I'm not paid much as a career. I'm not moaning because I do get a set amount of money a week and it's enough to sustain my lifestyle which if I'm honest is very nice.

What I mean is that although £60 a week seems like it might be a lot, with bills and things that I pay and contribute to the household there's not much left for me to save for presents and other things this time of year and it has proved to be a little stressful I think I've coped quite well this year given the addition of a whole new section of family and a siblings girlfriend added to the Christmas list.

I've spent what I needed to and saved on some by hand making some presents this year which is really a win win because people love homemade things and I've only really had to buy a frame for a couple of pieces.

In all honesty though I still feel like my presents are going to be underwhelming in comparison to what everyone else gives everyone else and I know they say it's not about how much it has cost and that's fine in theory but in our pretty materialistic world the value of something is often reflected in the cost. I just want them to know I've tired my best. The men in out family aren't super easy to shop for but I've tried really hard with gifts this year, for the gifts to be thoughtful or funny and just to be enjoyed, practical uses or otherwise.

Now I want to know how you've saved money this year or whether you've splurged for your love ones this year and whether you had a time finding gifts this year. Throw some comments down below and we'll get a discussion going.

Cheers and Merry Bloody Christmas.

I hope it's actually not, if it is... is than and FA (Fanfics Anonymous) group I can join in the south of England area? ha ha


There are a few known sights that allow writers to post fan-fiction that may or may not include well written graphic intercourse scenes and I'm not going to lie, I've written a not bad one myself.

I've been reading a lot over the last few days and while I used to think sitting next to mum on the sofa reading explicit intercourse scenes between characters of a TV show that someone has thought up was uncomfortable, I've kind of gotten over that now. I just have to make sure I'm not giggling along when the characters are embarrassed or someone makes a joke so bad it's good.

In all seriousness I think fan-fiction is an excellent way to stretch you're writing muscles and a way to give those aspiring writers a way to explore their style without having to make up characters, but give those characters alternate universe story lines and new relationships. These aspiring writers get to play with someone else's creation and a lot of the stuff on (ex.) http://archiveofourown.org has some really great prose and . These people who've spent time on a work of this fiction and then let others basically say what they want has allowed for peer to peer critiquing among the best people int he world - fangirls and fanboys.

The idea of Fanfiction was even taken notice by the creators of a little show called supernatural and was presented pretty well in one of the nest episodes of season ten, of the same name. It's almost a phenomenon.

It's a whole world of stories and alternate lives of the characters from TV that you've fallen in love with. I dare anyone whose read this, I implore you even to pick a character from any TV show, head over to Archive of our own, linked above and type in the name(s) of the character(s) you've chosen and I could offer a 90% chance of there having been at least one fan written fiction on that character.
A particularly interesting set of fics pop up if you put in Jesse Pinkman and yes the first one is as the title suggests. Read it. It made me laugh.

It's honestly a really fun thing to discover, so let me know if you've discovered some interesting and well written fan fiction and take my advice even if it's something you never thought you;'d want to do, it might be worth it to find a story that pulls you in.

Have a nice week everyone.

Cheers.

I've recently been learning about the musculoskeletal system of late and I've learn some really interesting things about how our bodies adapt and more importantly how our joints and muscles adapt to ageing.

These interesting discoveries (that you can have for yourself over at Furturelearn.com) have been making me question my posture and the amount of exercise I do, not even close to being enough.

the main ways, the course sates, to still being able to move in old age is to not really stop moving. They use the phrase 'move more, sit less' quit e a bit and this then  makes me not only question the amount of moving I do as a career and freelance designer but also how much of our world now revolves around sitting down and this 'desk job nature' my generation has somewhat adopted. With technologies and even jobs that wouldn't have existed that require us to sit down more might mean that there could be higher rated of osteoarthritis when we all get old.

I'm not immune to this 'sit down' lifestyle (she says, sitting in an armless chair, slouching) and anyone who knows me even a little would know I'm fundamentally lazy and prefer using my hands to do things than walking or moving too much.
Does this mean I'll have a higher chance or some kind of arthritis when I'm old and how much of that can be attributed to my genes?

