Back To December

NYC

The weather has taken a turn for the cold, and Rimmel London's 107 has made a reappearance on my face. I've been having one of those weeks where no matter how many hours I sleep, I feel tired. I just feel meh. I managed to spend a whole afternoon watching YouTube videos on "what to take to university" though, and I've spent more time watching Essie & Aslan's #NordicVlogs than I would care to admit. (i.e. I watch the new videos during breakfast. I don't know what I'll do when they end that series) Another favourite has been Randy's Wedding Rescue on TLC. Because who doesn't enjoy watching women try on wedding dresses - amiright ladies? You can tell how productive my week has been.

Also, can I take this moment to cry about how pale I am again? Reaching for a bottle of fake tan as we speak... Hope you've all had a lovely week so far! 

Collar + Sweater

 I love a good collar/sweater combo. I can't get enough of this jumper at the minute, not only is it one of the warmest things I own, it's also one of the brightest. Buying this was pure coincidence- I bought it from Forever 21 as consolation for the fact that I couldn't find the shoes I wanted. 

I really haven't done much, I've been stuck inside because of the awful weather, so thank god it was sunny today and I managed to get these photos done! I have got my Halloween costume sorted, though! Keep an eye out for that, I can't wait. 

I'm home alone tonight, which means I've been dancing around my living room to this song which I re-discovered, and I'm just about to watch The Carrie Diaries. Popcorn or Ice Cream? It's a tough call. 

Even though I've been busy all day getting blog posts stacked up, I've felt quite alone. My brother's at uni, my parent's are away until tomorrow, and my friends are either on holiday or still at school. Roll on Halloween, when I get to see them all again! I'm not going to lie, it's nice to be away from school, and I don't just mean the work. Things have been a bit dramatic at school lately (the perks of an all girls school) but I think friendships are slowly healing themselves. For now my company is a snoring dog, and I think it's best to let sleeping dogs lie. 

Lately...

I bought this bag at the weekend after my old faithful, goes-with-everything bag broke. I went off to the shops and found this cute satchel for a bargain of £9! (Primark, I heart u x) 

This week has been manic and it's all felt non-stop. I ran my first ever art club with the year 7's and they're so cute! That as well as having a driving lesson where I did some new manoeuvres means that this week has been exciting, guys. Yesterday I hot-footed it up to Newcastle for the uni open day and loved it. Watch this space, there is a chance (however small) that I'll be a northern gal this time next year. 

Everything's been a bit strange at my house recently. It's so quiet because my brother George has moved to university. I mean, it's not like he was a loud person, but it does feel really strange without him. We ring most nights though, and I have to say some of the photos uploaded to Facebook from Fresher's Week have really made me see my brother in a different light, we shall say. Has anyone else had the experience of having an older sibling moving away? I would love to know what your experience was- George is pretty far away so I won't see him very often. Thank God we have the interwebs to keep in touch. 

One last thing- I know I should be saving this for the monthly favourites, but here's a song I can't stop listening to...

Grow Old With Me- Tom Odell

Tumblr Thoughts

I've never really written a post like this before, but after thinking about it for a while I decided to just do it. I don't intend to be deliberately controversial; maybe you'll disagree with what I think, but maybe you'll agree. I simply wanted to voice my opinion and see what you all think.

Recently I've been having a love/hate relationship with Tumblr. Don't get me wrong; I do like using it. There are so many funny gifs, gorgeous photographs and great quotes. The more I use Tumblr, the more I discover how popular things like fan-fics are, but the more I also see how there are other more negative communities on there. The one I have in mind is that of the obsession with body image, weight and our general appearance, the majority of which focuses on teenage girls of my own age.

If you're unfamiliar with this, then the images I have stumbled across are typically those of prominent collar bones, thigh gaps and extremely skinny figures, all with captions musing about how 'beautiful' it is, and how they wish they looked like that. To me this seems crazy. I completely understand that everyone has insecurities about their image, and I am certainly not an exception to that rule. However, I think it's a real shame that something with such a great concept such as that of Tumblr is being used to promote such an unhealthy image. I found this concerning when I read that the typical demographic of a British Tumblr user is, maybe unsurprisingly, female and between 18-24 years old. It also worried me that if I could stumble across them on my own dashboard without even searching for a specific tag, then how prominent are these images on the site?

So is this a problem? In my opinion it is. We always blame the Media for promoting unrealistic ideas of beauty, but I think that the Internet is also becoming increasingly responsible, especially due to image sharing websites like Tumblr. I don't want to point the blame on Tumblr, it is by no means alone in having this content, and it is also home to loads of great content.

Its important to remember how natural it is for our bodies to change as we grow! I think people strive to keep a boyish, shapeless figure and maybe we need to realise how everyone has different body shapes. What's most important is that your body is healthy, and that your mind has a good attitude towards a healthy lifestyle.

I'd love to hear what you think about this- have you experienced a body-obsessive culture on Tumblr or any other social networking site, and do you think it's a problem? I look forwarding to hearing what you think!