'Cause I'm free, to do what I want to do

So it's been a long, long time since my last post, but I thought I would give this whole blogging malarkey another go and try and get back into it. I've just finished my final year at university and I've got to admit, it has been tough! I may do some more posts at some point about my university experience and how I've found this past year, but let's just say I'm glad its over but I now feel incredibly weird to be a proper graduate. Despite the stress of now having to figure out what to do with my life and find a job, I am now looking forward to having a bit more time to do more things which I actually enjoy and I thought I would share some of those things with you guys.

Reading

Get fit

Do more baking

Sort out my bedroom

Practise photography

Go travelling

Teach myself guitar

Meet new people

Hopefully I'll be back soon with another post!

Introversion

Whilst trying not to come across too deep, my placement year out of university is making me think a lot about what kind of person I am. As mentioned in a previous post, I was always an extremely shy person growing up and managed to gain confidence considerably after starting university. However, after starting my current job, I couldn't help but feel like I'd backtracked and felt like I had at school all over again. The main difference I can see though is my self confidence. Whereas at school I hated every last thing about myself; my body, my personality, my abilities, I have learned to accept these parts of me and even embrace them.

I have always admired the loud confident people around me who always manage to make friends with everyone and yet I now realise that my introversion will probably mean that I won't ever be like that, and that's ok. It's fine that I often have to abandon my housemates half-way through the evening to chill in my room alone and there's nothing wrong with enjoying working quietly by myself whilst everyone else is chatting. It's just who I am. I enjoy being alone with my own thoughts and find it difficult interacting with people for long periods of time. This does though mean that I sometimes feel extremely uncomfortable, especially during group discussions where I struggle to come up with ideas because I prefer to take the time to think about things on my own first.

I think many introverts would struggle to come to terms with this aspect of themselves as we live in a world where the extroverts appear to have a head start. They seem to be the popular people with loads of friends, who get promoted to more senior positions at work because they are more outspoken than us introverts. But we have things to offer too, such as our more thoughtful approach to situations and of course, there's nothing wrong with only having a couple of really close friends.

If you are interested in hearing more about introversion I would recommend watching 'Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts', which gives a very thought provoking insight into the topic.

Autumn clothing haul

I have bought a few new items of clothing recently as I am enjoying finally having some money from my university placement.  I'm usually really terrible when it comes to shopping since I want to change my style but am completely clueless as to what to actually buy.

I am a massive Taylor Swift fan, and after seeing her in this outfit, I knew I absolutely had to buy this jumper which I recognised as being from Topshop.

Jumper: Topshop £36

I also managed to find some berry coloured jeans very similar to those Taylor is wearing in the above photo. I usually find it really hard to find jeans that fit me well but I think these fit perfectly!

Jeans: Miss Selfridge £34

I've been venturing into French Connection quite a lot lately and keep finding so many lovely items in there but can't quite bring myself to pay the prices for them. I'd seen this jumper recently and loved it, so when I saw that they had a 20% off online offer I couldn't help myself! It is really unique with mesh on the shoulders and then a snake effect on the body.

Jumper: French Connection £55

The next thing I bought was a new purse since my old one had got so broken that my housemates had started to comment on it every time I took it out of my bag.  This one is a really nice berry colour and I was also so tempted to buy the matching bag but I have managed to resist for now.

Purse: Dune £29

The final thing I have bought recently are some new glasses from Ray Ban. I only ever wore my old glasses right before bed and would wear contact lenses for the rest of the day but decided it was time to buy some more stylish glasses that I could wear more often.

 Glasses: Ray Ban

I'm still on the look out for a new black handbag and a winter coat so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know!

Pippa xx

Review: Bose SoundTrue On-ear Headphones

I've been thinking for quite some time now that I could probably do with buying some decent headphones instead of relying on the cheapest ones I can find which break after a month or so. After a bad day at work a couple of weeks ago, I decided to buy the Bose Soundtrue On-ear Headphones as a bit of a spur of the moment purchase. I did a little bit of research on the quality of them but to be totally honest, it was the colour which sold me!

The headphones I chose are in my favourite mint green colour but they also come in black, white and purple with mint details. I couldn't decide whether to opt for the on-ear or around-ear style but after looking at photos online I decided that I would find the on-ear option more comfortable and they would probably fit my head a bit better. I think this was a good decision and although they are not specifically sound-cancelling, it definitely helps me to stop being able to hear my parents when I'm trying to watch things!

I find the headphones comfortable although I have noticed that after wearing them continuously for an hour or so, my ears start to ache very slightly but nothing that bothers me too much. They are extremely light and fold up to fit in a good quality case so are also very easy to put in your bag without getting in the way too much.

I ordered my pair from the John Lewis website for £149.95.

Starting University

Having just read Michelle from Daisy Butter's blog called "I'm Too Shy for  University" (link here), I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to write my first proper blog post and tell you my experience of starting university.

During my school years I was an extremely shy person, I had friends but would always dread going to parties and often made excuses for not going. I changed school for sixth form but it was a school close to my old one with quite a few familiar faces either starting at the same time as me or who were already there. I chose to go to university in Bath which is around 2 and a half hours from home and I was absolutely terrified, so much so that I seriously considered taking a gap year just so I could put it off for another year!

When it finally got to move in day, I decided to take the approach of 'pretend to be confident and then you will become more confident'. My mum dropped me off and left me quite early so that I could unpack my things and then get to know the other people in my flat but everyone else seemed to still be with their parents and I was too scared to leave my room. I was in a flat with 15 other people and eventually heard a group of people in the kitchen so I braved leaving my room to go and socialise. Everyone was really friendly and as cliché as it may sound, everyone is in the same position and is happy to get on with everyone (especially as people start drinking) and by the end of fresher's week it honestly felt like I had known everyone for so much longer.

One of my biggest pieces of advice if you are worried about making friends at university is to join a society to meet like-minded people. I joined a couple of choirs at the beginning of my first year and this is how I have made some of my closest friends. Having a common interest with people really helps to break the ice and societies tend to organise socials and events to help everyone to get to know each other too. Even if you are someone who doesn't like to drink a lot, many societies plan socials with that in mind.

It's also important to remember that even if you feel that during your first year you haven't made any really good friends, this doesn't mean that that's it for the whole of your time at university. I enjoyed my second year a lot more than fresher's and got to know so many more people. I feel like as a fresher you are put in to live and consequently socialise with people you get on with but may not exactly have a huge amount in common with, whereas, in second year you can choose who you want to live and hang out with.

Before I started university i was warned about how fast the experience seems to go and it really doesn't feel like just under two years ago that I was a terrified little fresher moving my stuff into halls. I think as long as you go into university with an open mind and get as involved as you can with student life, you will be just fine!


Pippa xx

Here we go again...

Hey everyone!

I have been considering starting up a blog for quite some time since I have been reading fashion blogs for many years as well as being a bit obsessed with watching vlogs on Youtube (I don't think I'm quite brave enough for that yet though!). I posted on a different blog a few times a couple of years ago but deleted it as soon as I realised how bad it was so here's hoping that this one will be better.

So here's my first blog post on Philippa Grace! Although obviously it will be great if other people begin to enjoy reading this blog, I am primarily going to use it for documenting my life over the coming few years as I finish university and then venture out into the real world!

I am hoping to post a whole range of things on here, from beauty reviews to fitness updates (I am trying to lose some weight and so thought that documenting it may help me keep at it for once!) as well as general life things.  So first, let me introduce myself; Hi, I'm Pippa, a 20 year old chemistry student from Hertfordshire but I'm currently on a work placement during the third year of my degree.

Hope you all enjoy :)

Pippa xx