so few names of the people on my own university course, I know them to recognise, about 50 of them but I don’t know more than 13 or 15 names? It’s really ridiculous. I do feel bad about it of course, but that has only been lately. My family are in my social bubble too, mother, father, sister and obviously Glenn. However I have a brilliant ability to not miss people, to switch of the sense of missing them and resume normal life. My psychologist mother calls it "compartmentalising" while I call it a super power. This I do with my dad as we are both hopeless when it comes to calling the other and we live fairly far away. Occasionally my super power breaks and there is the all-encompassing sense of loss. Like he is a million miles away and I'm never going to see him again. This social bubble is the most social part of me really and I don’t tend to stray from what I know and love. 

The alone bubble. 

This is the bubble I adopt for when I am actually alone, or walking down the halls at uni. I’m just there like "Oh don’t mind me I'm just invisible" and it’s pretty much being entirely self-absorbed. But I think I do this because at uni I am alone, I don’t tend to walk about with people or go the IT barn with people, I go to the library and I sit there are I work, or I read, or I sit in Starbucks and I read, or I go to the gym, the best place to be alone. I love the gym it’s the worst type of escapism.

However there are benefits to being a bubble person and there are many bad points. 

The good points include:
1) Being able to pretend your somewhere else.
2) Play games in your imagination, or play guessing games.
3) You’re totally allowed to people watch when sitting on your own. I think. 
4) You learn a lot by sitting back and watching others.
5) You can indulge your "woe is me" side. 
6) I have learned that if you leave the world alone, the world leaves you alone.
7) It can give you space to reflect on things.
8) It gives you a chance to take a break from being social.
9) It can be empowering to sit by yourself and have a coffee, or take yourself to dinner.
10) By letting your mind wander can often be a clue into what it is you really want, you know I often day dream about being in a job that helps people and is seen as a good person type job. That, was the exact reason I chose not to do law studies as a degree.

The bad points are actually many of the good points just pushed a little further like: 

1) Pretending you’re somewhere else.
This I have learned is actually a bad thing, because the only real reason you fly away to another place is to escape the one you’re in. And that is bull shit. You should stand up for your sorry little self and challenge yourself on what it is that you don’t like about where you are. Or if you can, challenge your environment. 

2) Playing games in your mind.
There isn't really anything wrong with this, it just may make you look crazy if you keep giggling every time you guess correctly what food a person will order....

3) You’re totally allowed to people watch when sitting on your own. I think. 
There is nothing wrong with that one. Honestly.

4) You learn a lot by sitting back and watching others.
Learning by watching others is the same as living by watching other people being alive. Sometimes watching some poor girl get her own heart broken by a beautiful but mean guy is not a good enough lesson for heartbreak and it’s just gonna have to be you who learns. You can’t watch someone else fall behind in their work and learn how important it is to keep on top, you need to be there with that underlying anxiety and a trembling hand that wibbles every time you take a sip of your 11th espresso of the evening. 

5) You can indulge your "woe is me" side. 
While this can therapeutic for about 10 minutes but anything more than that is just destructive to yourself and your day.

6) I have learned that if you leave the world alone, the world leaves you alone.
Again, I can’t help but notice that this is the easy way out and that sometimes you have to cause a stir and shake things up. Sometimes the world needs to you to pay it some attention too...

7) It can give you space to reflect on things.
Reflection is always good, if that sounds too sappy for you, call it evaluating your goals and motivational techniques. That should do it. 

8) It gives you a chance to take a break from being social.
Yeah this I guess is also a good thing; there is definitely a saturation point for how long I can be around some people before they start to get annoying. When you start to get fed up with everything they say, just go, sit quietly and breathe. Then go back.

9) It can be empowering to sit by yourself and have a coffee, or take yourself to dinner.

However you do look like a loner, but it is very fun to order a three course meal and share your evening with fine wine and a good book.

10) By letting your mind wander can often be a clue into what it is you really want.

BEWARE sometimes you aren't really ready to see what it is that your mind really wants, it can be a bit of a startling experience. Like ouiji boards but less satanic.

I think the most worrying part of living in a bubble is not being able to see people who need you when they are desperate. Like for example, I nearly went through a door without holding it for the elderly person who was walking (slowly) behind me. And while it sounds like a small thing, these are the little things that make me who I am and what I am, a person that always tries to help.

