Wednesday 19 June 2013

The Last Dance...

So I've been AWOL for a bit, sorry. I've been super busy doing an internship at an advertising agency (I'll probably tell you about it soon), and although I'm really enjoying it, it does mean I come home and the last thing I want to do is more typing! I promise to be better.

I did have a pretty exciting weekend though, at my university summer ball! I love a good excuse to dress up, and the end of our degrees seemed like the perfect opportunity!



My dress is from Oasis, but unfortunately it's out of stock, but you can browse their other red beauties here

Reading provided us with a funfair, a hog roast and some amazing music from James Arthur (who was surprisingly good), Funeral for a Friend, and headline act Feeder, who had me wailing at the top of my lungs at the front of the crowd. 
I had to get a good band photo from the pros, I was too busy dancing my socks off (and I was much too close...).






Louise and I were rather smitten with Callum's bow-tie (I take some credit for him wearing it...). The drinks flowed, the photos got more ridiculous and I made a total fool of myself. I'm going to be so sad to leave Reading, and all these wonderful people who light up my life. I think lots of summer trips will have to be organised around their various hometowns (and maybe a few in sunnier spots!).

Eventually the sun came up, the music stopped, and Callum and I (who made it until 6 - summer ball survivors!) stumbled heels in hand to the nearest taxi. There was talk of breakfast. There was talk of burgers. The word 'diner' was batted around. But bed was calling, and a few hours later as we crawled wrapped in duvets to the TV, food was the last thing on everyone's mind. 

Monday 10 June 2013

Canals and country pubs

Last night Callum and I decided we should bite the bullet and so some exercise. We decided on a bike ride, because then we could motivate ourselves with country pubs. He even had a bike I could borrow. So I got up early(ish) and headed round to his, only to presented with a tiny clown bike for our 40 mile trip. 


So maybe that's a slight exaggeration. It was however definitely child size...(also I've looked better. Deal with it). Callum looked much better on his adult size bike. 


It was a really nice ride though. It turns out after complaining about having nowhere nice to run/cycle the cycle path is right near the Uni house I'm about to leave. I'm a bit devastated by it. 


Beautiful. There were canal boats dotted along the way too, which made me contemplate a life on the water Rosie and Jim style. I'm not sure I could deal with having one room though, I'm not as little as they were...

We didn't quite make it to Newbury. We got distracted by this pub...

 



We'd made it about 15 miles, so we'd definitely earned ourselves a glass of wine. The Rowbarge Woolhampton did not disappoint. It was so lovely, and the staff were fantastic. All the food looked great too, but having a long cycle home we opted for a light lunch.


I had the smoked salmon sandwich on rye, and he went for rare roast beef with horseradish, and we swapped halves. Mine was good, his was slightly lacking - a bit dry, a bit tasteless. Such a shame, but the chips were fab and the hot food looked great (also the crisps were a bit naff). The pub had a lovely feel though, a great set out and as I say, lovely staff. 

You can check it out here





Friday 7 June 2013

The Louvre




I almost included this yesterday, and then decided that the Louvre is deserving of its own post. I could write an essay on just the small part I saw, but I'll try and trim it down to just a few favourite bits. They had a Michelangelo Pistoletto exhibition on, hence the triple loops everywhere which had a few interesting pieces but to be honest, I didn't really get. I was more interested in the Greek sculpture, particularly this one...


I did an English Literature degree, and dabbled with Classics in my first year, so I have a bit of a thing for Greek mythology. This is 'Psyche revived by Cupid's Kiss' by Antonio Canova. 


Of course Venus had to be in here. I just loved these too...




We had a wonder around some of the Renaissance art too, and there were some incredible paintings (obviously, it's the Louvre...), but these were my favourites. The light in them was just incredible. My rubbish camera could not do them justice, but here they are anyway.



This one I just really liked. Little minx...



I could have spent days in here (with some more comfortable shoes...) and taken hundreds more photos. Alas, coffees and crepes were calling, so we slowly headed out, getting very distracted and bumping into the crowds as we craned our necks at the ceilings...


Obviously I had to get this photo, though it was hard to get one without twenty other cameras in it...



As we strolled past the famous pyramid I also managed to spot this guy...


Charles Perrault, of fairy tale fame, and one of the main focuses of my recent dissertation. It was the kind of thing no one else cared about but really excited me. 
What a hunk. 

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Paris

Last weekend I went to Paris, unbelievably for the first time, and I loved it. I kind of get what all the fuss is about. It rained most of the first day (as a massive Audrey Hepburn fan I was secretly quite pleased about this), but we weren't going to be put off getting our (slightly frizzy) tourist shots!


The Standard Eiffel |Tower Shot!







I thought there was a specific bridge that people did this on, but it turns out they're everywhere. It's still really sweet though. Some people had put so much effort into theirs!



I think Paris may be one of my new favourite places. Most of the cities I've been to feel like the same place over and over again in different languages, but the architecture really set it apart. All except the Eiffel Tower, which I was honestly a bit let down by, so I consoled myself with cocktails and macaroons...I would put a hipster food photo in here but they didn't last long enough to take one.

Sunday 2 June 2013

Help for Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride 2013

I was going to tell you about Paris. I will next, I promise. And this is, sort of...

I just had a visit from my wonderful Dad, who's just got back from doing the Help for Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride 2013, a bike ride from Paris to London visiting all the war sites between. I was there to see them all off from Les Invalides in Paris, a military museum, and a hospital/retirement home for war veterans.



The Duchess of Cornwall even dropped by to show her support. You'll have to excuse the photos, I only had my phone on me. There are much better ones all over the news and the Help for Heroes website (along with upcoming events and merchandise). These events tend to make me pretty emotional, coming from a military family, and it was especially poignant after the recent events in both London and Paris.


I always come away from though literally glowing with pride, not just for my Dad (pictured in the fetching yellow glasses, looking much more energetic than he did on his return) and the people I know taking part, but the entire Help for Heroes family.

Unfortunately I couldn't make it to see them all on the homeward stretch past the Cenotaph and the Horse Guards Parade, but I know lots of people made an appearance to show their support. It's always a big event and I'm gutted I missed out. I'm so, so proud of everyone involved!


My First Time...

Blogging, that is.

When is a good time to start blogging you ask? I would say about three years after you originally made your blog page, when you've just finished university and have absolutely nothing going on in your life. Right?

I'm just about to graduate from the University of Reading, after three years of studying English Literature, and as my main interests include travelling, having a drink or two with friends and lusting over things I cannot afford, I imagine this blog will be largely about that...
So this is me!

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See how nice I look? This is not an accurate description of me in the last couple of weeks. This is more how I have looked since my last exam...


They can't all be winners...

However I have made a resolution to look less like this in future, in the hope that someone may eventually hire me, and allow me to live in London, drinking cocktails (responsibly?) and taking spontaneous weekend holidays. Which is incidentally what I did last weekend...