NOW AND THEN

Lucy and Nate over at We Resolve tagged me to do this Now & Then post. It has been really fun remembering what I was like 10 years ago and seeing what has changed....

My hard drive has stopped working so I couldn't share any old photos.
now: 2014, twenty three     then: 2004, thirteen

CRUSHING ON

now: John Krasinkski, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

then: Ryan Gosling, Johnny Depp

WATCHING

now: Grey's Anatomy, Bones, New Girl

then: Blue Peter, Pop Idol, Cribs

LISTENING TO

now: Johnny Flynn, Taylor Swift, James Vincent McMorrow, this soundtrack

then: McFly, Probably NOW! 56, Avril Lavinge

READING

now: my 25 before 25 list

then: Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, the Georgia Nicolson series

STYLE

now: aiming for classic and simple still working on this!

then: flared jeans, long bead necklaces, logo tshirts

HAIR

now: light brown, shoulder length, natural waves

then: poorly straightened stripy blonde highlights (unfortunately!)

ATTITUDE, DREAMS & LIFE PLAN

now: trying to live in the present and appreciate today, focus on Jesus and love others, some day a family and explore the world more

then: be a costume or set designer, finish school, get married, have babies 

I have a week of work now so I'm very much looking forward to sleeping in and spending time with some lovely people. Hope you have a great weekend!

x

MY LEEDS/ FROTH & FODDER

Froth & Fodder is one of my favourite places for coffee in Leeds. 

I discovered it while I was at university and used to have breakfast there every Friday with friends for a year. It's pretty tiny but I love the cosy feel and somewhere I could easily spend more time! The coffee is delicous, food is seriously tasty and the music is excellently chosen. I would highly recommend it if you're ever passing through.

As I've said before, I love living in this city and want to share more of it on this blog. I need to work on getting my camera out in public without feeling embarassed! These photos don't fully capture this place. 

Have a lovely week! 

THANKFUL THURSDAY/ JANUARY.

A few things I'm thankful for so far this month.

one my mum. She's the best and tomorrow is her birthday!
two new starts, this year is going to be packed full of so many great things

three sleep, extra thankful I can fall asleep easily as these past few weeks have been busy four Leeds, I really love this city
five friends who come to stay at a moments notice and make my house feel more like home 
six my landlord fixing all the things I have no idea how to
seven my hot water bottle
eight sisters
nine love film helping me to finally see some films that I've been meaning to watch for ages

TODAY.

A frosty walk back from work this morning. Also my finished knitting my scarf!

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me but it was too beautiful to not photograph so please excuse the grainy quality.

Hope you had a great weekend

x

DAILY DECEMBER.

So somehow I managed to not really take any photos over Christmas this year.... partly because I was soaking up the loveliness and partly because I was at work right up until Christmas morning so I wasn't functioning enough to capture anything on the day!

Thankfully, I felt like the Christmassy magic that I get really into would stretch across the whole of Decemeber so I set out to take a picture a day this past month over on instagram. 

Hope you Christmas was filled with joy!

x

TWENTY FIVE BEFORE TWENTY FIVE.

Happy New Year! 
WOW. 2014 is here.

Last New Year's Day we were discussing resolutions as a family over lunch and I decided to make twenty five goals to achieve before turning twenty five. These are all things that I want to try/make/do anyway but I do well with deadlines and I knew a list would help me commit. Quite a few have been ticked off already but I now have just over a year and a half to finish the list. I actually mentioned this in one of my first posts but below is the full list (well done if you make it all the way through!).

one. Start a blog

two. Visit America

three. Graduate

four. Take more photos using my camera rather than my phone

five. Have a dinner party

six. Take up ballet again

seven. Travel around Europe

eight. Make a quilt

nine. See Taylor swift with my sisters

ten. Read 25 books* I've made specific lists below if you're interested

eleven. Watch 25 films* 

twelve. Knit a scarf

thirteen. Write a poem

fourteen. Learn how to play a song on the piano

fifteen. Learn how I play the guitar

sixteen. Have a herb garden

seventeen. Get a pet

eighteen. Run a mile without stopping

nineteen. Make a video

twenty. See a play

twenty one. Relearn my GCSE French

twenty two. Drink a whole cup of English tea

twenty three. Learn all the countries and capital cities in Europe and where they are

twenty four. Learn a letter from the bible off by heart
twenty five. Visit the Harry Potter studio tour

BOOKS

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R.Tolkien
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
1984, George Orwell
The Catcher and the Rye, J. D. Salinger
The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Pilgrims Progress, John Bunyan
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
The Lord of the Flies, William Golding, 
The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
Animal Farm, George Orwell
Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Goldem
The Princess Bride, William Goldman
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Bleak House, Charles Dickens
The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, Mark Twain
Ghostwritten, David Mitchell
Saturday, Ian McEwan

FILMS
The Graduate
The Godfather
Pulp Fiction
Schindler’s List
Casacblanca
Saving Private Ryan
Cinema Paradiso
Braveheart
The Big Lebowski 
Trainspotting
A River Runs Through It
Roman Holiday
Psycho
6th Sense
Manhattan
Midnight in Paris
The Descendants
Silver Linings Playbook
Liberal Arts
Untouchable
Delicacy
Paris, Texas
The Shop Around the Corner
The Guardian
Top Hat

* These are slightly random selections. I have tried to include both books and films that I wouldn't necessarily read or watch but that always seem to be on must-read/see lists and ones that I have been meaning to get round to but just never have. 

TODAY.

I am a graduate!

After three years of University and starting the real world of work I got to celebrate with friends and my parents. It was such a fun day, I literally had the best time despite the rain and the cold.

There were a few times when I wasn't sure if I would get through all the assignments and it was a LOT of work but I did it. I'm so beyond thankful for the friends I have made, the support and love I have received from everyone close to me, and for the past three and a half years spent in Leeds. This feels like quite an achievement.

God has taught me so much through this and it's exciting (and scary) to see what's next...

Photos from my lovely friend Ellerie.