Post-Christmas Update.

So December has been weird. I started off the month in good spirits with a trip to Dublin and powering my way through Blogmas. I was all organised for Christmas shopping, parties and NYE celebrations and then BAM a bus! Okay so I didn't get hit by a bus but I did get hit by a car. 

In the grand scheme of things I'm okay and it could have been much, much worse. The NHS were of course brilliant and I'll continue to be grateful for a service provided for us by individuals who strive to do their best despite such awful conditions and little funding. That being said, I has a nasty bout of concussion to overcome, badly bruised ribs and cuts and scrapes all over.

I tried not to let it dampen my spirit too much - after all I got time off work to watch Christmas movies (although concussion made them pretty difficult to follow) and my family were, as always, superstars. I soothed my aching muscles in Lush baths which, let's face it, is never a bad experience.

Needless to say, Blogmas went out of the window and Christmas shopping was left until the very last minute. I'd missed online delivery dates so had to battle it out in the high street on the last two days before Christmas. I won't be doing that again. Ever!

I'm still in lots of pain with my ribs and on some pretty strong pain killers but now I'm able to look at a computer screen without feeling dizzy I'm ready to get back in to blogging and plan to start 2016 with a bang!

I hope your festive season was enjoyable and you were surrounded by loved ones.

ox Lucy

A little life update

instagram - @theonewith_lucy

The last six weeks or so have been a bit of a whirlwind. With the end of my working contract looming, I was desperate for a change but where I live the opportunities for progression are few and far between. I knew I'd have to make a few adjustments and broadened my search further afield. I spent hours perfecting my CV and specifically tailoring my cover letter for each vacancy. I realised that persistence was key and after applying for around 50 jobs, I had 4 interviews and four successful job offers. 

Fast forward a few weeks and I've moved out of the comfort zone that was my old job and started a new job in my dream sector, fitting in perfectly with my career plan. Not just that, but it's in a new city. As of tomorrow I'll be living and working in Manchester and I'm scared and excited in equal measures. 

All this mixed together with two weekends of reunions with uni friends, crazy shopping trips, a One Direction concert (fangirled my way through that one) and thirteen hour days thanks to the longer commute, it's fair to say I've been exhausted.

As busy as this time in my life has been, I am really looking forward to settling into my new home, exploring all the new city has to offer and getting into a routine. The new start is more than welcome, I'm embracing all the positive changes in my life right now and if you'd like, I'll take you along with me.

ox Lucy

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Guilty Pleasures.

It's Sunday evening, I should be relaxing after doing a few household chores and prepping for the week ahead. Instead I'm off to Tesco to buy a family size bag of cheese balls and dusting off my 'Keep Calm & Stay Reem' mug ready for the first TOWIE episode of Season 11 tonight. Yep, that's right. I LOVE the only way is Essex. I love the terrible tans, awkward moments, cringe worthy 'acting' and bitchy cat fights. I know it's terrible but TOWIE is one of my guilty pleasures.

It got me thinking about my other guilty pleasures and so I thought I'd share a few with you and maybe some of you will have the same ones and make me feel a little less guilty about them?!

I'm a 23 year-old who loves One Direction and I am completely ashamed of it. I'm ashamed I own all their albums, I'm ashamed I follow them on twitter and I'm ashamed of defending them every time somebody in my presence makes some sort of 'manufactured egotistical boyband' remark but I just can't stop loving them! I've been to see the movie, have a picture of Zayn on my desk and even a 1D eyemask (this was a gift, don't judge too much). I haven't been able to justify paying extortionate prices for their tour tickets though so I do have some boundaries which are definitely reassuring.

Now this one is more of a guilty crush, you know those guys that you really shouldn't fancy but you do? Or those ones you're attracted to for the most bizarre reasons?! Well For a few years now I've had the biggest crush on the comedian John Richardson. You know the grumpy, OCD guy from 8 Out of 10 Cats? Yeah him. For years he didn't have a girlfriend and would tell tales of spending nights in alone without friends as they all settled down. Something about this guy I find unbelievably attractive. There's definitely something attractive about a guy who can make you laugh.

Will you be watching TOWIE tonight? I'd love to know if you have any guilty pleasures?
Lucy ox

Lame crushes

Something that's recently dawned on me is how easily I fall for guys. I'm not talking about head over heels in love, trying to get them down the aisle by any means possible, I'm talking about having a crush on a guy. I can pretty much develop a crush on most guys for the most bizarre reasons and for some reason I've decided to share some of the funniest.

He complimented my handwriting

He let me get on the bus infront of him

When it rained he offered me his coat

He claps during the opening credits of friends

We support the same football team

He knows my subway order off by heart

He complimented me on my nail art

He wears checked shirts

He held open the door for me

He looks good in a black leather jacket and plain white T

I could think of so many more but I'll keep them quiet.. for now. What silly reasons do you have for crushing on a guy? My current crush reminds me of Sebstian Kydd from the Carrie Diaries haha.

Happy Friday!

Lucy ox

Quotes to live by

I find so much affirmation and inspiration in quotes I read in books, hear in films or find online. Here are some quotes I take with me through everyday life and find especially empowering as a female.

Do you have a favourite quote? I'd love to hear it. 

All of these quotes were sourced via pinterest and can be found on my 'quotespiration' board here.

Lucy ox

Following your dreams

Via Pinterest

When I was in school and somebody would ask what I wanted to be when I grew up the answer was always the same. I didn't care so long as it paid well. If you asked me that same question now, the answer couldn't be more different. I want my days to be filled with a job that ignites the fire in my belly, fills my voice with passion and makes Monday mornings seem less than hellish.

