Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Big circles.

So, my internship at Shortlist came to an end this evening and tomorrow I'll return to the nomadic wasteland that is 'official unemployment'. Such is the life of an intern; we arrive with our forgettable names and impeccable tea-making ability, not to mention our second-to-none printing and filing skills, and then before you know it our time is up and you've got someone else's name to remember and they make even better tea – just by the way, I do make a pretty cracking up of tea, so...

I think I will miss feeling like I was part of something, even if for a brief (unpaid) moment. However, I kind of feel the whole internship experience was kind of ruined for me this time around, simply by the commute. I mean the work itself was engaging and motivating, the journey to the office, was not. I stuck it out though, and despite the fact that I wound up with not much to do for the final couple of days, I think I got what I needed to out of it, and I feel like the world of publishing, particularly weekly publications, is much less scary.


It's been a bit of a weird one because I had the weekend off, then was at Shortlist, then had my official day off, then I worked again today and now I've finished, so no more Central line commute for me ♥.
I've got a load of photos to share with you from these days off. I hope this mentality is something I maintain when I am working full-time, it's still fun to be out and about, even if you have time off.
On Sunday I was at Moon's, I've actually seen a lot of him this week, which is nice because I've been used to barely seeing him. We began the afternoon with a coffee at Costa in Dorking, and then after a tasty Sunday roast (courtesy of his Mum), we had a wander through the countryside around his house. It was such a sunny day it would have been a shame to waste it, spring is so close I can almost feel it. Saying that, I was pretty grimey for most of today thanks to the weather's snap decision to rain ice needles whenever I was outside.
It's funny how you can forget that you're surrounded by somewhere pretty, all because of silly little things.



My hair is crazy long at the moment, it's kind of starting to get in the way of daily tasks but I kind of love it. There's also some highlights going on some how, I haven't dyed my hair in over a year...




We encountered some sheep and they were lovely.






I felt quite brave rocking these in the mud, not just because they're my faves, but also because they're suede. However, they're my favourites for a reason, hooray for platforms, even though I had to scrape off the mud, they're still perfect. :)






On Monday, Moon met me at my mum's restaurant after work and we had a relaxing night in catching up on our favourite American TV shows.
The following day, we job hunted in the morning before a tasty lunch and after that we went to Richmond Park for another long walk. Perhaps there's only so many times I can take my camera to Richmond Park, but there's so much to see there and we found the Isabella Plantation, which will be beautiful when spring decides to show up. Also, there were actually deer hanging around this time, unlike last time.


So much love for this huge circular window; imagine the light, not to mention the satisfaction.






Our second deer-sighting, I think we manage to see each of the different breeds that Richmond Park has to offer, and they're all so pretty.





Moon kept his distance from each group of deer we encountered, while I'd love to say that it's because, despite his macho exterior, Moon simply doesn't want to frighten the deer. It's actually because he was a bit scared of them. I don't blame him, what with their huge antlers and everything but it would seem that despite being only a couple of metres away, I am still here so there you go.






Fancy a dip?









This was the last group of deer we saw before we got back to the car, I actually don't understand how this many, let alone the amount we saw in total could hide that well.







A real funny bugger did this to poor old Aggie. :(

After Moon left, with it being Shrove Tuesday, I made pancakes and they were amazing. My memories of last year's Pancake Day are funny — after making delicious pancakes for myself I proceeded to watch the boys be incredibly disappointed with the shop-bought shake-up pancake mix they went out and bought, I made the mistake once myself, never again, especially when making them is so easy and cheap.




So that was my Sunday through Tuesday and it was nice and looking over these has actually made me feel pretty positive. In fact, finishing up at Shortlist, with the experience that I've gained, I'm feeling pretty great about that too.
Sorry this was such a long one, but it was so difficult to choose and I had hardly any time between to make a selection, added to my dwindling energy levels, I'm afraid this is what you're left with. I don't think I'll be giving anything up for Lent, as my life is currently a rather big compromise in comparison to how I would like it to be, but I'm going to try and spend more time enjoying things over constantly job hunting - semi-adapting to the lovely Jenna Birks' way of thinking. I will still be searching (I can't afford not to) but hopefully the high I'm on will last and help to keep my motivation up until something does come along.

Finally - I may as well say now because this post isn't getting any shorter anyway - I've got an interview with Alamy next week, which is so exciting and I'm so excited about. It's big ol' them and it's little ol' me and it's just so good, I'd really love for it to work out.

Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Tuesday Tabs. #6

Hey, so I missed last week, because I was busy being pretend-romantic, so let's pretend that it didn't happen and carry on, yeah?

My internship might be finishing early and end this week, it's been a bit of a struggle to find things for me to do recently. I'm glad my boss recognised this, I had a previous internship where I finished all the work by 12 but sat until 6 with nothing to do. I've learnt a lot though, and I think I could handle working in a 'weekly publication' environment. I realise that being an intern is completely different though as you don't really have much responsibility but I love to learn and I'm already quite organised, so...
I don't know, I'm not saying that it will be fun to get back to applying for jobs, but it will be good to do it without worrying about other commitments and feeling guilty.
I'm spending today job hunting as it happens, with Moon and then we're going to go to the post office and for a walk, which is nice.

Because I missed last week there are a few Valentines things, although like I mentioned in a previous post, hearts should be (and basically are in my case) all year round.

Don't leave rug, £12, Urban Outfitters
How lonely is this rug? I wouldn't keep my hopes up for quality, but you never know with Urban Outfitter's pricing structure. I'm tempted but I'm really trying to steer away from novelty homewares, attempting to semi-grow up and go for classic items...



ASOS Eiffel tower sunglasses, £12 £9, ASOS
Struggling to see when anyone would be able to wear these, but I kind of like them. You'd definitely be the coolest girl walking around Paris if you were to wear these.



Bunny slap-watch, £12, ASOS
Although I love my watch, because it's simple and I'm unlikely to ever become bored of it, I often find myself drawn to kooky watches like this one.



Like everyone else on the Internet, I've been loving a bit of Gotye this week. However, having a boyfriend who loves music as much as mine does, I had actually heard 'Somebody that I used to know' without realising and in the form of this cover. I wouldn't recommend bothering with their other covers because they just don't live up to this one's 'epicness'. I do permanently have this song in my head anyway now though, thanks to it being overplayed at work and on the radio. I'm getting used to the full album and am still unsure how I feel but Gotye has definitely placed himself firmly on my playlist with 'Somebody that I used to know' at least.



Rob Ryan: Four Trees, Four Seasons ceramic plates, £29.50, Amazon
There's basically nothing stopping me now I've discovered a goldmine of affordable Rob Ryan products. Like I said I was a bit bummed out about the mugs I bought for Moon, but the amount of stuff available more than makes up for it. I would be very proud to own these plates indeed. I've already picked up a copy of Rob's latest book, 'This is for You' for a snip of what Urban Outfitters was charging, out of principal, I probably wouldn't have picked it up from there anyway.



Red/orange dolly coat, £75 £25, Dorothy Perkins
So tempted by the price but winter is almost over and I wouldn't even get to wear it, and by next winter I'd hope to have a job and therefore be able to buy whatever coat I want without worrying about it being on sale.


I thought this was a pretty nice tribute to Whitney Houston from Autumn Andersen and Eli Boragine for Hello Giggles' video juke box. I don't feel like I would say anything that hasn't already been said on the rest of the matter, and overall it's not my place to say anything anyway.


Cute advert for Social Media Week. I often wonder what I'll be like in forty years time...

Link Love
  • DIY Valentine's Day Inspired Nail Polish — I thought this was a great tutorial, not only for creating heart nail polish but also realising that there's actually no reason to fork out for overpriced glitter polishes when it's that easy to make you own. Why had I never cottoned on to it before, it's so obvious! The actual blog also has a ton of other neat DIY ideas which you should definitely have a peak at. (via Gem Fatale)
  • Eva Franco for Modcloth — I try and stay away from Modcloth because it's just too tempting with too hefty a delivery price for the UK. But this collection is beautiful, my favourites are the Swan in a Million dress and the Frames and Fortune dress, so happy to see the galaxy print slowly diffusing down into wearable items.
  • Katy Perry by David LaChappelle for GHD — So, I'm not that interested in fashion photography overall but I can appreciate it and I've got a soft spot for David LaChappelle, because I was a Photography student and because he's one of the ones you have to like, like Nan Goldin or Martin Parr. So I enjoy this campaign he shot for the new GHD collection, it's put together in a really clever way and it's so shiny and pretty.

  • I guess I'm a bit sorry that there's not so much this week despite the fact I didn't post one last week either, but I've been both busy and tired, which isn't a great combination. Don't worry, you'll reap the full benefits when I'm definitely unemployed again next week.

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