Crikey, third year is NOT a walk in the park...

Wow, the last few weeks have been a rollercoaster. Slowly but surely, I am starting to realise just how difficult final year is. With the sudden realisation of just how little time there is left in uni and an array of deadlines creeping up, my head has been quite a mess.

Earlier this month I noticed just how little time I had to do so much work and it really freaked me out. Having said this, I didn't exactly jump into work mode, but instead spent time doing fun things with my flatmates or failing that, lazing around not doing much at all. Its hard to find the right balance in third year for work and social activities, especially when you are dreading leaving university and therefore want to spend every last minute enjoying yourself. Because of this, I started to leave a lot of important things til the very last minute.

While we might be getting nearer to Christmas, we are also getting closer and closer to deadlines, meaning I am currently in panic mode. Over the last few weeks, it has dawned on me just how much time I've been wasting and because of that, my stress levels have been through the roof. Due to the stress of upcoming deadlines and the fact that I found myself doing a module that was completely and utterly out of my comfort zone, I was feeling very overwhelmed. For the first time in three years, everything got a little too much and I actually wanted to leave it behind and go home, which is something extremely out of the blue for me.

After a minor mental breakdown and a bit of crying in various tutors offices, I decided to drop the module that was causing me issues and change to something that I am actually interested in and have quite a passion for. I also decided it was time to knuckle down and try to get some work done on the essays that have deadlines lurking around the corner.

It never occurred to me that I would feel so down and to be honest, depressed, with uni, but I think once in a while, every student has a bit of a rough patch and becomes unexpectedly overwhelmed with what is expected of them. I'm happy to say that the rough patch has gone and I am now feeling much better.

My tutors and some of my coursemates were very reassuring and told me that they've been in the same boat, which made me feel a lot better and less pathetic for crying in the first place! It felt as though everything was getting on top of me, but since then I have took control, made a start on some things and generally been more positive.

I don't really know what I'm aiming for by writing this in my blog but I know I've been a bit absent in writing for a while and to some extent this is why. I'm sure there are many other student bloggers who have felt similar or many who have just started their studies and will at some point. So I guess this post could help them in some way.
The morals of the story in short are:

•  Don't let things get ahead of you, take control
•  If you need to cry at someone, then don't feel daft, just let it out, everyone gets stressed from time to time
• And more importantly if you do feel like this, don't let it hinder your university experience because its just a very small bump in the road of what is otherwise a fantastic journey and adventure.

So with all that in mind, I should get off my blog and do some more quote-hunting and research (Fun!)

Before I do though, I should probably mention my boyfriend in this.
He recently got the urge to jump on the blogging bandwagon and decided to start a blog and post something everyday. I initially teased him for stealing my turf but to be honest he has kept up with it pretty good so far and actually posted more recently than me! He doesn't have a specific topic or subject area, its just a diary entry style blog, but he's committed to it and it will definitely be interesting to read back over everything in a few months time. So why not check out his blog here and maybe give him a follow? Go easy though, he's new to this!

To anyone with upcoming uni deadlines, good luck!
And to the rest of you, you don't know how bloody lucky you are!

Is there such a thing as shopaholics anonymous?!

During July, I spent the whole month flitting between work and an empty flat. I had no exciting plans, no money and I was in dire need of human conversation with someone other than a customer. The month seemed to drag on forever and I couldn't wait for it to end so that I could look forward to all the fun plans ahead for me in the following month.

Now we are 2 weeks into August and as predicted, I have been rushed off my feet! I have been to Leeds, Manchester and of course in and out of Huddersfield which is where I live. I have met up with friends, seen a lot more of my boyfriend and just genuinely had a lot more fun already this month. One of the things I have been doing a lot of, is shopping. So much so, that I am now ridiculously skint and worried that I may have an addiction to buying things! With this in mind, I decided to show off some of the things I have been buying lately.

Most of these items have already been worn, so I'll do my best to remember the prices, or at least give a rough idea.

