In which Demi goes there and back again.

A belated happy 2014 everyone!

(...pauses for odd stares)

Ahem. I realise I am beyond late, but quite how we're nearly mid-February I'm not sure. Last time I blinked it was New Year, and I was stood in the wind and rain and cold as close to the South Bank as I could get (not very, since we got waylaid by a pub and had to make do with watching the fireworks through gaps in the London skyline).

Now I'm home, home home, back in the North, and my London life feels like a dream. August to the end of November, as well as a hefty chunk of January - gone in a flash. I had the busiest and best, best, best time, making new friends and reconnecting with a whole bunch of people from University. There was an immediate shift daan Saauff (that's 'down south' for those who don't understand my pretty accurate imitation of my dire southern accent) in September 2012, after graduation, but I was part of the second wave - people who, like me, had been figuring things out for a year, or had been tied up in a four year course.

Jumping in at the deep end, I stayed with a friend of mine for the first week while I checked out potential rooms, and ended up living in the quiet area of Raynes Park with three complete strangers, who turned out to be ridiculously nice. Bonus! For a city-phobe like myself it was perfect - a fast train route straight into Waterloo, enough shops in nearby Wimbledon and Kingston for me to spend my non-existant income, and my best friend close enough for after-work visits. Yes, my darling Elf made the jump down in the September, and together we explored Clapham (Infernos and Aquum owe me some of my dignity), ate incredible food in Balham (and most other places actually) and spent a ridiculously fun afternoon meeting one of my writing heroes in Kensington at a film and comic convention.

Oh Aquum...

My adoptive southern family

Elf (R), her friend Natalie (L) and myself

My adorable little Raynes Park room

A family trip to Kew Gardens in the summer, when my parents brought down (more of) my stuff

Yes, yes he does. One of my favourite PR stunts, I moved down only a couple of weeks after Murray's historic Wimbledon win, to find that the local Morrisons had replaced their name to acknowledge his achievement.

I couch-surfed for longer than I probably should have in January - it's a good job Elf's housemates have practically adopted me at this point - until I had to realise that my drained bank account spelled out only one thing: H-O-M-E-T-I-M-E.

So with two more solid PR placements under my belt, I must admit I was disappointed to leave London empty-handed in terms of a job. A couple of near misses and several 'let's keep in touch' open endings have me furiously applying while supplementing myself with freelance work for my first placement.

[FYI, if you're interested in beauty and want to get some amazing behind-the-scenes interviews with top make-up artists, from Bourjois and Bobbi Brown to the legend behind The Lord of the Rings (I genuinely nearly died of excitement when he wrote back to me), then check out Warpaint, which I write for!]

SO, while I recalibrate myself and dust off the ol' blog (and journal, and writing notebooks - they've all been in a drought too), I'll leave you with a couple of songs which are currently being repeatedly blasted from my room, much to my family's frustration joy.

They've missed me really. xo.

'Can't Remember to Forget You' - Shakira ft. Rihanna. Two of the sexiest ladies on the planet, and two of my favourite female vocalists. Joy!

'SuperLove' - Charli XCX. Bubblegum pop perfection.

'Girls' - The 1975. I caught these guys at Dot to Dot Festival last spring, and they were amazing, even though they were suffering with sound tech problems.

'Happy' - Pharrell Williams. Because who doesn't love this song?

In which Demi doesn't entirely believe in the green light.

I should probably state here, for the record, that The Great Gatsby is one of my favourite books, and I don't believe a cinematic version of the tale will ever truly be able to recreate the subtlety and beauty of Fitzgerald's words. Nick's first person narrative issues aside, I think that such a wordy book will never have a fully successful film adaptation, as what we are delivered on screen will almost never match, or indeed outmatch, our own imaginations, unlimited as they are.

Nevertheless, when I heard that Baz Luhrmann was taking up the novel as his new project, a little thrill of excitement went through me. Surely, if anyone could do a decent job of matching the extravagance of Fitzgerald's 1920's world, it would be Baz.

