a good dosage of reality.

People of the world. Hello, hello, hello!

We are reunited once again on this amazing thing we call the internet, don't you just love it? How are you all? Doing well? Feeling fabulous? Loving life? Good! If you ask me, however, the beginning of a new year never fails to bring around some much awaited stress. I always describe and think about this in my mind as a sort of cloud that you can almost see in the distance towards the end of December and as soon as January hits…BOOM! There it is to wake you up in the morning. Back to life, back to reality, right? 

Since i've been back in Stockholm i've been snowed under (there is snow here if anyone's also interested) with what seems like a never ending pile of laundry, one of the besties visiting from home, countless lectures to attend as well as too many articles, books and journals to read for uni and well, generally, just a million and one things to do that lets be honest, was not going to get done by itself. 

In my opinion, January is always one of those weird months - it goes terrifyingly quickly but at the same time seems never ending. Know the feeling? I'm sure you do. January always seems to bring with it a good dosage of reality and if you live in Sweden, you also have the joy of experiencing daily weather that is cold enough to make your toes feel like they're about to snap off…even with two pairs of woollen socks on! While i'm on the topic of reality, it's probably a good point to mention that reality may just be the topic that's going to be written about this afternoon my darlings! Oh, by the way, when I say may just be, that means it is. Just thought i'd clear that up. Go figure.

Now obviously reality is a huge topic, so I felt it was important to at least start by narrowing it down. In order to do so, I thought to myself - what is one of the biggest aspects in my life to which there is a sad reality but I also love it? The answer ladies and gents? University. 

University is one of the biggest commitments one can make in their life, and in my opinion, is also extremely over-looked in terms of how stressful and challenging this chapter in your life can be. As much as i'm having the best years of my life to date being at university, there are also times when I question my sanity and why I decided to take on such a huge burden of stress. 

Oh and for the record, those of you are thinking to yourselves  "oh, but being on exchange is an easier year"…THIS IS LIES I TELL YOU, LIES! 

One thing that really annoys me is when people say "oh yeah, you know like, I feel I really need to go to uni these days." I'm sorry, but no. This is, to be quite frank, bullshit. Don't follow what everyone else is doing, do what is the RIGHT and BEST option for YOU. There's no doubt that university is a serious commitment and as much as we all like to think of student life as endless partying, waking up whenever we want and submitting the odd essay and assignment every now and again, this is unfortunately, FAR from being the case. 

When I think back to the start of my first year *que Freshers' week 2012 flashbacks*, the thought of four years studying a Batchelor's degree could not have seemed better. Life was truly sweet. Parties every night, far too much alcohol, hilarious moments that were simply too priceless to value and god knows what else. However, come mid October when the work load was piling up and the 24/7 party period went from all to nothing (literally, so depressing) and I had an essay to write in which I had done no reading for and barely understood the question, reality hit me straight in the face! It wasn't great. 

As I sit here at my desk doing anything to avoid actually facing the amount of work I already have to do for my new modules this semester (I know right? Such a good student!), it's safe to say this is definitely a case of good old reality kicking in once again. LOVES IT! Like it or not my cherubs, uni is hard work. You can put off the reading, essays, note taking and assignments for as long as you want but at the end of the day, that all-important deadline will be still be looming in the all-too near future (just the same as it was last week, and the week before that…and oh wait, the week before that one too). I know, it sucks. My point? If you're not prepared to work and keep up with the pace then UNIVERSITY IS NOT FOR YOU. 

Go out and have a good time, get wasted, make an embarrassment of yourself, spend all your student loan on clothes and leave yourself with no money for the rest of the month (at least you'll look good, right?…I mean who really needs food?!) but PLEASE, do not underestimate the amount of work that lies ahead of you. A university career should not be taken on lightly! University is meant to be hard work.