So there you have it, the pros and cons of living life in a bubble a far less exciting and much more introverted view of the world. Living in a private bubble will one day lead you to feeling you only live life 50%. Don't feel everything the way it should feel, you don't know half the things you should by now. Go on, burst your bubble and live a little. Throw yourself out there, and if people throw hate at you remember that people only throw rocks at things that shine. 

Take care
Claire xx

x

Project update Week One (23/9-29/9)

Hello people who care :)

So this week I haven’t really done a lot but I have done the most important thing. I had my very first meeting with my tutor, who is so understanding and can really see where I’m trying to go with this research which really is such a blessing.

I did find a good number of relevant articles for my project proposal and for those of who don’t know what a proposal is; it’s basically where you present your plans and justifications with reference to the literature (currently available articles) for your project. My proposal is split into two parts, an essay like element where I have to present my plans for research and justify them, and then there is the presentation, which is pretty much the same but verbalised and there is probably going to be a questions and answer section at the end, or in real life it will be a “lets-pick-holes-in-Claire’s-work-and-make-her-cry” session…

I have just realised that I haven’t told you anything about what my dissertation/project is all about. There is probably the big reason of I know exactly what I want to do, but I’m having some difficulties putting it down in words, I’m sure I could probably write a song about it but I’m almost positive that would get me nowhere. Basically I am hoping to explore the attitudes and perceptions of aging and retirement within an aging farming community. And I am almost definite that my title will be “Exploring the attitudes and perceptions of aging and retirement within an aging farming community” or possible something different using the same words in a different order. I don’t really know, a title is so SO important, which many of my writer friends will know as they have spent hours with a fabulous song or blog with no name… L

I'm interested in looking at the subjective experiences of male farmer’s with a focus on aging and the prospect of retirement. Essentially how they feel about getting old and facing the idea that they have to give up their farm or find someone else to take over.  And before people point out the obvious that children always take over, that is simply no longer the case as more and more opportunities are available to children from all walks of life, fewer farm children are choosing to stay on the family farm. And honestly who can blame them? I mean farming in today's climate is harder than it has ever been, but on the other hand we don't ever want to loose our farming community do we? Farming has evolved from a lifestyle that paid it's own way into a business where by the focus is all about money. #jessiehaditright

Right I’m offski,

Thank you

Take care

Claire x

The New Semester, The New Challenge

Hello my wonderful support network,

And I call you that, because as readers, I am so grateful for you. Honestly, I really reaaaaally am. And I’m fairly almost definitely sure that I will be in need of at least a little support over the next year.

This new label of my blog, called project progression is going to track, wait for it…. The progression of my project. Who would've bloody thought it? My project (for non uni friends) is my final year research project were by I will plan, carry out and report a research endeavour entirely by myself. So here is why I am writing this new section of my Love, Life and the things in Between Blog.

1)      I am hoping this will act as a sort of diary, as blogs generally are, so I can see where I am and what I’m doing and where I’m going in a non-academic format.

2)      I can tell other people, friends and family, how my project is going if they should, for any bizarre reason, want to know what’s going on.

3)      I am hoping that once it is completed it can act as some form of a guide to the dissertation writers of the future showing them the hurdles I came up against and how I (hopefully) managed to climb up and over them. As I haven’t seen anything like this before, I have no idea quite what will be here, but I feel that if I am honest with myself and you, as a reader, that this will somehow be of some use to someone at some point. Maybe just one person but that is good enough.

So thank you for reading this, and if you too are approaching a dissertation, GOOD LUCK and WORK HARD.

Thank you,

Take care lovely support network that I am so lucky and grateful to have

Claire xx

late night musings of a wannabe good person.... very late night.

Hello again,

Ahh the night, here we meet again. For many 11:35pm is no late night, alas for me it is well past my bed time and I am here, at  my desk as I have been for so long, so lost and confused by the weird side of YouTube and staring way being the obsessive side of Pinterest. I fear that this type of late night carry-ons could cause me to become some scary student creature of the night. Now I know I am just being odd and ranting but that is what I do. And what I do best. Don’t get me wrong, I normally rant about positive life things like being kind to bus drivers who wait for 10 extra seconds while they watch you run up to the bus clutching at your belongings as you then have to find your “correct change only please” to place in the money box. However the only really negative thing that I ever seem to rant about is me. Yes. I really do love to have a go at myself, just as every self-depreciating 20 something does. And why not? Sure that is better than hating others or judging everyone as below you?

