'HANDS'

Recently I've jumped back into my love for poetry and starting reading my old favourites such as Silvia Plath's 'Ariel' and Lord Byron's 'Darkness'. I felt incredibly inspired by the beauty of their words and thought I'd try my hand (excuse the pun) at my own piece of poetry. Whilst it's nothing special, I feel proud of how the words just flowed out of my head and into a roughly poetic structure. Be Kind.

A glimpse of the past, the troubles you’ve faced and the work you’ve proudly strived for. 

Beaten, neglected, nourished or cared for… 

What do yours say?!

Fate’s calculated crevices daintily mark my smooth pinked skin mischievously capturing the truths and hardships that my future self knows only too well-

the amount of innocent products of my love I am to nuzzle to my breast,

the amount of long years I am to roam the earth in search of my true purpose and 

the amount of precious years I will remain nestled within the protecting arms of my love. 

THE SECRET HISTORY BY DONNA TARTT (REVIEW)

So just to start this post off guys… This is possibly one of the best books I’ve read for a LOOOONNNG time and I’m gonna be shouting about it from the rooftops for quite a while!

I’d seen Youtuber Books and Quills talk about this book and I thought why not buy it, it sounds kind of interesting and it was part of the Amazon 3 for £10 deal- even better! 

Starting the book I wasn’t completely grabbed by it, maybe because I wasn’t giving it my full attention or maybe because I’d just read 2 books really quickly and my brain was still lagging behind with the previous story… but yeah I wasn’t hooked. BUT me being me I couldn’t leave it unread so I stopped for a while and came back to it and that’s where the fun started. 

What I loved so much about it was the mystery, the simplicity, the presence of the forgotten past in the lives of these beautifully developed characters and by the end of the book I wanted to start reading Classical Greek literature as well as feeling like I’d made a bunch of new friends.  The depth that Tartt goes into with her characters is perfection and every event, sentence and word is hand-picked to be just right.  As well as this, it’s lyrical, visual and ultimately transports you to the story so you feel you’re experiencing it alongside the characters. 

Yes the story line is mysterious and has its ups and downs but don’t go into the book expecting anything big or flashy because you’ll be disappointed. It’s rooted in real life emotions and is very relatable to the lives of college (university) students, like myself. 

The several twists that Tarr threw my way kept me hooked and statements like ‘No way!’ or ‘I wouldn’t have thought that’ regularly escaped my lips. 

I’ll definitely be reading it again, once I’ve passed it around everyone I know.

Let me know what you’re favourite reads are and what you’d class as you’re favourite recent read?

Enjoy

WHEN LIFE GETS IN THE WAY

This year has been a crazy one and I’ve been quite possibly the worst blogger ever- I hold my hands up! Every time I sat down to write, life just got in the way! Assignment stress, getting used to living in a city (which is much harder than you think when you’re from the country!), learning to drive, changing jobs… amongst all the other ups and downs that have come my way. But non the less I am back…my brain’s been craving a creative output to get stuck into and writing just works for me. I'm letting the excuses slide and I'm trying hard to do what makes me happy, and give myself some "ME" time!

Keep your eyes peeled for some exciting posts coming up… My ideas have been endless because of my little break so writers block certainly won’t be an issue for a while! (unless I’ve just jinxed it!)

Be back soon

SUPER EASY ROLY POLY CHURROS

I know most of us are on a diet with the distant calls of summer willing us into getting that gorgeous beach body, but we’re all allowed a little treat now and then and this is DEFINITELY my go to, quick, easy and very scrumptious recipe for the perfect diet- breaker!

I’m not a big dessert maker… I love a good chocolate fudge cake after some pub grub but I can never be bothered making my own yummy treats at home because it’s just too much of a faff and to be honest. I just can’t be bothered most of the time BUT try these little beauties and you will never make a soggy sponge ever again you’ll be the master of all things yummy (well not all things- just this!)

What makes it even better is they’re made with things you can always find around the house like: oil, egg, bread, Nutella/ jam or anything else spreadable and sweet and sugar- and that’s it! Sounds good right?!

Sooo….Here goes

STEP 1: Heat some oil in a frying pan (You don’t need a lot just enough to cover the pan.


STEP 2: Get 1 slice of bread (white works best!)  and cut the crusts off making a nice little square.