They say you grown into your parents, if that's true Ill be doing pretty well in my forties and if i can manage to drop the weight I'm working on loosing, I'll hope to still be moving well into my 70's.

Let me know you're option down below in the comments:

Do we move less than we used to?
It is our fault or has technology allowed us to take a sit down?
Do we have higher chances of developing some kind of joint problems in later life as a result?

I'd be genuinely interested in what you've all got to say.

Cheers.

I was literally crying not ten minutes ago.

Why?

Onions. Pickling Onions to be specific because it's the time of year where one might set to preparing pickling onions in time for Christmas and that's the kind of thing we do in our house so I was crying earlier.

I always think in those moments where I'm stood shoulder to shoulder with mum int he kitchen and we're prepping or cleaning or cooking. I think in those moments how different my whole life you be if the roles of my blended family were reversed. I think how different it would be if it were mum who'd left and not dad. I think about how different my life would be with out mum. The answer is actually pretty awful.

From Left: Mum, Me and Nicole (My Sister)

I'm a lot like my mum, I'm really glad about that too. She's caring and compassionate. Funny and very pretty. She's so strong and occasionally a little too stubborn for her own good.

She knows we love her and that without her me and my sister wouldn't be who we are and sometime I am so grateful for those moments where we move round each other in our tiny little kitchen with ease because we've done it so many times and where would be I without those moments where we get to just hang out albeit, sometimes unproductive and filled with Minecraft.

Still. I think it's really important to think about the what ifs of life.
What if we never moved back from Spain and I grew up there?
What if I didn't go the High school that I did?
What if I stayed at sixth form instead of going to college?

I think about these and I couldn't keep count of the number of people whom I'd never have met if not for where I went to school or lived.

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On a more serious note.

I had an emotional meltdown yesterday. Full on temper tantrum. I'm 22 years old but sometimes my mood swings are crazy and so am I... hehe .

It was over something ridiculous too. Something I know I could have done if I'd just stopped and breathed and thought for a second but instead, I cried and gave up and had a nice hot bath to relax.
Then I apologised to mum whom I'd cried to and snapped at because I'm actually still a four year old at heart and can't handle things sometimes.

When was the last time you cried? Was it happy or sad or silly?

Throw me a comment down below and we'll chat about it.

Cheers.

 I was wondering about some of the key facts of blogging this afternoon and with a quick Google search found a number of interesting statistics some of which were quite surprising.

Let's take a look.




Let discuss some of these then...

6.7 million people are posting blog sites. that's a hell of a lot of blogs to read about an insanely vast number of topics and lifestyles and you ended up here. cheers.

23% of all usage of the internet is devoted to social media and blogs - this one is also kind of surprising until you think about it. I'd estimate that of the 23%, 15-20% is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the like sites and apps and the other 8-3% is people looking at blogs. Also whether the blog browsing is educational (i.e learning a new recipe) or recreational (i.e reading about you're favourite lifestyle bloggers day to day) may make a sure difference as to how much of the 23% is on those 'mainstream' social media sites and how much the blogosphere is included in that amount.

I was also a little surprised that only 6% of original post blogger use guest posts when I consider it one of the best ways to jump up readership in the starting of a new blog.

I do believe that 43% of people admitted to skimming a blog and I must apologise to any blog in which i have done this now knowing the effort it takes to put a post up and not just that but then the confidence to share this around.

There's hundred of these statistics online and there are but a few of the ones I found in around ten minutes  so if you're interested in any more of these it wouldn't be a terribly difficult search.

So let me know down in the comment below which of these ones were surprising to you and which were not.

Cheers.

I'll be honest here. I have a two pages of a notebook with ideas of what to write but sometimes I'm really just not feeling it. You know those days where your work, responsibilities and day to day life is the only thing keeping you from spending the day in bed with snack and Netflix. The days where you'd just like to be alone but that's not really possible.

I think we all have those days. I tend to pin mine to one of two things. The first is physical exhaustion . A busy few days has really tired you and you really need a day off. The other is just a down day. Your mental health for whatever reason is at peak and that's 100% okay. It's the one things  most humans have in common. Down days happen with or without reason and sometimes you can't pinpoint why your not feeling 100% and that's okay too.