My self-depreciating ways started a long time ago. A very long time ago. So long ago in fact I can hardly remember the first time I felt good about being me. About being proud of who I am, of what I am and what I am not. But then on the flip side I can vividly recall all the times I wanted to give up being me and start again as a new version, a Claire 2.0 as it were. This I have tried and failed at many times. It wasn’t until 2009 when I heard a quote from a singer I was only just starting to listen to, Taylor Swift (#sorrynotsorry) was in an interview discussing how when people try to be anyone other than themselves how they would one day run out of people to be. The best person to be is you. And yes I know it’s self-motivational and sappy but fine. I don’t mind. It’s good to fill your life with little things, pictures of cats, Taylor Swift quotes that make you a better person.

If you don’t know whether something is making you a better person then take a step back and look at who you become when you are with or near that thing, be it a person or object, an item of food or news feed. Look at the person you are after exposure to that thing. What do you do? Do you change? Are you kinder? Are you smiling more? Is your work better? Or are you grumpy? Do you find you have a headache from frowning? Are you slightly aggressive?

My favourite quote from the past few days was found, as they always are, on Pinterest.

“No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.” ― Taylor Swift

And to this day, I think I must agree, I have met many people, on trains, buses and planes, in hotels, libraries and academic institutes, and the ones you remember, the people you know you will hope you bump into years into the future are the ones who were always good to you. I try to live in a good way, I am tolerant of everyone, even people whose intolerance I find it hard to tolerate, I am patient, I am attentive and I always try to be good, I forgive but I can never forget. When we look back at our lives we can only say how good we’ve been by how good we were to others and in return you see how good people are by how good they are to you. I must remind myself that a good person is a good person to everyone not just the people they like. It’s easy to be good to the good and friendly people; it’s the everyday garden variety idiots and evil ones that take the practise.

Somehow this little entry to my very self-indulgent blog section has gone from me saying I’m going to rant about me being a bad and unworthy person to be discussing quotes of Taylor and encouraging people to be good. I can’t be all bad then. But no one is perfect and I’ll never let me forget it! The only way you can be perfect is to keep trying to be the very best person you can be. So let’s just sit back and watch me go along in the marathon that is living the good life.

Take care lovely night time people
Claire x

Cardiff Comicon 2013

Hello you wonderful nerds of the world!

Saturday 31st of August was a fun filled day where geeks from around the country descend upon Cardiff, capitol city of Wales. Nerds rejoice in their day of recognition and the costumes, oh the costumes are marvellous.

Glenn as 11th doctor and I as Clara, the Impossible girl

This year I have stolen Glenn's 11th dr who outfit but used my own blue shirt and a pair of thick black leggings. Glenn was working hence he didnt need the outfit.

I have had to safety pin the top of the shirt where the top button is meant would normally be but isnt on my "ladies fashion not work" cotton blue shirt. 

I have a very VERY battered pair of black boots from my mothers collection of shoes. I chose to leave their shoe laces off as I felt it added to mthe rough boot look the 11th doctor has. They are also super comfy. 

Lianne as Captain Jack Harkness, look alike for 10, look alike for 11 and Me!

The bow tie, braces and jacket were part of Glenn's costume and the jacket is huge as you can see.

the best picture I have of make up/hair and sonic screwdriver, ofcourse!

Make up
Foundation was infallible porcelain by L'oreil.
Contour- Sunkist red/brown
Highlighter- Baked Blush by Beauty UK
Eyeshadow- bronzed browns by Beauty UK
Eyeliner- Wet and Wild liquid with felt applicator
Mascara- Clinique High Impact Mascara
Lipstick- Rimmel long lasting finish "Alarm" 170

I curled my hair with my Babyliss 1 3/4 tongs :)

the Glasses are my everyday Ray bans :)

I hope you liked my little tribute the beautiful 11th doctor.

Take care my chickadees!

Claire xx

Benefit Eyebrow Treat Review

Hello pretty looking people!

Last week I decided I was in dire need for an eyebrow wax, and I’ve been fed up of going to places that just tidy them up and don’t shape them, so I asked around for a few places that would do exactly what I needed and was directed to the Benefit Brow bar in Swansea’s Debenhams.