A few weeks ago I realised I was letting something I really dislike doing get in the way of something I love. I've been so bogged down studying for a course I constantly feel I'm blagging that I forgot there's something in my life that makes me happy and people have actually told me I'm quite good at - writing.

Exam dates had just been released and I was making a not of them along with my other deadlines when the realisation hit me. 'I'm on the wrong path' I thought to myself. But what could I do? I'm too far into my journey to reverse, there's too much traffic to do a U-turn and if I continue to follow the sat nav I'll never reach my desired destination.

I panicked for a little while, sat on my bed in a complete state of worry that I was going to end up in a miserable rut when I realised that if I didn't like where I was heading, the only way to reach a different destination was to reconfigure the sat nav.

After countless hours of researching career databases, job requirements an company profiles I found myself with what just might be a feasible career path to follow. Granted the journey is a little long, the roads may be uneven and I'm well prepared for a few uphill starts, I know it will be worth it.

They say you must follow the path to happiness. I disagree. You have to create the path to your own kind of happiness regardless of where that may be or how difficult it is to get there.

Love Lucy
ox

Lazy Sunday

If I had my way, every Sunday would be a lazy one, filled with food, music and films.

My ideal Sunday brunch meal is pancakes. My topping of choice? Banana, peanut butter and honey. Lately I've been using this recipe from Sophie Jane and the end result has been perfect pancakes every time.

When I'm relaxing I like to listen to mostly acoustic music and I'm a sucker for acoustic cover versions of song I'd usually boogie on the dance floor to. The way an artist puts their own stamp on somebody else's song but with the familiarity of the tune you love.. perfect. Here's my Lazy Sunday playlist for today

Finally, I like to spend the afternoon watching movies, usually comedies or rom coms. Sunday afternoon is not the time for thrillers or action films, I like to let my brain take a bit of a break. Naturally, at this time of year I'm watching Christmas movies, not your classics like Elf or The Grinch (far too soon) but all those terribly cheesey films channel 5 shows that make you cringe but still give you that festive feeling. I began watching A Boyfriend for Christmas, next up is Noel and then Annie Claus is Coming to Town... yeah, I've not heard of them either.

How are you spending your Sunday? What's your ideal Sunday brunch?

Love Lucy ox

Ten questions to get to know me

Who are you? Why thank you for asking, I'm Lucy, a 23 year old student from the North-West of England living in the Midlands. 

What do you love? I love food, 80s teen movies, 90s sitcoms, well dressed guys with beards, football, english breakfast tea with two sugars, travelling, dalmatians, hedgehogs, live gigs, converse, Autumn/Winter fashion, wild nights out and cosy nights in.

What do you loathe? Bad manners, ignorant people, raw onions and feet.

What things could you not live without? Family, friends, make up, music, cosy socks, TV box sets and my teddy bear (don't pretend you don't have one).

Crazy fact about yourself.. I have different colour eyes. One's blue and one's blue with a bit of yellowish-brown. 

What are you doing right now? Today's my day off from uni so I'm finding different ways to procrastinate, turns out there's lots. I'm also trying so remove the excessive amount of face paint from around my eyes after Halloween last night.

What are you looking forward to in the future? I'm looking forward to ending my time in education and the unknown possibilities it will bring. I'm also looking forward to Christmas cause I need an excuse to eat more biscuits/cheese/chocolate/meat.

What can we expect from your blog? For now I will aim to create a lifestyle blog documenting the recipes I try, music I'm liking, TV shows I'm watching, opinions on topics I'm passionate about and personal 'diary' type posts about the general musings of my life.

What blogs do you like to read? My favourite blog at the minute is Hannah's. I love her style of writing, her honesty and outright hilarity. I'm a big fan of nail art and recently discovered Nailasaurus. If you love nail art then click your way over there, you'll have a blast. Rosalilium satisfies my need for foodie, fashionie and lifestyle posts all in one place. There are lots more blogs I like to read and I'm thinking about writing a post on them in the near future. It seems like a good opportunity to help people find new blogs and to see how my tastes change.

Where can I find you? I tweet here and pin here. I'd love you to come and join me or leave your social media links below so I can have a stalk gander at what you get up to.

I now have a question for you: If you could do anything and knew you wouldn't fail, what would you do? Let me know if you're taking part in BEDN.

Love Lucy ox

Hello and welcome!

I've read blogs for years now and lately each one I stumble upon seems to be very samey samey in terms of content. Lots of bloggers use the same photography style and review the same products and while I'm not doubting the amount of time and effort these bloggers spend on their little spaces on t'internet, or the popularity of such blog posts, I've felt for a while that I wanted more from the blogging world. 

With the demise of Hello Cotton I've also found it pretty tricky to discover new blogs. I find Bloglovin' rather tedious and it only seems to promote already established blogs. Stuck in a rut of what to read for a couple of months now I stumbled upon this quote whilst spending a very productive evening on Pinterest (read procrastinating from uni work).

link

It got those little cogs in my brain turning and so I decided that maybe I should start my own blog. The idea of having an online journal that documents my ever-changing thoughts and opinions with life events of both the exciting and mundane type really excited me. I love looking back at old 'Year Books' from school to see what my favourite song was in 2006 or who was my celeb crush in 2002 and I hope this blog serves me the same purpose.

More than this, I hope to put something a little more personal into the somewhat predictable blogosphere and if you enjoy what I've got to say then that's a massive dollop of icing on top of the three tiered chocolate cake that I hope this blog will be. 

To get me into the swing of things I'm going to take part in Rosalilium's Blog every day in November challenge. So to begin my blogging journey I'll follow up this intro with a 'get to know me' type post. If you're taking part too, be sure to say hi!

Love Lucy ox