Hey guys!

So, better late than never. I know, I know, my 7 Day Diet ended on Sunday and it's now Tuesday but I'm actually on holiday so I've been out and abouts. However I thought it a little rude not to finish off my updates from my 7 Day Diet so let's take another look through my goals and see if I achieved them.

To be honest, not much has changed since Day 4 & Day 5. I was a bit more naughty towards the end of the week due to the motivation wearing off and going on holiday. However I did try to keep to my goals as best as I could.

Goals:

• Eat a light, healthy breakfast
• Cut out carbs completely (ha let's see how that goes!)
• Drink mostly water
• Exercise most days
• I read somewhere that drinking a cup of coffee an hour before a workout, results in more energy and burns more calories, so let's see if that works shall we?
• Smaller portions- don't over eat
• Only eat healthy snacks
• Get a good night's sleep and wake up at reasonable times
• No alcohol 

On Sunday I did have a heavier breakfast of cereals and toast, but that's because I knew I'd be doing lots of walking on my holiday. However on Day 6 I stuck to just a small bowl of cereal with fruit.
Cutting out carbs as I discussed in my last post has been the hardest part of this diet. And I think unless it is your only goal, it is pretty hard. When combined with all my other goals I think I took on too much, there was too much for me to change for all my goals to stick. I think I've cut out quite a few of my carbs however and have tried to only eat more essential carbs.
I have drank a bit more wine and squash on my holiday, but that's because it's a holiday. But I'm pretty proud to say I stuck to water for the majority of the week!
I think I've had smaller portions but I'd like to carry this goal over and continue to do it.
I've definitely had healthier snacks. I've had more fruit and seeds and just the odd cube of cheese rather than reaching for a chocolate bar or biscuits.
I've had better night's sleep the past few day which I have felt better for.


So how has the diet gone?
Well I think for it to have a better effect it needs to go on for longer. You hear about these week long detoxes but I assume they are much more extreme, whereas what I was doing was just balancing and altering to make a healthier lifestyle.

Is it worth doing?
Yes, but like I said, these goals are good long term so why not try and introduce some of these goals to your normal routine? Take a bottle of water with you to work rather than opting for a vending machine pop. Little changes like that can make a huge difference.

What do I want for the future?
I'm definitely going to continue drinking more water and getting more exercise  and having smaller portions. I believe doing just these three things can make a difference. I also want to snack less, however if I do snack I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I am only human.

Speak soon

Hey guys, so I know I failed to upload Day 4 yesterday, and I don't really have a good enough excuse. To be honest I was busy... busy watching The Devil Wears Prada with my mum... oops!
So today I'll catch you up with day 4 as well as day 5.

It's not been easy. I've found day 4 and 5 the hardest I think because the novelty and motivation has begun to wear off. I didn't get to go for a jog yesterday. I was going to go in the evening but couldn't in the end as was waiting for a call and had some work to do. And today I haven't jogged either as again I've been working. However I did go food shopping with my mum so maybe that counts as exercise. I am again busy tonight, but if I finish not too late then I'll go out for a run... fingers crossed.

So here were my goals:

• Eat a light, healthy breakfast
• Cut out carbs completely (ha let's see how that goes!)
• Drink mostly water
• Exercise most days
• I read somewhere that drinking a cup of coffee an hour before a workout, results in more energy and burns more calories, so let's see if that works shall we?
• Smaller portions- don't over eat
• Only eat healthy snacks
• Get a good night's sleep and wake up at reasonable times
• No alcohol 

How they've gone:

1. I have eaten a light breakfast each day. I've tried to have something different each day so I don't get bored. Sometimes I've eaten fruit other days egg and yesterday I had a small bowl of cereal with berries on top.
2. Look, this was never going to be easy. Quitting carbs cold turkey is honestly so much harder than it sounds. And have I achieved it? Well, no. I've cut out a lot though. I don't eat crisps, or biscuits. I've had the odd slither of cake, and the odd piece of bread, but that has always been accompanied by veg or salad. As much as we assume carbs are the unhealthy part of our diet, we don't realise that for a balanced diet we need carbs. Carbs are just as important as other foods and cutting them out completely probably isn't natural. I have felt less bloated when I've not eaten carbs which is a great benefit, however cutting out carbs is so much harder when you live at home as you can't always dictate what food is cooked etc. I feel as though I've done really well with this goal though to be honest, because it is really hard and I've made a lot of alternative choices for carbs in meals.
3. I think I've done really well. I have only drunk water for the whole week, except for one cider at the pub and one teeny glass of red wine. Other than that, I've stuck to water. 
4. I tried the cup of coffee one hour before a workout thing, but personally I didn't think it made much difference. I think just sticking to a protein breakfast and water will do just as good.
5. I have made sure to have smaller portions for dinner and I have never over eaten, and I am yet to feel too full after a meal this week. That for me is one of my biggest issues. I always graze, snack and eat too much which causes bloating, nausea and most of all it's just greedy. It's calories that I don't need.
6. Healthy snacks? I think I've done this really well during the day. In fact I haven't really snacked or had much urge to. I have however had the odd piece of chocolate in the evening. Naughty I know, but... well I have no excuses other than, I wanted some chocolate.
7. I think getting a good night's sleep is not something you can always control. I've been going to bed at an alright time and I haven't been having huge lie ins, nor have I been waking up super early. Due to the heat it has been difficult to get a good nights sleep consistently, so whether this has had an effect on my diet I am unsure.
8. No alcohol? Well as I've said, I have had 2 drinks this week. I think that is good considering I usually have about 2 glasses of wine a night. So that's 2 drinks instead of 10. When you say it like that it sounds great. Think of what those extra 8 glasses does to your body. My body is 8 glasses of wine healthier this week!!

Okay so there have been good points and bad points. I was semi on this diet last week as well ( I just chose to write about it for this week) and in the two weeks I have just about lost 4 pounds. Of course this alters during the day due to water weight and food etc. But I have managed to shed 4 pounds- just from living a healthier more balanced diet and lifestyle! Result!!

Speak soon

Okay, so today I am guilty of slacking slightly on my diet. Not necessarily intentionally but sometimes it's hard to completely monitor what you eat when you aren't the only person who is eating. Because I live at home currently, my mum buys food that everyone will be eating and so I can't exactly always dictate the meals!

So, I had a high in protein breakfast of scrambled eggs with spinach. This was really easy to make and super yummy. It gave me more energy for my run than the previous days.

I then went for a short run because time was ticking and I didn't want to be out for too long as I had things to do.

For lunch I did have some orange juice as a treat as I have stuck to water for ages so I thought a glass of juice wouldn't hurt. I then had my typical lunch of a garden salad with chicken, cheese and ryvita. I then had yogurt, granola and mixed berries for dessert and a small slice of Jamaican Ginger Cake. The cake was of course carbs but according to my Fitness Pal app, it was only about 94 calories.

I've also been on my feet a lot today as I went for a run as discussed, and have walked my dog twice and been out and about doing errands.

I've kept at drinking more water than usual as well which I really feel is benefiting me.

For dinner, I was rather naughty as we had some pizza bases to eat up and so we made some pizzas for dinner, which of course is a high carb however we had some peppers on top and a side salad. I then had no dessert.

However I did then go to the pub where I had a light cider- again naughty! However it's not every day that I get to see my friends and so it was a treat. I have now had a few cubes of chocolate as well, oops.

Okay so today overall hasn't been as healthy as my previous two days, however when I look at it, it still has been relatively healthy. I've had plenty of vitamin C and salads and so the carbs and sugars I have consumed I feel can be justified.

I have noticed that today I have felt a lot more energised and not exhausted, so perhaps that is due to the protein breakfast, or the carbs I had. All things to take on board.