The lady I first spoke to explained that I would need to book on the day, which I was a bit gutted about as I wanted it done then and there, however I appreciated that it must be a pretty good indicator of how many people want their service. I decided to call back first thing, at 9:02am on Saturday to book myself in. Sorted, Thank you, lovely. When I turned up they were on time, I was on time but let’s face it, I’m always on time or early so I normally end up wait a bit.

The area was clear, no mess no fuss, their equipment draws looked neat and tidy. Also, and I don’t know if I’m just an awkward person, but I really liked that I didn’t have to lie down, it’s just something I don’t feel comfortable with. The seat was comfortable if a little wobbly, but that too, could just be me.

My beautician was very charming and looked very nice herself which I always find a comfort! She let me explain what I wanted and ran through our “plan” after I had signed to the T&C’s ect. She tested the wax on my hand too check it wasn’t too hot which I will be honest no one has ever done before but it made you feel like they cared. Now when the wax goes on I’m used to the “one, two, three, pull” countdown, but this did not happen which unnerved me at first but I got used to keeping calm as I’m a pansy when it comes to pain. I  had explained I have slightly uneven eyebrows in terms of where hair grows due to a scare and the fact my eyebrows fell out when I was 13/14 but grew back quickly enough but a little sparse. When the waxing was done I thought she had finished she asked if I would like to for her to put some make up on me and I agreed as I really hate the horrid “ive-obviously-just-had-my-eyebrows-waxed” blotchy look. So she out benefit tea tree based concealer on the red patches and you could feel the tea tree working its way over my sore skin. Then she defined my eye brows with the benefit brow Zings kit and it looked fabulous. She was very kind and taught me a few tricks to applying it best and how to make it last. However at first she used a light brown then decided a needed a medium but fair play to her, she just took it off with a cleanser and redid it all, she could’ve just said it looked good and sent me on my way.

She had given my eyebrows a new lease of life and I know where I will be going again. I decided to purchase the brow Zings kit, which for me was quite expensive but I really felt that I was a wise purchase because as they say, it’s better to but quality over quantity. The brow Zings kit is tiny and takes up virtually no space in my bag, it comes with tiny tweezers and two little brushes, a hard edge and a blender brush. The wax that holds your eyebrows in place is coloured but isn’t very dark when you apply it, it works more as the glue that keeps the brown powder locked in. I cleared it off last night before bed and it came away from my face so much easier than pencil. Applying the kit the next day was really easy to recreate what the beautician had shown me and I’m really glad I purchased it.

The cost for the eyebrow wax was £11.50 and although a little more than I usually pay, was one of the better experiences I’ve had with waxing. The brow Zings was… and this actually made my heart stop a little a first… £23.50. But something tells me I won’t need to be buying it again for a fair while.

Thank you to the lovely girls at the benefit brow bar for a good experience, I will surely be returning to you the next time I inevitably forget to tend to my eyebrows!

If your in Swansea, I highly recommend them, minimal  pain, nice shiny wax, good service. 5 out of 5!

Take care guys and stay beautiful!

Claire xx

A Great Way To Chill Out Your Day...

Hello bambinos…

So today I saw this really cute picture

 

from cataddictsanonymouse (facebook)

And I know it sounds odd, but it really works and helps at keeping you “in love”.

So simply Glenn and I set our alarm maybe 10 minutes before we need to, who ever hears it first, turns it off, cuddles up to the other and gently wake them up. Then we lie in bed and talk about what we are going to do in the day, while having a “cwtch” (cuddly type snuggle thing, in welsh).

Hugging is incredible, it’s like medicine, not only is it good for the body but the mind, the soul or whatever you call your inner self, as well. However, maybe hugs are “too close and too personal” for you but don’t you think that maybe, given the odds, that this something to do with you and your inner self and not just due to the faults of each individual person that you can’t/won’t hug?