It was certainly close, but no cigar.

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I monitored all press news, photos from the set and rumours incessantly. The more I saw, the more I liked. The cast seemed perfect, with my only concerns saved for Leonardo Di Caprio. It wasn't that I didn't think he would do a good job, as I think he's an amazing actor. I was simply intrigued as to how he would craft the titular character; the rest of the cast fit smoothly into their roles in my mind, whereas Di Caprio was like a puzzle piece which I knew would fit into the whole... I just hadn't worked out how yet.

When the soundtrack was leaked I was fizzy with excitement. Baz made such a fantastic call by getting Jay Z on board, with the music sounding both fresh and nostalgic; jazz and modern rap or dance seamlessly blending.

 Some of my personal favourites from the soundtrack, but the whole thing is amazing.

When it was announced that the film was going to be delayed so that it could be engineered into 3D, internally I reacted like this:

I hate 3D films. It ruined The Hobbit for me. I hate that when you watch a 3D film in 2D (or even in 3D) how inherently false it looks; you can practically see the green screen behind the actors. It jars with the believability of films, and I just wish the whole trend would go away.

So, with hesitant feet, I made my way to my old local cinema during my last trip back to Nottingham, with two equally trepidatious friends.

And, inevitably, felt my heart sink whenever the shots revealed the unnecessary 3D green-screen effect, which in turn affected the lighting quality of the actors and threw several key scenes off-balance for me.

BUT, 3D-hate aside, I was fairly happy. It seemed to take a long time to get going, but once it did the film fizzed into life like an uncorked bottle of champagne - all bubbles and sparkle and light and airiness. The party scenes in particular were great, but the big show-down in the New York hotel scene was the highlight of the film. With no green-screen, no scene-stealing props or gimmicks, we were graced with terrific performances from all of the actors. Leo did an incredible job, even if his 'old sport' catchphrase was slung onto the end of every sentence - but having re-read the book since, he really does use it that much.

Which brings me onto my joy and delight at seeing how much of the actual text of the novel was quoted. I liked the framing of the narrative, the reasoning behind Nick telling the story. While I could have done without the weird floating words in the sky occasionally, I liked that Luhrman tried to tie the book in as much as he possibly could.

However, there were niggles, and many of them. The green-screen aspect and the unnecessary composite layering. The flashy flashbacks. Some strange camera angles. All of these things kept me from sinking into the film, into wrapping its decadence around me like a fur stole.

Baz gave it a solid effort, one which drew out excellent performances from his actors, and certainly beats the Redford/Farrow version in my opinion. But it is a film which ultimately falls short - and not just for the fact that he was never going to be able to match Fitzgerald's unearthly prose.

Did you catch The Great Gatsby? What did you think? xo.

In which Demi is absent and tries to sort her life out... again.

So I suck at blogging. Again. Do I have an excuse? Not especcially. I got a job (not in PR, unfortunately, but it's enough to tide me over for now), and lazy, and quite frankly my social life has dried up into a small puddle of couple of guy friends who are all at varying stages of uselessness. Gotta love graduate life.

Here's a quick run-down of what's been happening:

I went all nerdy. I played this game for the 7th, perhaps 8th time, through and fell in love with it and the characters all over again. It's such an underrated RPG, even if the graphics are very dated now.

Source

And as a result of this gaming, I'm re-obsessed with the SSX snowboarding series, because I want to be skiing now.

I made a trip back down to Nottingham a few weeks ago for a friend's birthday. And it was SO much fun. I got to see all my housemates, other friends I hadn't seen in ages, and even my lovely summer boy, which unfortunately didn't work out, but it was still great to see him and catch up.

The 'Nottingham Lean'!

My darling Elf has disappeared abroad to Austria and live her daydream (I'd say her dream dream, but I'm not even sure if she knows what that is!) of being a ski instructor. I'm counting down the days until she comes home for a quick pre-Christmas break before her season gets into full swing.

