Setting Intentions for 2016

Whilst I have never really been one for New Year's resolutions, I do like setting plans and goals, and it seems sensible to get them all written down so that I can look over them and hold myself accountable. 2015 has been an undeniably busy year for me, and I can only really expect to get busier as I progress with my personal and online development and push myself more. I have included some of the personal aspects to my list that I have written down here today, which I hope you will appreciate. I would also love to hear what your goals are, so please do share them with me in the comment box below!

1. Build up a targeted, effective fitness plan
I am so proud of how far I have come in my fitness journey over the last few months. I have tried new things, such as spinning, boxing and revisited climbing, and committed myself more than ever. Now, I want to properly plan my gym time to really push myself whilst making sure than all aspects of my fitness -flexibility, cardio and resistance training -get addressed.

2. Commit to yoga practice
I am still making my way through my #100DaysofYoga challenge and am loving having a daily practice. However, as life gets in the way, often my practice isn't nearly as long as I would like. Whilst daily 90 minute sessions on the mat aren't realistic for me on top of all the other activities I like to do, I would like to have an extra day or two that I spend that extra bit of time practicing properly. I have surprised myself by being able to hold new asanas, so am looking forward to developing further!

3. Flexibility
Linked to yoga, but I would really like to focus on improving my flexibility significantly. Top of my list are wide-legged splits and being able to do front splits without the floor (so: standing split, three-legged down dog, air splits). I may have to hold off on this one for a couple of weeks as I have overstretched my left hip and it is feeling a little sore!

4. Nutrition: keeping clean and eating more plant-based
One of my favourite things about living by myself is that I have complete control over my meals. I have really been enjoying eating more and more plant based foods and so want to challenge myself more in my cooking. Whilst I won't be counting calories or macros, I will be playing closer attention to what (and how much!) is going on my plate to really optimise m nutritional intake.

5. Blogging: work with more brands, expand Bloglovin' and Instagram following and connect more!
It has been such a pleasure blogging this last year. Although London is tricky to get to, I will be keeping my eyes peeled for events that I can attend. I am really aiming to utilise Instagram more, and open to seeing how my YouTube channel develops.

6. University: Achieve a first for my second year and sort out my research placement.
Although I finished my first year with a first, those grades don't count towards my overall degree. I'm keeping my nose to the grindstone and working as hard as I can towards this goal. Rather than going straight on to my third year after summer, I am taking a few months out to do some real, scientific research work. I hopefully have something lined up, so will be going out guns blazing to get it all confirmed!

Happy New Year to you all!

Inspiration: Phoebe Greenacre

Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Phoebe Greenacre of Wood and Luxe, a travel blog focussed on all things healthy and luxurious. Phoebe has spent ten years working in digital marketing for travel brands, meaning that she has visited and explored a huge array of countries. She's also a total yogi with a nose for finding a class or studio wherever she is. To keep up with Phoebe, head to her stunning Instagram page. Be warned, you'll be desperate for a holiday after scrolling through!

You travel for work. Where did you wake up today? Today I woke in rainy London! But yesterday I woke up in Marbella & next week I will wake up in Croatia.

What tips would you give to people wishing to travel more, particularly in terms of budgeting? Prioritise your spending. What do you want more? The new pair of yoga leggings, your hair dyed or a return flight to Portugal? If you live to travel, you will want to put that first in your list of priorities. Find other ways to spice up your wardrobe!

What would you say your favourite type of holiday is- walking, beach, city break? 

Ah this is a hard one as I love loads of different active holidays. I always love to be outdoors & amongst nature. It will definitely be skiing for the winter months & sailing in the summer months. I went sailing with MedSailors this year to Greece & Turkey and it was so much fun! Not a worry in the world, sailing around secluded bays, swimming with turtles  and sleeping on the boat beneath the stars. I love keeping active on my holidays and there is always something outdoorsy to do when sailing. Paddleboarding, swimming & SUP yoga a few of my favourites! 

You mention your love of yoga on your website. When given the option do you have a favourite style, and why?

I'm currently studying to be a vinyasa yoga teacher so I do find myself practicing the vinyasa style. Other than vinyasa, I love yin yoga & also yoga Nidra. These types of yoga help me to balance stress when living in London. 

Do you have any tips for eating healthily whilst in another country?

I try to stick to a high protein & low carb diet when traveling. But I'm all about balance and trying new things. If you're going to try a local delicacy, just do it in small amounts. 

