Walking in a Winter Wonderlad

‘Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.’

-Edith Sitwell

Okay so I adore summer- sunshine, flip slops, ice lollies, bbqs. Everything about it puts a big smile on my face. So I can’t help but get a little bit glum (I say a little but glum, more of a grumpy old scrooge) when the leaves fall off the trees and the heating gets whacked up to 30. However, I’ve been told that it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile- and seen as our winter seems to last about 10 months of the year I can't help but think that if I keep my state of humbug up I’m just guna have and achy/ wrinkly face by the time August comes around. 
After all, what good is the warmth of summer without the cold of winter to give it sweetness!

Snow for more than just one day

One thing that is b e a u t i f u l  about winter is the possibility of snow. It takes away the grey clouds, the wind burnt face and the smell of wet dog in the house and replaces it with bright blue skies, the dying nature is blanketed in white giving it a new freshness, and a street that is usually bare is soon crowded with laughter. Unfortunately this is a rarity for us poor southerners- so I say why wait for snow! Bring a bit of snow into an otherwise gloomy season. It's all about white this A/W. I'm not talking about Saturday night fever (that is a look which should stay WAY back in the 70s). Use crisp fresh lines to brighten the darkest of winter days; but keep it simple with a few key white pieces in your wardrobe like a fluffy jumper to be contrasted with a leather high waisted skirt. OR make a statement with a mac, handbag or pair of shoes…..white stilettoes are not just for Essex!

Jumping for Jumpers

Preppy style is big this A/W and is perfect way to layer up and stay warm. But try not to look like you've decided to stay in a school uniform for the snowy season; make sure you put your own personal stamp on your outfits with bold print skinnies and fill your wardrobe with a mismatch of unusual jumpers with a variety of knits.

Don’t just curl up and hibernate

Winter seems to really take it out of us, the early nights and artificial heat makes us just want to snuggle up in bed in a pair of jammies and just never leave. And even though I am very much in favour of a good duvet day, we can’t miss out on life in fear of cold toesies.

WAKEUP!!! A hot coffee on a cold winter morning is just right to start any day. And don’t just crawl back into bed with your cuppa, get moving being cold is no excuse for not being active (that’s why it’s called a ‘warm up’) and the more you move the more you’ll wanna move.

….but what to do???

Skiing: it’s not just for the Alps, there are snowsports clubs popping up everywhere offering a range of lessons for all levels. It’s so much fun, great exercise AND gives you and excuse to start planning your next holiday :D.

Go for a paddle: Not quite! But the beach is not just for summer, head to the coast with a boot full of blankets, a bottle of wine and watch the sunset by a toasty fire.

Give yourself an excuse to get out.

Revamp your wardrobe! a new outfit is always a fantastic excuse for a night out. not to metion.... Winter is a perfect time for fashion- layering your clothes really allows you to get creative. Embrace the cold, get inspired and wrap up! A chunky knit scarf is a perfect accessory for you winter wardrobe- ware with skinny jeans, biker jacket, leather gloves and ankle boots….you’ll be off sofa and out the front door in no time.

Getting festive

Christmas is most people’s favourite part about winter, if not the whole year. But Christmas can often lose its magic... we get so swept up in the stress of it all and can become so consumed with thoughts of buying this and getting that, that we can forget it’s not what we get each other it’s about being with each other. Go back to basics. Get crafty with homemade crackers, decorations, mice pies, and Christmas cocktails. All fantastic things you can do with others as well as getting rid of the stress and possible resentment towards Christmas that seems to happen far too often.

…Did someone say cocktails?

Mulled Wine

•         1 bottle red wine
•          60g/2oz demerara sugar
•          1 cinnamon stick
•          grated nutmeg
•          1 orange, halved
•          1 dried bay leaf
•          60ml/2fl oz sloe or damson gin (optional)

Put the wine in a saucepan with the orange, sugar, bayleaf and the spices. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Taste to see if you want the wine sweeter, and add more sugar to taste. Off the heat, stir in the sloe or damson gin if you are using it. Strain into heatproof glasses and serve at once.

Hot Toddy
Put 1tsp of honey and a measure of whisky in a mug or heatproof glass. Add two cloves and half a cinnamon stick then top up with just-off-the-boil water. Stir in a slice of lemon and just enough lemon juice to balance the sweetness of the honey. Drink as soon as it doesn't burn your lips.

Christmas Kiss

• several splashes angostura bitters, to taste
• 350 ml cold champagne
• 500 ml blood orange juice
• 500 ml cranberry juice
• 25 ml Cointreau, or other orange-flavoured liqueur

Take some chilled champagne flutes and sprinkle some angostura bitters into the bottom of each. Half fill with champagne. Slowly add the fruit juices - half of each variety. You need to do this slowly or the champagne will froth everywhere. Top up with the Cointreau. . Garnish each glass with an orange twist and two maraschino cherries on a cocktail pick.