Tune in tomorrow for day 4!

Speak soon

Back again with today's update on how my 7 day diet is going.

This morning I started off with a white coffee with no sugar. I then had a bowl of cut up mango and banana. This was so sweet, perhaps a bit too sweet for breakfast, but was definitely refreshing and helped wake me up. For more energy I think I need to have more protein in my breakfast. So tomorrow I think I may make myself some eggs with spinach.

I then went on a 6.1km run where I ran solidly for about 2km and then mixed jogging with power walking for the rest. This was one of my longest routes I've done so far around my area, so I felt really good about it afterwards.

For lunch, I had a healthy garden salad topped with cold chicken and a couple of Ryvitas to help fill me up. During the afternoon I did, once again, feel rather exhausted. I believe this could be from lack of sugar, perhaps not a lack but because I've lessened my sugar and carb intake so my body is probably having slight withdrawals.

For dinner, I had a chicken and leak pie. I know that is carbs however it was complemented by some lovely fresh vegetables and new potatoes and I had yogurt, fruit and a tiny bit of granola for dessert. So even though the pie might not have been as healthy, I think it gave me the energy I needed and that I was lacking during the day.

I have also had a few cubes of chocolate (which was a present) which is very naughty but I'm only having a couple of squares to help my sugar levels.

I have also, once again stuck to water, besides the two small coffees I have drunk today. I feel brighter and more cleansed due to having more water.

I also weighed myself this morning and had lost about 2 pounds since the last time I'd weighed myself which is a bonus.

Check out the blog tomorrow for my next update.

Speak soon

Hey folks,

So as promised (we all know I'm rubbish when it comes to keeping blog promises) I am back to update you and report back on my first day of dieting. As outlined in my previous post, I have set myself several goals.

I want to be clear that this is a diet to become a healthier me with an outcome of a happier mental health and happier physical health. I am not doing this purely for weight purposes but truly to become a better version of myself.

Okay, now we've got over the disclaimer part, I can get cracking with telling you all how my first day has gone.

Well, it started off good and bad. I did have a morning coffee (see my goals and explanations here)and an hour later I did a good workout which included: cardio, abs and yoga. I also walked my dog. However I didn't have breakfast. That wasn't because I was trying to skip it, as I never really skip breakfast, but I woke up feeling rather full of air and as a result I didn't feel hungry and then before I knew it it was around 11 O'clock and only an hour until lunchtime.

In hindsight I know I should have had breakfast because as a result I believe I've lost a fair bit of energy.

For lunch I had a healthy salad with some cold chicken from last night's roast, and some ham and cheese on top too. I finished off my lunch with a fruit salad. I did also have a homemade gluten free fairycake, which goes against my 'no carbs' rule, however I baked them yesterday and they needed to be eaten up!

All day I've only drunk water and I am starting to feel better for it. I can't quite explain how, I just feel fresher and more awake I suppose. I also avoided the temptation of having a glass of wine with dinner, and stuck to water.

For dinner I had a smaller portion than I usually would, but still enough to satisfy me. I had salmon with new potatoes, cauliflower and carrots; a healthy and nutritional meal that filled me up. I also had some granola with natural yogurt and mixed berries for dessert. I suppose granola is classed as a carb as well, but it's full of fibre which is important in a diet and so I can excuse things like oats and granola etc.

Right now I feel really tired. I am unsure why this is. Perhaps it's due to the disturbed sleep I had last night due to the heat or whether my different diet has started to effect me. Either way, I will be sure to try and get a good rest tonight. And of course my diet is still balanced and good for me.

So that is today's update. Unfortunately my scales are a bit weird so I haven't been able to weigh myself today, however there would hardly be any point considering it's only day one. Overall I feel confident that I can complete my 7 day diet! Tune in tomorrow to see how day 2 has gone!

