My Summer Favourites

*before I start I realise this post is about 2 weeks late but it's been in my drafts and I keep forgetting to edit it but I still want to post it so here we go....*

Wow wow wow wow wow. How on earth is it the end of summer already?! Ever since I got back from South Africa the weeks have just flown by and it's been quite a whirlwind but I think the future is looking up now!

I have a whole lot of favourites from this summer and majority resonate from my trip to South Africa. I have fallen head over heals in love with Rooibos (Redbush) tea. I've drunk so much of it I don't remember what English tea tastes like. Rooibos is very different to English teas but I don't quite know how to explain it but I can recommend that you try it because it is DELICIOUS! I also fell in love with beetroot and before you say anything, I know this isn't just South African, but I'd never eaten it much before I went. We'd eat it for lunch everyday with crackers, cheese and mayo. It was delicious, I highly recommend it to everyone. For breakfast every morning I had muesli and fell back in love with that too. We had to use creamer/powdered milk and warm water which may sound a bit weird but it tasted lovely and warmed you up after a cold night. My final food favourite comes in the form of rusks. In the UK they're most well known for giving to babies when they are being weaned off milk and onto food and I don't like the British ones but the South African rusks are a different story. Each night we had different flavours, some with raisins, some were buttery and others were vanillary. Despite them being extremely crunchy and hard, dip them into some Rooibos tea or hot chocolate and you're onto a winner! I'm yet to find them in the UK though which makes me very sad.

I loved all the South African food so it is all my favourite but I can't go on for so long about the food so I'll go on to my other favourites. Throughout my trip I wrote in a journal and since I've been back I've enjoyed writing in one since. I like being able to write all my thoughts and feelings of the day down. I'm also reading more on my kindle as I find it so convenient. I just chuck it in my bag and I can read whenever I want. I highly recommend The Girl on the Train, it's a psychological thriller and it is incredible!! 

Dolphins and horses are my ultimate favourite animals but I've always had a soft spot for giraffes and elephants which only increased when I visited the wilderness. The gracefulness of the giraffe is just beautiful and the unlikely elegance of the elephants took my breath away. Also in the wilderness I encountered hundreds of impala. The impala has the most beautiful, silky looking coat I've ever seen and their horns are incredible. I guess I just love animals! 

Slightly random favourites include the classic french plait, perfect to keep your greasy, hasn't-been-washed-in-5-days-hair out of your face! My beanie because it kept me unbelievably warm at night when my head was poking out of my sleeping bag. Finally for my SA based favourites is water. Now this obviously isn't exclusive to South Africa but while I was there I realised just how much we take it for granted and actually how much I like drinking a cold glass of water from a tap that isn't brown and mud-tinted! 

Aside from all my South African favourites I do have a few general summer favourites. I've fallen in love with the Rimmel Wake Me Up mascara again. It makes my eyelashes ridiculously curled, thick and lengthened. It's definitely my go to mascara for all events.  I've been having a lot of trouble with my skin and it seemed the face washes I used were making me breakout more like the Neutrogena Grapefruit wash or the Garnier Pure Active anti-blackhead deep pore wash. So I bought the Clearasil Ultra 5-in-1 Scrub and it seems to be working a treat. I've not had anymore spots and I think my blackheads which have constantly been present on my nose are reducing in visibility quite a lot. My skin feels a lot smoother after I use it too.

I hope you've all had a lovely summer but I fear it is over as the rain has really set in but that can only mean one thing; baggy jumpers and cosy winter clothing! 

Thanks for reading,

Charlotte

XO

How to Adult

As scary as it may be I, and so many other people, are currently in the transition from teenager to adult. For the past two and a half weeks I have been completely independent. Doing my washing, food shopping, going to work, doing ironing, scheduling and generally learning how to adult. So to help those who are off to uni, or others who are leaving uni and heading into the big wide world I thought I'd share some tips on how to adult effectively. 