STEP 3: Roll the bread out with a rolling pin so that its nice and flat and all the fluffiness is out of it.

STEP 4: Spread the bread with Nutella/ jam etc. 

STEP 5: Roll it up so you have a little roly-poly.  

STEP 6: Dip it in some whisked egg covering all sides. (make sure you let most of the excess drip off before the next step)

STEP 7: Place it in the hot oil and keep turning until all sides are golden brown

STEP 8: Take out of the pan and roll it straight in some caster sugar making sure it’s all covered. 

STEP 9: JUST GO AHEAD AND EAT IT ALREADY!

 These are great for a dinner party or any party for that matter when you don’t want to be slaving away in the kitchen but want to give your guests a little treat. They’re gorgeous and sweet but they’re not too big! 

Try experimenting with fruit or custard- see what else you can put in that will be yummy. Maybe a peanut butter and jam one?! Mmm…

Enjoy!- and remember not too many…that bikini body still needs working on ;)

THE EXERCISE-A-PHOBE'S GUIDE TO BEING ACTIVE

I wish I could jump up at 6am and go for a run or drag myself to the gym 7 times a week, but I just don’t like exercise and I can’t make myself do it! Not all of us can be exercise lovers- and I’m certainly NOT! Although, however much I’d like to stay on my sofa and watch Netflix endlessly or sit scrolling through Pinterest dreaming of having my perfect body and fooling myself that I’ll start eating all these low fat/ gluten free/ super healthy super foods I know that I have to compromise otherwise I’ll easily end up 20st and VERY unhappy! So if you’re like me and you’re not very keen on exercise here is my guide to being more active from an exercise-a-phobe! 

I’ve never really liked getting up and being physical and I believe that it stems from a number of factors (other than me just being a bit too lazy!) and the first is that I had an evil P.E teacher (and I mean really evil). Throughout my whole high school I used to dread P.E and tried every excuse in the book to avoid it as I was regularly ridiculed because I could never do the different sports we studied. As well as this, I had bad asthma and whenever I have an inkling of motivation and I set out on a jog or tried an at home work out, 9 time out of 10 I ended up having an asthma attack -some minor some more serious, and YES it scared me! (and still does). That’s my biggest hurdle with exercise. Yes, I know that the more exercise you do the better your asthma becomes as it strengthens your lungs but what people don’t understand when reminding me of this little fact is that you have to go through a lot of attacks (which if you have asthma will know are not nice at all!) to even see the smallest of results. So whether you’re lazy, don’t like exercise, have asthma or a combination  of the 3, or something else completely read these tips and tricks that I try and do to not become a complete couch potato.

This might sound silly but people underestimate how tiring it is scrubbing the house top to bottom. Although this isn’t the conventional kind of exercise it will help towards making you more active, and less lazy.  So on a regular basis get up and set to work on some of those household tasks that you put off like wiping down and sorting the kitchen cupboards, or bleaching the bathroom tiles. They’ll keep you busy, you’ll be up and down the stairs or back and forth getting cleaning products and you’re body will benefit from a bit of an arm work out. 

I’m bad for this! I don’t walk places enough.  This can be a nice stroll with your partner on a Sunday, or setting out for a more vigorous walk up a hill or even just choosing to walk the 20/ 30 minutes to the shops over getting a lift or getting the bus. It’s easy- If you make a more conscious effort to walk places, no matter the size you’ll feel tonnes better; and the good thing about walking is you can take it as slow as you like so you’re not breathless. 

When I previously boosted my healthy eating and became more active I used to regularly scroll through YouTube on the hunt for beginner workouts. These aren’t always hard some of the yoga/ pilates ones are easy and don’t get you too worked up. Take the time to try some videos out and see what works for you then maybe do it a few times a week. 

Have boogie or go and play a fun game of badminton or even for a splash with your friends, or your partner. We’re all big kids really and going for a swim or for a dance is perfect! Its fun, it doesn’t feel like exercise and it doesn’t leave us hating the world haha. 

These are only little pointers, and of course there is far more possibilities out there but these are just my pointers for the people who really hate to exercise. Once you’ve tried these who knows, it could give you a taste for being physical and you might like to take it a step further.

Remember, 'something' is better than 'nothing'!

If you have any tips or pointers about how to stay active, comment below- I’d love to know what you guys do, and get some new ideas!