"Are you asian? Cus I'm Chin-a get on you!"

You won't believe some of the things I've had shouted, catcalled, yelled and just thrown in my face before.

"Your legs look tasty, just like a pair of golden spring rolls!"
"Do you want to come home with me and practise some Kung Fu moves in bed?"
"Yee-haw cowgirl! Where are you trotting off to today my love?"

"Would you like a taste of my sweet and sour chicken balls?"

"They don't make them like you back in Thailand!"

(Yep, sadly, all of them have happened...)

Some of them have been just plain racist. Some have been pure sexual and gross. Most of them inaccurate. Many of them just don't make any sense.
But all of them, are not ok!

This is not me bragging about getting attention - I'm perfectly happy and confident in myself, but on the other hand, I'm also not a leggy Victoria Secrets angel strutting down the street, you know what I mean? I'm just going about my day y'all.

This is me just sick of this happening. And the worst thing is, when you talk about it, there are those people who just DON'T get it and will no doubt say 'Oh, but they're just trying paying you a compliment! It's nice! Stop being such a whiny cow about it!'

It's almost like if you're a female, and you take the courage to speak out about something you feel uncomfortable about, you're labelled a mardy, feminist, bitch.

First of all, comments like that aren't a compliment! 

You have nice eyes, I really like how passionate you are about your career, that bag is amazing ,  you're make me proper LOL, I really like spending time with you - THOSE are compliments!

Second of all, these are strangers. I don't know you from Adam mate - what do you expect to happen when you shout comments like that to people? That they'll think 'my god, that's what I've always wanted to hear! Please let's go on a date so I can hear more and we can talk about how we're going to spend our lives together' No. Nop. Big bag of nop. Not gonna happen now is it?

If you were with your girlfriend, sister, daughter or female friend and someone shouted something like that to them down the street, you wouldn't be OK with it would you?
But you see, the thing is, you'd never see that happening because sadly, it only happens really happens when they're not with any guys or if you're alone. Cowards. 

Instances like this, I like to stand up for myself. I like to tell people that, 'Dya know what? I don't feel ok with that and it made me a bit uncomfortable' and hope that they maybe even realise why and think twice about doing it in the future. 

But it's sad when you end up have to pick and choose which battles you're gonna stick up for yourself, because you simply don't have the energy to tackle them all.

I've honestly been too intimidated to walk past a bunch of lads shouting stuff at me before, so have crossed the road or gone a different way. That's what it comes down to.

And there is no reason on earth I, or any other girl or person, should ever have to feel like that.

So, can we just not please?

Until next time,

A.x

The Good of being Sad

As I type this, I'm trying to catch my breath as a sniffling hot mess, with tears rolling down my face.

I'm upset. And that's ok.

Ask anyone, and they'll say I'm a pretty happy-go-lucky and optimistic person. Imagine a kangaroo in Disneyland - that's me. 

I've also know and constantly remind myself how fortunate I am and my life is. I've got a roof over my head, friends and family who support me emotionally and financially, and more clothes than a 6-year-old's Barbie doll.

But sometimes you just feel down in life, and being and staying upbeat when you're not feeling like that, can take it's toll. 

To be honest, I don't think January Blues are helping either.

My dad isn't one to always show his emotions or when he's upset, and growing up, if I were to shed a tear or two, I would instantly be told to stop it, or asked what on earth I was crying about. And to be fair, I am an absolute sucker when it comes to soppy heartfelt movies and I wasn't very good at being in control of my emotions when I was a hormonal teenager with a long-distance boyfriend.
But I'm quite the opposite to my dad- if I think you're great, you'll receive limitless hugs to show it, and you don't even want to see the state I get in when I watch the first 15 minutes of 'Up'.

Having my head screwed on a bit more now though, tears are a rarer occasion, but dear lord, these past couple of days they've crept up on me, and today, I've just burst out into tears for no logical reason.
And I've come to realized that that's fine. 

If you're feeling shit, then dear god, let yourself feel shit.

Showing emotions doesn't mean you're weak, it means you care. And crying doesn't mean you've failed, it means you're human.

(WARNING: going to get all philosophical and soppy on your asses)

Life is a fucking weird, wonderful and bumpy ride with a endless spectrum of emotions. So with the hysterical laughter fits, there's gotta be some sob fests in there too, otherwise how would you appreciate the amazing-ness of all the good bits?

There's not really a purpose to this post. I'm not writing this so that people can pity me, but I'm writing it because sometimes a good ol' cry can do you the world of good, and you shouldn't be ashamed of it. And people should know that and not be ashamed of it.

But my god I'm not going to wallow in it. I've stopped off at the sobbing station and have sat down there for a coffee, but I'm not renting out a B&B for a week there. After I've finished my coffee, I'm putting on my kicks - yes I said kicks - and continuing on my run into the sunset. 

(What on earth is this analogy I've come up with).

Let those tears flow, have a cup of tea, or a G&T or two, and then fix up and carry on as the sparkly, fantastic person that you are.

