New House

I finally moved into the house that I'll be living in for my next year at university on Friday. It is so lovely - I feel really lucky to be living here. 

I bought my Paul Smith-esque bedding in the Habitat closing down sale.

Home Sweet Home

I go back to university soon and while I'm looking forward to going back (seeing my friends, no curfew, no dog hair on my clothes, having my entire shoe collection), there are definitely some things I'm going to miss about being at home. Namely; my family, my pets, having my meals cooked for me, having me laundry done, a clean house, TV, and my lovely bedroom, which I got Just Right about three days before I left for university. 

I think the bookshelves are my favourite part of my room. I've about 50 more books, 20 more magazines and a lot more DVDs in my flat at university, so for once, my shelves aren't ridiculously cluttered. 

Hat Stand

When I moved into my room in halls at university back in September, one of my biggest problems was the minuscule amount of wardrobe space provided. This problem has only got worse as I have bought more clothes and gone home and come back with winter coats and jackets that I didn't need when I arrived in September.

The problem was solved when yesterday, when a hat stand arrived in the post. With the help of my friend Lydia, I put it up this afternoon, and got some storage space back. 

Instead of gathering dust in a heap on the back of my door, or clogging up my tiny wardrobe, my coats, scarves, bags and hats are now stored and displayed, barely taking up any room. 

The stand is made from wood painted white and adds a nice touch to my room (I think) - it doesn't look like anyone else's now. 

Flo x

Bike ride.

It was such a beautiful day today that when I got out of my last seminar of the week (TGIF!), instead of going home and doing my reading there, I hopped on my bike and rode down to the river, and did my reading there instead.

It really did feel like a summer day, sitting in the sun, but the trees clearly show that autumn is well and truly here: 

 This is my bicycle - isn't she a beauty?

She's a mountain bike with 18 gears, but I love her basket most of all. The bag hanging from the handle bars is my current school bag - a Christopher Kane & Style magazine tote my dad picked up for me at London Fashion Week (as a consolation prize because I couldn't go). 

Flo x

Life as a Student.

For some reason, I imagined that being a student would involve a lot of eating, sleeping, going out or just sitting around in halls with my friends. Fresher's Week ended on Monday, and my fellow first years and I have been thrown in at the deep end of the pool that is university life. What with all the reading I have to do for my course (already), my job, and spending time with my new friends, I've barely had an hour to sit and check emails, read blogs and update this one. Which may explain why I am writing this at 1:30am. 

I did, however, find time to go to the Topshop Student Shop yesterday. My favourite purchase of the night has to be this black hat, which was priced at £25, but I got it for £20 because the whole point of the event was the students got 20% off. 

I've been looking for a hat like this for a while, and I'm really pleased I found it. The feathers are actually brown, black and white, but I think when they get wet, they will get matted and so I think when that happens I'll just pull them out. 

Flo x

Wardrobe Dilemma

I'm sure its pretty obvious that I love clothes, and I have quite a lot of them. One of the biggest problems I had when packing for university was deciding what clothes to bring. In the end, I bought about half of them, but when I was making my wardrobe decisions, I forgot to factor in what kind of wardrobe would be in my room in halls. 

This is what awaited me:

My mother, who had lugged my two suitcases of clothes and two bags of shoes upstairs just laughed at me. 

Not all of my clothes are in here - some are in the drawers in my desk, and everything is triple hung. I also have all my trousers and jeans piled on the floor of the wardrobe. I had to send a lot of stuff home with my mother, because I couldn't justify keeping it here. If (when) I buy any new clothes I'm really not sure where I'll put them.

Flo x

Filofax

One of the biggest worries I have about going to university, other than not understanding my course, not making friends, and getting hopelessly lost, is being so disorganised that I lose everything I need, forget to do really important essays, and flunk out of my course (my fears do have a tendency to snowball into the ridiculous). 

I was reading Sofia's Journal, when I came across her post about her Filofax obsession . It reminded me, in a way, of the homework diaries I had used while doing my GCSEs, and how useful they were. 

So, while in Bluewater last week, I remembered Sofia's post, and I dragged my brother into WHSmith, where I spent a long time agonising over the Filofax display. In the end, I chose a Domino, personal sized Filofax, in what my mother describes as "ox-blood red".

Isn't it gorge?

I love the little ruler that marks which week it is, and the loop to hold the pen, so I don't have to worry about keeping one in my bag. 

You can also buy all sorts of accessories to go with the Filofax, and register it online, so that it can be returned to you if it gets lost, which is a brilliant idea for someone like me.

Flo x

New room

When we moved into our house, my brother and I drew straws and I ended up with the room with the en-suite bathroom and three built in wardrobes. Last week, I moved out of that room, and into my brother's much smaller room because, in 10 days time, I will be leaving home for the first time and moving into halls at my university. 

Even though I had just got my room exactly how I wanted it, I had to take down all the pictures from my wardrobe of inspiration, pack up all my clothes and shoes and take them down the corridor to what is now my room. 

I kept my favourite photos that I had stuck up on my wardrobe and I finally organised my books and magazines, even though I'm going to have to pack most of them up again really soon.We found the chest of drawers with my name on it (see below) in a antique shop in a village near where I live years ago - I was still in primary school. It's doing a wonderful job as bedside table. 

Although the new room is a lot smaller and has a much less storage space than my last one, I really like it - it is really cosy and the lack of wardrobes means I have to be really disciplined and keep the room tidy. So far, I'm doing alright with that. 

Flo x