I'm a firm believer that you should pay attention to those days, seriously listen to your body and try to figure out what it's looking for, if anything and if it's not then just take a day. Your mental health is as important and your physical health. Your brain need time off too occasionally and that really is okay.

It's good actually to just stop sometimes, look away from whatever you're working on and just breath.

If fact, I'll make that today's task...

If you feel yourself getting stressed, anxious or angry (any negate emotion) just stop, sit down, put your hands in you lap, close your eyes and take three long, slow deep breaths.

Trust me, it'll help.
Enjoy the peace and quiet sometimes.

Cheers

Firstly we assume that there is no option of immediate escape, endless food and clean water. I'd have a day to purchase everything I need and the thing's I've chosen to take will help me to pass the time and keep me occupied until rescue.

I'll return famous as the girl who lived for years on a deserted island where food would magically appear.

First, I would take a packet of pencils, you know the ones where you get like 50 and they've all got erasers on the end because I, will need erasers. With these and my second item I can spend time honing my awful drawing skills and can sell all my artworks when I return because I'll be famous... and then rich.

My second item is a multi-pack of sketchbooks, like the ones we used to have at college that are wrapped in plastic in sets of 20 or something. This solidifies my drawing skills improvement idea.
also if I need to make a fire, paper makes pretty good kindling and can use up to half of my allotted sketchbooks this way.

Thirdly I would take My iPod with headphones because I'd get so sick of the silence and then of my own out of tune singing I'd probably go insane.

I would also take a solar panel charger so that when my iPod would start to run out of battery i could lay out in the sun and have music forever. This is my fourth item and possibly the most important.

The last thing I would take to a deserted island is a bag of Werther's Originals because I bloody love them and even thought I'd tell myself to ration them so I could have one everyday for longer they'd probably be gone in a few days at most.

I'd demand a life time supply of these with my new found fame and live happily on my riches and exquisite drawing skills.

I turn this to you now.
If you knew that food and clean water would be provided but you didn't have access to electricity what five things would you take to a deserted island?

Have a good think and jot them down below in the comments,

Thanks for reading, catch you in the next one.

Dear me,
     
               Deep breaths. I'm from the future. I'm you 8 years from now and I've got some advice and life lessons to get you through the social maze that your life will be for the next 6 years.

1. Smile more. I know you smile a lot with your friends but just smile for no reason, laugh at funny crap on the internet laugh at mum's bad jokes because they're always going to be bad in the very best way.

2. Don't compromise on who you are for anyone. You might not really know who you are yet and that okay but don't stop doing things because you think people might think it's weird. Be true to who you are because it's important.

3. Learn to ignore snide comments and backhanded compliments. If you can ignore the ignorance of some people you'll be much happier in life.

4. Move on from your obsession of that boy that you'll probably always love. He's doesn't like you back but it's not his fault so don't blame him.

5. Learn that you are good enough and one day some amazing guy is going to see everything you are worth.

6. Love yourself first. If you don't like who you are, the way you look change it. It is possible to change it, I promise. It's hard but you can do it.

7. It's just high school. It's going to be really tough and there will be really bad moments but it's not going be the end of the world. Things really change when you get to college.

8. Keep in touch with more people. Really honest to go try to text more. Hold on to your friends. They're good people.

9. Do as much as possible. You'll get to a point in your life where you'll have no time for anything so keep finding new things to do in your life that are just fun for the sake of being fun.

10. You know your best friend. That crazy Brunette you've known for the last two years. You're still friends. Best friends, and you learn that you really wouldn't be who you are without her. Hug her more, promise to never leave her and tell her that your future self told you you'll be friends forever, because it's true.

I love you Anastasia Kavvadia <3

If you could tell your past self, at any age one sage piece of advice what would you tell yourself?

Cheers.

I get this question a lot.

Every time I'm introduced to someone new which is pretty frequently these days what I 'do' is not really an easy question to answer given that my 'job' isn't really considered a conventional job and I am technically paid by the government.

 I am a full time career for a family member.