Speak soon

Okay guys, so as you can see from the title, this post is about dieting. Basically I am putting myself on a diet. I've put on a few pounds in the last few months and my jeans are starting to notice...

So this week I thought I'd blog about what I do each day, and report back with the end result after 7 days. Of course my diet will continue after 7 days, but let's just see where I can get to in just 7 days, following these steps:

Goals:

• Eat a light, healthy breakfast
• Cut out carbs completely (ha let's see how that goes!)
• Drink mostly water
• Exercise most days
• I read somewhere that drinking a cup of coffee an hour before a workout, results in more energy and burns more calories, so let's see if that works shall we?
• Smaller portions- don't over eat
• Only eat healthy snacks
• Get a good night's sleep and wake up at reasonable times
• No alcohol

Okay, so they are my goals for this week. I want to find out if this is a good way of dieting whilst still being healthy, and if it works whether I feel happier and healthier with my lifestyle.

Follow me this week as I report back to you what I've been eating and what exercise I've been doing and the struggles/benefits I encounter. I start tomorrow!

Hello, back again

If you read my blog regularly (which I'm hoping you do, and if not and you're new then hello!), you'll know that I am a lover of fake tan. I'm not going to go into why I am, because I've probably rambled on about that in other posts and also vlogs! See my last fake tan video here.

Today I am reviewing St Moriz Fast Tan. This is one of their newer products and I'm going to start this blog post off by saying... WOW. This has to be one of, if not THE, best fake tan I have ever used. Let me go into why.

Spray version:

So the spray cost me under a tenner, probably around £8 from Boots. A little pricier than previous St Moriz tans and a little pricier than I'd usually buy. However in no way breaking the bank and with summer coming up, I was willing to invest in a good product.

It explains the two methods of applying on the back: spray in circular motions directly onto the skin, OR spray onto a mitt and then apply. This was really good because I've often been a bit scared of getting spray tans because they go everywhere, so these directions were clear and gave you an option.

I tried the first method and sprayed in circular motions onto my skin and then used my mitt to rub in. This method worked so well and made my tan look really even all over AND I didn't feel as though the mitt was stealing my tan!!

It has a guide colour, which if you don't know, means that it has an instant colour when applying so you can achieve a streak free tan. The guide colour is a nice rich tan, but not orange, just a lovely golden colour.

Now because it's a fast tan, is states than for a light glow you leave for 1 hour, a medium glow leave for 2 hours and for a dark glow leave for 3 hours. It then says if you want it darker to leave it for 4 hours. From previous experience with fast tans, I find they still aren't very dark after a few hours. So I applied it in the morning and had a shower in the evening, so I probably left it on for about 8 hours (a normal tan time).

This photo does not do the colour justice- it actually looked a lot darker in person!!

I then washed it off and although you could see the guide colour running off, my skin remained almost as dark as it was with the guide colour on. This for me was brilliant because this is usually my biggest disappointment in tans. So this pushed St Moriz right to the top of my list.

It also smelt so much better than their older products. I think they have perhaps changed the formula. Not only this but the tan fades so much neater and non patchy. In fact the tan lasted a good 5 days. it started to fade a bit on the 4th day I'd say. But this is fab because usually tans start peeling or fading on the 3rd day.

Mousse:
This worked in the exact same way as the spray, except in mousse form. The foam/mousse is a really light and soft consistency so you don't feel like you're rubbing on a cheap feeling product. In fact it felt glorious on the skin and did not irritate the skin in anyway. It dried really nicely (after spinning in circles to air dry a bit ;) ) And, again, it smelt so much nicer- really fresh and not over powering.

Of course as the tan develops the fake tan smell does get a bit stronger but it was in no way bad, especially compared to the smell of their older tans.

So, this for me was a fake tan breakthrough! The colour was gorgeous, it lasted and it was nice and dark without looking ridiculous! Perfect for applying on a Thursday, ready for the weekend or at the start of the week for a week-long tan!