Mulled Cider

• 1 litres apple cider
• ½ inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 2 lemons, sliced
• 1 cinnamon
• 3 star anise
• 1 vanilla pod, slit down the middle and the seeds scooped out
• 200 ml bourbon whiskey
• 1 red apple, thinly sliced (optional)

 In a medium saucepan, combine the apple cider, ginger, lemon, cinnamon, star anise and vanilla pod and simmer on a low heat for 45 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove all of the spices and fruit and set to one side.  Pour a 50ml shot of the bourbon in to a glass and then fill up with the hot spiced cider mixture. Garnish with cinnamon sticks, star anise and thinly sliced red apple.

...And Breathe

Wow as if it’s nearly Christmas! I swear I just blink and a week disappears. But that being said when I look back it’s so strange to think about all that things that have changed in just one turn around the sun.  

Okay, so last year more drastic  changes seemed to take place- leaving a full time job, going to uni, leaving home, living by myself, getting back into the mind-set of studying, fending for myself ; all of which were very big and very scary leaps. Whereas this year things have definitely slowed down, and in a sense I’ve taken a step back by moving back home and commuting to uni.  Yet even though the physicality of my world is much more ‘same old same old’ it doesn’t mean that the changes I’ve made are insignificant in comparison. 

I think it’s so easy to look around us and think ‘they’re doing that so I should be doing this' ‘they look like that so I should change to look like this’ ‘THEY'RE GOING THERE SO I SHOULD GO HERE’ and ultimately feel an intense amount of pressure to measure up and emulate those who seem to be doing so well. 

So many of us have extreme personalities (or aspects of our personalities which are extreme) pushing ourselves to the absolute limit in order to achieve these things that we feel are so vital in order to have a fulfilled life… but even when you reach those limits  it’s not enough. You’re still unfulfilled.  You push harder.  A never ending glass ceiling.

So even though I haven’t ventured off into the smoke to lead a dramatic, exciting and nonstop life full of Gatsby parties and countless tales for me to blah on about when I catch-up with  friends at Christmas. And even though I am by no means now a fully functioning, well rounded, and admirable member of society- I feel I am that little bit closer, my mind that little bit boarder, and most importantly that little bit happier and more content with the way things are.

 I’m sure I’m not the only one.

One Week.

Here's just a few things that i have done/experienced/ learned /listened too over the last week :)

Read This Poem 

To a Passer‑by

The street roared round me, deafening.

Tall, slender, in deep mourning, regal woe,

A woman passed, lifting her furbelow,

Holding her hem up, graceful, wondering;

Noble and lithe, her leg was sculptural.

And I myself, with wild intensity,

Drank in her eyes, a sombre, stormy sky,

The sweetness that enthrals; the joy that kills.

A lightning flash ... then night! Love passing by,

Whose sudden glance bestowed new life on me,

Shall I not see you till eternity?

But it's too far! Too late! Never, maybe!

I know not where you are ‑ you, where I go,

You whom I should have loved ‑ and felt it so!

— Charles Baudelaire

I read this poem for my 1st week back and uni- it may seem unbelievably cheesey but to me it just seemed so honest, open and romantic. And who doesn't like a bit of romance.

Its set during a time when industrialization and population was booming and with it came this idea of the urban metropolitan crowd. A crowd which was filled with ever changing faces; a profoundly new and exciting experience for the time. 

Basically its all about what might have been, about things and people just passing by, about missed opportunity. He is intensely taken with her, and in just a moment she disappears. She is taken from his life forever and he feels from just that one moment he could have loved her.

Bought These Shoes

Literally wanted a pair of these badboys for toiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime- and got a cheeky 10% student discount and got to use £20 worth of vouchers towards them. BARGAIN!

And This Tea

Rooibos creme caramel and Bollywood Chai

Listened To This

Marika Hackman- 'here I lie' (and the rest!)

Singer, songwriter, guitar player, spokesperson...all in all one talented lady.  I've had the pleasure of seeing her live (if you get a chance to see her I STRONGLY recommend you doing so). With nothing but a guitar she manages to own a stage and mesmerize an entire crowd. With auto tune and all that palavar, its so rare nowdays to find a musician that sounds even remotely similar to what they do through a pair of speakers. But if anything Marikas recordings don't do her justice- her voice is utterly beautiful and and charming, griping you instantly. I also feel there are so many man-made bands around at the moment, it can make the music seem so lifeless and forced; but the comradery between her and the rest of the band is so nice to see- the whole thing just looks so effortless. Something that will give them a longevity that many fail to achieve. Her music is moving, inpiring and completely captivating and i just can't stop listening.

