Sunday 30 August 2015

The Moving Diaries: One Month On


So, guess who is still alive?!

Last time I updated you on the moving front, the post went up the day I moved in. My parents and I did survive moving day, it was probably the least stressful move that I have had. Ever. We headed off to Ikea because whilst my flat came furnished, when I finished uni I made the very smart decision to throw away all of my house-y things (although they were all three years old, so it was probably a smart choice really). Despite Ikea's infamy as a place where relationships are broken (much to the surprise of my 500 Days of Summer loving heart), we survived and I could have bought frankly everything. Following a dinner at Handmade Burger Company (which beats out GBK and Five Guys in my humble opinion on burger chains) my parents headed home and I settled in.
(My living area on move in day, more photos to come)
Whilst I did manage to put together a clicklist, my personal laptop basically rejected the BT Openzone and then on my actual install date the Sky man never showed up. This was followed by an email informing me that Sky had accepted my cancellation of my account. After some feelings and a restorative cup of tea I spent nearly an hour on the phone sorting out a new install date. Which was last week. Which should in part explain the lack of posts. The other is the fact that strangely adjusting to a Monday-Friday job took me longer than I expected. Whilst I'm working similar hours to the ones I worked at M&S, those hours tended to be long days rather than continual and after a week I definitely found myself being pretty tired. I also took full advantage of having weekends free for the first time in a long time. I headed down to Bristol to meet up with some of my uni friends and last week went to Liverpool to see some school friends. Both were a lot of fun, and it was so nice to feel like a normal human who could socialise at the weekend.

(A couple of mirror selfies [remember when you could use these on blogs?!] of what I've worn to work...definitely more to come)

The only downside to this is the fact that getting about five hours sleep at the weekend and then heading off to work is that you get (even more) tired. This all came a little bit to a head on this week where the arrival of my council tax bill which was a fair bit more expensive than I'd expected and my contract which claims I've got a month less at work sent me into a little bit of a stress cry. If I'm completely honest, moving by yourself is kind of hard mostly because you don't have anyone to share the stressy (read: financial) bits with. You also don't have anyone to rant at if you have a bad day, hence the stress crying. So I'm taking this Bank Holiday as a little bit of a break from everything and just having a chill. So far, I've done a food shop and some pilates and made a serious dent in the ridiculousness that is my YouTube subscriptions. And it's been lovely.

I'm also actually writing some more posts so I won't be so silent for quite as long this time!

Saturday 8 August 2015

Clicklist #6


Hello from a surprisingly sunny Birmingham. I've managed to survive my first week in my new job and living alone; although I will admit that my brain is a little fried. I'm also still technically wifi-less, but am very grateful to BT for transforming their phone boxes into wifi hotspots (seriously!). I have a bumper selection of things that I've liked on the internet as I've made my way through my Bloglovin feed; and then some more interesting posts will be forthcoming! 

-Olivia's recipe for Spaghetti Puttanesca might just be what I'm planning on having for dinner tomorrow (and lunch for probably the next four days)

-I normally side-eye blogger collaboration posts if I'm 100% honest, but I really liked Audery's approach which was almost like a photo diary (also she is probably the blogger I've followed for the longest)

-I've spoken before about how much I love the This American Life podcast, but their 4th July episode following one man's migration to the US is amazing

-When I was in Italy I totally fell in love with courgettes (or zucchini) and this Nigella Lawson pasta dish will probably me making it's way into my kitchen

-I really enjoyed Jon Ronson's Them, and his interview with human dustbin Katie Hopkins is pretty great. She's still kind of awful though.

-I really liked what Gizzi Erskine has to say about the 'trend' of clean-eating, she is obviously promoting her book, but at least it appears to have recipes involving actual carbs in it

-Rachel's review of Jackson & Rye has made it shoot up my 'list of places to visit if I find myself in London'

-I hate networking with the passion of a million firey suns. However, it is kind of important especially now that the job market is more competitive than ever. The Financial Diet has some interesting tips.

-Sometimes you read a blogpost that just really speaks to a feeling that you have definitely experienced, and this is one

-I've definitely seen Sketch on Instagram, and I really liked Rose's post about her visit. Although at £30 for afternoon tea it is definitely a little beyond my budget; super pretty though

-Geraldine's post about poking everyone she's friends with on Facebook is initially super funny, and then makes a really lovely point about the internet's ability to connect us

-Refinery 29 published an interesting piece about the changing face of blogging and Hannah also wrote a post on the same subject. This is interesting, but I will admit the more business-based blogs become, the less interested I am in reading them

-Rosie got married (and her wedding look stunning) but her honeymoon to Thailand looks like actual paradise

That's all for now, I'm going to make a cup of tea (my Saturday's are wild)

Saturday 1 August 2015

The Moving Diaries: The One After The One


In my last post about my move things were not going so well. Unsurprisingly the landlord, who was one of those people who had never actually visited the property, was not interested in double-glazing the property so I let it go. After suffering through a freezing bedroom and downstairs bathroom at university, I've always promised myself that at the very least I just want to be warm in my future home.

So I got back on the Rightmove/Zoopla train and after a few fails and cancelled viewings I found myself at this flat. Well, I actually found myself on the wrong side of the development because Google Maps led me astray so I had to be walked across by the concierge and probably looked like a proper idiot. However, after a quick look round (it takes all of 15 minutes to view a one-bed flat, even with questions), it seemed as though this one was the most promising I'd seen in ages.

It's in a modern building meaning that the EPC is an amazing B (no clingfilm on windows!), and light really pours through the living area and bedroom. Flashforward a month and a depressing amount of money and on Monday I finally got my hands on the keys. 

Having trooped out to the letting agents office, I had a quick scout around the flat, mostly focusing on teaching myself how to turn the hot water on. I then headed to Argos to buy a duvet and pillows which were surprisingly reasonable but also very awkward to have to carry through a busy city, especially when it's raining. After fighting with my bedding and losing a nail in the process, I acquired some dinner and settled in for the night in my flat with just a duvet and a kettle for company. I'll admit it did feel a little bit weird, but that might have had more to do with the fact that I had almost nothing in the flat-so it felt like a weird hotel room-than any last minute 'what have I done' feelings.

Whilst I do pine slightly for the spacious layout of the previous flat, the previous tenant had lived in this property for 5 years-proof that I probably don't need as much space as I think I do. Plus it'll be a good reason for me to finally reduce my hoarding habit. Really, it's a huge relief to have this sorted and I can redirect my nerves towards my new job (arghh) and the fact that internet providers don't believe in evening or weekend installations.


P.S. This post is going live on move-in day so hopefully me and parents have survived Ikea, if posts get a little sporadic blame it on the wifi (or lack of it)