I'm listening to Taylor Swift's new album Red constantly.

I've been reading a fair bit! Finally, something productive! I finished The Hobbit in time for the film's release. I had previously attempted the novel when I was about ten and got so bored with the tedious tale that I gave up just as they got to the bloody mountain and met the dragon. Years later, I'm now a massive fan of the Lord of the Rings films (not so much the books - The Fellowship was fine, but the isolated storylines of The Two Towers drove me mad and I gave up) and can't wait for the film of The Hobbit. So I figured I should give the book another, proper, go.

It's still stupid. I still thought it was tedious. And finding out what happened after I had stopped reading before only made me angry. The dwarves can't bang on about killing the bloody dragon all the way through the book and then it not be killed by them! Some man shot it instead? Great. How handy. And stupid. When I saw the turn towards war at the end of the book I decided to withhold my anger, hoping that a more satisfactory conclusion was coming. Wrong. He glosses over the massive, culminating battle by knocking Bilbo out for most of it. What an ending. Talk about anti-climatic...

I also gave Me Before You a go after being lent it by A. I'd heard good things about it, and knew it had been on Richard and Judy's summer booklist (my mum's favourite way to check if a novel is alright, but not pretentious). Although massively predictable, it was funny and touching. Although I definitely didn't cry, unlike some people *cough* A....

Film-wise, there has been a fair few new ones, such as Crazy, Stupid, Love which I LOVED. Totally did not see the twist coming, and I'm a big fan of Steve Carell, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (marry me?) Then during my Nottingham trip I watched Midnight in Paris (weird) and The Amazing Spiderman (mixed feelings. Loved the cast and performances, not sure about the plot/script in some places). I caught The Dark Knight Rises in the cinema twice, as I am an unashamed nerd, and thought it was amazing, and even (despite Heath Ledger's incredible performance) better than The Dark Knight. I also got my Bond on with Skyfall, which I thought was absolutely brilliant - Sam Mendes has saved that brand single-handedly as far as I'm concerned, although the performances and script were also fantastic.

Through a swapsie-esque film session with one of the boys, I made him watch The Hunger Games (which maybe wasn't quiiiite as good as I remembered, but still pretty damn good) while he introduced me to Bronson. It's one of his favourite films, and while Tom Hardy does an incredible job, I didn't really get the big deal. Definitely style over substance for me. And I may have slightly spoilt the film for him too.... ooops. And finally, on Wednesday I finally got around to seeing Silver Linings Playbook. I'd been looking forward to seeing it for months, and I was slightly disappointed that most of the best lines had been used in the trailers (I hate it when they do that!) and that Jennifer Lawrence's character was perhaps less developed than I would have liked. But Bradley Cooper, considering I'm not a massive fan of his, really impressed me. And I think the film does a great job of showing how people are struggling with mental illnesses as part of their everyday lives - even when they're not aware of it - but that it doesn't, in any way, have to define you. With two siblings with mental disorders, I found it a pretty interesting representation.

And I've been watching a lot of Grey's Anatomy. From the start, because it's funny to go back to the beginning when you're watching series 8 and 9 and things have changed so much. An episode a night is all I'm allowing myself.

Now I'm going to crawl into bed after a long, busy day at work, with my current read and a cup of tea. By the way, The Lies of Locke Lamora is bloody brilliant if you like Pirates of the Caribbean, fantasy, kick-ass characters, twisty plots - or all of the above.

That's all for now folks. Things should be picking up soon with things to do and people to see, so hopefully my writing mojo will come along for the ride. xo.

In which Demi shares some things which are making her smile right now.

