12 Things I'd Tell Drunk Me

Dear drunk Amy:

Hey, it's sober Amy here! Hope you're doing well - did you ever book that trip to Tunisia that you planned to? Anyway, I just wanted to have a little chat, cus I wish we could both just get along and play nice! Sure, we work together better and better with every night out or bottle of wine, but I think it's time we had a bit of a team talk. So here's some things and pieces of advice I want to address to you that you'll hopefully take on board while you down your next Glitterbomb....

1.) Don’t roll home still singing at the top of your lungs in the early hours of the morning

Yes, I know you had a great night and just want it to carry on by singing Call Me Maybe/Arctic Monkeys/No Diggity. But your poor neighbours! And as if the volume wasn't bad enough, just FYI, you ain't no Mariah Carey.

2.) Whatever you do, DON'T throw up in the taxi home
It's only happened once, but dear god was it embarrassing and 50 shades of gross. Don't worry, it happens to the best of us, just let's not have a repeated episode of it yeah?

3.) Stop attempting to make yummy potato goods when you get in at 3am

I know all you want is wedges, cheesy jacket potatoes and to gorge on a bowl of mash - but just get chips at the kebab shop like a normal person k? It’ll save the confusion and mess of half peeled spuds and herb-sprinkled baking trays the next morning. 

Not to mention it’s highly dangerous to mix alcohol with knives…

4.) Stop! after the 3rd tequila shot

You love tequila! You genuinely do, with or without lemon and salt - shocking I know - and others just don't understand the delicate love and bond you have and share. 

But it's a fine line to whether it loves you back or not. Up to 3 tequilas makes you as happy Pharrell Williams in a hat, but any more than that, and it ain't pretty. Trust me.

5.)Step away from your phone!

Not only are you a chronic drunk-texter, but you've evolved into a pretty bad drunk-snapchatter. I get it, you wish that that friend you love was here with you, but they probs don't appreciate having their phone go off at 4am with you screaming down the other end of it. And don't even get me started about the boys you decide to contact in your gin-fuelled drunken haze. Bad decisions all round. 

6.) Free champagne doesn't mean pour as much down your throat as you can

Cus limits and shit. Remember when dad had to haul his grown-ass daughter to bed cause she couldn't get into it? Yeah, well, let's not have that happen ever again....

7.) You need to chill the fuck out with your facial expressions 

Others have been known to say you have the facial expressions that of a selection of emoticons and emojis. And I feel ya girl, you're just having a real fun time, and can't contain that and it overflows onto your face (and there's also a little big of you that feels you're being a bit Cara Delevigne with your wacky poses). But just, calm it a lil' bit. Your Facebook feed will thank you for it.

8.) Back the hell away from that cigarette

You, Amy WY Lo, are a terrible social smoker. One drink down your throat and you're on a hunt for a smoke like a game of Where's Wally. You know it's terrible for you. You judge dad that he used to be like a chimney. You hate it! So just stop it, k?

9.) Vodka jellies are always a lot more tricky to shot that you think

You've had a few drinks, gotten a bit cocky, and before you know it, you've accepted a challenge and am taking part in a race of downing them. What you forget is that those wibbly-wobbly creatures are stuck in there pretty darn good, and you end up scraping that sucker out with your tongue like a spotty teen having their first kiss.

Oh, and don't think vodka gummi bears are just fun and games either. They're lethal lil' buggers.

10.) Please don’t lose your keys

You're pretty good with your belongings, not an ID even misplaced - and I know, I know, the keys things only happened that one time. And that lovely girl picked them up, and found you to return them to you! (Faith in humanity restored). But it'll just save you all the hassle of trying to crack your door down with a credit card, or the shame of having to ask your landlord for a spare key at silly o' clock.

11.) Oh, on the issue of locks, don't lock yourself in the bathroom!

You've gone to brush your teeth, or like that time where you felt like you might throw up, so you took yourself to the bathroom - good job btw - but maybe just keep the door shut and unlocked. Cus you've fallen asleep before, and then your housemates think something's to you while banging on the door, when all it is is that you've curled up on the rug with a toothbrush hanging out of your mouth.

12.) Kudos on letting your friends know how much you bloomin' love them

You've had a bit of rum and am feeling a bit melty and rather happy - evenmore so than usual - and you'll know doubt grab your friends towards you for a cuddle and a kiss, and profess your love and appreciation of them and the friendship you share. Which is all true as gold! But tbh, you'd probs be doing the same if you were sober anyway, cus we're both just soppy motherfuckers like that. 