A balance of 'work hard, play hard' at university is truly essential which i'm sure any current student would agree with. We all have times where we get this balance a tad wrong and do too much of the one thing (in my case, it's unfortunately the play hard) but there comes a point where you need to remind yourself that working hard is also important. Word. 

On the topic of hard work, deadlines to meet and a never-ending reading list in front of me that makes me want to vomit, I should probably get cracking on some of this myself…nothing like practice what you preach right? 

I will leave you all with some wise words from this old chap.

"It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane." - Philip K. Dick

As always cyber world, it has been a pleasure. 

I'm off to go insane - don't worry, i'll be fine…I hope. 

Until next time. 

L xo 

write a good one.

Bonsoir tout le monde! 

How are we are all doing on this cold, Friday evening? 

Well, what can I say?…it's now the 10th of January 2014. The festive season is over, the new year is most definitely underway and over the last 10 days Christmas decorations have been coming down, new calendars have been going up (if you're anything like my household, there's always a new calendar in the kitchen) and the good old phrase "back to life, back to reality" has most definitely been coming into play!

The start of a new year can always be a stressful, reminiscent, thought-provoking, nerve-wracking and tedious time - not to mention the amount of, as I like to call it, "holiday weight" that suddenly becomes all-too obvious on those hips isn't exactly great is it? Anyway, as I arrived back in Stockholm in what can only be described as a stressed, travel sick, sweaty, worn out mess who's luggage had got lost along the way (got it back though guys, all is good!!) it's safe to say my 'banging tunes' (no joke, I have a playlist called 'banging tunes') playlist wasn't exactly the first choice that came to mind for the iPod! It appears though, that being quickly reunited with my crazy swedish bunch made all the difference. I quickly realised that at times like the above, it's ultimately up to me how good or bad I choose to make the year that lies ahead of me. 

There's no denying that i'm a BIG fan of quotes (I know right, who would have thought?), and well, not long after I had written my post to you all on the 1st, I came across yet another beauty which I guess you could say forms the basis of my post to you all tonight. Here goes. 

"Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one." - Brad Paisley 

Wherever you may be in the world out there, make it your priority to write the best book you possibly can in 365 (355 if we're being exact) days time. Make New Year's goals guys, dig within and challenge yourself to be the best person you can possibly be. Don't be afraid to give yourself a high standard to achieve. It's GOOD to be motivated.  I've concluded that I don't set myself nearly enough goals from year to year and is something that I must start doing. 

Goals, in my opinion, are a fantastic thing. They give us direction. They put a powerful force into play on a universal, conscious, and subconscious level that acts as the ultimate form of motivation. Goals ultimately give our lives a sense of direction in every possible way. If you ask me, there's nothing quite like looking back and seeing the achievement of a goal once set to be completed actually being classed as complete - no matter if it takes a day, a week, a month or a full 365 days and then some. 

What would you like to have happen in your life this year guys? That's the question I ask you all tonight. What would you like to do? What would you like to accomplish? What good would you like to attract into your life? What particular areas of growth would you like to have happen to you? What blocks, or character defects, would you like to remove? What would you like to attain? Where would you like to visit? What would you like to have happen with regards to your friendships and love life? What would you like to have happen in your family life? What problems would you like to see solved? What decisions would you like to make? What would you like to have happen in your career? 

Too many questions to think about? Well, write your answers down. Take a piece of paper and a few hours (minutes if you can't spare that long) of your time, and write it all down - think of it as a statement that resembles you, your life, and your ability to choose what you want to happen in your 'book' of 2014. I challenge you all to do this. 

You won't regret it. 

The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, just waiting to be written. It's an exciting time. I encourage you all to look beyond the often mellow associations the month of January can bring around. If we really want to, we can be the ones to help write an amazing 'book' this year by setting goals for ourselves and motivating each other to achieve each and every one of them. Works for me!

I'll leave you with that everyone - truly something to think about, right? 

Much love and write a good one.

Speak soon.

L xo 

time flies when you're having fun.