One: My birthday necklace from my grandparents and parents. For my 21st, I wanted to buy a nice, everyday solid gold necklace. I have plenty in silver, and plenty in fake gold, but no solid gold necklace. However, it took me three months to pick one! I finally settled on a pair of interlocking gold rings, on a delicate double chain from Pia. I absolutely love it, and am so happy I took the time to shop around to find something I really love. Due to its similarity to the symbol for infinity, I may even have it inscribed with the 'I feel infinite' quote from The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I like the idea of self-perpetuation, and always moving forward; it's a good message to carry with me, as it's all too easy to get somewhat complacent.

Two: The prospect of my room being redecorated! It's majorly tatty right now, with exposed floorboards and sawn-off windowsills still remaining after my french windows were installed last summer. I've started looking at bedding, furniture and wallpaper to fit into my art deco/french boudoir theme. Sophisticated bedroom, here I come! Plush, silky pillows, mirrors and sleek white furniture, against a palette of champagne, duck-egg blue and lavender. Too excited!

I also can't wait to be able to hang up my birthday present from my homegirls; they bought me the most beautiful print, which will fit in with my new room perfectly!

'Hang On' by Fiona Watson

Now I'm not really one who is normally into art, but I (rather embarrassingly) started crying when I opened this up. It's absolutely beautiful - whimsical, romantic, and very quixotic. Everyone who has seen it has said "That's so you!", which I guess is why they chose it for me. I want her print of 'The Poet's Garden' to match.

Source

Three: I forgot a very, VERY important inclusion into my beauty post! My Nars Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil, in the Baroque shade.

Source

This, for me, is what all lip products should be like. Saturated colour, smooth application, lasts for hours... Perfection! The only problem is sharpening it; the gloss isn't strong enough to endure a sharpener particularly well, so you end up with a sort of mushed nib after a while.

Four: Music! Currently loving Ella Henderson on the X Factor (she's incredible, she HAS to win!), All Time Low's new album 'Don't Panic' and the lovely Taylor Swift.

Five: Funtimes with my beloved Elf, before she jets off to Austria for six months to try her hand as a ski instructor. After three years of our university holidays never quite matching up, I am LOVING being able to see her all the time. We're hanging out most days of the week - either just to bum around on the wii, go for lunch, or head to the gym together. I'm trying to see her as much as possible before she leaves at the beginning of November - she'll be gone until April! Wahhhhh.

♥

And finally...

I LOVE THIS. Because I'm a big LotR nerd, and proud. Enjoy! xo.

 

In which Demi goes where it is forbidden...

A few weeks ago, in a final bid to take advantage of the "summer" weather (really, UK, it was atrocious this year. Get your act together!), I took a trip up the A1 to a wacky and brilliantly British tourist attraction called 'The Forbidden Corner'. Anywhere that describes itself as 'The Strangest Place In The World!' is worth a visit, in my eyes.

The place is the brainchild of a man who clearly had too much money, and decided to build a folly in his grounds - a project which stretched over years, and became more and more adventurous and, well, bizarre. There's the more typical mazes, herb gardens and castle-like structures to explore. But there's also a Roman temple which leads to hell, a tunnel that narrows so gradually that you wonder how you can no longer fit though the other end (unless, like me, you force yourself through and bang your head) and all sorts of strange things sticking out of walls.

Additionally, I almost deafened several people when I climbed the stairs, squeezed between the legs to peer through the window... only to discover it was a mirror, and scare the living daylights out of myself (and others, from the sudden noise)

It's all very Alice in Wonderland. What we found most crazy was the lack of a coherent map. When we handed over our tickets and were given our 'map' in return, we figured it would be a pretty straight-forward route.

Oh no.

Instead, the 'map' is filled with pictures of all the many, many weird and wonderful features scattered throughout the acres of land - but with no route. Some are hidden, some are easy to find. But there are dozens of them! And even worse, there is very little indication of the area around the features, as the pictures are so tightly cropped and overlaid, so you can't even track them down logically using your environment. Bewildered, we struck out into the forest, where we laughed, shrieked (well, I did anyway) and on several occasions got soaked by hidden spurts of water (again, mostly me) as we attempted to track everything down.