I usually I defer to my graphic design degree and the freelance work I've been doing with Hoop & Threads (a interior design company based in Camberley) for the last two years.
This seems like a good answer and it's left there.

The truth is I met Erin - she owns the company - through gumtree I think, when I was fresh out of college with a design degree and no idea what to do with it. Initially what we had agreed to was student portfolio building work but quite quickly I found that it wasn't sustainable and we came to the conclusion that I must be paid some for my work.

Over the last two years we've worked on this from wedding decorations, she's also helped me source other freelance work like logos and other company branding. We've done several launches of new collections and designs and a total company re branding which has an official Facebook relaunch this weekend.



The one thing that is very overdue is an actual meeting.

That's right... I've known Erin for the last two years and we've yet to meet in person, the beauty of social media has meant that we've actually become very good friends and we'd know what each other looks like but I think its kind of sad I think and really should be organised.


Head on over to Hoop & Thread Official Etsy Store for the wonderful range of home decor items available. - Hoop and Threads


Truthfully, I'm not actually sure how I got into design. I choosing GCSE's at school with no clue what to do and and even then it was just when in doubt do something you'll enjoy so I did art and textile along with RE and Business - wasn't my choice. Going on to college so I continued art and the found graphic design I guess. Sometimes it happens like that.

Either way I'm very grateful to have found Erin and her company and to have given me the chance to find my style, I guess. Finding the sort of designs that I enjoy spending time on and making design fun again.

If you're interested in any more of my design work, I feared some of my work with Hoop and Threads and work from my college days over on My Portfolio.

I'd love to hear how you got where you are, in life, in work, in love. write me a story down below or send me a link to your blog or site and I'll head over and give it the time it deserves.

I think a good percentage of the population can cop to having at least one bad habit at some point in their lives. I'll certainly admit to still having some bad habits and - I guess - making some bad choices about what I do with my body. I have been a full time smoker and was for three years between the ages of 18 and 21, I've recently dialled back to only smoking socially which I've considered a good thing, I still smoke but less that I was and that's the lesser of two evils i suppose. I've also had a bout of biting my nails. Past these two I wasn't really sure what other bad habit I might have shown or what else is considered a 'bad habit.'

A quick Internet search sent me to Pavlok.com and their list of  more that 150 things considered bad habits. So a few more of these apply to me like spending a lot of time aimlessly scrolling social media or cracking my knuckles and interrupting people ( I'm bad with this and I'm very aware it's awful conversational etiquette).

Though upon closer inspection of this list I have to say that I think it's a little strict. Things like watching TV right after work and snacking or masturbation and eating after 8pm. Sometimes eating late cannot be avoided, and wanting to wind down after a stressful day at work by watching trash TV is really pretty normal. I'm  pretty sure unless you have a will of steel snacking is something almost everyone does. Masturbation is also something pretty much everyone does whether they say otherwise, if it's very regular that it could be construed as a habit but why is it bad when it's not negatively affecting you or people around you.

The oxford English dictionary defines a habit as:

A settled or regular tendency or practise, especially one that is hard to give up.

So, things like using your phone a lot in social situations could be hard behaviour to change and there for considered a habit, bad or otherwise. But things like eating meat or humming to yourself  (if it's not annoying anybody) shouldn't, in my opinion be labelled as bad habit if it's just a choice individuals make about how they live their lives.

I think theses kinds of list that are labelling these things as bad are causing anxiety or worry, intentional or not, to people with these 'habits' or lifestyle choices and I don't think that's really very good. 

If you get a chance head over a scroll through THIS list yourself and comment down below what you think should and should not be called a 'bad habit' and if you've got any habit that you're aware of  and know you should change but can't or don't really want to. 

It's fair to say that I say I love things a lot. I have unconditional love for my family and my friends. I also love my lifestyle right now, although sometimes challenging I have a freedom that I'd never have had without the opportunity to give back to my parents.

It's also pretty fair to say that I love chocolate and thought (as I'm counting calories) I don't scoff as much as I used to I do still get some and my love for chocolate is unwavering.