Now me, well I'm a "hugger", I'm just a big “come-here-and-give-me-a-hug-when-I-meet-you” kinda girl. If I know you, I’ll hug you, if I don’t, then I will hug you when I’m introduced. I hug when I say thank you in a happy circumstance, I hug to console others and myself, I hug when I'm bored.  I hug a lot, my family, boyfriend, his family (well some of them!), my pets, all animals really, apart from "dangerous" ones... Glenn won’t let me…. :(

Also I’m pretty spontaneous with hugs, they are a quick decision as to when and who I’m going to hug but as far as I’m concerned they are the best indicator of how someone is really feeling, you can feel their feels… if you understand me? Like when you hug someone you love and you can feel them love you too, or when a friend is grateful and you can sense that from the way they gave you their “thank-you-I’m-very-grateful” hug, yeah?

So basically, the best thing Glenn and I do to:

A.      start our day,

B.      connect us,

C.      coordinate our day,

D.      be totally surrounded by a loving warm snuggle for just a few minutes a day

E.       remind ourselves of how lucky we are….

is HUG!!!!

What you can do to try this is

1)      Set your alarm 5 maybe 10 minutes early

2)      Don’t hit snooze!

3)      Cuddle up to your partner to wake them up GENTLY!

4)      Talk about what your plan is for the day, step by step, organise when you will see each other again or if it won’t be until tea time or bed time or whenever, talk about staying in contact or whatever.

5)      Wake up and have a fab day!

Hint: Make sure your calm morning cuddle session is only for those 5 or 10 minutes as you don’t want to then have to dash about like crazy getting ready for the day, which admittedly we have done a few times, and it really does take away some of the calming effects of the cuddle!!

Take care Bambinos!

Claire xx

Live in a tiny pad like me?

Hello fellow space savers,

And I don’t mean “space saver” in a Whovian saving the world sense… I mean literally saving as much space as you can by adorning your home, flat, apartment or shoebox with the cleverest little things you can find. Well Alas, need you look no more for fab tips on utilising space? NO! Here I stand, well sit, before you promising to scour the internet and magazines to find brilliant ways to turn your teeny tiny peeky pokey little one bedroom apartment into a lovely home for you, the most important person in your life.

So far I have found three major tips, these are:

Mirrors

This mirror is beautiful and is available from www.mirror-shop.co.uk

As suggested by Messynessychic.com, they explain that mirrors are a great way to introduce more light into a room, which seems obvious once you think about it. By placing a mirror on a wall opposite it will essentially double the amount of natural light in the room. I have seen this work in a shared house I used to live in that had a long, narrow and dark hallway, but if you left the shower room door open, the mirror on the opposite wall illuminated the hallway and making it feel much less like a creepy allyway, with weird people and much more like the hallway to my room but the weird people were still there…basically it gave that space a nice glow.

So in my new place, a basement flat with a large bay window which is the ONLY window apart from the back and front door, I think I will be trying the mirrors on the opposite wall idea as I know that it could get rather gloomy in that little place especially as winter draws in.

Clever Storage

Clever storage seems like a rather abstract concept, and not clever as in can sovle problems of the algebraic variety but can solve problems as being more than one thing, for example a bed and a storage place for shoes clothes ect, removing the need for a set of drawers, you get me? Other really clever storage ideas I have seen are:

1)      Removing the need for a standalone full length mirror by having one on or in your wardrobe, which many now come with, also keeping a “jewellery dress” is a fab idea as this eliminates the need to have a surface to place your beautiful jewellery box in plain sight of a window, like my place as everywhere in the main room can be seen from the one window… and it’s a big ass window too. You can find your own jewellery dress on eBay! 

And it will stop the tangled necklaces!

2)      Vacuum pack your clothes and linen. Even though these products are usually hanging around with the granny slippers and apple corers on JML, they actually are amazing and will keep your fabric items free from mould, which is a biggie in many of the places I've lived.

Vacuum bags available on eBay

3)      Under bed storage really is the way to go when there is space available under the bed, it’s not a space that you would usually occupy with anything other than junk and mouldy plates anyway, so why not pop over to eBay and check out under bed storage boxes?

Vertical space

Make sure you utilise space vertically too! Big bare walls are no use to a student needing a place to store and stack books. Shelves, shelves and more shelves! Book cases too if, like me, you’re not allowed put up shelves… and book cases are brilliant because where there are book cases there are books!

 

Use your vertical space guys! its there just waiting to be used!

Ofcourse these are just the tip of the iceberg that is small space living and as I put these ideas to the test so I will write about them and what I like and dislike about their practicality and place in my home.

Take care kittens!

Claire xx