Have you always been interested in healthy living?

Healthy living has always been at the heart of everything I do. I was brought up with a very strict vegetarian eating habits at home and pretty much nothing came from a packet. I also danced from the age of 5-21 so keeping fit was a priority. My mum is the one to thank for all my good eating habits & introducing me to healthy exercise. I started going to the gym and yoga with her from the age of 15. Things like kale & almond milk were never foreign to me which was a blessing. However, growing up I now appreciate my upbringing so much more. 

Where is your must-see travel destination?

I have so many! I'm up to 38 countries so it's hard to narrow it down. I'll break it down to beach & mountains & monument.

Beach:  This year I visited Kefalonia in Greece which blew my mind. It has beautiful greenery, gorgeous mountains for hiking and some of the most prettiest beaches I've ever seen. And growing up in Australia, I've seen my fair share. 

Mountains:

My favourite mountains are in the south of Germany just two hours outside of Munich. We went hiking for the bank long weekend and the scenery was bliss! It was a beautiful area called Berchtesgaden national park. I will definitely be going back to these two places in the future. 

Monument:
Hands down it would have to be the Taj Mahal in India. I was gobsmacked by the grand majestic-ness of the structure, energy and vibe of this place. Definitely a must-see in your lifetime.

Who, or what, inspires you the most?

On a business level it would have to be Tim Ferris. I read his book The Four Hour work week in 2010 and never looked at the 9-5 job the same again. Read it! It won't let you down. 

On an entrepreneur level - Lisa Messenger is my go-to for inspiration. She is the author & publisher of The CollectiveMagazine. Her book Daring & Disruptive is amazing for entrepreneurs wanting to start their own business. And her other book Life & Love is so inspiring about living a life you love & also finding love and working on it everyday.

On a yoga level, it would have to be Rachel Brathen aka @yoga_girl from Instagram. Her mission to share yoga with the world & build an encouraging and strong supportive community is something I'd like to replicate one day. Living in Aruba, teaching yoga & SUP & traveling the world is a dream! 

Name a favourite healthy meal. 

My go-to healthy meal is grilled Salmon, steamed greens & sweet potatoes. 

Finally, what makes you happiest?

A packed suitcase, passport in hand & about to embark on an adventure with my partner, friends or family. 

To add to that I'm most happiest when I'm appreciated. Whether that be by my marketing clients, my yoga students or just my boyfriend saying thank you for making dinner. It's the little things that make me happy. 

Eating Healthily When Travelling

I think there is often a little bit of debate between whether you should have a healthy holiday, or if you should just enjoy the time away and indulge. Personally, I like the idea of striking a balance and finding lots of enjoyable, active activities and eating delicious foods. If you are still yet to take your summer holiday, or have another trip coming up, read on to see my tips on eating healthily abroad.

1. Stock up on healthy snacks

In the UK, healthy snacks and nibbles have taken the shops by storm. You can find the popular Nakd bars in even the smallest of convenience shops now, or order multipacks online. Popping packaged items into your main luggage should be fine with most airlines (always check first!) ensures that you have a source of energy to-go. Biona make these great little packets of healthy breads, such as pumpernickel that come already sliced into thins. If you are a little dubious about your breakfast options, these are great, and perfect for topping with mashed banana or avocado.

2. Shop local

From my mother, I have developed a great love of exploring foreign supermarkets. It sounds silly, but it is exciting to see what variety of food is on offer, and what makes up the staple foods in a different country. Alongside this, head to local markets for seasonal produce, especially fruit and veg. Take advantage of regional specialities -if you are visiting a coastal area, look for fresh (and sustainably caught!!) seafood. Keep your wits about you, particularly in places such as Morocco or Turkey where there is a strong market culture and don't be guilted into buying things you don't want. UK market traders are fairly reserved about enticing customers, so be prepared for a different experience.

3. Blend it up

Again, please check your airline policy, but recently, I have been hearing about holiday makers packing their travel blenders. If this appeals to you, grab your Nutribullet or hand blender and get ready to whip up smoothies and pestos on the go -just don't forget the power adaptors! If you are going self catered, it is always worth asking the property owner what equipment they provide, or if they have a blender that you could borrow.

4. Eat where the residents eat

It's always a little disappointing to arrive at a new, exotic destination, only to come across pizza places and English-style pubs. See if you can scope out a less touristy restaurant, or ask your travel rep if they recommend anywhere. Talk to people that you meet and ask for opinions. You may find something totally unexpected -the world is a global village, after all, and you will always find a blend of cultures. When in Greece, we mixed up seafood restaurants with a beachfront Italian, owned by a lovely lady who split her time between the two countries.