I love laughing. They (whoever 'they' are) say that laughing is the best medicine and I don't think i disagree to be honest. Laughing at genuinely funny things or at some misheard or misspoken word that may be deemed childish to others is one of the things I love most. Also sarcasm and irony.

PUNS!!

This is the pun book I bought almost four years ago and still  own.

I bloody love puns.

• A psychic midget escaped from prison, he was a small medium at large.

• I tired to catch fog once, I mist.

• Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now. 

• Something about subtraction just doesn't add up.

• A man just assaulted my with milk, cream and butter. How Dairy!

• I relish the fact that you've Mustard the strength to Ketchup to me.

• It's a lengthy article on Japanese sword fighters but I can Samurais it for you.

They are just punderful.

I love some parts of myself and I'd be lying if I said all of me. I've got parts of my body I really don't like as I'm sure everyone does and like everyone else I'm working on mentally excepting them and physically changing them with a good diet and moderate exercise. I also believe that with this self care is really important. I'm one of those people who moisturises everyday, permanently has hand cream in reach and takes four different vitamins a day. To me these rituals are part of my weight loss and fitness journey and it doesn't feel like I've started my day unless I've done these things.

I love my simple pleasures; a double bed to myself with as many throw pillows as I bloody well please, The area around my desk (tidied at least once a week to find more space for sticky notes and fine liners) and the things on my walls - which includes a vintage ordinance survey map of the area I live from 1964 and autographs from some of my favourite celebrities.

I love thinking about how lucky I am and asking you about some of the things you love.

What things is your life would you really struggle without? Big things or small things and what or who would you say you have love for?

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I've had some down time lately while mum has been working on her wool selling business which means I will do one of two things while I keep her company in the 'office' (which in fact is my bedroom with two desks in it).

My first option - having asked mum if there's anything I can help her with, three times just in case- is some design work with my friend Erin who also works a full time job. Design isn't always so easy if I'm not feeling particularly inspired or the shop she works at is super busy and we can't really communicate well. My second option is to today my desk and all the storage draws around it, again.

I was really struggling on how to be productive when I'm not designing and in this search for something to do I found Futurelearn.com. This truly magical place is full to the brim with all kinds of free courses ranging from two week long to six week long courses on a large variety of subjects, from anatomy and English literature to pre-university courses and politics. These courses are supplied by a number of actual universities from across the world and though most are English universities, I recently took a course supplied by the University of Cape Town.

It really does depend on how much time you have free to take on some of these and how you learn best as to which kinds of courses you might take on and if you know that it might take little while to get through some of the sections per week there is always the chance to upgrade your access to the course for £35 which means not only will you always have access to the course but once you've completed it you'll be sent a certificate of completion as proof that you've taken it.

The vast range of courses also means that you are able to take course that might help you get ahead in your job but also some that are purely out of interest.

I started on future learn with a course about the brain because it's always been something that's fascinating to me and this three week course has multiple start dates which accommodates fitting it in around all sorts of other commitments.

It takes just five minutes to have a browse knowing all the listed ones in the courses section are completely free and just maybe you'll find something that piques your interest enough to give a free online course a chance. It's honestly so rewarding to learn new things and if you're anything like me a lot of these courses will appeal. I had to write mine down and it's double sided...


You'll also be able to interact with leading professors from all over as well as other enthusiastic learners who can answer any extra questions and really help to expand your learning experience and challenge your thinking. If you're a little nervous about starting a new course along, Future Learn also suggests that you do this course with someone you know and that way you can ask them if you don't understand something instead a stranger. A study buddy if you will.

So head on over take a quick look at the site and take a look at the 254 free courses available because they are worth taking a browse. Head over to https://www.futurelearn.com/courses to get started now.

And if you can, name one thing that you want to know about that has nothing to do with what your currently studying or doing as job down there in the comments.

Have a good day all, the weekend will be here soon.

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Good Question, I'm 22 years old and I don't think I've figured this out yet. But that's okay.

If for some reason we were at a gathering; a fancy grown up dinner party of a mutual friend, spontaneous coffee shop interaction or something of the like and didn't know each other at all you ask me to tell you about myself?