My darlings, cyber-peeps, internet world, all you readers out there, the young, the old and the in-between…

It's 2014!!! Happy New Year one and all! 

I hope the month of December saw each and everyone of you having nothing less than a fantastic Christmas with santa being very good to you all, as well as ringing in those Hogmanay bells in true style yesterday evening! Can you believe it? It's 2014! Here we are yet again at the beginning of a new year, a new chapter, a fresh start, a new leaf...you get my drift. But yes, as I was saying, here we truly are, the year of 'unlucky for some 2013' at the back of us and a whole new twelve months of 2014 sitting on our doorstep.

I must first of all start by apologising yet again for my severe lack of blogging and general updates to 'ching ching, darlings!' over the past month, I'm sure you can all imagine that my time at home (still here by the way, just FYI) has been nothing less than go, go, go! Anyway, seeing as today is the first day of the new year, I was most certainly able to find some down-time to write a spiffing new entry for you all on this wonderful Wednesday evening. Have you missed me? I've missed all of you! 

If any of you are like me, the first day of a new year is always a quiet, calm, relaxing and most of all thought-provoking day. The first day of the new year is always a time I find to have incredibly mixed emotions attached to it, from thinking about absent family and friends to moments in the past year you wish you could relive, contemplating what lies ahead in the coming months, along with that all-pressured feeling to make the new year as good as it possibly can be, because after all, we never know when it's gonna be our last one, right? 

As I sit here in the comfort of my living room, having had one too many gin and tonics (oh and can I just say, Hendricks gin is simply a pleasure, seriously, I take my hat off to you Hendricks darling! Top notch gin right there!) Anyhow, yes, as I sit here absolutely stuffed to the brim after a good old New Year's Day steak pie with my dear family and friends around me, I can certainly say that for right now, I'm satisfied.  

It's now a mere 5 days until I return to the magic of the Swedish capital (get the champagne at the ready folks...wink wink!) and if you ask me, my time at home has gone far too fast, however, when I look back on my time spent in the UK, it has certainly went fast for a reason…and I don't think that reason is a bad one! I've had nothing but sheer hilarity, joy, priceless and fun-filled moments since I've graced the homeland with my presence once again. There really is never a truer saying, time flies when you're having fun. 

There's no doubt that the month of December and the general festive period is a stressful and action-packed time. It's often hard to stop ourselves from getting caught up in all those details that, let's be honest, are stressed over and worried about far too much when really, they are of much insignificance. Family, friends, good people, festive cheer and appreciativeness towards what we are lucky enough to already have is what truly matters. I hope that all of you out there, wherever you may be in the world, have had at least a period of time, be it small or large, to just sit back, de-stress and enjoy some well earned time off from the daily stresses that the realities of life impose. 

As I look to the new year I can't help but have extremely positive vibes for what lies ahead…it also can't hurt that the first five months will be spent in Stockholm too, right?! 

Nevertheless, home is where the heart is, and seeing as that's where I am at this precise moment, that's completely where my thoughts and energy will go towards and remain. As I try to make the most of the little time I have left on UK soil, it's safe to say some emotional moments will be had throughout my last few days here. I find that it's often not until you return to a place that you realise how special that place and the people within it are - and my own bed, oh my god my own bed.

With 2014 now officially upon us, I wish each and everyone of you a healthy, fruitful, proactive, productive, positive and love-filled year filled with nothing less than an abundance of laughter! 

Oh, for the record, laughter is the best kind of medicine if you ask me…just sayin'. You can't have enough laughter. 

As the image at the top suggests guys, if we try to make 2014 a year in which we simplify, be inspired, be original, work hard and above all, ENJOY, then I don't think we'll have much to regret come New Years Eve this year. 

I'll leave you all with a few snaps of my wonderful time spent at home so far, because of course who wouldn't want to see these, right?

Welcome to 2014 guys! Lets start as we mean to continue! 

Until next time.

L xo