Exam Time

I wore my fancy new playsuit out to dinner last night to celebrate sunshine, and the small matter of having a few days off from law exams.

I feel like summer is creeping in here in York. We've had a few sunny days all in a row. Oh, and the dreaded exams have arrived. The last summer I had without having to take exams was 2006. Summer has always been tinged with a hint of nausea and fear, that horrible feeling of knowing nothing and feeling helpless. I associate sunshine with stress.

But, sunshine is also the language of no-more-exams, three-months-of-freedom happiness. And that can't come soon enough! Last week I had four exams in four days, next week three more await. 12 hours down, 9 hours to go. But on Thursday, what a weight lifted from my shoulders! The 13th of June has been circled on my calendar for months.

I hope all of you who are struggling under the weight of heavy books (and a million and one flashcards) are also either already or soon to be free. I feel your pain!

Mind Space

I now have a total of one month until a huge set of exams to finish off the law course I've been doing since last September. I need to sit down and do some serious revision, but my desk at home just wasn't doing the business. In a rented home there isn't much opportunity for furniture improvement, so a little spruce up of one corner of the house was a nice afternoon project.

This is my old set-up. A desk my chair didn't fit under, plus no space for spreading out with notes etc.

I decided on this Expedit desk from Ikea, because in my mind the colour palette of my future house is very much white-based!

I did a lot of the work (flat pack is so satisfying, I love it) but Will helped me to put this together. Also observe how my new minimalistic desk goes well with our slightly less stylish carpet.

The new set-up, sitting in a corner of bookshelves (there are three...) Will looks surprised because he was in the middle of falling over here.

 
Colour-coded folders are the only way to feel organised.

And naturally it wouldn't be a new desk without a little set of drawers and some fancy cardboard boxes (even they come flat-packed).

Do you ever get the desire to redecorate, even if only in your own small way?

Mojito Monday

Things are pretty rubbish at the moment. Coursework, preparation for workshops, and revision - all leading to exams that are now only six-and-a-half weeks away. So what better to do than visit my friends in Sheffield and go for a nice night out?

[My friend Jennie and I are big fans of pictures in the toilets - it always happens - so I thought I would share two of her snaps with you.]

I haven't really lost any weight since I've been going to the gym (and trying to eat more healthily), but I have been losing an inch or two here and there. It may not have physically made a big difference but I can most certainly tell you I would not have worn this outfit a month ago. 

Admittedly showing 0.5 inches of flesh may not shock or scare most people, but there are a number of barriers to this in my mind:

• "I have a fat stomach, I don't want anyone to see it"
• "When I sit down I'm going to have rolls and people will be disgusted" (NB Pretty much everyone gets rolls when they sit down. This is a ridiculous worry perpetuated by reading too many women's magazines with big horror circles around Kate Moss and her "rolls".)
• "All my friends will be laughing at me because they'd never wear it and they're thinner than me"
• "I'm too pale, and my tummy is my palest part"

Now, I'm not saying I have once-and-for-all conquered these niggles, the horrible voices that I create to put myself down. All I'm saying is that positivity (about my body, about my lifestyle, about the progress I'm making and going to make both mentally and physically) is making them less loud, and less intrusive. Paleness and stomach flab be damned - I'm going to wear crop tops!

We started out with dinner and drinks at Revolución de Cuba in Sheffield. As we had booked a table on a Monday night ("Mojito Monday" apparently) we got to make (and then drink) our own mojitos. I went heavy on the sugar and the raspberry pureé as I'm not a big rum fan, but they were absolutely delicious. I would definitely recommend for the service, food, and the mojitos!

So despite a rather protracted and painful hangover on Tuesday, I think the night out was a great success. It's definitely set me up for the next 6.5 weeks - where I expect to hardly see another human being, let alone any alcohol!

What do you do when you're feeling stressed? Have you found a way to make those bad body voices shut up? And goodness me HOW do you get through revision hell?