Firstly, I'd panic. My social insecurities lie somewhere under the strong external shell I've had since high school and without thought I'd probably say something like "There's not much to tell."

Id really be selling myself short there. There's actually a lot about me.

Fun Fact: I once had a fully functional electric organ in my back garden that I used to play classic Lincoln Park riffs on because that's all I knew.

I'd have to take a minute and think about where to start but for those inevitably awkward silences but we'd probably have a beverage of some sort to sip until I produced words.

Do I think of something that might amuse or intrigue? My angry little blob of low self esteem that sits on my shoulder would say 'amuse' because humour is my defence mechanism. That would probably fail because I think I'm funnier than I am in actuality and can only produce a genuinely funny one-liner 1 out of 14 possible jokes.

So intrigue? The blob would say there's nothing intriguing or even remotely interesting about me and I'd flick it off my shoulder and squish it with my shoe.

My name is Cristina Harrison Gore.



Cristina is spelt the Spanish way because I was born there even though I'm very English. Harrison Gore is not hyphenated because they don't do that in Majorca and I don't remember anything from living there because mum relocated when I was just six months old.

I have an older sister whom I've been ridiculously close with since, well probably since I've been able to understand the forming of unconditional loving attachments. Don't misunderstand me here, we've argued but it was over pointless things and tween drama like always wearing my clothes without asking or using my shampoo.

My dad wasn't in the picture much and if he was I don't really remember him vividly. I know my memories from that age aren't all that reliable and I'm sure I heard somewhere that the more often you try to recall a memory the farther from the actual events they become. Nevertheless my mum met someone new when I was about two and began a relationship that has made the family whole. My step dad had two boys of his own and we became the blended family we are today.

I've never known any different so in my mind I've always had two brothers and a sister. The thing is we didn't always live together. For a pretty long time the boys had their flat in the middle of town at which we stayed on a semi regular basis and we had our flat before the three bedroom house that did eventually share.

I spent my childhood and most of my teenager years in a small town. A friend form college once compared it to the town from the Vicar of Dibley but I really didn't know everyone and it wasn't that small. It did mean though that when my best friend booked her eighteenth birthday party in the town/event hall and my year one teacher was serving drinks she got to see my ID and remembered me.

Rather surreal experience actually.

It's stuff like that, that in hindsight, I loved about living there. It was small, a kind of slow moving town but at the end of the day when I was kid I never worried about riding my bike on the road or walking home from the bus stop in the dark because nothing ever happened. I think that's why even now I'm not at all anxious or nervous to walk around dark streets at night.

I went to a church of England primary school. Two actually but I've never really had faith in god or a god of any kind but have great respect for those who do. I went to high school in the same town I lived in and only really began to commute when I started college in Poole.

I was overly outspoken in school and often pretended not to care what people though even though I obviously did. I was known to be loud because it was my defence but I cared. It wasn't really until after high school I sort of found myself. I became more relaxed in who I was and even though I was still loud that was okay because I had good friends. I found my style in college too and even though it's kind of grown up with me over the last six years the basis of my style started age sixteen as did my daily frustrations caused by winged eyeliner. I still can't always get them even and still get really excited when I do.

I started BTEC Level 3 Art and Design in 2012 and then onto HND Graphic Design in 2014.I met some very interesting people along the way. The fine arts teacher who was amazingly eccentric and a good laugh, some memorable crushes on both fellow students and one or two of the TA's about which I received endless grief from friends; and those friends, some of which I'm still in touch with and some drifted away got married and appeared on a English cooking TV show on channel four with her brother in law.

The latter half introduced even more people mixed with some that I'd been with the previous two years and I met 'Captain Pretentious'. He introduced me to whiskey and obscure films that I'd never have watched if not for him and consequently love. A friendship with benefits happened and we're still really good friends to this day; some people can't understand how we're still friends after we've slept together and that amuses me.

Since college I've been freelancing for Erin L Interiors whose a start up from Basingstoke and I've also been a full time career for my Mum.

This has it's own ups and downs and if I find the courage I might talk about some of them.

I'll finish up this introductory 'about me' post with a question.

If someone asked you for three words that described you, what words would you give?

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