So if you haven't yet tried it, I would highly recommend it- especially if you love tanning as much as I do!

Hey folks,

So as promised, I am returning with another Disney post to continue my Disney segment. If this is something you want to hear about more regularly or the topic of holidays is, them be sure to let me know. I read all your comments and am so grateful for your kind words.

So without further ado..

A key part of your Disneyland Paris holiday is which hotel you choose for your stay. Now, I've been to Disneyland five times now and I've only ever stayed in two of the hotels, however friends of mine have stayed in another.


The first time I went, I stayed in the Santa Fe hotel. I was about eight years old at the time and so the memories of the hotel itself are pretty foggy. The three times after that I stayed at the Newport Bay Club Hotel which is beautiful and definitely one of the best looking hotels. This last time I visited I was on more of a budget and so I chose to return to the Santa Fe hotel which had been refurbished a fair bit since my trip fourteen years ago (well you'd hope so wouldn't you ha!).

How to decide on a hotel:

• Price range- the cheapest of the Disneyland hotels is the Davy Crockett Ranch, however this is further out and is self catered. Not one of my choices, I have to say. Santa Fe and the Hotel Cheyenne are the next best thing and are the next cheapest.
• Decide on a time of year that will be less busy e.g. school term time (obviously if you are going with kids, go in the school holidays!). This way the hotels and parks will be quieter, meaning quicker queue times, but also a nice relaxing atmosphere in your hotel.
• May and June time are good prices (from experience) but March also seems to be good.
• Whether or not you want a pool- Hotels like the New York, Sequoia Lodge and Newport Bay Club have swimming pools, and at a higher price you can enjoy them. These are exclusive to people staying at the hotels.
• Food- The food areas in Cheyenne and Santa Fe are relatively simplistic, with bread, croissants and cereal. However, at the more expensive restaurants there is probably a better selection. As well as this, evening meal menus are better.

• Theme- All Disneyland hotels have themes. Santa Fe is New Mexico and has 'Cars' as it's film theme. I loved this because the mirror had a chequed flag print around it, which was cute. Newport Bay is of course nautical. Sequoia Lodge is like a chalet in the woods. New York is, well, New York themed, and Cheyenne is cowboy themed! All hotels are lovely and you'll have a great time where ever you go.
• How many people you are with and who- I think all rooms in Cheyenne come with a double bed and a set of bunk beds. If you are adults you may want a room with two double beds. However myself and boyfriend stayed at Santa Fe and opted for a room with a double bed and a set of bunk beds (the room was ready there and then so we opted to have it) and it was fine because we weren't going to use the bunk beds or an extra double bed so it didn't matter what we had.
• Distance from the parks. All Disneyland hotels are near the park and all have shuttle bus services so distance is never an issue. Cheyenne and Santa Fe (and of course Davy Crockett) are probably furthest away. However, we walked in to the parks on many occasions and it only took us about ten minutes and it was a lovely scenic walk.

I really enjoyed my stay in both Newport Bay club and Santa Fe. Next I would like to stay at the Hotel Cheyenne because I love the cowboy theme. One day I hope to stay in the New York hotel too. Of course there is one hotel I haven't mentioned, which is the Disneyland Hotel resort itself. However this is ridiculously expensive, and unless you are rich you probably won't stay there. To be honest the other hotels have always appealed to me more anyway. And let's not forget that there are lots of other hotels nearby that aren't the 'Disneyland hotels' but are still connected to Disney via shuttle bus. These are even cheaper I think, and so you may opt for one of these.

My next Disney segment will be about the park itself. I'll be giving you tips on when the best time to go on rides is and which rides are suited for who. Thanks for reading!

Speak soon

Hello my lovelies,

So as you can probably tell from the title of this piece, this blog post is going to be about my recent trip to Disneyland Paris. I've thought a lot about how I wanted to do this, because there are a few aspects that I wanted to touch on, but to cram it all into one post might be hard, so I think I'll break it all down.

