Rambling, York & outfit post

This whole Google Friend Connect malarkey is a little confusing. My followers still appear on my blog so... who knows? Well, anyway, just in case it does shut down (apparently it will) please follow me on Bloglovin! You can import all the blogs you follow here (:

HI guys. Hi. Hello. Currently writing this in a window seat on a semi-sunny day w an iced americano and some popcorn. It's pretty good. Hope yer all well!

Past couple of weeks have been weird... but I'm recovering! Apparently I don't deal well with having nothing to do. It feels like I'm never resting because I was never actually active in the first place. Home has turned from a cosy nest into a kind of hell haha. I lost all motivation to make myself look nice which means I feel even less comfortable with myself and even more like 'what is my life'. Luckily, over the past couple of days I have had quite a few things to write on my to do list and now feel a lot better! Thank goodness! I got up early today, made myself look okay (I think), crossed a couple of things off my to do list, and am now outside, writing this blog post, listening to a disco playlist (thanks BBC) and feeling kind of like a real person!

Other than that, in general things are pretty fantastic! I feel more 'myself' than I have done in a very long time. Time really does heal all wounds. I mean, it's a kind of silly thing to say. It doesn't make you feel any better when you're wounded, and by the time you've healed it's simply irrelevant. But... it is true! It's a beautiful thing to know you went through something monumentally shitty and you were strong enough to come out the other side. And it's great to know that the whole experience made you an even better person. It's like in comparison to how low I know I can feel, feeling 'okay' doesn't just feel okay anymore, it feels awesome. I don't have to lie to myself about how I feel anymore. I don't have to tell myself 'don't think about it, stop thinking about it, think happy thoughts' because it just doesn't hurt me anymore. This is all compounded by the fact that I managed pretty damn good exam results considering how shitty this year has been for me! YEAH! So, life lesson for me - never stop working!

Alongside milling around and doing little bits and bobs here and there, I went to York the other day! My friend had been a million times so we could wander freely without worrying about getting lost or anything. Always a plus. It was really, really lovely. Definitely going back, especially because of how close it is to Durham.

First we went to the Railway Museum, because why not? It was actually pretty fun. Reminded me of being a kid. I remember going to a railway museum when my family lived in the UK the first time around (we moved to Australia when I was 6) and thinking they were magical. Something about those huge machines and the smell (is that weird) and idk. I tried to take photos of the royal coaches but they didn't turn out that well so... you'll just have to go check it out yourself.

York Minster was just gorgeous, of course. Love me a good cathedral hoho. Wikipedia tells me its Great East Window is the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world. Whaddayaknow? Because they're always restoring / cleaning the stained glass, they have a 'stained glass of the month' type thing where you can look at the designs up close and read about them etc. ...it's pretty kewl. I'd recommend. Is this starting to sound like a tourist website?

My friend had a sudden hankering for ice cream so we went on a quest to find the perfect parlour. We found this store. Isn't it cute? There seemed to be a lot of cute places to eat / sip in York. We had lunch at this other cafe I don't remember the name of, but it was really nice. Fond as I am of Durham, there are very few places to get good coffee here, so it was especially nice. Will definitely try to document where exactly I go next time I take a York trip. There seemed to be a bunch of places worth checking out next time. If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know!

So sad I didn't get good photos of this. It's the Shambles! Part of the two rows of houses have slumped so close together over time that two people leaning out of either window can shake hands, apparently. I've heard it's especially nice at Christmas.

The river! Unfortunately a little more impressive than Durham hoho.

What I wore hoho. 

Some other pictures from the past few days?

I love these little Edwardian arcades. There are a couple of them in the middle of Newcastle I think. They remind me of the ones in Leeds! The thing about Newcastle is that it has such incredibly gorgeous buildings (Grey St has the second highest number of listed buildings in the UK) but they are kind of ruined by what is put underneath them. I mean, the other day I was sitting in Savannah Cafe watching some guys paint part of a stone building navy blue. Perhaps repainting? I don't know. But at some point... it was painted navy blue  for William Hill haha. There are so many gambling shops in the UK, it's really unfortunate. BUT ANYWAY. The point is, the center of Newcastle has some really beautiful architecture. I'm a fan.

I also went to 9 Bar Coffee for the first time yesterday, despite living in the North East for almost two years now! I love it! I can't wait to go back and try the food because it looked seriously good. In fact, the whole place looked seriously good. It's a shame we've had no real summer this year because it seemed like a great place to people watch outside.

Also bought some new fabric. I have no idea what to make. Possibly could be used for a dress but may be a little heavy. I have to decide soon because I'm off to Brighton for a few days at the end of this week and then straight off to Sydney! Thought I might make a pinafore kinda thing but I'm worried that soon I'll have seen so many of them on other people that I'll be totally sick of them and not want to wear it. Dear oh dear.

Another outfit. Whenever I get bored of my wardrobe (like right now) I tend to revert back to outfits I've been wearing for literally years haha. Sometimes its good to wear tried and tested outfits. At least you know you feel like you.

Thankyou Will for photos! Do go check out his new blog. I know little about film but if you're a film person, you should follow him!

Thanks for reading guys (:

Bye!