We failed, unfortunately, even after hours spent there. Every time we thought we'd explored everywhere, we uncovered a new area we'd missed - until we unwittingly found ourselves on the path towards the exit, and unable to return to spot the last few things. Dammit! I am therefore determined to visit again, and tick everything off this time! So if you're ever heading towards the Yorkshire Dales, I would certainly recommend a detour (it's pretty remote) and a visit! xo.

Disclaimer: Both of us were 21 years old. You do not need to be a child to enjoy this place. Just a sense of adventure and plenty of energy!

I was rather fond of the gambling bears

Impressive glass pyramid

Inside the Roman Temple, heading into hell...

The underneath of the pyramid

The wood giant. I'm pretty short anyway, but this was ridiculous!

Pointing the way... to madness...

In which Demi goes mad for Malta

As I've mentioned in the last few posts, I embarked on a spontaneous end-of-the-summer-and-student-lifestyle holiday with my friend A., who I've been friends with since the middle of high school.

Flapper fancy dress at school

A. and I had several lessons together, when the year group started to get set depending on ability aged 14, including the core Maths/English/Science, and we soon struck up a friendship which helped to form a group of friends - my home girls - which still exists. Then we both, coincidentally, chose to go to Nottingham University, where we subsequently became even closer than we already were. Our third year at university was especially important to me, as we both experienced a lot of heartache, upset and joy which served to bind us tighter to one another, providing a comforting link to home and our past.

I rarely have to explain anything to her - she always seems to know exactly how I'm feeling and, while she doesn't always agree, can empathise and advise. While I jokingly think of myself as a therapist to several people, A. is my own therapist. And because she's awesome, she got snapped up for a big accountancy job down in London, which she started on Monday (and I know she'll be kicking ass at, already), leading to our separation for the first time since we've been friends. She only left on Sunday, and I miss her already.

I love this photo, from when we went to Liverpool to visit O.

BUT, this is not a melancholy post. We had too much fun for this to be a depressing post!

Malta was brilliant. I had no idea what to expect before we arrived, after throwing it out as a random location suggestion while we tossed ideas around. We'd both been lucky enough to already have been to a lot of mainland Europe, and our big American adventure had to be put on the back burner when news of the mysterious and rather scary lump reduced my chances of getting insurance to pretty much zilch.

After the hassle of travelling hand baggage only, thanks to pesky Ryanair and their ridiculous charges, we staggered out of the airport to be greeted by the cheerful mini-bus driver, who informed us that there was a heatwave currently hitting the island... yup, back to 42 degrees. And this time, we'd gone cheap and our hotel had neither air-con nor its own pool. As I am not one who copes particularly well with extreme heat when neither of these are nearby, I was massively apprehensive of what the week would bring.

Luckily our hotel was kind enough to provide us with a fan. Unsurprisingly, it simply wasn't enough to properly contend with the heat.

Nice try.

Despite the heatwave making it more difficult, we had a great time exploring the island. Due to its turbulent political history (such as casual invasions and being "gifted" by various monarchs) the melting-pot of culture we found was unlike anything I'd ever seen. The majority of the population spoke English as a second language (handy, as their place names contained ridiculous amounts of the letter 'x' and far too few vowels!) due to the fact that the British were the last of the colonisers, but due to its proximity to Italy, it retains a largely Mediterranean feel - from the food to the older, Venetian-style decorative buildings. Which, in turn, rubbed shoulders with modern North African-style buildings, with their blocky silhouettes. 

The capital, Valetta, and the original capital city Mdina, were absolutely stunning. The latter was especially unique – after the capital was moved to Valetta following the great Siege of Malta, Mdina was rebuilt but somewhat abandoned; the streets were mostly deserted, a city frozen in time only interrupted by the wandering tourists. The entire city has been turned into something  of a giant museum, overflowing with history and treasures to be explored. Unfortunately I forgot my camera when we went to Mdina - d'oh!!