Do you have any of these bad drunk traits?! I know I'm not the only one!

Stay happy!

Until next time,

A.x

The Beginning of the Start

As I'm snuggled up in bed - catching up on some much needed relaxing time - I can't believe I'm typing this, but, I'VE FINISHED MY MASTERS DEGREE!

Little ol' me, with a Masters degree...who'd have ever thunk it?!

This year has been the most stressful, fun, busiest, ridiculous, and hardest working ones of my life so far. 

And I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

I had a final group dissertation to create a magazine. 6 of us created a concept, knew exactly who our reader would be, interviewed people, wrote pieces, filmed and edited videos, and designed pages until our eyes turned into 8-bit squares. And Robyn was born.

A magazine for smart, funny, inquisitive and intelligent teenage girls - with the beautiful Olivia Purvis from What Olivia Did on the cover to boot! It had inspiring celebs that mattered, blogging and vlogging content galore, diverse fashion and music, real and important issues, and our own inspiring young girls. When I look through it, it makes me think how much I would've loved Robyn when I was a teen (and how much of a teen I still am really at heart!)

It was our baby, and I've never been more proud of a piece of work, or worked as hard on something.

I'm not saying on my undergraduate degree I didn't work hard - believe me, I did (I've got the needle scars and permanently stained sketchbooks to prove it!) - but looking back, that was only a fraction of the effort and hours of this, and I guess that's only going to continue to happen. I know I'll look back at this some point later on in life, and think that it was a walk in the park. Hell, even during this year, I look back at the previous magazine I made by myself and think "God, I could have done that better" or "Argh, why didn't I add that into it...I had way enough time!" 

But that's just life, and for the 1st time in it, I have no idea what I'm doing next. And that's OK.

Up until this point, everything in my life has been somewhat planned out. School, GSCEs, 6th Form, A-levels, Uni, Masters. And now, well, I haven't a clue - and it's fucking terrifying and exciting all at once!

As someone who likes to have things planned (my spontaneous friend Kim will tell you how annoying this can be), it does make me panic when I think, "Oh god, when am I gonna move out again? Where even am I going to live....But I need a job before any of this happens!"

And with people around me gradually getting employed (which I'm more than excited and happy for them), it sometimes makes me feel like I'm failing at life.

After reading Sprinkle of Glitter's blog post of being inadequate. She wrote out everything that was inside my head. At times, I'm trying to do everything at once. I want the perfect flat, that's decorated exactly how I want, with a job (not the perfect one because I know and want to work my way up to that!), and everything else that goes with it. The whole package. And what I've realised is that, I'm 22. I don't need to have my whole life put together yet - that's what the rest of my life is for!

After we handed in our work, there were some tears - which could have been due to the fact we only had 2 hours sleep each (or 0 for some) - and it was quite sad and emotional, which I wasn't really expecting.

But it made sense. We finished a chapter of our lives that were worked so hard on, and were part of each others lives too. And for that chapter to end, made me feel like it was the beginning of the end. When actually, it's the beginning of the start.

Instead of feeling sad about not being a carefree student anymore, who does tequila shots every other Tuesday night, I'm going to be a working young woman, meeting new people, moving to new places, and continuing to learn new things - with still the occasional bit of tequila! Yes, that's right. A proper grown-up. (even if I'm drinking my tea out of a Tetris mug at this moment...)

And even though, through the sea of job applications I'm doing, which is scary and makes me nervous that I might never get a job and end up being a cat lady living in a box.... I know that's it's going to all work out.

I'm just starting out and I know I will get a job (especially with a job interview lined up - yay!), so for now, why not enjoy the free time that I've got?

Since I can't remember the last time I didn't have another piece of work, or project planned. I'm going to go see friends that I haven't done so for too long. I'm going to step away from the computer screen and read so many books that I started, but never had time to finish. I'm going to explore corners of this country that I haven't discovered yet, despite living here all my life. I'm going to start drawing again. I'm going to play the piano more. I'm going to indulge in it all, because at some point down the line, I'm going to wish I had to time to do all this.

I loved this degree - the city, the people, the work, and even the stressful times are now hilarious anecdotes (I cried at 4.45am over a fashion page I was designing. Ridiculous.) And I've left it with some amazing memories and some friends for life.