5. Eat your greens

Keep your nutrient and energy levels high by snacking on fruit and vegetables to ensure that you are getting you 5-10 a day. It is one of the cheapest kinds of food and will keep you sustained between meals. If you're following tip 3, a smoothie is the perfect way to boost your intake, and is nice and cooling in a hot country!

6. Relax

Ultimately, you are on holiday, and a week or two of not sticking exactly to plan is not going to do you any harm. Eating healthily is meant to be enjoyable, so if it is causing added pressure, don't sweat  it. Try not to go completely crazy (on the fizzy drinks and alcohol too!), and get back to your usual routine once home.

Review: Deliciously Ella

I think many, if not all, of us health bloggers can view Ella Woodward, of Deliciously Ella, as the epitome of blogging success. She has changed her lifestyle to radically improve her own health, and inspired many others to do the same, all whilst keeping a positive, grounded attitude and producing lots of yummy food.

Those of you on Instagram may have noticed me sharing a few images of Deliciously Ella creations that I had made myself. Now, I am the first to admit that I am far too inclined to buy or lust after lots of recipe books, but then barely use any of the recipes, if any. However, Ella's book is just stuffed full of recipe's that I wanted to try, and I found myself often trying two or three a day.

As far as I am aware, most of the recipes in the book can also be found on the blog, but here they are even easier to find, with a few extra tit bits and anecdotes thrown in. What is different is that Ella goes into a lot of detail on how diet has changed her health, which ingredients and cooking methods to use, and recommendations on how to take up Ella's lifestyle yourself.

So far, I have been pretty pleased with everything that I have tried so far, and can't wait to have a crack at the sweet potato brownies. I am particularly taken by the tahini-based dressing used frequently in recipes, even though I am not keen on it on it's own. The dressing typically involves mixing the tahini with lemon, or honey and oil. It makes the best stir fry dressing! I would also recommend trying the lentil bolognese, which is the perfect healthy comfort food.

Although I initially borrowed the Deliciously Ella book, I am really considering purchasing it myself because it was such an enjoyable read. I will say that some of the ingredients are a little on the expensive side -I have plain pitted dates instead of medjool and a friend of mine used marmite and water as part of the dressing ingredients to avoid a more pricy item. However, there is a lot of flexibility around ingredients, and so long as you have some kind of food processor to get you started you will be able to access most of the recipes without too much bother.... I will need to get myself a food processor of my own by the end of summer!

If you are looking to eat cleanly, and naturally then Ella's book really is an excellent, whether as a starting point or to add some new ideas to an existing repertoire.

Yoga with Geoff Powell

On Sunday, I attended my first yoga day course, after being told about the day by my yoga teacher, Morfudd,  who trained with the course's teacher, Geoff Powell. Geoff has been teaching Iyengar yoga since the 1970's and has trained with the late Mr. B. K. S. Iyengar himself. He then became one of the first yoga teacher's to practice in North Wales, and is largely responsible for training many of the Iyengar tutors in the area today. (To find out more about Iyengar yoga, read my post here.) With such experience as this, I found myself looking forward to the day's experience greatly. Set in the mountainous backdrop of Gwynedd county and overlooking the Menai Straits from atop the village, the location for the day was remote and peaceful. A few minutes before the start of the day, I entered the naturally-lit hall, which was already filling with students. Many there attend Geoff's yoga classes or courses regularly and knew one another already, but everyone was so friendly that I quickly felt comfortable. After a cup of lemon and ginger tea, we settled down and Geoff, who made sure to know us all by name, introduced us to the day.

The morning and early afternoon was filled with just under three hours of posture work, with a brief break part way through. Many of the asanas and progressions were familiar to me from my weekly class, but the extra time and focussed session let us all expand our practice. The time at the beginning spent opening up the back, shoulders and hips set my body up for the rest of the day. I was excited to discover that handstands and headstands were part of the day. I taught myself to hold a headstand over the summer (see my post explaining how to hold headstands here) and my current aim is to be able to hold a handstand. This last week I have started being able to hold myself away from the wall for a few brief seconds, and the work on Sunday really helped. My arms certainly felt it afterwards! I learnt lots of new techniques, some that I was more comfortable with than others. But, as Geoff said, it is the poses that you least want to do that are the ones that you need to practice. So I am now inspired to push myself more in my home practice! The focus on each individual pose was really useful for correcting my alignment and so I found the whole session very helpful.