Stunning ironwork and columns

Brightly coloured window boxes punctuated the serene stone

The Co-Cathedral's interior was as impressive as it's exterior

Baroque decadence inside

We were fairly restrained with the many sight-seeing opportunities that were presented, choosing to visit Valetta, do a hop on/hop off bus tour (in which we visited Mdina) and a harbour cruise, interspersed by days at the beach. And by beach, I really mean rock...

It wasn't bad though, as we discovered Surfside, a bar/restaurant/club which had a bunch of sun beds (for free, yessssssss) and backed onto a stretch of these beauties:

I am not a fan of the sea AT ALL, so these were the perfect compromise

These rock pools were half naturally formed, half man-made - apparently originally used by Victorian ladies who wished to bathe privately, and each pool would have a tent over it. They were great, as you could dip in to cool down, and not have to deal with the open sea with the waves and the current. I will always choose pool over beach - not knowing what's in the sea freaks me out - so being able to A) touch the bottom and B) being able to see what's in the water made me a lot more comfortable.

And before I finish up, I HAVE to mention two places we ate at and adored. The food was amazing everywhere we ate (I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life), but these were our favourites. First up was a cafe called Mint (in Sliema) - opposite Surfside, which was handy! - where we had lunch most days, and MY GOD, the food there is incredible. It's a traditional Kiwi cafe apparently, with a big chiller cabinet of savory choices and another for desserts. They constantly have new choices in the cabinets, as they have a 'once it's gone, it's gone' attitude, and simply replace the old choice with a brand new one. I loved it, as there was constant variety - never mind day-to-day, if you came back later in the day they would be serving completely different things to when you were there before! Everything was delicious, and I have a special place in my heart for their Snowcap cookies.

Secondly, on an evening we would take the bus to the nearby town of St Julian's, which had more of a nightlife and an abundance of restaurants, bars and clubs. We were big fans of Paparazzi, an Italian/American themed bistro whose burgers (especcially the chicken burger with sweet chilli sauce) were incredible. Also, if you're ever there, check out Bar Celona (we loved it for the name if nothing else!).

Mega frozen strawberry daquiri!!

So, basically... Malta is amazing. I would definitely recommend!! My tan has mostly faded back into my usual pale Irish skin, but looking at my still-tanned feet (so brown they look orange against my pale legs...) reminds me that it did all happen. xo.

♥

In which Demi is a jet-setter.

Another blogging delay, I know! I suck. In my defence, I spent a lovely (albeit scorching hot) week in Frascati, just south of Rome, with my family, followed by a week of seemingly non-stop catch-ups, day trips and general time wasting with my friends and family.

And today I am off to Malta for another week, with A.! We booked it after I'd spent less than 24hrs at home, after the mysterious and rather scary lump put a massive dent in our America travel plans. We're celebrating our last summer together, before she swans off to London to live the high-flying life, in her gorgeous new flat in Clapham. Not that I'm jealous or anything. Although I don't envy the fact she's locked into a contract where she deals with tax every day. Ick.

More in a week. Photos, news, book/film reviews galore, I promise. xo.

In which Demi catches up (Part.1)

Right-o, here comes a quick recap of the events of my final term at Nottingham.

Starting with the work, since that's the reason I went to university in the first place! I was absolutely thrilled to get my joint highest mark on any piece of work for the Cognitive Poetics (language) essay I spent two months hammering into shape. Hurrahhhhh! Funnily enough, I got exactly the same mark in my Literature and Medieval modules as I did in their counterparts in January - I'm nothing if not consistent!

Essay-writing craziness. This must have been a good day where I actually left the house, I'm not wearing a vest and sweats.

We produced two final issues for the Uni magazine, which fell among exams, essays and end of term madness. Luckily the new Ed in Chief has made the wise decision of only producing one issue for the summer term next year, because we seeeeeriously struggled to shift them. We also held elections for the new team next year, and I was more than happy with the new PR team - I'm wishing them all the best for next year, and I've already promised to pop in and see how they're doing if I'm ever visiting.