Stay happy! - or not, stay whatever you're goddamn feeling.
Until next time,
A.x

Make friends, make friends - Never, ever, break friends!

Last weekend, 2 of my old uni friends and housemates came up to, what they consider 'The North', to come visit me.

And it made me wish I was living in the ridiculous house with the carpet peeling away, birds trapped in the roof and kitchen cupboards always open, all over again.

I was a top tour guide and showed them around the sites, although, they've been here so many times, there's not much else thrilling left to show them...

We went for afternoon tea, made friends with a delightful doggy called Mary, pottered about some shops, reminisced about uni days (which resulted in us crying of laughter), watched posh prats being privileged in 'Riot Club' (which is a fantastic and engaging film - you should definitely check it out) on Saturday, before chatting in our PJs just like old times.

The next morning, I whipped us up some pancakes to make sure we were topped up with energy before we set out for the day. 

One of the things I want to do more, is visit more places in the UK. I've lived here all my life, but have visited so little of it - and there's so much to see! So we went to see some beautiful gardens at a National Trust, and it's amazing how many little gems there are hidden even so close by. 

We went to Biddulph Grange Garden, and the sun even came along for the journey!

We leisurely strolled along, getting lost along the way....that's what happens when you've grown up with sat-nav! - I should have my Map Reader badge stripped off my Cub Scouts jumper!

      

We came across Egypt, and after a lot of hunting, we found China too - it was hiding away, the cheeky lil scamp!

It's amazing to think that all of this amazing greenery and beautiful sites, were once someone's garden. (I don't think I'd be green-fingered enough to take care of all this...)

Fitting in with the outdoors, I wore a floral crop top, my trusty high-waisted Levis, and slipped on my new favourite kimono over it, which has animals and plants scattered all over it - my fave is the lil Bambi hiding.

top:Topshop, shorts:Levis, kimono:Topshop, hat:Topshop, shoes:Topshop, bag:Mulberry

Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye again, and we're already planning the next time we meet. 

Friendship is such a weird thing if you think about it. You go along in life, and basically pick up people along the way that you decide, "Yeah, I like you, I want you to be part of my life!" Whether you see them everyday, or speak 3 times a year, you share you life with these people. Whether it's because you share the same interests, same views, same opinions, same sense of humour or same hobbies.

And I think a friendship is one of the hardest things to keep. They're not like relationships, as in you don't have to be loyal and exclusive, and it's not like family where you're bonded by genes. There's nothing that ties you together really, but you decide to make a conscious effort to keep these people in your life, and I think they're one of the strongest bonds you can have with someone.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again (WARNING: extreme, cringey cheese coming your way.)

But, I don't know how I managed to have so many amazing, beautiful, hilarious, caring and talented people to share friendships with, at every single stage at my life. I'm a very lucky girl!

(10 points if you get the reference to this classic tune!)

I'm already excited for future plans with these 2 (the words 'Harry Potter tour' have been uttered!), I've been sharing lots of lovely times with my friends from school recently as I've been back home (who I realised, I've been friends with for nearly a decade now!), and next week, I'll be reunited with my partner-in-crime, ready to cause havoc in the Big Smoke! 

I hope you all had a brilliant weekend with your friends - make sure you tell them how much you love them!

Stay sassy & stay happy!

Until next time...

A.x

Amy - v.2.0

I've come back to my parents for a couple of weeks for Easter break - using the word 'break' loosely here.

I've never been more busy and had a longer 'to-do' list, but be more excited and ambitious in my life!

As my masters course comes closer to finishing, my pile of work just continues to build - hence why I'm using my Easter break to try and get on top of it (staying up to 3am writing features is never ideal!) -hence why I've not been putting as much effort into my blog as I would like to.

With the world of work becoming more real everyday, it's become more apparent to me how much enjoy writing on her, and how important it actually is that I continue to, no matter how busy life gets.

Throughout this year and on this post grad course, It's never been more apparent of what kind of person I want to be and continue to grow into. Not only that, but I've never been more clear or have a more aspirational view of what I want my blog to be like, what kind of people I want to work with, what kind of employee I want to be, what kind of writing I want to be writing and what kind of career I want to work towards. And this is all because throughout this year, I've worked non-stop at all of these factors, and realised all that i don't want to be.

So, as well as my deadlines and the endless CVs and job applications I keep sending off (this is the view that I've been facing for pretty much the past week!), I have a image and idea in my head of what I want my blog to be like. How I want to images to be edited, what the tone of the writing will be, the layout and colour scheme...my dream blog - and I'm gonna work harder than ever to get to that. Now, I'm not saying it's going to be an overnight change (this isn't Extreme Home Makeover), it's gonna be gradual, because I'm still learning and figuring it all out. Just like all these changes and views that I have and want now, they've all come because of what I've learnt throughout the past year.

So I hope you join me along for the ride! - there may be bumps along the way, but I'd love it if you joined me on the journey!

Hope you're all well,

Speak soon!

A.x