So I thought I'd start chronologically because that just makes sense, and start with travel because without travelling, I'd still be sat on the sofa in England.

So there are many ways in which you can travel to Disneyland Paris. When I booked my holiday over a year ago I decided to just book the hotel and park tickets and think about transport later. For me, booking the Eurostar through the Disney websites seemed too expensive for my current situation, so I wanted to look around at my other, cheaper options.

After about 6 months, I decided that going by eurostar was probably the easiest way, however I discovered that if you get the Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord instead of Marne-la-Vallee Chessy (Disney) it is about £100 cheaper! So that was that, we booked the Eurostar to arrive at Gare du Nord.

Now here's where it gets a little more tricky. Of course before even getting on the Eurostar, I knew there would be more travel involved. How was I going to get to London St Pancras? How was I going to get from Gare du Nord to Disney? I get quite stressed about travel as I haven't traveled without the aid of parents much. However looking back at the holiday now, it was all very easy.

So I was lucky enough to have my lovely Dad drive me and my boyfriend to London St Pancras. It was very early, around 4:30am, so we were very tired (but we wanted to make the most of the day once we arrived). Our Eurostar was at 7:01am and we arrived in London at around 6:00am. Luckily our train was up on the board, so we could go through passport control and security straight away and sit in the departure lounge, which had coffee shops and toilets. It was all very simple and at about 6:40am we were called through to the platform to board the Eurostar. This was possibly the easiest part of the journey. The train was clean and cool, so I felt comfortable and was able to relax for about two and a half hours which was lovely after such an early start. (Remember the time jumps forward an hour once you hit France, so we essentially lost an hour).

Now came the hardest bit. After we arrived at Gare du Nord we had to get two RER trains (that's just the name of their trains). This was all sign posted so you know which way to go, phew! We bought our RER tickets at a little machine. We typed in Marne-la-Vallee Chessy and it came to about 7.60 euros each, which is fantastic! Luckily, I had already researched the journey, as without doing so I would have had no idea we'd need to changed trains!

So if you are heading to Disney via this method, listen up. Once at Gare du Nord you need to get your first RER train to Chatelet-Les Halles which is literally the next stop. This was on either RER B or RER D I believe, however it could be different when you go. Basically head for a train that stops at Chatelet-Les Halles. Once you have arrived at Chatelet-Les Halles, get across to RER A and get on a train that is heading to Marne-la-Vallee Chessy. This stop is at the end of the line so once on the train you won't have to worry about missing your stop. And then voila you're in Disney!!

It honestly wasn't as hard at it may seem, and there are so many RER trains so there isn't any waiting around and if you miss a train, just hop on the next one.

Once at Marne-la-Vallee Chessy, we had to walk out of the train station. At this point you can already see the entrances to both Disney parks and Disney village. From here you have two options: get the correct shuttle bus to your hotel, or walk. It's entirely up to you and depends on which hotel you are staying at and how far it is. We decided to get the shuttle bus this time, because we though it'd be quicker (we later found out it was probably quicker to walk, however the shuttle bus is super quick too!). It took about 5 minutes on the Santa Fe shuttle bus to get to the Santa Fe hotel- our hotel! If you are unsure about the shuttle buses, it's really easy, just head to the bus stop which has your hotel name above it and then wait!

Returning home was as you'd assume: the same as the route there, except the other way around. So from Marne-la-Vallee Chessy, head to Chatelet-Les Halles. From Chatelet-Les Halles, head to Gare du Nord. Once at Gare du Nord, head to the London Hall, which is upstairs in the Eurostar area and once you're allowed to go through the gate, you're pretty much set!

So I hope I've explained that clearly enough. It may seem like there were a lot of parts to the journey, but it was super easy once I knew what to do and where to go. If I went again via this method I don't think I'd struggle at all! I would recommend this journey for students or families wanting to save some money, because it meant I had £100 extra left in my bank, for future holidays or spending money!