Lunch was a delicious affair, all cooked by Geoff's partner, Gwyn, who is a trained chef. There was a carrot and lentil soup that slipped down all too well, along with a selection of flavoursome, hearty salads and cheeses. Geoff and Gwyn had us all well looked after for the whole day! It was hard not to over eat with such a spread, and I wish I had taken a photo now as it was laid out beautifully, and in stonewear bowls. I took a few minutes during lunch just to stand outside and breath in the fresh, clean air.

After lunch, we let our food settle whilst listening to Geoff give a talk on subtle energy, also known as prana in Indian/yogic practice. The topic is pretty new to me, so I listened with interest. Geoff studies the meridian system, a Chinese energy system that holds some resemblance to the perhaps more commonly known chakras. He explained that specific poses helped to open up certain pathways, each of which is linked to an organ or gland. Acupuncture and Yin yoga are both based around the principles of the meridian system. Geoff gave us some demonstrations, comparing our strength or flexibility in a certain area before and after stimulating the relevant meridian, by holding postures or "tapping" particular body areas. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but the physical change that the adjustments certainly surprised me. I would certainly be much more open to trying acupuncture if I start to suffer from migraines or similar. A fellow student also explained to me about reflexology and the nerve endings found on the feet and hands and how it can relieve many symptoms. I really learnt a lot in that hour.

Finally, we ended the day with an hour of Qigong, which holds similarity to Tai Chi. As I haven't tried Tai Chi, I can't compared the two, but the steady, fluid movements of Qigong were gently stimulating and helped to loosen up my muscles after the morning's stretching. Jill, who ran the session with a warm energy, was quietly enthusiastic and very helpful in showing us Qigong, which was new to many of the group. In summer, Jill holds Qigong sessions on Bangor pier and I'm pretty tempted to go -I can't think of a more energising location to practice!

I really had a wonderful day and would love to attend similar events in the future. One day, I would really love to go on a yoga course or retreat abroad, and this has cemented that desire. Geoff holds regular classes in North Wales along with residential courses in Turkey and Crete, and I would highly recommend his teaching.

All my photographs in this post were taken the day before close to Snowdon when on a walk. I can't think of a more gorgeous place to live in and practice yoga!

Veganuary: the Results

So it is now February which means that the month of Veganuary is over. As I started late, I still have a few more days to go, but I thought I would do a summary post in conduction with the challenge's official end.

So, how have I found it? Surprisingly, making vegan meals for a month really wasn't that difficult. For breakfasts, I only had to omit yoghurt and I recently discovered that my local health food shop sells coconut yoghurt, which makes a nice occasional treat. I have been avoiding using soy substitutes, so have been getting my protein this month from nuts, seeds and dark leafy veggies. Many of my staple dinners are vegan anyway, so I only had to switch the kind of pesto that I used, and hold the cheesy topping. I did find the few times that I ate out difficult as only having one option on the menu was a bit disappointing. There is a vegetarian cafe near me though and another local cafe caters for lots of different diets, so I do have those for future eating choices. I have also branched out on my snack options -who knew that you could buy lentil or quinoa crisps? I'll confess, I haven't actually said no to any offers of chocolate, but when buying for myself, I have become much more familiar with which dark chocolate brands to go for. Some are completely vegan; some are technically dairy free but may have milk traces and some have milk as an ingredient. So it was worth looking at and deciding where my boundaries of strictness were.

I am pretty pleased that I've managed to stay off the cheese when my chocolate avoidance somewhat failed! I did have cheesy pizza the one time as a friend bought a few boxes as a thank you for a group of us helping her to move. This means I did cheat, but I reduced my animal products an awful lot and only bought vegan food for myself. So although it was tempting to beat myself up about this, I have stepped back from that and still think I have made some really good progress.

I guess the next question is what is in store for my diet from now on. I'm really proud of what I have done this month, and as I really want to keep my carbon and ethical footprint right down, I will definitely continue to eat as little animal products as possible, especially from those linked to cattle. After next week I will start to have eggs again, as I buy locally sourced ones. To me, the unfertilised egg is a waste product from a chicken and so to take an egg from a chicken living in good, outdoor conditions is fine to me. Honey from sustainable sources I am also fine with as bee keeping is an important method to protecting the declining bee populations. Everything else I plan to reduce as much as possible, whilst still accepting that I am human and imperfect!

