Fudge

Yesterday my beloved cat, Fudge, died.  I am distraught.  She was so lovely, so friendly and so loyal.  Her character shone through in everything and that is what I'll miss the most about her.  That and the mass of fur she left everywhere; on the sofa, on my bed, on my clothes.  I joked that Fudge had travelled everywhere that I had, since even whilst on my month's travels, I had still managed to find her fur on my clothes.  I'll miss that.
Yet, she died in the most peaceful way imaginable, by falling asleep.  She didn't go away to die; she came home.  She was the best cat I could have asked for.  Her loyalty to me was her greatest strength and I know that she truly loved me, and I her.

Whitesands Bay

 

Sometimes I count myself really lucky to be living in Wales, close to the sea.  This past weekend was one of those times.  It is not far at all to get to my nearest beach and, in fact, there are quite a few to choose from.
My Summer holiday this year was a venture to Whitesands Bay, near St Davids (the smallest city in the country), a mere two hour drive from home.  However, the atmosphere in this beautiful part of Pembrokeshire is always so very different and even though it isn't too far from home, it almost feels like you're in another country.
Though we only went for two nights, it is always nice to get away and we spent our time eating lots of food, exploring the cathedral and the city, sunbathing on the beach, reading, strolling along the beach at nightime and generally relaxing.
And the camping?  It was fun, even though one night I woke up so, so cold.  I suppose that's Britain for you though.

Flowers in my hair

The dress that I'm wearing in the above photo is from good old H&M and only cost me £7.99.  What a bargain!  H&M only recently opened in my local town and I am pleased to say that I have had my fair share of looking around it already.  I'm making up for not living anywhere near a Topshop/Primark/H&M throughout my teenage years.
This salmony-pink cotton dress was one of my first purchases there and is so simple that it can be paired with anything.  Plus, as it's such a good piece of clothing, I have indeed been in to H&M once again and bought the same dress in navy blue.
My days have been busy lately, but today I am enjoying a luxurious day completely to myself.  Tomorrow, I am going camping in a beautiful location.  Though I'm a bit wary of the weather (it's raining outside as I type), I am sure that it will be an interesting experience nonetheless.

Loveliness

Wallpaper Rose is a website that steals my heart.  Having raved to everyone I know about the wonderful Jen tee I bought from them them a while ago now (blogged about here), I stumbled upon their blog the other day which is one I will be adding to my ever-growing list of blogs.

In other news, I've realised that this blog is becoming less of a style blog (was it ever?) and drifting more and more towards inspiration-based posts.  Although I've always been one for inspiration blogging, I've resolved to change this slightly, for the time being, and go out there today and take some photos of all the new things that I've bought.  When I start my course in September, we are required to start our own niche blog with a distinct theme and lately I've been wondering about the theme of mine.  It seems to me that if I am to carry on with this blog for the purpose of the course (I plan on carrying it on regardless), then I am going to have to find my voice.  What are your thoughts on this?

Talking of the course, it is all getting very exciting right now.  I have found my house, am about to sign the contract and will hopefully be living with other Journalism students.  We are all getting to know each other right now via facebook and the time, I'm sure,will go very quickly.

Fishtail braids

(All images from Weheartit- I am so going to try number three)

Lately, I've fallen in love with fishtail braids.  It's just a pity that I can't successfully create one on my own hair.  I mean, the results are ok, but my hair is so naturally thick that it doesn't really look the way I imagine it to and bits keep falling out.
I had my hair cut last week.  I'm not entirely happy with it though.  The fringe is too short and I swear the hairdresser didn't cut one piece, because it's definitely longer than the rest of my hair.  Have any of you ever experienced anything like this?
I'm so excited for Summer holiday plans, because I'm going camping no less than twice (and possibly a third time too).  Having not been camping since I was a child, I reckon one evening this week I may end up having a camp-out in my back garden, as a practice run.

Time off always flies

I've had a busy week, one way and another.  Having booked some time off from work to get housing for the course sorted and attending the wonderful Hay Festival, I've also been catching up with old friends and generally having a lot of fun.
Last weekend, I spent some time painting part of my house, which is now looking a whole lot fresher.  On Monday, I went to the festival to see Lynn Barber interviewing India Knight and ambled around the festival site and town a bit.
Thursday was spent perusing possible places to live for September and generally walking the length of the city to see them.  I'm still not sure whether to settle for a room that I saw, which was cheap and adequate, or to keep looking.  The reason I'm mulling this over is because there's this house-hunting event in August, where potential postgraduate students get to meet each other and have the chance to search for houses together.  I think that this might be better for getting to know people, making friends and living with people I might actually want to live with.  However, I am quite anxious to get a room sorted and I did quite like the first room that I saw, the one that is liveable, but not perfect.  However, it is affordable and that is important to my budget for next year.
Then yesterday, we ventured up to Hay again and it was amazing.  I saw an event called 'Women in Journalism' where a panel of women gave their views on the industry and why it was dominated by men.  Very insightful, to say the least.
And today.  Today is a day of relaxation, before I finally go back to work next week.

Lazy days always make me smile

(All images courtesy of weheartit)

I'm having a lazy day today.  Sometimes your body just needs to relax and take it easy for a while.  These images are perfect for portraying the laziest of days, when all you want to do is to curl up in bed, with a good book or a comforting dvd.