In my next blog post I'll be talking about DisneyLand Paris hotels, so stay tuned!
Speak soon

Hey folks,

Wow really thought I'd clicked 'publish' a couple weeks back. Evidently not. Sorry pals, but here is my blog post from then.
So this week I bring you a post about my last week at University. Yes, okay, I still get to go back for a few days for graduation, but really, last week was my last. It was my last real week in Portsmouth and my last real week with my friends and housemates.

University has been an experience. I say that because I'm not sure whether I could deem it good or bad to be quite frank with you. It's been difficult. I think most people have the same idea about university when they apply. They think it'll be partying, great nights out, house parties, and a close group of friends that when you meet them you think 'Oh my goodness where have you been all my life, you complete me!'. And although I did have some moments like these, the truth of the matter is, University is not what everyone expects it to be, at least it wasn't for me.

I'm not much of a party animal, but I do love a house party and I'm even happy for an odd night out, if it's with great company. I think I assumed when I arrived I'd make friends with a small group of girls who would be just like me and weirdly I pictured the women from Call The Midwife. So really what I was looking for was a group of friends from the 1950s. Unrealistic I know. Instead, we forget that we'll be bunched together with 5 other people from completely different cities with completely different backgrounds. For me, we did all share one thing in common- we'd all taken gap years. But the similarities pretty much ended there.

Now, before you think I'm saying that that's a bad thing, let me stop you right there. It wasn't. In the long run, this probably helped me more than I could have known. Being in a diverse environment made me more confident and accepting. It helped me learn more about people and realise that everyone is different and everyone functions and reacts differently. This, personally, felt like a valuable lesson. And I actually did make friends (as dysfunctional as we were). I ended up living with two of them for my entire university life! Plus one new pal in the picture below!


Now that I think of it, having a gap year probably wasn't the best idea. I assumed it would give me an edge, an insight to real life and a maturity that would benefit me. However I think it actually hindered me. Going to University straight from college or 6th form means you are probably in the younger, carefree and partying mindset. Some of the friends I made at Uni had only just turned 18 when they arrived and so had never experienced clubbing and drinking much, whereas I'd been clubbing for almost two years. I'd also been working for a couple of years and so I think I'd matured. Maturing is great but in some ways I think I'd matured just a little too much to enjoy the stereotypical student lifestyle. All I really wanted to do was put the kettle on and get cosy and watch a boxset.

However as my last week approached, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the idea of leaving. Despite the fact it had been tricky and more often then not I'd found myself disappointed, annoyed, frustrated and angry, I realised that too often I'd focused on the negatives. In my last week I couldn't help but reflect on the positives.


Portsmouth was beautiful, we may not have realised it all the time due to the high winds and rain, but when it was sunny it was an astonishing place to live. I played many games of mini golf and spent many evenings in the arcades with my housemates, laughing about wasting a pound trying to win a cuddly toy. I went to the cinema a few times and out for nice meals up at Gunwharf Quays and enjoyed three lots of Christmas shopping there. I went out for coffee and cake and lunch in places such as Garage Lounge and Southsea Coffee. I went for lots of runs down by the seafront, both with Parkrun and solo. I spent many evenings in the gym getting fit and took part in a lot of fitness classes. I was part of Show Choir, The University Choir, Dance and RAG and was a Course Representative. I made some lovely course friends and throughout the the three years I kept the same group of friends. I completed my course and eventually my hard work paid off as I got the result I wanted. I got a part time job in my second year and made some amazing friends there. I became more independent, confident, and self-assured.

So University has been both good and bad, but that is just life. Sometimes we can't choose where our paths take us. My path took me to Portsmouth, and the lessons I learnt and the friends I made, will remain in my heart forever. Portsmouth has been my life for three years, and I am so sad to be leaving, but I won't forget it and I know I will return again.

Speak soon