Me and some of the girls from Impact ♥

Now, where was I... the end of term. Lots of parties and celebrating, as one by one we threw our stationary down and declared ourselves finished. Graduation Ball was the big event on the calendar, something (the girls, at least) had been planning for months. I bought my dress over the Easter holidays, a stunning floor-length silk affair from Warehouse. The modern style was in stark contrast to the 1920's theme of the ball, but I didn't care, it was love at first sight (thank God for A., who spotted it, and her fantastic taste in clothes).When I'd slipped into it, finished my hair and make-up and added the finishing touches, I felt like I could burst in excitement. It was my third ball (although my two high school ones were hardly anything to get excited about), but I'd never felt so happy with every aspect of my outfit before - I told my housemate as we giddily checked each other over that I'd never felt so pretty. I Skyped my mum quickly, missing her suddenly, as she'd always excitedly helped me get ready for my balls and big nights out before.

Just finished getting ready :)

My beeeeeeeaaauuuuutiful housemates

So much love for this photo! ♥

The venue was gorgeous, and while the entertainment was a little hit-and-miss, the queue for drinks genuinely ridiculous, and the layout with it's numerous scattered marquees more of a hinderence than a help thanks to the oh-so British rain, it was still a lovely evening.

Pub golf, a nineties-themed birthday party (I consider the 90s the decade that fashion forgot, so I went for 90s-ish make-up and hair), and my early birthday (part 1) followed. I chose to recreate a classic Campus 14, which was a staple event in First Year - the group visits every bar in each of the 12 halls on campus, with a drink in each, followed by a drink in the Union's bar and club venue. It wasn't entirely successful, but a good night regardless!

About halfway around the Campus 14, starting to show it.

The 90's grunge theme was popular.

All of this was topped off by a final trip on the last night of term to the cheesiest club to possibly ever exist - the one and only Ocean. Not to be confused with the Oceana, the chain, Ocean is Nottingham's staple Friday night venue. Everyone goes to Ocean. The drinks are over-priced, your shoe frequently gets stuck to the carpet, and it's compulsory to take your top off and swing it over your head when they play the Baywatch theme. Don't ask me why. You just do. We've discovered that this is a trait unique to Nottingham, and it's always entertaining to watch visitors gape in confusion at the mass-stripping that occurs whenever Baywatch is played.

Housemates!

Florence Boot-ers!

Mid-Baywatch

After a solid six hours of drinking and dancing holes into the disgusting carpet, the lights flicked on and the music ground to a halt, prompting the thousands of students present to sit (or, if possible, hover over said carpet) in protest, and chant until the lights dimmed and more cheesy music was presented to satisfy our cravings, until we surrendered to exhaustion. It was the perfect ending to the year, surrounded by my friends from my hall in First Year (Florence Boot corner was an established part of Ocean's floor ♥).

And two days later, I finished packing my belongings, pulled the last photos from the walls, and left Nottingham for - almost - the last time.

Depressing stuff.

It was a bizarre feeling, the days slipping by with alarming alacrity. Even now, I can barely believe that it's been three years. That I've already emerged from the dark tunnel of final essays, stood blinking in the blinding reality of Adulthood. Studenthood is no longer an excuse, and aide. I've nothing between me and my career now. No more essays, no more seminars or lectures, no feverish skim-reading of a book due to be discussed the following day.

It's a scary prospect. I'm good at being a student, I thrive in an educational environment. My mum has attempted to reassure me, telling me that we never stop learning. And while I agree with her wholeheartedly, there's still something about the structure and familiarity of education that I will sorely miss. I'm not chomping at the bit to get out and earn millions, to throw myself into a suit and march off to London. Not right now at least. I had always anticipated that I would feel far more prepared for this moment than I currently do. I only hope that when I get a job and settle down into a new routine, and get excited about it the way I did about the stage of my life that I have just, regretfully, finished, I will be ready. xo.