This first outfit is something I wore to my boyfriend's gig in Manchester earlier this week. The top is a simple black lace crop top which was around £5 from Primark. I was thrilled to find this, because I recently bought a similar one from Topshop and had to return it, as it was too tight and didn't fit nicely. This top however, is a great alternative for a fraction of the price. The leather look skater skirt was also from Primark at around £5 - a complete bargain when most places are selling them for £15 upwards. To finish off the outfit, I wanted some flatforms and luckily I managed to find these little bargains in Primark for £12. They are black with a suede/velvet feel, and have a dainty little ankle strap, which takes emphasis away from the chunky platform. I am in love with these shoes as they are so comfortable and will go with any outfit. Flatforms are great if you are useless in heels and can only cope with a wedge, like me. I just know these will be my go-to 'going out' shoe from now on.

The next item I bought from Primark is pretty basic but I am so in love with it, that I bought 3! (ooops!) It is simply an oversized batwing sleeved jumper, in a marl purple colour. The reason I bought 3 of these is because they are incredibly comfortable and look great over a pair of plain black leggings. They were an absolute steal at £5 each and have a lovely fitting, which comes lower at the back and sits slightly off the shoulder.

The next item is from an ebay shop called punk-never-dies which sells a wide range of band t-shirts, vests and dresses. They stock loads of artists and bands from Justin Bieber to Alice Cooper, so if you're into music of any kind, you might just find something to suit your tastes. As you can see, I bought a Black Sabbath vest as I recently became quite a fan of theirs after seeing them live at Download Festival last year. My boyfriend has loved them for years and my mum is also a fan, so after being converted myself, I decided to buy this vest ready for when I see them again in December. (Super excited!)

In keeping with the music theme, I also visited one of my favourite stores - Pulp. I always love having a browse at all the alternative clothes in this store, but rarely buy anything as I'm always skint! However, this time they had an offer on any 2 band t-shirts for £25, which I thought was fantastic, because some places sell one for that price. So me and my boyfriend took full advantage of the offer; me with this Metallica tee and him with a rather obscene Johnny Cash one. We got two t-shirts that we both love for only £12.50 each - bargain!

The next top I bought was again, from Primark. I saw this and shoved it straight in my basket because I just thought it was really cool! A tiger's face on a galaxy style background - whats not to love?! I also love the cutout back on this vest and it was only £6 so I didn't even think twice about buying it.

Apologies for how creased this blouse is! I have worn it to death over the last week! This isn't something I would normally buy but for some reason I just love it. It looks really vintage and 80s, but it was actually from Primark. It was £10 which in comparison to some of the other Primark things I have bought, is a bit more expensive, but I have probably got my moneys worth out of it already!

This lacy shrug is from Primark and was £6. I picked it up because I thought it was a nice alternative to a cardigan on a night out or just to put with a nice dress. I love how floaty and wide the sleeves on it are. Plus its lightweight enough to fit in my bag if I'm out and don't want to wear it. Primark had a few other nice shrugs in other styles so its worth having a look even if lace is not your thing.

Finally something not from Primark! These are both from Urban Outfitters, which is one of my favourite shops. I actually did quite well buying these two as they came to less than £25 with student discount and I am notoriously known among my friends for my Urban Outfitters sprees. The vest is a pinky purple colour with a cool pattern and is quite small and lightweight, perfect for Summer. It was only £12 which is really cheap for UO. The necklace was quite expensive at £14, but its a turquoise turtle for the love of God! I love turtles and I'd been eyeing this up for quite a while so I had to have it!

The final thing I'm going to post is possibly my favourite. It is considerably more girly than all the other things I've bought lately but its so pretty, and fits so nicely that I just love it. I saw this on Facebook by a page called Bows Boutique which I was unaware that I had 'liked' so it was more than a pleasant surprise when this came up on my timeline. The print on the dress is really nice and Summery. The actual dress itself is also really flattering. It is a skater style dress, and also has a little padding on the bust area which is great for me. I haven't had the opportunity to wear this out yet but I can't wait til I do as its beautiful.



After writing this post its suddenly very obvious why I am so poor at the minute! This is not even half of the things I have bought lately but I would be writing this forever if I featured everything.

There are also a few things I have bought which I'm not too sure on, so there could be another Ebay session very soon!

Hopefully its not just me that can be this reckless when it comes to shopping!