1. Plan Plan Plan. This is something that will keep you from forgetting or failing. Have a big diary with at least half a page per day (I prefer a whole page for each day) so you can write down all your appointments, your to-do list etc. I also use my diary for food planning (see point 3). If you write down everything you will never forget it, I have done this for about a month now and I've not forgotten a thing. 
2. Do your washing. It may seem tedious but it only takes 2 minutes and what would you rather; spend a couple of minutes doing your washing and have lovely clean clothes or wear dirty clothes and smell bad/ wear clothes that don't actually fit you anymore? 
3. Plan your meals. I have been doing this since I became more independent and it's helped me stay on track with being healthy. If you just go into the supermarket and buy whatever you want chances are it'll be random, less healthy food and you won't even be able to make decent meals out of it. So what I suggest is plan your meals then do your food shopping around what you need for those meals
4. Stay tidy. It's simple, life is just some much easier when everything is tidy and you know where everything is. Being tidy will help you to stay organised and efficient!
5. Write lists. I have become addicted to carrying a notebook with me (plus my diary) pretty much where ever I go. I write extra to-do lists, notes and my shopping list down and it's extremely hand to always have with you!
6. Go to bed. Even though there is probably something on TV or Netflix that you really want to watch your body will thank you for having an early night. Especially if you work early/have early lectures. Who wouldn't want a few hours in bed over a TV show which you can watch on catch up tomorrow!
7. Cheese. Yes I realise this is slightly odd but cheese will save any meal. Boring brown rice...add grated cheese. Plain salad...add mozzarella. Basic chicken and  potato....add halloumi. Seriously, cheese rescues every meal, I eat it everyday and I think I'm slightly obsessed. 
8. Tea is your friend. And if you don't like tea have coffee. It'll wake you up and in the winter months (which it already feels like where I live) it'll warm you up!
9. Talk to your parents often. While you may argue when you're together everyday, keep them updated on how your life is going! In the first week they may seem overly interested (or at least mine did) but that soon dies down and you'll be grateful that they care!
10. Don't lose touch with your friends. It's going to be so difficult to  all meet at one time, keep in touch with those school friends who really care about you. At the end of the day, they're some of the people who know you best so try your hardest not to lose touch with them! 
11. Have fun! Yes, learning what to do and how to actually live is hard and making mistakes will happen. Enjoy being young, making new friends and learning about life! 

Hope this was helpful! 

Much love,

Charlotte

XO

Worth

I got the inspiration for this blog post sat on a rock in South Africa overlooking the White Umfolozi river as the sun was setting and a baboon was sat a few metres away from me in a tree. That is the beautiful thing about the wilderness, you get so much time to think about things and this was one of them.

I was thinking about how I hadn't worn makeup in a week yet people had still spoken to me, still treated me like a human being and it showed that your appearance does not define your worth. This then led me onto other things that don't define your worth and I got quite into it and ended up writing about 11 pages in my journal for that day. The exact thoughts I had are slightly too personal for me to publish on here but I'll share the general  the premise of what I was thinking.

There is so much pressure on young people (from their peers and society) these days to appear perfect, to be sexually active or to know what they want to do in life and in the end we forget what we are worth. 

We are worth more than the number of likes on a selfie. We're worth more than the number of 'friends' we have. We're worth more than the letters on our results sheet or our report card. We are worth more than how many people we have or haven't had sex with. What I'm saying is that we are worth what is inside of us, our personality is what matters. Good people will value the good in you. If you're a kind person, a helpful person or a hard-working person for example people are likely to gravitate towards you, no matter what you look like or what you do in your private life. 

If they don't see beyond your appearance or your private activities they're probably not worth being friends with because they judge a book by its cover and they're not people you want to associate yourself with. You deserve more than someone who will only be friends with you if they think you're attractive enough to be part of their group or someone who is only friends with you because they can use you for something. 

So next time you feel a little low remember all the good things about you. Forget anyone who is negative or rude. Just think of what is good about you and what makes you so unique to this world and I'm sure you'll feel a little better!

Thanks for reading,
Charlotte

XO

Making an Effort

I've recently been faced with a lot of situations where I've been with people I hardly know and I've been forced to make more of an effort in conversations.

Normally, I'm the type of person who shies away from conversing with other people and waits for them to talk to me. I do this because I am a shy, introverted person before I really get to know people, but I've realised that it makes me seem boring and perhaps quite grumpy/snobby. Deciding to make more of an effort in these situations happened over time as I was exposed to them more. I witnessed people easily conversing with strangers and I wished I could do that. So, I took a deep breath, braced myself, opened my mouth and just spoke. And guess what? Nothing bad happened. 

With each situation I've gained more confidence and I'm now so much more comfortable talking to people I don't know. I've had interviews, made phone calls to strangers (which I used to dread) and I've met my new colleagues and I now feel so much more confident in my abilities. Before my voice would do this stupid squeaky thing and words would come out all funny which was so embarrassing and would make me want to speak less but I've found when I speak more confidently the squeaky-ness subsides. 

I think the main reason for my shyness was lack of confidence and worry of judgement but I now know I was worrying over nothing (just like usual really!). People will only judge you if you say something completely shocking or controversial. In a day to day conversation or in a little bit of small talk there is a very slim likelihood of you being judged (unless that person is a complete a**ehole then you don't want to talk to them at all!!

I realise that for a lot of people this is not an issue at all and you may read this and think it's a little pathetic and I just need to 'man up'. But having suffered with anxiety for about 4 years I know other people with anxiety/social anxiety may really struggle to talk in social situations so I really hope this post can help them a little bit to deal with these encounters and know they are going to be okay! 

Thanks for reading,

I hope it was helpful!

Charlotte

XO