Source

Whether animal rights, environmental impact or health is your concern, moving to a more plant based diet will bring great benefits. I have been so inspired by the hosts of vegans out there, providing recipes, motivation and positivity so thank you to them! I am looking forward to living increasingly sustainably and my food basket has been such a good place to have a kickstart.

Have you changed your diet recently, or got involved with Veganuary? Let me know below!

Looking Back: 2014

This last year has been one of my busiest yet, and has gone fast. I suppose it is inevitable, but I am still surprised to find New Year's Eve rolling around today. I don't really have any traditions for New Year's compared to Christmas; I find the passing of another year a little sad! Still, I'm looking forward to starting the new year, and starting new and old routines afresh. Before I start the new year, I thought it would be good to look over the last year before moving on to 2015.

 January, February, March
After finishing an A level research project, I suddenly found myself with a little time on my hands. I had blogged before and wanted to get going again. I started Green + Aquamarine, with the idea of building a new blog based around fitness, wellbeing and sustainability. I passed my driving test with only four faults, and in February travelled to Harrogate for lunch with Mum and a cheeky nosy into Sweat Betty. During March, I tried an online Ballet Bootcamp class, made healthy energy bars and shared a guest post from the Marine Conservation Society.

April, May, June
From Easter, the run up to final exams began. Blogging went quiet for a bit, although I had a go at an Instagram yoga challenge during my study leave. A level exams were completed, and I spent a weekend glamping in Northumberland to celebrate. After that was my Mum's birthday, immediately followed by my Leaver's Ball, which I had been chair of the committee.  It was such a relief that everything ran smoothly, and the event hall was beautiful.

July, August
Over the summer, I started sharing a new post series, Asana of the Week. I then became an affiliated blogger for Om Yoga magazine. It is such a supportive, enthusiastic community to be involved with, and I really look forward to each month's issue, with it's variety of articles and topics. I spent my final weekend with the RSPB's Phoenix Forum, a team of ten teenagers representing the youth of the RSPB. We volunteered at Rutland Water's Bird Fair, which is always a really interesting weekend.

September
Over the summer, I managed to go on a couple of trips with friends, including going down to Swanage in Dorset for a gorgeous week. I experimented with vegan recipes, and then it was time to pack up my bags and start university. Moving all the way to Wales to live by myself for the first time was certainly strange, but I'm now living with some lovely flatmates.

October, November
Come autumn, university started properly and I started to settle into my course and life in Bangor. It is amazing to be focusing on a subject that you are passionate about, and as well as my course, I have had a lot of opportunities to join societies, such as surfing and marine mammal surveying. I joined the university gym, and have been able to work out, attend two yoga classes and have started the rather scary Insanity classes. Between that and eating a largely healthy, vegetarian diet, I feel healthier than ever. In October, I travelled down to London to the Om Yoga Show and then over to Oxford to see Stuart. My parents came over for Dad's birthday, so it was lovely to see them again.

December
The final month of the year saw me travelling back home, after a final two weeks of practicals, lab reports and an exam. It was really special to come back to the house all decorated, to get involved in all the usual traditions once again. It was like I hadn't left, and I'm a little worried that I won't know how to leave again! We had a wonderful Christmas -I'm part of a very small family so there were just four of us, but it always nice and cosy. I have been spending the holidays seeing family and friends between working and revising. It's been a pleasant sort of bubble; I can't quite fathom that my nineteenth and the return to university are just around the corner!

I hope that you've had a happy 2014 and have an either better 2015. Happy New Year!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

December has finally worked its way through to Christmas and the festive period has come around really fast. I have been squeezing in Christmas shopping and baking in between work and revision and have slowly been feeling more and more Christmassy since arriving back home.

Christmas Eve is as an important part of Christmas to me as the main day itself. We start off the day with a fairly vital task -collecting the turkey! When I do eat meat, it is important to me to make sure that it is sustainably sourced from animals that have had a decent quality of life. I can't remember not ordering a turkey from a farm shop or the deli, and I do think it makes a difference. We also bought the stuffing, being a little short for time this year, and cheeses. Once again we've bought our turkey through the delicatessen where I work. My family have been shopping there since before I started work there and it is good to know exactly where everything has come from, and to be assured of delicious foodstuffs and goodies!