Sorry for this was a bit of a ramble. I haven't really had the time to think about general life stuff recently to be honest, and now that I have, it's all just kind of spilled onto this page, and it's kind of therapeutic, and I know I'll look back on this and read it with a smile.

Have you guys got anything new going on in your lives to look forward to?
(If you're going to uni, I slightly jealous and you're gonna have the best time!)

Hope you're all well,
Speak soon,
A.x

And...breathe again!

So, first of all, my apologies for my lack of presence on here lately. I've had a lot of deadlines for my Masters degree, and what first seemed like a completely manageable amount, turned into this monster of word counts, essays, page designs and colour palettes.

image: WhatOliviaDid

So a week ago on Friday, I finally handed in all my individual work for this degree. That portfolio included my own magazine concept, a business plan and market research into it, designing covers for it, thinking of contents, interviewing for it and not only writing features from our own magazine, but a variety of different features.

I remember one of the first days that I moved to Sheffield, I was sat at this pub with all these new people, and one guy mentioned how it was his birthday in June, and he wasn't sure if people would still be around to celebrate it with him, and it was a big birthday. The big 3-0.

Before i knew it, I was sat at the same pub, with the same people, on that said-guy's birthday, celebrating his birthday and our deadlines. It was kinda poetic in a way.

We went out and celebrated. For all the stress, teas, cups of coffee drank and late nights, it was finally done.

The upcoming week was a mixed bag of emotions. Despite the deadline, there was still an essay to do, but I got a few beers, a gin & tonic here and there, sang along (badly!) to a silent disco and quite lot of dancing in there too...

Since then, I've been getting on top of my life again. My actual life!

That includes doing boring things like banking and posting... But I've also seen my family at my nephew and niece's birthday party (how is my nephew 7 years old already?!), followed my own blog's name and frolicked in the park in the sunshine with ice cream, swang on some swings, laughed at movies and while catching up with Orange is the New Black, and I even got asked on, and went on a date!

It's not until  I've stopped and taken a step back, that I've realized how far I've come, from when I started this course less than a year ago. I'm happy and proud with how much I've learnt, and excited for all that's to come in the future! (I do still have summer project before I finish officially in September, but let's not concentrate on that...)

Regular blogging will resume!
Hope you're all well!
Speak soon,
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

Foxy

In my on-going quest to find the perfect balance between the playful, big kid within me, and the adult side of me that wants to be taken seriously and sensibly.

But when I saw this jumper, covered with my favourite furry friend prancing about, I just had to adopt him into my life.

 

With polka dots and foxes running around, you can't help but smile when wearing this bundle of fun, but the beige background and black spots tone it down and neutral.

With my trusty, shimmering skirt teaming up my with a chunky statement necklace, things didn't stay neutral for too long.

Brown boots and brown belt to tie it all up, I was ready to go our frolicking with my foxy friends.

In the evening, before I went out to meet some other friends (of a less furry kind!), I slipped a sheer shirt underneath and a golden brooch to clip it together.

I've been accessorising my outfit a lot more, with brooches, dangling jewelry and silk scarves, and have been enjoying playing aroud with all my trinkets!

jumper: ASOS, skirt: Glamorous, boots: Timberland

Hope you're all well,

Speak soon,

A.x

Certain Romance

With hearts dotted all over my shirt, and a pastel pink fluffy number on, I definitely had my hopeless romantic hat on this day.

And if this wasn't enough, my bright Calpol/Pepto Bismol coat came along for the ride too.

coat: River Island, shirt: Topshop, jumper: Topshop, jeans: ASOS, boots: Timberland, necklace: La Maison, bag: Louis Vuitton

My skinny jeans came to break up this sickeningly sweet and pastel theme, and the sensible and grown-up leather accessories in my life brought everything back down to earth from the fluffy, dreamy clouds.

I recently received this classic beauty in my life as pass-me-down from my mum and I am besotted with it.

Everything from the iconic and simple monogram to the detail of the engraving on the shiny, gold buckle.

A week or so ago I went to a fancy dress party for my friend's birthday dressed as Ariel from The Little Mermaid, and when I do fancy dress, I don't so it by halves! So, I got some blue contacts to match her, and I loved them so much, I still wear them time-to-time when I fancy a change. I think they're a really fun and non-committal way to experiment with your look!

The more and more I try to find the perfect balance between dressing for the playful and classic sides of me, the more I find myself experimenting more with what I wear, and it's nice to break out of a rut and try new things.

Hope you're all well,

Speak soon,