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?

10 Things I Learnt From... Gilmore Girls

1. Embarrassment, pride, and respect can all be felt simultaneously about one person.

One of the main reasons I watched Gilmore Girls at university (aside from the fact that I was a huge slob and did nothing but watching TV) was the relationship between Lorelai and Rory. In the first ever episode I watched, Lorelai dropped Rory off at Yale. Considering my own mother had been sobbing quietly on my shoulder not months earlier, I felt an immediate affinity with the relationship between mother and daughter.

Admittedly my mum is not as young, nor as fashionable, as Lorelai. But the fact that Rory can be ashamed, proud, and then confused in five minutes is extremely analogous to my relationship with my mother.

2. It's OK to be upset by failure...

When Rory fails to get her dream job at the New York Times, she goes home and has a meltdown. I feel you, sister. I've had a couple of rejections in my life that have seriously kicked me in the teeth. (This goes with the territory as a law student, sadly.)

3. And "success" may not be what you expect.

Rory does get offered a position on Barack Obama's campaign trail. (GG is clearly a politically astute show.)

Sometimes you have the perfect life planned out. You dream of the heels you'll wear to the office. You calculate the exact commute from door-to-door. And then at the last minute something else happens. What to do? After all, this isn't the plan.

GG has taught me that sometimes this secretly is the plan - the Universe just hadn't deigned to let you know a single thing about it. (The Universe can be a bit of a dickhead, in truth.)

4. Be a geek. It will get you everywhere.

5. Survive a terrible family situation using quick wit and sarcasm.

With a mother like Emily Gilmore, quipping is the only way to get through dinner. This has taught me much about dealing with a certain passive-aggressive family member. If you are particularly skilled, you can be sarcastic and yet the object of your irritation believes fully in your sincerity. Win-win.

6. Don't get married in Paris.

It might seem romantic at the time, but everyone can see it's not going to work. Have you not been watching the series? The story arc has not favoured this husband. If it's the final series, you don't want your big romantic moment coming before the final episode.

(Shame I have no idea where I am in my story arc, or in my series. That would help a lot with relationship advice, right?)

7. If you lose someone you love, singing karaoke will get them back.

8. Even the most beautiful of women have bad hair days.

9. Do not steal a boat.

The vest that Rory had to wear for community service was deeply unflattering. Enough to put a girl off a life of crime altogether.

10. You should always pick the "bad boy".

If you have a chance with Milo Ventimiglia, you take it. (And no, floppy-haired Dean is NOT an option.) Admittedly Logan's money could sway me... (What? I'm soulless.) Over the course of it all, I was rooting for Jess. And I was fighting a losing battle in my mind.