Next, on to secret Santa in Helmsley, a historical town a few miles away. Since moving to Yorkshire, the Christmas Eve secret santa hunt has been our new tradition. As Stuart stayed over this year, we opened up our gifts (out of christmassy present sacks) over tea and teacakes in the Black Swan tearooms. This is the third year that we've been doing our new Christmas Eve traditions, and now I wouldn't be without them.

Early gifts: Ottolenghi books and SLOEmotion tipples!

Keeping fit over the holidays can be tricky, especially when leaving the gym and sports clubs behind. I'll admit; I am yet to go out on an outdoor run, but I have made it to the local gym this week and stretched out for a few minute of yoga where I can. It keeps me feeling energised and comfortable in a time associated with sitting on sofas in hot rooms all day.

For this reason, Christmas and boxing day walks are usually well received, especially after eating lots! There is such a friendly atmosphere wherever you go, especially when passing families greet you as they go past, bike-riding children in tow.

Grokker: Be a Better You

When you can't make it to a class mat or personal trainer session every day (so, most of us) it can be hard to keep up yoga and targeted exercises as a regular practice. Firstly, the solution was to bring the trainer to you, all neatly packaged up in a promotional DVD. Exercise DVD's are starting to get a bit outdated now; with a laptop or television being required and a limited amount of content that can actually be put on the disk. Step forward the internet era. Theoretically, you can just type in a few key words into YouTube and be watching a yoga class from where you are sat. But quality can vary an awful lot, and it was this issue that inspired Lorna Borenstein to found Grokker, a website that brings you yoga, cooking and workout videos by expert yogis, instructors and chefs.

The name Grokker came from the book, A Stranger in a Strange Land in which to Grok means "means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed,” and so to be Grokker, you have been transformed.

All the videos are categorised really clearly, making finding a perfect video a breeze. As well as by category, you can search by video time length or expert leading the session, so the service is highly tailored to your needs. New, popular and featured videos are shown to provide further inspiration. I love delving through to find a new Vinyasa Flow video, and have learnt that Ashleigh Sargent's teaching style for yoga really suits me. She also runs yoga for athlete classes, which are perfect after a tough workout! I have been looking at the cooking videos for inspiration as well, although I have yet to try a workout class.

The fitness videos seem to be highly diverse, featuring weight training to ballet and barre sessions. There really is something for everyone. Videos are marked as to their difficulty level, letting you know if you are trying a class suited for all or one to challenge you.

The best thing is that you can access this for free. The basic membership allows access to three of the premium videos per day, as well as all non-premium videos. You can also make use of the wellness and community advice pages. For $9.99 per month, you can watch unlimited premium videos, and "attend" online classes. I am using the free version, which is working really well for me.

Do you use online videos to practice at home?

Homewear Favourites: Accessories

At university, a big challenge of having a bedroom, living area and study all contained within one small room is making the space seem homely and personal. Since moving to Wales, I have been making a few additions to make my room more "me". Today, I thought I'd share some of these bits and pieces with you.

When visiting Caernarfon, I treated to myself to this sweet little plant pot for my Peace Lily. The shop, called Lotti & Wren was full of home wears, gifts and Christmas decorations. I picked up a couple of Welsh Christmas cards too, as a personal touch for next month. Having a plant brings a bit of life to my room, and Peace Lily's are supposedly good for keeping air clean and detoxified.

From home, I brought this tray. It mostly sits of my shelf as decoration, but is a useful drink tray for morning cuppas and evening cocktails on occasion.

My second tray actually came from Anglesey Sea Zoo, where I was doing a research practical. I had been looking for a metallic tray for my perfumes, and couldn't resist the starfish and shell design. Plus, the proceeds go towards keeping the zoo running, which does vital research and conservation for British marine species.

Unable to resist the Debenhams Christmas section, I had to get this bargain fleece blanket. It is so soft and warm; perfect for wrapping myself in when watching films with my flatmates. I think it will be coming home with me over Christmas to keep my warm and festive on cold winter nights!

Lastly, I like to keep a couple of bags to hand. My green Zatchels satchel is my day-to-day bag, fitting my laptop or notebook and other essentials in neatly. Behind is the carrier bag I got from Sweaty Betty. For a free carrier bag, it is impressively sturdy, and has one of my favourite quotations on one side:

"The cure for everything is salt water -sweat, tears, or the sea"

Comment below if you are enjoying my university updates, or have been redecorating and updating your home recently!