'Here I lie' is taken from the Burberry eyewear campaign and she has been played a few times on radio 1. This is very much only the beginning. So get listening now, so when shes a MASSIVE name you can say 'I heard her 1st'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWgDPm6M8BA 

Did Some Of This

Okay maybe not that exactly, but i did start skiing lessons. Its one of the funnest things I have ever done. An hour and half lesson felt like it lasted all of about 10 minutes- and i didn't even get cold (which if you know me well is a rareaty) and I'm proud to say that i didn't spend the entire lesson on my bum. Its great learning a new skill/hobby. Its SO easy to get stuck in the same old safe routine, life just becomes a bit stale. So I thinks its very important to try as many new things as possible. Personally I can be a bit of and adrenaline junkie; if I could id be white water rafting, jumping out of planes,and abseiling off some unnecessarily large cliff. But being a poor student in the flatlands of Norfolk its not always very feesable. But even if all that malarky aint your thing, its still so vital to push yourself to see what your truly capable of. 

I love a challenge and love achieving something I have set out to do, so its such a fantastic feeling making it down the end of the slope and i cant wait for next week- holiday in the Alps here I come!!

The Commuters Playlist.

So I’m going back to uni tomorrow after a very lengthy 6 months off (I’m not too sure if I can actually remember how to read and write) and this year instead of living in London I’ll be commuting. So before I started on the endless amounts of books which I have to read in preparation; I thought it was vital that I had a playlist prepared for the journey….NO IT WAS NOT JUST PROCRASTINATION!

So here’s a few of my favourite tracks which will get my very early and long day off to the right start.

Jake Bugg- Saffron

Well thanks to Mr Bugg himself this song is actually available to download for FREE on his site and urge you to do so. I still can’t over how you young and how talented this guy is- his music is country and folk at its finest and I can’t wait for his album release in October. I love watching videos of him on YouTube as his style of playing is reminiscent to that of The Beetles; and I can’t help but hear a resemblance to the likes of Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan when listening to him. But that being said, it doesn’t mean that this fella doesn’t stand out of the mould as a complete separate and original entity. He plays the guitar in a way that literally melts my heart and his lyrics are utterly breath-taking. It‘s almost as if he’s just telling you a story about his day, but he does so so majestically he’s able to create a sense of place and atmosphere that instantly captures the imagination- I always end up making up a little film in my head.http://jakebugg.com/

Chasing Mary-Sydney

Now I’d like to think that I don’t have a bias here (have a listen and let me know) seen  as the singer, songwriter, producer etc  etc is all done by a bredrin of mine- but I’d like to  think I know good music when I hear it. And this isn’t just good music is feckin fantastic.  I can probably best describe the sound by saying it’s as if someone has taken all the finest elements of an eclectic taste in music (electronic, blues, rock) and created something truly wonderful. The lyrics are full of soul and passion that will resonate within anyone who listens. It’s strange how words can be so hard to say, but a song can strip someone bare; creating something wonderfully emotive. The music and lyrics are all tied together with a melodic vocal tone similar to that of The Smiths or Talking Heads. I think it’s a true talent when a musician can physically create a feeling within you, be it happiness, sadness or even anger-something Chasing Mary seems to achieve effortlessly. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chasing-Mary/106878969345388?ref=ts

Alt-J- Breezeblocks

I 1^st heard of this band on Zane Lowes festive festival, and just short of a year on they’ve only gone a got themselves nominated for a chuffin Mercury Music Prize. This is a group of lads who undoubtedly deserve every single moment of their success. Their music is like nothing I have ever heard of before- maybe folky synth is the closest thing I can think of. It’s an odd thing to say when talking about music; but I admire how they’re not afraid to play with silence. It’s within these moments that your mind and body is able to register the magnitude of the song. The effect is chilling, and makes for a magnificent listening experience. Joe Newman’s (the lead singer) vocals literally gives me chills, and the bands vocal harmonies are nothing but impeccable. http://altjband.com/

Bill Downs- Wayfairing Stranger

You gotta rep a local lad! But it’s not just because this guy comes the beautiful flatlands of Norfolk that he’s on my playlist, he is an exceptional talent with a voice that can only be described as faultless. I was actually lucky enough to see him sing live at a charity event that my sister  and  classmates organised in Norwich- yes I was that lame that I asked to have my picture taken with him (but when he’s big and famous I’ll be making a lot of people jealous with that picture).. He plays the guitar so naturally it might as well be another limb; and he puts every single ounce his energy into his performance you can’t help but become mesmerised. When I saw him, he sang his version of Wayfairing Stranger acapella; and something has to me said for a guy who is able to silence a room.  I really hope he gets the recognition he deserves.https://www.facebook.com/BillDownsMusic?ref=ts

So I’ll be commuting for the rest of the academic year- so any suggestions to add to my playlist is always appreciated :)